Browse content similar to 22/01/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Afternoon. Welcome to the Sunday politics. The top story is George | :00:40. | :00:45. | |
Osborne wanting Britain to play its part to stabilise the world economy. | :00:45. | :00:50. | |
The opposition will request billions of pounds of extra funds | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
to bail out the eurozone. Does the Chancellor had a fight on his | :00:53. | :01:03. | |
:01:03. | :01:05. | ||
hands? Has Ed Miliband got his fingers burned? I will be asking | :01:05. | :01:11. | |
the shadow Business Secretary in the Sunday interview. A judge has | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
ruled that a radical Muslim cleric can stay in this country. Should we | :01:16. | :01:21. | |
leave the European Court of Human Rights? We will debate that topic | :01:21. | :01:24. | |
live. And on Sunday Politics Scotland: | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
The head of the Council of Economic Advisors tells us he doesn't know | :01:28. | :01:30. | |
what a post-independence economy would look like and using sterling | :01:30. | :01:33. | |
wouldn't be ideal. But Crawford Beveridge is still finding reasons | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
to be cheerful. And is the Advocate General above | :01:36. | :01:46. | |
:01:46. | :01:46. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1655 seconds | :01:46. | :29:22. | |
I am sitting on the government commission looking at this. People | :29:22. | :29:27. | |
have raised a number of things. One of the things they are concerned | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
about is if we withdrew from the European Convention, we would be | :29:32. | :29:36. | |
withdrawing from the Council of Europe. It would be very difficult | :29:36. | :29:45. | |
to withdraw from the European Council. What would be wrong with | :29:46. | :29:54. | |
having a British Bill of Rights? am one of the people who argued | :29:54. | :29:59. | |
that we should have a jury trial, habeas corpus, incorporated into | :29:59. | :30:04. | |
our very own Bill of Rights. The problem with it is people like | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
Martin want to use this as a Trojan horse because they do not like | :30:08. | :30:16. | |
Europe. The Council of Europe is completely separate to the EU. | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
Another example is the issue of prisoners voting rights. The House | :30:20. | :30:24. | |
of Commons has ordered by enormous majorities that we do not wish to | :30:24. | :30:31. | |
give the right of prisoners the vote. The European Court of Human | :30:31. | :30:34. | |
Rights is substituting its judgment for the will of our elected | :30:35. | :30:43. | |
representatives. What are the chances of Mr Cameron making any | :30:43. | :30:47. | |
move on this? We will see what he comes out with. He wants to | :30:47. | :30:53. | |
introduce a filtering mechanism. What does he want to do? He does | :30:53. | :31:03. | |
:31:03. | :31:10. | ||
not have a good chance. Thank you Good afternoon. Welcome to Scotland. | :31:10. | :31:15. | |
Coming up, the head of the Council of Economic Advisers tells us that | :31:15. | :31:18. | |
fiscal policy of using Stirling in an independent Scotland is not | :31:18. | :31:23. | |
ideal. He is not sure what the economic implications of | :31:23. | :31:29. | |
independence would be. Is the nude role of the Advocate General | :31:29. | :31:32. | |
becoming political? Who'll board in the referendum? Will Scottish | :31:32. | :31:37. | |
soldiers based in England miss out? The government say you can have | :31:37. | :31:45. | |
your cake and eat it, but at what cost? The Council of economic | :31:45. | :31:50. | |
advisers met this week for the first time since the end of 2010. | :31:50. | :31:53. | |
This independent body offers insight and advice to government. I | :31:53. | :31:56. | |
caught up with the businessman Crawford Beveridge after the | :31:56. | :32:06. | |
:32:06. | :32:13. | ||
meeting. It is hard to tell how it 2012 is shaping up. It looks like | :32:13. | :32:17. | |
many of the economies will see ourselves slipped forward for a | :32:17. | :32:24. | |
month and go forward for a month. It looks like it will take a longer | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
time to recover. What sort of growth can you predict for | :32:27. | :32:34. | |
Scotland? As usual, we were very low last year, it is hard to | :32:34. | :32:44. | |
:32:44. | :32:48. | ||
predict. Somewhere between no gross and one % growth for UK economies. | :32:48. | :32:51. | |
What does that mean for Scotland? We need to be very careful about | :32:51. | :32:57. | |
the kind of policies we set. I am very pleased the Government has | :32:57. | :33:01. | |
continued to spend on capital, because the more we can do on | :33:01. | :33:06. | |
capital investment, the more we can go against the trend of being | :33:06. | :33:11. | |
downward in other business areas. The private sector has also been | :33:11. | :33:16. | |
very good at creating jobs compared to the rest of the UK, which | :33:16. | :33:21. | |
offsets some of the drop in the public sector. Do you think the | :33:21. | :33:24. | |
referendum question is affecting business confidence? I am not | :33:24. | :33:34. | |
:33:34. | :33:36. | ||
getting that from the people like Dr. -- people I talk to. The | :33:36. | :33:40. | |
concerns are more about the rest of Europe, the euro, those are causing | :33:40. | :33:48. | |
uncertainty. I have had no one -- I have not had any body suggesting | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
the referendum is one of the things that is high on their list. Could | :33:54. | :34:03. | |
it affect the credit rating of the UK? I would be surprised. They are | :34:03. | :34:12. | |
much more concerned with getting the economy back to normal. | :34:12. | :34:18. | |
have said in the past that full fiscal autonomy would actually | :34:18. | :34:23. | |
deliver less revenue because of the depressed tax base. Is that still | :34:23. | :34:28. | |
your opinion? It is not clear to me that that would be the case. Some | :34:28. | :34:35. | |
of it depends on the negotiations of the oil revenue. Also, Scotland | :34:35. | :34:40. | |
has done rather well in the Foreign Investment a rear in the last few | :34:40. | :34:50. | |
:34:50. | :34:54. | ||
months, with companies like Amazon moving in. Do you support | :34:54. | :35:02. | |
independence? I do. Can we discuss in some detail what you think a | :35:02. | :35:08. | |
post-independence Scottish economy would look like? I was speaking to | :35:08. | :35:11. | |
someone the other night who was very concerned about figuring out | :35:11. | :35:18. | |
whether you would be better off or worse off financially. My answer to | :35:18. | :35:23. | |
that was, if you are asking me over the next 15 or 20 years how the | :35:23. | :35:29. | |
economy will do, the answer is nobody knows. What we do know is we | :35:29. | :35:34. | |
have strong growing sectors in Scotland, a very stable population, | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
one that is growing for the first time in a long time, so there is a | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
lot more resources, we are successful at capturing inward | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
investment, we have good plans about exports, and so I am | :35:48. | :35:53. | |
confident that when left to our own devices, people at understanding we | :35:53. | :36:03. | |
:36:03. | :36:03. | ||
are standing on a Rome two feet. -- our own two feet. How important do | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
you think the economy will be? think it will be more important | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
than it should be. I would like to think people would like to make a | :36:11. | :36:19. | |
decision based on whether they want to determine their own future. If | :36:19. | :36:25. | |
we want to do those things, then we should be voting in that direction. | :36:25. | :36:28. | |
The economy is that important. People worry about whether they | :36:28. | :36:33. | |
will be OK and have a job. I understand those fears will stop I | :36:34. | :36:38. | |
do not think they should be that nothing on the mind. -- I | :36:38. | :36:42. | |
understand those fears, but I do not think they should be the only | :36:42. | :36:52. | |
thing. If we look at the Stirling, post-independence, is it could | :36:52. | :36:55. | |
Europe to have the Bank of England dictating the interest rate for | :36:55. | :37:03. | |
Scotland? If that was the decision that was made, and that would seem | :37:03. | :37:11. | |
most logical, it is not ideal. You can look at other currency unions | :37:11. | :37:18. | |
that have happened in the past, you can solve some of this via fiscal | :37:18. | :37:28. | |
:37:28. | :37:32. | ||
rules. Sit down and say we will abide by certain amount of debt. | :37:32. | :37:34. | |
The last Council of Economic Advisers had suggested that this | :37:34. | :37:37. | |
goal Commission would allow this to appear to rules that would mean we | :37:37. | :37:45. | |
would not do anything that would drive down the wrong path. How many | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
public sector jobs do you think will have to go if the Government | :37:48. | :37:58. | |
:37:58. | :38:00. | ||
is to have an appropriate economic policy? It will depend on this | :38:00. | :38:05. | |
balance between pay restraint and how long you can do that. It is | :38:05. | :38:13. | |
hard to keep people on a pay restraint for a long time. | :38:13. | :38:20. | |
council tax wheeze should continue for no more than a year or more? | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
would hope it does not have to go on for long time, but it is | :38:24. | :38:31. | |
sensible to keep it as an assurance to people. For another year? | :38:31. | :38:37. | |
that is what it takes. If we look at some of the recommendations he | :38:38. | :38:47. | |
:38:48. | :38:52. | ||
made, which ones should be revisit? If you could just list them. | :38:52. | :39:01. | |
all those areas, I think... Just to clarify, what areas do you mean? | :39:01. | :39:09. | |
Three personal care, bus travel, prescriptions. -- free personal | :39:09. | :39:14. | |
care. The feeling of the Independent budget review was if | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
you were looking at those, it was not a case of scrapping them, it | :39:18. | :39:21. | |
was where there are those who can afford to pay for them should be | :39:21. | :39:28. | |
invited to do that. It was off focusing on providing it for people | :39:28. | :39:36. | |
who need it, and not people like me. That would be our advice. If we | :39:37. | :39:41. | |
have to keep cutting, rather than taking those things away from the | :39:41. | :39:46. | |
vulnerable, take a look at how those who are more fortunate can | :39:46. | :39:51. | |
pay some of their share. Where is the evidence that he persuaded John | :39:51. | :39:59. | |
Swinney to do anything he was going to do anyway? I can only talk to | :39:59. | :40:06. | |
the last council. It had 10 meetings between 2007 and 2010. | :40:06. | :40:15. | |
Over that period we made many recommendations to the government. | :40:15. | :40:20. | |
They accepted 45 of those recommendations, which later | :40:20. | :40:28. | |
appeared in the economic strategy and some of the Budget. Assuming we | :40:28. | :40:32. | |
have the same leeway with this council, I fully expect we will | :40:32. | :40:37. | |
have the same influence going forward. Having accepted this | :40:37. | :40:41. | |
position, can you have a profile on the independence referendum? Would | :40:41. | :40:47. | |
you want one? Not particularly! I am happy to do whatever people want | :40:47. | :40:54. | |
me to do, and I am always happy to sit down with friends and talk to | :40:54. | :41:00. | |
them about why that makes sense, but it is not one of those things. | :41:00. | :41:07. | |
I am not a politician. Can you vote in the referendum? I can. I have | :41:07. | :41:12. | |
the distinct privilege of paying taxes in two countries, the United | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
States and the United Kingdom. I am on the electoral register and I am | :41:17. | :41:26. | |
here half of the time. I call by. Crawford Beveridge there. -- I | :41:26. | :41:36. | |
:41:36. | :41:37. | ||
qualify. Joining me is hums a use of and Ken Macintosh. -- Humza | :41:37. | :41:45. | |
Yousaf. This system of setting up the school rules, that would be | :41:45. | :41:51. | |
dependent on the Bank of England. Is that satisfactory? It is an | :41:51. | :41:55. | |
interesting argument. Crawford Beveridge seemed to be making the | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
case on one side for independence, and on the other talking about | :41:59. | :42:07. | |
interdependence of the economy. He was quite clear you cannot be that | :42:07. | :42:15. | |
Independent these days. It is a very strange argument. He is saying | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
we will prosper but we will get their main lever of power to | :42:19. | :42:24. | |
another nation. That is assuming that the English would want us to | :42:24. | :42:34. | |
:42:34. | :42:36. | ||
use their currency. Why would they allow us to use it? We would have | :42:36. | :42:42. | |
to ask their permission. We would not have to ask their permission. | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
That is why George Osborne ended up backtracking. Crawford Beveridge | :42:47. | :42:53. | |
actually makes the point very well. We have 40 currency unions across | :42:53. | :43:03. | |
:43:03. | :43:04. | ||
the world. Our currency is an interchangeable dynamic currency. | :43:04. | :43:11. | |
People would still have a pound in their pocket. It is not about his | :43:12. | :43:21. | |
face is on the Collins, on the power note. -- whose face is on the | :43:22. | :43:28. | |
coin or pound note. You do not have the lever, the point is you will | :43:28. | :43:35. | |
not have the currency and be discussion format. Even if you have | :43:35. | :43:40. | |
a joint currency union, you still have the decision to make over | :43:40. | :43:49. | |
corporation tax, welfare system, various other taxes. You still have | :43:49. | :43:55. | |
that the choice over other aspects. That is what in the pen is is about, | :43:56. | :44:01. | |
tried in, illegal war. This would be up for negotiation, that is the | :44:01. | :44:07. | |
point. When it comes to independence, of course we will be | :44:07. | :44:11. | |
negotiating. It is incorrect to say we would have to get permission. | :44:11. | :44:17. | |
That is simply not true. I still do not understand. You say you would | :44:17. | :44:20. | |
be independent because you want to control power, but you say you do | :44:20. | :44:29. | |
not want this power. I just explained, being independent is the | :44:29. | :44:35. | |
decision not having nuclear weapons, illegal war. Do you want economic | :44:35. | :44:38. | |
independence, you're talking about having power over your tax system, | :44:38. | :44:47. | |
welfare system, and when it comes to it, over 40 currency unions are | :44:47. | :44:53. | |
extremely successful. The key thing here is devilish and gives you | :44:53. | :44:59. | |
influence and control over your spending and some of your taxation. | :44:59. | :45:03. | |
But there could be a question on the ballot about that. You do not | :45:03. | :45:09. | |
need a question about that. You are remaining for the interview | :45:09. | :45:15. | |
with Lord Wallace, but the Budget will be discussed in Holyrood on | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
Wednesday. The you think it is sustainable to keep the council tax | :45:19. | :45:29. | |
:45:29. | :45:31. | ||
freeze? I think the council tax freeze is unsustainable. We | :45:31. | :45:37. | |
actually lost 13,000 government jobs this year alone. Clearly if we | :45:37. | :45:47. | |
continue we will lose more jobs. It is not sustainable on those terms, | :45:47. | :45:55. | |
and I would welcome a far greater openness about that discussion. | :45:55. | :46:04. | |
Compulsory redundancies? That is not a genuine argument. 200 Scott | :46:04. | :46:09. | |
every day lose jobs, and if you ask them whether they were laid off | :46:10. | :46:14. | |
compulsory -- via compulsory methods, it is a sham. It is a | :46:14. | :46:24. | |
:46:24. | :46:30. | ||
disguise. Let me come back on that, in the Labour manifesto, they were | :46:30. | :46:34. | |
advocating a council tax freeze. To go back on that and say it is | :46:34. | :46:39. | |
unsustainable is ridiculous. Ed Miliband has now said a pay freeze | :46:39. | :46:44. | |
for public sector workers is absolutely the correct thing to do. | :46:44. | :46:51. | |
Now Scottish Labour are saying it is not. We have given the SNP are | :46:51. | :46:56. | |
support for two years because that was our election position, and they | :46:56. | :47:04. | |
promised five years. When would you put it off? Iris was only for two | :47:04. | :47:13. | |
years. -- Ours. It is no longer sustainable. The figures go up | :47:13. | :47:18. | |
every year. I think you should allow councils the freedom to set | :47:18. | :47:22. | |
their own tax, but the key to this is if you give them enough money, | :47:22. | :47:30. | |
if he were to give them the subsidy to keep it down, they would. Labour | :47:30. | :47:35. | |
introduce the council tax free in Glasgow before the SNP. Your policy | :47:35. | :47:44. | |
would be to end the council tax free. Would you cut the rise? | :47:44. | :47:48. | |
SNP have got a policy in place of freezing council tax without giving | :47:48. | :47:51. | |
councils the money to pay for it. We would give them the money and | :47:51. | :48:01. | |
:48:01. | :48:08. | ||
The former Lib Dem Deputy First Minister, and now Advocate General | :48:08. | :48:10. | |
- Lord Wallace of Tankerness - threw himself into the political | :48:10. | :48:13. | |
battle between the coalition and the SNP in Glasgow on Friday to | :48:13. | :48:16. | |
reiterate Westminster's legal position on the referendum and his | :48:16. | :48:26. | |
:48:26. | :48:33. | ||
role. This is a matter of law. If you are an officer, law is your job. | :48:33. | :48:39. | |
Under the Scotland Act, I have some statutory functions. | :48:39. | :48:46. | |
The Advocate General is in our Edinburgh studio for us now. In at | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
stressing this role that you have, it is supposed to be legal rather | :48:50. | :48:55. | |
than political. If you're interested in purely legal terms, | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
if your objective is to secure the competency of the referendum, you | :48:59. | :49:06. | |
should have offered that protection without any conditions. Let us | :49:06. | :49:15. | |
celebrate the two things. -- separate. I gave a your lecture. | :49:15. | :49:25. | |
:49:25. | :49:25. | ||
That is what I delivered. -- a law lecturer. I said that is why the | :49:25. | :49:29. | |
Scottish Parliament doesn't have the competence to take forward the | :49:29. | :49:39. | |
:49:39. | :49:43. | ||
Bill, and the document sets out why the Government should also be fair | :49:43. | :49:49. | |
and decisive. The argument I was putting forward was very much a | :49:49. | :49:58. | |
legal one, but I of asleep support government policy. -- but I | :49:58. | :50:05. | |
obviously support. Would to be obliged to challenge it through | :50:06. | :50:15. | |
judicial review? That is a hypothetical situation. Is it part | :50:15. | :50:22. | |
of your statutory role to challenge this? What is your position? If you | :50:23. | :50:28. | |
look at section 33 of the Scotland Act, he will find the Attorney | :50:28. | :50:34. | |
General, the Lord advocate and myself can each individually take a | :50:34. | :50:44. | |
:50:44. | :50:46. | ||
bill... Are you are obliged to?... Cannot take it to the Supreme Court. | :50:46. | :50:56. | |
:50:56. | :50:57. | ||
Every bill is overlooked that. -- every bill is looked that. Who can | :50:57. | :51:07. | |
:51:07. | :51:09. | ||
actually do this? There was a case last year which involved accident | :51:09. | :51:19. | |
:51:19. | :51:21. | ||
and insurance. Him coming to their decision, the Supreme Court | :51:21. | :51:28. | |
indicated that what qualified people to have interest, will be | :51:28. | :51:34. | |
much wider. That is the point are had been trying to make: We want to | :51:34. | :51:38. | |
avoid that situation. The Scottish and UK governments would agree that | :51:38. | :51:44. | |
an issue as important as this, the last thing we want to have is | :51:44. | :51:49. | |
having these issues boiled down to a legal wrangle in court. If there | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
is a way forward, we should be exploring that. I think we are | :51:54. | :52:02. | |
making progress. What specifically? The Scottish government is not | :52:02. | :52:09. | |
adverse to using a section 30 order, Mr Swinney said that the priority | :52:09. | :52:13. | |
of the Scottish government was to have a single question, there has | :52:13. | :52:16. | |
been a suggestion in the press today that the Scottish government | :52:16. | :52:22. | |
might not be so insistent on extending to 16 and 17-year-olds, | :52:22. | :52:29. | |
and we heard on Friday evening that the role of the electoral | :52:29. | :52:32. | |
commission is one the Scottish government would be willing to | :52:32. | :52:42. | |
accept. I think there is a lot to discuss. And nothing has been | :52:42. | :52:50. | |
firmed up for you at this point? As we go into these discussions, can I | :52:50. | :52:56. | |
ask you, how comfortable is it for you personally, as a federalist, | :52:56. | :53:01. | |
someone who has signed his Scottish Claim of Right, someone who has | :53:01. | :53:07. | |
campaigned all his life for federalism, how comfortable is it | :53:07. | :53:17. | |
for you personally to oppose this on a referendum paper? Confusing | :53:17. | :53:21. | |
two separate issues on a referendum pay-per- would lead to confusion. | :53:21. | :53:28. | |
Therefore I think it would be better that we can actually decide | :53:28. | :53:32. | |
the question which the Scottish National Party will put forward in | :53:32. | :53:40. | |
his manifesto. Once that question is decided, I hope we will remain | :53:40. | :53:50. | |
:53:50. | :53:50. | ||
part of the UK. It will make it easier for us to go forward. I want | :53:50. | :53:55. | |
to enhance the powers of the Scottish Parliament. It is easier | :53:55. | :54:03. | |
to argue that case. Are you saying that to you signed the Scottish | :54:03. | :54:08. | |
Claim of Right, but it is now your judgment that they are not smart | :54:08. | :54:13. | |
enough to work out a referendum? That is not what I'm saying. I | :54:13. | :54:19. | |
signed that Claim of Right. And that produced a blueprint for the | :54:19. | :54:25. | |
Scottish Parliament. The Scottish people voted for that. That is the | :54:25. | :54:34. | |
settlement we have a. Scottish people will have the opportunity to | :54:34. | :54:38. | |
decide whether it they will wish to remain part of the United Kingdom | :54:38. | :54:45. | |
or not. I hope that they do value feelings we have with the rest of | :54:45. | :54:50. | |
the UK, and that we can move on to see how we can improve. Let us | :54:50. | :54:55. | |
remember as well there is a Bill before Parliament this coming week | :54:55. | :55:03. | |
which will enhance the powers of the Scottish Parliament as well. | :55:03. | :55:06. | |
Simon Hughes has been saying there should be an English Parliament. Do | :55:06. | :55:15. | |
you agree? I am agnostic as to whether it the English have one | :55:15. | :55:21. | |
Parliament or not. I note that if we are looking at decentralisation, | :55:21. | :55:26. | |
I have never been persuaded that an English Parliament would give you | :55:26. | :55:33. | |
that degree of decentralisation. I will let my English colleagues | :55:33. | :55:41. | |
worked a tub. You don't see a little bit of a paradox there? | :55:41. | :55:51. | |
work that out a. We are talking about a settlement agreed by the | :55:51. | :55:58. | |
Scottish people in 1997, where some things were resolved -- devolved to | :55:58. | :56:04. | |
Westminster, and others at the to the Scottish Parliament. I am | :56:04. | :56:09. | |
heartened by the progress there has been made. That is a sensible way | :56:09. | :56:13. | |
forward, and we should not end up with these matters being dragged | :56:13. | :56:20. | |
through the courts. The referendum goes through the civil process, but | :56:20. | :56:27. | |
can I transfer now to the criminal process. I am talking about cases | :56:27. | :56:37. | |
ending up in the Supreme Court. Lord Hamilton says "they should | :56:37. | :56:47. | |
:56:47. | :56:49. | ||
have the same process as the High Court". You said that you remain to | :56:49. | :56:55. | |
be persuaded that that. Why? I had a consultation of this last year, | :56:55. | :57:03. | |
and in terms of the response as we got, the views were expressed that | :57:03. | :57:08. | |
they should not be that certification. When Lord McCluskey | :57:08. | :57:13. | |
consulted on that, there was a wide range of opinion which said that | :57:13. | :57:21. | |
certification it should not be there. There our legal issues here, | :57:21. | :57:28. | |
but I give evidence to the Scottish Parliament that the reason it was | :57:28. | :57:34. | |
brought in, when a right of appeal to the House of Lords in 1961 | :57:34. | :57:39. | |
criminal matters was introduced, it was for purely administrative | :57:39. | :57:46. | |
reasons. No one is suggesting that the Supreme Court, on a narrow | :57:46. | :57:53. | |
issue of whether a -- own appeal should go that way, we will have | :57:53. | :58:00. | |
this debate in the House of Lords. Lord McCluskey has tabled | :58:00. | :58:06. | |
amendments. I will give proper consideration to the further | :58:06. | :58:09. | |
representations letter from the Lord President, and I can | :58:09. | :58:17. | |
anticipate that the debate will be well informed. The Government does | :58:18. | :58:24. | |
not guarantee a majority either. It is a genuine that legal issue, and | :58:24. | :58:30. | |
they are different views from legal opinion on this. We will have a | :58:30. | :58:39. | |
very healthy debate. Let me just ask you - the Lord President is | :58:39. | :58:44. | |
saying this is an appropriate way to go. He is also saying "we will | :58:44. | :58:54. | |
:58:54. | :58:55. | ||
do as Lord McCluskey be recommended a". Are you concerned that the | :58:55. | :58:57. | |
Scottish bench will block cases that should be referred to the | :58:57. | :59:07. | |
:59:07. | :59:08. | ||
Supreme Court? -- as Lord McCluskey recommended. There is a genuine | :59:08. | :59:14. | |
scope here for debate. That will take place in the House of Lords. | :59:15. | :59:21. | |
But we are not comparing like with like. In England and Wales, it is | :59:21. | :59:30. | |
the whole criminal justice system that is no doubt, in terms of | :59:30. | :59:40. | |
:59:40. | :59:40. | ||
Scottish issues, is the apex. There would be an appeal to the House of | :59:40. | :59:45. | |
Lords, so we are not comparing like with like. | :59:45. | :59:52. | |
Still with me are the MSPs Humza Yousaf and Ken Macintosh. Let us | :59:52. | :00:02. | |
pick up this idea of an English Parliament. What you think of that? | :00:02. | :00:12. | |
I thought that the paradoxes were spot on. He said that those north | :00:12. | :00:18. | |
of the border should not be commenting on an English Parliament. | :00:18. | :00:24. | |
Yet, he is more than content to have Westminster colleagues | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
interfering. I think English people should have their own Parliament | :00:29. | :00:36. | |
and representation, they are a very proud nation. Do you think there is | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
a stage in this process in which people south of the border should | :00:40. | :00:50. | |
:00:50. | :00:53. | ||
be consulted? The UK government and Parliament will have to make a | :00:53. | :01:00. | |
decision, because legally, the decision rests with them. They will | :01:00. | :01:10. | |
:01:10. | :01:13. | ||
have to vote on it. As to the decision, it is a Scottish one. | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
Lib Dems are saying there has to be a process in which there is some | :01:19. | :01:26. | |
reflection of what is happening in England. At the time of devolution, | :01:26. | :01:36. | |
:01:36. | :01:37. | ||
English people were consulted. rejected the Scottish model. They | :01:37. | :01:47. | |
:01:47. | :01:54. | ||
The think the SNP should join in? Labour has been arguing that Alex | :01:54. | :02:00. | |
Salmond has been reluctant to engage with the other parties bus- | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
stop the has asked the Prime Minister to see in six or seven | :02:03. | :02:13. | |
:02:13. | :02:14. | ||
times. The Scottish Labour will get involved in the consultation that | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
will be launched on Wednesday. One top of that, I am sure when the | :02:18. | :02:28. | |
:02:28. | :02:28. | ||
referendum is held there will be plenty of talks. What stage are we | :02:28. | :02:35. | |
at here? I do not believe there are in for more formal talks. The | :02:35. | :02:42. | |
opposition parties are in a position where would like to reach | :02:42. | :02:49. | |
out. We would like to embrace civic Scotland, the trade unions, in | :02:49. | :02:57. | |
discussions. We want to involve everybody. Why, if you will not | :02:57. | :03:03. | |
allow at devolution Max question. This is about independence. They | :03:03. | :03:11. | |
were not elected to deliver devolution Max. If you are going to | :03:11. | :03:17. | |
listen to civic society, at the Church of Scotland committees, you | :03:18. | :03:24. | |
have already made up your mind. The SNP says very clearly are | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
questioned his independence. But we will listen to civic society. They | :03:28. | :03:38. | |
:03:38. | :03:40. | ||
are asking to discuss the devilish and Max. -- devolution max. We have | :03:40. | :03:43. | |
always supported abolition. We do not need to discuss it with anybody. | :03:44. | :03:51. | |
The only thing we have to agree on is whether we should be independent. | :03:51. | :04:00. | |
You are not sure whether you will get away with it. | :04:00. | :04:05. | |
Do you not get any sense at all that the electorate are signing up | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
for this? Can I just say, we are discussing this, the Scotland Bill | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
has not gone through yet. It delivers a whole lot of new powers | :04:14. | :04:21. | |
for Scotland. All I'm saying is it has not even been implemented yet. | :04:21. | :04:25. | |
We do not even have a date for the referendum, and you are talking | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
about post the referendum that we do not know the date of, what the | :04:29. | :04:35. | |
questions might be. I am sorry, but the only people bringing up | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
independence are the SNP, so why don't we resolve that? Then we | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
could have a decent discussion about evolution. You would do very | :04:45. | :04:51. | |
well to listen to Malcolm Chisholm, who says you need to get off the | :04:51. | :04:57. | |
Scotland Bill as quickly as possible. | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
Those comments were not met with a slammed door. Do you think there's | :05:02. | :05:10. | |
a chink of light going into this question? It is so unimportant | :05:10. | :05:17. | |
compared with the issue of independence. We just had terrible | :05:18. | :05:25. | |
economic news this week, about unemployment. We cannot even get at | :05:25. | :05:32. | |
clear statement from the SNP on their policy. Talking about that | :05:32. | :05:38. | |
terrible news, Ed Miliband said the Tory cuts are appropriate. Did he | :05:38. | :05:46. | |
top two Joanne landmark before he said that? -- did he talk to Johann | :05:46. | :05:52. | |
Lamont? I think these are difficult times and back pain has to be | :05:52. | :05:59. | |
shared. We are not unrealistic about this. So you think the cuts | :05:59. | :06:05. | |
are appropriate and proportionate? That is not what we said. We want | :06:05. | :06:12. | |
to address unemployment first and foremost. They are not delivering a | :06:12. | :06:19. | |
budget that creates jobs. Thank you very much. | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
Who will get a vote in the independence referendum? There is a | :06:24. | :06:30. | |
debate about 16 and 17 year-olds. Both governments seem to agree that | :06:30. | :06:36. | |
a system based on residency should be used. That would mean thousands | :06:36. | :06:41. | |
of Scots outside Scotland would not get to vote and could also exclude | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
some Scottish soldiers based in England. | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
Gordon Henderson is Scottish, his wife is English and has lived in 10 | :06:49. | :06:55. | |
years. They will both get aboard in the independence referendum, but | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
Gordon's Scottish brother and sister living in England might not. | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
They would like to vote on the future of their country. I think it | :07:02. | :07:08. | |
should be extended to Scott living outside Scotland. I think it should | :07:08. | :07:18. | |
:07:18. | :07:19. | ||
be extended to all people in the There are separate systems for the | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
Scottish and Westminster elections. The local government and parliament | :07:23. | :07:31. | |
franchise is mainly based on franchise is mainly based on | :07:31. | :07:36. | |
residency. The general election is largely the same, except EU | :07:36. | :07:46. | |
:07:46. | :07:48. | ||
The local government and Scottish parliamentary franchise was used in | :07:48. | :07:57. | |
the 1997 devilish in referendum. -- devolution. The government's | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
largely agree about who should Ford in a Scottish referendum. They say | :08:01. | :08:05. | |
it is the same as those who should boat in a Scottish Government | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
election. That is determined primarily by presidents and bike | :08:10. | :08:20. | |
:08:20. | :08:24. | ||
One man has launched a campaign to allow people to vote who are living | :08:24. | :08:32. | |
outside Scotland. If I was living in New York, living in France, why | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
can I vote for my Scottish MP yet am being denied the board for the | :08:36. | :08:44. | |
biggest question of all on independence? -- the vote. | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
campaign was raised in the Scottish Parliament by a Labour MP. But the | :08:48. | :08:54. | |
SNP say it would be too complicated to extend it? If the system is | :08:54. | :08:57. | |
based on residency, what would it mean for Scottish troops based in | :08:57. | :09:07. | |
:09:07. | :09:08. | ||
England? Members of the public eye usually registered where their | :09:08. | :09:13. | |
Barack start. This is probably the time to think how the referendum | :09:13. | :09:19. | |
affects your long-term pretensions, will it increase or diminish your | :09:19. | :09:25. | |
intention to retire to Scotland when you leave the armed forces? | :09:25. | :09:28. | |
Will you consider registering in the constituency where you have a | :09:29. | :09:36. | |
connection? The electoral commission says the service | :09:36. | :09:44. | |
personnel have already collected two bought in England. -- elected | :09:44. | :09:51. | |
to vote. The burning question for people in Hamilton College is | :09:51. | :09:59. | |
whether people of the rate will get to vote. The SNP are in favour. -- | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
People of they age. The coalition government do not want to allow | :10:03. | :10:09. | |
them the board. It could be a sticking point between Holyrood and | :10:09. | :10:18. | |
Westminster. Opinion is divided. do not know what I tipped that | :10:18. | :10:25. | |
we're not got a laugh about it. -- we do not know enough about it. | :10:25. | :10:33. | |
think we should be allowed to have our say. Legislation paving the way | :10:33. | :10:38. | |
for the referendum will ultimately decide who gets the vote. Those | :10:38. | :10:45. | |
Scot living outside the country will need to wait a bit longer. | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
The Westminster government is thinking of introducing a tax on | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
obesity. Our reporter has been to Drumchapel to investigate whether | :10:53. | :11:00. | |
putting a levy on junk food could actually changed our reading habits. | :11:00. | :11:08. | |
-- change our eating habits. With 33 % of Scots now obese, public | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
health experts are warning that unless it is tackled, obesity could | :11:12. | :11:18. | |
cost Scotland �3 billion per year. If we do nothing, the evidence is | :11:18. | :11:26. | |
very strong that obesity will increase substantially. To protect | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
the public and their health service, Denmark has slapped our flat tax on | :11:31. | :11:40. | |
food such as milk, cheese and beats up. -- a fat tax on pizza. Will it | :11:40. | :11:50. | |
:11:50. | :11:52. | ||
work here? It will oblige manufacturers to change the recipes. | :11:52. | :11:56. | |
Here in Drumchapel community centre, locals are taking part in a cookery | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
programme designed to change their attitude to food. Despite a range | :12:01. | :12:03. | |
of healthy-eating initiatives, Glasgow as some of the highest | :12:03. | :12:10. | |
death rates from heart disease in the world. Do the women here think | :12:10. | :12:17. | |
attacks would help? If a bag of crisps was to rise, it would not | :12:17. | :12:27. | |
:12:27. | :12:29. | ||
discourage me. It is sometimes cheaper to buy an active pizzas. -- | :12:29. | :12:39. | |
:12:39. | :12:41. | ||
buy a pizza. It will not solve the problem. They need education. | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
they are taxing the junk food, they should use the money to subsidise | :12:45. | :12:49. | |
healthier food. The Scottish Government is working with the food | :12:49. | :12:55. | |
industry business to cut obesity. One of the local GPs believes more | :12:55. | :13:01. | |
needs to be done to tackle the bigger picture. It would be an | :13:01. | :13:07. | |
assault on the poor. The UK Government is considering | :13:07. | :13:16. | |
introducing this tax. Is our love affair meaning we cannot afford to | :13:16. | :13:21. | |
not take action? With me is Amanda Hamilton and | :13:21. | :13:31. | |
:13:31. | :13:31. | ||
Brenda Sowny. Thank you for coming in. Would an obesity tax work? | :13:31. | :13:41. | |
:13:41. | :13:43. | ||
on its own. It would actually make people who live very poor, it could | :13:43. | :13:49. | |
net the work if there was other things in place, but not overnight. | :13:49. | :13:57. | |
-- maybe work. The Danish are saying there is no disadvantage but | :13:57. | :14:03. | |
there are less of a margin between salary levels. Is it a problem that | :14:04. | :14:11. | |
they are cheaper? Education, people do not understand how bad this book | :14:11. | :14:21. | |
:14:21. | :14:22. | ||
can affect you. If they do not have money to do a big shock, -- big | :14:22. | :14:31. | |
shop, they are going to buy what is on their doorstep. In theory this | :14:31. | :14:39. | |
is fantastic, but in practice people cannot afford it. We also | :14:39. | :14:47. | |
need to attack sugar to make a genuine impact. I also think those | :14:48. | :14:57. | |
:14:58. | :14:58. | ||
working on the ground know that it cannot work in isolation. It needs | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
to be ring-fenced. We need to do something bold, we are the fattest | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
nation in Europe. Whatever we are doing is not enough. It is sending | :15:07. | :15:14. | |
the message that food manufacturers need to step up to the mark. Nobody | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
advertises bananas and apples. It is carbohydrate and refined, | :15:20. | :15:30. | |
:15:30. | :15:34. | ||
Do you think that it is slightly patronising to say to certain | :15:34. | :15:43. | |
sections of society "don't eat that". There have been a lot of | :15:43. | :15:48. | |
campaigns. I think it is wrong to say "changed the way you are | :15:48. | :15:58. | |
:15:58. | :16:02. | ||
living". If they can get access to fresh fruit and vegetables, then it | :16:02. | :16:07. | |
is a wrong to presume that somebody living on a low income is obese, | :16:07. | :16:12. | |
and they need to change their way of life. You are running a project | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
in which three fruit and vegetables were being distributed. Do you have | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
concerns that in this current economic climate, that is the sort | :16:23. | :16:31. | |
of very practical, basic initiative that could be hit? We have had huge | :16:31. | :16:35. | |
funding cuts in the last three years, it so we do not give out | :16:35. | :16:43. | |
freak fruit and vegetables. So we give out low-cost crude and | :16:43. | :16:53. | |
:16:53. | :16:59. | ||
vegetables. -- fruit and vegetables. One supermarket is costly, so | :16:59. | :17:05. | |
people do use it. It also helps in different ways, such as a | :17:05. | :17:14. | |
volunteering. There are a lot of different things it does. The | :17:14. | :17:22. | |
Government have not withdrawn putting fresh fruit in. Part of | :17:22. | :17:31. | |
this money could be used to fund this. You cannot say a backward we | :17:31. | :17:41. | |
:17:41. | :17:43. | ||
are in centre rising health"and then raise the money elsewhere. -- | :17:43. | :17:53. | |
you cannot say we are in centre rising health. It is people that | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
are giving up their time, like yourself, that one need to be | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
supported more. It has got to be in schools, it has to become more | :18:01. | :18:11. | |
:18:11. | :18:16. | ||
important in Scotland. It will only get worse. If you look and economic | :18:16. | :18:26. | |
:18:26. | :18:30. | ||
problem, or why elect somebody already impoverished? It is only a | :18:31. | :18:38. | |
downward spiral. When we look at the most basic responses, it in -- | :18:38. | :18:44. | |
is at his basic as cookery classes in schools? I worked on a panel | :18:44. | :18:53. | |
recently talking about home economics. The Cross family impact, | :18:53. | :19:02. | |
that we have seen, I was saying, why not have sex at up a bit? I | :19:02. | :19:06. | |
think we should engage with children in a much more modern way. | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
Why not incentive as health end a different way? I have got three | :19:11. | :19:19. | |
children I am feeding at home, and you cannot say"come on children, | :19:19. | :19:29. | |
:19:29. | :19:32. | ||
step up". It is about linking the different parts together. They do | :19:32. | :19:37. | |
both very much. And now here's the lunchtime news | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
with Andrew Kerr. Good afternoon. The Deputy Prime | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
Minister has called on the Scottish Government to provide basic answers | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
on their plans for an independent Scotland. Speaking on the BBC's | :19:47. | :19:49. | |
Andrew Marr Show, Nick Clegg rejected calls for an English | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
Parliament made by the Liberal Democrats' Deputy leader, Simon | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
Hughes. The Scottish Government says details of the referendum will | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
be released on Wednesday, but Mr Clegg says there are fundamental | :20:00. | :20:07. | |
issues about independence itself. At a time when the central argument | :20:07. | :20:12. | |
is about the wisdom of wrenching Scotland out of the UK, let us | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
focus on that debate, and let us get the SNP to provide basic | :20:16. | :20:26. | |
:20:26. | :20:27. | ||
answers. They would be able to provide answers, and that is what | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
we should focus on. Police in Inverness searching for a | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
missing teenage boy have found a body. Scott Campbell, who is 16, | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
was last seen in the city in the early hours of yesterday morning. | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
The body has not yet been formally identified, but Scott's family have | :20:40. | :20:41. | |
been made aware of the circumstances. | :20:41. | :20:44. | |
Scientists at the Beatson Institute in Glasgow say they have created | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
the first 3D image of a protein which protects against cancer. If | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
the protein stops functioning properly, cells divide too often, | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
which can lead to the disease. The team hope their images will assist | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
the development of new drugs. Now let's take a look at the | :20:58. | :21:08. | |
:21:08. | :21:14. | ||
A colt, breezy afternoon. A lot of dry weather across the country, | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
particularly across central, southern and eastern Scotland. Some | :21:18. | :21:25. | |
showers pulling him across the northern isles. These are showers | :21:25. | :21:33. | |
are fewer than it yesterday. Temperatures peaking at 7-8 Celsius. | :21:33. | :21:38. | |
That is your forecast. That's all for now. Our next | :21:38. | :21:44. | |
bulletin is at 18:50pm, but for now, Thanks, Andrew. Now, in a moment, | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
we'll be discussing the big events coming up this week at Holyrood, | :21:47. | :21:57. | |
:21:57. | :21:59. | ||
but first, let's take a look back at the week in sixty seconds. | :21:59. | :22:05. | |
People in Scotland are out of work. The Finance Secretary calls for a | :22:05. | :22:15. | |
:22:15. | :22:16. | ||
new cook wide job summit. -- for a UK-wide. | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
The brakes will be included in these hours, and although the | :22:20. | :22:29. | |
ambulance service remains committed to ensuring staff are rested, all | :22:29. | :22:36. | |
teams will be available to attend emergency calls. | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
The Lib Dems say Scotland's top civil servant is cheerleading for | :22:41. | :22:46. | |
the SNP. Ministers say he has acted within the Civil Service code of | :22:46. | :22:56. | |
conduct. The downfall of Labour's social media, Tom Harris, as he | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
compared Alex Salmond to Hitler was an unhelpful describe the action. | :23:00. | :23:04. | |
On Wednesday, as the First Minster takes to his feet to unveil the | :23:04. | :23:06. | |
details of the SNP's consultation on the referendum, it's a fair | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
guess the press gallery will be a bit fuller than normal. | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
This week, we have invited a couple of ex MSPs on to give us their take | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
on the week ahead. We're joined by the former Labour MSP, Des McNulty, | :23:16. | :23:25. | |
and for the SNP, Shirley Anne Somerville. His life outside that | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
building refreshing, enjoyable? is interesting to not be part of it, | :23:30. | :23:38. | |
I have to save. It is a lot more friendly! If we look at what is | :23:38. | :23:43. | |
coming up, we have got the discussion on the Budget coming up, | :23:43. | :23:48. | |
and we have heard from Crawford Beveridge about the council tax. Do | :23:48. | :23:56. | |
you think this phrase is sustainable,? I think we will have | :23:56. | :24:00. | |
a situation where elections are coming up, the freeze has been | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
geared towards those elections. Nobody wants to put tax up in | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
advance of elections, but after that, councils will have very | :24:09. | :24:13. | |
serious problems maintaining services, social care, education | :24:13. | :24:21. | |
and so on. It will create a huge difficulties. Do you think people | :24:21. | :24:31. | |
:24:31. | :24:31. | ||
will be willing to pay for about �1 a week for social services? | :24:31. | :24:37. | |
problem is the people with the biggest houses are gaining the most. | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
I don't know Airth Sir Fred could win still has his house in the | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
Grange, but he would be a great beneficiary. But other people in my | :24:47. | :24:55. | |
constituency would get nothing back. In that way, it is unfair. Should | :24:55. | :25:03. | |
so Fred keep his knighthood? don't think so. I think he deserves | :25:03. | :25:13. | |
:25:13. | :25:14. | ||
to have some pay back. Looking at it from the outside, do you think | :25:14. | :25:21. | |
this is sustainable in the longer term? It was sustainable in the | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
last Parliament when I was an MSP. It is a fully funded by the | :25:26. | :25:31. | |
Scottish government to local councils. What has caused the | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
problems is the Scottish Grand being cut by Westminster. We need | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
to look at why social services are under pressure, and why people are | :25:41. | :25:46. | |
losing their jobs and the public sector. That is not because of a | :25:46. | :25:48. | |
council tax freeze, it is because the Scottish government does not | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
have enough money any more, because that has been cut by Westminster. | :25:53. | :25:59. | |
When you look at the no compulsory redundancies, all that happens, we | :25:59. | :26:05. | |
are now told, it is a third this section of people go because they | :26:05. | :26:09. | |
have chances to go elsewhere, and then what is left, there can be | :26:09. | :26:15. | |
huge gaps in provisions if you are running that approach. Do you | :26:15. | :26:20. | |
accept that these redundancies does not give us the best structure for | :26:20. | :26:27. | |
providing public services? It is very important for the families | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
throughout Scotland. You have to look at it why the Government is | :26:30. | :26:34. | |
wanting to do this. We need to protect the families in the public | :26:34. | :26:37. | |
sector to ensure at we are not saying people hit even harder by | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
what is happening. People are going through difficult things with their | :26:42. | :26:46. | |
families, and at this package does not go through, people would like | :26:46. | :26:51. | |
to see that - they want to see the Government protecting people's jobs, | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
they don't want to see the Government adding to unemployment. | :26:55. | :27:00. | |
That is why it is such a critical issue for us. If we look at the | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
referendum question, and the wider view on this, how are the different | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
parties are playing this? I they appropriately representing the | :27:09. | :27:19. | |
:27:19. | :27:19. | ||
views of the people? I think we are at just the start of the prose is. | :27:19. | :27:27. | |
Might view is that Alex Salmond is a gambler. He wants to put forward | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
the single question on independence, but he also wants a question in | :27:32. | :27:38. | |
there third allows them to push a different issue forward. The fair | :27:38. | :27:46. | |
thing to do is to have a simple referendum. Yes or no to | :27:46. | :27:53. | |
independence. What Alex Salmond needs to do is explain to people | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
what that means in terms of the constitutional status of Scotland, | :27:57. | :28:02. | |
or what will happen in terms of currency, what happens to big | :28:02. | :28:07. | |
companies like RBS and other companies in Scotland who, if they | :28:07. | :28:17. | |
:28:17. | :28:17. | ||
were to remain Scottish, would need to be bailed out. These are big | :28:17. | :28:22. | |
questions. Alex Salmond needs to explain the answers to those. | :28:22. | :28:27. | |
Clegg is also saying that they know the questions, but not the answer | :28:27. | :28:37. | |
:28:37. | :28:38. | ||
is. Is that there? No. I find it strange that it is fair to not ask | :28:38. | :28:43. | |
the people a question. People want a government who listens to | :28:43. | :28:49. | |
different opinions about there. The SNP have said their first option is | :28:49. | :28:56. | |
independence. That is what I want as an individual. If there is a | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
boys' of opinion about there that wants to see a different question, | :29:00. | :29:06. | |
then surely you should see a government that listens to that. -- | :29:06. | :29:12. | |
voice of the opinion. I thought that was what democracy was about. | :29:12. | :29:19. | |
It could be a union safety net as well? If you wanted to go down a | :29:19. | :29:23. | |
route of debating how you extend devolution, there is a perfectly | :29:23. | :29:31. | |
legitimate way to do that. You need to work your way through what that | :29:31. | :29:37. | |
actually means. The problem is that Birt Alex Salmond is trying to tie | :29:37. | :29:47. | |
it into his independence referendum. He has tried to have it both ways. | :29:47. | :29:53. | |
Should there be an English Parliament? That is a question up | :29:53. | :29:59. | |
to the English people themselves. I had we get an opportunity for the | :29:59. | :30:09. | |
:30:09. | :30:10. |