25/11/2012 Sunday Politics Scotland


25/11/2012

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Welcome to The Sunday Politics. As Rotherham heads for a by-election

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on Thursday, the Labour-run Council is engulfed by a row over the

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decision of its social services department to remove three children

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from their foster parents because the couple were members of UKIP. We

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will be talking to a former Children's Minister in our top

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story. This week marks the 70th

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anniversary of the Beveridge Report, which gave us the welfare state.

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But is it now time to build a new welfare state? Liam Byrne, Labour's

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Work and Pensions spokesman, joins us for the Sunday Interview.

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And to regulate or not to regulate the press by statute. That is the

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burning question the Prime Minister will have to answer this week, when

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Leveson reports on Thursday. The two sides go head to head.

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And on Sunday Politics Scotland... Could you afford to pay for your

:01:25.:01:28.

defence if you are charged with a crime? Holyrood wants to cut the

:01:28.:01:38.
:01:38.:01:38.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1601 seconds

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Legal Aid budget. So who picks up What ever plan is sketched out, it

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:28:30.:28:30.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1601 seconds

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10 us never forget, you cannot really talk about a free press and

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the situation. I a lot of this was to do with the behaviour of the

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newspaper group with which you were involved. There are plenty of laws

:34:34.:34:44.

already in place. Except the press still behaves disgracefully the way,

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for instance, it has treated the McCann family. Why does it deserve

:34:53.:34:58.

another chance in the last-chance saloon, when you have been drinking

:34:58.:35:08.
:35:08.:35:08.

in there for 60 years and nothing has changed? Their recent cases,

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but not instantly recent. The newspaper industry is not going to

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go back down that road. There are other ways of dealing with

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miscreants and cases of bad conduct. There could be a system of press

:35:35.:35:45.
:35:45.:35:46.

regulation by the press, but not run by them, but run by outsiders.

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That they said, we are going to behave ourselves, everyone would

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say that is OK. But the lesson is that that that does not get a deer

:35:55.:36:05.
:36:05.:36:07.

to. When it comes to the lock, you can only make use of the lot if you

:36:07.:36:14.

are incredibly rich. But what about people who are attacked to do not

:36:14.:36:24.
:36:24.:36:25.

have any money. That has to be stopped. They will lose conditional

:36:25.:36:30.

fee arrangements, which was the only way that people who had no

:36:30.:36:39.

money could get redress. The E East have access, the swift response and

:36:39.:36:49.
:36:49.:36:49.

guaranteed action by the newspapers are to act upon what they were told,

:36:49.:36:53.

in you lot would not force the police to do anything we did not do

:36:53.:37:03.
:37:03.:37:05.

in the past. To suggest that the rules put forward will work is just

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nonsense. It is just a contract between the press which the press

:37:09.:37:19.
:37:19.:37:25.

will not enforce. The is no barrier to entry at all. He is there is.

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Every newspaper war have an ombudsman. There will be forced to

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act swiftly. But they will be hired by the press. The law. Is it will

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not be. The proposals which have been put forward to say that. If

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you have not seen them, I will give you a copy of them. The full thing

:37:54.:38:04.
:38:04.:38:06.

is actually quite a long report. Thank you for that. It is all there.

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But this is the Mafia getting together. It is not the Mafia.

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when we talk about the disgraceful treatment of the McCann family by

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some British tabloids, will that not happen again. Mr X will always

:38:29.:38:39.
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be made. -- mistakes will always be made. But there will never be a

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case like that of the McCann family ever again. Their report is

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Good morning and welcome to Sunday Politics Scotland. Coming up on the

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programme... If you ended up in a criminal court,

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could you afford a lawyer? Changes set to come in will mean fewer

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:39:15.:39:15.

people will qualify for legal aid. The Justice Secretary says the

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small not undermine access to justice. And I will be finding out

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how a skills shortage in the renewables sector threatens

:39:30.:39:34.

Scotland's energy targets. And will Spain and Catalonia live

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happily ever after? We will be live in Barcelona, the day they go to

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the polls. Could you afford to pay for your

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defence if you are charged with a crime? The government wants to make

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more people stump up, but critics say they are targeting those who

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can least afford it. So is this a simple tweak in the Legal Aid Bill

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or a dangerous challenge to access to justice? Hayley Jarvis is at

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Glasgow Sheriff Court. If you end up in here, will you be

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able to afford to pay for a lawyer? The criminal legal aid bill last

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year was �98 million. The Scottish government says this has to change

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and more people will have to come up with the cash.

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Under their plans people who, at the moment, would get their defence

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costs paid will face bills of hundreds of pounds. And if you have

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a disposable income of more than �68 a week, you are in the frame

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here. Lawyers are threatening to strike

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over the plans, but those who support the bill say the Justice

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Secretary has to balance the books somehow. He has made the policy

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choice that he wants to provide civic legal aid. I personally think

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it is the decent thing to do. We are any recession.

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So who will have to pay? Not those on benefits would fall below the

:40:59.:41:02.

threshold and not middle income families, who would not qualify for

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criminal legal aid anyway. Critics of the plans say it is

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those who can least afford it - people who are working, but do not

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make much money. Now is is about access to justice. It is about the

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21-year-old on the minimum wage who would be represented in court, but

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who might not be. It is not a contribution, it is the removal of

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legal aid. The government wants to save �3.9

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million on the criminal legal aid budget, saying the system must

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become more efficient. They insist the changes will widen access to

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justice. But their critics say they will have the opposite effect. They

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are predicting chaos in the courts with more people defending

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themselves and innocent people pleading guilty because they cannot

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:42:00.:42:06.

afford a defence. Very often, people do not have sympathy for a

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solicitor's. But there is the case that a fair trial could be

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interfered with and this is a test of the Scottish legal system.

:42:18.:42:21.

Everyone in Scotland has a legal right to a fair trial. For a

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government hoping to save money, the cost of denying people an

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adequate defence could prove extremely expensive in the appeal

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courts. Just before we came on air, I spoke to Justice Secretary Kenny

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MacAskill, who was in our Edinburgh studio, and suggested to him there

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was an obvious danger that access to justice would be compromised.

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do not believe so. What we have got to remember is that the legal-aid

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budget was the second highest on record. Two-thirds of that was

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spent on criminal legal aid. We have been faced with massive cuts

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from London and we have to look at the role of every organisation. We

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need to preserve the integrity of the legal system - not go down the

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road of south of the border where you cannot get legal aid for a

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whole range of things - and that is why we support the principle of

:43:26.:43:30.

contributions to the victims of domestic violence, there should be

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contributions from the alleged perpetrators. These contributions

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would be the same. There is obviously a legal obligation on you

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to run a system which guarantees a fair trial. If we look at the

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potential consequences of what you are proposing, if people plead

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guilty because they feel they cannot afford legal aid, that is

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one issue. Another one is that if people defend themselves and come

:44:02.:44:06.

up against a professional prosecutor and a thrill weight of

:44:06.:44:10.

the government prosecuting machine, you are saying you have no concerns

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about this would breaching fair trial considerations? Nor, I do not.

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I do not want to be where we are, but we have the huge legal-aid

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:44:34.:44:35.

budget and we are facing huge cuts. We need to have a shared burden. 82

:44:35.:44:41.

% of people who apply for work legal-aid do not have to make a

:44:42.:44:49.

contribution. After that, the contributions would be fairly minor.

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This has been made clear by Parliament, why should the victim

:44:53.:45:01.

of domestic violence have to pay for getting a protection order when

:45:01.:45:06.

the alleged perpetrator does not have to pay? That has been a

:45:06.:45:10.

manifest injustice in Scottish legal aid. We are going to change

:45:10.:45:15.

that. We want to create a level playing field. As I said, the vast

:45:15.:45:19.

majority will not have the contribution to pay and others will,

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but it will be assessed on their ability to pay and, in most cases,

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the contributions will be modest. That way, we protect the integrity

:45:30.:45:33.

of the system and there is no evidence that similar systems which

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operate elsewhere that justice is interfere with. It is the 20 % that

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you are talking about who will be called on to contribute. It could

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be argued that people who are regularly in court to not have jobs

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and a guaranteed to fall below this threshold. It is low income

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families who will be most affected by this. For example, someone with

:46:03.:46:12.

an income of �160 a week will pay �473 as the contribution to the a

:46:12.:46:17.

legal aid. That is just a few pounds short of the entire fixed

:46:17.:46:27.
:46:27.:46:30.

fee. That is not a contribution figure which is known to me. Back

:46:30.:46:34.

interior of someone who earns more than �200 who will have nothing to

:46:34.:46:44.
:46:44.:46:44.

pay. The figures you for what are not recognisable to me. It does

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seem to me that there has to be some parity. At the moment, we're

:46:53.:46:57.

getting children who have to be taken into care should have to pay

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a contribution. Victims of domestic violence should not have to pay

:47:04.:47:10.

when the alleged perpetrator does not. They should have to pay. It is

:47:10.:47:19.

wrong that they should not be in the victim should have to. What

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:47:29.:47:32.

about the expenses park? We are never had that system in Scotland.

:47:32.:47:37.

He faced the sanction that the court pits upon you. It is not a

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question of expenses. For instance, someone who is privately paying

:47:42.:47:52.
:47:52.:47:52.

would not get any costs back. someone defends himself in court

:47:52.:47:58.

and Barnes really expensive court time and if it turns out you have

:47:58.:48:03.

to then go to the Appeal Court, this amount in savings will be a

:48:03.:48:10.

drop in the ocean? That is right. If the scenario panned out that way,

:48:10.:48:20.
:48:20.:48:23.

but the evidence from elsewhere is that there are not many more people

:48:23.:48:30.

appealing. There are always some people who choose to appear

:48:30.:48:37.

unrepresented in Scotland. But evidence from elsewhere suggests

:48:37.:48:47.
:48:47.:48:48.

that people do not become more unrepresented. Are you reviewing

:48:48.:48:58.
:48:58.:48:59.

the threshold? He yes, they are. This threshold is the same

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threshold for a similar legal aid. I have made it clear I would like

:49:02.:49:08.

to see an increase in the threshold. It would be manifestly unfair if

:49:08.:49:12.

the victim of domestic violence should have to pay a higher

:49:12.:49:15.

contribution than the alleged perpetrator. I am prepared to

:49:15.:49:20.

increase that threshold. We will have discussions with the loss

:49:20.:49:25.

society on that. But we have no more money for that, so it will

:49:25.:49:30.

have to come out of the legal aid budget. Her which she described

:49:30.:49:35.

you're relationship with Scotland's solicitors, who are threatening to

:49:35.:49:42.

go on strike again. I do not like to see us and the situation. But we

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are having to cope with cuts from Westminster. I do not like to see

:49:48.:49:53.

injustice anywhere. But we have to come to terms with the consequences

:49:53.:49:58.

of cuts from Westminster and we have to look at that budget. The

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budget from my office says that legal aid will have to be cut by

:50:06.:50:12.

seven % in its budget. But that compares with a cut of 17 % south

:50:12.:50:22.
:50:22.:50:26.

of the border. The but it will mean that we retain all the situations

:50:26.:50:34.

where back people will still be able to get legal redress. He know

:50:34.:50:38.

that in civil actions you can get expenses and you can get damages

:50:38.:50:48.

from that. Do you accept that you where it defence solicitor that you

:50:48.:50:55.

will be astonishing them with this proposal? You can have your

:50:55.:51:01.

children taken from year by the powers that are available and the

:51:01.:51:05.

consequences that up apply to civil matters. I have never

:51:05.:51:09.

underestimated the amount of trauma in relation to the likes of

:51:09.:51:17.

domestic violence. There is a manifest injustice there. A work

:51:17.:51:27.
:51:27.:51:27.

legal-aid budget is the highest ever. 14 legal firms received over

:51:27.:51:35.

�1 million from legal aid. But it is their own fixed fees and this

:51:35.:51:41.

idea that they are all making money hand over fist is not right. If

:51:41.:51:45.

they are learning that, they are doing it the requisite number of

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cases. I have not seen the are a earning money hand over fist.

:51:52.:51:58.

suggesting we are in difficult times and the need to take a share

:51:58.:52:06.

of that band that burden. We will protect those who need to be

:52:06.:52:10.

protected. That goes for the victims as well as the perpetrators.

:52:10.:52:19.

Thing to very much. -- thank you very much.

:52:19.:52:22.

A leading engineering company has called on the Scottish government

:52:22.:52:25.

for help to bridge a skills gap in the renewables sector. This comes

:52:25.:52:28.

as a report from Holyrood's energy committee says that gap and other

:52:28.:52:32.

key areas are hurdles to ambitious green energy targets. It is hoped

:52:32.:52:34.

the equivalent of 100% of Scotland's electricity needs will

:52:34.:52:37.

be generated from renewable sources by 2020. There are some flashing

:52:37.:52:45.

images at the beginning of this report. Degree is a bright future

:52:45.:52:53.

in a growing industry for these apprentices. But training from this

:52:53.:53:02.

college courses not enough to get people up to scratch. We would like

:53:02.:53:05.

them to be here for the remainder of the week that there is no

:53:05.:53:11.

funding mechanism for that to happen. We need to do more tough

:53:11.:53:21.
:53:21.:53:21.

bridge that gap. It is agreed that the skills gap could hurt the

:53:21.:53:31.
:53:31.:53:34.

industry. Some environmental groups say that the targets are to

:53:34.:53:42.

bureaucrat of too bureaucratic and counter-productive. We want to be

:53:42.:53:48.

good places for communities and to his arm. There is adequate space

:53:48.:53:57.

for us to be developing an infrastructure. That was not a few

:53:57.:54:05.

shared by everybody. The committee took the view that the independence

:54:05.:54:15.
:54:15.:54:19.

debate was not having a negative The Scottish government see the

:54:19.:54:23.

report as a vindication of their green policy. It is about

:54:24.:54:33.

generating income for communities, jobs for many people in the nation.

:54:33.:54:37.

Not 18,000 as the First Minister stated, then corrected this week.

:54:37.:54:42.

Of those jobs will be subsidised by households across the UK.

:54:42.:54:46.

Westminster makes clear how much that bill will be in the future.

:54:46.:54:53.

are investing into cream -- green energy. At the moment it is 2% of

:54:53.:54:58.

people's bills by 2020 it will be 7%. Infighting has made the

:54:58.:55:06.

decision about setting green targets has been delayed until

:55:06.:55:13.

after the next election. Ed Davey has been diminished and his

:55:13.:55:20.

defensive about this delay. Opposition parties have been angry

:55:20.:55:26.

that targets have not been made. Crucial hurdles need to be met

:55:27.:55:35.

before they can be achieved. Joining me from our Dundee studio

:55:35.:55:43.

is Mike Weir and the MSP Tavish Scott. Mike, if we look at the

:55:43.:55:49.

subsidy structure, how much is a problem is to secured long-term

:55:49.:55:51.

investment if there is not a certainty about the subsidy

:55:51.:55:58.

structure coming out of Westminster. Investors want to know the long-

:55:58.:56:02.

term structure because these investments are for the long term.

:56:02.:56:06.

The energy bill has put forward a new structure, we have yet to see

:56:06.:56:11.

the detail. There are already worries about how which will work

:56:11.:56:15.

and whether the price for Nuclear will be higher than for offshore

:56:15.:56:21.

wind. We need to detail this to see how we go forward. We need -- we

:56:21.:56:27.

are keen to build up renewable energy. But we need to have the

:56:27.:56:32.

structure correct. Tavish Scott, access to the grade is being called

:56:32.:56:37.

for, but it looks as if the islanders will not get reduced

:56:37.:56:43.

costs at this stage? Yes, that issue needs to be resolved. But

:56:44.:56:49.

Shetland has agreed to set up a working group to tackle the

:56:49.:56:56.

island's issues. The two governments should work together on

:56:56.:57:00.

this vitally important thing, that renewables coming into Scotland can

:57:00.:57:05.

feed into the grid. The regulator is right to roll-up -- to insist

:57:05.:57:10.

that happens at a cost which does not put this projects in jeopardy.

:57:10.:57:15.

De you feel that the independence to pay -- debate is itself creating

:57:15.:57:21.

controversy and putting off investors? That is the view of

:57:21.:57:24.

Scottish and Southern Electricity, one of the biggest players in the

:57:24.:57:32.

industry. Their views, the industry views, are more cautious than the

:57:32.:57:42.
:57:42.:57:42.

political ones. It means that there is uncertain future simply because

:57:43.:57:51.

why could England rely on this, they could purchaser from anywhere.

:57:51.:57:55.

Is there evidence that the debate in itself, or where energy would be

:57:55.:58:01.

bought from in the future, would be a problem? No, there is none. If

:58:01.:58:08.

you look at a Viva, who invested in Scotland to build wind turbines.

:58:08.:58:15.

England will still need energy. Maybe -- Tavish Scott Scott says

:58:15.:58:22.

maybe they won't buy it from Scotland, who knows. But Scotland

:58:22.:58:26.

has a huge black -- potential for renewable energy. The capability

:58:26.:58:33.

gap between what is produced and what is needed within Great Britain

:58:33.:58:43.

is producing. But Scotland can continue to sell energy to the rest

:58:43.:58:53.

of the UK. It is not unusual to sell energy across Borders. Tavish

:58:53.:59:02.

Scott, let me ask you about the other potential hurdles, is the

:59:02.:59:07.

planning or training? The crucial issue is training. We have had a

:59:07.:59:12.

discussion over college funding in recent weeks. Your report

:59:12.:59:17.

illustrated the need for funding of colleges. It has been cut in

:59:17.:59:21.

government -- in Scotland by the Scottish government. I want the

:59:21.:59:27.

government to get their ducks in a row. I think it is right to have

:59:27.:59:31.

these desirable long-term targets but they also have the -- have to

:59:31.:59:37.

have the other building blocks in place, the skills. The college

:59:37.:59:40.

sector is under pressure from the government and they need to be

:59:40.:59:47.

given the flexibility to get on. Mike comedy next accept that there

:59:47.:59:57.
:59:57.:59:57.

is a problem with training at this point? -- Mike, do you accept.

:59:57.:00:02.

should look at what the oil and gas industry are doing. They have their

:00:02.:00:07.

own training bodies. People in my constituency are getting

:00:07.:00:13.

apprentices. It is a competitive industry and there are crossovers

:00:13.:00:18.

between it the renewable industry and oil and gas. It is not only the

:00:18.:00:22.

government, the industry itself also should look at how it trains

:00:22.:00:29.

up the skills that it needs. What about construction and generation,

:00:30.:00:33.

what you think the picture is at the moment at the moment? In

:00:33.:00:39.

different parts of Scotland, is there enough of a spread? Projects

:00:39.:00:44.

are delivered by individual companies making assessments of the

:00:44.:00:51.

best capabilities. In other words, where it is best to put wave and

:00:51.:01:00.

tidal energy. The West Coast and the Northern Isles of Scotland are

:01:00.:01:07.

important in terms of the ways and tides. In terms of the construction

:01:07.:01:12.

contracts, would that have to be a these localised places, or could

:01:12.:01:17.

there be a better spread? I don't think it is for the government to

:01:17.:01:22.

start laying down will wear Industry decides where it wants to

:01:22.:01:27.

build wind turbines Towers or other infrastructure that they need for

:01:27.:01:31.

these projects. We didn't tell Aberdeen to become the offshore

:01:31.:01:38.

centre of Europe. The industry did that. That's the way it should be.

:01:38.:01:43.

Mike, we are out of time but do you think you'll meet your electricity

:01:43.:01:49.

target by 2020. We will, in a way we have already exceeded our

:01:49.:01:52.

interim target and there is a bright future for renewal energy in

:01:52.:02:02.
:02:02.:02:03.

Scotland. Coming up after the news, we visit

:02:03.:02:06.

the Spanish region of Catalonia as voters go to the polls as the

:02:06.:02:09.

governing party seek a mandate to hold their own referendum. Let's

:02:09.:02:19.
:02:19.:02:22.

cross now for the news with Maxine Good afternoon. One woman has died

:02:22.:02:31.

and hundreds have been driven from their homes in storms. Scotland has

:02:31.:02:41.
:02:41.:02:41.

form -- has borne the brunt of the weather. -- the South West.

:02:41.:02:46.

The rain has stopped but the market town of Malmesbury is under three

:02:46.:02:49.

feet of water. People had to be rescued from the worst floods in

:02:50.:02:57.

decades. We had around eight or nine inches on Wednesday night.

:02:57.:03:03.

Everybody has said they had never seen anything like this before.

:03:03.:03:11.

Dozens of businesses have been -- homes have been left under water.

:03:12.:03:20.

All we could do was mark the position of the flood water. At the

:03:20.:03:24.

height of the storm, high winds brought down the streets in Exeter.

:03:24.:03:28.

A woman had been camped in the tent underneath. Two men were also

:03:28.:03:33.

injured. It was the south-west which bore the west of the

:03:33.:03:41.

overnight rain. At one point there were four severe flood warnings in

:03:41.:03:46.

this county. There are still more than 200 alerts in place. In Devon,

:03:46.:03:51.

hundreds of homes were deluged by the floodwaters, with the residents

:03:51.:03:56.

using any means to keep the flood waters down. It is coming in all

:03:56.:04:02.

the rooms. The flood waters may have begun to recede for now, but

:04:02.:04:11.

there is more to come. Another band of heavy rain is expected.

:04:11.:04:15.

Our correspondent is in Cornwall where the river burst its bank --

:04:15.:04:18.

its banks. More bad weather on the way?

:04:18.:04:23.

Yes, and things were pretty bad last night in the whole of Cornwall.

:04:24.:04:30.

Overnight, the river levels here rose dramatically, resulting in a

:04:30.:04:34.

severe flood warning, the most severe that the Environment Agency

:04:34.:04:38.

give. That has been downgraded in the last hour. The skies are still

:04:38.:04:43.

looking pretty leaden. The rain it may have stopped but we know that

:04:43.:04:48.

more bad weather is on the way. A fresh weather system is due to come

:04:48.:04:54.

through bringing more rain to the south-west and heavy and persistent

:04:55.:04:59.

rain to the north-west of England and the north of Wales this

:04:59.:05:02.

afternoon. A new law criminalising stalking

:05:02.:05:07.

has come into effect in England and Wales today. Those convicted will

:05:07.:05:13.

face up to six months in jail. The change followed a parliamentary

:05:13.:05:17.

inquiry which showed that 120,000 people, mostly women, are stalked

:05:17.:05:22.

every year. People have died in a clothing

:05:22.:05:27.

factory fire in Bangladesh. People jump from windows to escape the

:05:27.:05:37.
:05:37.:05:44.

blaze. It was in the capital. Good afternoon. BAE Systems could

:05:44.:05:48.

decide to close one of their major shipyards next month. The future of

:05:48.:05:50.

Govan, Scotstoun and Portsmouth are in doubt after the completion of

:05:50.:05:53.

two new aircraft carriers. The chief executive has warned

:05:53.:05:56.

manufacturing may stop at one of the sites. BAE are in discussions

:05:56.:05:58.

with ministers about the future - union leaders say they're

:05:58.:06:08.
:06:08.:06:09.

apprehensive. We have had talks with the company and that has been

:06:09.:06:15.

the suggestion. In reality, the sooner the decision is made, the

:06:15.:06:19.

better. It is just fuelling speculation.

:06:19.:06:22.

Scottish Women's Aid is launching a campaign to highlight why women do

:06:22.:06:25.

not leave violent homes when they're being abused. It's called

:06:25.:06:28.

Together We Can Stop It and looks at ways the public can stop abuse.

:06:28.:06:31.

Victims' real stories have been recorded and released on the

:06:31.:06:36.

charity's website. Rugby - and Andy Robinson has

:06:36.:06:39.

stepped down as Scotland coach. The Scottish Rugby Union made the

:06:39.:06:42.

announcement in the last hour. Yesterday's defeat to Tonga was the

:06:42.:06:45.

19th in Robinson's 35 matches in charge and comes at the end of a

:06:45.:06:49.

calendar year which began with the RBS Six Nations wooden spoon.

:06:49.:06:59.
:06:59.:07:02.

After all the fine weather yesterday, a rather dull affair. A

:07:02.:07:07.

lot of rain around central Scotland and eastern Scotland. That will go

:07:07.:07:17.

into the North Sea. It would turn to snow near Aberdeen. A trying

:07:17.:07:26.

picture from the West. It will fill rather cold today under all that

:07:26.:07:32.

cloud temperatures will go to about six Celsius. We are picking up a

:07:32.:07:42.
:07:42.:07:44.

fresh northerly wind across the Now it is that time of the day

:07:44.:07:48.

where we take a look back at the highlights of the Week in 60

:07:48.:07:54.

Seconds. It was a wet start to the week for

:07:54.:07:57.

many people across Scotland, with flooding causing major disruption

:07:57.:08:00.

to roads and towns. The further education saga

:08:00.:08:02.

continued, when Education Secretary Mike Russell apologised to MSPs for

:08:02.:08:09.

giving wrong information on college budgets.

:08:09.:08:11.

MSPs from Scotland's three largest opposition parties launched their A

:08:11.:08:14.

New Union plan, to find agreement on further powers for Holyrood if

:08:14.:08:21.

Scots vote no to independence. Labour's Michael McMahon was banned

:08:21.:08:23.

from the chamber for a day after heckling the Speaker, Tricia

:08:23.:08:28.

Marwick. Mr McMahon said he felt the punishment did not fit the

:08:28.:08:38.
:08:38.:08:48.

crime. Order! Order! I would ask you to withdraw it that remark.

:08:48.:08:51.

And no agreement on the European Union's budget. Prime Minister

:08:51.:08:56.

David Cameron insisted the deal on offer "was not good enough".

:08:56.:08:59.

The people of Catalonia vote today after a bitter and hard-fought

:08:59.:09:03.

campaign dominated by the issue of independence from Spain. The

:09:03.:09:06.

elections were called by Catalan president Artur Mas, in a bid to

:09:06.:09:09.

get a mandate for a referendum, something the government in Madrid

:09:09.:09:14.

has ruled out. But there has been a furious response, with one Spanish

:09:14.:09:17.

newspaper accusing Mr Mas of corruption just a week before the

:09:17.:09:27.
:09:27.:09:30.

poll. Our political correspondent is in Barcelona. Sealed with a kiss.

:09:30.:09:40.
:09:40.:09:42.

A happy couple celebrate their wedding day. Modern Spain was

:09:42.:09:52.
:09:52.:09:55.

united. Their political successors have fallen out. President Artur

:09:55.:10:00.

Mas called for a referendum to get the mandate on independence. It was

:10:00.:10:10.
:10:10.:10:11.

rejected by Madrid. A sea of red and yellow Catalan flags came out

:10:11.:10:19.

demanding a new place within the country. Even if he does get

:10:19.:10:26.

support at the ballot box, it does not mean it is going to happen. The

:10:26.:10:31.

Spanish constitution blocks the road to independence. Independence

:10:31.:10:41.
:10:41.:10:44.

campaigners say they need to have their say. TRANSLATION: We need to

:10:44.:10:54.
:10:54.:10:57.

be given the chance. Things got rather messy after a leading

:10:57.:11:07.
:11:07.:11:13.

newspaper accused Artur Mas of corruption. Companies are come here

:11:13.:11:19.

because what it is like and have people find that the government is

:11:19.:11:29.
:11:29.:11:32.

putting up walls around the region, it would be catastrophic. Those in

:11:32.:11:36.

favour of independence hope that the vote goes their way and the

:11:36.:11:44.

force Spain to give them a fort on independence few. What kind of

:11:44.:11:51.

result is expected? What are the early indications? It is clear

:11:51.:11:59.

enough that there will be a majority in favour of independence.

:11:59.:12:06.

The real question is whether Artur Mas gets the out right majority he

:12:06.:12:14.

needs. He is having to deal with these corruption allegations. He is

:12:14.:12:21.

accusing the Spanish President of been behind these allegations. But

:12:21.:12:25.

of course, there are also having to deal with their share of the

:12:25.:12:35.
:12:35.:12:38.

austerity of which is gripping all of Spain. As Scotland been

:12:38.:12:45.

mentioned in this? Yeah, it is very interesting. Artur Mas has called

:12:45.:12:55.
:12:55.:13:02.

for an Alex Salmond style push for independence. Now, at regarding the

:13:02.:13:06.

NATO situation, they have become very clear on this, as opposed to

:13:06.:13:11.

Scotland, when Alex Salmond became very defensive when asked on the

:13:11.:13:21.
:13:21.:13:21.

issue. Thank you for that. Sorry that we were slightly off sink on

:13:22.:13:29.

that report. We will have to leave it there. We will get early polling

:13:29.:13:33.

and L indications of their results later this evening.

:13:33.:13:37.

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