:00:00. > :00:00.the Commonwealth games, and with Scotland playing host, we asked,
:00:00. > :00:09.what impact if any it will have on the upcoming referendum in The Games
:00:10. > :00:13.People Play. There has never been a summer like
:00:14. > :00:21.it. Glasgow host the 20th Commonwealth Games. And Great
:00:22. > :00:29.Britain have won the gold for the team sprint. Let us not forget, that
:00:30. > :00:32.is the fifth gold medal. Scotland's's best athletes will get
:00:33. > :00:35.the chance to compete at one of the world's great sporting events two
:00:36. > :00:39.months before we get the chance to decide on the future of our country.
:00:40. > :00:42.When it comes to sport, issues of political and national identity can
:00:43. > :00:46.become the source of real tension and disagreement. I remember one of
:00:47. > :00:52.the English officials saying that this is strictly Team GB. This is
:00:53. > :01:01.Great Britain boxing. You are not Scottish. I am an absolutely proud
:01:02. > :01:04.Scot. But I am also a proud Briton. Will this summer of sport make any
:01:05. > :01:16.difference to the future of Scotland?
:01:17. > :01:24.John Beattie, number eight. What a game he has played today!
:01:25. > :01:28.My name is John Beattie. For the last 20 years, I have worked as a
:01:29. > :01:32.journalist and broadcaster. But for sports fans, I guess I am still best
:01:33. > :01:35.known for the eight short years when I played Rugby Union for Scotland.
:01:36. > :01:39.Tonight, I want to bring those combined experiences together. To
:01:40. > :01:47.look at what happens when my world of sport collides with the world of
:01:48. > :01:55.politics. Beattie goes! Out goes Scott Hastings. And Scott Hastings
:01:56. > :02:00.has scored! What a magnificent... I have been lucky enough to play rugby
:02:01. > :02:06.at a high level. And then, as a commentator, attend many of the
:02:07. > :02:09.world's great sporting events. When I was a youngster, I loved
:02:10. > :02:11.simplicity and purity of sport. I didn't have a problem when
:02:12. > :02:14.politicians should up at big sporting occasions. After all,
:02:15. > :02:17.events like the Commonwealth Games are paid for out of our taxes. And
:02:18. > :02:22.we hold all other political leaders accountable. So they need to be
:02:23. > :02:25.involved. But has sport become tainted by the political world's
:02:26. > :02:28.cynicism and manipulation? Totally exhausting. I was just
:02:29. > :02:33.watching. Completely and utterly emotionally spent. Andy Murray is a
:02:34. > :02:37.great tennis player. Now he is a great Wimbledon champion.
:02:38. > :02:41.Politicians of all parties are now happy to get a free ride on the back
:02:42. > :02:45.of our sporting heroes. From us, to the people of Scotland, let the
:02:46. > :02:54.message be this. We want you to stay. Let's have a look at these.
:02:55. > :03:00.Rugby Union. I was proud to play for Scotland 25 times before my career
:03:01. > :03:04.was ended by injury. It meant I didn't get the chance of playing in
:03:05. > :03:07.what was perhaps the most famous and, to many certainly, the most
:03:08. > :03:09.political game in history. In 1990, England and Scotland had both
:03:10. > :03:14.already beaten Ireland, Wales and France. If either side won at
:03:15. > :03:18.Murrayfield, that would achieve what in rugby is known as a Grand Slam.
:03:19. > :03:24.And I think that day was about far more than just rugby. And welcome to
:03:25. > :03:28.the commentary box at Murrayfield... That year, Scotland was in political
:03:29. > :03:31.turmoil. Tens of thousands of Scots had taken to the streets to protest
:03:32. > :03:33.against Margaret Thatcher's dreaded poll tax.
:03:34. > :03:36.It was the first time Flower of Scotland had been played at
:03:37. > :03:43.Murrayfield on a big game. # Oh, flower of Scotland.
:03:44. > :03:48.# When will we see your likes again? #.
:03:49. > :03:52.You could see it meant something to the crowd and the players. There was
:03:53. > :03:55.something happened in the stadium that day. I think it changed the
:03:56. > :03:58.relationship between Scotland and England, certainly on a rugby level.
:03:59. > :04:05.Maybe on a deeper level. But something happened that day. The
:04:06. > :04:14.referee's whistle goes for the end of the game, and Scotland have won a
:04:15. > :04:17.famous victory! One of the unique occasions in rugby union football!
:04:18. > :04:21.And Scotland have won by 13`7. And the scenes of euphoria here! Rugby
:04:22. > :04:25.legend, David Sole, lead us to victory that day. 24 years later,
:04:26. > :04:31.David is convinced that politics and sport should be kept apart. Even
:04:32. > :04:35.though he is an active supporter of Better Together. A remember one team
:04:36. > :04:47.talk when it was about me punching somebody... The thing is, you as
:04:48. > :04:50.David Sole, you are the man who walked the team out of the tunnel
:04:51. > :04:53.down there. And there have been books written. The books say that
:04:54. > :04:56.was political. The whole game was political. It is complete and utter
:04:57. > :05:00.nonsense as far as I am concerned. Clearly, if you wanted to beat them.
:05:01. > :05:03.And there was nothing other than defeating England that afternoon
:05:04. > :05:05.that I wanted more than anything else. But the poll tax was
:05:06. > :05:08.irrelevant. Thatcher's government was irrelevant. When Scotland played
:05:09. > :05:11.England, I would sing Flower of Scotland. I would sing God Save The
:05:12. > :05:19.Queen. Because I am a proud Briton. I am an incredibly roads got, but a
:05:20. > :05:23.proud Briton as well. But some athletes are as ready to fight for
:05:24. > :05:34.independence as they work to fight for their country. Amazing, Alex
:05:35. > :05:42.South `` amazing Alex Arthur started training in the same gym in Leith
:05:43. > :05:46.where he now trains his son. I thought I had made it, being hit by
:05:47. > :05:52.an Irish rugby player, and then you are boxing for your country, what
:05:53. > :05:56.was that like? Unbelievable, boxing against England, who better to play
:05:57. > :06:01.your first international match against, I think I was 13 or 14, and
:06:02. > :06:05.it seemed like the biggest thing that had ever happened in my life. I
:06:06. > :06:16.never lost an international against England. That was great.
:06:17. > :06:22.Thank you very much to Scott's gold medallist, Alex Arthur, and the sole
:06:23. > :06:27.tyre being waved in triumph. At the 1988 Commonwealth games, Alex says
:06:28. > :06:33.he was warned not to emphasise he was Scottish if you wanted to fight
:06:34. > :06:36.at the Olympics two years later. I was told by a top English official
:06:37. > :06:42.prior to the podium that I should not take my sole tyre if I was
:06:43. > :06:47.seriously thinking about my future Olympic prospects. `` my Saltire.
:06:48. > :06:53.Eye had won a medal for Scotland and I would wave the flag in front of
:06:54. > :06:59.the world media. Let someone know I was Scottish and not British. Being
:07:00. > :07:09.picked to represent your nation against the old enemy can be
:07:10. > :07:13.intoxicating. `` Auld Enemy. This game has had nastiness and the
:07:14. > :07:19.referee will want to sort this out. It became part we are fitting that
:07:20. > :07:23.microwave hitting an Englishman became part of tactics. One player
:07:24. > :07:27.to a phone call and he was looking at me and put the phone down and
:07:28. > :07:32.said it was his brother and reckons John Beattie should punch one of the
:07:33. > :07:37.English players. And I'm going, Norway, but all the rest of the
:07:38. > :07:47.players said good idea. `` I'm going, no way. So it is tactics that
:07:48. > :07:50.I was to hit a friend of mine. We went on the pitch and I was so
:07:51. > :07:57.excited that I ran into one by mistake, he was six foot eight, he
:07:58. > :08:06.fell down... A bit of an adamant there. Looking back, I think I was
:08:07. > :08:11.mistaken, but you think you were going to war for your country in the
:08:12. > :08:16.ring? On seven occasions, I did, definitely. Especially in the
:08:17. > :08:19.Commonwealth Games, because you knew the world was watching and you were
:08:20. > :08:26.competing for Scotland, not for anyone else, it was not for Team GB
:08:27. > :08:31.or for monetary reasons, or to get sponsors, you were fighting for your
:08:32. > :08:39.country, you had the blue vest on, you wanted to win for Scotland, you
:08:40. > :08:45.cannot get bigger. But it was not all glory days in the blue jersey.
:08:46. > :08:51.We played Australia. I chased a bloke down the wing, it ended up
:08:52. > :09:02.being on the opening highlights for five seasons. William rugby! ``
:09:03. > :09:09.brilliant rugby! Will John Beattie catching? And another marvellous
:09:10. > :09:13.Australian try! I went to work on the Monday and every single labourer
:09:14. > :09:21.was shouting, you were rubbish, you were Shi'ite! So I had to hundred
:09:22. > :09:25.metres of everybody on the building laughing at me stop and I went to
:09:26. > :09:30.the canteen and there was a wee girl and she asked what I was having, I
:09:31. > :09:35.said I was not hungry, I said I would have a cup of coffee and a
:09:36. > :09:44.Mars bar. She said, David doesn't eat Mars bars. Spin and the
:09:45. > :09:50.manipulation of public opinion has now come much closer to home. I do
:09:51. > :09:55.not love sport as much as I used to love it. When you are in the middle
:09:56. > :09:59.of it as a player, you believe it to be something beautiful and through
:10:00. > :10:03.and representing your country, winning and losing, but the more
:10:04. > :10:07.events you go to you realise it is to do with show, spectacle, phoney
:10:08. > :10:15.war, people unloading flights for crowds to wave. Anthems, new
:10:16. > :10:19.anthems, it has now become one great big show, it is a party, big
:10:20. > :10:24.events, big sporting events I think our party now. Connie Ramsey was
:10:25. > :10:28.kind enough to show me some basic judo moves last year and is going
:10:29. > :10:35.for gold in Scotland this year in the Commonwealth Games.
:10:36. > :10:40.Fighting for my country, for Scotland, is a big achievement for
:10:41. > :10:45.me, especially with the games coming up and having your own crowd behind
:10:46. > :10:52.you, your family being able to be there, it will be out of this world.
:10:53. > :10:56.She has little doubt that a winning performance on how home`grown could
:10:57. > :11:01.have ramifications we're beyond the personal. If you win the gold medal
:11:02. > :11:06.and you are out there in a Scottish tracksuit, you are crying, holding
:11:07. > :11:11.the Thistle, proud to be Scottish, what a day this is for me, someone
:11:12. > :11:16.will say, yes, we can be an independent country. 20 people at
:11:17. > :11:20.least will say they will vote yes. Yes, but winning the gold medal is
:11:21. > :11:28.more reporting to me at this stage of my life and career. Owning it for
:11:29. > :11:33.my team. And your country. Della but for my country and my family and a
:11:34. > :11:38.video therapist. The men who run the Olympics have
:11:39. > :11:42.always opposed any attempt to allow politics to affect the purity of the
:11:43. > :11:47.games. The other games are geographical. The Olympic games are
:11:48. > :11:53.universal. But all do the same thing. The Commonwealth games happen
:11:54. > :11:57.to come from a political unit, but for any sports official, it is about
:11:58. > :12:03.bringing young people together and involving them in sport. I was
:12:04. > :12:07.speaking to Alex Arthur, the boxer, who said he was not allowed to see
:12:08. > :12:12.he was doing this for Scotland, there was a message, the Bull told
:12:13. > :12:16.what to say. He would be told what to say in that respect, in that
:12:17. > :12:21.there is a clear International Olympic Committee ruled that
:12:22. > :12:25.athletes may not use the game or any form of political purposes. I have
:12:26. > :12:29.experience of athletes turning up wanting to wear Scottish flags at
:12:30. > :12:32.the Olympic Games, which are not allowed by International Olympic
:12:33. > :12:36.Committee rules. To that extent, they are told they may not cover
:12:37. > :12:40.that issue and they do not allow them to speak of that. But apart
:12:41. > :12:47.from that, they can do what they wish. Even though he insists there
:12:48. > :12:50.is no place for politics and sport, he is willing to a server that an
:12:51. > :12:59.independent Scotland would not be able to compete at the 2016 Olympic
:13:00. > :13:02.Games in Rio. The country has to be an independent nation recognised by
:13:03. > :13:09.the international community. If Independence Day is to be March,
:13:10. > :13:16.18th of March 2016, and the games that in July 2016, I simply do not
:13:17. > :13:21.know how long it would take to get recognition by the United Nations.
:13:22. > :13:27.So I think the timing is against a Scottish team in Rio. So campaigning
:13:28. > :13:31.for a yes vote in the independence referendum may mean Connie Ramsay
:13:32. > :13:37.would miss out on the sporting opportunity of a lifetime.
:13:38. > :13:40.If Scotland was independent, and you could not compete for Team GB, would
:13:41. > :13:47.you still want to be an independent country? I would have to say yes,
:13:48. > :13:52.because although I am looking for my future and want to make the games,
:13:53. > :13:57.my goals since I was a child, I am also looking at the future for other
:13:58. > :14:00.athletes, not just getting independence for me, but make
:14:01. > :14:03.Scotland the best country it can be and if this benefits as cotton can
:14:04. > :14:10.have their own Olympic country and may be `` benefits Scotland. And
:14:11. > :14:17.maybe my kids can fight for Scotland, I think that will be good.
:14:18. > :14:23.It is what I am hoping for. So do you think Scotland would have a team
:14:24. > :14:27.at 2016? They would miss on the basis of adhering to Olympic rules
:14:28. > :14:34.and simply they would be timed out. But wouldn't you fight as a Scot to
:14:35. > :14:38.get them in? I was not, I was proud to be chairman of the Olympic
:14:39. > :14:42.Association and elite athletes in Scotland are being served very well
:14:43. > :14:46.by membership of Team GB. They have benefited hugely from the very large
:14:47. > :14:52.amounts of UK funding that is available. And they are now less of
:14:53. > :14:58.proud Scots to win Olympic gold medals.
:14:59. > :15:02.Just how political will these Commonwealth Games be?
:15:03. > :15:07.It's pretty obvious why politicians want to be up there with athletes,
:15:08. > :15:11.they want the reflected glory, it has gone on since time began,
:15:12. > :15:14.probably. They want to have that gold dust
:15:15. > :15:22.sprinkled onto them, they want to be viewed as being? I
:15:23. > :15:24.think they want to be thanked. Footballer turned Yes campaigner's
:15:25. > :15:26.Michael Stewart's proudest moment was playing in a Scottish shirt.
:15:27. > :15:29.For me it is simple, it is a case of self`determination.
:15:30. > :15:32.Once you realise the resources and the wealth we have in Scotland, it
:15:33. > :15:36.is a simple question of who's best placed to put it in the best use.
:15:37. > :15:39.I think without a shadow of a doubt, the people here
:15:40. > :15:41.in Scotland are the ones best to do that rather than the elite
:15:42. > :15:44.in Westminster who are increasingly showing to be detached from the rest
:15:45. > :15:45.of England, never mind Scotland. Stewart.
:15:46. > :16:04.No problem at all, really, is it? The ultimate achievement is to go
:16:05. > :16:07.and represent your country and thankfully I was able to do
:16:08. > :16:09.that, and got a couple of caps at international level.
:16:10. > :16:12.When you stand there and the national anthem is being played,
:16:13. > :16:30.you take a second to yourself and realise this is the ultimate.
:16:31. > :16:33.Michael may have only stopped playing a few years ago, but he has
:16:34. > :16:37.been quick to learn the new rules of political point scoring.
:16:38. > :16:39.A lot of people in Scotland are scared.
:16:40. > :16:41.They say, what happens, are we big enough?
:16:42. > :16:46.Can we stand on our own two feet? There is no reason why we can't.
:16:47. > :16:48.With sport, you can increase the belief
:16:49. > :16:52.and confidence in yourself and not away a lot of the scaremongering.
:16:53. > :16:56.These are a lot of things that at times, you look at the Edinburgh
:16:57. > :17:11.trams, for example. Massively overbudget,
:17:12. > :17:13.we cut sells up about it. But we have to applaud ourselves
:17:14. > :17:16.at times. The Commonwealth games is
:17:17. > :17:19.on time and on budget and these things have to be applauded.
:17:20. > :17:23.It is the exposure to the rest of the world to see what Scotland
:17:24. > :17:26.is, it is a vital time in history as well and it is an exciting time.
:17:27. > :17:29.So much at stake, it is natural nothing is left to chance.
:17:30. > :17:32.I first saw what a big sporting event was like when I first went to
:17:33. > :17:33.the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. It was huge, massive.
:17:34. > :17:36.100,000 people at the cricket ground, sunny days
:17:37. > :17:38.every time and great programs. Beautiful place, wonderful events
:17:39. > :17:40.great weather, everyone is there. No drugs.
:17:41. > :17:46.And what you end up with is interviewing people whose you
:17:47. > :17:51.see have been media trained. What I hadn't expected was
:17:52. > :17:59.the choreography could even extend to the way the athletes behaved
:18:00. > :18:04.on the podium. I interviewed a swimmer
:18:05. > :18:12.and she said how she was fed up. I said, you look perfectly chirpy.
:18:13. > :18:22.She said, I got podium training. She said, even if you lose the race,
:18:23. > :18:28.you are viewed around the world as an Australian,
:18:29. > :18:30.you have to get out the poll, which attracted on, get
:18:31. > :18:34.on the podium and smile like crazy. Wave to the right and left
:18:35. > :18:37.in middle, even if you win bronze. It struck me, why are we teaching
:18:38. > :18:39.people how to behave on a podium? What is that really to
:18:40. > :18:41.do with modern sport? What it takes away is
:18:42. > :18:43.the spontaneity. The reality, the truth,
:18:44. > :18:46.the humanity of this great person who has done this
:18:47. > :18:48.since they were seven years old. We have athletes been trained
:18:49. > :18:51.to be like politicians. They're now talking
:18:52. > :18:54.the way politicians do. Thankfully at the London Olympics
:18:55. > :18:58.there was the odd athlete who didn't follow the script.
:18:59. > :19:01.Remember 16`year`old Michaela Maroney,
:19:02. > :19:05.who won bronze in gymnastics when she was expected to get gold
:19:06. > :19:17.and who clearly had not get the memo about how to behave on the podium.
:19:18. > :19:20.It was refreshing to see her. But the interesting thing is also
:19:21. > :19:24.that Obama used that to help himself by saying the same thing.
:19:25. > :19:27.There you have the person who is acting the least politically
:19:28. > :19:38.correctly on the podium being used for a political message by a leader.
:19:39. > :19:47.What goes around comes around. But at London, the usual was
:19:48. > :19:49.tightly choreographed, shiny happy people making the country swoon.
:19:50. > :19:58.I saw people handing out union flags.
:19:59. > :20:00.Not everyone who came had bought Union flag,
:20:01. > :20:02.so where do they all come from? Why were they handed out to
:20:03. > :20:04.the crowd? What did it do to
:20:05. > :20:21.the background image? Was it a political display?
:20:22. > :20:30.Who will benefit in the long`term from the games? It will benefit
:20:31. > :20:35.people in Glasgow because of the facility build that has been going
:20:36. > :20:38.on. The challenge then is to make sure the host city knows how to make
:20:39. > :20:45.use of them there after and makes full use of them and gets people to
:20:46. > :20:51.take part in sport. The depressing part is that even after events like
:20:52. > :20:57.the London Olympics, public participation in sport appears to
:20:58. > :21:00.actually go down. As you and I sit here in government, I can't imagine
:21:01. > :21:17.and a beast child in Govan suddenly taking up weightlifting or going
:21:18. > :21:22.cycling. `` and obese child. Too many people want the games
:21:23. > :21:28.organisers to be responsible for the legacy. In fact, it is the host
:21:29. > :21:33.country or the host city that has the legacy responsibility and it is
:21:34. > :21:36.up to them to make use of the new facilities and to have programmes
:21:37. > :21:42.that will encourage people into sport and stay there. The
:21:43. > :21:45.Commonwealth Games might not affect our children's health, but things
:21:46. > :21:51.might be very different when it comes to the games' political
:21:52. > :21:58.legacy. Even though he was at the centre of one of Scotland's most
:21:59. > :22:04.political sporting moments, David is convinced it is very important to
:22:05. > :22:11.keep politics out of sport. I think for either the yes or no campaigns
:22:12. > :22:16.to use the Commonwealth Games as a political platform would be
:22:17. > :22:20.absolutely desperate. When people watch it, even if it is not being
:22:21. > :22:26.jumped on by politicians, people might think, actually, I am more
:22:27. > :22:32.proud to be Scottish and they might go and vote yes in the referendum.
:22:33. > :22:38.That is up to them. I hope they would make the choice on a rational
:22:39. > :22:45.basis and based on the rational argument and the beliefs they hold.
:22:46. > :22:48.But for those committed to a future where Scotland can compete on the
:22:49. > :22:52.world stage as an independent sporting nation, the Glasgow games
:22:53. > :23:00.could have been major political impact. When you are in a ring alone
:23:01. > :23:06.with one other man and his intention is to flatten you and your intention
:23:07. > :23:14.is to flatten him, it is a bit like to countries. You can make what you
:23:15. > :23:22.want of that, but that is the truth of the matter. You believe in
:23:23. > :23:27.independence. Do you think a good Commonwealth Games will help the
:23:28. > :23:32.cause? I think if Scotland can produce some very good medals, which
:23:33. > :23:37.they are capable of doing, I think it will give it a boost and a buzz
:23:38. > :23:42.around the country. Trying to stay dry these two worlds of sport and
:23:43. > :23:53.politics, it is easy to forget what sport should really be about. ``
:23:54. > :24:04.trying to straddle. I think the biggest moment I have had was in
:24:05. > :24:11.London 2012. I wasn't accredited, but I managed to sneak in beside BBC
:24:12. > :24:19.Wales, behind BBC Wales into the stadium to watch you seen balls's
:24:20. > :24:26.final. I was hiding from security and I was right on the finish line.
:24:27. > :24:41.Runners were right on the finish line. There were 80,000 people, warm
:24:42. > :24:49.ran, he played to the crowd, but I ran, he played to the crowd, but I
:24:50. > :24:56.watched the crowd as he ran. As he ran, I turned and looked at the
:24:57. > :25:02.crowd. All I saw was everyone's smiling. Everybody was smiling. But
:25:03. > :25:07.was a moment I understood what sport is actually about. It is about
:25:08. > :25:12.making people happy. He made everyone happy. I think the strange
:25:13. > :25:17.and sometimes worrying relationship between these two worlds, where
:25:18. > :25:21.politicians try to ride on the shoulders of our elite athletes and
:25:22. > :25:26.our sporting heroes have learnt a dock that politicians, is now sadly
:25:27. > :25:31.irreversible. I want people to understand what they are watching.
:25:32. > :25:35.There are watching a statement of the country's intent, they're
:25:36. > :25:40.watching a statement of national pride. They are watching a
:25:41. > :25:50.stage`managed event. They are watching the world's biggest
:25:51. > :25:55.happiness pill. Bizarrely, I would love to be at the Commonwealth Games
:25:56. > :26:00.as a Brit is up on. I think it would be fantastic. I would swap
:26:01. > :26:03.everything for one bash at the 100 metres, or maybe boxing. Boxing
:26:04. > :26:20.would be good. Another hot day across much of
:26:21. > :26:29.England and Wales, but there is a change taking place. Temperatures
:26:30. > :26:30.dropping back to where they should be. In