01/07/2013 Newsnight Scotland

advertise for others. I love working here and I am happy to come on your

programme any time. Tonight on Newsnight Scotland:

Reshuffle at Holyrood. And selection struggles in Falkirk.

What is Labour up to this summer? And tighter regulations for the

police? The home affairs select committee think they are needed in

England and Wales. What about here? Good evening. Holyrood had risen and

many MSPs were already getting off on their holidays. Time to relax?

Not for Scottish Labour. Johann Lamont chose Friday as the day to

reshuffle her frontbench team. As the main party of opposition at

Holyrood, it is Labour's job to hold the Scottish government to account.

The fact of the matter is... That is an astonishing response from a First

Minister who is to the right of George Osborne. Order. But have

events of the last few days made that problematic 's on Friday,

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont announced a frontbench reshuffle.

Nothing unusual in that, but comments made by the MSP who lost

out raised a few eyebrows. Johann Lamont is elected as leader.

Mackintosh, who unsuccessfully ran against Johann Lamont for the Labour

leadership, has found himself on the backbenches. These things happen,

but it was the comments he made afterwards which sparked interest.

Mr McIntosh expressed his disappointment, and then went on to

say, whatever disagreements we may have, we still have huge admiration

for Johann. Mr McIntosh's fit of pique has now pretty much blown

over. Even so, it is the party which has bigger things to worry about.

can talk about reshuffle is all we like. The key thing to address is

poverty. It is one thing putting people into jobs, it is another to

go to the electorate in 2016 with a coherent policy platform. I think

Johann Lamont will no that her energy has to be directed to that

aim now. She will be relying on the people she has brought into these

jobs to come forward with policies. That is not the only issue on the

party's plate. In Falkirk, Labour needs to find a new candidate for

the next Westminster election. But the party has had to take control of

the selection process after it said evidence of unions packing local

membership lists was uncovered. The Unite union has now accused Labour

of a smear campaign and has threatened legal action. One local

long serving politician is worried about the damage it is doing to his

party. I am angry. Firstly, you are indicating to the local party in

Glasgow that there are problems here. Secondly, I want the Labour

Party to win elections. But what do we tell these people who are going

to be voting? How does it appear to the electorate if we carry on like

this before the selection process has not even been out? Here is the

reason Labour needs a new candidate in Falkirk. A few quick words.

Clearly, it is a mark of personal shame. Eric Joyce was thrown out of

the party following his conviction for assault in the House of Commons

bar, but even he thinks Labour's problems in the area will blow over.

Once it has been dealt with, it will be fine. People will understand that

there has been a hook up, and it is past. At the moment, what has

occurred in the last year does damage to know one but the Labour

Party. But will that sentiment be enough to help Labour? Whether it

distances is itself from Unite or whether it tries to paper over the

cracks, someone will still say there is something deeply wrong in the

relationship between trade unions and labour. Miliband has not

addressed it. This was bound to happen. It was an unexploded bomb

that has gone off in Falkirk. some food for thought, as MSPs,

labour and otherwise, headed off for their summer break at the end of

last week. I am joined now from Edinburgh by

the former Labour adviser Simon Pia, who worked closely with Iain Gray

during the 2011 Holyrood election, and by the Daily Record's political

editor, David Clegg. Simon, let's look at this on a UK

scale for Labour. How important is this battle of Falkirk for Ed Balls

as he seems to fight the Unite union? I think you mean Ed Miliband.

Yes! Look, it is a long-running tension. I am sure David is aware

and will tell the journalistic lobby that Unite played a key role. It was

not so much in supporting Ed Miliband on stopping David. I

remember being at that conference, and it was about sticking one up to

the Blairites. This tension has not gone away. Two different wings of

the party. All parties have these selection problems. What is unique

about Labour is that it has affiliate 's, and the massive

affiliate are the unions, who are the paymasters of the party. They

represent 6 million people. There are bankers who pay roll the

Conservative Party, but the media really focus on the union barons. It

is a story that has run for decades. It does not reflect well on Labour

when it comes to being viewed as a modern, 21st century party.

Personally, I think Labour has to change its procedures. I have been a

long-term exponent of primary is. A peoples party should not be afraid

of letting the people have their say on these matters. John Smith changed

the structure of the Labour Party in 1993 with one member, one vote.

if you look at the election process both for Johann Lamont and four Ed

Miliband, the electoral college and the unions have a percentage, and

both of the unions working on getting Ed Miliband. They also got

Johann Lamont. Ken Mackintosh got more of the one member votes for the

Scottish Labour leadership election. How do you solve this dilemma? They

are the paymasters. The next general election, Ed Miliband will be

relying on Unite and the other unions giving them money. David, you

and your paper have been following the Battle of Falkirk closely. It

seems like it has been a nasty battle. It has certainly been

unseemly to watch. As Simon said, the union trying to determine a

Labour candidate is not a new thing. But Labour have stamped down on this

one and said it is not going to happen, and that has infuriated Len

McCluskey, the Unite general secretary. It has not been a bad

thing for Ed Miliband to be seen as taking on his union paymasters. As

we have said, the unions are basically responsible for him being

the Labour leader, so for him to say, you will not get it all your

own way, is possibly useful for him in a political situation. It is also

more problematic for Johanna Lamont, who was also basically

elected by the unions. She got the support of the parliamentarians in

the Labour Party, but not the members. Ken Mackintosh got almost

half the votes of the Labour Party members in Scotland in that

leadership election. So is she going to take on the unions as well?

almost being depicted as class war. Unite want more trade unionist in

parliament, more ordinary people, as they say. They don't want another

Oxbridge adviser parachuted into a safe seat. That is a legitimate

position to take. It is accepted that there was a problem with the

political class now that starts off as a researcher who becomes a

politician without knowing anything about the real world. If the trade

unions want to put more politicians in, they can do that, but they have

to do it in a credible way. The problem with Falkirk is that there

have been allegations about behaviour that is not acceptable,

and accepting -- attempting to exert undue influence. Eric Joyce seemed

to give the impression that it would all blow over. How do you think it

will resolve itself? I think it will blow over. I think an accommodation

will be reached with the unions before the general election. If you

were a conspiracy theorist, you might say that Len McCluskey might

be saying, I will let Ed Miliband have a few battles with me. But the

unions do want to maintain their influence on the party. A lot of the

people that the unions put forward, you often get Tory commentators

saying they want more real people. You will see a call for more

working-class Labour MPs. But what you get is union lackeys and people

coming through the union process who have not really worked on front-line

jobs. They are the equivalent of special advisers. Let's turn our

attention to the reshuffle on Friday. Johann Lamont reshuffled the

front bench. I asked Cathy Jamieson yesterday if there was civil war in

Scottish Labour. She said there is not. Certainly Ken Macintosh who has

been replaced by Ian Gray is unhappy. He talked about being

unhappy and disagreeing with Johann Lamont about the direction of the

party. I pressed him on what is this agreement are and he did not really

answer me on that. I am led to believe the two issues are due to

her something for nothing is each where she questioned universal

benefits in Scotland. People close to Ken Macintosh today have told me

that he was the finance spokesman and was not aware that that speech

was going to be made until it happened. I can understand why they

would not be happy with that. There seems to be a personality clash also

there. Did Johann Lamont not rate Ken Macintosh? You would need to ask

Johann Lamont that. It was probably surprising he has made it as long as

this but that is because Johann the MOD has probably delayed hurry

shuffle. If you had asked anyone at Holyrood and the Labour Party who

would be first to be reshuffled, they would have said Ken Macintosh.

It comes down to a personality clash or personality issues. More often

than not in politics these things count for more than the actual

ideology and we live and are feeling neither logical age. Your colleague

is back on the front-line, Iain Gray. While he perform well?

Macintosh has done well on Newsnight but he is a bit of an enigma. If he

had performed well that wouldn't have been a problem for Johann

Lamont, certainly not in terms of personality. I think Iain Gray will

do very well. And I am sure David Clegg will agree. With his forensic

detail that will help him a lot. Unit will focus on John Swinney and

he will. The Ayes and cross the keys and he has a closer relationship

with Alistair Darling, and the John Swinney will know that he will be in

for a forensic examination. This is where the SNP are weakest. It has

been a bad year for them explaining what has happened in terms of

currency and welfare. You could list a bout a dozen items. The Breivik,

David, how well will Iain Gray do? He did not have the charisma

required for the leader of the Labour Party, but I think he will

take on John Swinney quite well. There is a similar story with John

Swinney who was unimpressive at -- unimpressive as SNP leader but he

has done a very good job as Finance Secretary. He will wake up tomorrow

morning slightly more uneasy knowing that he will have to take on Iain

Gray as opposed to Ken Macintosh. Thank you both for joining me.

Integrity should be at the heart of policing but a string of allegations

south of the border has put that into question. To clamp down on

corruption MPs have suggested pension should be docked to prevent

officers from the tiling before being disciplined. This would only

apply in England and Wales that would a system like that help the

Scottish police? We will be judged by the

effectiveness of the manner in which we carry out our duty.

Police forces in Britain have always prided themselves on their firm but

friendly image. The epitome of trustworthiness. But in the face of

Stephen Lawrence, we are always reminded about the feelings. The

latest allegations are that the Metropolitian Police spied on his

family. Then there is the horror of Hillsborough. Officers and

defensible conduct, according to the official report, a cover-up on a

grand scale. With issues like this, MPs and the Home Affairs Select

Committee have conducted their own investigation. They have heard

numerous cases where officers have retard when under investigation and

left with the pensions intact. There are calls for them to have their

pensions docked, especially where misconduct has arisen. We need close

of integrity. But at one must follow. And these must be clear for

the public and the practitioner. People must have this unshakeable

belief as they did in the past that when dealing with a police officer

you get honesty and transparency and integrity. In Scotland we are

fortunate not to face a grand scale cases of corruption but could

greater sanctions leads to a strict adherence to the rules? The Scottish

police authority say these proposals are reactionary and feel to

recognise the existing disciplinary procedures. Let us discuss this now

with Professor Kenneth Scott. He is the director of Criminal Justice and

Police Studies at the University of the West of Scotland. Thank you for

joining us. How bad is this problem where officers are being

investigated about them retiring before they can be disciplined?

is one of the most annoying things that people complain about

investigations to then find that maybe the investigation does not get

started because someone has retired. It is a matter of public

record that since Police Scotland started in April, there have been

two disciplinary cases which have been abandoned because the officers

have retired. It is not necessarily a large-scale problem, but it is

quite a serious issue for those involved. The MPs on the committee

refers to England and Wales and that officers dismissed to resign should

not resumed service with another Police Service. They pointed out a

lack of coordination and seeing that retirement must not be a get out of

the jail card because there have been instances of officers retiring

from one force and then joining another one. That is not as common

in Scotland as it is perhaps the south. We now have a single force in

Scotland so there is no other alternative place of employment. It

is a very serious issue. Personally I am not too sure about the way the

committee has gone about this. It would be seen as quite a dangerous

step to interfere with pension arrangements. After all, these are

matters of an internal discipline, if someone is not part of the

organisation, it is, no matter how frustrating it may be, like

difficult to impose a penalty on them. That is interesting, of

course, the MPs said they were interested and the sanctions. Tom

Winsor, the chief inspector of the constabulary pointed that out. The

chief inspectors in England and Wales as well as in Scotland say

that pensions can be targeted already. It depends on whether and

not the allegation is criminal which is a totally different area. The

misconduct regulation has been under a bit of scrutiny of late as part of

the change over to a single force. Particularly in Scotland. There has

also been a greater degree of external scrutiny which is going to

be applied to policing, for example, we now have the new powers of

internal investigation by the police complaints commission and in

addition to that, we have a single government body and the Scottish

police authority who ultimately have the responsibility to make sure

misconduct is investigated and dealt with properly. MPs wanted a Royal

College of policing for England and Wales, a body to look at Essex and

to safeguard and the cat standards and dispose of conduct. Would that

help Police Scotland, not Tulliallan, but a special college

looking at epic 's and standards? That is not just look at Essex, it

is about the whole personal development and professional

development of officers. The irony is that the all -- and they are

already codes of Essex -- codes of ethics for police in England and

Wales and ill so in Scotland. -- also in Scotland. The problem with

codes of ethics is how do you install them? You can tell people

the correct way to behave but in the heat of the moment in terms of the

difficult job that policing has, there may be locations where that

standard slips. The question is how do you integrate that into the

actions and behaviour of police officers? Otherwise it is simply a

statement which does not do anything very much. Thank you Kenneth Scott

for coming in. The front pages. Firefighters take

out a huge blaze at a recycling centre.

The SNP plan to build Scottish warships on the Clyde.