Browse content similar to 07/09/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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right issue. Defeated by 250 On tonight's programme, the SNP | :00:08. | :00:12. | |
spell out their legislative programme for the year ahead. It's | :00:12. | :00:15. | |
their second term, they've got an historic majority, they can push | :00:15. | :00:18. | |
through anything they like. So what did we get - an ambitious programme | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
of dynamic change or an over-safe shepherding towards an independence | :00:21. | :00:28. | |
Good evening. Holyrood will be rolling up its | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
collective sleeves and getting ready to pilot through 16 new bills | :00:31. | :00:35. | |
this session. The SNP are in the unprecedented position of a single | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
party majority and have chosen to use the historic opportunity to | :00:38. | :00:40. | |
focus on minimum pricing, police reform and training for unemployed | :00:40. | :00:47. | |
teenagers. So is this the programme to steer Scotland through these | :00:47. | :00:57. | |
:00:57. | :00:58. | ||
turbulent economic times? Raymond Holyrood's corridors of power have | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
never seen the like. A First Minister free to all for his own | :01:03. | :01:08. | |
legislative programme. Dependent on no what else. Alex Salmond's | :01:08. | :01:13. | |
majority of MSPs gives him the ability to stamp made by the SNP on | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
all of his bills. Today we unveil a programme for government. Practical | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
measures to make our citizens healthier. Capital investment to | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
aid recovery. I would what did it - - welcome constructive ideas on how | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
to make Scotland better. Making Scotland better is the focus of | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
this government. It is one reason why we won a historic victory in | :01:37. | :01:42. | |
May. A recognition of proven competence and commitment. | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
listed 16 Bills in total, some covering more familiar issues than | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
others. Alcohol will have a minimum unit price. Scotland's different | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
police forces will become one Scottish service, the same will | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
happen to fire and rescue. Sectarianism will lead to tougher | :01:57. | :02:02. | |
jail terms and there should be some Lockerbie questions answered as | :02:02. | :02:07. | |
ministers seek to make public a confidential document about Abdul | :02:07. | :02:16. | |
Basset al-Megrahi's appeal against conviction. Also helping business | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
through enterprise zones and to create more foreign tenancies. But | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
the SNP won't be legislating on an independence referendum, despite Mr | :02:25. | :02:28. | |
Sam and spending a substantial proportion of his speech telling | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
the country why he thought independence was so important. | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
Voters who put their trust in us also note the SNP believes in | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
independence. They understand it. We have won their trust and we will | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
not abuse it. We know they are listening, keen to hear the | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
positive story we have to tell about the future. Their future as | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
parents, students, workers, entrepreneurs, professionals. They | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
share our excitement about the project to build a better nation. | :02:57. | :03:01. | |
Independents will improve the future for all these people, it | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
will be an independence generation. Listening were the First Minister's | :03:06. | :03:11. | |
defeated foes. Iain Gray's term as Labour's leader will end before | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
many of these bills are voted on. The First Minister has a mandate | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
for this now, he has a majority in this Parliament, he has a draft | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
bill, or so he says, he has no credible excuse for not bringing | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
that Bill Forward. Except that he does not think the people of | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
Scotland are ready to have their say because they might not give him | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
the answer he wants. Conservatives are looking for a | :03:38. | :03:42. | |
lead of, too so this was one of the last chances to see some classic | :03:42. | :03:48. | |
Alex Salmond Goldie banter. The sum offered Alex Salmond the | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
opportunity to reflect and an event, but instead it has been one long | :03:52. | :03:56. | |
whinge from him, one long rant about what everyone else is getting | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
wrong. People are getting fed up with this diet of negativity and | :04:00. | :04:09. | |
gripe. The SNP is relentlessly hostile to anyone who dares to | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
speak out against them or question their version of reality or | :04:13. | :04:18. | |
challenge their proposals. The Lib Dems, Holyrood's knew his minor | :04:18. | :04:24. | |
party, have a fresh leader in new thinking on some SNP policies. | :04:24. | :04:30. | |
Lib Dems initially opposed, have now reflected and will consider and | :04:30. | :04:40. | |
:04:40. | :04:43. | ||
support the SNP's plans regarding APPLAUSE I didn't think I would | :04:43. | :04:50. | |
have a hear that! It is backed by a large amount of health bodies. | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
Health effects are severe, it impacts on children and families. | :04:54. | :05:02. | |
So Mr Salmond is already a convert. But his days of negotiation are | :05:02. | :05:07. | |
over. His majority means he can now bend Holly run to his will. | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
Just before we came on air... Just before we came on air, I spoke | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
to the Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and began by | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
suggesting to her that for a government with the power to do | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
what they want, this was not an ambitious or dynamic legislative | :05:20. | :05:25. | |
programme. This is a hugely ambitious programme, it has a real | :05:25. | :05:32. | |
focus on jobs, the opportunities for all, a plan to give every 16- | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
19-year-old a training or learning place to make sure we are providing | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
opportunities in this difficult financial climate for young people. | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
It is a plan to reform public services, to make sure they are | :05:43. | :05:48. | |
sustainable, but delivering efficiently and effectively. It is | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
focused on Scotland's future. This is a programme full of ambition and | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
we look forward to implementing it. What your critics would say is that | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
essentially it is a tidying-up exercise of proposals we knew about | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
before and that you don't know what to do with your majority. Nothing | :06:04. | :06:10. | |
could be further from the truth. Let me take a proposal been my own | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
portfolio, minimum pricing for alcohol, something we think is | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
fundamentally important to rebalance this country's | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
relationship with alcohol, to remove a scourge that is limiting | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
our potential. We tried to do that in the previous session of | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
Parliament and we were blocked for party political reasons by the | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
opposition. Now that we have a majority, we want to come forward | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
again with a proposal because we think it is incredibly important | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
and it has the overwhelming backing of health professionals and the | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
police. That is one example. A plan for a single police service and | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
fire service. Reforming public services, making sure they are kept | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
sustainable, but can also deliver better for the people of Scotland. | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
In terms of reforming public services, what you have announced a | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
day macro for the police and fire will be controversial and his | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
radical, but you have backed away from any significant reform. The | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
Christie Commission, you'll get round to talking about fairly soon. | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
But there has been no dynamic change. You have been told by | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
independent experts that is vitally important. That is simply not true. | :07:20. | :07:26. | |
In our first term, we cut the number of quangos. We are reducing | :07:26. | :07:32. | |
administration and bureaucracy. We also today set out plans to | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
integrate health and social care and we will surely consult on both | :07:35. | :07:45. | |
:07:45. | :07:49. | ||
Per so what you have already outlined, you are doing enough in | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
terms of public sector reform? We think public services need reform | :07:53. | :07:55. | |
to make sure they can be sustainable in a difficult | :07:55. | :08:04. | |
financial climate, but also so they can deliver better. We think it can | :08:04. | :08:08. | |
deliver the service it is responsible for more effectively. | :08:08. | :08:13. | |
Balancing the budget is also a big responsibility. We balanced our | :08:13. | :08:16. | |
budget in difficult circumstances in every year we have been in | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
government. We will continue to be ambitious and continued to push | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
through radical policies. You say promoting the economy is a priority. | :08:26. | :08:30. | |
Business leaders say that while you were calling for new powers, | :08:30. | :08:35. | |
existing powers like... You could continue cutting to a pub | :08:35. | :08:39. | |
businesses, why not keep doing that? We are using existing powers | :08:39. | :08:45. | |
to the limit and we will continue to do that. We introduced a small | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
business bonus. We will continue to look at what we can do to promote | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
economic growth and to boost our businesses, but we are unashamedly | :08:54. | :08:59. | |
making the case for more powers because they will give us even more | :08:59. | :09:05. | |
ability to grow the economy. If the UK government is cutting at a time | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
we should be boosting economic growth. Are you suggesting that | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
under the devolved setter Maud, you have done all you can do? Of course | :09:14. | :09:19. | |
not. We're using our existing powers, but we will continue to use | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
those powers and continue to look for ways we can use those powers as | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
effectively as possible. Let me talk about another example. We | :09:27. | :09:33. | |
recognise the problem of youth unemployment. It is far too high. | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
The proposal outlined today, opportunities for all, is a | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
response to that, to make sure we are not presiding over a lost | :09:42. | :09:45. | |
generation, that we are giving opportunities for young people. | :09:45. | :09:50. | |
That is a tangible example of how we are using our policies to the | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
maximum, and we will continue to argue the case for more powers for | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
Parliament so we can do more. Annabel Goldie said no date for the | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
referendum, no question, and no idea of what independence means. | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
there had been an independence referendum built in the legislative | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
programme today, no doubt the opposition parties and the media | :10:12. | :10:16. | |
would have accused us of reneging on what recommitted to during the | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
election. We were clear during the election campaign that we would | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
have the independence referendum in the later -- latter half of this | :10:24. | :10:34. | |
:10:34. | :10:39. | ||
term. That is what we said we would But then what Scotland is left with | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
is a strategy where you will not do anything to rock the boat. Were the | :10:46. | :10:52. | |
greatest respect, I'd do not accept the premise of that question. The | :10:52. | :10:59. | |
programme we published today is not vicious. We talked about a couple | :10:59. | :11:06. | |
of proposals. We want to reform our public services, something that is | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
difficult to do. Minimum pricing is about tackling something | :11:11. | :11:18. | |
fundamental in our society. We will be ambitious with the powers we | :11:18. | :11:22. | |
have whilst arguing for the government to be better equipped in | :11:22. | :11:32. | |
:11:32. | :11:35. | ||
the future. Joining the now is Willie Rennie, Annabel Goldie and | :11:35. | :11:42. | |
Iain Gray. Realistically, in legislative terms, do you think you | :11:42. | :11:48. | |
can achieve in this Parliament? today was a curious day. It was her | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
flat and lacklustre performance from the First Minister. As you | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
pointed out, with the majority that he had now, really he can do | :11:56. | :12:00. | |
anything that he wants and it was strange then that there seemed to | :12:00. | :12:07. | |
be nothing in his own legislative programme which excited his own | :12:07. | :12:12. | |
benches. But in terms of what the parliament can do, we have already | :12:12. | :12:18. | |
demonstrated what we can do when it comes to the sectarianism Bill. The | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
First Minister said he would legislate in a fortnight. The | :12:22. | :12:32. | |
combined forces of the opposition parties and importantly, voices | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
from outside, managed to get across a strong view that that legislation | :12:36. | :12:42. | |
was both a flawed and been hurried. As a result, the timetable for that | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
has to be extended and that was a good thing. The fact they have a | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
majority does not mean the opposition does not have a role. It | :12:50. | :12:56. | |
was very curious, giving how much Alex Salmond has banged on about | :12:56. | :13:04. | |
this historic majority, how little he seemed to do with it. The things | :13:04. | :13:12. | |
that do excite the SNP were absent. You spoke about the fact that it | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
was important that the opposition had this was in the chamber and | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
Alex Salmond said he would welcome constructive ideas from across the | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
chamber, but how do you think that will translate in practical terms | :13:24. | :13:34. | |
and how should it translate? Well, my party will look at the | :13:34. | :13:40. | |
legislative detail of Alex Salmond's proposals. We were then | :13:40. | :13:42. | |
the boys at work these and articulate our criticisms if | :13:42. | :13:52. | |
:13:52. | :14:03. | ||
necessary. -- we will then Boyce hour and be used. I find it very | :14:03. | :14:11. | |
bizarre he's whole raison d'etre is independent and he is absolutely | :14:11. | :14:16. | |
evasive on the referendum Bill and is coy about explaining to Scotland | :14:17. | :14:23. | |
what independence would mean. It makes him sound very hollow. We | :14:23. | :14:32. | |
will examine the policy is made today. B can support some and not | :14:33. | :14:42. | |
:14:43. | :14:43. | ||
others. I do think today it that the overwhelming emotion was under | :14:43. | :14:50. | |
achievement and under expectation. -- we can support. He spoke about | :14:50. | :14:56. | |
public sector reform, but in his statement were only four paragraphs. | :14:56. | :15:01. | |
There was not one specific proposal in there. He wants to reform the | :15:02. | :15:04. | |
police and fire service, but that really is about it. Now I just | :15:04. | :15:10. | |
think that is unacceptable when we had the Beveridge report a year ago, | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
pointing out what I thought were promising and positive ideas for | :15:14. | :15:21. | |
debate and discussion on which the SNP is silent. Willie Rennie, what | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
do you think Opposition is for now because the government does not | :15:25. | :15:31. | |
need any of you? It is about using the powers of persuasion and | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
bringing the forces of public opinion into Parliament to put | :15:35. | :15:40. | |
pressure on that government to change their mind. I would like to | :15:40. | :15:48. | |
have them change their minds on police reform. Alex Salmond wants | :15:48. | :15:56. | |
to create a centralised police force. He is out of touch with the | :15:56. | :16:01. | |
communities. These other things we can bring pressure on the Scottish | :16:01. | :16:03. | |
Parliament and on the Scottish government to get the government to | :16:03. | :16:08. | |
change their minds. But how do you do that with the number of MSPs you | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
have, given that in the election you seem to have lost that | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
argument? Just because we lose the election, it does not mean our | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
arguments do not have married. We had people in the country who | :16:23. | :16:33. | |
backed our proposals. -- do not have merit. We would use the people | :16:33. | :16:38. | |
who have expressed views and give them a voice in Parliament. Alex | :16:38. | :16:46. | |
Salmond has admitted he does not have all the wisdom. Iain Gray, | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
both you and Annabel Goldie have raised the Independent bill. The | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
SNP's said it would come in in the next programme later in Parliament. | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
The Poles are moving in their favour. You must accept that they | :16:58. | :17:08. | |
:17:08. | :17:11. | ||
do not have to rush into this. -- the polls. The argument they have | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
always mounted is that the people of Scotland should be allowed to | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
have their say on this issue. I have to have knowledge they won | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
that argument in the election and now have the mandate to bring it | :17:21. | :17:31. | |
:17:31. | :17:34. | ||
forward. It is a betrayal of the people's Trust -- Trust. They are | :17:34. | :17:39. | |
saying that they will hold it until they can get the right result. They | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
said they were trying to bring a Bill forward in the last Parliament. | :17:42. | :17:47. | |
They did not bring it and those that the reason for it was that | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
they did not have a majority in the parliament. They do now and we saw | :17:52. | :17:58. | |
last week with the CBI, for example, that the uncertainty is damaging | :17:58. | :18:04. | |
the Scottish economy. It is something we should deal with. | :18:04. | :18:09. | |
Their argument about that is they should not be concentrating on that | :18:09. | :18:15. | |
now. They should be concentrating on the economy, on jobs, the | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
justice system. Have they brought forward the bill, they would have | :18:18. | :18:25. | |
been criticised for that. But they are not concentrating on that. In | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
the run-up to the election, they were reluctant to talk about the | :18:29. | :18:33. | |
referendum. But since they have won power were, we have heard about | :18:33. | :18:37. | |
little else and I think that is what lies at the back of the | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
criticism we are making over the legislative programme. The First | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
Minister have little enthusiasm for what he was doing. Even the reform | :18:46. | :18:51. | |
of the police, which is substantial and I support it. At think it is a | :18:51. | :18:58. | |
great opportunity for Scotland to improve strategic policing and | :18:58. | :19:04. | |
security. -- I think. Also, we can have a stronger local policing. I | :19:04. | :19:09. | |
think that is an exciting idea and exciting reform, but I have to say | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
to the First Minister there was no sign of him being excited about the | :19:14. | :19:21. | |
reform at all. We are almost out of time. Annabel Goldie, Jack | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
McConnell said that opposition parties failed to put the case for | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
the union and they are now on the back fought. You must accept that | :19:30. | :19:37. | |
is the case and the way the polls are moving suggests that as well? | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
do not accept that. I think the three opposition parties have | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
expressed their strong support for the union and the three opposition | :19:46. | :19:50. | |
parties are identified with that position. But what has happened | :19:50. | :19:53. | |
since May is that inevitably the political limelight has focused on | :19:53. | :19:58. | |
this very dominant SNP presence in the Scottish parliament. That is | :19:58. | :20:04. | |
understandable, but what I've got remind viewers is that if you look | :20:04. | :20:09. | |
at the poll in the Times, it shows that most of the people in Scotland | :20:09. | :20:16. | |
are saying to Alex Salmond, bring the referendum for what -- for what. | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
Willie Rennie, we take it for granted it is they give in that | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
Alex Salmond will get his MSPs to toe the line. When it comes down to | :20:25. | :20:31. | |
something local like police forces, do you think there will be some of | :20:31. | :20:39. | |
revolting backbenchers? They could be. There will be concern as people | :20:40. | :20:46. | |
find out that the accountability promised does not come to fruition. | :20:46. | :20:51. | |
I must address this independence question. It is closer than before | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
and there has been a change of mood in Scotland. That is why it is | :20:55. | :21:00. | |
essential that we get to the nuts and bolts of it. So far we have had | :21:00. | :21:07. | |
nothing. One of my colleagues in Westminster asked six serious and | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
simple questions about the cost of independence and how it would work, | :21:11. | :21:16. | |
what a separate Scotland would look like. Nothing came back apart from | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
abuse. We need a much more serious debate if we are going to address | :21:20. | :21:30. | |
:21:30. | :21:30. | ||
So we know what was in the legislative programme, but what was | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
missing? And what does that tell us? David Alison spent the day in | :21:34. | :21:36. | |
parliament. This manifesto is just a few months | :21:36. | :21:41. | |
old sow the promises in it are still pretty fresh, add to that the | :21:41. | :21:45. | |
SNP's overall theoretically impossible majority and there is | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
nothing holding them back. Clearly doing everything in this manifesto | :21:48. | :21:53. | |
at once is not an option, but by choosing its policies, the SNP is | :21:53. | :21:58. | |
starting to define itself. police and fire service reforms are | :21:58. | :22:05. | |
pretty bold. We shouldn't judge legislation as lacking power | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
because we knew about it. In terms of characterising this programme, | :22:10. | :22:15. | |
the SNP made much in the first four years of government of their | :22:15. | :22:18. | |
competence and that was a factor, an absolute factor in their | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
overwhelming victory in May. If you look at this programme, it is Alex | :22:23. | :22:27. | |
Salmond trying to bring as many people within Scotland with him and | :22:27. | :22:31. | |
at the same time it accepts went incompetence rather than simply | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
going for big headlines. What is missing from the programme? And | :22:36. | :22:43. | |
why? There is not a whole lot they can do because we have a new | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
budgetary situation as well and that was evident in the legislative | :22:46. | :22:53. | |
programme presented today. One of the striking features is that there | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
are no real big spending bills in there. A lot of the bills fall into | :22:57. | :23:02. | |
the character read of regulatory policy. They may be regulating | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
people's behaviour, whether it is football fans or regulating the way | :23:07. | :23:13. | |
society deals with children and children's rights, but they are not | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
big spending policy items because the money is not there. Turning | :23:16. | :23:19. | |
Scotland into a Celtic tiger and winning independence is the raison | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
d'etre of the SNP and although there is no referendum Bill in | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
today's programme, that is consistent with the manifesto from | :23:27. | :23:32. | |
earlier this year. But we are now five years into SNP governments in | :23:32. | :23:39. | |
Scotland and we don't have an idea of what they mean by independents. | :23:39. | :23:47. | |
If you did at this week's polls, you can see why the SNP have a | :23:47. | :23:54. | |
dilemma, why the Tories are taunting them to get on with it. | :23:54. | :23:57. | |
taunting them to get on with it. This poll suggested 39% backing | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
independence with 30 it cent against. But to follow up by Ipsos | :24:01. | :24:07. | |
MORI suggested 35% in favour of independence with 60% against. The | :24:07. | :24:13. | |
Times poll also found 67% in favour of full tax powers for the Scottish | :24:13. | :24:14. | |
of full tax powers for the Scottish Parliament, but with Scott and | :24:14. | :24:19. | |
remaining in the UK. They are clearly the party for independence | :24:19. | :24:24. | |
and the support for independence. But it hasn't been clearly defined | :24:24. | :24:31. | |
from them just yet. The dilemma is, that is not where the population is. | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
Voters are backing for Fiscal economy, but not backing for | :24:35. | :24:41. | |
independence. At the moment, there is a difference between where we | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
think the SNP are and where voters are in terms of the independence | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
question, which will clearly be the big question over the next five | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
years. Whatever juggling act the SNP has to do in terms of not | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
scaring the horses in terms of the public and keeping its team on | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
message and disciplined, they are helped by the disarray among the | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
opposition, with Labour and the Tories looking for new leaders and | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
the Lib Dems, well, there are not many of them left. | :25:10. | :25:13. | |
Joining me in the studio are two former party advisors - Ewan | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
Crawford, who gave his expertise to the SNP, and Paul Sinclair who did | :25:17. | :25:24. | |
the same for Labour. I think you sold it, you did not give it! For | :25:24. | :25:31. | |
the record. Paul, not to rein on our parade tonight, but all of this | :25:31. | :25:35. | |
is the broad brush approach. We need to see what comes out of the | :25:35. | :25:40. | |
Budget. Absolutely. I thought today was pretty bland. Which is what the | :25:40. | :25:45. | |
SNP want for the next two years. They are going to do something | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
radical, but not for a couple of years. I think they want to frame | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
Scottish politics at the moment as a very quiet, careful government in | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
Scotland and everything going wrong in London. They want to frame | :25:59. | :26:05. | |
London as a problem. What's wrong with that? For tactics to win the | :26:05. | :26:09. | |
referendum it is perfectly fair. I might have advised them to do that. | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
We will get nothing radical and nothing that will be debated, | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
nothing that would suggest they have powers to do something radical | :26:17. | :26:21. | |
in Scotland. That is what we will have and it is up to the parties | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
who will oppose them on the referendum to get more detailed out | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
about what this referendum is. We have fixed-term parliaments for | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
reason, because we don't think a leader should have the power to | :26:32. | :26:37. | |
call an election. Alex Salmond has a power to call the most important | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
referendum in this country in 300 years. If he doesn't set a date, | :26:42. | :26:50. | |
the pro-union parties will put pressure on him to announce a date. | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
That is where you start trying to get the SNP's definition of what | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
independence would mean an bring the argument to the fore. Do you | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
think it will all be about independence or do you think we | :27:02. | :27:07. | |
will inevitably see some more radical proposals come forward once | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
public spending and aura of the cutbacks take effect? Do you think | :27:10. | :27:16. | |
they will be able to hold this line? Part of the protests -- | :27:16. | :27:21. | |
process has been to prove itself in government. If you're going to | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
advocate independence, the more credibility the advocates have, the | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
better chance you have of winning that argument. The best way of | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
getting credibility is by governing competently and that was the key | :27:33. | :27:39. | |
message to voters were given at the last election. Alex Salmond said | :27:39. | :27:42. | |
the voters were voting for change and he reiterated that today. They | :27:42. | :27:48. | |
have proved what they can do, the electorate accepted that, but given | :27:48. | :27:51. | |
we are in such extraordinary times, do you really think that what we | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
have seen today will be enough to deal with everything coming down | :27:54. | :27:59. | |
the road? Clearly not and that is one of the argument. It is | :27:59. | :28:01. | |
interesting how the SNP are starting to articulate what | :28:01. | :28:06. | |
independence is. They have come up with this simple but effective | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
phrase. Financial powers are job- creating powers. What is coming | :28:10. | :28:16. | |
down the road to what are huge cuts from Westminster. Maybe another | :28:16. | :28:22. | |
double-dip recession. Although the SNP has done, they would say, and I | :28:22. | :28:27. | |
would agree, some important measures in terms of the economy, | :28:27. | :28:32. | |
they don't have believers. I think we will hear more from the SNP | :28:32. | :28:37. | |
about job-creating powers. It seems they will be able to keep using | :28:37. | :28:40. | |
this Westminster argument, or do you think that has a sell-by date? | :28:40. | :28:44. | |
That is what they will try but it should have a sell-by date. At the | :28:44. | :28:48. | |
moment we have a Labour Party in a weak position, but it will make a | :28:48. | :28:52. | |
comeback. The Tories will make a comeback as well. There will be | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
more scrutiny. There have to be bigger questions rather than a | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
slogan like we want job-creating powers. Everybody wants that. Let's | :29:00. | :29:05. | |
look at the bigger question. What is happening in Greece? And | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
Portugal. You can't have monetary union without fiscal and political | :29:10. | :29:16. | |
union. That is the way Europe is moving. Why would we wish for | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
fiscal independence, or would we wish to go into the euro and give | :29:19. | :29:23. | |
fiscal powers to Frankfurt? Let's go to the nub of the argument. It | :29:23. | :29:27. | |
is that the opponents of independence, the SNP's opponents, | :29:27. | :29:32. | |
will try to get the issue bolt down, as we saw in Michael Moore's | :29:32. | :29:39. | |
questions on the mechanics. That is not... Trying to pin the SNP down | :29:39. | :29:44. | |
an individual questions so the bigger picture is lost. These | :29:44. | :29:49. | |
questions are nonsense. A what currency we have been in them -- in | :29:49. | :29:53. | |
an independent Scotland is nonsense? You'll have to continue | :29:53. | :30:00. | |
this privately in the Green Room because we are out of time. A quick | :30:00. | :30:10. | |
:30:10. | :30:23. | ||
That's all from me. If you want to see the programme again it's on the | :30:23. | :30:33. | |
:30:33. | :30:35. | ||
see the programme again it's on the iPlayer. Goodnight. | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
The winds will die down overnight tonight and they won't be as strong | :30:40. | :30:44. | |
on Thursday. Looking like a cloudy day with most places saying in the | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
outbreak of rain, although there will be sunshine here and there | :30:48. | :30:51. | |
across the eastern Scotland and to the east of the Pennines. To the | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
west of the Pennines, a grey day. Looking dull and damp through much | :30:55. | :31:00. | |
of the Midlands and the south-east. Winds it not as strong as they have | :31:00. | :31:06. | |
been, but still a brisk breeze. That breeze will bring a lot of | :31:06. | :31:10. | |
cloud over the coast of south-west England. And also across Wales. A | :31:10. | :31:15. | |
lot of cloud and outbreaks of rain. Nothing too heavy, but it might pep | :31:15. | :31:20. | |
up later in the day. Similar in Northern Ireland, maybe a hint of | :31:20. | :31:24. | |
brightness, but overall it will be gloomy. Some sunny spells in | :31:24. | :31:28. | |
Scotland, but a host of showers from the West as well. A decent | :31:28. | :31:31. | |
chance of staying largely dry in the east of Scotland. As we head | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
into Friday, the winds will pick up again and they will introduce | :31:35. | :31:40. | |
warmer air. If we get sunshine on Friday, it could feel warm. But | :31:40. | :31:49. | |
across sunshine, there will be outbreaks of rain. Starting off a | :31:49. | :31:53. |