07/09/2011 Newsnight Scotland


07/09/2011

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 07/09/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

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.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS