:00:08. > :00:11.short term, this becomes an ethical rather than a legal debate.
:00:11. > :00:14.Tonight on Newsnight Scotland, we revisit the murder case which has
:00:14. > :00:16.been described as Scotland's version of Stephen Lawrence. It is
:00:16. > :00:19.ten years since the lord advocate apologised for the justice system's
:00:19. > :00:25.failures in the case of Surjit Singh Chhokar, amid accusations of
:00:25. > :00:29.institutional racism. But last month's change in the law may offer
:00:29. > :00:34.new hope of justice being done. Also tonight, the brave new world
:00:34. > :00:36.of Scottish Conservatism. The party's new leader tells the
:00:36. > :00:39.faithful "the flame is still burning".
:00:39. > :00:42.Good evening. The case of Surjit Singh Chhokar has often been
:00:42. > :00:45.compared to that of Stephen Lawrence. The Sikh waiter was
:00:45. > :00:47.murdered in Lanarkshire in 1998. Three men accused of his murder
:00:47. > :00:52.were acquitted, but subsequent official inquiries were severely
:00:52. > :00:54.critical of the police and the Procurator Fiscal Service. Ten
:00:54. > :00:59.years ago, the then Lord Advocate issued a public apology for
:00:59. > :01:02."incompetence, ignorance and institutional racism". Now Scotland
:01:02. > :01:06.has a new law which allows the possibility, for the first time, of
:01:06. > :01:09.conducting a second trial for the same offence. It was a similar
:01:09. > :01:17.change in England which allowed the new trial in the Stephen Lawrence
:01:17. > :01:22.case. Chhokar was stabbed to death
:01:22. > :01:27.outside his girlfriend's home in Lanarkshire. Three men were accused
:01:27. > :01:33.of his murder. One was brought to trial first. He was acquitted of
:01:33. > :01:37.murder after blaming his nephew and another man, David Montgomery. They
:01:37. > :01:44.would try the following year and were also acquitted of murder after
:01:44. > :01:51.blaming the first man. In 2001, the then lord advocate, Colin Boyd,
:01:51. > :01:55.ordered two inquiries into the case. Both were damning. Advocate -- an
:01:55. > :01:58.advocate found that there had been he institutional racism in the way
:01:58. > :02:03.that both Strathclyde police and the fiscal Office had dealt with
:02:03. > :02:08.the family. A Northern Irish judge strongly criticised the legal
:02:08. > :02:12.tactic of the two trials, but found no racial element in the poor
:02:12. > :02:16.handling of the case. Colin Boyd apologised to the Chhokar family
:02:16. > :02:21.and admitted the need for change. We have changed and are committed
:02:21. > :02:27.to further change. We recognise the need for increased accountability.
:02:27. > :02:31.* Apply police also admitted the need to change their procedures --
:02:31. > :02:36.Strathclyde police. But there Assistant Chief Constable seemed
:02:36. > :02:41.unhappy with the definition of institutional racism. In the
:02:41. > :02:44.context of what has been defined as institutional racism, it would be
:02:44. > :02:52.difficult for any organisation to say that they did not have evidence
:02:52. > :02:57.of that in the way they conducted affairs. The assumption at the time
:02:57. > :03:02.was that the Crown Office had blown its only chance to convict the
:03:02. > :03:05.killers of Surjit Singh Chhokar. The real issue was the Crown
:03:05. > :03:10.Office's failure to prosecute the killers of Surjit Singh Chhokar.
:03:10. > :03:13.Those men will never be brought to justice. No one should forget that.
:03:13. > :03:18.But now there is a new law of double jeopardy. The Crown Office
:03:18. > :03:21.has not ruled out using that ought to reopen the case. It is possible
:03:21. > :03:24.that the Chhokar family may finally see justice done.
:03:25. > :03:27.I am joined now by two of the guests who appeared on that
:03:27. > :03:30.programme in 2001. Aaamer Anwar still acts as solicitor for the
:03:30. > :03:37.Chhokar family, and Graeme Pearson, then a senior police officer, is
:03:37. > :03:41.now an opposition MSP. In the wake of the Lawrence verdicts this week,
:03:41. > :03:46.Aaamer Anwar, what would you like to see happened in the Chhokar
:03:46. > :03:50.case? I spoke to the family before Christmas and again today, and
:03:51. > :03:55.there has always been hope within the family. They were betrayed by
:03:55. > :03:59.the system that was supposed to give them justice, and their son's
:03:59. > :04:03.killers still walk the streets. The family are asking for something
:04:03. > :04:08.simple - justice. They want the men responsible for their son's murder
:04:09. > :04:14.to be behind bars. This change in the law came into place at the end
:04:14. > :04:20.of last year. In theory, it makes that possible, but but practically
:04:20. > :04:24.making it possible is different. Practically, the lord advocate's
:04:24. > :04:28.office heralded the big change of double jeopardy, as did the justice
:04:28. > :04:33.minister, so it is up to them to consider whether there is new
:04:33. > :04:36.evidence. There has been revolutionary change regarding DNA
:04:36. > :04:42.and forensic evidence. We want the Crown Office to revisit the case
:04:42. > :04:48.with a fresh pair of eyes. We want police officers to look at the case
:04:48. > :04:53.again. The reality is that everybody knows who the three men
:04:53. > :04:58.were when Surjit Singh Chhokar was murdered. And three men walked, not
:04:58. > :05:02.on one, but two occasions, free from the High Court in Glasgow.
:05:02. > :05:07.Graeme Pearson, but your policeman's hat back on, Aaamer
:05:07. > :05:12.Anwar says there might need to be new forensic evidence. This did
:05:12. > :05:18.years in the case of Stephen Lawrence. It was 2007 when they
:05:18. > :05:26.discovered that crucial spot of blood. So there would have to be a
:05:26. > :05:30.major forensic effort? Yes. The science of DNA has changed a great
:05:30. > :05:34.deal in the last decade, so there is a possibility that one could
:05:34. > :05:40.harvest additional evidence. And as was acknowledged in the needed to
:05:40. > :05:47.the current discussion, there was an acknowledgement within the court
:05:48. > :05:53.that the tactics used in the trial allowed an opening for people to
:05:53. > :05:58.seek justice. Do you agree that there is a case to put resources
:05:58. > :06:02.into this and see what they can come up with? The Chhokar case has
:06:02. > :06:08.always been a difficult case for the Scottish judicial system. One
:06:08. > :06:12.change in the law allowing a retrial of people seems an ideal
:06:12. > :06:19.set of circumstances to revisit, and to try and achieve justice for
:06:19. > :06:23.the Chhokar family. I do not know whether it is a difference in the
:06:23. > :06:30.law between here and England or not, but one of the points the judge
:06:30. > :06:34.made when he sentenced the two convicted this week was, it does
:06:34. > :06:38.not matter whether you will do the fatal blow or stabbed Stephen
:06:38. > :06:44.Lawrence, you were part of a gang which approached him with lethal
:06:44. > :06:50.intent. If the judge or judges in the two trials in the Chhokar case
:06:50. > :06:56.take the same view, this peculiar defence that they each had of the
:06:56. > :06:59.other one did it would not have been available. If a gang goes out
:06:59. > :07:03.armed with a baseball bat and a knife, and at the end of that
:07:03. > :07:07.attack, a man lies dead on the ground, as did Surjit Singh Chhokar,
:07:07. > :07:11.stabbed repeatedly and beaten to death, one would expect that all
:07:11. > :07:15.three men should be found guilty of murder. But it was a tactic by the
:07:15. > :07:20.Crown Office to prosecute firstly one individual, like him to blame
:07:20. > :07:23.the other two, only for them to blame the first one. If the judge
:07:23. > :07:27.in the first trial had said that is irrelevant, you were part of a gang
:07:27. > :07:31.that did this, I have a convicted of murder, they could not have got
:07:31. > :07:35.away with that defence. It was a matter for the prosecution to
:07:35. > :07:39.prosecute the case and then for the defence and the jury to decide. It
:07:40. > :07:45.allowed one individual to say it was the other two, and then for the
:07:45. > :07:50.other two to blame him. We are a decade on later, and the Crown
:07:50. > :07:55.Office has had fundamental changes, as the police have, in the way they
:07:55. > :08:00.treat families and victims. There is one running sore that still
:08:00. > :08:04.exists to this day, the betrayal of Justice of the Chhokar family. The
:08:04. > :08:07.Crown Office have a duty to revisit the case and see if justice can be
:08:07. > :08:14.done to be fair to the Crown Office, they have to worry about things
:08:14. > :08:19.like prejudicing future trials. other side of that is, are we a bit
:08:19. > :08:22.slow to understand the politics with a small p of this and say, as
:08:22. > :08:26.Aaamer Anwar says, this is a running sore, and for the
:08:26. > :08:36.authorities to say publicly, as both the Metropolitan Police and
:08:36. > :08:38.
:08:38. > :08:42.the CPS have said in England all There is some truth in that, we
:08:42. > :08:46.tend to be parochial in Scotland and say we have done our best and
:08:46. > :08:51.that is a matter of course but the law has changed. Parliament has
:08:51. > :08:54.changed a lot and allows the door to open on revisiting cases where
:08:54. > :09:00.it is perceived that new evidence is available and that conviction
:09:00. > :09:05.can be achieved. One should read is that those cases which lie in our
:09:05. > :09:10.history and cried out for some response. I think this is one of
:09:10. > :09:13.them and the Crown should take a really close look at these
:09:13. > :09:23.circumstances and if they deem it responsible and advisable, it
:09:23. > :09:27.should come back to the courts. There were two inquiries into this.
:09:27. > :09:31.Today they say they are reviewing cases in light of the change in the
:09:31. > :09:37.law last year and are not saying anything about specific cases so
:09:37. > :09:41.they are not ruling anything in or out. There were two inquiries into
:09:41. > :09:46.the case of Surjit Singh Chokhar. They were supposed to introduce
:09:46. > :09:50.enormous changes in Scotland and a new experience, have they?
:09:50. > :09:53.starting point is that both of those inquiries were condemned by
:09:54. > :09:57.the Chhokar family. They actually walked out of those inquiries
:09:57. > :10:03.because they thought it was a whitewash and they consider those
:10:03. > :10:06.inquiry still to be a whitewash. Imagine the Lawrence inquiry
:10:06. > :10:10.without the family giving evidence in public and without a lawyer has
:10:10. > :10:17.been able to cross-examine the Metropolitan Police. You have a
:10:17. > :10:21.whitewash and sending... It never works with these inquiries. The
:10:21. > :10:26.fact is, there was revolutionary change that took place as a result,
:10:26. > :10:28.it was a shock to the system regarding the police but
:10:29. > :10:33.unfortunately the enquiry allowed the Crown to get off the hook and
:10:33. > :10:36.focus of attention on the police when, at the time, but family were
:10:36. > :10:41.very much focused on the prosecution system and the press
:10:41. > :10:44.jump onto the fact that the Stephen Lawrence case, the same police in
:10:44. > :10:49.England and up here and what we had was a system of justice, relatively
:10:49. > :10:54.unchanged for hundreds of years, run like a gentleman's club,
:10:54. > :10:58.shrouded in secrecy, and with unaccountability. Some families and
:10:58. > :11:02.victims say that the same process continues today and that is why the
:11:02. > :11:07.Crown Office has a duty to prove that it has fundamentally changed.
:11:07. > :11:11.Do you recognise that picture? the time there was a focus on
:11:11. > :11:14.Strathclyde police because they conducted the investigation and
:11:14. > :11:18.were things were fundamentally difference -- different from
:11:18. > :11:27.Lawrence inquiry was that the police delivered suspects accused
:11:27. > :11:34.to the courts. You agree with Amer Anwar? The element that caused so
:11:34. > :11:38.much difficulty... The police did not have a lot to learn. We should
:11:38. > :11:44.remind people that the criticism of the place was in the way they
:11:44. > :11:49.handle the family rather than going about catching people? Within the
:11:49. > :11:55.first 24 hours, the police decision is to deny racism but that
:11:55. > :12:00.perpetuate racism and closes down one line of the inquiry. That was a
:12:00. > :12:07.lesson it was learned and was not repeated. If it was repeated, it
:12:07. > :12:11.was by a fool. The thank you but they're much indeed for joining us.
:12:11. > :12:13.-- thank you both very much. How does a new political leader make a
:12:13. > :12:16.mark, especially when some members believe her party to be moribund?
:12:16. > :12:19.As a former journalist, Ruth Davidson should have some idea of
:12:19. > :12:22.how to use the media. Today, she began the process of making the
:12:22. > :12:25.news by recreating the public image of the Scottish Tories. She
:12:25. > :12:27.embodies a surprising change in being a young, female, openly gay
:12:27. > :12:37.Conservative leader. Derek Bateman has been listening to the new voice
:12:37. > :12:43.
:12:43. > :12:52.of Scottish Conservatism. BBC Radio Scotland... It is for 30 1:00am.
:12:52. > :12:58.Ruth Davidson and Barry Stewart. isn't so long ago that Ruth
:12:58. > :13:02.Davidson was a radio journalist at the BBC. Today, she was on the
:13:02. > :13:06.other side of the cloud and on the other side of the microphone and on
:13:06. > :13:10.the other side in the war of attrition between journalists and
:13:10. > :13:14.politicians. The new Tory leader is still forging the impression she
:13:14. > :13:18.wants the voters to accept and the first matter of note in today's
:13:18. > :13:25.speech was for almost total omission of Alex Salmond. There was
:13:25. > :13:28.one brief mention. The reporter would have noted this as refusing
:13:28. > :13:32.to be defined by someone else. must be the decade were we won
:13:32. > :13:38.again for Scotland, when we reach out to people who have stopped
:13:38. > :13:43.listening to us. Or perhaps never did. We are proud of who we are,
:13:43. > :13:46.proud of what we stand for. Proud of our values. Because they are
:13:46. > :13:52.Scotland's five years. Tories in Scotland are supposed to be
:13:52. > :13:56.apologetic. Ruth Davidson knows what it's like to come out. She
:13:56. > :14:01.wants secret Tories to do the same and stop hiding. There was much
:14:01. > :14:06.that was conventional, more private sector, less public, empowering
:14:06. > :14:10.individuals, working hard, not joining the Euro. There were two
:14:10. > :14:14.references which mimicked the relentless optimism of the SNP.
:14:14. > :14:20.can build a country and make it the best it can be. We must teach our
:14:20. > :14:24.children to reach for the stars. Her final statement was positively
:14:24. > :14:32.Alex Salmond. Scotland can be the envy of the world but be must work
:14:32. > :14:35.to make it so. Thank you. There was enthusiasm from those present. Do
:14:35. > :14:42.you know what the principles are that would set you apart from the
:14:42. > :14:49.SNP? Common sense Unionists. We stand for common sense. Family
:14:49. > :14:54.values. The kind of things we have to get across. We are on the side
:14:54. > :14:57.of the common person in Scotland. And before, the Conservatives were
:14:57. > :15:02.not aligned with the ordinary person but now she has tried to get
:15:02. > :15:08.the party back to the centre ground of politics and that is where we
:15:08. > :15:14.belong. But what did her own breed, her former colleagues on the other
:15:14. > :15:17.side, make of this? Every time we have had recent elections, people
:15:17. > :15:21.have responded well to the actual principles and the policies that
:15:21. > :15:27.the Conservatives put forward but when it comes to voting, no chance.
:15:27. > :15:30.The issue with Ruth Davidson is she is young, new, we saw today better
:15:30. > :15:37.presentation was interesting and we had these young people standing
:15:37. > :15:41.behind her. All of those above 50 and 60 were in the cheap seats!
:15:41. > :15:47.This is a concerted effort. To take the party to work David Cameron has
:15:47. > :15:55.taken out, in a new direction and trying to ditch some of the image
:15:55. > :16:00.problems they have had. What Ruth Davidson is saying, is keep the
:16:00. > :16:05.party but with the new face. That's a big question, can they do this
:16:05. > :16:08.without ditching the party? The Tories insist that on a blind
:16:08. > :16:13.tasting of Tory policy, people rather like them but it's only when
:16:13. > :16:18.they are relieved as Tory policies, people turn against them. She is
:16:18. > :16:22.talking about a journey towards 2016, she has set modest ambitions
:16:22. > :16:29.for the Conservatives in local government elections in a few
:16:29. > :16:33.months. As every journalist knows, Tories remained toxic. People are
:16:33. > :16:37.not listening because of the impression they have about Tories?
:16:37. > :16:40.That is why I said that it is important that we explain to people
:16:40. > :16:45.why a and b show our values and principles behind the policy
:16:45. > :16:48.announcements. There is an incumbency towards me as leader to
:16:48. > :16:52.make sure we get that message across but to engage with people
:16:52. > :16:59.who have stopped listening, who have not wanted to listen to us in
:16:59. > :17:03.the past. Ruth Davidson has some heavy lifting to do. Tory
:17:03. > :17:08.supporters down at Bedrock think it would be an achievement in itself
:17:08. > :17:13.issue managed to lose any more votes. But she has a mandate, one
:17:13. > :17:18.year to come up with new policies and she has probably as radical as
:17:18. > :17:25.a nation as Tories would have come up with without the Murdo Fraser
:17:25. > :17:30.option. And tomorrow's front pages, the Scotsman... Scottish motorists
:17:30. > :17:35.defied the festive drink-drive crackdown. 12% rise in drivers
:17:35. > :17:41.caught under the influence. And a picture of Audrey Baxter, convicted
:17:41. > :17:49.for drunk driving. The Guardian... Laboured told to expect the cuts to
:17:49. > :17:56.be credible. The party must reject shallow populism. The Independent.
:17:56. > :18:01.There is a tribute to the photographer who died and President
:18:01. > :18:05.Obama says that America can no longer fight the world's battles.
:18:05. > :18:15.Cutting half a million troops, he is. And that's all from this week.
:18:15. > :18:22.
:18:22. > :18:28.Good news, the worst storms are dying down so much lighter wind to
:18:28. > :18:32.end the week. A very pleasant start do today. Recent sunshine becoming
:18:32. > :18:37.more confined to the east and further west, becoming cloudier
:18:37. > :18:44.with outbreaks of rain. Mid- afternoon, across the Midlands,
:18:44. > :18:48.brightness, turning cloudier but it shot not spoil things. Temperatures
:18:48. > :18:53.struggling at about seven or eight degrees. Cloudy across the south-
:18:53. > :18:58.west with the odd spot of rain. And for Wales as well, after a bright
:18:58. > :19:03.start, it will cloud over with dapper this to end the day. The
:19:03. > :19:07.wind not as strong as they have been. It might turn strong across
:19:07. > :19:11.Northern Ireland with outbreaks of rain. Churning properly wet across
:19:11. > :19:19.the Highlands. Through the afternoon, drier and brighter for
:19:19. > :19:24.the East. The weekend, some showers across northern and western parts
:19:24. > :19:29.but the emphasis is on bright, breezy conditions. The wind isn't
:19:29. > :19:34.as strong, some sunshine, one or two showers but many places will
:19:34. > :19:39.have a fine weekend with sunshine from time to time. This is Saturday,