:00:13. > :00:17.words, that were set up to help When Newsnight Scotland tonight,
:00:18. > :00:23.with around 1,000 days until referendum time, howled and the
:00:23. > :00:29.level of political exchange think? Today, a Labour MP resigned his
:00:29. > :00:33.heart -- post after this Hitler parody, but on the way down accused
:00:33. > :00:37.and SNP SNP -- MSP of being less penitent that he was. Is this the
:00:37. > :00:42.shape of debate to come? Also tonight...
:00:42. > :00:46.How waste material from Cuban sugar plantations is feeling a wave of
:00:46. > :00:50.inventions at a Scottish university. Good evening. Personal invective
:00:50. > :00:55.and stinging satire are not unusual in Scottish politics, so it is
:00:55. > :01:01.unsurprising every so often when someone cries foul and someone else
:01:01. > :01:11.makes a grudging apology. Today, it was the turn of Labour's Tom Harris,
:01:11. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:22.who stepped down from his party's new media tsar post after posting a
:01:22. > :01:27.
:01:27. > :01:30.video sites -- parodying Alex The official mantra of Scotland's
:01:30. > :01:40.main political parties is that the independence referendum will be a
:01:40. > :01:55.
:01:55. > :02:03.positive campaign. So, how do you This is not the work of some young
:02:03. > :02:07.political geek. It was Tom Harris, representing the Labour Party south.
:02:07. > :02:14.It is a spoof, there are lots of them, by the way, of the German
:02:14. > :02:19.film, Downfall, which cuts the end of the Third Reich. Mr Harris's the
:02:19. > :02:25.deal is Joan's Downfall. And here is Joan McAlpine, last seen in
:02:25. > :02:29.Holyrood on Thursday. By make no apology for saying that the Labour
:02:29. > :02:37.Party and the Tories are anti- Scottish and coming together to
:02:37. > :02:41.defy the will of the Scottish people, the democratic mandate. Mr
:02:41. > :02:48.Harris was not able to take part in the debate, as he set in
:02:48. > :02:54.Westminster - which he obviously has access to a computer. The
:02:54. > :02:57.party's new leader, Johann Lamont, asked Tom Harris to lookout their
:02:57. > :03:07.new leader has -- me media strategy to help improve performance. After
:03:07. > :03:23.
:03:23. > :03:29.this, he has had to resign from the The SNP called his video silly,
:03:29. > :03:33.negative nonsense, which was hugely embarrassing for Labour. Tonight,
:03:33. > :03:39.we can reveal that, having had a look at his YouTube channel, Mr
:03:40. > :03:44.Harris has form on this. This was his Downfall spoof at the time the
:03:44. > :03:51.Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi was released from his
:03:51. > :03:54.Scottish prison cell. What does this tell us about the
:03:55. > :04:04.tone of the referendum campaign? You been proffered teaches
:04:04. > :04:09.journalism students but used to be an SNP advisor. -- Ewan Crawford.
:04:09. > :04:13.I do not think it is that different, and politicians have fallen foul of
:04:13. > :04:19.social media in the past. Social media is often used to say things
:04:19. > :04:23.that may not otherwise be said, and that social media aspect means that
:04:23. > :04:27.perhaps you have rather less unattractive dialogue than you may
:04:27. > :04:34.have had otherwise. But politicians have been using
:04:34. > :04:38.older media to develop the accord - - to develop their core message all
:04:38. > :04:42.week. The Prime Minister has been
:04:42. > :04:45.behaving like Margaret Thatcher this week.
:04:45. > :04:49.The coalition don't often talk about independence, they instead
:04:49. > :04:53.use the F-word. Scott London will remain separate
:04:53. > :04:58.from Vic -- they will remain separate from the United Kingdom.
:04:58. > :05:02.And in America, the Republican presidential cambered -- candidate,
:05:02. > :05:09.met Ronnie, is getting a virtual battering from his own side.
:05:09. > :05:14.He speaks French, too. And for Labour, negativity has
:05:14. > :05:22.worked in the past. This was the party's famous 1999 election at
:05:22. > :05:28.work. -- advert.
:05:28. > :05:35.The SNP's divorce means more tax... Alex Salmond says a positive
:05:35. > :05:40.campaign will be to a negative one. It turns out Joan's Downfall was
:05:40. > :05:44.actually Tom's. By am joined by blogger, Gerry
:05:44. > :05:47.Hassan, who has been writing about the debate, and by Lorraine
:05:47. > :05:51.Davidson from the Times, who has heard a few inappropriate remarks
:05:51. > :05:57.heard a few inappropriate remarks in her time, no doubt.
:05:57. > :06:04.Let's not dwell too much on the individual comments and posts. At
:06:04. > :06:07.this stage in the campaign, argued Opel it can be a positive campaign,
:06:07. > :06:11.or argue mildly depressed? And I think the events of the past few
:06:11. > :06:15.days have been a bit depressing, but in context we have had a very
:06:15. > :06:19.febrile atmosphere in Scottish politics, mainly because of the
:06:19. > :06:23.Prime Minister of's intervention and Alex Salmond's responses.
:06:23. > :06:27.Things got very frenzied are rendered Scottish politics, but
:06:27. > :06:32.what happened? We are back to the situation we had in May last year,
:06:32. > :06:35.where Alex Salmond his having a referendum on independence in the
:06:35. > :06:40.second half of Parliament. We have seen an establishment of the phoney
:06:40. > :06:45.war, if you like, this a vacuum where the big issues are not
:06:45. > :06:51.igniting. George Osborne came in with his intervention on will --
:06:51. > :06:54.will you be able to keep the pound or not, that stuff. There has
:06:54. > :06:57.always been there is a visceral hatred between Labour and the SNP,
:06:57. > :07:01.you can see it on the streets between activists campaigning.
:07:01. > :07:06.Because of social media, you can see it any night of the week on
:07:06. > :07:11.your own computer screen. Perhaps not just between Labour and
:07:11. > :07:16.the SNP, but as we get needed to polling day, on the question of
:07:16. > :07:20.independence, between nationalists and Unionists. Is that in part what
:07:20. > :07:23.is under lie in this, Jerry? is under lie in this, Jerry?
:07:23. > :07:28.Yes, there is also the battle between the Scottish Government
:07:29. > :07:32.speaking for Scotland and the UK Parliament.
:07:32. > :07:37.The some of us -- some of this seems like a little bit going back
:07:37. > :07:42.to the battles and language of yesteryear. Many of us going up --
:07:42. > :07:50.grew up hearing about the 1979 referendum, when Scotland was
:07:50. > :07:54.talked out of demolition. Some of this feels a little like that. Some
:07:54. > :08:00.of it feels like we clearly have not got a language that is about
:08:00. > :08:05.substance or emotion. There are a lot of red herrings around and a
:08:05. > :08:09.fax needing filled. Into that vacuum comes a lot of stuff. People
:08:09. > :08:13.have a lot of fear. Some of the political parties I think have a
:08:13. > :08:18.fear about the political debate because of a fear of the result.
:08:18. > :08:23.Some of it falls to gut prejudice. That is what you see some of the
:08:23. > :08:27.time, about part of Labour, and some of the SNP about Labour.
:08:27. > :08:36.The what is new is the developments in social media and the use of
:08:36. > :08:40.Twitter and Facebook and YouTube delivering political messages.
:08:40. > :08:46.Should we judge what is said online different league to what is said in
:08:46. > :08:51.Parliament war in the newspapers? Do I do not think you can. All
:08:51. > :08:55.politicians are encouraged to embrace social media. The SNP did
:08:55. > :08:58.that effectively in the last election, they had someone employed
:08:58. > :09:03.full-time to make sure they were using it to the best effect. That
:09:03. > :09:08.is why Johann Lamont wanted to employ Tom Harris, because he has
:09:08. > :09:12.made a big impact and has a lot of followers. It is a good stab for
:09:12. > :09:17.the SNP to get, because in this sphere, apart from this lapse of
:09:17. > :09:21.judgment, and he has had one before, he did actually know what he was
:09:21. > :09:24.doing and he knew how to reach an audience. The problem with new
:09:24. > :09:29.media, Twitter in particular, is that you have to communicate
:09:29. > :09:33.differently. If you are putting a cross party political propaganda,
:09:33. > :09:39.no one will follow you and think you are a crashing bore. If you do
:09:39. > :09:44.not fear into that, -- if you do not go in to that too much, and
:09:45. > :09:48.have conversations on Twitter, and I do not tweet because I think a
:09:48. > :09:52.lot of the conversations on there are too personal and violent I
:09:52. > :09:56.don't want to go into that world, then I think in the cold light of
:09:56. > :10:01.day when mainstream media born to Twitter and pick things up, they do
:10:01. > :10:08.not look edifying. Is that the shape of things to
:10:08. > :10:12.come? Not quite, I think, in a leaf. --
:10:12. > :10:19.in a sense. The rules of Twitter and Facebook are sensible and how
:10:19. > :10:22.you would deal with things in every life. Despite every day life. There
:10:22. > :10:31.are commonsense rules, and there is edited we have not quite fully
:10:31. > :10:35.formed. I think on Twitter and face but, I engage with people and there
:10:35. > :10:40.is some invective and things like that. We all get things wrong, but
:10:40. > :10:47.there are ways in which you pick up information more and learn things.
:10:47. > :10:50.The stories you write all worldwide. If you read for the Scotsman,
:10:50. > :10:53.Beijing or Australia can pick it up, but they have more impact,
:10:53. > :10:59.potentially and you have more engagement. That is a big
:10:59. > :11:01.opportunity, as well as a problem. Briefly, in terms of tactics, how
:11:01. > :11:07.important is it to Sydney at your opponents?
:11:07. > :11:13.The does not, it all backfires. What we have seen as something that
:11:13. > :11:17.will be consigned to history. -- it is not. The public will put a stop
:11:17. > :11:21.to this, and we have seen Tom Harris stand down from his position.
:11:21. > :11:27.I think Joan McAlpine will be doing less of the comments she has been
:11:27. > :11:34.doing, and the public will hit this stuff. They see it as a plague on
:11:34. > :11:39.all your houses, will you please call up? Do -- will you please call
:11:39. > :11:44.Thank you very much. Could the collapse of the Soviet
:11:44. > :11:48.bloc lead to more efficient electric cars and cheaper rum?
:11:48. > :11:53.Engineers at Strathclyde University have found a way of turning a Cuban
:11:53. > :11:58.weed into one of the world's most sought after substances. It is also
:11:58. > :12:01.paving the way for cleaning did -- cleaner drinking water in Latin
:12:01. > :12:08.America and more well-formed that only need recharged every three
:12:08. > :12:13.months. -- mobile phones that only need recharged.
:12:13. > :12:21.The collapse of the Soviet Union sparked a decline in Cuba's sugar
:12:21. > :12:28.industry. The land left behind is infested with the stuff - marabou.
:12:28. > :12:32.It is now a plate covering 1.74 hacked tears -- 1.7 4 million had
:12:32. > :12:40.tears. It was useless, until Strathclyde University got their
:12:40. > :12:45.hands on it. We cut it into chunks like this,
:12:45. > :12:51.then we have a process for carbon rising and Anthony King this would
:12:51. > :12:57.for producing an activated carbon, except that this carbon has several
:12:57. > :13:05.unique properties. Here is a sample of the pardon. I can put it into
:13:05. > :13:12.your hand. It is non-toxic, quite safe. It is quite resilient. This
:13:12. > :13:22.activated carbon has a surface area of a boat 1,200 metres squared per
:13:22. > :13:22.
:13:22. > :13:26.gram. A few grams has an equivalent surface area of the City of Glasgow.
:13:27. > :13:31.That high surface area makes it a great filter. Cuba currently
:13:31. > :13:35.imports �5 million worth of activated carbon to filter at its
:13:36. > :13:39.famous rum. Marabou's unique properties means they could make it
:13:39. > :13:44.at home for the fraction of a cut - - a fraction of the cost.
:13:44. > :13:47.This process mimics what would happen at in a filtration process
:13:47. > :13:52.industrially where the remove impurities from rum before it goes
:13:52. > :14:00.into the barrel. We have in pure rum and we want pure alcohol to
:14:00. > :14:03.commit. We have carbon particles, porous carbon particles, and the
:14:03. > :14:13.remove all the impurities by attaching loan to the surface of
:14:13. > :14:20.
:14:20. > :14:26.the carbon. This process could also be applied
:14:26. > :14:30.to produce vodka, whisky or produce clean drinking water in the
:14:30. > :14:35.developing world. It has made his way through the carbon bed and it
:14:35. > :14:43.is now coming out here. It has removed all the impurities Ali
:14:43. > :14:48.added. But this carbon can do a lot more. It is an excellent material
:14:48. > :14:53.for making electrodes for non-toxic batteries. This is where we test
:14:53. > :15:03.our batteries. Once we have made the electrodes, we can construct
:15:03. > :15:07.them into batteries and Mrs R Barton's sell. The batteries we
:15:07. > :15:12.make, or be a developing with Peter Bruce in the University of St
:15:12. > :15:19.Andrews, and they're called lithium oxygen batteries. A special feature
:15:19. > :15:24.is that they are about 15 times lighter than conventional batteries.
:15:24. > :15:34.They can contain 15 times more energy, for the same weight.
:15:34. > :15:35.
:15:35. > :15:38.Perhaps in 10 years, we could make them for several hundred, to us
:15:38. > :15:42.rather than for several tens of kilometres. Strathclyde are also
:15:42. > :15:47.using carbon to take a step beyond batteries. Power from Super
:15:47. > :15:52.capacitors. It is like a battery, but it does not store as much
:15:52. > :15:58.charge, but it can deliver much faster. These devices are being
:15:59. > :16:07.used to help extend battery life or being used in an electric vehicle
:16:07. > :16:14.to give additional acceleration. Marabout carbon could also play a
:16:14. > :16:21.role in reducing our carbon emissions. -- marabou carbon.
:16:21. > :16:24.could be rude used to reduce hour carbon footprint and Scotland by
:16:24. > :16:29.burning the wood alongside Cole. Some of these developments will
:16:29. > :16:33.take years to make it to the marketplace. If they are commercial
:16:34. > :16:37.success, the Cubans may have to start farming it. In the meantime,
:16:37. > :16:47.they have plenty to be getting on with for now.
:16:47. > :16:50.
:16:50. > :17:00.A quick look at tomorrow's front The picture of the fund is all but
:17:00. > :17:11.
:17:11. > :17:15.divers searching the some kinship. -- the sunken ship. There is a
:17:15. > :17:22.quote from Joan McAlpine as well. People are entitled to oppose
:17:22. > :17:32.independence, she says. That is all for tonight. You can
:17:32. > :17:40.
:17:40. > :17:47.Another frosty start. In the West, or we are starting to see change.
:17:47. > :17:50.Slowly but surely, a bad rain will come into western Scotland. For
:17:50. > :17:56.much of central and eastern England, it will be a fine winter's day. It
:17:56. > :18:02.will still be on the chilly side. A different feel across south-west
:18:02. > :18:09.England. Temperatures will be rising by the end of the day. It
:18:09. > :18:17.will turn quite agree on the coast of Devon and Cornwall. -- it will
:18:17. > :18:22.turn quite gloomy. In Northern Ireland, it could turn drier in the
:18:22. > :18:26.afternoon and brighten up on the north coast. Some rain spilling
:18:26. > :18:35.into south-west Scotland. The north-east having a fine but cold
:18:35. > :18:41.day. Most of the UK will be smothered in cloud. And part of the
:18:41. > :18:46.South, it could feel very different. That milder weather will spread