:00:11. > :00:14.Tonight on Newsnight Scotland: the latest on the problems facing
:00:14. > :00:17.Rangers Football Club. As the historic organisation goes into
:00:17. > :00:21.administration, we'll ask if this is the end, or possibly a new
:00:21. > :00:24.beginning for the club. And what does it mean for the rest of
:00:24. > :00:27.Scottish football? Also tonight, we visit north west England - do they
:00:27. > :00:34.relish the prospect of an independent Scotland on their
:00:34. > :00:39.doorstep? Good evening. Another day, another spectacular series of
:00:39. > :00:41.events in the 140 year history of Rangers football club. This evening
:00:41. > :00:46.the club is formally in adminstration, and ten league
:00:46. > :00:49.points further away from the top of the SPL. There have arguments
:00:49. > :00:52.inside and outside courtrooms, and tears, literally, in the street
:00:52. > :00:55.outside Ibrox. But there have also been promises that this process
:00:55. > :00:58.will result in a stronger, fitter football business. Catriona Renton
:00:58. > :01:08.has been following the events of a very complicated day. I should warn
:01:08. > :01:08.
:01:08. > :01:13.you her report contains some flash The end of a long day, as manager
:01:13. > :01:20.Ally McCoist leaves the building. And this was the reaction of the
:01:20. > :01:24.fans to their club going into administration. There is such
:01:24. > :01:29.history to the club, there are families that come here together.
:01:29. > :01:35.am gutted for every single Rangers fan. What can you do? It has
:01:35. > :01:41.happened. We need to move on, now. 140 years of history. Just start
:01:41. > :01:49.again, now it. People across the world and the country will be
:01:49. > :01:52.watching this with bated breath. People have made bad decisions.
:01:52. > :01:57.is a bad day for the whole of Scottish football because it will
:01:57. > :02:02.go through the old Scottish football. The study was dramatic
:02:02. > :02:06.enough, when Owen, Craig Whyte, said he intended to put Rangers
:02:06. > :02:12.into administration, to avoid the uncertainty of its tax problems,
:02:12. > :02:18.hanging over into next season. That gave it up to 10 days of protection
:02:18. > :02:24.from action by creditors. But, this morning, the taxman up the pace,
:02:24. > :02:27.and the clock was ticking. Just after 12 noon, HMRC asked the Court
:02:27. > :02:32.of Session to put Rangers into administration. Then there was
:02:32. > :02:35.legal argument over Rangers appointing an administrator. Then,
:02:35. > :02:40.Rangers QC, Roddy Dunlop, said there had been an outbreak of
:02:40. > :02:45.common sense and that Rangers could appoint an administrator by half-
:02:45. > :02:48.past three. At half-past Two he HMRC asked for their petition to be
:02:48. > :02:53.dismissed and Rangers said they would cover the legal costs.
:02:53. > :02:55.Rangers then appointed administrators, Duff and Phelps. A
:02:55. > :03:03.monster other things, administration means Rangers lose
:03:03. > :03:08.10 points immediately in the SPL. Now remember 10 points, the League
:03:08. > :03:12.is gone and that is it, the big house must stay open! That is the
:03:12. > :03:16.bottom line as lavish and Mark some of these boys have taken shuts off
:03:16. > :03:20.their work, some of them have park money to see Rangers and that is
:03:21. > :03:25.the thanks they get for it. could they not prolong this to the
:03:25. > :03:30.end of the season? He is four points behind in the championship
:03:30. > :03:37.race, pulling the wool over our eyes when we had a chance of
:03:37. > :03:41.winning the league! Strathclyde police said they wanted to make
:03:41. > :03:46.administrators to ensure that policing costs for future games
:03:46. > :03:51.would be met. For more on us so David Murray said words cannot
:03:51. > :03:55.express how disappointed he was. Then the administrator spoke to the
:03:55. > :04:00.media. We have a statutory duty to act and the best interests of
:04:00. > :04:04.creditors and we will pursue that function diligently. We recognise
:04:04. > :04:10.that the great history of this club means a great deal to people
:04:10. > :04:14.throughout the world. Today is a sad day for Windows and its fans
:04:14. > :04:17.but the administration will bring to an end the uncertainty that has
:04:17. > :04:22.been hanging over the club. The administration period, whilst
:04:22. > :04:27.difficult for all involved, will give stability to the club, in
:04:27. > :04:31.order for the club to move forward. I can assure all Rangers supporters
:04:31. > :04:35.that all aspects of administration will be carried out with the
:04:35. > :04:39.interests of the club, firmly in mind. As a first step, the
:04:39. > :04:46.administration team will ensure that Saturday's match at Ibrox will
:04:46. > :04:52.proceed as planned, and all other routine club business will continue.
:04:52. > :04:57.This evening, Ally McCoist asked everyone at the club, and fans, not
:04:57. > :05:02.to lose heart. There are people here who are under I -- undeniably
:05:02. > :05:06.concerned about their jobs and welfare. We fully appreciate that.
:05:06. > :05:09.Everyone is of the same opinion, that we must rally together, the
:05:09. > :05:14.work force, the fans and the players, and take this great club
:05:14. > :05:20.forward. Maybe once the dust has settled, Rangers fans will feel
:05:20. > :05:28.differently about the day's manoeuvres. But for now, many fans
:05:28. > :05:37.that we spoke to were angry, frustrated and fearful for the club
:05:37. > :05:40.of whose 140 year history they have been so proud. I'm joined now from
:05:40. > :05:43.Edinburgh for a second night by Stephen Morrow, expert in football
:05:43. > :05:48.finance, and here in Glasgow by the Daily Record's Jim Traynor. Jim
:05:49. > :05:53.Traynor, the big new thing that we know today is that, actually the
:05:53. > :05:57.reason the taxman went to court this morning had nothing to do with
:05:57. > :06:02.this tribunal they have been talking about four weeks. It would
:06:02. > :06:12.appear, on the face of it, that Rangers have not been paying the
:06:12. > :06:12.
:06:12. > :06:16.tax or the VAT that they owe over the past few weeks. HMRC are saying
:06:16. > :06:20.that they are owed �9 million. This has been spoken about for a long
:06:20. > :06:26.time, four months in fact, that this might well be the truth, but,
:06:26. > :06:29.until now it could not be written about or broadcast, but the taxman
:06:29. > :06:34.as they made it clear, that Rangers have not been paying their dues.
:06:34. > :06:37.And that is why the taxman is concerned, and rightly so. It is
:06:38. > :06:44.almost inconceivable that you can run a club of that size, a business
:06:44. > :06:51.of that size, so much in the public domain, and not paying taxes. It is
:06:51. > :06:55.unforgivable. I hope that Craig Whyte was watching, particularly
:06:55. > :06:58.those fans. If there is any humanity there, any spark of
:06:58. > :07:02.understanding what this club means to those people, I do not think
:07:02. > :07:06.that he will sleep tonight. I imagine he probably will, because I
:07:06. > :07:11.don't think he fully understands just what he has done to so many
:07:11. > :07:17.people. Stephen Morrow, what should be read into the fact that the tax
:07:17. > :07:24.authorities went to court today, rather than allowing Rangers to do
:07:24. > :07:30.what they said they wanted to do, yesterday? We read into it the fact
:07:30. > :07:33.that there was information that had not been put into the public domain.
:07:33. > :07:39.Yesterday Rangers put into the public domain information about the
:07:39. > :07:45.big tax case. But HMRC have said that there is much more to the
:07:45. > :07:49.story, and there is other things going on, too. They are reclaiming
:07:49. > :07:55.part of the story, saying that we put some of this into the public
:07:55. > :08:00.domain, because it is not currently there. I think, Steven, we have to
:08:00. > :08:05.focus, and that is what the fat -- the tax people did today. This
:08:05. > :08:11.nonsense that Craig Whyte has talked about, about the �9 million
:08:11. > :08:13.tax bill with penalties, it is fantasy. It will not be more than
:08:13. > :08:18.48 million. That is huge enough. But the chances are that Rangers
:08:18. > :08:21.might not have to pay that, there might be �12 million penalties, for
:08:21. > :08:28.instance, but this nonsense about it being as much as �75 million,
:08:28. > :08:36.that is a red herring. There is a view that, despite the
:08:36. > :08:39.understandable upset and anger of Rangers fans, that the current
:08:39. > :08:43.situation may be where Craig Whyte would rather like to be. You could
:08:43. > :08:48.look at it and make a strong argument, from the beginning, to
:08:48. > :08:52.say that this is where this was always going to end up, in
:08:52. > :08:58.administration, and I still think that liquidation is a very real
:08:58. > :09:02.threat, with the assets of the club being bought by someone, perhaps
:09:02. > :09:08.Craig Whyte, and you have a Rangers? What is to stop one of his
:09:08. > :09:12.companies or somebody else offering the administrator money for Ibrox,
:09:13. > :09:16.for Moray Park, for the Albany car- park? You do not have to go through
:09:16. > :09:20.shareholders now, especially when it is liquidation, and these assets
:09:20. > :09:24.could be sold off. The administrator said that his
:09:24. > :09:30.priority is to look after predators. The main creditor is Craig Whyte so
:09:30. > :09:36.he has to look after him. This process could lead to stronger,
:09:36. > :09:44.fitter, better Rangers. It could lead to a much weaker Rangers, and
:09:44. > :09:49.a club, after 140 years, that is damaged beyond repair. I want to
:09:49. > :09:53.stick on this point, that it may be in the interests of Craig Whyte to
:09:53. > :09:57.go into liquidation if he buys of some of the assessed. What I do not
:09:57. > :10:02.understand is that, if it is the case that he HMRC want to play
:10:02. > :10:06.hardball, not just on Rangers, but to get tough on tax avoidance by
:10:06. > :10:14.football clubs the length and breadth of Britain, if they allow
:10:14. > :10:20.Rangers to go into liquidation, how do the proceeds? Because they would
:10:20. > :10:23.have lost all the money. There is a political case been made that they
:10:24. > :10:28.have to be seen to be being tough on football clubs. The other thing
:10:28. > :10:33.they are concerned about is there for other obligations of the tax
:10:33. > :10:39.authorities. It is not a case of trying to get money back, it is
:10:39. > :10:43.also about... Because it appears that Rangers have not been paying
:10:43. > :10:48.the current tax, they might want to intervene, now, just to stop that
:10:48. > :10:56.bill from running any higher? is a perfectly sensible obligation,
:10:56. > :10:59.to try to work in the public interest. They also know that they
:11:00. > :11:08.are not paying tax as they :, and that is why they might have
:11:08. > :11:13.intervened. -- as they grew along. It is in the public interest and
:11:13. > :11:18.the Government's interest, in terms of the Exchequer. If you were them,
:11:18. > :11:25.it is difficult to see an outcome from administration or liquidation.
:11:25. > :11:28.It is easy to see, in both cases, how Craig Whyte could still emerge
:11:28. > :11:34.as the owner of Rangers, perhaps a week in Rangers, but it is
:11:34. > :11:37.difficult to see how HMRC emerges, saying, where the white knight
:11:37. > :11:46.coming in on behalf of the taxpayers, we're getting the
:11:46. > :11:50.taxpayer's money back. HMRC could get almost nothing promise and that
:11:50. > :11:53.to be the case whether Rangers is in administration or goes out of
:11:53. > :11:59.business altogether. It is living beyond his means and does not have
:11:59. > :12:07.the funds available to meet these debts. There is �9 million which he
:12:07. > :12:10.HMRC say is due to them. What does that mean? We have as the �24.4
:12:11. > :12:15.million money to Ticketus come from? Fans will be paying for this
:12:15. > :12:21.for the next four seasons. If that money is still there, Craig Whyte
:12:21. > :12:25.could say to the Inland Revenue, there is some money, could you
:12:25. > :12:30.settle the tax bill with that? But it might well be their own money
:12:30. > :12:38.that he is offering, because, where is this �9 million? What has he
:12:38. > :12:42.Why do you suggest that should - even should Craig Whyte emerge -
:12:42. > :12:45.and we should make clear, presumably at this point if it goes
:12:46. > :12:49.into liquidation or even administration, it would be open to
:12:49. > :12:54.someone else, perhaps with more money than sense to step in and say,
:12:54. > :13:00.no, I'll outbid Craig Whyte and take over the assets of Rangers
:13:00. > :13:02.because I love the club and... administration, it is open to other
:13:02. > :13:07.predators, but it's in administration. Why would anyone
:13:07. > :13:11.offer money to take it? Because the big tax bill is still looming. I
:13:11. > :13:14.mean, that would be folly. You can come out of an administration, but
:13:14. > :13:18.there is no ruling on the big tax case, so if you buy it now, you
:13:18. > :13:23.have that liability. So in that sense, if someone else is going to
:13:23. > :13:26.come in, the club would have to be in liquidation, is that right?
:13:26. > :13:30.think what's most likely to happen is when it goes into liquidation
:13:30. > :13:33.because at that point you have a clear picture of what you're
:13:33. > :13:37.actually buying. That's a more likely outcome. It'ss feasible
:13:38. > :13:40.outcome, isn't it? You might say it doesn't make sense financially, but
:13:40. > :13:44.you could they about people who have been take over football clubs
:13:44. > :13:47.across the UK, couldn't you? Absolutely. The one thing we can
:13:47. > :13:51.say with some certainty is someone will come along and reform this
:13:51. > :13:55.club in some shape or form at the end of this process. I think it
:13:55. > :13:59.won't disappear, but it will be markedly different organisation...
:13:59. > :14:03.You might not own your assets. was going to ask you that because
:14:03. > :14:07.you said about three or four minutes ago that you thought if
:14:07. > :14:11.this scenario comes to past pass, whether it's Craig Whyte or not,
:14:11. > :14:15.that owns the assets of what would be a new Rangers that it might be a
:14:15. > :14:21.significantly weaker club than it has been historically for some
:14:21. > :14:24.considerable time. Why do you think that? I mean, if you have to - if
:14:24. > :14:27.you're weakened significantly through this process, whether it
:14:27. > :14:31.remains in administration or becomes worse in its liquidation,
:14:31. > :14:36.if you're looking to the extent that it will take you years the
:14:36. > :14:40.recover but you don't own your assets, Ibrox, Murray Park or even
:14:40. > :14:43.the car park, you'll have to rent those. That'll cost you money.
:14:43. > :14:46.Therefore, you might not become strong enough again to compete
:14:46. > :14:49.because you're always paying massive amounts in rent every year
:14:49. > :14:54.to someone else who owns the ground. Right. You could imagine a Rangers,
:14:54. > :14:58.what? What are you suggesting? A kind of mid-table team for awhile?
:14:58. > :15:04.Yeah, I think the worst case scenario is they emerge from this
:15:05. > :15:07.process or liquidation, and they may be - maybe one or two or all
:15:08. > :15:12.their assets have been sold off. I am not saying that's what Craig
:15:12. > :15:17.Whyte is planning, but it's a possibility. Someone else might buy
:15:17. > :15:21.them. Where would Rangers be then? Obviously one big factor in that is
:15:21. > :15:24.players. I am intrigued by a technical aspect of this. As I
:15:24. > :15:28.understand it, if the club is in administration or liquidation,
:15:28. > :15:33.players could be sold off to get money to pay creditors, but if
:15:33. > :15:35.you're one of the Rangers' players tonight, do Rangers have to honour
:15:36. > :15:40.your contract in administration? I understand in England, there was
:15:40. > :15:43.some sort of test case about this. It was ruled that compensation in
:15:43. > :15:48.player contract came ahead of secure creditors. That's right.
:15:48. > :15:51.There are different rules south of the border than north - the
:15:51. > :15:55.football creditors' rule that exists that protects all football
:15:55. > :15:58.debt that doesn't apply in Scotland. There is still an expectation that
:15:58. > :16:02.the players' contracts will be honoured if at all possible.
:16:02. > :16:05.Nevertheless, it still gives the administrator the opportunity to
:16:05. > :16:10.try to sell players if that is going to help to meet the
:16:10. > :16:14.obligation... But do they have to honour the players' wages laid down
:16:14. > :16:19.in those contracts? That is the given. It's expected to honour
:16:19. > :16:23.those players' wages if possible. That then comes back to the extent
:16:23. > :16:25.if that is feasible given that it's an organisation that is no longer
:16:25. > :16:28.to actually exist as it's currently structured.
:16:28. > :16:31.We have to leave it there. Thank you very much indeed.
:16:31. > :16:33.$$NEWLINEnow the latest in our series of films in which our
:16:33. > :16:36.reporter Ian Hamilton has been travelling to find out what the
:16:36. > :16:39.English think about Scottish independence. So far he's been to
:16:39. > :16:42.Cornwall and Corby. Tonight we hear from a part of England which was
:16:42. > :16:45.part of the Kingdom of Scotland until about 800 years ago, West
:16:45. > :16:48.Cumbria, and in particular the town of Whitehaven. Given that they are
:16:48. > :16:58.so near the border and with geography so similar to Scotland,
:16:58. > :17:10.
:17:10. > :17:19.how do they see the prospect of Freezing February fog rose across
:17:19. > :17:24.Whitehaven's ancient harbour. It's here 250 years ago where they built
:17:24. > :17:29.impressive oak ships, where the tine and Cumbrian were at the
:17:30. > :17:32.centre of adventure and change. Pirates and sailors brought spices
:17:32. > :17:36.and rum from the Caribbean. Whitehaven itself has been a
:17:36. > :17:44.trading port until Glasgow established itself. Whitehaven was
:17:44. > :17:49.the provider of a lot of goods. They're using the spirits of the
:17:49. > :17:55.past to attract tourists to revive the local economy. I don't think
:17:55. > :17:59.there will be a negative impact. I don't think that we would feel any
:17:59. > :18:02.particular loss at our neighbours declaring independence. In fact
:18:02. > :18:08.there, might be one positive thing that might arise from it is there
:18:08. > :18:11.is quite a bit of funding to come out of Europe for projects that we
:18:11. > :18:14.can cooperate across international boundaries, and we would definitely
:18:14. > :18:23.have one with Scotland, and this could benefit one of the few
:18:23. > :18:27.industries that we've got in joint areas, and that is fishing.
:18:27. > :18:31.Consequently it could be a net gain for this area. While I have been
:18:32. > :18:35.here in Cumbria some have said to me that independence in Scotland
:18:35. > :18:37.could be good for them in this corner of England because it could
:18:37. > :18:42.give them access to European money and cash from London.
:18:42. > :18:48.From the high seas to the High Street, the mood music is that
:18:48. > :18:52.they're not that concerned about what the neighbours are up to.
:18:52. > :18:56.# I'm all out of faith # This is how I feel #
:18:56. > :19:01.Quite a few people I have spoken to and a few in the chamber of traid,
:19:01. > :19:04.they quite welcome it because they think we may just get more visitors
:19:04. > :19:10.to this town, and more important, more money coming in through the
:19:10. > :19:14.Government. # No regrets now
:19:14. > :19:20.# They only hurt # I think I read somewhere that
:19:20. > :19:24.Scotland receive 34 billion from the English Government. If it goes
:19:24. > :19:30.independent, Scotland, that means hopefully the Government is saving
:19:30. > :19:33.money, and Cumbria is the smallest receiver of money from Government
:19:33. > :19:39.of the counties in England, so hopefully we may get more
:19:39. > :19:43.Government money to help us. It's hard to believe that these towns in
:19:43. > :19:50.the north-west corner of England were once at the heart of Britain's
:19:50. > :19:55.maritime or industrial revolution. Ship building and mining have gone.
:19:55. > :20:00.What is left is nostalgia. Thomas Henry as Mayor was the founder of
:20:00. > :20:04.the White Star Line. For this reason we like to say that the
:20:04. > :20:08.Mersey port is the route of the Titanic's story. Scotland, if
:20:08. > :20:13.that's what they want to do, they should go for it. I mean, we feel
:20:13. > :20:17.even in this part of England that we're often forgotten about by
:20:17. > :20:23.London and Parliament, and I can imagine how the people of Scotland
:20:23. > :20:27.would feel even more so. I don't think that it would affect us
:20:27. > :20:36.enormously because I don't see border posts being set up and the
:20:36. > :20:42.wall being manned again or the forts that used to litter this area.
:20:42. > :20:47.2,000 years ago the Romans built a fort, and Hadrian installed a wall
:20:47. > :20:51.- even to keep us in or keep us out. For more than a thousand years this
:20:51. > :20:54.area of Cumbria was a part of Scotland. At one time it was. Up
:20:54. > :21:03.until the 12th century, it was part of Scotland anyway, so here was
:21:03. > :21:07.more Scottish than anywhere else. Here, the mood swings from apathy
:21:07. > :21:11.to enthusiasm for Scottish independence - not about what it
:21:11. > :21:19.can do for us but what opportunities it can present for
:21:19. > :21:25.them. So could any potential change upset the tranquility between north