0:00:09 > 0:00:12Tonight on Newsnight Scotland. Well, the votes in the local elections
0:00:12 > 0:00:21here aren't counted until tomorrow. We'll ask whether there are any
0:00:21 > 0:00:24indications yet of turnout or any great surprises. We'll ask whether
0:00:24 > 0:00:27the political and media storm around the Murdoch empire will have
0:00:27 > 0:00:30any lasting effect on politics here. And we'll ask why a Tennessee tow
0:00:30 > 0:00:35truck manufacturer wants to buy Rangers football club.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Good evening. The polls are well and truly closed, but unlike our
0:00:38 > 0:00:45colleagues in England and Wales we won't be bringing you any results
0:00:45 > 0:00:48tonight. Scotland has decided to count its votes in the morning. The
0:00:48 > 0:00:51ballot papers are being gathered in tonight all over the country, and
0:00:51 > 0:00:54these pictures are from the Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, but
0:00:54 > 0:00:57the boxes won't be opened until the morning. The votes will be counted
0:00:57 > 0:01:00by machine, so the timing of the first real results will depend on
0:01:00 > 0:01:02machine efficiency as well as turnout. I'm joined by our
0:01:02 > 0:01:05political correspondent Raymond Buchanan. What sense do you get us
0:01:05 > 0:01:07what has been going on? Nobody is confident that we are going to
0:01:07 > 0:01:09break any positive records for turnout. In fact, they are
0:01:09 > 0:01:15depressed at the numbers of Scottish people who went along to
0:01:15 > 0:01:20polling stations across the country and predicts an inch -- predictions
0:01:20 > 0:01:24of a record low turnout. It might be traditionally that local
0:01:24 > 0:01:28government elections don't get as many people voting as other kinds,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33and until this election for the last 17 years, in fact, these local
0:01:33 > 0:01:42government elections have been joined with other elections, so we
0:01:42 > 0:01:45expect the turnout to fall. Lots of people failed to go to the polling
0:01:45 > 0:01:49stations today, but what we don't know is the level of postal votes
0:01:49 > 0:01:54and we think he might have been busy for them, but even with those
0:01:54 > 0:01:58included, don't expect a great turnout. We don't have the excuse
0:01:58 > 0:02:03they have down south. It has not been pouring with rain, it has been
0:02:03 > 0:02:07lovely. Traditionally we think if it is raining people will stop
0:02:07 > 0:02:13going, but it is not that great in Scotland either. And if the weather
0:02:14 > 0:02:19comes out nicely, you might just go to the park. What rooms are you
0:02:19 > 0:02:23reading. If you are right about the low turnout, like in Glasgow, one
0:02:23 > 0:02:28of the areas to be contested, across Britain, not just in
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Scotland, what implications to a low turnout have? That normally
0:02:32 > 0:02:39makes has asked the second question, which party has the most activists
0:02:39 > 0:02:43call one motivated to go down to the polling stations? The battle is
0:02:43 > 0:02:47against Labour and the SNP who, let's face it, they are on an
0:02:47 > 0:02:50electoral roll, and you would think a low turnout would favour the SNP
0:02:50 > 0:02:56because their activists will get out to vote whereas Labour
0:02:56 > 0:03:01activists might not do. Assuming that the machines work is
0:03:01 > 0:03:05fabulously well as we are assured that they well, when will we get
0:03:05 > 0:03:12any results? To Moro morning they will start. The ballot boxes will
0:03:12 > 0:03:19be transferred to the counting sexes -- areas. Tomorrow morning, a
0:03:19 > 0:03:23sensible hour, they will start counting the vote and will go ward
0:03:23 > 0:03:26by Ward, through the screens done electronically and then verified by
0:03:26 > 0:03:32a human beings are using these things we call our ways, before
0:03:32 > 0:03:37making a decision. And then in the late afternoon we will start
0:03:37 > 0:03:41getting the results for the big contests in Glasgow, ever been,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Edinburgh, Stirling -- Aberdeen. We will find their who has emerged
0:03:44 > 0:03:48with a large number of votes, but we will not know who will be
0:03:48 > 0:03:54controlling a lot of the authorities. It is a proportional
0:03:54 > 0:03:59representation system which in the past has led to no great number of
0:03:59 > 0:04:06councils with overall control. That means negotiations take time so a
0:04:06 > 0:04:09few days before we will know who is running the authorities. Now, given
0:04:09 > 0:04:13the local election campaign has not exactly set the heather on fire,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15one of the most reported political stories in the past couple of weeks
0:04:15 > 0:04:18has been the Murdochs appearances at the Leveson Inquiry. In Scotland,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20the connections between the Murdochs and Alex Salmond held
0:04:20 > 0:04:23centre stage. Could his flirtations with Rupert Murdoch do the First
0:04:23 > 0:04:33Minister lasting damage or is this all just yah-boo politics? Here's
0:04:33 > 0:04:40
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Election day, the opportunity for the government to show the
0:04:44 > 0:04:48political classes who is really boss. Today we found the sun
0:04:48 > 0:04:53shining, the parks for, but the polling stations, let's just say
0:04:53 > 0:04:57not quite as popular. I have come to the West End of Glasgow, a good
0:04:57 > 0:05:02place the loss of reason. Part of Scotland's largest local-authority
0:05:02 > 0:05:07and part of the larger cities, the juiciest pies in the local election
0:05:07 > 0:05:14and also this constituency switched from supporting the Labour Party to
0:05:14 > 0:05:18the SNP. So what impact, if any, will the political agenda have on
0:05:19 > 0:05:24what should be local elections here? You have just emerged from
0:05:24 > 0:05:30the polling station. What got you in there? Basically to keep the SNP
0:05:31 > 0:05:36out, and in order to do that I voted Labour. Were you were
0:05:36 > 0:05:38traditional Labour voter? I was sometimes. Before the last election
0:05:38 > 0:05:43I used to vote for Liberal-Democrat. By think it is party-political
0:05:43 > 0:05:45issues more than anything else. am tired of the negative Labour
0:05:45 > 0:05:52campaigning towards the independence debate which I have
0:05:52 > 0:05:57not heard mentioned in the Council campaign apart from Labour who
0:05:57 > 0:06:01seemed to throw it at the SNP. That is negative campaigning. I have a
0:06:01 > 0:06:05child with additional needs and having contacted the previous
0:06:05 > 0:06:11council, some have been helpful and some less so, so that has been a
0:06:11 > 0:06:14big factor. What about the story dominating Holy rude? During his
0:06:14 > 0:06:18evidence at the Leveson Inquiry, Rupert Murdoch told us how friendly
0:06:18 > 0:06:23he is with the first minister? would you describe your
0:06:23 > 0:06:30relationship with Alex Salmond? Is it warm or something different?
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Today? I would describe it as warm. Alex Salmond macro past opponents,
0:06:34 > 0:06:39often cosy with Murdoch, raise their eyes critically and launched
0:06:39 > 0:06:43an attack on the first minister, tried to spread the Fox -- toxic
0:06:43 > 0:06:50fall-out to Bute House. revelation that Rupert Murdoch's
0:06:50 > 0:06:53newspaper hacked Milly Dowler's phone was the moment his empire
0:06:53 > 0:06:58started to fall, but after that devastating revelation, the first
0:06:58 > 0:07:05minister became the only senior politician in this country, perhaps
0:07:05 > 0:07:08the only one in the world, to invite him round for tea. Alex
0:07:08 > 0:07:14Salmond condemned phone hacking and backed the Leveson Inquiry and said
0:07:14 > 0:07:20he had only ever exchanged words about jobs, not favours for
0:07:20 > 0:07:24favourable news coverage from the now SNP backing Sun newspaper.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29BSkyB were moving from nine contract as onto two contract is
0:07:29 > 0:07:35which carried with it a risk of major job losses unless Scotland
0:07:35 > 0:07:39won the contracts. I'm delighted to say, of course, but we did win a
0:07:39 > 0:07:44major contract. Those jobs moved from one part of Glasgow to another
0:07:44 > 0:07:52and stayed there, despite the News Corporation and BSkyB deal falling
0:07:52 > 0:07:54through. What direct link they had to the biggest media deal in UK
0:07:54 > 0:08:03clear. Then on the eve of Paula -- polling day, Alex Salmond was
0:08:03 > 0:08:06asked... First Minister, were you fact? As Ruth Davison said, I will
0:08:06 > 0:08:10be going to the Leveson Inquiry and I will be speaking specifically
0:08:10 > 0:08:19about a range of matters, under oath, and that is where I would
0:08:19 > 0:08:25give my evidence, which is exactly But does any of this matter? Back
0:08:25 > 0:08:30to the sunshine. It doesn't surprise me our politicians should
0:08:30 > 0:08:34be discussing with the media and I don't see a big problem with that.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40If I feel there is something suspicious then I will start to be
0:08:40 > 0:08:46put off and I'll start to question it. Going by unscientific and
0:08:46 > 0:08:49anecdotal evidence, it seems the main opposition is have misfired in
0:08:49 > 0:08:56their attempt to dominate the agenda linking Rupert Murdoch to
0:08:56 > 0:09:05Alex Salmond. Certainly amongst the voters we have spoken to me does
0:09:05 > 0:09:10not as an issue. But they will hope that the on polling day 8th linking
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Alex Salmond to Rupert Murdoch might have told some of the SNP
0:09:14 > 0:09:21and's leaders electoral sheen. joined now from Edinburgh by the
0:09:21 > 0:09:25and commentator Gerry Hassan. You have been quite sympathetic to Alex
0:09:25 > 0:09:31Salmond in recent months. Not on this, though. What has got your
0:09:31 > 0:09:35back-up so much? I think this is the downside of a rather unnatural
0:09:35 > 0:09:39party discipline we have seen from the SNP in recent years, that there
0:09:39 > 0:09:44is no one really prepared to challenge Alex Salmond for tell him
0:09:44 > 0:09:49sometimes that things are not in order. Frankly, it is not in order
0:09:49 > 0:09:53for the first minister of any party to use the opposite first minister
0:09:53 > 0:09:57to lobby in the commercial interests of any company, let alone
0:09:57 > 0:10:01in the interests of Rupert Murdoch, a figure who has had a very malign
0:10:01 > 0:10:05influence on British media culture and has been condemned as unfit to
0:10:05 > 0:10:11control a company by the Commons committee. He is a prince of
0:10:11 > 0:10:15darkness, as the former SNP minister Chris Hardy put it the
0:10:15 > 0:10:19other day. And I think this doesn't have an immediate effect on opinion
0:10:19 > 0:10:24polls or an immediate effect on the local elections, but gradually this
0:10:24 > 0:10:27kind of thing seeps away at the credibility of the political leader.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31We are at about the stage, if you like, when Tony Blair was saying he
0:10:32 > 0:10:38was a straight kind of guy when he was entertaining Bernie Ecclestone
0:10:38 > 0:10:42and Number Ten. Is that your take on this? Broadly, yes. This is a
0:10:42 > 0:10:47decent, competent government and people have liked it for that for a
0:10:47 > 0:10:51variety of reasons. It has felt like Scotland's government. The
0:10:51 > 0:10:58transition to the Scottish Office to the Scottish Executive has felt
0:10:58 > 0:11:02like Scotland speaking for Scotland, but in that beat time politics they
0:11:02 > 0:11:06have -- big-time politics that they have had and they have no credible
0:11:06 > 0:11:10opposition, you believe you are infallible and your vanity is
0:11:10 > 0:11:17plated by people like Rupert Murdoch. Alex Salmond's future, if
0:11:17 > 0:11:20he's not careful, without the hubris of Iraq, is similar to Tony
0:11:20 > 0:11:24Blair. He can't believe too much his own judgment and eventually he
0:11:24 > 0:11:32will get it wrong unless he can find out to have critical friends
0:11:32 > 0:11:38in his big tent. I am struck by the fact that both of you came up with
0:11:38 > 0:11:40the comparison with Tony Blair. Is that really fair? If it is
0:11:40 > 0:11:44difficult to think of a better comparison. If you remember the
0:11:44 > 0:11:48early years of the Tony Blair administration after the landslide
0:11:49 > 0:11:54victory in 1997, Tony Blair could really do no wrong and he sailed
0:11:54 > 0:12:03for a number of crises. -- through a number of crises. Remember when
0:12:03 > 0:12:08it was found there Labour MPs were exploiting their links for personal
0:12:08 > 0:12:11interest, and then Bernie Eccleston donating �1 million to Labour and
0:12:11 > 0:12:15getting their exemption from tobacco advertising roles, that
0:12:16 > 0:12:19went through as well. It takes time for these to thing in -- sink in.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23I'm not saying this is the beginning of the end. I am not
0:12:23 > 0:12:29saying he will end up like Tony Blair. I don't think he will start
0:12:29 > 0:12:33any illegal foreign wars. But this is the problem that you get, really,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37when you have a party that is so disciplined that nobody is able to
0:12:37 > 0:12:42say what is blindingly obvious. You get a lot of SNP people who will
0:12:42 > 0:12:46shuffle their feet and say it is what all leaders have to do and
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Alex Salmond has to do this to get the papers on side but they know
0:12:49 > 0:12:54perfectly well it is unacceptable and somebody should be saying it.
0:12:54 > 0:13:01The other thing that strikes me about what you are both sane is
0:13:02 > 0:13:05that -- your both saying is that not only do you clearly take Alex
0:13:05 > 0:13:10Salmond's own explanations for his behaviour very seriously, because
0:13:10 > 0:13:15neither of you have mentioned them. Not really. The Alex Salmond
0:13:15 > 0:13:18defence of last week has been about jobs and investment, and if that
0:13:18 > 0:13:24was the case and was advocating that, why would you keep the policy
0:13:24 > 0:13:28secret? He didn't make any sense at all. I think Ian is right about the
0:13:28 > 0:13:32self- discipline in the SNP. But there is a wider point about the
0:13:32 > 0:13:37self- government forces and even Independent supporters' who have
0:13:37 > 0:13:39been nearly silent on this because they don't want to rock the boat.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43It self- government is to mean anything it means that we do not
0:13:43 > 0:13:47end up with the Scottish version of crony capitalism. What is the point
0:13:47 > 0:13:51of having a miniature version of crony capitalism when one of the
0:13:51 > 0:13:55think that is driving the debate is discussed at what the British state
0:13:55 > 0:13:59has done and British capitalism? There is no moral superiority in
0:13:59 > 0:14:05that. I wonder whether you think that the solidity, if you like, in
0:14:05 > 0:14:12the ranks of the SNP is doing them any favours at the moment? Perhaps
0:14:12 > 0:14:20it might do them any good if there were any SNP backbenchers standing
0:14:20 > 0:14:26up and saying they are not very It is completely unhealthy for a
0:14:26 > 0:14:36party to be under the control of one political personality. It does
0:14:36 > 0:14:37
0:14:37 > 0:14:45not do Alex Salmond any good. People are an easy about many
0:14:45 > 0:14:50issues, but they say that Alex Salmond is a winner. His success
0:14:50 > 0:14:55has been considerable. But when something was quite clearly wrong,
0:14:55 > 0:15:00it is the responsibility of members of the party, in the interest of
0:15:01 > 0:15:06the government itself, there could be nothing more damaging than
0:15:06 > 0:15:09having the idea of an independent Scotland where we see the First
0:15:09 > 0:15:14Minister following the David Cameron and Tony Blair into the
0:15:14 > 0:15:22arms of Rupert Murdoch. How disgraceful and ridiculous! It
0:15:22 > 0:15:29should not be left to people like us on the sidelines. Many people
0:15:29 > 0:15:36are now saying that this whole affair has exposed something about
0:15:36 > 0:15:46British public life that we were unaware of before. Comparisons
0:15:46 > 0:15:48
0:15:48 > 0:15:57being made with Etholle. Is it that serious? Yes. Berlusconi is such a
0:15:57 > 0:16:02far advanced example, but it is in that ballpark. This is about power
0:16:02 > 0:16:12elite so that do deals with each other but claimed they are not
0:16:12 > 0:16:12
0:16:12 > 0:16:20deals rather tacit understandings. Rupert Murdoch's grip has been
0:16:20 > 0:16:24broken, it is a wonderful opportunity for Britain. It would
0:16:24 > 0:16:29be absolutely paradoxical of Scotland was the last place in the
0:16:29 > 0:16:33world open to business for Rupert Murdoch.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35The other big story recently is whither Rangers? It took another
0:16:35 > 0:16:38twist today when the administrators announced that the American
0:16:38 > 0:16:41businessman Bill Miller is the preferred bidder. He's big in
0:16:41 > 0:16:51trucks in Tennessee, but is reported never to have been to a
0:16:51 > 0:16:55
0:16:55 > 0:17:05soccer match, and certainly never I am hoping... I am sorry, we have
0:17:05 > 0:17:05
0:17:05 > 0:17:09to confess here. Redo. We do have a film and here it is.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Bill Miller has been chosen to rescue Rangers after the club went
0:17:13 > 0:17:17into administration. We are delighted to announce that today we
0:17:17 > 0:17:21received an unconditional bid for the business assets of Rangers
0:17:21 > 0:17:30Football Club from Mr Bill Miller which has been accepted and he is
0:17:30 > 0:17:36now the preferred bidder. Bill Miller has seen off competition
0:17:36 > 0:17:41from the Blue Knights. The Scottish Football Association say they want
0:17:41 > 0:17:47to hold detailed discussions with Mr Miller to it see how his
0:17:47 > 0:17:52strategy will ensure a viable future for the club. His strategy
0:17:52 > 0:18:02is to spend about �11 million on the club's assets and move them
0:18:02 > 0:18:03
0:18:03 > 0:18:08into a new company. He still has a long way to go. We have yet to find
0:18:08 > 0:18:15out whether Rangers will be required to pay the tax bill which
0:18:15 > 0:18:20is in tribunal at the moment. That could play a pivotal role on what
0:18:20 > 0:18:27happens next. Bill Miller owns the company which makes these tow
0:18:27 > 0:18:33trucks. He has ventured into the world of sports before, but it is
0:18:33 > 0:18:41not clear why he wants to take over Rangers. I'm joined now by
0:18:41 > 0:18:46insolvency specialist Maureen Leslie of MLM Solutions.
0:18:46 > 0:18:52Before we get into the technical detail, why do you think someone
0:18:52 > 0:19:02like this would want to take over Rangers? A very interesting
0:19:02 > 0:19:11question. One can only imagine it is related to some ambition to
0:19:11 > 0:19:16capitalise on the Rangers brand and perhaps did get across the Atlantic
0:19:16 > 0:19:25to the Scottish diaspora in the United States and beyond. Is this a
0:19:25 > 0:19:32viable plan? You seem to think it might actually work. It is a very
0:19:32 > 0:19:38interesting plan. Certainly, in its initial state, phase one, it can
0:19:38 > 0:19:45actually work. That would be the transfer of the business and assets
0:19:45 > 0:19:48of Rangers are to a new company. There is no difficulty with that.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53The administrators have the power to do that without reference to
0:19:53 > 0:20:03Craig Whyte. That was always the stumbling block in the stand-alone
0:20:03 > 0:20:07CVA. So they can do the first bid. But HMRC are looking at this and
0:20:07 > 0:20:17presumably saying, all the assets are transferred and we have to deal
0:20:17 > 0:20:20
0:20:20 > 0:20:26with the Auld but. -- old bit. It is not enough to pay the tax for
0:20:26 > 0:20:33the current year never mind anything that might come out of the
0:20:33 > 0:20:37big tax keys. Are the revenue likely to accept this? Neither the
0:20:37 > 0:20:43Revenue or anyone else can prevent these one of this deal. The
0:20:43 > 0:20:48administrators have a statutory duty to act in the best interests
0:20:48 > 0:20:57of the creditors as a general body. Duff & Phelps have it marketed this
0:20:57 > 0:21:05business very widely. They have brought it to the attention all
0:21:05 > 0:21:11interested parties, they have run with four that we know of. They say
0:21:11 > 0:21:15that what is on the table is the best they can do. To that extent,
0:21:15 > 0:21:22they haven't fulfilled their statutory obligation. You keep is
0:21:22 > 0:21:26saying phase one, why is there a problem with these two? Phase at
0:21:26 > 0:21:33two as we understand it, and there is some colourful language to
0:21:33 > 0:21:40describing the deal, we think that what is intended is once the
0:21:40 > 0:21:43administrator, once the assets are taken to their new company, the
0:21:44 > 0:21:50administrator is set to work on the old company, look out the
0:21:51 > 0:21:57investigations that they have to carry out bylaw and decide what
0:21:57 > 0:22:07actions have to be taken, if any, put together their CVA, perhaps
0:22:07 > 0:22:13
0:22:13 > 0:22:23have it approved. They would then have to re-merge that two entities.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26
0:22:26 > 0:22:31And play quite's shareholding could be in the way. -- Craig Whyte's.
0:22:31 > 0:22:37Without his agreement to transfer of those shares, presumably to Mr
0:22:37 > 0:22:41Miller's newco, he will be a stumbling block.
0:22:41 > 0:22:49I am not quite clear where the taxpayer or the Revenue stands in
0:22:49 > 0:22:58all of this. Given that we know that HMRC are going after football
0:22:58 > 0:23:03clubs because they do not like the way that they are being run, can
0:23:03 > 0:23:10you see a situation where they would be happy to take practically
0:23:10 > 0:23:19nothing and yet see Rangers continue playing? They can object
0:23:19 > 0:23:28to CVA proposals. Depending on the outcome of their tax case, they
0:23:28 > 0:23:32could block ICV a, but not the sale of the assets. There are remedies
0:23:32 > 0:23:38available to their creditors if they feel that the administrators
0:23:38 > 0:23:44have failed to achieve the best outcome for creditors generally.
0:23:44 > 0:23:49But those are tough charges to bring and I do not see how they
0:23:49 > 0:23:55could bring them to bear. Where does this leave Ticketus? In the
0:23:55 > 0:24:04same place as HMRC. They cannot do anything about the transfer of the
0:24:04 > 0:24:12assets and they might have to go along with the deal regarding this
0:24:12 > 0:24:19CVA and the old company. administrators would now have to
0:24:19 > 0:24:29walk away, repudiate that contract add face potential litigation. But
0:24:29 > 0:24:37
0:24:37 > 0:24:44I do not see even to get us being Now a quick look at tomorrow's