03/05/2012 Newsnight Scotland

Tonight on Newsnight Scotland. Well, the votes in the local elections

here aren't counted until tomorrow. We'll ask whether there are any

indications yet of turnout or any great surprises. We'll ask whether

the political and media storm around the Murdoch empire will have

any lasting effect on politics here. And we'll ask why a Tennessee tow

truck manufacturer wants to buy Rangers football club.

Good evening. The polls are well and truly closed, but unlike our

colleagues in England and Wales we won't be bringing you any results

tonight. Scotland has decided to count its votes in the morning. The

ballot papers are being gathered in tonight all over the country, and

these pictures are from the Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, but

the boxes won't be opened until the morning. The votes will be counted

by machine, so the timing of the first real results will depend on

machine efficiency as well as turnout. I'm joined by our

political correspondent Raymond Buchanan. What sense do you get us

what has been going on? Nobody is confident that we are going to

break any positive records for turnout. In fact, they are

depressed at the numbers of Scottish people who went along to

polling stations across the country and predicts an inch -- predictions

of a record low turnout. It might be traditionally that local

government elections don't get as many people voting as other kinds,

and until this election for the last 17 years, in fact, these local

government elections have been joined with other elections, so we

expect the turnout to fall. Lots of people failed to go to the polling

stations today, but what we don't know is the level of postal votes

and we think he might have been busy for them, but even with those

included, don't expect a great turnout. We don't have the excuse

they have down south. It has not been pouring with rain, it has been

lovely. Traditionally we think if it is raining people will stop

going, but it is not that great in Scotland either. And if the weather

comes out nicely, you might just go to the park. What rooms are you

reading. If you are right about the low turnout, like in Glasgow, one

of the areas to be contested, across Britain, not just in

Scotland, what implications to a low turnout have? That normally

makes has asked the second question, which party has the most activists

call one motivated to go down to the polling stations? The battle is

against Labour and the SNP who, let's face it, they are on an

electoral roll, and you would think a low turnout would favour the SNP

because their activists will get out to vote whereas Labour

activists might not do. Assuming that the machines work is

fabulously well as we are assured that they well, when will we get

any results? To Moro morning they will start. The ballot boxes will

be transferred to the counting sexes -- areas. Tomorrow morning, a

sensible hour, they will start counting the vote and will go ward

by Ward, through the screens done electronically and then verified by

a human beings are using these things we call our ways, before

making a decision. And then in the late afternoon we will start

getting the results for the big contests in Glasgow, ever been,

Edinburgh, Stirling -- Aberdeen. We will find their who has emerged

with a large number of votes, but we will not know who will be

controlling a lot of the authorities. It is a proportional

representation system which in the past has led to no great number of

councils with overall control. That means negotiations take time so a

few days before we will know who is running the authorities. Now, given

the local election campaign has not exactly set the heather on fire,

one of the most reported political stories in the past couple of weeks

has been the Murdochs appearances at the Leveson Inquiry. In Scotland,

the connections between the Murdochs and Alex Salmond held

centre stage. Could his flirtations with Rupert Murdoch do the First

Minister lasting damage or is this all just yah-boo politics? Here's

Election day, the opportunity for the government to show the

political classes who is really boss. Today we found the sun

shining, the parks for, but the polling stations, let's just say

not quite as popular. I have come to the West End of Glasgow, a good

place the loss of reason. Part of Scotland's largest local-authority

and part of the larger cities, the juiciest pies in the local election

and also this constituency switched from supporting the Labour Party to

the SNP. So what impact, if any, will the political agenda have on

what should be local elections here? You have just emerged from

the polling station. What got you in there? Basically to keep the SNP

out, and in order to do that I voted Labour. Were you were

traditional Labour voter? I was sometimes. Before the last election

I used to vote for Liberal-Democrat. By think it is party-political

issues more than anything else. am tired of the negative Labour

campaigning towards the independence debate which I have

not heard mentioned in the Council campaign apart from Labour who

seemed to throw it at the SNP. That is negative campaigning. I have a

child with additional needs and having contacted the previous

council, some have been helpful and some less so, so that has been a

big factor. What about the story dominating Holy rude? During his

evidence at the Leveson Inquiry, Rupert Murdoch told us how friendly

he is with the first minister? would you describe your

relationship with Alex Salmond? Is it warm or something different?

Today? I would describe it as warm. Alex Salmond macro past opponents,

often cosy with Murdoch, raise their eyes critically and launched

an attack on the first minister, tried to spread the Fox -- toxic

fall-out to Bute House. revelation that Rupert Murdoch's

newspaper hacked Milly Dowler's phone was the moment his empire

started to fall, but after that devastating revelation, the first

minister became the only senior politician in this country, perhaps

the only one in the world, to invite him round for tea. Alex

Salmond condemned phone hacking and backed the Leveson Inquiry and said

he had only ever exchanged words about jobs, not favours for

favourable news coverage from the now SNP backing Sun newspaper.

BSkyB were moving from nine contract as onto two contract is

which carried with it a risk of major job losses unless Scotland

won the contracts. I'm delighted to say, of course, but we did win a

major contract. Those jobs moved from one part of Glasgow to another

and stayed there, despite the News Corporation and BSkyB deal falling

through. What direct link they had to the biggest media deal in UK

clear. Then on the eve of Paula -- polling day, Alex Salmond was

asked... First Minister, were you fact? As Ruth Davison said, I will

be going to the Leveson Inquiry and I will be speaking specifically

about a range of matters, under oath, and that is where I would

give my evidence, which is exactly But does any of this matter? Back

to the sunshine. It doesn't surprise me our politicians should

be discussing with the media and I don't see a big problem with that.

If I feel there is something suspicious then I will start to be

put off and I'll start to question it. Going by unscientific and

anecdotal evidence, it seems the main opposition is have misfired in

their attempt to dominate the agenda linking Rupert Murdoch to

Alex Salmond. Certainly amongst the voters we have spoken to me does

not as an issue. But they will hope that the on polling day 8th linking

Alex Salmond to Rupert Murdoch might have told some of the SNP

and's leaders electoral sheen. joined now from Edinburgh by the

and commentator Gerry Hassan. You have been quite sympathetic to Alex

Salmond in recent months. Not on this, though. What has got your

back-up so much? I think this is the downside of a rather unnatural

party discipline we have seen from the SNP in recent years, that there

is no one really prepared to challenge Alex Salmond for tell him

sometimes that things are not in order. Frankly, it is not in order

for the first minister of any party to use the opposite first minister

to lobby in the commercial interests of any company, let alone

in the interests of Rupert Murdoch, a figure who has had a very malign

influence on British media culture and has been condemned as unfit to

control a company by the Commons committee. He is a prince of

darkness, as the former SNP minister Chris Hardy put it the

other day. And I think this doesn't have an immediate effect on opinion

polls or an immediate effect on the local elections, but gradually this

kind of thing seeps away at the credibility of the political leader.

We are at about the stage, if you like, when Tony Blair was saying he

was a straight kind of guy when he was entertaining Bernie Ecclestone

and Number Ten. Is that your take on this? Broadly, yes. This is a

decent, competent government and people have liked it for that for a

variety of reasons. It has felt like Scotland's government. The

transition to the Scottish Office to the Scottish Executive has felt

like Scotland speaking for Scotland, but in that beat time politics they

have -- big-time politics that they have had and they have no credible

opposition, you believe you are infallible and your vanity is

plated by people like Rupert Murdoch. Alex Salmond's future, if

he's not careful, without the hubris of Iraq, is similar to Tony

Blair. He can't believe too much his own judgment and eventually he

will get it wrong unless he can find out to have critical friends

in his big tent. I am struck by the fact that both of you came up with

the comparison with Tony Blair. Is that really fair? If it is

difficult to think of a better comparison. If you remember the

early years of the Tony Blair administration after the landslide

victory in 1997, Tony Blair could really do no wrong and he sailed

for a number of crises. -- through a number of crises. Remember when

it was found there Labour MPs were exploiting their links for personal

interest, and then Bernie Eccleston donating �1 million to Labour and

getting their exemption from tobacco advertising roles, that

went through as well. It takes time for these to thing in -- sink in.

I'm not saying this is the beginning of the end. I am not

saying he will end up like Tony Blair. I don't think he will start

any illegal foreign wars. But this is the problem that you get, really,

when you have a party that is so disciplined that nobody is able to

say what is blindingly obvious. You get a lot of SNP people who will

shuffle their feet and say it is what all leaders have to do and

Alex Salmond has to do this to get the papers on side but they know

perfectly well it is unacceptable and somebody should be saying it.

The other thing that strikes me about what you are both sane is

that -- your both saying is that not only do you clearly take Alex

Salmond's own explanations for his behaviour very seriously, because

neither of you have mentioned them. Not really. The Alex Salmond

defence of last week has been about jobs and investment, and if that

was the case and was advocating that, why would you keep the policy

secret? He didn't make any sense at all. I think Ian is right about the

self- discipline in the SNP. But there is a wider point about the

self- government forces and even Independent supporters' who have

been nearly silent on this because they don't want to rock the boat.

It self- government is to mean anything it means that we do not

end up with the Scottish version of crony capitalism. What is the point

of having a miniature version of crony capitalism when one of the

think that is driving the debate is discussed at what the British state

has done and British capitalism? There is no moral superiority in

that. I wonder whether you think that the solidity, if you like, in

the ranks of the SNP is doing them any favours at the moment? Perhaps

it might do them any good if there were any SNP backbenchers standing

up and saying they are not very It is completely unhealthy for a

party to be under the control of one political personality. It does

not do Alex Salmond any good. People are an easy about many

issues, but they say that Alex Salmond is a winner. His success

has been considerable. But when something was quite clearly wrong,

it is the responsibility of members of the party, in the interest of

the government itself, there could be nothing more damaging than

having the idea of an independent Scotland where we see the First

Minister following the David Cameron and Tony Blair into the

arms of Rupert Murdoch. How disgraceful and ridiculous! It

should not be left to people like us on the sidelines. Many people

are now saying that this whole affair has exposed something about

British public life that we were unaware of before. Comparisons

being made with Etholle. Is it that serious? Yes. Berlusconi is such a

far advanced example, but it is in that ballpark. This is about power

elite so that do deals with each other but claimed they are not

deals rather tacit understandings. Rupert Murdoch's grip has been

broken, it is a wonderful opportunity for Britain. It would

be absolutely paradoxical of Scotland was the last place in the

world open to business for Rupert Murdoch.

The other big story recently is whither Rangers? It took another

twist today when the administrators announced that the American

businessman Bill Miller is the preferred bidder. He's big in

trucks in Tennessee, but is reported never to have been to a

soccer match, and certainly never I am hoping... I am sorry, we have

to confess here. Redo. We do have a film and here it is.

Bill Miller has been chosen to rescue Rangers after the club went

into administration. We are delighted to announce that today we

received an unconditional bid for the business assets of Rangers

Football Club from Mr Bill Miller which has been accepted and he is

now the preferred bidder. Bill Miller has seen off competition

from the Blue Knights. The Scottish Football Association say they want

to hold detailed discussions with Mr Miller to it see how his

strategy will ensure a viable future for the club. His strategy

is to spend about �11 million on the club's assets and move them

into a new company. He still has a long way to go. We have yet to find

out whether Rangers will be required to pay the tax bill which

is in tribunal at the moment. That could play a pivotal role on what

happens next. Bill Miller owns the company which makes these tow

trucks. He has ventured into the world of sports before, but it is

not clear why he wants to take over Rangers. I'm joined now by

insolvency specialist Maureen Leslie of MLM Solutions.

Before we get into the technical detail, why do you think someone

like this would want to take over Rangers? A very interesting

question. One can only imagine it is related to some ambition to

capitalise on the Rangers brand and perhaps did get across the Atlantic

to the Scottish diaspora in the United States and beyond. Is this a

viable plan? You seem to think it might actually work. It is a very

interesting plan. Certainly, in its initial state, phase one, it can

actually work. That would be the transfer of the business and assets

of Rangers are to a new company. There is no difficulty with that.

The administrators have the power to do that without reference to

Craig Whyte. That was always the stumbling block in the stand-alone

CVA. So they can do the first bid. But HMRC are looking at this and

presumably saying, all the assets are transferred and we have to deal

with the Auld but. -- old bit. It is not enough to pay the tax for

the current year never mind anything that might come out of the

big tax keys. Are the revenue likely to accept this? Neither the

Revenue or anyone else can prevent these one of this deal. The

administrators have a statutory duty to act in the best interests

of the creditors as a general body. Duff & Phelps have it marketed this

business very widely. They have brought it to the attention all

interested parties, they have run with four that we know of. They say

that what is on the table is the best they can do. To that extent,

they haven't fulfilled their statutory obligation. You keep is

saying phase one, why is there a problem with these two? Phase at

two as we understand it, and there is some colourful language to

describing the deal, we think that what is intended is once the

administrator, once the assets are taken to their new company, the

administrator is set to work on the old company, look out the

investigations that they have to carry out bylaw and decide what

actions have to be taken, if any, put together their CVA, perhaps

have it approved. They would then have to re-merge that two entities.

And play quite's shareholding could be in the way. -- Craig Whyte's.

Without his agreement to transfer of those shares, presumably to Mr

Miller's newco, he will be a stumbling block.

I am not quite clear where the taxpayer or the Revenue stands in

all of this. Given that we know that HMRC are going after football

clubs because they do not like the way that they are being run, can

you see a situation where they would be happy to take practically

nothing and yet see Rangers continue playing? They can object

to CVA proposals. Depending on the outcome of their tax case, they

could block ICV a, but not the sale of the assets. There are remedies

available to their creditors if they feel that the administrators

have failed to achieve the best outcome for creditors generally.

But those are tough charges to bring and I do not see how they

could bring them to bear. Where does this leave Ticketus? In the

same place as HMRC. They cannot do anything about the transfer of the

assets and they might have to go along with the deal regarding this

CVA and the old company. administrators would now have to

walk away, repudiate that contract add face potential litigation. But

I do not see even to get us being Now a quick look at tomorrow's