15/05/2012 Newsnight Scotland

someone now charged with such a Tonight on Newsnight Scotland: Why

is there a political row going on over which caps soldiers should

wear? And how does it connect with aircraft carriers at Rosyth, the

formation of a new Scottish mobile force or even SAS and the whole

debate about what might happen to the military if Scotland votes for

independence? Also tonight, the latest cutting

edge science might solve our energy needs. It is easy. Simply capture

the sun and bring it to earth, even at night.

Good evening. You might wonder why some of the country's best known

politicians from Alex Salmond to Jim Murphy are becoming so

exercised about which badges are worn by Scottish soldiers. Is the

retention of famous military names of any importance to anyone outside

the military? And does it tell us anything about the wider issue of

what would happen to the military in an independent Scotland? Here's

It provoked emotion and support. These were campaigners feting to

save the historic regiments the last time of the British Army was

restructured -- the campaigners fighting. They were merged to form

a single regiment. While each battalion was given a number, they

were allowed to keep their historical names and some of their

insignia. Now the battle is brewing again as the army does sizes and

there are fears the battalions could lose their distinct

identities altogether. This led to a heated exchange -- exchange in

the Commons. Scotland has a prime history that simply cannot be cast

aside -- a proud history. Will he guarantee today that the names and

identities and cap badges will be preserved? Failure to do so well so

yet again that this is a government totally out of touch with Scotland.

Did he get a direct answer? He asks about regimental structures in

Scotland. I can soap this to him. I too have read in a newspaper that I

am determined to introduce a continental style army without a

regimental structure. I can say that I understand absolutely the

vital role that the regimental structure plays in the British Army

and as long as I am Secretary of State for Defence the regimental

structure will remain. There was an impassioned debate on this last

week too. Can I draw his attention to the concern and anger of my

constituents that he shared elsewhere over the possibility and

the local identity and pride traditions of the Black Watch being

lost through regimental merger or coming to be known simply as for

respots. The First Minister said he had yet to receive clarity from the

UK minister. In the terms of the arrogance that has been deployed to

crucially elements of the Scottish regimental condition, there were

things splashed all over the papers, we are still awaiting the letter

telling us what exactly the plans are. Much of this argument is to do

with recruitment. Traditionally it was the regiments that were seen as

the golden thread linking the military to their local communities.

Now with only one Scottish Regiment and the UK army due to downsize by

around 20% some question whether these links are still relevant. The

Defence Secretary has argued that many units are already known solely

by their regimental numbers and are no longer have a strong link with

their traditional recruiting areas. It has been claimed by some that

the coalition government does not get the strength of emotion in

Scotland. The Scottish Conservative leader says that she made sure that

the Prime Minister was left in no doubt of the views of Scotland on

this issue. She said that the Prime Minister understands issues at

stake and that it is worth remembering that no decisions have

been taken yet on the units. The defence debate is complex for now

and the future. Yesterday the latest section of the aircraft

carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth was floated up from Portsmouth to

Rosyth. The Careers Programme which also supports many Scottish jobs is

not without controversy after the MoD's decision to change the order.

Then there is the future argument of how an independent Scotland

might defend itself. The focus far now seems to be on the present but

the future is not far from the policy makers and legislators minds.

I'm joined now from Edinburgh by former Lieutenant Colonel Stewart

Crawford, whose ideas for post- independence defence were discussed

today. And from Oxford by Professor Hugh Strawn who is a Fellow of All

Souls and a Ministry of Defence adviser. You were in the military

until recently, at the Stewart, can you explain whether you think this

whole business of whether or not the Italians should be allowed to

wear different badges is of any real importance -- the battalion's?

I do think it is of some importance. In the last round of reorganisation

of the army and inventory particularly in 2005 I was part of

the campaigning group that strove unsuccessfully to maintain the

traditional Scottish regiments. I think that a very strong part of

the fighting prowess of all infantry units, particularly the

Scottish battalions, is their own regimental ethos, the traditions,

the history and the geographical ties. They bring to vent their own

unit cohesion. You would disagree when Philip Hammond says that at

least with some regiments and battalions any connection with

recruiting in the local area has long since gone? You would

I would say there is still a very strong rink. Would you agree with

that? I would not, actually. One of the problems that Scotland has had,

and it is not an you, -- a new problem, we have always had more

regiments in Scotland trying to recruit them be able to recruit

from a. There are simply too many battalions chasing too few people.

This issue has arisen with every spending review because of the

power in the Scottish regiments in sustaining their identities and the

consequent problems of trying to fill their ranks. You think it

would not really matter if you just had a Scottish regiment with

several battalions which were called one Scots, took back Scots?

That happened in 2004. They are already called one Scots, two Scots.

It I, like everybody else, identify with the names and feel the

emotional pull of those, but we should not get so carried away that

we lose sight of what is really going on here. The fundamental

debate today is the future organisation of the British Army.

As you have already reported, they army has to come down by about 17%

and you are not going to achieve that without a restructuring of the

current units. Why do you disagree? The fundamental point is that

behind the caps and badges issue, there is a regimental structure

which was designed for recruiting thousands of people, but not for

the kind of recruiting that is going on it now. There is an

argument to be made there. But I do think that the emotional,

traditional and historical links... What about combining those? If

another battalion is cut, their names could be tagged on to the

names of other battalions. Would that be acceptable? That is more

acceptable than at them becoming numbered to battalions, a more for

us and anonymous. -- amorphous. That is infinitely preferable.

you have already alluded, the debate about badgers masks the

debate about cuts in the Armed Forces. - badges. We were told that

a tank regiment would come to rehearse. Now at the suggestion is

that is up in the air again? There is a radical revision of the Army's

organisation going on at the moment. A statement was due out during the

Easter recess about what that she would be. A post Afghanistan army,

an army designed to withdraw from Germany by 2020. You are right that

there was to be an additional brigade in Scotland. I do not know

what the outcome of that discussion will be. The Ministry of Defence

has kept his close to its chest because it recognises exactly what

we are now debating, which is the emotive pull of certain regiments.

One of the difficulties for everybody is the protracted nature

of the debate which has now gone public but which has been going on

in the army for the last few months, that many people currently serving

do not know with whom are they will serve, or whether they will have

jobs. I want to get you opinions on this conference in Edinburgh today.

You were suggesting that if Scotland ever became independent,

you were suggesting what the military would look like.

Presumably, what you are proposing would not actually be created to do

anything like what they are British Army does. That is correct. I have

made the assumption in the absence of any statement of foreign policy

for Scotland that Scotland would have a regional focus rather than a

global focus. That allows on my model to follow the lines of a much

more modest army service with much more modest equipment and being at

considerably cheaper. What you are suggesting has not been entirely

welcomed by people in the SNP and the Scottish government who say

there is no reason that Scottish could not -- there is no reason why

Scotland could not have something like jets. I describe the Minimum

that Scotland would lead. option remains with the government

to come up with something more substantial than I have. Is that a

debate which needs to be had? When we talk about these configurations

of military brigades, underlying that is a vision of what you want

your country to be. If it Scotland was to go on its own, that debate

needs to be had. Its absolutely needs to be had. And I think the

work done so far is a good first step. But what is the Foreign

political context within which this is set. The elements are configured

on a model off, -- a model of independence from anybody. It might

make more sense to do e-sure capabilities. Things that we could

bring to a coalition force. -- niche. Now, solar power is a great

idea in principle. But the weather and the night tend to spoil things

somewhat. New research here in Scotland is looking to overcome

that. Aerospace engineers at Strathclyde University working with

colleagues in Europe, Japan and the US are aiming to put a solar power

station in space and beam the power down to Earth. Here's our science

It burns 4 million tonnes of fuel every second and gives the energy

away for three. Down here, we have developed technologies to harvest

that energy. But being on the earth a's surface has its limitations.

The weather gets in the way and at night, that power get turned off.

Essentially, you have a power plant in the space instead of on earth.

You can beam down energy to any location on earth on demand. You

can do it all sorts at night time. -- you can do it as well at night

time. And what ever the weather. One potential application would be

in disaster areas. You could support mobile military camps who

can work in a lower level of power. They need to be able to move

quickly and independent of the risk of having the power source cut off.

The trick is getting a power station up there. The international

space station is proof that getting a station into orbit is not easy.

If you want to have an and 10 I -- and and 10 are, you cannot build --

an antenna. Making them strong is the next step. We put this into the

Two pieces of lightweight plastic have been welded together. The tiny

amount of beer trapped between them expanse in space. In orbit, the

structure would be much bigger, but the principle is at the same. We

have to concentrate the sun's energy on one point of the Solar re

to achieve more energy. -- ray. This would act as a reflector.

of these ideas have already taken off. Area this year, the team

launched an experiment to the edge of space to test a lightweight

spilling met which could be the foundation of the Solar satellite.

The spacemen did deploy but the parachute did not open -- the space

net. We know roughly where it is, but we have to organise a recovery

expedition. If you visit Lapland, this is what the Pope looks like.

There could be even more to all this. -- probe. This is not a power

station in the sky. The science is in place. Most of the energy

companies are investing in such structures. The difficult part is

to convince everybody to take that first step. He's small wind turbine

is easy to buy and install. To put it in space is much more

complicated. We are rather advanced. On paper, we can already build a

demonstrator and have something in Its likely to be years before be