:00:23. > :00:27.By any standards the loss of 1,700 jobs is a blow. Is the government
:00:28. > :00:30.will link were able to save those jobs. I will be asking the Cabinet
:00:30. > :00:34.Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment. If you were going out
:00:34. > :00:40.this weekend you might want to take a dinky rather than an umbrella.
:00:40. > :00:44.Why is it raining so much and as it linked to climate change?
:00:44. > :00:52.A one of Scotland's meat-processing plans looked likely to close.
:00:52. > :01:02.Hall's produces sausages, pies and could meet. The Dutch company that
:01:02. > :01:02.
:01:03. > :01:08.owns Hall's says it is losing �79,000 per day.
:01:08. > :01:18.This is that troubled plant. Park of a struggling a European
:01:18. > :01:22.operation. It is Scottish jobs that a mile on the line. 1,700 of them.
:01:22. > :01:32.There is overcapacity in the market. We have seen it food prices
:01:32. > :01:37.increase. We have seen energy prices increase. This is a very old
:01:37. > :01:42.plant by modern standards. It is a complex plot to run. We have tried
:01:42. > :01:47.to put in extra volume. We have taken capacity and products from
:01:47. > :01:57.other plants and cut them in. We have put the most modern machinery
:01:57. > :01:57.
:01:57. > :02:02.we can end. We have tried everything. Where did it all go
:02:02. > :02:09.wrong? The First Minister painted a rosy picture last year. I will be
:02:09. > :02:15.meeting with the chief executive of the Vion Food whose company is to
:02:15. > :02:19.establish a new centre of excellence in Broxburn creating 250
:02:20. > :02:24.additional jobs and safeguarding 1000 others. Among the new jobs
:02:24. > :02:29.will be up to 100 modern apprenticeships which is in line
:02:29. > :02:36.with this Government's aim to use public support as a lever for job
:02:36. > :02:39.creation and training opportunities. I know the whole chamber will
:02:39. > :02:43.welcome this as the latest in a long line of international
:02:43. > :02:48.companies showing faith in Scotland's future. But to the
:02:48. > :02:53.instead of confidence and feed there was there are stationed.
:02:53. > :02:57.want help to keep this plant open. Nobody wants to keep his back shut.
:02:58. > :03:03.I have got five members of my own family working here. The majority
:03:03. > :03:06.of people working in here have got all members of the family working.
:03:06. > :03:10.Crisis talks are under way that bringing this plant back from the
:03:10. > :03:17.brink may be difficult. I am anxious to make sure that we do
:03:17. > :03:21.everything we possibly can do to retain this operation. We want to
:03:21. > :03:26.retain employment within the the Broxburn plant and ensure that this
:03:26. > :03:30.Platt can continue to have a very significant and substantial
:03:30. > :03:34.opportunity to contribute to the Scottish economy and most
:03:34. > :03:43.importantly to provide a huge level of employment ended the West
:03:43. > :03:47.Lothian economy. This factory is the linchpin in Scotland's meat-
:03:47. > :03:51.processing industry. They need are some of its size is in Yorkshire.
:03:51. > :03:57.Their effect on pig farming north of the border could be huge. The
:03:57. > :04:00.Scottish government has made much of this factory's worth to our
:04:00. > :04:06.economy. Today's announcement is not as a devastating for those
:04:06. > :04:11.losing their jobs - it is a blow to the industry as a whole.
:04:11. > :04:14.I am joined by Aberdeen -- I am joined by Cabinet Secretary for
:04:14. > :04:18.Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead.
:04:19. > :04:26.The unions say they want to stop this factory closing. Can you do
:04:26. > :04:31.that? The government recognises it is a difficult day for the
:04:31. > :04:36.workforce. We recognise the seriousness of this threat to their
:04:36. > :04:41.jobs. There is a 90 day consultation period. We are trying
:04:41. > :04:47.to use this consultation period to try to save the jobs in Broxburn.
:04:47. > :04:52.That is why we have said that this ministerial task force. You could
:04:52. > :04:59.not consider putting public money into keeping the splat open could
:04:59. > :05:04.you? We will keep a open mind. could you do? Let us see what comes
:05:04. > :05:07.out in the next few weeks and months. I am asking what you as a
:05:07. > :05:10.government could do. There is a lot of work under way to look at what
:05:10. > :05:20.the options are. We have got some details about the background to
:05:20. > :05:25.this. We stand ready to help at any way we can. It is too early to say
:05:25. > :05:33.how that may be. It's would not be legal to put a government subsidy
:05:33. > :05:41.into this company would it? There may be alternative companies that
:05:41. > :05:45.want to come in. I just got to get this clear. This is a commercial
:05:45. > :05:49.enterprise. It is working in a competitive environment. Presumably
:05:49. > :05:58.it would not be possible legally for you in any way to subsidise
:05:58. > :06:02.this company. Nor would you think it proper to do that. You have got
:06:02. > :06:07.to be careful how you used public money. There are limitations to
:06:07. > :06:12.what we can do. But we do not know yet what has been asked of us. That
:06:12. > :06:18.is why we have said that his ministerial task force. You have
:06:18. > :06:24.mentioned someone taking over parts of it. Is that one of the things
:06:24. > :06:31.that are being looked at? That has happened a couple of times before
:06:31. > :06:35.with the site has it not? A yes it has. The company today has said it
:06:35. > :06:43.wants to go into listening mode over the next couple of weeks and
:06:43. > :06:53.listen to any other companies. They want to listen to the unions and to
:06:53. > :06:54.
:06:54. > :06:57.the Scottish government. We know this company is losing money at
:06:57. > :07:02.this particular plant, but they have put a lot of money into trying
:07:02. > :07:08.to make it viable. Why is it closing? You have heard what the
:07:08. > :07:14.company has said. They said they have difficult trading conditions.
:07:14. > :07:18.But why are the close in this particular plant? Vion Food is one
:07:18. > :07:22.of the biggest food companies in the Europe. They have announced job
:07:22. > :07:26.losses in Germany and in Holland, but this is three times larger at
:07:27. > :07:31.least than any bout of job losses anywhere else in Europe. What
:07:31. > :07:36.exclamation have been given for that? Their explanation is the
:07:37. > :07:41.losses they are making on a daily basis. It is clearly a complex
:07:41. > :07:45.planned. They have put a lot of effort into trying to make it work.
:07:45. > :07:50.The irony is and is that they have full order books. Retailers want to
:07:50. > :07:55.continue buying the products. they have full order books why do
:07:55. > :07:59.they want to close the plant? Despite that the complexity of the
:07:59. > :08:04.plant appears to have led them to make this loss. Their official
:08:04. > :08:11.consultation on my lodgers tomorrow. We have a lot more negotiation and
:08:11. > :08:17.discussion ahead. I understand that. The previous order said when it was
:08:17. > :08:24.losing money before he sold it to Vion Food, that the plant was being
:08:24. > :08:29.screwed by the supermarkets. Is this a factor in your view? It is a
:08:29. > :08:39.cut-throat business. I hear regularly from processors in all
:08:39. > :08:41.
:08:41. > :08:50.sectors who have got very difficult to retailers to deal with. That is
:08:50. > :08:54.no doubt a factor. Is it also a factor that the supermarkets
:08:54. > :09:00.appeared to not just be squeezing margins, but moving into doing
:09:00. > :09:05.their job themselves. Vion Food themselves only a few months ago
:09:05. > :09:10.sold a processing and packing factory in Chishan or two Morrisons.
:09:10. > :09:17.Yes, and some companies are integrated. Some companies have
:09:17. > :09:21.created new jobs. Retailers in some cases have actually helped save
:09:21. > :09:26.jobs and rescue these plants in the past. I do not think that is a bad
:09:26. > :09:31.thing. What we are interested in is the outcome for the jobs in West
:09:31. > :09:35.Lothian. That is what we have to focus on. We have to produce got
:09:35. > :09:40.that's of the highest quality that people want to buy in the shops and
:09:40. > :09:46.that retailers want to stock. We have a platform in place and the
:09:46. > :09:56.also have additional factors. NFU has said this is catastrophic
:09:56. > :09:57.
:09:57. > :10:04.for the meat processing industry in Scotland. Is that true? We have a
:10:04. > :10:08.situation where 80 % of Scotland's pigs go to that plant in Broxburn.
:10:08. > :10:15.If that were to disappear, clearly that would present us with a big
:10:15. > :10:21.challenge. The challenge it seems to present is that you send your
:10:21. > :10:24.pigs somewhere else. To avoid it being called a catastrophe, the
:10:24. > :10:33.first thing to do to try to save the jobs in West Lothian.
:10:33. > :10:43.Ultimately we have big producers who have an outstanding reputation.
:10:43. > :10:43.
:10:43. > :10:47.That is a starting point. We can avoid a catastrophe. Is it the case
:10:47. > :10:55.that pig farmers are going to be left unable to dispose of their
:10:55. > :10:59.animals because this plant closes down? We have to avoid if we can at
:10:59. > :11:03.the plant closing down. What I am saying is that there is a market
:11:03. > :11:11.for Scottish pig product and baulk product. There are other producers
:11:11. > :11:17.in Scotland to are taking advantage of that. Clearly we want to try and
:11:17. > :11:22.save these jobs in West Lothian. at least 10 years successive
:11:22. > :11:27.Scottish governments have been advising all of us, particularly
:11:27. > :11:34.schoolchildren, to eat less of a kind of stuff that is produced at
:11:34. > :11:40.Hall's. Is there not an element of hypocrisy you sitting he says knew
:11:40. > :11:44.what top quality products when your own government ministers and
:11:44. > :11:48.quangos have been going into schools and trying to encourage
:11:48. > :11:54.children to eat anything but this kind of stuff up? A at is not what
:11:54. > :12:01.we say. We say you should have at balanced diet. Yes, eat fewer prize
:12:01. > :12:05.is the blunt way of putting it. It is hardly surprising when the
:12:05. > :12:13.factories making this that run into problems, is it? There is demand
:12:13. > :12:18.for the products. Either you're educational methods are completely
:12:18. > :12:23.ineffective, or you bear some responsibility for the fact that at
:12:23. > :12:29.the site is buying themselves in trouble. We are not in a situation
:12:29. > :12:39.like this because of a lack of orders in Broxburn. The orders are
:12:39. > :12:42.
:12:42. > :12:46.healthy. Retailers are increasing their orders. Food exports are
:12:46. > :12:55.increasing as well. More people around the world enjoy the products
:12:55. > :13:00.Nigel Miller, the President of the National Farmers Union Scotland,
:13:00. > :13:05.joins me from Edinburgh. What did you mean when you said the effect
:13:05. > :13:12.would be catastrophic? That was aimed at the actual plant Approx
:13:12. > :13:18.won in that the employment impact of ceasing production there would
:13:18. > :13:23.be catastrophic to that economy. We are optimistic that the industry in
:13:23. > :13:33.Scotland has a way forward here. Hopefully, on that side, but if not,
:13:33. > :13:34.
:13:34. > :13:42.it is important that we continue processing in Scotland. So that
:13:42. > :13:46.will continue even if that factory closes down? Most of power
:13:46. > :13:56.production goes to that plant. If that plant ceases to be in
:13:56. > :13:58.
:13:58. > :14:04.production, we have the three months to see whether we cannot
:14:04. > :14:14.develop other plants at -- to see whether we can develop other plants
:14:14. > :14:15.
:14:15. > :14:20.around Scotland. Is this to do with margins being squeezed by the
:14:20. > :14:26.supermarkets or is this an inefficient factory? It is still
:14:26. > :14:36.early stages. This is a very complex aside. Most of the jobs are
:14:36. > :14:45.in processing, not in slaughter. I think there are some basics. This
:14:45. > :14:54.plant is running at below capacity. That is not good for economies of
:14:54. > :15:00.scale. Getting a good price for the product is very difficult with the
:15:00. > :15:09.major retailers as well. What are your ambitions? As far as I
:15:09. > :15:18.understand, it seems to be at gigantic slaughter house and a meat
:15:18. > :15:26.processing factory. If it -- if at the slaughterhouse remained open,
:15:26. > :15:31.would that goes some way to meeting the concerns of farmers? Was to be
:15:31. > :15:38.see what parts of the plant are performing and are efficient, we
:15:38. > :15:43.will see what is sustainable. About 10% of the workforce is employed in
:15:43. > :15:46.this slaughtering part of the business. The rest of the workforce
:15:46. > :15:51.are in processing. There are several different lines of
:15:51. > :16:00.processing and some of them could be underperforming. The company
:16:00. > :16:10.that owns this plant, it is itself owned by a co-operative of formers
:16:10. > :16:18.
:16:18. > :16:21.based in the Netherlands. -- FA weres. -- farmers. Why don't
:16:21. > :16:31.Scottish farmers have the Enterprise are two set up an
:16:31. > :16:33.
:16:33. > :16:38.operation like this? In reality, we have been bad at co-operating.
:16:38. > :16:46.There is a history of having corporate of that sort of link in
:16:46. > :16:49.Scotland. But not on the scale? as successful as Vion. That is a
:16:49. > :16:55.world-scale company. There are lessons to be learnt that we have
:16:55. > :17:02.to get better at collaborating and investing in our future. At the
:17:02. > :17:07.moment, there are signs of that starting. But there are signs of
:17:07. > :17:17.wholesale failure in the British farming industry. This is not just
:17:17. > :17:22.
:17:22. > :17:27.one company. It is easy to make this an example of failure in
:17:27. > :17:34.Scotland. In reality, our beef processing is probably the envy of
:17:34. > :17:43.many parts of Europe. Our export record is extraordinary. And that
:17:43. > :17:47.is all in the hands of private companies. Thank you very much.
:17:47. > :17:49.Now, if you glance out the window, it may not be raining. But do not
:17:49. > :17:55.under any circumstances remain optimistic! The Met Office has
:17:55. > :17:59.issued alerts for heavy rain this weekend. Rain cancelled the
:17:59. > :18:09.Scottish Game Fair at Scone last weekend and good luck if you are
:18:09. > :18:09.
:18:09. > :18:13.In the Park this weekend. But why It has been a rocky start to some
:18:13. > :18:23.were with torrential downpours or rather than warm sunshine. --
:18:23. > :18:27.
:18:27. > :18:32.summer. Train services have been badly affected. If this continues,
:18:32. > :18:38.events across Scotland could be affected. T in the Park this
:18:38. > :18:45.weekend looks decidedly wet. We are used to bad weather, but there is
:18:46. > :18:53.no end in sight. What exactly is going on? Is there any hope of a
:18:53. > :18:56.full day of sunshine? Graeme Forrester who is a civil
:18:56. > :19:03.contingency advisor at the Met Office is in Edinburgh.
:19:03. > :19:09.Why is it raining so much? weather patterns are quite unusual
:19:09. > :19:18.this year. There is a stream of wind in the highly atmosphere
:19:18. > :19:24.called the jet stream and normally we expect that to be further north.
:19:24. > :19:30.This year, it is very far south, pulling the Depression right across
:19:30. > :19:38.the United Kingdom and consequently, we are getting more rain. A few
:19:38. > :19:48.years ago, we were blaming the jet stream of four cold snaps. It moves.
:19:48. > :19:50.
:19:50. > :19:57.It is a band of strong winds that meanders around the globe.
:19:57. > :20:02.Depending on exactly where it is positioned, this system is tears
:20:02. > :20:07.depressions, low pressure systems which bring bad weather. The jet
:20:07. > :20:11.stream stews these across the atmosphere and depending on where
:20:11. > :20:20.debtors would depend with those depressions end up. Is this
:20:21. > :20:29.behaviour of the jet stream connected in any way with climate
:20:29. > :20:39.change? There is a lot of variability within the atmosphere
:20:39. > :20:42.
:20:42. > :20:47.so we cannot say. As the atmosphere warms up, it can hold more moisture.
:20:47. > :20:53.There is the potential then for much heavier downpours. We have
:20:53. > :21:01.been it seemed that across the world -- or we have been it seemed
:21:01. > :21:08.that. That is consistent with global warming. But it is not
:21:08. > :21:16.necessarily the absolute answer. What exactly are the Civil
:21:16. > :21:23.contingencies that you advise on? The role we have is to link him
:21:23. > :21:25.with emergency responders, police, fire and ambulance services.
:21:25. > :21:32.Anybody who response to emergencies such as those caused by severe
:21:32. > :21:36.weather. Our role is to liaise with these people and give them any
:21:36. > :21:41.weather advice that they might require saw that they can help
:21:41. > :21:47.manage and a deal with emergencies. Presumably, you were talking to the
:21:47. > :21:53.people running T in the Park this weekend? We are talking to the
:21:53. > :21:57.police and fire who are preparing for any eventuality. The Met Office