15/11/2012 Newsnight Scotland


15/11/2012

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clean up the environment. Thank you all very much. Tonight on Newsnight

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Scotland. I'm sorry. The First Minister gets his sums wrong on

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education and is forced to apologise to Parliament. What does

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this latest row mean for his government's hard-won reputation

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for competence and trust? And we look at how Scotland's gardens,

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parks and countryside might look without the ash tree. And we ask,

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what's to stop disease decimating other native species, like the

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Scots Pine? Good evening. Days like today are the kind that every

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government dreads, but which they all have to face. The thing is,

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this is one the government should have seen coming. After a week of

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furious rows over the further education sector, which involved a

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controversial resignation and claims of ministerial bullying,

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Alex Salmond went into the bearpit of First Minister's Questions well-

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briefed - or so he thought. That was at midday. By 5pm he was back

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to apologise. Jamie McIvor takes up the story. It is the big night out

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for Scotland's politicians. The politician of the Year Awards

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celebrates their achievements. It is maybe just as well for the

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Scottish government that there is no prize for a bad day at the

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office. The row over colleges has been cooking for some time but this

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week, it caught fire. Secretly recorded meetings. The resignation

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of the chairman of one College, and claims of bullying against

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education secretary, Mike Russell. So inevitably, it dominated First

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Minister's questions. Had Mike Russell been correct to say that

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the college budget had gone up? Cabinet Secretary was in fact wrong,

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and isn't misleading Parliament the kind of offence back should cost

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the minister his job? I think 505 - - 45 million, to 546 million is by

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definition an increase in funding and that is as exact an answer as

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anyone has given in any Parliament. Mr Russell, they duly Parliament?

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And absolutely not. People are calling for you're resignation.

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They should call for everybody's is that resignation, as the First

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Minister said. It seemed like they had squeezed out of another Labour

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challenge. That is an end to the matter. She totally and absolutely

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failed to make the case. The so- called calls for Mike Russell's

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resignation had been pre-announced by her special adviser on Twitter

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This Morning. So you are not going anywhere, saying? Into the left.

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a, Labour had other plans. Labour insisted that the minister was not

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comparing like with like. College funding last year was set at Port -

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- 540 poor �0.7 million, but that was topped up to a final total of

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555.7 million. This year, the initial plan figure was 506.9

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million. The final figure is set at 546.4 million. That, Labour says,

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means that funding has been cut, not increased. So, after lunch.

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They Government said that the fact were being checked and the First

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Minister was back to admit he had used the wrong figure. I take full

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responsibility for what I see in this chamber solely have taken this

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earliest opportunity to correct the figure. The figures should have

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been 556 million, not 545 million, and I apologise to the chamber for

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this error. This time Alex Salmond left looking decidedly downbeat. An

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apology would be embarrassing for any politician at any time, but

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does he risk real damage? In one transcript I have been described as

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a bare-faced liar. He has been forced to deny flying over advice

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concerning an independent Scotland's membership of the EU,

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and referred themselves for investigation. All governments

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strive to have a reputation for competence and trust, and the SNP

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worked hard to build one, but if days like today do lasting damage

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to the Government's image, it could be difficult to repair it. I'm

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joined now by Angela Constance, SNP Education minister who also has

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responsibility for youth employment matters, and by Labour's Education

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spokesman, Hugh Henry. I could not help but notice you were standing

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in the lift as both of them got in. Deja correct them and said that

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what they it said outside was nonsense? -- did you correct them.

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That was important that the First Minister had the decency to come

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back and say that to air his human. So you did not point that out?

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I did not, but the facts speak for themselves. The First Minister

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returned to the chamber by teatime and put the record straight,

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accepted responsibility, made a very gracious apology to Parliament,

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and I think it is very sad that that cannot be accepted. Was it

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accepted? A was forced to come back. We raised a point of order. At

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lunchtime he said if Johann Lamont was wrong. He has not apologised to

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her. It is not just Alex Salmond that misled parliament. Mike

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Russell did, as well. You, the government minister, what is Mike

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Russell apologising for? As I understand it, Mike Russell

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recently wrote to the education committee with the facts, as laid

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out by the First Minister at teatime. What bike will bustle will

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be doing is writing to the presiding officer -- Mike Russell,

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is to apologise for the mistake he made in the chamber some months ago.

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But the most recent backs... I am not getting this at all. What

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exactly is Mike Russell apologising for? No, you kill me. No, you tell

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me, you are in the Government. think Mike Russell has an excellent

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track record... Might also was supposed to be apologising as well

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and I am asking you what he was apologising for. He will be writing

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to the presiding officer, with regard to the comments that he made

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to a member in Parliament in JUN, repeating the same factual

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inaccuracy that the First Minister did earlier today. The most recent

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information Mike Russell provided to the education committee puts on

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record the facts as quoted former, as quoted by the cost Minister at

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teatime. What is Mike Russell apologising for? He should be

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apologising for misleading Parliament, but you cannot believe

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anything he or Alex Salmond says. Because, in JUN, Mike Russell said

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there were no cuts. In November, yesterday, he said I never said

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there were no cuts. He flatly contradicted themselves. The

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ministerial code says that you should, at the air least

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opportunity, come back and apologised to Parliament. He misled

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Parliament in June, presented information to the committee in

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October and did not bother coming back to apologise until the episode

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blew up today. It is farcical, disingenuous and dishonest.

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Labour Party are overplaying their hand here. I am trying to explain.

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The inaccuracy of one figure in one briefing, the inaccurate figure the

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First Minister used today, was the same inaccurate figure that Mike

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Russell used earlier in the chamber. It is a comparison between one year

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to the next. It is an and accuracy of 1.7% out of a budget of �500

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million. Alex Salmond got the figures wrong. That Mike Russell

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deliberately get the figures wrong as well, was it coincidence? People

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can you the inaccuracy for themselves. But, what has been

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blown out of proportion is one wrong figure, comparing one you

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have to do next. That is like somebody saying I or �10 million,

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Ashley it is �9 million, but only got one figure wrong. It is one

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figure out of a �500 billion budget. I have got the document they

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produced. It is not about the Budget in general. It was a

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specific reply from Mike bustled to a letter from the education

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committee, -- Mike Russell, and these are the only figures in it,

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so it is not like it is in the context of a tiny detail of a huge

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budget. This is specifically about further education. It is one figure

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comparing when you to the next, in further education. -- comparing one

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year to the next. The people of Scotland accept that... The

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important thing is that politicians put their hands up and accept

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responsibility, apologise to Parliament which, in this instance

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was entirely appropriate, and take responsibility and put their hands

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up. You can see why people want to take recordings of meetings with

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these people. I think that is being silly. We have two people making

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the same mistake months apart. He chose to ignore one of the figures

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and take a different figure from that :, because it suited him. This

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man has form with these mistakes. - - from that column. The SNP was

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supposed to be different. We're supposed to believe that when Alex

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Salmond said he got legal advice in terms of the debate, any normal

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person would think that he had got legal advice and now when he

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misquotes figures to Parliament we unjust supposed to accept it. As

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you said, you only got one number wrong. It is the sort of nonsense

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we're used to getting from politicians up here and down there.

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You are supposed to be different. We are different. We should be

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flattered that our political opponents judge us by higher

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standards, because there have been numerous cases of ministers going

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back to Parliament to put the record straight, where an error has

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been made. We are different, and we will be judged on our record on

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delivering for young people... One Modern apprenticeships, on

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opportunities for all. The way that Alex Salmond operates is that he

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determines the truth, and he determines the facts. You are happy

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to let this go, now, are you? Have you got your pound of flesh?

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Alex Salmond has misled parliament, and Mike Russell has misled

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parliament, and there are further questions to be asked. Angela can

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help to clear this up, if she would agree to release all the papers

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given to Alex Salmond to help him prepare for First Minister's

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questions, you may see the facts he had available to him, and that with

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clear red up. -- that would clear it up. This Government has a great

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record on transparency. This is Scotland and there is nothing that

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can be kept secret in a small The Rumsey business - it is that

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finished he, as far as you're concerned? I think that Mike

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Russell overplayed his hand. He is content condemning a hen for taping,

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that is in the public domain. It was picked on the internet by

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Scotland's colleges. I think it was an abuse of power. Would you accept

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this is an even more absurd row? do not wish and any ill will, but I

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do not think his conduct was becoming of his position. The issue

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is about recording something in secret and I think he has done the

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right thing by choosing to resign. I wish him well for the future.

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will cheer you up that Nicola Sturgeon just one apology of the

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Year award. Beck does not bother me in the slightest. We started the

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week speculating what Scotland's future broadcasting landscape might

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look like. Tonight, we wonder what our physical landscape might look

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like without the ash tree. This week, the Scottish government

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convened a special summit meeting to discuss how to tackle the ash

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dieback disease. It has already been detected here and, if it goes

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unchecked, could kill millions of trees and change the face of

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countryside, parks and gardens. But is it already too late? If it

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continues to spread, experts warn that ash dieback could prove as

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deadly as the Dutch elm disease outbreak of the 1970s. Last week,

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this forest in Dumfries and Galloway was added to the number of

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cases throughout Scotland of the chalara dieback fungus. The

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Environment Minister welcomed representatives from various

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forestry groups, conservation bodies and Landowners Association's

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two best work out how best to tackle the threat. The Scottish

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government has already conceded that eradicating the disease

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entirely is probably unrealistic. Unfortunately, that is unlikely,

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now it is in the wider environment. What we now have to do is to try

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and stop the spread of that. We have to try and ensure that ash

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trees remain in our forests and continue to contribute to the

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ecosystem. So far, at the disease has been confirmed that 14 sites in

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Scotland, including a private nursery in the north-east. There

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are plans to re-test the trees in these areas to see how far the

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chalara dieback fungus has spread. Most of those affected are saplings

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in new developments. But two of them involve mature trees in their

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natural environment. This makes the task of containing it even more

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difficult. For now, they will be left alone in the hope of that the

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strain of ash trees resistant to the disease could be found.

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Joining me now from our Edinburgh studio is Angus Yarwood, the

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Government Affairs Manager of the Scottish Woodland Trust. What is

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alarming is that no one seems to believe Seriously that a ash trees

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of Britain can be saved. That is G two in the larger part. Most of the

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at ash trees in Scotland may be affected. But there will be a

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minority of trees which have a natural resilience to chalara

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dieback fungus and that is what we have to invest in. Do we actually

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know that or is that something we are a sort of guessing it? We will,

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the research from Europe, where the started, suggests that there is a

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strain that are resistant to it. That is what the science is telling

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us. How will long would that take to find these strains? Presumably,

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you find some cheese which do not tally, but the you then have to

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surmise that that is definitely the resistant type and then clone them?

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Yes, at the meeting on Tuesday, the identified the control plan for

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this. What was good was that there looks as if diversity is at the

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heart of the action the are taken. For example, mature trees will not

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be taken down at the heart disease. That is important, because mature

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cheese can lover lot longer than you might imagine. A -- mature

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these can live a lot longer. there elm trees growing in Britain

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which where resistant to Dutch elm disease? I are not certain about

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that. But as regards ash trees, there is a strain of resistance. We

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have seen that in Europe. We know there is the cry chance that some

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cheese without a cluster that are, will not be showing signs of the

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disease. The best way for people to educate themselves about it is to

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go to the Forestry Commission website about it. There is a lot of

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information about how it can be identified. Trees which are not

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diseased were just sitting within the deceased Strand are very

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important. Just before people start singing one of their favourite

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songs, row and trees are not affected by this? Nor, they are not.

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This is the common ash trees which are affected. What about Scots

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pine? There are all sorts of stories going around that this

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disease could affect it in the future. Yes, there is the different

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disease affecting the at Scots pine and that is the big concern. But we

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are putting all these plans in place for up ash trees and we would

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also like to see the same process been adopted and set in motion and

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p ready to use for other diseases when the arrive. It is inevitable

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we will probably get more tree diseases in the years to come.

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Please do not laugh at this question. Is it possible to

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actually sort of vaccinate trees in some way? Not, I am afraid not. So

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they is no way we could actually treat the Scots pine, for example,

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before the disease arrived, so that they could be protected? Not, at

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the moment, we do not have that capability. Okay, thank you very

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much. Now, a quick look at tomorrow's

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:21:56.:21:56.

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