:00:14. > :00:17.Tonight on Newsnight Scotland, we reveal some important details
:00:17. > :00:21.Edinburgh council has been keeping from its council tax payers. Tens
:00:21. > :00:26.of millions of pounds may be jeopardised in the scandal of a
:00:26. > :00:30.tenement repair. The council has refused to publish its specially
:00:30. > :00:34.commissioned investigations. Surely there's nothing to hide?
:00:34. > :00:43.Also tonight, possibly the most famous Scot of all, Macbeth or
:00:43. > :00:49.stock of all the publicity, was he actually quite a good bloke?
:00:49. > :00:54.Edinburgh Council spent tens of millions on repairing tenements and
:00:54. > :00:58.has not claimed the money back. We can reveal reports from a forensic
:00:58. > :01:01.accountant into the scandal are being held back by the council.
:01:01. > :01:11.Hundreds of home owners have no idea whether their council is
:01:11. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:16.guilty or not of poor management or Instead of trying to give other
:01:16. > :01:20.owners of a tenement block took every what building repairs need to
:01:20. > :01:25.be done, in Edinburgh, the council can arrange it for you. It is
:01:25. > :01:29.called a statutory notice and each donor pays their share. But a year-
:01:29. > :01:33.and-a-half ago, we reported allegations of wrongdoing and
:01:33. > :01:38.owners' anger at the way it was being handled. The last we heard
:01:38. > :01:43.about the total cost of the sandstone was �250,000 and I think
:01:43. > :01:50.that what they have done is seen this as an opportunity to do a
:01:50. > :01:54.Rolls-Royce job on a building that was not necessary. And we cannot
:01:54. > :01:58.afford the Rolls-Royce. We received a letter and it tells the so they
:01:58. > :02:05.are quite clearly, on no account give these clients any indication
:02:05. > :02:08.of cost as they do change day-by- day. So you were expected to have
:02:08. > :02:14.your cheque book open and let somebody else fill it in? That is
:02:14. > :02:19.what it seems like. So the council brought in independent auditors,
:02:19. > :02:24.Deloitte pull stop it took around a year to scrutinise finances over
:02:24. > :02:27.who knew what when and Edinburgh city council's decision and then in
:02:27. > :02:31.spring last year, we heard their investigations were finally
:02:32. > :02:39.complete. Since then we have been awaiting the publication of what
:02:39. > :02:47.became known as the Deloitte report. We are still waiting. It turns out
:02:47. > :02:53.there are two reports. Project Soul and Project Power. What was in them
:02:53. > :02:59.that had to remain secret for so long? -- project Sella. Here are
:02:59. > :03:03.some of the points I have been allowed to see. Evidence of
:03:03. > :03:07.problems with cost to home owners, work done not necessary for public
:03:07. > :03:15.safety, overcharging, tendering and quality control.
:03:15. > :03:21.It also says a Contractor obtained confidential access to a payment
:03:21. > :03:31.system, 850 times over four years. Project Sola is highly critical of
:03:31. > :03:33.
:03:34. > :03:39.the finances of the project. It was effectively operating a huge
:03:39. > :03:44.overdraft which the report suggests expose the council to legal and
:03:44. > :03:50.financial risks. Investigators also found an internal report about the
:03:50. > :03:54.department from as far back as 2000 update which was destroyed before
:03:54. > :03:57.Deloitte started their investigation. I have spoken to one
:03:57. > :04:03.former employee who has seen the report as well. They told me that
:04:03. > :04:07.many of these points are wrong and taken out of context. These errors
:04:07. > :04:13.were already known about and called the report a �2 million waste of
:04:13. > :04:17.public money. The tendering process was 110% above board, approved by
:04:17. > :04:20.the procurement and legal departments of the council and said
:04:20. > :04:25.contractors were not just writing cheques to themselves. Other former
:04:25. > :04:31.employees have spoken differently. They do not want to be identified
:04:31. > :04:34.either. It was unbelievable, what was going on. In one section, a
:04:34. > :04:39.spreadsheet was drawn up and it was claimed that was to put �7 million
:04:39. > :04:44.worth of work done but only one put �3 million could be identified --
:04:44. > :04:50.2.7 million worth. If there was money going missing, the council
:04:50. > :04:54.would have no idea. He also claims that contractors' rates were being
:04:54. > :04:59.seen by other builder so they could undercut their rivals.
:04:59. > :05:05.Can you be certain that contractors had hold of other contractors'
:05:05. > :05:09.rates? Yes, more than 100% positive. I saw them in a contractors' office,
:05:09. > :05:19.and a contractor who had a lot to gain from those rate. The council
:05:19. > :05:29.
:05:29. > :05:35.What the Deloitte reports remain unpublished, there will always be
:05:35. > :05:40.more questions than answers but fresh questions are being raised
:05:40. > :05:44.and perhaps not providing all the answers, people are hoping for
:05:44. > :05:48.answers. And Emma-Jane condemned and Bruce Thomson say they have not
:05:48. > :05:54.had any answers they were looking for. They have not even received a
:05:54. > :05:59.bill. Fiona Walker is here now. Fiona,
:05:59. > :06:03.will these reports ever be published? After spending what is
:06:03. > :06:11.thought to be about �2 million on them plus the costs of getting a
:06:11. > :06:15.team of external Surveyors in, suspending staff on full pay, you
:06:15. > :06:20.would hope we would see something. The council said they would publish
:06:20. > :06:24.a version and the reason they haven't so far, they said, is
:06:24. > :06:29.because their ongoing criminal proceedings and an internal
:06:29. > :06:35.disciplinary process. What else is there to come on this? Probably
:06:35. > :06:40.quite a lot. These reports are 79 pages and 99 pages long
:06:40. > :06:43.respectively. Lots of detail, I have not seen all sections of the
:06:43. > :06:47.report and I should let knowledge that there was some good work done
:06:47. > :06:54.within the property conservation department but delight really did
:06:54. > :06:59.paint a picture of mismanagement -- Deloitte, and financial, shall we
:06:59. > :07:05.say, incoherence it. They are strong on that and the language
:07:05. > :07:11.used is fairly steady -- incoherent. Discreet recommendations, and they
:07:11. > :07:18.say it is imperative and then they are saying to the council that this
:07:18. > :07:22.money coming in, sorry, going out to contractors which is public
:07:23. > :07:28.money which is not being recouped quickly enough or at all from home
:07:28. > :07:34.owners for accountants, that is obviously baffling. They are
:07:34. > :07:39.operating on an overdraft system which is about �28 million in one
:07:39. > :07:44.department. So they are strong on that. A former member of staff was
:07:44. > :07:51.thought to be saying that that money is recoverable or most of it
:07:51. > :07:54.and is there anything wrong with operating an overdraft like that?
:07:54. > :08:00.Clear this up because lots of people watching will think what I
:08:00. > :08:04.thought when I saw this, which is, "hang on a minute, why are the
:08:04. > :08:10.police not involved in this already?" they are. They have
:08:10. > :08:15.looked at this in a couple of department. The property care
:08:15. > :08:19.department, they have charge people in that so we have not gone into
:08:19. > :08:24.allegations in this report because we cannot for obvious reasons.
:08:24. > :08:28.There are two different departments and in this department by private
:08:28. > :08:31.property, where homeowners are involved, there have been no
:08:31. > :08:34.criminal charges. People might have expected them but there has not
:08:34. > :08:40.been the evidence to charge people and their poor people were keen to
:08:40. > :08:46.see what was in the delight reports. -- and therefore people working.
:08:46. > :08:50.Some people have been reinstated, sacked and in this report, yes.
:08:50. > :08:54.That process is still ongoing and homeowners themselves are also
:08:54. > :09:00.poised to take the council to court perhaps when they get the final
:09:00. > :09:05.bill. Thank you. If you have set your mind to thinking of the most
:09:05. > :09:09.famous Scot in the world, he might be worse than settling on Macbeth.
:09:09. > :09:12.Cultures across the globe are aware of the tragic and murderous
:09:12. > :09:16.Scottish king. Even if they know little enough of the play and last
:09:16. > :09:26.of the real historical character. Would it be good if we knew a bit
:09:26. > :09:34.
:09:34. > :09:44.It was one of the great historical finds of recent times. It is our
:09:44. > :09:46.
:09:46. > :09:51.inclusion the individual we found is indeed Richard III.
:09:51. > :09:58.confirmation last week that the twisted body discovered in a
:09:58. > :10:06.shallow grave in Leicester is that of Richard III. Over 400 years ago,
:10:06. > :10:11.he was demonised by Shakespeare as a notorious nephew murdering King.
:10:11. > :10:20.Our horse for my kingdom Next last week's confirmation has launched a
:10:20. > :10:25.raft of theories. People claimed he is maligned and is not the evil
:10:25. > :10:29.caricature or depicted by Shakespeare. With this in mind, one
:10:29. > :10:39.MSP called for a rehabilitation of one of the most famous Scots of all
:10:39. > :10:44.
:10:44. > :10:49.time, Macbeth. Seen here in a modern feature, Shakespeare painted
:10:49. > :10:54.Macbeth as a man spurred on by his wife to kill the king. He has them
:10:54. > :11:00.got to keep killing and his state of mind disintegrates into paranoia.
:11:00. > :11:04.This Conservative MSP is calling for us to think more kindly about
:11:04. > :11:12.Macbeth. By feel Shakespeare has maligned Macbeth. If you look at
:11:13. > :11:17.the history, you will discover his reign was a peaceful one. Scotland
:11:17. > :11:23.enjoyed a degree of prosperity under him. There was a rarity 1,000
:11:23. > :11:27.years ago. Shakespeare's Macbeth has been re-imagined many times. A
:11:27. > :11:32.leading academic has written extensively on what history tells
:11:32. > :11:37.us about the real Macbeth. Shakespeare was extreme impressive
:11:37. > :11:41.in portraying this man who is quite ordinary at the beginning but then
:11:41. > :11:47.turns into retirement. He was somebody who was not big, open to
:11:47. > :11:53.new ideas, did not go into Northumberland raiding to keep his
:11:53. > :11:58.own boys happy. He moved away from that. He was a great warrior and he
:11:58. > :12:05.did kill Duncan. But that was in battle, not in his castle. It is
:12:05. > :12:11.somebody that does not conform in the least to the image given by
:12:12. > :12:17.Shakespeare. Aberdeenshire is where Macbeth died in battle. Apart from
:12:17. > :12:22.a Macbeth pub, there is nothing tourism about it. Should we not be
:12:22. > :12:26.cashing in on this? A visit Scotland says it welcomes anything
:12:26. > :12:31.that promotes Scotland at a local and national level. Does it really
:12:31. > :12:35.matter if he was a murderous her paranoid killer or a calm kind
:12:35. > :12:38.King? Most of us can separate life from art.
:12:38. > :12:41.I am joined now by Dr Paul Innes, who teaches English Literature at
:12:41. > :12:43.Glasgow University and specialises in Shakespeare. And by Dr Simon
:12:43. > :12:51.Taylor, who researches Scottish history and onomastics - that is
:12:51. > :13:01.the study of names - also at Glasgow University.
:13:01. > :13:02.
:13:02. > :13:08.Did he kill anyone? Did he kill Duncan? Not personally, probably.
:13:09. > :13:16.Duncan died in battle and they were fighting. That was not a
:13:16. > :13:23.particularly unusual event. A bunker and was looking. And Macbeth
:13:23. > :13:33.was his noble? -- Duncan was at the King. That is debatable. Macbeth's
:13:33. > :13:33.
:13:33. > :13:41.father and cousin working. The idea of making sure that was passed from
:13:41. > :13:47.father to son did not exist. A he was still rebelling against the
:13:48. > :13:57.chap who was the king? He would not see it as rebellion. What was
:13:58. > :14:01.
:14:01. > :14:11.Duncan and later Macbeth, what with a ruling? Regional warlords. They
:14:11. > :14:15.were ruling making do more which is called a bar. -- ruling a kingdom.
:14:15. > :14:23.They would not have controlled the Highlands and islands. They would
:14:23. > :14:33.have controlled Lothian. It was the core of what became that England
:14:33. > :14:42.
:14:42. > :14:52.are a -- the kingdom of Scotland. Your idea is Shakespeare, it was
:14:52. > :14:52.
:14:52. > :14:58.translated into walls of the Roses type of stuff? Yes. It is not what
:14:58. > :15:03.happened but that is what was written for the English readership.
:15:03. > :15:08.Bear in mind, they were writing towards the end of what people
:15:08. > :15:12.thought was the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. There is a
:15:12. > :15:18.possibility you end up with a Scottish came on the throne of
:15:18. > :15:22.England. Why portray Macbeth in such a bad way? If you are about to
:15:22. > :15:30.have a Scot on the throne of England, why I wrote about -- quite
:15:30. > :15:35.right about a villainous Scottish king? It is good box-office. Also,
:15:35. > :15:45.the king who is about to become King of England and Scotland claims
:15:45. > :15:49.descent from Banco, who Macbeth murders. In the play, not in
:15:49. > :15:54.reality. I still do not quite get the idea... I know there was the
:15:54. > :16:04.system of alternating Kings from different families. I do not get
:16:04. > :16:06.
:16:06. > :16:13.the idea, why would Macbeth not think of it as a rebellion? To cut
:16:13. > :16:23.to the chase, Macbeth's main crime was he did not establish a dynasty
:16:23. > :16:23.
:16:23. > :16:27.that flourished. He was ousted from the throne by Duncan's son and
:16:27. > :16:37.Malcolm founded a successful dynasty but stayed on the throne
:16:37. > :16:42.for centuries. They had a vested interest in vilifying the death.
:16:42. > :16:50.But Malcolm would have had as good a claim to the throne as Macbeth?
:16:50. > :16:55.He did. I am sorry to keep going on about this but why it would Macbeth
:16:55. > :17:03.see it as rebellion to be fighting against Duncan? But the idea of
:17:03. > :17:13.kingship was so different then and the birth -- and the death, he was
:17:13. > :17:20.the son of making as well. He was married to a member of Malcolm's
:17:20. > :17:29.royal family. It looks like his wife, who has had was press, --
:17:29. > :17:38.worst press, we have evidence they were giving to the church, they
:17:38. > :17:42.work -- she belonged to the mid-off Kindred. It is not a million miles
:17:42. > :17:52.from Shakespeare. Look at the history. What are they concerned
:17:52. > :17:54.
:17:54. > :17:58.with? What does that mean to be making -- to be a king. There are
:17:58. > :18:04.discontinuities in history. It is not a million miles away. They
:18:04. > :18:14.logic is similar because what you have his cousin fighting over the
:18:14. > :18:15.
:18:15. > :18:20.kingship. It is similar to the walls of the Roses. It is a
:18:20. > :18:26.powerful performance from Shakespeare that an English
:18:26. > :18:33.audience can get a handle on. Shakespeare was picking up on bad
:18:33. > :18:43.press Macbeth was getting that was Macbeth's main failure. Not that
:18:43. > :18:44.
:18:44. > :18:51.found a successful dynasty. Then he got the bad press. Is there any
:18:51. > :18:57.point in the debilitating Macbeth? He does not sound like a stand-up
:18:57. > :19:07.man. -- are rehabilitating. think he is crying out for it.
:19:07. > :19:12.Macbeth appears, he was a Gallic Speaker, his name it means some of
:19:12. > :19:22.life. Historians tend to write his name in the old way. I think we
:19:22. > :19:23.
:19:23. > :19:27.should start calling the King, a competent, very generous, a good
:19:27. > :19:34.monarch, we call him by the Gallic name. And we call the Shakespeare
:19:34. > :19:43.character Macbeth. So we can distinguish between them. A tourist
:19:43. > :19:51.industry, will you have a sign saying saying nothing happened?
:19:51. > :20:00.could bring the Normans in and build castles. The attraction of
:20:00. > :20:07.Macbeth is the evil. People get confused if we are not even calling
:20:07. > :20:14.him by the same name. Shakespeare's of birth is over 500 years since
:20:14. > :20:17.the man it is based on. -- Shakespeare's Macbeth. There is a
:20:17. > :20:27.lot of confusion in Shakespeare's sources and in Shakespeare's
:20:27. > :20:37.portrayal. Could you give me a short answer to onomastics? Why is
:20:37. > :20:40.
:20:40. > :20:50.the geography... Why is the geography so good? Because it comes
:20:50. > :20:53.
:20:53. > :20:59.from Scottish sources. A great historian... Know, that is too long
:20:59. > :21:07.an answer. The programme is about to finish. The sources for the