:00:02. > :00:11.and the like? It has only just begun, it is the merchants of
:00:11. > :00:16.shopping and people like shopping. Great numbers of children
:00:16. > :00:20.Tonight on Newsnight Scotland: Iain Banks begins his journey on The Crow
:00:20. > :00:21.Road. We remember the author who sparked new life into the Scottish
:00:21. > :00:25.book scene, crisscrossing the traditional literary boundaries.
:00:25. > :00:27.And for how long will Edinburgh's saunas continue to ply their trade?
:00:27. > :00:34.There's concern that if police embark on a crackdown, prostitutes
:00:35. > :00:38.will be forced on to the streets. The news that Iain Banks was
:00:38. > :00:42.terminally ill shocked and saddened his fans. They expected news of his
:00:42. > :00:45.death, one day, but not this soon. Unlike many great artists, he was
:00:45. > :00:49.able to appreciate the loyalty and love expressed by his book lovers
:00:49. > :00:59.before he died. They now wonder what else might he have penned? Andrew
:00:59. > :01:04.
:01:04. > :01:13.Black looks at his life and work. I am getting all this love and
:01:13. > :01:20.admiration now. It has been great to appreciate that I'm still alive.
:01:20. > :01:26.Iain Banks was one of the countries most best loved novelists. His brand
:01:26. > :01:30.of gritty fiction gripped readers for decades. Born in Dunfermline in
:01:30. > :01:36.February 1954, he broke onto the writing scene 30 years later with
:01:36. > :01:42.his debut novel. It told the story of a teenage multiple murderer and
:01:42. > :01:49.was met with a mixture of critical acclaim and controversy. But other
:01:49. > :01:54.Iain Banks novels were more accessible. In 1987, he released the
:01:54. > :02:02.story of a burnt out rockstar set in a very real working-class area of
:02:02. > :02:08.Paisley. I don't know where my part in all of this begins. It could have
:02:08. > :02:12.been any one a dozen moments. But just for the sake of argument is, it
:02:12. > :02:22.was the day my grandmother exploded. The author also enjoyed success on
:02:22. > :02:23.
:02:23. > :02:29.screen. One of its hit novels was adapted for television by the BBC.
:02:29. > :02:33.He was not just a good Scottish writer, he was one of the best Young
:02:33. > :02:42.British novelists at one point. Among Scottish writers, he was seen
:02:42. > :02:47.as one of our leading writers. It is clear to me that a novel like the
:02:47. > :02:54.bridge is one of the most significant Scottish novels. He
:02:54. > :03:00.started doing things with the Scottish vernacular. I can think of
:03:01. > :03:07.many Scottish writers which haven't been influenced by his works.
:03:07. > :03:14.often drew on personal experience. Usually with my mail Central
:03:14. > :03:24.characters, they will be me but taller, more handsome and younger!
:03:24. > :03:26.
:03:26. > :03:30.And more successful with the ladies! But Iain Banks didn't just write
:03:30. > :03:38.tales of Scottish life, he also had a parallel career as a science
:03:38. > :03:44.fiction author writing under the name Iain M Banks. Timmy -- to me,
:03:44. > :03:52.that is a freedom in science fiction. A lot of the things that
:03:52. > :03:56.are constants in mainstream suddenly become variables in science fiction.
:03:56. > :04:02.The author 's contemporaries said it was this variety which made his
:04:02. > :04:09.works were appealing. Iain Banks did so much. He did straight novels,
:04:09. > :04:15.science-fiction novels, he and a fantastic imagination. They were
:04:15. > :04:20.full of wonder and imagination. Each book was different, that was the
:04:20. > :04:26.thrilling thing. Would it be a bizarre book about a young kid
:04:26. > :04:34.growing up in Scotland? Would the fans -- fun to see? Would it be
:04:34. > :04:37.science-fiction? Away from his books, Iain Banks also got involved
:04:37. > :04:43.in politics and supported Scottish independence and campaigned against
:04:43. > :04:49.the invasion of Iraq. This is me putting my face with my mouth has
:04:49. > :04:54.been. In the end, it is about democracy. But it was his writing
:04:54. > :04:57.which gave the author his highest profile. Throughout his life, Iain
:04:57. > :05:01.Banks established himself not only as an original writer of Scottish
:05:01. > :05:04.fiction but also muddle of Britain's celebrated authors,
:05:04. > :05:10.achieving that thing that all artists strive for, mass-market
:05:10. > :05:15.appeal and critical acclaim. Fans will hope that success continues
:05:15. > :05:20.with his forthcoming final novel, the quarry, which happens to reflect
:05:20. > :05:25.on the trauma of dealing with cancer. In April this year, fans
:05:25. > :05:30.were shocked when using 2 billion Banks style black humour the author
:05:30. > :05:34.announced on his blog he was dying of cancer, writing he was officially
:05:34. > :05:41.very poorly and that he had asked his long-term partner to do the
:05:41. > :05:46.honour of being his widow. At the weekend, came the news in a more
:05:47. > :05:49.sombre tone that he had died calmly and without paying. In a BBC
:05:49. > :05:58.interview shortly before his death the right to look back at his
:05:58. > :06:04.achievements. I have had a brilliant life, basically. Including the News
:06:04. > :06:10.of the cancer, I have been more lucky than unlucky. I have written
:06:10. > :06:18.29 bucks and I'm leaving a substantial body of work behind me.
:06:18. > :06:22.-- box. News of his passing at the age of 59 prompted fans to take
:06:22. > :06:30.social media sites as they raised a glass to one of the country's most
:06:30. > :06:39.revered writers of modern times. I'm joined now from Edinburgh by
:06:39. > :06:42.science fiction author and close friend of Iain Banks, Ken MacLeod.
:06:42. > :06:51.You treated last night that you had lost your oldest friend. You must
:06:51. > :06:56.have been terribly shocked with the news of his death? I saw him as
:06:56. > :07:06.recently as last Wednesday. Although he was exhausted, he was very keen
:07:06. > :07:08.
:07:08. > :07:18.to talk. He discussed his writing and his continuing wish to write
:07:18. > :07:18.
:07:18. > :07:24.more. We talked with him until he felt too tired to continue but he
:07:24. > :07:34.was confident or at least he hoped he would pull out of it and he did
:07:34. > :07:37.
:07:37. > :07:47.not. I did not know how severely ill you was and continues came out of
:07:47. > :07:48.
:07:48. > :07:54.the blue. When you look back at his life, when did you first meet him?
:07:54. > :08:04.You have helped each other with your books as well. That is right. Our
:08:04. > :08:12.
:08:12. > :08:18.pass first crossed in high school. We first met at the age of 16. When
:08:18. > :08:26.we did our double act on our platform at a book festival or a
:08:26. > :08:28.science-fiction convention, we used to amuse ourselves and hopefully the
:08:28. > :08:35.audience by giving incompatible versions of how we met. We found
:08:35. > :08:41.very quickly that we had interests in common and became close friends
:08:41. > :08:45.from then on. What was his impact on the Scottish boxing? You wrote that
:08:46. > :08:55.he smuggled truckloads of science fiction past the border guards of
:08:56. > :09:06.
:09:06. > :09:11.the literary establishment. first novel was written by bringing
:09:11. > :09:18.a sense of science-fiction imagination into an everyday story
:09:18. > :09:25.with extremely bizarre countryfolk. The character in that, Frank, has
:09:25. > :09:35.himself a science-fiction imagination. His second and third
:09:35. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:43.novels brought in elements of fantasy and of the fantastic. These
:09:43. > :09:50.did not escape the attention of science-fiction fans who took him to
:09:50. > :09:55.their bosom. He had been a weary outsider of the community of science
:09:55. > :10:02.fiction -- science-fiction but he took to it like a duck to water. He
:10:02. > :10:06.used to urge me to go along to these occasions where you could sit in a
:10:06. > :10:09.hotel bar and talk half the night and all you had to do was go
:10:09. > :10:18.upstairs and fall asleep and do it all again the next day. He
:10:18. > :10:21.thoroughly enjoyed that. He says he left a body of work but if he had
:10:21. > :10:31.lived longer, do you think he still could have come up with some real
:10:31. > :10:37.
:10:37. > :10:42.gems? Absolutely. His idea of his long-term future before his cancer
:10:42. > :10:51.diagnosis was eminently realistic. He expected he would write more
:10:51. > :10:59.slowly as he got older but that he would still keep on writing and his
:10:59. > :11:05.-- his imagination was fertile. He was in no danger of running out of
:11:05. > :11:09.ideas for science-fiction or mainstream literary novels. We will
:11:09. > :11:12.have to leave it there. Thank you for joining us.
:11:12. > :11:17.And you can see more of that final interview with Iain Banks in 'Iain
:11:17. > :11:20.Banks: Raw Spirit' on BBC Two Scotland on Wednesday at 9:00pm.
:11:20. > :11:24.Saunas and massage parlours were raided by Police Scotland across
:11:24. > :11:27.Edinburgh last week. Money and drugs were seized and 30 women questioned
:11:27. > :11:32.in relation to prostitution. The city's had a more lenient attitude
:11:32. > :11:35.to selling sex and the council has licensed premises. As these raids
:11:35. > :11:44.are the first to take place under the unified, single force, there's
:11:44. > :11:52.now concern they signal a change in policy.
:11:52. > :11:56.Glasgow and Edinburgh, neighbours with plenty of differences. One has
:11:56. > :12:01.prostitution. Glasgow has taken a zero tolerance approach and
:12:01. > :12:05.Edinburgh has been more lenient. Since the 1980s, the council has
:12:05. > :12:10.licensed saunas. The police largely turning a blind eye to the
:12:10. > :12:16.activities taking place inside. Some proponents say that protect the
:12:16. > :12:24.health of sex workers. But last week police Scotland carried out raids on
:12:24. > :12:28.saunas in the capital including this one. 150 officers were involved, 30
:12:28. > :12:34.women were interviewed. Three people were charged with drugs offences and
:12:34. > :12:38.assets worth more than half �1 million were seized. To some who
:12:38. > :12:40.backed Edinburgh 's light touch approach it looked like a dramatic
:12:40. > :12:46.change and they wondered whether the reorganisation of Scotland's police
:12:46. > :12:52.and who single force was to blame. You can have the same strategic
:12:53. > :12:58.objective and that is to minimise prostitution or to manage
:12:58. > :13:04.prostitution but you cannot abolish it. That aside, I am fed up that the
:13:04. > :13:10.new police force in its first show of difference should show itself to
:13:10. > :13:14.be insensitive to local policing in this matter. But a spokesman for
:13:14. > :13:18.police Scotland said the raid did not reflect a change in policy or
:13:18. > :13:22.approach. The force says it is dedicated to tackling organised
:13:22. > :13:25.crime and protecting people from harm.
:13:25. > :13:28.I'm joined now in the studio by Laura Lee, who is an independent
:13:28. > :13:30.escort and sex workers' rights campaigner, and from Aberdeen by
:13:30. > :13:40.Councillor Martin Greig, who chairs Aberdeen Community Safety
:13:40. > :13:45.
:13:45. > :13:50.Firstly, Laura, how concerned are you about the raids? The police say
:13:50. > :13:55.they are not as safe haven for workers, they denied that there has
:13:55. > :14:00.been a change in policy. There has been a huge change in policy,
:14:00. > :14:04.actually. If you look around the country, in Glasgow, the result is
:14:04. > :14:10.zero tolerance. In Edinburgh, there has been a tolerance in the saunas.
:14:10. > :14:13.If the measure taken by the police was to protect people from harm,
:14:13. > :14:17.then to pull sex workers and their clients out onto the streets where
:14:17. > :14:23.there were press photographers, if that is purportedly protecting wing
:14:23. > :14:28.from harm, then I am confused. -- women from harm. Part of these
:14:28. > :14:33.buildings were unsafe, they were condemned by environmental health,
:14:33. > :14:40.are they really safe for these women to be working there? They are much
:14:40. > :14:47.safer than the street. The women can support each other there. It is
:14:47. > :14:52.amounting to hooded abolition. Martin Greig, what is your position
:14:52. > :14:55.on the raid and on prostitution in general, because Aberdeen had their
:14:55. > :15:01.own tolerance zone until a change in the law meant they had to get rid of
:15:01. > :15:05.it. Yes, I assume that police Scotland are relying on intelligence
:15:05. > :15:10.which they have received about misbehaviour or criminal activity at
:15:10. > :15:16.these premises in Edinburgh. That is the best way to deal with these
:15:16. > :15:20.kinds of problems. If there are women who are being trafficked or if
:15:20. > :15:24.there are serious suspicions about people whose lives or livelihoods or
:15:24. > :15:29.well-being is at risk, then naturally, the police should be
:15:29. > :15:35.involved and take an important role in protecting these victims. I think
:15:35. > :15:40.there is also being raised by this current debate, genuine concerns
:15:40. > :15:44.about the policy and the strategy for dealing with prostitution across
:15:44. > :15:48.Scotland. I think it is right that each local authority area should
:15:48. > :15:55.have their own approach and their own solution. In Aberdeen, Grampian
:15:55. > :15:59.police introduced a management zone which enables the women involved in
:15:59. > :16:05.prostitution, working on the streets, to be in a relatively safe
:16:05. > :16:09.place, where they would not be harassed and for the police and
:16:09. > :16:13.relevant social workers could keep an eye on them. I think local
:16:13. > :16:17.solutions should still be applicable. The police say there
:16:17. > :16:21.hasn't been a change in policy, but do you suspect there has been? What
:16:21. > :16:26.is going on? I suspect there has been a change in policy. Police
:16:27. > :16:32.Scotland have nationwide policing priorities. They have a campaign
:16:32. > :16:37.against violence which is being rolled out across Scotland. Even
:16:37. > :16:41.though violence is a priority crime more suited to the Glasgow area and
:16:41. > :16:48.Strathclyde police area, rather than to other areas of Scotland. I am
:16:48. > :16:53.concerned that there is some kind of standardisation going on where local
:16:54. > :16:59.solutions and local problems are not finding customised policing
:16:59. > :17:04.solutions, and that is a genuine worry. Laura, if there is
:17:04. > :17:08.standardisation going on, does that worry you, does the Edinburgh sauna
:17:08. > :17:13.work? It is probably safer for these women to be in the sauna than on the
:17:13. > :17:19.streets? The Edinburgh system does work will stop the sex workers work
:17:19. > :17:22.with the police rather than with them, so the police will go into the
:17:22. > :17:25.saunas once a month to find out if they are happy with what they are
:17:25. > :17:35.doing, as they are being made to do anything that they do not want to do
:17:35. > :17:39.
:17:39. > :17:45.will stop we know that intolerance fax this system. -- effects this
:17:45. > :17:50.system. There's the women on the street, is that too dangerous?
:17:50. > :17:54.they are evading the police, then it is very dangerous on the street. If
:17:54. > :18:00.in Aberdeen, the police are there to assist the women and not persecute
:18:00. > :18:05.them, then it can work. Martin Greig, you were against the
:18:05. > :18:11.unification of the police forces, but a single police force can have a
:18:11. > :18:16.national priority, can have national priorities, is it's not welcoming to
:18:16. > :18:22.have expertise and intelligence being shared? They were being shared
:18:22. > :18:25.already through various means of mutual aid, there were many ways
:18:25. > :18:31.that the existing regional police forces were collaborating in any
:18:31. > :18:37.case. I think the important point is that there have been different
:18:37. > :18:41.solutions in different areas and Glasgow did lead the way with its
:18:41. > :18:44.zero tolerance policy. But that is not necessarily going to work
:18:44. > :18:48.elsewhere. When we had the management zone in Aberdeen which
:18:48. > :18:53.was set up by the ambient police, that worked quite effectively to
:18:53. > :18:58.help provide the women who were very vulnerable likely to become victims,
:18:58. > :19:05.they were able to work with the police and social workers and
:19:05. > :19:09.others. -- set-up by Grampian police. That was able to protect
:19:09. > :19:15.them. Obviously, the introduction of new legislation meant the management
:19:15. > :19:21.zone could no longer continue because of the criminal attribution
:19:21. > :19:26.of nuisance caused by sexual services. Laura, these support
:19:26. > :19:32.services for these women are very important, so if there was a change
:19:32. > :19:37.in policy, these services would need to be tailored? Yes, there would
:19:37. > :19:41.need to be effective exit strategies also. I spoke to some of these sex
:19:42. > :19:46.workers after the raid and they were petrified. They had money and mobile
:19:46. > :19:52.phones taken from them, and that is simply unacceptable in modern
:19:52. > :19:56.society. Martin Greig, listening to the experience of these women in
:19:56. > :19:59.Edinburgh last Friday, do you feel that police Scotland is
:19:59. > :20:07.accountable? This was one of your bugbears when they changed the
:20:07. > :20:11.service. The police force is accountable to the Scottish police
:20:11. > :20:18.authority. In the days of regional police forces, the councillors did
:20:18. > :20:22.have a role in formulating policing priorities and in holding the chief
:20:23. > :20:28.constable and the forced to account, so I and my colleagues in local
:20:28. > :20:34.authorities no longer have a role in the governance of the police, so
:20:34. > :20:37.unfortunately, people like me cannot ask questions about specific
:20:38. > :20:40.campaigns and operations run by police Scotland. These are now
:20:40. > :20:46.matters for the Scottish parliament and for the Scottish police
:20:46. > :20:50.authority. To be fair to the police, they said that local policing is at
:20:50. > :20:53.the heart of the police service. You would dispute that and say it is at
:20:53. > :20:56.the heart of the police service. You would dispute that fate of a
:20:56. > :21:02.nationalised system? No, I am very comfortable that we still have a
:21:02. > :21:07.local policing, but the home of local policing is now in the
:21:07. > :21:12.divisions. But bear in mind all of the key decisions on policing
:21:12. > :21:17.priorities and allocation of resources are made by the Chief
:21:17. > :21:22.Constable and by an unelected quango. We have to leave it there.
:21:22. > :21:32.Thank you both. A quick look at the newspapers, and on the Scotsman,
:21:32. > :21:48.
:21:48. > :21:58.made threat that Scots might not tonight, Gordon is back tomorrow on
:21:58. > :22:06.
:22:06. > :22:11.the programme. From everyone here, little rain in the last week, but
:22:11. > :22:17.the dry spell is coming to an end. Rain arriving in the west overnight
:22:17. > :22:22.and spreading slowly to the East high Tuesday. A difference Day
:22:22. > :22:31.across Northern Ireland. A wet morning, attach brighter. The reins
:22:31. > :22:38.breading across Scotland. -- the rain spreading across. England
:22:38. > :22:46.having a great, damp day. There are moral not be very heavy. Many areas
:22:46. > :22:49.will be dry. -- the rain will not be very heavy. The West Midlands, parts
:22:49. > :22:55.of Southwest England, that will brighten up nicely. Wet in the
:22:56. > :22:59.morning but the afternoon well bring some sunshine and some warmth.
:22:59. > :23:05.Temperatures reaching 20 degrees bred there is some late sunshine. By
:23:05. > :23:10.Wednesday, more weather systems approaching the UK. Some sunny
:23:10. > :23:15.spells in between, but some outbreaks of rain. Some uncertainty
:23:15. > :23:18.about the forecast on Wednesday. We are confident there will be a