12/09/2011 Reporting Scotland

Welcome to Reporting Scotland. Tonight on your national news: The

tail end of Hurricane Katia batters Scotland with 70 mile an hour winds

causing travel disruption and increased risk of flooding.

Police trace people from two CCTV images released in connection with

the Helensburgh triple murder but are still looking for a man seen in

a hooded top. Claims that the NHS is wasting

hundreds of organs that could be used for transplant operations.

And we look back at a bumpy start Much of Scotland has been bracing

itself for the effects of Hurricane Katia. Winds of over 75 miles an

hour were recorded in some parts of the country and forecasters say

they could reach 80 miles an hour in some places. Central and

southern Scotland has borne the brunt of the high winds and driving

rain. Our reporter Laura Bicker is in Ayrshire for us tonight. Laura,

just how bad has it been? Well, the dramatic pictures came

earlier this afternoon as high tide hit the sea wall. The wings

themselves have been increasing throughout the day. There have been

at 72 miles an hour recorded at Glasgow Airport, however so far

touch wood the remnants of Hurricane Katia have proved more

disruptive than destructive. As the remnants of Hurricane Katia

smashed our shores, Scotland was determined to plough on. We put up

Ecstasy barriers, she was putting on quite a show. It is wild, to say

the least! The trains are off so I had to rely on a colleague which

was fortunate. Police say several roads are affected by trees.

There was disruption to road and rail links but the Forth Road

Bridge was subject to restrictions rather than closure. Some braved an

early round of golf. The warning was to brace ourselves. Hurricane

Katia was no longer a hurricane but had enough force to do damage.

There were gusts of 70 miles an hour perhaps up to 80. But will

impact on the trees in full leaf so they could be trees blown over.

Restrictions on bridge is perhaps and ferries. Quite a Labour this

time of year. After the chaos last winter,

emergency services were taking no chances. As wind speed increase, a

close eye was kept on the commuter belt. We have land slip patrols and

also cancellations taking place in terms of ferry sailings and a

response team looking after different transport modes. They can

react quickly. Across the country, preparations in place which will

escalate if the wind speed increases. Autumn is supposed to be

mellow fruitfulness, Scotland is tonight batten down the hatches and

hoping for the best. There are still areas of concern,

transport. Scot Rail say services are suspended, other rail links

subject to delays and cancellations. Ferry services to and from the

islands have all been suspended and cancelled today. Fallen trees are

affecting the roads and police in north there should say minor roads

are blocked and there has been flooding or minor coastal routes.

The other area of concern is power. Power supplies two parts of

Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire have been disrupted tonight.

Scottish Power say they hope to have the supply restored by 10pm to

all but a few of those homes. They have hundreds of engineers on

standby. If any fallen trees bring down power lines, they hope to get

it restored as soon as possible. It may not be a hurricane, she may not

be a tropical storm but she has a sting in her tale. The Bishop of

Paisley has attacked plans for same-sex marriages.

Bishop Philip Tartalia says government should not interfere in

the tradition of marriage. The government says no church will be

The definition of marriage in Scotland is up for debate. These

marriages took place in the US where some states have legalised it.

The Scottish government is considering doing the same. But the

Bishop of Paisley is calling that cultural vandalism. His message to

government, do not mess with marriage. Marriage is the union

between a man and woman for the sake of children having a mother

and father. This has been the mainstay of civilisation and

culture across the world for centuries. It was therefore

governments came. Therefore, I do not think governments have a right

to change the definition of marriage. The bishop says his views

are shared by many Christians but gay rights groups disagree. They

say some churches support gay marriage and a Social attitudes

survey shows many Catholics support it, too. 57% of Catholics support

same-sex marriage and 25% opposed it. There were similar ratios but

the fates. It seems clear this is something which has majority

support in Scotland. Civil partnerships or made illegal in

2005 giving gay couples the same legal rights as married ones. If

they want a religious ceremony, it is out of the question. Even if the

Church is happy to perform one. In response, the government says no

church would be forced to conduct a gay marriage and brushed off

suggestions that policy could affect the strength of the SNP's

Catholic vote. This is an emotive issue, it is not party political.

There are many views within parties and between parties. It is right we

come to the right decision and before that, it is right we listen

to all of the views that are being expressed. The review will last

another three months before any decision on same-sex marriage is

made. Within the last hour, detectives

investigating the triple murder of the Sharkey family in Helensburgh

say they've traced a man and a car seen near the scene. It follows the

release of CCTV images last Friday. Thomas Sharkey and his children 21

year old Thomas junior and eight year old Bridget died after their

home was set on fire in July. Our correspondent Raymond Buchanan is

here. Raymond, what are the police saying tonight? Detectives want to

trace these people because they could be key witnesses in the

triple murder inquiry. Be released an image of a young man in his

twenties he was seen around the time the fire which killed the

Sharkey family were started. He has been identified and police are

speaking to him. They were keen to trace the occupants of a blue

Renault Cleo, again they have traced those people in the car.

they're still looking for others. Yes, a final piece of footage

released last week, CCTV of a man of seen crossing the centre of

Helensburgh after 5 o'clock in the morning. It was around the time the

fire was started. They are keen to speak to this person. Detectives

stress they want to speak to this person as a witness, not as a

suspect. They also made clear they believe the key to this case lies

in the town itself. You're watching Reporting Scotland

from the BBC. Still to come before seven: How the government hopes the

green economy will hold the key to recovery.

In sport, surprise then relief. That was the feeling in the

Scotland Rugby camp after their unconvincing opening performance at

the World Cup. Now Georgia is the focus.

Plus, it was a golden weekend for Scotland's athletes at the

Commonwealth Youth games. Rangers owner Craig Whyte has

admitted there are challenging times ahead for the club. But he

insists it does have a future and it will always be at Ibrox. The

club's financial difficulties were highlighted again at the weekend

when documents relating to a court case between the club and its

former chief executive Martin Bain. Were published online. Joining us

for more on this story is Alasdair Lamont. Alasdair what should we

take from this message? Yes, who would've doubted that

Rangers have a future and that it would always be at Ibrox? But these

are strange times for the champions. At the heart of it is, can Rangers

continue to pay their bills? The big problem is the club's ongoing

battle with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. You mentioned the

Martin Bain documents and they claim that if Rangers lose this

battle they could be asked to pay a bill totalling �49 million. So,

really Craig Whyte is acknowledging how serious this could be for the

club. He's still hopeful of winning the case. But he's saying even if

they don't there will always be a Rangers and they'll always play at

Ibrox. Last week Rangers described concerns over insolvency as

unfounded. How does that tally with what you have discovered? Those

concerns were raised in the leak to Martin Bain documents. Craig White

excepts the HMRC issue is serious and could have serious

repercussions for the club. He has been pointing out other financial

challenges in the Scottish game there must be addressed like the

increasing difficulties in making the Champions League group stages

and access to new revenue. As you expect, Craig Whyte is bullish

about the club's future. He says it can be bright no matter how much

hard work goes into it. Some of the other stories across

Scotland this Monday. Up to 40,000 people in Scotland who are at risk

of stroke due to an irregular heartbeat can now be prescribed an

alternative to Warfarin. Pradaxa is now available to patients in

Scotland but has yet to be approved for use in England and Wales. A

strike by Scotland's teachers over pensions is a step closer after a

vote by the country's largest teaching union. Leaders of the

Educational Institute of Scotland have given the go ahead for a

ballot on industrial action over pensions. Aberdeen University's new

library opened for business this morning. The building, next to the

ageing 1960s Queen Mother Library, has been constructed at a cost of

�57 million and will be open to the What is it that's going to get the

Scottish economy growing again? Exports? Whisky? Green jobs? That's

the question - today the government at Holyrood came up with some

answers. The new economic plan from the finance secretary John Swinney

targets around six hundred companies that could be tapping

into the green jobs boom, but which are not yet doing so. The purpose

of the strategy is to give a clear direction to everyone within the

public sector, within the Government's agencies and

government is to how we can focus activities on supporting the

development of the Scottish economy. That means we have to think about

how we can improve the performance of the economy, support companies

to grow and expand employment, to create new jobs and ensure we can

sell more Scottish goods to other We have been finding out more. Why

do we need a new economic plan and will it change anything?

strategy is that we are working with went back macro for years,

before recession, before the banking crisis. -- went back four

years. It has failed utterly and the strategy is to bring the

strategy back up to speed. Much of it is obvious. It is about

improving transport links, for example. But also, Green Business

and the low carbon economy. Not just renewable energy. Some

companies, such as engineering and aerospace could be doing more to

get on board with the Green Revolution and are being targeted.

Four enterprise zones. We will find out more about them later this year.

We will hear more about quicker broadband. We will also probably be

getting beat austerity budgets. This is what people hope will take

the economy into a healthier state. What has the government set about

reorganising the banks? They have been pushing the banks to keep

lending hand at a reasonable rate. They will keep doing that despite

not having power. They will try to get lending going. They are

concerned that if they have an upheaval and the banks get broken

up, there will be quite a lot of substantial changes and lending

could become more expensive. John Swinney wants to see emphasis on

competition, particularly in business banking in Scotland. We

have got two massively dominant banks and he wants more competition.

Scotland's top police officer misses out on becoming the

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Stephen House was

interviewed by the Home Secretary and the Mayor of London. The job

went to the former Chief Constable of Merseyside, Bernard Hogan-Howe.

The wife of the author of The Horse Whisperer has called on the NHS to

stop wasting organs that could be used for transplants. Charlotte

Gordon Cumming and her family were left with kidney failure after

accidentally eating poisonous mushrooms. She is asking why out of

400 people on the register that die every day in the UK, just two

Three years ago, Charlotte Gordon Cumming and her family gathered

mushrooms for lunch on the family estate. One mushroom was a deadly

weapon. It was really just interested in the kidney, thank

goodness. They can often attack other organs but it was just the

kidneys and we all had renal failure. That means dialysis.

Nicholas Evans, seen before the poisoning, was seen before the

transplant. Charlotte spent months on the waiting list and wants to

highlight what she regards as the tragedy of transplantation in the

UK. At the moment, the only organs being used are the organs from

intensive care. So, where you die makes a lot of difference as to

whether you are going to be serviced properly or not. We are

wasting hundreds. Despite regular campaigns to increase donations, a

review in 2008 recognised the departments outside intensive care

were not considering it enough. Since then, people like this

consultant have been trying to find more people to donate but there are

problems. I concede that there are people on the waiting list and if I

was on the list, I would be thinking, why is there a shortage

of organs? But the problem we have got is the way people die and the

mode of death and the timing of death and where they have died. It

makes it difficult. Surgeons have less than two hours to transplant

organs before they are starved of oxygen but the biggest problem

remains getting the permission of relatives. The number one increase

would be more people getting up to the register and telling somebody

what was happening. Authorities say donations are increasing but demand

Sport. Gloucester's Rory Lawson captains Scotland in the second

Rugby World Cup match against Georgia on Wednesday. They narrowly

beat Romania at the weekend and the team has changed wholesale. It was

two close for comfort. It could have started with an embarrassing

defeat against Romania. But they got the victory they needed but it

was difficult. This is the debating chamber. The scene of Andy

Robinson's team announcement on Wednesday. 11 changes in the team

had much to debate about. We regard this Georgia game as a very tough

game. We expect it to be harder than Romania. We confirmed our

thoughts after the game. We have to keep our heads together and we are

going through the plans we have put in place. Plenty of questions for

the players to answer but B-team can surely only improve?

Saturday evening and certainly on Sunday when we were sleeping on it,

we were a bit nervous and a bit scared. I think we expected to win

that game a bit more comfortably. I certainly did the public expected

that as well. I have said that the World Cup is about peaking in the

tournament. You can never take any game for granted. But I think the

way we finished it tells us a lot about the confidence that we have

got. Next, Georgia. Cam Scotland ease their World Cup nervousness?

Scott Brown thinks the Europa League will be an opportunity to

shine despite disappointing European performances before. His

ankle injury took him away from the demolition of Motherwell but he is

desperate to improve its Celtic's reputation in Spain. We have not

been in Europe for the past couple of years added has been a bit

disappointing but the players we have got are probably the best we

have had for a long time. Some of the best Scottish athletes are

returning from the Commonwealth Youth Games with 22 medals, six

gold and three won by Craig Benson, the swimmer who is targeting the

2014 Commonwealth Games. We look back on a successful weekend on the

Isle of Man for Scotland's superstars. Tonight, a glimpse of

the creativity and commitment of the young people off the Isle of

Man. You are not just the next generation of competitors, but also

the next generation of the Commonwealth. I have great pleasure

in declaring be 4th Commonwealth Youth Games open! And after the

fanfare of the opening ceremony, involving the cream of the

Commonwealth, one Scottish athlete demonstrated the weight of gold.

17-year-old Craig Benson from Livingston got used to his own flag

as he did a clean sweep of restrict medals and got gold in the 1502

hundred metres. 11 medals in the pool overall. -- in the B15 hundred

metres. -- 1,500 metres. Take my word for it but he passed home to

win the 200 metres. The camera angle is not great. Silver in the

flyweight boxing for Charlie friend. This competitor took a hard-fought

battle for the bronze medal. Scotland got an encouraging 22

medals. Five Gold, six silver and 11 bronze. Attention is now turning

to the senior tournament in Glasgow in three years. Just your back on

the television! Drama in the Tour of Britain cycle race after he

crashed just after the halfway mark. Almost 100 top internationals took

part in yesterday's gruelling slog Back in Scotland and here for the

first time in two years. It was a ceremonial occasion and spectacle.

This is like a spiritual home and the last time we were here, it was

fantastic. It is great to be back. Previous superstars such as this

one and the Isle of Man's Mark Cavendish, winner of the 20 stages

of the Tour De France. I can see by excited about it. But it was

Russell Hampton and his Belgian opponents that made the early break

and they had a lead of more than six minutes. Rain made conditions

difficult and times slave. But they were well ahead after 90 kilometres.

Be people behind them had chaos to deal with. They dusted themselves

down and got back into the race. Then a couple of hours later on the

approach to Dumfries, these leaders had been reined back. But he was

the best sprinter? It was not a contest. -- two. -- two. It was a

lot faster and probably it would have been the same result. It was

not very easy. Mark Cavendish retains the gold jersey until

tomorrow at. The next stage to Blackpool has been cancelled

because of the bad weather. That is all the sport for tonight. But not

for long. It does not look too bad in the centre of Glasgow at. Now

in the centre of Glasgow at. Now the weather. What a start to be

weak but we hope it is going to improve. Very wet and very windy in

central and southern Scotland. These are some of the recordings.

76 mph in Edinburgh. It is working up to the east coast. Weather

warnings remain in place for the next few hours at least. It should

get up to 70 mph for a while yet. That is because of low pressure. It

was not a hurricane forecast but it was pretty strong. -- for ourselves.

This will get better gradually. Wind not anywhere near as strong as

that. This is working towards the northern coast are. It will get

better. It will get down to 50 mph. That will continue tomorrow in many

parts of central and southern Scotland. Rain continuing across

the North West and northern parts of the country. By about 4 o'clock,

it could get bright on the Borders. Temperatures of 17 and 18.

Struggling at 14 and 15 degrees in these areas. It will be dry further

east. Temperatures at 16 and 17. Rain fading by Tuesday evening. By

the middle of the week, not looking very bad and looking pretty calm.

Sunshine and rain for the Northern Isles. But really, just showers for

many people in the region. It is looking pretty calm in the middle

of the week compared to today. Not much to talk about on Thursday's

map. Wind will continue to be map. Wind will continue to be

strong and gale force in central and southern Scotland. The top

stories... Plans for the most comprehensive reform of British

banks in a generation have been published. The proposals should

mean taxpayers are never again asked to spend tens of billions to

make up for banking mistakes. Part of Scotland have been feeling the

effects of person back -- Hurricane Katia it. Wind could reach 80 mph.

It has been particularly bad in central and southern Scotland.

Kenya's army is looking for a British woman kidnapped after her

husband was shot dead at a luxury resort. They had just arrived at

the Safari Village close to the border with Somalia. And in the

past hour, detectives investigating the triple murder of a family at

traced a man and a car seen near the area. It follows the release of