Browse content similar to 29/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to Thursday's Reporting Scotland. Tonight on the programme: | :00:15. | :00:18. | |
These two men no longer face charges of trying to murder Neil | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
Lennon. Neil McKenzie and Trevor Muirhead are now accused of | :00:21. | :00:30. | |
plotting to assault the Celtic manager and two other people. | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
The men running Rangers throw out a high-profile takeover bid for the | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
struggling Ibrox club. We'll be live with the latest. | :00:37. | :00:47. | |
:00:47. | :00:51. | ||
Also tonight, a quiz. Do you know what's happening on May 3rd? | :00:51. | :00:58. | |
Scottish Cup final? I don't know the answer. Visiting Glasgow? | :00:58. | :01:02. | |
they're in Glasgow and every other part of Scotland. A look ahead to | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
the local government election campaign which has just got under | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
way. And they're deadly serious - the | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
young offenders helping restore Victorian graveyards to their | :01:09. | :01:17. | |
Two men accused of sending suspicious packages to Neil Lennon | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
are no longer accused of conspiracy to murder the Celtic manager, the | :01:20. | :01:26. | |
late Paul McBride and the former MSP Trish Godman. Trevor Muirhead | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
and Neil McKenzie are now facing a reduced charge of plotting to | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
assault the three. The jury will retire tomorrow to consider their | :01:33. | :01:41. | |
verdict. Catriona Renton reports. These two men, Neil McKenzie and | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
Trevor Muirhead, have been on trial for over a month, accused of | :01:45. | :01:50. | |
sending suspicious packages. Today their trial took a twist. The three | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
alleged victims in this trial were Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two | :01:54. | :01:58. | |
high-profile supporters, the late Paul McBride QC and a former MSP, | :01:58. | :02:04. | |
Trish Godman. Originally Trevor Muirhead and Mackenzie were accused | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
of conspiracy to assault and murder them. Today the judge told the jury | :02:08. | :02:12. | |
they were no longer accused of conspiracy to murder. He said that | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
part of the charge can't be founded on the evidence heard in this trial. | :02:17. | :02:22. | |
Then the jury heard the defence's closing submissions. First from | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
Gordon Jackson QC acting for Trevor Muirhead. He said Mr Muirhead had | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
knowledge of the parcel and had bought peroxide, but that was it. | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
But he said however stupid, bad or reprehensible he had been, he had | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
not done what he was charged with. The Crown accepts the parcels were | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
not viable explosive devices, but its case is predicated on the | :02:45. | :02:48. | |
accused's belief that they were. Addressing the jury, Mr Jackson | :02:48. | :02:58. | |
:02:58. | :03:00. | ||
Donald Findlay QC is acting for Neil McKenzie. He said his client | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
had bought the components that this retail park. He said they were no | :03:04. | :03:14. | |
:03:14. | :03:14. | ||
more than elaborate hoaxes, sending The judge has told the jury how to | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
approach their task and now they have retired to consider their | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
verdict. Trevor Muirhead and Neil McKenzie deny all the charges | :03:21. | :03:27. | |
against them. The trial continues. Total says work is well under way | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
on two possible solutions to stop the gas leak on the Elgin platform | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
in the North Sea. But the company says it still doesn't know how much | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
gas is in the faulty well, located some 4,000 metres below the | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
platform. At First Minister's Questions, Alex Salmond said the | :03:41. | :03:50. | |
seriousness of the incident We will remain in close contact | :03:50. | :03:53. | |
with the primary responders about the incident and we have made it | :03:54. | :03:56. | |
clear that the Scottish government will continue to insist in every | :03:56. | :04:03. | |
way we can on total transparency in terms of release of information. | :04:03. | :04:08. | |
can cross to Aberdeen now and our reporter Steven Duff. The First | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
Minister raising concern for there. You've been finding out what Total | :04:12. | :04:20. | |
are doing. Yes. For a revealed today that it has employed two | :04:20. | :04:26. | |
companies heavily involved in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
disaster in 2010. One of the experts in well-controlled and | :04:30. | :04:37. | |
Total may need experts to go back on the platform and plug the well | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
with mud. Also today, the environmental group Greenpeace | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
released pictures it has taken off the platform from outside the air | :04:45. | :04:51. | |
and sea exclusion zone. Not the best quality, but the Hayes is the | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
gas cloud and the controversial flair above was left on when the | :04:55. | :04:59. | |
platform was evacuated. Total also giving risk assessment for when | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
they can put workers back on the platform and they are also not | :05:02. | :05:10. | |
ruling out put in a helicopter back on when gas levels of safer game. | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
- safe again. Our strategy at the moment is to get further definition | :05:14. | :05:19. | |
on the options and we may start both in parallel. That is still | :05:19. | :05:25. | |
being assessed. We are gathering information confirming plans up. | :05:25. | :05:31. | |
They will not necessarily be a decision between one of the other. | :05:31. | :05:37. | |
We could do both. The situation on the Elgin platform has not changed | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
much in the last 24 hours. The gas is escaping at about two kilograms | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
a second. That is a lot. One of the bidders looking to take | :05:48. | :05:51. | |
over Rangers has been told his offer has been rejected. Brian | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
Kennedy, who owns the rugby union side Sale Sharks, was thought to be | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
one of the front runners. Our senior football reporter, Chris | :05:58. | :06:06. | |
McLaughlin, joins me now. What went wrong with this big? Fine told it | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
simply wasn't good enough. It fell well short of what the | :06:10. | :06:13. | |
administrators were expecting. Brian Kennedy had said to me | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
earlier that he felt the administrators were dragging their | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
heels and he was looking for them to accelerate the process. It did | :06:20. | :06:25. | |
not take them long to respond by rejecting his bid. He now says he | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
is disappointed, perhaps not surprised that his bid was rejected | :06:29. | :06:38. | |
and he's throwing his weight behind Paul Murray. Brian Kennedy would | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
like to rip up the deal concerning season tickets, but would like to | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
see them go on with Paul Murray. In terms of where we go now for | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
Rangers, the administrators are looking to narrow down the process, | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
they have four more bids on the table. They are looking to get down | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
to one preferred bidder by the middle of next week, maybe. News of | :06:58. | :07:04. | |
the dropping of a legal claim by a former chief executive. Martin Bain | :07:04. | :07:09. | |
was the chief executive of Rangers. He was removed from the Ibrox board | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
by Craig Whyte when he took over. Martin Bain was very vocal in as | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
much as he did not want Craig Whyte to take over at Rangers. He took | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
legal action when he was removed from the board, but he now says | :07:21. | :07:25. | |
given the current plight of Rangers, he has decided to drop that claim | :07:25. | :07:27. | |
altogether. You're watching Reporting Scotland | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
from the BBC. Still to come on the programme: | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
A grave situation - being helped by offenders on a community programme | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
who are restoring local cemeteries. And why, despite the warm weather, | :07:36. | :07:46. | |
:07:46. | :07:46. | ||
some of us are loathe to give up Former Rangers captain fears the | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
club will be stripped of some of their SPL titles. And the Scotland | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
rugby coach keeps his job despite failing to win a single match in | :07:54. | :08:00. | |
this year's Six Nations Scotland has the most disappointing | :08:00. | :08:02. | |
record in the UK for recruiting students from the poorest | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
backgrounds, and the highest drop- out rate. But Scottish universities | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
are recruiting more from low income homes and the number of students | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
from state schools is now on a par with the level in England. Our | :08:13. | :08:16. | |
education correspondent Seonag MacKinnon has more. | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
Who get into university? Figures out today indicate most students | :08:20. | :08:25. | |
are not from families on the breadline. Just 27% of students in | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
Scotland are from the poorest homes. Lagging well behind the level for | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
the UK as a whole. If we look at the number of pupils from state | :08:33. | :08:38. | |
schools, Scotland has climbed 2% in the year. We are now on a par with | :08:38. | :08:42. | |
the level in England. But getting into university is just one issue. | :08:42. | :08:50. | |
Once in, almost 10% drop out. 1% above the level in England. One of | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
them is Sarah Newman, whose secondary education was mainly in | :08:54. | :09:00. | |
Scotland. In October she became a waitress. She said university was | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
not for her. I loved school but I was never a straight a student. I | :09:06. | :09:10. | |
found -- I find work a lot more rewarding for top but rewarding | :09:10. | :09:16. | |
jobs can eventually come from degrees, too. Universities are | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
promising more to come. Student leaders say the country needs more. | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
We need to make sure we are harnessing the potential of | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
Scotland's young people as best we can. That means making sure we take | :09:27. | :09:31. | |
the most talented young people into universities regardless of their | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
background. That means universities have a challenge. There are no | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
tuition fees in Scotland and there are a lot of financial loans and | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
grants available to students, particularly those coming from low | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
income families. But his money the only issue? Universities want | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
schools to ensure more have the school -- skills and exam passes to | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
win places. A schoolboy and a mother who killed | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
a man wrongly accused of being a paedophile have been jailed. | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
Williamina Stewart, who's 37, was jailed for ten years and 18-year- | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
old Paul Noble for eight after they both admitted the culpable homicide | :10:05. | :10:10. | |
of Gordon Morrice. The 58-year-old died months after being severely | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
injured at playing fields in Aberdeen in 2010. The court heard | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
he was attacked after asking to bounce on a child's trampoline near | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
his flat in Seaton. A 30-year-old man has appeared in | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
court charged with the murder of a Glasgow gangland figure. Ross | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
Monaghan denies shooting Kevin "Gerbil" Carroll in a supermarket | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
car park in Robroyston two years ago, and various other offences. | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
He's lodged a special defence of incrimination, blaming eight other | :10:37. | :10:43. | |
people. The trial will continue tomorrow. | :10:43. | :10:47. | |
The starting gun has been fired for the council election campaign. | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
Nominations closed this afternoon for candidates and it's the first | :10:50. | :10:52. | |
time since devolution when the council elections haven't been held | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
on the same day as the Holyrood election. Our local government | :10:56. | :10:59. | |
correspondent Jamie McIvor's here to look at the issues likely to | :10:59. | :11:08. | |
dominate the coming weeks. We get to choose the 1,200 or so | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
councillors for all 32 of our local councils when we vote on May 3rd. | :11:12. | :11:14. | |
Those councillors will then get to Those councillors will then get to | :11:14. | :11:16. | |
decide on all sorts of issues - whether to close local schools, how | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
much to spend repairing potholes, and even the opening hours at the | :11:19. | :11:29. | |
:11:29. | :11:32. | ||
It was like the last day of term at Scotland's biggest council today. | :11:32. | :11:41. | |
The last full meeting of Glasgow But outside the City Chambers, the | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
people -- did people even realised there was an election campaign | :11:45. | :11:51. | |
getting under way? There's a big event on May 3rd, what is it? | :11:51. | :11:59. | |
don't know the answer. Is it in Glasgow? I have no idea. Not the | :11:59. | :12:04. | |
Scottish Cup final? I haven't a clue. Scottish council elections. | :12:04. | :12:14. | |
:12:14. | :12:14. | ||
write! -- oh, right. Getting some of us excited may be a challenge. | :12:14. | :12:19. | |
The last time the council elections weren't held on the same day as the | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
Holyrood poll, the political world was very different. There was no | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
devolution. They were very poor results last night. Many councils | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
saw themselves as Scotland's democratic voice against the | :12:31. | :12:36. | |
unpopular of Westminster government. But even so, typically just over | :12:36. | :12:41. | |
four out of 10 of us bothered to vote. What about this time? I think | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
the turnout will be probably hovering down around the low 40s. | :12:44. | :12:52. | |
If we are very, very lucky indeed, which means some councils will have | :12:52. | :12:57. | |
a lower town that. I wouldn't be surprised to see 25 in some places. | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
One challenge is making sure everyone understands the voting | :13:01. | :13:06. | |
system. This stunt today was a reminder of the number of | :13:06. | :13:13. | |
candidates. Different issues will feature in different areas. In | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
Edinburgh,... Across the whole of Scotland, money or the lack of it | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
is likely to dominate. These are tough times for councils. 13,000 | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
jobs have gone in the past year. The same number may go this year. | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
And whoever's in charge of your council after May, the financial | :13:27. | :13:30. | |
situation it's in will be just the same. The question is really | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
whether your council is spending the money it's got wisely. If its | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
priorities are your priorities. And, of course, the campaign's just | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
starting - hopefully come May 3rd, we'll all know there's an election | :13:40. | :13:47. | |
And Jamie will be reporting on the manifestos of the main parties and | :13:47. | :13:51. | |
the election campaign over the next few weeks. Information about your | :13:51. | :14:01. | |
:14:01. | :14:01. | ||
There is information about York Council online. | :14:01. | :14:06. | |
Scotland is generating more than a third of its amateur city from the | :14:06. | :14:13. | |
rebels -- renewable sources. If overall electricity consumption in | :14:13. | :14:19. | |
2011 turns out to be similar to the previous year, 35% of electricity | :14:19. | :14:22. | |
came from renewable sources last year, beating the Scottish | :14:22. | :14:28. | |
government's target of 31%. A crew with a number of Scotland's | :14:28. | :14:33. | |
graveyards are being closed to the public because of unsafe headstones. | :14:33. | :14:37. | |
Some councils like them flat to make them safe, but one resident | :14:37. | :14:44. | |
has come up with a solution. This cemetery in Edinburgh is much | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
like many others in Scotland. Ageing head stones lie flat on the | :14:49. | :14:54. | |
ground. Too dangerous to stay standing, too expensive to restore. | :14:54. | :15:00. | |
But a new pilot projects here is using people on community service | :15:00. | :15:07. | |
to put Eastern's back-up. The idea came from a local resident, who | :15:07. | :15:09. | |
contacted the Criminal Justice Department and the council with his | :15:09. | :15:14. | |
idea. My concern was that the graveyards that we see now will | :15:14. | :15:19. | |
become historic, we will be leaving this for future generations, it is | :15:19. | :15:25. | |
appalling. The council says this project has been a big success, | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
benefiting not just the local area, but the offenders as well. As well | :15:29. | :15:34. | |
as learning new skills, and meeting new people every week. The skills | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
are a key factor for myself, looking for further employment. To | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
do something for somebody else, to see people asking us questions, it | :15:44. | :15:50. | |
is a sense of satisfaction, it puts a smile on my face. Around 30% of | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
Scotland's gravestones are in this state, normally, restoring them | :15:53. | :15:59. | |
would cost too much for many councils. Now, there are plans to | :15:59. | :16:02. | |
roll out the projects across the rest of the country. The hard work | :16:02. | :16:08. | |
is beginning to pay off. These have been restored. With other councils | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
interested, it could be the first of many. | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
What else has been happening across the country this Thursday? | :16:19. | :16:23. | |
Strathclyde Fire fighters who failed to rescue Alison Hume, who | :16:23. | :16:28. | |
died after falling down a disused mineshaft for ages ago, displayed | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
what has been described as an insufficient and inexplicable lack | :16:31. | :16:37. | |
of focus. The report says senior officers did not appreciate the | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
need for speed. Overnight flooding closed down | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
Aberdeen City Council's headquarters. A water pipe burst in | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
the Marshall College building. It should reopen tomorrow. | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
Specialist seafood producer the Orkney Herring Company has closed, | :16:54. | :16:59. | |
laying off 15 staff. It comes after Orkney Meat was also set to should | :16:59. | :17:06. | |
come up with the loss of 30 jobs. Burntisland residents will campaign | :17:06. | :17:13. | |
against plans on what they claim is building on common good land. | :17:13. | :17:18. | |
Work is beginning on a new cycle route in the capital, running it to | :17:18. | :17:20. | |
Edinburgh University's Kings Buildings. The council is committed | :17:20. | :17:27. | |
to spending 5% of its transport budget on facilities for cyclists. | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
Sightings of starlings have fallen by almost a fifth in 10 years. | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
Experts say possible reasons are reductions in their insect food, | :17:34. | :17:38. | |
because of climate change and new farming methods. | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
Astronomers from Edinburgh University have helped produce this | :17:41. | :17:45. | |
image of the Milky Way. It is the first time this detail of more than | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
1 billion stars has been seen. There are more stories from your | :17:49. | :17:58. | |
area on the bedside. -- on the website. | :17:58. | :18:02. | |
The former Rangers captain Lorenzo and every so fierce the Premier | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
League will strip the club of some of their SPL titles. He was | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
speaking ahead of tomorrow night's fundraiser between Rangers legends | :18:11. | :18:17. | |
and a team of Milan all-time greats. He played for Rangers between 1997 | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
and 2003, and for part of that period, it is alleged some players | :18:20. | :18:25. | |
may have been paid through schemes which may have breached rules. | :18:25. | :18:32. | |
The were you aware rough that? -- aware of that? They investigate | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
everything now. They might tie -- but they might try to take away the | :18:36. | :18:42. | |
trophies. I know something, but it is -- it is impossible to know what | :18:42. | :18:50. | |
they are looking for. I do not know what they are looking for. If they | :18:50. | :18:58. | |
want to take trophies away from this club, we want this that we won | :18:58. | :19:06. | |
the trophy is on the pitch. The metal cup might not be here any | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
more, but we know that we won the trophies on the pitch. | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
They prayed hard moment there. The allegations that some players may | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
have been paid through schemes that bridge in gulls or had second | :19:19. | :19:24. | |
contracts was discussed by the SPL board at Hampden Park today. | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
Matters regarding Rangers, uppermost in the minds of the | :19:28. | :19:35. | |
assets will -- SPL and the SFA. that matter of allegations of | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
undisclosed payments to players by Rangers was on the agenda at the | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
SPL's board meeting. The leaks started their own investigation at | :19:44. | :19:50. | |
the beginning of this month -- SPL started their own investigation. | :19:50. | :19:55. | |
The chief executive gave some brief details of what was discussed today. | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
They gave the board and a Tait, the discussions are continuing. The | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
investigations are ongoing. The next board meeting will be on April | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
12th. It is important there is clarity as soon as possible, but it | :20:09. | :20:15. | |
is also important there is a full investigation. The investigation is | :20:15. | :20:18. | |
ongoing, it continues, and as soon as we can announce more, we will do | :20:18. | :20:28. | |
:20:28. | :20:30. | ||
He is not giving much away. What about the ESFA? -- SFA? They were | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
looking at alleged breaches of the rules by Rangers and their owner. | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
Craig Whyte was due to appear to face those charges, but he | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
requested an adjournment until July. That is in order to better prepare | :20:44. | :20:51. | |
his defence. The SFA allowed the adjournment, they accepted that. | :20:51. | :20:57. | |
They will convene in a poor, or rather than in July, for three days, | :20:57. | :21:03. | |
to here both the cases against Craig Whyte and Rangers. Craig | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
Whyte is due back here on April sixth, that is to give a | :21:08. | :21:12. | |
substantive response to the allegations. And some sort of | :21:12. | :21:19. | |
indication as to how prepared he isn't. The administrators gave | :21:19. | :21:22. | |
their response to the adjournment, they have declared themselves | :21:22. | :21:25. | |
disappointed that there is a further delay and uncertainty over | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
any particular punishments that might come. It does not help them, | :21:29. | :21:34. | |
as they continued to look for a new owner. | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
The ESFA have been busy, they have also rejected the Celtic defender | :21:38. | :21:44. | |
Cha Du-Ri's appeal against his sending-off. He was given every | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
card for denying Lee Wallace thought the referee thought was an | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
obvious goalscoring opportunity. He will miss the game against St | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
Johnstone. St Johnstone have boosted their | :21:53. | :21:57. | |
chances of qualifying to play European football by moving up to | :21:57. | :22:02. | |
fourth place in the Premier League. They beat Inverness last night. | :22:02. | :22:07. | |
Just one goal, scored by Francisco Sandaza, from the penalty spot. His | :22:07. | :22:12. | |
18th goal of the season. The SPL have given permission for | :22:12. | :22:15. | |
Ross County to ground-share with Inverness, should they win | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
promotion from the first division. Their ground falls short of SPL | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
seeking criteria, but plans are in place to upgrade. They need just | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
two more wins to clinch the title. The Scottish Rugby Union have | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
confirmed Andy Robinson will continue in his role as the head | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
coach. They lost all of their Six Nations matches this season, and | :22:38. | :22:43. | |
finished bottom of the table. He had a meeting today to discuss his | :22:43. | :22:50. | |
future with the chief executive. He has kept his job. He is contracted | :22:50. | :23:00. | |
:23:00. | :23:00. | ||
With a record-breaking weather, warmer than the Mediterranean and | :23:00. | :23:05. | |
the Caribbean, the spring has been full of surprises, but while the | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
soaring temperatures are tough and the farmers a priest, there are | :23:08. | :23:13. | |
still a few people who are sad to see their winter bodies go. -- but | :23:13. | :23:18. | |
the farmers a boost. When the wind is soft and the days | :23:18. | :23:25. | |
of warm and clear, just like a gentleman, spring is here. -- just | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
like a gentleman. The lambs are thriving, the weather has given | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
them a gentle introduction to the world. It is a sharp contrast to | :23:34. | :23:40. | |
2010, when many hill farms were buried under snow. When you get a | :23:40. | :23:46. | |
spell like this, they get up, they get a drink of them on, they never | :23:46. | :23:52. | |
looked back. -- but they get a drink from their mother. The dry | :23:52. | :23:57. | |
weather has also been good news for the growers. Arable farmers are | :23:57. | :24:02. | |
getting a head start after the autumn washout, and the soft fruit | :24:02. | :24:05. | |
growers say they expect some crops of strawberries and trespass to be | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
ready 10 to 14 days early. -- strawberries and raspberries. But | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
there is a cloud over the Cairngorms, there has been no | :24:14. | :24:17. | |
skiing this month. Temporary staff has been laid off, they are | :24:18. | :24:23. | |
bringing forward the summer activities. The guided walks are | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
starting a month early, on the first April. They will run through | :24:27. | :24:34. | |
the summer. We have had people walking and using the conditions. | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
Lovely Paul King conditions. Just as the Easter holidays begin, the | :24:39. | :24:46. | |
weather is set to break. Do not pack away beautiful coat just yet. | :24:46. | :24:56. | |
:24:56. | :24:58. | ||
It is on the turn. Plenty of sunshine across central, southern | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
and eastern part of the country today, cloudier in the north and | :25:01. | :25:06. | |
west, but it will be dry deceiving and overnight. The cloud in the | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
West continues to still further inland, which will keep the | :25:10. | :25:18. | |
temperature is mild. Rural parts will be close to freezing. Tomorrow, | :25:18. | :25:26. | |
in the East, it starts off Sony and it stays that way. For the central | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
parts, cloudy, but the cloud will be trouble to the west coast as we | :25:30. | :25:36. | |
had to was the afternoon. -- cloud will head towards the west coast. | :25:36. | :25:39. | |
In the mid- afternoon, the warmest part of the date is across the | :25:39. | :25:47. | |
southern part of the country. A different story on the west coast. | :25:47. | :25:54. | |
There will be some light drizzle. Plenty of sunshine elsewhere. It is | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
cloudy and called for Orkney and Shetland. For the rest of the | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
afternoon and overnight, there will be some late sunshine towards the | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
south and east, but then it changes as we head towards the weekend. | :26:06. | :26:12. | |
Most notably, the temperatures. We are back down to where it should be | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
for this time of year. They will be a lot of cloud around for Saturday | :26:17. | :26:23. | |
and Sunday, so a colder, cloudier and club. The high-pressure is | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
moving towards the Atlantic, introducing a Bill to the flow of | :26:27. | :26:37. | |
:26:37. | :26:37. | ||
air. -- northerly flow. For Saturday, the central belt, 12. The | :26:37. | :26:45. | |
could see some snow-sure was in Orkney. -- we could see some snow | :26:45. | :26:52. | |
showers in Orkney. Rain for the north and west. Tomorrow will be | :26:52. | :26:58. | |
the last day of the warm, sunny conditions. | :26:58. | :27:01. | |
The top stories. Two men accused of sending | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
suspicious packages to Neil Lennon are no longer accused of conspiracy | :27:04. | :27:10. | |
to murder the Celtic manager, Paul McBride and Trish Godman. | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
Trevor Muirhead and Neil McKenzie are now facing a reduced charge of | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
plotting to assault the three. It has been another day of heavy | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
demand at the petrol pumps falling government warnings about a fuel | :27:22. | :27:27. | |
strike. There have been long queues, and prices are up at some outlets. | :27:27. | :27:32. |