04/11/2013 Reporting Scotland

Tonight, on Reporting Scotland... The controversy surrounding the

Labour Party in Falkirk - now the former Chancellor Alastair Darling

says there should be a new inquiry into allegations of vote rigging.

More than 90% of Commonwealth Games tickets are sold but some sports

clubs are unhappy because they weren't allocated any. I applied for

swimming tickets and gymnastics, and did not get anything. We want to be

there for the successes. Also in tonight's programme: Buyer beware -

a hundred people a week are contacting Citizens Advice saying

they're having problems with their second-hand cars. And Terry Butcher

agrees personal terms to become the new manager at Hibs but Inverness

say nobody has contacted them. The former Chancellor Alistair

Darling has become the latest high profile Labour politician to join

the controversy surrounding allegations of vote rigging in the

party's selection process for the Falkirk constituency. He has called

for a new inquiry to be carried out and its results to be made public.

Catriona Renton reports. It has been a Labour Westminster

seat since before the Second World War, but the Falkirk Labour Party is

in trouble. Since their MP Eric Joyce resigned following a brawl at

Westminster, they had been looking for a new candidate. The party

chair, steely deans, who was also at the heart of the Grangemouth

dispute, was accused of engineering this election. He was suspended and

an internal report cleared him and reinstated him. Something has gone

wrong in Falkirk. There needs to be a thorough investigation, I

understand police are looking at matters. If they do do not then

there needs to be a full enquiry and I am clear that the results need to

be published because that is the only way that people will be

satisfied that justice has been done. Yesterday there was a meeting

of the constituency party. They were disappointed that no senior Labour

figure attended to answer questions. I am not a professional politician,

I am a librarian. Was their vote rigging happening? I have no idea, I

have not seen the report. Joanne Lamb and, a Unite member herself,

said it would be unusual to publish this report. Everyone involved who

tried to fix this election has to be dealt with. It is damaging. Today we

went back to Falkirk. Has Joanne answer the questions? I do not think

I heard her saying that the constituents Labour Party members

had asked for someone to come and speak to the members. Published or

not, we should get to see the report. Yesterday, sources within

the Labour Party said that steely deans would not put himself forward

again as chair of the Falkirk Labour Party. I spoke to him and he said

that he had said no such thing. Some people in Labour know what happens

but how long can they continue to keep it to themselves?

To try and shed light on this our political editor Brian Taylor joins

me now. No sign this controversy is going to go away anytime soon? It is

of gigantic proportions. It was inflicted by the Labour Party. There

is agitation for a further enquiry. You can understand the views of the

members of the Falkirk party. Think of what the leadership is saying,

both in Scotland and in London. They say the concern is to get a

candidate elected for the Labour Party in Falkirk. It will be an all

women short list. It will be announced on December the 8th. In

the interim, they hope that the storm over the previous election

dies down. Secondly, the information has been sent to the police and

there will be investigations into whether there should be prosecutions

in this case. Labour say at that point, once that avenue has been

exhausted, it may be right to look at whether there are further lessons

to be learnt as a party. To be clear, that is what Alistair Darling

is saying. The police route first and then further investigations

after that. The leadership were more reluctant to go down the route of

opening this up again. They are trying to persuade the people of

Falkirk to vote for them. As I understand it, the enquiry centres

on allegations but it is not clear what was said. That is one key

aspect of it. The family who made the allegations were said to have

been recruited by members and complained about that aspect of it,

and that was one of the reasons for the enquiry. It was then said that

they withdrew those accusations. We have a statement tonight from Labour

saying that they have spoken again to a member of the family, after

reports in the Daily Mail, and they say she stands by the position as it

was explained in the Labour leadership, the position that led

Labour not to pursue any action against Unite. They say there is no

evidence to justify further action. They talk about the police enquiry

going into the allegations. They say they were considered the outcome of

that enquiry. -- they say they will consider the outcome. You can get

more on this on tonight's Newsnight Scotland over on BBC Two Scotland

starting at 11 o'clock. Organisers of next year's Commonwealth Games

say that they have sold 92% of tickets. The remaining tickets will

go on public sale from tomorrow. But there has been crtiticism about the

allocation process with some at club level in the sporting world saying

they have lost out on a chance to see a home Games. Our Commonwealth

Games reporter Jane Lewis is here with the figures.

The headline from today regarding ticket sales is this - 92% of all

seats available to the public have been sold. So how were the tickets

allocated for these Games? Well, 70% have been made available to the

general public. The other 30% have been shared between the likes of

other Commonwealth Games associations, sponsors and Games

partners. Another interesting fact today, who's buying the tickets? Of

the sales so far, 57% were sold in Scotland, 40% from the other home

nations, with the remainder from overseas, although that will rise as

people from the Commonwealth buy tickets from their own Games

associations. Home grown athletes will of course be keen to hear as

many Scottish voices cheering them on as possible, and a former swimmer

who knows all about Commonwealth success says that makes such a

difference. My longest lasting memory would be

stepping out into that swimming pool in London, and Manchester 2002 was

exactly the same. It is unbelievable, that feeling, and to

know that every single one of those people were screaming and shouting

and willing you to do your best is the best feeling. These guys will be

hearing that noise every single moment they are competing. Well,

highest demand for tickets was for athletics, cycling and aquatics,

with organisers saying they could have filled Tollcross ten times

over. But with tickets so difficult to get in the ballot there are some

who feel that genuine fans have lost out. Some lobbied for an allocation

for tickets to go to clubs, but it was rejected by organisers. Lisa

Summers has been along to one of the country's biggest swimming clubs.

From 5am, they in day out, this is the hard work that goes on to train

our most can get it if swimmers. -- our most competitive swimmers. Many

who he swims with, they lost out on the ballot. If they do not get into

the squad, they will not see the Games. You train day in and day out,

and you want to be there for whatever success they achieved. I

applied for swimming and tickets but did not get anything. The popular

support is -- the popular support, it is inevitable that there will be

frustration. We have 340 swimmers from aged eight through to the elite

swimmers. We thought it was important for our home-grown

swimmers to see an event in their own country. Scottish athletics have

lab -- lobbied for tickets to be set aside. They say they believe the

system is fair. We considered a whole range of things we put the

programme together. We kept coming back to the fact that we wanted it

to be simple, transparent and fair. We wanted one set of rules for

everyone to play by. With legacy being the buzzword of the Games,

there is a feeling that those in charge of the show are not

listening. There are 76,000 tickets still up

for grabs - tickets for the likes of badminton, boxing and lawn bowls

will go on general sale tomorrow morning. And organisers are

confident that they'll be snapped up as well.

Thank you. You're watching Reporting Scotland from the BBC. Still to come

on the programme... The hazards of buying second-hand cars, thousands

of owners are contacting the Citizens Advice Bureau with

problems. In sport, Hibs move closer to appointing a new manager to

replace Pat Fenlon. We'll be live at Easter Road with the very latest on

todays developments. Gordon Strachan has announced his latest Scotland

squad. There are new names and old faces making a return for the

friendlies against USA and Norway. Scotch beef is set to go on sale in

America for the first time in nearly 20 years. It follows the lifiting of

a ban on beef imports from Europe imposed because of concerns over BSE

or so called madcow disease infecting the food chain. Our

reporter Kevin Keane is at a beef farm in Aberdeenshire for us

tonight. Jackie, this farm, like many others

in Scotland was hit hard when the BSE crisis happened in the 1990s.

This and foot and mouth led to a series of changes across the

industry. The industry shrunk in size, there were restrictions on

what could and could not be moved, and there were bands on --

restrictions on exporting beef. The Americans have held onto that

restriction. That is until now. That will not mean a significant change

in the number of cattle farmers who immediately export beef out towards

the USA. It will improve consumer confidence according to one leading

agricultural consultant. The USA lifting its restriction on UK and

Scottish beef means that other countries may follow suit. It says

something bigger. We are back into the mainstream again and that is

very good news. America was never a big recipient of Scotch beef but, of

course, other countries were and they no longer continue to take

them. Once they get wind of this they may start to lift those

restrictions. It sends out a message of consumer confidence to people

here and in other parts of the world.

Councils believe they are owed more than ?3m in rent arrears brought

about by recent changes to housing benefit. Edinburgh City Council

alone blames the so-called Bedroom Tax or spare room subsidy for ?1.3m

of its arrears and says this is adding to its money worries. --

there is a case in my ward were someone has chosen to keep their

children warm at night instead of being their bedroom tax. There is a

threat for us that our investment plans in the future are under

threat. Our local government correspondent joins me. How similar

is best to the situation in England? It is a broadly similar picture

across the urban central belt. In North Lanarkshire ?675,000 over the

years. South Lanarkshire not far behind, 425,000, nearly as much in

Renfrewshire and East year sure not terribly far behind that figure. In

Perth and Kinross just ?12,000 worth of early years are blamed on the

benefit changes. Shetland believes benefit changes are not responsible

for any changes because they believe people bear they needed help have

all got it. Are there signs that it is not sufficient, they help fund,

or are people just not being it? Tell macro some people may not have

applied to our allowed to get it, some might be deliberately not being

because they do not agree. South Ayrshire sent out 40 of these

letters to people saying there is a risk they could lose their home.

They said they have only gone to people who have wilfully refused to

engage over the issue. They would never effect a person who was trying

to work with them to find a solution. Some councils are starting

to take a tougher line on individuals they believe are

deliberately making a stand over nonpayment. A 24-year-old man has

been arrested after a woman was raped in Glasgow's Gorbals area

while making her way home from a fancy dress party. The woman was

attacked in a car park in Bridge Street just over a week ago. The man

is expected to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court tomorrow. Most of us

will have bought a second hand car at some time or another. But

according to Citizens Advice Scotland, nearly100 people a week

are contacting them because of problems with the vehicles they have

bought. Joanne Macaulay reports. This man bought his used-car just

over one week ago but already it's lights have feel and it has broken

down. It did require being very assertive to get this fixed. Here's

not alone, most calls to the consumer line are about second-hand

cars so they have launched a guide on how to make a single passable

purchase. It has a slow puncture on one side. It has freed seat belts

which will not pass the next MOT. Some of the reasons that this

used-car is not for sale. The first thing you can do is drive the car.

Make sure there are no noises from it, that everything works inside the

car and it sounds right and handles right. It is the simple little

things that create the problem. Citizens advice Scotland hope that

people looking for a second-hand car will go armed with more facts. It is

hoped that the vehicles will be on the road longer and be safer. The

pro union better together campaign argued today that independence could

lead to funding cuts for scientific research. Leading bacteriologist

Professor Hugh Pennington, who is heading up a new group, Academics

Together, said a yes vote could jeopardise the next big scientific

breakthrough. But the Scottish Government said Scotland would

continue to be a scientific leader if voters back independence. Here is

our political correspondent. Alistair Darling came to the beating

heart of Scotland's medical research industry. This group say Scotland

gets more UK money for science and its population shear. One expert

said independence would leave Scottish scientists struggling. I

think it would struggle in terms of its world competing edge. I think

there would be a slow decline in terms of our ability to compete on

the world stage. Glasgow University is one of three in Scotland ranked

in the world's top 100. Some ministers say places like this would

continue to attract money and talent if Scotland were independent. It is

decided on the basis of excellence. Scotland has five of the top

universities in the world. It is a very high quality of research that

attracts funding. Money from the UK research councils accounts for 27%

of cash spent on research at Scottish universities. Suggestions

that would dry up in an independent Scotland have been rejected by the

SNP. No other stories from across Scotland. A 16-year-old boy

connected -- arrested in connection to a serious sexual assault has been

released from custody pending an investigation. The incident happened

in Galashiels on Sunday morning. Samsun to be considering using

construction yards in the Highlands instead of Fife for offshore wind

turbine manufacturer. The company is being courted by the Northern

company say it has more space than metal. A man has been charged with

fraud over cash machines in Aberdeen. He is from Manchester.

Dundee has made a bid for City of Culture. It is fantastic, they are

building on the success in the video industry, there are a whole host of

reasons and he is in a strong position. The start of remembrance

week has been marked by a ceremony in Edinburgh's Princess Street

Gardens. Hundreds of poppies have been laid out in the gardens to pay

tribute to those who died. You can find all the latest news and

analysis on our website. Sports news now with Rona. BBC Scotland has

learned that the Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager has

agreed terms to become the new Hibernian boss will stop Caley

Thistle have said that no club has contacted them for permission to

approach their manager. It seems like there is some conflicting news

tonight. Hibernian appeared to be moving very swiftly to replace Pat

Fenlon who left last week. The say the recruitment process continues

but we have learned Terry Butcher is Hibernian's number one target, Cambs

have been discussed and agreed with him. Our information is that Terry

Butcher does want the job, that appointment would go down very well

according to one former Hibernian player. I think it would be a

fantastic appointment. He is the star choice among the fans. So, we

are we tonight? Inverness have released a statement saying there

has been no approach for the services of Terry Butcher and they

are pleased with the job he is doing in Inverness. The next match is here

at Easter Road against Hibernian on Saturday but the question is, which

dugout will Terry Butcher BN? Gordon Strachan has hopes that the return

of Steven Fletcher to the Scotland squad will improve the fortunes

further. He has not played for them since March but even in his absence

the Scotland performances have ticked up will stop -- have picked

up. I would like to get new faces back into the team and get them in

with our mindset. Know what else has been happening across Scotland's

sport? All the rest says he drove the perfect race at the Dhabi Grand

Prix, he knows sits 10th place. Its future will be announced next month

will stop Scotland have a great chance of reaching the quarterfinals

of the Rugby league World Cup. The Scots in Italy are set to join top

of the group. Home advantage made no difference to the Scotland chintzy

team. After defeat in Dublin we were beaten again in Inverness. It was

Scotland's fifth straight defeat. Scottish football will be screened

live in China for the first time around extra million people. Yes PFL

have signed a deal for 58 matches to be screened live. There is live

action tonight. I am told it is a freezing night at

the tawdry so nice to be indoors for a change. Now we will find out about

the weather conditions. It is cold and chilly across many parts of the

country tonight. After a day of blue skies and sunshine temperatures will

quickly fall away. There could be some mist and fog patches around.

The West Coast will have they can in cloud and rain by Dawn. Temperatures

close to freezing but as low as -5 in rural Aberdeenshire and

Perthshire. Tomorrow morning will start cold and frosty, rain slowly

working eastwards. Some patchy ice. The rain will fall as snow on some

hills. The rain will travel towards the East Coast by afternoon. There

will be blustery showers, more frequent in the West during the

afternoon. Still feeling cold, a high of just around eight Celsius

but healing called in the wind-chill. In towards Orkney the

showers will arrive by mid-afternoon and Shetland by late afternoon or

evening. Showers will be frequent in the West on Tuesday afternoon and

into the evening. The further west you are there are likely to be some

showers and it will be cold. The westerly continues towards

Wednesday. There will be showers across western parts again on

Wednesday. Drier and brighter in the East but still cold. The showers

will again be wintry over hills. On Thursday the showers will push

further inland. Always most frequent in the West. Again called. Now a

reminder of the main news. Alistair Darling has become the latest

high-profile Labour politician to join the controversy around

allegations of vote rigging for Falkirk. He has called for a new

enquiry to be carried out. A manhunt is still underway tonight for a

terror suspect who disappeared on Friday. The 27 new role was last

seen leaving a London Mosque disguised in a bar. The remaining

tickets for the Commonwealth games go on sale tomorrow but they've is

disquiet from sports clubs over allocation. Andy Coulson has denied

he was involved in a conspiracy to access voice mail, the statement

came after the prosecution alleged the former boss of Rebecca Brooks

tried to hide evidence. That is all from us. I am back with the eight

o'clock bulletin and the leaked news. Goodbye for