02/09/2014 Reporting Scotland

degrees. Thursday, more of the same. Is that is all

Alex Salmond meets supporters in Fife,

as polling suggests the gap between no and yes voters is closing.

But with just over two weeks until polling day, those defending the

The young woman from Glasgow who's suspected of travelling to Syria

The community has not shown any reaction apart from discussed. They

Also this evening, are you a bus lane statistic?

We visit Glasgow's newest no-go area for motorists that could soon net

Scotland will have a player in the Gleneagles Ryder Cup this month, as

We're with George Galloway as he travels around the country

The First Minister has told the BBC independence is

Alex Salmond was speaking as polls suggested a narrowing of the gap

Tonight, the Prime Minister David Cameron says he will continue to

make a strong, clear argument that Scotland could have the best

Brian Taylor's report contains some flash photography.

Among friends, Alex Salmond with supporters in Fife. How are you

doing? Bathing up. We are proud of you. -- bearing up. Which is better,

a chocolate biscuit or the First Minister?

Should Scotland be an independent country? The latest poll suggests

and Arlene Mock the Week -- and -- suggests and narrowing of the

lead. During this campaign, people are being mobilised. -- who have

never given us stuff about politics before. They are engaged in a

debate, being invigorated and empowered by a debate about

Scotland's future. Went about what that energy will do when we make

this country the prosperous and fair society every single one of us knows

it can be. In Glasgow, Labour leaders pick up some catering tips,

saying that young Scots need the strength of the union to provide

jobs, and insist all out campaigning will defeat the independence

argument. I have never been complacent. I have always believed

this is a closely fought argument. People need to speak out and talk

about the benefits we get as being part of the native kingdom and the

benefits of a strong Scottish parliament, but this is an energetic

campaign. We are up for it, encouraging people who are

supporting our argument, to speak out and listen to the arguments

about why we are Better Together. Alex Salmond and his supporters are

still the underdogs, and the voters will determine whether they will

stay that way. the Chief Secretary to the Treasury,

Danny Alexander, has said it would be catastrophic

for an independent Scotland to But Scottish ministers disagree.

The cost of the financial crisis, including bailing out the banks has

contributed to the UK's ?1.4 trillion debt mountain. If Scotland

votes for independence, the current Scottish government says it would be

willing to take on a fair share of this burden. Based in Scotland's

population, that might amount to someone hundred ?30 billion. And

that is about 130 times the total cost of Edinburgh's trams. But SNP

ministers say that they would only accept that in exchange for their

share of UK assets. Including continued use of the Bank of England

as part of a formal currency union with the rest of the UK. Last night

the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown says refusing a share of debt

would make an independent Scotland and international outcast. He was

backed up in the House of Commons by a Treasury Minister. Scottish

Government was my plan to renege on Scotland's share of debt and

independence is not credible because of the effect it would have on the

people of Scotland. Mortgage rates would go up, credit cards and bills

would go up, and they would have two raise money to pay for public

services in Scotland. But in a BBC debate in Dundee, the Scottish

Cabinet minister insisted the UK Government would drop its opposition

to sharing the pound to ensure Scotland took its share of debt. Why

would you want to saddle the rest of the UK with additional bet? It does

not make sense. The UK Government says is legally liable for the debt.

We are happy to take on Irish year, but that has to be a discussion of

liabilities as well as assets. This dispute will not be deserved before

people go to the polls. The poll conducted

by YouGov suggests that the gap between the yes

and no campaigns may be narrowing. Taking out the "don't knows"

it puts the yes campaign at 47% For more on that, we can join

our political editor Brian Taylor. So this new poll suggests the Yes

vote is on the increase. It does indeed. This is the city of

Dundee. One of the areas Alex Salmond and the supporters of

independence are looking forward to deliver a substantial Yes vote.

Polls can be wrong, they can be rolled. We are looking for a trend

more regularly, but the thing is that this latest poll comes common

organisation which has habitually been towards the law end of

forecasting the Yes vote. C what it looks like. This is a poll tracker,

and this suggests that 45% will vote yes. -- late see what it looks like.

Alex Salmond says momentum is with his organisation and his campaign.

Just over two weeks to go. And an intervention regarding Scotland and

the EU? Yes, Danny Alexander made a speech in which he is saying that he

has correspondence from a former European Commissioner to the effect

that if Scotland setup assistant to use the pound unilaterally without a

formal currency deal, then according to the correspondence Danny

Alexander has, Scotland could not join the European Union because she

would lack the financial organisations. John Swinney says

that is nonsense, it is yet another scare story, and they say they

intend to have a formal currency union and believe it would be the

case. Even if it were to be another system, he says, there would be a

monetary Institute established in Scotland, and John Swinney says that

would be enough to meet the European Union rules. Thank you. Let us look

at some other news. A young woman from Glasgow appears

to have travelled to Syria and been using her Twitter account to promote

terrorism here in Scotland. The 20-year-old was reported missing

to Police Scotland Her family have said they cannot

understand why she went to Syria. This Twitter account was under this

name, and it shows a black flag under the terrorist -- the black

flag of the terrorist group. In a statement, the principal of the

school said that she was a pupil here from 2005 until three years

ago. He said she left at the end of 50 year in 2011. She also attended

this Academy in Glasgow for a short time. It is then thought she went to

study at Glasgow Caledonian University. These are some of the

tweets from the account. We tried to talk to members of her

family at their home in the south side of Glasgow. Someone answered

the door, but they said they did not want to comment. Later her family

issued this statement. Yesterday a BBC reporter spoke to a

man who helps smuggle people wanting to join terrorist groups to cross

the border from Turkey to Syria. He says they came from across Europe,

from Scotland and England. Imams in mosques across Scotland

condemned his involvement. Today there was a similar reaction in

Glasgow about the content of the tweets. The community has not shown

any reaction, apart from disgust. They do not like it. As we advise

them, about 2000 people were there when I announced it, no one should

go to Syria, and if they go they will be arrested and labelled as a

terrorist. But if you want to help Syrian people, the best thing will

be to give your charity through non-charities. It appears that the

Twitter account has been removed. -- through charities that are known.

There's growing controversy over a new bus lane in Glasgow which, in

nine weeks, has already generated more in fines than the annual total

So are some local authorities nationwide using bus gates

and bus lane fines to shore up their tight budgets?

Helping the environment are helping the council's offers? Many drivers

seem to be ignoring this new restriction in the heart of Glasgow.

While we were filming, this critic entered the cars going through this

so-called bus gate. People do not know what direction to go, so they

go straight on, so it is almost a congestion charge rather than a bus

lane. Do you have a message for the council? They need to do a U-turn,

because that is what cars have to do if they do not drive straight

through. While this -- since this was introduced, thousands of cars

have come through it. Every driver who was caught this is a penalty of

at least ?30. That means the council has earned a minimum of ?840,000.

They are not done on revenue generating grounds. They have a

commitment to promote public transport and get people out of

cars, make them walk, cycle, and improve the safety. Most councils do

not get any money from bus lane fines, and even for big councils it

is a small part of their budget. Glasgow got the most in penalty

charges last year. Aberdeen's figure was smaller, and Edinburgh's was

smaller still. Across the country bus lane finds still split opinion.

The finds a little bit and fearful stop especially if it has been an

accident. The drivers are guilty. If they do not like it, tough. The

council have to make this more cleaner, so any financial benefit

could be short lived. Police have appealed for help

in tracing a woman and three children who have been

missing from the Pollok area 28-year-old Kristina Pikse, and her

children David, Danius and Zana Hauberts, aged eight, four, and nine

months, were last seen in Brockburn Police believe they may have

travelled to the Blackburn area The Highlands are to get a new

high-performance computer network. The pilot project will enable

businesses to use computers capable of trillions

of calculations every second. Its backers say it will put

the Highlands into the champions' This is what it looks like, but what

is really exciting its backers is what it could do. If we can make it

happen here, this will be the new frontier for technology. This would

have enormous implications for development, not least jobs. But

just how fast is super fast? The system works at 320 trillion

calculations every second. Businesses and universities in Wales

were hooked up earlier this year, and the company behind the network

says it is not just science that has benefited. That a business which

renders high-definition animations. The previously rendered these

animations in two or three weeks, but using this high-performance

facility, they did it in 26 minutes. A trade organisation is

also a partner, and energy will be the initial focus. We are keen to

sit down and look at companies we can bring into a pilot project. And

also to make a list of other companies that may wish to be

involved as it progresses. If it is a success, it is a wink to the next

idea, science skills Academy for the Highlands. We want people to take

advantage of these opportunities so that high-paying jobs that are

available can have a high wage economy here in the Highlands,

taking full advantage of that, and people will be a high wage economy

here in the Highlands, taking full advantage of that, and people will

be aware the eventual benefits could include thousands of jobs and the

invention of a Highland brain drain. Now, returning to the referendum,

and the first in a new series Tonight,

could an independent Scotland have a different immigration system

from the rest of the UK? In May, Alex Salmond said he backed

an increase in the number of young people settling here from abroad, to

boost Scotland's working population. But UK ministers say that move could

lead to passport checks for anyone travelling

between Scotland and England. It is not local enough... For five

years, Alex has produced theatre in Scotland, but this young Americans

struggled to stay here for any length of time. Now he says he is

living out of a suitcase and about to apply for yet another Visa. It

might be the wall I come up against that says you are done. Do not come

back, thanks for coming. You know? We appreciate the money you brought

in, and the work you made, but we do not want you here any more. Right

now, passport control, visas and immigration are part of the Home

Office. That would change if voters choose independence. The Scottish

Government would take charge and priorities would change, as well.

Government would take charge and Scotland's population continues to

get older, the SNP aims to boost the number of working age adults. Partly

through immigration. Every number of working age adults. Partly

about 22,000 people have settled in Scotland from abroad. In May, Alex

Salmond said he wanted that figure Scotland from abroad. In May, Alex

to increase to 24,000, but how popular with this be? About 58% of

people in Scotland support reduced immigration,

They would also have to decide if they want to set up these controls

on the expense of it. Now to two political mavericks

are touring Scotland. Tommy Sheridan and George Galloway

are socialists, but are on separate Our referendum correspondent

Laura Bicker has spent time with Tonight she reports from George

Galloway's Just Say Naw tour. This is not George Galloway's normal

stomping ground, but one of the stops on his just say no to.

Hundreds pack into the halt is here him speak. You have to listen. This

was before the MP was attacked in London. On this night, his harshest

words were for his political opponents. One of the

words were for his political that do not suit their argument.

Some yes supporters were keen to see him speak but did not agree with

what they were hearing. Mr Heckler, you have 45 minutes of questions and

answers, so put this in your pipe and smoke it and come back after the

break. The distinctive hat" and smoke it and come back after the

on, with his pacing punctuating and smoke it and come back after the

sentence. It and smoke it and come back after the

week for the MP, so why take on another fight? I felt that the other

argument was not being energetic enough, was not being -- our

argument was not being energetic enough. My target is working class

people, Labour voters, left-wing people, who were beginning to move

pretty wholesale towards the Scottish Nationalists position. And

it seems many are keen to listen. You knew you would get a he would

have an answer for everyone, and he has. Irish you would get a. I really

enjoyed it. Very enthusiastic, he takes no prisoners. This was very

much George Galloway's platform. For him, this is personal.

Let's get the latest sports news from Rhona.

Stephen Gallacher will be playing in the Ryder Cup for Scotland. That the

people I have chosen, Stephen Gallacher, Ian Poulter, and Lee

Westwood. It was the moment Scottish golf was hoping for. He did not give

me any choice but to pick him. I wanted to Beckham, and he should be

very proud of what he did and how he achieved his Ryder Cup Scot what. He

needed the captain's pic after missing out on automatic

qualification in Italy last week. A test of character that did not go

unnoticed. His performance under incredible pressure was fantastic.

He did everything we asked them to do, and he fully deserved it.

Stephen Gallacher joins a team laden with quality. Four of the country's

top five will play at Gleneagles, along with the winners of three

major championships this season. Since the qualifying campaign

started a year ago, Stephen Gallaher had ten top ten finishes, to finish

one spot outside the automatic qualification. He was against stiff

competition, but is there on merit. Scotland will have one of her own on

the course at Gleneagles. And if Stephen can play as well as Bernard

Gallacher used to do, the home galleries could be in for quite a

week. Andy Murray says he will leave

everything on the court in his bid to win

the final tennis slam of the year. He beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

in straight sets to serve up a quarter-final clash in the

US Open against the world number Kheredine Idessane sends this

report from Flushing Meadows. Meet the mob from Melbourne, who

have flown 10,500 miles to cheer on their adopted hero. We have been

following him for six or seven years. We have really got behind him

every year, and decided to come overseas because we love it so much.

We are all behind Andy Murray, but regardless I think he will get over

the line. That typical Australian confidence was well-placed. The

prediction was spot-on. This was a day when Andy Murray's tennis ranged

from the good to the very good. A special short, you have no chance of

seeing Matt coming. To the downright outrageous. Badge of seeing it

coming. My goodness! He lost to him in Canada last month, but took

straight sets revenge in New York, and now loftier targets at insight.

I am close to potentially winning another Grand Slam. I know there's a

lot of work to be done, but I will leave everything on the court, it is

the last slam of the year. I hope I can play well. This was a very

significant win for Andy Murray. The first time he has beaten a top ten

players since he won Wimbledon last year, and it gets tougher from here.

Next up, a rerun of the 2012 final here, against Novak Djokovic.

The new Celtic striker Stefan Stepovic is meeting

The Serbian had decided not to sign for Celtic but then made a U-turn

The assistant manager believes he will boost the attacking options for

the club. I will be speaking to Alex Salmond,

asking him what the risks are to the NHS in Scotland becomes independent.

And we will try to see if we can have the whole conversation without

any of us mentioning the phrase plan B. See if we succeed tonight

10:30pm. A day of contrast today. Some people

had clothed, others had the blue sky. The satellite picture shows

what happens nicely. In the West, the cloud was thicker, so the

temperatures were suppressed. Under the sunnier skies it was 21 degrees.

This evening will be dry and bright for some before the sun goes down.

The exception will be the Western Isles, with thicker cloud and some

spots of rain. Temperatures in town will be in double digits, and a bit

cooler than that in the countryside. Tomorrow high-pressure stays with us

and the wind will go round in a clockwise motion, coming from the

size with little and wind strength, but the motion of it moving

northwards will help to break up the clothes. Badge coming from the

South. There will be not wall to wall sunshine tomorrow, but brighter

and better. Even if you have the cloudier skies, temperatures will be

not too bad, 18 or 19 degrees. Further west, up towards the Isle of

Skye, thicker Further west, up towards the Isle of

temperatures. 19 or 20 in the east and north-east. Cooler conditions up

through the Northern Isles. For the rest of the afternoon and into

through the Northern Isles. For the evening, much the same as what we

are seeing this evening. Some areas of cloud, and some bright spells.

Looking towards Thursday, some cloud is breaking up, going up to 22

degrees. The high pressure is keeping the rain away, and for

Freddie a change in the direction of the wind, coming from the East this

time. If you had cloudier skies up until Friday, it is your turn for

some sunshine. Some news just coming in. Video has been released on the

Internet reporting to show the beheading of an American hostage by

an Islamic State militants. The journalist was abducted in Syria

last August, and the White House says the authenticity has not yet

been confirmed off the video. The First Minister has told the BBC

independence is Alex Salmond was speaking as polls

suggested a narrowing of the gap Tonight, the Prime Minister David

Cameron says he will continue to argue that Scotland could have "the

best of both worlds" in the UK.