05/02/2016 Reporting Scotland

Good evening. news where you are.

Raising income tax in Scotland could reduce the impact of spending

cuts and would weigh most heavily on higher earners.

That's according to an independent report.

Both Labour and the Lib Dems have called for a tax rise in April,

when new powers are handed to Holyrood.

But the SNP says that raising taxes now would cause pain to many

Here's our business correspondent, David Henderson.

Hospitals, schools, rubbish bin collections and road repairs,

Together they cost billions of pounds each year.

Budget cuts mean they are now facing a squeeze.

So, should the Scottish Parliament use its powers to raise income tax

Labour and the Lib Dems say yes, it should, to protect public services.

This proposal is progressive in the sense that it leads higher

income tax households to pay more tax and the majority of low income

That is largely because they do not earn enough to pay tax

There shall be a Scottish parliament.

It is more than 15 years since power was devolved to Scotland.

We have had five first ministers and none of them have chosen

For now, Nicola Sturgeon is not convinced, but her

John Swinney is proposing hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts

on schools and vital public services.

We have a choice with the powers of our Parliament to choose

a different course from Tory austerity.

Faced with that choice, I would sooner use the powers

of the parliament than to pass austerity to the next generation.

The support from the Federation of Small Businesses,

to the Scottish Trade Union Congress, they say we should not put

up taxes because wage earners in Scotland have had below inflation

wage rises for a number of years and this is not the time to hit them

In the next few years, Holyrood is set to gain more powers,

to vary income tax bands and tax rates.

Today's report warns that if in future years tax hikes

are to make a big impact on public spending, then Scotland cannot rely

So basic rate taxpayers would have to pay more.

Labour has ranked its candidates to fight for regional list seats

A vote by party members has rejected many serving MSPs in favour

of new talent - and the former MP and deputy leader of the Scottish

He tops the list for Glasgow, above his former boss,

Many of the serving MSPs who've lost out in these rankings supported

Ken McIntosh in his unsuccessful leadership contest with Kezia

Two people have been injured after a motorbike stunt at the SSE

It happened as the bike with four people on board tried to get

Initially it was thought that two members of the audience had been

involved, but later it turned out they were members of the stunt crew.

This is a multi passenger motorbike backflip, performed by members

Last night, they attempted the same stunt in Glasgow's SSE Hydro arena,

Members of the crew rushed to help, as the host explained what happened.

Two of the spectators were Stephen and his son,

Nixon, who captured the incident on video.

If you are going to come off a motorbike on a three foot ramp

yourself, there's not much chance of balancing.

With four people, you are guaranteed to go off the side.

The passengers were initially thought to be spectators

but it is understood they were part of the act.

Two were taken to hospital, one with bruising and the other

a broken jaw, but are expected to make a full recovery.

In a statement, the circus said it considered health and safety its top

priority and has expert medical staff on site in the event

It's one of the biggest nights in American sport and this weekend

the people of Arbroath will be taking a special interest

Graham Gano - one of the rising stars of American football -

is a kicker for the Carolina Panthers.

He spent his early years living near the Angus town.

This is where they usually watch their football in Arbroath,

This is the slightly bigger stadium they will have their eyes

The man holding the Arbroath top is the reason why.

Now, along with the rest of his team, he is getting ready

for one of the biggest nights of his sporting life.

6,000 miles away, back home in Scotland, family

I am excited for my family over there, and my mum in Florida,

my sister, uncles, cousins and my niece.

It is nice to have family back home cheering for me.

Arbroath might have been his home for a few early years

but his success in American football has not gone unnoticed

There will be some bleary eyes on Monday morning

because they will be cheering him on.

What an inspiration for youngsters in the town and the rest

More support from Coldplay, the Super Bowl's half-time

Our bass player is Scottish so we feel a certain affinity

Scottish football has sent its own good luck messages.

My dream was to play for the Scottish national

If the Carolina Panthers win on Sunday night,

he says he will come back to Arbroath, where he grew up

He wants to take tea with the Provost.

There might not be a ticker tape parade, but he is assured

The former Scotland full-back and captain Gavin Hastings says

Scotland must target at least two wins for this year's RBS

The Scots failed to win a single game last year.

Vern Cotter's men meet England at Murrayfield tomorrow and Hastings

What will constitute success as Scotland playing very well and being

competitive. They have got to get over the line on at least two out of

five locations. It is not inconceivable that we could win a

two home matches against England and France and if we do that we can take

a lot of confidence in the away games as well. First things first. C

if we can take care of England on Saturday and we will build from

there. Here is the weather. And unsettled

weekend of weather on the cards. Tonight across Scotland it turns

mostly dry. A few showers in the West. Icy patches on untreated

roads. Tomorrow with this area of low pressure, that will upset the

weather, across the far south of the UK bringing strong winds and rain.

Tomorrow morning in Eastern Scotland we will have the risk of ice on

untreated roads and services. The best of the weather will be found

across the north and East. It turns cloudy as we go through the day with

out pics of rain. That's rain persisted across the far south. From

Argyll towards the southern highlands, Angus, Aberdeen Shire,

rain and snow on the hills. Dry weather across the far north. So

south-easterly winds. Across the rest of the UK tomorrow a lot of

cloud and a lot of rain. More especially across Somerset and

Devon. Up to 70 millimetres of rain here bringing hazardous driving

conditions and potential for localised flooding. Strong winds

across the far south. 60 mph. For Scotland in the evening further

outbreaks of rain. Showers or longer spells of rain on Sunday with the

base of the weather in the north-east.