18/04/2016 Reporting Scotland

EU. Join me now on BBC Two, 11pm in Scotland.

One of Scotland's oldest industrial sites is to close with the loss

The Swiss owners of the Carron Phoenix sink factory in Falkirk

are moving production to Slovakia leaving only a handful

The Scottish TUC described the move as another huge setback

Our reporter Andrew Anderson has the story.

News that this factory is to close was broken

to the workforce earlier today, and I am told it came

In recent years, Carron Phoenix has manufactured sinks here,

but this factory has a history going back more than 250 years,

when it was established as an iron foundry.

Cannons that were fired at Trafalgar and Waterloo are just part

of the history at the current company in Falkirk.

Since 1759, the narration is of workers also turned out iron

baths, flat irons and Britain's famous red telephone boxes.

At its height, the factory employed 5000 people.

It even operated its own fleet of steamships.

In recent years, granite sinks have been produced on this

The work will be transferred to a factory in Slovakia.

The majority of people have spent all their lives here.

A lot of people, that is all they know, production in there.

The Swiss-based group which owns Carron Phoenix plan to carry

out a phased closure in the next 18 to 20 months.

In a statement, the company said: the company says its decision has

not been taken lightly, but it faces tough competition

It is a decision, though, that will bring to an end 250 years

of history here in Falkirk and leave more than 200 people looking

As we heard, the Scottish TUC described the closure

of Carron Phoenix as another blow to manufacturing here and urged

the political parties fighting the Holyrood elections

The congress also called on all the parties to raise their game,

But the party leaders insist their programmes

will resonate with all of Scotland - including union members.

From Dundee, here's our political editor Brian Taylor.

The trade unions gave birth to the Labour Party

with an occasional Communist bloodline, but Scottish

industry has changed and so has Scottish politics.

The STUC reckons Labour's founder would be unimpressed

with the offering from any party in this election.

He would be asking for more and calling on politicians

to raise their game, to be ambitious for Scotland.

First up at the Congress, Labour's Kezia Dugdale,

deftly avoiding the SNP stand, a reminder that many union members

She promised a new body, skills Scotland, to promote both

jobs and training with a key role for the unions.

And higher taxation to back that up with spending.

We choose to build an economy on higher skills, higher wages

There is no future in low wages and low skills.

Investing in education and skills is not a social expense,

Starting young, Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow, promoting her party's

plans to help families, including a baby box

She will address the STUC tomorrow, and says her party is more

than ready to engaged with trade unions.

I look forward to speaking to the STUC tomorrow and outlining

the plans of a re-elected SNP government if we win the election

to work with trade unions to oppose Tories' anti-trade union Bill,

but also to support the living wage and make sure

Ruth Davidson was touring here, symbolic of Scottish

She said Labour's thinking was puzzling.

The Labour Party is confused at the moment.

It says it wants to help businesses by combining agencies

that the former First Minister said they should split up

They also say they want to make Scotland the highest

tax power of the UK, which we know were deterred the sort

of jobs and investments that all the businesses

For the Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie spotlighted challenges

He said the Labour offer on skills Scotland missed the point.

I think organisational change is a distraction.

There is a real challenge for the next five years,

Back at Congress in Dundee, they persuade and cajole.

But it is the voters as a whole across Scotland

The organisers of a multi-faith peace campaign launched

following the death of Glasgow shopkeeper Asad Shah say

they're disappointed Glasgow's Central Mosque

The campaign is sponsored by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community

He was attacked outside his shop last month.

Members of various faith and community groups came together

in to lend their support to new advertising

campaign being launched by the Ahmadi Muslim community.

The message will be seen on 50 buses throughout Glasgow,

Those backing this campaign are keen to promote peace, love and unity,

but they are only too aware that comes against a backdrop

of extremism not just on the world but dangerously close to home.

Last month, 40-year-old Asad Shah was killed at his Glasgow shop

in an attack described by police as religiously prejudiced.

The man charged with his murder, a Bradford taxi driver,

Tanveer Ahmed, was condemned after he released a statement

claiming he had carried out the killing because he believed

The Ahmadi are regarded by orthodox Muslims as heretics, but immediately

after Mr Shah's deaths, Ahmadi, Sunni Muslims

and Pakistani Christians put their differences aside.

At today's event, however, members of Glasgow Central Mosque

and attend despite being invited, and Ahmadi leaders say

By not coming here today, they are giving signals

to the extremists that they are with them, not with us.

Glasgow Central Mosque's president told me he couldn't attend due

to a prior commitment, but he denied he was sending out

the wrong message by not joining the Ahmadis.

It is nice that they are joining now.

We have always had a big responsibility and we have always

glad that we are against extremism and against all the other things

we are not allowed as a good Muslim or a good citizen.

Is part of the problem that you do not consider

Shah's popularity in the community was evident among the floral

It is hoped the day's campaign against extremism will offer some

Parents in Edinburgh are calling for an independent inquiry

into the temporary closure of 17 schools in the city.

They want to know why faults were found in the buildings

which were only constructed about ten years ago.

Most of the children hit by the crisis will resume their

education tomorrow in other schools, temporary classrooms

Some of the biggest names from the entertainment world have

paid their respects at the funeral of Ronnie Corbett.

The Edinburgh-born entertainer died last month aged 85 having been

diagnosed with a suspected form of motor neurone disease.

Famous faces of stage and screen turned out to remember

Ronnie Corbett at a church near his South London home.

Becoming his friend was one of best things that's happened in my career.

He would say, see me on something and be encouraging.

For the entertainment he has given for 50 years.

I can't think of him without smiling.

But it wasn't just the well known who paid tribute.

Members of the local community wanted to remember the man

We used to see him around in his Rolls-Royce.

Been watching him for years and I have seen his wife a few times.

We saw him at the petrol station, he would stop and chat

Edinburgh-born Corbett was regarded as a comedy hero.

He was best known for his partnership with Ronnie Barker.

Despite the sombre tone today, it was a time to remember someone

who made people laugh for many years and probably

Well, it's over to Christopher now with the weather outlook

Thank you. Good. It is bright and most of the week ahead it is dry and

settled in light winds. High pressure building and staying put.

Tonight any last showers turning to lead away. It is dry. Wind is much

lighter. We have seen severe gales. A dry start tomorrow, but chilly at

daybreak. We will post the sun comes up, and the other. Temperature is

around five or seven Celsius. A tad cooler in this countryside and to

the bright with some decent spells of sunshine to get Tuesday going.

Some cloud around bedtimes and the wind much later. Still a freshman

north-westerly with the the day the winds continue to ease through the

course of the morning. As we hit through Tuesday the cloud will tend

to bubble up but it shouldn't spoil things. You can see the

high-pressure indicated by the isobars firmly in charge of

conditions. Dry, sunshine, but workload through West Midlands and

the south-west and Northern Ireland. Most of us dry and write. Here in

Scotland, 11 or 12 or 13 Celsius. As we head through Tuesday afternoon,

staying largely dry. Perhaps a few showers in the north-west. High

pressure still with us but in the Northwest the week by from bringing

some cloud and a few spots of light rain and drizzle. The most of

central, southern and Eastern Scotland dry and fight. Light winds

and temperatures of 212 or 13 Celsius. Thursday and the weather

front slips southwards. Perhaps one or two like showers in the North.

All changed by Friday and the weekend. A cold plunge of Arctic

air. Turning quite chilly some possibly wintry showers. That's the

focus. Our next update is during Breakfast

at 6:25am tomorrow morning. But from everyone on the late

team - goodnight.