19/05/2016 Reporting Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon has called the decision of Muirfield Golf Club

to reject women as members "indefensible".

A vote at the East Lothian club failed to achieve the two-thirds

majority of members required to allow women to join.

The club has been barred from hosting the Open Championship

Muirfield, the oldest recorded golf club in the world.

Responsible for the original rules, it is a change to the rule

on membership which has concentrated the minds on the club.

Women can only play here as guests or visitors.

To allow them to become members needed a two thirds majority.

Most members voted for change but that still was not enough.

I'm disappointed, the committee and I recommended

in favour of admission of women, but we respect the views

of the members and I'm delighted we have had a high turnout.

The captain was hardly back in the clubhouse before a statement

was issued by those that run the Open.

The First Minister believes that Muirfield has missed the chance not

just of hosting the championship, but to do the right thing.

They are a private club, in charge of their own rules

Scotland has women leaders in every walk of life, politics, the law,

This decision is wrong and I hope there is a way of

The Prime Minister David Cameron chipped in today, criticising

Muirfield as outdated, and one mile down the road

from the Muirfield Club, golfers agreed.

Given that the R have female members, Augusta, Augusta National,

I agree with everything that she says. I think it's ridiculous. It is

a decision that is more than just golf.

When the Open was last at Muirfield in 2013,

it was estimated to be worth ?70 million to East Lothian.

The loss of the Open is a big disappointment for local business.

Not just the competition, it is the run-up to it.

We have two months of business beforehand,

we use that for planning things, and afterwards.

It is a loss of three months' business.

Muirfield is the most prestigious of clubs.

Of more than 600 clubs in Scotland, it is one of 20 who are all men.

The ferry operator Cal Mac has seen off competition from a private

sector rival and won a ?900 million contract to provide Clyde

and Hebridean ferry services for up to eight years.

The Scottish Government faced criticism after announcing

that private companies would have the chance to bid.

But its decision to award the routes to Cal Mac has been welcomed

Our transport correspondent, David Miller, reports.

Up and down the West Coast, ferries bearing the distinctive black,

white and red livery have been providing lifeline services

for so long that they are almost regarded as part of the scenery.

We now know that will not change any time soon,

good news, we are told, for staff and passengers.

what we can invest in, now that is eight years,

proper development, investment, enhancements.

In the last four years we have brought in four

In the next two years, we will bring on four new vessels,

That is a fantastic opportunity, the next eight

Most islanders enjoyed giving them a kicking from time to time.

I think that one of the things that we have seen personally,

this brought up, was the fact that Cal Mac is very much embedded,

as the First Minister has said, into the fabric of Scotland.

We need new ferries, they need back-up.

in the middle of summer, totally used, that

I think Cal Mac do a good job and it is a great thing that they have got

it back. I am very pleased. Meanwhile, Cal Mac workers

and politicians attending this long planned demonstration at Holyrood

found themselves I'm delighted for our members who

work on this service, the island communities and the Scottish

taxpayer, who will continue to subsidise lead line ferry services,

as opposed to staff in the pockets of shareholders.

The rival bidder already operates North Link ferries to Auckland,

and in a statement it said that its tender had been

deemed to be noncompliant, stressed its bid had offered

significant improvements to quality and reliability,

and argued efficiency improvements now promised by Cal Mac

underlined the benefits of competitive tendering.

After months of uncertainty, months of anxiety, a decision

Cal Mac workers and the island communities which depend

upon them, will be hoping for calmer waters ahead.

The farmers' union has called on the Scottish Government to "get

to grips" with what it calls a calamitous attempt to reform

The spending watchdog, Audit Scotland, has raised serious

concerns about a new IT programme, which is millions of pounds over

Here's our business correspondent David Henderson.

In the past, Scotland's farmers used to apply for subsidies billing out

bits of paper. Now it is done through a computer by a Scottish

Government scheme called CAP Futures. But it has costs by more

than was originally planned. It has spiralled up to ?178 million and

Audit Scotland says the new system has seen multiple failures in the

way it has been managed. Farmers the length and breadth

of Scotland, from Nairn to Lockerbie, have

had a difficult year. a mainstay of most farms, have been

delayed because of problems If you are used to being paid

in December and do not get it until January, February,

in some cases even May, If farmers do not get paid,

the whole supply chain Fences do not get sorted,

outside work does not happen, the whole infrastructure

of the rural community At this office in Edinburgh,

the Scottish Government has been developing a computer system

to process those farm payments. More than 18 months ago,

this man said it began I sent an e-mail immediately

to Nicola Sturgeon and the Agriculture Minister,

to say, are you aware workers were being laid off

for no apparent reason, he says that when he

blew the whistle, some inside the programme team

were not impressed. The main thing I received at that

point was pressure to shut up. They wanted this silent,

they wanted me to be put Among the issues he says he raised

were concerns about a conflict of interest involving

a contract on the programme. Dominic became the delivery

director with a major role in recruiting staff,

but he also supplied workers to the project

through his own company. Accounts seen by the BBC

show his firm's assets have soared in value,

by ?3 million, in just a year. It is always important when public

money is involved, that the highest standards are maintained,

and conflict-of-interests were not strong enough to make sure

the person could not influence In response, the Scottish Government

says it has focused on putting the system right, preventing similar

mistakes in the future. What the Audit Scotland report

identifies is a potential flaw conflict-of-interest, but it is not

a requirement on contracts. We have got to explore

whether in procurement rules and legislation we can

apply that to contracts. So that is the future, but for now,

Police Scotland are investigating what went wrong, and a crucial

deadline is looming. The new payment system has to be

working by the end of June. If, by then, it still fails

to meet standards set by the European Commission,

then the Scottish government could face an eye-watering penalty,

of up to ?125 million. The best friend of one of the women

accused of murdering Liam Fee has told a court that she had no problem

with Nyomi Fee looking after her own son, before

and after the toddler's death. Lindsey Snaith wept in the witness

box as she described a phone call from Nyomi Fee,

telling her that Liam was dead. She said Nyomi had told her that one

of the boys had harmed him and it Nyomi and Rachel Fee deny

murdering two-year-old Liam, and abusing two other

boys in their care. Football now and a stoppage-time

goal gave Falkirk a priceless first leg lead over Kilmarnock

in the Premiership Will Vaulks picked up a cutback

after a free kick to slot the ball into the visitors' net with just

seconds of play remaining. Now let's hear the forecast for

tonignt and tomorrow, from Kawser. Good evening to you all. Quite a

cloudy night and rain is now across the Northeast and Shetland and will

continue to clear as we head through the night. Behind it, some quite

heavy showers. Some clear spells, mainly towards my western parts of

the country. Some showers that will continue throughout the night and

tomorrow morning. Here is that whether found responsible by that

cloud and rain clearing off into the north sea and those showers, one or

two sharp ones to start the day tomorrow. A good deal of drier and

brighter weather and an approving story for tomorrow. Eight o'clock in

the morning, there will be some brightness, some sunny spells as

well. Temperature rise, quite mild, ten or 11 degrees. The winds are

generally light, a bit pressure along the south-east. Temperatures

widely maybe ten or 11 degrees. Improving throughout the day. It has

been quite cool recently and could reach up to 30 degrees as we had

through to the afternoon. For the whole of the UK, it is not a bad day

at all. A good deal of sunshine around, especially for Easter in

coastal areas. Temperatures are about to 18 degrees in

Aberdeenshire, where today we had about eight or 9 degrees. A big

difference. The winds will feel quite pleasant. You can see main

building across Northern Ireland. Quite a wet night in store for

Friday night and into Saturday morning but it will improve for

Saturday. Quite happy with the risk of Summerhill, maybe even the odd

rumble of thunder. As we had through the rest of the afternoon on Sunday,

temperatures still generally in the mid teens and there will be a good

deal of dry weather through the south of England as well. Damage is

around 18 degrees here. And that's all from

Reporting Scotland tonight. There are regular updates

during Breakfast, from From everyone on the late team,

here in Glasgow and around from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

2016. Soak up the atmosphere at the most

famous flower show in the world. from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

2016.