:00:00. > :00:12.Not so long ago the construction of the new Forth bridge was lauded
:00:13. > :00:17.Today the Scottish government said that adverse weather meant
:00:18. > :00:20.the Queensferry Crossing will now open next May,
:00:21. > :00:25.Opponents have called for assurances that in the meantime the current
:00:26. > :00:28.bridge, which has been beset by problems, is fit to carry on.
:00:29. > :00:48.It will be the tallest bridge in the UK when it is finished,
:00:49. > :00:52.but joining up the pieces will take longer than hoped.
:00:53. > :00:53.The SNP manifesto said that the Queensbury Crossing
:00:54. > :00:55.was on time and under budget.
:00:56. > :00:57.Today, the Government confirmed that bad weather had delayed work.
:00:58. > :01:00.The impact of weather in April and May was very severe,
:01:01. > :01:03.with 13 days and 12 days lost to weather, respectively.
:01:04. > :01:06.As a result, FCBC have advised ministers that due to the combined
:01:07. > :01:09.effect of the time lost in these two months,
:01:10. > :01:11.they can no longer deliver the target opening date
:01:12. > :01:23.The Government says there will be no extra cost to the taxpayer due to
:01:24. > :01:26.We have to remember the many activities that have to be
:01:27. > :01:29.done, and we now say that they will be done by May 2017,
:01:30. > :01:33.which is still within the contractual period we had
:01:34. > :01:35.The complexity of the operation means it
:01:36. > :01:48.It is a big bridge, but our working areas are defined and quite small.
:01:49. > :01:50.The sequence of operation is defined and can't be changed.
:01:51. > :01:54.So, drivers will have to wait longer to use the
:01:55. > :01:59.new crossing, and there are calls for a guarantee that the existing
:02:00. > :02:03.bridge, which had to close for urgent repairs last year,
:02:04. > :02:06.can take an extra six months of traffic.
:02:07. > :02:09.There can be no repetition of the catastrophic events we saw
:02:10. > :02:13.last year when the bridge was closed for a number of weeks,
:02:14. > :02:32.with huge disruption to businesses and people's life.
:02:33. > :02:34.The contractors say they are disappointed it has fallen
:02:35. > :02:37.behind schedule and they are working flat out to make
:02:38. > :02:38.sure the bridge opens as soon as possible.
:02:39. > :02:41.That won't be December 2016, as had been planned,
:02:42. > :02:44.traffic should be flowing on the Queensbury Crossing.
:02:45. > :02:46.The EU has agreed to extend the deadline for the payment
:02:47. > :02:48.of subsidies to Scotland's farmers and crofters.
:02:49. > :02:50.The move follows failings with a Scottish Government
:02:51. > :02:52.computer system which has delayed the process.
:02:53. > :02:55.The government was facing fines of tens of millions of pounds if it
:02:56. > :02:57.failed to meet a deadline of June 30th.
:02:58. > :02:59.The new arrangements will mean it will have another 18 weeks
:03:00. > :03:07.Helicopter operator CHC will no longer fly Super Puma 225s
:03:08. > :03:08.from its Aberdeen base unless customers
:03:09. > :03:11.The announcement comes six days after European aviation safety
:03:12. > :03:15.officials extended the grounding of certain types of Super Pumas
:03:16. > :03:22.Signs of metal fatigue were found in components after a crash off
:03:23. > :03:26.Norway in April that killed 13 people.
:03:27. > :03:32.Commonwealth Games silver medallist Stephanie Inglis has
:03:33. > :03:36.held her father's hand for the first time since waking from a coma.
:03:37. > :03:41.The 27-year-old judo player from Inverness was placed
:03:42. > :03:43.in an induced coma after suffering head injuries in a motorbike
:03:44. > :03:51.She's now being treated in a hospital in Thailand.
:03:52. > :03:54.To the European referendum now, and the latest in our series putting
:03:55. > :03:58.The EU guarantees certain minimum rights in the workplace,
:03:59. > :03:59.from working hours to maternity leave and protection
:04:00. > :04:09.In a special report, Brian Taylor asks what about the workers?
:04:10. > :04:17.This is Greenock on the lower Clyde. It is synonymous over the decades
:04:18. > :04:20.with business and it is sometimes buoyant and sometimes struggling.
:04:21. > :04:27.Employment and employment rights really matter here. Tate Lyle, the
:04:28. > :04:33.sugar trade, exports, business. More, much more. This was the Scott
:04:34. > :04:39.Lithgow shipyard in Greenock, the last giant remnant of a business
:04:40. > :04:46.dating back to 1711. Work has changed. Inverclyde still resounds
:04:47. > :04:50.to the sound of swing Hammer swing. The Ferguson Marine yard to revise
:04:51. > :04:54.and the workers here and across Scotland are protected by laws
:04:55. > :05:00.underpinned by the European Union. Everything from the hours they are
:05:01. > :05:06.obliged to work to health and safety and consultation rights, guaranteed
:05:07. > :05:10.by EU minimum standards. As well as protecting workers, these rules are
:05:11. > :05:16.designed to ensure that EU member states compete in a single market on
:05:17. > :05:20.product strengths, not by undermining labour law standards.
:05:21. > :05:26.Britain's attitude to these laws has varied. In 1992 John Major secured
:05:27. > :05:29.an opt out from extended EU social policy powers linked to the
:05:30. > :05:30.Maastricht Treaty. Tony Blair scrapped that opt out five years
:05:31. > :05:35.later. That is your baby 's head... The EU laws also cover pregnancy
:05:36. > :05:46.rights and maternity leave. It specifies equal treatment for men
:05:47. > :05:51.and women and protection against any form of discrimination. Earlier I
:05:52. > :05:56.talked about workers' rights with both sides of the campaign here at
:05:57. > :06:01.the James Watt docked in Greenock. If you look at the objective
:06:02. > :06:05.analysis of this, one from the Financial Times which is very
:06:06. > :06:08.pro-remain and another from BBC which is the reality check website
:06:09. > :06:17.and they have concluded that very little will change in terms of
:06:18. > :06:24.employees rights. Your own site, including pretty Patel, say it is
:06:25. > :06:32.just a version of cutting workers' rights. There were scare stories
:06:33. > :06:36.before the 2010 election about things like the minimum wage being
:06:37. > :06:40.scrapped but there is not a majority in the House of Commons for removing
:06:41. > :06:45.a lot of these regulations. Are you confident these rights will remain
:06:46. > :06:50.if you leave the EU? Is not confident. A lot of them were
:06:51. > :06:53.introduced by the EU and many had a lukewarm response from the
:06:54. > :06:59.Westminster government at best and sometimes hostile and I remember
:07:00. > :07:02.discussions we had with the previous Labour government about the working
:07:03. > :07:07.Time directive and we fought very hard to have improvements in the
:07:08. > :07:11.directives and my experience is that it will be difficult to ensure we
:07:12. > :07:14.make progress in red response to workers' rights and there was
:07:15. > :07:27.concern that over time these rights will be eroded. Are we giving a
:07:28. > :07:31.rights for no reason? Some of those created at the UK level are a better
:07:32. > :07:39.standard than the EU. Britain went ahead with the maternity leave which
:07:40. > :07:43.is more than in the EU. Some of your own side are cutting back... This is
:07:44. > :07:49.not a government in waiting, it is a campaign which will finish with the
:07:50. > :07:54.referendum. A number of the rights are pre-existing but they have been
:07:55. > :07:58.underpinned by EU legislation and extended by EU legislation. There
:07:59. > :08:01.was maternity rights and also we have seen that women cannot be
:08:02. > :08:07.discriminated against if they are pregnant and we have seen an
:08:08. > :08:14.extension of equality legislation, beyond race, gender... Which party
:08:15. > :08:19.is going to go into a general election saying they will get rid of
:08:20. > :08:23.maternity rights? The European Court of Justice oversees the single
:08:24. > :08:27.market and in 2007 they may be very damaging and odd decision on
:08:28. > :08:31.workers' rights, to strike. They said the right to strike in the
:08:32. > :08:34.whole of the EU was subject to the right of freedom of movement of
:08:35. > :08:40.goods and services now the first time that a British employer uses
:08:41. > :08:44.that argument we will see a major... Tom is right about that but we have
:08:45. > :08:48.seen progress more recently in a Finnish case which is much more
:08:49. > :08:52.positive. We have bad judgments from British courts and we fight these
:08:53. > :08:56.judgments but it is important that we work with our colleagues in the
:08:57. > :08:59.European Union and progressive governments in order to make
:09:00. > :09:03.progress. It might be argued there was not a lot of point in workers'
:09:04. > :09:07.rights if they are undermined by migrant workers working for lower
:09:08. > :09:13.wages. You must put it into perspective. We are not overwhelmed
:09:14. > :09:19.by migrant workers by the EU, only less than 2.5% of our population
:09:20. > :09:22.comes from outwith the UK and EU migrants. Using the migration card
:09:23. > :09:31.is being dishonest and very dangerous. Who is accountable to us
:09:32. > :09:38.in Britain for workers' rights? Is it unelected officials in Brussels
:09:39. > :09:43.or our own government? I would absolutely prefer to live under a
:09:44. > :09:50.democracy than unelected bureaucrats. Of the 40 institutions
:09:51. > :09:53.in the European Union only the commission is made up of unelected
:09:54. > :09:56.officials. At the Council of ministers of the parliament and the
:09:57. > :10:03.European Council all made of elected politicians. But we cannot get rid
:10:04. > :10:06.of them. Britain can use its influence but it doesn't because we
:10:07. > :10:13.have been so negative about Europe that we are not able to use our
:10:14. > :10:17.influence. The one thing you cannot describe as remotely democratic.
:10:18. > :10:21.Thank you very much for joining us here.
:10:22. > :10:23.Scotland has a new chief scientific adviser, she's
:10:24. > :10:25.Professor Sheila Rowan of the University of Glasgow
:10:26. > :10:26.Professor Rowan, who's an expert on gravitational waves,
:10:27. > :10:31.The current moratorium on fracking and the ban on growing GM crops
:10:32. > :10:34.in Scotland are expected to be on the new adviser's agenda.
:10:35. > :10:37.The post, which is appointed by the government, has been vacant
:10:38. > :10:40.Commonwealth Bronze medallist Erraid Davies has been declared
:10:41. > :10:42.ineligible to compete in future para-swimming events including
:10:43. > :10:49.The 15-year old from Shetland became the youngest-ever games medal
:10:50. > :10:53.She has a condition affecting her hip bones and joints.
:10:54. > :10:56.But a classification panel has endorsed an initial finding
:10:57. > :11:02.that her impairment isn't serious enough to allow her to compete.
:11:03. > :11:05.Neil Lennon has agreed a deal to become the next Hibernian manager
:11:06. > :11:07.and should formally sign a contract tomorrow.
:11:08. > :11:10.The former Celtic boss has been out of work since parting company
:11:11. > :11:12.with Bolton in March but will succeed Alan Stubbs.
:11:13. > :11:14.It is believed Lennon wants Garry Parker as his number two.
:11:15. > :11:17.The Irishman will sign a one-year rolling deal to become
:11:18. > :11:24.the highest-paid manager in Hibs' history.
:11:25. > :11:32.Over to Chris now for the weather. We saw 24 degrees in parts of the
:11:33. > :11:36.West Country today but tonight will stay dry with cloud around and in
:11:37. > :11:40.the coast there will be mist and fog. In the Hebrides and the East
:11:41. > :11:44.Coast. Tomorrow morning we have a dry start with brightness in the
:11:45. > :11:48.course of the morning, especially inland. Temperatures in the west are
:11:49. > :11:52.in the mid-teens. The cloud will take longer to thin and break but it
:11:53. > :11:56.should do as we had through the course of the day. Towards the
:11:57. > :12:04.south-west there will be stubborn low cloud and perhaps see fog at
:12:05. > :12:07.times as well. Through tomorrow it is an improving story, with the
:12:08. > :12:12.cloud continuing to thin and break and sunshine coming through. A
:12:13. > :12:16.similar day to today but not as potent with the showers as today but
:12:17. > :12:20.they will be there across the Cairngorms and Southern uplands. The
:12:21. > :12:27.UK as a whole is largely set fair with sunshine and temperatures
:12:28. > :12:35.pleasant. Always a bit cooler in the east. The highest temperatures but
:12:36. > :12:39.Scotland are in the worst but cooler on the coastline. Friday all change.
:12:40. > :12:43.We have weather fronts arriving from the West which will bring a cloudy
:12:44. > :12:47.day and a cooler day as well with showery outbreaks of rain. Certainly
:12:48. > :12:50.the wet weather is with us through most of the day on Central and
:12:51. > :12:57.southern parts with temperatures close to average for the time of the
:12:58. > :13:01.year. Tomorrow looks OK. Friday is cloudy and wet. Temperatures around
:13:02. > :13:07.about the mid-teens at best. The best chance of seeing anything dry
:13:08. > :13:09.and brighter would be in the far north and the Northern Isles.
:13:10. > :13:10.Temperatures only around 12 degrees and add on the easterly breeze and
:13:11. > :13:16.Temperatures only around 12 degrees it will feel called despite any blue
:13:17. > :13:21.skies. To the weekend it is cloudy and breezy at times with showery
:13:22. > :13:24.outbreaks of rain. It is not a wash-out and there will be bright
:13:25. > :13:26.spells but a humid feel. That is the forecast for now.
:13:27. > :13:30.Our next update is during Breakfast at 6.25am tomorrow morning.
:13:31. > :13:32.But, from everyone on the late team here in Glasgow, goodnight.