10/10/2016 Reporting Scotland

The Scottish Government backs a third runway

for Heathrow Airport, claiming it will create

The impact of Brexit on Scotland's biggest city -

council chiefs call for funding guarantees to maintain

Leaked papers show how RBS exploited struggling

businesses it claimed it was trying to help.

The arts festival that's aiming to encourage us to look

And we'll be live in Slovakia, as Scotland's footballers bid

to get their World Cup campaign back on track.

The Scottish Government has thrown its weight behind

the expansion of Heathrow Airport as opposed to its rival, Gatwick.

It described the building of a third runway at Heathrow as the best deal

for Scotland, leading to investment and job creation here.

It's expected a final decision by the UK government

They may be over 400 miles away, but the future of Heathrow and Gatwick

Airport does matter to the Scottish economy. Today the Scottish

Government said they would back Heathrow as they had secured a deal

to support jobs and growth up here. Increased, more regular flights, it

easier to get to London, easier for people to get to us. We want

additional direct flights to Scotland too, but people are very

interested in the connectivity to the rest of the UK. The Scottish

Government and Heathrow have signed a memorandum of understanding,

including the creation of over 60,000 jobs over several decades,

and ?200 million of construction related work. Prestwick airport is

hoping to increase its role as an industrial hub. Aberdeen and

Inverness also want better access to Heathrow. It opens up accessibility

for the regions, so regions like ours will be competing for

additional slots at a reduced rate, which is what Heathrow have said

they will do. We have a single flight to and from London Heathrow

for us. If it goes ahead at Heathrow, it could be up to two

flights a day in as many years. Rival Gatwick and its sister

business Edinburgh both say the deal is will make Scottish passengers

more reliant on London. Whatever the decision, we need to make sure that

Scotland has the connectivity, the flights and services into those

airports, to allow our businesses to benefit from the expansion. Other

campaigners are sceptical about the boost to business and to the

environment. I think the economic benefit of airport expansion has

been overestimated, completely ignoring the climate impacts. The

Scottish Government have decided what they think is the best for this

country. A decision is decided -- expected in about ten days.

A decision on whether Heathrow or Gatwick will be expanded

will need to be ratified by a vote in the House of Commons.

Let's go to our Westminster correspondent, David Porter.

David, what will be the political impact of the SNP Government's

Potentially, this could be a game changer, and could make it simpler

to get the proposals through. The SNP has a block of 54 MPs at

Westminster, so it could make things far clearer. The fact that the

Scottish Government and the SNP are throwing their weight behind

Heathrow could make it easier for the UK Government if they decide to

back a fourth runway for Heathrow. Heathrow will be a massive

infrastructure projects, but is also very controversial, and there will

be many Tory MPs against it. The fact that the SNP have come on board

may mean that Theresa May can give her MPs a free side, because she

knows she will have her vote in the bag with those 54 SNP MPs. The SNP

says it feels their decision is in the interests of Scotland. It will

bring extra jobs to Scotland and vitally, the connectivity. It will

make it easier to get people from the rest of the world into London

and then on to Scotland, and for Scottish businessmen and travellers

who go down to London and can then fly wherever they want in the world.

But it is worth making two points. A final decision has not been made

yet. The UK Cabinet will be meeting to make that decision in ten days or

so. And what ever happens, it will be controversial and there will

probably be legal challenges. What ever happens, people will not be

using a new airport in the south-east of London, most likely at

Heathrow, probably for at least a decade. And another complicated

issue, Brexit. The Commons debate today was dominated by pressure on

the government to allow MPs to vote on the conditions of leaving.

There's been increasing controversy about the role of a devolved

parliament in negotiations. Yes, Heathrow aside, the dominant issue

at the moment, and for many months and years to come, will be Brexit

and how the UK removes itself from the Marine Accident Investigation

Branch. Today was the first day back four MPs, and are not going to --...

And ministers were questioned on what the role of Scotland would be

in those exit talks. What plans does he have to formally involve the

devolved administrations? He talked about involving the devolved

administrations previously. He now talks about consulting with the

devolved administrations. It is simple. Meet the instruction of the

British people, regain control of our borders, our laws and our money,

and at the same time, get the best possible access to the European

market we can negotiate. Very simple. Ministers insist they want a

calm and orderly exit to the EU, but there's a growing of steam here at

Westminster for MPs to be given a there's a growing of steam here at

greater role. Downing Street says MPs will not get the chance to vote

on the negotiating strategy, but there are hints tonight that when a

final deal is reached with Europe, then MPs may get a vote.

The timeline for Brexit may be unclear, but it will affect us all -

Such is the City of Glasgow's concern that it's commissioned

a report highlighting the challenges and opportunities of Brexit.

It's also got a wish-list for the politicians,

The UK as a whole has decided to get out of the European Union.

That was the result. Do we know yet what it means? This morning, Glasgow

City Council published a report on the challenges facing the city after

Brexit. The most important is the potential loss of EU structuring

funds, totalling ?780 million, which pay for training and development

programmes. The council wants that money guaranteed by Westminster and

Holyrood, but is that likely? Lets not navel gaze about imagined

constitutional arrangements. We need pragmatic proposals to give

confidence back to the business community, which is about bringing

investment forward and finding ways we can make sure European structural

funds are still kept in the Glasgow economy. The report also calls on

the ?1 billion city deal to be accelerated, fast forwarding the

proposed rail link to Glasgow exports -- Glasgow Airport.

Glasgow's strengths include its entertainment, second only to

London's West End. A weaker pound could bring more tourist shoppers.

Business leaders fear their concerns are not being taken seriously. At

the very best we need to continue making the arguments. It may feel

the government is taking an anti-business perspective at

Westminster at the moment, and that is a dangerous place to be. Academic

leaders are also worried. They say 15,000 foreign students are in the

city. More than 6000 of those are from the European Union. ?25 million

worth of grants from the EU go to Strathclyde University alone.

Council and business people know they will have to work hard to

protect Glasgow during Brexit. They know that other cities across the UK

are clamouring just as loudly. Police searching for a 15-year-old

girl last seen on the banks of the River Tay say a body has been

recovered from the water. Kathleen Harkin was last seen

on Saturday evening in Perth. Police Scotland said a female

was taken from the river near St Maydoes and efforts

to identify the body were ongoing. The teenager's family

has been informed. A man has died from injuries

sustained in a fall on Ben Nevis. The incident happened

on the North Face of the mountain on Friday evening when the alarm

was raised by the victim's The men were found by

the Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team and airlifted from the scene

during the early Police have thanked rescuers

for their courageous efforts carried out in the dark

and in difficult conditions. Police are investigating

whether the death of a 56-year-old man at a flat in North Ayrshire

is linked to attacks on two other The man's body was discovered

at the flat in Stevenston Police are looking at possible links

to the attempted murder of a 52-year-old man,

who is being treated A 30-year-old man was treated

for a serious injury The pair were found at a property

on Misk Knowes. Leaked documents have shown that

Royal Bank of Scotland sought to profit by buying up assets

cheaply from struggling businesses The documents reveal bank staff

could boost their bonuses by finding businesses which could be squeezed,

in what was described internally Our Business and Economy Editor

Douglas Fraser is here. This is about a division of the

Royal Bank of Scotland, which took on business customers which had got

into trouble in the wake of the financial crash. The idea is they

either give these business customers in intensive care and help them turn

around, or they pulled the plug to protects the banks interest in the

creditors paying their dues. What is different about the global

restructuring group is that there have been some serious allegations

restructuring group is that there that they could move the goalposts,

whether their loan conditions were being met, just by revaluing the

assets of customers' businesses. There are bonuses to be made. You

could refer companies, and 12,000 companies were put into this GRG at

a time of big crisis for the economy. There may have been a

crisis of confidence in the big bank buying assets from companies forced

into administration. And it's being alleged that the bank pulled the

plug on profitable companies and wrecked lives in the process. Today

we got evidence supporting some of these allegations. The people

running this division were said to be doing it quite aggressively. The

bank said there was no evidence that it deliberately sank viable

companies, but it does concede it let down some of its business

customers. So it is more reputational bad news for RBS. How

get the bank back on its feet? This get the bank back on its feet? This

-- the really big mistakes at RBS were part of greed and not really

understanding what they were doing, and they paid compensation for

mis-selling financial products. In this case it looks like permanent

damage to customers, and that is the most important trusting relationship

of all. And it followed the notorious Goodwin Erie, when things

were supposed to be getting better. The regulation will enquiry is due

to be published. They will get into court early next year. For RBS it is

one of the two big obstacles it needs to get over, the other one

being litigation in the US over the alleged misleading shareholders over

how deep its problems were eight years ago. More on this problem --

You're watching BBC Reporting Scotland.

The Scottish government backs a third runway

it could create thousands of jobs here.

And still to come: why one man's love of bricks has put him in line

How important is your mental health compared to your physical health?

If you think it's just as important but you don't take

the time to look after it, you're not alone.

A survey to mark World Mental Health Day suggests a significant

number of us don't look after our psychological well-being.

So taking time out to do just that is the message

of a Scotland-wide arts festival beginning today.

Our arts correspondent Pauline McLean reports.

Experts in short trousers is a piece of theatre for five-year-olds and

their families. These aliens have been crash landing into spaces

across Scotland. This morning, it was Kelvingrove Museum. It is really

lovely to come at it at such a young age because it is about finding

spaces to realise that people are different and we obviously a group

of aliens so we are very different but also a space to recognise what

people are strong pound. What began ten years ago as a small film

Showcase has since become a major festival, alongside films, there is

theatre, exhibitions and music. In all, some 300 events across the

country. Among them, new touring show by sit -- about Syd Barrett,

the original lead singer of Pink Floyd in the 1960s. The band have

said that themselves, that back then there wasn't a great deal known

about a lot of these issues and people are now much more aware and

much more knowledgeable and they might have been able to get in the

help and treatment he needed at the time. Today, that has changed, not

least down to festivals like this where mental health can be discussed

openly and advice and support offered. Mental health being much

more talked about in popular culture, so a lot of TV shows deal

with mental health very well now and very sensitively. We bring together

organisations and artists and individuals that might not otherwise

worked together, which I think is quite a powerful thing. But there is

still some way to go. Although the vast majority of Scots consider

their mental health as important as physical well-being, at least a

quarter of us admit to not finding the time to do anything about it.

And that is the message of this year's Festival, find the time and

use it well. A former prisoner of war,

who credited the Nagasaki atomic Gordon Highlander Alistair Urquhart

said the bomb prevented a Japanese He was blown off his feet

by the Nagasaki bomb in 1945. He also survived a ship

being torpedoed. Aberdeen-born Mr Urquhart,

of Broughty Ferry, passed away A new play exploring the turmoil

in the oil industry and what it means for Scotland's oil workers

opens in Dundee tomorrow. It's in a very unusual setting, as

Andrew Anderson's been finding out. Oil rigs like these are a common

sight at the port of Dundee but now it has a more unusual link with that

industry. Within the port, in the shadow of these rigs, stand the

giant metal shed. In here, ships were once built but now it has been

transformed into a theatre. They don't want to be thought of as soft!

They want to beat off than whalebone! This is Gabi, a play

examining what oil has meant to Scotland and to those who bring it

ashore. A hugely important subject in Scotland in terms of where the

oil revenues went, and where a lot of the profits... There is thought

that a lot of the profits should have stayed within the borders of

Scotland as they did in Norway. The only thing you have is a gauge and

it's going down and if it goes to nothing, the well is dead and you

are dead in the water. The theatre company are well-known for staging

performances in unusual locations. In the past, that has include

airports, car parks and climbing centres. It means the company has to

build a theatre from scratch. We have to work very closely with the

people in the port to make sure we had enough electricity. We have to

bring everything that you see with us, which does add to sort of

logistical planning and the financial planning of a production

like this. And as soon as got your pressure, that natural gas is the

natural energy that lets the oil right out of the columns. Crude will

be staged here for the next two weeks. The company hopes this

industrial setting will help the audience experience what life is

like out on the rigs. Andrew Anderson, Reporting Scotland,

Dundee. The Scotland football

team are in Slovakia for their third match

of the World Cup But Saturday night's draw at home

to Lithuania has led Alasdair Lamont is with the team

in Slovakia, and they're Yes, very much so. You join me

inside the Bratislava Stadium with the Scotland squad training behind

me, working on maybe some other things that did not quite go to plan

on Saturday night. I have to say, if it affected their spirits at all,

the players are hiding it pretty well but there has been an

acknowledgement that they should have done better on Saturday night.

Gordon Strachan has reiterated his view, though, that the second-half

performance at least was better and that is what he is asking the

players to take into the full 90 minutes against tomorrow night. The

thing that Gordon Strachan has also acknowledged is that second place

might well be the best Scotland can now hope for and that would mean a

play-off at best. Gordon Strachan's popularity in

Slovakia is undiminished but as he and his squad arrived this

afternoon, perhaps for the first time, the same can't be said about

his standing with Scotland fans. These supporters and thousands like

them have overwhelmingly backed the manager, despite the failure to

reach Euro 2016. But have their attitude begun to change in recent

weeks? It seemed to turn quite quickly and I don't know why. A

couple of friendlies and it seemed to turn over the course of the Italy

and France games and they were just friendlies against two decent teams.

His team selections have been a bit questionable, like Kieran Tierney

and Leigh Griffiths not getting in questionable, like Kieran Tierney

the starting line-up. questionable, like Kieran Tierney

record with 18 competitive games is unspectacular, it wins, four draws

and six defeats. As he seeks to improve their away record, he

accepts automatic qualification is already a long shot. I think most of

us expect, and the footballing world, that England would win it. It

is a crazy gang here, this group we have got. So you never know. Second,

yes, we will definitely go and get second -- try to get second, and if

we end up getting first, then great but second is the target as we sit

here. There will be personnel changes from the team that drew with

Lithuania and although absent from this training session, Darren

Fletcher is determined to be involved. If I'm able to play, of

course, I'm desperate to play. I've got nothing really to say for

myself, obviously, club games are important but representing your

country is equally as important. Darren Fletcher is sitting a few

yards away from me watching a training session and he will have a

fitness test tomorrow to gauge whether he is able to play. As for

Slovakia, they are even more dire need of a victory tomorrow night, no

points from the opening two games and you could say that Scotland are

catching them, the second seeds in the group, at a pretty good time.

Thank you for joining us. A police officer from Jedburgh has

been nominated for a national award because of the bricks he keeps

in his garden shed. Mark Cranston will find out

in the next few days if he's won When did you actually start

to meet him and ask him, "Why?" When did you actually start

collecting them? Brick collecting, first of all, about five years ago

collecting them? Brick collecting, seriously. But he had an interest

from a boy? Yes, history in general, from a boy, from an early age. Well,

this is it, this is the shared with from a boy, from an early age. Well,

my bricks. This is amazing! You have got one or two, haven't you? Look at

a brick mark, the name of the brick and what you delve into it and have

a research into it, it is amazing bank of it goes into so many strands

of Scottish history. Social, family, military, even, industrial. It just

never stops giving, to be honest. You get a lot out of it? You enjoy

it? For sure, I will go away on trips, hunting through dumps, Woods,

old river banks, etc. The thrill, if I can put it that way, finding a

brick that has not been recorded one I haven't got is great, yeah, it's

one more for the collection. What makes good brick? LAUGHTER

Are you just interested in all bricks? Absolutely, I mean, I come

across, predominantly I am collecting Scottish bricks but I

come across English bricks and foreign bricks as well which I keep.

I must get five e-mails a week from people all over the world, and I

mean all over the world, finding Scottish bricks on the shore. So

many bricks went across to Australia, New Zealand and the

Americas and many of them were shipwrecked. When you find them, the

archaeologists looking at the shipwrecks, they are unable to date

them but they come across a named brick and they get in touch to see

if I can date the brick and help them out with dating the shipwrecked

and therefore put a name to it. And what does it mean to be nominated

for the award? It's great. I mean, I do put a lot of hours into it,

whether it is searching for the bricks themselves or on the computer

will, doing the website. Yes, it is a bit of acknowledgement for myself

which is great but more so for the brick itself. It is putting it out

there, getting it into the limelight. Good luck to him!

Now here's Shelley Jofre with details of Scotland 2016.

The night, the Scottish Government throws its weight behind a third

runway at Heathrow. How much benefit would that bring to Scotland? And

defiant Donald Trump comes out fighting. Has he done enough to his

campaign? Join me for all that on more on BBC Two at 10:30pm.

Good evening, many of us enjoyed a lovely sunset this evening and

plenty in the way a sunny skies as well, especially across the West.

You can see from the recent satellite, we had a bit more cloud

spreading in from the east with one or two showers across parts of the

Borders. As we had through the night, we will continue to see more

in the way of clearer skies with some lovely pictures from the

Whether Watchers across Kilmarnock, bright blue skies. More cloud across

the north-east but still, some lovely bright spells and tonight,

clear spells across the West but the risk showers coming in on the breeze

in the east. A bit more in the way of cloud by the end of the night and

showers across parts of Aberdeenshire and one or two

spreading across parts of the Central Belt into Glasgow but they

will be light and feeding with clear skies across the Northwest and

Dumfries Galloway. Here it will turn a bit chilly once again for

some sheltered glens, may be down to freezing with a touch of Frost and

some sheltered glens, may be down to some patchy mist and fog once more.

Not as expensive as this morning but it will be quite stubborn to clear.

Elsewhere, temperatures six - nine or ten. Tomorrow, more cloud

compared to today and some showers continuing across the East. Further

west, the best of any brightness. If you are heading out around 4pm,

Shetland, lots of sunshine in store, closest to the area of high pressure

across Scandinavia with lighter wind will stop breezy for Orkney and a

good deal of sunshine for the Northwest with temperatures possibly

climbing to 14 or 15 once again. Cloudier for the central belt with

one or two showers perhaps. Most of them towards the east, towards

Dumfries Galloway, sunshine, 14 or 15. High pressure still with us for

the time being. It looks as though it will hold on until Friday but the

winds are more of an easterly and we are drawing in more moisture from

the North Sea so more showers and it will tend to become a bit windy for

Wednesday and Thursday, making it feel a bit chilly. For Wednesday,

showers mainly in the east with a few drifting further towards the

West and along the West Coast, the best of the sunshine but in the

breeze, it will start to feel a bit cooler. That is the forecast.

Now, a reminder of tonight's main news.

The Scottish Government has thrown its weight behind

the expansion of Heathrow airport as opposed to its rival Gatwick.

It described the building of a third runway at Heathrow

as the best deal for Scotland, leading to investment

It's expected a final decision by the UK government

Until then, from everyone on the team, right across the country,