19/04/2017 Reporting Scotland

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me -

Tonight on Reporting Scotland, we are live at Westminster

on the day MPs approved a snap general election.

If it is right that the people here have a vote on the future of the

country, why isn't it right that the Scottish people have a vote? Now is

the time for an election because it will strengthen our hand on a vote

on Brexit. It is time for second Scottish independence referendum was

it will weaken our hand in negotiations on Brexit.

The First Minister's group of 54 SNP MPs abstained in the vote,

but it still passed with an overwhelming majority.

So we'll be bringing you the latest action and reaction

And from the green rolling hills of the Borders,

Good evening from Westminster, where MPs are - three years

earlier than expected - preparing once again

A UK general election will be held on the 8th June after MPs backed

the Prime Minister's call for a snap poll.

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, made the Scottish National Party's

initial election pitch here this morning, before MPs had even voted

on the Conservative government's plans for that June election.

And, when it came to the vote on that issue this afternoon,

Here's our Westminster Correspondent, Nick Eardley.

It started, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was quick off the mark

today, setting out her party's electoral pitch. Only the SNP stands

between Scotland and an increasingly hardline Tory government. She

offered to work with other parties to try and keep the Conservatives

out of government and argue that an SNP win in Scotland would mean the

case against another independent vote... When the time is right will

crumble to dust. In 2015 her party won 56 Scotland's 59 seats. I will

be leading a campaign to return each and every one of the constituencies

be leading a campaign to return each to the SNP that we won in 2015 and

have a go at the other free as well. Winning both 56 seats will be a huge

challenge. Ruth Davidson has predicted that we have hit the peak

challenge. Ruth Davidson has and the only way is down. Hello! All

smiles as the campaign begins. But there is a long road ahead. The

Prime Minister hopes to be smiling, too, come June the night. She wants

your backing for her Brexit plans for government, she said offering...

A chance to have a general election to secure the strong and stable

leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond. But

she has faced claims of hypocrisy for saying that an independent vote

would be a distraction but calling an election in response. It will

strengthen our hand in the negotiations on Brexit, but now is

not the time for a second Scottish independence referendum was it will

weaken our hand in negotiations on Brexit. The SNP and Conservatives

argue that it is a straight battle between them in Scotland but others

want your vote as well. The Lib Dems will speak for people in Scotland

who want Scotland in the UK and the UK engage with the EU. We want to

send a message that we don't want another independence referendum and

a message to the Prime Minister that we don't want a Tory hard Brexit

Ozturk a large majority of MPs backed an early election. SNP MPs

abstained. And so, for the next seven weeks, there will be arguments

from across the political spectrum about policy, about Brexit, about

the future of the UK and Scotland. Let's talk live with the SNP's

deputy leader, Angus Robertson, who leads the party at Westminster. Your

MPs abstained on this question this afternoon. Why couldn't you make up

your mind whether you were for or against an election? We are in

favour of an election, just not for fiddling around with the legislation

of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act. We were not going to give the Prime

Minister a blank cheque. But there is now going to be a general

election and in Scotland it will be a straight contest between the SNP

and the Tories, and I think most mainstream people in Scotland, when

they are going to look for a party that will stand up for Scotland or a

party that will pursue a hard, damaging Brexit, will vote SNP. It

is either Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister. Who would

you prefer? It is going to be disastrous for the Labour Party,

which is why the Prime Minister has called an early election, so the

question for us is whether we are going to sign a blank cheque and let

the Prime Minister get on with what she wants to do or whether we are

going to send people to Westminster to stand up for Scotland, to oppose

austerity and make sure that our ability to make decisions for

ourselves is protected. I am confident that the SNP will defeat

the Tories in Scotland. In terms of the UK picture, the First Minister

has raised the possibility of working in some kind of alliance

with Labour and other parties, if that could keep the Tories out.

Tonight, Jeremy Corbyn appeared to rule out doing any business with

your party. Frankly, he's ruling out the prospect of running the

election. I don't think anybody seriously believes Labour will win

the election. We are happy to work with other parties try and get a

progressive alliance if the maths stats, but it's unlikely that it

will. At this stage, given that the election campaign has only just

started, I think we should start off on the right foot by embracing the

opportunity to properly debate the issues in the run-up to polling day,

and that is why I think an emerging issue we are hearing about is the

fact that the Tories are not prepared to debate with the other

party leaders, and I think we will hear more about that in the next

weeks. Two years ago, you campaigned for what you called for financial

responsibility for Scotland. Since then, the First Minister has

demanded another referendum on independence. When you have a

specific commitment to a second referendum in your manifesto? There

is more than a demand about a referendum. The people of Scotland

gave the Scottish Government a mandate in the Scottish Parliament

elections, and since then the Scottish Parliament has voted in

favour of there being an independence referendum. Just as I

think the Prime Minister has made a U-turn on the timing of a general

election, I expect she will U-turn and we will have a referendum in

Scotland, given that that is what people voted for. Thank you very

much. Our political editor,

Brian Taylor, casts a wry glance Now, in politics, these are pretty

troubled, confusing times. I thought I'd try and take things back to the

roots. Over the next few weeks or so, you might find it handy to have

a clove of garlic ready to keep those canvassers away. What I really

want to do is quote that great Scottish sage, the movie ogre Shrek,

who reminded us that onions have layers. So, too, do elections. The

first layer is the constituency. This isn't a presidential contest.

These are Westminster Parliamentary elections. You are directly electing

a constituency MP, your local champion. Secondly, the UK

Government and you are selecting indirectly a tenant for this house.

You are choosing a UK Cabinet in overall control of the economy. Both

sides say, alongside institutional turmoil, there must be an emphasis

on growth and jobs. Focus on the economy, on telling us exactly what

the government is going to do to create an environment that business

can actually grow and invest in. That should be the priority. It's

about jobs, investment and infrastructure for business. A focus

on the policies that matter to people in their daily lives. It

should be about the quality of employment, the fact that too many

people are in a precarious work, with low paid, they don't have

access to quality public services, and those people work in public

services are struggling to provide quality services. Layer three,

Brexit. Theresa May once support for her for long version of quitting the

EU. She wants a bigger majority, to steer that through Parliament. The

proponents want variously to challenge her, either thwarting

proponents want variously to Brexit altogether, defending the

single market or seeking a Scottish deal. And there is independence. The

Tories hope that a bigger vote for them in Scotland would ease the

pressure for a referendum. By contrast, the SNP give primary focus

to countering Conservative austerity and a hard Brexit. They insist they

already have a Holyrood mandate for a referendum, but they say a big

vote for them would reinforce that, meaning that the Tory opposition

would crumble to dust. But of course there is another thing to bear in

mind when you are unappealing the layers of an onion. It could all end

in tears. I'm joined by the Secretary of State

for Scotland, David Mundell. Now is not time for the renewed debate

about independence, so why on earth is it time for a general election?

They are completely different propositions. What Theresa May has

brought forward is a short, sharp election, a six-week campaign in

order to allow their to be a five-year Parliament during which

the Brexit negotiations, transition, five-year Parliament during which

implementation can take place, to give maximum certainty and stability

and flexibility in those negotiations. The proposal for an

independence referendum is to have a divisive referendum campaign right

in the middle of these unprecedented negotiations. That isn't acceptable,

and it's not acceptable that, in such a referendum, people in

Scotland would not be able to have a clear idea of what they were voting

on. If the SNP win the election in Scotland and finish with the largest

number of seats, doesn't that give them a renewed mandate to push for

that referendum? This is a UK wide election. The decision of the people

of Scotland in 2014 was to remain part of the UK, and therefore

elections for the UK Parliament across the whole UK. If the SNP

continue to campaign in relation to a referendum, they will face a very

robust campaign from Ruth Davidson and my Conservative colleagues

saying no to another referendum, and standing up for Scotland's place in

the UK. The SNP say, in the event that they win most seats in

Scotland, the Prime Minister's opposition to a second referendum

would crumble. Suddenly, she has had a dramatic change of mind on the

issue of a general election. If she can change her mind on this, why

should we believe any of her other commitments? She made it clear that

this was a difficult decision but made in the national interest in the

context of the Brexit negotiations. It has become clear that a general

election in 2020 would cut across the Brexit process, the negotiation

process, bringing uncertainty to that, and the implementation,

transition and moving forward with the Brexit field. That is why she

has changed her mind. She has been clear about why she has done it. And

everybody's interests, people across the UK, is to get the best possible

deal from these negotiations, so everybody should be coming together

to ensure that is achieved. ... David Mundell, Secretary of State

for Scotland, thank you. So, to that campaign and the battle

for your votes to come. What is on your mind

and how will you decide where to mark your cross

on the ballot paper? Cameron Buttle reports

from Scotland's most marginal seat. This is called Scots view, because

it was said to have been Scots' favourite views of the Scottish

borders, and it is in the heart of the Berwickshire Roxburgh and

Selkirk constituency, which covers a huge swathe of southern Scotland,

from the west right over to the east. All of that is the battle

ground for the closest fight in Scotland. And that includes places

like Hoyke, Galashiels, and Kelso, where it is the talk of the town. I

think public transport is a big issue here because it has been cut

so badly. And the NHS. If I could get rid of this independence

argument, that would be a wee help. But that isn't going to happen.

Undecided. Whether devout Scotland to go on their own or just stay. I

don't know if she's running scared a little bit. So you are going to go

SNP? Yes. In one shape or another, this constituency was Liberal

Democrat -- Liberal Democrats the decade but, in 2015, the SNP swept

through the Borders. Callander took the seat by 328 votes. Second place

went to the Scottish Conservatives. Michael Moore for the Lib Dems was

knocked into third, but he still got more than 10,000 votes. The question

is, what will happen to those votes? Is interesting. Brexit will come

into it. 60% voted to remain in Europe. 66% voted to remain in the

UK. It's a mixed message, a mixed message going out to the Tories. I

would imagine the Tories will be expecting to wrestle it away from

the SNP. That is the key votes. Labour has never had a big showing

down here, although they do have their voters. But some of them are

thinking hard about what they are going to do. Here, I voted Labour,

but people -- labour will never get involved but you wouldn't think

about tactical voting? No. Unless I thought the Tories would get an

extra seat. There are around 75,000 votes to fight for in this

constituency. It doesn't get any tighter.

but now it's over to the studio in Glasgow, where Catriona Shearer

Police Scotland say officers have "no authority" to arrest

a suspect who is the subject of an Interpol alert.

Harris Binotti is being sought by authorities in Myanmar,

They want to question him about the death of another British

Both men had been working as teachers there.

Mr Binotti left Myanmar the day before Mr Ferguson's body

According to newspaper reports, Mr Binotti has

The funeral of the millionaire car magnate Sir Arnold

He began his business in the 1950s, and became Britain's richest car

trader, selling 200,000 vehicles a year.

The private service was held at Glasgow Cathedral.

The Scottish Conservatives say they want to be a "national" party

again as they launched their manifesto for

As a general election also looms, they're standing firmly

against a second independence referendum, while also appealing

for what they call a "decade of SNP centralisation" to be reversed.

Our political correspondent Andrew Kerr has more.

The Conservative leader is not in the mood for mending fences. Ruth

Davidson is wanting to break new ground. Hopeful out what these new

electoral challenges may bring for the party. We are always happy to

serve as the community! She's attempting to give the Conservatives

a new look, as she helped with the refurbishment of this

a new look, as she helped with the children's Centre. They are opposed

to a second independence referendum, a key plank in the campaign. But

they also want to reverse what they call as a decade of SNP

centralisation. We are all about local democracy, we would be leaving

local democracy, the SNP believes the opposite. They do not trust

councils but we do. We want to hand power back to councils, and

communities, so that they can make their own areas flourish. Localism

for growth is the main theme of the campaign. Handing power back

includes having directly elected provost 's, competitive taxation to

encourage growth with councils keeping more revenue, and a

significant focus on education, with a pledge to extend childcare to more

disadvantaged one and two-year-olds. This local goblet election is hugely

important to the Scottish Conservatives and I want there to be

a Scottish representative in every community so we are truly national

again and so people can see our strength, and that we are the only

people capable of taking on the SNP in the election one month later.

They want more of Scotland painted blue, ultimately trying to look like

an alternative Scottish Government. So the Conservatives are set for

this election on the 4th of May, with the local campaign in the fall

swing. But all eyes are on the main prize. The 8th of June, the general

election. Andrew Kerr, BBC reporting Scotland,

Edinburgh. And in Rugby, just two Scots have

made it into the British and Irish Lions squad for the summer

tour of New Zealand. Full back Stuart Hogg and winger

Tommy Seymour are head coach Warren Gatland's only Scottish

selections in his 41 man squad. More from our sports

reporter David Currie... Two lions and a shirt, like the one

these Glasgow boys will be wearing on the Lions tour of New Zealand in

the summer. No wonder their faces are gleaming... I'm chuffed to be

going to New Zealand. It's hard to sum up. There's been a lot of

speculation in the last few weeks as to who is going and who is not.

Since my name was read out today, I'm massively excited for the next

few weeks ahead. It is amazing, an amazing feeling. A really proud

moment for me and my family, when things like that happen. As everyone

described it, it is a things like that happen. As everyone

once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. After a successful 6 Nations tour

where Scotland won three of their five matches, including wins over

Wales and Ireland, there was disappointment as well. After all,

there are 11 Irish and 12 Welsh players in the squad. To have two in

this stage, that's very disappointing. I thought one of the

brothers may have gone. Schwartzman, Finn Russell, if you look at those

selecting it, they have gone with who they know. The Welshman and the

Englishman, they have gone with who they know and who they trust.

Selection is a matter of opinion. I slightly disagree but that is what

makes it interesting. This will be a physically demanding tour, with ten

matches being played in just about five weeks, including three tests

against the world champions New five weeks, including three tests

Zealand. That means injuries and further call ups are inevitable.

With Scotland on tour in Australia, while the Lions are in New Zealand,

Scotland players may make handy stand-bys! David Currie, Reporting

Scotland, Murrayfield. Now let's get the

forecast from Chris. Good evening, spells of sunshine

around for many of us today, the morning cloud clearing away, and the

sun coming out. A second batch of cloud comes in from the West.

Sunshine at 16 degrees. Tonight, fairly cloudy for most of us, as

cloudy weather in the West spreads eastwards. Dry for most because

there will be some spots of rain. This cold front is in the West. For

western coastal areas and perhaps towards the Southern uplands spots

of rain, mist and murk to go with it. For many of us, dry and cloudy.

And mild once again. Temperatures in towns and cities no lower than 6-8 .

To begin the day tomorrow, a cloudy start with some spots of rain across

western areas. Heavy rain towards the Northern Isles, windy from the

West. Rain moves away from the Shetlands, lingering in Orkney. In

the West, drizzle and light rain off and on for a good part of the day

but further east it is largely dry and largely cloudy. It will be a

milder day tomorrow compared to today. In the West were cloud and

drizzle is, stunted somewhat. In the north-east, 17 degrees. Brightness

coming through, that's in the east. From Peterhead southwards to the

Borders. Heavy rain across Orkney lingers for most of the day. The

Shetlands are brightening. The rest of the afternoon and into the

evening and overnight it is cloudy again, wet weather intensifies a

touch across the North West. This weather front moves in as we head

into Friday. High pressure is tantalisingly close but that weather

front will produce some wet weather for us. On Friday, cloudy without

bricks of rain moving southwards. Northwards, bright weather but

cooling down. It will feel chilly with strengthening north westerly

breezes as well. That's the forecast for now.

Nobody from the Labour Party joining for the moment - now back

Nobody from the Labour Party joining us at Westminster this evening, no

audio was available, but the former Scottish Secretary for the Liberal

Democrats is here. I'm a bit confused, your party insisted that

we should have a fixed term parliament but you voted

enthusiastically for an early election here today. Context is

everything, the fixed term parliament 's act gives the right to

MPs to dissolve Parliament, it was not to be held in the power of the

Prime Minister, that has happened here today. It is not what we

necessarily -- where we would necessarily have wanted to be but I

think she may have done it for cynical reasons, we need a general

election and we are up for this fight. You will try and use this

election to overturn the vote in the referendum on Brexit. What we will

be using the election for is to put the case for a sensible Brexit, one

that rejects Theresa May's hardest possible Brexit, which would take us

out of the single market and the customs union. We believe there are

better ways where we can engage with the EU in future, and when we have

that deal, at that stage, the deal which is structured be put to the

people in a referendum. The people which is structured be put to the

started this and they should finish it. Alistair Carmichael for the

Liberal Democrats, thank you. Final thought from our Westminster

correspondence David Porcher. How do you think this contest will shape up

in the next 50 days? After the shock of yesterday, the nitty-gritty today

with legislation going through to allow their to be a general

election. Different campaigns in different parts of the UK. England,

essentially, will have a campaign about Brexit and leadership that

Jeremy Corbyn has said he wants to do no deals with other parties. In

Scotland, that inevitably will be put through the constitutional

question and a second referendum. Politicians may say they don't want

to discuss it at the moment but by the end of the seven weeks, that is

exactly what we will have done in the end of the seven weeks, that is

Scotland. David, thank you. the end of the seven weeks, that is

Thank you to all of my guests here at at Westminster on a historic day.

MPs voted overwhelmingly 522-13 to have an early general election. We

know the Prime Minister Theresa May intense debate to go ahead on the

8th of June in just 58 days' time. There's a lot of campaigning to take

place between now and then, plenty more debate across the BBC but from

all of us here at Westminster, enjoy the rest of your evening. Good

night.