26/05/2017 Reporting Scotland

goodbye from me and on BBC One we join the BBC News teams where with

you are. Have a good bank Former US President Barack Obama

tees off at St Andrews ahead seen him and I admire him greatly so

it was nice to see him in the flesh. Also on the programme: The political

parties return to general election campaigning after a pause

following the Manchester A 17-year-old girl who died at T

in the Park could have taken a lethal amount of drugs

without knowing it, We'll be at Hampden

for the Scottish Cup final. Aberdeen stand between Celtic

and their dream of the treble. And Scotland swelters,

with temperatures almost The former American President,

Barack Obama, is in Edinburgh tonight, where he's giving a speech

at a charity dinner. Security is tight after

the Manchester bombing, but earlier the President was able

to take some time out to relax. Steven Godden is outside

the EICC, where tonight's If you are looking for a sense of

the kind of draw that Barack Obama has, it you only need to look down

these streets. Crowds on either side, hoping to catch a glimpse of

the man. We don't know if he is inside but he is due to speak later.

A good signal will be their helicopter that has been following

his motorcade around the city. This morning at Saint Andrews it was a

more relaxed affair. How are you doing? Where are you from? When you

are a former President of the United States, this is what passes for low

key. Dressed in his golf gear, Barack Obama headed straight for St

Andrews and the Old Course. A lot of press. Camera phones were poised,

ready for the first shot. I played a quick nine this morning

and I saw the police at the Old Course. I got chatting with friends

and found out that it was Obama, so we came down. I have never seen him

in person and I admire him greatly so it was nice to see him in the

flesh. By the time the round finished, word had spread, and

Barack Obama was happy to play to the gallery. They have given me the

putt. A word of thanks for some local knowledge. Stevie, especially.

I love that guy. And photographs with the most famous trophy in golf.

If only I had the game to match it. With that, knew was gone to

Edinburgh for the main business of his trip. 1200 people have paid to

him speak at a charity dinner. Tables for the event starting at

?5,000. With more than 300 children's charities in Scotland

among those to benefit. I was watching his inauguration in 2009,

and I was sitting in the office, and it was raining outside and it was

February. And I was just taken up by his speech, it was an amazing

speech, and an amazing journey to the White House. I just thought that

day, imagine we could bring him to Scotland. And today, we can.

Security is tight. That would always be the case, but arrangements were

reviewed after Monday's suicide bombing in Manchester. Those without

a ticket seem unlikely to enjoy the same unrestricted view as the people

at Saint Andrews, of one of the most famous figures on the planet. As you

can tell, security here is tight, but organisers tell me there was

never any chance of this not going ahead. All of the guests are inside

already, famous faces from business, politics and entertainment, but

there is no doubt about who everyone has come to see.

Campaigning in the general election has resumed for the first time

The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has linked UK foreign policy

The Scottish Conservatives and Liberal Democrats

But the SNP said debate over the use of UK armed forces

Out of respect for those killed and injured in Manchester, election

campaigning has been on hold for much of this week. But it resumed

today. We must be brave enough to admit that the war on terrorism not

working. The Labour leader linked to UK military action abroad with

increased threat from terrorism at home, although he said foreign

policy decisions were not the only factor. After serving ice cream in

East Renfrewshire, the Conservative leader said Mr Corbyn had got it

wrong. He has a short memory. We were involved in Iraq and

Afghanistan before 9/11. That was an attack on Western values and

freedoms. Countries like Sweden have not been involved in these foreign

policy decisions but they have still been an attack, as has Belgium. The

Liberal Democrat leader said it was too soon to diagnose the underlying

causes of UK security concerns. It's unfortunate that Jeremy Corbyn, on

the first day back campaigning, has stooped so low. We should be taking

time to consider these very serious issues, but in the heat of

Manchester? Mr Corbyn specifically raised the Libya campaign in 2011,

which he voted against but Conservative, Liberal Democrat and

SNP MPs supported in Parliament. The SNP leader said she stood by her

party's position on Libya but that abating UK foreign policy should not

be off-limits. I am of the view that we need that strategies for tackling

some of the conflicts we see in the world, and we need to properly

debate that. Raising concerns about particular conflicts, or the British

approach in particular conflict, should not in any way, shape or form

be seen as some kind of excuse for terrorism. On the election circuit

in East Lothian, the Scottish Labour leader was reluctant to be drawn

into the rights and wrongs of past UK interventions. It is too complex

to boil down to a simple answer. It is incredibly complex and we must

redouble our efforts to tackle terror in all its forms. That is

about taking on Isis and tackling the root causes of radical Islam.

Security and how to combat terrorism could be an important feature in the

final fortnight of the general election campaign.

The family of the Barra teenager Laura MacIntyre,

who is in a critical condition in hospital after the Manchester

attack, have described her as "strong-willed and a fighter".

In a statement issued through Police Scotland,

they said they knew the 15-year-old was in the best possible place

Earlier the parents of 14-year-old Eilidh Macleod, who attended

the concert with Laura and was killed in the bombing,

said that words could not express how they felt

Two men have died, after a light aircraft crashed

The plane was flying between Oban and Carlisle,

Wreckage was eventually found off Skipness in Argyll.

Police are trying to establish the identities of the men.

A former priest and teacher at the Fort Augustus Abbey School

has been found guilty of a single charge of assault

Father Benedict Seed faced charges of assaulting six boys

at the fee-paying Catholic school during the 1970s and 80s

by using a cane, a belt, a hockey stick and a spiked golf shoe.

A jury found five charges against the 83-year-old not proven.

A coroner has concluded that a 17-year-old from county Durham,

who died at last year's T in the Park festival,

could have taken a lethal amount of drugs without knowing it.

The inquest was told that Megan Bell had extremely high levels of ecstasy

However, due to what was described as a "gap in the evidence",

it wasn't possible to tell whether she had taken

Megan, we called her our funny little girl. She loved music,

enjoying herself, singing, dancing. She went to Stagecoach drama school

when she was younger. She said, in her words, I am not daft and I know

what I am doing. Unfortunately, she never came back. Megan Bell was

camping with friends at the festival. They were enjoying their

first night when they noticed that Megan seemed unwell. The coroner

said that Megan died very quickly and tragically in a shocking event.

She collapsed just after visiting a dance party tent at the festival,

and despite the best attempts of her friends, first a dozen paramedics,

she could not be revived. In her bloodstream, a high-level of MDMA,

or ecstasy, but the coroner said it was not possible to tell if she had

taken the drugs voluntarily. That is a conclusion her family supports. We

had a suspicion, because of the way Megan was, we knew that she was not

a regular drug user. I felt strongly that summary gave her something that

killed her. The levels of ecstasy in her blood suggest she could have

ingested a mixture of powders and pills. Northumbria Police are

continuing to investigate if she bought drugs before travelling to

Scotland. In the meantime, her parents are campaigning for better

safety for young people are festival sites. I would like to see

restrictions, like on movies, not for stopping festivals, but they

need to be safe for children may young adults, teenagers to attend.

Megan's family will remember her life at a music festival in her

honour this summer. Former US President Barack Obama

tees off at St Andrews, ahead Scotland swelters with temperatures

hitting nearly 30 degrees. Let's return to the election

campaign now, and our look Nick Eardley has been travelling

around Scotland and joins us tonight from the Perth

and North Perthshire constituency. It is a stunning evening here on the

hills. You do not need me to tell you how beautiful it is in this part

of the world. Perthshire is a constituency the Conservatives were

originally sceptical about. The SNP were winners by almost 10,000 votes

in 2015, but local election results and national opinion polls mean that

the party is increasingly confident it is in with a shot here. To what

extent has there been a revival of Scottish conservatism? Beyond

opposition to another independence referendum, what is the party

fighting for? I have been taking a look. Welcome to berry picking

country, producing much of the fruit you buy in the supermarkets.

Operations run by people like Rowan. This farm has been in his family for

70 years but he has concerns about the future. Almost 100% of the

pickers are seasonal from the EU. 100% free movement, we are very

reliant on seasonal workers from the EU. Without that? We would scale

back production. Audrey is a local florist. From a business side,

Conservatives are showing more for small businesses, from Scottish

working-class background. The SNP. I have never been this undecided.

Would it be the first time had voted Conservative? Yes. That is the sort

of voter that Iain Duncan Smith is trying to win over. But beyond

opposition to independence, what is he offering the electorate? This

presents things solely as a question of independence. The other leaflets

set out where we stand. We need to make sure they are connected. There

is a serious problem in terms of roads and cyber connectivity. You

support a reason Mane to juicing a cap of 100,000 net migration? I will

look at the figures and see if they support this constituency. If they

do, I will support it. You want people to make a choice between

these two things. Is the truth that they should also be thinking about

benefits, cuts to services and things like the triple lock? You are

right, but when you talk about independence, those bread-and-butter

issues are affected by it. Time and again, every issue you are talking

about will be exacerbated by a greater focus of the Scottish

Government on independence. If the Tories are to win, it will take

quite a turnaround. The SNP were winners by just under 10,000 votes

last time. It is repetitive from the Conservatives. We know they don't

want a second independence referendum. I will use my mandate to

progress the idea that Scotland should be an independent country.

That is an intrinsic belief that motivates me as a politician. The

most important thing is who is in the best position to represent the

people of Perth and North Perthshire? What the voters think?

We went to see how the arguments are going down. Leaning towards the SNP

but I find it confusing. Every chance we might get a coalition to

push the SNP to where they belong. I will be SNP. Have you always been?

Pretty much. Do the other candidates think it is an SNP- Tory fight?

Yellow mark -- absolutely not. I think the Liberal Democrats have a

strong chance. There is a very good chance. Although I have not stood

for elected office before, I certainly have a very good campaign

team behind me. At the fruit farm, a dilemma. A lot of this fruit goes to

England so a break-up of the UK would not favour us, but also a hard

Brexit with no movement of three people and no free trade deal with

the EU would be a disaster. You need something in the middle.

Under a fortnight left for the people of Perthshire to weigh up

their priorities. Armed police officers will be

patrolling at Hampden Park tomorrow to provide increased security

for the Scottish Cup final Celtic are going for the treble,

while Aberdeen are hoping to win the cup for the first

time since 1990. Our Senior football reporter,

Chris McLaughlin is at Yes, we will discuss the security

situation in a moment, but first of all, to the match itself. And as you

say, if Celtic get their hands on this old trough Friday they will

have completed the domestic clean sweep. Standing in their way an

Aberdeen side who have been best of the rest this season. In terms of

team news, Dembele is fit, he has been struggling with injury and

Aberdeen midfielder Ryan Jack is available, despite speculation that

he is ready to join Rangers. After sweeping aside all in their

path, Celtic are tantalisingly close to a treble. It could be a once in a

lifetime achievement. The Dons have dented Celtic's armour this year but

have yet to find a way through. We can beat them. I have no doubt we

can beat them. Here at the national stadium, this is the usual pre-Cup

Final picture opportunity, but those two men over there are well aware

that this is more than just any other Cup Final. There is history in

the making. Mechanic cliche mounts the steps.

This was the last time Aberdeen lifted the oldest trophy in

association football. 1990. It has been a long wait but is all the

pressure on Celtic? I think it would be a real anticlimax, and not

something that was expected if Celtic weren't to complete a treble.

I think more Celtic teams show have won the treble, for whatever reason

they haven't. 2001 in fact was the last Celtic treble, this Larsson

helping his side to a 3-0 win over Hibs. You only need to look at

history. It tells you how difficult these types of things are to

achieve, so to have become unbeaten in a league season and won a treble

and have that rolled into one season, is like I say, it could be a

once in a lifetime achievement. You think about that and that is what we

wanted to do, since I signed for Celtic this is the best opportunity

that we have got to do it. The old trophy awaits another inwither

Celtic's invincibles or a resurgent Aberdeen? The waiting is almost

over. Now, to security, it is always tight

here any way. It will be tighter tomorrow given what happened in

Manchester earlier in the week. We will see armed police officers

visible outside the national stadium, there will be extra checks

in roads leading up to the stadium itself. So the message from police,

ahead of the Scottish Cup Final tomorrow, is get here early.

With the second grand slam of the tennis season

starting this weekend, Andy Murray admits

to feeling frustrated at the state of his game,

but is determined to put things right.

Murray revealed today that he'd been "a bit sick"' earlier this week

in the build up to the French Open, and was on antibiotics.

But he says he's practised well the past couple of days,

preparing for a first round match against Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia.

I feel good, I mean not the best I've ever felt, coming into Roland

Garros, I have been practising well the last, the last few days. But

obviously I haven't played lots matches coming in. The last few

weeks haven't got when. At least I will be fresh going in, that is one

thing, and yes, try and play better when the tournament starts.

As if I need to tell you, Scotland has been basking in some

of the highest temperatures of the year so far.

Our reporter Andrew Thomson is on the beach at Nairn

on the Moray coast, one of the hottest spots

It looks lovely. ? Yes. It is fantastic here, it is just amazing.

It is hard to believe it is almost 7.00, and yet behind me you maybe

able to see there is a few people paddling. People have been having

barbecue, swim, some catching too much of the sun today. It has been

amazing and it is not just here on the knot of Scotland, on the Moray

Firth coast, there has been a heatwave across the whole of

Scotland today. It looks more like Alicante than

Ayr. But believe it or not this is Scotland and it is still May.

Temperatures have risen as high as 29 degrees Celsius today. So where

better than the beach to cool off with a quick paddle? In Inverness in

the high left-hand side there is a taste of summer in the air and

business is booming at this ice-cream shop. We are seeing kids

coming in after school, coming down, in the afternoons, it is people

coming and ordering five, six, ten tubs to take back to office. The

ones like the mango are probably the best one for cooling down and if it

is Friday, we do a Prosecco sorbet so people are finishing up, it will

go later on today. Out and about in Inverness many have been soaking up

the sunshine, taking full advantage of an unexpected opportunity. We are

from Germany and we expected a lot of rain, and now we are happy that,

that is sunny weather. We are really happy. We get really wet too, now we

enjoy the sun. Wonderful wetter since we have been here, it is a lot

weather than in Vancouver Canada. Amazing, how often can you put a

summer dress on? Living in the far north of Scotland, we know what bad

weather is like, so we may have to make the most of the good weather we

have today. I totally miss this weather. I was

working yesterday in a kitchen so I am so happy to be out in it today.

Edinburgh's Princess Street gardens offered a top spot for sun

worshippers, some only whom escaped from the office. Now the forecast is

for thunder and rain over the next couple of days but with this being

the bank holiday weekend many people will hope this weather bubble

doesn't burst just yet. They may hope but we are going to

Christopher to rain on our picnic. It was a scorcher today, 29.4 at

Lossiemouth, that is 85 in Fahrenheit. The warmest part of the

country, the warmest so far we have seen this year, widely, 25 to 28

Celsius, and plenty of our weather watchers sending in beautiful blue

sky scenes like these. So still some sunshine to come and it stays

largely dry overnight, quite warm overnight, there will be low cloud

lapping on shore in Aberdeenshire, a few heavy showers perhaps

approaching the Western Isles but most of us staying dry, and op

prereceively warm, a difficult night for sleeping with temperatures in

the teens. Saturday starts bright and sunny, plenty of sunshine but it

will go down hill, you will see showers edging in to the south-west

by mid-to-late morning and because of that we do have a melt office

yellow by a wear warning in force because that rain and showers will

just turn heavy through the course of the day, as they work their way

northwards, so round lunchtime they will edge their way north and

westwards, the showers could cause localised flooding where they occur.

It will be a humid afternoon, temperatures till is this the low

20s, and there will be showers but also some sunshine, if you catch a

shower, it will likely be torrential. Some lightning and hail.

The North East having warm, if not hot. High 20s in Inverness. The

north-west cloudy and wet at this point, but generally dry for the far

north and Northern Isles but low cloud in Shetland. For the Cup Final

expect thundery downpours and a humid file feel. If you are hill

walking and climbing, after that bright sunny warm morning e ect the

showers to spark off, there will be a risk of thunder and a humid feel.

Temperatures there at the summit saw Munroe level. There will be sunshine

out with the showers. The rest of afternoon, the thundery downpours

continue and most intense at this point in the day. Confined to the

north-west. They will rumble on into the course of the evening and nigh.

Then they rumble off to Sunday. The low pressure clear away and that

means that Sunday is quieter, it is cloudier, it is cooler, it is

fresher. There will be some sunshine probably round Tayside I should

imagine, 20 Celsius there or thereabouts, cooler in the west.

Then, probably not too bad really for the runners in the marathon at

Edinburgh. Winds coming in from west. Cloudy in the morning,

temperatures more comfortable than what we have had today. And for bank

holiday Monday. Largely dry, settled. The best the sunshine will

be in the west, cooler than what we have seen.

Now, a reminder of tonight's main news. Britain's top

counter-terrorism officer says they have captured "a large part"

of the terror network involved in the Manchester Arena attack,

Mark Rowley said "immense progress" had been made in the investigation ,

I'll be back with the headlines at 8, and the late bulletin just