18/04/2017 Reporting Scotland

Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.

Theresa May's plans for a general election in June

will mean that Scotland will have gone to the polls seven

The Prime Minister says the snap election will give the country

The First Minister described it as a huge political miscalculation.

Our political editor Brian Taylor reports.

Downing Street, she said she wouldn't, now she will.

I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet where we agreed

that the Government should call a general election to be

Straight out of a meeting of Scotland's Cabinet,

This is a big U-turn in recent political history.

But it's very clear that the Prime Minister's

announcement today is one all about the narrow interests

of her own party, not the interests of the country overall.

You know, clearly she sees the opportunity given the disarray

in the ranks of the Labour Party to crush all opposition to her,

to get rid of people that disagree with her and to give herself a free

hand to take the country in the increasingly right-wing

direction direction she wants to take it in.

SNP Cabinet ministers insist they already

have a mandate for a referendum from Holyrood votes.

At the last UK general election two years ago,

I don't take any voters force granted nor should any other party.

We are fit for this fight we are ready to go.

We think we can put on seats across the country.

There will be fewer SNP MPs after 8th June.

That is what I will be working towards.

They insist they are ready for the fight.

Whilst it's obviously a surprise, it's a great opportunity.

It's a chance to get Theresa May and the Tories out of office.

The Labour Party has been on a election footing

I will prepare to select candidates from this afternoon.

We a huge gamble with the future of our country.

It's an tuplet for us to put Britain at the heart of Europe,

but also Scotland at the heart of the United Kingdom.

This snap election looks like an opportunistic attempt

by the Tory party to seize on the weakness of the Labour Party

at UK level and simply secure themselves a stronger mandate

for the hard right deregulation hard Brexit agenda that they've now

Politics in Scotland is seldom calm it has gathered added bite.

Today's events will have taken all but one of Scotland's

But they say they are ready for the fight.

Our political correspondent Nick Eardley reports on a day

A political period that has been a roller-coaster

The Prime Minister had pledged this wouldn't happen.

Theresa May said she had changed her mind on a snap

The PM argues only her party will make Brexit a success that her

In recent weeks, Labour have threatened to vote

against the final agreement we reach with the European Union.

The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business

The Scottish National Party say they will vote against

the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership

On the face of it, this election will be all about Brexit.

Theresa May will portray her vision as one of stability versuses chaos

It will have massive implications for Scotland, not least

While this announcement may have been a surprise, the political

The SNP can win right across Scotland.

We did in the last election people didn't want an extreme Tory party

That will be a choice again with the SNP standing up

for mainstream opinion in Scotland against a hard Brexit Tory party.

Labour retained just one seat last time.

Polls suggest this time could be even harder.

We are always ready for an election when it comes to fighting

the Conservative Party by trying to get a Labour government

to put some of the issues in place that everybody

We said in 2015 this could be a dreadful Conservative government

that would have a a divisive and unnecessary EU referendum.

His party suffered in 2015 too, paying the price for coalition

The Liberal Democrats are going into this election

We are the only party that will stand up for Scotland's place

in the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom's

A political surprise of box office proportion.

Theresa May I thinks she has an opportunity

to increase her support in the Commons.

It's a decision that will involve risks too.

Another huge political choice for the country.

And Nick joins us live from Westminster now.

Nick, the SNP group has been meeting tonight.

Have they decided how they'll vote tomorrow?

Melo yeah, that's right. They've been meeting of the last couple of

hours. No official confirmation on the handover vote, sources say they

won't try and frustrate the process. I think it is likely they will end

up abstaining tomorrow. On the disillusioned voter. Will it make a

key difference? Know, most MPs will vote for it, meaning the PM will

certainly get that two thirds majority that she needs. In just

over 50 days, we will be going to the polls. In the face of it, this

is a shrewd move from the Prime Minister. The opinion polls suggest

that she could come back with an increased majority. And a stronger

mandate to negotiate Brexit. As today has shown and the last few

weeks, nothing is certain in UK politics at the moment. There are

always plenty of surprises am I wouldn't be surprised if we are back

discussing more in the near future. Nick Eardley in Westminster

thanks very much. Political debate here in recent

weeks has focussed on a second So how will today's

announcement affect that? Our political correspondent

Glenn Campbell reports. It's five weeks since

the First Minister called for another referendum

on independence between autumn next A choice of whether to follow the UK

to a hard Brexit or to become The Prime Minister was quick

to reject that idea. I say to the SNP,

now is not the time. Since then, Nicola Sturgeon has

written to Theresa May formally requesting the power

to hold indy ref2. While she has been waiting

for her official knockback from Number Ten she has been

thinking about what else to do to make the Prime

Minister change her mind. She was due to set out

her thinking here soon. All of that has been overtaken

by the announcement of an early general election and in that

campaign, the question of independence is likely

to be a big feature. The Conservatives will try to make

it about independence in part because it seems to help them

to try to shore up the vote for those who are opposed

to independence, who want The SNP will want to ensure

that the election assuming they do very well again,

will give them the strength, the mandate, to push for another

independence referendum But I don't think they will want

to put the independence issue front In 2015, the SNP had their best ever

general election result, The SNP's political opponents can

hardly do worse, can they? Well, they only have really one seat

a piece from the 2015 result. They will be hoping that they can

really gain momentum and knock a few The Tories particularly pushing

Labour back into third place in the Holyrood elections last year

will fancy their chances. When you look at the SNP,

they are still polling They will be hoping for another

resounding majority. There are 50 days of campaigning

to go, and as spring turns to summer, a new con text

for the debate over In other news,

members of the Church of Scotland are to be asked to permit ministers

to carry out gay marriages. Our Social Affairs Correspondent

Reevel Alderson reports. Attitudes towards gay

relationships have been changing in the Church

of Last year it's general assembly

voted to allow ministers in a same-sex marriage

to continue serving. Gay marriages are still

outlawed in Church. That could change

following publication of the report by the church's

theological forum it says: It has been a highly contentious

issue and senior church leaders say that is why they are also proposing

a an apology to gay men as the church. But they are being asked to

do this year is acknowledged and apologise for some of the harsher

things that have been said on both sides of this debate over the last

20 - 30 years. The general Aston Villa want to do that. In Aberdeen,

Scott Wren a what the Kirk's openly gay minister. He welcomes the

apology to those who have been hurt by the Church public attitudes. I

think it is important that the church appropriately recognises

that, and recognises that the fair treatment of LGBT people as part of

the church society, it is about the way that the church treats its own

members. There remains opposition from traditionalists in the church,

opposed to same-sex relationships, which they see as contrary to your

vehicle teaching. We don't bless that which is wrong. That has got to

be key in terms of the Gospel. If we are providing a hope for people of

transformation in their lives, of forgiveness for past wrongs, of

being different from what the world has done, then we have to be able to

stand up for that right in Christ. The current world seek protection

from prosecution 's for any Mr Brown to carry out the services.

It's over to Christopher now with the weather forecast

Largely dry but fairly cloudy conditions across the country

tonight. Not as cold as last night. If you spot of light rain, you can

see on a charter just edging south and east words, but many areas

remaining dry. That is how we start things tomorrow morning.

Temperatures around seven or eight Celsius, a few spots through the

Borders and part of East Lothian, further west cloudy but dry, missed

and hillfort the part of Argyll. Some sunshine on any fondues and

harass, and Gupta was part of Orkney and Shetland. Sunny weather in the

north-west will slowly edged its way south and east was the course of the

day. If you start cloudy, it should improve as we head through do was

lunchtime. Across Northern Ireland, outbreaks of rain and through parts

of the north of England and Wales, cloudy zone of weather. South of the

Midlands, generally dry and bright but cooler compared with today. It

will have a milder day tomorrow, temperatures into the low teens for

many. Given that sunshine in the afternoon, feeling pleasant, but you

will notice there will be a few further showers around the West

will notice there will be a few Coast. Stay on the coast until dusk

and enable enter their weight used words. First there is another fairly

cloudy day. High-pressure nearby but once again somehow breaks of rain,

mainly in the west, and some heavy rain later in the far north. He is

the detail. You can see fairly cloudy, dry, a few spots in the

west, the best of a brighter weather likely in the east. Quite wet for

the Northern Isles and far north, a bit breezy from the west, but

temperatures on the up, around 17 Celsius. High temperatures come down

again on Friday, because we change the wind direction. It is coming in

from a north, and there will be accompanied by some showers, and

those could be wintry on highest hills.

Our next update is during Breakfast at 6:25 tomorrow morning.

But, from everyone on the late team here in Glasgow

'A 24-year-old man has been charged with murder.'

You made sure an innocent man is charged!

What gives you the right to say he's innocent?

I've come to you because you're AC-12.