23/11/2017 Reporting Scotland

Here on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening.

New figures show that day-to-day

spending on Scottish public services

will be cut by nearly £200 million

in the coming year, after inflation

is taken into account.

But the overall package

for Scotland - including

capital spending and loans

- is up.

The fallout from yesterday's UK

Budget provoked furious

exchanges at Holyrood,

watched by our political

editor Brian Taylor.

The Chancellor in Leeds today

with the Prime Minister insists

he has delivered for Scotland.

£2 billion more over four years.

But Scottish ministers

say it is a con.

Nicola Sturgeon said that

more than half the money

is in financial transactions -

that is loans or funding

for private projects.

It is not for front line public

spending and it has to be

repaid to the Treasury.

But Ruth Davidson of the Tories said

that they were happy with such cash

deals when they were announcing

Scottish investment.

She accused Nicola

Sturgeon of hypocrisy.

Only the First Minister

could be handed an extra

£2 billion of spending power

and still sounds...

Like someone has stolen her scone.

The First Minister insisted that

Scotland was left short.

Scotland is facing a real-terms cut

in our day-to-day budget next year

of more than £200 million.

If Ruth Davidson is prepared

to stand up in this chamber today

and somehow argue that

that is a good deal for Scotland,

then Ruth Davidson is even

more of a party stooge

for her Westminster masters

than I thought she was.

The Independent Scottish Parliament

Information Centre has

crunched the numbers.

They found that the Scottish block

grant from the Treasury

is up 0.1% in real terms.

But within that, capital

investment is up 6.2%.

And those financial

transactions are up 8.1%.

Day-to-day spending on health,

education and the rest is down

by 0.8%, or £199 million.

Richard Leonard, the new Labour

leader, used his first appearance

at First Minister's Questions

to demand higher spending

and higher taxation.

A quarter of a million children

in Scotland living in poverty.

Hundreds of thousands of pensioners

this winter facing the choice

between eating and heating.

More of the same.

It just won't do.

Scotland needs real change

and radical change.

Nicola Sturgeon said

she would defend public services

but also protect the lowest earners.

To do so she may need a deal

with the Green Party.

Glasgow University and the SFA's

Hampden Sports Clinic are leading

a major study into whether former

footballers develop

conditions like dementia

because of repeatedly

heading a ball.

It comes after growing concerns

about the link between excessive

heading and long-term brain damage.

Here's our sports

reporter, David Currie.

A centre forward who scored many of

his 60 plus goals with his head.

He admits to being concerned.

There is a possibility

that the job he loved may lead

to problems later on in life.

If there is a link.

I would be quite worried

about getting dementia later

but I can't worry about something

I don't know.

Until the study becomes more clear,

we won't stop talking about it.

More than half a century ago,

the scorer of this goal

was helping Kilmarnock become

Scottish champions.

Now in his 80s, he has dementia.

His son is convinced that heading

a football was to blame.

About 50% of Dad's squad have

brain-related illnesses,

but Scotland as a whole

is only about 6%.

That is an awful lot of difference.

A lack of research data has meant

that experts can't prove or disprove

that repeated heading of a football

can cause long-term

damage to the brain.

Staff here at the Hampden Sports

Clinic and Glasgow's

Elizabeth University Hospital

will address that.

They will compare dementia in 15,000

former professionals with that

of the public to determine

if there is a specific link.

It is a very big moment,

not just for football but for sport.

This is a great opportunity

to look into a sport

without any bias or influence,

look at the dementia risk

that we have been concerned

about for many years now.

If a link between repeatedly heading

a football and dementia

is established, there will be

wide-ranging implications for anyone

who plays the sport.

There have been some calls in some

quarters for a ban or restriction

on heading the ball at some levels

of youth football.

Police Scotland officers are under

investigation for gross misconduct

for their response to concerns

raised about the Emma

Caldwell murder inquiry.

The officers were found to have

obtained communications data

without judicial permission

while trying to identify

a journalist's sources.

The inquiry's being conducted

by the Police Service

of Northern Ireland.

Ms Caldwell was working

as a prostitute when her body

was found in woods in Biggar

in Lanarkshire, 12 years ago.

The Scottish Youth Parliament

is being investigated by the police

after claims of possible harassment

and inappropriate behaviour

by members and former members.

SYP says it referred the matter

to Police Scotland after becoming

aware of a new series

of historic allegations.

Lisa Summers reports.

The last time the Scottish

Youth Parliament met

it was here at Holyrood last month.

Normally they will meet at various

places across the country

to campaign about issues that

concern young people,

like mental health or poverty.

There are 150 MSYPs

aged between 14 and 25.

It is unclear, the exact nature of

these claims.

They issued a statement to us

earlier this afternoon whereby

they said they take any allegations

very seriously and investigate

in line with their policies.

They said they referred the matter

to the police when it became clear

about a new series of historic

claims earlier on this month.

The police say that an investigation

is underway and enquiries continue

to see whether there are any

criminal allegations being made.

Dundee's bid to be European Capital

of Culture in 2023 has been

stopped in its tracks.

The European Commission has

announced that no UK city can now be

considered for the title

because of Brexit.

Dundee was one of five UK cities

vying for the accolade.

Andrew Anderson reports.

Not the Christmas present

Dundee was hoping for.

More of a bombshell.

Just a few month ago hopes were high

that the city could win

a huge cultural prize.

Now Brexit has put paid to that.

It seems unfair.

Willing to pay that

price for Brexit.

It is going to put a stop

to all these kinds of things.

It cannot be good

for Dundee as a city.

Dundee came together in a blaze

of colour last month to send

off its bid to be European Capital

of Culture in 2023.

If successful, huge

benefits were anticipated.

Like this museum due to open next

year on the waterfront.

The news that it and the other four

UK contenders can't take part just

days before they were meant

to meet the judges.

Our transport was all arranged.

We were flying down to London

on Monday to make that page.

It is gutting for all

involved and it is gutting

to everyone in the whole city.

It was a great bid and it was

energised and refocused people's

mindset on what Dundee was becoming.

The European Commission

said that given...

Back in 2013, Dundee lost out

on its bid to be this

year's UK City of Culture.

The Capital of Culture prize

would have been even bigger.

I wrote one year ago

to the UK Government to make

sure that they would do

what they could to make sure that

Dundee could be a City of Culture.

They need to be making sure

that they rectify this

issue, that they contact

the European Commission and they put

these bids back on track

if that is at all possible.

So Dundee's hopes from a month ago

may have been dashed, but tonight

there was a determination

to bounce back.

Setting a minimum price

for tobacco could drive down

the number of smokers,

according to public health experts.

A study published by the University

of Edinburgh and NHS

Health Scotland also suggests

reducing its availability.

The Scottish Government is due

to publish its tobacco strategy next

year but says it has no current

plans to look at minimum pricing.

The UK Government has

revived its plans to re-privatise

Royal Bank of Scotland,

aiming to sell £15 billion

worth of shares by 2023.

It wants to have the first tranche

sold by the end of March 2019.

Derek McInnes will not be

leaving his job at Aberdeen

to become the Rangers manager,

according to his club chairman.

Stewart Milne says McInnes has

told him that he has no intention

of leaving the club any time soon,

and wants to win more

trophies for the Dons.

McInnes has been Rangers' preferred

candidate since the departure

of Pedro Caixhina a month ago.

The former Scottish Labour

leader Kezia Dugdale faced

a stomach-churning task

as she made her debut

on the reality TV show

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

She struggled to complete

a challenge to retrieve a number

of red stars buried in boxes filled

with raw meat, fish guts

and a variety of creepy crawlies.

Ms Dugdale was denied permission

by political bosses to take

part in the programme,

and her appearance

has divided opinion.

Now over to Christopher

for tomorrow's forecast.

How's it looking?

Cold. Good evening. A cold night

ahead. Frosty and icy. We have a Met

Office be aware yellow warning in

force from now until mid-morning

tomorrow. Overnight, we hold on to a

number of showers. A mixture of

rain, sleet and snow, mainly in the

West. Also in the north. Many

central and eastern parts it is dry

but cold. Ten bridges in towns and

cities down to freezing if not

lower. In the countryside, as low as

-52 minus eight. Especially with

snow on the ground. Tomorrow

morning, a cold morning and icy in

places. Especially on untreated

roads and services. Across western

parts, cloudy with frequent showers,

a mixture of rain, sleet and snow.

a mixture of rain, sleet and snow. A

great start but still cold in the

south. Temperatures well below

freezing weather is snow on the

ground. Final, frequent showers and

we with gales or gale force gusts

coming in from the west. Through the

cause of the morning tomorrow,

cloudy in the West with frequent

showers. Mixture of rain, sleet and

snow. Perhaps some snow to low

levels. At the East, sunshine,

reasonably dry. A few showers here

through the cause of the day. Across

the UK as a whole, for England and

Wales, plenty of sunshine and after

cloudy start around southern coastal

areas, it improves, drier and

brighter. A crisp date for Northern

Ireland. 10 degrees in the cell.

Volley, much colder. Three to 5

degrees at best. Add the winds

degrees at best. Add the winds in

the far north and the Northern Isles

and that will give a bitter feel. In

the sunshine, a crisp feel. Tomorrow

night, frequent showers once again.

Frosty and icy. The weekend,

Saturday very similar to tomorrow. A

brisk north-westerly driving in

showers. Winter it, perhaps to low

levels. Drier the further east and

south you are. It will be cold.

Sunday probably the better of the

two days. A small ridge of high

pressure affording largely dry, fine

and sunny weather but will be cold.

Thanks, Christopehr.

And that's all from us tonight.

There are updates from 6.25 tomorrow

morning, during Breakfast.

From everyone on the late

team here in Glasgow,

and around the country, goodnight.