:00:00. > :00:00.How do you know when to believe them?
:00:00. > :00:27.Is it convincing when they all get together to say they really,
:00:28. > :00:29.It looks rather like a marriage of convenience.
:00:30. > :00:34.The three main unionist parties promised today that, together,
:00:35. > :00:36.they would make good on their proposals for further
:00:37. > :00:43.Or will they leave Scotland standing at the altar once
:00:44. > :00:48.Will there be a quickie divorce before the 2015 UK election?
:00:49. > :00:51.Also tonight, we've been to visit a country that broke away from the
:00:52. > :00:55.UK, yet somehow uses the Bank of England as a lender of last resort.
:00:56. > :00:58.It's even had a bailout from UK taxpayers.
:00:59. > :01:00.And while we are talking about money,
:01:01. > :01:03.I'll be asking how to the Scottish government plan to pay for billions
:01:04. > :01:11.of pounds of extra borrowing in the early years of independence.
:01:12. > :01:14.In a remarkable show of unity, the three pro-union parties today
:01:15. > :01:17.stood together to make a joint offer to the people of Scotland.
:01:18. > :01:20.Guaranteeing there will be more powers for the Scottish
:01:21. > :01:25.Yes Scotland has dismissed it as desperation.
:01:26. > :01:28.Can we trust them to deliver when they don't even agree amongst
:01:29. > :01:30.themselves about what extra powers should be devolved?
:01:31. > :01:38.Our political correspondent Lucy Adams reports.
:01:39. > :01:45.It was never going to be a match made in heaven. Relations have been
:01:46. > :01:49.rocky, and the three prounion parties have consistently vowed to
:01:50. > :01:54.keep separate their offers on more powers for Scotland. In February,
:01:55. > :01:58.Ruth Davidson spelt out her stance. But then Gordon Brown stepped in as
:01:59. > :02:04.matchmaker. All three parties have now agreed to change, and all three
:02:05. > :02:08.people will put it in their election manifesto that they will implement
:02:09. > :02:11.these proposals for change. If we can get agreement earlier, let's do
:02:12. > :02:16.it. Before the referendum, if it is possible, but at the same time, we
:02:17. > :02:19.have got to recognise that every party is now committed to these
:02:20. > :02:23.changes. Everyone enjoys a wedding, so as polling day approaches, they
:02:24. > :02:28.have had to overlook their 70s to create what some say is a marriage
:02:29. > :02:32.of convenience. -- overlook their differences. They had been adamant,
:02:33. > :02:36.no joint offer, no joint deal, no marriage, yet today the three
:02:37. > :02:42.prounion parties made public their valves to the Scottish people. The
:02:43. > :02:45.question is, why? They talk about greater powers in relation to fiscal
:02:46. > :02:49.responsibility and social security but offered no details. I think
:02:50. > :02:54.people like politicians to come together where they can and build
:02:55. > :02:57.consensus. A separate debate about what we would want to do in the
:02:58. > :03:04.Scottish Parliament, that is the normal stuff of politics. What we
:03:05. > :03:09.have seen with the three UK parties, even though day-to-day policies are
:03:10. > :03:12.different, this is different. We will stand together on this issue
:03:13. > :03:17.and that is what we are seeing today. Recent polls indicate a
:03:18. > :03:21.narrowing of voter intentions with a poll yesterday suggesting that Yes
:03:22. > :03:25.Scotland is just four points behind. Until now, their only common ground
:03:26. > :03:29.was to keep Scotland in the UK. Today, they have made a joint offer
:03:30. > :03:35.with very little detail. The question is, will this marriage of
:03:36. > :03:39.convenience last beyond September? Experts say today's joint statement
:03:40. > :03:45.is significant. I think the reason they have done this now is simply to
:03:46. > :03:50.try and shore up the level of the no vote. We are getting a yes, no vote
:03:51. > :03:55.choice in September, but the electorate is only split three
:03:56. > :03:59.ways, one third want independence, one third want the status quo and
:04:00. > :04:03.one third want the middle ground option. This is an attempt to break
:04:04. > :04:08.into the middle ground and secure it for the no side. But the yes
:04:09. > :04:12.campaign says it smacks of desperate measures. The problem I have got
:04:13. > :04:18.with the no campaign is their lack of self-awareness. Folk looking at
:04:19. > :04:23.the promises they are making today, and saying, why haven't done it over
:04:24. > :04:27.the last 20 years? Why all of a sudden, when you are losing the
:04:28. > :04:31.referendum campaign, and leave me, they are losing it day by day as yet
:04:32. > :04:36.gained ground, where they suddenly offering something else? No one is
:04:37. > :04:39.going to believe them. They have stood side-by-side but whether this
:04:40. > :04:45.marriage of three mines will be convincing is still uncertain.
:04:46. > :04:47.Earlier, I spoke to the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alistair
:04:48. > :04:51.Carmichael, and asked him how three parties could offer more devolution
:04:52. > :04:54.when they cannot agree among themselves about what the powers on
:04:55. > :04:58.offer should be. I think the important thing that people have to
:04:59. > :05:01.remember is that on the 18th of September, they are going to be
:05:02. > :05:06.asked a simple straightforward question about independence. I think
:05:07. > :05:10.it is right that for those of us who want the United Kingdom to
:05:11. > :05:14.continue, who believe that the devolution project has been an
:05:15. > :05:18.enormous success and we want to see that continuing to grow, should be
:05:19. > :05:23.able to give some assurance to the people of Scotland that we will
:05:24. > :05:25.finish the job of devolution. But we cannot allow ourselves to be
:05:26. > :05:30.distracted from the fact that the vote on the 18th of September is
:05:31. > :05:33.about independence. The Lib Dems have been talking for a long time
:05:34. > :05:36.about a federal Britain. But Labour and the Tories only came up with
:05:37. > :05:43.talks about increased devolution recently. They could have done this,
:05:44. > :05:45.they have both been in government since the Scottish Parliament was
:05:46. > :05:54.open, they could have legislated. Can you trust the other leaders if
:05:55. > :05:58.there is a no vote? There has never been a timetable, since we started
:05:59. > :06:03.this devolution project, we are part of the United Kingdom who has asked
:06:04. > :06:09.for powers. We have twice delivered powers from the Scottish Parliament,
:06:10. > :06:15.the Labour government set it up in 1927, and we within the coalition
:06:16. > :06:20.government added to the powers. -- set it up in 1997. The project
:06:21. > :06:26.started under the last Labour and Anne was completed under the
:06:27. > :06:33.coalition. So, why do you trust them to go further? I think the people of
:06:34. > :06:37.Scotland camp have confidence, when we say as we have said today, that
:06:38. > :06:40.more powers will come, that the devolution project will be
:06:41. > :06:44.completed. Given that this has come so late in the day, so close to the
:06:45. > :06:49.referendum and as the polls seem to be saying, why would anybody trust
:06:50. > :06:51.Labour and the Tories to deliver on devolution promises they are
:06:52. > :06:57.suddenly pulling out of the air? I have told you already, we have
:06:58. > :07:00.already delivered twice. All three parties. The great irony of modern
:07:01. > :07:08.British lytic is the only party that has never any ScottishPower 's to
:07:09. > :07:11.the -- the only party that has never delivered any powers if the Scottish
:07:12. > :07:16.National party. So should people vote Labour or Tory in the 2015
:07:17. > :07:22.election? I believe the Liberal Democrats... They will not be able
:07:23. > :07:27.to deliver them, so should they vote Labour or Tory? I think you will
:07:28. > :07:36.find that since we have been incumbents are 2010, we have already
:07:37. > :07:40.delivered substantial powers. As of next year, the Scottish parliament
:07:41. > :07:43.will have control of stamp duty land tax and the landfill tax, they will
:07:44. > :07:50.have borrowing powers which apparently, now we hear John Swinney
:07:51. > :07:55.is keen to start using. And comes 2016, there will be a Scottish rate
:07:56. > :07:58.of income tax. I think the Liberal Democrats have a good prospectus to
:07:59. > :08:03.take to the people of Scotland come 2015 and the general election.
:08:04. > :08:07.I am joined now by Stewart Hosie, the SNP's Treasury spokesman who is
:08:08. > :08:10.in London. Alistair Carmichael is right, it is Labour and the Tories
:08:11. > :08:13.and Lib Dems correlation who delivered both the Scottish
:08:14. > :08:18.parliament and enhanced powers in the last Scotland act, the SNP have
:08:19. > :08:23.never delivered any power to Scotland. All power sits in
:08:24. > :08:26.Westminster so it has got to be a Westminster parliament which decides
:08:27. > :08:30.on these powers. Let's make no mistake, the only reason we have any
:08:31. > :08:33.power in Scotland is because the Scottish people demanded it. The
:08:34. > :08:36.reason of this announcement has been made today is because the Scottish
:08:37. > :08:39.people now look like they are heading towards a yes vote for
:08:40. > :08:46.independence. This is the last desperate attempt to cobble together
:08:47. > :08:52.some kind of position to try and stop the yes bandwagon. This slashes
:08:53. > :08:55.with Davidson's normal powers. This destroys what Labour have been
:08:56. > :09:01.trying to do, which is absolute nothing. In terms of the Liberals,
:09:02. > :09:05.we have had Alistair Carmichael, they are supposed to have believed
:09:06. > :09:11.in federalism and 1914. Why are they so afraid to put that to the people
:09:12. > :09:16.in the form of devo max in 2014? This announcement was a shambles,
:09:17. > :09:21.fear and panic in need no campaign, seven -- driven by the yes Scotland.
:09:22. > :09:25.Whether it was bluff and bluster or not, all three major UK parties told
:09:26. > :09:28.us a few months ago there was no chance that an independent Scotland
:09:29. > :09:30.Scotland would be cut loose economically,
:09:31. > :09:33.But our economics correspondent Colletta
:09:34. > :09:35.Smith has been finding out that recent history shows that things
:09:36. > :09:48.Remember this? A few months ago George Osborne came to Edinburgh to
:09:49. > :09:51.save the yes campaign were wrong suggesting that the UK would back up
:09:52. > :09:54.the economy of an independent Scotland. Are they really saying
:09:55. > :10:01.that an independent Scotland could insist that taxpayers in a nation
:10:02. > :10:04.which had just voted to leave would continue to back the currency of
:10:05. > :10:09.this new foreign-currency? Stand behind the banks of this foreign
:10:10. > :10:15.country as a lender of last resort? That is patently absurd. Let's delve
:10:16. > :10:19.into the world of what the Chancellor called absurd. Imagine
:10:20. > :10:23.there was a country that decided to leave the UK, that chose to keep
:10:24. > :10:28.using the pound, and whose banks were bailed out by the UK. Welcome
:10:29. > :10:32.to Dublin. Just four years ago, this is what the Chancellor had to say
:10:33. > :10:37.about the extra ?8 billion the UK was loaning for the Irish bailout.
:10:38. > :10:40.It is clearly in Britain might interest that we have a growing
:10:41. > :10:46.Irish economy and a stable packing system. By considering a bilateral
:10:47. > :10:51.loan, we are recognising deep connections between our two
:10:52. > :10:54.countries. That is the kind of support the Chancellor is ruling out
:10:55. > :10:58.a Scotland vote for independence. In Ireland, the Bank of England became
:10:59. > :11:05.a willing lender of last resort. It was probably a difficult decision to
:11:06. > :11:10.get past the UK taxpayer but very well supported here and will not be
:11:11. > :11:13.forgotten. Here in Dublin, it is clear that kept -- close financial
:11:14. > :11:21.relationship between the UK and Ireland is still central to both
:11:22. > :11:25.economies. The financial centre is just a front for all the UK banks,
:11:26. > :11:32.they will all have support offices here. It is not just the banking
:11:33. > :11:41.sectors that link the countries. 2 million worth of euros of goods flow
:11:42. > :11:47.across the seas each week. Including from this jellybean factory on the
:11:48. > :11:51.outskirts of a blimp. -- Dublin. We import ingredients from the UK,
:11:52. > :11:57.sugar, glucose, starch, all comes from the UK. All the things that
:11:58. > :12:02.island by in from elsewhere in the world, about a third of them come
:12:03. > :12:08.from the UK. That is worth as much as each year. That is a massive
:12:09. > :12:13.boost to the UK economy. In fact, one in five of all experts from the
:12:14. > :12:17.-- exports from the UK are bought in Ireland and trade flows the other
:12:18. > :12:21.way as well. We are manufacturing 12 to 14 million jellybean is a day.
:12:22. > :12:26.With a population of 4 million people, if our Irish market was the
:12:27. > :12:31.only market, every man, woman and child had to -- would have to eat a
:12:32. > :12:35.lot of jellybean! We look at the UK to be an extension of our own
:12:36. > :12:44.market. So this suggests the UK would be a lender of last resort for
:12:45. > :12:48.an economic -- independent Scotland. But go back further in history,
:12:49. > :12:52.those same tyres mean the idea of independence is not that simple.
:12:53. > :12:59.Ireland was a brand-new state, this -- carving its own identity in the
:13:00. > :13:02.world. They decided to pack their new currency to Stirling. Meaning
:13:03. > :13:07.one Irish punt was always worth exactly one British pound. After
:13:08. > :13:12.fighting a bitter war for independence, why did Ireland opt
:13:13. > :13:16.for sterling? Hanging onto the currency coat-tail of the country
:13:17. > :13:21.they had just gained independence from. It was very pragmatic reasons.
:13:22. > :13:25.The deep relationships of the two countries in terms of trade, the
:13:26. > :13:30.deep relationships of the two countries in terms of the money
:13:31. > :13:34.markets between Dublin and London, and the fact he still had a lot of
:13:35. > :13:41.people in the Republic who were in receipt of transfers from relatives
:13:42. > :13:45.and friends working in the UK or from UK government pensions. So it
:13:46. > :13:49.was a no-brainer to test -- to stay with sterling. What there any
:13:50. > :13:53.political backlash to the fact that the island was sticking with the UK
:13:54. > :13:58.economically? Know, people were ultimately pragmatic, the Civil War
:13:59. > :14:01.was about the political mastery of the country. It was an accepted fact
:14:02. > :14:04.of life like the weather that economic and we were not
:14:05. > :14:12.independent. When you are a small country tied to a larger country
:14:13. > :14:17.through trade, history, blood and money, you're not independent. And
:14:18. > :14:20.that goes to the heart of the issue. More than 90 years after political
:14:21. > :14:28.independence, is economic independence still unachievable?
:14:29. > :14:31.While I had the Secretary of State on the line, I asked Alistair
:14:32. > :14:40.Carmichael why, given Ireland's experience, why he thought the UK
:14:41. > :14:46.would not bail out an independent Scotland. We have, as part of the
:14:47. > :14:53.United Kingdom, access to the wider and bigger market, and protection,
:14:54. > :14:56.when things go bad with our banks, for example, or any other economic
:14:57. > :15:00.crisis, we have the opportunity of helping each other out. I think it
:15:01. > :15:06.would be quite remarkable if those who are looking to break these links
:15:07. > :15:12.were to do so on the basis that we would rely on the rest of the United
:15:13. > :15:17.Kingdom coming to our assistance if we actually ever need them. I think
:15:18. > :15:21.that is quite a remarkable position and shows the weakness of what is on
:15:22. > :15:27.offer compared to the security and the certainty of what we have.
:15:28. > :15:31.Unless you think Ireland has the best of both worlds, its political
:15:32. > :15:36.independence, but the security to know that whilst the Bank of England
:15:37. > :15:42.as a lender of last resort, it is there if you need it? That was the
:15:43. > :15:47.situation they find themselves in a few years ago. There was no
:15:48. > :15:50.guarantee of that. And really if you want the best of both worlds, I
:15:51. > :15:55.would suggest that that is what we have got. Ireland also shows is the
:15:56. > :16:01.example that you can have thriving cross-border trade, they do not use
:16:02. > :16:05.the same currency, they are separate economies in terms of how they are
:16:06. > :16:09.politically run, yet they are absolutely thriving in trade, so
:16:10. > :16:15.even if Scotland was not in a currency union, it would be able to
:16:16. > :16:18.do the same? I am not suggesting for a second that cross-border trade
:16:19. > :16:23.would stop. Newly it would continue. But it would not be on the same
:16:24. > :16:28.advantageous terms we curtly have. It would not be in a single
:16:29. > :16:34.integrated market. You would not have the same completely uniform set
:16:35. > :16:43.of regulations first health and safety, all the things we rely on.
:16:44. > :16:47.Stewart Hosie is still with us. Is that what you're relying on, the
:16:48. > :16:50.idea that whilst the Bank of England might not technically be an
:16:51. > :16:53.independent Scotland's lender of last resort, they would not have
:16:54. > :17:02.much choice but they'll Scotland out if they needed to? We are talking
:17:03. > :17:06.about a formal currency union. But it was interesting in the package,
:17:07. > :17:11.support was provided from the UK to Irish banks, support provided from
:17:12. > :17:20.the United States to UK banks, multinational bailouts of banks
:17:21. > :17:27.incontinently Europe. This was absolutely normal -- in continental
:17:28. > :17:33.Europe. Let me ask you about a statement John Swinney gave to the
:17:34. > :17:36.Herald today, when he set out to borrow very heavily in an
:17:37. > :17:40.independent Scotland. He said he wanted to get rid of George
:17:41. > :17:47.Osborne's austerity drive, increased public spending, that would mean
:17:48. > :17:52.that in 2018-19, they would be extra borrowing of ?2.4 billion. How can
:17:53. > :17:57.an independent Scotland possibly for these increases in public spending?
:17:58. > :18:02.John Swinney said he did not want to borrow heavily, he wants to invest
:18:03. > :18:06.to see public services grow by 3%. How was he going to do that without
:18:07. > :18:16.borrowing? He has to borrow it, but not heavily. It is pretty heavily.
:18:17. > :18:20.It is not, it is modest. The viewers know that we have opposed austerity
:18:21. > :18:25.measures of the UK Government, which we believe is stifled recovery and
:18:26. > :18:35.strangled growth for summary is -- for some years. We believe it is
:18:36. > :18:42.waste to -- it is waste to invest -- it is sensible to invest. Only if
:18:43. > :18:47.you achieve the growth rates you predict. There is no guarantee
:18:48. > :18:52.increasing public spending will cause the economic growth that will
:18:53. > :18:57.shrink the deficit. The real terms cut promised by George Osborne will
:18:58. > :19:02.strangle growth. If that investment is insignificant measure in capital
:19:03. > :19:09.assets, then we know there is a one 21 impact. You will certainly get
:19:10. > :19:15.GDP growth from that sensible investment. It ends dreadful
:19:16. > :19:22.austerity which next year will see 126 alien of tax rises and public
:19:23. > :19:29.service cuts, ?2000 per head for every person in the UK. You need to
:19:30. > :19:32.borrow, you can forget paying anything into an oil fund for the
:19:33. > :19:37.first few years of an independent Scotland? I have heard this argued
:19:38. > :19:45.before that you cannot save if you have got debt. Of course one can
:19:46. > :19:49.invest in an oil fund, that would be a very sensible thing to do. We have
:19:50. > :19:54.already had expert evidence to say you can populate an oil fund even if
:19:55. > :19:59.there is a deficit. And if a deficit comes down to the 2.2% forecast and
:20:00. > :20:03.debt continues to be lower as a share of GDP than the UK, that is a
:20:04. > :20:07.very healthy position while investing in the future and getting
:20:08. > :20:11.more people back to work. How much borrowing will be needed to pay for
:20:12. > :20:18.the set up costs of an independent Scotland, for the apparatus costs of
:20:19. > :20:23.a new state? You saw the figures... We have never seen the figures from
:20:24. > :20:27.the Scottish Government. 250 million as opposed to the ludicrous 2.7
:20:28. > :20:35.billion scarce story from the no campaign. This was also rubbished by
:20:36. > :20:42.the Professor. The ?250 million figure is sensible. But until we
:20:43. > :20:51.finalise negotiations on the assets, and Scotland's series around
:20:52. > :20:56.10 billion, but the ?250 million figure seems eminently sensible.
:20:57. > :20:59.Thanks very much for that. Let's take a look at some of the
:21:00. > :21:08.most read stories around the world this evening.
:21:09. > :21:12.The BBC's most read story is that racing driver Michael Schumacher has
:21:13. > :21:17.left story -- left hospital and is no longer in a coma. He was injured
:21:18. > :21:20.in a skiing accident last year. CNN reports the news that 13 people have
:21:21. > :21:24.been executed after a crackdown on terrorism in China am following a
:21:25. > :21:29.string of attacks, including one in Jenin Square. Al-Jazeera tells us
:21:30. > :21:34.that drone strikes are being considered in Iraq. The UN said it
:21:35. > :21:38.was pulling its staff out of Baghdad.
:21:39. > :21:42.Joining me for a look at the biggest online stories of the day, Adam
:21:43. > :21:46.Tomkins of Glasgow University and Robin McAlpine from the Jimmy Reid
:21:47. > :21:49.Foundation. One of the big referendum related stories is the
:21:50. > :21:55.Scottish Government coming up with a Draft Constitution of an independent
:21:56. > :21:59.Scotland if there is a Yes vote in September. It is an interesting
:22:00. > :22:05.idea, a written constitution. Megan Stamper said that she thought it
:22:06. > :22:09.looked all right, she was not so chuffed with the monarchy but very
:22:10. > :22:15.pleased about nuclear disarmament. That is an interesting one, Robin.
:22:16. > :22:20.Nuclear disarmament is what you put in a policy manifesto? It is
:22:21. > :22:25.reasonable for the SNP to see this as an interim constitution. They are
:22:26. > :22:33.indicating the intention to get rid of nuclear weapons. I think it does
:22:34. > :22:37.sometimes stray little bit into policy, but this is the first time
:22:38. > :22:42.in mainland Britain but we have had a government proposing everything --
:22:43. > :22:47.a written constitution. The first thing it says, the people are
:22:48. > :22:52.sovereign. It sees it and guarantees it. And that the people will write
:22:53. > :22:56.their constitution. I think this is enormously important. I am surprised
:22:57. > :23:01.the BBC has not been leading with this in Scotland today. It sees the
:23:02. > :23:06.people are sovereign and then that the people are keeping the Queen. If
:23:07. > :23:10.the people are sovereign, why do you need to write it down? This is going
:23:11. > :23:17.to be judicially enforceable full stop this is not a constitution.
:23:18. > :23:22.This is not a constitution that should be written by the people, the
:23:23. > :23:26.people made zero contribution. It has been written behind closed or is
:23:27. > :23:34.and pronounced today by the Deputy First Minister -- behind closed
:23:35. > :23:39.doors. We are going to be governed by a constitutional monarchy,
:23:40. > :23:46.otherwise known as the sovereign. It doesn't make any sense at all. There
:23:47. > :23:54.is not an off a lot in it. -- and offal hacks lot. There is nothing in
:23:55. > :23:57.it that looks even remotely similar to the great words of the first
:23:58. > :24:06.Amendment of the American Constitution. Alex Massie was
:24:07. > :24:09.complaining today. It doesn't read like some of the more inspiring
:24:10. > :24:15.constitutional documents around the world. We need to get through the
:24:16. > :24:18.first elections for a Scottish parliament if there is a vote for
:24:19. > :24:21.independence. I would be the first person to complain if these things
:24:22. > :24:24.had been in it. You do not offer to let the people write a constitution
:24:25. > :24:28.and then get your best poetry out and start writing it on the spot.
:24:29. > :24:31.This is enough to get us through with a promise that people read the
:24:32. > :24:36.Constitution, and I think that is pretty good. If you are one of the
:24:37. > :24:41.people having your say, what do you want to see in it? I would like to
:24:42. > :24:48.see a ban on nuclear weapons on our soil. I was never that big a fan of
:24:49. > :24:53.constitutions. Having a good working democracy rather than that, I think
:24:54. > :24:57.they're are good things we can do with the constitution, the chance of
:24:58. > :25:04.having it is great, but it is not my main point. A government that act
:25:05. > :25:07.with integrity. And the parliament, unlike the parliament we have in
:25:08. > :25:11.Scotland at the moment, who regards its first job as holding that
:25:12. > :25:19.government to appoint rather than blame that -- blame lease supporting
:25:20. > :25:22.it. You don't like this one but do you like the idea of Scotland being
:25:23. > :25:28.able to come up with a written constitution? Something that can be
:25:29. > :25:33.inspiring? I think it is inevitable that if there is Yes in September
:25:34. > :25:36.and Scotland becomes independent, I think it is inevitable there will be
:25:37. > :25:42.a written constitution of some shape or form within the first parliament.
:25:43. > :25:44.They don't believe this idea that it is all going to be organically
:25:45. > :25:51.written from the people from the ground up. It will be written by...
:25:52. > :25:59.It will be written by people who look a lot like me. There is a story
:26:00. > :26:06.on the Harold's website saying that INEOS have called for a curb on
:26:07. > :26:08.bullying union tactics. They complained that executives were
:26:09. > :26:12.being harassed by union protesters outside their homes in this sort of
:26:13. > :26:25.thing. Is it fear and offer them to ask for protection -- is it they are
:26:26. > :26:27.for them? It seems to me that they believe that anyone else in society
:26:28. > :26:33.challenging their right to run things as they want, are some sort
:26:34. > :26:38.of Billy or problem. According to the statistics on democracy, written
:26:39. > :26:44.is currently sitting 27th out of 28 countries for industrial democracy.
:26:45. > :26:50.If any -- if INEOS get their way, we might fall behind. The high
:26:51. > :26:53.commission have put out a report saying that Britain is the worst
:26:54. > :26:58.country to be poor in in western Europe, this is a reality about
:26:59. > :27:01.Britain we do not hear from the other campaign. We hear a lot of
:27:02. > :27:10.stuff about how Britain could share risk, it is good to see the cystic
:27:11. > :27:14.'s -- see the statistics. I am not in favour of bullying, I am in
:27:15. > :27:20.favour of using the law to curb it. We need to think of the interest of
:27:21. > :27:23.the employer, the interests of the employee, but also the interests of
:27:24. > :27:30.those who were inconvenienced by strikes. If this could be part of
:27:31. > :27:38.the Law reform to devolve power away from trade union barons. I would be
:27:39. > :27:42.all in favour of it. Thank you for coming into night. That's it from
:27:43. > :27:44.us. Thank you for watching for so you can join us next time tomorrow
:27:45. > :28:46.night. Hope to see you then, goodbye.
:28:47. > :28:51.The Islamic fascist forces sweeping through the north of Iraq have to be
:28:52. > :28:55.stopped, the American Secretary of State said today, since they
:28:56. > :28:59.threaten the very existence of the country, but how? We have views from
:29:00. > :29:03.America and Iran and our diplomatic editor is here. With images emerging
:29:04. > :29:04.of Iraqi prisoners