31/07/2014 Scotland 2014

We need tens of thousands of new homes.

Scotland needs the equivalent of up to eight new towns

in order to meet our housing needs for the next ten years.

We'll be discussing who is going to build them and where they should go.

And Eilidh Child shines with silver and gets a standing ovation

at Hampden Park. The UK is just one flight away from catching

The Scottish government needs to help deliver six or eight major new

communties either as new towns or as extensions to existing ones to

meet the acute need over the next decade, according to

We need more affordable homes in the private rented sector

and more land needs to be made available to build them.

So where should all these new homes go?

There are high expectations for the latest new town under construction

on the outskirts of Edinburgh. With 4000 new homes, three schools, shops

and a town centre, it's also hoped it will shake off the reputation of

much maligned Newtown we learned about in geography lessons. Plans

have already been made and this model shows how it will look in the

future. Optimism is a prerequisite when building a community from

scratch. Here is Princess Margaret in 1967. A big day for the residents

of this Scottish Newtown. Princess Margaret made it a day they will

never forget. But that was then and this is now. Over time, the very

idea of new towns has lost its glamour. Cumbernauld won the dubious

accolade of carbuncle of the year not just once, as it fought back and

won a public vote for civic pride, so if today's report once eight new

communities built, would they look like this? Why do we need such

drastic building plans? The report says it could take more than 20

years to build the amount of new homes experts believe we need. At

the same time, number of times people apply for social housing, it

is rising sharply, and the number of older and younger people living

alone is going up which means more houses fast. Which is what they

thought were made build East Kilbride. The guide on how to build

a new town has been rewritten. So are we ready for more?

He's the chairman of the Scottish Housing Commission.

And in Edinburgh is Neil Baxter, Secretary and Treasurer

of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

Let me ask you first, warily going to find six or eight new towns and

where are we going to put them? The commission is calling for new

communities up to eight, so I'm conscious of the use of towns and in

the PC have just gone there, the message behind it is about a

significant acceleration of House production. The Institute of Public

policy research suggests in the last decade, Scotland has under produced

housing to the tune of 100,000 homes, a significant issue and we

need to look at it. What needs to happen in order to get new homes

built? The recommendations are extensive. We started making sure

that housing has a public policy priority in Scotland. Housing needs

to break the glass ceiling beyond which lies issues such as health and

education and let's remember the fantastic contribution great housing

can make to educational attendance, and that has been lost along the way

in terms of public policy. The commission is calling for a major

shift in terms of political attitude for housing where we take the

housing minister and put him around the Cabinet table this time. Neil

Baxter, eight new communities. Can we reinvent the Newtown as something

people want to live in or do we need to find a different way? I think the

focus on new towns, on building major new communities, is perhaps

slightly inappropriate. We should be looking at our existing communities

and looking at consolidating brown field first. The idea we continued

to build on greenfield sites is not the sustainable approach and it's

not the right approach. This is an excellent report, no question, it is

well researched. Our own president contributed to it, so the

corporation has been involved, but the focus on this one aspect of the

report, the building of new towns, is, I think, a distraction. We

should really be looking at concentrating and increasing the

density in our towns. Scottish cities at the moment, Glasgow has

around 30 people per hectare, Barcelona, 171. I think that says a

lot. After all, a lot of people would enjoy living in Barcelona, so

we need to look at the density of our existing communities and perhaps

address the problems they're rather than continuing to build on

greenfield and potentially spoiling the countryside. Let me put some of

that to Tom Barclay. You talk about needing to make more land available

to bring down the price of new housing. Can we not use the land we

already have built on? Yes, the solution will be a mixture of those

things. I agree with his point in terms of focusing on town centres.

There has to be a balanced approach but the reality is this not in a

brown field sites to deal with the issue we have in front of us, so it

has to be a balance of an approach to Brownfield and to greenfield.

Affordability will have to be key. The snow point building homes people

can't afford to live in and we see the cost of property going up again

in Scotland. How can we make it affordable? The average House price

in Scotland for June suggests we have a 5.9% increase in House prices

in Scotland over the last 12 months, the first time in four years it has

gone beyond the 5% mark. We are continuing to see inflation

affecting it due to a lack of supply. In terms of housing

economics, if we start to meet housing and make it a national

priority, moving forward into the next decade, we then start to see an

element of certainty. If we doubled the supply of housing, we allow

developers to take a longer-term view of investment and perhaps other

forms of finance will come into play such as institutional investment.

OK, thank you very much for joining me tonight.

This was always going to be a major day at the Commonwealth

The day when Scotland's darling of the track, Eilidh Child,

made her bid for a Commonwealth medal in the the hurdles.

Hampden gave her a standing ovation as she won silver.

Jonathan Sutherland is there for us now.

Jonathan, what was the atmosphere like earlier?

It's all quiet now but earlier this evening this was throbbing epicentre

of Glasgow 2014. The eyes of a nation where very much on the

national stadium. The big question, could Eilidh Child get a gold medal

in the final of the 400 metres hurdles? This is what happened.

A silver medal in the end for Eilidh Child.

Well joining me now is Allison Curbishley who won silver

for Scotland in the 400 metres at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Tonight Eilidh spoke about relief after she finished the race. Did it

have any pressure on her in the performance? Not at all. It is a

script for not the people in here tonight. It would have taken a

lifetime best to beat Spencer. Eilidh has never beaten her. She got

closer this year in Doha but was beaten by the better woman in a day

in a time a lot quicker than Eilidh has ever run, so the relief was more

about the build-up to these fantastic games. Day eight of the

Commonwealth Games has been another successful day 14 Scotland. Medals

have been one elsewhere. With two silver medals already to as

names, Daniel Keating 's went into the final of the men's horse with

confidence and he delivered a golden performance. He blew the competition

away. A true Scottish star at these games. This gold was Scotland's 40th

medal. Soon after, it was 41 and it came from a valiant performance in

the wrestling. The Ukrainian injured his knee. These wrestlers are made

of stern stuff. He's fought through the pain and claimed the bronze

medal. Back in the hydro, and gymnastics, and gymnastics, another

bronze, another man, Daniel Purvis. One more medal to add for Scotland.

This was number 42. Of course, since then, Eilidh Child has made it 43

medals for Scotland. You have watched all these games in terms of

the Scottish performance. They have smashed through the tally they

wanted, 33. How would you sum it up for Scotland? We're looking at the

track and field team, 58 strong, and for me, the majority of them are

under the age of 26. They have come here with a lot of experience but

they are delivering. Best Potter take me up personal best. Again,

personal best, that's all we can ask of the athletes to come here and

cope with this stage because many of them will never experienced anything

like it again. Thank you very much. A silver medal for Eilidh Child

today at Hampden Park. A crackling atmosphere. 43 medals for Scotland.

Another good day and hopefully another couple more good days to

come to Scotland as well. Back to you. There are still two days to go.

The man who has been focused on this tally total

Sport Scotland's performance Director Mike Whittingham.

Have you done better than they are expected to? I'm delighted. Watching

that gives me shudder to believe what we're done because we have six

medals guaranteed as well, so I think we will head the 50 mark. This

started seven years ago. We learned from London, a collaborative

approach is what brings a uniformity across what we have tried to do

here, so we have been planning this. We had a vision seven years ago, but

we have supported it through national lottery and the Government.

Fantastic investment. It has allowed all of us to work closely with

governing bodies to set up new initiatives. It's those winning

margins, concentrating on the controllable is, they really are

important to performance sport. Swimming, ten medals. Three gold

medals. Those are world-class performances. Judo, and medal in

every single category. 13 medals from judo, which cost up to a great

momentum. Three more days left. We think this is down to a fantastic

team I have and system we are trying to build, thanks to the support from

the Government and national lottery, we have built a world-class system.

Like the facilities, the legacy is fantastic facilities. We are

providing an opportunity to athletes to say, if you really do commit

yourself and professional, we believe our system can deliver

medals consistently on the world stage so we started in London, and

the Scottish athletes delivered 20% of the medals in London, 25% gold,

in fact, and then a fantastical Winter Olympics. We want to complete

it with Glasgow so we have set a target of the most successful cycle

for Scottish sport and I think we're on the verge of that. You have set

high performance sport does not come cheap. Is it where you put most of

the money where you have seen most of the success? We don't have a

bottomless pit so we have to target and focus and the other side

concentrates on participation in development but obviously our job is

to make sure that we deliver a good return on our investment and I think

hopefully we are showing that. We are not complacent. We will have to

look and plan for 2018, a really big year. We think we are ahead of the

game for the Winter Olympics because we manage the curling programmes and

have substantial investment from UK sport. For the Commonwealth Games on

the Gold Coast, one fundamental element is the athletes, who had

stepped up and shown that they have the right attitude, they have

translated that into their performances and this is a country

that sometimes is accused of having a negative attitude. What this game

is relief is a belief that you can do things on the world stage and

that can translate in all sorts of society so the power of sport I

think is at stake here and I hope on Monday morning the Government will

look at us and sport and save this is a great investment and they might

want to invest more. Let's hope so. Thank you very much for joining us.

The Ebola crisis in West Africa is the deadliest ever

And it poses a very serious threat to the UK

Government officials are eager to reassure us our health service could

cope if the virus were to arrive on these shores.

But UK border officials complain they are not properly

Ebola is one of the most frightening disease is on the planet. So far 700

people have died in West Africa. Doctors have two Wear protective

clothing. Experts warned the UK is just one flight away from infection.

It only takes one infected passenger to bring the disease year.

In our Aberdeen studio this evening is the leading bacteriologist,

Should we be worried in the UK about this Ebola outbreak? We should not

be worried. It is not likely, that it is a possibility. A patient may

come in infected but not yet ill. These may have symptoms such as a

high fever. They may think they have got food poisoning. It is very

important that a Dr or nurse asks these people where they have been

from. There are reports that an athlete at

the Commonwealth Games has been tested for the Ebola by this. How

acutely aware will the authorities be that they need to be on the

lookout? I think they are and where. That is why there has been all the

publicity from Government. They are reinforcing the message that should

be there. It is possible that they might have malaria, which is

treatable. Sometimes malaria get noticed and people die. Pars

sometimes malaria is not protest and people die. You will not catch it

sitting next to somebody on a bus. You have got to have close personal

contact. That is why doctors and carers in West Africa have a 25%

chance of catching the virus if they are looking after somebody.

I read properly prepared if we had one or two cases? I think so. We

have never had an important case. If we did I think everybody knows what

to do. We have the facilities. At present we know that we can call if

we had an importation. Tomorrow marks the 300th anniversary

of the death of Queen Anne, Despite having had

at least 17 pregnancies, none of her children survived

infancy and her failure to provide an heir caused a major crisis in

the newly-created United Kingdom. Within a year of her death,

this erupted in the Jacobite Our Social Affairs Correspondent,

Reevel Alderson examines whether parallels can be drawn

between that turbulent time and our A tragic queen who had striven to

Unite the two kingdoms of England and Scotland. Here accepting the act

of union which abolished the Scots Parliament. Seven years later she

was succeeded by George the first. Coming to a United throne was a

particular concern in Scotland. It signalled to Scotland that the union

would be irreversible and that the Stuart line with the excluded from

the throne. Scotland felt finally doubly excluded from the top table.

In the National library of Scotland there is evidence of those Scots

concerns. They did not want a monarch imposed upon them who was

not of the royal line of Scotland. Here we have the act of security

past in Scotland in 1704. It was a significant documents. It was

contested through 19 settings. It caused controversy. It was

significant at the time. The issue remained very significant in the

early 18th century in Britain. This act of security said only Scots

could choose the successor to Queen Anne. The union of the Parliament

puts Vista man into the waistband of her study, but left a simmering

resentment. -- put this act into the dustbin of history.

The key thing here was that Queen Anne and her ministers wanted to

ensure a Protestant successor. But was not enough for Scotland. One

year after the death of Queen and the Jacobite standard was raised.

20,000 men rallied. It happened without any French support and

without any French troops. It is very much a native rising. It was

likely it was going to happen once it was clear that George the first

would succeed Queen Anne. The 1715 rising fields, but it highlighted

the way in which the union was going - the English way.

They did not want to be in a relationship with Scotland because

it was Presbyterian and there was a perception that Scotland was pure

and would be demanding hand-outs and support.

Now with a different Queen on the throne in Scotland again finds

itself at the concert usual crossroads. But this time the

decision will be taking democratically in the referendum in

September. And joining me to chat through

the day?s news is the Herald Arts Critic, Alison Rowat and

the Chief Executive of the Scottish Not much changes. There are still

Tories who thinks their Scots are a doer bunch. Many would not have been

taught about this at school. You can see it in the Edinburgh Fringe.

Productions are picking up on it. It gives you a sense of the Star Trek

times that we are living in. We must learn from her study. -- a sense of

the historic times. We are a modern country. A dynamic country. We want

to look at other issues that are affecting business. We want to move

on after September the 19th. You have mentioned the Edinburgh

Fringe. There is already controversy over an Israeli hip-hop opera that

has been boycotted by pro-Palestinian protesters. They

have been targeted because the theatre groups received some funding

from the Israeli Government. Is this legitimate protest to stop them

performing? They have a right to protest at the Theatre Company has a

right to perform. I feel uneasy that the show has been ruled after one

performance. While we do know that the company receives funding from

the Israeli Government we do not know what the individual thoughts of

the members of that company are. Their performance is not political.

Should they be left alone to perform their play given that they are not

making any of our physical stance? This is the wrong action. It will

not achieve an impact in terms of the bigger picture. We see families

being destroyed. I would like to see diplomats and Government leaders

looking at the wider picture and do more. This will not achieve

anything. A couple of weeks ago there was a letter signed by

well-known writers asking if they knew not to put this production on.

I was surprised at that. Are there other occasions on which the

situation is so grave you have two protest by whatever means you can? I

do not think by whatever means you can. They receive money from the

Israeli Government. Our lot of British artists receive money from

the authorities here. I am sure a lot of Russian productions have been

funded by the Russian Ministry of culture. How would they like to be

held accountable for the actions of the British Government as artists?

Another story is the one regarding sobriety tags being tested in parts

of London. One of these things will be strapped to the ankle of repeat

offenders. You could be sent back to prison. Is that fair? Some people

may think this is a stick type approach to what is a very serious

issue. I think this is worth testing. We have had some Tests done

in Scotland already through a number of universities. We must remember

that this was a group of volunteers. But in London they are talking about

forcing this upon offenders. We have got to look seriously at the effects

of alcoholism on our community and at the cost of this. This tag will

cost 1800 pounds over a six-month period. This costs the community

?22,000 to actually House individuals that are reoffending

through alcoholism. Two out of five attendances at Accident and

Emergency are related to alcohol. If this works would you support it?

Yes. There is obviously a problem with alcohol but this is not the way

to tackle it. If you are consistently in court charged with

alcohol-related offences then you have a real problem that will not be

sorted out by putting at high on you. They say if you are genuinely

alcohol dependent then this is not the punishment you would receive. It

is for people who are binge drinking several times a week. It. You from

having a glass of wine. Is it right that people are not allowed to take

a drink at all? The individuals we are talking about are continually

carrying out major crime, whether it's big domestic violence,

murderers - 80% of murders are related to alcohol.

That is all for now. We will be back next week. Goodbye.