:00:00. > :00:00.Tonight: Police Scotland's embroiled in yet another scandal.
:00:00. > :00:27.This time illegally targetting a journalist.
:00:28. > :00:29.A watchdog has ruled that detectives did not have
:00:30. > :00:33.proper grounds to intercept emails and phone calls,
:00:34. > :00:37.as they sought to find out a journalist's sources.
:00:38. > :00:40.We'll hear from the reporter who they targetted.
:00:41. > :00:42.And a screeching U-turn from the Chancellor, George Osbourne,
:00:43. > :00:48.as he scraps his controversial reform of the tax credit system.
:00:49. > :00:51.We'll guage the impact of his spending review here in Scotland.
:00:52. > :00:59.And we'll hear from the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
:01:00. > :01:01.A watchdog has ruled that Police Scotland
:01:02. > :01:06.to obtain the details of a journalist's sources.
:01:07. > :01:09.The investigation found that detectives
:01:10. > :01:12.didn't have proper grounds to intercept emails and phone calls,
:01:13. > :01:15.and it said their actions had been "reckless."
:01:16. > :01:18.The journalist went on to highlight failings
:01:19. > :01:21.in the police inquiry into the murder of Emma Caldwell,
:01:22. > :01:23.who'd been working as a prostitute in Glasgow.
:01:24. > :01:32.Here's our Home Affairs Correspondent Reevel Alderson.
:01:33. > :01:38.This story centres on the cold case the investigation of the murdered
:01:39. > :01:45.ten years ago of Glasgow prostitute Emma Caldwell. Detectives believed
:01:46. > :01:48.information was being leaked to a BBC documentary maker, and
:01:49. > :01:53.intercepted communications from the people they thought were doing it.
:01:54. > :01:55.But how far can police call in listening in listening into
:01:56. > :02:00.communications? The law is quite clear, they can intercept e-mails or
:02:01. > :02:05.phone calls, but only when it is reasonable to do so and appropriate.
:02:06. > :02:10.There must also be approval by a senior lease officer and a judge or
:02:11. > :02:12.Sheriff. But Police Scotland breached the regulations, something
:02:13. > :02:18.the journalist describes as reprehensible. It has been confirmed
:02:19. > :02:20.that source of that I relied on had their own personal Communications
:02:21. > :02:25.put under surveillance. I can only conclude this was done to try to
:02:26. > :02:30.protect the repetition and image either of Police Scotland or
:02:31. > :02:33.certainly some of the officers concerned. The bridges of the
:02:34. > :02:39.legislation were only discovered when Police Scotland was inspected
:02:40. > :02:42.by an independent body, which says the proper approval had not been
:02:43. > :02:50.sought for the surveillance. It adds...
:02:51. > :02:56.Police Scotland say the bridges were not intentional. What we were
:02:57. > :03:01.looking at if individuals are released information from our
:03:02. > :03:05.databases. That is what investigation was about. So we were
:03:06. > :03:09.looking at what we believed to be a serious breach of that and we
:03:10. > :03:14.carried out investigations into that and subsequently, we found that we
:03:15. > :03:17.were in breach of the codes of practice. The Liberal Democrats are
:03:18. > :03:21.consistent critics of Police Scotland. They say it is outrageous
:03:22. > :03:25.officers thought they were above the law. This has been an atrocious
:03:26. > :03:28.cover-up. Lisa Scotland and the Scottish Government have known about
:03:29. > :03:33.this for months and they have said and done nothing about it. They must
:03:34. > :03:36.be held to account that. The government says Police Scotland has
:03:37. > :03:40.been working an action plan to ensure that can be no repeat. This
:03:41. > :03:44.evening, it is understood that at least one of the individuals whose
:03:45. > :03:45.communications were intercepted is considering legal action.
:03:46. > :03:47.Eamon O'Connor is the investigative journalist
:03:48. > :03:49.at the heart of these illegal intercepts by Police Scotland.
:03:50. > :03:52.He revealed mistakes made by detectives in their investigation
:03:53. > :03:55.into the murder ten years ago of Emma Caldwell from Glasgow.
:03:56. > :04:08.Thank you for joining us. What do you make of this ruling? I think it
:04:09. > :04:12.is a very important day for the police and for the public in
:04:13. > :04:15.Scotland, because I have known for a very long time that something had
:04:16. > :04:19.gone badly wrong in the way that the police asked about investigated the
:04:20. > :04:22.Emma Caldwell murder and then the way that they have tried to cover up
:04:23. > :04:27.some of the things that were done. So I was relieved that we got this
:04:28. > :04:32.confirmation but I am appalled that my sources have been targeted in
:04:33. > :04:36.this way. These are the actions of a police state and I thought Scotland
:04:37. > :04:40.and Police Scotland was better than that. Why would they tried to
:04:41. > :04:44.identify the sources you were speaking to? Was there a public
:04:45. > :04:48.interest? Did they have a public interest and tried to do that? I am
:04:49. > :04:51.sure they're going to try to suggest that was. I have heard the police
:04:52. > :04:55.spokesman suggest that information from a database had been leaked. To
:04:56. > :04:59.my knowledge, all of the information that I received was not leak from a
:05:00. > :05:04.database. There was no reference to that. I have spoken to retired
:05:05. > :05:07.police officers and indirectly to serving police officers, through
:05:08. > :05:13.intermediaries, and all the information that I gathered to make
:05:14. > :05:15.the programme, which highlighted mistakes, was done legitimately.
:05:16. > :05:19.There is no public interest in targeting resources. The public
:05:20. > :05:22.interest would be served in police officers who were involved in the
:05:23. > :05:27.way in which the Emma Caldwell inquiry went wrong were investigated
:05:28. > :05:30.themselves. The sources that you had been speaking to, what do they make
:05:31. > :05:34.of the fact that they had been targeted in this way? At the
:05:35. > :05:38.beginning of the work that I did on this, a lot of people I spoke to
:05:39. > :05:42.were very frightened, very worried that they would be targeted. They
:05:43. > :05:48.knew that there was a culture inside Police Scotland of officers being
:05:49. > :05:53.snooped upon and spied upon by the superiors, the counter corruption in
:05:54. > :05:57.it. I have spoken one of them today, the source of that I relied
:05:58. > :06:01.on, a retired police officer. He played a leading role in the Emma
:06:02. > :06:04.Caldwell investigation and today he received a letter confirming that
:06:05. > :06:09.has communications had been intercepted. He is angry and he is
:06:10. > :06:13.justified in his anger and now plans to bring a legal action. I would be
:06:14. > :06:16.surprised if there was only one. Lisa Scotland say they have taken
:06:17. > :06:21.steps to make sure this does not happen again. -- Police Scotland. Is
:06:22. > :06:24.that enough would you like to see further action, the Scottish
:06:25. > :06:27.Government for example stepping in? From the beginning, I was concerned
:06:28. > :06:36.that Police Scotland were investigating themselves. I me to
:06:37. > :06:41.various -- I met with various police officers at a meeting and two's
:06:42. > :06:47.mother and was told that this would be investigated. This needed to be
:06:48. > :06:53.done by an outside police force, not Police Scotland looking at their own
:06:54. > :06:56.affairs. I do not have any confidence in their ability to
:06:57. > :07:01.properly investigate this. Senior police officers seem to have broken
:07:02. > :07:04.the law I am properly looking at people's private communications.
:07:05. > :07:06.This is a breach of their human rights. The officers who did that
:07:07. > :07:11.should be identified and held to account. We have seen repeated
:07:12. > :07:17.problems with Police Scotland since it was set up. Armed officers on the
:07:18. > :07:20.beat, stop and search, the fiasco on the M9 more people died and were not
:07:21. > :07:27.discovered. Where does this get into that? I do not know if you can make
:07:28. > :07:32.a connection between all the things that have gone wrong. I know that it
:07:33. > :07:36.is a catalogue of errors. But in this case, I am concerned that it is
:07:37. > :07:39.more than simply a mistake. Police Scotland have said today that this
:07:40. > :07:44.slipping on spying that went on was not intentional. They did not
:07:45. > :07:48.realise that they should have got a judge's approval. That is simply not
:07:49. > :07:52.true. I note that the officers concerned were made aware that they
:07:53. > :07:55.had to have judicial approval and they disregarded that requirement.
:07:56. > :08:00.Something very serious has happened here and it needs to be properly
:08:01. > :08:01.investigated. Police Scotland cannot investigate themselves. Thank you
:08:02. > :08:03.very much indeed for joining us. we were asking ourselves
:08:04. > :08:06.how George Osborne could possibly get out of
:08:07. > :08:07.the political problems by announcing swinging cuts
:08:08. > :08:11.to tax credits. By lunchtime, we learned the answer
:08:12. > :08:14.was quite simple - The spending review
:08:15. > :08:18.for the next five years, which takes the Chancellor past
:08:19. > :08:21.the next Westminster election, was rather less austere than he had
:08:22. > :08:26.signalled in his summer budget. Spending will rise
:08:27. > :08:30.on infrastructure and health, but some other budgets
:08:31. > :08:33.are being tightly squeezed. Here's our business
:08:34. > :08:42.and economy editor, Douglas Fraser. The third big budget event of the
:08:43. > :08:47.year at Westminster. Chancellors like to produce
:08:48. > :08:49.rabbits out of hats. But the magic behind today's
:08:50. > :08:51.figures was steady economic growth, higher tax receipts than
:08:52. > :08:52.expected, and lower interest payments
:08:53. > :08:54.on Government debt. It gave George Osborne
:08:55. > :08:56.more room for manoeuvre. So, instead of producing a rabbit,
:08:57. > :09:00.he shot his critics' fox. He still wants to take ?12 billion
:09:01. > :09:05.out of the welfare budget, included more Whitehall cash
:09:06. > :09:11.for health, with some protection
:09:12. > :09:15.for police and school budgets. the tighter he has to squeeze
:09:16. > :09:20.the smaller, unprotected budgets, such as local government,
:09:21. > :09:24.and energy. That brought the end of
:09:25. > :09:27.Peterhead's dream of winning a ?1 billion prize to develop
:09:28. > :09:31.carbon capture technology. As the Whitehall changes
:09:32. > :09:33.feed through to the block grant
:09:34. > :09:36.heading to Holyrood, it means a cut of more than 5%
:09:37. > :09:40.in real terms day-to-day spending Capital spending on housing
:09:41. > :09:48.and infrastructure is up by 14%. when John Swinney publishes
:09:49. > :09:57.his draft budget for next year. There's a challenge of applying that
:09:58. > :10:00.squeeze on day-to-day spending, when public sector workers
:10:01. > :10:04.want a pay rise, when there are promises of
:10:05. > :10:06.more childcare, plus free university tuition and
:10:07. > :10:11.support to care for the elderly. And if he doesn't like
:10:12. > :10:14.the shape of this budget, what's different about John
:10:15. > :10:16.Swinney's next budget is that he has to set an
:10:17. > :10:20.income tax rate, But will he want to do so
:10:21. > :10:37.just ahead of an election? We learned today about shortfalls in
:10:38. > :10:41.revenue in property and offshore oil and gas. Neither of which are good
:10:42. > :10:46.news for the Scottish Government. What are the key points? With powers
:10:47. > :10:50.coming to Holyrood, this is a mind of how volatile tax revenues can
:10:51. > :10:54.be. In total, they look quite good but if you look at the land and
:10:55. > :10:59.buildings transaction tax, which has replaced stamp duty, the Office for
:11:00. > :11:02.Budget Responsibility is calculating that is coming in well short of
:11:03. > :11:08.expectations, at least ?140 million per year. He might be interested in
:11:09. > :11:13.the Chancellor's idea of raising tax for those buying homes to let, and
:11:14. > :11:17.also second homes. The other thing, although oil and gas is not a
:11:18. > :11:22.Holyrood tax, as is well known, nevertheless there is a big cut
:11:23. > :11:29.forecast for what that will deliver to the Treasury. Last year, over 2
:11:30. > :11:33.billion. This year, maybe about ?100 million. Look at it another way, in
:11:34. > :11:37.the past five years, about ?30 billion. In the next five years,
:11:38. > :11:39.less than 1 billion. Many thanks for that.
:11:40. > :11:41.So what impact will the Chancellor's spending review have in Scotland?
:11:42. > :11:56.To date, as we present this Spending Review, our job is to rebuild
:11:57. > :12:00.Britain. It is universally accepted that the biggest surprise of the day
:12:01. > :12:04.is George Osborne's U-turn on tax credits for working people. I have
:12:05. > :12:08.listened to the concerns. I hear and understand them and because I have
:12:09. > :12:11.been able to announce today an improvement in the public finances,
:12:12. > :12:17.the simplest thing to do is not to seize these in but to avoid them
:12:18. > :12:22.altogether. For some on a very low income, the news has come as a great
:12:23. > :12:31.relief. I was kind of scared about what would happen, I would I called?
:12:32. > :12:34.And I just feel relieved by it. -- how would I cope? I will be able to
:12:35. > :12:40.be financially independent and help my children and get the clothes and
:12:41. > :12:44.food that they need. So it is a relief for some just now but the
:12:45. > :12:49.Chancellor reaffirmed that he would find ?12 billion worth of savings
:12:50. > :12:51.from the welfare budget. For some vulnerable groups, there are still
:12:52. > :12:57.some major questions to be answered, like who housing benefit cap will
:12:58. > :13:00.affect and how. The decision today to cap elements of housing benefit
:13:01. > :13:06.could have real invocations for a particularly young people, young
:13:07. > :13:10.single people in Scotland who are overrepresented in Scotland's
:13:11. > :13:13.statistics. We need to understand how that will work and what that
:13:14. > :13:16.will mean for Scotland. Out of the reform of the most
:13:17. > :13:19.vulnerable people in Scotland stand, but the whole country is going to
:13:20. > :13:22.feel the effects of this review. The amount of money that comes north of
:13:23. > :13:26.the border from the UK Government will fall over the next five years.
:13:27. > :13:30.If the Scottish Government wants to make up the shortfall, that could
:13:31. > :13:38.mean a hike in the rate of income tax. You are going to have to make
:13:39. > :13:44.up around ?1.3 billion, if there has been a 5% real cut. We think that
:13:45. > :13:49.would roughly be about 3p on the pound, to keep spending at its
:13:50. > :13:54.current level. So far as businesses are concerned,
:13:55. > :14:02.there is a mix of good and bad news. The Canon keep the 10% tax rates and
:14:03. > :14:06.the corporation tax will remain at 18%. The only downside is that two
:14:07. > :14:11.papers of the tax credits, there will be a new apprenticeship levy of
:14:12. > :14:14.0.5% and wage bills for slightly larger businesses and that will
:14:15. > :14:17.impact in Scotland. The Scottish Government has
:14:18. > :14:21.dismissed today's announcement is doing little to turn around the
:14:22. > :14:25.austerity plan. The Chancellor has made a welcome U-turn on tax
:14:26. > :14:29.credits. His original announcement was a terrible attack on some very
:14:30. > :14:32.possible families within our society, so he has done the right
:14:33. > :14:36.thing and I am glad that the SMB have and maintained our total
:14:37. > :14:42.opposition in a for him to entirely abandoned as proposition. We have
:14:43. > :14:46.been vindicated by the decision he has now made but the budget also
:14:47. > :14:49.brought with it a 6% reduction in the day-to-day spending of the
:14:50. > :14:52.Scottish Government. That will of course prolong the austerity agenda
:14:53. > :14:57.which we have been so determined to bring to an end.
:14:58. > :14:59.Some say George Osborne has laid down a challenge for the Scottish
:15:00. > :15:05.Government. Others suggest that he has taken the window of the
:15:06. > :15:09.opposition's sales the run-up to next year's Scottish election. If
:15:10. > :15:11.MSPs do not argue about what to do to counter tax credits cuts, what
:15:12. > :15:13.will they fight about? Now, our political correspondent
:15:14. > :15:15.Andrew Kerr is just outside
:15:16. > :15:17.the House of Commons. on how the spending review
:15:18. > :15:32.has gone down with MPs. You heard the cheering in the
:15:33. > :15:36.report, you could probably hear the cheering from the Tory backbenchers
:15:37. > :15:41.out here when George Osborne announced his reversal to the tax
:15:42. > :15:44.credit cuts. They were delighted, ironically, they cheered it in the
:15:45. > :15:48.summer when he first announced it but they were concerned that
:15:49. > :15:53.hard-working families were being hard pressed by this tax credit
:15:54. > :15:58.cuts. They are delighted. This is the area the Tories are trying to
:15:59. > :16:03.move into, the central ground. These people supported the party, in
:16:04. > :16:06.England at least, in the May general election. Some of the right-wing of
:16:07. > :16:12.the party is being concerned about the splurge on welfare, breaking the
:16:13. > :16:17.welfare cup. Labour MPs are perhaps doubting whether George Osborne will
:16:18. > :16:21.ever meet any of his targets. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell pool
:16:22. > :16:25.rather bizarre stunt with Chairman Mao's Little red book. Lots of
:16:26. > :16:31.Labour MPs were wondering what he was doing with that, some have
:16:32. > :16:36.called him a clone for doing that. The SNP say they were successful in
:16:37. > :16:40.pressing the Chancellor and making him reverse those cuts, they were
:16:41. > :16:44.privately a little relieved that the Scottish Government will not have
:16:45. > :16:47.too picked up the bill for the tax credit cuts. What sort of newspaper
:16:48. > :16:54.headlines can the Chancellor expect tomorrow? They are being tweeted
:16:55. > :16:59.already, whatever happened to austerity? The end of austerity.
:17:00. > :17:04.That is coming from the right-wing press. George Osborne, sipping
:17:05. > :17:08.something chilled and number 11, probably is not too worried. He
:17:09. > :17:10.wants to move into number ten, today he has got over a little political
:17:11. > :17:11.difficulty. Now, just before we came on air,
:17:12. > :17:15.I spoke to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury - Greg Hands -
:17:16. > :17:22.who was in our London studio. Greg Hands, the Chancellor today
:17:23. > :17:26.announced a U-turn on tax credits. Opposition parties have said it is a
:17:27. > :17:33.humiliating climb-down by George Osborne. They have a point, haven't
:17:34. > :17:36.they? I don't agree. What happened today is that the independent Office
:17:37. > :17:41.for Budget Responsibility showed that the public finances are
:17:42. > :17:47.improving by a figure of ?27 billion over the next five years, therefore
:17:48. > :17:53.it was no longer necessary for us to make the tax credit changes in this
:17:54. > :17:57.coming year. We will still be delivering on our pledge to deliver
:17:58. > :18:03.?12 billion of welfare savings, by the end of the Parliament, but true
:18:04. > :18:07.to the improving public finance figures, overall, the Autumn
:18:08. > :18:11.Statement has been very, very good for the economy and for public
:18:12. > :18:14.finances, we have been able to deliver a lot more in terms of a lot
:18:15. > :18:19.of the UK wide budget somethings like event and overseas develop and,
:18:20. > :18:27.as well as being able to protect some of the budget is not devolved
:18:28. > :18:32.-- UK wide budget, things like defence and overseas development. On
:18:33. > :18:38.tax credits, for many of the people who receive them, the relief will be
:18:39. > :18:42.temporary because tax rate will be phased out by 2018. If it becomes
:18:43. > :18:47.clear that these people will be worse off under the new system, will
:18:48. > :18:53.you step in and change it? Tax credits were always being phased
:18:54. > :18:56.out. The other thing one has to remember is the increases in the
:18:57. > :19:04.national living wage, which really kick off from April 2016, and the
:19:05. > :19:10.big increases in the personal allowance, will really started to
:19:11. > :19:15.kick in so they will be much better phased so that we get the welfare
:19:16. > :19:21.savings, but people will need earning more and keeping more of
:19:22. > :19:26.their own money Judah the rise in personal allowance before people pay
:19:27. > :19:30.tax. These are hard-working people, the strivers that you say you back.
:19:31. > :19:35.If their income is cut as a result of these changes, would you help? We
:19:36. > :19:41.are helping them through the national living wage and through
:19:42. > :19:45.raising the personal allowance. Universal credit, overall, will be a
:19:46. > :19:52.fantastic reform. I was a Jobcentre plus in Edinburgh this autumn and
:19:53. > :19:56.the staff were incredibly enthusiastic about the introduction
:19:57. > :20:04.of universal credit. -- I was at a Jobcentre Plus. I think it will be
:20:05. > :20:09.more to work always paying. -- I think it will lead more. I want to
:20:10. > :20:13.talk about the impact on the Scottish Government budget, it is
:20:14. > :20:19.set to shrink by about 3% over the next five years. Critics say the
:20:20. > :20:24.scale of the cuts and the timetable for achieving them are ideological,
:20:25. > :20:30.that you don't need to cut so deep and fast. Are they wrong? They are
:20:31. > :20:39.wrong, Scotland has a very good deal today. The reduction in the resort
:20:40. > :20:43.'s grant, a very -- if you like, the money going to the Scottish
:20:44. > :20:46.Government, but compared to a lot of UK Government department it is a
:20:47. > :20:54.much better picture for the Scottish Government. The capital grant, it is
:20:55. > :20:59.being increased significantly by an extra ?1.9 billion over the course
:21:00. > :21:05.of this Parliament, a 14% increase in real terms, meaning lots more
:21:06. > :21:12.money to be invested in Scotland, in capital and infrastructure projects,
:21:13. > :21:17.to really get the Scottish economy motoring and moving. Overall, it is
:21:18. > :21:21.a very good settlement for Scotland. The net effect is a reduction in the
:21:22. > :21:26.overall amount of money to be spent in Scotland. The thread that runs
:21:27. > :21:30.through what you have done is a focus on shrinking the size of the
:21:31. > :21:34.state. If that is what you believe them, why don't you make the case
:21:35. > :21:40.explicitly, why don't you say that we believe in a smaller state, that
:21:41. > :21:43.is what we are doing and why? We believe in living within our means
:21:44. > :21:50.and making sure that we deliver more for less. If we have to reduce
:21:51. > :21:54.public spending, which I think is a necessary consequence of having
:21:55. > :21:58.quite a high budget deficit, we need to make sure the money is deployed
:21:59. > :22:02.in the places where it will have the most good and the most long-term
:22:03. > :22:07.benefit, which is particularly why we are making sure that the capital
:22:08. > :22:11.budget in Scotland is protected for the long-term, making sure our
:22:12. > :22:13.long-term economic time in Scotland is delivered as well. Greg Hands,
:22:14. > :22:15.thank you. Well,
:22:16. > :22:16.let's get some reaction to that. Our correspondent Andrew Kerr is
:22:17. > :22:19.still on College Green for us, joined by a trio
:22:20. > :22:29.of opposition politicians. Andrew?
:22:30. > :22:34.Yes, three parliamentarians, Ian Murray from Labour, the Shadow
:22:35. > :22:38.Secretary of State, Stewart Hosie, the deputy SNP leader, and Lord Jim
:22:39. > :22:42.Wallace, former Deputy First Minister of Scotland and a member of
:22:43. > :22:46.the Coalition Government. The Chancellor has taken the wind
:22:47. > :22:51.out of yourselves? I think we are pleased he has reversed these
:22:52. > :22:57.dreadful tax credit cuts. We still don't know the detail of how he is
:22:58. > :23:01.playing, he still made his ?12 billion in welfare cuts, he is doing
:23:02. > :23:06.changes around universal credit. We always said we would make political
:23:07. > :23:11.gain out of this if he came up with a sensible proposal. He has
:23:12. > :23:15.cancelled them, we are pleased. He has a reputation for his Budgets
:23:16. > :23:19.unravelling quickly and we need to make sure the same people are not
:23:20. > :23:24.losing out through universal credit. There was concern from Labour that
:23:25. > :23:29.he will not meet its targets, but he looks set to balance the books by
:23:30. > :23:34.2020. He was supposed to balance the books by 2015, his projections have
:23:35. > :23:37.been wrong every time. He has fundamentally failed and it looks
:23:38. > :23:41.like we're in for ten years of austerity and we do not know if he
:23:42. > :23:46.will balance the books. His Budget will unravel and we need to get into
:23:47. > :23:50.the detail. Stewart Hosie from the SNP, you must think that some of
:23:51. > :23:53.your pressure has paid off, that you must be breathing a sigh of relief
:23:54. > :23:58.that the Scottish Government does not add to pick up that bill? I am
:23:59. > :24:05.glad that the tax credit cuts have been overturned, but he still
:24:06. > :24:11.intends to make welfare cuts targets, so we need to see who will
:24:12. > :24:16.pick up the tab. He confirmed today that he intends to continue to cut
:24:17. > :24:21.farm or than is required to run a balanced budget, ?42 billion more in
:24:22. > :24:27.cuts than he needs to buy 2019/20, to run a balanced economy. This is a
:24:28. > :24:31.decor -- decade of austerity. Scotland has seen another real terms
:24:32. > :24:38.cut to the Scottish budget for the next five years. And 40% rise in
:24:39. > :24:42.capital spending? It is good, I welcome that, it is essential.
:24:43. > :24:49.Coated in winter, increased it in the spring, cut it in autumn,
:24:50. > :24:53.increased it again today. This is no way to plan important capital
:24:54. > :24:58.investment. Even with the capital increase, it is a real terms cut
:24:59. > :25:02.across the piece for Scotland. This is perhaps no way to plan for
:25:03. > :25:08.independence, when you saw the Chancellor read out the OBR forecast
:25:09. > :25:11.for oil revenues, forecast to be down 94%. Shooting the case for
:25:12. > :25:18.independence, he said. A Tory would say that. He rather conveniently
:25:19. > :25:22.forgot the pre-existing forecast of the massive increase in onshore
:25:23. > :25:27.revenue, he ignored the increase in part -- productivity in Scotland and
:25:28. > :25:32.that our economy is larger now than precrisis. It was deflection from
:25:33. > :25:37.George Osborne, nobody will be conned. Lord Wallace of the Lib
:25:38. > :25:42.Dems, your party has said you played a blinder in the House of Lords by
:25:43. > :25:45.getting by change in tax credits, that reversal, but you want to see
:25:46. > :25:51.that chamber reformed so it is a bit rich? We want to see that and be
:25:52. > :25:57.tried in the last parliament, but we were blocked by Tory and Labour
:25:58. > :26:03.backbenchers coming together. Lib Dem peers led the charge against tax
:26:04. > :26:09.credits, I am pleased we succeeded. I share what my colleagues say, I
:26:10. > :26:13.have been watching Budgets and Autumn Statements for the best part
:26:14. > :26:17.of 30 years, and the ones that get the biggest cheers on the day, as
:26:18. > :26:22.things look that they sometimes have the least cheers. The tax credit
:26:23. > :26:30.abolition is good, but we need to see what happens in the weeks ahead.
:26:31. > :26:34.Picking up on Stewart 's point, the Scottish Government is predicting up
:26:35. > :26:38.to ?7.5 billion in revenue for this coming year in the White Paper on
:26:39. > :26:43.independence. If John Swinney was the Chancellor for an independent
:26:44. > :26:48.Scotland next March, he would be ?7.3 billion short, which would
:26:49. > :26:52.affect Scottish schools, hospitals, local government. Stewart Hosie, the
:26:53. > :26:56.Prime Minister pick that up, picking up Alex Bell's point that he does
:26:57. > :27:01.not believe that the SNP makes a valid case for independence any
:27:02. > :27:07.more? It is extraordinary to hear people like Jim Wallace fighting
:27:08. > :27:15.last year's battles. The public need to remember this, the Duke K
:27:16. > :27:21.Government used a future higher barrel price than the yes campaign.
:27:22. > :27:26.Yes, we got it wrong. If a short-term downward trend in oil
:27:27. > :27:31.price is a problem, the 1.6 trillion UK national debt, every penny built
:27:32. > :27:37.by UK chancellors, is a massive problem. We cannot have deflection
:27:38. > :27:42.about that. Let's turn to you, talking about some of the debate in
:27:43. > :27:47.the chamber. Your Shadow Chancellor from Chairman Mao's Little Red Book
:27:48. > :27:54.across the chamber. What a spectacle was that. It was a Labour motion
:27:55. > :28:00.that was carried, let's get that right. John McDonnell was trying to
:28:01. > :28:03.make a serious point in a jokey way, he was saying to the Chancellor, you
:28:04. > :28:09.are saying that any other government in the world is able to invest in
:28:10. > :28:12.owned UK is that like nuclear power and railways, but you won't allow
:28:13. > :28:17.the British people to own those assets. He was making a serious
:28:18. > :28:22.point, he tried to do it in a jokey way. I think people at home will
:28:23. > :28:25.realise it is serious. If you look at ScotRail, the National train
:28:26. > :28:31.company, it is owned by the Dutch government, not the Scottish people.
:28:32. > :28:34.That is not sustainable. The Prime Minister said that
:28:35. > :28:39.Labour's front bench provides comedy. At the real opposition is
:28:40. > :28:44.coming from the SNP, with Labour in disarray, Labour MPs arguing about
:28:45. > :28:48.whether Mr McDonnell was right? We have a major victory today with
:28:49. > :28:51.Baroness Hollis' amendment from the Labour lords which has meant we have
:28:52. > :28:56.seen an abolition of tax credit cuts. That seems to me to be a great
:28:57. > :29:02.result. We are happy with that. As we all agree, these tend to unravel
:29:03. > :29:06.very, very quickly. Iain Murray from Labour, Stewart Hosie from the SNP
:29:07. > :29:13.and Lord Wallace from the Lib Dems, thank you for joining me. David, Big
:29:14. > :29:16.Ben is striking, time is up for us at College Green. Attention will be
:29:17. > :29:21.diverted away from the Autumn Statement tomorrow when the Prime
:29:22. > :29:22.Minister makes his case for taking action against Isis in Syria and
:29:23. > :29:31.Iraq. Back to you. The focus remains on Westminster, it
:29:32. > :29:34.will tomorrow. That will inevitably be at the top of our programme
:29:35. > :29:37.perhaps tomorrow evening. Shelley will be back
:29:38. > :29:41.at the same time tomorrow night. Being a British guy
:29:42. > :29:58.in 2015 is not easy. Aagh! The way we live, the way we love,
:29:59. > :30:02.even the way we look. Reggie Yates uncovers a generation
:30:03. > :30:08.facing the extremes. "If you murdered someone
:30:09. > :30:16.I'd still accept you. "But you being gay,
:30:17. > :30:25.I can't accept you for that." The knives are sharpened,
:30:26. > :30:47.and the heat is on... the Chancellor enjoys a bounty
:30:48. > :30:51.of better financial forecasts, and