:00:00. > :00:00.They're certainly weightless, but are astronauts pointless
:00:00. > :00:26.Tim Peake emerged from the Soyuz space capsule this evening to start
:00:27. > :00:32.An historic moment for Britain but, with such advanced technology,
:00:33. > :00:37.what exactly is the point of sending astronauts into space these days?
:00:38. > :00:40.And I talk to the low-key hi-tech boss of one of Scotland's most
:00:41. > :00:53.He's the first publicly funded Brit in space whose blast off and safe
:00:54. > :00:57.arrival has been followed by millions across the country.
:00:58. > :01:00.Tim Peake will spend half a year aboard the International Space
:01:01. > :01:03.Station conducting various experiments.
:01:04. > :01:08.To secure this, the UK has given tens of millions of pounds
:01:09. > :01:10.to the European Space Agency and the space station programme.
:01:11. > :01:30.So what's the justification for spending such vast sums?
:01:31. > :01:38.On the human British astronaut Tim Peake blasted into space? It was
:01:39. > :01:47.some. What would you do when you were in space? I would discover a
:01:48. > :01:55.different things on the planet. Do you want to be an astronaut? No, but
:01:56. > :02:00.I would like to be a scientist. As Major Tim Peake settled into his
:02:01. > :02:11.flight, he is already being hailed as a cosmic usual for youngsters.
:02:12. > :02:20.That is what excites codes. -- children. We saw that this morning.
:02:21. > :02:28.To see a launch with a British person on board is wonderful. His
:02:29. > :02:34.family travelled to Kazakhstan for the launch. I am very happy. It has
:02:35. > :02:43.been a long journey to get to this point. We are excited to get to this
:02:44. > :02:48.stage of the game. It is great. The family managed a chat with dad as he
:02:49. > :02:53.got ready to go. Not lying after, he was heading for the Soyuz rocket,
:02:54. > :03:05.bound for the International Space Station. A fellow astronaut, not
:03:06. > :03:15.long back from that I S S herself was explaining the details to the
:03:16. > :03:28.children. We want to figure out what happens to the human body, but when
:03:29. > :03:32.scientists are able to observe the process all the way down to the
:03:33. > :03:37.single cell, they have an insight into how the body works and that has
:03:38. > :03:44.consequences in terms of diagnosis, therapies. Watching the launch in
:03:45. > :03:51.London, the first Briton in space also strongly backed these missions.
:03:52. > :03:56.It puts Britain back on that map. Britain is part of an international
:03:57. > :04:03.space collaboration. We can enjoy being part about over again. Earlier
:04:04. > :04:09.this evening, the hatch of the rocket finally opened in Major Tim
:04:10. > :04:16.Peake entered the space station which would be his laboratory for
:04:17. > :04:25.the next six months. That first sunrise was absolutely spectacular.
:04:26. > :04:27.As his mum said, quite a spectacular first day at the office.
:04:28. > :04:33.With me now are Dr Malcolm Macdonald from the Advanced Space Concepts
:04:34. > :04:34.Laboratory at Strathclyde University.
:04:35. > :04:39.And Dave Woods, author of How Apollo Flew to the Moon.
:04:40. > :04:50.Good evening. Do you agree with Helen Sharman that this is really
:04:51. > :04:56.important for Britain to be in this space collaboration? It has the
:04:57. > :05:03.potential to be imported. If it is part of a long-term strategy, it
:05:04. > :05:07.could be. But what we have seen so far is a sequence of one of events.
:05:08. > :05:17.Whether there is the political will to see that the blue is something we
:05:18. > :05:26.all had to wait and see. Obviously, great excitement about it all today.
:05:27. > :05:31.Do missions like today 's still hold excitement for you? I think her
:05:32. > :05:35.children they will. You can see the television how they have been
:05:36. > :05:42.infused. Hundreds of people have been in space, but it is still a
:05:43. > :05:47.strange realm, it is of human exploration into our new
:05:48. > :05:53.environment. And that is basic to the human condition, to take people
:05:54. > :06:02.out there, to note that that can happen, whether it is heading out of
:06:03. > :06:06.article, heading across the world. We are exploring that in the sense
:06:07. > :06:16.of getting to know what it is like to live in that realm. The asteroid
:06:17. > :06:28.is nature 's way of seeing, how is that space programme coming along?
:06:29. > :06:36.We will be hit one day. Events in Russia in 2012 show that the at
:06:37. > :06:40.risk. Is that good enough risk for being involved in something like
:06:41. > :06:56.this? I think it is an interesting argument. I think you could probably
:06:57. > :07:02.deflect an incoming asteroid. But you need to be there because you can
:07:03. > :07:08.do what you need to do the, a better return on the science. But there's
:07:09. > :07:14.something I fully accept. If we get some extra benefits, then great. But
:07:15. > :07:18.I do not think that is how we will deflect the incoming asteroid,
:07:19. > :07:23.assuming we see it coming. Let's talk about the finances of all of
:07:24. > :07:30.this. I do not want to detract from the magic of today, but the UK
:07:31. > :07:34.Government has spent ?65 million to secure Tim Peake 's flight to the
:07:35. > :07:41.space station. Is there a business case to be made for spending that?
:07:42. > :07:50.If you look back to the American Apollo programme, at its peak in
:07:51. > :07:55.1964, but was consuming for percent of the American budget, an enormous
:07:56. > :08:02.amount of cash. At the time, there was the same argument of what
:08:03. > :08:07.benefit is there? Defence of elite of projects that are happening at
:08:08. > :08:11.the same time, the Americans made a massive investment in computer
:08:12. > :08:15.technology, in things that they did not know at the time would become
:08:16. > :08:22.beneficial. I believe it is true to say that while they were developing
:08:23. > :08:34.the computers that are put into spacecraft, Nasa were buying up half
:08:35. > :08:36.the world 's outputs of chips. The protesting them to destruction and
:08:37. > :08:47.forcing manufacturers to up their game. - the way of them. It is an
:08:48. > :08:54.imponderable. Something to put into value terms. It wasn't that long ago
:08:55. > :08:58.that there was a tribute about India and whether it ought to be spending
:08:59. > :09:03.millions and millions of pounds on our space programme when it could be
:09:04. > :09:07.spending the money combating poverty. Either similar arguments
:09:08. > :09:17.you? We get lots of benefits from the space programme. The guy
:09:18. > :09:26.omission will have all sorts of spin offs. But could that money be spent
:09:27. > :09:32.perhaps on a bit more, is dead of sending an astronaut? It depends
:09:33. > :09:38.what you are tried to get in return. If you are trying to justify it on
:09:39. > :09:43.here reviewed science, it would be difficult to get agreement to say
:09:44. > :09:52.that was the best way to spend 90 million euros. But if you are
:09:53. > :09:57.looking for outreach, if you spent that same amount of money creating
:09:58. > :10:06.TV programmes and engaging with children and providing material to
:10:07. > :10:15.support teachers in the classroom, that would have great benefits.
:10:16. > :10:22.Getting children excited about space. India got a lot of stick for
:10:23. > :10:26.what happened, but the use that space sector to educate and to run
:10:27. > :10:34.schools in remote regions where there are massive poverty problems
:10:35. > :10:37.and yet they can provide high-quality education because of
:10:38. > :10:40.their investment in space. Do you think we get enough back in
:10:41. > :10:48.practical terms from something like this? Is it about flag-waving? I
:10:49. > :10:56.think science will be a big part of this mission. Seeing our union flag
:10:57. > :11:06.on someone 's shoulder is a nice part of it. But the signs should not
:11:07. > :11:18.be the only justification for humans doing this. -- science. There is an
:11:19. > :11:27.important benefit. An enchantment inputs and to people about taking
:11:28. > :11:32.off, taking as outward, not looking inward. It is the measure of an
:11:33. > :11:38.advanced civilisation that we are supposed to be the fifth or sixth
:11:39. > :11:42.richest country in the world, hopefully we are better than just
:11:43. > :11:51.people who look inward. I would like to say we are more outward. Do you
:11:52. > :11:57.think, there are a lot of jobs dependent on the space sector, could
:11:58. > :12:08.this have at knock on benefit in the UK? We have our rapidly growing
:12:09. > :12:18.space sector in Scotland. We are growing it with small spacecraft, we
:12:19. > :12:21.are doing it differently. It will have a knock-on effect. There are no
:12:22. > :12:28.jobs in Scotland for schoolchildren to stay and work in Scotland if we
:12:29. > :12:32.can get them in is used. There we must leave it. Thank you.
:12:33. > :12:38.In its first month of business, it brought in just ?46.
:12:39. > :12:42.Fast forward 14 years and travel booking website Skyscanner has been
:12:43. > :12:48.valued internationally at a billion dollars.
:12:49. > :12:51.With new offices springing up across the globe,
:12:52. > :12:53.its headquarters are not in Silicon Valley, but Edinburgh.
:12:54. > :12:57.Earlier today, I went there to speak to Skyscanner's Chief Executive
:12:58. > :13:11.How did Skyscanner start? We were looking to get around Europe. There
:13:12. > :13:15.are lots of budget airlines are emerging. And we could not find a
:13:16. > :13:25.single place to show us who flies where. We built a tool for ourselves
:13:26. > :13:31.and then decided to make an Internet business from that. Clearly, it is
:13:32. > :13:35.not difficult to make money from it now, but was difficult concept at
:13:36. > :13:41.the beginning to design something like that and make it into a
:13:42. > :13:44.successful business? We built the tool without knowing there was a
:13:45. > :13:49.business. We built it because we were convinced it would be useful
:13:50. > :13:54.for a lot of people. I think our first month of revenue was ?46. And
:13:55. > :13:59.that was about a year after we started. Going into it for the money
:14:00. > :14:08.other revenue was not the original goal. And it still is. It is to
:14:09. > :14:12.solve travel problems and provide customers with suppliers. I'd be
:14:13. > :14:20.made revenue to allow us to grow from there. How did you started to
:14:21. > :14:27.grow the business after such an inauspicious start? People really
:14:28. > :14:33.like using the service. Right at the beginning, what we did was we split
:14:34. > :14:36.to salaries three ways. It is quite an old-fashioned way to start a
:14:37. > :14:43.business. But it worked for us and we could all work on it in the
:14:44. > :14:48.evenings. So as they built-up revenues, all three became
:14:49. > :14:54.full-time, made our first hire and gradually recruited as the finances
:14:55. > :15:00.supported. And why Edinburgh? Well, I moved to Edinburgh for family
:15:01. > :15:05.reasons and I was the first one to start hiring. And that was down in
:15:06. > :15:11.least. And we had a small service office of Bernard Street and we
:15:12. > :15:15.established as an Edinburgh company. Has it has been hard attracting the
:15:16. > :15:25.right sort of people when you are not in Silicon Valley? More and
:15:26. > :15:26.more, we are. We have a world top 15 computer science Department in
:15:27. > :15:31.Edinburgh University. And every year, there are graduates, local
:15:32. > :15:35.graduates and foreign students, that are choosing to base themselves in
:15:36. > :15:40.Edinburgh. Shall I show you around the office? Yes, I would like that,
:15:41. > :15:46.let's have a look. Tell me about the setup. How'd you like to work things
:15:47. > :15:52.here? Everything is open plan. Largely speaking, we work in squads
:15:53. > :15:56.of to eight people and a range of skills necessary to get things done.
:15:57. > :16:01.Is there a reason for keeping a small? You do not have to build as
:16:02. > :16:06.many processes is the number of people that you're working with our
:16:07. > :16:09.directly accessible to yourself. You have got the other range of
:16:10. > :16:13.expertise that you need to do the majority of your day job. It also
:16:14. > :16:19.gives a sense of ownership over what you are building. And it means that
:16:20. > :16:23.the role of management is one that is more about setting the context,
:16:24. > :16:29.course correction. It doesn't mean a detailed recipe that needs to be
:16:30. > :16:33.written up that is then parcel of other people. And do you find you
:16:34. > :16:39.get more out of people working that way? Yes, I think virtually everyone
:16:40. > :16:46.gets a greater sense of fulfilment and commitment and enjoyment when
:16:47. > :16:51.they have control over what the detailed choices, and the big
:16:52. > :16:58.choices, that they make about their working day and it is a concern for
:16:59. > :17:02.quality and what we all want, which is pride and fulfilment out of
:17:03. > :17:07.something we spent quite a bit of time doing during the week. And you
:17:08. > :17:15.seem quite approachable as CEO. Is that important to you? It is. I
:17:16. > :17:21.started off as a software engineer, so I have had to learn quite a bit
:17:22. > :17:26.myself. And I guess, you know, the best way to learn is to be open,
:17:27. > :17:32.whether it is criticism, constructive criticism, and I need
:17:33. > :17:37.to hear it. So I suppose I do not know any other way! And it is a bit
:17:38. > :17:40.of a flat structure that you have here. Yes, you want the maximum
:17:41. > :17:47.number of people doing something useful. I am almost an overhead, so
:17:48. > :17:53.the more we can reduce that, the better. So you do not think the
:17:54. > :17:57.hierarchy is very important? No, I think modern organisations are
:17:58. > :18:05.becoming semi-autonomous in terms of groups of people having ownership
:18:06. > :18:07.with different things. And alignments, that is really
:18:08. > :18:13.important. But autonomy is becoming ever more imbued in teams throughout
:18:14. > :18:18.the company. What about Scotland as a place to be entrepreneurial? How
:18:19. > :18:27.have you found that over the years? I would say that we have had a
:18:28. > :18:35.really high level of positive support and feelings towards our
:18:36. > :18:40.growth. From a tiny start-up to know nine offices around the world. I
:18:41. > :18:43.have been very grateful for the reception that we have had, being
:18:44. > :18:49.based in Edinburgh. And really encouraged to see other people doing
:18:50. > :18:53.their own thing in Internet economies. I have seen it as a very
:18:54. > :18:57.positive experience. And when you look at what the Scottish government
:18:58. > :19:01.can do, we have a budget coming tomorrow, do you think there is more
:19:02. > :19:03.help the Scottish government could give to fledgling companies who
:19:04. > :19:10.might want to grow like yours? I think the number one thing is
:19:11. > :19:17.creating an environment that is encouraging of entrepreneurial
:19:18. > :19:21.spirit. But I think also focusing on the education system. We have got
:19:22. > :19:27.some great and Peter science and other department universities in
:19:28. > :19:31.Scotland and everything that can be done to make those and keep those
:19:32. > :19:38.world-class is going to have really strong benefits in future years to
:19:39. > :19:44.the start-up ecosystem, which will be generating all the taxes. The
:19:45. > :19:50.successful ones. And what is next for Skyscanner? For us, we are
:19:51. > :19:55.really just at the start of our journey. In some ways, we have been
:19:56. > :20:02.putting down the basic building blocks but the potential to be an
:20:03. > :20:06.assistant trusted on your smartphone for when you move around the globe,
:20:07. > :20:16.anywhere outside your day-to-day normal patterns of movement, and to
:20:17. > :20:20.provide information and solve questions, and which products do
:20:21. > :20:23.need? Which travel products? That is going to take off from time to take
:20:24. > :20:28.off sometimes easily solved. And we'll Edinburgh always be home? You
:20:29. > :20:36.have offices all over the world. I do not like the eight spoke type
:20:37. > :20:43.model. I would like quite a devolved structure to our company. But
:20:44. > :20:46.Edinburgh is now, and will be, the... One of the main spokes, and
:20:47. > :20:48.indeed are headquarters. That was Gareth Williams speaking
:20:49. > :20:50.to me earlier today. Here now to chew over some
:20:51. > :20:53.of the day s other news with me are Anna Burnside from
:20:54. > :21:04.the Daily Record and political Welcome to you both. Let's kick off
:21:05. > :21:13.with that rally in Holyrood. Holyrood! Holyrood earlier today. A
:21:14. > :21:17.Labour MP was suspended from the chamber after refusing orders to sit
:21:18. > :21:22.down. Mr Kelly, get to your point of order
:21:23. > :21:27.please. If you would let me make my point of order, I will get on with
:21:28. > :21:32.it. I wanted to know what it is. If you keep interrupting me, I
:21:33. > :21:38.cannot... Mr Kelly, please sit down. Sit down. I am not going to sit
:21:39. > :21:43.down. I will not sit down. I want to make a point of order. Esther Kelly,
:21:44. > :21:48.please sit down. I wanted to make a point of order and I was not allowed
:21:49. > :21:54.because you kept interrupting me. Mr Kelly, resume your seat. I am not
:21:55. > :22:05.going to. Sits down, I am speaking. Can you please is caught Mr Kelly
:22:06. > :22:07.from the chamber? -- escort. I now suspend until Mr Kelly leads
:22:08. > :22:16.the chamber. What do you make of the way the
:22:17. > :22:20.Presiding Officer handle that? I think she handled it well. I think
:22:21. > :22:25.this is the kind of tiresome behaviour that puts people off
:22:26. > :22:30.politics and makes it an attractive and gives people who are not anoraks
:22:31. > :22:34.like as the impression that they just want to stand up and he the of
:22:35. > :22:38.their own voices and make big fuss. It is a pretty unedifying spectacle
:22:39. > :22:42.and I think she handled it well. What about James Kelly? Do you think
:22:43. > :22:45.he was making a fair point or do you think this is all choreographed? I
:22:46. > :22:51.am going to sit on the fence to a degree! I think there was no default
:22:52. > :22:54.on both sides. Perhaps a bit of an overreaction from the Presiding
:22:55. > :23:00.Officer, although I think are really on the bill was absolutely silent.
:23:01. > :23:06.And James Kelly perhaps over egging it as well. I think there was a
:23:07. > :23:13.degree of theatre. -- I think her ruling on the sound was -- the bill
:23:14. > :23:16.was signed. There is a problem between SNP and Labour about who
:23:17. > :23:20.represents the working-class voice of Scotland. Do you think that was
:23:21. > :23:24.what it was about, positioning themselves as champion of the
:23:25. > :23:29.unions? The First Minister was at Downing Street yesterday and has
:23:30. > :23:32.been majoring on opposition to the trade union Bill, so I think there
:23:33. > :23:38.was a bit of that. Whether or not what happen this afternoon was
:23:39. > :23:41.planned I am not sure. It could have been added of opportunistic
:23:42. > :23:47.grandstanding, rather than preplanned? Perhaps. Last week, we
:23:48. > :23:51.saw Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbin sharing a platform on this
:23:52. > :23:56.very issue at a rally. It does not seem like that cooperation has
:23:57. > :24:04.lasted very long. No! As David said, this is a flash point issue in which
:24:05. > :24:07.the SNP are very keen to keep this impression that they are the true
:24:08. > :24:14.left part of Scotland and leave Labour in the dust. Labour are
:24:15. > :24:18.scrabbling for any kind of purchase, anything to pull some of that back.
:24:19. > :24:24.Of course, we have seen politicians break the rules over the years in
:24:25. > :24:28.houses of parliament, do you think it is usually with publicity in
:24:29. > :24:35.mind? Yes. The one that springs to mind, Conley a cynic, is Alex
:24:36. > :24:39.Salmond during the budget in 1988. Sure, he was making a serious point
:24:40. > :24:45.opposition to the poll tax at that point, but he also knew that by
:24:46. > :24:48.doing something like that he would get media attention. And not just in
:24:49. > :24:53.Scotland but across the UK. And it worked! After that moment, Alex
:24:54. > :24:56.Salmond was perhaps not a Hasselt name but certainly a lot better
:24:57. > :25:02.non-than he had been until that point. OK, vomiting on, a trial in
:25:03. > :25:06.Scotland was adjourned after a keeper is accusing witness refused
:25:07. > :25:12.to give evidence without her still face on. Do you think there is an
:25:13. > :25:17.argument for a fill these field being banned in some public places?
:25:18. > :25:27.I am a bit uncomfortable with the idea of a witness wearing something
:25:28. > :25:35.so all enveloping in a court situation. -- her little face veil
:25:36. > :25:39.on. I would not want to disrupt anybody's practices but I feel that
:25:40. > :25:45.the witness in a court case, it is important to see their face and body
:25:46. > :25:48.language. I just do not see... That is how our court system works and I
:25:49. > :25:52.do not see how you do that when you can only see somebody's eyes. It is
:25:53. > :25:57.very difficult. I am not sure what the answer is but I feel a bit
:25:58. > :26:03.uncomfortable about the idea of someone standing in court as a
:26:04. > :26:05.witness saw fully covered. Of course, we pride ourselves on
:26:06. > :26:12.freedom of expression in this country. Why do you think the veil
:26:13. > :26:16.provokes such strong reactions? It is a very good question. I guess
:26:17. > :26:23.because for a large section of the population it seems very foreign, it
:26:24. > :26:27.seems something unfamiliar. In this case, like Anne, it is difficult to
:26:28. > :26:33.know what do you make of it. I was struck by the president of the
:26:34. > :26:37.Supreme Court, who made quite an open-minded, progress of speech,
:26:38. > :26:42.where he was saying that we must in mind how the court experience can be
:26:43. > :26:47.for someone, and judges have to respect cultural differences with
:26:48. > :26:51.witnesses. And I think that is probably pretty close to the mark.
:26:52. > :26:55.Although there are probably a lot of people who might not like to show
:26:56. > :26:57.their face in court if they were able not to.
:26:58. > :26:59.But there is a different thing between the very sensitive cases
:27:00. > :27:08.where you give evidence using a video link and where you are the
:27:09. > :27:13.kind of witness that the jury need and want to see and be able to
:27:14. > :27:17.literally see the colour of your eyes and get a feeling for you and
:27:18. > :27:24.how you present yourself, and what you're talking about. OK, well, late
:27:25. > :27:27.in the mood slightly. Tonight, Rangers can show you their version
:27:28. > :27:35.of The Night Before Christmas Now, The Latest Travel News.
:27:36. > :27:39.Away To The Window Eyes Like A Flash. For Open The Windows And
:27:40. > :27:43.Throughout The Flash. The Men On The Price Of The New Falling Snow Gave
:27:44. > :27:49.The Lustre Of Mid Data Objects Below. Then What Should Appear? A
:27:50. > :27:54.Miniature Sleigh And Eight Tiny Reindeer.
:27:55. > :28:04.Has That Put You In The Christmas mood? No. I thought I had planned
:28:05. > :28:10.the depths being at a pantomime with David Hasselhoff and the cranky is
:28:11. > :28:14.this evening but no. We also managed to track down Alex
:28:15. > :28:25.Salmond singing for a fundraising CDs.
:28:26. > :28:27.# Oh, Rhostryfan three... # Ira member on that CD came out.
:28:28. > :28:38.I remember when that came out. It was not just that track, it was lots
:28:39. > :28:42.of SNP politicians singing Christmas songs. I think we should applaud the
:28:43. > :28:45.spirit of that kind of thing. I am sure we could show you more
:28:46. > :28:49.embarrassing moments but we would have to leave it there for tonight.
:28:50. > :28:52.I'm back at the same time tomorrow night,