:00:00. > :00:00.Police investigate alleged links between leading figures
:00:00. > :00:08.at two of Scotland's largest mosques and a banned
:00:09. > :00:22.A BBC investigation links leading Muslims to a banned terror group.
:00:23. > :00:26.Do Scotland's mosques have a problem with extremism?
:00:27. > :00:28.And safety concerns as the Prime Minister announces
:00:29. > :00:37.plans to transport nuclear waste from Dounreay to the United States.
:00:38. > :00:43.Police Scotland is investigating claims by the BBC that a leading
:00:44. > :00:45.member of Glasgow Central Mosque has had links with a banned
:00:46. > :00:50.It follows allegations last week that the mosque's lead imam
:00:51. > :00:54.had sent messages in support of terrorism in Pakistan.
:00:55. > :00:58.In a moment, we'll discuss whether Scotland has
:00:59. > :01:06.But first, here's our Home Affairs correspondent Reevel Alderson.
:01:07. > :01:14.These are official documents of a Pakistani extremist group,
:01:15. > :01:18.Sipah-e-Sahaba. Dating back more than ten years, the BBC has seen it
:01:19. > :01:23.reveals how they have links to senior Mosque figures in Edinburgh
:01:24. > :01:27.and Glasgow. This deadly attack in Pakistan three years ago killed more
:01:28. > :01:33.than 100 people. It was carried out by the armed wing of Sipah-e-Sahaba,
:01:34. > :01:36.also known as SSP. It's links to Scotland have alarmed extremist
:01:37. > :01:41.campaigners. The reports proved to be true that
:01:42. > :01:47.they have had links in Scotland, this is a terrorism related offence,
:01:48. > :01:53.as they are known to work with Al-Qaeda. This would be a clear
:01:54. > :01:56.relationship between themselves and terrorism.
:01:57. > :02:02.It is these documents that reveal how Sabir Ali, a leading member of
:02:03. > :02:06.Glasgow Central Mosque, is Scottish president of Sipah-e-Sahaba. After
:02:07. > :02:09.it was banned in Pakistan and the UK, he hosted it more more real
:02:10. > :02:34.service for the group's assassinated leader.
:02:35. > :02:36.service for the group's assassinated those kind of thanks to a group like
:02:37. > :02:45.that. The documents the BBC has seen also
:02:46. > :02:50.sure Hafiz Abdul Hamid of the Polwarth Mosque in Edinburgh was a
:02:51. > :02:58.leader of the group after it was banned. There is evidence that he
:02:59. > :02:59.has financially supported the group. Counterterrorism officers are
:03:00. > :04:32.investigating. community as open and transparent.
:04:33. > :04:33.In Edinburgh, the leader of the Polwarth Mosque has yet to respond
:04:34. > :04:34.to the BBC. Just before we came on air,
:04:35. > :04:38.I spoke to Allan Burnett, the former police Counter Terrorism
:04:39. > :04:41.Co-ordinator for the whole of Scotland and now
:04:42. > :04:50.a director at Securi Group. How concerned should we be about
:04:51. > :04:58.these allegations? I think we should be concerned but
:04:59. > :05:02.not alarmed about them at all. Certainly, the police will be taking
:05:03. > :05:07.it seriously and will be doing a thorough investigation. There is not
:05:08. > :05:12.any clear or present danger emanating from it but, at the end of
:05:13. > :05:17.the day, the allegation is that there is membership of a proscribed
:05:18. > :05:22.organisation will stop although it has been carrying out its atrocities
:05:23. > :05:27.abroad, you cannot sit in Scotland and think you are safe from being
:05:28. > :05:31.prosecuted if you have supported in terms of funding or anything else.
:05:32. > :05:39.There is also the danger, and ensure the police will be looking into it,
:05:40. > :05:41.that the activities of SSP members could have caused radicalisation. I
:05:42. > :05:50.don't think anybody should be too worried about this but there will be
:05:51. > :05:53.an investigation. On the subject of radicalisation,
:05:54. > :05:59.there must be some concern. These are senior figures in Scottish
:06:00. > :06:02.mosques. If they are preaching support and discussing support of
:06:03. > :06:06.these radical terrorist organisations, mustn't that be a
:06:07. > :06:10.concern? The truth of that will all come out
:06:11. > :06:15.and I would say that radicalisation of the young people in Scotland is
:06:16. > :06:20.of the number one concern. We are certainly not immune from it. We
:06:21. > :06:28.have seen young people travel over and fight in Iraq and Syria. There
:06:29. > :06:30.will be no complacency. But with regard to these particular
:06:31. > :06:34.allegations, I'm sure the truth will out.
:06:35. > :06:38.These allegations come hot on the heels of allegations last week about
:06:39. > :06:46.a leading imam at Glasgow Central Mosque. About him also sending
:06:47. > :06:49.messages of support to terrorism in Pakistan. How well do you think the
:06:50. > :06:54.police know what is going on inside mosques in this country?
:06:55. > :07:02.I think the police in Scotland have some excellent relationships both in
:07:03. > :07:09.mosques and in the way a T. They put an absolutely huge effort into it
:07:10. > :07:16.and they have a fantastic rapport with all of the Mosque amenities and
:07:17. > :07:22.the congregations. But at the other side of that there is a harder
:07:23. > :07:28.element to it and threw the good use of intelligence, the fight against
:07:29. > :07:34.terrorism also goes on. Glasgow Central Mosque clearly seems
:07:35. > :07:40.shaken today by these allegations, saying things will change. I
:07:41. > :07:47.concerned has been some complacency about the risk of extremism?
:07:48. > :07:52.No, I think everybody understands the risk from extremism is large.
:07:53. > :07:56.There will be no complacency from the police or from the security
:07:57. > :08:00.services. The people of Scotland expect them to do their duty. I am
:08:01. > :08:03.absolutely convinced that they do it very thoroughly.
:08:04. > :08:05.Thanks for joining us. With me here in the studio
:08:06. > :08:18.is the Islamic scholar How concerned are you about these
:08:19. > :08:22.allegations? I would agree with what Allen said.
:08:23. > :08:31.We shouldn't be alarmed because it is something that goes back a
:08:32. > :08:34.decade. I believe that this is an ongoing investigation, according to
:08:35. > :08:41.the press conference held at Hampden Park and the various Muslim groups
:08:42. > :08:46.and other faith the nominations, and once it is thoroughly investigated,
:08:47. > :08:52.I'm sure appropriate action will be taken, if they are found guilty. Or
:08:53. > :08:59.they may be cleared. But that is something that the police will
:09:00. > :09:02.inform us in June course. But you can understand that there
:09:03. > :09:11.would be concerned. This comes hot on the heels of other allegations
:09:12. > :09:15.last week about Central Mosque imam. Do you think there is a problem
:09:16. > :09:24.there? They seem to think there is a problem to sort out.
:09:25. > :09:28.I don't want to comment on internal matters of the Glasgow Central
:09:29. > :09:33.Mosque. But in terms of a risk factor, I do not think there is one.
:09:34. > :09:38.Even though the imam himself has clarified his position last Friday
:09:39. > :09:43.and in this press conference in Hampden Park. What I would say is
:09:44. > :09:51.that we have to be careful and these things should be investigated. If
:09:52. > :09:56.anyone, regardless of... I'm not commenting on the specific
:09:57. > :09:59.individuals but anyone who supports or sympathisers or choose any
:10:00. > :10:11.inclination towards those elements, that should be charged.
:10:12. > :10:16.This has all thrown light onto the part of that movement that has
:10:17. > :10:24.followers including the Taliban. Is there much support for them amongst
:10:25. > :10:31.the Muslim Trinity in Scotland? I will first talk about the SSP.
:10:32. > :10:35.They have a puritanical and distorted interpretation of Islam
:10:36. > :10:39.which they think is the right version and anybody who disagrees
:10:40. > :10:44.with them, they would go out and kill them. Have seen these
:10:45. > :10:48.atrocities carried out against the Shia community and minority
:10:49. > :10:58.communities. But overall I do not think they have any support. Over
:10:59. > :11:02.the years, the mist and community has unequivocally condemned
:11:03. > :11:13.terrorism. Seed of think there is -- you do not
:11:14. > :11:16.think there support for the movement for the terrorism?
:11:17. > :11:23.For the movement, according to my knowledge.
:11:24. > :11:26.Would you condemn leading figures in Scotland who do support that
:11:27. > :11:34.movement because young people might look to them for influence and maybe
:11:35. > :11:37.the risk of radicalisation. The police are investigating this
:11:38. > :11:42.matter and only once we see the outcome can be comment. Generally,
:11:43. > :11:48.speaking of young Muslims in Scotland, we have only had one case
:11:49. > :11:54.of an individual travelling to Syria. Most radicalisation happens
:11:55. > :11:59.online and that is a challenge we have faced. Through various
:12:00. > :12:10.organisations with the support of all these Scotland, we held events
:12:11. > :12:13.in mosques challenging extremism and Internet safety. Asking how we can
:12:14. > :12:18.protect our young generation from being radicalised. Even the
:12:19. > :12:34.government is having a challenge countering online spaces.
:12:35. > :12:37.Shortly before we came on air, I spoke by video link to David Flear
:12:38. > :12:39.of the Dounreay Stakeholder Group, who lives in Hallkirk,
:12:40. > :12:43.I began by asking him if radioactive material like this shouldn't be
:12:44. > :12:47.dealt with as close as possible to where it is produced.
:12:48. > :12:53.The decision was made long time ago that the fuel should not be
:12:54. > :13:00.reprocessed at Dounreay. The government decision was that we
:13:01. > :13:05.would decommission our ability to do that and the fuels would be
:13:06. > :13:18.transferred initially to Sellafield. I believe that material has been
:13:19. > :13:22.moved before to the United States by air?
:13:23. > :13:33.We have had concerns about how it will be transported. God he's not
:13:34. > :13:40.concern is that local people share? One of the things we try to do is
:13:41. > :13:51.scrutinise safety and the second aspect is security. We are aware of
:13:52. > :13:54.regulation and the various bodies working together to make sure that
:13:55. > :14:02.any movement of material is as safe as it can possibly be.
:14:03. > :14:07.This is obviously part of the deal that fuel can't be returned to
:14:08. > :14:11.France for the treatment of cancer. Is there a benefit to the local
:14:12. > :14:16.community of it being done in this way?
:14:17. > :14:24.I think there is benefits to the populace. If this material can be
:14:25. > :14:28.used in the fight against cancer then that does not just benefit
:14:29. > :14:31.Caithness but the whole of Europe as well.
:14:32. > :14:38.Friends are calling it the arrest date stunt.
:14:39. > :14:47.You are talking about large amount of material. 27 stone. To
:14:48. > :14:51.medium-sized people. There is a considerable amount of fuel at
:14:52. > :14:58.Dounreay to be moved over the years. Many tonnes. When they see this as a
:14:59. > :15:02.significant amount, you have to put it in perspective. When somebody is
:15:03. > :15:05.telling me it has to move by air, what is the safest transport in the
:15:06. > :15:13.world? It is a travel. But people are
:15:14. > :15:15.concerned about the attraction to terrorists of the movement of the
:15:16. > :15:23.rescue material. Absolutely. From a local
:15:24. > :15:28.perspective, we are concerned about security and we see security
:15:29. > :15:35.associated with the site and with the movement of day so there is a
:15:36. > :15:37.reasonable ruling that these things are being managed and looked after
:15:38. > :15:43.well. Thank you very much.
:15:44. > :15:49.Apologies, we had a few technical gremlins is eerie. I should've
:15:50. > :15:51.explained before that it the context of the story.
:15:52. > :15:54.The Prime Minister has announced plans for nuclear fuel to be
:15:55. > :15:56.transported from Dounreay in Caithness to the United States.
:15:57. > :15:59.It would be the biggest ever shipment of highly-enriched uranium
:16:00. > :16:03.In return, America will transport some of its nuclear material
:16:04. > :16:06.to the European Atomic Agency, where it'll be converted to medical
:16:07. > :16:10.The deal has been described as "a risky stunt" by
:16:11. > :16:18.Well, listening to that in our Edinburgh studio
:16:19. > :16:22.is the environmental journalist Rob Edwards.
:16:23. > :16:33.Good evening to you. What is behind the steel? I think what we have two
:16:34. > :16:40.or member is that, this is part of the toxic legacy of Dounreay, which
:16:41. > :16:42.was a frail nuclear experiment which wasted billions of pounds over
:16:43. > :16:48.decades. We know, as the previous speaker was
:16:49. > :16:52.saying, that has left a big legacy of at least 100 tonnes of
:16:53. > :16:56.radioactive fuels that have to be disposed of at Dounreay and about
:16:57. > :17:03.one tonne of that, 1000 kg, is it enriched uranium. 700 kilograms of
:17:04. > :17:09.that is what I presume is part of this new deal that Cameron is
:17:10. > :17:15.announcing that will go to the US. I kind of understand why people in
:17:16. > :17:18.Dounreay are pleased that part of their toxic legacy is being taken
:17:19. > :17:22.away from them, as the man said it was going to go to Sellafield but
:17:23. > :17:26.now it's going to the US. The trouble is, with this kind of
:17:27. > :17:32.material, no one wants it. I had a press release this evening from
:17:33. > :17:35.South Carolina in the US where I think this material is liable to end
:17:36. > :17:39.up and they are saying they don't want to be Scotland's nuclear
:17:40. > :17:42.dumping ground, so you have a problem wherever this material is
:17:43. > :17:47.going to end up. What if it has to be disposed of,
:17:48. > :17:53.from Scotland's point of view, is that not a useful way of getting rid
:17:54. > :17:57.of this, which has to go somewhere? It does have to go somewhere. The
:17:58. > :18:01.argument that takes place is whether it is safer to leave it where it is,
:18:02. > :18:07.which is an argument that a lot of inventor mentor rips will make,
:18:08. > :18:12.because the day of transporting terrorism are too great. --
:18:13. > :18:14.environmental groups. Any place that makes nuclear waste has to take
:18:15. > :18:18.response ability to look after it. The previous solution was that it
:18:19. > :18:20.was going to go to Sellafield, but some people would argue it should
:18:21. > :18:25.stay at Dounreay and should be guarded there and looked after there
:18:26. > :18:28.because that's where it was created. These are very difficult dilemmas
:18:29. > :18:31.and I'm not really quite sure how you solve them.
:18:32. > :18:37.How real are the safety concerns? You heard David their supporting,
:18:38. > :18:41.there has been 20 years experience of moving nuclear material like
:18:42. > :18:44.this. There has. There have been certainly
:18:45. > :18:49.incidents and accidents with it, but nothing that has been very serious.
:18:50. > :18:52.We are living in a very dangerous world right now and some of this
:18:53. > :18:57.material could be made into a dirty bomb, some of it could possibly be
:18:58. > :19:00.weapons grade. We are not quite sure. When they
:19:01. > :19:04.make these kind of shipments and have made them in the past, they
:19:05. > :19:07.have to be very heavily guarded, sometimes they have an extra boat
:19:08. > :19:12.with them with armed people on it to try and prevent attacks. It's a
:19:13. > :19:17.dangerous business, shipping the stuff around. Some people would
:19:18. > :19:20.argue that common sense says it is better to keep it where it is for
:19:21. > :19:22.you can look after it. Thank you for joining us.
:19:23. > :19:24.It's nearly the end of week one in the campaign
:19:25. > :19:27.Today political leaders wanted to talk about mental health,
:19:28. > :19:29.broadband, and support for rural communities,
:19:30. > :19:34.But the week has been dominated by two big themes -
:19:35. > :19:47.Tax has been the big story this week.
:19:48. > :19:52.I'm going to put forward fair and reasonable tax proposals which
:19:53. > :20:00.actually raise more revenue. More tax for our education and health
:20:01. > :20:06.system. Labour were accused of dropping plans for the rebate for
:20:07. > :20:10.the lowest paid. Everyday earning under ?20,000 a
:20:11. > :20:13.year will not pay more than a penny in tax.
:20:14. > :20:17.The green unveiled their own tax plans earlier, they want a new 60p
:20:18. > :20:21.rate for highest earners in a new property tax.
:20:22. > :20:28.The majority of households would be paying less, the majority would pay
:20:29. > :20:32.less. The council tax is based on valuations are quarter of a century
:20:33. > :20:37.old. The Lib Dems want to put income tax
:20:38. > :20:40.up by 1p, they are commenting investment in education and mental
:20:41. > :20:45.health services. If we invest in the future by
:20:46. > :20:49.investing in the skills of our young people, then we can create that
:20:50. > :20:53.circle of wealth and opportunity through growing business.
:20:54. > :20:56.The Conservatives say Scots should pay the same tax or people in the
:20:57. > :21:00.rest of the UK. I think it's not in the national
:21:01. > :21:04.interest to have a higher rate of tax year than the rest of the UK.
:21:05. > :21:07.The Tory leader also came under fire this week on changes to disability
:21:08. > :21:12.benefits. I spoke up before the changes
:21:13. > :21:15.happened and I'm happy they happen. But it's not scaremonger, there will
:21:16. > :21:18.not be any cuts to the money coming in for disability.
:21:19. > :21:22.The SNP say they will mount a fresh push for independence in the summer,
:21:23. > :21:28.so will there be another referendum? If so, when? If people wanted to be
:21:29. > :21:32.once in a generation, once in ten generations, that's exactly what it
:21:33. > :21:36.will be. But equally, if people don't want back the opportunity to
:21:37. > :21:41.make that decision again, then that is up to the people of Scotland.
:21:42. > :21:44.There was talks of splits and Ukip with claims that the leader had
:21:45. > :21:51.undemocratically stitched up places on the party's lists of candidates.
:21:52. > :21:55.As a party that right itself on localism, on choosing local
:21:56. > :21:59.candidates in local champions, it is essentially spat on the idea, ripped
:22:00. > :22:06.it up and thrown in the bin. Ukip denied the allegations. So a
:22:07. > :22:12.week of campaigning down. We go to the polls five weeks today.
:22:13. > :22:15.Here in the studio to discuss that and the day's other news
:22:16. > :22:20.are the journalists Katie Grant and Paul McNamee.
:22:21. > :22:25.Welcome to both of you. It is the end of week one.
:22:26. > :22:34.One of the highlights and for you? There haven't been any highlights,
:22:35. > :22:37.it's been very... They are all in a sort of state of over excitement at
:22:38. > :22:41.the moment because it is week one. They'll calm down a bit by week
:22:42. > :22:46.three him we might get sense. Some of the interesting things has Ruth
:22:47. > :22:52.Davidson has come out very clearly for tuition fees and she's got some
:22:53. > :22:56.sort of grip on how things actually work. The really interesting thing
:22:57. > :23:00.at the moment is the SNP dilemma. They're probably going to walk the
:23:01. > :23:04.election, what is it matter really? What they've always set themselves
:23:05. > :23:09.as a kind of Robin Hood, the Robin Hood party. Down with a rich and
:23:10. > :23:12.let's tax the rich and give it all to the poor. But now they are the
:23:13. > :23:16.party of Government, they can no longer do that. For the first time,
:23:17. > :23:19.they are actually having to behave in a collection like a party of
:23:20. > :23:25.Government. Perhaps that's been the highlight of the week, seeing them
:23:26. > :23:29.try and sell this to their more enthusiastic supporters.
:23:30. > :23:33.There's been a lot of talks about taxing the rich they speak, the 60p
:23:34. > :23:37.top rate from the Greens, 50p top rate from Labour, do you think that
:23:38. > :23:43.matters to the voters or is it just symbolic to be saying we might do
:23:44. > :23:49.something radical with tax powers? Of course it matters. Everybody pays
:23:50. > :23:54.tax, nobody wants to pay too much tax. There is a sense that Scotland
:23:55. > :23:57.will claim to be more social democratic, therefore would be
:23:58. > :24:01.welcome, some people would welcome paying a little but more if it helps
:24:02. > :24:07.protect Social Services. But at the end of the day, no one wants to
:24:08. > :24:12.spend more money then they have to so, yes, it is important to people.
:24:13. > :24:16.But that debate about the top rate, you could put the SNP Government in
:24:17. > :24:20.a position of saying, we would like to have it as 50 people, but we are
:24:21. > :24:23.worried the rich wouldn't pay it. Quite an interesting discussion to
:24:24. > :24:29.be had, whereas the other parties are sort of trying to be radical. I
:24:30. > :24:33.think the point that you made there, when the SNP now is the party of
:24:34. > :24:37.Government, they have the power to do these things that are remaining
:24:38. > :24:43.still, they are not to anything. That seems to be the tail of the be,
:24:44. > :24:48.because they had... There was a very harsh editorial about the SNP not
:24:49. > :24:53.acting when they said they would, there was a report on how to fix
:24:54. > :24:57.social justice, help the poor not be as poor as it would be. Nicola
:24:58. > :25:02.Sturgeon promised to act on it but hadn't. That doesn't seem to have
:25:03. > :25:05.had, apart from the editorial, doesn't seem to have had any
:25:06. > :25:08.damaging effect on the SNP and chances are it won't. No matter what
:25:09. > :25:14.they say or do, they're going to end up one or two seats up, around 70
:25:15. > :25:18.odd seats, they are sitting comfortably. It doesn't seem to be
:25:19. > :25:23.in their interest to rock the boat on anything. Therefore, it means
:25:24. > :25:31.this could be a really long, dull campaign. What we wanted some and
:25:32. > :25:36.some Ukip to... Let's hope it's not going to be dull, we need something
:25:37. > :25:38.to talk about the next five weeks. In two televised debates, D think
:25:39. > :25:43.anybody came out on top in any of those?
:25:44. > :25:47.No, not really. The politicians all sound the same. They're not all
:25:48. > :25:50.saying the same thing, I am not suggesting that they are, but they
:25:51. > :25:54.all sound the same. Perhaps it is because it is week
:25:55. > :25:58.one, but they are all over empathizing, they are all over
:25:59. > :26:03.excitable and I think people just switch off. A sound like trained
:26:04. > :26:07.puppies, that's almost worse. So you're not getting anything very
:26:08. > :26:10.radical or very interesting. We know what they're going to say before
:26:11. > :26:14.they say it. There is so much guff sprouted, it
:26:15. > :26:17.doesn't mean anything. That is true, but I think Willie
:26:18. > :26:23.Rennie of all the party leaders is the one who has shown some kind of
:26:24. > :26:28.thinking and intellectual depth, perhaps you had him before, because
:26:29. > :26:31.when you had the face-to-face and each was asking the other questions
:26:32. > :26:34.standing in the middle in that weird manner that they had, it worked to a
:26:35. > :26:38.degree, good today, but he was the one who seemed to have the most
:26:39. > :26:40.substance to the questions and responses, and it wasn't necessarily
:26:41. > :26:40.just responses, and it wasn't necessarily
:26:41. > :26:52.better get the line out there. responses, and it wasn't necessarily
:26:53. > :26:55.postal seemed to shift, although as we know from the last election, the
:26:56. > :26:59.general election, the pollsters can get it very badly wrong. Research
:27:00. > :27:03.for the British polling Council said today that the polls for the last
:27:04. > :27:08.year's generation with the least accurate since surveying began over
:27:09. > :27:11.70 years ago. Do you think the public book more skeptically on.
:27:12. > :27:16.Because of last year? I think they do. I think the public know what the
:27:17. > :27:21.polls are about. We give them the wrong answers, we are bored of being
:27:22. > :27:25.manipulated and asked for things. We are asked for everything, it has a
:27:26. > :27:30.kind of feedback thing now, we are asked all the time. You buy a pair
:27:31. > :27:31.of shoes and you've got to send aid back to somebody. We are getting
:27:32. > :28:17.wise to that. Often back to somebody. We are getting
:28:18. > :29:13.with the status quote, it may We'll leave you tonight
:29:14. > :29:25.with Ronnie Corbett, Do you play golf? Yes, I do. I'm not
:29:26. > :29:32.very good, I played nine holes. Played five, fell down for.
:29:33. > :29:34.It's good night for me... And it's good night from him.
:29:35. > :29:35.Good night. Scotland's identity, culture
:29:36. > :29:42.and voice were fast disappearing. The 20th century
:29:43. > :29:45.was not distinctively Scottish. But a small army of writers
:29:46. > :29:48.were fighting to revive it. He wants to stir things up, and
:29:49. > :29:53.he wants people to read more widely. He changed Scottish
:29:54. > :29:55.literary history. concludes with
:29:56. > :30:05.The Cultural Revolution. Continuing on BBC Two, it's...
:30:06. > :30:10.Wow! That looks complicated.