:00:00. > :00:00.From beavers to burials, the Scottish Government send out
:00:07. > :00:09.press releases on every aspect of life, but not a ?10 billion trade
:00:10. > :00:34.A row over Chinese whispers, why didn't the Scottish Government
:00:35. > :00:41.We'll be asking the SNP as the opposition say
:00:42. > :00:48.We cover the campaign every day, but what's brewing in voters' minds?
:00:49. > :00:52.You tell us what you think about the big election issues.
:00:53. > :00:55.And demonstrations on the streets of Iceland tonight, as the country
:00:56. > :01:05.is plunged into scandal by the Panama Papers.
:01:06. > :01:09.The Scottish Government's published an investment agreement
:01:10. > :01:11.with a Chinese consortium potentially worth ?10 billion.
:01:12. > :01:16.Good news, you might think, but the deal was signed on the
:01:17. > :01:20.21st of March and wasn't officially announced by ministers at the time.
:01:21. > :01:22.The details have only just emerged, sparking claims that the Government
:01:23. > :01:39.It is February and the people of Glasgow are celebrating the start of
:01:40. > :01:44.the Chinese New Year. Scotland and China are two countries with
:01:45. > :01:47.long-standing cultural and trade links. But questions are being asked
:01:48. > :01:50.about a major investment agreement signed by the Scottish Government
:01:51. > :01:54.and the Chinese consortium. The agreement, which could be worth up
:01:55. > :02:01.to ?10 billion, was signed in Edinburgh on the 21st of March by
:02:02. > :02:06.First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Chinese investment group SinoFortone
:02:07. > :02:10.and China Railway No. 3 Engineering Group, the world's largest
:02:11. > :02:14.construction company. That day it was announced by SinoFortone on its
:02:15. > :02:19.website. It was not until the 3rd of April when news of the deal emerged
:02:20. > :02:23.in Scotland. The Scottish Government has now published a Memorandum of
:02:24. > :02:28.Understanding about the deal, which commits both sides to work together
:02:29. > :02:32.to develop a programme of potential projects for investment. But
:02:33. > :02:36.opposition parties have said that the Scottish Government has embarked
:02:37. > :02:41.on a risky strategy. The SNP over backwards about coming
:02:42. > :02:44.forward on these things and it is a big ?10 billion agreement that has
:02:45. > :02:49.been signed. We need to have a better understanding as to why they
:02:50. > :02:53.kept it secret for so long. I have grave concerns about this memorandum
:02:54. > :02:56.that the First Minister has signed with the Chinese company. I am
:02:57. > :02:59.concerned as to why we only found out about it through the Chinese
:03:00. > :03:03.private company's website and buy this was not explain to Parliament
:03:04. > :03:07.and by the Scottish Government did not choose to publish it until it
:03:08. > :03:11.was in the public domain. Nicola Sturgeon has said this is no
:03:12. > :03:15.secret agreement. The SNP leader may well look forward to the day when
:03:16. > :03:20.she can drink a toast to the formal deal, but for now she says things
:03:21. > :03:23.are just being discussed. Opponents are frankly talking
:03:24. > :03:27.nonsense. This is an agreement to look at where there is potential for
:03:28. > :03:31.significant investment into Scotland. Frankly, if my political
:03:32. > :03:33.opponents are seeing his First Minister I should not encourage
:03:34. > :03:37.investment into Scotland, I think they are demonstrating that they are
:03:38. > :03:46.not fit for the job. This is, admit concerns about the
:03:47. > :03:48.UK's steel industry and questions about whether any Scots or Chinese
:03:49. > :03:50.deal would lead. If the Chinese will invest in
:03:51. > :03:53.infrastructure in Scotland, will it be British Steel or Chinese deal? We
:03:54. > :03:59.need to know the answers to those questions. While thousands of jobs
:04:00. > :04:03.hang in the balance? We want to see investment into our core industries
:04:04. > :04:08.in Scotland and across the UK. In the quiet, hot heat of political
:04:09. > :04:12.campaigning, the SNP has said it will continue to put Scotland on the
:04:13. > :04:13.world stage. Opponents argue they have to go about doing that more
:04:14. > :04:17.openly. Earlier, I spoke to Willie Rennie,
:04:18. > :04:19.the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, who was in our
:04:20. > :04:21.Edinburgh studio. And here in the Glasgow
:04:22. > :04:23.studio is Keith Brown, He's the Infrastructure Secretary
:04:24. > :04:32.in the Scottish Government. Keith Brown, on Monday, March 21,
:04:33. > :04:38.you received nine kilos from the Scottish Government ranging from
:04:39. > :04:43.race equality, a ?1.8 million investment in the Aberdeen oil firm.
:04:44. > :04:49.But nothing about a ?10 billion trade team agreement, why was that?
:04:50. > :04:52.The last example you give was ?1.8 million of investment. There is no
:04:53. > :04:55.investment attached to this agreement, this is a minute of
:04:56. > :05:00.agreement to have further discussions to facilitate the
:05:01. > :05:03.discussions. Of course, it could be lucrative for Scotland and great in
:05:04. > :05:06.terms of jobs and communities and businesses, but there has been
:05:07. > :05:10.nonresident of a project at this stage. It was published and we have
:05:11. > :05:13.published the MOU and secondly we have agreed with the Chinese
:05:14. > :05:18.partners that press release agreed by both parties to be aged, which it
:05:19. > :05:22.was on that website. It has been published but there are no projects
:05:23. > :05:26.for us to announce. The people of China Herald about
:05:27. > :05:31.this deal because it went through the news agency there and was
:05:32. > :05:36.published in the China Dearly, but nothing for the people of Scotland?
:05:37. > :05:40.That is not true, it was published on the English language website,
:05:41. > :05:43.they have companies and investments across the UK and are well-known to
:05:44. > :05:50.governments and bodies here. They publish it on their website and
:05:51. > :05:53.agreed that press the week -- press release with the Scottish
:05:54. > :05:57.Government. If you put in Wales, five years of work before an
:05:58. > :06:06.announcement in terms of the Port Talbot work.
:06:07. > :06:10.But this is said to be published on the SinoFortone website. How many
:06:11. > :06:12.people are looking at that, why where the Scottish media not
:06:13. > :06:15.informed? I have firstly explained that the
:06:16. > :06:20.minute of agreement has been published but also the fact that the
:06:21. > :06:24.press release, and a press release issued under that circumstance, it
:06:25. > :06:28.hardly put it out as a secret deal when it has been published in an
:06:29. > :06:35.English language on a website. This is about a first Mr Koryak and
:06:36. > :06:39.trying to attract business and industry to Scotland. I would have
:06:40. > :06:44.thought not announcing something for which there is no project, I think
:06:45. > :06:47.the opponents have this wrong. The First Minister in trying to attract
:06:48. > :06:49.jobs to Scotland is doing the right thing.
:06:50. > :06:53.Willie Rennie, what is wrong with the ?10 million deal for Scotland?
:06:54. > :06:58.I think your questions are pertinent. Keith Brown is a modest
:06:59. > :07:04.man but the SNP are not, they like to brag about anything they do. It
:07:05. > :07:06.is quite furious that they have not announced this. They would usually
:07:07. > :07:10.take every opportunity. But I want to get to the substance of this. I
:07:11. > :07:16.want to understand what the deal is about, what are the terms? Is it
:07:17. > :07:19.just finance or are their operations involved as well? What checks have
:07:20. > :07:24.been done on these two companies? Do they have a good track record of
:07:25. > :07:29.working in this area and has Keith Brown pursued this himself?
:07:30. > :07:32.Let me put that back to you? We have the Memorandum of Understanding.
:07:33. > :07:36.What is in it for China, what is the quid pro quo for China when it comes
:07:37. > :07:40.to these deals? I know that Willie Rennie failed to
:07:41. > :07:45.answer the question put to him, why it was bad news to Scotland for a
:07:46. > :07:48.?10 million deal. It lays out the fact that any announcement or
:07:49. > :07:53.project that is taken forward would have to be complied with both
:07:54. > :07:57.Scottish Law and EU law. There is no quid pro quo given here. China
:07:58. > :08:00.invest around the world and do so on a huge scale and there is no reason
:08:01. > :08:05.why Scotland should not have that investment coming to Scotland,
:08:06. > :08:08.whether that is for affordable housing or transport, but that has
:08:09. > :08:13.not been specified, we are not at that stage yet. But it must be good
:08:14. > :08:18.to be talking to people about this. My specific questions were, it is
:08:19. > :08:21.about finance or operations? And secondly, have you personally
:08:22. > :08:25.reviewed the performance of these two companies? Do they have a good
:08:26. > :08:30.track record, that you know that before this agreement was saying?
:08:31. > :08:36.Can you answer that, as it finance operations and have you reviewed the
:08:37. > :08:41.track record of these two companies? I'm not that Willie Rennie has
:08:42. > :08:45.refused to answer that question. Of course it is about finance. That
:08:46. > :08:50.figure is in that agreement, ?10 billion. We are not at the stage of
:08:51. > :08:53.discussing it. Whether it is a different party that is involved or
:08:54. > :08:56.the Scottish Government are discussing particular projects, what
:08:57. > :08:59.we have said and what the Chinese have said is that there is a
:09:00. > :09:02.potential port of ?10 billion. I would have thought that any
:09:03. > :09:04.responsible government and especially a First Minister
:09:05. > :09:13.interested in selling Scotland would want to get access to that money for
:09:14. > :09:16.the benefit of the general public. Keith Brown has pointed out, what is
:09:17. > :09:20.wrong with the ?10 billion deal for Scotland?
:09:21. > :09:23.In the right terms, that is a good thing, but I need to understand the
:09:24. > :09:28.terms. He has not and had my question. Does he know as these two
:09:29. > :09:32.countries -- companies have a good track record? That is fundamental to
:09:33. > :09:36.this agreement and his inability to answer that question concerns me. As
:09:37. > :09:41.you do that personally and do they have a good track record?
:09:42. > :09:44.I am pleased that Willie Rennie has agreed that it could be a good thing
:09:45. > :09:54.for Scotland, the ?10 billion investment in jobs. These companies
:09:55. > :09:59.deal with companies that government and other companies around the UK.
:10:00. > :10:02.They have a track record. We are not that this stage of actually
:10:03. > :10:08.announcing a project here. Of course there is more to be done. It is a
:10:09. > :10:14.good idea to have these discussions for Scotland to attract foreign
:10:15. > :10:17.investment. Keith Brown, is it not embarrassing
:10:18. > :10:20.that George Kerevan who is riding in the National today essentially
:10:21. > :10:25.criticising Chinese imperialism? That is a little bit awkward.
:10:26. > :10:28.He was talking about the massive investments that the UK Government
:10:29. > :10:31.has asked China to undertake into strategic things like nuclear power
:10:32. > :10:35.stations. This is not on the table for Scotland.
:10:36. > :10:41.Keith Brown and Willie Rennie, thank you both for joining me. Thank you.
:10:42. > :10:43.Scotland remains divided in attitudes to taxation,
:10:44. > :10:45.according to a new poll for BBC Scotland.
:10:46. > :10:47.The survey suggests support for increasing the very top rate
:10:48. > :10:50.of tax but there's also apparent backing for keeping Scottish tax
:10:51. > :10:54.We'll hear more from our political editor in a moment but, first,
:10:55. > :11:09.This is the Edinburgh beer factory, craft brewery with a dozen staff,
:11:10. > :11:13.they are small but ambitious. Because we have to market the
:11:14. > :11:17.bear... Production started last summer, to succeed the need Scotland
:11:18. > :11:24.to prosper. Tax and spending really matter. With Holyrood gaining new
:11:25. > :11:28.powers, the question of tax is predominant in this election, should
:11:29. > :11:32.people be prepared to pay more tax perhaps to fund services like
:11:33. > :11:37.education, or should taxi be the same as it is across the rest of the
:11:38. > :11:43.UK? What about the upper rate? Big questions. In our poll, respondents
:11:44. > :11:47.were asked to rate policies from one up to ten, producing an average
:11:48. > :11:51.score. First, the idea of increasing rates of income tax by 1p in the
:11:52. > :11:58.pound. It is backed by the Lib Dems and Labour Party. On our poll it
:11:59. > :12:01.rated 6.2. It was outpolled by the idea of keeping the Scottish rate of
:12:02. > :12:06.income tax the same as in England. A plan backed by the Conservatives
:12:07. > :12:10.rated at 6.5. Higher ranked still bores the idea of the Labour Party
:12:11. > :12:18.of increasing the very top rate for those earning more than ?150,000
:12:19. > :12:22.from 45p up to ?50. That hit 70 -- 7.3, relatively popular. Some
:12:23. > :12:25.brewery staff are willing to pay more tax.
:12:26. > :12:30.The fact we could prioritise free health care and education, but that
:12:31. > :12:35.comes at a cost and if that means higher taxation, that is fine.
:12:36. > :12:40.It is a penny, I do not think we both feel it, and for the funds that
:12:41. > :12:42.they could raise and a good we could do, we should do it.
:12:43. > :12:46.Some think it is simply wrong that people in Scotland should pay more.
:12:47. > :12:50.I feel that we all worked very hard, it is a bit galling to think that I
:12:51. > :12:57.could be working as hard and earning the same amount of money 60 miles
:12:58. > :13:01.down the road in Berwick. Some fear the impact on people and
:13:02. > :13:03.us, even though the Lib Dems and the Labour Party have said they would
:13:04. > :13:08.protect those earning less than ?20,000.
:13:09. > :13:12.I do not think that as a lot of money so if you are single mum or
:13:13. > :13:17.something, someone who is in trouble, that might have an effect.
:13:18. > :13:20.-- I still think that is a lot of money.
:13:21. > :13:23.If the starting rate of tax increases, people in Scotland would
:13:24. > :13:29.still end up paying more than in England, some believe. A New Zealand
:13:30. > :13:32.rate band could help. How about that top rate tax plan? Opinion was
:13:33. > :13:39.divided. I don't buy the idea that a higher
:13:40. > :13:43.rate of income tax for higher earners will scare off those within
:13:44. > :13:48.that bracket. The top rate of tax is irrelevant.
:13:49. > :13:53.You do not pay as much money and there are about 70,000 April in
:13:54. > :14:01.Scotland who are eligible. It will not solve any problem. I would be
:14:02. > :14:05.putting up tax across the board. The SNP would leave Scottish tax
:14:06. > :14:08.rates alone but would reverse most of the scheduled tax cuts for higher
:14:09. > :14:14.earners by altering the threshold for the upper 40p rate. Those
:14:15. > :14:18.details emerged after our survey questions were drafted. We did ask
:14:19. > :14:22.about the general notion of keeping the higher tax threshold at the
:14:23. > :14:28.current 2016 rate, even if it is raised elsewhere. That hit 5.3
:14:29. > :14:31.around the midway point. The SNP have said that support for their
:14:32. > :14:34.brew is strengthening as people realise it is aimed at higher
:14:35. > :14:38.earners, while protecting the low paid. Back to the staff, the
:14:39. > :14:43.generally wanted real delivery from public services even if they had to
:14:44. > :14:46.pay more tax. If it was a higher rate of income
:14:47. > :14:51.tax in Scotland, I want to see the benefit of that in terms of the
:14:52. > :14:55.health environment, education, really across the range of areas
:14:56. > :14:59.where they have actual control. On council tax, our survey suggests
:15:00. > :15:04.folk fever higher charges for more expensive homes. Finally, welfare,
:15:05. > :15:10.more money for those who care for people with disabilities was rated
:15:11. > :15:13.6.4. Higher still, there were 7.3 support for the idea of doubling the
:15:14. > :15:18.level of child care for three-year-olds and for deals. That
:15:19. > :15:21.is an SNP policy, although other parties have childcare offers. Your
:15:22. > :15:24.collection, your choice. Just before we came on air,
:15:25. > :15:27.I caught up with our political editor Brian Taylor and began
:15:28. > :15:30.by asking him about the higher 50p Respondents seemed keen for the rich
:15:31. > :15:45.to pay a bit more. It's in survey the most popular in
:15:46. > :15:49.open bunch. They are views on taxation and labour are pointing out
:15:50. > :15:54.the fact from our survey. It is 7.3, it's not eight or nine, the figures
:15:55. > :15:59.were used to seeing in previous opinion polls. Opinion was perhaps
:16:00. > :16:05.more diverging and the same time it's great surprise if people are in
:16:06. > :16:08.favour of a 50p top tax rate, there's a new 17,000 people in
:16:09. > :16:13.Scotland who would face that rate. Perhaps you are seeing the majority
:16:14. > :16:20.of the population saying, if I want X are spending, I want more taxes
:16:21. > :16:27.and want them to pay. That is understandable from those responding
:16:28. > :16:31.to the survey. Ten would be the top, when you look at the middle ranking,
:16:32. > :16:39.the offers from the parties, there is no standout star. Really struck
:16:40. > :16:43.by that across policies. Across taxation today, issues like council
:16:44. > :16:47.tax, they are usually differentiated. There are
:16:48. > :16:50.differences of course but they aren't hugely differentiated. They
:16:51. > :16:55.tend to be five, six and seven. In previous opinion polls and previous
:16:56. > :16:59.Scottish elections, you saw on occasion some policies that were
:17:00. > :17:05.soaring favourites and some absolute no-no is from nine to one. This
:17:06. > :17:10.tends to be a little bit of a lack of differentiation. Perhaps it's the
:17:11. > :17:13.new powers, it's the response of these decisions, people making their
:17:14. > :17:17.myself. I want other parties gauge that. It must be difficult for them
:17:18. > :17:22.to see that. They've come up this policy but standout policy. They
:17:23. > :17:25.have to know that the public are wearing these things very carefully.
:17:26. > :17:32.This isn't a beauty contest, this isn't an exercise in match on breast
:17:33. > :17:36.beating, these are public spending policies and above all taxation
:17:37. > :17:41.policies that will have a impact on voters. On impact and businesses and
:17:42. > :17:46.in those circumstances it is incumbent upon the parties to think
:17:47. > :17:49.seriously about the impact of the policies they are announcing, it's
:17:50. > :17:55.incumbent upon the voters is sure they will to choose carefully. And
:17:56. > :17:59.council tax, a similar theme. Folk are quite happy for the rich person
:18:00. > :18:05.next door to pay a bit more but not from their wallet. It
:18:06. > :18:11.understandable. Lord make the virtuous but not yet, on Lord.
:18:12. > :18:14.Landed on the guy down the road. With council tax the general
:18:15. > :18:20.impression that if folk favour anything they favour the higher
:18:21. > :18:24.banded homes facing the highest increases. You're looking at more
:18:25. > :18:30.increases tomorrow. -- issues. Today was council tax and welfare,
:18:31. > :18:35.tomorrow it's other policies, health, education, issues like
:18:36. > :18:40.fracking, the ban on certain songs being sung at double grounds and
:18:41. > :18:43.issues like the one that is their and a background in Scottish
:18:44. > :18:45.politics, the Constitution. Independence. -- football grounds.
:18:46. > :18:47.And just a reminder, tomorrow night's programme will be
:18:48. > :18:50.another 2016 special debate on tax with a panel of politicians
:18:51. > :18:53.answering questions from an invited audience.
:18:54. > :19:00.That's at our normal time of 10:30pm on BBC Two.
:19:01. > :19:03.Something is rotten in the state of Iceland.
:19:04. > :19:05.That's what people are saying in Reykjavik tonight
:19:06. > :19:10.following the leak of the Panama Papers.
:19:11. > :19:12.The opposition in Iceland has called on the prime minister
:19:13. > :19:14.Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson and his government to resign
:19:15. > :19:17.after details of his family's financial affairs were revealed.
:19:18. > :19:20.He's accused of hiding millions of dollars in the country's banks
:19:21. > :19:27.Mr Gunnlaugsson says no rules were broken.
:19:28. > :19:29.In our Edinburgh studio is the Icelandic journalist
:19:30. > :19:42.Thank you for joining me. First of all, it's a political crisis in
:19:43. > :19:47.Iceland tonight although the PM strenuously denies any wrongdoing.
:19:48. > :19:53.The PM is behaving like he's behaved for the whole term. He lives in a
:19:54. > :19:57.complete different reality than the rest of the country and we know that
:19:58. > :20:04.his finance is kept outside the country. How will this pan out?
:20:05. > :20:12.Watching the protesters, this is a serious political crisis. Icelanders
:20:13. > :20:19.are angry. We want the Cabinet implode under the weight of its
:20:20. > :20:24.corruption. -- watch the Cabinet implode. We watched as the world
:20:25. > :20:28.Beard when our Prime Minister was exposed as a liar, a fraud and a
:20:29. > :20:37.hypocrite. Obviously people are furious. This is a man who is a
:20:38. > :20:41.demagogue, to put in a UK context he is like a mix of Nigel Farage on
:20:42. > :20:49.steroids with a less funny Boris Johnson. What does this mean for
:20:50. > :20:53.Iceland? In a way, national pride must have been dented when you see
:20:54. > :21:02.the extent of the Panama Papers leak and Iceland. I'm sure for many
:21:03. > :21:07.people this will dent their pride but I think most people will realise
:21:08. > :21:12.eventually that this is how people that are healthy for us and we need
:21:13. > :21:19.to look into these affairs. We cannot keep perpetuating this
:21:20. > :21:23.utopian progressive image to the outside world while this sort of
:21:24. > :21:27.stuff is going on. We have ten Cabinet ministers in Iceland, three
:21:28. > :21:30.of them on offshore companies. That means that Iceland is properly one
:21:31. > :21:39.of the most sure countries in the world. That is the view that Iceland
:21:40. > :21:47.is a utopia, a perfect Nordic model. It has been proven that it is false.
:21:48. > :21:51.Even now, I think most people are gobsmacked sing a Prime Minister
:21:52. > :21:55.that has been revealed not only to have properties and wealth in tax
:21:56. > :21:59.havens but also that interview that the world watched, he was filmed on
:22:00. > :22:06.much the 11th, we watched and deny it since the 15th and now we realise
:22:07. > :22:10.that there was a video of him lying to foreign journalists and Icelandic
:22:11. > :22:15.journalists so obviously it's unbelievable. Thank you very much.
:22:16. > :22:17.Let's now speak to Libby Brooks, the Guardian's Scotland
:22:18. > :22:28.correspondent, and Kieran Andrews, the political editor of The Courier.
:22:29. > :22:36.Let's pick up on the Panama Papers. Let's pick up on what the Icelandic
:22:37. > :22:41.journalists were saying. At the crisis. It seems to be. Good for the
:22:42. > :22:45.Icelandic people being out on the street. I don't notice anybody
:22:46. > :22:51.out... Last, looks, anybody out on the streets of London complaining
:22:52. > :22:55.about David Cameron's family. I suppose when you look at it to
:22:56. > :23:01.broadly touted dodger the extent of how the have been hiding their
:23:02. > :23:06.wealth and this is one law firm. Who'd have thought that Vladimir
:23:07. > :23:10.Putin, the Icelandic primers minister and Lee are Al Masi would
:23:11. > :23:15.be the poster boys for tax dodging and it's one tranche of documents
:23:16. > :23:20.from one firm. This almost certainly was far, far wider than what we've
:23:21. > :23:24.seen and some great journalism by the BBC, the guardian but they must
:23:25. > :23:30.go much further than this. It's a big worry for how you think about
:23:31. > :23:34.the money being lost for hospitals, schools, roads, it's been dodged so
:23:35. > :23:40.people who have it can hold it. Public services will have lost out.
:23:41. > :23:44.Absolutely. Big-time. This goes wider than the UK but it must be
:23:45. > :23:50.embarrassing for David Cameron, George Osborne, put aside the fact
:23:51. > :23:55.that Cameron's father has been named, they've been crowing about
:23:56. > :23:59.their efforts to snare the tax dodgers, bring in money and give it
:24:00. > :24:08.to charities and here we see the tip of the iceberg, we're nowhere near
:24:09. > :24:12.the financial numbers we could be. We mentioned the organisation
:24:13. > :24:14.investigating this, it shows the merits of funding investigative
:24:15. > :24:19.journalism particularly when HM RC are asking to see the papers. I
:24:20. > :24:25.think one of the interesting things about it as it shows how essential
:24:26. > :24:32.data and data journalism has come to the way that we investigate issues.
:24:33. > :24:37.When you... When you look at it, you had over 100 media organisations
:24:38. > :24:42.looking at these documents. 11 million over three months. Extra
:24:43. > :24:47.reason no leaked it and left it in the pub, unlike certain political
:24:48. > :24:52.parties that shall remain nameless. I think journalism increasingly is
:24:53. > :24:57.looking for people who are really specialised in dealing with these
:24:58. > :25:01.huge tranches of information, picking their stories out of them.
:25:02. > :25:07.Closer to home, the BBC poll. What did you make of that? In a way it's
:25:08. > :25:12.a humorous way of looking at things. I want him to pay more but not me.
:25:13. > :25:15.It puts a pain in the thought that Scots are more punk and passionate
:25:16. > :25:21.or happy to pay more than the rest of the UK. The only area where we
:25:22. > :25:25.want to put tax up according to the poll is at the top rate where most
:25:26. > :25:32.Scots will never get to in their wildest dreams I never pay one June
:25:33. > :25:36.?50,000 or more. What seeing here is people saying I want to pay the
:25:37. > :25:40.same, likely to get better and the people who are no more to me to pay
:25:41. > :25:46.more but not me. I don't want that cash out of my pay packet. I thought
:25:47. > :25:50.it was interesting and council tax, people said they wanted people to
:25:51. > :25:57.pay more if they had a big house. They didn't want everyone to pay
:25:58. > :26:01.more even when it was specifically put to pay for children's education.
:26:02. > :26:08.I think if you want a sign that we are not the great compassionate
:26:09. > :26:14.socialist nation that was it. The respondent suggested that they
:26:15. > :26:19.weren't particularly impressed by all the parties offers when it came
:26:20. > :26:23.to the middle tax. They did say there was a sizeable group of people
:26:24. > :26:28.who were saying that they were up for adding a penny and tax across
:26:29. > :26:33.the board and that's both the Lib Dems and Labour, they have been
:26:34. > :26:37.supporting that. I'll am not feeling quite as gloomy as you are. There
:26:38. > :26:45.was over to that of hope for progressives. Let's pick up on the
:26:46. > :26:50.top story, this Chinese memorandum of understanding, this agreement,
:26:51. > :26:56.what do you make of it? Is it the cup, conspiracy? It's quite hard to
:26:57. > :26:59.get a handle on it. It's curious. The Scottish Government aren't shy
:27:00. > :27:03.in putting out press releases particularly when there potentially
:27:04. > :27:07.a lot of good news there for them which from reading the memorandum
:27:08. > :27:12.there seems to be. It's early stages and they were saying earlier nothing
:27:13. > :27:16.has been signed and that's fine but you would've thought the potential
:27:17. > :27:19.of up to ?10 million of investment would be the sort of thing you could
:27:20. > :27:22.put out in a personal is. They haven't done that and it's very
:27:23. > :27:26.unlike him. They haven't gained it out very well which is unlikely
:27:27. > :27:30.softish government press machine. Although it's possibly worth
:27:31. > :27:35.pointing out this time five years ago before the last Holyrood
:27:36. > :27:38.election Alex Salmond also memorandum of understanding to bring
:27:39. > :27:43.thousands of jobs to Dundee sport, perhaps his fingers are still burnt
:27:44. > :27:50.from no jobs from that. What do you make of it? I've similarly. It's
:27:51. > :27:56.curious. I do think it's not the time to be seen to be shaking hands
:27:57. > :27:59.with China and there is such bad feeling across the country toward
:28:00. > :28:04.the way that they have been dumping steel on the international market so
:28:05. > :28:10.perhaps it's not surprising. On the plus side, it is saying that the
:28:11. > :28:14.Scottish Government is internationally facing, outward
:28:15. > :28:20.looking and we do need that amount of investment in the country. We
:28:21. > :28:23.properly do need that investment. Absolutely. If the investment comes
:28:24. > :28:28.as a great thing which is why it's confusing they decided it was worth
:28:29. > :28:29.having is about. Thank you both through much.
:28:30. > :28:33.Shelley's back with you tomorrow for that hour-long special
:28:34. > :29:22.That's how powerful rock and roll was.
:29:23. > :29:23.MUSIC: Wonderwall by Oasis
:29:24. > :29:30.All these great memories and, you know, it absolutely shaped me.
:29:31. > :29:34.It was something that you wanted to be part of.