:00:00. > :00:00.The respected Fraser of Allander Institute says public
:00:00. > :00:08.services north of the border might be hit by ?1.6 billion by 2020.
:00:09. > :00:10.Even their optimistic projection would still see
:00:11. > :00:14.So tonight, I'll ask a panel of politicians
:00:15. > :00:38.There are tough economic choices on the horizon,
:00:39. > :00:40.with a worst-case scenario of a ?1 billion cut
:00:41. > :00:45.So is the Scottish Government right to continue to prioritise health,
:00:46. > :00:50.Holyrood's politicians blame each other for the possible
:00:51. > :00:53.consequences of such cuts, but do any of them have a solution
:00:54. > :00:58.And in the US Presidential race, an unwell Hillary Clinton
:00:59. > :01:11.Can Donald Trump capitalise on her absence?
:01:12. > :01:14.Some public services could face budget cuts of almost a fifth over
:01:15. > :01:18.the next four years, according to independant forecasters.
:01:19. > :01:20.The cuts could come under the "worst-case scenario"
:01:21. > :01:23.for Scottish Government funding outlined today in a report
:01:24. > :01:25.by the Fraser of Allander Institute, which is part
:01:26. > :01:43.There are just under 100 pages in this report. It contains a great
:01:44. > :01:48.deal of detail. And different scenarios, as the authors try to
:01:49. > :01:52.model and predict the future. It is available online for anyone. But in
:01:53. > :01:56.case you haven't downloaded it will look through your own personal copy
:01:57. > :02:05.yet, let me pick out the key points. So if you are sitting comfortably, I
:02:06. > :02:08.will begin. What the Scottish Government can spend comes from the
:02:09. > :02:14.cash that comes from the UK Government under the bonnet for
:02:15. > :02:25.Miller and revenues raised from taxes. Taxes will fund half of the
:02:26. > :02:29.revenue in Scotland and the block grant will be adjusted. If the
:02:30. > :02:33.Scottish economy matches the performance of the rest of the UK,
:02:34. > :02:42.the impact would be neutral. If it performs less well, you there will
:02:43. > :02:48.be more money -- less money. If it outperforms, there will be more
:02:49. > :02:54.money. But the Scottish economy has grown by 0.6% compared to 1.7% for
:02:55. > :02:58.the rest of the UK. There are big areas of uncertainty, what will
:02:59. > :03:09.leaving the EU mean and what will be the impact of the UK Government's
:03:10. > :03:13.decision to abandon its goal of balancing the budget by 2020. The
:03:14. > :03:19.report warns that the Scottish Government should prepare for
:03:20. > :03:28.real-time cuts. Best case, down by 2.8%, down by ?700 million. Worst
:03:29. > :03:34.case, down by 6.2%, ?1.6 billion. But it has already made a number of
:03:35. > :03:39.policy commitments for police, and health provisions. Keeping those
:03:40. > :03:45.promises would mean even deeper cuts for unprotected areas. Around 16%.
:03:46. > :03:48.So, tough choices ahead. But it is also true that the Scottish
:03:49. > :03:49.Government will have more powers ever before.
:03:50. > :03:54.Well, a short time ago I spoke to the Director of the Fraser
:03:55. > :03:56.of Allander Institute, Graeme Roy, about those
:03:57. > :04:00.projections and how he came up with that worst-case scenario.
:04:01. > :04:09.Even before the EU referendum, the Chancellor was planning to take
:04:10. > :04:14.around 3.5% out of the Scottish budget in real terms over because of
:04:15. > :04:18.the next Parliament. All we do in the report today is set out what
:04:19. > :04:23.scenarios may happen going forward now that the Chancellor has promised
:04:24. > :04:28.to reset fiscal policy in his Autumn Statement. So we look at a range of
:04:29. > :04:32.different scenarios. The worst-case scenario is a situation where the
:04:33. > :04:37.Chancellor decides in the light of Brexit and a potential shock to the
:04:38. > :04:45.economy and a weakening UK fiscal position, he is going to cut
:04:46. > :04:48.expenditure even more in the short term and on top of that, with the
:04:49. > :04:51.new fiscal powers that are coming to Scotland, got as revenue is being
:04:52. > :04:55.slowed over the next few years. Is that shock to the economy
:04:56. > :04:59.guaranteed? Philip Hammond talked about Brexit having a chilling
:05:00. > :05:04.effect on the economy. There is a debate about the extent of the shock
:05:05. > :05:08.that economists predict will happen in the next few years. The general
:05:09. > :05:12.consensus is that it will be a negative shock. The scale is
:05:13. > :05:16.uncertain but we can be confident that the economy will grow more
:05:17. > :05:22.slowly over the next few years and it would have done if it had not had
:05:23. > :05:28.the shock of the EU referendum vote. But what do understand, that
:05:29. > :05:34.austerity is no longer government policy? We would be very cautious to
:05:35. > :05:38.say that is likely at least in the short-term. The Chancellor has said
:05:39. > :05:42.he is prepared to reset fiscal policy but that was going to happen
:05:43. > :05:45.anyway with a weakening fiscal position going to increase
:05:46. > :05:50.borrowing. If reset just means he will miss his fiscal targets, with
:05:51. > :05:54.the slowing economy, that would happen anyway. He could decide to
:05:55. > :05:59.stimulate the economy by expanding fiscal policy in the short term,
:06:00. > :06:05.perhaps tax cuts. But I think it is pretty unlikely that he will tear up
:06:06. > :06:08.his plans to consolidate departmental spending and therefore
:06:09. > :06:13.continued to not cut the Scottish Government. That is the important
:06:14. > :06:20.thing here. The Scottish Government depends on the bonnet consequential.
:06:21. > :06:24.If he does not change the budget in vain his department, then
:06:25. > :06:30.potentially the worst case an aria will come to pass. -- the Barnett
:06:31. > :06:39.formula consequential is. And we know that Scotland -- that the
:06:40. > :06:44.Scottish Government will get its tax-raising powers. In the near
:06:45. > :06:49.term, the effect of the Barnett formula will affect the Scottish
:06:50. > :06:53.Government and it is likely that that will continue to be cut over
:06:54. > :06:58.the next few years. Without those powers, how difficult would it be
:06:59. > :07:02.for the Scottish Government to make up those extra revenues? It is
:07:03. > :07:07.difficult given the scale of the consolidation that is happening at
:07:08. > :07:12.UK level. And there is a risk if the Scottish Government was to try to
:07:13. > :07:24.make up that deficit by increasing taxes and Steve -- which could make
:07:25. > :07:28.the situation worse. With tax rises, there is a risk that you end up
:07:29. > :07:34.putting the economy into an even more precarious position.
:07:35. > :07:38.Politicians of all hues have had something to say about your report,
:07:39. > :07:43.blaming each other about the potential outcomes. What do you make
:07:44. > :07:48.on what you have heard? Anything give you grounds for optimism? The
:07:49. > :07:50.report, the image of responsibility to act is with the Scottish
:07:51. > :07:57.Government, they are the one setting out the budget. But we are clear in
:07:58. > :08:02.the report that it is a challenge to all political parties. The Scottish
:08:03. > :08:07.Government must set out clear political -- has set out clear
:08:08. > :08:12.physical priorities in its manifesto and in its budget which are
:08:13. > :08:16.childcare, policing and health. But those require cuts in other areas.
:08:17. > :08:22.If you are going to criticise these cuts, you have to come forward to
:08:23. > :08:29.say where you would make savings. Will you spend less on police or the
:08:30. > :08:33.health budget or what? You cannot have it both ways. Our challenge to
:08:34. > :08:38.every issue saying with a tight whistle settlement, what are your
:08:39. > :08:42.choices and what are the opportunities to take different
:08:43. > :08:44.decisions, if you want to do that. Thank you for coming to speak to us.
:08:45. > :08:47.So, what have the politicians had to say about the forecast?
:08:48. > :08:48.I've been talking to the Conservative Spokesperson
:08:49. > :08:51.on Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Dean Lockhart, the SNP MSP
:08:52. > :08:53.Ivan McKee who sits on Holyrood's Finance Committee
:08:54. > :08:59.and the Labour Economy spokesperson Jackie Baillie.
:09:00. > :09:11.Ivan McKee, these phrases mean that the SNP's spending proposals have to
:09:12. > :09:17.be ripped up. The data we have seen says two things. It says about the
:09:18. > :09:22.cuts the Scottish Government has faced from Westminster with those
:09:23. > :09:27.set to continue, a 10% real terms cut in the period up to 2020. It
:09:28. > :09:33.talks about this Clifford and impact of Brexit and that is a consequence
:09:34. > :09:37.of the Tory party's internal squabbles, it will hurt Scotland
:09:38. > :09:42.very hard. It also talks about the fact that the Scottish Government is
:09:43. > :09:47.prioritising the police, health and childcare, meaning there is even
:09:48. > :09:50.less money for other areas. The Scottish Government made manifesto
:09:51. > :09:55.commitments and that is the basis on which we were elected for our third
:09:56. > :09:59.term. That is what we will follow through on. Clearly, we don't know
:10:00. > :10:03.what the full numbers are going to be because we are still waiting for
:10:04. > :10:08.Phil Hammond's Autumn Statement that he will have to make changes and
:10:09. > :10:12.because of the impact of Brexit. When we see those full numbers,
:10:13. > :10:17.Derek Mackay will bring forward a budget to meet our manifesto
:10:18. > :10:20.commitments. But the impact of Brexit is a great unknown and a
:10:21. > :10:28.consequence of the Tory party playing games. Dean Lockhart,
:10:29. > :10:30.address those issues. The Fraser of Allander Institute made it clear
:10:31. > :10:35.that ultimately these problems that we are likely to see in the Scottish
:10:36. > :10:42.budget are a result of Brexit and the result of austerity that the UK
:10:43. > :10:47.Government has been pursuing. No, the main takeaway from this report
:10:48. > :10:51.is that now, the Scottish Government has the significant tax and spend
:10:52. > :10:56.and fiscal policies available to it to make a difference to the Scottish
:10:57. > :11:02.economy. That means the size, shape and amount of these. ...
:11:03. > :11:05.economy. That means the size, shape and amount of these. So how much
:11:06. > :11:11.that should base tax people to make good the deficit? That is for the
:11:12. > :11:15.SNP government to decide. They have been badgering for these economic
:11:16. > :11:19.powers for years. Now they have them, they should tell us how they
:11:20. > :11:25.are going to manage the economy going forward. Parcel forms is not a
:11:26. > :11:30.great guide. The economy under the SNP for the last decade has
:11:31. > :11:34.underperformed the rest of the UK. That gap is only widening. What I
:11:35. > :11:38.would say to the SNP is that now you have the powers you have asked for,
:11:39. > :11:44.step up to the plate and do something with those powers. Jackie
:11:45. > :11:48.Baillie, the best that your party has offered is the 1p increase in
:11:49. > :11:51.income tax and the last election. But if the worst case scenario comes
:11:52. > :11:59.to pass, that will not nearly enough. We actually had a number of
:12:00. > :12:03.different proposals. But what we are saying is slowing economic growth in
:12:04. > :12:08.Scotland, slower than the UK, so we cannot grow ourselves out of these
:12:09. > :12:19.problems... So you will have to tax? We are seeing a 6% worse case
:12:20. > :12:22.scenario cuts. The SNP having made their commitments, these cuts will
:12:23. > :12:27.fall on local government budgets. That means money taken away from
:12:28. > :12:34.schools, education, social care from some of the most vulnerable... But
:12:35. > :12:38.your proposal would only raise ?500 million. That does not go anywhere
:12:39. > :12:45.near to fill the gap for the best case scenario. We had a number of
:12:46. > :12:49.proposals. We said we would have a 50p top rate of income tax so that
:12:50. > :12:54.those who earn the most could contribute a little bit more. We
:12:55. > :12:58.would have put that into closing the education attainment gap. But in
:12:59. > :13:02.addition to that, we were clear that this cottage government has choices.
:13:03. > :13:06.It has a choice to be anti-austerity, that is what the SNP
:13:07. > :13:13.said they wanted to do. Yet at each occasion when they -- are challenged
:13:14. > :13:20.about it, this every pass on the cuts. Is it time to consider raising
:13:21. > :13:26.taxes? We made manifesto commitment stop macro circumstances have
:13:27. > :13:32.changed! We made commitments not to increase the basic rates. We have
:13:33. > :13:37.made changes to the allowances for higher rate taxpayers which will
:13:38. > :13:43.raise additional money. But nowhere near the ?1 billion if this
:13:44. > :13:47.worst-case scenario comes to pass. That is a consequence of the Brexit
:13:48. > :13:51.situation. Derek Mackay will bring forward a budget in a few weeks
:13:52. > :13:55.which will lay out spending plans for the coming year and tax plans.
:13:56. > :13:59.We have made manifesto commitments and we shall stick to them. We
:14:00. > :14:03.shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the cuts because of sturgeon
:14:04. > :14:05.are driving this and it will get worse because of the uncertainty
:14:06. > :14:13.caused by Brexit. There are new powers coming to this
:14:14. > :14:21.cottage Government. Is about time that they were exercised. It is a
:14:22. > :14:29.time when the overall budget is being constrained. Cut across
:14:30. > :14:35.Scotland. A cut to... Jackie Baillie should understand because she knows
:14:36. > :14:47.the way these things work as this will drive down the economy. Drive
:14:48. > :14:52.the economy. Let me bring in... This will improve the finances of
:14:53. > :14:56.Scotland. The Chancellor has said that he needs to reset the economy.
:14:57. > :15:02.Would you welcome a move away from austerity? I think the Autumn
:15:03. > :15:06.Statement is go to take place at the end of November. We need to wait to
:15:07. > :15:11.see what the Chancellor comes up with. You could lobby for more money
:15:12. > :15:16.for Scotland, for instance. I think what is really relevant here are the
:15:17. > :15:21.numbers that came out next last week that showed that public spending in
:15:22. > :15:27.Scotland is ?50 billion more than the tax revenue in Scotland. We are
:15:28. > :15:31.already seeing a union dividend. Scotland benefiting from being part
:15:32. > :15:40.of the United Kingdom. How much of a consolation that the if it is right
:15:41. > :15:46.that the billion pounds is taken out of budgets? That is for the SNP to
:15:47. > :15:53.the site. They have the hands on the levers of economy. The UK's
:15:54. > :15:57.austerity policy has got worse. You have said all along that once you
:15:58. > :16:01.get the hands on the levers of power you will be able to grow this
:16:02. > :16:05.faster. So, the proof will be on the pudding. You have had these powers
:16:06. > :16:10.through number of months now. There is been silence on how you are going
:16:11. > :16:14.to use them. It's time to step up and tell the Scottish people how you
:16:15. > :16:22.are going to use these powers. I think you the already seen. We have
:16:23. > :16:28.invested ?100 million in two money. That was an under spend. We have put
:16:29. > :16:32.money into this cottage Grove fund to help businesses innovate. That is
:16:33. > :16:37.the kind of thing to get things up to where they should be. Jackie
:16:38. > :16:42.Baillie, is it unfortunate that in this argument over austerity that
:16:43. > :16:46.Jeremy Corbyn and his front bench team seem to be fairly ineffective?
:16:47. > :16:51.No, this is about what we do in Scotland. There are new powers being
:16:52. > :17:00.transferred to Scotland. I well remember as you do, Nicholas surgeon
:17:01. > :17:04.going down prior to the UK election about how to do anti-circuit. It is
:17:05. > :17:11.just a shame that she does not do it herself. The people are blaming each
:17:12. > :17:19.other, and the people of Scotland deserve better than this. There are
:17:20. > :17:25.billions of cuts coming to the local councils. Frankly, to have this
:17:26. > :17:29.arguing with each other it is not good enough. Labour act because the
:17:30. > :17:36.financial crisis in the first place. I think you will find actually that
:17:37. > :17:38.that is not true. This could go on for a long time so let me thank you
:17:39. > :17:41.for joining us this evening. Tonight on the election trail
:17:42. > :17:43.in the United States, Republican Donald Trump is rolling out
:17:44. > :17:45.proposals which he says will make Meanwhile, his Democratic rival
:17:46. > :17:49.Hilary Clinton is still out of the picture as she
:17:50. > :17:52.recovers from Pneumonia. Has the last few days been a turning
:17:53. > :17:54.point in this campaign? Professor Chris Carmen
:17:55. > :17:57.from Glasgow University has been watching events closely and has
:17:58. > :18:08.been giving me his view. It is an important point. We will
:18:09. > :18:12.know whether it is a turning point when we get the polls. It is too
:18:13. > :18:16.early to know. We are speculating about what public opinion is going
:18:17. > :18:20.to do and how it is going to react to events with Hillary Clinton and
:18:21. > :18:25.her health issues. And Donald Trump and his policy launches and all of
:18:26. > :18:29.that. It is an important point and it plays into the important
:18:30. > :18:33.narratives that have been coming out and have been raised previously
:18:34. > :18:38.around health issues and around longer ability and honesty and that
:18:39. > :18:42.something. Donald Trump is making an announcement about childcare
:18:43. > :18:47.tonight. It seems that he is trying to focus on policy in the absence of
:18:48. > :18:52.Hillary Clinton, rather than just hammering home the message of ill
:18:53. > :18:58.health. Remarkably he has been quiet about the health issue. He wished
:18:59. > :19:01.her well and said that he hopes she gets better soon. He quickly pivoted
:19:02. > :19:05.to talk about himself and said he was going to release it health
:19:06. > :19:10.records later this week, he says. We see what happens with his. They are
:19:11. > :19:16.also using this time. They are not going to rush nothing out, they will
:19:17. > :19:19.also have this plan. They are going to try and get media attention.
:19:20. > :19:22.There are some things that Donald Trump did over the weekend that they
:19:23. > :19:27.want to quickly hide under the rug. There were issues around the Trump
:19:28. > :19:34.foundation that came out and he made a few comments that it they would
:19:35. > :19:38.probably prefer him not to have attention on. You mention that he's
:19:39. > :19:43.going to have to disclose his health records. It is interesting
:19:44. > :19:46.phenomenon that they are talking about disclosure in the United
:19:47. > :19:53.States. Pollutants and talk about being private, but the public
:19:54. > :19:57.thinking she has something to hide. Some like 86% according to a
:19:58. > :20:04.relatively recent poll of people say that health of the candidates is a
:20:05. > :20:08.factor in thinking about the vote. So, Americans have demanded the
:20:09. > :20:11.quite sometime this a lot of information about health. Also that
:20:12. > :20:20.tax records and income. These sorts of things. These are difficult areas
:20:21. > :20:24.for both of these candidates. Yes. Specifically scrutiny. The Clintons
:20:25. > :20:29.have had to reveal an awful lot over a long period of time. Since Bill
:20:30. > :20:32.Clinton was president. And Hillary Clinton, because she was Secretary
:20:33. > :20:35.of State because she was a senator, she has had to have these records
:20:36. > :20:39.released publicly prolonged period of time. Donald Trump has not.
:20:40. > :20:46.Because he was a private citizen of private companies he has managed to
:20:47. > :20:48.keep his record close and personal. We have seen replacing Hillary
:20:49. > :20:53.Clinton on the stump her daughter, Chelsea. That is not something that
:20:54. > :20:56.you would see in this country. She is not running for office. Barrick
:20:57. > :21:05.Obama has been out campaigning for her to. Barrick Urbana, Chelsea have
:21:06. > :21:12.all been out. It is a family affair. You get a family affair. Director
:21:13. > :21:16.JFK, you get Camelot. Chelsea Clinton was raised in the White
:21:17. > :21:19.House. You have this idea that she is a public citizen in that regard
:21:20. > :21:24.as well. So, we have still got several more weeks to go in this
:21:25. > :21:30.campaign. We have got TV debates to come. They will be fascinating but
:21:31. > :21:33.also potentially crucial in people making their minds up. It is going
:21:34. > :21:37.to be very interesting to see what happens in the debates. There is a
:21:38. > :21:40.distinct possibility that they might end up being nasty. Maybe some of
:21:41. > :21:44.the nasty as debates we've ever seen. In presidential debate
:21:45. > :21:49.history. We can expect Donald Trump is probably going to come out fairly
:21:50. > :21:56.hard. On the other hand, his campaign manager now she is going to
:21:57. > :22:00.probably try to get him to rein it in. So, a lot of the more reserved
:22:01. > :22:03.Trump that we have seen over the past week or two, many people think
:22:04. > :22:08.it has been her influence trying to get her to stay on message a lot
:22:09. > :22:15.more. Appear in presidential. If you start attacking Hillary Clinton, he
:22:16. > :22:19.starts looking not presidential. For Hillary Clinton, she has to appear
:22:20. > :22:23.to be presidential. She has to be authoritative. She does not have a
:22:24. > :22:28.problem being authoritative, she had a problem being likeable. She's
:22:29. > :22:31.going to get hit on the issues that you mentioned earlier. Believable,
:22:32. > :22:34.trustworthy. Those are seen as being the big negatives for her. It is
:22:35. > :22:36.fascinating. Think you are talking to us.
:22:37. > :22:38.Well, to discuss today's stories, I'm joined by the Press
:22:39. > :22:40.Association's Lynsey Bews and by the Daily Record Political
:22:41. > :22:51.Let's start with these figures from the calendar Institute. Really big
:22:52. > :22:54.numbers. Ready quite worrying for the Scottish Government as Derek
:22:55. > :22:58.Mackay looks to his budget in a couple of months' time. Yes some
:22:59. > :23:02.very tough decisions for him to take in his first budget. I suppose he
:23:03. > :23:09.would want to highlight the figure that has been widely headlined as
:23:10. > :23:12.the worst-case scenario figure for the next four years. Nevertheless
:23:13. > :23:16.there will be some tough decisions for him to take. Given that he has
:23:17. > :23:20.already the SNP Government has already pledged to protect certain
:23:21. > :23:24.areas of spending, it does mean that people are looking at where the axe
:23:25. > :23:27.is going to fall and local government is looking vulnerable
:23:28. > :23:31.again. All the politicians blaming each other today. There is nothing
:23:32. > :23:34.new about that, David Clegg, but we didn't really get many concrete
:23:35. > :23:39.answers about how this will be dealt with. No. The this will be a
:23:40. > :23:44.important tool to see how it will be set out. One thing that it said
:23:45. > :23:47.which I think would be excellent is that we need some kind of framework
:23:48. > :23:51.for what we want from the money that we have and how we want to spend it
:23:52. > :23:56.and what outcome to one. We didn't reject much of that with the
:23:57. > :23:59.election campaign this year. We got a particular SNP campaign poster
:24:00. > :24:04.which said we all benefit from our policies. That is not possible in
:24:05. > :24:13.these circumstances. How do you want them to benefit? The UK impact with
:24:14. > :24:20.the Brexit scenario, but there will always be the case. Exit has made it
:24:21. > :24:23.worse and tougher. The new income tax coming in, there could have been
:24:24. > :24:26.a suggestion that the Scottish Government is going to be more on
:24:27. > :24:33.the spot for the decisions, but I think Brexit has muddied the water.
:24:34. > :24:38.We need to see what Philip Hammond come on with the budget. That will
:24:39. > :24:49.have another effect on what Scotland gets. Yes. And Mackay will be having
:24:50. > :24:52.a look at that closely. Particular when Philip Hammond letters than
:24:53. > :24:59.what is planned. He is talking about a Brexit proofing budget. Looking
:25:00. > :25:03.ahead to cushioning the economy when we do go into Brexit. He has been
:25:04. > :25:06.pulling back a little bit from the austerity that we heard from George
:25:07. > :25:12.Osborne, so it will be interesting to what we hear from him about
:25:13. > :25:18.borrowing, it is investing and infrastructure. It is going to see
:25:19. > :25:24.how interesting it will be that they were Mackay deals about. There will
:25:25. > :25:30.be a lot of horse trading to come. Yes. Maybe they just need three or
:25:31. > :25:34.four people to come onside and they will be there. The new concern for
:25:35. > :25:42.Derek Mackay will be why does he keep all these manifesto promises.
:25:43. > :25:45.House he say that all the problems at dealt with the UK Government
:25:46. > :25:51.without taking the responsibility, but taking the credit for the
:25:52. > :25:59.policies that are popular such as the credit for the NHS. John Swinney
:26:00. > :26:03.has been talking to Parliament about empowering teachers for some time.
:26:04. > :26:07.He says teachers will be able to make their best decisions for their
:26:08. > :26:13.pupils. This is a major review. We can get many details because he's
:26:14. > :26:20.now going to consult about how to do this. Yes, he is talking about
:26:21. > :26:25.consultation. It leaves you wondering how councils will be
:26:26. > :26:32.involved in this. Peter Powell will be with the schools and preserving
:26:33. > :26:38.power or centralising power as is needed. But it is not really clear
:26:39. > :26:42.in what role it will place. We will not be Academy is all how English
:26:43. > :26:47.schools have gone. The same time, councils will be wondering in terms
:26:48. > :26:50.of accountability where are we left? All including an inclusive ethos as
:26:51. > :27:01.they have done in the Scottish education system have do accept that
:27:02. > :27:05.this is a National Service. They seem they are going to devolve
:27:06. > :27:10.service down to headteachers. They are going to be some very sore
:27:11. > :27:14.council leaders today. Not only will ?1 billion the taken off the budget,
:27:15. > :27:23.but they will also not be in charge of schools essentially. How are
:27:24. > :27:29.these regional boards be dealt with? In the end, who is going to have
:27:30. > :27:32.oversight? Can say as much power as possible, but you have to say that
:27:33. > :27:38.the power is going to be used properly. All of this, the potential
:27:39. > :27:41.cuts to the council budgets and education, given the nurse some of
:27:42. > :27:48.the framework for the election next year. Absolutely. Actually, you
:27:49. > :27:58.could say that councils are going to be sitting thinking today that our
:27:59. > :28:03.budgets are going to be cut again. Some of them will see that. Is going
:28:04. > :28:10.to set up a war between local councils. There will be resistance
:28:11. > :28:14.there. I think we're going to see more of that player going into these
:28:15. > :28:18.elections. The politics of that are interesting. We will be five years
:28:19. > :28:24.on from the last local government. The popularity from the SNP has
:28:25. > :28:32.increased. So you would expect them to pick up more councils. You have
:28:33. > :28:36.an SNP are going to pick a fight with them. Shall we talk about The
:28:37. > :28:41.Great British Bake Off? BBC is losing it. Is going to Channel 4.
:28:42. > :28:46.Mel and Sue are no longer going to be part of the show. Is going to be
:28:47. > :28:52.big gap in your life Lindsay? I am a fan. I'm not a super fan. If Mel and
:28:53. > :28:58.Sue go, I have seen people saying, and if Paul and merry go then all
:28:59. > :29:04.that Channel 4 have bought a rape you pots and ten. What is great
:29:05. > :29:10.British bake off without those for? I would also like to say that we are
:29:11. > :29:14.available for half Mel and Sue's price. I don't know whether this is
:29:15. > :29:19.an audition! It is a show that is just about baking and now we have a
:29:20. > :29:22.?25 million price tag. I'm not somebody who watches it very often,
:29:23. > :29:30.but it has been incredibly popular soppy success has been terrific. And
:29:31. > :29:36.that is caused such news just by moving channels means that is tapped
:29:37. > :29:45.into the cultural zeitgeist. We'll Channel 4 regret it? I suspect yes
:29:46. > :29:46.they will lose some viewers because adenoid people -- annoyed people
:29:47. > :29:50.that it has moved. Thank you both. I'm back again tomorrow
:29:51. > :29:54.night, usual time.