Browse content similar to 26/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In his first major television interview since quitting the | :00:53. | :00:58. | |
Cabinet, Liam Fox on why George Osborne should depend on Tory | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
policies to grow the economy even if the Liberal Democrats do not | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
like it. And that he does want to return to government. That is the | :01:06. | :01:09. | |
Sunday interview. Could the Lords reform be the | :01:09. | :01:14. | |
unlikely issue that cracks the Coalition? A Lib Dem at Lord and a | :01:14. | :01:24. | |
:01:24. | :01:26. | ||
Tory backbencher go head-to-head. On Sunday Politics Scotland, the | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
energy giant SSE says the constitutional uncertainty is a | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
risk factor which may infect -- affect future prospects. | :01:35. | :01:40. | |
Is any job better than no job? When will graduates get jobs are to | :01:40. | :01:50. | |
:01:50. | :01:50. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1853 seconds | :01:50. | :32:43. | |
We are talking about learn -- a long-term fix. If you don't agree | :32:43. | :32:48. | |
with the Coalition agreement, and you don't, your own manifesto said | :32:48. | :32:57. | |
it was in favour. It was a democratic mandate. I couldn't | :32:57. | :33:01. | |
hand-pick someone and agree with them about everything. I don't | :33:01. | :33:05. | |
agree with every bit my party says either. When I was knocking on | :33:05. | :33:09. | |
doors for the general election, I did not come across someone who | :33:09. | :33:14. | |
said... Are they banging on the table and saying...? Are you saying | :33:14. | :33:19. | |
we must have a changed constituency? It is another part of | :33:19. | :33:27. | |
a democratic package falls --? have all been nominated by the | :33:27. | :33:33. | |
parties. They probably already failed in government. That is the | :33:33. | :33:39. | |
whole point of having proportional representation. We are in favour of | :33:39. | :33:43. | |
openness where the people can decide. Someone like Philip who is | :33:43. | :33:46. | |
known in Yorkshire would have a good chance of getting into the | :33:46. | :33:53. | |
Lords. He is already elected. that case, you will be it fighting | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
the election on the old boundaries. If the Tories do not deliver on | :33:58. | :34:01. | |
towards reform, you think the Lib Dems will oppose the boundary | :34:01. | :34:06. | |
changes? I think we will not be wanting to put that throw. A deal | :34:07. | :34:15. | |
is a deal. And that means your Coalition is fractured. I take the | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
debate on its merits rather than a petulant argument. You have been | :34:19. | :34:28. | |
going on about Europe! You can never get away from it. If Philip | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
and his friends persist with the is tactics, it will make it very | :34:33. | :34:36. | |
difficult. We're here to implement the Coalition agreement and stick | :34:36. | :34:40. | |
to it, but I'm afraid, we have to get on with it even if we don't | :34:40. | :34:46. | |
like it. The Conservatives have to do the same. The House of Commons | :34:46. | :34:56. | |
:34:56. | :34:59. | ||
is so partisan, that is the complaint. I don't think it will | :34:59. | :35:04. | |
crack the Coalition, but he has just said that it could. The Lib | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
Dems have 8% of the opinion polls. If they want to run away from the | :35:07. | :35:12. | |
Coalition, we'll be happy to fight the general election. We have to | :35:12. | :35:19. | |
leave it there. I enjoyed that. It is 12:35pm. You are watching the | :35:19. | :35:24. | |
Good afternoon and welcome to Sunday Politics Scotland. Coming up | :35:24. | :35:27. | |
on the programme: This week we were trying, honestly, | :35:27. | :35:31. | |
not to use the r word - Rangers or the referendum - but then | :35:31. | :35:33. | |
Scotland's energy giant SSE, the country's second largest company, | :35:33. | :35:35. | |
said the uncertainty about the constitutional future created | :35:35. | :35:38. | |
certain risks and this would be a factor in deciding their future | :35:38. | :35:48. | |
:35:48. | :35:53. | ||
35 % of Scottish Homes will be suffering from fuel poverty this | :35:53. | :35:59. | |
year. It is a daily struggle for some. It is costing about �9 a day | :35:59. | :36:05. | |
to heat the house. More if I put the panel heaters on in the bedroom. | :36:05. | :36:11. | |
It is a struggle. Many recent graduates are taking jobs way below | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
their skills level. They're off the unemployment register and earning | :36:15. | :36:21. | |
cash, but will based get stuck in jobs they did not want? The issue | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
that is important to remember about the unemployment situation, there | :36:25. | :36:35. | |
:36:35. | :36:42. | ||
Over the last financial year the company will have spent almost �900 | :36:42. | :36:52. | |
:36:52. | :36:53. | ||
million in Scotland. It says its existing projects will go ahead as | :36:54. | :36:56. | |
planned but future projects may have to have a risk premium, the | :36:57. | :37:01. | |
cost of which will effect whether the investment goes ahead or not. | :37:01. | :37:04. | |
Joining me now in Dundee, the SNP's Stewart Hosie, and with me in the | :37:04. | :37:13. | |
studio, Labour's Tom Greatrex. Thank you very much for coming in. | :37:13. | :37:19. | |
The principal that we can all agree is that companies attach a | :37:19. | :37:24. | |
financial cost to risk so a risk premium has to be attached to an | :37:24. | :37:31. | |
investment sometimes. Yes or no? That is correct. What SSE are | :37:31. | :37:35. | |
saying is the development of their existing projects in Scotland will | :37:35. | :37:39. | |
continue. It does mean that the additional uncertainty represents | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
increased risk of which SSE will have no alternative but to take | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
into account in making final decisions on those projects while | :37:48. | :37:54. | |
that additional uncertainty remains. Here we have the present | :37:54. | :37:59. | |
uncertainty potentially undermining future investment. What they report | :37:59. | :38:04. | |
said in for is that they are not entering the constitutional debate. | :38:04. | :38:08. | |
Their headquarters are remaining in Perth. They have also said they | :38:08. | :38:12. | |
will not stop investing in Scotland, that is clear. As you just pointed | :38:12. | :38:17. | |
out, the existing investments of �900 of this financial year will | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
continue. They will take a commercial decision in the future. | :38:20. | :38:25. | |
It is hypothetical. It will see what, if any, premium may have to | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
be applied, but they are simply taking a look at what is happening. | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
The other big that they said in their report was that we are | :38:33. | :38:37. | |
looking at the common energy market across not just the UK, but the | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
whole of the British Isles. That was an issue they were concerned | :38:40. | :38:50. | |
about. The British Isles council agreed that that is important and | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
is -- that is expected to continue. A lot of the so-called risk they | :38:55. | :38:58. | |
might be talking about is a hypothetical and we will see if | :38:58. | :39:02. | |
there is actually a real premium ever applied in the future. We are | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
also talking about the risk of uncertainty about gone and's | :39:06. | :39:12. | |
position within Europe. Europe has such an influence on regulation and | :39:12. | :39:16. | |
the market. That is another level of risk. Do you accept that it is | :39:16. | :39:21. | |
legitimate for them to say, look at the uncertainty. We have to put a | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
price on this and that could affect future investments. They are | :39:25. | :39:28. | |
entitled to make the response they have made, but in relation to | :39:28. | :39:35. | |
Europe it is clear that when Scotland and England become | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
successful states in the EU, there will be no change to the EU | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
position whatsoever. Before we leave the element of uncertainty, | :39:43. | :39:52. | |
they are making the point also that if the -- if there is a yes vote | :39:52. | :39:56. | |
for independence, the uncertainty continues, but also they talk about | :39:56. | :40:01. | |
in the negotiations. No issue, including the electricity and gas | :40:01. | :40:04. | |
industry, would be looked at in isolation from the others. They are | :40:04. | :40:09. | |
saying that if there is a yes vote post referendum, the rest continue | :40:09. | :40:12. | |
its, whereas you may say that you while some divine what is happening | :40:12. | :40:17. | |
in the energy market, once you tight into wider negotiations that | :40:17. | :40:23. | |
risk and uncertainty remains. seem to be very focused on risk and | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
uncertainty. A Yes vote in the referendum will be extremely | :40:27. | :40:31. | |
certain indeed. Scotland would become an independent nation and | :40:31. | :40:34. | |
have its own government and they will have all the rights and | :40:34. | :40:38. | |
obligations and duties of the other normal independent countries. We | :40:38. | :40:41. | |
will move on not just in relation to energy and electricity, but also | :40:41. | :40:45. | |
the other matters that in normal Independent government would look | :40:45. | :40:52. | |
after. Tom, it is a matter of fact that risk exists for SSE in the | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
existing investments, for example a lack of clarity in the electricity | :40:55. | :41:03. | |
market. Also, SSE have already, because of government policy in the | :41:03. | :41:10. | |
south, had important project. For them, there are risks whatever they | :41:10. | :41:16. | |
do. That is a fact of commercial life. It was not because of a | :41:16. | :41:22. | |
change in policy, it was because it was found that it would not be | :41:22. | :41:26. | |
economic to continue with it. The UK government said it was not a | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
change in policy that drove that decision. What Stewart failed to | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
point out and what SSE pointed out in their contribution is that at | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
the moment, for renewable generation, there is a subsidy | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
which exists which is paid across the bills of every consumer in | :41:42. | :41:46. | |
Britain. In Scotland, we have less than 10 % of consumers. We have | :41:46. | :41:51. | |
more than 30 % of renewable obligation payments. That is a | :41:51. | :41:55. | |
great thing because of what that demonstrates is that where | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
electricity can be generated in Scotland, we will pay together. In | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
a separate Scotland, the question has not been answered as to what | :42:03. | :42:08. | |
happens in terms of the subsidy. That support is needed. It is | :42:08. | :42:12. | |
needed to generate the investment. Either the bills will go up, all | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
the subsidy will be less and the investment will not happen. Given | :42:16. | :42:21. | |
that Scotland has 25 % of Europe's offshore renewable capacity | :42:21. | :42:26. | |
potential, it is a strange question to ask but why would be not have | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
the money from the renewables obligation invested in the part of | :42:30. | :42:35. | |
the world which can best generate the renewable electricity? What | :42:35. | :42:39. | |
Stewart is missing here, and that he does not quite understand it, is | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
that that subsidy allows that Investment and Development to | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
happen. In a state where you have two separate countries, the rest of | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
the UK it will not be paying that subsidy for that development in | :42:50. | :42:56. | |
Scotland. If Scotland is paying for a... That is a point that has been | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
raised. There will be a financial shortfall in terms of renewables. | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
How will that be met if all the money coming out of the South no | :43:04. | :43:12. | |
longer comes to Scotland? I'm and a loss to understand why money for | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
renewable Investment would not be invested in an area of which has a | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
huge amount of renewable potential. You cannot invest money in | :43:20. | :43:25. | |
renewables where there are no renewables. You are saying that the | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
factor of energy supply and demand would say that you have to come | :43:28. | :43:34. | |
into Scotland if you want to do this sensibly. Let me ask you, Tom, | :43:34. | :43:41. | |
as well about the increase cross- border in -- integration. British | :43:41. | :43:46. | |
Irish councils have said this is something they wish to develop. | :43:46. | :43:50. | |
That is the direction of travel. It would be counter-productive for | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
south of the border not to do that. That has long been the direction of | :43:53. | :43:58. | |
travel. There will be a lot of investment needed to make that | :43:58. | :44:04. | |
happen. But we have a single energy market now. We have a need for | :44:04. | :44:09. | |
upgrading infrastructure as well as new plants. That happens on a UK- | :44:09. | :44:14. | |
wide basis. We all pay for that in our bills. That is either through | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
the levy or through other investments through the charge is | :44:17. | :44:20. | |
that the company made. That works because we have a bigger energy | :44:20. | :44:25. | |
market, 27 million households about pay that across Britain. If in a | :44:25. | :44:30. | |
separate Scotland, how would that work? That is a question that the | :44:30. | :44:34. | |
SNP have been unable to answer and that is key to the uncertainty that | :44:34. | :44:39. | |
SSE are concerned about. The grid will be maintained. There is a | :44:39. | :44:43. | |
common electricity market, it is not just in the island of Britain, | :44:43. | :44:47. | |
it is across the entire British Isles. The point that the British | :44:47. | :44:52. | |
Irish Council want this is important. A single common market | :44:52. | :44:57. | |
in energy across the islands is something that we have, and | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
something we intend to keep. When I hear Tom's comments, it is the | :45:01. | :45:05. | |
worst scaremongering. The lights will not go out, the power grids | :45:05. | :45:09. | |
will not be torn down, there will still be a pan British island's | :45:09. | :45:19. | |
:45:19. | :45:19. | ||
electricity market. Still it should ask himself why would they want to | :45:19. | :45:25. | |
invest in Scotland? Two reasons: Firstly because of the potential | :45:25. | :45:29. | |
for renewables in Scotland, and second because the support regime | :45:29. | :45:34. | |
that exists and is paid for through Britain making sure that the | :45:34. | :45:37. | |
investments happened. Renewable energy is capital intensive, you | :45:37. | :45:42. | |
need that money up front. The SNP have not answered how they would do | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
that in separate Scotland. We have to leave it there, thank you. | :45:47. | :45:52. | |
Stewart, you are going to stay with us for your views on other issues | :45:52. | :45:55. | |
we are looking at this morning. Going off at a tangent now in the | :45:55. | :45:58. | |
energy issue, Donald Trump has told this programme he would be honoured | :45:58. | :46:01. | |
to give evidence to a Scottish parliament energy committee if | :46:01. | :46:04. | |
invited. He's accused the First Minister of being hell bent on | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
destroying Scotland coastline with offshore turbines. There are plans | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
for 11 in the sea off the Menie estate where Mr Trump has built a | :46:11. | :46:13. | |
golf course, a situation he describes as a personal betrayal. | :46:13. | :46:19. | |
Court action he says could delay the project for years. | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
I have been told by our attorney's and lawyer's that we can bring a | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
very large lawsuit and probably win it based on the harm that these | :46:29. | :46:33. | |
horrible things would do to Scotland. I had been told we have a | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
very good law suit and we can delay it for years to come. I feel | :46:37. | :46:41. | |
betrayed because obviously all you have to do is check the newspapers | :46:41. | :46:46. | |
and I think the word in terms of how I feel is betrayed, because he | :46:46. | :46:50. | |
would have thought this would happen? I had a very good | :46:50. | :46:55. | |
relationship with Alex Salmond and I like him, but I cannot let | :46:55. | :47:05. | |
:47:05. | :47:06. | ||
Stewart Hosie, just in response to a couple of these things. Do you | :47:06. | :47:10. | |
think this legal threat has any traction at all? I have absolutely | :47:10. | :47:14. | |
no idea. I would probably doubt it, given that there is no decision | :47:14. | :47:20. | |
made on the deployment facility of the Menie Estate. That decision | :47:20. | :47:24. | |
will be taken into cause. I am sure it will be taken properly. The key | :47:24. | :47:30. | |
thing to remember here is that this facility is a test facility. It is | :47:30. | :47:34. | |
11 turbines, I think about three- and-a-half kilometres off the coast. | :47:34. | :47:41. | |
It is not a full-scale wind turbine array, but a relatively small test | :47:41. | :47:50. | |
facility. But what you think about Donald Trump's general tone. There | :47:50. | :47:54. | |
was concern about the lack of respect shown to the office of the | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
First Minister in some of his comments. I am sure he will say the | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
things that he wants to say. The original Trump development went | :48:03. | :48:06. | |
through the planning process and the Scottish Parliament committee | :48:06. | :48:11. | |
agreed that have been done properly. There will now be a test the city | :48:11. | :48:14. | |
offshore. Again, the prices will be followed her properly. If Donald | :48:14. | :48:18. | |
Trump is not happy, I am sure he will do whatever he feels is | :48:18. | :48:24. | |
necessary but so long as the planning process let -- prisoners | :48:24. | :48:28. | |
is done absolutely scrupulously, as I am sure it will become I'm not | :48:28. | :48:32. | |
sure where Mr Trump will go with it. Let's look at the new Scottish Sun | :48:32. | :48:37. | |
on Sunday. It is at today. It says it has a world exclusive, day of | :48:37. | :48:43. | |
destiny, Saturday the ANC of October 2014 they have revealed as | :48:43. | :48:47. | |
the day for Scotland's historic independence vote. Is that the | :48:47. | :48:53. | |
date? It is certainly a possibility. 18th October is certainly the | :48:53. | :48:58. | |
autumn of 2014. It is a Saturday and not a Thursday and that is one | :48:58. | :49:00. | |
of the areas the Scottish Government is consulting on. But | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
the consultation has not finished and it would be wrong of anyone to | :49:04. | :49:07. | |
prejudge the date for that might be concluded from the consultation. | :49:07. | :49:14. | |
Would it be wrong of any of the SNP Government to have this announced | :49:14. | :49:16. | |
in our Rupert Murdoch's papers before they told parliament the | :49:16. | :49:21. | |
formal date? I had a quick look at it this morning and they cannot | :49:21. | :49:24. | |
actually find a ministerial great. I am not quite sure where they have | :49:24. | :49:29. | |
got the story from. But I am asking you about the principle. Just in | :49:29. | :49:35. | |
principle. For to tell a newspaper rather than Parliament. I am all in | :49:35. | :49:40. | |
favour of important announcements being made to Parliament, by the | :49:40. | :49:42. | |
Scottish Parliament or Westminster, to parliamentarians before they are | :49:43. | :49:51. | |
leaked. Tom Greatrex, what you think? I wonder if this came out of | :49:51. | :49:55. | |
a conversation Alex Salmond and Rupert Murdoch had last week. But | :49:55. | :50:00. | |
when this happens, it will be a matter for everyone who happens -- | :50:00. | :50:07. | |
he lives in Scotland. I think we should get on and get this sorted | :50:07. | :50:13. | |
out so we have the referendum as soon as possible. | :50:13. | :50:16. | |
Growing numbers of people are worried they cannot afford their | :50:16. | :50:20. | |
next fuel bill. One in two says it will put a strain on their finances | :50:20. | :50:25. | |
this year, according to Citizens Advice Scotland. The Government's | :50:25. | :50:31. | |
own figures show 35 % of households are in fuel poverty, which is when | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
you spend more than 10% of your disposable income on energy costs. | :50:35. | :50:45. | |
:50:45. | :50:52. | ||
In at the Western Isles it is This is the bathroom. We have done | :50:52. | :50:55. | |
about nine coats of paint and it is a bathroom paint and it is still | :50:55. | :50:59. | |
coming through. This is the mould on the back of the wardrobe after | :50:59. | :51:04. | |
about a year. Does the smell. It is kind of embarrassing. You can smell | :51:04. | :51:12. | |
it off his close. Their breathing, their skin. It is costing about �9 | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
a day to heat the house and more if I put the panel heaters on in the | :51:15. | :51:25. | |
:51:25. | :51:26. | ||
bedroom. I cannot really take my kids out because I cannot afford to. | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
Stacey and her family live in rural East Lothian and spend around 40% | :51:29. | :51:34. | |
of their total income on fuel. Today she is being shown how to use | :51:34. | :51:39. | |
her heating system more effectively to help her cut down her bail. | :51:39. | :51:43. | |
situations like this where it is an off gas area, there is any electric | :51:43. | :51:48. | |
heating in this property, it can be a challenge to find the balance | :51:48. | :51:53. | |
between the warm home and high bills. Scottish Power is the only | :51:53. | :51:58. | |
electricity provider in the area so Stacey is unable to shop around for | :51:58. | :52:03. | |
another supplier. Just before Christmas, the six-speed energy | :52:03. | :52:09. | |
providers in Scotland increased their prices by about 20%. | :52:09. | :52:11. | |
Government, Ofgem and the Scottish Government will need to challenge | :52:12. | :52:15. | |
the six big energy companies to get a better deal for customers. | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
Airdrie, the community has put on a fuel poverty road show to provide | :52:20. | :52:26. | |
advice to locals. I am quite worried about it. I have been | :52:26. | :52:31. | |
turning way he does down, turning my thermostat down. It is the same | :52:31. | :52:36. | |
fuel, so why can't they give the same price? To his by spending two | :52:36. | :52:43. | |
Haugen thief the �1,000 on a school poverty and the Scottish Government | :52:43. | :52:48. | |
is struggling to reach its target of eradicating fuel poverty in the | :52:48. | :52:53. | |
next few years. -- a quarter of a billion pounds. If we can | :52:53. | :52:56. | |
incentivise and health and people to improve their standards of | :52:56. | :53:01. | |
insulation in the Rhone homes... But clearly if the prices keep | :53:01. | :53:09. | |
getting jacked up by a these amounts it becomes a moving target. | :53:09. | :53:13. | |
Your hands were blue. There was no feeling in your feet. And the | :53:13. | :53:18. | |
breath that was coming out of your mouth. It was just like steam. | :53:18. | :53:23. | |
Until a few weeks ago Margaret's house was not connected to gas. She | :53:23. | :53:27. | |
did not just the offers from the energy companies and turned to the | :53:27. | :53:33. | |
Government for help. I have been trying for over two years all the | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
different Government schemes. It is just a case of, we have not got | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
enough funds available. In a new report, the Scottish Parliament's | :53:41. | :53:47. | |
Economy Committee is a -- considering one stop approached to | :53:47. | :53:52. | |
tackle fuel poverty. There is a great deal of confusion about who | :53:52. | :53:56. | |
might be eligible for these schemes and who might be eligible. Margaret | :53:56. | :54:01. | |
has now received a grant from one of the big energy companies and has | :54:01. | :54:05. | |
had her central heating installed. For Stacey and her family, living | :54:05. | :54:11. | |
in an old house in a rural area with no access to gas gives her | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
little choice but to keep turning up the heat. | :54:15. | :54:21. | |
With me now, Trisha McAuley, the deputy director of Consumer Focus | :54:21. | :54:28. | |
Scotland and the co-convener of the Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie. In | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
one of their reports you said energy companies have money to | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
spend but they are not finding people to spend it on. Is that | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
still the case? Yes, there are a lot of people throughout Scotland | :54:39. | :54:43. | |
are eligible for money from social programmes, environmental | :54:43. | :54:49. | |
programmes, and people particularly who are very fuel poor and the | :54:49. | :54:53. | |
energy company are saying they are having trouble finding these people. | :54:53. | :54:58. | |
So there is a lot more they can do to reach out to put it ages is | :54:59. | :55:03. | |
worked together we could do a lot more to help people. So in the | :55:03. | :55:08. | |
South where the Government says it is up to be able to get in touch, | :55:08. | :55:14. | |
he is that the rank and disease? Yes. People do not just the | :55:15. | :55:19. | |
companies so they are not willing to take the risk. We definitely | :55:19. | :55:22. | |
believe the energy companies should not be sitting back at going out | :55:22. | :55:27. | |
there to find people, being much more active. Patrick, a free repair | :55:27. | :55:35. | |
the political situation, -- if we look at the political situation, | :55:35. | :55:40. | |
the Government in Scotland is saying that the fuel poverty budget | :55:40. | :55:47. | |
will rise by 16 % next year followed by a force of 3% in 2014- | :55:47. | :55:52. | |
2015. But it also has a warm homes fund. Using everything that can be | :55:52. | :55:57. | |
done is being done? Now, not at all. The budget will go up a bit this | :55:57. | :56:01. | |
year but that is only reversing part of last year's cut and so even | :56:02. | :56:05. | |
after that increase we will be spending less on fuel poverty and | :56:05. | :56:09. | |
energy efficiency than we were a few years ago. I was looking back | :56:10. | :56:13. | |
yesterday after I gutters call to invite me on to the programme at | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
the discretion in the Scottish Parliament way back ten years ago | :56:16. | :56:19. | |
in the first session when the target date to eradicate fuel | :56:19. | :56:23. | |
poverty was set and even then people were saying, 15 years, that | :56:23. | :56:28. | |
is a really challenging timescale. 13 % of households in fuel poverty. | :56:28. | :56:32. | |
Where they cause of a million households. Now here we are with | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
four years to go before the target date is reached and we have | :56:35. | :56:39. | |
something like 30% of households in fuel poverty. The best part of a | :56:39. | :56:45. | |
million. We have less than four years to go before we reach that | :56:45. | :56:49. | |
date and will further away from the target by far than we were when the | :56:49. | :56:53. | |
target was set in 2002. So I understand why some of the measures | :56:53. | :56:57. | |
that were put forward were put forward but we are still at this | :56:57. | :57:01. | |
point of having a proliferation of different schemes and did all | :57:01. | :57:03. | |
adding up to a pot that is dramatically less than we need to | :57:03. | :57:09. | |
be spending. When we look at how money is raised for this and the | :57:09. | :57:13. | |
social tariff which goes on to bills, is it time we said that the | :57:13. | :57:16. | |
social tariff is now starting to cost people who cannot afford to | :57:16. | :57:20. | |
pay and let's look at other ways of raising cash for this. What do you | :57:20. | :57:24. | |
think about alternative ways of raising money? The DIS very | :57:24. | :57:28. | |
difficult. The Government, the Scottish Government, has to | :57:28. | :57:32. | |
definitely find more money and lever in funds from the private | :57:32. | :57:37. | |
sector and from energy companies. They called all do a lot more. But | :57:37. | :57:44. | |
the one thing that the Government should be able to do is use it as a | :57:44. | :57:48. | |
preventive spend so for example, there is no strategic influence | :57:48. | :57:51. | |
within the Scottish Government to say, well, we have not got a lot of | :57:51. | :57:56. | |
money, let next -- let's make best use of it and integrate funding for | :57:56. | :58:00. | |
fuel poverty into our health budgets, into existing funding | :58:00. | :58:06. | |
streams in local government, social work departments as well. Patrick, | :58:06. | :58:10. | |
what you think about the current ways of raising money, leading on | :58:10. | :58:15. | |
from what Trisha it said. Do you think that this tariff is | :58:16. | :58:20. | |
necessarily the only way we should be looking at helping people who | :58:20. | :58:24. | |
cannot afford to pay. He it is not the only way to do it. On one level | :58:24. | :58:33. | |
I find it frustrating that people think the level of public funding | :58:33. | :58:37. | |
is a problem, there is no problem putting billions of pounds into | :58:37. | :58:41. | |
building projects. I would like to see councils in Scotland setting up | :58:41. | :58:45. | |
their own energy companies, publicly owned, not just to invest | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
in renewables, and they can do that by borrowing, which they end pay | :58:49. | :58:52. | |
back from the Revenue that renewable energy generates for them, | :58:52. | :58:58. | |
but also by bulk-buying the electricity market. That might be | :58:58. | :59:03. | |
in social housing projects and housing associations. Ultimately, | :59:03. | :59:06. | |
it could be much more widespread because what is happening to the | :59:06. | :59:09. | |
electricity market is about encouraging small new retailers to | :59:09. | :59:14. | |
come on. Local councils could be doing that. Let's look to some of | :59:14. | :59:17. | |
the northern European nations that Alex Salmond constantly compares to | :59:17. | :59:21. | |
an look at what they are already doing. We can empower local | :59:21. | :59:24. | |
Government to do this even now with existing powers we have in Scotland. | :59:24. | :59:31. | |
There is no reason at all we should not start doing that now. Thank you. | :59:31. | :59:34. | |
Thousands of our brightest young men and women are working in jobs | :59:34. | :59:38. | |
are below their abilities. The experiences of the so-called under- | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
employed have been reviewed by Strathclyde University. Student | :59:41. | :59:46. | |
leaders warned that this group may lose out even in an economic upturn, | :59:46. | :59:50. | |
if employers prefer a more recent graduates, so are we creating a | :59:50. | :59:55. | |
lost generation? For our newest crop of graduates, | :59:55. | :59:59. | |
the old assumptions are unreliable. A degree no longer guarantees a job, | :59:59. | :00:04. | |
far less the one they had hoped for, and increasing numbers are under- | :00:04. | :00:08. | |
employed, in other words, in drops significantly below their skills at. | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
It has been three years since I graduated and I expected to work | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
jobs I did not want to do for a while before finding a job that was | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
part of a career but the wait has been longer than I expected. | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
Everybody my own age is working in offices tamping or answering | :00:25. | :00:35. | |
:00:35. | :00:40. | ||
A lot of employers are looking to see that candidates are prepared to | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
roll their sleeves up and do what ever is required in order to earn | :00:43. | :00:53. | |
money. Eilat of us like to see candidates going out and putting a | :00:53. | :00:57. | |
chef been, that is a very good thing to do. But opinions are | :00:57. | :01:04. | |
divided on this. University macro - - the Strathclyde University have | :01:04. | :01:09. | |
said that after graduating, a third of graduates will not be using | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
skills that they have learned. Three years later, 20 % of them | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
will be in the same position. is a big impact on those people who | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
have come through university in terms of their personal experiences, | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
they are not getting the most from their degree. We are worried about | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
the knock-on impact that has on those who are taking jobs away from | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
people who are otherwise -- would otherwise be taking them. There is | :01:36. | :01:39. | |
a real knock-on effect on people who do not have such high | :01:39. | :01:42. | |
qualifications. With every graduation ceremony, the numbers | :01:42. | :01:50. | |
are stacking up. Been employed, or finding jobs, they are stacking up | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
on each other. It depends on how long beak stacking on will go on | :01:54. | :02:00. | |
for. What we require to clear this pile of graduates, it is going to | :02:00. | :02:06. | |
be a high rate of economic growth. I think it would be dishonest to | :02:06. | :02:14. | |
say that this is something I believe is going to happen soon. | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
According to the research, students with post grad qualifications their | :02:19. | :02:27. | |
best in the market, but that is out for many. | :02:28. | :02:30. | |
With me is the new Minister for Youth Employment, the MSP Angela | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
Constance. Let's pick up that first point | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
about postgraduate funding. Your government has an emphasis on that | :02:41. | :02:48. | |
16 to 19-year-olds. Do you think you should look at putting funding | :02:48. | :02:54. | |
into post grad work because that is where the upfront fees are? It is | :02:54. | :03:01. | |
very important to know whether his government does prioritise 16 to | :03:01. | :03:07. | |
19-year-olds. One of the important points but was published a few | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
weeks ago was that we do recognise that all -- not all young people | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
are the same. Graduates do indeed have particular needs. The | :03:16. | :03:21. | |
government is focused on economic recovery before it is essential | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
that we do get graduates into graduate level employment otherwise | :03:26. | :03:31. | |
we will see displacement in the labour market. But I don't think | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
anyone would find anything contentious in that, that is a | :03:34. | :03:42. | |
given. We need jobs in order to have... What do you practically do | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
about things up to help them in the interim and of those jobs become | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
available? Do you have a responsibility there, or should be | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
graduates be on their own? We do have a responsibility to ensure | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
that the young people get the best start to their working lives, that | :03:57. | :04:02. | |
they get the right start in the first rung of the career ladder. In | :04:02. | :04:08. | |
terms of supporting postgraduates, is this government that has access | :04:08. | :04:14. | |
to loans and grants. Nonetheless the picture is mixed. Young | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
Scottish graduates have actually -- are actually doing well to hold | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
their own despite the very difficult economic climate. For | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
example, graduates from Scottish universities are far less likely to | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
be unemployment -- unemployed with it a year of leaving lunar boasted. | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
The employment rate for young graduates between the ages of 20 | :04:35. | :04:43. | |
and 24 is 4% higher than the UK figure. Starting salaries is higher | :04:43. | :04:50. | |
in Scotland as well. -- far higher. Two-thirds of graduates in | :04:50. | :04:56. | |
employment are in graduate jobs. That figure is not currently at the | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
pre-recession levels, but it is something we are focused on. We do | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
need to get graduates into graduate level jobs. This is great for the | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
graduates who got the jobs, but I am asking what the sake today who - | :05:08. | :05:13. | |
- to someone who did a degree, worked very hard and has had three, | :05:13. | :05:18. | |
four or five years in a job way below their skills level? It must | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
be discouraging for them, people have done everything expected of | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
them. As a government, we need to make sure that our young people | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
remain encouraged and focused. But I think a positive destination | :05:33. | :05:37. | |
figures for Scottish graduates are very encouraging. Again, highest in | :05:37. | :05:44. | |
the UK, so in terms of... Nearly 89 % of Scots graduates continue their | :05:44. | :05:49. | |
studies, go into work or do a combination. But do you see a | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
particular value in postgraduate studies, especially at a time of | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
economic downturn? You could argue it is cheaper. It has a value | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
because you are building your skills and are used for to the | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
economy when it picks up. Do you see his argument about the value of | :06:09. | :06:14. | |
postgraduate study -- study? Absolutely. The longer young people | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
continue their education, it does increase their long-term | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
employability. But what is also crucial is that the university | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
sector is already engaged with the key employers and that sort of work | :06:26. | :06:32. | |
has to continue. It is far more common these days for | :06:32. | :06:40. | |
professionally accredited teaching universities... The relevance of | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
qualifications to the world of work is improving, I believe. Only last | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
week there was an employer summit for all universities in Scotland | :06:50. | :06:57. | |
where they met and that is very much about university sector doing | :06:57. | :07:04. | |
their bit. It is stepping up to the plate to ensure that we get back to | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
a rising youth unemployment. But if we stick with this and the | :07:08. | :07:16. | |
employment issue because we are looking at that, is it your view | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
that governments do not create jobs because we have heard from quite a | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
lot of young students, that they won the economic circumstances | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
created in which businesses can create jobs? Is there an | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
improvement -- river improvement there? There is always room for | :07:31. | :07:38. | |
improvement. Governments do not directly create jobs. It would not | :07:38. | :07:48. | |
:07:48. | :07:49. | ||
be a surprise to you for me to say the Scottish government... | :07:49. | :07:54. | |
Governments cannot do things to engage with employers and encourage | :07:54. | :08:00. | |
and even in centre vice with the employment of young people. Thank | :08:00. | :08:02. | |
you indeed. We have to leave it there. | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
Following on from the minister there, we can now hear from the | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
Scottish Conservative, Murdo Fraser, who is in our Dundee studio. | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
Thank you for coming in. We are getting a lot of high value at a | :08:12. | :08:19. | |
view today! Let me ask you about this issue of the stacking up of | :08:19. | :08:22. | |
graduates and the possibility of a lost generation. The thing that is | :08:22. | :08:28. | |
a real prospect? It is a serious issue. We have a major problem with | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
youth unemployment. The statistics show that it is the area of the | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
economy where there is the most concern. In terms of what God -- | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
the government can do, a number of things need to happen in the | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
university sector itself. Many employers will say they have a | :08:45. | :08:48. | |
challenge with some graduates, they do not have the soft skills that | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
employers are looking for. There is much more that can be done in terms | :08:52. | :08:59. | |
of improving their employability. How are soft skills defined? Sorry | :08:59. | :09:05. | |
to interrupt. For example, how to fit in in a working environment, | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
turning up on time, had to present yourself in the workplace, how to | :09:08. | :09:14. | |
get on with your workmates. That is why work placements and internships | :09:14. | :09:17. | |
are so important. A lot of good work is going on in our | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
universities in terms of equipping students particularly towards the | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
end of their courses in terms of making that transition from | :09:26. | :09:31. | |
education to employment much more seamless. I think that sort of | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
thing but many still encourage. In terms of direct government policy, | :09:34. | :09:40. | |
a lot of graduates do a generalist degree like an arts and they might | :09:40. | :09:46. | |
want to move into a more specialist field, going back to a further | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
education college to do a short course, and what we have seen in | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
the government budget that has been passed by Parliament is a cut of | :09:54. | :09:59. | |
more than �50 million in the budget of our further education colleges. | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
That is completely short-sighted in the current climate where you have | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
got many graduates desperate to get these additional skills to get them | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
into the workplace. Is it your argument that any job is better | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
than no job even if it is way below your skills level was mad in the | :10:17. | :10:21. | |
short term, yes. It was very interesting in the clip you showed | :10:21. | :10:24. | |
with recruitment consultants, that is exactly the point they were | :10:24. | :10:30. | |
making. If you are an employer, the last thing you want is to receive a | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
c been formed someone who has been out of work since they graduated. | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
You would rather have is a new graduate who has had to take in the | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
short term a job below their expectations at a lower pay grade, | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
perhaps even a part-time job, but that is better than not having any | :10:45. | :10:49. | |
employment at all. And we are also joined now by the | :10:49. | :10:51. | |
Scottish Labour Education spokesperson, Hugh Henry MSP, and | :10:51. | :10:54. | |
Laurie Russell, the Chief Executive of the WiseGroup, an organisation | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
which specialises in getting unemployed people back into work. | :11:00. | :11:06. | |
This argument, take any job if you are a graduate, when we hear from | :11:06. | :11:08. | |
Strathclyde there is some evidence that students can get trapped in | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
jobs and there is a long term there with to the outcome, what would you | :11:12. | :11:20. | |
say? -- long-term negative. There are implications for people further | :11:20. | :11:26. | |
down the change. A lot of people come out of school without | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
qualifications and we are working with them. They are looking for | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
entry-level jobs so if graduates take those jobs, it makes it much | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
more difficult for other people to get into work. What is the answer | :11:36. | :11:42. | |
then? I think the answer is that if you go to revitalise the Scottish | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
economy, we need graduates and we need them working in the jobs they | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
are trained for. A lot of it comes down to pretty much more effort | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
into getting graduates to set up their own businesses and to work | :11:53. | :11:59. | |
together to set up their own businesses and to do more about | :12:00. | :12:02. | |
entrepreneurship at further education and higher education | :12:02. | :12:11. | |
levels. I know some is done, but more effort can go into that. | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
point is the government cannot create jobs. Labour have said they | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
have created jobs, but governments do not create jobs, do they? | :12:21. | :12:24. | |
Governments can work with employers to help create the right | :12:24. | :12:29. | |
environment. The problem is that we need to grow the economy. It is not | :12:29. | :12:35. | |
enough just to put people into short-term courses and projects. We | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
need a long-term future for them. We are of a generation that when we | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
came out of university, it was a matter of choosing what you wanted | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
to do, not been desperate to take what was on offer. There are things | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
the government can do to work with the private sector to help young | :12:50. | :12:56. | |
people flourish in an entrepreneurial way. There was a | :12:56. | :13:02. | |
mention of incentives. Could you develop that? It could be, but you | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
need to remember there is a direct consequence of what the Scottish | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
government is doing. There are graduates working and displacing | :13:09. | :13:15. | |
others, in jobs that they are over- qualified for. Alex Salmond that | :13:15. | :13:21. | |
teaching numbers are out 54,000. Over the last few years, teaching | :13:21. | :13:27. | |
numbers have been at 3,000. People cannot get jobs in these fields. | :13:27. | :13:31. | |
Microbiologists are working in pharmacies, youngsters are working | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
in fast food restaurants. We are displacing people across the market | :13:34. | :13:40. | |
so we need to create the jobs. We can also build on the Scottish | :13:40. | :13:49. | |
Enterprise Scheme of talent and helping for a short term goal. | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
of the students week spoke to said they felt there was a status | :13:53. | :13:58. | |
attitude and perception that had to be challenged, and that was that | :13:58. | :14:05. | |
unless you went to university it somehow what you were doing a... It | :14:05. | :14:10. | |
was the attitude of middle-class families. The students would have | :14:10. | :14:15. | |
been better going into practical training. Do we need a big social | :14:15. | :14:20. | |
shift in attitude about what people would be best done in? We probably | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
do. We probably need to shifter by what we mean by jobs. I think any | :14:24. | :14:31. | |
of us could go hour -- around our constituencies and do a lot through | :14:31. | :14:36. | |
projects, environmental projects, communities. We were talking about | :14:36. | :14:39. | |
developing our sports centre earlier. If you have a project like | :14:39. | :14:42. | |
that, if you can work with the employers and construction | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
companies and the funders to make sure that we are always building an | :14:47. | :14:50. | |
opportunity for training for young people to get a chance in those | :14:50. | :14:56. | |
projects, there are different ways that we can find jobs in the | :14:56. | :15:02. | |
existing infrastructure. I think it is about a cultural change, about | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
what we mean by jobs. But also you are right in some communities and | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
families, there is a thing about getting a qualification. Let's | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
remember that further education and higher education people are paid to | :15:18. | :15:28. | |
:15:28. | :15:32. | ||
Murdo Fraser, do you think we need to be quite careful about how we | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
assess the value of apprenticeships? And I am also | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
thinking particularly of the work- experience programme that the | :15:39. | :15:42. | |
coalition Government has put in place in the South which some | :15:42. | :15:45. | |
employers are now saying they do not want anything to do with an | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
campaigners are saying it is slave labour. Do we have to be careful | :15:49. | :15:53. | |
about what is being and is actually of value to the young people taking | :15:53. | :16:01. | |
part? Bear has been a vicious campaign run by far left elements | :16:01. | :16:05. | |
to try to discredit this. But a lot of major companies have withdrawn | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
from it because they agree. They have been scared off. The important | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
statistic to know from the scheme Dan SATs he is that half of those | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
that entered the scheme will end up in permanent employment. So this is | :16:18. | :16:23. | |
delivering for 50% of those involved a permanent job by the end | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
of it. I think that is an extremely worthwhile initiative for people | :16:27. | :16:34. | |
who otherwise might be facing many more years of unemployment. | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
work experience worth anything if you do not get a job at the end of | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
it? They can be good quality work experience programmes that help | :16:43. | :16:45. | |
young people, give MAC the, give them a reference and give them | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
skills. What I think people are concerned about is that it is not a | :16:50. | :16:55. | |
good quality scheme and it seems to be replacing full-time labour. | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
thank you. Another of our series looking ahead | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
to the key themes in the council elections. A few weeks ago we look | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
at how Labour and the SNP was set to fight a battle for CRASBO but | :17:06. | :17:11. | |
this week, different protagonists. The Conservatives and the Liberal | :17:11. | :17:15. | |
Democrats have been in collision in the Borders for five years. How can | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
they work together now and fight against each other for votes in a | :17:18. | :17:28. | |
:17:28. | :17:30. | ||
In the Borders, there is much to commemorate the great battles of | :17:30. | :17:40. | |
:17:40. | :17:43. | ||
But in the council now traditional adversaries have learnt to become | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
colleagues. As with most councils, no one party has an overall | :17:48. | :17:53. | |
majority and here, that has led to a situation that is almost | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
Westminster in miniature, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats | :17:57. | :18:05. | |
In the council chamber, things are finely balanced between three | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
coalition partners. 12 Conservatives and 10 Liberal | :18:09. | :18:12. | |
Democrats are joined by three independent councillors. They are | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
very well deserved... Coalition was nothing new five years ago but what | :18:18. | :18:24. | |
was new was the way the coalition came together. Until 2007, we had | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
been independent and conservative. We have formed the administration | :18:27. | :18:32. | |
of the council. In 2007, most of the independents were washed away, | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
so more Liberals came in and a few more Conservatives. So we thought | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
the pragmatic and right thing to do was to join up. They year or two | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
after the election we got together to compare manifestos, to see if | :18:45. | :18:50. | |
there was any common ground. Basically, within a couple of days, | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
with followed up with a draft programme of work of what we would | :18:53. | :18:58. | |
like to do in the next five years. We Conservatives do like to be | :18:58. | :19:04. | |
pragmatic and practical and we like to do things we can actually do. | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
The tough bit was agreeing with the others, particularly the Liberals, | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
on what was do-able, because we do not like to say we are going to do | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
a thing and then not do it. Once that was done, we have had a couple | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
of spats but on the whole it has been pretty good. There was a point | :19:20. | :19:23. | |
about 18 months ago when the Scottish Liberal Democrats, my grip, | :19:23. | :19:32. | |
was within that of leading the commission. We considered that the | :19:32. | :19:37. | |
programme of work we focus on with our constituents is the most | :19:37. | :19:41. | |
important thing. Commissions always involve compromise and supporters | :19:41. | :19:46. | |
of the party may feel they class is either half-full or half-empty but | :19:46. | :19:49. | |
can the council elections, how well each of the two big parties in the | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
coalition here manage to make distinct appeals to the local | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
voters? We have brought rigorous financial management and we have | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
simply got to think ahead. We have not just fought for this period of | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
office. We have thought ahead. We have actually got capital, a | :20:06. | :20:14. | |
financial plans going forward five years. We can only relate to the | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
public in terms of the issues as we see them and the public are telling | :20:18. | :20:25. | |
us. Principally, I would say that is economic development. However | :20:25. | :20:27. | |
the numbers stack up after the election, it is unlike the one | :20:27. | :20:32. | |
party alone will be able to spin its own Web. Labour have no | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
councillors here just now but the SNP and independence will be | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
fighting hard. And both coalition partners will be competing for | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
every vote. But also hoping it will not be able to live moment | :20:44. | :20:54. | |
:20:54. | :20:56. | ||
Jamie will be back with another piece on the council elections in a | :20:56. | :21:03. | |
few weeks but now, the headlines. Good afternoon. It has been | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
reported that the Scottish Government's preferred date for a | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
referendum on independence is Saturday 18th October 2014. The | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
claim is made in the first edition of the Scottish Sun to be published | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
on a sunbed. Speaking to Sunday Politics: Earlier, Stewart Hosie | :21:18. | :21:25. | |
said the date is being considered. It is certainly a possibility. 18th | :21:25. | :21:31. | |
October is certainly in the autumn of 2014. It is a Saturday and not a | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
Thursday and that is one of the areas that the Scottish Parliament | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
is consulting on. Talks are continuing for the future | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
of two emergency debates covering Scottish waters. They are currently | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
operating on a temporary basis for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. | :21:48. | :21:51. | |
They were due to be withdrawn last year to save money. | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
Labour Party members in Falkirk will meet this evening for the | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
first time since their MP was charged with three counts of common | :21:58. | :22:02. | |
assault. Eric Joyce was arrested following an incident in the House | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
of Commons bar last week. Mr Joyce will not attend, because he is | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
currently suspended from the party. Rugby and Scotland face a tough | :22:10. | :22:12. | |
encounter against France in Six Nations at Murrayfield this | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
afternoon. They are still looking for a victory in this year's | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
Championship, despite decent performances against England and | :22:21. | :22:23. | |
Wales, they lost their two opening games. | :22:23. | :22:32. | |
We have a lot of cloud today, particularly for western Scotland | :22:32. | :22:35. | |
where it will be quite a misty and murky afternoon with outbreaks of | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
patchy rain, turning heavy for a time. Across central and eastern | :22:42. | :22:48. | |
parts it will be brighter. In the North East, we will see our top | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
temperature today of 12 Celsius. More typically nine or ten. So very | :22:53. | :23:02. | |
much on the wild side for this time More from the newsroom at 6:10pm | :23:02. | :23:04. | |
this evening. In a moment we will be discussing | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
the bigger events coming up this week at Holyrood. First, let's take | :23:09. | :23:19. | |
:23:19. | :23:19. | ||
a look back at The Week In 60 A tweeting Rupert Murdoch suggests | :23:20. | :23:27. | |
he supports independence for Scotland. He's tweet... | :23:27. | :23:32. | |
Rangers' tax debt continues to rise and financial documents have been | :23:32. | :23:36. | |
provided to Strathclyde Police. hope that their way will be found | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
forward to allow it ranges to meet their obligations to the taxpayer. | :23:41. | :23:44. | |
The Falkirk Labour MP Eric Joyce has been charged with assault | :23:44. | :23:49. | |
following an incident at a bar in the House of Commons, and suspended | :23:49. | :23:52. | |
from the Labour Party. The Royal Bank of Scotland has | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
reported a pre-tax loss that is almost double the last it made in | :23:58. | :24:04. | |
2010. Big losses, in a strange way, horror sign of success. It is a | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
sign we're taking the medicine at RBS needs. | :24:07. | :24:10. | |
A documentary showing Billy Connolly on tour in Northern | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
Ireland at the height of the violence in 1975 has been screened | :24:14. | :24:20. | |
at the Glasgow Film Festival this weekend. | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
Spring conference time is fast approaching with both Scottish | :24:24. | :24:33. | |
Labour and the Liberal Democrats holding theirs next week. | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
And with me to look ahead we have the political commentator and | :24:37. | :24:41. | |
author David Torrance and the editor of Holyrood Magazine in our | :24:41. | :24:48. | |
Edinburgh studio. Before we go on to the conference season, what you | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
make of the day of destiny prediction in the Scottish Sun? | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
is a good scoop for a brand new Sunday newspaper. Of course the | :24:57. | :25:00. | |
there are cabinets. The Scottish Government source says it is a date | :25:00. | :25:06. | |
they are lining up, so it is just a possibility. It would not be on the | :25:06. | :25:10. | |
front page go unless they have had a pretty firm steer from that | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
source. Are you putting it in your diary, Mandy Rhodes? I made a | :25:14. | :25:19. | |
decision this morning not to bite the newspaper at and I have been | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
advising the Scottish Government for the same reasons that perhaps | :25:22. | :25:26. | |
they should not have given any exclusive to the paper. But we will | :25:26. | :25:33. | |
see. But is it appropriate, it is accurate, and not just a best guess, | :25:33. | :25:36. | |
is it appropriate that this is given to renew his paper, which | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
happens to be owned by Rupert Murdoch, rather than being told to | :25:40. | :25:44. | |
Parliament? No, my reasons for not supporting the paper is that we | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
seem to have forgotten quickly when the News of the World was faulty. | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
Secondly, hundreds of journalists and other people lost their jobs. | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
And there is an ongoing police investigation and the Leveson | :25:56. | :26:01. | |
Inquiry. Mike view is that this is Mr Murdoch putting two fingers up | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
at our sensibilities and intellect and I feel sad that the SNP | :26:05. | :26:09. | |
Government felt they could first welcome his tweeting about | :26:09. | :26:16. | |
supporting the SNP stands but also give him an exclusive. David, we | :26:16. | :26:19. | |
have before Scotland meeting on Tuesday pensively Scotland meeting | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
in Glasgow on Thursday. Everyone is talking about Devo Max, | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
Independence Lite, independence, what you'd think will actually come | :26:28. | :26:32. | |
out of what is coming this week? For all when you think we may get | :26:32. | :26:35. | |
clarity in the different propositions, who is putting them | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
forward and who they imagine will be able to enforce them if they are | :26:38. | :26:44. | |
adopted? What we have here is a twin-track process. The Siddick | :26:44. | :26:48. | |
Scotland exercise is geared towards, or the Scottish Government hopes it | :26:49. | :26:53. | |
is geared towards Devo Max, which the Unionist Party considered to be | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
independence by another name. The Ivo Plus option which I think is | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
the more significant of the two he is quite fully developed. Reform | :27:02. | :27:05. | |
Scotland have already set out precisely what they mean by Bath | :27:05. | :27:11. | |
and they are now ready for a cross- party exercise to lend it more | :27:11. | :27:15. | |
credibility. But importantly, I think that is the direction of | :27:15. | :27:21. | |
travel, devolution plans, of the opposition parties. Mandy, we know | :27:21. | :27:25. | |
that we have the spring conferences for Scottish Labour and the Lib | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
Dems as welcoming up. What do you think will be the messages that | :27:28. | :27:33. | |
have to come out, first of all, say, from Labour? For the onus is on | :27:33. | :27:38. | |
Labour to start meeting the opposition fightback around the | :27:38. | :27:41. | |
independence referendum. What I am saying in my column tomorrow is | :27:41. | :27:47. | |
that I think the leader has adopted it to stand up and paint a picture | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
of the vision they have fought Scotland. They have a lot to say | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
about what they don't want about independence but we still have no | :27:54. | :28:00. | |
clarity about what they would have. Their leader's position is probably | :28:00. | :28:04. | |
not very far from the rest of Scotland. She is not an arts | :28:04. | :28:10. | |
unionist, she wants more powers and she needs to articulate that. | :28:10. | :28:14. | |
that has not happened with enough clarity? No, people are left | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
wondering what is going to happen and even with devolution plus and | :28:18. | :28:24. | |
the launch this week of that, as David says, Reform Scotland have | :28:25. | :28:28. | |
beefed out their own proposals, been around for more than a year. | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
Why haven't the opposition parties got behind that by now? For their | :28:32. | :28:35. | |
bosses offer last week from Willie Rennie to say if Ming Campbell is | :28:35. | :28:39. | |
looking at all is, why don't you see what we can come Upwood and we | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
can look at that constructively? Do you think it's likely that the | :28:42. | :28:48. | |
other opposition parties would say, yes, banks, we would love to do | :28:48. | :28:56. | |
that. I interviewed Menzies Campbell and Johann Lamont are to | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
discuss this. They have started to flesh out what they will do as a | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
joint effort in the fight back against independence. So that is | :29:04. | :29:10. | |
happening. We just needed you the details. Usage as there is a joint | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
effort. The individual parties, and Renault are going to have to appeal | :29:13. | :29:19. | |
to their own bases if they are going to turn out a no to | :29:19. | :29:25. | |
independence? Yes, and what you will see in the weeks ahead with | :29:25. | :29:29. | |
the party conferences is each party doing precisely that, setting out | :29:30. | :29:33. | |
their constitutional pitch, or is the direction of travel and how | :29:33. | :29:39. | |
they propose to bite the no campaign, an umbrella campaign will | :29:39. | :29:44. | |
follow thereafter. I also understand that Labour are working | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
towards it articulating their constitutional vision towards the | :29:47. | :29:52. | |
end of this year, in the autumn. That is the risk that if people do | :29:52. | :29:56. | |
not seem to... Obviously they need time to formulate what they're | :29:56. | :30:02. | |
going to say. Is there any sense that these other parties are being | :30:02. | :30:07. | |
cracked along, perhaps not the Lib Dems, dropped into a situation that | :30:07. | :30:10. | |
their heart and soul is not really in? Will that be a problem for | :30:10. | :30:20. | |
them? To an extent, DS. The Lib Dems have a consistent ideological | :30:20. | :30:24. | |
manifesto of what they want. Be other two parties to some extent | :30:24. | :30:29. | |
feel forced to say and do something. Although there are sections of | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
Labour and the Conservatives who genuinely believe in more powers, | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
others, such as Alistair Darling, feel compelled to offer something | :30:36. | :30:42. | |
because they feel politically they have no choice. Mandy, juicing | :30:42. | :30:47. | |
there will be no single leader for the Senate Independent's campaign? | :30:47. | :30:51. | |
-- do you think? The problem will not be but there has to be. | :30:51. | :30:55. |