:00:40. > :00:43.Welcome to the Sunday Politics at the end of the week when we have
:00:43. > :00:46.had an Autumn Statement with a distinct winter chill. A The
:00:46. > :00:49.Chancellor said he would miss his debt target, that the country is
:00:49. > :00:52.going to have to borrow even more and that we are looking at
:00:52. > :00:55.austerity for as far as the eye can see. But business largely welcomed
:00:55. > :01:00.the Autumn Statement, with its lower taxes on profits, tax relief
:01:00. > :01:03.for investment and the binning of a rise in fuel duty. We'll ask the
:01:03. > :01:07.Shadow Business Secretary if he agrees.
:01:07. > :01:17.And, je ne regrette rien! I'm a Celebrity's Nadine Dorries tells us
:01:17. > :01:21.she'd happily do it all again and lashes out at her tormentors.
:01:21. > :01:26.The papers are full at of scurrilous lies about myself and my
:01:26. > :01:29.family. In 7.5 years, I have never taken a single parliamentary day
:01:29. > :01:32.away, not one. And on Sunday Politics Scotland,
:01:32. > :01:42.we'll be asking if plans for unconventional gas exploration in
:01:42. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :32:27.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1844 seconds
:32:27. > :32:32.Scotland are a cheap energy dream That is a huge achievement in
:32:32. > :32:38.politics. Is that all for the greater good of the Conservative
:32:38. > :32:42.Party or for Madine Doris? If you go ran my constituency with me, you
:32:42. > :32:48.would think it was for the greater good of the constituency. Other MPs
:32:48. > :32:55.are telling me they are hearing the same from schools in their
:32:55. > :33:03.constituency. Many schools in some constituencies, the pupils do not
:33:03. > :33:13.know the names of MPs, particularly Conservative MPs. But people now
:33:13. > :33:17.know who I am. It was for the greater good of Madine Doris?
:33:17. > :33:21.think it was for the greater good of the Conservative Party. It shows
:33:21. > :33:31.that Tory politicians are not afraid to go out and engage with
:33:31. > :33:41.people. What size will the Phoebe when you have to declare it on the
:33:41. > :33:51.
:33:51. > :33:59.Members' Register? -- fee be. interview every day, MPs, male MPs
:33:59. > :34:09.who have outside interests, have you ever asked them what their
:34:09. > :34:13.
:34:13. > :34:18.parents are? I have never your asking a male MP? Per haps he
:34:18. > :34:28.should listen to our programme more often. Would you like to have the
:34:28. > :34:31.
:34:31. > :34:36.whip restored? Of course I would. One of the issues he named his I
:34:36. > :34:41.had to speak to my association. I spoke to them last week and there
:34:41. > :34:46.was a 100% vote. You always have to, out in the street with me on my
:34:46. > :34:54.constituency to know what my constituents think. -- to come out.
:34:54. > :35:00.Would you do another television programme? A I think it is a once-
:35:00. > :35:07.in-a-lifetime thing. I do not think I am likely to be offered another
:35:07. > :35:14.reality TV programme. There are suggestions that if the Tory whips
:35:14. > :35:21.will not restore the whip or impose tough conditions, you might defect
:35:21. > :35:25.to UKip? I think you must be about the 20th person that has asked me
:35:25. > :35:31.that over the last year. I am looking forward to receiving the
:35:31. > :35:41.Tory whip back. I am a Conservative. Is it your intention up to fight
:35:41. > :35:44.
:35:44. > :35:50.your constituency in the next election as a Conservative? Yes. I
:35:50. > :35:55.very much hope so. And you wouldn't rule out running as a UKip
:35:55. > :35:59.candidate at the election? I am very much hoping that I will have
:35:59. > :36:05.my whip a restored in the not-too- distant future and I will fight
:36:05. > :36:13.this constituency as a Conservative MP because I love his constituency,
:36:13. > :36:18.I have given of my life to it for the last seven years. Do you think
:36:18. > :36:24.your political career is effectively over? No, not at all.
:36:24. > :36:34.It might just be beginning. What is the political ambition now for
:36:34. > :36:36.
:36:36. > :36:41.Nadine Dorries? I have always had cost us that I haven't that -- I
:36:41. > :36:51.have always had costs that I have championed such as reducing the
:36:51. > :36:51.
:36:51. > :37:01.time limit on abortions. I hope now that people will listen and know
:37:01. > :37:08.
:37:08. > :37:12.who I am. This is this Sunday Good morning and welcome to Sunday
:37:12. > :37:18.Politics Scotland. Coming up on the programme.
:37:18. > :37:21.The Chancellor wants cheaper gas. Splits in the kirk over the
:37:21. > :37:24.ordination of gay ministers. We will be live outside the Tron
:37:24. > :37:27.Church in Glasgow as its breakaway members hold their final service
:37:27. > :37:31.before being evicted by the Church of Scotland.
:37:31. > :37:39.And would a new law to cut high hedges down to size end the misery
:37:39. > :37:43.of warring neighbours? We cannot see anything of the
:37:43. > :37:53.countryside and it would not spoil our neighbour's views if they were
:37:53. > :37:56.The Chancellor's autumn statement had a distinct wintry feel, but he
:37:56. > :37:59.tried to warm us up with the promise of cheaper energy bills. As
:37:59. > :38:01.we reach for the thermostat, the UK Government's gas strategy set out
:38:01. > :38:06.how to exploit so-called unconventional gas. Those are
:38:06. > :38:08.deposits buried deep below the ground. However, pilot projects are
:38:08. > :38:11.coming under fire as people object to pipelines running underneath
:38:11. > :38:21.their homes and concerns grow about the potential environmental impact,
:38:21. > :38:21.
:38:21. > :38:31.as Andrew Kerr has been finding out Data energy has been extracting
:38:31. > :38:32.
:38:32. > :38:37.coal bed methane at its test sites. It wants to expand the programme.
:38:37. > :38:42.am very excited about this. We have been watching the decline of the
:38:43. > :38:48.North Sea gas and that is very concerning. I am delighted we have
:38:48. > :38:52.a resource that we can bring it to continue with this country's
:38:52. > :38:56.progress and development. Chancellor published his gas
:38:56. > :39:01.strategy alongside the Autumn statement to make the best use of a
:39:01. > :39:10.low-cost gas, unconventional gas such as coal bed methane and Schuil.
:39:10. > :39:20.Fracking is used for shale gas extraction. -- coal bed methane and
:39:20. > :39:24.
:39:24. > :39:28.This is No. 8 in the system. The company are keen to point out that
:39:28. > :39:31.the wellhead is unobtrusive, it will pump the methane into a gas
:39:31. > :39:36.pipeline which is currently under used at the moment because of a
:39:36. > :39:44.decline in North Sea gas. A key benefit of this exploration is the
:39:44. > :39:54.security of supply it could provide the UK, keeping prices stable.
:39:54. > :39:58.
:39:58. > :40:03.Additional gas from the UK and security of supply, we would have
:40:03. > :40:07.it available all year round. despite assurances about health and
:40:08. > :40:12.safety from the company, local people are concerned. They have
:40:12. > :40:16.lodged objections to the planned development. In this ballot, they
:40:16. > :40:21.say the pipeline will go under their homes. They have been backed
:40:21. > :40:31.in their objections by nearby home builders and Network Rail. They one
:40:31. > :40:36.
:40:36. > :40:41.the developer to less -- they want Our concerns about water, about
:40:41. > :40:47.contamination of water, about methane gas in the ad was fear,
:40:47. > :40:52.about how methane may percolate through the ground levels and we
:40:52. > :40:57.feel that not enough has been done to raise awareness in at their
:40:57. > :41:02.local area. The application is licensed by the UK Government's
:41:02. > :41:06.Department for Energy. The local council decide on the planning and
:41:06. > :41:10.the Environment Agency makes sure that regulations are kept. People
:41:10. > :41:17.hear what the Scottish government to intervene. Ministers told us
:41:17. > :41:20.shale gas has and coal bed methane are not included in our energy
:41:20. > :41:29.plans for our national energy modelling. Environmental groups say
:41:29. > :41:33.it is not they did -- it is not needed in Scotland. It is not a
:41:33. > :41:39.economically viable unless the price of fossil fuel is very high.
:41:39. > :41:44.We do not need it because there are plenty of renewable resources.
:41:44. > :41:49.During these cold dark days, tuba bills that would be welcomed. But
:41:49. > :41:55.this controversial new process makes some people feel it will have
:41:55. > :41:57.a real impact on their lives. Joining me now in the studio is co-
:41:58. > :42:00.convenor of the Scottish Green Party, Patrick Harvie MSP, and in
:42:00. > :42:07.our Oxford studio, Labour's shadow energy Minister, the MP, Tom
:42:07. > :42:13.Greatrex. Before we go into this in detail,
:42:13. > :42:17.what are the potential benefits? They have not been proved. There is
:42:17. > :42:27.a lot of excitable commentary on both sides, but we do not know what
:42:27. > :42:32.the potential actually is. We will not know until we have a proper
:42:32. > :42:39.investigation. We just do not know. Some of the things that George
:42:39. > :42:47.Osborne was saying last week are misplaced. Were you able to get
:42:48. > :42:57.their reassurances that you think would lead into a secure and safe
:42:58. > :43:00.
:43:00. > :43:06.supply? I think we could look at to extract unconventional gas. But it
:43:06. > :43:11.has to be done in the right order. Suggesting that activities could
:43:11. > :43:21.commence before a proper regulatory processes are in place, and there
:43:21. > :43:23.
:43:23. > :43:30.are a lot of different elements to this, and many authorities involved
:43:30. > :43:33.in this, planning authorities in Scotland around clear where their
:43:33. > :43:36.responsibilities lie, so we need to clear all that up and get it into a
:43:37. > :43:42.very clear place to give reassurance to those people who are
:43:42. > :43:50.quite rightly concerned about this. There has been a very poor
:43:51. > :43:55.experience in the US. Are there any reassurances at all that would
:43:55. > :43:59.persuade you this is a good way to go? There are many question-marks
:43:59. > :44:02.about the local environmental impact and with the UK Government
:44:02. > :44:08.looking to create incentives to explore the possibility of this
:44:08. > :44:12.kind of extraction across 20,000 square, just in that Scotland, it
:44:12. > :44:16.is likely that there will be different answers to that question
:44:16. > :44:25.in different parts of the country. But one thing does not change. One
:44:25. > :44:34.factor does not change weather it is fracking, coal bed methane, or
:44:35. > :44:38.North Sea gas. We are adding to the problems of fossil fuel. We cannot
:44:39. > :44:46.afford to burn fossil fuels if we are serious about climate change.
:44:46. > :44:51.Every member of the Scottish Parliament is supposed to be
:44:51. > :44:56.serious about climate change. A new -- for gas would not only loch in
:44:56. > :45:01.dependence on gas, it will, I believe, take away from the
:45:01. > :45:11.momentum that has been built up around of renewable energy. It
:45:11. > :45:12.
:45:12. > :45:17.would replace them will also with gas -- renewables. But it would
:45:17. > :45:27.mean cheaper gas bills and energy security, which is an increasingly
:45:27. > :45:28.
:45:28. > :45:32.problematic area. Will that not up a political balance? -- tip. I
:45:32. > :45:42.think it is more likely to be around security of supply than
:45:42. > :45:42.
:45:42. > :45:49.price. We used a lot of gas in terms of heating, despite moves to
:45:49. > :45:52.district heating schemes and energy efficiency. If we can have an end
:45:52. > :45:58.deja the supply as opposed to at importing more, that would be a
:45:58. > :46:03.good thing. I'm not sure that I by the argument about price. That
:46:03. > :46:08.seems to be an extrapolation of the experience in the United States. It
:46:08. > :46:13.is more to do the security of supply. It may help to stabilise
:46:13. > :46:23.the price. I share some of the concerns of Patrick Harvie has
:46:23. > :46:29.
:46:29. > :46:39.expressed about the -- for gas -- the dash for gas. We are subject to
:46:39. > :46:40.
:46:40. > :46:44.the fluctuations in gas prices. And that has fed through to consumer
:46:44. > :46:50.bills that has caused the concern we have spoken about before.
:46:50. > :47:00.terms of renewables, would it not be argued that gas is the least
:47:00. > :47:05.worst of the fossil fuels and it could play a transition role?
:47:05. > :47:11.does have a transitional role, but for a period of time, they will
:47:11. > :47:17.continue to need some element of gas on the grid. Even at the UK
:47:17. > :47:21.Climate Change committee accept some need for gas. But they are
:47:21. > :47:26.very concerned that the UK Government is building far too much
:47:27. > :47:30.gas into their assumptions about the future. The Scottish government
:47:30. > :47:34.says that unconventional gas does not figure in their models, but
:47:34. > :47:44.they consistently refused to rule out supporting unconventional gas
:47:44. > :47:49.
:47:49. > :47:55.extraction in that Scotland -- in that Scotland. If we build into
:47:55. > :47:59.much gas, we will still bust the climate targets, we will not be
:47:59. > :48:05.able to achieve that trajectory. We do need some gas on the grid, but
:48:05. > :48:09.it needs to be a declining trajectory. In Scotland, we can do
:48:09. > :48:19.that with the growth in that renewables. We must not risk that
:48:19. > :48:20.
:48:20. > :48:25.momentum. The responses from local communities, do you think some of
:48:25. > :48:32.this has gone under the radar? Some of the papers today our leading
:48:32. > :48:39.with the story and potential problems, but it has not had a huge
:48:39. > :48:44.public profile. Are you surprised by that? I am surprised by that. I
:48:44. > :48:54.have been talking about this for quite a long time now, but I think
:48:54. > :48:57.
:48:57. > :49:05.the trigger has been the gas strategy. If we are ever going to
:49:05. > :49:13.use this technology, there needs to be public understanding and you
:49:13. > :49:19.will not get that until people understand the issues. That is why
:49:19. > :49:25.I welcome a wider debate on this. Vast areas of Scotland could be
:49:25. > :49:31.involved here. Is that the case? Yes, a very large number of people
:49:31. > :49:35.have heard something about this, if they have an interest in climate
:49:35. > :49:45.change, but most people will have heard nothing. There are huge
:49:45. > :49:53.swathes of central belt Scotland, heavily populated areas, that are
:49:53. > :49:57.under threat of this development. They will experience this as an
:49:57. > :50:01.immediate threat and find that with the UK Government, potentially
:50:01. > :50:08.Scottish government, lining up in favour of the technology and local
:50:08. > :50:13.planners not really able to make use of the climate change argument,
:50:14. > :50:19.it will lobby for the local planners to be able to approve or
:50:19. > :50:24.not. It will be very hard for those communities to marshal a successful
:50:24. > :50:34.Argoud unless the Scottish government is willing to change his
:50:34. > :50:37.
:50:37. > :50:42.An acrimonious split in the Church of Scotland over the ordination of
:50:42. > :50:49.gay ministers has resulted in a breakaway by one of the
:50:49. > :50:54.congregation's best-known churches, St George's Tron in Glasgow.
:50:54. > :50:59.Officers have been sent to secure property. We can cross to our
:50:59. > :51:04.reporter who was absurd the church. What is happening this morning?
:51:04. > :51:08.Good morning. Yes, it is a day of change for the congregation here at
:51:08. > :51:13.the St George's Tron. Some of them have been attending church here
:51:13. > :51:17.every Sunday for 60 years, but this will be the last time. There is
:51:17. > :51:21.about 20 minutes ago of the last service. They moved the evening
:51:21. > :51:26.service to the new building. It follows what has really been a
:51:26. > :51:30.bitter and unholy row since the congregation here decided to leave
:51:30. > :51:35.the Church of Scotland. They voted in June, as a result of last year's
:51:35. > :51:42.decision by the kirk to allow ordination of gay ministers. They
:51:42. > :51:45.say that is a contradiction of the Bible. As a congregation, we feel
:51:45. > :51:50.very strongly that the Church of Scotland has walked away from God's
:51:50. > :51:53.word, and we were not prepared to walk away with them. As a church
:51:53. > :51:58.family, we voted to leave the Church of Scotland and sought to
:51:58. > :52:01.find some way we could continue to make good use of this building. We
:52:01. > :52:07.are a big congregation and there are lots of things going on all
:52:07. > :52:12.week, and we really wanted to keep on serving the city of Glasgow from
:52:12. > :52:16.here, but it just did not seem possible to come to an arrangement,
:52:16. > :52:25.and so here is our last service today. What has been the reaction
:52:25. > :52:31.from the Church of Scotland leadership to this?
:52:32. > :52:40.It is more or less justified and explained. The row has escalated in
:52:40. > :52:43.the last six months, culminating in this week with Sheriff officers
:52:43. > :52:49.interrupting prayer. The church says it is trying to get back some
:52:49. > :52:55.of its property of this breakaway - - that this breakaway group is in
:52:55. > :53:00.possession of. They dismiss any claims of intimidating behaviour
:53:00. > :53:03.and say they are trying to protect their interests. People the in the
:53:03. > :53:08.congregation at St George's Tron have a different approach to that
:53:08. > :53:12.and they say that this is scandalous for this to be done.
:53:12. > :53:16.They claimed they put in something like �2 million, their donations
:53:16. > :53:19.that have paid for the prayer books and so on, and they should get to
:53:19. > :53:25.keep them and that the Church is being heavy-handed. It is
:53:25. > :53:29.disgraceful. It seems like they have no grasp of the way the
:53:29. > :53:32.gospels should affect Christians. We have sunk �2 million into the
:53:32. > :53:38.building, but if we are asked about to walk away from it, we will do
:53:38. > :53:43.that gladly. We'll still be here and make sure our -- we fulfil our
:53:43. > :53:47.city's motto, they Glasgow will flourish. That is about what the
:53:47. > :53:51.congregation is all about, reaching everybody in the city with the good
:53:51. > :53:56.news of Jesus. The issue of the ordination of gay ministers and
:53:56. > :54:02.homosexual marriage seems to be an issue right across society. It is
:54:02. > :54:05.one, as we come up to Christmas, which needs some further dialogue.
:54:05. > :54:09.Neither of B-sides were able to come to an agreement, and in the
:54:09. > :54:13.end, they had to sort it out through legal means, and that is an
:54:13. > :54:16.interesting precedent. Thank you very much.
:54:16. > :54:21.Now, from our Edinburgh studio, we are joined by the kirk historian
:54:21. > :54:25.Harry Reid. Thank you for coming in. Given the Church has not yet have
:54:25. > :54:30.an official position on gay ministers, what do you make of how
:54:30. > :54:36.both sides have been behaving here? Am afraid to say that I do not like
:54:36. > :54:39.either side's behaviour. The congregation at St fraught as Tron
:54:39. > :54:43.-- St George's Tron have been precipitate, but I think the Church
:54:43. > :54:51.has been heavy-handed as well. This is supposed to be the season of
:54:51. > :54:58.peace and goodwill, and we are seeing little of that in this
:54:58. > :55:03.disputes. -- this dispute. There will be other congregations to want
:55:03. > :55:07.to leave, I am afraid, and they will probably leave in a fairly
:55:07. > :55:13.chaotic manner, so I am sorry to say I think it is going to get
:55:13. > :55:17.worse. Would this BB be evangelical wing
:55:17. > :55:23.of the Church that is more likely to leave now? Yes, the evangelical
:55:23. > :55:27.wing. There are some people in the evangelical wing he won not at all
:55:27. > :55:32.happy with the way St George's Tron have behaved. They think they have
:55:32. > :55:36.been precipitate, so you always have a split within a split --
:55:36. > :55:40.almost have a split within a split, but certainly in the Highlands
:55:40. > :55:46.There are many congregations who, before too long, will certainly be
:55:46. > :55:50.thinking about following St George's Tron. In all of this, do
:55:50. > :55:56.you think that the Church of Scotland still speaks as the
:55:56. > :56:00.national church, and if so, to whom does it speak? Excellent question.
:56:00. > :56:05.I do not really think it does manage to speak to Scotland, or
:56:05. > :56:11.indeed to speak for Scotland, the way it could do even one generation
:56:11. > :56:16.ago. Obviously, the more split it becomes, the less authority it has
:56:16. > :56:19.when it seeks to speak. I know that many people within the Church of
:56:19. > :56:23.Scotland are worried that the Catholic Church does seem to be
:56:23. > :56:28.able to speak with more authority, and indeed more clarity, on many
:56:28. > :56:32.issues, possibly people don't agree with it, but at least it speaks
:56:32. > :56:38.clearly and lively and people here. The Church of Scotland often seems
:56:38. > :56:42.very confused, and it often seems rather slow in responding to things
:56:42. > :56:47.that are happening. So, I think for various reasons, the Church has
:56:47. > :56:52.lost the ability to communicate with the people of Scotland, and I
:56:52. > :56:57.think its status as a national church is very much in question.
:56:57. > :57:01.What about the sort of people who may set up another church,
:57:01. > :57:06.potentially? Is that a realistic possibility? We have heard the St
:57:06. > :57:09.George's Tron congregation put in �2 million of their own money. Is
:57:09. > :57:16.there a possibility that they could genuinely be a completely separate
:57:16. > :57:23.church set up? It is a possibility, and there have been plenty of
:57:23. > :57:28.precedents in Scottish history. The greatest one, of course, was the
:57:28. > :57:31.destruction in 1843. About 400 ministers and 40% of the membership
:57:31. > :57:41.of the then Church of Scotland actually split, and there was a
:57:41. > :57:41.
:57:41. > :57:45.quite amazing period of new church building, new Banks's -- manses,
:57:45. > :57:51.and a new church was created. But things are obviously very now --
:57:51. > :57:55.very different now. Something might happen, albeit on a much smaller
:57:55. > :57:59.scale. But it is pretty unedifying if what you're talking about his
:57:59. > :58:04.Christian witness, and people are talking about looking at this from
:58:04. > :58:09.the outside. Do you agree? Yes. The Church of Scotland has always had a
:58:09. > :58:17.tendency to split. It has a fissile tendency, is the phrase that some
:58:17. > :58:21.people use. It does not look good to the wider public and it makes
:58:21. > :58:24.things very difficult for ordinary decent churchgoers in their
:58:24. > :58:30.congregations. My own view is that sooner or later, the Church will
:58:31. > :58:35.have to accept that it is not the national Church of Scotland and to
:58:35. > :58:42.allow a loose federation of congregations to form. Some of the
:58:42. > :58:45.congregations are very strong. They are going well. There are plenty of
:58:45. > :58:49.people still in the Church of Scotland your active and
:58:49. > :58:52.enthusiastic members. I often say that the political parties in
:58:52. > :58:58.Scotland would give anything for the membership of the Church of
:58:58. > :59:02.Scotland, but the problem is that this membership cannot cohere as a
:59:02. > :59:08.cohesive national body. It is an interesting dynamic which has
:59:08. > :59:14.changed to die man -- dramatically over the years, where the laity and
:59:14. > :59:18.the leadership is divided. I am not so sure about that, Isabel. I think
:59:18. > :59:22.the problem is that the Church leadership keeps changing. The
:59:22. > :59:27.moderate changes each year, just when he or she is getting into
:59:27. > :59:37.their stride. A new one comes along and we'll have to get used to renew
:59:37. > :59:37.
:59:37. > :59:47.on -- to a new one. The same in the presbytery. But I don't think there
:59:47. > :59:57.
:59:57. > :00:04.is necessarily a split their. -- a split there. A lot of
:00:04. > :00:08.congregations... OK, thank you. Possibly, it is lawyer's in all of
:00:08. > :00:18.this. Now, we crossover for the lunch
:00:18. > :00:29.
:00:29. > :00:32.Good afternoon. The President of Egypt, Brown -- Mohammed Morsi, has
:00:32. > :00:37.withdrawn a degree he issued last month which meant that judges could
:00:37. > :00:40.not to test -- contest his decisions. The decree sparked
:00:40. > :00:46.protests and led to accusations that Mr Morsi was behaving like a
:00:46. > :00:52.because Ho -- a dictator. Egypt was in for a long siege after
:00:52. > :00:55.the opposition rejected President Morsi's latest concession. The army
:00:55. > :00:59.has been bolstering defences outside the presidential palace as
:00:59. > :01:03.the protests continued. The president needed some -- met some
:01:03. > :01:06.opposition leaders yesterday, but most of them boycotted. The
:01:06. > :01:14.Government agreed to withdraw the decree giving President Morsi
:01:14. > :01:22.sweeping new powers. TRANSLATION: It is decided that the
:01:22. > :01:25.constitutional decree issued in November is cancelled as of today.
:01:25. > :01:27.But the President offered no compromise on the issue of a
:01:28. > :01:32.referendum on the new constitution, which will still go ahead next
:01:32. > :01:36.Saturday. The opposition protesters are still here in Tahrir Square
:01:36. > :01:40.today. As far as they are concerned, the President has not agreed to
:01:40. > :01:43.their main demand, which is the postponement of a referendum on the
:01:43. > :01:47.new constitution, and they are determined to continue their sit in
:01:47. > :01:51.as long as it takes. Protesters today are as angry as ever.
:01:51. > :01:54.TRANSLATION: President Morsi's cancellation of his decree has come
:01:54. > :02:00.late in the game. It should be the case that every time we demand
:02:00. > :02:05.something, it comes only after bloodshed. Meanwhile, supporters of
:02:05. > :02:11.the President have been protesting on the outskirts of Cairo. They
:02:11. > :02:16.accuse the private media of being biased towards the President and
:02:16. > :02:21.the Muslim Brotherhood. They are pressing the President not to make
:02:21. > :02:30.any concessions. -- they are worried that the media is biased
:02:30. > :02:35.against the present. -- president. Scotland Yard has contacted police
:02:35. > :02:38.in Australia over the hoax call made by a Sydney radio station to
:02:38. > :02:42.the hospital which was treating the Duchess of Cambridge. The nurse who
:02:42. > :02:47.answered the call, Jacintha Saldanha, was found dead and is
:02:48. > :02:50.believed to have taken her own life. An inquest is due to open this week.
:02:50. > :02:55.The presenters of the radio show are said to be receiving
:02:55. > :02:59.counselling. Senior Conservatives have formed a
:02:59. > :03:03.group to campaign for gay marriage. Legislation to allow churches and
:03:03. > :03:06.other religious venues in England and Wales to opt into holding
:03:06. > :03:10.ceremonies is expected to be introduced in Parliament before
:03:10. > :03:13.Easter. The Prime Minister has given his full backing to the
:03:13. > :03:17.proposals, despite intense opposition from within his own
:03:18. > :03:21.party. England's cricketers have won the
:03:21. > :03:28.third Test against India by seven wickets. They needed just 41 runs
:03:28. > :03:34.for victory after bowling out the home side for 247. England Mallaig
:03:34. > :03:42.b series 2-1. Alastair Cook said his players have been outstanding.
:03:42. > :03:46.There will be more news on BBC One at 5:35pm.
:03:46. > :03:49.Good afternoon. Worship is drawing to a close this lunch time at a
:03:49. > :03:55.Glasgow kirk where the congregation is splitting from the Church of
:03:55. > :03:58.Scotland. The minister and members of St George's Tron in the city
:03:58. > :04:01.centre voted to leave in a row over the appointment of gay ministers.
:04:01. > :04:06.The Church of Scotland has established a commission to look
:04:06. > :04:11.into the issue. Worshippers today said it is mixed emotions today.
:04:11. > :04:15.Very sad, really, that the situation has come to this, that as
:04:16. > :04:20.a church family, we are having our last service here this morning. We
:04:20. > :04:24.are sorry it is finishing in this way and that it has not been
:04:24. > :04:27.possible to come to some sort of arrangement with us.
:04:27. > :04:31.The Scottish Conservative leader is amongst a group of prominent Tories
:04:31. > :04:35.to have formed a group to campaign for same-sex marriage. Ruth
:04:35. > :04:39.Davidson is backing the policy, which will be unveiled for England
:04:39. > :04:43.and Wales this week. Many in the party's traditional wing to oppose
:04:43. > :04:50.it. There are plans for a Bill to allow same-sex marriage in Scotland.
:04:50. > :04:53.Off-peak train fares will rise by 1% below inflation from 2016. The
:04:53. > :04:57.Scottish Government is writing a condition into the contract for the
:04:57. > :05:02.next rail franchise to peg off-peak fares. ScotRail has said the cost
:05:02. > :05:05.of its tickets would rise by 3.9% next month.
:05:05. > :05:09.Hundreds of runners are taking part in this year's Santa Dash in
:05:09. > :05:13.Edinburgh and Glasgow. The annual ritual turns the roads into a sea
:05:13. > :05:16.of red to raise money for charity. People in Aviemore will have the
:05:16. > :05:24.chance to don the Santa Claus kit in two weeks.
:05:24. > :05:28.It is a bit of a mixed bag, as far as the weather is concerned this
:05:28. > :05:33.afternoon. For much of southern and central parts of the country, it
:05:33. > :05:36.will remain dry with lovely spells of sunshine. Further North, it is
:05:36. > :05:40.generally cloudy with frequent showers for much of the far North
:05:40. > :05:45.and the North East. These will be wintry on the hills, with one or
:05:45. > :05:49.two wintry showers on love levels for the likes of Shetland. There
:05:49. > :05:52.will be some brisk north-westerly wind in the West, and also a strong
:05:52. > :06:02.to gale-force wind for part of the far North.
:06:02. > :06:04.That is all for the moment. Back to Now we have heard of road rage, but
:06:04. > :06:07.the latest kind of rage being complained about at Holyrood is
:06:07. > :06:11.hedge rage. Disputes about how high a neighbour's hedge is may sound
:06:11. > :06:14.trivial, but those who suffer say it has made their lives a misery.
:06:14. > :06:16.They are hoping a bill at Holyrood will create a law that will end
:06:16. > :06:24.their plight. Christine MacLeod reports.
:06:24. > :06:30.Our living room window faces these leylandii trees. We cannot see
:06:30. > :06:36.anything of the lovely Angus countryside. It would not spoil our
:06:37. > :06:41.neighbour's views. Palmer has spent 13 years trying to get her
:06:42. > :06:50.neighbours to cut back the hedge. Her efforts to communicate them it
:06:50. > :06:53.with -- communicate with them personally have all failed. We did
:06:54. > :06:58.not know how fast they were going to grow. When they did start
:06:58. > :07:05.growing, we complained to our neighbours, ask them nicely if they
:07:05. > :07:10.would cut them down. They declined. She says it has left her mentally
:07:10. > :07:13.and physically drained. Her last hope is a change it to the law.
:07:13. > :07:23.Under proposed legislation, if mediation fails, councils can be
:07:23. > :07:28.
:07:28. > :07:34.cold him -- called in. Some councils are already welcoming the
:07:34. > :07:41.idea. At the moment, a council has nothing they can do if and Labour
:07:41. > :07:44.complains. The best we can do is recommend that they take out a
:07:44. > :07:49.civil action against their neighbour, which creates more
:07:49. > :07:58.problems. We think this will go vastly cut the number of complaints
:07:58. > :08:03.we get because it will change people's behaviour. But some
:08:03. > :08:07.lawyers need convincing of this, saying it a new a lot could be too
:08:07. > :08:11.bureaucratic in practice and could prolong the agony of disputes and
:08:11. > :08:17.also make them at more expensive are. They have introduced a system
:08:17. > :08:22.which is multi- staged. There has to be an attempt at an agreement.
:08:22. > :08:29.If that does not work, they have to go to the council. If you are
:08:29. > :08:34.aggrieved at that decision, you can appeal. This new process, will it
:08:34. > :08:39.speed things up or slow things down? I am not sure or convinced
:08:39. > :08:43.that it will make things better. The Bill has the majority backing
:08:43. > :08:47.of the Scottish government and is set to become law by next spring,
:08:47. > :08:51.bringing Scotland into line with the rest of the UK which already
:08:51. > :09:01.has legislation to tackle high hedges.
:09:01. > :09:14.
:09:14. > :09:20.In our Aberdeen studio. .. In our studio, the SNP MSP who
:09:20. > :09:23.proposed the bill Mark McDonald. can have such an impact on
:09:23. > :09:26.individuals and given that Scotland is the only part of the UK that
:09:26. > :09:32.does not have legislation in place to deal with this, it is long
:09:32. > :09:39.overdue. How will it work in practice? Is it to do that location,
:09:39. > :09:42.the height of the hedge? The light issue is the issue that we have
:09:43. > :09:49.used in the legislation as the determining factor. In terms of
:09:49. > :09:58.height, the one thing to get clear is it does not prescribe a height
:09:58. > :10:03.which every hedge in height must comply with. If there is a dispute
:10:03. > :10:08.that is and resort, an application can be made added will be Hedges of
:10:08. > :10:12.the real heights above two metres that people have a dispute with. I
:10:12. > :10:18.am not recommending that people Cup their hedges down where there is no
:10:18. > :10:23.disappeared. I believe this legislation will help with disputes.
:10:23. > :10:29.We have heard from a lawyer that this could be many stages involved
:10:29. > :10:35.in this bill. It could extend the problems that people have to put up
:10:35. > :10:39.with all this. It could also be very expensive. I was interested by
:10:39. > :10:46.the comments the there. At the moment, there is not a resolution
:10:46. > :10:51.to the process, so how can it slowdown any resolution to the
:10:52. > :10:59.dispute? The options that were open to me was a solution involved with
:10:59. > :11:05.a local authority, or one going through the courts? Accord based
:11:05. > :11:15.solution would have led to a significantly higher costs. -- a
:11:15. > :11:25.
:11:25. > :11:33.quarter court based. It is up for local authorities to decide what
:11:33. > :11:40.their costs for will be. I do not think this is our piece of
:11:40. > :11:45.legislation for revenue raising. The Scottish Parliament Information
:11:45. > :11:48.Centre believes the cost could be around �500? A if you look at
:11:48. > :11:54.evidence south of the border, we have looked at what is being
:11:54. > :12:04.charged in England and Wales, it does be a up to several hundred
:12:04. > :12:04.
:12:04. > :12:11.pounds with an average fee of five of around �350. Where there is cost
:12:11. > :12:15.capping, everybody charges of the maximum they can charge. It is
:12:15. > :12:22.expected that all reasonable steps will be taken to resolve matters,
:12:22. > :12:27.could that not be difficult to define it legally? At what happens
:12:27. > :12:32.if a council cannot get their money, they will have to go back to court?
:12:32. > :12:40.I think it is important to look south of the border for instruction
:12:40. > :12:44.as to how this might pan out. Down south, when the legislation came in,
:12:44. > :12:48.most cases dealt with themselves because the ones legislation is
:12:49. > :12:52.introduced, people tend to modify their behaviour. There were a
:12:52. > :13:01.number of cases were complaints had to be made and enforcement notice
:13:01. > :13:08.has given -- notices given. Only a very small number of cases did
:13:08. > :13:11.local authorities get involved further. I am not going to
:13:11. > :13:16.prescribe or one solution. It is for local authorities to determine
:13:16. > :13:25.the best way to enforce this legislation and recover their costs.
:13:25. > :13:28.Thank you very much. It is International Human Rights
:13:28. > :13:31.Day tomorrow and that is when negotiations get under way on a new
:13:31. > :13:34.action plan for Scotland. What do you think when you hear human
:13:34. > :13:37.rights? A chancer's charter or the guarantor of a fairer society? Or
:13:37. > :13:39.nothing to do with you? Human rights are running through every
:13:39. > :13:42.area of our everyday lives whether it is welfare, housing, fuel
:13:42. > :13:45.poverty, education, policing. The list is endless. The Scottish Human
:13:45. > :13:48.Rights Commission says we still have big gaps in important areas
:13:48. > :13:53.like health and fair pay and the new action plan will fire up some
:13:53. > :13:56.solutions to that. And there is a big pat on the back today for the
:13:56. > :13:58.work of the Scottish Commission. It has been singled out for praise by
:13:58. > :14:06.the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi
:14:06. > :14:10.Pillay. The Scottish Human Rights
:14:10. > :14:15.Commission is one of the most dynamic human rights commissions in
:14:15. > :14:20.Europe and currently chair of the European group of national human
:14:20. > :14:28.rights institutions. It is helping draw up a national action plan for
:14:28. > :14:38.human rights as a central means to ensure the implementation of the
:14:38. > :14:40.
:14:40. > :14:43.universal human rights in practice. With me now in the studio is the
:14:43. > :14:47.Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission Professor Alan Miller.
:14:47. > :14:54.Do you think human rights always get the credit they deserve?
:14:54. > :15:02.always. I think certain government ministers in the United Kingdom
:15:02. > :15:06.often call for an -- for a repeal of the Human Rights Act. In
:15:06. > :15:10.Scotland, in the time that I have been chair of the Scottish Human
:15:10. > :15:15.Rights Commission, I have never had a door closed to me. I have found
:15:15. > :15:19.everywhere I have gone and everyone I have worked with, a basic sense
:15:19. > :15:24.of fairness and of decency and an increase recognition that human
:15:24. > :15:27.rights has a place in that strengthening those in our society,
:15:27. > :15:33.giving more guarantee and definition to what is fair in
:15:33. > :15:39.Scotland. In health and social care, there is a very open welcome to
:15:39. > :15:45.human rights strengthening the policy agenda there of increased
:15:45. > :15:54.personal care. Him at Dumfries and Galloway, police were carrying out
:15:54. > :15:59.our criminal exploitation a of foreign migrant workers and the
:15:59. > :16:04.spokesman said our primary objective is to uphold the rights
:16:04. > :16:12.of foreign migrant workers. That is different from what we hear from UK
:16:12. > :16:16.ministers. Later this month, there is to be a report from another
:16:16. > :16:19.commissioner set up by the UK Government as to weather to
:16:19. > :16:26.introduce a Bill of Rights and replace the human rights act. My
:16:26. > :16:30.view is that I do not think this side of the next UK election, I do
:16:30. > :16:36.not think anything will, of that. It is Westminster rhetoric which
:16:36. > :16:41.does not go down internationally or in Scotland. Tomorrow, when we are
:16:41. > :16:47.getting people round the table, it will be a much more people centred
:16:47. > :16:54.and practical, prioritised discussion. The practical
:16:54. > :17:04.application of human rights in terms of discrimination, fear pay,
:17:04. > :17:05.
:17:05. > :17:11.education, there are so many areas that we should be looking at
:17:11. > :17:18.practically in Scotland. We have just finished doing a mapping of
:17:18. > :17:23.their realisation of human rights in Scotland. What we have found is
:17:23. > :17:30.that Scotland, particularly since devolution, has much to be proud of,
:17:30. > :17:40.but could do better. In a traffic light system, our laws, get a green
:17:40. > :17:44.
:17:44. > :17:52.light. Strategy is green to amber. But in red, where we had read his
:17:52. > :17:56.in outcomes. How people are living under the welfare cuts. We have to
:17:56. > :18:00.ensure that return good intentions into good practice. Some of these
:18:00. > :18:04.are beyond the powers of Scotland because of the constitutional
:18:04. > :18:08.arrangements. I think the National Action Plan from Scotland's pointed
:18:08. > :18:12.you is that when these cuts are introduced by the UK Government,
:18:12. > :18:19.there must be a human rights impact assessment done before these
:18:20. > :18:29.decisions are made. There must be a flop budgetary analysis as to what
:18:30. > :18:30.
:18:30. > :18:39.should be -- there must be a thorough budgetary analysis. People
:18:39. > :18:49.who cannot find work still have the right to a life of dignity. When we
:18:49. > :18:52.
:18:52. > :18:57.read about human rights, it is usually about a tabloid headline
:18:57. > :19:02.relating to prisoners. I think there is a problem with that.
:19:02. > :19:07.Certain sections of the press for historical reasons thought him and
:19:07. > :19:13.writes it would be a threat to a free press. But now they are
:19:13. > :19:23.finding out that human rights could be the best friend to the press.
:19:23. > :19:24.
:19:24. > :19:29.But I think the influence of those sections of the press and
:19:29. > :19:38.politicians can be overplayed. Most people understand that they do need
:19:38. > :19:42.human rights. Any object of opinion poll that is done, asking people to
:19:42. > :19:52.rate the Human Rights they think are important, there is widespread
:19:52. > :19:56.
:19:56. > :20:04.report for free speech, fair trial, privacy, health care. People keep
:20:04. > :20:12.saying about European Human Rights, but it is courts of law. It is not
:20:12. > :20:21.European law, it is got here law -- it has got slot. The rupee and
:20:21. > :20:28.convention in Scots law. Yes, you are right. -- the European
:20:28. > :20:31.convention is Scots law. Now in a moment, we'll be discussing the big
:20:31. > :20:38.events coming up next week but, first, let's take a look back at
:20:38. > :20:48.the Week in Sixty Seconds. The Chancellor confirmed austerity
:20:48. > :20:51.
:20:51. > :20:59.measures will go on 2018 to 2000 AD team. I welcome the fact that the
:20:59. > :21:04.Scottish government's argument has been accepted by the Chancellor.
:21:04. > :21:14.This evidence has been steering him in the face for two years. He
:21:14. > :21:15.
:21:15. > :21:25.should have taken this decision earlier. Hunterston nuclear power
:21:25. > :21:26.
:21:26. > :21:30.station gets and extend it lifeline -- extended.
:21:30. > :21:40.Chanel showcased his latest collection in the move go.
:21:40. > :21:42.
:21:42. > :21:46.And this is the first anniversary of the plan does. -- pandas.
:21:46. > :21:49.And now let's take a look forward to the next seven days. Joining me
:21:49. > :21:52.today is Professor Murray Pittock, the Vice Principal and Head of the
:21:52. > :22:00.College of Arts at Glasgow University. And the writer and
:22:00. > :22:07.commentator Katie Grant. Let's start with gas. It is in the
:22:07. > :22:17.papers today and we had been covering it. Do you think the story
:22:17. > :22:24.
:22:24. > :22:31.about unconventional gas supply is widely understood? No. I think some
:22:31. > :22:37.people are showing anxiety about this already, but the indication is
:22:37. > :22:47.that the implications have not been worked through. There is possibly a
:22:47. > :22:47.
:22:47. > :22:57.lot more to come. I think the key issue here is that we are going to
:22:57. > :22:59.
:22:59. > :23:05.be in our resources paradox soon. There is a need for greater
:23:05. > :23:15.reduction in fossil-fuel views, but there is a greater need to exploit
:23:15. > :23:17.
:23:17. > :23:21.for also fuels -- fossil fuels. have had a lot of coverage about
:23:21. > :23:25.cost of our fuel bills. But this has not been married it together
:23:25. > :23:29.with a new exploitation. It is a funny sort of thing that is going
:23:29. > :23:33.on. I think we will see much more confusion about people who are
:23:33. > :23:41.quite keen about the idea of renewables, but are terrified of
:23:41. > :23:47.their own fuel bills. I think people will want to know more about
:23:47. > :23:57.this unconventional gas exploitation. We are nervous about
:23:57. > :24:03.
:24:03. > :24:07.it. Reread commentators at it is like seeing, if we only drive... --
:24:07. > :24:17.reread commentators and it is like saying we should all be dry that 20
:24:17. > :24:26.
:24:26. > :24:36.miles per hour. Prices keep rising. Some religious stories. Parliament
:24:36. > :24:40.
:24:40. > :24:46.is like mural to Christians. These What Cameron is saying about same-
:24:46. > :24:50.sex marriages in churches, about gay clergy, can that really be
:24:50. > :24:54.equated to the obscenities, torture and persecution of Christians under
:24:54. > :24:58.Nero? No. That is where the Catholic Church gets it extremely
:24:58. > :25:04.wrong. When concentrating on religious issues, they come out
:25:04. > :25:09.with wild statements, equating day marriage to slavery, peculiar
:25:09. > :25:12.analogies drawn. Bidders but do the Church any credit. The Church has
:25:12. > :25:16.an argument to make whether you agree with it or disagree with it,
:25:16. > :25:21.but I do not think this is very helpful, and it makes the Church
:25:21. > :25:26.look a bit bonkers. When I first saw this comment, I thought it was
:25:26. > :25:31.about Cameron doing nothing in the face of a continuous recession. As
:25:31. > :25:36.a statement to describe allowing minority group to campaign for a
:25:36. > :25:41.gay marriage, it probably sounds completely in excess of the facts,
:25:41. > :25:45.such as they are. In a sense, this goes back to your St George's Tron
:25:45. > :25:50.story. There is still a desire, a clerical desire, that somehow
:25:50. > :25:54.government should represent the UK or Scotland as a Christian country.
:25:54. > :26:00.And the Government is not capable of doing that because it is a large
:26:00. > :26:06.and secular society. But the annoyance comes out in exaggerated
:26:06. > :26:10.rhetoric. But there is a lot of fear because everybody knows that
:26:10. > :26:14.once you start down this road, there will be challenges. In the
:26:14. > :26:20.end, gay marriages going to be accepted. It is going to be in the
:26:20. > :26:25.churches, and that is going to be the law. It is a sign of the Times,
:26:25. > :26:30.as Jesus himself said. We're going to see much more of this rather
:26:30. > :26:33.frantic campaigning by the Church in order to make their point, and
:26:33. > :26:38.the rhetoric will get wilder and wilder, or the where we go from
:26:38. > :26:42.hero, I am not sure! I suppose the political influence of the church
:26:42. > :26:46.is an interesting question. Despite the profile it has had to and the
:26:46. > :26:51.pressure to reply, can you think of an instance in which it has had any
:26:51. > :26:56.significance in Midlands recently? I'm thinking of Section 28, you
:26:56. > :27:05.know what I mean. I think probably the Catholic Church has succeeded
:27:05. > :27:08.in speaking for Scotland in the way the kirk of Scotland has ceased
:27:08. > :27:17.Sidhu. But it has not had an effect on legislation. It has tended to
:27:17. > :27:20.put a brick court on or create controversies. -- put a brake on.
:27:20. > :27:26.In a way, you could say that it has held back developments or made them
:27:26. > :27:35.go more slowly, but that -- has it stopped or reversed things? No. It
:27:35. > :27:38.is difficult to do that in a secular context. Before we finish,
:27:38. > :27:43.human-rights, does it have the profile up those who supported
:27:43. > :27:47.might hope for? Auras are dominated by distorting headlines?
:27:47. > :27:52.It is certainly dominated by headlines which get people very
:27:52. > :27:54.cross. It might be helpful if it was matched by a day of
:27:54. > :27:58.international human responsibilities. That is what many
:27:58. > :28:05.people feel, that there are too many rights and too few
:28:05. > :28:10.responsibilities. A focus on human rights is always going to be
:28:10. > :28:18.reported a slightly skewed way. Briefly. Are you a human rights
:28:18. > :28:21.supporter? You can hardly oppose human rights. What is interesting
:28:21. > :28:25.is the degree of consent in Scotland about fairness and human
:28:25. > :28:28.rights and the willingness to look at our national obligations, which
:28:29. > :28:35.is starting to decay South of the border. It is an interesting
:28:35. > :28:39.contrast. Thank you very much. That is all from us this week. I