Browse content similar to 09/12/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Welcome to the Sunday Politics at the end of the week when we have | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
had an Autumn Statement with a distinct winter chill. A The | :00:43. | :00:46. | |
Chancellor said he would miss his debt target, that the country is | :00:46. | :00:49. | |
going to have to borrow even more and that we are looking at | :00:49. | :00:52. | |
austerity for as far as the eye can see. But business largely welcomed | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
the Autumn Statement, with its lower taxes on profits, tax relief | :00:55. | :01:00. | |
for investment and the binning of a rise in fuel duty. We'll ask the | :01:00. | :01:03. | |
Shadow Business Secretary if he agrees. | :01:03. | :01:07. | |
And, je ne regrette rien! I'm a Celebrity's Nadine Dorries tells us | :01:07. | :01:17. | |
she'd happily do it all again and lashes out at her tormentors. | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
The papers are full at of scurrilous lies about myself and my | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
family. In 7.5 years, I have never taken a single parliamentary day | :01:26. | :01:29. | |
away, not one. And on Sunday Politics Scotland, | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
we'll be asking if plans for unconventional gas exploration in | :01:32. | :01:42. | |
:01:42. | :01:42. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1844 seconds | :01:42. | :32:27. | |
Scotland are a cheap energy dream That is a huge achievement in | :32:27. | :32:32. | |
politics. Is that all for the greater good of the Conservative | :32:32. | :32:38. | |
Party or for Madine Doris? If you go ran my constituency with me, you | :32:38. | :32:42. | |
would think it was for the greater good of the constituency. Other MPs | :32:42. | :32:48. | |
are telling me they are hearing the same from schools in their | :32:48. | :32:55. | |
constituency. Many schools in some constituencies, the pupils do not | :32:55. | :33:03. | |
know the names of MPs, particularly Conservative MPs. But people now | :33:03. | :33:13. | |
know who I am. It was for the greater good of Madine Doris? | :33:13. | :33:17. | |
think it was for the greater good of the Conservative Party. It shows | :33:17. | :33:21. | |
that Tory politicians are not afraid to go out and engage with | :33:21. | :33:31. | |
people. What size will the Phoebe when you have to declare it on the | :33:31. | :33:41. | |
:33:41. | :33:51. | ||
Members' Register? -- fee be. interview every day, MPs, male MPs | :33:51. | :33:59. | |
who have outside interests, have you ever asked them what their | :33:59. | :34:09. | |
:34:09. | :34:13. | ||
parents are? I have never your asking a male MP? Per haps he | :34:13. | :34:18. | |
should listen to our programme more often. Would you like to have the | :34:18. | :34:28. | |
:34:28. | :34:31. | ||
whip restored? Of course I would. One of the issues he named his I | :34:31. | :34:36. | |
had to speak to my association. I spoke to them last week and there | :34:36. | :34:41. | |
was a 100% vote. You always have to, out in the street with me on my | :34:41. | :34:46. | |
constituency to know what my constituents think. -- to come out. | :34:46. | :34:54. | |
Would you do another television programme? A I think it is a once- | :34:54. | :35:00. | |
in-a-lifetime thing. I do not think I am likely to be offered another | :35:00. | :35:07. | |
reality TV programme. There are suggestions that if the Tory whips | :35:07. | :35:14. | |
will not restore the whip or impose tough conditions, you might defect | :35:14. | :35:21. | |
to UKip? I think you must be about the 20th person that has asked me | :35:21. | :35:25. | |
that over the last year. I am looking forward to receiving the | :35:25. | :35:31. | |
Tory whip back. I am a Conservative. Is it your intention up to fight | :35:31. | :35:41. | |
:35:41. | :35:44. | ||
your constituency in the next election as a Conservative? Yes. I | :35:44. | :35:50. | |
very much hope so. And you wouldn't rule out running as a UKip | :35:50. | :35:55. | |
candidate at the election? I am very much hoping that I will have | :35:55. | :35:59. | |
my whip a restored in the not-too- distant future and I will fight | :35:59. | :36:05. | |
this constituency as a Conservative MP because I love his constituency, | :36:05. | :36:13. | |
I have given of my life to it for the last seven years. Do you think | :36:13. | :36:18. | |
your political career is effectively over? No, not at all. | :36:18. | :36:24. | |
It might just be beginning. What is the political ambition now for | :36:24. | :36:34. | |
:36:34. | :36:36. | ||
Nadine Dorries? I have always had cost us that I haven't that -- I | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
have always had costs that I have championed such as reducing the | :36:41. | :36:51. | |
:36:51. | :36:51. | ||
time limit on abortions. I hope now that people will listen and know | :36:51. | :37:01. | |
:37:01. | :37:08. | ||
who I am. This is this Sunday Good morning and welcome to Sunday | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
Politics Scotland. Coming up on the programme. | :37:12. | :37:18. | |
The Chancellor wants cheaper gas. Splits in the kirk over the | :37:18. | :37:21. | |
ordination of gay ministers. We will be live outside the Tron | :37:21. | :37:24. | |
Church in Glasgow as its breakaway members hold their final service | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
before being evicted by the Church of Scotland. | :37:27. | :37:31. | |
And would a new law to cut high hedges down to size end the misery | :37:31. | :37:39. | |
of warring neighbours? We cannot see anything of the | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
countryside and it would not spoil our neighbour's views if they were | :37:43. | :37:53. | |
The Chancellor's autumn statement had a distinct wintry feel, but he | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
tried to warm us up with the promise of cheaper energy bills. As | :37:56. | :37:59. | |
we reach for the thermostat, the UK Government's gas strategy set out | :37:59. | :38:01. | |
how to exploit so-called unconventional gas. Those are | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
deposits buried deep below the ground. However, pilot projects are | :38:06. | :38:08. | |
coming under fire as people object to pipelines running underneath | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
their homes and concerns grow about the potential environmental impact, | :38:11. | :38:21. | |
:38:21. | :38:21. | ||
as Andrew Kerr has been finding out Data energy has been extracting | :38:21. | :38:31. | |
:38:31. | :38:32. | ||
coal bed methane at its test sites. It wants to expand the programme. | :38:32. | :38:37. | |
am very excited about this. We have been watching the decline of the | :38:37. | :38:42. | |
North Sea gas and that is very concerning. I am delighted we have | :38:43. | :38:48. | |
a resource that we can bring it to continue with this country's | :38:48. | :38:52. | |
progress and development. Chancellor published his gas | :38:52. | :38:56. | |
strategy alongside the Autumn statement to make the best use of a | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
low-cost gas, unconventional gas such as coal bed methane and Schuil. | :39:01. | :39:10. | |
Fracking is used for shale gas extraction. -- coal bed methane and | :39:10. | :39:20. | |
:39:20. | :39:24. | ||
This is No. 8 in the system. The company are keen to point out that | :39:24. | :39:28. | |
the wellhead is unobtrusive, it will pump the methane into a gas | :39:28. | :39:31. | |
pipeline which is currently under used at the moment because of a | :39:31. | :39:36. | |
decline in North Sea gas. A key benefit of this exploration is the | :39:36. | :39:44. | |
security of supply it could provide the UK, keeping prices stable. | :39:44. | :39:54. | |
:39:54. | :39:58. | ||
Additional gas from the UK and security of supply, we would have | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
it available all year round. despite assurances about health and | :40:03. | :40:07. | |
safety from the company, local people are concerned. They have | :40:08. | :40:12. | |
lodged objections to the planned development. In this ballot, they | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
say the pipeline will go under their homes. They have been backed | :40:16. | :40:21. | |
in their objections by nearby home builders and Network Rail. They one | :40:21. | :40:31. | |
:40:31. | :40:36. | ||
the developer to less -- they want Our concerns about water, about | :40:36. | :40:41. | |
contamination of water, about methane gas in the ad was fear, | :40:41. | :40:47. | |
about how methane may percolate through the ground levels and we | :40:47. | :40:52. | |
feel that not enough has been done to raise awareness in at their | :40:52. | :40:57. | |
local area. The application is licensed by the UK Government's | :40:57. | :41:02. | |
Department for Energy. The local council decide on the planning and | :41:02. | :41:06. | |
the Environment Agency makes sure that regulations are kept. People | :41:06. | :41:10. | |
hear what the Scottish government to intervene. Ministers told us | :41:10. | :41:17. | |
shale gas has and coal bed methane are not included in our energy | :41:17. | :41:20. | |
plans for our national energy modelling. Environmental groups say | :41:20. | :41:29. | |
it is not they did -- it is not needed in Scotland. It is not a | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
economically viable unless the price of fossil fuel is very high. | :41:33. | :41:39. | |
We do not need it because there are plenty of renewable resources. | :41:39. | :41:44. | |
During these cold dark days, tuba bills that would be welcomed. But | :41:44. | :41:49. | |
this controversial new process makes some people feel it will have | :41:49. | :41:55. | |
a real impact on their lives. Joining me now in the studio is co- | :41:55. | :41:57. | |
convenor of the Scottish Green Party, Patrick Harvie MSP, and in | :41:58. | :42:00. | |
our Oxford studio, Labour's shadow energy Minister, the MP, Tom | :42:00. | :42:07. | |
Greatrex. Before we go into this in detail, | :42:07. | :42:13. | |
what are the potential benefits? They have not been proved. There is | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
a lot of excitable commentary on both sides, but we do not know what | :42:17. | :42:27. | |
the potential actually is. We will not know until we have a proper | :42:27. | :42:32. | |
investigation. We just do not know. Some of the things that George | :42:32. | :42:39. | |
Osborne was saying last week are misplaced. Were you able to get | :42:39. | :42:47. | |
their reassurances that you think would lead into a secure and safe | :42:48. | :42:57. | |
:42:58. | :43:00. | ||
supply? I think we could look at to extract unconventional gas. But it | :43:00. | :43:06. | |
has to be done in the right order. Suggesting that activities could | :43:06. | :43:11. | |
commence before a proper regulatory processes are in place, and there | :43:11. | :43:21. | |
:43:21. | :43:23. | ||
are a lot of different elements to this, and many authorities involved | :43:23. | :43:30. | |
in this, planning authorities in Scotland around clear where their | :43:30. | :43:33. | |
responsibilities lie, so we need to clear all that up and get it into a | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
very clear place to give reassurance to those people who are | :43:37. | :43:42. | |
quite rightly concerned about this. There has been a very poor | :43:42. | :43:50. | |
experience in the US. Are there any reassurances at all that would | :43:51. | :43:55. | |
persuade you this is a good way to go? There are many question-marks | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
about the local environmental impact and with the UK Government | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
looking to create incentives to explore the possibility of this | :44:02. | :44:08. | |
kind of extraction across 20,000 square, just in that Scotland, it | :44:08. | :44:12. | |
is likely that there will be different answers to that question | :44:12. | :44:16. | |
in different parts of the country. But one thing does not change. One | :44:16. | :44:25. | |
factor does not change weather it is fracking, coal bed methane, or | :44:25. | :44:34. | |
North Sea gas. We are adding to the problems of fossil fuel. We cannot | :44:35. | :44:38. | |
afford to burn fossil fuels if we are serious about climate change. | :44:39. | :44:46. | |
Every member of the Scottish Parliament is supposed to be | :44:46. | :44:51. | |
serious about climate change. A new -- for gas would not only loch in | :44:51. | :44:56. | |
dependence on gas, it will, I believe, take away from the | :44:56. | :45:01. | |
momentum that has been built up around of renewable energy. It | :45:01. | :45:11. | |
:45:11. | :45:12. | ||
would replace them will also with gas -- renewables. But it would | :45:12. | :45:17. | |
mean cheaper gas bills and energy security, which is an increasingly | :45:17. | :45:27. | |
:45:27. | :45:28. | ||
problematic area. Will that not up a political balance? -- tip. I | :45:28. | :45:32. | |
think it is more likely to be around security of supply than | :45:32. | :45:42. | |
:45:42. | :45:42. | ||
price. We used a lot of gas in terms of heating, despite moves to | :45:42. | :45:49. | |
district heating schemes and energy efficiency. If we can have an end | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
deja the supply as opposed to at importing more, that would be a | :45:52. | :45:58. | |
good thing. I'm not sure that I by the argument about price. That | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
seems to be an extrapolation of the experience in the United States. It | :46:03. | :46:08. | |
is more to do the security of supply. It may help to stabilise | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
the price. I share some of the concerns of Patrick Harvie has | :46:13. | :46:23. | |
:46:23. | :46:29. | ||
expressed about the -- for gas -- the dash for gas. We are subject to | :46:29. | :46:39. | |
:46:39. | :46:40. | ||
the fluctuations in gas prices. And that has fed through to consumer | :46:40. | :46:44. | |
bills that has caused the concern we have spoken about before. | :46:44. | :46:50. | |
terms of renewables, would it not be argued that gas is the least | :46:50. | :47:00. | |
worst of the fossil fuels and it could play a transition role? | :47:00. | :47:05. | |
does have a transitional role, but for a period of time, they will | :47:05. | :47:11. | |
continue to need some element of gas on the grid. Even at the UK | :47:11. | :47:17. | |
Climate Change committee accept some need for gas. But they are | :47:17. | :47:21. | |
very concerned that the UK Government is building far too much | :47:21. | :47:26. | |
gas into their assumptions about the future. The Scottish government | :47:27. | :47:30. | |
says that unconventional gas does not figure in their models, but | :47:30. | :47:34. | |
they consistently refused to rule out supporting unconventional gas | :47:34. | :47:44. | |
:47:44. | :47:49. | ||
extraction in that Scotland -- in that Scotland. If we build into | :47:49. | :47:55. | |
much gas, we will still bust the climate targets, we will not be | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
able to achieve that trajectory. We do need some gas on the grid, but | :47:59. | :48:05. | |
it needs to be a declining trajectory. In Scotland, we can do | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
that with the growth in that renewables. We must not risk that | :48:09. | :48:19. | |
:48:19. | :48:20. | ||
momentum. The responses from local communities, do you think some of | :48:20. | :48:25. | |
this has gone under the radar? Some of the papers today our leading | :48:25. | :48:32. | |
with the story and potential problems, but it has not had a huge | :48:32. | :48:39. | |
public profile. Are you surprised by that? I am surprised by that. I | :48:39. | :48:44. | |
have been talking about this for quite a long time now, but I think | :48:44. | :48:54. | |
:48:54. | :48:57. | ||
the trigger has been the gas strategy. If we are ever going to | :48:57. | :49:05. | |
use this technology, there needs to be public understanding and you | :49:05. | :49:13. | |
will not get that until people understand the issues. That is why | :49:13. | :49:19. | |
I welcome a wider debate on this. Vast areas of Scotland could be | :49:19. | :49:25. | |
involved here. Is that the case? Yes, a very large number of people | :49:25. | :49:31. | |
have heard something about this, if they have an interest in climate | :49:31. | :49:35. | |
change, but most people will have heard nothing. There are huge | :49:35. | :49:45. | |
swathes of central belt Scotland, heavily populated areas, that are | :49:45. | :49:53. | |
under threat of this development. They will experience this as an | :49:53. | :49:57. | |
immediate threat and find that with the UK Government, potentially | :49:57. | :50:01. | |
Scottish government, lining up in favour of the technology and local | :50:01. | :50:08. | |
planners not really able to make use of the climate change argument, | :50:08. | :50:13. | |
it will lobby for the local planners to be able to approve or | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
not. It will be very hard for those communities to marshal a successful | :50:19. | :50:24. | |
Argoud unless the Scottish government is willing to change his | :50:24. | :50:34. | |
:50:34. | :50:37. | ||
An acrimonious split in the Church of Scotland over the ordination of | :50:37. | :50:42. | |
gay ministers has resulted in a breakaway by one of the | :50:42. | :50:49. | |
congregation's best-known churches, St George's Tron in Glasgow. | :50:49. | :50:54. | |
Officers have been sent to secure property. We can cross to our | :50:54. | :50:59. | |
reporter who was absurd the church. What is happening this morning? | :50:59. | :51:04. | |
Good morning. Yes, it is a day of change for the congregation here at | :51:04. | :51:08. | |
the St George's Tron. Some of them have been attending church here | :51:08. | :51:13. | |
every Sunday for 60 years, but this will be the last time. There is | :51:13. | :51:17. | |
about 20 minutes ago of the last service. They moved the evening | :51:17. | :51:21. | |
service to the new building. It follows what has really been a | :51:21. | :51:26. | |
bitter and unholy row since the congregation here decided to leave | :51:26. | :51:30. | |
the Church of Scotland. They voted in June, as a result of last year's | :51:30. | :51:35. | |
decision by the kirk to allow ordination of gay ministers. They | :51:35. | :51:42. | |
say that is a contradiction of the Bible. As a congregation, we feel | :51:42. | :51:45. | |
very strongly that the Church of Scotland has walked away from God's | :51:45. | :51:50. | |
word, and we were not prepared to walk away with them. As a church | :51:50. | :51:53. | |
family, we voted to leave the Church of Scotland and sought to | :51:53. | :51:58. | |
find some way we could continue to make good use of this building. We | :51:58. | :52:01. | |
are a big congregation and there are lots of things going on all | :52:01. | :52:07. | |
week, and we really wanted to keep on serving the city of Glasgow from | :52:07. | :52:12. | |
here, but it just did not seem possible to come to an arrangement, | :52:12. | :52:16. | |
and so here is our last service today. What has been the reaction | :52:16. | :52:25. | |
from the Church of Scotland leadership to this? | :52:25. | :52:31. | |
It is more or less justified and explained. The row has escalated in | :52:32. | :52:40. | |
the last six months, culminating in this week with Sheriff officers | :52:40. | :52:43. | |
interrupting prayer. The church says it is trying to get back some | :52:43. | :52:49. | |
of its property of this breakaway - - that this breakaway group is in | :52:49. | :52:55. | |
possession of. They dismiss any claims of intimidating behaviour | :52:55. | :53:00. | |
and say they are trying to protect their interests. People the in the | :53:00. | :53:03. | |
congregation at St George's Tron have a different approach to that | :53:03. | :53:08. | |
and they say that this is scandalous for this to be done. | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
They claimed they put in something like �2 million, their donations | :53:12. | :53:16. | |
that have paid for the prayer books and so on, and they should get to | :53:16. | :53:19. | |
keep them and that the Church is being heavy-handed. It is | :53:19. | :53:25. | |
disgraceful. It seems like they have no grasp of the way the | :53:25. | :53:29. | |
gospels should affect Christians. We have sunk �2 million into the | :53:29. | :53:32. | |
building, but if we are asked about to walk away from it, we will do | :53:32. | :53:38. | |
that gladly. We'll still be here and make sure our -- we fulfil our | :53:38. | :53:43. | |
city's motto, they Glasgow will flourish. That is about what the | :53:43. | :53:47. | |
congregation is all about, reaching everybody in the city with the good | :53:47. | :53:51. | |
news of Jesus. The issue of the ordination of gay ministers and | :53:51. | :53:56. | |
homosexual marriage seems to be an issue right across society. It is | :53:56. | :54:02. | |
one, as we come up to Christmas, which needs some further dialogue. | :54:02. | :54:05. | |
Neither of B-sides were able to come to an agreement, and in the | :54:05. | :54:09. | |
end, they had to sort it out through legal means, and that is an | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
interesting precedent. Thank you very much. | :54:13. | :54:16. | |
Now, from our Edinburgh studio, we are joined by the kirk historian | :54:16. | :54:21. | |
Harry Reid. Thank you for coming in. Given the Church has not yet have | :54:21. | :54:25. | |
an official position on gay ministers, what do you make of how | :54:25. | :54:30. | |
both sides have been behaving here? Am afraid to say that I do not like | :54:30. | :54:36. | |
either side's behaviour. The congregation at St fraught as Tron | :54:36. | :54:39. | |
-- St George's Tron have been precipitate, but I think the Church | :54:39. | :54:43. | |
has been heavy-handed as well. This is supposed to be the season of | :54:43. | :54:51. | |
peace and goodwill, and we are seeing little of that in this | :54:51. | :54:58. | |
disputes. -- this dispute. There will be other congregations to want | :54:58. | :55:03. | |
to leave, I am afraid, and they will probably leave in a fairly | :55:03. | :55:07. | |
chaotic manner, so I am sorry to say I think it is going to get | :55:07. | :55:13. | |
worse. Would this BB be evangelical wing | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
of the Church that is more likely to leave now? Yes, the evangelical | :55:17. | :55:23. | |
wing. There are some people in the evangelical wing he won not at all | :55:23. | :55:27. | |
happy with the way St George's Tron have behaved. They think they have | :55:27. | :55:32. | |
been precipitate, so you always have a split within a split -- | :55:32. | :55:36. | |
almost have a split within a split, but certainly in the Highlands | :55:36. | :55:40. | |
There are many congregations who, before too long, will certainly be | :55:40. | :55:46. | |
thinking about following St George's Tron. In all of this, do | :55:46. | :55:50. | |
you think that the Church of Scotland still speaks as the | :55:50. | :55:56. | |
national church, and if so, to whom does it speak? Excellent question. | :55:56. | :56:00. | |
I do not really think it does manage to speak to Scotland, or | :56:00. | :56:05. | |
indeed to speak for Scotland, the way it could do even one generation | :56:05. | :56:11. | |
ago. Obviously, the more split it becomes, the less authority it has | :56:11. | :56:16. | |
when it seeks to speak. I know that many people within the Church of | :56:16. | :56:19. | |
Scotland are worried that the Catholic Church does seem to be | :56:19. | :56:23. | |
able to speak with more authority, and indeed more clarity, on many | :56:23. | :56:28. | |
issues, possibly people don't agree with it, but at least it speaks | :56:28. | :56:32. | |
clearly and lively and people here. The Church of Scotland often seems | :56:32. | :56:38. | |
very confused, and it often seems rather slow in responding to things | :56:38. | :56:42. | |
that are happening. So, I think for various reasons, the Church has | :56:42. | :56:47. | |
lost the ability to communicate with the people of Scotland, and I | :56:47. | :56:52. | |
think its status as a national church is very much in question. | :56:52. | :56:57. | |
What about the sort of people who may set up another church, | :56:57. | :57:01. | |
potentially? Is that a realistic possibility? We have heard the St | :57:01. | :57:06. | |
George's Tron congregation put in �2 million of their own money. Is | :57:06. | :57:09. | |
there a possibility that they could genuinely be a completely separate | :57:09. | :57:16. | |
church set up? It is a possibility, and there have been plenty of | :57:16. | :57:23. | |
precedents in Scottish history. The greatest one, of course, was the | :57:23. | :57:28. | |
destruction in 1843. About 400 ministers and 40% of the membership | :57:28. | :57:31. | |
of the then Church of Scotland actually split, and there was a | :57:31. | :57:41. | |
:57:41. | :57:41. | ||
quite amazing period of new church building, new Banks's -- manses, | :57:41. | :57:45. | |
and a new church was created. But things are obviously very now -- | :57:45. | :57:51. | |
very different now. Something might happen, albeit on a much smaller | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
scale. But it is pretty unedifying if what you're talking about his | :57:55. | :57:59. | |
Christian witness, and people are talking about looking at this from | :57:59. | :58:04. | |
the outside. Do you agree? Yes. The Church of Scotland has always had a | :58:04. | :58:09. | |
tendency to split. It has a fissile tendency, is the phrase that some | :58:09. | :58:17. | |
people use. It does not look good to the wider public and it makes | :58:17. | :58:21. | |
things very difficult for ordinary decent churchgoers in their | :58:21. | :58:24. | |
congregations. My own view is that sooner or later, the Church will | :58:24. | :58:30. | |
have to accept that it is not the national Church of Scotland and to | :58:31. | :58:35. | |
allow a loose federation of congregations to form. Some of the | :58:35. | :58:42. | |
congregations are very strong. They are going well. There are plenty of | :58:42. | :58:45. | |
people still in the Church of Scotland your active and | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
enthusiastic members. I often say that the political parties in | :58:49. | :58:52. | |
Scotland would give anything for the membership of the Church of | :58:52. | :58:58. | |
Scotland, but the problem is that this membership cannot cohere as a | :58:58. | :59:02. | |
cohesive national body. It is an interesting dynamic which has | :59:02. | :59:08. | |
changed to die man -- dramatically over the years, where the laity and | :59:08. | :59:14. | |
the leadership is divided. I am not so sure about that, Isabel. I think | :59:14. | :59:18. | |
the problem is that the Church leadership keeps changing. The | :59:18. | :59:22. | |
moderate changes each year, just when he or she is getting into | :59:22. | :59:27. | |
their stride. A new one comes along and we'll have to get used to renew | :59:27. | :59:37. | |
:59:37. | :59:37. | ||
on -- to a new one. The same in the presbytery. But I don't think there | :59:37. | :59:47. | |
:59:47. | :59:57. | ||
is necessarily a split their. -- a split there. A lot of | :59:57. | :00:04. | |
congregations... OK, thank you. Possibly, it is lawyer's in all of | :00:04. | :00:08. | |
this. Now, we crossover for the lunch | :00:08. | :00:18. | |
:00:18. | :00:29. | ||
Good afternoon. The President of Egypt, Brown -- Mohammed Morsi, has | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
withdrawn a degree he issued last month which meant that judges could | :00:32. | :00:37. | |
not to test -- contest his decisions. The decree sparked | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
protests and led to accusations that Mr Morsi was behaving like a | :00:40. | :00:46. | |
because Ho -- a dictator. Egypt was in for a long siege after | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
the opposition rejected President Morsi's latest concession. The army | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
has been bolstering defences outside the presidential palace as | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
the protests continued. The president needed some -- met some | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
opposition leaders yesterday, but most of them boycotted. The | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
Government agreed to withdraw the decree giving President Morsi | :01:06. | :01:14. | |
sweeping new powers. TRANSLATION: It is decided that the | :01:14. | :01:22. | |
constitutional decree issued in November is cancelled as of today. | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
But the President offered no compromise on the issue of a | :01:25. | :01:27. | |
referendum on the new constitution, which will still go ahead next | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
Saturday. The opposition protesters are still here in Tahrir Square | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
today. As far as they are concerned, the President has not agreed to | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
their main demand, which is the postponement of a referendum on the | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
new constitution, and they are determined to continue their sit in | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
as long as it takes. Protesters today are as angry as ever. | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
TRANSLATION: President Morsi's cancellation of his decree has come | :01:51. | :01:54. | |
late in the game. It should be the case that every time we demand | :01:54. | :02:00. | |
something, it comes only after bloodshed. Meanwhile, supporters of | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
the President have been protesting on the outskirts of Cairo. They | :02:05. | :02:11. | |
accuse the private media of being biased towards the President and | :02:11. | :02:16. | |
the Muslim Brotherhood. They are pressing the President not to make | :02:16. | :02:21. | |
any concessions. -- they are worried that the media is biased | :02:21. | :02:30. | |
against the present. -- president. Scotland Yard has contacted police | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
in Australia over the hoax call made by a Sydney radio station to | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
the hospital which was treating the Duchess of Cambridge. The nurse who | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
answered the call, Jacintha Saldanha, was found dead and is | :02:42. | :02:47. | |
believed to have taken her own life. An inquest is due to open this week. | :02:48. | :02:50. | |
The presenters of the radio show are said to be receiving | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
counselling. Senior Conservatives have formed a | :02:55. | :02:59. | |
group to campaign for gay marriage. Legislation to allow churches and | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
other religious venues in England and Wales to opt into holding | :03:03. | :03:06. | |
ceremonies is expected to be introduced in Parliament before | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
Easter. The Prime Minister has given his full backing to the | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
proposals, despite intense opposition from within his own | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
party. England's cricketers have won the | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
third Test against India by seven wickets. They needed just 41 runs | :03:21. | :03:28. | |
for victory after bowling out the home side for 247. England Mallaig | :03:28. | :03:34. | |
b series 2-1. Alastair Cook said his players have been outstanding. | :03:34. | :03:42. | |
There will be more news on BBC One at 5:35pm. | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
Good afternoon. Worship is drawing to a close this lunch time at a | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
Glasgow kirk where the congregation is splitting from the Church of | :03:49. | :03:55. | |
Scotland. The minister and members of St George's Tron in the city | :03:55. | :03:58. | |
centre voted to leave in a row over the appointment of gay ministers. | :03:58. | :04:01. | |
The Church of Scotland has established a commission to look | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
into the issue. Worshippers today said it is mixed emotions today. | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
Very sad, really, that the situation has come to this, that as | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
a church family, we are having our last service here this morning. We | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
are sorry it is finishing in this way and that it has not been | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
possible to come to some sort of arrangement with us. | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
The Scottish Conservative leader is amongst a group of prominent Tories | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
to have formed a group to campaign for same-sex marriage. Ruth | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
Davidson is backing the policy, which will be unveiled for England | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
and Wales this week. Many in the party's traditional wing to oppose | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
it. There are plans for a Bill to allow same-sex marriage in Scotland. | :04:43. | :04:50. | |
Off-peak train fares will rise by 1% below inflation from 2016. The | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
Scottish Government is writing a condition into the contract for the | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
next rail franchise to peg off-peak fares. ScotRail has said the cost | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
of its tickets would rise by 3.9% next month. | :05:02. | :05:05. | |
Hundreds of runners are taking part in this year's Santa Dash in | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
Edinburgh and Glasgow. The annual ritual turns the roads into a sea | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
of red to raise money for charity. People in Aviemore will have the | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
chance to don the Santa Claus kit in two weeks. | :05:16. | :05:24. | |
It is a bit of a mixed bag, as far as the weather is concerned this | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
afternoon. For much of southern and central parts of the country, it | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
will remain dry with lovely spells of sunshine. Further North, it is | :05:33. | :05:36. | |
generally cloudy with frequent showers for much of the far North | :05:36. | :05:40. | |
and the North East. These will be wintry on the hills, with one or | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
two wintry showers on love levels for the likes of Shetland. There | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
will be some brisk north-westerly wind in the West, and also a strong | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
to gale-force wind for part of the far North. | :05:52. | :06:02. | |
That is all for the moment. Back to Now we have heard of road rage, but | :06:02. | :06:04. | |
the latest kind of rage being complained about at Holyrood is | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
hedge rage. Disputes about how high a neighbour's hedge is may sound | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
trivial, but those who suffer say it has made their lives a misery. | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
They are hoping a bill at Holyrood will create a law that will end | :06:14. | :06:16. | |
their plight. Christine MacLeod reports. | :06:16. | :06:24. | |
Our living room window faces these leylandii trees. We cannot see | :06:24. | :06:30. | |
anything of the lovely Angus countryside. It would not spoil our | :06:30. | :06:36. | |
neighbour's views. Palmer has spent 13 years trying to get her | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
neighbours to cut back the hedge. Her efforts to communicate them it | :06:42. | :06:50. | |
with -- communicate with them personally have all failed. We did | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
not know how fast they were going to grow. When they did start | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
growing, we complained to our neighbours, ask them nicely if they | :06:58. | :07:05. | |
would cut them down. They declined. She says it has left her mentally | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
and physically drained. Her last hope is a change it to the law. | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
Under proposed legislation, if mediation fails, councils can be | :07:13. | :07:23. | |
:07:23. | :07:28. | ||
cold him -- called in. Some councils are already welcoming the | :07:28. | :07:34. | |
idea. At the moment, a council has nothing they can do if and Labour | :07:34. | :07:41. | |
complains. The best we can do is recommend that they take out a | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
civil action against their neighbour, which creates more | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
problems. We think this will go vastly cut the number of complaints | :07:49. | :07:58. | |
we get because it will change people's behaviour. But some | :07:58. | :08:03. | |
lawyers need convincing of this, saying it a new a lot could be too | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
bureaucratic in practice and could prolong the agony of disputes and | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
also make them at more expensive are. They have introduced a system | :08:11. | :08:17. | |
which is multi- staged. There has to be an attempt at an agreement. | :08:17. | :08:22. | |
If that does not work, they have to go to the council. If you are | :08:22. | :08:29. | |
aggrieved at that decision, you can appeal. This new process, will it | :08:29. | :08:34. | |
speed things up or slow things down? I am not sure or convinced | :08:34. | :08:39. | |
that it will make things better. The Bill has the majority backing | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
of the Scottish government and is set to become law by next spring, | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
bringing Scotland into line with the rest of the UK which already | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
has legislation to tackle high hedges. | :08:51. | :09:01. | |
:09:01. | :09:14. | ||
In our Aberdeen studio. .. In our studio, the SNP MSP who | :09:14. | :09:20. | |
proposed the bill Mark McDonald. can have such an impact on | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
individuals and given that Scotland is the only part of the UK that | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
does not have legislation in place to deal with this, it is long | :09:26. | :09:32. | |
overdue. How will it work in practice? Is it to do that location, | :09:32. | :09:39. | |
the height of the hedge? The light issue is the issue that we have | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
used in the legislation as the determining factor. In terms of | :09:43. | :09:49. | |
height, the one thing to get clear is it does not prescribe a height | :09:49. | :09:58. | |
which every hedge in height must comply with. If there is a dispute | :09:58. | :10:03. | |
that is and resort, an application can be made added will be Hedges of | :10:03. | :10:08. | |
the real heights above two metres that people have a dispute with. I | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
am not recommending that people Cup their hedges down where there is no | :10:12. | :10:18. | |
disappeared. I believe this legislation will help with disputes. | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
We have heard from a lawyer that this could be many stages involved | :10:23. | :10:29. | |
in this bill. It could extend the problems that people have to put up | :10:29. | :10:35. | |
with all this. It could also be very expensive. I was interested by | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
the comments the there. At the moment, there is not a resolution | :10:39. | :10:46. | |
to the process, so how can it slowdown any resolution to the | :10:46. | :10:51. | |
dispute? The options that were open to me was a solution involved with | :10:52. | :10:59. | |
a local authority, or one going through the courts? Accord based | :10:59. | :11:05. | |
solution would have led to a significantly higher costs. -- a | :11:05. | :11:15. | |
:11:15. | :11:25. | ||
quarter court based. It is up for local authorities to decide what | :11:25. | :11:33. | |
their costs for will be. I do not think this is our piece of | :11:33. | :11:40. | |
legislation for revenue raising. The Scottish Parliament Information | :11:40. | :11:45. | |
Centre believes the cost could be around �500? A if you look at | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
evidence south of the border, we have looked at what is being | :11:48. | :11:54. | |
charged in England and Wales, it does be a up to several hundred | :11:54. | :12:04. | |
:12:04. | :12:04. | ||
pounds with an average fee of five of around �350. Where there is cost | :12:04. | :12:11. | |
capping, everybody charges of the maximum they can charge. It is | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
expected that all reasonable steps will be taken to resolve matters, | :12:15. | :12:22. | |
could that not be difficult to define it legally? At what happens | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
if a council cannot get their money, they will have to go back to court? | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
I think it is important to look south of the border for instruction | :12:32. | :12:40. | |
as to how this might pan out. Down south, when the legislation came in, | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
most cases dealt with themselves because the ones legislation is | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
introduced, people tend to modify their behaviour. There were a | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
number of cases were complaints had to be made and enforcement notice | :12:52. | :13:01. | |
has given -- notices given. Only a very small number of cases did | :13:01. | :13:08. | |
local authorities get involved further. I am not going to | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
prescribe or one solution. It is for local authorities to determine | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
the best way to enforce this legislation and recover their costs. | :13:16. | :13:25. | |
Thank you very much. It is International Human Rights | :13:25. | :13:28. | |
Day tomorrow and that is when negotiations get under way on a new | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
action plan for Scotland. What do you think when you hear human | :13:31. | :13:34. | |
rights? A chancer's charter or the guarantor of a fairer society? Or | :13:34. | :13:37. | |
nothing to do with you? Human rights are running through every | :13:37. | :13:39. | |
area of our everyday lives whether it is welfare, housing, fuel | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
poverty, education, policing. The list is endless. The Scottish Human | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
Rights Commission says we still have big gaps in important areas | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
like health and fair pay and the new action plan will fire up some | :13:48. | :13:53. | |
solutions to that. And there is a big pat on the back today for the | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
work of the Scottish Commission. It has been singled out for praise by | :13:56. | :13:58. | |
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi | :13:58. | :14:06. | |
Pillay. The Scottish Human Rights | :14:06. | :14:10. | |
Commission is one of the most dynamic human rights commissions in | :14:10. | :14:15. | |
Europe and currently chair of the European group of national human | :14:15. | :14:20. | |
rights institutions. It is helping draw up a national action plan for | :14:20. | :14:28. | |
human rights as a central means to ensure the implementation of the | :14:28. | :14:38. | |
:14:38. | :14:40. | ||
universal human rights in practice. With me now in the studio is the | :14:40. | :14:43. | |
Chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission Professor Alan Miller. | :14:43. | :14:47. | |
Do you think human rights always get the credit they deserve? | :14:47. | :14:54. | |
always. I think certain government ministers in the United Kingdom | :14:54. | :15:02. | |
often call for an -- for a repeal of the Human Rights Act. In | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
Scotland, in the time that I have been chair of the Scottish Human | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
Rights Commission, I have never had a door closed to me. I have found | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
everywhere I have gone and everyone I have worked with, a basic sense | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
of fairness and of decency and an increase recognition that human | :15:19. | :15:24. | |
rights has a place in that strengthening those in our society, | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
giving more guarantee and definition to what is fair in | :15:27. | :15:33. | |
Scotland. In health and social care, there is a very open welcome to | :15:33. | :15:39. | |
human rights strengthening the policy agenda there of increased | :15:39. | :15:45. | |
personal care. Him at Dumfries and Galloway, police were carrying out | :15:45. | :15:54. | |
our criminal exploitation a of foreign migrant workers and the | :15:54. | :15:59. | |
spokesman said our primary objective is to uphold the rights | :15:59. | :16:04. | |
of foreign migrant workers. That is different from what we hear from UK | :16:04. | :16:12. | |
ministers. Later this month, there is to be a report from another | :16:12. | :16:16. | |
commissioner set up by the UK Government as to weather to | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
introduce a Bill of Rights and replace the human rights act. My | :16:19. | :16:26. | |
view is that I do not think this side of the next UK election, I do | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
not think anything will, of that. It is Westminster rhetoric which | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
does not go down internationally or in Scotland. Tomorrow, when we are | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
getting people round the table, it will be a much more people centred | :16:41. | :16:47. | |
and practical, prioritised discussion. The practical | :16:47. | :16:54. | |
application of human rights in terms of discrimination, fear pay, | :16:54. | :17:04. | |
:17:04. | :17:05. | ||
education, there are so many areas that we should be looking at | :17:05. | :17:11. | |
practically in Scotland. We have just finished doing a mapping of | :17:11. | :17:18. | |
their realisation of human rights in Scotland. What we have found is | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
that Scotland, particularly since devolution, has much to be proud of, | :17:23. | :17:30. | |
but could do better. In a traffic light system, our laws, get a green | :17:30. | :17:40. | |
:17:40. | :17:44. | ||
light. Strategy is green to amber. But in red, where we had read his | :17:44. | :17:52. | |
in outcomes. How people are living under the welfare cuts. We have to | :17:52. | :17:56. | |
ensure that return good intentions into good practice. Some of these | :17:56. | :18:00. | |
are beyond the powers of Scotland because of the constitutional | :18:00. | :18:04. | |
arrangements. I think the National Action Plan from Scotland's pointed | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
you is that when these cuts are introduced by the UK Government, | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
there must be a human rights impact assessment done before these | :18:12. | :18:19. | |
decisions are made. There must be a flop budgetary analysis as to what | :18:20. | :18:29. | |
:18:30. | :18:30. | ||
should be -- there must be a thorough budgetary analysis. People | :18:30. | :18:39. | |
who cannot find work still have the right to a life of dignity. When we | :18:39. | :18:49. | |
:18:49. | :18:52. | ||
read about human rights, it is usually about a tabloid headline | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
relating to prisoners. I think there is a problem with that. | :18:57. | :19:02. | |
Certain sections of the press for historical reasons thought him and | :19:02. | :19:07. | |
writes it would be a threat to a free press. But now they are | :19:07. | :19:13. | |
finding out that human rights could be the best friend to the press. | :19:13. | :19:23. | |
:19:23. | :19:24. | ||
But I think the influence of those sections of the press and | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
politicians can be overplayed. Most people understand that they do need | :19:29. | :19:38. | |
human rights. Any object of opinion poll that is done, asking people to | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
rate the Human Rights they think are important, there is widespread | :19:42. | :19:52. | |
:19:52. | :19:56. | ||
report for free speech, fair trial, privacy, health care. People keep | :19:56. | :20:04. | |
saying about European Human Rights, but it is courts of law. It is not | :20:04. | :20:12. | |
European law, it is got here law -- it has got slot. The rupee and | :20:12. | :20:21. | |
convention in Scots law. Yes, you are right. -- the European | :20:21. | :20:28. | |
convention is Scots law. Now in a moment, we'll be discussing the big | :20:28. | :20:31. | |
events coming up next week but, first, let's take a look back at | :20:31. | :20:38. | |
the Week in Sixty Seconds. The Chancellor confirmed austerity | :20:38. | :20:48. | |
:20:48. | :20:51. | ||
measures will go on 2018 to 2000 AD team. I welcome the fact that the | :20:51. | :20:59. | |
Scottish government's argument has been accepted by the Chancellor. | :20:59. | :21:04. | |
This evidence has been steering him in the face for two years. He | :21:04. | :21:14. | |
:21:14. | :21:15. | ||
should have taken this decision earlier. Hunterston nuclear power | :21:15. | :21:25. | |
:21:25. | :21:26. | ||
station gets and extend it lifeline -- extended. | :21:26. | :21:30. | |
Chanel showcased his latest collection in the move go. | :21:30. | :21:40. | |
:21:40. | :21:42. | ||
And this is the first anniversary of the plan does. -- pandas. | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
And now let's take a look forward to the next seven days. Joining me | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
today is Professor Murray Pittock, the Vice Principal and Head of the | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
College of Arts at Glasgow University. And the writer and | :21:52. | :22:00. | |
commentator Katie Grant. Let's start with gas. It is in the | :22:00. | :22:07. | |
papers today and we had been covering it. Do you think the story | :22:07. | :22:17. | |
:22:17. | :22:24. | ||
about unconventional gas supply is widely understood? No. I think some | :22:24. | :22:31. | |
people are showing anxiety about this already, but the indication is | :22:31. | :22:37. | |
that the implications have not been worked through. There is possibly a | :22:37. | :22:47. | |
:22:47. | :22:47. | ||
lot more to come. I think the key issue here is that we are going to | :22:47. | :22:57. | |
:22:57. | :22:59. | ||
be in our resources paradox soon. There is a need for greater | :22:59. | :23:05. | |
reduction in fossil-fuel views, but there is a greater need to exploit | :23:05. | :23:15. | |
:23:15. | :23:17. | ||
for also fuels -- fossil fuels. have had a lot of coverage about | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
cost of our fuel bills. But this has not been married it together | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
with a new exploitation. It is a funny sort of thing that is going | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
on. I think we will see much more confusion about people who are | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
quite keen about the idea of renewables, but are terrified of | :23:33. | :23:41. | |
their own fuel bills. I think people will want to know more about | :23:41. | :23:47. | |
this unconventional gas exploitation. We are nervous about | :23:47. | :23:57. | |
:23:57. | :24:03. | ||
it. Reread commentators at it is like seeing, if we only drive... -- | :24:03. | :24:07. | |
reread commentators and it is like saying we should all be dry that 20 | :24:07. | :24:17. | |
:24:17. | :24:26. | ||
miles per hour. Prices keep rising. Some religious stories. Parliament | :24:26. | :24:36. | |
:24:36. | :24:40. | ||
is like mural to Christians. These What Cameron is saying about same- | :24:40. | :24:46. | |
sex marriages in churches, about gay clergy, can that really be | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
equated to the obscenities, torture and persecution of Christians under | :24:50. | :24:54. | |
Nero? No. That is where the Catholic Church gets it extremely | :24:54. | :24:58. | |
wrong. When concentrating on religious issues, they come out | :24:58. | :25:04. | |
with wild statements, equating day marriage to slavery, peculiar | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
analogies drawn. Bidders but do the Church any credit. The Church has | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
an argument to make whether you agree with it or disagree with it, | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
but I do not think this is very helpful, and it makes the Church | :25:16. | :25:21. | |
look a bit bonkers. When I first saw this comment, I thought it was | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
about Cameron doing nothing in the face of a continuous recession. As | :25:26. | :25:31. | |
a statement to describe allowing minority group to campaign for a | :25:31. | :25:36. | |
gay marriage, it probably sounds completely in excess of the facts, | :25:36. | :25:41. | |
such as they are. In a sense, this goes back to your St George's Tron | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
story. There is still a desire, a clerical desire, that somehow | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
government should represent the UK or Scotland as a Christian country. | :25:50. | :25:54. | |
And the Government is not capable of doing that because it is a large | :25:54. | :26:00. | |
and secular society. But the annoyance comes out in exaggerated | :26:00. | :26:06. | |
rhetoric. But there is a lot of fear because everybody knows that | :26:06. | :26:10. | |
once you start down this road, there will be challenges. In the | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
end, gay marriages going to be accepted. It is going to be in the | :26:14. | :26:20. | |
churches, and that is going to be the law. It is a sign of the Times, | :26:20. | :26:25. | |
as Jesus himself said. We're going to see much more of this rather | :26:25. | :26:30. | |
frantic campaigning by the Church in order to make their point, and | :26:30. | :26:33. | |
the rhetoric will get wilder and wilder, or the where we go from | :26:33. | :26:38. | |
hero, I am not sure! I suppose the political influence of the church | :26:38. | :26:42. | |
is an interesting question. Despite the profile it has had to and the | :26:42. | :26:46. | |
pressure to reply, can you think of an instance in which it has had any | :26:46. | :26:51. | |
significance in Midlands recently? I'm thinking of Section 28, you | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
know what I mean. I think probably the Catholic Church has succeeded | :26:56. | :27:05. | |
in speaking for Scotland in the way the kirk of Scotland has ceased | :27:05. | :27:08. | |
Sidhu. But it has not had an effect on legislation. It has tended to | :27:08. | :27:17. | |
put a brick court on or create controversies. -- put a brake on. | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
In a way, you could say that it has held back developments or made them | :27:20. | :27:26. | |
go more slowly, but that -- has it stopped or reversed things? No. It | :27:26. | :27:35. | |
is difficult to do that in a secular context. Before we finish, | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
human-rights, does it have the profile up those who supported | :27:38. | :27:43. | |
might hope for? Auras are dominated by distorting headlines? | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
It is certainly dominated by headlines which get people very | :27:47. | :27:52. | |
cross. It might be helpful if it was matched by a day of | :27:52. | :27:54. | |
international human responsibilities. That is what many | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
people feel, that there are too many rights and too few | :27:58. | :28:05. | |
responsibilities. A focus on human rights is always going to be | :28:05. | :28:10. | |
reported a slightly skewed way. Briefly. Are you a human rights | :28:10. | :28:18. | |
supporter? You can hardly oppose human rights. What is interesting | :28:18. | :28:21. | |
is the degree of consent in Scotland about fairness and human | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
rights and the willingness to look at our national obligations, which | :28:25. | :28:28. | |
is starting to decay South of the border. It is an interesting | :28:29. | :28:35. | |
contrast. Thank you very much. That is all from us this week. I | :28:35. | :28:39. |