:00:39. > :00:43.Welcome to The Sunday Politics. The Conservative Party is at war
:00:43. > :00:47.this morning over gay marriage. More than half their MPs are
:00:47. > :00:50.expected to vote against it in the Commons on Tuesday. This lunchtime,
:00:50. > :00:56.Tory constituency chairmen will hand in a letter of protest to 10
:00:56. > :00:58.Downing Street. The Prime Minister described Mali
:00:58. > :01:04.as part of a "generational struggle" against extremism in
:01:04. > :01:08.North Africa, but is it one Britain is equipped to fight? Foreign
:01:08. > :01:10.Secretary William Hague joins us for the Sunday Interview.
:01:10. > :01:14.Hillsborough, phone hacking, Plebgate - three reasons why the
:01:14. > :01:18.government is right to reform the police? I will be asking the
:01:18. > :01:28.organisation that represents rank and file officers.
:01:28. > :01:33.And coming up on Sunday Politics Scotland... Holt, Diamante
:01:33. > :01:43.Edinburgh today and they will be with you later today to talk about
:01:43. > :01:43.
:01:43. > :35:41.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2037 seconds
:35:41. > :35:48.I am joined now by Steve White, Vice Chairman of the Police
:35:48. > :35:57.Federation, which represents police officers in England and Wales. The
:35:57. > :36:02.police have been rocked by scandal in recent years. Only an Friday, an
:36:02. > :36:07.officer was jailed for 15 months for trying to sell information to a
:36:07. > :36:14.tabloid newspaper. Do you accept that this is damaging public
:36:14. > :36:17.confidence? There is absolutely no doubt about that. But the
:36:17. > :36:24.underlying support that the public give the police is still there.
:36:24. > :36:32.Clearly, there had been mistakes in the past which have to be corrected.
:36:33. > :36:42.But now there is Plebgate will, where for three officers have been
:36:42. > :36:47.arrested. The inquiry into Plebgate is still ongoing, so I do not want
:36:47. > :36:52.to comment too much on that. By it whatever happens, the police are
:36:52. > :37:02.not going to come out well from this, are they? We will, we will
:37:02. > :37:02.
:37:02. > :37:07.have to wait and see. Now, does this not mean that experts have
:37:07. > :37:14.said there was a great need to have police reform, but you're
:37:14. > :37:19.organisation it has suddenly come out straight against it. I have
:37:19. > :37:26.been with the police for 25 years and seen what we have to do to
:37:26. > :37:31.operate correctly. The job has changed between all recognition.
:37:31. > :37:41.But police riot the Police Federation will continue to play a
:37:41. > :37:41.
:37:41. > :37:50.part in that. He said that without the reforms, we were on the verge
:37:50. > :37:55.of destroying the police force. lot of the reforms, when you talk
:37:55. > :37:59.about reforms, it is not so much the change about as doing our work,
:37:59. > :38:05.but changing the pay and conditions of a lot of officers. If you are
:38:05. > :38:09.talking about wholesale reform to make us more responsible to our
:38:09. > :38:19.communities, then we are quite behind that, but it is the other
:38:19. > :38:27.aspects of this. Now, police pay has come late linked to the years
:38:27. > :38:34.surfed and the idea is that this is not, but is more linked to their
:38:34. > :38:41.value in the job, such as rewarding frontline officers. Why are you
:38:41. > :38:45.against that? The starting point there was that police constable pay
:38:45. > :38:51.got up by �4,000 a year and these are the people who are in the front
:38:51. > :38:55.line. He has still going to get over time and one of the best
:38:55. > :38:59.pensions going and get paid more than other emergency services. You
:39:00. > :39:07.may not like the reforms, but they are Harley destroying the police
:39:07. > :39:16.service. Our biggest thing is that we give the best service possible
:39:16. > :39:23.to the public. I have to say it, that police officers contributions
:39:23. > :39:30.go up to 30 %, we more than anyone else. We have a date public sector
:39:30. > :39:40.pay freeze for two years. Some officers have actually taken a pay
:39:40. > :39:48.cut. Let me take you back to Plebgate. Do you not regret that
:39:48. > :39:56.this was used as part of your argument against reforms? The clue
:39:56. > :40:04.of our organisation is an inane -- it is the federation. Sometimes we
:40:04. > :40:12.have disagreements over how we do things. Do you regret police
:40:12. > :40:16.officers wearing Plebgate T-shirts. The federation was demanding the
:40:16. > :40:23.resignation of Andrew Mitchell. Do you not feel it is time to
:40:23. > :40:26.apologise? I want to make it absolutely clear that the Police
:40:26. > :40:33.Federation accepted the apology from Andrew Mitchell and wanted to
:40:33. > :40:36.move on. But there were calls for him to resign? There were members
:40:36. > :40:46.of the Federation who felt there were still questions to be answered
:40:46. > :40:47.
:40:47. > :40:51.by him. One of the senior members of the federation are urged members
:40:51. > :40:56.to fill me e-mail in a box of Andrew Mitchell scarf with demands
:40:56. > :41:02.for him to resign. Is it not now time for the Police Federation to
:41:02. > :41:08.apologise to Andrew Mitchell? is absolutely not the case. We are
:41:08. > :41:11.a federation. To you condemn those who were wearing the Plebgate T-
:41:12. > :41:21.shirts and those demanding his resignation without knowing the
:41:22. > :41:23.
:41:24. > :41:32.full facts fils? Do you can get mmac? That is the personal choice
:41:32. > :41:39.on their part. A I have said that we accepted the apology from Andrew
:41:39. > :41:49.Mitchell. If you were here a few months ago, you would have been
:41:49. > :41:51.
:41:51. > :41:55.calling for his resignation. I are Good morning and welcome to Sunday
:41:55. > :41:57.Politics Scotland. Coming up on the programme....
:41:57. > :42:00.Tenants in housing associations properties or council houses have
:42:00. > :42:08.just eight weeks left before their housing benefit could be cut by up
:42:08. > :42:14.to 25%. Have you got a spare room? If the answer is yes, you are about
:42:14. > :42:17.to be hit with a bedroom tax. And if you are feeling like a
:42:17. > :42:21.Saturday night has lost all meaning, now that series two of Borgen has
:42:21. > :42:24.finished, fear not. Sisse Babet Knuusen - or Statesminister
:42:24. > :42:34.Birgiteh Newbor, as we all know her - joins us on Sunday Politics
:42:34. > :42:37.
:42:37. > :42:41.Thank you for joining us this morning.
:42:41. > :42:45.If you live in social housing and have a spare room, then you could
:42:45. > :42:47.be facing a cut in your housing benefit. Around 100,000 people in
:42:47. > :42:50.Scotland of working age could be affected by the under-occupancy
:42:50. > :42:53.penalty, or bedroom tax, when it comes into force in April. Homeless
:42:53. > :43:03.charities fear it could lead to a huge rise in evictions, if those
:43:03. > :43:08.who are not able to move to smaller homes cannot pay the rent. This
:43:08. > :43:13.two-bedroom flat is the lifeline for Nigel Smith, who until one year
:43:13. > :43:19.ago, was homeless. It means he can now see his three children every
:43:19. > :43:27.other weekend, but is now worried that could change. His housing
:43:27. > :43:32.benefit could be cut by �11 a week. I could maybe lose my house, not
:43:32. > :43:39.being able to afford to pay the rent. If I do that, the be kicked
:43:39. > :43:43.me out and then I do not have the chance to see my children. From
:43:43. > :43:51.April 1st, if you live in social housing and have the spare room,
:43:51. > :43:57.you could be affected. Children under 16 of the same sex will be
:43:58. > :44:03.expected to share, will as well all children under 10, regardless of
:44:03. > :44:06.gender. If you are separated, only one of the parents will get the
:44:06. > :44:12.spare room and if you have grown-up children who have left home, you
:44:12. > :44:16.will not be able to keep their run for them. Foster carers to taking
:44:16. > :44:22.children will be entitled and carers who need a separate room
:44:22. > :44:27.from their partners will lose out. Shelter's Colonsay many people in
:44:27. > :44:32.housing are already struggling to pay the bills. They say this could
:44:32. > :44:35.be to a rise in homelessness. At the no will see more and more
:44:36. > :44:40.people in Scotland getting into debt, getting into rent areas and
:44:40. > :44:46.we will see more people getting evicted. Therefore, we will see
:44:46. > :44:50.more people get getting homeless and ending up on the streets.
:44:50. > :44:54.are many people in private rented accommodation who do not have
:44:54. > :45:01.housing benefit who to cannot afford extra bedrooms. We have to
:45:01. > :45:06.get control of housing benefit. We are spending �23 billion a year on
:45:06. > :45:09.housing benefit and we need to get the budget under control. But a a
:45:09. > :45:17.Scottish government say this will have a knock-on effect on other
:45:17. > :45:22.services, taking millions of pounds out of the Scottish economy.
:45:22. > :45:27.terms of the housing benefit and what is proposed as regards the
:45:27. > :45:33.bedroom tax, this will add additional pressures on other
:45:33. > :45:38.services, such as health and social services. So are their homes
:45:38. > :45:42.available for those who want to downsize? They will have to join a
:45:42. > :45:47.queue of 90,000 people already waiting for social housing and
:45:47. > :45:52.Scotland. This houses being built as part of North Lanarkshire
:45:52. > :45:59.council's plan to expand their housing stock. It has three
:45:59. > :46:05.bedrooms, like all the other houses on this estate. But what about one-
:46:06. > :46:11.bedroom houses, which are not a priority? The authority plans to
:46:11. > :46:20.build 1,000 new homes by 2020, but they say there will not be enough
:46:20. > :46:27.smaller properties to go round. do you effect children? How do you
:46:27. > :46:32.break up a family? This is what this is about. This is to
:46:33. > :46:37.demoralise totally about the fabric of society in Scotland. He 52-year-
:46:37. > :46:42.old Betty does not want to move from a three-bedroom home. She has
:46:42. > :46:49.waited 20 years for her house. Now the children have little, she says
:46:49. > :46:54.she may have believe Foreman cannot afford the cut in benefits. I do
:46:54. > :46:59.not have the money to pay, the housing do not have the smaller
:46:59. > :47:04.house to give me, so where do we go from here? So sure landlords have
:47:04. > :47:08.begun to warm the hundred 1,000 or so people there who could be
:47:08. > :47:13.affected that they have been weeks before this bedroom tax begins.
:47:13. > :47:17.What all the short and long-term impact be?
:47:17. > :47:19.And joining me now in the studio is the SNP's Linda Fabiani, a member
:47:19. > :47:22.of the Scottish Parliament's Welfare Committee. Mike Dailly, the
:47:22. > :47:24.principal solicitor at the Govan Law Centre, the leader of the
:47:24. > :47:32.Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie and Pam Duncan from
:47:32. > :47:38.Inclusion Scotland. Good morning to you all and welcome to the
:47:38. > :47:42.programme. Firstly, Willie Rennie, what is sure position on the
:47:42. > :47:50.bedroom tax? Some of your MPs rebelled against this when it was
:47:50. > :47:55.going through? No change is not an option. We have the housing crisis,
:47:56. > :48:05.with about 187,000 people on waiting lists and a financial
:48:06. > :48:07.
:48:07. > :48:11.crisis. As David Cameron said, the Bill is �23 million. -- �23 billion.
:48:11. > :48:21.We need to make sure that people do not suffer. That is the most
:48:21. > :48:25.important thing. Does this not open up a near the ad of problems?
:48:25. > :48:29.looked at the social housing stock, it is estimated that one in not
:48:29. > :48:39.three of these houses are under occupied. You cannot have that at
:48:39. > :48:40.
:48:41. > :48:47.the same time as you have 187,000 people on the waiting list. I have
:48:47. > :48:56.got concerns. This week, I spoke to Danny Alexander about this very
:48:56. > :49:04.subject to see if we can implement this as fairly as possible. Linda
:49:04. > :49:11.Fabiani, what is the Scottish government doing to help in this?
:49:11. > :49:15.How well prepared are you? One we are try to do is help people with
:49:15. > :49:20.is immoral policy which is pit on them. We are now saying to people
:49:20. > :49:25.in their rented sector that you do not have a home any more, you have
:49:25. > :49:33.the House that you are allowed a shot of one of for a while. It is
:49:33. > :49:37.absolutely awful. We are at wanted to make things easier for people --
:49:37. > :49:42.we will put money into advice centres to give people the best
:49:42. > :49:48.possible advice. But in Scotland, we have been building homes for
:49:48. > :49:54.life so that when circumstances change, families can adapt. We do
:49:54. > :49:58.not have the houses for people to move into for this new change will
:49:58. > :50:08.stop it will plaster over the cracks. It will not really help
:50:08. > :50:08.
:50:08. > :50:12.people. Social landlords in Scotland are not quick to evict
:50:12. > :50:17.people from. Generally, they try and fix the situation before it
:50:17. > :50:27.gets to that point. But at the end of the day, until we have got
:50:27. > :50:33.
:50:33. > :50:37.control here, there is not an awful By $:/STARTFEED.
:50:37. > :50:43.What can the Scottish Government do? We lay Rennie is wrong to say
:50:43. > :50:48.the Scottish people will suffer. The Scottish Government can do a
:50:49. > :50:52.lot to prevent people from being evicted. This is going to affect
:50:52. > :50:57.100,000 households. We want the Scottish Government to change
:50:57. > :51:02.housing lot so if you have arrears, that should be treated as a debt
:51:02. > :51:06.and pursued in the courts as an ordinary debt, but not a like you
:51:06. > :51:13.to be affected. Unless we do that, we will have thousands of
:51:13. > :51:23.households in Scotland subject to eviction. I defend these cases day-
:51:23. > :51:25.
:51:25. > :51:29.in and day-out. We find that when �80 to �100 disappears from
:51:29. > :51:34.people's housing benefit, we will not be able to defend them. People
:51:34. > :51:38.who work in the private sector, they struggle with payments as well.
:51:38. > :51:45.It is trying to ease that social mobility and make homes available
:51:45. > :51:50.to people who need it. If the welfare reform is a vicious attack
:51:50. > :51:54.on working-class people. It is shameless. I have to say, one of
:51:54. > :51:59.the great fallacies of the UK Government is that it thinks it
:51:59. > :52:06.will save a billion pounds over two years. If somebody is affected and
:52:06. > :52:11.becomes homeless, it will cost the taxpayer an average �26,000. In
:52:11. > :52:16.Scotland, it is worse to have this policy in the first place. Willie
:52:16. > :52:20.Rennie. It is difficult for people who are trying to get into work if
:52:20. > :52:29.they have the burden to pay for a house they cannot afford. They will
:52:29. > :52:33.have to earn more to make work pay. What we are trying to do here is
:52:33. > :52:39.improved social mobility so people can get into work. This prevents
:52:39. > :52:42.them so that is why we need to take action. How a where our people in
:52:42. > :52:49.the community and the disabled community about this new policy
:52:49. > :52:58.coming in on 1st April? In terms of disabled people, this is another
:52:59. > :53:03.attack on them. The welfare Reform Act seems like an attack on her
:53:03. > :53:11.come up -- on poor communities. With the Bedroom Tax, two-thirds of
:53:11. > :53:16.people affected are disabled people. If you need an extra bedroom floor
:53:16. > :53:23.equipment, that is not a spare bedroom, that is a bedroom that is
:53:23. > :53:28.it needed an essential. He talked about employment, having a house is
:53:28. > :53:33.a cornerstone of having a job. If you take that away from people,
:53:33. > :53:37.people are going to be an an impossible situation. It is not
:53:37. > :53:41.preventative, it will cost more money in the long-term. Disabled
:53:41. > :53:46.people will be in houses that have adapted, if they have to be moved
:53:46. > :53:52.it will cost more money to get those houses adapted. I was talking
:53:52. > :53:56.to the housing spokesman in the Scottish Government, he said he had
:53:56. > :54:02.concerns about individual disabled cases. Do you think something might
:54:02. > :54:10.be done to alleviate that? That two-thirds of people affected are
:54:10. > :54:15.disabled people. It is a maths problem that does not require
:54:15. > :54:21.discretionary payments. It needs an overhaul. You cannot individually
:54:21. > :54:25.treat everyone when the individual is the majority in this situation.
:54:25. > :54:28.There is the exemption as Pam has pointed out for those who need
:54:28. > :54:34.overnight carers. There is discretionary housing payment for
:54:34. > :54:36.people who have adapted their home. I recognise there is an issue, but
:54:36. > :54:41.there is support and it is considerable support and it is
:54:41. > :54:46.available. Linda Fabiani, do you think a Scottish Government will
:54:46. > :54:51.accept his petition that is coming forward and you will use your
:54:51. > :54:55.powers to protect people who are in debt? I am not convinced by this
:54:55. > :55:01.proposal. I do not think it will help the people who have the
:55:01. > :55:05.problem, but I also think it makes it difficult for social landlords
:55:05. > :55:10.to have to pass on that cost to the remaining tenants. Fahmy, the
:55:10. > :55:19.answer is that there should not be happening, it is immoral. It is
:55:19. > :55:24.awful. -- for me. People tried to take this to the Scottish
:55:24. > :55:28.Government to make decisions on. We have a different housing situation.
:55:28. > :55:35.Here we are getting something imposed on us because seemingly
:55:35. > :55:39.there are problems in the South East. Man mackerel, you have
:55:39. > :55:45.brought this edition, but that power might not be used? You think
:55:45. > :55:49.it is OK for some day to be evicted? I think the people of
:55:49. > :55:56.Scotland, we hear DNA and yet the need for the Scottish Government to
:55:56. > :56:00.have more powers. -- day N day out. You need to use those powers to
:56:00. > :56:08.protect the people in Scotland by saying we will have a safety-net in
:56:08. > :56:14.this country so nobody in Scotland is affected by Bedroom Tax arrears.
:56:14. > :56:18.We are already trying to bring in things to reduce that. We have been
:56:18. > :56:24.hearing about this, a very lively debate. Do you think anything can
:56:24. > :56:28.be changed by the UK Government? have gathered evidence myself, I
:56:28. > :56:33.have seen people who are going to be affected by this. I have been
:56:33. > :56:38.working with them to make sure that people are not hack. I can give a
:56:38. > :56:46.guarantee that I will be in constant dialogue are that is what
:56:47. > :56:50.we need to do. The you think people will be protected? I do not. With
:56:50. > :56:54.restrictions on the amount of money the local authorities can add to
:56:54. > :57:03.that discretionary payment, I am not convinced people will be
:57:03. > :57:06.protected. Decisions will need to be careful, I miss suggest they are
:57:06. > :57:13.done with disabled people and their organisations are decisions about
:57:13. > :57:19.who needs extra money from within those payments. The we will have to
:57:19. > :57:26.leave that there. Pam Duncan, Linda Fabiani, Mike Dailly, Willie Rennie,
:57:26. > :57:29.thank you. Everyone loves Borgen. It seems that is the common consent
:57:29. > :57:32.amongst the political chatterati here in Scotland. Viewers were
:57:32. > :57:34.gripped as the second series of the Danish political drama came to a
:57:34. > :57:37.close last night, with the much- admired Statesminister Birgiteh
:57:37. > :57:39.Newbor facing down her critics. It seems like a perfect mix of
:57:39. > :57:43.realistic European political stories with strong characters,
:57:43. > :57:53.particularly female ones. Look away now if you still have to catch it
:57:53. > :57:53.
:57:53. > :59:04.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2037 seconds
:59:04. > :59:08.The star of the show Sisse Babet Knuusen will be taking part in a
:59:08. > :59:11.series of Q and A sessions in Edinburgh today. I spoke to her
:59:11. > :59:21.just before we came on-air and I began by asking her about the
:59:21. > :59:22.
:59:22. > :59:27.importance of strong female leads in the series.
:59:27. > :59:31.Partly it was to do with representing what was happening in
:59:32. > :59:38.Denmark. They are all fans of the west wing and I think they wanted
:59:38. > :59:43.to turn that around. We have a strong female representation in
:59:43. > :59:47.Scotland in politics. Do you want to see your character as a role
:59:47. > :59:52.model for women in politics, or women wanting to go into politics?
:59:52. > :59:57.Your characters said in the episode last night, she didn't want to be a
:59:57. > :00:02.role model. I don't think she feels like a role model. I didn't want to
:00:02. > :00:08.represent her as one. It is a particular woman in politics. I
:00:08. > :00:15.think the whole show is showing someone who is discovering how we
:00:15. > :00:19.enter politics more than any it is particularly agenda issue. She does
:00:19. > :00:25.face a lot of gender issues, particularly in the last couple of
:00:25. > :00:31.episodes last night. Exactly. That is what I really like about the Big
:00:31. > :00:36.story, it is only at the end that we are referring to it. For the
:00:36. > :00:42.previous 18 episodes, it has been his Prime Minister trying to do her
:00:42. > :00:46.best. Exactly. You are trying to beat the Prime Minister and gender
:00:46. > :00:56.was not an issue in the last episode. How would you describe
:00:56. > :00:56.
:00:57. > :01:02.your character? She is primarily an idealist. I think that aspect of
:01:02. > :01:05.politicians have not been mentioned in these last few years. It is
:01:05. > :01:13.interesting to show where the desire to politics comes from, and
:01:13. > :01:19.I think she encapsulates that. still has to deal with the tough
:01:19. > :01:23.decisions that all politicians have to take. Absolutely. Be sure has
:01:23. > :01:32.travelled extremely well, it is a huge success here in Scotland. What
:01:32. > :01:42.you think is the Scandinavian secret? I think we are dark horse.
:01:42. > :01:47.I think there is a lot of sympathy towards a small African country won
:01:47. > :01:53.the World Cup. We are grateful for the whole passage that the killing
:01:53. > :01:58.has done, the other crimes series from Denmark. That has paved the
:01:58. > :02:05.way for us. There is the bridge as well. It is amazing how the smaller
:02:05. > :02:12.countries have produced such huge successes. Then again, I think it
:02:12. > :02:17.is the unexpected thing. The first people who started watching the
:02:17. > :02:27.series, it was like finding a treasure. Everything that is not
:02:27. > :02:28.
:02:28. > :02:38.from America is exotic, television why is. And bit his words to mouth,
:02:38. > :02:38.
:02:38. > :02:43.the way the whole thing has started. That makes for, how do you say it,
:02:43. > :02:50.you become very loyal to it if you think you are part of discovering
:02:51. > :02:55.this. It was a treasure that people discovered. It was on BBC for, a
:02:55. > :02:59.minority channel in a way. Where are you prepared for the level of
:03:00. > :03:05.international recognition when you receive it. When we said any of us
:03:05. > :03:10.we were going to do this, the women wanted to tell us they admired you
:03:10. > :03:17.and the men wanted to meet you. Previous television shows have been
:03:17. > :03:27.popular in Denmark. This was the risque show to put on, politics. N
:03:27. > :03:34.Denmark we were... There is no money in the international
:03:34. > :03:37.production, nobody thought it would travel as -- at all. You are
:03:37. > :03:46.halfway through the third series. Any hints you can give us about a
:03:46. > :03:52.third series? I am not allowed is a very much. When it ended last night,
:03:52. > :04:02.to 0.5 years has gone by and all the main characters are in
:04:02. > :04:08.
:04:08. > :04:18.different positions. 2.5 years. there may be a British character?
:04:18. > :04:26.
:04:26. > :04:31.That is true. We used XT areas. -- Expedias. My office is asset.
:04:31. > :04:38.probably the third and final serious. Absolutely. That will be
:04:38. > :04:48.the final. It is a little sad? is sad but it is good to end it
:04:48. > :04:49.
:04:49. > :04:59.when it is on this high. It was good. Thank you for being on our
:04:59. > :05:04.
:05:04. > :05:09.programme. Her and you very much for having me. Sisse Babet Knuusen
:05:09. > :05:19.speaking to me earlier. Coming up after the news: We will be speaking
:05:19. > :05:33.
:05:33. > :05:41.to a two panellists as we look to There is a warning that the issue
:05:41. > :05:45.could cause a serious problem for the party. How divisive as this? It
:05:45. > :05:50.is the day he divisive issue for Conservatives. It is an issue that
:05:50. > :05:55.the Prime Minister cares passionately about and many modern
:05:56. > :06:01.has got it would tell the party appeal to a wider audience. But has
:06:01. > :06:05.laid bare tensions within the party. It is a free vote on Tuesday and it
:06:05. > :06:11.is believed that some Cabinet Ministers, junior Ministers and
:06:12. > :06:17.party whips may actually opposed or abstain from, the issue. As you
:06:17. > :06:21.said, there is a delegation going to Downing Street very shortly to
:06:21. > :06:26.hand at this letter of protest. They are asking for the thought to
:06:26. > :06:36.be delayed, saying it should be put off until after the next general
:06:36. > :06:42.election. The say it is being pushed through in haste and many
:06:42. > :06:52.Conservative members say they feel that is distasteful. In a woman
:06:52. > :06:57.
:06:57. > :07:04.disfigured and an asset attack has been speaking to people. This was
:07:04. > :07:10.my or maybe for the attack. Now, her life has been changed forever.
:07:10. > :07:17.She suffer burns on her shoulder, face and rest when, just over one
:07:17. > :07:24.month ago, asset was thrown at her by an unknown attacker. She has no
:07:24. > :07:34.idea why she was targeted. She is hoping someone will contact the
:07:34. > :07:34.
:07:34. > :07:42.police. It burnt a lot of May. I am not deaf, I am not blind, I am eat
:07:42. > :07:52.able to eat and drink. Seoul, the person who did this field. God has
:07:52. > :07:54.
:07:54. > :08:00.given me a life for a reason. That is what keeps me going. When she
:08:00. > :08:06.first saw her injuries, she says she wanted to die, but now it is
:08:06. > :08:11.staying positive. No one has yet been arrested. The leaders of
:08:12. > :08:18.Pakistan and Afghanistan are in the United Kingdom for or two days of
:08:18. > :08:26.talks with David Cameron. It is regarding stopping a rise in the
:08:26. > :08:36.Taliban when the Nato forces leave the country. That is all for now.
:08:36. > :08:52.
:08:52. > :08:54.There will be more now at 6:00pm. Good afternoon.The Scottish
:08:54. > :08:57.government has accused Iceland of continuing to take an excessive
:08:57. > :09:00.share of mackerel from the sea, despite the North Atlantic state
:09:00. > :09:03.announcing a cut in quota. Iceland says it is reducing the
:09:03. > :09:05.amount of the stock it takes by 15%, but that has being seen as a
:09:05. > :09:09.defiant act against those who want to negotiate.
:09:09. > :09:11.Iceland, Faroe and the EU have been in dispute over the rights to fish
:09:11. > :09:13.mackerel for the past four years, with negotiations repeatedly
:09:13. > :09:15.breaking down. Environmental campaigners say the
:09:15. > :09:18.latest official figures show air pollution is continuing to threaten
:09:18. > :09:20.the health of millions of people living in Scotland's biggest towns
:09:20. > :09:23.and cities. The campaigners are calling on the Scottish government
:09:23. > :09:25.and local authorities to take decisive action to ensure the
:09:25. > :09:28.problem is reduced. The Scottish government insists it is meeting
:09:28. > :09:38.most of its air-quality targets and is working to improve "localised
:09:38. > :09:44.hotspots" of air pollution. It is making people ill. They are not
:09:44. > :09:48.meeting the targets. It is not just in the big cities, but elsewhere in
:09:48. > :09:51.the country. The figures show that there has not really been a lot of
:09:51. > :09:54.improvement and the last couple of years.
:09:54. > :09:57.The scientist who gave his name to the Higgs Boson particle is to have
:09:57. > :10:01.an annual prize awarded in his honour. The Higgs Award will be
:10:01. > :10:03.open to physics pupils and offer them the chance to win a visit to
:10:03. > :10:13.the European Nuclear research facility at Cern in Geneva.
:10:13. > :10:14.
:10:14. > :10:20.And here is the weather now, with Good morning. Thicker cloud in the
:10:20. > :10:26.West already pushing its way in. You can see this particularly in
:10:26. > :10:32.the north and it will become more persistent as it tries to push East.
:10:32. > :10:36.As far as temperatures cool, nine degrees Celsius the best in the
:10:36. > :10:39.West. That is all for now, Now back to
:10:40. > :10:43.Andrew. Now, in a moment, we will be discussing the big events coming
:10:44. > :10:53.up this week at Holyrood, but first, let us take a look back at the Week
:10:54. > :10:55.
:10:55. > :11:03.in 60 Seconds. The Scottish government accepted the Electoral
:11:03. > :11:06.Commission's revised question for the referendum. The Deputy First
:11:06. > :11:16.Minister called for talks to start now it on how defence and security
:11:16. > :11:19.
:11:19. > :11:24.would operate as Scotland was to We are very excited by the work
:11:24. > :11:28.that Trident could be decommission within the space of two years. I do
:11:28. > :11:38.not think there is any problem with us now having the discussions about
:11:38. > :11:51.
:11:51. > :11:56.Alex Salmond discussed independence. It Haft and rip-off, but it did not
:11:56. > :12:04.bring the House down. And now it is that time of the week
:12:04. > :12:07.again where we take a look forward to the next seven days. This week I
:12:07. > :12:17.am joined in the studio by journalists Anna Burnside and
:12:17. > :12:17.
:12:17. > :12:22.Kirsty Scott. Firstly, we had a lively discussion at on the bedroom
:12:22. > :12:28.tax a few moments ago. Do you think people in the community are aware
:12:28. > :12:32.of this coming and in April? think there has been a big surge of
:12:32. > :12:37.interest in this and I think the likes of social media have helped
:12:37. > :12:44.in that way. The issue lends itself to the quirky, a picture caption
:12:44. > :12:49.nature of social media, that it has spread between beyond the housing
:12:50. > :12:59.and disabled communities. All this it, people in that position have
:12:59. > :13:04.known it was coming and have lined it up. There have shown the likes
:13:04. > :13:08.of Buckingham Palace with the huge mansion and the people and
:13:08. > :13:14.Dunfermline who cannot pick the person in its own room because of
:13:14. > :13:21.the tax. It needed that sort of juxtaposition. Just then the last
:13:21. > :13:24.few weeks, there has been great concern special-interest groups and
:13:24. > :13:28.charities knew this was coming up but do not have the public
:13:28. > :13:37.attention. There has been an outcry and a lot of very good articles
:13:37. > :13:40.about that. All this the, the crowds at the housing benefit is
:13:40. > :13:44.�23 billion a year and there needed to be changes. But when you hear
:13:44. > :13:48.some of the stories about the divorced dads who may not now be
:13:48. > :13:58.able to have his children round, there are just so many stories like
:13:58. > :13:59.
:13:59. > :14:04.that. What a good the impact of this be? They are has been talk of
:14:04. > :14:08.this been a new poll tax and this could be the blue touch paper.
:14:08. > :14:14.There has been talk that this will get us all out in the streets. I am
:14:14. > :14:19.not convinced that will happen. I do think that a lot of people are
:14:19. > :14:24.really lost, as to why anyone would think this was the good idea. If
:14:24. > :14:29.you look at it groups of people who will be affected, it is a list of
:14:29. > :14:33.people lot that you do not want to upset - divorced fathers wanting to
:14:33. > :14:40.keep in touch with their children, families with disabled children,
:14:40. > :14:48.foster carers, for heaven's sake. These people do not need to get
:14:48. > :14:56.kicked when they are down. Good there be a groundswell of opinion?
:14:57. > :15:01.Come April, I think we will see what is happening. You featured the
:15:01. > :15:07.women who had a three-bedroom house, but her grown-up children had moved
:15:08. > :15:15.out. But she cannot do anything because they council did not have a
:15:15. > :15:22.smaller house for her. It is going to highlight inherent differences.
:15:22. > :15:26.Now, the question of the Electoral Commission wanting any change in
:15:26. > :15:32.the question for the referendum. But there is still a question of
:15:32. > :15:38.any clarification of the issues? was hoping that once we had the
:15:38. > :15:44.wording sorted out, we could leave the procedures behind. However, it
:15:44. > :15:50.seems not. It seems that will now dry gone. I cannot say, from my
:15:50. > :15:57.point of view, this is not really an issue what I want to be facing
:15:57. > :16:06.first thing in the morning. To be it looking forward to more
:16:06. > :16:11.substantial arguments and the future? So I think it was the fact
:16:11. > :16:21.that the commission said that people want to know what all happen
:16:21. > :16:26.
:16:26. > :16:33.But people want to know what things will look like in the weeks and
:16:33. > :16:36.months after it. Now, the National as a wanted to push to find out
:16:36. > :16:43.something which is more real, because that is what has been
:16:43. > :16:49.missing from their campaign. I am worried that this will not happen.
:16:49. > :16:54.I think this will become more stories about who is going to what
:16:54. > :17:01.meeting when and what is on the agenda. I think it will stay in
:17:01. > :17:05.procedure rather than moving to more interesting matters. Bathing
:17:05. > :17:11.things have been a bit esoteric and I think it would be helpful for
:17:11. > :17:17.people to have some ground in an concrete ideas and what they can
:17:17. > :17:25.base their decision on. By now, we had the start of Borgen speaking to
:17:25. > :17:35.as earlier. I know you were impressed by seen the start of the
:17:35. > :17:35.
:17:35. > :17:42.short, Sisse Babet Knuusen. Yes, it was fantastic. The reason that
:17:42. > :17:51.Borgen is so successful is that ensures that politicians have a
:17:51. > :17:55.life and have to juggle things. I think we should have the week in a
:17:55. > :18:02.life of Nicola Sturgeon. It is all very well saying we stand up and
:18:02. > :18:11.deal with the same issues, but when you seek people like that dealing
:18:11. > :18:19.with issues, it is a good thing, particularly when it is women.
:18:19. > :18:28.that said, there is voter apathy out there? Yes, that is the strange
:18:28. > :18:33.thing. Borgen is set in a political drama, but it could be set in the
:18:33. > :18:41.world of anything else. The fact it is set in politics at an extra
:18:41. > :18:46.level to it. It could easily be set in the NHS. But I think the reason
:18:46. > :18:55.we love Borgen is that it is a small nation played a major part in
:18:55. > :19:01.the world stage. T think that is where his popularity lies? Will,
:19:01. > :19:05.the fact that they are a nation of the similar-sized to as. But
:19:05. > :19:10.Birgiteh Newbor is a fabulous character and it is interesting
:19:10. > :19:18.that Nicola Sturgeon is a partly introducing her at the question and
:19:18. > :19:25.answer session in Edinburgh tonight. Maybe we should short a little bit
:19:25. > :19:33.more of ourselves, as politicians. I do not think it is surprising
:19:33. > :19:40.that Nicola Sturgeon is a huge fan. She apparently treated and told
:19:40. > :19:47.everybody to leave her alone while Borgen was on. Body, thank you very