Browse content similar to 06/11/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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This week on the Politics Show: Late on Friday I stood outside the | :00:13. | :00:16. | |
parliament in Greece, watching Papandreou face down his in peas in | :00:16. | :00:18. | |
a knife-edge confidence vote. He won. Tomorrow the international | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
markets will give their verdict. So is this Greek tragedy beginning its | :00:21. | :00:23. | |
final act? Does Ed Miliband support the St | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
Paul's protesters here at home? He says this morning that only the | :00:26. | :00:28. | |
reckless would ignore the danger signals. | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
And David Thomson is in the skies over Glasgow. | :00:32. | :00:38. | |
The SNP believe it is time for Scotland to fly solo. Would this | :00:38. | :00:45. | |
have a prop -- have an effect on how we will govern? | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
On Politics Show Scotland: More on the eurozone crisis, and we will | :00:49. | :00:53. | |
speak to the new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, and asking | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
Ming Campbell why the Lib Dems are having another commission on home | :00:56. | :01:06. | |
:01:06. | :01:06. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1955 seconds | :01:06. | :33:41. | |
It is about controlling Scotland's resources. If Scotland was | :33:41. | :33:47. | |
independent now, we would be the 6th most prosperous comp -- country | :33:47. | :33:57. | |
in the economic dog there are many arguments about having a fairer and | :33:57. | :34:07. | |
:34:07. | :34:11. | ||
more just society. And not been governed by a... | :34:11. | :34:17. | |
If offered to an auction between Labour rule or Tory rule -- home | :34:17. | :34:25. | |
rule or Tory rule in Scotland, most would vote for home rule. RBS and | :34:25. | :34:30. | |
HBOS would have gone up in flames if you were independent, and with | :34:30. | :34:34. | |
their collective liabilities, 30 times the size of Scotland's GDP. | :34:34. | :34:43. | |
It would be in a worse state than Ireland and Greece and Portugal. | :34:43. | :34:47. | |
in a better state than UK, Denmark and Finland, which are better off | :34:47. | :34:52. | |
than the United Kingdom. We may have regulated the Bank's better, | :34:52. | :34:56. | |
rather than making some catastrophic mistakes like | :34:56. | :35:00. | |
Westminster. Maybe be be joining in with the international community to | :35:00. | :35:05. | |
try to stabilise finances. The reality is, of Scotland became an | :35:05. | :35:10. | |
independent company at the moment, her resources to population, we | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
would be the 6th most prosperous countries. Not just because of oil | :35:14. | :35:24. | |
:35:24. | :35:26. | ||
and gas resources, but that Scottish renewables are also a | :35:26. | :35:32. | |
large source of wealth, and to not try to talk -- we do not try to | :35:32. | :35:42. | |
:35:42. | :35:45. | ||
talk down our nation. One of the interesting things is, | :35:45. | :35:55. | |
:35:55. | :35:58. | ||
would the end of the signalled by devo-max? Well, there is no need | :35:58. | :36:02. | |
for a Barnett formula If you have full and fiscal responsibility. On | :36:02. | :36:07. | |
that basis, we would be hoping for your advocacy and support. If we | :36:07. | :36:13. | |
were an independent Scotland, that happens as a matter of course. | :36:13. | :36:16. | |
English people are pretty supportive of Scotland's | :36:16. | :36:24. | |
aspirations. But the Westminster political class is not. If they | :36:24. | :36:28. | |
keep moaning about subsidised Scots, why are they not supporting the | :36:28. | :36:34. | |
campaign for financial independence? Surely they should be | :36:34. | :36:41. | |
the cheerleaders. Who's going to be able to Fulton the referendum? You | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
have talked about the Scottish nation, but will Scottish people | :36:45. | :36:52. | |
who live in England and live abroad be able to vote? The mandates from | :36:52. | :36:59. | |
the voter's role of Scotland. That is people resident of Scotland, and | :36:59. | :37:02. | |
also includes people abroad who have been registered over the last | :37:02. | :37:06. | |
10 years. So it is the taxation base for Scotland. It does not | :37:06. | :37:11. | |
matter where you are born, it is whether you are contributing to | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
Scotland as a country. You could not have registered overseas | :37:15. | :37:20. | |
voters? We do have registered overseas voters at the present | :37:20. | :37:27. | |
moment. That is on the voters' roll. That is not unusual or different. | :37:27. | :37:35. | |
That is the basis on which we had the referendum on devolution. It | :37:35. | :37:43. | |
will be the people on the voters' roll in Scotland. I will leave you | :37:43. | :37:52. | |
to a beautiful day. Thank you. Later in the programme, viewers in | :37:52. | :37:55. | |
Scotland can hear what the Scottish Conservatives' leader makes of all | :37:55. | :38:05. | |
:38:05. | :38:12. | ||
Welcome. Where now for the eurozone crisis? And what will be the ripple | :38:12. | :38:19. | |
effect for Scotland? It is all change in the Scottish Tory party | :38:19. | :38:22. | |
leadership, but are there thoughtful new policies to detoxify | :38:22. | :38:25. | |
the brand, or was it just seemed old message delivered by a new | :38:25. | :38:27. | |
face? And how will Ruth Davidson lead a | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
divided party forward? I am at the National Liberal Club | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
in London, wondering what the latest Home Rule Commission has | :38:33. | :38:41. | |
four. -- is for. We will be looking at why teachers | :38:41. | :38:44. | |
are planning to strike for the first time in 25 years. Here is the | :38:44. | :38:47. | |
lunchtime news with Sally McNair. A seven-year-old boy has died from | :38:47. | :38:51. | |
his injuries following a car crash on the A9 in Perthshire. The child | :38:51. | :38:53. | |
was seriously injured in the collision north of Bankfoot on the | :38:53. | :38:57. | |
Perth-to-Inverness road. A 31-year- old man, who was in the passenger | :38:57. | :39:02. | |
seat, also died in the crash on Friday evening. | :39:02. | :39:04. | |
A senior QC has branded the Scottish Conservatives | :39:04. | :39:07. | |
"dysfunctional morons" and resigned from the party. Paul McBride who | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
was a justice adviser to Annabel Goldie resigned just hours after | :39:10. | :39:14. | |
Ruth Davidson was elected the party's new leader. He insists his | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
departure has nothing to do with Ms Davidson, he is resigning over the | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
Scottish Tories performance on criminal justice. | :39:23. | :39:26. | |
If you were out enjoying the fireworks last night, spare a | :39:26. | :39:30. | |
thought for the people of Oban. A technical hitch saw the community | :39:30. | :39:33. | |
fireworks all released at the same time during the town's display on | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
Friday night. The event usually lasts around half an hour, but it | :39:37. | :39:41. | |
was over in around a minute! The organisers had to apologise to a | :39:41. | :39:46. | |
crowd of hundreds, and explain that they had had their lot. And the | :39:46. | :39:49. | |
weather: Glorious day across most of the country, and set to stay | :39:49. | :39:55. | |
that way with some good sunny spells developing. Across the | :39:55. | :39:57. | |
Western Isles and Skye, it will be cloudier at times. Temperatures | :39:57. | :40:00. | |
will peak around 12 Celsius, and winds will be light. The | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
combination of clear skies and light winds will allow mist and fog | :40:03. | :40:09. | |
to re-form again after dusk. There is more from the newsroom at 6.15pm. | :40:09. | :40:17. | |
In the meantime, back to Isabel for the rest of the Politics Show. | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
As Greece remains in political deadlock over its debt crisis, the | :40:20. | :40:23. | |
prospect of it defaulting and dropping out of the euro is the | :40:23. | :40:25. | |
ongoing nightmare scenario for political leaders across Europe. If | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
Greece goes bankrupt, economists predict a new credit crunch. Even | :40:29. | :40:31. | |
less cash for banks to lend to businesses and individuals would | :40:31. | :40:34. | |
have a direct and highly damaging impact on Scottish manufacturing | :40:34. | :40:44. | |
:40:44. | :40:44. | ||
and exports. The UK Government is prepared to increase funding to the | :40:44. | :40:50. | |
IMF's bailout fund, up to �40 billion. | :40:50. | :40:55. | |
No country in the global economy can be an island. We are an | :40:55. | :40:59. | |
enormously dependent world. We have to play a role as one of the | :40:59. | :41:04. | |
largest economies in the world, we set up the IMF to make sure that | :41:04. | :41:08. | |
there was a mechanism to support countries. To be clear, you are | :41:08. | :41:13. | |
happy with the money that we give to the IMF going to Greece? I am. | :41:13. | :41:17. | |
That has been agreed. The Greek Prime Minister George | :41:17. | :41:20. | |
Papandreou will meet the leader of the opposition Andonis Samarass | :41:20. | :41:23. | |
later today to try to break the political deadlock. Mr Samarass is | :41:23. | :41:25. | |
so far refusing to join a government of national unity, | :41:25. | :41:28. | |
despite this being a condition of further financial support being | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
given to Greece. Without this money, economists predict Greece could be | :41:32. | :41:37. | |
bankrupt and out of the euro by Christmas. In our Edinburgh studio | :41:37. | :41:41. | |
is the SNP MEP Alyn Smith. And with me here is David Martin the Labour | :41:41. | :41:48. | |
Member of the European Parliament. Thank you for coming in. Do you | :41:48. | :41:55. | |
think a default is inevitable? There are considerable problems | :41:55. | :42:01. | |
with the Greek economy. It is arguable that default has already | :42:01. | :42:08. | |
happened. The fact that the Prime Minister of Greece is trying to | :42:08. | :42:12. | |
form a coalition unity government is a positive step, but I fear that | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
it is too little, too late. It is dreadful news for the people of | :42:16. | :42:21. | |
Greece and the wider European economy. More money is going into | :42:21. | :42:26. | |
the IMF, and David Cameron said that will not necessarily go to be | :42:26. | :42:35. | |
allowed the eurozone, but Danny Alexander says it will. We did make | :42:35. | :42:42. | |
more sense if they international bank became a last resort? It is | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
very clear that we do not have a crisis over the euro, as such. The | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
eurozone is stronger than the British economy. We have an | :42:52. | :42:57. | |
internal banking problem inside the euro-zone. It is helping the Greek | :42:57. | :43:01. | |
banking system. If we do not help that, that will have an impact on | :43:01. | :43:08. | |
the French, German and eventually on the UK banking system. If we do | :43:08. | :43:11. | |
not settle the Greek financial banking crisis, we have a real | :43:11. | :43:18. | |
problem. I agree, that we are at one minute to midnight, where it is | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
not clear if this is able to come through this crisis on its own. | :43:23. | :43:28. | |
Greece does not, and we have a freeze on lending, with a massive | :43:28. | :43:31. | |
loss of confidence, and potentially a domino effect with other | :43:31. | :43:36. | |
countries like Spain, Italy and Ireland, what effect could that | :43:36. | :43:42. | |
have in Scotland? People tend to think that this is an argument -- | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
Academicals argument a long way away. It is not. The banks are | :43:45. | :43:50. | |
committed to vary his debt to that they are holding already for Greece. | :43:50. | :44:00. | |
:44:00. | :44:02. | ||
-- the... We do need to see much more co-ordinated international | :44:02. | :44:06. | |
action across the eurozone and wider across the IMF, than we have | :44:06. | :44:14. | |
seen today. The G20 summit we just saw was depressing. Those of us | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
looking for answers, we did not see any. What would you make of the | :44:19. | :44:26. | |
role of the European Central Bank in the central issue about what | :44:26. | :44:32. | |
role it should play? Germany would have great concerns about inflation, | :44:32. | :44:36. | |
were the Bank to take a bigger role here. The Germans are already | :44:36. | :44:40. | |
talking about treaty revision and changed to those countries who are | :44:40. | :44:44. | |
part of the eurozone. The European Central Bank needs to come into | :44:44. | :44:47. | |
that in terms of the role it should play. Presently it is structured on | :44:47. | :44:52. | |
the German model, that inflation fighting is his number one priority. | :44:52. | :44:58. | |
We need to dust that off, and see if we need to look at other roles | :44:58. | :45:04. | |
for it as a lender of last resort, but making things up as we go along | :45:04. | :45:09. | |
is a danger. We need to see the people of Greece and their | :45:09. | :45:18. | |
politicians taking this seriously, All the levers that could have been | :45:18. | :45:24. | |
used here to persuade the Greek political club and the wider | :45:24. | :45:27. | |
population to adopt a certain attitude, none of that seems to | :45:27. | :45:32. | |
have worked. We know that 70% of Greeks want to say within the Euro | :45:32. | :45:36. | |
and that they see it as a shield. But nothing seems to be persuasive | :45:36. | :45:43. | |
the end of this. There is a lack of reality. A partly. But I think we | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
got the right package for one half of the problem one week ago. That | :45:47. | :45:53. | |
dealt with the banking crisis. I have sympathy for the Greeks and | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
other European companies. If there was nothing in that package to | :45:57. | :46:00. | |
stimulate growth. What we have been arguing for in the European | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
Parliament is a system of European bonds. Governments can then borrow | :46:04. | :46:12. | |
cheaply to get the economy moving. That seems to punitive? To punitive. | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
It does not stimulate growth or get the economy moving. There is a | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
demand for infrastructure projects, which would help get the economy | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
moving. People will not borrow more money if they know they will see | :46:23. | :46:28. | |
their level of income being reduced. And we need to stimulate demand. | :46:28. | :46:31. | |
Allen, do you think there is enough discipline within the Greek | :46:31. | :46:35. | |
political structures, or whatever amount of money you put in, to | :46:35. | :46:41. | |
actually, to this? Simple answer, no. George Papandreou made a number | :46:41. | :46:47. | |
of promises the best part of three months ago. I said on Good morning | :46:47. | :46:50. | |
Scotland that the people of Greece are just not up for this. They're | :46:50. | :46:55. | |
not behind their politicians. It is only a matter of time for the Greek | :46:55. | :47:01. | |
economy. Thank you. On Friday, the majority of the Tory | :47:01. | :47:03. | |
faithful decided the 32-year-old newbie MSP Ruth Davidson was the | :47:03. | :47:06. | |
best candidate to lead them out of the electoral wilderness shying | :47:06. | :47:09. | |
away from Murdo Fraser's radical plan to scrap the existing party | :47:09. | :47:15. | |
and start all over again. As the dust settles and the membership are | :47:15. | :47:18. | |
supposed to shuffle into a united line behind Davidson, Christine | :47:18. | :47:28. | |
:47:28. | :47:31. | ||
Macleod has this report. I am very pleasure is to declare | :47:31. | :47:36. | |
Ruth Davidson the leader... Ruth Davidson's Christ the top has been | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
meteoric. She was a party member for three years and a MSP for just | :47:41. | :47:50. | |
six months. Now she has beaten Murdo Fraser -- Murdo Fraser to the | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
top. She defended the status quo. am disappointed I was not able to | :47:57. | :48:00. | |
persuade more of our members and my vision for the future was the | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
correct one. But I congratulate Ruth Davidson on her victory and | :48:04. | :48:08. | |
she will have my full support. what convince the party should have | :48:08. | :48:12. | |
the right choice for them? Is it partly that Ruth Davidson is seen | :48:12. | :48:16. | |
as a younger version of the popular outgoing leader, Annabel Goldie. | :48:16. | :48:21. | |
Many would argue she is just as charismatic, smart and articulate. | :48:21. | :48:30. | |
But if these qualities did not help Annabel Goldie, what chance has | :48:30. | :48:35. | |
Rhys Davids and? I think, to be honest, are what Murdo Fraser | :48:35. | :48:37. | |
proposed was a last throw of the dice for the Scottish Conservative | :48:37. | :48:43. | |
Party. What Ruth Davidson proposes is more of the same - trying a bit | :48:43. | :48:47. | |
harder next time, one more heave. The very approach the party has | :48:47. | :48:53. | |
adopted since 1987 -- 1997 and it has failed to produced any | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
beneficial results. Despite being young, she has failed to convince | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
some of the Young Conservatives that she can lead the party back to | :49:00. | :49:05. | |
victory without adopting some of the ideas of Murdo Fraser. They say | :49:05. | :49:08. | |
they welcome her refreshing face but would far rather she had a | :49:08. | :49:13. | |
refreshing policies. She has to adopt the bulk of Murdo Fraser's | :49:13. | :49:18. | |
proposals to make his Conservative Party more independent and an | :49:18. | :49:22. | |
independent voice for her at Scotland as part of the Union. He | :49:22. | :49:25. | |
she has to have any success electorally, she will have to take | :49:25. | :49:30. | |
on what Murdo Fraser has said. new leader now faces big challenges, | :49:30. | :49:33. | |
not least by she goes about rebuilding the Scottish | :49:33. | :49:39. | |
Conservatives. 45% of the party backed Murdo Fraser for leader. | :49:39. | :49:43. | |
leadership election has been quite divisive. You have certainly had | :49:43. | :49:46. | |
one candidate who has put forward quite radical options for change | :49:46. | :49:52. | |
and a lot of people have bought into that. A lot of party members, | :49:52. | :49:55. | |
even on first or second preferences, have decided that it is quite a | :49:55. | :50:00. | |
good idea. She has a job on that level to unite party members. But | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
she also has it with the MSPs. A large number of whom really | :50:06. | :50:10. | |
supported Murdo Fraser. There are more big challenges ahead. Squaring | :50:10. | :50:13. | |
up to Alex Salmond at Hollywood, the test of the council elections | :50:13. | :50:23. | |
:50:23. | :50:26. | ||
in six months' time and fighting in the SNP in a referendum on. | :50:26. | :50:31. | |
And now, at Ruth Davidson is joining me. What happens to Murdo | :50:31. | :50:38. | |
Fraser? I spoke to him after the count on Friday. It was all quite | :50:38. | :50:43. | |
chaotic. I made sure I phoned all of the MSP group on Friday and | :50:43. | :50:46. | |
talked them through the next few days. We're having a good meeting | :50:46. | :50:49. | |
on Tuesday lunchtime and we will have set down face-to-face as with | :50:49. | :50:53. | |
all the members after that. We will talk about sorting people into | :50:53. | :50:57. | |
their new roles. What is the new role for Murdo Fraser? I need to | :50:57. | :51:02. | |
discuss that with him first. It would be breaching a certain level | :51:02. | :51:05. | |
of protocol to discuss at a live television! But there will be a | :51:05. | :51:11. | |
very big role for him. This was an energising contest for our party. | :51:11. | :51:15. | |
Are we really did capture the imagination of our electorate | :51:15. | :51:19. | |
within the party and within the media. I think that we're a much | :51:19. | :51:25. | |
stronger party for having had this election. Presumably, Murdo Fraser | :51:25. | :51:30. | |
has to have a very big role. He has a very substantial minority within | :51:30. | :51:34. | |
the party who think you direction is completely the wrong direction | :51:34. | :51:38. | |
to head in. Unless you take Murdo Fraser with you, you're not going | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
to take them with the, are you? Absolutely. It would only be fair | :51:42. | :51:50. | |
to Murdo Fraser. After the result, he was very gracious and said he I | :51:50. | :51:57. | |
had his full backing. How do you square that circle? You saying | :51:57. | :51:59. | |
there is an interesting situation were dear presented yourself as a | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
candidate for change, but actually, a lot of people analysing what we | :52:03. | :52:07. | |
know so far of your policies say it is just the same policies with a | :52:07. | :52:11. | |
different voice. Murdo Fraser wants something very radical and | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
different. As a new leader, how do you square that circle? You have to | :52:16. | :52:20. | |
take into account for we have been. A leadership election is a forum | :52:20. | :52:23. | |
where different members of the party put forward their ideas of | :52:23. | :52:27. | |
where they want the party to go. In the selection, we do not have some | :52:27. | :52:33. | |
form of opaque electoral college. It is one-member, one-vote. The | :52:33. | :52:37. | |
party decide on the direction it wants the party to go on for some | :52:37. | :52:44. | |
again three as that leader. The party will come together. We know | :52:44. | :52:48. | |
that a significant number of MSPs did not support you. There is a | :52:48. | :52:54. | |
message quoted in the Sunday Herald today from a senior Tory saying it, | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
"I or her nothing. I have nothing but contempt for her. Was the last | :52:58. | :53:08. | |
:53:08. | :53:12. | ||
longer than Wendy"? And... I am not sure that that is a MSP. It is a | :53:12. | :53:17. | |
matter of fact that a significant number of MSPs do not support you. | :53:17. | :53:21. | |
This is a vicious quote. You're suggesting it is all sweetness and | :53:21. | :53:25. | |
light in the party. Passions run high. It is a leadership election. | :53:25. | :53:28. | |
I want to see the party working at all levels and coming closer | :53:28. | :53:34. | |
together. The political party is much more than myself. It is a | :53:34. | :53:37. | |
council representatives, are activists and are Office workers. | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
It is about moving us forward. Let's look at some of your policies. | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
The test of our policies will be to ensure that they all this up the | :53:45. | :53:50. | |
biggest in our society as well as the strongest, according to you. We | :53:50. | :53:57. | |
knew we introduce prescription charges? We would, absolutely. A | :53:57. | :54:01. | |
prescription charges were not universal. They did not apply to | :54:02. | :54:05. | |
people who run certain benefits or a were pregnant or under a certain | :54:05. | :54:11. | |
age or at university. The estimate is that 600 and 1000 adults and | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
Scotland are earning less than �16,000 and were not entitled to | :54:15. | :54:19. | |
free prescriptions. If they were to reintroduce it, we have to look at | :54:19. | :54:23. | |
the parameters of that. So there would be a cut-off level for this? | :54:23. | :54:27. | |
Below a certain income you did not have to pay them? I love the | :54:27. | :54:31. | |
presumption that we are the Government of Scotland, but yes! | :54:31. | :54:36. | |
What is your policy on prescription charges? They if you can afford to | :54:36. | :54:41. | |
pay, you should pay. The weather �16,000 is the cut-off for not, | :54:41. | :54:46. | |
there is work to do on that. This is a key policy and who do not know | :54:46. | :54:51. | |
whether cut-off comes. Isabel, I laid out yesterday with the | :54:52. | :54:56. | |
direction of travel for us as a party. The direction of trouble for | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
us as a party in balls reassessing our policies going forward. I am | :55:01. | :55:06. | |
not the no change candidate. A lot of our chain for the structural and | :55:06. | :55:10. | |
policy based. It involves Breen people in to be involved in those | :55:10. | :55:15. | |
discussions. As leader, I do not unilaterally we write our manifesto | :55:15. | :55:20. | |
tomorrow and impose it. But you must have very clear ideas how you | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
translate this into specific policies. Can I ask you about the | :55:25. | :55:30. | |
Scotland Bill? You said this was a line in the sand. So far and no | :55:30. | :55:34. | |
further. From a poll that we see today conducted by the BBC politics | :55:34. | :55:39. | |
show, it shows that the majority of Scots actually want more powers | :55:39. | :55:45. | |
than exist at the moment. What it said is, do you want more powers | :55:45. | :55:47. | |
that exist at the moment? The Scotland Bill has a been | :55:47. | :55:52. | |
implemented yet. It is quite clear. Our political staff have reviewed | :55:52. | :55:56. | |
this in detail. It is more powers than those that will be brought | :55:56. | :55:59. | |
forward for will be implemented through the Scotland Bill. He had | :55:59. | :56:03. | |
also said another bills, let's see how the Scotland Bill has | :56:03. | :56:07. | |
implemented before we decide what we do. Is it in absolute line in | :56:07. | :56:12. | |
the sand or not? A letter to make this incredibly clear for you. What | :56:12. | :56:16. | |
I said on the Scotland Bill is, let's get it in and working on the | :56:16. | :56:20. | |
ground. I do not see us going hugely beyond that in terms of | :56:20. | :56:26. | |
devolving more powers. I qualified that with, in exactly the same | :56:26. | :56:30. | |
statement, because this was at the launch of my campaign were one of | :56:30. | :56:33. | |
your journalistic colleagues asked me this question, it is about | :56:33. | :56:38. | |
making sure that evolution works. If there are small tweets in the | :56:38. | :56:42. | |
future, then we need to look at them in terms of the practical | :56:42. | :56:46. | |
applications of the Scotland Bill, but in terms of whether Scotland | :56:46. | :56:51. | |
Bill takes us in terms of devolving some levels of fiscal autonomy and | :56:51. | :56:55. | |
certain parts to Scotland, that is where I am comfortable and where | :56:55. | :57:02. | |
want to see it stopped. SVRs. you're saying whatever the polls | :57:02. | :57:07. | |
suggest, I have made up my mind? was asked on my position and I give | :57:07. | :57:14. | |
my position. Can I ask you that given it is generally accepted that | :57:14. | :57:18. | |
you were the preferred candidate of the powers that be in the party in | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
the London, and that he certainly got the vote of some of the old | :57:22. | :57:25. | |
diehards, the suspicion would be that that has happened because they | :57:25. | :57:30. | |
feel that they can control youth. You have said that David Cameron | :57:30. | :57:35. | |
will not be your boss. David Cameron would not be the boss of | :57:35. | :57:43. | |
any buddied he won the selection. You're making very sweeping | :57:43. | :57:47. | |
statements. In terms of saying that I got a huge amount of support, I | :57:47. | :57:51. | |
am very pleased that some respected members of the party made their | :57:51. | :57:58. | |
preference for me known. But someone like Murdo Fraser made | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
other decisions. It is an unfair comparison. Also, David Cameron was | :58:02. | :58:06. | |
very clear that he showed no preference for any member who was | :58:06. | :58:13. | |
standing in this race. So David Cameron is not your boss. He is not | :58:13. | :58:21. | |
my boss, because I'm the Leader of all Conservatives in Scotland. That | :58:21. | :58:25. | |
is why the situation has changed. So it is only a structural point. | :58:26. | :58:29. | |
It is not about you having an independent attitude about what | :58:29. | :58:33. | |
happens in Scotland. I want to make policy but differs from David | :58:33. | :58:37. | |
Cameron. Name three of his policies that you think he is getting one at | :58:37. | :58:42. | |
the moment. I have big disagreements with Kenneth Clarke | :58:42. | :58:45. | |
on short-term sentences. That is one area of disagreement. I | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
disagree with the Chancellor on a couple of areas, which I have | :58:49. | :58:55. | |
written to him about. Which are? One is about cancelling tax | :58:55. | :58:58. | |
specific support for the computer games industry, which would have | :58:58. | :59:02. | |
raised a huge benefit to the computer games industry which is | :59:02. | :59:06. | |
very big in Scotland. I intend to continue to lobby the Chancellor on | :59:06. | :59:10. | |
not. Another area that I talked about is the tax status of the | :59:10. | :59:15. | |
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014. Why is a different to the Olympic | :59:15. | :59:19. | |
Games 2012 tax status? I want to see the best athletes coming up | :59:19. | :59:22. | |
here, the best businesses being able to compete in the same way, to | :59:22. | :59:28. | |
build this area, to be involved in the event, and I think that I will | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
continue to use any and all influence that I have to fight | :59:31. | :59:36. | |
Scott Bond's corner. When you were quoted as saying that David Cameron | :59:36. | :59:39. | |
should set the time for the independence referendum, or what | :59:39. | :59:45. | |
was meant by that? There were questions about whether there was a | :59:45. | :59:49. | |
mechanism and whether London would do that. I said, if Alex Salmond is | :59:49. | :59:56. | |
going to rig a referendum with the second question and saying is one | :59:56. | :59:58. | |
decision outweighs the Independent's decision, but saying | :59:58. | :00:02. | |
yes for independence, there is a point where the Prime Minister has | :00:02. | :00:06. | |
to stand in. Ideally, it to be sorted out in Scotland but it would | :00:06. | :00:16. | |
:00:16. | :00:21. | ||
If it is apparent that Alex Salmond is rigging the elections, will I | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
advise that we will take a stand on this? I am comfortable with doing | :00:24. | :00:33. | |
so. Thank you. With an independence campaign looming, albeit a few | :00:33. | :00:36. | |
years down the track, the other pro-union parties now have to | :00:36. | :00:37. | |
decide how they will fight that campaign. | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
Will they offer the voters even more powers for Holyrood, to | :00:40. | :00:42. | |
counter the SNP's full-blown independence? The Liberal Democrats | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
are first off the starting block. Sir Menzies Campbell, a former | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
Olympic athlete, is in charge of his party's latest Home Rule | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
Commission He says he will take his time to reach his conclusions. We | :00:51. | :01:00. | |
will be speaking to him shortly. It was William Gladstone who, back | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
in the late 1800s, sought to persuade his fellow liberals that | :01:04. | :01:09. | |
they should become the party of home rule. At the time it was Home | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
Rule for Ireland, and his conversion because he needed the | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
support of Irish nationalists in the Commons the stop many a | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
discussion about the merits a lot of home rule will have been had | :01:19. | :01:25. | |
here, where Gladstone himself established in 1886, a few hundred | :01:25. | :01:29. | |
metres from Parliament. According to reports, many a whisky | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
will have been had here, too. But his taste in home rule was not | :01:34. | :01:42. | |
shared by all his party. Through the centuries, the label has stuck, | :01:42. | :01:45. | |
and even today the Liberal Democrats see themselves as the | :01:45. | :01:55. | |
:01:55. | :01:56. | ||
party of home rule. The number of yes faults, 1,230,937. | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
Liberals backed devolution in the 1979 referendum, and after that | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
failed under the 40% rule, supported the setting-up of a | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
Scottish constitutional Convention to come up with a blueprint for | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
self government. It was not until 1927 -- 1997 at that dream was | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
realised, and the creation of the Scottish Parliament. Coalition poly | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
-- politics in Edinburgh were born. But Lib Dems and dash FOR home rule | :02:25. | :02:29. | |
were an satiated. Five years ago, Lord Steel was back with a | :02:29. | :02:38. | |
commission that move things on. A blueprint including financial | :02:38. | :02:45. | |
autonomy. The fact that this deal Commission | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
is there makes it very hard for the Liberal Democrats to play an active | :02:49. | :02:55. | |
role in the constitutional debate. On the other hand, the problem with | :02:55. | :02:57. | |
the commission is that it recommended Unionism without | :02:57. | :03:07. | |
telling them why -- why the union was doing various things. | :03:07. | :03:17. | |
:03:17. | :03:27. | ||
With an independence for a It was arguably Gladstone's home | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
will plans that helped foster a nationalism that paved the way for | :03:31. | :03:40. | |
the Irish Republic's independence. More than a century on, some may | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
wonder if Scotland is on the same path. | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
And the MP for North East Fife and former Liberal Democrat Leader, Sir | :03:47. | :03:49. | |
Menzies Campbell, is here with me now. | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
Thank you for coming in. An outside observer might say that the Lib | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
Dems are all over the shop on this one. They support federalism, Lord | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
Steel came up with radical proposals for fiscal autonomy, and | :04:04. | :04:10. | |
the Lib Dems and Holyrood backtracked on Calman Commission. | :04:10. | :04:17. | |
What is your remit on this? It is to set out in detail, fill all the | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
gaps in the traditional Liberal Democrat policy on home rule. That | :04:20. | :04:24. | |
used to be described as large-scale economics, but the world has moved | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
on since then. That is why it is necessary for us to flesh out the | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
bounce, and we will do it at local government level, National Holyrood | :04:33. | :04:39. | |
level, and Westminster. We will do it for Europe, as well. But do you | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
think that the argument has moved on beyond what has been outlined in | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
the Scotland Bill? It is easy to see the Scotland Bill's Christmas | :04:49. | :04:57. | |
tree on which you hang things. -- as a Christmas tree. The Calman | :04:57. | :05:03. | |
Commission was our careful and considered approach, and we are | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
setting out a considered approach to the ultimate destination -- to | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
decide what the ultimate destination should be. No point in | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
responding its two sermons on the Mount from Alex Salmond. Let us do | :05:16. | :05:26. | |
it in a proper time, and get the right answer. To a lot of first | :05:26. | :05:36. | |
:05:36. | :05:38. | ||
observers,... My Commission, which is composed by experienced people | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
in local and national government, will seek to put flesh on the bones | :05:44. | :05:52. | |
of home rule. The poll makes it clear that it breaks into thirds. A | :05:52. | :05:58. | |
third for independence, a third for status quo, and a little more than | :05:58. | :06:05. | |
a third for powers for a Scottish Parliament. If we lead on from that, | :06:05. | :06:13. | |
into the independence question. There should not be one. | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
Independence is such a major departure from the arrangements for | :06:18. | :06:23. | |
a number of years. -- there should be one. If the public say they want | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
independence that will be a clear expression of opinion. If they say | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
no, we then have to ask what else? But putting two questions into the | :06:33. | :06:40. | |
referendum seems an interesting device that has been exposed to try | :06:40. | :06:46. | |
to lump the votes together, and then say, here is a mandate. But it | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
would seem that the majority of people want devo-max, however that | :06:51. | :07:01. | |
:07:01. | :07:02. | ||
is defined. But I do not know what devo-max means. But we are going to | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
define it in the context of home rule. They easily understood, | :07:06. | :07:11. | |
something that needs the flesh put on the bones. If you define it, and | :07:11. | :07:16. | |
it is something popular with the public, it gives the Liberal | :07:16. | :07:18. | |
Democrats momentum, why not have devo-max against independence as | :07:18. | :07:26. | |
the auction? If you think about it, for 300 years, we have been part of | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
the United Kingdom. Independence represents an enormous step change, | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
and that is why I believe the question should be put in clear and | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
unequivocal terms to the Scottish people. I have explained what the | :07:38. | :07:44. | |
consequences are of a yes or "no" vote. But it sounds that you have | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
no confidence at this stage that the ideas you come up with women | :07:49. | :07:55. | |
aged and energise the public. you are looking at this regard in a | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
vote for independence. Is there a clear mandate for independence? The | :07:59. | :08:06. | |
resolve that one way or another. If it is yes, then clearly we will be | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
embarking on a complicated set of arrangements for withdrawal from | :08:10. | :08:17. | |
the big United Kingdom. If it is no, I ask what kind of arrangements | :08:17. | :08:26. | |
they want. We can then go on to the detail for. In that detail, Lord | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
Steel's commission set out in great detail how it would work, but not | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
the rationale for staying in the Union. Do you have to look at that | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
this time around and making the argument? It is part of it, | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
obviously. I believe in the United Kingdom, and believe we are | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
stronger as part of the United Kingdom as a unit. I am opposed to | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
independence because I believe Scotland would be less significant | :08:49. | :08:55. | |
and important. Do you think the argument was made clearly enough in | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
Lord Steel's commission? I am not rewriting that. This is the | :09:00. | :09:03. | |
Campbell Commission, and we have the right people to help us. I have | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
had a lot of offers in the last week from people with good | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
constitutional knowledge and understanding. Anyone from south of | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
the border? We are hearing that you can see what you like, but you | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
cannot impose a settlement without English support. I have had offers, | :09:20. | :09:26. | |
yes. They do not want to be aligned publicly, but are willing to offer | :09:26. | :09:32. | |
advice and assistance. When would you report? As soon as we have got | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
it right. I believe in getting it right, rather than quick. Late next | :09:37. | :09:44. | |
year? I would imagine around autumn next year. Thank you. | :09:44. | :09:50. | |
Earlier, a new survey indicated that 28% of those questioned in | :09:50. | :09:55. | |
Scotland and 24 for English respondents favoured a severing of | :09:55. | :10:00. | |
the Union. They were also asked about the other option, devo-max. | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
The survey also indicated a further third wanted more powers than is | :10:05. | :10:10. | |
outlined in the Scotland Bill. As usual, the issue of timing and | :10:10. | :10:14. | |
mechanics of the referendum came up. This is a matter for the First | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
Minister, who has brought forward their of -- proposition. He has | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
been sketchy about what he will do, and when. I have repeatedly asked | :10:23. | :10:28. | |
for details of the referendum to be spelt out for us to see a draft | :10:28. | :10:33. | |
bill, so we can see what is proposed. We campaigned in the | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
election, and said we would have a referendum on a straight question | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
on independence, which would take place in the second half of this | :10:41. | :10:48. | |
parliamentary term. We also allowed the option of asking a question | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
called devo-max, on page three of the manifesto. In response to that | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
timescale, putting forward the people of Scotland, we got the most | :10:56. | :11:03. | |
overwhelming mandate in Scottish political he has to be. | :11:03. | :11:12. | |
With me some -- for some expert analysis, we have Mandy Rhodes, the | :11:12. | :11:17. | |
editor of Holyrood magazine, and we have Brian Taylor. We have heard so | :11:17. | :11:24. | |
many as Campbell saying no to the referendum. -- Sir Menzies Campbell. | :11:24. | :11:29. | |
I think most people want independence, or not. It is clear | :11:29. | :11:36. | |
from the Euro poll, most people -- two-thirds of people want change. | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
If the Lib Dems could get some momentum behind them, do you think | :11:40. | :11:48. | |
that politically they could miss a trick? I think everyone seems to be | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
frightened that they are being tricked into something by Alex | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
Salmond. If the Lib Dems got their weight behind devo-max, which is a | :11:54. | :12:00. | |
phrase that has not been coined by Alex Salmond, perhaps they could | :12:00. | :12:06. | |
win. Brian Taylor, what did you make of it? The second question, | :12:06. | :12:09. | |
that will only be on the ballot paper if there is agitation for it. | :12:09. | :12:14. | |
What does Alex Salmond want to do? He wants a fall-back position of | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
independents goes down, and wants to prise independence away from the | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
UK party and prise Liberal Democrats from the Tories, in other | :12:21. | :12:29. | |
words to divide the Unionist position. I think they are some | :12:29. | :12:31. | |
Liberal Democrats in Scotland who are tempted to get devo-max on the | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
ballot paper, but I think Michael Miranda Campbell Commission will | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
have their way, the Liberal Democrats will not agitate for the | :12:38. | :12:46. | |
option. -- Michael Moore and D Campbell Commission. Could it be a | :12:46. | :12:49. | |
straight choice between devo-max and in the bend ins? That would be | :12:49. | :12:54. | |
what was suggested by the academic who was having the discussions with | :12:54. | :12:58. | |
the First Minister. Another words, you have a question asking if you | :12:58. | :13:03. | |
want change, then a question saying independence versus devo-max. But | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
Alex Salmond is saying his preferences for yes or No to | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
independence. He will only have the other question if there is | :13:10. | :13:15. | |
agitation for that from other sources. It is clear that they are | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
coming towards a position of not agitating for it, so it is more | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
likely than not that the referendum will be a straight yes or no. I am | :13:24. | :13:29. | |
not absolutely certain. What did you make of Ruth Davidson's line in | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
the sand on the Scotland Bill be reiterated? I think the problem is | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
that she is someone who has said there is a lane in the sand, and | :13:36. | :13:41. | |
she wants no more powers. Yet, two thirds of the people say that they | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
want more powers. Other -- either she is going to be moved off | :13:46. | :13:53. | |
realise she will not increase support. In terms of Murdo Fraser's | :13:53. | :13:55. | |
supporters in the party, people who said they wanted very radical | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
change, how difficult Willerby for her to come up with anything | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
persuasive to them, never mind the rest of the public? It is difficult. | :14:04. | :14:11. | |
The reality is that 60% of party members could even be bothered to | :14:11. | :14:16. | |
vote in an election that they did not even need to leave the house to | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
Fulton, and only half of them voted for Ruth Davidson in the first | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
preference to be leader, and the other half voted for people who | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
wanted the party to disband and changed completely. She is going to | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
have to come out very quickly with radical ideas that she wants the | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
people to stay with her. biggest problems she faces is the | :14:34. | :14:39. | |
immediate problem in Parliament. Yes, she is the leader of the whole | :14:39. | :14:44. | |
party, she has to energise them and work with the grass roots. I | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
understand why she is saying that, but it is platitude, in terms of | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
the relationship with the party. The challenge is working with that | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
group, where the majority wanted Murdo Fraser. One MSP even | :14:58. | :15:04. | |
suggested there would be a work to rule in the parliamentary roles. | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
They would occupy the front bench positions, but might not be | :15:08. | :15:12. | |
energetic and enthusiastic about it. Ruth Davidson needs to make sure | :15:12. | :15:17. | |
they are not just going through the motions. She needs to make sure | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
they are energetically advancing the course. If anyone can energise | :15:22. | :15:30. | |
them it is hard. Is that enough, just to be energetic? What does she | :15:30. | :15:36. | |
have to bring? I agree with Brian, she is very energetic and capable. | :15:36. | :15:41. | |
She has very little political experience and background. I feel | :15:41. | :15:45. | |
it was disingenuous to say that she was not backed by Cameron, because | :15:45. | :15:49. | |
we all knew that David Cameron had her as his favourite -- favoured | :15:49. | :15:56. | |
candidate. She will get his support, but whether that does her didn't | :15:56. | :16:02. | |
Scotland, I am not sure. Do you think she can come into the party | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
at this stage and do the shake-up people think it needs? She has to. | :16:06. | :16:10. |