27/04/2017 Timeline

On tonight's Timeline, we look at the first 100 days of Trump,

speaking to the Ivy League professor who predicted his win,

and taking a wry look at the president's best and worst bits.

Plus, we'll be grilling ScotRail live in the studio

as it announces major disruption this summer.

And I've been speaking to Line Of Duty star Martin Compston.

Line Of Duty is the police drama that's got everyone talking,

with Scottish actor Martin Compston in a lead role.

And it seems there's yet another dramatic plot twist this week.

Sir, I think I know the source of the leak.

I have two suspects, Shereen Nanjiani, Glenn Campbell.

They were caught looking through the bins for spoilers.

I think they know more than they're saying.

Also tonight, a novel approach to reducing the rate of road

by one woman who's sister was killed in a road crash.

He's the showman and tycoon who became president,

and this weekend marks 100 days in the White House for Donald Trump.

In that time, he's posted almost 1,000 tweets,

offended quite a few countries and people, and as for that campaign

promise to build the wall, well, he's yet to deliver on that.

We asked comedian Des Clarke to give us his take on President Trump.

Around 100 days ago, in front of a crowd of at least 73 billion people,

Donald Trump has his presidential inauguration. This is not fake news!

So it actually happened, the biggest global political story of our

lifetime, reported in Scotland as Aberdeenshire businessman gets new

house. The crowd for the inauguration was not as big as he

imagined, much like his hands. And imagine them hovering over the

nuclear button but cannot master the simple art of a handshake. Come

here, you! That is weird. A shaky start for the Trump presidency, but

give him a break, he is a self-confessed germophobe, although

he may mean that as someone who does not like Germany. Which is even more

strange, because it is the one country that could help out with his

big war. And talking of countries with big walls, his dinner with the

Chinese president had a bit of a kick in the desert course. I was

sitting at the table having desert, and we have the most beautiful piece

of chocolate cake that you have ever seen, we have just launched 59

missiles heading to Iraq. Heading to Syria? Yes, heading toward Syria.

What a pudding! You order a military strike and all you can member is the

cake you are beaten, people must be getting nervous. The administration

is reportedly the richest in history, his top 27 officials are

worth 1.8 billion roubles. Meanwhile, no shortage of world

leaders rushing to shake his hand. Still good! This is the most

beautiful piece of chocolate egg I have ever eaten. I should be

careful, really, he doesn't look too favourably on those who do an

impression of him, like Alec Baldwin on Saturday Night Live. She brokered

with Obama, she stole my microphone. He even said of Meryl Streep Duchy

was the most overrated actress in Hollywood. The powerful use their

position to bully... When it comes to news, Donald Trump says that even

our very own BBC makes him want to save the F word. The fake news, the

fake news. It is all fake news. Where are you from BBC. Another

beauty! I have a running war with the media, the most dishonest human

beings either. President Trump is to busy fighting the Gulf War, he

berated Obama fought too much coughing, but no-one can play a

round like Donald Trump. No surprise, a man with nuclear codes

should be near a bunker. It is going to be beautiful, here we go! What a

shot that is, I hate it, too far away, that is paid golf, who are

you? Is the Trump presidency on course or below par? He certainly

kept himself busy with all the executive orders that he has signed,

which courts promptly blocked. He may have spent more time in court

that Andy Murray. He has started to forget the things he ordered. I

ordered this brand-new heavies from Amazon, absolutely beautiful, what

about that? -- hairpiece. From this day forward, it is going to be only

America first! So there you go, 100 days of Trump -

from fake news to fake tan, the only orange man who was also a

Republican, the most prominent Scottish American since Sheena

Easton, but what happens next? Who knows? We are all just players in

one big game of Top Trumps. Des Clarke there.

Professor Mark Blyth is from Ivy League Brown University

in the United States and predicted both Brexit and Trump's win.

I spoke to him earlier and asked him what he thought

Much better than I thought, given the fact that we are all still

alive, so that a really, really good start. But seriously, the most

interesting thing is how little he has been able to do, given the

agenda that he walked in with. You think he is frustrated by that,

given the big pledges he made during the campaign? Absolutely, you know,

some of the stuff is basically impossible, manufacturing has been

in decline since the 1960s. It is easy to substitute capital for

Labour, it is going on across the globe. Promises to bring back the

jobs, to reinvigorate the coal industry, when it is cheaper to do

renewables, that is not going to happen. But it is interesting how he

has been stymied in Congress, the freedom caucus, as far as I can

figure out, they want a 21st century economy with 17th century

institutions, so that is where he is finding resistance, within his own

party. The Democrats are pretty much sitting on the sidelines, going,

good God, I cannot believe it is as bad as this! Are there any signs of

buyer's rumbles from people who believed in Trump and are now having

second thoughts? I actually do not see much of this, it is only 100

days, three months, whatever that is, right? It is short into the

calendar, there is still a lot that can happen, a lot of foreign policy

uncertainty, particularly with North Korea, and the people who put him in

charge really distrust the mainstream so much that any

resistance to his agenda, they are going to see it as part of the

problem, but not his problem. You mentioned North Korea, as president

he has ordered strikes against Syria, do you think he is prepared

to take military action against the North Korean regime? I think that

even if it wasn't Trump or Clinton, no sitting American president can

allow a regime that is that unstable and an predictable to have

deliverable nuclear weapons that can hit the soil of the United States.

So regardless of who was in charge, this is heading for a showdown. In

recent weeks the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has been in the

United States, but she did not have dealings with the US administration.

Prime Minister Theresa May was quick to travel to the White House and

strike up a relationship with President Trump. How dependent will

the UK be on the President Trump administration once we leave the

European Union? I don't think it is a case of dependence, more a case of

now you are outside the EU, when you were sitting in a good position with

your currency inside of it, things are going to be tougher. Britain

will survive, whether Scotland breaks off is a different story. But

none the less, you are going to need trading partners, you are going to

need security, the things that the United States traditionally has done

in tandem with the UK, so those relationships are going to remain,

even if Trump was not in charge. I know you predicted Brexit, you

predicted a Trump win in America, anything else we should be putting

money on? The French election may not go the

way of the National Front, but if you'll at the electoral map, it is

very interesting, it is just like America. Clinton won the popular

vote in New York and LA, half of Houston and Miami. If you look at

the French National Front vote, it is similar, Paris and the cities

will go for the mainstream, but everywhere else is coloured for the

National Front, and that is not going away any time soon. If we do

not get populism in France this time, wait for Italy. That was

Professor Mark Blyth on Trump's first 100 days.

Now, there was grim news for rail passengers this week,

as ScotRail announced major disruption is on the

It affects key routes in the Central Belt

The work begins next month and will run to September.

It means some services will be cancelled or diverted,

while bus-replacement services will also operate.

In a moment, we'll speak to a ScotRail spokesperson,

but first, we've been getting your opinions

So inconvenient when it is seven o'clock in the morning, Monday

morning, and you find that your train is terminating. The way that

they deal with these things, getting bus services, they are quite on the

ball with it. There is always disruption so... I haven't had that

many problems, just like when it is winter time, the snow. Occasionally,

but not that often. It is a good service. I usually find the service

to be efficient, I meet clients in Edinburgh and vice versa. Last week

I was delayed about two hours. 15 minutes into town, brilliant, better

than sitting on a bus. Let's talk this over with the

communications director of ScotRail, is it any wonder that some of your

customers are feeling a bit fed up? Nobody likes to have their journey

disrupted, that is perfectly clear, but what we are going to be doing

over the course of the next few months is we are undergoing one of

the biggest transformation since the network was built in Scotland, and I

think it is important to put a wee bit of context about what is going

on. The work is happening in the evenings, so the evening peaks will

get out of the way, and then from about eight o'clock, Sunday to

Thursday, not in the way of the weekend, because lots of people use

the railway then, from eight o'clock onwards, there will be some changes,

we will have to close down lines so we can do work, and that will mean

journeys are changed. Unfortunately, in some instances, people will have

to get on a bus. Does it have to be so disruptive? It is down to the

sheer scale of what is happening, major projects happening right now,

so obviously people may have heard about the fact that we are doing

electrification between Glasgow and Edinburgh, which is just about done,

so this is the next phase of that. This work needs to happen, because

if you ask anybody what they want from their rail services, they want

it to be reliable, they wanted to be fast and punctual, and they want a

seat. And that is what this is about, we can bring in longer trains

that have got more seeds and cut journey times. The work has to be

done. You have already been struggling to provide the service

that you promised to customers - won't this just may get worse over

summer? I think it is a hefty challenge, you know, to try and do

all the work that, as I say, the scale of the work that we have got

to get done and still run a full service. I think we saw that over

the course of the last year, when there was a lot of focus on our

train service performance and things that were going on. We have learned

a lot, I think, June that process, we have had a performance

improvement plan, six months of continued improved performance while

that has been going on, so I think we have learned a lot. What have you

learned? I think we have learned the importance of just making sure that

everything that is critical, the most critical pieces of

infrastructure that make the network run properly are properly

maintained, that we do not wait until we break them. We have

identified the trains that have the biggest impacts, and if something

goes wrong with that train, you know it will have an impact on others. I

think we have learned a lot, and you are seeing that in the results,

because now we are delivering good performance. Where passengers are

asked to use a replacement bus service or getting something less

than the service they would usually have, will there be lower fares? The

fares are set, so we will not be dropping the fares while this is

going on. Shouldn't you? There is an art and that says that, but I think

what we are saying is that we will get you there. -- there is an

argument that says that. A replacement bus is not quite the

same as the train. It is not, and as I said earlier, if we want to get

this really improved and upgraded railway network, we just have to go

through this period of work. So I am afraid that we are going to be

calling on the patience of people again, and we have seen, I think,

over the past year that people are willing to be patient and understand

we are doing work to improve things. You say over the period, some of

these works are expected to go on until December, can you guarantee

they will all be finished by then? What we have said to the team is

doing the work is, let's look at the process on a week by week basis, so

as I say, the work at the minute start at eight o'clock at night.

What the teams will be doing saying, once we get in and start the work,

can we put that back, start at nine o'clock, ten o'clock? Our starting

point is that we don't want to be disrupting people, we want the

network to be running properly, so if we can get these done earlier, we

will, but the commitment is that we will be there every day doing this

work. Briefly, how can people find out if their line is affected? We

have set up a special web page about the improvements, all the

information is there, we have social media teams, if you have got a

question, come and ask. Between Coming up, we hear from

Martin Compston about Line Of Duty, and how his American wife might have

to re-assess her We're always here for Christmas,

birthdays or weddings, so she's got this fairytale idea

of Scotland in her head, she might come to a bump to earth

when we actually move back. Maybe she should avoid

moving here in winter. Road crashes are the biggest cause

of death for people in Scotland It means that teaching young people

about about driving responsibly, and the risks if they don't,

is hugely important. has been to see a novel way

of doing that in the Borders. the car is being driven by Jonathan,

a 16-year-old pupil. Exactly the kind of person in this scheme is

aimed at. Get them while they are young and far likely to listen the

safety message. He is doing really well after a couple of minutes, huge

improvement. What are you trying to teach Jonathan? How to effectively

drive the car safely. About the car control, starting then early saves

us dealing with them later on when they have had a few year travelling.

You forget how difficult it is. Yes, I Lens a view things. I thought you

were doing really well. Will you be more sensible in a car now? I will

not speed down the motorway or show off, I will be careful. Well spent

time? And is a professional racing driver, John, for 20 years. Most

racing drivers pack it in. I thought we were losing too many youngsters.

I thought it was about educating them, how they can avoid it. Lie

down here. Head there, feet here. There is a serious side. Three young

people died on our roads last year. In the Scottish Borders. We want to

bring that number down. If one person gets killed or seriously

injured, that is one too many. This is innovative and exciting. It is

different and that is how you engage with young people. It makes us

think. I will end up driving five miles per hour! You don't notice it

till you see the impact, it is shocking, the state of the car. It

is sad to note that someone passed away. They are like sponges. We will

tell them to stick with it for a long time. It is impressive to see

how quickly they pick it up, the driving skills, considering they has

never been behind the wheel. For me, the most significant part is when

they see the crashed car and hear the worst-case scenario. For the

people here behind the scheme, as far as they are concerned, if they

have prevented one serious injury I saved one live, they think it is

worthwhile. Leigh Payne campaigns on young

driver education after her sister Stacey died while a passenger

in a car with a 21-year-old driver. What do you make of the scheme? I

didn't know something like that was going on. I have campaigned for

driver education for a long time. I think it should start before even

the teenage years. Every one of our family know, when you get in a car,

you put your seat belt on first. You don't just have to look at the

people in the car. You look at the other people on the road. And from a

much younger age. This is the first step to getting allocates on the

roads educated. Tell us what happens in your sister 's case. She was 23,

she was killed, she was a passenger with a 21-year-old who did not take

care. There was other circumstances, he was drunk, and she died when he

crashed. That that was nine years ago? What was the impact? It's has

been horrific, she left two girls. They work for Mac and two at the

time. -- four. My mum died she could not cope with losing her daughter.

You do not know until you see the circumstances behind the scenes of

an accident. We do. What do you think, there are now steps being

taken, insurers requiring endeavours to have a black box to monitor

performance Ashley Young drivers. -- young drivers. I have a teenage

daughter. You get your pass plus, you will be driving a long time

before getting a licence. Just so she knows what she and other drivers

are capable of. It is difficult to be a parent, having gone through

what we have gone through, it is scary at letting her drive a car but

educating her is the first step. Issued new drivers be allowed to

carry passengers? Within reason. Young boys should not be allowed to

take all young boys, young girls should not take all the young girls.

Peer groups will egg them on. They will take extra to drink. That is a

step that will come. The education part is the first step. You're

welcome to the scheme in the Scottish Borders, saying it was a

good first step. What else would you like to see? I know it is difficult

to, because... In America, they have drivers' education. They get it as

part of the curriculum. They are given practical skills and the

knowledge, and motorway driving. Those are the steps we need to take

forward. For the kids who do not want a joke, they do not need to

attend. For people who know they will drive at 17, bring it into

schools. It's the police drama that's

got the nation hooked, and the fourth series

of Line Of Duty reaches its gripping Scottish actor Martin Compston

takes a starring role, and we'll hear from him in a moment,

after a quick sneaky peak Paul is starting the first round of

interviews. No news yet. She has done it again, we had in that case,

and she had thrown them off the scent. The whole thing is kicking

off. We are not in the game. I caught up with Martin

in his hometown of Greenock and started by asking him what it's

like to play the part of DS Arnott. I love playing him. He is not

instantly likeable. From an acting point of view, that is fine. Every

single character is so well developed. It is a page turner. When

I got to episode three, I saw myself going over the banister, it was

nervy. The Signature scenes of line of duty

are those amazing interrogation scenes. Some of them 20 minutes

long. I found myself not begin by the end. They must take a hell of a

lot of concentration. Your dialogue. It takes a lot out. I also have two

contain the accent. That is the most challenging dialogue I will do, and

the forensic speak. We have learned over the years. Usually, I need to

have everything learned to be off book. A police officer would not do

that. You would prefer -- refer to your notes. You don't want to be

saying something that could be held against you in court. That is why we

have flipped the police genre. Everything else is about maverick

cops, guns, and perhaps we have developed that recently, but most of

it is people sitting around a table. You famously stay in the accent even

when off duty. Does that tell? It is like going to the gym. The more I

do, the better I get and this has been the toughest year because of

the storyline. I am in a coma for most of episode four. The

wheelchair, in lots more of my scenes are condensed because I am

not mobile. I was travelling a lot more, coming back for Celtic games.

Seeing that the family. I stay in it in Belfast. It is unnatural for your

vocal chords. You are doing those scenes, 20 minutes long, you have

been doing it for eight or nine hours. By the end of the day, you

can feel the strain. That is difficult. When you want to go for

it but your voice is not coming with you, to juggle all of those things,

it can be difficult. This is not a social call. I am returning to work.

I have had an occupational health assessment. They have given the all

clear for restricted duties. This is a precaution. It is filmed in

Northern Ireland. Now with a film studio coming here to Scotland, are

you helpful to make more dramas here? I hope so. We have the crew

and the talent here. It is long overdue. I love Belfast. I love

working over there, but in some ways it is annoying to see how far they

are a head of us. We have a lots going on here at this time. We are

getting there. We have been off the pace for a while. The weight

Northern Ireland has it, it is the way forward because they have so

many productions going over them. I have worked in Scotland for the last

12 years and we have the crews to match anywhere in the world. You

live in Los Angeles. You married to an American. How much time do you

spend there? I have spent three weeks there in the last 18 months.

That is the thing. That is where the wife and the dog is. I spent more

time in Scotland. My family are here. I love Greenock. It is always

going to be home. I will end up back here permanently one day. Will you?

For sure. My wife loves it here. I want my kids to be raised here. You

told me your wife has a false impression about Scotland? The first

time she visited here, she came to stay. I was filming the Legend Of

Barney Thomson Turned His Back. That Was The Commonwealth Games In

Glasgow. The Weather Was Insane. We are always here for birthdays or

weddings. She has the fairy tale idea of Scotland in her head and

they come back with a bumper to Earth. A fifth series of line of

duty? I believe they are in talks to do six, but whether we all survive

is another question. The show will be back.

And I can't believe you haven't seen it yet.

You can watch the final episode from this series of Line Of Duty

That's your Timeline for this week, thanks for watching.

If you have anything you think should be on our Timeline, then get

Shereen and I will be back next week, same time same place,

You are not a fun person to share a trishaw with.