Browse content similar to 10/12/2015. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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I warm welcome to Holyrood and the Scottish parliament. The latest set | :00:18. | :00:26. | |
of questions to the First Minister. Difficult to assess what might come | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
up. It could be the condition of the fourth road bridge and problems for | :00:32. | :00:38. | |
drivers and passengers. Let's find out by crossing to the chamber and | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
my colleague Glen Campbell. Thousands of people rely on it to | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
get to and from their work every day and businesses depend on that for | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
getting goods and services to customers. I know of a shellfish | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
firm in the Highlands worried about the impact of bridge closure and a | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
construction firm in Fife is thousands of pounds out of pocket | :01:03. | :01:08. | |
paying for stuff to be put in hotels in other parts of the country | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
because they have deadlines to meet. One business leader told me that top | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
priority was making sure small businesses control freely. Derek | :01:18. | :01:22. | |
Mackay agreed to authorise small vans to travel along the priority | :01:23. | :01:27. | |
route currently restricted to buses and HGVs. That has not happened yet. | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
Can the minister confirm when that will take place? Can I thank the | :01:33. | :01:39. | |
public for their patience and forbearance during what I know is a | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
period of significant disruption for many individuals and businesses. Can | :01:45. | :01:52. | |
I also thank a wide range of staff who are now working around the clock | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
to deal with this issue? Let me also thank the -- restate the | :01:59. | :02:04. | |
determination of this Government to do everything we can to minimise | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
disruption and get the Forth Road Bridge open again as quickly as | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
possible. In terms of the point Kezia Dugdale has raised. There have | :02:15. | :02:23. | |
a number of points from a of sources about how to improve the travel plan | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
that is in place. Some of those proposals have been implemented, for | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
example the priority route put in place for buses and these TVs, that | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
priority has been lifted during the night time period and we are | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
currently looking at a range of proposals including the LGB proposal | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
that Kezia Dugdale spoke about. M sure members will appreciate we are | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
trying to take all possible action to minimise the disruption caused | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
and in particular when we look at the priority route we have to take | :03:02. | :03:04. | |
care we get them balance right between sensible restrictions and | :03:05. | :03:11. | |
also not doing things that with the prioritise that route, so we | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
continue to look at what flexibilities we can put in place | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
and we will continue to keep the public fully updated. I accept that | :03:21. | :03:27. | |
answer at the First Minister misses the fact this was a promise the | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
Transport Minister made on Tuesday to small businesses that has not yet | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
been realised. These businesses are losing business every day so when | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
the First Minister said she needs to focus on minimising disruption she | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
has to fall. Urgently, so I ask her to ensure this measure is put in | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
place because we need more than short-term sticking plaster | :03:53. | :03:55. | |
solutions. This situation has shown us we need a permit which doesn't | :03:56. | :04:01. | |
put off essential work in the hope of saving money. -- a government. | :04:02. | :04:07. | |
There is a new bridge coming and we support of that and then Vermont is | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
working hard to mitigate transport problems and we support that too, | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
but for the First Minister to sweep everything under the carpet will not | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
wash. We know the bridge maintenance contract has been privatised by her | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
government and budgets have been slashed by her government. We know | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
them budget for the bridge was cut a 65%. Audit Scotland told us that. | :04:33. | :04:39. | |
That is a cut to the maintenance budget of an ageing but essential | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
asset. With the benefit of hindsight does that First Minister accepts | :04:44. | :04:51. | |
these budget cuts were wrong? No, I don't. To complete the point, I | :04:52. | :04:58. | |
think the public deserve a proper and full explanation of the | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
situation. To complete the point is eared Dugdale raised in her first | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
question, we will consider any suggestion made about travel | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
planning and will implement changes as quickly as possible. We have to | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
take care that an opening the priority route to more vehicles we | :05:18. | :05:22. | |
don't have a situation where that races ceases to provide free or | :05:23. | :05:29. | |
cheap transport for vehicles we provided it for. On the other | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
issues, the specific part of the bridge that is now being repaired | :05:35. | :05:45. | |
was not broken back in 2010. Order. What was considered in 2010 was | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
prompted by concerns about another part of the link, not the part that | :05:51. | :05:56. | |
is now cracked. The work considered would have been a more extensive | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
repair than was required and it would have completely closed the | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
fourth road bridge for a number of weeks and that is why better, which | :06:06. | :06:14. | |
was made up of all parties, decided to do further analysis and propose a | :06:15. | :06:24. | |
more proportionate repair -- FETA. That repair was under way when the | :06:25. | :06:32. | |
current crack was identified and if I look at contracts were we are | :06:33. | :06:36. | |
accused of underfunding, the grant provided to FETA was greater that | :06:37. | :06:45. | |
year than in the previous three years, and Kezia Dugdale began her | :06:46. | :06:48. | |
last question by saying this Vermont wanted to save money. Let me remind | :06:49. | :06:55. | |
the chamber and that public, this is the Government that invested in a | :06:56. | :07:03. | |
new Forth Road replacement crossing. Hardly the hallmark of a Vermont | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
that was trying to save money. What was Labour's position on a new Forth | :07:11. | :07:18. | |
Road replacement? James Kelly, Labour's then infrastructure | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
spokesman, who was complaining that we hadn't fixed a crack five years | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
before the crack happened, he said that from the start the new Forth | :07:30. | :07:36. | |
Road replacement crossing has been a vanity project for the Scottish | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
Government. It was the Labour benches that wanted to save money on | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
making sure people could continue to travel across the fourth, not this | :07:45. | :07:56. | |
Government. People need to know they have a government that is determined | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
to learn the lessons of the past, not one more interested in covering | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
its tracks and labelling someone else. -- blaming someone else. | :08:05. | :08:16. | |
Order. On Tuesday the Transport Minister told this Parliament there | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
was no link between cancelled repairs in 2010 and the work needed | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
now. On Wednesday he made the fatal mistake of going on the radio and | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
telling the truth, that they were linked. The public is losing faith | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
in his handling of this situation, so we know that vital maintenance | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
work that would have repair the damaged area was put off by the | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
years ago. Can the First Minister confirm what other works on the | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
bridge have been cancelled or delayed because of a lack of | :08:53. | :08:58. | |
funding? Kezia Dugdale can go onto the website and see the published | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
minutes of the fourth St transport authorities, a body that took | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
decisions about their work on the bridge independently of the | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
Government. Our role before we took over the grant funding was to fund | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
that maintenance programme, but it would have been helpful if Kezia | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
Dugdale had listened to the last answer I gave her. The part of the | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
bridge that is being repaired now was not broken in 2010. According to | :09:28. | :09:35. | |
engineers, the fault that is currently being repaired on the | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
bridge happened with in the last few weeks. That is the reality of the | :09:40. | :09:46. | |
situation and we are now working, as the public expect, to repair that | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
fault as quickly as possible and get the bridge back open as quickly as | :09:52. | :09:56. | |
possible, and I think it is a rich for Labour to come here and talk | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
about this Government in terms of our commitment to keeping people | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
travelling across the Forth Road Bridge. I already quoted James | :10:05. | :10:11. | |
Kelly, infrastructure spokesman at the time for Labour, perhaps Kezia | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
Dugdale would also be interested in the views of her former employer, | :10:18. | :10:28. | |
George folks. What he said,... Order. Let us hear the First | :10:29. | :10:37. | |
Minister. They don't want to hear this because what Lord George folks | :10:38. | :10:48. | |
said... Order. He described the new Forth replacement crossing as a | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
prestige project which was a total waste of money. That is what he | :10:54. | :11:03. | |
said. I will continue to make sure, Presiding Officer, that I, the | :11:04. | :11:08. | |
Transport Minister and this Government on some trade on | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
minimising disruption people are suffering now. We will concentrate | :11:13. | :11:18. | |
on getting this bridge reopened as quickly as possible and will also | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
concentrate on making sure the new bridge that this permit decided to | :11:23. | :11:27. | |
build will be completed on time, so this time next year that new bridge | :11:28. | :11:37. | |
is also open to traffic. I am sure the hundreds of people on the 710 | :11:38. | :11:45. | |
from Cowdenbeath valued that answer and thought the First Minister was | :11:46. | :11:48. | |
on their side. She encouraged me to look at the FETA website. I have the | :11:49. | :11:56. | |
minutes in my hand from the October 2013 meeting. They say the Scottish | :11:57. | :12:03. | |
Government's September Spending Review resulted in a 58% reduction | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
in capital funding and a number of projects had to be deferred beyond | :12:10. | :12:16. | |
2015. The minutes go on to say that deferral of part or all of these | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
projects increases the risk to the long-term structural integrity of | :12:22. | :12:28. | |
the bridge. Crucially the trust end links work was one of the projects | :12:29. | :12:33. | |
delayed, delayed because of SNP cuts, short-term decisions at the | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
expense of the long-term future of an important asset, so we have | :12:39. | :12:44. | |
budgets cut, privatisation of services and cancelled repairs. | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
Instead of trying to avoid the get -- the blame, when will the | :12:49. | :12:56. | |
Government accept responsibility? The work considered in 2010 was | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
prompted by concerns about another part of the trusts and length, not | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
apart that is now cracked -- trusts end links. People might want to | :13:09. | :13:15. | |
listen to this. Criticisms appears to be that five years ago a body | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
that took decisions in that end of the of the Government decided not to | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
fix a part of the bridge that was not broken. A part of the bridge | :13:26. | :13:31. | |
that only became broken in the last few weeks. We might not have had a | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
crystal ball to tell us five years ago something with the come broken | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
five years in the future but we did have the foresight to know that an | :13:43. | :13:48. | |
ageing structure did need replaced. That is why this Government took the | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
decision to build a new Forth replacement crossing, a decision | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
that would not have been taken had Labour been in government, there is | :13:59. | :14:05. | |
little doubt of that. I think what people in Fife and people affected | :14:06. | :14:08. | |
either 's closure want to hear from me is this, this Government is | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
focused on continuing to do what we have been doing since Thursday, | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
making sure we minimise as far as possible the disruption caused by | :14:22. | :14:25. | |
this closure and more importantly making sure we support those who | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
were working round-the-clock to do this bridge reopened. That is what | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
this Government will continue to focus on. Ruth Davidson. To ask the | :14:36. | :14:46. | |
First Minister when she will next meet the Prime Minister. Monday. We | :14:47. | :14:52. | |
should take this down in temperature. The priority has to be | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
to make sure the bridge is fixed as soon as and these problems are | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
addressed but I did not then put First Minister can avoid the fact | :15:02. | :15:06. | |
the budget for the Forth Road Bridge was hammered in recent years. Two | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
weeks ago the Chancellor announced a significant increase in capital | :15:13. | :15:16. | |
expenditure for Scotland, so can the First Minister make it clear that | :15:17. | :15:20. | |
when the finance Secretary unveils his budget next week, cuts to the | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
bridge budget are reversed and that author Road Bridge has every penny | :15:26. | :15:29. | |
available to guarantee it stays open as long as we need it? | :15:30. | :15:35. | |
Bid Deputy First Minister was set up the budget on Wednesday and people | :15:36. | :15:41. | |
have an opportunity to scrutinise the decisions we make. Can I make it | :15:42. | :15:48. | |
absolutely clear that our entire focus is making sure that those | :15:49. | :15:52. | |
working to repair the bridge have the resources to get the bridge | :15:53. | :15:57. | |
repaired. We will continue to make sure that we fund repairs and | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
maintenance on the bridge so the Bridge stays open, but we will also | :16:03. | :16:06. | |
make sure that we continue to fund the new bridge currently being built | :16:07. | :16:10. | |
so that this time next year we will be celebrating the opening of that | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
bridge to traffic. That is the priority of this government and we | :16:16. | :16:22. | |
will continue to focus on it 100%. It is clear that the authorities | :16:23. | :16:25. | |
gambled that the old bridge could be patched up until the new one was | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
opened and we now know that gamble has failed. In press reports this | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
week we have seen senior civil engineers say either the bridge | :16:36. | :16:40. | |
cannot open to heavy goods vehicles of the timetable for repair is | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
unrealistic. This morning there was an announcement that preventative | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
action has been taken on seven sites. When the bridge. Reopen, come | :16:51. | :16:58. | |
the First Minister guarantee it will open to all vehicles? The absolute | :16:59. | :17:05. | |
intention of this government is to have the bridge opened for people | :17:06. | :17:08. | |
returning to work in the New Year and said that of the case of the | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
bridge being open as normal to all vehicles that previously travelled | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
over the bridge. That is what we have said all along. It is what we | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
continue to say. Everyone in the chamber will understand and I hope | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
appreciate that work at this time of the year is heavenly weather | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
dependent. I last spoke to the senior engineer at yesterday update | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
I was given yesterday was the prepares remain on track. We are | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
closely monitoring the situation. We are talking to the engineers on a | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
daily basis to make sure that we continue to be fully updated and any | :17:47. | :17:53. | |
changes around the timescale will be fully communicated to the public in | :17:54. | :17:58. | |
the normal way, but as of this moment in time, I remain of the view | :17:59. | :18:01. | |
that this bridge will reopen again in time to people returning to work | :18:02. | :18:10. | |
in the New Year. To us the First Minister what she will discuss at | :18:11. | :18:19. | |
the next meeting of the Cabinet. We've heard about privatisation and | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
capital cuts, the two senior engineers leaving and the Transport | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
Minister not being able to explain adequately about the abandoned | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
repair, it does make the point that we need a thorough enquiry. That is | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
what people I think in five are expecting, but it is also what the | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
First Minister should actively support. But for today, what people | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
care about most is sorting out the travel arrangements, fixing the | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
bridge and preventing it from happening again. The bridge is | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
struggling to cope, so what has the First Minister change this week with | :18:57. | :19:03. | |
the inspection regime to minimise the chance of having the same | :19:04. | :19:06. | |
problem on this major transport artery. The engineers who are | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
working on the bridge, and I spoke to some of them on choose their | :19:13. | :19:16. | |
morning, they are as we expect taking this opportunity to check | :19:17. | :19:20. | |
other parts of the bridge as is appropriate. There are a large | :19:21. | :19:29. | |
number of parts on this bridge. All of them have their own inspection | :19:30. | :19:33. | |
and maintenance regime around them. This particular part of the rich | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
according to the advice we have had from engineers cracked within the | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
last few weeks. That part of the bridge had a regular maintenance | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
cycle attached to it as well. We will continue to make sure that we | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
minimise the disruption people are experiencing. We will continue to | :19:55. | :19:58. | |
listen to representations about how we adapt the travel plan in place. | :19:59. | :20:03. | |
Secondly, we will also put those who are repairing the bridge to make | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
sure that the repairs are carried out on time and the bridge can | :20:08. | :20:11. | |
reopen in the New Year and we will continue to make sure proper | :20:12. | :20:14. | |
maintenance is in place on the bridge and all critical repairs are | :20:15. | :20:20. | |
funded and take place. Lastly, as I have said repeatedly, we will focus | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
on getting the new bridge completed on time and open to traffic this | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
time next year. The bridge is under considerable strain as everyone in | :20:32. | :20:35. | |
this chamber knows with this happening within the last few she | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
cannot be content to just carry on with the old engineering regime. We | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
must have something new, something in Bruges, something different to | :20:46. | :20:48. | |
make the system more robust because we simply, I mean, the chaos within | :20:49. | :20:56. | |
Fife has been quite dramatic and we cannot afford a repeat of this. So | :20:57. | :21:02. | |
can she tell me what new things is she going to do? What improvements | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
to be inspection regime is she going to order because we cannot afford | :21:07. | :21:19. | |
for this to happen again. That is a robust inspection regime in place. | :21:20. | :21:27. | |
There is a health check being carried out on the bridge to make | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
sure if other repairs need to be carried out they can do those as | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
well. I would have thought that Willie Rennie would be in agreement | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
that what we are and should be focusing on is the other things I | :21:42. | :21:47. | |
have spoken about. Minimising travel disruption to the public, minimising | :21:48. | :21:52. | |
disruption to businesses that are affected and making sure that the | :21:53. | :21:54. | |
repaired to this part of the bridge is carried out so that it can be | :21:55. | :22:00. | |
open to traffic as quickly as possible. We will focus on that. It | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
is my responsibility and the responsibility of this government to | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
take all of those steps. In terms of an enquiry, the transport committee | :22:10. | :22:18. | |
is open to any part of this Parliament that once you carry out | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
an enquiry. If the committee chooses to do so, this government will fully | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
cooperate with that. But our focus at the moment, while others | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
certainly on one side of this chamber are more interested in plain | :22:35. | :22:37. | |
political games, our focus is on making sure that we act in the best | :22:38. | :22:46. | |
interests of people affected by this closure to minimise disruption and | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
get this bridge reopened. That will be my focus, the focus of this | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
government and we will not be diverted from it. To us the First | :22:55. | :23:04. | |
Minister what recent discussions the Scottish Government has had with the | :23:05. | :23:07. | |
UK Government regarding the fiscal framework? The Deputy First Minister | :23:08. | :23:14. | |
met with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on Monday. Detail | :23:15. | :23:22. | |
discussions continue on the fiscal framework that will underpin the | :23:23. | :23:32. | |
Scotland Bill. The First Minister will be aware that Lord Smith has | :23:33. | :23:36. | |
stated the fiscal framework is fundamentally important to making | :23:37. | :23:37. | |
Scotland's Pauwels work. However, Scotland's budget could | :23:38. | :23:52. | |
fall by 7 billion pounds over the next decade. Given the importance of | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
the fiscal framework, it is vital that this Parliament speaks with one | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
voice to protect Scotland's future budget and public services against | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
the clear and present danger that is now posed by the UK Treasury. I do | :24:09. | :24:14. | |
think when credible independent voices ranging from the ISS to the | :24:15. | :24:21. | |
principal of Glasgow University, when they all race serious concerns, | :24:22. | :24:26. | |
all members of this chamber should take note. -- ISS. | :24:27. | :24:40. | |
A mammoth ?7 billion over a decade and that would be unacceptable. All | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
members of all parties can agree that such a proposal could not | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
conceivably be accepted by this government. That is why we continue | :24:51. | :24:58. | |
to negotiate in good faith for a reasonable agreement that will | :24:59. | :25:04. | |
benefit the people of Scotland. The First Minister will be aware that | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
the Scottish Government has borrowing powers of ?304 million | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
this year. With only three months left in the financial year, will the | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
borrowing Read through the National loan fund, or issuing bonds? John | :25:19. | :25:31. | |
Swinney will set out his budget for the 2016-17 when he comes to this | :25:32. | :25:35. | |
chamber next week. I would hope that Jackie Baillie would hope her -- | :25:36. | :25:41. | |
would join her colleague regarding the discussions over the fiscal | :25:42. | :25:47. | |
framework. I welcome the comments Malcolm Chisholm made yesterday, | :25:48. | :26:01. | |
accepting the current position. The method for calculating VAT will be | :26:02. | :26:07. | |
critical to this framework. Is it the First Minister's position that | :26:08. | :26:11. | |
the OT should be calculated according to the place of production | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
or consumption? That is one of the many issues under discussion. | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
Whether we calculate over years to come the reduction to Scotland's | :26:24. | :26:29. | |
block grant, or we take into account setup costs. We need a settlement | :26:30. | :26:36. | |
that is fair and reasonable to Scotland, so we will continue to | :26:37. | :26:39. | |
argue that position across a range of these issues and I hope that we | :26:40. | :26:46. | |
get to a position where the Scottish Government and the UK Government can | :26:47. | :26:53. | |
agree a deal that allows these new powers to come into effect. To ask | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
whether the Scottish Government considers a gap between climate | :27:00. | :27:06. | |
change and air passenger duty? No, but we do take these issues | :27:07. | :27:09. | |
seriously which is white international aviation and shipping | :27:10. | :27:17. | |
is in Scotland's 2009 climate change act. We encourage other governments | :27:18. | :27:21. | |
to include shipping and aviation in their own climate change act. We | :27:22. | :27:26. | |
need to continue to take a balanced approach. We are already punching | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
above our weight to tackle climate change and we are on target to meet | :27:33. | :27:39. | |
out emissions reduction. Scotland has one of the largest drops in | :27:40. | :27:48. | |
emissions of 44 regions and states. There are important environmental | :27:49. | :27:55. | |
and economic issues when we are considering a reduction to air | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
passenger duty and that is why we are working with air passenger | :28:00. | :28:05. | |
groups. I welcome what the First Minister said about climate change | :28:06. | :28:08. | |
in Paris and I am glad she went there by train, but in this week of | :28:09. | :28:14. | |
all weeks will she reconsider her proposal to slash air passenger | :28:15. | :28:17. | |
duty? Does she not realise that the research of the Scottish Government | :28:18. | :28:21. | |
itself indicate it would result in hundreds of thousands more journeys | :28:22. | :28:28. | |
by plane instead of train. The majority of these extra journeys | :28:29. | :28:32. | |
would be in the UK which nullifies the argument she used last week | :28:33. | :28:38. | |
about exports, and the result will be a big boost to aviation emissions | :28:39. | :28:41. | |
which are already growing faster than the emissions of any other | :28:42. | :28:48. | |
sector? We will continue to take a balanced approach, an approach that | :28:49. | :28:52. | |
prioritises economic growth, but take to receive this the hour it | :28:53. | :28:57. | |
meant and responsibility to the environment. When I was in Paris on | :28:58. | :29:02. | |
Monday there was recognition amongst a wide range of other countries, not | :29:03. | :29:07. | |
that Scotland's record is flawless or perfect, but Scotland were | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
showing international leadership. It is something we should be proud of | :29:13. | :29:15. | |
and the Scottish Government should continue to take the balanced | :29:16. | :29:20. | |
approach we have been taking. Two of the First Minister what the Scottish | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
Government plans are to tackle domestic abuse. It is unacceptable | :29:27. | :29:31. | |
and we must eradicate it from our homes and communities. We have | :29:32. | :29:38. | |
committed almost ?12 million this year and a further ?20 million over | :29:39. | :29:41. | |
three years to support a range of projects to tackle violence against | :29:42. | :29:48. | |
women. We aim to prevent and eradicate all violence against women | :29:49. | :29:51. | |
and girls in Scotland. The joint strategic board consists of senior | :29:52. | :29:58. | |
leaders with specialist knowledge of domestic abuse and they are working | :29:59. | :30:01. | |
with the Scottish Government to make sure we can achieve this aim. The | :30:02. | :30:09. | |
consultation on a specific domestic abuse offence was published in | :30:10. | :30:18. | |
October. A recent charity said there was 25,000 new cases of domestic | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
violence every year. It was found that there were notable differences | :30:25. | :30:28. | |
in the perception of what was considered seriously wrong behaviour | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
towards women. Can the first women comment on those findings? Can she | :30:34. | :30:35. | |
provide an update on I can. First I would like to pay | :30:36. | :30:48. | |
tribute to the woman's aid movement and the work they do. We have much | :30:49. | :30:53. | |
to do to end the scourge of domestic abuse and chains the negative | :30:54. | :31:00. | |
attitudes that drive it. This social attitudes survey makes for grim | :31:01. | :31:03. | |
reading on some attitudes that still exist in our society, but also | :31:04. | :31:08. | |
provides a helpful waistline that will allow us to evidence the | :31:09. | :31:12. | |
changes we want to make and help us eradicate violence against women and | :31:13. | :31:19. | |
we are working to make progress in this area. A draft domestic abuse | :31:20. | :31:26. | |
offence was published in November and feedback from the Justice group | :31:27. | :31:32. | |
one that has been positive. If formal publication on the offence is | :31:33. | :31:42. | |
due to be published later this year. Closing with deeply serious | :31:43. | :31:46. | |
exchanges on a serious subject. Earlier, robust exchanges on the | :31:47. | :31:52. | |
subject of the Forth Bridge, the historic nature and future plans as | :31:53. | :31:56. | |
well. I am heading up to the north-east later today. I think I'll | :31:57. | :32:02. | |
take the train. It's time to hand you over to Daily Politics. | :32:03. | :32:04. | |
but there was a lot of pressure from people in west London. It was to win | :32:05. | :32:13. | |
seats? We have an issue about planes flying over your capital city, which | :32:14. | :32:17. | |
is unusual. We have got Heathrow where it is and it is the hub and we | :32:18. | :32:19. | |
have to get on with it. Now, Jeremy Corbyn is said not | :32:20. | :32:25. | |
to have changed his views about anything in more | :32:26. | :32:28. | |
than 30 years as an MP. Our guest of the day, | :32:29. | :32:30. | |
David Willetts, on the other hand, has admitted to changing | :32:31. | :32:33. | |
his mind a few times And he's not the only politician | :32:34. | :32:35. | |
to have shown a lack of consistency over the years, as our | :32:36. | :32:40. | |
Ellie's discovered. I think that was the wrong | :32:41. | :32:52. | |
introduction. | :32:53. | :32:55. |