:00:17. > :00:17.Hello and welcome to Politics Scotland.
:00:18. > :00:23.A special adviser to the First Minister says sorry to a
:00:24. > :00:28.mother who says she's faced online attacks for supporting the Union.
:00:29. > :00:34.The author JK Rowling has donated ?1 million to help fund the campaign
:00:35. > :00:47.And problems with passports. Will a backlog of applications caused
:00:48. > :00:50.travel misery for thousands? A special adviser to the
:00:51. > :00:53.First Minister has apologised to a woman who said she was attacked
:00:54. > :00:55.for supporting Scotland staying The mother-of-two, Clare Lally,
:00:56. > :00:58.spoke at an event organised Campbell Gunn said he didn't intend
:00:59. > :01:03.any personal slight on Ms Lally when Here's our political correspondent,
:01:04. > :01:17.Glenn Campbell. Clare Lally took centre stage at
:01:18. > :01:26.Better Together's rally in Glasgow on Monday. I am and ordinary mother
:01:27. > :01:32.from Clydebank campaigning for Scotland to stay in the UK. Campbell
:01:33. > :01:40.Gunn e-mailed a newspaper questioning her credentials. He said
:01:41. > :01:46.she had previously joined Labour's Shadow Cabinet and wrongly suggested
:01:47. > :01:54.she was related to Pat Ali. It was a misunderstanding. Saying that you
:01:55. > :01:58.thought somebody was somebody else's daughter in law is not a grievous
:01:59. > :02:05.insult. An apology is just not enough. If you see and understand
:02:06. > :02:09.what has been said about her and the fact that the mother of a disabled
:02:10. > :02:16.child has had to experience this, I do not think and apology is good
:02:17. > :02:21.enough. I think this advisor has to go. Clare Lally received online
:02:22. > :02:25.abuse because of her political links. She has also been sent an
:02:26. > :02:30.unreserved apology from Campbell Gunn who says he applauds the
:02:31. > :02:40.attacks on her and all those involved in the referendum debate.
:02:41. > :02:48.What is the atmosphere like in Holyrood? Labour, the Conservatives
:02:49. > :02:53.and the Lib Dems are calling on the First Minister to sack his special
:02:54. > :02:57.adviser Campbell Gunn. He is employed as a senior political
:02:58. > :03:03.spokesman for the First Minister. As you have reported, he has sent an
:03:04. > :03:07.unreserved apology to Clare Lally for any offence which has been
:03:08. > :03:14.caused to her and her family. He also says he deplores the cyber
:03:15. > :03:21.attacks she and others associated with the independence referendum
:03:22. > :03:24.debate have received. So, the First Minister Alex Salmond being
:03:25. > :03:32.interviewed about this and he asked Campbell Gunn to apologise. Is this
:03:33. > :03:35.a different situation for him? The First Minister believes he has dealt
:03:36. > :03:40.with their situation in requiring their special adviser to make this
:03:41. > :03:46.apology. He also said that he didn't regard what Campbell Gunn had said
:03:47. > :03:51.as an insult. Just to remind you, what Campbell Gunn did was to pick
:03:52. > :03:55.up on Clare Lally's what Campbell Gunn did was to pick
:03:56. > :03:59.up on claim that she was standing there as an ordinary mother
:04:00. > :04:04.campaigning for the Union for the sake of her children. What she
:04:05. > :04:11.didn't say at that time was that she was a member of the Labour Party and
:04:12. > :04:18.had been brought in by Johann Lamont as part of her Shadow Cabinet. That
:04:19. > :04:21.does not change her right to have a point of view in the independence
:04:22. > :04:24.debate but these things were not mentioned at the time and Campbell
:04:25. > :04:33.Gunn was e-mailing the Telegraph newspaper to point out her political
:04:34. > :04:39.links. He also wrongly claimed that she was a relation of the former
:04:40. > :04:45.Labour Lord promised Pat Lally. That turned out not to be true. The First
:04:46. > :04:51.Minister says that is not an insult, though, which is why he required an
:04:52. > :04:59.apology and not dismissal. JK Rowling has donated ?1 million to
:05:00. > :05:04.Better Together. Yes, they welcomed the money. It is the single largest
:05:05. > :05:14.donation that Better Together has received. They have also welcomed
:05:15. > :05:17.her support. She has written a blog explaining why she has decided to
:05:18. > :05:27.back a no vote. She is worried about the economic implications of
:05:28. > :05:32.independence. She worries that medical research would continue to
:05:33. > :05:37.be funded in the event of independence. She has decided to
:05:38. > :05:40.back the Better Together campaign. I'm joined in the studio now
:05:41. > :05:42.for the duration of the programme by Professor John
:05:43. > :05:46.Curtice of Strathclyde University. So, John, how difficult a position
:05:47. > :05:59.is Alex Salmond in at the moment? Do you think Campbell Gunn has done
:06:00. > :06:08.enough to stop the opposition parties calling for his dismissal? I
:06:09. > :06:14.think you has done enough. I think the main thing is not the actual
:06:15. > :06:22.e-mail but the follow-up abuse that Clare Lally received. I think
:06:23. > :06:27.Campbell Gunn is correct in implying that she is someone with certain
:06:28. > :06:33.political some these. But it is always dangerous in politics to play
:06:34. > :06:40.the man or woman rather than the ball. At the end of the day, this is
:06:41. > :06:45.a debate about ideas and alternative futures and not about who runs the
:06:46. > :06:49.country. Both sides might heed the warning that maybe they should focus
:06:50. > :06:56.on the argument and not spend too much time on undermining the
:06:57. > :07:03.messenger, the -- be they from either side. We have heard for a
:07:04. > :07:21.long time about these attacks from so called cybernats. Because people
:07:22. > :07:24.are not opposite people they are attacking they did not realise they
:07:25. > :07:33.are being abusive in an unacceptable way. Those people who say they are
:07:34. > :07:41.yes supporters are three times as likely to say they use social media
:07:42. > :07:46.than no supporters. There are lots of yes supporters using social media
:07:47. > :07:50.but that's all we can tell. Now, Scottish farmers are concerned
:07:51. > :07:52.their industry is facing a cut of millions of pounds
:07:53. > :07:54.in payments from the European The budget for CAP, as it's known,
:07:55. > :07:58.has been significantly reduced in In the chamber today,
:07:59. > :08:03.the Rural Affairs Secretary, Richard Lochhead, has been laying
:08:04. > :08:19.out what that means for the industry It must also protect biodiversity
:08:20. > :08:24.and reduce carbon footprint and protect landscapes. I have already
:08:25. > :08:30.increased the environment budget by ?10 million. The challenge here is
:08:31. > :08:35.how to deliver environmental benefits without a disproportionate
:08:36. > :08:40.hit on farming operations. For the free crop rule, we negotiated
:08:41. > :08:45.improvements but there is an issue for specialist barley producers.
:08:46. > :08:48.There is an alternative approach which gives equally good
:08:49. > :08:55.environmental outcomes without affecting production and that will
:08:56. > :09:02.have to be approved by Europe. Our intention to implement that change
:09:03. > :09:09.as soon as possible. There should be more on climate change in the CAP
:09:10. > :09:12.package as well. We have looked at options under the permanent
:09:13. > :09:16.grassland measures, subject to commission approval, farmers covered
:09:17. > :09:23.by this will have a fertiliser plant. We may also ask for that to
:09:24. > :09:29.include soil analysis as well. Many farmers do this anyway to reduce
:09:30. > :09:40.carbon footprints and increase profitability. We have to decide
:09:41. > :09:49.what features count against the ecological features argued. There is
:09:50. > :09:51.a balance which has to be struck. After detailed work with
:09:52. > :09:55.stakeholders, I decided to go as far as I could and include as the F a
:09:56. > :10:02.the following, buffer strips, fallow, hedges and ditches, catch
:10:03. > :10:08.and cover crops, albeit subject to conditions, to help with
:10:09. > :10:12.biodiversity. We will continue to work with stakeholders on these
:10:13. > :10:23.details. I have decided to strengthen the rules on offer strip
:10:24. > :10:26.is -- buffer strips. Scotland has an international reputation as clean
:10:27. > :10:35.and green but we must stay head of competitors. This new package will
:10:36. > :10:42.impact in particular sectors in Scottish agriculture. These latest
:10:43. > :10:47.changes to improve targeting for beef and sheep will have no impact
:10:48. > :10:54.on the arable or daily -- dairy sectors. The move to area based
:10:55. > :10:59.payments as positive for crofters and the Highlands and Islands. In
:11:00. > :11:01.response to the consultation exercise, I am reinstating a
:11:02. > :11:11.separate capital grant scheme for crofters. The wider rural
:11:12. > :11:15.development programme supports agriculture, and of course the ?459
:11:16. > :11:22.million budget to underpin fragile communities. There is always the
:11:23. > :11:25.risk of unforeseen circumstances. Despite the rhetoric about simple
:11:26. > :11:33.navigation, this is the most complex CAP ever. Under EU rules, it can be
:11:34. > :11:39.revisited each year but other things can only be renewed once or not at
:11:40. > :11:45.all. That does not seem sensible so I will be calling on a mid-term CAP
:11:46. > :11:55.health check of the new policy. It would be naive to content that the
:11:56. > :12:02.European CAP is perfect for Scotland. If we look at the new
:12:03. > :12:06.policy with a magnifying glass, no doubt we will find anomalies. I
:12:07. > :12:12.believe the Government has exploited the positive aspects on what is on
:12:13. > :12:20.offer and we will minimalise anomalies. Despite the strengths of
:12:21. > :12:30.EU rules, their outrageous budget position we are in, and turbulent
:12:31. > :12:32.market conditions, we are confident that this reflects Scotland's
:12:33. > :12:46.priorities for successful agricultural industry. Cabinet
:12:47. > :12:51.secretary will now take questions. We will have 30 minutes for the
:12:52. > :13:00.questions and then move on. It would be helpful if members were to press
:13:01. > :13:05.their request to speak button now. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the
:13:06. > :13:11.advanced copy of the statement. We have a lengthy statement accompanied
:13:12. > :13:15.with briefing papers and we need is time to analyse the impact of these
:13:16. > :13:30.decisions. I would urge the Government to make more time for
:13:31. > :13:33.debate on this subject. Cap reform is... Scotland chose to delay the
:13:34. > :13:39.shift from historic to area payments. We are now at the stage
:13:40. > :13:43.with the decisions must be made. The debate has been dominated by those
:13:44. > :13:47.who currently receive support and then impact on them but this is not
:13:48. > :13:53.about the status quo, it is about change, and I support measures which
:13:54. > :13:56.aim to achieve that. I am pleased that supporting estates have been
:13:57. > :14:01.moved to the negative list as well as a decision to limit entitlements
:14:02. > :14:05.to 2013. The decisions were always going to be challenging and I
:14:06. > :14:11.appreciate it is difficult to get a balance but there were calls for a
:14:12. > :14:18.quicker transaction and there are concerns that 2019 is at the top end
:14:19. > :14:23.of the transaction period. Can I ask what the level of the national
:14:24. > :14:28.reserve will be and if years confident demand can be met from
:14:29. > :14:35.that? I have concerns around the pillar two support. The focus is on
:14:36. > :14:43.agriculture but yesterday's emissions statistics show a need for
:14:44. > :14:46.a focus on this. When I argued for a higher transfer between pillar one
:14:47. > :14:49.and pillar to, I said a lot of the money was going back to farmers and
:14:50. > :14:54.their statement today emphasises that. There are demands on pillar
:14:55. > :15:02.two. Let's get some political reaction
:15:03. > :15:04.at Holyrood now. I'm joined from the Garden Lobby
:15:05. > :15:20.by Annabelle Ewing from the SNP and First of all, a shameful attack on
:15:21. > :15:25.the mother of a disabled child. That is how Ruth Davidson spoke about the
:15:26. > :15:34.Campbell Gunn issue. Is it right that he remains in his job after
:15:35. > :15:38.contacting the Daily Telegraph? I think it's important to look after
:15:39. > :15:42.the fact. Campbell Gunn sent one e-mail to one journalist and there
:15:43. > :15:46.were two points in that e-mail. One was that this lady was a member of
:15:47. > :15:50.Labour's shadow cabinet, which I believe is the case, and the other
:15:51. > :15:53.point was that she was related to a former Labour Lord Provost of
:15:54. > :16:00.Glasgow, which is incorrect. Since that point, Campbell gone has
:16:01. > :16:03.apologised unreservedly. -- Campbell Gunn has apologised unreservedly for
:16:04. > :16:08.getting that last point wrong and as far as I can see, in terms of
:16:09. > :16:10.Campbell Gunn, that is the end of it. He passed on a piece of
:16:11. > :16:16.information in good faith. It wasn't correct. In terms of the information
:16:17. > :16:21.itself, it was that she was related to a former Labour Lord Provost of
:16:22. > :16:27.Glasgow. That isn't correct. He apologised and that's the story as
:16:28. > :16:30.far as I understand it. You talk about "in good faith", but the woman
:16:31. > :16:35.was not a member of the Shadow Cabinet but was an adviser to them.
:16:36. > :16:39.So what if she was related to any member of the Labour Party, which
:16:40. > :16:44.she wasn't? It does look like a smear, doesn't it? Not at all.
:16:45. > :16:48.Whether she is a member or adviser to the Labour shadow cabinet, I
:16:49. > :16:54.think that is a matter that is relevant in the public domain on the
:16:55. > :17:00.issue. I don't know if the Labour Party are trying to suggest that
:17:01. > :17:05.being related might somehow not be a sought-after position but the fact
:17:06. > :17:11.is, there was one element of the short e-mail that was incorrect and
:17:12. > :17:16.Campbell Gunn has unreservedly apologised for getting that element
:17:17. > :17:20.incorrect, ie that she was related to a former Labour Lord Prost of
:17:21. > :17:25.Glasgow. I can see why the other parties might wish to try to push
:17:26. > :17:28.this at the line a bit but I don't actually see that the facts support
:17:29. > :17:32.such assertions from the Labour Party and others. I suppose the
:17:33. > :17:36.trouble is, there was that orchestrated smear campaign against
:17:37. > :17:42.her on Twitter and it's perhaps looked like Campbell Gunn was adding
:17:43. > :17:47.to that. Are you saying on the BBC, accusing him of orchestrating any
:17:48. > :17:54.event on social media? You know I didn't say that. I think that shows
:17:55. > :17:58.the importance of language. I think it is quite clear that Campbell Gunn
:17:59. > :18:03.had absolutely nothing to do with individuals' comments on social
:18:04. > :18:08.media. I think we all deprecate unwarranted personal attacks on
:18:09. > :18:13.social media. And sure Sarah does, I do, any right-thinking person does.
:18:14. > :18:16.But that's a completely different issue and the fundamentals in terms
:18:17. > :18:22.of the facts of this issue, as they relate to Campbell Gunn, are that
:18:23. > :18:26.the bit of the sentence he got wrong was that she was related to a former
:18:27. > :18:31.Labour Lord Provost. She isn't, he apologised, end of story. Sarah
:18:32. > :18:36.Boyack, Annabelle Ewing has clearly set out the reasons why Campbell
:18:37. > :18:42.Gunn contacted the Telegraph. Is it really a resigning issue? It seems
:18:43. > :18:46.he's got nothing to do with an orchestrated smear campaign, as some
:18:47. > :18:49.have tried to point out. I think it's deeply unpleasant. It's another
:18:50. > :18:53.example of people trying to denigrate those who speak out in
:18:54. > :18:57.favour of the Better Together campaign. I think it's unacceptable
:18:58. > :19:03.that politics is dragged in like this. I think we need to know
:19:04. > :19:06.exactly what happened. You heard the apologies from Annabelle Ewing there
:19:07. > :19:11.but apparently Clare Lally has had a phone call to apologise for any
:19:12. > :19:16.inconvenience. I think we're talking way beyond inconvenience. This is a
:19:17. > :19:19.new low in Scottish politics. It is unacceptable, we need an inquiry and
:19:20. > :19:26.Johann laminate has called for Campbell Gunn to go. -- Joanne
:19:27. > :19:31.Lamont. It isn't just about the cyber abuse but to what extent was
:19:32. > :19:34.the first ministers office involved and to what extent was the special
:19:35. > :19:38.adviser to the First Minister in vault CROWD GROANS
:19:39. > :19:44.Clare Lally is clearly not related to Pat Lally and it wouldn't have
:19:45. > :19:46.taken long to find that out on Google.
:19:47. > :19:50.She's lobbied all the opposition parties and is sincere. I think
:19:51. > :19:54.she's had Alex Salmond in her house so he at least we'll know she is a
:19:55. > :20:00.normal person fighting for her rights and those across Scotland.
:20:01. > :20:05.This issue is clearly important and we should not accept this level of
:20:06. > :20:08.abuse in Scottish politics. I think it was said that she was not an old
:20:09. > :20:16.merry mum and had connections to the Labour Party. Was that not fair?
:20:17. > :20:19.Scotland in a small country, we all have connections, and on both sides
:20:20. > :20:22.of the campaign there are connections. The suggestion that
:20:23. > :20:26.Clare Lally wasn't an ordinary person standing up for the community
:20:27. > :20:32.and particularly carers is unacceptable and not true. I want to
:20:33. > :20:37.ask Annabelle Ewing briefly, about the Common Agricultural Policy. It
:20:38. > :20:42.is a complicated issue which Richard Lochhead is spelling out as we
:20:43. > :20:50.speak. If you are able to, can you tell us what has been said? Is it a
:20:51. > :20:58.good deal? The Cabinet secretary has certainly used all the available
:20:59. > :21:01.resources at his disposal to put forward the best deal possible in
:21:02. > :21:05.the circumstances but I did catch a bit of the end of his clip when he
:21:06. > :21:09.referred to budgetary constraints and of course it is the case, sadly,
:21:10. > :21:12.but because Scotland does not sit on the top table in Europe as yet, we
:21:13. > :21:18.have seen the UK government negotiate the worst deal. We are at
:21:19. > :21:26.the bottom of both funding streams in the entire 28 EU member states so
:21:27. > :21:32.we have seen Scottish farmers lose out on the Somme of some 1 billion
:21:33. > :21:39.euros by 2020, a very good argument in deed for people to vote yes on
:21:40. > :21:43.the 18th of December. -- September. I haven't had a chance to hear all
:21:44. > :21:48.of the announcement but he has certainly striven to do the very
:21:49. > :21:51.best for our hugely important agricultural sector with the
:21:52. > :21:57.budgetary constraints. Indeed, we even saw a reference from the EU to
:21:58. > :22:00.the fact that Scotland sits at the bottom of both funding streams in
:22:01. > :22:04.terms of what's called the convergence uplift. But Scotland
:22:05. > :22:09.only got a small share of that because the rest was taken by the
:22:10. > :22:14.Westminster government. It really is time we took these decisions into
:22:15. > :22:18.our own hands. Let's put that point Sarah Boyack. The general point on
:22:19. > :22:23.the see a peak that of Scotland have a seat at the top table, it could
:22:24. > :22:27.get a better deal for the farmers. -- on the Common Agricultural
:22:28. > :22:31.Policy. It seems the UK have not negotiated a decent deal for
:22:32. > :22:35.Scottish farmers. Listening to Richard Lochhead, he did talk about
:22:36. > :22:39.the detail of this proposal for our farmers and as I understand it, he
:22:40. > :22:44.has been in negotiations with the UK and the EU and there are difficult
:22:45. > :22:50.decisions being taken across Europe. I think we are part of the system in
:22:51. > :22:54.the UK. We do get to sit at the top table when it's appropriate for us
:22:55. > :22:59.on farming issues. Ross Finnie was no slouch at getting to the top
:23:00. > :23:04.table in Europe. We need to network with other European countries but I
:23:05. > :23:08.think we also want to know about the environment. Yesterday we had the
:23:09. > :23:12.report that we failed to meet our targets on climate emissions for the
:23:13. > :23:15.third year in a row. It's hugely important that we support our
:23:16. > :23:18.farming industry and we support reductions in carbon across the
:23:19. > :23:24.board. There are other sectors that are impacted on so I is Claire Baker
:23:25. > :23:29.said, we need more detail and a bit more time to absorb the detail.
:23:30. > :23:32.Sarah Boyack from the Scottish Liberal party and Annabelle Ewing
:23:33. > :23:36.from the SNP, we'll have to leave it there.
:23:37. > :23:44.So Professor John Curtice is still with me here. We didn't have time to
:23:45. > :23:50.pick up on the JK Rowling donation that Glen Campbell was pointing out
:23:51. > :23:54.at the top of the programme. That's an interesting new contribution to
:23:55. > :23:58.Better Together, isn't it? I'm sure they'll be welcoming that into the
:23:59. > :24:02.cough is. Of course because there has been a concern on the no side
:24:03. > :24:07.that they would be outgunned as far as resources were concerned. I think
:24:08. > :24:10.the total given to the yes side by the weirs is the order of ?5
:24:11. > :24:16.million. The better together campaign now have at least ?1
:24:17. > :24:20.million from JK Rowling. We are in the period cheering which campaign
:24:21. > :24:24.expenses are regulated so there is a maximum of ?1.5 million that can be
:24:25. > :24:29.spent on direct campaigning with the public. I suspect JK Rowling has
:24:30. > :24:32.done a substantial job in enabling them to spend up to that limit. They
:24:33. > :24:36.will welcome that and I think that's the more important part of her
:24:37. > :24:41.statement than the fact that JK Rowling, well-known celebrity, backs
:24:42. > :24:46.the no side. I think we knew that. But in this referendum, endorsements
:24:47. > :24:48.of celebrities are probably not particularly important. They can
:24:49. > :24:53.matter on occasions when we're talking about things that the public
:24:54. > :24:56.don't know a lot about and are looking for people to give them
:24:57. > :25:00.guidance. But we discovered this morning 60% people in Scotland have
:25:01. > :25:03.talked to each other about this and to that extent at least, its
:25:04. > :25:07.conversations going on out there between the people in Scotland that
:25:08. > :25:12.matter, not necessarily messages from well-known celebrities. As you
:25:13. > :25:15.are here and we are talking about the referendum, perhaps you could
:25:16. > :25:21.give us an update on where we stand in the polls. Today we are seeing
:25:22. > :25:25.accusations of intemperate language from both sides. We've got this
:25:26. > :25:29.Campbell Gunn row. Also today the First Minister is calling for
:25:30. > :25:35.Alistair Darling to apologise once again for the comments he allegedly
:25:36. > :25:40.made in an interview with a journalist. We have rows on both
:25:41. > :25:45.sides, Gordon Brown's comments about David Cameron and that he should
:25:46. > :25:49.debate about Alex Salmond... How are we looking? Those are all arguments
:25:50. > :25:52.about personalities - who should do what all has done what. I come back
:25:53. > :25:57.to the point I made earlier, which is that we should remember that this
:25:58. > :26:01.is a referendum about ideas and features, not personalities. Most of
:26:02. > :26:04.the personalities involved in this referendum will not be responsible
:26:05. > :26:09.for Scotland, whether it votes yes or no, in ten or 15 years. That
:26:10. > :26:13.said, we seem to be in a position where the referendum race has come
:26:14. > :26:18.to arrest again. That is, on average during the last couple of months,
:26:19. > :26:24.the polls have pointed to a 43% "yes" vote, 53% for no. That is the
:26:25. > :26:31.same as at the end of March. The poll out today says 41% four yes,
:26:32. > :26:34.the same as the month before and the month before that. The yes side
:26:35. > :26:37.seems to have hold on to the games they made in the winter but they
:26:38. > :26:40.don't seem to have made any further progress in the spring. There are
:26:41. > :26:44.now less than 100 days to go and they will have to make progress at a
:26:45. > :26:49.much faster rate to reach the 50% mark. Thank you.
:26:50. > :26:53.As the inaugural oil and gas UK conference gets under way in
:26:54. > :26:55.Aberdeen, the attention of Hollywood's economy committee
:26:56. > :26:59.focused on the impact independence could have on the industry. The
:27:00. > :27:05.convener, Murdo Fraser, began by asking Danny Alexander, the Chief
:27:06. > :27:08.Secretary to the Treasury, about the significance of oil and gas revenues
:27:09. > :27:15.for the country's public finances in the future. On the forecast, the
:27:16. > :27:19.Scottish Government's forecasts, the figures they have how they see the
:27:20. > :27:23.public finances in an independent Scotland, they rely on North Sea
:27:24. > :27:28.revenues being consistently more than double the forecasts made by
:27:29. > :27:34.the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, and that is despite
:27:35. > :27:39.the independent Office for Budget Responsibility's forecasts since
:27:40. > :27:45.2010 themselves having overestimated UK oil revenues by 20% on average.
:27:46. > :27:48.So it was interesting that when the Scottish Government published their
:27:49. > :27:54.new oil and gas bulletin on the same day I launched our paper on fiscal
:27:55. > :28:00.policy, they excluded any reference to what had actually happened in
:28:01. > :28:05.2012-13 and 2013-14. They looked back on what that Chile happened but
:28:06. > :28:10.didn't reveal how overlooked a mistake their previous forecasts had
:28:11. > :28:15.been. -- what actually happened. The most cautious Scottish Government
:28:16. > :28:19.forecasts from March 2013 were actually around ?5 billion to hike
:28:20. > :28:30.for those two years and what that means is, any of the Scottish
:28:31. > :28:33.Government's protections -- projections for independence are
:28:34. > :28:38.wrong because they are based on overoptimistic projections and they
:28:39. > :28:41.are overoptimistic because they are based on forecasts that have
:28:42. > :28:49.themselves been shown to be on the optimistic side. There are three
:28:50. > :28:53.factors that essentially influenced the calculation of North Sea oil and
:28:54. > :29:00.gas revenues. One will be an assessment of price and the OBR has
:29:01. > :29:07.an assessment of $99 in 2016-17, and then remaining flat. We take a view
:29:08. > :29:15.based on the fact that the average price between March 2012 and 2014
:29:16. > :29:23.was $110 that $110 is a more reliable and cautious assumption.
:29:24. > :29:30.But it does also include a reduction in the cash value because of
:29:31. > :29:34.retaining that in nominal terms. Secondly, a different production
:29:35. > :29:39.assessment - and as I said a moment ago, I think it's unimaginable that
:29:40. > :29:45.the industry will be making the scale of investment that it is
:29:46. > :29:49.making if there isn't confidence in the estimates the industry makes of
:29:50. > :29:59.the likely proceeds of that, with a 14% increase in production over the
:30:00. > :30:04.period to 2018 - and there is an issue about the scale of the range
:30:05. > :30:08.of investment and we think that the investment levels are likely to
:30:09. > :30:13.return to long-term trend levels - and, of course, the issue about that
:30:14. > :30:18.is that that then removes the ability to offset as much investment
:30:19. > :30:22.against tax. That is one of the reasons why revenues are deflated at
:30:23. > :30:26.present, because of the scale of capital investment that is under
:30:27. > :30:33.way. So I think there's a very clear set of reasons why the estimates are
:30:34. > :30:40.different but, obviously, the OBR - it is up to them to defend their own
:30:41. > :30:43.estimates. Let's head back to the chamber at Holyrood now and dip into
:30:44. > :30:47.the debate on the Common Agricultural Policy. Cuts to the
:30:48. > :30:51.budget in Brussels means a cut to the amount of money paid to Scottish
:30:52. > :31:01.farmers. The Cabinet secretary is taking questions from MSP is. Let's
:31:02. > :31:06.listen in. In terms of the importance of Dumfries and to the
:31:07. > :31:13.beef and dairy sector, it is extremely important and that is why
:31:14. > :31:19.we have put so much into the package. Many of the big beef areas
:31:20. > :31:35.of Scotland will benefit significantly. The rock bottom
:31:36. > :31:45.payment of only ?10, 10 euros per hectare for category a land is
:31:46. > :31:50.simply not enough. It is going to be met with disappointment by those who
:31:51. > :31:59.saw this as an opportunity to regenerate sheep farming. It is
:32:00. > :32:04.simply too low. Question, please. Will the Minister make sure he deals
:32:05. > :32:15.with the National Sheep Association to make sure things are minimised
:32:16. > :32:19.given a flood of measures? I will work closely with them and
:32:20. > :32:23.stakeholders to make sure we can do all we can to minimise bureaucracy.
:32:24. > :32:32.I'd should say that Jamie McGregor is missing the point. We want to
:32:33. > :32:43.reward activity and that is why the basic payment is there. The outcome
:32:44. > :32:47.being 35 euros per hectare with their sheepskin added to the 10
:32:48. > :32:57.euros payment, that would be the same as better land. Region two and
:32:58. > :33:02.three. The only people who will lose out from what I'm proposing are
:33:03. > :33:08.large landowners who are inactive. I don't know what side he is on but
:33:09. > :33:13.most people would support we are doing the right thing with this
:33:14. > :33:14.policy. Can the Cabinet Secretary of further
:33:15. > :33:18.policy. Can the Cabinet Secretary information on how the Government
:33:19. > :33:21.will ensure new entrants and prospective new entrants will be
:33:22. > :33:31.made aware of the support on offer and what impact does the Government
:33:32. > :33:37.think these measures will have? I care very deeply about getting new
:33:38. > :33:42.agriculture into Scotland. I genuinely believe that there are new
:33:43. > :33:48.entrants who understand that for very proper reasons we are looking
:33:49. > :33:56.for an overnight transition. Under the new regime outlined today, when
:33:57. > :34:06.they see what is offered, hopefully they will see -- take comfort. We
:34:07. > :34:11.need lifeblood and a new generation to produce food for our tables and
:34:12. > :34:20.have the skills in this country to make sure we do that. I note that
:34:21. > :34:31.Dumfries and Galloway will lose ?18 million rather than the 22 million
:34:32. > :34:36.anticipated. Can the Cabinet Secretary expand on the arrangements
:34:37. > :34:40.for the transition period? Will be reductions be equally spaced over
:34:41. > :34:41.the period of transition or will they have different sort of
:34:42. > :35:02.profile? mitigate the impact on large
:35:03. > :35:17.historic payments moving to area payments. As the figures outlined,
:35:18. > :35:23.we have outlined the funds. A formula which manages going from the
:35:24. > :35:27.historical areas in five years it is difficult to predict payments
:35:28. > :35:31.because every single farm business in Scotland is so diverse and
:35:32. > :35:34.different and clearly each farmer will be looking at today's
:35:35. > :35:42.announcement and what it means for them. We are trained to make it as
:35:43. > :35:47.clear as possible so people can understand how it will impact them.
:35:48. > :35:51.I welcomed the statement and I am pleased that the capital grants
:35:52. > :35:58.scheme is being maintained. I wonder if he can indicate whether the
:35:59. > :36:06.budget for that scheme will be maintained at previous levels or
:36:07. > :36:13.possibly increased? I will have all the figures in relation to that
:36:14. > :36:17.programme available to MSPs this afternoon if you have not received
:36:18. > :36:21.them already. We have protected the budget for the capital grant schemes
:36:22. > :36:26.for crofters and listened closely to the representations we have had
:36:27. > :36:35.about ensuring we have a separate fund. It is a good deal for
:36:36. > :36:38.Scotland's crofters and our crofting communities play a vital role in
:36:39. > :36:44.maintaining the environment and producing food. This will help
:36:45. > :36:49.towards active crofters and Ireland crofters.
:36:50. > :36:52.Green targets, red faces - that was the headline in one
:36:53. > :36:54.of the newspapers today after the Scottish Government announced
:36:55. > :36:59.yesterday they'd missed their own targets for cutting greenhouse gases
:37:00. > :37:11.The environment minister said meeting the targets have been a lot
:37:12. > :37:14.harder than Parliament and society realised and gave some reasons why
:37:15. > :37:18.they had been missed. It was a colder than normal winter and there
:37:19. > :37:29.was a higher amount of energy being used by households. Residential
:37:30. > :37:32.emissions went up. Also because burning coal has become cheaper,
:37:33. > :37:36.But the Greens said a radical shift in policy was needed
:37:37. > :37:42.if the government wanted to achieve these tagets.
:37:43. > :37:49.The 15 million tonnes a year we put into the atmosphere needs to come
:37:50. > :37:54.down by 1 million per year or thereabouts of the next few years
:37:55. > :37:58.and that won't happen unless the Scottish Government recognises that
:37:59. > :38:02.current policies will not achieve it. We must go further on cutting
:38:03. > :38:07.fuel bills, transport congestion and other areas where climate change
:38:08. > :38:12.policy can be good for people, the economy and the planet.
:38:13. > :38:22.Let's speak to Professor Curtice again.
:38:23. > :38:33.So what will happen next year? The brutal headline is that the Scottish
:38:34. > :38:37.Government has set Scotland more ambitious climate change targets
:38:38. > :38:41.than exist south of the border. They have suggested that Scotland is
:38:42. > :38:54.going to be able to know and example to the rest of the world. -- aid
:38:55. > :39:01.Beacon and example. It is a bit of an embarrassment in political terms.
:39:02. > :39:06.A lot of the recent argument is about energy has not been about
:39:07. > :39:13.lowering emissions but prices. There is clearly a problem at the moment
:39:14. > :39:20.about pursuing policies for reducing carbon emissions which rely on
:39:21. > :39:24.raising prices, which is behind the current level of energy prices.
:39:25. > :39:31.Politicians are desperate to get them down. We have seen this week
:39:32. > :39:35.arguments that given that the wholesale price of gas and a trustee
:39:36. > :39:41.has gone down maybe the prices should go down. That may be true but
:39:42. > :39:46.it may also mean that getting carbon emissions down will not be easier.
:39:47. > :39:58.You mentioned that these targets are world beating. Is the consensus
:39:59. > :40:03.breaking down? We heard from Patrick Harvie and we heard from Labour
:40:04. > :40:10.yesterday about what radical policies must be pursued. It is not
:40:11. > :40:16.surprising that the Green Party would be critical on this area. It
:40:17. > :40:21.is their key area of interest to save us from what they say is
:40:22. > :40:28.extreme environmental damage. We should not be surprised at that. The
:40:29. > :40:35.question for the Labour Party is that it is fine to talk about more
:40:36. > :40:43.measures but then if Ed Miliband gets to power he would have a freeze
:40:44. > :40:49.on energy prices which does not discourage people from emitting more
:40:50. > :40:52.climate damaging emissions. The environment minister said yesterday
:40:53. > :41:00.that Labour had not come forward with proposals.
:41:01. > :41:03.Now to Prime Minister's Questions and the Labour leader, Ed Miliband,
:41:04. > :41:04.pressed David Cameron on accountability in Birmingham's
:41:05. > :41:06.schools after the Education Secretary/Home Secretary
:41:07. > :41:09.Questions too on the backlog of passport applications.
:41:10. > :41:11.The Prime Minister insisted the backlog was being tackled and extra
:41:12. > :41:25.There is certainly a degree of common ground in what are children
:41:26. > :41:30.are taught in schools and common values. In certain cases, the
:41:31. > :41:34.headteacher was removed under the governing body was part of the
:41:35. > :41:41.problem. The truth is it is a very hard question to answer as to who
:41:42. > :41:44.parents could go to because we have an incredibly fragmented school
:41:45. > :41:48.system where nobody is properly responsible. Some of those schools
:41:49. > :41:58.where local authority schools and some war academies. -- some of them
:41:59. > :42:02.were academies. On a day-to-day basis you can intervene quickly when
:42:03. > :42:06.things go wrong. There needs to be one system of accountability for all
:42:07. > :42:11.schools to safeguard the education of our children. The first port of
:42:12. > :42:16.call is the headteacher and the chair of governors. If people
:42:17. > :42:20.believe there is a real problem there is one organisation which has
:42:21. > :42:25.responsibility for checking standards in all schools and that is
:42:26. > :42:30.offset. That is why it is so important what the Education
:42:31. > :42:36.Secretary has said about no notice inspections. What the opposition
:42:37. > :42:42.leader asks is how it can happen quickly. It will if we have these no
:42:43. > :42:47.notice inspections. He has no answer on the question of accountability.
:42:48. > :42:54.Doing it sensually is not realistic and Ofsted inspections will not do
:42:55. > :42:58.the job. I want to move to the failures in the Home Office. Can the
:42:59. > :43:01.Prime Minister update the House on his latest estimate of the backlog
:43:02. > :43:09.of people waiting for passport applications to be processed. We
:43:10. > :43:15.have 300,000 extra applications than normal at this time of year. We have
:43:16. > :43:19.increased the staff massively. The level of applications outside the
:43:20. > :43:27.normal three-week limit is less than 10% of that 300,000. Less than a
:43:28. > :43:31.quarter of people who have applied for the new personal independence
:43:32. > :43:36.payment have received a decision and if we continue at this rate it will
:43:37. > :43:40.take more than 40 years to get to the point where everyone gets
:43:41. > :43:47.assessed. Does the Prime Minister think that is acceptable and what
:43:48. > :43:49.will he do about it? It is extremely important when we introduce these
:43:50. > :43:54.new benefits that we make sure it is done in a way that works well so I
:43:55. > :43:59.would say it is very important not to have an artificial deadline of
:44:00. > :44:03.replacing one benefit with another. The whole point about the personal
:44:04. > :44:09.independence payment is it is more accurate and targeted by an -- than
:44:10. > :44:13.disability allowance. It will mean more help for those with the
:44:14. > :44:23.greatest disabilities and I am determined we will get it right. At
:44:24. > :44:32.'s are taking longer. They are reluctant to send assessors to
:44:33. > :44:40.Argyll and Bute. Will he tell at a loss -- Atos they are
:44:41. > :44:44.discriminating? There are challenges in far-flung rural constituencies
:44:45. > :44:50.like as with so many islands with a in far-flung rural constituencies
:44:51. > :44:53.like as with so many islands with -- within it and I accept we must have
:44:54. > :44:55.these assessments carried out but they are important.
:44:56. > :44:59.these assessments carried out but The whole point is that we don't
:45:00. > :45:03.want to leave people on unemployment or benefit year after year. We want
:45:04. > :45:09.the tests and assessments properly carried out to see whether they are
:45:10. > :45:12.applicable for benefits and what help they need to get work.
:45:13. > :45:14.Let's stay at Westminster now and speak to
:45:15. > :45:23.our correspondent David Porter who's standing by on College Green.
:45:24. > :45:30.It is a lovely day year so it is not hard for MPs to come and join me. I
:45:31. > :45:36.am joined by David Mandel from the Scotland Office and representatives
:45:37. > :45:46.from Labour and the SNP. Unemployment is down, and in
:45:47. > :45:54.Scotland. Is the economy and issue that has been addressed? 17,000 less
:45:55. > :45:58.people unemployed. Employment of women at the highest levels ever.
:45:59. > :46:01.These are good things but we must continue to consolidate their
:46:02. > :46:05.situation. We are not out of the woods. We must stick with the
:46:06. > :46:10.long-term economic plan and we cannot tear it up now and start to
:46:11. > :46:17.borrow and spend more and stop we must keep going and ensure it is a
:46:18. > :46:23.job led recovery. We can't be satisfied until we see as full
:46:24. > :46:26.employment as possible in Scotland. You would welcome any falling on
:46:27. > :46:31.implement but from an opposition point of view, the better the
:46:32. > :46:35.economy does, it is a harder political stick to beat the opponent
:46:36. > :46:40.with. What matters is what is actually happening on the ground and
:46:41. > :46:42.there is a huge gap between the rhetoric of the Government and
:46:43. > :46:49.people's experiences. People will still be worse off at the end of
:46:50. > :46:58.this Parliament than the beginning. People are facing an absolute crisis
:46:59. > :47:00.in terms of making ends meet. The Government have missed an
:47:01. > :47:06.opportunity with this Queen's Speech to do some thing about that. Your
:47:07. > :47:09.party is in government in Scotland, do you take the credit for it or do
:47:10. > :47:16.you say it is because the wider UK economy is doing better? We should
:47:17. > :47:21.celebrate the fact that we have got lower unemployment rate in Scotland
:47:22. > :47:26.than the rest of the UK. We do what we can. We've got some economic
:47:27. > :47:30.levers we can apply to the economy in Scotland but we're dependent on
:47:31. > :47:33.the performance of the UK economy and it's something which I'm not
:47:34. > :47:36.particularly satisfied with. I'd like to be in control of the levers
:47:37. > :47:41.to ensure we get more people back into work but we are stuck with
:47:42. > :47:44.where we are with that. The same question to each of you - is it
:47:45. > :47:49.going to be the key issue in the independence referendum? It's an
:47:50. > :47:53.important issue in the sense that people want to know how they will be
:47:54. > :47:57.personally affected by independence. My argument is, whether the economy
:47:58. > :48:03.is doing well or badly at a particular point in Scotland, we are
:48:04. > :48:07.still better off as part of the UK with the best of both worlds and our
:48:08. > :48:12.very important market for Scotland in England. I think there are number
:48:13. > :48:16.of issues that are important but just take one, we still don't know
:48:17. > :48:19.which currency we would be using in an independent Scotland and if we
:48:20. > :48:23.don't know that, how on earth do we know how the economy would be
:48:24. > :48:26.performing and the impact it would have on people's mortgages? That's
:48:27. > :48:31.what people say to me on the doorsteps. The economy is going to
:48:32. > :48:34.be incredibly important and that's why it's fought over with such
:48:35. > :48:37.passion and a flurry of figures. We are in a better position than the
:48:38. > :48:42.rest of the UK because we can do that little bit more. I want to do a
:48:43. > :48:45.lot more and it's only with the powers of independence we would be
:48:46. > :48:50.able to achieve that. Let's move onto another issue raised a Prime
:48:51. > :48:54.Minister's Questions the issue of passports and the backlog of
:48:55. > :48:58.applications. It is potentially a no-win situation for the Government,
:48:59. > :49:03.isn't it? If you don't get it cracked, you will get the blame and
:49:04. > :49:08.if you do, you will get the people saying that that is what Government
:49:09. > :49:11.is all about. The Prime Minister takes the situation very seriously
:49:12. > :49:14.and we've put a lot of extra resources, 300,000 additional
:49:15. > :49:19.applications have been made and the Home are aware of that. They are
:49:20. > :49:24.seeking to do everything possible to alleviate the situation. If there
:49:25. > :49:28.are individuals that have no passport and are going on holiday in
:49:29. > :49:32.Medley, they should contact their MP or the passport office to try to get
:49:33. > :49:36.it sorted out and get them further at the Q but it is clearly an issue
:49:37. > :49:42.that needs to be addressed and we are addressing it. -- further up the
:49:43. > :49:46.line. Those with long memories will remember that when Labour were in
:49:47. > :49:48.government there were lines around the street and around the corners
:49:49. > :49:52.for people queueing up for passports. This is about what's
:49:53. > :49:58.happening now and I've got at least one or two constituents contacting
:49:59. > :50:01.my office every day waiting for passports they applied for months
:50:02. > :50:05.ago and other colleagues have got higher numbers of cases than that.
:50:06. > :50:14.David Cameron said today that he's moved to 200 people onto that
:50:15. > :50:16.apartment but has already cut staff from the department that is dealing
:50:17. > :50:21.with this. The Government have got to get this right. Is it the case
:50:22. > :50:24.that you are getting constituents who are worried because the holidays
:50:25. > :50:29.start slightly earlier in Scotland, and are starting to panic? This is a
:50:30. > :50:34.particular Scottish issue when it comes to this, the fact that we
:50:35. > :50:36.break up earlier for holidays. The real difficulty about this is that
:50:37. > :50:40.I've got constituents who are supposed to be going to Belgium for
:50:41. > :50:45.a youth again next weekend, who have got their passport. This is a
:50:46. > :50:48.difficulty for us. We have a few short weeks until the start of the
:50:49. > :50:52.Scottish day, when we practically closed down in Scotland, so it is
:50:53. > :50:57.imperative. We are counting on the UK Government to this fixed. They
:50:58. > :51:02.told us yesterday that there was no problem. I was in the home affairs
:51:03. > :51:05.debate and I heard the Home Secretary asked what problem. Thank
:51:06. > :51:09.goodness we can get it sorted out now. Talking about diaries and
:51:10. > :51:14.things that are coming up now, the independence referendum is coming
:51:15. > :51:18.down the track, 16 weeks to go, we have the 100th day to the referendum
:51:19. > :51:24.this week. Are you starting to notice a change to the campaign? Is
:51:25. > :51:27.it stepping up on the ground? There's no doubt that there is more
:51:28. > :51:33.activity from both sides. I think the public are very engaged. You
:51:34. > :51:38.knock on peoples doors and they know it's happening. They've got views.
:51:39. > :51:41.There are a lot of people still looking for information about why I
:51:42. > :51:46.think it's incumbent on both sides to provide that information. As
:51:47. > :51:50.Gemma said earlier, there are big questions still to be answered about
:51:51. > :51:53.what currency we'll use. I'm not convinced that we'll get through the
:51:54. > :51:58.next 100 days and know the answer to that question, and that's why I
:51:59. > :52:04.certainly say on the doorstep, "if you don't know, you should vote no".
:52:05. > :52:08.Gemma, are you noticing that people are starting to engage more with it
:52:09. > :52:12.now? Absolutely. I think people have been engaged with this from the
:52:13. > :52:15.beginning but people are really making up their minds now and what
:52:16. > :52:18.I'm hearing on the doorsteps in my constituency is that people are not
:52:19. > :52:22.convinced that this is the right thing to do and that pushes them to
:52:23. > :52:26.vote no. But can I also say, we have particularly unpleasant attacks on
:52:27. > :52:31.people who have come out and giving their opinion on what is happening.
:52:32. > :52:36.We've seen it yesterday with Clare Lally, I am from my constituency
:52:37. > :52:40.who's been attacked by Alex Salmond's spin doctor. -- a mother
:52:41. > :52:47.from my constituency. Today we've seen a charity in Edinburgh using
:52:48. > :52:49.the most appalling language, which I won't subject your viewers to,
:52:50. > :52:52.towards JK Rowling for what she said. We don't want to see this
:52:53. > :52:56.debate going down that path and I think there needs to be an appeal
:52:57. > :53:00.for calm. The official from the Scottish Government has issued an
:53:01. > :53:05.apology to Clare Lally about that. Most people think he should be
:53:06. > :53:09.resigning. How do all the parties ensure that this debate does not
:53:10. > :53:13.descend to a level that I think all of you would agree you don't want?
:53:14. > :53:18.They've just got to stop it, calm down and stop the abusive nonsense.
:53:19. > :53:23.It doesn't benefit anybody. It isn't in our interests or their interests.
:53:24. > :53:27.Why people feel the need to indulge in this nonsense, I just don't
:53:28. > :53:32.understand or appreciate. But we've always got to remember, this is at
:53:33. > :53:37.the fringe of the debate, we've had an incredible debate. This is a
:53:38. > :53:41.fantastic civic, peaceful process that has re-energised and engaged
:53:42. > :53:45.the people of Scotland like no other. We're looking at the prospect
:53:46. > :53:49.of 80% of the people of Scotland voting. Let's celebrate what a
:53:50. > :53:55.fantastic debate. Let's criticise, obviously, but there's no room for
:53:56. > :53:58.the abusive comments we've had. But let's celebrate the fantastic
:53:59. > :54:02.achievement. A sharp gear change now. A certain event happens in
:54:03. > :54:07.Brazil tomorrow. Who are you supporting and who will win? I drew
:54:08. > :54:15.Algeria in the office suite so I'll have an eye on them. My son tells me
:54:16. > :54:23.that France or the dark horses -- France are the door causes. -- dark
:54:24. > :54:28.horses for top Scotland isn't there. I would much rather Scotland was in
:54:29. > :54:32.the World Cup. Like the glory days of the 1970s and stop I will be too
:54:33. > :54:36.busy out campaigning to watch much of it. I'm interested in the
:54:37. > :54:42.Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, so that's what I'll be focusing on. Who
:54:43. > :54:47.is going to win and he will you be supporting? I think Brazil will win.
:54:48. > :54:52.I think the hosts will win. I support Belgium. I saw them turn
:54:53. > :54:57.things over dramatically when they were playing Scotland. They are one
:54:58. > :55:00.of the best teams. Thank you all very much for joining us this
:55:01. > :55:04.afternoon. You see, Andrew, you don't just get political debate on
:55:05. > :55:08.this programme but sports predictions as well.
:55:09. > :55:12.Thank you for that. Let's have a final chat with our commentator,
:55:13. > :55:16.Professor John Curtice. An interesting chat on the passport
:55:17. > :55:21.problem, a big problem Theresa May's door but she has not had to
:55:22. > :55:24.seek problems, with the problem with Michael Gove about the
:55:25. > :55:27.radicalisation of schools in Birmingham. Yes, one of the
:55:28. > :55:31.interesting lessons as far as Theresa May is concerned is that the
:55:32. > :55:37.dangers are emerging as an unexpected Trojan horse. There was a
:55:38. > :55:42.poll conducted that suggested Theresa May was now the most popular
:55:43. > :55:45.candidate to be the next leader of the Conservative party, even ahead
:55:46. > :55:49.of Boris Johnson. It's well-known that Michael Gove is close to David
:55:50. > :55:53.Cameron and that he would prefer George Osborne to be David
:55:54. > :55:57.Cameron's successor so overlaying this argument about whether or not
:55:58. > :56:01.the Home Office have been doing enough about extremism or whether
:56:02. > :56:05.the education department had done enough was this argument about, was
:56:06. > :56:09.what was going on that Michael Gove was trying to undermine Theresa
:56:10. > :56:14.May's position as a front runner? The home office is usually a place
:56:15. > :56:19.where politicians get tripped up. Theresa May has been successful so
:56:20. > :56:24.far in avoiding the pitfalls of office but we'll wait and see
:56:25. > :56:27.whether or not she manages to avoid passports becoming a ministry of
:56:28. > :56:32.horror which might take her down a peg or two in the leadership stakes
:56:33. > :56:36.for the Conservative party. Talking about strained relations between the
:56:37. > :56:42.senior figures, we touched on the Gordon Brown comments are bit
:56:43. > :56:48.earlier. It has not helped Alistair Darling, what he says, in the
:56:49. > :56:52.debate, David Cameron. It's been no secret that Gordon Brown has felt
:56:53. > :56:55.that perhaps the Better Together campaign needs to become more
:56:56. > :57:00.positive and needed more ballast. He's got rather more involved,
:57:01. > :57:06.particularly about this argument that pensions would be safer in the
:57:07. > :57:12.UK. It was interesting this week that he was somewhat unhelpful to
:57:13. > :57:16.two people. He was unhelpful to Alistair Darling, with whom we know
:57:17. > :57:19.his relationship became rather strained in the last days of the
:57:20. > :57:22.last Labour government when Alistair Darling was Chancellor and Gordon
:57:23. > :57:28.Brown was Prime Minister, and it's thought that those strains have not
:57:29. > :57:34.been entirely resolved and so Gordon Brown saying that Mr Darling was not
:57:35. > :57:38.doing enough... He is not Mr Cameron's biggest fan either. Mr
:57:39. > :57:41.Cameron has said he shouldn't take part in the debate and I think most
:57:42. > :57:47.people in the Labour Party agree he isn't their best advocate but
:57:48. > :57:51.perhaps Mr Brown could not resist the temptation of perhaps implying,
:57:52. > :57:58.this man is afraid of challenging Alex Salmond. The implication may be
:57:59. > :58:06.that Mr Brown thinks he would be able to stand up to Alex Salmond.
:58:07. > :58:13.Let's just close on the passport issue because it's an interesting
:58:14. > :58:17.story, and the fact that more people are using the system could be a sign
:58:18. > :58:21.that they're up more confident in the coming. Yes, the fact there are
:58:22. > :58:25.300,000 people more desperate get out of the country this summer to go
:58:26. > :58:29.on holiday abroad may mean they feel that things have been so bad in the
:58:30. > :58:33.UK and the weather has been so wet that they are desperate to get away
:58:34. > :58:36.but maybe they now have a bit more money in their pocket and haven't
:58:37. > :58:39.been able to go abroad for the last few years and haven't needed to
:58:40. > :58:44.renew their passport. The price of success. That's all we have time for
:58:45. > :58:50.just now. We're back at the same time next week, 2:30pm. From all of
:58:51. > :59:03.us, thanks for your company. See you next week. Goodbye for now.
:59:04. > :59:05.You're constantly trying to build the elusive trust.
:59:06. > :59:08.It's like a big old question mark in your heart.
:59:09. > :59:12.I just try and do the best I can for them while they're with me.