:00:19. > :00:23.Welcome to Politics Scotland. Coming up on the programme, there
:00:23. > :00:26.is a rise in Scottish unemployment from the summer but it is still
:00:26. > :00:31.lower than the rest of the UK. We will analyse the figures.
:00:31. > :00:34.The SNP Government has set out their hopes for the regeneration
:00:34. > :00:38.strategy amid opposition claims it has been crippled by massive budget
:00:38. > :00:42.cuts. And here at Westminster, MPs may be
:00:42. > :00:46.having a short holiday but it is those worries about the state of
:00:46. > :00:52.the economy that are foremost in their thought.
:00:52. > :00:55.But first, the number of Scots out of work has risen since the summer
:00:55. > :00:58.but unemployment is still lower than the rest of the UK average.
:00:58. > :01:03.Those are two of the main headlines to emerge from the latest
:01:03. > :01:07.unemployment figures which came out this morning. For more on this, we
:01:07. > :01:11.are joined by at our Business and the comic editor Douglas Fraser and
:01:11. > :01:16.our political commentator, Alf Young. Good afternoon. To you,
:01:16. > :01:20.Douglas. What is the detail behind these unemployment statistics?
:01:20. > :01:25.bring up to speed with what the Office for National Statistics is
:01:25. > :01:29.say, not a happy figure for Scottish politics but it could be
:01:29. > :01:33.worse. One way of looking at unemployment, at the number of
:01:33. > :01:36.people looking for work over three months, and a new key -- an
:01:36. > :01:42.increase of 5,000 people in Scotland during that period. Some
:01:42. > :01:47.of whom found work but that was the total and that was 215,000 people
:01:47. > :01:50.looking for work from July until September. Another way of looking
:01:50. > :01:56.at it is the number of people on jobseeker's allowance or
:01:56. > :02:00.unemployment benefit and that was down by 900 in Scotland. To the
:02:00. > :02:05.numbers for the UK, we are looking at a lot worse than these. So how
:02:05. > :02:11.do Scotland compared to the rest of the UK? On the main count, those
:02:11. > :02:16.seeking work over the period, Scotland has got an 8% unemployment
:02:16. > :02:20.rate, the rest of the UK 8.3%. Scotland is in a better position.
:02:20. > :02:24.If you look at the path of the downturn, Scotland started in a
:02:24. > :02:28.better place, got to a worse place with unemployment but it is better
:02:28. > :02:33.now than it has been for around three months. You have got another
:02:33. > :02:37.figure to show us, a fairly negative figure and the retail
:02:37. > :02:41.front. This is one area where Scotland is doing worse than the
:02:41. > :02:45.parallel figures, from the British Retail Consortium, these figures
:02:45. > :02:51.come from the Scottish Retail Consortium. Some shops losing
:02:51. > :02:56.business to online sales. Down 0.1%. That seems a small figure but with
:02:56. > :03:01.inflation at around 5%, that means people are taking a lot less home
:03:01. > :03:05.and in October, the retailers had hoped to see an early spend, people
:03:05. > :03:09.spreading out Christmas spending. That being absolutely essential for
:03:09. > :03:13.profits for retailers. What political reaction has there been
:03:13. > :03:17.in Scotland to these figures? unemployment figures in particular
:03:17. > :03:23.have been focused on by the Labour Party, saying more needs to be done
:03:23. > :03:27.in this particularly. The figures on youth unemployment for Scotland
:03:27. > :03:33.are hard to extrapolate reliably because of the way they go about
:03:33. > :03:37.this survey. It is roughly the same level as the UK and there has been
:03:37. > :03:45.a big increase in the most recent figures, through one million
:03:45. > :03:49.through the hall of the UK. It is a big area of worry. -- the whole of
:03:49. > :03:55.the UK. Labour says more needs to be done for apprenticeships for
:03:55. > :03:58.instance. Alf Young, let's pick up on that point. It is quite a worry
:03:58. > :04:02.for the Scottish Government as they try to tackle unemployment when
:04:02. > :04:06.they see youth unemployment rising like that. Yes, a problem for
:04:06. > :04:10.government in London and Edinburgh because as Douglas said, we are
:04:11. > :04:18.over one million in the UK as a whole for youth unemployment. In
:04:18. > :04:22.Scotland, around 84,000 which is roughly a population share. The
:04:22. > :04:26.problem is you are looking now, with all the other indicators, in
:04:26. > :04:30.terms of where the growth is coming from, the Bank of England
:04:30. > :04:35.downgrading forecasts over the next couple of years, if these jobs are
:04:35. > :04:41.not coming through, you are looking at eight West generation. That is
:04:41. > :04:44.what people are worried about. I saw some young people on television
:04:44. > :04:49.last night been quite downbeat about the effort they put in and
:04:49. > :04:52.the inability to find anything that is a reasonable job. Another bit of
:04:52. > :04:56.that story is the number of them who can only find part-time work
:04:57. > :05:00.which is fine in better times if people want it but if they want a
:05:00. > :05:04.real job and they can only find a part-time job, you have got
:05:04. > :05:10.problems with morale, paying off all the costs of living on your own
:05:10. > :05:15.and so on. It is a huge problem, I think. And all politicians across
:05:15. > :05:20.the spectrum here in Scotland and the UK as a whole are facing the
:05:20. > :05:26.kind of problem we faced 25-30 years ago when there was a similar
:05:26. > :05:30.situation, fighting to put young people into jobs because they are
:05:30. > :05:36.coming out having paid for their Education and they have not got any
:05:36. > :05:43.way to go with a productive wage. That is a huge tragedy. It is worth
:05:43. > :05:47.pointing out the SNP says it is on board with the apprenticeship more
:05:47. > :05:53.so than the previous government. is true that neither government is
:05:53. > :05:59.making excuses, they are looking at the real implications for the
:05:59. > :06:04.people affected. They are saying this is a real concern, not a blip.
:06:04. > :06:07.We have also got the eurozone crisis and all the hopes for
:06:07. > :06:11.export-led recoveries in manufacturing, for instance, that
:06:11. > :06:18.has been dampened. It is a continuing argument between
:06:18. > :06:23.Westminster and Scotland about primary and secondary plans. Yes,
:06:23. > :06:27.and the idea from the SNP is more needs to be put into the economy in
:06:27. > :06:31.terms of spend on infrastructure, helping the construction sector,
:06:31. > :06:35.getting finance to small businesses and there needs to be more security
:06:36. > :06:41.and that is why they are trying to ensure it there are no compulsory
:06:41. > :06:45.redundancies in the public sector. At least the private sector has
:06:45. > :06:51.been shedding jobs and they are not picking up the shed jobs in the
:06:51. > :06:54.public sector. There is a lot of pressure over the next two weeks on
:06:54. > :06:59.the fuel duty campaign that was very prominent yesterday in the
:06:59. > :07:04.House of Commons. Pressure on George Osborne, he has got the
:07:05. > :07:09.Autumn Statement coming up to try to relax spending a bit. He has
:07:09. > :07:13.sent a signal to the international bond markets that Britain is tough
:07:13. > :07:17.and it will be austere times, you do not need to worry about getting
:07:17. > :07:21.paid back by the British Government. But clearly panic across a lot of
:07:21. > :07:28.the eurozone. But it there is no growth, than his figures will be
:07:28. > :07:31.thrown out of kilter. We will find out later in the month. Numerous
:07:31. > :07:35.Wednesday's we have seemed quite positive with figures for Scottish
:07:35. > :07:40.unemployment compared to the rest of the UK. In Scotland now catching
:07:40. > :07:44.up with the rest of the UK in terms of more negative figures? So to me
:07:44. > :07:51.last week, the Fraser forecast last week on unemployment suggested that
:07:51. > :07:58.the Scottish rate would go as high as 8.9% by next year. And state
:07:58. > :08:02.there for some time. We are going up that way, not as high as some
:08:02. > :08:06.areas. In some areas like the north-east of England, you are
:08:06. > :08:09.already looking at unemployment rate of 11% and above, so we are
:08:10. > :08:15.certainly not there but the basic problem is that nobody quite knows
:08:15. > :08:22.whether they are talking about a primary, secondary or tertiary
:08:22. > :08:30.plans. Unless you get growth back into the economy, it is difficult
:08:30. > :08:36.to say. The idea was to hold on to people, but that gets harder to do
:08:36. > :08:41.the longer this goes on. You are therefore into a situation where
:08:41. > :08:46.the Scottish figures, which were helped by forwarding capital
:08:46. > :08:50.expenditure and so on, it might begin to look in terms in future of
:08:50. > :08:55.the UK picture a bit more like that. Not much difference exists between
:08:55. > :08:59.them but it may grow. Thank you. The Scottish Government are setting
:08:59. > :09:02.out their regeneration strategy at Holyrood this afternoon and Labour
:09:02. > :09:07.say the SNP are putting regeneration at risk claiming there
:09:07. > :09:13.are a massive budget cuts. Let's go straight to the chamber and hear
:09:13. > :09:18.what Alex Neil has to say. The Government's plans for
:09:18. > :09:22.delivering this partnership with stakeholders. Since 2007, this
:09:22. > :09:30.government has invested significant amounts of money in regeneration
:09:31. > :09:33.and they will talk more about some of this in a moment. Alongside
:09:33. > :09:41.partners and communities themselves, we have achieved notable success.
:09:41. > :09:46.efforts have not been enough. Too many of Scotland's people still
:09:46. > :09:51.live in communities suffering from the effects of deprivation, high
:09:51. > :09:59.unemployment and disadvantage. Way too many people are not in work and
:09:59. > :10:06.have low educational attainment -- where too many people. People still
:10:06. > :10:15.die far younger than their fellow Scots. The regeneration strategy
:10:15. > :10:20.will third reinvigorate effect to change this. But there are no Seoul
:10:20. > :10:25.bullets but we will re-energised the regeneration policy -- no
:10:25. > :10:32.silver bullets. The priority that evidence tells us which is vital to
:10:32. > :10:37.success. These priorities up a focus on tackling deprivation in
:10:37. > :10:44.areas by reforming how mainstream resources are used and working more
:10:44. > :10:49.effectively. Two, a stronger focus on community-led regeneration as a
:10:49. > :10:54.way of delivering change people want to see and three, a commitment
:10:54. > :10:57.to ensuring the right type of funding and other support art in
:10:57. > :11:04.place at national and local levels to support Scotland's communities
:11:04. > :11:08.to flourish. I will talk more on these later. Let me turn to
:11:08. > :11:12.investments so far. The Scottish Government has invested record
:11:12. > :11:17.levels of funding to improve the physical and economic fabric of our
:11:17. > :11:21.cities, towns and villages. In the face of unprecedented Westminster
:11:21. > :11:26.cut, we have continued to provide support to those committees who
:11:27. > :11:32.need it most. We developed a �50 million fund in partnership with
:11:32. > :11:36.the European Investment Bank and we have invested over �90 million in
:11:36. > :11:43.Scotland's other regeneration companies since 2007 which has
:11:44. > :11:52.already resulted in over 1,300 new jobs being secured. A further �25
:11:52. > :11:58.million of investment is planned in 2012-13 with a recognition of the
:11:58. > :12:05.key role in securing an economic legacy for the 2014 Commonwealth
:12:05. > :12:10.Games. We have supported 89 town centres with �60 million of funding
:12:10. > :12:14.through our town centre regeneration fund. We have invested
:12:14. > :12:19.over �40 million to tackle vacant and derelict land in some of our
:12:19. > :12:22.most deprived communities. We have made a commitment to establish four
:12:22. > :12:29.enterprise areas in Scotland to support economic growth. We have
:12:29. > :12:32.brought forward taxing and finance pilot projects in partnership with
:12:33. > :12:40.the Scottish Futures Trust as a way of unlocking investment in local
:12:40. > :12:45.areas. And we have invested �700,000 in the last three years in
:12:45. > :12:50.the development Trust Association of Scotland to help communities
:12:50. > :12:55.under their own assets. In addition, our investment in skills
:12:55. > :13:05.development, employability, housing Transport, renewables and other
:13:05. > :13:05.
:13:05. > :13:08.infrastructure project all help ensure that deterred park -- this
:13:08. > :13:12.disadvantaged communities can access many resources. But we still
:13:13. > :13:18.have challenges to face. Earlier this year, I published a discussion
:13:18. > :13:22.paper which kick-started the debate about the future of regeneration in
:13:22. > :13:27.the current economic climate. Over 70 written responses were received
:13:27. > :13:33.and a wide range of stakeholders engaged to a series of events. A
:13:33. > :13:40.number of key themes emerged. As part of these discussions. These
:13:40. > :13:42.were, one, a near of a clear vision for regeneration policy, two,
:13:42. > :13:47.clarification of the Rolls that different organisations have been
:13:47. > :13:53.delivering regeneration, three, support for a co-ordinated approach
:13:53. > :13:58.to tackling area-based deprivation. Five, the importance of community-
:13:59. > :14:03.led regeneration. Six, the need for continued funding. Finally, support
:14:03. > :14:10.for town centres as a central part of community life. I anticipate
:14:10. > :14:14.that these things will feature as part of today's debate. Be assured
:14:14. > :14:18.they have shaped the development of the strategy and are at the heart
:14:18. > :14:22.of this Government's approach to future regeneration. I spoke
:14:22. > :14:28.earlier about the three key priority areas that will form the
:14:28. > :14:33.strategy. I will now speak about each of these in turn. Firstly, a
:14:33. > :14:37.renewed approach to tackling area- based disadvantage. Respondents to
:14:37. > :14:44.the regeneration discussion paper recognised that addressing the
:14:44. > :14:47.deeply ingrained economic, physical and social issues faced by some of
:14:47. > :14:53.Scotland's communities requires a sustained and Co ordinated approach
:14:53. > :14:56.across the public sector and with our partners. I recognise and
:14:56. > :15:02.support the good work that has already been taken forward at local
:15:02. > :15:05.level and a key aspect of the regeneration strategy will be to
:15:05. > :15:10.build on this localised approach. This work will include working with
:15:10. > :15:14.public sector partners to raise the profile of efforts across the
:15:14. > :15:18.country to tackle area-based disadvantage and to promote and
:15:18. > :15:23.encourage best practice in a culture change in the public sector
:15:23. > :15:29.to join up mainstream resources and services to tackle area-based
:15:29. > :15:33.disadvantage. It will also involve working with local authorities to
:15:33. > :15:39.identify barriers to delivery and opportunities for strengthening
:15:39. > :15:43.skills and capacity. We will lead the way to develop better
:15:43. > :15:53.partnerships working with the public and private sectors and
:15:53. > :15:57.
:15:57. > :16:02.improving collaboration between Strong communities are vital to the
:16:02. > :16:06.success of Scotland. The regeneration strategy will place
:16:06. > :16:10.support for regeneration at the very heart of this approach. It
:16:10. > :16:16.will recognise that the changes required to make all communities
:16:16. > :16:21.sustainable will only be achieved in the long run through a bottom up,
:16:21. > :16:25.not a top-down approach. Through the regeneration strategy, we are
:16:25. > :16:29.committed to supporting community led regeneration in order to growth
:16:29. > :16:36.the numbers and the strength of locally controlled enterprising
:16:36. > :16:41.community organisations to act as anchors for regeneration, to
:16:41. > :16:46.support locally-based organisations to take on ownership of a viable
:16:46. > :16:51.assets and to help people to organise and respond to the
:16:51. > :16:56.challenges in areas where capacity is currently low. Community led
:16:56. > :17:00.regeneration is about local people identifying for themselves the
:17:00. > :17:03.issues and opportunities in their areas, deciding what to do about
:17:03. > :17:07.them and being responsible for delivering the action that will
:17:07. > :17:12.make a difference. The we are starting from a strong position in
:17:12. > :17:18.Scotland. There is already an impressive range of activity taking
:17:18. > :17:20.place across urban and rural communities, led by organisations
:17:20. > :17:25.like development trusts and community-based housing
:17:25. > :17:30.associations. The strategy will build on this strength and will
:17:30. > :17:35.build on it through a range of new and existing support, both from the
:17:35. > :17:39.Scottish government and party organisations including the big
:17:39. > :17:43.lottery in Scotland. We are the early stages of developing
:17:43. > :17:47.proposals for the community empowerment and renew it Bill
:17:47. > :17:51.through a wide-ranging dialogue. We are exploring how legislation can
:17:51. > :17:56.help communities to own certain public sector assets, have their
:17:56. > :18:00.voices heard in local decisions and tackle vacant and derelict property
:18:00. > :18:10.in their communities. We expect to consult on proposals and next
:18:10. > :18:15.spring. I totally agree on the need for community-based work and for it
:18:15. > :18:19.to be a bottom-up approach to this, but when you have regeneration
:18:19. > :18:23.projects which do not have a community in which to begin that
:18:23. > :18:29.regeneration, do you not feel that the Scottish government have got to
:18:29. > :18:36.take a greater say in that? There was a decision in 2008 to downgrade
:18:36. > :18:42.one community projects two-way regional priorities. As the member
:18:42. > :18:46.will know, the Scottish government has given priority to that
:18:46. > :18:49.committee and it is the subject of one of our tough pilot projects are.
:18:49. > :18:55.We are determined to work together with everyone involved to make it
:18:55. > :19:02.successful. Let's pick up on some of those
:19:02. > :19:05.points with Alf Young. You have got an interest to declare because you
:19:05. > :19:08.worried share of one of the regeneration companies. How
:19:08. > :19:17.important is this regeneration strategy for the Scottish
:19:17. > :19:25.government? We are still to see the detail of this review of overall
:19:25. > :19:31.regeneration strategy that he was talking about a moment ago. From
:19:31. > :19:34.where I stand on it, we are part of this story but only part of it
:19:34. > :19:39.because there are a number of the urban regeneration companies in in
:19:39. > :19:44.areas which have historically had significant problems. People have
:19:44. > :19:54.moved away and the usual kind of problems that are associated with
:19:54. > :19:57.
:19:57. > :20:02.those areas. That does not cover anything like the whole of Scotland
:20:02. > :20:04.and, at a different level, there are those smaller Community
:20:04. > :20:12.Development Trust that are springing up all over Scotland.
:20:12. > :20:18.There are many of them. I think the problem that government has against
:20:18. > :20:24.the backdrop of falling finances and money to fund these projects,
:20:24. > :20:32.they are having to make quite difficult choices and we are taking
:20:32. > :20:40.pretty heavy hits. We took a big hit back in January. We are taking
:20:40. > :20:50.an even bigger hit in next year's funding. Labour say it is down from
:20:50. > :20:52.
:20:53. > :20:57.�9 million to �2.5 million. It is of that order. We are taking that
:20:57. > :21:04.hit but, beyond next year, into 20th April 13, we are getting
:21:04. > :21:10.nothing in terms of core grant funding. -- April 2013. The
:21:10. > :21:15.difficulty about doing the kind of physical regeneration we are doing
:21:15. > :21:18.like taking derelict waterfront land and bringing new life into it
:21:18. > :21:23.is that you have got a plan of a more than a financial year. We have
:21:23. > :21:26.got a plan of a more than one financial year and to do that you
:21:26. > :21:30.need to have committed finance going forward. And in these
:21:30. > :21:37.difficult times, it is almost easier to use short-term measures
:21:38. > :21:42.rather than long-term measures. short-term measures tend to be
:21:42. > :21:47.sticking plasters that cover-up a problem for a short time. You have
:21:47. > :21:50.got to try and turn around communities that have been in post-
:21:50. > :21:53.industrial decline. You have got to do things for the longer term and
:21:53. > :22:01.that is the tricky bit the Government is having difficulty
:22:01. > :22:05.doing because it is having to fund other things. Thank you very much.
:22:05. > :22:08.Back to our top storey and unemployment in Scotland rose by
:22:08. > :22:13.5,000 in the three months to the end of September. The jobless rate
:22:14. > :22:18.now stands at 8%, slightly lower than their UK average of 8.3 %.
:22:18. > :22:22.Across the UK, youth unemployment has topped one million, a record
:22:22. > :22:27.high. I am joined by the Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Minister,
:22:27. > :22:32.Fergus Ewing. He is in the garden lobby at Holyrood. Unemployment is
:22:32. > :22:39.up in Scotland. Who is to blame, Westminster or the Scottish
:22:39. > :22:43.government? I don't think a blame game is a productive look.
:22:43. > :22:48.Unemployment is up and we are concerned about that. Politicians
:22:48. > :22:53.are south of the border are concerned about that you. We are
:22:53. > :22:56.outperforming the UK. We have slightly lower unemployment, more
:22:56. > :23:01.employment and more economic inactivity. But we are all
:23:01. > :23:07.concerned about this. Many of the things we are doing in the Scottish
:23:07. > :23:12.government are designed to promote long-term jobs and business growth
:23:12. > :23:18.as Alf Young was talking about. This morning, I had the pleasure of
:23:18. > :23:23.attending an announcement by Scotland's leading IT company where
:23:23. > :23:28.they are recruiting 100 more staff. Yesterday we heard the announcement
:23:28. > :23:33.from an us on and we have attracted, over the past couple of years, a
:23:33. > :23:37.huge array of investment in Scotland for the long-term of high-
:23:37. > :23:40.quality jobs. Therefore, we are working hard for a sustainable
:23:41. > :23:48.economic development with a considerable measure of success in
:23:48. > :23:52.these tough times. We have had John Sweeney saying his figures are much
:23:52. > :23:55.better than the rest of the UK but now it seems Scotland is actually
:23:55. > :24:00.catching up. He was quite rightly proud to boast about the
:24:00. > :24:05.unemployment figures in Scotland. Do you take responsibility for the
:24:05. > :24:09.rising number of unemployed in Scotland? We as a government are
:24:10. > :24:14.responsible to do everything we can. In terms of job creation, most
:24:14. > :24:18.people accept that what we really need to do is to assist the private
:24:18. > :24:28.sector in creating a long-term job opportunities. That is what we have
:24:28. > :24:35.
:24:35. > :24:39.been doing in Scotland with companies like Mitsubishi, BP. I
:24:39. > :24:42.could go on all afternoon with the success stories of business and we
:24:42. > :24:47.support them with our growth strategy to provide them the
:24:47. > :24:52.appropriate level of government support in terms of working to make
:24:52. > :24:58.sure that the skills shortages in many areas, particularly
:24:58. > :25:03.engineering in the oil and gas sector, so essential for our future.
:25:03. > :25:11.At the lower end of the market, there is massive concern about
:25:11. > :25:15.employment in the 16-19 bracket. The NUS was saying today, look at
:25:15. > :25:23.the huge cuts in the college budgets. How can you have that
:25:23. > :25:31.training for young people for them to go on and find work? We have a
:25:31. > :25:36.programme to provide opportunities to all of them so we have two
:25:36. > :25:41.excellent schemes. Youth employment is 5% higher in Scotland than south
:25:41. > :25:45.of the border but my dad used to say, 50 % of the people don't
:25:45. > :25:49.understand percentages. What happens more than -- matters more
:25:49. > :25:55.than statistics is human beings getting the chance, especially
:25:55. > :26:00.young people, and one young unemployed young person is too many.
:26:00. > :26:04.We are responsible together with our partners in the private sector
:26:04. > :26:07.and universities and colleges to make sure that young people get the
:26:07. > :26:14.opportunities they'd need and deserve a. We are achieving a
:26:14. > :26:17.considerable degree of success, even in these recessionary times.
:26:17. > :26:23.just want to turn to one other issue that is attracting a huge
:26:23. > :26:29.amount of public interest today and that is the Rail 2014 consultation
:26:29. > :26:34.which suggests passengers pay more. Is this a plan to float some
:26:34. > :26:39.controversial ideas so that you can eventually perhaps produce the �750
:26:40. > :26:43.million subsidy Scottish rail receive from the Government?
:26:43. > :26:47.Machiavelli was a character who wrote a book but he's not running
:26:47. > :26:52.the Scottish government. We don't operate by a series of conspiracy
:26:52. > :26:56.theories. This document is a consultation document. It contains
:26:56. > :27:02.suggestions and ideas, no more than that. They do not have Scottish
:27:02. > :27:06.government backing. The purpose of a consultation document is to
:27:06. > :27:10.stimulate a debate and I think we have already succeeded in that. I
:27:10. > :27:16.would like to reassure rail passengers throughout Scotland, we
:27:16. > :27:21.intended to improve our rail service, not to see it progress.
:27:21. > :27:25.Thank you very much. We will have more on that story
:27:25. > :27:29.surely put as thousands more Scots are hit by unemployment, who does
:27:29. > :27:34.have the right answers? We will be hearing from a UK government
:27:34. > :27:37.minister at Westminster. Animal charities a warning about growing
:27:37. > :27:41.crisis due to an influx of abandoned Staffordshire bull
:27:41. > :27:46.terriers. They are now taking up as much as 80 % of the spaces at
:27:46. > :27:50.animal charity kennels. Holyrood's petitions committee is asking the
:27:50. > :28:00.Scottish government to raise - respond to issues raised in the
:28:00. > :28:03.
:28:03. > :28:10.Staffordshire bull terriers have acquired a reputation as aggressive
:28:10. > :28:13.dogs and are known to be kept for protection by criminals. Leslie
:28:14. > :28:18.Connolly helps abandoned savage able terriers through a
:28:18. > :28:22.rehabilitation programme to help them find a new home. Some of them
:28:22. > :28:30.have come from a really abusive background. They have been kicked
:28:30. > :28:36.and hit with chains. Some of the animals have been drugged. It is
:28:36. > :28:39.actually very normal, just getting a dog to walk properly and to pay
:28:39. > :28:44.attention to what you are saying, because they are so used to not
:28:44. > :28:53.doing anything or waiting to get hurt. Some of them are cowering or
:28:53. > :28:59.ducking. She is helping at this kennels where a Staffordshire bull
:28:59. > :29:02.terriers take up 80 % of the spaces. The charity's vice-chairman is
:29:02. > :29:06.petitioning the Scottish Parliament for tough action on irresponsible
:29:06. > :29:11.breeding. It is not be responsible breeders who have caused this
:29:11. > :29:16.problem, it is people who watch breeding dogs to fund their habit,
:29:16. > :29:24.are not licensed and will not conform to any of the laws
:29:24. > :29:28.regarding breeding and abandoning dogs. The problem is nationwide. At
:29:28. > :29:32.this very homing centre in Glasgow, staff are turning away around 25 a
:29:32. > :29:39.Staffordshire bull terriers every week. They are being treated almost
:29:39. > :29:43.as disposable items. We are also very concerned to see the amount of
:29:43. > :29:50.a Staffordshire bull terriers being bred because it outstrips the
:29:51. > :29:54.number of homes willing to take care of them. This woman spent 30
:29:54. > :29:58.years grooming dogs but her business have to close for several
:29:58. > :30:04.months after she and her dog were attacked by a Staffordshire bull
:30:04. > :30:11.terrier. I had two broken fingers. I thought I was going to lose the
:30:11. > :30:14.top of one of my fingers. I had 10 stitches in my other hand. Local
:30:14. > :30:17.authorities are reporting increasing number of complaints
:30:17. > :30:22.like this one which require investigation under the control of
:30:22. > :30:28.Dogs Act. Since April, in West Lothian alone, they have received
:30:28. > :30:31.100 complaints and 20 dog control orders have been issued. There is a
:30:31. > :30:38.culture now of people who are breeding the stock to be vicious.
:30:38. > :30:41.Some people are frightened, I am frightened for my own dog. Some of
:30:41. > :30:46.my customers who have their dogs attacked and there is never
:30:46. > :30:53.anything done about it. When it does go to Cork, they put the dog
:30:53. > :31:03.down. It is not a dog. The law says that a licence is required to breed
:31:03. > :31:12.
:31:12. > :31:17.We can deal with the cruelty case people. But you have to produce
:31:17. > :31:20.five litters a year for breeding which introduces big money. This
:31:20. > :31:25.type of breeding has slipped through the net. Animal welfare
:31:25. > :31:30.charities say the challenge now lies in we home in these dogs and
:31:30. > :31:36.convincing people like Martin that these are good, safe animals and
:31:36. > :31:42.deserve a home. To get a dog snarling and baring their teeth is
:31:42. > :31:48.worrying. I was able to entice them with treats and after a couple of
:31:48. > :31:52.nights, it was not a issues. number of Staffies being abandoned
:31:52. > :31:57.is reaching crisis point. It is calling on the Scottish Government
:31:57. > :32:06.to take urgent action. If not, it says many could end up being put to
:32:07. > :32:10.sleep simply because they have no Let's make another connection with
:32:10. > :32:16.our story on trains and the consultation looking at the future
:32:16. > :32:20.shape of how Scotland's railways are run. 2014 is when the current
:32:20. > :32:28.ScotRail contract comes to an end. There and various ideas that a new
:32:28. > :32:35.operator could consider things like changing fares. Opposition parties
:32:35. > :32:39.branded this a third-class shambles. We are joined by Labour's transport
:32:39. > :32:44.spokesman, at Holyrood. Thank you for joining us. You probably heard
:32:44. > :32:49.our report saying Machiavelli is not running the Scottish Government
:32:49. > :32:53.but to him this was a way of reducing the �700 million subsidy.
:32:53. > :32:57.What do you think is happening, do you think there should be a
:32:57. > :33:02.reduction of the subsidy? I suppose he is right that Machiavelli is not,
:33:02. > :33:06.this is not a clever prose or at all. This seems designed to drive
:33:06. > :33:09.passengers off the railways at the very time when growing the economy
:33:09. > :33:13.and reducing carbon emissions are policy objectives mean we should
:33:13. > :33:17.try to get more people onto the train and travel-to-work and take
:33:17. > :33:23.their other journeys by that means. It is not clever at all. What it is
:33:23. > :33:29.is a recipe which will result in more expensive trains, slower
:33:29. > :33:33.trains, more overcrowd in and it will reduce the level of service
:33:33. > :33:36.that Scottish passengers have come to enjoy. There is a specific point
:33:36. > :33:41.about the North of Scotland as well because even when the Tories
:33:41. > :33:45.privatise the railways 20 years ago, they guaranteed East Coast main
:33:45. > :33:48.line trains would continue to run to Aberdeen and Inverness, that
:33:48. > :33:52.guarantee was maintained by the Labour government and has been
:33:52. > :33:56.maintained up until now and for the very first time, the SNP are
:33:56. > :33:59.proposing to end the guarantee and stop those trains from connecting
:33:59. > :34:04.Aberdeen with the London or Inverness with any part of England.
:34:05. > :34:08.That seems to be going completely against the interests of Scottish
:34:08. > :34:12.travellers and against the idea that we should encourage people to
:34:12. > :34:17.take the train. It is just a consultation, after all, these are
:34:17. > :34:21.not proposals and surely there are some sensible ones such as
:34:21. > :34:28.rationalising the number of stations in Glasgow. Many people
:34:28. > :34:33.will look kindly on the alcohol ban as well. In any consultation you
:34:33. > :34:39.expect to see lots of good ideas and what we have is a raft of
:34:39. > :34:46.really bad ideas. The was will simply drive people off the trains.
:34:46. > :34:50.-- these Wilson plays. -- these will simply drive people off the
:34:50. > :34:53.trains. What they are proposing here is reducing standards across
:34:53. > :35:00.the board which can only reduce in passengers thinking twice before
:35:00. > :35:03.they go for the train. We have seen passenger numbers on railways go up
:35:03. > :35:08.steadily since devolution and I think what we are looking at now is
:35:08. > :35:12.something that will fit the trend in reverse. They subsidy for
:35:12. > :35:15.ScotRail is �700 million, your colleague Ken Macintosh running for
:35:15. > :35:20.the Labour leadership suggested that ScotRail demutualised to save
:35:20. > :35:25.taxpayers millions of pounds. What do you think of that suggestion?
:35:25. > :35:31.is a lot better suggestion than the woman had before from the SNP. I
:35:31. > :35:39.think there are many ways that would be an improvement -- than the
:35:39. > :35:44.one we had before. These proposals will go in the wrong direction,
:35:44. > :35:47.they are making the wrong choice at every turn. If you want to improve
:35:47. > :35:53.punctuality, the answer is not to make the trains slower which is
:35:53. > :35:58.what has been proposed. It you want to reduce overcrowding, it is not
:35:58. > :36:04.the idea to make the trains so expensive. This consultation has
:36:04. > :36:08.come from SNP ministers, they have the words of wisdom at the front of
:36:08. > :36:16.the consultation and they will have cleared this for publication. They
:36:16. > :36:19.cannot hide from what this is now on welcome to many people. Thank
:36:19. > :36:22.you for joining us. Let's pick up on several of those
:36:22. > :36:26.issues with our commentator for the afternoon, Alf Young. What do you
:36:26. > :36:31.think is happening with this consultation? We are hearing from
:36:31. > :36:35.Fergus Ewing that some ideas are being put out to the public and
:36:35. > :36:43.some of the more controversial points, what are these people up
:36:43. > :36:47.to? It appears that there are two irreconcilable forces here. The
:36:47. > :36:52.amount of subsidy that has to go in to get it operating to take on the
:36:52. > :36:58.franchise and run it and the reality that as petrol prices rise
:36:58. > :37:04.and people change their habit, more people are using the train. I am a
:37:04. > :37:08.good example, I use the train much more than I used to. And you find
:37:08. > :37:16.things that are good about it, some very comfortable services now that
:37:16. > :37:22.I use and there are others, such as the Edinburgh-Glasgow service that
:37:22. > :37:27.is so busy at some times, it is difficult to get a seat. Some big
:37:27. > :37:32.issues there about the overcrowding and those kinds of things. It is
:37:32. > :37:36.also the case on InterCity services to the south from Scotland that it
:37:36. > :37:40.is a lot more expensive to go to London by train and it is to fly
:37:40. > :37:45.and if we want to people out of the air on the short haul things, there
:37:45. > :37:50.has to be a better pricing system. I would have thought these were the
:37:50. > :37:54.kind of metrics but when you get down to things about the number of
:37:54. > :37:59.stations and in a sense, the commuter has not got a view on this
:37:59. > :38:05.kind of things. And there a lot of stations where people wonder why
:38:05. > :38:09.they got built there. It was meant to bring the wide as
:38:09. > :38:12.representation of parties possible but apparently it has not, the
:38:12. > :38:17.electoral Reform Society is warning that Scotland's election system is
:38:17. > :38:22.failing to meet the aspirations of devolution by concentrating power
:38:22. > :38:25.around two parties, Labour and SNP. We are joined by the director of
:38:25. > :38:31.the electoral Reform Society in Scotland. Mr Sullivan, thanks for
:38:31. > :38:35.joining me. What is the purpose of York new report? It sounds quite
:38:35. > :38:39.unusual for me that when people in Scotland have voted with this
:38:39. > :38:41.majority SNP Government, it sounds quite strange that you are almost
:38:42. > :38:46.criticising the system that has brought this majority government
:38:46. > :38:53.when in fact, the SNP almost broke the system and did what Labour did
:38:53. > :38:57.not want them to do. The first thing to say is our modern
:38:57. > :39:02.electoral system and Parliament makes Westminster look like a
:39:02. > :39:07.tribal council. The truth is that just because it is good, it doesn't
:39:07. > :39:12.been we cannot make it better. The concentration of power is worrying
:39:12. > :39:19.where a bit it happens. It tends to concentrate in itself and we have
:39:19. > :39:25.happen. The initial vision of the Parliament was to represent a wide
:39:25. > :39:29.range of views from across Scotland and there was a point where we saw
:39:29. > :39:36.that in 2003 but it has now fallen away with the two big parties vying
:39:36. > :39:40.for power. That is a concern. We as the electoral Reform Society wants
:39:40. > :39:48.to be the voters' representative and to charge his concentration of
:39:48. > :39:53.power. You use the word "power" and you say it lies with the SNP and
:39:53. > :39:58.Labour but you could say that it lies purely with the SNP in terms
:39:58. > :40:07.of the committee's they control, Presiding Officers and the SNP
:40:07. > :40:11.members. Does Labour have power in that term, Labour may be were all-
:40:11. > :40:15.powerful in previous Parliaments, do you think this idea comes up to
:40:15. > :40:24.that with the use of the word power? In the last Government we
:40:24. > :40:28.saw a minority government which no opposition parties were able to
:40:28. > :40:33.challenge. Before that, we saw coalition partners holding each
:40:33. > :40:43.other to account, not just a solid block within one party. We are
:40:43. > :40:47.concerned that as the SNP have an overall majority, not a majority of
:40:47. > :40:50.votes, we must be concerned about that. Labour has some power in the
:40:50. > :40:55.power to challenge and I guess the media have the power to challenge
:40:55. > :40:59.and question on behalf of the people but there is in our view and
:40:59. > :41:05.over concentration of power particularly when you think we have
:41:05. > :41:14.got a majority of 44% of the vote. Those other voices, for example the
:41:14. > :41:18.Greens, two seats... Less than 2% representation on 4.5% of the vote
:41:18. > :41:20.and their voices are not being heard. That is a concern for us. We
:41:20. > :41:26.have all got to check concentrations of power and make
:41:26. > :41:34.sure it is balanced. Alex Salmond may have the best interests of this
:41:34. > :41:40.country at heart but on the other hand, power has a tendency to take
:41:40. > :41:45.people in difficult directions. Looking at what the SNP are seeing,
:41:45. > :41:50.it is deeply ironic that they favour STV, a single transferable
:41:50. > :41:55.vote, which is what your society prefer. But other people have said
:41:55. > :41:59.this was designed by Labour, it was the people of Scotland who voted as
:41:59. > :42:06.in and you're proposing a different system. Is this not trying to move
:42:06. > :42:09.the goalposts when the people have spoken? Nobody takes away from the
:42:10. > :42:13.SNP what was an incredible victory for them and the fact that this was
:42:13. > :42:23.one of the biggest swings in European political history. But the
:42:23. > :42:27.truth is they have a majority of representation, not of votes. How
:42:27. > :42:33.much right they have to exercise an all powerful mandate as you say,
:42:34. > :42:40.when nobody has checks and balances on it, is questionable. Whether
:42:40. > :42:46.that system was set up by Labour to keep SNP out again is a debatable
:42:46. > :42:56.point. It was some ways that people in the Labour Party were worried
:42:56. > :43:08.
:43:08. > :43:11.about a Labour majority in that Parliament... What happens and what
:43:11. > :43:15.happened in labour and local government, what happens wearer
:43:15. > :43:21.power over concentrate, what happened in Westminster and I am
:43:21. > :43:28.sure that the SNP would want to be critical of that, is that power
:43:28. > :43:31.concentrated is quite dangerous. thank you for joining us.
:43:31. > :43:35.Westminster is in recess today and there was no Prime Minister's
:43:35. > :43:41.Questions but there are still plenty to discuss. Our Westminster
:43:41. > :43:47.Correspondent is standing by for us. Andrew, but key very much.
:43:47. > :43:51.Westminster Abbey is in full flow, the bells are peeling behind me --
:43:51. > :43:54.Andrew, thank you very much. That is to celebrate the 400th
:43:54. > :43:57.anniversary of the King James Bible. We will deal with matters a bit
:43:57. > :44:07.more current, the state of the economy. Today, unemployment
:44:07. > :44:12.figures came at which showed the highest for 17 years. More than
:44:12. > :44:22.1,000,016-24-year-olds now on the unemployment register -- more than
:44:22. > :44:22.
:44:22. > :44:29.one million 16-24-year-olds. Three MPs joined me you are not back in
:44:29. > :44:36.their as constituencies in Scotland. David Mundell, to repeat some of
:44:36. > :44:41.those figures, unemployment up in Scotland, more than one million
:44:41. > :44:44.youngsters unemployed. These are pretty dreadful figures. They are
:44:44. > :44:48.certainly concerning figures and the issue of youth unemployment is
:44:48. > :44:53.a really serious problem. Youth unemployment rose under the last
:44:53. > :44:56.Labour government and it is still a big issue to date. In Scotland, the
:44:56. > :45:01.Scotland Office have held a series of events around Scotland to look
:45:01. > :45:05.at why we have such a problem with youth unemployment. One of the
:45:05. > :45:08.issues is that there is a bias against young people are
:45:08. > :45:13.essentially in the workforce, people are not keen to take young
:45:13. > :45:16.people on. We have got to combat that along with the other help the
:45:16. > :45:21.Government is trying to give young people to get them into work for.
:45:21. > :45:27.Are we starting to get where we see headlines since, "the Lost
:45:27. > :45:34.Generation?" I am not that pessimistic. We have got to support
:45:34. > :45:38.people into work. But we have got to change attitudes, taking on
:45:38. > :45:43.young people are not risks. They have got potentially skills to
:45:43. > :45:47.contribute to businesses and we have to seek a change in attitudes
:45:47. > :45:50.if we will see a turnaround in youth unemployment as well as the
:45:50. > :46:00.skills we are trying to equip young people to have to be effective in
:46:00. > :46:02.
:46:02. > :46:07.What can be SNP due to reduce these figures? The Scottish government
:46:07. > :46:13.already has a programme for 16-19- year-old and unemployed will be
:46:13. > :46:16.offered training or education if they are not in a job. Part of that
:46:16. > :46:20.is the 25,000 apprenticeships a year. The interesting thing in
:46:20. > :46:25.terms of their youth unemployment figures, and they are far too high,
:46:25. > :46:28.is that a third of them in Scotland are also in full-time education.
:46:28. > :46:33.That is not to say the Scottish government is doing everything
:46:33. > :46:43.right but the sort of things we can be doing to give young people the
:46:43. > :46:43.
:46:43. > :46:47.skills they need are absolutely vital. Training and apprenticeships
:46:47. > :46:51.all very well but if at the end of those schemes there are not the
:46:51. > :46:55.jobs anyway, is it not just massaging the figures? No, because
:46:55. > :47:00.if we don't give away youngsters the skills they need, we are
:47:00. > :47:03.letting everybody down. The key thing is to put as much pressure on
:47:03. > :47:07.the UK government as we possibly can to make sure there is real
:47:07. > :47:14.measures to grow and stimulate the economy so we don't have another
:47:14. > :47:18.lost generation. What would Labour do to get over these problems?
:47:18. > :47:26.would not have at this complacency that we have just heard from the UK
:47:26. > :47:29.and Scottish government. It is OK holding roadshows and round table
:47:29. > :47:33.events and talking about lost generations and doing as much as
:47:33. > :47:37.you possibly can to make people equipped for work but people are
:47:37. > :47:40.equipped for work and are not able to get it. The plan being promoted
:47:41. > :47:44.by Labour is that we make sure we invest in people getting back to
:47:44. > :47:54.work and giving young people are the opportunities they desperately
:47:54. > :47:55.
:47:55. > :47:58.need. 100,016-19-year-old out of work in Scotland is a disaster.
:47:58. > :48:08.if the economy is not creating these jobs, it is worthless, isn't
:48:08. > :48:08.
:48:08. > :48:11.it? The private sector is not picking up the public sector
:48:11. > :48:14.contraction in Scotland at the moment and that is really
:48:14. > :48:19.concerning. The Scottish government have got used everything in their
:48:19. > :48:23.power to do something about it and I am not sure they are. Before
:48:23. > :48:27.Westminster went into its many recess last night, there was a
:48:27. > :48:31.debate on fuel duties. From the Government's point of view, a lot
:48:31. > :48:38.of York backbenchers are sending you a pretty strong message, do not
:48:38. > :48:42.go ahead with those fuel duty rises. I very much welcomed the debate
:48:42. > :48:46.because in a large rural constituency like my own, fuel duty
:48:46. > :48:49.is one of the biggest issues that constituents raised. I think he was
:48:49. > :48:53.very good that he was debated yesterday and I think a strong
:48:53. > :48:58.message has been sent to the Chancellor and we will wait to see
:48:58. > :49:01.how he responds. For it looks as though there will be some good news.
:49:01. > :49:09.The regional derogation for the island's will go ahead probably
:49:09. > :49:13.next year. Is it enough? It is great news for the islands but it
:49:13. > :49:19.is not enough. We need action to stabilise fuel across the entire
:49:19. > :49:26.economy. We have been moving amendments to finance bills on this
:49:26. > :49:33.since 2005. Action must be taken to have a permanent stabiliser in
:49:33. > :49:38.place. We cannot have continually spiking costs that run into the one
:49:38. > :49:42.pun 40 a later, that is utterly crippling for families and the
:49:42. > :49:46.economy. I would expect for you to call for these duties to be reduced
:49:46. > :49:49.and for there to be no further increases, but if you are in
:49:50. > :49:56.government, you have got to find the money from somewhere. Every
:49:56. > :50:02.penny not put on duty on fuel costs half a million pounds. It has got
:50:02. > :50:06.to go somewhere else. The increase in VAT in January last year put 3p
:50:06. > :50:09.automatically on a litre of fuel. We are saying that VAT has got to
:50:09. > :50:14.be reduced in order to take the pressure off family budgets. That
:50:14. > :50:17.would give families �450 extra per year in their pockets which would
:50:18. > :50:25.help them out on all costs. We are calling on that to happen now in
:50:25. > :50:29.order to take the pressure off. The debate yesterday, I believe there
:50:29. > :50:32.were 130,000 signatures on the petition that went to Westminster,
:50:32. > :50:39.but the motion didn't really say anything, et let the Government off
:50:39. > :50:49.the hook. We need some hard action. Thank you very much for joining me
:50:49. > :50:49.
:50:49. > :50:53.this afternoon. The new welfare reform bill was
:50:53. > :50:56.criticised by various charities giving evidence at Holyrood's
:50:56. > :51:00.health committee yesterday. The UK government was to simplify the
:51:00. > :51:08.benefits systems and that has implications for the Scottish
:51:08. > :51:11.government. We had a recent forecasting from the Institute of
:51:11. > :51:16.Fiscal Studies suggesting that across the UK, by the end of the
:51:16. > :51:20.decade, the overall impact of the tax and benefit changes that are
:51:20. > :51:26.being made would be to push 800,000 more children into poverty across
:51:26. > :51:30.the UK by 2020. If that trend is mirrored in Scotland, which it is
:51:30. > :51:34.likely to be LSE put some substantial mitigating policies in
:51:34. > :51:38.place, we are talking about 100,000 more children living in poverty in
:51:38. > :51:44.Scotland by the end of the decade, wiping out all the progress that
:51:44. > :51:46.has been made since the late 1990s. Children's charities have
:51:46. > :51:52.particular concerns that these changes will have an adverse effect
:51:52. > :51:55.and they will want the UK government to slowdown. We can all
:51:55. > :52:00.agree that the benefits system should be made simpler, that work
:52:00. > :52:04.should always pay, that the Child Support Agency needs to be reformed
:52:04. > :52:08.or replace, but this bill is going through at such speed and often
:52:08. > :52:14.with such little attention to the Scottish situation that it is
:52:14. > :52:18.likely to cause major unintended consequences. The children are
:52:18. > :52:23.receiving a double whammy. Their family income is being reduced,
:52:23. > :52:26.public services that support them both by Darroch provision and local
:52:26. > :52:31.authorities but also through the charitable and voluntary sector are
:52:31. > :52:37.being restricted, and, consequently, the consequences for children are
:52:37. > :52:41.likely, in the short-term, medium- term and long-term are likely to be
:52:41. > :52:47.bad. We would like to see the Scottish Parliament analysed in a
:52:47. > :52:53.sophisticated way what the cumulative and consequential impact
:52:53. > :52:58.of this legislation is likely to be on children and to do what it can
:52:58. > :53:01.to mitigate the worst impacts of that at. After hearing a raft of
:53:01. > :53:09.evidence, there were calls for a dedicated scrutiny of the proposals
:53:09. > :53:13.at Holyrood. The effects of these damaging reforms goes beyond this
:53:14. > :53:17.memorandum that we are considering and will reverberate across
:53:17. > :53:26.Scottish Society for years. I would like all of your opinions on
:53:26. > :53:32.whether we need to set up a committee of this Parliament for
:53:32. > :53:36.ongoing scrutiny of the impact of UK benefit reforms. Although this
:53:36. > :53:42.is UK legislation, Holyrood will need to pass a legislative consent
:53:43. > :53:47.memorandum, allowing these changes to apply to Scotland. Members have
:53:47. > :53:57.already said they're not keen to pursue this on the nod. This view
:53:57. > :53:58.
:53:58. > :54:06.is shared by the voluntary sector. 63 organisations came to that round
:54:06. > :54:09.Table two weeks ago in this very room and that expressed to me 63
:54:09. > :54:14.third sector organisations expressing concerns to you and we
:54:14. > :54:18.ran out of time because so many concerns were being raised. With
:54:18. > :54:23.the bill as it stands, I don't see how it would appropriate to let it
:54:23. > :54:31.through. Our view is very much that we support the Parliament's
:54:31. > :54:37.position but was taken at the debate in Parliament on the 5th. As
:54:37. > :54:43.David said, as the bill currently stands, we think that view is right,
:54:43. > :54:45.that Parliament is minded not to support it go. And the report from
:54:45. > :54:50.the health committee on those welfare reforms will be published
:54:50. > :54:54.at the end of the month. Let's pick up on one or two issues
:54:54. > :55:04.raised during the course of the programme for a final time in the
:55:04. > :55:05.
:55:05. > :55:10.company of our political, data for the afternoon, Alf Young. We are
:55:10. > :55:14.just coming up to Christmas, the big shopping came -- campaigns are
:55:15. > :55:18.getting under way, how worried should retailers be? With the
:55:18. > :55:22.squeeze on living standards, people across the social range are being
:55:22. > :55:28.much more careful about what they spend money on and that is going to
:55:28. > :55:32.be important because retail consumption is such a big chunk of
:55:32. > :55:37.general economic activity in our post-industrial society. It is a
:55:37. > :55:41.big problem. In terms of proportionately looking at economic
:55:41. > :55:51.activity, is it interesting looking at what people lower down the
:55:51. > :55:56.economic scale spend money on? think it is widely thought that,
:55:56. > :56:00.come Christmas, people with less money are very generous to their
:56:00. > :56:04.kids and like to spend a lot of money and have that festive period
:56:04. > :56:08.where they can enjoy things. Of course, if they don't have the
:56:09. > :56:13.money to spend, they are prey to all sorts of dubious people who
:56:13. > :56:17.will lend them money at astronomical rates of interest. I
:56:17. > :56:23.was involved in something the other day about people who effectively
:56:23. > :56:27.are excluded from the mainstream financial system who are prone to
:56:28. > :56:32.those really high rate loans that you can get in shops and town high
:56:32. > :56:36.streets all over Scotland. You end up paying huge amounts of interest
:56:36. > :56:42.just to pay your way back out of it. That is going to be the downside of
:56:43. > :56:47.being generous at Christmas if you can't really afford it. You can
:56:47. > :56:52.find yourself caught out in the new year with this new debt. Do you
:56:52. > :56:55.think we could see a number of big shops going under in the new year?
:56:55. > :57:00.I was wandering about that because I was in Brighton on the weekend
:57:00. > :57:03.and I went through a shopping mall and the only be space was habitat
:57:04. > :57:09.which was one of the great casualties. Arguably, they have not
:57:09. > :57:16.been that many be casualties but, the other day, I think, it sold for
:57:16. > :57:20.�2 to someone else. Clearly, there are strings there. We're not seeing
:57:20. > :57:26.the big names going but look at any small town, any shopping area and
:57:26. > :57:31.you will see that small avoids have gone up. Shops are standing empty
:57:31. > :57:35.and cannot find a new tenant. Any property person will tell you that
:57:35. > :57:39.Lloyd's have pretty much doubled in the last couple of years as a
:57:39. > :57:45.percentage of space on those high streets. There is a big problem and
:57:45. > :57:50.it is such a court to our economic growth that it is a challenge.
:57:50. > :57:54.Looking at those retail worries, we have been talking a lot about the
:57:54. > :57:59.job worries. How does this role into the general economic picture?
:57:59. > :58:05.We have not had so much this week about the crisis in the eurozone.
:58:05. > :58:09.How are things are looking? We have now got the Government of
:58:09. > :58:13.intellectuals and administrators running Italy, we have got a new
:58:13. > :58:16.prime minister increase, we have still got the German saying to
:58:16. > :58:26.David Cannon St he cannot snipe from the sidelines but he must put
:58:26. > :58:28.
:58:28. > :58:31.money into the stability fund, -- David Cameron and that he cannot.
:58:31. > :58:37.Alf Young, thank you for your company on the programme this
:58:37. > :58:42.afternoon. That is all we have got time for today. We are back next