Browse content similar to 19/12/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to the last Politics Scotland of 2012: | :00:22. | :00:24. | |
The Chancellor's extra cash for Scotland - the Finance Secretary | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
will outline where it's going. And our look back at the year with | :00:28. | :00:36. | |
our A to Z. And coming home - almost 5,000 | :00:36. | :00:43. | |
troops will be coming home from Afghanistan at next year. | :00:43. | :00:49. | |
So, it's the last programme of the year. Joining me here in the studio | :00:49. | :00:52. | |
I have a couple of our regular commentators who will look back at | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
the year with me over the course of the programme - Professor John | :00:55. | :01:04. | |
Curtice and Alf Young. John, what was your moment of the year? | :01:04. | :01:08. | |
think one has to go all the way back to the beginning of this year, | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
to January, when the UK Government indicated that it was willing | :01:14. | :01:19. | |
indeed to have a section 30 order that would pass the legal authority | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
to hold a referendum on its independence to the Scottish | :01:24. | :01:27. | |
Parliament, subject to some important conditions, including the | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
crucial one - that there should only be one question on the ballot | :01:30. | :01:36. | |
paper. Two things happened straight away. There was an incredible | :01:36. | :01:39. | |
debate about how the referendum should be held, should there be one | :01:39. | :01:48. | |
or two questions? The second thing was the outside world suddenly | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
finally realised that Scotland really was indeed likely to get the | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
chance to vote on whether or not it should leave the United Kingdom or | :01:56. | :02:01. | |
not. There was incredible foreign press interest, and when Alex | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
Salmond made his own statement later there was a huge press | :02:04. | :02:10. | |
contingent here. And the whole year of politics has been dominated by | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
the process and the substance of this referendum debate. Sir David | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
Cameron fired the political starting gun. What about you, Alf | :02:21. | :02:27. | |
Young? Can I have two moment? Chancellor George Osborne's | :02:27. | :02:34. | |
disastrous Budget in March with all the you turns. And then in the | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
Autumn Statement, an attempt to get back in control of things. But | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
having to admit we are now facing austerity right through to 2018, | :02:45. | :02:51. | |
which takes us way beyond the next Scottish election and UK election. | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
All to defend the UK's triple A rating, we are now on negative | :02:57. | :03:03. | |
watch from all three of the big ratings agencies. The coalition is | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
letting it be known that if we lose it it would not really be a big | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
deal. So we fought and fought to save it, all the austerity and | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
everything, and probably next year it will be downgraded and the way, | :03:15. | :03:22. | |
but they are saying, well, it doesn't really matter. | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
Now, let's head to Westminster, where the Prime Minister has | :03:24. | :03:27. | |
announced that around 3,800 British troops will be withdrawn from | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
Afghanistan during 2013. David Cameron said the partial reduction | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
paved the way for the final removal of the bulk of British personnel | :03:34. | :03:42. | |
from the central Asian country as planned, by the end of 2014. | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
sure the whole House will wish to join me in sending Christmas wishes | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
to our brave forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere. To their families | :03:50. | :03:54. | |
that will be missing them and to servicemen and women around the | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
world, you are always in our thoughts. We owe you deep gratitude | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
and we send you our heartfelt thanks at Christmas time. | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
Speaker, I joined the Prime Minister in paying tribute to our | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
troops in Afghanistan who continue to show such a huge courage and | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
bravery. I bent it is particularly important at this time of year to | :04:16. | :04:25. | |
remember them and their families, many of whom will be separated. I | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
also want to welcome the government's expected announcement | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
today on reducing the troops in Afghanistan in 2013. We await that | :04:33. | :04:37. | |
statement. Can the Prime Minister tell the House how many troops and | :04:37. | :04:42. | |
civilian staff will be left in Afghanistan after the 2014 deadline, | :04:42. | :04:47. | |
and can he confirm whether they will be under Afghan-led command? | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
Firstly, I join the Leader of the Opposition in welcoming what our | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
troops to. Particularly on Afghanistan there are two decisions. | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
Firstly, the draw down of troops between now and the end of 2014, | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
and what the Defence Secretary will announce is that, because of the | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
success of our forces and the Afghan national security forces, | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
and the fact we're moving to mentoring at a battalion level to | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
men to it at a brigade level by the end of 2013, we will be able to see | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
troops come home in two relatively even steps in 2013 and 2014, | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
leaving probably around 5,200 troops after the end of 20 their | :05:26. | :05:36. | |
:05:36. | :05:40. | ||
team, compared with 9,000 we have now. -- end of 2013. In terms of a | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
post 2014, there had been no final decisions. We have said clearly no- | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
one will be in a combat role and nothing like the number of troops | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
there now. We promised the Afghans we would provide an at of the than | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
-- Officer Training Academy and we are prepared to look at issues | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
above and beyond that, but that is the starting base line. Can I back | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
the Prime Minister for that answer? Given that thousands of troops will | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
still be in harm's way in Afghanistan, can the Prime Minister | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
say what specific effort the government is making what the | :06:14. | :06:20. | |
international community to match the continuing military adverts -- | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
at that with the greater diplomatic efforts which I know he thinks are | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
important. Because this will give us our best chance of leaving | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
behind an inclusive, durable political settlement in Afghanistan. | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
He is entirely right, as well as a military track there's always been | :06:37. | :06:42. | |
a diplomatic track. Let me be clear - after 20th December 14, there | :06:42. | :06:47. | |
will still be some troops who will be involved in returning equipment | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
and dealing with logistics. Exact announcements will be made at a | :06:51. | :06:56. | |
later stage. Let's stay at Westminster and speak to our | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
correspondent there who is standing by. Good afternoon. Interesting | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
idea what the Prime Minister was saying about our troops in | :07:04. | :07:07. | |
Afghanistan and the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond furnished | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
us with a bit more detail after that. I think many in the House | :07:11. | :07:18. | |
were pleased to hear that news. most MPs believe it is now time for | :07:18. | :07:22. | |
Britain to start to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. David | :07:22. | :07:30. | |
Cameron gave us the Max - at the moment there are 9,000. -- the | :07:30. | :07:38. | |
maths. By the end of next year, 3,800 troops will have come back | :07:38. | :07:44. | |
from Afghanistan, leaving just over 5,000 to be drawn down in 2014. | :07:44. | :07:48. | |
David Cameron making it plain that at the end of that year, he does to | :07:48. | :07:54. | |
all intents and purposes want to see all Britain's combat troops | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
removed from Afghanistan. It was noticeable from Ed Miliband, he was | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
wanting to focus not just on the military draw down but to get some | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
assurances if the Prime Minister can give that that the diplomatic | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
process is working and Afghanistan. It was notable that the Prime | :08:10. | :08:17. | |
Minister said that they were now able to mentor bar more -- far more | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
Afghanistan police and troops, despite the incidents we have heard, | :08:20. | :08:27. | |
the recent cream on be a tax where Afghan forces are have attacked | :08:27. | :08:37. | |
:08:37. | :08:43. | ||
British troops. -- the recent green on blue attacks. Another story | :08:43. | :08:50. | |
hitting the headlines yesterday and today - the Andrew Mitchell scandal. | :08:50. | :09:00. | |
:09:00. | :09:01. | ||
Things now seem a bit different. Yes, this is intriguing and | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
interesting. New revelations and allegations average -- have come | :09:04. | :09:09. | |
out over the past few days. The allegations concern a member of | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
their diplomatic police service, who it seems at one point had sent | :09:12. | :09:17. | |
an e-mail to people in government, to his local MP, and also suggested | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
he wasn't that a member of the public who had seen what had gone | :09:21. | :09:26. | |
on. It now transpires that perhaps that was not the case. He has been | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
arrested, he is being interviewed by police. It is worth saying none | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
of these new allegations have been proven, they are just that - | :09:34. | :09:38. | |
allegations. It is also worth emphasising that the police | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
officers who were involved in the original altercation with Andrew | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
Mitchell say they are quite happy with their story, but we have a | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
further police investigation going on and we have a building head of | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
steam here from supporters of Andrew Mitchell that, to some | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
extent, he ought to be politically rehabilitated. It is a story which | :09:59. | :10:05. | |
in journalistic terms is continuing to give. It has some fascinating | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
ankles to it and I think most people at Westminster are a bit | :10:08. | :10:13. | |
confused, a bit perplexed, as to what happened. If these allegations | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
are proved true - and they are still allegations now - it raises | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
serious questions about what has gone on within the Metropolitan | :10:21. | :10:27. | |
Police. Finally, a brief look at another issue. A lot of MPs will be | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
interested in to the report about BBC chaos and confusion but no | :10:33. | :10:43. | |
cover up over the Jimmy Savile affair. Yes, looking into Jimmy | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
Savile and later Lord McAlpine. The report is excoriating, it | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
criticises BBC management, one senior manager is retiring, other | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
editors are being moved. Again, this is something which MPs, | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
because they deal with the BBC on a daily basis, nationally or locally, | :11:01. | :11:07. | |
most of them have the -- had dealings with ABB see on a weekly | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
basis, they will want to look through this report. Not a very | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
comfortable day for the BBC Today, and certainly the criticism of | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
senior management, it may be the season of goodwill but there | :11:19. | :11:26. | |
doesn't seem to be much goodwill in this report. | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
Now, two weeks ago the Chancellor's autumn statement detailed some | :11:29. | :11:32. | |
extra money for Scotland - that's being debated in the Chamber at | :11:32. | :11:40. | |
Holyrood now, and Brian Taylor is watching. It has just been | :11:40. | :11:48. | |
announced that the consequential us of that money from the Chancellor | :11:48. | :11:58. | |
:11:58. | :11:58. | ||
will be allocated. Let's listen. This year, the Scottish government | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
has written a times to the UK Government asking for an immediate | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
capital stimulus to provide much- needed work to the Scottish | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
construction centre and boost local economies over Scotland. In | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
addition, we broke twice jointly with other devolved administrations. | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
At a time when public sector investment has been crucial to a | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
boost to economic recovery, this additional capital would have been | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
welcome at an earlier stage. Taking into account the budgetary impact | :12:27. | :12:32. | |
of the Autumn Statement, by 2014 and 2015, we can expect the | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
Scottish capital budget of four by 26% in real terms compared to 2010 | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
and 2011. We have added to the capital provided in our Spending | :12:42. | :12:49. | |
Review settlement where possible. We are supplementing are up -- | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
supplementing our programme by switching resources and capital | :12:52. | :13:02. | |
:13:02. | :13:06. | ||
receipts. Also through use of fossil fuel packaging in June. I am | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
able to announce further editions now. In November, we provided an | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
updated list of projects were �820 million that could begin | :13:14. | :13:20. | |
construction by the end of 2013. The additional funding that I am | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
allocating today means the go-ahead to now be given to these projects. | :13:26. | :13:31. | |
Today, I am announcing proposals for additional capital investment | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
of �190 million this year and next. This is a combination of the | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
consequential schools resulting from the Autumn Statement of 4.6 | :13:40. | :13:49. | |
million in 2012 to 2013, and 160.2 million in 2013-2014. In addition, | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
due to the progress that has been made, I am able to direct | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
contingency funds which now on will be needed for the 4th replacement | :13:56. | :14:02. | |
costing project. This amounts to a further �25 million. Some | :14:02. | :14:05. | |
commitments are made today will need continued investment over the | :14:05. | :14:12. | |
next two years and mounting -- amounting to a additional | :14:13. | :14:21. | |
investment. The programme I announced today adds up to �250 | :14:22. | :14:25. | |
million. Our overriding concern has been to focus on projects with a | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
significant impact on jobs and an ability to deliver quickly along | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
with those that reduced carbon and help to meet our climate change | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
targets. Back in September, the First Minister wrote a joint letter | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
to local authorities encouraging them to consider how they could | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
boost their own capital investment. We are now allocating �46 million | :14:45. | :14:49. | |
of the consequential to local government for this purpose. That | :14:49. | :14:53. | |
is on the condition that local authorities spend this additional | :14:53. | :14:59. | |
funding of projects that are ready to deliver it and are not already | :14:59. | :15:05. | |
funded in their programmes for the next two years. This is a mechanism | :15:05. | :15:11. | |
to provide assurance. We will invest �21 million in transport to | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
develop our cycling, ferry and Canal infrastructure and maintain | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
our trunk road network. This is in line with our commitment to | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
increase active travel, to support our lifeline services, to encourage | :15:24. | :15:28. | |
regeneration along a canal network, which is now the responsibility of | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
the Scottish government, and to continue to invest in a strategic | :15:32. | :15:37. | |
network, all of which encourages sustained growth. Over �11 million | :15:37. | :15:41. | |
will be invested in economic development projects through our | :15:41. | :15:44. | |
enterprise agencies on a range of the early start projects, and all | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
of which will provide the foundations for economic growth in | :15:48. | :15:54. | |
their respective areas. �22 million will be spent on regeneration | :15:54. | :16:00. | |
projects in the City of Glasgow and other places. This includes | :16:00. | :16:05. | |
developing high energy office space to attract inward investors to | :16:05. | :16:10. | |
Scotland. �10 million will be invested in our justice system, | :16:10. | :16:13. | |
including these are up -- the Scottish court system. We have | :16:13. | :16:23. | |
noted concerns raised against the backlog, and are seeking to address | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
Investment needs to maintain their historic Court Estate and improve | :16:27. | :16:32. | |
energy efficiency. Over �7 million will be spent in rural environment | :16:32. | :16:38. | |
and tourism projects through the Forestry Commission. Investment in | :16:38. | :16:43. | |
forestry will include long-distance path which include recreational and | :16:43. | :16:50. | |
tourism benefits. We will also provide fresh investments to | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
Scottish information centres to insure our visitors receive a high | :16:54. | :16:56. | |
standard of information provision when they visit in the run-up to | :16:56. | :17:00. | |
and during 2014, when Scotland welcomes the world with the | :17:00. | :17:05. | |
Commonwealth Games, the Ryder Cup and our next homecoming. Nearly �7 | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
million will be allocated to cultural and heritage projects to | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
the National Theatre of Scotland, historical Scotland, and created | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
Scotland, delivering improvements to cultural venues and maintenance | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
of the existing heritage across Scotland. �10 million will be | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
allocated to maintain a help a stake, targeted to further tackle | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
the backlog maintenance identified in the state of NHS Scotland state | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
a report published in February this year. Nearly �20 million of | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
investment will be made in further and higher education projects. This | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
will allow us to support the development of a centre for | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
livestock improvement at the cutting edge of collaborative | :17:47. | :17:52. | |
academic development. We will address pressing needs in the | :17:52. | :17:59. | |
college state, accelerate progress on that the development involving | :17:59. | :18:09. | |
:18:09. | :18:13. | ||
further technology of call -- and And hit one of the highest priority | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
isn't this taking no action in Scotland which is why this | :18:17. | :18:22. | |
government is allocating �50 million to affordable housing. The | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
exhaust tranche of housing this year, with editions already made in | :18:27. | :18:33. | |
Cadbury, June, September and now. We will be allocating an extra �200 | :18:33. | :18:39. | |
million, demonstrating went we have an opportunity to invest, this | :18:39. | :18:49. | |
:18:49. | :18:51. | ||
government does exactly that. This will increase the socially... A | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
significant proportion of the investment will come banks -- | :18:56. | :19:01. | |
commenced this financial year, with the majority in the first half of | :19:01. | :19:08. | |
2013 and 14. This will boost the economy and bring lasting | :19:08. | :19:15. | |
improvements to -- improvements to Scotland's base. We will work with | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
the organisations involved to provide more detail of intellectual | :19:19. | :19:22. | |
proper -- projects over the coming weeks. The changes that I am | :19:22. | :19:29. | |
announcing today will be reflected in the budget bill, and a double by | :19:29. | :19:32. | |
can the debate about the proposals as part of the budget process in | :19:32. | :19:42. | |
:19:42. | :19:44. | ||
the new year. Listening to that we have John Curtice band Alf Young. | :19:44. | :19:50. | |
He says the biggest until last. A building boom for Scotland. They | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
are clearly -- clearly problems in the housing sector. There is an | :19:54. | :20:01. | |
overall problem of demand. Most of the sector is pretty flat. We want | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
affordable housing so people can get on the first step off the | :20:04. | :20:12. | |
ladder. It is a pressing issue. Any money is good. �50 million is not | :20:12. | :20:15. | |
huge in the context of what is needed to be done, but it must be | :20:15. | :20:24. | |
welcome, and there will be another �46 million in capital spending. So | :20:24. | :20:30. | |
that is the lion's share of the �200 million package. What | :20:30. | :20:34. | |
difference does that make do you think in terms of trying to bring | :20:34. | :20:41. | |
that Ford? How much can we get for it out of that? You can work it out | :20:41. | :20:46. | |
yourself. In terms of units, you get a rough idea of how much it | :20:46. | :20:56. | |
:20:56. | :20:56. | ||
cost to build. It is not a huge amount. If you say it is going to | :20:56. | :21:06. | |
cost �15 million -- �50,000 per unit, you have a 1,000 units. | :21:06. | :21:15. | |
is he trying to do here? This is something at his own investigation. | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
On the economic front, there has been a debate on whether or not the | :21:20. | :21:25. | |
government should keep to plan a or whether it should amend it or not. | :21:25. | :21:34. | |
George Osborne's Autumn Statement but a little bit of style to it. | :21:34. | :21:44. | |
:21:44. | :21:44. | ||
They found a little bit of money from the 40s spectrum. Using that, | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
the government will not suffer from it, because it won't be in areas of | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
consequential loss. They have managed a pounds and -- find some | :21:53. | :22:02. | |
more money from capital spending. Mr Sweeney has now got a least some | :22:02. | :22:11. | |
of the money he wanted. He really wanted to or three times as much. | :22:11. | :22:17. | |
Here's the money. In truth, given the way in which the devolution | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
settlement is still funded Int Scotland, he is still primarily a | :22:23. | :22:30. | |
function of decisions in Westminster. This is him deciding | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
to pass on the money. It is by accident rather than by intention. | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
It staying with the subject of government spending, security costs | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have trebled, according to | :22:46. | :22:52. | |
Mr in charge of a project. Shona Robison told MSPs that lessons have | :22:52. | :22:55. | |
been learned from the London Olympics. As is the case with all | :22:55. | :23:00. | |
major events, as the planning process has Richard, our knowledge | :23:00. | :23:06. | |
of safety and security measures have crystallised. We note that the | :23:06. | :23:11. | |
athletes village will need to be secured from 20th January 14 rather | :23:11. | :23:16. | |
than 20th June 14 as a written the plant. We now better understand the | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
shift pattern for stewards and other security staff, and the | :23:22. | :23:24. | |
impact on staffing costs. The London 2012 experience was similar | :23:24. | :23:29. | |
in that demand for security personnel could not be finalised | :23:29. | :23:35. | |
until late, and the operational planning -- late in the operational | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
planning process. That was the reason for the massive increase in | :23:39. | :23:44. | |
security budget. Olympic lessons around risk assessment has helped | :23:44. | :23:49. | |
us plan more clearly the security requirements of the venues. We need | :23:49. | :23:57. | |
more CCTV, perimeter or fencing and security checks. It is critical to | :23:57. | :24:03. | |
ensuring that everyone is protected properly from the moment they are | :24:03. | :24:07. | |
approaching two the venue to the moment they leave. As games | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
planning has progressed, we have developed a clearer picture of the | :24:12. | :24:18. | |
non-competition venues needed. These have security requirements | :24:18. | :24:26. | |
that could not be possibly spoke to -- scope early. They all need an | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
effort of prevention -- protection. Alongside the review of the | :24:31. | :24:38. | |
security requirements, we have been deciding how to strengthen our | :24:38. | :24:43. | |
governments -- strengthen our governments. In light of this, we | :24:43. | :24:48. | |
have decided to take to specific actions. The Glasgow 2014 strategic | :24:48. | :24:56. | |
group has asked the general Constable of police Scotland to | :24:56. | :25:01. | |
deliver the overall security for the Games. The chief constable has | :25:01. | :25:06. | |
accepted that role. He will not only direct policing around the | :25:06. | :25:12. | |
Games, but also the wider security situation against venues. He will | :25:12. | :25:17. | |
attend meetings of the security group chaired by the First Minister. | :25:17. | :25:25. | |
He will report on all areas of planning. We are also appraising -- | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
improving the governance. We will publish a paper but will be tell | :25:30. | :25:36. | |
this further. In the light of the lessons learned from London, and | :25:36. | :25:39. | |
the word that the police have carried out subsequently, the chief | :25:39. | :25:45. | |
constable has advised that they should be a budget to deliver a | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
safe and secured games. I am announcing today that the Scottish | :25:49. | :25:55. | |
government is taking responsibility for a new games and security budget | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
of �19 million. As a minister responsible for the Commonwealth | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
Games, I have to listen when Scotland's top police officer tells | :26:02. | :26:09. | |
me that this is what is required to deliver a safe and secure games. | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
That was the Sports Minister speaking in parliament yesterday. | :26:13. | :26:21. | |
She said that the Games budget had trebled. The minister that separate | :26:21. | :26:29. | |
she had to listen to the Chief Constable, and he is a powerful man | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
to command that kind of change. lot of people will say that this | :26:34. | :26:39. | |
goes to show when you put on these events, the budget never ends up | :26:39. | :26:45. | |
the same as the original budget. The London Olympics suffered from | :26:45. | :26:52. | |
exactly the same problem. That cynicism aside, everyone remembers | :26:52. | :26:59. | |
the London Olympics from the Danny Boyle opening ceremony to the | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
performances of the Paralympic athletes. Do one thing they did not | :27:04. | :27:10. | |
happen in London was that there was not anything serious from a | :27:10. | :27:16. | |
security issue. We are much more concerned about terrorism, and any | :27:16. | :27:21. | |
country that takes on an event like this is to ensure that there is not | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
negative publicity as well as other consequences. We should not be | :27:26. | :27:31. | |
surprised that Scotland will also want to try and ensure that it runs | :27:31. | :27:41. | |
:27:41. | :27:41. | ||
the game in Glasgow. The responsibility is now with the new | :27:41. | :27:46. | |
chief constable, and in line with the broader policy of public | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
services in Scotland, it is probably in the public sector. The | :27:50. | :27:57. | |
bond Pickup levels about security at the London Games, when Chief | :27:58. | :28:06. | |
Forest -- the Group 4 security for had some problems, the Scottish | :28:06. | :28:11. | |
government has nailed its colours to the mast, but security is going | :28:11. | :28:18. | |
to be delivered by the public sector in 2014. Alf Young, the | :28:18. | :28:24. | |
Scottish government is also keen to it melt the colours to the mast. Do | :28:24. | :28:31. | |
you think they have adapted this very open stance, explaining costs | :28:31. | :28:35. | |
to people? They made to the commitment. What they did not here | :28:35. | :28:40. | |
in the statement is where the �60 million is coming from. Some of a | :28:40. | :28:43. | |
programme is going to suffer, or maybe some of the money that has | :28:43. | :28:48. | |
come through from the Autumn Statement will find its way not | :28:48. | :28:52. | |
into existing projects, but more security at the Games. I do not | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
know, but it will be interesting to know where exactly where it is | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
coming from. When you have a single policeman in charge of Scotland, | :29:00. | :29:05. | |
and also directly in charge of the security at the Games, you have no | :29:05. | :29:10. | |
contest ability. He cannot compel one to the other and say it is this | :29:10. | :29:14. | |
guy right, when he wants an extra �60 million. Is there someone who | :29:14. | :29:18. | |
could do it in a different way? Begin not have that and not. One of | :29:18. | :29:23. | |
the consequences of having a single police force is that he is the only | :29:23. | :29:28. | |
man to listen to. Clearly up to now, he has only just got the job, | :29:28. | :29:34. | |
Ministers are going to listen to him. It is that time of year again | :29:34. | :29:40. | |
it. An annual look back on the big stories of the next 12 months -- | :29:40. | :29:50. | |
:29:50. | :29:50. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 102 seconds | :29:50. | :31:32. | |
the last 12 months. Sit back and I am not that special. They are not | :31:32. | :31:41. | |
concentrating on who they really The Scottish government has | :31:41. | :31:45. | |
previously cited a number of opinions from authorities, past and | :31:45. | :31:51. | |
present, in support of its few that they will continue in membership of | :31:51. | :31:59. | |
the European Union, however, as the Edinburgh agreement provides the | :31:59. | :32:07. | |
context of independence, we now at stake he basis on which a specific | :32:07. | :32:17. | |
:32:17. | :32:17. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 102 seconds | :32:17. | :36:55. | |
This summer, I was called a rebel I think this resource budget is an | :36:55. | :36:59. | |
increase in funding by definition. I take full responsibility for what | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
I say in this chamber and I apologise to the chamber for this | :37:03. | :37:13. | |
:37:13. | :37:18. | ||
I am an expert in tourism. Where is your empirical evidence? I am your | :37:18. | :37:28. | |
:37:28. | :37:45. | ||
The idea that Scotland is a land where everything is free is a lie. | :37:45. | :37:55. | |
:37:55. | :38:21. | ||
Someone always pays for it in the In the West, rain will be lighter | :38:21. | :38:26. | |
and patchier, there may be some patches of rain. It will be snow | :38:26. | :38:31. | |
for the higher ground, over the higher ground. A potential for a | :38:31. | :38:41. | |
:38:41. | :38:41. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 102 seconds | :38:41. | :39:40. | |
few flurries over Balmoral. He read That is our A to Z of 2012. If you | :39:40. | :39:46. | |
want to catch it again it is on our website. Back to Holyrood now to | :39:46. | :39:54. | |
speak to mark McDonald of the SNP. Before we get on to looking back at | :39:54. | :39:57. | |
2012, let's pick up on some issues emerging from the statement about | :39:57. | :40:03. | |
the extra money received from the Chancellor in the autumn budget. | :40:03. | :40:09. | |
Mark, some highlights there - �50 million for new housing, a jobs | :40:09. | :40:14. | |
boost. Is that enough to try to get Scotland's economy moving? Well, | :40:14. | :40:19. | |
what we have to deal with, Andrew, is the money we received from the | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
UK Exchequer. It would have been nice to receive this money the | :40:22. | :40:26. | |
first time we asked for it. It was not forthcoming. The Chancellor has | :40:26. | :40:30. | |
now finally yielded to our calls for additional capital investment. | :40:30. | :40:36. | |
Now we have to deploy it across a range of poor for years. But even | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
with this additional capital investment, the budget is still | :40:39. | :40:47. | |
suffering a cut of 26% against last year's budget. If we have had the | :40:47. | :40:51. | |
ball control to take care of our own decisions, we would not have to | :40:51. | :40:55. | |
suffer their wrong-headed approach of Westminster. Could he have given | :40:55. | :41:01. | |
more money for bigger projects rather than many -- may be a key -- | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
piecemeal approach such as 7 million for cultural projects, 7 | :41:05. | :41:12. | |
million for roads? Could you put it all together into one big budget? | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
Are I think the people receiving the funding today would perhaps | :41:16. | :41:20. | |
abject to the term a piecemeal. This will be extremely welcome | :41:20. | :41:25. | |
funding across a range of sectors. Yes, everybody wants a bit more | :41:25. | :41:28. | |
money but we have to deal with the cake that is sliced up at | :41:28. | :41:34. | |
Westminster. We do not have the ability to raise our own financing | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
here so we have to play the hand that has been dealt. We welcome the | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
fact that additional capital has been brought forward. We would have | :41:43. | :41:46. | |
liked more and earlier but we will deal with this and it will boost | :41:46. | :41:52. | |
jobs across Scotland in this tough time. They are doing what they can, | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
then, they say their hands are tied by the Chancellor and his lack of | :41:56. | :42:02. | |
generosity, it seems. Well, it is welcome George Osborne has of | :42:02. | :42:09. | |
plight this cash -- has supplied this cash. It is welcome. What is | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
interesting is how quickly we can see these projects proceeding, | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
because it is only when the money actually starts getting spent and | :42:15. | :42:21. | |
the work is carried out on the ground that jobs will be created. | :42:21. | :42:25. | |
And there is an issue with procurement. We need to make sure | :42:25. | :42:30. | |
that as much of this money is going into supporting local Scottish | :42:30. | :42:35. | |
businesses and workers as we can within EU rules. The SNP are keen | :42:35. | :42:39. | |
to talk about the powers they don't have, but due to the delay in them | :42:39. | :42:43. | |
bringing forward the non-profit distributing model to build new | :42:43. | :42:48. | |
schools, it will be a year before all projects that should have | :42:48. | :42:55. | |
started in 2013 will start. That was within that John Swinney's gift. | :42:55. | :43:02. | |
He is responsible for that delay, nobody else. Now, and look back at | :43:02. | :43:07. | |
the year. We saw there that Alex Salmond gotten to a bit of trouble | :43:07. | :43:12. | |
about the college education project, I'm sure that would be your moment | :43:12. | :43:19. | |
of 2012. There can only be one moment of 2012 for me, and that was | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
the launch of the yes campaign for a positive outcome in the | :43:23. | :43:28. | |
referendum it in 2014. It is a fantastic historic opportunity for | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
the people of Scotland to shape and control their own destiny, and that | :43:32. | :43:39. | |
for me was the highlight of 2012. I'm sure that will not be your | :43:39. | :43:46. | |
highlight. Nor will it be the Chancellor's approached her | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
austerity! What is your moment? I've enjoyed seeing the unravelling | :43:51. | :43:54. | |
of the Independent's campaign over the last few weeks. It seems to | :43:54. | :44:00. | |
have well and truly gone off the rails. I think Mark and his | :44:00. | :44:04. | |
colleagues will be looking to forward to a fresh start over many | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
years. I enjoy it looking at your clip their where Donald Trump was | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
being entertained by the Scottish Parliament, or perhaps he was | :44:14. | :44:21. | |
entertaining us. That was a very interesting Parliamentary occasion | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
and it got us a lot of attention, a lot of interest in the subject of | :44:25. | :44:30. | |
renewable energy. I don't think we should apologise for getting the | :44:30. | :44:33. | |
Scottish Parliament leading the news bulletins, I think that was a | :44:33. | :44:42. | |
good day for our committee. What you want for Christmas? What I | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
would like his two weeks off with the family and some peace from | :44:46. | :44:52. | |
politics. It doesn't usually happen at Christmas. Mark, I presume the | :44:52. | :44:58. | |
same view? Yes, and also I hope the Scrooges of the campaign at are | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
visited by three spirits over Christmas and come back renewed | :45:01. | :45:04. | |
characters, seeing that independence is the best way | :45:04. | :45:14. | |
:45:14. | :45:18. | ||
Thank you both for joining us. Let's speak to our, Peters once | :45:18. | :45:24. | |
again. Let's focus on the more substantive issue about John | :45:24. | :45:32. | |
Sweeney's statement. He was trying to delay some investments? There is | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
this argument about Harry should fund capital projects in Scotland, | :45:37. | :45:45. | |
how you trying getting normal state money. The truth seems to be that | :45:45. | :45:50. | |
some of the previous models, the public-private initiative is no | :45:50. | :45:55. | |
longer be flavour of the month, even among to Conservative | :45:55. | :46:05. | |
:46:05. | :46:07. | ||
ministers. It is a surprise not to hear a -- the SNP saying more. It | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
is perhaps too expensive, and it has left us with a built but we | :46:11. | :46:15. | |
will be paying for 20 or 30 years down the track. But it is still | :46:15. | :46:19. | |
undoubtedly the case that there has been some reasonable criticisms | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
about getting some of the Scottish Government's alternative ways of | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
doing this on track, such as these buildings built on time. The issue | :46:29. | :46:33. | |
of how you get in end of -- extra funding from the private sector in | :46:33. | :46:40. | |
order to get the capital budget going as far as you can, without | :46:40. | :46:47. | |
creating a burden for future generations is something that | :46:47. | :46:51. | |
causes a division on both sides of the border. You're talking about | :46:51. | :46:56. | |
the jobs boost on the housing development programme. It was not | :46:56. | :47:02. | |
that much money, but do you think you were helping more to come their | :47:02. | :47:07. | |
way from the Autumn Statement? may well have been looking for more. | :47:07. | :47:15. | |
I think the numbers announce were north of �300 million. What was | :47:15. | :47:23. | |
announced today was to London Fire million pounds. -- �205 million. | :47:23. | :47:26. | |
said today that he was not going to announce what he was going to do | :47:27. | :47:33. | |
with the third year's worth of money. He has left some money and | :47:33. | :47:43. | |
some parcels inciters centre -- Santa's sack for 2014. Thank you Mr | :47:43. | :47:50. | |
Osborne! Just on that tranche, it did not seem much, but maybe that | :47:50. | :47:59. | |
was all we could get? The general point that he has court �200 | :47:59. | :48:08. | |
billion, and he has chopped it up into packages. -- �200 million. Do | :48:08. | :48:14. | |
you go for some big hits where you get will action and you get some | :48:14. | :48:21. | |
playback quickly? He is going for a bit here and a bit here. Which | :48:21. | :48:26. | |
works best, do think? The big hit somewhere or do you think the | :48:26. | :48:33. | |
little bits stimulate? I think he have a whole generation there are | :48:33. | :48:37. | |
finding it difficult to get into the housing market. Providing a bit | :48:37. | :48:42. | |
of extra money, which of the top of the head, is 1,000 units, that is | :48:42. | :48:48. | |
not going to light up the sky with activity. Clearly doubling that | :48:48. | :48:57. | |
would be 2000 units, which would be a bit better. I think the biggest | :48:57. | :49:03. | |
hits make more impact. Of course, blog was pointing out that they are | :49:03. | :49:09. | |
struggling with a money they are getting from Westminster, and the | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
pond has made to Murdo Fraser that they are struggling with the | :49:13. | :49:16. | |
austerity much further down the line. We the Scottish government is | :49:16. | :49:21. | |
having to cope with it the reductions in funding, but one of | :49:21. | :49:26. | |
things happening in the course of this year it is that how the | :49:26. | :49:30. | |
government is spending his money. The Scottish government is not | :49:30. | :49:38. | |
dealing with the austerity, but it is still managing no tuition fees | :49:38. | :49:48. | |
:49:48. | :49:50. | ||
for Scottish universities. There has certainly been cuts for further | :49:50. | :49:54. | |
education and that his concern. One thing that has happen this year is | :49:54. | :50:00. | |
that some of the politicians try to avoid, but some of the consequences | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
of the choices the SNP have made have become evident, and it has led | :50:05. | :50:11. | |
to this debate as to whether or not free Unison -- university tuition, | :50:11. | :50:17. | |
which is one of the distinctive policies, is maybe the best way of | :50:17. | :50:22. | |
spending a diminishing budget. One argument is that you should have | :50:22. | :50:28. | |
more money to spend in the first place. But subtly, we are going to | :50:28. | :50:33. | |
see this continuing debate. Thank you very much. Let's go back to the | :50:33. | :50:43. | |
:50:43. | :50:43. | ||
gardening lobby of Holy Rood. -- Holyrood. Thank you for joining us. | :50:43. | :50:50. | |
Then the get your reaction, Ken Mackintosh. The man it was welcomed, | :50:50. | :50:59. | |
going to various projects. You must welcome it to. It must bring a | :50:59. | :51:04. | |
smile to a few faces. The question I was asking is that what is the | :51:04. | :51:09. | |
impact on the Scottish economy? He is the cabinet secretary, Andy is | :51:09. | :51:12. | |
presiding over a country in recession, and a country where | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
hundreds of thousands of people are out of work. He said that he wanted | :51:15. | :51:20. | |
the money to boost jobs and growth, and what he seems to have done is | :51:20. | :51:24. | |
handed out. These projects are very worthy. I do not get an | :51:24. | :51:30. | |
overwhelming picture of a plant here that is designed to boost | :51:30. | :51:35. | |
employment which is measured, for example, by a number of | :51:35. | :51:42. | |
apprenticeships. Even the �50 million for housing? Without not | :51:42. | :51:49. | |
boost jobs? You will notice that he was asked, will it boost the | :51:49. | :51:55. | |
levels? He has cut its, and the housing associations cannot use the | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
money to poorer effectively. Hinnies to adequate -- increased | :51:59. | :52:05. | |
levels, he keeps putting extra money into housing, just to replace | :52:05. | :52:09. | |
the money he has already cut. But he has not revise the totals for | :52:09. | :52:19. | |
:52:19. | :52:20. | ||
the amount of houses he is building. The money he has cut is because of | :52:20. | :52:23. | |
the Chancellor in the coalition government at Westminster, and they | :52:23. | :52:28. | |
are complaining that their budgets have been cut. Was there any room | :52:28. | :52:31. | |
for the Chancellor to give the Scottish government and little more | :52:31. | :52:38. | |
to boost capital spending? Chancellor to give the Scottish | :52:38. | :52:41. | |
government �300 million of additional monies. This government | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
has had more money than they ever have done in the past, so times are | :52:45. | :52:51. | |
tough, and everyone understands that, and whatever position they | :52:51. | :52:54. | |
would be in, they would be constantly complaining about | :52:54. | :52:57. | |
someone else. It is his decisions that he has taken. The point is | :52:57. | :53:05. | |
that the record on spending is not good. The almond spent �300 million | :53:05. | :53:09. | |
in the current financial year. They have only spent �20 million. They | :53:09. | :53:13. | |
are not getting the money into the project that our economy needs, and | :53:13. | :53:20. | |
that is a lesson for businesses across Scotland, and that mechanism | :53:20. | :53:28. | |
is not performing. We are looking back at 2012. What has been your | :53:28. | :53:33. | |
moment of your year? When the something than nothing a speech | :53:33. | :53:40. | |
happened? Despite something for nothing? It certainly got people | :53:40. | :53:45. | |
thinking again, but for me, the highlight of the year was the local | :53:45. | :53:50. | |
election results. These are political highlight, rather than | :53:50. | :53:54. | |
the personal highlight of the year! I am not sure that the whole of | :53:54. | :53:58. | |
Scotland was jumping around the room, but we were in the Labour | :53:58. | :54:04. | |
Party to. The SNP were crowing into the elections that they were going | :54:04. | :54:08. | |
to take Lanarkshire, but they got thumped, and you only have to look | :54:08. | :54:13. | |
back at the joy on people's faces, and see the difference it is making | :54:13. | :54:17. | |
to the lives of people in Glasgow. That is the high point. Tavish | :54:17. | :54:27. | |
Scott, there was not much joy in the Scottish Liberal Democrats. | :54:27. | :54:30. | |
Idle talk about the Ryder Cup! I would be happy to talk about | :54:30. | :54:35. | |
sporting highlight than any in politics. I think the long-term | :54:35. | :54:39. | |
factor that did happen this year it was the Leveson inquiry, and the | :54:39. | :54:45. | |
relationship between and among so the press, and what that means for | :54:45. | :54:53. | |
how you, Andrew, and the rest report on the issues around the | :54:53. | :55:01. | |
world. That has indications for the future. -- implications. We are | :55:01. | :55:07. | |
asking a run this. What you want for Christmas? Why Teva my wife | :55:07. | :55:12. | |
Connie gives any! But are but hope for something that they put into a | :55:12. | :55:18. | |
golf bag. How does that for about a played pro Scottish economy bit of | :55:18. | :55:23. | |
Christmas present buying! If I do not get my act together, Santa | :55:23. | :55:30. | |
might not appear in my house! Politically, I would not mind | :55:30. | :55:35. | |
killing Alex Salmond some legal advice! Ken Mackintosh and Tavish | :55:35. | :55:40. | |
Scott, thank you very much and a merry Christmas! Les gets and final | :55:40. | :55:50. | |
:55:50. | :55:52. | ||
Interesting, just here what those two was saying. What are you | :55:52. | :55:56. | |
looking forward to in 2013, politically? A I think we are going | :55:56. | :56:03. | |
to have another 12 months about debating the constitution. The sad | :56:03. | :56:10. | |
thing is that the longer the debate goes on, the more the fog of | :56:10. | :56:16. | |
uncertainty accumulates, and I do not cents out there that people are | :56:16. | :56:26. | |
:56:26. | :56:26. | ||
energised by the debate. If they were -- they are worried about jobs, | :56:26. | :56:30. | |
and budgets and meeting them. And the austerity cuts which are going | :56:30. | :56:40. | |
:56:40. | :56:40. | ||
on and on and on. Those two Dynamics, those different dynamics, | :56:40. | :56:45. | |
they do not play very well together. It will be interesting to see, | :56:45. | :56:53. | |
because we are promised in 2013 that there will be a white paper | :56:53. | :56:58. | |
where the government will set out its case, and it will be ingested | :56:58. | :57:04. | |
see how the case matches with the realities in Europe, and the | :57:04. | :57:09. | |
continuing membership of the monetary union with sterling. How | :57:09. | :57:16. | |
will that play out if Scotland becomes independent, alongside the | :57:16. | :57:20. | |
realities everyone is facing? the fog of uncertainty, there has | :57:20. | :57:24. | |
been a lot of debate about Europe and sterling. Do you think that | :57:24. | :57:30. | |
will dominate 2013? Yes. We are going to be talking about process | :57:30. | :57:36. | |
issues. We are going to talk about what is -- who is responsible for | :57:36. | :57:46. | |
:57:46. | :57:47. | ||
what in Scotland. But we anticipate that the Labour Party's | :57:47. | :57:51. | |
pronouncements on constitution. One of the non stories of 2012 will be | :57:51. | :57:59. | |
the -- was the change to the proposal. There are going to have | :57:59. | :58:06. | |
to sell what they have. But it is going to be process issues that did | :58:06. | :58:10. | |
-- that carry on south of the border. The relationship between | :58:11. | :58:15. | |
the UK and Europe. The other think that is going to be important is | :58:15. | :58:21. | |
the question about who should make decisions for the United Kingdom as | :58:21. | :58:25. | |
a whole. Goodall questions of politics, even though we are in the | :58:25. | :58:33. | |
era of economic difficulty, will be Spain -- will remain at really | :58:33. | :58:37. | |
essential to Scottish and British politics. Thank you both are very | :58:37. | :58:43. | |
much indeed today. That is all from us. We will be back on 9th January, | :58:43. | :58:50. |