04/03/2012

:00:28. > :00:32.Good morning and welcome. Later, delegates will hear from all the

:00:32. > :00:37.leader of the party in a Scotland. This was the scene inside the

:00:37. > :00:46.conference hall when the party's president will shortly address the

:00:46. > :00:50.delegates. The latest issue has been the independence referendum. I

:00:50. > :00:55.am joined in the studio by Professor John Curtis of

:00:55. > :01:05.Strathclyde University and by our political editor Brian Taylor. Good

:01:05. > :01:15.morning. Brian, you are in Inverness. Is there a similar that

:01:15. > :01:16.

:01:16. > :01:19.this year there has there was in Dundee? Morale -- there is a

:01:19. > :01:26.comparable atmosphere. Both parties are dealing with the fact they had

:01:26. > :01:31.very poor results in May last year. But they might say that they punch

:01:31. > :01:37.above their weight. You either go in the corner and cry are you come

:01:37. > :01:42.back fighting. There will also be some discussion on the independence

:01:42. > :01:47.referendum. Michael Moore, Secretary of State, his

:01:47. > :01:53.consultation ends on Friday. He is adamant that further powers and an

:01:53. > :01:58.issue for down the line. There is a resolution at the top of the motion,

:01:58. > :02:04.being taken by the conference later, saying that there should be a home

:02:04. > :02:07.rule, with maximum devolution, an option on the ballot paper. That is

:02:08. > :02:14.something that attracts a number of Liberal Democrat who are attracted

:02:14. > :02:17.by the idea of getting some kind of maximum devolution position adopted

:02:18. > :02:25.by the people but Michael Moore and many others are saying that the

:02:25. > :02:30.thing is to clarify the independence issue first. That

:02:30. > :02:34.sounds like a tricky situation for Willie Rennie when he was speaking

:02:34. > :02:38.in the conference chat yesterday. He was indebted would have to be

:02:38. > :02:44.the yes or no question on independence but we are hearing

:02:44. > :02:48.that members would be interested in a second question. I do not think

:02:48. > :02:53.we should be surprised with this tension. The Liberal Democrats are

:02:53. > :02:58.staying on the one hand that they want this question on home rule,

:02:58. > :03:05.and they do not want to call this devotion Max but it does involve

:03:05. > :03:09.much more powers for the parliament. At the same time they say they do

:03:09. > :03:14.not want this on the ballot paper and an independence referendum.

:03:14. > :03:19.That raises the question, if it is not on the ballot paper, how will

:03:19. > :03:25.you deliver this change at some point in the future? It is not

:03:25. > :03:28.obvious. What I expect to hear Willie Rennie say is that is

:03:28. > :03:34.Scotland votes against independence, that he would be willing to work

:03:34. > :03:38.with the SNP to progress the idea of more powers. There is still the

:03:38. > :03:41.question of whether that is necessarily the straightest route

:03:41. > :03:45.to achieving those powers as opposed to putting the question on

:03:45. > :03:49.the ballot paper? The Liberal Democrats have

:03:49. > :03:54.traditionally been the party of home rule as an alternative to

:03:54. > :03:58.independence. They want to see more powers transferred to the Scottish

:03:58. > :04:04.Parliament. But there is debate over which powers should be

:04:04. > :04:13.devolved. Made in Scotland from girders.

:04:13. > :04:17.Willie Rennie would like to forge an alternative to independence. The

:04:17. > :04:21.Scottish Liberal Democrat leader is in search of a grand design.

:04:21. > :04:28.He does not know yet what further evolution will look like but he

:04:28. > :04:34.does know what it would be called - home rule. He has asked some Ming

:04:34. > :04:39.Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats, to work out

:04:39. > :04:42.exactly what the Liberal Democrats mean by home rule.

:04:42. > :04:47.It to party activists and members in Inverness, it means different

:04:47. > :04:55.things. For home role, we need fiscal

:04:55. > :05:01.autonomy. That is the basis of home rule. So you do not want an

:05:01. > :05:06.independent Scotland? No, I do not. I certainly do not. If we are to

:05:06. > :05:10.Sol for the problem of the United Kingdom and to have a United

:05:10. > :05:16.Kingdom solution, federalism across the United Kingdom, then we could

:05:16. > :05:23.be wasting their time talking about all these devolution schemes.

:05:23. > :05:27.a halfway house to federalism. Tavish Scott is already backing the

:05:27. > :05:33.Devil is an Plus scheme which would put Holyrood in charge of most

:05:34. > :05:39.taxes except the VAT and national insurance.

:05:39. > :05:49.I want to see bought sites responsible for part of the balance

:05:49. > :05:50.

:05:50. > :05:55.Syed -- balance sheet. devolution plus a blueprint that

:05:55. > :05:59.Sir Menzies Campbell would snap up? I do not know exactly what people

:05:59. > :06:05.mean by a these different terms but by the time we have finished, they

:06:05. > :06:09.will know what home rule for Scotland would mean. For Tavish

:06:09. > :06:14.Scott has already joined this campaign for devolution Plus, which

:06:14. > :06:23.would then bowled the substantial transfer of tax powers, is that

:06:23. > :06:28.something you are signed up to? His predecessor says that the

:06:28. > :06:37.important thing is to reach an agreed alternative to independence.

:06:37. > :06:42.We must avoid the perils of an overcrowded pitch. We should learn

:06:42. > :06:46.from the experience of that baby referendum campaign over 12 months

:06:46. > :06:50.ago. A single coherent body bringing together the disparate

:06:50. > :06:55.groups involved. We know the general direction of travel but we

:06:55. > :07:01.need to flesh out the detail of what a post referendum environment

:07:01. > :07:04.which has seen independence rejected would axe will look like.

:07:04. > :07:08.Whatever formula they come up with, it would have to win Treasury

:07:08. > :07:14.approval. The current Chief Secretary seems sceptical about

:07:14. > :07:19.devolving some major tax powers. would have to look at any ideas

:07:19. > :07:25.that came forward if there was a consensus around them. In the case

:07:25. > :07:30.of the tax, there are the pros and cons. Corporation tax - would we

:07:30. > :07:37.want tax competition within the UK? That could make all governments

:07:37. > :07:45.what's what. -- worse off. The one thing they seem to agree on

:07:45. > :07:51.is that more devilish and does not need a referendum. -- more

:07:51. > :07:57.devolution. This is not dependent on the ballot

:07:58. > :08:03.paper. The final proposal will be worked out prior to the referendum.

:08:03. > :08:11.Yes. So where fewer proposal is on the ballot paper, would you

:08:11. > :08:17.campaign forward? -- if you're proposal.

:08:17. > :08:21.I am campaigning for devolution plus. That is the absolute focus. I

:08:21. > :08:26.do not know what will be on the ballot paper and I will not spend

:08:26. > :08:30.the next two years second guessing that.

:08:30. > :08:36.In Inverness this weekend, the official Lib Dem line is that

:08:36. > :08:40.further demolition on home role can only be delivered to every

:08:40. > :08:44.independence his first defeated in a straight question referendum. But

:08:44. > :08:49.if the Lib Dems and other pro-union parties are to persuade a Scottish

:08:49. > :08:53.voters to reject independence, and to something better, then they will

:08:53. > :08:58.have to define what something better looks like in time for the

:08:58. > :09:08.referendum. What is to stop Alex Salmond and the SNP put in their

:09:08. > :09:18.alternative on the ballot paper, to be tested alongside independence?

:09:18. > :09:24.

:09:24. > :09:28.The the professor is still with me. A lot to discuss their. It is a

:09:28. > :09:35.tricky one for Willie Rennie. He has made it clear that he wants to

:09:35. > :09:42.see only one question. Yes. One aspect of it not be SNP's most

:09:42. > :09:47.recent proposals but those that were published in 2010, because,

:09:47. > :09:54.what emerged from that, the SNP said they would ask two questions.

:09:54. > :09:59.Do you want to increase the powers of the Scottish Parliament? And a

:09:59. > :10:04.second question, do you want to increase the powers further so that

:10:04. > :10:11.Scotland becomes an independent country? And from Alex Salmond its

:10:11. > :10:20.point of view, even is that more than 50% voted for a independence

:10:20. > :10:24.but 90% had voted for devolution Max, there would still go for the

:10:24. > :10:30.independence which is something that Willie Rennie was arguing

:10:30. > :10:38.against. The question that faces the Liberal Democrats is that if it

:10:38. > :10:42.is not on the ballot paper, how can they say to people? Another

:10:42. > :10:46.suggestion has been to create consensus between the Conservatives,

:10:46. > :10:50.Labour and Liberal Democrats about the alternative so that they could

:10:50. > :10:56.possibly all signed up to this is what they would do in the event of

:10:56. > :11:01.a No vote. In a sense, the Calman Commission was such a process that

:11:01. > :11:05.achieved consensus between the T4 parties. But when we compare the

:11:05. > :11:11.tone of what Nick Clegg said to this conference on Friday, what

:11:11. > :11:21.Willie Rennie said in terms of devolution, and is what we heard

:11:21. > :11:23.

:11:23. > :11:28.yesterday, there are some very sceptical dynamics under water here.

:11:28. > :11:36.Mr Sam and it will be delighted as if that is what happens. -- Alex

:11:36. > :11:40.Salmond. They must be difficult for the Unionist camp because as

:11:40. > :11:45.Charlie -- Charles Kennedy was saying, there needs to be a single

:11:45. > :11:50.coherent body. It looks like he will be reading the Lib Dem

:11:50. > :12:00.campaign. It is interesting that they are planning for a post

:12:00. > :12:04.

:12:04. > :12:10.referendum, if there is an old boat. -- a no vote. I think they want to

:12:10. > :12:14.try to make sure that Scotland does not vote Yes to independence but

:12:14. > :12:22.also that Scotland does want a more powerful parliament than they have

:12:22. > :12:27.at the moment with powers for taxes and welfare. Unless they come up

:12:27. > :12:31.with a clear statement as to how that could be delivered within the

:12:31. > :12:35.framework of the Union, perhaps people will say that you are not

:12:35. > :12:43.offering something clear, maybe we should vote for something like

:12:43. > :12:48.independence. Therefore, coming up with some idea of how the union can

:12:48. > :12:52.meet the demands of the Scot is Parliament, I think it is essential

:12:52. > :12:58.that happens this side of the referendum.

:12:58. > :13:08.Ming Campbell seems proud of his home rule Commission, harking back

:13:08. > :13:09.

:13:09. > :13:19.to Asquith and Gladstone. What difference would a home rule

:13:19. > :13:19.

:13:19. > :13:28.Commission make to the devil was in Plus?

:13:28. > :13:33.-- devolution plus. We could say that the Liberal Democrats have

:13:33. > :13:40.been left behind in the race to try to develop an alternative because

:13:40. > :13:43.reform Scotland's initiatives in terms of devilish and plus... They

:13:43. > :13:53.have our lawns and a schematics scheme but they have not worked out

:13:53. > :13:54.

:13:54. > :14:01.a detailed proposal. The Liberal Democrats want to be in the

:14:01. > :14:06.forefront but they need to get their skates on. Thank you very

:14:06. > :14:10.much. The party entering government has

:14:10. > :14:13.been for some Liberal Democrat the peak of their achievement but for

:14:13. > :14:20.others it has been a despairing lob that has seen their popularity

:14:20. > :14:30.plunge. Yesterday, Alistair Carmichael endorsed a plan to renew

:14:30. > :14:34.

:14:34. > :14:36.It is important for us to remember that as important as they are, our

:14:36. > :14:42.MPs and ministers are an emanation of the party of rather than the

:14:42. > :14:44.other way around. They all started as rank-and-file members and

:14:44. > :14:49.achieved their present positions not only from their great efforts

:14:49. > :14:54.but also as a result of the work done and the money raised by are

:14:54. > :14:58.the rank and file members. It is not for us to tell our MPs and

:14:58. > :15:03.ministers what to do. We would not seek to do that and that is how we

:15:03. > :15:07.are different to the Labour Party. But it makes sense for there to be

:15:07. > :15:17.a continuing, a two-way dialogue between parliamentarians and the

:15:17. > :15:20.

:15:20. > :15:25.wider party, and this review is a Collision with the Conservatives

:15:25. > :15:31.has been likened to a ride on the tiger in the Old Limerick. We have

:15:31. > :15:39.been here before. On each of the occasions, a party almost ended up

:15:39. > :15:42.as this man on the face of the tiger. How can we avoid the

:15:42. > :15:47.disastrous fractures in our party that followed those coalitions? We

:15:47. > :15:57.believe the best way forward is to involve all parts of the party in

:15:57. > :15:57.

:15:57. > :16:01.reviewing our strategy in a businesslike way. We want everyone

:16:01. > :16:07.to come together to evaluate the process and achievements of the

:16:07. > :16:17.coalition as they affect Scotland. 20th June 12 will be the

:16:17. > :16:20.

:16:20. > :16:27.appropriate time to start this work. -- June, 2012. This is the right

:16:27. > :16:37.time for a formal review of where we are.

:16:37. > :16:39.

:16:39. > :16:44.APPLAUSE The party is notoriously difficult to lead. Party members

:16:44. > :16:53.have what seems like an unreasonable attachment to

:16:53. > :16:57.idiosyncratic points of principle. They are sensitive to the fact that

:16:57. > :17:05.our core programme and deepest instincts are built amongst other

:17:05. > :17:08.things on a massive contributions to the creation of the NHS and

:17:08. > :17:11.welfare state. Liberal Democrat support for have a strong

:17:11. > :17:16.attachment to concepts of the general interest to public service,

:17:16. > :17:24.to being on the side of the underdog and the dispossessed, and

:17:24. > :17:27.to equality of opportunity. It can mean a demonstrable a limit on the

:17:27. > :17:31.ability of the Deputy Prime Minister and his ministerial

:17:31. > :17:35.colleagues to deliver support for particular policies. Demonstrable

:17:35. > :17:45.to our coalition partners, and to the country. It can provide us

:17:45. > :17:47.

:17:47. > :17:54.their views -- it can provide other views. How it can help leadership

:17:54. > :18:01.to escape the corrosive effect of aspects of Westminster. A political

:18:01. > :18:05.party is a vehicle for achieving political purposes. High a

:18:05. > :18:10.political party's influence comes ultimately from its strength at the

:18:10. > :18:14.ballot box. This party has expended a lot of political capital in the

:18:14. > :18:20.national interest in joining the coalition. It must be able to renew

:18:20. > :18:23.its political mandate. That is where the public needs to see we

:18:23. > :18:28.have been successful, not just in terms of dealing with a crisis, but

:18:28. > :18:32.in terms of delivering and our values and programme. This party is

:18:32. > :18:36.our war party, built on the traditions of the past and held in

:18:36. > :18:40.trust by the present leadership for the future. The political

:18:40. > :18:46.accountability is to the electric, but there needs to be a robust

:18:46. > :18:50.structure linking the leadership to the rank-and-file. We have got to

:18:50. > :18:55.seize the opportunity of this referendum campaign in the context

:18:55. > :19:02.of the Westminster coalition as an opportunity in which we can

:19:02. > :19:07.uniquely in Scotland underscore the distinctive, unique identity which

:19:07. > :19:12.is liberal democracy. One goes hand-in-hand with the other. I just

:19:13. > :19:18.want to say a few words about the conduct of the forthcoming campaign

:19:18. > :19:25.itself. First, we must avoid the perils of an overcrowded pitch. My

:19:25. > :19:29.goodness, we need to learn from the experience of that AV referendum

:19:29. > :19:34.campaign. It needs a coherent, single body bringing together the

:19:34. > :19:39.disparate groups involved. We know the general direction of travel,

:19:39. > :19:42.but we need to flesh out the detail of Forte Post referendum

:19:42. > :19:49.Environment which has seen Independence rejected would

:19:49. > :19:59.actually look like -- flesh at the detail of a post referendum

:19:59. > :20:18.

:20:18. > :20:26.environment. Our task has started here this weekend with the

:20:26. > :20:32.consultative meeting last night. This debate about the referendum

:20:32. > :20:38.and the role of Scotland is also a debate about the future of the

:20:38. > :20:45.United Kingdom. It is a chance for others, in the context of that

:20:45. > :20:50.coalition, to remake the case for federalism on a UK basis, with

:20:50. > :20:54.Scotland as a trailblazer. That is the job I will be doing on your

:20:54. > :21:04.behalf. I will do it with relish. I hope you will enter the campaign

:21:04. > :21:06.

:21:06. > :21:09.with relish as well. Thank you. APPLAUSE I did not come into

:21:09. > :21:14.politics to make cuts, and I suspect you did not.

:21:14. > :21:18.Some of the things we are having to do are very difficult. But it is

:21:19. > :21:22.necessary that we start to live within a 1 means. That is why the

:21:22. > :21:27.Government's top priority is to cut the deficit and get our economy

:21:28. > :21:34.back on track. But this coalition Government is a huge opportunity. I

:21:34. > :21:37.spent five years as an opposition MP, and it was almost impossible to

:21:37. > :21:41.get any Liberal Democrat policy through and any piece of

:21:41. > :21:46.legislation changed to include our priorities. With fewer than one in

:21:46. > :21:52.10 MPs, that is what we are achieving in the coalition

:21:52. > :22:02.Government. Nick Clegg's used contract, �1 billion extra to help

:22:02. > :22:05.

:22:05. > :22:09.hundreds of thousands of young people -- youth contract. I am

:22:09. > :22:15.jealous of my English colleagues who can say that their schools get

:22:15. > :22:23.an extra �30,000 a year, and I think that is a policy we should

:22:23. > :22:33.apply in Scotland. Taking more than a million low paid out of income

:22:33. > :22:41.

:22:41. > :22:44.tax, and Nick Clegg is right to be pushing towards the �10,000 limit.

:22:44. > :22:48.I hope you will all have the confidence to get out there. We

:22:48. > :22:53.need that dialogue, not just for the party, but with the country. I

:22:53. > :22:57.have been knocking on doors a lot recently. I love it when someone

:22:57. > :23:01.raises the coalition. It is an opportunity to talk to that

:23:01. > :23:04.individual and reassure them. There are lots of people who are

:23:04. > :23:10.uncomfortable about the prospect and the reality of those being in

:23:10. > :23:15.coalition with the Conservatives. I understand. A lot of MPs Arab

:23:15. > :23:18.comfortable with it, too. We need to have those discussions to

:23:18. > :23:24.reassure people we are doing the right thing in the national

:23:24. > :23:34.interest, and we remain a strong and indeed -- a strong and

:23:34. > :23:37.

:23:37. > :23:40.distinctive presence. Thank you. Applause there. Let's go back to

:23:40. > :23:48.the conference hall, where Brian Taylor has been joined by three

:23:48. > :23:58.activist. Brian. Thank you very much. Three senior members of the

:23:58. > :24:05.

:24:06. > :24:09.party, Nora Radcliffe,... First, I would like to say I'm glad to be in

:24:09. > :24:15.a party where ordinary members can put up a major motion like this and

:24:15. > :24:25.have a debate. The background here is simple. We have a commitment go

:24:25. > :24:26.

:24:26. > :24:33.back more than 100 years. -- going back. We have a policy that seems

:24:33. > :24:42.to be very popular with the people of Scotland. I would like to see,

:24:42. > :24:46.if at all possible, it included in the referendum. As an alternative

:24:46. > :24:56.to independence? Yes. I would like to see it done in the same way that

:24:56. > :25:00.

:25:00. > :25:06.we had the referendum in 1997. A second question, do you want to go

:25:06. > :25:12.further to independence? Eileen McCartin, you think it has flaws?

:25:12. > :25:17.think the content of a lot of the motion is very, very good. The

:25:17. > :25:20.principle of having the two vote, I think is wrong, and I think one of

:25:20. > :25:25.the main reasons is because Alex Salmond wants it. He wants to muddy

:25:25. > :25:35.the waters. He knows he will lose and he wants to muddied the waters.

:25:35. > :25:36.

:25:36. > :25:40.I think that is wrong. However, I believe it is very important that

:25:41. > :25:46.we say exactly where we are going and what we're talking about. I

:25:46. > :25:54.believe in federalism. The home will contest is extremely important.

:25:54. > :26:00.Nora Radcliffe, why not take what seems to be the Democratic option?

:26:00. > :26:05.We are talking about the referendum. Referendums only work if they are

:26:05. > :26:12.simple, straightforward, one question. If you do not do that, it

:26:12. > :26:19.is not a referendum. We have delivered home rule, devolution,

:26:19. > :26:25.that is evolving and has changed enormously since we got it 12 years

:26:25. > :26:32.ago. Devolution to me is about better Government. It devolves

:26:32. > :26:42.things to a sensible level. And you do not need to put that to a Test?

:26:42. > :26:42.

:26:42. > :26:47.We do not. A referendum needs to be a single question. I agree. It is a

:26:47. > :26:52.good thing that it is debated openly. It does seem that you might

:26:52. > :26:58.have some opposition. I think so. In an ideal world, we

:26:58. > :27:02.would have a vote on more powers on home rule now, and we would see how

:27:02. > :27:07.that went and then have a vote on independence. We do not live in

:27:08. > :27:12.that world. We have two-and-a-half years. Michael Moore talks about

:27:12. > :27:20.how a referendum could be delivered in 2013. If the questions have to

:27:20. > :27:25.be separated out, we could have a referendum on more powers in 2013,

:27:25. > :27:30.and when that is decided, we could have a referendum on independence

:27:30. > :27:37.in 2014. Eileen, if you have two options, there is a problem with

:27:37. > :27:43.that. If one is supported by a large amount and won only narrowly,

:27:43. > :27:48.who wins? My view is the opposite. I think you have to have the vote

:27:48. > :27:58.on independence first. Get that out of the way. Then have a very to

:27:58. > :27:58.

:27:58. > :28:02.after that on status quo or home rule. One of the important things

:28:02. > :28:08.people need to realise is that the Liberal Democrats are the party who

:28:08. > :28:13.have driven the whole devolution process certainly for the last 20

:28:13. > :28:23.years. We were absolutely committed to more powers for Scotland. The

:28:23. > :28:27.SNP is only committed to more powers to the SNP. The SNP turned

:28:27. > :28:33.their back on any kind of devolution. They have not been

:28:33. > :28:39.interested... That is not true, because they campaigned for a Yes,

:28:39. > :28:49.Yes votes. They did not do it until the very last minute. The hard work

:28:49. > :28:53.had already been done. They jumped on the bandwagon. We built the

:28:53. > :28:58.bandwagon and put the wheels on it. The SNP jumped on at the last

:28:58. > :29:04.minute. They did not do any of the nitty-gritty. Let me ask each of

:29:04. > :29:14.you about the state of the party. Last May was not wonderful. How do

:29:14. > :29:21.you fight back? I think people got a shock at the result. I think they

:29:21. > :29:25.were swept along. There was a knee- jerk reaction to the coalition. I

:29:25. > :29:29.think people are more rational man. They have seen what it has

:29:29. > :29:34.delivered. I think they have understood there was not another

:29:34. > :29:37.option for the Liberal Democrats in the situation they found themselves.

:29:37. > :29:43.This situation we have now is infinitely better than it could

:29:43. > :29:46.have been. I think we're getting credit are. The reason the SNP has

:29:46. > :29:51.a majority in the Scottish parliament now is because the

:29:51. > :29:58.Liberal Democrat voters did not come out last year. That was partly

:29:58. > :30:03.because of what happened the year before. Was the loss of trust

:30:03. > :30:08.justifiable? I think it was justifiable. People only remember

:30:08. > :30:14.that now, the tuition fees. They have not realise that there are

:30:14. > :30:19.positive things that are happening. The tax changes? Yes. Taking

:30:19. > :30:24.hundreds of thousands of people out of tax altogether, particularly the

:30:24. > :30:28.poorest, working people in Scotland. That is important to me. What we

:30:28. > :30:32.are coming up to this year is the elections after the first period of

:30:32. > :30:35.councils which have run under proportional representation, which

:30:35. > :30:40.is one of the major achievements of the Liberal Democrats since the

:30:40. > :30:47.Scottish Parliament came along. I think that has blown up a great

:30:47. > :30:50.amount of fresh air into local Government. I think local

:30:50. > :30:55.Government has improved as a result of that. We have to tell people

:30:55. > :31:01.that is what it is about. Final question. Do you believe you can

:31:01. > :31:08.work with other parties, Labour and Tories, on the options to

:31:08. > :31:12.independence, or were you project your own policy on federalism?

:31:12. > :31:22.work with the SNP on the council all the time, so I am very good at

:31:22. > :31:27.

:31:28. > :31:32.working with other people and I believe we always will. We will

:31:32. > :31:42.work with anyone who has the right message to move forward, but it has

:31:42. > :31:43.

:31:43. > :31:47.to be led properly and the right message. It has to be a positive

:31:47. > :31:53.message. My impression is that the majority of Scots, like the

:31:53. > :31:58.Scottish parliament -- the majority of Scots are like the Scottish

:31:58. > :32:02.parliament. There is a sensible level for that to happen at and I

:32:02. > :32:12.think we are no sensible party that can lead the way. This sensible

:32:12. > :32:22.

:32:22. > :32:28.Partick! -- though sensible party! Nick Clegg was in Inverness on

:32:28. > :32:33.Friday, making his case for the union. He repeated David Cameron's

:32:33. > :32:37.suggestion of more devolved powers in Scotland in return for a No vote

:32:37. > :32:47.on independence. Our reporter has been gauging opinion sport in and

:32:47. > :32:47.

:32:47. > :32:51.outside all. He was undoubtedly the star turn.

:32:51. > :32:57.This was the Liberal Democrat Prime Minis -- Deputy Prime Minister

:32:57. > :33:05.after all. But their share of the vote was cut in half at the last

:33:05. > :33:09.elections. 17 S -- 17 MSPs to just five.

:33:09. > :33:13.The last time I was here in the Highland capital we were looking

:33:13. > :33:19.ahead to the Scottish parliamentary elections. They did not quite turn

:33:19. > :33:25.out the way we hoped. It was a painful experience. As a party, we

:33:25. > :33:31.lost a lot of excellent people from the Scottish Parliament. So how did

:33:31. > :33:38.the Scottish party react to their leader's speech?

:33:38. > :33:43.Nick Clegg got a very warm reception. Remember this is someone

:33:43. > :33:48.who has had access couple of hard years but he is irrepressible in

:33:48. > :33:58.political terms. Nick got a positive reaction as you would at X

:33:58. > :34:03.

:34:03. > :34:07.X. He pressed of the Highlands and Islands buttons. He is a Lib Dem

:34:07. > :34:11.leader who takes himself and our party seriously. He has proved to

:34:11. > :34:17.we can actually make a difference in government. He has done a very

:34:17. > :34:22.good job as Deputy Prime Minister. The young people and our party have

:34:22. > :34:30.a great regard for him as I do. He comes over very well. He can't help

:34:30. > :34:36.being English. He is English. Are ringing endorsement. Outside

:34:36. > :34:41.the conference venue, Inverness has two Liberal MPs and a long history

:34:41. > :34:46.of liberal voting. How do people on the street and tunic like?

:34:46. > :34:56.I think the Liberal Democrats were quite popular here but I think

:34:56. > :34:57.

:34:58. > :35:05.after the coalition, it ruined that. I personally don't like them.

:35:05. > :35:15.on, have some kind of spine. The difference then between public

:35:15. > :35:17.

:35:17. > :35:24.perceptions and those of the party. Perhaps there could be more

:35:24. > :35:30.demonstrable behaviour. Nick Clegg is exuding confidence

:35:30. > :35:35.before May's council elections. We going to make's elections with

:35:35. > :35:41.our heads held high, our record of fighting her position in councils

:35:41. > :35:46.throughout Scotland and a record of delivering real help for Scottish

:35:46. > :35:50.people in Westminster. Riding high with the party faithful

:35:50. > :35:57.might produce a warm glow but it might not produce the returns in

:35:57. > :36:01.local government the Lib Dems hope for in just a few weeks from now.

:36:01. > :36:06.Professor John Curtice is still with me. Interesting to hear some

:36:06. > :36:11.of those opinions. One of the delegates said there had been a

:36:11. > :36:16.justifiable loss of trust over tuition fees. Very hard for the Lib

:36:16. > :36:21.Dems to overcome that. Indeed. We can compare Willie Rennie's

:36:21. > :36:25.position with that of Johann Lamont. She at least knows that the

:36:25. > :36:29.problems she faces was made in Scotland. The Labour Party in

:36:29. > :36:35.Scotland has gone backwards when the Labour Party south of the

:36:35. > :36:39.border made as substantial recovery from its defeat in 2010. North of

:36:39. > :36:45.the border, the party is suffering for its role in the coalition, and

:36:45. > :36:51.if you look at the timing of the decline, it is centred around that

:36:51. > :36:54.decision about tuition fees. When you look at the Liberal Democrat

:36:54. > :36:59.performance in Scotland last year, it was horrendous but it was just

:36:59. > :37:03.as horrendous as in England and Wales. There is no doubt that

:37:03. > :37:10.although Tavish Scott tried hard to say, I disagree with Nick Clegg on

:37:10. > :37:13.to risen fees, he could not escape from that because it is not to say

:37:13. > :37:16.that people are necessarily against tuition fees because there is

:37:16. > :37:21.public opinion to say that the principle of having some kind of

:37:21. > :37:27.tuition fees is accepted, but the fact is the Liberal Democrats said

:37:27. > :37:31.they would not to them. It was an iconic policy. And then they did

:37:31. > :37:37.something completely different. They raced to Western fees to a

:37:37. > :37:47.level where effectively students were peeing all of their tuition

:37:47. > :37:51.

:37:51. > :37:57.costs. It was such a rise that be public do not trust them any longer.

:37:57. > :38:01.So far, it is not putting any ice with the public. The Liberal

:38:01. > :38:09.Democrats have been consistently stuck at about 11 or 12% in opinion

:38:09. > :38:15.polls ever since that tuition fees decision. In Scotland it is down as

:38:15. > :38:18.low as a seven or 8%. The party is in deep trouble and its attempts to

:38:18. > :38:21.differentiate itself from its conservative parties in the

:38:21. > :38:25.coalition are so far not solving the problem.

:38:26. > :38:32.Willie Rennie is trying to be an energetic leader but is that

:38:32. > :38:37.getting across to people? No doubt he has been energetic. He

:38:37. > :38:43.is clearly very sold confident as a politician. And he has also tried

:38:43. > :38:48.to suggest his party is not like the other Labour, Conservatives, by

:38:48. > :38:53.being willing to work with the SNP over budgeting and alcohol pricing.

:38:53. > :39:01.But however worthy these political manoeuvres, the public are just not

:39:01. > :39:06.a win and are not listening. 40% people do not think Johann Lamont

:39:06. > :39:11.is doing a good job but in the case of Willie Rennie, it is 47%. He has

:39:11. > :39:16.to move from being an effective parliamentarian to demonstrating he

:39:16. > :39:24.can be an effective campaigner. He must try to get distance between

:39:24. > :39:28.himself and the coalition, at least in the short term. Nick Clegg is a

:39:28. > :39:38.deeply unpopular politician not just in Inverness but all the way

:39:38. > :39:46.down to Cornwall. He must try to distance his party from that.

:39:46. > :39:52.you very much. The Liberal Democrats have lost another Cabinet

:39:52. > :39:57.minister in the form of Chris Huhne, the climate and Energy Minister.

:39:57. > :40:05.His replacement paid tribute to him at conference and pledged to carry

:40:05. > :40:10.on his green work. To tackle climate tains and protect

:40:10. > :40:14.our country from volatile international oil and gas prices we

:40:14. > :40:20.need to change the way we produce electricity. We will actually need

:40:20. > :40:24.to increase electricity production because we also need to shift from

:40:24. > :40:30.polluting petrol and diesel transport to cleaner electric

:40:30. > :40:40.vehicles. We will of course also need to be carbonised Allott has a

:40:40. > :40:51.

:40:51. > :40:57.two. -- decarbonise electricity. Renewables, like wind, wave, Soler,

:40:57. > :41:03.and new nuclear. But without public subsidy and with guaranteed

:41:03. > :41:12.financial provisions for future decommissioning. Thirdly, clean-

:41:12. > :41:19.coal and clean gas. Delivered by carbon captor and storage. --

:41:19. > :41:23.carbon capture. In my first month, it is remarkable how many people

:41:23. > :41:28.seem to think that their low carbon technology is the only one that

:41:28. > :41:35.matters and the only one that can save us. It is either renewables,

:41:36. > :41:41.or nuclear, or ccs. For some, onshore wind subsidies are wrong.

:41:41. > :41:47.For others, Nuclear is not needed because we have so many renewables.

:41:47. > :41:55.For others, gas is just another polluting fossil fuel when we have

:41:55. > :42:03.clean nuclear. I have to give you a very dull and boring message. We

:42:03. > :42:13.need to try a very low carbon technology we can get our hands on.

:42:13. > :42:14.

:42:14. > :42:20.-- every. The fundamental reason is this. Everyday low carbon

:42:20. > :42:27.technology has its risks. The future is not certain. The risk of

:42:27. > :42:31.danger this climate change is just too great. In common parlance, when

:42:31. > :42:38.you are planning for the future you do not put all your eggs in one

:42:38. > :42:42.basket. By subsidising renewables, we are seeing the cost of wind and

:42:42. > :42:48.solar or tumble and I am sure they will go down much more. By being

:42:48. > :42:52.open to different low carbon technologies, we are creating the

:42:52. > :42:56.biggest technology race and competition of recent times. That

:42:56. > :43:01.is what our relativity market reform proposals are all about.

:43:01. > :43:05.That is what the Green Investment Bank will help deliver. And it is

:43:05. > :43:11.what our competition for carbon captor and storage projects will

:43:11. > :43:19.help make happen. I would like to say more about ccs. It is too often

:43:19. > :43:25.disappointment over the decision not to proceed with Long Gannet.

:43:25. > :43:30.But it did make some real progress. It showed that commercial scale CCS

:43:30. > :43:35.is technically feasible and for the first time, complete engineering

:43:35. > :43:39.designs were made freely available for the whole world to see. As we

:43:39. > :43:44.approached the revised competition, which I hope to announce later this

:43:44. > :43:52.spring, I hope that Scott is projects like Peter Head will come

:43:52. > :43:57.forward to compete. We have already invested at Renfrew. This is a huge

:43:57. > :44:03.investment, even for a large economy like the UK's. In these

:44:03. > :44:08.difficult times, to put �1 billion into a competition for such a

:44:08. > :44:15.development shows that we are serious. The UK government has

:44:15. > :44:20.found the cash and we will proceed. Like our massive investment in

:44:20. > :44:26.renewables, we believe it is simply irresponsible and reckless to do

:44:26. > :44:34.otherwise. As Energy Minister, I am also conscious that we are some way

:44:34. > :44:39.from a low carbon economy. We still depend on unabated coal, oil and

:44:39. > :44:43.gas and will do so for quite a few years. When we are successful with

:44:43. > :44:48.carbon captor and storage on a large scale, we will be able to

:44:48. > :44:56.exploit these resources for many, many more years in the low carbon

:44:56. > :45:03.future. That means we have to think about, work for, and nurture these

:45:03. > :45:07.industries as well. On oil and gas, I will be working with George

:45:07. > :45:17.Osborne and Vince Cable to make sure that our approach strategy

:45:17. > :45:18.

:45:18. > :45:23.considers their needs as well. From new production, exploration and the

:45:23. > :45:25.decommissioning industry, it is vital that our Oil and Gas UK

:45:25. > :45:32.regimes are and are seen to be stable and attractive for

:45:32. > :45:37.investment. Returning to renewables, where stability has already brought

:45:37. > :45:41.huge investments and can bring even more in the years ahead, because I

:45:41. > :45:47.believe renewables are a classic case of how England and Scotland

:45:47. > :45:55.need to -- need each other. Indeed, how devolution in the UK has worked

:45:55. > :46:00.and is the best future for us all. Meeting a renewables target of 15%

:46:00. > :46:07.energy by 2020 for the UK is a tough task already. If England has

:46:07. > :46:13.to do it for itself, by itself, it will probably be tougher, given

:46:13. > :46:17.Scotland has relatively more renewable resources. Yes, the

:46:17. > :46:22.economics of renewables is that Scotland needs English consumers to

:46:22. > :46:32.help pay for the renewables as the technology develops. The truth is,

:46:32. > :46:38.

:46:38. > :46:44.Ed Davey death. I am now joined by Liam McArthur. Thank you for

:46:44. > :46:52.joining me. -- Ed Davey there. Ed Davey was pointing out that this is

:46:52. > :47:00.the greenest Government. George Osborne says environmental rules

:47:00. > :47:08.are a burden on British business. think what you saw in Ed Davey's

:47:08. > :47:18.speech was evidence to back up the claim that this is the most green

:47:18. > :47:26.

:47:27. > :47:30.Government. I am more interested in terms of the delivery, politicians

:47:30. > :47:40.are accused of making grand claims, but I think there is evidence the

:47:40. > :47:40.

:47:41. > :47:45.UK Government is delivering. I think that will accelerate. The

:47:45. > :47:49.time frames we are operating in an exceptionally tight. It will

:47:49. > :47:52.require collaboration between Government north and south of the

:47:52. > :47:55.border. How can the UK Government beat the living and green energy

:47:55. > :47:59.when it has been reported that the Chancellor's team is encouraging

:47:59. > :48:07.MPs to write to Downing Street to say that subsidy is to wind farms

:48:07. > :48:12.are a waste of money, and inefficient? I think onshore wind

:48:12. > :48:22.is a technology that is already delivering. If we undermine

:48:22. > :48:26.

:48:26. > :48:36.confidence in terms of the on job - - in terms of the onshore wind

:48:36. > :48:36.

:48:36. > :48:42.sector, it will disappear if we do not develop hour wind capacity. I

:48:42. > :48:48.think a number of MPs have not bought into the idea that we need

:48:48. > :48:58.to be carbonised our economy at all. I am not terribly interest in that

:48:58. > :48:59.

:48:59. > :49:03.-- terribly interested in that. am sure you were concerned about

:49:03. > :49:08.fuel poverty. Chris Huhne said consumers had to shop around to

:49:08. > :49:17.look for the best deal. Ed Miliband was saying on Friday that was not

:49:17. > :49:22.good enough, to tell people to shop around. He said that people over 75

:49:22. > :49:25.should get the cheapest tariff by law. Do you support that? I think

:49:25. > :49:31.there is a very strong case for empowering consumers to seek out

:49:31. > :49:41.the best deal. To some extent, simply moving from provider to

:49:41. > :49:41.

:49:41. > :49:47.provider will not necessarily be the best staying long time. We need

:49:47. > :49:54.to be conscious not just in terms of energy security, not only in

:49:54. > :49:58.terms of reducing emissions, but the fuel poverty aspect are

:49:58. > :50:08.critical. They ran many who were not spending enough in terms of

:50:08. > :50:14.

:50:14. > :50:24.heating their homes. -- there are many who are not spending enough.

:50:24. > :50:28.

:50:28. > :50:35.Ed Davey was also talking about lowering the carbon emissions.

:50:35. > :50:40.think if we talk about failing, that undermines the achievements

:50:40. > :50:44.made. A lot of excellent work has been done in relation to that. The

:50:44. > :50:48.economics in relation to that case could not be stacked up.

:50:48. > :50:53.Nevertheless, I think now work will be invaluable in terms of

:50:53. > :51:00.successive projects that will come forward. Chris Huhne made it clear

:51:00. > :51:03.that it was the project to beat in terms of CAB -- carbon capture and

:51:03. > :51:13.storage. To talk of a failure when so much excellent work has gone

:51:13. > :51:17.into the project, this work will have any value over the next few

:51:17. > :51:23.years. Scott is Liberal-Democrat have put pressure on the UK

:51:23. > :51:28.Government to cut fuel duty in and around the islands. That has gone

:51:28. > :51:36.down by 5p just last week. It turns out that the fuel suppliers are

:51:36. > :51:41.putting up a duty by 5p. What action is can he Alexander taking

:51:41. > :51:51.to try to tackle that and make sure people are not paying higher marks

:51:51. > :51:58.

:51:58. > :52:01.for fuel -- and what action is can he Alexander taking. What we have

:52:01. > :52:09.seen at allegations about the practices of certain suppliers to

:52:09. > :52:19.the islands. Any evidence of profiteering will be investigated

:52:19. > :52:27.

:52:27. > :52:30.and the firms responsible will be held accountable. Ed Davey

:52:30. > :52:35.mentioned the green investment banker. What pressure IU putting

:52:35. > :52:40.him to ensure the Green Investment Bank comes to Edinburgh? A I think

:52:40. > :52:44.Edinburgh has a compelling case. We saw in that debate recently in

:52:44. > :52:51.Scottish parliament the cross-party support there is for the bank to be

:52:51. > :52:57.located in Edinburgh. I think now was across industry. In terms of

:52:57. > :53:02.the skills base we have, not just finance gales but in relation to

:53:02. > :53:07.Engineering and academia, I think we have a case that is stronger

:53:07. > :53:17.than any. I hope that will prove successful. No doubt the other

:53:17. > :53:21.candidates bidding for this believe they have a skills as well. I think

:53:21. > :53:31.Edinburgh's case is particularly strong. I am interested in how you

:53:31. > :53:33.

:53:33. > :53:43.were framing the debate when it comes... Are you taking the fight

:53:43. > :53:45.

:53:45. > :53:48.to the SNP's? They have made a great play of it. I have made no

:53:48. > :53:58.secret of the fact that the current Government are building a very

:53:58. > :54:03.strong foundations that were established during the first two

:54:03. > :54:08.Scottish executives after devolution. I do not hear anybody,

:54:08. > :54:11.certainly not in Government, all within the energy sector in

:54:11. > :54:16.Scotland, who believes that segmenting the UK market would be

:54:16. > :54:22.in anybody's interest. I think the SNP have some issues they need to

:54:22. > :54:25.deal with. Nevertheless, in terms of direction travelling and areas

:54:26. > :54:34.focusing on, I have no difficulty but what the Scottish Government

:54:34. > :54:40.are saying and I have been supportive of it. I think more

:54:40. > :54:44.collaborative work is happening. Liam McArthur, thank you for

:54:44. > :54:48.joining us. A red's discuss some of those

:54:48. > :54:58.issues with Professor John Curtice -- let's discuss. We are waiting

:54:58. > :55:03.

:55:03. > :55:08.for the speech from Woody Benny. Let us pick up on that final point.

:55:09. > :55:18.One of Alex Salmond's key arguments is that it's in the Scott term --

:55:19. > :55:29.

:55:29. > :55:39.in the short term, it would be financially sustainable in the

:55:39. > :55:43.

:55:43. > :55:52.longer term with a wave and wind- power. The argument that if, indeed,

:55:53. > :56:01.Scotland's wind and wave power I to be exploited effectively, Scotland

:56:01. > :56:11.needs to remain within the union. The argument is Scotland must work

:56:11. > :56:13.

:56:13. > :56:17.with the UK. Scotland would need wider access to the UK markets. I

:56:17. > :56:25.think it is very interesting the Liberal Democrats are right taking

:56:25. > :56:35.one of the key SNP arguments -- the Liberal Democrats are taking on one

:56:35. > :56:42.

:56:42. > :56:49.of the key SNP argument. I suppose it is in the area the party astray

:56:49. > :56:54.on. Michael Moore has been talking about the uncertainty caused by the

:56:54. > :57:01.referendum. They Liberal Democrats have long been particularly keen on

:57:01. > :57:11.the green agenda. Those in the Green Party would add to not enough.

:57:11. > :57:13.

:57:13. > :57:22.-- those in the Green Party would argue not enough. It provides them

:57:22. > :57:30.with a potential one of different nation from the Conservatives. --

:57:30. > :57:36.differentiation. SNP's may not be keen to spend a lot of money on

:57:36. > :57:46.developing renewables in the short term, nevertheless, they are keen

:57:46. > :57:46.

:57:46. > :57:50.to pursue this. The trouble with this is that so far, the Liberal

:57:50. > :57:55.Democrats have not succeeded in turning it into an iconic policy

:57:56. > :58:05.that people immediately say to themselves, yes, I know what the

:58:06. > :58:07.

:58:07. > :58:14.Liberal Democrats are doing. There is not an equivalent iconic policy

:58:14. > :58:17.with which they are associating. The position on taxation, the idea

:58:17. > :58:22.of reducing tax, that does not sound like the kind of thing that

:58:22. > :58:27.would require Liberal-Democrats to persuade Conservatives. Is that not

:58:27. > :58:30.the kind of thing you expect Conservatives to do anyway? It is

:58:30. > :58:33.not clear that is the kind of policy that would persuade people

:58:34. > :58:38.the Liberal Democrats have made a difference to a Conservative

:58:38. > :58:44.Government. Thank you very much. I think we can now go over to

:58:44. > :58:54.Inverness to the Eden Court Theatre, where will he Rennie is about to

:58:54. > :59:20.

:59:20. > :59:27.Donald Trump has not met my happy- go-lucky seven-year-old son,

:59:27. > :59:33.Stephen. Perhaps he should. Puzzled by in recent enquiry from a

:59:33. > :59:39.journalist about Donald Trump's latest tirade against wind turbines

:59:39. > :59:49.and the environmental damage he says that they do, Steve and simply

:59:49. > :59:50.

:59:50. > :59:55.said, no, Dad, they do not do --, they simply turn round and round. -

:59:55. > :00:05.- no, Dad, they do not do that, they simply turn round and round.

:00:05. > :00:06.

:00:06. > :00:11.Such a wise buy. He is wise beyond Donald Trump's years. I am not

:00:11. > :00:16.saying that every wind farm application should be approved.

:00:16. > :00:21.Renewables must be a central part of our energy generation. That is

:00:21. > :00:25.what Liberal Democrats have said for decades. It has never been more

:00:25. > :00:29.true today. With fuel bills rocketing and fuel poverty rising,

:00:29. > :00:35.we cannot expect the burden of protecting our environment for

:00:36. > :00:38.tomorrow to be borne by the vulnerable today. That is why our

:00:38. > :00:43.climate change Secretary has promised me that he will redouble

:00:43. > :00:48.his efforts to tackle fuel poverty. That is why I am pleased he is

:00:48. > :00:50.driving forward the green deal, so it is not only those with the where

:00:50. > :01:00.with all that can benefit from warmer homes and lower bills, but

:01:00. > :01:03.

:01:03. > :01:13.those that do not have the cash. We want to persuade the Scottish

:01:13. > :01:13.

:01:13. > :01:23.Government in investing in insulating homes. We await to

:01:23. > :01:33.

:01:33. > :01:39.Scotland, to the environment, to Late last year, I spent a deer -- a

:01:39. > :01:45.day in Glasgow, with an organisation that helps dog addicts

:01:45. > :01:49.and give support, addressing of the issues in that the lives of an

:01:49. > :01:54.adult not just the addiction. Drug misuse is a health problem but the

:01:54. > :02:00.solutions are not only medical. Addiction is often a symptom of

:02:00. > :02:10.wider and deeper social problems. Housing, lack of work skills,

:02:10. > :02:14.

:02:15. > :02:20.victims of child abuse. These can be factors that lead to drug issues.

:02:20. > :02:24.We need to address the problems and not just the symptoms. Scotland

:02:24. > :02:28.continues to face about drugs crisis with thousands of homes

:02:29. > :02:38.blighted by addiction with addicts forced to steal, prostitute their

:02:38. > :02:43.bodies, and deal in drugs just to get through one day to the next.

:02:43. > :02:53.Drug dealers I think are parasites. Parasite that feed from the victim

:02:53. > :02:53.

:02:53. > :03:00.host. On my visit, I met Nadir. She has a six-year-old son who is

:03:00. > :03:10.catered for by her brother. Mary was in crisis but he still had hope.

:03:10. > :03:10.

:03:10. > :03:19.Her ambition was to feed her boy breakfast and taken to school. For

:03:19. > :03:23.most, this is a daily norm. For her, this was a lofty dream. She

:03:23. > :03:33.deserves an opportunity just like anyone else. She deserves a chance

:03:33. > :03:41.

:03:41. > :03:48.to recover and I think we know our Too often, model rather than

:03:48. > :03:53.professional judgments are used. There is no one-size-fits-all

:03:53. > :03:58.solution. We need a flexible and Patient focused approach. We should

:03:58. > :04:02.not seek to restrict options for moral reasons but insure that

:04:02. > :04:09.trained professionals can deliver the service they think is best for

:04:09. > :04:15.the patient. I am not sure of Alex Salmond has visited turning point

:04:15. > :04:22.in Glasgow. I do not believe he has met maybe and has certainly not

:04:22. > :04:30.championed the issue. I am sure he cares, I do not doubt that, but the

:04:30. > :04:40.time in leader devotes his our reflection of their. He needs to

:04:40. > :04:47.

:04:47. > :04:53.look at his diary and make time to The First Minister prefers to court

:04:53. > :04:58.the Ritz and the powerful. Rather than the dispossessed and the

:04:58. > :05:03.vulnerable. He giggles on the golf course with Donald Trump who denies

:05:03. > :05:10.climate change. Up the Basque of the bus with Brian Souter, who

:05:10. > :05:16.denies gay people. And now he has recurred Murdoch on speed dial.

:05:16. > :05:22.Inviting him around for fireside chats at Bute House. The price for

:05:22. > :05:29.securing the media tycoon's support was a defence of News International

:05:29. > :05:36.in the new Sun on Sunday. If you read it, this is where the First

:05:36. > :05:41.Minister became the only person on the face of the Earth who says that

:05:41. > :05:51.Levison was not caused by news of the world. Is there anything he

:05:51. > :05:53.

:05:53. > :05:56.will not do? The pert, Brian and Donald. The would be midwives of an

:05:56. > :06:06.independent Scotland. It is too much time with billionaires and not

:06:06. > :06:20.

:06:20. > :06:24.enough time with the dispossessed Being a Liberal Democrat in

:06:24. > :06:29.Scotland, being a liberal and progressive, is about being

:06:29. > :06:36.prepared to stand up to powerful vested interests, not cosying up.

:06:36. > :06:40.It is often David against Goliath. Our Deputy Leader has done it with

:06:40. > :06:49.the cosmetic industry. The way they market and advertise their products.

:06:49. > :06:53.So far, she has won four battles against some of the biggest names

:06:53. > :06:59.in the business. She has led a remarkable campaign that gives

:06:59. > :07:09.young people more confidence about their body image. It has put the

:07:09. > :07:12.

:07:12. > :07:17.end it -- the industry on the back foot. And freedom of information is

:07:17. > :07:23.awkward to those who wield power. They don't like it and they wish it

:07:23. > :07:29.would go way. At Question Time last month, I asked Alex Salmond to

:07:29. > :07:36.extend the laws so that people could get more power in their hands.

:07:36. > :07:41.The First Minister refused. A fortnight later, we find out why.

:07:41. > :07:49.Freedom of information is so serious. 20 patients died in

:07:49. > :07:55.Ayrshire and Arran and yet nobody had learned the lessons. One man, a

:07:55. > :08:01.nurse, to convey powerful players and one. The health boards

:08:02. > :08:05.dismissed him as vexatious. The Health Department paid no attention

:08:05. > :08:12.until the Information Commissioner worked out that he was right and

:08:12. > :08:19.all of these well-paid, powerful people were wrong. My fear is that

:08:19. > :08:28.their son and Adam is only the tip of the iceberg. -- Air Show and I

:08:28. > :08:33.am. We need a Scotland wide investigation into the practices

:08:33. > :08:37.and procedures of every single health boards, every police

:08:37. > :08:41.authority and every department of governments, so that we can proudly

:08:41. > :08:51.say that the institutions of our country are honest, open and

:08:51. > :09:02.

:09:03. > :09:07.Not because this is nice to do but because it really matters. Learning

:09:07. > :09:11.the lessons from patient deaths, rooting out bad government and

:09:11. > :09:18.holding the powerful to account might be awkward to those in charge,

:09:18. > :09:23.but Information and power is safer when the two shared. That is why I

:09:23. > :09:28.appeal to the First Minister today to commit to extend the laws to

:09:28. > :09:36.housing associations, PFI companies and other government bodies that

:09:36. > :09:46.can cut corners and Dods and delay. We deserve to here from them. I

:09:46. > :09:58.

:09:59. > :10:08.want the First Minister to make Margaret Thatcher recruited me. Not

:10:09. > :10:09.

:10:09. > :10:14.to the Tories. But to this lot. The actions of her party and of her in

:10:14. > :10:22.the 80s drove me into politics. I never thought we would be sharing

:10:22. > :10:26.government with her descendants. But I am so relieved that we are.

:10:26. > :10:33.Without us, there would be no tax cut for those on low and middle-

:10:33. > :10:38.income, nor �5 pension rise, no �1 billion a year contract, no

:10:38. > :10:42.protection for post offices, Norah will fuel discount, no Scotland

:10:42. > :10:52.Bill with powers for the Scottish Parliament and children would still

:10:52. > :10:59.

:10:59. > :11:04.The unrestrained, the Tories would govern from the right and I am glad

:11:04. > :11:10.that we have someone with the steel and vision of Nick Clegg bleeding

:11:10. > :11:20.our party and doing the right thing in the coalition. -- leading our

:11:20. > :11:22.

:11:22. > :11:32.party. Let's give neck and applause. He deserves it. I am not ashamed to

:11:32. > :11:36.

:11:36. > :11:42.say that than pro coalition but I We have always advocated

:11:42. > :11:52.partnership and now we have it. I am for working together for

:11:52. > :11:53.

:11:53. > :11:56.fairness, creating jobs, but never for the Tories. While our Liberal

:11:56. > :12:01.Democrat colleagues in the coalition government have been

:12:01. > :12:05.working to clear up Labour's economic mess, we in turn have been

:12:05. > :12:12.serious about protecting Scotland's colleges for the good of our

:12:12. > :12:16.economy. I have spent every be weeks during the autumn sowing Alex

:12:17. > :12:22.Salmond and John Swinney where they have new money available that they

:12:22. > :12:28.could use to reverse the cuts to colleges. Week by week, I made the

:12:28. > :12:32.case to stop the threat to 9,000 students across Scotland. When

:12:32. > :12:38.times are tough, I want people to have the opportunity to learn new

:12:38. > :12:43.skills. Together with Liam MacArthur, I made a serious

:12:43. > :12:49.constructive case. I was delighted when the Scottish Government

:12:49. > :12:59.changed its budget to reflect what we had argued. �40 million back in

:12:59. > :13:06.

:13:06. > :13:11.the budget for colleges. They also committed more money to social

:13:11. > :13:20.housing and too early intervention, just as we had suggested. Good for

:13:20. > :13:23.students, good for so -- good for communities and good for Scotland.

:13:23. > :13:28.We saw but her small group can still bring weight to bear on

:13:28. > :13:32.government and that our strong force it -- our strong voices in

:13:32. > :13:40.the liberal cause can be heard. I got this letter from the President

:13:40. > :13:43.of the National Union of students. He rocks, true to form, the

:13:43. > :13:48.Scottish Liberal Democrats have been incredibly supportive over

:13:48. > :13:56.this issue gaining such a win for college students helps those most

:13:56. > :14:06.in need. Thank you for all of your work on this. In return, I would

:14:06. > :14:07.

:14:07. > :14:08.like all of us here to congratulate NUS on such a powerful campaign

:14:08. > :14:18.involving their members and to thank them for the way they reached

:14:18. > :14:28.

:14:28. > :14:31.out to political parties to win a Are positive, constructive work

:14:31. > :14:37.comes on top of the work we are doing with the Scottish Government

:14:37. > :14:41.on minimum pricing for alcohol. We want to address the debilitating

:14:41. > :14:47.affect that alcohol abuse has on communities, families and health.

:14:47. > :14:51.We were prepared to change our position. We were prepared to work

:14:51. > :15:00.with the government and we will challenge the big business and

:15:00. > :15:09.vested interests who opposed this change. People have a positive

:15:09. > :15:14.choice. In May. In Inverness, in the Highland Council, where Liberal

:15:14. > :15:20.Democrats have met the challenge of tough times with a radical new

:15:20. > :15:22.charitable trust to protect services. Where, by careful work

:15:22. > :15:27.with any Test Highland, Liberal Democrats have helped elderly

:15:27. > :15:31.people and children who need better care, where Liberal Democrats in

:15:31. > :15:35.Inverness have shown themselves to be amazing campaigners and great

:15:35. > :15:40.champions for local people and where the results of all of the

:15:40. > :15:44.Saxon and hard work was shown at the Inverness South by-election in

:15:44. > :15:54.November. A Liberal Democrat gain, a win from Labour and that defeat

:15:54. > :16:06.

:16:06. > :16:11.Across Scotland, Liberal Democrat councils have been working hard for

:16:11. > :16:17.the local communities. In Edinburgh, they are building a better future

:16:17. > :16:20.for the City, cutting crime by 20 % three neighbourhood approach.

:16:20. > :16:27.Giving your chances for young people, through their Edinburgh

:16:27. > :16:30.guarantee that gives apprenticeships and work experience.

:16:30. > :16:40.And asking every council in Scotland to match the excellent

:16:40. > :16:44.

:16:45. > :16:52.work Edinburgh are doing. In five, they have recycling up to 50 % --

:16:52. > :16:57.Ffife. In Perth, where they have met the 2012 homelessness targets

:16:57. > :17:01.ahead of schedule, and are building new council homes for the first

:17:01. > :17:09.time for a generation. In Aberdeenshire, where they are

:17:09. > :17:11.building new schools and where they have won awards for quality. In

:17:11. > :17:18.Aberdeen, with the council was turned back from the brink and they

:17:18. > :17:22.have held -- they have been held up by audit Scotland as an example to

:17:22. > :17:31.follow. And across Scotland, brilliant liberal Democrat

:17:31. > :17:36.councillors working hard for communities. In Glasgow, helping

:17:36. > :17:46.that city make some big changes. David May, leading on the economy

:17:46. > :17:49.

:17:49. > :17:59.in Angus. Being comparable Graham Reid -- the incomparable Graeme

:17:59. > :18:02.

:18:02. > :18:12.Reid. I want more of this. I do want more of this in every corner

:18:12. > :18:22.of Scotland. Too many to mention. Thank you took all of you hard-

:18:22. > :18:26.

:18:26. > :18:32.working Liberal Democrat councillors. We are delivering in

:18:32. > :18:37.office. I think it is positive politics. This accepts you have to

:18:37. > :18:44.work with other people. It is a generous approach. It recognises

:18:44. > :18:54.people may have different views and ideas. It poses a massive challenge

:18:54. > :18:55.

:18:55. > :19:01.to part of the SNP. The people who attack personally anyone who

:19:02. > :19:07.disagrees with them. It is ugly politics. They will hunt down one

:19:07. > :19:12.by one everyone on the internet who stands in their way, faking letters

:19:12. > :19:18.from academics, telling cross-party groups they cannot criticise the

:19:18. > :19:28.Government, telling airlines to downgrade Jim Wallace. They talked

:19:28. > :19:34.down Scotland's place in Britain and caused... If they are not

:19:34. > :19:39.careful, they will cause Scotland to become a divided country,

:19:40. > :19:45.setting Scott again stopped for a generation. My message to the SNP

:19:45. > :19:55.is simple. Please do not question my loyalty to my nation just

:19:55. > :20:21.

:20:21. > :20:25.because I do not agree with your It is not all those in the

:20:25. > :20:33.nationalist camp. There are many sincere, generous, liberal-minded

:20:33. > :20:38.people in the SNP. But it is there behind the scenes abusers who need

:20:38. > :20:45.to be tackled. The SNP leadership needs to rein them in, to tackle

:20:45. > :20:55.the abuse, to overcome the division creators. Their leaders need to act,

:20:55. > :20:58.

:20:58. > :21:01.and act now. Although I guess their leaders are tied up with their own

:21:02. > :21:07.problems. They cannot even get a story straight and what

:21:07. > :21:13.independence means for Scotland. Take just one issue. They started

:21:13. > :21:20.saying it would be a monetary union with the euro. Then they turned on

:21:20. > :21:26.the TV and did not like that. Then it would be a monetary and fiscal

:21:26. > :21:36.union with the rest of the UK, underpinned by the Bank of England.

:21:36. > :21:44.

:21:44. > :21:49.Then they worked out that is what we have got now. So then they were

:21:49. > :21:58.tempted by another monetary union, the one when Czechoslovakia

:21:58. > :22:04.separated. Do you know how long that monetary union lasted for? Six

:22:04. > :22:14.weeks. It started to collapse after three weeks. It fell apart in well

:22:14. > :22:18.

:22:18. > :22:25.over a fortnight -- it fell apart in a fortnight. They had to put...

:22:25. > :22:30.The central bank locked fought tons of Slovakia and gold in their

:22:30. > :22:36.vaults because of a billion pounds dispute even as they fell apart.

:22:37. > :22:42.Now, Scotland is not 1990s Slovakia. But we should not believe that

:22:42. > :22:48.nothing like this could happen to us. It did on Black Wednesday, when

:22:48. > :22:54.the UK interest rates went up to 15%, as the speculators tried to

:22:54. > :22:59.wreck currency after currency in the exchange rate mechanism. That's

:22:59. > :23:09.the power of international forces. Play with them at your peril. That

:23:09. > :23:14.

:23:14. > :23:18.is the rest, and that is the reality that the SNP deny. I think

:23:18. > :23:24.the strategy should be simple. We should set up the potential for

:23:24. > :23:30.Scotland, a powerful force with the United Kingdom, with domestic

:23:30. > :23:33.control. That is a good reason to reject independence. When Scotland

:23:33. > :23:39.vote snow to the SNP plans, we Liberal-Democrats will have an

:23:39. > :23:45.important job to do, taking the country forward. It may be that

:23:45. > :23:53.after the no vote, the SNP can survive the ending of their dream.

:23:53. > :23:57.We and they could well be able to work together afterwards to shape a

:23:57. > :24:04.new Scotland. Does welcome noises we have heard recently from Labour

:24:04. > :24:08.and Conservative leaders will meet to be nurtured as well. Alastair

:24:08. > :24:12.Darling, Douglas Alexander and David Cameron said they are

:24:12. > :24:17.prepared to move to our agenda of more powers for Scotland and home

:24:17. > :24:23.rule, when they say that, we need to welcome that and work with them.

:24:23. > :24:29.Be in no doubt, those other parties might say they want home rule, but

:24:29. > :24:35.there are only taking their first hesitant in front steps. Week will

:24:35. > :24:45.lead to be the ones who bring people together and bring people

:24:45. > :24:50.

:24:50. > :24:56.ALVA. We will be the guarantors of change. Liberal Democrats have

:24:56. > :24:59.wanted home rule for 100 years. The Bill was passed in 1913 to create a

:24:59. > :25:05.Scottish parliament, but the First World War stopped it becoming law.

:25:05. > :25:09.Russell Johnson too oblique commission back in 19 seventies

:25:09. > :25:14.that a federal system would serve every system in the UK well,

:25:14. > :25:19.sharing the risks and sharing the wings. David Steel, Jim Wallace,

:25:19. > :25:26.Malcolm Bruce, they worked hard on the constitutional convention to

:25:26. > :25:36.create the Scottish parliament. We made sure proposals, to transfer

:25:36. > :26:00.

:26:00. > :26:05.Now with Ming Campbell -- now with Menzies Campbell, every step of the

:26:05. > :26:14.way, Liberal Democrats have led the way. We are the guarantors of

:26:14. > :26:19.change. It is our job to convince people a liberal country will mean

:26:19. > :26:24.that Scotland can be modern, outward-looking, positive and

:26:24. > :26:34.confident. Scotland, with the powers to win our home affairs, but

:26:34. > :26:35.

:26:35. > :26:39.proud to share wins and risk. We welcome it be it -- we welcome the

:26:39. > :26:47.growing clamour for change across Britain. More and more people are

:26:47. > :26:50.saying that federal ideas made more sense now than ever before. From

:26:50. > :26:56.the voice of Welsh Conservatives to the editorial pages of the

:26:56. > :27:03.Financial Times, converts to our cause. We have broken down barriers

:27:03. > :27:07.between people and parties are to build agreement on the way ahead,

:27:07. > :27:11.so on the future of Scotland, we can be proud to say that when

:27:11. > :27:21.history Chimes, it will be the Liberal Democrats and Liberal

:27:21. > :27:30.

:27:30. > :27:36.Democrat ideas that shape our We are the guarantors of change. To

:27:36. > :27:41.make our case and lead the campaign, we need a special voice. I am

:27:41. > :27:47.delighted that Charles Kennedy has agreed to lead the Liberal Democrat

:27:47. > :27:57.efforts in the forthcoming referendum. Who better to lead our

:27:57. > :28:05.

:28:05. > :28:10.And it is all of our jobs to sure people how much they agree with us.

:28:10. > :28:15.Whether it is home rule, a strong Scotland within the United Kingdom,

:28:15. > :28:19.people agree with us. Whether it is standing up against the cuts to

:28:20. > :28:24.colleges so that thousands of extra people get the chance to be all

:28:24. > :28:31.they can play, people agree with us. Whether it is about local councils

:28:31. > :28:37.that build new houses, putting recycling on the agenda. Put

:28:37. > :28:43.schools first. People agree with us. Constructive when we can be,

:28:43. > :28:49.awkward when we have to be. On the side of ordinary people, punching

:28:49. > :28:59.above our weight. Strong liberal voices, but living for Scotland. --

:28:59. > :29:20.

:29:20. > :29:26.The will he Rennie, receiving a standing ovation -- Willie Rennie.

:29:26. > :29:31.He hit out at SNP cuts and set out his post referendum strategy a if

:29:31. > :29:36.there was a no vote, and confirmed that Charles Kennedy would lead the

:29:36. > :29:43.efforts in the no campaign. There is the scene at Eden Court Theatre.

:29:43. > :29:46.The delegates taking their seats as he has walked off stage. I am still

:29:46. > :29:55.joined by Professor John Curtice. It was interesting to hear him set

:29:55. > :30:01.out his position. Yes, it was. He indicated the Liberal Democrats are

:30:01. > :30:05.strongly in favour of much more in a way of devolution. What was

:30:05. > :30:12.interesting was it was not entirely clear as to how he would ensure it

:30:12. > :30:17.would be delivered. He did not repeat the remarks he has made on a

:30:17. > :30:22.number of occasions, but it is nothing the issue should be on the

:30:22. > :30:27.ballot paper. So maybe a little bit of room for manoeuvre. The

:30:27. > :30:32.interesting thing was the way in which they were framed more widely.

:30:32. > :30:36.This was a speech in which he was trying to deal with his basic

:30:36. > :30:44.problem, which says he is leading a party that people do not trust.

:30:44. > :30:47.People are not quite sure what it is relevant to any more. A very

:30:47. > :30:54.important passage in which he trumpeted than degree to which he

:30:54. > :30:59.had tried to get more cuts for -- he had tried to reduce the cuts to

:30:59. > :31:03.further education colleges. Here is a man trying to rebuild bridges

:31:03. > :31:12.between his party and the students, those bridges that were broken down

:31:12. > :31:22.by the coalition. Beyond that, he was trying to say to people, we

:31:22. > :31:27.

:31:27. > :31:34.have made a difference to the UK He seemed to also say, by the way,

:31:34. > :31:38.given we do these things, we are effective and we have a long term

:31:38. > :31:45.plan for home rule. His implication was that if you believe in home

:31:45. > :31:48.rule and more Paras for as the Scottish Parliament, you have to

:31:48. > :31:55.vote for the Liberal Democrats. He was trying to give people good

:31:55. > :32:01.reasons to vote for his party in May. He mentioned by all of the

:32:01. > :32:11.councils where there are quite a lot of Liberal Democrat councillors

:32:11. > :32:13.

:32:13. > :32:19.and where we anticipate a lot of them might lose their seats. He was

:32:19. > :32:25.harking back to more than 100 years of home rule. A I think there were

:32:25. > :32:32.two aspects. Trying to say to people, if this is what you want,

:32:32. > :32:37.you have to vote for us. Trying to get electoral advantage out of it.

:32:37. > :32:41.The second thing he was saying to his party was that, we are no party

:32:41. > :32:46.of partnership, which sometimes means compromises and difficult

:32:46. > :32:53.decisions. But he was also trying to say there was a consensus with

:32:53. > :32:57.Labour, the Conservatives and themselves coming to some agreement

:32:57. > :33:03.for some understanding after the referendum if there was a no vote.

:33:03. > :33:07.That is an aspiration but how would you get people there? What type of

:33:07. > :33:17.promises the Maitre delight to read to say that if you vote for the

:33:17. > :33:17.

:33:17. > :33:21.Liberal Democrats this is what we will do. Thank you very much. We

:33:21. > :33:26.cross back to Inverness now or where Brian Taylor is standing by

:33:27. > :33:31.with some delegates from the hall. Thank you very much. I was just

:33:31. > :33:37.watching Willie Rennie's speech. I am joined by three of his

:33:37. > :33:41.colleagues. Thank you all for coming. Straight to that speech and

:33:41. > :33:44.the core message at the end about being the guarantors of change. How

:33:44. > :33:54.can you guarantee something when you will be working with other

:33:54. > :33:58.parties? I think the point he made is that we have a history of about

:33:58. > :34:01.100 years of standing up and fighting for home rule and working

:34:01. > :34:07.with other parties as we have seen when the Scottish Parliament came

:34:07. > :34:10.into being. With the Calman Commission. We can do that again.

:34:10. > :34:14.We have shown that we are delivering government working with

:34:14. > :34:19.the Tories, we have worked with the Labour Party before and we could

:34:19. > :34:22.work with the SNP after the referendum. We have the expertise

:34:22. > :34:27.and the skills and the ability to bring other parties together with

:34:27. > :34:33.us. I think that is what he was seeing.

:34:33. > :34:38.He said that there was a potential for Scotland as a power will -- a

:34:38. > :34:46.powerful force in the United Kingdom. But can you define what

:34:46. > :34:49.home rule is? It is simply defined in the 1930 Act of Parliament. It

:34:49. > :34:54.means you control your own revenues for the things you do domestically

:34:54. > :34:59.and to share with others be things you do together. Independence could

:34:59. > :35:05.be the most confused and uncertain future we could possibly have.

:35:05. > :35:09.how can you campaigned jointly with for example the Labour Party? Ed

:35:09. > :35:13.Miliband and Johann Lamont are saying no to the substantial

:35:13. > :35:18.transfer of tax powers. They can say what they like but they know

:35:18. > :35:23.perfectly well they are then that dynamic situation. There will be a

:35:23. > :35:27.need for change. We have to resolve whether Scotland is in or out of

:35:27. > :35:31.the United Kingdom. The Liberal Democrats are saying, stay end but

:35:32. > :35:36.we will work with others to bring more powers but also focus on the

:35:36. > :35:40.positive benefits of being British and part of the United Kingdom. We

:35:40. > :35:44.will make sure people understand what they stand to lose as well as

:35:44. > :35:47.what they stand to gain. There was also top of putting a

:35:47. > :35:51.home rule option on the ballot paper but you are not in favour of

:35:51. > :35:55.that? I think you are confusing two

:35:56. > :36:00.issues. We have to decide if we are staying in the United Kingdom are

:36:00. > :36:03.not first. Then we can bring the other parties together to deliver

:36:03. > :36:08.what we hope will be significant change to bring Scotland more

:36:08. > :36:13.powers. It is about bringing all of the parties including the parties

:36:13. > :36:19.of the wider United Kingdom into that. This would affect all parts

:36:19. > :36:24.of the UK. So, first decide whether we are in the United Kingdom. Then,

:36:24. > :36:28.move forward to work with other parties to bring home rule.

:36:28. > :36:32.Alex Salmond talent is your party in particular to draw up a scheme

:36:32. > :36:38.of maximum home rule and to bat on the ballot paper alongside

:36:38. > :36:44.independence. Why not? It would be good if he could first

:36:44. > :36:49.define what independence was. We have caused a lot of questions to

:36:50. > :36:54.Reichs salmon do not have answers. This is a party that has walked out

:36:54. > :36:59.of everyday cross-party attempt to bring best. The only thing they are

:36:59. > :37:04.interested in his independence and nothing less. They will do anything

:37:04. > :37:09.to confuse the electorate. A clear question and a clear choice, that

:37:09. > :37:13.is what their mandate is for. And once that is exercised, it is

:37:13. > :37:18.either independence or not. If it is not, you speculate you could

:37:18. > :37:23.work with the SNP? If it was rejected, independence,

:37:23. > :37:27.we all agree there should be more powers so if that is part, then we

:37:27. > :37:31.can work together with them on that. How can you bring the Tories and

:37:31. > :37:39.the Labour Party to your position when they are notably sceptical

:37:39. > :37:42.about transferring his tax powers? Nobody believed we could get the

:37:42. > :37:45.Scottish Parliament we have so we have done it before, we can do it

:37:46. > :37:49.again. How can you bring those two parties

:37:49. > :37:53.to the table? You can see that we can negotiate

:37:53. > :37:58.and work with different parties. We are willing to work with anyone to

:37:58. > :38:03.make sure that Scotland has a better system. We would love to be

:38:03. > :38:06.fully federal but we will work with people that we get the home rule

:38:06. > :38:11.that Scottish people consistently so in opinion polls that they want.

:38:11. > :38:15.We have worked with other parties before and they recognise that.

:38:15. > :38:19.There is the issue, will them barely -- Willie Rennie talks about

:38:19. > :38:25.punching above your weight. But this is not the most well-attended

:38:25. > :38:28.conference I have seen. Are you perhaps facing at rock -- a

:38:28. > :38:32.backlash from those poor results last May?

:38:32. > :38:36.We have had a tough year and Willie has been open about that but you

:38:36. > :38:41.should remember that we are in the run-up to cancel elections and I

:38:41. > :38:47.have not on doors and people are willing to talk to us. There is not

:38:47. > :38:51.the ferocity we had a year ago. That has died down? I think it is

:38:51. > :38:55.less. The evidence of what we have been doing in local councils, a lot

:38:55. > :39:01.of people are working so hard day in and day out to win those council

:39:01. > :39:06.elections, so they have to keep going on that all the time. When

:39:06. > :39:10.you have a setback, it does have an effect on the electorate. People do

:39:11. > :39:15.recognise that I in the coalition that the UK level, Liberal

:39:15. > :39:21.Democrats are making a difference. I think we are getting a grudging

:39:21. > :39:25.respect. And we have continued a lot to the Scottish debate. Willie

:39:25. > :39:30.Rennie's speech was not just about home rule it was about alcohol

:39:30. > :39:34.abuse, drug abuse, schools and training. We should not ignore the

:39:34. > :39:41.whole range of essential issues that need to be confronted. We are

:39:41. > :39:45.doing that as a party. Willie Rennie has demonstrated that from a

:39:45. > :39:49.point of severe crisis for the party after last May, we have

:39:49. > :39:54.stabilised the ship and we are moving forward, starting to rebuild

:39:54. > :39:58.and starting to win at by-elections, south of the border and here in

:39:58. > :40:01.Inverness a few weeks ago. It has been a challenging time but Willie

:40:01. > :40:06.is taking us forward and we are punching above our weight at

:40:06. > :40:12.Holyrood and in the coalition. People are recognising that.

:40:12. > :40:17.Let us talk about federalism. Is that still their aim? That was

:40:17. > :40:24.clear, that is the ambition. what do you federate? Scotland,

:40:24. > :40:26.England, the regions of England? That is a question. How does

:40:26. > :40:31.England contributing to this because to date they have rejected

:40:31. > :40:38.any part -- any powers being taken from the centre but I think they

:40:38. > :40:42.are wrong to do that. There is recognition in England that there

:40:42. > :40:46.should be an identity for England within the United Kingdom. People

:40:46. > :40:50.are resentful of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish devolution,

:40:50. > :40:56.and the way to get around that is to have an English parliament and

:40:56. > :41:01.some sort of English legislator, that is logical. When you ask, what

:41:01. > :41:10.do you federate? The federation is England, Wales, Scotland and

:41:10. > :41:14.Northern Ireland. Any further federation is a different tear.

:41:14. > :41:18.Unequal federations do exist but as long as the powers are guaranteed

:41:18. > :41:22.and they are clear, as long as the finances are shared fairly, it can

:41:22. > :41:27.be done. We also have to remember that when there has been talk about

:41:27. > :41:33.the resentment of Scots getting a free ride and things like that, as

:41:33. > :41:36.we bring more fiscal powers to Scotland, as we hope to progress to

:41:36. > :41:41.more physical ability to raise taxes that we are spending, it will

:41:41. > :41:48.be seen that we are taking that responsibility. That is how the

:41:48. > :41:51.home rule can work and that is how of federalism can work.

:41:51. > :41:59.What is your best? We have debate about the date of a referendum and

:41:59. > :42:03.whether that is one question or more. What is Europe opinion?

:42:03. > :42:07.Salmond is having some difficulty with having a to buy a five year of

:42:07. > :42:12.debate. He has to face up to some of the damage to business this can

:42:12. > :42:15.do. We have made it clear that there is a mandate for just one

:42:16. > :42:21.question and that is the question that should be important without I

:42:21. > :42:27.confusing diversion. It will be hard to justify waiting 2.5 years

:42:27. > :42:30.for this question. He is adamant. Most Scots side for two want to get

:42:30. > :42:36.this decision overland done with. They wanted clear cut and the last

:42:36. > :42:39.thing they want is for this to end up in the courts. Sorting out a

:42:39. > :42:43.muddled result is the last thing Scotland needs.

:42:43. > :42:49.Thank you very much. Back to the studio.

:42:49. > :42:52.Thank you very much. Professor John Curtice is still with me. Willie

:42:52. > :42:58.Rennie is hoping to work with Labour than the Conservatives if

:42:58. > :43:01.there is a no vote in the referendum. Could that come off?

:43:01. > :43:06.The question one might want to raise is looking at the history of

:43:06. > :43:10.past collaborations, one might want to argue that the reason for

:43:10. > :43:16.example that Labour was involved in the constitutional convention was

:43:16. > :43:20.that it lost the last government by-election, back in the 1980s. It

:43:20. > :43:25.became afraid about the consequences. The reason that the

:43:25. > :43:31.Calman Commission was created was because of Alex Salmond's initial

:43:31. > :43:38.success in 2007. If that analysis is correct, then we have Scotland

:43:38. > :43:41.were to vote No to the independents, with the threat of independence

:43:41. > :43:44.gone, with Labour than the Conservatives continue to feel the

:43:44. > :43:50.need to do something about home rule for Scotland or might they

:43:50. > :43:57.feel that the storm has passed and they could have about to their

:43:57. > :44:01.Unionist preferences? That is one question to be sorted out. How will

:44:01. > :44:04.they ensured that indeed something does happen that Scotland vote no-

:44:04. > :44:11.one there is nothing on that ballot paper about home rule at the same

:44:11. > :44:15.time. Thank you very much. I am now joined from Inverness by the leader

:44:16. > :44:23.of the Scottish Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie. Good afternoon.

:44:23. > :44:28.Thank you for joining me. Good morning. Before we get on to a

:44:28. > :44:31.referendum and constitutional issue, let's focus on the coalition. Do

:44:31. > :44:37.you think you should apologise for the Liberal Democrat being part of

:44:37. > :44:41.the coalition such as their role would be tuition fees?

:44:41. > :44:47.Nor, I am glad we are part of the tourism -- the coalition. You would

:44:47. > :44:52.not have the pension freeze or the post of this protection, Dungavel,

:44:52. > :44:56.all of these things would not have happened if we run up there.

:44:56. > :45:00.Nothing to apologise for. One delegate said there was a

:45:00. > :45:06.justifiable loss of trust in the Liberal Democrat because of the

:45:06. > :45:09.tuition fees. How can you regain that trust? I saw you were trying

:45:09. > :45:15.to almost build bridges with the NUS when you revealed that a letter

:45:15. > :45:19.thanking you for your support. take a simple approach to politics.

:45:19. > :45:24.You have to listen and find out what people are concerned about, do

:45:24. > :45:28.something about it, and make sure that you continue to work hard and

:45:28. > :45:32.communicate and tell people what you are doing on their behalf. That

:45:32. > :45:37.is the simple approach to politics. Central to that is listening and

:45:37. > :45:41.that is what we have tried to do since I became leader, working with

:45:41. > :45:46.the NUS and students on things like colleges, making sure we get more

:45:46. > :45:56.funding into colleges to reverse the cuts the SNP wanted to impose.

:45:56. > :45:58.

:45:58. > :46:01.Doing things like that is important I think people have wrecking last

:46:01. > :46:11.year as a fairly energetic leader, but do you think you are making

:46:11. > :46:14.

:46:14. > :46:21.your mark -- people have recognised youth. Alison McKay Mischa and

:46:21. > :46:30.Tavish Scott, they have been very active -- Alison McInnes. Liam

:46:30. > :46:35.McArthur and Jim Hume as well. There is a great team. It is for

:46:35. > :46:39.others to judge whether we are a good team. I think we're a great

:46:39. > :46:46.team. Let's turn to the constitutional issue. It was very

:46:46. > :46:52.clear you are trying to emphasise your home rule Heritage, you're the

:46:52. > :46:55.guarantors of change and they tried to place yourself in a pose

:46:56. > :47:00.referendum Scotland if there is a no vote. Speaking to Professor John

:47:00. > :47:02.Curtice, he was saying that the threat of independence is lifted,

:47:02. > :47:07.perhaps Labour and the Conservatives would not want to

:47:07. > :47:13.push for any more change and you will be left high and dry.

:47:13. > :47:17.evidence is to the contrary. You have got David Cameron for the

:47:17. > :47:22.first time talking about more powers for Scotland. Alastair

:47:22. > :47:28.Darling's intervention was very good and engaging. The evidence is

:47:28. > :47:38.to the contrary. There are more people coming to our position. Even

:47:38. > :47:39.

:47:39. > :47:47.Alex Salmond seems more keen on May -- even Alex Salmond seemed to be

:47:48. > :47:54.changing his view slightly. We have worked for the Conservatives at

:47:54. > :47:57.Westminster. We have worked with the Labour Party a previously. We

:47:58. > :48:04.have a track record for working with other people. I am confident

:48:04. > :48:10.we can continue to do that, working with others constructively and

:48:10. > :48:20.deliver home rule for Scotland. am not sure the evidence is to the

:48:20. > :48:26.contrary. Someone was complaining yesterday about corporation tax.

:48:26. > :48:33.You might have a problem persuading some people about more powers for

:48:33. > :48:41.Scotland. Why has she said to pay commission? -- why has she set up a

:48:41. > :48:51.commission? You need to look at the individual issues. I will come Ben

:48:51. > :48:51.

:48:51. > :48:57.Thompson -- I welcomed Ben Thomson's stuff on Beaver plus. --

:48:58. > :49:07.devo plus. I am not sure I understand your question. Evolution

:49:07. > :49:12.at the moment, you're trying to play shots off as this guarantor of

:49:12. > :49:19.change. Maybe the support is not a round. By think it is about. There

:49:19. > :49:23.is evidence from David Cameron, Douglas Alexander, Alastair Darling,

:49:23. > :49:28.ferry senior figures. They have talked about more powers for

:49:28. > :49:38.Scotland. People from the Labour Party I have talked to want to look

:49:38. > :49:39.

:49:39. > :49:49.at more powers for Scotland. I think it is what most people in

:49:49. > :49:53.

:49:53. > :50:03.Scotland want. We are or where most people are. OK. Thank you very much

:50:03. > :50:05.

:50:05. > :50:12.for joining the. With me once again is Professor John Curtice. He threw

:50:12. > :50:16.back what you were saying there. would argue that the cases he cited

:50:16. > :50:19.were evidence to my case. I think you could argue that Conservatives

:50:19. > :50:24.and the Labour Party and in the wake of the threat of the fact that

:50:24. > :50:29.they accept there has to be a referendum, showing signs they are

:50:29. > :50:33.willing to move, and to that extent, quoting evidence of parties moving

:50:33. > :50:42.in that way next the boy that the crucial question is, what would

:50:42. > :50:49.happen if independence were to be defeated? Would be a move? They may

:50:49. > :50:55.move so far that it is difficult for them to come back. I think it

:50:55. > :51:03.will -- I think it is the threat. We have focused a lot on substance

:51:03. > :51:09.in a speech. Let's look at style. He started with the words, Donald

:51:09. > :51:16.Trump. How do you think this speech words in terms of delivery? In it

:51:16. > :51:22.took us quite a while to try to work out what he was trying to do.

:51:22. > :51:31.I think we wondered what point he was making. Suddenly, he moved on

:51:31. > :51:41.to drugs. It's not usually the most popular issue. Eventually, we got

:51:41. > :51:53.

:51:53. > :52:00.the point that he would try to make. It took us five minutes be far we

:52:00. > :52:09.got the point. It was a bit disjointed. In terms of style, the

:52:09. > :52:15.interesting thing I think was in that interview with Yale, he was

:52:15. > :52:19.relaxed and conversational. I think he came across as less effective as

:52:19. > :52:26.a platform speaker. He did not have the degree of presence that Joanne

:52:26. > :52:31.had yesterday. It is not clear he has quite the gravitas and presence

:52:31. > :52:40.to command the attention of the audience in a big platform speech.

:52:40. > :52:45.I think we were wondering where the applause lines were at times. I

:52:45. > :52:52.think he has some work to do in terms of plot from speaking.

:52:52. > :52:58.Let's head back to Inverness and back to Brian Taylor. Hello. Hello.

:52:58. > :53:08.I mentioned earlier that topical motion of having a second question

:53:08. > :53:09.

:53:09. > :53:14.on the ballot paper. I listened to some of the speeches before or, and

:53:14. > :53:24.it was looking fairly critical. Somebody described the prospect as

:53:24. > :53:29.silly. What do you make of that speech? He was good. The theme of

:53:29. > :53:33.been the guarantors of change, that makes a lot of sense. He knows he

:53:33. > :53:38.has this albatross round his neck of them being in coalition with the

:53:38. > :53:45.Tories in London. He got round that by saying he was pro coalition, but

:53:45. > :53:48.would never be pro-Tory. Exactly. I do not think the voters are buying

:53:48. > :53:56.that. Even just looking at the numbers, they have a long way to

:53:56. > :54:01.fight back. He said yesterday in introducing Nick Clegg that his

:54:01. > :54:08.mother told him to smile through adversity and pain. Even looking at

:54:08. > :54:12.the numbers in their just now, this party is down. They say they are

:54:12. > :54:16.campaigning for the local elections. You think it is more than that?

:54:16. > :54:20.you talk to the people who are fighting the elections, they know

:54:20. > :54:30.the Lib Dems are being squeezed. Let's talk about their approach to

:54:30. > :54:35.

:54:36. > :54:45.the Home Rule question. They made the pot that the danger is there

:54:45. > :54:51.had been dreading to negativity. -- dragged into negativity. They do

:54:51. > :55:01.have a point when they say they have he Stokeley been a party of

:55:01. > :55:06.

:55:06. > :55:13.home rule. -- historically been a party of home rule. Do you think

:55:13. > :55:18.the three parties other than the SNP, can they find common ground on

:55:18. > :55:24.which to campaign as to further powers, or is that maybe not the

:55:24. > :55:28.objective? I think they will have to have some set of ideas,

:55:28. > :55:33.something positive to say, vote to know and you will get this. There

:55:33. > :55:36.has to be something tangible. If it is simply, vote down independence

:55:36. > :55:43.and we will give you something, but not define that something, that

:55:43. > :55:53.will be a problem. What can the common ground they? The Liberal

:55:53. > :55:55.

:55:55. > :56:00.Democrats want federalism. The Tories are sceptical. The ideas

:56:00. > :56:09.that have been garnered under the label developers could in theory

:56:09. > :56:15.from a plan. It is a big problem. Thank you very much for joining

:56:15. > :56:21.those with your analysis. From Eden Court, back to the studio. Brian,

:56:21. > :56:31.thank you very much. Let's get some final thoughts from Professor John

:56:31. > :56:37.Curtice. There was an interesting point he was making about the SNP's

:56:37. > :56:46.attempt to make a monetary union. One of argument is the realisation

:56:46. > :56:50.that the SNP wants the -- once an independent Scotland to keep the

:56:50. > :56:54.pound. One of the lessons of the eurozone crisis is it is very

:56:54. > :56:59.difficult to hear monetary union without a degree of so-called

:56:59. > :57:07.fiscal co-ordination. There has to be a fiscal discipline. This has

:57:07. > :57:11.begun to be acknowledged. The First Minister said he accepts an

:57:11. > :57:17.independent Scotland might have to accept something like the

:57:17. > :57:24.Maastricht criteria, whereby in any you should not run into a fiscal

:57:24. > :57:29.deficits below a certain level. That is a great intellectual debate.

:57:29. > :57:32.The interesting thing many tried to do is see whether they could find a

:57:32. > :57:42.way of raising this issue in such a way that perhaps the rest of the

:57:42. > :57:50.

:57:50. > :58:00.public might buy into it. He was trying to raise,... I am not sure

:58:00. > :58:08.

:58:08. > :58:18.economists would argue that the analogy was good. It might be aware

:58:18. > :58:22.of trying to dramatise issues. I think we can expect this debate to

:58:22. > :58:27.continue. John, thank you very much, and thanks for your company here

:58:27. > :58:31.this morning in the studio. That brings our live television

:58:31. > :58:35.coverage of the conference to a close. Thanks to Professor John

:58:35. > :58:39.Curtice for his company. I will be back with Politics Scotland on

:58:39. > :58:43.Wednesday. Keeping touch with all the news from the Conference on our