Dale and deputy political editor, David Bol, discuss the front page of today's Scotsman newspaper
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00:00Hello and welcome to the Daily Video Bulletin for the Scotsman for this Tuesday.
00:06My name is Dale Miller.
00:07I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined by Deputy Political Editor David Boll.
00:13David, we're going to get to talking about all things politics shortly, but it is also
00:18your story on the front page of today's Scotsman that we'll reference.
00:22Sweeney told he must back oil and gas.
00:25This is a key message coming from the Aberdeen Chambers of Commerce.
00:30They want him to drop the Scottish Government's presumption against new oil and gas.
00:37It comes on the back of concerns over recent weeks around the gas supply running out in
00:42the UK and specifically Scotland as well.
00:45There were reports around just about how close we were to the reserves that were available
00:51as temperatures dropped to as low as minus 16 in some parts of the country.
00:56It's got warmer now, though, and the outlook on that front is improving.
01:01We also had Nicola Sturgeon revealing that her marriage to Peter Morrell was officially
01:07over, that they were filing for divorce.
01:11She said they'd been effectively separated for some time.
01:15That story led Scotsman.com, along with some analysis from our political editor, Alistair
01:21Grant, throughout yesterday.
01:23You can read all the latest either in today's paper or online at Scotsman.com.
01:30But a couple of stories there, actually, I want to talk to you about, David.
01:34You can read both of them at the Scotsman.
01:36Firstly, I've touched on a little bit of the oil and gas stuff, but effectively, the
01:41chambers were speaking to mark an anniversary around this and obviously have concerns about
01:47the ongoing presumption.
01:49Yeah, I mean, the SNP have had this hanging over them for quite a while, and I bet that's
01:53down to their own fault, because their draft energy strategy is published going back more
01:58than a couple of years, and they still haven't brought forward the final document, even though
02:02it was ready last summer.
02:05So this sort of speculation and uncertainty has kind of hung over what their position
02:11is going to be.
02:12Obviously, oil and gas developments are the UK government's problem, but the industry
02:19has, for as long as I can remember, said that whatever the Scottish government's position
02:23is on it sends a big message to industry.
02:26So it is important what they think of it.
02:28And during Nicola Sturgeon's time in office, there was kind of a move away from oil and
02:33gas as the SNP's economic case for independence, really.
02:38That was always, particularly under Alex Salmond, Scotland's oil was the message, and this
02:43was our cash cow, essentially, if Scotland gained independence.
02:48That changed during Nicola Sturgeon's time to sort of the renewable sector, given the
02:53climate crisis, which he took very seriously.
02:56But since Swinney's came in last year, he's kind of edged that back a little bit and
03:01opened up to speaking to oil and gas a bit more.
03:04That worked during the general election quite a lot as the SNP tried to get a little bit
03:09of distance with Labour, particularly try and win votes in the North East.
03:13So the presumption against oil and gas position was a draft one.
03:17It was never finalised.
03:19But because the SNP has taken so long over their final position, there's obviously going
03:23to be some concerns that that will be their preferred position going forward.
03:29And David, just one other story there featuring on the front and exclusive from you now.
03:36It's not across politics, but it's a pretty fascinating story, I think, to be honest.
03:40It's about a push or active discussions to reopen a historic building in Glasgow that
03:46many of our readers will be familiar with.
03:49Yeah, I mean, the Lighthouse, which was Macintosh's first building he finished, is very
03:55iconic, has been closed since the pandemic.
03:56It was temporarily closed in 2020 and has never reopened.
04:01A lot of the focus has been on the sort of rebuilding or the lack of rebuilding of the
04:05Glasgow School of Art, which obviously had those two big fires.
04:09And the council has now admitted, which has run the Lighthouse through Glasgow Life, it's
04:15sort of arm's length organisation for some time, has admitted now that it can't afford to
04:20reopen it itself.
04:22But it is in active talks with an organisation.
04:25The council wouldn't tell me who it was or whether that was a company or sort of an arts
04:30organisation to reopen that building and allow the public back in who have been subject to
04:36this temporary close for five years now.
04:39David, I just want to circle back around to the significant news around Sturgeon as well
04:44in the past 24 hours.
04:46I know your colleague Alistair Grant wrote a couple of pieces for us.
04:50You can read them at Scotsman.com.
04:53Are we at a point yet, in your view, with the SNP where news like this around former
04:59first ministers like Nicholas Sturgeon will not have a direct impact on the party in terms
05:05of any destabilisation?
05:07We know things are improving in the polls.
05:09We know they had a rocky period under Hamza Youssef where it felt like there was bad news
05:14coming out every second week, effectively, and it really strangled his ability to get a grip
05:19on the political agenda.
05:20Are we past that a little bit now, do you think?
05:24A little bit. I think it's been hanging over them for so long, though, and honestly, it
05:28won't go away until that police case and that court proceedings concludes.
05:33And it does seem ridiculous how long it has been hanging over them, particularly
05:38Nicholas Sturgeon and Colin Beattie, who have been arrested, are still under investigation,
05:42but don't know if they're going to be charged or not.
05:44I mean, with that hanging over the party and Nicholas Sturgeon, it won't go away until
05:49that is concluded. And who knows how long that will be.
05:52That news yesterday, I guess, didn't come as a surprise, particularly if you look at
05:57Nicholas Sturgeon's social media, particularly her Instagram account for the last few
06:01months. It's been all about her seeing her friends and books and things that are her
06:06personal. And there's like a lot of pictures of her at the gym, for example, just trying
06:12to do her.
06:14So I guess given the circumstances, it's not a particular shock.
06:17Maybe the timing is a bit of a raises some eyebrows, but the Operation Branch Forum
06:22still hanging over them. It won't go away until that concludes.
06:25And we still don't know when that will be.
06:28Look, there's going to be more on the political front throughout today.
06:32Rachel Reeves will continue to be a focus.
06:35She is giving a statement today.
06:37Shona Robison also giving evidence on the budget throughout this morning.
06:42David, I know you're tuning into that.
06:44You can read any of the latest developments around the world of politics in Scotland,
06:49the UK and beyond at Scotsman.com throughout the day.
06:52Please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and Blue Sky and go out and buy a copy of
06:58the paper tomorrow for all the very latest.
07:00Thanks to you, David, and thanks for everyone else for joining us.