this is bbc news. the headlines: the united states has agreed not to repeat claims the uk's communications intelligence agency wiretapped donald trump. the sm? insistsrt-hefe on scotland's independence — and that no uk prime minister should dare stand in the way. george osborne to become editor of london evening standard — and plans to remain an mp while he does it. their opponent of examples of mps who have edited newspapers and magazines and i will continue to do both —— there are plenty of examples. every school in england will see reductions before 2020, even after new funding plans are put into place. and scientists say they've invented an artificial intelligence system

that can lip—read better than humans — which has been trained on bbc news programmes. an international conservation body has given its backing to scottish north sea haddock after it was taken off a list of sustainable "fish to eat". good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. it's rare for britain's intelligence community to make a public statement about anything. but the secret surveillance agency gchq has firmly rebutted allegations — repeated by the white house — that it spied on donald trump. gchq said the claims were ‘nonsense, utterly ridiculous, and should be ignored'. this morning, downing street said it was promised by the white house

that the allegations wouldn't be repeated. richard lister reports. it is an extraordinary claim, that donald trump was bugged by gchq on the orders of barack obama, a claim that has led to strenuous denials from london. it was first tweeted by president trump who said his phone had been tapped before his inauguration. he said president obama was a bad or sick guy. last night there was no evidence. the evidence remains the same, we do not have any evidence that took place. we have cleared that up, we have seen no evidence of that. so where is the president getting the information about being bugged by gchq? sources have told fox news that president obama could have done and probably did use foreign

intelligence services to get this information. this morning this was read out in a transcript by sean spicer. these are merely pointing out that i think there is widespread reporting that throughout the election there was surveillance then on a variety of people. if the white house reporters were sceptical, gchq was even less impressed. the agency rarely comment on anything but today said: which one you choose to believe rather depends on your political views on what—is—gsingamin.

the united states. downing street said it had told the americans that the gchq claim was ridiculous and said the white house had given assurances that the claim would not be repeated. our security correspondent, frank gardner, is with me. intelligence communities do not like making statements. this was a political decision, gchq refers to the foreign secretary borisjohnson, who is in africa, and for them to make this very public denial, to contradict the statement coming out of the white house, the centre of britain's most gowerful and i of the white house, the centre of britain's most gowerful and closest britain's most powerful and closest ally, would not have happened ally, would not have happened a nod from number ten. my without a nod from number ten. my understanding, there was a meeting in e;z;f , ,, earlier understanding, there was a meeting in e, grffg s earlier this understanding, there was a meeting in 5; grffg s earlier this week in downing street earlier this week to discuss concerns over this claim,

which they felt was completely unfounded. probably people thought, let's hope it goes away, but then sean spicer repeated it on thursday, hence the very strongly worded statement which came out on thursday night, it is very unusual for this statement which came out on thursday ni be it is very unusual for this statement which came out on thursday ni be public. ry unusualforthis statement which came out on thursday ni be public. usuallyjalforthis statement which came out on thursday ni be public. usually when‘this statement which came out on thursday ni be public. usually when there is to be public. usually when there is an intelligence agency, % agency- an intelligence agency, the agency said they never comment on intelligence issues. this is an intelligence issues. this is an intelligence issues. this is an intelligence issue and they have commented on it and they feel very strongly about it. the career intelligence professionals on both sides of the atlantic, the cia and the fbi, and here gchq and mi5, they are trying to ring—fence their relationship and to protect it from the gas coming out of the white house. —— gaffes. numberten the gas coming out of the white house. —— gaffes. number ten has said there is no credence to the state m e nts said there is no credence to the statements from sean spicer, and thatis statements from sean spicer, and that is pretty damning. he is speaking on behalf of the president

and britain have said there is no credence in what he has said, there are real issues to be dealt with about proper news and proper threats, north korea, iran's missile programme, isis, climate change, these are the real issues, but this isa these are the real issues, but this is a waste of time. there was not much evidence, john spicer was something which had been repeating something which had been said on fox not repeating something which had been said on fox - not presenting any said on fox news, not presenting any actual evidence —— sean spicer. donald trump is hinting that they will be more - coming out in will be more things coming out in the next couple of weeks. to be fair, us intelligence did bug angela merkel‘s phone and they probably bugged a lot of other people, as well. of friendly leaders. but there is an agreement with what is called the five eyes, the intelligence sharing agreement between the us, britain, canada and new zealand, they don't use their agencies to spy on each other, and if that has been broken that would be very serious broken that would'bevery'serious but broken that would'be'very'serioos but i doubt it. thanks for

indeed, but i doubt it. thanks for joining us. we can speak to our correspondent in washington, gary o'donoghue. a public slap down to the white house spokesman, what is the reaction likely to be? one of muted here because we do know in the last 24 here because we do know in the last 2a hours that sean spicer has come face—to—face with the british ambassador in the united states and that would have been an interesting conversation to overhear, but it now seems that those assurances that this won't be repeated might have gone through that channel and they may have been more direct, but this is clearly something which does enormous damage. it will lead to the agency is not trusting one another, and there was already shaky trust, don't forget, because the nsa has been leaking like mad and has had to

arrest people, they arrested a person who has a lot of information, who is likely to face charges. the trust is going to be a big problem, and if they can't work out a way of not putting their foot in it quite like this, by going to cause enormous problems with their best allies. —— they are going. enormous problems with their best allies. -- they are going. news has just reached us, confirming what you said. the white house press sectarian sean spicer did not make a formal apology to the british ambassador —— secretary. but assured him ina ambassador —— secretary. but assured him in a private conversation that he would not repeat them again. that has come from colleagues of hours in washington. an assurance, but where does that leave the validity of

comments that come out of the white house via official channels? it's very difficult. because the us press corps and the international press corps been corps and the international press corps - been pressing donald corps have been pressing donald trump for evidence, of this wiretap, surveillance, whatever you want to call it, and none has been forthcoming. the press secretary was reduced yesterday to simply quoting from a fox news report, again without any basis. so that is we also have two difficult, we also have two intelligence committees in congress, saying they hae no evidence of a saying they have no evidence of a wiretap, and the director of national intelligence at the time says he wasn't aware of any kind of wiretap. we will hear from the fbi directorjames comey wiretap. we will hear from the fbi director james comey next wiretap. we will hear from the fbi directorjames comey next £25 who directorjames comey next week who is up on the hill giving evidence. to see what he has to say, but

increasingly i to see what he has to say, but think the white house increasingly i think the white house are finding it problematic to point to anything, quite frankly, in terms of support. looking ahead, to later this afternoon, the german chancellor angela merkel is on her first official visit to meet president trump, that will be interesting. yes, deliciously ironic, given that the americans had to apologise for tapping angela merkel‘s phone. i think trade will be the issue that dominates that meeting. there is concern in germany that the balance of between that the balance of payments between america and germany favours the us and that could fall foul of the import tax that donald trump has been talking about and that4's why been talking about and that is why angela merkel has brought the head bmw and siemens with her on this of bmw and siemens with her on this trip. they are at odds over things like refugees, clearly, president e eei eeee fziir'i; eee.. eee trump accuse angela merkel of

ruining her jfji overi trump accuse angela merkel of ruining her jfji over the refugee ruining her country over the refugee issue and they also disagree on the idea of travel bans. angela merkel believes in the free movement of people within the eu, - donald people within the eu, which donald trump does not support at all. trade will be the thing they will focus on because that is the area where they can probably do business at this stage. many thanks. the deputy leader of the scottish national party has insisted there will be a second referendum on scottish independence. opening the party's spring conference in aberdeen, angus robertson said the prime minister was "panicking" when she tried to draw a line under the snp's proposed timetable theresa may spoke in the last hour at the conservative spring conference in cardiff — and reiterated that independence would be "bad for scotland, bad for the uk and bad for us all". our political correspondent iain watson has the latest. at the snp conference it is hardly surprising the focus is on a second

referendum on scottish independence. we don't know when it will take place. legally it is westminster that take the decision. but here it feels like the campaign is already under way. vote within two years but pro—union campaigners do not want it to happen at all. the snp deputy leader had a message for them and the prime minister. people of this country will have their choice. they will not be denied their say. the stirrings of a standing ovation spurred him on. no uk prime minister should dare to stand in the way of scotland's democracy. the snp spring conference in aberdeen was supposed to be discussing a range of issues. the health service, education, skills and training. these will still be

debated but there is one item on this agenda and that is the arguments in favour of a second scottish independence referendum. next week nicola sturgeon will get the backing of the scottish parliament for a referendum and she will invite comment abroad by arguing she is standing up notjust for scotland but for democracy. the prime minister has not put herself in opposition to me or independence, she is within her rights to argue against independence, she is putting herself in opposition to the democratic will of the scottish parliament. that is not a sustainable position. the prime minister made the case for the uk remaining united, a none too subtle reference to the referendum it is clear that using brexit as the pretext to engineer a second independence referendum has been

the snp's sole objective ever since lastjune. and bad for us all. the coming negotiations with the eu will be vital for everyone in the united kingdom. so far the arguments have not been so much about independence, but it is not a trivial dispute. in politics, as in comedy, timing can often be crucial to success. and we'll talk to iain watson in aberdeen later. he's due to edit the paper four days a week from may — and says he intends to continue as the mp for tatton in cheshire. the newspaper's owner said george osborne had been chosen because his ‘socially liberal and economically pragmatic‘ views match those of the paper‘s readers. here‘s our political correspondent, ben wright.

he is used to being featured on the front pages, now george osborne will decide what‘s on one, becoming editor of a major newspaper less than a year after being sacked from the cabinet following the eu referendum. i will speak for london and londoners through this paper as its editor and we willjudge whatever the government does, whatever the mayor does, against that simple test, is it good for london or not and if it is not then we will say that and we will not be afraid to do that. if it is good for london, we will back it. he has spent his entire life in politics, six years running the treasury after building his career within the tory party as an mp and adviser to previous leaders but before politics he wanted to be journalist. he did not get a break or a job and will jump straight into the editor‘s hair of the evening standard. the paper‘s owner said he was pleased with the appointment. and also that he is sceptical over

the government‘s approach to brexit. financial centre will count in our favour. the government has chosen not to make the economy the priority in this negotiation. his newjob will give him a platform to trumpet london‘s interests in the city as the government begins brexit. i was shocked. i thought it was fake news. why is he doing it? not for the money. into an alternative power base to theresa may and in the event of brexit going pear shaped he will use this power base to launch his attack. the mayor of london tweeted his congratulations. two powerful voices shaping the capital‘s future. george osborne has been busy in advising a major investment firm. a juggling of jobs, perhaps

without precedent in parliament. he may have left parliament but this amazing appointment puts him back on the front line of politics. and we can get more on this from our political correspondent eleanor garnier in westminster. to say that westminster was stunned by this is an understatement. fleet street was also shocked by this news, and many people were asking, why is george osborne taking on this role? this very difficultjob, hard—working job, he will need to be at his desk by sam on before days a week that he will be editing the newspaper. —— on four days a week. some say he has aways wanted to be a journalist so may be an unfulfilled ambition. many people pointing out it is not for the money. this time last year he was the 21:2 most last year he was the second most powerful man in the government as the chancellor, and then he became

the chancellor, and then he became the first cabinet minister to be sacked by theresa may when she became prime minister. and then he very quickly set up a think tank for the northern powerhouse. he has the northern powerhouse and he has also taken on a job at one of the world‘s biggest asset management ona on a salary of £650,000 a companies on a salary of £650,000 a year. so lots of questions as to how george osborne can fit in yet another editing this george osborne can fit in yet another - editing this paper another venture, eaiting tfi'——i§ paper- on top another venture, eoitino tfi'——i§ oaoer- on top of being an mp for a constituency in cheshire, and we asked him if there are simply enough hours in the day to fit this in. ple nty of plenty of examples of mps who have edited newspapers and magazines over the years and i'm going to continue to bea the years and i'm going to continue to be a part of british public life and i'm looking forward to it. there are also questions about heinous“ ! there are also questions about l-t‘f: there there are also questions about wee—ab: there is there are also questions about reset—ab: there is a there are also questions about ‘izi‘f: there is a conflict of whether there is a conflict of interest in all this. george osborne represents a constituency in

cheshire, so he has the interests of his constituents there to bring to parliament. but now he‘s going to be highlighting issues - central highlighting issues that are central to londoners down here in the south of finland. people are asking, how is he to edit a of finland. people are asking, how is he - to edit a paper that ierheeoine to eait a— oaeeethati sometimes will want to take on the government and criticise the government? —— south of england. what if they are elements in the budget that george osborne doesn‘t think are right for the city of london, how is he going to balance that- remaining london, how is he going to balance that - remaining a london, how is he going to balance that- remaining a supposedly that while remaining a supposedly loyal member of the conservative party? of course editing a newspaper like the evening standard will give him pretty much a lot of power, a readership of almost 2 million a week, so he will have a voice which he will be able to use to put across views on how the government is his views on how the government is approaching the brexit negotiations and he feels the economy is not at the centre of the negotiations when

it should be, so he now has a very loud voice piece, if you like. lots of criticism, especially from labour mps who say this is joke. jeremy corbyn says he is taking multitasking to another level. thanks forjoining us. the headlines on bbc news: the united states has agreed to not repeat claims that british intelligence wiretapped donald trump. the snp says they will have a second referendum on insistence on —— on independence l the second referendum on insistence on —— on independence. the notary is —— on independence in the notary is a says it will be bad for the uk. george osborne is to become the editor of the evening standard and remain as an mp while he does it —— on independence even though theresa

may says it will be bad for the uk. and in sport: the last british side in champions league, leicester city, has been drawn to face atletico madrid in the quarterfinals. manchester unioted are also through to the quarterfinals in the europa league — they will face belgian side anderlecht. it‘s gold cup day at cheltenham, colin tizzard‘s cue card is one of the favourites on the final day of the festival. some schools in england may be receiving more government money, but research out today suggests it will be all but cancelled out by increases in the cost of pay, pensions and national insurance contributions. the government says funding for all schools is at a record £40 billion. but according to the education will hit every school — and particularly those in deprived areas. here‘s our education correspondent, gillian hargreaves. this primary school in southwark in south london has been well funded compared to other schools, something the government is determined to change to make the system fairer. it faces a shortfall of 14%

in its budget between now and 2020. the additional opportunities for children, sports coaches, the services we bring in to support learning, such as speech therapists, art therapists, sports coaches, we would have to look at cutting those things in the first instance. the government says it is spending £40 billion on schools in england this year. according to the education policy institute, even with a fairer funding formula, all schools will find they have less money. the real terms loss will be on average £74,000, rising to £291,000 for secondary schools, equating to two teachers for every primary school and six for secondary schools. it is a very tricky time for the government, because they are introducing this long—awaited reform,

yet it comes against a backdrop of much wider funding pressures for schools. a very simplistic, but perhaps not realistic solution, would be to put more money in the pot. the government says it does recognise the pressure schools face and will help them make savings that should not impact on the quality of teaching. human rights groups have described two refugee camps being built in hungary as a flagrant violation of international law. the camps are made out of converted shipping containers, and anyone entering hungary will be kept there — without a time limit, and with severe restrictions on their movement. hungary‘s prime minister says the country is ‘under siege‘ — hundreds of thousands of refugees have entered in the last two years, but only a few hundred have been giving permission to stay. our correspondent james reynolds

sent us this report. when hungary says it is taking tough action to stop migration, this is what it means. in the south of the country. we are allowed to speak to them from the street. we are not terrorists, we are not criminals. we are refugees. there are no human rights here. this is not a camp, it is a prison. they are treating us like animals. but hungary sees no reason to back down. far from it. this month, the prime minister viktor orban took charge of a new group of so—called border hunters. a new law now gives the government even more power to round up migrants. hungary plans to hold them all in these containers it is setting up next to the border with serbia. "these are civilised places to live in", the contractor says. "european workers certainly find them acceptable". hungary says that the migrants to be

held in these containers would be free to leave at any time, so long as they head in just a single direction — south. they will be free to walk just a few metres down here and they would cross back into serbia, away from the eu, making them someone else‘s problem. these young migrants are stuck on the serbian side. fe? iéii 21 1e% euléeéée ugié; 77. . .7 . . .. .7, the actions of hungary but, quietly, europe may put up with anything that keeps migrants back. james reynolds, bbc news, on the hungary/serbia border. scientists have developed a machine that can lip—read with more accuracy than humans. researchers at oxford university used lip movements from thousands of hours of bbc news programmes to develop the software. here‘s our technology corresgondent rory cellan= ones; i so, are you going on holiday soon?

at the action for hearing loss charity, edward is trying to have a conversation 54" £15 1!“!’a"—: with lots of noise coming into the office from the street, his lip—reading skills come in useful. but he admits this is difficult. it can be very hard as well because sometimes some words can sound the same or could be lip—read the same, and so it‘s all about getting into context and seeing what people actually talk to you about. but in oxford, research is under way to teach computers the difficult art of lip—reading. it‘s involved training an artificial intelligence system using thousands of hours of bbc news programmes. so the box around the lips is the region that the ai system is seeing. joon son chung, whose project this is, shares edward‘s view of the challenges of lip—reading. so lip—reading is a very difficult problem because there are visual ambiguities in mouth shapes. for example pat, bat and mat are visually identical. by endlessly watching clips

of breakfast, newsnight and other bbc news programmes, the computer teaches itself to lip—read. what the system does is learn things that occur together. so in this case they‘re the mouth shapes and the characters, the previous characters. already understands. the prime minister is at a european union summit. now, the system has heard those words in that context before so copes pretty well. but to get better, it will have to chew through a lot more data. there‘s a long way to go but the hearing loss charity is optimistic about this technology. this would help people with when they‘re watching subtitles on television, this will help people when they‘re out and about in very noisy environments and it‘s by no means technology that will replace a professional lip—reader. it‘s something that would very much support professional lip—readers right now the technology only works on full sentences in recorded clips.

the next stage is to make it work live. but first the computer is going to be watching a lot more television. rory cellan—jones, bbc news, oxford. time for a look at the weather. good afternoon. i will. using the word raina good afternoon. i will. using the word rain a lot, we have a weekend away, there will be some rain. spreading across the western side, but it will stay a bit dry and brighter on the eastern side. this is what we have seen so far, early -i.:.,. is what we have seen so far, early “mg; in is what we have seen so far, early suszhae in the is what we have seen so far, early sazshzef in the south—east, is what we have seen so far, early sonata; in the south—east, but the sunshine, in the south—east, but the cloud is rolling in, but still dry. 7 .e,,!!tet;utet!et wetter weather in scotland, the wetter weather in scotland, some snow on the mountains in the north and more rain to come in northern ireland. north—west england and further into wales. very gusty to the east of the high ground, the pennines and east wales. westerly“

continuing, mainly across these western hills of wales and the south—west of england and it will turn dry out later. quite cold in the north west of scotland but mild elsewhere. add breaks of rain, for wales and the south west of england for a while —— outbreaks. moving from the irish eu into northern england and western scotland. —— irish sea. it weulg quite mild, irish sea. it would be quite mild, 15 16 irish sea. it would be quite mild, 15-16 degrees. hello. this is bbc news. —— — ——— the headlines: the us has promised that claims britain‘s secret surveillance agency gchqbas. called the. . the snp deputy leader has told the party conference in aberdeen a second referendum on scottish independence will take place despite theresa may‘s objections.

george osborne is to become the editor of the london evening standard and says he‘ll also remain an mp. i'm a member of parliament, proud to represent my constituency. of course, this newspaper is edited primarily in the morning, parliament votes in the afternogg there are warnings new funding plans won‘t stop schools in england facing budget cuts — that‘s according to the latest study. let‘s go over to the sports desk now and getan let‘s go over to the sports desk now and get an update. i very good afternoon to you both. leicester city will face atletico madrid in the quarterfinals of the champions league. the english champions are the only british side left in the competition and were one of the first names drawn in nyon. ian rush did the honours. they have faced atletico twice eefere leenne home 953? oeoe in the uefa cup in 97 and also going out to the spaniards in cup winners‘ cup in 1961.

atletico have been runners up in the champions league twice in the last three years. this is the draw, it could have been a lot tougherfor the foxes, bayern munich v the holders real madrid juventus v barcelona — a repeat of the 2015 final. those first legs played on april 11—12 and the second legs on april,18.—,19..,. , ,, leicester critchley will play at the second leg at home. manchester united will face belgian side anderlecht in the quarter finals of the europa league. the second leg will be at old trafford a week later. the last time they faced each other was in the champions league back in october 2000, with united winning 6—3 on aggregate. the final day‘s racing is underway at the cheltenham festival. st patrick‘s day, gold cup day. we‘ve already had two races, in the first, the triumph hurdle, the 5—2 favourite defi du seuil

finished well clear forjockey after four wins yesterday, irish trainier willie mullins is back in the winners‘ enclosure. his 20/1 outsider arctic fire, coming up on the inside with paul townend in the purple silks, won the county hurdle after a photo finish. less tha n less than an hour to go until the gold cup. let‘s go live to cheltenham and now, speak to our correspondence. a good win for mullins, does that both well for him mullins, does thtitth—tta. ao, , west—hfior ut! the gold cup? in the gold cup? by in the gold cup? by the performances yesterday, four winners yesterday, a lot of money going on the course that finished second in the last two years. willie mullins has never won the gold cup.

he dominated the festival in recent yea rs, never won he dominated the festival in recent years, never won the gold cup. could this finally be their year? plenty of other horses to look out for as well. the sentimental favourite of other horses to look out for as well. the sentimentalfavourite is tied to card, a horse trained by mullins. —— bya tied to card, a horse trained by mullins. —— by a former dairy it would be an extraordinary farmer. it would be an extraordinary story is cue card good do that. a lot of fans here keeping their fingers crossed for cue card. keep an eye out by lizzie kelly, the first female jockey . ride in the first female jockey to ride in the gold cup since the 1980s. she is on board 342. and outside as far as the bookies concerned. what it win it would be on st patrick‘s day. many thanks. it‘s the final weekend of rugby union‘s six nations championship england are in dublin looking to win back to back grandslams..that‘s

never been done in the six nations. a win against ireland would also see them hold the record by themselves for most test wins on the bounce, 19. the last time england won back to back grandslams was in 91 and 92 in the old five nations. i‘ve had will carling texting me, reminding me how great his team was. he called it his team. i‘m very aware. we‘re not seeing it as a daunting thing, going to ireland. we‘re very mocha-katee"throng: n by the opportunity that presents itself. and why not? we should be excited, it‘s not a scary thing to do. that‘s all the sport for now. we‘ll be looking forward to the gold cup in halfan be looking forward to the gold cup in half an hour. some news coming in now about the poet and play light,

derek walcott, his family say he‘s died at his home in saint lucia. derek walcott is first gained international attention in the 19605, international attention in the 1960s, with a lens that talked about the history and culture of saint lucia and also about the wider caribbean. he was regarded as one of the leading voices of west indian literature. as the region are merged from colonial rule. derek walcott was professor of poetry at the university of essex, his epic poetry was considered his finest achievement. he has died in his home in the country of saint lucia. lets return now to the row over whether — and when — there might be another vote on scottish independence. this morning, the snp said that an independence vote will take place, despite theresa may‘s view that

now is not the time. speaking to the bbc, the leader of the snp nicola sturgeon says she has tried to compromise with the prime minister, but feels that she has been met with a brick wall. we‘ve got a disagreement. what i‘m saying today is let‘s try and work our way through that disagreement. i‘m no paragon of virtue and comes to these things. it takes two to make a relationship, i absolutely accept that. but i‘ve tried really, really hard to find compromise with the prime minister over the last few months. i did that because she came to edinburgh and said, in terms, that she wanted to find an agreement with notjust scotland, but the other devolved administrations before triggering article 50. we accepted that scotland, within the uk, would'comeoofiettfi and we put forward compromise ground that i think would have found a lot of favour not just in scotland, but across the uk over the single market. toward such a compromise. so i‘ve been trying to compromise, and so far met with a brick wall. so what i‘m saying today is, she says that now is not the right

time for a referendum. i actually agree with that, i‘m not proposing one now. i‘ve set out when i think it would be right. she doesn‘t agree with that, so let her set out when she thinks it would be right, and then let‘s have a discussion about it. who knows, we might not be only a matter of weeks or months apart. i‘m up for continued discussion, but people recognise in any walk of life, notjust politics, you can‘t have a discussion and reach compromise with people who are not prepared to enter into discussion and are not prepared to countenance compromise. and that so far has been my experience with the prime minister. our political correspondent iain watson is at the snp spring conference in aberdeen. mixed messages there from nicola sturgeon? is she asking for itchy asking for compromise, itchy asking for dialogue? does she think there‘s room for compromise? what‘s going on?

i think to some extent she has to be seen i think to some extent she has to be seen to be looking for compromise by putting forward these proposals, most proposals she them, about most grogosals she—them. about; role in the eu. she says, try to prevent moving straight we‘ve try to prevent moving straight toa we‘ve try to prevent moving straight to a second scottish referendum, this is l"! an attempt to engineer a this is not an attempt to engineer a constitutional crisis. that is the starting point to treat the snp as a reasonable party, if you like, to attempt to appeal to the fit 5%who voted no at the last referendum. what has annoyed people here about theresa may‘s is her theresa may‘s attitude is her seeming refusal to discuss the timing ofa seeming refusal to discuss the timing of a referendum while brexit is going on. a lot of people are saying no referendum and during a brexit negotiations, but i won‘t even discuss when there will be a referendum. she is hoping to move

theresa may sing position where she at least discusses that - the at least discusses that over the next few years. but theresa may once —— what is wanted is that referendum once the uk has normally left the eu. it seems she is prepared to accept a referendum after that. in 2019. worse sister has a mandate over “— 2019. worse sister has a mandate over —— while she still has a mandate over the material change in circumstances. that mandate expires in 2021, a general election is in 2020. if she can get a referendum in 2019, i think there will indeed be room for compromise. at the moment, where she wants to apply pressure on theresa may is to at least begin negotiating that timescale, and not just say wait until april 2019 until we even discuss a date. what the delegates at the conference

think about the position that nicola sturgeon has adopted? the members of the snp, they will be pro—independence, but not all of them will be convinced accept argument that because the voted —— scotla nd argument that because the voted —— scotland voted to stay in the eu, that the eu is a good thing it? if you look at some of the polling, there are people living in either direction since the 2014 referendum. some as the snp had been in favour of brexit every bit as much as anyone else across the other parts of the uk. the vast of anyone else across the other parts of the uk. the vast- of snp of the uk. the vast majority of snp members want scotland i - to members want scotland i merrily to in the eu, and don‘t want remain in the eu, and don‘t want britain to leave the european union. nicola sturgeon is targeting people who voted labour at the general election and no in 2014, knowing that it election and no in 2014, knowing thatitis election and no in 2014, knowing that it is not only about economics, it is about identity, the type of

country they want. that campaign videos already people who said they we re videos already people who said they were previously no and are to yes. people are trying to get that target audience, people on the left politics, who were not convinced by aolities, who were not convincedtbg ,. . . .. independence in oolities, who were not coovjncedrb'g ,. . . .. independence in 2014. that campaign has begun, and they are saying that only needs one in 20 privately that only needs one in 20 of them to change their minds and we get independence. there are others not wanting to go down that road. not wanting to go downthat roach: are people saying we don‘t yet there are people saying we don‘t yet know what they referendum hoisted would be. some are saying that we have two questions, a question on independence and whether the independent scotland should be! independence and whether the independent scotland should be in the eu. these questions are being discussed in the background. nicola sturgeon isn‘t calling for a referendum now, r" is sturgeon isn‘t calling for a referendum now, ea is calling it referendum now, itchy is calling it from september 12,018 onwards. now and then she is looking between now and then she is looking to a nswer between now and then she is looking to answer big questions on currency and if there is a hard brexit, whether scotland would apply straightaway for a eu membership,

whether it be part of the european free trade association. what she wa nts to free trade association. what she wants to do is get the timescale she wa nts. wants to do is get the timescale she wants. she believes that if theresa may and the uk government are distracted by it difficult to brexit negotiations, they won‘t simply have 7 . . .. gee airflow-o‘er??? political manpower to put into the political manpower to put into the political manpower to put into the campaign against scottish $— the campaign against scottish independence thisi . .,., ,, ,, ,, the campaign against scottish independence this time, —— 77—7 ~ ~ ~ the campaign against scottish independence this time, the r—— ~ ~ ~ the campaign against scottish independence this time, the way ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ the campaign against scottish % this time, the way they= independence this time, the way they did in 2014. thank