for douglas ross, how did they get another referendum if they want one?d it was their manifesto to oppose another referendum, that is the strongest example that we've had that whatever happens on thursday, he will oppose another referendum in the scottish parliament. but what nicola sturgeon struggled most with what specifics and that is been the case of the past few weeks because the case for independence basically needs updating. except of the pandemic, per exit, the border issues we have seen between northern ireland and great britain tell me that there are big questionsjust been great britain tell me that there are big questions just been very keen to say that i'll answer them closer to the time. which basically means, the answers are not there yet. it the time. which basically means, the answers are not there yet.— answers are not there yet. it wasn't 'ust answers are not there yet. it wasn't just covid-19 — answers are not there yet. it wasn't just covid-19 or — answers are not there yet. it wasn't just covid-19 or independence, - answers are not th

i listened closely to douglas ross — the public? i listened closely to douglas ross of— the public?t. if it is good for douglas ross than the independence supporters and alba should argue for the same thing. this is the system that we have got and we have a huge opportunity to get that super majority in the scottish parliament to allow us to face down borisjohnson. the scottish parliament to allow us to face down boris johnson. the snp have been criticised _ face down boris johnson. the snp have been criticised in _ face down boris johnson. the snp have been criticised in this i have been criticised in this campaign quite vigorously by their opponents for the record on health, education and drug deaths and so on, do you think that criticism is fair? i think the snp would benefit from a more coherent opposition. with labour, tory liberal democrats, they've been helpless. hopeless at criticising the snp on the record. annabelle golding was infinitely superior to what you've got now. every government should be set on its laurels and should be held to account. the point i'm making is th

douglas ross.nths ago, the new leader of the scottish labour party, the attempt since devolution. co—leader of the scottish grains since 2008, patrick harvie. and marking ten years this month as leader of the scottish liberal democrats, willie rennie. hello and a warm welcome to our debate and thank you to all the leaders for being here at this important moment in this election campaign. we have all got a bit of energy left to see us through the next 70 minutes. i will be asking the questions, based on feedback from members of the bbc scotland audience panel who have told us the issues they would most like to hear about. we would like the leaders to engage in a respectful debate and that means not talking over one another. at the outset can we all agree on that, promise?- another. at the outset can we all agree on that, promise? yes. i'm auoin to agree on that, promise? yes. i'm going to hold _ agree on that, promise? yes. i'm going to hold you _ agree on that, promise? yes. i'm going to hold you t

douglas ross leader of the scottish conservatives _ rules.f his party so far have always been tried be supportive of borisjohnson on this affair and was asked whether he should be designed and ross said of course the people who occupy the highest office in the land should be held to the highest standards. that's implying that yes he does make a resident to enact resignation to come. it shows how the story is running forjohnson, more questions coming out whether there were other donors contributed to the refurbishment of the flat. we don't know if these were properly registered by borisjohnson, pay for a nanny, itjust keeps going here. there's lots of disclosure waiting to happen. we can have more headline, all this comes ahead of that crucial local elections on thursday not the best time for boris johnson to be having these negative headlines around his party. certainly a gift for labor. you would — certainly a gift for labor. you would think so but a lot of the polling — would think so but a lot of the polling suggests that this particular s

bublik to the surprise of number 10, douglas ross said yes, i think that if rules have been broken then borisjohnson and number 10 have sought to keep a lid on this over the last week and we have crucial elections coming up on thursday and the big debate is firstly whether the story cuts through, but even if it does not, for the electorate, have routes been broken? there are several enquiries being set up in order to find out who paid which invoice and when. but itjust so happens that douglas ross, who you would assume would be batting for the same team, appears to be breaking ranks. the question, i su ose, to be breaking ranks. the question, i sunpose. is— to be breaking ranks. the question, i suppose, is with _ to be breaking ranks. the question, i suppose, is with thursday - to be breaking ranks. the question, | i suppose, is with thursday looming, downing street might be frustrated, but has a damaged borisjohnson? i was in hartlepool last —— this week ahead _ was in hartlepool last —— this week ahead of— was in hartlepool last —— this week ahead of the by—election in the mood is thi

douglas ross will be in a position anyway— douglas ross will be in a position anyway because douglas inburgh, and a lot of people frown on that, alex salmond and others do as well, but a lot of people frown on that sample yes, they do, and i suspect he will come under pressure over the next couple months. because argument conservatives would make is if he is the man try to connect uk government and the scottish parliament, it is good to be in both, — parliament, it is good to be in both, but. _ parliament, it is good to be in both, but, yeah, thejob is been parliament, it is good to be in both, but, yeah, the job is been a bit controversial. both, but, yeah, the “0b is been a bit controversial.— bit controversial. nick, for now, thank you _ bit controversial. nick, for now, thank you very _ bit controversial. nick, for now, thank you very much. _ bit controversial. nick, for now, thank you very much. we - bit controversial. nick, for now, thank you very much. we are i bit controversial. nick, for now, i thank you very much. we are joined now by the reform uk party leader. compared wit

from that last question, i'm not sure that the climate is particularly high up the agenda of douglas rossave a brief look at what else has been going on around westminster. a conservative mp, rob roberts, has been suspended for six weeks after sexually harrasing a member of his staff. an independent panel found he'd breached parliament's sexual misconduct policy. he's lost the party whip, but a loophole means that his constituents won't be able to force a by—election through what's known as a recall petition. the leader of the commons said he wanted to close that loophole, but rob roberts should resign. following a case of this severity, in which it would be honourable for a member to stand down after the withdrawal of the whip, we need to look at whether the process is striking the right balance between independence, protecting the confidentiality of complainants and ensuring consistent outcomes across different types of conduct codes. england's minister for sport has called on football to put more money into researching head injuries. nigel huddleston was appearing before mps on the cul

meanwhile, they are going to love bomb and hug scotland, and i think with douglas ross, their new scottishto be a bit more muscular and bullish about defending the union. the favourite to become police and crime commissioner in wiltshire has been told he's unable to take up thejob, even if he wins monday's election count. the conservative candidate jonathon seed has an historical criminal conviction which makes him ineligible for thejob. dan 0'brien is bbc radio wiltshire's political reporter. dan, tell us what has happened here at what is the background? in wiltshire, it's an incredibly conservative county, so going into this election, the conservative is obviously the favourite to win. however, we have learnt this afternoon that the conservative candidate, jonathan seed, has been told by conservative party had quarters that he has been disbarred —— headquarters that he has been disbarred from taking up this job, relating to a driving offence that dates back 30 years, an offence he says he did declare the party when he put forward his candidacy for the job. he told us in a statement that

has to say not now, now is not _ douglas ross has to say not now, now is not the _ douglas rosstically down in 2016. mark drake, dramatically down in 2016. mark drake. 17.665 _ dramatically down in 2016. mark drake, 17,665 votes. _ dramatically down in 2016. mark drake, 17,665 votes. that - dramatically down in 2016. mark drake, 17,665 votes. that is - dramatically down in 2016. mark drake, 17,665 votes. that is a i drake, 17,665 votes. that is a massive majority _ drake, 17,665 votes. that is a massive majority for - drake, 17,665 votes. that is a massive majority for the - drake, 17,665 votes. that is a massive majority for the first| massive majority for the first minister. massive ma'ority for the first minister. . . massive ma'ority for the first minister. ,, ., , massive ma'ority for the first minister. ,, . , . , minister. sean driscoll, welsh conservative _ minister. sean driscoll, welsh conservative party _ minister. sean driscoll, welsh conservative party candidate, | minister. sean driscoll, welsh - conservative party candidate, 6454 votes. speaks welsh david peter gr

the scottish tory leader, douglas ross mp, hopes his vote will get him anotherjob as a member of thement along with his seat in westminster. labour leader anas sarwar is standing against nicola sturgeon in glasgow southside. he's not expecting to beat her in that constituency, or to overtake the snp is the largest party in holyrood. make sure you vote covid safe, and make both votes labour. both votes, because there's two ballot papers. one to elect a constituency msp, and one for the regional list vote, which is used to elect members on a proportional basis. snow in may across much of scotland doesn't appear to have deterred too many voters. and of course there are dogs at polling stations. on twitter. and in real life. which can pose a hazard for some. i'm a bit scared of dogs. 0pinion polls suggest nicola sturgeon should be pretty confident she will continue as first minister. the big question is whether the snp can secure an overall majority and claim a mandate for a referendum on scottish independence. former first minister alex salmond is attempting a comeback with his new part

their new leader, douglas ross, not doing as well according to the polling, i think it's fair to say.ave been going down in every single election in scotland since the scottish parliament was actually created back in 1999. they came third back in 2016, humiliating for a party that used to dominate scottish politics. they're hoping under their new leader, anas sarwar, to get back into the game. is that likely? if we look at the polls and put them into a machine and project, it is just a projection, we should say, project how that might look in terms of the chamber, how it might look on may the 7th, we can see from the last few poles, it would give the snp slightly up on the 63 seats, just shy, though, of that 65 magic staging post for a majority. but look at the greens, look at the scottish greens, doing very well indeed according to that projection, doubling their seats to ten seats. that would leave a pro—independence majority overall in hollywood, putting the snp and the greens together of 73, which would be, by far, the biggest pro—independence majority we've seen in holyrood since

if douglas ross and willie rennie, anas sarwar, if they say we need to defeat this, the greens, alba,es, forget all of the other differences and their other quite important philosophical differences around how you approach the questions of making a better society, put all that to one side because the only thing that matters is the constitution. now, that is true for the snp. it is not true for the other parties. there are very real differences with their political values, so no, i don't think it isjust political values, so no, i don't think it is just a question of political will because that would be to accept that the only question that matters is should scotland be independent, and there are far more important questions, particularly in the context of brexit, in the context of a pandemic, the need of the economic recovery that we face. so no, i don't accept that actually, i don't accept that it would be appropriate for all the other parties to come into line and say, fine, we are defined by one issue. the snp can be defined by that one issue, and they are, but it would not be appro

douglas ross, we will be speaking to you again _ douglas ross, we will be speaking to you again.a lot of different _ going to be sustained? well, there's a lot of different elections _ going to be sustained? well, there's a lot of different elections to - a lot of different elections to happen in terms of the results to come out and i think there is an interesting picture emerging. let's face it, we've got some different places, even ironically the fact you are speaking to two guests both based in london and we are talking about what happened in the north says a lot about the different opinions and views of different people across the country. interestingly, i have read a lot over the last few weeks about the interest of independence and it was interesting to see in the hartlepool result, a lot of votes going to independent candidates. and whether there will be more of that meath in london for example. i think it's going to be a mixed bag. it is still very early days in scotland as douglas was saying. it's very clear that we probably all underestimated how people vote. if you loo

i just wonder, if the union is so important to labour, why has the call from douglas ross of the conservativesdependence. but why that was that dismissed by labour? i why that was that dismissed by labour? ~ . why that was that dismissed by labour? ,, ., ., , ., ., labour? i think all of us who are interested _ labour? i think all of us who are interested in _ labour? i think all of us who are interested in politics _ labour? i think all of us who are interested in politics or- labour? i think all of us who are interested in politics or report . labour? i think all of us who are | interested in politics or report on politics. — interested in politics or report on politics, we know that in reality, if politics, we know that in reality, it there — politics, we know that in reality, it there is — politics, we know that in reality, if there is an offer on the table, it doesn't— if there is an offer on the table, it doesn't come via twitter. that was not — it doesn't come via twitter. that was not a — it doesn't come via twitter. that was not a genuine offer from the scottish— was not a genuine off

a lot of polling suggested douglas ross was not landing too well with voters in scotland.rliament _ but there is a bigger picture. there is, the new parliament looks - but there is a bigger picture. there is, the new parliament looks a - but there is a bigger picture. there is, the new parliament looks a lot l is, the new parliament looks a lot like the old parliament except the greens seem much stronger and the overall majority for independence is much stronger. what is the difference between five years ago? that took place before the brexit referendum. that was not seen as an unambiguous majority for a mandate for a second independence referendum, there is no doubt most people who voted for the snp and the greens here will have seen their vote as a mandate for a second independence referendum and the difficulty borisjohnson has a thing and we anas sarwar will talk more about this later, although it is a very strong and reasonable argument that resonates with a great many people that this is not the time, the next five years is not the time to rerun 2014. the scottish ele

let's talk now to douglas ross, the leader of the scottish conservatives.r divisive check in the next couple of years when we should _ the next couple of years when we should all— the next couple of years when we should all be focused on rebuilding scotland. — should all be focused on rebuilding scotland, getting to the pandemic together— scotland, getting to the pandemic together and continuing to be united in a recovery. nicola sturgeon wants to put _ in a recovery. nicola sturgeon wants to put all— in a recovery. nicola sturgeon wants to put all that risk in the snp, they— to put all that risk in the snp, they would wreck the recovery by going _ they would wreck the recovery by going for— they would wreck the recovery by going for another referendum. that is what _ going for another referendum. that is what is _ going for another referendum. that is what is so — going for another referendum. that is what is so important before pulling — is what is so important before pulling stages of the tomorrow that people _ pulling stages of the tomorrow that people

what people needed for their own standards of living and for their children, but in scotland, douglas rossry _ your personal property? it has not come up very much _ your personal property? it has not come up very much in _ your personal property? it has not come up very much in the - your personal property? it has not l come up very much in the doorsteps of county durham, but trust came up in hartlepool when i was campaigning, and it is trust about whether keir starmer means what he says. it is a real issue with labour, the issue around brexit. they said in 2017 that they would go with it and they did not, keir starmer was the forfeit of that in 2019, now he is the leader. —— was at the forefront of that. people here do not trust keir starmer to fulfil what he says he is going to do, i think that is one of the issues faced by labour here, so if you do not trust the decision of the people in brexit, why should they trust you with their mp? irate people in brexit, why should they trust you with their mp?- trust you with their mp? we were talkin: to trust you with their mp? we were talking t