john swinney is opening the snp's later.hn swinney is opening the snp's annual conference. across all of those decades, no speaker at a party conference has been able to say the words, the words that i am about to say to you today, conference, the snp leads the city of glasgow. applause cheering the victory of susan aitken and her tea m the victory of susan aitken and her team marks the latest in a string of historic successes for our party. first they told us we would never win at holyrood. we won in 2007, 2011, and again in 2016. applause then they told us we would never win a westminster election in scotland. but we have, notjust once, but twice. 2015 and again earlier this yearin twice. 2015 and again earlier this year in 2017. applause winning at holyrood, westminster and winning for all of scotland's communities, we are the one and only party in scotland that is national in reach, in scope and in perspective. we are truly a national party of all of scotland. applause and what was the first decision we took when we won

cutting through, as john right now as this progressive party? cutting through, asjohn swinneyights, rather than being the party that is trying to forge through to bring independence to scotland. that's a point which is well made. it looks as though a second independence referendum could bea second independence referendum could be a long way away. even, according to people in the snp. nicola sturgeon said she would think about it again next year but some leading figures in the party say it shouldn't be considered until after the next elections in 2021. —— even according to people in the snp. but how does the snp reenergise its members? well, it talks about domestic policies. it compares itself to the other parties. for the last ten years in looks at its record in scotland which may be patchy, possible to attack it, education has been a question where the snp have come underfire. but they focus on domestic issues. they will talk about providing bursaries for teachers to enable them to change mid—career into what they call stem subjects, engineering, that sort of thing. and they

that is what john swinney and the other leaders, particularly nicola sturgeon, first minister, leadery will be hoping they can cut a swathe through the middle, asjohn swinney said, he described them as their only progressive party of government in the united kingdom. but there is this situation whereby they lost a lot of votes, a lot of mps. 21 mps at the last general election. they can feel in scotland labour and the conservatives breathing down their necks, a big resurgence for the conservatives. a little bit of a resurgence for labour as well. while the snp might feel they are well placed, in particular in scotland, there is this renewed threat from there is this renewed threat from the traditional parties of the left and right. the difficulty that they have, i think, and right. the difficulty that they have, ithink, is and right. the difficulty that they have, i think, is that the first minister, because of those problems, has put independence on hold, she has put independence on hold, she has said they will not think about it until the back end of next year. but the problem is th

the deputy first minister of scotland, john swinney has opened the snp conference in glasgow, sayingr scottish voters. brexit and the rights of eu citizens living and working in scotland are expected to loom large on the agenda throughout the three day event in glasgow. speaking earlier, mr swinney outlined his party‘s achievements. every conference brings scrutiny of the position of political parties and ours is no different. at this point in ourfirst and ours is no different. at this point in our first government in 2008, we were polling 38%. at this point in our second government, we had hit 40%. point in our second government, we had hit a0%. getting better. but now, ten years into government, what is our most recent poll number? it is our most recent poll number? it is 42%. is our most recent poll number? it is 4296. in fact... applause in fact applause infact our applause in fact our lead over our nearest rival is a stonking i7%, five times what it was in 2008 and double what it was in 2012. our party commands that support because we stay close to the people, listen to them and

the deputy first minister of scotland, john swinney, has opened the snp conference in glasgow, saying choice for scottish voters. brexit, and the rights of eu citizens living and working in scotland, is expected to loom large throughout the three—day event in glasgow. in his address to party members, mr swinney outlined his party's achievements. every conference brings scrutiny of the position of political parties and ours is no different. at this point in ourfirst government back in october, 2008, we were polling about 38%. not bad. but by this point in our second government, we had hit a0%. getting better. but now, ten years into government, what is our most recent polling number? it is 42%. infact... applause. in fact, our lead over our nearest rival is a stonking i7% — five times what it was in 2008 and double what it was in 2012. our party commands that support because we stay close to the people, we listen to them and we act in the national interest of scotland. applause. in amongst all of the polling, scottish labour has descended into infantile name—calling and the tories have

scotland's deputy first minister, john swinney, has opened the snp conference, saying the party wills policies for scotland, including housing and public services. spain's prime minister, mariano rajoy, says he won't rule out suspending catalonia's government as tens of thousands of people take to the streets to call for talks. more from me at four o'clock. now on bbc news, time for a special programme — the world's most difficultjob. justin rowlatt has an exclusive interview with the president of afghanistan, who makes no bones about the scale of the challenges facing his country. the nato combat mission in afghanistan ended three years ago, but the war is far from over, as i discovered visiting a british air force base at kabul international airport last week. casualties that we've heard of... down! down, down. nato now plays a back—seat role, helping train, advise and assist afghan forces in their battle against the taliban. suffice to say there is some sort of barrage going on at the moment, but in terms of numbers, locations, we don't have that information at the moment. but it'

scotland's deputy first minister, john swinney, has opened the snp conference, saying the party wills policies for scotland, including housing and public services. spain's prime minister, mariano rajoy, says he won't rule out suspending catalonia's government, as tens of thousands of people take to the streets to call for talks. more from the five o'clock. now on bbc news it's time for talking books. gavin esler is in cannes to interview michelin starred chef angela hartnett hello and welcome to talking books: cookery special. we're here in cannes, in the south of france, one of those great cities where the food is exquisite and the wine's superb. we're here to talk to a michelin starred chef, angela hartnett, whose cookery roots and cookery books are based on her italian and welsh families. angela hartnett, welcome. now, working with gordon ramsay at the start of your career, that must have been... i'm trying to think of the right word... testing, challenging, was it? they're both very good words for it. yeah, i mean it was, it was certainly a challenge. i think because i went into

john swinney went to find stephen paddock‘s home town to see if people could shed any light on him andt him on his gun buying spree. this is mesquite, on the arizona—nevada border, beneath the golden butte wilderness. a classic town of the american west — safe, prosperous, nothing ever happens here. but mesquite is the town stephen paddock called home. it's where he assembled his arsenal. it's where he planned the taking of so many lives. so what does this place tell us about who the killer was? and why did he do what he did? the argument raging in america is notjust about owning guns, that's a given. it's about owning the types of guns that can kill 59 people in a matter of minutes. paddock bought some of his killing machines here, at guns and guitars. no one inside would speak to us on camera. passers—by are in shock, yet believe not much can be done. why allow people to buy these things? guns? effectively submachine guns. that's crazy, isn't it? it's insane. so why don't you stop it? stop it? how do we stop it? well, you pass a law. what law? that you can only have a rifle? you don'