AGENDA
intimidated. ‘Judges are capable of controlling what is recorded for transmission.‘ he says. ‘It is important not only that justice is done. but that it is seen to be done. This could be a useful way of putting across the message that the courts are not remote or secretive.‘
The Scottish Council for Civil Liberties says it backs any move that increases public awareness of the court system but is concemed that allowing cameras regular access would lead to criminal trials coming to be treated as entertainment. as appears to have happened in America. Selecting segments from a long trial because of their news impact could lead to a distorted picture of the proceedings. argues Carole Ewart.
However, Atkinson believes that people who criticise the American system are usually objecting to the way
:— Trral run
Blow by blow accounts of criminal trials are commonplace on American television. but in Britian our understanding of the justice system relies on journalists’ second-hand reports. illustrated with the occasional pastel sketch. But the documentary Focal Point will move Britain. or at least Scotland. a little nearer to televisedjustice when it broadcasts footage from a criminal trial for the first time.
The trial chosen to set this remarkable precedent was hardly high profile — a man is accused in Glasgow‘s Sheriff Court of stealing a bus and careless driving — but even that took the BBC . Scotland production team four months The Advocates: now the real thing is on our television screens
to set up. Stringent guidelines on how a days of court proceedings. was edited. Rumpn/e oft/2e Bailey. but I think every inillsflr‘c conciltCIC(l’ an‘d .nOt mi: fad trial should be televised meant that ‘We are a long way from every trial citizen has the right to be in court.‘ “3” fm {denied ‘Opmmg things ,uP everyone in the courtroom had to agree being available on television but I hope Michael Clancy. deputy secretary of t‘zn‘d’SJg‘LhEthfiggtbfm the better‘
to the camera‘s presence. The presiding that would come.‘ says Focal Point the Law Society of Scotland. cautiously Lfll [,5' .( .‘IL 818C), T, I , 7 sheriff also had the final say over how I editor Val Atkinson. ‘Most people get welcomed the idea of televising some Amt; (3);?)15 (m ' 0" "(mm-i the haii'iiour Programme. based on tour l their idea 0f COUFIS frOm [A Law or trials. as long as witnesses were not I)” a" ” pm’
_ l_ ~ a ililiili”.i°ill.if.iiii’.’.°t:.’i£23.... it; iii” have access to all the views and scheme glcke
i
knowledge available, and to respect When BBC director general John Birt
the other’s right to ditier.’ lcke has certainly diitered, and paid visited Scotland recently, he tried to reassure media executives worried
' the price as a national iigure oi tun.
He claims not to have set himseli up that the number of home-grown programmes making it onto the
as a leader or guru, despite the publicity blurb ior one oi his books network is set to decline. Birt disappointed those looking tor a
which describes him as a ‘world visionary’. ‘I’m a communicator oi inionnation - it’s the inionnation that guarantee about Scottish output, has the power,’ he says. fagng, l‘uuotas stiige creativity", but Ick: says his :pirituzl me n e 9 com, one p ece o goo news . awa entng — w e escrt es as itlu Scpttish pirotzuction slipped out ,itreazlggggfiwogitd and planetary ‘relinking oi his eternal memory’ - a :nnot ce .t b “h .1118 tabloid press has this who, was painiul but has given htm a “snagging: 0;” it" 2:60;“ arrogant idea that people can’t be just GI 2w isgt ugh "mt “M d d given inionnation and allowed to as” ’ ° ° ' a" 8 make up their own mind - they have to toward an anematm.
i It’s been three years since David Icke’s ‘turquoise period’ when the newSpapers couldn’t get enough oi
j this iormer television sports
i presenter’s views on world
' destruction. Media interest has waned
since then, but lcke continues to talk
to anyone who will listen about
plationn ior his views. ‘The alternative David Icke: challenging religion was to have no public image and get nothing out,’ he says. (Eddie Gibb)
hiratltgutii, igliiitliarsii‘irlitgtigtig‘ih’iiiiggiame by to” Mm to think” he says" Where "this idea “i 'idicuting 0' David Icke is speaking at the Moir the iilm will be directed b Gillies ' m °°"""9 "m" '3 cha"°"9'"9 °°"de"‘“i“9 a“V°“° “it” steps 0‘" °t Hall Glasgow on Wednesday 13 April Mackinnon who has .ust :0". '8‘ed [engton and materialistic sctence as the status quo pfison of pe'cepflon is and Rooms on h. . ’ i . .9 agents oi mind control and putting n 0, that mind comm. The two . . ’
IS itrst Hollywood movte, Twist oi Pa - Friday 15 April, both at 7.30pm.
Fate starring Steve Martin. The script I was co-written by Gillies and his brother Billy, who worked on the script _ oi the Piano. Production is due to start in the o f t autumn and the BBC hopes to iinish o the iilm in time ior Cannes in May next year, followed by a UK cinema release. Newspaper personal finance columns
cent more fuel to heat a house in Glasgow than a comparable one in Bristol. anti 30 per cent more to heat a house in Aberdeen than in London. The Government accepts that pensioners who can't afford to heat
‘The main thing that excites me is have been advising readers with spare . their homes. or are just too frightened bringing Gillies Mackinnon back to cash 0i 8 iooPhOie Whieii aiioWS them of high bills even if they can. are at Scotland,’ says Andrea Calderwood, to timid VAT on their 233 anti risk. it already gives cold weather BBC Scotland’s head oi drama. eieetrieit)’ bills for “P to two Years by payments during cold weather, and ‘Without BBC tunding, it might not Paying iii ridVaiiee. This i5 11 neat these payments will be increased have been made with such a stfong illustration Of the adage that you need slightly — from £6 to £750 over two Scottish connection. We’ve got a money 10 save money. At the other end years — to account for the extra VAT strong development slate at the of the scale, poor people. and burden. But Age Concern believes this moment and there are clear targets for PartieUiari)’ PeiiSiorier-‘t Will be Paying top-up payment ignores the real cost of contributing to the network.’ out a disproportionately targe Par1 0i heating a house. and argues that (mugs Mackinnon's pmyious mms their income on the fuel tax. which imposing VAT on fuel could widen the incmde ‘conquest of the south pow applies to heating bills from this week. gap between what pensioners can. abOUt the imaginary adventures oi a According to figures reeentiy afford and the cost of keeping their group of Edinburgh managers, and a compiled by Age Concem Scotland. the houses warm. . . ‘ television adaptation oi John llealy’s Poorest 20 Per eerit oi the UK'3 _ ‘VAT ts a regressive form of taxation. autobiographical book "the Grass PoPUiiitiori spend8 12 Per Cent or their . . it concludes. ‘Older people on low 993’, budget on fuel. compared to less than 5 For pensioners in Scotland. the incomes and in poor health will be Calderwood says she hopes BBC per cent for the wealthiest 20 per cent. situation could be even worse because disproportionately affected by VAT on Scotland can start producing films on And single pensioners on income of bad weather and lower average fuel and the Government‘s "extra this scale at the rate oi around one a Support spend an average of over 18 temperatures. Age Conccm's‘ Own help" is not sufficient to protect them.‘ year. (Eddie Gibb) per cent of their weekly budget on fuel. research concluded that it takes 20 per (Eddie Gibb)
J 4 The List 8—2I April 1994