Scotland Live

Summary

Sturgeon denies bridge maintenance cuts
Bin lorry prosecution cash considered
Probe into baby trolley glue 'prank'
Peer proposes Scottish second chamber
Government may consider organ opt-out

Live Reporting

Jo Perry and Paul McLaren

First minister denies Forth Road Bridge spending had been cutpublished at 09:22
Quote Message
That is absolutely, unequivocally not true. The maintenance that has been required to be done on the bridge has been done. There is a repair, before this fault was spotted, that has already been under way to the same part of the bridge. The fault that was spotted last week and we are now working to repair is completely unrelated so there is no relationship at all. This crack that has resulted in the bridge being closed was, as I am told by engineers, unforeseen and unforeseeable.
Nicola Sturgeon
Image source, Getty Images
Postpublished at 09:19 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
From Nicola Sturgeon
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Sturgeon: We can get though this if we all play our partpublished at 09:12
Quote Message
I would encourage people who are being incredibly patient to continue to think about car sharing, using the buses - there is extra capacity still on the buses and the journey times are not as long as might have been the case. Think about staggering your journey times to and from work. If we all play our part, then we will get through this with as little disruption as possible and then hopefully get this bridge open again at the start of the year.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
Postpublished at 09:11 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
From Forth Road Bridge
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First minister 'optimistic' that Forth Road Bridge can be reopened early in the new yearpublished at 09:04
Quote Message
We are absolutely determined to get the bridge open at the start of the new year and, weather aside, from everything the engineers have told me this morning they remain optimistic that the repairs can be done in this timescale.
Image source, Reuters
Sturgeon: Bridge crisis workers 'doing a sterling job'published at 08:54
Update
Quote Message
The determination since Thursday night, when the decision had to be taken to close this bridge completely, has been to minimise disruption as much as possible and of course to get the repair done so that the bridge can open again as soon as possible. Everyone who has been working on this has been doing an absolutely sterling job and I am deeply grateful to them for that.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says everything possible is being done to minimise disruptionpublished at 08:48
Image source, Reuters
Quote Message
The contingency plans are working as well as you could have expected. Clearly the closure of the bridge is causing inconvenience and disruption to people and I absolutely understand that. The first thing I want to say is thank you to the traveling public for their patience. This is a difficult time for people who rely on this bridge to get to work or to go about their daily lives. There is also an immense amount of work being done in this traffic control centre. So, yes, there is disruption - that is unavoidable when a major artery like this is closed - but we are working hard to minimise that disruption as far as possible.
'People should make long term changes to their commute', says academicpublished at 08:43
Professor Jillian Anable from the Centre for Transport Research at Aberdeen University says there should be culture change in the way workers and employers view getting to work.
She added:that the Forth Road Bridge's closure should focus minds.
Image source, Science Photo Library
She told BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We have the opportunity to think about how we can put in place job sharing, where there are opportunities for people to work in different sites within the same organisation, where we can put in place more lift sharing, organised car sharing schemes and businesses putting in place flexible working."
Postpublished at 08:35 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon briefed on progress of repair work on the Forth Road Bridge
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Postpublished at 08:27 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
Your views: Train commuters
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Traffic Scotland reporting hour-long queues on southbound approach to Kincardine Bridgepublished at 08:21
From Traffic Scotland
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Transport Minister Derek Mackay bases himself at the National Traffic Control Centre during rush hour disruptionpublished at 08:18 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
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Postpublished at 08:10 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
From Traffic Scotland
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Postpublished at 08:08 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
Your views: Train users travelling from Fife to Edinburgh
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Hauliers say bridge closure costing more than £600k a daypublished at 08:06
The Road Haulage Association says it is deeply concerned that the Scottish government does not seem to fully appreciate the economic impact on the haulage industry of the Forth Road Bridge's closure.
It estimates the additional operating costs for lorry drivers will be well in excess of £600,000 per day.
However, the association has welcomed the announcement that there is to be a relaxation of drivers' hours regulations.
The Scottish government says alternative travel plans, which have been put in place to cope with the closure, are working better than expected.
Postpublished at 07:58 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
From commuter Matthew Hislop
Commuter Matthew Hislop sent in this image he took of the southbound railway carriage at Dalmeny Station on the 06:25 train.
"The carriages were absolutely packed." He said.
Image source, Mattew Hislop
Postpublished at 07:51 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
From BBC Travel Scotland
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Postpublished at 07:45 Greenwich Mean Time 8 December 2015
From Traffic Scotland
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Work still needed to 'fine tune' alternative travel routes after Forth Road Bridge closurepublished at 07:43
Scots Liberal Democrat leader
The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats says some work still needs to be done to fine tune the alternative travel arrangements put in place, following the closure of the Forth Road Bridge.
Willie Rennie, who is the MSP for mid Scotland and Fife, told BBC Scotland that some villages in Fife were not designed to cope with the extra traffic now passing through.
He said: "Once we've got through this initial period of settling down the new transport arrangements, we need a proper independent investigation to get some experts round the table so that MSPs can listen to what they've got to say to get to the bottom of this."
He added: "I want to find out the truth about this issues. I want to find out what's gone wrong in the past, if anything has gone wrong. But also make sure that for the rest of this bridge's life, we've got a proper management and inspection regime in place."
Travellers facing lengthy queues and busy public transport on Tuesday early morning commutepublished at 07:29
From BBC Scotland reporter in Fife
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