YouSaid · the spoken record

Douglas Ross

lines on the record: 40
first: 2020-09-04
most recent: 2020-09-04
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“As I say, I'm supporting the referees 100% and we need more people to do it. They're a vital cog in football and they get too much hassle. So a bit more support from their fellow referees is what we need.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I do, and I also sit and think he's not going to be happy at that decision when he looks back when he gets back home again. So genuinely, I'm looking at the referee team and I will always support them, whether I'm an active official, retired, or in the future. For me, it's the referee team is the one I'm cheering on, because no one else is going to do it for us.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I'm cheating the third team. I'm cheating the match officials because I can only now watch the game. Looking at the referee and linesmen.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, people took a hard look and said maybe not back in 2014. And in terms of trying to negotiate how it would look, again, just legitimizes something that I don't think we should be focusing on. It suggests to people that separation is going to happen rather than saying, no, we said it wouldn't and now we can concentrate on all these issues as part of a United Kingdom.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, it does deal with the argument just now because as soon as you start asking me questions about this and it gets reported, then the SMP and Nicola Sturgeon will say, well, here you go, it's inevitable. And it's not inevitable. You know, we can actually focus in the next parliament on issues that matter to people day in, day out, not a hypothetical referendum that we were told wouldn't be held for another generation.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“All that does is allow Nicola Sturgeon and the SMP to turn the argument again on separation and independence. So the more people think they're being helpful or have a discussion about any potential franchise that there may have been or may could be in the future simply allows Nicola and the SNP to speak about their plans for separation, not their plans for education, health and the economy.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I mean, that's an incredible analogy to make between football and separating Scotland from a union that it's been proudly part of for over 300 years. So taking away from that, what I would say is, you know, we've played that game. You don't go back after you've won the World Cup six years later and play it again with the same teams, the same officials, the same crowd, the same stadium, etc., and say, you know, you could get a different result. That result that we took in 2014 was once in a generation. We all agreed to that and we should accept that and move on and focus on the max right now, the priorities we should all have in the domestic agenda here in Scotland.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not Westminster and Holyrood votes because I've said I won't and I haven't since 2017 refereed while Parliament sitting so I only officiate at the weekend or when Parliament's in recess but on VJD I got that badly wrong that when the invite came in I'd already accepted that I would take an appointment that weekend but you know that can be easily avoided by me just saying you know to the SFA I'm not available for selection that week because I've got something else on but you know I have beat myself up about that decision so many times because it was an easy thing for me to spot it was an easy thing for me to avoid and I didn't and I let people down and I'm sorry about that and you've got to learn from it and move on”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, definitely not as much. But what I would say is I've obviously scaled back my refereeing and just naturally as well in Scotland at the moment there are far less schemes because of COVID. But when I first met my wife, I was a referee. When my son was born, I was a referee and MP and I then became a minister. So I think I've shown I'm able to do pretty well in all my various areas and interests. And I think it's good to have something outside the political bubble, something to get away from. And, you know, this afternoon we're taking a bit of time off to go to the park with Alison and Crystal. And normally at a weekend I can just take a morning or an afternoon off to run around a football pitch where you've got to concentrate for 90 minutes and get away from everything else that's gone on during the week.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, technically, just to pick you up because I know your football knowledge is second to none. We don't have professional referees in Scotland. We're all not in the same as you have in England. And many people who look at my decisions probably think there's no way I could be a professional given some of the horror mistakes that I make.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Do you know why I did all that? And people say you moved away to Westminster. Why did you do it? It's because of where I am right now. I'm in Murray. I'm representing the seat that I was born in. I was brought up in, I was educated in, and I've got my own family here. So when I was an MSP in Hollyrood before, I was part of a wider region. The highlands and islands covered 44% of the landmass of Scotland. If I'd been the MSP for money, I wouldn't have stood for Westminster. But because I had an opportunity in 2017 to represent where I'm from as a constituency in itself, then I took that opportunity and I've loved it ever since.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, what I'm saying is, you know, I don't think people want me to manufacture grievance, as we see from the SNP. But if something came up and I thought, no, that's not good for Scotland, that's not the way to go, then I would say it. But it's not going to be on the internal market because I think that's bringing powers back to Scotland and ensuring that businesses and jobs that rely on that smooth internal market here in Scotland can continue when we get that legislation through. It's vital for the economy and jobs.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think there'll be a range of issues. Things will come up. But as I said, I think overall people expect us to work together so they don't just want me as a service.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Like I see, I think it's standing up to him as I did when I resigned from government. That wasn't an easy choice for me. I loved my job in the Scotland office, but I knew I couldn't continue there with my thoughts and beliefs on what Dominic Cummings had done on that trip to Burnham Castle.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, I mean, naturally, and I'm not just saying it was because of me, I think any minister who is resigning, the Prime Minister will rightly try and avoid that because you don't want resignations from your government. So I'm not saying I'm special or my case was special. I fully expected when I went on to the Prime Minister he would try and convince me to take a different approach and as much as I respect the office and respect what the Prime Minister has to do in very difficult situations, I also have to stick by my guns in my original decision. And respectfully, I thanked him for his offer that declined to stay in government.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I've always had a good relationship with the Prime Minister even when I phoned him up late one Monday night or Sunday night. I can't remember what date it was to say I was resigning from his government. We had a long conversation and we ended up speaking about our respective families. So, you know, we will have differences of opinion. I have shown that I won't agree with everything the Prime Minister says and does and he probably and almost certainly doesn't agree with everything I say and do either. But I think that's healthy that we can have that constructive debate and discussion and disagreement. for a lot of the time as well we'll work together because I think people are crying out for that here in Scotland in particular we've got two governments so why don't they just work together more rather than as I see it the S&P picking fights with Westminster blaming the UK government when a lot of the time they could just work together and get things sorted out for people”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, but if you look at, so that's Charles was speaking about U-turns, but look at the U-turns there's been in Scotland, whether it's on the exams fiasco that we saw north and south of the border, the SMP Scottish Government made the exact same U-turn as the UK government. We saw again in education, we were told we'd have blended learning for a year until there was an uproar and that got U-turned. We've had issues with people being sent out of hospital into care homes despite having a positive COVID test. These are all issues that the Scottish Government have let people down on but that doesn't create the narrative that's not in the media as much as possible and I'm not criticising that. What I do think about the Daily Press conferences is these are important at times to get across public health messages and it's right that the First Minister has an opportunity to convey that but why not take that opportunity in the Scottish Parliament where she can be scrutinised and questioned by MSPs? That's what people expect the Elector Parliament for.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think certainly on presentation no one can deny that Nicola Sturgeon is good at standing in front of a camera and putting across her point of view but when you look at what she is putting across and what the Scottish Government have done it has largely been the same or very similar to what the UK government have done, what the Welsh Assembly, what the Northern Ireland government have done. So it seems to be more on presentation and the fact that Nicola Sturgeon is on the BBC every day with her daily press conferences rather than any divergence majorly on the different policy areas.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But I think these still are important because we've seen in recent months and over the last few years there has been no change in the SMP's arguments on these issues. They don't have any better answers now than they did in 2014. But I think it's about being, you know, I'm a patriot, not a nationalist, and I'm as proud to be a Scot as I am to be a Brit. And I think we need to see you can be proudly both. And Scotland can prosper as a strong part of the United Kingdom without the need to separate it and all the issues that that would bring for the country.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I do think we need to be more positive. This suggestion that you simply criticise what I think are very flawed and flimsy plans for separation and a lack of detail is a small element of it, but people want a positive reason to vote for the union. And I think in some areas we delivered that in 2014, but we have not continued that narrative. We've not done enough to promote the positive elements of staying in the union and with our friends and colleagues in all four parts of the UK.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, we had gold standard referendum presented to both sides and everyone agreed, signed the Edinburgh Agreement which said they would respect the outcome of that referendum. So when I came back from our count here in Murray and I knew the country had voted 55% to stay part of the UK, I thought that was done. I thought people would do as they said and respect the result. But what we saw from the SNP and nationalist supporters was a continuation of their campaign and it's never really ceased. At the same time the SNP have been in power in Scotland and have so many areas they could actually improve everyday life over education, health, the economy etc that's all been put on the”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, and I said it very clearly, and Michael Gove has said it when he came up here to Bucky just a few weeks ago. It's a red line issue for the government. The government know how important and totemic an issue fishing is here in the northeast of Scotland and in many other parts of the country.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think everything you've seen from Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, David Frost is that the government are determined to get a deal. And if anyone had told me we'd be sitting here in September and both sides were seeing how difficult the negotiations currently are, I'd say, well, so what? That's what happens with these negotiations, they go down to the wire. But I'd also say sitting here in Murray and speaking in the fisheries debate in Westminster earlier on this week, how important it is that we leave the European Union because there are opportunities as well for Scotland, in particular the fishing industry, which has been so badly damaged over the last 40 years been tied to the common fisheries policy.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I'm honest enough to see that Nicola Sturgeon is getting an extra £111 powers. So this fanciful argument from the S&P that there's a power grab, I don't know how you explain a power grab when not a single power leaves Holyrood, yet over 100 extra powers come to the Scottish Government, come to the Scottish Parliament. And ultimately, we know that the S&P's plans are to separate Scotland from the rest of the UK and go straight back into Europe. So not only is the argument confused because there is no power grab, they want to give all these powers straight back to the EU and unelected bureaucrats in Brussels. It's just bizarre and confusing.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely, because I think when devolution was delivered through the 1997 Act and the Scottish Parliament established in 1999, people thought this is bringing powers closer to home. But now Holyrood and Edinburgh seems as far away from Murray as Westminster and London did before devolution. And there really is a central belt bias and centric thinking within the S&P. I feel that we have to expose. And I think having a leader up here in Murray representing the Highlands and Islands, as I hope to do, can show that it doesn't just have to be all about the big cities. There's far more to Scotland than that.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Went up to 13, we've now got six. It shows that there are chunks of Scotland in the northeast, in the south of Scotland, where Conservatives are back to being the Norman power.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, in terms of the journey, I mean, I suppose I was never really a Liberal Democrat because I joined the party on the back of a leader rather than on policies. And the more I looked into it, the more I realized I just didn't support what they were putting forward at the time. And, you know, I supported more of the devolving powers more locally, ensuring people could spend as much of their own money as possible natural kind of conservative policies. But in terms of people in Scotland moving away from the Conservatives, that certainly happened. But we saw in the 2017 election people came back and the fact that I was re-elected in 2019 means there are people who naturally want to vote conservative but we maybe hadn't given them a reason to do it here in Scotland for long enough and that has changed it's gone back and four a week but I accept that but if you looked at the situation we had after 1997 with no MPs or up until 2017 only having one MP the fact we then”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I wasn't following politics, but I liked the way he stood up. He could command the House. At the time, Tony Blair was obviously doing the same in opposition, and John Major was struggling on towards the end of his premiership. But Paddy Ashtown was just something different from the two parties. And again, it's maybe this independence drink I went more for the underdog than one of the top two at the time.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I did. So it was 1997, the debating club at Forest Academy, and we were each asked to pick a party. And really in 1997, I didn't know an awful lot about the different parties. I hadn't looked into it much, but I like Paddy Ashtring of all the leaders I thought Paddy Ashstown was the best. So I stood for the Liberal Democrats on that basis and won a resounding majority, I think out of 54 votes I got 46 of them. So I thought I'm on to a winner here and stuck with the Lib Dames for a few years after that.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So in young farmers, I was a member of Lower Space Eye Young Farmers to do some speech-making competitions and no one liked doing it in young farmers. It was almost you were forced to do it. And I got involved and actually quite enjoyed standing up, speaking in front of an audience and convincing them of an argument one way or another. The first one I spoke about was safety of Formula One motor racing. It was nothing to do with politics or farming, in fact. And I got a wee bit of a buzz for that. And then I was milking cows here in Murray and we had local government elections in 2007 and we switched to having multi-member wards and we needed a candidate for the area I was working in. So we put myself forward and that was it.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely, because that's really all you get to see in the parlour's right next to the other and other parts of the animals anatomy that can cause more problems. And I have been covered in... But yeah, you get to know them, and do you remember the show You Bet, Mat Matthew Kelly, I think it was, and at one point my family, when I was younger, were going to put me on UBET and to say that I could tell you each of the 170, 180 cows on the farm just by them walking through the parlour and looking at them from the back end.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, it used to be Radio 2. No disrespect to you or anyone on Radio 4, but Radio 2 at that time in the morning was quite nice music, relaxing music. And some people suggest it helps the cows. I think part of the problem is it's quite noisy in a milking parlour. So to try and listen to a debate and hear the conversations on a radio four show would be difficult, but you can hear”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, absolutely. And I suppose in particular the area of agriculture I was interested in is dairy farming and that's quite a lonely section in farming because you tend to milk on your own and you do early mornings. I used to get up at 2 in the morning to do the first milking and two in the afternoon for the second one. So I suppose maybe some of my independents came from the fact that while I was younger and my first job from leaving agricultural college was working on my own independently milking cows.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I've been chosen to lead the Scottish Conservatives, and I think everyone accepts that in Scotland it is only the Scottish Conservatives that can stop the SNP. We stopped them back in 2016, and we've seen just this week as we're recording this, Nick, the problems for the Scottish Labour leader and the Scottish Labour Party. So, yeah, there's a lot of weight on my shoulders, but I think we can get people to unite behind us. Because for too many people, independence is very far down their list of priorities when you look at what they expect in next Parliament in Scotland to focus on it's not separating Scotland from the rest of the UK.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I hadn't spoken to Dominic Cummings before I resigned, and I haven't spoken to him since I resigned. I've never met the man.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's really not a claim, Nick, because they didn't. They had no involvement from my point of view. I had no discussion with them. And some people have suggested somehow that the two were connected that I resigned as a minister and then became leader of the Scottish Party. But actually, there were several months between the two. And from my point of view, they were completely separate. As I said at the time, thought long and hard about resigning from government because at that time I knew what it meant about my future career and I'm still relatively young in politics and I knew the decision I was taking to resign would have one that would have an impact on me going forward but it was the correct thing to do. I felt that at the time I still feel that now but several months later another opportunity arose and here I am on your podcast. You didn't invite me on as a Scotland office minister but you have invited me on as Scottish Leader.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Oh, yeah, definitely. And I think they always will be. I could go, I did Heart's v Celtic a couple of seasons later. And as I went to warm up near the Celtic fans, just because that's where they were in the ground, that's all I got, you know, was red card. A totally different venue, totally different season. They were still bringing it back to that one decision.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, it's well documented here in Scotland. I've done several firm matches now, and one of them at Ibrox, I got a Celtic player sent off. I advised the referee willy column to order off a Celtic player. And that decision was disputed by half of Glasgow and half of the old firm supporters. And it still lives with me today, you know, several years on, because in that environment, you have to shout quite loudly to get your voice heard and the camera picked me up brilliantly shouting red card, red card, red card. So now I can go out for dinner in Glasgow and walk into restaurant and people shout red card, red card at me. So that was a big decision. It was one I was confident with and was ultimately proven correct in the eyes of referees, but still many people across the country think I'm wrong.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I think people were looking for someone who was up for the challenge, up for the fight, and just at the time nine months out from the Scottish election, and I'm certainly up for that. But came back to your original point, you know, I actually think being a referee and being a politician are quite similar and being a leader because on the pitch I've got to make quick decisions, look at things in front of me and make a decision one way or the other and sometimes quite unpopular decisions, but you've got to be strong in your convictions to make those choices and stick with them. So yeah, I see quite a good blend between the two.”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Not at all, but a neutral official and referee will also correct people if they've made a mistake and I have to correct you very early on when you said I was handpicked by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson. I had no discussions at all with the Prime Minister prior to becoming leader of the Scottish Conservatives. It was a decision Jackson Carlow took to resign and I took to stand and I can assure you and all your listeners that at no time was Boris Johnson the Prime Minister involved in any of that. We are a very separate but”
2020-09-04 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Douglas Ross One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source