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You've Been Trumped (2011)
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I usually get up about seven and let the cat out. And, in these dark mornings, I just nip back to bed again and turn on the TV, and lie till about, say, half past seven, get ready and start my porridge. Yes, that's for the hens. Sometimes I keep out... if I'm going to have something with tatties, I keep out a couple for myself. SHE CHUCKLES They are very good tatties. Just nearly there. COCK CROWS Before, I used to count. And the fox just nipped off the lot. RADIO: '..Like to ask a question with regard to..." It's all talking on that station. And the fox thinks there's people about, because they don't like people. SHE CHUCKLES They're just lovely. They're old ladies. Got an egg. How many do you get a day? Oh, well, sometimes two, sometimes one, sometimes none. Sure you know, guys, you... don't rush forward, you'll get all the shots you want. Mr Trump will spend time with you afterwards as well. If you spread out, guys, you'll get the best view. Give my pipers a bit of space. BAGPIPES START PLAYING Hello, everybody. Better believe it. Good. And everyone knows Martin Hawtree. He's the architect of the site. How are you? Nice to see you. I was born on the farm that I worked on during the war. But I wasn't brought up on that farm, because my father was a lorry driver. Well, he was actually a ploughman in his younger day. There's a ploughing match, now, my father did ploughing. That's my father. He was a prize plougher. My father. He has lots of cups and medals. We used to go and watch them. I know my father's style of ploughing. See how he is, look. See, he's over, bent. This is where we lived. That's the shop at Whitecairns, which is no more. And there's the Daniel's buses. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be. When I was here first, it was March we saw them. And then, last year, it was February. That's two there that used to come every year. And we knew it was the same two because of its long neck. They are beautiful birds. CHATTER ..I'm shaking hands with people and I said, "Whoa." LAUGHTER Miss Scotland. Come here a minute. So you won't be going to the Miss Universe Pageant in... And who's going, who's going? - How do you rate her? Good? - Yeah. - You think she's good? - Yeah. I don't know, I'd need to... SHE LAUGHS Are you from this area? Thank you. BAGPIPES PLAY There are so many familiar faces from the press who've really been amazing supporters of the project. This is really a circle of our friends. This was really a celebration of our friends. A celebration of people that supported us. It was spectacular for me yesterday to be able to walk the final version of the course with my father, to say, you know, "This is now what we are doing. "This is what will be etched into this land for ever." As Lord Provost of the city, yesterday, it was my pleasure to welcome these two gentlemen. We look at the plans that you've got to produce this absolutely outstanding golf course. The excitement in this is absolutely, outstandingly wonderful. Any questions, gentlemen? Very nice question. Mr Trump, what would you say to the many local residents here who feel that you've run roughshod over planning legislation and environmental issues simply because you've got lots of money? It's a very interesting question, because, honestly, this is a very popular project. We've had great support from the council and great support from the political leaders. We've saved the dunes, and, from an environmental standpoint, it's a much better situation than it was before we bought the site. You can sometimes see the deer. You know, coming out of these trees across there. They jump the fence no problem. So beautiful. I know they're wild, but they're not too scared. You know, they just seem to...put up with us. - Do you want me to face forward maybe? - Yeah. Watch this. What was the first thing he said to you? "Give this man a job," he says. Give this man a job. I says, "I've got a job." Then he kept saying it, three times he said it, "Give this man a job." I says, "I've got a bloody job! I don't want a job." THEY LAUGH Keep this short, ladies and gentlemen, the rain's coming. Give me an umbrella. No, I'm just, you see, I happen to be a very truthful person. His property is terribly maintained. It's slum-like, it's disgusting. He's got stuff thrown all over the place. He lives like a pig. And I did say that. And I'm an honest guy. And I speak honestly, and I think that's why some people like me and some people probably don't like me. But I think he'd do himself a great service if he fixed up his property. And I'm not talking money, it's not a question of money, it's a question of a little manual labour. I says, "That explains everything on his shed." Just take a look. "He's nothing but a compulsive liar." That's what I said, aye. Mr Trump, if you had a message for Michael Forbes this afternoon, - what would it be? - No. I have no message. - I don't speak to him. - You quite enjoy it. And feel that, in the end, your sort of power and money will win out. No. I don't view it as power and money. I think that principle will win out. But my people made deals with him on two occasions. My representatives have absolutely made two deals that he broke. So he knows that. His people know that, whoever his people may be. Oh, well... Nobody's complained about it up to now, eh? He passed us this morning and just flew on in his top-of-the-range Range Rover with blacked out windows. Oh, I missed getting a super photo of him the first time he arrived here. The wind got him on the escarpment. And I thought the press would have loved that, I could have sold that picture for a fortune. His hair was sticking out like that. You know, the whole lacquered thing had come off, where it's all wound around, and was out to a point. Damn it. This is my husband's hat, aboard this boat. He was chief petty officer on deck. It's a bit dusty. There he is, look, under the red umbrella. Where he is just now, which is just looking slightly to the right, is where he was hoping to put in the clubhouse. And where he was going to put it in, it tends to flood, because the water all runs down off the land into there. So have difficulty putting a clubhouse there unless it's on stilts. My father, he sang songs that you never hear of today. And he used to sing a song, "You'll never miss the water till the well runs dry." Which is a very true saying, isn't it? It really shouldn't matter if the applicant is Mother Theresa of Calcutta and she wants to carry out the development in order to raise money to help the sick. Or indeed even if it's Donald Trump. The permission isn't to the person, it's to the land. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE I'd now like to welcome a representative from the Green Party to the stage - local councillor Martin Ford. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you very much. For those of you who don't know, in Aberdeenshire, we have a council who gives Donald Trump everything he asks for, and can't make up their minds whether to throw people out of their own homes to help him. Firstly, I think it's important for people not from the northeast of Scotland to have some sense of the build-up. In 2006, I think that was the first official state visit by Mr Trump to Scotland. 'His plan is for the Menie Estate at Balmedie, near Aberdeen. 'On it, he will create two golf courses, 'a 450-bedroom hotel 'and housing, as well as holiday apartments and golf villas. 'An investment of 1 billion.' 'Multimillion-pound golf resort in Aberdeenshire is rejected. 'The chairman of a committee of Aberdeenshire councillors 'used his casting vote after a three-hour meeting was deadlocked.' All the parties had committed themselves to sustainable development. And you could apply the tests of sustainable development to the Trump proposal. And it failed them. It failed them in spades. 'The Trump Organization has confirmed 'it will now pull out of Scotland 'after bitter rejection at Balmedie.' We are very disappointed. Ultimately, we can go and develop the project somewhere else. We'll be fine. I think it's the people of Aberdeen and the shire that were really let down by their council today. It was predicated on long-distance tourism. It was predicated on people flying across the Atlantic to play a few games of golf and flying back across the Atlantic. It was predicated on utilising an irreplaceable and diminishing resource of, effectively, natural habitat. 'Mr Trump also reiterated his concern about a proposal 'to build an offshore wind farm close to his site.' When I look out on to the ocean from the 18th hole of Trump International Golf Links, to be honest with you, I want to see the ocean. I don't want to see windmills. Good evening. There's renewed hope tonight that American tycoon Donald Trump's plans for a 1 billion golf development in Aberdeenshire will go ahead. In a dramatic twist, the Scottish Government have called in the controversial planning application, taking it out of Aberdeenshire Council's hands. 'Never before has an application been called in in this manner...' By calling in an application that had already been refused, it's inescapable that the government has, in some way, expressed the view that it does not want the application refused. 'Today, almost two years on 'from when he first announced his proposals, 'the Scottish Governments have given the tycoon the green light.' Well, I think the message would be I'm going to build for the people of Scotland the greatest golf course anywhere in the world, there'll be nothing like it. And it's going to be done environmentally perfect. 'The Menie Estate is in the constituency 'of First Minister, Alex Salmond.' The balance of opinion among people in the northeast of Scotland and among my constituents is very strongly in favour. And that's because we can see the social and economic benefits. I mean, 6,000 jobs across Scotland. 1,400 local and permanent jobs here in the northeast of Scotland. That's a very powerful argument. I think that outweighs the environmental concerns. There's not many people looking to invest 1 billion in this local economy. It's right in keeping with our development strategy that inward-bound tourism is key for the city and shire. That's what we're here to support. And in partnership with Mr Trump, I believe we can do that together. I thought it was the biggest thing that had happened in the northeast since oil was discovered. - No, no, CPO! - ALL: You will be the next to go! Early in 2009, Mr Trump's legal people approached the council with suggestions as to how they might justify to councillors the use of compulsory purchase. 'The Trump Organization have asked the council to consider using CPOs, 'and councillors decided it was inappropriate 'to reject the use of compulsory purchase orders 'without a full report.' It leaves a big cloud over our heads, that's all it does. Disappointment mixed with fury, to be quite honest. This is an action of people with no conscience and no willpower. This is typical of the sort of thing that we get. Oh, it's very typical. It's very typical for councillors like yourself to defer decisions that are critical to people's livelihoods. And you failed. You failed. 'I am thrilled with the outcome. 'They continue to diminish the importance and nonsensical motions 'put forth by Mr Ford, 'and, hopefully, these will be the last few minutes 'of his political career. 'Because I think he's blown 'virtually everything he's ever touched.' Since that time, the residents at Menie, in their own homes, have been living with the threat of the possibility that they would be forced to leave them against their will. - Just bang the window. - Jesus, how do you do business with someone who doesn't have a door? I look at his place, and it's a pigsty. Do I regret that? No, I don't regret, it's a pigsty. It turns out, actually, we've got a collection of remarkable principled people, who have recognised what's right and what's wrong. And have said they are not standing for wrong. Ben, what we wanted to ask you... Have you ever thought about moving? Um... No. You see, the thing is, I'm still working the place myself. It's my living. All my relations have been salmon fishing all their lives. My great-grandfather, my grandfather, my father, all my uncles, they're all salmon fishers. It's just in the blood, you know, you just have to do it. I was 14 and half, I went down to fish with my uncle when I left school. I worked with him for a few years and I went trawling. Everybody knew everybody, you know. All the salmon fishers knew everybody. It was great. It was cotton nets back then. They rotted quick, so they had to make a lot of nets. These new ones, they're made of plastic, polythene, they last a lot longer and they are lighter, you know. So you needed a full crew to work the old nets, you know. This boat this size here, you'd have needed probably six, six men to pull one of these nets up. Now you can do it with two, you know. Still am, I still am fishing. I haven't done it for the last couple of years, because I've been bothered by my back. But I'll get going again next year. I have to tow my boat down to the beach. It's not like here you come out of a harbour. I have to launch it off the beach. Well, I have nets on the beach, stake nets, you know, and I'll be towing anchors through his golf course as well, because that's how we do it. We just tow the anchors, we don't lift them onto trailers and things. I'm looking forward to it. HE CHUCKLES A lot of local people don't see Michael as a particular problem. They see him as someone who is standing up for what is rightfully his. And they don't believe all the claptrap that Trump's PR machine put out about a hard-nosed farmer. You know, he's standing up for what's his. Why shouldn't he? Why wouldn't he? You know. This is, actually, zoned for the housing. On the crest of that hill, between David Milne's property there, is going to be the eight-storey blocks of time-share apartments. My house, originally a coastguard station, built in 1954, but there's been a station here since about 1860 something. There's a row of five cottages, here to my right. They are coastguard cottages. The occupants were originally workers in the coastguard. So if, when you look at the drawings, you see something that looks like a crashed space shuttle... ..that's the hotel. And where my home is, is meant to be a car park. The buildings that you see, just a little further over there, the other side of the green field, that's Mike Forbes' place. Again, under threat of compulsory purchase. Down below here, this white building, that's the home of the Munro family. Again, under compulsory purchase threat. "No compulsory purchase, no more Trump lies," on the top of the postcard. "The hoose down the road to the dunes "where once you could roam free." 'I've been here a long time, near on three decades, that's a long time. 'Most of my adult life has been spent in this house. 'I've brought my family up here. Findlay was born here.' Here he is. Hi, pet. 'And then, this man, this foreigner comes in,' and because he's got a few pounds, they reckon, in his pocket, a bit of a name, and we're just cast aside, we're in the way. I think it's an awful way to treat people. That was just when we moved here, I was expecting Findlay - he was, as I say, born here, so... As you can see, the difference from a few years. This was taken in excess of 25 years ago. Me with the children and my mother, paddling. Oh, it was just glorious. You realise what you've got and what's going to be taken away. Are you going to Cruden Bay? Maybe I should take a cruise up in the old Zodie. MUSIC: "Janie Jones" by The Clash Well, I'd just left art college in 1974. And I moved to London. It's where I continued my relationship with, at that time, John Mellor, who most people know as Joe Strummer. Having extricated myself from the music industry, I chanced to meet Kim, my partner. It must have been worse yesterday, because the winds were terrific yesterday. It's a bit rough today, isn't it? So you are taking it out of the water, then? I used to come up here with my grandmother and my aunt and my cousins, on the bus from Aberdeen, in the mid '50s, with our bandy catchers, and playing commandos on those dunes. It was a fantastic open space within reach of ordinary people from Aberdeen. And the only wild stretch has been swallowed up by this development. Now, that is primarily what drives me to say it shouldn't happen. It's a real mosaic of habitats. You've got everything from open sand to shrubs to trees to wetlands. A greener Scotland is effectively a myth if something like this is allowed to happen. And lots of areas are either destroyed, moved around, sanitised, disturbed, and they'll be a few bits left scattered around as a kind of mitigation of this development, this very damaging two-golf-course development, and the whole package is wrong. Welcome to our little world, McIntyre. This is a bay in a million. And this harbour is a natural for blasting in the underground tanks. Incredibly steep, isn't it? These sorts of models give us vital clues to understand the interaction of waves on beaches, the interaction of the beach and the upper beach. And then, the availability of sand to be blown into sand dune systems, such as we've got on the Aberdeenshire coast. In Menie, what we've got is a very, very clear model of sand moving in a northerly direction. Crystal clear. That is very interesting from the point of view of science, from the point of view of understanding how our landscapes adjusts to climate change. It is the only one left. And once we've lost the only one left, we are dealing with essentially artificial systems. And the problem with artificial systems, of course, is that, because we've meddled with them in some way, we don't actually know what the forward track might be. These are tees that are built onto very steep sand dunes. So they will have to be built up artificially by movement of sand from elsewhere on the site. Up to eight metres vertically will have to be emplaced. And that will involve moving biblical amounts of sand from A to B. So not only do you lose the natural dynamism that this area is noted for scientifically, you will stabilise it, so you'll lose the dynamism. But also, you will be constructing a largely artificial sand dune environment. Well, I've stabilised the dunes, and that means the dunes will be with us for ever. And that's good, because dunes can be gone with the wind. I mean, dunes can move and shift and sometimes they do. But when you stabilise them, they're with you for ever. So I've stabilised them, and, ultimately, I think that's going to be a great factor and a great thing for Scotland and for Aberdeen. These wilderness environments are our equivalent, if you like, of the Amazon rainforest or the swamps in South America. Many of these wilderness environments have been lost around the world, and, in Britain, we've got very, very few of those left. And what's happening here is that we are losing yet another. We've had tremendous support from the environmental groups, so I'm very happy about that. I mean, we've had great, great environmental support. I've received many environmental awards over the years. I think the greatest thing I've ever done for the environment is what I'll be doing right here in Aberdeen. But when we went to our meetings, we had tremendous support from major environmentalists and environmental groups. Is my hair OK? It's blowing all over. Have a look in the lens. I can't see it. Do you have a mirror, Emily? Give me a mirror. 'There are no environmental organisations that I know of 'that favour this development.' Who has a mirror? RSPB opposed it. SEPA, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Scottish Natural Heritage were violently opposed to this development. The World Wildlife Trust were against the development. The Ramblers Association were against the development. I know of no credible environmental organisations that favoured such a development on environmental grounds. This is an accolade site. A Site Of Special Scientific Interest. The highest conservation accolade that this country can bestow. And yet, we allow a golf course to be developed on it, which will remove the scientific interest completely. And it's something of a personal tragedy and great sadness across the scientific community. It is alarming! Well, look what security did to me a long time ago - came out of nowhere, stopped my car, hands on bonnet, and I got a scare. They're saying that's for the lorries, that cars and pick-ups and everything can still use our road. Look, we've got a gap in the trees already. Well, those trees are seemingly coming down, which they shouldn't be taking down. They're targeting Mike Forbes. That's where their spring is, up in these trees. Mike, you are going to have problems with your water. I'm really horrified to see this bank. I mean, what is it? I think it's a road, and that these trees are coming down. This is absolutely horrendous. That will be the end of the spring. Who are you with? I'm a freelance. As all the rest of the press, anyone who comes in here, would have the... Do you want to turn that off or to leave it on or...? I'll just leave it on, yeah. As I'm sure you are well aware, we've had a lot of damage here. If I was causing damage... No, no! I'm only putting you in the picture. You know, I'm just basically overlooking from this bank. Shouldn't be any health and safety considerations, should there? No, no, no, no, there isn't. But again, I would ask you to announce yourself to the site. It's the wish of the clients. If you wish to film on site, we've no issue with it at all. You know, there's no problem. Sorry? I'm just freelance, yeah. Hi, there. Hello. What you doing down here? Just doing a bit of filming. If you're freelance, are you filming for yourself? Yeah. Just filming for myself. - There's a lot of publicity going on about this area just now. - Yeah. And a lot of this area down here is now classed as a work site. Yeah. So for health and safety reasons, you should really be contacting the department. - This is estate land... - Right. But I thought, there's not a sort of right to roam, is there not, in Scotland. There is, but not within vehicles. But I wasn't in a vehicle, though. But again... Excuse me one second, could you switch your camera off, please? But, of course, you can't cut across the dunes now, because they've built this road. That's the road they've built, they've laid those across the natural drainage, so they're trapping water all over the place. Look, look at that. It goes up and down with the tide, all this lot. - Oh, hello. - Hello, how are you? It's terrific, that water. Yes, well, they've virtually dammed us and they've put in that road. Mike's concern is, where are they going to pump it to? Trees suck up water, that's why the trees are planted. Now they've taken the trees away and buried them in a hole. Took 'em away and buried them in a hole. They dug a big hole over the back there. They took all the trees and put them in a hole and buried them. HE CHUCKLES According to my neighbour, he says it was 400 trees they buried over there. Oh, me. Marram grass being stripped into blocks and taken away in huge dumpers. And as you can see from the last time we were here, there's been vast quantity of sand taken. I just can't believe it. Be interesting to see where all this sand is coming from. That's the sand dunes that's driving it. It's the sand dunes from over there they are putting on over here. I didn't think they were allowed to move 'em. That should be on now. Yeah, that's it. And then, you just press that, that button there. Yeah, the one on the right. - Yeah. - So I'm filming...all this. To come here every day, you really get an idea of the destruction that's happening. Also notice there doesn't seem to be anybody coming down, checking on anything. There's nae naebody. You never see a...the only person you ever see is security, keeping...keeping people away, really. I look at Mr Forbes and his disgusting conditions in which he lives. And that people have to look at that. And it's about time that somebody spoke up. It's almost like, in fact, it is like a slum-like condition. For people to have to look at this virtual slum is a disgrace. Mr Forbes is not a man that people in Scotland should be proud of. Mr Forbes is not a respected man among the people that he lives with. I mean, people have come up to us, they've written us notes, they've written us letters, that this guy is all sorts of things. And I won't say it. They're saying it. Mr Forbes lives in a pig-like atmosphere. It's disgusting. They are really lovely, genuine, honest, authentic people. And they are really sincere people. And, yeah, an absolute pleasure to be involved in a project with them. David McCue, he's an artist. And he got in touch with me, asking me if it would be OK if he did an art exhibition. I said, "Yeah, if you like, yeah." So we were going to do it in a marquee tent out here. But he wasn't for that. He had to have it in that shed there. Why, I don't know, but he had to have it in that shed. HE CHUCKLES The worst shed I've got, and he had to have it in that. I think we'll just stick with that for just now. I think if we put all four up... I love the barn, because the minute you started to change and put things in there, it kind of recontextualised the work in exactly the way I hoped it would do. It was great meeting Michael's wife, Sheila. Seriously, what the hell do you think you're doing? She's really feisty and has a great sense of humour, a great sense of who she is, her own kind of identity. Sheila chooses to sometimes be out of the limelight, but other times, I think it's important to hear her voice too. The drawing represents... as a metaphor for, "Behind every successful man, "there's a strong woman." I really wanted to find for myself what the truth was, at what was happening at that site. Like the security presence, for instance. And that is really stressful for Sheila and Michael, and Molly as well. You know, that's their homes. And there would just be a vehicle that would circle their land and stop, pause and then move off again. But it's intimidating. And I certainly felt like that the week that I was there. This one, for me, was very much the very typical Trump stance and pose that he does very often. It's almost like a trademark, the way he gestures and his body language. Obviously, referenced Warhol quite considerably with the repeat pattern of the dollar sign, that's like a brick wall - you've hit a brick wall, dead end, kind of scenario. The media has been coming down to this place, it's been talking about it as a slum, which it certainly isn't. And to be able to sort of show off the interior of that barn, which we've always just seen the exterior of, and get a real glimpse into the history, the heritage of the space. I glimpse out of the back square that looks onto all of the other properties, which are in a similar position of maybe coming under compulsory purchase. It was just...it was perfect. 20 turns up, I'll be happy. HE LAUGHS CHEERING AND APPLAUSE HE LAUGHS It's in grossly bad taste, which, of course, is spot on. Yes. We all need a hockey stick or a baseball bat. I really wanted an interactive piece. That was quite important. That they weren't just passively, you know, looking at pieces of work. ALL: Yeah! CHEERING AND APPLAUSE I've seen some of them in the computer...David's computer. But they don't look the same in the computer. The Trump paintings, the accent's very much on the red. The anger. Whereas Michael's very much the cool blue and the relaxed greens that reflect the diversity of where they come from and what they mean and what their intentions are, you know. I think these intentions are very angry. Very self-motivated. Very self-interested. The way they display their wealth and their attitude, you know. It is very much a contrast with what goes on here. But you would expect that. I mean, he's an international figure, and Michael's a very...local figure. He's very much appreciated by his local friends and people who know him. A lot of local people here are certainly a lot more down to life, you know. I think living in the real world, you know. And it just shows you, you know, the support we have round about. ..Absolute bias in favour of Trump. - Aye. - And reporting his negative and destructive comments about you. - It's very personal, isn't it? - I know, I know. Flying about is a most extravagant thing. And building a property and golf development here to attract American golfers is...is just contrary to environmental way of life that we will have to lead. It's a personal gift to Michael and Sheila. It feels important for me to give something to them for all the help that they've given me. Like all my paintings, I find it very difficult to talk about while it's in its early stages. Um... But it's going to be an image of Michael on the salmon fishing boat. It was a Saturday, and Michael was washing the Land Rover, and he also washed Sheila's car. And then, the hose went to a trickle. And he says, "Oh, the water's surely off." So he came over and said to me, "Be canny with your water, "because I think it's going off." You see that line of trees. Well, just at this end here, that's where my well is. Well, it's a spring-cum-well. As you can see, the lorry is going around there just now. They built the road on top of my spring. Well, I think my water is more important than his bloody road just now. But, uh...not to them, eh? I phoned up. They keep saying they are going to fix it - I'm still waiting. You'd think it'd be a priority. See, no water. Dry. How long has that been going on for? That's since last Saturday. They were digging up there on the Friday, and Hewison from down the road here, he went up and complained there was no water. They said they would get it fixed right away. Well, that's a week now I've been waiting and still haven't done it. I got the police down, and they won't have nothing to do with it either. Would be different if it was the other way around, like. If it was me cut off their water, I would have been charged by now. I'm really pissed off. I'm running out of clean clothes. Dishes are piling up. You know, you need water. I've been taking water out of the burn to have a wash in the morning. It's not right. I needed water for the hens, because they drink a lot of water. My plants outside and my two greenhouses. So I took the barrow and...I call it a "rooser", the watering can, and a piece of rope tied to a paint pot. And I dipped in the paint pot in the burn and filled the rooser and just rode the barrow back up again. And then Michael said, "There's a wee drop coming from the hose," his hose, "So you'll get some for drinking." Nothing. Dry. This is just another ploy, as I say, with Trump, to get, to piss people off, you know. It's not on. I'm really pissed off as well that the police is all one-sided, you know. They says they're not biased - of course they are. HE CHUCKLES Yeah. No, I'm just trying to work out the facts, basically. No, it's not an angle. It's not an angle. I'm just trying to work out why if Michael has been without water for a week... - You know, rather than... - You know, why...? Yeah. What are we looking at over here, then? Quite a mess now. We seem to have inherited a new lake here. Um... Mr Trump, I don't know what he's doing. But he's scraped all this. Oh, here's the police now. That's the police there. You get a photo of them. 'Next thing was the security van 'comes sneaking around the corner there 'and told the police you were over with Suzy Munro. 'And then, they just took off up the road. 'And before they went away, I says to them, I says,' "Who are you going to charge now? And he says, "We don't charge anybody. We're the good guys." With all due respect, sir, would you mind turning the camera off? What's it about? I bet you they've been on the phone about this. Your visit there. It's absolutely sickening. Absolutely sickening. This is what it'll have been about. I tell you, I hope they get on to the Environmental Health today, because having no water for a week and no toilets, no facilities, is an absolute disgrace. They've removed all the topsoil off the ground. I mean, this is almost like a flood plain. As you can see, with the bulrushes and everything, it's just marsh ground. And, of course, common sense would tell you - that the water, you know, flows down to the...flows down to the sea. - Yeah. Common sense would tell anybody that, so that's going to have to be rectified. I'm not... But, as I say, I think Environmental Health is the next port of call for them. - But we'll just have to wait and see what transpires today. - Uh-huh. Who's in charge between the two of you, gentlemen? We're just here as individuals. What are you here for? That's no problem. Um... Could I take a note of your name, please? - Why? - Because there's been an alleged breach of the peace up at the Menie Estate this morning. Oh, God. And, as such, we are making enquiries. So could I have your name, please? My name is Richard Phinney. OK. And yourself, sir, could I have your name, please? Yeah, I'm Anthony Baxter. 'And then, he just became more hostile and more hostile 'and lunged at you, gave you no explanation.' What we need to do now... No, you do not! You are being detained under Section 14 of the Criminal Procedures Scotland Act 1995, do not... - What's he done? - Richard, can you grab that? Richard, grab the camera. Let go of the camera. Let go of the camera before it gets damaged, sir. 'And then, the next thing I know, 'you're wrestling over the bonnet of Findlay's van, 'this policeman attacking you, trying to pull the camera off you, 'still not giving you any reason why, what you've done. 'I think it was totally out of order.' - Don't do that to me! - Right, sir, you're being detained... 'Then, slammed the handcuffs on, 'and I saw your wrist was grazed and everything. 'And that was totally out of order.' That's disgraceful! Will you loosen those cuffs, please? Will you loosen those cuffs, please?! This is a very sad state of affairs. - They are hurting my arms. - Sir, if you'd stop shouting. Look, will you stop doing that to me! It's 8:30 in the evening. I've just got back to my car, after being in the police cells for four hours. We also had our camera confiscated and our footage confiscated by the police. I think it was Susan that said, you know, and I was quite upset about it. I thought, "Oh, gosh, a nice lad like Anthony being taken into jail." God, I couldn't sleep, thinking about it, you know. I thought, "God, what like is the Trump people?" They're horrors. "Two men charged over filming at Trump." I'm sick of seeing this "golf will put northeast on tourism map". I don't know what he's wanting to hide here, but this keeping people away off this huge swathe of land's not right. And then, there's that hostile attack on Anthony for no reason, the police wouldn't give any reason. The mess he's making? Well, there's something. I mean, I've never seen anything like this, anywhere. It's against the law to cut off anybody's water. And if they had damaged it, though, supposed it was an accident, they should have been supplying him with water. There and then. You know. Oh, aye. 'On his hit show, The Apprentice, 'Donald Trump's word trumps all. 'And it appears that power extends to his business venture in Scotland. 'At least for now. 'Recently, two British journalists found themselves arrested 'at the site of Mr Trump's golf resort near Aberdeen...' You are being detained under Section 14 of the Criminal... That's quite incredible. That is just, that's bullying and harassment. That really is shocking. It's an assault on journalists trying to do their job. It's completely out of order. Certainly people from around the world have been taken aback that this type of thing could happen. Where journalists are actually arrested, violently arrested, handcuffed, taken to the cells, having been fingerprinted, DNA tests, having their equipment taken off them, kept in the cells. No, I've never seen anything like this. I know people who have been done for contempt of court, covering court cases and refusing to expose their sources. But this was just an interference in journalists trying to film what really is a public interest story. 'From New York, the greatest city in the world, 'it's the Late Show With David Letterman. 'Tonight, Donald Trump.' This is the guy, this is the classic story. Donald Trump, big American, comes, wants to buy up his ranch, or his farm, and he says, "Nope." So is he going to sell or is he not going to sell? I don't know, I don't need it. It's not in the way of what I'm doing. It's on the outskirts. - And if I buy it, that will be fine. - Right. - But nothing I need. So they are using me as an excuse not to build their hotel. They're saying, "Oh, it's an eyesore, a pigsty," whatever they want to call it, you know. But it's a working place. There's going to be stuff lying about. I don't throw nothing out, because you never know when it's going to be handy. And I'm bloody sure no other farmer would throw anything out either. I was sitting in here, I was on my computer, I was looking for parts for my tractors. And Mickey Foote phoned in the afternoon and says, "Do you know there are diggers on your land?" So I had a look out and I saw the diggers working away. So go over and tell my mother what was going on, just in case she got excited. I was disgusted and felt ill about it. I mean, all that happening on Michael's land, that they wanted to buy! I took my title deed with me. And I says, "You better just put everything back where you got it." And there were two policemen there. I shouts, I says, "Who's the boss here?" They didn't do anything about it. They were guarding THEM pulling up the poles and putting up fences. And I tried to show them on the title deeds what was mine, and they weren't interested. They says, "We are just down here to make sure there's no damage caused." Bloody damage, they were ripping up the place. This is the one I used to use with my father. I see them burst it all. That was the police who was supposed to be watching it, that there was no damage done. It looks really respectful, eh? They burst it all. They surely phoned the security. Here they come now. They've got a road made now. HE CHUCKLES That's my land, aye. Not now, that belongs to them now. No, I've seen enough of this. This here is the original Menie salmon fishing plans. And it shows you here, in black and white, that this is the land here for Menie salmon fishers. But they are saying in the papers today that their plan supersedes my plan. This here is Trump's plan of the same area. Is here, with this corner cut off. Andy Wightman. Mike Forbes. Good to see you, good to see you. What a bizarre goings-on. I'm glad you can laugh about it sometimes. - Well, you have to. - Oh, aye. - You have to, you know. If you have a dispute with your neighbour about whose land is whose, you seek to resolve it amicably and, ultimately, you would go to the courts. You don't grab it. You know, you don't nakedly grab it. I mean, that's what they did in the past. If everyone was to do that, it would be a state of strife across the country. The police are correct in that where your boundary is is not a matter for the police. It's not a criminal matter. It's a civil matter. - They shouldn't have been here. - They shouldn't even have been here. And the fact that Trump has got a dispute here, thinks he owns this land, that's a civil matter. Before all this happened, they put in a line of flags. Little red flags, with pieces of wire. And they put them in here. I removed them all. And I was charged with theft. There was all these little bloody red flags all over the place. And they were a danger, cos my grandsons play down there, and they were sharp wires. 27 I pulled out of my land. 27 of these bloody things. Is that charge still...? The Prosecutor Fiscal sent a letter back saying they'd dropped it, but if I do anything like that again, I will be severely dealt with. So I'm guilty. You know, I'm guilty and I would have preferred if it went to court. I mean, to me, that suggests, you know, double standards. And very, very political policing. Have you ever come across a case like this? No, no, no. This is unprecedented. That's a bit stupid, isn't it? They've left an access there, look. Where's it go? Nowhere. How can he say that's better than nature? Eh? HE LAUGHS Boy, the man lives in cuckooland. That flag stands for freedom and for a country that you are passionate about, presumably. Used to be. I used to be. Until Salmond gave them the right to destroy the bloody links. I voted for SNP for 35 years. I'll never ever vote for them again. Never. They've done this country wrong. They're giving it away to the Americans. HE CHUCKLES 'American tycoon Donald Trump has jetted into Aberdeen 'ahead of receiving an honorary degree 'from the city's Robert Gordon University. 'This afternoon, the Tripping Up Trump campaign 'handed in a 6,500 signature petition 'against the university's decision.' It's really quite sad to see what he is doing. I thought it was going to be done with a little tweak here and there, but it's not, it's just been flattened, especially the bit beside us, and he's just moving south. Awful that our, you know, our country have let him take an SSI and that, and I'm sure he's having a quick smile to himself, you know. They swarm around him like flies. Whenever he's here. And I mean, it's just a joke. I also think it's just so false, you know. All these people arriving suited and booted. And, "Yes, Mr Trump." "No, Mr Trump." What has he done here to deserve this but destroy a Site Of Special Scientific Interest and a beautiful dune system? The people love what we're doing. They love that I'm spending hundreds of millions of pounds on doing it. They love the fact that I'm creating a lot of jobs. Mr Trump doesn't appreciate just how much this system moves. None of these things will ever come back, cos the conditions will be totally changed. All these damn chemicals on the greens, and... Ah, me. You just wonder where it's going to end with this. The last time he was here, he made quite a rather sour comment about myself and Findlay and the dog. You, know, "Demonstrators." And I thought, "I'm not a demonstrator. I live here." This one was from the students. And any gift from the students I always valued. Because I thought that was what my work was about. From the moment I decided that I was going to hand my honorary degree back, my thoughts were all about how I could get the maximum publicity. Because I knew that simply handing it back in a private manner, it would simply be put away and that would be the end of it. How difficult is it for you to return this degree? It's not difficult at all. I'm going to march in that door and ask whether the Principal is available. If he isn't, it will be given into the desk. And that will be it. Because somebody's got to stand up to these people and make sure that the world knows there are people who don't approve of this. I don't approve of bullying. I don't approve of bullying to the people on the Menie Estate. That is my honorary degree certificate. Not wanted! Not wanted! APPLAUSE For someone in such a significant and serious position to take what is obviously a very personal and determined stance is a very positive thing for us. And we are here in pure support of Dr Kennedy and his position. Donald Trump has said he thinks you cannae be too greedy. He believes that you should be brutal and powerful. He believes that sacking people is not a bad thing. He boasts of the number of people he's sacked. These are not the sort of qualities I would expect of a man who is to receive an honorary degree. APPLAUSE He feels very strongly. And I think, under those circumstances, it isn't a difficult decision to make. David, what happened inside? Well, Professor Harper wasn't available. And so I saw one of the Vice-Principals. But, of course, she's following the party line that Mr Trump is a very successful entrepreneur, he's a billionaire, and, of course, that tells you everything. - (ON RADIO) - ' "They're making a mockery of the system," 'in the words of Dr David Kennedy, 'who's handed back his honorary degree to Robert Gordon University. 'And he has this message for the tycoon. 'Don't trample on your neighbours.' Don't destroy the environment of Aberdeen. This is part of the jewels of Scotland that are being destroyed. My view is take your money elsewhere. We don't want it. A positive paper, but it's letting people know the truth. Because we feel that people don't know the realities of this development. And if they did know, they'd think twice. There's some people in Aberdeen that really want this development to go ahead. Powerful people. And they're not letting the word out on what's going on. - Have you been out at Menie House? - Yes. And have you seen some of the ramshackle dumps that are round there? If you mean Michael Forbes'... I'm not referring to anybody specific - I'm talking in general terms. - Have you seen it? - Um... I've been to Menie, yes. Here's the point. You take in wealthy people from all over the world, flying in, and they're playing there and they're looking at houses that are in bad condition, with ramshackle tractors and old farm implements lying over there. Do you think that does any good to the vision of Scotland throughout the world? BAGPIPES PLAY 'American billionaire Donald Trump defied his critics' to pick up an honorary degree from Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University. He's pledged to build the world's greatest golf course on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire. 'Today, Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University 'recognised US tycoon Donald Trump's ability to make money. 'Now a Doctor of Business Administration...' - Just a casual shot against the railing would be quite nice. - Lovely! Can we get the "You're Fired" again, Mr Trump? Thank you very much. Hello, everybody. Is the course on schedule? Yeah, the course is in perfect schedule. In fact, if anything, it's ahead of schedule. And I am very happy to report that everything we've done... I think it's even coming out better than we had anticipated in our wildest dreams. It's going to be really spectacular. There doesn't seem to be people against the job. The only one I see is this gentleman right here, who I've never seen before until yesterday when he started screaming. Question? Real journalists. I want real journalists. Mr Trump, I wonder what you'd say to Dr David Kennedy. He handed back his degree last week and said that your honour was an insult to decent people everywhere, and also accused you of bullying people on the Menie Estate. And, I mean, I myself have been arrested, handcuffed and put in a prison cell for four hours whilst interviewing your representative, Mr Paul O'Connor, on the site. I just wondered whether you felt that was the right way to treat people and whether, in fact, you had anything to hide. I never heard of Mr Kennedy. I don't know who he is. So I can't really refer. I mean, you're asking me about a person that I've never heard of. Dr David Kennedy, the former Principal of... I've never heard of him. I'm sorry. This is a very popular job. It's only questions like you ask that, you know, cause trouble. - Any other questions? - Yes, Mr Trump, I just wonder if you could tell us - how many local people...? - One question per journalist. - How many local people were employed on the site at the moment? - A lot. We have a lot of local people employed and we are just... Can you give us a number? I don't have numbers. We are just beginning, but a lot of people. And there will be more and more. We've had hundreds of people doing the marram, we're ready to start the marram grass again. That's a very big project. But we've got a lot of local people employed on the site. But it is an Irish contractor. So I'm going to go and phone the police shortly and let them know. Take it from there. I've also spoken to a lawyer. I'm phoning in connection with an incident number you already have on your books. Incident 56, of the 18th of October. In other words, yesterday. Well, it was regarding, we expected certain persons to come on to our land yesterday and cut down and remove a fence. That didn't happen. However, they have come on TODAY and cut down and removed that fence. This is the letter that we received. They are saying that I "have a fence "and part of a shed (or other building) "erected on land belonging to them." They are saying that they now intend to remove the fence - you'll notice I'm not given the option to remove it myself - and that they may, if they choose, put the fence back up on their drawing. As far as the shed goes, they're giving me 72 hours or they are going to raise an action in the Sheriff Court to have it removed. If you take the double garage, it's sitting here. OK. I have a stick shed sits here. There's an old brick shed from the coastguard days sits there. And the house actually sits in about here. Out here, there is a pole for the overhead electricity line. They are claiming, at the moment, that this boundary, actually, runs something like that. And here, they're tying to take the back wall off my garage. We've been very nice. We've tried to be very nice. We actually just learned that one of them may have built their house on our land. We learned that last night, when we were doing a survey. One of the people actually have a big chunk of their house on our land. So we're having that checked out. You'll find out. I've come home today. I see the fence is missing. That's a police car that was in here this morning. Which makes it eight, nine, ten o'clock this morning or thereby. So it will be interesting to see what time the fence actually came down. They hit the power line yesterday. 240 volt supply to my house. Mr Trump's workmen severed the line with the digger, popped the line, and, of course, everything shorted, and it cut everybody off. It's working away, quite the thing. There you go. Power went out. The fence that they put up without my permission. "The attached invoice is now due. "Please arrange payment for half of this invoice, 2,820, "to be made payable to Trump International Golf Links, Scotland." I got out of my bed this morning, the whole house shaking. Things falling off Findlay's shelf. But this is getting bigger by the day. It's incredibly high now. Did you ask the builders what they were doing with this? Findlay did. What did they say? It's Mr Trump's instructions. - Mr Trump's instructions? - Yeah. To put all this earth here. Yeah, to block our view, to harass us. Obviously. There's no bank on the plans. Anything like that. Oh, I don't know what to do. It's...rather meaningless. Took them a maybe a week, ten days, to actually construct. So there's quite a lot of work involved. There's a lot of time involved, there's a lot of effort involved. For no real purpose. Get it done and don't spend a lot. 'It's all on Donald J Trump's Fabulous World Of Golf.' Sarah, I want to get rid of that house. Who cares? Who cares? You know what, who cares? It's our property. We can do what we want. We're trying to build the greatest course in the world, this house is ugly. There are some houses, quite far away from the course, but, nevertheless, they are in view. But we are berming some of the area so that you don't see the houses. I don't want to see the houses. And nobody has a problem with it. I guess maybe the people that live in the houses have. There's a great big pond here. Now, the more mud they're scraping, the water is all bubbling up. I was just waiting for that. The water? Yeah, water table, they've hit it. It's supposed to be a putting green. I could cope, I suppose you'd have to cope with a putting green. Not that I'd like balls flying in my garden. But they've come today, "We're making a car park." No, you're not, it's not on your plans. That big mound in front of us that shouldn't have been done. Not on the plans. Cos there's just the dunes there, Kim, but the bit we used to walk over onto the beach. I took photos on Anthony's camera. I mean, we got a shock. We just stood and looked round. Totally flat. Sand everywhere. Everything gone. 'I'm imagining now how beautiful it must be. 'These dunes on the beautiful coast of Scotland. - 'The west coast of Scotland? - Well, yes, more or less.' And... Uh, what do you mean, "more or less"? LAUGHTER It's such a big area, it covers a lot of territory. 'It's so beautiful. 'It is beautiful, but I'll make it more beautiful. 'Actually, when I finish, it will be far more beautiful. - 'Really? - Yep. That's right.' I'm not fond of Donald Trump. And I wouldn't want to come all this way to go play a new course, nor one of his facility courses, so... I'm not sure that it's going to be a very successful operation. You know, he's pretty gaudy. I mean, that is the way he does things. You know, he's a New Yorker. HE CHUCKLES So...I'm sure it will be a spectacular course. I'm not sure it will fit in with, you know, the tradition, so... He says it's going to be the best in the world. Well, Donald would say that, wouldn't he, you know? Trump will price it most likely outside of my range. Of course, there will be some local workers. The question is, what proportion of workers will be local. And there, I think that the estimates that are made in the economic impact study are wildly optimistic. I mean, if I were Irish, I'd be delighted if Irish workers were being employed. If I were Polish, I'm delighted that Polish workers are being employed. But they're not going to be creating jobs in the local economy. And indeed, migrant workers tend to remit a lot of their wages back to where they come from. So they wouldn't be spending within the local economy. If a British developer came along saying that they wanted to build 500 houses and a 450-bed hotel on an area of wild beauty, remote from any large city, which was going to destroy what is the most highly protected type of site we have, a Site Of Special Scientific Interest, which was, by all accounts, a unique type of site, they would be laughed out of court. Think of Mr Trump as a poker player. And he's got a hand, but he's also bluffing the local authorities and the Scottish Government to give him planning permission. That planning permission is immensely, immensely valuable. Thousands of millions of pounds, probably. Just to get the planning permission. So his job is to persuade people that there's huge economic benefits. That's his job. But we should be critically cautious in accepting numbers which come from the Trump camp. And from what you've seen of those numbers, do you think there has been enough caution? No, I don't think there's been enough caution in critically interpreting those numbers. It's not surprising that sort of city fathers might be deceived by a glamorous international superstar like Donald Trump. I do find it more surprising that the Scottish Government, who I thought was quite canny, has fallen for it in the way they have. BAGPIPE PLAYS This is the pond where all the ducks were. I don't know what they've done, but they've now, as you can see, got this fenced off with this orange netting. It's horrifying, of course, to see, you know, the sand just piled up like that, willy-nilly. This was a pristine and fantastic dune system, and now parts of it are in the process of being wrecked. And that's very sad. And as things stand at the moment, much of the rest of it is going to be wrecked as well. BAGPIPE PLAYS Fine, fine, eh. It's good, this is great. My name's Michael. I'm just up from Glasgow today. Just to offer you some support. Excellent. Thank you. Good luck. - Hi. How are you doing? - Fine day for it. - To show you a bit of support. - Thank you very much. ALL: Come and join us! Join us! It's good to see that there's so many young people here supporting justice. And I'm at one with them. I agree completely. And I find it very, very, very pleasing to see so many people turning out today in order to support the people who are being victimised by Donald Trump and his profit-making ways. I'm very proud, yah. It gives you a boost. It really gives you a boost. You know, when you are down in the mouth about what is going on here and then you get all these people supporting you, it's really good. Yeah, I'm really proud. What kind of things have they been saying? Oh, just keep up the fight. It's always the same, every time. Keep up the fight. I'm doing my best! HE LAUGHS Can I help you, gentlemen? Yes, I'd like to use the telephone. Is there one in the hotel? There's a phone box just across the road at the jetty. You'll need some change. Aye, you can talk to anyone in the world from there. Could you change this for me? Ten's the lot. Now, I don't think I'll manage that. You got any change, lads? 'The gentleman here would like to make a very important long-distance phone call. Intercontinental. 'Come on, give me your change.' RINGING TONE 'Trump Organization.' Oh, hello there, yes. I was wondering if I could speak to Donald Trump, please? I'm calling from Scotland, just recording this call My name is Anthony Baxter. 'OK, what was it regarding?' Yes, I'm making a documentary about the Trump Golf Course development north of Aberdeen and just wondered whether I could speak to him about it. 'I could give you the email address...' Yeah, I did email Rhona a few times, actually, last year... 'Do you have the correct email address?' I think so, because she returned the email saying that he was too busy to do an interview at the time. - So I just thought I would touch base. - '..if you like.' Right, I did do that, and then, I didn't hear anything back. I mean, I don't mind waiting for her meeting to finish. It's just that I've only got so many 50p's here. And I can't just speak to Mr Trump's PA? 'Hold on a moment.' OK. OK, thanks. COINS DROP INTO TELEPHONE SLO - 'Hello?' - Hello. 'OK, sir, I'm sorry, but that's the only possibility, to email Rhona. 'I'm sorry, I have to take other calls.' SHE HANGS UP THE PHONE MUSIC: "Cover Your Eyes" by Karine Polwart You can tear these dunes asunder Pound this wonder into dust With your cruel hands And crooked hearts Laden with lust and expensive lies But the haar will stumble in To cover your eyes The haar will stumble in. |
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