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Afternoon, folks. Welcome to the second Daily Politics Liberal | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
Democrats Conference special. The full police transcript of gategate | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
is published in the Telegraph and the pressure on the chief whip | :00:50. | :00:55. | |
increases. Are wind farms worth the candle? The Chancellor is sceptical | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
as are other Conservative ministers. We'll be asking the Lib Dem Energy | :00:59. | :01:05. | |
Secretary whether his flagship green energy policy is imperilled. | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
Abu Hamza is finally to be extradited to the United States. | :01:08. | :01:11. | |
And it emerges this morning that the Queen voiced concern about why | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
the radical cleric couldn't be banged up. We'll be talking to a | :01:16. | :01:18. | |
Home Office minister Lib-Con or Lab-Lib, what flavour of coalition | :01:18. | :01:28. | |
:01:28. | :01:31. | ||
do activists in Brighton want after the next election? Do you want to | :01:31. | :01:41. | |
:01:41. | :01:43. | ||
do the balls this year? I will lend some money to your business bank. | :01:43. | :01:53. | |
:01:53. | :01:56. | ||
All that in the next hour. And with us for the duration, Tim Razzall, a | :01:56. | :01:59. | |
Liberal Democrat peer and the party's former election supremo. | :01:59. | :02:05. | |
Welcome to the show. We will be bringing all of the developments | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
from the Conference in Brighton. But first let's return to Andrew | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
Mitchell and the ongoing row about whether he did or didn't call the | :02:11. | :02:20. | |
policemen in Downing Street plebs. Yes, you will recall that the chief | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
whip publicly apologised yesterday for the incident, in which he got | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
into a row with a policeman at the Downing Street gates. Well, the | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
Daily Telegraph has got its hands on the police log of the incident | :02:31. | :02:41. | |
:02:41. | :02:54. | ||
and printed a full transcript in That was the account of the | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
policemen. Well, I'm joined now by our political correspondent. Is it | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
a full transcript? We do not have independent corroboration ourselves. | :03:06. | :03:11. | |
It looks like a narrative account of what took place. In terms of | :03:11. | :03:17. | |
whether it is the Bayton, it seems unlikely. In the original reporting | :03:17. | :03:25. | |
of this, Mr Mitchell is supposed to have used the words -- the word, | :03:25. | :03:31. | |
morons. Where does that come from? What is interesting is, how close | :03:31. | :03:38. | |
he got to getting it, getting arrested. They were pretty cross. | :03:38. | :03:44. | |
They had to warn him he could be arrested. That is when he pulled | :03:44. | :03:49. | |
down, went to the side gate and went through. It seems they were | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
concerned about what he might do next. He said you have not heard | :03:54. | :03:58. | |
the last of this. That is where they wrote an account and scented | :03:58. | :04:05. | |
up to their senior officers. -- that is why. Apparently he had had | :04:05. | :04:11. | |
a stressful day. What does it consist of? He describes it as a | :04:11. | :04:17. | |
long and frustrating day. Some suggestion that included a lunch at | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
a club just around the corner from our studios. It is a swanky Indian | :04:24. | :04:30. | |
restaurant. It is not cheap by any means. It is the main watering hole | :04:30. | :04:35. | |
and eating establishment for the denizens of Westminster. Apparently, | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
Downing Street said it was a lunch and not a long lunch. Read into | :04:40. | :04:46. | |
that what you will! Thank you very much for that. The story will not | :04:46. | :04:53. | |
die, will it? The British public must be losing the will to live. I | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
think Andrew Mitchell has made the classic error. It you make a | :04:57. | :05:00. | |
serious mistake, which it clearly was, you want to get a whole story | :05:00. | :05:05. | |
out, exactly what you did on day one. Profusely apologised to the | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
people involved, including the Prime Minister, and then the story | :05:09. | :05:16. | |
will die. It drags on and on. What did he say? Did he say it? Did he | :05:16. | :05:23. | |
lose - has never did he use the word, a moron? -- did he use the | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
word, moron? Joining us from Brighton now are two of Fleet | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
Street's finest - Alison Little of the Express and Steve Richards of | :05:30. | :05:36. | |
the Independent. We have seen this surrounding row. Where does the | :05:36. | :05:42. | |
story go from here, if anywhere? do not think Mr Mitchell is going | :05:42. | :05:47. | |
anywhere right now. We have a stalemate was up the full account | :05:47. | :05:52. | |
of the police blocked in the Daily Telegraph is compelling reading. It | :05:52. | :05:57. | |
is written in classic police speak. It confirms what the police were | :05:57. | :06:03. | |
saying about it. That is where we are stuck. I think this story will | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
run and run. People cannot escape it. There are reports a Labour MP | :06:08. | :06:18. | |
:06:18. | :06:20. | ||
has written to the Commons Macro authorities. -- Commons authorities. | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
David Cameron is off to the States was that he will not be able to | :06:24. | :06:32. | |
escape it. He is on the Late Show in New York tomorrow night. I am | :06:32. | :06:36. | |
sure the Americans will be absolutely fascinated to hear his | :06:36. | :06:43. | |
definition of what is a pleb. And the Labour conference is coming up. | :06:43. | :06:49. | |
They will love it. It will go up on and on. I may be going out on a | :06:49. | :06:55. | |
limb but I do not think that David Letterman has heard of and to | :06:55. | :07:00. | |
Mitchell. The establishment is meaning to close this down. -- | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
Andrew Mitchell. We have had the Cabinet Secretary calling the chief | :07:04. | :07:09. | |
of police in London saying, let's draw a line under this and move on. | :07:09. | :07:15. | |
Will that work? No. David Cameron has a real problem. He cannot sack | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
Mitchell on the evidence that is available so far and will be wrong | :07:18. | :07:23. | |
to do so. We have not got definitive proof of what was said. | :07:23. | :07:28. | |
However, he has now got the Chief Whip in charge of telling MPs not | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
to rock the boat in the Parliamentary Party when he himself | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
has rocked the boat. It is like a spin doctor when they become the | :07:36. | :07:41. | |
story. When the Chief Whip becomes a story, it is very difficult. In a | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
way he has the worst of all worlds. He would be wrong to get rid of him | :07:45. | :07:50. | |
at the moment but he has a damaged chief whip at a time when his | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
Parliamentary Party is restive. It is a story with consequences, as | :07:55. | :08:01. | |
well as legs. Let's come on to Vince Cable. He had his big speech | :08:01. | :08:08. | |
yesterday. All sort of analysis in the papers. Do we agree if, and I | :08:08. | :08:14. | |
emphasise that word, if there was a leadership challenge to Nick Clegg, | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
or his leadership was to be in jeopardy, is Vince Cable the clear | :08:19. | :08:29. | |
:08:29. | :08:30. | ||
favourite to succeed him? I am just trying to think. Vince Cable has | :08:30. | :08:37. | |
the advantage of being one of the few politicians that members of the | :08:37. | :08:43. | |
public, they know who he is. They would easily identify him. He would | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
have to be in the front. They raise another man, about six feet away | :08:48. | :08:56. | |
from me, Mister Ed Davey, who is being talked about as another | :08:56. | :09:04. | |
possible challenger. When a leadership contest actually happens, | :09:04. | :09:13. | |
and a do not think we are near that yet, suddenly all the contenders... | :09:13. | :09:18. | |
I think Vince Cable is the clear favourite. What is happening now is | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
the opinion polls are always asking the Lib Dem rating if specifically | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
Vince Cable where to take over and no one else was up that will carry | :09:27. | :09:33. | |
on. Although there are no signs, as you pointed out of a challenge, if | :09:33. | :09:39. | |
the polls are as they are after the May elections, it would become a | :09:39. | :09:43. | |
very different. The Poles are suggesting that Vince Cable would | :09:43. | :09:49. | |
make a positive difference. It could become very potent indeed. | :09:49. | :09:59. | |
:09:59. | :10:00. | ||
The latest show that voting road race. Another poll put it higher. - | :10:00. | :10:10. | |
:10:10. | :10:11. | ||
- voting would raise. Thank you for joining us. Now, the Liberal | :10:11. | :10:14. | |
Democrats like to talk up their influence on government policy - | :10:14. | :10:17. | |
the pupil premium, changes to NHS reforms and helping to make the | :10:17. | :10:25. | |
Coalition live up to its claim to be the greenest government ever. | :10:25. | :10:28. | |
That is what Mr Cameron once claimed it would be. The chief | :10:29. | :10:32. | |
cheerleader for this policy is the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
Ed Davey, who I will be speaking to in a moment. When he addressed | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
conference at the weekend, he re- affirmed his commitment to the | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
green economy but the Lib Dems suspect their Coalition partners | :10:41. | :10:49. | |
don't have their hearts in going green any more. Here is Jo. The | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
coalition used to be a big fan of windmills, part of its promise to | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
be the greenest government ever, and Lib Dem Energy Secretary Ed | :10:55. | :10:58. | |
Davey is still firmly behind tough emissions-cutting targets. But | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
George Osborne has taken the wind out of his sails by repeatedly | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
warning that too much environmental red tape risks putting our country | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
out of business, while a leaked letter suggests the Chancellor | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
favours generating electricity with gas instead of more expensive | :11:09. | :11:16. | |
nuclear or renewable fuels. And power suppliers have said that new | :11:16. | :11:18. | |
energy regulations are partly to blame for high average fuel bills, | :11:19. | :11:28. | |
which have risen from �522 back in 2004 to �1,252 this year. Ed Davey | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
also has a new Energy Minister, the Conservative John Hayes, who is a | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
known critic of wind power. And, at the weekend, Mr Davey suggested he | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
was fighting a battle with the TEA Party tendency in the coalition, in | :11:39. | :11:49. | |
:11:49. | :11:53. | ||
reference to the right-wing As if by magic, Ed Davey joins me | :11:53. | :11:59. | |
from Brighton. Thank you for joining us. At the weekend, you | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
talked about the Tory TEA Party tendency, which did not want to | :12:04. | :12:11. | |
spend money on green power. Who were you thinking of? There are a | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
number of people on the Conservative backbenchers, who have | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
never believed that climate change is an issue. They have always | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
opposed the green agenda. I believe we need to stand up to that. The | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
Prime Minister made it very clear by making sure that when he was | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
opposition leader that the Conservative Party voted for the | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
climate change at an George Osborne campaign when he was running the | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
election campaign. We agreed this will be the greenest government | :12:42. | :12:47. | |
ever. I want to deliver on the Government's strategy. I do not | :12:47. | :12:53. | |
believe the noises off should be listened to. It is not just | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
Conservative backbenchers. John Hayes is part of the TEA Party | :12:58. | :13:03. | |
tendency when it comes to green issues, isn't it? He told BBC News | :13:03. | :13:09. | |
in 2009 that renewable energy needs to pass the Twin Towers of | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
environmental and economic sustainability and win power fails | :13:13. | :13:19. | |
on both accounts. -- wind power. He is part of your TEA Party, isn't | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
he? I worked with him when I was a minister in the Department for | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
business. We got on incredibly well. I am delighted he is a minister in | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
my department. We are working through a whole range of major | :13:34. | :13:41. | |
reform issues. When they study the evidence, I am sure they will see | :13:41. | :13:47. | |
that renewables can be very cost effective and critically important | :13:47. | :13:52. | |
for the carbonised in our economy and meeting Climate Change targets. | :13:52. | :13:57. | |
What you stand for and what you believe cannot be the same as Mr | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
Hayes saying, wind power fails on both accounts. You do not agree | :14:01. | :14:08. | |
with that. He said it. He said it in 2009. I'm sure that when he is | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
in the department he will look at the evidence. You mean he had not | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
looked before. I do not know whether he looked before. I have | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
noticed. When you are a minister, you look at the huge detail and | :14:20. | :14:26. | |
learnt a lot. The evidence is very clear. Onshore wind is the most | :14:26. | :14:31. | |
cost-effective but mass renewable technology we have today. Therefore, | :14:31. | :14:35. | |
the Treasury believes that. They understand if we are to take care | :14:35. | :14:39. | |
of consume energy bills and meet renewable energy targets, onshore | :14:39. | :14:49. | |
:14:49. | :14:49. | ||
wind is a very said none of -- is sensible technology to invest in | :14:49. | :14:55. | |
there. There was a study, comparing it with other countries and their | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
renewable energy strategies. The conclusion says, by 2020, your | :15:00. | :15:08. | |
renewable policies will have added �28 per megawatt hour to business - | :15:08. | :15:13. | |
energy intensive business - compared to �15 in France and | :15:13. | :15:23. | |
:15:23. | :15:26. | ||
Germany. You are making it more I have been working with the | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
Department of business because of France and Germany support their | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
energy intensive businesses in a way that we don't. We don't want to | :15:32. | :15:40. | |
make those businesses here uncompetitive. The real thing... | :15:40. | :15:45. | |
what is but answer? The real thing I am working with Vince Cable on is | :15:45. | :15:51. | |
this huge economic opportunity, the green growth opportunity. The | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
Chancellor has made clear it Infrastructure Investment it is a | :15:55. | :16:04. | |
key part of growth strategy. Over half, around a half of them are | :16:04. | :16:07. | |
National Infrastructure Plan is energy investment, or six times | :16:07. | :16:13. | |
more than water. Investment here is critical to the growth strategy, | :16:13. | :16:20. | |
and I believe it will deliver on the green agenda as well. We have a | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
situation where our economic needs and environmental needs are coming | :16:23. | :16:31. | |
together. The green sector is the fastest sector. More international | :16:31. | :16:36. | |
investment in renewables than any other sector last year. This is a | :16:36. | :16:42. | |
big British economic success story. For every job you think you are | :16:42. | :16:45. | |
creating largely by subsidies in the Green economy, we don't know | :16:45. | :16:51. | |
how many you are destroying in the non green economy. If British | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
electricity prices for business are going to be rising twice as fast as | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
France or Germany, you are going to put some of these businesses out of | :17:01. | :17:06. | |
business. We have lost the aluminium industry, what is next? | :17:07. | :17:12. | |
did not agree with your analysis. This is from the report. We are | :17:12. | :17:17. | |
determined to make sure that the energy bills of business and | :17:17. | :17:23. | |
consumers are affordable. I will be in that in this week ways to help | :17:23. | :17:28. | |
consumers with energy bills. The real problem is the rising price of | :17:28. | :17:35. | |
gas. Rising extremely in recent years, as your programme showed. It | :17:35. | :17:42. | |
has hit consumers. Gas is used for electricity generation. To make | :17:42. | :17:47. | |
sure we are less dependent on gas, less exposed to volatile fossil | :17:47. | :17:53. | |
fuel prices from a broad, we need to make sure we can produce cleaner | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
energy hear it in the UK to reduce out exposure to international | :17:57. | :18:02. | |
fossil fuel prices, meaning we are less dependent upon energy from the | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
other side of the world. That will improve affordability for | :18:07. | :18:13. | |
businesses, and energy security. It is a sensible approach. It means we | :18:13. | :18:19. | |
can have a diverse energy mix. Some say you should only do one | :18:19. | :18:25. | |
particular technology. I believe we need a basket approach to minimise | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
risk and cost for the British economy. There are reports at the | :18:29. | :18:36. | |
weekend, your secret plot to get the Lib Dem leadership. It is so | :18:36. | :18:42. | |
secret I have not heard about it! I am delighted to have yet another | :18:42. | :18:47. | |
opportunity to deny that story, it is complete nonsense. You have not | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
gone on a special new diet because you wait too many pies when you | :18:52. | :19:00. | |
were in the pie factory! The many years ago. I take that sort of | :19:00. | :19:10. | |
:19:10. | :19:13. | ||
story with a picture of a salt -- pinch. | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
Maybe you should be standing for leadership, would you consider | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
being Liberal Democrat leader? have the best Liberal Democrat | :19:21. | :19:27. | |
leader we have ever had. I am immensely proud... Better than that | :19:27. | :19:34. | |
Lloyd George? He was a Liberal leader. Nick Clegg would measure up | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
well to Lloyd George, our most successful party leader for decades, | :19:39. | :19:45. | |
doing an incredibly difficult job, brilliantly. This leadership talk | :19:45. | :19:52. | |
the media love to focus on, it is not kicking off here in conference. | :19:52. | :20:00. | |
There is not a single MP you have found against Nick Clegg. We are a | :20:00. | :20:04. | |
united party. You should be asking the other parties how well they are | :20:04. | :20:10. | |
united. We will, that is our job. If Nick Clegg is doing such a | :20:10. | :20:16. | |
brilliant job, why do the polls show him as the least popular party | :20:16. | :20:23. | |
leader since Michael Foot? Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats are | :20:23. | :20:29. | |
not doing well in the polls. But some show he is doing better, you | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
tend not to report those. It is amazing how people can be selective | :20:34. | :20:39. | |
in the evidence they use. When I am in my constituency, talking to | :20:39. | :20:45. | |
people, they do need to understand why we have taken the measures we | :20:45. | :20:52. | |
have, while we had no choice but to make sure we had stable government | :20:52. | :20:59. | |
mess. When people hear that, they are very receptive to the overall | :20:59. | :21:05. | |
Liberal Democrat achievements. I do not deny we have to make the case, | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
but we are making the case in Brighton, Nick Clegg will do so in | :21:08. | :21:17. | |
his speech tomorrow. We are already taking two million of the lowest | :21:17. | :21:24. | |
paid out of tax, giving tax cuts, that is a strong message to go to | :21:24. | :21:34. | |
:21:34. | :21:40. | ||
the election. Do you see his chances as leader | :21:40. | :21:45. | |
one day? What the two correspondent said | :21:45. | :21:51. | |
earlier is bright, two different scenarios, be fought under a bus, | :21:51. | :22:00. | |
if something terrible happened to my clerk. -- Nick Clegg. If we go | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
through it and ordered process, there will be all sorts of | :22:04. | :22:12. | |
candidates. Vince Cable is clearly the favourite. | :22:12. | :22:18. | |
He is the best known. In many ways, he is, when you look at the polls, | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
he is the only Liberal Democrat Member that the public recognise. | :22:23. | :22:29. | |
Mind you, they don't recognise Tory Cabinet members either. Apart from | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
Andrew Mitchell. That always depresses politicians that nobody | :22:34. | :22:42. | |
knows who you are. Now, our last guest Ed Davey, | :22:42. | :22:48. | |
revealed earlier this year that he worked in a factory as a teenager. | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
But what did it make? Was it: a) Pork barrels? B) Pork sausages? C) | :22:53. | :23:03. | |
:23:03. | :23:03. | ||
Pork pies? D) Pork scratchings? At the end of the show, Tim Razzall | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
will attempt to give us the correct answer. | :23:07. | :23:10. | |
Now, it's taken more than eight years, cost the tax payer millions | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
of pounds, and even the Queen has expressed her concerns. But finally, | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri is to be deported to the US. The | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
European Court of Human Rights has refused his final appeal, and that | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
of four other terrorist suspects. And the Home Office say he will now | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
be sent to the United States to face charges of setting up a | :23:28. | :23:35. | |
terrorist training camp there. I'm joined now by Home Office Minister | :23:35. | :23:42. | |
James Brokenshire. Abu Hamza was first arrested in made 2004. Why | :23:42. | :23:48. | |
has it taken eight years? There has been a very long process | :23:48. | :23:53. | |
attached to extradition, seeking to extradite a British citizen to | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
another country. All lines of Appeal have now been exhausted and | :23:58. | :24:06. | |
the decision by the European Court of Appeal has decided. We will move | :24:06. | :24:13. | |
rapidly towards his practical extradition and handing over to the | :24:13. | :24:20. | |
US authorities. How rapidly? next step is for the police and US | :24:20. | :24:24. | |
marshals to deal with the logistics on the transfer of these | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
individuals to the US authorities. By the end of the week? It is | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
working through the practical arrangements. We are working | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
closely, discussions this morning between officials, to see this does | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
happen, recognising this has gone on for a long time. You must be | :24:42. | :24:48. | |
able to say if it is within days or weeks? It will be a short matter of | :24:48. | :24:54. | |
weeks, we hope it will be sooner than that, in terms of sorting out | :24:54. | :24:58. | |
the practicalities, handing these individuals over to the US | :24:58. | :25:04. | |
authorities, to face serious terrorist allegations. The public | :25:04. | :25:09. | |
will also say, how much has it cost? There obviously is cost | :25:09. | :25:14. | |
attached to any legal process, running into hundreds of thousands | :25:14. | :25:21. | |
of Pounds, maybe even more than that. But the key points, we have | :25:21. | :25:26. | |
an arrangement with the US that it is reciprocal. They will meet the | :25:26. | :25:32. | |
cost of the extradition in respect of a case such as this. It must be | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
more than hundreds of thousands? can't give you a figure, but Click | :25:37. | :25:42. | |
it will be considerable. The arrangements we have, those costs | :25:42. | :25:48. | |
will be met by the US authorities. If an extradition request is given | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
to the UK, we consider that properly, there is a process. That | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
has been exhausted and we want to move on and see these people handed | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
to the US authorities. There is a campaign under way for private | :26:04. | :26:10. | |
prosecutions for those people to be tried here? The Director of Public | :26:10. | :26:16. | |
Prosecutions has looked at the evidence over an extended period. | :26:16. | :26:19. | |
Looking at the human rights issues, with reference to the European | :26:19. | :26:27. | |
Court. Our view is that the appeals have been exhausted. Ultimately, | :26:27. | :26:33. | |
decisions over prosecution and not made by me as a minister, but by | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
the Director of Public Prosecutions, and in this case, it has been | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
considered, appropriately, that extradition should be the right way | :26:40. | :26:47. | |
forward. We have heard campaigners, because the crimes were committed | :26:47. | :26:53. | |
here, running a jihadist website, that he should be tried here. | :26:53. | :26:58. | |
DPP has determined prosecution is not a probate in respect to these | :26:58. | :27:05. | |
cases. Is there a worried they might be able to? We believe this | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
matter has been looked at by the courts over such an extended pit | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
that now is the time to say we should move on with a magician and | :27:12. | :27:17. | |
these individuals should be handed over and face the serious terrorist | :27:17. | :27:23. | |
allegations levelled against them. What can you learn from the fact it | :27:24. | :27:30. | |
has taken eight years? The public are quite curious as to why these | :27:30. | :27:39. | |
extradition procedures take so long. Abu Hamza is high profile. This is | :27:39. | :27:44. | |
the sort of case the treaty was intended to cover. There is | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
controversy when it is being used for alleged financial crimes. This | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
applies within Europe, there are a lot of people, when there is an | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
attempt to extradite people to look, where a huge amount of time takes | :27:57. | :28:04. | |
place. Is it right? I do not think it is right, certainly not within | :28:04. | :28:12. | |
the European Union. Not only do we know that Andrew | :28:12. | :28:18. | |
Mitchell had lunch that day, we know what he had. Roasted fish with | :28:18. | :28:28. | |
:28:28. | :28:32. | ||
spiced crab, chutney, �9.50. King prawns and Rice, �24. You get the | :28:32. | :28:38. | |
big stories! Absurd. Liberal Democrats are in government | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
for the first time since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. So, why the long | :28:42. | :28:45. | |
faces from some Lib Dem activists? Could it be that some aren't so | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
delighted about being in bed with the Conservatives? So, what if, as | :28:50. | :28:52. | |
Vince Cable suggested in his speech yesterday, we're heading for | :28:52. | :28:56. | |
another hung parliament after the next election? Who should Lib Dems | :28:56. | :29:00. | |
do a deal with? Labour or Conservative? We sent Adam out with | :29:00. | :29:08. | |
his mood box in Brighton. Today we are asking delegates who | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
they would like to share power with a If the next election results in a | :29:12. | :29:20. | |
hung Parliament? It has got to be Labour. Because we have already | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
been in coalition with the Tories and it is sensible to show we can | :29:24. | :29:32. | |
do both. Tories, because Labour screwed up the country so much last | :29:32. | :29:39. | |
time. We are good as we are. Certainly not the Tories. I guess I | :29:39. | :29:45. | |
will put it in Labour are being the least worst. Very optimistic! | :29:45. | :29:52. | |
not trust either of them as far as I can throw them, so I do not know. | :29:52. | :30:01. | |
Your ideal coalition arrangement? Greens. Wouldn't that be about 57 | :30:01. | :30:11. | |
MPs? Challenging, why not? would you rather be in coalition | :30:11. | :30:20. | |
with at the next election if it is a hung Parliament? What message are | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
you sending? It is not about coalition but about being in power | :30:25. | :30:35. | |
:30:35. | :30:42. | ||
It is going pretty slowly. Do you want to do the Paul's this year? I | :30:42. | :30:50. | |
will lend some money to your business bank will stop -- ate your | :30:50. | :30:58. | |
business bank. Is it tricky? Who is your preferred coalition partner? | :30:58. | :31:07. | |
Can I have two balls? Ministers are allowed to vote. I am scrupulously | :31:07. | :31:17. | |
:31:17. | :31:17. | ||
impartial. Who is your preferred coalition partner next time around? | :31:17. | :31:22. | |
I am not doing it on camera. As a minister, you have to juggle many | :31:23. | :31:29. | |
balls. You might say, I could not possibly comment. I would rather | :31:29. | :31:35. | |
stick pins in my eyes then go with Labour. We do not have a preferred | :31:35. | :31:42. | |
coalition partner. That was absolutely exhausting. The majority | :31:42. | :31:48. | |
of them have gone in that direction - towards Labour. I just like to | :31:48. | :31:54. | |
get MPs to say balls. That is what it is all about. And our guest of | :31:54. | :31:59. | |
the day, Lord Razzall, is still with me. Adam was struggling with | :31:59. | :32:04. | |
his balls. What should the election strategy be for the Lib Dems in | :32:04. | :32:11. | |
2015? There are a number of things. We will stand as an independent | :32:11. | :32:14. | |
party. It will not be on the faces we will commit to be in coalition | :32:14. | :32:24. | |
:32:24. | :32:27. | ||
with another party. -- on the basis. We will stand on the basis of the | :32:27. | :32:37. | |
:32:37. | :32:38. | ||
list of things we want to achieve. -- a list of things. Do you agree | :32:38. | :32:41. | |
with the former director of strategy that list should represent | :32:41. | :32:49. | |
what he calls a brand of radical liberalism? Yes. Which is? | :32:49. | :32:53. | |
sorts of things. What sort of policy would you expect in that | :32:53. | :33:00. | |
list? We will have a huge element on the green agenda. There will be | :33:00. | :33:07. | |
quite a lot on the schools system. Backing free schools? Probably not | :33:07. | :33:13. | |
prominent. I think there will be huge stuff on the economy. There is | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
bound to be. We will not be out of the economic problems at the moment | :33:18. | :33:24. | |
by 2015. What would the radical liberalism side of that be? We will | :33:24. | :33:34. | |
be more Keynesian going into the election than the Tories. So you do | :33:34. | :33:43. | |
not agree with something more to the right. I am not sure that is | :33:43. | :33:48. | |
the sort of thing you take into a coalition discussion. Because it | :33:48. | :33:52. | |
would alienate potential Lib Dem voters on the left? You certainly | :33:52. | :33:56. | |
do not fight an election campaign on the basis you would bash public | :33:56. | :34:04. | |
sector workers. Nobody is going to advocate that. He was a close | :34:04. | :34:10. | |
former director of strategy. He did not run the elections. So, he is | :34:10. | :34:16. | |
wrong. The sort of thing he has been talking about - backing free | :34:16. | :34:23. | |
schools, taking on vested interests - that will not win it. That sounds | :34:23. | :34:28. | |
like Tony Blair. You think that will damage the Liberal Democrats? | :34:28. | :34:33. | |
It is a question of emphasis. Taking on vested interests, I | :34:33. | :34:40. | |
cannot quite see how that will play out in an election slogan. That is | :34:40. | :34:46. | |
a long-term issue, which people will address in government, if | :34:46. | :34:53. | |
there is a further coalition government. I do not think it is | :34:53. | :34:57. | |
positioning for the party. Where should the Liberal Democrats' | :34:57. | :35:01. | |
position themselves? If they go to some of the things that will appeal | :35:01. | :35:07. | |
to soft Tory voters, bearing in mind they will fight a lot of | :35:07. | :35:13. | |
marginals, they will risk losing those seats where they are in | :35:13. | :35:21. | |
marginal seats with Labour. As a party, we have lost those who vote | :35:21. | :35:27. | |
for us as a protest. We have lost them. The question is, can we | :35:27. | :35:31. | |
attract voters who did not vote for us because they thought it was a | :35:31. | :35:36. | |
wasted vote? That will be the real trick at the next election. To what | :35:36. | :35:43. | |
extent the protest vote can be replaced, by those who said they | :35:43. | :35:53. | |
:35:53. | :35:54. | ||
would not vote for us because we had no chance. I think at this | :35:54. | :36:02. | |
stage, to end a half years and out, you never know with the polls. -- | :36:02. | :36:08. | |
two and a half years. There is an internal documents, which was | :36:08. | :36:16. | |
prepared by Lib Dem people for the Office of Nick Clegg. It says, the | :36:16. | :36:21. | |
party has no branding strategy. Staff lack research literacy. | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
Campaigns are based on received wisdom, rather than any evidence | :36:24. | :36:30. | |
that current tactics are working. Is that true? I have not seen it. | :36:30. | :36:37. | |
What is your reaction? I do not agree. It says the Lib Dems were we | :36:37. | :36:43. | |
have no evidence our tactics are working. Do you? I think we are far | :36:43. | :36:51. | |
too way out of the election. We have the fixed-term parliament | :36:51. | :36:53. | |
there of the stock having gone into the first serious peacetime | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
coalition since the 1930s, you need five years to show coalition | :36:57. | :37:06. | |
government can work in this way. -- fixed term Parliament Bill. Beware | :37:06. | :37:11. | |
if you've got your money stashed away in Liechtenstein. It is a | :37:11. | :37:21. | |
:37:21. | :37:22. | ||
little place between Switzerland and Austria will start -- | :37:22. | :37:25. | |
Switzerland and Austria. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny | :37:25. | :37:28. | |
Alexander, has his eye on it. He's just been speaking to conference | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
and has promised a major crackdown on tax-dodgers which could raise �4 | :37:32. | :37:42. | |
:37:42. | :37:43. | ||
billion a year for the Treasury. Fellow plebs, Viscount Thurso, I | :37:43. | :37:49. | |
would like to talk to you. In fact, our conference slogan, fairer taxes | :37:49. | :37:55. | |
in tough times. Thanks to the Liberal Democrats, taxes of getting | :37:55. | :38:00. | |
fairer. Our tough budget negotiations mean that next year 24 | :38:00. | :38:06. | |
million people will benefit from the largest ever increase in the | :38:06. | :38:09. | |
tax-free amount. From April, working people will have seen net | :38:09. | :38:15. | |
income tax bill fall by �550 and 2 million of the lowest earners will | :38:15. | :38:25. | |
have ceased to have paid any income tax at all. That is happening. | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
Thanks. That is happening thanks to the Liberal Democrats in a | :38:29. | :38:35. | |
coalition government. It would not be happening without you. Not | :38:36. | :38:44. | |
everything about the budget Bishop was perfect. -- the budget this | :38:44. | :38:49. | |
year. Junior church was getting married a few weeks after the | :38:49. | :38:59. | |
budget in Cornwall. -- Junior Church. I made sure her prospective | :38:59. | :39:04. | |
husband did not have a taste for pasties but I will still think of | :39:04. | :39:14. | |
:39:14. | :39:14. | ||
that as four U-turns and a wedding! The income tax cut was by far the | :39:14. | :39:19. | |
most important measure in the budget. People in this country will | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
have �3 billion more of their own money to spend next year as a | :39:23. | :39:27. | |
result. A cleaner working full-time on the minimum wage will see their | :39:27. | :39:35. | |
tax bill Haft. That is thanks to the Liberal Democrats. -- reduced | :39:35. | :39:40. | |
by half. Very soon, no one will pay income tax at all until they're | :39:40. | :39:50. | |
:39:50. | :39:51. | ||
earning more than �10,000. That is thanks to the Liberal Democrats. We | :39:52. | :39:57. | |
promised it in our manifesto. We campaign for it. We had the courage | :39:57. | :40:02. | |
to go into coalition to deliver it. At the next election, we will | :40:02. | :40:09. | |
promise to raise that figure yet further, to �12.5 million. You do | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
not pay more income tax until you are earning more than a full-time | :40:14. | :40:23. | |
salary on the minimum wage. In 2015, people will know that promise is | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
credible. That is because we have delivered in government, thanks to | :40:27. | :40:33. | |
the Liberal Democrats - truly a record of action and the promise of | :40:33. | :40:39. | |
more. Now, it's fair taxes matter because times are tough. The | :40:39. | :40:44. | |
spending power of most people's pay packets have fallen over the last | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
five years. For too many, the spectre of unemployment has become | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
a painful reality. For the country as a whole, the adjustment to the | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
level of government spending and taxation we can afford is painful | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
and difficult. When we came into office, we knew things were bad. | :41:02. | :41:07. | |
The truth is, we did not know how bad. The damage that the crisis has | :41:07. | :41:13. | |
done to our economy is even deeper than we first thought. The head | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
wins of high inflation and the eurozone are stronger than anyone | :41:18. | :41:22. | |
imagines. The mess Labour left worse than they would ever admit - | :41:22. | :41:30. | |
let alone apologise for. Now, having heard all of that, you might | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
think I am pessimistic. He could not be more wrong. We have a | :41:35. | :41:39. | |
government determined to do the right thing for the long term. Over | :41:39. | :41:45. | |
the last two years, we have laid strong foundations for a stronger | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
economy. I am fundamentally optimistic for the future. Because | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
there are brilliant businesses - talented and hard-working people in | :41:54. | :41:58. | |
every corner of this country - who make this one of the best places to | :41:58. | :42:07. | |
do business in the world. Like the members of the Bristol Junior | :42:07. | :42:12. | |
Chamber of Commerce, who I met with our brilliant mayoral candidate on | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
Thursday, enthusing about the opportunities for young people to | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
start their own businesses. Like the small manufacturing company I | :42:19. | :42:27. | |
visited in Cardiff with our inspiring election candidate. A | :42:27. | :42:31. | |
business that has grown and is providing much-needed jobs in the | :42:31. | :42:36. | |
local area, like the massive chemicals plant I visited in Redcar. | :42:36. | :42:40. | |
It is growing with the help of a Regional Growth Fund grant. These | :42:40. | :42:50. | |
people are the growth makers, the job makers. Our job is to help them. | :42:50. | :42:57. | |
Last year, at this conference, I announced the growing places and. | :42:57. | :43:04. | |
This is to fund local areas to unlock new jobs. I can tell you | :43:04. | :43:09. | |
that the fund has already helped fund around 170 projects, | :43:09. | :43:19. | |
:43:19. | :43:19. | ||
supporting an estimated 178,000 jobs. Now, conference, the economy | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
has rightly been the central focus of this party conference. Yesterday | :43:23. | :43:26. | |
had an excellent debate on some of the further measures we would like | :43:26. | :43:32. | |
to cease -- like to see to support growth. Vince Cable gave a | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
brilliant speech, setting out the work his department is doing to | :43:35. | :43:40. | |
help clear up the mess left by Labour. I dare say the | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
congratulatory text message from Ed Miliband has been unavoidably | :43:44. | :43:52. | |
delayed. He has come out with a new economic theory this month. Pru | :43:52. | :43:55. | |
distribution. Apparently, it means, spending money you do not have | :43:55. | :44:00. | |
without knowing where that money is going to come from in future. | :44:00. | :44:06. | |
Conference, it is not in United, it is a bad old one. Labour spent 13 | :44:06. | :44:12. | |
years trying it. -- not a new idea. Labour do not like us talking about | :44:12. | :44:17. | |
their record in office but the country can never be allowed to | :44:17. | :44:22. | |
forget their disastrous mistakes in banking, in regulation, in the | :44:22. | :44:26. | |
public finances - falsely promising the British people they could end | :44:26. | :44:36. | |
:44:36. | :44:36. | ||
boom and bust. That was the chief secretary to the Treasury. He moved | :44:36. | :44:40. | |
on from the jokes which fell a little flat to more economic | :44:40. | :44:44. | |
substance. He was very proud of the efforts being done to track down | :44:45. | :44:48. | |
tax dodgers in Liechtenstein and he went and talked about how the | :44:48. | :44:53. | |
gunman was going to guarantee the building of the trains - the | :44:53. | :45:00. | |
coaches that will run on the CrossRail link. -- at the | :45:00. | :45:10. | |
:45:10. | :45:13. | ||
We live in an age of apology, we have heard Nick Clegg, Andrew | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
Mitchell. Is it time for Labour to say sorry for piling up so much | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
debt while in government? We have apologised for not regulating the | :45:21. | :45:26. | |
bounce sufficiently. Here and around the world, we should have | :45:26. | :45:32. | |
demanded more. What about the debt? If you look at the financial crisis, | :45:32. | :45:42. | |
:45:42. | :45:46. | ||
debt fell to 36% of GDP. The size of the economy rose. In the good | :45:46. | :45:53. | |
years, you are meant to build up a surplus. But between May 1997 and | :45:53. | :46:02. | |
January 2008, before the crash, your government increased debt from | :46:02. | :46:11. | |
�351 billion, to �512 billion, 45%. That doesn't enclose Network Rail | :46:11. | :46:14. | |
or PFIs. Would you like to apologise for racking up non-stop | :46:14. | :46:20. | |
debts, in years when you should have been running a surplus. | :46:20. | :46:25. | |
were running a surplus in that some of those years, particularly in the | :46:25. | :46:30. | |
early years of government. The in one year when you sold the airways. | :46:30. | :46:39. | |
What matters is the debt as a share of the economy. If you have been -- | :46:39. | :46:44. | |
up an economy which is bigger, you can have a debt which is bigger. We | :46:44. | :46:52. | |
faced a situation where NHS waiting lists... I am simply saying you had | :46:52. | :46:58. | |
consistent growth for 10 years. we bought down the debt burden. | :46:58. | :47:03. | |
some stage you should have run a surplus so when the bad times came, | :47:03. | :47:11. | |
you wouldn't have ended up with �512 billion of debt. We had the | :47:11. | :47:17. | |
second lowest debt to GDP ratio in BGA it when the financial crisis | :47:17. | :47:23. | |
hit in 2007. We did reduce that debt burden in that period. But | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
when the financial crisis hit, we had to make a decision on whether | :47:27. | :47:36. | |
we would stick to spending plans. We did reduce the debt. You hear | :47:36. | :47:42. | |
from Brighton, talk about texting people who live in big homes -- | :47:42. | :47:51. | |
taxing. Making the 10% highest income as paying more, all of that | :47:51. | :47:56. | |
must be music to your ears? have to judge politicians on what | :47:56. | :48:06. | |
:48:06. | :48:07. | ||
they say, what they deliver. If we judge you on what you say... If you | :48:07. | :48:10. | |
look at the Liberal Democrats, what they are saying, it is all good | :48:10. | :48:17. | |
stuff. Let us give them the benefit of the doubt. They can't deliver it | :48:17. | :48:24. | |
with the Tories, but they could with you. Are you up for that? | :48:24. | :48:29. | |
for example, the Liberal Democrats had all voted against the increase | :48:29. | :48:35. | |
in tuition fees, or had all voted against the reduction in the top | :48:35. | :48:43. | |
rate of tax... We have said we're willing to work with anybody on | :48:43. | :48:50. | |
plans towards mansion tax, high- value properties. I understand that. | :48:50. | :48:54. | |
Your point is clearly right, to say we can't deliver them, we don't yet | :48:54. | :49:01. | |
know what we have to do. We have to persuade our coalition partners. | :49:01. | :49:08. | |
is unlikely the Tories will give you are a wealth tax. How do you | :49:08. | :49:14. | |
define a wealth tax? George Osborne has said it in principle he is in | :49:14. | :49:24. | |
favour of moving tax more towards wealth and income. Lots of | :49:24. | :49:30. | |
millionaires don't earn a million, it is because they have turned to | :49:31. | :49:40. | |
:49:41. | :49:46. | ||
hundred �1,000 and grown it. -- earned �100,000. I suspect it in | :49:46. | :49:56. | |
the last tax year, budget, George Osborne came very close to | :49:56. | :50:02. | |
implementing a mansion tax. You are more likely to get all of that with | :50:02. | :50:07. | |
the Labour Party. More likely. Than you would with the Tories. That may | :50:07. | :50:11. | |
well be the case but we are not with the Labour Party and the | :50:11. | :50:16. | |
elections are not for 2 1/2 years. What will happen after the election | :50:16. | :50:20. | |
if there is a hung Parliament, I assumed we will do as we did this | :50:20. | :50:25. | |
time. Are you giving thought to having some kind of deal with the | :50:25. | :50:29. | |
Liberal Democrats? We are campaigning for a Labour victory at | :50:29. | :50:35. | |
the next election. We have another 2 1/2 years. It is about what | :50:35. | :50:39. | |
happens in between. If we can work with the Liberal Democrats or any | :50:39. | :50:45. | |
other power now on policies that will be fairer on families, a match | :50:45. | :50:51. | |
and tax, rather than a massive cut to tax credits. The Lib Dems have | :50:51. | :50:55. | |
to fight their corner. If they say they think people who are wealthier | :50:55. | :51:00. | |
should be taxed more, they should not have voted for that cut in a | :51:00. | :51:10. | |
:51:10. | :51:15. | ||
top rate of tax. The Lib Dems in Scotland may be far from government, | :51:15. | :51:19. | |
but they are part of a coalition with the Tories and Labour, against | :51:19. | :51:21. | |
Scottish independence. However, their effectiveness in that | :51:21. | :51:24. | |
campaign has been somewhat blunted by disastrous results in the last | :51:24. | :51:27. | |
Holyrood parliamentary elections. They were reduced to a rump of just | :51:27. | :51:31. | |
five MSPs. The party north of the border blames its demise on the | :51:31. | :51:34. | |
other coalition, the one in Westminster. But how do the | :51:34. | :51:41. | |
north of the border? David Thompson reports. | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
A much designed to beat the drum for independence. Has the biggest | :51:46. | :51:50. | |
political decision Scotland will make in 300 years really capture | :51:50. | :51:54. | |
the public imagination? In terms of looking for signs on the ground, | :51:54. | :51:59. | |
there was a rally in Edinburgh on Saturday which attracted a crowd of | :51:59. | :52:05. | |
5,000 people. Not insubstantial but probably not as many as the | :52:05. | :52:09. | |
organisers were hoping for. One of the main players in the anti- | :52:09. | :52:12. | |
independence campaign are the Scottish Liberal Democrats. They | :52:12. | :52:19. | |
took a pasting at the last elections. What is frustrating for | :52:19. | :52:23. | |
the Liberal Democrats in Scotland is all of our good work in Scotland | :52:23. | :52:30. | |
focused on devolved issues in Scotland, are being overshadowed by | :52:30. | :52:34. | |
difficulties in London. The latest of which has been the apology by | :52:34. | :52:44. | |
:52:44. | :52:48. | ||
Nick Clegg on tuition fees. That had a bad effect in Scotland. One | :52:48. | :52:52. | |
other reasons why I am no longer an MSP and we lost our mainland seats | :52:52. | :52:56. | |
in Scotland last year. Which is why people might think all that | :52:57. | :52:59. | |
independence might be a mistake for Scotland, it could work for the | :52:59. | :53:04. | |
Scottish Liberal Democrats. Scotland we have to make it clear | :53:04. | :53:10. | |
to the people in Scotland and south of the border that, in fact, we are | :53:10. | :53:17. | |
a distinct party. That means having English Liberal Democrats. At the | :53:17. | :53:24. | |
moment, in theory, we are a federal party. But there is no formal name | :53:24. | :53:28. | |
for the English Liberal Democrats. There is for the Welsh Liberal | :53:28. | :53:36. | |
Democrats. It is not true federalism. The independence | :53:36. | :53:45. | |
referendum itself is an issue. Paul's in Scotland always confirm | :53:45. | :53:51. | |
people in Scotland want a beefed up Liberal Democrat party. We have | :53:51. | :53:58. | |
been the prime movers for home rule. This is a real opportunity for the | :53:58. | :54:02. | |
Scottish Liberal Democrats to lead here, take the vanguard, for | :54:02. | :54:06. | |
increased powers for Scottish Parliament. But people would have | :54:06. | :54:09. | |
to start taking the Scottish Liberal Democrats seriously again | :54:09. | :54:14. | |
which brings us back to where we started. The Lib Dems have been | :54:14. | :54:19. | |
marginalised in the independence debate, because, it is clear | :54:19. | :54:23. | |
whenever they stick their heads above the parapet, Alex Salmond | :54:23. | :54:28. | |
reminds everyone of their association with the Conservatives. | :54:28. | :54:35. | |
A vote on independence is at least two years away. Whether Scottish | :54:35. | :54:42. | |
Liberal Democrats will be, who knows. Willie Rennie, the Leader of | :54:42. | :54:46. | |
the Scottish Liberal Democrats, joins us from conference. | :54:46. | :54:52. | |
Your party has taken a hammering in Scotland in recent elections. In | :54:52. | :54:59. | |
Scottish Parliament elections, your party's worst election performance. | :54:59. | :55:05. | |
What is your plan? The plan is to set out what we believe, standing | :55:05. | :55:12. | |
up for big liberal values in Scotland. That is why we stand up | :55:12. | :55:16. | |
on their tax, making sure we invest in colleges, housing, early | :55:16. | :55:21. | |
intervention. We have made progress on that already. Even though there | :55:21. | :55:24. | |
are only five of us in Scottish Parliament, we have managed to get | :55:24. | :55:31. | |
big concessions. Is the problem that you are not being heard, | :55:31. | :55:37. | |
people don't trust you, because of the activities of the coalition in | :55:37. | :55:43. | |
Westminster? Do you agree with that? Of course the coalition is an | :55:43. | :55:47. | |
issue but you are in politics to do the right thing, to get the economy | :55:47. | :55:53. | |
back on track, and bring fairness to the country. We are in step with | :55:53. | :55:57. | |
the majority of public opinion on more powers for the Scottish | :55:57. | :56:01. | |
Parliament, by far the most popular policy to have home rule for | :56:01. | :56:06. | |
Scotland. Raising more money to spend it on issues important for | :56:06. | :56:14. | |
Scotland. That is what we are in step with. Do you think that is | :56:14. | :56:19. | |
really going to win you back all of those seats you have lost. Five | :56:19. | :56:25. | |
MSPs. How far do you blame the activities of the coalition in | :56:25. | :56:31. | |
London? I tend not to blame anybody because we are one-party working | :56:31. | :56:36. | |
together in a partnership to deal with this economic crisis. I would | :56:36. | :56:39. | |
be no doubt in my duties if I thought I could distance myself | :56:39. | :56:49. | |
:56:49. | :56:53. | ||
from that. -- neglecting. Your predecessor said for 12 years there | :56:53. | :56:57. | |
has been a Scottish solution, a different way, and we will build on | :56:57. | :57:03. | |
that. He distanced himself from Westminster, and it worked. He set | :57:03. | :57:09. | |
out his strategy. He was very good at advocating on some unique | :57:09. | :57:15. | |
policies, like releasing money for Scottish water to invest in capital | :57:15. | :57:23. | |
infrastructure. It was difficult. What you like about Nick Clegg? | :57:23. | :57:28. | |
think he is a man of great principle. All you had to do is | :57:28. | :57:32. | |
spend five minutes with him to see that he has a full grasp of British | :57:32. | :57:39. | |
politics. He doesn't shy away from difficult challenges. He is very | :57:39. | :57:46. | |
good at addressing them. How do sell Nick Clegg in Scotland? | :57:46. | :57:49. | |
bringing him up to Scotland more often, as we are doing, showing | :57:49. | :57:53. | |
that he really cares about issues like mental health, early | :57:53. | :58:01. | |
intervention, nursery education, the pupil premium, these are the | :58:01. | :58:08. | |
policies that showed the fairness side of the Liberal Democrats. | :58:08. | :58:15. | |
time to get the answer to the quiz. Ed Davey used to work in a factory, | :58:15. | :58:25. | |
:58:25. | :58:34. | ||
but what did it make? Any idea, Tim? C) Pork pies. He also made | :58:34. | :58:38. | |
Scotch eggs. That's all for today. Thanks to all | :58:38. | :58:41. | |
our guests, especially Tim Razzall. The one o'clock news is starting | :58:41. | :58:45. |