Browse content similar to 08/07/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Daily Politics. Times tables, fractions, Cromwell and Queen | :00:38. | :00:43. | |
Victoria. Michael Gove unveils a new curriculum for England - but most | :00:43. | :00:51. | |
secondary schools won't have to follow it. | :00:51. | :00:57. | |
A nation delights - but which nation, Britain or Scotland? | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
And has he got what it takes to win? Ed Miliband prepares to take on the | :01:01. | :01:08. | |
unions in a big speech in the next few days. | :01:08. | :01:17. | |
And is this what passes for grown up debate in the mother of parliaments? | :01:17. | :01:23. | |
I'm sorry, Mr Speaker, the opposition don't want... It is very | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
discourteous of the house to issue a collective groan. | :01:25. | :01:30. | |
All that in the next hour. And with us for the whole programme | :01:31. | :01:33. | |
today is Geraldine Bedell, the editor of gransnet. At least there's | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
one job you haven't got to be old to do these days! Welcome to the | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
programme. First today, the mansion tax could cost an average �36,000 a | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
year - that's according to Treasury study that's been looking at | :01:43. | :01:46. | |
proposals supported by Lib Dems and Labour to raise up to �2 billion | :01:46. | :01:56. | |
from a levy on properties worth more than �2 million. Treasury officials | :01:56. | :02:06. | |
:02:06. | :02:06. | ||
estimate it would apply to about 55,000 properties. Geraldine, a good | :02:06. | :02:11. | |
idea? It is quite difficult to argue against it, from a fairness point of | :02:11. | :02:19. | |
view. If you have a �2 million house, the chances are that you are | :02:19. | :02:21. | |
beneficiary of the incredibly over-heated south-eastern property | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
market, and it is a windfall, in a way. But it will be difficult for | :02:25. | :02:32. | |
older people with houses as assets but no income. �36,000 a year is an | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
awful lot of money for people on retirement incomes. I suspect what | :02:36. | :02:41. | |
is behind this is an attempt to get people to downshift. It will be | :02:41. | :02:45. | |
successful because people won't be able to afford it. Using that as the | :02:45. | :02:51. | |
basis of the argument, can we be talking about a lot of old people | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
sitting in houses worth more than �2 million who do not have quite a lot | :02:55. | :03:03. | |
of money themselves? It is very possible to own at house in London | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
worth �2 million and not to have a very high income. Lots of older | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
people want to stay in their houses because they say they use them for | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
family gatherings, they look after grandchildren there, they have a | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
network of support and relationships in that area that they don't want to | :03:18. | :03:25. | |
leave. Properties in the area are very expensive. It will affect a | :03:25. | :03:31. | |
minority, but affect them severely. Isn't downsizing a good idea in the | :03:31. | :03:35. | |
main? I'm not saying people should dictate what people should do, but | :03:35. | :03:40. | |
perhaps more elderly people should consider it? It is a great idea when | :03:40. | :03:46. | |
you are ready. It is people being given the opportunity to choose. | :03:46. | :03:49. | |
What about a wholesale re-evaluation? It looks as if that | :03:49. | :03:55. | |
would have to take place on, maybe, most properties in order to find out | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
which ones are worth more than �2 million? That would be a lot of work | :04:00. | :04:06. | |
and expense. And it probably would not go down well. Do you think it | :04:06. | :04:12. | |
will be a runner. Possibly, but it depends who wins the next election. | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
If Labour got in, it is very possible. | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
Now it's time for our daily quiz. The question today is, Fred Perry | :04:20. | :04:28. | |
was the last Brit to win Wimbledon 77 years ago. -- the last British | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
man. Which of the these facts about life in Britain in 1936 is not true | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
- university graduates had two votes, a loaf of bread cost | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
four-and-a-half pence, women had to have a licence to wear trousers in | :04:37. | :04:47. | |
:04:47. | :04:48. | ||
public or the average house price was �550? At the end of the show, | :04:49. | :04:56. | |
Geraldine will give us the correct answer. No, Geraldine won't be here | :04:56. | :05:02. | |
at the very end, you don't need to worry! It is our MPs. The Department | :05:02. | :05:07. | |
of Education has published details of Michael Gove 's plan for a new | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
National Curriculum covering primary and secondary schools in England. It | :05:10. | :05:13. | |
will be the biggest shake-up since the original document was first | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
introduced by Kenneth Baker in 1988. Michael Gove wants a more | :05:16. | :05:18. | |
traditional curriculum to be taught in England's schools. Five-year-olds | :05:18. | :05:20. | |
will be taught fractions and nine-year-olds will have to learn | :05:20. | :05:28. | |
their times tables all the way up to 12. I thought they did already! | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
There will be more focus on English history, with pupils learning about | :05:32. | :05:35. | |
Oliver Cromwell, Queen Victoria and Winston Churchill - though Mr Gove | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
has conceded that all pupils should also learn about world history. He | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
says the reforms are about getting basic skills right, and David | :05:41. | :05:49. | |
Cameron says the new curriculum will be rigorous, engaging and tough. But | :05:49. | :05:52. | |
the majority of secondary schools will not have to implement it. There | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
are now over 3000 academies in England which have the freedom to | :05:55. | :05:59. | |
choose their own curriculum. And coming on top of the changes to | :05:59. | :06:02. | |
exams announced last month, which will see GCSEs scrapped, teaching | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
unions have complained that too many reforms are being rushed through too | :06:05. | :06:15. | |
:06:15. | :06:17. | ||
quickly. None of the government's current ministers were available to | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
explain the new proposals. But we have the former Schools Minister, | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
thank goodness, Nick Gibb, and Mary boasted, Secretary-General of the | :06:27. | :06:32. | |
Association of and lecturers. Nick, did you accept that too many changes | :06:32. | :06:38. | |
are being made to the education system at once? The government is | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
unapologetic. There is a rush to make sure our education system is on | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
a par with the best in the world. Young people leaving education will | :06:46. | :06:52. | |
be challenging in a -- competing in a challenging global race for jobs, | :06:52. | :06:57. | |
therefore they need to be literate, have good maths skills and | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
understand science. We need to make sure that our school leavers compete | :07:00. | :07:07. | |
for those jobs and get them in a very competitive market. But if it | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
is done in a rush and the system can't cope, we will not get the | :07:11. | :07:16. | |
success and improvement that you want? I say in a hurry, not in a | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
rush. There is still a year before this is implemented in primary | :07:19. | :07:27. | |
schools. It is not that different, frankly. Maths is maths. It is just | :07:27. | :07:34. | |
a skewing of how not up location tables are taught at the age of | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
nine, not at 11. GCSE 's don't come in until September 2015, so there is | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
plenty of lead time. That it is essential that we have a rigorous | :07:42. | :07:49. | |
and demanding curriculum. Can you do it in a year? I don't think it is | :07:49. | :07:54. | |
possible to do it well in a year. Schools will make every effort to do | :07:54. | :07:59. | |
it, but not to do it well. To give you one example of more haste, less | :07:59. | :08:05. | |
speed. Children starting this curriculum in 2014 will be tested in | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
2015 on the old curriculum, because there isn't time to bring in new | :08:10. | :08:15. | |
tests. That might be the case in 2016. We don't know what the new | :08:15. | :08:20. | |
GCSEs will look like. The new curriculum has very little relation | :08:20. | :08:24. | |
to the foundation curriculum that children do before they start | :08:24. | :08:30. | |
school, so these are very rushed changes on a very poorer base. The | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
first proposals for changing the National Curriculum were so poor | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
that only Michael Gove could say they were worth anything. They were | :08:38. | :08:43. | |
not accepted by teachers, academics, employers, parent, they were roundly | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
condemned and criticised. They are starting from a very low base and we | :08:47. | :08:52. | |
will need to see if these proposals are real improvement? Do you agree? | :08:52. | :08:59. | |
No, the curriculum was of a very high standard... Did anybody except | :08:59. | :09:04. | |
them? They were based on a curriculum from around the world. | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
There was criticism of the history, too much was being put into the | :09:07. | :09:15. | |
primary school. Only up to 1066 in the primary years, and then | :09:15. | :09:18. | |
secondary education afterwards. There have been changes to design | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
and technology so that we are sure that our children can be the | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
designers of the future, they can use 3D printers, they can use | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
robotics and understand the basics of leavers, wheels and cogs and so | :09:30. | :09:37. | |
on. It is robust. So you will have a system where children will be tested | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
at GCSE while a new curriculum is being introduced that won't be part | :09:41. | :09:47. | |
of our testing. It makes no sense. Schools and understand the syllabus | :09:47. | :09:53. | |
for the GCSEs they will be taking before 2017. In terms of the primary | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
curriculum and what is tested at the end of Key stage two, teachers | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
clearly understand what is in the syllabus now and what will be tested | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
next year. The syllabus comes in September 2014. Because it is more | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
rigorous, if schools are teaching to this new curriculum and getting | :10:12. | :10:16. | |
children learning that tables are earlier, not later, if they become | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
fluent readers earlier than before, they will do just as well, if not | :10:20. | :10:26. | |
better, in the current test than if they were teaching the old | :10:26. | :10:32. | |
curriculum. Is merrymaking too much fuss? I think so. Unions need to say | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
something about government proposals, but I think Mary will be | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
supportive of this curriculum. Children will be fluent in | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
arithmetic, they will understand fractions... You keep reciting these | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
lists, they are just statements. I am profoundly unhappy by the way | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
this government does education policy. We have had three | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
announcements about GCSEs and massive backtracking, proposals for | :10:55. | :11:01. | |
a primary curriculum which were roundly condemned. You do not | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
involve the profession, you don't listen to experts. More so than the | :11:06. | :11:12. | |
previous system which was produced by quangos. Even the teacher expert | :11:12. | :11:15. | |
groups which were hand-picked by the National College to talk about | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
teacher training and resources, they said in essence that they were | :11:20. | :11:28. | |
unteachable. That is a very low base. They are teachable in other | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
countries, successful countries. We are dropping down the international | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
league tables. What about Finland? You start school at seven, they are | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
top of the league tables, they are moving towards a more skills -based, | :11:42. | :11:48. | |
practical curriculum. They are... They have a much simpler language in | :11:48. | :11:53. | |
Finland than we do. It is not rigorous to introduce concepts to | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
children before they are ready to learn them. Bee we are making sure | :11:58. | :12:03. | |
they are ready... How?Teaching the algorithms, teaching children how to | :12:04. | :12:07. | |
do maths and learn to read is the key thing. So they are not | :12:07. | :12:13. | |
struggling with this concept is. you think they will be ready at a | :12:13. | :12:17. | |
younger age to deal with some of the concepts in maths and evolution | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
which have been talked about, doing fractions at perhaps the ages of | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
seven and eight? I think parents and grandparents want to see children | :12:26. | :12:30. | |
learning things as soon is they are able to, but this all seems a little | :12:30. | :12:34. | |
bit irrelevant to me. Free schools and academies will not be forced to | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
follow this curriculum, secondly, this is not really what parents are | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
interested in. They want inspiring teaching. I don't think most of us | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
care very much whether our children are taught about Nelson Mandela or | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
Winston Churchill. We want our children to have the resources and | :12:50. | :12:55. | |
enthusiasm and creativity to do something with their learning and to | :12:55. | :13:02. | |
go on to learn more. It is about the teachers, you cant we can change the | :13:02. | :13:07. | |
system, and the previous government did just as much. If you just rely | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
on teachers to do their job and find the best teachers, which I know | :13:11. | :13:16. | |
Michael Gove has focused on, isn't that more important? Two the changes | :13:16. | :13:23. | |
to the curriculum one part of an overall reform. We need inspiring | :13:23. | :13:27. | |
teachers. We have raised the bar of entry into teaching. We want to | :13:27. | :13:33. | |
raise the status of teaching as a profession. This is the government | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
which has dropped the requirement for qualified teacher status and | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
schools. It talks about higher status for teachers, but then it | :13:40. | :13:48. | |
says they do not need a qualification. This curriculum is | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
far less prescriptive than the national strategy, which told | :13:51. | :13:57. | |
teachers how to teach a 3-part lesson, group teaching etc. It has | :13:57. | :14:02. | |
all been swept away to use that professional experience... | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
Unqualified teachers. We will come back to the qualifications very | :14:07. | :14:12. | |
briefly. As Geraldine said, if the National Curriculum is so great, why | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
don't academies have to follow it? We are giving them the same | :14:16. | :14:21. | |
regulatory structure as independent schools. It will inform the exams | :14:21. | :14:28. | |
they take, the Key stage two tests, the GCSEs. Parents will be able to | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
look at the curriculum and say, why don't my children know about the | :14:32. | :14:35. | |
civil war? Why haven't they understood about long division? If | :14:35. | :14:44. | |
their school isn't to Burke that are delivering, they can challenge it. | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
Three of the first round of free schools have been told they are | :14:48. | :14:50. | |
virtually in special measures. This freedom equal in quality does not | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
exist. The fact you have a National Curriculum applying to some schools | :14:56. | :14:59. | |
and not others is nonsense. The government can't get off the feet | :14:59. | :15:07. | |
about that. There are Key stage two tests. Most schools will be teaching | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
the National Curriculum, as a main. Some academies and free schools | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
might be teaching beyond it. That is a good thing. But this curriculum is | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
being informed by experts, it has been based on successful | :15:20. | :15:25. | |
jurisdictions around the world. If it is successfully in fermented and | :15:26. | :15:28. | |
schools, as I think it will be, it will put this country pulls-macro | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
educational system on a par with the best in the world, which is where | :15:33. | :15:39. | |
education needs to be. What about unqualified teaching? Won't it lead | :15:39. | :15:43. | |
to further problems? Schools have the freedom to employee who they | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
choose to, most will employ qualified teachers. But if you want | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
to employ a professor of chemistry from a university in his later | :15:51. | :15:55. | |
years, or somebody who has taught throughout their life in an | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
independent school who does not have qualified teacher status, to attract | :15:59. | :16:05. | |
them, you have the freedom. It is about having the best communicators, | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
as well as people who know their subject. A teaching qualification | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
may well be essential for some people but not everybody? It is a | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
guaranteed you have been through appropriate training. Not that you | :16:17. | :16:24. | |
will be a good teacher. The standard for qualifying is very high. To have | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
another tree, no, you don't need to be qualified, lowers the status of | :16:28. | :16:34. | |
the profession. We are talking about excellent teachers who are involved | :16:34. | :16:38. | |
in curriculum development. There is no such requirement in the | :16:38. | :16:48. | |
:16:48. | :16:51. | ||
independent sector. They have a very Speaking of history... It is 77 | :16:51. | :16:54. | |
years since Fred Perry won the men's title. Yesterday, of course, | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
Andy Murray finally did it again for Britain. Or was it Scotland? | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
Union flags and Saltires were waved amongst the throngs camped out on | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
Murray mound and, in defiance of a ban on large flags on Centre Court | :17:04. | :17:06. | |
itself, Scotland's First Minister controversially unfurled a Scottish | :17:06. | :17:16. | |
:17:16. | :17:31. | ||
Andy Murray himself described his victory as a British win. | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
understand how much everyone wanted to see a British winner at | :17:36. | :17:45. | |
Wimbledon. I hope you guys enjoyed. I tried my best. That was Andy | :17:45. | :17:51. | |
Murray celebrating the big win. It was an amazing match and a | :17:51. | :17:57. | |
beautiful day to go with it. Celebrations have been continuing. | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
With me now is the Conservative MP and vice chair of the all party | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
tennis group - Mark Pritchard - and the SNP Member of the Scottish | :18:03. | :18:09. | |
Parliament Keith Brown, who is in his constituency in Dunblane. | :18:09. | :18:14. | |
Welcome to both of you. First of all, why shouldn't Alex Salmond | :18:14. | :18:22. | |
waive the sole tyre? He can. He is the master of the political stunt. | :18:22. | :18:26. | |
I do not think the future of the United Kingdom should be viewed as | :18:26. | :18:32. | |
a stunt. It is serious. People can be very proudly Scottish, Welsh, | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
English will come from Northern Ireland and still be proudly | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
British. They can be very complimentary. I do not have issued | :18:41. | :18:51. | |
with people waving around francs. - - flags. I think it should unite | :18:51. | :18:57. | |
the nation. Those trying to detract away from that and wanting to just | :18:57. | :19:04. | |
unite the nation - I think it is unfortunate. It was unfortunate and | :19:04. | :19:10. | |
a political stunt. It is unfortunate it is seen to be | :19:10. | :19:16. | |
politicised. In Dunblane, people were glued to the televisions. It | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
was testament to the long years of sacrifice he made. It is nothing to | :19:21. | :19:31. | |
:19:31. | :19:35. | ||
do with politics. Why did he unfurled the Scottish flag? Alex | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
Salmond is the first minister of Scotland. He has followed the | :19:39. | :19:47. | |
career of Andy married for 10 years. He wanted to celebrate. -- Andy | :19:47. | :19:53. | |
Murray. Had his opponent won, and the Serbian Prime Minister unfurled | :19:53. | :20:02. | |
the Serbian flag, there would be none of this. First of all, it is a | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
great achievement for him and for Scotland and for the United Kingdom. | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
The great achievement for tennis in this country. I hope we will seek | :20:11. | :20:16. | |
other people coming up through the ranks and then on to win future | :20:16. | :20:21. | |
Wimbledons. Let's hope he wins next year as well. I take the view the | :20:22. | :20:27. | |
United Kingdom is a stronger country when all the countries are | :20:27. | :20:32. | |
united together. Scotland is more prosperous and safer. That is very | :20:32. | :20:38. | |
much part of being the United Kingdom. It is unfortunate that | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
this incident has overshadowed what should be a personal and national | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
victory for tennis in this country. To believe the Daily Mail's outrage | :20:47. | :20:53. | |
is more likely to drive a wedge between the nations instead of | :20:53. | :20:58. | |
encouraging unity you have talked about? I do not think so. The Daily | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
Mail is a very good newspaper. It is right they highlight the | :21:02. | :21:07. | |
political mischief of people like Alex Salmond. He is the master of | :21:07. | :21:15. | |
the political stunt. Some in tennis might be frustrated at what he did. | :21:15. | :21:21. | |
Yesterday should have been about Mr Murray, rather than tennis, rather | :21:21. | :21:30. | |
than political statements. -- and tennis. Andy Murray himself talked | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
about a win for Britain and not a win for Scotland. Of course, people | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
across Britain will take huge satisfaction. As well people in | :21:40. | :21:46. | |
Scotland and Dunblane. Nothing wrong with that. Whether it it is | :21:46. | :21:55. | |
Union flags, sold tyres, St Georges crosses. People are entitled to | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
celebrate. The only person talking about politics is Mr Pritchard. I | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
would rather talk about Andy Mario Mandzukic and his achievement and | :22:02. | :22:08. | |
the ultimate success, which must be the ambition of every tennis player | :22:08. | :22:15. | |
in the world. -- Andy Murray. Alex Salmon did not have politics | :22:15. | :22:25. | |
:22:25. | :22:27. | ||
on his mind at all. -- Alex Salmond. Of course he wanted to celebrate. | :22:27. | :22:32. | |
He will not be thinking about constitutional politics. The | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
children are thinking about, how can I get the same kind of shots | :22:37. | :22:42. | |
and baseline controlled that Andy Murray had? Apart from wanting to | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
improve their tennis, it is difficult to believe that | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
politicians were not thinking about how it would help them. I'm sure | :22:49. | :22:56. | |
David Cameron was thinking, we have had a few good weeks of weather and | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
Andy Murray has won for Britain. The Prime Minister is probably the | :23:01. | :23:09. | |
best tennis player in Parliament. He could have taken advantage and | :23:09. | :23:14. | |
pulled out the Union flag. He was dignified and realised it was a day | :23:14. | :23:20. | |
of British tennis. We have to really go at our loins. There may | :23:20. | :23:26. | |
be other political stunts from Alex Salmond as he sees the polls | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
increasing in favour of Scotland staying within the United Kingdom - | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
upsetting the Catholic Church in Scotland - even the BBC in Scotland. | :23:37. | :23:45. | |
He had the golden touch of politics and he has made strategic error | :23:45. | :23:50. | |
after strategic error. They realise they're making mistake after | :23:50. | :23:55. | |
mistake after mistake. The argument has been seen through by the | :23:55. | :24:00. | |
Scottish people. They're probably likely to see further political | :24:00. | :24:04. | |
stance in desperation by the SNP. What about the Commonwealth Games | :24:04. | :24:11. | |
next year? Will it be used to boost the referendum campaign? Of course | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
not. The Commonwealth Games is about the whole of the Commonwealth. | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
They're very proud of the fact we hosted in Glasgow, just as London | :24:20. | :24:26. | |
is that it hosted an Olympics last year. The only person scoring | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
political points is Mark Pritchard. Every time he has brought it back | :24:31. | :24:35. | |
to constitutional politics. It is about Andy Murray. Let's not | :24:35. | :24:41. | |
detract from that. It is a huge achievement. It says more about the | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
Conservative Party than the people of Scotland or indeed the people of | :24:45. | :24:51. | |
Britain. They are basking in the glory of a fantastic achievement by | :24:51. | :24:56. | |
Andy Murray, let that be the story today. I want to see you pick up a | :24:56. | :25:01. | |
tennis racket and have a game behind me. Thank you very much. | :25:01. | :25:07. | |
am happy to play. We are all in this together. That was George | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
Osborne's mantra when the belt- tightening began in 2010. But one | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
section of society has come-off relatively unscathed from the cuts. | :25:14. | :25:16. | |
Pensioners have been promised healthy increases in their pensions | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
and winter fuel payments continue to be made even to the better off. | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
Fair play, or have pensioners been shown a distinct advantage? Adam | :25:24. | :25:34. | |
:25:34. | :25:40. | ||
Missing Wimbledon, don't worry, I've come to Rhyd tennis club in | :25:40. | :25:47. | |
Tottenham to talk to people about the welfare state. Right now, at | :25:47. | :25:52. | |
roughly �80 billion a year is spent on a state pension, alone in | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
pension credits. A further �2.1 billion is spent on the annual | :25:57. | :26:02. | |
Winter Fuel Allowance. 578 million is spent giving free television | :26:02. | :26:08. | |
licences to those over 75. We have not mentioned bus passes yet. | :26:08. | :26:13. | |
think pensioners have a bad deal actually. I know some pensioners | :26:13. | :26:18. | |
are frightened to put the heating on in winter. That is sad. They and | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
the people can work and the older people cannot always work. They | :26:22. | :26:27. | |
have given their lives to this country and they need to be looked | :26:27. | :26:35. | |
after. The country fields broadly the same. -- feels broadly the same. | :26:35. | :26:40. | |
Politicians are engaged in a rally over been less generous. Ed Balls | :26:40. | :26:44. | |
said that Labour would take away the Winter Fuel Allowance from the | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
richest 5% of pensioners. The Lib Dem said they could not guarantee | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
the existence of the so-called triple-lock, which means pension | :26:54. | :26:59. | |
rise by 2.5% a year. A couple of weeks ago, George Osborne said the | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
Tories would have to look at the affordability of universal pension | :27:04. | :27:10. | |
benefits at some point in the future. Our tennis-playing pm | :27:10. | :27:20. | |
:27:20. | :27:24. | ||
promised they would be safe with him in charge. -- Prime Minister. | :27:24. | :27:31. | |
Once you break down... It you drive a wedge into the universal | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
principle. You have to look at fuel allowance for wealthy pensioners | :27:35. | :27:44. | |
and other areas. All three parties have coalesced around the fact we | :27:44. | :27:51. | |
cannot do this universe he had to. There is another freebie for older | :27:51. | :27:58. | |
people. -- universality. I take it as fighting for the National Health | :27:58. | :28:05. | |
Service. Are they going to say at a certain point, if you earn �42,000, | :28:05. | :28:10. | |
you have to pay for your medical care? Are they going to say that? | :28:11. | :28:17. | |
It is not a big step. Tough choices lie ahead on welfare. Who will have | :28:17. | :28:21. | |
the balls to make them? Geraldine Bedell, editor of Gransnet, is | :28:21. | :28:25. | |
still with me. And to take her on, Ed Howker, author of Jilted | :28:25. | :28:35. | |
:28:35. | :28:35. | ||
Generation. Do you think pensioners get too much? That is a harsh way | :28:35. | :28:41. | |
of characterising it. As the cuts have fallen, they have fallen on | :28:41. | :28:46. | |
younger sections of the population - insulating rather wealthy, older | :28:46. | :28:51. | |
people, who continued to get a lot of welfare benefits and they do not | :28:51. | :28:58. | |
need them. Is that fair? It is not unfair. We do not have results but | :28:58. | :29:03. | |
what we're going to find his responses of quite nuanced. Older | :29:03. | :29:08. | |
people are not implacably opposed to being part of the solution and | :29:08. | :29:13. | |
recognise there is a fairness issue here. Including universal benefits | :29:13. | :29:19. | |
been taken away... When George Osborne announce the suspension of | :29:19. | :29:22. | |
winter fuel payments to people living abroad, there was not a | :29:22. | :29:28. | |
great deal of protest. No one will argue that Mick Jagger meets winter | :29:28. | :29:33. | |
fuel payments. Only 10% of pensioners have incomes of over | :29:33. | :29:39. | |
�30,000 a year. We're not talking about fast groups of greedy people. | :29:39. | :29:43. | |
50% of pensioners are living entirely on the state pension. | :29:43. | :29:48. | |
not have to be careful what you wish for? You could be causing more | :29:48. | :29:58. | |
:29:58. | :30:04. | ||
deal with these things than others? It is not an argument, young people | :30:04. | :30:09. | |
have been more adversely affected, in terms of the job opportunities | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
they have and the fact that they might become more dependent on | :30:13. | :30:19. | |
parents and grandparents. If you look at how the cuts have fallen, | :30:19. | :30:23. | |
they have fallen towards young people. One of the things I find | :30:23. | :30:27. | |
most offensive about the arguments made by the likes of that woman in | :30:27. | :30:31. | |
that film who said that older people say they are slicing away at the | :30:31. | :30:37. | |
universal principle by tackling pensioner benefits. That universal | :30:37. | :30:41. | |
principle has disappeared entirely by young people, who have been | :30:41. | :30:47. | |
targeted through DMA, the shared room rate, university fees in a way | :30:47. | :30:49. | |
that is disproportionate. I don't think there is a world of difference | :30:49. | :30:55. | |
between the argument that we would have about this. I think it is wrong | :30:55. | :30:58. | |
to characterise pensioners as greedy, that is not necessarily the | :30:58. | :31:04. | |
case. A lot of electoral sweeteners given to them turn out not to be | :31:04. | :31:09. | |
worth it, I think. I think if you were to dismantle the universal | :31:09. | :31:14. | |
principle, you have to look at the cost and benefits. The benefits | :31:14. | :31:18. | |
would not be huge, there are not that many people involved in paying | :31:18. | :31:23. | |
higher rates of tax. The cost would be high. It is an inefficient way of | :31:23. | :31:28. | |
going about things and it creates a new set of unfairness is. One of the | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
things that bothers me about this argument is the stigmatisation of | :31:32. | :31:38. | |
older people as somehow sitting comfortably when, in fact, older | :31:38. | :31:43. | |
people are net contributors to the economy. Huge amounts of | :31:43. | :31:46. | |
grandparents are neighbouring young people to work. Run parents feel | :31:46. | :31:52. | |
strongly about this because they see first-hand what it is like to be a | :31:52. | :31:57. | |
young person out of work or trying to buy a house. But do you accept | :31:57. | :32:01. | |
that some older people have had it good in a way that their children | :32:01. | :32:05. | |
will never have, because of house prices, their children would have | :32:05. | :32:15. | |
had free University education and their pensions are index-linked? | :32:15. | :32:20. | |
There is inequality, and we are prepared to accept that, but it is a | :32:20. | :32:26. | |
minority of people. What have you done in terms of making wealthy | :32:27. | :32:32. | |
pensioners pay more? -- what can be done in terms of bastion muck the | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
House of Lords about ageism was the best way to divvy up how government | :32:35. | :32:45. | |
:32:45. | :32:46. | ||
assistance is handed out. If you look at the Winter fuel payment, | :32:46. | :32:53. | |
free television licences, the fact that a chunk of pensioners work and | :32:53. | :32:57. | |
pay no national insurance. If you look at those wings, in a very | :32:57. | :33:01. | |
straightforward way, there are questions to be answered about | :33:01. | :33:07. | |
whether we can afford those. Can we, and should they be looked at? | :33:07. | :33:15. | |
is no harm in looking. Over 75s is still the group most likely to live | :33:15. | :33:21. | |
in poverty. And I agree, and we need to do more for them. Age is not | :33:21. | :33:26. | |
necessarily the best way at divvying things up. We need to think much | :33:26. | :33:30. | |
more constructively about the whole life course and opportunities. To be | :33:30. | :33:36. | |
old in Glasgow is very different than to be old in Kensington. There | :33:36. | :33:39. | |
are many people who are able to go on working for much longer and | :33:39. | :33:44. | |
should probably not be retiring at 50 and living on the state for 30 | :33:44. | :33:48. | |
years. Is there a worried that there is an intergenerational tension | :33:48. | :33:55. | |
being built up by this sort of discussion? No. I think people talk | :33:55. | :34:00. | |
about young people waging a war against their parents. In reality, | :34:00. | :34:05. | |
that is not how the cuts and the crisis affecting poorer sections of | :34:05. | :34:10. | |
society is operating. When young people get poorer, they are much | :34:10. | :34:17. | |
angry with their parents, they are reliant on them. -- they are not | :34:17. | :34:17. | |
angry with their parents. Thank you both. | :34:17. | :34:21. | |
It's the last full week for MPs here in Westminster. The sun is out and | :34:21. | :34:25. | |
no doubt one or two will have half an eye on a Mediterranean beach - I | :34:25. | :34:28. | |
mean, British seaside holiday! - but first there's a busy few days ahead. | :34:28. | :34:32. | |
In the next few days, Labour leader Ed Miliband will set out his plans | :34:32. | :34:35. | |
for the unions following the recent row with Unite over candidate | :34:35. | :34:37. | |
selection. Then on Wednesday, the Privy Council | :34:37. | :34:40. | |
will meet to discuss the alternative draft Royal Charter on press | :34:40. | :34:45. | |
regulation put forward by newspaper bosses a few weeks ago. | :34:45. | :34:48. | |
Also on Wednesday, BBC bosses Chris Patten and Tony Hall are being | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
grilled by the Public Accounts Committee on big payoffs for | :34:51. | :34:57. | |
managers. And on Thursday, MPs will find out | :34:57. | :35:01. | |
if they've been awarded the pay rise that, supposedly, none of them want. | :35:01. | :35:04. | |
IPSA, the body now responsible for MPs' pay have hinted that our | :35:04. | :35:11. | |
politicians could be in line for a 15% hike in their salary. | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
To discuss all that I'm joined now from the heat of College Green by | :35:14. | :35:17. | |
two of Westminster's big hitters - Joe Watts from the London Evening | :35:17. | :35:27. | |
:35:27. | :35:28. | ||
Standard and Craig Woodhouse from The Sun. Welcome to you both. | :35:28. | :35:32. | |
Craig, what does Ed Miliband need to say in his speech about Labour 's | :35:32. | :35:37. | |
future relationship with the unions? Something, big, bold and radical | :35:37. | :35:42. | |
which we have not heard before. Two years ago there was a document which | :35:43. | :35:49. | |
was seeking to recast this entire relationship. Team Edwards breaching | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
fairly heavily that he would water down the influence of the unions. Lo | :35:54. | :36:02. | |
and behold, we have another union height on our hands. Joe, could it | :36:02. | :36:08. | |
be turned to Miliband 's advantage? It is a crisis, the worst scandals | :36:08. | :36:13. | |
for a political party play into people 's pre-existing fears, and | :36:13. | :36:18. | |
this goes right to the heart of fears about Labour. Ed Miliband sees | :36:18. | :36:22. | |
this as an opportunity to be seen to be standing up to the unions. He can | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
only capitalise on that opportunity if his actions match his rhetoric | :36:26. | :36:33. | |
tomorrow. There will be lots of Tory MPs waiting to see if it doesn't. | :36:33. | :36:39. | |
Craig, Joe is right, Tory MPs will want to capitalise on this as much | :36:39. | :36:45. | |
as possible. Is there a danger for him? There is a danger if it looks | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
to the public like it is a party political row and David Cameron | :36:50. | :36:55. | |
shoehorned in the words Unite and Len McCluskey last week to the | :36:55. | :36:59. | |
delight of his backbenchers. If it looks like they are crowing, there | :36:59. | :37:04. | |
is a danger. But Joe was right, this is a fantasy for the Conservative | :37:04. | :37:13. | |
Party, to have a caricature Labour leftie taking an someone may have | :37:13. | :37:19. | |
been trying to portray as the puppet of the unions. Let move on to press | :37:19. | :37:24. | |
regulation. John Prescott has said the Privy Council could talk about | :37:24. | :37:30. | |
this for up to nine months or so. A bit more prevarication, it will be | :37:30. | :37:34. | |
kicked into the next Parliament. What do you think are the chances of | :37:34. | :37:39. | |
a new royal charter being in place before the next election? I would | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
highlight that, this morning, the newspaper industry has published a | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
draft constitution for a new press Watchdog. For their part, at least, | :37:48. | :37:52. | |
it shows they can is to get moving despite the ongoing discussions of | :37:53. | :37:58. | |
the Royal Charter. Craig, do you think that is the case? If the Privy | :37:59. | :38:02. | |
Council is discussing an alternative Royal Charter put forward by | :38:02. | :38:07. | |
newspaper bosses, which will delay any system being put into place, | :38:07. | :38:11. | |
even if the Prime Minister says he wants to make sure they have gone | :38:11. | :38:18. | |
through it with a fine tooth comb, will it be the Son what won it | :38:18. | :38:26. | |
again? I would not like to say that. We are where we are, and due to the | :38:26. | :38:30. | |
slightly arcane laws of the way in which the Privy Council works, they | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
can only discuss one charter regulating one industry at any one | :38:33. | :38:39. | |
time stop this is one being discussed first, which has upset | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
Lord Prescott, no longer the right honourable. Those arcane rules are | :38:43. | :38:49. | |
pain! Do you think the new royal charter for press regulation will be | :38:49. | :38:55. | |
placed by the next election? There will need to be a way of getting | :38:55. | :38:59. | |
some sort of consensus and agreement which suits everybody. It is not a | :38:59. | :39:08. | |
question I am suitably qualified to answer. MPs' pay rise, does the | :39:08. | :39:15. | |
Government stop it? That is an interesting question and it is a | :39:15. | :39:19. | |
nightmare for the party leaders. The only god send for them is that it is | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
a nightmare for all three, not just one. They will hide behind this | :39:23. | :39:28. | |
theory that it is out of their hands and it has been passed to the | :39:28. | :39:36. | |
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. The government sets the | :39:36. | :39:40. | |
guidelines for IPSA to calculate an MPs' pay, so we will have to wait | :39:40. | :39:47. | |
and see how David Cameron handles it. One interesting point is how we | :39:47. | :39:50. | |
move is on this. They benefit from protest votes so it will be | :39:50. | :39:55. | |
interesting to see how they benefit. It could be barred for David | :39:55. | :40:02. | |
Cameron. Craig, if you work Cameron, how would you deal with it? I would | :40:02. | :40:07. | |
make clear that I want nothing to do with it, but I could do nothing | :40:07. | :40:10. | |
about the rules. Thank you. With me now are three MPs, all of | :40:10. | :40:13. | |
whom have tried to get their own private members' bills through | :40:13. | :40:15. | |
Parliament. James Wharton, whose EU Referendum Bill got its second | :40:15. | :40:18. | |
reading on Friday, Labour MP Lisa Nandy had wanted to see a crackdown | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
of zero hours contracts but lost out in the ballot and Lib Dem Julian | :40:22. | :40:25. | |
Huppert had a bill on local planning but it didn't get beyond a first | :40:26. | :40:33. | |
reading. Welcome to all of you. But let's start with Labour's woes. As | :40:33. | :40:36. | |
we've heard, Ed Miliband is preparing to make a speech about the | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
party's relationship with the unions. On the Sunday Politics | :40:39. | :40:41. | |
yesterday, former Labour Home Secretary John Reid warned of the | :40:41. | :40:51. | |
:40:51. | :40:52. | ||
seriousness of the crisis. I have no doubt that the leader of | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
Unite wants to impose an ideological direction on the Labour Party that | :40:56. | :41:03. | |
with leaders into political oblivion, as it did in the 1970s and | :41:03. | :41:08. | |
1980s. That is why this is a political struggle. Lisa Nandy, | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
funnily enough, I will come to you first. He says Len McCluskey wants | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
to take Labour back to the 70s and 80s, to impose an ideological | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
direction which would lead us into political oblivion. With respect to | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
John Reid, it sounds like he is talking about 1990, not 2013. Ed | :41:28. | :41:33. | |
Miliband was right to recognise that this is a bigger issue than Falkirk, | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
wherever you have a small number of people exerting a great deal of | :41:36. | :41:41. | |
influence on a political party, you have a problem, as we have seen with | :41:41. | :41:45. | |
wealthy donors in the Conservative Party. There are 6.5 million working | :41:45. | :41:48. | |
people in this country who joined trade unions because they recognise | :41:48. | :41:53. | |
that without that they would not have the minimum wage, maternity and | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
paternity leave, the weekend and other rights that we take for | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
granted. What I think you will see from Ed Miliband tomorrow is a | :42:00. | :42:04. | |
speech looking at how we rebuild democracy in the Labour Party. I | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
hope we will see something similar from the other political parties who | :42:09. | :42:12. | |
have, rightly, been criticised for having a small number of people | :42:12. | :42:18. | |
exerting influence. Are they wrong for exerting that level of | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
influence? The strength of the Labour Party has been being a | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
grassroots organisation drawing strength from the communities that | :42:25. | :42:30. | |
we live and work on. The difficulty with parliamentary selection is they | :42:30. | :42:35. | |
are extremely long and expensive and difficult to navigate. Should Unite | :42:36. | :42:42. | |
be trying to control them? It is right and proper that they play a | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
part, and I would support that, but ordinary members have to look at | :42:47. | :42:51. | |
candidates across the board, including those who have not played | :42:51. | :42:55. | |
an insider role in political life, the trade unions or any other | :42:55. | :43:01. | |
movement. Len McCluskey says he can no longer go on with the activities | :43:01. | :43:06. | |
of a Labour Party in which I can face no trust. Do you back the | :43:06. | :43:15. | |
general secretary or Ed Miliband? have been a member of Unite, or the | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
T7G, as it was then, as long as I have been a member of the Labour | :43:20. | :43:29. | |
Party. -- or the T&G. Will Ed Miliband have to resign? The truth | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
is that the people who have to win the members of our party, many whom | :43:34. | :43:39. | |
are trade unionist as well, all of whom have a lot to contribute and | :43:39. | :43:44. | |
offer. They have a right to decide what happens in their own party. | :43:44. | :43:50. | |
your sympathies lie with Len McCluskey or Ed Miliband? With the | :43:50. | :43:55. | |
trade union movement and the Labour Party, both of which have worked 400 | :43:55. | :44:01. | |
that 100 years to get rights for people in this country. We have just | :44:01. | :44:05. | |
had the 65th birthday of the NHS, the coalition wants rid of it. We | :44:05. | :44:11. | |
need to stick together. McClusky said that Shadow Cabinet was in the | :44:11. | :44:17. | |
lead in initiating this attack. have not seen the Falkirk report and | :44:17. | :44:20. | |
I am not in the Shadow Cabinet. I don't know why the police were | :44:20. | :44:25. | |
called in, I have not seen the report. If that was the decision, it | :44:25. | :44:29. | |
would have been made for a reason. What law is alleged to have been | :44:29. | :44:35. | |
broken? I have not seen the Falkirk report, I do not expect the leader | :44:36. | :44:40. | |
of the Labour Party would call the police in likely, now it is up to | :44:41. | :44:43. | |
the police to investigate without interference. What you have seen | :44:43. | :44:48. | |
over the last few days is that this party takes this sort of thing | :44:48. | :44:52. | |
really seriously. You will seize on concrete recommendations from Ed | :44:52. | :44:57. | |
Miliband about how we will rebuild democracy within our party. Without | :44:57. | :45:00. | |
ending the link with ordinary working people across this country | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
who rely on both the Labour Party and the unions for a better life. I | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
wish we could say the same from other political parties. We have not | :45:08. | :45:12. | |
been that openness or acceptance from the Conservatives about their | :45:12. | :45:22. | |
:45:22. | :45:31. | ||
It is true that if you're going to reduce unions' of undue political | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
influence and been s'like selection, you are going to have to clear up | :45:35. | :45:45. | |
:45:45. | :45:45. | ||
your own house? -- in things like. It is overriding Ed Miliband | :45:45. | :45:51. | |
because he is too weak. Many of these people may go on to become | :45:51. | :45:56. | |
MPs. The local Labour Party is very weak on the ground. It shows | :45:56. | :46:05. | |
effectively between two Unite candidates and one of them won. The | :46:05. | :46:13. | |
a list was given by Central Office. There is no mention of impropriety. | :46:13. | :46:19. | |
The unions tell Labour MPs how to vote. The Labour Party is | :46:19. | :46:23. | |
controlled by the unions and they're giving parliamentary passes | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
to union representatives. How do you explain the fact that Michael | :46:29. | :46:36. | |
Gove recently made John Nash - one of the biggest donors and minister | :46:36. | :46:41. | |
in the House of Lords - he put one of the biggest Tory Party donors | :46:41. | :46:51. | |
:46:51. | :46:52. | ||
into education? I work with him. Both parties have links with donors. | :46:52. | :46:58. | |
John Nash is hoping to secure a new free school. I am grateful for the | :46:58. | :47:07. | |
expertise he brings to the role. is about exerting influence. | :47:07. | :47:12. | |
accept that. Which donors make donations to all the political | :47:12. | :47:20. | |
parties. -- rich donors. There is no suggestion that rich donors in | :47:20. | :47:27. | |
the Conservative Party are choosing the MPs. Unions are not rich donors. | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
They are made up of individuals paying an individual levy to the | :47:31. | :47:36. | |
trade union. They have a ballot about whether they want to donate | :47:36. | :47:43. | |
to the Labour Party. All the money they give is to the Labour Party. | :47:43. | :47:50. | |
There is a ballot. There is a huge issue here. It comes partly to | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
political funding. I think the real problem with the influence within | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
Labour - unions do some fantastic work - I am very pleased with some | :48:01. | :48:07. | |
of it. They are getting too big and too powerful. They have incredibly | :48:07. | :48:13. | |
well-paid bosses. It is really tricky for Ed Miliband. He did not | :48:13. | :48:19. | |
win the vote among MPs. He did not win the vote among the Labour Party. | :48:20. | :48:25. | |
Allegations work it was the unions that gave them victory. I really | :48:25. | :48:31. | |
hope one of the things we can do is that we can change how party | :48:31. | :48:37. | |
funding works. It should have been bowled together for them, | :48:37. | :48:47. | |
:48:47. | :48:48. | ||
particularly when Unite accept the majority of members vote Labour. | :48:48. | :48:55. | |
is a very important issue. Is that why he is doing it? It is very | :48:55. | :49:02. | |
important. When I first came out, we all thought when Labour Party is | :49:02. | :49:06. | |
controlled by the unions. More and more has been revealed. They are | :49:06. | :49:12. | |
controlling individual selection. It has been revealed the number of | :49:12. | :49:18. | |
union officials which have been given parliamentary passes coast to | :49:18. | :49:28. | |
:49:28. | :49:31. | ||
the heart of the Labour Party. -- goes to the heart. In terms of | :49:31. | :49:36. | |
retaining grassroots support, it is failing. It is about keeping | :49:36. | :49:42. | |
grassroots Tories on board. A survey shows a 19% of Tory members | :49:42. | :49:49. | |
are seriously considering poking UKIP and others think they're not | :49:49. | :49:59. | |
:49:59. | :49:59. | ||
being respected by the leadership. I do not know how many members were | :49:59. | :50:03. | |
polled. I accept it on the face of it but this Bill is about the | :50:03. | :50:09. | |
commitment made by David Cameron about negotiating the relationship | :50:09. | :50:13. | |
again with the European Union. It would be put to a boat and it would | :50:13. | :50:23. | |
:50:23. | :50:27. | ||
be an inn/apt choice. -- 8 vote. Youth -- you accept this? I do not | :50:27. | :50:33. | |
think so. It was long before this issue really arose. I am pleased to | :50:33. | :50:38. | |
be bringing it forward. Over a generation of people have not had a | :50:38. | :50:43. | |
say in membership. It has been painful to see the Conservatives | :50:43. | :50:47. | |
try to cope with this. It really is a desperate attempt to tried to | :50:47. | :50:56. | |
play Kate UKIP. That is a great shame. -- tried to placate UKIP. | :50:56. | :51:02. | |
There should be a referendum when there is a transfer of power. But | :51:02. | :51:10. | |
does what we passed into law in the European Union Act of 2011. I think | :51:10. | :51:17. | |
that is right. I wanted to be an in/out referendum. We benefit | :51:17. | :51:20. | |
massively from being within Europe. That has to be when there was | :51:20. | :51:27. | |
something to be discussed. It was incredibly damaging. It hits the | :51:27. | :51:32. | |
economy and confidence. We see that obsession throughout the | :51:32. | :51:35. | |
Conservatives. Police say if we get rid of the European arrest warrant, | :51:35. | :51:42. | |
it will be harder for people to get justice. Ates a simple concession | :51:42. | :51:50. | |
with the Conservatives. the survey demonstrates people do not believe | :51:50. | :51:55. | |
David Cameron when he says at some point there will be a referendum. | :51:55. | :52:05. | |
:52:05. | :52:08. | ||
The number of Liberal Democrats campaigned against the referendum. | :52:08. | :52:11. | |
The Liberal Democrats campaigned for it. They have changed their | :52:11. | :52:16. | |
mind. People do not trust politicians of all parties. It is a | :52:16. | :52:22. | |
good thing to show intent. This is meant to be Conservative Party | :52:22. | :52:27. | |
policy, whether it is successful or not. It is not about to enshrining | :52:27. | :52:31. | |
in law the guarantee the British people will be given a say on and | :52:31. | :52:40. | |
in/out for it. No parliament can bind its successor. It is not a | :52:40. | :52:47. | |
complete guarantee? It is as close as it can be. Will Labour off and | :52:47. | :52:53. | |
in/out referendum? I agree with what Julian said about offering a | :52:53. | :52:57. | |
referendum at point where there is a transfer of powers. It is the | :52:57. | :53:01. | |
wrong priority at the wrong time. We have 1 million people in this | :53:01. | :53:06. | |
country who cannot get a job, who were desperately trying because the | :53:06. | :53:11. | |
economy is in such a mess. It is about the Tory Party talking about | :53:11. | :53:15. | |
their own priorities. They should concentrate on rebuilding the | :53:15. | :53:19. | |
economy. An increasing number of Labour MPs are calling for an | :53:19. | :53:25. | |
in/out referendum. Discussions privately article 4 and in/out | :53:25. | :53:35. | |
election before the next election. -- are for and in/out election. | :53:35. | :53:40. | |
colleague is also drawn in the private member's ballot. He has | :53:40. | :53:44. | |
brought in a cap on excessive charges from legal loan sharks. | :53:44. | :53:49. | |
That issue was huge in Wigan and across the country. We should make | :53:49. | :53:55. | |
these things a priority. Do you think Labour will often this? | :53:55. | :54:00. | |
have not ruled it out but there is the real issue about the economy in | :54:00. | :54:07. | |
getting it back on track. That has to be the top priority. Stay with | :54:07. | :54:10. | |
us. Now, it may be called the mother of parliaments but sometimes | :54:10. | :54:12. | |
the behaviour of its members is less than edifying. And Julian | :54:12. | :54:15. | |
Huppert here has been on the receiving end of some their more | :54:15. | :54:25. | |
:54:25. | :54:26. | ||
childish outbursts There is just The energy bill is legislating to | :54:26. | :54:34. | |
force energy companies to give people the lowest tariffs. I am | :54:34. | :54:40. | |
sorry, Mr Speaker. It is very discourteous of the house to issue | :54:40. | :54:50. | |
:54:50. | :54:51. | ||
a collective groan. -- the House. Notably, on the opposition benches. | :54:51. | :54:56. | |
It is quite inexplicable. I have called the good doctor. Let's hear | :54:56. | :55:05. | |
from him. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Speaker. This is National carers | :55:05. | :55:12. | |
Week. Will the Prime Minister join me in paying tribute...? If the | :55:12. | :55:15. | |
session has to be extended to accommodate the democratic rights | :55:15. | :55:22. | |
of members, it will be extended. The Honourable Gentleman will - are | :55:22. | :55:32. | |
:55:32. | :55:35. | ||
repeat will - be heard. Thank you. Two days ago it saw the start of | :55:35. | :55:43. | |
independent retailers month. How do you characterise that behaviour? | :55:43. | :55:49. | |
is clearly inappropriate - Beatty's bullying. It moves around. The | :55:49. | :55:57. | |
Elizna Naude sexist behaviour and deeply rude behaviour. -- deeply | :55:58. | :56:04. | |
rude. I have made comments it was bullying. It is fine. I will keep | :56:04. | :56:08. | |
going. It must make you feel pretty dreadful. And number of people have | :56:08. | :56:13. | |
come up to me and thanked me for commenting on it. They choose not | :56:13. | :56:18. | |
to stand up on speed because of the atmosphere. To get more women into | :56:18. | :56:24. | |
Parliament, we have to show it is a mature place. Do you agree with | :56:24. | :56:30. | |
that? It does seem extremely pathetic. I would say PMQs is a | :56:30. | :56:35. | |
national embarrassment. It shows the worst of politics. One thing I | :56:35. | :56:40. | |
have been surprised about since I got elected is how much the party's | :56:40. | :56:43. | |
work cross-party and with other people from other size to get | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
through things in the national interest. Parties what we need to | :56:47. | :56:54. | |
be showing. Not that childish behaviour. There is a difference | :56:54. | :57:01. | |
between that sort of cheering for an individual - at the Theatre of | :57:01. | :57:07. | |
PMQs - it is quite interesting and entertaining. It is an | :57:07. | :57:13. | |
embarrassment. There will be those who can see it differently. This | :57:13. | :57:19. | |
barracking of individual MPs is totally unacceptable, isn't it? | :57:19. | :57:23. | |
is. I do not entirely agree that Prime Minister's Questions is a | :57:23. | :57:28. | |
national embarrassment. The mood of the House is important. You get a | :57:28. | :57:32. | |
feel of what other people think by what is happening around you. It is | :57:32. | :57:40. | |
quite isolated. What breaks through is the feeling as to how the House | :57:40. | :57:45. | |
reacts. It should not be aimed at an individual. That aspect is wrong. | :57:45. | :57:55. | |
:57:55. | :57:58. | ||
Theatre of Parliament is part of it. Has John Bercow helped matters? | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
think it is a very tough job for the Speaker to try to control | :58:02. | :58:06. | |
things. He has not always done things I consider most helpful. We | :58:07. | :58:11. | |
want to keep energy but it should be about responding to what people | :58:11. | :58:21. | |
:58:21. | :58:26. | ||
say. It needs to stop for everybody. . The question was Fred Perry was | :58:26. | :58:29. | |
the last Brit to win Wimbledon 77 years ago. Which of these facts | :58:29. | :58:32. | |
about life in Britain in 1936 is not true? A) university graduates | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
had two votes. B) a loaf of bread cost 4.5 pence. C) Women had to | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
have a licence to wear trousers in public. Or d) the average house | :58:39. | :58:42. | |
price was �550. Probably the women. Well done. You are right. Thank you | :58:42. | :58:47. | |
to my three guests - the three MPs. For 1 o'clock News is starting over | :58:47. | :58:54. |