Browse content similar to 10/01/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Tonight a truly British network. The Transport Secretary on high- | :00:08. | :00:13. | |
speed rail. HS2, no thank you. | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
Not everyone is rejoicing at plans to boost the economy by spending | :00:17. | :00:22. | |
�33 billion on a rail link from London to Birmingham and beyond. | :00:23. | :00:27. | |
The upset of having one's house taken away from one, without any | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
say so. How could you not care about that. We will debate whether | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
the money might be better spent elsewhere, as the transport | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
minister faces critics of the project. Also tonight: I'm very | :00:40. | :00:44. | |
confident they will make a decision in the best interests the future of | :00:44. | :00:47. | |
Scotland. Scotland's First Minister calls the timing of a referendum on | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
independence. We will ask the Scottish Secretary if he has other | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
ideas. Moon while, in Westminster: We are on the river for Ed | :00:54. | :00:59. | |
Milliband's new year, new speech. Just don't use the word "relaunch ". | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
Ed Milliband recognises there are difficult economic choices ahead, a | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
Shadow Cabinet minister explains whether this is leaderership or | :01:07. | :01:13. | |
followership. And who is going to be the man to challenge Barack | :01:13. | :01:21. | |
Obama. Bonjour, je m' appelle Mitt Romney. Many voters dislike Mitt | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
Romney, but he may emerge as the last man standing. We will hear | :01:26. | :01:32. | |
from one of his more surprising supporters. | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
From the time of the first Roman roads, major transportation | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
projects have had huge economic, political and social and economic | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
consequences. The going ahead with the HS2, the high-speed rail link | :01:44. | :01:49. | |
from London in order warts, the Government is putting taxpayer | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
billions to linking the south-east with the Midlands and eventually | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
the north. Talks with the Scottish Government are promiseded. Critics | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
say the money would be better spent on other things. We will explore | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
that argument in a moment. The project today was called by | :02:04. | :02:12. | |
some a white elephant, and by the Government, a truly British network. | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
When the first-ever railway lines were built in the 1820s, the | :02:16. | :02:18. | |
reaction of the people was described as fear and fascination. | :02:18. | :02:22. | |
Now the subject of a new exhibition in the National Railway You museum, | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
what was described then as the ruination of the countryside, | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
became a permanent part of Britain's landscape. | :02:31. | :02:38. | |
200 years later, as the Government finally enforces the country's | :02:38. | :02:40. | |
biggest-ever infrastructure endeavour. Still plenty of | :02:40. | :02:43. | |
fascination and plenty fear. could have gone for the short-term | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
option, rely on a patch and mend approach, loaf our railway networks | :02:49. | :02:55. | |
overstretch, overburdened -- leave our railway networks overstretch, | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
overburdened and overresilient. The price of that would have been paid | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
in lost business, lower growth, fewer jobs and more misery for | :03:03. | :03:09. | |
passengers on a network that could not cope with the capacity. | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
When built, high-speed 2 will depart from a beefed up Euston | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
Station in London, and then head to a newer station in Birmingham, | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
taking 45 minutes. All going to plan will be built in 2026. Phase | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
two will see trains heading to man chester, and cutting the journey to | :03:27. | :03:32. | |
one hour and eight minutes. Another spur will travel to Leeds, where a | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
journey to the capital could be cut to an hour-and-a-half. Phase two is | :03:37. | :03:47. | |
pencilled in for completion by 2033. HS2, no thank you. What is designed | :03:47. | :03:53. | |
by architects in London, has a real impact elsewhere, especially in the | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
illusion greenle valleys in the Chilterns, home to the safest Tory | :03:57. | :04:04. | |
seats in Christendom, and hope to the most vociferous opponents. | :04:04. | :04:10. | |
This is the leader of Chiltern district council, and a member of | :04:10. | :04:15. | |
the anti-HS2 movement, 51M. How much of that was negotiateded with | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
locals when route planning was happening? Nothing was negotiated | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
with locals, they decide what they want to do. This is the Department | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
of Transport? Yes, they don't negotiate, they say this is where | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
the route will be. You can make a protestation, and say we don't | :04:29. | :04:32. | |
think that is quite right. And sometimes they listen and sometimes | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
they don't. We understand from the map, | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
although it is not 100% clear, that it will now be 50 yards in that | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
direction. Alex Sheffield's 450- year-old home is right on the new | :04:43. | :04:47. | |
line. The house itself will be spared, but much her garden and | :04:47. | :04:52. | |
farm will be bulldozed, according to the latest plans. So when people | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
accuse you of being a nimby, Alex, what do you say? That I challenge | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
anyone, in had my position, not to be a nimby. If they had their house, | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
that was the upset of having one's house take be away from one, | :05:08. | :05:16. | |
without any say so. How could you not care about that. | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
A few hundred miles further up the line, the people set to benefit | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
from phase two of the project are much more enthusiastic. We initial | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
low asked our members about high- speed rail, and whether they wanted | :05:28. | :05:32. | |
to cover the region, 90% of members said they were in favour of it | :05:32. | :05:36. | |
coming to the Leeds city region. That is because it firms up their | :05:37. | :05:39. | |
investment plans, it gives them certaintyer for the future. Which | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
is very much what -- certainty for the future, which is very much what | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
business wants. It will also mean it will attract new business to the | :05:46. | :05:49. | |
area, because of the improved transport connections. | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
And 40 miles south of Leeds, is Sheffield, the Deputy Prime | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
Minister's constituency, though one wonders whether he will still be in | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
that post by 2033, when HS2 arrives. It it is really great news, it it | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
is great news for the whole country. I think especially for the great | :06:05. | :06:10. | |
cities of the north. Leeds, Sheffield, done caster, you name it. | :06:10. | :06:15. | |
For so long - Doncaster, you name it, for so long the Government has | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
spent time worrying about the south-east, and this is a big | :06:18. | :06:23. | |
investment in the future, linking north and south together. So | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
everybody, no matter where you live, particularly in the north of the | :06:26. | :06:29. | |
country, will share in prosperity in the future. There are plenty of | :06:29. | :06:34. | |
people who say the Government's motivation in pressing ahead with | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
HS2 are more political than economic. Certainly connecting the | :06:38. | :06:41. | |
West Midlands, where there are plenty of marginal seats, will play | :06:41. | :06:46. | |
well on the doorsteps in 2015. The Tories could legitimately say they | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
are not just focused on the south- east, but economically in the north. | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
If the high-speed rail service the economies of the North West and the | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
Midlands, and boosts them, the Conservatives will have made a huge | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
impact in the two regions that are amongst the killing grounds in the | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
general elections, where Governments are made and broken, | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
stuffed through on marginal seats, the Conservatives were 19 seats | :07:07. | :07:13. | |
short in the last elections, in the West Midlands alone there are 24 | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
seats, where close to Labour F they get a benefit from it, it might | :07:17. | :07:20. | |
make a difference at the next election. | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
The think-tank of economic affairs, normally agrees with Conservative | :07:23. | :07:28. | |
Party politics, but not on this one. One of the reasons that people | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
think HS2 has gained support in the Conservative Party, is because that | :07:31. | :07:35. | |
party did so badly in the general election in areas like the West | :07:35. | :07:40. | |
Midlands and the north of England. This is a big carrot to would | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
voters in those regions. Voters -- woo voters in those regions. Voters | :07:44. | :07:47. | |
understand they will have to pay for it with their tax money, they | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
are not so easily fooled. Eventhough the Government may have | :07:51. | :07:57. | |
said full steam ahead,ed today might also start a number of ma -- | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
ahead, today might also start a number of major legal challenges. | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
But things may have of moved on by then that we may be able to | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
teleport between cities. I'm joined by the transport | :08:09. | :08:15. | |
minister and three opponents of the scheme, Gillian Tett, a group of 18 | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
local authorities opposed to the scheme. The head of the woodland | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
Trust, and the head of the city Group A M. Why is now a good time | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
to promise to spent �33 billion on shaving minutes off getting from | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
Birmingham to London? The objective of pursuing this ideal, shared by | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
all three parties in the parliament, is not to shave time off travel | :08:41. | :08:46. | |
between Birmingham and London, but to create economic prosperity in | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
the north, and to deal with the chronic overcrowding that we are | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
anticipating on the railways. The numbers on the railways have | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
doubled in the last ten years, and the West Coast Mainline, which we | :08:56. | :09:00. | |
have spent money on is almost full already. We will have people | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
priceded off the railise or standing for very long distance -- | :09:04. | :09:09. | |
railways, or standing for very long distances. Why not get on with it, | :09:09. | :09:13. | |
why wait in until 2026? transport minister promised to | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
accelerate the timetable the we have a complicated process in | :09:17. | :09:22. | |
parliament, we have to listen to the inch by inch on the line | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
through parliament the bill won't be ready until 2015. We have to | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
look at it properly. When you lock at all these problems and you talk | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
overcrowding, you know commuter trains are seriously overcrowded. | :09:34. | :09:39. | |
All the possiblities you had, this is by far the best one, is it? | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
because that would be a fair question, if we were doing nothing | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
else. The reality is we have got, never mind HS2 apart from that we | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
have the biggest rail investment programme in this country since | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
Victorian times. CrossRail going you awe head, Thameslink. You have | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
chosen to give priority to this in terms of money, not a new airport | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
in the south-east or commuter trains? We are doing commuter | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
trains, Southern we authorised another �80 million for Southern | :10:07. | :10:11. | |
over the Christmas prd. We have a rail investment programme taking | :10:11. | :10:17. | |
place now. HS2 has a lead-in period. When CrossRail is completed that | :10:17. | :10:22. | |
budget it be transferred to HS2. Let's go to those yet to be | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
convince. The changes to the project, longer tunnels, more | :10:25. | :10:29. | |
tunnels, that kind of thing, does that hp you, because it means the | :10:29. | :10:34. | |
areas -- help you, because it means the areas will not be soed bad low | :10:34. | :10:41. | |
affected as you see it? It is not about woods and fields. As local | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
authorities remember used to the fact of taking strategic and | :10:45. | :10:47. | |
controversial decisions. The problem for the Government is when | :10:47. | :10:52. | |
you are spending �32 billion worth of your money and my money, every | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
viewer's money, you have to make sure you are spending on good value | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
for money and in the national interest. The problem they have is | :10:59. | :11:01. | |
virtually every independent observer, looking at this, thinks | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
this is a very poor business case, it it is poor value for money, and | :11:05. | :11:12. | |
the national interest isn't served. You are talking about national | :11:12. | :11:17. | |
interest, but you are thinking about Buckinghamshire and nimbyism? | :11:17. | :11:20. | |
That is the slur from the Labour champions, this is Gordon Brown's | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
scheme initially. The argument for this and the Transport Select | :11:24. | :11:30. | |
Committee looked at it in great detail, they said don't throw the | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
acronym nimby around, this is about justifying a business expenditure | :11:34. | :11:42. | |
of �32 billion around in a time of maer jor austerity. The �32 -- | :11:42. | :11:50. | |
Major austerity. The �32 billion kicks in 20 26, when CrossRail ends, | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
the budget will transfer to HS2 we are carrying on with investment in | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
the railways now, in the way they have don advocated to do in terms | :11:59. | :12:02. | |
of expenditure. I don't accept that case. The transport select commity | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
said there was a good case for the line. In the business case, you | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
have to spend back every pound you spend �2 paying back. Those figures | :12:11. | :12:18. | |
have gone down. You accept that? don't accept that. It is �1.76 to | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
�1 for the first phase and less for the second. How much extra have you | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
had to spend on longer tunnels in the hope of buying off local | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
opposition? It it is not a question buying off local opposition, but | :12:31. | :12:34. | |
listening to people's consultation responses. How much did that cost? | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
If you take one of the tunnels questioned in the Commons today. | :12:38. | :12:43. | |
Because we are avoiding certain things we are saving money. So the | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
net cost of building more tunnels? There is a net cost, but it is not | :12:47. | :12:52. | |
significant, particularly, in terms of the overall scheme. The overall | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
top. Nothing is significant concerned to that? The top line | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
figure has not changed significantly from today's | :12:58. | :13:02. | |
announcement. It is worth saying there is a 60% cushion to allow for | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
overspend in that �33 million. Martin said it was not about | :13:08. | :13:12. | |
woodlands, however important they are. What is your anxiety the | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
woodlands? It is about the woodlands from the Woodland Trust | :13:16. | :13:21. | |
pr pective. It is important to weigh up -- perspective, it is | :13:21. | :13:28. | |
important to weigh up the economic case, we think the cost will be too | :13:28. | :13:35. | |
great. There will be 19 ancient woods destroyed by the route, and a | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
further 27 damage. They are a rainforest, irreplacable, and the | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
richest wildlife habitats, we believe that level loss is | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
unacceptable. -- level of loss is unacceptable. Aren't some going to | :13:50. | :13:53. | |
be relocateded? It is impossible to relocate something that has been | :13:53. | :13:58. | |
there hundreds of years. It is a unique habitat, not disturbed for | :13:58. | :14:03. | |
about 400 years, you can't just lift it up and move it. Why are you | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
promising to relocate some of the ancient woodlands, that sounds like | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
a nonsensical statement, if it is ancient it is ancient? We are | :14:12. | :14:17. | |
planting millions of trees along the line. They won't be ancient | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
woodland? We are listening carefully to what people have say. | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
There is 22 miles tunnelment compared to 14 in the consultation. | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
56 miles will be in deep cutting. Half the line will be unseen. And | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
then the Chilterns AONB, we accept is a sensitive area, two miles will | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
be on the surfacement we have taken great steps to protect the | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
environment consequences. We will see a shift of four-and-a-half | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
million flights, nine million car journies each year on to the | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
railways, that will have a carbon benefit. It is not as simple to say | :14:51. | :14:56. | |
the tunnels will mitigate the loss of ancient woodland, cutting and | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
covering will destroy the habitat. It is not a valid mitigation. | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
Planting trees, we accept it is great a lot trees will be plant in | :15:04. | :15:10. | |
the corridor, but destroying ancient woodland needs replacement. | :15:10. | :15:13. | |
You are against the overall economic cautious you think there | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
is a better use of the money? is right -- economic case, you | :15:17. | :15:23. | |
think there is a better use of the money? I think so. These public | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
sector probgtjs always end up spending -- projects always end up | :15:27. | :15:30. | |
spending more than the politicians think. The benefits will be smaller, | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
the numbers don't make any sense. If you want to spend the money, | :15:33. | :15:38. | |
spend it on something else, airports, more motorways, other | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
places in rail. The minister is making the point that other things | :15:42. | :15:48. | |
are being done? They are spending �32 billion, it is a huge sum of | :15:48. | :15:52. | |
money and misallocation of resources, you could renovate much | :15:52. | :15:57. | |
more of thek cysting rail structure. You would get more benefits -- | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
existing railway structure, you would get more benefits for Britain, | :16:01. | :16:07. | |
and commuter lines. I don't buy we should spend �32 billion, a | :16:07. | :16:12. | |
thousand pounds per income taxpayer, it is a white elephant. Plenty of | :16:12. | :16:16. | |
business people will disagree and are enthusiastic, those in | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds are hugely enthusiastic because | :16:19. | :16:23. | |
they see the economic benefits to the areas? There is huge economic | :16:23. | :16:26. | |
benefits but the costs are muchp higher. You could help these | :16:26. | :16:29. | |
businesses and these parts of the UK in other, cheaper, more | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
efficient and more effective ways. We are helping them, we are | :16:33. | :16:35. | |
spending huge amounts of money on transport since the general | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
election, despite the difficult economic circumstances because we | :16:38. | :16:41. | |
recognise investment in transport is very good for the economy. | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
Perpouring ahead with road and rail in a way that has -- we are pouring | :16:45. | :16:49. | |
ahead with road and rail in had a way that hasn't been done before. | :16:49. | :16:56. | |
There is a 60% cushion in there Because we recognise that projects | :16:56. | :17:00. | |
from the public sector have a tendency to overshoot. We have | :17:00. | :17:03. | |
allowed that by an overestimate in the cost. Did you see anything in | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
the argument being made in the film that perhaps some this is about | :17:07. | :17:09. | |
politics, helping out the north economically, but showing the | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
Government cares about the north, because that is where the votes | :17:12. | :17:17. | |
are? I think all Governments fall for the idea that some big pros | :17:17. | :17:23. | |
teenagous project is like a silver bull -- prestigious project is like | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
a silver bullet. We all care about the country and want economic | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
growth, the fact that one scheme will do that is something all | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
Governments fall forment I remember Concorde, the Channel Tunnel, the | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
Dome, they are delusions. What brings growth is investment in the | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
infrastructure. This is infrastructure investment? | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
important point in the road and rail infrastructure around the | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
entire country that people used to. They are the unsexy, unglamorous | :17:54. | :17:58. | |
schemes that bring the growth. There was an announcement from the | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
Chancellor late last year of a whole lot of road and rail schemes. | :18:02. | :18:06. | |
There was further announcements from the Transport Secretary about | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
local authority schemes, we are doing that month on month. You are | :18:11. | :18:14. | |
spending �32 billion on this mass you have why you, untested project, | :18:14. | :18:18. | |
which is -- massive unrested project, which is unlikely to bring | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
in the benefits the smaller projects could bring. There you | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
could have the private sector involved, less money spent from the | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
tax-payers. Let's not forget the higher taxes and national debt that | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
will be needed to pay for this project will hit the economy. | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
of all, we are doing both, the smaller projects and the large | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
projects, not all the eggs in one basket. As I have explained the | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
money from CrossRail we are spending will be transferred to HS | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
on the budget line. We are not diverting money from anything else? | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
You could transfer this money to something else. There is other ways | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
of creating regeneration. Do you think there is any way of stopping | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
this project? Absolutely. Legalle challenges? You picked up the point | :18:58. | :19:03. | |
Earl -- Legal challenges? picked up the point earlier, the | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
cost benefit ratio of this has gone down. It has progressively gone | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
down every time the numbers are rework. Half of that benefit acues | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
on the vacuous assumption that no businessman ever works on a trin. | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
Clearly we can win the economic -- train, clearly we can win the | :19:18. | :19:22. | |
economic argument because the with business case doesn't stand up. | :19:22. | :19:27. | |
the political argument, prominent members of this Government in your | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
area, they can't be very happy it, presumably, although they are loyal | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
members of the Government? I can't talk for them. Riot along the route, | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
those of us who have -- right along the route, those of us who have | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
studied the route, know this is a really poor value for money, we can | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
win that argument. These are very prominent members of the Government, | :19:47. | :19:53. | |
we know some have been very vocal? If you were in the Commons today | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
you will have seen a broad level of support from all three parties, | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
four if you include the nationalists as well. Of course | :20:01. | :20:06. | |
there were comments and criticisms and suggestions for improvements. | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
It was a positive debate and people understand it. The concept has been | :20:11. | :20:18. | |
bought by parliament as a whole. If the Scottish Government get | :20:18. | :20:24. | |
their way, in autumn of 2014, a few weeks after the 700th anniversary | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
of the Battle of Bannockburn, Scottish voters will decide whether | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
the 300-year-old union should end, and two independent states should | :20:31. | :20:38. | |
co-exist instead of the UK. Ours Scottish political editor joins me | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
-- our Scottish political editor joins me from outside the Scottish | :20:43. | :20:48. | |
Parliament. Is this August 14th date set in stone? As far as the | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
Scottish Government is concerned it is. During the run up to the | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
Scottish elections last year, it was thought a referendum would take | :20:55. | :21:01. | |
place in the latter half of the current Holyrood term. He has | :21:01. | :21:07. | |
announced tonightle following consultation with cabinet | :21:07. | :21:10. | |
colleagues he has said autumn 2014. There is a consultation process to | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
be launch very shortly on the nature of the referendum, the | :21:13. | :21:17. | |
procedure of the referendum, then a bill to bring it about. And then | :21:17. | :21:22. | |
there would be a breathing space to allow the voters to digest the | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
concept and then you have the referendum itself. Course this are | :21:26. | :21:31. | |
other issues to be borne in mind. First of all, why is he delaying | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
the referendum at all. Believes the Scots will go for independence when | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
they feel self-of confident and the current economic circumstances | :21:38. | :21:41. | |
aren't there. Secondly, there is the issue Mr Salmond is not | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
referring to atle all, which is the UK Government says his plans are | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
illegal, but he is exceeding the devolved powers, he is simply | :21:49. | :21:54. | |
dismissings that would a wave disDane. Whatever the legal | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
position, -- wave of disDane. Whatever the legal position this is | :21:59. | :22:03. | |
fraughter for the Government? they are seen to be interfering | :22:03. | :22:11. | |
rather than inter veening, aglesive -- intervening, aggressively rather | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
than in a constructive fashion, there is a danger are from the UK | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
perspective of a backlash into Scotland. Would be seen as unwanted | :22:21. | :22:25. | |
interference, since the Government here has an SNP ma rt Jo, which | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
they won on the -- majority, which they won on the promise of a | :22:30. | :22:34. | |
referendum for independent. You can say, at the very least, the people | :22:34. | :22:44. | |
:22:44. | :22:45. | ||
Scotland were not deterred from the SNP's perspective. First of all, on | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
this date, autumn 2014, is that fine with you? We want to have the | :22:50. | :22:53. | |
referendum decideded and get on with it as soon as possible. | :22:53. | :22:56. | |
I think the longer we delay, the greater the economic uncertain toe | :22:56. | :23:04. | |
and the risk that those -- uncertainty and the risk it poses | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
to jobs. What I said today in the House of Commons Scotland faces the | :23:09. | :23:14. | |
biggest, hissorle kal political decision we will ever take as a | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
country -- historical, political decision we will ever take as a | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
country.Le Alex Salmond has said the debate is we will have it in | :23:23. | :23:28. | |
autumn 2014? He has said he would like to do. Our first problem is | :23:28. | :23:30. | |
the Scottish Parliament, as things currently stand, doesn't have the | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
power to do this. We need to give them the legal basis for the | :23:35. | :23:38. | |
referendum. What we're offering to do. You now have plenty of time to | :23:38. | :23:43. | |
do that? What we are offering to do is work with them, so the Scottish | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
people can have of confidence about the legal arrangements for the | :23:46. | :23:50. | |
referendum. We want it to be a fair referendum. The way in which it is | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
support by the Electoral Commission, the rules of it, are clear, and | :23:53. | :23:58. | |
then we will get a clear outcome. Do you have red lines, things like | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
you want a yes/no vot on independence, if there was a third | :24:03. | :24:07. | |
-- vote on independence, if there was a third option would you not | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
negotiate in the same way as you are suggesting? We have started a | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
process of consulting with people across Scotland. As huge decision | :24:14. | :24:18. | |
and we need to get it right and don't fall out about the process. | :24:18. | :24:22. | |
There would be nothing worse getting to the end and deciding | :24:22. | :24:25. | |
this in court rather than the ballot box. For each us in Scotland | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
we need to consider that. I wo you say, from today, let's debate how | :24:30. | :24:35. | |
we carry out the referendum. are not ruling anything out now? | :24:35. | :24:38. | |
what we have said. Whatever your position legally, politically, as | :24:39. | :24:41. | |
you know, Mr Salmond can make the running on this, it is very | :24:41. | :24:46. | |
difficult for you actually to stop him? We recognise that he had had a | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
very important electoral victory last year. He had had a significant | :24:50. | :24:55. | |
pledge to ensure that there was a referendum on independence. We want | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
to ensure, working with the Scottish Government that referendum | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
can take place, without legal challenge, that the way in which it | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
is carried out is fair, so the rules are clear, so the franchise | :25:05. | :25:10. | |
is clear, and then at the end, we have a simple question that | :25:10. | :25:13. | |
clarifies, is Scotland going to continue as part of the most | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
successful partnership of nations in history, or go it alone. Indeed, | :25:17. | :25:22. | |
all that said, still has you over a barrel. Even if this were a | :25:22. | :25:25. | |
consultative referendum, even if you said it was not legally binding, | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
politically it is profoundly important for all the reasons you | :25:29. | :25:32. | |
have. Therefore, the Scottish First Minister, will, in the end, set the | :25:32. | :25:36. | |
terms of? What I think the First Minister recognises, that we need | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
to talk about this, we need to work together. What people will not for | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
give politician, regardless of which parliament they long -- | :25:43. | :25:46. | |
forgive politicians, regardless of which parliament or parties they | :25:46. | :25:53. | |
support, they will not for -- forgive us if the bickering and | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
squabbling gets in the way of the future. I want to work with him to | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
make sure it is done appropriately. Let's have a fair referendum with a | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
clear set of rules. Let's have a straight forward debate about | :26:05. | :26:10. | |
England in the UK or going it alone. Within, everything is pretty much | :26:10. | :26:14. | |
much up for grabs there are no absolute noes in your position | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
about the question. You are not going to say there can't be a third | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
choice, you will not rule out autumn 2014, you are not actually | :26:21. | :26:26. | |
going to lay down the law at all? What we have said today is we want | :26:26. | :26:29. | |
a process that gets on with the referendum. I want that as soon as | :26:29. | :26:32. | |
possible. The First Minister argues for to be in two-and-a-half years | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
time. I think the longer we leave it, the greater the effect on jobs | :26:36. | :26:41. | |
and people's livelihoods, that is not good for any of us in Scotland. | :26:41. | :26:46. | |
We have said we want a referendum played by a fair set rules, that | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
the Electoral Commission can superadvise and we can get on with | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
the debate -- supervise, and we can get on with the debate without | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
anyone having an advantage over anyone else. We have to be able to | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
do it, at the present time the legal power doesn't exist, let's | :27:00. | :27:03. | |
work together and establish that. To make sure in Scotland we have | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
this decision which will be the biggest political decision of our | :27:06. | :27:12. | |
lives in Scotland. It is important we get it right. | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
It is not a relaunch, apparently, although it may look like one. | :27:16. | :27:19. | |
After weeks of bad newspaper headlines and dismal personal | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
approval ratings in the opinion polls, Ed Milliband tried to | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
toughen up and reshape his image today, talking with difficult | :27:27. | :27:30. | |
economic choices for Labour, and challenging the Prime Minister to | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
bring on the battle about crony capitalism, but is anyone listening | :27:34. | :27:39. | |
to the Labour leader. We look at the hard facts of opposition. | :27:39. | :27:43. | |
The time until the next election, the time Ed Milliband has left to | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
connect with and convince voters is ticking locally away. There is | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
still a long time left, to be sure, but, by his own admission, there is | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
a lot of ground to of cover. His first speech of the new year, | :27:55. | :27:59. | |
at times, felt more like the first speech of a new leader, rather than | :27:59. | :28:04. | |
one who has been in the job for over a year. I want to explain the | :28:04. | :28:09. | |
principles, which will guide my leadership. I want to set out a new | :28:09. | :28:13. | |
approach. Labour, said, had had to change are the party that ran | :28:13. | :28:17. | |
Britain for 13 years. Sometimes in Government, it felt like, instead | :28:17. | :28:22. | |
of building the new economy, we were patching up the unfairness of | :28:22. | :28:28. | |
the old economy. Fairness wasn't hard wired into our economy and | :28:28. | :28:34. | |
society. So that, as well as the necessity of the deficit we will | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
face, means Labour needs a new approach. There were new policies | :28:39. | :28:41. | |
today, like compelling the energy companies to you have the elderly | :28:41. | :28:45. | |
their cheapest tarrifs. Buter for the most part, Mr Miliband was | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
expanding on themes that we have heard before. Themes he said that | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
David Cameron was now trying to steal. I say to the Prime Minister, | :28:53. | :28:58. | |
who are you trying to kid? Nobody is going to be believe you came | :28:58. | :29:02. | |
into politics to end crony capitalism. No-one will believe | :29:02. | :29:09. | |
that is what gets you out bed in the morning. Now that he has | :29:09. | :29:15. | |
accepted this is the battleground of politics, I say, bring on. | :29:15. | :29:19. | |
Because Labour are the people that can show that we can deliver | :29:19. | :29:24. | |
fairness in tough times, and we are the only party that can deliver | :29:24. | :29:28. | |
fairness in tough times. But there is an uncomfortable | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
question for the Labour leader. the polling seems to suggest that | :29:32. | :29:36. | |
your messages on things like fairness, on the squeezed middle, | :29:37. | :29:41. | |
on vested interests, on responsible capitalism, on the riots on Rupert | :29:41. | :29:47. | |
Murdoch, are all chiming very well. Keep going. Chiming very well with | :29:47. | :29:52. | |
the public, that same polling doesn't seem to suggest that your | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
party or yourself are cutting through on the issues, why do you | :29:55. | :29:59. | |
think that is? We had a terrible result in the 2010 general election. | :29:59. | :30:04. | |
I think people sometimes forget about this, we got 29% of the vote. | :30:04. | :30:09. | |
That is the second-lowest vote since universal suffrage was | :30:09. | :30:15. | |
introduce. That is pretty bad, right I don't think anybody is | :30:15. | :30:18. | |
saying we are at that position in the opinion polls. This is a party | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
embark on a process of recovery, but it is hard, of course it is. | :30:22. | :30:26. | |
The polling doesn't lock all that great for Mr Miliband, if you lock | :30:26. | :30:29. | |
at the approval rates of other leaders of the opposition at a | :30:29. | :30:33. | |
simple later point during their tenure, only -- similar point | :30:33. | :30:40. | |
during their tenure, only Michael Foot and one other does worse than | :30:40. | :30:44. | |
Mr Miliband. Political leaders need to do more than find popular | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
policies. It is not that simple. It is not about the policies, it it is | :30:48. | :30:52. | |
about the belief in the leadership of a political party and the leader | :30:52. | :30:56. | |
themselves, increasingly, and their ability to make those thingsp | :30:56. | :31:00. | |
happen. That is where Ed Milliband has a problem, in the same way as | :31:00. | :31:02. | |
Neil Kinnock, people believed in many of the policies he was | :31:02. | :31:05. | |
espousing in 1992, but he didn't become Prime Minister, because | :31:05. | :31:09. | |
people didn't believe he would effectively put them into practice. | :31:09. | :31:12. | |
In contrast, people thought many of the same things the policies Tony | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
Blair proposed in 1997, but they did believe that Tony Blair would | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
make them work. The danger for the Labour leader is | :31:19. | :31:24. | |
that a media narrative develops, small Tories magnified into a | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
crisis of leadership -- small stories magnified into a crisis of | :31:27. | :31:33. | |
leadership. We have to buy shares in Miliband | :31:33. | :31:37. | |
ban, at the moment people think are thinking -- Ed Milliband, at the | :31:37. | :31:40. | |
moment people are thinking is it worth it, down the road will he | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
leave me better off in the future. At the moment people don't have a | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
clear idea of what Ed Milliband is about. That had come, it would have | :31:47. | :31:52. | |
been foolish to flesh out the ideas in the first 12 months. Now we are | :31:52. | :31:57. | |
in the second year of the full year of the Ed Milliband leadership it | :31:57. | :32:02. | |
can't come quick enough for me. Leader of the opposition is one the | :32:02. | :32:08. | |
hardest job in politics. Even so, would be very helpful, in silencing | :32:08. | :32:11. | |
his critics, if Ed Milliband could show a bit more progress on the | :32:11. | :32:15. | |
journey back to power. Rachel Reeves, saw on the end of | :32:15. | :32:19. | |
the report, is the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Can you | :32:19. | :32:24. | |
help us out as to what your party for, in this age of no of-money | :32:24. | :32:28. | |
politics. In terms of the Government's tax rises, and the | :32:28. | :32:31. | |
Government's spending cuts, what could you guarantee to reverse, if | :32:31. | :32:35. | |
you get back into power? That is the thing, we can't guarantee to | :32:35. | :32:38. | |
reverse in of the cuts, or any of the tax increases, that the | :32:38. | :32:42. | |
Government have put through. And that's because we now know, because | :32:42. | :32:45. | |
the Chancellor got up and said it in his Autumn Statement. That after | :32:45. | :32:48. | |
the next election. There is nothing the Government is doing that is bad | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
enough that you could say we have to reverse that, not a single | :32:52. | :32:55. | |
thing? We don't know what the economic situation would be in the | :32:55. | :32:58. | |
next election the after the last election, the Conservative and | :32:58. | :33:02. | |
Liberal Democrats said they would eliminate the deficit by theen the | :33:02. | :33:06. | |
parliament. We know -- by the end of the next parliament, we know | :33:06. | :33:09. | |
will be well into the next parliament. It would be | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
irresponsible in the economic environment we face to reverse any | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
of the cuts. Your party, Alistair Darling said you would cut it in | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
half by the end of the part, you have abandon that? We haven't | :33:21. | :33:25. | |
abandoned that. You know how to cut the deficit then? What we said at | :33:25. | :33:29. | |
the last election, and it was said, we would half the deficit during | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
the course this parliament. That is a �40 billion difference between | :33:33. | :33:35. | |
what the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats were doing, compared to | :33:35. | :33:39. | |
us. Let's remember, at the Autumn Statement, Osbourne born had to | :33:39. | :33:45. | |
admit this country -- George Osborne had to admit this country | :33:45. | :33:49. | |
would be borrowing more than they plan, not because they haven't | :33:49. | :33:52. | |
increased taxes or cut hard enough, but unemployment is rising and | :33:52. | :33:57. | |
there is not enough taxes. interesting for people watching is | :33:57. | :34:01. | |
you were very clear in the last 18 months, this Government is reckless, | :34:01. | :34:05. | |
cutting too far, too fast, you are very clear on that, but you are not | :34:05. | :34:09. | |
clear on what you would do? They are cutting too far and fast. The | :34:09. | :34:13. | |
result of their decisions means the economic recovery, which was under | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
way a year of-and-a-half ago, has been choc off. The result is rising | :34:17. | :34:21. | |
unemployment, more than a million young people out of work, growth | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
flatlining. You can't say what you would reverse, if you are right, | :34:24. | :34:28. | |
you must be able to say and give us some idea what you would change? | :34:28. | :34:31. | |
we were in power today, we would implement a five-point plan for | :34:32. | :34:36. | |
jobs and growth, to get the economy back on track, to get unemployment | :34:36. | :34:39. | |
down, to help small businesses with a national insurance holiday, to | :34:39. | :34:43. | |
help those young people. Also, crucially, by getting jobs and | :34:43. | :34:47. | |
growth back on track now, that will help reduce the deficit, because | :34:47. | :34:51. | |
more people in work paying taxes, more businesses succeeding, means | :34:51. | :34:55. | |
less out in benefits and more in tax. Isn't a fundamental problem | :34:55. | :34:58. | |
for the Labour Party, for years, going back to the Second World War, | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
is you are fine for good times, but when the times are really tough, as | :35:02. | :35:07. | |
they are now, you cannot handle austerity, you don't know what to | :35:07. | :35:11. | |
to? Which is why the speech today was so important. What Ed set out | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
is under the last Labour Government, under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, | :35:14. | :35:18. | |
we had had rising prosperity and economic growth. You could use that | :35:18. | :35:22. | |
process of growth to invest in the schools and hospitals and implement | :35:22. | :35:25. | |
policies like taxed credits. That will be very difficult and | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
difference after the last election. How did it take 18 months to figure | :35:29. | :35:35. | |
that out. Liam Byrne left a note when he left, saying, I'm afraid | :35:35. | :35:43. | |
there is no money. Everybody got it. We set out plans for halfing the | :35:43. | :35:46. | |
deficit in the parliament. Ed Milliband set out today what Labour | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
would do in building a fairer, more responsible capitalism, that | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
delivers for ordinary working families. You are going to reform | :35:53. | :35:56. | |
capitalism, but you can't tell us how much you would do in tax rises | :35:57. | :36:01. | |
and cuts? We can't say that because we don't know the economic | :36:01. | :36:07. | |
situation at the last -- to the next election. But you can reform | :36:07. | :36:10. | |
capitalism? The Chancellor said he would get rid of the deficit in | :36:10. | :36:15. | |
this parliament and now says in the next parliament. It would be | :36:15. | :36:18. | |
irresponsible to is the out economic policies for the next | :36:19. | :36:23. | |
election. On the police we said we would cut the police spending by | :36:23. | :36:27. | |
12% compared to the Government's 20%. We have plans to reduce the | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
deficit. But we can't, three years ahead of the general election, give | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
you a detailed spending commitment. What does the reform of capitalism | :36:35. | :36:39. | |
mean and what does it look like? you look at what is happening at | :36:39. | :36:42. | |
the moment. Ordinary families seeing bus and train fares | :36:42. | :36:46. | |
increase,en gee prices increase, VAT going up, the biggest squeeze | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
in living standards for a gin racial. People on the boards of our | :36:51. | :36:54. | |
biggest country got a 49% pay increase. You will legislate to | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
change all this? First of all you have to give shareholders more | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
power, that is what David Cameron is saying as well the but two | :37:01. | :37:06. | |
things in addition it that, to make this really work, to put on the | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
remuneration committee of the companies, a person from the work | :37:10. | :37:13. | |
force. And also to have transparency, everybody is who is | :37:13. | :37:19. | |
paid over �1 million has the pay publish, and you pub the ratio | :37:19. | :37:24. | |
between top and lowest paid -- put the ratio between top and lowest | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
paid. We will have a something for something culture, not just rewards | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
for failure at the top, rather than everyone else facing the squeeze. | :37:32. | :37:38. | |
Right now, in fact, in Newham shur, the polls are still open as | :37:38. | :37:42. | |
Republicans choose who their candidate will be to beat President | :37:42. | :37:47. | |
Obama in the presidential election. The favourite is, undoubtedly, Mitt | :37:47. | :37:52. | |
Romney, from Massachusetts, who narrowly won in Iowa. For all his | :37:52. | :37:58. | |
money, a quarter of a billion of personal fortune. He failed to get | :37:58. | :38:03. | |
the nomination in 2008, and's struggling to seal the deal with | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
voters. The question is -- and he's struggling to seal the deal with | :38:06. | :38:12. | |
voters. The question is why. In a vital New Hampshire contest, | :38:12. | :38:17. | |
the view voters in dixville Notch, went to the polls last night. In | :38:17. | :38:21. | |
the coming weeks, Mitt Romney has to convince, not just the folk from | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
New England, where he feels atm ho, but Republicans in South Carolina, | :38:25. | :38:31. | |
Florida and other more difficult states. It will not be easy. | :38:31. | :38:36. | |
The former Governor of Massachusetts, who eliminated a $3 | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
billion deficit, Romney was a successful business leading a | :38:40. | :38:46. | |
private equity firm. He made billions of dollars in what is | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
called "restructuring companies", opponents call him a greedy asset | :38:50. | :38:57. | |
stripper. A group of corporate raiders, led by Mitt Romney, more | :38:57. | :39:02. | |
ruthless than Wall Street. For tens of thousands of Americans, the | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
suffering began, when Mitt Romney came to town. | :39:06. | :39:11. | |
Mitt Romney compounded his own problems with outbreak of foot-and- | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
mouth disease. I like to fire people who provide service it is me. | :39:15. | :39:19. | |
I know what it is like to worry about fired, there were a cop of | :39:19. | :39:25. | |
times I wondered would I get a pink slip. The simple truth is, after | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
looking him over for some years, some Republicans don't like him, | :39:29. | :39:34. | |
his career, his personality, or misMorman faith. Plus Mitt Romney's | :39:34. | :39:38. | |
hault care plan was very similar to that of Barack Obama. Something | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
that is toxic for many Americans. Beyond that, there was the rather | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
weird matter of governor Romney strapping the family dog on to the | :39:45. | :39:51. | |
roof of his car for a 12-hour drive to Canada. | :39:51. | :39:53. | |
Bill Clinton once told New Hampshire voters he would be with | :39:53. | :39:58. | |
them until the last dog died. Mitt Romney you may be the last | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
Republican standing, but will his party ever learn to love him the | :40:02. | :40:09. | |
The former Governor of Minnesota and one-time Republican | :40:09. | :40:16. | |
presidential hopeful, has joined me from New Hampshire. What was it | :40:16. | :40:22. | |
that Republicans don't get or like about Mitt Romney? I think that is | :40:22. | :40:29. | |
really a false premise, if you look at what happened, Mitt Romney | :40:29. | :40:35. | |
unexpectedly on Iowa, that was a tremendous accomplishment. No | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
Republican nominee has won Iowa and New Hampshire, in the modern | :40:38. | :40:44. | |
history of the country. In the holes he's ahead in South Carolina | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
and to say he's not getting support from Republicans is inaccurate. It | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
is hard to break-away from the field when you have six or seven | :40:53. | :40:58. | |
candidates, his message of private seceror leadership. Somebody not | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
embracing the notion that America is in decline, is resonating, you | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
will see that in the results in New Hampshire tonight. What made you | :41:06. | :41:13. | |
change your mind about him. You talked about a year ago about | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
Obamnicare, as if his healthcare plan was the same as Obama, that is | :41:18. | :41:22. | |
toxic from some voters' point of view? On the issue of healthcare, I | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
spent some time talking to him about this. He's committeded to | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
repealing Obamacare, he said in his first few days of office he would | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
issue executive orders to repeal it. He doesn't believe what he did in | :41:36. | :41:40. | |
Massachusetts should be visited upon the nation at a federal level. | :41:40. | :41:46. | |
He thinks each state should decide. I'm comfortable with the repeal | :41:46. | :41:52. | |
Obamacare. If you look at the debate, the most steady person in | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
the debate, the strongest position to take on Barack Obama. One of the | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
most pressing issues for the country is growing the economy. The | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
private sector economy, Mitt Romney can do that, Barack Obama has no | :42:03. | :42:07. | |
clue. One of the problems, however, is a former Republican candidate | :42:07. | :42:14. | |
put his fringeer on a couplele of years ago, -- finger on a couple of | :42:14. | :42:17. | |
years ago. Mitt Romney doesn't look like the type of guy you would | :42:17. | :42:21. | |
socialise with, but the type of guy who would close your factory. That | :42:21. | :42:28. | |
is a problem for him? I grew up in a meat packing town, my dad was a | :42:28. | :42:33. | |
truck driver for a long time, my mom died when I was young, we saw | :42:33. | :42:37. | |
the shut down of many factories. We need somebody in office who knows | :42:37. | :42:41. | |
how to get it this private economy moving again. That is not Barack | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
Obama, the country has seen that. They know that Mitt Romney can do | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
that. It is one of his strengths, actually. We shouldn't have this | :42:49. | :42:52. | |
class warfare discussion, that is what democrats do, we should be | :42:52. | :42:56. | |
about growing the pie overall, not have people fight over shrinking | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
slices of the pie. You may be right, and your own personal story is very | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
compelling, but Mitt Romney's is very different. He's one of the | :43:04. | :43:07. | |
richest guys who has ever run for the presidency in recent years, for | :43:07. | :43:13. | |
a major earth a, some people just don't like that? We don't have | :43:13. | :43:16. | |
class warfare, that is what Barack Obama says. Newt Gingrich seems to | :43:17. | :43:21. | |
disagree with you, I have been look at the Newt Gingrich ads, he seems | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
to think you have class warfare? Very disappointing that Newt | :43:25. | :43:30. | |
Gingrich or other Republicans would be criticising private enterprise. | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
Criticising private investment. We should have a debate on the facts. | :43:34. | :43:39. | |
They are taking the comment that Mit made, and the clip you played | :43:39. | :43:43. | |
out context. You didn't play the whole clip. It was about Mitt | :43:43. | :43:46. | |
Romney arguing being able to choose between healthcare companies, the | :43:46. | :43:50. | |
question was asked in that context and he answered in that context, | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
didn't say he just wanted to fire po. He was talking about people | :43:54. | :43:59. | |
having a choice to choose health insurance companies. The clip you | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
played and others played it are taking it out context. You are | :44:02. | :44:07. | |
right the context. His rivals and Rick Perry is another one, says the | :44:07. | :44:10. | |
only pink slips Mitt Romney worries about is having enough to hand | :44:11. | :44:14. | |
out,s the kind tone of this campaign. Within the Republican | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
party, which will be pick the up been I -- will be picked up by the | :44:19. | :44:23. | |
Democrats in the autumn? You think in the light of day, when people | :44:23. | :44:26. | |
see the facts, that he was talking about health insurance companies, | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
will be fair about it. We have people exploiting it in this moment, | :44:30. | :44:34. | |
in the end facts matter, the truth matters, the truth is he was | :44:34. | :44:36. | |
talking about health insurance companies. Look at some of the | :44:36. | :44:40. | |
other candidates as well. They all have their own challenge, Mitt | :44:40. | :44:44. | |
Romney will be a great candidate and great President, he's not | :44:44. | :44:47. | |
perfect. Beau but all the other candidates have concerns that | :44:47. | :44:52. | |
people have expressed as well. will need a great vice-president, | :44:52. | :44:57. | |
will you be that person? Your audio is cutting out on me a bit. If you | :44:57. | :44:59. | |
are asking me about the vice- president position, that is | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
something I won't consider, I have been down that road before with | :45:04. | :45:09. | |
John McCain, I was honoured to be considered then, my job here is to | :45:09. | :45:11. | |
help Mitt Romney as ale volume toorment | :45:11. | :45:18. | |
Now a quick look -- as a volume toor. | :45:18. | :45:28. | |
:45:28. | :45:50. | ||
Now a quick -- volunteer. Now a That's all topt, I'm back tomorrow. | :45:50. | :46:00. | |
:46:00. | :46:23. | ||
Until then, -- tonight, I'm back Ap colder end to the week, a mild | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
day on Wednesday. Mild, windy in the far north, and wet and dampness | :46:29. | :46:35. | |
in the north England and Wales. Head down across the Midland, parts | :46:35. | :46:39. | |
of north-east England. East Anglia and southern England, another | :46:39. | :46:43. | |
lovely day. Broken cloud, rather more sunshine than on Tuesday | :46:43. | :46:47. | |
across the south. Light winds shooting up into double figures. | :46:47. | :46:53. | |
Ridiculous for the time of year, I'm sure you will agree. Across | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
parts of England, elsewhere, cloudier, with dampness across snow | :46:57. | :47:01. | |
downia throughout the day. Across the Irish see, some dry weather, a | :47:02. | :47:05. | |
lot of cloud, drizzle from time to time. For Scotland, after a | :47:05. | :47:09. | |
brightish start, will turn increasingly cloud kwhree, windy | :47:09. | :47:15. | |
and wet. Particular -- wind cloudy, windy and wet. Particularly in | :47:15. | :47:19. | |
association with a wet front. Introducing brighter conditions | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
from the north, but chillier conditions as well. Bright, crisp, | :47:23. | :47:29. | |
sunny end to the week for man places. Temperatures will take a | :47:29. | :47:33. |