Browse content similar to 26/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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All those protestations that we are all in this together, and it turns | :00:09. | :00:12. | |
out that the going rate for dinner with the Prime Minister is a | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
quarter of a million pounds. �100,000 is not Premier League, it | :00:17. | :00:23. | |
is not bad, it is probably bottom of the Premier League. �200, | :00:23. | :00:29. | |
�250,000 is Premier League. It must be some meal. Can the | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
Conservatives' deputy chairman is buys donors nothing more than food | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
and wine. The Government plans to sell part | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
of Royal Bank of Scotland to Abu Dhabi, is the taxpayer being short | :00:40. | :00:44. | |
changed. We talk to the world's most powerful woman about being | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
Chancellor of Germany, her love of Martin Luther, and being called a | :00:48. | :00:53. | |
Nazi by the Greeks. TRANSLATION: I come from a federal | :00:53. | :00:57. | |
country, where sometimes northern Germans make remarks about the | :00:57. | :01:03. | |
Bavarians, or the Bavarians make comments about the north Germans, I | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
am tolerant. More of the same anyone, the Press Complaints | :01:06. | :01:09. | |
Commission pleads for its life, claiming self-regulation can keep | :01:09. | :01:19. | |
:01:19. | :01:24. | ||
the newspapers honest. At least one Going out to dinner this week? Why | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
not go somewhere really special, like Number 11 Downing Street, it | :01:28. | :01:33. | |
will only set you back a quarter of a million or so. Today the | :01:34. | :01:38. | |
Conservative Party was forced to disclose the names of a number of | :01:38. | :01:42. | |
wealthy men, who sat at the Prime Minister's dining table after | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
giving a shed load of money. There is nothing illegal about it, but in | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
current circumstances the Government is embarrassed. Nothing | :01:51. | :02:01. | |
:02:01. | :02:08. | ||
a political editor enjoys more, Not so much "bring a bottle" as | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
"bring a chequebook". Pay to dine with the Prime Minister, that was | :02:13. | :02:21. | |
the boast of the former treasurer, Peter Cruddas, the Cameron team | :02:21. | :02:27. | |
deny emphatically that it bought policy. I live in a nice flat above | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
Number 11 Downing Street up there, what I get up to in there is | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
private. Today, to close down the story, Downing Street had to bare | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
all. They clearly decided contrition is a dish best served | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
hot. There is much speculation about dinners in my flat in Number | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
Ten Downing Street. The position is this, in the two years I have been | :02:47. | :02:49. | |
Prime Minister, there have been three occasions on which | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
significant donors have come to a dinner in my flat. In addition | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
there was a further post-election dinner, including donors, in | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
Downing Street itself, shortly after the general election. We will | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
be publishing full details of all of these today. None of these | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
dinners were fundraising dinners, and none of these dinners were paid | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
for by the taxpayer. I have known most of those attending for many | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
yearsment The three dinners included more | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
than a dozen wealthy attendees, Labour were left asking what first | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
attracted the Prime Minister to these millionaires. They wasted no | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
time in seeking to extract political gain. Why wasn't the | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
Prime Minister turned up to answer questions? Is it because there is | :03:29. | :03:37. | |
not enough money on offer? The Labour leader was insensed that | :03:37. | :03:41. | |
it is a Conservative peer that has been charged with investigating | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
donations. Ed Milliband called for an independent inquiry. An inquiry | :03:46. | :03:50. | |
into the Conservative Party, by the Conservative Party, for the | :03:50. | :03:57. | |
Conservative Party. Is a whitewash and everyone knows T | :03:57. | :04:02. | |
We need a proper, independent inquiry, appropriate to the gravity | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
of what is at stake. For some in David Cameron's own party, the | :04:06. | :04:10. | |
story points to a deeper discomfort. We have a series of good policy | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
that help working-class people, that are designed to help the most | :04:13. | :04:18. | |
vulnerable. The problem is not enough people know about it. We | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
have the pupil premium, we have council tax discounts and freezes, | :04:21. | :04:28. | |
we are allowing people to buy their own homes with over �5,000, and we | :04:28. | :04:30. | |
have apprenticeships. At the moment they are a series of clothes pegs | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
without a washing line linking them together. We need to do a lot more | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
to communicate people that we are the party of the vulnerable, and | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
for the hard working-classs, and or aspiration and opportunity. David | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
Cameron has long been sensitive to the idea that he's seen as too | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
close to the rich. Recently he wanted to talk about the rise in | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
the cost of living for families, but he was warned off it by | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
internal polling showing it just isn't credible coming from his lips | :04:56. | :05:01. | |
W this new �18 million dining club, the problem becomes more acute, | :05:01. | :05:05. | |
especially after last week's budget when they cut the 50p rate of tax. | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
The Liberal Democrats think he may be in need of a game-changer, | :05:09. | :05:14. | |
something to change the terms of debate, that may be party finances. | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
Party funding is the bad dish of British politics, uneaten for a | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
decade. A fresh set of talks is scheduled to begin this week. The | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
last recommendations called for state funding of political parties. | :05:26. | :05:30. | |
Sources ruled this out, but believe other recommendations made then, | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
such as a cap on donation, to be pretty much right. In his statement | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
today, the Prime Minister set out the Conservative Party's opening | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
gambit. It would be a cap at �50,000. But according to the most | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
recent report, by Sir Ian McKellen, if there were such a cap, the | :05:48. | :05:53. | |
Tories would lose 48% annually, and Labour would lose 81%, you could | :05:53. | :05:57. | |
see why that was David Cameron's starting position. Alternatively, | :05:57. | :06:00. | |
if the Tories accept a �10,000 cap, the level recommended by Kelly, | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
that goes up to 76%, less attractive. It is also very | :06:04. | :06:09. | |
unattractive for Labour too, their figure goes up to 91%. | :06:09. | :06:14. | |
This week, the negotiations will turn on whether union also allow | :06:14. | :06:19. | |
Labour to accept trade union members, deciding for themselves | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
which party their money goes to. There is pressure from the other | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
side too, one former Tory donor doesn't want to see a cap at all. | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
It is for this reason, there is a low turnout in elections, that is | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
partly because the parties can't get their message across. To get it | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
across, they need money. They won't get enough money in other ways. The | :06:37. | :06:43. | |
voters don't want to give them any more money, that is clear enough. | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
In any case, getting money from Governments, other countries show, | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
leads to corruption. There is one gap for many Conservatives scanning | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
the seating plan at David Cameron's dinners, the well-off have their | :06:55. | :07:00. | |
place at the table, but the fear is, at the next election, the less | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
well-off won't feel invited. Michael Fallon is both deputy | :07:03. | :07:07. | |
chairman of the Conservative Party, and no changer to the studio, thank | :07:07. | :07:13. | |
you for coming back. Will you now investigate every one of the | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
donations that happened on Peter Cruddas's watch? Peter Cruddas | :07:17. | :07:19. | |
recommended nobody to have dinner, he didn't get anybody through to | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
the Downing Street flat. This is one of the first big donations that | :07:23. | :07:29. | |
he was trying to negotiate. Yes, we will. We have got Lord Gold, he's | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
now a senior lawyer in charge of the disciplinary matters, he will | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
investigate what happened. He's also a Tory peer? It is a Tory | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
disciplinary matter, he will look at exactly what happened. Any | :07:41. | :07:43. | |
evidence the Sunday Times has got, that there are issues here, | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
regarding our compliance. I can assure you, the whole thing will be | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
fully investigated. I'm worried he might have misled people? Who? | :07:52. | :07:56. | |
Peter Cruddas? Yes, he did. Of course he did, that is why he | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
resigned. When he said it would be awesome for your business if you | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
were to donate? He absolutely misled, he said access to Downing | :08:04. | :08:07. | |
Street, influence on policy, all that was wrong, that is | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
unacceptable. If you were one of these unfortunate donors who had | :08:12. | :08:15. | |
given your party money in the hope it would be awesome for your | :08:15. | :08:18. | |
business, or you might have some influence over policy s you should | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
really have your money back? ought to have an apology. We make | :08:21. | :08:28. | |
it clear to all our donors. Why not money back? We made it clear to all | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
donor that is you don't have influence over the party. When | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
Bernie Ecclestone gave the Labour Party he had policy changed. | :08:37. | :08:40. | |
are talking about Bernie Ecclestone, but that isn't the matter of the | :08:40. | :08:43. | |
moment, the matter of the moment is donations to your party. Will you | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
give the money back? No. You won't? We made it very clear that what | :08:48. | :08:53. | |
Peter Cruddas did was not right. He has resigned, apologised and | :08:53. | :09:00. | |
accepted it wasn't right. No money was accepted from him. He has been | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
working for you for a year? He was the principal treasurer since last | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
month. Let's be clear about that. year? The donation under | :09:10. | :09:12. | |
investigation by the Sunday Times wasn't offered, and it wasn't | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
accepted. It is the only one that we know about though, isn't it? | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
wasn't accepted. It was the only one that the Sunday Times has | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
evidence. Have you accepted plenty of others? We have accepted | :09:23. | :09:26. | |
donations in the past, they go through very strict compliance | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
rules, for example, on where they come from, and donors are told, | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
look, this does not get you special access, it does not give you | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
influence over policy. He was wrong about that, that is why he resigned. | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
The Prime Minister says that if there were a cap of a mere �50,000 | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
a year in donations, a year, in donations, to political parties, | :09:46. | :09:50. | |
that would, as he puts it, take the big money out of politics. Do you | :09:50. | :09:55. | |
share that view? Yes, because I think all political parties...You | :09:55. | :09:59. | |
Don't think �50,000 a year is big money? All political parties would | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
like to have smaller and medium- sized donation, we made that offer | :10:03. | :10:10. | |
to the Labour Party. We would lose by it. The alternative is taxpayer | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
funding. �50,000 a year, �250,000 per person in the course of a | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
parliament is not big money? There are different types of donations. | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
Let's be clear about this, the alternative to all of this is | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
taxpayer funding. I'm not talking about the alternative. If you don't | :10:28. | :10:32. | |
want tax-payers to fund the party. I'm talking specifically about how | :10:32. | :10:34. | |
you believe individual donations should be organised. I'm trying to | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
get it clear, the sort of world in which you move. �50,000 a year, | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
�250,000 in the course of the parliament, is not considered to be | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
big money? If you want your politics to be free of state | :10:46. | :10:55. | |
funding, the politics cost money you need to be free. We are not | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
based on the trade unions like the Labour Party. We accept donations | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
from �20 all the way up. Christopher Kelly said it could be | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
capped at �10,000? We have made an offer to the Labour Party, who take | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
�4 million from one union. We have made an offer to the Labour Party, | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
let's stop this. Isn't that important. You are the party that | :11:19. | :11:25. | |
keeps on saying "we are all in this together". If you honestly think | :11:25. | :11:28. | |
�250,000 in political donations in the course of a parliament, is not | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
big money, then we are not all in this together? �50,000 a year, of | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
course it is a large sum of money. We take lots of donations, small, | :11:36. | :11:39. | |
medium and large. The question you should be asking tonight. Don't | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
tell me, it is about the Labour Party? It is not three meals over | :11:43. | :11:49. | |
two years. What this country faces tonight is a potential tanker | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
drivers' strike by the trade union Unite, which gives 30% of the | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
Labour Party's money, elects the Labour Party leader, and you | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
haven't yet asked a single question about that. That is for the Labour | :12:00. | :12:07. | |
Party. Thank you very much. The taxpayer is about to see | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
something for their money. Newsnight has learned that the | :12:10. | :12:17. | |
Government is talks with Abu Dhabi in order to sell them a share of | :12:17. | :12:24. | |
RBS, the institution that Sir Fred Good win wrecked. They hope to | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
conclude a deal by the end of the year. The shares will probably be | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
sold at a fraction of the cost to the taxpayer. Not a brilliant | :12:31. | :12:37. | |
investment. There might soon be a touch of the | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
Middle East about Britain and Scotland's most famous bank. | :12:41. | :12:48. | |
Especially if part of it is sold to Abu dab bee, it is the richest part | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
-- Abu Dhabi, it is the richest part of the Arab Emirates. It has | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
gone on to become one of the richest statelets of the world, on | :12:57. | :13:03. | |
the back of an abind dance of oil. At Park Lane, one of the most | :13:03. | :13:09. | |
expensive places in the world, a home to the Abu Dhabi bank and | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
wealth fund, with a war chest of billions. More than enough to buy a | :13:14. | :13:20. | |
portion other all of RBS, worth a more modest �17 billion. The | :13:20. | :13:26. | |
political fall-out of selling at a loss could be massive for the | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
Government. Having bought shares on average at 50p a share, selling at | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
today's 28p a share, won't be great, especially at a time of Austerty. | :13:35. | :13:39. | |
Add in that Northern Rock was sold at a loss to Virgin Money, and the | :13:39. | :13:43. | |
critics are sharpening their tongues. We need to make sure we | :13:43. | :13:47. | |
get the full amount of money back the taxpayer invested in the first | :13:47. | :13:51. | |
place. If we have a hastey approach by the Chancellor, there is a risk | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
to lose millions of taxpayer money. That would be very, very wrong. And | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
it would be better if we waited for the economy to recover for the | :13:58. | :14:03. | |
shares price to recover, so we got better value for money. | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
But there are also notable advantages in selling a chunk of | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
RBS. It will send a strong signal to the markets that the Government | :14:10. | :14:13. | |
does not want to be in the bank- owning business for the long-term. | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
It might allow the Government to deflect political pressure for the | :14:17. | :14:22. | |
annual bonus row coming around. Having another large and not so | :14:22. | :14:25. | |
democratically accountable shareholder has its advantages. | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
market reaction would be positive to this move. I think it | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
demonstrates some clever thinking on behalf of the Government. That | :14:31. | :14:36. | |
rather than just selling out, and possibly not getting full value for | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
its stake, it is working stragically with some very rich, | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
very wealthy, very powerful funds, such as Abu Dhabi, in crystalising | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
this value. Unlike Norway or other sovereign | :14:50. | :14:53. | |
wealth funds, Abu Dhabi doesn't make its investments through a | :14:53. | :15:00. | |
single entity or fund, but rather uses a number of vehicles to do so. | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
The highest-profile is the be ady dab bee Investment Authority, owned | :15:04. | :15:08. | |
by the ruling -- Abu Dhabi Investment Fund, owned by the | :15:08. | :15:16. | |
ruling family. IPIC is another one, owning shares | :15:16. | :15:26. | |
:15:26. | :15:28. | ||
in a company in Spain. And then Daimler and Galactic with AAbar. | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
The shaik has bought Manchester City, we has he bank rolled to | :15:33. | :15:38. | |
almost topple mapblt. I think Abu Dhabi will be in the bank for the | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
long-term. That is what kind of investment these sovereign wealth | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
funds make. It is the right policy from their point of view. They can | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
afford to buy something that looks like it will turn around. And wait | :15:49. | :15:55. | |
for it to do so. But so can the UK Government. And it is surprising | :15:55. | :16:01. | |
that we are not waiting for the results of the restructuring to | :16:01. | :16:04. | |
have this the effect. The chair of the select committee | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
thinks the sell-off process shouldn't be delayed. We will want | :16:08. | :16:13. | |
to look very closely at the terms of the sale, to make sure it holds | :16:13. | :16:17. | |
good value for money for the taxpayer. Just as we have looked at | :16:17. | :16:21. | |
every other aspect of these enforced nationalisations. It does | :16:21. | :16:25. | |
stpriek me as -- strike me as sensible to take an opportunity if | :16:25. | :16:32. | |
it is there, to reduce the shareholding at some point. At 80%, | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
the itch to intervene by the Government is always there. The | :16:35. | :16:39. | |
best prospect for the taxpayer, and in the end, for the retail bank | :16:39. | :16:43. | |
user, lie in RBS being run as a fully commercial company. Even | :16:43. | :16:47. | |
though it is the subject of talks between the Government and Abu | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
Dhabi, RBS has no direct say in the outcome. That is strange because | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
the people who benefit most will be the bankers that work there. The | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
most senior guys are paid mostly in shares, that could recover strongly | :17:01. | :17:07. | |
that all depends on RBS, Britain and Abu Dhabi avoiding the kind of | :17:07. | :17:10. | |
economic shocks in the next few years, we have already seen in the | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
past few years. To try to make sense of some of | :17:13. | :17:23. | |
:17:23. | :17:28. | ||
this are the coalition's answer to the two -- Two Ronnies. This is �4- | :17:28. | :17:32. | |
�5 billion of tax-payers' money being thrown away? I don't think it | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
is, we haven't heard anything concrete, but the most important | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
thing and there should be strong agreement on this, is we get as | :17:38. | :17:44. | |
much money back for this bank as possible. But there will be a | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
significant loss? Well, who knows. Billions of pounds? When the money | :17:47. | :17:54. | |
was put into this bank, everybody knows that it was put in, not to | :17:54. | :17:59. | |
try to get a good investment, it was put in to keep the bank upright. | :17:59. | :18:08. | |
So, we heard the Labour character on the film saying that if it was a | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
loss it would be a disaster. It is true to say the nationalisation of | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
RBS was a disaster, the point is from here how to get the best value | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
deal. But it will be sold at a loss? We don't know that, we know | :18:22. | :18:26. | |
that the shares are trading below the price they were bought at. | :18:26. | :18:32. | |
Remind us of the price they were bought at? 50p, on average, around | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
60p. And they are now trading at about 28p? Every penny on the share | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
price is a billion pound of taxpayer money. Getting have a | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
value for money out of it is really important. Every penny on the share | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
price is a billion pound adrift. billion of your money and my money | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
and every viewers' money. argument being, I suppose, on the | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
other side, that it is no business of a Government to run a bank? | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
we have got to run that bank, and we have to go on running it for | :19:02. | :19:05. | |
some time to come. We have to make sure it runs in the national | :19:05. | :19:11. | |
interest. Now, the issue is not about getting our money back quick, | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
as Matthew said. We put the money in at 50p, the reason was, to stop | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
the economy collapsing, and make that bank lend. It is still not | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
doing it. It failed its lending targets under Project Merlin, the | :19:24. | :19:30. | |
economy is flat, partly because the banks, and RBS is the biggest small | :19:30. | :19:34. | |
business lender, is not lending as it should to create jobs and | :19:34. | :19:36. | |
businesses. That is absolutely the vital. That is what matters. There | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
is no rush at all. Selling it is the wrong thing to do? Certainly at | :19:41. | :19:47. | |
the moment. To crystal yois a loss when you put the money in at -- | :19:47. | :19:54. | |
crystalise a loss, when you put the money in at 50p and selling it at | :19:54. | :20:00. | |
less than 30p. What it is meant to do is tie bonuses to proper lending | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
performance. At the moment we are lurching from month to month, and | :20:03. | :20:08. | |
year to year, without a proper plan. What will be the effect of the | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
price on the remaining shareholder the taxpayer has on this bank, of | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
selling something now? It may be good. We have to have a more | :20:18. | :20:20. | |
sophisticated analysis than the one put forward. It may be that if you | :20:20. | :20:26. | |
sell a small chunk now it has a positive impact. Investors can see | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
this is on its way back to private ownership, and obviously we know | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
from the past, that if the Government tries to run a bank | :20:35. | :20:38. | |
directly, or run businesses directly, it gets into all sorts of | :20:38. | :20:42. | |
trouble. You don't want politicians making decisions about whether RBS | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
should lend. We could hardly do worse than the decisions RBS made | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
itself? In terms of the lending targets, RBS actually did hit its | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
Merlin target. It did not. That is rubbish. On small business that was | :20:57. | :21:03. | |
the only one it didn't hit, where it lent �74 billion since a �75 | :21:03. | :21:05. | |
billion target. The small businesses matter. They should be | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
lending much more. We said in our coalition agreement, that you | :21:09. | :21:13. | |
signed as well, that we should consider net lending targets for | :21:13. | :21:18. | |
the nationalised banks, and frankly, that is exactly what we have to do. | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
I didn't personally sign the coalition agreement, but I | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
certainly standby it. In small businesses it matters, big business | :21:25. | :21:29. | |
can borrow from s they are not -- anybody, they are not the problem. | :21:29. | :21:33. | |
In your constituencies they are coming and telling all the time | :21:33. | :21:35. | |
soon, that perfectly viable businesses are being squeezed, and | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
cannot get a loan. Very often it is RBS still the big problem. This is | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
what is holding back the economy, in a very big way, it is not about | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
whether we get 30p or 40p back when they sell the shares, or 50p, it is | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
about making the banks lend, and Royal Bank of Scotland in | :21:52. | :21:57. | |
particular supports business and jobs, that is still vital. Each of | :21:57. | :22:01. | |
the pennys is a billion pound, that matters. If we can sell off the | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
business now and it has a positive advantage on the share price, that | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
is good. On small businesses 74 out of 75 isn't quite hitting the | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
target but close to it. Don't lecture me about small business, I | :22:12. | :22:19. | |
grew up in a small business. not lecturing, I'm telling you what | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
happens. It nearly went under. Because of issues with banks, the | :22:23. | :22:29. | |
importance of lend to go small business can't be overestimated. | :22:29. | :22:37. | |
You doesn't improve the performance. You can't improve a performance of | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
a bank by getting politicians directing where the money goes. | :22:40. | :22:44. | |
are not directing where the money goes, but we own the bank, and we | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
should be setting overall lending targets, and making them perform, | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
that is what the Swedes do, the Swedish Finance Minister is very | :22:52. | :22:58. | |
good at it, we are being very weak. The men and women who determine the | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
fate of nations by how they gamble on currencies, smile their smiles, | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
on the Chancellor of Germany today, she said Germany is willing to make | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
yet more money available to the bailout fund to protect the euro. | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
No other European figure can wield the power or command the attention | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
in the way Angela Merkel does. It is perhaps because of that, that | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
she gives interviews extremely rarely. But she has spoken to | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
Newsnight. She's the daughter of a pastor, and first, we have been | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
wondering whether the great religious divide in Europe may yet | :23:29. | :23:39. | |
:23:39. | :23:40. | ||
determine its future. Exactly 500 yiers ago, in Wittenberg, a -- | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
years ago, in Wittenberg, one of Europe's leading thinkers was | :23:45. | :23:51. | |
growing increasingly alarmed. Hard working German tax-payers were | :23:51. | :23:56. | |
being fleeceed of their cash. It went to pay for a vain, glorious | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
European project in southern Europe, run by foreigners far away. And | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
many Germans decided, probably being wasted. That man was Martin | :24:06. | :24:12. | |
Luther, who 500 years ago, famously nailed his 95 thesis, rebelling | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
against the Pope, on that door in the church in Wittenberg. He | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
brought about the reformation, which not only shrook Germany to | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
its foundations, but the whole -- shook Germany to its foundations | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
but the whole of Europe. Luther in his heart wanted to remain a good | :24:30. | :24:33. | |
Catholic, but in his heart he thought the money was being wasted. | :24:33. | :24:42. | |
When it came to an argument about economics or politic, economics won. | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
So, does that remind you of anyone? The most powerful woman in the | :24:46. | :24:53. | |
world, the first woman Chancellor of Germany is the daughter of a | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
Lutheran paster, steeped in the Protestant values of thrift, hard | :24:56. | :25:02. | |
work and behaving responsibly. One of the reasons why Angela Merkel | :25:02. | :25:08. | |
remains personally popular in Germany, is for all her power, she | :25:08. | :25:11. | |
remains like a housewife in Germany. That puts her economics at odds | :25:11. | :25:17. | |
with her political desire to be a good European, like Luther. | :25:17. | :25:24. | |
Nowadays, even if modern Germany is decided by Catholics, Lutheran, and | :25:24. | :25:34. | |
:25:34. | :25:35. | ||
others, even some atheists are Lutheran aitists, they don't | :25:35. | :25:44. | |
believe in that form of God. The rooms beside Luthur's own house, | :25:44. | :25:48. | |
his followers are the backbone of the economy. Hard working business | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
people, teachers, professionals, sharing a similar east German | :25:53. | :25:58. | |
background with Angela Merkel. Tonight rehearsing Luther's | :25:58. | :26:05. | |
favourite hymn, A Strong Fortress Is Our God. Just like Chancellor | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
Merkel, they believe in Christian charity towards others in need. But | :26:08. | :26:15. | |
perhaps they can say what their Luthurian Chancellor cannot, that | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
their patience with the financial mess in Europe is wearing thin. | :26:18. | :26:24. | |
think they should have checked upon those countries before they joined | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
the European community, of course we are a bit fed up at the moment. | :26:27. | :26:32. | |
We have to watch the Greeks and the Spanish and other countries very | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
closely. If somebody pays a bill, he should also set the rules. And | :26:36. | :26:42. | |
others should follow. Which isn't happening now? No, but | :26:42. | :26:50. | |
we should never give up hope. That's a very Luthurian thing to | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
say! The core of Luthurianism was to question authority, then of the | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
Pope, now, also, the German Government, and the management of | :26:59. | :27:06. | |
the European currency. This is the living room, the only | :27:06. | :27:11. | |
room originally preserved. Modern Wittenberg is so proud of its most | :27:11. | :27:17. | |
famous rebel, they called themselves "Luthur's Town" and | :27:17. | :27:23. | |
preserved his home as a museum. was one of the very few theologians | :27:23. | :27:26. | |
deeply connected with every day life. With the question of a | :27:26. | :27:30. | |
transfer of money to others, who can't help themselves, this only | :27:30. | :27:36. | |
can happen if those people who get the gift really make efforts to | :27:36. | :27:42. | |
change their own situation. So it is help to self-help, this is the | :27:42. | :27:47. | |
core of Luther's social ethics. still today, it is something people | :27:47. | :27:53. | |
would understand today in German right now? Exactly. The pianist and | :27:53. | :27:56. | |
conductor, Daniel Barenboim, has lived and worked in German for the | :27:56. | :28:01. | |
past 20 years, he's also one of the sharpest observers of German | :28:01. | :28:06. | |
culture. One of the main pillars of German education, the families, | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
they teach their children, I'm going to say it bluntly and | :28:10. | :28:16. | |
insulting, I'm sorry, I don't mean it like this, it is not the value | :28:16. | :28:21. | |
of generosity, but the value of saving. But it is not in their | :28:21. | :28:24. | |
culture to teach the children that when they grow up and they are | :28:24. | :28:29. | |
invited somewhere for dinner, that would be nice to bring flowers or | :28:29. | :28:38. | |
chocolates as a gesture of being a good guest. I believe very much | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
that political attitudes are result of the personal that people educate | :28:41. | :28:51. | |
themselves, and their children. The modern German dilemma is this, | :28:51. | :28:55. | |
Angela Merkel was born into a country destroyed by Hitler and | :28:56. | :28:59. | |
divided by Stalin. The core of her politic is to be a good European | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
and not make the same mistakes again. The core of her economics is | :29:04. | :29:08. | |
pure Luther, it is Conservative and thrifty. That means her dilemma is | :29:08. | :29:12. | |
when will ordinary Germans tire of throwing good German money into a | :29:12. | :29:19. | |
European pit, for someone else to spend. Chancellor Merkel always | :29:19. | :29:22. | |
reminds us, that for Germans, the European project is a political | :29:22. | :29:28. | |
choice, therefore, it must not fail. Devout Catholics, including Martin | :29:28. | :29:35. | |
Luther thought the same about the church of Rome, until the | :29:36. | :29:39. | |
Reformation became unstoppable. The unthinkable is unthinkable until it | :29:39. | :29:45. | |
happens. I caught up with Europe's most | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
powerful politician in the German Chancellor in the centre of Berlin, | :29:49. | :29:55. | |
a few minutes from the historic Reichstag. It was a very rare | :29:55. | :29:58. | |
interview. Merkel's Christian Democrats are not very popular | :29:58. | :30:02. | |
right now, but she herself is very much admired. She's seen as honest, | :30:03. | :30:09. | |
low-key and pragmatic. She told me, in perfect English, | :30:09. | :30:14. | |
that she would enjoy our small gift of British tea and biscuits, but | :30:14. | :30:20. | |
she chose to be interviewed in German. I have been talking to many | :30:20. | :30:28. | |
German people, including in lut -- Luther Town in Wittenberg. The one | :30:28. | :30:35. | |
thing they all say is they are becoming more and more irritated, | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
like Luther, raising money that is going far away and being spent by | :30:40. | :30:44. | |
people they don't really trust. Do you share their irritation? | :30:44. | :30:49. | |
TRANSLATION: No, I'm not irritated. We have to think carefully about | :30:49. | :30:52. | |
how and where we spend money, how we shape our future. We are not | :30:52. | :30:56. | |
making politics for the past, but for the way people live today, and | :30:56. | :31:02. | |
how we wish them to live in future. We have to be very careful not to | :31:02. | :31:09. | |
live beyond our means. Democracies all over the world have grown used | :31:09. | :31:13. | |
to often spending more than they have in revenue. That is something | :31:13. | :31:16. | |
no private household or family can afford to do long-term. In politics | :31:17. | :31:22. | |
you must used the same principles that you employ at home. One of the | :31:22. | :31:26. | |
things people also say, is they fear another bailout, and another | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
bailout, and it won't just be Greece who wants a third bailout, | :31:30. | :31:33. | |
but it will be another country, perhaps, it is endless. Can you say | :31:33. | :31:39. | |
enough is enough, this is the end? TRANSLATION: That's not how it is | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
going to happen. Because there has been a re-think going on in Europe | :31:43. | :31:48. | |
for some time. Some countries accepted the rescue package, but | :31:48. | :31:51. | |
they don't particularly relish it. They must follow conditions set out | :31:51. | :31:56. | |
by the IMF, the ECB and the European Commission. What | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
democratic Government wants to be in that situation for the duration. | :32:00. | :32:03. | |
Over the past two years in Europe, particularly in the eurozone, we | :32:04. | :32:08. | |
have learned a lot. We must reflect time and again why | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
we are together in Europe. Why are we a community that displays | :32:13. | :32:16. | |
solidarity and bears responsibility for the others. | :32:16. | :32:22. | |
I look at the world as a whole. The world is different from the 1950s, | :32:22. | :32:29. | |
we no longer have 2.5 billion people on this planet, with �500 | :32:29. | :32:38. | |
million Europeans, we have �7 billion and -- 7 seven billion | :32:38. | :32:46. | |
people, and 5 -- five billion Europeans. The 7% share values of | :32:46. | :32:50. | |
democracy, freedom of opinion, freedom of the press, freedom to | :32:50. | :32:56. | |
travel, and freedom of faith and religion. Preserving freedom | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
against those who think differently, is a good reason to get together | :32:59. | :33:04. | |
and say, we want to stand up for these principles, this is what | :33:04. | :33:09. | |
guides us in Europe. You are clear about your hopes for the future, | :33:09. | :33:13. | |
yet some repeat the same old cliche of the past. I noticed recently | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
some in Greece, the newspapers and so on, have been saying this is the | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
German boot on our head, and going back to the stereotypes of the Nazi | :33:23. | :33:28. | |
past. Is that not offensive to you and the German tax-payers who are | :33:28. | :33:31. | |
paying for this? TRANSLATION: a very sense situation right now. | :33:32. | :33:38. | |
Europe in particular, the euroarea is in crisis, it shritered into | :33:38. | :33:42. | |
crisis as a consequence of the European financial crisis s and it | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
has brought about very difficult discussions in many countries. The | :33:45. | :33:49. | |
European discussion over the euro has become almost domestic policies. | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
We debate harshly in our politic, and use tough words, that has | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
character yoised Europe-wide debates too -- characterised | :33:58. | :34:01. | |
Europe-wide debates, maybe it is something at the back of people's | :34:01. | :34:08. | |
minds, luckily we have been able to solve our arguments peaceful low | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
and turn each argument into an opportunity. | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
I come from a federal country, where times northern Germans make | :34:17. | :34:23. | |
remark about the Bavarians, or the Bavarians make remarks about the | :34:23. | :34:27. | |
northern Germans. I'm tolerant, I think one ought to find solution | :34:27. | :34:31. | |
about these problems, to talk about them and try to convince people. | :34:31. | :34:41. | |
:34:41. | :34:41. | ||
That is also our European task. When you use words like thriftyness, | :34:41. | :34:44. | |
and savings measures, these are exactly what many people in Britain | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
think is the right thing to do. But they tend to be euro-sceptics, they | :34:48. | :34:53. | |
tend to think because of that, because they think you are right on, | :34:53. | :34:57. | |
that the euro itself will, in the end, have to fall apart, because so | :34:57. | :35:00. | |
many other countries don't believe it, including, perhaps, France in | :35:00. | :35:10. | |
:35:10. | :35:12. | ||
the future. TRANSLATION: Maybe some people in | :35:12. | :35:17. | |
Britain have a few prejudices leftover, about which country can | :35:17. | :35:23. | |
do what. The UK has a strict austerity drive, I think David | :35:23. | :35:26. | |
Cameron was right to do that. It is something that each country in | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
Europe can do, we will learn no country can live beyond its means. | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
We have learned this from the global financial markets. Otherwise | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
global investors decide not to have confidence. Once the markets lose | :35:38. | :35:46. | |
confidence, we pay a heavy price. All European countries have | :35:46. | :35:49. | |
understood this lesson, and have to pave the way for political | :35:49. | :35:53. | |
decisions. In Britain there have been protests. Protests have | :35:54. | :35:58. | |
started in other countries. But we in the eurozone are convinced that | :35:58. | :36:06. | |
together we are much stronger. We get so much benefit from the | :36:06. | :36:11. | |
common currency, that we want to respect the common rules set out in | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
the fiscal pact, for example. you have a German vision for the | :36:15. | :36:19. | |
future of Europe, in which Britain will play a bigger role than it is | :36:19. | :36:24. | |
now, given it is almost politically impossible for Britain to envisage | :36:24. | :36:27. | |
being part of the eurozone, that isn't going to happen. Where can | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
Britain fit in better? Britain plays a very important role | :36:31. | :36:37. | |
in Europe. The UK is part of the single market, and the common | :36:37. | :36:41. | |
climate policy. Britain has a lot of common ground with Germany, on | :36:41. | :36:46. | |
how we see the future of free global trade. We all benefit from T | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
at the end of the day, the British have to decide for themselves to | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
what extent they wish to be part of Europe. | :36:55. | :36:58. | |
It is a discussion that we have seen, unfortunately, taking a | :36:58. | :37:03. | |
painful turn on the fiscal pact. But Britain needs to know that we | :37:03. | :37:07. | |
in Germany, want a strong Britain in the EU. We always have, and we | :37:07. | :37:13. | |
always will. In Germany we try to see there is | :37:13. | :37:16. | |
less red tape, more political decisions and more transparency. I | :37:16. | :37:21. | |
think that we are at one on this with Britain. | :37:21. | :37:25. | |
There are those who think, including some in Greece, that it | :37:25. | :37:29. | |
would be almost kinder to let Greece go. Europe would sur rife | :37:29. | :37:33. | |
and Greece would do better, and the prospect of pain in Greece and | :37:34. | :37:37. | |
elsewhere can't be ruled out? Greece has to imand again explained | :37:37. | :37:43. | |
it wants to remain in the euro. It has major weaknesses, but it is | :37:43. | :37:48. | |
trying to overcome them, be they in the administration, or the | :37:48. | :37:51. | |
competitiveness in their business community. It is going to be a long | :37:51. | :37:58. | |
and arduous road. We have taken the decision to be in a currency union. | :37:58. | :38:05. | |
This is not only a monetary decision, it is a political one. | :38:05. | :38:08. | |
It would be catastrophic if we were to say to one of those who have | :38:08. | :38:14. | |
decided to be with us, we no longer want you. Incidently, the treaties | :38:14. | :38:18. | |
don't allow for that any way. People all over the world will ask | :38:18. | :38:24. | |
who will be next. The euroarea would be incredibly weakened. The | :38:24. | :38:26. | |
export nation, Germany in particularly, benefits from the | :38:27. | :38:34. | |
euro, it would be a huge political mistake to allow Greece to leave. | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
That is why we will be clear with groz, we will say, if you want to | :38:38. | :38:41. | |
be -- Greece, we will say, if you want to be part of a common | :38:41. | :38:45. | |
currency, you have to do your homework, but at the same time, we | :38:45. | :38:51. | |
will always support you. Many British viewers see you as the most | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
powerful politician in Europe, the most powerful woman perhaps in the | :38:54. | :39:03. | |
world. They wonder are male leaders still sexist towards you and others | :39:03. | :39:06. | |
women? No, I don't have that impression at all. It it is | :39:06. | :39:09. | |
becoming more and more of a normal thing. We used to have many fewer | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
women, but now we have a Danish Prime Minister, a Lithuanian | :39:13. | :39:18. | |
President, and you in had Britain have had your own very good | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
experience with a female Prime Minister in the past. Women in the | :39:23. | :39:33. | |
:39:33. | :39:33. | ||
past forged ahead and paveed the way for us. Should there be | :39:33. | :39:38. | |
prejudices, many male colleagues don't feel those pred siss any more. | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
-- prejudices any more. Chancellor, thank you very much. | :39:42. | :39:48. | |
Bitte schoen. Bitte schoen. More from ganch in Germany later in | :39:48. | :39:52. | |
the week, and -- Gavin in Germany later in the week. | :39:52. | :40:00. | |
You can hardly move these days for people waving sheets of | :40:00. | :40:04. | |
prescriptions for what is wrong with the press. Tomorrow the joint | :40:04. | :40:09. | |
parliamentary inquiry delivers its diagnosis, how seriously anyone | :40:09. | :40:15. | |
will take a committee, whose members range from the queen's | :40:15. | :40:22. | |
worker and the MP who head butted someone in the Westminster's bar. | :40:22. | :40:26. | |
Many people, including Hugh Grant, are worried self-regulation is here | :40:26. | :40:31. | |
to say. Lord Hunt couldn't make it tonight, | :40:31. | :40:38. | |
he does have some ideas. Recognise it? It is Fleet Street. For decades | :40:38. | :40:43. | |
voluntary press orgss have existed, they claim, to maintain standards | :40:43. | :40:51. | |
of ethics in Germany. Still the scandals come, can Fleet Street in | :40:51. | :41:01. | |
:41:01. | :41:02. | ||
2012 be trusted today carry out its Undeterred, Lord Hunt has unveiled | :41:02. | :41:08. | |
his new system of self-regulation, for a revamped Press Complaints | :41:08. | :41:11. | |
Commission. No statutory underpinning, in other words, no | :41:11. | :41:17. | |
new law to enable judges to find papers for any deemed breaches. | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
Instead, a new called enforcement compliance arm would be activated, | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
if there was evidence of a serious breakdown in standards. The | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
toughest measure would have a panel of experts investigate, and make | :41:32. | :41:37. | |
any paper found guilty cover the cost of the investigator's time. | :41:37. | :41:40. | |
Hunt wants to emphasise the importance of individual | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
responsibility. With a named individual responsible for | :41:44. | :41:49. | |
maintaining ethical standards in the paper. Hugh Grant is an | :41:49. | :41:55. | |
international film star, best known for his appearances on Newsnight! | :41:55. | :42:01. | |
And you are a Newsnight presenter best known for your performance in | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
Bridget Jones Diary. You have spoken to Lord Hunt today about his | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
wheeze, what do you think of it? think that Lord Hunt's heart is in | :42:09. | :42:13. | |
the right place. It is the place where every heart should be. In his | :42:13. | :42:19. | |
chest? He's a great defender of freedom of the press, rightly so. | :42:19. | :42:26. | |
But I and my fellow campaigners, and I suppose, the victims that we | :42:26. | :42:32. | |
represent, have grave problems with his notion of how you enforce this | :42:32. | :42:37. | |
new regulatory system. He has with a system that would be done through | :42:37. | :42:41. | |
contract law, rather than the dreaded statute. My legal friend | :42:41. | :42:47. | |
friends, who know much more about this than -- my legal friends who | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
know much more about this than me, are worried about doing that. It | :42:52. | :42:56. | |
doesn't take care of the Desmond problem, why would they sign up to | :42:56. | :42:59. | |
the contracts if they didn't want to. This is Richard Desmond, who | :42:59. | :43:05. | |
owns the Daily Express, and doesn't belong to the PCC? He turned his | :43:05. | :43:10. | |
back on it, and said he didn't care. I don't see how this system so was | :43:10. | :43:16. | |
that problems. Equally, the legal friend don't really see what the | :43:16. | :43:23. | |
big penalty is, for breach of contract. Hunt draws parallels | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
between the clubs' relationship with the Premier League. If you | :43:27. | :43:30. | |
breach your contract with the Premier League football team, you | :43:30. | :43:33. | |
are out of the Premier League. It is a huge penalty. If you breach | :43:33. | :43:39. | |
your contract under the Hunt system, you can't be thrown off. Nothing | :43:39. | :43:46. | |
can really happen. If people are members of the PCC, and the PCC can | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
decree that apologise are issued, where it deems them necessary. | :43:51. | :43:58. | |
Where they are displayed, the prominence they are given, that | :43:58. | :44:02. | |
restitution is given, it doesn't cost people to go and see it, what | :44:02. | :44:08. | |
is wrong with that? Nothing, so long as the newspaper being | :44:08. | :44:13. | |
admonished can't just stick its finger up and say OK. There is no | :44:13. | :44:17. | |
real penalty for me. You are for the Government taking over control | :44:17. | :44:23. | |
of the newspapers? I knew you were going to put it like that.S That | :44:23. | :44:30. | |
the alternative? It is such an oversimplification, thinking it is | :44:30. | :44:37. | |
Zimbabwe at one end and free-for- all at the other. You do want | :44:37. | :44:41. | |
statutory regulation? The answer lies somewhere in the middle of the | :44:41. | :44:45. | |
two screens. There is examples all over the world. The Irish have a | :44:45. | :44:50. | |
mid-system that works quite well, it is statutory regulation with a | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
light touch. Otherwise there really is no way you can enforce your | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
system of regulation and code of ethics, that is proved over and | :44:58. | :45:03. | |
over again. For 60 years self- regulation has failed five times. | :45:03. | :45:08. | |
Supposing a newspaper acted in what was judged to be an improper | :45:08. | :45:14. | |
fashion, what sanctionss can be applied under your ideal stratry | :45:15. | :45:22. | |
information. Fines, but significant ones. Fines levied by whom? By the | :45:22. | :45:26. | |
regulator. If there was a problem with the newspaper saying who are | :45:26. | :45:32. | |
you. They could apply to a statutory backstop behind them, | :45:32. | :45:36. | |
Ofcom or something similar, and say, no, this is now the law. You do | :45:36. | :45:44. | |
have to comply with this. In an ideal world the press should | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
be self-regulating. It is only looking at history and the | :45:48. | :45:52. | |
continued failure of it, it has come to this. You wo regulate | :45:52. | :45:59. | |
newspapers? It is light regulation. Magazines? Yep. Newspapers on-line, | :45:59. | :46:04. | |
blogs, I don't think you get as far as blogs but newspapers on-line. | :46:04. | :46:09. | |
What is the difference? There is an area to go what exactly is, I think | :46:09. | :46:12. | |
when you look at a newspaper on- line, you know you are reading a | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
newspaper. If you go to Huffington Post, you know you are reading a | :46:17. | :46:22. | |
newspaper. If you go to a massive, well publicised blog that maybe | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
needs regulating, but when it is small and can't influence people | :46:25. | :46:30. | |
too much, it probably falls outside that line. I suppose you have | :46:30. | :46:35. | |
millions following a Twitter stream? I think Twitter does now, | :46:35. | :46:41. | |
as it does, fall within the civil law of libel, et cetera. I don't | :46:41. | :46:47. | |
see there is any reason why that should fall outside that. But, | :46:47. | :46:55. | |
liable of course, like all civil law is expensive. That is why you | :46:55. | :47:00. | |
need a regulator. The same applies to Swithenbanker? Maybe you do | :47:00. | :47:04. | |
regulate Twitter rb these are the problems that Levein is wrestling | :47:04. | :47:10. | |
with now. I think he, much more importantly than the privacy | :47:10. | :47:20. | |
:47:20. | :47:21. | ||
committee that reports now is the one to listen to. | :47:21. | :47:30. | |
The Darts legend Jackie willson -- jockey willson died this weekend. | :47:30. | :47:40. | |
:47:40. | :48:14. | ||
# I'm in heaven After some record-breaking March | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
After some record-breaking March warmth across Scotland, the chill | :48:17. | :48:20. | |
sets in tonight, cold start to the morning. | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
That will clear by mid-morning, once again, barely a cloud in the | :48:23. | :48:30. | |
sky for many of you. Temperatures rising accordingly, 22 across much | :48:30. | :48:36. | |
of England. Compared to the chilly weekend it will feel warmer. Same | :48:36. | :48:43. | |
across East Anglia, temperatures struggling to the low teens. 21-23. | :48:43. | :48:47. | |
Warmth in South-West England, tempered by the fact there is a | :48:47. | :48:50. | |
fresh, south-east breeze off the English Channel. The wind light | :48:50. | :48:55. | |
through Wales. Another warm sunny one. The north kofs Northern | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
Ireland best favoured for the highest temp -- coast of Northern | :48:59. | :49:09. | |
:49:09. | :49:26. | ||
Ireland, best favoured for the high Mist and fog, maybe parts of | :49:26. | :49:31. |