Browse content similar to 21/04/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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green, or beware until the economic slump came along. How can voters | :01:19. | :01:23. | |
care about saving the planet when they are struggling to pay their | :01:23. | :01:33. | |
:01:33. | :01:33. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1900 seconds | :01:33. | :33:13. | |
That is probably reasonably accurate. If you give these people | :33:13. | :33:23. | |
:33:23. | :33:25. | ||
guns, and more of them guns, a lot more of them will die. | :33:25. | :33:29. | |
The problem at the moment is we cannot force Assad to go into | :33:29. | :33:32. | |
transition. Nobody wants to see a violent overthrow where the country | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
goes to the dogs. It is happening in slow motion right now. The reason is | :33:37. | :33:41. | |
because he has enough power to hang on without being forced to | :33:41. | :33:45. | |
negotiate. We need to change the terms of trade on the ground. We | :33:45. | :33:49. | |
need moderate forces there. That is the only guarantee that we can get | :33:49. | :33:53. | |
pressure on Russia and Iran to change their mind. He says you need | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
to break the logjam in the ground. But not by increasing more deaths in | :33:58. | :34:04. | |
Syria. Even Syria can use chemical power in order to maintain its | :34:04. | :34:10. | |
power. What is the guarantee? It knows it would meet the full | :34:10. | :34:13. | |
weight of the United States if it did that. | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
The only way to pressure Assad is to pressure Iran and Russia in order to | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
involve it in a more political solution. | :34:20. | :34:23. | |
But that pressure just has not worked. | :34:23. | :34:30. | |
It can work if there is more pressure from superpowers such as | :34:30. | :34:34. | |
America and Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Having this solution in Syria will | :34:35. | :34:44. | |
:34:45. | :34:45. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1900 seconds | :34:45. | :36:10. | |
Marathon today, congratulations. On the 2nd of May that is another race, | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
this one to elect new County Council is. With 11 days to go, we assess | :36:15. | :36:19. | |
the chances of voters here springing a surprise at the voting station. | :36:19. | :36:23. | |
Plus, if you are struggling to pay this month electricity bill, will | :36:23. | :36:25. | |
you are struggling to pay this month electricity bill, with UK about | :36:25. | :36:31. | |
recycling targets? We ask the Greens if they are still relevant with | :36:31. | :36:37. | |
comments business on Tuesday. The MP for Peterborough has a question for | :36:37. | :36:41. | |
the communities secretary about controversial new planning laws. | :36:41. | :36:47. | |
I am sure you will agree that local Government families is good in parts | :36:47. | :36:54. | |
and good in others. Will he not agree with me that the issues that | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
he raised would have been ventilated to a much better degree had the | :36:58. | :37:06. | |
consultation period on longer along with Cabinet office guidelines? And | :37:06. | :37:12. | |
that the department itself would come to a second consensus after 16 | :37:12. | :37:18. | |
weeks, which has not happened. I have always regarded local | :37:18. | :37:23. | |
Government as an omelette of happiness and consensus and it is my | :37:23. | :37:28. | |
hope that by the time I sit down I may have spun together a dish that | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
the honourable gentleman would happily eat. | :37:32. | :37:38. | |
I am delighted to say that Stewart Jackson is here alongside the | :37:38. | :37:43. | |
Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge. Talk of eggs there, but you believe | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
Eric Pickles now has eggs on his face? | :37:46. | :37:50. | |
I don't believe he has cracked the issue. We are very concerned to make | :37:50. | :37:54. | |
sure that householders had not a beetle, but a meaningful say on | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
development in back gardens and it is up to the Government to come | :37:58. | :38:02. | |
forward with proposals. It was not satisfactory and I hope ministers | :38:02. | :38:07. | |
have listened to the very legitimate concerns of people on this issue. | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
Local authorities and Government associations want them to change the | :38:09. | :38:16. | |
policy. Freddie you stand on this? -- where | :38:16. | :38:22. | |
do you stand on this? We largely agree here. I was very | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
pleased that Eric Pickles said he would have concessions to change | :38:27. | :38:31. | |
what the rules look like. But we have not seen exactly what they are. | :38:31. | :38:35. | |
If they are not enough, it will cause a huge problem. If it is just | :38:35. | :38:39. | |
a little bit of seasoning, it will not work. It needs to really space | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
up the dish. We will have to stop the food analogy is there that | :38:43. | :38:51. | |
banks. -- but thank you. We may think that | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
the case for green policies has never been clearer as the ice caps | :38:54. | :38:59. | |
melt. But the environment can often take a back-seat when the economy is | :38:59. | :39:03. | |
going along the bottom. In a moment we will speak to the Leader of the | :39:03. | :39:12. | |
Green party the Green party has been a success over the past few decades. | :39:12. | :39:16. | |
A few years ago, they got their first MP in Parliament. Their | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
success has forced the main parties to take green issues far more | :39:20. | :39:25. | |
seriously. Cycling is now commonplace and there are tax breaks | :39:25. | :39:30. | |
for energy efficiency. We all have efficient light bulbs in our homes. | :39:30. | :39:33. | |
But despite all of this, environmentalists worry that green | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
issues are slipping down the agenda. This is the first time that I've | :39:37. | :39:40. | |
seen the green agenda going into reverse as the Government tries to | :39:40. | :39:45. | |
lean more and more towards the market. They are trying to tear up | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
regulations and remove Government from the process of protecting the | :39:49. | :39:52. | |
national environment. What do you put this down to? | :39:52. | :39:57. | |
I put this down to a combination of ideology and ignorance. And then | :39:57. | :40:00. | |
there is planning. A controversial scheme for 1100 new | :40:01. | :40:04. | |
homes has just been given the go-ahead here in Norfolk, despite | :40:04. | :40:12. | |
protests that it will increase the size of the time by 50%. The | :40:12. | :40:14. | |
Government is leaning on councils to build new homes. Planning policy has | :40:14. | :40:18. | |
been changed in favour of development. The Chancellor will not | :40:18. | :40:21. | |
mind if Britain misses its carbon emission targets. | :40:21. | :40:25. | |
Britain makes up less than 2% of the world's carbon emissions to China | :40:25. | :40:33. | |
to save the planet by putting our country out of business. | :40:33. | :40:39. | |
And what about eco-friendly power? Many Conservative MPs are openly | :40:39. | :40:44. | |
opposed to onshore wind farms. Last month plans for a wind farm in | :40:44. | :40:48. | |
Northamptonshire were rejected. But it is all -- but is it all the | :40:48. | :40:54. | |
Government's fault? The concerns of people, not | :40:54. | :40:59. | |
surprisingly, I dominated by the economy. Jobs, wages, these kinds of | :40:59. | :41:05. | |
things. And green issues and concern for the environment is at quite a | :41:05. | :41:12. | |
low level. Natalie Bennett is leader of the | :41:12. | :41:15. | |
Green party. While ago I put it to her that surely, with things so | :41:15. | :41:20. | |
tight, there is a case for putting business before the environment. | :41:20. | :41:25. | |
We very much believe about worrying about the economy and bringing our | :41:26. | :41:32. | |
economy back from globalisation. We want to build strong local economies | :41:32. | :41:35. | |
around shops and businesses. We want to create jobs that gives workers | :41:35. | :41:40. | |
real job security and no zero are contracts. What we're doing is | :41:40. | :41:45. | |
working towards a kind of economy that really works for people. Also, | :41:45. | :41:48. | |
it is interesting that this week the IMF has come out and said that | :41:48. | :41:54. | |
George Osborne's austerity programme is entirely the wrong direction, and | :41:54. | :41:58. | |
that is what we have been saying since 2010. | :41:58. | :42:02. | |
Let's look at a graph from the University of Essex. It shows how | :42:02. | :42:10. | |
your popularity has happened since 2010. There is a comparison to UKIP | :42:10. | :42:15. | |
there. In comparison, you do not seem to be doing as well. | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
I think the situation is that UKIP has a very simple popular message | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
and also people do not know much about them. I hope that during this | :42:23. | :42:27. | |
campaign a little more light will be shown on them, for example, I do | :42:27. | :42:32. | |
think many people know that their policy is to completely privatise | :42:32. | :42:36. | |
the NHS. That is the opposite of our policy. I think if you look at the | :42:36. | :42:41. | |
Eastern region specifically, we currently have around 40 councillors | :42:41. | :42:45. | |
across the region where as you can only has a handful. We have strong | :42:46. | :42:48. | |
local parties working year after year, campaigning and going | :42:48. | :42:53. | |
door-to-door, running campaigns on local issues, so we are really | :42:53. | :42:57. | |
embedded in the community in a way that UKIP is not. | :42:57. | :43:02. | |
Let's talk about some local issues. Let's talk about the nuclear power | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
plant in Suffolk. A major construction project which could | :43:06. | :43:09. | |
generate thousands of jobs and of course help to meet future energy | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
needs. As things stand, on the face of it, it sounds as though it might | :43:14. | :43:18. | |
be difficult to argue against it. I find it extremely easy to argue | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
against it. We are looking at negotiations still being described | :43:23. | :43:30. | |
as long and difficult. And we are looking at a potential �40 billion | :43:30. | :43:34. | |
worth of subsidies, that is �1 billion per year that would come out | :43:34. | :43:39. | |
of people 's energy bills. Nuclear is very expensive. Gas is very | :43:39. | :43:44. | |
expensive. Renewables, and energy conservation, can provide many more | :43:44. | :43:50. | |
jobs and really tackle fuel poverty, keep our costs of energy within | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
reasonable bounds, and of course cut our carbon emissions. | :43:53. | :44:00. | |
What about renewable energy that comes from wind turbines? People | :44:00. | :44:04. | |
seem to think it is a good idea, and yet they do not want one in their | :44:04. | :44:07. | |
own backyard. I think something that we are in | :44:07. | :44:11. | |
favour of, and what happens on the continent, is community initiative | :44:12. | :44:15. | |
wind farms. That makes it look and feel very different. If the | :44:15. | :44:20. | |
community, a town or village, actually owns the wind farm on the | :44:20. | :44:23. | |
hill, and the profit slow-down into the village, that is very different | :44:23. | :44:26. | |
to when you have a large multinational energy company. We | :44:26. | :44:31. | |
have found with at least one of them recently, they were not paying any | :44:31. | :44:36. | |
tax in this country. Profit simply blow away in the wind. What we want | :44:36. | :44:41. | |
our community energy schemes. We find that community's fight among | :44:41. | :44:46. | |
themselves to say, we want the scheme, no, we want the scheme. | :44:46. | :44:49. | |
What village can afford to buy a wind turbine? | :44:50. | :44:53. | |
What you can do is you have community bonds, you know what the | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
return is going to be from these kind of scheme so it is perfectly | :44:56. | :45:00. | |
possible to have local investment. Indeed, I was on the Isle of Lewis | :45:00. | :45:03. | |
and earlier this week where there was a huge solar array that has been | :45:03. | :45:07. | |
put up by the community with community investment and the returns | :45:07. | :45:11. | |
are going back into the community. That is the kind of approach which | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
can really deliver and of course, give us the energy we need. So, do | :45:15. | :45:21. | |
you think that when turbines are currently, do you think the | :45:21. | :45:29. | |
Government is going about it wrong? Very much so. We have the Energy | :45:29. | :45:35. | |
Bill in Parliament just now and we call operating with people like the | :45:35. | :45:37. | |
Association Of British Industry, which is saying that the Government | :45:37. | :45:44. | |
is getting energy policy all wrong. Thank you very much. Natalie | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
Bennett, speaking to me earlier. What you think of this idea of towns | :45:48. | :45:53. | |
and villages owning wind turbines? I think it's a great idea. We have | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
to see more of these. Having more of the profits flowing to the people | :45:57. | :46:01. | |
who live near them is great. The question is not whether or not we | :46:01. | :46:04. | |
can afford to invest in these energies, it's whether we can afford | :46:05. | :46:09. | |
not to. As Natalie was saying, the Confederation Of British Industry, | :46:09. | :46:19. | |
:46:19. | :46:20. | ||
Not A Pro Environment Organisation, , says it could be great for this | :46:20. | :46:24. | |
region. Stewart, you are not such a fan. | :46:24. | :46:32. | |
No. I think we have to look at whether or not it has a direct | :46:32. | :46:37. | |
impact on peoples bills and the long-term issue of carbon capture, | :46:37. | :46:42. | |
of reduction in CO2 emissions, things like that. At the moment, the | :46:42. | :46:46. | |
Government has not made a case for the level of subsidy which is | :46:46. | :46:51. | |
currently happening in terms of onshore wind energy. | :46:51. | :46:54. | |
Would you want a turbine in your back garden? | :46:54. | :46:59. | |
I am not sure it would fit. What we must do is find a way of getting | :46:59. | :47:02. | |
that energy. Stewart is right that people care about what their bills | :47:03. | :47:07. | |
are. Energy bills are shooting up because we are dependent on gas | :47:07. | :47:12. | |
which is increasingly imported from overseas. If we do not very | :47:12. | :47:17. | |
seriously find alternatives, bills will continue to go up and up and | :47:17. | :47:25. | |
up. Up I reject that analysis because I think it is fair to say | :47:25. | :47:33. | |
the Government is either so buying sources. We are looking at nuclear | :47:33. | :47:39. | |
energy and the Green Investment Bank. We're looking new tariffs. I | :47:39. | :47:42. | |
think the idea that we're going backwards on the environment is not | :47:42. | :47:47. | |
the case. Thank you. Let's take a closer look | :47:47. | :47:51. | |
at the County Council elections. Voters in Northamptonshire have an | :47:51. | :47:54. | |
interesting scenario. They have the lowest Council tax bills in England, | :47:54. | :47:59. | |
which is great, say the ruling Tories. But opponents say it has | :47:59. | :48:04. | |
been achieved at the cost of massive cuts to services. Let's have a look | :48:04. | :48:09. | |
at how the parties currently stand. The Tories have a commanding 54 | :48:09. | :48:14. | |
seats. The Liberal Democrats have ten, and labour six. On the 2nd of | :48:14. | :48:20. | |
May, there will be 16 fewer seats to contest, which could make for a more | :48:20. | :48:26. | |
uncertain outcome. Northamptonshire is a county of | :48:26. | :48:30. | |
contrast. Rolling countryside dotted with large centres of population. | :48:30. | :48:34. | |
Traditional industries exist alongside motor sport and high-tech | :48:34. | :48:38. | |
engineering. Like all candles, Northamptonshire has had to make | :48:38. | :48:42. | |
cuts. Streetlights have been switched off and lollipop patrols | :48:42. | :48:47. | |
axed. It is Labour's time. People are fed | :48:47. | :48:50. | |
up with this happening in Northamptonshire, people out of | :48:50. | :48:55. | |
work, the police being threatened, lack of jobs. If we cannot make | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
gains and take control of this County Council now, then I don't | :48:59. | :49:03. | |
think we ever can. The Liberal Democrats also feel that the axe has | :49:03. | :49:06. | |
cut too deeply. They also believe that under the | :49:06. | :49:09. | |
stewardship of the Conservatives, standards in the county's children's | :49:09. | :49:13. | |
services had dropped to unacceptable levels. | :49:13. | :49:16. | |
We have had disastrous reports. The Ofsted report in hope they look | :49:16. | :49:22. | |
after young children, for example. For years we have word that these | :49:22. | :49:26. | |
cuts will cut too far. And here we are, we have a County Council that | :49:26. | :49:32. | |
is inadequate in all categories. I think that is disgraceful. | :49:32. | :49:37. | |
The Conservatives say that, overall, they have a record to be proud of. | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
The county was recently voted the most enterprising in England and | :49:40. | :49:43. | |
despite having to make cuts, they say they have done all they can to | :49:43. | :49:51. | |
limit their impact. As result of each year tenure here, | :49:51. | :49:57. | |
we have the lowest Council tax in England. All of those sort of things | :49:57. | :50:01. | |
really way in with people when they are thinking about their own | :50:01. | :50:03. | |
livelihoods and their own households. | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
This year 's elections will be very different. Because of boundary | :50:06. | :50:11. | |
changes, the number of councillors elected will reduce from 73 to 57, | :50:11. | :50:14. | |
which means that predicting the outcome will be harder than ever. | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
And to some extent these changes are dictating the way the parties are | :50:19. | :50:23. | |
fighting these elections. Labour will be targeting Northampton and | :50:23. | :50:29. | |
Kettering. And the more rural areas, both the Conservatives and the | :50:30. | :50:33. | |
Liberal Democrats will be working hard to maintain their support as | :50:33. | :50:38. | |
well as in some urban strongholds. But the real challenge to all | :50:38. | :50:42. | |
parties is managing the potential impact of UKIP whilst also heading | :50:42. | :50:44. | |
off the threat of border apathy which could throw up some surprising | :50:44. | :50:50. | |
results. We are joined by the regional court | :50:50. | :50:55. | |
nature for the Green party. Pretty you strike a balance between | :50:55. | :51:02. | |
providing services and providing a reasonable level of Council tax? | :51:02. | :51:09. | |
As was said in the report, we don't want to have a small reduction in | :51:09. | :51:15. | |
Council tax which leads to a big cut in services. The Green councillors | :51:15. | :51:18. | |
in Northampton have been strongly resisting Conservative cuts which | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
have been damaging crucial services such as mental health services and | :51:22. | :51:26. | |
social services. We have been the real opposition to the | :51:26. | :51:31. | |
Conservatives. On this issue of streetlights. Would | :51:31. | :51:36. | |
you turn streetlights of? Again, if I use my experience from | :51:36. | :51:41. | |
Norfolk, Green councillors have defended areas where residents did | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
not want their street switched off. We have proposed that we should have | :51:46. | :51:49. | |
solar tariffs for the streetlights instead of turning them off in | :51:49. | :51:53. | |
certain areas. But having said that, I do think it is terribly important | :51:53. | :51:57. | |
that politicians treat this kind of issue responsibly. I am very | :51:57. | :52:01. | |
concerned that some politicians are going around fear mongering about | :52:01. | :52:04. | |
the issue of crime. It is very important to note is that police | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
officers, for example, have said to me that sometimes having lights on | :52:09. | :52:15. | |
and can encourage groups of jobs. This is a complicated issue. | :52:15. | :52:19. | |
Let's talk about the Tories in Northamptonshire. Clearly, they have | :52:19. | :52:23. | |
made cuts, things like crossing patrols. The public will pass their | :52:23. | :52:27. | |
opinion on the 2nd of May. How well do you think they will do? | :52:27. | :52:32. | |
You have got to remember that they were at the top of the electoral | :52:32. | :52:36. | |
cycle at 2009 and the last Government was enormously unpopular. | :52:36. | :52:40. | |
It would be foolish of me to say there will be no losses for the | :52:41. | :52:46. | |
Conservatives. However, they have a very strong local record and that | :52:46. | :52:49. | |
balance of delivering strong local services while keeping Council tax | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
them. Quite rightly, we are looking not just that a challenge from | :52:52. | :52:59. | |
Labour but you can as well. UKIP or protest party. Labour do not have a | :52:59. | :53:01. | |
coherent and credible alternative for the Council tax payers of | :53:01. | :53:06. | |
Northampton. It is a fine line, is it not, | :53:06. | :53:09. | |
between keeping services and keeping Council tax low. | :53:09. | :53:16. | |
Absolutely. Council taxes people who can sometimes struggle to pay it. | :53:16. | :53:19. | |
What I have seen is Conservative and Labour councils around the country | :53:19. | :53:23. | |
spending money they could have saved. For instance, we have the | :53:23. | :53:26. | |
guided bus subject which is now a multi-million pound dispute with | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
tens of millions of pounds likely to be spent on legal fees. We have the | :53:30. | :53:34. | |
leader of the County Council who says that, while times are tough, is | :53:34. | :53:39. | |
also trying to have a 25% increase in councillors allowances. There is | :53:39. | :53:42. | |
money being wasted on interest payments. There is a lot more that | :53:42. | :53:46. | |
could be done. Rather than spending money on communications and legal | :53:46. | :53:50. | |
fees, you could spend it on better services, so Cambridgeshire could | :53:50. | :53:53. | |
have much better cycle routes and six pavements and a whole range of | :53:53. | :53:58. | |
things. That is happening across the country for a whole range of things. | :53:58. | :54:01. | |
You mention people who are struggling to pay Council tax. What | :54:01. | :54:05. | |
about those who have been asked to pay it for the first time because of | :54:05. | :54:10. | |
changes to benefits? We in the Green state that Council | :54:10. | :54:17. | |
tax be abolished. Council tax is a very un-progressive tax. We favour | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
moving to a system where it would be much more proportional to your | :54:21. | :54:25. | |
ability to pay and we also favour bringing in land value tax, when | :54:25. | :54:30. | |
those who are enormously wealthy because of land that they all will | :54:30. | :54:35. | |
pay their fair amount. Could there be an alternative? | :54:35. | :54:41. | |
I think you have to see that change in Council tax in the wider | :54:41. | :54:47. | |
context. Universal Credit, for instance, the bedroom tax. Really, | :54:47. | :54:51. | |
basically, focusing on the idea that work should always pay and trying to | :54:51. | :54:55. | |
get people off of welfare dependency and into training or work that is | :54:55. | :54:58. | |
meaningful and changes their life for the better. I think people | :54:58. | :55:00. | |
understand that that is what we are about. | :55:00. | :55:05. | |
I just want to ask all of you what your feelings are about an election | :55:05. | :55:09. | |
which is 11 days away. What is the best the Liberal Democrats can hope | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
for? I think that we can gain seats | :55:12. | :55:17. | |
around the region. In Cambridge City Council we managed not to hit anyone | :55:17. | :55:24. | |
with a new Council tax, so there are solutions. I hope it will make a | :55:24. | :55:32. | |
difference. And the Tories? I think they may take some from the | :55:32. | :55:36. | |
Liberal Democrats. Some loyalists may go to UKIP. It will not be as | :55:36. | :55:40. | |
good as 2009 but not a disaster. And the Green's? | :55:40. | :55:45. | |
We are looking to break through in Suffolk and we have a real prospect | :55:45. | :55:49. | |
in Northamptonshire with the former Labour MP, Tony Clark, joining as | :55:49. | :55:56. | |
last month. Thank you. Of course, it has been a | :55:56. | :55:58. | |
momentous week in Westminster with the funeral of Baroness Thatcher. | :55:59. | :56:05. | |
And in Suffolk, a family tragedy which opportunity. Chris will round | :56:05. | :56:13. | |
it all up. The death of a young mother and her | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
children and Lowestoft shocked the region this week. | :56:16. | :56:21. | |
The community is very close-knit. They have very much pull together in | :56:21. | :56:26. | |
difficult times and are giving the family all of the support that they | :56:26. | :56:30. | |
can. Meanwhile, while spread the | :56:30. | :56:32. | |
management failures and the resignation of the region's | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
ambulance chief were laid before the Health Secretary. | :56:35. | :56:41. | |
Can he joined me in calling for the Trust to also reflect upon their own | :56:41. | :56:45. | |
position? Elsewhere in the NHS, the campaign | :56:45. | :56:47. | |
to keep services at Kettering continued. | :56:47. | :56:52. | |
We must maintain a proper Accident and Emergency service in Kettering. | :56:52. | :57:00. | |
It was thumbs up from a local MP as the culture secretary signalled the | :57:00. | :57:03. | |
start of better broadband in secretary. And among mourners at | :57:03. | :57:06. | |
Saint Pauls Cathedral this week was an Essex artist with a special | :57:06. | :57:09. | |
collection of portraits of Lady Thatcher. | :57:09. | :57:15. | |
With that final portrait, I was able to see a very quiet, retiring, | :57:15. | :57:25. | |
:57:25. | :57:26. | ||
reflective side of Lady Thatcher. Clearly, Lady Thatcher's funeral was | :57:26. | :57:30. | |
a very momentous event this week. There was a lot of discussion about | :57:30. | :57:33. | |
it in the run-up. Was it the right way to do it? | :57:33. | :57:37. | |
I think it is important to have a funeral to mark somebody who was a | :57:37. | :57:41. | |
great figure in British history. People will look back and see that | :57:41. | :57:47. | |
she made a big difference, some good things, some bad things. I drew up | :57:47. | :57:55. | |
-- I grew up in a period that was defined by disagreeing with her. We | :57:55. | :57:58. | |
should be clear about what these funerals will look like. It would be | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
nice to have a standard pattern. Do you think we will see another | :58:02. | :58:07. | |
funeral like that for a politician? Probably not. She was a unique | :58:07. | :58:13. | |
figure. I believe she led with principal and integrity, not just a | :58:13. | :58:17. | |
domestic politician but clearly an international stateswoman. The | :58:17. | :58:23. | |
ceremony, which I was honoured to be a part of, was absolutely perfect. | :58:23. | :58:29. | |
What was it like to be there? It was so long, but at the same time | :58:29. | :58:33. | |
uplifting. I thought the words of the bishop were gracious and | :58:33. | :58:36. | |
beautiful and reflected a great national occasion and even those | :58:36. | :58:40. | |
people who were opposed to her and wanted to demonstrate did it, I | :58:40. | :58:43. | |
believe, in a respectful and appropriate way so I think it was a | :58:43. | :58:47. |