Browse content similar to 11/05/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics, where we're talking | :00:35. | :00:37. | |
about the Europe-wide contest that really matters. No, not Eurovision. | :00:38. | :00:46. | |
The European elections. There are local elections across England too | :00:47. | :00:50. | |
on May 22nd. The party leaders are campaigning ahead of polling day. | :00:51. | :00:53. | |
The results could be a pointer to the Big One, May 2015. We'll be | :00:54. | :01:00. | |
speaking to the man in charge of Labour's election battle plan. Has | :01:01. | :01:03. | |
the opposition really got its sights set on all-out victory in 2015? Or | :01:04. | :01:06. | |
will it just be content with squeaking home? And you can't | :01:07. | :01:13. | |
mention elections these days without talking about the impact of this | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
man, Nigel Farage. I'll be asking him if UKIP really | :01:18. | :01:30. | |
And I'm joined by three journalists guaranteed to bring a touch of | :01:31. | :01:42. | |
Eurovision glamour to your Sunday morning. With views more | :01:43. | :01:45. | |
controversial than a bearded Austrian drag act and twice the | :01:46. | :01:48. | |
dress sense, it's Nick Watt, Helen Lewis and Janan Ganesh. So you might | :01:49. | :01:58. | |
have thought you've already heard David Cameron promise an in-out | :01:59. | :02:01. | |
referendum on EU membership in 2017 if he's still Prime Minister. Many | :02:02. | :02:03. | |
times. Many, many times. if he's still Prime Minister. Many | :02:04. | :02:09. | |
obviously doesn't think you've been listening, because he's been saying | :02:10. | :02:11. | |
it again today. Here he is speaking to the BBC earlier. We will hold a | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
referendum by the end of 2017. It will be a referendum on an in-out | :02:17. | :02:20. | |
basis. Do we stay in a reformed European Union or do we leave? And | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
I've said very clearly that whatever the outcome of the next election, | :02:25. | :02:27. | |
and of course I want an overall majority and I'm hoping and | :02:28. | :02:30. | |
believing I can win an overall majority, that people should be in | :02:31. | :02:33. | |
no doubt I will not become Prime Minister unless I can guarantee that | :02:34. | :02:42. | |
we will hold a referendum. Here's saying there that an overall | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
majority there will definitely be a referendum. If these are the | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
minority position, he won't form a new coalition unless they agree to a | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
referendum, too. The Lib Dems a pulmonary agree to that. They | :02:57. | :02:59. | |
probably will because the Prime ministers have a strong argument | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
which is I gave you a referendum back in 2010 so the least I need is | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
theirs and the Lib Dems are the only party who have stood in recent | :03:08. | :03:11. | |
elections on a clear mandate to hold a referendum, so it is difficult for | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
them to say no, there was interesting the interview he did | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
earlier today. He named everything was going to ask for. The most | :03:20. | :03:22. | |
controversial with him, as he said in his speech last year, he wants to | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
take Britain out of the commitment to make the European Union and ever | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
closer union. That is a very big ask, but the point is, he may well | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
get it because the choice for the European Union now, France and | :03:37. | :03:40. | |
Germany, is a clear wonderful do Britain in or out? Previously, it | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
was can you put up with a British prime ministers being annoying? I | :03:47. | :03:49. | |
think you'll find the answer is they are willing to pay a price but not | :03:50. | :03:54. | |
any price to keep Britain in. In this scenario, Labour would have | :03:55. | :03:57. | |
lost the election again because we are talking the slowly happen if Mr | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
Cameron is the largest party or has an overall majority. Could you then | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
see Labour deciding we had better go along with a referendum, too? I | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
think that's unlikely because as I think that's unlikely because | :04:13. | :04:14. | |
there's a huge upside for that for I think what's interesting is the idea | :04:15. | :04:16. | |
he would for minority government. Would you get confidence and look at | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
other options that might well happen with the way the arithmetic is going | :04:22. | :04:25. | |
or is he going to hold out and say the only way I will be Prime | :04:26. | :04:28. | |
Minister is in a majority Conservative government? No, the | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
implication of his remarks was I wouldn't form a coalition government | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
unless my coalition partners would also agree to vote for a referendum. | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
He's basically talking about is negotiating strategy in those | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
coalition talks. It's a red line and a huge opportunity for the Lib Dems, | :04:47. | :04:51. | |
because they know David Cameron absolutely has to do, for accidental | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
reasons, as a person who survives as Tory leader, to ask for that | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
referendum, so they can ask anything they want in return and if I was | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
Nick Clegg, I would work out in the next year one absolute colossal | :05:04. | :05:06. | |
negotiating demand for those coalition talks. For a party around | :05:07. | :05:13. | |
10% in the polls, they will do have the Prime Minister over a barrel on | :05:14. | :05:16. | |
this one, assuming that coalition talks goes well. They could make | :05:17. | :05:28. | |
Michael Gove Tbyte meeting. OK, we need to move on. So, the politicians | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
are out and about on what used to be called the stump ahead of local and | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
European elections in less than two weeks' time. But, without wanting to | :05:36. | :05:38. | |
depress you on a damp Sunday morning, the party strategists are | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
already hard at work on their campaign plans for the General | :05:42. | :05:43. | |
Election next May. Yes, it's less than a year to go. They may have | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
taken their time, but Labour's battleplan for 2015 is starting to | :05:48. | :05:50. | |
take shape. As well as take promising to freeze your energy | :05:51. | :05:52. | |
bills, and reintroduce the 50p rate of tax, Ed Miliband now says he | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
wants to intervene in the housing market to keep rents down. There's | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
even talk that the party leadership wants to bring more railway lines | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
into public ownership. And Labour is gambling that its big push on the | :06:07. | :06:10. | |
cost of living will see it through to the general election despite | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
evidence that growth is firmly back. Labour's campaign chief Douglas | :06:15. | :06:16. | |
Alexander hopes it all adds up to victory next May. But so far, the | :06:17. | :06:24. | |
evidence is hitting home very thin. One survey today shows that 56% of | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
people don't think Mr Miliband is up to the job of Prime Minister. As we | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
head towards one of the least predictable general elections in 70 | :06:33. | :06:35. | |
years, has Labour got a message to win seats up and down the country? | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
And Labour's election co-ordinator and Shadow Foreign Secretary, | :06:41. | :06:48. | |
Douglas Alexander, joins me now. Welcome to Sunday Politics. A lot of | :06:49. | :06:51. | |
these policies announced polar pretty well. By popular with the | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
country. When you add them together, it's a move to the left and what | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
would be wrong with that? I think is your packet suggests, the contours | :07:02. | :07:03. | |
in the coming campaign are becoming clear. Our judgement is the defining | :07:04. | :07:09. | |
issue of the year in British politics will be the widening gap | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
between the wealth of the country and the finances of ordinary | :07:14. | :07:16. | |
families. We believe it will be a cost of living election and we have | :07:17. | :07:19. | |
been setting out our thinking in relation to energy prices and rent, | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
but you will hear more from Labour Party in the coming months because | :07:24. | :07:26. | |
we're now less than one year away from a decisive moment. If the | :07:27. | :07:31. | |
leftish think tank suggested any of his policies in that Tony Blair | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
years, you would have opposed them. Let's be clear, when not going for | :07:36. | :07:42. | |
an interest but seeking to secure a majority for the only way to do that | :07:43. | :07:45. | |
is not simply to appeal to your base, but to the centre ground. I | :07:46. | :07:48. | |
believe we got genuine opportunities in the next year. You have the | :07:49. | :07:54. | |
Conservatives in a struggle with UKIP on the right of politics. The | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
Lib Dems 9% of trying to find their base, and there's a genuine | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
opportunity in the next year for Labour to dominate the centre ground | :08:03. | :08:06. | |
of politics and secure the majority Labour government we are planning | :08:07. | :08:10. | |
for in the coming year. I notice you didn't deny you wouldn't have | :08:11. | :08:21. | |
opposed. You say you have got an message for aspirational voters in | :08:22. | :08:24. | |
the South. This is what John Denham said. He thinks you're talking too | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
much to your core vote. He is right to recognise we took a | :08:29. | :08:44. | |
terrible beating in 2010. 29%. If you look at what we've done in the | :08:45. | :08:47. | |
last week, for example, the signature policy on rent Ed Miliband | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
announced to launch the campaign, there's now more than 9 million | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
people in the country in the private rented sector, more than 1 million | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
families. Many of them are in the south-east. They are seeing | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
circumstances where, suddenly, landlord will increase the rent and | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
they put the pressure involved in schooling, health care facing the | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
families, so it is important both in terms of policy and in terms of | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
politics that we speak to the whole country, not simply to one part of | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
it falls up what is the average rise in event last year? I don't know. | :09:20. | :09:27. | |
Can you tell me? 1%. 1% not in real terms. I'm not sure what the problem | :09:28. | :09:34. | |
is. It will happen to wages in last year, we are facing circumstances | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
where people will be worse off, up to ?1600 off worse and frankly, if | :09:39. | :09:45. | |
our opponents want to argue that the economy has healed and they deserve | :09:46. | :09:50. | |
a victory lap, good luck to them because actually, what we are | :09:51. | :09:54. | |
hearing from the Buddhist public, not just in the north and south, is | :09:55. | :09:58. | |
not the cost living crisis is continuing and it affects families. | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
There was nothing aspirational about your party election broadcast for | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
the European elections. It looked like crude class war to money | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
people. That's a bit of it. Bedroom tax. Isn't it going to look bad that | :10:12. | :10:14. | |
two thirds of those affected are disabled? Who cares? They can't | :10:15. | :10:20. | |
fight back. Shall be lay-offs and NHS nurses? The National Health | :10:21. | :10:28. | |
Service? Oh yes. Mr Cameron? Who said that? Me. My gosh. The man has | :10:29. | :10:38. | |
shrunk. He's actually shrunk. What shall we do with him? Can we hunt | :10:39. | :10:44. | |
him? Nothing about Europe, Labour policy. News that the Tories would | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
result in negative campaigning and smear. You didn't tell you would be | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
just as bad. Let's start the party broadcast. The one thing guaranteed | :10:57. | :10:59. | |
to have most people reaching for the remote control these days are the | :11:00. | :11:06. | |
words, there now follows a party but the broadcast. I make no apology in | :11:07. | :11:09. | |
the factory to be innovative in how we presented. It's factual. It was a | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
policy -based critic of this government. And the Lib Dems role | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
within it. So you're claiming it's factual to betray the camera and | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
cabinet is not even knowing what the NHS is, -- the Cameron Cabinet. They | :11:24. | :11:31. | |
attack the disabled because they can't fight back. The Pinellas | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
Tanner severely Prime Minister Sun and he was treated during a short | :11:37. | :11:43. | |
life by the NHS. It's a fact many disabled people across the country | :11:44. | :11:46. | |
including in my constituency have been directly affected by the | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
bedroom tax. And ultimately, this Conservative led government, | :11:51. | :11:53. | |
including the Lib Dems, will be held accountable by the politicians. You | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
say that, the Prime Minister, who had a severely disabled son of. I | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
you not ashamed about? I shadowed Iain Duncan Smith of five months | :12:04. | :12:10. | |
also they don't have the excuses of seeing that saying nobody told them | :12:11. | :12:13. | |
the consequences of the bedroom tax. They went into this with their eyes | :12:14. | :12:16. | |
open. They knew about the hardship and difficulty. If they were | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
one-bedroom properties available across the country for people to | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
move into, their argument would be OK but they knew they were dealing | :12:24. | :12:30. | |
with the most vulnerable people. Did you sign off that part of the | :12:31. | :12:33. | |
broadcast? Of course I stand by the fact of it. I wish David Cameron and | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
Iain Duncan Smith would apologise to the disabled people of the country | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
and the poorest people for the effects of the bedroom tax. I hope | :12:44. | :12:46. | |
we get that apology between now and election. As someone who thinks | :12:47. | :12:52. | |
integrity is important in politics, not ashamed of this kind of thing? | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
It's important we scrutinise the policies of this government as well | :12:59. | :13:00. | |
as adding a positive agenda for change. You want that you won't | :13:01. | :13:07. | |
promise this is the last time we'll see such a negative press campaign? | :13:08. | :13:12. | |
I don't think it is negative or personal to scrutinise the | :13:13. | :13:15. | |
government. So we'll get more of this? I'm less interested in the | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
background of the cabinet than their views. You call the upper-class | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
twits. It's for the British public to make a judgement in terms of the | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
British... That's how you depicted them. We are held in accountable for | :13:30. | :13:36. | |
the bedroom tax, the NHS, taxation, and our record they have to defend. | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
One reason are so fearful in this election is actually because they | :13:42. | :13:45. | |
know they have a poor record. Let's look at other part of the election | :13:46. | :13:50. | |
campaign. This poster. Particularly digitally doing the rounds. On that | :13:51. | :13:56. | |
shopping basket, can you tell us which items take the full 20% VAT? | :13:57. | :14:02. | |
It's representative of household shopping, which includes items like | :14:03. | :14:06. | |
cleaning products, and we know that food is not that trouble. People | :14:07. | :14:18. | |
don't go to the supermarket and say this is -- vatable. So you are | :14:19. | :14:25. | |
denying that ?450 extra is being paid? Yes, where'd you get that | :14:26. | :14:34. | |
figure? For an average family to pay ?450 a year extra VAT, they would | :14:35. | :14:41. | |
have to spend ?21,600 a year on vatable products at 20%. The average | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
take-home pay is only 21,009. They have got to spend on all sorts of | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
things which are zero VAT. So in addition to the items, has a range | :14:52. | :14:55. | |
of products people face in terms of VAT. How could an average family of | :14:56. | :15:01. | |
?21,000 a year spent 21,006 and the pound a year on 20% vatable items? | :15:02. | :15:10. | |
It's not an annual figure, is it? So what is it then? If it's an annual, | :15:11. | :15:19. | |
what is it? The increased VAT in this parliament is calculated over | :15:20. | :15:22. | |
the course of a Parliament. For the whole of the Parliament? And you're | :15:23. | :15:31. | |
illustrated this with a shopping basket which almost has no VAT on it | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
at all? People will be buying a weekly shop in the course of this | :15:36. | :15:39. | |
Parliament every week. Did you sign off on this as well? Of course. It | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
didn't dawn on you you're putting things on it which have no VAT? If | :15:45. | :15:48. | |
you want to argue some people go to the shops and say these are vatable | :15:49. | :15:54. | |
or not, I disagree. Even your rent cap announcement went wrong. You're | :15:55. | :16:02. | |
working on the rent rises and it turns out it wasn't. It was a post | :16:03. | :16:12. | |
your policy. It is the exception rather than the rule to have the | :16:13. | :16:15. | |
position we have at the moment. In Northern Ireland we have seen the | :16:16. | :16:19. | |
continued rise in terms of the rented sector but there is a | :16:20. | :16:22. | |
widespread recognition that for those people in the rented sector, | :16:23. | :16:31. | |
change is necessary. Are you coordinating this campaign? It seems | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
accident prone. This is a party that has set the agenda more effectively | :16:38. | :16:46. | |
than a Conservative party that said when David Cameron was elected he | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
wasn't going to bang on about Europe. The day after the election | :16:51. | :16:58. | |
we expect the Conservative party to be engulfed in crisis. I'm proud of | :16:59. | :17:05. | |
what we talk about and I think there is a clear contrast about a party | :17:06. | :17:08. | |
talking about issues people care about, and a Conservative party | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
talking about exclusively a referendum. Are you in charge of the | :17:15. | :17:20. | |
campaign? I am coordinating the campaign is, yes. The expensive | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
election guru you have hired, has he been involved in any of this? We | :17:27. | :17:31. | |
have started our discussions with him. You are going to have to brief | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
him about British politics because he doesn't know anything about it. I | :17:36. | :17:43. | |
make no apology for hiring him. He has a lot of experience in winning | :17:44. | :17:48. | |
tight elections and that is what we are expecting. If you are expecting | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
us to say, they have passed and we have to hold them accountable, then | :17:55. | :18:01. | |
I am sorry but we have a campaign that holds the Government and the | :18:02. | :18:05. | |
Conservatives to account for what I think is a very hopeless record in | :18:06. | :18:16. | |
government. Thank you. He leads a party with zero MPs but | :18:17. | :18:19. | |
his media presence is huge. He's had an expenses scandal, but the public | :18:20. | :18:22. | |
didn't seem to mind. He's got a privileged background but he's seen | :18:23. | :18:25. | |
as an anti-establishment champion. Nothing seems to stick to him, not | :18:26. | :18:28. | |
even eggs. I speak of course of Nigel Farage. We'll talk to him in a | :18:29. | :18:32. | |
moment, but first Giles has been out on the campaign trail ahead of | :18:33. | :18:35. | |
elections that could make or break the UKIP leader. | :18:36. | :18:37. | |
Nigel Farage likes a stage, and at this stage of the Euro and local | :18:38. | :18:41. | |
election campaign he is, like his party, in buoyant mood. They feel | :18:42. | :18:46. | |
they are on the verge of what they see as causing an earthquake in | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
British politics. Today Nigel is filling thousands seat venues and | :18:52. | :18:55. | |
bigger. Not that there's much sign of that at this press launch. But | :18:56. | :19:03. | |
it's a threat with serious money behind it, that they believe the | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
media and the political elite just haven't realised yet, much less | :19:08. | :19:09. | |
learned how to counter it. Not that it's all been plain sailing. | :19:10. | :19:12. | |
Offensive comments from some candidates has not only seen UKIP | :19:13. | :19:14. | |
labelled as racist, but necessitated a rally by the party to visibly and | :19:15. | :19:21. | |
verbally challenge that. The offensive idiotic statements made by | :19:22. | :19:24. | |
this handful of people have been lifted up and presented to the great | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
British public as if they represent the view of this party, which they | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
do not. They never have and they never will. APPLAUSE | :19:35. | :19:45. | |
I don't care what you call us, but from this moment on, please do not | :19:46. | :19:54. | |
call must trust a racist party. We are not a racist party. | :19:55. | :20:03. | |
The need to say that is not just about the European and local | :20:04. | :20:05. | |
elections even at that campaign launch it's clear UKIP's leader has | :20:06. | :20:09. | |
set his sights firmly on the ultimate prize. I come from the | :20:10. | :20:11. | |
south of England and I would not want to be seen as an opportunist | :20:12. | :20:15. | |
heading to the north, north Norfolk or whatever it will be. I will make | :20:16. | :20:19. | |
my mind up and stand in the general election for somewhere in Kent, East | :20:20. | :20:26. | |
Sussex, Hampshire, somewhere in my home patch. Back at UKIP HQ they are | :20:27. | :20:29. | |
still drilling down how the last fortnight of campaigning should go. | :20:30. | :20:39. | |
They aren't taking any chances, and one imagines having offices above | :20:40. | :20:42. | |
those of Max Clifford is a reminder how fragile built reputations can be | :20:43. | :20:45. | |
of the bubble bursting. They want their reputation to be built on | :20:46. | :20:48. | |
votes and they know anything but significant success on May 22nd and | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
some seats in Westminster in 2015 isn't going to be good enough. And | :20:52. | :20:59. | |
after that, having sold yourselves as the honest outsiders, that stance | :21:00. | :21:02. | |
is harder to maintain once your people are on the inside. And subtle | :21:03. | :21:06. | |
changes from the past are already noticeable. The ordinary man of the | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
people stance is still working. Characteristically outside a pub, | :21:12. | :21:14. | |
Nigel Farage is glad handed by a customer. Two weeks to go, let's | :21:15. | :21:21. | |
cause an upset. Wouldn't that be great? The only sign that such an | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
interaction is different now is the ever presence of bodyguards who | :21:27. | :21:38. | |
shadow his every move. Over lunch ahead of Question Time, a radio | :21:39. | :21:41. | |
appearance, and then off to Scotland, I ask him if some of those | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
minded to vote UKIP who see him as a man they'd be comfortable having a | :21:46. | :21:48. | |
drink with are the sort of people he'd be entirely comfortable sitting | :21:49. | :21:50. | |
down with. Every political party attracts support from across the | :21:51. | :21:53. | |
spectrum and there will be some magnificent people who vote for us | :21:54. | :22:01. | |
and some ne'er-do-wells. The one common thing about UKIP voters is | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
that they are often not very political. And it's that people's | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
army that if UKIP can get to a polling booth might just create that | :22:11. | :22:12. | |
earthquake they want. Nigel Farage joins me now. | :22:13. | :22:19. | |
earthquake they want. decided not to stand at the new work | :22:20. | :22:21. | |
by election coming said if you lost it that the bubble would have | :22:22. | :22:28. | |
burst. What did you mean by that? I was asked at seven 20p -- at 7:21pm | :22:29. | :22:47. | |
if I would stand, I have decided by the next morning that I would not. I | :22:48. | :22:53. | |
didn't know he was going to resign. You claim only a handful of UKIP | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
candidates have ever said things that are either stupid or offensive, | :22:58. | :23:04. | |
I'm right on that, yes? 0.1%, I'd rather it was non-. But why have you | :23:05. | :23:10. | |
chosen a candidate to fight this by-election that has said many | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
things most people would regard as stupid or offensive? Roger is | :23:15. | :23:21. | |
fighting this for us, someone of 70 years of age who grew up with a | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
strong Christian Bible background, in an age when homosexuality was | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
imprisonable. He had a certain set of views which he maintained for | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
many years which he now says he accepts the world has moved on and | :23:36. | :23:41. | |
he is relaxed about it. The comments about homosexuality are not from the | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
dark ages, they are from two or three years ago. From when he was a | :23:47. | :23:52. | |
Conservative, yes, so will you be asking David Cameron that question? | :23:53. | :23:57. | |
I have never seen a single comment from Roger that would be deemed to | :23:58. | :24:04. | |
be offensive. Do you regard his comments on homosexuality as | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
offensive? When he grew up, homosexuality was illegal in this | :24:10. | :24:14. | |
country. But this was in 2012 but he said that. Most people have his age | :24:15. | :24:25. | |
still feel uncomfortable about it -- of his age. In 2012 he said, if two | :24:26. | :24:32. | |
men can be married, why not three, why not a commune. Many people in | :24:33. | :24:38. | |
this country are disconcerted by the change in the meaning of marriage | :24:39. | :24:43. | |
and in a tolerant society we understand that some people have | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
different views. But he has changed his views now in only two years? He | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
says he is more relaxed about it. Was he your candidate? He is a | :24:53. | :25:03. | |
first-class campaigner who has had 30 years in industry, he served in | :25:04. | :25:08. | |
the European Parliament, he is a good candidate. This morning's | :25:09. | :25:13. | |
papers suggest you are about to select Victoria Ayling for Grimsby, | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
but she is on camera saying that, of immigrants, I just want to send a | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
lot back. This is all very interesting, and we can talk about | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
it, all we could talk about the fact that in 12 days we have a European | :25:28. | :25:31. | |
election and every voter across the UK can vote on it and it is really | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
interesting. Are you happy to pick a candidate that says of immigrants, I | :25:38. | :25:46. | |
just want to send a lot back? I have seen the tape, it is a complete | :25:47. | :25:50. | |
misquote and she says it in the context of illegal immigrants. I | :25:51. | :25:58. | |
have seen the full quote and in the context it is not about illegal | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
immigrants. Let's come onto the European campaign, you have used a | :26:03. | :26:06. | |
company that employs Eastern European is to deliver leaflets in | :26:07. | :26:11. | |
London and the Home Counties. Have we? I'm told that in Croydon one | :26:12. | :26:17. | |
branch might have done that. Have you found some indigenous Brits to | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
deliver leaflets in Europe? We have thousands joining the party every | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
month and they are not all indigenous because what is | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
interesting is that in today's opinion polls, UKIP is above the Lib | :26:32. | :26:46. | |
Dems and the Conservatives amongst the indigenous voting. | :26:47. | :26:56. | |
We have not agreed a manifesto for the general election, we will do | :26:57. | :27:03. | |
over the course of the summer. This is in your local election. We are | :27:04. | :27:10. | |
having local elections in some part of the country but we are fighting a | :27:11. | :27:14. | |
European election. It is impossible with the British media to have an | :27:15. | :27:18. | |
intelligent debate on the European question. But as I say, we are also | :27:19. | :27:24. | |
fighting the local elections too. You have promised these tax cuts, | :27:25. | :27:31. | |
how much will they cost? I have met -- read the local election manifesto | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
and it doesn't make those promises. We do talk about local services, we | :27:37. | :27:40. | |
do talk about the need to keep council tax down but we don't talk | :27:41. | :27:48. | |
about income tax. Absolutely not. In local election campaigning you say | :27:49. | :27:52. | |
you would restore cuts to policing, double prison places, restore cuts | :27:53. | :27:59. | |
to front line NHS, spend more on roads, how much would that cost? You | :28:00. | :28:05. | |
are obviously reading different documents to me. We are voting for | :28:06. | :28:11. | |
local councillors in district councils who have got little local | :28:12. | :28:17. | |
budgets. Every party in a manifesto puts his aspirations in it. Have you | :28:18. | :28:24. | |
read it? Of course I have, cover to cover, which is why I'm saying you | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
are misquoting it. By the way, on the bubble bursting, you told that | :28:30. | :28:36. | |
to Norman Smith of the BBC. 75% of British laws are now made in the | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
European Union. Now AstraZeneca is potentially going to be taken over | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
by Pfizer. The BBC is refusing to show the public that that decision | :28:48. | :28:52. | |
cannot be taken here but by an elected European commissioner, and | :28:53. | :28:55. | |
we sit and argue about what is in or not in the local election manifesto. | :28:56. | :29:09. | |
It is my job, but let me come on to AstraZeneca. Is it your view that a | :29:10. | :29:12. | |
British government should stop the takeover of AstraZeneca? It cannot. | :29:13. | :29:24. | |
Can we please get this clear. I sat next to Chuka Umunna the other day | :29:25. | :29:29. | |
at question time and he said what could and couldn't be done. He said | :29:30. | :29:34. | |
I am being studiously neutral, and the reason is we don't have this | :29:35. | :29:38. | |
power. That is what the European elections is about. Should France | :29:39. | :29:45. | |
have the takeover of the food company Danan? We seem to do things | :29:46. | :30:02. | |
to the Nth degree and nobody else does, perhaps because we have this | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
culture and we obey it. In your view, you don't think Pfizer should | :30:07. | :30:15. | |
be able to take over AstraZeneca? There is some good science within | :30:16. | :30:19. | |
AstraZeneca which is in danger of being asset stripped and lost. | :30:20. | :30:26. | |
Because it is run by a Swede and a Frenchman and most of its employees | :30:27. | :30:31. | |
are overseas. I understand that but there are still some good science | :30:32. | :30:36. | |
being produced here. What did you think of the Prime Minister saying | :30:37. | :30:40. | |
he would not form a government after the election unless he was able to | :30:41. | :30:45. | |
have a referendum in 2017? I sat here talking to you and you said to | :30:46. | :30:52. | |
me that David Cameron had given a cast-iron guarantee that if David | :30:53. | :30:56. | |
Cameron becomes Prime Minister he will have a referendum on the Lisbon | :30:57. | :31:00. | |
Treaty, but he didn't deliver on that. He knows that people struggle | :31:01. | :31:05. | |
to believe the renegotiation is worth a row of beans. He is saying | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
he will not form a government unless he can go forward with the | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
referendum. I know he is desperately trying to pretend to be Eurosceptic | :31:16. | :31:18. | |
whilst at the same time saying he will campaign for Britain to remain | :31:19. | :31:23. | |
in. In a sense, that is what this election is about. We have three | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
traditional parties, all of whom passionately believe in the | :31:28. | :31:30. | |
continued membership of the European Union and we have UKIP saying we | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
want trade and cooperation but there is a bigger and better world out | :31:36. | :31:40. | |
there. You are now travelling with I think four bodyguards, has this | :31:41. | :31:51. | |
affected you and your family life? I can't stand it. I've always wondered | :31:52. | :31:55. | |
about the place and on my own thing. Sadly we have a couple of | :31:56. | :31:59. | |
organisations out there headed up by senior Labour Party figures who | :32:00. | :32:02. | |
purport to be against fascism and extremism, who received funding from | :32:03. | :32:07. | |
the Department of communities, from the trade unions, who have acted in | :32:08. | :32:11. | |
a violent wait more than once. You are saying the Labour Party is | :32:12. | :32:16. | |
behind the threats? No, I said a taxpayer funded, trade union funded | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
and headed by senior Labour Party figures, and I'm happy for them to | :32:21. | :32:24. | |
come to my meetings and have an itinerant with me, but it's not so | :32:25. | :32:27. | |
much fun when there are banging you over the head. I is still keen to be | :32:28. | :32:33. | |
an MP? Yes, what UKIP will then do is target before the general | :32:34. | :32:39. | |
election next year for the one life be easier if you just went to the | :32:40. | :32:43. | |
Lords? That's the last thing I want to do. There's an awful lot to do. | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
Most of all, I will not rest until we are free from political union and | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
government from Brussels. Nigel Farage, thank you for being with us. | :32:53. | :32:54. | |
It's just gone 11.30am. You're watching the Sunday Politics. We say | :32:55. | :32:57. | |
goodbye to viewers in Scotland, who leave us now for Sunday Politics | :32:58. | :33:00. | |
Scotland. Coming up here in 20 minutes, our panel talks about the | :33:01. | :33:02. | |
Welcome to the local part of the big stories of the week. First | :33:03. | :33:11. | |
Welcome to the local part of the programme. Coming up, battle ground | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
tactics. 11 days to go until the local elections, and the FIFA key | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
seats stepped up. I think we will take everything. I think this might | :33:22. | :33:26. | |
have been a UKIP minority led administration. | :33:27. | :33:28. | |
Claiming new benefits, and the long wait for the disabled people to be | :33:29. | :33:33. | |
assessed. Have changes to the system worked? There's no way I can live on | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
something like ?83 per week. I just can't do it. | :33:38. | :33:43. | |
Let's meet our guests. Jonathan sharply, Conservative MP to | :33:44. | :33:53. | |
Huntingdon, Julian Herbert, and Stuart Agnew, UKIP MEP for the East | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
of England. Welcome. Let's start with a key story for this region. | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
The possible takeover of AstraZeneca by the giant American drug company | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
Pfizer. If the deal goes ahead, for more than ?60 billion, there is real | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
concern that the UK will lose out, in particular Cambridge, where | :34:13. | :34:16. | |
AstraZeneca's building its new multi`million pound research Centre. | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
Bringing around 2000 jobs to the city. It sparked an emergency | :34:21. | :34:23. | |
Commons debate called by Julian Abbotts. The Prime Minister said he | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
had had assurances from Pfizer that they were committed to the UK and | :34:28. | :34:34. | |
Cambridge. Of course, there is no off on the table, but the | :34:35. | :34:37. | |
commitments made so far I encouraging in terms of completing | :34:38. | :34:41. | |
the Cambridge campus, making sure that's 20% of the combined | :34:42. | :34:45. | |
company's total R workforces in the UK going forward. Julian | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
Huppert, according to a Shadow Business Secretary, these assurances | :34:51. | :34:52. | |
aren't worth the paper they are written on. You called the emergency | :34:53. | :34:56. | |
debate, but basically you are powerless to stop this going ahead, | :34:57. | :34:59. | |
I knew? The government doesn't have the power to stop it from happening. | :35:00. | :35:04. | |
The law was changed in 2002 by the Labour government to take out that | :35:05. | :35:07. | |
power. What I and Vince Cable and others have been doing is to work | :35:08. | :35:11. | |
with Pfizer and with AstraZeneca to make sure that the British interest | :35:12. | :35:15. | |
is protected, the skills base, the jobs. In the case of Cambridge, the | :35:16. | :35:21. | |
2000 people moving to Cambridge with AstraZeneca's global headquarters | :35:22. | :35:24. | |
and research help. I think it is very important to be able to work | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
with both of them. If Pfizer offer enough money, AstraZeneca | :35:29. | :35:31. | |
shareholders will choose to go ahead with the deal. We need to make sure | :35:32. | :35:35. | |
that either way, they come here and stay here. I was completely shocked | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
that apparently Ed Miliband refused to talk to Pfizer. We have thousands | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
and thousands of jobs at stake in Cambridge and around Britain, and he | :35:45. | :35:47. | |
was apparently too busy campaigning to have that discussion. At the end | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
of the day, this is business and not politics. Surely the Prime Minister | :35:53. | :35:55. | |
is posturing when he says he has had assurances from Pfizer? At the end | :35:56. | :35:59. | |
of the day, there is nothing to stop Pfizer from changing its plan if it | :36:00. | :36:03. | |
chooses. This is a key strategic issue for the country as well as | :36:04. | :36:07. | |
this area. I was very pleased to see the Prime Minister not only | :36:08. | :36:11. | |
personally engaging, but the Business Secretary and government as | :36:12. | :36:13. | |
a whole taking great interest in this. And talking with both | :36:14. | :36:17. | |
parties. But ultimately, yes, I agree. This is a business matter. | :36:18. | :36:23. | |
Government is there to set the terms of business to operate in, to | :36:24. | :36:27. | |
provide a low tax economy, web at Pfizer and AstraZeneca wants to come | :36:28. | :36:31. | |
and work in this country. And where we have a low regulatory | :36:32. | :36:34. | |
environment, but it is not for government to actually do business' | :36:35. | :36:41. | |
job for it. Stuart Agnew, it is a big enough deal to come within EU | :36:42. | :36:44. | |
merger regulations. Only the European Commission could possibly | :36:45. | :36:49. | |
step in. A good reason to be in the EU? Well, they have the option to | :36:50. | :36:59. | |
come in under Article 82 and 83, because as you say, it is big | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
enough. It then goes out of our hands, unless they choose to put it | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
back into our hands again, our Margulies and Mergers commission. We | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
could find ourselves in position and just having to wait for the | :37:13. | :37:15. | |
commission to tell us what is going to happen, which we feel is very | :37:16. | :37:18. | |
unsatisfactory, and we should be making these decisions ourselves in | :37:19. | :37:22. | |
this country. Julian Huppert, do you think the law needs to change when | :37:23. | :37:25. | |
it comes to the sort of business? Certain businesses are protected, | :37:26. | :37:31. | |
and they? I think it is worth having a look at it. I would be very | :37:32. | :37:35. | |
uncomfortable with the idea of emergency legislation on something | :37:36. | :37:38. | |
like this. Looking at our package of laws as a whole, it is sensible. I | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
think the message we would send out internationally if we were to | :37:44. | :37:46. | |
suddenly change our laws, that would be very damaging for Britain's | :37:47. | :37:49. | |
interests, because when British companies wanted to buy a company | :37:50. | :37:52. | |
anywhere else in the world, every other country were to be say, oh, | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
no, we will be ultra`protectionist as well. I think Europe is important | :37:57. | :38:03. | |
not because of the role they have, but one of the reasons AstraZeneca | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
and Pfizer are attracted to Britain and our area is because of the EU | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
connections. A huge amount of their workforce European citizens, and it | :38:12. | :38:15. | |
is great to be in Europe for that. Thank you. | :38:16. | :38:18. | |
Talking of Europe, only 11 days until the European elections on May | :38:19. | :38:22. | |
22. This year, they coincide with elections in 20 councils across the | :38:23. | :38:26. | |
region. So, when people vote for that any peas, some will also be | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
electing a new round of counsellors. This is expected to | :38:31. | :38:33. | |
make local elections more unpredictable, and might benefit | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
UKIP, who have high hopes of muscling in on Tory/Labour battle | :38:39. | :38:44. | |
grounds. Where else would UKIP whole campaign | :38:45. | :38:49. | |
meeting? The pub is, of course, Nigel Farage's favourite location, | :38:50. | :38:52. | |
although he would normally be drinking his beer by the pint. There | :38:53. | :38:57. | |
is one thing the party in Basildon is not doing hearts, and that is | :38:58. | :39:02. | |
optimism. I think we're going to smash them to pieces. Every | :39:03. | :39:06. | |
Conservative and Labour activist you speak to, a pleasant conversation, | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
but it is fuelled by Shia and utter panic. They did not expect us to | :39:11. | :39:14. | |
make any gains in the council elections, and we did. We came top | :39:15. | :39:18. | |
of the poll in Basildon with 34% across the borough. I think we will | :39:19. | :39:22. | |
take everything on the council. I think this might be a UKIP minority | :39:23. | :39:28. | |
led administration. We will find out on May 22 whether that is overly | :39:29. | :39:31. | |
optimistic, but there is no doubt that here in Basildon and another | :39:32. | :39:35. | |
councils across the used, where there is a straight fight between | :39:36. | :39:38. | |
Labour and the Conservatives, that the rise of UKIP is going to have a | :39:39. | :39:46. | |
significant impact. In Basildon, the Conservative council leader admits | :39:47. | :39:48. | |
the Tories could lose the majority they have held for the last decade. | :39:49. | :39:55. | |
Realistically, on May 23, we are going to be waking up to a council | :39:56. | :40:00. | |
that is no overall control. I don't think so. It is a possibility, | :40:01. | :40:02. | |
that is no overall control. I don't think so. It is a but I'm not ruling | :40:03. | :40:05. | |
it out. Not something that is definite, however, . We might lose | :40:06. | :40:11. | |
some votes to UKIP, but so will Labour. It will be very interesting. | :40:12. | :40:14. | |
I think there is everything to play for. | :40:15. | :40:18. | |
In great Yarmouth, UKIP has set their sights on disrupting another | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
two`way battle, a Labour administration with a majority of | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
one facing a challenge from the Conservatives. Here, another minor | :40:28. | :40:31. | |
party is also hoping to make an impact. The Greens think they can | :40:32. | :40:36. | |
fill the void left by the Liberal Democrats, who are not fielding a | :40:37. | :40:41. | |
single candidate. People are fed up of the same old parties, and | :40:42. | :40:46. | |
actually looking for positive change in their community, especially | :40:47. | :40:49. | |
locally, and they want people to listen to them. I think they are | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
tired of poor representation in a local areas. It is a different | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
picture in Cambridge, one of the few areas where the Liberal Democrats | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
find themselves defending their record as a ruling party. One thing | :41:02. | :41:08. | |
we point to is having removed the tight straitjacket and growth, which | :41:09. | :41:11. | |
would have caused a lot of small local companies to fly away when | :41:12. | :41:14. | |
they grew bigger. We have allowed them to stay. It results in us | :41:15. | :41:18. | |
having one of the highest level of average earnings in the country, and | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
to have weathered the recession like few other places in the UK. Labour | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
is fighting for control of Cambridge Council, and believe that their | :41:28. | :41:30. | |
message about the cost of living is going down well with voters. We are | :41:31. | :41:35. | |
a prosperous city, but we also have areas of the city that have been | :41:36. | :41:38. | |
neglected by the Liberal Democrats in the last ten years, and we have | :41:39. | :41:42. | |
people who have not seen the benefits of the growth that the city | :41:43. | :41:49. | |
has been experiencing. We have the transport issues. We need to look | :41:50. | :41:52. | |
hard at the private rented sector. We need to look at the investment | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
the need to take place. This is an important council in a successful | :41:59. | :42:01. | |
city. Whoever control is at the end of this election, they will have a | :42:02. | :42:06. | |
lot to feel pleased about. Julian Huppert, let's talk about the | :42:07. | :42:10. | |
threat of the Lib Dem administration in Cambridge. You are losing your | :42:11. | :42:15. | |
grip. Are you not? This is one of the last remaining strongholds. | :42:16. | :42:20. | |
We will see were happens in Cambridge. It is a straight fight | :42:21. | :42:23. | |
between us and Labour. We are descending seats `` defending seats | :42:24. | :42:31. | |
where Labour only managed to win a couple in 2010. | :42:32. | :42:33. | |
UKIP on the Conservatives are out of the running. There is only one UKIP | :42:34. | :42:40. | |
candidate in the Hull City, and the Conservatives have one out of 56 | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
councillors. I think we have a great record. One thing I am most proud of | :42:45. | :42:48. | |
in Cambridge is, according to an independent and then, we are the | :42:49. | :42:51. | |
most equal city in the entire country. That is something to be | :42:52. | :42:54. | |
really proud after 40 years of Liberal Democrat leadership. | :42:55. | :42:58. | |
Jonathan, what about the UKIP threat in Huntingdon? Five seats already, | :42:59. | :43:03. | |
that will increase for UKIP, won't it? The liberal and Labour votes | :43:04. | :43:11. | |
outside of Cambridge are very weak, and the battle is increasingly | :43:12. | :43:17. | |
becoming between the Conservatives and UKIP. Why are you losing out to | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
UKIP? We are not. I think they have been taking votes from Labour and | :43:23. | :43:25. | |
the Lib Dems as much as us, and from people who have not voted in the | :43:26. | :43:29. | |
past. But I think it is pretty poor that people like going to go into | :43:30. | :43:31. | |
the local elections and vote on the basis of how they would vote in the | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
European elections for a local election. The reason why the | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
Conservatives have done very well in Huntingdon historically is because | :43:40. | :43:42. | |
we provide the services that people want at a low cost, and that will | :43:43. | :43:47. | |
continue. Stuart Agnew, do you think it is poor if people are voting | :43:48. | :43:49. | |
locally on what they would choose for a European election? It isn't | :43:50. | :43:58. | |
poor, it is their decision. We knew that they are more likely to go and | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
vote at a European election, here is the balance of the local election | :44:04. | :44:06. | |
next them, so they don't have to make a special extra trip. As | :44:07. | :44:12. | |
regards Huntingdonshire, the UKIP success there is as a result of very | :44:13. | :44:18. | |
hard work. Do you think people know locally what they are voting for | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
when they vote UKIP? Your leader has ripped up the manifesto, and is | :44:23. | :44:28. | |
keeping policy under wraps. That the general election manifesto. For | :44:29. | :44:31. | |
local government, we want to make sure that we don't get this urban | :44:32. | :44:34. | |
sprawl across the green fields will stop we want to see the brown fields | :44:35. | :44:40. | |
built on first. Even if that is more expensive and inconvenient for the | :44:41. | :44:45. | |
developers. We do not like the huge salaries paid to the officers on | :44:46. | :44:49. | |
some of these councils. We want to see that comeback. We are keen on | :44:50. | :44:52. | |
local referenda to involve local and decisions on planning. That is the | :44:53. | :44:59. | |
way we go. Julian, as far as the Lib Dems go, people perhaps know your | :45:00. | :45:02. | |
policies, but it seems as if they don't like them particularly. I am | :45:03. | :45:07. | |
looking at places like Great Yarmouth, where you are fighting a | :45:08. | :45:11. | |
single seat. I don't know the details there, that in Cambridge, we | :45:12. | :45:15. | |
have absence from UKIP, in South Cambridgeshire, we have seats held | :45:16. | :45:23. | |
by the former leader of the County Council where the Conservatives | :45:24. | :45:25. | |
can't find any candidates. What I think is fascinating about people | :45:26. | :45:29. | |
voting for UKIP considering it, is when Nigel Farage in the debate said | :45:30. | :45:32. | |
he would not support something in the interests of British people if | :45:33. | :45:35. | |
it involved doing something with Europe. I think that is chilling. We | :45:36. | :45:42. | |
will have to move on. Thank you. From changes at the elections to | :45:43. | :45:46. | |
changes in the benefits for disabled people, which are forcing some | :45:47. | :45:49. | |
families into poverty. Personal independence payments have replaced | :45:50. | :45:55. | |
the long`standing disability living allowance, but it has meant long | :45:56. | :45:57. | |
delays were people waiting to be assessed. One man from Bedford has | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
been waiting for eight months after being struck by a rare but serious | :46:04. | :46:07. | |
condition of the nervous system. He has been struggling ever since. He | :46:08. | :46:11. | |
spoke to Paul. I send the form back. Then I rang | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
them up to make sure they had received the form, because it had | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
been something like four weeks and they had not heard anything. They | :46:21. | :46:24. | |
told me, yes, Mr Singh, we have got the form. It is a 14 week delay, | :46:25. | :46:32. | |
however. Now, that is kind of battling when people are starting to | :46:33. | :46:38. | |
struggle financially, they have not got 14 weeks. `` backfilling. I have | :46:39. | :46:44. | |
had to lower my self`esteem and ask my friends and family is for | :46:45. | :46:46. | |
financial help, which I have never done before in my life. That is just | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
to keep myself and my family's head above water. I have contacted them | :46:53. | :46:56. | |
on three other occasions, when I have gone through just to the | :46:57. | :47:01. | |
dialtone, please wait, someone will be with you. The longest I have | :47:02. | :47:06. | |
waited is literally 15 minutes. That is at a premium rate. You just can't | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
keep doing that. I have just hung up. I've had to make a lot of | :47:12. | :47:19. | |
cutbacks. We try to save as much energy as possible, because prices | :47:20. | :47:23. | |
are going through the roof. Food has gone up, petrol. I have had to sell | :47:24. | :47:30. | |
my car. I had problems selling it. I had to use that just to pay off the | :47:31. | :47:34. | |
bills and everything. I would like the government is to wake up and | :47:35. | :47:41. | |
realise people that have worked on a long`term basis, ten, 15, 25, 30 | :47:42. | :47:47. | |
years, if they do fall on a long or short term illness, they are genuine | :47:48. | :47:54. | |
people. Jonathan, Mr Singh has been waiting | :47:55. | :47:57. | |
for eight months. The system is not working, is it? It is a new system, | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
and delays for people who need their disability are wrong and need to be | :48:03. | :48:06. | |
addressed. The government has promised to review this and to deal | :48:07. | :48:10. | |
with it, but let's go back to the basic issue. This is a new system | :48:11. | :48:14. | |
brought in because the old one, 50% of people who got disability were | :48:15. | :48:19. | |
not being assessed at all. Many who then got it were then never | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
reassessed, and that has now changed and that is quite right. Are you | :48:24. | :48:28. | |
satisfied, Julian, with how peps are working? Know, and I think this is a | :48:29. | :48:32. | |
clear case of how it has not worked. There have been a collection of | :48:33. | :48:35. | |
problems. Problems with assessments which have been running since 2008, | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
and this is just another failure like that. We need to have systems | :48:42. | :48:44. | |
which help people quickly. You need to make the right decision. Jonathan | :48:45. | :48:48. | |
is right in that, but you can't just leave people hanging around | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
waiting. Stuart, what is UKIP's position on this? You want to cut | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
benefits and things, don't you? No, our policy is not to cut benefits. | :48:58. | :49:01. | |
It is certainly to target them and those who have paid into the system | :49:02. | :49:08. | |
in the first place. In this particular instance, we have a | :49:09. | :49:11. | |
couple of private firms who have not done what they said they would do. | :49:12. | :49:16. | |
Why not give them the push? Jonathan, more needs to be done, | :49:17. | :49:21. | |
doesn't it? Yes, and the government has promised a review after year one | :49:22. | :49:25. | |
and year two of the scheme. I hope as with all new schemes, they will | :49:26. | :49:30. | |
be ironed out. I appreciate that a person waiting for their benefit | :49:31. | :49:34. | |
when they need it will feel this is a higher situation, and this is why | :49:35. | :49:38. | |
we need to act quickly. We will leave it there for the minute. And | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
now, for our round`up of the week. Lord Howell infield defending | :49:43. | :49:45. | |
himself against, this time of the charges of clocking in to Parliament | :49:46. | :49:51. | |
for matter of minutes. And it has been a week of high`profile visits. | :49:52. | :49:53. | |
Here is 60 seconds. Another election week, and another | :49:54. | :50:06. | |
Cabinet minister was on walkabout in the region. This time, Michael | :50:07. | :50:11. | |
Gove, the Education Secretary, in Harlow. The opportunity to spend | :50:12. | :50:15. | |
time with young people and give them the quality tuition they need to | :50:16. | :50:19. | |
succeed is a privilege. There was a royal visit as well, with hundreds | :50:20. | :50:23. | |
of people welcoming the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in Chelmsford to | :50:24. | :50:26. | |
celebrate 100 years of the dioceses. Meanwhile, Lord Hanning Field, the | :50:27. | :50:32. | |
disgraced peer and former leader of Essex County Council, has been | :50:33. | :50:35. | |
defending himself against charges of clocking in. | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
Mothers in Basildon have also had their say. Among those listening, | :50:41. | :50:44. | |
the Shadow Minister for women and equality is from Labour. Childcare, | :50:45. | :50:49. | |
always top of the agenda. Too expensive, and it prevents women | :50:50. | :50:54. | |
from playing a full part in the workplace. And pedal power came to | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
the region, with the women's Tour of Britain. | :50:59. | :51:01. | |
All five days are in the east, finishing in Bury St Edmunds today. | :51:02. | :51:08. | |
Stuart Agnew, women, it seems, can cycle, but can we do politics? No | :51:09. | :51:13. | |
female UKIP candidates in the East in the Euro election. That was not | :51:14. | :51:18. | |
deliberate, I can promise you. The membership is split. I am not quite | :51:19. | :51:23. | |
sure how much, male and female, but roughly 50`50. But in the Eastern | :51:24. | :51:26. | |
region, the ladies did not throw their hats into the ring as election | :51:27. | :51:30. | |
time, and we cannot force people to do that. In other regions, we have a | :51:31. | :51:34. | |
very strong female line`up, and we to see seven UKIP women MEPs in | :51:35. | :51:43. | |
three weeks. Jonathan, Labour campaigning on women's issues, but | :51:44. | :51:47. | |
obviously, not many women at the top table in Cabinet at the moment. | :51:48. | :51:52. | |
Locally, in the Eastern region, our number one candidate for the | :51:53. | :51:54. | |
European list is a woman, and I am very pleased we have just elected a | :51:55. | :51:59. | |
woman to fight a seat for the next general election in Cambridgeshire. | :52:00. | :52:04. | |
But it is not 50`50. No, it is not enough will stop the Prime Minister | :52:05. | :52:08. | |
has been quite clear on this. We are now selecting for the next election, | :52:09. | :52:11. | |
keeping that in mind. We want to have more women in place, not only | :52:12. | :52:16. | |
in parliament, but all the way to the Cabinet. It is not 50`50 in the | :52:17. | :52:21. | |
Lib Dems either, Julian. No, and we are doing what we can to get more | :52:22. | :52:24. | |
women into place. In our safest leads, almost everybody selected is | :52:25. | :52:31. | |
a woman. I hope we will be much better. In Cambridge, we did very | :52:32. | :52:37. | |
well. I've the executive councillors who win the city are women. It is a | :52:38. | :52:41. | |
shame that Labour have only selected to among 15 candidates for the local | :52:42. | :52:45. | |
elections. Thank you all. That is all for now. | :52:46. | :52:50. | |
Don't forget, the blog for all the latest political updates. Next week, | :52:51. | :52:54. | |
we're back at the same time, but we have a special Euro elections | :52:55. | :52:57. | |
debate, with all the leading candidate in the east. I hope you | :52:58. | :53:00. | |
will be able to join us. But for now, back to Andrew. I will see UNIX | :53:01. | :53:03. | |
week. Have a good week. the website now. Now it is back to | :53:04. | :53:05. | |
you, Andrew. Welcome back, let's go straight to | :53:06. | :53:23. | |
our panel. What did you make of Mr Alexander's defence of the Labour | :53:24. | :53:28. | |
party election broadcast? It is difficult for them because they | :53:29. | :53:30. | |
started by saying they were not going to do negative campaigning and | :53:31. | :53:35. | |
they have thrown that away for an advert which is funny but crude in | :53:36. | :53:42. | |
the class war sense. He didn't look thrilled to be defending it. There | :53:43. | :53:50. | |
is a page in Tony Blair's memoirs talking about negative campaigning, | :53:51. | :53:53. | |
and he says that anything too extreme turns off the average voter | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
so his line of attack on Hague was funny jokes but... I think this | :54:00. | :54:10. | |
failed the Blair test, it was too vicious. If your strategy is to | :54:11. | :54:17. | |
shore up your car vote, that advert was genius. If your strategy is to | :54:18. | :54:21. | |
reach out to a broader number of voters, Middle Britain, then that | :54:22. | :54:27. | |
advert was a complete disaster. It looks like there is a lot of | :54:28. | :54:31. | |
negativity and smears all round in the next year. That definitely looks | :54:32. | :54:42. | |
the way we are going. They will be essentially trying to re-run by -- | :54:43. | :55:01. | |
the American election. I am slightly puzzled why we cannot have our own | :55:02. | :55:06. | |
election gurus who live here and understand the country. I should | :55:07. | :55:12. | |
point out that the ?450 extra VAT that was claimed in that Labour | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
poster, both Ed Balls and the Labour Treasury team have said that is ?450 | :55:18. | :55:23. | |
per year. Nonsense the VAT rise, one year. I should also point out that | :55:24. | :55:29. | |
Nigel Farage said to Norman Smith, the BBC is always reliable Norman | :55:30. | :55:37. | |
Smith that if you run in Newark and lost the bubble would burst. I | :55:38. | :55:41. | |
should also point out that although a number of the tax rises I | :55:42. | :55:46. | |
mentioned on council tax, minimum wage tax and some other things that | :55:47. | :55:50. | |
UKIP wants to cuts, a couple of these are in the local manifesto but | :55:51. | :55:56. | |
several are not. They are on the UKIP website, which is still current | :55:57. | :56:04. | |
and dated 2014. We like to make sure we are absolutely right. Let's talk | :56:05. | :56:09. | |
about Nick Clegg and Michael Gove and the latest spat. Let me show you | :56:10. | :56:14. | |
this headline in the Observer this morning. From both the Independent, | :56:15. | :56:23. | |
he called him a zealot, lunatic is of -- another word. Do we take this | :56:24. | :56:33. | |
seriously? It hinges on this question of what counts as an area | :56:34. | :56:39. | |
of need in education. The Lib Dems say an area of need is one where | :56:40. | :56:43. | |
there are not enough school places to meet local demand. He says it can | :56:44. | :56:48. | |
also be a place where there are surplus places but that is for a | :56:49. | :56:52. | |
reason. Local places don't trust those schools to do a good job for | :56:53. | :57:04. | |
their kids. It surprises me because there isn't a yawning distance | :57:05. | :57:09. | |
between David Laws and Michael Gove. David Laws has found himself between | :57:10. | :57:15. | |
a rock and a hard place because I asked -- as I understand it most Lib | :57:16. | :57:19. | |
Dems don't like the free schools but Mr laws was quite sympathetic to it | :57:20. | :57:23. | |
and he is now having to this respect it. When they asked people who are | :57:24. | :57:30. | |
the most hated politicians in a poll were this week, Michael Gove is off | :57:31. | :57:35. | |
the charts, far above David Cameron or George Osborne. This is | :57:36. | :57:49. | |
tit-for-tat war. The Liberal Democrats believe Michael Gove had a | :57:50. | :57:52. | |
hand in leaking the document that showed Nick Clegg was opposing the | :57:53. | :57:56. | |
tougher Chris Grayling position on knife crime. They are saying there | :57:57. | :58:00. | |
were Cabinet ministers who never usually attend the sub Cabinet | :58:01. | :58:06. | |
meeting, they turned up and the document is leaked so what we are | :58:07. | :58:10. | |
getting is tit for tat on that. It is inevitable but it is not good for | :58:11. | :58:15. | |
either side of the Coalition. Voters will look at it and say it is | :58:16. | :58:21. | |
politics of the playground. I read in the Mail on Sunday this morning | :58:22. | :58:31. | |
that some Tory insiders are accusing Lib Dems of spreading rumours about | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
the camera in marriage. The rebuttals of education story is that | :58:37. | :58:43. | |
the free school meals is sucking money away. I always thought they | :58:44. | :58:53. | |
would work together without fuss and yet it has been more the source of | :58:54. | :58:59. | |
disagreement then I would have expected a couple of years ago. Is | :59:00. | :59:05. | |
it serious? It is serious obviously, using that language, but is it fatal | :59:06. | :59:11. | |
for the Coalition? I think it is a road bump because I don't think | :59:12. | :59:14. | |
anybody wants to dissolve the Coalition. It is a challenge for | :59:15. | :59:18. | |
Labour because where do they stand on the free schools? They invented | :59:19. | :59:22. | |
the Academy programme so it is difficult for them to take a | :59:23. | :59:27. | |
hands-off approach at this stage. There was a danger for Michael Gove | :59:28. | :59:30. | |
that he looks ideological but the danger for the Liberal Democrats is | :59:31. | :59:34. | |
that they are breaking the rules for the Coalition they said that they | :59:35. | :59:38. | |
wouldn't break which is that they looked like opposition in | :59:39. | :59:44. | |
government. Is Michael Gove's position safe? Very safe. If he | :59:45. | :59:50. | |
moves in a reshuffle that will be to a a job. That's all for today. The | :59:51. | :59:57. | |
Daily Politics will be back on BBC Two at lunchtime from Tuesday | :59:58. | :00:00. | |
onwards. I'll be back here on BBC One at 11am next week. Remember if | :00:01. | :00:02. | |
it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics. | :00:03. | :00:51. | |
What if the person that killed her... | :00:52. | :00:52. | |
I found out she'd been taking drugs. Just let me explain. | :00:53. | :00:56. | |
You wasn't at that party all night. Yeah, I was. | :00:57. | :00:59. | |
What was she even doing there? Oi, you keep your mouth shut. | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
She was exchanging a significant number of texts and calls | :01:03. | :01:05. | |
with someone in the weeks leading up to her death. | :01:06. | :01:07. | |
It's like we didn't really know her at all. | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
You never know what goes on behind closed doors. | :01:15. | :01:17. |