15/06/2014 Sunday Politics East

Well, this is the closest I'll get to Rio.

The advance of the Islamist army on Baghdad has been slowed.

The Iraqi army claims the fightback has begun.

But the country now faces a de facto partition.

What should Britain, Europe, or the US be doing - if anything?

It's been a big week in the Scottish referendum.

But has the tone of the debate become too downright nasty?

Both sides join us to go head to head.

I will swap Ed Miliband for Tim Farren. What is the significance of

that? And as World Cup sticker fever grips

even Westminster, we'll be asking Here in the East,

fears that the rights of mentally ill patients, entitled

to care, are being breached. And a crunch vote for Nick Clegg

as Lib Dems meet in Cambridge to In London, why the minority vote one

recent elections Labour, but recent support amongst people is bigger

than assumed. The Sunni Islamist army known

as ISIS is now in control of huge swathes of northern

and western Iraq, including Until the weekend they looked

like advancing relentlessly on Baghdad but that offensive has

now been slowed or even halted The Iraqi army

and its Shia milita allies vow that Baghdad will not be taken and that

a counter-attack will soon begin. Iraq's Shia Prime Minister Nouri

al-Maliki has to do something to reverse the humiliation

of recent days, which saw his US-trained and equipped Iraqi

army, which outnumbered the Islamists 15 to 1 melt away or

surrender when confronted by ISIS. The conflict has already created a

humanitarian crisis, with hundreds The Kurds have used the conflict to

consolidate their hold on their autonomous area in the north, parts

of the west and the north are in the grip of ISIS control and the Shias

are hunkering down in the east. All of which makes a three-way

partition a real possibility with The US is moving another

of its massive aircraft carrier battlefleets to the Gulf,

though the White House shows no While Iran says it's ready to help

its Shia allies and there are unconfoirmed reports

that its revolutionary guard has Well, I'm joined now by Newsnight's

diplomatic editor Mark Urban. Let's start with some basics. Who

are ISIS and why are they controlling big chunks of Iraq? ISIS

is an extremist militant jihad organisation and they have a pure

Islamic concept based on 14th century history and jurisprudence.

What they want to do is correct -- create this caliphate that do not

recognise colonial boundaries so it involves Syria and Iraq, and they

could go down to Lebanon and Palestine, that is all fair game as

far as they are concerned. And they have this strict interpretation of

Islam. The more interesting question is why have semi-Sunni Muslims,

along with them, these are precisely the sort of people who in 2006,

2007, tribal leaders in the west of the country rose up against. It was

called the Awakening and the Americans in power did and

bankrolled it. These people turned against them and admired them in

large numbers, so why do they have so many Sunni Muslims on their

side? We hear about people going back to Mosul. I think the answer is

a perception back to Mosul. I think the answer

that the current government is ruling in sectarian interests, Shia

Muslim interest, and the Sunni Muslims want self-determination and

this is their best bet. Muslims want self-determination and

this is their Let me put up this map to find out where we are going. We

can see Mosul in the north, they took that, and then they started,

South, reports that the crit was involved -- to grit -- to grit. What

is the situation on the ground now? We are in what you might call a

consolidation or strategic pause as American called it in 2003. ISIS are

trying to consolidate their power in Mosul, and now they have this major

city and they are trying to show they can run the city and get the

power going, etc. Their southernmost forces, that is a gorilla army, guys

in pick-up trucks. They cannot deal with serious opposition. They would

like to get the tanks and other things into action but that could

take weeks for them to be able to do it. The government side is that they

have counter-attacked, but it will take a little while before these

newly raised militia and other task forces, call them what you will can

effectively counter-attacked. But that is what will happen in the next

week or two. We will see increasingly large and serious

government counter-attacked trying to retake those places, and I fear a

really difficult, bloody Syrian style street by street battle for

some of these urban centres. I would like to have a look at this map

because the Kurds, as I mentioned, they are consolidating their

position in the autonomous region in the north. The Islamist are taking

over huge chunks of the Sunni Muslim West. And of course the Shia Muslim

are still dominant in control of Baghdad and in parts of the south

and east. Back to me looks like the beginnings of the partition of Iraq.

-- back to me. Well, it is, but we have to caveat it in a few ways

Firstly, there are millions of people in Iraq, so-called sushi

combined families, who do not fit easily into the pattern. Do we see

millions of people becoming refugees under this scheme? There would be a

lot of human tragedies if people really did try to enforce this type

partition. Secondly, there are Sunni Muslim communities in the south of

Baghdad, those places, once again, a lot of misery and fighting will

occur if people try to enforce a de facto partition. There are still an

awakening of forces. They are on the side of the government. We heard

about one group in Samarra of Sunni Muslims fighting on the same side.

It's a complex picture. They factor, it does look like a partition, and

if it goes further in that direction it will. And partition will always

be messy because people end up on the wrong side of the lies.

Finally, the big thing on that map, Iran, a huge place, a huge border

with Shia Muslim Iraq. Iran now becomes a key factor. It is becoming

a proxy war for Iran. Yes, when I was in Baghdad a few months ago I

did actually see Iranians revolutionary guards in uniform

They were protecting a senior Iranians official, so some numbers

have been never some time and they are also said to protect the

political leaders and -- in his compound. They are there. We think

more of them are trying to organise the defence of Baghdad to galvanise

the Iraqi army, and they will not allow the Iraqi government to fall.

Mark, thank you for marking archive this morning. -- marking our card.

Tony Blair took Britain into the Iraq conflict in 2003.

He's now, among other things, envoy to the Middle East representing

That's the UN, the EU, the US and Russia.

This morning he entered the debate about what should be

My point is simple. If you left Saddam in place in 2003, when 2 11

happened and you have the Arab revolutions going through Tunisia,

Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Egypt and Syria, you would still have had a

major problem in Iraq. You can see what happens when you leave the

dictator in place, as has happened with Bashar al-Assad. The problem

doesn't go away. What I'm trying to say is, we can rerun the debates

about 2003, and there are perfectly legitimate points on either side,

but where we are in 2014, we have do understand that this is a regional

problem, but a problem that will affect us.

And I'm joined by the former Foreign Office minister Mark Malloch-Brown,

Here in London are James Rubin, he was chief spokesman

for the State Department under Bill Clinton, and Bayan Rahman,

she represents the Kurdistan Regional government in the UK.

Intervened in Iraq, it's a shambles, we don't intervene in Syria, it s a

shambles. What lessons should we draw? That is a well framed

question, because that is the problem. Tony Blair is half right.

Iraq, like Syria, would probably have been a problem even without an

intervention. But one wishes someone would tell him to stay quiet during

moments like this, because it does drive a great surge of people in the

other direction. The fact is, what has been missing in western politics

towards the Middle East throughout both episodes, Syria and Iraq, is a

drive to build an inclusive, democratic centre which is secular

and nonsectarian. That has been missing amongst the threats of

invasion Manon invasion, we have just constantly neglected the

diplomatic nation-building dimensional this. I want to come

onto what is happening on the ground. I want to begin with what

the Western response by me, and by that we mean the United States,

because of it doesn't do anything, nobody will do anything. All of the

signals I see coming out of the White is that Barack Obama has no

appetite for intervention -- out of the White House. I don't think he

does have an appetite. He would be very unlikely to do anything very

large. He might feel pressured to act because of the fact that this

particular group, this Al-Qaeda inspired group, fits into the

strategy he has pursued in Yemen and Afghanistan and Pakistan, to use

drone strikes against individual terrorists. So it is possible that

the threat of ISIS in the region and the West in general might inspire

him to act, but the idea he will do enough, militarily, to transform

Iraq from its current state of civil War into something along the lines

that Mark was talking about, nation-building diplomacy, a big

operation, I don't see President Obama sees his historic mission as

having got the United States as out of it. Leave it to the Pacific,

perhaps. What would the Kurds like the West to do? First of all, in

Kurdistan we face a huge humanitarian crisis. We already have

had bought a quarter of a million Syrian refugees and we were

struggling to cope with that. And now we have at least double that

number of refugees coming from Mosul. First and foremost, we are

calling on the international community to help us with that. So

we need humanitarian aid? Let's assume we do that in some way, maybe

not enough, but what else if anything? I think it is an incumbent

on the west and other powers to assist Iraq to get rid of ISIS. I

think the Sunni Arab community, some of whom have joined ISIS and may be

supported the uprising, have justified complaints against the

federal government. But we need the terrorists out of Iraq. That is

first and foremost. And what the West can do is not necessarily

intervene with boots on the ground, but provide technical assistance,

provide intelligence and help the Iraqi army and air force to be more

targeted. Can you defend yourselves? In Kurdistan, we can in terms of the

disciplined troops. In this situation, I hope they won't be

abandoning their post, that is for sure. It is a national cause fires.

But we are not armed in the way that the Iraqi army is -- cause for us.

We are not armed in the way that ISIS seems to be now they have

seized some of the American kit We are not asking for weapons, but we

ask for assistance for all of Iraq to deal with the situation. Mark,

this is not just an Iraqi problem. This is a regional conflict, and

from the Levant on the shores of the Mediterranean, all the way through

to the Gulf, the region is gripped with what is essentially a Sunni and

Shia Muslim sectarian war. Yes, with the caveats that Mark bourbon made

earlier, it's not quite that straightforward, but the basic

divide is exactly that -- Mark Urban. People have been looking for

this to begin in Lebanon or Jordan and have been taken by surprise

although with hindsight I'm not sure why, that it has begun in Iraq

instead. At its most extreme, it risks redrawing the 20th century

boundaries of the region in a way which would be highly unstable

because it would pit a Shia Muslim bloc against the Sunni Muslim bloc

and would undo all of the sort of social and economic advance of the

last century, so the stakes are suddenly very, very high indeed Are

we seeing the redrawing? The lines were drawn secretly, not far from

here, about a mile away, and may have survived through thick and

thin. They now look pretty fragile. The map is being redrawn. I think it

is true that there is a key factor partition going on -- des facto

Woodrow Wilson probably gave a bit of a hand to the promotion of the

idea of self-determination, and in a way, there is a self determination

going on, particularly in the Kurdish region, and perhaps they may

end up the big winners in all of this, because they have proceeded

with a relatively moderate, reconcilable government. The key

thing that the Kurdish region has done. They used to fight the two

groups, and now they fight together. What the Sunni Muslims have not done

is figure out how to let politics let the side things instead of guns.

We need to look clearly and in Syria and Iraq, if there is a Sunni

extremist with ISIS that carves out a place for itself, it will be the

great irony of the modern era. President Bush said he wanted to go

into Iraq to fight terrorism. There was no terrorist. There are now If

in Iraq and Syria together thereat a thousand strong Al-Qaeda capability

that threatens the region, the West, the world, we are all going to

have to do something about it. The danger is that power will

spread. This could grow in power. You would not want it on your

southern border. Absolutely, we would not. The point we are all

making indirectly is that things have changed in Iraq and will never

be the same again. Whether Iraq completely disintegrates into three

countries, or whether it stays together as one country, but a

countries, or whether it stays together as one country, but loose

federation, either way, Iraq has changed. It will not go back to what

it was. I hope it will change for the better. I think we're at the

make or break point for Iraq. Either the political readers -- the

political leaders of a right wake up and smell the coffee and put aside

their differences or there will be problems. This provides that

opportunity, in a very nasty way. If we take it? Yes, and if not, I think

this is the end of a rack as we know it. If anything resembling a

caliphate emerges, that is very destabilising for the region itself.

More so I would suggest than even the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in

Afghanistan. At some stage, you have to assume that they will be coming

for us. That is correct. This is extremely dangerous. The only way

forward is for these political groups to talk to each other and

find a compromise that allows the rates of cinemas and minorities in

Iraq to be protected within or the rates of cinemas and minorities in

Iraq to be protected with an autonomous federal-state. Any

support for the government must be premised on that. There is no

military solution for this which is in during -- there is no military

solution for this. There must be serious political negotiation, not

with ISIS, but with Sunni Muslim moderates, to form a more

representative government. This is the last chance for Iraq. I think we

are all saying that that is going to need to be some major western

leadership to make some big decisions here for the future of the

region. I am concerned that after Afghanistan and Iraq, my country is

quite world-weary, quite world-weary. It does not seem to be

giving leadership. Certainly we are not seeing that in Europe. I am

deeply concerned that we are not going to take the leadership role

that needs to be taken. These are big issues. When Britain and France

carved up the Middle East, they were world powers, operating as global

powers, and without that global leadership by somebody, this is just

going to get worse and worse. I think we will leave it there, thank

you very much. The danger is that power will

spread. This could grow in power. It is just under 100 days until the

referendum on Scottish independence. So, for once,

it'll be a long hot-summer But the campaign isn't

just getting heated. In places it's also

down-right nasty. When Scotland's best-selling author

announced she was giving the unionist cause a million pounds

this week, she received Independence supporters online,

so-called cybernats, called JK Rowling a traitor

and much worse, using a variety of For its part, the Better Together

campaign has been accused Even Gordon Brown seems to think so,

and this week he criticised Conservative ministers

for relying on "threats With the Edinburgh Festival

approaching, reports suggest even comedians are now reluctant to

engage in the subject because I'm joined by Blair Jenkins from

Yes Scotland and Jackie Baillie They're both in our Glasgow studio,

and they're going head to head. Blair Jenkins, let me come to you

first. Why have you and the Better Together campaign and Alex Salmond

not done more to slap down the cyber nationalists who are poisoning the

debate? Good morning. I think both sides tried to stop the tiny number

of people on both sides who are incapable of controlling

themselves. We should not get this out of proportion. We are having a

fantastic, decent and democratic debate. The people who probably

total no more than 100 on both sides who post offensive material or not

to be allowed to deflect from that fact. Of course there are nasty

people on the Better Together side as well, but are you saying there

are as many of those as the cyber nationalists? I have not done the

Kent. Lots of people are certainly posting nasty in defensive things to

people in the yes campaigners well. I imagine that people do what I do,

and block them. You stop them from sending anything further. There is a

democratic and in gauging progress going on throughout Scotland. It is

characterised by good humour and good debate. We should not get out

of proportion and the activities of the number of people. I want to get

to Jackie Baillie. The debate is actually pretty good-humoured and

you should be doing more about the nasties on your side as well? I

think we have reached a new low this week. Despite many people engaging

in the politics of the decision and the debate about that, whether we

want to retain the best of both worlds are separate from the United

Kingdom, what we have seen is the most abusive and vitriolic attack,

particularly on women, JK Rowling and a Labour supporter who dared to

support the no campaign. When you look at the number of people on

social media, there are more from the yes campaign than the no site.

We should all be condemning attacks, from whatever quarter they come

This seemed to be connected to the office of the First Minister. What

is the evidence for that? There was an e-mail from one of the... I

understand about that, but it did not use vile words. It did not, but

it repeated the same mistake as on the website. We should be clear that

we need to condemn these attacks, but it is not just the water works,

it is taking action. There was an IpsosMORI poll this week which was

varying testing. It showed the population as a whole, farmer people

think that Yes Scotland is running an effective campaign as against

Better Together. It is a undecided voters think this by a majority of

four 21. Some people are worried about of the campaign. JK Rowling,

Scotland's most successful author of all time. She gives ?1 million to

the Better Together campaign. She then faces some of the most

incredible abuse. I know what it is like because I have had some myself.

Traitor, Quisling. I cannot use some of the words, it is Sunday morning.

Why does Scottish Nationalists culture have such a revolting

fringe? JK Rowling is entitled to our views and it is unacceptable if

people say offensive things about her or anyone else who voices and

opinion in this debate. Who are obese people? When you look at the

accounts of some of the people who were posting these things about JK

Rowling, they were using the same sort of language about film stars

and football stars. This was just part of their language on Twitter.

How often has Alex Salmond condemned the cyber nationalists? Very often.

Everyone in the campaign hands. By common consent, Yes Scotland is

running a thoroughly positive campaign, much more positive than

Better Together. Jackie Baillie it hardly helps matters when Alistair

Darling, who runs your campaign compares Alex Salmond to Kim Jong Il

and North Korea. That hardly elevates the debate? I think we need

to elevate the debate. There are less than a hundred days to go. It

is a massive decision. We need to elevate the debate beyond attacks. I

think there is much more that Yes Scotland and the SNP can do. You

have made that point. Why are you running a campaign based on fear?

The codename of your campaign is even project fear. It is threats.

You cannot have the pound, there will be no shipbuilding. You will be

flooded by immigrants. Why are you so negative? I am not negative at

all and neither is the campaign The campaign has asked questions and I

think it is legitimate to ask questions of the people proposing

such a fundamental change. People care about the economy, their jobs,

their families. What would happen to them if they leave the rest of the

United Kingdom. I think it is legitimate to ask questions. I

refuse to be asked of scaremongering. People deserve

answers. The yes campaign is equally guilty of some of the most

outrageous scaremongering. Maybe you are both scaremongering. Blair

Jenkins, the First Minister said of the cyber nationalists, that they

are just Daft folk, as if they were mischievous little children. It is

worse than that. When you look at what they say, they are twisted

perhaps even evil minds. I would not disagree with his comments, but they

are directed at just a small number of people. The story of this

campaign is not the story of what people are saying on Twitter. Around

Scotland, lots of people are getting engaged in debate to have been tuned

out of the political process. Today, we have 47% support for the yes

campaign. The movement in the campaign is towards yes. People know

we have a better campaign, a vision for Scotland. The latest poll of

polls does not show that. Both sides, you always take the opinion

polls that show you in the best light. All politicians do that.

Jackie Baillie, your campaign is not just negative, it is patronising.

You make dubious claims that Scots would be ?1400 better off by staying

in the union, and then you say that the kids use the money to scoff 280

hotdogs at the Edinburgh Festival. The fate of the nation is in your

hands and that is the best you can do? I think you will find that the

campaign is something that we are taking the message to people. Then

why are you talking about hotdogs? I do not. The campaign did. We are

taking a positive message to people across Scotland about the benefits

of the United Kingdom. We believe we are stronger and more secure and

more stable, being part of that family of nations that is the United

Kingdom. At the same time, we have the strange and power over things

like education and transport. I understand that. I am not doing the

issues today, I am talking about the tone of the campaign. I have one

very important question. Who would you supporting last night in the

England-Italy match? I was not watching the game. I would be

delighted to see England do well in this tournament. I have Argentina in

the office sweepstake. I have to keep some attention on them, but I

would be delighted to seeing Clint do well. That is because you think

it will help your campaign. It will annoy the Scots. Jackie Baillie I

was supporting England. I was also supporting Portugal.

Now most of you probably missed last night's football match

between England and Italy because you wanted to get an early night and

England lost despite a plucky effort, I'm told.

But even Westminster is in the grip of World Cup fever

and with speculation about the fitness of each political

party's team we sent Adam out to tackle some of the big players.

Well, this is the closest I'll get to Rio.

This year everybody seems to have gone a bit mad Belize, football

stickers. Let's see who I will get. Oh, the suspense -- a bit mad for

these. George Osborne? That is because we leapt on the bandwagon

and made Alan political stickers. They're hotter than a Brazilian

barbecue. And at Westminster they're

turning into collector?s items. Sunday politics political stickers.

We have one of you, Norman. Would you like it? Do you want to start

collecting, Bob? Would you like a packet?

collecting, Bob? Would you like a Thank you. No album, I'm afraid

collecting, Bob? Would you like a Thank you. No album, I've got

Michael Gove, next to to Reza, and two of the Prime Minister. -- next

to Theresa. I am sure Michael has Theresa in her stick around, and

vice versa. These Tory ones are proving very

popular since she fell out with him out how

to handle extremism in schools. And there's been open speculation

about him taking on him in Then there are rumours of a

reshuffle of the whole Tory album. Do you think there will be any

swapping in the Tory leadership soon? Who knows? David Cameron has

also got to replace the EU commissioner, Cathy Ashton, who is

standing down. Does he go with the favourite

the former health secretary Or the grassroots choice,

Martin Callanan, the Tories old Or does he rehabilitate

Andrew Mitchell after Plebgate? Do you fancy being European

Commissioner? I would rather be spending the money on the world s

poor and spending it well. Glad to hear it. Happy collecting.

Right, there must be some Labour stickers out there.

You don't want to swap Ed Balls any of the others? Can't I keep them

all? This is almost the perfect team.

There have been grumblings about the fitness of the Shadow

And Ed Miliband's got a kicking in Liverpool after posing

I'm told grown men are meeting up in pubs for sticker swaps -

With Danny Finkelstein - Tory peer and Times columnist,

He would be the card I would not want to trade. Do people want to

trade him in? I don't think anybody wants to trade him in at the moment.

He is the best person to lead the Labour party and will lead us into

the next election. There's been a lot about Michael Gove, and he's

very combative. That's been a huge strength as an education Secretary,

despite the fact it's brought in trouble. I would think the prime

minister would tell him not to get himself into peripheral battles at

the moment but stick to what has been successful. I haven't got Nick

Clegg, but I got me. Controversy amongst collectors of Lib Dems. I

need to give away me in return for Nick Clegg. That would be far

better. There you are. Some local parties are holding

meetings about his leadership, but at one in Cambridge this week

they voted to stick with him. You have got a Euro Commissioner.

Why don't I swap, I will swap Ed Miliband for Tim Farren. Can I do

that? What is the significance of that? Very significant. Happy

collecting. These beauties are popping up

everywhere, but sadly they won't Adam is still doing the samba around

Westminster as I speak. I'm joined

by three journalists who've been furiously swapping stickers

throughout the show, they certainly weren't allowed to stay up to watch

the football, it's Nick Watt, We will talk about Labour after the

break, and I want to concentrate on the Tories, but the moment, Nick,

senior Tories are saying privately that they might win next May. They

are beginning to dream the dream. So why are they doing all this

jockeying? I think the jockeying for the leadership is about a year old.

What stoped it up was when Theresa gave a speech to the conference and

people said she was doing it just in case, when things were not looking

too good. She is not on manoeuvres. I think it was a policy row that

drove the differences with Michael Gove. But Michael Gove is on

manoeuvres, and he is trying to protect George Osborne from, he

believes, a serious threat from Boris Johnson and possibly Theresa.

It is quite self-indulgent when you are a couple of points behind, the

economy is going your way, to be involved in this sort of stuff.

Extraordinary. It shows the toxic disease that gnaws at the entrails

of the Tory party, and Cameron is their great asset. He is more

popular than the party, he bridges the gap is, and he has an

extraordinary dissemble and some pretending to be this moderate while

never the lens -- nevertheless leading the most far right wing

government we have had since the war, and that has been a brilliant

piece of political Charente and they would be crazy to get rid of it --

political Charente. piece of political Charente and they

would be crazy to get rid of it -- charades. Does this rumble on? I

have an unfashionable view as there aren't half as many leadership plots

taking place in Westminster as we assume, and the willingness to read

strategic calculation into anything that takes place comes from people

watching I Claudius or house of cards. That hasn't been off -- on

for years. I needed a reference from your time. I needed something. Maybe

brief encounter? It's a stylised view of how politics works, and so

much more in life is about randomness and mistakes. Boris

Johnson, Theresa May, Michael Gove as George Osborne's man on earth,

they are positioning themselves -- Janan wrote an eloquent comment this

week about this, but there are certain realities that. Michael Gove

had that famous dinner with Rupert Murdoch a few weeks ago in which he

said that you must not make Boris Johnson leader of the Conservative

party, George Osborne is my man Theresa May set out her credo two

years ago and people on her team were saying that she was doing it

just in case. People are out there and are thinking of the future, but

I do think Janan is right. In the village, in the thick of it mindset,

you can get a bit carried away and you can be a bit in the famous. That

is before your era. He died. What did he mean by it. You can get a bit

carried away by it. I will have words with you during the break

It's just gone 11.35, you're watching the Sunday Politics.

We say goodbye to viewers in Scotland who leave us now

Coming up here in 20 minutes, we'll be talking about Ed Miliband's

Hello and welcome to Sunday Politics East.

Health workers' fears that patients receiving mental health card are

at risk and their legal rights are being breached.

When they do an assessment `nd there is no bed available anywherd in the

country, that means that thdy are unable to legally fulfil thdir

responsibilities. And troubled waters in Cambridge,

where the Lib Dems put the leadership

of their party to the vote. It was a fantastic debate. We had a

huge number of members of the Liberal Democrats who could express

their opinions. But first to our guests `

Sir Bob Russell, the Lib Dem MP for Colchestdr, and

Councillor George Nobbs, thd Labour But I wanted to start this week with

the criticisms of Ofsted has raised concerns

about the Olive Tree School, after books with fundamentalist

views were found in the library The school was also criticised

for not doing enough to prolote In terms of the religious ethos of

the school, we completely rdject it. We believe it is an Islamophobic

report based upon a right wing extremist, Michael

Gove, whose ignorance of Islam is This came on the same day that six

Birmingham schools were put in special measures for failing to

protect pupils from Islamic extremism and there are fears that

schools elsewhere have been targeted I can only speak on what I know

which is very little about schools in Luton. All I can say is that if

this is going on and off st`ge is saying it is, then it is not

acceptable. It is not acceptable for any religious top when of any fees

or the nomination to be taught to children. I have long held the view

that we should follow the French example, where you do not h`ve

religious schools but relighon is taught as part of the curriculum in

state schools. My worry is that where you have a feast days still,

which could be Christian, is that those youngsters do not mix in the

real world and become institutionalised. `` faith `based

skill. Do you think this raises important

issues abut British Values? We have always had a tradithon of

tolerance for people with other religious views, like you in

Colchester. But to the nation is a two`way street. We are happx to

tolerate people who have bedn persecuted for their religious

beliefs but I do not think we can tolerate intolerance itself. To

blame all stayed is very unfair I think. Ofsted said the school was

inadequate. `` to blame Ofsted. It said that they were not exposed to

other faiths and lifestyle. They also criticised but you cannot have

it both ways. You cannot accept it when they see were good and rejected

when they criticise it. Well,

the rule of law might be a British Health professionals in Norfolk and

Suffolk are claiming that m`nagers are failing in their legal duty

of care to mental health patients They've been taking part

in a public consultation th`t's overwhelmingly opposed proposals to

cut mental health beds in W`veney When he is at home,

you feel like you have to cope. It is your husband, the person

you love most in the world. But seeing him going bit by bit

knowing how he was Dementia has taken away her husband,

David, the man that Police found him on a railw`y line,

which could have had That is when something had to be

done. Her one consolation is that David

is now safe and secure nearby. It is here at Carlton Court

in Lowestoft where he receives Last year, two 12 bed wards were

closed here along with a daycare centre

and the loss of more than 30 jobs. Three 12 bed wards

for continuing care remain open The question is ` for how mtch

longer? It is all part of

the reorganisation of mental health services in Norfolk and Suffolk

where the trust is trying to save A public consultation involving more

than 1000 people has reportdd claims that patient safety is being placed

at risk In the consultation,

they said exceptionally cle`rly that when they do an assessment

and there is no bed available anywhere in the country that means

that they are unable to leg`lly fulfil their responsibilitids under

the Mental Health Act. In the last couple of weeks,

we have had people admitted to Yorkshire and down

as far as Brighton. It is not just a bed issue,

our community services have been A meeting on

the public consultation will be held later this month and the final

decision is due in September. It is like having

a dagger hanging over your head You're trying to put it out of

your mind until you hear a decision but how can you not

think about it? Norman Lamb, the CCGs and

the board of the mental health trust all have a part to play, all seem to

say it's somebody else's problem. What would your message be to

Norman Lamb about the situation He has been reported

in saying that it is intolerable Instead of complaining

and passing the buck, he has to say Why are they saying that yot

have got to save ?20 million? People with mental illness or

a disease cannot stand up It has got to be up to

us to fight for them. Well, earlier this week our

correspondent Alan Soady met with Norman Lamb and he asked

the Minister why the closurd of wards has coincided with a reduction

in support in the community I have seen it myself

as a local member of Parlialent I have taken up issues with

the mental health trust and have to say that I have criticisms

of the mental health trust `bout the way in which they have sought

to achieve their reorganisation It was highly unfortunate,

I put it no more than that, that the chief executive who

launched the transformation of their services chose himself to

leave halfway through the process. Do you acknowledge that somd

patients are having to travdl much bigger distances

and that is not good for Yes and I find it

completely intolerable. If I was a family member solebody

sent off 200 miles away I would I have made it clear

from my position that this practice It is not necessarily always the

case that you need an inpathent bed. There are any progressives

in mental health care looking much more at alternatives

like recovery houses. Third sector organisations providing

brilliant resources, to avohd inpatient admission and help someone

go through a mental health crisis. Or providing support for people

at home. The response to this consultation

will come next month. Can you give any assurances that

there will be no further cuts Again,

coming back to the issue of beds, we have seen a significant reduction

in more than a decade in thd number Does that mean there

could be more cuts? It is getting the care right

for individuals. Across the country

we see variable lengths The progressives in mental health

believe that the average length of stay needs to come down

significantly, getting more people Much better early interventhon,

for instance, in psychosis, is something that everybody is

calling for across the systdm. Should you not be getting

the community part of it in place That is what the mental health

trust should be doing. They should be working

collaboratively with That is why it is really good that

the commissioner in Yarmouth has been proactive in trying to

understand community needs `nd working with the mental health trust

to ensure those needs are mdt. I don't have total power as minister

to achieve what I want to sde. But I will constantly, in the time I

have available, advocate That you will do all that you can

but the action will not necdssarily I am trying to be honest about the

things that I can do and cannot do. I have intervened directly to get

extra money for mental health. I will do everything I can within

my power. But in a very

decentralised system, which has this government came to powdr,

the decisions about allocathons Had the Norfolk and

Suffolk Foundation Trust run their proposals for change past the county

council's health scrutiny committee before making the redundanches

and sanctioning the bed closures? I do not think so. The decision is

not going to be taken and of September. But the beds that have

already been removed. There have been no cuts in great Yarmotth, I

cannot answer for Suffolk. Listening to Norman Lamb is like listdning to

what is pilot. Wringing his hands and saying, " is this not awful " He

is the Health Minister! Wikh rig from him all the time that he wishes

he could do something about it. If he feels that strongly then I

suggest he does something or resign. To keep saying it is terrible but

somebody of's fault. I think that is frankly. It is true. It is not. The

situation is that there is not enough money going into mental

health across the country. Hn the case we have here, if anybody can

get underneath and kicked b`ckside I have confidence that Norman Lamb is

the man to do it. As he said, in the delegate authority down to local

organisations and health trtsts you must rely on them to do it. What

this shows is that these huge medical advances in cancers, illness

and everything else, people are now surviving illnesses which would have

killed an elder generation. The unintended consequences are that

they are getting dementia l`ter in life. Let's talk about the

practicalities of that. People are being sent far away. They

have had to face 20% cuts ilposed by the Health Service, not by `nybody

locally but by the Government of self. 23% of people who present

themselves at the Health Service are there with mental health problems.

Something else needs to be done Norman knows there are cuts. What

money is being spent on the NHS under the Coalition governmdnt. . It

is more than the last Government. I expect there is an argument about

how you cut the cake but thd gig is better. Is it right to send people

hundreds of miles away? Of course it is not. Of course it is not. I think

that comes down to local management. I thought we had got away, but

clearly not, but we need to get away of the mentality of one trust

looking itself and the unintended consequences is that if thex do not

have the beds for psychiatrhc people but it could tie up police officers.

Mental health is labour`intdnsive. You can find new operations for

injuries but mental health pages 121. It is very personal. Thank you.

Now from a crisis in health care to a crunch vote

Three weeks after yet anothdr set of disastrous election results

in this region, party members in Cambridge have been

openly discussing whether their best hope would be a change of ldader.

A special meeting was held on Friday night,

where members debated whethdr or not to call for a leadership eldction.

After what was described as a lively three hour meethng they

voted, by the relatively narrow margin of 45`32,

We have a huge number of people members of the Liberal Democrats,

It is quite rare in politics these days for people to

You do not see it at Labour and Conservative party confdrences.

I am proud that my party is able to have that discussion.

I am joined by our political correspondent, Andrew Sincl`ir.

So is this now the end of the matter and what does it tell us about the

The vote was much closer th`n people were expecting and it's a shgn

Remember these are the grassroots, the people who loyally give

their time and money for a cause which they belidve

Here in the east they polled less than

The driving force behind thhs vote in Cambridge was that unauthorised

Labour were ahead of the Lib Dems by 14%.

If Vince Cable were leader, his poll claimed that lead would be

And that's why some thought it was time for Nick Clegg to go.

He can be an extremely eloqtent advocate but unfortunately he is so

unpopular with some people that he actually damages those causds when

he is advocating them. That is why I signed the letter. I do not think

you can be a party leader when such a big chunk of the electorate are

willing to give you a fair hearing. You could also argue that as the

queues outside Cambridge. And that's not just the casd

in Cambridge. The Lib Dems always used to call

themselves the official 11 years ago they ran all these

authorities, big rural ones like North Norfolk

and East Cambs, important urban ones Now they only run Colchester,

Bedford and Brentwood but they don't have a clear majority

and overall control. They are also part of a rainbow

alliance running Southend. Four years ago they had nearly 00

councillors on borough, district But since 2010 they have lost 1 3

councillors and are now And it's got so bad for the party

that in this year's local elections they didn't field a single candidate

in Great Yarmouth or Castle Point. That's very embarrassing

for a major political party. So will anywhere else call for

Nick Clegg to go? I think the moment has passdd

but there is a lot of concern In Norfolk,

where two county councillors signed that letter calling for Nick Clegg

to stand down, I was told bx one senior member that about a third of

the party would like Clegg to go, another third would agree if it

wasn't so close to an electhon. I've also heard rumblings of discontent

in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. The party leadership

in the region insists that this is just a minority and most melbers are

still behind Nick Clegg. `` there is no great wish to change

the leader within the party. Why not? Because it is not just Nick

Clegg. It is about the mess`ge that we all have the great across the

people. `` have to get across. It is about campaigning on the ground and

media to show that we are ddlivering success in government. It is not

easy to deliver success overnight. They believe they can still bounce

back. That vote was much too tight

for comfort. I will leave Cambridge to do what

they want to do. We are a ddmocratic party. I will go from this studio

back to Colchester for a celebration party. The Lib Dems have defended 26

seats, held 25 in the past six years. All I can say is that the

results where Apache. You are in the room with me but that is about you

than the leadership and the Lib Dems, is not? That is nice of you to

see. The Lib Dems are strong in parts of the region and as hndicated

they are there are other ardas where we have no representation. We are

feeling it. When I was formdd by the National media, which are driving

this, and I'm disappointed hn the BBC for having polymers. It is not

the media, it is the lack of thoughts. There are elements in the

right wing Tory press who do not like the Coalition. They wanted to

have a right wing Tory government. And I will tell you a littld secret,

David Cameron prefer is working with the Liberal Democrats than being at

the beck and call of the right`wing head`bangers. I get on very well

with the Liberal Democrat local County Council because going

coalition with Labour there. That is what you should be doing nationally,

follow their example! But the thing is, they talked about whethdr Vince

Cable would be better than Nick Clegg. I think you would be. Have

you thought about it? Pleasd don't start that campaign! Stephen

Robinson mentioned a football analogy. He said that it might be a

team's fault but old medley in manager has the fall on his sword.

We are less than a year awax from a general election and when the media

phoned me I said that Ed Miliband Struan Stevenson they said, we mean

Nick Clegg! I said that he had been democratically elected by the

membership and so we support him. I support the reader and Cambridge

members are quite entitled to have a meeting and the majority of them

voted... Are you not at all dismayed at the plight of the party `t the

moment? When you look at thd election results be about? H am not

enthusiastic but what I am enthusiastic about is how Lhberal

Democrats, the first time in 80 years, they have been in government

of this country and we have delivered in college and sole of our

policies that I recognise what is being said here. It is a led

government. But in a coalithon, we have got some of our policids

through. Your party has been for 130 years split between two factions.

The liberals who believe in... And progressives. We will have. Which

one are you on? I am backing my party leader and a success story in

Colchester! We will discuss it a different day.

Now, the World Cup is well and truly underway in Brazil and

there's plenty of team spirht in our political round up this week.

Here it comes, in 60 seconds, with Chris Bond.

As firefighters staged the latest Day of action in their disptte over

pensions, the Communities Sdcretary was confident the union would soon

be on site. A deal has was confident the union would soon

be on site. A deal has been tantalisingly close for months.

Essex County Council are also in an upbeat mood. This time over

potholes, which they say will definitely be fixed before the Tour

de France since the county next month.

Futuristic vehicles were on the mind of the Business Secretary, Vince

Cable. In Milton Keynes this week to open the UK's first transport

innovation centre. The future looks rosy for this

little person, born at Basildon Hospital which is out of spdcial

measures. And will junior football te`ms be

banned from heading the ball in future? MPs are called for lore

pitch side expertise on the issue of concussion. Sport is about taking no

and making sure that people taking training understand how to deal with

those issues. `` taking hits. Is that good advice for polhticians,

too, get used to the school But my party is in good spirits We

are doing very well! If headers were banned,

Ballotelli wouldn't have scored the winner last night and m`ybe

we'd have come away with a draw Yvelines I could have headed that

one in. But to play ahead to be in the right place to score... We need

to be very serious about thhs. Heading is part of the game but what

is not being properly looked at at an amateur level and professional

level, is concussion and he`d injuries. Do you think it ndeds

looking at? In the past, whdn football is where heavier it was a

problem. Some footballers h`ve suffered from brain damage `nd when

dealing with children you h`ve to be extra careful. Thank you very much

for joining us. There are big changes afoot

in the EU following last month's European elections,

not least who'll get the top job But

behind the scenes the parties have also been jockeying for position as

they try to form the big groups that And UKIP seems to have been

struggling to keep its influence Here's Adam to explain

how it all works. If you want your party to be a big

cheese in the European Parliament, you need to form a political group.

By doing this, the party gets more money, more positions on committees

and even more speaking rights in the chamber. But the parliament's rules

are strict. And to form a group you need a group of 25 MPs from at least

seven different countries. For UKIP, the number of MEPs will not be a

problem because they already have 24 of their own, but the different

nationalities are more of a challenge. Nigel Farage was not

helped by the Tories stealing - stealing his former Danish and

Finnish allies, and the pen pinching his Italian charms. Nigel needs a

new charm and fast. He has already signed up Lithuania's order and

justice, a free citizen from Prague, and the Dutchman from the reformed

political party. The big signing was the 17 members of the Italian Beppe

Griego's 5-star movement, but it leaves UKIP short of two more

international powers, and with the clock ticking, it looks like his

hopes resting on the Swedish Democrats and the Polish new right

Congress. They both make their decisions next week.

What is the latest? UKIP have enough MEPs with their pals, but they need

seven countries, as I understand it. They are not there yet. They are

wrapped five countries and need another two. UKIP are being quite

buoyant and say they will be meeting MEPs from five countries next week

and are pretty confident they will get those countries, but as Adam was

saying, the problem UKIP have had is that the Conservatives have nicked

two of the parties. That is why they have been struggling, but they say

they are confident they will do it. Meanwhile, the Tories new best

friends are the German Eurosceptic party, which has put Mrs Merkel s

nose out of joint, but we don't quite know whether she really cares

or not. I think Cameron has played his hand badly since he committed to

pulling out of the EBP. And he should be in there with Angela

Merkel and if he needs to make a major renegotiation, he needs to

have the Germans onside. Instead there is a breakaway party and its

like supporting UKIP. His party are supporting her worst enemy. It

certainly causing him a lot of problems, and undermines his

negotiating position, but isn't there an honesty that the

centre-right group is explicitly Federalist, and the Tories are

anything but, so they came out, and Labour are in the Socialist group,

which is explicitly Federalist, and they are not Federalist either. If

you want support and influence in Europe, you have to trade, and he

hasn't done this well. The whole business with who will be the next

president, he needs Angela Merkel's support. Without that, it won't

happen. He should have been trading behind-the-scenes, but he has

exposed himself in public, and if he doesn't win it looks uncertain, and

he will be in a position where he has to go back to his own party and

say they are not getting anywhere. That is dangerous and takes us

closer to the Exeter, which I don't think would want. The danger for Mr

Cameron is if it is the president of the commission, he will save you

cannot stop a federalist becoming head of the European commission

what chance do you have of repatriating lots of powers back to

London. There are lots of Tory MPs dying to make the argument. My hunch

is that he won't make it. There are too many countries opposed to his

presidency and even the country notionally in favour of it, Germany,

is failing in youth -- enthusiasm. Angela Merkel cannot be seen to give

in to the Brits this. Her own side once it as well, though some reason

the German media says it. When she tried to reach out and said to look

at the other candidates, she got such abuse on the right wing press

from her own country and party she had to retreat. Janan is right that

there is opposition to Juncker, but as long as Cameron turns it into an

argument about Britain and Europe, he will strengthen the hand of

Juncker. Angela Merkel thinks Juncker is inappropriate. She did

not like the process, which was a power grab by the European

Parliament, but when David Cameron went to the council and said that if

I don't get my way, we could leave the EU, that led to the backlash,

most significantly from the SPD in Germany. As Tony Blair says, if only

David Cameron had made the argument that Juncker is bad for Europe, then

he would have found his natural allies would have felt more

comfortable following behind. Enough Europe. I want to show you a

picture. See what you think of this. When I saw that picture, I thought

it was so ludicrous that it had to have been photo shop. Discuss. He is

holding it with a certain disdain, looking a bit hangdog. A disastrous

picture for Ed Miliband. His strength is authenticity, sincerity

and cleverness. And he blows all of that. He was the one who took on

Murdoch, very bravely and dangerously, and one, really. Now

there he is supporting Murdoch's son. It's a big mistake, not just in

Liverpool, where obviously they are particularly incensed. And then he

apologises. Sort of apologises and understands why Liverpool feels

upset. But it is a fundamental error and I hope he learns from this, that

he must absolutely stay true to himself. That's all he's got going

for him. Who do we blame? His advisers or himself? In the end

himself. Nobody forced him to do it. On this one, he called it wrong

It's a sign of the rather the bridal state of the Labour Party is that

his candidates were vocal in attacking him doing this. It's a

sign of how readable Ed Miliband is at Parliamentary level. I don't

think you should have apologised. The mistake he made was associating

himself with that newspaper. The mistake was the prior three years

when he went too far as portraying the Murdoch empire beyond the pale.

He made a case against phone hacking and offences in that regard without

going as far as he did with the rhetoric. To do that, and then pose

with the Sun newspaper, the juxtaposition is what did for him,

not the mere fact of posing with it. Maybe he did not know what he was

doing because we were told he doesn't read the British

newspapers. It was football, and he has posed with the Sun newspaper

before. Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg posed as well. But with the Sun

newspaper and football, you tread carefully. That was the mistake You

get the impression from the picture that he looks so uncomfortable that

you wonder whether there was a full process of consultation that went on

within his media operation, within his political operation. Was he

fully aware of what would happen question what he looks so incredibly

uncomfortable. But at the end of the day, leaders have to take

responsibility. It is cultural as well. That picture says, I am down

there with the football blokes and you think, you are not. That is not

what people will vote for. Be yourself and don't pretend to be

something else because it never works. But the polls suggest that

the British voters don't yet see Ed Miliband as prime ministerial. The

worst thing you can then do is get involved in stunts that are more

likely to reinforce that idea than counter it. There was a precedent

for it in the last parliament which was Gordon Brown's attempts to feign

a populist touch. He did it by telling the contents of his iPod.

The Arctic monkeys. It always jarred because he was trying too hard. Not

uniquely guilty of, Ed Miliband all the other leaders have done it. At

the moment he more vulnerable. Yes, and he is less popular than his

party. Labour has quite a popular brand, in a resilient way, in a way

they don't with the Tories, yet their leader is a personal problem.

The pressure is on him to do stunts like this. Will there be a shadow

cabinet reshuffle? Yes, we have to get the cabinet reshuffle out of the

way first, and that might come next week, maybe by the time of the

summer recess, but the first thing that the prime Minister do is work

out who is the UK candidate for the European Commissioner. Is it not the

case probably that Ed Balls is becoming semi-detached from the Ed

Miliband project? I don't think entirely. Nothing gets agreed

without both of the end are green. Ed Balls is controversial. He has

great pluses and minuses and is a big figure. Labour doesn't have that

many big figures. It's quite hard to think who would be a heavy hitter as

a possible Chancellor. He is a convincing chancellor to the future,

Love him. He has the heft -- love him or hate him. Any possibility Ed

Balls could be moved as shadow chancellor? The timing is convenient

because the Scottish referendum ends in the autumn and Alistair Darling

becomes a free man, win or lose I don't think Ed Balls will be removed

because moving him would be an admission that everything the Labour

Party said about the economy to the preceding four years has been a

mistake. And you can't do that nine months before a general election.

You invite ridicule. But relations between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls are

not great at the moment. The Ed Miliband team are very, very

suspicious of this new love in between Ed Balls and Peter

Mandelson. Mandelson likes to say that he spotted the Ed Balls talents

in the original place and appointed him to the Gordon Brown team after

the disaster of 1992. But things obviously went awry, and now Ed

Balls and Peter Mandelson Avenue Rappaport, and that is with enormous

suspicion -- they have a new Rappaport. With good reason because

it's about policy. It's about the attitude towards business. Should

they be out there saying they will get the tax dodgers, Starbucks,

Vodafone, are we going to take on business in a big way? In a way that

Ed Miliband has quite bravely said. On the other hand, Ed Balls and

Peter Mandelson are saying, hang on, we only won in 1997 by being

business friendly. Sorry to rush you. We are running out of time

The Daily Politics will be back every day this week at midday,

and I'll be back here next Sunday when I'll be joined

by the shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves.Remember

if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.

Magnificent. The power base of medieval England.

Charles' ceiling was a piece of breathtaking arrogance.

You get a sense of the people who made the palaces.

as I unlock the secrets of Britain's great palaces.