Browse content similar to 04/05/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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The moulds and did in Belfast as Gerry Adams begins his fourth day in | :00:48. | :00:55. | |
custody. He may have got egg on his face this | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
week but Nigel Farage is a serious threat in this non-'s elections. I | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
will ask the Conservatives how worried they are. | :01:06. | :01:08. | |
And we are on the trail of Nick Clegg. | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
You were voted the best looking party leader. | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
We will talk to the party's deputy leader as he faces oblivion in the | :01:20. | :01:21. | |
European elections. Coming up on Sunday Politics | :01:22. | :01:23. | |
Scotland: Alex Salmond's speech in Belgium argued for a speedy | :01:24. | :01:26. | |
accession to the EU if Scotland votes for independence. | :01:27. | :01:29. | |
The UK government says that won't happen. We'll look at who's right. | :01:30. | :01:38. | |
debate what it means for London. And with me, as always, the best and | :01:39. | :01:41. | |
the brightest political panel in the business - Nick Watt, Helen Lewis | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
and Janan Ganesh. They'll be throwing metaphorical rotten eggs | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
into the twittersphere. First this morning - Gerry Adams, | :01:50. | :01:53. | |
President of Sinn Fein, has spent a fourth night in police custody after | :01:54. | :01:56. | |
he was arrested in connection with the killing of Jean McConville more | :01:57. | :02:09. | |
than 40 years ago. Sinn Fein has claimed that the arrest is | :02:10. | :02:12. | |
politically motivated coming, as it does, during local and European | :02:13. | :02:15. | |
election campaigns. Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, | :02:16. | :02:17. | |
Martin McGuinness, has indicated he might review the party's support for | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
policing in the province if Gerry Adams is charged. The Jean | :02:21. | :02:23. | |
McConville murder was one of the most notorious cases of the | :02:24. | :02:25. | |
Troubles. The widowed mother of ten was | :02:26. | :02:27. | |
kidnapped from her home The widowed mother of ten was | :02:28. | :02:36. | |
The IRA denied involvement but in 1999 admitted it had murdered her | :02:37. | :02:42. | |
and several others, known as the Disappeared. Before his death, the | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
former IRA commander Brendan Hughes Disappeared. Before his death, the | :02:47. | :02:49. | |
pointed the finger at Gerry Adams, claiming: | :02:50. | :03:01. | |
In April this year, either Bell was charged with aiding and abetting the | :03:02. | :03:11. | |
murder. -- Ivor Bell. Gerry Adams has always insisted he is innocent | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
of any part in the abduction and killing all burial of Mrs | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
McConville. We were hoping to speak to the | :03:21. | :03:23. | |
Northern Ireland Secretary, Theresa Villiers, but having agreed to do an | :03:24. | :03:26. | |
interview with us this morning, she pulled out. But we are joined from | :03:27. | :03:33. | |
Belfast by Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey. Welcome to the Sunday Politics. And | :03:34. | :03:38. | |
the police just doing their job by questioning Gerry Adams? Gerry Adams | :03:39. | :03:50. | |
said publicly some time ago that he was available to speak to the | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
police, but that is not what this is about at the moment, because what we | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
have here is clearly evidence in our mind of political interference in | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
what should be due process. Gerry Adams made it clear some time ago he | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
wanted to speak to the police, it was available at any time, and yet | :04:09. | :04:14. | |
that request was not taken up until three weeks into an election and we | :04:15. | :04:18. | |
believe that was deliberately orchestrated by a small number of | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
people. What evidence can you present this morning that proves | :04:25. | :04:31. | |
that claim? The direct circumstances Gerry Adams finds himself in at the | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
moment, take that in stark contrast when they have dealt with members of | :04:38. | :04:48. | |
the British Army for instance... That is just circumstantial. The | :04:49. | :04:56. | |
PSNI know that the soldiers involved in that and a number of other | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
high-profile killings of citizens here, and not one of those people | :05:02. | :05:07. | |
has been arrested. In fact any of the people who were interviewed were | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
interviewed by request. There was a stark contrast, in terms of how they | :05:13. | :05:22. | |
have dealt with the British military involving state killings. We haven't | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
got too much time. Sinn Fein said it would review its support for the | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
PSNI if Gerry Adams is charged. That sounds like political interference | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
in the police process. It's not because we have a clear mandate from | :05:38. | :05:44. | |
the people who elect us. Policing has been an important part of the | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
peace process here for many years, Sinn Fein plays an important role in | :05:49. | :05:55. | |
local policing partnerships. We negotiate to make sure we have | :05:56. | :06:00. | |
powers transferred here to elected representatives in the north. It is | :06:01. | :06:06. | |
a long way to go before we have policing highly accountable, and | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
making sure they deliver a very impartial service. How will he react | :06:12. | :06:28. | |
if Gerry Adams is charged? I am still trying to get a clear answer. | :06:29. | :06:34. | |
If Gerry Adams is charged, will you withdraw support for the Northern | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
Ireland police service? We view this as a serious situation and a serious | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
ongoing situation and we will monitor how this pans out. We have a | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
very important role to play to support the police service here. We | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
have done consistently, worked with them on a daily basis, but we will | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
not accept political interference by a small number of people in the | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
police who are undermining the police. We will not accept political | :07:06. | :07:14. | |
policing. If there was evidence, and I emphasise the word if, because we | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
have seen none, but if there were evidence to justify Gerry Adams | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
being charged, why should he not be charged? It is my understanding from | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
the family of Gerry Adams that there has not been a single shred of | :07:29. | :07:34. | |
evidence put forward. I understand that, but if there was evidence, why | :07:35. | :07:43. | |
should he not be charged? You put that caveat yourself and then you | :07:44. | :07:47. | |
expect me to speculate, there is no way I will do that. The fact of the | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
matter is there hasn't been one single shred of evidence put to | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
Gerry Adams in the last few days, in fact what has been put to him is a | :07:58. | :08:01. | |
range of issues of newspaper cuttings, books, statements made | :08:02. | :08:06. | |
from people, including from people who didn't want their statements | :08:07. | :08:09. | |
released until they have died. who didn't want their statements | :08:10. | :08:19. | |
was charged, again I emphasise the word if, does the police process | :08:20. | :08:27. | |
fall apart? The police process is a fragile entity, it requires work and | :08:28. | :08:31. | |
we have been saying this publicly and privately with the Irish and | :08:32. | :08:33. | |
British and privately with the Irish and | :08:34. | :08:47. | |
process has to be nurtured and developed. We are not out of the | :08:48. | :08:50. | |
woods yet. From a Republican point of view we have been working flat | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
out. I just wanted a quick answer to my question, is a yes or no? What | :08:56. | :09:04. | |
question I asking me? Is the peace process in jeopardy? It is fragile | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
and I am not going to have words put into my mouth but I don't want to | :09:09. | :09:15. | |
use. It has to be worked out and nurtured. Thank you for joining us. | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
Nick Watt, you were a Northern Ireland correspondent like myself in | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
days gone by. Where is this going to go? It shows how challenging the | :09:27. | :09:31. | |
peace process is because on the one hand you have the unspeakable pain | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
of the McConville family, but you also have the danger of not having | :09:36. | :09:40. | |
mechanisms to deal with the past. South Africa is a good example, you | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
have to have some mechanism to deal with the past because if you don't, | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
you are going to have, as Sinn Fein have now, someone in a police cell | :09:50. | :10:00. | |
but you don't have the arrests of the Bloody Sunday soldiers. | :10:01. | :10:03. | |
Paramilitary prisoners were released after two years... We have seen no | :10:04. | :10:11. | |
action against somebody accused of the Hyde Park bombings, it is not a | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
one-way street. We have the decommissioning of IRA weapons by | :10:18. | :10:25. | |
the IRA, therefore destroying crucial evidence. You have these | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
inconsistencies because you don't have an mechanism for dealing with | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
the past, but doing that is really difficult because of the pain of | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
real people. Don't you get a feeling that here in London they are hoping | :10:39. | :10:43. | |
he will not be charged? Definitely because it would be nice if | :10:44. | :10:47. | |
everything went away, but the civil case of the family is taken out of | :10:48. | :10:55. | |
the hands of the police. You can see here a real failure in Westminster | :10:56. | :10:58. | |
to see this as anything other than settled. David Cameron we know sees | :10:59. | :11:07. | |
himself as a chairman. I was speaking to a friend in Northern | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
Ireland who said he has never met Gerry Adams and I think this is very | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
revealing. They consider this as a settled issue that will not trouble | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
Westminster again. It would be, but the relatives of the disappeared | :11:22. | :11:26. | |
don't want it to be settled. This points to the reality that the | :11:27. | :11:29. | |
Belfast agreement probably had to be done, but the moral price at which | :11:30. | :11:35. | |
it was purchased was far greater than we were willing to admit during | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
the euphoria. For a country that prides itself by the rule of law to | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
tolerate the early release of prisoners and former pal and | :11:46. | :11:53. | |
military -- paramilitaries, I think was a very serious matter. As for | :11:54. | :12:00. | |
the PSNI, it only exists because its predecessor failed to command the | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
confidence of the nationalist community. It is a very big deal if | :12:05. | :12:11. | |
even the PSNI ends up falling into the same trap. We have to is leave | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
it there I'm afraid. It was the the same trap. We have to is leave | :12:16. | :12:25. | |
campaign launch on Friday, and what did David Cameron focus on? Burning | :12:26. | :12:28. | |
local issues like the state of our roads, rubbish collection or | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
local issues like the state of our Prime Minister re-iterated again his | :12:33. | :12:34. | |
promise of an in-out referendum on our membership | :12:35. | :12:37. | |
promise of an in-out referendum on And it's being reported this morning | :12:38. | :12:38. | |
that he will share And it's being reported this morning | :12:39. | :12:40. | |
Nigel Farage in a pre-general election debate. Here's what | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
Nigel Farage in a pre-general UKIP leader had to say | :12:45. | :12:46. | |
Nigel Farage in a pre-general issue when he was on the Marr Show | :12:47. | :12:53. | |
this morning with Ed Miliband. David Cameron very often makes these vague | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
promises, then doesn't deliver afterwards. I don't think he has any | :12:58. | :13:03. | |
intention of allowing me into any of these debates. Perhaps Ed Miliband | :13:04. | :13:10. | |
wants to debate? We have got to have the TV debates as we did join the | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
last general election. I think David Cameron is doing everything he can | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
to wriggle out of them. It is up to the broadcasters but whether they | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
invite Nigel. My main desire is that the debates go ahead. We are joined | :13:26. | :13:36. | |
now by Grant Shapps. Will he be included? The debates were not | :13:37. | :13:43. | |
without problems, they took place during the campaign period and | :13:44. | :13:46. | |
disrupted the flow of the campaign, taking it out of the regions, people | :13:47. | :13:52. | |
getting to speak to the leaders so a longer period for that would be | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
helpful. I think they are good idea and they should go ahead, but all of | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
the negotiation about who is involved is yet to happen. So it is | :14:02. | :14:07. | |
not a done deal that Nigel Farage will be included? That needs to be | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
negotiated with the TV companies. The Conservatives believe we should | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
have debates, but exactly the format and the timing, all of the -- that | :14:18. | :14:25. | |
will be debated in the autumn, but first we have European elections, | :14:26. | :14:31. | |
the Queen 's speech and a Scottish referendum. The local election | :14:32. | :14:38. | |
campaign was launched on Friday. Why did you talk more about Europe than | :14:39. | :14:48. | |
local councils? Both are important. The local elections are critically | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
important for people, their local services. It is easy to forget, for | :14:53. | :14:58. | |
example, that the council tax has been largely frozen since this | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
Government came to power, a big contrast to Dublin under the | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
previous Labour government. So why did you go on and on about Europe? | :15:07. | :15:13. | |
Let me show you the poster used to launch your local election campaign. | :15:14. | :15:22. | |
There it is, and in-out referendum on Europe, the day of the local | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
elections, where is the word local? Is it in small print? I hear what | :15:27. | :15:32. | |
you're saying, I am happy to be here to talk about the local elections. | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
But you are right, they are on the same day, and not many people know | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
that only by voting conservative can you get an in-out referendum. -- | :15:41. | :15:45. | |
Conservative. UKIP cannot deliver, we can, it is the same date, so | :15:46. | :15:53. | |
people... This was the launch of the local election campaign. Why does | :15:54. | :15:56. | |
the Prime Minister have to keep on promising something he has already | :15:57. | :16:00. | |
promised? The actual referendum would be in 2017. He promised it | :16:01. | :16:08. | |
before, he keeps repeating it because he knows people don't really | :16:09. | :16:12. | |
trust him. I think it is a question of the fact that, actually, unless | :16:13. | :16:16. | |
you remind people that the pledges there, that the only way to get an | :16:17. | :16:21. | |
in-out referendum is to vote for it, this is a critical moment at | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
which we need people to vote for that referendum if they want it. It | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
is not the case, as I saw this morning, being said by Nigel Farage, | :16:32. | :16:35. | |
that a referendum was promised before and not delivered. There was | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
no referendum in the last manifesto. There will be in the next one. There | :16:40. | :16:47. | |
was a cast-iron guarantee, in the Sun in 2006. Let's just clear that | :16:48. | :16:55. | |
up... Once the Lisbon Treaty... In the Sun article, he said, we will | :16:56. | :17:00. | |
have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Clearly, because that treaty | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
had been passed before the general election, it is difficult to have a | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
referendum on something in the past. We joined Europe in the 1970s, | :17:10. | :17:16. | |
having a referendum on that! Look, that is about the future. Our | :17:17. | :17:19. | |
relationship with Europe is absolutely critical. Most people in | :17:20. | :17:25. | |
this country feel, I was not old enough to vote in that referendum, | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
most of those who voted, they voted for a Common Market, that is not | :17:31. | :17:33. | |
what we have got. We want to continue the work we have been doing | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
in the EU Budget, what did UKIP do? They voted against it. We want more | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
of those powers brought home, and we will put it to a referendum, and | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
people will have to vote Conservative to get it. We have been | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
looking at new research, almost two thirds of Conservative members are | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
considering voting for UKIP, almost two thirds. I have a simple message | :17:59. | :18:06. | |
here, which is this. If you vote for UKIP... Can we have it up? 30% are | :18:07. | :18:15. | |
likely, 30% are possible. That is why it is important we are making | :18:16. | :18:19. | |
these arguments. If you vote for UKIP, you are voting to take us | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
further away from returning powers to this country, further from a | :18:24. | :18:29. | |
referendum. It is support for Ed Miliband becoming Prime Minister, | :18:30. | :18:32. | |
and he will do exactly what Labour have always done - hand away powers, | :18:33. | :18:37. | |
and away the rebate for nothing in return, giving Europe even more so | :18:38. | :18:41. | |
over the day-to-day affairs in Britain. Why are so many people | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
considering voting UKIP? It is to hold your feet to the fire, they do | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
not trust you on a referendum, so they will vote UKIP to force you to | :18:51. | :18:54. | |
tap in your line. We have a very tough line. If I had said four years | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
ago that this government would manage to cut the overall EU | :19:00. | :19:04. | |
budget, would take us out of the bailout fund that Labour got us | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
into, passing a law that no more powers can go to Europe without a | :19:09. | :19:12. | |
referendum, if I had said that, people would say, I do not believe | :19:13. | :19:17. | |
it will happen. Not only have we done these things, we are promising | :19:18. | :19:20. | |
and in-out referendum, and the only way to get it is to vote | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
Conservative. Nigel Farage has said, we can't change anything in | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
Europe, and it is no wonder that the president of the European Commission | :19:29. | :19:33. | |
has said, we love having these UKIP MEPs, because they don't turn up and | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
vote, apart from when they vote against the cut in the budget. It | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
goes beyond UKIP in your party, because this research also showed | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
that those Conservative members most likely to vote for UKIP, they said | :19:49. | :19:53. | |
they do not feel valued or respected by their own leadership, and they | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
regard David Cameron as ideological eat more remote from them than UKIP. | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
What I would say is look at that list... Let me take that step | :20:04. | :20:12. | |
further. What people need our series solutions to serious | :20:13. | :20:16. | |
further. What people need our series people vote for a UKIP MEP, I will | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
say, which one of the 40% of people vote for a UKIP MEP, I will | :20:21. | :20:26. | |
MEPs who got in for UKIP last time are you voting for, the ones above | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
MEPs who got in for UKIP last time to jail? 40% have ended up not | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
delivering. People have a right to know what to expect when they vote | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
in these elections. They can look at our record at home, and this goes to | :20:40. | :20:41. | |
the point you have our record at home, and this goes to | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
we have done in Britain to get this economy back on track, recover from | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
Labour's recession. We are prepared to take those decisions | :20:52. | :20:59. | |
Labour's recession. We are prepared well. Presumably, active | :21:00. | :21:00. | |
Conservative members, they know that, so why do they | :21:01. | :21:07. | |
Conservative members, they know going up and down the country | :21:08. | :21:14. | |
they are on the doorstep, last weekend | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
they are on the doorstep, last local elections... Why | :21:21. | :21:22. | |
they are on the doorstep, last on UKIP? When I meet somebody who | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
says that, not necessarily a member... Have you met members of | :21:27. | :21:33. | |
say they will vote UKIP? No, but a vote for UKIP is... Do not do it, | :21:34. | :21:42. | |
you will end up with Labour having more control, handing away powers to | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
Europe. 51-year-old meeting members who say they will vote UKIP, you | :21:49. | :21:50. | |
must be out of touch. -- if who say they will vote UKIP, you | :21:51. | :21:56. | |
not meeting members. Some of your members are thinking of voting UKIP. | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
I spend huge amount of time travelling around, I just told you | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
about this action day in Enfield, where we had an enormous turnout. | :22:06. | :22:11. | |
Those members were on the doorsteps pointing out that you can only get | :22:12. | :22:14. | |
reform in Europe by voting Conservative. Labour and the Lib | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
Dems will not deliver, UKIP can't, Conservatives will. You have not got | :22:22. | :22:26. | |
that message across, because a YouGov poll shows, on Europe, who | :22:27. | :22:33. | |
has the best policies? Tories 18%, Labour 19%, UKIP 27%. On the | :22:34. | :22:40. | |
economy, Tories 27%, Labour 23, UKIP 4. Why don't you shut up about | :22:41. | :22:45. | |
Europe and talk about the economy? Look, on the 27th of May, we have | :22:46. | :22:51. | |
European elections, as well as local elections. If I don't talk about the | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
European elections, you would say what you said at the beginning about | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
not talking about the local elections! These are serious | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
elections, and the point I am tried to make is that the issues at stake | :23:02. | :23:06. | |
are not peripheral, they are not unimportant. Our MEPs have been | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
battling to cut red tape from a European level on small businesses, | :23:12. | :23:13. | |
the same thing this government has been doing for small businesses | :23:14. | :23:16. | |
domestic league, where for example every small business owner watching | :23:17. | :23:23. | |
this show knows they have got ?2000 back in employment announced on | :23:24. | :23:25. | |
national insurance contributions. We are doing it at home, we are doing | :23:26. | :23:29. | |
it in Europe, and it is important to tie that together. Ireland that Mr | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
Cameron saying, you should stop banging on about Europe... -- I | :23:35. | :23:50. | |
remember. This is before the last general election, as in days for the | :23:51. | :23:57. | |
remember. This is before the last Lib Dems, 18%. Even then, you didn't | :23:58. | :24:01. | |
win the election, and now you are only three or four points ahead, it | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
doesn't look good for you, does it? Even then, the poll did not turn out | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
to be what it was on the day. No, that is what happens, that is the | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
voting intentions now! You are in a worse position than a year before | :24:18. | :24:19. | |
the last election, which you didn't win. We are almost proving the point | :24:20. | :24:27. | |
that you can take a clip at any moment in time, not sounding like a | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
politician, but the only poll that matters is on the day. In just over | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
a year's time, people will have a completely different picture to look | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
at than these opinion polls. We have an economy from being a basket | :24:43. | :24:46. | |
case, the great Labour recession knocking 7% of this economy, hurting | :24:47. | :24:51. | |
every family, to a point where we the fastest-growing economy in the | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
developed world. In a year's time, I hope people will see that we are the | :24:57. | :24:59. | |
people who've taken the difficult decisions, got the economy to the | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
right place, more security for you and your family. Do not give the car | :25:05. | :25:07. | |
keys back to the people who crashed it in the first place. If I had a | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
pound for every time I have heard that! It is clearly not getting | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
through. On the Pfizer attempted of AstraZeneca, Mr Miliband called this | :25:18. | :25:24. | |
morning for a tougher public interest test such big takeovers. Do | :25:25. | :25:29. | |
you agree with that or not? Let me be absolutely clear, if there is any | :25:30. | :25:35. | |
kind of joining, we are in favour of British jobs, British aren't deep, | :25:36. | :25:43. | |
expanding our pharmaceutical sector. -- R But what Mr Mallon and wants | :25:44. | :25:56. | |
to do with rent caps, he is anti-business. -- Mr Miliband. He | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
wants to take us back to the bad old those. -- bad old days. Should there | :26:01. | :26:13. | |
be a bigger public interest test? We have seen some takeovers that people | :26:14. | :26:17. | |
have criticised, but others, like Bentley, Land Rover, which have been | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
very successful. Should there be a tougher test?! We will have tests | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
that ensured this get-together becomes a great Anglo-American | :26:28. | :26:31. | |
project, or it doesn't happen, but the Miliband approach is simply to | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
be anti-business, anti-jobs and anti-job security. Grant Shapps, | :26:37. | :26:40. | |
thank you. A challenging week for the Liberal | :26:41. | :26:43. | |
Democrats with a local election campaign overshadowed by another row | :26:44. | :26:47. | |
with the Conservatives about knife crime. Adam has spent the day with | :26:48. | :26:50. | |
Nick Clegg on the campaign trail. crime. Adam has spent the day with | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
How nice! Nick Clegg is taking me on a political mini break to the | :26:57. | :26:59. | |
Cotswolds. Yes, we are getting the train. He wants to highlight what | :27:00. | :27:04. | |
his party is doing in local government, and a personal passion | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
of his in Europe. Graham Watson, the Lib Dem MEP for the south-west, has | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
been running a campaign to have prunes recognised as a laxative. Is | :27:14. | :27:19. | |
that Lib Dems battling for Britain in Europe? It is not our front page | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
manifesto commitment! It is one of many things that Graham does, he | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
does many other things. In fact, he is a good example of an MEP who took | :27:29. | :27:36. | |
a pioneering role, for instance, in making sure... There is the proven | :27:37. | :27:39. | |
world, but also the crime-fighting role. -- prune. He has done work to | :27:40. | :27:46. | |
make sure that when British criminals flee justice, we can bring | :27:47. | :27:51. | |
them back. And he has promoted prunes! First stop, a gorgeous | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
country pub, but it turns out everyone is a journalist or a very | :27:57. | :28:01. | |
on message activist. Dark days, being a Lib Dem in the last few | :28:02. | :28:06. | |
years? Strangely not. If you find you are a Lib Dem deep down, you do | :28:07. | :28:11. | |
not get that disheartened, because you know that, locally, you are | :28:12. | :28:14. | |
doing so well for the people that you live next door to that, | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
actually, I find I am almost impervious to what happens on a | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
national level. I am mayor of Cirencester. Have you taken any | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
leadership lessons from Nick Clegg, inspiring new in your leadership of | :28:30. | :28:34. | |
Cirencester? I think what he has demonstrated his patience. It has | :28:35. | :28:37. | |
been a tough time, he has taken a lot of flak, and as the mayor of a | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
town, lots of people agree with you and a fair few don't. You are a full | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
on mayor, he is just a Deputy Prime Minister, do you outrank him? I | :28:48. | :28:52. | |
don't think so, he is in government, I am not. So our there any normal | :28:53. | :28:58. | |
people in here? We are from Swindon, you cannot get more | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
abnormal. Are you a big fan of his? No! What has he done wrong? I don't | :29:04. | :29:10. | |
believe in his views at all. Where has he got to? Nigel Farage would | :29:11. | :29:17. | |
have had a pint! At this time in the morning a copy was more appropriate. | :29:18. | :29:24. | |
I have no time for a drink of any kind, because now we are off to look | :29:25. | :29:28. | |
at a local traffic blackspot. This is amazing, like a Lib Dem election | :29:29. | :29:32. | |
leaflet brought to life, Lib Dems pointing at a road. High-vis | :29:33. | :29:39. | |
jackets! Next we had to giggle full bath, but there will be no Regency | :29:40. | :29:45. | |
sightseeing for us, oh no, Nick is taking us to an abandoned | :29:46. | :29:55. | |
wilderness. We have just had a health and safety briefing, we have | :29:56. | :29:58. | |
been told to look out for dive-bombing seagulls and an angry | :29:59. | :30:02. | |
fox. That is the sort of thing Nick Clegg has to put up with. He wants | :30:03. | :30:06. | |
to talk about the economy but he has to dodge the day's beat new story, | :30:07. | :30:13. | |
letters leaked by a Tory suggesting that Lib Dems are soft on knife | :30:14. | :30:17. | |
crime. Isn't that a new kind of warfare? I just think it is silly. | :30:18. | :30:27. | |
They may think they are clever by catching some headlines but they are | :30:28. | :30:31. | |
not helping people who worry about knife crime, like I do. We work | :30:32. | :30:39. | |
together... knife crime, like I do. We work | :30:40. | :30:41. | |
Coalition! This is a co-working space where different businesses | :30:42. | :30:49. | |
share the same office. My time with the Deputy Prime Minister is | :30:50. | :30:55. | |
to a close. We haven't talked about the most important story of the | :30:56. | :30:57. | |
week, that you were voted the most important story of the | :30:58. | :31:07. | |
likely to be a good cook. Right, this is news to me and I can | :31:08. | :31:09. | |
guarantee you this is news to me and I can | :31:10. | :31:12. | |
opinion polls has this is news to me and I can | :31:13. | :31:16. | |
confirmed. Just as well because the more serious polls don't look great | :31:17. | :31:22. | |
for him or his party. Goodbye, and thanks for the offer of a ride | :31:23. | :31:29. | |
home! He is still walking. Malcolm Bruce | :31:30. | :31:34. | |
joins us now. According to Lib Dem briefing documents, you are likely | :31:35. | :31:40. | |
to choose -- lose a big chunk of your MEPs. If you lose a lot, what | :31:41. | :31:45. | |
would that say about a party that boasts of its pro-Europe | :31:46. | :31:49. | |
credentials? It would be disappointing because we have the | :31:50. | :31:56. | |
most hard-working MEPs. The worry that we have is that people think | :31:57. | :32:01. | |
the European Parliament is not important but it takes decisions | :32:02. | :32:09. | |
that affect us. They would be disappointing for Britain as well as | :32:10. | :32:13. | |
the Liberal Democrats. Isn't the problem that the more you bang on | :32:14. | :32:18. | |
about your pro-European credentials, the more you slip in the polls? I do | :32:19. | :32:24. | |
think so, we have two weeks to go and we are campaigning extremely | :32:25. | :32:35. | |
hard. You are forced in the polls. I can tell you there are people out | :32:36. | :32:39. | |
there who do believe Britain should stay in the EU and they are worried | :32:40. | :32:45. | |
that other parties will take us out. The Liberal Democrats are clear, we | :32:46. | :32:50. | |
want to stay in, we will work for reform and do it effectively. If you | :32:51. | :32:54. | |
lose the Liberal Democrats, Britain's influence in Europe will | :32:55. | :33:01. | |
be weakened. Your track record in Europe shows you have been | :33:02. | :33:05. | |
spectacularly wrong again and again. In your 2009 manifesto you said the | :33:06. | :33:12. | |
European Central Bank and the euro have been tried and tested over ten | :33:13. | :33:17. | |
years providing a clear picture of the benefits of Eurozone membership | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
and that proved to be nonsense. It was nonsense everywhere. Every | :33:24. | :33:27. | |
developed bank in the world was tried and tested and failed. Europe | :33:28. | :33:32. | |
may not be perfect, but the question people have to decide is if we are | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
going to leave Europe and be isolated on RM, or use our influence | :33:38. | :33:44. | |
to reform it from inside. We have allies, you work with them, that is | :33:45. | :33:47. | |
something the The reason we were wrong to some | :33:48. | :34:08. | |
extent is that the euro, when it was set up, did not follow any of the | :34:09. | :34:14. | |
rules and regulations. That's why we never recommended that Britain | :34:15. | :34:17. | |
should join at the outset because the criteria had not been met. I was | :34:18. | :34:22. | |
the spokesman at the time and I made that clear. | :34:23. | :34:29. | |
Because your track record is important. British monetary | :34:30. | :34:35. | |
sovereignty is not all it is cracked up to be. This is what you said. How | :34:36. | :34:42. | |
wrong can you be? Hello-mac I said that we were in | :34:43. | :34:46. | |
favour in principle of having a single currency and a single market. | :34:47. | :34:51. | |
But we have always argued that it had to abide by strict gritty area. | :34:52. | :34:55. | |
It hasn't done so and that is one of the reasons that it has failed. -- | :34:56. | :35:06. | |
strict criteria. Your 2010 manifesto did advocate it. | :35:07. | :35:13. | |
It said, we believe it is in Britain's long-term interest to be | :35:14. | :35:16. | |
part of the euro. If the single market -- there will | :35:17. | :35:25. | |
come points when the UK may well benefit... Only in the long run. In | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
the circumstances we are in at the moment, there is no recommended | :35:31. | :35:35. | |
timescale for joining the euro. Despite the Eurozone crisis, which | :35:36. | :35:41. | |
has caused a loss of millions of jobs, countries that were teetering | :35:42. | :35:47. | |
on the brink of bankruptcy with the Eurozone now facing stagnation and | :35:48. | :35:51. | |
some countries on the brink of deflation, you still will not rule | :35:52. | :35:56. | |
out Britain joining? Hello-mac we are ruling out Britain | :35:57. | :36:00. | |
joining in the near future. We are working, in the present | :36:01. | :36:04. | |
circumstances, as a partner in the coalition governments to secure | :36:05. | :36:11. | |
economic covering. That is our current track record. | :36:12. | :36:21. | |
What would the climate look like when it was right for Europe -- | :36:22. | :36:30. | |
Britain to join the euro? Until you have a strong enough and | :36:31. | :36:34. | |
cohesive enough Eurozone in which all the countries can meet that kind | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
of criteria, written is better off out. | :36:38. | :36:47. | |
It can only happen by consent and we have made it clear that any | :36:48. | :36:51. | |
circumstances in which any further powers can be transferred from the | :36:52. | :36:55. | |
UK to the EU, we would support a referendum. We put that into law in | :36:56. | :37:02. | |
the present Parliament. But you have said they would have to | :37:03. | :37:05. | |
be a much more distinct fiscal and monetary policy. You said that if | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
that was the case Britain would join. | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
No, I said that all of the member states would have to agree to these | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
criteria. We do not envisage joining in the present circumstances or in | :37:21. | :37:21. | |
the foreseeable future. Why won't you just give us a | :37:22. | :37:29. | |
referendum on in or out? Why won't you just give us a | :37:30. | :37:38. | |
be context. What David Cameron is doing is dangerous. | :37:39. | :37:42. | |
be context. What David Cameron is member states are not keen on the | :37:43. | :37:47. | |
be context. What David Cameron is on the instigation of just one | :37:48. | :37:47. | |
member states, on the instigation of just one | :37:48. | :37:53. | |
to agree to rules that we will not agree to abide by. | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
to agree to rules that we will not Do you want in or out? | :37:59. | :38:00. | |
Our argument is that you need to have a context. To have a referendum | :38:01. | :38:05. | |
against no background whatsoever is to put it out of context. We are one | :38:06. | :38:10. | |
year away from the general election. We have | :38:11. | :38:14. | |
that... Went back so there is still a | :38:15. | :38:18. | |
Eurozone crisis? We are in the process of recovering. | :38:19. | :38:25. | |
The reality is that the whole of the Western world has gone through | :38:26. | :38:28. | |
The reality is that the whole of the very deep crisis. The UK is coming | :38:29. | :38:29. | |
out of bed and the Eurozone very deep crisis. The UK is coming | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
coming out of it. Greece has been able to borrow back on the market | :38:34. | :38:38. | |
again in recent weeks, which is a sign of recovery and success. It is | :38:39. | :38:42. | |
in our interest that the Eurozone succeeds. But that doesn't mean we | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
have to be part of it on the same conditions as everyone else. I will | :38:48. | :38:48. | |
tell you that the Lib Dems work to conditions as everyone else. I will | :38:49. | :38:54. | |
deliver the UK's interests. If we are not bear, the UK's interests | :38:55. | :38:56. | |
will be undermined. are not bear, the UK's interests | :38:57. | :38:58. | |
When Max you are Politics. | :38:59. | :39:08. | |
Good morning and welcome to Sunday Politics Scotland. Coming up on the | :39:09. | :39:12. | |
programme.... After the First Minister's speech in | :39:13. | :39:15. | |
Brussels arguing the case for a speedy EU accession in the event of | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
a Yes vote, we look at the potential terms and ask what role do small | :39:20. | :39:22. | |
countries play in Europe? I would say that our role, even | :39:23. | :39:26. | |
though we are a small country, is quite significant. | :39:27. | :39:28. | |
And Business Improvement Districts - do they help | :39:29. | :39:31. | |
And Business Improvement Districts - centres or do we need to think about | :39:32. | :39:34. | |
public space differently? Good morning. The First Minister | :39:35. | :39:38. | |
Alex Salmond was in Belgium this week to argue the case for Scotland | :39:39. | :39:41. | |
to be swiftly granted full membership of the European Union if | :39:42. | :39:44. | |
there's a 'yes' vote in the independence referendum. | :39:45. | :39:47. | |
The Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said that could not be | :39:48. | :39:49. | |
guaranteed and predicted long, complex negotiations, resulting in a | :39:50. | :39:53. | |
worse deal for Scotland. So, who's right? Our political correspondent, | :39:54. | :39:56. | |
Glenn Campbell, reports from Brussels. | :39:57. | :40:08. | |
Welcome to the Belgian city of beer and bureaucracy. Brussels is not | :40:09. | :40:14. | |
only famous for brewing, that it is also home to the institutions of the | :40:15. | :40:19. | |
EU. If there is a Yes vote in September, the Scottish government | :40:20. | :40:24. | |
would not only have to open negotiations on independence with | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
the UK Government in London, they would also have to send a delegation | :40:30. | :40:42. | |
here to Brussels. Not to step Coffey and eat waffles, but to sit down | :40:43. | :40:47. | |
with the member states of the EU to negotiate independent Scottish | :40:48. | :40:53. | |
membership. The current EU commission president has made that | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
sounds like a nonstarter. I believe it is going to be | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
extremely difficult if not impossible. A new member states | :41:02. | :41:06. | |
coming out of one of our countries, getting the agreement of the | :41:07. | :41:11. | |
other... This analyst is not as optimistic | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
about Britain's -- Scotland's prospects. | :41:17. | :41:25. | |
Spain has internal problems with Catalonia where Madrid has sought to | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
prevent Catalonia from seceding from the unitary states. They might seek | :41:31. | :41:36. | |
all possible ways in trying to delay its Scottish advancements in this | :41:37. | :41:44. | |
area and so as not to create a precedent. | :41:45. | :41:49. | |
In Bruges, the First Minister argued this week that oil-rich, fish rich | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
Scotland would be readily accepted into the EU because the alternative | :41:55. | :41:56. | |
would not be in anyone's best interest. | :41:57. | :42:05. | |
They would be denied access to Scottish waters, and as a result | :42:06. | :42:11. | |
Norwegian waters. 160,000 EU workers, students and voters in | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
Scotland is would suddenly be uncertain about their status. This | :42:17. | :42:25. | |
alternative is clearly absurd. What would they make of that at | :42:26. | :42:31. | |
European Commission headquarters? In the | :42:32. | :51:36. | |
organised. How do smaller states make a difference within the EU? | :51:37. | :51:42. | |
They have got to have a different strategy. They try and get on the | :51:43. | :51:55. | |
winning side. With other like-minded states. They succeed when they are | :51:56. | :52:02. | |
organised, flexible, so that they know their way around. They can | :52:03. | :52:06. | |
anticipate what is going to be on the agenda. They try and influence | :52:07. | :52:14. | |
policy and they try to adopt April European attitude. -- pro-European. | :52:15. | :52:23. | |
They select the issues on which they want to intervene. Thank you. | :52:24. | :52:33. | |
The effects of the recent economic downturn are evident in town centres | :52:34. | :52:37. | |
up and down Scotland. Many high streets have been reduced to rows of | :52:38. | :52:40. | |
betting shops, charity shops and money shops alongside boarded up | :52:41. | :52:44. | |
units. One attempt at encouraging growth has been the development of | :52:45. | :52:47. | |
Business Improvement Districts - or BIDs - which were introduced here in | :52:48. | :52:50. | |
2008. Six years on and after millions of pounds of Scottish | :52:51. | :52:53. | |
Government and private sector investment, are they working? Some | :52:54. | :52:56. | |
traders say the rewards are obvious while others resent the additional | :52:57. | :52:59. | |
levies on their businesses. Megan Paterson reports. Chasing trains, | :53:00. | :53:07. | |
not haggis, is the tag line for this form. -- firm. I have looked round | :53:08. | :53:15. | |
all the other high street and Dunfermline was the option. As a wad | :53:16. | :53:23. | |
of investment. Other high streets are dying of weird as Dunfermline | :53:24. | :53:27. | |
are putting any lot more money. -- dying off. Melissa opened her second | :53:28. | :53:37. | |
shop year after starting in Dundee. Compare to Dundee, where I had no | :53:38. | :53:42. | |
help, I have received a ?5,000 plant extend the business further round | :53:43. | :53:47. | |
the back. We now have an installed beauty parlour, and a make-up artist | :53:48. | :53:56. | |
as well. The local business improvement district was set up | :53:57. | :53:59. | |
after able to on local businesses five years ago. It now faces a | :54:00. | :54:06. | |
renewal ballot. The team behind it is convinced that still has a role | :54:07. | :54:11. | |
to play. We have made a lot of inroads. First with Aberdeen and | :54:12. | :54:21. | |
other towns. We want to grow and increase the festivals that we do, | :54:22. | :54:27. | |
to bring more people to the towns. The economic climate that they were | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
born into, you need more time to cement all of the work that has | :54:33. | :54:38. | |
started. Business Improvement Districts have been working in | :54:39. | :54:42. | |
Scotland since 2008. 23 are around the country. They are voted in by | :54:43. | :54:46. | |
local businesses. They have created 52 jobs. They have benefited from | :54:47. | :54:57. | |
?17.8 million of private investment. Businesses in these areas pay an | :54:58. | :55:00. | |
extra levy on their rates to help fund investment. Those feeling | :55:01. | :55:05. | |
across the country. So do opinion on success. Some traders here in | :55:06. | :55:10. | |
Clarkston are questioning the benefits. It confuses me. The ?900 | :55:11. | :55:20. | |
at reappearing, some of the ideas the committee are coming up with, I | :55:21. | :55:23. | |
thought the council would cover that. Hanging baskets... I thought | :55:24. | :55:29. | |
those were things the local government recover. It seems to be | :55:30. | :55:35. | |
that we are being punished. -- would cover. But East Renfrewshire council | :55:36. | :55:41. | |
says it has been a stew with careful to ensure that the levy isn't used | :55:42. | :55:47. | |
for these services. The bed has helped shop fronts and local events. | :55:48. | :55:51. | |
Clarkston will hold a renewal ballot next year. So far, all six of the | :55:52. | :55:57. | |
original bids have chosen to extend. That is viewed by some as a signal | :55:58. | :56:03. | |
of success. There is a desire to have this investment. To bring the | :56:04. | :56:10. | |
benefits into local businesses. That is a communication rule forbids | :56:11. | :56:13. | |
within that, to ensure that they do tell both consumers traders and | :56:14. | :56:17. | |
others what is occurring and we are the benefits happen. | :56:18. | :56:25. | |
others what is occurring and we are many of them will be renewed. So | :56:26. | :56:27. | |
they are as great as the towns they seek to improve. Forecasting that | :56:28. | :56:32. | |
many more teams will be in place by 2020 saw more of a variety is | :56:33. | :56:41. | |
guaranteed. I'm joined now by the minister for | :56:42. | :56:44. | |
local government and planning, Derek Mackay, and by the architect Malcolm | :56:45. | :56:49. | |
Fraser. Derek... Have these Business Improvement Districts been a | :56:50. | :56:55. | |
success? I think they have. Something is not without minor | :56:56. | :56:57. | |
controversy but they are on the whole they have added to vibrancy. | :56:58. | :57:04. | |
They have given extra to help deliver regeneration. We have 24 in | :57:05. | :57:08. | |
place. The l'amour and development at the moment and I wouldn't cut it | :57:09. | :57:11. | |
was to come forward and villages as well. How do you measure success | :57:12. | :57:22. | |
when it comes to this? They all do different things. Some are about | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
environmental improvement. Someone about promotion and others the | :57:27. | :57:33. | |
night-time economy. Someone about building the cover projects together | :57:34. | :57:37. | |
so they are very diverse and what they do. You can measure success by | :57:38. | :57:42. | |
what they say they will do. Are they taking on work that some of the | :57:43. | :57:48. | |
councils would do? We had a completely the money is spent on | :57:49. | :57:53. | |
flower and Christmas lights. You would expect the local authority to | :57:54. | :57:57. | |
pay for that? It should be additionality. It should not be | :57:58. | :58:03. | |
replacing that, which the council should be doing. It should be the | :58:04. | :58:11. | |
added extra. It should be a case of trying to rejuvenate our town | :58:12. | :58:14. | |
centres. The council should not walk away from their responsibilities but | :58:15. | :58:20. | |
adding to it. Is this the right way to rejuvenate our town centres? We | :58:21. | :58:27. | |
need to be considering, the optic and the renewal. -- uptake. I think | :58:28. | :58:36. | |
this is a really interesting way for local communities, business | :58:37. | :58:42. | |
communities, to come forward. They have a stake in neighbourhoods. I | :58:43. | :58:48. | |
wonder what all the renewal of the beds themselves as a measure of | :58:49. | :58:53. | |
success? Some people might feel as though that there's nothing much | :58:54. | :58:56. | |
more they can do other than apply for this money that is being | :58:57. | :59:01. | |
offered? I don't have a problem with that. Businesses are taking more | :59:02. | :59:08. | |
responsibility and we need to see local community groups take over | :59:09. | :59:13. | |
property and start clubs, businesses. We need local government | :59:14. | :59:19. | |
to be taking more responsibility for the health of their communities. | :59:20. | :59:25. | |
Moving schools out, moving libraries out of town... We need everybody to | :59:26. | :59:31. | |
take that civic responsibility. It sits alongside central government | :59:32. | :59:37. | |
responsibility. We need more communities in Scotland to be caring | :59:38. | :59:44. | |
about the place the island. -- they place they are in. Maybe the | :59:45. | :59:55. | |
premises that are being lying empty meet for different purposes? We have | :59:56. | :00:01. | |
different purposes. They are changing some of the uses. They have | :00:02. | :00:06. | |
very specific projects to demonstrate what we can do. Other | :00:07. | :00:10. | |
planes and towns will have to change. It was just retail before | :00:11. | :00:14. | |
but the world has changed with digital technology. Towns will | :00:15. | :00:22. | |
change and a jazz we go forward. Is it easy for town centres to make the | :00:23. | :00:27. | |
kind of change that you talking about? Sometimes the field of view | :00:28. | :00:38. | |
of bureaucracy can get in the way. They can tighten up and certain | :00:39. | :00:45. | |
other areas. -- in certain other areas. I think these rates changes | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
are very welcome. We propose a father power for local authorities | :00:53. | :00:59. | |
to create even more local release teams so that began father | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
incentivise people to open up more properties. What is your view about | :01:03. | :01:12. | |
how we use town centres? Shopping is obviously popular and people lament | :01:13. | :01:15. | |
the fact that they are not as they used to be, do we need a change of | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
use? You do not find the local shops, art galleries, different | :01:21. | :01:29. | |
things do they neatest thing up? -- need to spring up? No matter how | :01:30. | :01:38. | |
many places where you have out-of-town shopping complexes, the | :01:39. | :01:42. | |
no parts, places to walk and meet people and discuss things. Town | :01:43. | :01:49. | |
centres do. We should stop being pessimistic and start being far more | :01:50. | :01:52. | |
optimistic about how they are places of the future. We're going to see | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
those sort of dismal places that you can only get two with cars, those | :01:59. | :02:07. | |
other places of the past. -- are the places. We need to be more open to | :02:08. | :02:14. | |
those changes. Is there not a danger that that vibrancy you talk about | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
has been lost? People want at the high street at the moment and think | :02:20. | :02:25. | |
they are not particularly vibrant? 20 years ago I moved into an office | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
in old town of Edinburgh and the place was dead. Nothing happening. | :02:29. | :02:37. | |
Now the local businesses complain about the rates but that is because | :02:38. | :02:40. | |
it is an extremely attractive place to be. National headquarters want to | :02:41. | :02:48. | |
be the and national businesses. Edinburgh has a huge amount of | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
attractions. More than anywhere else, but everywhere has a community | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
and historic buildings. We need to be far more aware that change | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
happens. Edinburgh has changed beyond recognition. For some people | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
that might look as if it is changing slowly? Not many town centres are | :03:09. | :03:13. | |
like Edinburgh. The shops boarded up for years. It is a mix across the | :03:14. | :03:20. | |
country. Some towns have been a real success. In Kilmarnock, where I | :03:21. | :03:25. | |
launched the government response, the high street was 100% occupied. | :03:26. | :03:32. | |
Much lies behind that. I would like that to happen across the country. | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
Success will only be delivered on the ground if we have local people | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
picking up the tools to do the job. There is no question that people | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
want their towns and cities to succeed. We have to work together. | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
The puppets maybe has change of what went on before. Money is important. | :03:54. | :04:06. | |
It is. The beauty of business improvement districts is that the | :04:07. | :04:15. | |
lady is local but it can be supplemented by... That unlock some | :04:16. | :04:23. | |
of the potential. That is not just about money, but resources are part | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
of that as well. There is a mix to help deliver a new face for town | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
centres across the country. Thank you for joining us. Let's cross for | :04:33. | :04:40. | |
the news. You're watching Sunday Politics | :04:41. | :04:42. | |
Scotland. Let's cross now for the news with Andrew Kerr. | :04:43. | :04:45. | |
Good afternoon. The Sunday Herald has become the first newspaper to | :04:46. | :04:48. | |
back a Yes vote in the independence referendum. The front page states | :04:49. | :04:51. | |
"Sunday Herald says Yes". The accompanying graphics are designed | :04:52. | :04:54. | |
by the artist and writer Alasdair Gray. The editorial lays out the | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
reasons for their support but says reporting will remain balanced. | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
A man's been arrested in connection with the death of a forty year old | :05:01. | :05:04. | |
man in Glasgow yesterday. The forty-year old died following an | :05:05. | :05:06. | |
incident at Springburn Shopping Centre. A 29-year old man is due to | :05:07. | :05:11. | |
appear in court on Tuesday. The benefits of a good quality | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
nursery education can last into secondary school, according to new | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
research. The Scottish Government paper says children with no | :05:20. | :05:21. | |
pre-school attendance aren't as sociable, don't concentrate as well | :05:22. | :05:27. | |
and have poorer thinking processes. The number of hours three and four | :05:28. | :05:31. | |
year olds are entitled to go to nursery for free increases in | :05:32. | :05:34. | |
August. More than 14,000 women and children | :05:35. | :05:38. | |
are taking part in the Race for Life in Glasgow this lunchtime. The X | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
Factor winner Alexandra Burke started the annual 5K run, which is | :05:42. | :05:48. | |
in aid of a cancer charity. They set off from the Green and made their | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
way around the city centre. Now a look at the weather forecast, | :05:52. | :05:53. | |
here's Judith. Good afternoon. I think it's | :05:54. | :06:05. | |
noticeably milder today. This afternoon, it is fairly damp, | :06:06. | :06:11. | |
especially across western Scotland. Also running across the northern | :06:12. | :06:16. | |
isles as well. Percent sure and Easter in Scotland it will remain | :06:17. | :06:19. | |
dry with some brightness coming through the clouds. -- for central | :06:20. | :06:27. | |
and eastern Scotland. Quite breezy across the northern isles. That's | :06:28. | :06:29. | |
it. Thanks Andrew. Now in a moment, | :06:30. | :06:39. | |
we'll be discussing the big events coming up this week, but first, | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
let's take a look back at the week in sixty seconds... Now it's time to | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
have a look at the Sunday papers and what's happening in the week ahead. | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
I'm joined here in the studio by Ian Smart, lawyer and blogger, and by | :06:52. | :06:54. | |
Kate Higgins, who writes the Burdz Eye View blog. | :06:55. | :06:56. | |
Good afternoon. Let's start with the Sunday papers. The Sunday Herald has | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
declared its support for the Yes vote in the referendum. Is this a | :07:01. | :07:07. | |
game changer? I don't think it's a game changer | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
but it is a really important signal. There is only one direction that | :07:13. | :07:16. | |
this debate can go and that is toward yes. I think you have to | :07:17. | :07:21. | |
admire the Sunday Herald's honesty in coming out with a clear editorial | :07:22. | :07:26. | |
position. The message is there for other newspapers to follow suit. | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
People who claim not to, or organisations which claim not to | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
have an editorial position, and yet the evidence appears quite | :07:37. | :07:42. | |
different. It is a welcome move. Everyone supporting a Yes vote will | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
welcome it. Do you anticipate that other | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
newspapers may follow suit? The Sunday Herald has supported the SNP | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
at the last two elections so it is perhaps not a surprise will stop the | :07:56. | :08:01. | |
interesting thing about the Sunday Herald is that it is the first paper | :08:02. | :08:08. | |
to declare for either side. The paper that people are really | :08:09. | :08:11. | |
interested in is what the Sun is going to do. The Sun is a great | :08:12. | :08:26. | |
unknown. Do you believe that newspapers will | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
actually influence how people vote? I have my vote -- I have my doubts. | :08:31. | :08:40. | |
Circulation of the Sunday Herald is less than small local newspapers. I | :08:41. | :08:48. | |
don't think people will make up their minds based purely on what | :08:49. | :08:56. | |
this newspaper says. The Sunday Times has been talking to | :08:57. | :09:02. | |
David Trimble, former First Minister of Northern Ireland. He has been | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
talking about what a Yes vote might mean across the Irish Sea. He talks | :09:07. | :09:10. | |
about the ghost of increased violence in the province. Some would | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
say that a Yes vote is a reason to pursue change through the democratic | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
process. The ripples from Scotland could spread far and wide. | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
Absolutely. That is why the world is watching and taking a keen interest | :09:28. | :09:30. | |
in what is happening in Holland. I feel for David Trimble. I listened | :09:31. | :09:37. | |
to this interview yesterday morning. He was keen to point out to the BBC | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
in Scotland that they had misinformed people with their online | :09:42. | :09:45. | |
headline. He was not talking about a Yes vote is stirring up trouble for | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
the peace process. But that it might have consequences for the political | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
process. I am sad to say that that's misleading headline is still in | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
evidence on BBC Scotland online this morning. What he actually said was, | :10:00. | :10:07. | |
yes, that he could see - and this is a man who knows how important words | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
are in late political process that he could see how a Yes vote might | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
influence things one way or another. He also said that if Scotland vote | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
yes in September, it would be the first ever occasion of a peaceful | :10:22. | :10:26. | |
democratic vote for independence. That also might influence how | :10:27. | :10:31. | |
politics is taken forward in Ireland. | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
In the Sunday Times, he says he thinks there would need to be a | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
referendum to settle this issue in Northern Ireland. The issue of a | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
united Ireland. But we know what the outcome of a | :10:47. | :10:49. | |
referendum in Northern Ireland would be. At one point there was a | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
suggestion that the Republicans might out breach the Protestants, | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
but we are living in a modern age. It is almost inconceivable that | :11:01. | :11:03. | |
Northern Ireland would vote to join the Republican any circumstances. | :11:04. | :11:09. | |
For goods or ill. David Cameron is signalling that he | :11:10. | :11:12. | |
might get involved in a debate ahead of the lack -- ahead of the election | :11:13. | :11:19. | |
that would involve Nigel Farage. There are many caveats to his | :11:20. | :11:24. | |
acceptance, including the inclusion of others in the debates. | :11:25. | :11:33. | |
I think there are two points about how much the media are prepared to | :11:34. | :11:37. | |
put wind into Friarage and UK's sales. They are a political | :11:38. | :11:50. | |
relevance here in Scotland is, but. They have ruled nothing in and | :11:51. | :11:55. | |
nothing out, unlike the position with regard to debating Prime | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
Minister against First Minister. They have ruled that out and it | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
suggests that David Cameron worries more about his own political careers | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
in the future of Scotland. Ed Miliband said this morning that | :12:10. | :12:13. | |
he would be happy to be involved in a debate with Nigel Farage, but said | :12:14. | :12:18. | |
that he thought it was up to the broadcasters to decide who was | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
invited. Does this place David Cameron in a difficult position? | :12:23. | :12:30. | |
The argument is that the referendum is a decision for people who live in | :12:31. | :12:36. | |
Scotland. I have said from the start that Alex Salmond has painted | :12:37. | :12:41. | |
himself into a corner. If we get into the closing stages of the | :12:42. | :12:47. | |
referendum, if he chooses to sulk and not come out and debates, he | :12:48. | :12:52. | |
will just look scared. He has made his point that David Cameron should | :12:53. | :13:01. | |
debate with him and he is not taking the bait. At some point you will | :13:02. | :13:03. | |
have to give up. How much is this general election | :13:04. | :13:09. | |
can't paint overshadowed by the referendum? | :13:10. | :13:14. | |
I think it is overshadowed in terms of who | :13:15. | :13:21. | |
I think it is overshadowed in terms for. It is also pivotal | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
I think it is overshadowed in terms SNP's position is for | :13:26. | :13:28. | |
I think it is overshadowed in terms within Europe. People want to | :13:29. | :13:30. | |
consider all the issues when they come to choose how to vote. It is | :13:31. | :13:35. | |
going to be a fascinating election, particularly for people like us, to | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
see who takes that vital sixth place, weather or not you can does | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
make headway in Scotland. And weather Lib Dems do lose out. | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
Thank you both very much for joining us. That's all from us this week. | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
We're back at the slightly earlier time of 11.30am next week. Until | :13:55. | :13:55. | |
then, goodbye. | :13:56. | :14:01. |