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the link. More on those stories at three | :00:03. | :00:06. | |
o'clock. Now it is time for a look back at the year in politics with | :00:06. | :00:16. | |
:00:16. | :00:43. | ||
Hello. I happen looking back at the last 12 months. The biggest | :00:43. | :00:49. | |
political story has been the what story of the press. The humbling of | :00:49. | :00:56. | |
the hacks. There have been other big stories - the economy in Europe. | :00:56. | :01:06. | |
:01:06. | :01:11. | ||
But surely there have been other villains this year. Bankers, with | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
their huge bonuses, we are still viewed by many as public enemy | :01:16. | :01:25. | |
number one. Remember Fred Goodwin. The former Royal Bank of Scotland | :01:25. | :01:32. | |
chief was stripped of his knighthood and the current boss of | :01:32. | :01:38. | |
the Royal Bank of Scotland found himself under pressure to wave his | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
own one million-pound bonus. It was not just the bonuses. There was the | :01:44. | :01:52. | |
rate fixing scandal. It prompted it more out rage at the banks. It led | :01:52. | :01:58. | |
to a furious personal clash between George was born and the Shadow | :01:58. | :02:08. | |
:02:08. | :02:12. | ||
Chancellor. He has impugned my integrity. The Labour Party said | :02:12. | :02:16. | |
there should have been a fool public inquiry over the rate fixing | :02:16. | :02:23. | |
scandal. And then we turned our attention to tax - who was paying | :02:23. | :02:32. | |
it and who was not. The from starring at the Royal Jubilee, | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
Jimmy Carter suddenly found himself in the spotlight as the | :02:37. | :02:46. | |
unacceptable face of tax avoidance. You think of the people who saved | :02:46. | :02:52. | |
up their money after paying their taxes to go and see him in concert | :02:52. | :02:57. | |
and he is putting all his money abroad. That is simply not fair. | :02:57. | :03:03. | |
Many big companies found themselves named and shamed. Starbucks promise | :03:03. | :03:12. | |
to pay �20 million to the taxman. regard tax-avoidance as morally | :03:12. | :03:19. | |
repugnant. The headline may have gone to the 50p tax cut, but that | :03:19. | :03:27. | |
soon led to another wave of other headlines. This is an Allmey | :03:27. | :03:37. | |
shambles budget. The there were U- turns over a number of taxes. Even | :03:37. | :03:47. | |
:03:47. | :03:54. | ||
I cannot remember the last time I bought one of these. And that sort | :03:54. | :04:04. | |
:04:04. | :04:04. | ||
of sums it up. They are too posh boys who do not know the price of | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
milk and the short no contrition or compassion to try and understand | :04:09. | :04:17. | |
the leaves of others and that is the real crime. And then the threat | :04:17. | :04:27. | |
:04:27. | :04:37. | ||
of the petrol strike. I yes, the petrol can in the garage. It | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
somehow did not sound like we are all in this together. And then | :04:41. | :04:46. | |
there was the controversy it at the gates of Downing Street. What did | :04:46. | :04:56. | |
:04:56. | :04:57. | ||
he Chief Whip say or not say? In it is here behind these gates of the | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
High Court that some of the real political drama took place. Some of | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
the most powerful figures in the world of press and politics forced | :05:06. | :05:16. | |
:05:16. | :05:18. | ||
to come here to give evidence to the inquiry. For the dole or family | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
and the out rage at their forum of their daughter been hacked lead to | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
an eight-month inquiry. Rupert Murdoch and his son James were | :05:28. | :05:34. | |
pressed over their influence on ministers. Jeremy Hunt's role in | :05:34. | :05:39. | |
their bid for BSkyB he came under fire. He said there was no truth in | :05:39. | :05:45. | |
the claims. The idea that there was the back channel through which News | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
Corporation could influence my decisions. This is categorically | :05:50. | :05:56. | |
not the case. Hints there, it was this man, his adviser, who was | :05:56. | :06:04. | |
forced to quit. Ministers rallied to his side. A Icy no evidence that | :06:04. | :06:11. | |
he acted in any way contrary to the Ministerial Code. The separate | :06:11. | :06:19. | |
legal drama was played out. Rebecca Brits, once chief executive at News | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
International and her husband, a friend of the Prime Minister, were | :06:24. | :06:29. | |
charged over the phone hacking inquiry. I think we are being used | :06:29. | :06:35. | |
as scapegoats. This has been used to ratchet up the pressure on my | :06:35. | :06:45. | |
:06:45. | :06:45. | ||
wife, who I think has been the subject of the witch hunt. A former | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
adviser to the Prime Minister was also charged. Even the lighter | :06:51. | :06:59. | |
moments proved rather awkward for the Prime Minister. What did he | :06:59. | :07:09. | |
:07:09. | :07:10. | ||
sign of these four and texts with. He signed off lots of love, and to | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
lie explained that the initials went laugh out loud, at which point | :07:15. | :07:23. | |
he stopped doing them. I am so rooting for you tomorrow, not just | :07:23. | :07:33. | |
:07:33. | :07:36. | ||
as a friend but professionally. gushing words bore an uncanny | :07:36. | :07:42. | |
similarity to an old headline in the sun newspaper. Such cosy | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
relationships, along with the conduct of the press and the police, | :07:46. | :07:54. | |
is exactly why the inquiry was set up in the first place. Find a light, | :07:54. | :08:01. | |
in July, the inquiry finished and then we waited and waited. The | :08:01. | :08:08. | |
press and politicians wondering what next? And what it it conclude | :08:08. | :08:15. | |
- that the press had wreaked havoc on the lives of innocent people. | :08:15. | :08:22. | |
His solution? Legislation. That ball is back in the Court of the | :08:22. | :08:28. | |
politicians. They must now decide who guards the guardians. But I | :08:28. | :08:33. | |
politicians were unable to agree what to do with the ball. There was | :08:33. | :08:41. | |
one statement by the Prime Minister: The issue is we have | :08:41. | :08:46. | |
crossed the Rubicon on if we write in regulations about the press into | :08:46. | :08:51. | |
the law of the land. We should not impinge free-speech and a free | :08:51. | :09:00. | |
press. By there was another by his deputy. The sub-dean studied at | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
length. He believes changing the law is the only way we can bring in | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
self regulation which will cover all of the press. It was a view | :09:09. | :09:16. | |
shared by the Labour leader. think they are measured, reasonable | :09:16. | :09:22. | |
and proportionate. Week endorsed the principle set out and the | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
central recommendations. Now we must wait to see what the editors | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
do. We have to see if the politicians will agree on how to | :09:33. | :09:43. | |
:09:43. | :09:44. | ||
curb the worst excesses of the press. Of course, it is not just | :09:44. | :09:50. | |
the press which had its moment of wreck reckoning. The BBC also | :09:50. | :09:57. | |
received a battering. Jimmy Savile was one of the bigger stars of the | :09:57. | :10:04. | |
BBC. The scandal over his behaviour cast a dark shadow over the BBC. | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
BBC programmes started investigating other BBC programmes. | :10:08. | :10:13. | |
The role of senior editors was called into question and inquiries | :10:13. | :10:18. | |
were launched. But Labour demanded an overriding investigation to | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
bring together all the different claims, including that Jimmy Savile | :10:23. | :10:27. | |
had abused youngsters at some of the hospitals where he carried out | :10:27. | :10:33. | |
charity work. Every when has been second by the vile abuse | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
perpetrated by Jimmy Savile and it is impossible to overstate the | :10:37. | :10:44. | |
suffering he caused. Meanwhile, at the BBC, a second crisis erupted. | :10:44. | :10:50. | |
The senior Conservative of the Thatcher period had allegedly | :10:50. | :10:55. | |
abused the youngster. It brought forward a frenzy of speculation. | :10:55. | :11:02. | |
is danger is that this could turn into a witch hunt. But the claims | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
were untrue and ended with the resignation of the BBC's top man | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
after just 54 days in the job. have decided that the horrible | :11:12. | :11:18. | |
thing to do is to step down from the post as director general. The | :11:18. | :11:24. | |
political storm only intensified when it was revealed that he would | :11:24. | :11:30. | |
receive any pay-off of �450,000. The review concluded that there was | :11:30. | :11:39. | |
chaos and conclusion -- confusion on BBC managers. The police also | :11:39. | :11:45. | |
suffer day crisis, with the report on the Hillsborough Disaster. After | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
23 long years of political pressure back campaigning by the families, | :11:49. | :11:55. | |
the report, when it was published, painted a shocking picture of | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
police falsifying statements and suck seeking to senior the | :11:59. | :12:07. | |
supporters. On behalf of the gunmen and the country, I am deeply sorry | :12:07. | :12:11. | |
that this Dublin just as has been left uncorrected for so long. | :12:11. | :12:19. | |
Liverpool, it was widely applauded and some police officers may still | :12:19. | :12:25. | |
face prosecution. It was also that threat which brought forward one of | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
the resignations of Chris Houghton. He became the first serving Cabinet | :12:30. | :12:35. | |
minister to defend himself in court over claims he had lied about | :12:35. | :12:42. | |
passing penalty points to his wife. To stop any distraction to either | :12:42. | :12:49. | |
my official duties or My Defence, I am resigning as the Energy | :12:49. | :12:58. | |
Secretary. His place was taken and a string of other cabinet changes | :12:58. | :13:08. | |
:13:08. | :13:08. | ||
followed, after the first major reshuffle of the Cabinet. The first | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
resignation was that of the health minister. As seemingly less than | :13:14. | :13:19. | |
thrilled just been greening was shunted from transport to | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
international development. She left just days before her department was | :13:23. | :13:29. | |
engulfed in a row about the franchising of the West Coast main | :13:29. | :13:34. | |
line. Richard Branson will now run the line again before the new | :13:34. | :13:41. | |
contract is sorted out. Another departure said the government could | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
be poised to change its mind over a third runway at Heathrow. Instead, | :13:46. | :13:54. | |
the opted to delay the report. They will relieve feel it after the next | :13:54. | :14:04. | |
:14:04. | :14:14. | ||
election. -- reveal all the details. I have had enough of you are! | :14:14. | :14:20. | |
NHS is not for sale, there is no privatisation. The Lib Dems | :14:20. | :14:25. | |
insisted there would have to be changes, enabling them to claim | :14:25. | :14:30. | |
victory for saving the NHS. Liberal Democrats have all that is | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
built to an extent that it is acceptable, genuine health service. | :14:35. | :14:39. | |
I am sorry how we got here, that was nothing to do with me, but we | :14:39. | :14:44. | |
have done a huge amount to reform the bell and it now supports the | :14:44. | :14:51. | |
NHS. Things also got heated over energy policy. David Cameron seemed | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
to catch and the Lib Dems on the hop over his plan for cheaper | :14:54. | :15:00. | |
energy bills. If left many wondering if they had been left out | :15:00. | :15:05. | |
of the loo. We will be legislating so energy bills have to give the | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
lowest tariff do their customers. In the Queen's Speech, yet another | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
promise to try and reform the House of Lords. The Tory backbenchers | :15:13. | :15:18. | |
would not put up with it. Whatever moral authority this Bill had, it | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
has now lost. It is the very substantial opposition within the | :15:22. | :15:27. | |
party that is responsible for the withdrawal of this motion. Not | :15:27. | :15:30. | |
merely the Labour Party, that should be perfectly clear. Nick | :15:30. | :15:34. | |
Clegg retaliated and said they would be no deal on boundary | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
changes, dashing Tory hopes that it could have helped them win up to 20 | :15:38. | :15:46. | |
more seats at the next election. As the Liberal Democrat will vote | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
against the changes coming into effect. | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
Somehow, the rose garden moment seemed an awfully long time ago, | :15:55. | :16:02. | |
although the two men did try to recreate it, first in a tractor | :16:02. | :16:11. | |
factory, and then in a rail yard. Somehow, it was not quite the same. | :16:11. | :16:20. | |
Testing, testing... This is the BBC World Service in London. Oh, and | :16:20. | :16:25. | |
Europe came back to haunt Mr Cameron, just as it has done so | :16:25. | :16:30. | |
many of his Conservative predecessors. Rulings from the | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
European Court over prisoners' votes incensed the Prime Minister | :16:34. | :16:41. | |
and many MPs. The judges also delayed the deportation of Abu | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
Qatada after the Home Secretary was accused after getting in a muddle | :16:44. | :16:48. | |
over her dates. You are saying there is no case whereby the | :16:48. | :16:50. | |
British government may inadvertently have broken the law | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
by seizing Abu Qatada before the deadline for his right of appeal | :16:54. | :16:59. | |
had expired. We are absolutely clear that the deadline had expired, | :16:59. | :17:04. | |
that this was a delaying tactic from Abu Qatada, a tactic that he | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
chose to use. She said she would keep on trying, but Abu Qatada was | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
freed from prison. Theresa May did win plaudits, though, from all | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
sides over her refusal to extradite computer hacker Gary McKinnon to | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
the United States to stand trial. The biggest row over Europe this | :17:23. | :17:30. | |
year, however, erupted over a planned rise in the EU budget. Mr | :17:30. | :17:34. | |
Cameron insisted that with cuts at home only a freeze in spending | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
would be acceptable. But Tory MPs, backed by Labour, wanted more, a | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
cut in the Budget. I think the country is sick and tired of | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
eurosceptic words from ministers but very little action on the | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
ground. Enough is enough! If we are taking cuts, the union must take | :17:54. | :18:02. | |
them, too. The ayes to the right, 307. The noes to the left, 294. | :18:02. | :18:11. | |
Defeat for Mr Cameron. European leaders smiled for the cameras, but | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
behind the scenes no-one could agree, and the deal on the budget | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
was put off for yet another summit. With a deal on the table from the | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
President of the European Council, it was not good enough for Britain, | :18:24. | :18:28. | |
and neither was it good enough for a number of countries. For Mr | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
Cameron, it meant more and more pressure to agree to a referendum | :18:32. | :18:37. | |
on Europe. The British public have been promised a referendum by the | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
three major parties, and everyone has not delivered. They may have | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
their reasons, but they have not delivered, so the public feel they | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
have been lied to and will not believe any more promises. And with | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
UKIP breathing down their necks, Tory MPs fretted and Mr Cameron | :18:53. | :19:02. | |
promised he would set out his views If Europe came back to warned Mr | :19:02. | :19:07. | |
Cameron, the difficulties with the economy never went away, and | :19:07. | :19:13. | |
despite endless growth initiatives, the UK slumped into a double dip. | :19:13. | :19:20. | |
But Labour insisted... It is a recession made in Downing Street, | :19:20. | :19:24. | |
some agree with that, Mr Deputy Speaker! The only bright in use was | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
the steady fall in unemployment. -- right in use. The Chancellor said | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
it was all taking a lot longer than planned with more austerity and a | :19:34. | :19:39. | |
cap on benefit increases. Tougher economic conditions mean that while | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
the deficit is forecast to go on falling, instead of taking three | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
years to get it falling, it is gilded day four. The PM told his | :19:47. | :19:57. | |
:19:57. | :19:57. | ||
party... Sink or swim, do what decline. -- do for decline. | :19:57. | :20:03. | |
Labour leader stole a traditional Tory slogan. One nation, a country | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
where everyone has a stake, where prosperity is fairly shared, where | :20:07. | :20:12. | |
we have a shared destiny. And a Canadian, to the surprise of almost | :20:12. | :20:17. | |
everyone, was brought in to run the Bank of England. My wife is a | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
British and Canadian national... will succeed Mervyn King, whose | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
bleak warnings about the state of the economy seemed to match the | :20:25. | :20:32. | |
mood of the times. In Afghanistan, it was also another difficult year, | :20:32. | :20:37. | |
with 44 British soldiers killed, but the PM announced almost half of | :20:37. | :20:47. | |
:20:47. | :20:50. | ||
the remaining 9,000 troops would be It was not all doom and gloom, | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
though, and for the government, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
celebrations were a welcome pick me up, time to forget the grim | :20:57. | :21:03. | |
economic backdrop. The weather may have been a bit dodgy, but no-one | :21:03. | :21:13. | |
:21:13. | :21:15. | ||
And that was as nothing compared to the national celebration that was | :21:15. | :21:21. | |
to follow. The Olympics brought with them a feel-good factor, to | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
the huge relief of an anxious government, everything was even | :21:25. | :21:35. | |
:21:35. | :21:36. | ||
finished on time. Even the Queen Many said it was one of the best | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
games ever, and the UK even enjoyed a medals bonanza, 65 in total, 29 | :21:42. | :21:50. | |
Thousands turned out onto the streets of London to celebrate | :21:50. | :21:59. | |
Allah Olympic success. -- hour. The only hiccup, well, the army had to | :21:59. | :22:05. | |
be called in after G4S admitted that they did not have and that | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
staff to provide the security. Oh, and there was one minor transport | :22:08. | :22:18. | |
:22:18. | :22:26. | ||
He was more successful in getting re-elected as mayor of London. In | :22:26. | :22:31. | |
the locals, Labour swept-back, winning more than 800 seats with | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
big gains in Wales and a victory over the SNP in Glasgow. The only | :22:36. | :22:42. | |
setback for the Labour leader was an egg. For the government, it was | :22:42. | :22:47. | |
a bad night, with voters also overwhelmingly rejecting plans for | :22:47. | :22:54. | |
more city mayors. A Labour by- election victory in Corby later in | :22:54. | :23:00. | |
the year seemed to end the doubts about Mr Miliband's leadership. | :23:00. | :23:06. | |
This, despite the embarrassment he suffered at the hands of Respect's | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
George Galloway, who snatched the previously safe Labour seat of | :23:10. | :23:20. | |
:23:20. | :23:22. | ||
Embarrassment, too, for the coalition over police commissioners, | :23:22. | :23:29. | |
with a record low turnout of just 15%. And the end of the electoral | :23:29. | :23:39. | |
Meanwhile, in Scotland, a deal was reached paving the way for a vote | :23:39. | :23:42. | |
on Scottish independence in 2014 with just one question on the | :23:42. | :23:52. | |
In the same year, Mr Cameron said he wanted the first gay marriage | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
ceremonies to take place, despite the furious opposition are many in | :23:57. | :24:05. | |
What a busy year it has been! It has been 12 months in which we | :24:05. | :24:08. | |
journalists have gone from harrying and hounding others to being | :24:08. | :24:12. | |
harried and hounded ourselves, but one man has managed to use that to | :24:12. | :24:22. | |
:24:22. | :24:27. | ||
his advantage, albeit using new # And sorry, so sorry. | :24:27. | :24:32. | |
# I am sorry... Do you know what, I think he fancied himself as a bit | :24:32. | :24:42. | |
:24:42. | :24:42. | ||
# We made a promise before the election. | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
# We would vote against any rise in fees. | :24:46. | :24:50. | |
# It was a pledge made with the best intentions. | :24:50. | :24:54. |