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looks back at all the big political stories of this year. And a warning, | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
there is some flash photography in this film. | :00:00. | :00:20. | |
The Christmas holidays among the dreaming spires in Oxford. | :00:21. | :00:29. | |
And of course there is a pantomime on at the Playhouse. | :00:30. | :00:32. | |
But we are hijacking it to review the events which have made up | :00:33. | :00:40. | |
Taking a risk, having a punt, having a go, that pumps me up! | :00:41. | :00:55. | |
And even lower lows for a few more... | :00:56. | :01:05. | |
If this exit poll is right, Andrew, I will publicly eat my hat | :01:06. | :01:08. | |
Please welcome to the stage, erm, me! | :01:09. | :01:16. | |
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome | :01:17. | :01:18. | |
I hope you're ready for some spills and thrills, some drama and some | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
disaster, because act one is all about the general election. | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
As the politicians hit the road after five years of coalition | :01:30. | :01:39. | |
So it felt like there was everything to play for. | :01:40. | :01:47. | |
The Conservatives' pitch was based on one word - security. | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
It shows that we are a government that is on the side of working | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
people who want to get on and build a better future for themselves | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
Our manifesto will be about securing people's future. | :01:59. | :02:07. | |
That manifesto included things like more free childcare | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
and extending the right to buy to tenants of housing associations, | :02:14. | :02:16. | |
along with the odd dig at their opponents. | :02:17. | :02:18. | |
We have already seen with Mr Miliband that he will do | :02:19. | :02:21. | |
We saw that when he fought his own brother for the leadership. | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
The danger now for Britain is that he will cobble together some | :02:26. | :02:33. | |
backstairs deal with the SNP which will result in higher taxes, | :02:34. | :02:35. | |
The problem was, it seemed a bit dull. | :02:36. | :02:39. | |
So halfway through the campaign, David Cameron rolled up his shirt | :02:40. | :02:42. | |
When I get the people who got start-up loans coming | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
into Downing Street and telling me what they have done, | :02:48. | :02:49. | |
often giving up a well-paid career, taking a risk, having a punt, | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
And it is what is changing our country. | :02:53. | :02:59. | |
In a quieter moment, James Landale got the Prime Minister | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
There comes a time when a fresh pair of eyes and fresh leadership | :03:04. | :03:10. | |
And the Conservative Party has got some great people coming | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
up, the Theresa Mays and the George Osbornes | :03:16. | :03:17. | |
There is plenty of talent there, I am surrounded by it. | :03:18. | :03:20. | |
The third term is not something I am contemplating. | :03:21. | :03:23. | |
The Labour leader Ed Miliband's kitchen featured as well. | :03:24. | :03:31. | |
What did matter was whether he was up to the job of being Prime | :03:32. | :03:40. | |
What I am not going to do is repeat the mistakes of the 2003 Iraq war, | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
which happened when Labour was in power, which is a rush to war | :03:46. | :03:48. | |
without knowing what your strategy is and without being clear | :03:49. | :03:51. | |
I am not a pacifist so I did support action in Libya. | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
David Cameron talked about how I supported action against Isis. | :03:58. | :04:00. | |
Labour promised to be tough on the deficit | :04:01. | :04:07. | |
as they unveiled their manifesto on the old Corrie set, | :04:08. | :04:10. | |
promising a mansion tax and a cut intuition fees. | :04:11. | :04:13. | |
But it did not seem that business was always on their side. | :04:14. | :04:22. | |
I have been at a dinner tonight with a number of | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
Who? Bill... | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
The former chief executive of EDS, who I was just speaking | :04:32. | :04:33. | |
Former chief executive of EDS - what was his name? | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
To be honest it has just gone from my head, which is a bit | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
People took the Mickey even more when Labour unveiled what became | :04:43. | :04:46. | |
Crazy photo ops were a speciality of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg. | :04:47. | :04:56. | |
When he wasn't hiding hedgehogs, he pitched himself as an honest | :04:57. | :04:59. | |
broker, in case there was a whole Parliament. | :05:00. | :05:02. | |
broker, in case there was a hung Parliament. | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
I believe more rather than less in the Liberal Democrat mission | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
of spreading opportunity across the country, of getting | :05:11. | :05:12. | |
the balance right, of creating a stronger economy | :05:13. | :05:14. | |
And I passionately believe that no other party is able to put that | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
I learned that the name is Liberal Democrats, | :05:20. | :05:29. | |
I learned that he is quite an honest person, Nick Clegg, | :05:30. | :05:38. | |
I must admit, because he did actually say to me that he does not | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
reckon he is going to win this election. | :05:42. | :05:43. | |
The Ukip reality TV show sometimes seemed a bit chaotic. | :05:44. | :05:45. | |
Their leader focused on getting elected in a seat in Kent, | :05:46. | :05:48. | |
There was a little old lady on a stick and she waited very | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
patiently for ten minutes to talk to me. | :05:54. | :05:57. | |
I went over to her, and dhe said, it is my birthday today. | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
And she said 95. I said, happy birthday! | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
And she kissed me on the lips and said, are we going out tonight? | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
I will never forget that as long as I live! | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
The leader of the Greens made waves with a terrible radio interview | :06:16. | :06:18. | |
which led to an infamous new phrase - brain fade. | :06:19. | :06:20. | |
We are looking at a total spend of 2.7... | :06:21. | :06:24. | |
But what is the total cost of 500,000 homes? | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
I did not do a great job this morning. | :06:29. | :06:34. | |
I am aiming to face up to that and move on. | :06:35. | :06:40. | |
But it did not seem to bother the thousands of new members | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
And now, the action moves to the not-so-far away magical | :06:46. | :06:56. | |
It is ruled by Nicola, the selfie Queen, who even | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
It isn't working. Here it is. | :07:02. | :07:04. | |
The SNP lost the independence referendum in 2014, but Sturgeon has | :07:05. | :07:14. | |
And she made it clear she wanted her party to hold | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
the House of Commons than Tory MPs, then if we work together we can lock | :07:20. | :07:31. | |
In terms of the influence that the SNP on Scotland's behalf | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
could have, it does not all come down to a Queen's Speech, | :07:36. | :07:38. | |
it is about the influence you exert across the lifetime of a parliament. | :07:39. | :07:41. | |
With a Fixed Term Parliaments Act now in place, it is possible | :07:42. | :07:44. | |
to change the direction of a government on individual issues | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
without bringing that government down. | :07:48. | :07:50. | |
That puts a party like the SNP into a very, very powerful position. | :07:51. | :07:58. | |
Music to the years of the Conservatives, | :07:59. | :08:04. | |
who said that a Prime Minister Ed Miliband would be held ransom | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
by Scottish nationalists and Alex Salmond. | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
They rammed the message home again and again and again. | :08:15. | :08:17. | |
The election is coming down to a very clear choice - | :08:18. | :08:20. | |
you either stick with the Conservatives, who have got | :08:21. | :08:22. | |
a competent, long-term plan to get the country back to work and cut | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
people's taxes - or you risk a weak Ed Miliband being pushed around | :08:26. | :08:28. | |
It was a nightmare for the Labour leader, who had to rule out a deal | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
with the SNP in pretty much every single interview. | :08:34. | :08:35. | |
People who are thinking of which way to vote needs to know exactly... | :08:36. | :08:38. | |
And I will tell them, a Labour government led by me | :08:39. | :08:41. | |
what happens will be decided by me, not by the SNP. | :08:42. | :08:43. | |
We are not going to have a coalition with the Scottish National Party. | :08:44. | :08:46. | |
I will let other people talking about coalitions, | :08:47. | :08:48. | |
I am not getting into that. | :08:49. | :08:50. | |
All of our protagonists met for a debate on ITV. | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
But it was two supporting characters who stole the show, | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
Nigel Farage, with comments like this... | :09:00. | :09:02. | |
You can come into Britain from anywhere in the world and get | :09:03. | :09:05. | |
diagnosed with HIV and get the retroviral | :09:06. | :09:06. | |
drugs which cost up to ?25,000 per year per patient. | :09:07. | :09:09. | |
smackdowns like this. of Plaid Cymru, with | :09:10. | :09:19. | |
This kind of scaremongering rhetoric is dangerous. | :09:20. | :09:22. | |
It divides communities and it creates stigma to people who are ill | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
and I think you should be ashamed of yourself. | :09:29. | :09:30. | |
I am sorry, we have got to put our own people first. | :09:31. | :09:37. | |
Then, on the 7th of May, the nation went out to vote. | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
And we all held our breath until 10pm. | :09:41. | :09:44. | |
Here it is, ten o'clock, and we are saying the Conservatives | :09:45. | :09:48. | |
And here are the figures which we have - quite | :09:49. | :09:59. | |
That's up nine since the last election in 2010. | :10:00. | :10:13. | |
Ed Miliband for Labour, 77 behind him, at 239, | :10:14. | :10:16. | |
I was in that studio when the exit poll was broadcast and it came | :10:17. | :10:24. | |
Labour suffered its worst general election result for a generation. | :10:25. | :10:36. | |
Let's put down seat number 248, that is a Labour hold in Feltham | :10:37. | :10:39. | |
But the real story of the night is here in Scotland - | :10:40. | :10:47. | |
The SNP went on to win all but three seats north of the border. | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
If this exit poll is anywhere near right, this is beyond | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
If this exit poll is right, Andrew, I will publicly eat my hat | :10:58. | :11:06. | |
No, but I can get one specially for the occasion. | :11:07. | :11:12. | |
Paddy would have to get munching, because the Lib Dems did even worse, | :11:13. | :11:15. | |
ending up with just eight members of Parliament. | :11:16. | :11:19. | |
Nigel Farage failed to become an MP and Ukip ended up with just one, | :11:20. | :11:22. | |
despite getting 4 million votes nationwide. | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
And the Tories held on to key seats like Nuneaton, | :11:27. | :11:34. | |
David Cameron swept into Downing Street the next day. | :11:35. | :11:40. | |
To usher in the first Conservative majority government for 18 years. | :11:41. | :11:44. | |
Everything I have seen over the last five years and indeed | :11:45. | :11:47. | |
during this election campaign has proved once | :11:48. | :11:49. | |
with unrivalled skills and creativeness, a country | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
with such good humour and such great compassion. | :11:54. | :11:58. | |
And I am convinced that if we draw on all of this, | :11:59. | :12:06. | |
then we can take these islands with our pride history and build | :12:07. | :12:09. | |
Together, we can make Great Britain greater still. | :12:10. | :12:15. | |
What would David Cameron do in his second term as Prime | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
And what would it mean for everyone else? | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
Well, that cliffhanger is where we are going to leave act one. | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
I don't know about you, but I am heading to the bar | :12:31. | :12:33. | |
Oh, and we are going to say goodbye to some pretty major characters. | :12:34. | :12:37. | |
The morning after the election, Ed Miliband told party workers | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
that he was off, triggering a leadership contest. | :12:43. | :12:44. | |
I have done my best for nearly five years. | :12:45. | :12:51. | |
Now, you need to show your responsibility. | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
Your responsibility, not simply to mourn our defeat | :12:55. | :13:04. | |
The Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, was among the Labour big beasts | :13:05. | :13:08. | |
Their Scottish leader, Jim Murphy, quit to spend more time | :13:09. | :13:18. | |
And Harriet Harman stood down after eight years as | :13:19. | :13:26. | |
28 years on the front bench - are you going to miss it? | :13:27. | :13:33. | |
No, I just feel a massive relief, really. | :13:34. | :13:35. | |
Because it is such a responsibility and now somebody else can do it | :13:36. | :13:38. | |
There were tears among Lib Dems, as Nick Clegg announced his | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
Clearly the results have been immeasurably more crushing | :13:43. | :13:48. | |
and unkind than I could ever have feared. | :13:49. | :13:51. | |
For that of course I must take responsibility and therefore | :13:52. | :13:53. | |
I announce that I will be resigning as leader of the Liberal Democrats. | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
Tim Farron was elected as his replacement. | :13:58. | :14:00. | |
Tributes were paid to another former Lib Dem leader, | :14:01. | :14:02. | |
Charles Kennedy, who lost his battle with alcoholism. | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
The former Home Secretary Leon Brittan died before the police | :14:08. | :14:10. | |
decided not to pursue claims of sexual abuse. | :14:11. | :14:17. | |
Labour veteran Denis Healey died at the age of 98. | :14:18. | :14:25. | |
And we said goodbye to Geoffrey Howe, the loyal deputy | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
It is rather like sending your opening batsman to the crease only | :14:31. | :14:37. | |
for them to find the moment the first ball is bowled | :14:38. | :14:39. | |
that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain. | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
At the seaside, Nigel Farage announced his resignation | :14:46. | :14:47. | |
as Ukip leader. I am a man of my word. | :14:48. | :14:50. | |
So I shall be writing to the Ukip national executive in a few minutes | :14:51. | :14:53. | |
And in Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson said he was resigning | :14:54. | :14:59. | |
Remember, the Conservatives have surprised everybody by winning | :15:00. | :15:11. | |
the election and forming a majority government, | :15:12. | :15:13. | |
while quite a few characters have left the stage. | :15:14. | :15:15. | |
Pardon? He is behind you! | :15:16. | :15:26. | |
Oh, no, he isn't. Oh, yes, he is! | :15:27. | :15:28. | |
Although Nigel's return sparked a mini meltdown among his team. | :15:29. | :15:36. | |
I think he has had people around him who have not only got an American | :15:37. | :15:40. | |
tea party type political agenda themselves but are also in talks did | :15:41. | :15:44. | |
with the tactics perhaps of the right-wing of | :15:45. | :15:47. | |
the American Republican party, which is very much | :15:48. | :15:52. | |
And I don't think that works in British politics. | :15:53. | :15:55. | |
I don't think British voters are attracted to it. | :15:56. | :15:57. | |
And I don't think it allows Nigel to show the best of himself | :15:58. | :16:01. | |
Labour had a real leadership contest - which you might | :16:02. | :16:10. | |
And that she got her mojo too late in the campaign. | :16:11. | :16:18. | |
And none of them could compete with...Jeremy Corbyn. | :16:19. | :16:21. | |
An MP since 1983, very left-wing, and fond of home-made jumpers... | :16:22. | :16:29. | |
Is that the jumper that your mum made? | :16:30. | :16:31. | |
Thousands of new activists paid ?3 to sign up to the polity | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
Thousands of new activists paid ?3 to sign up to the party | :16:38. | :16:40. | |
During this amazing three months, our party has changed. | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
We have grown enormously because of the hopes of so many | :16:45. | :16:48. | |
ordinary people for a different Britain, a better Britain, | :16:49. | :16:50. | |
a more decent Britain, they are fed up with | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
the injustice, the inequality, the unnecessary poverty. | :16:56. | :17:03. | |
All of those issues have brought people in, in a spirit | :17:04. | :17:06. | |
of hope and optimism. But where to start? | :17:07. | :17:08. | |
To assist Comrade Osborne in his dealings with his new-found | :17:09. | :17:20. | |
comrades, I have brought him along Mao's Little Red Book. | :17:21. | :17:23. | |
His opposition to the police shooting terrorists... | :17:24. | :17:27. | |
Because I, along with millions of Labour voters in the country, | :17:28. | :17:44. | |
were very concerned by the interview that Jeremy gave. | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
Or how about the fact that in Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet, | :17:50. | :17:52. | |
it is OK to disagree, even on very big things | :17:53. | :17:54. | |
Would you ever push the nuclear button if you were Prime Minister? | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
I am opposed to nuclear weapons, I am opposed to the holding | :18:00. | :18:02. | |
They are an ultimate weapon of mass destruction. | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
They can only kill millions of civilians if ever used. | :18:08. | :18:15. | |
I don't think that a potential Prime Minister answering a question | :18:16. | :18:18. | |
like that in the way in which he did is helpful. | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
If you have got a nuclear deterrent, you have got to be willing to use it | :18:23. | :18:26. | |
in extreme circumstances, or it isn't a deterrent. | :18:27. | :18:28. | |
You should never say never in politics, because you need | :18:29. | :18:34. | |
to look at the circumstances which arise, the evidence before you. | :18:35. | :18:36. | |
In the wake of the Paris terror attacks, when MPs debated weather | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
In the wake of the Paris terror attacks, when MPs debated | :18:41. | :18:43. | |
whether to attack so-called Islamic State in Syria, | :18:44. | :18:45. | |
the splits in Labour got serious. | :18:46. | :18:47. | |
Jeremy Corbyn was on the side of the anti-war protesters. | :18:48. | :18:50. | |
The Shadow Foreign Secretary was in favour of military action. | :18:51. | :18:56. | |
Sort of "potential new leader in waiting" in favour... | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
And we are here faced by fascists, not just their calculated brutality | :19:02. | :19:07. | |
but their belief that they are superior to every single one of us | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
in this chamber tonight and all of the people | :19:12. | :19:13. | |
They hold us in contempt. They hold our values in contempt. | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
They hold our belief in tolerance and decency in contempt. | :19:18. | :19:20. | |
They hold our democracy, the means by which we will make our decision | :19:21. | :19:23. | |
The air strikes went ahead, with British forces hitting | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
oilfields held by IS in Syria, alongside targets in Iraq. | :19:29. | :19:37. | |
When it comes to other weapons, like the ones used at the government | :19:38. | :19:40. | |
eavesdropping post, GCHQ, there was new legislation to help | :19:41. | :19:42. | |
If it is Tuesday, it must be Bulgaria. | :19:43. | :19:48. | |
David Cameron continued his never-ending tour of European | :19:49. | :19:51. | |
leaders as he tried to convince them that Britain needs a new deal | :19:52. | :19:54. | |
It was all happening against the backdrop | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
David Cameron promised to take 20,000 Syrian refugees from camps | :20:01. | :20:07. | |
Back at home, his Chancellor carried on trying to build | :20:08. | :20:19. | |
A plan to electrify the railway between London and Sheffield | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
Also shunted into a siding, George Osborne's plan | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
to cut tax credits - postponed after a baroness | :20:28. | :20:29. | |
Basically what this does is undermine the fair contract | :20:30. | :20:36. | |
we had with people when we said, with tax credits, we will | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
And what is going to happen, if there is no delay tonight, | :20:40. | :20:47. | |
And at Christmas, families will get letters saying that they will lose | :20:48. | :20:53. | |
Although, at the Conservative government's first budget | :20:54. | :21:03. | |
of the summer, Osborne won plaudits with this surprise announcement... | :21:04. | :21:05. | |
I am today introducing a new national living wage. | :21:06. | :21:12. | |
We will set it to reach ?9 an hour by 2020. | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
The new national living wage will be compulsory. | :21:16. | :21:17. | |
Working people aged 25 and over will receive it. | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
It will start next April at the rate of ?7.20. | :21:23. | :21:24. | |
The Low Pay Commission will recommend future rises | :21:25. | :21:30. | |
and achieve the government's objectives... | :21:31. | :21:32. | |
Elsewhere at Westminster, I had to learn the faces of a lot | :21:33. | :21:35. | |
Anne McLoughlin. Nice to meet you. | :21:36. | :21:47. | |
How does it feel settling in? It is great. | :21:48. | :21:49. | |
All the parliament staff have been fantastic. | :21:50. | :21:57. | |
Didn't realise when I got here that you can't use cash on London buses. | :21:58. | :22:00. | |
The SNP newbies got into trouble for breaking rules in the chamber. | :22:01. | :22:07. | |
Can I say at the start of the parliament that | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
the convention that we don't clap in this chamber is very, | :22:13. | :22:16. | |
very, very long established and widely respect, and it would be | :22:17. | :22:23. | |
and it would be appreciated if members would show some respect | :22:24. | :22:25. | |
The youngest MP for years, Mhairi Black - 20 years | :22:26. | :22:34. | |
old when she took up her seat in May. | :22:35. | :22:36. | |
Now, the government quite rightly pays for me through taxpayers' money | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
to be able to live in London whilst I serve my constituents. | :22:41. | :22:43. | |
My housing is subsidised by the taxpayer. | :22:44. | :22:47. | |
Now, the Chancellor in his budget said, it is not fair that families | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
earning over ?40,000 in London should have their rents paid | :22:52. | :22:53. | |
But it is OK so long as you are an MP. | :22:54. | :22:58. | |
In this budget, the Chancellor also abolished any housing benefit | :22:59. | :23:01. | |
So we are now in the ridiculous situation whereby because I am | :23:02. | :23:13. | |
an MP, not only am I the youngest, but I am now also the only | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
20-year-old in the whole of the UK that the Chancellor is prepared | :23:18. | :23:19. | |
And finally, who is the secret Santa in this footage which has | :23:20. | :23:28. | |
Would you like to reveal yourself? Jeremy Corbyn. | :23:29. | :23:31. | |
Well done, I thought it was the real Santa! | :23:32. | :23:34. | |
The man who really has stolen the show this year. | :23:35. | :23:46. | |
There is going to be plenty more in 2016, | :23:47. | :23:56. | |
like elections to the Scottish Parliament. | :23:57. | :23:57. | |
Will Labour or the Conservatives be the second party north | :23:58. | :24:06. | |
Sir John Chilcot is going to publish his report into the Iraq war, | :24:07. | :24:17. | |
six years after his inquiry first started. | :24:18. | :24:19. | |
And there is a good chance that we will all be voting | :24:20. | :24:22. | |
in a referendum on whether Britain should remain a member | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
of the European Union - possibly one of the biggest | :24:26. | :24:27. | |
political moments, certainly in my lifetime. | :24:28. | :24:29. |