Iain Duncan Smith

Download Subtitles

Transcript

:00:15. > :00:22.Welcome from us. We have got the Conservatives offer to London in our

:00:23. > :00:26.site and with me is a former leader of the party, Iain Duncan Smith. We

:00:27. > :00:30.will go through policy areas in a moment. On this story, the issue

:00:31. > :00:38.that it is hard to get away from, let's look at policing. Can London

:00:39. > :00:43.be safer now than it was in 2010 after ?600 million worth of cuts? I

:00:44. > :00:48.think London is safer. But nothing is absolute in these things, we do

:00:49. > :00:52.not make predictions about it. The safety of London depends on what

:00:53. > :00:55.people recognise is going on in their communities and the Islamic

:00:56. > :01:01.community and reported to the authorities to take action. The key

:01:02. > :01:05.areas that deal with intelligence, dealing with security over

:01:06. > :01:15.terrorism, those areas have been in. There is another 1900 MI5, MI6. Eyes

:01:16. > :01:21.and ears, community policing, much money has gone, and many more to go.

:01:22. > :01:24.Do defend all those cuts? I do because the way you are affected in

:01:25. > :01:29.life does not necessarily depend on the amount you spend, it is how you

:01:30. > :01:33.deploy your resources. What has happened in the Metropolitan Police

:01:34. > :01:39.has been a rethink about how you can best deployed the resources you have

:01:40. > :01:47.to make them roast defective, -- most effective. I think with falling

:01:48. > :01:50.crime in all those years, the Met police is probably more efficient

:01:51. > :01:58.and effective than it has been at any time. Crime has been falling,

:01:59. > :02:02.and some will say one of the reasons is because police numbers and please

:02:03. > :02:05.investment has been up just at the point that crime has been going in

:02:06. > :02:10.the right direction, you are making the courts to policing, and there it

:02:11. > :02:14.is no act acid that all this crime is starting to shoot up again. I

:02:15. > :02:18.think the issue around knife crime is an area to be looked at carefully

:02:19. > :02:24.and separately. A huge amount of that is down to the growth in street

:02:25. > :02:29.gangs in the UK, certainly in London. The way the borrowers deal

:02:30. > :02:34.with it. My borough has started looking at tackling violent street

:02:35. > :02:40.gangs by not just policing in the street gangs. You go to Australia,

:02:41. > :02:44.you see strong community groups, you need people helping the police get

:02:45. > :02:48.the kids out of the gangs, take the series guys out and arrest them.

:02:49. > :02:57.That is a process. Not all the borrowers are doing that. Benny was

:02:58. > :03:01.to be an effort... There must be this coordinated process. It is done

:03:02. > :03:06.in Boston and Cincinnati. That is the way to deal with it. It is

:03:07. > :03:12.focusing on how you break the gangs. The mayoral London recently

:03:13. > :03:15.described Theresa May as the most and London party London since

:03:16. > :03:24.Margaret Thatcher. Did you hear that? He is not in her party so...

:03:25. > :03:36.Is he right? Would the manifesto of the Tories disadvantage the capital?

:03:37. > :03:43.Please welcome the Prime Minister, Theresa May. This year's Tory

:03:44. > :03:48.manifesto may a unique impact was according to opinion pollsters,

:03:49. > :03:54.there is evidence of it making them less popular. This one might be the

:03:55. > :03:58.exception. Because it is the responsibility of leadership to be

:03:59. > :04:03.upfront and straight with people. According to the Labour may,

:04:04. > :04:05.Siddique Khan, this is the most anti-London Government for decades.

:04:06. > :04:10.Time again in the manifesto, there are references to power and wealth

:04:11. > :04:16.being too concentrated in the capital. They also said closing the

:04:17. > :04:21.gap is the list price in Britain today. There is no doubt that the

:04:22. > :04:25.Conservative manifesto in that it looks at London is the sense that

:04:26. > :04:30.London is over performed and that is somehow bad for the rest of the

:04:31. > :04:33.country and we need to take the resources away from London. In a

:04:34. > :04:43.manifesto, there is the bombers to push forward with... Unlike the last

:04:44. > :04:47.manifesto, there is no mention of Crossrail, but there is talk of

:04:48. > :04:51.moving of jobs outside of London and to move Channel 4. While rebalancing

:04:52. > :04:56.the economy might seem a good idea in principle, the reality is London

:04:57. > :04:59.currently has the highest unemployment rate of anywhere in

:05:00. > :05:02.Britain, and so if the Tories are talking about moving thousands of

:05:03. > :05:05.jobs from London and putting them somewhere else, do they not risk

:05:06. > :05:15.making one of London's serious problems even worse? Lovely day. Oh,

:05:16. > :05:18.dear. You are heavy. But more than anything else is the performance to

:05:19. > :05:23.social care that has drawn criticism. Currently, the Ukip free

:05:24. > :05:35.care from the state if you have assets less than... But plans will

:05:36. > :05:41.see the threshold ?100,000. Since almost every home is worth over

:05:42. > :05:45.100,000, everyone in the capital would have to pay for the care we

:05:46. > :05:51.could of their home. That includes Margaret and her husband who has

:05:52. > :06:00.Alzheimer's. His care bills are currently around ?3000 a month. By

:06:01. > :06:09.announcing that 100,000 limit to what you would lose, it was such a

:06:10. > :06:15.shock. One felt out of control. You think, oh, dear. The reforms has

:06:16. > :06:25.been deemed a dementia task, criticising but as Mark it is a

:06:26. > :06:32.disease of the brain and this is another issue that the people of

:06:33. > :06:41.dementia have a chronic disease. Why should they be paying for the whole

:06:42. > :06:45.affair care as proposed, when it is a health issue? It is a radical

:06:46. > :06:49.measure for the Government trying to harness the incredible wealth now

:06:50. > :06:54.tied up in London's housing, the most expensive in the country. In

:06:55. > :06:58.terms of dealing with the causes of the housing crisis, the only

:06:59. > :07:01.reference to London in the manifesto is a promise not to concentrate

:07:02. > :07:06.development in the south-east of England. We need to build houses

:07:07. > :07:09.elsewhere is. It is a very London view to save the housing crisis is

:07:10. > :07:12.just a problem in in this city full stop their other parts of the

:07:13. > :07:20.country where you see the affordability ratio at unaffordable

:07:21. > :07:24.levels. If the housing minister, the job is to solve the crisis through

:07:25. > :07:28.the country. The capital is a keep battle ground for the Conservatives.

:07:29. > :07:32.They want to pick up a between five and ten seats, but they will have

:07:33. > :07:38.too convinced Londoners they have the best interests of the capital at

:07:39. > :07:42.heart. There was an interesting expression there about closing the

:07:43. > :07:49.gap between other cities and London. At that balance been wrong? Due

:07:50. > :07:52.except the balance? Will it need to go through a transitional phase when

:07:53. > :07:58.it is not getting the same as others. I do not think that you

:07:59. > :08:01.strip stuff from London. What you actually do is encourage people to

:08:02. > :08:11.do more in the regions. I made doing a report on earth looking at

:08:12. > :08:14.regional productivity. We have a very big disparity between London

:08:15. > :08:19.and the south-east and the rest of the UK. Some parts it is really

:08:20. > :08:23.enormous. It is right for the Government to say we need to do more

:08:24. > :08:30.to get things right in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle. You

:08:31. > :08:34.think it will be a levelling? Almost certainly. Let's look at education.

:08:35. > :08:44.How can that be the case when we know the soldiers -- shortages...

:08:45. > :08:52.Per-pupil spending by the Conservatives over the coming years,

:08:53. > :08:56.how can not help? Conservatives have said we will put 4 billion extra

:08:57. > :09:02.into education, saying in real terms, school funding will go up

:09:03. > :09:10.every single year. But per-pupil is the critical thing. But numbers go

:09:11. > :09:15.up, because there is a rising number of pupils going into schools,

:09:16. > :09:22.particularly in London. We have said that any of the reassessment about

:09:23. > :09:27.how the money is spent, those schools that lose out will not lose

:09:28. > :09:31.out. They will be guaranteed that money. That is the funding for

:09:32. > :09:39.Miller. But the investment you are putting into schools in real

:09:40. > :09:44.terms... At any of the Headteachers said that they are happy with

:09:45. > :09:50.current resources? They say they are concerned about this. They will be.

:09:51. > :09:55.My constituency is rather divided. The key point I have made is we have

:09:56. > :10:01.had a huge investment in schools over the last ten years, a enormous

:10:02. > :10:04.amount. Going forward means the chances of reinvesting much more

:10:05. > :10:09.money in the future are higher there. The choice for London at the

:10:10. > :10:15.end of the day is not just about is it more or less, it is who you think

:10:16. > :10:24.will be able to make those changes. Labour's pledgers are... Social

:10:25. > :10:29.care, this tricky one. Did you want to see a cap in the manifesto? I

:10:30. > :10:33.have believed there would be a cap because it is not a policy

:10:34. > :10:37.statement, it is a Green paper that is coming out after. Words you

:10:38. > :10:51.suppressed there was no cap? I just assumed. It is about a green paper.

:10:52. > :10:55.The policy is a green paper about how do we afford long-term care, and

:10:56. > :11:02.one of the proposals is very simple, one of the biggest problems is that

:11:03. > :11:07.right now people in residential care, their houses are taken into

:11:08. > :11:13.consideration. The report was wrong. You can go down as 14,000. Now we

:11:14. > :11:23.know the property is eligible for domiciliary care. In which case, we

:11:24. > :11:26.do not say 14,000 in savings, we say 100,000, nevertheless. Now with the

:11:27. > :11:35.cap, you will be limited the amount you have to contribute. Which means,

:11:36. > :11:42.due except, anyone earning with an estate of over 200,000 will gain. Do

:11:43. > :11:51.you think this is fair? No, what will happen... People who can afford

:11:52. > :11:57.it will make a great contribution. The cap on the amount is clear at

:11:58. > :12:01.200,000. There will be no fear that someone who is in their house or

:12:02. > :12:11.their wife or husband... It is not clear because we do not know the

:12:12. > :12:15.cap. This will be really important. This will be rejected because it was

:12:16. > :12:20.not the in the manifesto. This will be in the Green paper. Can you

:12:21. > :12:25.understand the uncertainty? How damaging has it been? I do not think

:12:26. > :12:29.it has been damaging. I have written to everybody and what the policy is.

:12:30. > :12:35.Most people don't know because they do not end at getting care. If they

:12:36. > :12:39.have to get care at home or in their house, in care homes, they will end

:12:40. > :12:43.at the paying significant sums of money for it. This stops that

:12:44. > :12:50.happening and stop the sale of the house at any cost until after both

:12:51. > :12:55.the parties are... The attack Labour fudges the same thinking. You can be

:12:56. > :13:00.asked to sell your house because they need the money to be paid

:13:01. > :13:04.upfront. Some council don't, but some do. That causes anxiety, so

:13:05. > :13:11.knowing what goes on at the moment, this is a better deal for people

:13:12. > :13:16.living... Another proportional impact is benefits. Child tax

:13:17. > :13:21.credits, benefits freezing, you resign from the Government over the

:13:22. > :13:25.cuts to disability. None of these things have been reversed anyway.

:13:26. > :13:29.They are implicit in the manifesto. What do you say? The reality is we

:13:30. > :13:35.want more people in work and more people with disabilities into work.

:13:36. > :13:39.We now have records numbers. My view was very clear that we kept the

:13:40. > :13:46.funding going into different disability benefits Sir I was

:13:47. > :13:50.opposed to Siambr, I resigned because it was proposed that we

:13:51. > :13:54.would try and reduce that. I stopped that. That is not happening in now.

:13:55. > :14:01.Every year, the money has gone up. And if it payments rose by 60% under

:14:02. > :14:05.the last Government, and that became unsustainable for people buying

:14:06. > :14:09.large working with the knowing crease in salary. We know how much

:14:10. > :14:12.you have spoke about helping people with Universal Credit which you were

:14:13. > :14:21.responsible for when you work minister. It is rolling out

:14:22. > :14:25.brilliantly. You were also unhappy at the allowances involved being

:14:26. > :14:29.reduced, so people were not keeping as much money when they were going

:14:30. > :14:39.back to work. They have not changed. We did get a change. I am very keen.

:14:40. > :14:44.You think it will not change? I know for a fact that I have argued and I

:14:45. > :14:47.will continue to argue it will be the right thing to do to start

:14:48. > :14:53.restoring much of the allowances because it will link rich people to

:14:54. > :14:56.go back to work. But that is a matter for the Government. My

:14:57. > :15:02.argument remains the same. Universal Credit will have a dramatic and

:15:03. > :15:06.positive effect. It does affect about 15 cents of the people in

:15:07. > :15:11.London, it has led already two really big rent arrears in certain

:15:12. > :15:16.councils. I have the figures. About 2 million in Southwark.

:15:17. > :15:23.The roll-out has reassessed the whole process. The rent arrears that

:15:24. > :15:29.may or may not have been are not due to universal credit. Those renting

:15:30. > :15:33.houses can access universal credit and can figure out who is on

:15:34. > :15:37.benefits and they can immediately if they start running up arrears, they

:15:38. > :15:46.can immediately hand them back, the same direct payment. It did not

:15:47. > :15:49.happen under the old system. Universal credit will be a much

:15:50. > :16:03.better system for helping people who have problems. It is rolling out

:16:04. > :16:06.right now. Just very slowly. You wanted to roll out successfully.

:16:07. > :16:12.When they rolled out tax credits, people got no money on day one. It

:16:13. > :16:19.is rolling out now. Let's move on. This election was called on the

:16:20. > :16:24.basis of establishing a clear mandate on Brexit.

:16:25. > :16:29.When she launched her party 's manifesto earlier this month, the

:16:30. > :16:34.Prime Minister put Brexit front and centre. With the right deal secured,

:16:35. > :16:38.my mainstream government will deliver for mainstream Britain. In

:16:39. > :16:42.the party manifesto, Theresa May says Brexit will define us, our

:16:43. > :16:45.place in the world, our economic security and our future prosperity.

:16:46. > :17:14.So how will London be affected? London voted 60% to remain in the

:17:15. > :17:20.European Union. Will these conservative commitments cut it in

:17:21. > :17:24.the capital? Anecdotally, my feeling is around 50% of our workforce comes

:17:25. > :17:29.from Eastern Europe. If you reduce that, if you put barriers in the

:17:30. > :17:34.way, that is a significant hurdle to overcome. You will have real

:17:35. > :17:37.shortages and real problems. We already have a skills shortage. If

:17:38. > :17:42.you make it harder for people to come in, how is that skills shortage

:17:43. > :17:47.could be better? You are going to have a rise in wage demands, that

:17:48. > :17:53.could lead to higher house prices. After eight years of Conservative

:17:54. > :18:00.mayoralty, the population group at only 160,000 homes were built. In

:18:01. > :18:04.Canary Wharf, financial technology is becoming another area where

:18:05. > :18:10.London is blowing European competition out of the water but

:18:11. > :18:13.will it last? For us really the big concern is around uncertainty. We

:18:14. > :18:19.don't know what is happening in regards to the trade agreements. We

:18:20. > :18:23.need the best Europeans to want to work for us. It would be sensible to

:18:24. > :18:27.think about relocation to Munich or Frankfurt. It is the freedom of

:18:28. > :18:32.movement argument the other way around. We had that development

:18:33. > :18:36.office in Latvia and we are growing their rapidly, we are recruiting

:18:37. > :18:40.there. Are we still going to have access to that after Brexit? While

:18:41. > :18:44.they have questions about Brexit, who they think should negotiate it

:18:45. > :18:48.is clear, there is no question at Theresa May is the person you would

:18:49. > :18:56.want at the table negotiating on our behalf. I would say Theresa May as

:18:57. > :19:04.well. It is her job to do this and to get the UK out of whatever

:19:05. > :19:09.someone else got the UK into. They are applauding her now, will they

:19:10. > :19:13.still be come June the 9th? How can the party have any

:19:14. > :19:18.credibility including this pledge on immigration where you don't explain

:19:19. > :19:21.how you are going to get to it and there's no assessment of the impact

:19:22. > :19:24.it will have in London. We have heard from all the business groups

:19:25. > :19:30.of just how important migrant labour is. First of all, I wrote a paper

:19:31. > :19:33.about this a few months ago on the government is heading in roughly the

:19:34. > :19:38.same direction. What we have is to take control of our borders so that

:19:39. > :19:42.we have controlled migration. Controlling who comes in and what

:19:43. > :19:47.they come for. You base it around jobs, you have a work permit

:19:48. > :19:53.process. Why is this not in the manifesto. Ligament has spoken about

:19:54. > :20:01.the work permit system that it depends... That is the problem. I

:20:02. > :20:05.accept there is an issue about people's concerns because we haven't

:20:06. > :20:09.arrived at that point yet because we are just about to start the

:20:10. > :20:12.negotiations. What a huge leap in the dark. The Evening Standard were

:20:13. > :20:19.calling it today economic the electorate. Well, he was the one

:20:20. > :20:22.that put the tens of thousands into the original manifesto so if you

:20:23. > :20:30.won't mind if I don't engage with him on that. Do you agree it was a

:20:31. > :20:38.mistake? I don't. Through the 90s, we could have settled... The economy

:20:39. > :20:42.is growing... Less is the very clear about this, the idea that somehow

:20:43. > :20:52.uncontrolled migration is required for the economy to grow is total

:20:53. > :20:56.nonsense. What assessment have people done in the construction

:20:57. > :21:02.sector? There are currently 60,000 vacancies. What is really important

:21:03. > :21:08.is if you deal with some very entry-level trades, heavy goods

:21:09. > :21:14.vehicle drivers, construction and industry, there is a huge demand.

:21:15. > :21:21.Many of them do not even bother to train British workers. I can tell

:21:22. > :21:25.you, we have queues of people who would love to be... They have not

:21:26. > :21:32.trained people up. They will admit it as well. It is too easy to go

:21:33. > :21:37.somewhere else and get skilled people in without having to commit.

:21:38. > :21:44.Heavy goods vehicle is a good example. Lots of people coming in.

:21:45. > :21:49.They say they cannot find anybody. We got the costs down and actually

:21:50. > :21:53.we had a queue of people... We get on with it. That is the key point.

:21:54. > :21:57.While we are setting out, it is important that companies recognise

:21:58. > :22:03.that we do need to look at upscaling the British people. Which will be

:22:04. > :22:09.slightly problematic when you are cutting the education budget. I was

:22:10. > :22:14.talking to a Belgian producer. He said we look at the UK as why we

:22:15. > :22:20.beat you when we export EU is because we think you for low skilled

:22:21. > :22:26.import workers. We don't do that. That is why we can sell around the

:22:27. > :22:31.world and sometimes your companies don't. We need to first of all look

:22:32. > :22:33.at trying to get British people trained properly and skilled. That

:22:34. > :22:43.will help the productivity position of the UK. The Sunday Times today

:22:44. > :22:49.speculating that IDS might be back in the Cabinet in the event of a

:22:50. > :22:54.Conservative victory. Have you had any discussions? Certainly not. I am

:22:55. > :23:01.a free spirit and I can debate all the issues I want. I think the

:23:02. > :23:06.reason many as the only choice for strong and stable leadership. We run

:23:07. > :23:17.out of time. Thank you very much indeed.