:00:26. > :00:30.Hello and welcome to The Daily Politics. As predictions by the
:00:30. > :00:35.global economy go from a punitive being near, the Chancellor's sense
:00:35. > :00:38.a defiant message on his plans to reduce the deficit. We will stick
:00:38. > :00:45.to the death as the plan we have set out. It is the rock of
:00:45. > :00:48.stability upon which our recovery is built. As UKIP's leader Nigel
:00:48. > :00:53.Farage prepares to address his party conference, we will ask him
:00:53. > :00:56.if he will make common cause with Tory Euro-sceptic backbenchers.
:00:56. > :01:05.As the Greens gather for their own conference, how are their polities
:01:05. > :01:08.going down in Brighton and Hove? Banning bacon sandwiches was not
:01:08. > :01:17.universally popular. It is a traditional, manual work for us and
:01:18. > :01:21.they like their eggs and bacon and all the trimmings that go with that.
:01:21. > :01:25.Hopefully after a full breakfast are Mehdi Hasan from the New
:01:25. > :01:29.Statesman, and Sarah Sands from the Evening Standard.
:01:29. > :01:32.Later today finance ministers will meet in my say to discuss how to
:01:32. > :01:37.deal with an economic crisis that seems to be deepening by the date.
:01:37. > :01:41.They have got their work cut out. Yesterday, the OECD released
:01:41. > :01:50.figures predicting the group of the seven largest economies will grow
:01:50. > :01:53.by just 0.2%, with Britain growing by 0.3% over the same time. The
:01:53. > :01:57.Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls used the figures to criticise the
:01:57. > :02:03.Government's approach to fixing the economy and said it had a reckless
:02:03. > :02:07.policy that is hurting, but clearly not working. However, this morning,
:02:07. > :02:11.George Osborne insisted his deficit reduction plans were right. We will
:02:11. > :02:16.stick to the plan we have set out. It is the rock of stability on
:02:16. > :02:21.which our recovery is built and it has delivered record low interest
:02:21. > :02:25.rates. Abandoning that it would put those interest rates at risk.
:02:25. > :02:29.Nothing would be more damaging for Britain at this fragile moment for
:02:29. > :02:33.the world's economy that an increase in mortgage rates for
:02:33. > :02:38.families and an increase in the cost of borrowing for businesses.
:02:38. > :02:42.On the other side of the Atlantic, President Obama has announced a
:02:42. > :02:48.$450 billion package which he hopes will create jobs and boost the
:02:48. > :02:53.economy. It includes tax cuts to help small businesses, funding for
:02:53. > :02:57.infrastructure businesses, and cash worth emergency services workers.
:02:57. > :03:02.Last night, he claimed the plans would give a much needed boost to
:03:02. > :03:06.the American economy. The purpose of the American jobs act is simple,
:03:06. > :03:11.to put more people back to work, and more money in the pockets of
:03:11. > :03:17.those who are working. It will create more jobs for construction
:03:17. > :03:22.workers, teachers, veterans, and the long-term unemployed. It will
:03:22. > :03:25.provide a jolt to the economy that has dolls and give people
:03:25. > :03:31.confidence if they invest and higher, there will be customers for
:03:31. > :03:35.their products and services. From the most powerful man in the world
:03:36. > :03:41.to one of the biggest brains in the BBC, let's get some analysis from
:03:41. > :03:45.the BBC's economics editor, Stephanie Flanders. President
:03:45. > :03:50.Obama's approach is totally different to George Osborne's. He
:03:50. > :03:54.says he is sticking to his austerity plan. Are there any signs
:03:54. > :04:00.that other countries and the IMF are beginning to turn away from the
:04:00. > :04:04.Chancellor's approach? Certainly Christine Lagarde in the last few
:04:04. > :04:08.weeks has had a much more nervous tone about the global economy and
:04:08. > :04:12.she said explicitly that policy makers everywhere have to worry
:04:12. > :04:16.about letting their long-term need to cut the budget get in the way of
:04:16. > :04:21.short-term growth. She made a big point at the meeting this morning
:04:21. > :04:26.and she said, if you do not get Rose, nothing else will get fixed.
:04:26. > :04:32.A lot of people have wondered if this applies to the UK. She was
:04:32. > :04:36.pretty clear this morning and she said she thought there was room in
:04:36. > :04:43.the Chancellor's plan to respond to what is going on without needing to
:04:43. > :04:47.do anything different. There is one big difference with the US.
:04:47. > :04:52.Basically, George Osborne is going to borrow a lot more if we have
:04:52. > :04:56.slow-growth, whether he likes it or not. That is not the case in the US.
:04:56. > :04:59.A lot of states are having to balance their budgets and may end
:04:59. > :05:04.up cutting spending when the economy goes down. The President
:05:04. > :05:09.has had to offset that with all these stimulus packages. There is a
:05:09. > :05:13.difference between Britain and America. In terms of the language
:05:13. > :05:18.being used, Ed Balls has already picked up and interpreted Christine
:05:18. > :05:23.Lagarde's comments as saying George Osborne has to change direction.
:05:23. > :05:29.You are right, she said the policy is currently appropriate, but what
:05:29. > :05:37.you think she is really thinking? There is an interesting dynamic. A
:05:37. > :05:41.year ago, there was quite a debate when the new Government announced
:05:41. > :05:46.its austerity programme. There were a few people inside the IMF has
:05:46. > :05:51.said it was a little too tight and they were overruled and the IMF has
:05:51. > :05:56.consistently had the position that it was right, but you had to be
:05:56. > :06:00.aware and ready to respond to risks. That rhetoric has ratcheted up.
:06:00. > :06:05.Today she talked about having heightened readiness and an ability
:06:05. > :06:10.to be super ajar if things started to go wrong. Still she is speaking
:06:10. > :06:13.to the script, but the tone is changing will stop some people
:06:13. > :06:18.would say it is a bit strange to be constantly talking about being
:06:18. > :06:22.ready for the risks to materialise, when she is also saying they have
:06:22. > :06:27.already happened. If George Osborne and decides to do things
:06:27. > :06:32.differently, what leaders are at his disposal in terms of kick-
:06:32. > :06:36.starting the economy? Part of the problem and part of the gloom is
:06:36. > :06:41.that there are not a lot of leaders that any of these governments can
:06:41. > :06:45.pall. I think what he would emphasise, and the IMF, is that
:06:45. > :06:48.there is some flexibility inside his scheme. The borrowing will go
:06:49. > :06:55.up naturally. There is also the fact they are meeting their budget
:06:55. > :06:59.target earlier on the current plans. There is room for quite a lot of
:06:59. > :07:04.borrowing to happen without him being able to officially say he is
:07:04. > :07:08.going for a plan B. What is odd about the Chancellor is he is now
:07:08. > :07:12.public about the flexibility of his plan. He could have talked about
:07:12. > :07:17.that all along and he chose to give the impression it is more rigid
:07:17. > :07:25.than it is. My ad Hassan, nobody is really advocating that George
:07:25. > :07:31.Osborne abandons his policy of fiscal austerity, in broad terms.
:07:31. > :07:38.There are a lot of top economists who are saying that. Bring in a
:07:38. > :07:44.short term, fiscal stimulus. One of the economists who predicted the
:07:44. > :07:49.crash, said he has switched his position. In the F T, the bond
:07:49. > :07:54.market message is clear, borrow and spend. We have also heard that the
:07:54. > :08:01.markets are still very real Sjoerd by sticking to an austerity package.
:08:02. > :08:06.It is not true although parties want them to abandon it. The
:08:06. > :08:09.austerity plan is right. I think Stephanie is right to say we have
:08:09. > :08:15.to look at Christine Lagarde's remarks and the new ones in her
:08:15. > :08:20.comments. She does not denounce a Government's central policy, but
:08:21. > :08:24.she does a nimble, super a jar, height and readiness. She said,
:08:24. > :08:28.there are countries in the world under pressure from the bond
:08:28. > :08:33.markets and they have to consolidate now and fast. There are
:08:33. > :08:41.others who have got more scope for growth. President Obama has
:08:41. > :08:49.recognised that belatedly. But it did not work for him either? That
:08:49. > :08:55.is not true. Some people say the stimulus was not big enough. Should
:08:55. > :09:00.George Osborne changed direction? am tentative about saying we need
:09:00. > :09:05.one or the other. I think to abandon it at this stage would be
:09:05. > :09:13.not only politically unwise, but everyone would panic. To say, we
:09:13. > :09:17.will carry on, but we have a bit of flexibility. Since he raised
:09:17. > :09:25.interest rates, that is the branch we are hanging on to. There are
:09:25. > :09:31.some things that can be quite calming. But economists are divided.
:09:31. > :09:34.I agree economists are divided. What is interesting in recent weeks
:09:34. > :09:40.it is George Osborne's own supporters who are having their
:09:40. > :09:44.doubts. A couple of years ago they were attacking George Brown and
:09:44. > :09:49.Alistair Darling. But perhaps he can change things without
:09:49. > :09:53.announcing he is changing things. They have committed so hard and so
:09:53. > :10:00.firmly to this, they are saying it is the glue that keeps the
:10:00. > :10:08.coalition together. Why didn't Ed Miliband talk about the economy in
:10:08. > :10:13.Prime Minister's Questions? I don't know. Someone like me would say
:10:13. > :10:21.that Alistair Darling's position is not credible. I think trying to ape
:10:21. > :10:27.the Tories on cuts did not help Labour at all. Raising VAT, but VAT
:10:27. > :10:32.is one of the tax cuts they should make as Ed Balls is asking for now.
:10:32. > :10:36.Let's see if Ed Miliband chooses to go on it next week. Delegates to
:10:36. > :10:43.their UKIP's conference might be experiencing a sense of deja vu as
:10:43. > :10:46.they gather in is born today. Nigel Farage has called on Tory voters to
:10:46. > :10:54.abandon the Conservatives for his true party of Euro-scepticism and
:10:54. > :10:58.it has a familiar ring to it. It was UKIP that made the argument
:10:58. > :11:03.we should no longer be part of the European Union and we desperately
:11:04. > :11:08.need a referendum. We made it respectable and made it easier for
:11:08. > :11:13.people in the Tory party and the Labour Party to say the same thing.
:11:13. > :11:16.Presumably in the interests of Euro-sceptics, you would not run a
:11:16. > :11:21.UKIP candidate against any Conservative MP who holes those
:11:21. > :11:25.opinions. Let's wait and see how genuine those people are. Whilst
:11:25. > :11:28.there are good people standing up in the Conservative Party, the
:11:28. > :11:33.leadership of the Conservative Party are more committed to
:11:33. > :11:37.membership of the European Union and more committed to deny it as a
:11:37. > :11:44.referendum that ever before. That is the leadership. We are talking
:11:44. > :11:49.about 80 newly elected Conservative MP is forming a blog, music to your
:11:49. > :11:53.ears. You are not gonna stand UKIP candidates against them, are you?
:11:53. > :11:58.My job as leader of this party is for us to fight as many elections
:11:58. > :12:02.as we can at local, regional, national and international level.
:12:02. > :12:07.We are going in, getting ready for those elections with the intention
:12:07. > :12:13.of winning them and we will have up by that time 600 candidates
:12:13. > :12:15.selected to fight the next general election. The important thing is
:12:15. > :12:20.not what happens in individual constituencies, the important thing
:12:20. > :12:27.is we get this country a referendum. If Mr Cameron wants to damage the
:12:27. > :12:33.party Matt Burke, he can give us a referendum. But you are open to
:12:33. > :12:39.assessing how a serious these Conservative candidates are. We'd
:12:39. > :12:42.talked to some of them? Look, my commitment is to make UKIP a bigger
:12:42. > :12:48.political party than it is today given that everything we stand for
:12:48. > :12:51.it is in the mainstream. You are not answering the question. I think,
:12:51. > :12:55.one or two of these people in the Conservative Party ought to
:12:55. > :12:59.consider whether they are in the right party or not. They are doing
:12:59. > :13:04.their best to put pressure on their leader to change their policy. The
:13:04. > :13:10.best thing they can do is to come and join us. Have you talked to any
:13:10. > :13:15.of them? I am happy to meet people from the Conservative Party or the
:13:15. > :13:20.Labour Party who want the same things we want. You would not
:13:20. > :13:25.really, if you are thinking about the Botha, and the voters who wants
:13:25. > :13:30.to see Britain's relationship with Europe changed, they are hardly
:13:30. > :13:33.going to change UKIP the struggle to win elections, instead of a
:13:34. > :13:37.Euro-sceptic Conservatives. there is a sitting member of
:13:37. > :13:42.parliament for the Tory or Labour Party that openly says they want
:13:42. > :13:46.Britain to lead the European Union and renegotiate a genuine free
:13:46. > :13:52.trade agreement, of course I am open to talking to them. But when
:13:52. > :13:58.it comes to it, that 80 or so Euro- sceptics, I suspect the number that
:13:58. > :14:02.are committed to as leading is rather small. Let's look at UKIP.
:14:02. > :14:05.We have talked before about the party and its performance at local
:14:05. > :14:11.level. It does not have a great standing at local level and perhaps
:14:11. > :14:16.that is why it does not do so well nationally. It is interesting to
:14:16. > :14:20.look at the local elections that took place earlier this year. We
:14:20. > :14:26.stood in an 8th of the seats and got about a third of a million
:14:26. > :14:30.votes, the same pro-rata as we got in the European elections in 2009.
:14:30. > :14:35.More people who vote for us in Euro elections under PR are going out
:14:35. > :14:40.and voted for us under first past the post. It does not get us over
:14:40. > :14:44.the hurdle of first-past-the-post. In Cambridgeshire we have taken
:14:44. > :14:49.control of the council. There are one or two areas where we have put
:14:49. > :14:54.down good roots and we have built on it. We have yet under first past
:14:54. > :14:58.the post to make a breakthrough. When I first became leader in 2006,
:14:58. > :15:05.when people were asked how would they vote in a general election, it
:15:05. > :15:15.was below 1%. A poll two days ago put us at 7%. We are making good,
:15:15. > :15:17.
:15:17. > :15:22.Your message is that the party has disappeared. Are you trying to
:15:22. > :15:30.bring it back by its seeming the political career of Neil Hamilton?
:15:30. > :15:37.For most of the history of UK up we had the Conservative Party in
:15:37. > :15:43.opposition. Just wait until David gets in. He will be a patriotic,
:15:43. > :15:47.Euro-sceptic Prime Minister. He is in. He has proved to be the most
:15:47. > :15:52.pro EU Prime Minister since Edward Heath. People who have put their
:15:52. > :15:55.faith in the Conservative Party and believe the promises of David
:15:55. > :16:02.Cameron, they are now feeling they have been let down like a cheap
:16:02. > :16:06.pair of braces. My argument is, if they believe those things we are a
:16:06. > :16:12.credible alternative for their vote. Bringing Neil Hamilton into the
:16:12. > :16:17.hierarchy of the party, will that really attract more members? Neil
:16:17. > :16:22.Hamilton joined the party in 2004 and has been a supporter ever since.
:16:22. > :16:25.He has decided to throw his hat into the ring and be a candidate
:16:25. > :16:31.for our national executive. If the membership of the party wanted to
:16:31. > :16:37.be part of the management team, he will be, if they do not, he will
:16:37. > :16:41.not. Let's go to the beginning of that interview in terms of
:16:41. > :16:51.relationship with Euro-sceptic Tory MPs. Is there a danger of them
:16:51. > :16:56.
:16:56. > :17:02.standing against Euro-sceptic MPs or not? UKIP is a nutty Party. Way
:17:02. > :17:07.used to talk about little England in a derogatory term, now that
:17:07. > :17:14.feels as if we are away from the contagion of Europe. Europe is not
:17:14. > :17:19.a great place to be at the moment. Most Tories like power - all people
:17:19. > :17:24.like power. They are in government. They are not going to be suicidal
:17:24. > :17:30.about it. There is a taming effect of being in government. Does the
:17:30. > :17:35.party faced a big improvement in political fortunes? Bearing in mind
:17:35. > :17:40.that the issues of Europe are being raised now much more regularly by
:17:41. > :17:45.Tory MPs. The British public have never bought the idea of single
:17:45. > :17:50.issue parties. They might be singing with the tide of Euro-
:17:50. > :17:56.scepticism. It does not always benefit them. It helps them at
:17:56. > :18:01.European elections. Local and national are not the same break
:18:01. > :18:05.through. I think the person now lack credibility. David Cameron
:18:05. > :18:15.said they were a bunch of balloons and fruitcakes. They have a real
:18:15. > :18:16.
:18:16. > :18:18.issue with that. Nigel Farage has been a more successful leader. Now,
:18:18. > :18:21.UKIP are not the only political party, whose faithful are gathering.
:18:21. > :18:24.The Greens assemble in Sheffield this weekend as a party of power
:18:24. > :18:28.after their victory in last May's council elections in Brighton and
:18:28. > :18:33.Hove. Adam Fleming has been back to the south coast to see how the
:18:33. > :18:37.Green Revolution is progressing. Join me on a pedal-powered tour of
:18:37. > :18:47.the first British city that is run by the Green Party. It does not
:18:47. > :18:51.
:18:51. > :18:55.feel very different but the Greens They have saved this stretch of
:18:55. > :18:59.cycle path from being axed. They have plans to put solar panels on
:18:59. > :19:03.to the roots of schools and council houses. They have set up a
:19:03. > :19:09.commission to give low-paid council workers a living wage of at least
:19:09. > :19:17.�7.20 an hour. One policy has been dumped. Meat-free Mondays were
:19:17. > :19:21.piloted in a canteen and they decided it was a load of rubbish.
:19:21. > :19:25.Workers turned up first thing in the morning and found it was a meat
:19:25. > :19:31.free mandate in the canteen. Management gave no indication that
:19:31. > :19:35.was going to happen. There was no notice it was going to happen. It
:19:35. > :19:40.did not go down too well. There could be more back-pedalling. The
:19:40. > :19:46.party does not have a majority. It will have to compromise with Labour
:19:46. > :19:51.and the Tories. As I discovered, the opposition leaders do not find
:19:51. > :19:55.their Greens very appetising. Greens have said they want or
:19:55. > :19:58.developers of new buildings to incorporate rooftop allotments.
:19:58. > :20:03.There are very many people in Brighton and Hove that would like
:20:03. > :20:06.to own at a rave, never mind an allotment. You are going to be a
:20:06. > :20:11.crime that type of thing, wouldn't to be better to squeeze a couple
:20:11. > :20:19.more units of housing out of a developer instead of asking them to
:20:19. > :20:25.provide this type of gimmick? we saw quite early on was one
:20:25. > :20:29.Cabinet member welcoming demonstrations and welcoming a camp
:20:30. > :20:36.right on the main central gardens and saying this was the sort of
:20:36. > :20:40.protest that they welcomed. This protest was about unemployment in
:20:40. > :20:44.Spain. Brighton's business people are much more supportive of the new
:20:44. > :20:50.administration. Some warned may have got their work cut out.
:20:50. > :20:55.big challenges for them are to provide 6000 jobs just to stand
:20:55. > :20:59.still. Our population is growing. It is a young population. I think
:20:59. > :21:03.they will have to provide more affordable homes. They have their
:21:03. > :21:08.own priorities which are really bold. Making this the greenest city
:21:08. > :21:14.in the UK. The a six in the rankings so far. To go to the top
:21:14. > :21:23.will be a challenge. This comes with a price tag. Next it council
:21:23. > :21:28.tax is being put up by 3.5%. Joining us now is Green councillor
:21:28. > :21:36.Jason Kit Kat. On the front of the website it says there is a new
:21:36. > :21:43.party in town. You could end finishing that phrase by saying,
:21:43. > :21:47.they're going to put up taxes up by 3.5% as they are doing in Brighton.
:21:47. > :21:51.We are getting very harsh government imposed cuts. The
:21:51. > :21:56.feedback we got was they understood that choice and they wanted to
:21:56. > :22:00.protect frontline services. We can do our best to meet the challenge
:22:00. > :22:04.and we will do that in an open and inclusive way. When people are
:22:04. > :22:11.struggling in terms of meeting bills and spending, it will not
:22:11. > :22:17.help them, or will it? It is a difficult choice. It is a below
:22:17. > :22:23.inflation rate increase. We are a minority administration. We will
:22:23. > :22:27.need to discuss this with all parties. The advice is do not put
:22:27. > :22:36.up council taxes. The other a green agenda has been resisting all the
:22:36. > :22:41.cuts going. How is that going? wanted to resist cuts in a legally
:22:41. > :22:46.acceptable way. I have been to see local government ministers. I have
:22:46. > :22:50.a meeting Scheduled with Eric Pickles later. We are saying that
:22:50. > :22:56.Brighton and Hove is worse than the national average. We do not think
:22:56. > :23:00.that is fair. Is it fair to have that slogan? I think it is. The
:23:00. > :23:04.other parties do not seem willing to challenge the mainstream
:23:04. > :23:09.perspective that where these cuts are necessary, we do not think they
:23:09. > :23:16.are. One thing that was picked up, and there was little joke about it,
:23:16. > :23:19.meat-free Mondays, was that the really good use of your time?
:23:19. > :23:24.Exploring alternative opportunities in the canteens was part of our
:23:24. > :23:28.manifesto but it is not something we seek to impose. It was done in a
:23:28. > :23:33.small part of the council and it was not successful and we will
:23:33. > :23:37.focus on other policies like introducing a living wage for
:23:37. > :23:44.lower-paid council staff. We have positive things to spend our time
:23:44. > :23:47.on. To go back to your original plea, trying to attract Liberal
:23:47. > :23:57.Democrats. However sac going? The proof is in the pudding. It does
:23:57. > :23:59.
:23:59. > :24:06.not seem to have happened. We have had a surge in membership. As you
:24:06. > :24:14.know, our support is geographically not very smooth. We have hot spots
:24:14. > :24:18.in certain areas was dog and London we have had a high profile. We are
:24:18. > :24:24.getting defections. It will be a slow process in a first-past-the-
:24:24. > :24:28.post world. Are you expecting had to be improved numbers? We hope so.
:24:28. > :24:34.We believe that Brighton and Hove is the first green run council and
:24:34. > :24:39.it is a sign of greater things to come. Time now to see what else has
:24:39. > :24:44.been going on in our round-up of the political week. After a sum up
:24:44. > :24:49.where nothing very much happened at all, MPs returned to Westminster
:24:50. > :24:55.this week to see a man in a bow-tie saying that plan A is not going
:24:55. > :24:59.entirely to plan. The leader of the opposition did not want to ask the
:24:59. > :25:05.Prime Minister about it. If isn't it interesting that he does not
:25:05. > :25:10.dare mention the economy? Did have something to do the memoirs of a
:25:10. > :25:14.former Chancellor? Former News International employees were doing
:25:14. > :25:18.their best to dish the dirt on James Murdoch. Conservative
:25:18. > :25:22.backbenchers have returned with a backbone, giving David Cameron a
:25:22. > :25:27.kicking over Europe. Will he listen to Conservative colleagues and take
:25:27. > :25:32.that opportunity to hold a referendum on Europe? Tory MPs
:25:32. > :25:38.wanted to know that he was showing Nick Clegg who was boss.
:25:38. > :25:48.honourable lady is frustrated about... Maybe I should start all
:25:48. > :25:49.
:25:49. > :25:55.over again. Sarah Sands, was that sensible question but did it sound
:25:55. > :26:00.patronising? A little bit and chivalrous. Both he and George
:26:00. > :26:08.Osborne have to watch that a bit. They can be smirking schoolboys.
:26:08. > :26:17.She can be a difficult woman. It was a serious point she was making.
:26:17. > :26:24.I would have thought better not. It was a mistake of tone. It got him
:26:24. > :26:28.out of quite an awkward corner at the time. It was quite funny.
:26:28. > :26:35.has been coming after him. She had a go at him for bottling it and
:26:35. > :26:39.switching his position. She claimed that Evan Harris was holding the
:26:39. > :26:43.Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister hostage. No longer the
:26:43. > :26:47.Liberal Democrat MP he seems to have more power and influence as a
:26:48. > :26:54.back bench Liberal Democrat. They are not quite as powerful, or are
:26:54. > :27:00.they? They do seem to be bringing out, particularly some Conservative
:27:00. > :27:05.backbenchers, using this, as they see it, they are not sticking to
:27:05. > :27:12.the Government line, is it an opportunity to put pressure on?
:27:12. > :27:17.see this in offices as well. The troublemakers are ones that get
:27:17. > :27:25.more attention and more concessions. It is quite tempting. You used to
:27:25. > :27:30.be beaten up metaphorically by the whips. Let's not forget, the start
:27:30. > :27:35.of this parliament, has been a backbencher. That is Tom Watson. He
:27:35. > :27:38.will get a hero's welcome in Liverpool later this month. It is
:27:38. > :27:43.interesting to see, if we are seeing a revival of awkward
:27:43. > :27:47.backbenchers and awkward Select committees, that can only be a good
:27:47. > :27:54.thing. Has David Cameron got something to fear? If he handles it
:27:54. > :27:59.well, you never know how much he is giving people rope. He has a good
:27:59. > :28:05.sort of balance. He is very riskless. I would always back him
:28:05. > :28:09.on that. He does not seem to be frightening off the backbenchers.
:28:09. > :28:14.There are 80 in the Euro-sceptic group. Are we really going to go
:28:14. > :28:20.full circle and find ourselves again the Tory Party torn over
:28:20. > :28:25.Europe? Let see what happens at the party conferences. All that
:28:25. > :28:31.excitement to look forward to. That is all for this week. Andrew will