:00:25. > :00:27.Afternoon, folks. Welcome to the Daily Politics on Friday. Greek
:00:27. > :00:32.tragedy descends into farce with profound implications for the
:00:32. > :00:34.future of the eurozone and the world economy. As Prime Minister
:00:34. > :00:41.Papandreou faces yet another vote of confidence, EU leaders and the
:00:41. > :00:45.Treasury think the unthinkable - Greek departure from the euro. Can
:00:45. > :00:50.it be avoided, should it be avoided and what would it mean for the rest
:00:50. > :00:53.of us? As G20 leaders scratch their heads and wonder what to do, we'll
:00:53. > :00:58.have the latest from Athens, the City of London and one of the most
:00:58. > :01:04.powerful British members of the European Parliament. And remember
:01:04. > :01:06.this? Was the ban on fox hunting really worth the fight? We talk to
:01:06. > :01:10.the man who pushed the controversial legislation through
:01:10. > :01:20.Parliament and a Tory MP who wants David Cameron to keep his promise
:01:20. > :01:20.
:01:20. > :01:30.And with me in the studio is Bronwen Maddox, editor of Prospect
:01:30. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :01:42.magazine, and the Mirror's Prospect is for intellectuals and
:01:42. > :01:45.So George Papandreou is still the Greek Prime Minster but for how
:01:45. > :01:48.long is anybody's guess. This time yesterday we reported that he was
:01:48. > :01:51.on his way to the President to offer his resignation. We even
:01:51. > :01:54.named a likely successor. But those reports turned out to be wrong.
:01:54. > :01:57.He's still there. Though for how long is another matter. Until
:01:57. > :02:00.yesterday afternoon we thought he wanted to hold a referendum - but
:02:00. > :02:03.it turns out he doesn't. And yesterday there was talk of a
:02:03. > :02:10.government of national unity. But there isn't one. Confused? Join the
:02:10. > :02:14.club. So where now for this Greek tragedy? Yesterday, and forgive us
:02:14. > :02:18.for the togas but we had to do it eventually, the key players were
:02:18. > :02:21.working frantically to find a way out of the mess. Mr Papandreou
:02:21. > :02:25.offered to abandon the now infamous referendum and instead proposed a
:02:25. > :02:28.coalition government. The markets rallied on the news but his offer
:02:28. > :02:33.was rejected by the leader of the Greek opposition who called on him
:02:33. > :02:39.to resign. So far he's staying put - no referendum vote. But he faces
:02:39. > :02:43.a vote of no confidence in the Greek Parliament tonight. Meanwhile,
:02:43. > :02:45.in Cannes, the G20 leaders are left like spectators at the feast. Jose
:02:45. > :02:48.Barroso, who's President of the European Commission, has admitted
:02:48. > :02:53.that there is a possibility Greece could leave the euro and that
:02:53. > :02:55.preparations are being made if that happens. Last night, as fears
:02:55. > :03:02.increased that Italy could be the next country to implode, key
:03:02. > :03:05.European leaders and President Obama met to discuss the crisis.
:03:05. > :03:08.One possibility gaining ground is a proposal to increase the firepower
:03:08. > :03:18.of the International Monetary Fund, something that would see Britain's
:03:18. > :03:19.
:03:19. > :03:22.liability in the fund increase. Indeed, beefing up the IMF looks
:03:22. > :03:24.like being the fig leaf G20 leaders will don before leaving Cannes.
:03:24. > :03:30.Speaking this morning George Osborne, the Chancellor, said that
:03:30. > :03:35.was something the British Government was pushing for. I think
:03:35. > :03:38.we've got a day apart negotiating ahead of us here in Cannes. The
:03:38. > :03:41.eurozone have to face up to their responsibilities and have to stand
:03:41. > :03:44.behind their own currency. No one else can do that for them,
:03:45. > :03:50.including Britain. Then the rest of the world, which includes Britain
:03:50. > :03:54.but also China and Japan and the like, have to make sure that the
:03:54. > :04:02.international economic system that is stable and well funded. And that
:04:02. > :04:06.includes the IMF. That was George Osborne. The eurozone doesn't
:04:06. > :04:10.really seem to know what it's doing. Can you imagine a bigger mess?
:04:10. > :04:16.can. So far, this is what muddling through looks like. We haven't got
:04:16. > :04:23.a complete disaster. Just disaster. Just disaster. There needs to be
:04:23. > :04:28.degrees of disaster. That sounds like a good joke but distinguishing
:04:28. > :04:33.between the euro falling completely apart, Greece in a very disorderly
:04:33. > :04:36.way, not paying any of its debts. That may still happen. Yes, but
:04:36. > :04:44.that's different from what we've got now, which is a test of whether
:04:44. > :04:47.the Greek government can hold itself together. Be set up to a
:04:47. > :04:52.shambles -- it's an utter shambles. There's no guarantee it could get
:04:52. > :04:55.better, it could get worse. Trying to second-guess what the Greek
:04:55. > :04:58.political a leader to wing is impossible because they don't even
:04:58. > :05:01.know themselves. We don't know what's happening to the euro, the
:05:01. > :05:06.impact on Britain, we don't know what's happening on the world
:05:06. > :05:10.economy. One thing is certain, the eurosceptics on the Conservative
:05:10. > :05:15.benches have already clocked that Britain, David Cameron, George
:05:15. > :05:18.Osborne giving money to the IMF, rather than the European financial
:05:18. > :05:22.stability fund. He is just using the middleman to possibly bail-out
:05:22. > :05:28.the euro. The it's not just the Tory eurosceptics. Labour is not
:05:28. > :05:32.keen on this either. They've stayed at arm's length from this. Ed Balls,
:05:32. > :05:34.the shadow chancellor, has already said he thinks it should be the
:05:34. > :05:38.European Central Bank which effectively is supposed to police
:05:39. > :05:43.the euro, that should be putting forward the money and not the IMF.
:05:44. > :05:47.No, he has said things which are very similar, not a world away from
:05:47. > :05:50.George Osborne, of Britain needs to support the IMF, but being careful
:05:50. > :05:54.about what commitments the IMF should make to Europe. I don't
:05:54. > :05:59.think it does a lot of good to sit there and say it is all a shambles.
:05:59. > :06:07.It could be worse. Anything could be worse. They could be a military
:06:07. > :06:12.coup in Greece. It could be worse. Yes, but we haven't yet got a Greek
:06:12. > :06:16.default. We haven't yet got a complete abandonment of the attempt
:06:16. > :06:21.to patch it up. In Greece, they look at Argentina and what happened
:06:21. > :06:25.to it when it defaulted, they are beginning to wonder if the best way
:06:25. > :06:29.is to default now. If it only happened in Greece, that's fine.
:06:29. > :06:39.But the contagion could spread across the entire eurozone. That is
:06:39. > :06:46.the big point. Let's get the latest on the crisis in Athens from our
:06:46. > :06:52.correspondent Mark Lowen. Let me ask you a couple of scenarios. If
:06:52. > :06:55.Mr Papandreou loses the vote tonight, what then happens? Then
:06:55. > :07:00.the government would collapse, Mr Papandreou would be forced to call
:07:00. > :07:04.early elections. That is a strong possibility still because, as you
:07:04. > :07:09.say, it is on a knife-edge. George Papandreou at the moment has a
:07:09. > :07:13.parliamentary majority of just two. Yesterday, we had three of his MPs
:07:13. > :07:16.threatening to vote against him in the vote of confidence, mainly
:07:16. > :07:19.because of one reason. Because he called a referendum earlier in the
:07:19. > :07:23.week on the latest debt deal for Greece negotiated in Brussels last
:07:23. > :07:27.week. But within the last hour, the finance minister here as officially
:07:27. > :07:31.said that he has spoken to his European colleagues to inform them
:07:31. > :07:35.that the referendum has been scrapped. That will reassure these
:07:35. > :07:39.three rebel MPs, it will probably persuade them to vote with George
:07:39. > :07:43.Papandreou. One of them has told me she will vote but George Papandreou,
:07:43. > :07:49.so he could still come through this by the skin of his teeth. If he
:07:49. > :07:54.does, does he then proceed, does he go back to plan B and Desi attempt
:07:54. > :08:01.to implement all the reforms and cuts that have to follow from the
:08:01. > :08:06.bail-out of the Greek economy agreed on 27th October? What we
:08:06. > :08:10.think would happen is this. That George Papandreou would get through
:08:10. > :08:13.the confidence motion and would then, there are indications that he
:08:13. > :08:18.may then tried to initiate proceedings to form a national
:08:18. > :08:23.unity government involving his party, PASOK, and the main
:08:23. > :08:26.opposition New democracy party. The opposite party say they want Mr
:08:26. > :08:31.Papandreou to resign, they don't want him to be leader. They want
:08:31. > :08:34.fresh elections. Presumably, any unity government would not have
:08:34. > :08:38.George Papandreou at the helm. If another leader took over, there
:08:38. > :08:41.would then be an attempt to vote through the bail-out deal agreed in
:08:41. > :08:45.Brussels last week to implement the measures. That would be a caretaker
:08:45. > :08:48.government until fresh elections were called. The big question now
:08:48. > :08:52.was whether that caretaker government could steady the ship,
:08:52. > :08:55.could prevent even more political instability year and could allow
:08:56. > :08:59.Greece to ride through this storm and then received perhaps the next
:08:59. > :09:03.instalment of its bail-out, 8 billion euros this country would
:09:03. > :09:11.need by mid- December in order to avoid bankruptcy, and then continue
:09:11. > :09:21.to try to ride out the financial Thank you very much. We are joined
:09:21. > :09:23.
:09:23. > :09:27.Quite a lot of ground to cover here. Let me put this to you. Even if the
:09:27. > :09:31.Greek bail-out now goes ahead, even if the government in Athens
:09:31. > :09:35.attempts to implement it, I suggest to you it won't work. Yes, I agree.
:09:35. > :09:39.I don't think it's going to work. That is why the situation is so bad.
:09:39. > :09:43.Even if what was agreed in the so- called magnificent bail-out deal
:09:43. > :09:47.last week by the EU, even if that is agreed it would work, it's not
:09:47. > :09:50.enough. That's because the amount of debt that will be written off
:09:50. > :09:54.for Greece is just not enough, they would still have far too much debt.
:09:54. > :09:58.This would only therefore delay the crisis a bit. Secondly, because the
:09:58. > :10:03.other linchpin of this bail-out plan, the bail-out fund, I think
:10:03. > :10:06.that has run into a lot of trouble. It was meant to tap the Chinese to
:10:06. > :10:10.increase its capacity, that doesn't seem to be working. I don't think
:10:10. > :10:14.that the situation looks very good. At the same time, you have mounting
:10:14. > :10:18.fears for Italy that are getting worse by the day. Let me come to
:10:18. > :10:23.you on Italy. It is a much more serious problem and a much bigger
:10:23. > :10:27.problem. Italian yields are now over 6%. At one stage this week
:10:27. > :10:32.they were heading to 6.5 % because of fears of the Italian sovereign
:10:32. > :10:35.debt situation. If they had 7% of his game over, is it not? If they
:10:36. > :10:39.hit back and stay there for a few days it is probably going to cause
:10:39. > :10:42.a really big crisis because of the structure of the financial system,
:10:43. > :10:46.the fact that the exchange on which these bonds are effectively traded
:10:46. > :10:50.would require more collateral on. These technical reasons would mean
:10:50. > :10:54.it would precipitate quite a bad crisis. I really think that the
:10:54. > :10:57.eurozone has to try and maintain this crisis in Greece. That is the
:10:57. > :11:00.reason why I think there's been such a big psychological shift.
:11:00. > :11:04.They are starting to realise it may be too late for Greece, regardless
:11:04. > :11:07.of what happens tonight and tomorrow. It may be too late to
:11:07. > :11:11.save Greece and keep Greece within the euro. Therefore, the only
:11:11. > :11:15.chance of trying to avoid a much greater problem, a problem that
:11:15. > :11:18.could engulf the whole of the global economy, is to cut graceless
:11:18. > :11:22.and try and do something about Italy and Spain. The problem is
:11:22. > :11:25.they don't really have a plan to stop the rot from spreading. We've
:11:25. > :11:29.seen the business about the IMF been called in to start looking at
:11:29. > :11:34.what's going on in Italy. That is not enough forced a new mentioned
:11:34. > :11:39.the IMF, let me bring you to my third proposition. It looks like
:11:39. > :11:43.the IMF is now becoming everybody's get out of jail card, it's what the
:11:43. > :11:48.G20 will probably concentrate on in their communique today. At my
:11:48. > :11:53.proposition to you is, is -- it is not the 5th Cavalry. It's not. What
:11:53. > :11:57.is even more frustrating about this is a week ago the big get out of
:11:57. > :12:00.jail card was this bail-out fund. Now that the IMF it. I'm pretty
:12:00. > :12:04.sure that in a few weeks' time it is going to be the European Central
:12:05. > :12:08.Bank again. The pressure will be bound to -- mountain on them again
:12:08. > :12:11.to become the lender of last resort for these countries and start
:12:11. > :12:14.printing money. The problem is they made it very clear yesterday they
:12:14. > :12:18.don't want to do that, and the Germans are adamant this must not
:12:18. > :12:22.happen. So I don't see a way out at the moment given the current
:12:22. > :12:26.structures. It's easy to say, we are going to get the IMF involved
:12:26. > :12:29.and all of our problems will go away. But we can see from the
:12:29. > :12:33.history of the IMF that it doesn't really work that way. Does
:12:33. > :12:36.denouncing you are increasing the firepower of the IMF, that doesn't
:12:36. > :12:41.achieve anything. We've seen this time and time again over the last
:12:41. > :12:45.few years. Grand announcements at G20 meetings and so one about the
:12:45. > :12:55.so-called massive bail-out funds and firepower. In reality, it never
:12:55. > :12:55.
:12:55. > :12:58.really resolve the crisis, it just delays it. And we're joined by
:12:58. > :13:03.Sharon Bowles, Liberal Democrat MEP and Chair of the European
:13:03. > :13:07.Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Going back to
:13:07. > :13:12.Greece, you told us in July that Greece leaving the euro would be
:13:12. > :13:15.bad for everybody. Do you still believe that? I think if Greece
:13:15. > :13:20.leaves the euro and the EU, then the fall-out of that and the
:13:20. > :13:25.contagion could still be very bad indeed. Unfortunately, since July
:13:25. > :13:30.we have had on going rumbling contagion and some of the things
:13:30. > :13:34.that men were unthinkable on now becoming more -- more thinkable,
:13:34. > :13:39.partly as a consequence of action not being definitive enough forced
:13:39. > :13:43.to has it become the case for both the the German Chancellor and the
:13:43. > :13:48.French President in particular, that have increased leaving in a
:13:48. > :13:52.messy way would be bad. Greece staying in is bad. We are in a very
:13:52. > :13:57.difficult position. They are both bad. We are between a rock and a
:13:57. > :14:03.hard place. It is quite difficult to workout which is the optimal.
:14:03. > :14:07.You could have cut Greece lose ages ago, one thinks about it now and in
:14:07. > :14:12.retrospect maybe that would have looked better. But there is a great
:14:12. > :14:17.concern that if Greece believes the euro that the markets would just
:14:17. > :14:22.think, OK, now we will hand on to the next one. Any kind of measure
:14:22. > :14:25.like that would have to be accompanied by something that was
:14:25. > :14:29.the action will binding close-up of the rest. But what we are seeing
:14:29. > :14:33.here is a failure of European leadership. It's not just that
:14:33. > :14:37.Greece was a problem. The 27th October deal was beginning to
:14:37. > :14:41.unravel before the ink had dried. The bond markets have already
:14:41. > :14:47.started to put up the price of Italian yields before Mr Papandreou
:14:47. > :14:53.had a rush of blood to his head. If the Europeans came up with a shock
:14:53. > :14:58.and all bail-out fund, a crew euro fund that would be big enough to
:14:58. > :15:03.protect the countries that are in liquid - Spain and Italy - as
:15:03. > :15:08.opposed to the countries that are just insolvent, i e bankrupt,
:15:08. > :15:11.Greece. I largely agree with you. If you look at my past quotes, you
:15:11. > :15:15.will discover I was there with two trillion at the beginning of the
:15:15. > :15:18.year. Why can't they come up with that? I think if they come up with
:15:18. > :15:21.something like that at the beginning of the year it would have
:15:21. > :15:24.been easier. The problem now up trying to come up with two trillion
:15:24. > :15:27.is it would potentially undermine the creditworthiness of the
:15:28. > :15:32.guaranteeing countries, even France would be at risk. Realistically,
:15:32. > :15:36.they couldn't go beyond what they've already put in without
:15:36. > :15:41.there being a mechanism to do it, such as these leverage or guarantee
:15:41. > :15:45.schemes. But they are a little bit fancy and they didn't bring out the
:15:45. > :15:53.detail at the same time as the announcement. We are still waiting
:15:53. > :15:57.Is it sustainable for Europe to continue the way it does when quite
:15:57. > :16:02.clearly behind the scenes you've had the leaders of France and
:16:02. > :16:06.Germany interfering directly in Greek domestic policies? They have
:16:06. > :16:16.clearly been at the Finance Minister. They've been speaking to
:16:16. > :16:16.
:16:16. > :16:18.the opposition. They have been behaving with powers. Some of the
:16:18. > :16:22.things with Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy behind the scenes
:16:22. > :16:25.that we don't like that much, and many of the eurozone member states
:16:25. > :16:31.don't like it very much, when they don't know what's going on either.
:16:31. > :16:34.However, I do agree that you had to put some pressure on to the Greek
:16:34. > :16:38.political parties. If you look at Spain and Portugal, even though
:16:38. > :16:42.they were having elections, their political parties got their act
:16:42. > :16:47.together and worked together for stability. In Greece they weren't.
:16:47. > :16:54.They were always... Sure. But you were part of this project. You were
:16:54. > :16:59.the one that wanted the eurozone to be created, and wanted us to join
:16:59. > :17:03.it. You are part of the club class Europe while the Greeks are wall on
:17:03. > :17:09.the ground in austerity. I don't think that's the argument of the
:17:09. > :17:14.moment. Give us an apology. Just a small one. I said I made the
:17:14. > :17:20.mistake of not recognising how our financial market legislation would
:17:20. > :17:24.undermine the fact that we should have had a bond market that
:17:24. > :17:27.exercised discipline. Whilst you have zero risk waiting on sovereign
:17:28. > :17:31.debt you don't get it. You were warned about that at the time but
:17:32. > :17:35.we were told it wasn't an issue. It seems to me the struggle here is
:17:35. > :17:40.that, even if Greece proceeds this, problem doesn't go away. The Greek
:17:40. > :17:45.economy is now 15% smaller than it was three years ago. They are now
:17:45. > :17:50.asked to take even more austerity. This will just rumble on and it's
:17:51. > :17:55.the single biggest depressant on the growth of this economy and
:17:55. > :18:01.other economies around the developed world. If it really gets
:18:01. > :18:04.serious about Greece leaving the euro, commercial life stop there is,
:18:04. > :18:08.because because people can't work out what stock they are dealing in
:18:08. > :18:12.and what it might be worth. point is, there is no resolution of
:18:12. > :18:17.this, even if the bail-out fund comes back on to the scene. It just
:18:17. > :18:20.rumbles on and continues to depress any chance of getting growth into
:18:20. > :18:24.the economy. Italy has to be the point. This is the economic flaw on
:18:24. > :18:30.the your open. I was always attracted by the political concept
:18:30. > :18:33.but believed wait and see, prepare and decide, because you haven't got
:18:33. > :18:37.labour markets Mobility around Europe. You can't move from one
:18:38. > :18:44.country to another to get a job without the language skills. You
:18:44. > :18:48.don't get a transfer big enough that you would in Britain if that
:18:48. > :18:52.country goes down the plan. Maybe Greece would be better in the
:18:52. > :18:55.medium and long term with a default, with their own currency that can
:18:55. > :18:59.fluctuate, because they are now locked into a currency that's
:18:59. > :19:03.making them massively uneconomic. final question to you. The European
:19:03. > :19:07.Union hasn't been able to do it, the eurozone hasn't been able to do
:19:07. > :19:12.it, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy haven't been able to do it.
:19:12. > :19:16.Did you really think the IMF is your saviour here? I think the IMF
:19:16. > :19:26.can play a useful part in this early intervention. I've always
:19:26. > :19:27.
:19:27. > :19:36.been one of those that believed that the ECB has to be the eminence
:19:36. > :19:39.grise at the end of the day. Where there is a will there is a way.
:19:39. > :19:45.Thank you. As I'm sure you know, this week is
:19:45. > :19:55.the first of the hunting season. Obviously I know, that because it
:19:55. > :19:59.
:19:59. > :20:02.! Tally-ho! I hear you cry. And no wonder, because six years on from
:20:03. > :20:06.the ban on hunting with hounds, the practice is alive and well. But are
:20:06. > :20:15.the foxes? And if not, was it worth it? Adam Fleming caught up with the
:20:15. > :20:24.man behind the ban. In 2001 Alun Michael was phoned by Tony Blair
:20:24. > :20:29.with the job offer of Rural Affairs Minister, and the job of banning
:20:29. > :20:34.fox-hunting. I said I take it you want me the get the legislation
:20:34. > :20:39.through quickly. He hesitated and said that wasn't quite what I had
:20:39. > :20:42.in mind. I thought you could search for a compromise. I was taken
:20:42. > :20:45.abarks because opinions had become so embedded on both sides of the
:20:45. > :20:49.issue, nobody had been allowed to be neutral, there was such a
:20:49. > :20:54.passion. Passionate is one word you could
:20:54. > :20:57.use to describe the argument that followed. Culminating in this
:20:57. > :20:59.protest outside Parliament by the Countryside Alliance, who claimed
:20:59. > :21:05.the Government was attacking individual liberty and beating up
:21:05. > :21:07.on the rural economy. It was very nasty. There was some very violent
:21:07. > :21:11.people involved in the demonstration. I think the main
:21:11. > :21:14.problem was that the Metropolitan Police had been given to believe
:21:14. > :21:18.that these were nice people who were coming up just to exercise
:21:18. > :21:25.their democratic rights without using violence. And on the day that
:21:25. > :21:30.wasn't the case. Inside, just as much drama. Five protesters broke
:21:30. > :21:37.into the chamber, the first non- parliamentarians since the days of
:21:37. > :21:40.Charles I. It happened as hall lan Michael debated with his shadow.
:21:41. > :21:47.James Grey was just about to let them through into the open space.
:21:47. > :21:53.They seemed at a loss as to what to do with it. One stood in front of
:21:53. > :21:58.me and said, "You, hunting, pension, it's all gone wrong." Sorry, could
:21:58. > :22:03.you say that again? Also gone was the proposal for a tribunal to
:22:03. > :22:06.licence individual hunts, replaced with an outright ban. The Bill
:22:06. > :22:11.ping-ponged fruitlessly between the Commons and the Lords until the
:22:11. > :22:14.then speaker forced it through using the Parliament Act. THE
:22:14. > :22:21.SPEAKER: Very to tell the House that I have certified the Hunting
:22:21. > :22:27.Bill under section 2 of the Parliament Act 1911. So from
:22:27. > :22:36.February 2005 the hounds have chased fake trails laid by hands.
:22:36. > :22:40.Some say it is a law often breached. I think over a longer time than my
:22:40. > :22:44.original tribunal the legislation will have its way and this will be
:22:44. > :22:50.something consigned to the darker days of our history. I'm not sure
:22:50. > :22:53.his old boss Tony Blair would toast that. In his memoirs he says he
:22:53. > :22:57.would have had less trouble if he had proposed euthanasia of
:22:57. > :23:00.pensioners. Joining us now from Carmarthen is
:23:00. > :23:08.the Conservative MP, Simon Hart, who used to be the chief executive
:23:08. > :23:14.of the Countryside Alliance during the fox-hunting wars. Is it fair to
:23:14. > :23:19.say that the hunts still continue? And that the foxes sometimes still
:23:19. > :23:22.get caught? Since those days I think there've been 100,000 days'
:23:22. > :23:25.hunting and it is all pretty confusing. Thing package
:23:25. > :23:29.highlighted that. I think everybody's attempting to remain
:23:29. > :23:35.within the law, confusing though it is. Sure enough, I don't think it
:23:35. > :23:38.always works as well as it should. Is everyone attempting to stay
:23:38. > :23:42.within the law? I think they are doing their best in the
:23:42. > :23:47.circumstances but it's not easy. The police say it is very hard to
:23:47. > :23:52.get evidence to prosecute. The dogs do pick up the scent. It is hard
:23:52. > :24:00.then to stop them. It is pretty hard to know whether people really
:24:00. > :24:05.are abiding by the law or are just getting round it? I don't think it
:24:05. > :24:09.is just the police. The judiciary and the public are saying that it
:24:09. > :24:15.is complicated and the people doing the hunting. It is a unique law in
:24:15. > :24:20.that it has managed to upset and disappoint everybody who is
:24:20. > :24:25.involved, whichever side of the ooct. David Cameron offered a free
:24:25. > :24:30.vote to restore funding. I think it was a part of the Tory election
:24:30. > :24:36.appeal. Do you think, do you feel let down he hasn't done that?
:24:36. > :24:42.Should he do it? It is part of the coalition manifesto, and the
:24:42. > :24:44.coalition... Why hasn't he done it? We've only been in office 16 months.
:24:44. > :24:48.Everybody realises there are slightly more pressing concerns at
:24:48. > :24:52.the moment. This is not exactly something that would be top of the
:24:52. > :24:59.list of priorities. The PM has been clear, lit happen in the lifetime
:24:59. > :25:02.of this Parliament, I have no doubt. This is not a satisfactory
:25:02. > :25:09.situation for anybody, so let's sort it out, this time once and for
:25:09. > :25:13.all. Do we need to go back on this and have another vote? There this
:25:13. > :25:18.is an argument for tighten up the law. I remember him predicting the
:25:18. > :25:24.end of rural life as we know it. That hasn't happened. How did you
:25:24. > :25:30.know? When were you last in the country? I go there all the time.
:25:30. > :25:37.You fly over it! I don't own any. Does David Cameron really want to
:25:37. > :25:42.spend time on having MPs vote on setting dogs on deer and hares?
:25:42. > :25:49.you have a vote on this? It is not pressing, but I'm a liberal on
:25:49. > :25:55.these things. You have to set the bar high. I don't like fox-hunting
:25:55. > :25:59.but I didn't like the legislation. It was a shambles. Let me go back
:25:59. > :26:03.to our MP here. If you had a vote in the House on this you would
:26:03. > :26:08.almost certainly lose it wouldn't you? I think there would be a small
:26:08. > :26:13.majority. It is tight. The numbers are in the too bad. There are fewer
:26:13. > :26:17.Conservatives who are against hunting than there were back then.
:26:17. > :26:24.This is nothing to do with your outgoing Defence Secretary? He was
:26:24. > :26:28.a bit of a blue fox. There are fewer now than there were in 1993.
:26:28. > :26:33.Fewer foxes or MPs? Fewer Conservative MPs against hunting.
:26:33. > :26:38.The argument is no longer really about the individual practice but
:26:38. > :26:42.whether this is good law, whether it is appropriate, whether it works.
:26:42. > :26:46.The coalition agreement says it, the Prime Minister says it,
:26:46. > :26:51.everybody realises we are in a really unsatisfactory state of
:26:51. > :26:59.affairs. Let's sort it out. Are you off fox-hunting this weekend?
:26:59. > :27:05.I can't get time off from the whips. I didn't know they controlled your
:27:05. > :27:10.weekend, but at least it will be a good weekend for the foxes.
:27:10. > :27:14.Coming out of Cannes it looks like there is no real agreement on what
:27:14. > :27:18.size the new IMF fund should be. They haven't been able to agree on
:27:18. > :27:21.the scale of the increase. Time now to look back over the week
:27:21. > :27:31.gone by. There's been a lot of Europe. This is the week in 60
:27:31. > :27:34.
:27:34. > :27:39.It was all eyons Europe as Greek PM George Papandreou caused financial
:27:39. > :27:43.shock waves on Monday with his plan for a referendum on the eurozone
:27:43. > :27:48.bail-out. The chaos in Athens dominated G20 discussions in Cannes,
:27:48. > :27:52.as France and Germany gave the Greeks a stark option, take it or
:27:52. > :27:57.leave the euro. No wonder Mr Papandreou dropped his referendum
:27:57. > :28:01.plan. Back at home, GDP figures were slightly better than.Ed. David
:28:01. > :28:08.Cameron promised tough action on councils that fail to place
:28:08. > :28:12.children for adoption quickly enough. The current situation isn't
:28:12. > :28:16.working Work. And the protest outside St Paul's continued this
:28:16. > :28:21.week. The Dean became the second clear Tokyo leave.
:28:22. > :28:27.The offer over public sector pensions wasn't enough to convince