:00:28. > :00:32.Afternoon, folks. Welcome to the Daily Politics on Friday. Is Europe
:00:32. > :00:35.facing "Armageddon"? Or at the very least a Lost Decade? There are
:00:35. > :00:38.fears the crisis in Europe could tip the whole world back into
:00:38. > :00:41.recession. President Obama appealed directly
:00:41. > :00:51.to European leaders last night to take drastic action to avert global
:00:51. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:54.In the face of the euro crisis, can Britain avoid another downturn? As
:00:55. > :01:00.the Chancellor prepares his autumn statement there is a fierce battle
:01:00. > :01:03.raging across Government about how to save the economy.
:01:03. > :01:06.As Theresa May fights for her political survival in a row about
:01:06. > :01:16.Britain's borders, we ask a former Home Secretary if the Home Office
:01:16. > :01:18.
:01:18. > :01:24.All that coming in the next 30 minutes of public service
:01:24. > :01:27.broadcasting at its finest. With me today, no expense spared. Mehdi
:01:27. > :01:31.Hasan from the New Statesman and Rachel Sylvester from the Times.
:01:31. > :01:37.Welcome to you both. As we come on air the Greeks are due to swear in
:01:37. > :01:41.their new Prime Minister. His name is Lucas Papademos. We
:01:41. > :01:45.reported he would be the new Prime Minister of Greece a week ago, and
:01:45. > :01:50.we were wrong and then, but we are right now. We might be wrong again
:01:50. > :01:53.He's a former vice-president of the European Central Bank. The Italians
:01:53. > :02:00.are also likely to appoint a so- called technocrats government led
:02:00. > :02:04.by the former EU commissioner Mario Monti. You Macie a bit of a pattern
:02:04. > :02:08.here, a former central bank European governor coming in, into
:02:08. > :02:11.Athens and Rome to replace democratically-elected politicians.
:02:11. > :02:14.The Italian senate is voting later on austerity measures designed to
:02:14. > :02:20.avoid a bailout. But will these technocrats be able to save the
:02:20. > :02:23.euro and prevent economic disaster? Can they prevent economic disaster
:02:23. > :02:29.and carry their people with them? There is now increasing anxiety
:02:29. > :02:33.that across the pond but the Eurozone's inability to sort itself
:02:33. > :02:38.but could drag America into recession again. The US Treasury
:02:39. > :02:43.Secretary said this morning that Europe must move quickly to resolve
:02:43. > :02:48.the crisis. Maybe you should not hold his breath. Nick Clegg said
:02:48. > :02:55.this morning time was running out. The situation is clearly very
:02:55. > :02:59.serious. The clock is ticking. We don't have much more time to wait.
:02:59. > :03:05.We need a solution, eight decisive solution and the Eurozone, not just
:03:05. > :03:09.for euro-zone itself for all UK, but for the world economy. That is
:03:09. > :03:17.why with each passing day the urgency for a clear, decisive
:03:17. > :03:26.solution becomes ever more pressing. We're joined now by the editor of
:03:26. > :03:31.City AM, Allister Heath. Even if nothing dramatic happens, are we in
:03:31. > :03:36.much doubt that the Eurozone and probably Britain as well I heading
:03:36. > :03:41.back into recession next year? afraid that's very likely. The
:03:41. > :03:45.Eurozone is already in recession and the UK economy may be
:03:45. > :03:48.contracting as a re- -- direct result of that. The problem is, if
:03:48. > :03:51.you're a business in Britain, you don't want to invest or hire people
:03:51. > :03:55.because you do not know how bad the situation is going to get. There is
:03:55. > :03:58.a huge amount of uncertainty out there. A couple of technocratic
:03:58. > :04:02.leaders in a couple of European countries is not going to be enough
:04:02. > :04:07.to resolve this because the challenges of our massive and the
:04:07. > :04:10.threat is spreading from one country to the next. It is all very
:04:10. > :04:13.well for the Americans to say something must be done but what
:04:13. > :04:16.needs to be done is extremely complicated and nobody agrees on
:04:17. > :04:21.what has to be done and it involves a whole bunch of governments doing
:04:21. > :04:29.slightly different things, not just someone at the centre pulling a
:04:29. > :04:34.lever. It seems Greece is a sideshow and all eyes are on Italy.
:04:34. > :04:39.France is now coming up on the rails as well. Are the only two
:04:39. > :04:43.people mattering in this at the moment Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela
:04:43. > :04:47.Merkel? Do we have any idea what they propose to do if, for example,
:04:47. > :04:55.French bonds, under pressure or the Italians are simply unable to get
:04:55. > :05:00.rid of their debt. That is the big question. Will they announce some
:05:00. > :05:07.sort of course I merger to make the countries closer together very
:05:07. > :05:11.quickly. Forget the fringe countries and go for the integrated
:05:11. > :05:13.fiscally a politically integrated countries to try and save the last
:05:13. > :05:18.60 years of European integration. Those are the kind of questions
:05:18. > :05:25.they must be asking each other. French bonds have already started
:05:25. > :05:31.to go up and they have to pay almost twice as much as the Germans
:05:31. > :05:35.to borrow, which is very significant. The cost in which
:05:35. > :05:39.Spain can borrow has been creat -- creeping up on a daily basis. I
:05:39. > :05:46.think the crisis is spreading to the other countries. The only be
:05:46. > :05:50.the euro-zone economy immune from this is Germany -- beak euro-zone
:05:51. > :05:54.economy. There is no surprise there because there is no plan to resolve
:05:54. > :05:57.it. There are trillions of Euros in debt and the only thing people are
:05:57. > :06:03.talking about is getting central bank to print money to buy the debt.
:06:03. > :06:09.It could be a short term solution, but is the buying of Italian debt
:06:09. > :06:12.over the last couple of days calming things down a long service
:06:12. > :06:16.of -- long-term solution? It's not a long-term solution to say a
:06:16. > :06:19.central bank needs to federalising or socialise trillions of debt and
:06:19. > :06:24.otherwise there is no plan we hereof. I am very worried about all
:06:25. > :06:28.this and I do think that the French and Germans may decide to try and
:06:28. > :06:33.take emergency, drastic action to change the politics of the European
:06:33. > :06:35.Union. If that happens, there would be a major opportunity and a major
:06:35. > :06:43.headache for the British Government because it would bring forward the
:06:43. > :06:51.day there is a new treaty and a choice that needs to be made with
:06:51. > :06:59.the UK in wary one study in the EU. The how likely to -- how likely is
:06:59. > :07:04.this because the Eurozone is -- how likely is the Eurozone going to
:07:04. > :07:09.survive? I was just reading the Economist to predicted that
:07:09. > :07:13.financial crisis and he said any three things can save the euro, one
:07:13. > :07:16.if the ECB becomes an unlimited lender of last resort, too, if it
:07:16. > :07:19.cuts rates to zero, and three if Germany starts doing fiscal
:07:19. > :07:24.stimulus. I don't think any of those three will happen in the
:07:24. > :07:31.foreseeable future, if ever. I guess, sadly, we are heading to an
:07:31. > :07:35.Armageddon situation. If any of us knew that we'd make an awful lot of
:07:35. > :07:38.money. It doesn't look good, and the problem with the markets is it
:07:38. > :07:41.is to do with confidence on the one thing lacking undermined his
:07:41. > :07:47.confidence. Nobody seems to know what they are doing. None of the
:07:47. > :07:49.leaders -- the think the market's lack is confident. None of the
:07:50. > :07:57.leaders know what they are doing and that leadership is what is
:07:57. > :08:00.missing. Putting aside the short term, if you look at the to
:08:00. > :08:08.systemic solutions possible, either a closer fiscal union with massive
:08:08. > :08:11.transferred payments, or a break-up of the Eurozone where the Club Med
:08:11. > :08:16.countries go there away and you haven't more than euro-zone. Either
:08:16. > :08:20.of these, and they may be right in the long term, I suggest you it
:08:20. > :08:25.would put such a shock to the system in the short term that it
:08:25. > :08:30.would either throw Europe into deep recession. I'm afraid to say a
:08:30. > :08:36.thing that's absolutely right. Even with a combination of the two
:08:36. > :08:40.options. All these options require a default on some debt and probably
:08:40. > :08:46.require at least one country, if not more, leaving the euro. What
:08:46. > :08:50.that really means is huge amounts of so-called wealth being wiped out,
:08:50. > :08:53.and that is a massive shock to the system which will make people
:08:53. > :08:57.poorer and hit a lot of institutions, not just banks, but
:08:57. > :09:02.pension funds, companies, so the recession is unavoidable,
:09:02. > :09:08.especially in Europe, and probably in the UK as well. Thank you very
:09:08. > :09:12.much for marking our car bomb that. We didn't promise did she you up --
:09:12. > :09:16.marking it hour card on that. We did not promise to cheer you up. So
:09:16. > :09:19.while Europe implodes, what about over here? Ahead of the autumn
:09:19. > :09:26.statement on November 29th. Which we'll carry live here in a Daily
:09:26. > :09:30.Politics Special. There is a debate raging as to what should be done to
:09:30. > :09:34.secure economic growth. Earlier in the week the CBI said it was time
:09:35. > :09:37.to "get shovels in the ground" and called for "Plan A plus". This was
:09:37. > :09:40.echoed in the Telegraph this morning by more than 30 leading
:09:41. > :09:43.businessmen who have called for the government to scrap the 50p rate of
:09:43. > :09:52.tax, increase the personal tax allowances and bring forward
:09:52. > :09:54.spending on infrastructure. However it's believed any planned tax cuts
:09:54. > :09:57.would run into considerable opposition from the Liberal
:09:57. > :10:00.Democrats. Speaking to the BBC yesterday Vince Cable said that,
:10:00. > :10:06."It is difficult to make tax cuts in an environment where we are
:10:06. > :10:08.trying to get budget discipline and bring the deficit down". Earlier
:10:08. > :10:11.this year David Cameron commissioned businessman Adrian
:10:11. > :10:17.Beecroft to come up with a series of proposals on how to make Britain
:10:17. > :10:21.more competitive. He's proposed relaxing employment laws to make it
:10:21. > :10:24.easier for companies to fire staff, in the hope that they will be more
:10:24. > :10:26.willing to take risks and hire people. It's an idea that's been
:10:26. > :10:36.welcomed by the Prime Minister's policy guru Steve Hilton, but has
:10:36. > :10:39.Joining me now is the Liberal Democrat peer, Matthew Oakeshott,
:10:39. > :10:49.and Andrew Haldenby who is the director of Reform, a right wing
:10:49. > :10:50.
:10:50. > :10:53.think tank. Is this idea dead in the water and now? It looks like
:10:53. > :10:58.it's and it is a terrible shame because I think it was by far the
:10:58. > :11:00.best idea put forward in this Parliament to improve growth and we
:11:00. > :11:04.just have to compare ourselves to the other continental countries
:11:04. > :11:10.like France and Germany. Over the years we have had more relaxed
:11:10. > :11:13.employment laws, lower unemployment and we want more of the same and
:11:13. > :11:20.his ideas would definitely have reduced employment in the country.
:11:20. > :11:23.Would it? The problem is is a lack of demand. A lack of demand for our
:11:23. > :11:26.exports because the rest of the world looks like it is going into
:11:26. > :11:30.recession. A lack of demand from consumers because real living
:11:30. > :11:35.standards are falling and the lack of demand from business because it
:11:35. > :11:38.is not investing. So even if you had the most liberal labour laws in
:11:38. > :11:43.the world, I don't really understand how that get you growth
:11:43. > :11:46.at this precise time. I would agree with you two years ago but we are
:11:46. > :11:51.to use on from the recession and has holes have improved their
:11:51. > :11:54.financial position. Consumer spending is in the tank. People
:11:54. > :11:57.have been saving and paying off their debts in getting in a
:11:58. > :12:07.stronger position. Companies are ready to invest if they have the
:12:08. > :12:12.right rules and regulations. Employment laws is by far the best
:12:12. > :12:15.focus for politicians. I am flabbergasted, amazed, that David
:12:15. > :12:22.Cameron should have blocked this. He is probably doing it to keep
:12:22. > :12:29.your lot happy. We need to act both on the supply and the demand side.
:12:29. > :12:36.He is talking about the supply side, and there are some good ideas but
:12:36. > :12:40.also... I think there is something to be said for bringing in four
:12:40. > :12:43.small businesses the automatic enrolment of putting everyone into
:12:43. > :12:50.an automatic Chekhov for a pension scheme, because the danger of that
:12:50. > :12:55.is there is a regulatory burden and dictate spending at -- it takes
:12:55. > :12:59.spending out of that question. He also has wacky ideas, meaning he
:12:59. > :13:06.was trying to cut down women's rights in the workplace and that
:13:06. > :13:11.has been seen off in a panic by Number Ten. But to actually make it
:13:11. > :13:17.Ahsan, spot culture is quite wrong. You mention Germany. -- based
:13:17. > :13:21.sacking on the spot culture. Germany have tougher labour laws
:13:21. > :13:24.and they are doing better and they have good manufacturing in that. We
:13:24. > :13:28.want to encourage people to support and nurture their staff so sacking
:13:28. > :13:34.them on the spot is not right. Coming to the demand side, where
:13:34. > :13:37.the real problem is, and we have collapsed consumer confidence, not
:13:37. > :13:42.nearly enough spending in the economy and not nearly enough
:13:42. > :13:47.investment. The businessmen have a point, which we have thought about
:13:47. > :13:51.for some time, which they must be more capital investment in
:13:51. > :13:57.infrastructure and particularly housing. Vince Cable, George
:13:57. > :14:04.Osborne, I am doing my bit feeding in. How much more will there be?
:14:04. > :14:10.They should be a lot of capital investment. Just a minute. On the
:14:10. > :14:14.current side, cutting the 50 p rate there is no evidence that improves
:14:14. > :14:17.entrepreneurialism. Where they are right, and it is a Lib Democrat
:14:17. > :14:20.policy, is increasing the personal allowance at the bottom because
:14:20. > :14:25.every pound you put into the pocket of a low-paid work is going to go
:14:25. > :14:30.out and get spent. Why don't you put in the pockets of everyone
:14:30. > :14:36.around here? A below paid get a very small percentage of the
:14:36. > :14:40.overall tax break. But it does help incentives to work, at the bottom.
:14:40. > :14:44.On the capital side, which is important, where we have these low
:14:44. > :14:48.interest rates we should not be treating them as a virility symbol
:14:48. > :14:52.we should see them as a fantastic opportunity to get long-term
:14:52. > :14:58.capital in, many billions from the private sector. That is what the
:14:58. > :15:02.Greeks did for the last 10 years. am talking to the big institutions.
:15:02. > :15:06.It might work in the city, but maybe not in the real world.
:15:06. > :15:14.does. They are desperate to see things with a return on housing,
:15:14. > :15:17.Politicians do themselves no favours when they play this old
:15:18. > :15:24.card. The Prime Minister wrote an article calling for more
:15:24. > :15:27.infrastructure two weeks ago. It created 1,000 jobs. There are 2.5
:15:27. > :15:32.million people unemployed, he created a 1,000 jobs. It is not
:15:32. > :15:40.like the 1930s, you don't absorb hundreds of thousands of people
:15:40. > :15:45.with infrastructure problems. do! You don't. I said housing. That
:15:45. > :15:51.is the key. Last year we had 100,000 houses completed, the worst
:15:51. > :15:55.since 1923. Where you get white van man motoring and getting jobs is by
:15:55. > :16:04.having much more housebuilding. That is what we are talking about
:16:04. > :16:08.with of private sector. The rest is... Housing is real. Do you get a
:16:08. > :16:13.sense of fiddling while Rome burns? You stole the words from my mouth.
:16:13. > :16:16.To fiddle with maternity rights and Employment Rights while we are on
:16:16. > :16:23.the verge of another great depression is absurd. You talked
:16:23. > :16:27.about a lack of demand, that is the key. When people talk about needing
:16:27. > :16:30.to improve consumer spending, one of the reasons people are not
:16:31. > :16:35.spending is because they are worried about losing their jobs.
:16:35. > :16:42.The coalition says Let's Make your jobs even more insecure. Her the
:16:42. > :16:49.coalition is not saying that. venture capitalist said let's make
:16:49. > :16:55.people's jobs more insecure. him speak. I will blame you for one
:16:55. > :17:01.thing. What about VAT? If you want one proposal that will kick-start
:17:01. > :17:06.the economy is cutting VAT back to 7.5%. It has raised inflation,
:17:06. > :17:13.damaged small businesses. Her what about the bond markets? You will
:17:13. > :17:23.add 12 million to the deficit. much will cutting the 50 p tax?
:17:23. > :17:27.
:17:27. > :17:35.Can I respond on VAT? VAT cut across the board is much too
:17:35. > :17:40.expensive. It would be very... What Lib Dems believe and I have been
:17:40. > :17:45.arguing for and has been argued in government is we have a cut on VAT
:17:45. > :17:50.on house improvements, house repairs. That would be very
:17:51. > :17:55.effective. That is Lib Dem policy and has been picked up by Ed Balls.
:17:55. > :17:59.A targeted VAT cut is very important. Rachel, we have seen an
:17:59. > :18:03.argument between the two sides of the coalition, but there's even an
:18:03. > :18:10.argument about this in the Conservatives. Absolutely. As much
:18:10. > :18:14.if not more than Tory Lib Dem, it is a blue one blue fight. It is
:18:14. > :18:18.exemplified by Lord Young and Lord Heseltine, the two advisers on
:18:18. > :18:27.growth to the Prime Minister. Lord Young is a Thatcherite who is the
:18:27. > :18:31.regulatory, low-tax, a lot of enterprise. Lord Heseltine wants
:18:31. > :18:36.intervention, he is in charge of the regional growth fund. David
:18:36. > :18:41.Cameron has got bits of both. He is struggling between the two at the
:18:41. > :18:47.moment. He is calling on Europe to have a big bazooka. We need a big
:18:47. > :18:53.bazooka here, too. Lord Heseltine is an honorary Liberal Democrat for
:18:53. > :18:57.this purpose, like Ken Clarke. Thank you very much. All will be
:18:57. > :19:00.revealed on 29th November in the pre-Budget statement taking place
:19:00. > :19:03.in the afternoon. It will be live on BBC Two.
:19:03. > :19:06.Now, security at our borders has been front of most people's minds
:19:06. > :19:11.this week, not least Theresa May's, with the news that the UK Border
:19:11. > :19:15.Agency relaxed rules on entry into the UK this summer. Theresa May
:19:15. > :19:18.appears to have survived, but you don't need a long memory to know
:19:18. > :19:23.that this is not exactly the first time the Home Office has been in
:19:23. > :19:26.trouble over immigration. In the first of our new series looking at
:19:26. > :19:36.what happens when the dust settles on a political storm, Adam speaks
:19:36. > :19:45.
:19:45. > :19:49.to Charles Clarke about the foreign Crisis at the Home Office, where
:19:49. > :19:53.have I heard that before? The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, is under
:19:53. > :19:57.intense pressure after admitting more than 1,000 foreign criminals
:19:57. > :20:00.were released from British prisons instead of facing deportation.
:20:00. > :20:03.Parliament heard that convicted murderers and rapists from abroad
:20:03. > :20:07.were still on the streets when they might have been sent out of the
:20:07. > :20:12.country. It was a failure, I have acknowledged that and it must be
:20:12. > :20:16.got right. Amid the public or cry, opposition politicians called for
:20:16. > :20:20.Charles Clarke to resign. The Home Secretary's position is now
:20:20. > :20:24.untenable. Looking back from his new job at the University of East
:20:24. > :20:29.Anglia, he still accepts errors were made, but he says the media
:20:29. > :20:32.storm just got too big. People haven't been considered third
:20:32. > :20:37.deportation and the media was entirely justified to make that
:20:37. > :20:41.point. However, what it then became overlaid with was the politics of
:20:41. > :20:44.the moment and the issue of the overall political situation facing
:20:44. > :20:48.the Prime Minister and the Labour government at that time. That
:20:48. > :20:51.became a bigger story and there was some element of the media which
:20:51. > :20:56.were very varied aggressive in their attacks, but only because of
:20:56. > :21:00.the issue itself, but the overall political picture. And 10 days into
:21:00. > :21:04.the crisis, Labour suffered a disastrous set of local election
:21:05. > :21:10.results which littered Tony Blair reshuffling his cabinet. -- which
:21:10. > :21:16.led to. A drop to Tony Blair and note the day before the reshuffle
:21:16. > :21:21.saying to things. Firstly, in my view he should make it clear that
:21:21. > :21:25.he would remain as Prime Minister until 2008. Secondly, if he didn't
:21:25. > :21:29.want me to continue as Home Secretary, I didn't want to serve
:21:29. > :21:34.in another role. He asked me to come round to Number Ten
:21:34. > :21:38.immediately, which I did. He said it was my view -- his view for me
:21:38. > :21:41.not to think -- remain as Home Secretary. Five years on nearly all
:21:41. > :21:48.foreign prisoners are now considered for deportation, but
:21:48. > :21:52.that doesn't mean they actually all leave. The latest figures show 3775
:21:52. > :21:56.released foreign prisoners are still living here, including 87 who
:21:56. > :22:00.have served terms for most serious crimes. Charles Clarke says things
:22:00. > :22:10.didn't improve after he was sacked. The Home affairs Select Committee
:22:10. > :22:16.looked into the situation in detail, I gave them evidence. Their
:22:16. > :22:20.conclusions, I thought, not an exoneration, but no criticism. The
:22:20. > :22:26.Home Office is a department dealing with tough problems and it is
:22:26. > :22:29.always in the firing line. I was told when I first arrived by the
:22:29. > :22:33.then permanent secretary at that total problems would always occur
:22:33. > :22:37.in the Home Office. I said I thought that wasn't acceptable, we
:22:37. > :22:42.could predict many of the things that would happen. It was our job
:22:42. > :22:46.to get on top of that and stop it happening. My sadness about this is
:22:46. > :22:50.I believe I was on course to do that. In his autobiography, Tony
:22:50. > :22:56.Blair says he now regrets Charles Clarke left the Cabinet. He felt he
:22:56. > :22:59.should not have sacked me as he did and I agree with that! But it is in
:22:59. > :23:05.politics -- but in politics it is the judgment you make at the time
:23:05. > :23:08.that count. History might have been different. A man who thinks he
:23:08. > :23:12.should not have been sacked! Joining us now is Tony McNulty -
:23:12. > :23:17.former Labour MP and former immigration minister. Are Veronique
:23:17. > :23:22.echoes of the foreign prisoner crisis in the current crisis? --
:23:22. > :23:27.are there any echoes. One crucial one, and that is that Charles stood
:23:27. > :23:32.up and take it on the -- to good on the Gyan himself. He did not say to
:23:32. > :23:36.anybody, find me a body to put in front of me to shield me and blame
:23:36. > :23:40.everyone but himself for the issues. That is to his credit. Theresa May
:23:40. > :23:46.will rue the day when she has almost sacked -- found somebody
:23:46. > :23:50.guilty and then said, let's see what went wrong. If a senior
:23:50. > :23:55.minister tells their civil servants to do something and they do that
:23:55. > :23:59.and then do something else, which they have been explicitly told not
:24:00. > :24:03.to do, what should a minister do? They should go through the entire
:24:03. > :24:06.process, give the person their day in court and then arrive at a
:24:06. > :24:15.decision. You shouldn't do it backwards. Brodie Clark will
:24:15. > :24:20.contest that he did not do it at all. His boss said she did. I know
:24:20. > :24:26.Rob Whiteman very, very well, but a dark he is backing the Home
:24:26. > :24:36.Secretary. He has been imposed six weeks of up he had barely been
:24:36. > :24:42.there three or four weeks and would not have someone brand new have...
:24:42. > :24:48.I think we saw it a bit with Ed Miliband next week, a problem for
:24:48. > :24:51.Labour on immigration. No matter if the Tories are not living up to
:24:51. > :24:55.their promise or have made a mistake or blaming civil servants,
:24:55. > :24:59.rightly or wrongly, the general perception of the country is you
:24:59. > :25:03.have made a Horlicks of immigration and you have no standing on it.
:25:03. > :25:09.That is right to an extent. It is wrong, but the perception is right.
:25:09. > :25:12.Yvette Cooper got to that when she was talking to Theresa May. We
:25:12. > :25:17.recognised in 2005 what we needed to do. Charles is right that the
:25:17. > :25:26.prescription we had post 2005 was the right one.. Bases, economically
:25:26. > :25:29.driven. -- points basis. The systemic problems were being dealt
:25:30. > :25:34.with when the foreign national prisoners stuff brewed. But I think
:25:34. > :25:41.on balance, it is wrong for aid to go anywhere near this on Wednesday
:25:41. > :25:45.and he should have left it to Yvette. Rather like Ken Clarke, I
:25:45. > :25:49.thought he would have learned from Ken Clarke. When Ken Clarke was
:25:49. > :25:53.embroiled in the issue over rape sentencing, Ed Miliband knows he
:25:53. > :26:02.was wrong to use the precious time of PMQ has to go on that narrow
:26:02. > :26:07.focus. Give Me Your brief headline thought on the whole Theresa May
:26:07. > :26:13.business this week. Whether she survives on what is a separate
:26:13. > :26:16.question. With Rome burning, Ed Miliband shouldn't have used all
:26:17. > :26:20.his questions. Labour never understand that they will not win
:26:20. > :26:24.the populist argument on immigration with the Conservatives.
:26:24. > :26:29.They will not win the Daily Mail vote. Even the Conservatives don't
:26:29. > :26:33.win the Daily Mail vote! They have to make a different, more
:26:33. > :26:36.interesting case about immigration and migration. It is just that
:26:36. > :26:41.competence, it is not about immigration or numbers or anything,
:26:41. > :26:46.it is about competence and whether Theresa May lost it. It is very
:26:46. > :26:51.dangerous to go to war with civil servants. We shall see what happens.
:26:51. > :26:55.Tony, thank you. Thank you. Get on with your memoirs!
:26:55. > :27:02.Time now to see what else has been going on in the last seven days -
:27:02. > :27:08.here's Giles with the week in 60 Home Secretary Theresa May found
:27:08. > :27:11.herself in the middle of an immigration row, minus cat. She
:27:11. > :27:15.claimed former borders Chief Brodie Clark took a pilot scheme to relax
:27:15. > :27:19.the rules further than authorised all but he doesn't beat. On Tuesday
:27:19. > :27:23.it was arrivederci Silvio, but at least he'll have more time to spend
:27:23. > :27:27.with his friends. A dashing Prince rode into battle this week after
:27:27. > :27:33.the much respected FIFA tried to ban footballers wearing a
:27:33. > :27:37.Remembrance poppy. Wills won,. James Murdoch was back facing
:27:37. > :27:41.questions from one MP who clearly sees him as less Harry Potter, more
:27:41. > :27:44.Michael Corleone. You must be the first Mafia boss in history who
:27:44. > :27:48.didn't know he was running a criminal enterprise. Mr Watson,
:27:48. > :27:54.please. I think that's inappropriate. Across the pond,
:27:54. > :27:59.Rick Perry forgot his own policies. It is three agencies of government
:27:59. > :28:05.when I get there that are gone. Commerce, education and... What is
:28:05. > :28:10.the third one? Oops. The words he was looking for were
:28:10. > :28:12.Department of Energy. He may soon have plenty of time to remember
:28:12. > :28:16.that. That's all for this week. Jo will
:28:16. > :28:19.be back here on Monday with more Daily Politics. And join Jon Sopel
:28:19. > :28:23.for the Politics Show on Sunday, BBC One at 3.10pm - he'll be