:00:42. > :00:46.Afternoon, folks, welcome to the Daily Politics.
:00:46. > :00:50.All the party leaders say THEY know how to fix capitalism - Nick Clegg
:00:50. > :00:54.says he want more firms to be run like John Lewis. Well, politicians
:00:54. > :00:57.- they're always knowingly overselling themselves.
:00:57. > :01:00.The Government came to power promising to reduce the burden of
:01:00. > :01:10.regulation and red tape, so what have they done to lighten the load
:01:10. > :01:16.for business? It is all sound bites, but I don't see any real evidence.
:01:16. > :01:19.If you look through 2011 and regulations that came in in 2011,
:01:19. > :01:22.there didn't seem to be any cutting red tape to me.
:01:22. > :01:28.And what do you give the Queen for her Diamond Jubilee? The Education
:01:28. > :01:31.Secretary thinks a new yacht might And if you have any ideas of your
:01:31. > :01:34.own about what that Royal gift should be, please email us at
:01:34. > :01:42.daily.politics@bbc.co.uk and we'll try to read some of those ideas out
:01:42. > :01:48.at the end of the programme. And with us for the duration today is
:01:48. > :01:50.the Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, John Walker.
:01:50. > :01:54.Welcome to the programme. First this morning, the think tank
:01:54. > :01:56.the Ernst and Young Item Club are saying this morning that the UK may
:01:56. > :01:59.have already slipped back into recession. And they said that even
:01:59. > :02:03.if the eurozone resolved its problems, the economy would
:02:03. > :02:05.probably only grow by 0.2% this year. Speaking from Hong Kong,
:02:05. > :02:07.where he's promoting British business, the Chancellor, George
:02:08. > :02:15.Osborne, said he was confident the Government was doing "everything it
:02:15. > :02:19.can to get Britain through this to weather the storm".
:02:19. > :02:25.On that claimed by the economic forecaster, do you agree with them,
:02:26. > :02:29.is Britain already in recession? is too early to say on figures. We
:02:29. > :02:33.need to listen to what Ernst & Young say. Many of our members
:02:33. > :02:37.would agree that things are difficult. How long do you think it
:02:37. > :02:45.will last? It is difficult to give predictions, but what are you
:02:45. > :02:49.planning for? Members feel it will last for a couple of years. The VAT
:02:49. > :02:53.caused inflation coming out of the system so hopefully there will be
:02:53. > :02:58.less inflation caused by that, but I think it will be a year or two
:02:58. > :03:04.before things settle down. George Osborne is looking east, his
:03:04. > :03:06.big push today and for the rest of the week. Do you think the over-
:03:06. > :03:11.reliance on the eurozone is something that needs to be tackled
:03:11. > :03:15.in terms of exports? Export figures in the autumn were running at high
:03:15. > :03:21.levels and it helped the GDP figure for the third quarter. But the
:03:21. > :03:25.reliance on the eurozone is something that exporters need to
:03:25. > :03:29.look carefully at. Looking for alternative markets that are not
:03:29. > :03:33.affected by the difficulties in the eurozone can only be to our
:03:33. > :03:37.advantage. Have what about the prospects for small businesses? If
:03:37. > :03:43.you think it will last a couple of years, what can they do to plant?
:03:43. > :03:48.Small businesses rely on certainty of some sort. He there isn't much
:03:49. > :03:54.of that! Be there certainly isn't at the moment. They are resilient,
:03:54. > :03:58.they adapt to change in working practices and surroundings. That is
:03:58. > :04:02.one of the advantages of being a small business, particularly
:04:02. > :04:07.entrepreneurs and the new ones coming in. They get on with things.
:04:07. > :04:10.They have concerns about what is going on with regulation, which we
:04:10. > :04:13.will look at later, but they get on with things. They will have to over
:04:13. > :04:16.the next year or so. Peter Mandelson once said he was
:04:16. > :04:19."intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich". But the days
:04:19. > :04:22.of politicians keeping their noses out of executive pay are long gone.
:04:22. > :04:24.These days, party leaders are falling over themselves to decry
:04:24. > :04:29.boardroom excess and to promote their remedies to tame the
:04:29. > :04:33.capitalist beast. David Cameron has been cracking the
:04:33. > :04:35.whip, saying he wants a "war on crony capitalism". He's hinted that
:04:35. > :04:38.crony capitalism". He's hinted that there may be new legislation to
:04:38. > :04:42.give shareholders of big companies a binding vote on executive pay
:04:42. > :04:46.deals. But Ed Miliband says he's the one who's been leading calls
:04:46. > :04:49.for a more "responsible capitalism". Labour wants greater transparency
:04:49. > :04:55.on executive pay, suggesting that companies publish a 'pay ratio'
:04:55. > :04:59.between the highest paid executive and the company median average.
:04:59. > :05:00.They also want to repeat the bank bonus tax. Yesterday, Labour and
:05:00. > :05:07.Conservative top dogs clashed again Conservative top dogs clashed again
:05:07. > :05:11.over who has been leading the charge. The people at the top
:05:11. > :05:14.creaming off the big rewards, the vested interests like the energy
:05:14. > :05:18.companies and train companies ripping people off. People said
:05:18. > :05:21.that was a bit left wing and out of the mainstream. Now the Prime
:05:21. > :05:27.Minister and his deputy are falling over themselves to say we also want
:05:27. > :05:31.to take on crony capitalism. David Cameron was way out on this, when
:05:31. > :05:35.it Villa band was having a night puts the people like Fred Goodwin.
:05:35. > :05:42.-- Ed Miliband. David Cameron made speeches at the beginning of his
:05:42. > :05:48.prime ministership calling for more responsibility. There was a book
:05:48. > :05:52.arguing for... Michael Gove. While Labour and Conservative have
:05:52. > :05:55.been slugging it out, enter the stage Nick Clegg. In a speech this
:05:55. > :05:58.morning, he says he wants to create a more "balanced capitalism". He's
:05:58. > :06:05.urging more firms to offer shares to their employees - a bit like the
:06:05. > :06:09.John Lewis chain, which is entirely owned by its staff. And we need
:06:09. > :06:13.more individuals to have a real stake in their firms, more of a
:06:13. > :06:18.John Lewis economy, if you like. What many people don't realise
:06:18. > :06:23.about employee ownership is that it is is usually under used tall in
:06:23. > :06:26.unlocking growth. I don't value employee ownership because I
:06:27. > :06:31.believe it is nicer, a pleasant alternative to the rest of the
:06:31. > :06:35.corporate world. Those are lazy stereotypes. Firms that have
:06:35. > :06:40.engaged employees, who owned a chunk of their company, are just as
:06:40. > :06:43.dynamic, just as Xavi as their competitors. In fact, they often
:06:43. > :06:50.perform better. With us now is the Liberal Democrat
:06:51. > :06:55.business minister, Ed Davey. Just to take that point at the beginning,
:06:55. > :07:01.you can buy shares anyway in a publicly listed company, so what is
:07:01. > :07:05.different? There are some companies that are not listed, the majority
:07:05. > :07:09.are not listed, so you can't buy shares in them. You are saying that
:07:09. > :07:14.is what you would like to do. one of the things we want to look
:07:14. > :07:18.at. And we are focused on the tax advantage share schemes and we want
:07:18. > :07:23.Danny Alexander to look at those tax incentives to see whether they
:07:23. > :07:27.can be sharpened and whether we can give a boost to ownership because
:07:27. > :07:33.it is not only fairer for employees, but good for the economy and those
:07:33. > :07:37.firms. Publicly listed companies are small percentage so you want to
:07:37. > :07:41.broaden it out. Are you saying you would kick out current shareholders
:07:41. > :07:46.or would you make it compulsory part of the package? We want to do
:07:46. > :07:50.a major bit of work on this, we have put some ideas forward. Nick
:07:50. > :07:56.talked about looking at the idea of a right to request from employees
:07:56. > :08:00.asking whether or not their firm would provide some sort of employee
:08:00. > :08:05.share scheme. But let's be clear, a right to request is a right to
:08:05. > :08:09.request, not a right to have. These are the things we want to look at.
:08:09. > :08:12.We want to also engaged the professionals and the business
:08:12. > :08:17.advisers because one of the issues we have already noticed is the lack
:08:17. > :08:20.of awareness in many sectors of the economy. This is such a good model
:08:20. > :08:25.for corporate performance. might argue that people haven't got
:08:25. > :08:30.much spare cash about to buy shares or invest in the companies they
:08:30. > :08:35.work for. Is this a good time for this? Absolutely. The thing about
:08:35. > :08:39.responsible capitalism, or whether it is reforming the banks or with
:08:39. > :08:44.employee share ownership, it is good for growth. It is good for
:08:44. > :08:48.productivity. The government needs to look across the piece and find
:08:48. > :08:53.all of those areas, short-term and long-term... What evidence have you
:08:53. > :08:57.got? The number of companies that commonly do this is very, very
:08:57. > :09:00.small so they may be good in terms of productivity, but you don't know
:09:00. > :09:09.how will it be if it was rolled out. He a massive amount of work has
:09:09. > :09:12.been done looking at this. It shows that employee ownership can be very
:09:12. > :09:16.beneficial in improving productivity, reducing staff
:09:16. > :09:21.absenteeism, reducing staff turnover, improved performers over
:09:21. > :09:27.the economic cycle. The evidence is pretty strong. One of the key
:09:27. > :09:33.things I want to look at what I'm doing the work is the conditions
:09:33. > :09:37.where employee shares were at the best. For example, one of the bits
:09:37. > :09:40.of evidence is that you have to link it to employee involvement and
:09:40. > :09:45.participation as well. There's a lot of work to be done, but the
:09:45. > :09:50.evidence is very strong. This is good for the economy. It might be
:09:50. > :09:55.good for the economy, what about the individual? Is their risk that
:09:56. > :10:02.if you start asking employees to invest their savings in a company,
:10:02. > :10:07.there's a big risk that if things go wrong, not only could summer
:10:07. > :10:11.lose their job, they could also lose their savings. One has to look
:10:11. > :10:16.at those risks and you have to be proportionate about the amount of
:10:16. > :10:20.one's savings that are in this area. But the evidence is that over time,
:10:21. > :10:23.companies tend to do pretty well and if you have invested in
:10:23. > :10:28.employee share-ownership schemes in recent years you have got a much
:10:28. > :10:35.better return. What about the Royal Bank of Scotland? The government
:10:36. > :10:40.owns a large proportion, why not start there? We have been looking
:10:40. > :10:45.at how could those banks should be returned to private ownership and
:10:45. > :10:49.whether that could be more widely. Their rights issues there. This
:10:49. > :10:54.isn't just about ownership, it is about wider capitalism. Would you
:10:54. > :11:00.like to see that with RBS? Absolutely. Are you disappointed by
:11:00. > :11:04.Northern Rock? No one is trying to say that employee share ownership
:11:04. > :11:09.is a panacea for everything. That is not the argument. Our argument
:11:09. > :11:13.is that the evidence in the UK and abroad is that this can be very,
:11:13. > :11:16.very good for corporate performance. Surely it is incumbent on the
:11:16. > :11:20.government to look at that and given that it can give a fairer
:11:20. > :11:26.deal for employees, it should be worthwhile. I would point out that
:11:26. > :11:30.has the Royal Mail minister, I have legislation through Parliament to
:11:30. > :11:33.privatise the Royal Mail in due course and that will see the
:11:33. > :11:38.largest ever employee share scheme for a major privatisation. We're
:11:38. > :11:41.not just talking about this, we are taking action. Would you have liked
:11:41. > :11:46.to have seen that for Northern Rock? Do you have just set out
:11:46. > :11:51.Bigham evidence for doing that. have to take every issue on its
:11:51. > :11:55.merits. A lot will depend... I am looking at turning the Post Office
:11:55. > :11:58.into a neutral over the next few years, but I know that can't happen
:11:58. > :12:05.until we have sorted out the finances. You can't expect people
:12:05. > :12:10.to invest in things if they are not really good. But I believe the
:12:10. > :12:14.evidence is very strong behind the policy. You have heard the case
:12:14. > :12:18.about Northern Rock. Is this right for every business? I think it is
:12:18. > :12:23.good to encourage employee involvement. It might be easier to
:12:23. > :12:28.do with larger businesses with publicly quoted shares. And also
:12:28. > :12:34.partnerships, which don't have shares. Anything that has a right
:12:34. > :12:39.to request automatically rings a regulatory bell for me. Then it
:12:39. > :12:43.involves, why can't I have it? The right to we Crest needs an answer
:12:43. > :12:47.and we would have concerns. We would want to see the details.
:12:47. > :12:53.will come on to regulation, but that is a point. You will be in
:12:53. > :12:59.toilet -- involving companies are more red tape. When you see our
:12:59. > :13:05.proposals, we will satisfied John's concerns. The evidence is that this
:13:06. > :13:10.is good not just in large firms, but in small firms. Is there Makfi
:13:10. > :13:14.appetite, is it practical? We will have to see the details, but we
:13:14. > :13:16.would encourage employee involvement. A lot of small
:13:16. > :13:21.business people involve their employees in significant decisions
:13:21. > :13:26.already. In terms of having stakes in the company? Could it be rolled
:13:26. > :13:32.out on a large scale? Yes, it is a new concept for very small firms to
:13:32. > :13:37.have that. Although as I said, with partnerships in might be somewhat
:13:37. > :13:43.difficult. A what is your ambition? Do you have figures about how much
:13:43. > :13:49.you do want to take this on? only just started work! We are in a
:13:49. > :13:55.hurry! We are very ambitious. But because there may be some concerns,
:13:55. > :13:59.we may well look at exemption for micros because we don't want to tie
:13:59. > :14:02.up small companies in red tape. One of the key reasons to do this is to
:14:02. > :14:05.raise awareness. We will talk about red tape.
:14:05. > :14:07.So while everyone's now talking about regulating capitalism, you
:14:07. > :14:12.might forget that a little while ago, DEregulating things was all
:14:12. > :14:16.the rage. When David Cameron came to power, he said he wanted the
:14:16. > :14:19.burden of red tape on business to be lower at the end of his term of
:14:19. > :14:29.office than it was at the beginning. So are entrepreneurs feeling a
:14:29. > :14:38.
:14:38. > :14:42.lightening of the load? Adam has De you hate being overburdened?
:14:42. > :14:47.Especially by pesky red tape. will want to change some of it.
:14:47. > :14:51.That is how Joe feels running her printing business in London.
:14:51. > :14:57.find yourself spending a lot of time trying to keep up to date.
:14:57. > :15:02.That costs money. It costs money because we have to pay lawyers and
:15:02. > :15:06.you have to employ it experts like HR consultancy. You then find a lot
:15:06. > :15:09.of time is spent worrying about whether you will stay within the
:15:09. > :15:13.law and order of this time you're spending doing that, you're not
:15:13. > :15:19.doing your job. The business department is trying to lighten her
:15:19. > :15:21.load with a raft of policies. First of all, there's the red tape
:15:21. > :15:27.challenge were members of the public can go on a website to
:15:27. > :15:31.recommend rules they think should be got rid of. Then there's the one
:15:31. > :15:36.income of one of rule, had so government departments, if they
:15:36. > :15:42.want to bring a regulation in, have to throw out a nod one. Last year
:15:42. > :15:48.there were 19 ins. It has saved businesses and estimated �3.2
:15:48. > :15:53.billion a year. Some think there's something fishy going on. Even
:15:53. > :16:03.though the idea behind it is a good one, we have been critical of the
:16:03. > :16:04.
:16:04. > :16:09.operation to date. Ministers have claimed certain pension savings
:16:09. > :16:13.which have... If you use that to bring in new regulations. A further
:16:13. > :16:16.complication is the politics of coalition. Vince Cable has launched
:16:17. > :16:22.a consultation over there -- relaxing the rules for hiring and
:16:22. > :16:32.firing workers. But some Tories wanted to be much tougher. In the
:16:32. > :16:32.
:16:32. > :16:37.boardroom, it has left Joe feeling It sounds great, but there is no
:16:37. > :16:41.real evidence. If you look at 2011, they did not seem to be a cut in
:16:41. > :16:44.red tape. By a art of this is a permanent problem - everyone is
:16:44. > :16:50.against permanent regulation that is too heavy until something goes
:16:50. > :16:53.wrong. The City, anyone? Business minister Ed Davey is still
:16:53. > :16:59.with us, as is John Walker of the Federation of Small Businesses. And
:16:59. > :17:04.we are joined by the shadow Business Minister Toby Perkins. Ed
:17:04. > :17:08.Davey, the verdict from business is that you have not delivered on that
:17:08. > :17:15.the regulation. I think we are delivering. We have already
:17:15. > :17:20.delivered in the past 18 months. We are changing the system that we
:17:20. > :17:25.inherited. Labour past six new regulations every day, if you take
:17:25. > :17:32.their whole term in office. What we are doing through the one in, one
:17:32. > :17:36.out process is putting a steely discipline into process. We are not
:17:36. > :17:40.only looking at the flow of regulations, we are also looking at
:17:40. > :17:48.the stock of regulations that we have inherited. Beyond that, we are
:17:48. > :17:51.going to Brussels as well. The European credit Council have
:17:51. > :17:58.already negotiated the first exemption for small businesses from
:17:58. > :18:03.a European harmonised directive. So we are making progress. Her but
:18:03. > :18:06.actually, Adam says 40% of your scope is taken away from the
:18:06. > :18:11.Government in terms of the EU directives. You cannot do anything
:18:11. > :18:18.about it. That is a whole area of regulation that you cannot scrap.
:18:18. > :18:23.can prove he is wrong. Not only have we achieved one already, which
:18:23. > :18:29.will save small and medium-sized businesses between �150 million and
:18:29. > :18:39.�300 million a year. We have also got the commission to agree this
:18:39. > :18:40.
:18:40. > :18:44.year that future regulations will not apply to micro businesses.
:18:44. > :18:49.There are also 19 regulations that have been brought in. It is a
:18:49. > :18:53.significant number. A rise in the minimum wage to �6.80. Rules to
:18:53. > :18:58.force bosses to pay for the pension for their workers. Temporary
:18:58. > :19:08.workers are entitled to the same rights as others. There will be new
:19:08. > :19:08.
:19:08. > :19:13.regulations. But these are quite onerous. The rhetoric does not
:19:13. > :19:18.always match the reality. That is what the business people in that
:19:18. > :19:24.film were saying. What is the impact? There has certainly been
:19:24. > :19:33.progress made with what is being said. Some of the ones that have
:19:33. > :19:40.been introduced were Brussels directives, as you pointed out. But
:19:40. > :19:43.there will be future change in the government. There are always going
:19:43. > :19:50.to GB disappointments as public policy overtakes the need to
:19:50. > :19:53.respond to business. But we still have to see some of the work.
:19:53. > :19:59.do you accept the claim that there was over-regulation during Labour's
:19:59. > :20:02.time? We need to remember that at the end of the previous government,
:20:02. > :20:07.the World Bank said Britain was the easiest place in Europe to do
:20:07. > :20:14.business. We need the government to stop talking Britain down as a
:20:14. > :20:18.place to do business. Entrepreneurs always want less regulation. I ran
:20:18. > :20:21.my own business for five years prior to get in into government.
:20:21. > :20:28.You do not go into a business to do regulations. Entrepreneurs always
:20:28. > :20:33.want less. But the businesses have had 13 years of the Conservatives
:20:33. > :20:37.are saying we are over-regulated. So we need either serious action by
:20:37. > :20:42.will make it easier for business, or stop talking Britain down.
:20:42. > :20:47.Ed Davey has given examples where they are making it easier. So
:20:47. > :20:52.surely you would support that? there are concrete steps that will
:20:52. > :20:57.make it easier. What would you like to see? We need to see what the
:20:57. > :21:02.Government are coming up with. You heard from business people that
:21:02. > :21:09.their experience is not getting easier. The one min, one out, is
:21:09. > :21:12.largely a gimmick. That is not just what Labour are saying, that is the
:21:12. > :21:17.experience of the people we interviewed in that film. Why are
:21:17. > :21:22.they not feeling it on the ground? It takes time for some of these
:21:22. > :21:27.things to follow through. For example, we have been looking at
:21:27. > :21:31.increasing the period for which you can claim for unfair dismissal from
:21:31. > :21:37.one year to two years. It was opposed by Labour, but has been
:21:37. > :21:44.welcomed by the FSB. On Friday, Toby was asked -- asking me to
:21:44. > :21:47.regulate the pub industry. You cannot have it both ways. But the
:21:47. > :21:51.business people in that film said hiring and firing is the most
:21:51. > :21:55.difficult thing. They would like lighter regulation. Why don't you
:21:55. > :22:03.support that? We think the government should do more to make
:22:03. > :22:07.it easier to hire people. In terms of the tribunal issue, there are
:22:07. > :22:13.steps that can be taken. The government are on the right lines
:22:13. > :22:17.in terms of making it easier to communicate with employees. But
:22:17. > :22:22.only 10% of tribunal cases are about unfair dismissal. We do not
:22:22. > :22:28.support the idea that you just make it easier to get rid of people
:22:28. > :22:32.without any opportunity for appeal. When I ran a business, sometimes
:22:32. > :22:36.you do have to performance manage somebody out of the business. But
:22:36. > :22:44.the government should do more to grow the economy and bring
:22:44. > :22:48.confidence in. Going back to Ed Davey on that issue, the proposals
:22:48. > :22:57.were controversial. You have watered them down as Liberal
:22:57. > :23:02.Democrats. Those proposals have not been published. Having seen them,
:23:02. > :23:07.the majority of them are being implemented. There were in fact
:23:07. > :23:12.implemented before the report was written. There are parts of it that
:23:12. > :23:16.a controversial, but the majority were implemented. For example,
:23:16. > :23:23.extending the period before which the auto and Romans for pensions
:23:24. > :23:28.affects smaller businesses. That will be welcomed by the FSB. So
:23:28. > :23:32.this agenda, we have not only delivered on, but we have changed
:23:32. > :23:37.the process so that over the next few years, we will really turn the
:23:37. > :23:42.tide. I accept that it takes time to turn around something like red
:23:42. > :23:49.tape both that we inherited from Labour and that we have got at
:23:49. > :23:54.Brussels. The most fundamental thing with employment law is that
:23:54. > :23:57.businesses want to treat their employees fairly and have some
:23:57. > :24:01.balance. It is the continual changes in regulation which have
:24:01. > :24:05.been the problem. Can we have a period of time when there are not
:24:05. > :24:11.any changes? That is the general criticism of government, the
:24:11. > :24:15.chopping and changing of government. I accept that. That is why the one
:24:15. > :24:20.min, one out discipline is reducing the flow of regulation. But because
:24:20. > :24:23.some of the past regulation is bad, we have to simplify it.
:24:23. > :24:27.She is one of the world's wealthiest women and is believed to
:24:28. > :24:32.have an estimated personal fortune of �300 million. So what present EU
:24:32. > :24:36.by the Queen to celebrate the diamond jubilee? Michael Gove
:24:36. > :24:41.thinks he has got the answer. He has suggested that taxpayers stump
:24:41. > :24:45.up at least �60 million to buy the Queen a new yacht. But if the
:24:45. > :24:47.nation's finances will not stretch to a gin palace, the Education
:24:47. > :24:54.Secretary could draw some inspiration from gifts given to the
:24:54. > :25:00.royals over the years. Animals are a good option. In 7064, George III
:25:00. > :25:03.received a cheetah, while his son, George IV, was given a giraffe. But
:25:03. > :25:08.if you prefer something more practical, the Queen has received
:25:08. > :25:11.500 cases of tinned pineapple and seven kilograms of prawns. And
:25:11. > :25:16.Prince Charles and Princess Diana were given a ton of peat from
:25:16. > :25:21.Somerset as a wedding present. Kate Williams, a royal historian, is
:25:21. > :25:25.here. What do you think of the idea of a yacht? It is a pretty
:25:25. > :25:30.outrageous suggestion. Downing Street have said it is not
:25:30. > :25:35.appropriate. We are in austerity measures. The whole point about the
:25:35. > :25:39.diamond jubilee is that it is a bit make-do-and-mend, polishing up the
:25:39. > :25:44.crown with our toothbrush. We will get the barge and put a bit of
:25:44. > :25:49.extra bling on it. The idea that the Queen gets and �80 million
:25:49. > :25:55.yacht is ridiculous. What would she think? I think she would be pretty
:25:55. > :26:01.surprised. She is also feeling the pinch. She has said she cannot keep
:26:01. > :26:07.up her palaces. So can you keep up a royal yacht as well? Apparently,
:26:07. > :26:14.the Royal Britannia takes 250 boxes of polished over three months. Who
:26:14. > :26:17.can afford that? Not on my yacht. What are some of the most bizarre
:26:17. > :26:21.gifts that have been given to the royals? They get all kinds of
:26:22. > :26:28.bizarre gifts. As you were saying, when the Queen was married, she
:26:28. > :26:33.received a cinema from the Earl and Countess of Manhattan. People send
:26:33. > :26:43.stuff to the Queen. This and milk bottles, bits of cake, biscuits.
:26:43. > :26:48.They think she looks hungry. they eat it, do you think? Maybe
:26:48. > :26:53.the Queen is partial to fruitcake. I am sure she would prefer a bit of
:26:53. > :26:58.chocolate sponge. What would you give her? I think the Queen would
:26:58. > :27:01.be partial to a box of chocolates and to put her feet up. She is
:27:01. > :27:06.having an exhausting year, with the Coronation and the Olympics. She
:27:06. > :27:11.might like to sit with a cross word in front of the fire. What would
:27:11. > :27:15.your suggestion be, from the Federation of Small Businesses?
:27:15. > :27:20.think the proposal to do a new royal yacht in the current climate
:27:20. > :27:26.is not particularly wise. If it were to happen, I am sure many of
:27:26. > :27:30.our members would be delighted to provide the procured services for
:27:30. > :27:35.it. Hopefully, it would be built in a British shipyard. Some of these
:27:35. > :27:39.things can go abroad. But the Queen has a reputation for being fairly
:27:39. > :27:44.frugal, so I would be surprised if she accepted a gift of that nature.
:27:44. > :27:48.We have had a couple of suggestions from viewers. Everyone does not
:27:48. > :27:52.think it is a terrible idea. Carr says, you do not buy gifts for
:27:52. > :27:55.those who have everything. Ian says, not only would this be something
:27:55. > :28:01.the nation could have pride in, but it would provide thousands of jobs
:28:01. > :28:08.at a time of unemployment. And another viewer says, the only gift
:28:08. > :28:12.fit for a queen is part of the public's 83% stake in RBS, as we
:28:12. > :28:17.are not getting anything out of it. Historically, the Queen prefers
:28:17. > :28:22.cheap presents. At Christmas, when you are invited to Sandringham,
:28:23. > :28:27.remember novelty presence. Whoopee cushions, no expensive presents.
:28:27. > :28:32.That was where Princess Diana fell foul. She brought cashmere jumpers,
:28:32. > :28:35.and it was a mistake. We should club together and by the Queen a
:28:36. > :28:41.nice, big whoopee cushion. cashmere jumpers from us. That is
:28:41. > :28:44.all for today. Thank you to our guests. I will be back at 12