:00:46. > :00:50.Good afternoon, a welcome. Gloom descends over the eurozone as
:00:50. > :00:55.Spain slips back into recession. David Cameron says we are only
:00:55. > :00:59.halfway through a crisis which is tracking down the world economy.
:00:59. > :01:04.Location, location, location, well appointed apartment block in a
:01:04. > :01:08.prime position adjacent to the Olympic village, perfect for an
:01:08. > :01:11.anti-aircraft battery. They are in coalition now, but how
:01:11. > :01:18.will the Liberal Democrats look different from the Tories at the
:01:18. > :01:22.next general election? We debate live.
:01:22. > :01:30.Commons authorities consider giving MPs iPads amid claims they will cut
:01:30. > :01:36.down on printing costs and increase efficiency. Yes!
:01:36. > :01:41.All of that in the next hour, and with this, the Liberal Democrat
:01:41. > :01:46.deputy leader Simon Hughes. First, the Prime Minister is under renewed
:01:46. > :01:49.pressure this afternoon to answer questions about his embattled
:01:49. > :01:53.culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. The Labour Party are calling for a
:01:53. > :01:57.statement from David Cameron, who admitted he might not be in the
:01:57. > :02:00.clear. He insisted that any further questions should wait until he
:02:00. > :02:10.appears before the Leveson Inquiry, which will be mid-May at the
:02:10. > :02:11.
:02:11. > :02:15.earliest. Do we have any news about the statement? We will have to wait
:02:15. > :02:22.about another half an hour or so before the Speaker makes up his
:02:22. > :02:26.mind on this. Clearly, behind the scenes, sources will say, the
:02:26. > :02:32.minister made a statement last week, the Prime Minister answered
:02:32. > :02:37.questions at PMQs, but against that, the Labour Party say there is a
:02:37. > :02:40.huge amount of interest, there are still questions to be asked about
:02:40. > :02:47.why the Prime Minister has not referred the matter to his adviser
:02:47. > :02:51.on potential breaches of the ministerial code. Even if the Prime
:02:51. > :02:54.Minister is called here back before MPs to answer more questions about
:02:54. > :02:57.this, it seems pretty clear that for now at least he will be
:02:57. > :03:02.sticking to what he has been telling us, that he does not
:03:02. > :03:06.believe at the moment there is evidence that Jeremy Hunt has
:03:06. > :03:11.broken the Ministerial Code. He wants to give him time to give his
:03:11. > :03:16.evidence under oath before the Leveson Inquiry, and even -- if
:03:16. > :03:19.something emerges at that stage, he will either refer the matter to his
:03:19. > :03:24.adviser to see if the Ministerial Code has been broken, or he could
:03:24. > :03:28.take action himself. That is the line he will stick to, but if he is
:03:28. > :03:33.called back before MPs, that will be another uncomfortable session
:03:33. > :03:38.for the Prime Minister. Do you think David Cameron should
:03:38. > :03:44.give a statement to Parliament? is the speaker's call, I will not
:03:44. > :03:50.second-guess that. Do you think he needs to, politically? I do not,
:03:50. > :03:57.because he gave a full interview yesterday. Everybody has reported
:03:57. > :04:01.that. The position is clear, there is the Leveson Inquiry and the code
:04:01. > :04:05.of conduct, that has been accepted by the Prime Minister, and we know
:04:05. > :04:09.they will be resolved next month, because he is likely to be before
:04:09. > :04:13.the Leveson Inquiry next month, and the Prime Minister has made a
:04:13. > :04:18.commitment he accepts there might be a further issue, and it will be
:04:18. > :04:23.dealt with. He has to refer something if there is a breach of
:04:23. > :04:27.the Ministerial Code. You were the first Liberal Democrats to break
:04:27. > :04:33.ranks and say quite clearly that this issue should be referred to
:04:33. > :04:37.Sir Alex Allan, and we do not know if that is going to happen. Is the
:04:37. > :04:44.Prime Minister being slow? understand the sequence he argues
:04:44. > :04:50.for. White issue is the substance, I am clear what the substance is.
:04:50. > :04:54.The Rupert Murdoch empire, for years, have been chasing after all
:04:54. > :04:59.been chased by Labour and the Tories. We have argued that
:04:59. > :05:04.relationship was unhealthy, Vince Cable has had a tough opposition,
:05:04. > :05:08.the question is, has the government continued to be as tough in being
:05:08. > :05:12.independent and resisting the blandishments when Jeremy Hunt took
:05:12. > :05:21.over as it was when Vince Cable was there? We will get the answers next
:05:21. > :05:26.month. You were the person who raised the issue, should he be
:05:26. > :05:30.referring to Jeremy Hunt now? Prime Minister has accepted there
:05:30. > :05:35.might be an issue. If there is, the code is clear that the Prime
:05:35. > :05:40.Minister has a duty to refer, and it seems to be that the Ministerial
:05:40. > :05:44.Code has to be followed. On the face of it, it looks surprising if
:05:44. > :05:50.it will not be, but I am prepared to let Jeremy Hunt give his
:05:50. > :05:55.evidence and then I assume it will have to be referred before the
:05:55. > :06:04.ministerial code. The Prime Minister said he will listen to
:06:04. > :06:09.what Jeremy Hunt says. Under the rules, it is his responsibility,
:06:09. > :06:12.but the code is clear that in certain circumstances, the Prime
:06:12. > :06:18.Minister has to use the adviser to make sure the code is followed.
:06:18. > :06:26.Ever since -- evidence has emerged that George Osborne was lobbied by
:06:26. > :06:33.James Murdoch. Would you like to see George Osborne before the
:06:33. > :06:38.Leveson Inquiry? I have appeared before Lord Justice Leveson, he is
:06:38. > :06:42.robust and no nonsense. He is clear as to who needs to appear before
:06:42. > :06:47.him. I have no doubt that he will say if he thinks that other
:06:47. > :06:52.ministers need to appear, and I have no doubt they will appear.
:06:52. > :06:57.think George Osborne should and will appear? That is Lord Justice
:06:57. > :07:02.Leveson's call. If we are talking about things that have emerged from
:07:02. > :07:06.e-mail correspondence between the Murdoch empire and ministers or
:07:06. > :07:10.their advisers, if we expect the Jeremy Hunt answers questions, do
:07:10. > :07:14.we expect George Osborne? Lord Justice Leveson is looking at the
:07:14. > :07:20.relationship between that politicians and the media. We have
:07:20. > :07:25.heard from Mr Murdoch, he is coming to the political phase next month,
:07:25. > :07:31.and one of those people who will potentially give evidence, he has
:07:31. > :07:34.made it clear he will not be bullied by a government ministers,
:07:34. > :07:40.he will want to go to the bottom of the question, what were the links
:07:40. > :07:43.between Murdoch and other media and ministers? If he thinks the
:07:43. > :07:48.Chancellor or the prime minister or others have something to tell the
:07:48. > :07:51.inquiry, he will have them in front of him. Yesterday, Harriet Harman
:07:51. > :07:57.suggested that Rupert Murdoch should be stripped of his
:07:57. > :08:01.broadcasting licence in the UK. Do you agree? No. I was the first
:08:01. > :08:08.person to raise this issue with Ofcom. I argued that, given there
:08:08. > :08:13.is now a fit and proper person Test party invite us, against the Labour
:08:13. > :08:18.government's wishes... Ofcom had assured me and have now said
:08:18. > :08:20.publicly they are actively pursuing an ongoing consideration both about
:08:21. > :08:25.individuals and about the company, and they will come to a decision as
:08:25. > :08:29.soon as possible. We have to leave them to do that independently. It
:08:29. > :08:33.was wrong for the Labour Party to say that Jeremy Hunt should resign,
:08:33. > :08:38.and it is wrong for them to say that they should be stripped of
:08:38. > :08:43.their licence now, without letting Ofcom... The have had serious
:08:43. > :08:49.doubts. Yes, but the regulator is there to adjudicate. Has that
:08:49. > :08:53.changed your mind? Since I went to Ofcom and said, can you look at
:08:53. > :08:58.their suitability, of course, James Murdoch has resigned his post.
:08:58. > :09:05.Things have changed. Ofcom is there to regulate, they ought to win the
:09:05. > :09:12.case, they say they are being active, they will adjudicate.
:09:12. > :09:15.We will stay on the subject of Jeremy Hunt for the quiz. Yesterday,
:09:15. > :09:21.Michael Gove Cup for the revealed that Jeremy Hunt has an interesting
:09:21. > :09:29.item in his house, so what is it? Is it a Sky dish, a sign that Take
:09:29. > :09:33.That poster, a sprung dancefloor or a copy of Vince Cable's book? At
:09:33. > :09:38.the end of the show, Simon will give us the correct answer. No
:09:38. > :09:41.prizes, it is just for fun. For something more serious, is the
:09:41. > :09:46.economic crisis in Europe about to enter another even more painful
:09:46. > :09:50.phase? Last week, in the first three months of the year, Britain
:09:50. > :09:54.slipped from weak economic growth back into recession. The infamous
:09:54. > :09:57.double-dip. This morning, Spain has also fallen into technical
:09:57. > :10:02.recession, joining other eurozone countries in the double-dip,
:10:02. > :10:06.including Belgium, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. The backlash
:10:06. > :10:10.against authority continues with protests a familiar sight on
:10:10. > :10:15.European streets from Madrid to Athens. In France, Francois
:10:15. > :10:17.Hollande is poised to take power, Bank -- vowing to end deficit
:10:17. > :10:24.cutting programmes and reopening the austerity pact brokered by
:10:24. > :10:26.Germany. Nicolas Sarkozy has previously accused David Cameron of
:10:26. > :10:31.interfering in the eurozone. This weekend, the Prime Minister risked
:10:31. > :10:36.doing so again by blaming Europe for the UK's economic problems.
:10:36. > :10:43.What is happening it is a massive tension between the single currency
:10:43. > :10:46.that countries are finding difficult to adapt to. It is going
:10:46. > :10:50.to be a very long and painful process in the eurozone as their
:10:50. > :10:54.workout, do they want the single currency with a single policy and
:10:54. > :11:04.all the things that go with it, or are they going to have something
:11:04. > :11:06.
:11:06. > :11:12.quite different? They have to Do you think the eurozone is facing
:11:12. > :11:19.a renewed threat of collapse? we saw it this month, it can get
:11:19. > :11:25.worse. It depends on the reactions of the ECB and of politicians in
:11:26. > :11:29.Europe. What to do me? We heard David Cameron defend gloomy
:11:29. > :11:34.predictions and St that the eurozone is facing a renewed threat
:11:34. > :11:38.of collapse. What does that do to market speculation? It is the
:11:38. > :11:42.politicians within the eurozone that can have the bigger impact,
:11:42. > :11:47.because they are going to be called upon to solve the crisis. In the
:11:47. > :11:51.first quarter of this year, the ECB have calmed down the tensions by
:11:51. > :11:59.throwing it liquidity into the markets, but that does not solve
:11:59. > :12:03.the problem. It bought a politicians' time. There is an
:12:03. > :12:07.irony, every time we get a pinnacle in the tensions of the crisis, and
:12:07. > :12:10.this has been going on for years, it is then that politicians have
:12:11. > :12:15.the desire to come out with something really firm in terms of
:12:15. > :12:22.structural reform. It is then they can go back to their electorate and
:12:22. > :12:29.say, we have to do something. If you like, the ECB has potentially
:12:29. > :12:33.prolonged the crisis. What is the reaction in Germany to this idea of
:12:33. > :12:38.pressure for either pumping up and backing that the ECB or any risky
:12:38. > :12:44.bail-out fund? What is the German government feeling? They are
:12:44. > :12:50.waiting for Sunday. Election day. The French have to decide their
:12:50. > :12:54.President. The Greeks have to decide their government. It is
:12:54. > :12:59.another fortnight until we have elections in our biggest state,
:12:59. > :13:03.North Rhine-Westphalia. Until then, nothing will happen. What about the
:13:03. > :13:09.prospect if the polls are to be believed that Francois Hollande
:13:09. > :13:13.becomes the next president? How will Angela Merkel react? There
:13:13. > :13:17.will be much gnashing of teeth in Berlin and they will then get on
:13:17. > :13:21.with it. As every German Chancellor and every French President has done
:13:21. > :13:29.for the last 40 years. It will not make any difference to the crisis
:13:29. > :13:35.in substance? She was ill-advised to support Nicolas Sarkozy in the
:13:35. > :13:42.way she did. She will have to make up to Francois on bond. She will
:13:42. > :13:47.give some way on some measures or some personality decisions. Apart
:13:47. > :13:53.from that, it will be business as usual. What is the reaction to the
:13:53. > :13:59.Prime Minister's comments, possibly years of recession or minimal
:13:59. > :14:08.growth, and blaming the eurozone for Britain's economic woes? Who is
:14:08. > :14:13.David Cameron? Is that still the feeling? In terms of eurozone
:14:13. > :14:19.politics, in terms of overcoming the financial crisis, who is David
:14:19. > :14:25.Cameron? Who is David Cameron, Simon Hughes? Somebody who is
:14:25. > :14:32.outside the inner circle. The wrong decision? We obviously were unhappy
:14:32. > :14:37.about that, we have always argued for maximum participation. I
:14:37. > :14:41.absolutely agree... We should not write-off Nicolas Sarkozy, my
:14:41. > :14:45.friends I was speaking to today, they say, do not assume it is all
:14:45. > :14:52.over. I am not a supporter of either, there is not a strong
:14:52. > :14:55.Liberal candidate. Secondly, absolutely, we have got to see what
:14:55. > :15:00.happens in the Greek election, we have got to replace the
:15:00. > :15:06.bureaucratic government with a political government. This is going
:15:06. > :15:10.to take a long time to resolve. Our job was always to make sure that we
:15:10. > :15:14.helped as far as possible a smooth landing for the most difficult
:15:14. > :15:19.economic turbulence we have had in my lifetime. Has David Cameron done
:15:19. > :15:24.that? We had the blip in December, when we had a different view as to
:15:24. > :15:28.whether we should have participated, but life has moved on, and there is
:15:28. > :15:32.participation. We have to continue working with our colleagues,
:15:32. > :15:42.because the eurozone future is important to Britain's future, our
:15:42. > :15:48.
:15:48. > :15:52.biggest trade is with Europe, so if It's being said it faces a renewed
:15:52. > :15:56.threat of collapse and it is as a result of turmoil in the eurozone
:15:56. > :16:00.that Britain is facing the double- dip recession. The eurozone has not
:16:00. > :16:02.helped us at all, but it's very important that we remain as strong
:16:03. > :16:09.as possible as an economy. What will happen after the elections
:16:09. > :16:13.that we have this week, across Great Britain, is that we will need
:16:14. > :16:20.to review whether we are doing everything we can to move on with
:16:20. > :16:24.growth. Clearly, it's been difficult. There's a new session of
:16:24. > :16:29.Parliament. I want us to pull every single lever for growth and if
:16:29. > :16:33.there are more to pull, we need to pull. What do you say to this
:16:33. > :16:41.insistence that we can do something to help the eurozone and help
:16:41. > :16:46.growth, is that just empty words? think the whole word is becoming
:16:46. > :16:48.far more important to all of the people, especially in the UK. Many
:16:48. > :16:52.economists don't believe that number that came out, but
:16:52. > :16:58.regardless of that, I think for all politicians growth is going to be
:16:58. > :17:03.the real watchword. Are the programmes the wrong way to go, in
:17:03. > :17:07.the countries which are under huge pressure to make severe cuts?
:17:07. > :17:13.politicians are realising that they've got to be efficient by pro-
:17:13. > :17:16.growth policies. If you are from the point of view of Germany, that
:17:16. > :17:22.certainly you need structural reform. Unfortunately, that can
:17:22. > :17:26.take years to pull through. Look at Thatcher's labour market reforms.
:17:26. > :17:31.In the meantime, we need to stop the spiral, such as we are seeing
:17:31. > :17:35.in Spain, where banks are under pressure from 25% unemployment and
:17:35. > :17:39.drop in property prices and that meaning that banks haven't got the
:17:39. > :17:47.money necessarily to lend. The slowing down of growth too, so you
:17:47. > :17:51.need some pro-growth policies to stop this spiral. What is the
:17:51. > :17:58.structural reform you are advocating? Pension reform, labour
:17:58. > :18:02.market reform and budgetary reform. This has been going on for some
:18:02. > :18:07.time. If you take the eurozone in general, many countries were
:18:07. > :18:12.supposed to have done that prior to 1999. Generally speaking, it's when
:18:12. > :18:15.that's done that invest towards start to buy the bonds from those
:18:15. > :18:18.countries. The social Democrat Government failed because they did
:18:18. > :18:21.all those structural reforms. The employment rate in Germany is
:18:21. > :18:27.higher than in most countries in Europe. The pension system is still
:18:27. > :18:30.in need of reform, because we get older all the time, but they did
:18:30. > :18:35.reform it. I'm not entirely sure whether that's correct. Do they
:18:35. > :18:39.take the idea that it all comes down to what Germany does?
:18:39. > :18:43.course not. Look at the Netherlands. That is a net contributor. The
:18:43. > :18:47.Government has collapsed. France is important whatever else. America
:18:47. > :18:54.may be the more important partner, but France is extremely important,
:18:54. > :18:56.and so is Italy and Spain. absolutely clear that given the
:18:56. > :19:00.Government's form when there was a disruption in Greece at the time,
:19:00. > :19:04.we were right to make sure we protected ourselves against
:19:04. > :19:08.reputational loss, which meant ratings would go down and weighed
:19:08. > :19:13.start to see either further inflation or whatever. Now
:19:13. > :19:18.everybody is say we must pull the growth levers, but there are issues
:19:18. > :19:23.for France. They have retirement age much earlier than we do and
:19:23. > :19:28.they won't be able to afford that. We've taken the difficult decisions.
:19:28. > :19:32.But were the Liberal Democrats a block on the reform here? That's
:19:32. > :19:37.the argument being put against them, saying they tried to slow it down.
:19:37. > :19:40.We have clearly been willing to say that the pension age must rise, but
:19:40. > :19:44.look at a whole restructuring of the system so people get a much
:19:44. > :19:47.more secure pension by 2015 at the end of the exercise. That is
:19:47. > :19:54.sensible, because it accepts the reality of longer life, but
:19:54. > :19:58.realises you have a different way. Thank you all very much. It emerged
:19:58. > :20:03.yesterday that the MoD is proposing to station surface-to-air missile
:20:03. > :20:10.on top of a block of residential flats in East London in the
:20:10. > :20:15.Olympics. Residents in Bow Quarter have received leaflets. It says the
:20:15. > :20:21.missiles will only be fired as a last resort. Over now to Ross
:20:21. > :20:28.Hawkins, who is on College Green for us. Noisy neighbours, somewhere
:20:28. > :20:32.safe to put your bins, you don't normally have to worry about high-
:20:32. > :20:39.velocity missiles being put on your roof, but that is a real concern
:20:39. > :20:45.for some. Over now to two MPs. It's your constituents, who we are
:20:45. > :20:47.talking about here. They and you must accept that we do need to
:20:47. > :20:53.defend the stadium and that can be difficult and people are just going
:20:53. > :20:56.to have to make allowances. Yes. People are excited and they are
:20:56. > :21:00.working closely with the authorities to make sure that there
:21:00. > :21:05.is proper security and that's what we are all concerned about. But,
:21:05. > :21:12.what is really worrying about this situation is that it's been done
:21:12. > :21:15.within a -- dealt with in a cack- handed way. People have received
:21:15. > :21:19.leaflets and they've seen army officers going through the flats
:21:19. > :21:24.without proper explanation and that's quite alarming and there are
:21:24. > :21:27.questions that people are asking. The first thing some of the
:21:28. > :21:33.constituents knew was they got the leaflets from the pizza company and
:21:33. > :21:39.from the local Tay-away and there was one saying, "By the way there
:21:39. > :21:42.may be a surface-to-air missile on your roof."? That's right. It's
:21:42. > :21:46.unacceptable. Everybody would expect a bit more consultation and
:21:46. > :21:56.explanation of what this entails, what this would mean and what would
:21:56. > :21:57.
:21:57. > :22:03.be the worst-case scenario in a heavily-built area. These missiles
:22:03. > :22:07.are being put above residential properties in a heavily built-up
:22:07. > :22:11.area and that's unprecedented. Patrick Mercer, a quarter of a
:22:11. > :22:15.century in the army, so you must know that when the military come so
:22:15. > :22:18.close to civil society they have to think about what they're doing and
:22:18. > :22:22.handle themselves with tact. It doesn't sound like they're done
:22:23. > :22:26.that, does it? It's very difficult. I think she made some very good
:22:26. > :22:28.points and you are right, this has to be with the content of the
:22:28. > :22:34.people. The more the people agree the more they understand the better
:22:34. > :22:38.the result will be, however, ultimately, the defence is needed.
:22:38. > :22:41.The experts, the officers, who will have carried out the reconnaissance,
:22:41. > :22:46.will have decided this is the best area and the weapons are designed,
:22:46. > :22:49.if necessary, to be used in built- up areas, not necessarily with
:22:49. > :22:53.people present. I'm reassured by the fact it's been carefully
:22:53. > :22:58.thought through and that we have got this particular weapons system
:22:58. > :23:01.in place. You say designed to be used in such areas, but we are
:23:01. > :23:04.talking potentially about the British military shooting down an
:23:04. > :23:10.aircraft, but whether it falls down in bits because it's been blown up,
:23:10. > :23:13.it is going to do damage in the area and endanger lives. That is
:23:13. > :23:23.the situation we have on a day-to- day basis anyway. The difference is
:23:23. > :23:23.
:23:23. > :23:29.if this happens now, as we are speaking, that two very high --
:23:29. > :23:32.high-quality aircraft will be used. Here we are talking on TV about
:23:32. > :23:36.national security. It's no accident this is so high profile? This is a
:23:36. > :23:41.PR campaign for the bad guys? don't think so at all. The fact we
:23:41. > :23:46.are all standing here, including the MP and her constituents, what
:23:46. > :23:51.we are saying to the bad guys, "If you dare and try, you know what
:23:51. > :23:55.will hit you." It's a good thing. Reassuring? No. Patrick needs to
:23:55. > :23:58.recognise if you want to give out signals, it's very important to get
:23:59. > :24:05.the people to understand exactly what this involves and they've been
:24:05. > :24:08.left in the dark and that's not reassuring. Thank you both very
:24:08. > :24:11.much. We all know there's going to be lots of inconvenience and
:24:11. > :24:16.struggle with special lanes. Some people, it seems, will have a
:24:16. > :24:22.particular sort of anxiety, but it doesn't look like taif got much of
:24:22. > :24:26.a choice. -- they've got much of a choice. We'll look to the general
:24:26. > :24:30.election in 2015. If the coalition makes it that far, of course. The
:24:30. > :24:34.Liberal Democrats are trying to implement the differentiation
:24:34. > :24:38.strategy, but just how possible is that when your tied up in
:24:38. > :24:42.Government? How much can you promise when your only realistic
:24:42. > :24:46.chance is in coalition? We have been trying to find out what Simon
:24:46. > :24:50.Hughes' next manifesto might look look. It's the list of promises a
:24:50. > :24:53.party makes to win votes, but these manifestos were written before the
:24:53. > :24:57.age of coalition Government. Next time around, the Liberal Democrats
:24:57. > :25:02.could take a very different approach, according to the peer who
:25:02. > :25:09.led two of the party's election campaigns. Aim sure what we'll do
:25:09. > :25:14.will be, we'll listen one, two, three, five-five numbers of issues
:25:14. > :25:17.which are crucial for us and we'll say that the more Liberal Democrat
:25:17. > :25:19.MPs you elect, if you like those policies, the more of those
:25:19. > :25:22.policies are likely to be implemented by the next Government,
:25:22. > :25:31.whether it's a Liberal Democrat Government or a Labour Government
:25:31. > :25:35.or Tory Government or coalition. The coalition agreement that these
:25:35. > :25:40.men helped hammer out took bits from the two manifesto $, but both
:25:40. > :25:43.sides got their red-line issues in. In the future, should a party's
:25:43. > :25:49.manifesto outline the areas where they might compromise if they end
:25:49. > :25:52.up around the table in here again? The institute for Government, which
:25:52. > :25:56.has carried out into research on how it was formed, warned that
:25:56. > :25:59.could be a bad move for the Liberal Democrats. I don't think it would
:25:59. > :26:04.be sensible for parties to put in their manifesto, "These are the
:26:04. > :26:10.things we really want to do. We'll definitely stick to these, but
:26:10. > :26:14.these are the others we'll basically drop if we have to." It
:26:14. > :26:22.would look rather odd and it would weaken their bargaining position in
:26:22. > :26:26.any negotiations too. Beware the manifesto pledge. It was a mistake
:26:26. > :26:30.for us to fight the last election on the basis that the candidates
:26:30. > :26:34.are signing a pledge that there would be no increase in tuition
:26:34. > :26:40.fees and I think that's a lesson I'm sure that all three political
:26:40. > :26:42.parties will learn, that you have to couch it rather than saying,
:26:42. > :26:50."Over my dead body." That was something that we are still
:26:50. > :26:54.recovering from. The dawn of the TV leaders' debate is another reason
:26:54. > :26:59.to leave contentious bits out of the manifesto altogether, according
:26:59. > :27:04.to one backbencher. Nick Clegg boosted enormously Liberal Democrat
:27:04. > :27:07.support through his performance in the hustings on the TV. Then the
:27:07. > :27:10.media looked through the Liberal Democrat manifesto and found some
:27:10. > :27:16.deeply unpopular things. I think manifestos will have less in them
:27:16. > :27:20.in the future and I think they will be more about general direction and
:27:20. > :27:25.the philosophy and value of parties rather than specific policies.
:27:25. > :27:28.Although the two main parties might stick to the usual approach.
:27:28. > :27:31.Tories and Labour Party won't campaign on the assumption there's
:27:32. > :27:38.going to be a coalition, because they'll campaign to win and
:27:38. > :27:45.therefore they'll have much more traditional styles to their
:27:45. > :27:53.manifestos. A list of maybes then, rather than promises. Joining Simon
:27:53. > :27:57.Hughes now is Conservative MP and coalition fan, Nick Bowles. We
:27:57. > :28:00.advocated a pact at the next election, do you still support it?
:28:00. > :28:05.I'm still a fan of the coalition. It's given the country a strong and
:28:05. > :28:12.stable Government. What about it? have to accept on the pact I'm
:28:12. > :28:15.really much a lone voice. Siem son will confirm this has not been
:28:15. > :28:19.warmly -- Simon will confirm this has not been warmly embraced. I
:28:19. > :28:24.would like to see a majority. don't want to campaign, but you
:28:24. > :28:28.would rather have a pact in order to have a coalition? I will be
:28:28. > :28:32.campaigning for a Conservative majority and I am now, but what I
:28:32. > :28:36.think we need to recognise is that as a party, a the Conservatives, we
:28:36. > :28:39.have found it hard traditionally in the last few years to build that
:28:39. > :28:42.majority Government. I think this coalition Government has been a
:28:42. > :28:45.very good Government at a time of difficulty for the country. Much
:28:45. > :28:49.better than my minority Government would have been. I don't think that
:28:49. > :28:52.we should burn our bridges. We'll campaign as independent parties and
:28:52. > :28:55.have different manifestos and different plans, but I hope we
:28:55. > :28:58.won't be trashing the Liberal Democrats and they won't trash us,
:28:58. > :29:01.because we might need to work together again after the next
:29:01. > :29:03.election in the national interest. That's the difficulty, isn't it? If
:29:03. > :29:09.you are going to campaign separately, then one would expect
:29:09. > :29:13.there will be a bit of trashing. If, as you had suggested in Liberal
:29:13. > :29:16.Democrat seats, the Conservatives would not put up a candidate and
:29:16. > :29:19.urge supporters to vote Liberal Democrat, then obviously there
:29:19. > :29:24.wouldn't be the problem for that. Is that something you would still
:29:24. > :29:29.like to see? I'm a realist. I'm a junior MP. Nobody else in my party,
:29:29. > :29:32.nor in the Liberal Democrats, thought this was good. Let's deal
:29:32. > :29:36.with reality, rather than hopes. That would help the Liberal
:29:36. > :29:41.Democrats. If there wasn't a Conservative up against them in the
:29:41. > :29:45.seats, under boundary changes, or marginals, they would increase the
:29:45. > :29:52.number in Parliament? I promise you that the Liberal Democrats
:29:52. > :29:56.conference will not allow us to not fight every single seat in the
:29:56. > :29:59.election. Nick put up an interesting idea. I agree with him
:29:59. > :30:02.that we've had the Government we needed in this difficult time. The
:30:02. > :30:04.only majority that could have been formed was a Conservative and
:30:04. > :30:08.Liberal Democrat majority. There wasn't a majority with Labour. We
:30:08. > :30:12.did the right thing in the national interest. I'm clear it will last
:30:12. > :30:17.for five years, because we have to show that coalitions can work, if
:30:17. > :30:21.that's what the people ask us to do. At the next election wail draw up
:30:21. > :30:24.the manifesto. You saw the example and I think Nick is right in one
:30:24. > :30:28.respect, we will be much more careful that we are not pretending
:30:28. > :30:35.that only majority governments are the outcome and Tim made that point.
:30:35. > :30:38.Secondly, it will therefore be more helpful not to have too many gos at
:30:38. > :30:48.what others have done or what they are saying, because we may have to
:30:48. > :30:52.
:30:52. > :30:57.How can you differentiate? We will all due that they should not be
:30:57. > :31:01.money spent on a like-for-like replacement of Trident. The Tories
:31:01. > :31:05.will argue for a like-for-like replacement, we would save a lot of
:31:05. > :31:09.money by doing that, which we would spend on other things. We want tax
:31:09. > :31:13.policies that help the people at the bottom end, we oppose giving
:31:13. > :31:17.tax concessions to people at the top, because we want the gap
:31:17. > :31:24.between rich and poor closed. We want more regulation of the banks,
:31:24. > :31:29.the Tories want less regulation. What about more cuts after the next
:31:29. > :31:34.general election? Than it Alexander admitted it will be in the next
:31:34. > :31:39.Lidl Democrat manifesto -- Danny Alexander. The economy will not be
:31:39. > :31:43.sorted in five years. What he said it was not about death and it cuts,
:31:43. > :31:47.he asked all departments to think about where they would find savings
:31:47. > :31:53.if they needed to move budgets around. When asked about going to
:31:53. > :31:56.the election, promising further cuts, he said, I am afraid so.
:31:56. > :32:03.is him speaking in a coalition government on behalf of the
:32:04. > :32:09.government having corresponded with colics. We will form our own view
:32:09. > :32:14.in 2015. That sounds like Simon Hughes is trying to say they would
:32:14. > :32:17.not necessarily go into the next election promising further cuts.
:32:17. > :32:26.Differentiation would mean more attacks on Conservatives. How much
:32:26. > :32:29.does that worry you? Not at all. We are separate parties. Two years in,
:32:29. > :32:31.Conservatives are now frustrated about some of the things we would
:32:31. > :32:36.have liked to have done as a majority government that we have
:32:36. > :32:45.not been able to do, and we will want to assert them more clearly
:32:46. > :32:50.and more firmly in our manifesto. Renegotiation and were -- over our
:32:50. > :32:52.membership of the EU. The introduction of the British and
:32:53. > :32:56.have rights to replace the European Convention of Human Rights, so we
:32:56. > :33:02.can get rid of a bigger target without waiting eight years for the
:33:02. > :33:05.European Court to make up its mind. We feel strongly, and they will be
:33:06. > :33:13.underlined in our manifesto, in the way they were not the last election,
:33:13. > :33:17.because we did not note there would be such contentious issues.
:33:17. > :33:21.would see that outlined in a Conservative manifesto? You cannot
:33:21. > :33:27.make it explicit which policies you will throw away, because you might
:33:27. > :33:31.as well not put an end. But what you can do is spend more time
:33:31. > :33:35.elaborating your policy positions on things that really matter to you
:33:35. > :33:39.and less time on things that matter less. Do you agree that the Liberal
:33:39. > :33:44.Democrats are blocking the recovery? No, which are in
:33:44. > :33:48.government together. There are some things we would like to do, but we
:33:48. > :33:55.have got to work through this as a coalition and get some sensible
:33:55. > :33:59.policies in place. I agree with him, we need to pour every lever on
:33:59. > :34:05.gross. A day you accept your party brogues and Series promises that
:34:05. > :34:12.were made in the last manifesto? your party broke a series of
:34:12. > :34:18.promises? We wanted to drop tuition fees, the Tories wanted tuition
:34:18. > :34:24.fees. We were stuffed, we could not deliver. It was difficult for us.
:34:24. > :34:28.They might have been another way of dealing with it. We could have put
:34:28. > :34:33.in a new graduate contribution system. It would have allowed us to
:34:33. > :34:37.confirm what we have said, but we have learnt the lesson. You cannot
:34:37. > :34:41.make a pledge that you cannot deliver. What would you say on
:34:41. > :34:47.tuition fees in the next election? You have to look at things as they
:34:47. > :34:53.are. It will be a lot Blanda, because you cannot make promises,
:34:53. > :34:57.because of the risk of coalition. In Scotland, we were in collision,
:34:57. > :35:01.we delivered residential care for the elderly free and a better
:35:01. > :35:06.system of student tuition. There was a Labour Party minority
:35:06. > :35:12.government in Wales, we made a deal to ensure money for pupils in
:35:12. > :35:17.schools. In coalition, we have delivered all four of those things
:35:17. > :35:21.in the manifesto you showed. The other partner in a coalition has to
:35:21. > :35:24.put its priorities on the table, and we negotiate, but we will
:35:24. > :35:34.continue to make a more fair, Moorgreen, more international
:35:34. > :35:36.
:35:36. > :35:41.Britain. We will take them on. look forward to it!
:35:41. > :35:44.Breaking news. A spokesman for John Bercow says there will be two
:35:44. > :35:50.urgent questions asked on the floor of the House this afternoon, Ed
:35:50. > :35:53.Miliband to the Prime Minister, about referring Jeremy Hunt to the
:35:53. > :35:59.independent adviser on the ministerial code. The other is from
:35:59. > :36:02.Keith Vaz, about the queues at Heathrow. You are forewarned!
:36:02. > :36:08.We are in the last few days of a parliamentary session that began
:36:08. > :36:13.with the Queen's Speech, almost two years ago. The longest in 150 years.
:36:13. > :36:18.With local elections on Thursday, the politics will continue, so
:36:18. > :36:25.there is no break for Pippa Crerar and Andrew Pierce. Such hard
:36:25. > :36:31.working hacks! Can I get your reaction about the urgent question?
:36:31. > :36:34.The Prime Minister will not be happy, but it is the right end. If
:36:34. > :36:38.the Prime Minister says he has got nothing to hide, and it has got
:36:38. > :36:42.nothing to hide, and he should deal with it. It was a nonsense that
:36:42. > :36:48.Lord leathers and should be the moral arbiter, he is investigating
:36:48. > :36:54.phone hacking! -- Lord Justice Leveson. Some people ask about what
:36:54. > :36:59.the point of Alex Allan was. Do you think, in the end, David Cameron
:36:59. > :37:04.will have that independent inquiry by the independent adviser? They
:37:04. > :37:09.will continue to be pressure on him. Jeremy Hunt seems to be on
:37:09. > :37:13.probation. Until he appears before the inquiry, we will continue
:37:14. > :37:17.having questions from the Labour Party, starting this afternoon,
:37:17. > :37:21.putting pressure on David Cameron to have more information. It has
:37:21. > :37:26.not gone away yet, it is likely to get even worse for David Cameron,
:37:26. > :37:30.we have got Rebekah Brooks releasing texts and e-mails to the
:37:30. > :37:33.Leveson Inquiry, which she set to the Prime Minister, so there will
:37:33. > :37:38.be a lot of nervous advisers in Number Ten, waiting to see what
:37:38. > :37:41.they reveal. Well Jeremy Hunt survive? I think he will, not least
:37:41. > :37:47.because that does not appear to be any new information that has come
:37:47. > :37:50.to light since the story broke. The Prime Minister likes him, I was
:37:50. > :37:55.talking to Tory backbenchers, they like him, there is little pressure
:37:55. > :38:01.from within the party to get rid of him. He is an effective human
:38:01. > :38:06.shield for the Prime Minister. Let's look ahead to local elections,
:38:06. > :38:08.and the mayoral elections. The pulse of the road between Ken
:38:08. > :38:12.Livingstone and Boris Johnson over the past few weeks, how big a
:38:12. > :38:17.factor will national politics be? Boris Johnson is doing everything
:38:17. > :38:21.in his power to present himself as Boris Johnson first, and a
:38:21. > :38:25.Conservative candidate second. He was deflecting questions left,
:38:25. > :38:28.right and centre about the impact of the party's national woes. He
:38:28. > :38:34.says it is irrelevant, nothing to do with what people are concerned
:38:34. > :38:38.about. That will have some traction, but I think we will begin to see
:38:39. > :38:43.him brought down slightly. He is massively ahead in all of the
:38:43. > :38:46.opinion polls so far of his own party, and Ken Livingstone is
:38:46. > :38:52.behind the Labour Party, so he is doing everything he can to ally
:38:52. > :38:59.himself with the party and persuade voters that he is the Labour man in
:38:59. > :39:04.power. David Cameron needs Boris Johnson to win. This reminds me of
:39:04. > :39:08.1990, Mrs Thatcher was in big trouble, so Ken Baker span before
:39:08. > :39:12.the local election votes that if they held Wandsworth and
:39:12. > :39:16.Westminster, that was a decisive victory for her. They won those
:39:16. > :39:20.boroughs, but the results in the rest of the country were disastrous,
:39:20. > :39:25.but nevertheless, it was carried off as a great day for her. This is
:39:25. > :39:31.what they are doing with Boris Johnson, but I would remind viewers,
:39:31. > :39:36.only six months later, after Thatcher's victory, she was gone.
:39:36. > :39:40.An ominous tone! The double-dip recession, on the doorsteps, how
:39:40. > :39:46.much will that play for all of the Party's pin-up prospect? To a
:39:46. > :39:49.certain extent, Boris Johnson is the candidate most likely to print
:39:49. > :39:53.London after of recession, both by job-creation measures and also his
:39:53. > :39:56.relationship with the Treasury, he had a lively relationship with
:39:57. > :40:02.George Osborne in the past, but he insists he can get more money out
:40:02. > :40:06.of them for London. It will have an impact, but not as big as some
:40:07. > :40:12.people might suggest. The National Party leaders will knock-on very
:40:12. > :40:15.intently, Ed Miliband appears to be sending out signals that if Ken
:40:15. > :40:20.Livingstone loses, it is a reflection on him and not on the
:40:20. > :40:25.Labour Party. He said that if the election was on Labour policies,
:40:25. > :40:29.London would be taken. Labour is expected to do well in the assembly
:40:29. > :40:34.elections, and to put on seats there. The Conservatives expect to
:40:34. > :40:38.lose seats. We will have a strange situation, may be doing well as a
:40:38. > :40:43.party in London, but not able to get their man into power. Ed
:40:43. > :40:51.Miliband will say, he is not my candidate, but it will have some
:40:51. > :40:56.fall-out. On the sort of independent nature of David
:40:56. > :41:01.Cameron's 2010 intake of MPs, the various groups of MPs from wind in
:41:01. > :41:06.their tuppence to the debate, how were Richard BP buy them? They are
:41:06. > :41:09.the liveliest, most independent- minded intake I can recall. They
:41:09. > :41:16.are terrific news for journalists like me, because they give great
:41:16. > :41:19.headlines. You cannot silence them, because they know they are not
:41:19. > :41:22.necessarily going to get ministerial jobs, because 20 of
:41:23. > :41:26.them are backed by the Liberal Democrats. They have decided to go
:41:26. > :41:33.for it, and they are flexing their muscles, which must be to the
:41:33. > :41:41.despair of Tory whips. Alongside Simon Hughes, as if by
:41:41. > :41:46.magic, Jon Ashworth and Pauline Latham had -- Pauline Latham. Do
:41:46. > :41:50.you belong to any of these independent groups? Not a specific
:41:50. > :41:54.membership, but I tend to go in and out of meetings if it is something
:41:54. > :42:00.that is of particular interest for me. Why are you an independent
:42:00. > :42:05.voice? I am fairly loyal, but there are a few things that will happen
:42:05. > :42:10.in the future that I think I might have a voice on. Which are those?
:42:10. > :42:15.We will have to wait and see! are the areas that you or
:42:15. > :42:19.interested in, going into the meetings? I am concerned about the
:42:19. > :42:24.House of Lords reform. I am not happy about throwing the baby out
:42:24. > :42:27.with the bathwater, which is what I think we are going to do. And same-
:42:27. > :42:33.sex marriage. I do not have anything against gay people, I have
:42:33. > :42:36.no problem, but I have a problem with any form of marriage ceremony.
:42:36. > :42:42.How would you describe the feeling amongst you and your colleagues
:42:43. > :42:46.about Moore's reform? There are a significant number of us that are
:42:46. > :42:53.concerned. We are looking at what the final proposals will be when it
:42:53. > :42:59.comes to the House of Commons. do you say to that? You are in for
:42:59. > :43:05.a big fight, what message do you send to Pauline? I respect of you.
:43:05. > :43:09.Neither of the issues she mentions are easy. Why have a principled
:43:09. > :43:13.view on the House of Lords reform, it will have to beat a compromise,
:43:13. > :43:20.it will have to be mainly elected and some appointed, to get
:43:20. > :43:26.agreement. They do not want it to happen. But the principle must be,
:43:26. > :43:31.those asked to obey the laws Chew's who make the laws. Only one other
:43:31. > :43:38.country in the world has a wholly nominated top house. We are behind
:43:38. > :43:42.the curve. Once you stop -- once you start paying them, they would
:43:42. > :43:45.challenge the supremacy of the House of Commons. I understand, I
:43:45. > :43:53.was on the commission which looks at the relationship, and we might
:43:53. > :43:57.need to make that even clearer. The reason it is already clear, we are
:43:57. > :44:00.elected every five years at most, so we have a mandate, but the Lords
:44:01. > :44:09.will be elected in thirds, so they will never have a recent mandate.
:44:09. > :44:12.But we need to have that debate. On the other matter, I say this from a
:44:12. > :44:16.Christian background, they should be a difference between what the
:44:16. > :44:20.state recognises as a partnership, like in the rest of continental
:44:20. > :44:24.Europe, and what faith groups recognise. Sacrament of marriage
:44:24. > :44:27.are very important to the Christian Church and others, but allowing
:44:27. > :44:31.people as adults to join his civic partnership and call it the same
:44:31. > :44:35.think is for me something which is an acceptable way in a modern age
:44:35. > :44:40.of making sure people were given equal recognition. Civil
:44:40. > :44:44.partnerships, what is the difference? We could have a long
:44:44. > :44:48.debate. There is a difference in practice, and people feel they are
:44:49. > :44:54.differentiated in the status they give. With the commission going
:44:54. > :44:58.over these issues, let's refer back to Jeremy Hunt. He is still in his
:44:58. > :45:08.post, you will have the urgent question. Ed Miliband failed to
:45:08. > :45:10.make the killer blow. I do not know about that. The key thing is, David
:45:10. > :45:16.Cameron has to show some responsibility, he cannot hide
:45:16. > :45:20.behind Lord leathers and -- Lord Justice Leveson. He appoints his
:45:20. > :45:27.ministers, and he has responsibility for the ministerial
:45:27. > :45:35.code, show -- so we should request an inquiry. The longer the prime
:45:35. > :45:45.minister delays,... The more he looks weak, and people will ask,
:45:45. > :45:45.
:45:45. > :45:49.The three main parties all face specific concerns on Thursday. In a
:45:49. > :45:55.bout of expectation management, the Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles,
:45:55. > :46:02.has said the Conservatives could lose 400 to 450 to Labour. Labour
:46:02. > :46:06.hope their national lead translates into gains of at least 700 seats,
:46:06. > :46:15.by despite that Ken Livingstone still trails Boris Johnson and the
:46:15. > :46:23.whrds, who were in the words of -- Liberal Democrats, who were in the
:46:23. > :46:27.words of one Liberal Democrat, slaughtered last year, will they do
:46:28. > :46:31.any better? Do you agree that members should hold their noses and
:46:31. > :46:35.vote for Ken Livingstone? I think people should vote for Ken. He was
:46:35. > :46:39.wrong in saying that? He was making a point about the way the election
:46:39. > :46:43.is going, but actually there are other elections going on 3rd May,
:46:43. > :46:48.on Thursday. It's not just all about lon and you have to remember
:46:48. > :46:51.the context -- London and you have to remember the context. In 2010 we
:46:51. > :46:56.had the second-worst general election result. We lost seats from
:46:56. > :46:59.193. We made good progress and we had some gains. I won my own by-
:46:59. > :47:03.election last year and this year we are hoping to make progress in the
:47:03. > :47:07.south. I've been looking out on Thursday evening for Norwich and
:47:07. > :47:10.Reading and Harlow. Those bellweather places where I suspect
:47:10. > :47:15.we saw people voting Tory coming back to Labour. Will it be the
:47:15. > :47:19.amount of progress we want, probably not, but some. We'll
:47:19. > :47:23.return to Ken Livingstone since you didn't want to talk about him. Is
:47:23. > :47:28.the reason that Tom Watson said people should hold their noses, so
:47:28. > :47:31.hardly a wringing endorsement, is because of embarrassment over his
:47:31. > :47:35.tax affairs, which he's defend and his comments over the Jewish
:47:35. > :47:40.community and others that have made him not the best candidate Labour
:47:40. > :47:45.would have chosen? Do you endorse him? Are you saying there should be
:47:45. > :47:50.such? Of course, they should. He's the Labour. I'm not a Londoner, but
:47:50. > :47:54.I'll encourage them to vote on Thursday. This is from a Shadow
:47:54. > :47:57.Cabinet member, "The voters must not think they can wash their hands
:47:57. > :48:01.of responsibility for their actions if they fail to vote against the
:48:01. > :48:06.Tories." Is that what you would have put it? What he's saying
:48:06. > :48:11.directly is that Boris Johnson is a big celebrity, but people who vote
:48:11. > :48:18.for him have to remember they are vote forg a Tory who supports
:48:18. > :48:22.cutting -- voting for a Tory who supports cutting taxes. Whatever
:48:22. > :48:26.that Labour candidate says or does? He's the candidate and he's very
:48:26. > :48:30.good for the Labour Party. He's setting out a programme to cut
:48:30. > :48:32.fares and a programme to bring back London-based educational
:48:33. > :48:37.maintenance allowance. I think that's a great manifesto for London.
:48:37. > :48:40.If I was a Londoner I would vote for him on Thursday. Do you think
:48:40. > :48:44.there's a scepticism about the machine politics, if you like, in
:48:44. > :48:50.Labour, that there's a wider problem? You used to work in Ed
:48:51. > :48:54.Miliband's office. I did. Selected for a safe by-election seat then
:48:54. > :48:58.another selected in Feltham and then we had the by-election
:48:58. > :49:02.selection in Manchester Central, Lucy Powell, also a triumph. Ed
:49:02. > :49:08.Miliband said, "We are trying to do politics in a different way."
:49:08. > :49:13.Doesn't this give the impression of stitchups? I can see why you would
:49:13. > :49:19.make that point. We have a council leader in Scotland and Dan Jarvis,
:49:19. > :49:22.who has served our country in Barnsley and Debbie Abrahams in
:49:22. > :49:27.Oldham, so they are not all people who have worked in politics who are
:49:27. > :49:31.fighting the lections. Sthr how worried -- by-elections.
:49:31. > :49:35.worried are you about things in Glasgow? We know we have a lot of a
:49:35. > :49:40.job to do. These are fought on proportional representation. Last
:49:40. > :49:44.time the same set of elections - You think the SNP will win? If they
:49:44. > :49:49.put up the same number as last time, we would be having a different
:49:49. > :49:54.discussion. Paula, do you agree you'll lose 450 seats? I think in
:49:54. > :49:58.the last four years, in 2008, we had a high. It was in the run-up to
:49:58. > :50:04.the general election, so obviously we did well. I suspect that we will
:50:04. > :50:08.lose some seats. I find it very - Will you lose as many as 450?
:50:08. > :50:12.hope so, but it's possible, because we did have a huge high. We weren't
:50:12. > :50:16.expecting to win many of those seats four years ago. We did win
:50:16. > :50:20.them and we are likely to lose quite a lot. Do you think Boris
:50:20. > :50:24.Johnson's strategy in London to distance and differentiate himself
:50:24. > :50:32.from the national scene, from pasty tax and charity tax, is the right
:50:32. > :50:35.way? Boris is running to run London. He's not running to run the country.
:50:36. > :50:41.The Conservative candidate to run London and he doesn't want to be
:50:41. > :50:45.seen - I've been a counsellor for 23 years before I came here and it
:50:45. > :50:49.used to annoy me and say it was a referendum on the Government, but
:50:49. > :50:52.it isn't. It's about local people. Not what I've done or what Simon
:50:52. > :50:57.Hughes or anybody else has done. Running London is a pretty big job.
:50:57. > :51:00.You have to lobby Government for a lot of money in transport. It
:51:00. > :51:03.doesn't help if - If the referendums go through they'll have
:51:03. > :51:08.to do the same. It's very difficult to divorce national politics then
:51:08. > :51:13.from, if you like, local politics in terms of the London mayorality,
:51:13. > :51:17.so he's got the right strategy to try to push the national scene
:51:17. > :51:20.aside? I'm not so sure he's doing that, because he's doing a lot of
:51:20. > :51:23.strategies and increasing the police on the beat and building
:51:23. > :51:27.more houses. He's getting employment up. He's doing a really
:51:27. > :51:31.good job for London and I think he needs to continue. If he's doing a
:51:31. > :51:34.really good job, it will be as a result of what has been happening
:51:34. > :51:37.nationally? I don't know about that. It will be what Londoners decide
:51:38. > :51:40.and it's up to them to decide what they're going to do, but I hope
:51:40. > :51:48.they'll vote for him, because London is a much brighter place for
:51:48. > :51:52.the fact that he's there. I really hope that in Scotland people vote
:51:52. > :51:57.for the Scottish issues that are at local levels and in Wales. I think
:51:57. > :52:01.we run it very well. I hope the people will reward us for that.
:52:02. > :52:05.wouldn't you want to be in coalition? It's important that at
:52:05. > :52:09.local elections. In London I'm an MP and I want people to vote for
:52:09. > :52:14.Brian Paddick. You have a second choice, so you can vote on for
:52:14. > :52:19.Boris or Ken. I think there's a case for Brian. He's a police
:52:19. > :52:22.officer. He knows about security. He wants to deliver 360 affordable
:52:22. > :52:27.homes and more money from the banks. Good policies. Absolutely, people
:52:27. > :52:34.should vote for the Mayor. They should vote for the assembly,
:52:34. > :52:39.because it's important. We should vote elsewhere in the country.
:52:39. > :52:43.There are very good candidates. Liberal Democrat counsellors must
:52:44. > :52:47.be thinking, "We're going to prosper from the Government's
:52:47. > :52:51.difficulties, the Conservative Government's difficulties,
:52:51. > :52:56.particularly over Jeremy Hunt." was in Manchester yesterday. There
:52:56. > :52:59.are no Conservative counsellors in Manchester. The same I think is
:52:59. > :53:02.true in Liverpool. But there are many areas where there are, but
:53:02. > :53:06.there are no Tories present. The battle there is between us and
:53:06. > :53:10.Labour. I think we'll do much better than last year. We had a
:53:10. > :53:18.very bad year for obvious reasons. What would be a good result in
:53:18. > :53:25.footish for any of us to predict. You lost nine out of 19 last year.
:53:25. > :53:31.I hope we hold current ones. With a majority, that is. I hope we'll
:53:31. > :53:35.hold the councils that we are running, but I hope that people
:53:35. > :53:38.like in Manchester or in Headingley in Leeds or in Sheffield, where the
:53:38. > :53:42.former leader of the council is defending his seat, I hope people
:53:42. > :53:46.vote for good counsellors who know how to look after their people.
:53:46. > :53:51.Know what is good for their cities. If they do that we'll all think
:53:51. > :53:55.that local Government is working. You think you'll still have 3,000
:53:55. > :54:01.counsellors this time next week? think we'll hold a significant
:54:01. > :54:06.numbers. We are in Government. Like Pauline. Governments always - when
:54:06. > :54:09.Labour they got cut off, unfairly sometimes, because people weren't
:54:09. > :54:12.voting on local issues. Tory counsellors and Lib Dems will lose
:54:12. > :54:17.sometimes their seats for nothing they've done. They could be the
:54:17. > :54:27.best in the world, running the best administration. I take the point.
:54:27. > :54:30.
:54:30. > :54:33.plead to your viewers vote on local issues. I hope they're Liberal
:54:33. > :54:37.Democrats. Do you regret not running for Mayor of London? I've
:54:37. > :54:41.done it once and it's very demanding. I don't regret it,
:54:41. > :54:45.because I'm deputy leader. I think Brian Paddick has run a better
:54:45. > :54:48.campaign than four years ago. impact on the race hasn't been very
:54:48. > :54:52.good. We have a fixed system when you have the one, two choice,
:54:52. > :54:56.because it's not a fully proportional system. I think Brian
:54:56. > :54:59.will do better. I think he's communicated a message, tough on
:54:59. > :55:03.will you and order, pay back for crimes and build more housing and
:55:03. > :55:07.help the young people. I hope people vote. Right. We were going
:55:07. > :55:12.to do something completely different, I warn you. Now, which
:55:12. > :55:18.do you prefer, Angry Birds or draw something? We know the PM is an
:55:18. > :55:21.Angry Birds man and has in fact completed it. He's also a fan of
:55:21. > :55:24.the tablet computer and has a specially adapted one, so he can do
:55:24. > :55:29.business on it. Today, Commons authorities are meeting to decide
:55:29. > :55:34.whether all MPs should be issued with iPads or other tablets. We
:55:34. > :55:40.thought we would let our MP panel get used to them. You can count
:55:40. > :55:44.yourselves lucky we found three. We have three here. Angry Birds is old
:55:44. > :55:54.hat, so if you're an expert on that, I'm sorry. We have loaded up the
:55:54. > :55:57.
:55:57. > :56:02.latest hit, temp run for you three. -- Templerun, for you three. You
:56:02. > :56:07.have to make the little man. Siem son Hughes has already lost. You've
:56:07. > :56:17.-- Simon Hughes has already lost. Yuef gone on. You played this
:56:17. > :56:17.
:56:17. > :56:25.before? -- yuef you've gone on. Have you played this before? I have.
:56:25. > :56:34.You don't get another go. What is your score? Zero. 702. What is your
:56:34. > :56:42.score, Pauline? Nil. Are you sure? I don't know. As always happens -
:56:42. > :56:47.No, 2030. We'll leave Jon to carry on to see if he can answer any of
:56:47. > :56:54.the questions. What do you think of the idea they'll save money and
:56:54. > :56:58.will help MPs in their work? theory they should mean we lose
:56:58. > :57:04.less papers, but with computers we use as much as we did before, so
:57:04. > :57:11.I'm not sure. Although I occasionally use it myself, I'm
:57:11. > :57:15.against people sitting in the House using technology. Have you got one?
:57:15. > :57:20.I have one. You are allowed to use it instead of paper for speeches.
:57:20. > :57:24.You are. Do you use it instead of paper? Do you think it would cut
:57:24. > :57:26.printing costs? Yes. It's a very good thing. I find it useful. I'm
:57:26. > :57:31.on the international development Select Committee and I have to go
:57:31. > :57:38.away and I'm out of the country. To have one is better than a laptop.
:57:38. > :57:44.Much more efficient. You would advocate it? Yes. My score is
:57:44. > :57:49.20,678. What about that? That might be the top score. It's beaten the
:57:49. > :57:53.others. How is the Prime Minister completing Angry Birds? Have you
:57:53. > :57:58.tried it? I've tried it. I can't get past the one where the little
:57:58. > :58:02.pigs have the funny cowboy hats. How on earth has he completed it?
:58:02. > :58:07.Where does he find the time? I've got no idea. You'll try to beat him
:58:07. > :58:12.now. Do you think it would be be good? The proposal is that we'll
:58:12. > :58:20.cut back on the printing of Hansard and the older papers, so it makes a
:58:20. > :58:27.sense. We have to do the quiz answer. I can't remember what it
:58:27. > :58:33.was. What is the interesting item that Michael Gove revealed that
:58:33. > :58:40.Jeremy Hunt had in his house? Cable's book. What does he have?
:58:40. > :58:43.It's a sprung dancefloor, because he's apparently a dab hand at the
:58:43. > :58:46.lambada. He shouldn't be allowed to swerve for this inquiry. Oh, very