:00:47. > :00:50.Good afternoon and welcome to the Daily Politics. Just ten days to go
:00:50. > :00:52.to the greatest show on earth! But big questions still remain about
:00:52. > :00:56.the security arrangements for the Olympic Games. The chief executive
:00:56. > :00:59.of G4S is about to start answering questions from MPs. He could be in
:00:59. > :01:02.for a rough ride after his firm admitted they had failed to recruit
:01:02. > :01:06.enough security staff. But ministers warn that now is not the
:01:06. > :01:09.time for a witch hunt. Could the Olympics provide the shot in the
:01:09. > :01:13.arm that the British economy needs? The Government hopes it will but
:01:13. > :01:16.new data shows the economy is still struggling to get back on track.
:01:16. > :01:21.Can the coalition last until 2015? Can Ed Miliband move further ahead
:01:21. > :01:26.in the polls? It is the end of term, so we will be putting these
:01:26. > :01:29.questions and more to three of Westminster's big hitters. And,
:01:29. > :01:36.what do members of the political elite like to read on their
:01:36. > :01:41.holidays? We'll be talking to the man who has drawn up the definitive
:01:41. > :01:48.reading list for MPs. All that in the next hour. The final hour of
:01:48. > :01:51.the Daily Politics until September. Yes, we're getting ready for a
:01:51. > :01:54.fantastic British summer: We are predicting endless sunshine, Team
:01:54. > :01:58.GB will be topping the medal table, and the economy will return to
:01:59. > :02:01.robust growth. Hold on, that can't be right! Anyway, maybe our panel
:02:01. > :02:05.of MPs today can offer some slightly better predictions for
:02:05. > :02:07.what is in store as we head in to the summer recess. They are the
:02:07. > :02:09.Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal
:02:10. > :02:14.Democrats, Simon Hughes, and the Shadow Energy Secretary, Caroline
:02:14. > :02:17.Flint. Welcome to you all. I guess we should fire the starting gun by
:02:17. > :02:21.talking about the Olympics. With only ten days to go, serious
:02:21. > :02:24.questions are being asked about the security arrangements for the Games.
:02:24. > :02:26.The chief executive of G4S is just starting to give evidence to the
:02:27. > :02:30.Home Affairs Select Committee. He's answering questions from MPs after
:02:30. > :02:36.it emerged that his company had failed to recruit enough security
:02:37. > :02:39.personnel. We'll bring you a bit of what he says later in the show.
:02:40. > :02:49.First though, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, says the row over
:02:50. > :02:50.
:02:50. > :02:57.G4S won't compromise security. is a problem that is being rapidly
:02:57. > :03:03.sorted out. The difficulties really got going round about the turn of
:03:03. > :03:07.the year when we had to double up on the number of security guards.
:03:07. > :03:12.It was always expected the Army would come and we would have the
:03:12. > :03:19.large military contingent. My information is they're working very
:03:19. > :03:21.well with G4S and they are delivering the safe security
:03:21. > :03:24.service. Well, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, was called to the
:03:24. > :03:27.Commons yesterday to answer an urgent question about all this. She
:03:27. > :03:36.started by responding to a series of media allegations made about the
:03:36. > :03:42.G4S row. First it was reported that ministers knew there would be a
:03:42. > :03:48.shortfall in security staff last year. This is untrue. HMI see
:03:48. > :03:52.reported at my request of LOCOG security preparations last
:03:52. > :03:58.September. He reported again in February and reported that LOCOG
:03:58. > :04:04.had plans in place to deliver the required number of security
:04:04. > :04:07.personnel. No specific problems were identified with G4S scheduling.
:04:07. > :04:13.No minister for crime and security attended meetings in which he was
:04:13. > :04:18.told there was a security staff shortage. G4S repeatedly assured us
:04:18. > :04:23.they would overshoot their targets. They have failed to deliver their
:04:23. > :04:28.contractual obligations. We have the finest military personnel in
:04:28. > :04:34.the world. Troops who are willing, ready and able to stepping reckon
:04:34. > :04:37.she calls. We can be sure of their professionalism in delivering a
:04:37. > :04:43.safe and secure Olympic Games. Every mum once the Games to be an
:04:43. > :04:47.outstanding success. -- everyone. We need things back on track after
:04:48. > :04:57.the shambles. Can the Home Secretary tellers how many people
:04:57. > :05:03.she expects G4S to provide? -- tell us. They say it will be 13,000.
:05:03. > :05:08.Based say the vast majority are still in process. -- they save. The
:05:08. > :05:15.Deputy Mayor said, the issue was flagged up repeatedly by both the
:05:15. > :05:21.NPA and the mayor's office for more than a year, two G4S directly, the
:05:21. > :05:26.Olympic Security Board and the Home Office. They have been discussing
:05:26. > :05:32.the short for for nine days. Last Monday, the Home Secretary told her
:05:32. > :05:36.she was confident our partners will deliver. -- short ball. It is
:05:36. > :05:42.incomprehensible that monitoring was that poor that no one told her
:05:42. > :05:48.until Wednesday. How on earth could the Minister responsible for
:05:48. > :05:51.delivering a Olympics security be the only person not to know? I have
:05:51. > :05:56.explained week commissioned reports into their preparedness. They
:05:56. > :06:02.contained recommendations which were acted on. Subject to acting on
:06:02. > :06:09.those recommendations, it was on track to deliver security personnel.
:06:09. > :06:19.Last Wednesday, G4S told us they would be unable to deliver their
:06:19. > :06:20.
:06:20. > :06:25.obligations. That was Theresa May asking questions. Ed Vaizey, it all
:06:25. > :06:30.seems to come down to timing. Is it conceivable that Theresa May only
:06:30. > :06:35.really knew there was a problem last Wednesday? One can examine the
:06:35. > :06:40.timings. We need a safe and secure Olympic Games. Theresa May and
:06:40. > :06:48.LOCOG have made a decision to bring in defence personnel. That is in
:06:48. > :06:51.order to deliver a safe and secure Olympic Games. With all the
:06:51. > :07:00.contingencies for the Olympic Games, there are contingencies in place.
:07:00. > :07:05.You keep monitoring developments as we approach them. You wait. You say,
:07:05. > :07:12.there might be a problem here. You only call on your contingency when
:07:12. > :07:17.it gets to a point way you might need to. There will always be
:07:17. > :07:23.defence personnel helping the Olympics. We have just called in it
:07:23. > :07:26.additional personnel. It still does not answer the question where
:07:26. > :07:31.Yvette Cooper says it is incomprehensible that Theresa May
:07:31. > :07:36.only knew there was a problem last Wednesday. A senior member of the
:07:36. > :07:40.Olympic Security Board was told about this. The question is, at
:07:40. > :07:47.what time to call on the contingency? The problem is such
:07:48. > :07:55.that now is the time to call it in. The problem is now of a nature way
:07:56. > :08:01.you need to call on the contingency. I understand what you are saying.
:08:01. > :08:05.The key point is that on Wednesday the decision was made. It you have
:08:05. > :08:09.answered that marvellously and comprehensively. People should have
:08:09. > :08:13.known about this if there were concerns last year and the
:08:13. > :08:17.Government was doing its job properly. If it was monitoring the
:08:17. > :08:22.progress of how many people were being recruited, we would not have
:08:22. > :08:26.been in this position. It depends on what G4S were telling the
:08:26. > :08:32.Government and organising committee. They are the second largest company
:08:32. > :08:37.in the world - the largest security company in the world. They have one
:08:37. > :08:41.in 10 of the contracts. They should be able to do with good job. They
:08:41. > :08:47.are a reasonable contract had to deliver. I know from constituents
:08:48. > :08:51.and others they do not always do a good job. The really crucial issue
:08:51. > :08:57.is that the Government right fully, it would not have mattered if it
:08:57. > :09:02.were the Labour government or a coalition government, takes action
:09:02. > :09:10.to employ it extra people. You are saying the Home Office basically
:09:10. > :09:16.can put its feet up. Let's answer the question. Theresa May regularly
:09:16. > :09:20.asked the questions and was given information. It seems to me that
:09:20. > :09:26.first and foremost, thank goodness for the police and troops who are
:09:26. > :09:32.going to step in. A number of troops are coming back from
:09:32. > :09:36.Afghanistan. They will step in. They will do there. We are told by
:09:36. > :09:41.the Home Office and Theresa May they were reassured. I wonder if
:09:41. > :09:46.they were asking the right questions. What I would have asked
:09:46. > :09:51.about is, how many people have you got on the books out of the total?
:09:51. > :09:57.How many people have turned up for the training to carry out the
:09:57. > :10:01.security job? In some cases, only 50% of people were turning up for
:10:01. > :10:06.training. For something as big as this commit you would have a team
:10:06. > :10:13.of people acting out what would be the scenarios in terms of things
:10:13. > :10:20.going wrong. You need to ask specifics. It seems Theresa May was
:10:21. > :10:24.not asking specifics. I was not there and did not see the questions
:10:24. > :10:28.that were asked. Ministers and officials and the organising
:10:28. > :10:34.committee would regularly have asked these questions. You cannot
:10:34. > :10:44.imagine he was not passed on a regular basis how many people had
:10:44. > :10:44.
:10:44. > :10:51.come to recruitment, a clearance... My judgment is that they did not
:10:52. > :10:58.tell the truth about what was going on. That is fair enough. They
:10:58. > :11:05.waited till the very last minute to say, I am sorry, we cannot do it.
:11:05. > :11:10.If you ask the questions and those are the answers you get. BBC Surrey
:11:10. > :11:15.understands that only 20 G4S staff turned up when 300 where rigid
:11:15. > :11:25.contracted for various duties. Parties according to the Police
:11:25. > :11:27.
:11:27. > :11:31.Federation in Surrey. -- were originally contracted. It is worth
:11:31. > :11:38.saying that we have taken this decision in the interests of the
:11:38. > :11:45.security of the Games. It was taken in order to secure the Games. The
:11:45. > :11:53.contingency was in place. You have a contingency because if things go
:11:53. > :11:58.wrong, you can correct that. We can talk about who knew what. One of
:11:58. > :12:04.the key problems was the software used by G4S to Schedule the
:12:04. > :12:09.appearance of security guards. That is where the problem started. You
:12:09. > :12:16.move along this process and the closer to Olympics you get, when it
:12:16. > :12:22.comes to a point when it is essential to make the games safe
:12:22. > :12:27.and secure of, you take that decision. All of us, whatever our
:12:27. > :12:32.politics, support the most fantastic project. It is, for
:12:32. > :12:39.London, the most fantastic thing probably we will ever get in our
:12:39. > :12:42.lifetimes. The Army and the police will step in and do us proud.
:12:42. > :12:45.sure. Well, if the Government was hoping the Olympics would be a
:12:45. > :12:48.distraction from the wider problems of the economy, they may be in for
:12:48. > :12:51.a rather nasty shock. Yesterday, the IMF downgraded the Britain's
:12:51. > :12:56.growth prospects saying that it would grow by just 0.2% this year
:12:56. > :13:02.and 1.4% in 2013. Back in the spring they had forecast the
:13:02. > :13:04.economy to grow by 0.8% this year and 2% in 2013. Because growth has
:13:04. > :13:08.fallen in the last two quarters Britain is currently in recession,
:13:08. > :13:13.although the Ernst and Young ITEM Club has forecast we will return to
:13:13. > :13:16.growth in the second half of the year. However they argue that
:13:16. > :13:21.because of the current recession, growth over the course of the year
:13:21. > :13:23.is expected to be zero. What is more, the National Institute for
:13:23. > :13:26.Economic and Social Research published figures last week showing
:13:26. > :13:30.that the UK is trapped in the longest slump in modern history,
:13:30. > :13:35.longer even than that of the 1930s. Today, however, the Government will
:13:35. > :13:38.point to light at the end of the tunnel. This morning's inflation
:13:38. > :13:41.figures show the Consumer Price Index falling to 2.4% in June, down
:13:41. > :13:44.from 2.8% in May and lower than most analysts had expected. With us
:13:44. > :13:54.now is Jonathan Portes from the National Institute of Economic and
:13:54. > :13:55.
:13:55. > :14:01.Social Research. How concerned should be paid by this forecast?
:14:01. > :14:07.The IMF is bringing its forecast into line with those and others
:14:08. > :14:13.have had for some time. The economy is essentially flat. We are not
:14:13. > :14:19.really learning anything new. The economy has essentially been flat
:14:19. > :14:28.for the last 18 months. We have all speculated that would continue for
:14:29. > :14:33.some time. Why has recovery been so slow? The Government titled fiscal
:14:33. > :14:38.policy too fast. The IMF recognises that. Yesterday it said that an
:14:38. > :14:45.appropriate place of tightening would be at half the pace the
:14:45. > :14:50.Government did. Second of course, the wider economic environment -
:14:50. > :14:56.the global environment - has also been downbeat. People in the
:14:56. > :15:04.eurozone have made similar policy mistakes. We have also had a period
:15:04. > :15:10.of high oil prices. Really the deficit reduction plan has not been
:15:10. > :15:15.the right way to get recovery. IMF has downgraded forecasts for
:15:15. > :15:19.the whole eurozone. It has predicted Britain will grow faster
:15:19. > :15:24.than the eurozone. Some of the numbers are looking very good.
:15:24. > :15:30.Inflation has come down. It is hoped unemployment figures will be
:15:30. > :15:35.geared as well. We are creating private sector jobs. We are cutting
:15:35. > :15:42.income tax and corporation tax. There is a lot of good news going
:15:42. > :15:47.on in terms of the economy. We all know the global crisis. That is not
:15:47. > :15:56.what was said. The IMF has continually supported the deficit
:15:56. > :16:02.reduction plan. We are borrowing at around 1.7%. That is one of the
:16:02. > :16:07.lowest among developing countries. Let me put that back to Jonathan.
:16:07. > :16:12.That has been one thing the Government has shouted most loudly
:16:12. > :16:18.about. Our debt is affordable. We're not having to pay super high
:16:18. > :16:28.interest rates. That is what has kept Britain that lining but not to
:16:28. > :16:31.
:16:31. > :16:35.It is very good news that we can borrow at low rates. We can now
:16:35. > :16:44.borrow at the lowest real interest rates in recorded economic history.
:16:44. > :16:50.We have a lot of unemployed people, and a housing shortage. It is not
:16:50. > :16:55.rocket science. Would that be a policy would support?
:16:55. > :16:59.Government yesterday announced a spending planned on railways. We
:16:59. > :17:03.start now, it is a five-year plan, and it is the most capital
:17:03. > :17:08.effective way of getting the economy going. There will be an
:17:08. > :17:14.announcement after the summer holidays on housing. Jonathan's
:17:14. > :17:19.main critique was that we were too tough in what we did in 2010. At
:17:19. > :17:25.the time, all the advice was that it you are not tough in the UK,
:17:25. > :17:30.you're likely to be having the same problems as your neighbours. That
:17:30. > :17:36.was wrong? No, that was the advice that other countries were going
:17:36. > :17:42.down the plughole. There have been some adverse consequences but we
:17:42. > :17:47.have been gradually pulling through. If we gradually begin to build, if
:17:47. > :17:53.we continue to see unemployment drop, keep inflation down as well,
:17:53. > :17:57.we will be in a much better place. But we were promised the deficit
:17:57. > :18:06.reduction plan, the cuts were going to create better outcomes and we
:18:06. > :18:11.have not seen that. Some of these decisions about improving railway
:18:11. > :18:17.lines were decisions taken by the last government. They were stopped
:18:17. > :18:21.and delayed, and now rehashed. Many of these will not happen until
:18:21. > :18:27.after the next general election, and this is what is worrying. We
:18:27. > :18:30.could repeat the tax, we could build more homes, and helped to get
:18:30. > :18:36.more unemployed people back into work.
:18:36. > :18:41.The Alistair Darling plan would not have deferred that much at the
:18:41. > :18:46.point we are at now, do you agree with that? The forecast before the
:18:46. > :18:51.election was to cut the deficit by a quarter by about now, and that is
:18:51. > :18:56.indeed what has happened. Unfortunately, part of that has
:18:56. > :19:03.been extra cuts matched by extra spending because of the
:19:03. > :19:08.consequences of this prolonged lack of recovery. Simon has got the
:19:08. > :19:13.economics quite wrong. People who understood the crisis, people like
:19:13. > :19:21.Martin Wolf, the economics editor of the Financial Times, they said
:19:21. > :19:30.quite clearly it was not sensible. Unfortunately there was the mistake
:19:30. > :19:38.the government made. If you put to economists in a room, you will get
:19:38. > :19:43.different opinions. Geoffrey Howe was attacked when he was
:19:43. > :19:48.implementing in the 1980s. But the government promised recovery and
:19:48. > :19:54.that it would wipe out the deficit and it hasn't been able to do that.
:19:54. > :19:58.Businesses can't get money... have announced investment in rail
:19:58. > :20:04.infrastructure, we will be announcing housing programmes in
:20:04. > :20:12.the autumn, there is a lot going on. Jonathan is perfectly entitled to
:20:12. > :20:17.come here and spout his own political philosophy, but to say
:20:17. > :20:24.there is ridiculous. You have to look at the facts. Hang on a second,
:20:24. > :20:30.you have had your say. Britain is the only advanced economy to see a
:20:30. > :20:34.major down provision since the spring. You know that part of the
:20:34. > :20:39.effect on our economic recovery is that the eurozone is in recession,
:20:39. > :20:44.we trade with Europe. We have seen China's growth figures coming down,
:20:44. > :20:54.bad figures for the United States. We have a recession made in Downing
:20:54. > :20:58.
:20:58. > :21:03.Street. We have reassured the markets, infrastructure investment
:21:03. > :21:10.as well. The would it be so different under Labour? If you
:21:10. > :21:18.think about the Alistair Darling plan, it was also about cutting the
:21:18. > :21:23.deficit. Of course it was about cutting the deficit, we said we
:21:23. > :21:26.would cut it in half over the parliament. They made that choice,
:21:26. > :21:32.and in order to meet their choice they decided on an austerity
:21:32. > :21:36.programme which has sucked the life out of our economy. I know my own
:21:36. > :21:42.area of businesses who have got order books which are full, but
:21:42. > :21:46.they can't get loans from the banks to meet their orders. We have a
:21:46. > :21:51.million young people out of work, and the government also took the
:21:51. > :22:01.decision to delay and stopped what I would call some shove already
:22:01. > :22:04.
:22:04. > :22:11.projects to go ahead to build jobs and growth. These will not be
:22:11. > :22:16.happening until after the next general election. Ed Vaizey...
:22:16. > :22:21.real scandal... The you are pointing at Simon Hughes, your
:22:21. > :22:26.coalition party. Is there a real risk to loosening fiscal policy
:22:26. > :22:33.now? You talked about the railways announcement, but something that is
:22:33. > :22:37.more immediate, spending money, the stimulus, wouldn't the Liberal
:22:37. > :22:44.Democrats support that? That is why you will hear an announcement in
:22:44. > :22:49.September to get the housing investment. We have seen the car
:22:49. > :22:54.industry producing a surplus of cars for the UK. The Government is
:22:54. > :22:58.clear that it is pulling every lever to do that. There is no
:22:58. > :23:03.complacency in any part of the country in the UK. We could have
:23:03. > :23:07.made a different judgment in 2010. No one would have predicted we
:23:07. > :23:13.would have such a difficult position. Growth has been slower
:23:13. > :23:17.but it is beginning to turn the corner. It sounds lovely, we look
:23:17. > :23:20.forward to the next few months. England and Wales is bigger than we
:23:20. > :23:22.thought. Well, the population is. According to the first set of
:23:22. > :23:25.results from last year's census, which were released yesterday,
:23:25. > :23:28.there are 56.1 million people living here now. That's an increase
:23:28. > :23:31.of 7% in the last ten years. And the Office for National Statistics
:23:31. > :23:35.say that more than half of the increase is down to immigration,
:23:35. > :23:42.which has sparked a fresh round of debate about the subject. A debate
:23:42. > :23:50.that Adam is going to carry on out on College Green. We have some big
:23:50. > :23:54.numbers to chew over this afternoon. We have a representative from the
:23:54. > :24:01.Campaign Group, migration watch. This will come as no surprise to
:24:01. > :24:07.you, these numbers? It didn't. If anything, they were larger than we
:24:07. > :24:12.thought they would be. The problem is not just the numbers, it is the
:24:12. > :24:17.fact that we are over the next 15 years going to be adding 5 million
:24:17. > :24:27.plus people to the population, that means needed and the facilities you
:24:27. > :24:28.
:24:28. > :24:30.will find in the big cities. Are we planning for that? I don't think so.
:24:30. > :24:35.Have these new figures really changed the debate at all? It
:24:35. > :24:42.sounds like it hasn't. It is a big number, and it will take a real
:24:42. > :24:46.effort in terms of planning and so on. The rate of growth is the same
:24:46. > :24:53.it has been throughout our history. Secondly, if you look at different
:24:53. > :24:57.parts of the country and, the picture is very different. If you
:24:57. > :25:02.look at the north, they face the very different challenge is to the
:25:02. > :25:08.south. We should not start by thinking a growing population is a
:25:08. > :25:12.bad thing. More people paying more taxes. That is a good thing. If you
:25:12. > :25:18.look at the countries whose population is shrinking, they are
:25:18. > :25:24.worried about that. To the problem is not the number, just the spread?
:25:24. > :25:28.A no, it is the numbers. If you look at immigration numbers, that
:25:28. > :25:33.is totally unprecedented. We are talking about a quarter of a
:25:33. > :25:37.million net, that has never happened before. Of course
:25:37. > :25:45.immigration is great, but not at this sort of level where you have
:25:45. > :25:47.got to think about jobs, housing, services, roads. What happened
:25:47. > :25:52.yesterday in the south-east with the chock-a-block roads, you had
:25:52. > :25:58.better get used to that. That wasn't because if immigration.
:25:59. > :26:03.Exactly, we had a massive number at one time. If you get the sort of
:26:03. > :26:07.immigration we have been getting over the last 15 years, that is
:26:07. > :26:17.what you will face every day without the Olympics. Matthew, your
:26:17. > :26:20.
:26:20. > :26:24.case got helped by the report showing what would happen is
:26:25. > :26:31.migration stopped altogether. extra workers in the economy,
:26:32. > :26:36.whether they are born abroad or here, will obviously help. Some
:26:36. > :26:41.will say that those immigrants get older, so it is not a long-term
:26:41. > :26:46.solution. That is right, but in the short term we are agreed our
:26:46. > :26:51.priority is getting down the deficit, so is now the time to be
:26:51. > :26:58.cutting down on extra workers from abroad? I'm sure you'll agree, it
:26:58. > :27:03.is a bit mad we have to wait for such a long time to find out how
:27:03. > :27:08.big the population is. That's right, but we have been saying all along
:27:08. > :27:14.these are the numbers we can get, so you can project and you can't
:27:14. > :27:18.plan for it. What has not happened so far is that planning. It is all
:27:18. > :27:23.very well to say people will generate activity in the economy,
:27:23. > :27:29.that is a good thing, of course it is, but on the other hand we have
:27:29. > :27:36.unemployment rates at the moment of over 2 million unemployed, youth
:27:36. > :27:41.unemployment running at 20%. Is this the time to be saying yes, we
:27:41. > :27:46.need even more immigration? I don't think so. Another interesting fact
:27:46. > :27:51.that came out of the census data released yesterday is that the UK
:27:51. > :28:00.is the third most densely populated country in the EU after mortar and
:28:00. > :28:02.the Netherlands. -- Malta. For some in Government
:28:02. > :28:04.the summer break probably hasn't come round quickly enough...
:28:04. > :28:08.Economic woes, coalition in- fighting, Labour ahead in the polls,
:28:08. > :28:11.and of course that Olympic security headache. So how did we get here?
:28:11. > :28:14.Giles has been looking back over the last few months. They say a
:28:14. > :28:19.week is a long time in politics so the last few months have seen an
:28:19. > :28:24.age. Storm clouds have gathered, tectonic plates have been shifting.
:28:24. > :28:28.A few months ago, something Labour were concerned about their man at
:28:28. > :28:33.the top. The coalition have forced through tricky health reforms,
:28:33. > :28:38.getting on with government, but basically the ship of state seemed
:28:38. > :28:45.on keel. Today there was a quiet confidence in Labour. Recent pm
:28:45. > :28:53.queues performances have a more relaxed Ed Miliband, a more
:28:53. > :28:58.irritable Prime Minister. This is not have -- not just the rise of
:28:58. > :29:02.Labour. The coalition has gone off course. It is OK to take wise
:29:02. > :29:07.choices if you are competent, give the impression you are not and
:29:07. > :29:12.people will change their minds. They are arrogant posh boys who
:29:12. > :29:21.show no remorse, no contrition no passion to one to understand other
:29:21. > :29:30.people's lives. That Budget - if he had known, and why didn't he know?
:29:30. > :29:37.Asked his opponents, would he have smiled so what? It is one thing
:29:37. > :29:43.cooking up tax breaks, but then spending weeks you turning on
:29:43. > :29:48.pastis and fuel. Where had a collective discussion... That sort
:29:48. > :29:53.of thing burns holes in your credibility. Four weeks on from the
:29:53. > :30:03.Budget, even people in Downing Street are calling it a shambles
:30:03. > :30:06.
:30:06. > :30:11.budget. Add to that, a horse, Rebecca, Andy Coulson... Though
:30:11. > :30:15.most are more concerned about the lack of money than Leveson, it
:30:15. > :30:19.hasn't helped. The banking crisis and the Barclays scandal have seen
:30:19. > :30:25.bitter exchanges with each side keen to destroy the economic
:30:25. > :30:29.reputation of the other, descending into a personal boxing match.
:30:29. > :30:33.has impugned my integrity. Coalitions have tension, it is not
:30:34. > :30:43.new, but having lost the referendum, Nick Clegg has put his finger on
:30:44. > :30:46.
:30:46. > :30:50.what he wants more than anyone - I also know there will be those who
:30:51. > :30:57.are not interested in rational discussion, opposing whatever
:30:57. > :31:06.reform in whatever century. wranglings have left a chasm
:31:06. > :31:15.between right-wingers and grassrootss -- grassroots Lib Dems.
:31:15. > :31:20.On both sides there would be far less to benefit. Joining us now is
:31:20. > :31:26.the Sun's political commentator. What is urinalysis of the
:31:26. > :31:33.difficulties facing David Cameron? They seem to come on every front -
:31:33. > :31:39.the coalition, George Osborne, the budget, the economy, Europe - and
:31:39. > :31:44.it is immigration. I am not sure he has the answer to any of those to
:31:44. > :31:49.satisfy the voters. You have suggested that getting rid of
:31:49. > :31:53.George Osborne as Chancellor would help. Isn't he one of the stars of
:31:53. > :31:58.the Government and the right hand man to David Cameron? I am not
:31:58. > :32:05.saying he should go. I am saying he should be required to concentrate
:32:05. > :32:13.on one of ah job only. He needs to be the full-time Chancellor. -- one
:32:13. > :32:19.job only. He is also spending a lot of time politicking. He is
:32:19. > :32:25.combining the two when it comes to attacking Ed Balls, in my view, in
:32:25. > :32:29.a way that backfired on him. The budget was a car crash. They spent
:32:29. > :32:34.the next several weeks doing U- turns to try to get away from the
:32:34. > :32:40.brick wall. Either he has to concentrate on one job or find
:32:40. > :32:46.another job. Should he focus on being Chancellor rather than also
:32:46. > :32:50.being a strategic mind within the Government? That label from Labour,
:32:50. > :32:56.Ed Miliband, the part-time Chancellor, has stuck. George
:32:56. > :33:03.Osborne is a very successful Chancellor. He is brilliant. Every
:33:03. > :33:10.senior politician in the coalition is also a political strategist.
:33:10. > :33:16.in any way that George Osborne is. Other Cabinet ministers will
:33:16. > :33:23.contribute. George Osborne is a consummate politician. It is a myth.
:33:24. > :33:29.I do not know where it comes from. The Budget was a success.
:33:30. > :33:35.amount of time he puts in is a factor. The Budget was a success,
:33:35. > :33:40.the U-turns that came afterwards. Let's take it as a whole. It has
:33:40. > :33:45.been very successful. We have done a great many things to put the
:33:45. > :33:52.economy back on track. There is nothing wrong with the Budget, it
:33:52. > :33:58.is the handling of it. The U-turn is that followed it were
:33:58. > :34:04.unnecessary. They were not carefully thought through. When
:34:04. > :34:10.negotiation for U-turn took place, it was bungled. They were
:34:10. > :34:15.constantly in reverse. The point is, the opinion polls by Andrew Cooper
:34:15. > :34:25.show all the things I have been saying. Why don't you just face the
:34:25. > :34:25.
:34:26. > :34:33.facts? In an opinion poll today, Conservative support went up.
:34:33. > :34:38.has plunged. That cannot be good, however much you dress it up.
:34:38. > :34:44.are in the middle of a government during an extremely difficult
:34:44. > :34:51.economic period. You do not expect the normal rules. Certain Neath
:34:51. > :34:56.they want to change. That is fine. What about your prognosis?
:34:56. > :35:01.coalition depends not on David Cameron and Nick Clegg, it depends
:35:01. > :35:07.on their troops. What to have been the ranks of the Conservative Party
:35:07. > :35:11.is a lot of unhappiness. -- you have. When Graham Brady has his
:35:11. > :35:16.finger on the pulse of all the views and thoughts of backbenchers
:35:16. > :35:24.and when he starts talking about the early demise of the coalition,
:35:24. > :35:30.I think it is in danger. Boris Johnson has said it is doomed to
:35:30. > :35:34.succeed. Is Lords reform dead in the water? I think so. If it is
:35:34. > :35:39.dead in the water, the Liberal Democrats were not get their way.
:35:39. > :35:46.Hardly any wonder that Nick Clegg feels somewhat lobotomised by the
:35:46. > :35:51.Government. I do not think he does. The budget fundamentally was very
:35:51. > :35:58.good. Pit tip poor people at attacks. What was frustrating is
:35:58. > :36:03.that we did try to persuade the Chancellor it was not a moment to
:36:03. > :36:10.talk about income-tax. I understand why it was turned in economic terms
:36:10. > :36:14.but politically it was a bad call. It was a coalition government
:36:14. > :36:19.budget. The coalition will stay for five years, that was the deal.
:36:19. > :36:28.Everything so far we have agreed has been delivered. Every issue
:36:28. > :36:33.that has come up, some have come from the Tory manifesto... It had
:36:33. > :36:39.338 majority. It was one of the larger second readings of any
:36:39. > :36:44.political reform bill ever. There has to be work done to get the
:36:44. > :36:48.Tories on board. They do have to deliver. The leadership of the Tory
:36:48. > :36:54.Party, from the Prime Minister down, understands that is part of the
:36:54. > :36:57.deal. Coming back as to whether people are willing to deliver Tory
:36:57. > :37:03.MPs, what do you say to the criticism that it was the wrong
:37:03. > :37:07.time to do that? I would not say it either in public or privately I
:37:07. > :37:16.disagreed with the top rate of tax. It is important that Britain sends
:37:16. > :37:21.the signal. Coalition partners did not agree. We argued the case and
:37:21. > :37:28.in the end you need to do a deal. lot of people were taking out of
:37:28. > :37:33.income tax. Treasure -- Trevor has criticised it but the fundamental
:37:33. > :37:39.approach has been delivered by a very effective Chancellor. He is
:37:39. > :37:47.fantastic for the UK economy and very well suspect -- respected
:37:47. > :37:52.abroad and internationally. Trevor Kavanagh does nothing kit will be
:37:52. > :38:01.delivered. The other day I had a conversation with George Osborne on
:38:01. > :38:05.this very subject. The reality is that, with seven changes, for
:38:05. > :38:10.example to protect the House of Commons and MPs from what is seen
:38:10. > :38:18.to be a threat by a second chamber, Tories can be reassured and it can
:38:18. > :38:22.be delivered. What about a liberal/Labour coalition? We have
:38:23. > :38:27.had the Liberal Democrat saying there will be some fracturing in
:38:27. > :38:33.the year before the election. You cannot rule out a coalition with
:38:33. > :38:38.Labour. The issue only arises at the next general election and
:38:38. > :38:44.afterwards. The coalition I want with Caroline and her colleagues
:38:44. > :38:54.progresses the Lords reforms I have been talking about. If Labour does
:38:54. > :38:54.
:38:54. > :38:58.not do that, you can expect -- expect any possibility of coalition.
:38:58. > :39:02.One problem for the Government is that the public is confused about
:39:03. > :39:07.what the motivation of this government is and where it is going.
:39:07. > :39:11.Was to talk about the tax cuts, will sit to people in terms of
:39:11. > :39:16.income tax, we know that tax credits will reduce and money was
:39:16. > :39:20.given back to millionairess from tax cuts. We have unravelling from
:39:20. > :39:24.other issues. Discussion was about where people laugh. They are very
:39:24. > :39:29.worried about the future. A lot of people in work have had to take
:39:29. > :39:35.cuts in hours and pay has been frozen. The overall cost of living
:39:35. > :39:39.have gone up. They fear this government is not in touch with
:39:39. > :39:44.that. Whatever the positives about that, it was completely lost by all
:39:44. > :39:49.the other things going on that have affected, I think, the sense of
:39:49. > :39:58.what is his government about, is it in touch with daily lives by the
:39:58. > :40:03.public. When the cost of living and jobs are on the line, that is a
:40:03. > :40:07.worrying. Is the public convinced by Ed Miliband? In the last year, I
:40:07. > :40:10.think what we have seen is a situation develop where some of the
:40:10. > :40:15.things that Ed Miliband has said coming up to party conference
:40:16. > :40:22.season, he has talked about the squeezed middle, he was harangued
:40:22. > :40:24.over those issues. The sense of what he was tapping into, the
:40:24. > :40:28.concern has improvement in the mind of the public. We're getting a
:40:28. > :40:36.hearing now in the way we were not this time last year. Full credit to
:40:36. > :40:38.Ed Miliband for doing that. Thank you very much. Well, as we
:40:38. > :40:41.mentioned earlier, the chief executive of G4S, Nick Buckles, has
:40:41. > :40:44.been answering questions from MPs on the Home Affairs Select
:40:44. > :40:46.Committee. He is still being grilled, in fact, about the failure
:40:46. > :40:52.of G4S to recruit enough security staff for the Olympics. Let's
:40:52. > :40:58.listen to some of what he's been saying. Many will take the view the
:40:58. > :41:03.reputation of the company is in tatters. You would not agree.
:41:03. > :41:07.think, at the moment, I would have to agree with you. We have had a
:41:07. > :41:12.fantastic track record of service delivery over many years in many
:41:12. > :41:16.countries. Clearly this is not a good position to be in. We feel we
:41:16. > :41:22.have to make every endeavour to deliver as well as we can honour
:41:22. > :41:28.his contract. It is a humiliating shambles, isn't it? It is not where
:41:28. > :41:34.we want to be. It is a humiliating shambles for the company, yes or
:41:34. > :41:44.no? I cannot disagree with you. would not have thought he wrote.
:41:44. > :41:50.
:41:50. > :41:56.You say you were notified, because you are overall boss, on 3rd July.
:41:56. > :42:05.You knew what was coming up. You knew very well - everyone the first
:42:05. > :42:09.and foremost when the Olympics where due to begin. How is it
:42:09. > :42:19.possible that all these problems accumulated and add to you, the
:42:19. > :42:19.
:42:19. > :42:23.overall boss, was only told on 3rd July? -- and that you. Weren't you
:42:24. > :42:30.progress chasing? Weren't you asking constantly your colleagues
:42:30. > :42:35.what was happening? What world are you living in? Trying to explain
:42:35. > :42:43.the process we went through, we had a weekly monitoring process for
:42:43. > :42:49.both parties - very open - about the process. We started out with
:42:49. > :42:56.1000 people during June and we had to build up to 10,000 people for
:42:57. > :43:02.the Olympics. We had a massive pipeline of 20,000 people working
:43:02. > :43:06.towards July. It was about how many people we were getting ready. Not a
:43:06. > :43:16.case of having them on the ground and knowingly had a shortage. It
:43:16. > :43:17.
:43:17. > :43:25.was about having an active pipeline. Simon Hughes, he said it and agreed,
:43:25. > :43:32.it is a humiliating shambles. They're the second largest security
:43:32. > :43:38.company in the world. There are lessons to be learned. The select
:43:38. > :43:42.committee system is doing the job it is now intended to do. You get
:43:42. > :43:46.parliamentarians of all parties. Later at the issues about public
:43:46. > :43:50.sector contracts for the private sector, and I think there are lots
:43:50. > :43:56.of questions about human rights of companies who governments engage,
:43:56. > :44:01.about whether they pay their taxes properly. I think a lot of them do
:44:01. > :44:05.not. There are a whole set of issues. Are they capable to
:44:05. > :44:12.deliver? The reality is we have a public sector that is always able
:44:12. > :44:15.to intervene when necessary in times of emergency. We have heard
:44:15. > :44:23.your big defence of the Government over this. Was it a mistake to give
:44:23. > :44:28.the entire security contractor G4S? We can deal with the fall-out of
:44:28. > :44:35.what the chief executive has described. With 20/20 hindsight,
:44:35. > :44:43.you can say what you like. At the time they got the contract, no one
:44:43. > :44:48.can say it was the wrong thing to do. It would strike me strange to
:44:48. > :44:53.have it with three or four companies. G4S should be a great
:44:53. > :44:59.success story. It grew out of Britain. You have a chief executive
:44:59. > :45:03.quite rightly eating humble pie about what happened. As I keep
:45:04. > :45:08.saying, the key is to deliver a safe Olympic Games. We know that.
:45:08. > :45:18.Should there be a cooling off period? Should they be allowed to
:45:18. > :45:23.
:45:23. > :45:28.bid for other major public-sector Big black Francis Maude have done a
:45:28. > :45:35.good job, and I am sure they will have a view on the appropriate
:45:36. > :45:41.thing to do. I think it is too soon to say. The have got to deal with
:45:41. > :45:48.these things on the evidence, and that will not emerge for some time.
:45:48. > :45:52.I was speaking to Danny Alexander last night, about making sure where
:45:52. > :45:57.much more rigorous in how we deliver public sector procurement.
:45:57. > :46:02.We have not been tough enough. you agree with that, Caroline
:46:02. > :46:11.Flint? In terms of the public- sector, you are relieved we have
:46:11. > :46:14.one to stand in. Do you think there should be a cooling-off? I think
:46:14. > :46:19.what is important here is that we deal with the situation with them
:46:19. > :46:24.in regard to how they have dealt with the Olympics, and afterwards
:46:24. > :46:28.there will need to be some discussions about how what was
:46:28. > :46:31.monitored because there have been massive contract in many government
:46:31. > :46:37.departments. I don't think a company should have a limit on how
:46:37. > :46:43.many contracts it has, but is the rigour in how they can deliver
:46:43. > :46:49.these contracts? That will be a discussion that has to take place
:46:49. > :46:59.after we have had the most successful Olympics ever. There
:46:59. > :46:59.
:46:59. > :47:04.will be lessons to learn across government procurement. There are
:47:04. > :47:12.some fantastic private sector examples of delivering contracts,
:47:13. > :47:19.but sometimes that is done at the expense of the public sector.
:47:19. > :47:25.you be happy for G4S to do the security at party conferences?
:47:25. > :47:29.Everybody will now... G4S will be doubly scrutinised by everybody,
:47:29. > :47:36.but the important principle is that government needs to improve the way
:47:36. > :47:40.it places its contracts and monitors them, which it is doing.
:47:40. > :47:50.MPs are busy getting ready for their summer holidays, were the
:47:50. > :48:07.
:48:07. > :48:10.only tough decision will be what to read whilst lazing on the beach.
:48:10. > :48:13.For those who want to show off by the pool they can immerse
:48:13. > :48:17.themselves in all 736 pages of "The Passage to Power". This is volume
:48:17. > :48:20.four of Robert Caro's magnum opus on the life of Lyndon Johnson and
:48:20. > :48:23.certainly not for the faint hearted. Then there's "The New Few", written
:48:23. > :48:26.by Ferdinand Mount, who argues that power and wealth in Britain is held
:48:26. > :48:29.in the hands of a small elite ruling class. That's the same
:48:29. > :48:34.Ferdinand Mount who used to work for the Conservative Party and
:48:34. > :48:37.who's cousin is David Cameron's Mum. For those who are finding coalition
:48:37. > :48:39.politics a struggle Mr Simpson suggests reading "Five Days in
:48:39. > :48:42.London", a book that charts Winston Churchill's difficulties holding
:48:42. > :48:44.everything together in the dark days of 1940, and think themselves
:48:45. > :48:47.lucky. And for those who want something a little lighter they
:48:47. > :48:50.could try Sandra Howard's latest called "Ex Wives". The wife of
:48:50. > :48:52.Michael Howard has written a novel described as a "story of a
:48:53. > :48:54.complicated set of relationships and lovers which should interest
:48:54. > :48:57.many parliamentarians". Finally George Osborne's wife Frances
:48:57. > :49:00.Osborne has written a new book called "Park Lane", set at the
:49:00. > :49:03.beginning of the first world war it's a novel that deals with
:49:03. > :49:08.conflicts in the class system. I wonder where she gets her ideas
:49:08. > :49:14.from? Keith Simpson is with us now. 50 shades of grey is not on there,
:49:14. > :49:23.but we won't talk about that. quite happy to. My wife is reading
:49:23. > :49:28.that book she is quite bored by that. I am asking the questions, Ed
:49:28. > :49:32.Vaizey! Have you read for them? very large proportion of them.
:49:32. > :49:39.William Hague said to the foreign affairs team that they should be
:49:40. > :49:44.doing some summer reading about four years ago. A number of
:49:44. > :49:52.colleagues then said to me can you let us have them? I think it is a
:49:52. > :49:57.very nice idea. Most of them are political, aren't they? Yes, most
:49:57. > :50:02.on conflict, a few novels as you pointed out at the end. Should
:50:02. > :50:09.there be some more light and shade in there? Some novels away from
:50:09. > :50:13.politics? If people want to have the more lighter ones, that is fine.
:50:13. > :50:17.Most colleagues at some stage over the summer holidays tend to read
:50:18. > :50:22.one big heavy book of some kind because to be fair many of them
:50:22. > :50:28.don't have the time when Parliament is sitting. That has been the
:50:28. > :50:34.objective, to give people a whole series of books, some of which are
:50:34. > :50:40.perhaps relevant today. If the coalition things it has problems,
:50:40. > :50:45.think about what they were going through in the summer of 1940.
:50:45. > :50:55.Something you can draw comfort from then. This is wonderful, I have to
:50:55. > :50:57.
:50:57. > :51:03.say. Are you giving it to the Lib Dems? I have won in a shiny cover.
:51:03. > :51:08.She gets a brown envelope! For most of the year, Arnside recess, you
:51:08. > :51:15.just don't have time. There are some colleagues who walk around
:51:15. > :51:21.with a book under their arm. Some of them do it! If you have a big
:51:21. > :51:27.heavy tome to read, what Linby? my stairs at home, I have about
:51:27. > :51:33.seven books waiting. I will take as many of those as I can. I want to
:51:33. > :51:43.read some books on Tibet and China, and about some struggles which are
:51:43. > :51:50.
:51:50. > :51:54.much more worrying than ours. lined up, Ed Vaizey? Yes, the great
:51:54. > :52:02.thing about this book is it is beautifully written. He began
:52:02. > :52:06.writing it in the early 1980s, but he interview people then who are
:52:06. > :52:12.now dead, but using it for the later volumes. Caroline, do you
:52:12. > :52:19.have more time to read now that you are not the minister? I do get to
:52:19. > :52:25.read more in the recesses, but I do like to last thing at night the
:52:25. > :52:29.Reading, and I tend to avoid the overtly political books. I like
:52:29. > :52:39.history books and I like novels. I have just finished reading the
:52:39. > :52:50.
:52:50. > :52:55.Sambourne novel. I am into everything Scandinavian at the
:52:55. > :53:01.moment. Having done the Stig Larsson in one of the summer
:53:01. > :53:07.recesses, have saved Joe for this summer. Final thought from you,
:53:07. > :53:16.which would you recommend as your top book? If undoubtedly Robert
:53:16. > :53:19.Caro because it is about the pursuit and acquisition of power
:53:19. > :53:22.and most politicians are interested in that.
:53:22. > :53:25.Time now for something completely different. If G4S's staff turn up
:53:25. > :53:29.to work this week, one of their tasks will be to stop banned items
:53:29. > :53:32.getting into the Olympic Park and other venues. So what will the
:53:32. > :53:36.security industry's finest be looking for on their X-ray machines
:53:36. > :53:39.to stop spectators smuggling in? We've borrowed Bruce Forsyth's
:53:39. > :53:43.conveyor belt to help you try to remember what to leave at home on
:53:43. > :53:49.games days and in a moment we'll ask our guests to see how many they
:53:49. > :53:51.can name. Simon, Caroline, Ed, just take a look at the big screen.
:53:51. > :53:56.You'll see the banned items moving along the conveyor belt. Afterwards
:53:56. > :54:03.we'll see how many you can remember. Are you ready? Let's start the
:54:03. > :54:09.conveyor belt. And on the Daily Politics "banned
:54:09. > :54:11.at the olympics conveyer belt", we have... A set of balls, a tennis
:54:11. > :54:13.racket, a frisbee, large flags, banners, item of clothing with a
:54:13. > :54:16.political statement, item of clothing with commercial signage,
:54:16. > :54:19.an oversized ha, large golf style umbrella, long lens camera - not
:54:19. > :54:29.banned in the photography area, excessive food, a noise maker,
:54:29. > :54:38.
:54:38. > :54:41.liquid greater than 100ml. So, Ed, Simon and Caroline. That's what
:54:41. > :54:51.spectators have to remember. Let's see how many you can recall. Good
:54:51. > :54:54.
:54:55. > :55:04.luck with this. We'll give you 30 seconds Starting now! T-shirts with
:55:05. > :55:06.
:55:06. > :55:16.political slogans. Excessive food, a large umbrella. Noise makers.
:55:16. > :55:16.
:55:16. > :55:21.Liquid over 100 ml. Excessive food. Flags, banners. Tennis rackets.
:55:21. > :55:29.Excessive liquid. The there are just a couple you are missing.
:55:29. > :55:38.Tennis balls, tennis rackets. Frisbee. Something close to our
:55:38. > :55:43.industry. Long-lens cameras. you do the clothing? I said both, I
:55:43. > :55:53.said commercial as well. I'm very impressed, you got every single one
:55:53. > :55:53.
:55:54. > :55:58.of them. If we have an even wider coalition, see what we can deliver.
:55:58. > :56:03.He will now be delivering our tickets. For are you going to any
:56:03. > :56:09.of the events? I haven't got any tickets. I tried to, but I didn't
:56:09. > :56:14.get any. I have Football Final tickets and Paralympics opening
:56:14. > :56:21.ceremony tickets. That is through the system. You did well! What
:56:21. > :56:28.about you? Beach volleyball. There is a surprise. New and most of the
:56:28. > :56:34.House of Commons. The my wife was in charge of the ticketing, so...
:56:34. > :56:44.So does that mean you have got some spare? We have four beach
:56:44. > :56:46.
:56:46. > :56:50.volleyball tickets. I hate to go back... Ed Vaizey has verbal
:56:50. > :56:58.diarrhoea. I hate to go back briefly to the seriousness of the
:56:58. > :57:06.Olympics but do you think it will field two security heavy? No, No. I
:57:06. > :57:10.hope not is the obvious answer. know people are very enthusiastic.
:57:10. > :57:17.We did better than we might have done in the European football
:57:17. > :57:25.championships, and people remember the medals, the successes. What is
:57:25. > :57:31.wrong with an oversized hat? That is because people behind you can't
:57:32. > :57:38.see anything. As Rooprai, the sun will be shining, but an oversized
:57:38. > :57:42.hat, I think I would be a bit miffed if I was sat behind that.
:57:42. > :57:52.The food and drink is obviously just because they want you to spend
:57:52. > :57:53.
:57:53. > :57:58.a fortune. If you go to any concert they stop alcohol coming in. Almost
:57:58. > :58:06.I can't bring the tennis racket in. A mouse you are needed on the
:58:06. > :58:12.court! What about the traffic lanes, do you think they will get on
:58:12. > :58:19.people's nerves? Aren't there are some issues about the markings of
:58:19. > :58:28.the lanes, getting on people's nerves? You can do a story every
:58:28. > :58:34.single day and I'm sure there will be. I came to Doncaster, we had
:58:34. > :58:41.then Parkinson and everyone was very excited, but these kids had
:58:41. > :58:47.made their torches and they loved it. It is the legacy of
:58:47. > :58:54.regenerating that part of London. You get the final word. That is all
:58:54. > :58:58.for today. Well done to you, you did extremely well. That's all for