14/12/2012

Download Subtitles

Transcript

:00:43. > :00:47.Welcome to the Daily Politics. The top story today: After her high-

:00:47. > :00:51.octane argument over an independent Scotland, and whether it would need

:00:51. > :00:55.to apply for membership of the EU, the leaders of the Yes campaign and

:00:55. > :00:59.the No campaign debated for the first time. Ed Miliband says

:00:59. > :01:02.everybody in Britain should be able to speak English, and that it

:01:02. > :01:07.should be a requirement in key professions. We will have details

:01:07. > :01:11.of his speech on social integration. We will ask the Health Minister who

:01:11. > :01:16.is rolling out budgets for personal health budgeting across England

:01:16. > :01:21.what it means for patients. As part of our regular look at Europe, we

:01:21. > :01:31.have sent a monoglot to find out how the EU communicate. English,

:01:31. > :01:34.

:01:34. > :01:40.French, Italian, Spanish, The multilingual programme that we

:01:40. > :01:44.are. All that in the next hour. With me is Martin Sorrell, he runs

:01:45. > :01:50.the advertising giant WPP and is the long-standing chief executive

:01:50. > :01:55.in the FTSE 100. Sitting at the moment. Take the weight off your

:01:55. > :02:00.feet. Let's start by speaking about Ed Miliband's later speech on

:02:00. > :02:03.immigration. Earlier this year, he said his party had got it wrong by

:02:03. > :02:07.not restricting the flow of migrants from Eastern Europe in

:02:07. > :02:11.2004. This morning, he is saying too little has been done to

:02:11. > :02:14.integrate those who settled in British society. The speech comes a

:02:14. > :02:24.few days after the census showed that fewer than half the people

:02:24. > :02:29.

:02:29. > :02:33.We were at the nearby college just now, particularly the women that we

:02:33. > :02:37.met there were speaking about how important it was to learn English,

:02:37. > :02:41.because it gave them not only the ability to help their children, get

:02:41. > :02:46.into work, but also be part of our society. That is what language

:02:46. > :02:50.gives you, that is why it is so important. If we're going to be one

:02:50. > :02:54.nation, which I believe in, we should have the goal that everyone

:02:54. > :03:01.in the society we have should speak English. We should expect that of

:03:01. > :03:07.people who come here. Before we get on to that, let speak about the

:03:07. > :03:14.figures. Between 1997 and 2010, net migration totalled more than 2.2

:03:14. > :03:19.million people. Was that too much? Personal view, not corporate view,

:03:19. > :03:27.I don't think it can never be too much. Immigrants provide a lot of

:03:27. > :03:32.resources, thought, entrepreneurial vigour, enthusiasm and creative

:03:32. > :03:37.perversity. My grandparents came here from Russia in 1899. They

:03:37. > :03:45.could not speak a word of English. I would not be here if it was not

:03:45. > :03:48.for them. I think you can never have too much diversity in a

:03:48. > :03:53.country. One of the things that troubles me is when we get into

:03:53. > :03:58.these issues about the EU, some of the arguments made about the use

:03:58. > :04:02.there is too much immigration, and implicitly there is an extreme

:04:02. > :04:09.right-wing bias against immigration. It comes into the debate in a

:04:09. > :04:13.subtle way, but I think immigration is extremely important. At the

:04:13. > :04:19.moment, we don't have enough foreign students. We have foreign

:04:19. > :04:22.students who come here, are educated here and go away. We had

:04:22. > :04:28.certain sectors of the economy where we cannot get enough skilled

:04:28. > :04:32.labour. What about controlling it? Even Ed Miliband is saying they

:04:32. > :04:37.should have been harder on illegal immigrants, clamping down on the

:04:37. > :04:44.floor. I'm right in saying we do not know the number of illegal

:04:44. > :04:48.immigrants. We don't control it effectively. I would agree on that.

:04:48. > :04:52.Then there is the question about hurdles. The system currently in

:04:52. > :04:56.effect would have stopped my grandparents from coming, so I

:04:56. > :05:00.would have a vested bias against that. You have to be extremely

:05:00. > :05:04.careful about the legislation. On the language skills that he raised,

:05:05. > :05:10.it is not just English. One of the problems the British had, they are

:05:10. > :05:17.not very good at languages at all. It is not just learning English,

:05:17. > :05:22.because the Chinese have the highest English-speaking population

:05:22. > :05:30.in the world, over 300 million. It is about, a German, Spanish,

:05:30. > :05:35.Italian... Yesterday, George Osborne told MPs on the Treasury

:05:35. > :05:42.Select Committee what starring role he had in the school nativity play.

:05:42. > :05:48.Did he play and Shepherd, a wise man, a donkey or the triangle?

:05:48. > :05:52.Later in the show, Martin Sorrell will give us the correct answer. If

:05:52. > :05:55.you're watching the Daily Politics last week, you will have seen

:05:55. > :05:58.Andrew speaking to Michael Moore about the question whether an

:05:58. > :06:04.independent Scotland would automatically stay in the European

:06:04. > :06:08.Union. It is a crucial question, and this week, Jose Manuel Barroso

:06:08. > :06:13.confirmed it is his view that if Scotland votes for independence in

:06:13. > :06:18.2014, it would need to reapply for EU membership. The SNP strongly

:06:18. > :06:24.disagree. Yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon made a statement in the

:06:24. > :06:28.Scottish Parliament on the issue. Here is a flavour of that debate.

:06:28. > :06:32.The European Commission, however important, is not the final arbiter

:06:32. > :06:37.of these matters. Jose Manuel Barroso's statements do not

:06:37. > :06:40.constitute a ruling, as some have suggested, nor does the commission

:06:40. > :06:44.even claim to be specifically addressing the specific situation

:06:44. > :06:48.of Scotland. The president of the Commission made clear in his letter

:06:48. > :06:53.to the House of Lords committee that the European Commission has

:06:53. > :06:58.expressed its views in general. thank the Deputy First Minister for

:06:59. > :07:01.prior sight of her statement, it is a triumph of optimism and

:07:01. > :07:06.evasiveness over hard-headed reality, because it poses more

:07:06. > :07:11.questions than it answers. She says the process of negotiating the

:07:11. > :07:19.place in Europe will take 18 months. How is that possible in the fastest

:07:19. > :07:24.ever process took three years? Does she even know if she will be

:07:24. > :07:28.granted a meeting with Jose Manuel Barroso? His Annabel Goldie or

:07:28. > :07:33.anyone in this chamber seriously saying that Scotland would find

:07:33. > :07:37.itself ejected from the European Union? Oil-rich, renewable energy

:07:37. > :07:42.right, fishing rights Scotland. If they arguing that, they should

:07:42. > :07:46.stand up and argue that explicitly and they will be laughed out of the

:07:46. > :07:49.chamber and laugh that across the country. They will deserve to be.

:07:50. > :07:56.The statement answers the question I asked the first minister earlier,

:07:56. > :08:01.does he expect all 27 member states to simply sign up to whatever the

:08:01. > :08:05.Scottish Government demand? The answer seems to be yes, they do. It

:08:05. > :08:09.seems to be she has a starry eyed belief that an independent Scotland

:08:09. > :08:15.would never lose out in any negotiation ever for the rest of

:08:15. > :08:21.time. Back in reality, can she answer Patricia Ferguson's

:08:21. > :08:26.question? When does she plan to meet the 27 members of the European

:08:26. > :08:31.Union to establish whether they agree? I look forward to engaging

:08:31. > :08:35.with other member states, with the European Commission, if they will

:08:35. > :08:39.engage with us, with the UK government. We will talk about the

:08:39. > :08:45.arguments for Scotland being an independent country, because those

:08:45. > :08:50.arguments are not as compelling, they are unanswerable. -- Not only

:08:50. > :08:59.compelling. Nicola Sturgeon. We have been joined from Glasgow by

:08:59. > :09:03.Blair Jenkins, chief executive of yes Scotland, and Alistair Darling.

:09:03. > :09:07.Will Scotland need to reapply it for you membership? The key point

:09:07. > :09:10.in all this is whether the negotiations on the continued

:09:10. > :09:14.membership happens with Scotland being inside the European Union

:09:14. > :09:19.were having to come out. We are confident that Scotland will be

:09:19. > :09:23.negotiating terms and conditions as part of the European Union from a

:09:23. > :09:27.position of continuing to be with them. It is not automatic, is it?

:09:27. > :09:32.It will not be automatic that Scotland independently would become

:09:32. > :09:36.a member of do you? It is a political rather than a legal issue.

:09:36. > :09:41.There is no position for the citizens to stop being part of the

:09:41. > :09:43.European Union. This will be a political issue. It is

:09:43. > :09:51.inconceivable that those negotiations will take place

:09:51. > :09:56.against any other framework and Scotland being part of the EU.

:09:56. > :10:01.may be the case, but do you accept that the SNP has repeatedly said,

:10:01. > :10:06.and certainly implied, that it would be automatic. There would be

:10:06. > :10:09.no case for having to reapply? Now we discover that Jose Manuel

:10:09. > :10:13.Barroso has said that new independent countries would have to

:10:13. > :10:20.apply and it is not guaranteed. The SNP have given the impression that

:10:20. > :10:25.it would be guaranteed. Jose Manuel Barroso has offered his opinion.

:10:25. > :10:30.is pretty important, isn't he? Indeed, and I would not disagree.

:10:30. > :10:32.It has always been said there would be negotiations. The Scottish

:10:32. > :10:36.Government have always been clear that there would be negotiations

:10:36. > :10:40.and that would be the case. Alistair Darling, it seems Blair

:10:40. > :10:45.Jenkins has admitted there would be negotiations, not an automatic

:10:45. > :10:53.entry, but to take Nicola Sturgeon's., why would anyone block

:10:53. > :10:57.it? -- Nicola Sturgeon's opinion. We have always said it would have

:10:57. > :11:03.to negotiate its position on matters like the currency, border

:11:03. > :11:06.controls, rebate. For years, Nicola Sturgeon has said the membership of

:11:06. > :11:10.the European Union would be automatic, she had a legal opinion

:11:10. > :11:15.to back that up which turns out to be nonsense, there never was a

:11:15. > :11:19.legal opinion. What we will get as a result of this is the uncertainty

:11:19. > :11:24.that comes firstly in try to negotiate a break-up of the UK with

:11:24. > :11:29.the rest of the UK, and secondly, the uncertainty that comes through

:11:29. > :11:33.negotiations with the rest of the European Union. Finland, which is

:11:33. > :11:37.an uncontroversial application, that took three years. We know some

:11:37. > :11:41.member states who, for their own reasons, will want to make life

:11:41. > :11:45.difficult because of their own internal difficulties. You have

:11:45. > :11:50.years of uncertainty which is extremely damaging to businesses,

:11:50. > :11:53.therefore to employment and jobs in Scotland. All this because the

:11:53. > :11:57.nationalists sought to mislead people into believing that nothing

:11:58. > :12:03.would change, it would be automatic, there was no risk to anything. We

:12:03. > :12:07.now see the truth of it. The deceived us, we're now in a

:12:07. > :12:14.position throwing ourselves at the mercy of 27 other countries and

:12:14. > :12:18.nobody knows the outcome. campaign has deceived the

:12:18. > :12:22.electorate and be misleading. don't think that is the case but I

:12:22. > :12:28.think the question Alistair Darling needs to answer... Let's just

:12:28. > :12:33.answer those accusations, he has said the whole campaign was based

:12:33. > :12:41.on deception. I don't speak on the Scottish Government but I have been

:12:41. > :12:45.saying all along this, and I have been clear. From the No campaign

:12:45. > :12:51.perspective, it is he saying Scotland would need to leave the UK

:12:51. > :12:55.and renegotiate? -- leave the European Union and renegotiate?

:12:55. > :13:00.Does he agree that we would continue to be part and renegotiate

:13:00. > :13:03.from within? Will you answer his question about years of

:13:03. > :13:09.uncertainty? None of this is guaranteed, you have been

:13:09. > :13:14.campaigning on a promise you cannot back up. You cannot guarantee it.

:13:14. > :13:19.That is what has been said to the Scottish electorate. The SNP have

:13:19. > :13:24.said we will remain part of do you, we will keep the sterling, we will

:13:25. > :13:29.keep opting out, now the argument is, is anyone seriously saying the

:13:29. > :13:32.European Union would not want Scotland as an independent member?

:13:32. > :13:37.Nobody is seriously saying in Europe that Scotland will not be a

:13:37. > :13:41.member of the EU. What about the years of uncertainty? Another

:13:42. > :13:46.example is East Germany, when it read it -- when it reunited it

:13:46. > :13:52.joined overnight. That was on the basis of 40 years of communist

:13:52. > :13:57.dictatorship and East Germany conforming with none of this and

:13:57. > :14:01.additions -- none of the conditions. If that can become part of the

:14:01. > :14:03.European Union overnight, then Scotland with 40 years of

:14:03. > :14:11.participation in accord with all the requirements would find itself

:14:11. > :14:15.in a more difficult position, that is absurd. I don't think anyone

:14:15. > :14:21.credibly in Scotland will be saying Scotland will not continue to be

:14:21. > :14:24.members of the European Union. difference between me and the

:14:24. > :14:30.campaign opposite is I have never argued something that is contest

:14:30. > :14:35.the ball, I have never argued that Scotland could not get into the

:14:35. > :14:39.European Union. I have always said there would be negotiations on key

:14:39. > :14:45.issues like currency, border controls, the rebate. Take one

:14:45. > :14:48.example, the rebate. It is no secret that the rest of the

:14:48. > :14:52.European Union does not like the fact that the UK has a rebate, they

:14:52. > :14:57.have always been trying to get rid of it. Do you think for one moment

:14:57. > :15:02.that prevented with an opportunity to renegotiate -- presented with an

:15:02. > :15:05.opportunity to renegotiate that, they would not take it? If you look

:15:05. > :15:10.at the new members of the European Union, they have signed up to the

:15:10. > :15:15.euro. I said earlier, one of the problems the nationalists have got,

:15:15. > :15:18.they have two policies, negotiating with the European Union, the second

:15:18. > :15:22.is we will have a currency union with the rest of the UK to keep the

:15:22. > :15:26.pound, even though nobody is proposing to ask England, Wales and

:15:26. > :15:31.Northern Ireland. How could you join a currency union when you

:15:31. > :15:34.don't know whether you need to join the euro? The deceit here is that

:15:34. > :15:38.for years the nationalists have said you do not need to worry about

:15:38. > :15:46.this. Now the same people are saying we will get in overnight, it

:15:46. > :15:51.is no problem. I cannot believe this because I do not believe

:15:51. > :15:57.preparation has been done, Alex Salmond is nowhere to be seen. That

:15:57. > :16:02.speaks volumes for the fact that the nationalists are in various

:16:02. > :16:07.places. The problem is, Scotland will need to make the biggest

:16:07. > :16:11.decision it has ever made, and it looks more like we are being sold a

:16:11. > :16:17.one-way ticket to an uncertain destination, they are not sure

:16:17. > :16:24.where they're going, and peopled might be wary of them. -- people

:16:24. > :16:29.should now be. Why was this preparation not done before? Why is

:16:29. > :16:32.Nicola Sturgeon only now writing to Jose Manuel Barroso? Why was legal

:16:32. > :16:42.advice will be taken in October? Plenty of time to clarify these

:16:42. > :16:47.

:16:47. > :16:50.He made an important point. He used the word deceit. One of the

:16:51. > :16:58.suggestions of the No campaign is the false assertion that Scollan

:16:58. > :17:04.would be forced to join the euro. - - Scotland. That is untrue. I would

:17:04. > :17:08.call him to withdraw that assertion. Do you withdraw that assertion?

:17:08. > :17:13.What I said was that three of the issues that are going to confront

:17:13. > :17:18.Scotland is whether we join the euro, passport control, and the

:17:18. > :17:23.rebate. Nobody knows the outcome of these negotiations, least of all

:17:23. > :17:30.the nationalists. Blair Jenkins will tell you that he doesn't know,

:17:30. > :17:39.either. Up until now, everybody who is joining, the euro is there. It

:17:39. > :17:42.is an article of political faith among speak European Union. It is

:17:42. > :17:46.central. The uncertainty here, because we will not know, and the

:17:46. > :17:52.idea that this can be sorted overnight - nothing in Europe is

:17:52. > :17:58.sorted overnight - the idea is fanciful. The reason I used the

:17:58. > :18:02.word deceit is, remember, Alex Salmond told us there was a legal

:18:02. > :18:11.opinion. Nicola Sturgeon says she had a legal opinion. It turns out

:18:11. > :18:14.that is not true. Why are you so certain that you

:18:15. > :18:23.would not have to join the euro, or at least had a difficult and long

:18:23. > :18:31.negotiations over not joining? It is clear that there has to be a

:18:31. > :18:36.mechanism. Participation in the exchange-rate mechanism is

:18:36. > :18:40.voluntary. There are a number of things being said which are

:18:40. > :18:45.misleading. Some members of the campaign talk about border posts

:18:45. > :18:48.and controls. This is part of trying to lay roadblocks in the way

:18:48. > :18:55.of the Scottish people to prevent debate about what a future Scotland

:18:55. > :18:58.could and should be. Where the debate is going to focus is that

:18:58. > :19:03.there's one certainty by staying in the UK is that we will continue to

:19:03. > :19:06.get governments that we did not vote for. Scottish people will

:19:06. > :19:11.continue to live in fuel poverty in one of the most energy rich nations

:19:11. > :19:17.in the world. That will focus the mind of Scottish people.

:19:17. > :19:21.Blair Jenkins, thank you very much, and Alastair Darling, thank you.

:19:21. > :19:26.The first of many debates among you, I'm sure.

:19:26. > :19:30.What about a comment from you on this? Be careful what you wish for.

:19:30. > :19:35.The devil is in the detail. Thinking through all these issues

:19:35. > :19:40.at is something that the Independent movement has not

:19:40. > :19:45.explored. That is because negotiations are

:19:45. > :19:49.involved. Blair Jenkins has a point. The campaign has been criticised

:19:49. > :19:56.for not doing preparation - these things are always up for

:19:56. > :20:00.negotiation. If we have to renegotiate our bilateral

:20:00. > :20:08.agreements, how long is that going to take? People are saying 10 years.

:20:08. > :20:15.We will be going on forever, renegotiating our agreements. Half

:20:15. > :20:21.of them go to the EU market. The point that Alastair Darling makes

:20:21. > :20:24.about uncertainty is a good one. Faced with these uncertainties,

:20:24. > :20:29.talking about Scottish independence or whether we are in or out of

:20:29. > :20:33.Europe, it gives business, which is involved in long-range planning,

:20:33. > :20:37.the heebie-jeebies. What they worry about his where they are going to

:20:37. > :20:41.get the growth from. It is not coming from Western Europe now. We

:20:42. > :20:46.are going to have to wait until 2018 or there for Europe to get its

:20:46. > :20:50.act together. This is incremental uncertainty, which we don't need in

:20:50. > :20:53.the UK or Europe. It is the time of year when we let

:20:53. > :20:57.go of the purse-strings and try to forget how much we are spending on

:20:57. > :21:00.presents. That is what retailers will be hoping for as a limb for a

:21:00. > :21:05.much-needed boost in sales. It has been another year in which the

:21:05. > :21:09.British economy has struggled. Are things looking brighter for 2013?

:21:09. > :21:13.In last week's Autumn Statement, the Chancellor admitted that

:21:13. > :21:17.because of sluggish growth, it was going to take an additional year to

:21:17. > :21:21.eliminate the deficit and the Office of Budget Responsibility

:21:21. > :21:24.said the economy would shrink by 0.1 % in the final three months of

:21:24. > :21:31.this year. Some economists say we will return to recession. Spending

:21:31. > :21:38.power has been hit, too. The latest figures show annual growth of 1.3%

:21:38. > :21:43.in earnings. There's been more positive news on the jobs front.

:21:43. > :21:53.The broad measure of unemployment fell by 80,000, the largest fall in

:21:53. > :21:57.

:21:57. > :22:02.a decade. Employment for 18-24 year olds went up by 55,000. Despite

:22:02. > :22:06.this, the UK's Triple A status is under threat. It is a blow for the

:22:06. > :22:12.Chancellor and his austerity measures. Let's discuss this with

:22:12. > :22:18.Martin Sorrell. Let's pick up on the negative outlook for the Triple

:22:18. > :22:23.A rating. Did George Osborne lay too much store by that rating?

:22:23. > :22:26.He has fixed his course. He has put in place policies which please the

:22:26. > :22:30.international markets. He has lowered the rate of borrowing for

:22:30. > :22:35.the UK. It is not dissimilar to what we have seen in other

:22:35. > :22:42.countries. Italy have done the same. This was needed to get us out of

:22:42. > :22:49.the problems. We have seen other countries lose it, and does it

:22:49. > :22:55.matter? No. Intuitively, I have a negative reaction. When you examine

:22:55. > :22:58.it, maybe not so much. However, it is symbolic. It is not a position

:22:58. > :23:02.the government wants to be in. The government pursued the right course

:23:02. > :23:09.in the short term. Do you trust George Osborne to get

:23:09. > :23:18.growth going? I think it will come. Because of the policies, or despite

:23:18. > :23:28.then? Partly because of them. In America, they pursued expansion,

:23:28. > :23:32.and Britain hasn't. Government spending has risen in nominal terms.

:23:32. > :23:42.If you inflation at just, it may have fallen in real terms. --

:23:42. > :23:42.

:23:43. > :23:48.adjust. The targets that were set, either in front or after the

:23:48. > :23:55.election, were too strong. We have a last decade, and we are halfway

:23:55. > :24:00.through it. We are going to have austerity until 2018.

:24:00. > :24:07.Which is interesting, given the election in 2015. The coalition is

:24:07. > :24:14.going into that, saying, we have continuing austerity. Not a recipe

:24:14. > :24:20.that usually wins elections. Chancellor has pinned his figures

:24:20. > :24:26.on closing tax loopholes. Is that a credible plan? We can argue that

:24:26. > :24:29.some of it is one time as opposed to selling licences or assets. It

:24:29. > :24:34.is a one-time adjustment. I actually think that if you look at

:24:34. > :24:38.the Budget statements that George Osborne has made, given the lack of

:24:38. > :24:45.wiggle room, it has been a highly creative. We have seen into

:24:45. > :24:50.strutted changes, banks trying to stimulate small and medium-sized

:24:50. > :24:55.companies, corporation tax. The fact is, there were excesses of an

:24:55. > :24:59.extreme nature. We are over inflated the economy. That

:24:59. > :25:03.correction is going to take a long time. There's no getting away from

:25:03. > :25:08.that. Will it be worse next year, or

:25:08. > :25:17.better? Looking at the project has for GDP, it should be about the

:25:17. > :25:25.same. Ironically, it is forecast to be a bit better. Real GDP is meant

:25:25. > :25:31.to be going up. Briefly, do you believe global companies like

:25:31. > :25:37.Starbucks and Amazon have not been paying their fair share of tax?

:25:37. > :25:40.We are getting into dangerous territory. Starbucks saying they

:25:40. > :25:44.are going to pay corporation tax. They should have given the money to

:25:44. > :25:50.apprenticeship schemes, for example, rather than say they are going to

:25:50. > :25:57.pay minimal tax. The whole issue you have to be careful about.

:25:58. > :26:02.Companies are extremely fluid and extremely mobile. The government

:26:03. > :26:12.here, it's arrestingly, the coalition changed the policy. --

:26:12. > :26:17.interestingly. The government have now given some certainty. That is

:26:17. > :26:22.what is needed. I have to say this. Companies can leave the country, a

:26:22. > :26:26.tax point of view without leaving the country physically. We knew it

:26:26. > :26:31.export your brand, you're leaving the country.

:26:31. > :26:34.Is it morally right? We will come to that on another occasion. In two

:26:34. > :26:37.years, if you suffer from a long- term condition in England, you will

:26:37. > :26:43.have a right to take control of the money the NHS spends on the

:26:43. > :26:47.treatment. It is seen as the Holy Grail in helping the NHS to deal

:26:47. > :26:52.with spending cuts. A place where it has been tried out his

:26:52. > :26:55.Northamptonshire. Adam has been to find out how it works.

:26:55. > :26:59.Three years ago, Alex had a stroke that affected his sight and mental

:26:59. > :27:07.health. A year ago, he was given control of the money the NHS spends

:27:07. > :27:12.on him and he bought... Yes, a drum kit. It helps him with his

:27:12. > :27:19.medication. Instead of going for weekly

:27:19. > :27:25.physiotherapy, I go for a weekly jobless and. I tried -- drum lesson.

:27:25. > :27:29.I try to make myself go. It is here, it is my multi-gym. It is not a

:27:29. > :27:33.frivolous thing. It is very functional.

:27:33. > :27:37.He is there at anything that the 37 patients on this scheme could not

:27:37. > :27:43.get? The limit is that they have to have

:27:43. > :27:47.a measurable health outcome, that they are going to make progress.

:27:47. > :27:52.The only limits to what you can buy is you can't buy anything illegal,

:27:52. > :27:56.you can't buy alcohol, you can't gamble.

:27:56. > :28:04.Cheapies like Matthew help people decide how they to spend their

:28:04. > :28:07.budgets. -- GPs. Many opted for non-traditional schemes.

:28:07. > :28:12.We have got people are getting older, people with more complex

:28:12. > :28:17.conditions. We have got more we can do for people at the moment. We

:28:17. > :28:22.need to change the way we are doing things. The NHS can't cope with

:28:22. > :28:26.this, going forward. Personalisation allows us to work

:28:26. > :28:29.with patients more effectively. That is why the Department of

:28:29. > :28:33.Health has decided to allow the scheme across England from 2014,

:28:33. > :28:37.but only to those suffering long- term health conditions. It could

:28:37. > :28:42.save around �90 million per year, but the real goal is to make ill

:28:42. > :28:47.people feel better. It has given me a bit of a purpose

:28:47. > :28:54.in life, rather than just joining the rest of the sheep, joining the

:28:54. > :28:58.queue. I'm trying to do something about it myself.

:28:58. > :29:06.Alex has also bought a Sat Nav with his money, because problems with

:29:06. > :29:10.his memory 90 kept getting lost. -- meant he kept getting lost. The

:29:10. > :29:15.debate is over whether this is a treatment or a treat.

:29:15. > :29:20.We have been joined by the Lib Dem health minister, Norman Lamb. An

:29:20. > :29:23.interesting idea, having watched the film. How do you sell it to the

:29:23. > :29:29.public in a way that doesn't give the impression that this is a waste

:29:30. > :29:32.of money, that money is going on holidays rather than medical

:29:32. > :29:38.treatment? You just have to look at the

:29:38. > :29:44.results. Alex's story is, I think, very powerful. This story is

:29:44. > :29:51.matched by the evidence across the board. We are seeing a real

:29:51. > :29:57.increase in people's sense of well- being. They are taking control. In

:29:57. > :30:02.a way, this is a move from a paternalistic health service - we

:30:03. > :30:05.know best - to a personal one, where the individual, in

:30:05. > :30:08.collaboration with the help professional, works out what is

:30:08. > :30:13.best for them. -- health professional.

:30:13. > :30:20.I can see how it would increase well-being and people may like it.

:30:20. > :30:24.Does it actually save money? It is a very important result if we can

:30:24. > :30:30.improve people's well-being. That is what the health service should

:30:30. > :30:35.be about! There is also evidence it can reduce hospital admissions. I

:30:35. > :30:40.met a guy who was part of the pilot in Kent. His story was also a

:30:40. > :30:45.powerful. He had been in and out of hospital constantly. Give him

:30:46. > :30:50.control, give him the right to determine his priorities, helping

:30:50. > :30:54.to self- care better, and actually, it resulted in a massive reduction

:30:54. > :31:00.in his hospital admissions. So, a big improvement in his well-being

:31:00. > :31:04.and a saving to the NHS. I repeat, I think this could be powerful.

:31:04. > :31:10.Would you like to see it rolled out further? Who would access it? I

:31:10. > :31:20.know this is a trial. But people on long-term illnesses, are they the

:31:20. > :31:21.

:31:21. > :31:28.only people who could access the We will start with those people. We

:31:29. > :31:33.can make that work quickly. It can go beyond that. I am open-minded

:31:33. > :31:41.about a very areas of health care, for example, mental health. --

:31:41. > :31:45.other areas. If there is any place where it really matters it is

:31:45. > :31:53.mental health. It can have a massively positive effect. Even

:31:53. > :31:59.with maternity, giving the power to the mother-to-be, to decide how the

:31:59. > :32:06.money is best used, that could potentially be very effective.

:32:06. > :32:10.Before you go, what you think? think it is a good idea. It gets

:32:10. > :32:17.rid of the nanny state, and if you look at health care it is very

:32:17. > :32:23.interesting. People diagnose themselves a lot. Is that safe?

:32:23. > :32:27.have a control mechanism, the nurse and a GP. They need to approve or

:32:27. > :32:33.recommend where the budget is spent. These are for people suffering

:32:33. > :32:36.long-term injuries, the case studies will go the other way, but

:32:37. > :32:41.it is really good. We speak at a happiness Index, this makes people

:32:41. > :32:47.feel more in control of their destiny. That is what life is

:32:47. > :32:53.increasingly about, with things like the Internet. If you do access

:32:53. > :32:57.this money, �10,000, does that mean you will not be able to access

:32:57. > :33:04.other services because you have had the money to deal with your

:33:04. > :33:09.condition? No. Firstly, it is right that the care plan is agreed

:33:09. > :33:14.between you and your GP, but if you need other care and support beyond

:33:14. > :33:19.what the package has provided for you, you are not denied health care,

:33:19. > :33:23.that would be ridiculous. This is about using the money that is

:33:23. > :33:31.available for your condition much more effectively, and as a liberal,

:33:31. > :33:36.I think this is a Liberal Health Service, it is very exciting.

:33:36. > :33:39.is just time before you go to find out the answer to the quiz. The

:33:39. > :33:44.question was, what starring role did George Osborne take in the

:33:44. > :33:50.school nativity play? Was it a shepherd, a wise man, a donkey or

:33:50. > :33:58.the triangle. I think he was probably the triangle. Did you know

:33:58. > :34:03.that? It was a complete guess. are right. Coming up in a moment,

:34:03. > :34:07.our monthly look at what has been going on in European politics, but

:34:08. > :34:12.first it is time to say goodbye to Martin Sorrell. Thank you very much.

:34:12. > :34:16.This week, members of the European Parliament have been meeting in

:34:16. > :34:20.Strasbourg for their regular session. What have they been

:34:20. > :34:30.getting up to? Here is our guide to the latest in Europe in just 60

:34:30. > :34:34.Which novel piece of Europe got a gong this week? The European Union

:34:34. > :34:39.except that the Nobel Peace Prize for uniting the Continent after two

:34:39. > :34:42.world wars. David Cameron was unable to attend leaving the

:34:42. > :34:47.schmoozing to Nick Clegg. Jose Manuel Barroso and the SNP have

:34:47. > :34:55.fallen out. Jose Manuel Barroso says it is obvious an independent

:34:55. > :35:01.country would need to reapply for European Union membership.

:35:01. > :35:08.Italian Prime Minister says he will resign, and Silvio Berlusconi has

:35:08. > :35:11.withdrawn support. He will resign if they pass budget legislation.

:35:11. > :35:15.Campaigners for a single seat for the European Parliament to double

:35:15. > :35:22.as it was ruled that MEPs should continue meeting in Strasbourg once

:35:22. > :35:32.a month. It took 40 years to event, but the European Union has

:35:32. > :35:32.

:35:32. > :35:40.introduced a new system that could For the next 30 minutes I have been

:35:40. > :35:46.joined by Kay Swinburne and Claude Moraes. Let's look at the agreement

:35:46. > :35:50.on a single patent for Europe. Sounds like a good idea. Why

:35:50. > :35:55.shouldn't there just be one? Do you welcome it? I do, we have waited a

:35:56. > :36:00.long time for this and it is really good news for lots of businesses.

:36:00. > :36:09.One system across ball of the EU is perfectly placed to help us expand

:36:09. > :36:16.in the market. -- across all the EU. Except, Italy and Spain are opting

:36:16. > :36:22.out. They have special circumstances. Not everyone argues

:36:22. > :36:28.that, it is extraordinary. I have been in the parliament since 1999,

:36:28. > :36:33.I represent London, which probably has more innovators than anywhere.

:36:33. > :36:37.They have been telling me this has been going since the 1970s. The

:36:37. > :36:41.United States, Martin Sorrell was here earlier, competing with the

:36:41. > :36:45.United States to get a unified patent that helps innovators. That

:36:45. > :36:50.is an extraordinary jump forward for the single market, and it is

:36:50. > :36:56.just the kind of thing we need to boost business. What costs are we

:36:56. > :37:00.talking about? The United States is quoted as having a very low figure.

:37:00. > :37:04.Is it really that much more expensive in do you? It is, because

:37:04. > :37:09.you need to go through 27 different member states. If you consolidate

:37:09. > :37:17.that, you would expect that to be 26 times less. It will not be quite

:37:17. > :37:21.that big a difference, but it will be material. When you have a

:37:22. > :37:28.dispute, you will have one court, one arbiter. That is critical for

:37:28. > :37:33.businesses. They can go to one place to get this dispute. Part of

:37:33. > :37:39.that structure will hopefully be in the UK, which is fantastic. And in

:37:39. > :37:43.English. English will be part of it, part of the location will be in the

:37:43. > :37:47.UK, that is a great victory. European Union leaders have been

:37:47. > :37:50.meeting in Brussels to work out how better to supervise banks across

:37:51. > :37:58.the eurozone. They have agreed the European Central Bank will become

:37:58. > :38:02.the supervisor of the banking sector, beginning in 2014. Three

:38:02. > :38:06.banks from each member state will fall under the regime. Smaller

:38:06. > :38:09.banks will continue to be supervised by national regulators.

:38:09. > :38:14.The measure is being seen as the first step towards full banking

:38:14. > :38:19.union, with a single deposit guarantee Scheme and a mechanism to

:38:19. > :38:25.wind up failing banks. Leaders have also been discussing co-operation

:38:25. > :38:31.between European countries. The President has recommended a greater

:38:31. > :38:36.fiscal union, including decision- making on national budget. After

:38:36. > :38:39.the summit closed, David Cameron gave his views. There needs to be

:38:39. > :38:44.flexibility in Europe, flexibility that respect the fact that there

:38:44. > :38:50.are countries that do not want to and never will join the euro, so we

:38:50. > :38:53.need to be flexible about how Europe develops. Also, I believe

:38:53. > :38:58.that it will lead to opportunities for us in the UK to make changes in

:38:58. > :39:03.our relationship with the European Union that will suit us better. The

:39:03. > :39:11.British people will be more comfortable about that. We have

:39:11. > :39:15.been joined from Brussels by Alex Barker. David Cameron and George

:39:15. > :39:22.Osborne both say they are happy to get closer whilst Britain retains

:39:22. > :39:26.influence on the periphery. How does it retain influence? Someone

:39:26. > :39:30.once described to me that Britain's situation used to be in the fast

:39:30. > :39:35.lane of Europe going slow, now it is in the slow low of Europe going

:39:35. > :39:41.slow, and what David Cameron needs to do is find some changes to the

:39:41. > :39:46.rules which allowed those two things to co-exist. He is keen on

:39:46. > :39:52.the single market. He made progress in Europe by having majority rule

:39:52. > :39:57.that basically over road people -- over rights protections their

:39:57. > :40:02.economies would have. The trouble is that Britain is a minority, and

:40:02. > :40:08.there needs to be protection for the UK to feel comfortable in that.

:40:08. > :40:11.Those protections, how easy will they be to achieve? That is always

:40:11. > :40:16.the area of debate. This assumption that Britain will be able to

:40:16. > :40:21.negotiate its way to protecting whatever they want. How does the

:40:21. > :40:26.eurozone views Britain in these negotiations? The banking union

:40:26. > :40:36.negotiation is really important in a precedent, because they were a

:40:36. > :40:36.

:40:36. > :40:40.formal coccus, they were getting foreword. -- caucus. They would

:40:40. > :40:46.have had a majority to impose those views. The precedent is the rules

:40:46. > :40:51.for Britain were changed, so it has more of an ability to maintain

:40:51. > :40:57.influence and make sure it is not a suffering. The trouble is, that was

:40:57. > :41:05.over a technical issue, financial standards. When it comes to making

:41:05. > :41:09.a loss, -- making legislation, they will not be able to make emergency

:41:10. > :41:19.rules easily. The French will be unhappy. What we will see in the

:41:19. > :41:27.future is as the Europa zone -- eurozone gets more united, seeing,

:41:27. > :41:36.and perspectives, it will be hard to see Britain maintaining as bake

:41:36. > :41:42.a say as it has at the moment. -- as larger say. How will Britain

:41:42. > :41:48.protect its interests when it is on the outside? What happened this

:41:48. > :41:52.week, obviously we are nearly there, we have a step to take next week,

:41:52. > :41:57.because the parliament now needs to agree with the council's position.

:41:57. > :42:03.I have the delight of being the only non eurozone parliamentarian

:42:03. > :42:12.negotiating that. I hope to bring home what they have negotiated as a

:42:12. > :42:15.final deal. The problem is we have them acknowledging that there is a

:42:15. > :42:19.requirement for a dual voting system. That is a major step

:42:19. > :42:23.forward. We have persuaded them to do that to protect the single

:42:23. > :42:27.market. That is because everybody around that table realises that 40%

:42:27. > :42:33.of the financial markets take place in London, and the knee to take

:42:33. > :42:39.that into account. Let's talk about law-making in general. -- they need

:42:39. > :42:46.to take that. Are you saying you are happy for Britain to be on the

:42:46. > :42:51.outside in future negotiations? problem is it is not them and us.

:42:51. > :42:56.There are a large number of countries outside. 10 member states

:42:56. > :43:03.do not use the euro as a common currency. Other things outside

:43:03. > :43:07.banking and financing, some people use certain rules, some do not. We

:43:07. > :43:11.have different rules across different areas. Are you happy with

:43:11. > :43:16.that arrangement? There will be, in place, a two-tier Europe, and we

:43:16. > :43:21.will be on the outside. It is not about being happy, it is about the

:43:21. > :43:26.single market, the fact that we are in the single market, we need to

:43:26. > :43:32.make it work. For I saw Sweden, not being in the euro does not mean we

:43:32. > :43:42.do not have access to the single market, we have the City of London.

:43:42. > :43:46.-- for Britain or for Sweden. What that means is, when we have the

:43:46. > :43:53.common banking supervisor, we buy into that. That means that we have

:43:53. > :43:57.to have some access to it, some sort of say, but it is in our

:43:57. > :44:02.interest for the euro to be working well, and for the European Central

:44:02. > :44:07.Bank to have some power. To be powerless in this, that is allowing

:44:07. > :44:11.us to have no solutions to the European crisis. That is bad for us.

:44:11. > :44:15.What about the issue of repatriation of powers? There are

:44:15. > :44:20.many Tory MPs, and the Government has said that they want to

:44:20. > :44:24.repatriate powers, but Mark Field has call that a fantasy. There are

:44:24. > :44:30.some things we have sung not -- there are things we have not signed

:44:30. > :44:35.up to. Could the repatriate powers? We have given up some things,

:44:35. > :44:41.including employment. If we try to bring back something we recently

:44:41. > :44:45.gave up, there is more hope. If we are renegotiating from the outset,

:44:45. > :44:50.fundamental things that we negotiated 20 years ago, we would

:44:50. > :44:58.not want to take part. They would be difficult. There are things we

:44:58. > :45:08.can actually take control over, and take sovereignty back. How fast you

:45:08. > :45:10.

:45:10. > :45:15.think this closer integration will The EU tends to meander rather than

:45:15. > :45:18.going in straight lines. This week we have seen the biggest step

:45:18. > :45:23.forward in pooling sovereignty is the creation of the single currency.

:45:23. > :45:32.At the same time, at the summit yesterday, they decided to set a

:45:32. > :45:36.time line and to set another one in June. It is a road map to a

:45:36. > :45:39.blueprint for something in the future. It is very vague. Often

:45:39. > :45:43.this is for market pressure more than anything.

:45:43. > :45:48.On that basis, Claude Moraes, we are not going to know what the

:45:48. > :45:53.shape of the EU is going to look like. So flirting with the

:45:53. > :45:58.referendum, as Ed Miliband has done - was that wise?

:45:58. > :46:05.We do know that we are going to have tighter fiscal union with the

:46:05. > :46:11.eurozone. That is something that is going to happen. There's going to

:46:11. > :46:16.be all kinds of proposals. Some of that is in our interest. It is in

:46:16. > :46:22.our interest to have an ECB that is strong to solve the economic crisis.

:46:22. > :46:27.We are in the single market. We do 47% of our trade with the rest of

:46:27. > :46:29.that market. That is important for us. What it means for treaties and

:46:30. > :46:36.referendums, we have to keep an open mind about that and argue our

:46:36. > :46:40.case in Europe. The single market is all about, as

:46:40. > :46:44.we have been hearing, opening up services across Europe to

:46:44. > :46:48.competition. 20 years on from the start of the single market, there's

:46:48. > :46:52.still many areas of the economy where it is not think --

:46:52. > :47:00.implemented. For example, baggage handling at airports. This week

:47:00. > :47:05.there was a proposal to liberalise the market in that area. Susana

:47:05. > :47:09.Mendonca was in Strasbourg. They usually put your suitcases on

:47:10. > :47:14.the right plane, but these workers were in Strasbourg to demand that

:47:14. > :47:18.plans for more competition in the sector should be sent packing. The

:47:18. > :47:21.European Commission had wanted European airports to open up their

:47:21. > :47:28.ground handling services to at least three different companies.

:47:28. > :47:34.And there's been such anger over over the issue that it can get

:47:34. > :47:41.groundstaff outside the European Parliament on a freezing cold day.

:47:41. > :47:47.If you get a new handlers, new competitors, always Down, Down,

:47:47. > :47:52.Down, there's no safeguarding of the rights of the workers.

:47:52. > :47:57.Frankfurt is a small airport and I think the quality will decrease.

:47:57. > :48:02.There will be a competition only for wages down hill. That is not

:48:02. > :48:06.the competition we want. They were not disappointed. MEPs

:48:06. > :48:09.voted to send the plans back to the drawing board, which would have

:48:09. > :48:14.pleased German and Austrian airports, to, in particular

:48:14. > :48:19.Frankfurt, which owns 85% of its ground handling services and has

:48:19. > :48:23.just one other provider. It had lobbied against the plans. This any

:48:23. > :48:30.pieces the proposals were driven by a blind desire to expand the single

:48:30. > :48:38.market. -- this NEP. We should think about it

:48:38. > :48:43.pragmatically. We should leak about the ideology of the neo-liberal

:48:43. > :48:48.market. -- leave out. The single market is what allows

:48:48. > :48:53.people, goods, services and capital to move freely around the EU. In

:48:53. > :48:58.its 20th year, the focus is on completing the process, services

:48:58. > :49:02.like online trot -- Commerce and transport are where the commission

:49:02. > :49:12.wants to fill the gaps. Take down barriers and Europe can

:49:12. > :49:18.be successful. That is a basic idea. I am not pursuing the value of

:49:18. > :49:25.competition as sacrilege. It is simply saying, if you have two

:49:25. > :49:35.providers of services, everybody wants to provide better services,

:49:35. > :49:40.

:49:40. > :49:44.does a one provider allowed but? -- Whether it is employment, whether

:49:44. > :49:48.it is manufacturing, we have had different practices and our own

:49:48. > :49:52.parliamentary systems. We have had our own legislation. This is where

:49:52. > :49:57.I think the commission get overly ambitious sometimes in terms of

:49:57. > :50:00.time frames. You can change all of this overnight.

:50:00. > :50:04.The baggage handlers may have won this battle against more

:50:04. > :50:13.competition for the moment, but the commission's calls for more

:50:13. > :50:16.liberalisation will continue. Claude Moraes, as this is the 20th

:50:16. > :50:22.anniversary of the single market, it isn't it time to close the gaps

:50:22. > :50:27.in remaining areas of competition? I voted against this because it was

:50:27. > :50:32.a bad proposal. Our job is to examine these proposals. We are

:50:32. > :50:42.legislators. We should look at the things. One was it bad?

:50:42. > :50:45.

:50:46. > :50:55.Be coz they did not look at it In the UK, we had a liberalised

:50:55. > :51:00.position. It works well. People mistake the role of any peace. --

:51:00. > :51:05.MEPs. In the German context, we listened carefully, looked at the

:51:05. > :51:10.proposal, and it was flawed. The commission came forward too quickly

:51:10. > :51:14.on this. They did not consult the trade unions, for example. That is

:51:14. > :51:19.why I did not want to vote for this. It has just been sent back to

:51:19. > :51:25.Committee. It will come back again. Liberalisation, per say, is not

:51:25. > :51:29.wrong. It can bring down costs for the consumer, but it has to be done

:51:29. > :51:35.properly. The German concerns were about

:51:35. > :51:43.safety as well, in terms of baggage. My main concern, and I've voted to

:51:43. > :51:48.send his back because it was flawed, we have the most liberal markets in

:51:48. > :51:53.the UK in regard to this, and yet this would have imposed a different

:51:54. > :52:00.regulation on us. That is not fair. It does not take into account the

:52:00. > :52:10.systems that already exist. To impose a less liberal will --

:52:10. > :52:14.system on a liberal one is not right.

:52:14. > :52:20.I am pleased that the entire mandate here is about finishing the

:52:20. > :52:26.single market. I wish that was their mantra. We can amend bad

:52:26. > :52:30.proposals. We have sent it back. That is not common.

:52:30. > :52:38.It is not liberalisation for its own sake. It does not sometimes

:52:38. > :52:42.work. Where it works is where it is good for the consumer. It breaks

:52:42. > :52:49.the Monopolies and brings down the price. What about railways, Claude

:52:49. > :52:54.Moraes? There's a perception in Britain that state owned companies

:52:54. > :53:01.in Europe can be to run railway lines in the UK. The German one,

:53:01. > :53:06.for instance, can run a line here, but we can't run one in Germany.

:53:06. > :53:10.The liberalisation is good if it works for the consumer. This is why

:53:10. > :53:14.you can't just say, ideologically, it is a good thing. You have to

:53:14. > :53:19.look at each proposal as it comes. That is why, in this case, you look

:53:19. > :53:24.at the proposal, and in this case we sent it back. Which areas would

:53:24. > :53:30.you like to push for? What would you go for next? The real key is

:53:30. > :53:34.this transport issue. It has to be a liberalised market going forwards.

:53:34. > :53:38.The energy markets are the other one I would be pushing for. The UK

:53:38. > :53:45.has got the most liberal of both those markets. The energy market as

:53:45. > :53:49.well? On the energy market, it is certainly liberal. We have very few

:53:49. > :53:53.British companies left. We have a liberal attitude towards these. The

:53:53. > :53:59.irony is, it is the French and German companies who dominate our

:53:59. > :54:04.market on both those big sectors. And yet we don't have any say or

:54:04. > :54:08.access on those. So it is your job to sort that. No pressure!

:54:08. > :54:12.There are current the 27 member countries in the EU, with as many

:54:12. > :54:15.languages. There had as everybody in Brussels communicate with each

:54:15. > :54:22.other? Maybe they don't speak to each other!

:54:22. > :54:28.Here is Adam Fleming. The EU is like a modern-day Tower of Babel.

:54:28. > :54:33.It looks a bit less nice. The idea if it does matter is that every one

:54:33. > :54:37.of the citizens can communicate with the EU in their mother tongue,

:54:37. > :54:42.whether they are Bulgarian, French, or finish. It means that here,

:54:42. > :54:50.based B23 different languages. speak German, French, English,

:54:50. > :54:59.Italian and Dutch. English, French, Portuguese, German.

:54:59. > :55:04.German, French, Norwegian, Danish. A no Estonians because? Anybody

:55:04. > :55:09.speak Irish? That means there are 506 Language

:55:09. > :55:14.combinations. Here, in the document distribution centre, they churn out

:55:14. > :55:19.millions of words per year. Here is a report into some new banking

:55:19. > :55:26.regulations. This is it in English. Here it is in Bulgaria, Slovakia

:55:26. > :55:36.and, French, Latvian, Danish, Hungarian, Slovenian, Spanish,

:55:36. > :55:39.

:55:39. > :55:42.finished, Dutch, Maltese, Swedish, But when it comes to the spoken

:55:42. > :55:47.word, most languages are interpreted into English and then

:55:47. > :55:53.re interpreted in two others. Hannah does that in Estonian. She

:55:53. > :55:59.gave me a rare glimpse into the secret world of the interpreters.

:55:59. > :56:02.Languages are different. You can see if you look into the Spanish

:56:02. > :56:07.Booth, you see a lot of hand-waving from the interpreters, a lot of

:56:07. > :56:15.action. The Estonians tend to be very calm. When you're actually

:56:15. > :56:20.there, it is very intense. How long can you do it for in one go?

:56:20. > :56:30.minutes, and then you get very tired. How do you say eurozone

:56:30. > :56:34.

:56:34. > :56:39.The EU like to make linguists of us all. One of their goals is to make

:56:39. > :56:43.everybody speak two languages other than their mother tongue. Good luck

:56:43. > :56:48.with that! Yes, I don't know how many

:56:48. > :56:54.languages Adams beats. How many languages do you speak? -- Adams

:56:54. > :57:04.speaks. English is my second language. Welsh is my first one. I

:57:04. > :57:05.

:57:05. > :57:10.feel at home in Brussels. Do you speak Estonian? No. I speak

:57:10. > :57:15.a bit of Gujarati and Hindi, though. I don't know if that is on the list.

:57:15. > :57:20.One thing I found, since I have been there since 1999, I found that

:57:20. > :57:24.French was quite a dominant language when I arrived. What I

:57:24. > :57:29.have discovered now is that English is the dominant language. A lot of

:57:29. > :57:37.our work is done informally. has that happened? Accession was a

:57:37. > :57:41.huge thing. In 2004, I noticed a huge shift. They came in, some of

:57:41. > :57:45.the people from the Stalinist era, and they had learned French and

:57:45. > :57:51.their mother tongue, they then came in, started learning English.

:57:51. > :57:55.Everybody else learned English. Some of these southern states, like

:57:55. > :58:02.Cyprus. In his became their language. If you know English and

:58:02. > :58:07.you are in these informal meetings, it gives to such an advantage. That

:58:07. > :58:12.has been written about constantly. It is that little secret that we

:58:12. > :58:17.have. For all these years, sceptics have thought that our influence is

:58:17. > :58:21.waning. What about the French, they must be a set? The only people who

:58:21. > :58:26.insist on speaking their mother tongue, no matter what, are my

:58:26. > :58:31.French colleagues. But actually, we all speak in English, so even my

:58:31. > :58:35.French colleagues can speak, by and large, good English. Even the

:58:35. > :58:39.commissioner will speak in English now, particularly on things like

:58:39. > :58:44.banking union and things. Across the globe, finance is done in

:58:44. > :58:48.English. It is not because I am British. It because finance is done

:58:48. > :58:54.in English. We have an advantage. Thank you very much. That is all