Browse content similar to 07/10/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good afternoon, welcome to the Daily Politics. The political | :00:42. | :00:48. | |
reshuffle comes of age. David Cameron has been tweeting who is in | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
and who is out. The biggest scalps Cameron has been tweeting who is in | :00:50. | :00:57. | |
so far is the Scottish Secretary, Liberal-Democrat Michael Moore. | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
Labour is expected to reorganised their team this afternoon. We will | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
have all the comings and goings. The 80s are back. This postman | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
wanted you to buy shares in British Gas, now at the Royal Mail is up | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
for grabs, but are the terms of the sale wrong? | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
Could Government help for poor and has proved to be David Cameron's | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
biggest nightmare at the next general election? | :01:23. | :01:28. | |
And as MPs return to Westminster after the conference season break, | :01:28. | :01:34. | |
it will be asking the grassroots if politics has changed one jot. | :01:34. | :01:41. | |
All that in the next hour. With us today we have a pal of MPs who will | :01:41. | :01:46. | |
be checking their Twitter accounts hoping for a direct message from | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
their party leader. Alice they had taken your telephones away. From | :01:51. | :01:57. | |
the Conservatives' Stephen Dorrell, from Labour, Hazel Blears, and | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes. Let's start with the | :02:01. | :02:06. | |
news a ministerial reshuffle is under way. The big announcement | :02:06. | :02:11. | |
this morning is that Michael Moore, the Liberal Democrats Secretary of | :02:11. | :02:16. | |
State for Scotland, has been sacked. He will be replaced by a Alistair | :02:16. | :02:21. | |
Carmichael, the Lib Dem Chief Whip. Last night two Conservative | :02:21. | :02:25. | |
ministers resigned, Chloe Smith who was a minister in the Cabinet | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
Office, and John Randall, the Deputy Chief Whip. On Friday the | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
transport minister Simon Burns stepped down and announced he | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
wanted to stand for the vacant job of Deputy Speaker of the Commons. | :02:37. | :02:43. | |
Let's get the latest from our deputy political editor, James | :02:43. | :02:50. | |
Landale. At this stage of the game we are in the middle of a reshuffle, | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
and as we know they do not always run to plan. There is always a | :02:55. | :03:00. | |
minister who says no and a Cabinet minister who refuses a junior | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
minister being foisted on him. There are cock-ups. I am always | :03:04. | :03:09. | |
slightly cautious before being definitive about these things. As | :03:09. | :03:15. | |
far as we know, only one Cabinet change. But if you think we are now | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
less than a year away from the referendum on independence in | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
Scotland and the Liberal Democrats referendum on independence in | :03:23. | :03:26. | |
have chosen to change their Secretary of Sheikh -- State for | :03:26. | :03:32. | |
Scotland. Michael Moore was a more consensual figure and he was needed | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
to establish the groundwork for the referendum, to agree the rules for | :03:37. | :03:43. | |
the referendum. He outmanoeuvred Alex Salmond on several occasions. | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
But now they are into the campaign proper they need to have somebody | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
who is willing to cross the road and have a fight with Alex Salmond. | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
What about the fact this is a reshuffle of a difference because | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
it is being done on Twitter. Does that mean we are not going to see | :04:01. | :04:06. | |
all those comings and goings in Downing Street? Four years of those | :04:06. | :04:12. | |
ministers have been largely sat behind closed doors. The ministers | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
the Government wants to flag up and show they are allowed to walk up | :04:17. | :04:27. | |
and down the street. Sometimes they were co-ordinated to walk up in | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
twos and threes to have individual pictures to make individual points, | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
such as more women coming to the Cabinet. Topic of women, is that | :04:36. | :04:41. | |
not one of the things David Cameron is considering in this reshuffle? | :04:41. | :04:47. | |
There would be more women and more northerners? That is what we are | :04:47. | :04:52. | |
told. I can remember when Tony Blair had his first reshuffle in | :04:52. | :04:58. | |
1998 with Margaret Jay and Patricia Hewitt. Most prime ministers failed | :04:58. | :05:05. | |
to make as much of an impact as they want. I have bumped into the | :05:05. | :05:10. | |
junior welfare minister and she refused to say anything, but she is | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
looking very happy. The Prime Minister rates her, she is a woman | :05:14. | :05:21. | |
as she is on the north of England. The Prime Minister wants to have | :05:21. | :05:24. | |
them in ministerial position so they can get on to the telly. David | :05:24. | :05:30. | |
Cameron has only carried out one proper reshuffle as such. Does he | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
not like doing them? No, he hates them. Tony Blair used to say they | :05:35. | :05:40. | |
were Glass Lake. The reason they do not like them is that although it | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
is extreme moments of power it is the one time in the Prime | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
Minister's calendar when they can say do this, and it happens. It is | :05:48. | :05:54. | |
pure power. They do not have to worry about Parliament and | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
regulations. But because of that the risks are huge. You had to the | :05:58. | :06:03. | |
pool of the discontented, the overlooked, the unhappy, the sacked. | :06:03. | :06:09. | |
The risks are almost always higher than the potential gains. David | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
Cameron could say, we have got new faces and new women and he could be | :06:13. | :06:20. | |
very happy. But this is not the last reshuffle. This is a holding | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
pattern from the Conservatives. This will not be the whole team | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
that will be fighting the election in 2015. Enjoy the comings and | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
goings. Simon, let's talk about Michael Moore. But, first of all, | :06:34. | :06:40. | |
are any of you expecting a call? Certainly not. I have not got my | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
mobile with a. First of all, Simon, Certainly not. I have not got my | :06:43. | :06:57. | |
why do you think Michael Moore has been sacked? They must think the | :06:57. | :07:04. | |
campaign is in disarray. I think it is unfair when you say, somebody | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
has got the chop. Nick Clegg said at the beginning he wanted to give | :07:10. | :07:16. | |
people various opportunities of having a chance. Michael Moore has | :07:16. | :07:20. | |
done a fantastic job to make sure we keep Scotland as part of the UK. | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
I have seen the work he has done, there is no criticism of him. But | :07:25. | :07:31. | |
maybe they want somebody who is a bit more pugilistic. His Alistair | :07:31. | :07:36. | |
Carmichael cover? I know him because I have had dealings with | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
him a few years ago and he might seem a tougher opponent. That may | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
be true and that may be the perception. But if you are the | :07:45. | :07:50. | |
chief whip, you are silent. It is quite an unfair job to be given | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
because you can never speak out on matters that affect your | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
constituents and you issues. It gives Alistair Carmichael a chance | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
to re- emerge and be there speaking for Scotland. I do not know whether | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
Michael will get another job or not. I think we should say thank you, | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
you have done a great job, but change is a good thing with a year | :08:12. | :08:17. | |
to go until the referendum. It is a long time coming. Is that a sign of | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
weakness or David Cameron shying away from it? Or has it been a | :08:21. | :08:29. | |
virtue? A virtue. The point you're making in the introduction that | :08:29. | :08:32. | |
reshuffles cause many more problems than they solve, there is always a | :08:32. | :08:39. | |
tendency for a Government in problems to have a reshuffle, and | :08:39. | :08:44. | |
it always brings in new problems. I think David has been entirely right | :08:44. | :08:48. | |
to appoint people he trusts, to wait and then to stick with it and | :08:48. | :08:53. | |
allow them to get on and do the job. Do you think they need to be more | :08:53. | :08:59. | |
women? Having them more visibly at minister of state level and | :08:59. | :09:01. | |
spreading them geographically to get away from the accusation that | :09:02. | :09:07. | |
the Tory party is full of posh southerners? David Cameron made it | :09:07. | :09:12. | |
clear he wanted a Government where the third of the Government were | :09:12. | :09:17. | |
female and the current numbers do not meet that standard. I am sure | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
he would be looking for opportunities to do that. But he | :09:21. | :09:25. | |
would also say the people he appoints to ministerial office are | :09:25. | :09:28. | |
the people best qualified to do the job. Critics will say this is all | :09:28. | :09:34. | |
about politics, you have to move certain people, certain people need | :09:34. | :09:40. | |
to have a turn. You have to spread around ministerial privilege. Shock, | :09:40. | :09:46. | |
horror. Politicians engaging in politics! Did the best people get | :09:46. | :09:52. | |
the job? All prime ministers have to balance a whole series of | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
factors. But if out of this reshuffle there are more females, | :09:57. | :10:00. | |
including those who speak with accents outside the South East of | :10:00. | :10:05. | |
England, that would be a good thing from the Tory party's. A pupil | :10:05. | :10:11. | |
stock you would be right there in this ministerial reshuffle. Your | :10:11. | :10:15. | |
application would be considered favourably. You are not expecting a | :10:15. | :10:24. | |
call? No, I am not. I have been delighted to have a bit of freedom, | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
to perceive things I really care about. Being a minister is | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
fantastic, it is an immense privilege, but the shackles that | :10:33. | :10:38. | |
bind you sometimes, it is really hard work. What is it like being | :10:38. | :10:46. | |
reshuffled? Tell us the stories. It is amazing. My heart goes out to | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
people who are waiting by the telephone or waiting for a tweet. | :10:50. | :10:55. | |
People will be so desperate, particularly if you are on your way | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
up. This could be you one chance to do something that is exciting and | :11:00. | :11:05. | |
it is a privilege to be making policy for the country. I remember | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
when I was a very junior health minister at the time, at the bottom | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
of the pecking order, and it was a reshuffle and I had not got a phone | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
call. I went to Cornwall and I was in the middle of a field, | :11:20. | :11:25. | |
surrounded by cows, and the Prime Minister rang me up. I said, I | :11:25. | :11:27. | |
cannot talk because there was a cow Minister rang me up. I said, I | :11:27. | :11:33. | |
about to chase me. The Prime Minister gave me 10 minutes to get | :11:33. | :11:38. | |
out of the field. I did not lose the job. What about the cock-ups | :11:38. | :11:44. | |
that James Landale is talking about. How much of that goes on behind the | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
scenes? We have heard of people saying, no I do not want to move. | :11:49. | :11:54. | |
We heard rumours about Iain Duncan Smith. Does a lot of that go on? It | :11:54. | :12:00. | |
certainly went on in John Major's Government. I remember going into | :12:00. | :12:06. | |
Number 10 and being put in a room and I had to wait. I do not think I | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
had anything to read. I was walking up and down, looking over Horse | :12:12. | :12:17. | |
Guards Parade, waiting to be called in to the Prime Minister, he was | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
sorting out whether he had a vacancy. There is not a lot of room | :12:20. | :12:25. | |
for manoeuvre for the Liberal Democrats in a coalition. That is | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
another reason for not doing it so often. If there was a job, what | :12:30. | :12:36. | |
would you go for? I am not going to answer that question. We did a deal | :12:36. | :12:40. | |
at the beginning of the parliament that it was probably a good idea | :12:40. | :12:49. | |
that the deputy debt should not be in the Government so the party | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
thought it has somebody at the top of the party not locked in. But | :12:52. | :12:57. | |
that has been a criticism levelled at Nick Clegg, that he lost some of | :12:57. | :13:03. | |
the influence he might have been able to exert. This was the first | :13:03. | :13:09. | |
coalition Government since the war. I do not think everything was done | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
perfectly, but it was done in five days under huge pressure. It | :13:14. | :13:19. | |
delivered a firm coalition from the beginning and will stay the course. | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
It will show that coalitions can work when the electorate vote in | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
that way. It is much better than a work when the electorate vote in | :13:28. | :13:33. | |
minority Government. It shows we are willing to step up to the plate | :13:33. | :13:39. | |
and take difficult decisions. The criticism in the past wars, why | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
should we vote for you because you have never been in Government? My | :13:42. | :13:48. | |
understanding is that in the coalition both party leaders have | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
been clear they want to change within their own defined ranks. Did | :13:51. | :13:59. | |
they talk to each other? They could have been hardly any crossover at | :13:59. | :14:04. | |
all. Appointments are technically made by the Prime Minister and he | :14:04. | :14:09. | |
will talk to Nick Clegg, but Nick Clegg will make the nominations | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
appropriately. You will see some changes across the Department | :14:15. | :14:21. | |
between the two parties. Don Foster is Lib-Dem Chief Whip. Thank you | :14:21. | :14:28. | |
very much. Replacing Alistair Carmichael. Voices are coming into | :14:28. | :14:35. | |
my head. The Liberal Democrats were very much the junior partner and | :14:35. | :14:40. | |
here they are horse-trading on Cabinet positions without a mandate | :14:40. | :14:44. | |
from the electorate. This is a decision behind closed doors. I | :14:44. | :14:49. | |
think it is very important. Answer that. The Prime Minister has made a | :14:49. | :14:55. | |
change with the support of the Lib Dem leader. The Liberal Democrat | :14:55. | :15:02. | |
Party did not win sufficient votes Dem leader. The Liberal Democrat | :15:02. | :15:04. | |
and here they are with a whole series of Government posts. | :15:04. | :15:14. | |
You negotiate a coalition. I would prefer a majority Labour government. | :15:14. | :15:22. | |
It is not likely to happen. When you lost power and did not make a | :15:22. | :15:30. | |
majority, the logical conversation was to serve the Liberal Democrats. | :15:30. | :15:38. | |
It is worth saying that at the time the coalition was formed, everybody | :15:38. | :15:41. | |
said it would break down within a year and it has not. It is has a | :15:41. | :15:46. | |
majority in the House of Commons and the majority of people have voted | :15:46. | :15:51. | |
for it. It has carried through a programme that has put us in a much | :15:51. | :15:58. | |
better place economic leave. -- economically. Hazel! Hazel! No harm | :15:58. | :16:12. | |
in that. We will come back to this. Chloe Smith, who we mentioned at the | :16:12. | :16:17. | |
beginning, we said it was her decision to go and that is why she | :16:17. | :16:23. | |
resigned, she was not purged. I do believe that. She made it clear she | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
wanted to do other things with our lives. She has a marginal seat and a | :16:27. | :16:31. | |
big fight in Norwich. Politics, gosh. It could be a red letter day | :16:32. | :16:39. | |
for owners of Royal Mail shares when the company is officially floated on | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
the stock market next week. There's been a last minute dash by | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
stockbrokers in the City to buy up the shares, as a number of firms and | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
individuals believe the company is significantly undervalued. The | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
Government announced last month that shares in the company would be worth | :16:52. | :16:56. | |
between £2.60 and £3.30 each, after the company was valued at £3.3 | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
billion. But analysts at City firm Panmure Gordon said the company was | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
worth up to £4.5 billion, with Labour's Chuka Umunna also warning | :17:03. | :17:06. | |
the company is being sold off on the cheap. Investors have until midnight | :17:06. | :17:14. | |
on Tuesday to apply for the shares, which is expected to be | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
oversubscribed as many of the sell-offs in the '80s were. There | :17:17. | :17:25. | |
will then be a three day period of "conditional trading" when City | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
institutions can buy and sell the shares between each other. The final | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
price will then be announced on Friday and shares in Royal Mail will | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
be traded on the London Stock Exchange from Tuesday next week. | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
That could mean investors making up to 40% profit in just a few days. | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
Labour are warning the sell-off should be halted so that it offers | :17:41. | :17:45. | |
better value for the taxpayer, and doesn't end up in a bonanza for the | :17:45. | :17:49. | |
City. I'm joined now by former City trader David Buik. Welcome to the | :17:49. | :17:58. | |
programme. Is the Royal Mail undervalued? Yes. Good. You are | :17:58. | :18:12. | |
talking about the company being worth more than £1 million more than | :18:12. | :18:17. | |
it was estimated as. You need to look at the small print. It is easy | :18:17. | :18:24. | |
to criticise the government. Labour have had an enormous problem trying | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
to get Gordon Brown to agree with Peter Mandelson. Things are very | :18:27. | :18:33. | |
much better and more scaled down now. The great thing we have had | :18:33. | :18:37. | |
with initial public offerings is that they have tended to agree on | :18:37. | :18:42. | |
getting the price right. You drain every last sense then there is no | :18:42. | :18:50. | |
nickel and dime for every person that comes in. The real problem with | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
trying to evaluate the Royal Mail is the question of what importance you | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
attach to what I call a pretty free and light touch regulation. The | :18:59. | :19:05. | |
regulators have given Royal Mail the opportunity of moving prices for as | :19:05. | :19:10. | |
many as 29 million people. To date, the profit margin of Royal Mail has | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
been 3%. Over the next five years or so, if they get the opportunity to | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
remain competitive, they could increase their margin of | :19:19. | :19:25. | |
profitability by 10%. That significantly gives them the | :19:25. | :19:28. | |
opportunity. You never know quite what the likes of FedEx or TNT or | :19:28. | :19:37. | |
other people who have been in business on an international basis | :19:38. | :19:44. | |
will do. It is difficult for Vince Cable but I think he has done a | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
fantastic job and he should not be criticised for undervaluing eight | :19:48. | :19:53. | |
grossly. If you give people the encouragement to support businesses | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
like this you get a good shareholder register. Are investors set to make | :19:56. | :20:05. | |
a big buck? I think they are. The issue is likely to be ten times | :20:05. | :20:13. | |
oversubscribed. Whether it is the 70% of institution shareholders or | :20:13. | :20:21. | |
others, we will be disappointed with what we get. It gives us a good | :20:21. | :20:31. | |
shareholder register. It could easily be £3 85. Is the Royal Mail | :20:31. | :20:40. | |
undervalued to the tune of £1 billion? I am not an expert. Are you | :20:40. | :20:47. | |
worried? Of course. The government should always try get maximum money. | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
The Post Office struggled and Royal Mail struggled over the years | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
because it had pension liability which has been sorted. It was making | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
loss after loss. The government has delivered a policy which means we do | :21:00. | :21:06. | |
not have closures of Royal Mail services like we have had in the | :21:06. | :21:13. | |
past. The issue for me is whether, in the end, the private sector has | :21:13. | :21:20. | |
the majority or not of the shares. Are you not convinced about the | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
privatisation? I support our manifesto which was 10% employees | :21:24. | :21:30. | |
and is not a majority for the private sector. A combination of | :21:30. | :21:35. | |
government and employees. I hope that is what we end up with. This | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
sounds like a dream for the hedge fund managers and investors. We need | :21:40. | :21:44. | |
to remember that investors in this fund managers and investors. We need | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
context means pension funds. It is the man and woman in the street, | :21:49. | :21:54. | |
through their pension funds. The second thing to remember is that by | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
far the most important argument for transferring Royal Mail into the | :21:59. | :22:05. | |
private sector is to allow it to compete against FedEx and other | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
companies. The male market has changed. We communicate by e-mail | :22:10. | :22:14. | |
and the letter post has declined dramatically. It is a parcel service | :22:15. | :22:20. | |
with a lot of competitors and by moving it into the private sector we | :22:20. | :22:25. | |
have allowed it to take on its competitors in the UK market and to | :22:25. | :22:31. | |
look beyond the UK market so that it becomes a proper competitor in a | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
global business. That is the argument for doing it but you must | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
accept that the Royal Mail is profitable at the moment. I think it | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
is a good thing that it is profitable because that is what | :22:43. | :22:53. | |
allows it to take on global competitors and deliver value to | :22:53. | :22:56. | |
shareholders, the vast majority of whom are men and women in the | :22:56. | :23:04. | |
streets contributing to their pensions. Do you think it is too | :23:04. | :23:12. | |
high? It is quite a lot. Wherever you put a cut off, it reduces the | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
number of people who can participate. What we need to | :23:18. | :23:20. | |
number of people who can remember is that everyone of us | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
participates through our pension funds and life insurance. What about | :23:24. | :23:29. | |
you? Are you in favour of the sell-off? The number one concern of | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
government is to protect the public interest. That means if you go down | :23:34. | :23:40. | |
this route... Are you in favour? We would not have done this. Peter | :23:40. | :23:46. | |
Mandelson would have done it! He is long gone! We would not have done | :23:46. | :23:52. | |
this in the way it is proposed now. The important thing is about | :23:52. | :23:54. | |
regulation and public interest. If this is going cheap then I want to | :23:54. | :24:02. | |
see the interests of the taxpayer protected. The public are concerned | :24:02. | :24:08. | |
that the public get a good deal. If this goes ahead then we will protect | :24:08. | :24:13. | |
the universal service obligations so people get a proper service. We will | :24:13. | :24:18. | |
regulate prices because they have gone up by 30% in the last few | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
years. You are talking about people who see the Royal Mail as essential | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
and we need to see that it is affordable. If it is overvalued then | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
that is a big issue of money not coming into the public purse. Are | :24:33. | :24:34. | |
you comfortable that the public is coming into the public purse. Are | :24:34. | :24:40. | |
being protected? Every day there will be a delivery to wherever you | :24:40. | :24:46. | |
live, whether it be in Bermondsey the Shetlands. It is protected | :24:46. | :24:51. | |
legislation and it can only be changed by legislation. There is no | :24:51. | :24:55. | |
will in any party to change that. As I said earlier, the price is going | :24:55. | :25:01. | |
to be determined by the market. If you want more money then the | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
argument for selling shares is valuable, and you sell it on the | :25:05. | :25:11. | |
open market. If there is a market then you sell it for the price you | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
can raise. These shares are going to be oversubscribed by ten times. You | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
not think it is too low? No, I do not. If the guy from Panmure Gordon | :25:20. | :25:25. | |
had gone on he would have said is not. If the guy from Panmure Gordon | :25:26. | :25:29. | |
they would have difficulties getting it on. They did seem to say that | :25:30. | :25:35. | |
they had done a great job in getting the valuation right. There is the | :25:35. | :25:38. | |
world of difference between getting the valuation right. There is the | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
rid of something and something being oversubscribed. The Royal Mail is | :25:42. | :25:46. | |
profitable and is in the right position and I want to make sure | :25:46. | :25:51. | |
that the public is not ripped off by these shares being sold at the | :25:51. | :25:58. | |
Varsity reduced price. Can I ask you about strikes? That is still on the | :25:58. | :26:01. | |
table, and do you think it can be justified? The trade unions have to | :26:01. | :26:06. | |
protect the interests of their members. I am not in favour of | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
strike action on a utility like this because people depend on it, but the | :26:11. | :26:16. | |
trade unions have a legitimate job to do to make sure their members are | :26:16. | :26:24. | |
protected. The NHS has always been a crucial | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
issue to voters and the political parties who woo them - but perhaps | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
never more than at the next general election. The union Unite believes | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
it has identified 11 English marginal constituencies - currently | :26:34. | :26:36. | |
held by the Conservatives, but only by a handful of votes from Labour - | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
where failings in the health service locally mean they're ripe for the | :26:40. | :26:43. | |
taking, with voters blaming the Coalition for the problems. And | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
Unite claims these seats could be key to Ed Miliband's chances of | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
winning the next election. David Thompson reports. | :26:49. | :26:51. | |
The NHS is an election battlefield and in a dozen corners of England it | :26:51. | :26:58. | |
is a decisive one. The Unite union have identified constituencies where | :26:58. | :27:04. | |
Tory MPs are facing defeat because of problems with the health service, | :27:04. | :27:08. | |
and they say that as a golden opportunity for Labour. If these | :27:08. | :27:13. | |
seeds go to Labour then that could swing the election. That is good | :27:13. | :27:18. | |
because the Shadow Secretary of State for health has said in the | :27:18. | :27:23. | |
first queen's speech that he will repeal the health care act which is | :27:23. | :27:30. | |
costing a fortune and nobody wanted. It is fragmenting our NHS and worse | :27:30. | :27:35. | |
still, it is handing it over to private sector companies. The | :27:35. | :27:41. | |
marginals include direct in Essex. Hospitals have been criticised by | :27:41. | :27:46. | |
health-care watchdogs. The seat is held by Jackie Doyle Price with a | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
majority of 92, but she's coming out fighting. I think Unite are of beam. | :27:50. | :27:58. | |
They have identified that there are a lot of places in the country with | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
health service problems which are represented by Tory MPs but they | :28:02. | :28:08. | |
have interpreted that as being a problem for us. It is not. People | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
have interpreted that as being a have been grappling with these | :28:11. | :28:14. | |
problems and we have put these issues on the desk and the Secretary | :28:14. | :28:19. | |
of State has taken action. Far from highlighting weaknesses of the | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
Coalition Government, Unite are highlighting the fact that I have | :28:23. | :28:27. | |
been on the front line fighting for better care. Unite believe that if | :28:27. | :28:33. | |
it comes to a choice between trusting politicians and trusting | :28:33. | :28:37. | |
health care professionals, they are on the right side of the argument. | :28:37. | :28:46. | |
80% of us believes are GP. 17% of us believe Cabinet members. GPs are | :28:46. | :28:54. | |
saying that the funding for the NHS in England is catastrophic. Whatever | :28:54. | :29:03. | |
the rights and wrongs of the claims by Unite, the future of the NHS will | :29:03. | :29:07. | |
be a key part of the campaign and whoever wins that argument may win | :29:07. | :29:13. | |
the election. Do you agree with that analysis? | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
Is held a crucial issue? It is always a crucial issue in a general | :29:18. | :29:26. | |
election campaign. What's Unite is saying is that there are marginal | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
seats, yes, and the NHS operates in marginal seats. I do not think that | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
has advanced the argument. The reality is that in every seat in the | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
country, voters care about the quality of care delivered by the | :29:40. | :29:44. | |
health service and everyone of us needs to answer questions about it. | :29:44. | :29:50. | |
In those marginal constituencies those issues become more critical | :29:50. | :29:54. | |
and there has been a big reorganisation. On the doorstep, | :29:54. | :29:55. | |
have these reforms been popular or The issue will be whether we are | :29:55. | :30:13. | |
able to change the health service that can meet the needs of the | :30:13. | :30:20. | |
elderly for joined-up, health care services. The irony is it is the | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
piece of legislation that created health and well-being boards which | :30:25. | :30:30. | |
provide the basis for building a more joined-up health care service. | :30:30. | :30:36. | |
You are behind that? Stephen always tops a great deal of sense on this | :30:36. | :30:40. | |
issue. The biggest challenge is their health care of the elderly, | :30:41. | :30:48. | |
particularly those with dementia. Stephen has long campaigned on that. | :30:48. | :30:54. | |
We need to get more results from the money we have got to spend. But | :30:54. | :30:59. | |
there is an issue about disqualified provider where people | :30:59. | :31:03. | |
are genuinely worried about people coming into the health service | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
simply to make money. That goes against the grain of what most | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
people think the health service is far. Tony Blair started those | :31:11. | :31:16. | |
reforms when he was prime minister. Let's look at it from a minority | :31:16. | :31:22. | |
seat perspective. This could be rich pickings for the Liberal | :31:22. | :31:27. | |
Democrats. You could do something completely different. Everybody | :31:27. | :31:33. | |
will fight for good, local health services. Many years ago we had the | :31:33. | :31:39. | |
Battle of Guy's Hospital being closed and St Thomas's survived | :31:39. | :31:44. | |
with a campaign. In the neighbouring borough in Lewisham | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
recently there was a big battle I supported. Because of other | :31:48. | :31:56. | |
people's failings, not Lucienne, we fought so they did not lose their | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
accident and emergency and maternity units. However, the | :32:00. | :32:06. | |
challenge is how you get very good, specialist care, which you cannot | :32:06. | :32:10. | |
have in every town in the country, but secondly, how you have really | :32:10. | :32:14. | |
good community care which means you are not in hospital unless you | :32:14. | :32:18. | |
really need to beat. It is not good enough. Are you signed up to the | :32:18. | :32:23. | |
idea some hospitals have to close? It would be better to have bigger, | :32:23. | :32:29. | |
more specialised units? That seems to be the way medical officials | :32:29. | :32:34. | |
would like to go. Nobody was a hospital shack in their | :32:34. | :32:38. | |
constituency. Of course not. Are they going to stand by it even when | :32:38. | :32:43. | |
the services are bad? People do not go into that for bad services. It | :32:43. | :32:48. | |
is the quality of service that is delivered to the individual patient. | :32:48. | :32:53. | |
It is not just the clinicians. The National Audit Office has just done | :32:54. | :32:58. | |
her review and reckons that 30% of people should not be in hospitals | :32:58. | :33:03. | |
if we had proper joined-up care. That is why we need to take | :33:03. | :33:09. | |
resources away from picking up the pieces and invest more into | :33:09. | :33:11. | |
community-based services and prevention. How much damage has the | :33:11. | :33:18. | |
accident and emergency crisis had on voters? It is one of the ways of | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
the health service gets into the headlines, but it is a | :33:23. | :33:27. | |
manifestation of this issue, that we do not have a system that | :33:27. | :33:31. | |
intervenes earlier and supports people to avoid unnecessary | :33:31. | :33:35. | |
attendances at accident and emergency. But it has happened and | :33:35. | :33:39. | |
do you think you will be blamed for that? Governments are accountable | :33:39. | :33:44. | |
for what goes on in the health service. The way you deal with it | :33:44. | :33:48. | |
is not by focusing on the departments, they are the symptom | :33:48. | :33:53. | |
and not the cause. Andy Burnham was a target, rightly or wrongly, | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
because of what went wrong when he was Health Secretary, looking at | :33:58. | :34:02. | |
the target culture. Is it time at four Andy Burnham to go? No, I do | :34:02. | :34:08. | |
not. This whole issue has become extremely personal and that is bad | :34:08. | :34:13. | |
for politics. Let's talk about acute care, community care, people | :34:13. | :34:18. | |
with dementia, that is what the public care about. It is not a good | :34:18. | :34:23. | |
idea to turn it into a personal vendetta. How do you think it has | :34:23. | :34:31. | |
been challenged and handled? A on besides there is more politics and | :34:31. | :34:36. | |
policy and voters are more interested in policy. Would it | :34:36. | :34:41. | |
defuse the issue if Andy Burnham was moved? You could say if he was | :34:41. | :34:46. | |
moved, he was caving in to what Jeremy Hunt wants to see happen. I | :34:46. | :34:50. | |
think we should talk about the issues. That research shows many of | :34:50. | :34:56. | |
those areas in the airport are whether hospitals are in special | :34:56. | :35:01. | |
measures. Let's sort that out and get the health service to the point | :35:01. | :35:06. | |
where it can look after people. The issues over the last five years | :35:06. | :35:11. | |
have been policy and many hospitals have been unable to deliver quality. | :35:11. | :35:17. | |
Local GPs have not been able to open when people want to go to them. | :35:17. | :35:21. | |
It is now time to look at the political agenda. It is a busy week. | :35:21. | :35:27. | |
Tomorrow nominations open for the post of Deputy Speaker in the | :35:27. | :35:31. | |
Commons. Also on Tuesday, the Lobbying Bill has its report stage. | :35:31. | :35:36. | |
On Wednesday the Privy Council is expected to meet to decide whether | :35:36. | :35:43. | |
to improve proposals for a royal charter poor press regulation. On | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
Wednesday the Business Committee holds a one of hearings on Royal | :35:47. | :35:52. | |
Mail privatisation. On Thursday Lord Justice Leveson gives evidence | :35:52. | :35:57. | |
to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Turning us from the | :35:57. | :36:04. | |
green is Kieran Stacey of the Financial Times and Alastair Little. | :36:04. | :36:11. | |
Are you excited by the reshuffle? More than I can possibly say. It is | :36:11. | :36:18. | |
ongoing as we speak. Some journalists have to admit they will | :36:18. | :36:22. | |
struggle to recognise the names involved in the reshuffle. We are | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
getting a few hints and we have not had the whole of it yet. We are | :36:27. | :36:34. | |
fascinated by it. I can tell. Let's not do any tests of whether we | :36:34. | :36:41. | |
recognise the faces. But I can tell you that estimate the bay has been | :36:41. | :36:44. | |
promoted, but we do not know to what. Do you think this will build | :36:44. | :36:52. | |
a stronger team even if it is not the last reshuffle going into the | :36:52. | :36:57. | |
election? I do not think it will be the last reshuffle. We are | :36:57. | :37:01. | |
expecting a more substantial reshuffle sometime next year, | :37:01. | :37:05. | |
probably after the European elections, when he can assess what | :37:05. | :37:10. | |
he needs to do for that final push to the election. He is moving a few | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
people up to the level below Cabinet so they are ready for that | :37:14. | :37:19. | |
final push. That is if she was to bring in more women -- if he wants | :37:19. | :37:29. | |
to bring in more women. Let's look at the reshuffle in Labour's team. | :37:29. | :37:34. | |
That will be more substantial. There are very clear signals of | :37:34. | :37:39. | |
where Ed Miliband once his team to go. As the guests were discussing, | :37:40. | :37:45. | |
there is a huge interest in Andy Burnham's future. At the moment the | :37:45. | :37:51. | |
betting is on him remaining as a shadow Health Secretary. Of course, | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
I could be 100% wrong on that one. Andy Burnham has raised the stakes. | :37:56. | :38:03. | |
As scandals emerge about the NHS that took place under the last | :38:03. | :38:07. | |
Labour Government, Andy Burnham inevitably has to spend a lot of | :38:07. | :38:12. | |
time defending his own and his Government's record rather than | :38:12. | :38:15. | |
getting on the front foot and attacking the Conservative policy. | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
But I think if Andy Burnham was moved, a lot of people would say it | :38:20. | :38:26. | |
is a skull for the media, which Ed Miliband would hate. Yes, indeed. | :38:26. | :38:32. | |
Let's have a look at press regulation. Is this all going to be | :38:32. | :38:37. | |
signed and sealed? I was talking to some campaigners and they were | :38:37. | :38:41. | |
absolutely convinced this was going to be signed and sealed at the next | :38:41. | :38:46. | |
meeting of the Privy Council. They thought it was done. They always | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
wanted press regulation of the press. I am not so sure. Just | :38:50. | :38:57. | |
before the summer or they were being pretty slow about consulting | :38:57. | :39:01. | |
on the various options. There are two options on the table. There is | :39:01. | :39:06. | |
one that the cross-party agreement has put forward and there is one | :39:06. | :39:10. | |
that the press has put forward. Neither side likes the other one's | :39:10. | :39:15. | |
proposal. We have not come to a stage where either side has managed | :39:15. | :39:19. | |
to get over that. We could just do it anyway and say to the papers, | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
here it is. I do not think they would do that. I think there will | :39:23. | :39:29. | |
be more stagnation. None of the parties want to make this a big | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
issue right now a. Do you agree with that? I think it is a | :39:33. | :39:38. | |
compelling argument and we will all be looking forward to seeing Lord | :39:38. | :39:43. | |
Levison appear. He is a member of the Privy Council ironically, but I | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
gather he will not take part in the discussions on it. A bit of revenge | :39:47. | :39:54. | |
I feel. The Conservative backbencher Adam Afriyie told the | :39:54. | :39:57. | |
BBC he does not like creating a stir. He has got a funny way of | :39:57. | :40:00. | |
going about it. His latest bid to stir. He has got a funny way of | :40:00. | :40:05. | |
help the party leadership is to call for an end-out referendum next | :40:05. | :40:11. | |
year, saying many voters are not convinced David Cameron would be | :40:11. | :40:16. | |
able to deliver the vote in 2017 as promised. Here he is. The only | :40:16. | :40:22. | |
struggle I have had is not a fight with my party, but a fight with my | :40:22. | :40:24. | |
struggle I have had is not a fight conscience as to whether or not we | :40:24. | :40:26. | |
struggle I have had is not a fight give Parliament and the British | :40:26. | :40:30. | |
people the opportunity to have their say in 24 it in. I wanted | :40:30. | :40:36. | |
people to have that opportunity. It is for each individual MP to search | :40:36. | :40:42. | |
their souls. You decided it would get you in the headlines again, so | :40:42. | :40:47. | |
you would do it. You are so cynical. I have no ambition in that | :40:47. | :40:51. | |
direction, I am not a publicity seeker. I would not be able to | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
sleep that night if I did not bring forward this opportunity for | :40:56. | :41:01. | |
Britain to have its say. We have left it far too long. Nobody under | :41:01. | :41:08. | |
the age of 56 has had a save. That was Adam talking to Andrew | :41:08. | :41:13. | |
yesterday. We can speak to the Conservative MP behind the Commons | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
Bill designed to ensure there is a referendum by the end of 2017. He | :41:18. | :41:23. | |
has wrestled with his conscience, so he is doing your party in favour. | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
He is sincere in what he is bringing forward, but I also think | :41:28. | :41:34. | |
he is wrong. I got a bill through that will guarantee their | :41:34. | :41:40. | |
referendum by 2017. This amendment could derail that. It will cost | :41:40. | :41:43. | |
time and it will make it more difficult to deliver the bill. I do | :41:43. | :41:48. | |
not doubt Adam's reasons are genuine, but he should reconsider. | :41:48. | :41:54. | |
But he is not alone in thinking it would be better to have a | :41:54. | :41:58. | |
referendum sooner rather than later. There are not many colleagues I | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
have spoken to who are keen to support it. Then maybe one or two. | :42:01. | :42:08. | |
The Conservative Party is united behind the bill. There are | :42:08. | :42:13. | |
differences of opinion. Some people agree with the policy that we | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
should get the best possible deal. Some MPs do not want a referendum | :42:17. | :42:23. | |
at all. All this does is play into the hands of those who do not want | :42:23. | :42:27. | |
a referendum. Is he a publicity seeker? I think he has certainly | :42:28. | :42:31. | |
had the predictable effect of seeker? I think he has certainly | :42:31. | :42:36. | |
taking headlines. I am a co-sponsor of James' Bill and agree with | :42:36. | :42:38. | |
everything James has said. I am a of James' Bill and agree with | :42:38. | :42:43. | |
strong supporter on the principle of a referendum, but before you | :42:43. | :42:47. | |
have a referendum it is a good idea to know what the question is. | :42:47. | :42:54. | |
Labour could support Adam Afriyie's amendment and then see what happens. | :42:54. | :42:59. | |
I am not in charge of deciding our policy position. I would say this, | :42:59. | :43:05. | |
here we are again squabbling about Europe and what the public see is | :43:05. | :43:08. | |
they are interested in jobs, the economy, the NHS and here we are | :43:08. | :43:14. | |
again within the Conservative Party. You cannot get your act together to | :43:14. | :43:19. | |
sort it out. Labour is not united on this. There would be some end | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
sort it out. Labour is not united Labour's Wrens who would dearly | :43:23. | :43:26. | |
like to sign up to Adam Afriyie's amendment. There will be a debate | :43:26. | :43:32. | |
on this as there is in all political parties. Because Labour | :43:32. | :43:38. | |
is split. I look forward to the day that Labour announces they will | :43:38. | :43:40. | |
support the Bill because there would be a national consensus about | :43:40. | :43:46. | |
the need to negotiate a new settlement for Britain in the EU. | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
Personally, I think there is a very strong case for giving people a say | :43:51. | :43:56. | |
on something as big an issue as the pupil stock rock the boat, he is a. | :43:56. | :44:04. | |
You want me to support a Tory Bill? You are kidding. A cross-party Bill. | :44:04. | :44:12. | |
But I genuinely think, here you are again squabbling about Europe. Stop | :44:12. | :44:17. | |
it and deal with the issues the public want to talk about. One | :44:17. | :44:22. | |
Conservative MP has come out and said, I think it should be | :44:22. | :44:26. | |
different. Everybody else is united behind this Bill. You are not | :44:26. | :44:34. | |
worried at told that Adams said in five weeks support will start to | :44:34. | :44:37. | |
come for the amendment and as you say, that could wreck your bill | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
altogether. Are you totally relaxed he is not going to get it? I am not | :44:41. | :44:48. | |
relaxed at all. If it gets selected by the Speaker, that will have to | :44:48. | :44:53. | |
be debated and that would take time. It is not going to get past and he | :44:53. | :44:58. | |
will not get the support from the Conservative Party, but it is | :44:58. | :45:02. | |
putting at risk our chances of delivering the referendum. People | :45:02. | :45:07. | |
are not convinced. What happens in 2015, we do not know. David Cameron | :45:07. | :45:15. | |
might not be prime minister. You could pass legislation to undo it. | :45:15. | :45:20. | |
That is why some people are saying, let's go for it now. | :45:20. | :45:28. | |
we need to negotiate a new settlement for this country and seek | :45:28. | :45:37. | |
the support of the public for that new settlement. How likely is it | :45:37. | :45:40. | |
that you will get new powers back and there will be this great new | :45:40. | :45:47. | |
settlement? There may be some chance if we can get renegotiation. There | :45:47. | :45:54. | |
may be some change. We have not remembered that within this | :45:54. | :45:57. | |
Parliament we have legislated to provide for a referendum already. | :45:57. | :46:05. | |
Our view has been that that is the time to do it rather than picking an | :46:05. | :46:10. | |
arbitrary date such as 2017 or next year. It is better to do it when | :46:10. | :46:17. | |
there is a process. My fear is that a lot of people are looking at a | :46:17. | :46:27. | |
celibate argument. I am clear for my constituents and everywhere else in | :46:27. | :46:33. | |
the country, coming out of the EU, in jobs terms and in investment | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
terms, will be the worst thing for Britain. I understand that we can go | :46:37. | :46:43. | |
alone but in terms of real jobs, real trade and real investment, we | :46:43. | :46:50. | |
are clear that the referendum will be arguing towards staying in the | :46:50. | :47:01. | |
EU. I'm a campaign with you! I will have to finish it there. | :47:01. | :47:08. | |
MPs return to Parliament tomorrow after three weeks of knocking back | :47:08. | :47:12. | |
the ginger ale at the party conference season. Now, by all | :47:12. | :47:14. | |
accounts, probably theirs, David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg | :47:14. | :47:17. | |
have all had 'a good conference' with no major mishaps. But just how | :47:17. | :47:21. | |
happy are party members with their political leaders? I'm joined from | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
College Green by Conrad Landin from Left Futures, Gareth Epps, from the | :47:24. | :47:27. | |
Liberal Democrat Social Liberal Forum, and James Joshua of | :47:27. | :47:33. | |
Conservative Grassroots. Welcome to all of you. Can I start with Gareth? | :47:33. | :47:39. | |
Did you hear what you wanted to hear from Nick Clegg? I think some of the | :47:39. | :47:46. | |
party will be happy with what he said but there is a difference of | :47:46. | :47:51. | |
opinion amongst the Lib Dems from those who want us to go into the | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
next election campaigning loudly on Liberal Democrat principles and | :47:55. | :48:06. | |
those who want to adjust their positions with regards to short-term | :48:06. | :48:08. | |
expediency. There is a mix of opinion. There are some who will be | :48:08. | :48:17. | |
happier than others. What about you? Were you happy? Personally speaking, | :48:17. | :48:26. | |
I would like more differentiation. What epitomised it was over the | :48:26. | :48:33. | |
economy where we had a debate, and we have seemed to have ended up with | :48:33. | :48:41. | |
a situation where we have a dangerous initiative in the housing | :48:41. | :48:44. | |
market being brought forward. It runs the risk of taking us back to | :48:44. | :48:49. | |
the days of Gordon Brown with a housing bubble fuelled by debt. We | :48:49. | :48:53. | |
want to see real investment going in. James Joshua, there was a | :48:53. | :49:03. | |
consensus that the speech of David Cameron was a holding speech and did | :49:03. | :49:07. | |
not set the world on fire. Do you agree? I think the Prime Minister | :49:07. | :49:15. | |
states his positions very well. There is time until the elections | :49:15. | :49:19. | |
and he has set out policies. He is now focusing on getting through the | :49:19. | :49:27. | |
next two budgets and I think he has set things in motion. We are heading | :49:27. | :49:30. | |
in the right direction in terms of policy. We need to start creating a | :49:30. | :49:36. | |
clear dividing line between us and the other parties so we can have a | :49:37. | :49:43. | |
vision for the future. Do you think the marriage tax allowance did | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
that? It is a step in the right direction but I do not think it went | :49:47. | :49:55. | |
far enough. There is more that needs to be done. Conrad, Ed Miliband was | :49:55. | :50:02. | |
criticised for being in visible over the summer. Do you think he seized | :50:02. | :50:09. | |
the initiative? Yes, I do. I think he made a good speech overall and it | :50:09. | :50:13. | |
shows that Ed Miliband is not only a strong leader, and not only can he | :50:13. | :50:20. | |
challenged the government on their disastrous record, but he can set | :50:20. | :50:28. | |
the agenda. When he made his announcement on energy prices, | :50:28. | :50:32. | |
empower changed their website so it said, why wait for Ed? They offered | :50:32. | :50:39. | |
customers the opportunity to set their energy prices there and then. | :50:39. | :50:45. | |
I think, for some years, Labour Party activists have been saying | :50:45. | :50:50. | |
that we need bold policies and the front bench have been saying, no, we | :50:50. | :50:56. | |
need caution and we cannot afford to make a commitment at this point. I | :50:56. | :51:00. | |
think the party activists and the party grassroots have been proved | :51:00. | :51:04. | |
right. There is an opportunity for the Labour Party. We have been very | :51:04. | :51:09. | |
unpopular privatisation of Royal Mail that is about to happen, and at | :51:09. | :51:16. | |
the party conference I was very pleased that the party unanimously | :51:16. | :51:20. | |
agreed to renationalise the Royal Mail after a general election win. | :51:20. | :51:27. | |
My message to the leadership is, no, do not ignore that and do not | :51:28. | :51:32. | |
undermine that and accept that the party grassroots will pledge to | :51:32. | :51:44. | |
renationalise. James, you were concerned by the threat of UKIP. I | :51:44. | :51:51. | |
think, at the grassroots level, we are concerned by the threat of UKIP. | :51:51. | :51:58. | |
I speak for myself and not the Conservative grassroots, but I am in | :51:58. | :52:03. | |
favour of local linkups with UKIP. It will not split the centre-right | :52:03. | :52:12. | |
vote, and in my view that would be disastrous for the country. We had | :52:12. | :52:15. | |
13 years of Labour and we have a mess we need to clean up now. It | :52:15. | :52:19. | |
would be unrealistic to go back to that mess. Thank you, gentlemen. | :52:19. | :52:27. | |
Thank you for joining us. Local linkups. Let's pick up on that | :52:27. | :52:36. | |
issue. Nigel Farage said it could be done on a local level. What you | :52:36. | :52:41. | |
think M I am not in favour with the UKIP party or the Lib Dems or any | :52:41. | :52:46. | |
other party. I think the Tories should go into the election and aim | :52:46. | :52:51. | |
to win a majority. On your big question about party conferences, I | :52:51. | :52:52. | |
to win a majority. On your big think we have a bigger division | :52:53. | :52:57. | |
coming up. The key point from Ed Miliband was about price control. | :52:57. | :53:06. | |
David Cameron enabled us to see rising standards and I think the | :53:06. | :53:12. | |
party can win a majority without support from other parties. There is | :53:12. | :53:16. | |
clear water between Labour and the support from other parties. There is | :53:16. | :53:19. | |
Conservatives, is there not? There is no doubt about it. The activists | :53:19. | :53:28. | |
who are knocking on doors will be happy with the way the party is | :53:28. | :53:34. | |
going. I you happy that socialism is back? I have been knocking on doors | :53:34. | :53:39. | |
for the last two months. We had two by-elections and I am delighted we | :53:39. | :53:43. | |
have tangible policies to talk about. It was time to talk about | :53:43. | :53:48. | |
it. I think what Ed Miliband bid was clever but heartfelt. It was about | :53:48. | :53:55. | |
standing up to vested interests and acting on behalf of the public, the | :53:55. | :54:00. | |
little guy, if you like. The energy companies have behaved | :54:00. | :54:05. | |
irresponsibility, I think all parties would agree with that. Good | :54:05. | :54:12. | |
politics and Bonk economics, somebody said. I do not think the | :54:12. | :54:20. | |
public would feel that. 25 experience -- 25 years of experience | :54:20. | :54:25. | |
of this. They understand that moving a freer economy delivers better | :54:25. | :54:30. | |
living standards. You also need good regulation to stand up for the | :54:30. | :54:36. | |
public. Interesting words from Gareth who said he would like more | :54:36. | :54:42. | |
differentiation. He felt and feels that Nick Clegg and the Liberal | :54:42. | :54:45. | |
Democrats are far too close on that Nick Clegg and the Liberal | :54:45. | :54:49. | |
spending cuts to welfare, for example. Look, I think there is | :54:49. | :54:56. | |
differentiation. The key policy from this government came from our | :54:56. | :55:02. | |
manifesto which was raising the tax threshold. It was our policy and the | :55:02. | :55:07. | |
Conservatives agreed to it. We wanted people to be less oppressed | :55:07. | :55:13. | |
and keep more of their money. We wanted to collect more money from | :55:13. | :55:16. | |
people at the top. We need to do more. What would you like to see? I | :55:16. | :55:25. | |
want it to continue in that direction and to lift the minimum | :55:25. | :55:33. | |
wage level. On energy, very quickly, we had a real failure by the | :55:33. | :55:39. | |
regulators. When Labour win government, the energy supplier did | :55:39. | :55:45. | |
not do the job properly. I do not think that Vince Cable would argue | :55:45. | :55:50. | |
that price control is the best way. I must stop you. More details are | :55:50. | :55:55. | |
emerging of the reshuffle. Michael Moore has been given his reaction | :55:55. | :56:02. | |
from moving as Secretary of State for Scotland. I am disappointed to | :56:02. | :56:06. | |
be moving away from this office. I am pleased about what I have | :56:06. | :56:10. | |
achieved, in particular with regard to the constitutional Scotland. This | :56:10. | :56:16. | |
big decision we are taking as a Scotland is bigger than one | :56:17. | :56:20. | |
particular individual and 1-party. I look forward to playing a role in | :56:20. | :56:23. | |
the constitutional debate in the next 12 months. Let's get the latest | :56:23. | :56:28. | |
from our political correspondent. What more can you tell us? A few | :56:28. | :56:34. | |
more bits and pieces. Esther McVeigh who qualifies as a woman, moves up | :56:34. | :56:43. | |
to a minister at state level. I cannot see any other women or | :56:43. | :56:50. | |
Northerners. Mike Penny, born in Luton, he moves over to DWP. Greg | :56:50. | :56:57. | |
hands moves up to the whips office. There are no women at the moment. We | :56:57. | :57:07. | |
are promised there will be. The big story is the removal of Michael | :57:07. | :57:14. | |
Moore. A bit of feedback on it. A lot of people are questioning it. | :57:14. | :57:19. | |
They wanted a more abrasive approach, some people. A lot of | :57:19. | :57:26. | |
feedback I have been getting is that Michael Moore pitched its just | :57:26. | :57:30. | |
right. He did not allow Alex Salmond is to pitch it as an anti-Scotland | :57:30. | :57:34. | |
campaign. Though some questions about whether it was the right | :57:34. | :57:39. | |
move. They want somebody to take on Alex Salmond day today. We are | :57:39. | :57:49. | |
seeing pictures there of Nick Clegg. That is done. Sadly Davitt has been | :57:49. | :57:56. | |
appointed as the Secretary to the Prime Minister 's financial | :57:56. | :58:01. | |
concerns. We no longer have the walk of shame. If you lose your job you | :58:01. | :58:06. | |
no longer have to remove it and people will not shouted you! If you | :58:06. | :58:16. | |
get a job, you get a walk of joy. Esther McVeigh went in, Greg hands | :58:17. | :58:22. | |
went in. If you walk up the street, you are going to get promoted. | :58:22. | :58:29. | |
Everybody else, it is a no-go. If you see people walking up the | :58:29. | :58:35. | |
street, Norman, it makes the job a bit easier for you! I hope your day | :58:35. | :58:38. | |
is not too long. Thank you for bit easier for you! I hope your day | :58:38. | :58:42. | |
joining us. Have we got a few seconds more, briefly? It does not | :58:42. | :58:47. | |
sound that dramatic, does it? Apart from Michael Moore. That is the big | :58:47. | :58:54. | |
story this afternoon. Later on, maybe the women will emerge, I do | :58:54. | :59:00. | |
hope so. We need more women in government. | :59:00. | :59:02. |