Browse content similar to 05/11/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Afternoon, folks, welcome to The Daily Politics. Ed Miliband accuses | :00:36. | :00:39. | |
Afternoon, folks, welcome to The access to cash in the country's | :00:40. | :01:00. | |
poorest households. Could climate change make wind power run out of | :01:01. | :01:04. | |
puff? We'll debate whether harsher winters will undermine the case for | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
on-shore wind farms. And it's election day in the Big | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
Apple. Could New Yorkers be about to vote in this left-wing Democrat as | :01:13. | :01:14. | |
their new mayor? All that in the next hour. It is | :01:15. | :01:23. | |
time for a progressive New York and what I call a new New York. All of | :01:24. | :01:31. | |
that coming up in the next hour. And with us for the whole programme | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
today is Marion King, she's the president of Mastercard in the UK. | :01:35. | :01:37. | |
Welcome to The Daily Politics. Let's start with another story, though - | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
the news that the chairman of the schools standards organisation | :01:42. | :01:43. | |
Ofsted thinks that children as young as two should go to school. Baroness | :01:44. | :01:47. | |
Sally Morgan says toddlers should be enrolled in schools to try to | :01:48. | :02:06. | |
Sally Morgan says toddlers should be from the age of three. I think she | :02:07. | :02:08. | |
is talking about children from poorer families, and deprived | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
environments, and therefore, to start in a destructive environment, | :02:13. | :02:17. | |
and meet other children, I think it is very positive. It is also very | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
important for parents, and women who want to go back to work, to have the | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
opportunity to do so. But is that in effect what it is, taking children | :02:26. | :02:31. | |
out of families who often Ofsted feel are not going to provide what | :02:32. | :02:34. | |
the children need, and it is just going to be childcare? I think it is | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
a balance. If they are in a structured environment, where they | :02:41. | :02:43. | |
are learning, a safe and secure environment, think it is a positive | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
thing. In Scandinavia, though, they have long gone on about the benefits | :02:50. | :02:53. | |
of going to school much later, that actually, trying to push children | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
into any form of structured education early does not produce the | :02:59. | :03:15. | |
believe. But I think for the families which are being highlighted | :03:16. | :03:18. | |
here, if it is beneficial for children to start in a form of | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
structured environment, safe and is a, as well as learning, playing and | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
socialising, I think it is positive. What about those children missing | :03:29. | :03:31. | |
out on time at home with either family members or childminders, | :03:32. | :03:35. | |
people looking after them, what they want to one basis? -- safe and | :03:36. | :03:41. | |
secure. It is a balance, isn't it? Very often these days, both parents | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
need to work. And each family has to find its own structure. But if you | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
have nowhere to put your child witches safe answer to, then that | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
becomes a real problem. What did you do with your children at that age? | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
My children started at the age of three at preschool. Now, it is time | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
for our daily quiz. The question for three at preschool. Now, it is time | :04:05. | :04:27. | |
trip for Nigel Farage? At the end of the show, Marion will give us the | :04:28. | :04:29. | |
correct answer. It's the big political battle of the | :04:30. | :04:37. | |
moment - who is going to do more to tackle the cost of living problem. | :04:38. | :04:40. | |
All parties are vying to impress the public with their policies. But | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
which display will win the oohs and aahs from voters? The cost of living | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
has been Labour's focus since they pledged to temporarily freeze energy | :04:49. | :04:50. | |
prices at their conference last month. Earlier today, Ed Miliband | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
continued his attack on energy companies, saying more than half of | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
the annual increase in fuel bills since 2011 has gone directly to | :04:59. | :05:05. | |
support their profits and costs. And he called for water firms to offer | :05:06. | :05:10. | |
special tariffs for the low-paid. On Sunday, Mr Miliband confirmed his | :05:11. | :05:13. | |
commitment to the living wage - the amount an individual needs to earn | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
to cover the basic costs of living - by saying that a future | :05:18. | :05:36. | |
to cover the basic costs of living - tariffs for struggling households. | :05:37. | :05:39. | |
Last month, they also told train companies they won't be able to | :05:40. | :05:43. | |
increase any rail fare by more than inflation plus 3%... ..and promised | :05:44. | :05:50. | |
to roll back "green charges" that add an average of ?112 to energy | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
bills. So, which of the policy pledges will go with a bang? And | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
which ones will die out with a whimper? Well, this is what Ed | :06:00. | :06:02. | |
Miliband had to say a little earlier today... | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
So, we will change the way the energy market works, such that it | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
will provide confidence for investors and a better deal for | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
consumers. And we will mend other markets that are not working in the | :06:18. | :06:20. | |
public interest, opening up competition in banking, they the | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
cost of credit in payday lending, proper regulation of the train | :06:26. | :06:28. | |
companies, ending unjustified That is their version of getting | :06:29. | :06:49. | |
tough. Actually, what they should be doing is saying that these companies | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
should have mandatory social tariffs to help vulnerable customers, and | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
they should be looking at the way that industry is working. That is | :06:57. | :06:59. | |
what a government which is determined to fix broken markets | :07:00. | :07:03. | |
would be doing. Ed Miliband, speaking just over an | :07:04. | :07:07. | |
hour ago. And I've been joined by Labour's Shadow Energy Secretary, | :07:08. | :07:09. | |
Caroline Flint, and the Government's Skills and Enterprise Minister, Matt | :07:10. | :07:17. | |
Hancock. Welcome to you both. Matt Hancock, writing to the water | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
companies to do something about their prices, what is the sanction | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
if they don't? Well, it is very clear that we expect them to do | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
that. But what if they don't? Well, we will look at it, obviously. It is | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
very interesting that Ed Miliband talked about water today, having | :07:37. | :07:39. | |
seen that the Government is taking action. | :07:40. | :07:59. | |
of State, by reducing the costs of charges for more solar energy, which | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
we reduced, and there was a big deal about that, I remember coming on | :08:05. | :08:07. | |
this programme about it, and we said it was the right thing to do to | :08:08. | :08:11. | |
reduced costs. But let's have a look at the action specifically on water | :08:12. | :08:16. | |
companies. The row over energy and fuel bills as to some extent leaned | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
some results, with policies on both sides. With the water companies, if | :08:21. | :08:24. | |
they refuse to introduce either a lower tariff or they will not bring | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
down their prices, you will look at it, but what tools have you got | :08:30. | :08:32. | |
available to actually force them to do something? The tools available | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
through the regulation of the industry. It is a regulated | :08:38. | :08:41. | |
industry. So, we will look at that. In the first instance, what we are | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
saying to the water companies very clearly is that they need to take | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
action. What you would expect is for us to make | :08:51. | :09:07. | |
action. What you would expect is for legislation to make sure that these | :09:08. | :09:09. | |
companies did have social tariffs. In answer to your question, instead | :09:10. | :09:16. | |
of sending it' you say, if you are not going to introduce social | :09:17. | :09:21. | |
tariffs, we will introduce what we have on the statute books. -- | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
instead of sending a egging letter. And I think there are lessons to be | :09:29. | :09:31. | |
learned from what has happened in energy. They are virtual monopolies, | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
and therefore, just like energy, a level of regulation which meets the | :09:38. | :09:41. | |
needs of the public... They are regulated, but there is an issue | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
between the profits, and what degree they are helping people. I think it | :09:47. | :09:49. | |
needs strong interrogation and strong regulation. You know what I | :09:50. | :09:56. | |
have said about regulation on the energy side, it is not fit for | :09:57. | :10:00. | |
purpose. So, are you going to intervene on | :10:01. | :10:00. | |
purpose. So, are you going to this is really important? I just | :10:01. | :10:22. | |
want to stick with water for the moment. Labour are proposing they | :10:23. | :10:30. | |
would intervene, so would you? Why not bring into force the legislation | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
which is already there on social tariffs? What we have said is that | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
the water companies need to act and we expect them to do so, and | :10:39. | :10:42. | |
Caroline has then said that, having heard that is going to happen, | :10:43. | :10:46. | |
Labour are saying the same thing. So, we will take action on water. | :10:47. | :10:50. | |
But on energy, we have already taken action, and we are looking to take | :10:51. | :10:59. | |
more. Matthew Hancock has made it clear that they are going to do | :11:00. | :11:02. | |
something, what I am interested to know is, what will you do? With you | :11:03. | :11:07. | |
propose a similar action, as you have with rolling back green taxes, | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
for example? Is there something that you will | :11:12. | :11:29. | |
for example? Is there something that they will force every household to | :11:30. | :11:31. | |
install an electricity style meat, measuring the amount of water used, | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
you support that? I do believe that water metering is part of the | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
answer. And what about you, Caroline Flint? What I would be worried about | :11:43. | :11:54. | |
is just conceding to this demand, before you have a whole picture | :11:55. | :11:57. | |
about what their profits are, and what their investment profile is, | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
and whether they are tackling, for example, in London, Rob is about | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
water leakage. These companies have dominated an area through their | :12:07. | :12:09. | |
virtual monopoly status, and it is easy for them to make these demands | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
without anybody looking into it. Do you agree, Matthew Hancock, Thames | :12:15. | :12:17. | |
Water, for example, they are the only people I can use to supply my | :12:18. | :12:21. | |
water, so that is not a competitive, functioning market, | :12:22. | :12:38. | |
water, so that is not a competitive, instance, there were 14 energy | :12:39. | :12:40. | |
companies, it has now gone down to six, and there are now eight new | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
ones. It turns out Ed Miliband, after saying switching does not | :12:46. | :12:48. | |
count, he has also switched. But what about water? Firstly, the water | :12:49. | :12:56. | |
companies have to take responsible a team, and that is what we are asking | :12:57. | :13:04. | |
them to do. Any ideas on how you would instil competition? I am not | :13:05. | :13:12. | |
going to take a gas on Owen Paterson's next steps. But it seems | :13:13. | :13:16. | |
we have got the Government and the opposition saying they are going to | :13:17. | :13:18. | |
intervene in every market, so are all of these markets broken? Excuse | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
me, Caroline, all of these markets... All of these markets are | :13:25. | :13:29. | |
regulated, but crucially, we have got to make sure that competition | :13:30. | :13:31. | |
exists in them got to make sure that competition | :13:32. | :13:51. | |
sat here and not been able to answer the question. We will come onto | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
energy. In terms of intervening in these markets, is that now going to | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
be the policy of Labour to come in on water, energy, rail, you are | :14:01. | :14:05. | |
going to go in there and say, we are going to break it up and fix it? And | :14:06. | :14:09. | |
it comes to the private sector, if the market was working properly, and | :14:10. | :14:13. | |
competition was working well, you would expect to see a corresponding | :14:14. | :14:16. | |
customer service base which reflected that. People would feel | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
like, they are hungry for our business, working for our business, | :14:21. | :14:23. | |
they treat us well. Truth is that in energy, and it would seem in water, | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
customers have not been well served. In the energy market, which is | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
different from water, clearly the market has broken down, and we have | :14:34. | :14:36. | |
six companies which dominate 98% of it. It is all very well Matthew | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
talking about green levies, the truth is, | :14:42. | :14:58. | |
talking about green levies, the costs and VAT, so half of that has | :14:59. | :15:01. | |
gone straight back to the companies, for them to spend on their profits | :15:02. | :15:05. | |
and operating costs. In that situation, it is fair to ask them, | :15:06. | :15:09. | |
are you really efficient as a company and are you really paying | :15:10. | :15:11. | |
attention to your customer base before your profits? I believe they | :15:12. | :15:15. | |
aren't. But the difference, though, is that the Government is proposing | :15:16. | :15:19. | |
cutting people's bills, not just freezing prices, they are going to | :15:20. | :15:30. | |
cut the bill. We are very clear. We think they should freeze the bills. | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
But the big issue is something the government has not dealt with. Do we | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
revolt at the -- reform the market? There is no incentive to put | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
downward pressure on bills. We are saying that all electricity should | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
be sold in an open pool, in an open exchange. My understand the policy. | :15:51. | :15:51. | |
We have nothing exchange. My understand the policy. | :15:52. | :16:10. | |
you think will work? It is not an either/or. We are hearing that there | :16:11. | :16:14. | |
is a need for intervention and regulation. This is not a | :16:15. | :16:20. | |
competitive market and so the intervention needs to be different. | :16:21. | :16:24. | |
Assault bills need to be lower and controlled. -- household bills. It | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
is a balance of stronger regulation, and making sure that | :16:30. | :16:33. | |
revelation is enforced. And that it is appropriate for the market. I | :16:34. | :16:39. | |
would agree but everything we ask from bill payers, we should ensure | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
we get value for money. The key thing to ensure is that we do what | :16:45. | :16:47. | |
we can on competition to bring profits down and to bring costs | :16:48. | :16:54. | |
down. Caroline said earlier that only ?112 is added. Only ?112 is | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
added? ?112 a only ?112 is added. Only ?112 is | :17:00. | :17:21. | |
think that is fair... Two of course, we need to look at profits in | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
competition. There are eight new market entrants. Their tiny! One of | :17:27. | :17:36. | |
those two has said that if we get a short-term price freeze, as proposed | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
by Labour, they may have to leave the market and so we will end up | :17:43. | :17:44. | |
with prices higher in the long-term. But more importantly, | :17:45. | :17:48. | |
there are things that we can do directly, things that we have done | :17:49. | :17:51. | |
to bring down the and things that we can do. Labour are against them. | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
David Cameron accused Ed Miliband of living on a Marxist planet with | :17:58. | :18:00. | |
these ideas of intervention. Is he injuring that way? You have said it | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
is time for more intervention and regulation, bringing down profits. | :18:05. | :18:10. | |
It sounds like you are marching in the same direction? | :18:11. | :18:29. | |
It sounds like you are marching in and do I want. Would you nationalise | :18:30. | :18:31. | |
the utilities? You are talking about it with the railways. You did hint | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
at that. It is a different matter for the railways. It is a completely | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
different discussion. The truth is that in terms of nationalising, it | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
would cost billions of pounds. I think we need a more effective | :18:46. | :18:48. | |
market and it needs to be reformed in a way that opens it up. And the | :18:49. | :18:54. | |
truth is that three of the small players have said they will live | :18:55. | :18:58. | |
with the freeze and support it. One of them has said that it may with | :18:59. | :19:04. | |
them out of business. The small businesses cannot get a foothold | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
because it is dominated by the big six to generate energy and sell it | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
to themselves and onto us. That is why we are making it easier to | :19:15. | :19:15. | |
switch. Switching will not cut it. elegant city. That is how you do it. | :19:16. | :19:41. | |
Why are so many people saying that your policy is economically bonkers, | :19:42. | :19:44. | |
that it will not work and the lights could go out? Why, if it is such a | :19:45. | :19:51. | |
fabulous idea, is it knocked by so many people? There were a few voices | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
after Ed Miliband's speech you said that the lights would go out. I've | :19:58. | :20:00. | |
spoken to the chief executives of the big six and many of them have | :20:01. | :20:05. | |
sent that that is not the case. National Grid said it would not be | :20:06. | :20:08. | |
the case and security is important. We need something to address the | :20:09. | :20:12. | |
overcharging that has been going on as wholesale prices have come down. | :20:13. | :20:19. | |
We need to address the structural reform of the market. Switching is | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
fine but it will not do it. You have made a point. But the boss of | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
Centrica has said he will not take his bonus. Because of anger and a | :20:30. | :20:31. | |
lack of trust. his bonus. Because of anger and a | :20:32. | :20:49. | |
decision he has made and I think we can see the direction of travel. I | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
think they should all look at that. Would you ban bonuses? I think they | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
have to be fit for purpose and they do not think they have been | :21:01. | :21:05. | |
recently. Thank you both very much. This morning, MPs have been | :21:06. | :21:08. | |
questioning the bosses of payday lenders like Wonga, which charge | :21:09. | :21:10. | |
high interest rate for short-term loans. Politicians have criticised | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
the companies for charging too much and exploiting Britain's tourist | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
households. -- progressed. It shone a spotlight on the issue Bob Hope | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
were people manage their money. What do you do to reach more than 1 | :21:27. | :21:29. | |
million people who do not have a bank account? And the many more who | :21:30. | :21:33. | |
do not have a fully fledged current-account. | :21:34. | :21:38. | |
Money makes the world go round but what if your bank does not trust you | :21:39. | :21:42. | |
with a current account. Most High Street | :21:43. | :21:42. | |
with a current account. Most High things like utility bill discounts, | :21:43. | :22:05. | |
by paying through direct debit. This Company wants to solve the problem. | :22:06. | :22:09. | |
It is a credit union which means that it is owned by members, who | :22:10. | :22:14. | |
effectively lend to each other. And this month, they will become the | :22:15. | :22:18. | |
first organisation of its kind to offer a fully fledged | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
current-account. In many ways, it is expensive to be pure. Part of the | :22:24. | :22:26. | |
benefit of working with MasterCard on this service is that we will | :22:27. | :22:31. | |
suddenly be finding that people can actually access markets that | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
currently are barred to them. They also want to steer people away from | :22:37. | :22:39. | |
illegal but expensive sources of cash, like the payday lenders that | :22:40. | :22:46. | |
line the High Street. One particular man had had a series of loans from a | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
doorstep lender and he had paid over ?3000 in | :22:52. | :23:10. | |
doorstep lender and he had paid over the figures IK Kim and burst into | :23:11. | :23:16. | |
tears. -- the figures I gave him. Some of those companies have been in | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
front of a Select Committee today. They say most of the customers are | :23:22. | :23:25. | |
happy and they have been misrepresented in the debate about | :23:26. | :23:28. | |
how pure people manage their money. -- for people. But that is a debate | :23:29. | :23:37. | |
that will continue. When universal credit is introduced, many claimants | :23:38. | :23:40. | |
will get the money in lump sums rather than fortnightly, the idea | :23:41. | :23:43. | |
being that it is more like being paid a wage. That has some asking, | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
how will people cope with something like a salary if they are not used | :23:49. | :23:51. | |
to something as basic as a bank account? | :23:52. | :23:56. | |
We asked the government for an interview with the consumer affairs | :23:57. | :23:58. | |
minister, Jo Swinson, but she was not available. We are joined by her | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
opposite number, Stella Creasy. Welcome to the show. | :24:03. | :24:20. | |
opposite number, Stella Creasy. is ?5.3 million -- 5.3 people -- 5.3 | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
million people underserved. Many choose not to have a bank account | :24:25. | :24:27. | |
but there are some on a boy people who find it difficult to get a bank | :24:28. | :24:32. | |
account. Why does it matter so much that people have a bank account? It | :24:33. | :24:39. | |
is about social inclusion. If you do not have a bank account, you cannot | :24:40. | :24:42. | |
pay all chronically or buy the internet. The gentleman there | :24:43. | :24:46. | |
highlighted that you cannot use a direct debit or electronic teens are | :24:47. | :24:50. | |
paying your bills. Some people cannot get back accounts the cos | :24:51. | :24:53. | |
they have a bad financial record. -- bank accounts. Who are the people | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
who would elect not to have one? Because they preferred to use cash. | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
It might be trust or a question of managing their money. We're seeing | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
people increasingly drawing money from an ATM to spend before they go | :25:10. | :25:12. | |
in a supermarket. It is a way from an ATM to spend before they go | :25:13. | :25:35. | |
brings with it a debit card. Providing a card that people can | :25:36. | :25:41. | |
join the economy with. I was also talking about prepaid cards, which | :25:42. | :25:44. | |
are not attached to a current account, that allow you to spend | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
securely, but you cannot overspend. Do you think that people need a bank | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
account? Should there be an aim of political parties, to make sure | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
people are financially included? It was the last Labour government that | :25:59. | :26:01. | |
set up the financial inclusion task force. A number of these issues are | :26:02. | :26:07. | |
absolutely right. The other point is that I see people in my community | :26:08. | :26:12. | |
who are paying higher energy rates because they're using prepayment | :26:13. | :26:15. | |
meters. We are still seeing a poverty premium on these issues. | :26:16. | :26:21. | |
Interestingly, some of these payday lenders will make a virtue out of | :26:22. | :26:24. | |
the fact that they go to people with back accounts. | :26:25. | :26:41. | |
the fact that they go to people with the past, in many occasions. How can | :26:42. | :26:44. | |
you persuade institutions to take on these people when they have not | :26:45. | :26:50. | |
shown any financial responsibility? That is not what the research shows. | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
The University of Birmingham queries these figures, saying it is under a | :26:57. | :26:59. | |
million who do not have a bank account, or maybe 2 million | :27:00. | :27:05. | |
individual accounts. That is too many. There are a number of | :27:06. | :27:08. | |
different issues. There is a cultural issue about people choosing | :27:09. | :27:11. | |
not to have them and there are people with bad credit histories. | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
But there is a question about the motivation of the banks and how they | :27:16. | :27:18. | |
are assessing what bad credit history is. One of my concerns is | :27:19. | :27:21. | |
that we are increasingly seeing segregation in the credit market | :27:22. | :27:24. | |
where for some people the only option is payday lending or high | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
cost credit will stop as they take that out, banks will judge them as | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
an fit to lend. That is a failure of banks | :27:35. | :27:52. | |
an fit to lend. That is a failure of low incomes? Financial inclusion is | :27:53. | :28:00. | |
critical. Having we have seen the consequences of responsible lending | :28:01. | :28:03. | |
not happening. -- I think we have seen. Irresponsible lending has led | :28:04. | :28:06. | |
to the banking crisis domestic league and in the bigger market. We | :28:07. | :28:09. | |
need responsible lending where people have a bad credit rating, | :28:10. | :28:15. | |
there are incidents that can be offered to those consumers, such as | :28:16. | :28:19. | |
the prepaid capability which does not require a current-account. If | :28:20. | :28:24. | |
you use that had responsibly, ie you are not for ever busting the limit, | :28:25. | :28:28. | |
that gives you a credit rating to enable you to get a basic | :28:29. | :28:31. | |
current-account. -- if you use that card responsibly. We're seeing an | :28:32. | :28:37. | |
increasing of people going into an overdrafts to pay off a poll -- | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
payday loan full stop that is a win-win for the banks and the payday | :28:42. | :29:02. | |
payday loan full stop that is a Credit unions charge 2% a month. | :29:03. | :29:07. | |
This is low-cost lending. Do you accept that the reason people turn | :29:08. | :29:14. | |
to payday lenders in order to get a short term loan is a failure of the | :29:15. | :29:20. | |
banks? The walls bear market for short-term lending. Whether that is | :29:21. | :29:24. | |
overdraft or a payday lender, there is a market and a requirement. We | :29:25. | :29:28. | |
need to make sure that the revelation is proportionate. -- | :29:29. | :29:32. | |
there will always be a market. We need to make sure that the borrowers | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
know what they are getting into. We need to make sure that these | :29:37. | :29:42. | |
inappropriate actions do not take place. There is a need because | :29:43. | :29:47. | |
otherwise the companies would not be doing this well. On average, they | :29:48. | :29:52. | |
say it is people taking around ?175 out for around 16 days. You | :29:53. | :30:13. | |
say it is people taking around ?175 rising higher than wages. It is | :30:14. | :30:17. | |
different to an emergency. In this industry, the incentives about -- | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
are about putting people into debt. They want to create a situation | :30:23. | :30:27. | |
where people are shorter and shorter and that is not a fear market for | :30:28. | :30:31. | |
consumers. It is right that we step in and look at what we can learn | :30:32. | :30:34. | |
from other countries to change the incentives and the practice in this | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
industry. What we have seen today is irresponsible lending. Without those | :30:41. | :30:44. | |
caps, you will not get the changes. Things like caps and freezers do not | :30:45. | :30:50. | |
work. They are blunt instruments. It is about the type of loan and the | :30:51. | :30:53. | |
length of loan. It is about the interest rate. It is about the | :30:54. | :30:56. | |
practices in selling and recovery, all of those things. Just putting on | :30:57. | :31:03. | |
a freeze causes unintended consequences. | :31:04. | :31:24. | |
a freeze causes unintended Final word? We are not a lender. We | :31:25. | :31:28. | |
allow the transaction to happen. If you cap and suppressed too much, you | :31:29. | :31:36. | |
push the industry into the corners. There is evidence from other | :31:37. | :31:40. | |
companies -- countries that the opposite is true. Ed Miliband made a | :31:41. | :31:44. | |
speech about the cost of living today. At the end, he was asked | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
about the allegations of election rigging in the Falkirk consistency. | :31:50. | :31:59. | |
James Landale was watching. He was bombarded with questions about | :32:00. | :32:01. | |
precisely what has happened in Falkirk. Over the last few days, | :32:02. | :32:05. | |
some new evidence has been published by the Sunday Times newspaper, new | :32:06. | :32:10. | |
e-mails, and doubts cast over some of the original evidence given by | :32:11. | :32:11. | |
Labour members. of the original evidence given by | :32:12. | :32:32. | |
Labour's plan pain to keep Scotland as part of the United Kingdom. -- | :32:33. | :32:37. | |
Labour's campaign. They are all calling for a new inquiry, so why | :32:38. | :32:42. | |
wouldn't Mr Miliband give one case he was asked about this and he said | :32:43. | :32:45. | |
he did not believe there was enough new evidence. He thinks they are not | :32:46. | :32:54. | |
changing their evidence at the moment. He also said that the Labour | :32:55. | :32:58. | |
Party had acted to take control over the selection, and stated that the | :32:59. | :33:01. | |
party was reforming its relationship with the unions. But the questioning | :33:02. | :33:07. | |
got quite personal. He was asked how much he fears on a scale of one to | :33:08. | :33:11. | |
ten people like Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite | :33:12. | :33:14. | |
union, and also the Labour MP John Watson, who is very much involved in | :33:15. | :33:19. | |
Scottish politics. So, I think we are in an interesting position for | :33:20. | :33:21. | |
Ed Miliband. What began as a story are in an interesting position for | :33:22. | :33:41. | |
getting into quite risky territory, if he still refuses to conduct a new | :33:42. | :33:49. | |
inquiry. So, he is clearly under pressure, because what will happen | :33:50. | :33:51. | |
in terms of this, is that people will just look at the relationship | :33:52. | :33:59. | |
between Labour and the Unite union, and also between Ed Miliband and Len | :34:00. | :34:05. | |
McCluskey, and that, as you say, over time, could be very bad news | :34:06. | :34:10. | |
for him. Yes, and particularly, because the Conservatives will not | :34:11. | :34:14. | |
in the House of Commons just now, George Osborne, in Treasury | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
questions, raised the question about the role of the Unite union in the | :34:19. | :34:22. | |
Grangemouth strike, and he very specifically immediately said, this | :34:23. | :34:25. | |
is all about Labour's relationship with the Unite union, and their | :34:26. | :34:31. | |
failure to control the union. He was slapped down by the Speaker, saying, | :34:32. | :34:33. | |
this is supposed to be slapped down by the Speaker, saying, | :34:34. | :34:53. | |
farms? If some scientists are to be believed, investors should be read | :34:54. | :34:56. | |
thinking attitudes on energy Wallasey. Tim Iredale reports. -- | :34:57. | :35:06. | |
energy policy. Last week's stormy seas were a stark reminder of the | :35:07. | :35:09. | |
disruption that can be caused by extreme weather conditions. But | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
according to one scientist, we should be preparing for a different | :35:15. | :35:16. | |
kind of climate challenge in the years to come. It is claimed that | :35:17. | :35:21. | |
harsh winters, like the big freeze of 1963, could become more common | :35:22. | :35:30. | |
due to a decline in solar activity. We may be needing more snowploughs, | :35:31. | :35:35. | |
we might need more power stations to meet the energy demands. All of | :35:36. | :35:41. | |
these things become more sensible, more economic to do, | :35:42. | :36:02. | |
these things become more sensible, Siberian winters will see a | :36:03. | :36:04. | |
reduction in milder air coming in off the Atlantic. In other words, | :36:05. | :36:12. | |
less wind. Melvin Grosvenor led a campaign to successfully block a | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
development of eight turbines on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds. He | :36:18. | :36:22. | |
now supports other communities where there is significant opposition to | :36:23. | :36:26. | |
new wind farms. If the wind is not going, we know full well, as from | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
2010-11, where we had blocking highs, there was little wind and | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
virtually no energy produced. If we are going down this road, we are | :36:36. | :36:39. | |
going to have no energy, blackouts, lights out, and people will still | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
suffer all of the impacts on landscape and residential amenity | :36:45. | :36:47. | |
and higher energy bills. Is this about science, or is it about you | :36:48. | :36:51. | |
saying you do not want these things on your landscape? It is a mixed | :36:52. | :36:54. | |
issue. on your landscape? It is a mixed | :36:55. | :37:12. | |
do basically the wrong thing, then obviously, there is a huge problem. | :37:13. | :37:19. | |
So, with differing opinion on how to manage our future energy needs, I | :37:20. | :37:25. | |
sought advice from a familiar face. John, if you were a government | :37:26. | :37:28. | |
minister, how would you plan for our future energy needs? I would | :37:29. | :37:33. | |
probably set back and think, what is it all about? We have been getting | :37:34. | :37:37. | |
conflicting evidence for 20 years. There will always be wind in this | :37:38. | :37:40. | |
country, we are an island, we are surrounded by water. I think it is a | :37:41. | :37:46. | |
wonderful thing, I am an advocate of renewable energy, because the other | :37:47. | :37:52. | |
stuff is going to run out. It may not be nuclear, it may be nuclear, | :37:53. | :37:58. | |
but certainly these other alternatives have a place in | :37:59. | :38:00. | |
society. Whatever conjunction there is, in whatever new science comes | :38:01. | :38:03. | |
out, we is, in whatever new science comes | :38:04. | :38:23. | |
is our household Energy Bill. We have been joined now by Chris | :38:24. | :38:26. | |
Heaton-Harris, a Conservative MP and strong opponent of wind farms, as | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
well as the Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett. Chris | :38:31. | :38:34. | |
Heaton-Harris, what is the evidence that the UK is getting less wind? I | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
do not think there is any. I guessed what that is saying is that when we | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
most need power, in the winters when we have got huge anticyclones above | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
us and there is no wind being produced, wind does not do anything | :38:49. | :38:53. | |
for our energy supply or security. But we knew that already, wind is | :38:54. | :38:56. | |
unpredictable, it is not a consistent thing. Absolutely, which | :38:57. | :39:04. | |
is why it is a complete problem for those on the National Grid, because | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
you do not know when it is coming, so you have always got to have a | :39:10. | :39:14. | |
100% back-up of gas turbines behind it, | :39:15. | :39:32. | |
100% back-up of gas turbines behind farms in Texas. In the US, 43% of | :39:33. | :39:34. | |
the new electricity generation which was installed last year is green. We | :39:35. | :39:37. | |
have got China powering ahead with it. We have got Germany, which on | :39:38. | :39:43. | |
one day in October they were getting 59% of their energy from solar and | :39:44. | :39:47. | |
wind. We are being left behind while the rest of the world is powering | :39:48. | :39:51. | |
ahead. But we are talking about this country, will it have enough wind to | :39:52. | :39:55. | |
actually supply the level of renewable energy which you are | :39:56. | :39:58. | |
talking about, in comparison to places like Germany, who are | :39:59. | :40:02. | |
actually going back to a lot of fossil fuels? As was highlighted, we | :40:03. | :40:07. | |
are a maritime island, the wind is not going to suddenly stop blowing. | :40:08. | :40:11. | |
This is only one study, it is very speculative. If we go around | :40:12. | :40:15. | |
clutching at straws like this we will not get the investment we need | :40:16. | :40:20. | |
in renewable energy. Is it just clutching at straws, is it just | :40:21. | :40:21. | |
using this example, that we clutching at straws, is it just | :40:22. | :40:48. | |
they are all wrong? You are producing very expensive energy, | :40:49. | :40:51. | |
putting people into fuel poverty, which does not do anything for | :40:52. | :40:55. | |
security of supply. Is it expensive, because once it is up and running, | :40:56. | :41:00. | |
it is cheaper, isn't it? Unio exactly what the fuel will cost, | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
which is nothing. Unfortunately, you need gas burning in the background | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
100% of the time. Are you a fan of wind turbines? One is just about to | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
go up in the village where I live, and I did not impose it -- oppose | :41:15. | :41:20. | |
it, because I am in favour of planning for the future. I do not | :41:21. | :41:25. | |
know which debate is right and wrong, but I think we have to invest | :41:26. | :41:29. | |
to try and improve things, we have to be careful of NIMBY, which | :41:30. | :41:34. | |
happens, of course, but we need to make sure | :41:35. | :41:52. | |
happens, of course, but we need to saying that actually, you do not | :41:53. | :41:55. | |
think it is a viable energy source and that is medically, it is ruining | :41:56. | :41:58. | |
the countryside, or is it both? It is both. I do not see how you can be | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
green and let the physical landscape be ruined. We have to acknowledge | :42:04. | :42:15. | |
that all forms of energy generation have this government is not spending | :42:16. | :42:20. | |
a single penny on insulating our low standard homes, which of course | :42:21. | :42:23. | |
would tackle fuel poverty, create jobs and cut carbon emissions. That | :42:24. | :42:31. | |
is part of the green taxes which the Government is trying to roll back. | :42:32. | :42:35. | |
According to Caroline Flint it is only ?112. Actually about a third of | :42:36. | :42:41. | |
that is a social levy for those who cannot afford their bills, and about | :42:42. | :42:43. | |
another third... I am cannot afford their bills, and about | :42:44. | :43:08. | |
e-industrialisation. We could develop offshore wind using the | :43:09. | :43:13. | |
engineers and technicians who are coming out of the offshore oil | :43:14. | :43:19. | |
industry. At the moment, when people's cost of living is high, | :43:20. | :43:23. | |
they are more worried, and so are the political parties, about doing | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
something about the economy than they are at the moment about climate | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
change, and is that not legitimate? We do not have to have a new law | :43:33. | :43:37. | |
here. If we go for the gas option, which you are so keen on, | :43:38. | :43:42. | |
international studies suggests the price of gas will rise by 14% by | :43:43. | :43:48. | |
2020. It has collapsed in the United States. The States is an isolated | :43:49. | :43:53. | |
market, they have import States. The States is an isolated | :43:54. | :44:13. | |
you just not believe the claims which are made that actually, in the | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
future, if you invest in green, clean energy, the bills will come | :44:18. | :44:21. | |
down at a later stage? No, I do not believe that. I think we can have a | :44:22. | :44:26. | |
political debate about how much we want to pay for energy. At the | :44:27. | :44:28. | |
moment people are saying energy costs too much, and if the | :44:29. | :44:32. | |
Government is adding extra costs, which is what the green taxes do, | :44:33. | :44:36. | |
then we have got to be honest with people. Are you in favour of rolling | :44:37. | :44:40. | |
back the green levies on nuclear energy bills and putting it onto | :44:41. | :44:45. | |
general taxation? No, I think we have to get the balance right. Blunt | :44:46. | :44:49. | |
instruments do not work, they create problems elsewhere. Thank you both | :44:50. | :44:55. | |
very much. Now, we may be 18 months away from the next general election, | :44:56. | :44:58. | |
but it already feels as if the parties are in campaign mode. The | :44:59. | :45:02. | |
number of people voting in 2010 was actually up, compared to the 2005 | :45:03. | :45:04. | |
election. actually up, compared to the 2005 | :45:05. | :45:26. | |
Lucy Powell is Julia elected for the Manchester Central constituency. -- | :45:27. | :45:32. | |
Julia elected. One year ago, I was elected as the Labour MP for | :45:33. | :45:36. | |
Manchester Central. I was disappointed that the voter turnout | :45:37. | :45:40. | |
was just 18%, the lowest in a by-election since the Second World | :45:41. | :45:43. | |
War. It is an embarrassing record to hold and one that I'd decided to do | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
something about. As part of Labour's peoples politics enquiry, a | :45:49. | :45:51. | |
review into how we can engage people in politics, I have been around the | :45:52. | :45:57. | |
constituency talking to young voters or nonvoters, in most cases. I've | :45:58. | :46:05. | |
tried to work out why they do not vote. At first, they were sceptical | :46:06. | :46:08. | |
about hearing from me but it quickly unfolded that they were highly | :46:09. | :46:13. | |
political and involved. They were interested and knowledgeable about | :46:14. | :46:15. | |
what was happening in their communities as well | :46:16. | :46:33. | |
what was happening in their ever voted? No. Never. Why? To be | :46:34. | :46:38. | |
honest, I do not trust the politicians. They are all out for | :46:39. | :46:43. | |
themselves. Do you think I look like a politician? What would it | :46:44. | :46:49. | |
politician look like? Old and miserable. As soon as someone hears | :46:50. | :46:55. | |
about politics or anything like that, they automatically think it is | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
boring and they do not want to know. It is depressing to hear. In order | :47:01. | :47:07. | |
to connect with these people, we need to diversify our stock of | :47:08. | :47:11. | |
politicians. We need to help create a political culture that allows for | :47:12. | :47:14. | |
a difference, for greater freedom to be outspoken and live normal lives. | :47:15. | :47:20. | |
This is not just to challenge for the political parties but for those | :47:21. | :47:25. | |
who report on politics. Do not think compulsory voting | :47:26. | :47:44. | |
who report on politics. Do not think could be coveted and create a very | :47:45. | :47:45. | |
different collection. Lucy Powell joins us. A cynic would say that the | :47:46. | :47:50. | |
reason the turnout was so low is because it is a safely proceed. | :47:51. | :47:54. | |
Labour voters know they are going to get a Labour MP so it is not worth | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
going out to vote. If you drill down the figures, the places with the | :48:00. | :48:02. | |
lowest turnout were the student areas, the areas with younger | :48:03. | :48:09. | |
population. That is why I have focused my conversation with the | :48:10. | :48:13. | |
youth vote. Do you accept that is the problem for safe seats two I | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
know there are fewer these days than 20 years ago, but people do not | :48:18. | :48:22. | |
bother, because they just think it is a fake Compleat. You're going to | :48:23. | :48:26. | |
get a Conservative or Labour person. And that is the reality. | :48:27. | :48:54. | |
get a Conservative or Labour person. high Labour vote, relatively, in my | :48:55. | :49:00. | |
collection. But there is a larger malaise about why people do not want | :49:01. | :49:04. | |
to getting gauged in politics. And I think that needs bigger anthers. And | :49:05. | :49:12. | |
what are those answers? I get an anecdotal sense that people are | :49:13. | :49:14. | |
interested in political issues but not interested in party politics | :49:15. | :49:18. | |
cause they do not think they speak for them. I think getting people | :49:19. | :49:24. | |
engaged at a younger age is one of those solutions. I would like to see | :49:25. | :49:28. | |
the voting age brought down to 16. Secondly, I think we need to look at | :49:29. | :49:33. | |
the stock of politicians because there is a feeling that we are all | :49:34. | :49:37. | |
the same. People think that politicians are basically | :49:38. | :49:39. | |
middle-aged, middle-class men and we need to do something about that. | :49:40. | :49:44. | |
Thirdly, I think we need a boulder politics because what I've | :49:45. | :50:04. | |
people are hungry for. What do you think about lowering the age for | :50:05. | :50:10. | |
voting? I do not support it because I have teenage sons. They are 18 and | :50:11. | :50:14. | |
21. At 16, in my opinion, they do not understand this. There is a lack | :50:15. | :50:20. | |
of education and a malaise. More debating in schools, more focus on | :50:21. | :50:23. | |
politics and what it means and how it works, more encouraging of having | :50:24. | :50:28. | |
an opinion and validating that with data. The risk of 16-year-olds is | :50:29. | :50:32. | |
that they will follow their parents. It has to be an independent view. In | :50:33. | :50:38. | |
saying that, I have two of voting age and the book that university. | :50:39. | :50:42. | |
How do they vote? Surely in an age where you can get a mortgage online | :50:43. | :50:46. | |
and a tax return online, why can we not vote online? Why do we have to | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
get out early or get home early to be able to vote. If it was easier to | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
vote for those who have access to the internet, and in | :50:57. | :51:13. | |
vote for those who have access to to that? I would definitely like | :51:14. | :51:15. | |
online voting. I think we should make it easier. Back to the points | :51:16. | :51:19. | |
of voting at 16. Critically, if you can pay taxes, and you can at the | :51:20. | :51:23. | |
age of 16, then you should have a voice in how the taxes are spent. | :51:24. | :51:30. | |
Lowering the voting age, will it make more people vote? I'm not sure | :51:31. | :51:33. | |
that it would automatically encouraging gauge meant. But there | :51:34. | :51:38. | |
are loads of people 40 and 50 who do not vote. But you say it is a | :51:39. | :51:42. | |
particular problem among younger people. It has been argued that the | :51:43. | :51:46. | |
policies that have been undertaken by the government have concentrated | :51:47. | :51:53. | |
or focused on pensioners much of the time. There are arguments against | :51:54. | :51:57. | |
it. Has that had an impact? Definitely. We would not have seen | :51:58. | :52:00. | |
the government scrapping the educational maintenance allowance, | :52:01. | :52:03. | |
troubling tuition fees and making it harder for young people to get on | :52:04. | :52:05. | |
the property ladder. harder for young people to get on | :52:06. | :52:25. | |
brunt. I think nobody is doing terribly well out of austerity. My | :52:26. | :52:30. | |
mother, I see her friends struggling. Relatively, I mean. I | :52:31. | :52:40. | |
think young people need to take this possibility but my sense is that 16 | :52:41. | :52:44. | |
is too young. We are encouraging children to stay at school until 18 | :52:45. | :52:47. | |
and take responsible at it for the decisions they are making. The vote | :52:48. | :52:51. | |
is a big decision. I am not supportive of lowering it because | :52:52. | :52:54. | |
they do not think that will break this malaise. What would engage your | :52:55. | :53:04. | |
children, do you think you might make it cool, interesting, online. | :53:05. | :53:09. | |
Get it on social media. But politicians are doing that. It is | :53:10. | :53:12. | |
relatively new but they are starting to engage in the social media | :53:13. | :53:14. | |
revolution. to engage in the social media | :53:15. | :53:33. | |
see all additions in their community, they want to see me | :53:34. | :53:36. | |
present in the school and in the community. They do not want to be | :53:37. | :53:42. | |
typecast. The 16-year-old is that really want to vote, and not all of | :53:43. | :53:48. | |
them do, they should be allowed to. -- 16-year-olds. What about | :53:49. | :53:54. | |
compulsory voting? I am in two minds about that. I'm not sure about it. | :53:55. | :54:00. | |
Why not? If it is such a problem and you want to lower the voting age, | :54:01. | :54:03. | |
why not lower it and force them to vote? Maybe. I would like to see the | :54:04. | :54:08. | |
evidence. It works in some places but I'm not sure that it would work | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
in this country. It is something I would be happy to look at. You? I | :54:14. | :54:20. | |
think I would not support it. We should encourage voting and | :54:21. | :54:23. | |
encourage responsibility. should encourage voting and | :54:24. | :54:45. | |
as the difficult consequences. You said if you made it cool and engaged | :54:46. | :54:49. | |
with young people, but generally with voters, do boulder policies | :54:50. | :55:01. | |
work? Which policy is right is left to individual choices, and would you | :55:02. | :55:04. | |
like to see clearer policies from the parties? I would. In the areas | :55:05. | :55:10. | |
that affect the household. In areas that affect childcare and health | :55:11. | :55:17. | |
care. We have spoken about utility bills and all the things that affect | :55:18. | :55:20. | |
households. Those are the things that matter. All these incisions, | :55:21. | :55:27. | |
well thought through, and debates do not help the trust of the consumer | :55:28. | :55:33. | |
much. -- older decisions. Who do you believe with this information? | :55:34. | :55:54. | |
much. -- older decisions. Who do you years, the city has been run by a | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
Republican or independent mayor. But if opinion polls are to be believed, | :56:00. | :56:03. | |
this time tomorrow, Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, would be in charge. Here | :56:04. | :56:09. | |
is in one of his campaign videos. Want to tell about Bill de Blasio. | :56:10. | :56:14. | |
He is the only Democrat with the enthusiasm to break from tradition. | :56:15. | :56:20. | |
He will fund early childhood and after-school programmes. He has the | :56:21. | :56:23. | |
boldest plan to build affordable housing and he is the only one who | :56:24. | :56:26. | |
will end a stop-and-frisk Europe that unfairly targets people of | :56:27. | :56:31. | |
colour. He will be a mere four every New Yorker, wherever they live or | :56:32. | :56:34. | |
what they look like. I would say that even if he wasn't my dad. -- | :56:35. | :56:45. | |
mayor. Is it going to be an easy victory for Bill de Blasio? | :56:46. | :57:04. | |
mayor. Is it going to be an easy by Mike Bloomberg and New York City | :57:05. | :57:07. | |
has always had progressive leanings. I think we are seeing the city | :57:08. | :57:13. | |
coming back to its political routes. What has he done that has gripped | :57:14. | :57:19. | |
the city? Is fighting against a lot of the excesses of a conservative | :57:20. | :57:24. | |
era. He has been campaigning about popular programmes, like | :57:25. | :57:28. | |
stop-and-frisk, stop and search, Civil Liberties issues. But Rudy | :57:29. | :57:35. | |
Giuliani did well with his zero tolerance on crime and many say that | :57:36. | :57:38. | |
that is what transformed New York. Is this a push against what was | :57:39. | :57:42. | |
deemed to be so successful under a Republican mayor? This is a step | :57:43. | :57:47. | |
forward for what can and will be achieved under a Democratic may. -- | :57:48. | :57:54. | |
mayor. He is a left-wing politician, a traditional New York | :57:55. | :57:56. | |
Democrat. And he politician, a traditional New York | :57:57. | :58:15. | |
chartered schools should compete on a level playing field. He's trying | :58:16. | :58:21. | |
to end Brent subsidies for their positions. Thank you for coming in. | :58:22. | :58:24. | |
So might be celebrating tomorrow? We might be. Just time to resolve our | :58:25. | :58:32. | |
quiz. The question was, what have the Conservatives spent ?500 million | :58:33. | :58:36. | |
on as they gear up to the election. What was the answer, Marion? I am | :58:37. | :58:45. | |
reading at! You're supposed to know the answer, not read it! How very | :58:46. | :58:52. | |
honest! Hiring Lynton Crosby was the answer. We will be back tomorrow at | :58:53. | :58:56. | |
1130 am with Prime Minister's Questions questions. -- Prime | :58:57. | :59:00. | |
Ministers questions. | :59:01. | :59:03. |