12/03/2014

:00:38. > :00:46.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Daily Politics. After months of internal

:00:47. > :00:53.wrangling, Ed Miliband's given us Labour's policy on an EU referendum.

:00:54. > :00:57.He has promised an in/out referendum in the event of any changes, but he

:00:58. > :01:00.thinks that there won't be any changes, so it won't happen. You

:01:01. > :01:05.could be forgiven for being confused.

:01:06. > :01:09.The Prime Minister of Ukraine's gone to the White House to discuss the

:01:10. > :01:12.crisis over Crimea. I've asked the country's ambassador in London what

:01:13. > :01:16.he makes of the West's response. It's battle of the deputies at PMQs

:01:17. > :01:19.today as the Prime Minister is on an official visit to Israel. Clegg

:01:20. > :01:23.versus Harman, and all the rest of the action, will be live at midday.

:01:24. > :01:26.And speaking of PMQs, we'll take a look at the top five ways to

:01:27. > :01:28.confuse, distract and generally tick off your opponent in a noisy Commons

:01:29. > :01:37.chamber. All that coming up in the next 90

:01:38. > :01:42.minutes of TV so good it'll probably prevent BBC Two being closed down

:01:43. > :01:45.and moved online. And joining us for the duration are two of the sharpest

:01:46. > :01:51.minds in Westminster, and they're also two of the sharpest dressers.

:01:52. > :01:54.Oh, yes. It's Shadow Leader of the House Angela Eagle, who says she

:01:55. > :01:57.once went on an official visit without realising she was wearing

:01:58. > :02:04.odd shoes. I know the feeling. It's happened to us all. Nobody noticed!

:02:05. > :02:07.Just me. And Business Minister Matt Hancock, who's famed for wearing a

:02:08. > :02:10.maroon V neck pullover under his suit jacket, a habit described by

:02:11. > :02:23.one newspaper recently as "fogeyish". Welcome to both of you.

:02:24. > :02:26.After that sartorial introduction, let's turn first to Ed Miliband's

:02:27. > :02:29.announcement that he's ruling out a referendum on Britain's membership

:02:30. > :02:33.of the EU - except in what he calls the unlikely event that we decide to

:02:34. > :02:36.transfer further powers to Brussels. Here's the Labour leader speaking

:02:37. > :02:41.earlier this morning. Today I am announcing that the next

:02:42. > :02:46.Labour government will legislate for a new lock. Not simply a referendum

:02:47. > :02:52.on any treaty change proposing the transfer of powers, because there

:02:53. > :02:57.have been too many referenda like that in other countries which have

:02:58. > :02:59.been ignored. But a lock that guarantees there will be no transfer

:03:00. > :03:04.of powers without an in/out referendum. Without a clear choice

:03:05. > :03:06.about whether Britain will stay in the youth.

:03:07. > :03:13.Ed Miliband speaking earlier. He had already said as much in the

:03:14. > :03:16.financial Times this morning in an article. Today's announcement is a

:03:17. > :03:20.big deal, not least because it opens up a major dividing line between the

:03:21. > :03:23.two biggest parties, and it has big implications for UKIP and the Lib

:03:24. > :03:26.Dems, too. JoCo, remind us where they all now stand.

:03:27. > :03:29.Yes, you could be forgiven for losing track of exactly what the

:03:30. > :03:33.main parties are offering when it comes to a vote on our relationship

:03:34. > :03:35.with the EU. Only last year Ed Miliband decided to back the

:03:36. > :03:39.Government's so-called "referendum lock" - a law passed in 2010 which

:03:40. > :03:43.would give the public the chance to accept or reject any major new EU

:03:44. > :03:52.treaty if it represented a big loss of power to Brussels.

:03:53. > :03:58.Today Mr Miliband has gone further. He's said that Labour will legislate

:03:59. > :04:02.so that any new transfer of power triggers an in/out referendum on

:04:03. > :04:07.Britain's membership of the EU. So is an in/out referendum inevitable

:04:08. > :04:13.under Labour? Well, no, not according to... Ed Miliband. He's

:04:14. > :04:14.said that it's "unlikely there will be any such proposals for a transfer

:04:15. > :04:26.of powers in the next parliament". That marks a clear dividing line

:04:27. > :04:29.with the Conservatives. If elected, David Cameron has promised to hold

:04:30. > :04:36.an in/out referendum in 2017 after attempting to renegotiate Britain's

:04:37. > :04:39.relationship with the EU. Instead Mr Miliband has edged closer to Nick

:04:40. > :04:42.Clegg's position on Europe. In the 2010 Lib Dem manifesto, he promised

:04:43. > :04:45.to hold an in/out referendum the next time there is a "fundamental

:04:46. > :04:49.change" in the EU's treaty arrangements.

:04:50. > :05:04.And then there's Nigel Farage. He would hold an immediate referendum

:05:05. > :05:07.on Britain's EU membership. But now that the Tories are the only major

:05:08. > :05:09.party guaranteeing a vote, how can he persuade people to vote UKIP?

:05:10. > :05:16.Andrew. Thank you, JoCo! You covered that

:05:17. > :05:20.very well. Angela Eagle, your position was that you would have a

:05:21. > :05:23.referendum, but it would be an treaty change, and it would be

:05:24. > :05:31.whether we liked the treaty change? Is that correct? We supported the

:05:32. > :05:36.conservative legislation last year. Actually, it was 2011. And I believe

:05:37. > :05:43.you abstained on it. It is on the statute book. And you supported

:05:44. > :05:49.that? What we have done today... We will come to that in a moment. Until

:05:50. > :05:56.today, your policy was to support coalition policy, which was that if

:05:57. > :06:04.there are treaty changes, they should be put to a vote? Yes. The

:06:05. > :06:08.change today in the policy, then, is that if there are treaty changes,

:06:09. > :06:15.then it would become not a vote on the changes, but an in/out

:06:16. > :06:19.referendum? What we have said is that if there is any further

:06:20. > :06:23.transfer of power from the UK to Brussels in any future treaty

:06:24. > :06:27.changes, we won't have a treaty -based referendum, we will have an

:06:28. > :06:35.in/out referendum. That is Labour's lock, which Ed Miliband announced in

:06:36. > :06:39.his speech today. But you also think that it is unlikely in the course of

:06:40. > :06:44.a Labour government elected in 2015 and running for five years but there

:06:45. > :06:50.would be any treaty changes that would take place? What Ed Miliband

:06:51. > :06:55.said today is that it is unlikely but possible, because we don't have

:06:56. > :06:58.a crystal ball in which we can completely predict what will happen

:06:59. > :07:05.in the future. There are areas where EU members might want to continue

:07:06. > :07:08.arrangement, particularly on the fiscal union for those in the

:07:09. > :07:14.Eurozone, which might have implications. So what he has said is

:07:15. > :07:17.that our priority is a Labour government will be jobs, growth, the

:07:18. > :07:24.NHS, and not banging on about Europe. But if there were these

:07:25. > :07:28.changes that happened in Europe which looked like they would lead to

:07:29. > :07:31.treaty change and more powers to Brussels, first of all we would have

:07:32. > :07:35.to agree them, and if we did agree them, we would give the British

:07:36. > :07:40.people a choice in an in/out referendum. But you do think it is

:07:41. > :07:43.unlikely that there would be the treaty changes, and therefore I'm

:07:44. > :07:47.likely under Labour that there would be an in/out referendum? I think Ed

:07:48. > :07:52.Miliband has been very upfront today. Our policy isn't to go for

:07:53. > :07:55.the treaty change or to bang on about Europe. There are more

:07:56. > :08:01.important things to do for a government. So he said we will

:08:02. > :08:03.concentrate on them. But he also recognises and acknowledges that

:08:04. > :08:09.people are worried about continuing drift of powers to Europe, and he

:08:10. > :08:16.has given this commitment on a Labour lock which, if circumstances

:08:17. > :08:20.are right, and he thinks it is unlikely, there would be this shift

:08:21. > :08:26.of powers, there would be a guarantee, a legislative guarantee,

:08:27. > :08:30.of an in/out referendum. Can we also established that they

:08:31. > :08:32.couldn't even be a referendum on this and less and Miller band

:08:33. > :08:41.government had agreed to treaty changes in the first place? -- and

:08:42. > :08:46.Ed Miliband government. Yes. There could be reforms on access to

:08:47. > :08:50.benefits, foreign criminals, things you could do to make Europe better

:08:51. > :08:55.without treaty change, but if there were an agreement during the next

:08:56. > :09:03.Labour government to treaty change, that would buy legislation be put to

:09:04. > :09:08.the people in a referendum. And if there were treaty changes, and you

:09:09. > :09:10.put these to the British people, which would then be an in/out

:09:11. > :09:15.referendum, so the British people would be asked to vote to stay in

:09:16. > :09:22.Europe, and to agree the treaty changes as well, how would you vote

:09:23. > :09:30.if you didn't like the treaty changes but wanted to stay in

:09:31. > :09:33.Europe? I think that the issue is that a lot of the people that want

:09:34. > :09:42.to have a referendum are talking about out. I understand that, but

:09:43. > :09:50.what about my question? It is entirely theoretical... A lot of

:09:51. > :09:53.people might say, I don't want to give any more power to Brussels,

:09:54. > :09:57.although that is what they have agreed to, but I don't want to

:09:58. > :10:03.leave, I want the status quo. How would you vote? The issue about

:10:04. > :10:08.Europe is that nobody wants the status quo. We want to improve the

:10:09. > :10:11.way that Europe works. It is clear from talking to all our voters that

:10:12. > :10:18.there are things that voters are worried about about Europe.

:10:19. > :10:26.Especially on issues like access. How would that person vote? You make

:10:27. > :10:30.changes that require a referendum. But if somebody wants to stay in

:10:31. > :10:35.Europe but not doesn't want the changes, how would they vote? It is

:10:36. > :10:41.entirely hypothetical. We don't know what that would be. What is wrong

:10:42. > :10:47.with the position? It is utterly incomprehensible, as we have just

:10:48. > :10:50.seen. There is a perfectly reasonable argument for lots of

:10:51. > :10:55.people who would say, we don't want to give more powers to Brussels, but

:10:56. > :10:59.we don't want to leave, either. I happen to think we want to get

:11:00. > :11:03.powers back from Brussels, so we have a very simple proposition at

:11:04. > :11:07.the next election, which is that the Conservatives, we now know, are the

:11:08. > :11:15.only party that can deliver a referendum. UKIP say they want a

:11:16. > :11:19.referendum but can't deliver it. All that a vote for UKIP will do is

:11:20. > :11:25.increase the chances of Ed Miliband becoming Prime Minister. The Lib

:11:26. > :11:33.Dems say they don't what a referendum at all. It is dead

:11:34. > :11:37.straight at the election. If you are in favour of a referendum, the only

:11:38. > :11:43.party that can deliver that is a vote for the Conservative Party. And

:11:44. > :11:46.your own Conservative Party chairman told us that only 6% of the British

:11:47. > :11:51.people think it is the most important issue facing Britain

:11:52. > :11:55.today. You are banging on as a Tory obsession on an issue of which the

:11:56. > :12:01.British people don't regard it is that important. Of course, it is one

:12:02. > :12:09.issue among many that are important for the future of the country. You

:12:10. > :12:19.are not giving us a referendum on the 17 issues above it in the list

:12:20. > :12:23.on the pole. -- the poll. But this is the sort of issue that you would

:12:24. > :12:26.put to a referendum, in the same way that independence for Scotland is

:12:27. > :12:33.the sort of issue you would put to a referendum. The Scottish people

:12:34. > :12:38.voted for a national government, so that is clearly important to the

:12:39. > :12:42.people of Scotland. Even UKIP, who wants to leave Europe, their policy

:12:43. > :12:47.is not just to leave Europe, it is immediately to have a referendum. So

:12:48. > :12:52.there is a perfectly reasonable argument for referendum. Lord

:12:53. > :12:58.Ashcroft says that the promised referendum is a sideshow. You are

:12:59. > :13:05.going to give us a referendum anyway. I think that resolving our

:13:06. > :13:09.relationship with the European Union is a perfectly reasonable task for a

:13:10. > :13:14.government to do, amongst many other tasks. And that is what an elected

:13:15. > :13:18.majority Conservative government will do. Of course we have to

:13:19. > :13:21.continue turning around the economy, and of course there are

:13:22. > :13:26.many other areas of work that we have been working very hard on, that

:13:27. > :13:31.are as yet unresolved. Youth unemployment is coming down, there

:13:32. > :13:34.is further to go. But a referendum on Europe, you could be guaranteed

:13:35. > :13:39.that we are the only party that can deliver that. You might hear a bit

:13:40. > :13:47.more of that point over the year ahead! Finally, Angela Eagle, on the

:13:48. > :13:50.matter of a referendum on Europe, there is, I'm right in saying, no

:13:51. > :13:58.difference between you now and the Lib Dems? I think there is a

:13:59. > :14:05.narrower... We have always agreed with the Liberal Democrats that

:14:06. > :14:12.Britain's future is best in Europe for strategic reasons, reasons of

:14:13. > :14:17.the economy. But you are now the same on how and when and under what

:14:18. > :14:21.circumstances we would have a referendum? I think that we are

:14:22. > :14:26.closer together with the Liberal Democrats on that. There is no

:14:27. > :14:30.difference. But what we are not doing is putting in a huge amount of

:14:31. > :14:33.uncertainty, banging on about Europe, uncertainty for business, by

:14:34. > :14:36.having an arbitrary date for referendum. There is uncertainty

:14:37. > :14:42.because your policy is incomprehensible. It is absolutely

:14:43. > :14:49.clear. There is no difference between you and the Lib Dems now on

:14:50. > :14:52.the matter of a referendum? No. We are clearly both pro-European

:14:53. > :14:58.parties who want to give the British people a say.

:14:59. > :15:01.Thank you all very much. The interim Prime Minister of

:15:02. > :15:04.Ukraine is travelling to Washington today to discuss the ongoing

:15:05. > :15:07.stand-off with Russia over Crimea. Moscow is showing no signs of

:15:08. > :15:10.backing down despite pressure from the West. David Cameron warned this

:15:11. > :15:13.week of further consequences if Moscow tries to use an independence

:15:14. > :15:16.referendum in Crimea this Sunday to strengthen its hold over the region.

:15:17. > :15:19.Yesterday I spoke to Ukraine's ambassador to London, Volodymyr

:15:20. > :15:21.Khandogiy, and asked him if he accepted that Crimea was on the way

:15:22. > :16:00.to becoming part of Russia. We are determined to continue our

:16:01. > :16:03.efforts with our partners and friends to prevent Russia from doing

:16:04. > :16:06.this. Angela Merkel and David Cameron have

:16:07. > :16:14.said that if the referendum which looks highly likely seals the

:16:15. > :16:19.annexation of Crimea to Russia, there would be consequences. What

:16:20. > :16:25.would Vladimir Putin listen to in terms of consequences?

:16:26. > :16:32.Putin and Russia is a nuclear weapon state and posturing itself as a

:16:33. > :16:38.super power so it's difficult to draw a list of the actions which

:16:39. > :16:43.Russia will be willing to take, but we still have to exert pressure on

:16:44. > :16:50.Russia, not only in the economic area, but there are other,

:16:51. > :16:54.political, diplomatic and even military, the use of force should be

:16:55. > :16:59.considered at this stage. Military action seems unlikely. The

:17:00. > :17:02.consequences, the West seemed to have made it clear that that would

:17:03. > :17:07.be probably off the table or at least a last resort, but in terms of

:17:08. > :17:13.economics, David Cameron famously once said in regard to the Georgia

:17:14. > :17:17.conflict that if Russians marched into Georgia he would stop them

:17:18. > :17:21.marching into sell bridges. Do you -- Selfridges. Do you think David

:17:22. > :17:27.Cameron is prepared to put his money where his mouth is in regard to

:17:28. > :17:33.Ukraine? It would make the West to realise that without targeted, but

:17:34. > :17:39.very strong economic pressure, Russia would not stop what it's

:17:40. > :17:43.doing. But as you mentioned, military response, of course, this

:17:44. > :17:47.is a very lylikely thing and no-one would like it. No-one. In the first

:17:48. > :17:57.place in Ukraine, no-one would like it. But, again, what we are facing

:17:58. > :18:01.now is the blatant violation and very serious situations, which

:18:02. > :18:05.amounts to aggression. If Russia continues to ignore the West what

:18:06. > :18:18.happened? -- what happens? Do you end up with some sort of stand

:18:19. > :18:27.gorilla we're -- guR Rhyl la -- guerilla warfare? There is a real

:18:28. > :18:32.poght of further escalation of the -- possibility of further escalation

:18:33. > :18:37.of the troubles in Crimea and we would like to avoid that escalation,

:18:38. > :18:42.but the country that has to stop it and that has to avoid it in the

:18:43. > :18:51.first place the further escalation is Russia. All of us, western

:18:52. > :18:57.countries, EU, has to work very hard and demonstrate strength in face of

:18:58. > :19:02.the Russian invasion. On that basis, Matt Hancock, how much strength

:19:03. > :19:06.should the Government be showing? He talked about the military option. Is

:19:07. > :19:10.that true? I think it's absolutely vital to try to de-escalate this

:19:11. > :19:15.crisis and that's been the goal of the Government throughout. That

:19:16. > :19:20.does, of course, involve considering economic and targeted sanctions.

:19:21. > :19:24.Military is off the table? There is no way that will happen? We have

:19:25. > :19:27.been trying throughout to de-escalate the crisis. Terms of

:19:28. > :19:33.economic sanctions, how far should the Government go, because so far

:19:34. > :19:38.it's proven totally useless in terms of persuading Vladimir Putin to back

:19:39. > :19:46.down? Think one of the -- I think one of the moments at which he took

:19:47. > :19:51.a pause was when the stock market opened and it fell 10% last Monday.

:19:52. > :19:54.I think you can see the impact of economic consequences, even though

:19:55. > :19:58.that wasn't as a direct consequence of action. It was temporary, because

:19:59. > :20:02.it pulled back and recovered? Who knows what the reasons for that are,

:20:03. > :20:06.because they may have seen at that point the conflict

:20:07. > :20:13.December-escalating. It wasn't direct action from the West or

:20:14. > :20:16.Government that forced his hand. What would? We have been absolutely

:20:17. > :20:21.clear that we are happeny to consider and meet -- need to

:20:22. > :20:28.consider further consequences, not least as the ambassador said, should

:20:29. > :20:33.this - What are they? What would do it? You've got the referendum on

:20:34. > :20:40.Sunday and after Sunday unless things change dramatically, Crimea

:20:41. > :20:44.goes back to Russia. As you said in interviewing the ambassador, there

:20:45. > :20:49.are targeted interventions and you will understand why we don't want to

:20:50. > :20:51.show our hand too early. Should the Government be tougher? Would Labour

:20:52. > :20:56.be tougher? We supported what they've done and said in the

:20:57. > :20:59.statement that we had on Monday after the EU council that we were

:21:00. > :21:04.supportive of what the Government had done, but we don't want them to

:21:05. > :21:10.take things off the tail. We want them - You would have some sort of

:21:11. > :21:13.military action? It doesn't help to speculate in diplomatic terms about

:21:14. > :21:20.what consequences might be. What you have to do is do the work to ensure

:21:21. > :21:25.that you can create a proper united approach among NATO and the allies

:21:26. > :21:35.around and that's going on, but I think that Putin isn't going to be

:21:36. > :21:39.worried by us stopping indulliging in -- indulging about talks or not

:21:40. > :21:45.going to Sochi or the G8. It's not going to do it, so I think we need

:21:46. > :21:49.to put in place a situation where the crisis can be de-escalated, but

:21:50. > :22:00.at the same time we have to ensure that the NATO allies are in step

:22:01. > :22:02.with each other. It's a gross violation of international law and

:22:03. > :22:07.the treaties that they've signed with the Ukraine. It can't go

:22:08. > :22:11.unpunished and I think the Prime Minister's going to have to think

:22:12. > :22:18.about other actions that are slightly more serious than stopping

:22:19. > :22:21.talks about visas. It's clear that's not going to make a difference. We

:22:22. > :22:26.had a Russian journalist on yesterday. He said Putin doesn't

:22:27. > :22:30.care. I don't think the leak from Downing Street saying we wouldn't

:22:31. > :22:34.consider sanctions, that photograph of the briefing paper that went into

:22:35. > :22:40.the National Security Council was very helpful. That did weaken us,

:22:41. > :22:42.did it? I don't think a part of a photographed piece of paper is an

:22:43. > :22:49.indication of the Government's position. Well, is it not? It's very

:22:50. > :22:53.clear. William Hague is very clear in response to questions about that

:22:54. > :22:57.that half a photographed piece of paper from one official, no matter

:22:58. > :23:01.how senior, is not an indication of the Government's position. You'll

:23:02. > :23:06.understand why, when considering what further action to take,

:23:07. > :23:10.especially because of the importance to get the international dimension

:23:11. > :23:15.of this, linking with the Germans and the French and the Americans in

:23:16. > :23:21.terms of response, in particular and others, that's why we are not

:23:22. > :23:25.speculating about what further action is and could be taken.

:23:26. > :23:29.Actually, we are getting on with getting to a position when we can

:23:30. > :23:36.make sure that those consequences do follow. A lot of German members of

:23:37. > :23:42.Parliament in Angela Merkel's party made it clear they were worried

:23:43. > :23:47.about the economic impact. How nervous is the City here about

:23:48. > :23:54.action that might harm interests? Obviously, there has been volatility

:23:55. > :23:58.in the markets. We have had poor diplomatic relations in the past

:23:59. > :24:03.with Russia and traders have continued. The question is how

:24:04. > :24:06.targeted too. Targeting individuals as opposed to trade across the board

:24:07. > :24:11.and how to strike that balance is an important question. Of course,

:24:12. > :24:14.that's one consideration, especially for some of the other countries

:24:15. > :24:19.involved, as you mentioned. We have to make sure that it is absolutely

:24:20. > :24:27.made clear to President Putin that this is un cceptable behaviour and

:24:28. > :24:34.the cross-party consensus on this is strong. Happy birthday the interweb.

:24:35. > :24:41.Yes, it's been over 25 years since Tim Berners Lee hooked up the

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:26:36. > :26:37.Chatanooga... # They've declared they're making war

:26:38. > :26:48.upon you. Taking us back a bit. To be in with

:26:49. > :26:55.a chance of winning the mug, send your answer to our special quiz

:26:56. > :27:01.e-mail address: You can see the full terms and conditions on the website.

:27:02. > :27:09.Coming up to midday. We'll look at Big Ben. It's behind me. There it

:27:10. > :27:17.is. Prime Minister's questions is on its way. If you would like to

:27:18. > :27:25.comment you can e-mail us. You can also tweet your thoughts. What's

:27:26. > :27:28.that I hear you cry, where is Nick Robinson? The whole nation wants to

:27:29. > :27:33.know that. He's taking advantage of the spring sunshine and he's with

:27:34. > :27:40.the daffodils in St James' Park. We are joined by another big man, The

:27:41. > :27:49.Telegraph's Ben Brogan. He's never been seen with the daffodils on a

:27:50. > :27:52.spring morning. Where we come on to questions today, what so far has

:27:53. > :27:57.been the immediate fallout of Mr Miliband's new policy on the

:27:58. > :28:03.referendum in Europe? It seems to be a degree of argument whether it's a

:28:04. > :28:06.policy and clear and precise, or whether there is confusion to it.

:28:07. > :28:10.Whether there will be a referendum or there isn't if Labour win. I

:28:11. > :28:14.think he's having to manage his way through that. There will be if

:28:15. > :28:19.there's going to be treaty change, there won't be if there isn't treaty

:28:20. > :28:23.change? It seems to be a policy that's cake and eat it. He bants to

:28:24. > :28:28.sound -- he wants to sound like he's going to have a referendum and also

:28:29. > :28:34.reassuring everyone he wouldn't have a referendum. He has set the exam

:28:35. > :28:38.question and provided the answer. He wants those who might be thinking

:28:39. > :28:47.about whether or not to vote Labour to be assured he does believe in a

:28:48. > :28:52.referendum. It sounds a bit opportunistic. It doesn't sound

:28:53. > :28:58.clear. Really? Triangular, that has never happened before! Hard to

:28:59. > :29:02.believe! The Mirror had a strange headline this morning. Almost

:29:03. > :29:07.implying he's going to give you a referendum, which is very different

:29:08. > :29:12.from the FT headline, in which the article appeared - surely, it was

:29:13. > :29:17.the Mirror headline that was the misleading? I wouldn't dare to

:29:18. > :29:23.suggest that the Mirror is into misleading headlines. Ed Miliband is

:29:24. > :29:26.trying to develop a policy that can be all things to all people and

:29:27. > :29:30.suits him given the moment. He wants us to think that he might offer a

:29:31. > :29:35.referendum, while also saying there won't be a referendum. That doesn't

:29:36. > :29:40.sound clear. It's perfectly clear as I explained before, if circumstances

:29:41. > :29:49.arise in which powers are transferred to the EU and the then

:29:50. > :29:57.Labour Government agrees with that, there will be an in/out referendum.

:29:58. > :30:01.Only a vote for the Conservatives can deliver you a referendum. Did I

:30:02. > :30:06.say it before? I'm going to say it again. We'll give you a tenner every

:30:07. > :30:10.time you say it. We'll be rich. I would suggest that that means to use

:30:11. > :30:15.Mr Miliband's own words, a referendum under Labour is unlikely?

:30:16. > :30:19.Because I think it is unlikely that Mr Miliband is going to agree to

:30:20. > :30:24.something that would be deeply unpopular in this country, which

:30:25. > :30:29.would be the further moving of powers from the UK to Brussels?

:30:30. > :30:32.Indeed. He seems to be posing a hypothetical question, because he

:30:33. > :30:36.says it's unlikely to happen. What is more telling is that it indicates

:30:37. > :30:40.to us the extent to which party policy for all is being driven by a

:30:41. > :30:45.view of Europe that wants to put Britain in a position to be able to

:30:46. > :30:48.opt to leave Europe. It's the euro scepticism of politics which is

:30:49. > :30:52.driving all the political leaders and UKIP is contributing to that,

:30:53. > :30:56.which has forced Labour's hands and David Cameron's hands and Nick

:30:57. > :31:00.Clegg's hands. It is true that in the last election the Labour Party

:31:01. > :31:07.stood on a referendum only on joining the euro. Not anything else.

:31:08. > :31:12.Doesn't what he said this morning, the Conservatives I understand are

:31:13. > :31:16.quite happy with it, because Mr Farage has said that Ed Miliband

:31:17. > :31:22.would promise a referendum too, similar to the Tories. The box has

:31:23. > :31:26.been -- Mr Farage's fox has been shot. Only the Tories will deliver

:31:27. > :31:29.now? That policy applies and it is the case at the moment. It's only

:31:30. > :31:32.the Conservative Government that is guaranteed to deliver a referendum

:31:33. > :31:36.on whether or not Britain should continue to be a member of the EU.

:31:37. > :31:42.There's no doubt about that. What we need to keep remind ourselves is

:31:43. > :31:45.about, on the current polls the chances of the Conservatives being

:31:46. > :31:48.in office is still a matter for debate and the fact is we can talk

:31:49. > :31:52.about a referendum all we like, but the statistical outcome suggests we

:31:53. > :31:55.are not going to get one. That's why we are pouring over what Ed Miliband

:31:56. > :32:00.has to say, because if it isn't the Tories it will be him, so we like to

:32:01. > :32:03.know what he's going to do. What is Harriet Harman going to say? Don't

:32:04. > :32:44.answer that, because we're going over now.

:32:45. > :32:53.I wish to congratulate Team GB at the Sochi Games. I have had meetings

:32:54. > :33:06.with ministerial colleagues and others, and I will have further such

:33:07. > :33:09.meetings today. Our congratulations to Kelly

:33:10. > :33:17.Gallagher, from Northern Ireland, who won the first medal. Mr Speaker,

:33:18. > :33:22.given rising racism and xenophobia, including recent racist attacks in

:33:23. > :33:26.my own east Belfast can is chintzy, what more can Government do to

:33:27. > :33:29.ensure that the public debate on issues such as EU membership and

:33:30. > :33:38.immigration are more balanced and celebrate the positive contribution

:33:39. > :33:42.of immigrants in the run-up to the election? I agree with her, we need

:33:43. > :33:47.to strike the right balance between explaining to the public that we are

:33:48. > :33:50.running a tough but firm immigration system but also open to those who

:33:51. > :33:57.want to come here and make a contribution and pay their taxes and

:33:58. > :34:01.contribute to our way of life. I was deeply saddened and shocked to hear

:34:02. > :34:05.about the incidents that happened to members of the Polish and Chinese

:34:06. > :34:16.community in her constituency, and even more so what has happened to

:34:17. > :34:21.her colleague. I understand that the first Chinese Minister in Europe is

:34:22. > :34:31.being subject to racist abuse, and I rang her a few weeks ago to express

:34:32. > :34:34.my support. Since a ?700 tax cut, free school meals and the pupil

:34:35. > :34:39.premium will improve the opportunities and lives of many of

:34:40. > :34:44.my constituents, even though these ideas were not entirely welcome to

:34:45. > :34:47.some among our coalition partners, will he welcomed the fact that

:34:48. > :34:53.coalition Government and the compromises that go with it can

:34:54. > :34:59.deliver sound policies? I strongly agree with him,

:35:00. > :35:03.especially on those policies. And one of them, as he will know, is in

:35:04. > :35:08.the papers this morning because of the slightly in X bookable views of

:35:09. > :35:21.an entirely unknown if highly opinionated -- inexplicable views of

:35:22. > :35:25.a former member. Free school meals from September will save families

:35:26. > :35:31.money and improve education for children. We should be celebrating

:35:32. > :35:36.the policy. I would like to join the deputy and

:35:37. > :35:49.in paying tribute to sap that either morally from 32 engineer Regiment --

:35:50. > :35:53.Adam Morely, and pay tribute to his family and friends who mourn him.

:35:54. > :36:00.And I also congratulate our Paralympic medal winners. Mr

:36:01. > :36:03.Speaker, at the last general election, the Deputy Prime Minister

:36:04. > :36:08.said that local people should have more control over their health

:36:09. > :36:16.services. Can he explain to the House and the public while last

:36:17. > :36:20.night he voted against that? Actually, we voted for measures to

:36:21. > :36:26.make sure that there is local consultation. I am intrigued by her

:36:27. > :36:33.line of enquiry, given their record in the NHS. We don't seem to get any

:36:34. > :36:46.further than what is happening in Wales, where they haven't met their

:36:47. > :36:49.target since 2009. I really don't think after the Francis Report and

:36:50. > :36:56.all of the other revelations of what happened in the NHS under Labour,

:36:57. > :37:07.they have much to stand on. He is not even prepared to justify what he

:37:08. > :37:13.spoke about last night, when the Lib Dems could have stepped in and stop

:37:14. > :37:17.it what happened. First they said they were against the change, then

:37:18. > :37:22.they put down an amendment, then they sold out to the Tories, and the

:37:23. > :37:25.Tories got their way again. Is there any logic to how the Lib Dems vote

:37:26. > :37:39.other than self-interest? Mr Speaker, this from a party that

:37:40. > :37:44.spent a quarter of ?1 billion, ?250 million, on sweetheart deals for the

:37:45. > :37:48.private sector, which alleged operations and procedures which

:37:49. > :37:55.didn't help a single patient. A party which ranks in Wales against

:37:56. > :37:58.competition in the NHS, a party which suffers from collective

:37:59. > :38:03.amnesia about the terrible suffering of the patients in Mid Staffs and

:38:04. > :38:14.other parts of the NHS mismanaged by them. Hospitals are under threat and

:38:15. > :38:18.they want people to remember what the deputy prime ministers said in

:38:19. > :38:21.the House today. Last week Lib Dem ministers were falling over

:38:22. > :38:24.themselves at their spring conference to denounce government

:38:25. > :38:27.policies and even their own departmental colleagues, describing

:38:28. > :38:35.them variously as unfair, absurd and hated. Yet they keep supporting

:38:36. > :38:38.them, take the bedroom tax. His own party president says the bedroom tax

:38:39. > :38:44.is wrong, unnecessary and causing misery. But they voted for it. Now

:38:45. > :38:52.they say they want to abolish it. Are they for the bedroom tax against

:38:53. > :38:55.it? Which is it? Mr Speaker, there are 1.7 million

:38:56. > :39:04.people on the housing waiting list in the country, and 1.5 million

:39:05. > :39:08.spare bedrooms. That is a problem we inherited, like so many problems,

:39:09. > :39:14.from them. On this side of the House, we are trying to sort out the

:39:15. > :39:16.mess that they created. If they are incapable of taking any

:39:17. > :39:20.responsibility or expressing any apology for the mess they have

:39:21. > :39:26.created, why should we take any of their questions seriously at all?

:39:27. > :39:33.They are for it, and only Labour will scrap the bedroom tax. The Lib

:39:34. > :39:40.Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury said cutting the top rate of tax

:39:41. > :39:47.would be cloud cuckoo land. If the Lib Dems were against this tax cut,

:39:48. > :39:52.why did they vote for it? Guess what the top rate of tax was under

:39:53. > :40:04.Labour. Anybody? Anybody? Was at 50? Was it 45? 40p for 13 years! And

:40:05. > :40:07.now she is complaining it 5p higher. If she is going to try to make

:40:08. > :40:11.consistency of virtue, how about this? This week the Labour Party has

:40:12. > :40:15.been talking about the need to give young people jobs opportunities.

:40:16. > :40:21.Last week they tabled an amendment to the Deregulation Bill which will

:40:22. > :40:26.tell half a million young apprentices that they are no longer

:40:27. > :40:29.apprentices. And worse than that, they issued a report a few months

:40:30. > :40:35.ago that says that hundreds of thousands of youngsters on level two

:40:36. > :40:37.apprentices are dead weight. What a kick in the teeth for the young

:40:38. > :40:49.people we should be helping onto apprenticeships. We will have a

:40:50. > :40:53.bankers bonus tax for youth jobs, because youth unemployment has

:40:54. > :41:01.doubled. THE SPEAKER: There is far too much

:41:02. > :41:05.noise. People ought to be able to hear the questions and hear the

:41:06. > :41:13.answers. Whether members respect each other, they ought to respect

:41:14. > :41:16.the public. Harriet Harman. Long-term youth unemployment has

:41:17. > :41:19.doubled under his government, and with so many people struggling to

:41:20. > :41:24.make ends meet, and many driven to relying on food banks, it is an

:41:25. > :41:28.absolute disgrace that the Lib Dems voted through a tax cut for the

:41:29. > :41:34.richest. Mr Speaker, on Sunday, the Deputy Prime Minister shared with us

:41:35. > :41:42.everything he loves about Britain. He loves his cup of tea. He loves

:41:43. > :41:45.the shipping forecast. And he loves flip-flops. Not so much footwear for

:41:46. > :41:51.the Debbie Prime Minister, but certainly a way of life. -- the

:41:52. > :41:59.Deputy Prime Minister. With his posturing... With his broken

:42:00. > :42:09.promises and posturing, doesn't he relies that he might love written,

:42:10. > :42:12.but Britain doesn't love him back. The punch line was a long time in

:42:13. > :42:17.the delivery, and it wasn't really worth waiting for. I know she

:42:18. > :42:21.doesn't want the facts to get in the way of a preprepared joke, but how

:42:22. > :42:29.about this? Youth unemployment is lower now than it was in her last

:42:30. > :42:37.year in office. 1 million more people in relative poverty then than

:42:38. > :42:44.there are now. 150,000 people more employed now. What we know is that

:42:45. > :42:49.they are the party of 40p. They are the Porteous sweetheart deals for

:42:50. > :42:52.the private sector and the NHS. They are the party of Fred Goodwin. And

:42:53. > :42:59.now they are the party against apprenticeship Crewe. Mr Speaker, he

:43:00. > :43:04.is siding with the Tories and totally out of touch. So whatever

:43:05. > :43:12.was said last weekend, no one is going to be fooled by the Lib Dems'

:43:13. > :43:16.phoney rows with the Tories when they are trotting through the

:43:17. > :43:19.lobbies with them. They used to dog about two parties

:43:20. > :43:24.coming together in the national interest. Now they are two parties

:43:25. > :43:30.bound together by mutual terror of the electorate.

:43:31. > :43:34.Mr Speaker, however she wishes to characterise things, she has a

:43:35. > :43:39.record which she needs to defend room and bust, of sucking up to the

:43:40. > :43:46.City... THE SPEAKER: Order! The deputy prime

:43:47. > :43:55.and as to's response must be heard. A record of increasing youth

:43:56. > :43:59.unemployment and bequeathing to this generation the country's worst

:44:00. > :44:03.peacetime deficit ever. Is that really a record that she is proud

:44:04. > :44:09.of? As ever, we are clearing up the mess that she left behind.

:44:10. > :44:12.Mr Speaker, the Government's response to the recent storm damage

:44:13. > :44:20.to help fishermen and restore the link to Dawlish is appreciated, but

:44:21. > :44:25.the vital transport links to the Isles of Scilly and its damage has

:44:26. > :44:27.largely gone unnoticed, not something local authorities can

:44:28. > :44:32.resolve on their own. Will the Deputy Prime Minister ensure that

:44:33. > :44:40.delegations can meet the appropriate ministers so that we can seek to

:44:41. > :44:46.support for a long-term and resilient solution to this problem?

:44:47. > :44:51.I visited his constituency to see for myself and here for myself the

:44:52. > :44:58.damage done to many communities by the terrible floods and the extreme

:44:59. > :45:02.weather in recent times, and I know how long he has been campaigning on

:45:03. > :45:07.this issue. I will ensure that that meeting does take place with the

:45:08. > :45:12.relevant Minister. We should also extend condolences to

:45:13. > :45:17.the family and friends of Bob Crow. The Secretary of State for defence

:45:18. > :45:22.has issued a ministerial correction where he corrects the full third

:45:23. > :45:30.that there was no measurable change in the radiation discharge at HMS

:45:31. > :45:33.Vulcan near Dounreay. Does he agree that the Ministry of Defence should

:45:34. > :45:39.be fully answerable to the Scottish environmental protection agency? I

:45:40. > :45:42.would also like to express my condolences to the family and

:45:43. > :45:46.friends of growth. Whether you agreed with him or not, he had

:45:47. > :45:49.forthright views and worked tirelessly for what he believed in

:45:50. > :45:55.and the people he represented. On the issue of Dounreay, the Ministry

:45:56. > :46:00.of Defence sought to be as open as possible. It is important that all

:46:01. > :46:05.of us work together in order to ensure that the nuclear deterrent is

:46:06. > :46:17.managed and maintained safely, and that is exactly what everyone is

:46:18. > :46:20.seeking to do. We now know that the Leader of the Opposition is opposed

:46:21. > :46:24.to an EU referendum and won't deliver one. The Deputy Prime

:46:25. > :46:29.Minister is opposed to an EU referendum and won't deliver one.

:46:30. > :46:35.The leader of the UKIP party wants an EU referendum, but can't deliver

:46:36. > :46:42.one. The Prime Minister wants an EU referendum and will deliver it by

:46:43. > :46:46.2017. Would the stand-in Prime Minister tell the House which of the

:46:47. > :46:55.party leaders trust the British people and is a real Democrat? As

:46:56. > :47:00.ever, a pleasure. I'm glad to see he has fans on the other side of the

:47:01. > :47:03.House too. Since he mentions my right honourable friend, the Prime

:47:04. > :47:07.Minister, let me quote what he said a couple of years ago at this

:47:08. > :47:12.Despatch Box when we voted together. "My clear view it is when this

:47:13. > :47:14.Parliament proposes to give up powers there should be a referendum.

:47:15. > :47:22.That is the guarantee we have written into law. It is important we

:47:23. > :47:31.establish clear use for the -- rules for the use of referendums." That is

:47:32. > :47:41.remains my view. That's what we legislated on. A recent survey of

:47:42. > :47:45.the TUC reckoned that 67% of hard-working people working in the

:47:46. > :47:50.private industry will not get a rise this year. How does that square with

:47:51. > :47:57.the fat cats in the banks getting the big bonuses? The richest in

:47:58. > :48:02.society are paying more in every year of this Parliament than they

:48:03. > :48:08.did under any year under Labour. It was his party that let the bankers

:48:09. > :48:11.run amuck and the party of Fred Goodwin that went on a prawn

:48:12. > :48:15.cocktail offensive to suck up to them and they wiped off so much of

:48:16. > :48:19.the value of the British economy it amounts to ?3,000 lost to every

:48:20. > :48:28.household in the United Kingdom. Is that a record he's proud of? Does

:48:29. > :48:32.the Deputy Prime Minister accept that the measures that have been

:48:33. > :48:37.announced so far have had no impact on President Putin? They are

:48:38. > :48:41.refusing to negotiate with the Ukraine Government and continue to

:48:42. > :48:46.strengthen their hold on crime? Will the Government press the targeted

:48:47. > :48:48.economic sanctions against senior members of the Government there and

:48:49. > :48:52.their supporters in order to reinforce the message that the

:48:53. > :48:59.annexation of Crimea is unacceptable and is wholly in breach of

:49:00. > :49:03.international law. I'm sure my honourable friend speaks for

:49:04. > :49:07.everybody on all sides when we says that we should seek to do everything

:49:08. > :49:12.to deter the Russians from making the situation any worse, but also

:49:13. > :49:15.de-escalate and that is why it's terribly important we work together

:49:16. > :49:20.with our American allies and with countries across the EU and to use

:49:21. > :49:24.the collective clout of the EU, political and economic, to set out

:49:25. > :49:30.as we have done a ratchet of sanctions which can be and will be

:49:31. > :49:39.deployed if de-escalation doesn't happen. Starting, I stress this, I

:49:40. > :49:47.hope have soon with Russian agreement to enter into contact

:49:48. > :49:56.talks. On his party's recent defeat by the bus pass Elvis candidate can

:49:57. > :50:06.his message be summarised by par phrasing the words of a song, "You

:50:07. > :50:10.ain't nothing but a lap dog." ? Mr Speaker, at least we are not the lap

:50:11. > :50:17.dog of the bankers, which is what Labour was in office. At least we

:50:18. > :50:22.didn't crash the British economy. At least we didn't cost every household

:50:23. > :50:28.?3,000. At least we didn't preside over an increase in relative poverty

:50:29. > :50:32.and youth unemployment. We are creating a stronger economy and

:50:33. > :50:39.fairer society that his party failed to do. The Deputy Prime Minister

:50:40. > :50:43.will be encouraged that the economy is growing faster than expected,

:50:44. > :50:47.showing the value of this Government's long-term economic

:50:48. > :50:53.plans. Does he share my satisfaction that it's been achieved through a

:50:54. > :50:56.resurgence in manufacturing, with companies such as those in my

:50:57. > :51:02.constituency who have more than doubled in size over the past three

:51:03. > :51:07.years and are investing in a new ?65 square foot factory in Rugby? I

:51:08. > :51:11.strongly agree with him. By sticking to the plan, despite all the

:51:12. > :51:15.overtures from the members opposite to abandon it, we have provided

:51:16. > :51:21.growth that otherwise would not have taken place. In the car sector we

:51:22. > :51:25.have seen spectacular success. There is now a vehicle rolling off a

:51:26. > :51:30.British production line every 20 seconds. We are producing more cars

:51:31. > :51:34.than ever before. The party opposite presided over decline in

:51:35. > :51:42.manufacturing, three times as great as what happened in the 1980s. Last

:51:43. > :51:47.week, my constituents elected a new Labour councillor. Does the Deputy

:51:48. > :51:51.Prime Minister think it was his party's support for the bedroom tax,

:51:52. > :51:57.the trebling of tuition fees, unfair cuts to the poor families or

:51:58. > :52:05.betrayal of the NHS which led them to put bus pass Elvis ahead of the

:52:06. > :52:12.Liberal Democrats? Putting bus pass Elvis aside for one moment, which I

:52:13. > :52:20.admit was a novel experience for us as it was for the people of Clifton,

:52:21. > :52:24.I am wondering did the Labour candidate admit to how much they had

:52:25. > :52:29.cost every household in Clifton? Did they admit they allowed the bankers

:52:30. > :52:33.to run amuck in 2008? Did they admit to the fact they were the party that

:52:34. > :52:37.crashed the British economy? Did anyone on the doorstep apologise to

:52:38. > :52:47.the people who are the -- for what the Labour Party did to this

:52:48. > :52:50.country? The Cotswolds is a very special place because of the

:52:51. > :52:54.stewardship and planning, yet in the last year this is threatened because

:52:55. > :53:02.of the number of applications for new houses amounting to thousands.

:53:03. > :53:07.What can my right honourable friend friend do to help resolve this? I

:53:08. > :53:11.know he feels very strongly about this and there are of course strong

:53:12. > :53:17.planning protections in place for areas of outstanding natural beauty

:53:18. > :53:20.and it's some of the country's most important treasures. The framework

:53:21. > :53:24.makes clear that great weight should be given to conserving areas of

:53:25. > :53:27.outstanding natural beauty, which have the highest levels of

:53:28. > :53:32.protection and we announced last week, that areas of outstanding

:53:33. > :53:36.beauty and national parks will be excluded from new legislation

:53:37. > :53:43.allowing agriculture buildings to be converted to housing without the

:53:44. > :53:48.need for application. Can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm that if the

:53:49. > :53:53.independent review body on Health Service staff pay recommends an

:53:54. > :53:58.increase the Government will accept that advice or will they freeze the

:53:59. > :54:09.pay of some of the lowest earners in the NHS for yet another year? We

:54:10. > :54:14.will make the announcement shortly about the views on the pay review

:54:15. > :54:18.body recommendations. We want to protect what is the highest number

:54:19. > :54:23.of nurses employed in the NHS since the NHS was founded. We need to make

:54:24. > :54:26.sure the NHS continues to employ more rather than the few you are

:54:27. > :54:30.clinical staff that are employed under Labour to ensure that patients

:54:31. > :54:36.get the best possible treatment under the NHS. On Monday South

:54:37. > :54:42.Korean newspapers said that North Korea was due to execute 33 people

:54:43. > :54:46.for having had contact with a Christian missionary. Given that

:54:47. > :54:50.there are 250,000 people in prison camps, would the Deputy Prime

:54:51. > :54:55.Minister urge the BBC World Service to use its existing transmitters to

:54:56. > :55:02.broadcast into North Korea, especially as more and more North

:55:03. > :55:10.Koreans have access to radios? He raises a very important issue and as

:55:11. > :55:13.he knows our embassy in Pyongyang continues to engage critically with

:55:14. > :55:16.the regime to ensure that there are as many opportunities for dialogue

:55:17. > :55:23.as possible, including information coming into the country. The BBC

:55:24. > :55:27.World Service is operationally independent and I understand at the

:55:28. > :55:32.end of last year they decided that they couldn't continue to offer an

:55:33. > :55:41.effective and affordable Korean language service. That is a matter

:55:42. > :55:50.for them itself. One of my constituents died after GPs failed

:55:51. > :55:54.to uncover her cancer. There are many other who are trying to get

:55:55. > :55:59.appointments and they are victims too of the dep Prime Minister's

:56:00. > :56:08.shameless, spineless cap titchlation to the Tories on the NHS? It was his

:56:09. > :56:13.party that wasted a quarter of a billion of money on deals with the

:56:14. > :56:17.private sector to undermine the NHS on tariffs which the NHS could not

:56:18. > :56:21.meet for operations which weren't delivered. Why can't he tell the

:56:22. > :56:28.House why he tabled the amendment just last week to tell 500,000

:56:29. > :56:32.youngsters that they can no longer be called apprentices. We stand up

:56:33. > :56:42.for fairness, we stand up for a strong NHS, he doesn't. Has the

:56:43. > :56:50.Deputy Prime Minister read the testimony in yesterday's tribunal in

:56:51. > :56:54.Wales? Does he has sympathy with people with less access to drugs and

:56:55. > :57:04.does he agree it's the time to give them the opportunity to access the

:57:05. > :57:09.services. I was appalled and I'm sure everybody would be about the

:57:10. > :57:14.experiences of one of the honourable gentleman's constituents. In Wales,

:57:15. > :57:20.the NHS run by Labour, 33% of patients wait more than eight weeks

:57:21. > :57:25.to access dying no, sir ticks. -- dying no, sirrics. In England it's

:57:26. > :57:32.only 1%. I think the comparison speaks for itself. This week marks

:57:33. > :57:36.three years since the bloodshed began in Syria. More than 2.5

:57:37. > :57:40.million people have fled the country and the dead can no longer even be

:57:41. > :57:47.counted. We must all bear responsibility for or shameful

:57:48. > :57:54.famure to intervene, but they are the ones running the country. What

:57:55. > :57:59.we -- what renewed effort will his Government make to end the slaughter

:58:00. > :58:03.before all hope fails? He knows my own views. I felt there was a case

:58:04. > :58:08.for intervention at the time when we voted on this. His party voted

:58:09. > :58:12.against it, but if he wants to speak with his own party leadership on

:58:13. > :58:17.that matter he's more than welcome. I agree, the humanitarian

:58:18. > :58:19.catastrophe there is of an unimaginable scale. We must do

:58:20. > :58:23.everything we can to help. That is why I think I'm right in saying,

:58:24. > :58:27.that our humanitarian effort is now the largest this country has ever

:58:28. > :58:31.delivered. Why also the Home Secretary and others in Government

:58:32. > :58:36.are now administering in conjunction with the UN a new programme where we

:58:37. > :58:42.allow the most destitute and desperate refugees some refuge in

:58:43. > :58:47.this country as well. During the recent floods, the Prime Minister

:58:48. > :58:50.announced grants of ?5,000 for those homes flooded to put in flood

:58:51. > :58:57.defence measures in their homes. You can imagine the disappointment then

:58:58. > :59:02.of people from the 1,000 homes in my constituency who were only flooded

:59:03. > :59:05.18 months prior who got no such support. Will he look at this policy

:59:06. > :59:09.with the Prime Minister to see whether the same grants can be made

:59:10. > :59:16.available to those people who were flooded too? Of course, I will do

:59:17. > :59:19.so. As someone who witnessed the terrible flooding in my own

:59:20. > :59:22.constituency some years ago, flooding can hit different parts of

:59:23. > :59:29.the country in different ways and we must, as we adapt to this new very

:59:30. > :59:32.difficult reality, we must make sure we build up resilience in all parts

:59:33. > :59:38.of the country and provide assistance as fully as we can across

:59:39. > :59:42.the country too. The honourable member for Westmorland agrees with

:59:43. > :59:46.me that the hated bedroom tax is caing misery for those affected.

:59:47. > :59:50.Does the Deputy Prime Minister agree with the President of his party or

:59:51. > :59:56.is friend -- or his friend the Prime Minister? I think and everybody

:59:57. > :59:58.thinks that we need to deal with this mismatch between large numbers

:59:59. > :00:02.of people on the housing waiting list, something her party never did

:00:03. > :00:05.anything to address in 13 years and the fact there are a large numbers

:00:06. > :00:10.of spare bedrooms which are not being used. Her Government presided

:00:11. > :00:15.over the change which we are now delivering in the social rented

:00:16. > :00:18.sector in the private sector. She needs to explain why they want to

:00:19. > :00:30.support the change in one part and not the other. Portsmouth FC made

:00:31. > :00:33.history by becoming the UK's largest 100% community buyout. Today, many

:00:34. > :00:42.clubs face an uncertain future due to lack of financial transparency,

:00:43. > :00:45.opaque F rules and a structure that promotes irresponsibility in

:00:46. > :00:50.business and doesn't promote sporting excellence in a woman's

:00:51. > :00:53.team. We need to lessons, the Select Committee's report and the work of

:00:54. > :00:59.Supporters Direct and act to protect the interest of clubs, their fans

:01:00. > :01:02.and ultimately the national game? I certainly agree. I think fans across

:01:03. > :01:08.the country feel this is a really important issue. We can't just have

:01:09. > :01:13.big-money hollowouts of the game that everyone loves. I know somes

:01:14. > :01:16.something that the Secretary of State for culture, media and sport

:01:17. > :01:20.is looking at on an on going basis and I urge her to take up this

:01:21. > :01:25.issue. I think it's something we need to keep a close eye so that

:01:26. > :01:30.sports clubs large and small can thrive in the country. There are

:01:31. > :01:34.reports that the Department for Work and Pensions is proposing stopping

:01:35. > :01:42.paying benefits into the Post Office card account. Does the Deputy Prime

:01:43. > :01:46.Minister support that policy? I don't think it's true and I will

:01:47. > :01:53.certain confirm it with him, but that's not something which I'm aware

:01:54. > :01:57.of. Last Thursday 16-year-old Sam from Romsey collapsed in a school PE

:01:58. > :02:03.lesson. One of the reasons he's still alive is bought the excellent

:02:04. > :02:07.school already had a defibrillator. They've ordered two more. What steps

:02:08. > :02:11.is he prepared to take to encourage more schools to have them and will

:02:12. > :02:15.he command the work of the foundation who have been leading the

:02:16. > :02:20.way on this issue? I certainly and I'm sure many honourable members

:02:21. > :02:24.across the House have also come across this issue in schools and

:02:25. > :02:28.sporting clubs and other recreational facilities in their

:02:29. > :02:32.constituencies. There are some great organisations. They promote the need

:02:33. > :02:36.to make them more available and I certainly think we should all work

:02:37. > :02:45.with the campaign groups to raise the profile of this important issue.

:02:46. > :02:50.The average nursery cost is now higher than the average mortgage.

:02:51. > :02:54.Childcare costs have risen five times faster than wages since the

:02:55. > :02:59.election. Given that we are expecting his long-awaited tax-free

:03:00. > :03:04.child scare scheme to be announced, can I ask him what discussions he

:03:05. > :03:08.has had about relationships of this scheme with universal credits and

:03:09. > :03:12.the cliff edges it creates? What assessment he has made of this

:03:13. > :03:18.scheme and its impact on price inflation? She raises a very

:03:19. > :03:22.important issue. As it happens, childcare costs have come down in

:03:23. > :03:29.England, but they go up in Labour-run Wales. We must do all we

:03:30. > :03:33.can to help parents and families with the costs, that's why we are

:03:34. > :03:36.delivering 15 hours of free childcare to all three and

:03:37. > :03:40.four-year-olds in the country and for the first time ever to

:03:41. > :03:44.two-year-olds for the most deprived families. You are right, we need to

:03:45. > :03:48.do more, that's why we will announce the details of the tax-free

:03:49. > :03:49.childcare offer which will benefit many, many families with the very

:03:50. > :04:07.high costs across the country. The study end of Deputy Prime

:04:08. > :04:13.Minister's Questions. Harriet Harman chose areas such as the closure of

:04:14. > :04:18.accident and emergency, taking away local control from hospitals. She

:04:19. > :04:22.then moved onto the bedroom tax, which she thought wasn't that

:04:23. > :04:27.popular among Lib voters. She then moved on to why the live donors had

:04:28. > :04:40.agreed to cut the top rate of tax to 45p. -- why the Lib Dems had agreed.

:04:41. > :04:43.Many of you have been saying that Nick Clegg sounded just like David

:04:44. > :04:48.Cameron when he answered these questions. Viewers were not overly

:04:49. > :04:57.impressed by the performance on either side. This from a viewer:

:04:58. > :05:01.Harriet Harman didn't answer a single question, she just made short

:05:02. > :05:05.speeches. Helen Manning said, Harriet reads the script and Nick

:05:06. > :05:14.Eaves the answers. I never thought I would want David Cameron back. Alan

:05:15. > :05:22.says Mr Clegg will need a much better show when he meets Nigel

:05:23. > :05:30.Farage in April's debates. Poor performance, says Geoffrey J. I hope

:05:31. > :05:35.this isn't the future of the Nick Clegg /Nigel Farage debate.

:05:36. > :05:42.Given that we have that debate coming up, what did we learn that of

:05:43. > :05:47.Mr Clegg's performance? He faces a continuing difficulty, which is, is

:05:48. > :05:55.he proud to be part of the coalition or angry or embarrassed about it? He

:05:56. > :05:59.has always argued that come election day, voters would give him credit

:06:00. > :06:03.for doing things that were unpopular as part of a coalition. Of course

:06:04. > :06:08.his party are very anxious about that, and you often hear them

:06:09. > :06:13.complaining about the Tories because they want to create distance. What

:06:14. > :06:16.was telling was the way Labour MPs clearly had a strategy for the half

:06:17. > :06:20.hour which was to stick it to Nick Clegg at every opportunity the idea

:06:21. > :06:27.that he is a friend of David Cameron and is collaborating with him.

:06:28. > :06:39.Kingussie Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman sitting around the same table

:06:40. > :06:44.after that? -- can you see? The obvious answer is that we are going

:06:45. > :06:47.for a majority! I am glad to be so boring and predictable. But why did

:06:48. > :06:57.Harriet Harman not say anything about Bob Crow? I have no idea. I

:06:58. > :07:07.tweeted yesterday about Bob Crow when I found out the sudden news. He

:07:08. > :07:16.wasn't a Labour person. He wasn't a Labour member. He was a very

:07:17. > :07:21.effective trade union leader, and I think Ed put out a tribute to him

:07:22. > :07:29.yesterday. Due think she just forgot? I have no idea. And it fell

:07:30. > :07:39.to a Scottish National Party raise it. I think everybody was shocked

:07:40. > :07:46.with Bob's sudden death. What did you make of Nick Clegg's

:07:47. > :07:54.performance? He spent a lot of time pointing out the flaws of the last

:07:55. > :07:57.Labour government, and explaining that the argument at the start, two

:07:58. > :08:02.parties coming together in the national interest. But he also

:08:03. > :08:07.pointed out all the things that have been achieved on the things Harriet

:08:08. > :08:14.Harman asked about, the fact that there waiting list times are down,

:08:15. > :08:19.more nurses and doctors. But in the chamber, especially if you are the

:08:20. > :08:22.Lib Dem leader, you have got to make the coalition argument, because you

:08:23. > :08:28.have a bank of Tory MPs behind you, and you need that support. The funny

:08:29. > :08:32.thing was watching George Osborne's face, because he didn't know where

:08:33. > :08:38.to look, and he wasn't necessarily agreeing with what the deputy was

:08:39. > :08:43.saying. Especially the bus pass and Elvis stuff. He was going to

:08:44. > :08:52.explode. But everybody was laughing, because they did come fifth behind

:08:53. > :08:57.the bus pass Elvis party. Hasn't Nick Clegg with that performance

:08:58. > :09:01.flown in the face of everything that his tactic has been in recent

:09:02. > :09:06.months? The tactics of the Lib Dems from Mr Clegg down has been what

:09:07. > :09:09.they call aggressive differentiation, that they go out of

:09:10. > :09:13.their way to pick issues where they are different from the Tories, and

:09:14. > :09:18.they attack the Tories. Danny Alexander at the weekend said there

:09:19. > :09:24.would be no increase in the threshold for paying income tax if

:09:25. > :09:32.it hadn't been for the Lib Dems. We had Iain Duncan Smith on immediately

:09:33. > :09:36.afterwards who totally denied that. But today on PMQs, on network

:09:37. > :09:46.television, no differentiation at all. It is Deputy Prime Minister's

:09:47. > :09:52.Questions, not Lib Dem leader's questions. So he is there to

:09:53. > :09:55.represent the government. And the labour questions will be hostile,

:09:56. > :09:58.and statistically he gets mainly Tory questions from that side of the

:09:59. > :10:04.House. What was telling was that he never found a way of turning his

:10:05. > :10:09.answers into statements about what the Lib Dems have done and what they

:10:10. > :10:12.hope to do. He never found a way to politicise them, and instead went on

:10:13. > :10:20.the attack against Labour, and that didn't work. He did have a go at

:10:21. > :10:25.Dominic Cummings, the special adviser to Michael Gove. And he was

:10:26. > :10:29.quite personal about it. We are going to have at the election the

:10:30. > :10:33.unusual position of two parties standing on the same record.

:10:34. > :10:37.Whatever we set out for the future, the point is that both the Lib Dems

:10:38. > :10:41.and the Conservatives are going to stand on a record in government. You

:10:42. > :10:48.support what you have done in government. From our point of view,

:10:49. > :10:51.the record is increasingly strong. So are there things you are not

:10:52. > :10:55.proud of? I am proud of everything we have done. And as a government

:10:56. > :11:01.Minister, I take full responsibility. Fight and fight and

:11:02. > :11:07.fight again to get you locked to agree to raise the income tax, he

:11:08. > :11:15.said. I remember reading the pamphlet in 2001 arguing for an

:11:16. > :11:21.increase in the tax threshold for a Tory manifesto. But it wasn't George

:11:22. > :11:26.Osborne promising it. Mr Cameron said in 2010, we can't afford it.

:11:27. > :11:34.No, he said he couldn't afford to promise it. That debate was all

:11:35. > :11:41.about how you deal with the deficit. Did you resist it or didn't you? I

:11:42. > :11:46.wasn't in those discussions, but is -- as far as I know, we didn't

:11:47. > :11:51.resist it, and we are thrilled to put it through because it is a tax

:11:52. > :11:54.cut for 24 million people. We believe in people having more of

:11:55. > :12:01.their own money, so to try to argue that people resist a tax cut for 20

:12:02. > :12:08.formally in people is never going to fly. It was a Lib Dem policy, you

:12:09. > :12:16.will give them credit for that, surely? Remap it was a coalition

:12:17. > :12:20.agreement. So Danny Alexander was being economical with the truth when

:12:21. > :12:25.he said he had to fight it through opposition from the Conservatives? I

:12:26. > :12:29.don't know why Danny said that. What I do know is that at the election,

:12:30. > :12:31.we will have cut tax for 25 million people, put more money in their

:12:32. > :12:40.pockets, which wouldn't have happened under a Labour government.

:12:41. > :12:46.Increased poverty. There will be a united record on which... Nobody

:12:47. > :12:54.ever tells Matt finish a sentence, do they?

:12:55. > :13:00.He is arguing for the coalition to be standing at the next election. I

:13:01. > :13:04.am saying, no matter what the two different future offers, and ours

:13:05. > :13:09.will be better, we stand on the same record. But we are the only party

:13:10. > :13:16.who can deliver a referendum on Europe. Is it not the case that a

:13:17. > :13:19.lot of conservatives, if there was money around the income tax cuts,

:13:20. > :13:26.and clearly there was, because raising the threshold cost a tonne

:13:27. > :13:30.of money, if there was money around to do it, a lot of Tories would like

:13:31. > :13:36.to have seen the threshold where the 40p rate clicks in raised, because

:13:37. > :13:39.this is a threshold that originally took in only 1.5 million people, and

:13:40. > :13:46.has now risen to almost 5 million people. A lot of conservatives are

:13:47. > :13:50.troubled with the way George Osborne approaches this. They are very

:13:51. > :13:53.concerned about cuts at the bottom of the income scale, and they are

:13:54. > :14:00.very concerned about more people being drawn into the 50p rate of

:14:01. > :14:06.tax. Lets not forget the tax cuts for

:14:07. > :14:15.millionaires. But it benefits people on the 40p rate as well, because the

:14:16. > :14:17.change more than offset... More people are paying a higher rate of

:14:18. > :14:21.tax under the Conservative government, that is one of your

:14:22. > :14:26.achievements. If you look at national insurance as well, then

:14:27. > :14:32.adding in the national insurance contributions, as soon as you are

:14:33. > :14:36.into paying tax at 20p, you have to then adding the national insurance

:14:37. > :14:39.as well, so the change in the gap between what your employer pays you

:14:40. > :14:45.and what you take home in your pay packet, there is not much change.

:14:46. > :14:51.But the focus of the tax cuts has been on people who are working hard.

:14:52. > :14:55.But do you accept now that the first ?10,000 or so is tax-free, any rise

:14:56. > :15:00.now doesn't help the poorest any more, because they are not paying

:15:01. > :15:03.tax. Any rise in that tax threshold is not designed to help the poorest,

:15:04. > :15:07.and if you really wanted to help the working poor, you should raise the

:15:08. > :15:12.level where national insurance start, which at the moment you only

:15:13. > :15:21.have to earn ?5,000 a year before you start paying it. ?10,000 is

:15:22. > :15:29.still not well paid. The minimum wage, full-time, gets you about

:15:30. > :15:32.?12,500. So that area is still very much targeted. For millions of

:15:33. > :15:37.people who are working part-time who would love to earn ?12,500 a year,

:15:38. > :15:40.they can't get the extra hours. What we need to do is have an economic

:15:41. > :15:46.recovery that works for working people, not just for those few at

:15:47. > :15:51.the top. They say they have the fastest recovery of the G-7 country.

:15:52. > :15:58.And a million more jobs. You are talking about the numbers, but what

:15:59. > :16:01.I am talking about is underemployment. There are millions

:16:02. > :16:04.of people who are having a real struggle in this country to make

:16:05. > :16:10.ends meet who want to work more hours and can't get them. Your tax

:16:11. > :16:13.cuts are doing nothing to help them. I am talking about the millions of

:16:14. > :16:19.people who are getting more financial security because of the

:16:20. > :16:24.way that this works. I am talking about moving on, because this is a

:16:25. > :16:28.foretaste of the debate we will have next week when it is budget day.

:16:29. > :16:31.Working forward to it! Ben, thank you very much.

:16:32. > :16:35.Now, politicians seem to have a rough old time of it. No one likes

:16:36. > :16:38.them and many voters just can't be bothered. But Kevin Meagher from the

:16:39. > :16:41.Labour Uncut blog isn't blaming politicians, he's blaming you - yes,

:16:42. > :16:43.you, the electorate! So should we be dragged kicking and screaming to the

:16:44. > :17:02.ballot box? Here's his soapbox. Politics and pliions have taken a

:17:03. > :17:08.bark from the public. For me, it's not always their fault. It's not

:17:09. > :17:13.just a new politics, but a new electorate. We have become a nation

:17:14. > :17:17.of the wilful ignorance. We don't understand the decisions taken or

:17:18. > :17:21.the alternatives and sometimes it feels we don't want to. We don't

:17:22. > :17:26.follow current affairs like previous generations did. Ignorance isn't so

:17:27. > :17:31.much bliss as standard these days. According to a recent poll, 47% are

:17:32. > :17:44.angry with politicians. While 25% of us are bored with them. Only 2% are

:17:45. > :17:49.inspired. It wasn't always this way. Labour's 1945 election landslide has

:17:50. > :17:54.been eS described to politically motivated servicemen casting their

:17:55. > :18:07.votes on behalf of a better world. The idea of voting for a better

:18:08. > :18:10.world doesn't compute. Politicians therefore try a different tactic.

:18:11. > :18:15.There is a limit how to dumbed down the system should become. Remember

:18:16. > :18:20.Gordon Brown proclaiming his love of the Arctic monkies, why can't they

:18:21. > :18:26.respond by real people? Why not say, "I'm a middle-aged man. I prefer

:18:27. > :18:31.Radio 4." Then there was Tony Blair dropping his Hs and who can remember

:18:32. > :18:35.David Cameron on Jonathan Ross's sofa being requested a question I

:18:36. > :18:50.can't repeat on the BBC. It doesn't work. It's not that I'm not voting

:18:51. > :18:54.out of apathy, but it's indifference and exhaustion from the political

:18:55. > :19:00.class that has been going on for generations now. My answer to fixing

:19:01. > :19:05.this is greater compulsion, or duty is a defining characteristic of

:19:06. > :19:07.adulthood. Pay attention because it matters, contribute because it adds

:19:08. > :19:14.to the common good. Vote to put whoever you want in here or face a

:19:15. > :19:20.fine. Brave words from Kevin. He's with us now. What has been the

:19:21. > :19:24.reaction to your proposal? We'll come to that of a fine, but first,

:19:25. > :19:30.saying the electorate is ignorant and not into current affairs. It's

:19:31. > :19:33.slightly more nuanced. I've had an interesting reaction this morning.

:19:34. > :19:36.It's ranged from he's right, to the man's a complete idiot and

:19:37. > :19:40.everything in between. It's good. That's what it should be about.

:19:41. > :19:45.People are interested in issues and debating things, but they've turned

:19:46. > :19:56.off party politics and I think it's really bad because there are - there

:19:57. > :20:02.are limits. There are only other limits. People are interested in

:20:03. > :20:05.issues, but not in party politics. Isn't that the fault of the system

:20:06. > :20:12.and politicians who are in it than the people? We the public have got

:20:13. > :20:15.to take the culpability. We need to do something about it. You look at

:20:16. > :20:20.membership of political parties. It's fallen off the Clive. We now

:20:21. > :20:24.have four out of ten adults routinely not voting in jexes. There

:20:25. > :20:27.is something going wrong. We have -- general elections. There is

:20:28. > :20:32.something going wrong. We have to look at the way it is practised.

:20:33. > :20:38.Labour and Ed Miliband think they are going to entice loads more

:20:39. > :20:44.people to sign up in this era We have the aspiration. Whose fault is

:20:45. > :20:48.it? I believe that the people are right and when they give us messages

:20:49. > :20:53.we have to listen and try to change the way we do things. I've been

:20:54. > :20:56.doing a thing called the People's Politics inquiry where I've talked

:20:57. > :21:00.to people who have stopped voting and the really interesting thing is

:21:01. > :21:03.they are engaged in the local community. It's like someone has

:21:04. > :21:07.unplugged them from party politics and we have to find new ways of

:21:08. > :21:12.actually engaging with them. I also think it's part of the cynicism of

:21:13. > :21:17.our age. It's part of the fact that we aren't having big philosophical

:21:18. > :21:21.arguments about the nature of politics and I also think some

:21:22. > :21:27.people don't think that they can affect things any more. We have to

:21:28. > :21:30.re-engage people by having them develop the self-belief that

:21:31. > :21:33.politics is about changing the way the country works and if you

:21:34. > :21:37.contribute and you get involved then you'll be able to help. The message

:21:38. > :21:46.is not getting through. Do you think a level of conpull shun would turn

:21:47. > :21:50.it -- cople pull shun would turn -- come plunges turn it around? I don't

:21:51. > :21:57.think so. If people have a strong view one way are the other and vote

:21:58. > :22:02.to express that view, that is different to abstaining, by staying

:22:03. > :22:07.at home. The world has changed in so many ways, especially to allow

:22:08. > :22:13.people to pick and mix in many parts of their life and a party political

:22:14. > :22:18.system inevitably presents packages rather than individual sections. I

:22:19. > :22:21.strongly agree with the point that people aren't engaged. They are

:22:22. > :22:26.engaged in issues and wanting to change individual things, but where

:22:27. > :22:35.that traditionally would have led to engagement in a party package - The

:22:36. > :22:44.choice isn't there. If they don't like the three parties or the five,

:22:45. > :22:54.they don't vote? There are hundreds of parties. There is an abundance.

:22:55. > :22:56.The day after the general election either the leader of the

:22:57. > :22:59.Conservative Party or Labour Party will be Prime Minister. That is just

:23:00. > :23:04.a fact. We can talk - perhaps we should change the system, but to

:23:05. > :23:09.paraphrase Churchill this is the least worst system that we have. The

:23:10. > :23:14.issue is we can reform politics and we should have weekend voting and

:23:15. > :23:18.electronic voting. Shut the country down for a weekend and say it

:23:19. > :23:25.matters. We should stop running elections on a Thursday to suit

:23:26. > :23:29.Civil Servants. It came out strongly in my inquiry. Lots of people said

:23:30. > :23:33.this morning there should be a box on the ballot paper saying, "None of

:23:34. > :23:39.the above." I agree with that. That is a kind of informed opposition to

:23:40. > :23:44.the system. There should be a suggestions box too. Do you accept

:23:45. > :23:48.that compulsory voting will not happen here? The parties don't

:23:49. > :23:55.embrace this, but all we are seeing is a system that is diminishing. We

:23:56. > :23:58.have to revive the way that we reach out as political parties to

:23:59. > :24:01.communities and that's what we are doing in the Labour Party. We are

:24:02. > :24:06.doing it with the community development work we are doing, and

:24:07. > :24:12.we are the only party that has put members on since 2010. We have got

:24:13. > :24:18.big aspirations to do so with the changes we made last week. Thank

:24:19. > :24:23.you, Kevin. Imagine you are an MP. I've done it. It's Wednesday. It is,

:24:24. > :24:32.you know. You've slipped on your tie, your marine jumper and suit

:24:33. > :24:36.jacket. You've got - I'm not wearing a tie. I'm talking about him. You

:24:37. > :24:41.check your phone and you realise you've not been invited on to the

:24:42. > :24:46.Daily Politics, so you truth off to Prime Minister's questions, but with

:24:47. > :24:53.all the noise in the chamber do you annoy the MPs on the other side?

:24:54. > :25:04.Here is Giles with our top five tips for getting up the opposition's

:25:05. > :25:08.nose. There's always the good old-fashioned heckle which isn't

:25:09. > :25:18.picked up by the microphones, but can be by a bat-erred Speaker. If

:25:19. > :25:22.one minister is heckling another you yourself Mr Hancock are undergoing

:25:23. > :25:31.an apprenticeship to become a statesman but I think there are some

:25:32. > :25:36.years to run. Order, order. If things get really Badu can always

:25:37. > :25:40.walk. The Lib Dems followed Ed Davey when he was eventually kicked out of

:25:41. > :25:46.the chamber back in 2008. Why, because they wanted a referendum on

:25:47. > :25:56.the UK's membership of the E. How times change. Just like in space,

:25:57. > :26:01.no-one can hear you scream. Why not adopt a visual gesture to wind up

:26:02. > :26:05.your opposite nun, but be careful you don't strie to a salute and you

:26:06. > :26:11.are left high and dry when the economy isn't flight lining at all.

:26:12. > :26:15.Or you can take a tip from your colleagues from the House of Lords

:26:16. > :26:18.and opt for another type of hand gesture altogether and they say the

:26:19. > :26:28.Lords is a more gentile sort of place. Or, adopt a form of attack

:26:29. > :26:36.that's both silent and deadly. Yes, it's Angela ekele and her chilling

:26:37. > :26:45.combination of a pointed finger and a paralysing death stare. She later

:26:46. > :26:51.tweeted, "Hashtag power of silence." Do it again. I can do it again. Who

:26:52. > :26:54.were you staring at? The Prime Minister's PPS who was yelling nasty

:26:55. > :27:01.things at Ed during his questions and we were all trying to be quiet.

:27:02. > :27:06.He shut up. Was he frightened? I think he was very frightened. Be

:27:07. > :27:13.very afraid. That lasted 12.6 seconds. I think it trended on

:27:14. > :27:17.Twitter. You must have done it intentionally? Yes. I'm a chess

:27:18. > :27:21.player. I grew up being able to stare at things for long amounts of

:27:22. > :27:31.time. How long have you been practising? 53 years. Is the PPS

:27:32. > :27:36.still alive? , but he has never yelled at heed. Why were you

:27:37. > :27:46.heckling one of your coalition ministers? I Wayne. I was -- I

:27:47. > :27:50.wasn't. I was making a comment at the member wanting to be a Shadow

:27:51. > :27:53.Chancellor and I obviously got - I wasn't saying that Joe Swinson

:27:54. > :27:58.didn't want it. How did you feel when you were ticked off by the

:27:59. > :28:02.speaker? I thought it was an amusing put-down. You have to take the rough

:28:03. > :28:07.with the smooth. And you weren't shouting at Joe Swinson? I wasn't,

:28:08. > :28:15.no. She thought you were. Really? I was having a go. Where is the

:28:16. > :28:22.jumper? It's warmed up. Just time before we go to give you the answer,

:28:23. > :28:28.1941, the year FDR was sworn in for a third time. He won a peace ticket

:28:29. > :28:33.and of course by November he was at war with Japan and then Germany.

:28:34. > :28:46.Westminster damaged by a bomb that year. Press the button. Hans pB

:28:47. > :28:50.lesage from Wirral. That's it. Thanks to our guests. The news is on

:28:51. > :28:54.BBC One. Joe will be back tomorrow at noon with all the big stories. I

:28:55. > :28:57.am. :