:00:38. > :00:45.Afternoon, books, welcome to the Daily Politics. Tony Benn, one of
:00:46. > :00:49.the Labour left's most iconic figures, has died at the age of 88,
:00:50. > :00:54.he passed away surrounded by his family, to which he was always
:00:55. > :00:58.close. Tributes are coming from all sides. Ed Miliband called him a job
:00:59. > :01:03.in the powerless, David Cameron says it is a sad day for British
:01:04. > :01:08.politics. -- a champion for the powerless.
:01:09. > :01:13.The West says the referendum in Crimea is illegal and warns Russia
:01:14. > :01:16.of tough sanctions. Following the Edward Snowden revelations, the
:01:17. > :01:20.European Parliament agrees sweeping new rules on data protection. A
:01:21. > :01:24.triumph for individual freedom or just more red tape? And when it
:01:25. > :01:31.comes to getting ahead in politics, does background matter, sex, drugs,
:01:32. > :01:33.money, the old school tie? Do voters care way you came from or what you
:01:34. > :01:43.got up to in the past? All that in the next hour, and with
:01:44. > :01:47.us for the next half-hour is the associate editor and columnist at
:01:48. > :01:51.the Sunday Times, Camilla Cavendish, welcome to the Daily Politics. He
:01:52. > :01:56.was a Labour Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s, a strong if
:01:57. > :01:59.divisive voice of the Labour left, a prolific diarist and in later life a
:02:00. > :02:04.political campaign outside Parliament. But that rather
:02:05. > :02:07.understates the life that Tony Benn lead. He died this morning at his
:02:08. > :02:12.home in West London surrounded by his family. He had been ill for some
:02:13. > :02:17.time. His family released a short statement saying, we will miss all
:02:18. > :02:21.his love, which has sustained us through our lives. We are comforted
:02:22. > :02:25.by the memory of his long, full and inspiring life, and so proud of his
:02:26. > :02:30.devotion to helping others as he sought to change the world for the
:02:31. > :02:33.better. Political leaders have been paying
:02:34. > :02:39.their respects, here is Ed Miliband, who used to work for Tony Benn when
:02:40. > :02:43.he was a teenager. It is obviously a sad day. I think Tony Benn will be
:02:44. > :02:47.remembered as a champion of the powerless, a conviction politician,
:02:48. > :02:51.somebody of deep principle and integrity. You always knew what he
:02:52. > :02:56.stood for and who he stood up for, and I think that is why he was at my
:02:57. > :03:00.right across the political spectrum. There are people who agreed with him
:03:01. > :03:04.and disagreed with him, including in my own party, but people admired the
:03:05. > :03:09.sense of conviction and integrity that shone through. The Prime
:03:10. > :03:14.Minister has also been commenting, this is what he had to say. One of
:03:15. > :03:19.the fundamental principles set out by the Leveson Inquiry are met by
:03:20. > :03:23.the Royal Charter, and all have been accepted by the industry over the
:03:24. > :03:28.last three months. In a number of areas, the media have accepted
:03:29. > :03:32.additional measures that go beyond the recommendations. These include a
:03:33. > :03:37.dedicated fund for investigations, making publishers be accountable for
:03:38. > :03:42.all material, including photos, and a whistle-blowing hotline. As a
:03:43. > :03:45.result of all of this, we have a workable system...
:03:46. > :03:49.We apologise for that, that is obviously the wrong clip from the
:03:50. > :03:53.Prime Minister, who was full of praise for Tony Benn this morning.
:03:54. > :03:58.He said that although he did not agree quite often with what he
:03:59. > :04:04.said, he admired him as a tenacious politician, a great writer and
:04:05. > :04:09.campaign. What are your thoughts? My generation mostly would have seen
:04:10. > :04:14.Tony Benn as the outsider, the national treasure, he made wonderful
:04:15. > :04:17.speeches, and he was very authentic, and for a lot of us he
:04:18. > :04:22.represented the conviction politician that many others feel
:04:23. > :04:28.there is enough of. He was a divisive character for me because he
:04:29. > :04:33.was quite important in my childhood. One of my father's veterans was
:04:34. > :04:40.Brian McGee, who is a philosopher now, but he switched to the SDP in
:04:41. > :04:44.the 1980s and lost his seat in 1983. My first political memory was of him
:04:45. > :04:49.losing that seat, and I remember him saying the party has changed, it is
:04:50. > :04:54.not me, the party has moved, and I think Benn, you can argue that Roy
:04:55. > :04:58.Jenkins led the Labour Party, but Tony Benn was so important in that
:04:59. > :05:02.debate, and he had a whole host of ideas which a lot of people in the
:05:03. > :05:05.party felt were unacceptable. To look back now and remember his
:05:06. > :05:12.arguments about unilateral disarmament, leaving NATO,
:05:13. > :05:15.effectively... Withdrawing from the European Union. That is very
:05:16. > :05:21.interesting, because he said it was bureaucratic and centralised, which
:05:22. > :05:24.was a shrewd point. Of course, what he wanted to put in place in Britain
:05:25. > :05:29.was also bureaucratic and centralised, so a slightly ironic
:05:30. > :05:33.position for him to take. We will follow up some of these beams. Tony
:05:34. > :05:40.Benn first became an MP way back in 1950, a long time ago, and he was
:05:41. > :05:42.involved in some of the most bitter Labour Party battles of the late
:05:43. > :05:47.20th century during his long career. To some on the left, he was a hero.
:05:48. > :05:51.Too much of the mainstream, he was blamed for keeping the party out of
:05:52. > :05:55.power for a generation. In later life, he became an over until a
:05:56. > :05:59.figure, popular on the lecture circuit and a prolific diarist.
:06:00. > :06:06.Political correspondent Iain Watson looks back at his life.
:06:07. > :06:10.To give 100% support to those who do not or cannot or will not pay the
:06:11. > :06:21.poll tax! For much of his political career, Benn was seen as a left-wing
:06:22. > :06:24.firebrand, taking the argument for socialism onto the streets. His
:06:25. > :06:28.first victory against the establishment was when, as Anthony
:06:29. > :06:33.Wedgwood Benn, he refused to inherit his father's peerage so he could
:06:34. > :06:39.remain an MP, a battle fought not on the barricades but in the courts and
:06:40. > :06:45.ultimately in the House of Commons. You have defeated the Tory Cabinet,
:06:46. > :06:48.the House of Lords... In a minister in Harold Wilson's government, he
:06:49. > :06:53.was seen as a moderniser and a technocrat, he helped create the
:06:54. > :06:57.Concorde project. Wilson later said that Tony Benn immatured with age.
:06:58. > :07:02.Certainly, he was one of the few politicians to become more left wing
:07:03. > :07:06.in office. In 1981, after the Labour election defeat, he split the party
:07:07. > :07:12.down the middle, challenging Denis Healey to the leadership and losing
:07:13. > :07:16.narrowly. His critics say that it helped keep Labour from power for
:07:17. > :07:23.almost two decade. He argued for the nationalisation of big banks,
:07:24. > :07:27.withdrawal from the EU. The Sir Humphrey Applebys of every country
:07:28. > :07:32.of Europe have got together, and if we do this, the Dutch say the
:07:33. > :07:37.Belgians will not object over what the Italians said... So the minister
:07:38. > :07:41.has got no power anyway! In 2001, he said he was leaving Parliament to
:07:42. > :07:46.take politics and was a leading figure in the campaign to stop the
:07:47. > :07:50.Iraq War. The popularity of his one-man shows, where people page to
:07:51. > :07:54.view his thoughts, confirmed he had completed the journey from dangerous
:07:55. > :07:58.radical to national institution. He was a prolific diarist, a chronicler
:07:59. > :08:03.of contemporary events. And just last year, he told the BBC he
:08:04. > :08:06.remained convinced that politics shouldn't be about shoddy
:08:07. > :08:11.compromise. My mother said to me once, she said, all decisions,
:08:12. > :08:16.including political decisions, are basically moral. Is it right or
:08:17. > :08:20.wrong? Tony Benn often declared that politics should be about policy, not
:08:21. > :08:26.personality, but today Westminster has lost one of its most distinctive
:08:27. > :08:32.and distinguished figures. Tony Benn, who died this morning at
:08:33. > :08:36.the age of 88. Shirley Williams was one of the gang four rebels who went
:08:37. > :08:44.off to found the Social Democratic Party in 1981, and from Birmingham
:08:45. > :08:46.we are joined by Clare Short. Shirley Williams first, I would
:08:47. > :08:51.suggest Tony Benn is one of the reasons you left the Labour Party.
:08:52. > :08:57.Yes, that is probably true. I was actually a close friend of his in
:08:58. > :09:02.the 1960s, he was the minister, the Postmaster general, and he was
:09:03. > :09:06.tremendous and on top of technology, Acorn computers and so on, all of
:09:07. > :09:09.this in his period. He really understood it better than anyone
:09:10. > :09:15.else in the cabinet. The thing was at that time he was still very
:09:16. > :09:19.clearly, essentially, a mainstream Labour Party supporter. He was on
:09:20. > :09:24.the centre-left, not on the far left. Not, above all, on the kind of
:09:25. > :09:29.anti-leadership left, which he later became. I think that he was hugely
:09:30. > :09:33.popular in the constituency with activists, he was always the top of
:09:34. > :09:36.the pile, and he was also a brilliant speaker, but one of the
:09:37. > :09:40.things people have not said about him which was true was he was a
:09:41. > :09:44.tremendously polite and courteous man. He never went into
:09:45. > :09:48.personalities. He said politics is about policy, not personalities, and
:09:49. > :09:54.he lived by that. Therefore people were surprised that he behaved so
:09:55. > :09:57.well. He was not partisan, he was passionately partisan but not sourly
:09:58. > :10:01.partisan, a big difference. But I have to say that on several issues,
:10:02. > :10:09.Babb is the central one was Europe, we saw the world in a completely
:10:10. > :10:13.different way. Clare Short, Mr Benn was enormously popular on the left
:10:14. > :10:19.but not popular with all of the left of the Labour Party, was he? No, I
:10:20. > :10:24.think, as Shelley says, he was an absolute gentleman, he had a lovely
:10:25. > :10:34.marriage and family. He was very charming. -- Shirley. But I think he
:10:35. > :10:38.got a high from the populist backing and became an oppositionist. If he
:10:39. > :10:43.had behaved in a different way, he would have been a leading figure.
:10:44. > :10:47.Someone said he was the Tony Blair of his time in terms of his
:10:48. > :10:51.communication skills. He gave an interview not so long ago, a few
:10:52. > :10:58.years ago, saying Enoch Powell said that all little careers end in
:10:59. > :11:04.failure, mine ended a long time ago. He said, I have made mistakes. He
:11:05. > :11:07.could have been a much bigger influence, but he went for the
:11:08. > :11:13.populist, ultraleft, popular with some, cutting himself off from the
:11:14. > :11:18.mainstream and potential leadership. And I think that was a loss. Was the
:11:19. > :11:23.turning point for Mr Benn, Michael Foot had become leader, he took over
:11:24. > :11:27.from Jim Callaghan, and he beat Denis Healey, but then Denis Healey
:11:28. > :11:35.stood for the deputy leadership, and against, I understand it, a lot of
:11:36. > :11:41.advice from the left, Benn stood for that as well, almost won, didn't,
:11:42. > :11:47.but then began to flirt with Militant Tendency instead. Is that
:11:48. > :11:52.fair? That is what happened. When Michael Foot won, he said, never
:11:53. > :11:55.underestimate the passion for unity. The party had divisions and wanted
:11:56. > :12:02.to come together, so it elected Michael. Then Tony, making the
:12:03. > :12:06.decision in the middle of the night without consulting anyone, decided
:12:07. > :12:12.to challenge for the deputy leader and stir up the divisions again. I
:12:13. > :12:18.think that is when he departed the mainstream. And he went off on a
:12:19. > :12:21.more and more sort of populist with the left grassroots, and at that
:12:22. > :12:28.time, of course, various groups were coming into the Labour Party, and I
:12:29. > :12:32.think he got a bit captured by the rousing support he got from those
:12:33. > :12:38.elements. But that said, he was always a brilliant speaker, such
:12:39. > :12:43.clarity in what he said. When people heard him, they would say, I do not
:12:44. > :12:51.really agree with him, but isn't he wonderful? And always great company.
:12:52. > :12:54.Charming, and when his son Hilary Benn became a junior minister in my
:12:55. > :12:57.old department of international development, Tony came to the
:12:58. > :13:02.Commons, went into the visitors' gallery, and there were tears of
:13:03. > :13:07.pride rolling down his cheeks that his son was there. Did you ever kiss
:13:08. > :13:15.and make up? Not really. We never broke off either, Clare's
:13:16. > :13:19.description is absolutely right, he responded to this adulation from the
:13:20. > :13:26.far left. We did not break up, we simply drifted apart, and on an
:13:27. > :13:31.issue of policy, not on personal friendship. Was it Europe more than
:13:32. > :13:36.anything else? He wanted a siege economy with huge import controls.
:13:37. > :13:42.He wanted to nationalise, I think, at least the top 25 if not top 100
:13:43. > :13:47.companies. In 1980, he spoke to the Labour Party conference and said,
:13:48. > :13:52.within days of being in power, we should repatriate everything back
:13:53. > :13:56.from Brussels. And of course it was against the nuclear deterrent as
:13:57. > :14:00.well. But was it Europe that was the big divide? There are different
:14:01. > :14:05.views, I shared many of his views about social policy, I believed in a
:14:06. > :14:09.more equal society, I favoured comprehends of schools, all that
:14:10. > :14:13.kind of thing. The big division was that I saw Europe coming together as
:14:14. > :14:17.being the way to end wars in the West, in Western Europe at least.
:14:18. > :14:22.And it seemed to me the way the future lay. I think the indication,
:14:23. > :14:28.for example, one of the reasons he fought Denis Healey, who was after
:14:29. > :14:30.all a damn good Labour man, was that Denis Healey exemplified the power
:14:31. > :14:34.of the international markets, the power of the international
:14:35. > :14:39.institutions, and Tony, I think, oddly enough would have nothing to
:14:40. > :14:44.do with that, he would not even be there to oppose them. He simply
:14:45. > :14:47.wished they didn't exist, he looked curiously backwards. Interesting how
:14:48. > :14:53.attitudes changed towards him, because we forget that at the time
:14:54. > :14:55.he was a hate figure for the Conservatives and he wasn't that
:14:56. > :15:00.popular with a lot of his own party as well! Are member he once said,
:15:01. > :15:03.when it was put to him that he was a national treasure, he himself said
:15:04. > :15:18.yes, now that I am regarded as harmless! Indeed. That is how it
:15:19. > :15:23.was. The meetings were packed out. People love to hear him. People who
:15:24. > :15:29.did not vote Labour or would not agree with him. They loved him. He
:15:30. > :15:33.became a national treasure. Because he was so eloquent and did try to
:15:34. > :15:38.raise issues of principle, when people knew he was stimulating their
:15:39. > :15:42.thinking and not going to do something crazy that would put the
:15:43. > :15:49.economy on the rocks, they would love him. Do we know what turned him
:15:50. > :15:55.left? In the 60s, he was moderniser. He was forward-looking.
:15:56. > :16:02.He did not seem to have much to do with unions or the Labour left. He
:16:03. > :16:13.was always going on about Concorde. He was seen as the future of the
:16:14. > :16:16.Labour Party. Yes, he was. He had a growing suspicion of civil servants.
:16:17. > :16:22.That mirrors the feeling on the right wing of the Conservative
:16:23. > :16:25.Party. Tony disliked them a lot. He thought they were there to betray
:16:26. > :16:33.what the ministers wanted to do. The other big factor was both the
:16:34. > :16:36.leaders, he preferred Callaghan to Wilson. Both Prime Minister is he
:16:37. > :16:40.saw as in the business of selling out. He took on more and more
:16:41. > :16:45.powerful position in order to force people not to sell out. That really
:16:46. > :16:50.meant he could not believe in the fundamental compromise at the heart
:16:51. > :16:54.of democratic government. It is inescapable. Does he belong with the
:16:55. > :17:00.figures in British politics who are huge figures, controversial and
:17:01. > :17:05.divisive as well? I think of Bevan and is goggle on the left and
:17:06. > :17:13.Thatcher and Powell on the right. Do we put Tony Benn into that category?
:17:14. > :17:19.What I would like to actually ask both of you is whether you think he
:17:20. > :17:24.has made people more cynical about politics. On the one hand, later on,
:17:25. > :17:32.he was marvellous. He gave you hope and hope for things to change. On
:17:33. > :17:35.the other hand, I cannot help but think he felt all mainstream
:17:36. > :17:43.politicians were going to let people down. That ends up making you feel
:17:44. > :17:48.cynical. He stood apart from the main run of politicians by being an
:17:49. > :17:56.uncompromising idealist. They all sold out one way or another. As he
:17:57. > :18:01.went on, a lot of what he advocated was impossible. It was backward
:18:02. > :18:06.looking. The world economy was as it was. In that sense, he was the
:18:07. > :18:11.beacon of the left but actually it was impractical, what he was
:18:12. > :18:15.advocating. In his later years, when he was the old Testament prophet, as
:18:16. > :18:20.Michael Foot said, he was more comfortable and people enjoyed that.
:18:21. > :18:26.Really he vacated the struggle of practical policy to make the country
:18:27. > :18:39.fairer. He went off to an impossible list position which was supported by
:18:40. > :18:41.some but did not help. It has been a pleasure to listen to you. Now, what
:18:42. > :18:44.makes a suitable or unsuitable politician? Nigel Farage hit the
:18:45. > :18:50.front pages this week after allegations about his personal life.
:18:51. > :18:54.The lawyers have asked me to say they are unsubstantiated. But does
:18:55. > :18:58.anyone really care? Does it matter if the next Tory manifesto is being
:18:59. > :19:02.written by a gang of old Etonians? And if, heaven forbid, an MP was
:19:03. > :19:04.involved in some scrapes and shenanigans before entering
:19:05. > :19:08.parliament, then is that really a problem? So, how much do people care
:19:09. > :19:11.about the backgrounds and pasts of these men? In a recent survey, most
:19:12. > :19:15.people said that they were annoyed if an MP had never had a real job.
:19:16. > :19:20.55% in fact. Bad news for ex-special advisers, local politicians, think
:19:21. > :19:25.tankers, or even journalists. Worrying news for David Cameron. A
:19:26. > :19:28.lot of people think going to Eton doesn't make a good politician, with
:19:29. > :19:35.38% complaining that old Etonians don't understand how real people
:19:36. > :19:38.live. But there's good news for any politician with a racy past or a few
:19:39. > :19:43.youthful indiscretions to their name. Drug-taking, going bankrupt,
:19:44. > :19:46.or being caught shoplifting. The public don't seem to mind. Time to
:19:47. > :19:58.own up perhaps? The daily politics is always
:19:59. > :20:03.available. We sent our Adam out to see what people think. Parliment is
:20:04. > :20:09.looking pretty nice in the background. What do the public think
:20:10. > :20:14.about what the politicians have in their backgrounds? School is not
:20:15. > :20:22.medically important but exposure to life and industry is incredibly
:20:23. > :20:26.important. Having a real job? Having a real job brings you life
:20:27. > :20:31.experience you need to make decisions properly. What about the
:20:32. > :20:36.issue that all the pals of David Cameron went to Eton? Does it
:20:37. > :20:46.matter? It is a bloody good job they did. Does it matter what they are
:20:47. > :20:51.doing behind closed doors? If they are hypocrites, yes. Dodgy? I do not
:20:52. > :20:56.think so. Wide and if a politician committed a crime in their use,
:20:57. > :21:06.would that be a deal-breaker? If they did something really bad? No.
:21:07. > :21:15.What is really bad? Stole a car, let's say. No. I would need to know
:21:16. > :21:20.more about the circumstances. Doing the right for the community is
:21:21. > :21:26.important. Whatever politician had taken drugs when they were a
:21:27. > :21:30.teenager? We all make mistakes. With us now is Peter Kellner from YouGov,
:21:31. > :21:32.who did the survey and the former Conservative MP, Jerry Hayes,
:21:33. > :21:36.himself no stranger to the odd controversy. In fact, he's just
:21:37. > :21:39.written a book about his time in Westminster which purports to be a
:21:40. > :21:43.no holds barred expose of parliamentary scandals.
:21:44. > :21:50.The public do not like a politician who has not got a real job, he went
:21:51. > :21:54.to Eton and had the right connections to get into politics.
:21:55. > :21:58.David Cameron is stuffed, isn't he? You'll agree with these should Ed
:21:59. > :22:03.Miliband be more popular. One of the things the moment, you take the
:22:04. > :22:09.three main party leaders and they are all unpopular. I do not remember
:22:10. > :22:14.a time in the last 40, 50 years, when all three have been unpopular
:22:15. > :22:19.at the same time. We know why Mr Cameron is not seem to connect. Is
:22:20. > :22:28.it equally because he is posh in Eton and the rest of it? Is it true
:22:29. > :22:33.the North London son of a Marxist professor finds it hard to connect
:22:34. > :22:36.with these people? It is about not having had a real job. If you
:22:37. > :22:42.include journalism and think tanks and being a special adviser and all
:22:43. > :22:45.of that, none of the three party leaders David Cameron, Nick Clegg,
:22:46. > :22:51.Ed Miliband, none of them in that sense have had real jobs. When you
:22:52. > :22:58.go back to the 20th century and Stanley Baldwin. He did not enter
:22:59. > :23:01.parliament he was 50. At about the age of 60, keep became Prime
:23:02. > :23:07.Minister. That is how they did it then and they do not do it like that
:23:08. > :23:12.now. If you look at Mr Clegg and Mr Cameron, they are all keen from the
:23:13. > :23:16.same kind of stone in some way. They all went to Oxbridge and came to be
:23:17. > :23:24.special advisers within a mile off where we are now. We talk about
:23:25. > :23:32.authenticity. Bob Crow, Tony Ben and Nigel Farage. Is that what they
:23:33. > :23:36.lack? I do not think David Cameron lacks that he is a really really
:23:37. > :23:42.nice guy. Nick Clegg is nice as well. They are desperately
:23:43. > :23:47.unpopular. All the major parties are bitterly divided. Really, hopelessly
:23:48. > :24:01.divided. Not as divided as in the days of Tony Blair -- Tony Benn. We
:24:02. > :24:05.were talking about the battles with Tony Benn and Denis Healey. Mrs
:24:06. > :24:14.Thatcher was divided with the wets and the dries. This did keep them
:24:15. > :24:17.out of power for 18 years. When you had the divisions under Margaret
:24:18. > :24:21.Thatcher, the Tories had, for much of the time, a huge majority and it
:24:22. > :24:24.did not matter very much. The problem now is the collision between
:24:25. > :24:29.the divisions, which are more personal and less political than
:24:30. > :24:34.they used to be. Also with the Parliamentary arithmetic. It is like
:24:35. > :24:43.the Syria vote last August. Had the Conservatives had a majority vote of
:24:44. > :24:55.100, they would have got that three. I was one-year below Mr Cameron. He
:24:56. > :24:59.should not be embarrassed. What did you see about him? It is a question
:25:00. > :25:07.of, what do you mean by real job? Cameron, for six or seven years, was
:25:08. > :25:11.employed in the private sector. Hang on! We need to be a bit careful. One
:25:12. > :25:15.of the things that people worry about, and I worry about, the point
:25:16. > :25:19.you are making is that lots of politicians do not know how to run
:25:20. > :25:22.their departments because they have never run anything. The anything you
:25:23. > :25:25.can say about Cameron is they have had longer and he had some time in
:25:26. > :25:29.the private sector, which is different from a lot of other MPs.
:25:30. > :25:37.It depends what you regard as real job. It is about what kind of
:25:38. > :25:43.private sector jobs really count. He did not have to take tough,
:25:44. > :25:48.managerial decisions. He did not have to face shareholders who were
:25:49. > :25:54.upset. Michael Green is a very difficult man. That is another good
:25:55. > :25:56.point. He was with Lamont went all is another good point. He was with
:25:57. > :26:06.Lamont went all as difficulties occurred. He has been forged and
:26:07. > :26:09.metal out of a crisis. Perhaps all politicians should take comfort from
:26:10. > :26:13.the pole that strongly suggest people really do not care what you
:26:14. > :26:19.get up to, unless you murdered your granny. I was surprised how low the
:26:20. > :26:26.figures were. If you are shoplifting as a teenager... I think the thing
:26:27. > :26:33.that has surprised me most was politicians who pretend they are
:26:34. > :26:39.happily married, and are in fact later come out as gay. I thought
:26:40. > :26:52.people would prevent that -- resent that but they do not. He kept me as
:26:53. > :26:58.a columnist so he has impeccable judgment. What is the biggest
:26:59. > :27:01.revelation? What will shock people is the amount of drink and the
:27:02. > :27:08.amount of bile and there was in the House of Commons. You remember Ron
:27:09. > :27:12.Brown, dear old Ron Brown. He picked up the maze and smashed it on the
:27:13. > :27:23.floor. One of the bigwigs came in in the middle of the day punched him in
:27:24. > :27:27.the stomach, threw him out of the House and he was given a good
:27:28. > :27:30.kicking. Ceaseless mocking of the Lib Dems is a favourite
:27:31. > :27:34.parliamentary pastime and this week has brought fresh material. Lord
:27:35. > :27:38.Biro, a candidate for the Bus Pass Elvis Party received 67 votes in a
:27:39. > :27:39.Nottingham by election, with Lib Dem candidate Tony Marshall coming last
:27:40. > :27:52.with 56. Oh, dear. But is there a bigger
:27:53. > :27:56.problem hidden by this jolly facade? Could this result spell the
:27:57. > :27:59.beginning of the end for the Lib Dems? Before we get to that, let's
:28:00. > :28:06.remind ourselves of some past political upsets.
:28:07. > :28:42.You can get off back to Mexico, knowing your attempt to buy the
:28:43. > :28:44.British legal system has failed. Richard Taylor, whose sole policy
:28:45. > :29:06.was the protection of Kidderminster Hospital.
:29:07. > :29:12.I'm delighted to say Elvis lives! And he joins us from Nottingham.
:29:13. > :29:23.Well, in fact it's Lord Biro, aka David Bishop. You seem to have a lot
:29:24. > :29:34.of names. Wellcome. To what do you attribute your defeat in this
:29:35. > :29:38.remarkable by-election? I think the Lib Dems did not campaign hard
:29:39. > :29:45.enough. That was a big mistake on their part. They would have been
:29:46. > :29:50.better off not standing actually. Given this success you have had,
:29:51. > :29:57.relative success, what are you going to do next? I have sent a message to
:29:58. > :30:02.Mr Putin saying, would he leave Ukraine, the Crimea, and invade
:30:03. > :30:09.Meadow Lane, Nottingham, and take over Notts County the bull crap to
:30:10. > :30:20.save them from relegation? -- Notts County Football Club. How highly
:30:21. > :30:27.which you rate your chances? A lot higher than that. Do you fancy
:30:28. > :30:34.perhaps standing next to Nick Clegg up the road? Someone has already
:30:35. > :30:38.asked me that. Apparently he is not very popular in Sheffield. He may
:30:39. > :30:44.not be the leader in 12 months' time. We have another 12 months to
:30:45. > :30:51.go. Maybe Skegness possibly. I do not know. You have the bug? The
:30:52. > :30:56.political bug. I have had that for a long while since 1997 when I stood
:30:57. > :31:01.against Neil Hamilton. That was when I was Martin Bell in the white suit.
:31:02. > :31:06.I have had it since then. Stay with us. Joining me in the studio to make
:31:07. > :31:13.sense of it all is Stephen Tall, editor of Lib Dem voice.
:31:14. > :31:18.There may be little significance in a local government by-election, but
:31:19. > :31:26.you have lost eight out of your last 15 deposits, 11 seats in Scotland,
:31:27. > :31:29.is this the writing on the wall? I don't think so, I do not think the
:31:30. > :31:33.North Clifton Ward in Nottingham, with old you respect to the
:31:34. > :31:37.inhabitants, is not necessarily pointing to what will happen at the
:31:38. > :31:40.general election. But you are right that being in government ain't the
:31:41. > :31:44.most popular thing to do, better to be in opposition in terms of poll
:31:45. > :31:48.ratings, but the only way you change things is in government. But isn't
:31:49. > :31:51.the risk that you have been in government, you have done the
:31:52. > :31:55.unpopular things, a lot of people did not want you to be in government
:31:56. > :31:59.with the Tories in the first place, and the risk is that if things are
:32:00. > :32:04.starting to come right, for example in the economy, the reduction of the
:32:05. > :32:07.deficit, whatever, the Tories, being political bruises, will take all the
:32:08. > :32:15.credit for this? Are you suggesting they would try to take credit for
:32:16. > :32:19.Lib Dems? They already have on the policy of taking people out of tax.
:32:20. > :32:22.You will have seen the poll in the Evening Standard last night showing
:32:23. > :32:28.that more voters, 45%, give credit to the Lib Dems for that. We will
:32:29. > :32:30.see, I am hoping that was something that was our top priority and has
:32:31. > :32:34.been delivered in government will have some payback for the party, but
:32:35. > :32:41.we will have to wait until May 2015 to find out. If you get a thumping
:32:42. > :32:44.in the European elections, as Elvis was indicating, does that mean the
:32:45. > :32:50.leadership could come under question again? I think it is very unlikely
:32:51. > :32:53.but possible that the Lib Dems could get entirely wiped out at the
:32:54. > :32:59.European elections. You could lose every MEP? It is possible, if it
:33:00. > :33:03.sinks to 6% of the vote, you could see them or lose. I don't think it
:33:04. > :33:07.will happen, but what you see with Nick Clegg trying to take the fight
:33:08. > :33:12.to Nigel Farage is do two things, appealed to the segment of the
:33:13. > :33:14.population that is pro-European and galvanise Lib Dem supporters who
:33:15. > :33:19.might otherwise be a bit worried about what the party has done in
:33:20. > :33:23.coalition. It is about saying, this is a reason to vote for the Lib
:33:24. > :33:28.Dems, shore up the vote that often does not turn up for European
:33:29. > :33:32.elections. How would you assess the Lib Dems' situation at the moment?
:33:33. > :33:36.They did better in Eastleigh than national polls suggested. The UKIP
:33:37. > :33:41.factor is critical, and Clifton North, the Lib Dems would just
:33:42. > :33:47.beaten by Elvis, they were beaten by UKIP, who got 500 votes to the Lib
:33:48. > :33:52.Dems' 50. We are really looking at significant inroads from UKIP, and
:33:53. > :33:55.as you say, I agree that the Lib Dems could really suffer at the
:33:56. > :34:01.European elections. The only thing to hang onto is a pro-European
:34:02. > :34:04.platform, because this would be true across Europe - the anti-European
:34:05. > :34:09.parties are going to succeed, and that leaves your position poor! A
:34:10. > :34:14.final word of advice for the Lib Dems, Elvis? You have got Clegg on
:34:15. > :34:19.your face, that is due to me, sorry about that! We will keep an eye on
:34:20. > :34:24.your political career, Elvis, thank you for joining us. Thank you very
:34:25. > :34:28.much! Coming up in a moment, our regular look at what has been going
:34:29. > :34:32.on in European politics, but now it is time to say goodbye to Camilla
:34:33. > :34:35.Cavendish, thank you for being with us.
:34:36. > :34:38.For the next half hour we will be focusing on Europe, discussing the
:34:39. > :34:42.situation in Ukraine and the new rules on data protection agreed by
:34:43. > :34:51.MEPs in Strasbourg this week. First, a guide to the latest from Europe in
:34:52. > :34:56.just 60 seconds. Aired on the referendum in Crimea,
:34:57. > :34:58.German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Russia it faces massive
:34:59. > :35:04.damage economically and politically if it didn't ease tensions in
:35:05. > :35:07.Ukraine. -- ahead. Clarity from Labour about Europe, sort of, Ed
:35:08. > :35:10.Miliband promised a referendum on membership but only if the UK was
:35:11. > :35:19.asked to transfer more powers Brussels. American billionaire money
:35:20. > :35:24.guru George Soros, who broke the pound, told the European Union might
:35:25. > :35:27.not survive long lasting stagnation. MEPs voted to introduce a common
:35:28. > :35:34.charger for all mobile phones. And finally, good news for commission
:35:35. > :35:39.Vice President Viviane Reding after a cottage pie she bought on her last
:35:40. > :35:43.trip to the UK was next. I got a lot of offers from people who said, my
:35:44. > :35:47.mother makes the best cottage pie in Great Britain, I will send one to
:35:48. > :35:49.you! People have been very unhappy that the cottage pie was stolen.
:35:50. > :36:01.Lunch, anyone? Who could have thought a cottage pie
:36:02. > :36:06.would have such problems? With us for the next 30 minutes, two MEPs,
:36:07. > :36:09.Syed Kamal, who represents London for the Conservatives, and Graham
:36:10. > :36:13.Watson, who represents the south-west of England and Gibraltar
:36:14. > :36:18.for the Liberal Democrats. Welcome to you both. As you head towards the
:36:19. > :36:24.European elections, not that far away, are you beginning to run down
:36:25. > :36:29.now? Well, you could say we are beginning to step up. We had more
:36:30. > :36:31.votes this week than normally, and next time we meet on the floor of
:36:32. > :36:36.the house in Strasbourg, we will have a lot of votes to get through.
:36:37. > :36:41.There is a lot of legislation to be cleared, we have to clear the decks.
:36:42. > :36:44.When do you go down for the campaign? Campaigning starts after
:36:45. > :36:49.Easter and will be through to the 22nd of May, when we vote. What did
:36:50. > :36:56.you make of some people who have been saying that in the UK the Lib
:36:57. > :36:59.Dems could be wiped out at the European elections? I don't think we
:37:00. > :37:06.will be wiped out at all. Every party is going to suffer from the
:37:07. > :37:09.expected surge in the UKIP vote, probably Labour will sublet less
:37:10. > :37:15.than the Tories and the Lib Dems, but we have to be out of there
:37:16. > :37:17.fighting the case for staying in the European Union and trying to face
:37:18. > :37:23.down the narrow nationalists in UKIP. What would be a good result
:37:24. > :37:27.for the Conservatives? We will be focusing on the agenda for reform,
:37:28. > :37:31.and making sure that people are aware, if you want a referendum on
:37:32. > :37:36.the EU, only one party will give you a choice. But that won't be
:37:37. > :37:40.determined by voting on the European elections. One of the things David
:37:41. > :37:45.Cameron is making quite clear is how important the European elections
:37:46. > :37:48.are, whether people like it or not. The European Parliament has equal
:37:49. > :37:52.power with the 28 governments when it comes to legislation, and that
:37:53. > :37:57.shows how important MEPs are. If you want reform, it is important to get
:37:58. > :38:01.a good set of Conservative MPs. You will probably lose some, won't you?
:38:02. > :38:07.We will see, we will continue pushing the agenda for reform. John
:38:08. > :38:10.Kerry has been meeting with Sergei Lavrov in London in what looks like
:38:11. > :38:14.a final effort to broker a deal on the deepening crisis in Ukraine. The
:38:15. > :38:21.talks, head of a referendum in Crimea on Sunday. -- come ahead.
:38:22. > :38:24.Residents of the region, which is largely ethnic Russian, will decide
:38:25. > :38:29.whether or not to join the Russian Federation. These are not looking
:38:30. > :38:36.too good from the western point of view, here is a gloomy sounding
:38:37. > :38:38.Foreign Secretary. The fact that so far Russia hasn't actually taken any
:38:39. > :38:44.action to de-escalated tensions makes this a formidably difficult
:38:45. > :38:51.task today, and I think that therefore we have to be realistic
:38:52. > :38:56.about that. In the absence of progress today, at the European
:38:57. > :39:02.Union, the United Kingdom, we will move to further measures, as agreed.
:39:03. > :39:08.If this referendum goes ahead and no diplomatic way forward is found. We
:39:09. > :39:11.are joined from Cambridge by Labour MEP Richard Howard, Labour's foreign
:39:12. > :39:20.affairs spokesman in the European Parliament. Hearing calls for
:39:21. > :39:23.sanctions on Russia, but in the world of realpolitik, it seems
:39:24. > :39:32.pretty clear now that Crimea is lost, that Crimea is back part of
:39:33. > :39:35.Russia again. Agreed? We can't agree, because the invasion of
:39:36. > :39:40.Russia was clearly against international law, and if we
:39:41. > :39:46.simply... Invasion of Crimea, you mean. You would call it an invasion?
:39:47. > :39:51.The European Parliament in a resolution I sponsored, proposed
:39:52. > :39:58.called it an invasion. And if we ever decide to come to a deal which
:39:59. > :40:01.recognises the change, it is an invitation not to Vladimir Putin but
:40:02. > :40:05.to others around the world to use military force, so what I feel will
:40:06. > :40:10.happen with Crimea is that it is going to turn into another of the
:40:11. > :40:15.frozen conflicts of the kind we see in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
:40:16. > :40:19.You know, I have stood in Georgia after the Russian invasion looking
:40:20. > :40:26.across the borderline at 3000 Russian troops, so I know what it
:40:27. > :40:31.looks like, and there is a huge fear, and therefore we cannot accept
:40:32. > :40:36.this annexation of Crimea, and of course 8500 troops on the borders
:40:37. > :40:38.with Ukraine and the statement of the Foreign Ministry in Moscow this
:40:39. > :40:44.morning, talking about their rights to defend their Russian compatriots,
:40:45. > :40:50.we must fear that there may be further military action in eastern
:40:51. > :40:57.Ukraine. Let's dated in two stages, assuming that the Crimea boats to
:40:58. > :41:05.join Russia in this blather -- plebiscite, whether or not it is
:41:06. > :41:08.democratic and accurate. -- votes. If that is what happens and the Bush
:41:09. > :41:16.and say they have done it, whether they accept the will of the Crimean
:41:17. > :41:21.people, what should Europe do? -- and Russia says. It is an
:41:22. > :41:24.illegitimate referendum against the Ukrainian constitution where there
:41:25. > :41:28.isn't even an option for there to be the previous position of being part
:41:29. > :41:34.of Ukraine on the ballot paper, and it is being held at the barrel of a
:41:35. > :41:39.gun. I know that, but what does Europe do? Europe has said, if the
:41:40. > :41:43.referendum goes ahead, there must be more consequences. What worries me
:41:44. > :41:47.about that is, when they make those statements, when John Kerry talks
:41:48. > :41:51.about 11th hour talks, we hope that it succeeds, but there is no sign
:41:52. > :41:56.whatsoever on the ground that the referendum will not go ahead. As you
:41:57. > :42:00.say, the result is a foregone conclusion, the Ukrainians and the
:42:01. > :42:06.Tatars in Crimea going to boycott it, so we know the result already.
:42:07. > :42:11.And I am deeply worried that the source of rhetoric we have heard
:42:12. > :42:14.from William Hague, but from other European Foreign Ministers too,
:42:15. > :42:18.talking about consequences, has not yet been followed through by
:42:19. > :42:21.actions. I think on Monday when the foreign ministers meet, there will
:42:22. > :42:26.be a move towards greater sanctions, but when we saw that very
:42:27. > :42:29.unfortunate incident where the private Downing Street brief was
:42:30. > :42:36.photographed and made public, I have been asked in meetings in Brussels,
:42:37. > :42:40.is Cameron more interested in defending Russian banks in London,
:42:41. > :42:44.or will he support asset freezes? I do not believe that is his
:42:45. > :42:48.motivation, we hope it isn't, that that is being asked of us in
:42:49. > :42:51.Brussels. That was embarrassing, but I suggest the bigger issue is
:42:52. > :42:55.whether Angela Merkel is prepared to go along with sanctions against
:42:56. > :43:01.Russia and run the risk of the gas being cut off. In a speech to the
:43:02. > :43:06.Bundestag this week, she was right, but she missed a trick. She should
:43:07. > :43:11.have gone straight to Moscow the moment this happened, in exactly the
:43:12. > :43:15.way that Sarkozy took himself to the Russians went into Georgia. Had she
:43:16. > :43:18.done that and banter this on the table, because Germany is such an
:43:19. > :43:23.important trading partner for Russia, she might have secured
:43:24. > :43:28.something. -- and banged her best. I hope the talks being held in London
:43:29. > :43:31.will come to something, and I hope John Kerry will be able to persuade
:43:32. > :43:35.Sergei Lavrov that Russia should withdraw its troops, but if they
:43:36. > :43:42.don't, we have to put sanctions in place. I will bring in your
:43:43. > :43:46.Conservative MEP, are we ready for this? Are we up for it? If we do
:43:47. > :43:52.bring in some tough sanctions, are we really ready for Russia then
:43:53. > :43:57.saying, right, the gas pipeline is being cut off? Are we ready for the
:43:58. > :44:03.Kremlin, which can be ruthless, to say, OK, that is what you are doing,
:44:04. > :44:07.we are taking over the BP assets in Russia and we will take the VW car
:44:08. > :44:12.plant as well? Are we ready for this? 100 years ago, when troops
:44:13. > :44:18.were moved across the border, it led to the First World War. What we are
:44:19. > :44:21.talking about is not a game of Risk, this is the 21st century. If you
:44:22. > :44:28.move your troops into another country, there will be serious
:44:29. > :44:36.consequences. But are we ready? If we act against Russia with economic
:44:37. > :44:40.sanctions, are we ready for Kremlin retaliatory action on our European
:44:41. > :44:44.economic assets in Russia? That is what I am asking. You have to look
:44:45. > :44:49.at the consequences of what has already been announced. The Russian
:44:50. > :44:54.stock market is falling, today's newspapers show a doubling in the
:44:55. > :44:59.outflow of capital from Russia. What has been announced so far is already
:45:00. > :45:03.starting to hurt, and further sanctions will hurt more. Back to
:45:04. > :45:07.our colleague in Cambridge, we talked about Crimea, but I would
:45:08. > :45:12.suggest it is already lost, it is a done deal, and the big challenge now
:45:13. > :45:17.is with the mobilisation of the Russian army on the Ukraine border,
:45:18. > :45:21.with Russian television now spewing out regular propaganda that there
:45:22. > :45:26.has been a fascist takeover in Ukraine, that Akron provocateurs
:45:27. > :45:29.look as if they have arrived in the east as well to cause trouble, that
:45:30. > :45:35.the big issue is going to be what happens if and when Russia takes
:45:36. > :45:41.East Ukraine as well. Firstly, on Germany, Mrs Merkel has become the
:45:42. > :45:45.bugbear in the media, but she and the others in the European
:45:46. > :45:49.Conservative group, not the one that the British Tories are in, but the
:45:50. > :45:53.influential one, that group has said that they want to move towards
:45:54. > :45:57.Ukraine having a membership of the European Union. We are already
:45:58. > :46:02.talking about the association agreement being signed as soon as
:46:03. > :46:08.the summit in two weeks Carol time, so the idea that Germany is blocking
:46:09. > :46:13.sanctions, I don't agree. There is a huge Cold War frenzy on both sides,
:46:14. > :46:17.colleagues from the Baltic states are really worried that NATO will
:46:18. > :46:23.not stand by its defence commitments to them. On the Russian side, we are
:46:24. > :46:32.talking about this phrase, defend our compatriots, people killed in
:46:33. > :46:42.the demonstrations... I am trying to find out what you are going to do!
:46:43. > :46:49.We had to be sure that when politicians in Europe says serious
:46:50. > :46:53.consequences, they will follow them through. They called the European
:46:54. > :47:01.Union like the wizard of Oz. It pretends it has power but in reality
:47:02. > :47:05.it is weak. I call for, as does Douglas Alexander, for the foreign
:47:06. > :47:11.ministers meeting on Monday to make good those commitments so we can see
:47:12. > :47:14.we action in terms of these bands, asset freezes and other sanctions
:47:15. > :47:19.that really showed Putin that our words mean something in reality. We
:47:20. > :47:29.will leave it there. We have run out of time. How do we
:47:30. > :47:32.protect ourselves online? It's a question that's been troubling MEPs
:47:33. > :47:34.this week as they approved new regulations that would stop
:47:35. > :47:37.companies from sharing your data online without your permission. It
:47:38. > :47:39.all comes after last year's revelations from American
:47:40. > :47:42.whistle-blower Edward Snowden which claimed governments were even using
:47:43. > :47:46.mobile phone games like Angry Birds to spy on us. Now the inventor of
:47:47. > :47:49.the internet Sir Tim Berners-Lee says the UK needs to go even further
:47:50. > :47:55.than European regulations and come up with a new massive bill rights to
:47:56. > :47:57.cover everything we do online. We've just downloaded this report from
:47:58. > :48:09.Alex Forsyth who's been to Strasbourg to investigate.
:48:10. > :48:15.The intranet is embedded in our daily lives. Every minute, billions
:48:16. > :48:21.of bits of data are shared as we shop, talk, deal and play online.
:48:22. > :48:25.Recently there have been a stream of reports about how personal
:48:26. > :48:29.information is used, particularly allegations that some government
:48:30. > :48:32.agencies have been collecting vast quantities of data from e-mails,
:48:33. > :48:39.webcams and even the game to play on our phones. It has all caused some
:48:40. > :48:44.concern. My private life is private. This is the main problem. If
:48:45. > :48:54.everyone has access to my personal information, we have not a lot of
:48:55. > :48:58.information about security. When I use the intranet to talk to friends
:48:59. > :49:02.online, I want to make sure the information I enter here will not
:49:03. > :49:07.end up summer hours without my knowledge. MEPs say they have come
:49:08. > :49:12.up with regulations to protect our privacy. This regulation wants to
:49:13. > :49:15.create more privacy and wants to ensure you have growth on the
:49:16. > :49:21.internets. That is the future. In the future, we will be buying and
:49:22. > :49:26.selling more. We want to do it safely and securely. Firms with need
:49:27. > :49:31.permission to sell or share your data. There will be large fines for
:49:32. > :49:34.anyone who breaks the rules. They would need consent for profiling,
:49:35. > :49:38.that is when a user of online information to build up a picture of
:49:39. > :49:41.your life. Crucially, you would have the right to have all of your
:49:42. > :49:47.personal data in race from the internet if you want it. If you want
:49:48. > :49:51.the digital market and we need a digital market community to put this
:49:52. > :49:57.regulation in place as quickly as possible. It will be good for
:49:58. > :50:02.companies and it will preserve our data protection as a fundamental
:50:03. > :50:05.right. This week, regulators have had backing from the European
:50:06. > :50:10.Parliament. It has taken two years to get to this point. The tower be
:50:11. > :50:20.negotiated with the 28 member states before being recommended. That could
:50:21. > :50:27.cost businesses up to ?320 million a year. We are part of the single
:50:28. > :50:32.market. We should be part of a single set of rules. We're at an
:50:33. > :50:36.early stage. We have agreed to proceed with the regulation but we
:50:37. > :50:42.need to look at the detail and make sure the implications of it are
:50:43. > :50:45.sustainable and proportionate. The proposals have not had an entirely
:50:46. > :50:51.smooth path. The legislation is one of the most amended in the history
:50:52. > :51:00.of Parliament. It has met massive opposition. Most worrying to me is,
:51:01. > :51:04.I have had a letter signed by over 60 universities and medical and
:51:05. > :51:07.health research institutions, which are saying it'll make it harder for
:51:08. > :51:14.them to do their research because they have access to data which is
:51:15. > :51:19.very broad. They often do not know the identities of the individuals.
:51:20. > :51:23.Despite the concerns, this advert from the European commission makes
:51:24. > :51:27.it clear no one wants to feel exposed online. Current data
:51:28. > :51:32.protection law state from 1985 when 1% of us were on the internet. There
:51:33. > :51:35.is broad support for a new regulation for the whole of Europe.
:51:36. > :51:47.Agreement as to how that works will be harder. The European telecoms
:51:48. > :51:51.network is against us. The French consumer groups are worried about
:51:52. > :51:58.it. Digital Europe is worried about it. Does anyone back this? If you
:51:59. > :52:03.talk to some of the people who look forward to new services and exciting
:52:04. > :52:06.services, they say the current data protection laws date before the
:52:07. > :52:10.internet age. They need to be updated. What we have to do is get
:52:11. > :52:14.the right balance between making sure the services can take off
:52:15. > :52:18.innovation but also make sure people are comfortable with the data that
:52:19. > :52:21.is being shared. It is trying to achieve the right balance. We are
:52:22. > :52:27.comfortable with the data that is being shared. It is trying to
:52:28. > :52:29.achieve the right balance. We're not there yet. There are some concerns.
:52:30. > :52:31.Some of the fines proposed are disproportionate and could affect
:52:32. > :52:40.small companies. We have to work to the right balance. The bill has been
:52:41. > :52:50.amended 3999 times. Do you know what you're doing? I am not sure how that
:52:51. > :53:02.figure is. Neither and I -- am I. The word is very vague. In France,
:53:03. > :53:10.they say it is too vague. It says things like legitimate interest. It
:53:11. > :53:15.is too broad. I agree broadly with that. It is difficult to strike the
:53:16. > :53:17.right balance between allowing the right people to innovate and making
:53:18. > :53:22.sure that people 's data is protected. There is no doubt
:53:23. > :53:26.whatsoever that are now people wishing to sell goods or services
:53:27. > :53:30.who are targeting, profiling their customers, on the basis of where
:53:31. > :53:38.those people go, what their spending habits are and so one. That is, to
:53:39. > :53:42.my mind, and unacceptable abuse of individual weight. When consumers
:53:43. > :53:46.put data online or user loyalty card or something, they should be aware
:53:47. > :53:55.how the data is used. Ms consumers know a lot about this, more than
:53:56. > :54:00.politicians. -- most consumers. Companies will have to appoint a
:54:01. > :54:05.data protection officer or officers. I thought you were after less
:54:06. > :54:10.regulation. That is one of the proposals we are concerned about. We
:54:11. > :54:16.are still at a very early stage. We will get over 4000 amendments. It
:54:17. > :54:19.has to be discussed between the 28 member states and the European
:54:20. > :54:24.Parliament. What it shows is that we must be concerned that we do not cut
:54:25. > :54:32.off innovation by overly prescriptive forms like this. ) this
:54:33. > :54:41.would stop us being snooped upon. -- this would stop us being snooped
:54:42. > :54:48.upon. Nick Clegg said he was -- Nick Clegg was right about this. Fancy
:54:49. > :54:51.working for the EU? Well this is your week because one of the regular
:54:52. > :54:54.competitions to become a European civil servant opened for
:54:55. > :54:56.applications. Hopefuls have to go through a famously tough
:54:57. > :55:01.multi-lingual process called the concours. But just how hard is it to
:55:02. > :55:03.become a Eurocrat? Here's Adam with his latest A-Z of Europe, where R is
:55:04. > :55:21.for recruitment. To get here, most officials go
:55:22. > :55:29.through an infamous, multistage, multilingual process. I am going to
:55:30. > :55:36.get a taster of the concours. First of all, who am I up against?
:55:37. > :55:42.Probably be institutions have hired some between 1500 and 2000 people
:55:43. > :55:48.each year. Applicants have been between 60000 and 70,000 a year. It
:55:49. > :55:56.is really competitive. It is slightly less gruelling than it used
:55:57. > :55:59.to be. That always used to be a test of EU knowledge it was much
:56:00. > :56:03.criticised. It is one of the things that in our modernisation of the
:56:04. > :56:07.selection process we abolished. Sometimes those questions were very
:56:08. > :56:11.specialised. They were changed rapidly and you could probably only
:56:12. > :56:17.often prepare for that test. It helped a lot if you are already
:56:18. > :56:21.here. I think I can do with some preparation. There is a whole
:56:22. > :56:26.industry dedicated to that. This book shop in Brussels has a whole
:56:27. > :56:34.section devoted to passing the concours. This women coaches
:56:35. > :56:39.hopefuls for a fee. If I was trying to get through this process, what
:56:40. > :56:47.other main things I should be concentrating on? I would say, I
:56:48. > :56:56.will try, I will rephrase it like... If I want to go through the
:56:57. > :57:04.process... Slightly awkward pep talk over. It is test time. Like
:57:05. > :57:08.everyone, I'm going to do the first part in my mother tongue. Unlike
:57:09. > :57:14.everyone else, I am missing out part two because you have to do it in a
:57:15. > :57:19.second language and my French is a little bit rusty. Me luck! It says I
:57:20. > :57:30.will need to work quickly and accurately. According to a
:57:31. > :57:37.large-scale study... And hour later, and I am done. Well, all I can say
:57:38. > :57:41.is, that was very intense. You are up against the clock. The questions
:57:42. > :57:46.are really tough. You are putting quite a lot of pressure on yourself.
:57:47. > :57:52.I've got the results a few days later, at Schiphol airport in
:57:53. > :57:55.Amsterdam. If I get through, I will have another day of face-to-face
:57:56. > :58:01.exercises and then I will only go into recruitment pool with no
:58:02. > :58:06.guarantee of the job. So... Happy to confirm he did quite well, 28 out of
:58:07. > :58:10.40. Although I think they are just being nice. They go one to say I
:58:11. > :58:14.would not have passed most of the competitions I would have run but
:58:15. > :58:22.maybe I would have passed one of the easy ones. Oh, well! I think we are
:58:23. > :58:27.all happy to have not sat that test. How would you rate the quality of
:58:28. > :58:33.the European civil servants who have dealt with? Roy Jenkins said, he
:58:34. > :58:37.found brilliant people and useless people but not the reassuring
:58:38. > :58:45.mediocrity he knew from Britain 's civil service. The the test needs to
:58:46. > :58:49.be tough. The test needs to be tough because if you pass the test, you
:58:50. > :58:56.are into because she is number in public service. That is all we have
:58:57. > :58:58.time for today. Goodbye.