30/04/2014

:00:35. > :00:36.Good morning. This is the Daily Politics.

:00:37. > :00:39.Westminster loves the prospect of a juicy by-election.

:00:40. > :00:43.But Nigel Farage has said he won't stand in the seat vacated

:00:44. > :00:47.by former Tory MP Patrick Mercer, and you can hear the sighs of

:00:48. > :00:56.So can the Conservatives win their first by-election

:00:57. > :01:04.Once again UKIP is dominating national politics.

:01:05. > :01:07.The polls say they're on course to clean up at the European elections,

:01:08. > :01:10.but can they seriously threaten the major parties when it comes to

:01:11. > :01:16.It's the first PMQs since MPs have been off on their Easter holidays.

:01:17. > :01:23.We'll bring you all of the action live at noon.

:01:24. > :01:26.And now that gay couples can get married, why can't straight couples

:01:27. > :01:37.We'll speak to the campaigner who wants equal opportunities to bloom.

:01:38. > :01:41.And with us for the next 90 minutes, two MPs who haven't let a little

:01:42. > :01:53.thing like a tube strike keep them from our studio here in Westminster.

:01:54. > :01:55.It's the International Development Minister Alan Duncan.

:01:56. > :01:57.He was once described as the closest thing the Conservatives

:01:58. > :02:01.And by Shadow International Development Secretary Jim Murphy.

:02:02. > :02:04.As a leading Blairite he was just close to Peter Mandelson.

:02:05. > :02:09.Let's start with the story that's had Westminster

:02:10. > :02:12.buzzing this morning, it's the by-election caused by

:02:13. > :02:19.The former Conservative Shadow Minister was filmed last year

:02:20. > :02:25.apparently offering to ask questions in Parliament for cash.

:02:26. > :02:29.The Westminster committee that rules on this sort of thing had, it seems,

:02:30. > :02:33.decided to suspend him for six months.

:02:34. > :02:35.Mr Mercer, who resigned the Tory whip last

:02:36. > :02:46.year, has decided it's time to go. Here he is.

:02:47. > :02:52.What has happened has happened. I am ashamed of it. Therefore, I am going

:02:53. > :02:57.to do what I can to put it right for the constituency of Newark. I am

:02:58. > :03:02.going to resign my seat, in God's County of Nottinghamshire, in the

:03:03. > :03:06.town of Newark. I hope that my successor, who has been well and

:03:07. > :03:07.carefully chosen, will be the Conservative candidate.

:03:08. > :03:12.His resignation means a by-election in his seat of Newark

:03:13. > :03:15.in Nottinghamshire, which sparked immediate speculation that one

:03:16. > :03:20.Nigel Farage might be tempted to throw his hat into the ring.

:03:21. > :03:25.It's a solid Tory seat but if one thing could strike fear

:03:26. > :03:31.into Conservative hearts, it a challenge from the UKIP leader.

:03:32. > :03:34.Well they can breathe a sigh of relief at Number 10,

:03:35. > :03:43.because he's not doing it. Here he is speaking this morning.

:03:44. > :03:49.It was only 12 hours ago that Patrick Mercer stood down. I haven't

:03:50. > :03:53.had long to think about it, but I have thought about it. We are three

:03:54. > :03:58.weeks away from the European election, at which I think UKIP

:03:59. > :04:01.could cause an earthquake in politics. And from that we could go

:04:02. > :04:05.on and win quite a lot of parliamentary seats. I don't want to

:04:06. > :04:06.do anything that deflects from the European election campaign. I am not

:04:07. > :04:08.understand in this by-election. So Nigel Farage isn't standing

:04:09. > :04:27.in the by-election in Newark. Was he right to go immediately? I

:04:28. > :04:31.think so. It was actually an opportunity for him to put a stamp

:04:32. > :04:34.of some decency on the mistakes he made earlier. On a personal level, I

:04:35. > :04:38.think what he has done he has done well, clearly, good for him. You

:04:39. > :04:44.don't think it was motivated by bitterness, revenge on his own

:04:45. > :04:47.party, the Conservatives? Not at all. I think the tone of the

:04:48. > :04:51.statement you played just now shows that it was done in the spirit of

:04:52. > :04:57.decency and the rest that the report was so damning that it would have

:04:58. > :05:02.suspended him for six months. So he just thought, I'm out. Are you

:05:03. > :05:06.relieved Nigel Farage is stunning? I think the voters of Newark are

:05:07. > :05:13.relieved. It would have become a bit of a circus. The purpose is to elect

:05:14. > :05:16.a member of Parliament to represent the constituency. I don't think he

:05:17. > :05:21.would have won, I don't think he will win any seats at the next

:05:22. > :05:25.election. Are you going to win the by-election? I think we will. We

:05:26. > :05:27.will find it hard, the candidate has been in place for a number of

:05:28. > :05:32.months. He's increasingly well-known in Newark. I think we have a head

:05:33. > :05:38.start in that sense, so I think we will hold it. I think it will remain

:05:39. > :05:46.a good, solid Conservative seat. It is a big Tory majority, by-elections

:05:47. > :05:53.are predictable. Is this the generation? The seat has changed

:05:54. > :06:02.since we last held it. The boundaries were changed. It is a

:06:03. > :06:05.different seat, with the same name. It's a different constituency so it

:06:06. > :06:09.would be very tough for Labour to win this. They will put up a good

:06:10. > :06:15.effort, but it's tough for us to win it. It is probably good for the

:06:16. > :06:22.voters that Nigel Farage hasn't brought the caravan and the circus

:06:23. > :06:26.to Newark? I think they need to find a new member parliament, debate the

:06:27. > :06:35.big issues, free from the scandal on over recent months. We're going to

:06:36. > :06:38.continue talking about UKIP. He's not standing in that by-election.

:06:39. > :06:41.But they're still expected to do well in next month's European

:06:42. > :06:45.elections, the party itself likes to predict it'll top the polls.

:06:46. > :06:48.So are they, as the big parties may hope, a one-hit

:06:49. > :07:06.UKIP have consistently doing well in the polls ahead of the European

:07:07. > :07:10.actions. The latest TNS survey has

:07:11. > :07:13.the party nine points ahead of Labour, most pollsters put them

:07:14. > :07:15.in front of the Tories. But until now

:07:16. > :07:18.the party hasn't made a breakthrough at Westminster, managing second

:07:19. > :07:21.place in a number of by-elections. Greater scrutiny has seen

:07:22. > :07:23.a series of local candidates expelled from the party over

:07:24. > :07:28.allegations of racism. Yesterday, council candidate

:07:29. > :07:32.William Henwood agreed to leave UKIP after remarks he made on twitter

:07:33. > :07:35.saying comedian Lenny Henry should But Nigel Farage has insisted these

:07:36. > :07:43.views aren't welcome in the party and says it would be a disastrous

:07:44. > :07:47.mistake for other political parties He's promising

:07:48. > :07:52.a political earthquake in May, but the real test for the party will be

:07:53. > :07:56.if they can sustain their support They think they can do it by taking

:07:57. > :08:02.votes off the three established parties, the Conservatives,

:08:03. > :08:07.Labour and the Lib Dems. So, is UKIP just a flash in the pan,

:08:08. > :08:11.or are they here to stay? Let's speak now to

:08:12. > :08:37.the academic Matthew Goodwin, Farage's decision not to stand in

:08:38. > :08:42.Newark. Was that a mistake? I -- I don't think it was. A lot of voters

:08:43. > :08:45.there have been to university, they have financial security, and UKIP

:08:46. > :08:48.doesn't have the impressive record there that it does in places like

:08:49. > :08:53.Eastleigh. He will stand in a seat where he had a chance of getting

:08:54. > :09:00.elected. He will have a reputation for bottling it now, in Eastleigh

:09:01. > :09:05.and Newark? Would Ed Miliband stand in a seat that he wasn't sure of

:09:06. > :09:08.having a good shot of winning? Nigel Farage has been running private

:09:09. > :09:10.polling in seats along the East Coast, Boston, Skegness, these are

:09:11. > :09:17.the seeds he's looking at, not Newark. What about local elections?

:09:18. > :09:22.Is this where he's going to put their efforts in terms of picking up

:09:23. > :09:25.council seats? In many respects, the really interesting elections are the

:09:26. > :09:34.local elections, the European elections. A lot of them are going

:09:35. > :09:40.to come in European elections, Dudley, Bolton, is this going for

:09:41. > :09:45.Labour strategy that he has locked onto, is it working? Are UKIP doing

:09:46. > :09:47.damage in these areas? It's going to be interesting, particularly given

:09:48. > :09:55.that UKIP are going to use those elections to decide where to throw

:09:56. > :10:00.their resources in 2015. What do you think? How successful will they be

:10:01. > :10:04.in those Labour heartlands? Well, we have just wrote a book on UKIP. We

:10:05. > :10:09.have analysed 6000 UKIP supporters and tracked them since 2004. This

:10:10. > :10:14.narrative that UKIP support is just coming from ex-Conservatives, it is

:10:15. > :10:18.to simply stick. Prior to 2010, more UKIP support was coming from Labour

:10:19. > :10:22.voters. They are well-placed to do some damage in Labour areas. Not

:10:23. > :10:27.perhaps in 2015 but over the longer term. My feeling about 2015, the

:10:28. > :10:32.prospect of UKIP winning seats is going to be difficult, but it's not

:10:33. > :10:37.outside the realm of possibility. Do you really think there is any chance

:10:38. > :10:42.of them winning a Westminster seat? Is that more likely to be up against

:10:43. > :10:48.a Conservative challenger than a Labour one? Possibly. That is

:10:49. > :10:52.likely. But UKIP need the seats where the boat is spread across the

:10:53. > :10:55.three parties, ideally, where there is a split. But they need seats

:10:56. > :11:03.where they are working locally. Look at Eastleigh. UKIP would be throwing

:11:04. > :11:07.candidate into there. I have run the numbers on some of the seats, some

:11:08. > :11:12.of the local councils they are contesting in London. They are

:11:13. > :11:14.throwing lots of candidates at the local elections. They are trying to

:11:15. > :11:18.get the message across to voters that they are here, in British

:11:19. > :11:23.politics, they are campaigning and knocking on doors. To that extent,

:11:24. > :11:26.we have not seen an insurgency of this significance for a generation.

:11:27. > :11:37.It's going to be an exciting year in British politics. We are joined now

:11:38. > :11:42.by Tim Aker, UKIP head of policy. Alan Duncan, the second poll now

:11:43. > :11:46.this morning putting UKIP ahead in the European elections on 36%. You

:11:47. > :11:51.are down at 18%. How worried are you buy that? I think everybody would

:11:52. > :11:56.admit that UKIP are expected to do very well in the European elections.

:11:57. > :12:01.Twice as well as you? That is the main issue. In addition from drawing

:12:02. > :12:03.from all parties, they have become a repository for general discontent,

:12:04. > :12:09.which happens in the middle of any Parliament. We are not in the

:12:10. > :12:14.middle, we are four fifth away through it? This is the point, I

:12:15. > :12:18.think this will be their peak and I don't think there will win any seats

:12:19. > :12:22.at the general election. You would think that the Labour Party would be

:12:23. > :12:27.making the weather in it is politics in this stage of Parliament and they

:12:28. > :12:32.are not. People have turned to UKIP for displeasure. In the European

:12:33. > :12:35.elections. Exactly, but in the general I think we are back to

:12:36. > :12:39.largely a two party fight. I think we have every prospect of winning

:12:40. > :12:43.the next election with an outright Conservative majority. What is clear

:12:44. > :12:46.is that Ed Miliband is not making political weather and is facing

:12:47. > :12:51.difficulty within his own party. Says a man on 18% in European polls!

:12:52. > :12:58.But even Labour are nine points behind UKIP? Out of politeness, I

:12:59. > :13:01.was not going to laugh at that analysis. The idea it is Ed

:13:02. > :13:09.Miliband's fault that you are getting 18%... It's a silly point

:13:10. > :13:13.from a serious person. There was a poll at the weekend that but UKIP

:13:14. > :13:18.about three points ahead. This one puts them nine points ahead of you.

:13:19. > :13:22.If this poll turned out to be true, and we don't know, it's from months

:13:23. > :13:26.ago, if it did, that would be a poor second for Labour? These polls are

:13:27. > :13:30.all over the place, the trend is clear, UKIP at the European

:13:31. > :13:34.elections are in a strong position, for various reasons. Partly they are

:13:35. > :13:37.drawing support from all parties, mostly from the right, the

:13:38. > :13:43.Conservative Party. The Conservative Party are going down to 18%. They

:13:44. > :13:47.are also feeding into a sense of the political system... Sort of

:13:48. > :13:51.anti-politics? The system is broken, you are all the same. Unfortunately,

:13:52. > :13:56.perhaps inevitably, European elections have been seen as a way of

:13:57. > :14:00.sending a message to the political class. I not complacent about that,

:14:01. > :14:05.I wish it was not the case. It doesn't seem to matter what you

:14:06. > :14:08.throw at them, it is not sticking. I don't think it is a matter of

:14:09. > :14:12.throwing things at them. Here is my view, you can call them all of the

:14:13. > :14:17.names that they want, you can expose the undoubted racist is inside their

:14:18. > :14:20.party, they know there are racists inside their party, dreadful people

:14:21. > :14:23.with horrible ideas. But Nigel Farage seems to be applying for a

:14:24. > :14:27.different job from that which Ed Miliband and David Cameron are

:14:28. > :14:35.applying for, judged by a separate standard. A more mature,

:14:36. > :14:42.analytical, grown-up analysis. No matter what problems the country is

:14:43. > :14:46.facing, UKIP are not the solution. The party leadership consistently

:14:47. > :15:01.denies it is racist. And yet, consistently, somebody pops up. It

:15:02. > :15:06.is like what -- wack-a-mole. Having to resign for saying that Lenny

:15:07. > :15:11.Henry should emigrate to a Black Country. Another man in your

:15:12. > :15:15.manifesto appears to be Islamophobic. You seem to harbour

:15:16. > :15:22.quite a few? And they are dealt with. How did they get there? We are

:15:23. > :15:30.talking about two people out of over 200 candidates. We take a firm line,

:15:31. > :15:35.you can't be a former member of the BNP and stand for UKIP. Labour take

:15:36. > :15:43.former BNP councillors and now they are Labour councillors. It should be

:15:44. > :15:48.applied evenly. You spoke about the Bates, why did Nigel Farage not get

:15:49. > :15:51.a debate from David Cameron? Why did he not have the courage of his

:15:52. > :15:57.convictions to stand in there and get into the debate? My point is

:15:58. > :16:00.about how you have a mature conversation about the problems

:16:01. > :16:07.facing the country, beyond slogans, beyond cliches. In a world where

:16:08. > :16:14.change is the one constant, the idea that you can sentimentally appeal to

:16:15. > :16:19.an old sense of British Empire, the cultural conceit of the past, it's

:16:20. > :16:24.true massively subsisted. I think we have to have a conversation about

:16:25. > :16:35.the genuine solutions to the problems the country faces. Does it

:16:36. > :16:42.matter how you can do in the elections? It matters. Most people

:16:43. > :16:51.in the UK feel the European Union makes too much of our law. This in

:16:52. > :16:55.the lands that is needs to be redressed. That is why David Cameron

:16:56. > :17:03.wants to negotiate and have a referendum. UKIP just goes further

:17:04. > :17:06.ahead in the polls. You will only get a referendum, which is the core

:17:07. > :17:13.of the UKIP message, by voting Conservative. If you do not, nobody

:17:14. > :17:18.will offer the British people a referendum. You talk about

:17:19. > :17:23.renegotiation and reform, today we are being told that are challenged

:17:24. > :17:28.on the financial transaction tax has failed. Every time we have raised an

:17:29. > :17:33.objection, we have been beaten back. People are coming to us because we

:17:34. > :17:37.want a flexible relationship. We can only do that outside the treaties

:17:38. > :17:42.and outside the European Union. I agree with you that things need to

:17:43. > :17:48.change. I also agree that it would be despicable if the challenge we

:17:49. > :17:53.have had on the financial transaction tax is turned down.

:17:54. > :17:57.Deciding that tax is something for Westminster. David Cameron believes

:17:58. > :18:02.in new membership and he has said he will vote to remain a member. You

:18:03. > :18:08.say you will give us a referendum. But you referendum is going to come

:18:09. > :18:20.out and say we are staying in the European Union. Are you interviewing

:18:21. > :18:26.them or refereeing it! Do you agree with Maurice Glass man, recently

:18:27. > :18:31.regarded as one of Ed Miliband's policy gurus, that the rise of UKIP

:18:32. > :18:36.will hit Labour in the heartlands? I don't agree with him. I think there

:18:37. > :18:39.will be Labour voters in what people sometimes call Labour heartlands.

:18:40. > :18:48.But I don't think it will hit Labour. John Cruddas has said the

:18:49. > :18:52.UKIP thing is not some sort of shooting star. This is the point I

:18:53. > :18:58.was making any. Holiday sets changed all sorts of reasons. There has been

:18:59. > :19:03.a demise of deference in Britain. That is not a bad thing. The

:19:04. > :19:09.deference the BBC was held in, the NHS, various churches, bankers...

:19:10. > :19:13.Perhaps the Armed Forces and the Royal family are the only two

:19:14. > :19:23.institutions to retain some deference from the people. In

:19:24. > :19:29.Britain, politicians generally have a bad name. If you do as badly as

:19:30. > :19:33.the polls suggest, and finish second, is there a possibility that

:19:34. > :19:39.you will reopen your party's consideration on Arab membership of

:19:40. > :19:45.Europe -- a referendum on our membership? No I'm not going to

:19:46. > :19:54.speculate. Our policy is pretty clear. If there is a change in the

:19:55. > :20:01.balance of treaties... Are you going to come first? The trends are going

:20:02. > :20:05.very well. Postal votes go out soon and things are looking very good.

:20:06. > :20:09.Now, in case you hadn't noticed, it's election season.

:20:10. > :20:14.And today it's turn of the English Democrats to have

:20:15. > :20:18.They're launching their campaign for the European elections

:20:19. > :20:21.from the village of Fobbing in Essex, the site where the

:20:22. > :20:23.Peasants Revolt started in 1381. Why, I hear you ask?

:20:24. > :20:26.Well, they say they are leading an English Revolt against the

:20:27. > :20:33.And they've even got a catchy campaign song.

:20:34. > :20:46.# This is the land of the free

:20:47. > :20:48.# Where the white cliffs meet the sea

:20:49. > :20:50.# A thousand years of kings and queens

:20:51. > :20:53.# Oxford and Cambridge, English law, Charles Dickens and Bobby Moore

:20:54. > :21:00.# Drake and Nelson sailing the seven seas

:21:01. > :21:10.We are joined by Robin Tilbrook. We have been talking about UKIP. You

:21:11. > :21:15.once had talks with UKIP. And you, I think, were offered the job of

:21:16. > :21:23.deputy leader. Do you ever regret not joining? No, I don't. UKIP is

:21:24. > :21:33.about Britain and Britishness rather than about England. That is the

:21:34. > :21:40.important thing. Of course, Nigel Farage claims their manifesto was

:21:41. > :21:44.drivel and nonsense. The recent thing we have had about whether he

:21:45. > :21:49.is going to stand and get rid of their candidate in Newark, shows

:21:50. > :21:56.that actually their party is all about Nigel Farage rather than about

:21:57. > :22:02.the politics and serious politics and so on. Really the only thing

:22:03. > :22:07.that they are dealing with is the fact that people are increasingly

:22:08. > :22:14.sceptical about the merits of being in the EU. I agree with that aspect

:22:15. > :22:19.of their policy. The formula seems to be working, certainly. Do you

:22:20. > :22:27.agree that UKIP, whichever way you look at it, has stolen your thunder?

:22:28. > :22:30.No, I don't think so. What has happened is that people in England

:22:31. > :22:38.are waking up to the idea of being English. If the Scots feel Scottish

:22:39. > :22:44.and Welsh feel Welsh, how can the English be British all on their own?

:22:45. > :22:49.In the 2011 census we had 32 million people, over 60%, say they were

:22:50. > :22:53.English only. In the year of the Scottish Independence Referendum,

:22:54. > :22:57.clearly we have got something to say that UKIP is not interested in

:22:58. > :23:02.saying. They are, as one of your earlier commentators mentioned,

:23:03. > :23:09.rather nostalgic for the old days of empire and so on. And we are simply

:23:10. > :23:13.not that sort of party. We are the English nationalist party. If

:23:14. > :23:19.Scotland votes for independence, will you disband your party? No. We

:23:20. > :23:24.still think England needs to be properly represented in the

:23:25. > :23:27.political process. Part of the reason why we do not have the fair

:23:28. > :23:30.treatment by the British establishment is because the English

:23:31. > :23:35.have not been fighting their corner. That is why we have a situation

:23:36. > :23:40.where there are a prescription charges for free in Scotland and

:23:41. > :23:45.Wales, but we pay for them. We have to pay for residential care for the

:23:46. > :23:49.elderly. That is why our students have to pay ?9,000 a year when

:23:50. > :23:53.Scottish students go for free. We have not been arguing our corner as

:23:54. > :24:00.English people effectively and we need a political party to do so. You

:24:01. > :24:05.are launching your party's campaign. With 1.8% of people voting

:24:06. > :24:14.for you at the last elections, are you ironic? Will No. I don't think

:24:15. > :24:22.we are. We are saying left the English role begin. We had a

:24:23. > :24:24.campaign spend of under ?25,000 in the last elections. If you were to

:24:25. > :24:34.compare that with any other political party, our results of just

:24:35. > :24:37.short of 300,000 votes shows that we were actually achieving far more

:24:38. > :24:46.volts per pound than any other political party. -- votes. We are

:24:47. > :24:47.better prepared this time. It is an interesting way of putting it. Thank

:24:48. > :24:51.you. Well, it's not just the English

:24:52. > :24:55.Democrats launching their European The SNP have also been making

:24:56. > :24:59.their pitch to the voters We haven't been able to speak to

:25:00. > :25:04.anyone from the party this morning. But luckily for us, and for you,

:25:05. > :25:07.the SNP's expected to have a second campaign launch, this time

:25:08. > :25:11.for its manifest, and we'll bring Now,

:25:12. > :25:18.Andrew here has been a busy boy over the Easter recess, clocking up some

:25:19. > :25:22.air miles with a trip to Australia. Yes, he's such an avid fan of the

:25:23. > :25:28.Royals, he just couldn't stay away! I'm very pleased to say, though,

:25:29. > :25:32.that he found time to send There they all are having

:25:33. > :25:37.a wonderful time! Anyway,

:25:38. > :25:40.while he was away he was showered This is Prince George

:25:41. > :25:45.we're talking about. A giant cuddly bilby, His first

:25:46. > :25:48.bike And a customised surfboard. But there's one special gift

:25:49. > :25:51.the third in line to And there's no chance

:25:52. > :26:00.of one turning up at Kensington Palace unless they enter

:26:01. > :26:03.our Guess the Year competition. We'll remind you how to enter

:26:04. > :26:06.in a minute, but let's see if you

:26:07. > :26:24.can remember when this happened. This is the magnificent first

:26:25. > :26:48.birthday present for the social Democratic party.

:26:49. > :27:30.To be in with a chance of winning a Daily Politics mug, send your

:27:31. > :27:33.answer to our special quiz email address, that's dpquiz@bbc.co.uk.

:27:34. > :27:37.And you can see the full terms and conditions for Guess The Year on our

:27:38. > :27:46.There was another famous by-election in that clip. That is one of the

:27:47. > :27:50.clues. It is coming up to midday. Glorious day in London. That can

:27:51. > :27:53.only mean one thing. Prime Minister's Questions on its way. If

:27:54. > :28:04.you would like to comment on proceedings, try to be polite! You

:28:05. > :28:14.can e-mail. We will read some out later. Nick Robinson is here. They

:28:15. > :28:23.have been away for a while. What does Ed Miliband go on? What does he

:28:24. > :28:26.pick from a cornucopia of subjects? We cannot talk about Nigel Farage

:28:27. > :28:32.and UKIP. There is no UKIP representative. The last thing

:28:33. > :28:40.either militant or Cameron will want is give more publicity to UKIP. Can

:28:41. > :28:46.he do zero hours? He could do that. Care homes. Could he do what is on

:28:47. > :28:52.the front page of today's Independent, which is about the

:28:53. > :28:55.Royal Mail float scandal, alleged? The suggestion there was a behind

:28:56. > :29:02.the scenes deal in which the mate of the Government, in particular George

:29:03. > :29:08.Osborne's brother-in-law, somehow got preferential treatment in the

:29:09. > :29:13.floating of Royal Mail. Ed Miliband had quite a successful Prime

:29:14. > :29:22.Minister's Questions on that? Heeded. I know that the

:29:23. > :29:33.Conservatives deal with UKIP by not talking about UKIP. The Royal Mail

:29:34. > :29:43.is really interesting. That has really been working. They are only

:29:44. > :29:45.at 36% in the latest poll! I was involved in a little run-in with

:29:46. > :29:52.Nigel Farage. The times tried to have a go. So far he has turned all

:29:53. > :29:59.that publicity to his own benefit. But as the cliche goes, a week

:30:00. > :30:05.is... Is politics much different after the Easter break now than it

:30:06. > :30:10.was before? The polls are roughly Labour several percentage points

:30:11. > :30:14.ahead. It is a solid lead. It is not a big lead. The important thing is

:30:15. > :30:23.the long-term trend. It is lower than it used to be. The polls have

:30:24. > :31:00.closed. I think what has really changed is journalists on wasps...

:31:01. > :31:09.These tragic deaths reminders of the continued commitment and sacrifice

:31:10. > :31:12.of our Armed Forces. I know that our deepest sympathies are with their

:31:13. > :31:17.families at this time. I'm sure the whole house will want to join me in

:31:18. > :31:26.paying tribute to Anne McGuire who was stabbed to death in her Leeds

:31:27. > :31:30.classroom on Monday. He was a much loved teacher who worked at the

:31:31. > :31:34.school for 40 years. She cared so much about her pupils that she came

:31:35. > :31:42.in on her day off to prepare them for exams. Our thoughts are with her

:31:43. > :31:46.family, and her pupils in Leeds who have been devastated by this

:31:47. > :31:51.tragedy. A criminal investigation is underway and anything that can be

:31:52. > :31:57.done to get to the bottom of it will be done. In addition to my duties in

:31:58. > :32:04.this house, I will have further meetings later today. I associate

:32:05. > :32:07.myself with the tribute to the service men who lost their lives

:32:08. > :32:22.last week. And to Anne McGuire, who lost her life in the classroom

:32:23. > :32:24.situation he spoke about. The Government decision to travel

:32:25. > :32:34.tuition fees will cost taxpayers more. Is this a symbol of the

:32:35. > :32:45.long-term plan? Is enabled another expansion of higher education. Fewer

:32:46. > :32:53.people would apply to university, they said, those forecasts were

:32:54. > :32:57.wrong. Unlike other countries, we put in place a system for tuition

:32:58. > :33:05.fees that means we can't expand universities and go on winning in

:33:06. > :33:08.the global race. I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the

:33:09. > :33:30.whole house for paying tributes to the five men who recently died in

:33:31. > :33:40.Afghanistan. The loss bears heavily on his parents and family. I'm sure

:33:41. > :33:46.the Prime Minister would like to join me in praising all of our

:33:47. > :33:58.reservists and sometimes, sadly, pay the ultimate price.

:33:59. > :34:02.that we have born in Afghanistan. This looks like it was a tragic

:34:03. > :34:07.accident and we will get to the bottom of what happened. He is

:34:08. > :34:19.absolutely right to mention how reservists serve alongside their

:34:20. > :34:24.regular colleagues. As we go forward and expand our reserves, I hope

:34:25. > :34:28.everybody, particularly businesses, the public sector, local councils

:34:29. > :34:33.and others, including the civil service will do everything they can

:34:34. > :34:49.to make sure reservists are supported.

:34:50. > :35:04.I would like to associate myself with the Prime Minister's comments.

:35:05. > :35:08.These deaths are a tragic and poignant reminder of the sacrifices

:35:09. > :35:12.made by our Armed Forces, including reservists, serving our country with

:35:13. > :35:18.bravery and distinction. All of our thoughts go to the friends of those

:35:19. > :35:21.who knew those that we lost, including the honourable member. We

:35:22. > :35:30.share his loss. Our deepest sympathy goes to the families of those

:35:31. > :35:33.killed. I would also like to pay tribute to the teacher Anne McGuire,

:35:34. > :35:43.murdered in her classroom on Monday. This was an appalling tragedy. She

:35:44. > :35:46.was an inspiration to those that she taught and our thoughts are with her

:35:47. > :35:51.family, friends and the teachers and pupils of the school. Mr Speaker,

:35:52. > :35:55.yesterday, for the first time, we got to know the names of some of the

:35:56. > :36:01.16 investors, including hedge funds is, given preferential access to one

:36:02. > :36:13.third of Royal Mail shares. How were these lucky few chosen? We had an

:36:14. > :36:18.exercise in privatising the Royal mail that has been a success for our

:36:19. > :36:24.country. A business that lost ?1 billion under Labour has paid money

:36:25. > :36:32.back to the taxpayer and is making profits. The people we should be pro

:36:33. > :36:44.-- praising the employees of Royal Mail. No answer to the question.

:36:45. > :36:56.Only he would want congratulations for losing the taxpayer ?1 billion.

:36:57. > :36:59.These investors were given 18 times more shares than other bidders on

:37:00. > :37:12.the basis that the National Audit Office believed they would provide a

:37:13. > :37:15.stable, long-term basis. What assurances were they given that they

:37:16. > :37:34.will hold the shares for the long term?

:37:35. > :37:43.there was some sort of agreement. A business that lost money, that he

:37:44. > :37:52.tried to privatise and failed its now making money and employees are

:37:53. > :38:01.shareholders. The reduction in the deficit, here's reduced to

:38:02. > :38:11.complaining about a successful privatisation. I'm raising an issue

:38:12. > :38:17.about the rip-off of the taxpayer that the richest people know when

:38:18. > :38:24.they see it. The reason this matters is because... The orchestrated

:38:25. > :38:27.barracking is very predictable and incredibly tedious, but it will not

:38:28. > :38:32.stop us getting through. It will just take a bit longer. Take a

:38:33. > :38:38.tablet if necessary. It matters because the scale was grossly

:38:39. > :38:44.undervalued. The shares are now worth ?2.7 billion. Who cashed in?

:38:45. > :38:46.12 of the 16 so-called long-term investors made a killing with

:38:47. > :38:52.hundreds of millions of pounds within weeks. Yesterday, the

:38:53. > :38:57.representative of the bank that sold the shares said there was an

:38:58. > :39:01.understanding, and I quote, with those investors. He said there was

:39:02. > :39:04.an understanding. That is what it says on the record, with those

:39:05. > :39:12.investors, about their long-term commitment to Royal Mail. Why were

:39:13. > :39:19.they allowed to make a fast buck? We are getting lectures on taxpayer

:39:20. > :39:26.value from the people that sold our nation's gold at the bottom of the

:39:27. > :39:31.market! He talks about ripping off the taxpayer, when it was here that

:39:32. > :39:36.left an 11% budget deficit after the biggest banking bailout in

:39:37. > :39:39.Britain's history. These are exactly the argument is that Michael foot

:39:40. > :39:46.made about the privatisation of the National freight Corporation.

:39:47. > :39:50.Exactly the same arguments as Neil Kinnock made about British Telecom

:39:51. > :39:55.and British Airways. It pleases the backbenchers, excites the trade

:39:56. > :39:59.unions, but it is utterly meaningless. Is he recommitting to

:40:00. > :40:04.renationalise in the post office? No, of course not. It is just plain

:40:05. > :40:10.to the gallery because he can't talk about the success of our economy. --

:40:11. > :40:15.playing to the gallery. Mr Speaker, he should listen to members of his

:40:16. > :40:19.own side, the member for Northampton South. What did he say yesterday?

:40:20. > :40:22.This privatisation had let people down. The interest is of the

:40:23. > :40:26.taxpayer were not taken into account. He called it unethical and

:40:27. > :40:33.immoral and he is nodding his head. That is what his own side thinks of

:40:34. > :40:38.it. Now, he talks about the postal workers. He talked a lot about the

:40:39. > :40:41.postal workers. This is very interesting. There were no

:40:42. > :40:47.conditions on the hedge funds, but there were conditions on other

:40:48. > :40:50.groups like the postal workers. Can he explain why postal workers were

:40:51. > :40:53.told they could not sell their shares for three years, but hedge

:40:54. > :41:00.funds is were told they could cash in on day one? The post office

:41:01. > :41:04.workers were given their shares and it is right there were given their

:41:05. > :41:11.shares. Let's celebrate the popular capitalism, let's celebrate. I

:41:12. > :41:14.believe in empowering workers. We now have 140,000 workers that got

:41:15. > :41:24.those shares. In terms of the risk to the taxpayer, he ought to reflect

:41:25. > :41:30.on... Order! There is far too much noise in the chamber. Mrs Taggart, I

:41:31. > :41:41.would say to you that you are an illustrious product of the

:41:42. > :41:46.Cheltenham ladies College! I cannot believe that they taught you to

:41:47. > :41:50.behave like that! Prime Minister? You are right that there is a lot of

:41:51. > :41:54.history in this shouting, because, of course, in the past, with these

:41:55. > :42:00.privatisations, we have the shouting of Neil Kinnock, Prescott, Jack

:42:01. > :42:07.Straw, over Easter I was looking at Labour's candidates. Son of Kinnock

:42:08. > :42:12.is coming here. The son of Prescott wants to come here. It's the same

:42:13. > :42:16.families, with the same message. It is literally the same old Labour.

:42:17. > :42:23.That is what is happening. He asked about... He asked about taxpayer

:42:24. > :42:29.value. This is what the National Audit Office found. The National

:42:30. > :42:34.Audit Office said privatisation has reduced taxpayer risk to support the

:42:35. > :42:40.universal Postal Service. This is a good deal for taxpayers because this

:42:41. > :42:45.business was losing 1 billion. It is now paying money, paying taxes,

:42:46. > :42:49.gaining in value, good for our country, bad for Labour. Mr Speaker,

:42:50. > :42:54.the post office was actually making a profit when they privatised it.

:42:55. > :42:58.What have we discovered today? One rule for postal workers and another

:42:59. > :43:04.rule for hedge funds is. Who runs these hedge fundsthey have been very

:43:05. > :43:10.coy about this, none these hedge fundsthey have been very

:43:11. > :43:13.Chancellor's best man. It is one rule if you deliver the

:43:14. > :43:20.Chancellor's best man speech, another rule if you deliver the

:43:21. > :43:24.Chancellor's post! What this shows, he can't talk about the deficit

:43:25. > :43:28.because it's falling. He can't talk about the economy because it is

:43:29. > :43:33.growing. He can't talk about jobs because there are 1.5 million more

:43:34. > :43:38.people in work. So, he is painting himself into the red corner by only

:43:39. > :43:42.talking about issues that are actually successes for the

:43:43. > :43:46.Government, but appeal to the trade unions, the left wing is behind him

:43:47. > :43:51.and the people who want to play the politics of envy. That is what is

:43:52. > :43:54.happening in British politics, everybody can say it. Nothing to say

:43:55. > :44:00.about the long-term economic plan that shows that button is on the

:44:01. > :44:03.rise and Labour is on the slide. Mr Speaker, what we know is that there

:44:04. > :44:08.is a cost of living crisis in this country. Oh, you say, they don't

:44:09. > :44:15.think there is a cost of living crisis? Why not? Because they stand

:44:16. > :44:18.up for the wrong people. The more we know about this privatisation, the

:44:19. > :44:29.bigger the fiasco it is. A national asset, so that -- sold at a

:44:30. > :44:33.knock-down price. Everything about this privatisation stinks. Six

:44:34. > :44:38.questions and not a mention of GDP. Not a mention of what happened while

:44:39. > :44:41.we were away in terms of employment figures. Not a mention of the fact

:44:42. > :44:47.the deficit is getting better. We know that he has got a new adviser

:44:48. > :44:52.from America. Yes, he has. This is what he is being advised to say. Let

:44:53. > :44:57.me share it with the house, I think this is excellent advice. He says

:44:58. > :45:01.this, there is a better future ahead of us, but we must not go backwards

:45:02. > :45:26.to the policies that put us in this mess in the first place.

:45:27. > :45:31.that question, the prime minister has finished. And he can take it

:45:32. > :45:44.from me that he is finished. Doctor Liam Fox. From the cyber attacks in

:45:45. > :45:48.Estonia to the invasion of Georgia, to recent events in the Crimea, we

:45:49. > :45:52.have seen a clear pattern of behaviour from the Kremlin. The West

:45:53. > :46:02.has allowed itself to allow wishful thinking to take the place of

:46:03. > :46:05.critical analysis. Given defence exports to Russia in recent years,

:46:06. > :46:11.isn't it about time that these were targeted for EU sanctions? I think

:46:12. > :46:16.my right honourable friend is absolutely right. We have set out a

:46:17. > :46:20.clear set of sanctions in terms of Russia's behaviour towards Ukraine.

:46:21. > :46:25.We have taken a series of steps so far in terms of putting asset

:46:26. > :46:29.freezes and travel bans on named individuals. We have taken

:46:30. > :46:32.diplomatic and other steps. We have set out stage three sanctions we

:46:33. > :46:42.should think should be taken if further incursions of Ukraine are

:46:43. > :46:46.made. We believe restrictions on arms sales should be a part of that.

:46:47. > :46:50.The Prime Minister promised by the end of this Parliament one third of

:46:51. > :46:57.his women -- 's Cabinet will be women. We now have only three out of

:46:58. > :47:01.22 of his department run by women. Does he agree with the new Culture

:47:02. > :47:06.Secretary that this is because government appointments should

:47:07. > :47:10.always be made on merit? What I said was that I wanted to see one third

:47:11. > :47:15.of my front bench ministers being women at the end of a Conservative

:47:16. > :47:18.government. We have made some important progress in terms of the

:47:19. > :47:24.number of people on the front bench. I have to say, with respect to my

:47:25. > :47:27.coalition partner, in terms of Camelon numbers, the Liberal

:47:28. > :47:30.Democrats need to do a bit more to pull their weight on this particular

:47:31. > :47:44.issue. I hope to make further progress.

:47:45. > :47:52.Reverting to the subject of Royal Mail, as the leader of the

:47:53. > :48:01.stockbroking firm which brought British Gas to the market, and as

:48:02. > :48:08.the author of the praise -- phrase ask Sid, may I tell the prime

:48:09. > :48:13.Minister that the criticisms of the way the Royal Mail launch was

:48:14. > :48:14.handled by the party opposite, shows their total ignorance of city

:48:15. > :48:33.markets. The fact is that when you are trying

:48:34. > :48:40.to make an immense sale, you have to take infinite trouble to find people

:48:41. > :48:46.who are to underwrite it. And they are not able to prophecy what stock

:48:47. > :48:55.markets are going to be like one week ahead. And therefore, the

:48:56. > :49:04.prudent way in which this was handled was very sensible,

:49:05. > :49:11.because... Order! People should not gesticulate

:49:12. > :49:17.at the right honourable gentleman. If your issue fails, those

:49:18. > :49:25.institutions responsible for its launch our ruined.

:49:26. > :49:28.The father of the house makes an important point, which is when you

:49:29. > :49:32.are privatising state-owned industries, if you sell them for

:49:33. > :49:37.less than the price set out, it is written off as a failure. If you

:49:38. > :49:42.sell it for more, you're accused of undervaluing the business. That has

:49:43. > :49:46.always been the way. That is what Labour said with respect to British

:49:47. > :49:51.Airways, British Telecom, British Aerospace... They opposed every

:49:52. > :50:00.single move to build a strong competitive private sector in our

:50:01. > :50:03.country and that continues today. A constituent from Mitchum would

:50:04. > :50:07.like to be a police man but is only working part time and cannot afford

:50:08. > :50:11.the TACSEA needs to pay to join the Metropolitan police. His mum and dad

:50:12. > :50:17.our foster carers and they would like to give it to him if they had

:50:18. > :50:20.it. If my constituent is capable of passing the academic, fitness and

:50:21. > :50:25.testing requirements of the police, why should his bank balance stop

:50:26. > :50:27.him? When did becoming a Metropolitan police officer become

:50:28. > :50:33.an aspiration for the few rather than the many? The honourable lady

:50:34. > :50:39.has asked questions about what she calls the bobby tax. First, it is

:50:40. > :50:43.not a tax. It is not a barrier to recruitment. And recruitment is

:50:44. > :50:47.taking place in the Metropolitan police. That is what is happening.

:50:48. > :50:52.We see people being recruited. As is happening, members who want to join

:50:53. > :51:02.the Metropolitan police are able to get assistance with this

:51:03. > :51:12.qualification they now require. Last week marked the Bard's birthday. And

:51:13. > :51:22.here your apartments, last night, young Stratford scholars staged some

:51:23. > :51:26.of Shakespeare's works. Mr Speaker, could this right honourable man, the

:51:27. > :51:35.captain of our state, lend his help to make our national poet's breaths

:51:36. > :51:39.a national day? And could he shared with the house what Shakespeare

:51:40. > :51:43.means to him? Can I thank my honourable friend for that

:51:44. > :51:47.beautifully crafted question about the anniversary of Shakespeare's

:51:48. > :51:50.breaths. It is a moment for celebration all across the world,

:51:51. > :51:55.where it Shakespeare's works are getting a wider understanding and

:51:56. > :51:59.distribution. I will not attempt the court that he has brought out in his

:52:00. > :52:05.question. But I would say to any politician, if you read Henry V's

:52:06. > :52:10.speech at Agincourt, if that does not inspire you, I cannot think what

:52:11. > :52:14.it does. Wembley publish the regulations to introduce standard

:52:15. > :52:19.packaging for tobacco products, and ban smoking in cars with children

:52:20. > :52:26.present? I cannot prejudge the Queen's speech, but we want to take

:52:27. > :52:29.action and we will. Textile, engineering, food and drink

:52:30. > :52:38.manufacturing our booming in Huddersfield. For example, one

:52:39. > :52:41.fabrics company is producing the upholstery for Boris's Route Master

:52:42. > :52:45.buses, which have been very busy this week. They are creating jobs

:52:46. > :52:49.and apprenticeships. Willie prime Minister praised them the other

:52:50. > :52:53.local firms that have agreed to attend my first ever jobs fair in

:52:54. > :53:00.Holmfirth on Friday the 20th of June? First of all, let me pay

:53:01. > :53:08.tribute to my honourable friend for holding these jobs face. -- fares.

:53:09. > :53:12.There have been real benefits. Businesses pledge apprenticeships,

:53:13. > :53:16.pledged to take people on. What we have seen since the recess is a

:53:17. > :53:21.series of figures in our economy. Growth now running at over 3%. 1.5

:53:22. > :53:27.billion of our fellow countrymen and women in work since this government

:53:28. > :53:32.came to power. Installation at an all-time low. Business confidence at

:53:33. > :53:37.its highest level since the early 1970s. There is more work to do.

:53:38. > :53:42.There is absolutely no complacency. The long-term economic plan is well

:53:43. > :53:46.on its way. Before he was elected the Prime Minister said that if

:53:47. > :53:54.elected he would put a wind turbine on ten Downing St. Last week he

:53:55. > :53:56.announced his party wants to end support for offshore wind, even

:53:57. > :54:02.though the Government survey this week showed that 70% of the public

:54:03. > :54:15.supported. What changed his mind? We have seen a massive increase in

:54:16. > :54:18.offshore wind in our country. I think the question then is, is it

:54:19. > :54:23.right to continue to overrule local planners and local people? Is it

:54:24. > :54:28.right to continue to put taxpayers money in after you have built out

:54:29. > :54:32.that onshore wind? I don't believe it is. The manifesto will make that

:54:33. > :54:38.clear from local communities to say. Other parties will have to make

:54:39. > :54:43.their own choices. In the last few weeks in Eastbourne, over a of

:54:44. > :54:48.private investment has been announced. Unemployment is almost

:54:49. > :54:54.20% down compared to this time last year. In short, in Eastbourne we are

:54:55. > :54:58.coming through tremendously successfully from the difficult

:54:59. > :55:04.economic downturn. Does the prime Minister agree that were Eastbourne

:55:05. > :55:10.goes, the UK follows? I am glad to hear that Eastbourne is leading the

:55:11. > :55:16.way, particularly on apprentices. Our target is for 2 million. We want

:55:17. > :55:19.to see a particular expansion of the higher-level apprenticeship schemes.

:55:20. > :55:26.It is a major part of delivering the long-term economic plan. I'm sure

:55:27. > :55:31.the prime Minister has read the report by the all-party group on

:55:32. > :55:35.ticket abuse, which set out how consumers are getting a raw deal

:55:36. > :55:42.from the secondary market. The question is, whose side is the Prime

:55:43. > :55:49.Minister on? This new Culture Secretary who placed ticket touts as

:55:50. > :55:53.classic entrepreneur is -- praised... I have not seen the

:55:54. > :55:59.report. I will have a look at it and discuss it with my right honourable

:56:00. > :56:03.friend, whom I welcome to the cabinet. I noticed Labour seems to

:56:04. > :56:07.criticise its appointment. I am not sure on what basis they were doing

:56:08. > :56:11.that. I think he will do an excellent job for our country. Very

:56:12. > :56:18.happy to study the report she mentions. The number of unemployed

:56:19. > :56:24.job-seekers in Bristol has fallen by 25% in Bristol has fallen by 25% to

:56:25. > :56:33.do. I am hosting a jobs fair this Friday. In the light of the

:56:34. > :56:36.Chancellor's welcome commitment to full employment, what else is the

:56:37. > :56:42.Government doing to make this aspiration a reality? We have seen

:56:43. > :56:47.1.7 million private sector jobs created, far outstripping the loss

:56:48. > :56:51.of public sector jobs. We have seen an increase in full-time work, which

:56:52. > :56:56.I think is very welcome. People often want to work more hours than

:56:57. > :57:00.they are currently able to. In terms of driving further employment

:57:01. > :57:04.growth, I think the clear message is that businesses have the ?2000 of

:57:05. > :57:09.their national insurance bill, which will help people to take on new

:57:10. > :57:14.employees, there is a cut in business rates. And from next year,

:57:15. > :57:17.anybody under 21 will not have to pay any national insurance

:57:18. > :57:22.contributions. We want to see more people in work. And to raise even

:57:23. > :57:30.further that less full of aspiration in our country. -- level. Nuclear

:57:31. > :57:33.power is an important component of the UK energy mix because it

:57:34. > :57:38.produces large amounts of electricity with little CO2. This

:57:39. > :57:42.government calls itself the greenest government ever, but has ceded

:57:43. > :57:46.control of the nuclear energy policy to foreign countries. What will his

:57:47. > :57:50.government do to ensure that nuclear power stations such as Hinkley

:57:51. > :57:56.Point, which is already five years behind schedule, are brought

:57:57. > :57:59.online, on-time? I have two say to the honourable gentleman, I am sure

:58:00. > :58:07.he has a constituency interest in this, the last Labour government was

:58:08. > :58:11.in power for 13 years and never built a nuclear power station never

:58:12. > :58:17.made any progress in moving towards doing it. Under this comment,

:58:18. > :58:20.Hinkley Point is going ahead. Exciting developments in Anglesey. I

:58:21. > :58:24.believe there is the opportunity of more. That is what we are doing.

:58:25. > :58:30.Putting our money where our mouth is, making sure we have nuclear

:58:31. > :58:36.power providing high-quality power which is...

:58:37. > :58:39.The Peterborough effect is back. Business confidence is returning,

:58:40. > :58:44.unemployment is falling and more new jobs are coming to my constituency.

:58:45. > :58:50.Much of the new prosperity relies on infrastructure spending financed by

:58:51. > :58:58.private pension funds. Does he share my regret that Labour's... Estimated

:58:59. > :59:06.to have amounted to ?118 billion last week not only wrecked private

:59:07. > :59:11.pensions, but hobbled vital private sector infrastructure investment in

:59:12. > :59:12.our country for a generation? I am delighted to hear about the

:59:13. > :59:18.Peterborough effect, employment rising, unemployment falling, more

:59:19. > :59:23.people taking on apprentices and businesses expanding. That is what

:59:24. > :59:28.we see around our country. 29 minutes into Prime Minister's

:59:29. > :59:31.Questions, not a single Labour member has mentioned GDP, our

:59:32. > :59:34.economic plan, growth in our country. They do not want to talk

:59:35. > :59:40.about it because they conceive the economy is getting better under this

:59:41. > :59:46.comment. Will the Prime Minister make representations in relation to

:59:47. > :59:50.the cases of two princesses held under house arrest in Saudi Arabia

:59:51. > :59:55.for more than ten years, who have been refused access to food for more

:59:56. > :59:59.than 40 days as a result of speaking to the Western media? Would he agree

:00:00. > :00:04.that human rights and women's rights should be the priority in our

:00:05. > :00:08.relationship with Saudi Arabia? I read the report and I share her

:00:09. > :00:12.concern. I will look into it further. In terms of our relations

:00:13. > :00:15.with all countries, we do give proper priority to human rights and

:00:16. > :00:24.the rule of law. We raise these issues with all countries will meet.

:00:25. > :00:26.Could I gently tell the Prime Minister about -- that Liberal

:00:27. > :00:36.Democrat women not only pull their weight, but are perfectly ready and

:00:37. > :00:45.willing to punch above their weight. I recently hosted the premiere of a

:00:46. > :00:49.hard-hitting film about the honour culture and what can be done to

:00:50. > :00:55.girls and women in its name. I know that issues of female genital

:00:56. > :00:57.mutilation and forced marriage are hugely important to my right

:00:58. > :01:02.honourable friend, so would he please consider viewing the film and

:01:03. > :01:08.showing it at the girls's summit he is hosting in July? I think the

:01:09. > :01:13.honourable Lady... First of all, could I thank for the work she does,

:01:14. > :01:17.particularly on women in enterprise? The point I was making

:01:18. > :01:21.is that I know all parties in this house want to see greater gender

:01:22. > :01:24.equality in terms of representation, present in

:01:25. > :01:29.government etc. And all parties have made progress. My party has made

:01:30. > :01:35.progress. There is more we want to do. Specifically on her concerns

:01:36. > :01:39.about female genital mutilation. We are taking huge steps this year in

:01:40. > :01:42.raising the profile of those issues. I pay tribute to the leadership

:01:43. > :01:49.shown by the Foreign Secretary. Also, as a country that has met its

:01:50. > :01:53.targets of aid going -- of GDP going in aid, we are able to push this

:01:54. > :02:01.site up the agenda, which we will do over the course of this year.

:02:02. > :02:04.Yesterday, Ukrainians and Scotland Road to Alex Salmond expressing

:02:05. > :02:11.disgust and astonishment at the First Minister's statement that he

:02:12. > :02:17.admired President Putin. Wildie the premise to of the Scottish Ukrainian

:02:18. > :02:26.community and labour, in condemning those statements, which support a

:02:27. > :02:31.regime which oppresses its own minority groups and silences

:02:32. > :02:35.critics? I agree wholeheartedly with the honourable lady. I think that

:02:36. > :02:40.what Alex Salmond said was a major error of judgement. I think all of

:02:41. > :02:44.us in this house should be supporting the Ukrainian desire to

:02:45. > :02:47.be a sovereign independent country, and to have the respect of the

:02:48. > :02:55.international community and party leaders for that ambition. This

:02:56. > :03:02.morning I met with a charity campaigning for defibrillators in

:03:03. > :03:04.schools. Will my right honourable friend congratulate North

:03:05. > :03:08.Lincolnshire Council, who worked with myself and the honourable

:03:09. > :03:12.member for Cleethorpes, and this year committing money to a programme

:03:13. > :03:20.of up to 50 community public access defibrillators that will save lives?

:03:21. > :03:23.Towns like an excellent campaign. We have taken a lot of steps forward in

:03:24. > :03:28.terms of making sure this sort of equipment is more readily available.

:03:29. > :03:32.If you can find people who have suffered a heart attack, you can

:03:33. > :03:39.save lives in that golden hour when it first strikes. It sounds an

:03:40. > :03:46.excellent. I pay tribute. Over the last 12 months, the use of

:03:47. > :03:52.food banks has increased by 93%. Social landlords report that rent

:03:53. > :03:57.arrears have gone up by 8.4%. Wildie prime Minister accept that the

:03:58. > :04:02.Government's own policies are driving up debt and poverty in

:04:03. > :04:08.places like Knowsley? -- would the Prime Minister accept? Clearly the

:04:09. > :04:12.best route out of poverty is work. We should welcome the fact there are

:04:13. > :04:19.1.5 million extra people in work. Yes, food bank usage has increased.

:04:20. > :04:23.Not least because food banks are advertised and from promoted, not

:04:24. > :04:29.least by Jobcentre plus but also by local authorities. But if he wants

:04:30. > :04:33.to deal in facts, the proportion of people struggling to buy food in the

:04:34. > :04:37.UK has actually fallen since before the great Labour party recession. I

:04:38. > :04:41.know that members opposite want to make this argument about poverty and

:04:42. > :04:45.inequality in Britain. But the statistics do not back them.

:04:46. > :04:50.Inequality has fallen, compared with when they were in office. There are

:04:51. > :04:54.fewer people in relative poverty and fewer children. The picture they

:04:55. > :04:58.want to paint, because they can't paint a picture of an economy that

:04:59. > :05:04.has not grown, they cannot a picture of people not getting jobs, the

:05:05. > :05:08.picture they are trying to paint is wholly false. With the service

:05:09. > :05:13.sector, the manufacturing sector and the construction and manufacturing

:05:14. > :05:17.sector all growing at 3% plus, would the prime Minister agree that the

:05:18. > :05:22.economy is well on the road to recovery and rebalancing as well?

:05:23. > :05:27.I'm grateful for the question. The recent figures did show that

:05:28. > :05:31.manufacturing was one of the fastest-growing sectors of our

:05:32. > :05:34.economy. I welcome that. What the Chancellor said so powerfully in his

:05:35. > :05:40.budget is that we are not resting on our laurels and saying the job has

:05:41. > :05:45.been done. There is more work. We need to manufacture more, we need to

:05:46. > :05:53.export more, we need to save more and invest more. We have policies

:05:54. > :06:01.that promote all those things. Fiona McTaggart. As the Prime

:06:02. > :06:06.Minister 's seen the survey which shows that two thirds of local

:06:07. > :06:09.councils are either dimming or cutting their street lights at

:06:10. > :06:12.night? Does he think that women are feeling safe in their local

:06:13. > :06:18.communities at night under his government? I have liked all

:06:19. > :06:20.honourable members who take part in election campaigns, been lobbied on

:06:21. > :06:25.this issue on both sides of the argument. I think it is an issue for

:06:26. > :06:28.local determination. I want to see good street lighting. We should

:06:29. > :06:38.listen to the arguments from the police and others. I congratulate my

:06:39. > :06:40.right honourable friend and the Chancellor on the long-term

:06:41. > :06:47.prosperity. In areas like Saint Albarn is barely one house is under

:06:48. > :06:51.?250,000. Can we look at stamp duty threshold is to help young people

:06:52. > :06:55.get on the housing ladder? We're very happy to look at the issues she

:06:56. > :07:00.races. The weapon that we have used to try and help young people who do

:07:01. > :07:04.not have rich parents but who can afford mortgage payments, is Help to

:07:05. > :07:15.Buy. That helps them to get together that deposit. The Labour Party

:07:16. > :07:18.should be welcoming this scheme. It is expanding aspiration and growth

:07:19. > :07:19.in our country. That is what they should be promoting.

:07:20. > :07:37.Order. Minister in mid-flow. That didn't

:07:38. > :07:58.stop him from overrunning by seven minutes. Must be a record! The

:07:59. > :08:03.leader of the opposition, a lot of reaction to the question of that

:08:04. > :08:07.sale. Mr Cameron doesn't answer questions to the favouritism of his

:08:08. > :08:10.wealthy buddies. Geoffrey says embarrassing to watch the Prime

:08:11. > :08:13.Minister constantly avoiding answering questions. Raymond Hartley

:08:14. > :08:18.says, how many of the Cabinet are involved in hedge funds is? Is there

:08:19. > :08:22.any of finding out. Geoffrey Brooking from Hampshire says David

:08:23. > :08:31.Cameron is yet again is spot on to point out the success of Royal Mail.

:08:32. > :08:36.They have exposed how they have gone back to the old Labour that began

:08:37. > :08:41.under Gordon Brown. David Axelrod, the man to advise Ed Miliband, he

:08:42. > :08:46.sure has his work cut out to turn Ed Miliband into Barack Obama.

:08:47. > :08:53.Questioning a successful privatisation is crazy. While we

:08:54. > :08:56.work in during that production of Prime Minister's Questions, a new

:08:57. > :09:03.opinion poll has come out on the European elections for ITV News. It

:09:04. > :09:11.puts UKIP on 38%, up from the poll we were talking about this morning.

:09:12. > :09:16.Labour still on 27. So, UKIP now has an 11 point lead over Labour. The

:09:17. > :09:23.Tories are on 18. UKIP are 20 points ahead. As you watch premises

:09:24. > :09:29.questions, arguing about this, you see this poll coming out, you feel

:09:30. > :09:34.there is a disconnect between Parliament and what is happening to

:09:35. > :09:37.opinion in the country? There is, be slightly wary about the polls. The

:09:38. > :09:42.big argument among pollsters is whether you do certain to vote or

:09:43. > :09:47.not. Some pollsters only go with people who say they are certain to

:09:48. > :09:51.vote in European elections, other go for likely to vote. The difficulty

:09:52. > :09:56.is that this is probably certain to vote. In other words, the people

:09:57. > :10:00.most motivated to go out and vote are people that already know they

:10:01. > :10:11.are UKIP supporters. If you only measure those people, you guessed --

:10:12. > :10:14.get the highest figure. I think it's interesting to note that. When you

:10:15. > :10:23.look at the trajectory of the polls, it is one way? Extraordinary,

:10:24. > :10:25.in a sense I think it is the main political parties, they haven't

:10:26. > :10:30.defined what the elections are about. In a way, if you know nothing

:10:31. > :10:34.about the European elections, the system means that people almost

:10:35. > :10:40.never know who their MEP is, you have a bunch from each region, Nigel

:10:41. > :10:44.Farage has clearly said it is about sending a message about either

:10:45. > :10:47.getting out of Europe or having a referendum. Try summing up in a

:10:48. > :10:52.phrase, a sentence, what the main parties think European elections,

:10:53. > :10:55.not the whole of politics, but European elections are about and you

:10:56. > :11:00.will struggle. They have not have their launches yet. They are about

:11:01. > :11:06.to start in the next couple of days. Let's come back into this Royal Mail

:11:07. > :11:10.story. It resonates. There were 16 referred buyers of the Royal Mail

:11:11. > :11:13.stock when it was floated. They were made preferred and they were given a

:11:14. > :11:18.lot more shares than anybody else because they had agreed that they

:11:19. > :11:23.would be long-term investors, that they would provide stability to the

:11:24. > :11:27.ownership of the Royal Mail. Once they agreed that and got these

:11:28. > :11:32.shares, a number of them sold their shares. Isn't that something of a

:11:33. > :11:37.scandal? The issue is that they paid the full price. The Post Office sale

:11:38. > :11:40.had been resolved for the best part of 25 years. When you are selling a

:11:41. > :11:44.businesslike that, you don't know what the strike price should be. A

:11:45. > :11:47.lot of people said this business, even though it is earning profits

:11:48. > :11:51.now, it is going to crumble. Ditching the price was a difficult

:11:52. > :11:54.banker judgement. So, there was a danger that people would not want

:11:55. > :12:02.the shares at all and it was undersubscribed. I think in order to

:12:03. > :12:05.get off the tranche... Preferred bidders had already been told they

:12:06. > :12:10.could get the shares and they indicated they would buy them.

:12:11. > :12:15.That's 16, they played a major role in determining the price. They were

:12:16. > :12:19.the people that told the government that the price should be 300 and

:12:20. > :12:25.30p. They got that on the basis that they would be long-term holders of

:12:26. > :12:29.the stock. Large numbers of them dump the stock at a higher price

:12:30. > :12:35.when it went up. That is not right? If it went the other way, you would

:12:36. > :12:39.have been to sizing us for not having a successful flotation. Let's

:12:40. > :12:44.consider the position. People say, yes, give us a turn on the stock and

:12:45. > :12:48.we'll be long-term shareholders. By the way, we think the price should

:12:49. > :12:53.be about 330. They get the shares and sell at a profit. They broke

:12:54. > :12:56.their word to the Government. Why shouldn't the Government do

:12:57. > :13:00.something about that? I'm not familiar with the terms and

:13:01. > :13:03.conditions. I've just told you. You have told me things on this

:13:04. > :13:10.programme in the past that don't turn out to be true, there is form.

:13:11. > :13:13.Let's hope the National Audit Office, you can call them liars. 16

:13:14. > :13:19.of the investors bought shares and were allocated larger percentages of

:13:20. > :13:22.their orders and other investors, reflecting the expectation they

:13:23. > :13:30.would form part of a stable, long-term and supportive shareholder

:13:31. > :13:34.nest. Half of the shares were sold off within a few weeks of the

:13:35. > :13:41.privatisation. That is the National Audit Office. Doesn't mean they have

:13:42. > :13:47.to hold their shares indefinitely. Two weeks? There was a market that

:13:48. > :13:51.did not previously exist, which would not happen if we did not have

:13:52. > :13:53.the liquidity offered by these participants. They created a new

:13:54. > :14:00.marketing Post Office shares, which is what happens when you have a new

:14:01. > :14:03.company. These people were given allocations of a lot more shares

:14:04. > :14:08.than anybody else because they indicated they were long-term

:14:09. > :14:12.investors. Then the moment they saw a quick profit, they dumped the

:14:13. > :14:19.shares and they were hedge funds is, sovereign funds were involved as

:14:20. > :14:24.well. The Government let them get away with it? Because they made an

:14:25. > :14:27.early commitment to take the shares, that is why they were granted them.

:14:28. > :14:34.It was up the strike price, which everybody paid, 330 pence. I'm not

:14:35. > :14:38.familiar with all the details, I'm not in the department, but that is

:14:39. > :14:41.what I think happened. It was a successful flotation which had been

:14:42. > :14:46.sitting around for 25 years and resolved. It is now a successful,

:14:47. > :14:53.privatised business that had never happened over 20 years beforehand.

:14:54. > :14:57.Is it that hedge funds get a preferential position because they

:14:58. > :15:02.promise to hold onto shares, they then dump them in two weeks to get a

:15:03. > :15:06.quick profit? I'm not in a position to know the details of the agreement

:15:07. > :15:12.is reached. It's not for me to pass judgement on the way you are asking.

:15:13. > :15:15.Would Labour consider renationalising the Royal Mail? We

:15:16. > :15:20.would not have privatised it. This has been a public ownership since

:15:21. > :15:25.the days of King Charles the first. You thought of privatising part of

:15:26. > :15:31.it? Part of it, we said we would keep it in public ownership. It's

:15:32. > :15:37.gone, you not bringing it back? We can't commit to that. Something

:15:38. > :15:45.about this stinks. You have a system where the government said, we will

:15:46. > :15:47.lock out speculators and spivs, and they seem to have opened the door to

:15:48. > :15:57.them and given them privileged access. It doesn't seem to have been

:15:58. > :16:02.a construction -- contractual understanding, it seems to be... Ida

:16:03. > :16:06.know if they are social circles, friends, there seems to be a

:16:07. > :16:09.gentleman 's agreement, where those that invested have not stuck to it

:16:10. > :16:13.and walked away with millions of pounds. The problem is that there

:16:14. > :16:17.seems to be one rule for the ordinary investor, the man and woman

:16:18. > :16:21.in the street that invested ?750 of their hard earned money, and these

:16:22. > :16:30.investors who have walked away in days with millions of pounds. The

:16:31. > :16:32.Prime Minister did not want to engage in any part of any of the

:16:33. > :16:38.questions. We had a mention of engage in any part of any of the

:16:39. > :16:42.questions. We had a mention selling of gold and this and that. I thought

:16:43. > :16:49.he was going to go back to Clement Attlee! He was desperate not to talk

:16:50. > :16:56.about the detail. It was striking. His only defence is that he got rid

:16:57. > :17:00.of it. He knows he is very vulnerable to the idea of what Ed

:17:01. > :17:08.Miliband called a sweetheart deal. The idea of a golden ticket. One

:17:09. > :17:12.rule for one and one for the others. The great question that hangs over

:17:13. > :17:18.politics is that when Ed Miliband highlight something like that, do

:17:19. > :17:24.voters say, yes, will vote Labour, or you are all the same as each

:17:25. > :17:41.other? Thank you. What should happen to

:17:42. > :17:58.civil partnerships? Peter Tatchell gives us his take on the future of

:17:59. > :18:02.this relatively young institution. Flowers, chocolate and champagne.

:18:03. > :18:09.The language of love, weddings and civil partnerships. Civil

:18:10. > :18:13.partnerships, introduced in 2005, finally give legal recognition to

:18:14. > :18:20.lesbian and gay couples. But it was not real equality. The ban on

:18:21. > :18:24.same-sex marriage remained until this year. Today same-sex couples

:18:25. > :18:30.have the option of two forms of official recognition. Marriage and

:18:31. > :18:38.civil partnership. Opposite sex couples only have the option of

:18:39. > :18:41.marriage. That discrimination is against heterosexuals. In its public

:18:42. > :18:47.consultation, the Government said over three options for the future of

:18:48. > :18:53.civil partnerships. Scrapping them and forcing existing civil partners

:18:54. > :18:57.to convert to marriage. Stopping new civil partnerships being registered

:18:58. > :18:59.but retaining existing ones. And keeping civil partnerships and

:19:00. > :19:02.opening them to opposite sex couples. That is the option I have

:19:03. > :19:20.been campaigning for a since 2005. Many same-sex and opposite sex

:19:21. > :19:24.couples do not like the sexist and homophobic history of marriage. They

:19:25. > :19:31.dislike the antiquated language of husband and wife. While marriage is

:19:32. > :19:38.right for some, for others, a civil partnership is more egalitarian and

:19:39. > :19:42.modern. Of the same-sex couples who have already had a civil

:19:43. > :19:47.partnership, many entered into at precisely because it was not a

:19:48. > :19:50.marriage. To forcibly convert their civil partnership into a marriage

:19:51. > :19:57.would violate their wishes and the contract they agree. The evidence

:19:58. > :20:02.from the Netherlands is that since civil partnerships have been open to

:20:03. > :20:10.all, many opposite sex couples have taken advantage of the opportunity.

:20:11. > :20:15.In fact, today, most Dutch civil partnerships are between opposite

:20:16. > :20:20.sex couples. Rather than scrapping civil partnerships, we should

:20:21. > :20:28.celebrate and extend them to all. It is simply a matter of equality.

:20:29. > :20:35.And Peter Tatchell joins us now. The debate about this though was about

:20:36. > :20:41.equality. Civil partnerships were a stepping stone to marriage. Why

:20:42. > :20:45.would you want to go back to those? Now we have civil partnerships. Now

:20:46. > :20:48.we have many thousands of couples in civil partnerships, I think it would

:20:49. > :20:53.be wrong to force them to switch to marriage. That is not what they

:20:54. > :21:02.agreed. Since same-sex couples have the right to civil partnerships, why

:21:03. > :21:05.shouldn't heterosexuals as well? David Cameron supported same-sex

:21:06. > :21:10.marriage because he believed inequality. If that is true, the

:21:11. > :21:15.principle should also apply to civil partnerships. David Cameron said he

:21:16. > :21:23.allows -- believes allowing civil servants -- civil partnerships for

:21:24. > :21:29.opposite sex couples would undermine marriage? Civil partnerships and

:21:30. > :21:34.marriage are very similar. Savour -- civil partnerships have the same

:21:35. > :21:37.commitments. I do not see how they are undermining marriage. I think

:21:38. > :21:40.they actually strengthen the principle of legal rights and

:21:41. > :21:44.responsibilities because lots of heterosexual couples are not

:21:45. > :21:48.married. They are cohabiting. If they do not want to get married,

:21:49. > :21:50.they do not agree with the institution of marriage. If they're

:21:51. > :21:54.given the option a civil partnership, many would take the

:21:55. > :22:01.option. That would give them legal rights etc. Do you think this is a

:22:02. > :22:08.major issue now after the battle for gay marriage? Is this a fight worth

:22:09. > :22:10.having? Absolutely. It is an important fundamental democratic

:22:11. > :22:15.principle that we should all be equal before the law. Any

:22:16. > :22:20.discrimination is wrong. In the Government's on consultation, the

:22:21. > :22:26.public were asked if civil partnerships should be opened up to

:22:27. > :22:33.opposite sex couples. 61% said they should. Only 24% said no. Clearly

:22:34. > :22:37.there is a majority public support for allowing heterosexual couples

:22:38. > :22:41.the choice of a civil partnership. Alan Duncan, you are in a civil

:22:42. > :22:47.partnership. Should straight couples be able to do the same? The

:22:48. > :22:52.inequality, and hence the disadvantaged Peter is referring

:22:53. > :22:58.to, as between a civil partnership and a heterosexual couple getting

:22:59. > :23:02.married in a registry office, is so minuscule and immaterial, this is

:23:03. > :23:07.really dancing on the head of a pin. I regarded as unnecessary

:23:08. > :23:10.because it is not really doing anybody any harm. There is an

:23:11. > :23:15.argument for saying that all marriages should be consummated, if

:23:16. > :23:19.you like, on a civil basis and you can add your own religious bit on

:23:20. > :23:22.top if you want. Then everybody is equal from the start and you can

:23:23. > :23:29.stick your religious gloss on the quality of faith. It is not really

:23:30. > :23:36.what you and I think. We know that a substantial number of heterosexual

:23:37. > :23:40.couples would like a civil partnership. If you look at New

:23:41. > :23:44.Zealand and the Netherlands, where civil partnerships are open to

:23:45. > :23:47.everybody, today the majority of civil partnerships in the

:23:48. > :23:51.Netherlands are between straight couples. 10% of straight couples

:23:52. > :23:55.choose a civil partnership rather than marriage. It is only 10% but

:23:56. > :24:03.why shouldn't a 10% minority have the right to choose? Isn't it an

:24:04. > :24:13.anomaly? Isn't that an orchestrated policy in that sense? Would straight

:24:14. > :24:20.couples go for it in reality? Would they be clamouring for it? I think a

:24:21. > :24:24.sizeable minority would. Ten to 15%. The principle in democracy is that

:24:25. > :24:27.we should all be equal before the law. We would not be having this

:24:28. > :24:33.debate if the law was discriminated against black and Jewish people.

:24:34. > :24:38.People think there is -- we can get away with it because it is among gay

:24:39. > :24:47.people. We have got civil partnerships. Let's open them up.

:24:48. > :24:51.The campaign was about equality. If civil partnerships are good enough

:24:52. > :25:00.for same-sex couples, why shouldn't they be for opposite sex couples?

:25:01. > :25:14.Lets have equality for everyone. You have convinced Jim Murphy.

:25:15. > :25:17.Now it seems you're nothing at Westminster these days if you

:25:18. > :25:19.haven't imported a highly-paid election guru from overseas to

:25:20. > :25:24.The Lib Dems have one from South Africa.

:25:25. > :25:26.And Labour's new one is from America.

:25:27. > :25:29.The press likes to call them gurus because it makes them sound

:25:30. > :25:32.a bit mysterious, and because it's a better fit for

:25:33. > :25:43.Here's Adam's guide to the political guru.

:25:44. > :25:54.If somebody owns the word kuru, it is the founder of seekers. A big

:25:55. > :25:57.achievement for a former accountant. Rasputin was Russia's greatest love

:25:58. > :26:06.machine and shadow we advise or to the sour. The Beatles turned to a

:26:07. > :26:11.Maharishi for spiritual guidance. At Westminster, Keith joseph was the

:26:12. > :26:16.very modern model of a major guru, providing the intellectual basis for

:26:17. > :26:22.Thatcherism. Across the Atlantic, Karl rove did the same thing for

:26:23. > :26:28.America. And now we have a triumvirate of foreign-born gurus

:26:29. > :26:33.here. Lynton Crosby from Australia got Boris re-elected Mayor of

:26:34. > :26:38.London. The Lib Dems imported a South African. And here is the

:26:39. > :26:50.newest recruit. David Axelrod, borrowed from Barack Obama. Why do

:26:51. > :26:57.they hire them? The gurus said that the true gurus shows you the way.

:26:58. > :27:00.Jim Murphy, what is the point of paying a 6-figure sum to an American

:27:01. > :27:04.to advise you had to win an election? He has hardly ever been to

:27:05. > :27:10.this country and knows nothing about Britain. None of the parties have

:27:11. > :27:16.got a monopoly on campaign initiative tactics. The Lib Dems got

:27:17. > :27:22.their South African guy. These guys have got their Australian. Lynton

:27:23. > :27:27.Crosby has fought an election here before and lives here for a great

:27:28. > :27:33.part of the year. David Axelrod may struggle to find Britain on a map! I

:27:34. > :27:40.don't think so. He understands elections. He has been brilliant for

:27:41. > :27:43.Iraq Obama. That is the reason! Barack Obama and the politics of

:27:44. > :27:55.optimism, I think this will be a welcome injection. You have hired

:27:56. > :27:58.somebody called Jim Messina, another American. He is going to stay in the

:27:59. > :28:04.United States throughout. He will have his finger on the pulse in

:28:05. > :28:08.Scunthorpe, one T? We are so interconnected across the world. I

:28:09. > :28:14.believe in the public meeting, the big speech, the intellectual and

:28:15. > :28:18.ideological arguments. Now it is a consumer process. I am sure the guys

:28:19. > :28:31.you hired will be able to watch it on Skype. Thanks to the speaker I

:28:32. > :28:40.cannot continue this conversation! The year was 1982.

:28:41. > :28:42.Stuart Badger from Kidderminster. Well done.

:28:43. > :28:46.Thanks to all our guests, especially Alan and Jim.

:28:47. > :28:49.The one o'clock news is starting over on BBC One now.

:28:50. > :28:57.Jo will be back tomorrow at noon with all the big political stories.

:28:58. > :29:20.It's shocking it'd happen in a public place.

:29:21. > :29:24.I don't find it funny, but I don't find it offensive.