Conference Special

:00:08. > :00:12.Last week Labour made it clear it was putting the NHS at the heart of

:00:13. > :00:17.its election campaign. They think it's their issue. Today the Tories

:00:18. > :00:57.are out to convince us - it's their issue, too. Welcome to the Daily

:00:58. > :00:59.Politics, live from day 3 of the Conservative Party Conference here

:01:00. > :01:03.in Birmingham. Today's big announcement it from the Prime

:01:04. > :01:06.Minister, even though his keynote speech isn't until tomorrow. It is

:01:07. > :01:09.about health. Although it is not being announced by the Health

:01:10. > :01:12.Secretary who is speaking today. Well party leaders like to be

:01:13. > :01:18.associated with the good stuff and today the PM has announced GPs will

:01:19. > :01:22.be on call seven days a week, seven hours a day, but not until 2020 for

:01:23. > :01:26.everybody and he has not squared that with the GPs who tend to have

:01:27. > :01:28.minds of their own. He also announced the same thing last year

:01:29. > :01:31.but we are all in favour of recycling these days. I will be

:01:32. > :01:34.talking to the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt.

:01:35. > :01:39.I'm here at Westminster where I will be talking to the father of this

:01:40. > :01:43.Conservative hero, Boris Johnson. He arrived last night to a rapturous

:01:44. > :01:46.reception. He will no doubt get another one when he addresses

:01:47. > :01:51.conference a little later. We'll have his speech, live.

:01:52. > :01:55.Here in Birmingham, the Home Secretary, Theresa May says she's

:01:56. > :02:00.going to ban extremism. We'll see how that works. And speaking of

:02:01. > :02:04.extremism, as we come on air, Iraqi forces are struggling to stop

:02:05. > :02:09.Islamic state militants advancing on Baghdad. Some reports have them 1

:02:10. > :02:15.kilometre from the capital's western perimeter. We'll be asking the

:02:16. > :02:23.Foreign Secretary, fillip ham ond, what happened to the air war? Zorb

:02:24. > :02:28.Philip ham ond. -- Philip Hammond. And Giles has the balls to see what

:02:29. > :02:31.is the divide over Europe. You are allowed one ball. Well it has to be

:02:32. > :02:37.out. All that in the next hour-and-a-half

:02:38. > :02:39.of the programme. Widely regarded as the Lidl of public service

:02:40. > :02:44.broadcasting. The Culture Secretary, who we talked

:02:45. > :02:50.to yesterday, Sajid Javid wants the BBC to do more for less. If we did

:02:51. > :03:03.any more for less, we'd be paying you. Keeping off today's programme,

:03:04. > :03:07.we have a pair of Muppets. Welcome to Mr Richards and Matthew Parris

:03:08. > :03:11.from the Times. Average wages are falling in low

:03:12. > :03:16.terms, if you are low paid they are falling in real terms and now they

:03:17. > :03:20.are going to cut benefits, lower in real terms. Have the Tories given up

:03:21. > :03:24.on blue-collar votes? You would be surprised about the thoughtfulness

:03:25. > :03:27.between activists and Tory MPs here, mostly they agree with George

:03:28. > :03:31.Osborne's suggestion for a two-year freeze. They don't see where else

:03:32. > :03:35.you could get the ?3 billion but they are aware they'll take a direct

:03:36. > :03:38.hit amongst some voters and there are also, some of them, worried

:03:39. > :03:43.about the impact on those voters' families. What do you think, Steve?

:03:44. > :03:47.I think it is an issue. I also think - I mean he mentioned the total

:03:48. > :03:52.global figure of ?25 billion. He has a long way to go. Where are the

:03:53. > :03:56.other ?22 billion coming from? I find with public spending, people

:03:57. > :03:59.are theoretically thrilled to hear someone is going to be tough on

:04:00. > :04:03.public spending until you get to the specifics. He will try to do this

:04:04. > :04:08.quickly. It is his decision to do this quickly. I don't know where the

:04:09. > :04:11.other ?22 billion will come from. And how he explains that as

:04:12. > :04:16.he-and-a-half gates towards the next election. Is there not a feeling

:04:17. > :04:21.with the election only seven months away that Mr Osborne may have

:04:22. > :04:25.overdone it? ? I don't think so, on the whole, the Conservative Party,

:04:26. > :04:30.as a force, so to speak s more worried about the deficit, than the

:04:31. > :04:34.Government has seemed to be -- so to speak s more worry. Everything he

:04:35. > :04:37.can do to get it down, they are in theory but there are questions in

:04:38. > :04:40.practice. Squeezing the wages of below average and squeezing the bell

:04:41. > :04:46.fair benefits of the below average n work, by the way, those in work, yet

:04:47. > :04:50.you have cut the top rate of tax from 50 to 45%, and the pension

:04:51. > :04:52.give-away yesterday is overwhelmingly beneficial to of a

:04:53. > :04:57.fluent middle class homes. Where is the fairness? I must say - if I

:04:58. > :05:01.could think of a good way to hit the rich, I would have included that,

:05:02. > :05:10.were were I the Chancellor, in the speech because the we are all in it

:05:11. > :05:14.together, did have a certain amount of resonance, Houghton do you hit

:05:15. > :05:20.the rich, that's the question -- how do you? I think he has overdone it.

:05:21. > :05:23.The economy is growing more than the Western world. I'm not sure if

:05:24. > :05:28.that's true, as he said. But it is growing. But there is no need

:05:29. > :05:32.towards rushing to cut the deficit in the first two years of the

:05:33. > :05:36.Parliament. He said he is going to do that. I think politically it is

:05:37. > :05:41.difficult to explain. The reason why the deficit is not falling anything

:05:42. > :05:45.like as fast as he said, indeed it has risen in this first five months

:05:46. > :05:48.of this financial year s that his income tax receipts are not coming

:05:49. > :05:51.through. They are not coming through because wages are not growing. He is

:05:52. > :05:56.caught in a vicious circle. That is always the case. When wages don't

:05:57. > :06:01.grow, and the tax doesn't come in and when the tax doesn't come in,

:06:02. > :06:06.you can't give away more to those whose wages are not growing. But

:06:07. > :06:11.what can a Chancellor do about that? He could increase the minimum wage.

:06:12. > :06:15.Yes, but then that's a direct hit, isn't it, for a lot of small and

:06:16. > :06:19.medium-sized businesses and neither the Conservative Party nor any

:06:20. > :06:27.sensible economists wants to put that on their sides. Let's look at

:06:28. > :06:33.the fallout from the Mark Reckless defection. There has been a change,

:06:34. > :06:40.an asymmetric reaction. Dug last Carswell they have written that off.

:06:41. > :06:44.But they are -- Doug last. Douglas.

:06:45. > :06:49.They think they can win in the Rochester constituency. If they

:06:50. > :06:53.don't, it is a disaster. If he wins that, the sense of momentum for UKIP

:06:54. > :06:56.will be really, really difficult for the Conservative Party. I think

:06:57. > :07:02.they've got every chance of winning that seat. The Tories. The Tories.

:07:03. > :07:06.Could Labour win? Could they slip through? It is also possible. All

:07:07. > :07:10.the Tories I have spoken to here say that would be preferable for them

:07:11. > :07:14.than UKIP. They could say the split right vote is letting Labour N but

:07:15. > :07:20.obviously they want to win it. -- in. But I don't think we'll see a

:07:21. > :07:22.Tory MP before that by-election in Westminster. They will be down

:07:23. > :07:28.there. They have tonnes of resources. I think it is possible.

:07:29. > :07:32.This whole UKIP defection is irrational, the Reckless and

:07:33. > :07:35.considers well one but the Reckless one is also risky, in a which that

:07:36. > :07:39.the Carswell one isn't from their perspective. I think it is more than

:07:40. > :07:43.risky. I sense a turning of the tide. Actually this Reckless

:07:44. > :07:46.defection could work to the Conservatives' advantage. There is a

:07:47. > :07:52.very strong feeling of wanting to fightback now on this and a very

:07:53. > :07:57.strong feeling of good rid dance to him, to Mr Carswell and two or three

:07:58. > :07:59.others, if they want to go. I dare say there will be one before the

:08:00. > :08:03.leader's speech tomorrow or immediately after T I think the

:08:04. > :08:08.party will take that in its stride. -- after it. The danger for the

:08:09. > :08:14.Tories is the nature of the fightback. If they try too hard to

:08:15. > :08:20.woo those gone over to UKIP that places them in the wrong part of th

:08:21. > :08:24.political spectrum if they want to win the general election. They have

:08:25. > :08:27.to be careful how they target the voters. They have to be careful how

:08:28. > :08:31.they frame the debate to get them back. They could end up too far to

:08:32. > :08:34.the right. Let's leave it there for a moment. We may have you back. We

:08:35. > :08:41.are in discussions with your agents at the moment. You mean if you can't

:08:42. > :08:45.get anyone better. That's quote for saying "we can't get anyone else."

:08:46. > :08:48.So Boris Johnson arrived in Birmingham last night to the usual

:08:49. > :08:52.hero's welcome. Of course he hates the fuss and tries to avoid

:08:53. > :08:56.publicity. A few weeks ago he announced his intentions to run for

:08:57. > :09:00.Parliament and will be standing as an MP next year. The self-efacing

:09:01. > :09:04.London mayor always attracts a big crowd. He is rather liked by the

:09:05. > :09:09.party faithful. The London Mayor even had a gift, supporting a Boris

:09:10. > :09:15.cut, thrown at him by one adoring fan. Boris is due to speak it the

:09:16. > :09:18.hall in about 15 minutes. He will almost certainly be late. His annual

:09:19. > :09:20.speech has become one of the highlights of the party conference.

:09:21. > :09:26.I'm sure David Cameron can't wait for it. The faithful at least are

:09:27. > :09:30.excited. Does the big Boris comeback involve trying to get the keys to

:09:31. > :09:34.number ten? Jo is on the green with a man who may have an inkling of his

:09:35. > :09:39.son's thinking. Yes, you gave the clue away.

:09:40. > :09:43.Environmentalists, former MEP and author and of course, Boris

:09:44. > :09:46.Johnson's father. What are you doing here and not supporting Boris at the

:09:47. > :09:50.conference? Of course I am but you invited me to talk. I am launching

:09:51. > :09:54.my new book in London. I point out to your thousands of delegates, it

:09:55. > :10:01.is available in the book shop in Birmingham. Like father like son,

:10:02. > :10:08.self-publicity never did anyone any harm.

:10:09. > :10:13.Boris speaks for himself on these matters. As far as I know he is a

:10:14. > :10:17.Mayor of London and a prospective parliamentary candidate for

:10:18. > :10:20.Uxbridge. That's enough for him getting on with. But those are his

:10:21. > :10:25.ambitions, you would like to see him as leader and former Prime Minister.

:10:26. > :10:29.We all have ambitions for our children, we sometimes keep them to

:10:30. > :10:34.ourselves? You never kept anything to yourself. Lots and lots of

:10:35. > :10:40.things. I wanted to write a good book. I have written 24, is there a

:10:41. > :10:44.good book? I'm not sure. Is it important to have a leader to unite

:10:45. > :10:48.the Conservative family when there are defections like in the last two

:10:49. > :10:52.days to UKIP? Well, the very good news s we have a leader, we have

:10:53. > :10:55.David Cameron. This has been, by the way, as far as I'm concerned an

:10:56. > :10:59.upbeat conference. I have there until last night. You know all this

:11:00. > :11:07.stuff about defections. These are blips, and stories Blips, really,

:11:08. > :11:12.can you put them down to this? You had Douglas Carswell, and Mark

:11:13. > :11:16.Reckless and a form Deputy Mayor saying they want to go to a party

:11:17. > :11:19.that says what it does and does what it says. Everyone knows defections

:11:20. > :11:22.to UKIP are irrelevant. If they are interested in the things that UKIP

:11:23. > :11:27.are interested in, well the answer is, vote Conservative. I spent 20

:11:28. > :11:31.years working for Europe. 20 years. Cameron, David Cameron has given us

:11:32. > :11:36.the answer here. We are going to have to referendum. Nobody else is

:11:37. > :11:39.giving us that. He has not said what he will do if you don't get

:11:40. > :11:43.reformed. You want it stay in, whether or not it is reformed. I'm

:11:44. > :11:46.in the so sure that you can automatically assume that's my

:11:47. > :11:51.action. I think you can What is your answer? If we get a real good deal

:11:52. > :11:54.on immigration. When I worked in the European Commission, there was no

:11:55. > :11:58.question that everybody had a right to work anywhere. You had to be a

:11:59. > :12:04.Kewellified doctor before you qualified to practice. If you were a

:12:05. > :12:07.dentist you had to say ah in different languages, not just in

:12:08. > :12:11.English. All this stuff of everybody has a free right to go everywhere

:12:12. > :12:15.and get all the benefits that can and must change. I think if Cameron

:12:16. > :12:19.delivers that, that will be a very major point. Point is people don't

:12:20. > :12:24.believe he can, and even those who think maybe he can, it will not go

:12:25. > :12:27.far enough for them. Who and how do you unite the Conservative Party at

:12:28. > :12:33.this stage? I think you have got it - I think we have a united party. Do

:12:34. > :12:38.I sound like a broken record, I hope not. I do believe we have a united

:12:39. > :12:44.party on this one. The pledge on the in-out referendum has brought...

:12:45. > :12:48.Look, did you listen to Daniel Hammond this morning? He might have

:12:49. > :12:52.been a defector, he said ass clearly as anything - he is not going to

:12:53. > :12:56.defect. Do you think Boris Johnson would unite the party more? We know

:12:57. > :12:59.the reception he gets and how popular he is with the party

:13:00. > :13:02.faithful. We saw the reception he got last night? Could he be more

:13:03. > :13:06.effective at uniting the Conservative Party? Don't think I'm

:13:07. > :13:10.ducking this question. When I came here I thought we would have a broad

:13:11. > :13:15.range of questions. I'm in favour of Boris. He said clearly he is going

:13:16. > :13:18.to stay mayor until May 2016. We are going to win this election anyway.

:13:19. > :13:24.So this is truth to tell, it does not arise. Do you think it helps,

:13:25. > :13:27.then, when Boris Johnson at last night's reception, mocks UKIP's

:13:28. > :13:32.supporters. You are talking about the vacuum cleaner. I am. But we'll

:13:33. > :13:36.leave it there. I thought it was a good joke. But does it help if you

:13:37. > :13:39.are mocking people going to UKIP and the sort of voters that the

:13:40. > :13:43.Conservative Party wants to woo back? I have lived long enough to

:13:44. > :13:47.know you should never duck a good joke. Basically jokes are what carry

:13:48. > :13:51.the day for you in politics. I made lots and lots of jokes. Some have

:13:52. > :13:54.flopped but some have been right. There was a joke once when I was

:13:55. > :13:58.standing for election down in Hampshire and the Chairman of the

:13:59. > :14:01.selection committee said - Mr Johnson if you are selected today

:14:02. > :14:05.will your wife come to live with you in Hampshire. I said she may very

:14:06. > :14:11.well come to live in Hampshire but not with me, I'm afraid. So that

:14:12. > :14:17.works, sometimes. A former wife, I should say. John Redwood has say pro

:14:18. > :14:23.EU businesses should be punished if they are seen to be meddling in

:14:24. > :14:27.politics. Who? ProEU businesses should be punished? ? I'm not in

:14:28. > :14:31.favour of that. I'm in the in favour of that. Did he say that? He is a

:14:32. > :14:35.clever man. He couldn't say the National Anthem in Welsh, I know

:14:36. > :14:37.that. He is a clever and bright man, I think he will regret having made

:14:38. > :14:50.that remark. Thank you very much. That was Jo speaking to Boris's

:14:51. > :14:54.resins on earth. Jeremy Hunt is with me. Health spending has been ring

:14:55. > :15:01.fenced in this Parliament. Will it be ring fenced in the next

:15:02. > :15:04.parliament? I would love to make a major announcement on the Daily

:15:05. > :15:08.Politics. This is the place to make it. But we make announcements like

:15:09. > :15:14.that when we are ready to make them, and now is not the moment. Let

:15:15. > :15:21.me finish, you asked me the question. You haven't answered it.

:15:22. > :15:25.Did me a chance. If you look at our record in this Parliament, it is

:15:26. > :15:32.better than ring fencing. Spend on the NHS in this Parliament has gone

:15:33. > :15:34.up by 4% in real terms. That is because we are committed to the NHS

:15:35. > :15:38.and to have shown that commitment and will continue to show that

:15:39. > :15:42.commitment. But at this stage in the last parliament when you were only

:15:43. > :15:45.in opposition, you were able to tell me that you were going to ring fence

:15:46. > :15:51.health spending. Now you are in government. Why can't you tell me

:15:52. > :15:57.whether or not you will? When we are ready to make a big announcement on

:15:58. > :16:01.NHS finances, we will do that. Will the Chancellor not give you the

:16:02. > :16:09.money? You will just have to be patient. Seven-day GP surgeries. You

:16:10. > :16:14.had it in the 2010 manifesto. You have announces again this year.

:16:15. > :16:17.Instead of making all these announcements, why haven't you

:16:18. > :16:26.attempted to get GP agreements to this? We haven't renounced it. --

:16:27. > :16:30.announced it again. Last year we said we were going to make it

:16:31. > :16:35.possible for a million people to get GP appointments seven days a week.

:16:36. > :16:41.We deliver that. It was a pilot, and it worked. People of working age

:16:42. > :16:44.don't want to wait a long time for an appointment or to take time off

:16:45. > :16:49.work to see their GP, and they want to be up to see their GP at

:16:50. > :16:52.weekends. It was a success, and we are now rolling that out. The Prime

:16:53. > :16:56.Minister is saying this morning he is going to roll it out to another

:16:57. > :17:01.million people, and by the end of the next Parliament, everyone will

:17:02. > :17:04.be able to do it. It was in your 2010 manifesto, and it won't be

:17:05. > :17:11.ready for everybody until 2020, ten years. Is that a Tory promise? We

:17:12. > :17:15.have delivered it for more than a million people. And what the Prime

:17:16. > :17:19.Minister said today is we are going to deliver it to another million

:17:20. > :17:25.people. And he also said something else. These things can't be magic

:17:26. > :17:28.doubt. To deliver this promise, you need more capacity in general

:17:29. > :17:34.practice, and what he has also said is we are going to train 5000 more

:17:35. > :17:38.GPs so that we have the capacity to deliver this commitment. And you

:17:39. > :17:43.cannot do it unless you get a new contract with the GPs, correct? We

:17:44. > :17:52.have announced a new contract today. Including this? It is part of what

:17:53. > :17:56.we are offering. It is being agreed with GPs outside of that contract.

:17:57. > :18:05.Have you begun negotiations with GPs yet? We have agreed it was 1200

:18:06. > :18:10.surgeries, and we will agree it with 1200 more surgeries next year. We

:18:11. > :18:13.have had no warning response when we offered this after last year's

:18:14. > :18:19.contract. Far more people wanted to take part in this than actually did.

:18:20. > :18:24.We have announced the new GP contract today, and we have said

:18:25. > :18:33.that we are going to go back to GPs having personal responsibility for

:18:34. > :18:42.their patients. We believe the relationship between doctor and

:18:43. > :18:47.patient is very important. We want every single person in England to

:18:48. > :18:56.have a named GP. But you can't just decree all this. Why have you

:18:57. > :18:59.announced more money to extend hours for most GPs when they will tell you

:19:00. > :19:13.that they need more resources just to deliver. You can't just ask GPs

:19:14. > :19:16.to do more with existing resources, because they are worked off their

:19:17. > :19:22.feet. It is also about making sure that they have that capacity. And

:19:23. > :19:29.you are heading for a ?1 billion deficit. How will you address that?

:19:30. > :19:34.The NHS as a whole is balancing its books and will continue to do so.

:19:35. > :19:42.NHS England says there is good to be a ?2 billion black hole in the

:19:43. > :19:45.2015/16 budget. They don't say that, they say that it is going to be

:19:46. > :19:49.difficult to find efficiency savings. But we have found ?20

:19:50. > :19:52.billion of efficiency savings in this Parliament, meaning we are

:19:53. > :19:58.doing a million more operations every year than we were doing four

:19:59. > :20:03.years ago. That is a tremendous achievement, and we're working hard

:20:04. > :20:08.in tough circumstances, but the NHS, despite the gloom and doom, is

:20:09. > :20:18.actually doing very well. But you are already missing five Kiwi team

:20:19. > :20:25.times targets. NHS -- five key waiting times targets. You also have

:20:26. > :20:31.to look at the volume of activity. We are doing nearly a million more

:20:32. > :20:34.operations year. Take cancer. When we came to office, we had one of the

:20:35. > :20:39.lowest cancer survival rate in Western Europe. We are now testing

:20:40. > :20:44.1000 more people every single day for cancer in the NHS. We are on

:20:45. > :20:48.track to treat a million more people this Parliament for cancer. And we

:20:49. > :20:55.are starting to close the back gap with other European countries. One

:20:56. > :21:03.of the targets that you miss is A waiting times. Is it true that you

:21:04. > :21:07.privately think that drunks who need A treatment should pay for it

:21:08. > :21:15.themselves? That is not what I said. I said I have sympathy for people

:21:16. > :21:19.who think that those who behave irresponsibly put extra pressure on

:21:20. > :21:29.our A, but it is difficult to work that out practically. ?6 billion of

:21:30. > :21:32.NHS services are now out to tender. Why do you deny that you are

:21:33. > :21:43.privatising the NHS? Because we are not. Using a charity, using the

:21:44. > :21:47.independent sector to help fulfil NHS services is not privatisation

:21:48. > :21:52.stop it is accepting that we don't have a monopoly of good ideas inside

:21:53. > :21:55.the NHS, and we need to be prepared to look at other people who have

:21:56. > :21:59.innovative ways of doing things. But if you look at the growth in the

:22:00. > :22:02.private sector services of the NHS, it grew at twice the rate in the

:22:03. > :22:06.last Government that it is done under this Government, and what we

:22:07. > :22:11.have said is something very different. We don't want politicians

:22:12. > :22:14.deciding if this is going to be done by the private sector or the

:22:15. > :22:18.traditional NHS sector. Let's let GPs on the ground make those

:22:19. > :22:22.decisions so that we can be sure that those decisions are taken not

:22:23. > :22:32.ideological reasons but for what is best for the patients. The 2012

:22:33. > :22:39.reform Acts opt that from being -- Reform Act stopped that from being

:22:40. > :22:44.the fact. We have taken the decision as to who is given a contract away

:22:45. > :22:51.from politicians and given it to local doctors. And as it happens,

:22:52. > :22:53.they are increasing the use of the independent sector at a slower rate

:22:54. > :22:59.than the last government, and that is their decision, and that is how

:23:00. > :23:04.Richard E. I was reading about a couple of clinicians who are saying

:23:05. > :23:13.that they haven't seen patients because they are too busy preparing

:23:14. > :23:16.for bids. That is not fair. The process of how you decide who is

:23:17. > :23:20.going to deliver services, unfortunately you have to follow EU

:23:21. > :23:26.guidelines. We haven't changed that. What I think has changed is that I

:23:27. > :23:31.would rather those decisions in the end were taken by doctors who know

:23:32. > :23:38.what patients want. That didn't happen before. I think we're getting

:23:39. > :23:41.better services, better services in the community, better services in

:23:42. > :23:46.primary care and closer to home, and I think that is a good thing for

:23:47. > :23:52.patients. But we don't know how this will work out. Why don't you put a

:23:53. > :23:55.cap on this to see how it goes? At the moment there is no limit as to

:23:56. > :24:00.how much this could go into the private sector, correct? The people

:24:01. > :24:05.who decide should be local doctors. They are the ones, and as it

:24:06. > :24:11.happens, they are increasing the use of the private sector at a slower

:24:12. > :24:14.rate than the Labour government. There is no limit to the amount of

:24:15. > :24:20.contracts that can be outsourced to the private sector, correct? The

:24:21. > :24:25.limit is what local doctors say it should be. Are you not worried that

:24:26. > :24:31.this is an uncharted experiment? You have taken ages to experiment with

:24:32. > :24:35.GPs seven days a week, 12 hours a day. Don't you need to do some

:24:36. > :24:39.experiment with this to reassure people that this is not

:24:40. > :24:44.privatisation rather than just unleashing this before everybody?

:24:45. > :24:47.Look at the evidence as to how things are happening. If you look at

:24:48. > :24:51.the NHS compared to four years ago, if you look at some of the things

:24:52. > :24:55.that really matter to people, whether they are treated with

:24:56. > :25:00.dignity and respect, those figures are at record levels. Whether they

:25:01. > :25:04.are getting a cancer diagnosis, a dimension diagnosis, all those

:25:05. > :25:07.figures are record levels. If you look at the things that matter to

:25:08. > :25:11.people who use the NHS, it is performing very well, and we are

:25:12. > :25:15.very proud in this Government that under huge financial pressure,

:25:16. > :25:18.pressure created because, frankly, the last government lost control of

:25:19. > :25:28.our national finances, the NHS is holding up and doing well. You said

:25:29. > :25:35.is doing well. NHS England is having to use money now that it was holding

:25:36. > :25:41.back for winter full the 18 week maximum waiting list has been

:25:42. > :25:44.broken. And for hours for A waiting targets, you have missed

:25:45. > :25:49.that target. Have you hit any targets? We have hit the majority of

:25:50. > :25:54.targets. These are the important ones. Let's take some of them. The

:25:55. > :26:03.target is to see 95% of all within or hours. We are now seeing 2000

:26:04. > :26:06.more people in A within four hours every single day then compared to

:26:07. > :26:10.four years ago. That is an astonishing tribute to how well our

:26:11. > :26:16.doctors are doing. So when you get a need the surface, you see an NHS

:26:17. > :26:19.that is working hard, but it is doing extremely well in the

:26:20. > :26:24.circumstances. If you are not giving extra money for the NHS, could you

:26:25. > :26:29.carry on as Health Secretary? I would like to carry on as Health

:26:30. > :26:32.Secretary. There are a lot of things I would like to do. I'm very

:26:33. > :26:38.committed to this job. It is the best job I've ever done. And we have

:26:39. > :26:42.shown in terms of our financial commitment, we have shown how

:26:43. > :26:45.committed we are this Parliament. And what we do in a future spending

:26:46. > :26:50.round will be the subject of future negotiations. It you can see

:26:51. > :26:55.priorities by the way NHS spend has gone up, despite huge financial

:26:56. > :27:00.pressures. If you were doing such a great job, why do only 5% of health

:27:01. > :27:05.professionals in that recent poll think that your reforms were

:27:06. > :27:09.positive? What I care about is what patients say, and if you look at

:27:10. > :27:16.what patients say about their NHS care, they are very happy. Things

:27:17. > :27:20.that they worried about being addressed. We have put hospitals and

:27:21. > :27:24.a special measures, and five have been turned around. That was a

:27:25. > :27:29.problem that the last government swept under the carpet. And I think

:27:30. > :27:34.patients say about their local NHS that they think it is doing well. If

:27:35. > :27:39.patients are a so happy, why does Labour have an 18 point lead on the

:27:40. > :27:43.NHS over the Tories? They have been very clever at exploiting it is an

:27:44. > :27:48.issue, and it is their traditional comfort zone. But if Labour want to

:27:49. > :27:51.have a battle on the NHS, we are very proud and we think it is doing

:27:52. > :27:54.well in challenging circumstances, and we have a plan for the future

:27:55. > :27:59.that will help to continue to make sure that the NHS is there in the

:28:00. > :28:01.way that we need it to be, and that is what the Prime Minister's

:28:02. > :28:07.announcement about extending GP access is about, it is about

:28:08. > :28:11.changing the NHS for a society with different expectations, and we are

:28:12. > :28:15.delivering that. If you are, why do the polls show

:28:16. > :28:17.that the NHS has risen to the third most important issue in the country,

:28:18. > :28:23.just the low the economy and immigration? Concern has been rising

:28:24. > :28:28.among the public, so why would that be if people are so happy? I would

:28:29. > :28:32.dispute that it has risen to being the third biggest worry. I think

:28:33. > :28:34.people have always been concerned about the NHS because it is one of

:28:35. > :28:39.the most important things to everyone in this country. They want

:28:40. > :28:43.to be able to see their GP, get to hospital in an emergency. This is

:28:44. > :28:47.something that matters to all of us. And what we should be saying to the

:28:48. > :28:51.British people is that if we want a strong NHS, we have to have a strong

:28:52. > :28:58.economy. It is not a choice between the two. You need a strong economy

:28:59. > :29:02.to pay for a strong NHS. And only one party, the Conservative party,

:29:03. > :29:07.can offer both. Last week at the Labour conference, they put the NHS

:29:08. > :29:12.at the centre of their election campaign. Do you welcome that?

:29:13. > :29:15.Absolutely. When people look at the Labour record in Wales, where they

:29:16. > :29:21.have been running the NHS for the last four years with frankly

:29:22. > :29:24.appalling consequences, and they haven't been facing up to the poor

:29:25. > :29:28.care in the number of hospitals, and people look at some of the problems

:29:29. > :29:32.Labour left behind in the NHS, if they were to scrutinise that, they

:29:33. > :29:36.are welcome. But we will stand on our record, because the NHS is done

:29:37. > :29:45.very well. How does that square with Lynton Crosby's edict, the man who

:29:46. > :29:49.is going to run the year of 2015 campaign, that you shouldn't talk

:29:50. > :29:55.about the NHS at all? He doesn't say that. He pretty much does. What he's

:29:56. > :29:59.saying is that what is important for people's families is that they have

:30:00. > :30:03.jobs, and we have created 2 million in the private sector. That they

:30:04. > :30:08.have a growing economy, we inherited a shrinking one, and we have turned

:30:09. > :30:11.it around. And that you have the kind of economy that can fund more

:30:12. > :30:16.than public services, which is what this Government has delivered. Can I

:30:17. > :30:22.just clarify on one last point. Already acute hospitals have got a

:30:23. > :30:26.half ?1 billion deficit so far, and it looks like they are heading for a

:30:27. > :30:32.?1 billion deficit. How do you feel that? The NHS as a whole world

:30:33. > :30:36.balances books. It is challenging for individual hospitals. But why?

:30:37. > :30:40.Because before when they had financial pressures, they would cut

:30:41. > :30:45.staff numbers, and we had short-staffed walls, particularly in

:30:46. > :30:50.some of the elderly care wards. Now they know that is not a notch on. We

:30:51. > :30:53.treat every single patient with dignity and respect and

:30:54. > :31:01.compassionate care. So it takes longer. That is interesting, what

:31:02. > :31:05.you said, but is not the answer to what I asked you, which is how will

:31:06. > :31:08.you feel this ?1 billion black hole?

:31:09. > :31:14.As I said the NHS will balance its books. I'm certain we will do that,

:31:15. > :31:18.with the plans in place. We will work with trusts where there are

:31:19. > :31:20.deficits to make sure that happens. Theresa May is speaking to the

:31:21. > :31:26.conference now. Boris is going to follow. Which one do you fancy to be

:31:27. > :31:30.the next Tory leader? I fanessy David Cameron, he is doing a

:31:31. > :31:34.fantastic job. -- fancy. He will be our next Prime Minister

:31:35. > :31:37.and lead this country through one of the biggest challenges since we have

:31:38. > :31:40.had since the Second World War and British people know it is an

:31:41. > :31:44.extraordinary thing to do. See yourself as leader one day? I think

:31:45. > :31:50.David Cameron will be the man. He is not going to be oorned forever as he

:31:51. > :31:56.said during the Scottish referendum, whenever he goes. When he falls,

:31:57. > :32:02.Prime Minister Hunt. I think Health Secretary Hunt for five years, is my

:32:03. > :32:07.ambition. Prime Minister Cameron is the Prime Minister. You want to say

:32:08. > :32:10.as Health Secretary? I do. A sucker for punishment.

:32:11. > :32:15.Thank you investment We mentioned Boris is coming up. Our Giles was

:32:16. > :32:20.out and about voks popping as we say in the business -- vox popping.

:32:21. > :32:24.Let's see what he Z

:32:25. > :32:39.Rewe looking forward to Boris? Yes, I suppose so. Why? I wish he would

:32:40. > :32:45.talk more sense and stop the messing about. He says humorous things. They

:32:46. > :32:50.stick with you. What is the Boris affect? I don't know. I think he is

:32:51. > :32:57.a sort of popstar of the political world. The fact is, when he came to

:32:58. > :33:03.Leeds I have never seen so many people crowd round and want to meet

:33:04. > :33:06.him. We should tap into it. You are definitely jealous. Of course I am.

:33:07. > :33:14.Are youk looking forward to Boris? Very much looking forward to him.

:33:15. > :33:27.Why does he get some pulses racing and others maybe not? Boris. An

:33:28. > :33:31.exciting mayor. It is... Interesting -- because he is Boris He has more

:33:32. > :33:36.charisma than a normal politician. I'm excited to see what he is going

:33:37. > :33:41.to see especially now he has announced he is going to be an MP.

:33:42. > :33:47.He exkuds friendliness and passion and warmth. You are swaying talking

:33:48. > :33:52.about him. I think he is lovely. He is lovely. That's what she said.

:33:53. > :33:56.Anyway, Boris is speaking shortly. Theresa May the Home Secretary is

:33:57. > :33:59.still speaking to the hall. The hall is increasingly filling up. I kind

:34:00. > :34:04.of suspect they are all there to see Boris. Boris Johnson, what is a

:34:05. > :34:07.party to do with him? If he no 'S phenomenon, a spectacle. A

:34:08. > :34:13.fairground show, a show pony, they love him. You mean's con? He is not

:34:14. > :34:18.a conbut people, were they to come to consider him as a possible Prime

:34:19. > :34:23.Minister, would be asking different questions from the questions they

:34:24. > :34:27.are asking now. Is he fun? Is he going to be entertaining? He is all

:34:28. > :34:30.those things and this party like all political parties are short on that.

:34:31. > :34:33.Would they be asking tougher questions if there was a prospect he

:34:34. > :34:37.could become leader of this party and Prime Minister They would be

:34:38. > :34:40.asking much, much tougher questions. I'm not saying there wouldn't be an

:34:41. > :34:45.answer to them but the questions have not been asked yet. He is on

:34:46. > :34:49.message this morning. If I were Boris and wanted to be leader of the

:34:50. > :34:53.Conservative Party. I would worry about the frenzy that surrounds him.

:34:54. > :34:57.When people attract this degree of kind of hysteria, they never become

:34:58. > :35:01.leader. When Michael Portillo used to come to Tory conferences, he was

:35:02. > :35:06.adored, a similar frenzy. It never worked. Tony Benn for Labour in the

:35:07. > :35:10.'80s, a frenzy you could feel around the whole town of the conference. I

:35:11. > :35:14.was chairing a fringe meeting next door to him last night. I could feel

:35:15. > :35:18.the atmosphere from his fringe meeting in our fringe meeting but it

:35:19. > :35:22.is dangerous for him. In the end, it will go wrong in terms of the

:35:23. > :35:25.leadership. There will be disappointment to accompany the

:35:26. > :35:30.frenzy at some point. But there was a frenzy for Mr Benn at Labour

:35:31. > :35:36.Conferences from the left. It was ideological, there was a frenzy from

:35:37. > :35:41.Mr Portillo from the right of the Conservatives before we on This Week

:35:42. > :35:46.reinvented him and made him a more cuddly, nicer figure. These are eye

:35:47. > :35:50.legal logical. The Boris frenzy, I would suggest is the cult of

:35:51. > :35:56.personality. With the other two it was about personality. Benn was a

:35:57. > :36:05.mesmerising orator. Mr Portillo didn't have a personality. He had an

:36:06. > :36:09.aura. An aura? He did. It is not what you are living with on Thursday

:36:10. > :36:15.night. It went beyond ideological. But you are right they were rooted

:36:16. > :36:20.in their parties and that was their appeal. He moves all over the place.

:36:21. > :36:25.That could be a problem. It is a cult of personality. He is an

:36:26. > :36:28.ideological chameleon, isn't he? All politics is about personality but

:36:29. > :36:33.there is a serious danger for Boris Johnson. That is, I think, he is

:36:34. > :36:36.trying to court the interest of the Conservative right. He is not a

:36:37. > :36:44.right-wing politician. He is a middle of the road, liberal... A

:36:45. > :36:49.social Liberal. Lotion Liberal. -- 'S 'S' social Liberal. He quite

:36:50. > :36:53.likes Europe and immigration. So something that could happen, preever

:36:54. > :36:58.to run seriously for the leadership, is he would have to betray the

:36:59. > :37:02.Conservative right. That problem could come over the hills. He is

:37:03. > :37:06.playing the populist card at the moment. And his speeches are also

:37:07. > :37:15.all over the place ideological. Some of them have been quite Keynesen.

:37:16. > :37:20.Putting the London economy, benefitting the UK economy. Then he

:37:21. > :37:24.will argue for a much smaller state. Then he says he wants to be in

:37:25. > :37:27.Europe and then hint happy outside Europe. These things would have to

:37:28. > :37:30.be tested if he were to stand for the leadership. That would apply to

:37:31. > :37:33.other candidates. I mean they are all pitching right wards at the

:37:34. > :37:39.moment because that's where they feel they need the support to read a

:37:40. > :37:44.leadership contest. In the end, coherent messages win leadership

:37:45. > :37:49.contests. It is widely assumed if Mr Miliband loses in May, he will

:37:50. > :37:53.resign as Labour Leader. If Mr Cameron loses in May, he will resign

:37:54. > :37:58.as Conservative leader. If he does resign as Conservative leader, do we

:37:59. > :38:02.assume Boris will throw his hat in the ring, as night follow day, and

:38:03. > :38:05.who will be the other candidates? Well, Boris has promised that he

:38:06. > :38:10.wouldn't do that, but he has broken promises before. I would expect he

:38:11. > :38:14.would break this one. You say I'm on message today. I'm not sure, because

:38:15. > :38:20.I think if the Conservative Party lose the next election, all hell is

:38:21. > :38:26.going to break loose within the party. It will be chaos and it'll go

:38:27. > :38:31.on for years. Would it be possible, do you think, for someone to become

:38:32. > :38:34.leader of this post-defeat Conservative Party, we are

:38:35. > :38:38.hypothesising, who was in favour of staying in the European Union? I

:38:39. > :38:40.think it would be possible for someone who pretended they were

:38:41. > :38:45.against Europe, but weren't really. And that might be somebody like

:38:46. > :38:47.Boris. I think in defeat the Conservative Party would be looking

:38:48. > :38:51.for reassurance and something colourful. So it would be either be

:38:52. > :38:56.somebody from the right of the party or it would be Boris Johnson. In

:38:57. > :39:02.defeat is there not a danger of a reverse takeover by Nigel Farage?

:39:03. > :39:06.Yes. You say yes. In victory, too, Europe is going to be a massive,

:39:07. > :39:13.massive problem for Cameron to manage. Funny enough, I think in

:39:14. > :39:17.defeat it becomes - as Matthew said - all hell breaks loose but it

:39:18. > :39:20.becomes in a less pressurised context than in government, where he

:39:21. > :39:24.has to deliver a renegotiation that will appeal to enough of his party.

:39:25. > :39:28.Let's start with his parliamentary party. I can't see how he does that.

:39:29. > :39:32.So Europe will remain an issue for this party. A huge issue, in power

:39:33. > :39:37.or out. And whether a new leader this party. A huge issue, in power

:39:38. > :39:40.come in on a manifesto which says staying in Europe is their

:39:41. > :39:44.preferable option is an interesting question. I suspect they can,

:39:45. > :39:49.because I think defeat will be traumatic and will lead to an

:39:50. > :39:53.introspection which might not necessarily head towards Farage. If

:39:54. > :39:55.it is defeat, this will be an even more eurosceptic party. Hold that

:39:56. > :40:00.thought. I have been told that the Mayor of London has finally made it

:40:01. > :40:03.to the stage. And there he is in the hall. Going to the podium. Let's

:40:04. > :40:05.hear from Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

:40:06. > :40:09.Good morning everybody. Thank you for that lovely introduction. Can I

:40:10. > :40:15.just say, not only is Tanya going to be a fantastic MP, but she will do

:40:16. > :40:20.this country the service of removing Vince Cable from Parliament, which

:40:21. > :40:24.is a wonderful -- a wonderful thing to be doing. It is fantastic to be

:40:25. > :40:29.here in Birmingham, everybody but before I go any further, I just want

:40:30. > :40:32.to check one thing. I want to check - is everybody here? Are we all

:40:33. > :40:39.here, by in large, proud Conservatives? Yes. Are we proud of

:40:40. > :40:44.the oldest and most successful party in all western democracies? Yes Do

:40:45. > :40:48.we intend to fight the next election under the Conservative banner and no

:40:49. > :40:56.other? Yes. Are there any defectors here? No. Are there any quitters or

:40:57. > :41:06.splitters? No Anybody silly being yellow around the edges, like a

:41:07. > :41:11.kipper? LAUGHTER If I can quote a great Midlands' author "He wish hath

:41:12. > :41:18.no stomach to the fight, let him depart." He was from Midlands but of

:41:19. > :41:23.course came to London. Indeed - if she has no stomach let her depart I

:41:24. > :41:26.think this is a fantastic time to be a Conservative. I think in the last

:41:27. > :41:37.few weeks, particularly last week, we have seen the beginning of the

:41:38. > :41:41.end tap owe ka-consensus that Ed Miliband could get into power by

:41:42. > :41:48.pandering to his core vote and relying on the gross unfairness of

:41:49. > :41:55.the electoral system. The chattering classes are waking up to the reality

:41:56. > :42:00.that victory is within our grasp, in the next eight months and I think

:42:01. > :42:04.last week in Manchester, you saw the final explosion of the myth that

:42:05. > :42:11.Labour is doomed to success. Because... LAUGHTER. In setting out

:42:12. > :42:15.what should have been his programme to the country, the Labour Leader

:42:16. > :42:20.gave a surreal speech in which he described how he tried to find

:42:21. > :42:24.material by randomly accosting young people in London parks, desperately

:42:25. > :42:28.hoping for inspiration And yet, he failed in all of this, to mention

:42:29. > :42:33.the economy. As George rightly pointed out the other day. My

:42:34. > :42:40.friends, it can only be called a Freuden slip. His subspshes

:42:41. > :42:47.rebelled. The baggage handlers in his memory went on strike. As indeed

:42:48. > :42:51.they would... APPLAUSE

:42:52. > :42:54.As indeed they woop under a Labour -- as indeed they would under a

:42:55. > :43:00.Labour Government And they refused to load the word "deficit" on to the

:43:01. > :43:05.conveyor belt of his tongue. On the central question of politics, he

:43:06. > :43:15.knows it is we Conservatives who are taking the country forward and

:43:16. > :43:20.Labour would take us back to the Brown/Blair slash Balls/Miliband

:43:21. > :43:25.regime that difficult gave us the worst recession for 100 years. We

:43:26. > :43:33.don't want to go back, do we? Things are going well for our country and

:43:34. > :43:38.on the verge of getting better. People will object to me saying

:43:39. > :43:42.this, I'm just the tow rag Mayor of London where things are supposed to

:43:43. > :43:48.be so different indeed. I noticed over the recent months of the

:43:49. > :43:52.campaign in Scotland there was a slight noe note of not just

:43:53. > :43:57.Anglo-phobia but London phobia by some of the friends in the Scottish

:43:58. > :44:00.National Party, a suggestion that Londoners were politically, cultural

:44:01. > :44:03.and economically divorced from the rest of the country and to listen to

:44:04. > :44:09.some of the London bashing, you might think that our capital was a

:44:10. > :44:14.modern Babylon, with billionaires being plied with hot towels on the

:44:15. > :44:25.top deck club class of their swanky new buses or guzzling pearls

:44:26. > :44:29.dissolved in Srinagar. -- VIP egar, while lolling back on the padded

:44:30. > :44:34.cushions of their Barclay's hire bikes.

:44:35. > :44:39.APPLAUSE. AND WHILST I REJECT THIS RUBBISH, I

:44:40. > :44:43.WOULD HAVE TO admit one of the rain reasons why I don't want this

:44:44. > :44:47.country to lurch back it Labour, is that the current story of London is

:44:48. > :44:54.one of amazing success. And success that in so many ways helps everybody

:44:55. > :44:58.in the City, as Theresa May has just said, getting crime down, which is

:44:59. > :45:03.of such moneyed fennel importance to everybody throughout our city. We

:45:04. > :45:08.have a murder rate reduced by roughly 50% over the last six years,

:45:09. > :45:13.to pick a period at entirely random. And we have bus crime down by about

:45:14. > :45:16.40%, which obviously not crime-committed by bus, which is

:45:17. > :45:23.very rare indeed now but crime committed on buses. I echo much of

:45:24. > :45:27.what Teresa said and I would like to pay tribute to the thousands of men

:45:28. > :45:32.and women of the Metropolitan Police who work to bring crime down in our

:45:33. > :45:34.city and I think they are doing absolutely a fantastic job.

:45:35. > :45:47.APPLAUSE If you press me, I would admit that

:45:48. > :45:51.we are going through an unprecedented era of improvement in

:45:52. > :45:57.our transport line, the Victoria line faster, the Jubilee line

:45:58. > :46:03.faster, delays on the tube down 40%, air conditioning coming in even on

:46:04. > :46:10.the deep tube, crossrail on time, on budget, a monumental feat of British

:46:11. > :46:15.engineering. And next year, under a Conservative mayor, we will be

:46:16. > :46:18.taking the Northern line through the Battersea, the first time anyone has

:46:19. > :46:24.put together enough drive it finance to build a role where in London

:46:25. > :46:35.since the days of Margaret Thatcher. -- a railway in London. George is

:46:36. > :46:40.underwriting it, but if you pull my toenails out, I would confess to you

:46:41. > :46:45.that post-Olympic London is the most popular and most successful city on

:46:46. > :46:54.earth. We had 16.9 million tourist visitors last year, knocking Paris

:46:55. > :46:57.off the number one spot. We are building a superb garden bridge in

:46:58. > :47:03.the middle of the city, doing fantastic things in the Olympic

:47:04. > :47:08.Park, I could go on and on. My point to you today is that if someone

:47:09. > :47:12.tells you that that means London is somehow different from the rest of

:47:13. > :47:16.the country, and above all, if they try to imply that what happens in

:47:17. > :47:23.London is irrelevant to the economic fortunes of our nation, then I would

:47:24. > :47:30.respectfully tell them that they are talking through the back of their

:47:31. > :47:36.net. At this conference, we can say with pride that London remains not

:47:37. > :47:41.just the capital of England but, thanks to the wisdom of a clear

:47:42. > :47:45.majority of Scott, it is the capital of Britain and the capital of the

:47:46. > :47:55.United Kingdom. APPLAUSE

:47:56. > :48:06.And will, I believe, remain so for our lifetimes. You have permission

:48:07. > :48:13.to purr if you so choose, Dave. APPLAUSE

:48:14. > :48:23.When the great flywheel of the London economy turns, it drives the

:48:24. > :48:28.vast and intricately connected locomotives that is the British

:48:29. > :48:31.economy. You have heard in the past how I have talked about the impact

:48:32. > :48:41.of London transport contracts on the rest of the economy, investing

:48:42. > :48:53.billions on vehicles from Liverpool and Ballymena. You have heard me

:48:54. > :48:55.point out that there would be no financial services industry in

:48:56. > :49:01.Edinburgh if it was not for London, and now let me give you a yet more

:49:02. > :49:11.concrete and yet more substantial, tangible example. Behold this

:49:12. > :49:25.brick. It was given to me yesterday in Newcastle under Lyme. A

:49:26. > :49:33.constituency where we Conservatives - I won't throw it - a constituency

:49:34. > :49:37.where we may well win, and they have built a factory which only started

:49:38. > :49:41.last year and is being propelled by the positive benefits of help to

:49:42. > :49:48.buy, and is capable of making 80 million of these objects per year.

:49:49. > :49:54.APPLAUSE And if you want to know why that

:49:55. > :50:04.factory is starting to hire people and fire bricks in huge numbers,

:50:05. > :50:09.look at the skyline of London sprouting with extraordinary growth

:50:10. > :50:16.like a speeded up David Attenborough nature film about the return of

:50:17. > :50:19.spring to the Canadian tundra, and that was why Ed Miliband was silent

:50:20. > :50:24.on the key issue facing our country. That was why his son conscious opts

:50:25. > :50:31.to him and implored him not to mention the economy. -- his

:50:32. > :50:35.subconscious. The difference between us and Labour is that they talk and

:50:36. > :50:42.we do. APPLAUSE

:50:43. > :50:55.As Ed Miliband's great hero Engels almost put it, and outs of Tory

:50:56. > :51:03.action is worth a tonne of Labour fury. What is the answer to our

:51:04. > :51:11.housing problem? Is it to put a new tax on housing? Punishing those who

:51:12. > :51:16.have worked hard for years to pay their mortgages and hope to pass on

:51:17. > :51:21.something to their children? Is that the right way forward? Or is it to

:51:22. > :51:24.do what all great Conservative administrations have done over the

:51:25. > :51:31.last 100 years, and to build homes that people need? And to help them

:51:32. > :51:35.onto the property ladder. And I am proud to say that in London it is

:51:36. > :51:38.not just that we have enabled to build more affordable homes in the

:51:39. > :51:48.recession than Labour ever did in the boom, and we will get up to over

:51:49. > :51:54.100,000 soon. We are building places with gardens, decent room sizes. And

:51:55. > :51:58.I look at the 38 post-industrial Brownfield opportunity areas across

:51:59. > :52:01.the city and I see space to build hundreds of thousands, 400,000

:52:02. > :52:08.perhaps more without getting anywhere near the green belt, and I

:52:09. > :52:12.want those homes marketed first. And sold first, the people from this

:52:13. > :52:24.country, and people from London, and not necessarily to oligarchs from

:52:25. > :52:32.the planet Zog. But I want to reassure you that I am very far from

:52:33. > :52:40.Zoggist, and most of my ancestors came from Zog. But that is the

:52:41. > :52:48.challenge, to build more homes. We will need 1 billion of these

:52:49. > :52:54.bricks. Brick, you will not be alone. He will not be alone when he

:52:55. > :52:58.comes to London. And that is a lot of work.

:52:59. > :53:08.APPLAUSE That is a lot of work for factories

:53:09. > :53:13.in the Midlands. And there are pipes, bathrooms, the whole

:53:14. > :53:16.caboodle. And those businesses are not just supporting the London

:53:17. > :53:38.economy. They are exported around the world. And I have been around a

:53:39. > :53:42.bit, and I have seen a tie factory where they are taking on more

:53:43. > :54:01.workers to satisfy the demand for common cummerbunds in China. And a

:54:02. > :54:08.factory making chillies and working with the Indian government to supply

:54:09. > :54:15.weapons strength chillies from Wiltshire for crowd control and

:54:16. > :54:21.managing riots. Isn't that amazing? I have tried it. Believe me, they

:54:22. > :54:35.will be begging for water cannon! Everywhere I go, I see new ideas in

:54:36. > :54:39.this country, new businesses starting up and a new conference.

:54:40. > :54:44.And what is the best way to support those start-ups? What is the best

:54:45. > :54:48.way of giving hope, not just the kids coming onto the job market but

:54:49. > :54:54.people in their 40s and 50s who have been hit by the recession, people

:54:55. > :54:59.who may be coming onto the job market in their 50s, like me. Is it

:55:00. > :55:06.more regulation? Is that the answer? Is it higher income taxes as

:55:07. > :55:13.Ed Balls once, for anyone earning more than ?26,000? One of those

:55:14. > :55:17.Labour policies that Ed Miliband mysteriously wiped from his data

:55:18. > :55:22.banks as he stood up to speak. Do you think for one second that Labour

:55:23. > :55:25.is going to help those companies to grow or take on more staff or be

:55:26. > :55:32.more ambitious? Of course they won't. For 200 years, our party has

:55:33. > :55:37.been the party that believes in social justice, in managing and

:55:38. > :55:46.mitigating the worst effects of the free market. We believe that you

:55:47. > :55:50.have got to go that way. We believe we are the best answered inequality,

:55:51. > :55:54.opportunity. We believe in in courage and success, not punishing

:55:55. > :55:59.it. We believe in wealth creation, not constant levelling down. And we

:56:00. > :56:02.believe that for all its defects, the free market is the best means we

:56:03. > :56:08.have yet found for satisfying the wants of humanity. And that is why

:56:09. > :56:15.all of our policies are aimed at getting people into work, creating

:56:16. > :56:20.250,000 apprenticeships, as we are doing in London, or as we will have

:56:21. > :56:30.done, aiming for 3 million across the country? Nod the Prime Minister.

:56:31. > :56:37.And willing people to work hard, they get up early, they do the 24/7

:56:38. > :56:43.jobs that make London the capital of the world. We Conservatives believe

:56:44. > :56:46.that they should be decently paid, and that is why I am so proud of

:56:47. > :56:51.what we have done with the London living wage, now paid by...

:56:52. > :57:00.APPLAUSE It is now paid by about 408 firms, a

:57:01. > :57:04.1200% increase on what Labour ever achieved when they were in office,

:57:05. > :57:12.putting almost ?100 million into the pockets of the poorest families in

:57:13. > :57:17.London. Not by compulsion, not by legislation, not by coercion, not by

:57:18. > :57:20.negotiation with Len McCluskey, but by simply showing companies that it

:57:21. > :57:25.is the right thing to do, not just for their employees but for those

:57:26. > :57:33.companies themselves, because, believe me, that investment in their

:57:34. > :57:38.people shows up in the bottom line, in lower HR bills, less absenteeism,

:57:39. > :57:46.higher productivity, loyalty, commitment. That is the Conservative

:57:47. > :57:54.approach. Cutting taxes wherever we can, managing our responsibilities

:57:55. > :57:58.as we have done in London. Governing economically and responsibly to let

:57:59. > :58:06.people on low incomes keep more of what they earn, as this Government

:58:07. > :58:11.has done, reducing the burdens on business that create the wealth we

:58:12. > :58:16.need. And the last thing we need is more regulation from Brussels,

:58:17. > :58:20.folks. And in common with many other people around the Yukon I want

:58:21. > :58:25.reform not just of the CAB that costs every family ?400 per year in

:58:26. > :58:31.food costs, not just of the common fisheries policy, I want to change

:58:32. > :58:36.the whole mentality that pervades the Brussels commission, and that

:58:37. > :58:40.tells us, tells them that they can decide how powerful our vacuum

:58:41. > :58:50.cleaners should be, a point on which I will not elaborate. There is only

:58:51. > :58:56.one leader in Europe who can deliver that reform. One man who has the

:58:57. > :59:02.experience and the respect in Europe to make the case, and then take that

:59:03. > :59:07.case to the people of this country in the in/out referendum that we

:59:08. > :59:15.have been denied for 40 years. And that man is not Salmond or Clegg or

:59:16. > :59:17.Farage, because not one of the will give us a referendum. That man is

:59:18. > :59:36.David Cameron. APPLAUSE

:59:37. > :59:40.The man who has the natural authority around that table in

:59:41. > :59:46.Brussels that goes with the leadership of the fastest-growing

:59:47. > :59:48.economy. And that is the man who is going to lead our country into 2015

:59:49. > :59:57.and beyond, my friends. APPLAUSE

:59:58. > :00:09.That's our new fisheries policy that we need. First chuck Salmond

:00:10. > :00:18.overboard. He then, then eat the kippers for breakfast.

:00:19. > :00:26.We will fight them on the beaches of Clacton, won't we? And we'll fight

:00:27. > :00:30.them and defeat them on the beaches of Rochester and Strood as well.

:00:31. > :00:34.While we are on the subject of constitutional common sense I want

:00:35. > :00:41.it end the nonsense and I'm sure you all want to, that allows Labour MPs

:00:42. > :00:45.to sit in Parliament and vote on English matters when they have no

:00:46. > :00:54.corresponding powers in Scot lands and those Scottish MPs have no say

:00:55. > :00:58.in those matters in so far might affect their own constituents. David

:00:59. > :01:02.Cameron is the only leader to pledge to sort out that anomaly. I was

:01:03. > :01:07.looking at the way the London economy is developing. We now export

:01:08. > :01:11.more music to America than we import. Which is incredible when you

:01:12. > :01:17.consider the relatively sizes of our economy. The great music trade is

:01:18. > :01:21.predominantly westward across the Atlantic which is presumably we have

:01:22. > :01:29.a band called One Direction. There is a joke there somewhere, anyway. I

:01:30. > :01:33.don't know if you saw the film, a wonderful film with George Clooney

:01:34. > :01:39.and Sandra Bullock called Gravity. You see the cowering of the

:01:40. > :01:44.interstellar projectile going past them like a couple o pensioners

:01:45. > :01:48.shouldering from Ed Miliband's new property taxes. Where did those

:01:49. > :01:55.asteroids come from? They didn't come from outer space. Each and

:01:56. > :02:01.every one, manufactured in Soho. Look at the text sector, which

:02:02. > :02:05.London is now dominant in Europe, much to the irritation, by the way

:02:06. > :02:09.Angela Merkel, who can see that we are taking off now in the 21st

:02:10. > :02:15.century industries that are going to matter to all Western economies. We

:02:16. > :02:24.lead in biotech, fin tech, nano-tech, green tech, tech. And all

:02:25. > :02:28.types of tech. And that affect - that cluster of energy and

:02:29. > :02:32.enterprise in London has now long-since spread over the last few

:02:33. > :02:36.years. You can see it all over the country, spreading into Birmingham,

:02:37. > :02:42.to Manchester. Every other great city. Just as the canal that I ran

:02:43. > :02:47.or rather to thorred along this morning, is part of the same great

:02:48. > :02:50.interconnected body of water, that flows right past my house in

:02:51. > :02:54.Islington, fancy that, exactly the same. All joined up. That's the

:02:55. > :02:58.strength and diversity of the London economy, shared with the rest of the

:02:59. > :03:03.UK. And it is not, by the way, just in tech and media and culture and

:03:04. > :03:08.creativity. It is also in manufacturing. I think I'm right in

:03:09. > :03:12.saying - we are on the verge of - that's why Angela Merkel is so worry

:03:13. > :03:16.about our tech success, because we are on the verge of doing so well in

:03:17. > :03:21.the old metal-bashing industries as well. We are on the verge of

:03:22. > :03:24.becoming I think the second-biggest car manufacturer in Europe. An

:03:25. > :03:27.astounding thing to have achieved for this country, when you consider

:03:28. > :03:33.where we were in the 1970s. APPLAUSE

:03:34. > :03:38.And, let me conclude by saying, that if you go out for an evening in Las

:03:39. > :03:44.Vegas, if you are lucky to go out for an evening in Las Vegas, as so

:03:45. > :03:50.many bright young British people do, and have a wonderful time and you

:03:51. > :03:56.missed the last - you know, somehow or other you lose your bearings, and

:03:57. > :04:00.you wake up with a thundering hangover - you know. It is going to

:04:01. > :04:06.happen in Las Vegas. And you find yourself sheltering under the anding

:04:07. > :04:12.of a bus stop. -- under a the awning. Suppose you missed the last

:04:13. > :04:15.limo home and have to caught a bus, which is possible in Las Vegas. Do

:04:16. > :04:22.you know, the chances are, that that bus stop will be made in London.

:04:23. > :04:31.And that busstop, I am proud to say, is very likely to have been made,

:04:32. > :04:37.not just in London, but in the London borough of Hillingdon. A

:04:38. > :04:45.borough I hope, very much, to represent in Parliament next year.

:04:46. > :04:50.APPLAUSE And I want to thank... APPLAUSE

:04:51. > :04:54.I want to thank the organisers of this conference of giving me quite

:04:55. > :04:59.so much time to a mere prospective parliamentary candidate for Uxbridge

:05:00. > :05:03.and South Ruislip. And as I look ahead, folks, I can see only one

:05:04. > :05:07.obstacle that we have to clear in the next few years and that is the

:05:08. > :05:12.threat of a Labour Government next year. So, let us unite now. Let's

:05:13. > :05:19.get together. Let's get the whole Conservative family together and

:05:20. > :05:23.take the fight to the unrepentant unreconstructed semi Marxist mill

:05:24. > :05:29.and Balls and their plan to take this country back to the policies

:05:30. > :05:33.that led us to disaster last time. -- Miliband and Balls.

:05:34. > :05:39.And let's be proud of our party and what we have done. When people doubt

:05:40. > :05:43.us and our intentions, let's explain again and again our fundamental

:05:44. > :05:47.Conservative insight that it is only by encouraging and enabling wealth

:05:48. > :05:51.creation that we can hope, as a nation, to protect the vulnerable

:05:52. > :05:57.and the needy and deliver the social justice, in which we believe. And,

:05:58. > :06:03.if we can get over that simultaneous message of hope, and enterprise, the

:06:04. > :06:08.real one-nation message, then I have no doubt that we can win in 2015.

:06:09. > :06:15.And win big. APPLAUSE So let's leave Ed Balls to

:06:16. > :06:23.his football practice or whatever he gets up to. Let's leave Ed Miliband

:06:24. > :06:28.to master the art of a bacon sarnie. Let's leave the Clegger, old Nick

:06:29. > :06:31.Clegg to get on with whatever it is that he does, which I haven't quite

:06:32. > :06:37.discovered. Let us Conservatives get on with our work of unleashing the

:06:38. > :06:41.talents of the people of this country, and the most dynamic

:06:42. > :06:43.economy in Europe. Thank you very much for listening to me and see you

:06:44. > :06:53.at the barricades. Thank you. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

:06:54. > :06:57.The Prime Minister made sure he was first to his feet there as Boris

:06:58. > :07:01.Johnson came to the end of his remarks. Mr Cameron always likes to

:07:02. > :07:05.be seen to be enjoying Boris Johnson's speech. I'm sure he does -

:07:06. > :07:10.perhaps. Anyway, Mr Johnson followed the Home

:07:11. > :07:14.Secretary, Theresa May. She gave us a very sombre speech about the

:07:15. > :07:21.terrorist threat. Mr Johnson was more in character with the more

:07:22. > :07:26.barnstorming approach. You can see he filled the hall there. Clint

:07:27. > :07:29.Eastwood once spoke to a chair at a republic convention and Boris

:07:30. > :07:33.Johnson at a Conservative Party Conference today spoke to a brick. I

:07:34. > :07:38.guess, if you can do one, you can do the other. We are joined by a couple

:07:39. > :07:42.of Tory MPs. We'll talk about Europe in a minute.

:07:43. > :07:46.Let's talk about Boris. Is he the future leader of your party? He is

:07:47. > :07:49.obviously one of the runners and riders but I'm not sure we are

:07:50. > :07:52.planning to change our leader for sometime. We are going to win the

:07:53. > :07:55.election and David Cameron will be the Prime Minister. If it did come

:07:56. > :08:00.to changing leader, would you consider him kindly? I would

:08:01. > :08:04.consider all the candidates. I understand that, but would you

:08:05. > :08:07.consider him kindly? I would consider all the candidates very

:08:08. > :08:14.kindly, Andrew. You would? Yes. What about you? I think we've got A, a

:08:15. > :08:19.very good leader now and a lot of very good potential future leaders,

:08:20. > :08:24.including Boris. Including Boris? Is he on your side on Europe, do you

:08:25. > :08:30.think? I'm not sure. I think he very much sees the benefits of being in

:08:31. > :08:34.the European Union, but like me and most members of the country he wants

:08:35. > :08:37.to see changes in the way we do business with Europe and the way

:08:38. > :08:41.Europe does business with us. Is he on your side? I attended a very good

:08:42. > :08:46.fringe meeting yesterday which was also address bid Gerard Lions the

:08:47. > :08:49.economist. He has produced this very comprehensive document about the

:08:50. > :08:52.City of London and our future in Europe. He says, quite rightly, that

:08:53. > :08:56.we have great opportunities outside the European Union, as well as

:08:57. > :09:00.within the European Union but we have to get the relationship with

:09:01. > :09:05.the European Union right. Let's stick with Europe. Jeremy here quite

:09:06. > :09:07.likes the EU, Bernard, not so much. What about the party faithful here

:09:08. > :09:13.in Birmingham? Here is our Giles. If there's one issue that the Tories

:09:14. > :09:16.feel very passionately about, one issue that divides them more

:09:17. > :09:19.than any other and one issue that some party strategists wish would

:09:20. > :09:22.just go away - it's Europe. David Cameron is going to offer

:09:23. > :09:24.a referendum "in/out" in 2017. There are a huge mix of views

:09:25. > :09:30.in the Conservative Party. But I think there is

:09:31. > :09:32.a general assumption that If you had a referendum right now,

:09:33. > :09:37.in or out? We should be in the European Union,

:09:38. > :09:39.I strongly believe that. It does need a lot of reform,

:09:40. > :09:46.don't get me wrong, absolutely. We can't have the uncertainty,

:09:47. > :09:49.business needs to know, in or out, but and we should stay in

:09:50. > :09:51.as a result. Obviously in Government but

:09:52. > :09:54.but out of the EU. My instinct is that we're very

:09:55. > :09:58.likely to be out, unless the Prime Minister can pull

:09:59. > :10:00.something real good out You are allowed one vote

:10:01. > :10:06.and one ball. Well, it's got to be out, guys,

:10:07. > :10:10.there you go. Because we are fed up with

:10:11. > :10:15.people running our country. We want to have employment laws that

:10:16. > :10:26.make us the fastest-growing place and the biggest GDP, growing

:10:27. > :10:28.in the whole of the Western world. You sound awfully

:10:29. > :10:31.like people I met in Doncaster? Well, Doncaster is

:10:32. > :10:34.an awfully nice place but South Derbyshire is good enough for me

:10:35. > :10:37.and it is staying Tory, thank you. Most of

:10:38. > :10:39.the Tories that were out have left It is surprising to me, that

:10:40. > :10:45.there are a remainder still out. But the box doesn't lie.

:10:46. > :10:50.No Secretary of State playing ball. I personally benefited from the EU

:10:51. > :10:59.from programmes, for example, I have lived in France

:11:00. > :11:04.for many years and I think we are stronger to be part of something

:11:05. > :11:07.bigger in a globalised world. I'm out personally under

:11:08. > :11:11.the current terms. I think we should be a global power,

:11:12. > :11:15.not just confined to a European We should have

:11:16. > :11:17.a free trade agreement with the European and actually expand

:11:18. > :11:20.and let's trade with the world. They don't like this one,

:11:21. > :11:24.it scares them. When I was 11 I was

:11:25. > :11:36.a eurosceptic and now I'm not. A little bit early

:11:37. > :11:49.but then I got a little bit more... I think there is always a few people

:11:50. > :11:53.that just don't quite understand. What they don't understand is we

:11:54. > :11:56.have won the argument on Europe. It is a crucial thing to take place,

:11:57. > :11:59.it'll affect our country Really complex detailed

:12:00. > :12:02.negotiations to take place. You've got to listen to that, see

:12:03. > :12:05.what the arguments are, see how it The moodbox never

:12:06. > :12:09.ceases to surprise. Very early on, out was well ahead,

:12:10. > :12:12.well ahead and then, suddenly, Now, some people were

:12:13. > :12:18.so surprised by that, One solution seems to be -

:12:19. > :12:43.lots of Tories who used to be out There we go, 150/150. Bernard Jenkin

:12:44. > :12:47.s it your view that the Prime Minister can recat patriot enough

:12:48. > :12:50.powers to satisfy you? Well, he wants us to be anp independent

:12:51. > :12:54.nation state with trade and can he operation with our European

:12:55. > :12:58.partners. He doesn't want to be in a superstate, banking or monetary

:12:59. > :13:01.union. Unfortunately the treaties don't provide for that relationship

:13:02. > :13:04.at the moment. We need very substantial changes it the treaties

:13:05. > :13:07.in order to maintain that relationship. Do I think we can

:13:08. > :13:12.obtain that within the European Union? I have my doubts. And if he

:13:13. > :13:16.didn't achieve that, or if it proved impossible to get these changes to

:13:17. > :13:19.the treaties, would you vote to come out? Well, then I think the

:13:20. > :13:23.negotiation would turn into something different. The negotiation

:13:24. > :13:27.would be a negotiation about what relationship we would be having with

:13:28. > :13:30.our European partners from outside the treaty. So, by the time the

:13:31. > :13:35.referendum actually came, if the Prime Minister was recommending for

:13:36. > :13:39.us to leave, he would have a clear policy and clear direction to

:13:40. > :13:44.explain how that was going to work, as Gerard Lions put in his document,

:13:45. > :13:48.for example. Do you think, it is conceivable that the Prime Minister

:13:49. > :13:52.would campaign to leave? I'm not sure whether it is conceivable. I

:13:53. > :13:57.would hope we won't get to that police at all. I would hope we have

:13:58. > :14:01.a clear renegotiation that the Prime Minister would be able to for and we

:14:02. > :14:06.would be able to, as a party, saying we are campaigning... It is not

:14:07. > :14:10.going as far as Bernard Jenkins wants, isn't it? We would still be

:14:11. > :14:14.part of the CAP and common fisheries policy. There will still be free

:14:15. > :14:19.movement of peoples. That's not going to be renegotiated. That

:14:20. > :14:23.doesn't sound like a new relationships I think it is possible

:14:24. > :14:28.to renegotiate a new relationship on some of those things. We have seen

:14:29. > :14:31.negotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy under this government. We

:14:32. > :14:35.need to present to the British people a real vision of what it is

:14:36. > :14:38.like to be in and out of the European Union. Let's see all the

:14:39. > :14:41.positive things about it and neglectivities things and let the

:14:42. > :14:46.British people make up their own mind. What are the positive things?

:14:47. > :14:51.A high degree of cooperation. Free movement of good and services. And

:14:52. > :14:55.people? ? I'm personally rather in favour of immigration. I think what

:14:56. > :15:00.poisons the debate is being unable to control and decide who comes in

:15:01. > :15:04.and out of our own country. I think we need to get back the control of

:15:05. > :15:08.free movement of people. You would vote to stay in, even if there isn't

:15:09. > :15:12.a renegotiation, correct? On balance, I probably would. I believe

:15:13. > :15:15.the European Union brings great benefits to Britain, as well as

:15:16. > :15:19.having these problems we need to deal with. But I think it is well

:15:20. > :15:22.worth going through this and making sure we put the decision to the

:15:23. > :15:24.British people. It has to be the British people who make the

:15:25. > :15:28.decision. It sounds like you would vote to leave or have a totally new

:15:29. > :15:30.relationship unless there is major repatriation. This is what we would

:15:31. > :15:44.call a divided party. As you saw from the walls tumbling

:15:45. > :15:48.into the boxes, there are two views. And David Cameron was very frank

:15:49. > :15:52.that people should be able to vote whichever way they want a

:15:53. > :15:55.referendum. At what we need is a mandate on the direction that the

:15:56. > :16:02.Prime Minister is to take. We need a mandate for the kind of direction. I

:16:03. > :16:05.am sure we will be discussing that in the run-up to the election. We're

:16:06. > :16:11.joined now by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. Lots of important

:16:12. > :16:18.things to talk about. How many sorties has the RAF launched? I

:16:19. > :16:26.think they are running about two a day. And family bombs they dropped?

:16:27. > :16:32.They have not yet attacked a target. Why not? There is a process going on

:16:33. > :16:36.of gathering intelligence surveillance data, synthesising

:16:37. > :16:39.that, establishing pattern of life. When we do release our weapons, we

:16:40. > :16:45.have to be absolutely sure that they are against ISIL targets, that they

:16:46. > :16:48.are not go to kill innocent Sunni Muslims civilians in areas occupied

:16:49. > :16:56.by ISIL, otherwise we have the opposite effect than that wished.

:16:57. > :17:01.But they did reconnaissance before. It is a military process now.

:17:02. > :17:04.Parliament has made its decision. We have authorised the RAF to go ahead,

:17:05. > :17:10.and they are doing what they do superbly well. If there is an air

:17:11. > :17:13.force in the world that can carry out this task while minimising the

:17:14. > :17:18.risk of civilian casualties and the risk of collateral damage, the RAF

:17:19. > :17:30.is the air force. Islamic State is now on the outskirts of Baghdad and

:17:31. > :17:33.is close to taking Kobani. I'm not sure about the information about the

:17:34. > :17:38.outskirts of Baghdad and whether that is correct. I think it is

:17:39. > :17:44.Baghdad province, not Baghdad city. They are not that close. They have

:17:45. > :17:52.swept up 200 villages in the past 14 days. Baghdad is well defended, and

:17:53. > :17:57.we're confident about that. We won't be panicked into dropping bombs all

:17:58. > :18:01.over the place. We have to make sure that we identify the enemy, monitor

:18:02. > :18:05.their movements so that we know where they are, and then we attacked

:18:06. > :18:10.precisely at the targets. But do we really have the capabilities to do

:18:11. > :18:14.this. How many combat squadrons did we have won the first Gulf war broke

:18:15. > :18:22.out in 1991? I can't answer the question. We have 30. How many do we

:18:23. > :18:27.have now? It depends on your definition of a combat squad. We

:18:28. > :18:35.have 120 typhoon aircraft and 40 Tornadoes. You have seven. I am not

:18:36. > :18:41.going to play this game that you have been playing over the last

:18:42. > :18:43.week. This is relevant. There is nobody who knows anything about air

:18:44. > :18:47.power who is suggesting that the French air force is a more

:18:48. > :18:52.formidable force than the RAF. It is not just about how many formations

:18:53. > :18:57.you have. It is about the training of your people, the capability of

:18:58. > :19:02.York were mad, the structure in the organisation, and the RAAF is a

:19:03. > :19:05.formidable force. The Tornado is the only plane we have that can do this

:19:06. > :19:10.position bombing, so why are we scrapping the squadron next year?

:19:11. > :19:16.Because in 2019 we will phase out the Tornado. In 2018, we will have

:19:17. > :19:21.the F 35 coming into service, and between now and 2019, we will be

:19:22. > :19:29.integrating the air to ground weapons that are currently on the

:19:30. > :19:33.tornado and the Brimstone onto our Typhoon force, so it will become a

:19:34. > :19:39.genuine multirole aircraft with a grand capability, and the new joint

:19:40. > :19:46.strike fighter with its stealth characteristics, the F 35, will

:19:47. > :19:50.augment and supplements that. They keep on blowing up at the moment.

:19:51. > :19:54.The Prime Minister had to delay the scrapping of the tornado during the

:19:55. > :20:00.Libyan air raids, and are we going to do the same again? We have enough

:20:01. > :20:15.Tornadoes to carry out the task. We have enough Tornadoes to go on.

:20:16. > :20:20.Explained to me. Keeping the 2 squadron, you say we can't afford

:20:21. > :20:25.that, but we have a budget of ?10 billion a year. We have a

:20:26. > :20:28.complicated restructuring programme to draw down all the equipment that

:20:29. > :20:33.is becoming obsolete and replace it with new state-of-the-art equipment.

:20:34. > :20:37.I have seen no reason why we would want to change that plan or disrupt

:20:38. > :20:42.that plan. There is certainly no reason on the basis of the campaign

:20:43. > :20:46.that we have undertaken to take parting in Iraq. We can do that with

:20:47. > :20:53.the tornado capability that we have got. And by the way, I am not the

:20:54. > :21:03.Defence Secretary. You were, and is Foreign Secretary you deploy the

:21:04. > :21:12.defences. Would an attack on Syria Beagle? There is advised that there

:21:13. > :21:17.is a credible legal basis for collective self defence. So why have

:21:18. > :21:24.we not included Syria in our attack? Because the was to support

:21:25. > :21:30.the Iraqi government with air strikes in Iraq. We haven't ruled

:21:31. > :21:36.out the possibility. Do you think it is likely that the air war will

:21:37. > :21:41.extend to Syria? We will look at the case for extending British activity

:21:42. > :21:44.into Syria. We will look at whether there are things that we could do

:21:45. > :21:48.that would significantly augment the coalition campaign. If we think

:21:49. > :21:54.there are, we will go back to Parliament, because we will need

:21:55. > :21:57.additional support from Parliament. We go back to Parliament and get

:21:58. > :22:00.parliamentary agreement. And I think the message that we heard from the

:22:01. > :22:05.opposition and from many members across the house last Friday was

:22:06. > :22:14.that the house is open-minded about the case. But they would want to

:22:15. > :22:18.hear the argument. Do you regret making it known the IS at you didn't

:22:19. > :22:26.know where the hostages were being kept? No. Would it not be the case

:22:27. > :22:31.that IS shouldn't know whether we know or not? I think they could

:22:32. > :22:36.probably work out that we don't know or we would have done some then. I

:22:37. > :22:41.made that comment over two weeks ago, and situations can change. But

:22:42. > :22:46.don't you regret making it? IS shouldn't know whether we know or

:22:47. > :22:49.not. I don't particularly regret making it. I tend to think that the

:22:50. > :22:57.best answer the question is the truth. Where will the boots on the

:22:58. > :22:59.ground, from? In Iraq, the Iraqi security forces, which are

:23:00. > :23:02.substantial in size and well equipped with modern American

:23:03. > :23:08.equipment, and the Kurdish Peshmerga. The Iraqi security forces

:23:09. > :23:12.have good equipment but poor morale, and they need restructuring and

:23:13. > :23:16.retraining. The Peshmerga have good morale and good command, but poor

:23:17. > :23:25.levels of equipment, they need re-gripping. 45 element is from

:23:26. > :23:30.Baghdad in an Iraqi army camp, it was surrounded by IS, it was clearly

:23:31. > :23:34.losing, it was a camp full of Iraqi soldiers. They called their

:23:35. > :23:39.commanders in Baghdad for air support. The phone wasn't even

:23:40. > :23:45.answered. IS sent in a truck, a suicide truck, 500 soldiers were

:23:46. > :23:48.killed, and when they got there, they discovered that the Iraqi

:23:49. > :23:54.commanders had fled days before and that the Iraqi soldiers had been

:23:55. > :24:00.drinking saltwater. That is your boots on the ground. You give an

:24:01. > :24:04.example of poor command and poor morale and organisation in the Iraqi

:24:05. > :24:09.army. I could spend the rest of the afternoon giving you more examples.

:24:10. > :24:17.We are absolutely aware that after years of sectarian management of the

:24:18. > :24:20.Iraqi army, promoting people because of what religious faction they

:24:21. > :24:24.belong to rather than because of their capabilities, there is a need

:24:25. > :24:32.for restructuring and retraining. How long is that going to take? It

:24:33. > :24:38.will take as long as it takes. At we spend liens training this army, and

:24:39. > :24:41.it ran away. The Americans spent a large amount of money training and

:24:42. > :24:53.equipping the Iraqi army, but under the al-Maliki regime, the policy is

:24:54. > :25:03.damaged and degraded it, and we have to rebuild it. We will see. Can I

:25:04. > :25:09.move to Hong Kong, where as part of the agreement which was implemented

:25:10. > :25:14.in 1997, Britain is a guarantor of the autonomy that was agreed for the

:25:15. > :25:17.people of Hong Kong. Why have we not taken a stronger line condemning

:25:18. > :25:21.what is happening there, and the way that the protesters are being

:25:22. > :25:27.treated? We do deplore what is going on in Hong Kong at the moment, the

:25:28. > :25:31.violence on the streets. The sequence of events here is that the

:25:32. > :25:38.Chinese government has announced proposals for the selection of

:25:39. > :25:46.candidates, for the first selection of chief executive on universal

:25:47. > :25:50.suffrage, the first election ever. It was part of the agreement. It

:25:51. > :25:57.wasn't. It was something the Chinese introduced after the joint

:25:58. > :26:03.declaration was signed. That is a good step forward. There are many

:26:04. > :26:07.people in Hong Kong who were disappointed with the announcement

:26:08. > :26:11.that came from Beijing around the way in which candidates would be

:26:12. > :26:15.approved for this universal suffrage election. There is now a period in

:26:16. > :26:21.which there is consultation going on, and we have not yet reached the

:26:22. > :26:24.final stage of this. So there is everything to play for here in

:26:25. > :26:28.getting the most democratic possible solution. Have you made the British

:26:29. > :26:36.view strongly known to the Chinese? I have. I met the vice president in

:26:37. > :26:42.Derby two weekends ago, and I had a very frank discussion with him about

:26:43. > :26:45.these issues. And is it not somewhat ironic that we the British are a

:26:46. > :26:50.guarantors of the freedoms of the Hong Kong people, and yet the tear

:26:51. > :27:03.gas that is being used to suppress them is made in Hampshire? CS gas is

:27:04. > :27:09.a riot control... Which is made here and exported to Hong Kong. We do not

:27:10. > :27:14.condone the use of CS gas against these protesters, but it is a

:27:15. > :27:19.legitimate export product. Would you like to look again at the export

:27:20. > :27:23.licence? We would like to see a peaceful resolution of the current

:27:24. > :27:27.dispute in Hong Kong, with the hope that over the next few months, we

:27:28. > :27:30.can achieve the very best possible solution for Hong Kong, and a clear

:27:31. > :27:34.statement that what happened on the 2017 Chief Executive election will

:27:35. > :27:39.not be the end of the road to democracy. Further steps will be

:27:40. > :27:44.needed. But you will see the irony or indeed the shame of people who we

:27:45. > :27:51.are legally guarantors of their freedom, and are meant to sure this

:27:52. > :27:56.deal is kept to, being tear-gassed by CS made in Britain and export

:27:57. > :28:01.licence. CS gas is available from large numbers of sources. To be

:28:02. > :28:06.frank, Andrew, I think that is a rather immaterial point. They could

:28:07. > :28:14.by CS gas from the US, dozens of cases. They can buy any kind of

:28:15. > :28:20.weapons for anybody, does that mean we should provide them? We don't

:28:21. > :28:24.condone the use of CS gas in the control of these processes. I don't

:28:25. > :28:28.think I can be any clearer than that. Thank you for being with us. I

:28:29. > :28:35.know it is a busy day for you. That is it for today, but Jo and I will

:28:36. > :28:41.be back tomorrow at 11am for live coverage of David Cameron's speech

:28:42. > :28:42.to the Conservative party conference, his final conference

:28:43. > :28:45.speech before the general election, Seppi will be wanting to send them

:28:46. > :28:51.away from Birmingham with a spring in their step. Let's see if he could

:28:52. > :28:57.do it. And for a full round-up of events here in Birmingham, I will be

:28:58. > :28:59.back just after Newsnight tonight on BBC Two with Today at Conference.

:29:00. > :29:12.How could you miss that? Goodbye. Ladies and gentlemen,

:29:13. > :29:13.we have liftoff. QI is back with a series all about L,

:29:14. > :29:19.so loosen up your laughing gear,