10/05/2017 Daily Politics


10/05/2017

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Afternoon folks - welcome to the Daily Politics.

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Labour promises a massive increase in education spending in England

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and says it will raise corporation tax by over a third

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The Conservatives say the plans are "nonsensical".

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The Green Party says it will no longer consider what it calls

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"progressive alliances", accusing Labour and the Lib Dems of

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failing to consider electoral pacts between broadly left-wing parties.

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Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas, joins us live.

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We've brought the Moodbox to Chester to ask people

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whether they think Ukip have had their moment in the sun.

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And, as part of our series on smaller parties

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today, we speak to the leader of the Women's Equality Party.

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And with us for the duration, the Ukip leader Paul Nuttall.

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Now in the last hour, the Crown Prosecution Service has

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announced that no criminal charges are to be brought over

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14 police inquiries into Conservative Party election

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spending in the 2015 general election.

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One file from Kent Police remains under consideration,

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although we won't hear today whether charges will be brought

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Let's talk to our home affairs correspondent Tom Symonds.

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What has happened here? Well, this has been running for a long time. It

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followed an investigation by Channel 4 News into the way in which parties

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were finding their candidates' campaigns in various constituencies.

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The latest is that the police, in 14 different parts of England, have

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been looking into, have passed on files to the Crown Prosecution

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Service to see whether they would be charges, and today, the CPS has said

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that in all of those 14 cases, there will be no charges. Why? Well, it is

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down to the law which effectively says this, it says, it is an offence

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to knowingly make a false tax oration, and in order to bring

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charge, it must be proved that a suspect did know that they were

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acting dishonestly in declaring election expenses. And clearly, the

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CPS has decided that that is not the case in all of these situations

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around the country. Largely, we're talking about the Conservatives'

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battle buses, travelling around the country, putting activists into

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various places. They always said it was national spending and it did not

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reach their national spending limits, and the CPS is clearly

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saying, there is nothing criminal here. That will come as a relief to

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the Conservatives, because this was hanging over them, but there is

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still one outstanding case in Kent - do we know when we might hear about

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that? I think shortly, Andrew, within the next week or so. But the

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cut-off date for candidates to take part in the general election is

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tomorrow. So, if you want to pull out, or if you want to come into the

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race, you have to say by tomorrow, and we are not going to hear about

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this Kent case until next week. We understand it is all about the South

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Thanet seat under way in which party resources were put into that seat,

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whether or not it was national or local spending. But it does mean

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that that will have to be left hanging, unless the constructs want

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to choose another candidate in the next 24 hours, otherwise, they will

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have to continue with the team they currently have in South Thanet. But

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the Conservatives are very pleased with today's announcement, they say

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that the CPS has confirmed what we knew all along, that the

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Conservative candidates did nothing wrong, these were politically

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motivated and unfounded complaints, this is from Patrick McLoughlin, the

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chair of the party, which have wasted police time. He goes on to

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say, a number of malicious claims continue to be spread on the

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internet. He says, people should be aware that making false claims about

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candidates is an electoral offence. So, a hard-hitting response from the

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Conservatives. Thanks for bringing us up to date.

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Now, it's another busy day in the election campaign.

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For the latest, I'm joined from College Green by Katy Balls

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from The Spectator, and Stephen Bush from The New Statesman.

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Let's kick off with Theresa May, hosting the Nato general secretary,

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Jens Stoltenberg. Oh, no, we have Jeremy Corbyn instead. Let's remove

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that for a moment... Anyway, they were together at No 10, it was not

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just a courtesy call, Jens Stoltenberg would like some

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commitment from Theresa May in terms of more troops in Afghanistan. What

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would that do to this election campaign? Well, one would assume it

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would ring the issue of our involvement in Afghanistan in to the

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picture. Perhaps it would help Labour, but also it would be

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possibly hurting them on security issues. So it is hard to see who

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would benefit from this as an election issue. In terms of Labour,

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Katy Balls, what do you think about this call from Nato? He said he

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would be happy to agree to a request like that, and that kind of makes

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sense, it fits with his own non-interventionist approach. And I

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think a lot of the public might agree with it. There is a very

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lukewarm reaction to sending more troops to Afghanistan. But because

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Theresa May wants Britain to be outward-looking post-Brexit, I also

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think she will want to keep these Nato commitments. What about our

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actual commitments already, in terms of spending? We are supposedly

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living up to the Nato commitment of spending 2%, but actually, in the

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papers this morning, there is a letter saying that Theresa May's

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boasts of spending that are actually an accounting deception, what do you

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make of that? We know that there is a lot of creative accountancy about

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how you get to that defence targets. 2% we expect that to be a subplot of

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the election. But again, Labour does not want this election to be about

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national security. And Katy Balls, will it come an issue, do you think,

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or will this just pass by? I think we saw last week kind of David Davis

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and Philip Hammond stood in front of a poster of a bomb, and said, Jeremy

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Corbyn would not give bombs to the army, they're quite happy on

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defence. And I think Labour are unhappy on defence. The Shadow

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Defence Secretary has suggested about giving more money to the army,

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but I think a lot of people still would not be happy voting for Jeremy

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Corbyn, given about his comments about whether or not he would kill

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the leader of Isis. What about Europe, could cook yesterday, Jeremy

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Corbyn seemed to that the issue of Brexit was saddled, and then would

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not quite answer the question about whether if he was prone minister, he

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would actually take Britain out of the EU? What did you make of that?

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It seemed very strange, partly because Jeremy Corbyn is a lifelong

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Eurosceptic, other than about -- other than about the six months of

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the referendum. The fact that he stumbled on that is a bit of a

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mystery. And Katy Balls, do you think it was just a stumble or was

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there more to it than that? I think it's just typical of Labour at the

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moment, their whole Brexit strategy seems to be to say one thing, the

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issue of Brexit is settled, which will help with the Labour Brexit

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voters, and then he goes on to refuse to say whether Britain is

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actually going to leave the EU. Last night, of course, we had a

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hard-hitting interview with Theresa May and her husband on the one show.

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Let's take a quick look... How hard is it to win a negotiation with your

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wife? That's a good question. There is give and take in every marriage.

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I get to decide when I take the bins out, not IF I take the bins out!

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There is boys' jobs and girls' jobs. I do the traditional boy jobs, by

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and large. If you are the kind of man who expects his tea to be on the

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table six o'clock every evening, you could be disappointed. Do you make

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the team? From time to time. Theresa is a very good cook indeed,

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actually. Yes, at home, we lived in the flat at Downing Street but we

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like to get home at weekends, and that's where most of my cookery

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books are. How do you think that interview went in terms of Tory HQ?

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It was quite awkward to watch. But at the same time, I think the

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Conservatives working to show Theresa May's more personal side,

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softer side. Which it probably did achieve, even though there were

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those awkward moments. But do you think overall it was positive for

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them, Stephen Bush? Yeah, it would have irritated people like me, with

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the boys jobs, girls' jobs thing, but it showed her to be a warm, Home

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Counties woman. Paul Nuttall, would you like to appear on a show like

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that? Not particularly, it is not really my cup of tea, to be honest

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with you. I think there is a fine balance between your public life and

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private life. It's horses for courses, really. I think there is a

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danger sometimes with spouses that they can become too involved, and I

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think Cherie Blair was a perfect example of that, I could argue maybe

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Michelle Obama as well. So it is horses for courses, it is not for

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me. But the public quite like to see the personal side would it worry

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you, would you feel uncomfortable having to do that more personal

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stuff? Not particularly. I have done a number of interviews on a more

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personal level, I have to say that I've always been very keen to keep

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my private life private. Again, it's horses for courses. If Theresa May

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wants to go on shows like that and bring her husband out, that's

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entirely up to her. So how are we going to do the boys' jobs and

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girls' jobs on this programme? As usual, I'll do the girls' jobs!

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Crime writer James Patterson has joined forces with which political

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figure to write a thriller set in the White House?

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At the end of the show, Paul Nuttall will give

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Labour says it will hike up business taxes to fund a major increase

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in education spending in England, if it wins the election.

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The party's plans for what it calls a National Education Service

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would see class sizes for five- to-seven year-olds kept below 30,

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while almost ?5 billion extra would be pumped into the English

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Labour says it will all be funded, primarily, by increasing

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It will cost up to ?6 billion when you send money to Scotland and Wales

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for education as well. Labour have today said that they'll

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create what they call Under the plans, a future Labour

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government would give schools a real-terms funding increase,

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reduce class sizes to under 30 for five- to seven-year-olds,

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and give free school meals And Labour would also restore

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the educational maintenance allowance for college students,

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scrap fees on courses for adult learners and put more money

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into maintenance grants Let's take a look at Jeremy Corbyn

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explaining the thinking behind This was Labour's Shadow Education

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Secretary speaking earlier today. We will secure the best education

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possible for every single child And that starts with proper

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funding of our schools. We will reverse the ?3 billion

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of cuts that our schools And protect per pupil funding over

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the course of the next Parliament. And, unlike the Tories,

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when we say real terms, To fund their proposals,

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Labour say they would give schools in England an extra

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?4.8 billion a year. The money would be paid

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for by raising corporation tax. The Conservatives say Labour have

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already spent the extra revenue from corporation tax and they've

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described Labour's Well, this is what the Institute

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for Fiscal Studies had to say about Labour's corporation

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tax plans earlier. The Labour Party proposals would

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certainly raise more than enough from corporation tax

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to pay for these increases But, of course, an increase

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in corporation tax It will reduce investment

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by companies in the UK and, in the long run,

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it won't raise as much as it might in the short run,

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as companies change their behaviour, reduce investment or,

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indeed, move abroad. Joining me now from Birmingham

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is the Shadow Business Minister, Jack Dromey, and in the studio,

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I'm joined by the former Welcome to you both. Jack Dromey,

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first, when you look at the figures, it looks like by 2021, you're going

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to spend over the UK an extra 6 billion for education, and you say

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it can all be paid for by raising corporation tax by a third. But

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haven't you already spent some of that corporation tax on other

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things? We are determined to establish a national education

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service. You have to find those commitments. We will fund them from

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corporation tax. That will fund a very ambitious

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pledge to the young people of this country, to their parents and to the

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teachers of this country. In terms of commitments, we are now into a

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general election period. Therefore, we are determined, Andrew, that

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every single pledge we make, we cost so that the British people can be

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confident that we will not only make the pledge, but unlike the Tories

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who always break their promise, we'll deliver on the pledge. Let's

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look at this. I thought you'd already promised to use Corporation

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Tax to give pay rises above inflation to NHS staff? We are

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making commitments now in relation to a general election. We've, hang

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on, we've been looking at a whole range of commitments that might be

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made. You will hear in relation to the NHS, the announcement we've

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already made. If you look at the totality of what can be raised on

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that increase of Corporation Tax over the next four years, it's

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actually ?50 billion, in excess of that. These are your own figures.

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Not what the... Let me clarify, is it your plan now not to pay for the

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increase in NHS staff pay by Corporation Tax? We will honour our

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commitment to health service staff. But will you financial it from the

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Corporation Tax revenues? The commitment made by John Ashworth is

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a commitment that we will honour. The interesting thing about the IFS.

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How will be finance it? The interesting thing is today the IFS

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say our figures are sound. They raised a question mark over the

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economic impact. Our strong view is this, we've a chronic problem in

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this country of skills and productivity. We have to sort that.

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I understand that's the case. I'm trying to work out how you're going

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to pay for it. On this programme, your head of campaign, you're in an

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election campaign, you're head of the election campaign Andrew Gwyn

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said categorically, you'd use Corporation Tax to fund a pay rise

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for the NHS is that still your policy or not? We stand by that

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commitment. And the financing of it? Yes, the totality of what can be

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raised, in terms of what we're proposing on Corporation Tax, is in

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excess of ?50 billion. You've accumulated that. How much by 2021,

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how much extra will Corporation Tax be bringing in under your scheme?

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Under our scheme, it will raise in excess of ?50 billion. No, you've

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added up all the years. I'm asking you by 2021, how much extra that

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year, will Corporation Tax bring in? In excess of ?50 billion, Andrew.

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That's over four years Mr Dromey. It won't bring in ?50 billion in one

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year. Total Corporation Tax receipts at the moment are ?50 billion. You

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cannot bring in ?50 billion extra in one year. Can I suggest this, don't

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interview yourself. Allow me to answer the question. Can I suggest

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you answer the question. We're clear. The IFS said our figures are

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sound. They haven't said that, actually. We're very clear we can

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raise in excess of ?50 billion. That will enable us to fund our education

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pledge and other pledges as well. We stand by that. You've pledged or

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Jeremy Corbyn's pledged to scrap university tuition fees. Will that

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be paid for by a rise in corn ration tax? Wait for the manifesto. Today,

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we're focusing on our education commitments in terms of that

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national education service, schools and post-school, particularly for

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the colleges. At the next stages, we'll move on to the universities

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and tuition fees. So, the tuition fees are not included in the extra

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six billion you're already committed to? No, that will be in the

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manifesto. Let me go on to this business of Corporation Tax being a

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magic money tree. What assumption in your calculations have you made if

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Corporation Tax is increased by a third, that companies will change

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their behaviour and you will not get as much as you project. What

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assumption have you made about that? Andrew, we need badly to invest in

:20:03.:20:07.

the next generation. I'm not arguing about that. Crucial to the success

:20:08.:20:11.

of our country, including the economic success of our country. I'm

:20:12.:20:15.

not arguing about that. I stress again, we have to resolve this

:20:16.:20:20.

problem of productivity and skills. My question to you Mr Dromey, what

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assumption as you project a rise in Corporation Tax as you increase the

:20:27.:20:29.

rates, that companies will change their behaviour and you won't get

:20:30.:20:34.

the money that you're hoping for? Companies, of course, will take into

:20:35.:20:38.

account impacts upon them in terms of taxation. Andrew, we will still

:20:39.:20:43.

be the lowest Corporation Tax in the G7 countries. You won't be actually.

:20:44.:20:48.

You won't be Mr Dromey. Let's just look at this. You've raised if. You

:20:49.:20:53.

are the business spokesman for your party. Donald Trump is pledging to

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cut Corporation Tax to 15%. Mr Macron in France is pledging to cut

:21:00.:21:04.

Corporation Tax too. Just across the Irish Sea is a place called Dublin

:21:05.:21:09.

where Corporation Tax is 12%. So, if you go to 26%, yes, you may well

:21:10.:21:16.

raise more money but as Shadow Business Secretary, you must surely

:21:17.:21:19.

have some calculations that you will lose some because people will simply

:21:20.:21:26.

move? It's a statement of truth. That 26% right now is still the

:21:27.:21:31.

lowest in the G7. If I was you, I would not rely upon pledges mid by

:21:32.:21:35.

Donald Trump. We're relying on your pledges to fund our education

:21:36.:21:38.

system. You can count upon our pledges. It comes back to the simple

:21:39.:21:44.

reality in economic terms, this country will not succeed and its

:21:45.:21:49.

young people will not succeed unless we have a national education service

:21:50.:21:52.

that backs them, their parents and their teachers. Let me clarify this

:21:53.:21:59.

one more time. You're projecting increased revenues on a raises of

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Corporation Tax over four years by one third. And your assumptions and

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projections assume companies it will not in any way change their

:22:09.:22:10.

behaviour and you will get that money. How is that in any way

:22:11.:22:15.

credible? Of course companies will take account of taxation in terms of

:22:16.:22:20.

decisions they make. But the companies I deal with here in

:22:21.:22:23.

Birmingham and all over the country, all say the same thing. We can't get

:22:24.:22:30.

Labour, we can't get skilled labour. We need investment in skills for the

:22:31.:22:34.

future. You've made that point. It's not what I'm asking you. And what

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will be of major benefit, not just to the young people who will get on

:22:39.:22:43.

in life, but what will be of major benefit to the public, private

:22:44.:22:46.

sector and economy in the this country is if we have many more

:22:47.:22:50.

people equipped with the education they deserve and skills. It's

:22:51.:22:54.

absolutely central to the economic success of Britain. I understand

:22:55.:22:58.

that, my argument with you has been how to pay for it. I think we're

:22:59.:23:02.

done now. I understand your press office didn't want to take part in

:23:03.:23:05.

the discussion with Mr Gove. If you want to stay and listen to what he

:23:06.:23:09.

has to say and perhaps come back for ap coent, you're welcome to do so or

:23:10.:23:13.

you're welcome to go. What would you like to do? I'm happy to stay.

:23:14.:23:19.

Perhaps he can answer this question. I ask the questions. You ask and

:23:20.:23:24.

I'll come back at the end. Whatever the mechanisms for funding an

:23:25.:23:27.

increase in education, particularly for schools, is it not clear our

:23:28.:23:32.

schools do need more funding? I think our schools need reform and

:23:33.:23:35.

our schools need healthy funding. It is the case that the Conservatives

:23:36.:23:39.

have safeguarded the amount overall that goes into schools in real terms

:23:40.:23:43.

and in cash terms, the amount per pupil has been safeguarded. The

:23:44.:23:48.

National Audit Office which we can agree is a pretty reliable monitor

:23:49.:23:53.

of these things, an independent. In real terms, schools will have to

:23:54.:23:58.

find cuts of ?3 billion. 8%, by 2020. Labour is talking about

:23:59.:24:03.

raising money for education. We can argue about how they'll fund it.

:24:04.:24:07.

They're talking about putting more in. You, in reality, in real terms,

:24:08.:24:14.

you are are cutting. It is the case the amount per pupil in real terms

:24:15.:24:18.

is protected. In cash term. But in real terms, you are right, we are

:24:19.:24:23.

asking schools to deal with the consequences of tighter budgets.

:24:24.:24:30.

Let's be fair, before 2015, we protected per pupil funding in real

:24:31.:24:33.

terms. At a time when other parts of the public sector were having to

:24:34.:24:37.

take the strain, schools received a better deal. I sympathise with the

:24:38.:24:41.

position that heads and teachers have. But it's critical to

:24:42.:24:46.

appreciate that it's not simply funding that improves education.

:24:47.:24:49.

It's reform as well. I understand that. But you can't do it without

:24:50.:24:54.

money. The mantra has been reform and money. Your manifesto last time,

:24:55.:25:00.

page 2034 said as the number of pupils increase, so will be amount

:25:01.:25:06.

of money in our schools on current pupil numbers forecast, there will

:25:07.:25:09.

be real terms increases. You've broken that promise. There are not

:25:10.:25:14.

real term increases per pupil. There are real term increases overall.

:25:15.:25:19.

You're right. Not per pupil? No, that was the case between 2010 and

:25:20.:25:25.

2015. It is the case umming up now That there will not be real term

:25:26.:25:31.

increases per pupil. That's correct. At a time, you heard Jack dram

:25:32.:25:36.

saying there, how important skilling the population is. You were part of

:25:37.:25:40.

the Brexit campaign. We need to be better educated, better skilled than

:25:41.:25:44.

ever. Why would any Government contemplate cutting in real terms

:25:45.:25:48.

per pupil funding? ? There are two things. The first is the overall

:25:49.:25:53.

increase in school population has been driven by a baby boom and

:25:54.:25:58.

migration under Labour that was not controlled. By leaving the EU we can

:25:59.:26:05.

better control immigration. You've not done so, so far. These kids are

:26:06.:26:09.

already in the school's. It doesn't matter if you control it down the

:26:10.:26:13.

road. These kids are goings through the primary system now and you're

:26:14.:26:17.

cutting the per head funding in real terms? You will be aware 1.8 million

:26:18.:26:24.

children are in good and outstanding schools compared to 2010. Education

:26:25.:26:28.

in England has been improving while education in Scotland and Wales has

:26:29.:26:32.

been moving backwards. You will also be aware, the free schools we've

:26:33.:26:37.

created have created good and outstanding where they did not exist

:26:38.:26:42.

before. We do need to ensure funding is reformed and the Education

:26:43.:26:45.

Secretary is seeking to reform funding in order to make it fairer.

:26:46.:26:49.

If you concentrate simply on cash and don't look at the broader

:26:50.:26:53.

context of what's happening in our schools, you fall into the trap of

:26:54.:26:58.

believing more money automatically is the answer to our educational

:26:59.:27:02.

challenges. I'm not falling into that trap. Well, Labour have. Not

:27:03.:27:07.

only that, they've also as you eloquently pointed out in the course

:27:08.:27:12.

of that interview, Labour will kill the goose that lays the Godden eggs.

:27:13.:27:15.

Labour's approach to Corporation Tax is not going to raise a sustainable

:27:16.:27:20.

sum of money to support our schools. It will change the behaviour of

:27:21.:27:25.

businesses, it will lead to a flight of capital and lead to the economy

:27:26.:27:29.

crashing because of the nonsense Calais preach towards economics. Let

:27:30.:27:35.

me ask you this. It plays to the idealogical approach. As schools in

:27:36.:27:40.

England are being asked to find ?3 billion of cuts, Philip Hammond is

:27:41.:27:45.

able to find another ?320 million for grammar schools. Where's the

:27:46.:27:49.

sense in that? We're giving people choice. But you're cutting the money

:27:50.:27:53.

that goes to the kind of schools, you're asking for cuts to the kind

:27:54.:27:58.

of schools that most children go to? We're actually ensuring every child,

:27:59.:28:01.

whether in a grammar comprehensive or any other type of school will

:28:02.:28:05.

have the money following them, protected in cash terms. I think

:28:06.:28:10.

it's... You Andrew, have written and argued in the past for the merits of

:28:11.:28:16.

selective education. New selective provision will only be set up where

:28:17.:28:23.

there is a popular demand for it. I'm not sure I have, even back to

:28:24.:28:27.

the dim and distant past. Are you in favour of grammar schools? Yes, I

:28:28.:28:34.

am. More grammar schools? Yes. Why didn't you increase grammar schools

:28:35.:28:38.

when you were add Kaags secretary? I did many things. That wasn't one of

:28:39.:28:44.

them. One of the things I'd have loved to have done. Whether I was

:28:45.:28:49.

for and against them. I am in favour of increased selection. We increased

:28:50.:28:53.

selection at the age of 16 but not able to increase it anywhere else,

:28:54.:28:56.

the Liberal Democrats were not in favour. My understand is you didn't

:28:57.:28:59.

push for it either. That's another issue. Paul Nuttall's been patient.

:29:00.:29:06.

I'll go back for a comment from Jack Dromey then too. I don't think

:29:07.:29:12.

raising Corporation Tax is a good idea. I think it is a bad idea. I

:29:13.:29:17.

think Michael's right, it will result in a flight of capital.

:29:18.:29:22.

Ireland has Corporation Tax rate of 12.5%. Donald Trump, I think, will

:29:23.:29:27.

bring it down to 15%. You'll see business leave these shores. That

:29:28.:29:30.

will mean less tax revenues, less work for people. It is a bad idea.

:29:31.:29:35.

However, I will say we really need to reform our education system. Ukip

:29:36.:29:39.

was the first party to come out in favour of grammar schools in 2010.

:29:40.:29:45.

Jack Dromey, what's your reaction to what you've heard? I live in the

:29:46.:29:50.

real world. In my constituency, the schools face a ?10 million cut. I

:29:51.:29:55.

led a delegation of excellent head teachers to meet with the Schools

:29:56.:30:01.

Minister. They said, we'll have to sack teachers, teaching assistants,

:30:02.:30:04.

cut back on our curriculum. Close the school at Friday lunch time.

:30:05.:30:08.

They asked the Government, what do you expect us to do? You're making

:30:09.:30:14.

life impossible for us. It is absolutely right, that what we've

:30:15.:30:18.

done is listen to schools, to listen to young people and to listen to

:30:19.:30:23.

parents and put them first. There is not a single idea that Labour has on

:30:24.:30:27.

education which will actually lead to an improvement in the classroom.

:30:28.:30:32.

Labour have opposed every one of the steps we've taken to improve

:30:33.:30:35.

testing, the curriculum and give parents more choice. So you would

:30:36.:30:40.

sack... This talk of a national educational service is a strong an

:30:41.:30:44.

horse of getting rid of academies, free schools and the rigorous

:30:45.:30:48.

changing we've made. I'm going to have to... We've overrun. I'll have

:30:49.:30:54.

to bring this to an end. Jack Dromey, thank you for waiting.

:30:55.:30:57.

Michael Gove, thank you for being here.

:30:58.:31:00.

Now, three Labour party activists in Surrey have been expelled

:31:01.:31:05.

from the party after they decided to back a candidate who is standing

:31:06.:31:08.

for the National Health Action party against the Health Secretary,

:31:09.:31:10.

Well, we can speak now to Steve Williams, who was one

:31:11.:31:14.

of those members kicked out of the party.

:31:15.:31:22.

You have been expelled from the Labour Party after nearly 50 years

:31:23.:31:28.

as a supporter, but you must have known that that was what would

:31:29.:31:31.

happen if you backed a rival candidate? I think it's very

:31:32.:31:36.

disappointing, Jo, to be honest with you. As you say, I have been a

:31:37.:31:41.

member of the Labour Party for 46 years, and I have been expelled from

:31:42.:31:44.

the Labour Party for actually doing my best to try to secure the outcome

:31:45.:31:48.

of defeating a Conservative MP, a member of Parliament for South West

:31:49.:31:55.

Surrey, who as Secretary of State for Health has done untold damage to

:31:56.:31:58.

the National Health Service. But you understand the parties rules,

:31:59.:32:04.

because you are a long-time member, and they're very clear, that if you

:32:05.:32:08.

publicly support a candidate running against the official Labour Party

:32:09.:32:12.

candidate, then you will be expelled? In fact it happened to Ken

:32:13.:32:16.

Livingstone many years ago when he ran for mayor? Well, what we are

:32:17.:32:22.

seeking to do, actually, is to get Labour candidate to stand down in

:32:23.:32:25.

the constituency. It is the overwhelming view of Labour Party

:32:26.:32:29.

members in South West Surrey that the candidate that has been selected

:32:30.:32:34.

for the South West Surrey constituency should be stood down.

:32:35.:32:40.

And your parties branch agreed to that, there was agreement locally

:32:41.:32:45.

for the Labour Party candidate to stand down, and was it the NEC who

:32:46.:32:49.

actually went over your heads? It was indeed. I have a letter from the

:32:50.:32:55.

head office of the Labour Party saying that I have been in and from

:32:56.:32:59.

the membership register of the Labour Party for actually trying to

:33:00.:33:06.

secure the return of a non-Conservative member of

:33:07.:33:11.

Parliament in South West Surrey. And this is happening all over the

:33:12.:33:14.

country. There are people who are seeing that it is appropriate for

:33:15.:33:20.

Labour Party members and supporters, and for Liberal Democrat members and

:33:21.:33:25.

supporters, and for Green members and supporters, in different parts

:33:26.:33:28.

of the country, to stand down their candidates, to stand aside, for the

:33:29.:33:33.

candidate who is best placed to defeat the Conservatives. There is a

:33:34.:33:40.

regressive alliance of the right, Ukip is supporting Conservative

:33:41.:33:44.

candidates in this election in order to defeat the left. So, why can't

:33:45.:33:52.

the progressive side of politics do the same? You can understand, from

:33:53.:33:56.

the point of view of the party leadership, and it's ruling

:33:57.:34:01.

executive, that this is the official opposition and it should be fielding

:34:02.:34:05.

candidates in every seat and should be able to win as many of those

:34:06.:34:09.

seats as possible. If you do what Ukip has done, to some extent, by

:34:10.:34:13.

agreeing to stand down candidates, you admit in the mind of the public

:34:14.:34:18.

that you cannot put up a proper opposition against the ruling party?

:34:19.:34:23.

Labour is the alternative party of government in this country, and I

:34:24.:34:27.

want to see Jeremy Corbyn in number 10 Downing Street, and it is

:34:28.:34:33.

precisely... And there are residents for the Labour Party standing down

:34:34.:34:39.

its candidates. In 1997, in Tatton, there was a deeply unpopular

:34:40.:34:42.

Conservative member of Parliament in Neil Hamilton, who has now moved

:34:43.:34:47.

over to Ukip, deeply unpopular member of Parliament, and the Labour

:34:48.:34:50.

Party and the Liberal Democrats stood down in Tatton in order to

:34:51.:34:58.

enable Martin bell to stand as a unity candidate. And we have got

:34:59.:35:02.

that unique opportunity in South West Surrey now, we've got the

:35:03.:35:05.

opportunity to defeat one of the most unpopular secretaries of State

:35:06.:35:10.

for health that we have had in this country, who has perpetrated a

:35:11.:35:13.

untold damage to the National Health Service. Will you reapply to join

:35:14.:35:19.

the Labour Party? Of course I will, the Labour Party is in my soul, I

:35:20.:35:24.

want to remain a member of the Labour Party. I didn't leave, I was

:35:25.:35:25.

thrown out. Caroline Lucas, joint leader

:35:26.:35:29.

of the Green Party, had been calling but yesterday claimed Labour

:35:30.:35:31.

and the Lib Dems had "betrayed" their voters, and the Green

:35:32.:35:38.

Party would now focus When we last spoke, I think you were

:35:39.:35:46.

at your conference in Bristol and you were quite enthusiastic about a

:35:47.:35:49.

Progressive Alliance. What has gone wrong? What has gone wrong is that

:35:50.:35:54.

the leadership people around Jeremy Corbyn have absolutely put the lid

:35:55.:35:57.

on this happening. I said it is a betrayal, and that is quite strong

:35:58.:36:02.

word, but it feels like, without some kind of co-operation in a

:36:03.:36:05.

handful of marginal seats, we know how the story ends come we know that

:36:06.:36:07.

we wake up on the 9th of June thinking, how on

:36:08.:36:21.

earth have we allowed a massive Tory landslide? So, there is a huge

:36:22.:36:24.

appetite for this with grassroots Tory members, as we have just seen

:36:25.:36:27.

with Steve Williams. What is so sad is that all of this excitement up

:36:28.:36:29.

and down the country, I have been speaking at meetings all across the

:36:30.:36:32.

country, huge amount of enthusiasm for it, but it has been stopped by

:36:33.:36:35.

the party leadership. So, if it is being stopped at a national level,

:36:36.:36:37.

could it still happen at a local level? I think the example of Steve

:36:38.:36:41.

Williams shows that they will not let it happen. People will get

:36:42.:36:47.

expelled. And this is not just about trying to get rid of the Tories,

:36:48.:36:50.

although it is that, but it is also about trying to return people to

:36:51.:36:54.

Parliament who will fight for a fairer electoral system so that we

:36:55.:36:57.

do not have to have all of these debates, so that people can vote for

:36:58.:37:01.

what they believe in. Over a million people voted Green in 2015, with a

:37:02.:37:06.

proportional system, we would have had 24 MPs, that would have been a

:37:07.:37:12.

better representation of views across the country. At the

:37:13.:37:16.

by-election in Richmond, who offered the Green Party a quarter of ?1

:37:17.:37:18.

million to stand aside in favour of the Lib Dems? I do not know the name

:37:19.:37:24.

of the person, I know of the incident but it happened after the

:37:25.:37:27.

decision had already been taken to stand down - and the money was not

:37:28.:37:31.

accepted. Any indication that we were standing down in order for

:37:32.:37:35.

money is categorically wrong, it happened after the decision was

:37:36.:37:37.

taken, and the money was not accepted. But somebody did offer

:37:38.:37:44.

?250,000? I believe so, that is my understanding. As joint leader of

:37:45.:37:48.

the party, somebody offers your party that amount of money and you

:37:49.:37:52.

do not know who it is? I don't remember the name. It went through

:37:53.:37:56.

our ethical checks, it did not pass our ethical checks, the money was

:37:57.:37:59.

not accepted. But your candidate did stand aside? Our candidate had

:38:00.:38:06.

already decided to stand aside, as has that candidate decided again,

:38:07.:38:08.

because what we had was the chance to oppose Zac Goldsmith, who had

:38:09.:38:13.

been running a very racist campaign in London, and we wanted to try to

:38:14.:38:19.

get somebody in there who was going to support electoral reform. Except,

:38:20.:38:25.

you will have seen the website which has a leak in internal document from

:38:26.:38:28.

your Richmond party, saying that party staff from the centre put

:38:29.:38:33.

pressure on local activists and said that there was, quote, an offer of a

:38:34.:38:38.

large donation conditional on the party demonstrating its desire for a

:38:39.:38:43.

Progressive Alliance? Andrew, this has all been completely exposed as

:38:44.:38:48.

being two or three annoyed people in the Kingston party, who did not

:38:49.:38:51.

agree with the decision to stand down. As a result, they put out a

:38:52.:38:56.

document which has been criticised, condemned, we looked into this,

:38:57.:39:00.

there was an independent investigation into it which

:39:01.:39:04.

absolutely said that there was no substance to the claims. So you're

:39:05.:39:07.

saying that the local chairman of the Kingston Green Party, and two

:39:08.:39:12.

other members, have made this up? I think they have either been misled

:39:13.:39:17.

themselves, or they've been misinformed, or somehow false

:39:18.:39:19.

information is in that document. That is what our council

:39:20.:39:26.

independently declared. One of them has already gone off and joined the

:39:27.:39:30.

Labour Party. I think this is quite important. It is not true. If this

:39:31.:39:35.

was true of another party... If it were true, Andrew... You would be

:39:36.:39:41.

the first to condemn that? I certainly would, and that's why I am

:39:42.:39:45.

so robustly challenging, as I have done all along the way, that what

:39:46.:39:49.

was in that report was absolutely wrong. The decision to stand down...

:39:50.:39:54.

I do not remember the name because I have never spoken to the person. You

:39:55.:39:59.

don't yet offered a quarter of a million every day! We turned it

:40:00.:40:04.

down, Andrew. They could welcome back and offer the money in a

:40:05.:40:08.

different context. You will need to know who that person is. The party

:40:09.:40:12.

knows who it is, I am very sorry, Andrew, I don't have that name. I

:40:13.:40:16.

came on to talk about the importance of defeating the Tories over going

:40:17.:40:22.

to be on course for a landslide victory, if we don't get our acts

:40:23.:40:25.

together on the left, and that is what I would love to talk about,

:40:26.:40:30.

because it's incredibly important! This is very important to clear up

:40:31.:40:34.

as well. I have cleared it up for you, Andrew, it is completely false!

:40:35.:40:43.

What if this money has come in in another way? I know perfectly well

:40:44.:40:46.

it hasn't because our chief executive is all over this, of

:40:47.:40:52.

course it hasn't! The order to stand aside apparently came on the

:40:53.:40:56.

instruction of the chief executive! It's completely false. The idea that

:40:57.:41:00.

we are spending minutes of valuable national our time talking about a

:41:01.:41:03.

report by three people who have absolutely categorically been shown

:41:04.:41:08.

not to be telling the truth, either by design or accident, is a real

:41:09.:41:12.

shame, because we should be talking about the fact that... One of them

:41:13.:41:16.

isn't because he has just joined the Labour Party! That could be a

:41:17.:41:21.

Progressive Alliance! It could but what I want to talk about is the

:41:22.:41:25.

fact that Theresa May is on course for a landslide victory, and that is

:41:26.:41:28.

bad for the people Labour says it stands for, it is certainly bad for

:41:29.:41:33.

progressive politics in this country as the kind of politics she will be

:41:34.:41:37.

putting in place is not just a hard Brexit, but also taking money out of

:41:38.:41:41.

our education system, our NHS is on its knees, the environment is

:41:42.:41:45.

nowhere in the debate, and has been so far, so I hope you will have me

:41:46.:41:49.

back tomorrow when we are launching our Environment Minister 5-4. I will

:41:50.:41:53.

have you back if you can remember that name! Andrew... -- launching

:41:54.:42:03.

our environment manifesto. You're not standing against Vince Cable in

:42:04.:42:07.

Twickenham, so there are still areas where you are pulling back a bit to

:42:08.:42:12.

allow a non-Tory to get in, is that right? Absolutely. How many seats

:42:13.:42:17.

will that be in? About ten or a dozen. And that will be largely in

:42:18.:42:21.

favour of Lib Dems? It is essentially when either the Lib Dems

:42:22.:42:26.

or Labour will commit to a fairer electoral system, one which does not

:42:27.:42:30.

give power to the government on less than 24% of the eligible vote. Would

:42:31.:42:38.

you stand aside? We will stand aside where there is a situation where a

:42:39.:42:44.

real Brexiteer, not a fly by night Brexiteer, is... Basically, who have

:42:45.:42:53.

changed their tune over the years. Like Theresa May! Yeah, actually, we

:42:54.:42:59.

are standing against Theresa May, actually. People who have campaigned

:43:00.:43:06.

with us for years, campaigned for Brexit, we will give them a free

:43:07.:43:08.

run. We will leave it there. During the election, our intrepid

:43:09.:43:12.

reporters will be out and about testing the mood of the nation

:43:13.:43:15.

with our ever scientific Moodbox. So, Adam, where has

:43:16.:43:17.

the mood taken you today? Hi, not very in trap pit today,

:43:18.:43:27.

because I am down by the River Dee in the City of Chester, and it's

:43:28.:43:30.

absolutely gorgeous. What a nice day. In the last election in 2015,

:43:31.:43:36.

the Labour candidate won by just a few votes over the Conservatives.

:43:37.:43:45.

And Ukip got 8%. Now, this time round, if Ukip voters perhaps voted

:43:46.:43:49.

for another party, or the Ukip candidate stood aside, that could

:43:50.:43:52.

have a crucial impact on the results. So we have taken the

:43:53.:43:56.

Moodbox out onto the streets of Chester to ask people, should the

:43:57.:44:01.

purple party pack up or fight on, now that Brexit seems to be

:44:02.:44:02.

happening? They're pretty much

:44:03.:44:06.

over now, aren't they? Their job is done, and we probably

:44:07.:44:10.

won't see very much of them now. Is that a Ukip balloon

:44:11.:44:13.

you've got on your pram? is that because you're

:44:14.:44:21.

a mega Ukip supporter? How do you think Ukip

:44:22.:44:27.

will do at this election? When he's 25, do you think the UK

:44:28.:44:33.

Independence Party will still exist? Er, unfortunately, I don't think it

:44:34.:44:45.

will, but I think if you're that passionate about your beliefs,

:44:46.:44:48.

I think they should fight on. The way Labour is at the moment,

:44:49.:44:53.

I think it's very vulnerable, and it's probably looking

:44:54.:44:55.

for a new party that could come How do you think Paul Nuttall,

:44:56.:44:58.

the new leader, is doing? Well, if I said something,

:44:59.:45:08.

it would be defamatory, wouldn't it? Well, there's nothing to

:45:09.:45:10.

say nice about him, is there? Hello, sir, what do

:45:11.:45:20.

you think about Ukip? Look at that, a decanter

:45:21.:45:23.

in the shape of a Stormtrooper. What do you think Ukip should do,

:45:24.:45:36.

pack up or fight on? Ukip are talking about things

:45:37.:45:51.

like banning the burqa and things like that -

:45:52.:45:54.

is that up your street? Covering your face and that,

:45:55.:45:56.

you just can't see people. So, you think they should fight

:45:57.:46:03.

on on issues like that? Yeah, fight on with

:46:04.:46:06.

issues like that. The Brexit vote has happened,

:46:07.:46:08.

we're leaving Europe, so their purpose has gone,

:46:09.:46:10.

and you can see them kind of scrambling around,

:46:11.:46:13.

appealing to far-right policies, and the only reason why

:46:14.:46:17.

they would stick around is so that something nastier doesn't follow,

:46:18.:46:20.

in my opinion. Are you like a professor

:46:21.:46:23.

of politics, or something? There we go, a few people think

:46:24.:46:25.

the party should fight on, but many, Our scientific mood box says it all.

:46:26.:46:50.

You're wasting your time and theirs. It is the short-term narrative.

:46:51.:46:53.

People are believing Theresa May. She's able to talk the talk and act

:46:54.:46:57.

tough on Brexit. When accept comes and she has to start walking the

:46:58.:47:02.

walk, when negotiations start, I think she'll begin to backslide. I'm

:47:03.:47:06.

confident that will happen. When she does, Ukip will become more relevant

:47:07.:47:09.

than ever before. It will be too late then. It's already on the

:47:10.:47:13.

slide. If you want to look at something more scientific, we only

:47:14.:47:16.

have to look at local elections last week. You lost every single council

:47:17.:47:21.

seat you were defending. Quite impressive from one point of view.

:47:22.:47:25.

That's a clear message from the electorate? We knew these elections

:47:26.:47:29.

would be the most tough we'd face. Did you think you'd lose every

:47:30.:47:34.

single council? I expect add real bad result. We knew these would be

:47:35.:47:38.

the most difficult local elections we were going to fight. They were

:47:39.:47:43.

made doubly difficult by the fact the Prime Minister called a general

:47:44.:47:48.

election. She did her impression the day before with the fight against

:47:49.:47:52.

Jean-Claude Juncker. That's politics. It was convenient. It made

:47:53.:47:59.

it very difficult for us. Look, politics is cyclical. It isn't just

:48:00.:48:02.

about the short-term but the long-term. If Ukip stays on the

:48:03.:48:06.

pitch, I believe it will prosper in future. It will be difficult to stay

:48:07.:48:10.

on the pitch. With regards to Brexit, people are believing Theresa

:48:11.:48:15.

May, in your own words. For now. In the meantime, you have to watch

:48:16.:48:19.

what's been happening within your own party? Aaron banks, your major

:48:20.:48:25.

donor says you've crashed the car. Douglas Carswell, your only MP until

:48:26.:48:33.

he threw in the towel. Did you ever think you'd hear Aaron Banks and

:48:34.:48:37.

Douglas Carswell agree on anything? No, you may have a point there.

:48:38.:48:41.

Seriously, this is all short-term thinking. What we need to do...

:48:42.:48:48.

Aaron Banks says you crashed the car, Douglas Carswell is gone. That

:48:49.:48:52.

doesn't matter. Politics will come back on to our turf. Ukip has to

:48:53.:48:57.

hold its nerve. Stay on the pitch and the future will be very bright,

:48:58.:49:01.

I'm sure. You lost all those council seats. These were local elections.

:49:02.:49:05.

That's because they don't see you as a party beyond Brexit. If it

:49:06.:49:09.

continues people brief Theresa May on the issue of coming out of the

:49:10.:49:13.

EU, you don't have anything to offer. Yes, you've put forward

:49:14.:49:16.

policies. But people aren't interested in you for those or not

:49:17.:49:20.

in any large numbers? Firstly, when she begins the backslide, I think

:49:21.:49:24.

she'll backslide on fisheries. There may be some deal on freedom of

:49:25.:49:29.

movement. I think we may end up paying this divorce bill. People

:49:30.:49:33.

will feel betrayed. Where will these people go? Not lemme or Green or

:49:34.:49:38.

Labour. They'll come back to Ukip. What can Ukip do? In what sense? In

:49:39.:49:44.

terms of changing her direction on Brexit. If you haven't any local

:49:45.:49:50.

council I wills. We have. Or enough local councillors or MPs, if you

:49:51.:49:53.

don't get any in the general election how will you do it? How did

:49:54.:49:57.

we put David Cameron under pressure to give us the referendum in the

:49:58.:50:03.

first place. Ukip goes up in the poles, stays strong, elect otherly

:50:04.:50:06.

viable. I believe that will be the case in years to come. There isn't a

:50:07.:50:12.

broader offer from Ukip on Brexit? If you look, when you see our

:50:13.:50:16.

manifesto, it will be radical, forward thinking. We'll lead the

:50:17.:50:20.

debate. I think our manifesto in many ways will be a decade ahead of

:50:21.:50:25.

its time. I guarantee the policies we put forward now will no doubt

:50:26.:50:30.

about the policies of the mainstream political parties or Government

:50:31.:50:34.

policy in ten years' time. One of your councillors in Essex quit your

:50:35.:50:38.

party saying it was a spent force. He was defecting a Jeremy Corbyn's

:50:39.:50:42.

Labour Party. People are going in all ebb directions from Ukip. That's

:50:43.:50:48.

the first I've heard. Jack Parsons, elected to award in Clacton. You

:50:49.:50:52.

need to keep up. It is a strange move, isn't it, I suppose. Then

:50:53.:50:57.

again, we had a Conservative councillor defect to us yesterday.

:50:58.:51:01.

Ukip has to hold its nerve. This is, look... This will be a difficult

:51:02.:51:03.

election. There's no doubt about that. You're not going to win any

:51:04.:51:09.

seats? We may well win a couple. We're targeting sincebly. Focusing

:51:10.:51:15.

our resources in terms of manpower, financial resources on a small

:51:16.:51:18.

number of seats. You think two at most? Look, do you know, we could

:51:19.:51:22.

get over the line in a number of seats this time round. Maybe our

:51:23.:51:26.

vote share won't be as high as last but maybe we'll get over the line.

:51:27.:51:29.

What I have to do is keep this party on the pitch. You just said, though,

:51:30.:51:36.

that you are waiting for Theresa May to backslide. She won't keep to her

:51:37.:51:41.

commitments in terms of the sort of Brexit you'd like to see. Why are

:51:42.:51:44.

you telling large parts of the country to vote Tory? Well, we're

:51:45.:51:49.

also telling people in certain seats to go out and vote Labour. Why are

:51:50.:51:55.

you telling them to vote for a Tory Party you believe won't police

:51:56.:51:58.

officer deliver? These are people who are true and real precious

:51:59.:52:02.

tears. Theresa May never was. She wanted us to remain in the European

:52:03.:52:06.

Union. You're asking your supporters to vote for her? There are specific

:52:07.:52:11.

seats with specific sitting MPs where we'll stand aside to ensure we

:52:12.:52:16.

get the Brexit we want. It is quite a moral thing to do, really. It is

:52:17.:52:19.

about putting your country above your party. According to Professor

:52:20.:52:24.

Stephen Fisher at Oxford Euan very it is, the scale of Ukip's collapse

:52:25.:52:30.

will be an important factor in the scale of Theresa May's victory. Do

:52:31.:52:34.

you accept that? I think our vote share will go down. There's no doubt

:52:35.:52:38.

about that. We're contesting this election on a sticky wicket. Because

:52:39.:52:42.

the Prime Minister's being believed at this present moment in time. If

:52:43.:52:47.

there's a move between us and the Conservatives, you've already seen

:52:48.:52:51.

that in the polls, it will play an important factor. We have to target

:52:52.:52:55.

sensibly on a certain number of seats and try to get over the line.

:52:56.:52:59.

Do you think you'll be the last leader of Ukip? No. Are you

:53:00.:53:02.

finished? Yeah. Thank you. Now, not every politician can

:53:03.:53:04.

command primetime on The One Show, or even a slot

:53:05.:53:07.

on the Daily Politics. So, what have they been up to back

:53:08.:53:09.

on the election trail? Here's Emma Vardy with

:53:10.:53:12.

our campaign round-up. Tim Farron boarded

:53:13.:53:15.

a resucue hovercraft as he launched the Liberal Democrats

:53:16.:53:18.

campaign in Burnham-On-Sea. He was taken for a ride

:53:19.:53:22.

in the Lib Dems former heartlands of the south-west where the party's

:53:23.:53:25.

hoping to resurface. Today, the Liberal Democrats

:53:26.:53:27.

are pledging to spend an extra Angela Rayner, are we talking

:53:28.:53:31.

about 50 children, 5,000, Angela Rayner spoke to LBC

:53:32.:53:36.

about Labour's promise ensuring no But when asked how many children

:53:37.:53:42.

that would help, it appeared the Shadow Education Minister hadn't

:53:43.:53:53.

done her homework on the figures. Go on then, if you've

:53:54.:53:58.

got it, give it me. It's a substantial

:53:59.:54:01.

number, go for it! Mysterious pair of legs

:54:02.:54:03.

without a body, perhaps? Seems Labour's Kate Hoey, or one of

:54:04.:54:08.

her team, attempted to Photoshop her Liberal Democrat rival George Turner

:54:09.:54:12.

out of the picture only to make one of those digital altering

:54:13.:54:16.

schoolboy errors. And, look who's campaigning

:54:17.:54:20.

in the New Forest. Desmond Swain took Maggie

:54:21.:54:23.

for a ride and a furry friend. These steak and haggis pies

:54:24.:54:28.

were the product of an SNP campaign visit in East Dunbartonshire

:54:29.:54:39.

with John Nicholson. After lanching Labour's campaign,

:54:40.:54:43.

Jeremy Corbyn found solidarity in song with a busker

:54:44.:54:54.

on the streets of Ashton-under-Lyne. # Darling, darling, stand by me #

:54:55.:54:56.

Oh, stand by me # Oh stand.... Now, throughout the election

:54:57.:55:07.

campaign, we're taking a look at some of the smaller parties

:55:08.:55:09.

hoping to make gains Today we're looking at the Women's

:55:10.:55:11.

Equality Party, who are currently The Women's Equality Party

:55:12.:55:15.

was founded in 2015. They're calling for equality

:55:16.:55:19.

in politics, business and executive They want to close the gender pay

:55:20.:55:26.

gap, saying that women earn 52% They're calling for equal maternity

:55:27.:55:31.

and paternity leave. And they want to see gender

:55:32.:55:37.

stereotypes challenged We're joined now from Leeds

:55:38.:55:39.

by their leader, Sophie Walker. Welcome to the Daily Politics.

:55:40.:55:52.

Hello. What is it your pushing for that women in politics aren't

:55:53.:55:57.

already tackling? We've women select committees, ministers, women's

:55:58.:56:02.

issues are debated. Why aren't you backing the party that best

:56:03.:56:04.

represents women's rights? Because we've much better policies and much

:56:05.:56:11.

better candidates. Actually our whole system looks at it

:56:12.:56:15.

differently. We're offering voters a better, different option. One that

:56:16.:56:18.

flips politics on its head, if you like. What we do is we design a

:56:19.:56:23.

system that works for the furthest first. If you look at the

:56:24.:56:29.

experiences of the single biggest discriminated against group, women,

:56:30.:56:34.

in all of our diversity, you create a political system and policies that

:56:35.:56:38.

work better for everyone. Do you not think some of the existing politics,

:56:39.:56:42.

we can name the leaders of the various parties at the moment, the

:56:43.:56:46.

Prime Minister, Leanne Wood, Nicola Sturgeon, Caroline Lucas, they are

:56:47.:56:51.

doing quite well in of themselves. Are they not promoting from within

:56:52.:56:55.

the system the change you want? No, that's why we're here. We're

:56:56.:56:58.

bringing new and fresh voices in our candidates. Many of whom have never

:56:59.:57:03.

done politics before and are providing the interesting and

:57:04.:57:05.

different backgrounds which would be so valuable in Westminster. But,

:57:06.:57:09.

we're also looking really specifically and closely at how we

:57:10.:57:15.

redesign, for example, investment in the economy. We will be prioritising

:57:16.:57:20.

a look at how you invest in the social infrastructure of this

:57:21.:57:24.

country. Time and time again, Chancellor after Chancellor stands

:57:25.:57:27.

up and says here's a great idea to get the economy going. Let's invest

:57:28.:57:32.

in physical infrastructure, housing, roads, bridges. What we're saying,

:57:33.:57:36.

how about if we look at the other side of that? How about we invest in

:57:37.:57:43.

free childcare? That would have a transformative impact on lives of

:57:44.:57:46.

women right across this country. You'd increase your tax base. You

:57:47.:57:50.

would decrees the number of out of work benefits. That would have a

:57:51.:57:55.

knock on effect for everybody in a very positive way. We haven't time

:57:56.:58:01.

to go through costing. In your manifesto you open with the line

:58:02.:58:05.

nowhere in the world do women enjoy full equality. Do you really think

:58:06.:58:09.

that the position of women in western liberal democracies can be

:58:10.:58:12.

compared to the situation experienced by women around the

:58:13.:58:14.

world in the way you've presented it there? First of all, that's not our

:58:15.:58:20.

manifesto, it is our policy document we launched in 2015. Our manifesto

:58:21.:58:24.

is coming shortly. You stand by that? Absolutely. This is a classic

:58:25.:58:30.

case of what aboutry. We're not allowed to talk about women's

:58:31.:58:33.

equality unless we start from somewhere else. Setting aside,

:58:34.:58:38.

frankly, if you want a feminist approach to foreign policy you have

:58:39.:58:43.

to have more fen Nices in Parliament, it is very clear when

:58:44.:58:47.

you look at the statistics here in the UK, women don't have the same

:58:48.:58:55.

options. They outnumber women by Two to one in Parliament. Women suffer

:58:56.:58:59.

disproportionately from austerity mesh Ewings. They paid ?86 out of

:59:00.:59:05.

every ?100 saved. Sophie, we're going to have to finish it there.

:59:06.:59:08.

We've run out of time. There's just time before we go

:59:09.:59:09.

to find out the answer to our quiz. Crime writer James Patterson has

:59:10.:59:12.

joined forces with which political figure to write a thriller set

:59:13.:59:16.

in the White House? The one o'clock news is starting

:59:17.:59:18.

over on BBC One now. Jo and I will be

:59:19.:59:27.

here at noon tomorrow with all the big political stories

:59:28.:59:29.

of the day.

:59:30.:59:32.

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