17/05/2017 Daily Politics


17/05/2017

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Afternoon, folks. Welcome to the Daily Politics.

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The Liberal Democrats release their manifesto today,

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focusing on a pledge to give people a final say on the Brexit deal

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in a referendum and a raft of policies for young people.

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Theresa May and Philip Hammond went on the attack this morning,

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claiming there's a vast black hole in Labour's manifesto plans.

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But Labour insist they're fully costed.

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Unite leader Len McCluskey insists he is "now full of optimism"

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about Labour's general election hopes despite saying in an interview

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yesterday he could not see the party winning.

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And the Moodbox and I find ourselves in Dumfries in south west Scotland,

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where we're asking whether Scottish independence is a crucial

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issue for voters here at the coming election.

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So all that in the next hour and with us for the duration

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Conservative peer Michael Forsyth, who served in John Major's Cabinet

:01:34.:01:35.

First today, manifestos are a bit like buses -

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you wait for ages and then they all come along at once.

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Labour were first out of the blocks with their manifesto yesterday,

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called "For the Many, Not the Few", today it's the turn

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of the Liberal Democrats and tomorrow, it's the Tories.

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The Lib Dems published their manifesto in the last few minutes.

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It is called "Change Britain's Future", and they say

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it's aimed at giving young people a "brighter future".

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Yes, the flagship policy in the Liberal Democrat manifesto

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is their pledge to have a referendum on the terms of the Brexit deal

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The Lib Dems want to give the British people the chance

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to reject what they say is the "extreme and divisive Brexit"

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Aside from Brexit, the Lib Dems are offering to spend more

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In particular, they would give the NHS and social care an extra

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They would get that ?6 billion by raising all rates

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And all of that extra money from income tax would be ring-fenced

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On education, they would give just under ?7 billion to schools

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and colleges over the course of the next parliament.

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That would pay for things like protecting per pupil funding

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in real terms and tripling the early years pupil premium.

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That's extra money given to nurseries educating three

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and four-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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The Lib Dems would also build new rent-to-own homes

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people taking part in the scheme would be able to gradually buy their

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They would reverse some of the welfare cuts.

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For example, they would restore housing benefit

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They would end the current cap on public sector pay.

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And the Lib Dems would create a new young person's bus pass

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which would give 16 to 21-year-olds in England a two-thirds

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Let's look at Ed Davey setting out the party's Brexit policy this

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morning. We think people are very upset

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about Brexit here in London. Many of them voted to Remain

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and we want to say when the Brexit deal has been done in three or four

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years time, then people should have the right to vote on that deal

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and say whether they like it and if they don't like it,

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they can vote to remain I think people are worried

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that the Theresa May-Nigel Farage coupling, where they're backing

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an extreme form of Brexit, is very damaging to people's futures

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particularly young people's I think people do want

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a chance to vote again. Dick Newby, the leader

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of the Lib Dems in the House of Lords and chair of

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the Manifesto Working Let me just clarify. Your party has

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ruled out joining any kind of coalition after this election? Yes.

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So you wouldn't be in any kind of Government? No, we would not, no.

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We're in the sail position as the Labour Party. We know who the

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Government is going to be after the next election and we're going more

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honest. Who is going to be the Government? The Conservative

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Government. If you're not going to join any coalition, what's the point

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of going through the policies with you? Well, I think people want to

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know when they're voting for us what kind of country they're living in.

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But you're not going into Government, what's the point? People

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vote for people who share their values and views about how the

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country should go going forward and that's why you have a manifesto.

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Yes, but if the values as you're claiming are going to be the values

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of a May Government, I assume you're going to win by a landslide and you

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would not get involved in a coalition that could stop that from

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happening then I say, your policies, what you stand for is irrelevant?

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No, they're not. The details are irrelevant? From the day Parliament

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gets back, we're going to be debating the Government's policies

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and we're going to be voting on them and the manifesto gives a guide to

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people about how we're going to behave and what we're going to be

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doing in the next Parliament. One of the policies you have is to have a

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second referendum, a referendum on the deal if and when a deal for

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Brexit is done? Yes, that's right right. . Who said a referendum was

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disrespectful to the voters and counter productive and who said if

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you're having two referendums you might as well have three? Well...

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Who said that? It doesn't matter who said it. Vince Cable said it. Yes.

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Of the Lib Dems who is on your frontbench team. Disrespectful? What

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we're saying is that people voted for a departure. They have no idea

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last year what they were going to get. So we say at the end of the

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process, there are only two lots of people who can decide - what we do

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about Brexit. Either, MPs, or the people. If MPs, if it was left to

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MPs before the last referendum, they would have been, they were

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completely out-of-touch with the people. So we think a process

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started by the people should be completed by the people.

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But if the European Union knows that there is going to be a referendum on

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the outcome of the negotiations, that gives them a huge incentive to

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give us the worst possible deal? No, I think you're pinning too much

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faith on the powers of persuasion of the Lib Dems there. People in

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Europe... I never made that mistake before? I didn't think you had, but

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I think that people in Europe are negotiating on the basis of getting

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a deal which they think is in the long-term interests of the EU on the

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basis that we will leave. That's the only way they can do it, but it

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doesn't mean that that rules out us having a final say on it. If I'm

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negotiating for Brussels, and you're negotiating for Britain, and I know

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that you have to put whatever you agree to the British people, I'm

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going to try and give you a punishment beat soing that the

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British will think we didn't real identities it was going to be as bad

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as this, we're going to need visas to go there, we can't work anymore,

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oh, let's vote against it. I'm not going to give you a Free Trade

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Agreement and not going to give you tariff reason free trade, am I? But

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why does that work for the British people and not Parliamentarians?

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Somebody decides, Andrew, it isn't just the Prime Minister, you have

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one body of people deciding in Parliament or a larger body of

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people, the condition deciding, they're going to react in the same

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sort of way to the attitude and the deal that comes out of Brussels

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surely. When would the referendum be? Well, the Prime Minister says

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she can complete the negotiations within the time frame. So you would

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have it when she come back with a deal. Would there be enough time?

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Well, she says there is. She has not been that explicit at when it can be

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done? I think your contention if the country was to vote against the deal

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we would stay in the EU? That would be the proposition. Who in Brussels

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led you to believe that would be the case? Well, I think it's pretty

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clear from all the lawyers, from someone like Lord Kerr who wrote

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Article 50 that it is revocable, you can stop the process if you want to

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do. Have you had any indication from Brussels that that is the case?

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That's how they view it or have the European Court of Justice view it

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that way? Senior officials in the EU have said that the article is

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revocable. Who are they? Former advisors to the commission. Former

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members of the European Court of Justice. Who are they? Well, I

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haven't got a list of their names, but there is a long list of names

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and John Kerr who wrote it. He is just an observer now. Yeah, but he

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knew what was in people's minds when it was written because he had the

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pen. I suggest he didn't because when he wrote it, he never thought

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it would happen. He wrote it as entirely academic exercise? Well, he

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is not a flippant sort of chap. I wouldn't say that. He just didn't

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think it would happenment you didn't think it would happen. Well, nobody

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thought it was going to happen, did they? No, some people did. A lot of

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people didn'tment one of them was Nick Clegg. I want to run you this

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clip of what he said. This is before the country gave its verdict on

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Brexit and he was speaking at the Oxford Union, he was debating with

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Nigel Farage, it was in December 2015, before we got to the

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referendum. Sure. But what would happen if we had one. This is Mr

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Clegg. There will be some voices and I hope it won't be Nigel or Sir

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People and not all voting on Brexit in this general election for that

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they are voting whether they think Jeremy Corbyn is said to be Prime

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Minister. Your whole appeal in this campaign has been on Brexit. That is

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your distinguishing thing. That's the one thing that does distinguish

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you. Yes, that's what we're fighting. It is what makes you a

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Japanese soldier in the jungle. It over, you lost, it's gone the come

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on out, put your hands up, we will look after you. Somebody decides,

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Andrew, the MP for them is that MPs or the people? We think it will be

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the people. People were decided twice, in the referendum and in this

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election. No, because we don't know the deal. We know what the Prime

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Minister wants, which is a large measure of having the Government,

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but we don't know what is going to get. Many things are definitely not

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going to happen so who knows where we're going to be in the process.

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Your election strategy has been based on the 48% who voted remain.

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You want to pick as many of them but the latest polls suggest you miss

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read the mood of the British people and it no longer exists, this 48%

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force of the country now seems divided into 45% of hard levers, not

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as much as the 52 who voted, and 23% are voting to remain but they accept

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the outcome and have come out of the jungle, put their hands up and said,

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we know it's over. And only 22% are hard remainders and you are

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struggling even to get them. The strategy is flawed.

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No, we fight elections on what we believe. We're also fighting as Jo

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was explaining how do you fund the NHS on a sustainable basis? How do

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you stop schools having cuts per pupil of in some cases of over 10%?

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All these things that we're talking about on the doorstep. Some people

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have Brexit at the top of their minds, a lot of people don't

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frankly. A lot of people are more interested in whether they can get

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to hospital quickly so we're setting out how you would deal with those

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problems as well. Your manifesto would be a guide as to how you will

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vote in Parliament, under the next Government? It is, absolutely. All

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right. What would be a good result for you? Oh, a good result would be

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a significant increase in votes and seats. What would significant be?

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Well, significant means substantial. What does substantial mean? Well, it

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is roughly the same as significant! LAUGHTER

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I put a number on either of them, what would you think? Only a fool

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would that. What's it like in the jungle? I'm enjoying it. Leave him

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alone. Remember my former leader, Lord Ashdown was a jungle warrior.

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He was indeed. Don't go down that line!

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Thank you. Let me pick up on the last point of

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Andrew made about domestic policies, the NHS. The Lib Dems have come

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forward with a bold policy of raising all rates of income tax by

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1%, and that money will go into funding the NHS. No, not at all. As

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the headlines say today, living standards are under pressure and the

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idea you can help them by putting a penny on income tax at all levels is

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foolish and the lesson we have learned from the reductions in tax

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made for example when we cut the top rate of tax, its revenues go up so

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if you're going to put up tax, in the longer term you're going to get

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less revenue and that's not a sensible policy and you will also

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reduce people's living standards. You're expecting no tax rises in the

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Conservative manifesto of any sort? I would be surprised if there's any

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income tax rises. You would like to see the lock David Cameron put on,

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not raising income tax? No, I'm against making gimmicks and foolish

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promises in manifestos because they come back to bite you. You say

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because of the squeeze on living standards you wouldn't want to seek

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increases in living tax but actually, if you look at spending on

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health, the ISS, which actually, once you take into the age of the

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population, the amount of money we're spending on health per person

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will be lower in 2019-21 it was in 2009-10. People may not want to pay

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more income tax but I don't think they also want their standards of

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health care to be going down either. Know, and the way we get more

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spending on the health service is by increasing the tax base, not by

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increasing the rates, and we do that by getting growth in the economy,

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investing in the economy and perceiving the kind of policies...

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We've had growth in the economy, admittedly lower than expected in

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the last quarter, but we've had growth in the economy and the IDF as

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state spending per person on health will be low in 2019-20 than 2009.

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The spending commitments made by the present Government are considerably

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in excess of those that were promised by the Labour Party when

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they stood in the last general election. I'm asking about the

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comparison between what the Conservatives that they were going

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to do and what the Lib Dems are offering to do in terms of boosting

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health spending. If you look at education, the schools budget now we

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know was facing real terms cuts of ?3 billion or 8% by 2019-20, and you

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have to take into account the rise in pupil numbers. In the

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Conservative manifesto you pledged as the number of pupils increased,

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so will the aunt of money in schools, a real terms increase in

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schools budgets in the next Parliament for that you've broken

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that pledge for the blue could be honest like the Lib Dems who say

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they will put more money into schools by raising income tax. We

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have put more money into schools. The criticism would be the

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expenditure per head has not increased. But the total

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expenditure... A real terms increase, even if pupil numbers go

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up, and that, you're not going to do by 2019-20. We have increased the

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schools budget. But not in real terms. You are on the wrong argument

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in my opinion. Hang on, second, it's a political argument and the

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political argument is you shouldn't measure success in education by the

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amount you're spending. If you look at what has happened for example in

:19:10.:19:14.

England, where education is in school 's performance has soared

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ahead of Scotland, where they spent 20% more, there is no direct

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relationship between the performance of schools and the amount you spend.

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But it was a promise he made on the 2015 manifesto and, in terms of

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rising pupil numbers, real terms, they will be cuts in pupil spending.

:19:29.:19:32.

You may claim there is no relationship between spending and

:19:33.:19:36.

outcomes, and that's perfectly credible, but it's about pledges

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which are made in manifestos. Well, that's why I hope our manifesto will

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be short on firm commitments and sat out the broad approach which we will

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take towards running the economy and that includes living within our

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means. Listening to talking about health and education spending, you

:19:54.:19:55.

would think we were not actually living beyond our means of more than

:19:56.:20:00.

?50 billion a year. And our national debt has grown to, if Labour had

:20:01.:20:06.

their way, it would be ?2 trillion. Although the Tories have been

:20:07.:20:09.

underpowered and the coalition and in their own. And we have been

:20:10.:20:14.

criticised for not spending enough. We believe that there. Thank you.

:20:15.:20:19.

-- we believe that there. -- we will leave that there.

:20:20.:20:25.

The question for today is which book series did Theresa May

:20:26.:20:30.

reveal she was a fan of on the campaign trail yesterday?

:20:31.:20:32.

At the end of the show Michael will give us the correct answer.

:20:33.:20:40.

So, the day after Labour's manifesto and perhaps not surprisingly,

:20:41.:20:49.

the Conservatives have spent the morning on the attack.

:20:50.:20:51.

Speaking in London at a joint news conference with the Chancellor,

:20:52.:20:54.

Philip Hammond, Theresa May has dismissed Labour's election

:20:55.:20:56.

manifesto as a "fantasy wish list of easy promises".

:20:57.:21:06.

While Jeremy Corbyn and Labour retreat into an ideological comfort

:21:07.:21:08.

zone, ducking the difficult challenges which lie ahead,

:21:09.:21:10.

I won't shy away from facing the challenges of our time.

:21:11.:21:17.

Rather I will set out how we will tackle them

:21:18.:21:20.

head-on because that is what leadership is about.

:21:21.:21:25.

One of Jeremy Corbyn's key allies, Unite leader Len McCluskey,

:21:26.:21:29.

insists he is "now full of optimism" about Labour's general election

:21:30.:21:32.

hopes despite saying in an interview yesterday he could not see

:21:33.:21:35.

The union boss told Politico magazine a Labour victory would be

:21:36.:21:40.

"extraordinary" and suggested winning just 200 seats would be

:21:41.:21:43.

But this morning, he did a massive U-turn after an "incredible"

:21:44.:21:49.

The response has been like something we've never seen before,

:21:50.:21:55.

If I was having that interview today I wouldn't be making those comments.

:21:56.:22:01.

I think also the Labour campaign has been brilliant.

:22:02.:22:04.

Jeremy Corbyn has come across as a real man

:22:05.:22:09.

Len McCluskey. What a difference 24 hours makes. We used to say a week

:22:10.:22:24.

is a long time and now it's 24 hours.

:22:25.:22:25.

To discuss all this is Barry Gardiner, the Shadow Secretary

:22:26.:22:28.

Welcome back to the programme. You say the current spending plans you

:22:29.:22:34.

have will be balanced by increases in tax. But is there any limit on

:22:35.:22:38.

the amount you would borrow for public investment? Yes, there is a

:22:39.:22:45.

limit on what we would borrow for public investment because we have

:22:46.:22:48.

set out clearly that we would put in place a transformation programme,

:22:49.:22:55.

which is going to borrow 25 billion a year for a 10-year period. That's

:22:56.:23:01.

what we have set out. So the borrowing that we are taking into

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account is in that capital programme. But you would borrow more

:23:09.:23:12.

than 25 million because he would inherit as the rest of the decade

:23:13.:23:16.

went on, existing capital spending, about 50 billion a year by the end

:23:17.:23:20.

of the decade. You would add 25 billion a year onto that. There's

:23:21.:23:25.

also the national investment bank to consider and the cost of

:23:26.:23:29.

nationalisation as well, so you would be borrowing at least 75

:23:30.:23:34.

billion by the end of the decade and maybe more than 100 billion or more.

:23:35.:23:42.

I think if you look at the tax which has come this morning from the

:23:43.:23:46.

Conservatives, what they have done is they have actually put into

:23:47.:23:48.

capital many things which are actually revenue spending. I'm not

:23:49.:23:53.

using the Conservative figures. I don't know which figures you are

:23:54.:23:58.

using. The figures from the OBR and the red book. You are going to try

:23:59.:24:03.

and balance the current budget and borrow to invest. So you will

:24:04.:24:08.

inherit about 50 billion a year and added 25 billion to that and there

:24:09.:24:12.

are other things which could fall under cap ex which you would borrow

:24:13.:24:16.

to finance as well. So what I'm saying is, by the end of the decade,

:24:17.:24:20.

you could be borrowing almost twice as much as we are borrowing at the

:24:21.:24:23.

moment on these figures. What is wrong with that analysis? Let me say

:24:24.:24:29.

what borders that analysis and constrains it because of course what

:24:30.:24:33.

we have said is, by the end of the Parliament, we would have the debt

:24:34.:24:39.

reduced from where it stands today. Now, that therefore puts a

:24:40.:24:46.

constraint on what we would do. Define reduce. Very easy. The debt

:24:47.:24:54.

in 2010 was ?979 billion, immediately after the financial

:24:55.:25:00.

crisis. Today it is 1700 and ?31 billion. It has gone up by ?750

:25:01.:25:05.

billion under the Conservatives. We have said at the end of the

:25:06.:25:08.

parliament it will be lower than it is today. Using what metric? It's

:25:09.:25:16.

not going to be lower in absolute terms. You are going to add to the

:25:17.:25:21.

debt every year. What we are doing is we're going to certainly reduce

:25:22.:25:25.

the trend rate of growth of the debt by the end of that. No, watch

:25:26.:25:30.

manifesto says that you're going to reduce debt as a percentage of trend

:25:31.:25:37.

GDP, that's what it says. What is trend GDP? The GDP is a measure of

:25:38.:25:45.

product... I know why GDP is so what is trend GDP? It is how GDP is

:25:46.:25:52.

growing declining in the economy. Said he would not measured against

:25:53.:25:55.

the GDP for a year but on your estimate of what you think the trend

:25:56.:26:01.

is going forward? My understanding of the figures that the Treasury

:26:02.:26:04.

team have produced is that we would be measuring it in the same way as

:26:05.:26:11.

the Government has set out. But as a trend, so you can be quite flexible

:26:12.:26:17.

but the trend? The GDP is the GDP but we can all have different views

:26:18.:26:21.

on the trend, and you could have the ability to take the highest trend

:26:22.:26:26.

and say, as a percentage of GDP, debt has gone down. There is a

:26:27.:26:30.

simple answer to this, though, and that is that the Office for Budget

:26:31.:26:33.

Responsibility should be able to look at both the Labour Party

:26:34.:26:38.

manifesto's promises and our spending commitments as we have

:26:39.:26:41.

requested the Government to doom and to have the Conservative manifesto

:26:42.:26:46.

vetted in exactly the same way. If we do that, then we have an

:26:47.:26:54.

independent body that can look at both manifestos and say, which one

:26:55.:26:59.

actually stacks up? I understand that. We have given the clearest

:27:00.:27:06.

indication of where all our spending commitments are coming from and how

:27:07.:27:09.

they are going to be funded and that is in the document we have. I'm

:27:10.:27:16.

talking about the Capital One, because that's big and vague. Can I

:27:17.:27:20.

pick you up on one thing you mentioned. I think it was mistaken.

:27:21.:27:25.

Where you talked about the nationalisation programme. That's

:27:26.:27:29.

what I wanted to ask you so let me ask you this, will the money for

:27:30.:27:35.

nationalisation, the cost of nationalisation, come out of the 25

:27:36.:27:42.

billion a year of what to call the National transformation fund? I

:27:43.:27:48.

think there's a mistake in which the way the nationalisation programme is

:27:49.:27:51.

going to work. Example, if you look at the way in which the proposals

:27:52.:27:56.

are put forward for the National Grid, it's not too by the National

:27:57.:28:02.

Grid as such, what it does is it alters licensing conditions. Now,

:28:03.:28:09.

under the 89 electricity acts, and the 2006 utilities act, the way in

:28:10.:28:15.

which the licensing is set up at the moment means that the capital assets

:28:16.:28:21.

and the licence to operate for the district network operations are

:28:22.:28:27.

combined and there's no end to that licensing process. What we are

:28:28.:28:31.

proposing is to introduce a termination to those licenses so you

:28:32.:28:34.

would actually separate the capital and the licensing. So you are not

:28:35.:28:40.

going to nationalise the National Grid? It may happen at the end of

:28:41.:28:48.

the process. The grid itself, the assets, could be purchased, but it's

:28:49.:28:54.

rather like saying, the analogy of the railways. It's like saying you

:28:55.:29:00.

have the network, the Railtrack itself, and you have a licence to

:29:01.:29:03.

operate on its. At the moment, they are combined. If I can just make a

:29:04.:29:09.

financial point... Will the network be state owned? At the moment, the

:29:10.:29:16.

value that National Grid has as a company, it comes from the

:29:17.:29:20.

integration of the licence and the capital assets. If you separate

:29:21.:29:23.

them, it radically affects the value. Wilner State take over the

:29:24.:29:31.

grade? It would still only assets. If you look at the way the National

:29:32.:29:37.

Grid talks about its own future, it's very much on a regional grid

:29:38.:29:41.

basis, looking at the district and regional network operators as being

:29:42.:29:48.

able to... I'm lost. Is the National Grid going to be state owned or not?

:29:49.:29:55.

There will be far greater public accountability... It's not the same.

:29:56.:30:05.

So you're going to toughen up the regulations? This option for us to

:30:06.:30:11.

do that. The change to the licence is exactly in the manifesto. Let me

:30:12.:30:20.

show you. So you're going to put a new regulation in, not going to

:30:21.:30:25.

actually buy the assets? No, I haven't said we won't buy the

:30:26.:30:29.

assets, but I have said there is an option to do that but the valuations

:30:30.:30:34.

would be substantially different. There would still be a tonne of

:30:35.:30:37.

money. Its body got a market capital of 40 billion. And a big chunk of

:30:38.:30:43.

that... What I'm trying to establish is, regardless of this, when it

:30:44.:30:48.

comes to the nationalisation is you are proposing, does the cost, and

:30:49.:30:53.

there will be some cost, you cut nationalise everything, does it come

:30:54.:30:59.

from the 250 billion over ten years or a separate cost?

:31:00.:31:04.

I think certainly some of it would come from the ?25 billion a year.

:31:05.:31:10.

You're not sure? I can't give you the exact figures per year, no, I

:31:11.:31:14.

can't. But money that you have said will be a national transformation

:31:15.:31:19.

which is to build new assets, build new roads, new railwayses, new

:31:20.:31:23.

hospitals, new schools, things which we create assets, some of that could

:31:24.:31:28.

be used simply to buy existing assets? If it were, then what it

:31:29.:31:34.

would be doing is it would be reducing the amount that bill payers

:31:35.:31:38.

at the moment are paying to subsidise the profits that the

:31:39.:31:41.

companies take out. The element of their bills that is going into

:31:42.:31:46.

shareholders pockets rather than coming back into the public purse.

:31:47.:31:50.

So in fact, money would then be generated, revenue would be

:31:51.:31:53.

generated in a different way. So I think one has to take account of the

:31:54.:32:00.

fact that if that capital were used to procure those assets, it would

:32:01.:32:04.

also generate more revenue for the public purse because that revenue

:32:05.:32:08.

would not be... It wouldn't generate it for the public purse, you're

:32:09.:32:12.

promising to cut water rates and cut electricity rates. There wouldn't be

:32:13.:32:16.

money for the public purse, it would go on the cuts? If people are not

:32:17.:32:20.

spending money on water water littles or energy bills, they are

:32:21.:32:24.

spending, most people in the economy will be spend it in other ways and

:32:25.:32:29.

therefore, no, but it does as you will understand generate further

:32:30.:32:32.

revenues for the public purse. Because they're creating tax and

:32:33.:32:40.

wealth in other ways. Michael Forsyth, ma carry, an Australian

:32:41.:32:43.

bank, it owned Thames Water for ten years, during that ten years it paid

:32:44.:32:49.

itself or paid its shareholders ?1.6 billion in dividends, ?1.6 billion,

:32:50.:32:55.

it wracked up ?10.6 billion in debt, it had a ?360 million pension

:32:56.:33:00.

deficit and it paid no corporation tax. There is surely a case for

:33:01.:33:05.

doing something about that? Well, there maybe a case for the

:33:06.:33:08.

regulators and for doing something about that, but there is no case for

:33:09.:33:13.

spending scarce capital resources on buying assets which are not a

:33:14.:33:17.

priority or shouldn't be a priority for any Government. I mean, I'm just

:33:18.:33:21.

listening to what, I don't really understand what is being said about

:33:22.:33:24.

the National Grid, but I mean it sounds to me as if what is being

:33:25.:33:29.

said they want to find a way of making sure that the shareholders

:33:30.:33:33.

don't get proper value. As the shareholders are the pension funds

:33:34.:33:36.

and people's pensions that doesn't make any sense at all. All right,

:33:37.:33:41.

we'll unpick this further in the days to come.

:33:42.:33:44.

Let's get a round-up of all the other election campaign news.

:33:45.:33:47.

I am indeed. Jo, yes another beautiful day here in Westminster.

:33:48.:34:00.

But we've had our eye on what the candidates have been up to around

:34:01.:34:03.

the country and there is a few treats for you. So, Diane Abbott has

:34:04.:34:08.

been taking on a tough crowd at the Police Federation. The Green Party

:34:09.:34:13.

have an offer especially for women, but starting off this round-up for

:34:14.:34:18.

any retro gaming fans out there, well, someone has created a Super

:34:19.:34:24.

Mario-style campaign game. Take a look.

:34:25.:34:27.

Let's play Super Tory Party versus The Coalition of Chaos.

:34:28.:34:29.

Select your player and level - easy, hard or Brexit.

:34:30.:34:38.

So back in the real world on the campaign trail today,

:34:39.:34:41.

the Green Party is promising free sanitary products for those

:34:42.:34:44.

The party has pledged to end period poverty by providing free tampons

:34:45.:34:49.

The Conservatives will scrap the Severn Bridge tolls if they win

:34:50.:34:55.

the general election, predicting it would bring

:34:56.:34:57.

Are you a whingeing liberal elitist snowflake?

:34:58.:35:06.

This Labour voter in Brighton was proud to be so.

:35:07.:35:08.

The Conservative's Ruth Davidson got her bake on in Dumfries.

:35:09.:35:13.

Let me try that again. Good afternoon.

:35:14.:35:20.

The Police Federation were lacking a little enthusiasm

:35:21.:35:22.

as they were addressed by Diane Abbott.

:35:23.:35:24.

She faced a backlash over her opposition

:35:25.:35:27.

And someone with way too much time on their hands made this.

:35:28.:35:34.

# Strong and stable, strong and stable, strong

:35:35.:35:54.

and stable, strong and stable, strong and stable #.

:35:55.:36:04.

I'm not sure I imagined Theresa May ever dancing like that, but on a

:36:05.:36:10.

Friday night, who knows? That's your lot. I'm back tomorrow.

:36:11.:36:13.

Figures out this morning show the UK unemployment

:36:14.:36:16.

rate has fallen to 4.6%, its lowest in 42 years.

:36:17.:36:20.

To discuss this and the manifestos are two seasoned political

:36:21.:36:23.

journalists, the Mirror's Kevin Maguire and Caroline Wheeler

:36:24.:36:25.

Kevin Maguire, you've written that the Labour manifesto has lots of

:36:26.:36:36.

smart ideas. Which ones were you attracted to? I think the ones that

:36:37.:36:41.

the country, people are attracted to like ?10 Living Wage, more money in

:36:42.:36:48.

the NHS, free school meals for primary pupils, rail

:36:49.:36:51.

renationalisation, those policies are popular, but as you also know, I

:36:52.:36:55.

believe unless Jeremy Corbyn becomes popular Labour will be in trouble.

:36:56.:37:00.

If you're not sure about the messenger, you won't buy your

:37:01.:37:04.

message. I know Len McCluskey, I know he has done a U-turn. He said

:37:05.:37:08.

just 24 hours that he couldn't see Labour winning. He said he thought

:37:09.:37:12.

it would be difficult. Was that sensible even 24 hours ago? Well, I

:37:13.:37:16.

think it sounded the way a lot of people are and it was a rare moment

:37:17.:37:21.

of honesty. Somebody breaking free from a script where everybody seems

:37:22.:37:25.

to have to pretend they're going to win. You look at the opinion polls,

:37:26.:37:28.

you talk to Labour MPs defending seats, you speak to Labour

:37:29.:37:32.

candidates who, if they haven't got a seat, don't really expect to get a

:37:33.:37:37.

seat. So Len McCluskey really was telling a truth. The other argument,

:37:38.:37:43.

of course, is whether, if Labour went down from 229 seats to 200

:37:44.:37:47.

whether that would be a reasonable result and that's about who defines

:37:48.:37:51.

what a defeat is, how heavy it is and then owns what happens after

:37:52.:37:55.

that. Well, that, of course, will be crucial as as far as the Labour

:37:56.:37:59.

Party is concerned. Caroline Wheeler, how easy would it be stand

:38:00.:38:03.

on the manifesto for the Labour candidates who have been hostile to

:38:04.:38:06.

Jeremy Corbyn? Well, that's the interesting thing really, we have

:38:07.:38:09.

seen lots of copy written about it in our newspapers, but we're not

:38:10.:38:12.

hearing very much from those MPs that are going to be standing on

:38:13.:38:16.

that ticket at all. Len McCluskey is the only person that's come out and

:38:17.:38:21.

endorsed it which I think speaks volumes. I think at the moment the

:38:22.:38:24.

notion is they want to keep their head down and not say too much about

:38:25.:38:28.

it. There has been discussion that they're not mentioning Jeremy

:38:29.:38:32.

Corbyn, some are suggesting he might be removed fairly soon after the

:38:33.:38:36.

general election and inn a sort of last-ditch bid to persuade voters

:38:37.:38:39.

that they might be voting for something different which paints a

:38:40.:38:43.

kind of picture of sort of disarray really for the party and doesn't

:38:44.:38:47.

bode well really post the general election. Kevin Maguire, we have

:38:48.:38:51.

interviewed one of the frontbench spokes people for the Labour Party

:38:52.:38:57.

about the plans for nationalising industries and nationalising the

:38:58.:39:00.

National Grid and he seemed to imply that it wouldn't be a

:39:01.:39:03.

straightforward take over into state ownership, that there would be some

:39:04.:39:08.

sort of reregulation. Are we clear exactly what Labour is proposing and

:39:09.:39:13.

costings for their planned nationalisation? Not entirely

:39:14.:39:17.

because I looked at those figures for what they proposed to raise in

:39:18.:39:21.

taxes and what they proposed to spend and I think they came to ?48.6

:39:22.:39:26.

billion in a wonderful beautiful symmetry in those two tables and I

:39:27.:39:32.

didn't see any figures for spending on renationalisation, but the

:39:33.:39:36.

argument from Labour is public control, public accountability,

:39:37.:39:38.

public ownership can take many forms. For instance on the railways,

:39:39.:39:43.

as franchises come up for renewal they would be taken back so that

:39:44.:39:48.

wouldn't cost anything, but some are long and it would take a long time

:39:49.:39:52.

for that to happen. Water they seem to want to buy something. On the

:39:53.:39:55.

National Grid we thought they wanted it take ownership of it, it sounds

:39:56.:39:59.

like not now. The regional energy companies they would set-up would be

:40:00.:40:03.

alternatives so they wouldn't be taking the big six which most of us

:40:04.:40:07.

buy our electricity from at the moment. There is a range of answers,

:40:08.:40:10.

but it sounds confusing because it is. Right. Thank you for that, for

:40:11.:40:17.

clearing it up. Caroline Wheeler, unemployment is at its lowest level

:40:18.:40:21.

since 1975, but real wages are being squeezed due to rising inflation now

:40:22.:40:28.

at its four year high of 2. # %, how does that affect the story the

:40:29.:40:31.

Government wants to tell ahead of the election? They want to tell a

:40:32.:40:36.

story of the finances looking like they are in good hands particularly

:40:37.:40:39.

under the Conservative Party as we head towards Brexit and we're almost

:40:40.:40:42.

two years away from that. The problem they are going to have is

:40:43.:40:46.

about, the age old story which is pounds and pence in your pocket and

:40:47.:40:51.

that's where the notion of tax comes in. We heard the Labour Party's

:40:52.:40:55.

plans on tax, to protect 95% of people from tax rises, but that does

:40:56.:40:59.

impact on those that earn over ?80,000. Tomorrow will be the time

:41:00.:41:02.

of the Conservative Party to tell us what they are intend to do and of

:41:03.:41:07.

course, if they are going to abandon David Cameron's tax lock pledge then

:41:08.:41:11.

that is going to mean that the real prospect of raising taxes, which is

:41:12.:41:14.

going to hit people in the pockets, which if they're feeling the squeeze

:41:15.:41:17.

maybe something that they will consider when they go into the

:41:18.:41:21.

polling booth. Well, with the squeezes as perhaps the backdrop

:41:22.:41:25.

today, Kevin Maguire, on the Liberal Democrats manifesto, will voters be

:41:26.:41:29.

persuaded by a penny on income tax to pay for more money going into

:41:30.:41:33.

health and schools? I suspect not. I have been somewhat surprised by the

:41:34.:41:36.

lack of impact of the Liberal Democrats in this election. They bet

:41:37.:41:41.

most of the ranch on it being a Brexit election which it hasn't

:41:42.:41:45.

really felt that way. I don't think looking at that manifesto it's going

:41:46.:41:49.

to be the game changer they want and it's very difficult to see them

:41:50.:41:52.

winning all the seats they were talking about earlier on and I think

:41:53.:41:55.

in some areas they will be struggling to hold what they've got.

:41:56.:41:59.

Thank you both very much. Enjoy the campaign!

:42:00.:42:07.

Just referring back to our interview with Barry Gardiner, this is what

:42:08.:42:12.

the Labour manifesto says. It says, "Regain control of energy supply

:42:13.:42:16.

networks through the opposition of licence conditions." I think that's

:42:17.:42:23.

what Mr Gardiner was talking about and says transition to a publicly

:42:24.:42:27.

owned decentralised energy system. So, it would seem that in the end

:42:28.:42:32.

the idea is still whether it is anymore the National Grid or lots of

:42:33.:42:38.

regional grids, it would be, it would nevertheless be publicly

:42:39.:42:42.

owned. Doesn't that mean we'll make regulation so tough that the value

:42:43.:42:46.

of the shares will fall and we'll buy them on the cheap. I have no

:42:47.:42:50.

idea really what it means. I will have to do some more homework.

:42:51.:42:54.

Throughout the campaign we're taking the Daily Politics Moodbox around

:42:55.:42:56.

the country to test the mood of the public.

:42:57.:42:58.

Hello, Andrew. Let me start by quoting a local. We two paddled in

:42:59.:43:14.

this strael. The Moodbox and I didn't, it's chilly. Dumfries was

:43:15.:43:17.

the home of Robbie Burns in the final years of his life and it is

:43:18.:43:21.

where the SNP cleaned up at the last general election. Relegating Labour

:43:22.:43:24.

into third. It's now the Tories who have got it in their sights. It's

:43:25.:43:30.

also a place that rather convincingly voted no in the

:43:31.:43:32.

Scottish independence referendum so we have been asking voters whether

:43:33.:43:35.

they think that issue of Scottish independence will be a crucial issue

:43:36.:43:38.

to them in the coming general election.

:43:39.:43:39.

Yes, or no? MUSIC: I Get Around

:43:40.:43:41.

by The Beach Boys. # Round round get around,

:43:42.:43:43.

I get around # Yeah, get around round round I get

:43:44.:43:45.

around, ooh-ooh #. Certain things, school, education,

:43:46.:43:47.

NHS, things like that. I'm a staunch campaigner

:43:48.:44:01.

for the union so definitely I'll be voting Conservative to remain

:44:02.:44:08.

as part of that. Because I'm voting independence,

:44:09.:44:12.

I've always voted yes and if the election included

:44:13.:44:16.

a question for yes or no about independence,

:44:17.:44:21.

I would vote that way. No, it's not about

:44:22.:44:25.

independence for me. It's about who would be best

:44:26.:44:27.

running this country. I'm a believer in Scottish

:44:28.:44:33.

independence all my life, I'm not going to vote for anything

:44:34.:44:35.

else but SNP. The issue of independence

:44:36.:44:38.

will influence the way you vote? I don't think anyone

:44:39.:44:41.

in Scotland should either. # And we've never missed yet

:44:42.:44:47.

with the girls we meet # None of the guys go steady cos it

:44:48.:44:54.

wouldn't be right # To leave their best girl home now on Saturday

:44:55.:44:57.

night # I get around, get around round

:44:58.:45:01.

round I get around #. Nicola Sturgeon is just

:45:02.:45:04.

hellbent on independence. So you want to vote to make sure

:45:05.:45:27.

she can't have that? What's most important issue

:45:28.:45:29.

at this election for you? In this election for me

:45:30.:45:34.

it would be Brexit. So Scottish independence, is it

:45:35.:45:37.

the burning issue at this election? Well, I think this might be

:45:38.:45:40.

a first in Moodbox history. A verified dead heat between those

:45:41.:45:46.

who think that Scottish independence is the most crucial issue for them

:45:47.:45:51.

at this election Thank you, Dumfries Galloway,

:45:52.:45:54.

and thank you, Robbie Burns. Joining us now from Aberdeen

:45:55.:46:03.

is Callum McCaig from the SNP. And Michael Forsyth,

:46:04.:46:08.

the former Scotland Secretary, Welcome to the Daily Politics. Is

:46:09.:46:18.

their selection for you primarily about a second independence

:46:19.:46:22.

referendum, yes or no? I think this election is about who is the best

:46:23.:46:25.

people to represent Scotland in Westminster and we have the choice,

:46:26.:46:30.

the battle ground has been drawn between the Tories and SNP and it's

:46:31.:46:33.

a battle I am confident about. I have been speaking to many voters

:46:34.:46:37.

and I ask people what is important to them and to some people

:46:38.:46:41.

independence is important but the vast majority, it's not, it's about

:46:42.:46:46.

who's the best place in Westminster question of why suddenly a change of

:46:47.:46:51.

heart? It's no longer a priority in an election campaign. I think we've

:46:52.:46:55.

done that service are quite irony in terms of the Tories fought both the

:46:56.:47:00.

last Scottish Parliament elections, the council elections and saying no

:47:01.:47:04.

to it. I'm of the belief the Scottish Parliament should be the

:47:05.:47:08.

place to decide whether Scotland has another independence referendum. It

:47:09.:47:14.

is decided. It is the clear vote on a Scottish Parliament that there

:47:15.:47:16.

should be another referendum once the terms of Brexit are known.

:47:17.:47:21.

Nobody is running away from independent but there are other

:47:22.:47:24.

issues around what type of Brexit we are going to have, what the state

:47:25.:47:28.

pension is going to be and people in Scotland are not daft. It's just

:47:29.:47:35.

interesting that the SNP in all the years I've interviewed them are

:47:36.:47:40.

reluctant to talk about independence now. I wonder if you are playing

:47:41.:47:46.

down the issue in this election because the issue of independence,

:47:47.:47:51.

the UK has voted to leave the EU, has not shifted the balance towards

:47:52.:47:55.

Scottish independence in the way you had hoped for? No, I disagree. But

:47:56.:48:02.

it hasn't shifted, has it? The SNP has said the only way Scotland will

:48:03.:48:06.

become an independent country is if people vote for it in a referendum.

:48:07.:48:10.

That's how we decide. That referendum has been voted for by the

:48:11.:48:15.

Scottish Parliament and therefore it should happen. That's democracy for

:48:16.:48:18.

them when we're talking about other issues in an election and we are not

:48:19.:48:22.

an independent country yet, so the issues are about how we are governed

:48:23.:48:25.

whilst we are part of the UK, it's important, so we are not a one trick

:48:26.:48:30.

pony. We believe independence is the correct future for Scotland but

:48:31.:48:33.

whilst we are not independent, we have to shape the way the UK is to

:48:34.:48:39.

the benefit of Scotland. If other parties don't want to do that, they

:48:40.:48:44.

have to accept that. Do you accept the dial has not moved towards

:48:45.:48:48.

independence since the Brexit about? There's been a significant change in

:48:49.:48:52.

how these things happen. People who voted yes, who would now vote no.

:48:53.:48:56.

But has the dial shifted dramatically? Not really but with

:48:57.:49:02.

not a campaign on independence and referendum campaign is where we

:49:03.:49:06.

would shift that. If we started in 2012 when it was announced, it went

:49:07.:49:12.

from 30% up to 45%. In this election, not just speaking to yes

:49:13.:49:16.

voters but everyone. I'm not going to write off anybody because how

:49:17.:49:22.

they voted in 2014 or 2015. I'm confident we can gauge with people

:49:23.:49:24.

on the issues of this general election. When it comes to the

:49:25.:49:28.

referendum we will engage on the issues of referendum. Just finally,

:49:29.:49:34.

on Brexit, you obviously against it, and your request for Scotland to

:49:35.:49:37.

stay in the single market have been written off by the Government as

:49:38.:49:43.

unworkable. So how will the SNP actually be able to achieve giving

:49:44.:49:48.

Scotland a place at the top table during Brexit negotiations? I think

:49:49.:49:53.

that battle has not entirely been lost. We have an election that could

:49:54.:49:59.

shape what happens I'm not going to take advantage how people vote in

:50:00.:50:03.

the UK. I would assume the Government will stay as it is, that

:50:04.:50:08.

would be unfair in terms of the electoral process. Let's try to

:50:09.:50:11.

shape the attitudes in Scotland and elsewhere through the debate which

:50:12.:50:14.

suggests" operation with our friends and neighbours in Europe is a good

:50:15.:50:18.

thing. Not just for Scotland but for the UK as a whole. Let's get the

:50:19.:50:22.

softest Brexit and make sure Scottish industries are given

:50:23.:50:27.

priority. Island gas in Aberdeen is very important to the local economy.

:50:28.:50:33.

It was a low priority in terms of the Tories are Brexit talks but I

:50:34.:50:39.

would like to be high priority. It would cost 500 million quid to the

:50:40.:50:45.

industry. Michael, looking at recent polling, I electoral calculus, it

:50:46.:50:48.

indicates the Tories could take ten seats from the SNP coming from a

:50:49.:50:53.

very low base as you know. But this would be an improvement. Is there

:50:54.:50:58.

evidence to show Scottish voters are suddenly become Conservative again?

:50:59.:51:01.

Isn't it really just about Brexit and therefore it could be short-term

:51:02.:51:05.

lived if this surge turns out to be true? I think what has happened is a

:51:06.:51:12.

lot of tactical voting in Scotland, four party system. When we lost our

:51:13.:51:17.

seeds in 1997, we had 17.5% of the vote and the Liberals got ten seats.

:51:18.:51:22.

People vote tactically for the a lot of Tories have voted in the

:51:23.:51:27.

north-east tactically for the SNP to stop Labour. It is now completely

:51:28.:51:31.

clear there's not going to be a Labour Government and people are

:51:32.:51:36.

very, very upset by the SNP's campaign to refuse to accept the

:51:37.:51:39.

result of a Scottish referendum and to imply that those people who voted

:51:40.:51:45.

Brexit are somehow in favour of independence. You're picking up

:51:46.:51:48.

those votes but has not been a wholesale conversion to a

:51:49.:51:52.

Conservative loss. You've just been to Dumfries Galloway. On the local

:51:53.:51:58.

election results, we would have won that seat. If you look at the local

:51:59.:52:04.

election results where I live, the SNP council long-standing has been

:52:05.:52:08.

replaced by a Tory one. There is a swing because people resent the fact

:52:09.:52:11.

that they are being told we have to have another referendum and one of

:52:12.:52:14.

the ironies of this election campaign is the two parties, the SNP

:52:15.:52:19.

and liberals, who want more referendums, are the ones who don't

:52:20.:52:22.

accept the results of. Let's look at some of the issues. You don't want

:52:23.:52:27.

to be a one trick pony in the SNP so let's look at education. Scottish

:52:28.:52:31.

Government statistics. They are pretty damning after a decade of SNP

:52:32.:52:36.

rule, fewer than half of 13 and 14-year-olds in Scotland are able to

:52:37.:52:39.

write properly. With a proportion of those functionally illiterate more

:52:40.:52:44.

than doubling for the battered dreadful legacy. I think you can

:52:45.:52:50.

pick statistics. Some are not good. You have not picked the ones which

:52:51.:52:56.

say... Which ones say numerous the and literacy have improved under the

:52:57.:53:01.

SNP? You can pick some would say things are not great and some things

:53:02.:53:04.

which are improving and you have picked some statistics and you have

:53:05.:53:11.

denied that. People are passing higher exams in record numbers, we

:53:12.:53:18.

have the lowest youth unemployment in the UK, so there are some things

:53:19.:53:22.

that need to be improved, nobody is denying that, but to suggest that

:53:23.:53:26.

somehow the education system is failing an entire generation of

:53:27.:53:30.

people in Scotland is incorrect. Just tell me on literacy and

:53:31.:53:34.

numerous E, can you give me some positive numbers? To be clear, I'm

:53:35.:53:37.

not denying those figures but I'm suggesting, if you look at certain

:53:38.:53:41.

figures in isolation, and ignore other figures would suggest things

:53:42.:53:44.

are not quite as bad as the picture you like to paint, then things, when

:53:45.:53:49.

you look them in the round are not as bad. Does the SNP accept there

:53:50.:53:53.

are issues which need to be addressed with education? Yes, and

:53:54.:53:56.

that's why we are increasing money going into schools to close the gap

:53:57.:54:02.

and yes, we are aware of these issues and addressing them. That's

:54:03.:54:05.

not just look at certain things in isolation without accepting the

:54:06.:54:08.

bigger picture which is not as dark as the picture you are painting.

:54:09.:54:12.

Thank you very much for joining us. The Washington post is reporting

:54:13.:54:17.

President Putin is ready to hand over records of President Trump's

:54:18.:54:22.

talks with the Russian Foreign Minister to US lawmakers if the

:54:23.:54:27.

White House approves. And they will show he did not hand over any secret

:54:28.:54:35.

intelligence, says the Kremlin. Curiouser and curiouser. Shutting

:54:36.:54:39.

down the story well, isn't it? No way this story will shut down.

:54:40.:54:41.

Now, in the run up to the general election we've been taking a look

:54:42.:54:44.

at some of the smaller parties hoping to win seats.

:54:45.:54:47.

Today it's the turn of the Alliance for Green Socialism

:54:48.:54:49.

and they are putting up three candidates.

:54:50.:54:51.

The Alliance for Green Socialism was founded in 2003.

:54:52.:54:54.

It wants to get rid of capitalism in favour of the environment.

:54:55.:54:57.

It doesn't have a Twitter account and, as one of the smallest parties,

:54:58.:55:00.

Its policies include putting a stop to global warming

:55:01.:55:04.

with investment in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure.

:55:05.:55:10.

It wants to abandon what it calls endless economic growth.

:55:11.:55:14.

And it seeks public ownership of utilities, big business

:55:15.:55:17.

The Alliance for Green Socialism also wants to abolish the monarchy

:55:18.:55:31.

and put an elected presidency in its place.

:55:32.:55:33.

And the leader Mike Davies joins me now.

:55:34.:55:35.

Welcome to the programme. Thanks for the invite. You have three

:55:36.:55:41.

candidates. What are you hoping to achieve? We want to make our

:55:42.:55:48.

policies and our views clear to as many people as possible. And since

:55:49.:55:53.

those policies are not being put forward by any of the larger

:55:54.:55:58.

parties, we are putting forward. What's the difference between the

:55:59.:56:02.

Alliance for Green Socialism and the Green party? In the British

:56:03.:56:06.

political spectrum, the Green party is to the left. That's a very

:56:07.:56:17.

dubious statement. Really? The Green party, firstly, doesn't understand

:56:18.:56:21.

the relationship between capitalism and environmental problems like

:56:22.:56:25.

global warming. The Green party's attitude, and I'm quoting Caroline

:56:26.:56:32.

Lucas, an archetypal supposedly left Green party member, she will sort

:56:33.:56:35.

out the environment and then think about capitalism. They don't realise

:56:36.:56:41.

you can't sort out the environment without thinking about capitalism at

:56:42.:56:45.

the same time. You sound, if I may say so, a bit like the People's

:56:46.:56:54.

Judaean front. You did use that analogy two years ago. Isn't that

:56:55.:56:59.

the reason why you never make that much progress, because you're so

:57:00.:57:01.

bitty differentiating yourself from each other, but on a number of

:57:02.:57:07.

things you are on a broad agreement, so what you achieve more by being

:57:08.:57:12.

together? Are you talking about the Labour Party or the Green party?

:57:13.:57:17.

Both, actually. If you look at the Labour Party, basically it has no

:57:18.:57:21.

interest in the environment. If you listen to Jeremy Corbyn speech, he

:57:22.:57:26.

won't say a word about the environment. If you look at the

:57:27.:57:31.

Labour Party manifesto, nothing in Jeremy's forward about the

:57:32.:57:36.

environment. It has got 12 headings, none of which concern the

:57:37.:57:39.

environment for the PS, if you dig down deep to word number 573 you

:57:40.:57:44.

will find a dozen words on it, but basically they don't care and the

:57:45.:57:47.

Green party, as I say, they don't appreciate that you cannot solve the

:57:48.:57:53.

environmental problems, particularly global warming, when you've got an

:57:54.:57:56.

economic system which pursues endless growth and immediate profit.

:57:57.:58:01.

All right. How well do you think are going to do? I think we will come

:58:02.:58:06.

close to form an excrement. LAUGHTER

:58:07.:58:11.

On that realistic note... I want the first interview. Done.

:58:12.:58:14.

There's just time before we go to find out the answer to our quiz.

:58:15.:58:17.

The question was which book series did Theresa May reveal she was a fan

:58:18.:58:21.

So, Michael, what's the correct answer?

:58:22.:58:29.

Harry to is the correct answer. Thank you very much.

:58:30.:58:31.

TEACHER: And I know you like reading those books.

:58:32.:58:35.

She has read all of them. She's thinking, is there a trap?

:58:36.:58:47.

The One O'Clock News is starting over on BBC One now.

:58:48.:58:50.

I'll be here at noon tomorrow with all the big

:58:51.:58:53.

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