14/01/2012 Dateline London

prices. Now it is time for Dateline London.

More eurozone countries are downgraded, while the Greek debt

talks ran into trouble. Is the UK about to fall apart? Is Mitt Romney

the Republican's best choice to defeat Barack?

The credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has downgraded France,

Austria and some other eurozone countries. This comes as talks to

restructure a Greek debt runs into difficulties. How much worse can

the eurozone problems become? Friday the 13th was a non-event.

France was downgraded, Austria was downgraded - this is simply because

of the situation in Hungary, which is not part of the eurozone.

Basically it does not change any of the fundamental problems of the

eurozone. Not only the eurozone, also of the British economy. The

lack of job creation, and the fact that we have the situation increase.

(INAUDIBLE). It is no problem, the euro is low at the moment... The

eurozone is much better placed in the world and Britain is. I see, it

is a success, is it? I don't think it is a success. But Standard &

Poor's has got it wrong several times. It is an American agency who

should have downgraded Britain as well. I see, right. I will argue

with that point. I love the idea that it has gotten better, not

worse. Let's stay with that. It makes me feel nice and warm. In

terms of the Britain versus France argument here - if you look at GDP

figures and competitiveness, you have a good argument. If you look

at when the debt needs refinancing, if you look at the fact that

Britain isn't in the euro so it has a lot more control over its fiscal

policy, if you look at a lot of other factors, including things

like that our government is here until 2015, whereas in France

you're coming up to elections - there are a lot of reasons to say

there is a strong argument for not treating the British economy for

being in such a perilous situation as the French. (LAUGHTER). If you

read the statement of Standard & Poor's, they say the problems

include not enough growth. Where will the growth come from when all

the emphasis is on austerity? there you are. (LAUGHTER). I can't

even command growth in my own sector - the newspaper sector, let

alone in the rest of the economy. That is an interesting point. There

was, embedded in Standard & Poor's report - this assumption about

growth. Since austerity measures were employed, there seems to be

this demand from Standard & Poor's that people's where the impossible

circle. That we suddenly moved from austerity to growth by some kind of

construction in the private sector. I can't quite see how that will

work. I would like to spend their days sitting there with the

Standard & Poor's people and say - make those calculations, are they

any good? These are the geniuses who didn't bother to tell us in

2005 and 2006 who didn't tell us what was going to hit us in 2080.

have always said - if you're so clever, why didn't you tell us

about the banking collapse. That would have helped. I think this

problem was expected. The question is - when you have to share a load

of problems with different economies which are not controlled

by a Central Bank policy, you know the European Central Bank does not

have a jurisdiction in European countries - every country does not

abide by the policy - they have their own national preference. How

big question mark about these agencies. This needs to be

addressed as well. How bad is it for Nicolas Sarkozy facing the

election and trying to pretend that he is as big as Angela Merkel.

made a mistake a few months ago by saying - if we are downgraded, I am

dead. (LAUGHTER). He's not dead, there are elections coming which

will be on jobs and growth. It is not their real problem for him. The

problem is for Europe. There is a slight imbalance between France and

Germany. Germany has a triple A, which I don't think it deserves.

(LAUGHTER). ( GENERAL clamour). It will not change the cost of

borrowing... I think now the Germans have completely taken

control because France has lost prestige. That was the case anyway.

No, No. It was. (LAUGHTER). saved the row? France and Germany.

No, Germany and France. (LAUGHTER). The government in Westminster said

any referendum which it does not agree to could be overturned in the

courts. This has caused delight among sq the newspapers,

particularly for Alex Salmond. know as a columnist it is

impossible to get people interested in this question most of the year

around. It is only when it flares up that you get a discussion. David

Cameron decided that not discussing the referendum and not discussing

when it was supposed to happen was doing a tremendous favour to the

nationals and possibly... He decided to provoke a major

discussion and flush Alex Salmond out. That is what has happened. It

is a risky strategy. Everyone in Scotland has said - you cannot talk

about Scotland, you are at English! You are being patronising! As soon

as you tweet anything about Scotland you get a whole lot of

nationalist sympathisers coming forward and saying - you are

English, but out of our discussions. This was the risk that David

Cameron talk in trying to flush Alex Salmond out. One of the things

he got was the date. Alex Salmond thinks the Scots are so stupid it

would take them three years to decide an argument like this. Why

wait three years? The Egyptians haven't waited three years until

their elections. (LAUGHTER). This is regarded as an insult. Why are

the Scots are so dim, according to Alex Salmond? Well, there you are.

I am sure people will tweet you're very appropriate answer. (LAUGHTER).

I feel surprised that so many questions within the United Kingdom

between the different nationalities have not been resolved over such a

long period of time. It has taken the more than three centuries to

try and framed the argument about these things. Even in the 1950s

there was the constitution - there was an argument... These questions

have to be resolved. We are accusing the Arab world... But we

are still addressing 18th century questions. (LAUGHTER). It has come

at a difficult time when there is a Tory government in power because

there is only one Tory MP coming from Scotland to Westminster. Also

this question about the West Lothian inquiries... This is a

contradiction in terms. Also the question about itself jurisdiction

for Scotland. As David Cameron points out, all these questions

about process, which quite often make the eyes glaze over... It is

almost the opposite. What it fears is that all the arguments have been

about emotion, about what people feel would be the best and the

fairest and the most just. Writing historical roles that are 300 years

old. One of the things that the past few years have done is to make

people focus on what the United Kingdom, disunited, look like. What

would Scotland look like on its own? Alex Salmond at one point said

Scotland should look like Ice land. Then for reasons, I can't imagine

what they were, he took that back. (LAUGHTER). It is the same question

with the eurozone - how do you dismantle something, leave the

burning building without jumping off the roof? There is a very real

sense in which people make emotionally feel they would like

Scotland to be independent. David Cameron is gambling on the fact

that when we look at the mechanics of what it would mean, particularly

with the eurozone crisis going on, whereas before you had this notion

at as an independent nation you could become a eurozone country...

That has been put off indefinitely until another referendum. Alex

Salmond was very clear on that. Even so, the idea of independence,

this independence where you could locate yourself in another

framework, whether at the eurozone or just the European Union, it was

a stable entity and an alternative. That has been called into question.

It is an interesting time. People have to think, what does this

really mean? Have you been writing about this? Extensively. It has a

good industry in hi-tech between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It is more

open and pro-European than England. It is like Canada with Tibet. Tibet

is viable as an independent country -- Quebec. Am I right in thinking

that Quebec is still a part of Canada? Yes, it is. I think that an

independent Scotland is very good for Europe. I support it because we

will have one more member. Scotland will come to us, they are pro-

European. The UK will not be as powerful as it is today. So what

you really want is an independent Bavaria (LAUGHTER). You have really

put the cat among the pigeons. I think it is a viable argument.

Looking at the opinion polls, all of a Scots do not want that.

Interestingly, this week - Alex Salmond suggested he is open to the

thought of more devolution. What is wrong with that? It would give more

fiscal responsibility to the government. I don't think, in

principle... I don't think most people would argue with additional

devolution if that is what the Scots wanted. If that was about

equality of contribution. When the debates start a lot of people start

talking about how Scotland is better than the rest of the UK and

would be better run than the s of the UK. How its people are cleverer

than the rest of the UK. Because all those things are questionable,

to say the least, you know that what is being sold here is emotion.

What I feel about this, quite strongly, apart from being somebody

who likes the idea of being in a Britain that Scotland is part of,

it is that it seems to be an odd thing to do at this time. When, in

fact, what we need to do is to work I would like to draw an analogy

between Scotland and Sudan. Where there is a new country? Yes. The

separation of the South. I think this is extremely difficult to

approach and this is why the Government is trying to... The

foreign powers scramble to try to keep the options as open as

possible in regard to Sudan. The separation of skol and would be

safe within the European Union. -- of Scotland. In a South Sudan...

Which would he be? A citizen of Scotland or... Does they one man

independence referendum? I would like to point out, while not quite

sure that postponing the date until 2014 is because the Scottish people

are doomed. (LAUGHTER). Mitt Romney, as expected, roared home in the New

Hampshire primary. Is he likely to face Obama in November and what

kind of America would he stand for? Is he the best of the Lott? He's

the best of this lot. This has been a very interesting start to the

election. You see how all week a candidate he is. Everyone who knows

him says he is miles better at this time around, he has learnt a lot

but that does not making a strong candidate. The reason that we have

this Roughead cycling through the options, it is because the

Republican Party is so spit. -- it is so split, that is why we have

these Roughead cycling through the options. That is why we have had

candidates chewed up and spit out. If I was a Republican strategist,

which I definitely am not, this would be an election to lose rather

than to win because this would be a thankless time to take over in

Washington. They are going a very good way around it. You are an avid

follower of for what they would do if they were in power. It is quite

interesting that the second placed candidate at the moment to Mitt

Romney is a so-called a libertarian candidate called Ron Paul with a

questionable past and links to far- right parties. There is so much

liberty it has freed itself of political history in order to do

what it does. Mitt Romney is the obvious candidate because he is

centrist. If you're going to have somebody who is going to beat a

centrist Democrat you need a centrist candidate to do that.

Huntsman, if it was on that basis, he would have been... No-one has

heard of him before and Mitt Romney... I will take better notice

of him. Republicans are not. What do you make of this exercise in

democracy? I regret the fact that Egyptians and other citizens of the

world don't have a say in the election of the American President.

Even some internal affairs, everything affects us. You have --

they are from the England and he's going to South Carolina next. --

new England. Two failures under his belt from the 2,000 bandaid

elections when he dropped out, failing to get 10 Kennedy's seat. -

- Ted Kennedy. It is a fascinating question for me - how the Americans

make a profession out of the elections in order to spend more

time coming to the voter and electing people. Whenever you

choose someone who is a Washington outsider, when he goes to

Washington he becomes an insider. How can you guarantee that he will

be an outsider? You can. Looking at what would happen if some of these

people were elected, people overplayed the decline of the

American influence, the American empire. If some of the candidates

were elected you would see it decline really fast! Normally a

sitting president with a bad economy should be defeated. The

Republicans have all the cards in their hand. Everyone expects Obama

to win, we have a feeling. The only good sign - one of them speaks

French. That did not work for John Terry. -- John Kerry. I think he

will be a good candidate. problem is to placate the social

conservative you need a running mate... Religion is a problem as

well. He is a Mormon. So is Jon Huntsman. It is extraordinarily

ironic for someone who is not religious, people saying that

Mormonism is not a proper religion because the gold plates were

uncovered in the modern era. These things do account. It is a sect.

you think about what the other fastest growing religion is, how

Americans feel about that... You can see where the problem lies.

understand that mum and his are polygamous. -- Mormons are

polygamous. Moving on. We have seen one very common a potential

candidate running and dropping out. What do you think will happen now

with Mohamed ElBaradei dropping out in Egypt? There are some people who

can work to motivate but they cannot become number one. I expect

many of the others will drop out as well along the course of the next

six months. The question that now is to get the parliament in place

and see how the consensus will come about in drafting the constitution

and looking after minority issues - and women are included and other

issues related to rebuilding the state. Women are obviously very

prominent in the protests, played a leadership role. Do you think some

of them are somewhat disappointed with the way things are going

politically? Yes they are. They hold it against the army more than

the Islamists in that respect. The question of dragging the lady with

the blue Brutt in Tahrir Square. -- the blue bra. We have to understand

it is the army that takes full responsibility. We have to say that

everyone in Egypt is learning. The problem is that not everyone learns