Browse content similar to 31/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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and his two colleagues. A fool news bulletin at 1pm. Now it | :00:04. | :00:14. | |
:00:14. | :00:32. | ||
Good afternoon. After it apparently taxing grannies, taxing hot snacks, | :00:32. | :00:39. | |
wining and dining rich donors, is the Government out of touch? | :00:39. | :00:43. | |
Are we on the brink of a function democracy in Burma? | :00:44. | :00:53. | |
:00:54. | :00:57. | ||
Should British schools teach the In the past week the British | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
Government mac has told us that to fill our cars with petrol in case | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
there was a strike has resulted in massive queues at petrol stations. | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
They have also raised what has been called up a granny tax. They have | :01:10. | :01:19. | |
also been caught out wining and dining which borders, -- wining and | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
dining rich donors. Is the Government out of touch with | :01:22. | :01:29. | |
ordinary people? They have had at that week. They could do with | :01:29. | :01:39. | |
:01:39. | :01:42. | ||
somebody like Alastair Campbell. The presentation is bad. They have | :01:42. | :01:46. | |
been sustained by the wars in the Labour Party. That has not had a | :01:46. | :01:51. | |
good week either. They had a disastrous performance in the | :01:51. | :02:01. | |
:02:01. | :02:01. | ||
Bradford by-election. There are big questions about whether Ed Miliband | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
can survive through to the next election as Labour leader. Not a | :02:05. | :02:15. | |
:02:15. | :02:17. | ||
good week for either party. In the whole list of things, there is one | :02:17. | :02:27. | |
:02:27. | :02:27. | ||
important element which is not funny. That is money for access. We | :02:27. | :02:32. | |
all know that Richard donors like to meet the rich and powerful. But | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
the problem is if they have more influence than others, then the | :02:37. | :02:44. | |
system needs reform. The question is how to go about that. It is not | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
a Tory issue. It is for Labour as well. It is an entire political | :02:50. | :02:57. | |
donation system that needs reform. To link all these things together - | :02:57. | :03:04. | |
George Galloway's victory, he said that was a vote of no confidence in | :03:04. | :03:09. | |
it been major parties. That is the implication is it not? Somehow | :03:09. | :03:15. | |
politics has become a game of four people who do nothing else. There | :03:15. | :03:22. | |
is the impression that you have to be rich to get into it. From my | :03:22. | :03:30. | |
point of view it was a good week for the Tories. They are not like | :03:30. | :03:40. | |
:03:40. | :03:41. | ||
previous Tory cabinets. Previously you had Amex's of people. I would | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
include Margaret Thatcher in that. This lot have no connection even | :03:45. | :03:49. | |
with the rest of their party. They are born into a certain class. I | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
thought that was quite a good week. I thought Ed Miliband did well. The | :03:54. | :04:00. | |
public were revolted by the fact that they had no connection in | :04:00. | :04:09. | |
their own heads with some of the policies. The George Galloway thing | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
shows what should happen in an election. I do not like the man, | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
but he had no public relations machinery, he did not have | :04:17. | :04:27. | |
television. This man went on to the streets and arouse people as he | :04:27. | :04:32. | |
does. That was an interesting lesson for all of them. Why do they | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
need so much money? We should all support democracy. We support the | :04:38. | :04:46. | |
royal family. We should support democracy. The argument against | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
that is that at a time when the NHS and schools are being squeezed... | :04:51. | :04:57. | |
Why do we not stop paying for the Royal Family? If we do not pay for | :04:57. | :05:06. | |
democracy in our country, are we will not get a better system. | :05:06. | :05:16. | |
:05:16. | :05:17. | ||
this government back into power, every week has been at bad week. | :05:17. | :05:23. | |
There was the phone hacking scandal. There was the Liam Fox scandal. | :05:23. | :05:28. | |
There was the cash for honours scandal. I cannot remember all the | :05:28. | :05:31. | |
scandals such as Government has been involved in. The latest one is | :05:31. | :05:37. | |
the fat cats dining with the Prime Minister after the tax has been | :05:37. | :05:42. | |
reduced. Meanwhile others have to pay more for their pension and | :05:42. | :05:52. | |
:05:52. | :05:55. | ||
their fast food. Their Government is advising people to fill petrol - | :05:55. | :06:05. | |
:06:05. | :06:06. | ||
- to fill a jerry cans with petrol. Imagine if the Argentinians said | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
they were going to the Falklands next week. The entire British Army | :06:10. | :06:14. | |
would leave Afghanistan and go to the South Atlantic. This is what is | :06:14. | :06:24. | |
happening. The Government is becoming a laughing stock? Clearly | :06:24. | :06:29. | |
the people of Bradford felt there should be a plague on the houses of | :06:29. | :06:38. | |
all the major parties. Ed Miliband issued a list of people he had | :06:38. | :06:45. | |
wined and dined. That included the leader of one of the major unions | :06:45. | :06:53. | |
which has contributed to the Labour Party. Somebody commented that his | :06:53. | :07:03. | |
:07:03. | :07:04. | ||
union had given a �5 million to the Labour Party. That would buy a lot | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
of fast food. But you have a spread with Labour. You have trade | :07:10. | :07:17. | |
unionists. With David Cameron, he says this is his friends. He has no | :07:17. | :07:22. | |
friends that are not part of the elite. The root and branch reform | :07:22. | :07:32. | |
:07:32. | :07:35. | ||
is needed. Party financing needs to be changed. I do not want to defend | :07:35. | :07:41. | |
what they do. But you have to be even-handed. You have to be | :07:41. | :07:50. | |
rational to some degree. The George Galloway phenomenon represents the | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
wonderful things that can happen within democracy. It also | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
demonstrates the power of personality. That can be | :07:59. | :08:06. | |
problematic. Let us not forget we elect a government not for them to | :08:06. | :08:12. | |
be close to the common man, or to have a huge personality, but to run | :08:12. | :08:22. | |
:08:22. | :08:23. | ||
the country well. I wonder the question about where is the Andes - | :08:23. | :08:33. | |
:08:33. | :08:39. | ||
- the Alastair Cameron figure is significant. Anybody would know | :08:39. | :08:43. | |
that your tax fast food at your peril. The political antennae seems | :08:43. | :08:53. | |
:08:53. | :09:04. | ||
to have slipped off. Everybody could have seen it. They did not. | :09:04. | :09:08. | |
The Government is so out of touch with the people. It is elementary. | :09:08. | :09:14. | |
It is not to do with how it is presented. By saying that you fall | :09:14. | :09:17. | |
into the trap is is all about presentation. The policies are | :09:17. | :09:23. | |
wrong. I am suggesting that somebody like Alastair Campbell | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
would have pointed out that if you leak all the good news before the | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
Budget, the only thing the press can rhetoric on the day at the | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
budget is the bad news. policies are wrong. It does not | :09:34. | :09:38. | |
matter how it is presented. That is what has happened since the days of | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
Tony Blair. All the focus is on tricking the public. Actually it is | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
the policies we should be looking up. The policies were wrong. | :09:47. | :09:57. | |
:09:57. | :09:59. | ||
people do not accept the slogan that we are all in this together. | :09:59. | :10:02. | |
This fuel crisis was not the finest hour of the British people are | :10:02. | :10:12. | |
:10:12. | :10:14. | ||
either. I am surprised they did not queue up for fast food! On the | :10:14. | :10:20. | |
petrol question, that is a powerful argument that the Tories can use | :10:20. | :10:30. | |
:10:30. | :10:33. | ||
against Labour. It makes Ed Miliband position difficult. They | :10:33. | :10:40. | |
are in a difficult position on this. Ministerial remarks about jerry | :10:40. | :10:46. | |
cans were mistaken. But we cannot blame them for the one serious | :10:46. | :10:50. | |
incident occurred. Pouring petrol in your kitchen into a glass jar | :10:50. | :10:59. | |
when you have Albert stove is an unwise thing to do. The Government | :10:59. | :11:02. | |
faced the possibility of a strike before Easter for which they would | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
have been severely criticised. They wanted to try and blunt the | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
possibility of that. To an extent they were effective in doing that. | :11:09. | :11:16. | |
Once again the presentation of it was faulty. This weekend the people | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
of Burma who have suffered so much will get the chance to vote in what | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
they hope will be fair elections. How significant is this moment for | :11:25. | :11:35. | |
:11:35. | :11:36. | ||
Aung San Suu Kyi, and also for the people of Burma? The fact that they | :11:36. | :11:44. | |
are having this election is in itself a triumph. It has come about | :11:44. | :11:54. | |
:11:54. | :11:58. | ||
after such a long and repression. It is wonderful. China now has its | :11:58. | :12:03. | |
own that leadership handover to worry about. If it were not for | :12:03. | :12:07. | |
that it would have been bigger news in China. Let us wait and see what | :12:07. | :12:17. | |
:12:17. | :12:17. | ||
happens tomorrow. In China because of their political handover, that | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
is the biggest story in China. is the biggest political story. It | :12:23. | :12:30. | |
is also an economic story. Most state-owned businesses have stopped | :12:30. | :12:34. | |
taking orders. They are waiting to see who will be in power before | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
they make the next move. It is a big deal for China. That is | :12:39. | :12:49. | |
:12:49. | :12:55. | ||
dominating the news. Burma being a rich -- Burma is resource which. | :12:55. | :13:02. | |
Burma is important for China. Whatever happens tomorrow will be | :13:02. | :13:12. | |
:13:12. | :13:12. | ||
significant. You recently returned from Burma. We're getting reports | :13:12. | :13:20. | |
that the process will not be fair. Aung San Suu Kyi has a difficult | :13:20. | :13:29. | |
task. What is your judgement? are posters of Aung San Suu Kyi | :13:29. | :13:39. | |
:13:39. | :13:42. | ||
everywhere. There are T-shirts being sold in the streets. There is | :13:42. | :13:50. | |
a movie about Aung San Suu Kyi which is being sold everywhere. All | :13:50. | :14:00. | |
:14:00. | :14:03. | ||
this was not possible up until last October. The old currency bore the | :14:04. | :14:13. | |
:14:14. | :14:14. | ||
picture of her father. This was illegal in the markets until a | :14:14. | :14:20. | |
couple of months ago. There is an atmosphere of change. But there is | :14:20. | :14:27. | |
something lurking under the surface. There is more than meets the eye. | :14:27. | :14:37. | |
:14:37. | :14:38. | ||
People are not sure that the elections will be genuine. | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
Ironically the regime it wants Aung San Suu Kyi to be elected. They | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
wanted as a fig leaf. They may even ask her to join the Government. She | :14:47. | :14:54. | |
would not harm them. This is being done in addition to releasing | :14:54. | :15:04. | |
:15:04. | :15:10. | ||
political prisoners. This is being done as well as reducing censorship. | :15:10. | :15:17. | |
They would give the political parties the possibility of | :15:17. | :15:20. | |
participating in something similar to a by-election. Nothing more than | :15:21. | :15:28. | |
that. Only seven % of seats in the Parliament are on offer. Short of a | :15:28. | :15:38. | |
:15:38. | :15:38. | ||
landslide, anything will be a She is the figure that we know and | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
the West, but we know very little about Burma and the difficulties of | :15:42. | :15:47. | |
staging an election. Yes, and in a way that might be the problem. | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
House arrest, although she was very connected and she had a lot of | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
world support, the country must have changed. I remember when she | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
had never seen some of the technology we take for granted. She | :16:00. | :16:06. | |
had to learn about it. The country changed show much in those years. | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
An inner self -- the country changed so much in those years and | :16:10. | :16:15. | |
in some ways, she has not. After the election, the popularity is | :16:15. | :16:20. | |
still there, but I think that the world she is entering now as a | :16:20. | :16:23. | |
politician will need a very different kind of person from the | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
person that she is. I agree. One big question hangs over all this | :16:29. | :16:37. | |
and that is her health. She does not look well. She is 66 years old | :16:37. | :16:42. | |
and she has had an extraordinarily difficult life. She was treated, | :16:42. | :16:46. | |
she had major surgery a few years ago. And she will obviously do well | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
in the elections, but then she moves into a new era in her life | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
where lamenting all that is wrong will no longer be enough. She will | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
have to begin to propose solutions for a country which is | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
astonishingly poor. I have not been there but I read that the per | :17:03. | :17:11. | |
Capita income of 50 million people is $1,800. $1 a day. The Tass that | :17:11. | :17:17. | |
lie ahead are enormous. -- of the tasks. This process is probably | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
irreversible, and the military junta as probably realise that they | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
have to change and that she has gone from being a liability to a | :17:24. | :17:28. | |
potential asset. Many people are saying it is reversible but I am | :17:28. | :17:33. | |
not sure. They were saying that about the Arab world. I see quite a | :17:33. | :17:38. | |
lot of similarities between Egypt and Burma. Whatever happens, there | :17:38. | :17:43. | |
is his background of power in the hands of the army. The search for | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
democracy started before the Arab Spring. We have to emphasise that | :17:48. | :17:52. | |
this exercise tomorrow is for one goal, two more lift the sanctions | :17:52. | :18:00. | |
against the regime. -- Two Left. the sanctions serve any purpose? | :18:00. | :18:07. | |
There is the possibility that the EU sanctions will be removed. How | :18:07. | :18:09. | |
important is it for Burma, given that their biggest trading partner | :18:09. | :18:18. | |
is China? Hugely, hugely important. The poverty level in Burma is so | :18:18. | :18:26. | |
dramatic, they need economic engagement, which as I remember, 30 | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
years ago that was what saves the Chinese people. Sanctions, as we | :18:30. | :18:36. | |
know, harm the people the most. Now we see movement in the political | :18:36. | :18:43. | |
reform. I would very much like the section to be listed. -- the | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
sanctions to be lifted. With economic engagement, there will be | :18:47. | :18:52. | |
further opening up. Not to say that the process is irreversible, there | :18:52. | :18:56. | |
will be ups and downs, but the direction that this country is | :18:56. | :19:03. | |
moving towards is encouraging. power of the army not looming? | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
power of the army is everywhere. We should emphasise the fact that the | :19:07. | :19:11. | |
military is also divided on the issue of reforms and democracy as | :19:11. | :19:15. | |
well as the opposition. Many opposition parties criticise and | :19:15. | :19:21. | |
sang Suchi for not being tough enough or conservatory -- | :19:21. | :19:27. | |
conciliatory. -- on San Suchi. While we're talking, guerrilla | :19:27. | :19:31. | |
warfare against the Burmese army is still going on, despite the fact | :19:32. | :19:39. | |
that they have reached a agreement. It seems to me that the key role is | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
played by China. The sanctions will be maintained by the United States, | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
and perhaps should be, to make sure that the momentum towards a more or | :19:48. | :19:53. | |
rut -- a more democratic society continues. There is an internal | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
reason for the military to change which is that there is a grave | :19:57. | :20:03. | |
discomfort among many Burmese about the over-reliance on China, the | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
Irrawaddy, which they have now had to suspend, the dam, that have a | :20:09. | :20:14. | |
lot to do with reservations about 90% of the power going to China. | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
They want to open up because if they're going to relieve poverty in | :20:17. | :20:24. | |
Burma, it is going to have to be done by drawing in foreign | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
investment and free-market systems, to break up what has been a system | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
overwhelmingly dependent on China. It is. The army is not benevolent | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
by allowing this to take place. The country's bankrupt and they know | :20:37. | :20:42. | |
that if they do not open up Burma for the outside world, lifting the | :20:42. | :20:46. | |
sanctions by the European Union and others, they will not be able to | :20:46. | :20:52. | |
survive. Even as an oppressive regime. Back home, or the | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
Archbishop of Canterbury, shortly to leave his post, has suggested | :20:56. | :21:00. | |
that British schools should teach children the Lord's Prayer after | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
many -- a survey showed that many children did not understand a | :21:04. | :21:09. | |
prayer. What is the place of religion in schools? None No place? | :21:09. | :21:15. | |
I think our state has been so muddled. I think it was Jefferson | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
who said, all that time ago, absolutely rightly, that state and | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
religion have to be apart. They are important than they can influence | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
each other, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, | :21:27. | :21:32. | |
but they have to be into next fears. We have been in such a muddle about | :21:32. | :21:37. | |
it here. This archbishop, and I like him as a person, but he does | :21:37. | :21:44. | |
have the most of mottled head. -- the most muddled head. First of all, | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
all the other faiths will rise up in revolt, of course. I have no | :21:49. | :21:51. | |
problems if they want to teach my child Christian prayers, but we | :21:52. | :21:57. | |
should not be doing this in schools. I wonder why he waited so long, | :21:57. | :22:03. | |
minutes before the end of this term. I am against teaching prayer at | :22:03. | :22:10. | |
school. I am definitely in favour of teaching religion, but as a | :22:10. | :22:18. | |
cultural thing. As a theology, to teach about Christianity and | :22:18. | :22:25. | |
Buddhism and Judaism, definitely. However, we are witnessing a growth | :22:25. | :22:28. | |
in faith schools and this will create segregation. If you want to | :22:28. | :22:34. | |
teach her son a prayer, centre to Sunday school. -- teach you some. | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
do not understand why religion should play such a big part in | :22:38. | :22:45. | |
education. I agreed, if there is religious studies as a subject, yes, | :22:45. | :22:50. | |
children can be taught not only of Christianity but other faiths as | :22:50. | :22:54. | |
well. As a prospective, for looking at the world. I have her teachers | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
saying that this is not to do with Christian belief but they have said | :22:57. | :23:02. | |
that if you do not understand, you cannot read English literature. | :23:03. | :23:09. | |
said? Teachers? I did eight years of English literature but I had | :23:09. | :23:13. | |
never prayed the Lord's Prayer. That is not what I said. He said if | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
you do not understand the tenants of Christianity, you cannot | :23:16. | :23:20. | |
understand Shakespeare. But you can teach them about Christianity. Why | :23:20. | :23:25. | |
do they have to pray that Lord's Prayer? I think first of all, that | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
is unfair to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has probably had | :23:29. | :23:36. | |
the 10 most difficult years of any Archbishop, to deal with. It is a | :23:36. | :23:42. | |
tough job. He said it requires the hide of a rhinoceros. He has had a | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
tough week. He has struggled manfully to hold the Anglican | :23:46. | :23:53. | |
Communion together. He is such an understanding man. He has not | :23:53. | :23:56. | |
exceeded but he has not failed, which maybe his greatest | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
achievement. They have not broken apart but on the question of | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
schools, it is not so complicated. If you have a denominational school, | :24:03. | :24:07. | |
it Church of England school or a Jewish school Lorimer's own school, | :24:07. | :24:12. | |
surely teaching the elements of the Christian faith, the Muslim faith, | :24:12. | :24:19. | |
the Jewish face, is respectable. -- the Jewish faith. If they have no | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
denomination, if they're going to teach any religion, they should | :24:22. | :24:28. | |
teach all religions as a matter of English -- matter of study. They | :24:28. | :24:34. | |
said that all children should know the Lord's Prayer. And he is a very | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
gentle and nice man and he was much buffeted. I completely agree with | :24:37. | :24:43. | |
you but he has said some really barking things. Barking mad things. | :24:43. | :24:48. | |
UN di can agree on that. To have all schools teaching children of | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
the Lord's Prayer, if they are not going to teach the elements of the | :24:51. | :24:58. | |
Koran and the Taarabt, and other religions, is unsupportable. -- you | :24:59. | :25:02. | |
and I can agree on that. This increasingly multi- religious | :25:02. | :25:07. | |
country will not support it. that the general consensus? Maybe | :25:07. | :25:10. | |
he raised it now because he is relieved that finally he does not | :25:10. | :25:13. | |
have to talk about whether women should be bishops or what the | :25:13. | :25:18. | |
position of gay people should be within the Church? It is a very | :25:18. | :25:24. | |
complicated intellect. Sometimes, like when he supported Sharia law, | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
he supported Sharia law and in a very intellectual way he said that | :25:27. | :25:34. | |
we must allow this in family law. I went berserk, as you can imagine. | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
In the nicest possible way, with all the best intentions, he has | :25:38. | :25:42. | |
said utterly the wrong this things. The maybe he meant that Sharia law | :25:42. | :25:48. | |
should be studied in Christian schools. -- maybe he meant. He can | :25:48. | :25:53. |