30/11/2013 Dateline London

Now on BBC News, foreign correspondents based in London give

their views on the week's international news in Dateline

London. Hello and welcome to Dateline

London. The British government gets nervous about the price of energy

and the price of houses. The French President and Europe leaders

deficit. The British government is trying to figure out about

electricity and gas prices up the major suppliers announced increases

of around 10%. A house price bubble has led to a change in policy on

lending. How do you see what's been going on this week? The government

has denied that they actually leaned on the energy companies to counter

prices but that is what some people say. There is a great area there. I

don't think they leaned, I think they begged. `` grey area. Once you

have been a willing, how can I put it politely? Willing to sell

yourself. What I have read is that they have asked, begged, the

companies to please, hold prices. And if the prices go up, make sure

nobody blames the government. We know that governments don't rule, it

is business. Mrs Thatcher always said you can't buck the market. And

maybe you can't. Mrs Thatcher, I know I am wearing such a blue, but

I'm not. `` Thatcher. You can't have total faith in the market. It was

never like this. Not even Adam Smith short what we should have the law of

the jungle. `` thought. Even the most capitalist country, the United

States, has regulation and sometimes it is a closed market. Someone who

has had a lifelong association with the United States, it struck me as

being a glaring omission in the privatisation of this country over

the last 20 years or so. That they did not, the conservatives in

particular, did not institute effective regulation. In the United

States when these issues arose for the first time, from the start the

Congress are dead a superstructure of regulation, of oversight, which

can be pretty tough. It has been pretty effective. Think of Kennedy

rolling back the steel prices for example in his first year of office.

Privatisation of monopoly utilities in many cases. Without any effective

oversight at least as what I have been able to see. I once the energy

companies renationalised because I don't think we can give in to the

market forces the market isn't working with the energy companies.

They put up prices at the same time, at the same level, there is no

choice for the consumer. You have no alternatives. Have you looked at how

it works? You swap. We tried it, we swapped. Within weeks, that same

company had upped its prices. So what do you do? You run around like

a mad person looking for a place to buy your energy from. You can't

escape. They will keep rising prices. `` raising. Before an

election year, an election date mentioned is really influencing the

entire politics landscape at the moment. They will try to pressure

the energy companies to slow down, that is a reaction to Ed Miliband.

Saying he would freeze the prices if Labour comes to power loss of three

years or whatever. Everybody is really playing politics with a very

substantial issue for the public. 31,000 people have died of

hypothermia, that is a huge increase from the previous year. House

prices, it is not everywhere, but particularly in London, there have

been fears of a house price bubble. Funding for lending has been

redirected to small to medium enterprises, smaller businesses. The

government wants to cup that. They don't believe `` cap... Aid markets

in various ways? It is no longer the national government. Frum and higher

institution than that `` from a. Brussels is not breaking... That you

have. And that is because the national government puts pressure on

Brussels so that they don't regulate. The only solution to all

this crisis is that Brussels breaks up. Now it is the ultimate decision

maker and they break up the `` oligopoly. It is on energy, not

immigration, I think Brussels would be very popular. I think there is

immense confusion in this government. They really don't know

what they are doing and what they stand for. They change all the time.

The warning has come from the governor of the Bank of England that

we are overheating the housing market. It is not the government who

is rethinking, O God, we have offered to help people who want to

help their first homes, actually we are leading somewhere, we might get

another catastrophe in this country. I think this is where the government

is completely out of its depth. The future of the United Kingdom,

Scotland, boat The Independent `` vote for independence, we also have

the fact that the EU is saying Scotland would not automatically be

a member of the EU if it was independent. That is quite a huge

step. That will be a main point. The EU is not the guarantor of its most

troublesome member. It is thanks to the EU that the UK would stay

together. I say to the people of Britain, keep in the EU and your

country will be fine. The United Kingdom get out of the EU the way

the politics in this country have gone. That is a possibility. The

Scots are very attached to being a part of the European Union. Dear see

the European Union as being the saviour is of the United Kingdom? ``

do you. It was triumphantly represented as making the

declaration of Independence looking like a post` it note. For all the

intensive work that has gone in that, they really haven't worked out

some of the basic complexity. Keeping the pound. And then relying

on the Bank of England and the British taxpayer to support Scottish

banks if there is further disasters there. The EU problem that we have

already discussed. The NATO problem if they close the base there. I

think the Scots will say that you haven't worked this one

sufficiently, it is too big of a leap. To remain in the EU or NATO,

presumably, the point of leaving the UK since you are a member of the

union. And retain the pound as a currency. And retain the sovereignty

of the Bank of England over the Scottish economy. I think we can

already see what is going to happen. The polls show without a dramatic

change over the next ten months, the referendum will fail. But he will

get sufficient support which will add new momentum to further

decentralisation. And as far as I can tell that is pretty much what

the people of Scotland want. All you Scots are taking our jobs of proper

English people like myself. We will send you back home I think. The BBC

has a branch there. The one thing I wouldn't underestimate is Alex

Salmond ability to mobilise people. `` Alex Salmond's. I would not

underestimate, there is an emotional swell. Often these things are not

about policy and thinking through rationally, it is about an emotional

feeling. You sense that. It is something that seems to happen

theoretically in nations. `` periodically. Someone is being very

clever at manipulating this. When I saw him to discuss this issue, he

assigned me to catch a train out to Bannockburn and he said you will

understand what this is all about if you go to Bannockburn. I have to say

working in the fields `` walking in the fields where the Scots won their

independence. I do think the Quebec example is instructive. It seemed

evident then that the people of Quebec wanted... They liked the

party as a government of the province of Quebec but they weren't

prepared to make a leap. We will leave it there and move on to the

people of Syria who are now experiencing one of the worst

humanitarian crisis is. If we don't act quickly, a generation of

innocence will become lasting casualties in an appalling wall. ``

war. Into the end of the third year of the crisis and now we have 2.2

million children as refugees. More than 50% of the total. Scattered

between Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. The trouble is, is really with the

political decision`makers. They let this problem, moving from bad to

worse and now it is appalling. As you know as you know, they have

been people working there for years. Once it has started it is difficult

to stop it. The second fastest `` largest camp. There is nothing on

the horizon of a solution to this problem. This could go on for ten or

15 years. It will transform the United Nations machinery to start

thinking along the Palestinian refugee story itself. You mentioned

the children and grandchildren. They all have proper schools in the

countries is wherever they are. They have local administration to run

their affairs. If this is allowed to go on, we may end up... That is a

problem itself, isn't it? It except the status quo. In all these

countries where the refugees are living, Europe should look at itself

the way we go on about all these asylum seekers coming to our doors.

Look at these countries and how big a problem they are having to absorb.

What was depressing was a programme last week about the amount of

hostility in Lebanon towards Syrians. The pure hatred of the

children and babies even. It was a form of xenophobia because of the

pressure of Lebanon. The children are dirty, have life `` lice in a

half`full. You have to take into account in all of that the role that

Syria has played in the conflict within Lebanon on which is a very

small country of very many years. And the resentment which grew from

that. It is not the fault of Europe that it cannot afford to help. After

all, they made an agreement with a run `` I run. It is the American who

has to have the solution. Every time a big problem happens, you want the

United States to help. We are so mean. There are millions of

unemployed in Europe. They do everywhere. That is not on! We are

among the richest. You have to take some responsibility. I think that

we, particularly in the United States, innate post imperialist

complex, we still believe that it is our responsibility and within our

power and influence to determine or substantiality influence things.

Whatever role we may have played with the invasion of Iraq, in

releasing this destructive dynamic, the fact is that it is clearly

beyond our power. You are misunderstanding. That's all I'm

talking about we should be taking Syrian refugees. Not at the moment.

How selfish are? ! Please, cannot talk yourself having values. It is a

moral question. I want to talk on to something. Other commentators talk

of a prerevolutionary situation. There is claiming support. He is in

real trouble, is he not? Unemployment is better, but the

problem is that every time you have the left in power in France, you

have it a very strong nasty right. France is a conservative country. It

is rarely on the left. They feel dispossessed of their natural right

of all in France. What you have is a man who has insisted on doing

reforms to gay marriage, against prostitution. They want the economy

right, and they have a point there. The economy has to be put right so

the left can stay in power. The economy can only be fixed without

changing tax on the middle class. The state in France is too big, and

everyone agrees that soft austerity measures have to be taken. It is

perceived as not being decisive. Is that perception or reality? I think

they're changing, very slowly. I think the public of France is ready

to accept the new nation of the state. They also need to tax more.

What if Miliband was to gain power and shifts to increasing taxes on a

highly taxed population. Would we not see a prerevolutionary

situation, but pretty quickly, it might in some ways be a good

election for the Conservatives to lose. I wouldn't be surprised if

Labour came to power and torque and approach which increases taxes

rather than cutting government set spending. That is to say they can

never be a left`wing government in Europe. That would be no democracy

at all. I think Mark forgot to mention that he has not stopped

being Mr Blair on the stage. On immigration, I think we can all

admire your passion, which is evident across this table. It is

unrealistic when you look at the pulse on immigration right across

north`western Europe. There is not a willingness even by the Socialist

party. The public will not accept the very large... If we had more

gutsy politicians. That's what I was trying to get at here. In Germany he

has formed an extra government. Most democratic politicians in Brazil,

America, et cetera they are regarded as showing a lack of leadership has

that times are so difficult and is difficult to be sympathetic towards

them. It is difficult, no doubt. This is the time to show your

strength. It is the time to show your colour. Your ability to lead,

or not. The standard of leadership in Europe have come down drastically

when you compare this decade with the 80s or 70s. There is more

visionary and stronger leaders in Europe. When you look around now,

most people look down at these leaders. They don't take them

seriously. That is certainly true of Obama. I have become to notice that

the question is now being raised if this is going to prove to be a

failed presidency. That is pretty prominent `` ominous. He is in the

finishing his fifth of eight years. He has a long time to recover. He

has an economy which is strengthening. The point, it seems

unfair to say that we lack vision. These are very complex times. A lot

of the old truths don't work any more. I think there are leaders such

as in Germany, who should be admired in many ways for what they have

done. It seems to me that we have a reactive government. A Prime

Minister who, 35 days before the Bulgarian problem, is going to land

in the port of Dover at Heathrow. All of a sudden he wants to take

emergency measures which could have been adopted at any time in the

past. Everyone knew it was coming. Across the whole vertical Horizon,

we tend to see the same thing. On banking problems and other things,

it is more reactive. This brings us to your point which is that they are

is a failure of leadership. That is at first week. We are back next week

at the same time. You can comment on Twitter as well. Thanks for

watching. It has arrived. December and winter.

It is all getting off to a very quiet start. Things will be very

different at the end of the week as all sure you in a moment. Plenty of

clout filtering around that. If you have enjoyed the sunshine on

Saturday, it will be harder to come by a head. It is mainly dry. Pockets