Browse content similar to Dominic Raab - British Conservative MP. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
purpose. Time for HARDtalk. | :00:11. | :00:16. | |
Britain's Conservative Party is under fire from all sides. Stuck in | :00:16. | :00:18. | |
a fractious coalition with the country's Liberal Democrats, | :00:18. | :00:20. | |
criticised in European circles for isolationism and split from within | :00:20. | :00:22. | |
between centrist conservatives, like the British Prime Minister, | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
and those pushing to the radical right, at least in economic terms. | :00:26. | :00:29. | |
Dominic Raab is a rising neo- liberal star in the Conservative | :00:29. | :00:39. | |
:00:39. | :00:40. | ||
Party. But is his movement doing the party it comes from more harm | :00:40. | :00:50. | |
:00:50. | :01:05. | ||
than good? Welcome to HARDtalk. The | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
Conservative Party promised tough measures to boost the slumping | :01:07. | :01:17. | |
:01:17. | :01:18. | ||
economy. Do you think harsher measures are needed? I think we are | :01:18. | :01:21. | |
making excellent process. We are facing a huge debt crisis that has | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
not been fully understood. I think governments have made important | :01:26. | :01:34. | |
progress. Of course, we need to build on it. | :01:34. | :01:41. | |
Specifically? I'm not defeatist about Britain's | :01:41. | :01:48. | |
prospects. I think it is important for a backbencher like myself to | :01:48. | :01:58. | |
take a big picture view. Decline is not inevitable. We have to face up | :01:58. | :02:04. | |
to the debt challenge that we face. We have to plug the skills gap. We | :02:04. | :02:10. | |
need to reward and recognise, and value hard work. If we face up to | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
the challenges I think Britain's best days are ahead of us. | :02:14. | :02:21. | |
You have called for tax cuts and cuts to public spending as well. If | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
we look at the measures taken by the coalition government... | :02:24. | :02:27. | |
Departmental spending is being reduced by 11% in real terms | :02:27. | :02:37. | |
:02:37. | :02:43. | ||
between 2012-2015. And yet the economy has shrunk. | :02:43. | :02:46. | |
First of all, we promised to cut the deficit within this Parliament. | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
We are one-quarter of the way through doing that. That is solid | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
progress. In terms of firing up economic growth, of course we are | :02:52. | :03:00. | |
in a rut at the moment. We have created over one million private | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
jobs. We are heading in the right direction. We need to take a big | :03:04. | :03:11. | |
picture view. In the long-term, the challenges we face are very serious, | :03:11. | :03:21. | |
:03:21. | :03:21. | ||
we need to sharpen our economic edge. | :03:22. | :03:24. | |
Sharpening the economic edge, taking a tougher stance than with | :03:24. | :03:31. | |
what you were elected? You announced you're a Thatcherite, you | :03:31. | :03:41. | |
say the definition of fair dismissal should be widened. Small | :03:41. | :03:44. | |
business should be excluded from paying the minimum wage for under | :03:44. | :03:50. | |
21s. It is not very generous as it You described me as a neo-liberal | :03:50. | :03:56. | |
star, I have never been called that before I will have to look it up. I | :03:56. | :04:06. | |
:04:06. | :04:10. | ||
think these are practical measures. Take the minimum wage. Small | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
businesses are saying, we have got so much red tape, we are deterred, | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
we do not want to hire. I did not say it should be removed, it should | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
be suspended for under 21s, just for small businesses. We have got | :04:20. | :04:27. | |
youth unemployment of 22%. Who gives them a shot and an | :04:27. | :04:36. | |
opportunity? Somebody has got to speak up for the youth unemployed. | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
This is a measure which is not only important economically, but also | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
socially. Are you saying, speak up by | :04:43. | :04:48. | |
offering them less? At the moment they do not have a job. | :04:48. | :04:52. | |
If you reduce the minimum wage, reduce public spending... I did not | :04:52. | :04:54. | |
say reduce the minimum wage. Businesses are not hiring enough. | :04:54. | :05:04. | |
:05:04. | :05:06. | ||
22% youth unemployed. If we can create more jobs overall, isn't | :05:06. | :05:12. | |
that a good thing? Isn't it better for those 22% to get into the | :05:12. | :05:18. | |
workplace and get that shot at making it? Making the best use of | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
their talents to make it up the professional ladder. It is a win- | :05:21. | :05:31. | |
win. If you have a look at France and the new President, Francois | :05:31. | :05:33. | |
Hollande, he has spoken in favour of increasing public spending in | :05:33. | :05:40. | |
education to give young people more of a chance. He is taking a | :05:40. | :05:43. | |
different direction. He says increased taxes on the wealthy to | :05:43. | :05:49. | |
give those who are disadvantaged... To be honest, he has not dealt with | :05:49. | :05:55. | |
the huge public spending problems they have got. It has been | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
ridiculed. The markets are increasingly worried France will | :05:57. | :06:07. | |
:06:07. | :06:12. | ||
fall into a debt trap. It cannot be right to keep spending more. Let's | :06:12. | :06:14. | |
speak about Britain's problem. We have got household debt at around | :06:14. | :06:20. | |
80%. Banking liabilities of 450 % as a percentage of GDP. It cannot | :06:20. | :06:27. | |
be right to keep spending more. We have got to face up. We do not face | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
challenges from the US and within Europe now, we have got Latin | :06:30. | :06:32. | |
America, Asia, working hard and taking a much more aggressive | :06:32. | :06:42. | |
approach. Working hard as well. We have got to learn some of the | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
lessons. Looking at this country, spending | :06:45. | :06:52. | |
less has not boosted growth. Public spending has been rising. | :06:52. | :07:00. | |
Public sector job losses across the cuts have been part of the problem. | :07:00. | :07:05. | |
It is impossible to sustain when you look at the figures. We have | :07:05. | :07:14. | |
back loaded the cuts and public spending has been rising. We have | :07:14. | :07:20. | |
got too much public spending. It rose by 14% under the last | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
government. We are in an economic rut. It will take the dynamism of | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
free enterprise to pull us through it. We are seeing signs of that, we | :07:27. | :07:29. | |
need to go further. Should growth be more important | :07:29. | :07:37. | |
than fairness? There is a book you recently published, you argue we | :07:37. | :07:47. | |
:07:47. | :07:48. | ||
have to ensure the general climate for business is attractive. We | :07:48. | :07:50. | |
should stop indulging in irrelevant debates about sharing the pie | :07:50. | :07:53. | |
between the north-south, women-men, but the focus of this coalition | :07:53. | :08:02. | |
government is we are all in it together. | :08:02. | :08:09. | |
What is going to drive economic growth? If you do not drive | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
economic growth, who pays the taxes that cover the revenue for the | :08:12. | :08:18. | |
public services? Unless you have got economic growth, you cannot pay | :08:18. | :08:20. | |
for those things in the public sector. | :08:20. | :08:23. | |
Is it growth over fairness? I do not accept that a zero-sum game. | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
Unless we see economic competitiveness driving jobs growth | :08:25. | :08:28. | |
and tax revenue, you are not going to deliver social justice that we | :08:28. | :08:38. | |
:08:38. | :08:39. | ||
keep talking about. The number one priority has got to be the economy. | :08:39. | :08:48. | |
22% youth unemployment. Who speaks up for them in this debate? | :08:48. | :08:53. | |
In the meantime, you are saying that fairness is irrelevant. | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
Fairness comes afterwards. That goes against the Prime Minister. | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
David Cameron, soon after the coalition was formed he said I want | :09:00. | :09:08. | |
to cut the deficit in a way that is open, united and fair. It is not | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
going to be fair if we do not look at the differences between north- | :09:12. | :09:19. | |
south, men-women. What we are trying to do with welfare | :09:19. | :09:21. | |
dependency, make sure hard-working families do not feel penalised | :09:21. | :09:24. | |
because they are not taking the easy option and sitting on their | :09:24. | :09:34. | |
:09:34. | :09:44. | ||
hands and relying on benefits. That is incredibly important. If we take | :09:44. | :09:52. | |
a longer term view and look to the next 20 years, understand one thing. | :09:52. | :09:58. | |
We have got a huge debt problem. Five times the size of the debt | :09:58. | :10:04. | |
legacy we had at the end of World War II. According to the Economic | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
Institute for Social Research each child will have to pay off �200,000 | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
of a tax bill in order to enjoy the same level of public services | :10:10. | :10:20. | |
previous generations have enjoyed. In order to improve that situation, | :10:20. | :10:30. | |
:10:30. | :10:32. | ||
you say that Britain should learn Israel... | :10:32. | :10:37. | |
You are very damning when you come to your own electorate. | :10:37. | :10:39. | |
Once they enter the workplace the British are amongst the worst | :10:39. | :10:47. | |
idlers in the world. What we are quoting from, Niall Ferguson, a | :10:47. | :10:53. | |
respected historian. If you look back to the 19th century, what we | :10:53. | :11:02. | |
have got is a reduction in the number of working hours. Let me | :11:02. | :11:10. | |
explain. You have had a cheap shot. Before you quote about working | :11:10. | :11:13. | |
hours, according to the ONS, the out of full-time workers in Britain | :11:13. | :11:21. | |
are the highest in Europe. That is aside from Austria and Greece. | :11:21. | :11:31. | |
:11:31. | :11:34. | ||
tells you more about Europe. You are simply wrong. Are you | :11:34. | :11:42. | |
disagreeing... Since World War II, since the '50s, | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
average working hours in Britain have been reduced by one-third. The | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
problem is not just the workforce, it is the fact we are retiring | :11:49. | :11:51. | |
earlier, despite longer life expectancy. It is also about the | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
welfare dependency we have got. Britain is not lazy at all, a | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
shrinking proportion of people in this country are pedalling harder | :11:59. | :12:02. | |
and harder to sustain and drive the economy and pay for the public | :12:02. | :12:11. | |
services we want. That is socially divisive. We talk about welfare | :12:11. | :12:16. | |
dependency, marginal rates of taxation. Hard work should pay more. | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
We are going to have to retire a bit later. You talk about the | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
declining British work ethic. Indian children aspire to be | :12:23. | :12:33. | |
doctors and businessmen, Britons aspires to be pop singers. We have | :12:33. | :12:40. | |
been ducking tough subjects, not focusing on maths and science. We | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
are talking about the length of education rather than the life | :12:43. | :12:52. | |
skills. It is not in the interest of the economy. Margaret Hodge | :12:52. | :12:57. | |
talked about Mickey Mouse degrees. You say I'm insulting the | :12:57. | :13:05. | |
electorate. Let me reply. Look at Ofsted's report in 2005. 50% of 20 | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
year-olds said their education did not acquit them for their first job. | :13:10. | :13:17. | |
We have been kidding ourselves with the education system. The fact we | :13:17. | :13:20. | |
spend so much time in the book talking about this, shows we are | :13:20. | :13:23. | |
not on some small state agenda, we are worried about some of the | :13:23. | :13:26. | |
public services that are critical for the long-term future of this | :13:26. | :13:33. | |
country. As for the long-term future, should it be inside or | :13:33. | :13:40. | |
outside Europe? This is dividing the Conservative Party. A thorn in | :13:40. | :13:50. | |
:13:50. | :13:58. | ||
Voices inside the party saying to pull out of Europe. David Cameron | :13:58. | :14:01. | |
saying we are staying in it. vast majority, the overwhelming | :14:01. | :14:05. | |
majority of the Conservative Party think we need to renegotiate our | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
relationship. Of course the Prime Minister is in a very difficult | :14:09. | :14:14. | |
position because we did not win an outright majority. The Liberal | :14:14. | :14:18. | |
Democrats take a very different view. If you are trying to say the | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
Conservative Party is divided, that is not correct. There have been a | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
few voices, but you do not have the fractious divisions we have seen in | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
the past. You mean under the former Conservative Prime Minister, John | :14:30. | :14:36. | |
Major? You are seeing splits within the party, some people saying, more | :14:36. | :14:46. | |
:14:46. | :14:47. | ||
power has to come back from Europe, others calling for a referendum. | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
They are saying roughly the same thing. Even John Major said we need | :14:51. | :14:58. | |
massive renegotiation of Britain's position. I think we need a | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
referendum at some point. My opinion is we need to renegotiate | :15:01. | :15:05. | |
the relationship. We want to break down the barriers and promote the | :15:05. | :15:15. | |
:15:15. | :15:16. | ||
four freedoms. That is the vision I have for Europe. I think it is a | :15:16. | :15:20. | |
great thing. I would like to get back to that. I do not want to see | :15:20. | :15:25. | |
centralised government running economic policy and social policy. | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
We need to get back to a relationship focused on trade, | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
breaking down the barriers to commerce and with much stronger | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
economic foundations. I would like to renegotiate to that effect. The | :15:34. | :15:44. | |
:15:44. | :15:52. | ||
outcome should go to a referendum. When the time is right. But if | :15:52. | :15:55. | |
there is such a renegotiation, that could damage relationships with | :15:55. | :15:57. | |
Britain's key trading partners. When the British Prime Minister, | :15:57. | :16:00. | |
David Cameron, used his veto in the important summit before Christmas, | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
you had the German Chancellor saying we look forward to seeing | :16:03. | :16:10. | |
Britain leading in Europe rather than staying isolated. It is a | :16:10. | :16:20. | |
:16:20. | :16:20. | ||
dangerous game to play. It needs to be handled sensitively. I am not | :16:20. | :16:26. | |
anti-European but there are two points. Any honest conversation | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
with our European partners, that we don't want to see moves towards a | :16:30. | :16:37. | |
federal Europe and if they go that way we need to move back. In any | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
event, we need to renegotiate our relationship in the way I described. | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
That is important. I do think we need to be sensitive in the way we | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
handle that. We also need to look at the big picture. You say it is | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
our major trading partner but since 2004 we have had more trade | :16:54. | :16:56. | |
internationally, exports and imports, with the rest of the world. | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
Put together? As a result of globalisation, the EU is important | :17:01. | :17:09. | |
but it's a shrinking share of our trade. In fact, it accounts for | :17:09. | :17:15. | |
about the 6th or 7th of GDP. Let's not kid ourselves. It is important | :17:15. | :17:19. | |
but there is the rest of the world, Asia and Latin America, where we | :17:19. | :17:23. | |
ought to be promoting trade. other side of the argument, those | :17:24. | :17:29. | |
inside the Conservative Party who are calling to lead Europe. They | :17:29. | :17:32. | |
cite that economic argument. Douglas Carswell is one | :17:32. | :17:34. | |
Conservative backbencher who's part of a small group calling itself | :17:34. | :17:40. | |
Better Off Out. He says the euro crisis has destroyed the case for | :17:40. | :17:46. | |
EU membership. He says we are now having to prop up a zombie currency, | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
that we didn't even join. He says to leave it. Douglas is one of the | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
great figures in the party. I am not calling for withdrawal from the | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
EU. I would like to see if we can renegotiate so we have a | :18:01. | :18:05. | |
constructive and flexible relationship. The truth is, in the | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
Conservative Party and the Labour Party, there are people who want us | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
to withdraw but that's not where I am. I want to be focused on trade | :18:12. | :18:17. | |
and commerce and make sure we get the best out of the single market. | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
If we can't get that re-negotiation, perhaps we will have to look at | :18:20. | :18:27. | |
pulling out. It's a challenge for Europe and Britain. You have | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
referred to the pressures this Europe debate's putting on the | :18:30. | :18:36. | |
shaky coalition government. What is the question? The Lib Dems are pro- | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
European. We have a debate within the Conservative Party calling for | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
a referendum. That is putting a lot of pressure on a coalition | :18:43. | :18:50. | |
government that is already in trouble. It is new to the press | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
here but in other parts of Europe, they are used to a coalition | :18:54. | :18:57. | |
government. It is perfectly natural that you will have different voices | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
heard and different debates. That is not unhealthy. We should have | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
more debate, not less, and certainly with a coalition | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
government. There are many other stresses and strengths of a | :19:07. | :19:14. | |
coalition. -- strains. The idea we walk around obsessed with Europe | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
every day is ludicrous. Back to Europe. Your strategy for growth is | :19:18. | :19:26. | |
seen, in economic terms... Seen by who? The BBC? You talk about cheap | :19:26. | :19:36. | |
shots. I'm just asking. They're labels. You are asking for the | :19:36. | :19:41. | |
minimum wage for the other... For public spending to be cut. This is | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
not the current government's strategy in regards to the economy. | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
I'm not sure about that. Look at some of the things we talked about, | :19:49. | :19:54. | |
cutting red tape. Vince Cable just announced he is taking on board | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
some of the ideas I came up with, like making sure... He is the | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
business secretary. Yes. He is taking up some of the ideas I | :20:03. | :20:07. | |
talked about. We should not see so many conspiracy theories go to the | :20:07. | :20:17. | |
:20:17. | :20:23. | ||
tribunal. We are less snobby in this country with the idea that you | :20:23. | :20:27. | |
have to go to university. Many of the ideas we have been talking | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
about have been taken up by the coalition. It shows we should have | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
a balanced source of ideas and we should debate these things. David | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
Cameron has been labelled in parts of the British press, right wing | :20:37. | :20:41. | |
British press, as wishy-washy and has been forced to do so because he | :20:41. | :20:44. | |
is in a coalition government. Whereas others in your party are | :20:44. | :20:48. | |
seen as more to the right of that. As it approaches the next election, | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
in 2015 in the UK, what will be the tone as regards to economics for | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
the Conservative Party? I'm not sure. Firstly, I believe David | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
Cameron is doing a very good job in very tough financial and political | :20:59. | :21:02. | |
conditions. There is a lot of tittle-tattle in the media and | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
among some quarters of the Conservative Party, and I do not | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
believe any of that for a second. I will not predict whether the Prime | :21:09. | :21:13. | |
Minister will lead us. But we have to be clear about two things. We | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
are taking seriously the debt crisis that threatens not just our | :21:16. | :21:19. | |
economic competitiveness but the prospects of the next generation. | :21:19. | :21:22. | |
And we are equipping the private sector with the skills and also | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
cutting the regulatory burden on them so that they can deliver the | :21:26. | :21:33. | |
jobs and prosperity that we need in this country. Both in terms of | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
economic opportunities and, as I said before, somebody has to pay | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
for the revenue to pay for the public services we want and that | :21:40. | :21:42. | |
comes from the dynamic public sector. If the free marketeers, | :21:43. | :21:52. | |
:21:53. | :21:54. | ||
this growing voice... Stop picking up on that label! Can the Coalition | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
survive that? If that gathers momentum leading ahead to the | :21:59. | :22:03. | |
election, can the Coalition live with that? Why not? If Nick Clegg | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
is calling for a fairer society and is much more wary about what areas | :22:07. | :22:14. | |
of public spending can be cut... Within the Coalition there are | :22:14. | :22:20. | |
natural tensions. I have already given you some examples. Some of | :22:20. | :22:29. | |
the ideas from the Coalition have been disruptive and taken on board. | :22:29. | :22:32. | |
-- constructive and been taken on board. That's the way it will | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
continue. We will see these tussles and a sort of creative tension | :22:36. | :22:39. | |
between ideas but hopefully that produces a critical mass of ideas | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
on which there is a common ground, free enterprise. The Lib Dems | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
should stand for that as well as the Conservatives. Some of my ideas | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
are important. There is common ground and there is nobody that has | :22:49. | :22:55. | |
been more outspoken about civil liberties than me. Many of my | :22:55. | :22:59. | |
colleagues agree with that. There is plenty of glue in there to keep | :22:59. | :23:02. | |
the Coalition together. What about the party itself? Is David Cameron | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
the man to lead forward into the next election? Absolutely. What | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
about Boris Johnson? Many mention the gregarious Mayor of London as a | :23:08. | :23:11. | |
possible contender. But nobody is seriously suggesting that David | :23:11. | :23:14. | |
Cameron will not lead us into the next election. Boris has been | :23:14. | :23:18. | |
fantastic. It is incredible what he achieved in London, both in terms | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
of improving the city and beating Labour. But I don't think he or | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
anybody else in the Conservative Party seriously thinks that he will | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
be challenging David Cameron. He is the right guy to be leading us into | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
the next election and I have no doubt he will. What about, once | :23:35. | :23:38. | |
again, within the Tory party and within the Conservative Party, you | :23:38. | :23:45. | |
say it is all united. There are however figures, Liam Fox or David | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
Davis, that have been critical of the Coalition government, saying | :23:48. | :23:55. | |
more has to be done. It isn't enough just to talk tough about | :23:55. | :24:02. | |
spending but something needs to be done. You appear to stand with them, | :24:02. | :24:06. | |
not necessarily behind the Prime Minister. There are voices in the | :24:06. | :24:09. | |
Conservative Party that articulate conservative vision and ideas and | :24:09. | :24:13. | |
that is healthy. There are also others. We don't think that is | :24:13. | :24:19. | |
unhealthy. You don't seem to really understand why. Having constructive | :24:19. | :24:24. | |
debate, as long as it is not personal... We should have more | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
critical debate on policy areas and the big issues. The public want to | :24:29. | :24:37. |