:00:01. > :00:11.they are getting there. But this struggle could stilling very long
:00:11. > :00:21.
:00:21. > :00:23.in some of these places. Prime Minister has been taking
:00:23. > :00:26.advantage of Labour's pain over the selection battle in Falkirk. We'll
:00:26. > :00:31.hear from an MP and a local party member.
:00:31. > :00:34.And the end of Scotland's favourite Thatcherite policy. Is the right to
:00:34. > :00:36.buy an idea that has had its time or is the Government putting dogma
:00:36. > :00:39.ahead of practicality? Good evening.
:00:39. > :00:41.David Cameron couldn't seem to stop smiling as he hammered Ed Miliband
:00:41. > :00:44.over Labour's relationship with the unions at Prime Minister's Questions
:00:44. > :00:47.this afternoon. The events surrounding the selection of a new
:00:47. > :00:49.candidate for Falkirk is what has given the Conservatives such high
:00:49. > :00:52.grade ammunition. The party's executive has taken over control of
:00:52. > :01:02.the process after accusations the Unite union has been attempting to
:01:02. > :01:28.
:01:28. > :01:31.fix the selection for their favoured candidate. The control of the
:01:31. > :01:34.selection process has been taken over by the national check executive
:01:34. > :01:39.committee. Ed Miliband wanted to talk about education policy, but
:01:39. > :01:46.David Cameron was having none of it and took every opportunity instead
:01:46. > :01:53.to raise Labour's links with the unions. His questions are written by
:01:53. > :02:00.Len McCluskey of Unite. He is taking a his script from the trade unions.
:02:00. > :02:06.Too weak to stand up to the Unite union and done by Len McCluskey who
:02:06. > :02:13.gave him his job. It might not be part of Len McCluskey's script. He
:02:13. > :02:17.has to stick to their scriptment -- script. This is a Prime Minister
:02:17. > :02:21.who had dinners for donors in Downing Street! He gave a tax cut to
:02:21. > :02:27.his Christmas card list and he brought Andy Coulson into the heart
:02:27. > :02:34.of Downing Street. The idea that he is lecturing us a
:02:34. > :02:37.eth ethics takes double standards to a whole new level. For his part, the
:02:37. > :02:42.Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey accused the Prime Minister
:02:42. > :02:46.of shameful cheap political shots and misusing his office. Labour
:02:46. > :02:56.sources said a new candidate should be in place by the end of the summer
:02:56. > :02:57.
:02:57. > :03:00.along with a review into membership procedures.
:03:00. > :03:03.I'm joined now by Brian Capaloff, an executive member of Falkirk Labour
:03:03. > :03:06.Party and from London by Dan Hodges who has worked for the Labour Party
:03:06. > :03:09.and is now a commentator for the Telegraph. Brian Capaloff do you
:03:09. > :03:13.agree with the decision to have a new shortlist? Absolutely not. The
:03:13. > :03:19.decision removes from the local party the ability to choose its own
:03:19. > :03:24.candidate and it be smirches the actions of a union and someone who
:03:24. > :03:30.is working, who are working to reinvague rate the party in Falkirk
:03:30. > :03:34.and I feel that it removed democracy from Falkirk.
:03:34. > :03:38.Just to be clear because it is a question we have to ask a lot
:03:38. > :03:40.tonight. Are you in Unite? I am now in Unite. I wasn't until a couple of
:03:40. > :03:45.weeks ago, but yes I am now in Unite.
:03:45. > :03:54.So you are a member of Unite. The most damming accusation levelled
:03:54. > :04:00.against the union is that members of the union particularly at the plant
:04:00. > :04:06.in Grangemouth were joined into the Labour Party and their subscriptions
:04:06. > :04:10.were paid without them even knowing that they were becoming members.
:04:10. > :04:14.This is one of the fundamental problems I have with this whole
:04:14. > :04:21.process in that there has been a report done by officials of the
:04:21. > :04:25.Labour Party. A decision has been made based upon what evidence, we
:04:25. > :04:30.don't know Have you any knowledge of that? I would like to see the
:04:30. > :04:35.evidence that the Labour Party has on which it based that decision. All
:04:35. > :04:41.we're getting is leaks and smears against Unite. From your experience
:04:41. > :04:44.as a senior member of Falkirk Labour Party, you do not know of cases
:04:44. > :04:49.where people have been joined into the Labour Party without their
:04:49. > :04:53.knowledge? No. I personally know of no such cases. But as I've said,
:04:53. > :04:56.there, if there are such cases, then give us the evidence and then we can
:04:56. > :05:00.see... So you would like this report to be published? There is someone I
:05:00. > :05:04.don't agree with, David Blunkett who is saying yesterday that let's
:05:04. > :05:09.reveal what the report says and until that happens, this episode
:05:09. > :05:14.isn't going to end at all. The other accusation is that the
:05:14. > :05:18.union has even, if people know their joining the Labour Party, has been
:05:18. > :05:23.paying their subscriptions for them. Even if that's not against the
:05:23. > :05:29.rules, you can see it looks fishy from outside? Well, it is within, it
:05:29. > :05:33.is within the rules for unions and Unite are doing it at the moment,
:05:33. > :05:37.other unions are capable of doing so, to pay just one year's
:05:37. > :05:41.subscription and it has been alleged that some of the other candidates
:05:41. > :05:45.looking to stand as the Parliamentary candidate were doing
:05:46. > :05:50.like wise. But as I've said, let's see the evidence to say what has
:05:50. > :05:53.been happening. I'm not aware of any breaches of the rules of the Labour
:05:53. > :06:00.Party. Reveal there is evidence to say such a thing.
:06:00. > :06:06.All right. Dan Hodges do you think Labour were right to step in and say
:06:06. > :06:10.no, we are going to start again here? Clearly, the reality is that
:06:10. > :06:15.the Unite trade union has been caught bang to rights. There has
:06:15. > :06:19.been accuse bus in Falkirk on an industrial scale and to believe what
:06:19. > :06:23.we just heard then the conspiracy theory and the accusation that we
:06:23. > :06:27.are hearing from Unite about smears. First of all, you have to believe
:06:27. > :06:34.that Ed Miliband overnight has suddenly turned into a crazed
:06:35. > :06:43.Blairite who wishes to damn the billing biggest union in the
:06:43. > :06:46.country. You have got to believe that... Hang on, one thing you would
:06:46. > :06:49.agree with Brian Capaloff on. This report is to be published. You can
:06:49. > :06:55.see his concern that he is not sure what the allegations are supposed to
:06:55. > :07:00.be? I have got no problem with the report being published. When the
:07:00. > :07:04.report is published, it will reveal that Unite are up to their next in
:07:04. > :07:10.attempting to rid the constituency. The key point that has to be
:07:10. > :07:12.remembered here and this is the thing that I think is really angered
:07:13. > :07:19.and infuriated a lot of the Labour officials I have been speaking to
:07:19. > :07:24.over the last 24 hours, Unite have not been subtle about this. Len
:07:24. > :07:29.McCluskey has been open about his strategy, his political strategy, of
:07:29. > :07:32.packing Labour constituencies so he can get his members selected.
:07:32. > :07:36.Hang on, you think the political concern and what looks bad for
:07:36. > :07:40.Labour is not this rather narrow point about whether people were
:07:40. > :07:45.brought into the party without their knowledge, it is just the general
:07:45. > :07:49.point that Unite is going around trying to fill the party, the local
:07:49. > :07:55.parties up with its members ahead of a selection process? It is not a
:07:55. > :08:04.narrow point that the people were joined up to... No, no, you think
:08:04. > :08:09.even if it is all proper and above board, you think Unite are at it
:08:09. > :08:14.just trying to bring these people in even if they know they are joining?
:08:14. > :08:19.It seems evident were brought in without their knowledge, but it is
:08:19. > :08:25.quite clear because Unite have been open about this that they are
:08:25. > :08:29.seeking to bring people into the Labour Party en masse for their own
:08:29. > :08:32.political ends and they are clear, their own strategy document makes
:08:32. > :08:37.very clear that this is not being done in the interests of the Labour
:08:37. > :08:45.Party, it is been done in the interests of the Unite trade union.
:08:45. > :08:49.Brian Capaloff, whatever the rules say, everyone knows, I mean Unite
:08:49. > :08:52.have not been shy about saying this. They were trying to get people in
:08:52. > :08:56.because they wanted a particular candidate to win. From outside the
:08:56. > :09:01.Labour Party, it might be normal inside, it just stinks? I don't
:09:01. > :09:07.think it does stink. Secondly, I failed to see what is wrong with the
:09:07. > :09:12.union, whether it is Unite, Unison, or whichever union is actively
:09:12. > :09:16.involved in recruiting members to the Labour Party to ensure that the
:09:16. > :09:21.unions have a voice in the Labour Party. Packing a local party ahead
:09:21. > :09:31.of a selection process is different from getting people involved in the
:09:31. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:39.party? Packing is an emotive word. I see no problem in reinvigorating a
:09:39. > :09:41.party and make making sure the trade union voice is heard. Is Thank you
:09:41. > :09:48.very much. Listening to that in Westminster is
:09:48. > :09:53.the Labour MP, Willie Bain. Are you a member of Unite? Yes, I am. I'm
:09:53. > :09:57.proud to be so. Are you sponsored by them? Well, my
:09:57. > :10:02.local constituency party before the restructuring of constituency
:10:02. > :10:05.parties had a development agreement. That was a public issue. It was
:10:05. > :10:09.acknowledged to the Electoral Commission and above board.
:10:09. > :10:17.Permitted under law and something that I was proud to see in place.
:10:17. > :10:20.Yes, sorry, for us mere mortgageles who are not inside the Labour Party
:10:20. > :10:26.-- mortels who are not inside the Labour Party. Do you get money from
:10:26. > :10:29.Unite? No. What happens is constituency parties sign
:10:29. > :10:33.constituency development agreements... How much was that for?
:10:33. > :10:38.The last and it is publicly accessible through the Electoral
:10:38. > :10:43.Commission website, the previous CLP, Glasgow North East had a
:10:43. > :10:46.constituency development agreement which meant �2,000 per year are
:10:46. > :10:50.provided for political activities including campaigning. It is within
:10:51. > :10:56.the law and entirely declared. Do you agree with the Labour Party's
:10:56. > :11:00.decision to drop draw up a fresh list of candidates in Falkirk?
:11:00. > :11:03.were serious issues around the Falkirk selection. It was right for
:11:03. > :11:07.the national executive to take measures today to announce the
:11:07. > :11:11.freeze date for membership for the selection should be March 2012. For
:11:11. > :11:15.the General Secretary to look at the issues around recruitment of members
:11:15. > :11:18.and I think it is important that the people of Falkirk will have
:11:18. > :11:22.confidence that the next Labour candidate for that seat at the
:11:22. > :11:27.jection is going to be -- general election is going to be selected in
:11:27. > :11:32.a fair, open and transparent way. So you agree of the decision?
:11:32. > :11:36.the decision was right. What do you make of Brian Capaloff's
:11:36. > :11:40.call for this report to be published. He says he is not sure
:11:40. > :11:44.what the allegations and what the allegations are supposed to be?
:11:44. > :11:50.Well, remember Gordon, the National Executive Committee of the Labour
:11:50. > :11:54.Party is a constitutional body of the party. It does not generally
:11:54. > :11:58.publish private reports... Even your members involved are asking you to
:11:58. > :12:02.publish it, why not publish it? does no the publish decision of this
:12:02. > :12:05.sort. The national executive... That's a bureaucratic answer to a
:12:05. > :12:08.straightforward question. Let me explain the he legal position,
:12:08. > :12:13.Gordon. The National Executive Committee of the Labour Party is a
:12:13. > :12:16.judicial organisation. So it should not generally publish reports of
:12:16. > :12:20.this nature and I think what we have announced today is the right
:12:20. > :12:23.approach. We have taken on board the views of the Labour Party in
:12:23. > :12:27.Falkirk. We have looked at the wider considerations and we believe that
:12:27. > :12:30.the special measures are necessary to restore trust and confidence in
:12:30. > :12:36.the selection process in the Falkirk constituency.
:12:36. > :12:39.What do you make of Len McCluskey's comment when he says that Ed
:12:39. > :12:45.Miliband will be cast into the dustbin of history if he allows
:12:45. > :12:50.himself to be seduced by the if likes of Jim Murphy and Douglas
:12:50. > :12:55.Alexander? Well, Len is entitled to his views. I think what was
:12:55. > :12:58.really... Different views at different times. He was blunt about
:12:58. > :13:01.it. The Prime Minister came into office claiming to be the great
:13:01. > :13:06.uniter of the country... We will talk about David Cameron some other
:13:06. > :13:09.time. Hang on. Look, there is something wrong herement even
:13:09. > :13:15.watching you tonight, our viewers could be justified in thinking,
:13:15. > :13:22.given that you have admitted you got �2,000 from Unite. They could be
:13:23. > :13:28.thinking who isle Willie Bainess speaking for? Look, the Labour Party
:13:28. > :13:30.is a broad based political movement and we are proud of the connection
:13:31. > :13:34.we have worthwhile hundreds of thousands of ordinary workers,
:13:34. > :13:37.dinner ladies, electricians, engineers who choose through the
:13:37. > :13:42.political levy to donate to a political party in a democratic,
:13:42. > :13:51.free and open way. You say I have had money. I have not benefited at
:13:51. > :13:54.all. My constituency party has an agreement which covers outreach
:13:54. > :14:00.activities and campaign activities. It is within the law and public and
:14:00. > :14:01.above board and it stands in stark con crast to the speculators who
:14:01. > :14:04.have been funding the Conservative Party.
:14:04. > :14:08.Thank you very much indeed. Once upon a time the majority of
:14:09. > :14:12.Scots lived in council houses, now 65% of homes are owner-occupied.
:14:12. > :14:15.The right to buy is one of the main reasons for that shift - a
:14:15. > :14:18.Thatcherite policy that was taken up with great enthusiasm in Scotland.
:14:18. > :14:28.Today the Government announced the final measures that will end that
:14:28. > :14:52.
:14:52. > :14:59.right to buy here. Andrew Black build new homes to replace them on
:14:59. > :15:03.estates outside of the city. There were space for small gardens between
:15:03. > :15:06.each house. Take a look around the Glasgow
:15:06. > :15:11.neighbourhood today and it is a different place from its beginnings
:15:12. > :15:16.as a 1930s council house scheme. The introduction of right to buy meant
:15:16. > :15:21.many people went from being tenants to owner occupiers and it has been a
:15:21. > :15:29.desirable place to own a house. is a very special occasion. It is my
:15:29. > :15:34.pleasure to hand that over to you as a little token. Right to buy was
:15:34. > :15:39.brought in by Margaret Thatcher in 1980. Not everyone in Scotland loved
:15:39. > :15:43.her policies, but this one was enthusiastically embraced. Some
:15:43. > :15:48.450,000 tenants would go on to buy their homes. The price for this home
:15:48. > :15:53.owning revolution led to a shortage of social housing for rent.
:15:53. > :15:57.Delegates that's why I believe that the right to buy has now had its
:15:57. > :16:04.day. APPLAUSE
:16:04. > :16:07.Today, Nicholas Sturgeon popped around for a cup of tea with none of
:16:07. > :16:11.the newest tenants. The Scottish Government scrapped right to buy for
:16:11. > :16:16.new council tenants. Today, she announced it would be abalancished
:16:16. > :16:21.in 2017. -- abolished in 2017.
:16:21. > :16:25.It is right if we are investing in good quality, social rental stock
:16:25. > :16:28.for people who can't afford to buy or take a lifestyle decision not to
:16:28. > :16:35.buy their house. That house should not be available for this
:16:35. > :16:40.generation, it should be available for future generation, because there
:16:40. > :16:46.will always be people for whom house ownership is not the right decision.
:16:46. > :16:50.This was welcome for if lady. the properties were bought at that
:16:50. > :16:54.point and the housing association couldn't provide the bigger families
:16:54. > :16:57.with bigger houses because they were taken up by the right to buy.
:16:57. > :17:02.You were hear that sentiment from others who argue despite its
:17:02. > :17:06.popularity, right to buy has been a disaster. We have lost those homes
:17:06. > :17:11.forever. Those homes are no loppinger available to people in --
:17:11. > :17:20.longer available to people in need at a time when we have 65,000 people
:17:20. > :17:22.on the waiting list. We have 45,000 people assessed as homeless and
:17:22. > :17:25.10,500 people in temporary housing. There is a lack of housing for
:17:25. > :17:29.people. What about those who did exercise
:17:29. > :17:33.the right to buy? Jane thought she was on to a winner when she did that
:17:33. > :17:38.a few years ago, now she regrets it. There is this European legislation
:17:38. > :17:42.that is coming in where all council houses have to be up to a certain
:17:42. > :17:46.standard for 2015 so the council is going to put me and the three other
:17:46. > :17:51.owners in this block into a situation where we might have to
:17:51. > :17:55.spend several thousand pounds on fixing up the block.
:17:55. > :18:00.With 400,000 people on waiting lists for social housing in Scotland, the
:18:00. > :18:03.Government knows it must take action. That means that the era of
:18:03. > :18:07.council tenants buying their own homes at a discounted rate will be
:18:07. > :18:10.over. I'm joined now by the Leader of the
:18:10. > :18:14.Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson and by the Chief Executive
:18:14. > :18:17.of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, Mary Taylor.
:18:17. > :18:21.Why do you think it is a good idea? We think it is a good idea because
:18:21. > :18:28.there is a shortage as Graham Brown pointed out in your piece of
:18:28. > :18:33.affordable, rented housing and taking a, giving ten as assy takes
:18:33. > :18:36.property out of the rented pool ads the figures he has quoted, the
:18:36. > :18:40.numbers of people on waiting list and so on.
:18:40. > :18:43.Which is true Yes, but if you are looking at some of the problems that
:18:44. > :18:48.exist at the moment, what happened today isn't a solution to those.
:18:48. > :18:54.There was only 990 houses last year bought under the right to buy this
:18:54. > :19:00.year. The Scottish Government is pulling �60 million out of the
:19:00. > :19:05.housing budget. Right to buy has been a successful scheme. Nearly
:19:05. > :19:08.500,000 Scots benefited from it and it transformed the landscape in
:19:08. > :19:13.Scotland. People who have at aspiration to own their homes on
:19:14. > :19:18.modest incomes can do so. New tenants can't buy. You could
:19:18. > :19:22.have a rush to buy couldn't you? This doesn't happen until 2017.
:19:22. > :19:27.Anyone who wants to buy their council house has from now until
:19:27. > :19:31.then to do it. You could get a rush? We could, but there are restriction.
:19:31. > :19:34.There are a raft of restrictions depending on the history of your
:19:34. > :19:41.house and your tenancy which is one of the things that makes it unequal
:19:41. > :19:45.at the moment. But this could, the three year window could provoke a
:19:45. > :19:50.spike. Look, of course, you can argue about
:19:50. > :19:53.it reducing the stock of social housing, but this is just a policy
:19:53. > :19:56.that people loved. Why shouldn't they have the right to buy their
:19:56. > :20:00.house? The people who were in a position to buy a particular house
:20:00. > :20:03.they liked and wanted to stay in, for a discount, clearly benefited
:20:03. > :20:06.from that, but there are lots of people who are not in houses that
:20:06. > :20:11.they wanted to buy. The whole communities that these
:20:11. > :20:19.people lived in benefited? necessarily, we are seeing the
:20:19. > :20:23.longer term cons consequences of that. If you look around, you will
:20:23. > :20:26.see in... She is getting annoyed here. Situations where the houses
:20:26. > :20:31.which are in the poorest condition are the former right to buy
:20:31. > :20:35.properties. Well, are this is about what kipped
:20:35. > :20:38.kind of Scotland do you want? Like massive estates before right to buy
:20:38. > :20:41.was brought in. More than half of all houses in Scotland were council
:20:41. > :20:49.houses or do you want a mixed estates where you have people living
:20:49. > :20:54.in socially rented accommodation, buy to to rent. That's the Scotland
:20:54. > :20:57.I want to see. I want the sort of Scotland where people can think
:20:57. > :21:00.there are lots of different ways that one day I can own my own house.
:21:00. > :21:04.One of the ways which people who buy their own house has stopped today.
:21:04. > :21:09.What we haven't seen from the Scottish Government today is we
:21:09. > :21:14.haven't seen any counter measures brought in. They have just ended
:21:14. > :21:22.this. They haven't brought in any other path ways to replace that.
:21:22. > :21:26.What are they doing to let young people benefit from that aspiration?
:21:26. > :21:29.Speaking for housing associations, we are interested in balance,
:21:29. > :21:34.sustainable communities which includes the tenure mix and it
:21:34. > :21:39.includes an age mix and so on and there are... The difference is doing
:21:39. > :21:48.that by bureaucrat bureaucratic and letting people buy their houses.
:21:48. > :21:54.People may not have voted for Ruth Davidson in Scotland, but this was a
:21:54. > :22:00.massively... Nearly 500,000 people chose to buy their houses.
:22:00. > :22:06.I am speaking on behalf of landlord organisations who had their business
:22:06. > :22:12.plans disrupted by having to sell for below than the market price. On
:22:12. > :22:17.the point about alternatives, in the Queen's Cross area today...
:22:17. > :22:23.shouldn't run social policy for social landlords? No, but we have to
:22:23. > :22:27.have a sows housing system that stacks up. And that's why there was
:22:27. > :22:31.a review. I wanted to finish the point I
:22:31. > :22:35.started to make in the vicinity of the development at Queen Cross
:22:35. > :22:38.today, there was equity sharing and shared ownership and improvement for
:22:38. > :22:41.sale and so those are options which continue to exist for people who
:22:41. > :22:44.want to buy their house. All of which have been in place for
:22:44. > :22:47.a large number of years. The Scottish Government stopped another
:22:47. > :22:54.route when we should be cin he issing the ways -- increasing the
:22:54. > :22:58.way for people to buy their own home, not decreasing them. If I
:22:58. > :23:01.could address the point she raised, she talked about the discounts and
:23:01. > :23:07.that was about how we ran this scheme and that's why there were
:23:07. > :23:13.changes made to the scheme so the discount is capped at 35 % or
:23:13. > :23:18.�15,000. The discount she is talking about don't exist and it is
:23:18. > :23:27.disingenuous to say it does. There is an argument to say its time
:23:28. > :23:34.was then, not now? You keep this going, but invest the money you get
:23:34. > :23:40.going, but invest the money you get from selling in new housing stock.
:23:40. > :23:45.The Scotsman leading with what we have been talking about funnily
:23:45. > :23:51.enough. In the Guardian, there it is, a
:23:51. > :23:56.dramatic picture of Egypt's second revolution. President Morsi ousted
:23:56. > :24:01.as Army suspends constitution. It says. There is Andy Murray on the