Browse content similar to 16/04/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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The unravelling of George Osborne's budget. Chapter 33, what once was | :00:13. | :00:20. | |
said to be so clear is now shrouded in a fofg granny taxes, tax evaders, | :00:20. | :00:22. | |
tax avoiders and pasties, that is not all: | :00:23. | :00:27. | |
Labour this week will force a Commons vote on the plan to cap tax | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
breaks on giving to charity, severely test the loyalty of | :00:32. | :00:33. | |
Conservative MPs. The former Prime Minister, Tony | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
Blair, tells the Government, where it is going wrong. And the current | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
chairman of the Conservative Party, will doubtless be very glad of his | :00:40. | :00:46. | |
advice. And then, this. | :00:47. | :00:56. | |
As a massive money laundering trial ends, they are protesting in | :00:57. | :01:02. | |
Nigeria in favour of corruption. gave me $50 million in cash, a big | :01:02. | :01:12. | |
sack. How big is a sack with $50 billion? A big one. | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
The Prime Minister said today that he wanted to see more giving to | :01:16. | :01:21. | |
charities, yet one of his own ministers admits that the planned | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
changes announced in the budget will have what he calls an impact | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
on donations. "shambles" was the word used by the Charities Aid | :01:30. | :01:36. | |
Foundation to describe the limits to charitable giving. Coming on top | :01:36. | :01:41. | |
of the granny tax, the pasty tax, the income tax, and to say nothing | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
of the Francis Maude memorial petrol panic. Some MPs are | :01:45. | :01:52. | |
wondering what on earth has gone wrong. Allegra Stratton reports. | :01:52. | :01:57. | |
Seen opened up like this, Downing Street looks like a happy doll's | :01:57. | :02:02. | |
house, with interconnected posh carpets rooms, and a Warren of cosy | :02:02. | :02:10. | |
dens, conducive to the construction of policy. This week the Georgian | :02:10. | :02:16. | |
doors seem to have got jammed, a good news and bad news story | :02:16. | :02:20. | |
merging, David Cameron has come under scrutiny. His impartial civil | :02:20. | :02:24. | |
servants, meant to be helping him keep an eye on Government, stand | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
accused of inyou are ining him to the voters. All problems are | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
supposed to have stemmed from the budget, the budget from hell as it | :02:31. | :02:37. | |
has been Chrisened. The problems have been lingering on from that. | :02:37. | :02:43. | |
It was the infrastructure announcements of tolling on roads, | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
most Conservatives hate those those plans. There is the minimum pricing | :02:48. | :02:53. | |
on alcohol, that the policy makers pushed for but Conservatives do | :02:53. | :02:58. | |
hate. Sources have told Newsnight that policy unit submission goes | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
straight to the Prime Minister, with departmental special advisers | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
having no chance to object to ideas, which is often where the political | :03:06. | :03:10. | |
elephant traps lie. One adviser to the Prime Minister said to his face | :03:10. | :03:15. | |
in a meeting, is the problem for Whitehall special adviser is they | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
didn't know who to call when there is a problem in the department. | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
People across Whitehall have been told by people from Number Ten that | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
they are thinking in too ideolgical a way. Something people in | :03:27. | :03:29. | |
Government and the coalition Government has told me that Downing | :03:29. | :03:36. | |
Street has a lot of influence but not much power. Under the | :03:36. | :03:40. | |
Government currently, most of those have left Downing Street, you have | :03:40. | :03:44. | |
a department staffed and run by civil servants. The problem with | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
that is if you don't have strong political people in the centre, | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
they don't have the same political antenna for things that might be | :03:50. | :03:53. | |
happening in the departments. For example, things like the problems | :03:54. | :03:57. | |
that the Government had over the health bill. I think it is a | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
question of whether they could potentially have a stronger, more | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
political Downing Street operation. Someone who ran the policy unit | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
under Gordon Brown thinks that David Cameron has a problem. | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
Labour's was an era where policy was crafted on sofas, not desks. | :04:12. | :04:16. | |
Since the 1970s when the policy unit was created under Harold | :04:16. | :04:20. | |
Wilson, it has had the same structure half-a-dozen politically | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
committed experienced policy experts. David Cameron was the | :04:23. | :04:27. | |
first Prime Minister, since the 1970s, to get rid of that structure | :04:27. | :04:31. | |
and replace it with civil servants, that is a big mistake, because you | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
don't have people to scrutinise mistakes the departments might have | :04:34. | :04:40. | |
made, and things like the NHS wouldn't have happened on my watch | :04:40. | :04:46. | |
and others over the years. loyal Tory MP thinks a focus on the | :04:46. | :04:50. | |
bricks and mortar of the Conservative operation is misplaced. | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
The reality is we are mid-term with a Government that is doing the most | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
radical things a Government has had to do, in the mid-of a time when | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
the economy is not growing, and lots of -- middle of a time when | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
the economy is not growing, and lots of people are having miserable | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
lives. The surprise to me is it is two years before we have problems | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
in the press, and being unpopular, we thought we would be the most | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
unpopular Government ever within three months of coming into office. | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
If a problem with the policy unit is overdone, there is a fault line | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
within Downing Street, horse trading between the Treasury and | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
Liberal Democrats, saw the Liberal Democrats give into the abolition | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
of the 50p rate f it could be showed money was being clawed back | :05:36. | :05:39. | |
in other areas of the budget. This wasn't the bricking up of the Prime | :05:39. | :05:43. | |
Minister from inside, but it was the quad, bricked up away from | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
everyone else. Each one was happy with the top line result of the | :05:47. | :05:51. | |
budget, but they left the details to other people. To the horror of | :05:51. | :05:57. | |
even their most loyal fans, the charities tax undermined The Big | :05:57. | :05:59. | |
Idea society. Today the Conservatives fought back to | :05:59. | :06:09. | |
:06:09. | :06:31. | ||
explain why they had driven for a The daylight illuminated less | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
helpful figures for the Government. As the BBC business editor blogged | :06:36. | :06:41. | |
today, the data showed over 73% of those earning over �250,000, were | :06:41. | :06:46. | |
paying an average tax rate of over 40% in 2010/11, complicating the | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
Chancellor's reason for scrapping the 50p rate. This was never to be | :06:51. | :06:54. | |
introduced until next year, plenty of time to get it right and consult | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
and listen. The key principle is, for more charities and | :06:58. | :07:02. | |
philanthropic giving, yes, but allowing people to drive their tax | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
rate down, when some of the richest people they are, no. Right now | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
David Cameron's MPs are out campaigning in the local election, | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
which they fear could be quite bad for them. Their chances are not | :07:12. | :07:17. | |
helped, they feel, by new taxes, with irritatingly catchy titles. | :07:17. | :07:23. | |
Before the next round of elections, there are very fine Georgian walls, | :07:23. | :07:25. | |
that may yet have to be reduced to rubble. | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
A man with some experience of the slings and arrows of Government, is | :07:29. | :07:32. | |
the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who happens to have been | :07:32. | :07:37. | |
trumpeting the virtues of philanthropy in Washington this | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
evening. Tony Blair, is the Government right | :07:40. | :07:46. | |
to think about capping the level of tax relief on charitable donations | :07:46. | :07:51. | |
at �50,000, or a quarter of income? To be fair to them, this is a | :07:51. | :07:53. | |
consultation, so they have the opportunity to think again. I think | :07:53. | :07:58. | |
it is wise if they do. Because, if I were them I would just separate | :07:58. | :08:02. | |
out these issues to do with tax avoidance and charitable giving. | :08:02. | :08:08. | |
I'm here in Washington addressing the Global Philanthropy Forum, all | :08:08. | :08:12. | |
around the world the philanthropic sector is doing more. Most people | :08:12. | :08:17. | |
want to give to charity to do good rather than escape tax. The | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
important thing is to separate those things out, if there is tax | :08:20. | :08:22. | |
avoidance deal with that in a different way. We should be doing | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
everything we can at the moment, to encourage the philanthropic sector, | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
the third sector was a large part of our Government agenda, it is | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
still very important n in times of economic difficulty even more so. | :08:36. | :08:40. | |
Would you prefer a person paid the potential level of tax envisaged | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
under it, or gave the money to Tony Blair Faith Foundation? If people | :08:45. | :08:49. | |
want to give their money there, I'm delighted. You don't run | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
foundations unless you are trying to raise money all the time. Anyone | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
giving money to a charity, if they are giving it to a genuine | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
charitable cause, they are losing money. If they retained that money, | :08:59. | :09:03. | |
even if they paid tax on it, they would still retain some of that | :09:03. | :09:06. | |
money. If they give it to charity they lose that money. They give it | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
to a charitable cause. If they are not giving it to a genuine charity, | :09:11. | :09:16. | |
or the charity's not doing work with a proper public benefit, there | :09:16. | :09:20. | |
is an armoury, a battery of rules that you can bring in to bear, to | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
make sure that doesn't happen. That's why I think, mixing these | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
two things up is unfortunate. I'm sure the Government don't | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
intentionally want to harm the philanthropic sector, that would be | :09:32. | :09:35. | |
daft, I'm sure they don't want to do it. What they should do now, | :09:35. | :09:39. | |
they have the time. I have been through many situations like this, | :09:39. | :09:41. | |
sometimes things slip through, they are not right. You have the chance | :09:41. | :09:45. | |
with a consultation to correct them. The important thing is to correct | :09:45. | :09:49. | |
them, and not end up in a battle with the philanthropic sector, | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
which they will find difficult to win. | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
How can it be right that a multi- millionaire pays a lower rate of | :09:56. | :10:02. | |
income tax than a teacher or lorry driver? They shouldn't. People pay | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
the top rate of tax at 50p, they should pay that. If someone gives | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
to a charitable cause, for many, many years, if they give to the | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
charity, they are losing the money, they are giving the money to the | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
charitable cause. If you want to encourage the philanthropic sec to | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
Governments have necessary roles to makes there are things that | :10:20. | :10:23. | |
Government does very well there are things I that discovered in | :10:23. | :10:26. | |
Government, that the third sector, the voluntary sector, do better | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
than the Government. It is the job of successive Governments to | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
encourage this charitable sector. If you want to encourage it, you | :10:32. | :10:35. | |
say to people, give your money to charity, that is a good thing, not | :10:35. | :10:40. | |
a bad thing. That implies a no upper limit of any kind, just | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
encourage them, eh? Why not encourage it. The philanthropic | :10:45. | :10:52. | |
sector today in the UK, is worth billions, it isth does fantastic | :10:52. | :10:55. | |
work, at local level, international and national level. It is important | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
to encourage it. This conference I was giving the keynote speech at | :10:59. | :11:02. | |
today in Washington there were philanthropists from around the | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
world, including the UK, they do great work F their charities aren't | :11:05. | :11:13. | |
doing good work, or we introduced, I think, in 2006, actually as the | :11:13. | :11:18. | |
Government introduced an amendment to the charities law, saying | :11:18. | :11:23. | |
charities have to display a public benefit. If not take action against | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
the charities. Don't end up in a situation where you are implying | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
that people are donate to go charities for tax avoidance, I | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
really don't think that is the case. Do you think the climate is | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
changing in this country, the climate of opinion towards wealth | :11:37. | :11:46. | |
creation, do you think it is souring? When times are really | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
tough, and times are tough in the UK, here in America, round the | :11:50. | :11:55. | |
world at the moment. Then I think there is a risk that people mix two | :11:55. | :12:00. | |
quite separate things up together. One is how do we make sure that | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
people pay their fair share of tax, and the other is, how do we get the | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
economy growing? What is important to realise is that wealth creation | :12:09. | :12:11. | |
and entrepeneurship will always be part of a growing economy, we | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
should encourage. That obviously people should pay their fair share | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
in tax. In any of these situations there is balance to be struck, and | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
I think it is important to get that balance right. Now, by the way, all | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
Governments go through these periods, that's for sure, but I | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
think what actually is important at the moment is to distinguish | :12:29. | :12:35. | |
between having a tough time as a Government, because you're taking | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
an unpopular decision that you have genuinely worked out and believed | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
to be right, and having a tough time because the decision is not | :12:42. | :12:45. | |
properly thought through. contrast is with your Government | :12:45. | :12:54. | |
who recommended Fred good win for a Knighthood? -- Fred Goodwin for a | :12:54. | :12:57. | |
knighthood? If you want to go back over those debates you can, I don't | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
think they really impact on now. The question now is how do you make | :13:01. | :13:05. | |
the tax system fair, how do you, at the same time, create a tax system | :13:05. | :13:11. | |
that is rewarding entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Do you think | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
they were wrong to get rid of the 50p tax rate and reduce it to 45p? | :13:15. | :13:20. | |
I will deal with one issue at a time. The reason I'm dealing with | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
this now is because I'm giving this speech on philanthropy and its | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
importance. I think with this, I'm not making some great heavy | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
political point, I'm simply saying they have the time to consult, | :13:31. | :13:36. | |
consult. If I were them I would literally just disentangle these | :13:37. | :13:40. | |
two issues, they are separate issues. I bet you're glad you are | :13:40. | :13:44. | |
not in Government now, aren't you? Government, as I always used to say, | :13:44. | :13:49. | |
is a great privilege, but it can be sometimes very tough. That's to be | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
expected. But, you know, it, as I used to tell the Labour Party, it | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
is better to be in Government than opposition. I read your speech | :13:57. | :14:04. | |
earlier, you seemed to suggest at one point that philanthropy is | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
potentially more inspiring and more effective than many of the | :14:08. | :14:11. | |
mechanisms of Government, do you really believe that? I believe | :14:11. | :14:14. | |
there is certain things that only Government can do. So only a | :14:14. | :14:18. | |
Government can put through education, health reforms, decide | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
levels of public spending, I described in my speech how Northern | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
Ireland's not a process that can be done outside Government. But I also | :14:26. | :14:30. | |
do think that Government itself today has got to reform, Government | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
has to become more strategic, more empowering, less top-heavy, the | :14:35. | :14:38. | |
philanthropic sector, and the private sector, by the way, can be | :14:38. | :14:43. | |
great partners in this. I do think we are entering an age in which, if | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
you want to get things done, that is the key challenge of Government | :14:46. | :14:53. | |
today, it is efficacy, how do you get the job done? Then the | :14:53. | :14:56. | |
philanthropic sector can be more creative, imaginative and | :14:56. | :14:59. | |
innovative than Government. It is not substituting for Government, | :14:59. | :15:03. | |
but in its proper place it can be a great inspiration and compliment to | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
it. One final point on the current state of the Government, given the | :15:06. | :15:11. | |
state it is in, why isn't Ed Milliband doing better? He is, he's | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
putting his case forward, he is articulating where he thinks the | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
country should go. Look, Labour was only put out of office a couple of | :15:20. | :15:23. | |
years ago. It is not surprising in this first period of opposition it | :15:23. | :15:27. | |
is tough, but there is a long way to go. I think one of the things | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
that is interesting, actually, about this present situation, by | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
the way, since I know how difficult it is, I'm not giving advice to | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
anybody. You wouldn't have lost the Bradford West by-election, would | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
you? You can't say that, actually, I don't know. What I do know is, I | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
think if I had put my finger on anything that I think is a problem | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
for the Government, it is the nature of this coalition, I think, | :15:51. | :15:56. | |
sometimes. Which is more a marriage of convience than conviction. Is | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
that if they are not careful, they end up having to satisfy one side | :16:00. | :16:06. | |
and then the other side. In that policy trade, I think you sometimes | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
get incoherence, that's as mild a criticism as you can make. But I | :16:10. | :16:15. | |
think it is quite an important one. If I were them looking forward, I | :16:15. | :16:20. | |
would try and make sure that before these policies are announced a | :16:20. | :16:22. | |
little more indepth policy work is being done. | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
Tony Blair, thank you very much for joining us. | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
The person being blamed by some Conservatives for the mess that the | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
party's in is the home improvements fanatic, Sayeeda Warsi, or to give | :16:36. | :16:41. | |
her the right title, Baroness Warsi, the Party Chairman. Do you think | :16:41. | :16:46. | |
the budget was a success? The way in which parts of the budget have | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
been communicated, subsequent to the budget being announced, could | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
have been done better. Because it is a coalition, so much of what was | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
in the budget, which traditionally wouldn't be in the public domain, | :16:57. | :17:02. | |
was in public domain. Those bits that weren't, were the bits seized | :17:02. | :17:08. | |
and discussed in detail afterwards. It is all the fault of the Lib | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
Dems? No. A Conservative Government would have been watertight, you are | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
suggesting? The coalition means Governments can't be as watertight | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
than if it was a single party. it is the Lib Dems? It is the | :17:20. | :17:23. | |
reality of the coalition. We are two parties, we talk to our | :17:23. | :17:25. | |
individual parties when these decisions are being made, and some | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
decisions are made public. Conservative is this Government? | :17:29. | :17:36. | |
Well it is interesting, because I spend a lot of my time campaigning | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
and activists ask me that question. One of the things I take around | :17:39. | :17:43. | |
with me, and is with me today, is the Conservative manifesto, which | :17:43. | :17:46. | |
gives me a God indication of what we are delivering and how much is | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
in the manifesto. That is a notebook? It is the | :17:50. | :18:00. | |
manifesto from 2010. Wouldn't the coalition agreement be | :18:00. | :18:05. | |
more relevent? It is trying to put together the bulk of the | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
Conservative manifesto and the bits of the Lib Dem coalition. For me it | :18:09. | :18:14. | |
is showing what we campaigned for in 2010 and what we are delivering. | :18:14. | :18:20. | |
Why are you garnering, almost a month after the event, such | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
unhelpful headlines in sympathetic newspapers? There is a lot of | :18:23. | :18:26. | |
miscommunication, some of it in terms of how we communicated it in | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
the Government, some of it in the way it was reported. Look at them, | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
the Telegraph, Mail, the Guardian isn't your friends, and the Mirror, | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
I don't know what that is doing up there. The Mail, the Telegraph, the | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
Sun, your friends, that is not helpful, is it? If you unpick each | :18:45. | :18:51. | |
and every one of those arguments. Let me take a typical one, the | :18:51. | :18:58. | |
pasty tax. A very serious matter? Labour made it into an issue of | :18:58. | :19:02. | |
class, so if anyone, a northerner, someone like you and I eating | :19:02. | :19:05. | |
pasties all day and this was an attack on our lifestyle. They | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
failed to understand, that the chip buttie, or chicken and chips, or | :19:09. | :19:14. | |
any other snacks we may be eating as working-class people, have VAT | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
on them. It was right that the Government in the budget take an | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
opportunity to close the loopholes. There is something deeper than that, | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
there is, what seems to be, a profound incoherence at the heart | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
of policies announced in this budget. For example, cutting the | :19:29. | :19:36. | |
top rate of income tax from 50p to 45p, that yields about how much? | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
don't know the exact figure, but it yields more at 45p than 50p. | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
lose about �50 million, according to projections, and possibly �100 | :19:47. | :19:54. | |
million the next year. Capping the rate of donations to charities, | :19:54. | :19:56. | |
yields what? Is that a another thing you don't know? The figures | :19:56. | :20:02. | |
are still to be made clear on that. That is between �50-�100 million? | :20:02. | :20:05. | |
At the moment it is out for consultation. Let me unpick the | :20:05. | :20:10. | |
charities' tax as it is called. are taking with one hand and giving | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
with the other, it doesn't make sense, it is the same people? | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
you look at the charities' tax as it is called. Let's break what it | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
is about. What Tony Blair has just said is it is absolutely right, | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
people are generous, people give to charities and philanthropic causes, | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
and that has to be encouraged. You can't have a situation, say if you | :20:28. | :20:33. | |
are a middle or low income earner, you make your contribution, it is | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
called tax. It goes into the general public purse. If you are | :20:37. | :20:44. | |
very rich and you can actually give away your income in a way where you | :20:44. | :20:50. | |
abort into the 10p brand or else, you are saying, because I am richer, | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
I can choose which causes I want to give to, rather than the general | :20:53. | :20:56. | |
public purse. What the Government is saying is there has to be a | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
balance. You have made this case, your party has made this case | :20:59. | :21:04. | |
repeatedly, all I'm arguing or suggesting to you is it is slightly | :21:04. | :21:10. | |
incoherent, that is all? When you are in coalition. This is the Lib | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
Dems' fault too? When you are in coalition it is not as easy to have | :21:13. | :21:17. | |
a very clear view and matterive, which is based upon the principles | :21:17. | :21:21. | |
of one party. The Conservative Party have some very clear | :21:21. | :21:27. | |
principles, the majority of the coalition Government, and what we | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
are delivering in Government is part of those principles, there are | :21:31. | :21:33. | |
other principles, Liberal Democrat principle, that butt up against | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
that, out of that sometimes comes an incoherence. It is not always | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
easy to have a clear, Conservative narrative. However much I would | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
like it and argue for it, for 2015. You are conceding the Government is | :21:46. | :21:50. | |
incoherent, what about the question about the further influence of the | :21:50. | :21:55. | |
Lib Dem Government? What I'm a saying is it is not always easy to | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
put a single coherent argument on single coherent principles, because | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
we have two parties in the coalition. We have two sets of | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
values, and two sets of narratives, which come together to put forward | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
a Government programme. There is one single narrative, that is this, | :22:10. | :22:14. | |
as Party Chairman I feel it more than anything else. That is, that | :22:14. | :22:16. | |
we are acting in the national interest, not in individual | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
political interests. Does it help to have people like | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
Vince Cable, who have apparently agreed the budget, immediately | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
coming out and denoinsing some of its measures? That is a matter -- | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
we nouncing some of its measures? That is a matter for Vince, I | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
believe if you standby a decision once it is made. Doesn't it make | :22:37. | :22:47. | |
:22:47. | :22:47. | ||
you hopping mad? I recently described Tim Farren, not in | :22:47. | :22:50. | |
cabinet part of the coalition colleagues we work closely with. | :22:50. | :22:53. | |
Maybe if you were outside Government you would be a more | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
effective Party Chairman? Unlike Tim Farren who sits outside | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
Government. He can say what he wants? I described him as a bad | :23:02. | :23:07. | |
episode of Come Dine With Me, I don't think it is right people sit | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
down and eat your food and slag you off in the cab home. When you are | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
in coalition and partnership, it is about being in it together, and we | :23:18. | :23:23. | |
standby the decisions we make together. But those parties in | :23:23. | :23:28. | |
coalitions throughout Europe and the world, they try to carve a | :23:28. | :23:35. | |
singling out for themselves. I want to see from my party, I'm glad my | :23:35. | :23:38. | |
Conservative colleagues uphold to, that is a more collective approach | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
to responsibility, and coming to agreement, let's stick to them. | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
Just before he left office, Tony Blair bitterly remarked that the | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
media in this country had become like a feral beast. Nothing such | :23:51. | :23:57. | |
creatures like more than a bit of political chaos. Three who left the | :23:57. | :24:03. | |
confines of polite society are with us now. | :24:03. | :24:10. | |
James Purnell, Miranda Green, and Fraser Nelson, the editor of the | :24:10. | :24:16. | |
Spectator. Last time you two were here was on the budget night? | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
I was watching. Very loyal. Did you imagine that a month on we would | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
still be talking about the budget? We did say it was a big risk, the | :24:25. | :24:29. | |
cut to the 45p, there was quite a lot of discussion about the grany | :24:29. | :24:39. | |
:24:39. | :24:45. | ||
tax. I think we were fairly cautious about that. It is not just | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
Lib Dem and Conservative coalition, you have The Big Idea society and | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
economic liberals, in the Lib Dems there is the Social Democratic side, | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
like Shirley Williams, then the orange-bookers, Nick Clegg, and | :24:56. | :25:01. | |
David Laws, you also have the Tory right, which can veto anything at | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
any time. The danger is it is hard to get big new things off the | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
ground, because there is always someone who can return it. They | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
could agree the coalition agreement, but it is very, very hard to come | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
up with new ideas, someone always around the table says they won't | :25:16. | :25:23. | |
stand for it. There is something in that, we hear about the "quad", the | :25:23. | :25:28. | |
elite group of four who agree everything behind closed doors, | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
Osborne, Nick Clegg and Danny and Vince. That is not getting both | :25:32. | :25:35. | |
parties to agree. David Cameron has a particular problem with his own | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
backbenchers who think he should have won the last election outright. | :25:39. | :25:41. | |
They disagree with them fundamentally. They think if the | :25:41. | :25:44. | |
party shifts to the right they will win another election outright. He | :25:44. | :25:50. | |
won't do that, because he knows it is wrong. It is frustrating that | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
what the Government is getting right, radical school and welfare | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
reform, is being eclipsed by a long list of things, the pasty tax and | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
granny tax. It is not so much to do with bad spin, they don't really | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
engage their brain a lot before making ale policy. This group of | :26:07. | :26:11. | |
four, the quad, they passed what is now known as the charity tax, | :26:11. | :26:15. | |
without realising the extent of the effect it would have. If that was | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
thought through properly, there is a proper political unit in nen | :26:19. | :26:23. | |
Number Ten, as in stair's day, they would have thought about this | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
before, and you wouldn't have got to the stage where you are making | :26:27. | :26:31. | |
the announcement first and working it out only seeing it in the next | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
day's paper. It is easy for media smart arses to make that sort of | :26:34. | :26:38. | |
comment after the event. But that is what happens in Government, | :26:38. | :26:43. | |
isn't it? You have to keep battering on, always, two or three | :26:43. | :26:48. | |
years into a Government, this sort of thing happens. You hit choppy | :26:48. | :26:54. | |
water? I was in the policy unit before, it was a tightly-knit band | :26:54. | :26:58. | |
of political advisers, through opposition together, they could | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
read each other's minds, we were quick at spotting political | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
problems. Having said that we were criticised for having too many | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
special advisers and it was spin gone mad. In a way you can never | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
completely win. There is also a question about whether the | :27:13. | :27:16. | |
Conservatives have drawn slightly the wrong lesson from Tony Blair. | :27:16. | :27:20. | |
We were told they all went out and read his book. He said hi a big | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
majority and I wasted it, and didn't do enough with it. They | :27:24. | :27:28. | |
haven't got a big majority, maybe they should have done what he did | :27:28. | :27:32. | |
in 1997, which is cautious with his political capital, do big things, | :27:32. | :27:35. | |
like education and constitutional reform. Make sure you win the next | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
election, in a way they read the book but applied completely the | :27:40. | :27:43. | |
wrong lesson. You are shouting "slow down"? Yes, there is a lot of | :27:44. | :27:47. | |
criticism that the Government is trying to do too much at the same | :27:47. | :27:52. | |
time, and rushing ahead, because they have the blairb book as a | :27:52. | :27:56. | |
background manifesto. There was too much of a reaction against Tony | :27:56. | :28:00. | |
Blair, David Cameron prides himself in how few special advisers he has | :28:01. | :28:04. | |
got. My advice is he hasn't enough. We are not seeing ale could igs l | :28:04. | :28:14. | |
:28:14. | :28:15. | ||
but a coup at the at that time with -- coalition, but a coup de etat. | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
You need a grey beard saying no goodwill come of this, or something. | :28:19. | :28:22. | |
That is what the Civil Service are saying, they are saying don't do | :28:22. | :28:25. | |
it? They are saying no, Prime Minister, you don't want any of | :28:25. | :28:30. | |
these nasty special advisers. about George Osborne, supposed to | :28:30. | :28:36. | |
be the master tactition, election planner and winner in all, where is | :28:36. | :28:43. | |
he in all of this? Has been on holiday. But it is certainly true | :28:43. | :28:47. | |
to say this budget was not a great advert for Osborne the master | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
tactition. But then again, we are mid-way through, you show me any | :28:51. | :28:55. | |
Government that is not taking a kicking, two or three years into | :28:55. | :28:59. | |
the term. It is always happening. It just seems a lot more | :28:59. | :29:07. | |
embarrassing, because there are things that are so avoidable. The | :29:07. | :29:10. | |
10p pension increase that Labour had to endure, that was one mistake. | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
It seems we are getting this almost every week. What is interesting | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
about that period, the 10p tax, we were losing tax discs, that was a | :29:18. | :29:21. | |
big story, is the smaller things become a big story when there was | :29:21. | :29:25. | |
not a big driving thing happening. It doesn't have to be a detailed | :29:25. | :29:29. | |
strategy, but a guiding policy. The Government has lots of different | :29:29. | :29:33. | |
ones at the same time. Why isn't Ed Milliband doing better, Tony Blair | :29:34. | :29:41. | |
was pretty loyal and supportive, pretty discreet? He's 11 ahead in | :29:41. | :29:45. | |
the polls. Tonighter on talking about the problems in the coalition | :29:45. | :29:48. | |
and two months ago it would have been the problems with the Labour | :29:48. | :29:52. | |
Party. What has happened with the budget is there is a shift in the | :29:52. | :29:56. | |
mind set. An inevitable ability about a Cameron majority in the | :29:56. | :30:01. | |
next election is not there any more. The polls shifting is really | :30:01. | :30:04. | |
interesting, they have shifted since the budget, which is | :30:04. | :30:11. | |
significant. Except for the Lib Dem ratings? Glossing swiftly over that. | :30:11. | :30:16. | |
We are at a mid-term cusp. If we are heading to a hung parliament, | :30:16. | :30:20. | |
who will be the larger party. This is a moment when the main parties | :30:20. | :30:24. | |
need to get a grip, the Liberal Democrats we will leave to one side | :30:24. | :30:28. | |
in terms of getting a grip. It could be a moment for Labour to | :30:28. | :30:35. | |
actually capitalise, or it could be a moment for the Government to | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
discover this narrative they lack. We are looking as the Lib Dems | :30:40. | :30:44. | |
won't be an effective force in politics? It is a tough set this | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
week as well. No Lib Dem going into a coalition with the Tories ever | :30:48. | :30:52. | |
thought it would be easy, they expected a kicking, they are | :30:52. | :30:56. | |
getting one, there may be a reward at the end of it, they may not. | :30:56. | :31:01. | |
They have lost half of their political support, the portion | :31:01. | :31:06. | |
voting Lib Dem is the same as visiting Elvis is alive, it is not | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
a good time to be a supporter. Nick Clegg thought when they went into | :31:11. | :31:15. | |
coalition in Scotland, it wasn't the same effect. You are seeing | :31:16. | :31:21. | |
this blue Tory cimen to night in the Lib Dems, weakening them. | :31:21. | :31:26. | |
I wonder if they will recover. Nick Clegg makes brave concessions, but | :31:26. | :31:31. | |
they appear to be an opposition party. We say where's Ed Milliband | :31:31. | :31:35. | |
now? 11 points ahead in the polls isn't that bad. Cameron was | :31:35. | :31:37. | |
punching the air when he got this in opposition. | :31:37. | :31:40. | |
Thank you very much. We probably all at some time had | :31:40. | :31:44. | |
one of those e-mails inviting us to help ourselves to free millions of | :31:44. | :31:49. | |
pounds, if only we will share our bank accounts with someone in | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
Nigeria. The former Governor of An oil-rich Nigerian state will be | :31:53. | :31:58. | |
jailed tomorrow, in what is called the world's biggest money | :31:58. | :32:01. | |
laundering scam. James Ibori stole millions from state accounts, and | :32:01. | :32:09. | |
hid the cash around the world. Britain was a focal point. The | :32:09. | :32:11. | |
Treasury Department showed its anti-corruption credentials by | :32:11. | :32:14. | |
funding the police investigation. But part of the department also | :32:14. | :32:18. | |
invested millions in companies which are now themselves under | :32:18. | :32:26. | |
investigation as money laundering fronts. | :32:27. | :32:34. | |
Money makes the world go wrong. How can a human being do this to | :32:34. | :32:40. | |
his fellow human being. It is what happens when billions | :32:40. | :32:47. | |
are stolen from Africa's poor, by their own politicians. | :32:47. | :32:57. | |
:32:57. | :32:58. | ||
He gave me $50 million US in cash. Their crimes are hidden by contacts | :32:58. | :33:03. | |
and institutions in the rich and developed nation, the west. | :33:03. | :33:06. | |
He was obviously bringing large amounts of cash with him on the | :33:06. | :33:16. | |
:33:16. | :33:17. | ||
flights, he was flying in and out of London like nobody's business. | :33:17. | :33:21. | |
It's January 2004, police are called to a hotel in Marble Arch, | :33:21. | :33:24. | |
where a guest is outside his room on the fifth floor, giving away | :33:24. | :33:29. | |
money. He was throwing �50 notes around | :33:29. | :33:39. | |
:33:39. | :33:40. | ||
like confetey. What? Giving the staff money. Just like that. | :33:40. | :33:46. | |
came out of the hotel, and the staff lucky enough to pass in front | :33:46. | :33:51. | |
of his hotel room was just given money, because he had so much. | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
The guest with the hot cash was a senior politician, a state governor, | :33:55. | :34:01. | |
from nigh gearia. His arrest, over time, would -- Nigeria. His arrest, | :34:01. | :34:06. | |
over time, would lead police to worldwide networks set up to | :34:06. | :34:10. | |
launder money. Politicians from Africa would steal millions, and | :34:10. | :34:13. | |
people in supposedly respectable offices in London and elsewhere, | :34:13. | :34:23. | |
:34:23. | :34:26. | ||
would bury the trace, cover them up, so they looked legitimate. In | :34:26. | :34:29. | |
Nigeria state governors rule the roost. They are viewed with awe or | :34:29. | :34:39. | |
:34:39. | :34:44. | ||
contempt. In Nasarawa, supporters of Aliyu | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
Alhaji Akwai Doma, their former governor, are on the streets. | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
Domino's himself is at the courthouse, he's charged with | :34:52. | :34:57. | |
stealing $100 million from state coffers. In the past decade, since | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
their colleagues' cash give Yayladagi at the hotel, governors | :35:02. | :35:12. | |
:35:12. | :35:12. | ||
of more than half Giffordsaway at the hotel, governors of more than | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
half states have been brought to bear. Justice, like everything | :35:16. | :35:25. | |
elsewhere, though, can be compromised. One Nigerian observer | :35:25. | :35:33. | |
said to me, rather ruefully, this is how we celebrate corruption. | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
The consequences of corruption are just around the corner, no | :35:37. | :35:41. | |
pavements, no roads, and filth. This is the centre of the state | :35:41. | :35:47. | |
capital, Lafia. Everything has gone bad. All the situations is, the | :35:47. | :35:52. | |
infrastructure, there is none. is the business district? This is. | :35:52. | :35:59. | |
This is the business district. Detectives from London, following | :35:59. | :36:03. | |
up on the governor who gave away money, went to Nigeria to testify | :36:03. | :36:08. | |
in a number of cases. It was a culture shock. | :36:08. | :36:12. | |
Peter gave evidence, that was a little tricky, to say the least. We | :36:12. | :36:17. | |
had an armed escort, we felt reasonably safe. There were 500 | :36:17. | :36:22. | |
security personnel looking after our welfare at the time. There was | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
guns everywhere, I must admit. It was hair-raising to say the least. | :36:26. | :36:32. | |
The London detectives, funded by Britain's development for | :36:32. | :36:41. | |
development, had joined -- Government for development had | :36:42. | :36:46. | |
joined forces. We were going after the governors, it was very | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
difficult, they were extremely powerful. None was more powerful, | :36:50. | :36:56. | |
than the biggest target of all, James Ibori. In the scale of | :36:56. | :37:01. | |
corrupt governors, where would you place James Ibori? Very much on top. | :37:01. | :37:05. | |
James Ibori robbed Nigerian state funds of untold fortunes, but he | :37:05. | :37:14. | |
started out here, in Ruislip, west London, working as a cash year in a | :37:14. | :37:18. | |
hardware store, he was sacked for allowing his wife take �200 worth | :37:18. | :37:21. | |
of DIY material without paying. The following year he was arrested | :37:21. | :37:27. | |
again, this time for using a stolen credit card. He now had two | :37:27. | :37:31. | |
convictions for dishonesty, and facing county court judgments for | :37:31. | :37:36. | |
debt. It was 191, and James Ibori fled back to -- 1991, and James | :37:36. | :37:42. | |
Ibori fled back to Nigeria. He was broke and at rock bottom. But by | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
the end of the decade, James Ibori had managed to become one of the | :37:46. | :37:51. | |
richest and most important rulers of all Africa. | :37:51. | :37:55. | |
The Niger Delta should be one of the most prosperous regions on | :37:55. | :38:00. | |
earth. It produces billions worth of oil, while the people live in | :38:00. | :38:07. | |
poverty, the riches are skimmed off for the elite. James Ibori fell in | :38:07. | :38:13. | |
with Nigeria's military rulers, and became Governor of Delta state, his | :38:13. | :38:23. | |
:38:23. | :38:23. | ||
salary was $25,000, but as leader of the elite, he was a wealthy man. | :38:23. | :38:30. | |
This man set up the anti-corruption squad, his prime target was James | :38:30. | :38:35. | |
Ibori? He was buying companies all over, he had aeroplanes and | :38:35. | :38:41. | |
properties in South Africa, in the UK, in the US and so on. | :38:41. | :38:49. | |
What's more, he was offering huge bribes. He gave me $50 million US | :38:49. | :38:56. | |
dollars in cash. $50 million? cash, a sack. How big is a sack | :38:56. | :39:02. | |
with $50 million? A big one, a huge one. How could you resist the | :39:02. | :39:09. | |
temptation? There is no difference between $100 and $10 million, as | :39:09. | :39:16. | |
long as it is a person and the cash is not your's, especially for an | :39:16. | :39:22. | |
individual fighting corruption. While in office, governors in | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
Nigeria are immune from prosecution, but at the end of Ibori's term, he | :39:26. | :39:32. | |
was charged with corruption. This is one of the interrogation rooms, | :39:32. | :39:37. | |
where Nigeria's politically exposed people, governors accused of | :39:37. | :39:42. | |
corruption, are brought. For the last ten years the man conductsing | :39:42. | :39:47. | |
those irtergaigss and investigations is -- interrogations, | :39:47. | :39:51. | |
and investigations is here. His biggest challenge is James Ibori? | :39:51. | :39:57. | |
We left him until last, because we no knew he had a lot of influence - | :39:57. | :40:02. | |
- we knew he had a lot of influence, but we also knew what was coming | :40:02. | :40:08. | |
after his arrest. Ibori faced 170 charges, and all dismissed by a | :40:08. | :40:13. | |
court in delta state. A devastating blow for Nigeria's anti-corruption | :40:13. | :40:20. | |
squad. Meanwhile, anti-corruption work had | :40:20. | :40:26. | |
amassed too many enemies, they tried to kill him. To my shock, I | :40:26. | :40:33. | |
saw a pistol. The car was bullet- proof, it needed to be. | :40:33. | :40:40. | |
On a country road he was ambushed. After a second attempt on his life, | :40:40. | :40:44. | |
he went into exile, leaving behind a political class that was rotten, | :40:44. | :40:51. | |
none more than James Ibori. He was a product of this completely | :40:52. | :40:58. | |
corrupt system, and he came like this tower of the whole thing. He | :40:59. | :41:07. | |
was so rich and powerful. With corruption thwarting justice | :41:07. | :41:10. | |
inside Nigeria, 3,000 miles away, there was a breakthrough. | :41:10. | :41:15. | |
Investigators have been following the activities of the bent African | :41:15. | :41:19. | |
politicians, in particular of James Ibori. | :41:19. | :41:23. | |
You could see huge amounts of money being transferred, coming in from | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
Nigerian companies, huge amounts of cash being paid into the accounts. | :41:27. | :41:35. | |
They live an extortionate lifestyle, there was $180,000 a month being | :41:35. | :41:41. | |
spent on a credit guard which Mr Ibori was using, every month. What | :41:41. | :41:45. | |
was he buying? He was spending money like water. Jee should have | :41:45. | :41:51. | |
been in Poland on a trip for his country, for 16 days, he spent two | :41:51. | :41:56. | |
days, and then flew off to Miami for the rest of the days. He was | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
bringing large amounts of cash in with him, he was flying in and out | :42:00. | :42:08. | |
of London like nobody's business, all the governors were. | :42:08. | :42:14. | |
Ibori's �5 million house in Hamstead is now up for sale. | :42:14. | :42:18. | |
There is this parliamentary party in Abbey Road, the country pile in | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
Dorset, and various properties around the globe. He also has | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
luxury cars on three continents, private schools for his children, | :42:25. | :42:30. | |
and tens of millions in assets still to be traced. For the key to | :42:30. | :42:36. | |
it all, laundering his stolen cash, he had a bent London solicitor. | :42:37. | :42:39. | |
The lawyer's name was Bhadresh Gohil, he worked for a firm in may | :42:39. | :42:47. | |
hair. -- Mayfair. The law firm, unaware | :42:47. | :42:51. | |
of Gohil's crimes, had officers here, across from the Ritz. | :42:51. | :42:56. | |
We know Gohil did work for a former President of Zambia, who was | :42:56. | :43:00. | |
himself accused of gross corruption. More significantly we know that | :43:00. | :43:04. | |
Gohil helped James Ibori launder his millions. For that crime, Gohil | :43:04. | :43:10. | |
had particular expertise. Gohil was the money laundering | :43:10. | :43:13. | |
officer for his country. If there was any suspicions around any | :43:13. | :43:17. | |
accounts, from members of staff, they would have to go to him. | :43:17. | :43:22. | |
was the compliance man? That's correct. When the police raided | :43:22. | :43:28. | |
Gohil's office, they found plans mapping out money laundering scams, | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
to hide Ibori's fund. They were on a computer hard drive, hidden | :43:32. | :43:38. | |
behind a fireplace. One scam described a $5 million project for | :43:38. | :43:43. | |
the purchase of Ibori's latest toy, a private jet. The money went to | :43:43. | :43:49. | |
accounts in Switzerland, from accounts in Mauritius, Germany, | :43:49. | :43:54. | |
Luxembourg, Nigeria, on four or five occasions. It goes back to | :43:54. | :44:03. | |
Nigeria? It goes back and forth. had cap importing to Polynesia. | :44:03. | :44:06. | |
Ibori's wife, his mistress and sister, have been jailed for money | :44:06. | :44:11. | |
laundering, along with Gohil who got seven years. Ibori himself will | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
be sentenced tomorrow. The story isn't over. | :44:15. | :44:20. | |
Britain's development secretary, Andrew Mitchell, says his | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
department spent �5 million funding the investigations into London and | :44:24. | :44:28. | |
Nigeria. It showed their commitment to rooting out corruption. We found | :44:28. | :44:33. | |
one branch of his department is itself allegedly embroiled in | :44:33. | :44:39. | |
Ibori's cash laundering. Three years ago an anglo-Nigerian | :44:39. | :44:44. | |
business man warned the private enterprise arm that it had put | :44:44. | :44:50. | |
millions into a company that was laundering his money. We have | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
learned that Nigeria's anti- corruption squad, part funded, has | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
drawn a criminal investigation into the company's private equity | :44:58. | :45:04. | |
investments. It places him on both sides of the investigation. That is | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
an incredible paradox, that the same people who have funded the | :45:07. | :45:12. | |
prougs cushion are the same people who have funded activities which | :45:12. | :45:21. | |
are now being investigated. Amid the decay of corruption, the young | :45:21. | :45:27. | |
suffer once. Some of Nigeria's politicians | :45:28. | :45:32. | |
learned to read and write in this school. | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
Back then it had a proper roof, windows and a floor. Now, there is | :45:37. | :45:43. | |
none of that. Look at these schools, they are in | :45:43. | :45:52. | |
bad shape. Look at the rot, most of the roads are not paved. | :45:52. | :45:57. | |
Exactly how much James Ibori stole from his country, is a matter of | :45:57. | :46:01. | |
speculation. But one American diplomat said it could be as much | :46:01. | :46:09. | |
as up to $3 billion. What does it make you feel about Nigeria? | :46:09. | :46:12. | |
and frustrated, it makes you angry that you want to go after these | :46:12. | :46:20. | |
people. The Department for International Development told us | :46:20. | :46:24. | |
their investment is now under investigation in Nigeria, but they | :46:24. | :46:27. | |
were investigated here three years ago, and there is no indication | :46:27. | :46:30. | |
that British funding has been misused. | :46:30. | :46:40. | |
:46:40. | :47:10. | ||
That's all from us for now we leave you tonight with this handy tip, if | :47:10. | :47:13. | |
you think you might one day be appointed President of the World | :47:13. | :47:18. | |
Bank, there are some things you might possibly not do, even if your | :47:18. | :47:23. | |
students think it is funny. The President of Dartmouth college in | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
New Hampshire, today got one of the biggest jobs in world finance, | :47:27. | :47:31. | |
despite having this skeleton in his closet. | :47:31. | :47:36. | |
# I had the time of my life # And I never felt like this way | :47:36. | :47:38. | |
before # And I swear | :47:38. | :47:45. |