Browse content similar to 15/05/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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As the Greeks head for new elections, and edge closer to the | :00:12. | :00:17. | |
door marked "euro exit", the new French President meets the German | :00:17. | :00:20. | |
Chancellor, and suggests a new direction for Europe. | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
Sworn in and then his plane hit by lightning on route to Berlin, when | :00:25. | :00:30. | |
he finally stood beside Angela Merkel, he made no attempt to hide | :00:30. | :00:35. | |
their differences. TRANSLATION: Greeks must know that we will, | :00:35. | :00:40. | |
through measures of growth, support of activity, we will go towards | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
them. France and Germany tonight are at | :00:43. | :00:48. | |
odds, a formula that can easily unsettle the markets. And as the | :00:48. | :00:55. | |
head of the IMF openly talks about a messy Greek exit, how can we stop | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
the financial contagion spreading all the way to our shores. Also | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
tonight: I feel today is an attempt to use | :01:03. | :01:09. | |
me and others as escape goats, the effect of which will be to ratchet | :01:09. | :01:13. | |
up the pressure on my wife, who I believe to be the subject of a | :01:13. | :01:17. | |
witch-hunt. Rebekah Brooks and her husband charged with conspiracy to | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
pervert the course of justice, come out fighting. | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
The Employment Minister wants British firms to employ British | :01:23. | :01:31. | |
workers, like this one, why do they prefer migrant workers. He says he | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
can't have work, sometimes English people are lazy. Is it because they | :01:35. | :01:45. | |
:01:45. | :01:45. | ||
are brighter, better or just cheaper? | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
Good evening, it was against the backdrop of the unfolding Greek | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
tragedy that Francois Hollande made his unexpectedly dangerous journey | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
to Berlin, changing planes after a lightning strike. His mission? To | :01:57. | :02:01. | |
live up to his election promises to set a new direction for Europe. In | :02:01. | :02:04. | |
the event, the joint conference between Hollande and Merkel was | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
fascinating, there was little attempt, especially by the French | :02:08. | :02:11. | |
President to disguise differences between them. Francois Hollande | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
said everything must be put on the table to promote growth, and hinted | :02:14. | :02:18. | |
there could be some room for manoeuvre over Greece. Is this a | :02:18. | :02:26. | |
real change in the mood music. Our diplomatic editor reports. | :02:26. | :02:34. | |
Oh la la, first he was drenched by a cloud burst laying a wreath, then | :02:34. | :02:37. | |
when Francois Hollande took to the air, heading for Berlin, his plane | :02:37. | :02:43. | |
was struck by lightning. All the while, another tempest, the | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
eurozone one gathers force. There is a belief on both sides a belief | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
of strong Franco-German relationship T has been strained by | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
different fill loss fees about austerity, and weaknesses in the | :02:56. | :03:01. | |
French economy, that mean it is no longer an equal relationship, and | :03:01. | :03:04. | |
there is a German suspicion that Germany will be asked to fund the | :03:04. | :03:08. | |
whole of the European Union, which they are not really up for. | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
Arriving delayed in Berlin, President Francois Hollande made it | :03:12. | :03:18. | |
clear he wants changes to the EU's Fiscal Compact, or austerity pact, | :03:18. | :03:21. | |
as well as a change from the old Merkozy style of political | :03:21. | :03:25. | |
management. TRANSLATION: I understand the | :03:25. | :03:30. | |
relationship between France and Germany, as a balanced and | :03:30. | :03:35. | |
respectful relationship. Balance between the two countries, | :03:35. | :03:39. | |
respectful of our political sensablities, and respectful of our | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
partners in Europe and European institutions. We want to work | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
together for the welfare of Europe. But through the mobilisation of all | :03:47. | :03:51. | |
the other countries of the union. France's new President, sworn in | :03:51. | :03:57. | |
this morning, is trying to set a fresh tone. His approach to the | :03:57. | :04:03. | |
euro crisis, like his Citroen, this morning, is a hybrid. He agrees | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
France must run a balanced budget, but he wants new spending to | :04:07. | :04:10. | |
stimulate growth, and suggested tonight he's prepared to revisit | :04:10. | :04:19. | |
existing agreements in order to get it. TRANSLATION: I have explained | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
that I want growth to be not only a word that can be uttered and | :04:24. | :04:29. | |
followed by tangible acts in truth, the best method is to put | :04:29. | :04:33. | |
everything on the table through the informal summit that will take | :04:33. | :04:40. | |
place on the 23rd of May, with the European council on the end of June. | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
The German Chancellorry are briefing out the line that there is | :04:45. | :04:52. | |
so much that unites the two leaders. There are differences, Mr Hollande | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
wants a new eurobond, a new type of debt. The Germans don't like that | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
idea at all. The two leaders disagree on how far they should | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
continue to help the banking sector. That issue is becoming all the more | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
vexed, because of the gathering crisis in Greece. After several | :05:09. | :05:14. | |
failed attempts to form a new Government committed to EU mandated | :05:14. | :05:17. | |
austerity measures, Greece today announced that it will be heading | :05:17. | :05:24. | |
back to the polls. Is its exit from the euro inevitable, the head of | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
the IMF gave this answer. certainly don't hope so, from the | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
IMF point of view. But we have to be prepared for anything. As I said, | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
with endorsement by the PASOK and the Conservative Party, we thought | :05:37. | :05:40. | |
that we had covered all the potential angles, clearly that was | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
not the case. So we have to be technically prepared for anything. | :05:44. | :05:51. | |
This evening, the new French leader told the Greeks he felt their pain. | :05:51. | :05:56. | |
But as for his formula of growth, Chancellor Merkel revealed a | :05:56. | :06:01. | |
certain scepticism about what it really meant. TRANSLATION: Growth | :06:02. | :06:09. | |
is a general term, and I'm pleased that we have agreed on talking | :06:09. | :06:14. | |
about the different ideas in terms of growth, and I'm not worried that | :06:14. | :06:19. | |
we could not have common ground. Possibly we have some different | :06:19. | :06:23. | |
opinions, but I'm really looking forward to our co-operation. | :06:23. | :06:28. | |
It is too early to start talking about a serious rift between France | :06:28. | :06:33. | |
and Germany. But, the eurozone storm clouds are gathering again | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
because of Greece. So the desire to reopen what was meant to be agreed | :06:38. | :06:43. | |
could easily produce more turbulence in the weeks ahead. As | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
you say, it is too early to talk about a serious rift, did you get a | :06:47. | :06:54. | |
sense of any real difference, of posturing and positioning? There | :06:54. | :06:57. | |
was posturing. Monsieur Hollande has been elected President, but his | :06:57. | :06:59. | |
Socialist Party is going in for the parliamentary elections in France | :06:59. | :07:05. | |
in a few weeks time. Everybody in Paris felt he couldn't step back | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
and roll over and accept a few general phrases from Mrs Merkel | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
today, he had to be true to his platform. Particularly looking | :07:13. | :07:19. | |
ahead to those elections. But, even if he was using stom some of those | :07:19. | :07:25. | |
phrases about re-- some of those phrases of revisiting the Fiscal | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
Compact, for underlying effect there are serious differences. If | :07:28. | :07:34. | |
people are talking about a new fund, a couple of hundred million euros, | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
who where will it come from. Monsieur Hollande suggests | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
eurobonds, Germany gets the feeling they will end up paying for those, | :07:42. | :07:48. | |
they are not keen on that idea. There are other serious divergences | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
of view, about serious sums of money, that could make it a | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
difficult relationship. One of the people advising the Syriza leader | :07:57. | :08:06. | |
in efforts to form a Government in Athens with us, and we have an | :08:06. | :08:14. | |
visor to President Hollande with us. You heard -- adviser to President | :08:14. | :08:16. | |
Hollande. You were listening to the speech and he said everything was | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
on the table and looking at policies for growth, was he serious | :08:21. | :08:24. | |
in suggesting something different than the Fiscal Compact with | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
Greece? I'm sorry I didn't get the end of your question. Was he | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
suggesting that there might be a change in the Fiscal Compact, or is | :08:31. | :08:41. | |
:08:41. | :08:42. | ||
it going to be exactly the same position for Greece? I think in | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
Francois Hollande's platform, there was a commitment to steer Europe in | :08:45. | :08:48. | |
a new direction. It is very important for Francois Hollande to | :08:48. | :08:56. | |
put growth on the table, as he said. So Angela Merkel today was quite | :08:56. | :09:02. | |
open, maybe not to IRA negotiation of the treaty, but to an add dent | :09:02. | :09:12. | |
dumb, or another agreement, dealing with growth. Growth is on the top | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
of the agenda of Francois Hollande's agenda, and there might | :09:16. | :09:24. | |
be change in the coming weeks, and on the agenda of the French-German | :09:24. | :09:34. | |
relationship in. -- the future. In terms of Greece, did you get a | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
sense that he might change the Fiscal Compact or might be | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
approaching that? I didn't get that. The terms that Greece has signed up | :09:41. | :09:48. | |
to, did you get a sense that might be changed for Greece? About the | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
memorandum? Yes? No, I think the Francois Hollande said he was | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
waiting for the results of the elections, I think the conditions | :09:57. | :10:04. | |
for Greece to stay in the eurozone is on the memorandum. First of all, | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
Francois Hollande wants to know about the results of the election. | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
He said he would be respectful of the Greek people's votes. I think | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
for the moment he's waiting for the results. Do you get any sense that | :10:17. | :10:20. | |
there is going to be any change, it sounds as if it is business as | :10:20. | :10:26. | |
usual, you have to stick to the memorandum? Well, we hope that, I | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
mean after the fact that we are going to have elections in a you | :10:30. | :10:35. | |
few weeks in Greece. We hope that is the message we wanted to send as | :10:35. | :10:40. | |
a political party, in the previous elections, that we need a change in | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
the European strategy orientation. We need a change in order to | :10:45. | :10:52. | |
abandon all this austerity policies that have created all this crisis, | :10:52. | :10:56. | |
that does not resolve the debt crisis problem. We need a change in | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
these kinds of policies. We hope and we are optimistic with the | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
changes that have taken place in other countries in Europe, such as | :11:06. | :11:11. | |
in France, that there is hope in order to change this kind of policy. | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
But you say we don't want any of the austerity plans. The austerity | :11:15. | :11:19. | |
plans will be staying in place. The memorandum stays in place. You go | :11:19. | :11:24. | |
into elections, and the reality is, if you won't stick to the austerity | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
plans, you must be honest with the people and say you will leave the | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
euro, you will have to leave the euro, won't you? No, I don't | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
believe that. I would like to disconnect these two issues. For me | :11:36. | :11:43. | |
it is a totally different issue, remaining in the euro, and | :11:43. | :11:45. | |
abandoning the memorandum of austerity and bail out programme. | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
For me, right now, with these kinds of policies, the austerity policies | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
and the bail out policies, it is one way in order to make the crisis | :11:56. | :12:01. | |
much worse, much more intensive. Since this kind of policies have | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
been implement - these kinds of policies have been implemented in | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
other European countries, in Spain, Portugal, and Ireland, with these | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
kinds of policies, there is a very big, real threat for the eurozone | :12:13. | :12:18. | |
to be dissolved. In my point of view, the other policies, | :12:18. | :12:23. | |
abandoning the austerity policies, and encouraging pro-growth policies, | :12:23. | :12:29. | |
is the only way in order to have a viable eurozone. The only way to | :12:29. | :12:34. | |
try to create jobs, to boost growth, to stimulate investment. This is | :12:34. | :12:40. | |
the only way that the eurozone can deal with the debt crisis. Is there | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
any way, do you think, to renegotiate the Fiscal Compact for | :12:44. | :12:48. | |
the whole of the eurozone? I think it is going to be very difficult, | :12:48. | :12:53. | |
because it is -- Angela Merkel made it clear today that she was not | :12:53. | :12:57. | |
willing to reopen negotiations about the fiscal treaty, but maybe | :12:57. | :13:05. | |
the solution is a third way. I think, as I said before, we need to | :13:05. | :13:10. | |
steer Europe in a new direction, and austerity policies have proven | :13:10. | :13:17. | |
inefficient up until now, and we need to find a way to put growth on | :13:17. | :13:27. | |
:13:27. | :13:29. | ||
the same level as the disciplines and social integration. I think if | :13:29. | :13:35. | |
not to renegotiate the treaty, but to put growth at the top in the | :13:35. | :13:38. | |
priorities of the agenda. Angela Merkel still holds the cards, if | :13:38. | :13:41. | |
there is no renegotiation of the Fiscal Compact, that is a central | :13:41. | :13:44. | |
thing. Hollande may get other things on the periphery, but not | :13:44. | :13:51. | |
the central thing he wants? know, the formal, the legal terms | :13:51. | :13:56. | |
of the agreements are not very important. The important thing is | :13:56. | :14:00. | |
what is inside the agreements. If it is not in the fiscal treaty, but | :14:00. | :14:04. | |
if we have an additional agreement, saying that growth is important, | :14:04. | :14:10. | |
that we need to boost the action of the European investment banks, that | :14:10. | :14:17. | |
we are going to implement this idea of project bonds, and that we | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
are...I'm Afraid we have lost the line to Paris. Thank you both very | :14:20. | :14:26. | |
much indeed. Contagion, like the title of a sci- | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
fi horror movie, is the word on the lips of politicians across Europe. | :14:29. | :14:34. | |
There is a deep uncertainty of the economies of every single European | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
country of Greece leaving the euro. Another election in that country, | :14:38. | :14:43. | |
is, on present opinion polling, is unlikely to turn up a result that | :14:43. | :14:48. | |
will change Greece's current direction of channel. Who will be | :14:48. | :14:56. | |
hit the hardest. Would a Greek contagion go with the exit? If for | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
whatever reason the Greek Government feels it can't or won't | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
meet the terms of the second bail out. That in itself would act as a | :15:04. | :15:11. | |
kind of trigger. The ECB, propping up the Greeks in the past couple of | :15:11. | :15:15. | |
years, won't give the money, the second trench from European | :15:15. | :15:18. | |
partners won't come. That on the ground will manifest into something | :15:18. | :15:23. | |
of a bank run. Not unlike what we saw four years ago in Northern Rock, | :15:23. | :15:28. | |
but on a far larger scale. The savers in Greece will want the hard | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
currency, in their hand, rather than potentially a soft currency | :15:32. | :15:38. | |
overnight in their bank account. The problem with that is it is | :15:38. | :15:45. | |
leading to a major problem on the ground .00 million euros has been | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
taken out of Greek banks yesterday alone -- 700 million euro has been | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
taken out of Greek banks yesterday alone. If that continues everything | :15:55. | :16:00. | |
will be gone in 100 days, that brings contagion. People in | :16:00. | :16:06. | |
Portugal, and Italy will say maybe I'm next, maybe I want my hard | :16:06. | :16:11. | |
currency in my mattress rather than in my account. They might move to | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
hard currency zones like Germany, the states, Switzerland or even | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
Britain. All the while the cost of borrowing for Spain, as it has done | :16:18. | :16:23. | |
for the past two days is starting to sore, making a bail out for | :16:23. | :16:27. | |
likely. What about the firewalls, how much money is there to put out | :16:27. | :16:32. | |
the fires? At the moment there is the EFSF, the European Financial | :16:32. | :16:38. | |
Stability Facility. This has remaining funds of �248 billion, | :16:38. | :16:44. | |
after bailing out -- 248 billion euros, this is after bailing out | :16:44. | :16:50. | |
Ireland. There is the ESM, with half a trillion euros, potentially, | :16:50. | :16:54. | |
depending on the contributions the member states might cough up, they | :16:54. | :16:58. | |
haven't all made the contribution yet. Then add in the IMF, that | :16:58. | :17:01. | |
usually makes a contribution in proportion to what the Europeans | :17:01. | :17:04. | |
have put on the able, for every two euros the European institutions put | :17:05. | :17:10. | |
on the table, the IMF will give one euro in bail out money as well. | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
British banks, how much are they in hock for? Not that much. Since the | :17:14. | :17:18. | |
major write-down of March, and the various different bail outs, | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
between them RBS, Lloyd's and Barclays, have about 800 million | :17:23. | :17:27. | |
direct exposure to Greece, and 8.3 to Spain. They have investments in | :17:27. | :17:32. | |
other banks and institutions that are heavily exposed to Greece and | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
Spain. For example, Credit Agricole, heavily exposed to Greece, their | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
shares are down 75% in the last six months. The contagion thing starts | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
to grow pretty big. Baroness Vadera is a former | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
investment banker and Business Minister who played a key role in | :17:47. | :17:51. | |
constructing Gordon Brown's response to the banking collapse of | :17:51. | :17:57. | |
2008. She went on to act as an visor for the G20. What did you -- | :17:57. | :18:01. | |
advisor for the G20. What did you make of the meeting between | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
Hollande and Merkel and the tone of it tonight? Hollande is still in | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
election mode, that is something to remember. He has been election at | :18:07. | :18:13. | |
home to win. And there is no growth going to be readily agreed to. What | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
was interesting was his advisor, the interview you had with his | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
advisor, where she was pointing to the compromise direction, which is | :18:20. | :18:25. | |
a sort of addendum, saying we think growth is a very important thing, | :18:25. | :18:28. | |
we will have more money from the European investment bank. That is | :18:28. | :18:33. | |
all fine, but not necessarily going to magic some growth into Europe. | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
Frankly, if growth was that easy to magic, they would have done it | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
already. Though you have heard what Joe was | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
saying as well, from your own view, if Greece does essentially fall out | :18:45. | :18:48. | |
of the euro, do you think the rest of Europe will be able to cope. | :18:48. | :18:52. | |
What about the contagion? logical answer is they ought to be | :18:52. | :18:57. | |
able to cope. First of all, Greece is just 2% of the eurozone economy. | :18:57. | :19:03. | |
People have had two years to provision themselves and to deal | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
with what their exposure to Greece would be. The problem is, that | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
every time politicians have said, this is isolated to Greece, the | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
next thing that has happened is Ireland, and then Portugal, now we | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
have Spain in trouble, Italy will be next. Actually there is no | :19:17. | :19:22. | |
credibility and plausability in the system. So there is a really | :19:22. | :19:28. | |
serious policek of conat that stage. You heard also the members of the | :19:28. | :19:31. | |
Syriza Party, they are not willing to accept the austerity measures, | :19:31. | :19:35. | |
it looks like the next election will throw up a similar problem. Do | :19:35. | :19:40. | |
you think Greece will leave. What is your best guess? It is logical | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
for Greece to leave, I don't think the structure of their economy | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
belongs in the euro. I don't think it is inevitable that they will | :19:48. | :19:53. | |
leave. Fundamentally they are making a false choice. They are | :19:53. | :19:57. | |
essentially saying 70% of Greeks would rather the euro than the | :19:57. | :20:01. | |
drachma, but they don't want to pay the price of it. You heard that. | :20:01. | :20:04. | |
They are facing a false choice. At some point they will be forced to | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
make a real choice, and we don't know how they will respond then. | :20:07. | :20:13. | |
You were talking about his advisor there, but when Hollande was saying, | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
they would come towards them, and policies, do you think there could | :20:17. | :20:24. | |
be any move to Greece to delay a repayment, or something, to ease | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
their pain? I'm sure there can be guestures to ease their pain. But | :20:28. | :20:32. | |
for Greece there is really no getting away are from the fact that | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
they have a structurally difficult economy that is not competitive, | :20:36. | :20:41. | |
and they can't live within the euro. If you are saying that we should be | :20:41. | :20:44. | |
quite prepared for this, but there is a lot more we could do. What | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
else can we do, do you think, to protect ourselves from any | :20:49. | :20:52. | |
contagion? I'm sure they would never say so. But I'm sure there is | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
a plan. The minute they say there is a plan, it creates the | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
impression that Greece is about to leave. So they won't say it. I'm | :20:59. | :21:03. | |
pretty sure there are plans in the banking system, with the ECB, and | :21:03. | :21:07. | |
for the use of the firewall, although the firewall is not | :21:07. | :21:13. | |
actually fully under funded. doesn't really exist. -- Fully | :21:13. | :21:18. | |
funded. It doesn't really exist. How about problems hitting our | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
shores? We have had some exposure to Greece, all of the provisions | :21:22. | :21:29. | |
have been made. I think our problem is not exposure directly to Greece, | :21:29. | :21:31. | |
but exposure to the European banking system, which is very | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
fragile, not just because of Greece, but Spain and Italy. Essentially | :21:35. | :21:42. | |
one of the pieces of collateral damage from the financing that the | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
European Central Bank has been providing, is that French and | :21:46. | :21:51. | |
German banks have dumped their Spanish and Italian bonds, and | :21:51. | :21:54. | |
Italian and Spanish banks have been buying them. They are holding them, | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
and that is very fragile. Thank you very much. | :21:58. | :22:01. | |
Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
faces the prospect of a jail sentence, fee if she's found guilty | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
of the three charges of conspiring to pervert the course of justice | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
brought towed by the Crown Prosecution Service. Her husband, | :22:12. | :22:16. | |
Charley Brooks, charged alongside her with perverting the course of | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
justice, during the phone hacking investigations, told the press his | :22:19. | :22:26. | |
wife was the victim of a witch-hunt. And so this already convoluted | :22:26. | :22:29. | |
omniscandal develops another complex curlicue. Rebekah Brooks, | :22:29. | :22:32. | |
her husband, and four others, charged with conspiracy to pervert | :22:32. | :22:37. | |
the course of justice. As we waited for the announcement from the Crown | :22:37. | :22:41. | |
Prosecution Service at 10.00, the official news was scooped ten | :22:41. | :22:48. | |
minutes beforehand, by a statement from Mr and Mrs Brooks. When the | :22:48. | :22:51. | |
couple appeared outside their solicitor's office, late this | :22:51. | :22:55. | |
afternoon, they were angry and defiant. I feel today is an attempt | :22:55. | :23:00. | |
to use me, and others, as scapegoats, the effect of which, | :23:00. | :23:05. | |
will be to ramp chet up the pressure on my wife -- ratchet up | :23:05. | :23:09. | |
the pressure on my wife, who I also believe is the subject of a witch- | :23:09. | :23:15. | |
hunt. One day the details of this case le emerge, people will see -- | :23:15. | :23:20. | |
case will emerge, people will see today as nothing more than an | :23:20. | :23:24. | |
expensive side show, and a waste of public money, as a result of an | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
injust and weak decision. The Crown Prosecution Service were | :23:27. | :23:30. | |
handed the file by the Metropolitan Police on the 27th of March, | :23:30. | :23:35. | |
relating to seven suspects. Rebekah Brooks, her husband, Charles Brooks, | :23:35. | :23:41. | |
Cheryl Carter, Miss Brooks PA, Mark Hanna, head of security at News | :23:41. | :23:45. | |
International, there are Brooks chauffeur, employed by News | :23:45. | :23:48. | |
International, Paul Edwards, and Daryl Jorsling, and a seventh | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
suspect, both of whom provided security for Mrs Brooks Brookes, | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
and made by News International. The CPS applies a two-stage test, first, | :23:59. | :24:02. | |
if there is a realistic chance of conviction, and secondly, if the | :24:02. | :24:07. | |
prosecution is in the public interest. Today the CPS announced | :24:07. | :24:11. | |
its conclusions. In relation to all suspects, except the seventh, there | :24:11. | :24:15. | |
is sufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of convibs. | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
I then considered the second stage of the test -- conviction. I then | :24:20. | :24:25. | |
considered the second stage of the test, and I have concluded a | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
prosecution is in the public interest in relation to the six. | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
All have been informed of my decisions this morning. This is a | :24:31. | :24:37. | |
complex case with the need for more than one highlighter pen. The first | :24:37. | :24:43. | |
charge relates to all six suspects. Rebekah Brooks, between the 6th and | :24:43. | :24:48. | |
19th of July 2011, conspired with Charles Brooks, Cheryl Carter, Mark | :24:48. | :24:54. | |
Hanna, Paul Edwards, Daryl Jorsling and persons unknown, to conceal | :24:54. | :24:56. | |
material from officers of the Metropolitan Police Service. | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
the charges don't end there, charged two refers to simply | :25:00. | :25:07. | |
Rebekah Brooks and her former PA, Cheryl Carter, that between the 6-- | :25:07. | :25:12. | |
9th of July 2011, they conspired together to permanently remove | :25:12. | :25:15. | |
seven boxes of material from the archives of News International. | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
Indeed all the charges relate to a very short period of time, just two | :25:19. | :25:23. | |
weeks in the summer of 2011, when there were, almost daily | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
revelations and developments in the phone hacking saga. | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
The period the offences are alleged to have taken place begins on the | :25:31. | :25:37. | |
6th July last year. Two days previously, the Guardian Newspaper, | :25:37. | :25:40. | |
carried allegations that the News of the World hacked Milly Dowler's | :25:40. | :25:45. | |
phone, and deleted some of her messages, giving her parents false | :25:45. | :25:55. | |
:25:55. | :25:56. | ||
hope. More allegations followed the next day, Madeline McCann's parents | :25:56. | :26:04. | |
and victims of the 7/7 offences had their phones hacked too. Then David | :26:04. | :26:08. | |
Cameron committed to public inquiries into media practices in | :26:08. | :26:12. | |
phone hacking and the police. On the day after that, the 7th July, | :26:12. | :26:15. | |
News International announces it is closing the News of the World. The | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
following day, Andy Coulson was arrested in connection with | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
allegations of phone hacking and corruption. On the 15th of July, | :26:22. | :26:25. | |
Rebekah Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International. | :26:25. | :26:31. | |
Two days later she was arrested, and questioned for 12 hours, before | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
being released on police bail. The two-week period ends on 19th of | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
July, the day Rebekah Brooks gave evidence to a select Commons | :26:40. | :26:45. | |
committee. The final charge relates to the final four days of the | :26:45. | :26:50. | |
period. Rebekah Brooks, Charles Brooks, Mark Hanna, Paul Edwards | :26:50. | :26:53. | |
and Daryl Jorsling, conspired together and with persons unknown, | :26:53. | :27:02. | |
between the 15th-9th July, together to conceal papers and computers | :27:02. | :27:08. | |
from officers of the Metropolitan Police. The penalty is life | :27:08. | :27:14. | |
imprisonment at its maximum. It is something the courts make certain | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
they are not interfered with. far these are only charges, all of | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
the suspects are presumed innocent. Even so, that doesn't mean this | :27:22. | :27:25. | |
isn't politically embarrassing for David Cameron, who, until recently, | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
like previous prime ministers before him, was a friend, who | :27:29. | :27:32. | |
texted and socialised with someone now charged with such a serious | :27:33. | :27:39. | |
crime. Are foreign workers a more | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
attractive prospect for British employers than British-born workers. | :27:44. | :27:47. | |
Will the figures out for unemployment, particularly for | :27:47. | :27:55. | |
youth employment, have anything to do with the ready supply of | :27:55. | :28:01. | |
immigrant labour. Chris Grayling says it is easy to find an | :28:01. | :28:07. | |
immigrant labourer with five years experience, but there is workers | :28:07. | :28:11. | |
close to home too. We will discuss that with our | :28:11. | :28:18. | |
guests in a moment. First Allegra Stratton. | :28:19. | :28:23. | |
He's a rolling stone now, but once someone like Paul would have been | :28:23. | :28:28. | |
into rolling stock. It's late morning in the centre of | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
Crewe, and back in the day a thousand pools would knock out one | :28:32. | :28:37. | |
locomotive a week, now this man is without work, why? If someone said | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
to you the trouble is foreign workers have lots of skills, and | :28:41. | :28:45. | |
with the best will in the world you are not as skilled as them? It is | :28:45. | :28:53. | |
not always the truth. How not? Because there is people who are | :28:53. | :29:01. | |
qualified and that at jobs, but just can't get the jobs. | :29:01. | :29:06. | |
There are things about how you work that are more reliable than how | :29:06. | :29:11. | |
some Brits work? You have a get-up- and-go, which some Brits do not | :29:11. | :29:16. | |
have. Paul, behind us, says he can't get work, because of somebody | :29:16. | :29:23. | |
like you? He can get work. He says he can't? Not possible. Sometimes | :29:23. | :29:30. | |
English people are lazy. I don't know why they don't want to go | :29:30. | :29:36. | |
working in the agencies. Because they think that this is a lower | :29:36. | :29:45. | |
level, yeah. No, everybody can work in England, no problem. | :29:45. | :29:49. | |
The charge is this, the number of foreign workers in the UK went up | :29:49. | :29:52. | |
at the same time as the number of British workers in employment went | :29:52. | :29:58. | |
down. One cafe, Pret A Manger, had been found to employ entirely | :29:58. | :30:04. | |
foreign workers, not a Brit amongst them. We are lazy, not pubgt actual, | :30:04. | :30:10. | |
and not industrious, that is the problem. This is a stark graph of | :30:10. | :30:20. | |
:30:20. | :30:23. | ||
Migrationwatch, a think-tank concerned by unchecked immigration, | :30:23. | :30:29. | |
puts it like this. They call it a remarkable coincidence that from | :30:29. | :30:35. | |
2004, and the arrival of eastern European workers, to 201, the | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
number of even European workers rose by 600,000, the unemployed | :30:40. | :30:45. | |
young rose by 450,000. Why don't you work in a warehouse? I have | :30:45. | :30:50. | |
done that. How long did it last? About two weeks. Why not longer? | :30:50. | :30:54. | |
Not many of my friends were there, and they only spoke Polish, they | :30:54. | :30:58. | |
talked around you, I don't like that. There is a job, this one here, | :30:58. | :31:02. | |
it looks all right, why not go for something like that, just to show | :31:02. | :31:05. | |
you can hold something down? would go for that, I have done bar | :31:05. | :31:10. | |
work, the thing is, when I send my CV and application, they will | :31:10. | :31:15. | |
refuse it. Why? There is probably better CVs out there than mine. | :31:15. | :31:19. | |
There is clearly a problem when young people are unemployed and | :31:19. | :31:22. | |
there is jobs available and they are going to migrants. I don't | :31:22. | :31:25. | |
think it tells us stopping immigration will solve youth | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
unemployment, it tells us that young people may not be qualified, | :31:29. | :31:34. | |
the jobs may be insecure and at low wages, and there may be a whole | :31:34. | :31:38. | |
load of other reasons why young people aren't getting the jobs. | :31:39. | :31:44. | |
If the foreign workers, 160,000 hadn't come to the country, you | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
couldn't say 160 young people could have been in work. That is not how | :31:47. | :31:50. | |
it works. But critics of the Government, who don't like the link, | :31:50. | :31:54. | |
think there is something in the fact that a steady supply of keen | :31:54. | :31:58. | |
immigrants means there is less incentive for places to train up | :31:58. | :32:03. | |
British workers, like Pete Waterman has done here. | :32:03. | :32:08. | |
Waterman has a philosophy, help the local kills burnish their careers, | :32:08. | :32:15. | |
by burnishing the local industry. What was the one skill you realised | :32:16. | :32:21. | |
you were not good at, notlessly a mechanical one? Getting up on time, | :32:21. | :32:26. | |
getting here and lasting the day. At no point when at the Jobcentre, | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
did you not say I clearly have a work ethic, I don't know what the | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
problem is? They weren't interested, they wanted to to be you off with | :32:34. | :32:37. | |
cleaning jobs, engineering is something I have always wanted to | :32:37. | :32:42. | |
do. They were just, it is just shocking to me, there is an | :32:42. | :32:45. | |
engineering shortage in this country, they should have | :32:45. | :32:49. | |
encouraged you. Do you think they didn't tailor your job search to | :32:49. | :32:53. | |
you? Not at all. They try to to be you off, cleaning jobs, because | :32:53. | :32:58. | |
there is lots of them about. Some urge a closer examination. | :32:58. | :33:01. | |
That sharp increase in the top line shows youth unemployment climbing | :33:02. | :33:06. | |
up during the recession. As the bottom line, net immigration from | :33:06. | :33:12. | |
Eastern Europe, plateaus. All agree we have a youth | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
unemployment problem, economic recession, and immigration. A | :33:17. | :33:20. | |
troubling trifecta has aligned. The Employment Minister, Chris | :33:20. | :33:28. | |
Grayling is here, along with the entrepeneur, Luke Johnson, who owns | :33:28. | :33:36. | |
high street patisseries, Nicola Smith, and a supplier of Polish | :33:36. | :33:42. | |
food for supermarkets, and Pete Waterman. What are British | :33:42. | :33:47. | |
employers to do, take second best British workers? The reality is it | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
is often easier, quicker, more straight forward to hire somebody | :33:50. | :33:54. | |
in their mid-20s, who has come half way across the continent to find | :33:54. | :34:00. | |
work, and has that level of get-up- a-go, compared with someone coming | :34:00. | :34:04. | |
out of college or university and struggling without experience. If | :34:04. | :34:08. | |
you give those people a chance and get them into an apprenticeship, we | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
can help turn their lives around. Businesses are having it tough | :34:12. | :34:16. | |
themselves, sometimes they don't have the time to make that choice, | :34:16. | :34:22. | |
they need good workers, working fast, well and imaginatively | :34:22. | :34:26. | |
straight away? I was out in my constituency last week, a local | :34:26. | :34:31. | |
house builder, big development, they have 500 apprenticeships, | :34:31. | :34:36. | |
because they have seen eastern workers -- eastern European workers | :34:36. | :34:40. | |
going elsewhere for the jobs. You can't be sure the workers will | :34:40. | :34:44. | |
always be there. What is your opinion on hiring? I'm in favour of | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
hiring locals where you can, we to in various of my companies. We are | :34:49. | :34:53. | |
on our way to creating 1,000 jobs a year, they are tough to fill. There | :34:53. | :34:59. | |
are times when you feel, perhaps, there isn't a culture here of a | :34:59. | :35:07. | |
work ethic, and perhaps some people are having a sense of entitlement, | :35:07. | :35:13. | |
it is a concern. You can be offering a thousand jobs in the | :35:13. | :35:16. | |
catering industry? Yeah, the fact is a lot of British people look | :35:16. | :35:21. | |
down on jobs in particular in the hospitality industry. That is a | :35:21. | :35:26. | |
problem. Attitude problem? I think the facts don't back that up. There | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
are one million people in the UK today working in hospitality in | :35:30. | :35:33. | |
retail. That is one third of all young people employed. There is | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
absolutely no evidence that British workers don't have the work ethic, | :35:37. | :35:42. | |
every month, 300,000 workers, moving off jobseeker's allowance, | :35:42. | :35:47. | |
we have far fewer jobs than before the recession. You are someone | :35:47. | :35:50. | |
looking for employees all the time, you are expanding your business, do | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
you think there is a problem with the work ethic among British | :35:54. | :35:57. | |
workers? A huge one, try to find British people who want to work on | :35:57. | :36:01. | |
Saturday evening or Sunday, or Christmas Day, or New Year's Eve, | :36:01. | :36:06. | |
they want to go out on those days, and somebody has to work. I suppose | :36:06. | :36:10. | |
you might say, that is a hole I dark are you prepared to | :36:10. | :36:17. | |
renumberate them well for working the decision days, -- renumerate | :36:17. | :36:22. | |
them for working on special days, or is it just foreign workers who | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
will do that? There is always minimum wage jobs, there is a | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
question of flexibility, attitude and multitasking. Let me put that | :36:31. | :36:36. | |
to Chris Grayling, there is an entrepeneur in this country, two, | :36:36. | :36:40. | |
in fact, not finding the right staff here? There is certainly a | :36:40. | :36:43. | |
job to be done in turning around the lives of some young people. We | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
have large numbers of young people growing up in communities or | :36:46. | :36:49. | |
families where no-one has worked. They are entering a world they | :36:49. | :36:53. | |
haven't known about. We have to do that. We have to help them take | :36:53. | :36:57. | |
those steps, by getting them into apprenticeships, and take a big | :36:57. | :37:00. | |
step forward in their careers and learn it can be a positive | :37:00. | :37:04. | |
experience in work. You did take, as it were, the slow | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
train to do it, Pete Waterman, you had to turn them around, you were | :37:07. | :37:11. | |
in a position where you could do that? I take a different attitude, | :37:11. | :37:16. | |
I take the attitude that if you train somebody properly, you have a | :37:16. | :37:21. | |
better worker. I have experienced exactly what we hear here, we start | :37:21. | :37:26. | |
at 7.30 in the morning, you say to kids you have to be at work at | :37:26. | :37:33. | |
7.30am, they don't understand what that is. Reuben nef lant? I started | :37:33. | :37:36. | |
work in certain circumstances, people were good to me, I believe | :37:36. | :37:41. | |
that if I get that respect and strength back, those two guys, you | :37:41. | :37:46. | |
saw in that film, particularly that girl, was seven years unemployed. I | :37:46. | :37:53. | |
was told she was unemployable. I have to tell you, she is my star | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
apprentice, she is my only female, not because I won't take female, | :37:57. | :38:00. | |
but she wanted the job. You want people who want to work. It is four | :38:00. | :38:04. | |
years, they need to work for me for four years, it is 15 months, two | :38:04. | :38:07. | |
years before I see a penny from them. But you can afford that? | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
can, because they have turned my business round. It is 15 months | :38:11. | :38:15. | |
before Pete Waterman will see a penny, for people in business just | :38:15. | :38:19. | |
now, that is a long time to wait? It is, it is very tough. We are not | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
in recession, we are close to one. A lot of companies are close to the | :38:23. | :38:30. | |
edge. You need people to be productive. Carrying workers who | :38:30. | :38:35. | |
are not delivering is an expense many businesses can't afford. | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
about the bigger principle, that a lot of foreign workers don't inject | :38:38. | :38:44. | |
as much into the economy as domestic workers do, because they | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
are repatriateing money, and they are not here for long, they won't | :38:48. | :38:51. | |
have as big an impact on the economy. Can you have that come | :38:51. | :38:55. | |
into our thinking? Immigration is important in all aspect of the | :38:56. | :39:00. | |
economy. We need students, we need brains, we need talent here. We | :39:00. | :39:04. | |
shouldn't start erecting barriers to immigration, because of | :39:04. | :39:09. | |
prejudice. I think this is a very bad error. Is that not a danger, if | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
you say British jobs for British workers, that is dangerous stuff? | :39:13. | :39:16. | |
It is not about British jobs for British workers, it is about | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
investing in the next generation. We can't afford to say, these gies, | :39:20. | :39:22. | |
they are 18, growing up in difficult circumstances, let's | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
forget about them. We have to turn their lives around. I keep meeting | :39:26. | :39:30. | |
people who have taken on young people, from difficult backgrounds, | :39:30. | :39:35. | |
turned them round and had exact low the same kind of story that Pete | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
has had. I agree, we need to take on more unemployed people, but the | :39:39. | :39:43. | |
best thing is to get the economy growing again. We saw in 2010, a | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
strong period of economic growth, over that period 300 jobs were | :39:47. | :39:52. | |
created in the private sector, two- thirds of which went to young | :39:52. | :39:55. | |
people. Strong jobs growth is best for young people, not stagnating | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
economy. We don't have a problem with the growth of the economy in | :39:59. | :40:02. | |
the UK. We have the problem with mental problems, people are | :40:02. | :40:06. | |
thinking young people, especially young people, who always have | :40:06. | :40:11. | |
everything, whatever background they are from, they are usually not | :40:11. | :40:16. | |
hungry, they didn't have to worry about delivering newspapers when | :40:16. | :40:20. | |
they were 10 or 11, they were given everything, they have education, | :40:20. | :40:24. | |
and they just think that they should get everything from life. | :40:24. | :40:29. | |
They don't have to work. Is there an issue with employee rights, are | :40:29. | :40:32. | |
people coming into the country more flexible, willing to take less and | :40:32. | :40:37. | |
put up with more? We have a million more unemployed people than four | :40:37. | :40:39. | |
years ago, that is not because people are laceier, but a | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
structural problem in the economy. I do agree employers have to do | :40:43. | :40:48. | |
more. If you look at the numbers of employers offering apprenticeships, | :40:48. | :40:54. | |
it is only 8%, we need help for those facing long-term unemployment, | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
getting rid of migrants won't help. There is lots of Government | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
incentives, but we have to offer jobs at the end. You can't ask | :41:01. | :41:10. | |
somebody to do all of this and there is nothing at the end. That | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
girl you saw, had been on seven schemes w no job at the end, that | :41:14. | :41:19. | |
is not right. Do you think workers coming are from other countries are | :41:19. | :41:23. | |
more willing, not to waive rights, but willing to do the double and | :41:23. | :41:26. | |
triple shift, where other people have kids to go home to, because | :41:26. | :41:29. | |
they are older, whatever, that actually it is a problem for | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
British workers, because they lose out for those kind of reasons? | :41:33. | :41:37. | |
and there is always a trade-off, I'm not suggesting for a second | :41:37. | :41:42. | |
that foreign workers are always better than local workers, I agree | :41:42. | :41:46. | |
employers need to invest. If we are saying to ourselves there is no | :41:46. | :41:50. | |
issue about work ethic, whatsoever, in the culture of this country, | :41:50. | :41:56. | |
that is misguided. There is a huge difference between | :41:56. | :42:00. | |
somebody who is 25, 26, coming half way across the continent to work in | :42:00. | :42:05. | |
the UK, somebody who has just left school coming from a difficult | :42:05. | :42:08. | |
background, no be work experience. We talk about a difficult | :42:08. | :42:12. | |
background, that is an element, but just in terms of general work | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
ethic? We need a transformation of our welfare state, that is what we | :42:16. | :42:19. | |
are doing at the moment. We have to have a situation where the welfare | :42:19. | :42:23. | |
state is not somewhere you can expect to live, it is a ladder up | :42:23. | :42:29. | |
where you climb. All the incentives have to push you towards work. That | :42:29. | :42:33. | |
is we are changing the benefits system so work pays, tougher rules | :42:33. | :42:39. | |
for those not trying to find a job. All that has to happen, we need the | :42:39. | :42:42. | |
employers to provide the opportunities too. People are | :42:42. | :42:44. | |
saying immigration for all sorts of reasons is a good thing. You seem | :42:44. | :42:48. | |
to be saying, and there is a co- relation, a lot of British young | :42:48. | :42:53. | |
people are out of work and a lot of immigrants are in work, you think | :42:53. | :42:58. | |
the two things, they are two sides of one coin? I don't think you can | :42:58. | :43:02. | |
prepare an exact mirror of the two, I'm convinced there is a link | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
between the growth and the number of people coming to Britain to work | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
and some of the unemployment challenges we face, I'm sure of | :43:09. | :43:14. | |
that. You feel the growth in immigration has contributed to | :43:14. | :43:18. | |
unemployment. Do you think it was a mistake to let people in from the | :43:19. | :43:22. | |
European community? There is a direct link. I think the previous | :43:22. | :43:25. | |
Government should have had transitional controls, every other | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
country did. You talk about a million young people unemployed, is | :43:29. | :43:32. | |
immigration leading to higher unemployment? The evidence shows | :43:32. | :43:36. | |
immigration has a small positive impact on employment levels in the | :43:37. | :43:40. | |
UK. We have immigrants creating jobs and growth, that is happening | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
in the UK. There are two things from the chart. Firstly, at the | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
point where unemployment was increasing, levels of migration | :43:48. | :43:52. | |
were stagnating or falling, there is not a co-relation. Secondly, | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
areas of high unemployment in the UK, are areas of the lowest my igs | :43:56. | :44:00. | |
gra. We talk about immigrants, let's talk about British people who | :44:01. | :44:05. | |
haven't got jobs. Kids leave school with no idea of what they are doing. | :44:06. | :44:11. | |
How can we expect kids leaving school, 17 and 18, they have no | :44:11. | :44:17. | |
idea what the profession is. Work is actually fun. You have been here | :44:17. | :44:21. | |
for a long time, you can see it coming up through the schools and | :44:21. | :44:24. | |
attitudes, where does the problem lies? There is a mental problem, | :44:24. | :44:31. | |
first of all, British people, because of many different reasons, | :44:31. | :44:34. | |
but basically because you have a huge empire, and half of the world, | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
or the whole world belonged to you, many British people think that they | :44:38. | :44:44. | |
are better than the rest of the world. And they think that they are | :44:44. | :44:47. | |
too good for certain jobs. And somebody else should be doing them. | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
That is exactly what Luke Johnson was saying, the attitude is we | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
don't have a great record in service, and we see a lot of people | :44:55. | :45:00. | |
coming to this country who are much more interested in looking after | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
other people. And they are saying that we don't have it in our | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
culture, in us is this attitude of entitlement? There are clearly | :45:07. | :45:13. | |
people out there who are not trying. But the unemployment people I meet, | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
the long-term unemployed I meet going around the country are | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
desperate to work. The real challenge is match those people | :45:20. | :45:22. | |
with opportunities and find employers willing to give them the | :45:22. | :45:26. | |
chance. There are people who would love to walk into work tomorrow, | :45:26. | :45:29. | |
who would work extremely hard for an employer who will give them a | :45:29. | :45:32. | |
chance. As we have been discussing, getting people off benefits and | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
back to work is one of the coalition Government's most | :45:37. | :45:43. | |
cherished goals. Embarrassing today, they announced the termination to | :45:43. | :45:48. | |
do just that, under A4e. The Government has been auditing its | :45:48. | :45:50. | |
commercial relationship with the company, and said one such contract | :45:50. | :45:54. | |
in the south-east of England would end, because continuing it would be | :45:54. | :46:00. | |
too great a risk. Chris Grayling is still here. We ask him about that. | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
The findings of the audit identified no evidence at all of | :46:04. | :46:08. | |
fraud in the company. Pretty desperate failure of judgment in | :46:08. | :46:12. | |
hiring this company? My view, and I have said it from the start, with | :46:12. | :46:16. | |
all of the contracts. If people don't fulfil the terms of the | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
contracts we are prepared to terminate them. We have done that. | :46:19. | :46:24. | |
Took a long time to do that? found out there was a problem two | :46:24. | :46:28. | |
months ago, we have sent in an audit team, we have not identified | :46:28. | :46:32. | |
fraud, but we have identified lax management practice, bringing them | :46:32. | :46:35. | |
into breach of contract, and we have taken a decision to terminate | :46:35. | :46:39. | |
it. I expect contractors to operate within the letter of the agreement | :46:39. | :46:43. | |
reached with us, and if they don't, we are prepared to act. That is the | :46:43. | :46:46. | |
end of the line, there is no contact between the Government and | :46:46. | :46:50. | |
that company? This is one of the contracts. Had we discovered | :46:50. | :46:55. | |
fraudulent behaviour, we would have finished all the contracts. We can | :46:55. | :47:00. | |
trust everything else is in order? Everything else is in order, the | :47:00. | :47:05. | |
work programme has had thumbs up for from those looking at it. We | :47:05. | :47:07. | |
will look carefully at all contractors to make sure there is | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
no problems in the future. Thank you very much. That is all from | :47:11. | :47:15. | |
Newsnight. In China they can build a three storey building in nine | :47:15. | :47:25. | |
:47:25. | :47:48. | ||
days, maybe they will branch out to It's cold out there, a touch of | :47:48. | :47:50. | |
frost first thing, would you believe. It will be a sunny start, | :47:50. | :47:54. | |
it is said to be a fine day. There will be one or two showers, nothing | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
like the extent or the ferocity of showers some of us have seen over | :47:58. | :48:03. | |
the last couple of days. Dry and bright sums it up for most of us. | :48:03. | :48:08. | |
Lighter winds and more sunshine feeling warmer. Temperatures up to | :48:08. | :48:12. | |
14 degrees. Showers inland from the south coast of England, along the | :48:12. | :48:15. | |
South Downs, a shower or two. South-west England had a nice day | :48:15. | :48:19. | |
on Tuesday, more of the same on Wednesday. Broken cloud, sunny | :48:19. | :48:23. | |
spells, fairly light winds as well. Some of the best of the sunshine | :48:23. | :48:27. | |
across Wales will be towards the west coast. More cloud developing | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
inland. For Northern Ireland it will tend to cloud over, with rain | :48:30. | :48:34. | |
knocking on the door. By the time we reach the end of the afternoon. | :48:34. | :48:37. | |
Some of that cloud will be spreading into the west of Scotland | :48:37. | :48:39. | |
as well. Further east we hold on to the brightness through the | :48:39. | :48:44. | |
afternoon too. Enjoy it, on Thursday it turns wet, across many | :48:44. | :48:48. | |
northern parts of the country. Wet and chilly, some places struggle to | :48:48. | :48:52. | |
get out of single figures all day long. Further south, well the cloud | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
will increase, but hopefully the rain will hold off, so if you are | :48:57. | :49:00. | |
going to the first day of the first test at Lords, you will see some | :49:00. | :49:04. |