:00:36. > :00:39.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:40. > :00:42.Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball tactics
:00:43. > :00:47.and intimidation by unions in industrial disputes. That's our top
:00:48. > :00:51.story. Thousands dead. Hundreds of
:00:52. > :00:55.thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to
:00:56. > :00:57.help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:00:58. > :01:02.International Development Secretary Justine Greening.
:01:03. > :01:05.Winter is coming and so, it seems, is another crisis in England's
:01:06. > :01:07.hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow Health Secretary how he'd put a stop
:01:08. > :01:14.to In the East Midlands: The fight for
:01:15. > :01:17.a fair deal for the countryside as campaigners say people living in
:01:18. > :01:20.rural areas pay more council tax but get less money spent
:01:21. > :01:22.fatalities on the capital's streets, and renewed calls to get lorries off
:01:23. > :01:36.the roads in peak hours. With me, the best and brightest
:01:37. > :01:39.political panel that money can buy. Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this
:01:40. > :01:44.week, Zoe Williams, who'll be tweeting their thoughts throughout
:01:45. > :01:47.the programme. The Government has announced a
:01:48. > :01:49.review to investigate what the Prime Minister has called "industrial
:01:50. > :02:02.intimidation" by trade union activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair
:02:03. > :02:04.a panel to examine allegations of the kind of tactics that came to
:02:05. > :02:07.light during the Grangemouth dispute, when the Unite union took
:02:08. > :02:14.their protests - replete with a giant rat - outside the family homes
:02:15. > :02:18.of the firms' bosses. Earlier this morning the Cabinet office minister,
:02:19. > :02:23.Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and this is what he had to say. To look
:02:24. > :02:27.at whether the law currently works and see if it is ineffective in
:02:28. > :02:32.preventing the kind of intimidatory activity that was alleged to have
:02:33. > :02:41.taken place around range mouth during the previous disputes --
:02:42. > :02:46.Grangemouth. We make no presumptions at the beginning of this. I do think
:02:47. > :02:51.it is a responsible thing for the government to establish what
:02:52. > :02:55.happened and really do a proper review into whether the law is
:02:56. > :03:01.adequate to meet the needs. That was Francis Maude. This is a purely
:03:02. > :03:06.political move, isn't it? Unite did this a couple of times, it is hardly
:03:07. > :03:09.happening all over the country but the government want to say, we are
:03:10. > :03:16.prepared to investigate Unite properly, Labour isn't. This seemed
:03:17. > :03:23.a lot worse when I thought it was a real rat. I thought it was a giant
:03:24. > :03:26.dead rat. I am not sure if you know much about rats but real rats are
:03:27. > :03:32.not this big, even the ones in London. The thing is, obviously it
:03:33. > :03:38.is naked politics but I think it is more intelligent than it looks. They
:03:39. > :03:44.are trying to taint Miliband as a week union puppet and that doesn't
:03:45. > :03:49.really wash. They hammer away with it and it might wash for some
:03:50. > :03:53.people. But it really castrates Miliband in the important issues he
:03:54. > :03:57.has to tackle. Zero hours, living wage, all of those things in which
:03:58. > :04:03.he needs to be in concert with the unions, and to use their expertise.
:04:04. > :04:16.He is making them absolutely toxic to go anywhere near. It keeps the
:04:17. > :04:18.Unite story alive, have to kill -- particularly since Mr Miller band is
:04:19. > :04:33.under pressure to reopen the investigation into what Unite are up
:04:34. > :04:37.to -- Mr Miliband. They are frustrated, not only at the BBC but
:04:38. > :04:40.the media generally at what they think is a lack of coverage. I see
:04:41. > :04:46.the political rationale from that respect. There is a risk. There are
:04:47. > :04:51.union members who either vote Tory or are open to the idea of voting
:04:52. > :05:04.Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party comes across as too zealous in as --
:05:05. > :05:11.its antipathy, there is an electoral consequence. Ed Miliband has been
:05:12. > :05:16.careful to keep a distance. Yes they depend on vast amounts of
:05:17. > :05:19.money. When Len McCluskey had a real go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was
:05:20. > :05:23.straight out there with a very strong statement. Essentially Len
:05:24. > :05:28.McCluskey wanted Blairites in the shadow cabinet sacked and Ed
:05:29. > :05:33.Miliband was keen to distance himself or for that is why it is not
:05:34. > :05:38.quite sticking. Another story in the Sunday papers this morning, the Mail
:05:39. > :05:43.on Sunday got hold of some e-mails. When I saw the headline I thought it
:05:44. > :05:49.was a huge cache of e-mails, it turns out to be a couple. They peel
:05:50. > :05:56.away the cover on the relationship between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls,
:05:57. > :06:03.with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts describing what Mr balls is trying
:06:04. > :06:07.to do as a nightmare. How bad are the relations? They are pretty bad
:06:08. > :06:10.and these e-mails confirm the biggest open signal in Westminster,
:06:11. > :06:16.which is that relations are pretty tense, -- open secret. That Ed
:06:17. > :06:21.Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls is acknowledging the economy has
:06:22. > :06:28.grown that Labour needs to admit to past mistakes. The sort of great
:06:29. > :06:36.open signal is confirmed. On a scale of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown
:06:37. > :06:40.was ten. I think it is between six and seven. They occupy this joint
:06:41. > :06:46.suite of offices that George Cameron and -- David Cameron and George
:06:47. > :06:50.Osborne had. It is not just on the economy that there were tensions,
:06:51. > :06:57.there were clearly tensions over HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question
:06:58. > :07:00.over it at his conference. There will be more tensions when it comes
:07:01. > :07:05.to the third runway because my information is that Mr balls wants
:07:06. > :07:11.to do it and Ed Miliband almost resigned over it when he was in
:07:12. > :07:13.government. I don't think Ed Miliband is thinking very
:07:14. > :07:19.politically because he has tried live without Ed Balls and that is
:07:20. > :07:23.not tenable either. -- life without. He has defined a way of making it
:07:24. > :07:28.work. That is where Tony Blair had the edge on any modern politician.
:07:29. > :07:32.He didn't want to make Ed Balls his Shadow Chancellor, he had to.
:07:33. > :07:35.Somebody said to him, if you make Ed Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will
:07:36. > :07:45.be the last decision you take as leader of the Labour Party. Is it as
:07:46. > :07:57.bad? I was surprised at how tame the e-mails were. At the FT it is
:07:58. > :08:01.compulsory, one French word per sentence! To call him a nightmare,
:08:02. > :08:06.compared to what they are willing to say in briefings, conversations
:08:07. > :08:09.bits of frustrations they express verbally come what is documented in
:08:10. > :08:15.the e-mails is actually pretty light. It has been a grim week for
:08:16. > :08:18.the people of the Philippines as they count the cost of the
:08:19. > :08:24.devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived
:08:25. > :08:28.near the worst hit areas - part of Britain's contribution to bring aid
:08:29. > :08:32.to the country. It has been one of the worst natural
:08:33. > :08:35.disasters in the history of the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the
:08:36. > :08:40.country nine days ago, leaving devastation in its wake. The numbers
:08:41. > :08:45.involved are shocking. The official death toll is over 3600 people, with
:08:46. > :08:50.many thousands more unaccounted for. More than half a million people have
:08:51. > :08:54.lost their homes and the UN estimates 11 million have been
:08:55. > :08:58.affected. David Cameron announced on Friday that the UK government is to
:08:59. > :09:05.give an extra ?30 million in aid, taking the total British figure ?250
:09:06. > :09:07.million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft landed yesterday with equipment to
:09:08. > :09:13.help aid workers get too hard to reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on
:09:14. > :09:21.its way and due to arrive next weekend. The British public have
:09:22. > :09:25.once again dipped into their pockets and given generously. They have
:09:26. > :09:27.given more than ?30 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
:09:28. > :09:31.The International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, joins
:09:32. > :09:35.me now for the Sunday Interview Good morning, Secretary of State.
:09:36. > :09:40.How much of the ?50 million that the government has allocated has got
:09:41. > :09:45.through so far? All of it has landed on the ground now. HMS Daring has
:09:46. > :09:48.turned up, that will be able to start getting help out to some of
:09:49. > :09:53.those more outlying islands that have been hard to reach. We have
:09:54. > :09:57.seen Save the Children and Oxfam really being able to get aid out on
:09:58. > :10:02.the ground. We have a plane taking off today that will not read just
:10:03. > :10:09.carrying out more equipment to help clear the roads but will also have
:10:10. > :10:16.their staff on board, too. We have ?50 million of aid actually on the
:10:17. > :10:20.ground? We instantly chartered flights directly from Dubai where we
:10:21. > :10:23.have preprepared human Terry and supplies, and started humanity work
:10:24. > :10:36.-- humanitarian supplies. A lot of it has now arrived. I think
:10:37. > :10:41.we have done a huge amount so far. We have gone beyond just providing
:10:42. > :10:44.humanitarian supplies, to getting the Royal Air Force involved. They
:10:45. > :10:49.have helped us to get equipment out there quickly. We have HMS
:10:50. > :10:54.Illustrious sailing over there now. Why has that taken so long? It was
:10:55. > :10:57.based in the Gulf and is not going to get there until two weeks after
:10:58. > :11:01.the storm first hit and that is the one ship we have with lots of
:11:02. > :11:05.helicopters. The first decision we took was to make sure we could get
:11:06. > :11:10.the fastest vessel out there that was able to help HMS Daring. HMS
:11:11. > :11:14.Illustrious was just finishing an exercise and planning to start to
:11:15. > :11:18.head back towards the UK. We have said to not do that, and diverted
:11:19. > :11:24.it. Shouldn't it have happened more quickly? We took the decisions as
:11:25. > :11:29.fast as we were able to, you can't just turn a big warship around like
:11:30. > :11:32.the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we took those decisions and that is
:11:33. > :11:38.while it will be taking over from HMS Daring come and that is why HMS
:11:39. > :11:42.Daring is ready there. It will be able to provide key support and
:11:43. > :11:48.expertise that has not been there so far. The US Navy is doing the heavy
:11:49. > :11:52.lifting here. The US Navy had the USS Washington, there is an aircraft
:11:53. > :11:57.carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel and they have the fleet, they are
:11:58. > :12:02.doing the real work. We obviously helping but the Americans are taking
:12:03. > :12:06.the lead. It is a big international effort. Countries like the US and
:12:07. > :12:14.the UK, that have a broader ability to support that goes beyond simply
:12:15. > :12:19.call humanitarian supplies -- have made sure we have brought our
:12:20. > :12:23.logistics knowledge, we have sent out our naval vessels. It shows we
:12:24. > :12:32.are working across government to respond to this crisis. Why does
:12:33. > :12:36.only just over 4% of your aid budget go on emergency disaster and
:12:37. > :12:39.response? A lot depends on what crises hit in any given year. We
:12:40. > :12:44.have done a huge amount, responding to the crisis in Syria, the conflict
:12:45. > :12:48.there and the fact we have 2 million refugees who have fled the country.
:12:49. > :12:54.We are part of an international effort in supporting them. Shouldn't
:12:55. > :12:57.we beginning more money to that rather than some of the other
:12:58. > :13:03.programmes where it is harder to see the results question of if we were
:13:04. > :13:07.to give more money to the refugees, it would be a visible result. We
:13:08. > :13:14.could see an improvement in the lives of children, men and women.
:13:15. > :13:17.What we need to do is alongside that is stop those situations from
:13:18. > :13:21.happening in the first place. A lot of our development spend is helping
:13:22. > :13:25.countries to stay stable. Look at some of the work we are doing in
:13:26. > :13:32.Somalia, much more sensible. Not just from an immigration but there
:13:33. > :13:36.is a threat perspective. There is a lot of terrorism coming from
:13:37. > :13:42.Somalia. You only have to look at Kenya recently to see that. Which is
:13:43. > :13:46.why you talk about what we do with the rest of the spend. It is why it
:13:47. > :13:52.is responsible to work with the government of Somalia. Should we
:13:53. > :13:57.give more, bigger part of the budget to disaster relief or not? I think
:13:58. > :14:01.we get it about right, we have to be flexible and we are. This Philippine
:14:02. > :14:08.relief is on top of the work in Syria. Where can you show me a
:14:09. > :14:12.correlation between us giving aid to some failed nation, or nearly failed
:14:13. > :14:17.nation, and that cutting down on terrorism? If you look at the work
:14:18. > :14:20.we have done in Pakistan, a huge amount of work. Some of it
:14:21. > :14:28.short-term. It is written by terrorism. That is -- ridden by
:14:29. > :14:36.terrorism. That is not going to fix it self in a sense. Look at the work
:14:37. > :14:45.that we do in investing in education. The things that little
:14:46. > :14:52.girls like Malala talk about as being absolutely key. We are ramping
:14:53. > :14:58.up our aid to Pakistan, it will be close to half ?1 billion by the time
:14:59. > :15:05.of the election. Why should British taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion
:15:06. > :15:09.to a country where only 0.5% of people in Pakistan pay income tax,
:15:10. > :15:19.and 70% of their own MPs don't pay income tax. It is a good point and
:15:20. > :15:23.that is why we have been working with their tax revenue authority to
:15:24. > :15:34.help them increase that and push forward the tax reform. You are
:15:35. > :15:40.right, and I have setup a team that will go out and work with many of
:15:41. > :15:44.these countries so they can raise their own revenues. You really think
:15:45. > :15:57.you will raise the amount of tax by sending out the British HRM see How
:15:58. > :16:02.many troops I we sending out to protect them? They don't need
:16:03. > :16:16.troops. We make sure that we have a duty of care alongside our staff,
:16:17. > :16:20.but we have to respond to any crisis like the Philippines, and alongside
:16:21. > :16:25.other countries we have two work alongside them so that they can
:16:26. > :16:31.reinvest in their own public services. If they can create their
:16:32. > :16:36.own taxes, will we stop paying aid? We need to look at that but the new
:16:37. > :16:43.Pakistan Government has been very clear it is a priority and we will
:16:44. > :16:50.be helping them in pursuing that. Let me show you a picture. Who are
:16:51. > :16:57.these young women? I don't know I'm sure you are about to tell me. They
:16:58. > :17:01.are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and I'm surprised you don't know because
:17:02. > :17:09.they have only managed to become so famous because your department has
:17:10. > :17:13.financed them to the tune of ?4 million. All of the work we do with
:17:14. > :17:19.women on the ground, making sure they have a voice in their local
:17:20. > :17:24.communities, making sure they have some control over what happens to
:17:25. > :17:33.their own bodies in terms of tackling FGM, female genital
:17:34. > :17:38.mutilation... Did you know your department has spent ?4 million on
:17:39. > :17:46.the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I do, and we have to work with girls
:17:47. > :17:50.and show them there is a life ahead of them with opportunity and
:17:51. > :17:54.potential that goes beyond what many of them will experience, which
:17:55. > :18:06.includes early and forced marriage. It is part of the work we do with
:18:07. > :18:10.local communities to change attitudes everything you have just
:18:11. > :18:14.said is immeasurable, and they broadcast on a radio station that
:18:15. > :18:26.doesn't reach most of the country so it cannot have the impact. It only
:18:27. > :18:26.reaches 20 million people and the project has been condemned saying
:18:27. > :18:35.there were serious inefficiencies. That aid report was done a while ago
:18:36. > :18:39.now, and it was talking about the project when it first got going and
:18:40. > :18:45.a lot of improvements have happened since. I would go back to the point
:18:46. > :18:47.that we are working in very difficult environments where we are
:18:48. > :18:53.trying to get longer term change on the ground and that means working
:18:54. > :18:56.directly with communities but also investing for the long-term,
:18:57. > :19:04.investing in some of these girls start changing attitudes in them and
:19:05. > :19:13.their communities. Why does the British taxpayers spend ?5 million
:19:14. > :19:20.on a Bangladesh version of Question Time? We work with the BBC to make
:19:21. > :19:40.sure we can get accountabilities... That is bigger then the BBC Question
:19:41. > :19:48.Time Normal -- budget. That includes the cost of David Dimbleby's
:19:49. > :19:52.tattoo! We are working to improve people's prospects but also we are
:19:53. > :19:56.working to improve their ability to hold their governments to account so
:19:57. > :20:00.that when they are not getting services on the ground, they have
:20:01. > :20:08.ways they can raise those concerns with the people who are there to
:20:09. > :20:12.deliver services for them. In your own personal view, should the next
:20:13. > :20:18.Conservative Government, if there is one, should you continue to ring
:20:19. > :20:23.fence spending on foreign aid? But it is critical that if we are going
:20:24. > :20:28.to spend 7.7% of our national income, we should make sure it is in
:20:29. > :20:32.our national interest and that means having a clear approach to
:20:33. > :20:37.humanitarian responses, in keeping the country safe, and a clearer
:20:38. > :20:43.approach on helping drive economic development and jobs so there is a
:20:44. > :20:49.long-term end of the dependency Do you believe in an shrine in the
:20:50. > :20:55.percentage of our GDP that goes on foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is
:20:56. > :21:05.a coalition agreement. There have been a lot of agreements that you
:21:06. > :21:09.are sceptical about ring fencing. We are focused on shaking up the
:21:10. > :21:22.economy and improving our public finances. Why haven't you done that?
:21:23. > :21:28.At the end of the day we will be accountable but we are committed to
:21:29. > :21:34.doing that. You are running out of time, will you do it? I hope we can
:21:35. > :21:40.find the Parliamentary time, but even if we don't, we have acted as
:21:41. > :21:46.if that law is in place and we have already met 0.7% commitment. If you
:21:47. > :21:53.are British voter that doesn't believe that we should enshrine that
:21:54. > :21:57.in by law, which means that with a growing economy foreign aid will
:21:58. > :22:01.rise by definition, and if you think we should be spending less money on
:22:02. > :22:09.the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom should you wrote in the next
:22:10. > :22:15.election? I think we have a very sensible approach. I don't know what
:22:16. > :22:21.the various party manifestoes.. The only party who thinks we shouldn't
:22:22. > :22:31.be doing this is UKIP. I think you have to look at the response to both
:22:32. > :22:38.the Philippines crisis and Children In Need. Of all the steps we are
:22:39. > :22:44.taking to get the country back on track, it shows the British people
:22:45. > :22:51.will respond to need when they need it and it is one of the things that
:22:52. > :22:54.makes Britain's special. Thank you. "It's always winter but
:22:55. > :22:57.never Christmas" - that's how doctors describe life inside
:22:58. > :22:59.accident and emergency. The College of Emergency Medicine have warned
:23:00. > :23:03.that this year could bring the "worst crisis on record". If that
:23:04. > :23:06.dire prediction comes, expect a spring of political recriminations,
:23:07. > :23:10.but how prepared are the NHS in England? And what do they make of
:23:11. > :23:18.this autumnal speculation? Giles has been to Leeds to find out.
:23:19. > :23:24.This winter has already come to our hospitals. It had an official start
:23:25. > :23:33.date, November the 3rd. That is when weekly updates are delivered to the
:23:34. > :23:38.NHS's most senior planners, alerting them to any sudden changes in
:23:39. > :23:46.patient numbers coming in. Where do they numbers register most then
:23:47. > :23:50.A They are the barometer for what is going on everywhere else, and
:23:51. > :23:55.they are the pressure point, so if the system is beginning to struggle
:23:56. > :24:03.then it is in the A department that we see the problems. It is not
:24:04. > :24:09.that the problems are the A departments, but they are the place
:24:10. > :24:14.where it all comes together. Plans to tackle those problems start being
:24:15. > :24:23.drawn up in May and they look at trends, even taking notice of any
:24:24. > :24:33.flu epidemics in New Zealand. They also look at the amount of bets But
:24:34. > :24:36.the weather, economic realities structural reforms, and changes to
:24:37. > :24:41.the general health of the population, are all factors they
:24:42. > :24:46.have to consider. We get huge amounts of information through the
:24:47. > :24:51.winter in order to help the NHS be the best it can be, but we had to
:24:52. > :24:56.redouble our efforts this year because we expected to be a
:24:57. > :25:03.difficult winter. We know the NHS is stretched so we are working hard to
:25:04. > :25:10.be as good as we can be. That means they are looking at winter staffing
:25:11. > :25:14.levels, plans to ask for help from neighbouring hospitals, and
:25:15. > :25:20.dovetailing help with GP surgeries, and still having the ability to move
:25:21. > :25:26.up an extra gear, a rehearsed emergency plan if the NHS had to
:25:27. > :25:30.face a major disease pandemic. You spend any time in any of our
:25:31. > :25:35.hospitals and you realise the NHS knows that winter is coming and they
:25:36. > :25:38.are making plans, but you also get a palpable feeling amongst health
:25:39. > :25:46.workers across the entire system that they do get fed up of being
:25:47. > :25:49.used as a political football. Doctors and all health care
:25:50. > :25:55.professionals are frustrated about the politics that surrounds the NHS
:25:56. > :25:58.in health care. They go to work to treat patients as best as they can,
:25:59. > :26:05.and the political knock-about does not help anyone. I find it
:26:06. > :26:08.frustrating when there is a commentary that suggests the NHS
:26:09. > :26:15.does not planned, when it is surprised by winter, and wherever
:26:16. > :26:21.that comes from it is hard to take, knowing how much we do nationally
:26:22. > :26:30.and how much our hard working front line staff are doing. When the
:26:31. > :26:36.Coalition have recently tried to open up the NHS to be a more
:26:37. > :26:43.independent body, it is clear the NHS feel they have had an unhealthy
:26:44. > :26:47.dose of political wrangling between parties on policy. The NHS is not
:26:48. > :26:53.infallible or making any guarantees, but they seem confident that they
:26:54. > :26:56.and their patients can survive the winter.
:26:57. > :27:04.Joining me now from Salford in the Shadow Health Secretary, Andy
:27:05. > :27:09.Burnham. Tell me this, if you were health secretary now, you just took
:27:10. > :27:19.over in an emergency election, what would you do to avoid another winter
:27:20. > :27:25.crisis? I would immediately halt the closure of NHS walk-in centres. We
:27:26. > :27:30.heard this week that around one in four walk-in centres are closed so
:27:31. > :27:34.it makes no sense whatsoever for the Government to allow the continued
:27:35. > :27:40.closure of them. I would put nurses back on the end of phones and
:27:41. > :27:47.restore an NHS direct style service. The new 111 service is not in a
:27:48. > :27:54.position to provide help to people this winter. I think the time has
:27:55. > :27:58.come to rethink how the NHS care is particularly for older people so I
:27:59. > :28:03.propose the full integration of health and social care. It cannot
:28:04. > :28:09.make any sense any more to have this approach where we cut social care
:28:10. > :28:13.and let elderly people drift to hospitals in greater numbers. We
:28:14. > :28:21.have two rethink it as a whole service. So you would repeal some of
:28:22. > :28:26.the Tory reforms and move commissioning to local authorities
:28:27. > :28:32.so the NHS should brace itself for another major top-down health
:28:33. > :28:36.reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew Lansley I will work with the
:28:37. > :28:47.organisations ie inherit. He could work with primary care trusts but he
:28:48. > :28:53.turned it upside down when it needed stability. I will not do that but I
:28:54. > :29:06.will repeal the health and social care act because last week we heard
:29:07. > :29:09.that hospitals and health services cannot get on and make sensible
:29:10. > :29:16.merger collaborations because of this nonsense now that the NHS is
:29:17. > :29:20.bound by competition law. Let me get your views on a number of ideas that
:29:21. > :29:25.have been floated either by the press or the Coalition. We haven't
:29:26. > :29:37.got much time. Do you welcome the plan to bring back named GPs for
:29:38. > :29:41.over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder to get the GP appointment under this
:29:42. > :29:46.Government because David Cameron scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that
:29:47. > :29:51.Tony Blair brought in. He was challenged in the 2005 election
:29:52. > :29:55.about the difficulty of getting a GP appointment, and Tony Blair brought
:29:56. > :30:02.in the commitment that people should be able to get that within 48
:30:03. > :30:06.hours. That has now been scrapped. Do you welcome the idea of allowing
:30:07. > :30:14.everyone to choose their own GP surgery even if it is not in our
:30:15. > :30:19.traditional catchment area? I proposed that just before the last
:30:20. > :30:22.election, so yes. Do you welcome the idea of how a practice is being
:30:23. > :30:30.rated being a matter of public record, and of us knowing how much,
:30:31. > :30:34.at least from the NHS, our GP earns? Of course, every political party
:30:35. > :30:38.supports transparency in the NHS. More information for the public of
:30:39. > :30:44.that kind is a good thing. Do you welcome this plan to make it will
:30:45. > :30:51.form the collect in an NHS hospital -- make wilful neglect a criminal
:30:52. > :30:54.offence. It is important to say you can't pick and mix these
:30:55. > :30:58.recommendations, you can't say we will have that one and not the
:30:59. > :31:03.others. It was a balanced package that Sir Robert Francis put forward.
:31:04. > :31:06.My message is that it must be permitted in full. If we are to
:31:07. > :31:12.learn the lessons, the whole package must be addressed, and that includes
:31:13. > :31:17.safe staffing levels across the NHS. Staff have a responsible to two
:31:18. > :31:20.patients at the government also has responsible at T2 NHS staff and it
:31:21. > :31:33.should not let them work in understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a
:31:34. > :31:42.responsibility to NHS staff. Is there a part of the 2004 agreements
:31:43. > :31:48.that you regret and should be undone? A lot of myths have been
:31:49. > :31:53.built up about the contract. When it came in, there was a huge shortage
:31:54. > :31:58.of GPs across the country. Some communities struggle to recruit.
:31:59. > :32:04.This myth that the government have built, that the 2004 GP contract is
:32:05. > :32:12.responsible for the AM decries is, it is spin of the worst possible
:32:13. > :32:17.kind -- the A crisis. You would redo that contract? It was redone
:32:18. > :32:22.under our time in government and change to make it better value for
:32:23. > :32:24.money. GPs should be focused on improving the health of their
:32:25. > :32:32.patients and that is a very good principle. Not so great if you can't
:32:33. > :32:37.get 24-hour access. I agree with that. We brought in evening and
:32:38. > :32:41.weekend opening for GPs. That is another thing that has gone in
:32:42. > :32:44.reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much harder to get a GP appointment under
:32:45. > :32:55.him and that is one of the reasons why A is an oppressor. -- under
:32:56. > :33:00.pressure. What do you make of the review into intimidatory tactics by
:33:01. > :33:04.unions? If there has been intimidation, it is unacceptable,
:33:05. > :33:12.and that should apply to unions as well as employers. Was Unite wrong
:33:13. > :33:16.to turn up and demonstrate? I don't know the details, this review will
:33:17. > :33:20.look into that presumably. I need reassurance that this is not a
:33:21. > :33:23.pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on the designed to appear near the
:33:24. > :33:35.election -- that this is not a political call. Are you sponsored by
:33:36. > :33:44.unite? No. Do you get any money from Unite? No. What have you done wrong?
:33:45. > :33:51.It seems others are getting money from Unite. Can I tell you what I
:33:52. > :33:54.think is the scandal of British party political funding, two health
:33:55. > :34:02.care companies have given ?1.5 million in donations to the Tory
:34:03. > :34:06.party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS contracts. I wonder why you don't
:34:07. > :34:11.spend much time talking about that and obsess over trade union funding.
:34:12. > :34:18.We are happy to talk about that. We see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's
:34:19. > :34:23.closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls as a bit of a nightmare, do you see
:34:24. > :34:29.a bit of a nightmare about him as well? I don't at all, he is a very
:34:30. > :34:32.good friend. I can't believe that you are talking about those e-mails
:34:33. > :34:38.on a national political programme. My goodness, you obviously scraping
:34:39. > :34:42.the barrel today. I have been in front-line labour politics for 20
:34:43. > :34:46.years. I can't remember the front bench and the wider party being as
:34:47. > :34:50.united as it is today and it is a great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed
:34:51. > :34:53.Balls. We are going into a general election and we are going to get rid
:34:54. > :34:58.of a pretty disastrous coalition government. It was worth spending a
:34:59. > :35:01.few seconds to establish your not having nightmares. Thank you for
:35:02. > :35:04.joining me. It's just gone 11:30am. You're
:35:05. > :35:06.watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be
:35:07. > :35:20.talking to the MP accused of In the East Midlands: The fight for
:35:21. > :35:23.a fair deal for the countryside, as campaigners say people living in
:35:24. > :35:33.rural areas pay more council tax but get less money spent on them. The
:35:34. > :35:38.current funding levels are unfair because essentially our residents
:35:39. > :35:41.are less and pay more and get less support from the government.
:35:42. > :35:45.And the unkindest cut of all? The impact budget savings are having on
:35:46. > :35:51.the arts in our region. I don't think it is so much how it will
:35:52. > :35:54.affect the theatre but the region. If you cut back on culture it is not
:35:55. > :35:58.good for the East Midlands in general.
:35:59. > :36:02.Hello, I'm Marie Ashby, and there's a noble air to the programme this
:36:03. > :36:05.week with a Dame and a Knight of the Realm as my guests. Sir Edward
:36:06. > :36:08.Garnier is the Conservative MP for Harborough in Leicestershire and
:36:09. > :36:10.Dame Margaret Beckett, Labour's MP for Derby South.
:36:11. > :36:13.Let's start with the Chancellor, George Osborne, who's been down
:36:14. > :36:15.Thoresby pit in Nottinghamshire. The Chancellor went underground with the
:36:16. > :36:19.Sherwood Conservative MP, Mark Spencer, to talk to miners and hear
:36:20. > :36:25.their concerns after the collapse of UK Coal. He also used the trip to
:36:26. > :36:28.announce that he was finding ?1.8 million a year to help out 2000
:36:29. > :36:38.former miners and their families who've lost out on concessionary
:36:39. > :36:42.coal allowances from the company. So the Chancellor helping out miners
:36:43. > :36:54.` nothing to do with the fact that Thoresby Pit is in Sherwood, a
:36:55. > :36:59.marginal Tory`held constituency? Well, you would never be cynical.
:37:00. > :37:07.These are people who have lost out through no fault of their own. It
:37:08. > :37:12.wasn't their fault that the pit closed or that the successor body to
:37:13. > :37:20.the coal board has closed. And along with it went there concession. It
:37:21. > :37:27.seems to me to be a sensible and straightforward piece of management.
:37:28. > :37:35.So it makes sense. The think it's good news? Yes, I do. It is part of
:37:36. > :37:42.what has been the background of the way people in the coal industry have
:37:43. > :37:51.been treated for many years. I am pleased and slightly surprised to
:37:52. > :37:54.see this government doing it. Some people say they would like to see
:37:55. > :38:08.more common`sense. This is a lot of money. It is a lot of money but
:38:09. > :38:12.compared to the overall government spend, which is measured in hundreds
:38:13. > :38:19.of billions, I think this is a sensible and humanitarian and
:38:20. > :38:24.genuinely sensible thing to do. I don't think there is any political
:38:25. > :38:29.animus between us. These people lost out because the body that used to
:38:30. > :38:35.get them at has gone. A Tory supporting the miners. Who would
:38:36. > :38:47.have thought? Probably not the miners. Plenty of people would like
:38:48. > :38:52.to see more help. They would and plenty of people would like to see
:38:53. > :38:55.the big six energy suppliers being more transparent in their pricing
:38:56. > :39:01.structures and making them easier to understand. I find it difficult
:39:02. > :39:05.enough to work out which is the best and cheapest tariff so what it must
:39:06. > :39:11.be like to people who don't have access to computers or advice.
:39:12. > :39:15.Anything we can do to reduce the cost of living and energy for
:39:16. > :39:22.individual citizens is to be applauded. Many people say they are
:39:23. > :39:27.not doing enough. Well, the water companies last week talked to their
:39:28. > :39:33.regulator up at price increases and the regulator said they had looked
:39:34. > :39:40.at the calculations and didn't think the price increase was justified.
:39:41. > :39:47.The energy regulator doesn't have those powers, though. We need to
:39:48. > :39:51.sort that out so there is an independent voice and someone who
:39:52. > :39:57.has power to say, no, it is not justified. The price freeze does not
:39:58. > :40:04.take account of world energy prices. I'm sure Ed Miliband is
:40:05. > :40:13.wonderful but he cannot control world energy prices.
:40:14. > :40:16.Now, if you look at the textbooks, they'll tell you politics is about
:40:17. > :40:20.the allocation of scarce resources. And that's never truer than in times
:40:21. > :40:22.of austerity. Well, now a campaign's underway and Edward Garnier is
:40:23. > :40:25.heavily involved to get funding switched from towns and cities to
:40:26. > :40:28.rural areas. According to the campaign, people living in the
:40:29. > :40:32.countryside pay an average of ?76 more in council tax than those in
:40:33. > :40:35.towns and cities and they have 50% less spent on them per head. In
:40:36. > :40:38.Edward Garnier's Harborough Constituency, they're backing the
:40:39. > :40:45.campaign. The current funding levels are
:40:46. > :40:49.unfair here because our residents are less, pay more and get less
:40:50. > :40:56.support from the government. We have service needs, too. We are a rural
:40:57. > :41:01.geography and we have a growing elderly population, transport
:41:02. > :41:07.needs, housing and health needs. We think that if the policy were to be
:41:08. > :41:09.adjusted by a small amount it would equate to around ?1 million per year
:41:10. > :41:12.to the District Council. So that's the view in the
:41:13. > :41:16.countryside, but what do people make of this in the urban areas? Well, at
:41:17. > :41:19.Allenton, in Derby, part of Margaret Beckett's constituency, the fear is
:41:20. > :41:23.that if money is diverted from inner cities back to rural areas, social
:41:24. > :41:26.problems and deprivation will become even worse.
:41:27. > :41:30.Derby has already been devastated by government cuts and we have launched
:41:31. > :41:36.a campaign for a fairer deal for Derby. If more money was taken away,
:41:37. > :41:44.it would devastate communities like Allenton. We have got on top of some
:41:45. > :41:46.problems thanks to the previous government and additional funding
:41:47. > :41:57.but if more funding is taken away I and deeply concerned for the future
:41:58. > :42:01.for places like Allenton. You're one of the main backers of
:42:02. > :42:04.this campaign. But surely, as we've just seen, urban areas, particularly
:42:05. > :42:09.inner cities, need more than leafy rural areas? We are just running up
:42:10. > :42:12.to the autumn statement so all interest groups are lobbying the
:42:13. > :42:19.Chancellor to get a fair crack of the whip. I understand the
:42:20. > :42:22.difficulties of running an inner`city authority just as I
:42:23. > :42:30.understand the difficulties of running a rural authority. The
:42:31. > :42:39.distinction in terms of amounts going to each is pronounced. We are
:42:40. > :42:45.not asking for a massive change, just a 10% adjustment between now
:42:46. > :42:50.and 2020. The numbers are very small indeed and it doesn't require
:42:51. > :42:57.turning oil tanker around, just a bit of sensitivity. 10% is not a
:42:58. > :43:03.huge amount. It sounds like a huge amount to me. I don't dispute that
:43:04. > :43:10.there are areas of poverty in rural areas but I think the case which is
:43:11. > :43:15.being presented is a little over simplistic and their isn't doubt
:43:16. > :43:21.that there is enormous deprivation in inner`city areas, who are losing
:43:22. > :43:26.out under this government. My understanding was that across local
:43:27. > :43:29.government people feel they are struggling with extra pressures and
:43:30. > :43:36.inadequate funding. I think we should be fighting side`by`side not
:43:37. > :43:39.to take chunks out of each other. Don't some people choose to live in
:43:40. > :43:42.the countryside? A bigger house or garden, higher council tax band,
:43:43. > :43:47.fewer services ` that's the price you pay. This is not Disneyland or a
:43:48. > :43:54.theme park, it is part of England. People don't always choose to live
:43:55. > :44:04.in the countryside. You need a car or two cars. In Margaret's
:44:05. > :44:09.constituency, the dustbins are five or ten yards apart, in my
:44:10. > :44:17.constituency they can be half a mile apart. It costs an additional
:44:18. > :44:25.expense. That is a simple point. It is not a question of either or, just
:44:26. > :44:32.rebalancing. Six and half years for 10%. What difference would this make
:44:33. > :44:40.to people in villages and towns? Well, as you heard a moment ago, if
:44:41. > :44:47.we adjusted it by 10% we would be talking about another ?1 million for
:44:48. > :44:52.an authority like mine. My district covers about one quarter of the
:44:53. > :44:58.landmass of Leicestershire so we are not talking about a small place, a
:44:59. > :45:03.large area of England. But taking money from Derby will only make the
:45:04. > :45:08.situation worse. I read the press release from this campaign and I am
:45:09. > :45:11.not unsympathetic to the problems in rural areas. 0
:45:12. > :45:14.not unsympathetic to the problems in rural areas. But when I read the
:45:15. > :45:20.background remarks, I didn't think the case stood up in the way they
:45:21. > :45:30.are presenting it. They are being slightly selective with the facts.
:45:31. > :45:35.There are pockets of real rural poverty, I don't dispute that. But
:45:36. > :45:41.there are also pockets of very considerable well`being. Across the
:45:42. > :45:44.country, funding has gone from inner`city areas under this
:45:45. > :45:51.government, with enormous problems, into rural areas where quite often
:45:52. > :45:57.they need is less. It won't be for everybody, I don't dispute that. In
:45:58. > :46:04.general, the problem is perhaps not quite so grave. In education,
:46:05. > :46:13.Leicestershire for some reason is the bottom are second bottom
:46:14. > :46:16.recipient of education spending. It costs just as much to educate
:46:17. > :46:25.children in my constituency than in years. Why is there a disparity?
:46:26. > :46:34.There are lots of comparisons you could make that don't stack up. In
:46:35. > :46:39.the middle of rural Derbyshire, the leaders of the local authorities
:46:40. > :46:46.would agree with me that there needs to be, not to steal from you, but a
:46:47. > :46:53.rebalancing. I am not even asking for equality, just a 10% adjustment.
:46:54. > :47:00.How likely is this change? Well, we will have to see. If the Chancellor
:47:01. > :47:05.has been visiting miners, maybe he will visit us.
:47:06. > :47:12.And now, as they say, for something completely different. Now is the
:47:13. > :47:16.winter of our ice content. Made glorious summer by this son of York.
:47:17. > :47:19.Actor Ian Bartholomew playing Richard III at Nottingham Playhouse.
:47:20. > :47:23.And it's another story of allocating resources. This time how much can we
:47:24. > :47:26.subsidise the arts? As the cuts bite, the impact is being felt at
:47:27. > :47:30.many galleries and theatres in our region. According to Lost Arts Org
:47:31. > :47:33.which is monitoring how austerity policies are hitting the sector, the
:47:34. > :47:37.pain is being felt across the East Midlands. The Nottingham Playhouse
:47:38. > :47:39.is the most recent to fall victim to the cuts, with Nottinghamshire
:47:40. > :47:45.County Council planning to end its ?93,000 grant. The Derby Quad Arts
:47:46. > :47:52.Centre has lost ?119,000 in funding in the last three years. The
:47:53. > :47:57.Leicester Theatre Trust which runs Curve in Leicester has had ?362,000
:47:58. > :48:01.cut from its funding since 2010. Across the East Midlands as a whole,
:48:02. > :48:09.the Lost Arts organisation estimates that more than ?680,000 has been cut
:48:10. > :48:12.from budgets. Well, the Nottingham Playhouse has just announced that
:48:13. > :48:15.it's beginning a consultation with theatre`goers to find out what they
:48:16. > :48:23.think about the cuts. And we sent Des Coleman to the theatre to find
:48:24. > :48:27.out how staff there have reacted. They are getting ready for
:48:28. > :48:33.tonight's production but sometimes it seems there is more drama
:48:34. > :48:40.backstage than on the stage. Let's meet some of the staff. I am in the
:48:41. > :48:45.paint shop where they build the scenery. Some people say it is the
:48:46. > :48:49.hub of the theatre. They are preparing for a pantomime at the
:48:50. > :48:55.moment. How do you think the cuts will affect the theatre? I don't
:48:56. > :49:00.think it is how much it will affect the theatre but the region. If you
:49:01. > :49:07.cut back on culture it is not good for the East Midlands in general.
:49:08. > :49:08.How will you promote the area? I am in the 0
:49:09. > :49:14.How will you promote the area? I am in the green room and over my
:49:15. > :49:24.shoulder is one of the cast members. How will the cuts affect the
:49:25. > :49:30.theatre? It is quite shocking because an organisation the size of
:49:31. > :49:38.this needs such an amount of money, it is literally one of the lifelines
:49:39. > :49:40.of culture in this city. I think it is important that politicians
:49:41. > :49:46.rethink and reconsider their decision. I am in the marketing
:49:47. > :49:55.department. How do you feel about the cuts? I am shocked. It has come
:49:56. > :49:59.out of the blue. The fact it has come halfway through the two`year
:50:00. > :50:09.agreement is an fairer. That is a substantial amount of our budget.
:50:10. > :50:15.And jobs are on the line. Perhaps jobs will have to be cut, yes. Well,
:50:16. > :50:20.strong views but let's see what people think in the streets. We need
:50:21. > :50:32.something to look forward to so, yes. If it is necessary then, yeah,
:50:33. > :50:35.maybe. It would make a difference in the price in the future and might
:50:36. > :50:42.stop my age group being able to afford it. It seems as though this
:50:43. > :50:45.is one drama that will run and run. We're joined by Stephanie Sirr,
:50:46. > :50:49.who's the chief executive of the Nottingham Playhouse. First of all,
:50:50. > :51:01.a cut of ?93,000, but what's your overall budget? We turn over about
:51:02. > :51:12.?4.5 million. How significant is this? For every pound of funding we
:51:13. > :51:19.have, we found ?16 of funding from other sources. It is also the fourth
:51:20. > :51:25.cut we have had. It is a significant sum. But surely everyone has to take
:51:26. > :51:28.a hit at the moment. The choices faced are stark and emotive when it
:51:29. > :51:31.comes to cuts, old people's homes, children's services. Nottinghamshire
:51:32. > :51:37.County Council says their priorities have to be the vulnerable, young and
:51:38. > :51:44.old. Absolutely. We are not blind to that
:51:45. > :51:49.fact. This is really a conversation about money and that's where we are
:51:50. > :51:53.at the moment. We need to recognise the enormous financial value of
:51:54. > :51:58.culture to the region. Nottingham Playhouse is just one theatre but
:51:59. > :52:07.our economic impact is over ?13 million per year. That is what we
:52:08. > :52:13.bring into the region. Culture is the second biggest driver of
:52:14. > :52:24.tourism. One District Council has increased their spending from 50,000
:52:25. > :52:27.to ?350,000 because of that. I sympathise with it but the fact of
:52:28. > :52:32.life are very different at the moment. Every County Council has to
:52:33. > :52:40.reduce its expenditure because the economic picture is difficult
:52:41. > :52:49.nationally. We spend million pounds `` millions of pounds per day. We
:52:50. > :52:53.tried very hard to find people in Nottingham who thought that the
:52:54. > :53:02.Playhouse should take this hit. But most supported it. I support it. I
:53:03. > :53:09.go to productions there myself. It is really good. I may have to pay
:53:10. > :53:15.more in future and I'm afraid that's how it goes. It doesn't help you
:53:16. > :53:23.very much but compared to other departments, my own department had
:53:24. > :53:35.to take a hit in the spending review. I feel your pain. Arts took
:53:36. > :53:41.a 5% cut converts to 20 or 25% in other departments. Your County
:53:42. > :53:47.Council has to take a choice. Does it help the elderly or infirm? A lot
:53:48. > :53:53.of these cuts are being made by Labour councils. All county councils
:53:54. > :54:04.are finding themselves in the same position. Part of what they're is
:54:05. > :54:08.that given the funding cuts they are facing the fear that in two or three
:54:09. > :54:14.years they won't be able to fund anything that they are not compelled
:54:15. > :54:21.to do by law. I sympathise very much with the position of the Nottingham
:54:22. > :54:24.Playhouse but the worry is that we will lose things that are
:54:25. > :54:31.preventative. The kind of care that stops a small child from being a
:54:32. > :54:37.customer of care services later in life. There are also suspicions that
:54:38. > :54:43.Labour is trying to hit the middle classes when it comes to the arts. I
:54:44. > :54:51.think we got out of that a long time ago. One of the things about culture
:54:52. > :54:57.is it is a misconception that it is for the middle classes. 70% of our
:54:58. > :55:04.tickets are sold at concession rates. People need to be aware that
:55:05. > :55:11.culture generates more revenue than it cost. We gloss over this and talk
:55:12. > :55:23.about funding going outward but it is an investment. Of course, we want
:55:24. > :55:34.to protect those jobs and they are real jobs. If all goes well,
:55:35. > :55:44.Leicester will become the city of culture. That will have a benefit
:55:45. > :55:47.for the whole East Midlands. Come on board and help us get Leicester as a
:55:48. > :55:55.city of culture. We will all benefit. I think spending cuts are
:55:56. > :56:01.the reality of what councils are facing. Councils are making cuts
:56:02. > :56:09.that they don't want to do. If the money is not there they have very
:56:10. > :56:15.little choice. What can you do now? Can you fight to the cuts? We have a
:56:16. > :56:21.lot of support and people value culture in this region. Nottingham
:56:22. > :56:29.has fantastic culture and people understand that it adds value to
:56:30. > :56:33.their lives. It adds to the value `` experience of older people and
:56:34. > :56:40.disabled people as well. The point is that is a very small amount of
:56:41. > :56:45.money and doesn't save many services but means a lot to the Nottingham
:56:46. > :56:49.Playhouse. Thank you very much for coming in.
:56:50. > :56:53.Time for our regular round`up of some of the other political stories
:56:54. > :56:56.in the East Midlands this week in 60 seconds: A campaign against scam
:56:57. > :56:59.mail pouring through or letterboxes reached Downing Street this week
:57:00. > :57:03.when the Derbyshire South MP, Conservative Heather Wheeler, met
:57:04. > :57:06.the Prime Minister. Campaigners say people who fall for
:57:07. > :57:11.the scams can lose thousands of pounds. Heather Wheeler wants Royal
:57:12. > :57:13.Mail to stop delivering the letters. The Leicestershire and Rutland
:57:14. > :57:17.Police and Crime Commissioner, Sir Clive Loader, has been responding to
:57:18. > :57:24.a BBC poll showing 30% of people were unaware they had a PCC. He says
:57:25. > :57:27.it's still an improvement on the old system. 93% of people didn't even
:57:28. > :57:30.know that a police authority ever existed and, of course, we have
:57:31. > :57:37.taken over from police authorities and, by the way, do a lot more. Now
:57:38. > :57:40.60`odd percent of people know I do exist.
:57:41. > :57:45.And our MPs could soon be getting a whole lot closer if the Derby North
:57:46. > :57:49.MP, Chris Williamson, has his way. He's calling for them to be put up
:57:50. > :57:52.in a student`style hall of residence at Westminster. The Labour MP says
:57:53. > :57:59.it would save money and avoid expenses scandals.
:58:00. > :58:04.And that's where we leave it here in the East Midlands. Our thanks to
:58:05. > :58:07.Margaret Beckett and Edward Garnier for joining us. Now time to hand you
:58:08. > :58:11.back to Andrew receiving it. We will return to this
:58:12. > :58:24.if we hear more. Thank you. Andrew, it is back to you.
:58:25. > :58:30.Who'd be an MP? It's a good question. Certainly something Mark
:58:31. > :58:33.Pritchard must have asked himself when his picture graced the front
:58:34. > :58:36.page of the Daily Telegraph, with allegations that he had offered to
:58:37. > :58:38.set up business deals overseas in return for hundreds of thousands of
:58:39. > :58:41.pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the claims as hurtful and wrong. He
:58:42. > :58:43.referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
:58:44. > :58:45.who has now said there is insufficient evidence to
:58:46. > :58:49.investigate. In a moment we'll talk to Mr Pritchard, but first let's
:58:50. > :58:52.take a look back at how the story unfurled. A Conservative MP has
:58:53. > :58:57.denied allegations that he used his Parliamentary contacts for financial
:58:58. > :59:01.gain... The daily Telegraph says Mark Pritchard offered to broker
:59:02. > :59:11.investments overseas. In a statement he said the allegations made by the
:59:12. > :59:16.Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard was secretly filmed... What do you
:59:17. > :59:19.make of these allegations? He has referred himself to the
:59:20. > :59:22.Parliamentary Commissioner for standards to clear his name and I
:59:23. > :59:32.suspect this story will reopen the debate about what MPs should be
:59:33. > :59:40.allowed, having business interests elsewhere. Is it not clear that you
:59:41. > :59:50.did ask for money in consultancy services? First of all I would like
:59:51. > :59:56.to apologise for the sunglasses I have had a lot of comments about
:59:57. > :00:05.that. On a serious point, these claims by the Telegraph of false.
:00:06. > :00:11.You didn't ask for ?3000? They are false, hurtful and malicious. It is
:00:12. > :00:14.known widely that I have sued the Telegraph previously. I have also
:00:15. > :00:20.been critical of their coverage of the plebgate affair, their reporting
:00:21. > :00:23.of that. I have been supportive of the cross-party Royal Charter and I
:00:24. > :00:28.know that some people in the media don't like my position on that. That
:00:29. > :00:34.is why it is malicious. I believe in a free press. That free press also
:00:35. > :00:40.has a responsibility to be fair accurate and lawful. In discussions
:00:41. > :00:45.with this business who turned out to be a Telegraph reporter, it is true
:00:46. > :00:54.that you ask for ?3000 a month consultancy fee. The point is..
:00:55. > :00:59.That is the point. No. That video has been cut and pasted to serve the
:01:00. > :01:04.Telegraph's story. The story was that we want to get Mark Bridger,
:01:05. > :01:09.for whatever reason, at any cost. -- Mark Bridger hard. I would not go
:01:10. > :01:12.down the line they were hoping I would go down. Everything I own
:01:13. > :01:18.outside of Parliament is openly declared. We are allowed to have
:01:19. > :01:21.outside witness interests. The Telegraph need to say clearly
:01:22. > :01:26.whether they accept that or they don't. I think you need to say
:01:27. > :01:32.clearly whether you asked for the money or not. You then went on to
:01:33. > :01:36.ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10 million deal, you asked for 3%
:01:37. > :01:43.commission. Let me be clear, if I was asking for income in return for
:01:44. > :01:48.lobbying, or raising issues in Parliament, or setting up
:01:49. > :01:52.Parliamentary groups, or going to ministers, writing to ministers
:01:53. > :01:56.that would be completely inappropriate. I was approached by
:01:57. > :02:02.somebody to advise them on business. It is entirely proper and entirely
:02:03. > :02:06.within the rules for members of Parliament to have outside
:02:07. > :02:11.consultancies and interests. Did you or didn't you? I am answering the
:02:12. > :02:16.question in the way that I want to answer it, not in the way that fits
:02:17. > :02:20.a particular narrative. The narrative, unfortunately, of some
:02:21. > :02:23.parts of the Telegraph and to be fair, there are some very good
:02:24. > :02:27.journalists, I know there is a dispute about the direction of that
:02:28. > :02:32.paper at senior parts. Do they want to return to being a Catholic,
:02:33. > :02:36.objective newspaper or do they want to slip into the slippery slope of
:02:37. > :02:41.being an agnostic rag, looking for sensationalist headlines? Part of
:02:42. > :02:49.this has come from your membership of these all-party Parliamentary
:02:50. > :02:52.groups. You were in Malta when you are first approached, I think you
:02:53. > :02:56.were on a trip there, Hungary is another one, there is an
:02:57. > :03:01.uncomfortable overlap between your political and business interests. I
:03:02. > :03:04.have no business interests in any of those countries. Some of the country
:03:05. > :03:13.is the Telegraph mentioned, let me be clear, I have not even visited.
:03:14. > :03:16.You were boasting that you knew the Albanian Prime Minister and the
:03:17. > :03:22.Mayor of Teheran and the previous prime minister. I make no apology
:03:23. > :03:26.for making foreign trips. I think it is unfortunate we have a narrative
:03:27. > :03:30.developing in some parts of the press that if a politician goes
:03:31. > :03:34.abroad at the taxpayers expense it is wrong. If they go abroad at a
:03:35. > :03:39.host government's expense it is wrong. If they go abroad with a
:03:40. > :03:42.charity, NGO and private company, even if it is declared, it is wrong.
:03:43. > :03:48.We want people with an international perspective in Parliament. Look at
:03:49. > :03:54.this map. You are a member of 5 country groups. I don't know what
:03:55. > :04:00.Canada has done not to deserve you, or Australia. 54 groups, you are a
:04:01. > :04:05.part of. You're like... This is the Mark Pritchard British Empire. That
:04:06. > :04:10.is very kind. If I had global interests that white I would not be
:04:11. > :04:16.in Parliament. No, no, no. That is the point... It is the suspicion,
:04:17. > :04:21.that you used these groups to drum up business for your consultants.
:04:22. > :04:26.Prove it, that is the trouble. These sorts of headlines, create
:04:27. > :04:35.suspicion. I am suing the Telegraph... Have you issued a writ?
:04:36. > :04:41.I expect an apology. Have you issued a writ? I have just answered your
:04:42. > :04:47.question. It is yes or no, have you issued a writ? I am in final legal
:04:48. > :04:51.discussions tomorrow about issuing a writ. You have raised something for
:04:52. > :04:55.top the fact is that is inaccurate. I am a member of 40-something
:04:56. > :05:03.Parliamentary groups, of which I make no apology. We have got 54 Let
:05:04. > :05:11.me answer the question if I may It would be very useful. There are 196
:05:12. > :05:15.countries around the world, it is less than a quarter of the country
:05:16. > :05:21.groups on my figures. I make no apology. One of my regrets is not
:05:22. > :05:25.having visited Syria, I don't know if I am a member of the Syria group,
:05:26. > :05:30.part I should become a member, I make no apology. -- perhaps I should
:05:31. > :05:38.become. When it came to the Syria vote, I was blind sided foot of yes,
:05:39. > :05:41.we have excellent briefings. I had to make a judgement based on part
:05:42. > :05:46.knowledge with nothing beats being on the ground, as even BBC
:05:47. > :05:51.journalists recognised this week. Nothing beats being on the ground.
:05:52. > :05:55.You posted about your connections in Albania to getting a business
:05:56. > :05:58.contract. You meet these people through these all Parliamentary
:05:59. > :06:05.groups. That is where there is an unhealthy overlap. That is what the
:06:06. > :06:10.Telegraph said, let's wait and see. Look... You are a newspaperman, you
:06:11. > :06:14.know lots of people in the newspaper industry, as well as being a
:06:15. > :06:18.respected broadcaster. I am not going to prejudice my legal
:06:19. > :06:23.proceedings against the Telegraph. I make no apology. A good politician
:06:24. > :06:30.has to be local am a national and international. Hang on hang on -
:06:31. > :06:33.has to be local, national and international. We need politicians
:06:34. > :06:36.who get out of the Westminster bubble, who have a business
:06:37. > :06:41.hinterland, who keep their foot in the real world and have an
:06:42. > :06:47.international perspective. And ask for 3% commission? I have answered
:06:48. > :06:50.the question. It was a cut and pasted video, photo shopped to suit
:06:51. > :06:54.the agenda of the Telegraph. They need to get back to serious news
:06:55. > :06:59.reporting and I wish those well at the senior part of the Telegraph who
:07:00. > :07:02.want to get to those days. We look forward to the writ. Thank you.
:07:03. > :07:04.Now - there's been more good news on the economy for George Osborne this
:07:05. > :07:07.week - inflation's down, growth forecasts have been revised up and
:07:08. > :07:10.unemployment has fallen again. On Friday the former Bullingdon boy
:07:11. > :07:13.donned a head torch and went down't pit for just one of many photo
:07:14. > :07:16.opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement, which he'll deliver in
:07:17. > :07:23.the Commons on fifth December. And, who knows, he might even take his
:07:24. > :07:32.hard hat off for that. # Going underground.
:07:33. > :07:38.# Let the boys all saying and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
:07:39. > :07:42.# Lah, lah, love, love. # I talk and talk until my head
:07:43. > :07:49.explodes. # Make this boy shout, make this boy
:07:50. > :08:03.scream. # Going underground.
:08:04. > :08:09.# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.
:08:10. > :08:17.George Osborne in his heart out he probably sleeps with it on. This
:08:18. > :08:21.Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political
:08:22. > :08:25.calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally
:08:26. > :08:31.going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game
:08:32. > :08:35.changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they
:08:36. > :08:40.will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer
:08:41. > :08:44.but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is
:08:45. > :08:50.receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on
:08:51. > :08:54.his own side, for tax cuts and extra bits spending and he has to spend
:08:55. > :08:56.the next two weeks reminding people of something that has been skewered
:08:57. > :09:06.by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which
:09:07. > :09:09.is twice that of France, supposedly the crisis economy in western Europe
:09:10. > :09:12.or if you accept it will take another parliament again to
:09:13. > :09:15.eliminate this deficit, we are not even halfway through the age of
:09:16. > :09:20.austerity. He is in no position to give anything away. He has to hold
:09:21. > :09:24.the line. Danny Alexander has been useful but this is his real
:09:25. > :09:29.challenge. He is going to give stuff away. When the Autumn Statement
:09:30. > :09:33.comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been
:09:34. > :09:38.talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,
:09:39. > :09:42.talk of moving green levies of the electricity bills, he is going to
:09:43. > :09:44.give stuff away. We will get funding for free school meals that Nick
:09:45. > :09:49.Clegg mentioned in his party conference. The significance of the
:09:50. > :09:53.Autumn Statement is twice a year, a Chancellor stands up and we all look
:09:54. > :09:57.at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's
:09:58. > :10:01.circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don t
:10:02. > :10:04.assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't
:10:05. > :10:09.assume everything is fine in the eurozone. I think what would help
:10:10. > :10:14.the Chancellor is if somebody was able to see some of that humility in
:10:15. > :10:15.public. It is recognised that he was far too triumphalist
:10:16. > :10:22.speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,
:10:23. > :10:23.we have one and you cannot make an economic policy on the cost of
:10:24. > :10:36.living -- we have... Won. economic policy on the cost of
:10:37. > :10:40.people don't seem to learn from Norman Lamont's green shoots. Labour
:10:41. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is no growth, now there is, to say
:10:47. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are
:10:47. > :10:51.not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank
:10:52. > :10:56.is saying it will grow by 2.8%, living standards could start to
:10:57. > :10:58.rise. It does but everybody in a difficult position politically if
:10:59. > :11:02.the economy starts growing, ironically. We need to remind
:11:03. > :11:08.ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.
:11:09. > :11:13.Unless the politicians screw up Unless you have some idiot in
:11:14. > :11:16.charge! It is not a cause for the Morris dance that they seem to be
:11:17. > :11:20.doing, certainly on the Tory side. Osborne is put in a difficult
:11:21. > :11:26.position goes he will have to stop giving stuff away, he cannot push
:11:27. > :11:33.the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth - he
:11:34. > :11:39.will have to start giving stuff away. It puts Labour in a difficult
:11:40. > :11:45.position, it is very unlikely that living standards will match GDP Not
:11:46. > :11:52.since 2003, GDP has been a great indicator. Wages have stagnated for
:11:53. > :11:56.ten years, food has gone up 17% energy has gone up 24%. That is a
:11:57. > :12:01.decade in which everybody has got poorer. The real sweet spot comes
:12:02. > :12:06.when wages start to outstrip inflation. It is a sweet spot and
:12:07. > :12:11.will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy
:12:12. > :12:14.with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the
:12:15. > :12:18.governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.
:12:19. > :12:22.Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%
:12:23. > :12:25.unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,
:12:26. > :12:30.it is the moment when we look at it. Everything was saying he did not
:12:31. > :12:32.want to do that. When do you anticipate wages outstripping
:12:33. > :12:40.inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.
:12:41. > :12:42.Wages and prices are not the sole measure of living standards, there
:12:43. > :12:45.are broader measures which no one seems willing to use.
:12:46. > :12:49.That's all for today. The Daily Politics will be back at tomorrow at
:12:50. > :12:53.midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next
:12:54. > :12:58.week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.