23/04/2017

:00:00. > :00:00.And I've been in Paris where voters are going to the polls in first

:00:00. > :00:08.round of the French Presidential election - what could be the impact

:00:09. > :00:12.on the EU and Brexit of this most unpredictable of contests?

:00:13. > :00:14.Here in the east, the end of his career in politics

:00:15. > :00:16.for Douglas Carswell following the announcement

:00:17. > :00:19.And are county council is struggling to stay afloat?

:00:20. > :00:22.Will the Remain majority punish the Tories for the decision?

:00:23. > :00:24.Or feel they may not like it but the Tories

:00:25. > :00:39.And with me has always ready for the marathon task of covering a snap

:00:40. > :00:42.general election, even working on bank holidays, the best and

:00:43. > :00:43.brightest political panel in the business. David Wooding, Polly

:00:44. > :00:46.Toynbee and Toby Young. So Labour's big announcement this

:00:47. > :00:49.morning was a crowd pleaser. Four more rainy bank

:00:50. > :00:51.holidays to enjoy - one for each of the patron saints

:00:52. > :00:53.of England, Scotland, But Mr Corbyn probably won't be

:00:54. > :00:59.getting the time off work if he wins And on The Andrew Marr Show this

:01:00. > :01:04.morning he was asked what he would do as Prime Minister

:01:05. > :01:07.if the security services asked him to authorise a drone strike

:01:08. > :01:10.on the leader of Islamic State. What I'd tell them is,

:01:11. > :01:13.give me the information you've got, tell me how accurate that is,

:01:14. > :01:16.tell me what you I'm asking you about decisions you

:01:17. > :01:25.would take as Prime Minister. Can I take you back

:01:26. > :01:27.to the whole point? Is the objective

:01:28. > :01:31.to start more strikes that may kill many innocent

:01:32. > :01:33.people, as has happened? Do you think killing

:01:34. > :01:36.the leader of Isis would be I think the leader of Isis not

:01:37. > :01:44.being around would be helpful, and I'm no supporter or defender

:01:45. > :01:47.in any way of Isis. But I would also argue that

:01:48. > :01:51.the bombing campaign has killed a of whom were virtually prisoners of

:01:52. > :01:54.Isis. So you've got to think

:01:55. > :02:01.about these things. Mr Corbyn earlier. David, is his

:02:02. > :02:06.reply refreshing damaging? It is damaging. He has clearly been

:02:07. > :02:10.freaked to the fire already in the first week, there will be lots of

:02:11. > :02:13.questions on his suitability as a leader and the damage it could cause

:02:14. > :02:17.to our national security over the weeks ahead and Andrew Marr has cut

:02:18. > :02:20.straight to the chase here. The other thing, of course, is the

:02:21. > :02:24.letters of last resort, one of the first duties of a Prime Minister

:02:25. > :02:29.when he walks into No 10 is to sign these letters on his own, on or --

:02:30. > :02:33.or on her own in a room, a very lonely moment, to decide whether he

:02:34. > :02:37.should press the nuclear button and that goes in the Vanguard submarines

:02:38. > :02:41.and is opened in the event of a strike and he has dodged a question

:02:42. > :02:45.so many times. One must wonder what he would do that. He has to make

:02:46. > :02:50.these decisions as Prime Minister. On the Isis point, refreshing or

:02:51. > :02:54.damaging? It sure is his base, the people who support him, that's the

:02:55. > :02:57.sort of thing they support info and maybe his tactic is that's all he's

:02:58. > :03:01.going to get, that is what the polls seem to suggest, in which case they

:03:02. > :03:05.will be pleased, and say yes, the man is a man for these who doesn't

:03:06. > :03:11.press buttons and shoot people down. But if you want to win you have to

:03:12. > :03:15.deal with your own weaknesses and reach out to other people. I think

:03:16. > :03:20.most people would say that's not somebody who could defend the

:03:21. > :03:24.country. I wonder if he was being totally honest in saying he would

:03:25. > :03:29.consider it he would ask for more information. He has previously been

:03:30. > :03:32.on the record as being against drone strikes in principle, he's

:03:33. > :03:36.campaigned against them, he wants to abolish drones. I think Andrew Marr

:03:37. > :03:39.let him off saying it was a drone strike rather than a Navy SEAL or

:03:40. > :03:42.SAS operation and he had the fact that they could be collateral

:03:43. > :03:48.damage. We that's not his position because he condemned the

:03:49. > :03:52.assassination of Osama Bin Laden even though there was no collateral

:03:53. > :03:55.damage. David is right on the Trident point, he fetched the

:03:56. > :04:01.question. We heard Niall Griffiths on this very show saying Trident,

:04:02. > :04:04.the renewal of Trident, would be in the next Labour Party manifesto. It

:04:05. > :04:08.turns out now we don't know and when he was asked he said that remains to

:04:09. > :04:11.be seen, his re-opened a can of worms. What he has said about

:04:12. > :04:16.Trident which was extraordinary was, we will rebuild the submarines but

:04:17. > :04:19.not have any nukes on them which is expensive and useless. And of course

:04:20. > :04:23.the Labour Party were forced soon after that interview to put out a

:04:24. > :04:29.statement saying it is Labour Party policy to renew Trident. So where

:04:30. > :04:33.are we? Do we know what the party's policy is? It is to renew Trident

:04:34. > :04:38.but he has started this review which involves looking at it all again. We

:04:39. > :04:43.know he is a unilateralist to start with but whether he can force this

:04:44. > :04:47.through is dubious. Does it matter, though, if the party policy is in

:04:48. > :04:52.favour of Trident, if the leader is not? The potential Prime Minister is

:04:53. > :04:55.not? They split three ways when they went to vote on it in the Commons.

:04:56. > :04:59.The party agreed they were pro-Trident and when it came to the

:05:00. > :05:03.vote they split three ways. I think it's difficult for them, it's always

:05:04. > :05:08.been a really difficult issue for Labour. The question is whether you

:05:09. > :05:12.want to seal off your negatives, whether you really want to try and

:05:13. > :05:15.reach out to people. There are an awful lot of people who will like

:05:16. > :05:20.what he said, there are an awful lot of people that think we have been

:05:21. > :05:23.involved in terrible wars, we have wasted a lot of money and blood and

:05:24. > :05:28.let's just get back from the whole thing, let's retreat from the world

:05:29. > :05:31.and not try punching above our weight. There is something to be

:05:32. > :05:36.said for that and it is a reasonable argument. He's been true to himself

:05:37. > :05:39.on this. I think he is and Polly is right, lots of people will agree

:05:40. > :05:44.with him, not enough to win a general election, the latest ComRes

:05:45. > :05:47.poll shows Tories on 50% and Labour on 25 and as my colleague James

:05:48. > :05:50.Forsyth in the Spectator said if this was a boxing match it would

:05:51. > :05:52.have been stopped by now by the revelry. We are not stopping, we are

:05:53. > :05:53.going on. So the political parties have had

:05:54. > :05:56.to move into election mode Stand by for battle buses,

:05:57. > :05:59.mail shots and your social media timeline being bombarded

:06:00. > :06:01.by political propoganda. But none of this comes cheap -

:06:02. > :06:06.Adam's been doing his sums. Democracy is priceless but those

:06:07. > :06:11.planes, trains and automobiles used in the last election cost money

:06:12. > :06:14.and we know exactly how much, thanks to the Electoral

:06:15. > :06:19.Commission database. The Conservatives flew David Cameron

:06:20. > :06:24.to every part of the UK in one day on a private plane costing ?29,000,

:06:25. > :06:30.in-flight meals extra. They shelled out ?1.2 million

:06:31. > :06:35.for adverts on Facebook. The most expensive item was their

:06:36. > :06:39.election guru Lynton Crosby. They bought ?2.4 million worth

:06:40. > :06:42.of advice and research from his firm Labour's biggest expenditure

:06:43. > :06:49.was on good old-fashioned leaflets, costing ?7.4 million

:06:50. > :06:52.to print and deliver. Hope they didn't go straight

:06:53. > :06:57.into the recycling. Cheap for all the

:06:58. > :07:06.enjoyment it gave us. To turn a normal minibus

:07:07. > :07:08.into Harriet Harman's pink bus Nick Clegg toured the country doing

:07:09. > :07:15.all manner of stunts transported although the party got a grand's

:07:16. > :07:27.discount when it broke down. Ukip's then leader Nigel Farage

:07:28. > :07:30.was accompanied by bodyguards Nicola Sturgeon's chopper

:07:31. > :07:39.cost the SNP ?35,450. Plaid Cymru spent just over

:07:40. > :07:42.?1,000 on media training And the Greens spent ?6,912

:07:43. > :07:56.promoting their tweets. It adds up to a grand total

:07:57. > :08:00.for all the parties of ?37,560,039. Jabbing at my calculator that works

:08:01. > :08:07.out at less than ?1 per voter. Adam Fleming there -

:08:08. > :08:11.and joining me now is the man responsible for the Conservative

:08:12. > :08:15.election campaigns - for the locals next month

:08:16. > :08:23.and the general election in June - Welcome to the programme. The Crown

:08:24. > :08:27.Prosecution Service is reviewing evidence from 14 police forces that

:08:28. > :08:31.your party breached election spending rules on multiple occasions

:08:32. > :08:37.in the last election. What are you going to do differently this time?

:08:38. > :08:43.Well, the battle buses are part of the National campaign spend. You saw

:08:44. > :08:46.them just on the shot that you did, all three parties had those battle

:08:47. > :08:50.buses so that's why we believe they were part of the national spend and

:08:51. > :08:54.it was declared that way. At least 30 people in your party, MPs and

:08:55. > :08:58.agents, being investigated because they may not have been right to

:08:59. > :09:01.include it in the national spend. Are you saying you are going to do

:09:02. > :09:08.nothing differently this time? You asked me about last time and the way

:09:09. > :09:12.the position is... Was. I asked you about this time. We will take a

:09:13. > :09:19.careful count and make sure that everything that we do is within the

:09:20. > :09:22.law. But as I say, the last election, all three parties had

:09:23. > :09:27.battle buses. It is your party that above all has been investigated by

:09:28. > :09:32.14 police forces. You must surely be taking stock of that and working out

:09:33. > :09:36.how to do some things differently. You are being investigated because

:09:37. > :09:40.you put stuff on the National Ledger which should have been on the local

:09:41. > :09:44.constituency ledger. Are you looking at that again? All of the parties

:09:45. > :09:47.had battle buses and they all put them on their national spend. I

:09:48. > :09:52.don't think any of the parties put them on the local spend. The other

:09:53. > :09:55.battle buses were not full of their party activists. Your party stuffed

:09:56. > :10:01.these battle buses with activists and took them to constituencies.

:10:02. > :10:06.That's the difference. And I ask again, what is different this time?

:10:07. > :10:09.Are you going to run the risk of being investigated yet again? We

:10:10. > :10:14.believe that we fully compliant with the electoral law as it was. What

:10:15. > :10:19.will happen if one of these, or two or three or four or five of these 30

:10:20. > :10:25.people, Tory MPs, or agents running campaigns are charged during the

:10:26. > :10:29.campaign? As I say I believe we properly declared our election

:10:30. > :10:32.expenses. What happens if they are charged? You asking me a

:10:33. > :10:36.hypothetical question, the importance of this election is about

:10:37. > :10:40.who is in Downing Street in seven weeks' time. Let me clarify this,

:10:41. > :10:44.you maintain that in 2015 you did nothing wrong with how you allocated

:10:45. > :10:47.the cost and the activities of the battle buses and you would do

:10:48. > :10:52.exactly the same this time round? What we did at the last election we

:10:53. > :10:57.believe fully complied with the law. So the battle buses this time,

:10:58. > :11:00.stocked full of activists, will still be charged to the national

:11:01. > :11:08.campaign even when they go to local constituencies? Will they? We will

:11:09. > :11:12.be looking at the way we do it, there is new guidance from the

:11:13. > :11:16.Electoral Commission out and we will look at that guidance. It is not the

:11:17. > :11:21.guidance, it is the lawful stop the Electoral Commission said that, if

:11:22. > :11:24.you look at the report they did on us, they said there was one area

:11:25. > :11:27.where we had over claimed, over declared, and another area we had

:11:28. > :11:30.and declared. We haven't worked out what to do

:11:31. > :11:34.yet, have you? We will get on with the campaign and

:11:35. > :11:37.start the campaign and I'm looking forward to the campaign.

:11:38. > :11:40.I'm trying to work out of the campaign is going to be legal or not

:11:41. > :11:44.because last time it seems it could have been illegal.

:11:45. > :11:45.I am sure the campaign will be legal.

:11:46. > :11:50.You started the campaign warning about the prospect of, the coalition

:11:51. > :11:58.of chaos. Mr Corbyn has ruled out a post-election coalition with the SNP

:11:59. > :12:01.and so have the Lib Dems so who is going to be in this coalition?

:12:02. > :12:03.Vince Cable said he was looking towards a possible coalition trying

:12:04. > :12:06.to stop a Conservative government. Is not the leader of the Lib Dems.

:12:07. > :12:12.He's an important voice in the Lib Dems. Who will be in it? Let's see

:12:13. > :12:15.because of the Conservative Party is not re-elected with a strong

:12:16. > :12:18.majority, what will happen? There will be a coalition stopping us

:12:19. > :12:23.doing the things we need to do. Who will be in it? It will be a

:12:24. > :12:27.coalition of the Labour Party, the SNP and the Liberal party. They have

:12:28. > :12:30.ruled it out. I think they would not rule it out if that was the

:12:31. > :12:35.situation. Like Theresa May not ruling out an election and then

:12:36. > :12:38.changing her mind? The things the Prime Minister said were very clear,

:12:39. > :12:42.once she had served Article 50 there was an opportunity, as we know

:12:43. > :12:46.today, there is going to be the start of a new government formed in

:12:47. > :12:49.France and in September we have the German elections. So it was quite

:12:50. > :12:55.right that we didn't get ourselves boxed into a timetable. That is why

:12:56. > :12:59.the Prime Minister took the view that they should be a general

:13:00. > :13:03.election to give her full strength of an electoral mandate when it

:13:04. > :13:09.comes to those negotiations. What about Mr Corbyn's plan for four new

:13:10. > :13:13.bank holidays, good idea? I'm not... If we get Corbyn in No 10 Downing St

:13:14. > :13:18.we will have a permanent bank holiday of the United Kingdom. We

:13:19. > :13:24.will have fewer bank holidays of most other major nations, most about

:13:25. > :13:28.major wealthy nations. What about at least one more? Well, look, he's

:13:29. > :13:32.talked about four bank holidays. Today would be a bank holiday and

:13:33. > :13:37.next Monday would be a bank holiday and the other week was a bank

:13:38. > :13:41.holiday too. I don't think it's very well thought out. It sounded more to

:13:42. > :13:44.me something like you get in school mock elections rather than proper

:13:45. > :13:48.elections. Your party is the self-styled party of the workers and

:13:49. > :13:51.you have no plans to give the workers even one extra bank holiday?

:13:52. > :13:57.What we want to do is ensure Britain is a strong economy and building on

:13:58. > :14:01.the jobs that we have created since 2010. We were told that by reducing

:14:02. > :14:06.public expenditure unemployment in this country would go up,

:14:07. > :14:10.unemployment has gone down and the number of jobs have gone up

:14:11. > :14:14.substantially. But no more bank holidays? Well, we will make our

:14:15. > :14:18.manifesto in due course but I don't think four bank holidays held in

:14:19. > :14:23.April, March and November are very attractive to people. When Ed

:14:24. > :14:33.Miliband as leader of the Labour Party suggested the government

:14:34. > :14:36.should control energy prices by capping them, the Conservatives

:14:37. > :14:40.described that as almost Communist and central planning. Do still take

:14:41. > :14:44.that view? You'll see what we have to say on energy prices. I didn't

:14:45. > :14:49.you about that, I asked you if you take the view... The Prime Minister

:14:50. > :14:52.made a speech at the Conservative Spring conference in which she

:14:53. > :14:54.outlined her dissatisfaction about people who are kept locked on a

:14:55. > :14:57.standard tariff and those are the issues we will address in the next

:14:58. > :15:02.few weeks when the manifesto was published.

:15:03. > :15:09.Would that be an act of communism? You will need to see what we say

:15:10. > :15:15.when we set out the policies. It could be. You could put a Communist

:15:16. > :15:19.act into your manifesto? I don't think you'll find a Communist

:15:20. > :15:23.manifesto in a Conservative manifesto which will be launched...

:15:24. > :15:28.You are planning to control prices? We will address what we think is

:15:29. > :15:31.unfairness in the energy market. Mr Jeremy Corbyn was reluctant this

:15:32. > :15:38.morning to sanction a drone strike. You heard us talking about it

:15:39. > :15:41.earlier against the leader of Islamic State if our intelligence

:15:42. > :15:46.services identified him. What would it achieve? When the Prime Minister

:15:47. > :15:51.gets certain advice in the national interests, she has to act been that.

:15:52. > :15:54.We've seen with Theresa May in her time as Home Secretary and Prime

:15:55. > :15:58.Minister, she's not afraid to take those very difficult decisions. What

:15:59. > :16:02.we say this morning from Jeremy Corbyn was a his tans, a reluctance.

:16:03. > :16:09.I don't think that serves the country well. What would it achieve

:16:10. > :16:13.if we take out the head of Islamic State he's replaced by somebody

:16:14. > :16:18.else. It brings their organisation into difficulties. It undermines

:16:19. > :16:23.their organisation. It shows we'll take every measure to undo an

:16:24. > :16:26.organisation which has organised terrorism in different parts of

:16:27. > :16:29.Europe, the UK. I think it is absolutely right the Prime Minister

:16:30. > :16:34.is prepared to take those kind of measures. Jeremy Corbyn said he

:16:35. > :16:39.wasn't prepared to take that. Because he wasn't sure what it would

:16:40. > :16:43.achieve. The Obama administration launched hundreds of drone strikes

:16:44. > :16:50.in various war zones and we in the west are still under attack on a

:16:51. > :16:55.regular basis. Mr Corbyn's basis was what would it achieve? It would

:16:56. > :16:59.achieve a safer position for the UK overall. The war on terrorists. But

:17:00. > :17:05.the Westminster attack, Paris has just been attacked again? There's

:17:06. > :17:09.been attacks which have been stopped by the intelligence services. We

:17:10. > :17:13.must do all we can to support them. The question was about drone

:17:14. > :17:17.strikes. Whether it is drone strikes or other action, we have to be

:17:18. > :17:21.prepared to act. Let's move on to Brexit. It is the major reason the

:17:22. > :17:26.Prime Minister's called the election? Not the only within but

:17:27. > :17:30.the main reason? It is one of the reasons. Now we start the two-year

:17:31. > :17:35.negotiations and then a year afterwards. Also the way in which

:17:36. > :17:38.certain people said they would try to use in the House of Lords or

:17:39. > :17:45.House of Commons to prevent us making progress. I think you'll put

:17:46. > :17:51.in your manifesto, it is the Government's policy, the Brexit

:17:52. > :17:57.negotiating position will be no more freedom of movement. Leave the

:17:58. > :18:01.single market and no longer under the jurisdiction Europe. You expect

:18:02. > :18:07.every Tory MP to fight on that manifesto. What will you do with Ken

:18:08. > :18:11.Clarke and Anna? They will have fought on their manifesto. They will

:18:12. > :18:14.understand the Prime Minister has the authority of the ballot box

:18:15. > :18:19.behind them. Will they fight the election on these positions? I'm

:18:20. > :18:24.sure they'll fight the election supporting the election of a

:18:25. > :18:28.Conservative Government and it's manifesto will quite clearly set

:18:29. > :18:32.out... You know they're against these positions. Ken Clarke has a

:18:33. > :18:37.prod tradition of expressing a certain view. Overall, the party's

:18:38. > :18:40.manifesto, it is not just individuals like Ken Clarke, it is

:18:41. > :18:45.what happens as far as the House of Lords are concerned, people said

:18:46. > :18:49.they'd use the House of Lords to prevent certain measures. You're the

:18:50. > :18:54.party chairman, will it be possible for people like Ken Clarke to fight

:18:55. > :18:59.this election under the Conservative ticket without sub describing to all

:19:00. > :19:05.-- subscribing to all of these Brexit conditions? Ken Clarke will

:19:06. > :19:09.fight as Conservative candidates. That wasn't my question. I know

:19:10. > :19:13.that. Will they be allowed to fight it on their own ticket and not

:19:14. > :19:18.subscribe to what is in your manifesto? The manifesto will be

:19:19. > :19:22.what the Conservative Party fights the General Election on. There will

:19:23. > :19:27.always be cases where people have had different views on different

:19:28. > :19:33.parts of the manifesto. That will be the guiding principles for the

:19:34. > :19:39.party. Philip Hammond says your election promises in 2015, in your

:19:40. > :19:43.manifesto not to raise taxes tied his hands when it came to managing

:19:44. > :19:47.the economy. Do you agree with him? No. The simple fact is we have to do

:19:48. > :19:52.the best things for the economy. We'll set out in our manifesto in a

:19:53. > :19:57.few weeks' time, what the policies will be for the next Parliament. Can

:19:58. > :20:02.I clarify, you don't agree with your Chancellor? What Philip was saying

:20:03. > :20:07.was some of the areas we wants to address as Chancellor, what the

:20:08. > :20:10.party will do, it will set out all the issues we're fighting on. It

:20:11. > :20:14.will set out clearly the choice we have in this country. That's the

:20:15. > :20:19.important thing. Let me put the question to you again. Philip

:20:20. > :20:23.Hammond said this week your election promise in 2015 not to raise taxes

:20:24. > :20:28.had tied his hands when it came to managing the economy. I ask you, do

:20:29. > :20:33.you agree with him? You said no. Philip expressed his view as to what

:20:34. > :20:38.he would like. What I'm saying is in a few weeks' time we'll set the

:20:39. > :20:42.manifesto which will set the policies, agreed with the the

:20:43. > :20:46.Cabinet. He's Chancellor. Doesn't he determine what the economic part of

:20:47. > :20:52.the manifesto is? We'll talk about that in due course. Will you have a

:20:53. > :20:57.lock on the taxes that you locked in 2015 on income tax, VAT, national

:20:58. > :21:04.insurance? That will be decided. You'll see that when we publish the

:21:05. > :21:08.manifesto in a few weeks' time. Will you rule out the possibility taxes

:21:09. > :21:12.may have to rise under a future Conservative Party? Conservative

:21:13. > :21:19.Government. We've taken four million people out of tax. Now, on average,

:21:20. > :21:24.people are paying ?1200 less tax than they were on the same salaries

:21:25. > :21:27.in 2010. I'm very provide of that. I can assure you, the Conservative

:21:28. > :21:31.Party will want to see taxes reduced. It is the Labour Party

:21:32. > :21:36.which will put up taxes. We have the evidence where this he did so.

:21:37. > :21:43.Council tax went up by over 100%. You haven't reduced the tax burden

:21:44. > :21:48.as a percentage of the GDP is now going to reach its highest level

:21:49. > :21:53.since the mid-180s which was when Conservatives were in power. The tax

:21:54. > :21:56.burden in this country under your Government is rising? We've more

:21:57. > :22:00.people paying taxes which is something, because we've a growing

:22:01. > :22:05.economy and more people... What about the tax band? You said you

:22:06. > :22:10.reduced the tax burden on your own Government's figures is rising? We

:22:11. > :22:15.have reduced the tax burden. The threshold at which people start

:22:16. > :22:21.paying. These are tax rates not the tax burden. It is rising. The tax

:22:22. > :22:25.rates have been reduced. You said tax burden. Perhaps I misspoke. Tax

:22:26. > :22:34.rates have been reduced. We'll leave it there. No doubt we'll speak again

:22:35. > :22:35.between now and June Is France now about to make it

:22:36. > :22:40.a hat-trick of shocks The prospect terrifies

:22:41. > :22:43.the governing elite in Paris. But they're no less scared

:22:44. > :22:45.in Brussels and Berlin, given what it could mean

:22:46. > :22:47.for the whole EU project, never mind the huge potential impact

:22:48. > :23:07.on our own Brexit negotiations. 11 candidates are contesting

:23:08. > :23:09.the first round of the presidential Only the top two will go forward

:23:10. > :23:16.to the run-off on May 7th. For the first time since General De

:23:17. > :23:20.Gaulle created the fifth Republic in 1958, it's perfectly possible that

:23:21. > :23:24.no candidate from the ruling parties of the centre-left or the

:23:25. > :23:28.centre-right will even make it The election has been dominated by

:23:29. > :23:35.the hard right in the shape of the who's never been elected

:23:36. > :23:41.to anything and only started his own party

:23:42. > :23:44.a few months ago. And the far left in the form

:23:45. > :23:47.of Jean-Luc Melenchon, a former Trotskyite who has surged

:23:48. > :23:51.in the final weeks of the campaign. The only candidate left from the

:23:52. > :23:54.traditional governing parties is the centre-right's

:23:55. > :23:57.Francois Fillon and he's been struggling to stay in

:23:58. > :24:00.the race ever since it was revealed that his Welsh wife was being paid

:24:01. > :24:05.at generous public expense for a job I've just come across

:24:06. > :24:20.this magazine cover and it kind of sums up the mood

:24:21. > :24:23.of the French people. It's got the five main candidates

:24:24. > :24:26.for President here but it calls them the biggest liar, the biggest cheat,

:24:27. > :24:29.the biggest traitor, the most paranoid, the biggest demagogue,

:24:30. > :24:32.and it says they are the winners The four leading candidates,

:24:33. > :24:42.Le Pen, Melenchon, Macron and Fillon, or in with a chance

:24:43. > :24:46.of making it to the second round. Only a couple of points separates

:24:47. > :24:48.them in the polls, Frankly, no one has a clue what's

:24:49. > :24:54.going to happen. Of the four, there is a feeling that

:24:55. > :24:59.two of them may be President But the two of them may not find

:25:00. > :25:12.themselves in the second round. Somebody said to me that the man or

:25:13. > :25:26.woman on the Paris Metro has as much a chance of knowing

:25:27. > :25:30.who will win as the greatest experts Because the more expert you are

:25:31. > :25:37.the more you may be wrong. The country has largely

:25:38. > :25:42.stagnated for over a decade. One in ten are unemployed,

:25:43. > :25:45.one in four if you are unlucky Like Britain in the '70s there is

:25:46. > :25:49.the pervasive stench There are three keywords that come

:25:50. > :25:56.to mind. Anger, anger at the elite, and in

:25:57. > :26:02.particular the political elite. And an element of

:26:03. > :26:08.nostalgia for the past. These three words were decisive

:26:09. > :26:12.in the Brexit referendum. They are decisive in

:26:13. > :26:24.the French election. Identity and security has been

:26:25. > :26:27.as important in this election France is a proud nation, it worries

:26:28. > :26:34.about its future in Europe It seems bereft of ideas about how

:26:35. > :26:39.to deal with its largely Muslim migrant population, huge chunks of

:26:40. > :26:43.which are increasingly divorced It is quite simply exhausted by

:26:44. > :26:53.the never-ending Islamist terrorist attacks, the latest only days before

:26:54. > :26:57.voting in the iconic heart of this If Fillon or Macron emerge

:26:58. > :27:08.victorious then there will be continuity of sorts, though Fillon

:27:09. > :27:11.will struggle to implement his Thatcherite agenda and Macron will

:27:12. > :27:15.not be able to count on the support of the French parliament, the

:27:16. > :27:19.National Assembly, for his reforms. But if it's Le Pen or Jean-Luc

:27:20. > :27:25.Melenchon then all bets are off. Both are hardline French

:27:26. > :27:27.nationalists, anti the euro, anti the European Union, anti-fiscal

:27:28. > :27:31.discipline, anti the market, Either in the Elysee Palace

:27:32. > :27:40.would represent an existential Brexit would simply become

:27:41. > :27:49.a sideshow, the negotiations could just peter out as Brussels

:27:50. > :27:53.and Berlin had bigger fish to fry. We're joined now from

:27:54. > :28:04.Paris by the journalist 8th Welcome to the programme.

:28:05. > :28:09.Overshadowing the voting today was yet another appalling terrorist

:28:10. > :28:15.attack in Paris on Thursday night. Do we have any indications of how

:28:16. > :28:19.that's playing into the election? That initially people thought this

:28:20. > :28:25.has been almost foiled in that the police were there as a ramp up. One

:28:26. > :28:29.policeman was killed. But the terrorist did not spray the crowd

:28:30. > :28:34.with bullets. It was seen as not having much of an effect on the

:28:35. > :28:40.election. This has changed. We now know the policeman who was killed, a

:28:41. > :28:46.young man about to the promoted, he was at the Bataclan the night of the

:28:47. > :28:52.terror attack. He was a fighter for LGBT rights. The fact he was

:28:53. > :28:59.promoted, happy within his job, he has this fresh face. Sudden, he's

:29:00. > :29:05.one of us. It took perhaps 48 hours for the French to process this. But

:29:06. > :29:10.now they're angry and this may actually change the game, at least

:29:11. > :29:17.at the margins. To whose advantage? I would say the two who might

:29:18. > :29:21.benefit from this are Marine Le Pen, she's been absolutely

:29:22. > :29:26.anti-immigration, anti-anything. And made no bones about it as she

:29:27. > :29:30.immediately made rather strange announcement in which she'd said if

:29:31. > :29:34.she'd been president none of the terror attacks which happened in

:29:35. > :29:42.France would have happened. Francois Fillon has written a book two years

:29:43. > :29:46.ago called Combating Islamic Terrorism he's has an organised plan

:29:47. > :29:50.in his manifesto. Unlike Emmanuel Macron who stumbled when he was

:29:51. > :29:54.asked the evening this happened what he thought, he said, I can't dream

:29:55. > :29:58.up an anti-terror programme overnight. The question, of course,

:29:59. > :30:02.that arrows was this is not the sort of thing that's just happened

:30:03. > :30:07.overnight. It's been unfortunately the fate of France for many years.

:30:08. > :30:12.Let me ask you this finally, what ever the outcome on May 7th in the

:30:13. > :30:18.second round, who ever wins, would it be fair to say French politics

:30:19. > :30:22.will never be the same again? Yes. Absolutely it's a very strange

:30:23. > :30:26.thing. People have no become really excited about this. You cannot go

:30:27. > :30:31.anywhere without people discussing heatedly this election. The anger

:30:32. > :30:37.that was described is very accurate. Very true. There was this feeling as

:30:38. > :30:41.for the Brexit voters and the Trump voters, vast parts of the people

:30:42. > :30:48.were being talked down to by people who despised them. This has to

:30:49. > :30:53.change. If it doesn't change, we cannot predict what the future will

:30:54. > :30:58.be. We'll know the results or at least the ex-the Poll London time

:30:59. > :31:00.tonight at 8.00pm. Thank for joining us from the glorious heart of your

:31:01. > :31:03.city. Now, the Green Party currently has

:31:04. > :31:07.one MP and they'll be contesting many more seats in June

:31:08. > :31:09.as well as hoping to increase their presence on councils in

:31:10. > :31:12.the local elections on 4th May. Launching their campaign

:31:13. > :31:13.on Thursday, co-leader Caroline Lucas made

:31:14. > :31:16.a pitch to younger voters. When it comes to young

:31:17. > :31:17.people they've been But one crucial way they've been

:31:18. > :31:23.betrayed is by what this generation and this government and the previous

:31:24. > :31:26.ones have been doing when it comes We know we had the hottest year

:31:27. > :31:30.on record last year, you know, you almost think what else does

:31:31. > :31:33.the environment need to be doing All the signs are there

:31:34. > :31:37.and it is young people who are going to be bearing

:31:38. > :31:40.the brunt of a wrecked environment and that's why it's so important

:31:41. > :31:43.that when we come to making that pitch to, yes, the country at large

:31:44. > :31:46.but to young people in particular, I think climate change,

:31:47. > :31:48.the environment, looking after our precious resources,

:31:49. > :31:53.has to be up there. And I'm joined now by the Green

:31:54. > :32:07.MEP, Molly Scott Cato. Welcome back to the programme.

:32:08. > :32:11.Promised to scrap university tuition fees, increase NHS funding, rollback

:32:12. > :32:14.cuts to local councils spending, how much would that cost and how would

:32:15. > :32:18.you pay for it? Like the other parties we haven't got a costed

:32:19. > :32:21.manifesto yet, it's only a few days since the election was announced so

:32:22. > :32:25.I will come back and explain the figures. You don't know? Like every

:32:26. > :32:31.party we have not produced accosted manifesto yet, we produced one last

:32:32. > :32:34.time but public spending figures have changed so we're not in a

:32:35. > :32:39.position to do that but we will be in a week or so. What taxes would

:32:40. > :32:42.you like to consider raising? We would consider having higher taxes

:32:43. > :32:48.for the better off in society. I think we need to increase the amount

:32:49. > :32:51.of tax wealthier people pay. How do you define better off? I'm not

:32:52. > :32:57.entirely clear what the precise number would be but I think 100,000

:32:58. > :33:01.people would pay a bit more, 150,000 quite considerably more but the real

:33:02. > :33:04.focus needs to be on companies avoiding paying taxes. I work on

:33:05. > :33:07.that a lot in my role in the European Parliament, we see an

:33:08. > :33:10.enormous amount of tax avoidance by companies moving profits from

:33:11. > :33:14.country to country and we need European corporation to make that

:33:15. > :33:20.successful. It has not made much difference yet. We have made lots of

:33:21. > :33:23.changes. Google turned over $1 billion and only paid 25 million in

:33:24. > :33:28.taxes last year. There was a significant fine introduced by the

:33:29. > :33:32.competition commission on Apple and in the case of Google we must change

:33:33. > :33:37.the laws so that people cannot move profits from country to country.

:33:38. > :33:41.Everybody wants to do it. But you couldn't face a big spending

:33:42. > :33:45.programme on the ability to do that. You'd have to increase other taxes.

:33:46. > :33:48.If you look at the cost of free student tuition, tuition fees and

:33:49. > :33:51.also maintenance grants to students, that would come in at about 10

:33:52. > :33:55.billion a year. One way of paying for that would be to remove the

:33:56. > :33:58.upper threshold on National Insurance, bringing in 20 billion a

:33:59. > :34:03.year, that's the order of magnitude we are talking about. It is not

:34:04. > :34:07.vast, and some of the proposals we have... That would be an increase on

:34:08. > :34:13.the better of tax? National Insurance on people earning...

:34:14. > :34:18.People earning above 42,000. You would have another 10% tax above

:34:19. > :34:23.42,000? I can't remember exactly how much the National Insurance rate

:34:24. > :34:28.changes by. But in government figures it would be 28 billion

:34:29. > :34:31.raised. I think it is up to 45, a bit more you pay a marginal rate of

:34:32. > :34:36.40%, you would have them pay a marginal rate of over 50%? We would

:34:37. > :34:40.put the National Insurance rate on higher incomes the same as it is on

:34:41. > :34:44.lower incomes. If you are a school head of an English department on 50,

:34:45. > :34:50.60,000 a year you would face a marginal rate under U of over 50%?

:34:51. > :34:54.It is not useful to do this as a mental maths exercise but if you

:34:55. > :34:59.look at other proposals would could have a landlord licensing system,

:35:00. > :35:01.longer term leases on properties, so young people particularly, but also

:35:02. > :35:05.older people who rent, could have more security which needn't cost

:35:06. > :35:09.anything. We could insist on landlords paying for that. The

:35:10. > :35:13.mental arithmetic seems clear but we will come back to that. How is the

:35:14. > :35:18.Progressive Alliance coming? It is going well, I have heard of a lot of

:35:19. > :35:23.interest at local level. Winterset this in contest, context, lots of

:35:24. > :35:27.progressives are concerned about the crisis in public services, prisons,

:35:28. > :35:31.social care system, and also about the Tories' hard extreme Brexit they

:35:32. > :35:36.are threatening. You want the left to come together? Theresa May has

:35:37. > :35:38.given us opportunity, she has taken a risk because she has problems with

:35:39. > :35:42.backbenchers, she doesn't think she can get through Brexit with a small

:35:43. > :35:46.majority so there is an opportunity and we are saying progressives must

:35:47. > :35:48.come together to corporate, Conservatives are effective at using

:35:49. > :35:54.the first-past-the-post system and we have to become effective as well.

:35:55. > :35:56.Do you accept this Progressive Alliance cannot become the

:35:57. > :36:01.government and Mr Corbyn is the Prime Minister? How could it happen

:36:02. > :36:04.otherwise? I think that is a secondary question. For me the

:36:05. > :36:08.primary question is who do people choose to vote for? Aluminium

:36:09. > :36:12.government afterwards comes after the election. In most countries that

:36:13. > :36:15.is the case. I understand that but we have the system we have and you

:36:16. > :36:19.accept this Progressive Alliance cannot be in power and thus mystical

:36:20. > :36:22.Burmese Prime Minister? Personally I think Mr Corbyn is less of a threat

:36:23. > :36:25.to the country than Theresa May, she has shown herself to be an

:36:26. > :36:31.authoritarian leader and she has said she doesn't want to have

:36:32. > :36:33.dissidents, which I would say is reasonable opposition, and what we

:36:34. > :36:36.are suggesting at the moment is there is a way of avoiding that very

:36:37. > :36:39.hard Brexit and damage to public services. You'd be happy to pay the

:36:40. > :36:44.price of having Mr Corbyn as Prime Minister? I do not see that as a

:36:45. > :36:47.price. People have the choice of Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May as

:36:48. > :36:52.Prime Minister, that's the system that works. You would prefer Mr

:36:53. > :36:54.Corbyn? I would but votes are translated into seats and the

:36:55. > :36:56.Progressive Alliance is a step towards that.

:36:57. > :36:58.It's just gone 3:50pm, you're watching the Sunday Politics.

:36:59. > :37:00.We say goodbye to viewers in Scotland, Wales

:37:01. > :37:02.and Northern Ireland who leave us now.

:37:03. > :37:11.Coming up here in 20 minutes, the Week Ahead.

:37:12. > :37:16.Hello and welcome to Sunday Politics East.

:37:17. > :37:19.Later in the programme, a controversial MP

:37:20. > :37:21.decides to call it a day, declaring - job done over Brexit.

:37:22. > :37:24.And with the local elections two weeks away, choppy waters ahead for

:37:25. > :37:32.But first this week, the shock announcement of a

:37:33. > :37:39.We will go to the polls on June the 8th,

:37:40. > :37:41.with the Prime Minister saying she wants unity at Westminster.

:37:42. > :37:42.And already we are seeing repercussions

:37:43. > :37:46.The Northampton South MP David McIntosh is facing deselection

:37:47. > :37:51.Meanwhile, in Essex Douglas Carswell, the MP for Clacton,

:37:52. > :37:54.announced he will not be standing this time around.

:37:55. > :37:58.One of the leaders in the campaign for a referendum, he

:37:59. > :38:01.was first elected as a Conservative in 2005, beating Labour to become

:38:02. > :38:08.Four years later he led the campaign to

:38:09. > :38:11.oust the Speaker Michael Martin in the wake of the MPs' expenses

:38:12. > :38:16.And then, in 2014, his shock defection to Ukip and

:38:17. > :38:21.He defended the seat with a reduced majority

:38:22. > :38:25.His relationship with the former leader of Ukip Nigel Farage

:38:26. > :38:27.was difficult, and last month he resigned from the party, pledging

:38:28. > :38:32.Now, he says, it's job done and he is

:38:33. > :38:39.Well, a few minutes ago I spoke to Mr Carswell

:38:40. > :38:42.in London, and asked if he was sure he had made the right

:38:43. > :38:47.It's clearly the right decision for me, I think

:38:48. > :38:55.I think it's the right decision for Brexit.

:38:56. > :38:59.I went into politics to do a job and I feel I've done it.

:39:00. > :39:01.We are hearing now Aaron Banks may be

:39:02. > :39:03.going to stand, either as a Ukip candidate

:39:04. > :39:12.You know, Aaron is of very little concern to me and I think

:39:13. > :39:14.probably of less concern to the folk in Clacton.

:39:15. > :39:18.It is good that in a democracy people can put their name

:39:19. > :39:21.on the ballot, but I suspect there may even be a couple of Monster

:39:22. > :39:24.I think we need to focus on the key issue.

:39:25. > :39:29.do you want to have Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May in Number Ten?

:39:30. > :39:31.And I think that's really what's going

:39:32. > :39:40.As far as you're concerned, you had a

:39:41. > :39:42.difficult relationship with Mr Cameron, you had a difficult

:39:43. > :39:46.Which one of those that you get on better with, do you think?

:39:47. > :39:48.I actually like David Cameron as a person,

:39:49. > :39:53.I think he is a thoroughly decent, reasonable person.

:39:54. > :39:56.But the thing about party leaders is actually they quite often need

:39:57. > :40:07.Conservative Party a little bit of a nudge to promise us that

:40:08. > :40:09.referendum, and I think I had to give Nigel a

:40:10. > :40:12.bit of a nudge to stop him dominating the referendum

:40:13. > :40:16.But, you know, I've occasionally fallen out with one or

:40:17. > :40:19.two colleagues in my time in Parliament but I don't think I've

:40:20. > :40:21.really fallen out with the folk in Clacton.

:40:22. > :40:33.I've done everything I've done in Westminster with one eye on

:40:34. > :40:36.what is going on in my part of Essex and asking would

:40:37. > :40:41.When he became an MP for the area, Jaywick Was in the bottom ten

:40:42. > :40:43.of the most deprived places in the country.

:40:44. > :40:46.As you leave being the MP it is the bottom.

:40:47. > :40:48.So some places you haven't managed to achieve what you

:40:49. > :40:52.If I may say, I think there has been progress

:40:53. > :40:55.in Jaywick, and that the reason I say that is because we got to the

:40:56. > :41:01.bottom of what is the problem of Jaywick's, if you call it,

:41:02. > :41:03.dilapidation, and that is there have been blanket

:41:04. > :41:06.bans on any new developments in Jaywick for the past 40 years and

:41:07. > :41:09.working with the council and a meeting I organised in the House

:41:10. > :41:12.of Commons with the Environment Agency, we've removed many of those

:41:13. > :41:15.restrictions and we are now starting to see private investment and

:41:16. > :41:18.And I say that, you know, whatever party

:41:19. > :41:21.you belong to, if you look at what the District Council has done as a

:41:22. > :41:23.whole, working together, they have actually made sure

:41:24. > :41:25.we are going to start seeing new development and

:41:26. > :41:28.improvement in Jaywick and West Clacton, and I think

:41:29. > :41:31.Far from being a lack of action, I think we

:41:32. > :41:41.It is going to take time to filter through but we are making progress.

:41:42. > :41:43.There has been a lot said since he decided

:41:44. > :41:48.to stand down about the

:41:49. > :41:51.meeting you had with Mr Reckless at Tate Britain about infiltrating

:41:52. > :41:53.Ukip and maybe changing the policies of

:41:54. > :42:00.Can you tell us a bit more about that meeting?

:42:01. > :42:04.Actually, when I joined Ukip I called a press

:42:05. > :42:07.conference on August the 28th 2014 in the centre of London and I very

:42:08. > :42:10.clearly said in order for Euroscepticism to be able to gain

:42:11. > :42:12.popular support, whether as Ukip or as Provoked Leave, Euroscepticism

:42:13. > :42:17.needed to be optimistic, it needed to be different from that Britain

:42:18. > :42:21.gone to the dogs, angry nativism that is so often defined parts of my

:42:22. > :42:35.And I was quite clear and open about that agenda to

:42:36. > :42:37.try to make Euroscepticism more broadly based and I would say

:42:38. > :42:42.almost exactly a year ago by creating a broad coalition, so

:42:43. > :42:43.Euroscepticism was seen as a progressive, positive,

:42:44. > :42:46.internationalist thing to do, I think that decision has actually

:42:47. > :42:49.So there was nothing cloak and dagger about that

:42:50. > :43:06.I always meet colleagues and talk to colleagues.

:43:07. > :43:08.I happen to meet them in the House of Commons

:43:09. > :43:10.and if I want a bit of

:43:11. > :43:11.privacy in Tate Britain down the river.

:43:12. > :43:14.The reality is I was quite frank and open.

:43:15. > :43:16.If you look at many of the blogs I've wrote before and

:43:17. > :43:19.after I joined Ukip I again and again made this point, angry

:43:20. > :43:22.nativism doesn't win elections and it certainly doesn't win

:43:23. > :43:25.And I think by being the only successful Ukip candidate

:43:26. > :43:27.at the last general election I emphatically demonstrated angry

:43:28. > :43:29.nativism cannot win you a parliamentary constituency.

:43:30. > :43:39.When you decided to resign from Ukip did you

:43:40. > :43:41.think you had three years to maybe make your peace

:43:42. > :43:42.with the Conservative Party and

:43:43. > :43:45.hopefully be the candidate at the next general election?

:43:46. > :43:48.The day after the referendum on June the

:43:49. > :43:51.24th last year I was very close to announcing I was going to be

:43:52. > :43:53.standing down from politics completely, several people persuaded

:43:54. > :43:56.me to hang in there because there was a possibility MPs in the Commons

:43:57. > :44:00.would still try and unpack the deal, and we saw the Gina Miller attempt

:44:01. > :44:09.I then made it clear to myself and the various

:44:10. > :44:12.people around me I was going to leave Ukip once Article 50 was

:44:13. > :44:14.triggered, I was then going to announce I

:44:15. > :44:15.was leaving politics and

:44:16. > :44:17.April 2019, the month when we finally leave the EU.

:44:18. > :44:19.All that Theresa May's snap general election

:44:20. > :44:21.announcement has done is bring forward a 24

:44:22. > :44:22.months the decision I

:44:23. > :44:25.How will you look back on your career,

:44:26. > :44:28.personally, in Parliament and how do you think history will judge you?

:44:29. > :44:31.I leave it to others to speculate about history.

:44:32. > :44:34.Ultimately, I'm just a footnote, but I can't think any

:44:35. > :44:38.higher privilege I could have ever had than to have been able to call

:44:39. > :44:39.myself a member of Parliament for Clacton.

:44:40. > :44:45.It has been a tremendous honour and it has been wonderful and

:44:46. > :44:49.to those who voted for me thank you, to those who didn't vote for me then

:44:50. > :44:55.I hope you will choose wisely in a few weeks' time.

:44:56. > :45:00.Life has got too many rich opportunities in it to

:45:01. > :45:04.I went into politics because I passionately believe that we

:45:05. > :45:09.I feel I have done that job, I've stood for election five times, I've

:45:10. > :45:11.won four times, the only person, incidentally, I ever lost an

:45:12. > :45:16.But it has been a tremendous exhilarating

:45:17. > :45:22.I've loved it and I can walk out saying I did what I

:45:23. > :45:28.Joining me today, from Norwich from the Green Party

:45:29. > :45:35.Here in the studio we have Dave Hodgson, the elected Liberal

:45:36. > :45:44.from Cambridgeshire who has recently been awarded an MBE.

:45:45. > :45:47.He described your party as going to the dogs

:45:48. > :45:52.Well, do you know, before I answer that question, and I will,

:45:53. > :45:56.I think he has been one of the best MPs

:45:57. > :45:57.in the House of Commons all the

:45:58. > :46:00.way through, no matter what party he has been

:46:01. > :46:01.involved in, Ukip, the

:46:02. > :46:04.Conservatives, or sat as an independent,

:46:05. > :46:06.he is an MP who truly believes in because he was in

:46:07. > :46:22.Conservatives, or sat as an independent, he is an MP

:46:23. > :46:24.who truly believes the cauysecause he was in

:46:25. > :46:27.You're party spent a lot of money getting him into

:46:28. > :46:29.Parliament, now he has walked away from it.

:46:30. > :46:32.He was in Parliament, there are very few MPs who crossed the

:46:33. > :46:34.floor and actually hold a by-election and put their career

:46:35. > :46:37.at stake and we in Ukip have that as a policy base.

:46:38. > :46:42.Douglas honoured that and not many MPs would have.

:46:43. > :46:43.So there is a man whose maiden speech

:46:44. > :46:47.12 years ago was all about coming out of the EU and I think he

:46:48. > :46:49.genuinely believe with Ukip's help he has achieved that.

:46:50. > :46:52.The problem is I think he is premature, and I hope

:46:53. > :46:55.I am wrong, but I think it is premature, in that what we have

:46:56. > :46:57.actually been left with is a pro-remain Parliament, pro-remain

:46:58. > :47:00.Conservative Party and a pro-remain Prime Minister trying to negotiate

:47:01. > :47:01.against some very sophisticated people

:47:02. > :47:03.in the EU who are not on the

:47:04. > :47:06.And so here is a great opportunity with the general

:47:07. > :47:09.election to get some people who really believe in Brexit

:47:10. > :47:12.Rupert, we will bring you in this here.

:47:13. > :47:19.It made me smile when he said that, Stuart, because I think

:47:20. > :47:22.with May, we will be heading for anything but that.

:47:23. > :47:25.I just want to go back to Ukip for a second and

:47:26. > :47:27.one thing that is very important to get clear,

:47:28. > :47:30.when Brexit is all done and dusted people will turn back to

:47:31. > :47:32.the great issue of our time, dangerous climate change, and we

:47:33. > :47:35.must never forget Ukip are the party of climate change denial.

:47:36. > :47:38.Climate change denial is vile and despicable and it

:47:39. > :47:40.amounts to kicking our children in the teeth

:47:41. > :47:41.and that is the kind of

:47:42. > :47:44.thing I hope people will be thinking about this election.

:47:45. > :47:46.What we need to do is think truly long-term.

:47:47. > :47:48.When Brexit is done and dusted we will

:47:49. > :47:51.have to go back to the issues that will be determinative.

:47:52. > :47:53.What kind of planet are we bequeathing to our

:47:54. > :47:56.That is the long-term thinking we really

:47:57. > :48:00.Vile, I think was the word, Peter Reeve.

:48:01. > :48:05.Well, I love Rupert to bits but he would shut down every

:48:06. > :48:07.business, take every car off the road, to be

:48:08. > :48:08.shut down transport and

:48:09. > :48:15.he would stop people living their lives.

:48:16. > :48:17.I'm going to have to let him answer that one.

:48:18. > :48:20.Would you shut down business and take every car off

:48:21. > :48:24.Well, it is very funny that Peter should hone in there on

:48:25. > :48:27.transport policy which is one of our great areas of strength, and both

:48:28. > :48:30.in the local and general election one of the reasons

:48:31. > :48:36.So we can have a massive investment in

:48:37. > :48:38.public transport which is one of our signature

:48:39. > :48:39.policies and actually an

:48:40. > :48:45.Absolutely, but it seems like interfering in a family feud with

:48:46. > :48:50.Ukip, you are never quite sure whether they are a member, a past

:48:51. > :48:56.member or a future member, as people come and go under

:48:57. > :48:58.arguments with whoever the current leader is or with

:48:59. > :49:02.I think Rupert is a right that climate change is a real issue

:49:03. > :49:05.and you can't have climate change deniers because it is our children

:49:06. > :49:07.and our grandchildrens' future and it is real.

:49:08. > :49:10.But we must say you were part of the coalition, your party,

:49:11. > :49:18.No, we were a small part of the coalition and coalitions are

:49:19. > :49:19.organisations where if you are a small part

:49:20. > :49:21.you have to do things you

:49:22. > :49:24.don't want to do and you have seen a post 2015 the difference we did

:49:25. > :49:26.make them the coalition by stopping some

:49:27. > :49:29.of the excesses of cuts that are happening with the Conservative

:49:30. > :49:32.So are you ready for a general election?

:49:33. > :49:35.I think I screamed when I heard it at 11am on Tuesday

:49:36. > :49:40.We have got most of our candidates selected, I

:49:41. > :49:47.think we are well on the way to getting that but it will be hard.

:49:48. > :49:50.Just before we move on let me ask you about Aaron Banks.

:49:51. > :49:52.Would you welcome him and being your Ukip candidate in

:49:53. > :50:01.One of the things about Ukip is it is entirely grassroots led and

:50:02. > :50:03.community led so and the people who decide

:50:04. > :50:06.local members in local constituencies.

:50:07. > :50:07.Unlike the Conservatives and Labour, who seem

:50:08. > :50:10.to be forcing candidates than people's throats, Ukip believes in

:50:11. > :50:16.So you can expect a lot of election leaflets through your door

:50:17. > :50:19.Before that, though, the county council

:50:20. > :50:22.With elections everywhere except Bedfordshire where there are no

:50:23. > :50:24.elections in the three unitary authorities.

:50:25. > :50:26.Our county councils face a number of challenges and

:50:27. > :50:30.They have already cut spending dramatically.

:50:31. > :50:36.In the four years after 2010 spending by our county

:50:37. > :50:47.how they will navigate the problems ahead.

:50:48. > :50:53.We know what the buildings look like, we know the people inside

:50:54. > :50:56.hold lots of meetings and they quite often seem to argue with each other.

:50:57. > :51:03.But it's all matters because whether you like it or not

:51:04. > :51:06.county councils play an important part in our lives.

:51:07. > :51:08.Whether it is looking after vulnerable older people,

:51:09. > :51:10.safeguarding children, libraries, 70% of roads

:51:11. > :51:15.across the country are

:51:16. > :51:17.maintained by county councils, so the web and weft of everyday

:51:18. > :51:19.life, the stuff we all use every day, that

:51:20. > :51:22.is not decided by MPs in Westminster that is delivered by county

:51:23. > :51:25.councils, and decisions about that are made by county councils.

:51:26. > :51:29.Jim ran Northamptonshire County Council for

:51:30. > :51:37.Lots of challenges, and the really important

:51:38. > :51:38.thing is making sure you

:51:39. > :51:41.get good quality services at good value for money.

:51:42. > :51:44.But nowadays the general consensus is running a

:51:45. > :51:47.county council is more like a visit to the Lee Valley Whitewater Centre

:51:48. > :51:49.in Hertfordshire - rough, unpredictable and always the chance

:51:50. > :51:58.It wasn't so pressurised as it is today, it was

:51:59. > :52:02.possible to make decisions more confidently.

:52:03. > :52:04.Nowadays you really have to go back to the budget book

:52:05. > :52:07.and make sure the funds are there and there

:52:08. > :52:08.isn't a different way of

:52:09. > :52:13.That sometimes does restrict initiative.

:52:14. > :52:15.There is an uncertain funding situation, we are

:52:16. > :52:19.seeing demand go through the roof at the very same time we see

:52:20. > :52:27.Since George Osborne's first austerity budget the Government's

:52:28. > :52:31.grants to county councils has been cut by more than 40%.

:52:32. > :52:36.Authorities have had to become more efficient

:52:37. > :52:37.and that meant hitting the so-called back-office.

:52:38. > :52:39.Many, like Suffolk County Council, now share their

:52:40. > :52:41.premises with district councils, and thousands of staff have been

:52:42. > :52:43.made redundant or outsourced to other

:52:44. > :52:57.fewer posts at the county council, 1600 fewer in Essex, 1000 in

:52:58. > :52:58.Northamptonshire, almost 600 fewer in Cambridgeshire.

:52:59. > :53:02.That puts pressure on the staff that remain.

:53:03. > :53:07.For example, most notably in children's services.

:53:08. > :53:09.Social workers now deliver even more admin support

:53:10. > :53:12.than they did because their business support and admin has been

:53:13. > :53:14.cut, which has a significant implication on service delivery and

:53:15. > :53:18.is something that is often overlooked.

:53:19. > :53:20.There has also been big changes to the services

:53:21. > :53:27.Youth services were an early casualty, elderly care has been

:53:28. > :53:29.outsourced in most places, but funding hasn't always followed.

:53:30. > :53:31.In Suffolk, the libraries are now run

:53:32. > :53:34.While in Norfolk subsidies for public transport and

:53:35. > :53:38.crossing patrols regularly come under the spotlight.

:53:39. > :53:42.Funding pressures are likely to get even

:53:43. > :53:45.worse if the Government grants stops and councils have to rely on local

:53:46. > :53:49.We've seen savings on all those key services and the

:53:50. > :53:53.big question now is whether there is anything left to take out of the

:53:54. > :53:56.system or whether we are going to have to start looking at stopping

:53:57. > :54:03.In every county in this region the same issue

:54:04. > :54:07.confronts the voters in these elections -

:54:08. > :54:09.which party is best placed to manage an ever declining

:54:10. > :54:19.budget and still provide the important services people rely on.

:54:20. > :54:21.In this region the Conservatives have nearly always

:54:22. > :54:25.county council but in the last four years the Givings Ukip and Lib Dems

:54:26. > :54:28.Blocking budget proposals, raising uncomfortable

:54:29. > :54:29.issues, changing the

:54:30. > :54:37.way council business is conducted in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

:54:38. > :54:41.as it gets even harder to navigate the choppy waters of council

:54:42. > :54:44.Rupert Reid in Norwich, how would you balance

:54:45. > :54:52.Well, our approach as Greens is firstly

:54:53. > :54:56.lot more funding from central Government for local Government.

:54:57. > :55:02.Hang on, you are not going to get that so how are you

:55:03. > :55:05.Well, it depends what happens at the

:55:06. > :55:09.You cannot treat these two elections separately.

:55:10. > :55:12.I hope what people do at the general election is

:55:13. > :55:14.a vote for parties that will actually increase funding to local

:55:15. > :55:17.Government which means above all, the Greens, because we believe

:55:18. > :55:18.passionately in decentralisation, a real

:55:19. > :55:19.decentralisation, to local Government.

:55:20. > :55:24.But, actually, it looks as though the Conservatives have a

:55:25. > :55:26.big lead and would not change the funding

:55:27. > :55:28.formula, so how would you

:55:29. > :55:35.The first thing we would do if we were placed in that very

:55:36. > :55:38.difficult situation is stop funding things which are a complete

:55:39. > :55:44.Such as the Northern distributor roads

:55:45. > :55:46.and other road-building programme here in Norfolk which all parties

:55:47. > :55:48.except for the Greens have supported.

:55:49. > :55:50.Hundreds of millions of pounds being wasted there.

:55:51. > :55:52.Let's take that money and put it into real

:55:53. > :55:53.proper council services that people need.

:55:54. > :55:56.Actually, the Lib Dems have done quite well in by-elections

:55:57. > :55:59.Have you been forgiven, do you think, for the coalition?

:56:00. > :56:01.You are quite right, we have done very

:56:02. > :56:05.I think 33 net gains in the past year.

:56:06. > :56:07.Taking seats from all parties in areas that were

:56:08. > :56:11.And we hope to do well in the county council elections

:56:12. > :56:16.So why is it do you think people are coming back to you?

:56:17. > :56:18.I think it is hard work on the ground.

:56:19. > :56:23.I think we are showing we want to deliver services.

:56:24. > :56:26.I run a council where we have had to balance the

:56:27. > :56:29.books for the past eight years, it is getting more and more

:56:30. > :56:31.difficult but we show we can deliver services.

:56:32. > :56:33.In Bedford we are doing that despite the cuts.

:56:34. > :56:37.But as Rupert said, and as you have said, it is getting more

:56:38. > :56:41.and more difficult as we get more and more cuts and there will have to

:56:42. > :56:45.Ukip have had some interesting developments at council level.

:56:46. > :56:46.You have had people resign, people say

:56:47. > :56:50.Where do you stand going into the local elections?

:56:51. > :56:54.It is interesting the media tend to focus on that.

:56:55. > :56:58.That happens to all parties and local Government and it is just

:56:59. > :57:05.when it happens to Ukip it is of the

:57:06. > :57:08.national press, when it happens to Labour, the Lib Dems,

:57:09. > :57:14.We stand by our councillors, 147 of them are facing

:57:15. > :57:21.You can't blame the media for doing all that.

:57:22. > :57:25.A parish councillor puts a letter in the newspaper as a

:57:26. > :57:28.Conservative parish council and no one bats an eyelid.

:57:29. > :57:32.He changes to Ukip puts in the same letter and it is on

:57:33. > :57:35.the Sunday Politics show with ministers talking about it.

:57:36. > :57:37.That is how hard Ukip have been battered.

:57:38. > :57:38.To answer your question, the reality is

:57:39. > :57:40.we stand by the record of our councillors.

:57:41. > :57:43.These are people who have worked very hard in the local

:57:44. > :57:47.community and I think we will see in the election results

:57:48. > :57:49.all the national picture and the media stories aside,

:57:50. > :57:52.in the election results people will judge is based on the hard

:57:53. > :57:56.Our guys are in running those libraries voluntarily.

:57:57. > :57:58.People like me clean the toilets in our local town.

:57:59. > :58:02.The point about what Green councillors have done is they

:58:03. > :58:05.have done very good stuff, whether in power or out of power.

:58:06. > :58:06.Including massive action on tackling air

:58:07. > :58:11.pollution, one of the great scourges of our time,

:58:12. > :58:13.and if people vote Green at these elections they will

:58:14. > :58:16.know that is the best way of tackling, for example, air

:58:17. > :58:19.Thank you very much for being with us today.

:58:20. > :58:23.We are going to finish today with our round-up of a

:58:24. > :58:32.very busy week in politics in 60 Seconds.

:58:33. > :58:34.It is all change at cereal giant Weetabix in Northamptonshire,

:58:35. > :58:37.where the breakfast manufacturer has been sold

:58:38. > :58:45.Local farmers supply wheat for 3 million biscuits a year.

:58:46. > :58:48.We will continue to make, market and sell our brands here and

:58:49. > :58:51.Northamptonshire and we will also continue to source our wheat from

:58:52. > :58:58.Children here face a fight for school places after

:58:59. > :59:02.being turned down at the local primary despite living just 500

:59:03. > :59:06.Four-year-old Oscar faces a three mile round trip in September.

:59:07. > :59:12.A bit more planning and a bit more foresight

:59:13. > :59:13.could have prevented this

:59:14. > :59:16.Instead it is having a huge impact on the families

:59:17. > :59:20.Over in Holland, qualified nurses visit elderly patients at

:59:21. > :59:23.home, cutting emergency hospital admissions by one third.

:59:24. > :59:27.Now nurses in West Suffolk are trying the same

:59:28. > :59:35.Back home in the House of Commons one MP and didn't exactly pick up

:59:36. > :59:39.his hometown with this invitation to the PM.

:59:40. > :59:40.Will the Prime Minister come to Kettering,

:59:41. > :59:46.I'd be happy to visit the Kettering constituency in the

:59:47. > :59:50.In fact I expect in the next few weeks I

:59:51. > :59:55.will be visiting quite a few constituencies.

:59:56. > :00:02.We are back next week at the usual time

:00:03. > :00:15.on issues like the NHS. Run out of time. Andrew, back to you.

:00:16. > :00:22.Now, Ukip have made their first significant policy announcement

:00:23. > :00:27.of the election campaign today with a call for a ban on wearing

:00:28. > :00:33.But is it a policy that will meet with the approval of the man

:00:34. > :00:35.who bankrolled the party's last general election campaign?

:00:36. > :00:43.Hello, Andrew. Let me see if I can clarify some things, are you a

:00:44. > :00:49.member of Ukip? I a patron of Ukip so I don't stop being a member. So

:00:50. > :00:53.you are still a member? I am, apparently for life. Are you still

:00:54. > :00:59.hoping to bankroll Ukip? Not at the moment. Why is that? The internal

:01:00. > :01:04.problems we have had in Ukip have been aired, and a lot needs to

:01:05. > :01:08.happen in the party in terms of professionalising it and I think it

:01:09. > :01:14.is ill-prepared for this general election. Are you going to run in

:01:15. > :01:21.Clacton? I will be if selected. For Ukip? Yes. Have you been to Clacton?

:01:22. > :01:25.I've been with Nigel Mansell on the campaign. You will run for a

:01:26. > :01:31.constituency you've only been in once? Yes, why does that surprise

:01:32. > :01:35.you? You know nothing about it. I've just recently decided to become the

:01:36. > :01:39.candidate there. Did you know where it is? Of course I do, your piece

:01:40. > :01:43.the other night was completely wrong. I said I knew where it was

:01:44. > :01:50.but I didn't know much about it. Maybe the people of Clacton will

:01:51. > :01:56.regard you as a carpetbagger? Why? Because you have never been there.

:01:57. > :02:00.Most politicians are carpetbaggers and I will be there for the right

:02:01. > :02:06.reasons. I thought it was because of your visceral hatred of Douglas

:02:07. > :02:10.Carswell. He only lasted 24 hours after I announced my candidacy so we

:02:11. > :02:13.will see what happens. The main thing I am going to Clacton on

:02:14. > :02:16.Monday to meet the Ukip councillors, see what the issues are and see if

:02:17. > :02:23.they want me as a candidate. They may not want me. Who do you think

:02:24. > :02:29.you will be up against? The potential Conservative candidate.

:02:30. > :02:33.Who in Ukip? I don't suppose anyone in Ukip will stand against me, I

:02:34. > :02:41.wouldn't have thought. Really? I would have thought. Money talks! Why

:02:42. > :02:44.do you say that? You talked about having a pirate radio station to

:02:45. > :02:47.blast into Clacton so it is not covered by the election rules.

:02:48. > :02:53.You've been talking about financing a sort of right-wing Momentum

:02:54. > :02:58.movement. I just wonder, has politics now just become a

:02:59. > :03:01.Richmond's hobby? From my perspective the reason I'm

:03:02. > :03:03.interested in it is if you have looked at what has happened in the

:03:04. > :03:08.country, it's clear the Conservatives will have a massive

:03:09. > :03:14.majority. -- has politics become a rich man's hobby. Only putting up

:03:15. > :03:21.candidates not against Brexit MPs. Is Ukip over? I don't think so. The

:03:22. > :03:23.electoral maths is interesting because first-past-the-post

:03:24. > :03:34.effectively could help Ukip in this example. Ukip got one MP with 4

:03:35. > :03:38.million votes. What we are seeing is the total collapse of Labour. In

:03:39. > :03:41.that situation there are certain seats up north in Hartlepool and

:03:42. > :03:44.other seats like that, the total collapse of the Labour Party could

:03:45. > :03:50.help Ukip to win a few seats. Is Ukip over? It looks that way, yes.

:03:51. > :03:54.They haven't made much of a dent in Labour's vote in the north, they

:03:55. > :03:58.don't really have a defining issue anymore and all the polls we have

:03:59. > :04:03.seen published since the election was called show Ukip vote is going

:04:04. > :04:06.to the Conservatives. Is Ukip over? It always happens when the

:04:07. > :04:11.Conservative Party goes far to the right, really hard Brexit, there is

:04:12. > :04:17.no space for BMP, Ukip and all of that. Are you associating the BNP

:04:18. > :04:20.with Ukip? Or that, movements to the right of the Conservatives get eaten

:04:21. > :04:26.up one the Conservatives move as far right as Theresa May has done. I

:04:27. > :04:30.think what your enterprise shows is how it's really time to reform

:04:31. > :04:35.funding of political parties. It is disgraceful that very rich people

:04:36. > :04:39.can move in and bankroll the Brexit campaigned to the extent that they

:04:40. > :04:45.did. We need proper state funding of parties. The union is bankrolling

:04:46. > :04:53.Labour. I assume the reform would include trade unions? Indeed. Ukip

:04:54. > :04:57.has lost its talisman in Nigel Farage, it was a one-man party, I

:04:58. > :05:02.have to say, people like Tim. Having voted for Brexit its reason to be

:05:03. > :05:05.has gone. It will still take votes from Labour and the Conservatives

:05:06. > :05:09.but probably only from the don't knows. There are seats in certain

:05:10. > :05:15.places where if enough Tories back Ukip dated when. Hartlepool is an

:05:16. > :05:19.example. Were the Tories will never win. The demise of Ukip has been

:05:20. > :05:23.forecasted many times before but I don't see a Tory candidate winning

:05:24. > :05:27.in a place like Hartlepool. So we could see, and I think we will see,

:05:28. > :05:32.the total collapse of the Labour vote. We shall see. The leader of

:05:33. > :05:36.the party of which you say you are still a patron, Paul Nuttall, said

:05:37. > :05:44.he would ban the Burcea and the niqab in public, what is your view?

:05:45. > :05:48.-- the niqab and the Burcea? I'm not in agreement with that. If it is a

:05:49. > :05:52.security issue at airports or public transport it could be acceptable but

:05:53. > :05:56.I'm not in favour of curtailing people's writes. You have gone

:05:57. > :06:00.further than him, haven't you? You tweeted you wanted to ban Muslim

:06:01. > :06:04.immigration. In my view the problem we have had with the lack of

:06:05. > :06:08.integration in certain communities has come about through mass

:06:09. > :06:12.open-door immigration. If you are a must win you wouldn't be allowed in?

:06:13. > :06:17.What I said in the tweet was I think they should be a ban on

:06:18. > :06:23.immigration... You said Muslim immigration. That's what I believe.

:06:24. > :06:26.If you are a world famous doctor coming to help one of our big

:06:27. > :06:29.teaching hospitals in this country because you are a Muslim you could

:06:30. > :06:33.not get in? We have to start somewhere, there are huge problems

:06:34. > :06:38.in areas where 20% of the population don't speak the language, they

:06:39. > :06:44.haven't integrated. You should read the rest of the tweet, it is control

:06:45. > :06:47.of immigration from a 10-year ban on unskilled immigration. The first

:06:48. > :06:51.thing you said was to ban Muslim immigration, it is in black and

:06:52. > :06:55.white. I have said that, I do not dispute that. I was questioning

:06:56. > :06:59.that. There is my answer, you cannot tell somebody's will adjust freedoms

:07:00. > :07:04.but what you can do is stop adding to the problem. Doesn't that sound a

:07:05. > :07:08.bit like the BNP? It's as like BNP and like Trump. Its, we hate

:07:09. > :07:14.Muslims, fine, if that is what you are standing for, that is clear. The

:07:15. > :07:16.final word is we have had open-door mass immigration from the

:07:17. > :07:19.Conservative Party, we've had it from the Labour Party and its fine

:07:20. > :07:23.if you are in north London to say these things, if you live in Oldham

:07:24. > :07:27.and your community has been radically changed and you have a

:07:28. > :07:30.whole population not integrating in, not speaking the language, something

:07:31. > :07:35.has got to be done. We had better leave it there. Thank you for coming

:07:36. > :07:37.in. I am en route to Clacton. We will see how you get on there.

:07:38. > :07:40.Now, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was on TV earlier today

:07:41. > :07:43.and he was asked again about an issue that he's been

:07:44. > :07:45.asked about repeatedly - his attitude to homosexuality.

:07:46. > :07:54.when they asked you whether gay sex was a sin.

:07:55. > :07:57.Come on, Robert, I've been asked this question loads

:07:58. > :08:01.few days and I have been clear, even in the House of Commons,

:08:02. > :08:11.It's possible I'm not the only person getting tired

:08:12. > :08:15.Probably, but then why don't you just close it down?

:08:16. > :08:27.Toby Young, why does he get into such a mess over this? I mean, he is

:08:28. > :08:31.leader of the Liberal Democrats. Its 2017. I guess the reason he keeps

:08:32. > :08:35.refusing to answer that question is because what the implication is that

:08:36. > :08:41.he does think that homosexual acts are sinful, and he cannot bring

:08:42. > :08:45.himself not to say that, or to say what Robert Peston and others want

:08:46. > :08:50.him to say because he is an evangelical Christian who converted

:08:51. > :08:52.at the age of 20, 21, and clearly he really struggles with this issue and

:08:53. > :08:57.I think it will be really difficult for the Lib Dems to promote, or even

:08:58. > :09:00.Lib Dem candidates like Vince Cable, to promote the idea of the

:09:01. > :09:04.Progressive Alliance even though Tim has ruled it out, if he is not

:09:05. > :09:12.prepared to say I don't think homosexual acts are sinful. What is

:09:13. > :09:15.your view? It is disastrous if that is what he really thinks but Preston

:09:16. > :09:17.did not push the hard. I'm not sure he understood the difference about

:09:18. > :09:21.the question between gay sex and being gay. I think he just thought

:09:22. > :09:25.he was going on saying I'm not anti-gay. He needs to command

:09:26. > :09:29.immediately and clarify it. If you are right and he does actually think

:09:30. > :09:33.it is a sin he is in real trouble. There is a slight parallel with what

:09:34. > :09:37.police said before about Jeremy Corbyn, how his unilateral nuclear

:09:38. > :09:42.policy would appeal to the hard core of the left. The problem for Tim

:09:43. > :09:46.Farron with what he is saying here, while he is an evangelical

:09:47. > :09:54.Christian, this will not appeal to traditional Liberal Democrats. An

:09:55. > :09:58.LGBT community member cannot possibly vote for an MP who believes

:09:59. > :10:02.that a sexual act between homosexuals is sinful. He has not

:10:03. > :10:06.made that clear. Of course, he wants to stop Brexit as well so he is

:10:07. > :10:09.neither liberal nor democratic. He will have seven weeks to make it

:10:10. > :10:14.clear because I am sure he will be asked again. We have the chairman of

:10:15. > :10:18.the Conservative Party on earlier, Polly. An important figure for the

:10:19. > :10:22.Tory campaign. What did you make of what he said? I don't think he will

:10:23. > :10:26.have him on very often, he didn't do brilliantly. I think they will bring

:10:27. > :10:31.back chemical Ali, Michael Fallon, he can say anything with a straight

:10:32. > :10:36.face, he can say black is white. Michael Fallon, chemical Ali? Why do

:10:37. > :10:42.you say that? He can absolutely say black is white. For instance if you

:10:43. > :10:49.look back at what he said, you challenged him about the energy

:10:50. > :10:53.policy, when Ed Miliband came out with it, he said any kind of freeze

:10:54. > :10:58.would stop investment, the lights will go out. You have him on, he

:10:59. > :11:04.will say the exact opposite. He is magic at that. But I don't think

:11:05. > :11:10.your guy today was up to the job. If Michael Fallon was chemical Ali, or

:11:11. > :11:16.we should say chemical Fally, Patrick was more like comical Ali.

:11:17. > :11:21.The whole Iraq war is rushing back at me. He is the warm up comedian,

:11:22. > :11:26.there is another six weeks to go, just getting things started. What

:11:27. > :11:29.did you think? I don't think he was too bad, it was difficult for him to

:11:30. > :11:33.say exactly what was in the 2050 manifesto is going to be replicated

:11:34. > :11:36.in the Conservatives' manifesto during this general election, he

:11:37. > :11:40.doesn't want to be seen rowing back on stuff but on the other hand I

:11:41. > :11:43.don't think he can conceal the fact they will be far fewer commitments

:11:44. > :11:47.in this Conservative manifesto than in the last one, as you and I know,

:11:48. > :11:56.it was full of rash promises last time because they thought they would

:11:57. > :11:58.have to trade a lot of them away in the negotiations with the Liberal

:11:59. > :12:01.Democrats to form a second coalition so they are saddled with policies

:12:02. > :12:03.they don't particularly want to be hemmed in by. The forthcoming

:12:04. > :12:06.Conservative manifesto will be much lighter and shorter with fewer

:12:07. > :12:10.commitments. Different? Some stuff jumped from the 2050 manifesto? I

:12:11. > :12:13.think so but we will see a commitment to run schools to

:12:14. > :12:15.overcome that hurdle in the next parliament and I don't think, in

:12:16. > :12:20.spite of what you think, Polly, that it will be a hard tack to the right.

:12:21. > :12:25.I think if anything the mood music of the Conservative manifesto will

:12:26. > :12:29.be a centrist inclusive one. The mood music will be because the

:12:30. > :12:32.specifics would be there. She is good at saying governing for

:12:33. > :12:36.everybody and the many and not the few but when you look at the hard

:12:37. > :12:40.facts of what her and Hammond's budget looks like, you look at her

:12:41. > :12:47.hard Brexit, it's a very different story. Or that, the music has

:12:48. > :12:54.stopped for this week! Thank you. I will be back next week at the normal

:12:55. > :12:58.time of 11am on Sunday morning. On BBC One The Daily Politics is back

:12:59. > :13:03.at midday tomorrow and we will be on every day next week on BBC Two.

:13:04. > :13:32.Remember, if it's Sunday, it is The Sunday Politics.

:13:33. > :13:35.There'll be a couple of hours of just fantastic music, really,

:13:36. > :13:38.all the Ella classics, as well as some very special guests,

:13:39. > :13:41.we have Mica Paris, Imelda May, Dame Cleo Laine

:13:42. > :13:46.'There's a side to Rory that the public doesn't see.

:13:47. > :13:50.'Rory has suspected for some time that he may have ADHD.

:13:51. > :13:59.Here we have the first hydrogen bomb that went into service with