:00:43. > :00:46.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics. As the standoff
:00:46. > :00:54.between Israel and Hamas continues, the Foreign Secretary calls for
:00:54. > :00:57.restraint on both sides. Is anyone listening?
:00:57. > :01:00.After apathy swept across England and Wales last week, we'll ask Tory
:01:00. > :01:03.Chairman Grant Shapps where the Police Commissioners debacle leaves
:01:03. > :01:09.David Cameron's dreams of firing up society. That's the Sunday
:01:09. > :01:13.Interview. And is Ed Miliband getting a bit
:01:13. > :01:15.carried away after his party's victory in the Corby by-election?
:01:15. > :01:18.We'll ask Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper whether Labour's
:01:18. > :01:21.triumph is anything more than a routine mid-term setback for the
:01:21. > :01:29.Government. And is it time for prisoners to get
:01:29. > :01:32.the vote? Well, it might increase turnout! Under pressure from the
:01:32. > :01:39.European Court the Government will put some options before Parliament.
:01:39. > :01:44.Before they vote, two MPs go head to head. In London this week, with
:01:44. > :01:50.one Conservative absent without leave in the jungle, how do they
:01:50. > :01:53.connect with constituents and how long do they spend with them?
:01:53. > :01:56.And with me, as always, the best and the brightest political panel
:01:56. > :01:59.in the business Isabelle Oakeshott, Janan Ganesh and Nick Watt offering
:01:59. > :02:07.more wit, insight and tweets than there are votes in a South Wales
:02:07. > :02:09.ballot box. No ground invasion by Israel of
:02:09. > :02:12.Gaza, so far, but Israeli planes and warships have continued to
:02:12. > :02:17.pound Gaza City, hitting two media centres in the process while Hamas
:02:17. > :02:21.is still firing rockets at Israel. There are also talks in Cairo on a
:02:21. > :02:30.ceasefire. Britain's Foreign Secretary has been on Sky News.
:02:30. > :02:34.Here's what William Hague had to say. Efforts are going on to
:02:34. > :02:41.negotiate a ceasefire, to come to an agreed ceasefire, but clearly
:02:41. > :02:47.those have not been successful so far. We support those efforts. We
:02:47. > :02:51.call on Hamas again to stop the rocket attacks on Israel. It is
:02:51. > :02:55.Hamas that bears the principal responsibility for starting this,
:02:55. > :03:00.and we would like to see an agreed ceasefire, an essential component
:03:00. > :03:04.of which is an end to those rocket attacks. In the absence of a
:03:04. > :03:11.ceasefire, we are calling on everyone involved to the escalate,
:03:11. > :03:16.to avoid civilian casualties and abide by humanitarian law.
:03:16. > :03:22.nothing new in that. I wonder if people appreciate the powerful
:03:22. > :03:27.position Israel is in. Syria, the biggest enemy in civil war, Jordan,
:03:27. > :03:33.on Reston the streets in Egypt, Cairo, the Egyptian army in no
:03:33. > :03:39.position to do anything that would cause the Israelis damage. And now
:03:40. > :03:44.increased attacks on Tel-Aviv as well. If you think back to 2006 and
:03:44. > :03:48.Israel's conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, William Hague came under a
:03:48. > :03:54.lot of criticism for taking what they thought was a hostile line
:03:54. > :03:59.against Israel. He found it a very wounding experience. I think he was
:03:59. > :04:04.shaped by it, and in this conflict he has been more supportive of
:04:04. > :04:11.Israel, morning to pin the blame on Hamas than he was six years ago.
:04:11. > :04:17.For it was Tony Blair's failure to condemn Israel in 2006 that led to
:04:17. > :04:22.the final Cabinet heave-ho. The important point about this conflict
:04:22. > :04:26.is that it is the first major conflict since the Arab Spring and
:04:26. > :04:30.what is the big change that has happened there? You know Havant
:04:31. > :04:34.Islamist government in Egypt. The President of Egypt comes from the
:04:35. > :04:42.Muslim Brotherhood that has historical links with Hamas, which
:04:42. > :04:47.has changed the tectonic plates. The old days when Israel could take
:04:47. > :04:53.action and President Mubarak would turn a blind eye, they have gone.
:04:53. > :04:58.one thing we have not mentioned is oil prices and this is the spectre
:04:58. > :05:05.that haunts the government here, politically. Growing instability in
:05:05. > :05:10.the Middle East, what will that do to oil prices? If they surge, will
:05:10. > :05:14.that scuppered the economic recovery? We will see. We have have
:05:14. > :05:16.the by-election in Corby, the election for the police
:05:16. > :05:22.commissioners, where does that leave British politics this
:05:22. > :05:32.weekend? The biggest important thing is where it leaves the
:05:32. > :05:32.
:05:32. > :05:39.Liberal Democrats. The results this week will have fuelled the anxiety,
:05:39. > :05:43.further raising questions over Nick Clegg's position. You would assume
:05:43. > :05:49.that polling at 8% in the opinion polls, doing as badly as they did
:05:49. > :05:59.last week, there would be more sedition with indolent Dem ranks
:05:59. > :06:08.than their is and even Nick Clegg this morning. -- Vince Cable this
:06:08. > :06:13.morning was not unsupportive. are in a hung parliament for some
:06:13. > :06:23.time. Labour's four Corby, of course they are going to, and the
:06:23. > :06:26.Tories did not do that well so it is next for all of them. -- mixed.
:06:26. > :06:29.In a moment, we'll ask Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper just how
:06:29. > :06:31.significant Corby and the other elections are. But first here's her
:06:31. > :06:35.leader getting very excited. There's some flash photography.
:06:35. > :06:40.This constituency is at the heart of our country and it has sent a
:06:40. > :06:44.very clear message today. It has sent a message that it is putting
:06:44. > :06:50.its trust in a One nation Labour Party and Middle England is turning
:06:50. > :06:54.away from David Cameron and the Conservatives because Middle
:06:54. > :06:59.England feels let down by David Cameron and the Conservatives.
:06:59. > :07:04.joining me now is Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Welcome
:07:04. > :07:09.back to the programme. Corby was a decent result for you, nobody can
:07:09. > :07:15.deny that, but there is no evidence result in mid-term by-elections
:07:15. > :07:19.like this give you any real clue to the party's performance in a
:07:19. > :07:25.general election. The we think it was good progress and we think it
:07:26. > :07:29.is good week won this and saw an increase in our vote compared to
:07:30. > :07:33.the general election as well as a drop in the Conservative and
:07:33. > :07:36.Liberal Democrats vote, but of course you are right, we have a lot
:07:36. > :07:42.more to do before the general election and we will keep working
:07:42. > :07:46.at that. What do you say to the point from Nick Watt that we could
:07:46. > :07:52.be in the hung parliament territory for the foreseeable future? I don't
:07:52. > :07:56.want to see that because I think some of the damage this coalition
:07:56. > :08:05.be doing to the Country is massive, whether written is the double-dip
:08:05. > :08:11.recession, or to the public health service. It was a bad defeat in
:08:11. > :08:13.2010, but this showed that Ed Miliband's approach is building
:08:13. > :08:19.sport and support from a constituency in the heart of
:08:19. > :08:25.England. Let's look at that because your leader did say middle-England
:08:25. > :08:33.was turning away from the Conservatives, but the evidence
:08:33. > :08:37.they are putting their trust in Labour is hard to find. The
:08:37. > :08:43.Conservatives won 15 of the Police Commissioner contests, you won just
:08:43. > :08:48.13. The only police commissioner contest you've won was one seat in
:08:48. > :08:55.the south in Bedfordshire. Those results are interesting. If you
:08:55. > :09:00.look at the overall vote, Labour won 33% of the vote, Conservatives
:09:00. > :09:05.about 27%, and independents about 22%, but the real story about what
:09:05. > :09:09.happened is that hardly anybody voted. It was shockingly low
:09:09. > :09:14.turnout and that shows anger about having the elections and the first
:09:14. > :09:19.place. I am going to speak to the Tory chairman about the turnout,
:09:19. > :09:28.but what I am trying to ask for is that of those who did vote, there
:09:28. > :09:37.is no sign of a mad rush to you. In Kent and Essex, these are the kind
:09:37. > :09:43.of counties you need to win seats in to get the overall majority, you
:09:43. > :09:47.were beaten by the Conservatives and independents. We did get a
:09:48. > :09:53.larger share of the vote, more than in 2010.
:09:53. > :09:58.A you have a very long way to go. It would be foolish to Reading to a
:09:58. > :10:03.low turnout vote. When only 15% of the country voted, and what I found
:10:03. > :10:08.on the doorstep on Thursday, what a lot of people said, and I think
:10:08. > :10:12.this was from all parties, they were very angry about having these
:10:12. > :10:17.elections in the first place. They didn't know anything about it, it
:10:17. > :10:23.was in November, and the Government spent �100 million on these
:10:23. > :10:29.elections. It is a shocking waste of money. I have heard do and
:10:29. > :10:34.enjoyed listening to you. Your leader has made a more of them, he
:10:34. > :10:39.said it was a sign of people turning away from the Conservatives,
:10:39. > :10:45.putting their trust in Labour. In Wales, you only won one of the
:10:45. > :10:48.Police Commissioner seats. These are not great results for you.
:10:48. > :10:52.think the Police and Crime Commissioner results were not great
:10:52. > :10:59.for democracy. I think Labour did get the largest share of the vote
:10:59. > :11:04.but I'm not going to say I am proud of this when 15% of the public
:11:04. > :11:12.voted. We did do our best, campaigning and working across the
:11:12. > :11:15.country. In Humberside, 2010 Election Humberside had a 25,000
:11:15. > :11:24.Conservative majority so in fact Humberside was always going to be
:11:24. > :11:28.very difficult. You do badly in the city of Hull as well. Of course it
:11:28. > :11:32.is a Conservative area, Humberside, so good luck to John that he was
:11:32. > :11:36.prepared to campaign for what was a very difficult election for a post
:11:36. > :11:39.that I think the public didn't want and thought was a real waste of
:11:39. > :11:49.money when you could have spent the money on 3000 police officers
:11:49. > :11:50.
:11:50. > :11:57.instead. You can't use money which is a single sum. It is 100 million,
:11:57. > :12:02.a one-off on these elections. Is John Prescott's career over? He is
:12:02. > :12:06.unstoppable, you always expect to see him doing more. People didn't
:12:06. > :12:12.turn out not just in these elections, but also in Manchester
:12:12. > :12:19.the turnout was only 18%. Yes, and Manchester was obviously expected -
:12:19. > :12:24.people treated it as a safe seat. The Labour vote held up quite well,
:12:24. > :12:31.but turnout was too low. The you got 10,000 fewer votes this time
:12:31. > :12:35.than in 2010. I think you have differences between areas that were
:12:35. > :12:40.considered to be safe seats like Manchester and Cardiff, and Corby
:12:40. > :12:44.which had a higher turnout. The interesting thing about the police
:12:44. > :12:50.elections was that every part of the country, whether it was
:12:50. > :12:56.marginal, where the writ was rural or urban, turnout was rock bottom.
:12:56. > :13:00.How can you claim the Labour vote held up quite well when it was
:13:00. > :13:05.10,000 smaller than two years ago? It was a by-election compared to a
:13:05. > :13:10.general election. I am not going to argue that turnout was too low, it
:13:10. > :13:14.has been a trend across the decades. I think political parties need to
:13:14. > :13:22.do more and we need to make it easier for people to vote. Rather
:13:22. > :13:26.than just doing it on a Thursday and certainly not in November.
:13:26. > :13:31.think it is clear they won't be doing that again. Prisoner voting
:13:31. > :13:38.is back on the agenda. You are going to get a choice of the status
:13:38. > :13:42.quo, no votes at all, votes if you are only banged away for six months,
:13:42. > :13:46.which though would you take? I have always taken the view that if
:13:46. > :13:50.someone has committed a crime that is serious enough to take away
:13:50. > :13:54.their liberty, for that period they should also be deprived of the
:13:54. > :13:59.right to vote. That has been the view of the House of Commons and I
:13:59. > :14:03.would expect that to continue. he would vote for the status quo?
:14:03. > :14:11.That has been a long-standing Labour policy and we will cut the
:14:11. > :14:16.proposals. And if you are saying no votes for any business, where does
:14:16. > :14:20.that leave us with the European Court? You have to keep going back
:14:20. > :14:23.to the European Court on this because their job is to look at
:14:23. > :14:29.what disproportionate and responsible. The British Parliament
:14:29. > :14:33.is being proportion it. We have not had a legal debate on this, we have
:14:33. > :14:38.not passed laws on this even though we have passed motions, and the
:14:38. > :14:41.European Court should look at it again. It shows Parliament is being
:14:41. > :14:45.responsible about this. That is the way the British courts have
:14:45. > :14:52.operated, to look at whether the parliament is being responsible and
:14:52. > :15:00.proportion it. It will be an interesting week. Thank you. So the
:15:00. > :15:03.Tories lost in Corby, people wearing different to us voting for
:15:04. > :15:07.police commissioners - has David Cameron's idea of engaging people
:15:07. > :15:11.and decisions that affect their lives at hit the buffers? An
:15:11. > :15:16.invitation to join the government to Britain, that was the title of
:15:16. > :15:20.the Conservative manifesto at the last general election. The Big
:15:20. > :15:24.Society directly-elected mayors, US style elected police commissioners,
:15:24. > :15:29.and powers devolved to the local level were promised to the voters.
:15:29. > :15:35.It didn't give David Cameron a majority in 2010 and now looks like
:15:35. > :15:38.an invite the voters are rejecting. The lowest ever turnout in the
:15:39. > :15:45.election for police commissioners comes after voters had largely
:15:45. > :15:50.rejected plans for a directly- elected mayor. In Corby the
:15:50. > :15:55.decision of Louise Mensch to abandon her parliamentary seat mid-
:15:56. > :16:00.term turned into a Labour win. More worrying for the Tories is that
:16:00. > :16:04.UKIP came from nowhere to win a respectable third place.
:16:04. > :16:08.Performance which can only put more Euro-sceptic pressure on David
:16:08. > :16:12.Cameron from his backbenchers. To win an overall majority at the next
:16:12. > :16:18.general election, the Conservatives have to win millions more voters
:16:18. > :16:23.than they did in 2010. Will their new elections to Primo Linton
:16:23. > :16:32.Crosby, the man dubbed the Wizard of us, help them come up with a
:16:32. > :16:38.more attractive proposition next And Conservative Party Chairman
:16:39. > :16:43.Grant Shapps joins me now for the Sunday Interview. Good morning. Can
:16:44. > :16:49.we confirm Linton Crosby is the party's new campaign strategist?
:16:49. > :16:54.will come and be campaign manager but not until the New Year and on a
:16:54. > :16:58.part-time basis. Have you investigated the claims that
:16:58. > :17:03.mysteriously appeared in the Mail on Sunday this morning about him
:17:03. > :17:11.using inappropriate language towards Muslims? He has no
:17:11. > :17:16.recollection of this at all. I also know from Boris Johnson, this is a
:17:16. > :17:21.serious campaigner. I think he brings a focus that is required to
:17:21. > :17:27.managing campaigns. We have a big job to do. We need to explain what
:17:27. > :17:32.is going on. This country is in a global race. We need to get out
:17:32. > :17:38.there and secured a brilliant future for Britain. We need someone
:17:38. > :17:45.managing the campaign who can focus on doing that. No recollection is a
:17:45. > :17:52.strange denial. You would remember the words or you would not. Boris
:17:52. > :17:57.Johnson would Eiger have remembered or not. Both have said no
:17:57. > :18:01.recollection. -- either have remembered. Lots of people are
:18:01. > :18:06.involved in campaigns. It is an unnamed source who has said it to
:18:07. > :18:13.the paper. I do know that the two people I do know have both said
:18:13. > :18:17.this does not sound right. Actually, what you want to do any case, is
:18:17. > :18:21.not focused on that. I imagine your viewers will be thinking, it is
:18:21. > :18:25.very interesting but what matters is the cost of living and the price
:18:25. > :18:31.of a pint of milk. We will have a campaign that focuses properly on
:18:31. > :18:36.the things that matter. Will Mr Crosby still be advising corporate
:18:36. > :18:41.clients well he runs the Tory campaign? His business is more than
:18:41. > :18:47.just him. He has a lot of corporate clients. Will he still be doing
:18:47. > :18:52.that? Whatever his private arrangements are is not something I
:18:52. > :18:59.am aware of. A how can he advise corporate clients and run the
:18:59. > :19:04.Conservative campaign? Let's be clear, I run the Conservative
:19:04. > :19:09.campaign. I am the chairman of the party. I attend Cabinet and the
:19:09. > :19:12.buck stops with me. I want the best team in place to manage the
:19:12. > :19:19.campaign. One of those people is acting as a consultant on a part-
:19:19. > :19:24.time basis initially and runs a company. His business is more than
:19:24. > :19:29.just him. It is a company. We're hiring the company and an expert
:19:29. > :19:36.with a proven track record -- track record. He has helped Boris Johnson
:19:36. > :19:39.be elected twice. I want that focus with my campaign. Back to this week,
:19:39. > :19:46.the philosophy of David Cameron involved a new sort of engagement
:19:46. > :19:51.in society. Let me show you what was said here. It says, will change
:19:51. > :19:57.comes when the people are inspired and mobilised, went millions of us
:19:57. > :20:01.are fired up to play a part in the nation's future. When you look at
:20:01. > :20:06.what happened with directly elected mayors and the new police
:20:06. > :20:11.commissioner elections, that has not happened. We would love to have
:20:11. > :20:18.a bigger turnout. 5.5 million people did vote in those elections.
:20:18. > :20:25.I agree with you. We want to see the bigger turnout. I agree.
:20:25. > :20:30.vision has been a miserable failure. His 41 Police Commissioner's are
:20:30. > :20:34.people who would be elected - are now elected - with a far bigger
:20:34. > :20:39.mandate than the zero mandate that the chairman of the police
:20:39. > :20:48.authority used to have. They used to run the austerities. You have a
:20:48. > :20:54.mandate of 4%. -- the authorities. They will have a mandate of 4% on
:20:54. > :20:58.average. Fired up to play a part in the nation's future... If that is
:20:58. > :21:03.fired up, I would not want to see something that is extinguished.
:21:03. > :21:08.the Olympics we had volunteers coming out to be games makers.
:21:08. > :21:14.is nothing to do with you. That quote is about the nation being
:21:14. > :21:19.fired up. 5.5 million people went out to vote. Let's not dismiss that.
:21:19. > :21:25.If you take the first elected police commissioner, he had 37,000
:21:25. > :21:28.votes and he replaced someone with no votes. I think it is a good idea.
:21:28. > :21:33.I think next time around we were see a big increase will start you
:21:33. > :21:39.are not be silly enough to hold them on a night in November next
:21:39. > :21:46.time. The manifesto also promised a Big Society day. We are waiting
:21:46. > :21:51.with our diaries. Can you give us that date? I cannot. But I can tell
:21:51. > :21:56.you, all these volunteers from the Olympics, we do not want to lose
:21:56. > :22:04.that spirit - that energy and enthusiasm. What things will happen
:22:04. > :22:08.this coming summer involving them. What is really big is the National
:22:08. > :22:13.Assistance service. That has been quietly expanding so that tens of
:22:13. > :22:18.thousands of young people are taking part in it. That is a huge
:22:18. > :22:25.project. This summer we will see the biggest ever programme.
:22:26. > :22:34.cannot give me the date. Noah macro, I cannot yet. 10 Downing Street
:22:34. > :22:42.blamed the media for the electoral voting for the police commissioner
:22:42. > :22:49.at elections. I would not say that. Elections for a new post will be
:22:49. > :22:54.very different in 3.5 years' time. For a second, put yourself in a
:22:54. > :23:01.position of somebody, maybe a pensioner, who goes down to the
:23:01. > :23:04.local parade of shops - feels threatened because of the level of
:23:04. > :23:08.antisocial behaviour which is unacceptable - these police
:23:08. > :23:13.commissioners can do something about it. I reckon in four years'
:23:13. > :23:23.time we will see a much bigger turnout. Let's see what the
:23:23. > :23:29.
:23:29. > :23:33.Electoral Reform Society had to Is she right? You always need to do
:23:33. > :23:37.a lot to get people to come out and vote. I was knocking on doors
:23:37. > :23:41.yesterday talking about the campaign, as well as during the
:23:41. > :23:46.campaign. The fact there was not enough information through the door
:23:46. > :23:50.is correct. Candidates need to take some responsibility. The
:23:50. > :23:54.conservative side of the campaign delivered over 12 million
:23:54. > :24:00.newsletters and leaflets. We got through a lot of the front doors in
:24:00. > :24:05.this country. How much campaigning did Mr Cameron do? He supported
:24:06. > :24:10.quite a number of the candidate's. Did he make a single speech saying,
:24:10. > :24:15.vote for police commissioners? the one hand, people are saying, we
:24:15. > :24:20.do not want to over politicised police commissioners. They had
:24:20. > :24:24.quite a few independent ones elected. I visited about six of the
:24:24. > :24:29.most marginal seats in the country and we actually won in several of
:24:29. > :24:35.those locations. Let me show you this. It is a new word that has
:24:35. > :24:39.entered the English Dictionary - omnishambles. A situation that has
:24:39. > :24:43.been comprehensively mismanaged, characterised by a series of
:24:43. > :24:49.blunders and miscalculations. I suspect it has gone into the ditch
:24:49. > :24:55.a party because of the behaviour of your government. -- the dictionary.
:24:55. > :25:01.We have managed to deliver the Olympics. It was done brilliantly -
:25:01. > :25:04.not just by the Government - but by the London Organising Committee.
:25:04. > :25:10.During the last two-and-a-half years, we have reduced the deficit
:25:10. > :25:14.by a quarter. We are trying to get the country's finances back on
:25:14. > :25:21.track. We have to compete with China. Every three months they are
:25:21. > :25:27.building an economy the size of breathe -- Greece. Are you not
:25:27. > :25:32.taking credit for the omnishambles? It is a Westminster story. What
:25:32. > :25:37.people really care about is, how can I pay my council tax? We have
:25:37. > :25:44.frozen egg for the third year in a row to make it easier to do. --
:25:44. > :25:48.frozen it. It is the cost of living issues which matter to people.
:25:48. > :25:52.Whether there are words in the English language or not will be
:25:52. > :26:00.small compared with whether we have the answers for Britain in the
:26:00. > :26:10.future. Let's turn to Corby. Tory Central Office, you must regret
:26:10. > :26:10.
:26:10. > :26:16.parachuting Louise Mensch into the constituency, -- constituency.
:26:16. > :26:21.think it is wrong to leave mid-term. Ed Miliband and Labour fell to live
:26:21. > :26:26.up to the target, which would have been by a reasonable comparison
:26:26. > :26:34.what happened in crude - that was the mid- point by-election last
:26:34. > :26:37.time around. -- cru place macro. They managed to get to an 8000
:26:37. > :26:46.majority in a seat with very difficult circumstances with an MP
:26:46. > :26:51.that has disappeared. She was a so called A Lister. She is a celebrity.
:26:51. > :26:56.She barely knows Corby. A wonder if she could have found it on the map
:26:56. > :27:02.for you made a Tory candidate. Why were they so keen to get her into
:27:02. > :27:08.Parliament? To be fair to her, love knows no bounds and she went off to
:27:08. > :27:12.the States to be with her husband. I do not think it is a good idea
:27:12. > :27:17.for people to leave their seats part of the way through. I want
:27:17. > :27:21.everyone to be a great candidate for the next elections. I want
:27:21. > :27:27.great candidates in every location. You may want candidates who have
:27:27. > :27:33.done work in the political trenches, who are not Blaikie celebrity
:27:33. > :27:38.stardust, is that right? I want candidates with a political working
:27:38. > :27:43.background but also have experience of the real world. We can bring
:27:43. > :27:49.people into Parliament who have something with them so they can
:27:49. > :27:53.represent the people better. What worries you more - the 13% swing of
:27:53. > :28:00.Labour or UKIP coming from nowhere to a respectable third? Labour
:28:01. > :28:07.should have got about 18% if they were to match where they were on
:28:07. > :28:11.the last mid-term. UKIP took votes from Conservatives, that is true.
:28:11. > :28:17.UKIP also took the votes from Labour. The reason for the result
:28:17. > :28:22.is that in Corby - in the town itself - there are taking a lot of
:28:23. > :28:27.Labour call votes. -- they were taking. All that stuff should worry
:28:27. > :28:31.everyone. It should worry the country. Getting the relationship
:28:31. > :28:36.right with Europe is critically important. Your election strategy
:28:36. > :28:42.involves targeting 40 seats you need to win at the next election.
:28:42. > :28:47.Is it true half of them are Lib Dem seats? Yes. Your election strategy
:28:47. > :28:52.involves wiping out the big chunk of your coalition partners? I have
:28:52. > :28:56.never minced my words about this. I want Conservatives to win in every
:28:56. > :29:00.seat in the country and I do not mind who the opposition is. If we
:29:00. > :29:04.are going to form the next government with an outright
:29:04. > :29:12.majority and do some of the things the country really needs - reshape
:29:12. > :29:17.the economy and be the party of people who wants to work hard, we
:29:17. > :29:23.need to win in every seat. I do not see it as a personal vendetta
:29:23. > :29:28.against the Lib Dems, I just want to win. Jeremy Browne is MP for
:29:28. > :29:34.Taunton Deane. He has a majority of under 4000. He is widely regarded
:29:34. > :29:40.as a pillar of the coalition. He will be aid targeted seat. What are
:29:40. > :29:46.you going to tell people not to vote for him for? People are voting
:29:46. > :29:50.for a government. They want to cede people doing things they want, like
:29:50. > :29:55.renegotiate the relationship with Europe and fundamentally get this
:29:55. > :30:01.country in a position where, in the global race, we swim rather than
:30:01. > :30:09.sink, then we need a Conservative government. What incentive does he
:30:09. > :30:13.have to work with you? He is in the coalition and it runs till 2015. We
:30:13. > :30:18.all know in coalition we are co- operating on the core issues like
:30:18. > :30:23.cutting the deficit, which we have cut by a quarter, and stopping the
:30:23. > :30:28.country from going bust. We do not agree on a whole bunch of other
:30:28. > :30:33.things but at the next election we are going to fight them. David
:30:33. > :30:38.Cameron said that the British should go to Brussels now with our
:30:38. > :30:43.shopping list, to tell them what powers we want to repatriate, have
:30:43. > :30:49.a referendum we can vote on, and that was strengthen our bargaining
:30:49. > :30:55.position. What you say? We are in a coalition and that runs to 2015. I
:30:55. > :30:59.want to see powers repatriated from Europe. Going back to the previous
:30:59. > :31:02.conversation, one pitch will be two people in all kinds of seeds around
:31:02. > :31:07.the country as if we want to have this reformed relationship in
:31:07. > :31:13.Europe, not run by Europe, and we need a majority government. You are
:31:13. > :31:16.saying you would like to do what David Davis has suggested. It will
:31:16. > :31:26.not surprise anyone that the Lib Dems are the most pro-European
:31:26. > :31:28.
:31:28. > :31:32.The idea makes David Cameron for as a classic, the prospect of
:31:32. > :31:38.prisoners getting the vote. The government will place that vote
:31:38. > :31:41.before the House of Commons begin this week. Confused? He will not be,
:31:41. > :31:46.because we have been finding out more.
:31:46. > :31:50.When it comes at prisoners, the government has a problem. Some of
:31:50. > :31:55.them want the vote in general elections. A court has ruled some
:31:55. > :31:59.of them must be able to, the Prime Minister disagrees. In my view
:31:59. > :32:04.prisoners should not get the vote but we will have to sort this out
:32:05. > :32:10.one way or the other. Had agreed get in this position? It is down to
:32:10. > :32:16.prisoners who had a lot of time to think about it, John Hirst and
:32:16. > :32:19.others all fraud cases to the European Court of Human Rights in
:32:19. > :32:23.Strasbourg and in 2011 the court decided the British government was
:32:23. > :32:29.in breach of international law, unlike many countries in Europe it
:32:29. > :32:32.had a blanket ban on prisoners having the vote on deception free
:32:32. > :32:38.of the representation of the Peoples Act. That is not good
:32:38. > :32:44.enough for the court. Appeals, a coalition free vote overwhelmingly
:32:44. > :32:48.against, have not solved the problem. The governor, in this case
:32:48. > :32:53.the UK government, is keeping a very careful eye on this because on
:32:53. > :32:58.the face of it it has very limited options. Basically they have got to
:32:58. > :33:03.say yes or know. If they say yes they run the risk of upsetting a
:33:03. > :33:09.majority of MPs and the wider British public. If they say no,
:33:09. > :33:13.some ministers will find themselves in breach of Article 46 of the
:33:13. > :33:21.ministerial code and the UK government in breach of
:33:21. > :33:25.international law. But there are ploys they can use. Strategically,
:33:25. > :33:29.if the government wants to take on prisoners and the court in
:33:29. > :33:39.Strasbourg, it could choose the no option and say to them, really,
:33:39. > :33:40.
:33:41. > :33:44.what can you do about it? If that happens, I think the immediate
:33:44. > :33:49.result will be that prisoners will bring applications and after the
:33:49. > :33:54.next election when they are denied the vote, Britain will have to pay
:33:54. > :34:03.compensation to them. The other strategy is to say yes, but from
:34:03. > :34:07.some senior QCs I have spoken to, saying yes, but just the barest
:34:07. > :34:11.possible minimum, to say to the court we have done what you ask.
:34:11. > :34:16.Those in favour say some rights will have to be offered.
:34:16. > :34:22.British government can say here we have a three year cut-off point, we
:34:22. > :34:30.could get away with that. I'm sure they could, maybe even two years.
:34:30. > :34:35.On Thursday there will be three options offered for a vote by MPs -
:34:35. > :34:41.extended to people serving on the four years, extending it to those
:34:41. > :34:45.serving under six months, or no rights whatsoever. If they plump
:34:45. > :34:55.for that, this fight against the European Court in Strasbourg can
:34:55. > :35:00.
:35:00. > :35:05.only go on. My guest now join me to go head to head. Peter, the United
:35:05. > :35:09.Kingdom has a reputation around the world for supporting human rights
:35:09. > :35:14.and upholding the rule of law. Surely we have to obey these
:35:14. > :35:19.rulings? Absolutely not. What we are seeing on Thursday it is a
:35:19. > :35:26.departure. The government is saying parliament's decision will overrule
:35:26. > :35:30.the European Court and that is right. And we elect Parliament and
:35:30. > :35:34.not the court. We elect a parliament to take decisions on
:35:34. > :35:39.British law, we signed up to the Convention of Human Rights after
:35:39. > :35:43.the Second World War, we have consistently supported that. If we
:35:43. > :35:48.go away from it on this issue because it is popular and
:35:48. > :35:55.convenient, supposedly, we are in no position to criticise. Let me
:35:55. > :36:01.finish. You don't believe that. do, and I am trying to explain the
:36:01. > :36:08.implications if you take on this. If you defy at the European Court,
:36:08. > :36:12.your criticism on any other country that breaches the rules is 0.
:36:12. > :36:17.is rubbish. The court was set-up because of Stalin and the Second
:36:17. > :36:21.World War, not to give prisoners the vote. If you are telling me we
:36:21. > :36:27.can't criticise countries because they are executing people because
:36:27. > :36:33.we don't give prisoners the vote, I don't think you believe that.
:36:33. > :36:38.your real agenda is to leave the European Court Convention of Human
:36:38. > :36:43.Rights. The party policy is to do that, you are right.
:36:43. > :36:49.Conservative Party policy is not that as I understand it. You
:36:49. > :36:53.wouldn't leave the European Court? The British Bill of Rights is what
:36:53. > :36:58.would determine this. The Attorney- General says he supports the
:36:58. > :37:08.European Court, the Convention of Human Rights, and he praised it for
:37:08. > :37:09.
:37:09. > :37:17.its introduction of gay rights, protection of civil liberties,
:37:17. > :37:27.protection of the popular press. Let's get back to prison of votes
:37:27. > :37:32.
:37:32. > :37:36.rather than a -- analysis of this. Overwhelmingly across the main
:37:36. > :37:41.parties, they voted against it. What is the point of Parliament if
:37:41. > :37:44.that doesn't matter? Her point of Parliament is we have to have
:37:44. > :37:50.respect for previous decisions made and I voted for prisoners having
:37:50. > :37:54.the right to vet because when somebody is in prison they lose
:37:54. > :38:04.their liberty because they have committed a crime, they don't cease
:38:04. > :38:11.
:38:11. > :38:18.to be human beings without human rights. Which one would you
:38:18. > :38:24.support? South Africa has given us a very important lesson. I want to
:38:24. > :38:29.ask this question - you want every prisoner to get the vote? Yes, I do
:38:29. > :38:33.believe that but that option will not come up. What happens if don't
:38:33. > :38:38.give prisoners the vote, even some of them, and we end up having to
:38:38. > :38:46.pay millions of pounds in compensation to them? Firstly we
:38:46. > :38:50.would not have to do that. UK law, there is already cases before
:38:50. > :38:59.British courts of those denied the right to vote and there will be
:38:59. > :39:04.more. If Parliament votes zero... That should be the end of it. You
:39:04. > :39:09.believe in Parliament, Jeremy. you ignore the European Court, as
:39:09. > :39:14.you seem to want to do, you are also ignoring UK law because under
:39:14. > :39:19.the Human Rights Act, the decision of the European Court are
:39:19. > :39:24.incorporated into UK law. That was the importance of the 1988 Human
:39:24. > :39:29.Rights Act which you probably voted against. Prisoner of votes, you're
:39:29. > :39:32.quite right. We are saying the European Court is subservient to
:39:32. > :39:38.the British Parliament and that is what the British people want us to
:39:38. > :39:42.say. We isn't the whole port of the European Court that it is above the
:39:42. > :39:47.parliament? Its subject your decisions to judicial review
:39:47. > :39:54.against principles you have signed up to? We support, and I think even
:39:54. > :39:58.we would agree on this... And I doubt it. I doubt it. I haven't
:39:58. > :40:02.said it yet. He is an intelligent person. He would accept the
:40:02. > :40:07.independence of the judicial system from politicians making the
:40:07. > :40:13.decisions. The judicial system, the Supreme Court of this country, that
:40:13. > :40:20.is where it finishes. It is British law, there for the British courts
:40:20. > :40:24.will make a decision. He wants to float the island away somewhere
:40:25. > :40:29.else. Would you allow prisoners to vote on the Police and Crime
:40:29. > :40:34.Commissioner elections? We would have a vote in everything. That is
:40:34. > :40:41.an interesting idea. You vote for people who make laws, you vote for
:40:41. > :40:50.European MPs... And the moment you can vote if you are on remand
:40:50. > :40:54.prisoner. But then you are not guilty. I would allow that! This
:40:54. > :40:58.would increase the turnout of these elections you have forced on the
:40:58. > :41:04.country. The one thing I learnt from the Police and Crime
:41:04. > :41:09.Commissioner elections is that you don't have elections in November.
:41:09. > :41:16.On that shock agreement here... The wasn't an agreement. No, it wasn't.
:41:16. > :41:20.It is the closest we have got in the last six minutes. It is
:41:20. > :41:24.approaching 20-12 and you are watching Sunday Politics. Coming up
:41:24. > :41:34.in 20 minutes, I will be looking at the week ahead with our political
:41:34. > :41:37.
:41:37. > :41:41.panel. Until then, the Sunday Hello and welcome. Coming up later,
:41:41. > :41:47.with one Tory MP absent without leave in the Australian jungle, we
:41:47. > :41:54.look at how often the capital's MPs meet their constituents. With me
:41:54. > :42:04.today Jane Ellison and Kate Hoey, welcome to you both and we start
:42:04. > :42:08.today with Lord Coe's unhappiness over the failure to translate the
:42:08. > :42:13.legacy of the Games in to a lasting legacy. I find it frustrating that
:42:13. > :42:17.off the back of the kind of sport we have witnessed, the role models
:42:17. > :42:23.that have emerged through this process and the red carpet that has
:42:23. > :42:27.clearly been rolled out that we are still discussing the role of school
:42:27. > :42:32.sport in the state sector. The sick are concerned to you that the
:42:32. > :42:40.inspiration, no one denies that, but it hasn't translated to grass
:42:40. > :42:50.roots? I think it is a bit early to say and I think Seb Coe is talking
:42:50. > :42:50.
:42:50. > :42:54.about the whole of the country. In London, and certainly in my own
:42:54. > :42:59.constituency, we have kept our school sport partnership going
:42:59. > :43:04.using a lot more of the community organisations, bringing in some
:43:04. > :43:11.private sector money, and actually some of my schools are getting a
:43:11. > :43:16.better sporting experience now than they did even three years ago.
:43:16. > :43:20.you know a lot of Labour colleagues are very concerned we got rid of
:43:20. > :43:25.the School Sport Partnership? one of the people who helped to set
:43:25. > :43:29.them up, and the aim of it was always to raise the importance of
:43:29. > :43:33.sport in schools so that schools themselves then began to realise
:43:33. > :43:38.that actually they could be doing so much more. It was not just about
:43:38. > :43:41.putting money in, and that always necessarily working the same way,
:43:41. > :43:46.and the partnerships between secondary schools and primary
:43:46. > :43:52.schools are improving. Obviously with money being short in all sorts
:43:52. > :43:55.of areas, what the Olympics and the Paralympics has done is made the
:43:55. > :44:00.public more aware that this is something they should be looking at
:44:00. > :44:04.in their own schools. I wonder if you would agree that at least it
:44:04. > :44:07.will be a disappointment if there is no legacy of sporting
:44:07. > :44:12.improvement in schools in the community after the success of
:44:12. > :44:16.these Olympic Games? I am sure everyone would agree that, but I do
:44:16. > :44:22.think it is too early to draw conclusions. Schools have a lot
:44:22. > :44:28.more freedom now, and it is important parents and young people
:44:28. > :44:35.put pressure on schools, they have a lot of freedom on how they spend
:44:35. > :44:39.the money. The budgets have been well protected. Do the teachers do
:44:39. > :44:49.enough? Lord Coe was talking about whether we should be looking at
:44:49. > :44:53.
:44:53. > :45:00.what goes on after the 3 o'clock This is happening. When you go to
:45:00. > :45:04.most schools now, there are many after-school clubs. They are not
:45:04. > :45:09.necessarily being ran her by the school staff - the teaching staff -
:45:09. > :45:14.they are being linked with clubs in the area. I honestly think the
:45:14. > :45:18.wrong thing would be to impose a one-size-fits-all solution. We want
:45:18. > :45:24.to see the enthusiasm during the Olympics bubbling up in to pressure
:45:24. > :45:30.from schools and pupils and parents saying, we want to do more. We all
:45:30. > :45:37.want to see that legacy. This is an area with the Olympics. There will
:45:37. > :45:42.be a huge amount of cross-party support. I think he will do that.
:45:42. > :45:46.Let's move on to something completely different. According to
:45:46. > :45:51.a recent report, the City's financial sector has lost 100,000
:45:51. > :45:59.jobs in the last five years. It forecasts that Hong Kong will have
:45:59. > :46:03.overtaken London by 2015 and New York is also heading -- edging
:46:03. > :46:13.ahead again. The crash of 2008 brought an end the glory days of
:46:13. > :46:18.the City. Many are pessimistic that with the masses exodus, London can
:46:18. > :46:24.reset -- retain its status. Fewer people will be employed in high-
:46:24. > :46:29.paid jobs. There will be less of other things going on because there
:46:30. > :46:33.will be less money circulating. With finances here contending that
:46:34. > :46:38.the city is over-regulated and that a culture of banker bashing has
:46:38. > :46:43.brightened many away. People from all over the world come here to try
:46:44. > :46:49.to do business. I think we will go from strength to strength. New York
:46:50. > :46:56.will always be, it sort of the Wall Street giants, but I think London
:46:56. > :47:01.was still be the heart of Europe. - - giant. In 2007, there were
:47:01. > :47:07.350,000 workers in the city. By 2012, the figure had dropped to
:47:07. > :47:12.under a quarter of a million. Some say all is not yet lost. There are
:47:12. > :47:16.things like educating people to be more cautious about fashion --
:47:16. > :47:22.banker bashing. There is no point in killing the goose that lays the
:47:22. > :47:27.golden egg. The concern remains that but lingering uncertainty over
:47:27. > :47:32.the global markets, London is not in charge of its own destiny.
:47:32. > :47:38.Fraser Nelson joins us. He wrote this week that government policies
:47:38. > :47:43.and the constant - the rich mood music is accelerating to decline.
:47:43. > :47:49.Could we exaggerate the worry and concerns about the city using its
:47:49. > :47:53.pre-eminence? The theory is that these bankers may moan, they may
:47:53. > :47:58.say, I'm going to go off and live in Switzerland but they will not
:47:58. > :48:02.because London is a fundamentally better place to live. We're not
:48:02. > :48:06.talking about people upping sticks and moving to some Swiss valley.
:48:06. > :48:12.We're talking about banks who decide to expand in Hong Kong or
:48:12. > :48:17.Singapore, rather than expand in London. It is easier in Asia and
:48:17. > :48:24.taxes are cheaper. They can get better staff. London is in a global
:48:24. > :48:34.rest right now, not -- a global race by now - not just with Wall
:48:34. > :48:35.
:48:35. > :48:43.Street but Hong Kong and Singapore. When we ran the race before, when -
:48:44. > :48:49.- Buchan see where the last race lead us to - I wonder if not so
:48:49. > :48:54.much dependence on it would be a good thing? It contributes 12p in
:48:54. > :48:57.the pound for corporation tax. The City of London is one of the
:48:57. > :49:02.greatest fundraisers in this country. We would take a carving
:49:02. > :49:08.knife to the golden goose at our peril. The contribution to social
:49:08. > :49:16.capital, what that the impact on house prices and good schools? --
:49:16. > :49:23.what about? Erasing the salaries at the top end. Does that need
:49:23. > :49:27.rebalancing? You can blame low mortgage rates and artificial cheap
:49:27. > :49:32.debt from quantitative easing. So many things are laid at the feet of
:49:32. > :49:36.bankers. We're talking a very small number of people doing bad things
:49:36. > :49:41.in the City of London. No bill reflected on the insurance people,
:49:41. > :49:45.equity researchers, people who make this city the greatest in the world,
:49:45. > :49:52.as I believe this is the stock everyone will appreciate that and
:49:52. > :49:56.London will always have that power. -- this is. It has the assurances
:49:56. > :50:02.and accountants that will make it attractive for people to come.
:50:02. > :50:08.Right now London still wears the crown. That is being wrestled by
:50:08. > :50:16.Wall Street and the Asians. We are not defending it. We are saying,
:50:16. > :50:22.you deserve everything you get! his everyone being too negative? --
:50:22. > :50:26.is everyone? The public were very angry at what happened. I think
:50:26. > :50:31.that probably a number of Members of Parliament and a lot of the
:50:31. > :50:35.public - and this is not accusing anyone of being naive - they do not
:50:35. > :50:40.really understand the way the City of London works. They do not
:50:40. > :50:46.understand the huge competition that we are now under, particularly
:50:46. > :50:54.from the eastern part of the world. I want to see the bankers who took
:50:54. > :50:59.the decisions that caused a huge amount of this -- the dreadful
:50:59. > :51:06.things that happened. They are the ones we attack. There was a time
:51:06. > :51:13.when anyone in a bank but really... That they were being got at.
:51:13. > :51:21.industry could do with the current regulation would some more
:51:21. > :51:25.regulation and bringing down to size. -- with some more regulation.
:51:25. > :51:30.Bringing down to size, it is slightly symptomatic of the place
:51:30. > :51:34.we have got to. They are not going to make Britain and London better
:51:34. > :51:40.off by attacking industries and areas that were pre-eminent. There
:51:40. > :51:45.is so much more to the City than the banks. There is other industry,
:51:45. > :51:52.manufacturing and so on. It is established there was some a
:51:52. > :51:58.balancing. We have to move on. We are halfway through the parliament.
:51:58. > :52:00.This is issued topic of debate. We need to move from anger and
:52:00. > :52:04.recrimination to addressing constructively and sensibly the
:52:04. > :52:08.things that really went wrong, particularly in investment banking,
:52:08. > :52:16.are not throwing the baby out with the bath water regarding what the
:52:16. > :52:22.City does. A final word from you. What would you like to see? We do
:52:22. > :52:27.like to see some active measures? would like to see the Government
:52:27. > :52:35.realising they are there for the people. The banks want to expand
:52:35. > :52:40.and create jobs here. The need a whole tone changed from the
:52:40. > :52:47.Government. -- we need a whole tone changed. That really needs to stop.
:52:47. > :52:50.We need these jobs, we need the prosperity. We want to maintain
:52:50. > :52:55.being be greater city in the world for financial services. Every week
:52:55. > :53:00.we hear from London MPs on the issues of the day. A significant
:53:00. > :53:06.part of their work is in Parliament but not all of it. As the row over
:53:06. > :53:11.Nadine Dorries has reminded us, MPs also have considerable constituency
:53:11. > :53:21.caseloads and many hold surgeries for face-to-face meetings. We have
:53:21. > :53:23.
:53:23. > :53:27.been finding out more. The decision of Nadine Dorries to head to the
:53:27. > :53:37.jungle has not been to everyone's taste, it even got her suspended
:53:37. > :53:37.
:53:37. > :53:42.from the parliamentary Tory Party. You could sell it, could you?
:53:42. > :53:46.Instead, some say, she should be doing things like this - putting in
:53:46. > :53:52.hours with local constituents at the surgery. For many, this ritual
:53:52. > :54:01.is the cornerstone of a Member of Parliament's work. In London in the
:54:01. > :54:10.21st century, how you use what is it? Good afternoon. The Thamesmead
:54:10. > :54:15.Labour Party, according to her, surgeries are from a different age.
:54:15. > :54:20.She spends more time stealing with -- more time dealing with problems
:54:20. > :54:25.than the political work. People want to e-mail and called. We have
:54:26. > :54:29.a system where, if anybody on a website sends me an inquiry, it
:54:29. > :54:36.comes straight through to my backroom so why can sit in the
:54:36. > :54:40.House of Commons deal with -- dealing with queries. Another
:54:40. > :54:45.reason is security. Stephen Timms was the victim of an attempted
:54:45. > :54:51.murder while holding one. That does not seem to have put people off.
:54:51. > :54:57.Sunday Politics spoke to every MP in London about surgeries. 64 after
:54:57. > :55:03.73 got back to us. The average MP held 48 surgeries last year. Over
:55:03. > :55:09.the year, seeing in all 720 constituents. Interestingly, it was
:55:09. > :55:14.Stephen Timms he told us he had seen the most people in 2011. There
:55:14. > :55:19.is one MP in the capital who does up hold surgeries at all - Mark
:55:19. > :55:24.Field - the MP for the cities of London and Westminster. He is in a
:55:24. > :55:28.unique position. He is the MP for Westminster. Rather than go out
:55:28. > :55:35.into the community and hold the surgery, he says people should come
:55:35. > :55:41.and meet him in his parliamentary office. This way he sees three of
:55:41. > :55:46.four constituents a month. In my first year I did undertake call
:55:46. > :55:51.conventional surgeries and I was getting about one, maybe two people
:55:51. > :55:55.a month wanting to come and see me. By only seeing people in Parliament,
:55:55. > :56:02.is there a danger he is more vulnerable constituents are falling
:56:02. > :56:09.through the gaps? -- his more vulnerable. I did give a thought to
:56:09. > :56:16.that. It is fair to say that with the formalised surgeries, because
:56:16. > :56:21.people can come here, I am receptive. People can come on a
:56:21. > :56:28.daily basis rather than according to a surgery timetable. We have
:56:28. > :56:33.very active residents' associations. It is wrong to suggest I am here in
:56:33. > :56:37.a bunker in portcullis House. Nothing is further from the truth.
:56:37. > :56:41.MPs may disagree about the best way to engage with constituents but
:56:41. > :56:51.many will say the traditional surgery is only one part of how it
:56:51. > :56:57.is done. Stephen Timms is here. Is it 2300 constituents...? I believe
:56:57. > :57:02.so. Have you had to put any long- term changes in terms of security
:57:02. > :57:10.at your office? We have reorganised the way we do the surgeries. I have
:57:10. > :57:16.people with me when I had surgeries. As an MP, you have to be accessible
:57:16. > :57:21.to constituents. That is part of the job. Do you do one surgery a
:57:21. > :57:30.week? Five a month. You will have a list of how many on an average
:57:30. > :57:34.Friday? For 40, 50. There a two people with me as well. There will
:57:34. > :57:42.be three conversations at a time. Mark Field does not think there is
:57:42. > :57:47.a need for this. There are different ways of doing the job, no
:57:47. > :57:54.doubt about that. The way it I operated was a surgery one or two
:57:54. > :57:58.weekends. I opened up the list of appointments on Monday afternoon
:57:59. > :58:05.but by the AFT -- on Monday morning but by the afternoon or the
:58:05. > :58:09.appointments are taken. I actually enjoy doing them. It is hard work
:58:09. > :58:14.but it is a very good way to get to know people. People really
:58:14. > :58:21.appreciate the help they get. often can you sum of someone's
:58:21. > :58:28.problem there and then? Presumably -- Ute Salford someone's problem
:58:28. > :58:34.there and then? I am surprised that sending their letter on behalf of
:58:34. > :58:38.someone actually does do some good. -- a letter. What people appreciate
:58:38. > :58:44.is having someone who is willing to make an effort on their behalf.
:58:44. > :58:49.They have tried other things. They only come to an MP as a last resort.
:58:49. > :58:55.They're glad there is some help available. You are a relative
:58:55. > :59:04.newcomer. How valuable our surgeries? I took on average won a
:59:04. > :59:11.week. I supplement them with Street surgeries. -- won a week. When do
:59:11. > :59:15.you do it? Often it will be late on a Saturday morning. Later in the
:59:15. > :59:23.morning I put my sandwich board up on a busy shopping street and
:59:23. > :59:30.anyone can stop and have a chat. that a recognition that perhaps we
:59:30. > :59:33.are moving away from that? Not at all. I think I agree with
:59:33. > :59:36.everything that Stephen has said that up by doing something on a
:59:37. > :59:43.street corner, people were not generally making a point to give
:59:43. > :59:50.their views about government policy or something but while being stood
:59:50. > :59:56.there, they might say, can I make you feel -- can I let you know how
:59:56. > :00:03.I feel about this and that? I do not do appointments. I discovered
:00:03. > :00:11.that people did not turn up on time. What we do is see anybody who turns
:00:11. > :00:19.up in a two-hour package. I have all my staff there. I do mind on a
:00:19. > :00:24.Monday because I am so near. -- mind. Despite the extra e-mails and
:00:24. > :00:32.the modern technology that my colleague took to that earlier,
:00:33. > :00:37.numbers have not gone down at all. -- talked about earlier. I have 30,
:00:37. > :00:42.40 people every surgery. The kind of people who want to talk about a
:00:42. > :00:46.campaign or issue, I would try not to get them to come to surgery. I
:00:46. > :00:51.would want them to come to the House of Commons. You are there
:00:51. > :00:55.last resort. They had been through everything. They sometimes just
:00:55. > :01:05.want to tell you how miserable and unhappy they are. The last word
:01:05. > :01:07.
:01:07. > :01:12.from you. More frustrating than Actually I do find it quite a
:01:12. > :01:16.rewarding thing to do, mainly just because people appreciate the fact
:01:16. > :01:22.they have been listened to and somebody has tried on their behalf.
:01:22. > :01:27.Often it is possible to sore toe the problem. Thanks for your time.
:01:27. > :01:37.I have been amazed you have been able to provide it. Now it is time
:01:37. > :01:39.
:01:39. > :01:44.for a round-up of the rest of the A lack of capacity at Heathrow is
:01:44. > :01:52.costing the UK economy �14 billion in year in lost trade according to
:01:52. > :01:56.a report commissioned by the airport. The bosses at Heathrow are
:01:56. > :02:00.keen to see a third runway built but the UK government has ruled it
:02:00. > :02:04.out for the time being. Westminster Council is investing
:02:04. > :02:10.more than double its spending to tackle domestic abuse in the
:02:10. > :02:14.borough. Margaret Moran falsely claimed more
:02:14. > :02:19.than �53,000 in expenses during her time as an MP, a jury ruled this
:02:19. > :02:24.week. She will be sentenced at a later date.
:02:24. > :02:28.And as the Regent Street Christmas lights are turned on, London is
:02:28. > :02:33.more likely to turn to pay-day loans than anywhere else in the
:02:33. > :02:40.country over the festive season. According to a poll, 23% said they
:02:40. > :02:45.are likely to take one out in the next month.
:02:45. > :02:53.Both of your patches by the Thames can leave feel the effect of
:02:53. > :02:57.aircraft, but Heathrow still see an opportunity now, don't they? They
:02:57. > :03:02.have long been putting the case they need more capacity at Heathrow
:03:03. > :03:07.and the fact we need more air capacity in London is established.
:03:07. > :03:15.I think it is misleading to say London is full because if you speak
:03:15. > :03:18.to people at Gatwick they will say actually we have quite a lot of
:03:18. > :03:23.capacity and they find it frustrating. But it has got to be
:03:23. > :03:33.in one place, and that is Heathrow, isn't it? There is a strong case
:03:33. > :03:38.for looking at the airport hub in the estuary. Will we be able to put
:03:38. > :03:44.it in one place at Heathrow, I am not convinced about that. Are you
:03:44. > :03:49.affected by this? And a lot of my constituents are very angry by
:03:49. > :03:54.aircraft noise, and depending on the weather they always want it not
:03:54. > :04:04.coming over them but it does get very bad over parts of inner London.
:04:04. > :04:07.
:04:07. > :04:13.It just seems to me, how many years does it take to find out the
:04:13. > :04:17.information? I think he should be coming out before the election.
:04:17. > :04:23.should be, and all other parties were opposed to it so I can't see
:04:23. > :04:33.it happening. I am going to have to stop you there. With that, it is
:04:33. > :04:35.
:04:35. > :04:42.In a moment we will look ahead to the big stories that will dominate
:04:42. > :04:46.politics next week with our political panel, but first the news.
:04:46. > :04:51.The Israeli military attacks on Gaza have now claimed more than 50
:04:51. > :04:56.lives according to health officials. Overnight an airstrike on the home
:04:56. > :05:00.of the senior Hamas commander is reported to have killed two young
:05:00. > :05:07.children living nearby. Hamas renewed its missile attacks into
:05:07. > :05:13.Israel this morning. Attacks on Israel have so far claimed three
:05:13. > :05:23.lives. This report comes from Gaza. There have been brief moments of
:05:23. > :05:23.
:05:23. > :05:30.calm here. They never last long. This morning and overnight, Israel
:05:30. > :05:34.once again pounded Gaza with the tax. Among the buildings targeted,
:05:34. > :05:40.this one and another, where local and foreign journalists are based.
:05:40. > :05:46.Several were wounded, one lost a leg. Israel says they were aiming
:05:46. > :05:52.at Hamas communication equipment. The number of injured and dead
:05:52. > :05:57.across Gaza is mounting. Emergency services are at full stretch.
:05:57. > :06:02.Hospitals are struggling to cope. Israel, again, ramped up its
:06:02. > :06:07.operation last night, not only with the tax coming in from the air, but
:06:07. > :06:14.also from the sea. Israeli warships pounding northern Gaza with
:06:14. > :06:18.Attenborough rounds. And in Israeli cities, people work again
:06:18. > :06:25.scrambling to reach bomb shelters. After a two-hour break, which had
:06:25. > :06:33.led some to hope of ceasefire, rocket attacks resumed. On both
:06:33. > :06:42.sides, civilians are suffering. Back in Gaza, Israel is showing its
:06:42. > :06:46.military strength and there is no end side.
:06:46. > :06:52.Vince Cable has said more must be done to tackle companies legally
:06:52. > :06:56.able to avoid their corporation tax liabilities here in the UK.
:06:56. > :06:59.Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, the Business
:06:59. > :07:05.Secretary said their practices were unfair to British businesses.
:07:05. > :07:08.they are here, if they make profits, they should pay tax. There is
:07:08. > :07:12.nothing more galling to small and medium-sized companies that they
:07:12. > :07:16.have found these people dodging it when they are paying. Our own tax
:07:16. > :07:21.authorities have got to be tough on things like royalty payments, where
:07:21. > :07:25.a lot of the subterfuge takes place, but the big question is whether you
:07:25. > :07:29.can get wider global agreement. The operator at a level crossing in
:07:29. > :07:33.Egypt, where 50 children were killed when their bus was hit by a
:07:33. > :07:37.train, has been arrested following reports the man had left the
:07:37. > :07:41.barriers open and was asleep. Distraught families and angry
:07:41. > :07:45.demonstrators have prevented members from the Egyptian
:07:45. > :07:50.government from visiting the site. The British car maker Jaguar Land
:07:50. > :07:55.Rover has had the go-ahead for its first manufacturing site in China.
:07:55. > :08:00.Sales are up 80% in China so far this year. The project which is
:08:00. > :08:03.based north of Shanghai will be in partnership with the Chinese
:08:03. > :08:09.carmaker cherry automobile. They were assembled models tailored
:08:09. > :08:15.specifically for the Chinese market. There will be more news on BBC One
:08:15. > :08:18.at 5:50pm. Thank you. So a new man in charge
:08:18. > :08:22.of the Tories' election plans, more coalition jockeying on a wealth tax
:08:22. > :08:32.and crunch time in Europe for David Cameron. All questions for The Week
:08:32. > :08:36.
:08:36. > :08:41.Ahead. So, a new man to run the Tory campaign, just looking in the
:08:42. > :08:51.Sunday Times this morning, he is taking Boris's election guru,
:08:52. > :08:58.
:08:58. > :09:02.Minton -- Linton Crosby. A good thing or a bad thing for the
:09:02. > :09:12.Tories? A good thing, and as for this smear campaign he is known to
:09:12. > :09:14.
:09:14. > :09:18.be a straight-talking Australia. I have said I don't care if he makes
:09:18. > :09:24.comments that are not politically correct and a lot of people replied
:09:25. > :09:29.on Twitter they don't care either. The most interesting thing about
:09:29. > :09:36.this is that David Cameron wants to have a disciplined campaign. One of
:09:36. > :09:43.his great strengths of Crosby is that he drives his message through.
:09:44. > :09:48.Last time it was a complete mess with George Osborne feuding, so
:09:48. > :09:52.clearly they want discipline. The danger it is that Crosby does not
:09:52. > :09:56.have a track record of fighting election campaigns on the centre
:09:56. > :10:02.ground and in this country you only win a majority if you are firmly in
:10:02. > :10:09.the centre ground. He was never part of the Tories'' modernising
:10:09. > :10:14.agenda, was he? No, I think Nick is right that they are not hiring him
:10:14. > :10:18.for his views on issues, but for his executive command, the fact
:10:18. > :10:23.that he can run a campaign. It is his technical skill, not his
:10:23. > :10:28.ideological views. Talk to anyone from the 2005 campaign, and they
:10:28. > :10:33.will say they found it a pleasure to work for him and he can take
:10:33. > :10:38.decisions in high-pressure situations. Three votes for him?
:10:38. > :10:46.Two-and-a-half votes for him. Ago him half the vote, great on
:10:46. > :10:51.discipline but I'm not sure he is in the right territory. Who else
:10:51. > :11:01.could the Tories turn to? Varies not many people in great supply
:11:01. > :11:02.
:11:02. > :11:06.with the skills. There is still this matter to be resolved, the
:11:06. > :11:11.government needs more cuts in welfare to hit their spending in
:11:11. > :11:15.2015, the Lib Dems are saying we want some way of taxing the well-
:11:15. > :11:21.off better. This is what Vince Cable had to say about that this
:11:21. > :11:26.morning. It is right that we do tax and wealth is the obvious place to
:11:26. > :11:34.go, one of the reasons for that is because property can't run away to
:11:34. > :11:38.Monaco and Liechtenstein. If you are a -- trying to deal with abuse
:11:38. > :11:44.of the tax system, this is the best way. So they have not resolved this
:11:44. > :11:49.yet? No, some Conservatives do agree with shifting tax to wealth
:11:49. > :11:59.rather than income and George Osborne has some sympathy with this,
:11:59. > :12:06.
:12:06. > :12:09.perhaps looking at an extra council tax band on properties over a
:12:09. > :12:18.million. David Cameron vetoed mansion tax and that is when you
:12:18. > :12:21.ended up with the four to 5p top rate of tax. Let asked the man who
:12:21. > :12:29.should know about George Osborne because you have written a book?
:12:29. > :12:34.The fine book, available in all good bookshops. Or or online.
:12:34. > :12:43.George Osborne go along with higher council tax banding for big houses
:12:43. > :12:46.and is David Cameron against the out the idea a few weeks ago. Even
:12:46. > :12:51.after that interview I still thought it would happen in some
:12:51. > :12:55.form during this parliament partly because it is the only way that the
:12:55. > :12:59.Tories get welfare cuts from the Lib Dems, but also because it is
:12:59. > :13:09.the only way the Tories can chip away at this impression that voters
:13:09. > :13:15.have that they stand for entrenched wealth. What David Cameron will be
:13:15. > :13:21.frightened of is that this does not hit people with entrenched wealth.
:13:21. > :13:28.If you bought a house for about �30,000 in London in 1991, it is
:13:28. > :13:33.now over a million pounds. This will hit... The mansion tax would
:13:33. > :13:38.have got the really rich, this will hit a lot of people in the middle.
:13:38. > :13:43.I think the Prime Minister is really aware of that. One of the
:13:43. > :13:47.repercussions of last week's election result was that the Lib
:13:47. > :13:50.Dems feel they really need a symbolic win in this autumn
:13:50. > :13:59.statement and they will be fighting exceptionally hard to get something
:13:59. > :14:03.like this through. We are not talking about the original idea,
:14:03. > :14:08.people will feel the council tax banding but we are not talking
:14:08. > :14:14.about the punitive amounts they were talking about before. The two
:14:14. > :14:18.is different. The CBI tomorrow. In days gone by, it would be one of
:14:18. > :14:26.the key lobby groups gearing up for the Autumn Statement, putting out
:14:26. > :14:29.its views and the rest of it, but the main lobbying - you have Vince
:14:29. > :14:33.Cable this morning lobbying for something in the Autumn Statement.
:14:33. > :14:38.Last time I looked he is in the government. It is completely
:14:38. > :14:43.different, and the CBI have all sorts of things on their mind right
:14:43. > :14:48.now. They want low at regulation from the government, and the
:14:48. > :14:51.government will move towards that in the Autumn Statement. There is
:14:51. > :14:58.an increasingly real prospect of a recession on the Continent next
:14:58. > :15:03.year with an economy as big as France being in serious trouble.
:15:03. > :15:13.think there will be. But not just in the periphery, and that, which
:15:13. > :15:14.
:15:14. > :15:18.is something the -- which is antagonising the CBI at the moment.
:15:18. > :15:21.This is the new norm, this is how we will be under a coalition
:15:21. > :15:27.government and for the journalist it is quite nice because we have
:15:27. > :15:29.more of an idea of what is coming up. The danger for the Liberal
:15:29. > :15:35.Democrats is that they look like an opposition in government not
:15:35. > :15:40.getting what they want. Does the CBI still matter? I think so, and
:15:40. > :15:46.they will be doing their submission before the Autumn Statement. In the
:15:46. > :15:56.days when he had as many Labour correspondent, when the TUC and the
:15:56. > :16:02.CBI really matters, of course those Let's come to Europe. David Davis
:16:02. > :16:06.said, we should draw up our list of powers we want repatriated from
:16:06. > :16:11.Europe, go to the country and get a referendum to vote for that and
:16:11. > :16:16.that strengthens our position. I spoke to Grant Shapps and put that
:16:17. > :16:24.to him. He did not argue with that. He said we cannot trip because we
:16:24. > :16:27.are in coalition with the Lib Dems. -- do that. The real worry for the
:16:27. > :16:34.Prime Minister and the Tories on this was that they may not be able
:16:34. > :16:38.to set the pace. There is talk of a new European treaty being tabled
:16:38. > :16:46.this December, ratified in 2014. That will not sought Mr Cameron
:16:46. > :16:50.very well. One of two interventions on Europe are being made today. Ed
:16:50. > :16:57.Miliband has given an interview to the Sunday Telegraph. It is being
:16:57. > :17:07.played at this quite a big shift in the Euro-sceptic direction. David
:17:07. > :17:07.
:17:07. > :17:12.Cameron says only by leaving Europe can you make it more British.
:17:12. > :17:14.thing about David Davis is it is a mixture of a lack of confidence and
:17:15. > :17:20.over-confidence - a lack of confidence there is a Brussels plot
:17:20. > :17:24.against Britain - when what he is complaining about are issues that
:17:24. > :17:30.have been signed up to buy a sovereign UK governments. The one
:17:30. > :17:35.thing there is a consensus against this country about the euro that we
:17:35. > :17:40.did not join and the over- confidence of marching into
:17:40. > :17:46.Brussels saying, we want this and that, and we wanted on our own
:17:46. > :17:49.timetable. That is not going to happen. Mr Miliband wants us to
:17:49. > :17:55.think he is more Euro-sceptic than he is and Mr Cameron wants us to
:17:55. > :18:02.think he has a plan but we have no idea what it is. The have not had
:18:02. > :18:09.this much-trailed speech about the plan. -- we have not had. Will a
:18:09. > :18:15.budget deal be done this week or not? Probably not. Not just because
:18:15. > :18:25.the UK has problems, the Danes have problems and everyone has problems.
:18:25. > :18:30.We could be right - all four of us. We will look stupid if we do a deal
:18:30. > :18:36.next week. I would even hold myself to account. That is it for next