:00:45. > :00:49.Sunday Politics. The government is going to court to prevent an EU tax
:00:49. > :00:54.hitting the City of London, as more pressure is piled onto the Prime
:00:54. > :00:59.Minister to deliver on his pledge to bring back powers from Brussels.
:00:59. > :01:04.He wants to be in the centre ground of British politics, but claims the
:01:04. > :01:10.centre is moving left. How will Ed Miliband's strategy go
:01:10. > :01:17.down next month? Two years into civil war, it is
:01:17. > :01:21.claimed an estimated 70,000 lives. Is it time to arm the Syrian rebels?
:01:21. > :01:25.On Sunday politics in London, our council is doing enough to chase up
:01:25. > :01:35.debts? Authorities have �800 million in
:01:35. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:50.brightest. They are limbering up, as they should on marathon day. As the
:01:50. > :01:57.stragglers crossed the finish line, let's turn first two events in
:01:57. > :02:01.Boston. It seems it is getting much more difficult to draw the line
:02:01. > :02:06.between home-grown terrorism and international terrorism. Exactly.
:02:06. > :02:14.This event, even though it was much smaller in scale than 911, had much
:02:14. > :02:24.more in common with seven Flash seven. These terrorists were to a
:02:24. > :02:28.large extent home-grown. The one consolation that America has had
:02:28. > :02:36.since 911 is that they have not been subjected to home-grown terrorism of
:02:36. > :02:40.this kind. So it is a big psychological bond. The Americans
:02:40. > :02:46.thought their Muslim community was better integrated than ours.
:02:46. > :02:50.Exactly. Boston is the most liberal city in the United States, but they
:02:50. > :02:56.were saying that they did not want to have any prejudice against
:02:56. > :03:00.Muslims because of this, but clearly there is going to be quite a big
:03:00. > :03:06.domestic debate in the United States about this, because the FBI had
:03:06. > :03:09.identified the elder brother, and had interviewed him. The Washington
:03:09. > :03:15.Post reported that they were concerned that there was not enough
:03:15. > :03:19.for them to continue further. found slightly reassuring about the
:03:19. > :03:25.whole horrible scenario was that these boys appear to have been
:03:25. > :03:30.radicalised at the local mosque, which is a familiar tale, isn't it?
:03:30. > :03:33.The Sunday Times interviewed the uncle of the bombers yesterday, and
:03:33. > :03:37.he did tell that familiar tale of boys that were drifters, they didn't
:03:37. > :03:41.know where they were going, and they were influenced in the local mosque.
:03:41. > :03:45.It seems to me something that is possible to tackle. Even though it
:03:45. > :03:54.didn't look like it for a while, it is another example of Islamist
:03:54. > :03:59.terrorism. Yes. On September the 12th 2001, had we known that we
:03:59. > :04:03.would go 12 years without a successful Islamist attack on
:04:03. > :04:08.American territory, we would have found that incredible. It is a
:04:08. > :04:13.success that we have gone this far without an attack of that kind. It
:04:14. > :04:22.also, potentially, tells the change in tactics with the Chechen
:04:22. > :04:25.nationalists. Until now, their war has been a war with Russia, fought
:04:26. > :04:30.that foil. Their leader has been trying to turn it into a wider
:04:30. > :04:36.global struggle. The mystery is still, why Boston? If it is a
:04:36. > :04:38.Chechen cause, what has it got to do with Boston?
:04:38. > :04:42.The government is going to the European Court of Justice in
:04:42. > :04:47.Luxembourg to protect the City of London from attacks on financial
:04:47. > :04:52.transactions. It 11 EU countries want to introduce them. Fair enough,
:04:52. > :04:56.say Euro-sceptics, but there has been no progress on David Cameron's
:04:56. > :05:02.promised to bring back powers from Europe. 500 business leaders are
:05:02. > :05:07.pressing the PM to deliver this week. We are now going to talk to a
:05:07. > :05:11.member of the Fresh Start Group of Conservative MPs. Do you see this as
:05:11. > :05:17.a move by the government, a more robust attitude by the government,
:05:17. > :05:22.to go to court? On the issue of the financial transactions tax, it is
:05:22. > :05:27.important to remember that this is about financial services across the
:05:27. > :05:31.board, and eurozone dominated transactions that can take place
:05:31. > :05:36.wholly outside Europe. It is protectionist at a time when the
:05:36. > :05:40.world economy needs to be liberalised. Is it symbolic of the
:05:40. > :05:50.more robust attitude to Europe? think it is right that the
:05:50. > :05:58.
:05:58. > :06:01.government is fighting a measure, tooth and nail, using the diplomatic
:06:01. > :06:03.process and the legal one, which is bad for Europe, world trade and
:06:03. > :06:06.British business. Mr Cameron is sending your group to Europe to
:06:06. > :06:13.negotiate powers back, the Fresh Start Group. Isn't that a job for
:06:13. > :06:17.government? There is a job for us to make a case. The government has got
:06:17. > :06:21.its review of competencies to work out precisely the due diligence and
:06:21. > :06:26.the cost benefit analysis of all the different EU areas, and then it will
:06:26. > :06:33.have to go back to the commission and the member states to make their
:06:33. > :06:40.case. In terms of repatriation, what exactly has been achieved and will
:06:40. > :06:45.be achieved by 2015, with the general election? It will be hard to
:06:45. > :06:50.achieve a huge amount within coalition. David Cameron wants to
:06:50. > :06:56.have a review of competencies, to start the negotiation process, and
:06:56. > :07:00.put it to a referendum. There are some things we will repatriate, such
:07:00. > :07:04.as crime and policing. We will exercise the block opt-out that the
:07:04. > :07:09.government says it will, and we will decide which measure out of the 135
:07:09. > :07:15.really is in the British interest. The government has announced the
:07:15. > :07:20.block opt-out, so they must be on board. Any substantive change in our
:07:20. > :07:25.relationship with Europe has got to wait until the next election, and is
:07:25. > :07:30.predicated on a Tory victory. Is that correct? The Conservatives can
:07:30. > :07:35.only talk for what they would do if they were elected back. With the
:07:35. > :07:39.coalition deal in 2010, we knew that freezing the EU position was one of
:07:39. > :07:46.the components of this deal. Lamentable as it may be for a
:07:46. > :07:52.conservative like me, I recognise that was the price of the deal.
:07:52. > :07:58.can make no progress on this side of the election then? We have the
:07:58. > :08:02.safeguard we have in relation to financial services. We would also
:08:02. > :08:06.like to do something about benefit tourism, which Iain Duncan Smith is
:08:06. > :08:10.locked in negotiation with the European Commission about. Let's be
:08:10. > :08:16.realistic about this and not get ahead of ourselves with the
:08:16. > :08:22.rhetoric. We are constrained with what we can do in coalition.
:08:22. > :08:30.after repatriation, let's assume that you win the next election and
:08:30. > :08:32.you go to repatriates, and you end up with largely the status quo
:08:32. > :08:39.between London and Brussels, would you then say that we should vote to
:08:39. > :08:43.leave the EU? If we got crumbs out of the renegotiation deal, I think
:08:43. > :08:48.it would only strengthen the hand of those who are saying that Britain
:08:48. > :08:53.has got to exit to look after its vital national interests. That's not
:08:53. > :08:59.what I want. I want to see us fight hard for a better deal. That's what
:08:59. > :09:03.the Prime Minister is trying to achieve. Is it is the charred -- if
:09:03. > :09:08.it is the difference between the status quo and getting out, you
:09:08. > :09:14.would say to get out? We are going to have a renegotiation in good
:09:14. > :09:18.faith. I am not going to start making threats. The reality is,
:09:18. > :09:26.there is an interesting opinion survey on this, and by three to one
:09:26. > :09:31.the British people would rather renegotiate with the EU than
:09:31. > :09:37.withdraw. It is a test for Britain, as also for countries like Germany,
:09:37. > :09:41.who want us to stay in. Unemployment is up, deficit reduction has
:09:41. > :09:46.stalled, and there is little or no growth in the economy. Even the most
:09:46. > :09:54.tribal of Tories could claim that the coalition strategy is a success.
:09:54. > :09:57.So support should be high, but it's not. It is even starting to slide.
:09:57. > :10:06.What can it Miliband -- Ed Miliband do to improve his party's appeal and
:10:06. > :10:10.his own image? Ed Miliband talked of the deep
:10:10. > :10:14.convictions that helped Margaret Thatcher win three elections. But
:10:14. > :10:24.what are the deep convictions of Ed Miliband? He claims politics is
:10:24. > :10:27.
:10:27. > :10:31.challenged by a dominant figure in Labour politics, one Tony Blair. He
:10:31. > :10:36.wrote that the financial crisis has not brought a decisive shift to the
:10:36. > :10:42.left. Next week's election in England and Wales will be eight test
:10:42. > :10:47.of the party's popularity as we get closer to a general election in
:10:47. > :10:56.2015. The shadow to and local governments and Hilary Benn joins me
:10:56. > :11:01.now for the Sunday Interview. Hilary Benn, Labour is 7% ahead on
:11:01. > :11:08.an average of the most recent polls. Given the dire state of the
:11:08. > :11:12.economy, that is hardly impressive. 7% ahead is 7% ahead. The fact is
:11:12. > :11:16.that the public gave the coalition the benefit of the doubt when they
:11:16. > :11:21.came in, given the state of the economy and what had happened to
:11:21. > :11:24.lots of countries around the world. Nearly three years on, people are
:11:24. > :11:34.beginning to see that George Osborne's economic plan is not
:11:34. > :11:43.
:11:44. > :11:46.working, and the IMF is now saying that it is not succeeding and he
:11:46. > :11:48.should think about something else. That reflects what we have been
:11:49. > :11:51.arguing for some time. Let me show you what the situation was in April
:11:51. > :11:54.1990 five, two years before the 97 election. We are taking a poll that
:11:54. > :12:00.is favourable to you at the moment. You were 30 points ahead before the
:12:00. > :12:06.1997 election. So it's not a great result. It is different times and
:12:06. > :12:13.different circumstances. You are up against an unpopular government
:12:13. > :12:18.presiding over an unpopular economic policy. The last two years of local
:12:18. > :12:23.elections, we have done well, we have gained seats and councils. That
:12:23. > :12:30.is what really matters - how people cast their vote when they come to
:12:30. > :12:36.the polls. Politicians always say that! It's not just your average is
:12:36. > :12:40.7%, your leader is slipping. By some measures in some polls, you are down
:12:40. > :12:50.to your lowest measures of the year. As economic news has got worse
:12:50. > :12:53.
:12:53. > :12:56.throughout the year, why? Polls go up and down. If you go back to the
:12:56. > :13:01.1979 election, the then Prime Minister without polling the then
:13:01. > :13:05.Leader of the Opposition, and you remember what the result was. In
:13:05. > :13:09.this election, people will be looking at their falling living
:13:09. > :13:13.standards, rising unemployment, rising national debt, and the
:13:13. > :13:18.government having to borrow more. People can see that the economic
:13:18. > :13:23.plan is not working. If you have a plan that isn't working, you should
:13:23. > :13:28.change course. My argument isn't that people cannot see that the
:13:28. > :13:34.economic plan is not working, it's that they still do not want to vote
:13:34. > :13:40.for you. Your leader is an even bigger problem. The latest poll
:13:40. > :13:46.shows only 24% think Ed Miliband is up to being Prime Minister. Given
:13:46. > :13:53.that only around 34 want to vote for you, 8% of Labour voters do not rate
:13:53. > :13:59.him as a PM! I think he is a strong and courageous leader. He has taken
:13:59. > :14:03.to big decisions. One, to break with consensus. He did that when it came
:14:03. > :14:10.to News International and what should be done with the Levenson
:14:10. > :14:16.enquiry. But he also broke with the consensus with what we should do
:14:16. > :14:19.with the enquiry -- with the economy. The media, the IMF,
:14:19. > :14:24.everybody said that George Osborne's plan was the right thing
:14:24. > :14:28.to do, and now we find that it has not worked. The government is giving
:14:28. > :14:37.tax cuts to millionaire's, while taking money off many of my
:14:37. > :14:42.constituents. That may be true. Why is it the case that the more people
:14:42. > :14:46.see of him the less impressed they are? He is heading towards three
:14:46. > :14:53.years as your leader, and his personal popularity in several polls
:14:53. > :15:00.is now at an all-time low. Why? not accept that. The real measure is
:15:00. > :15:07.not the polls, it is how people choose to vote. Your party spends a
:15:07. > :15:11.lot of money on polls. Why is his personal popularity solo? Lots of
:15:11. > :15:18.parties do polling. What really matters is how we do in the local
:15:18. > :15:28.elections. In the last two years, in local elections, we have seen Labour
:15:28. > :15:30.
:15:30. > :15:34.gained seats in councils, including Ed Miliband claims the centre
:15:34. > :15:38.ground has moved to the left. What is the evidence of that? People
:15:38. > :15:43.have seen the impact of the economic crisis. There is a much
:15:43. > :15:49.greater willingness to take tough action against the banks. We have
:15:49. > :15:54.proposed a tax on bank has bonuses to give people a start. -- banking
:15:54. > :15:58.bonuses. Everybody hates the banks. That is not evidence of a move to
:15:58. > :16:01.the left. There is more consensus that there was prior to the
:16:01. > :16:06.economic crash. Everybody loved the banks before and now everybody
:16:06. > :16:10.hates them. What is the evidence the centre has moved to the left?
:16:10. > :16:15.People are more willing to consider changes and different policies than
:16:15. > :16:19.is the case in the past, because we can see the impact of the crash, we
:16:19. > :16:22.understand what caused it, and increasingly, they look at the
:16:22. > :16:27.policies of the coalition and think they are profound in way --
:16:27. > :16:32.profoundly unfair. Why are people facing an increase in council tax
:16:32. > :16:37.bills where there is a council tax freeze? The Government is hitting
:16:37. > :16:41.those on lowest income. I would suggest to you that in a whole
:16:41. > :16:45.range of issues, immigration, welfare reform, deficit-reduction,
:16:45. > :16:48.the country is moving to the right on these issues, and it makes
:16:48. > :16:54.Labour look increasingly out of touch, and that is why your ratings
:16:54. > :16:58.or poor. It depends on your definition of left and right and it
:16:58. > :17:02.might not be the same as mine. If we take welfare reform, we are
:17:02. > :17:06.putting forward a proposal that would say very clearly, if you have
:17:06. > :17:12.been out of work for more than two years, we will provide you with the
:17:12. > :17:16.job. That is the responsibility of the state to care for people, and
:17:16. > :17:21.in return you need to do it. Many people said that was too right-wing,
:17:22. > :17:26.now you say it. Things are moving to the right, not the left. It is
:17:26. > :17:30.sensible for the economic times in which we live. I will let the
:17:30. > :17:34.viewers decide that. Many of your former colleagues in government,
:17:34. > :17:39.Tony Blair, David Blunkett, they discerned no mood of the public
:17:39. > :17:46.towards the left. This is what John Reid said, I do not think the
:17:46. > :17:50.central ground is moving left. Are they wrong? I have read the
:17:50. > :17:55.articles that Tony Blair and David Blunkett wrote, and I can find
:17:55. > :18:01.nothing controversial to disagree with him what they said. You just
:18:01. > :18:06.disagreed with that. He says it is not moving. It depends on your
:18:06. > :18:10.definition of left and right. People are willing to support
:18:10. > :18:14.changes that they might not have been willing to support in the past
:18:14. > :18:18.because the circumstances are different. The centre ground may
:18:18. > :18:24.not be moving to the left, I believe that a Labour to argue
:18:24. > :18:28.about, but you party seems to be moving to the left. We have heard
:18:28. > :18:34.of what one Labour person called an old fashioned stitch-up by the
:18:34. > :18:39.unions. People resigning because of it. Candidates who fought and did
:18:39. > :18:46.well retired by the union barons. Are you happy with how the seats
:18:46. > :18:51.have been selected? Things can get agitated. The truth is, unions do
:18:51. > :18:56.not have a majority on the panels that are short listed, and as I'm
:18:56. > :19:01.sure you're aware, the choice of where people are put on the list,
:19:01. > :19:06.that choice is made by ordinary party members voting in a ballot.
:19:06. > :19:13.The former Labour general secretary says it was a stitch-up. I do not
:19:13. > :19:19.agree with that. It was the same process we used in previous years.
:19:19. > :19:24.Another candidate who almost one in 2009 was pushed out of the way to
:19:24. > :19:27.make place for a union official. was not on the panel and neither
:19:27. > :19:32.were you. They made their judgment but it is party members who make
:19:32. > :19:38.the decision. She was told the decision to exclude her was a
:19:38. > :19:42.political judgment. I do not know who said that. The panel's
:19:42. > :19:46.shortlist and the members decide where the people go on the list. It
:19:46. > :19:55.is the same system we have used before. George Osborne published
:19:55. > :20:00.the coalition spending plans for 2015 on June 26th. They will cover
:20:00. > :20:05.the first year for you. When will you tell us if you accept these
:20:05. > :20:10.plans or change them? We have always said we will announce our
:20:10. > :20:15.plans in the run-up to the election. Clearly, we will need to see what
:20:15. > :20:19.his spending plans are. It is two years away. It is not sensible to
:20:19. > :20:23.set out categorically what we intend to do, because look at the
:20:23. > :20:28.change that has taken place over the last three years. If we did
:20:28. > :20:31.make decisions on the basis of George Osborne's plans in 2010, it
:20:31. > :20:36.would have not been relevant for the current circumstances because
:20:36. > :20:41.of the failure of his economic policy. You will have all the
:20:41. > :20:46.information the government has to make its spending forecast, because
:20:46. > :20:52.it will be published. You get to see it. Why can you tell us based
:20:52. > :20:59.on the assumptions and forecast, this would be the spending plan?
:20:59. > :21:04.The government has done it. have partly done it yourself,
:21:04. > :21:10.answered the question, you said the forecast may be wrong. They have
:21:10. > :21:13.been downgraded time after time. The sensible moment to make a
:21:13. > :21:17.decision about what our commitments are going to be and how we will pay
:21:17. > :21:20.for them will be in the run-up to the election and not now.
:21:20. > :21:27.government will tell us in June, you will not tell us until 20th
:21:27. > :21:30.April 15. We will make it a where - - make it available in a sensible
:21:31. > :21:35.time during the run-up to the election. Nobody can tell what the
:21:35. > :21:39.economy will be like in two years time. You can make forecasts based
:21:39. > :21:46.on certain assumptions and the forecast would change if the
:21:47. > :21:53.assumptions changed. You said these are the biggest Cup being imposed
:21:53. > :21:57.on the most deprived communities. Will you be reversing these?
:21:57. > :22:00.will redistribute it in a fairer way. It is not right that David
:22:00. > :22:05.Cameron's local-authority is getting an increase in spending
:22:05. > :22:09.power this year per head of population, and some of the most
:22:09. > :22:14.deprived communities are getting a substantial reduction. It is about
:22:14. > :22:19.fairness in the way the money is shared out. The overall level of
:22:19. > :22:22.reductions will stay the same? not saying anything about the level
:22:23. > :22:28.of investment because that depends on circumstances, but we would be
:22:28. > :22:31.distributing the money available in a much fairer way, because you
:22:31. > :22:41.cannot justify the biggest cuts falling on the most deprived
:22:41. > :22:44.
:22:44. > :22:50.communities. You claim council tax increases will harm the poorest
:22:50. > :22:54.people? They will, it is not sensible to do that just now, it is
:22:54. > :22:59.wrong that people were are disabled, single mothers, carers, are being
:22:59. > :23:03.hit. The same is true with the bedroom tax. If you ask me about
:23:03. > :23:07.the bedroom tax, I do not think it will be in the current form it
:23:07. > :23:12.takes by the time of the next election because it will not
:23:12. > :23:17.withstand contact with reality. Will you commit to reverse it?
:23:17. > :23:22.set out what we want to do during the next election. You will not
:23:22. > :23:27.tell me what individual policies will be, Ed Miliband says this will
:23:27. > :23:33.be a change election, in other words, a watershed. Give me two
:23:33. > :23:38.ways in which it will be a watershed. Our proposal to build
:23:38. > :23:45.100,000 new affordable homes. We have the lowest rate of completion
:23:45. > :23:53.since the mid- 1920s. Houses are down 11%. We will make funding
:23:53. > :23:58.available for an increase in house building. I have called on the
:23:58. > :24:05.government to use the proceeds from the recent auction for that. In
:24:05. > :24:13.what parts are they being built? It is where Labour Party councils are
:24:13. > :24:18.in control. Give me another watershed. Two million more homes,
:24:18. > :24:22.of which 500,000 are affordable, that is a much better record than
:24:22. > :24:27.the coalition government. The second watershed is the jobs
:24:27. > :24:32.guarantee, and the third is repeating the bankers bonus tax to
:24:32. > :24:37.help 100,000 young people. Long- term youth unemployment is going up.
:24:37. > :24:41.Many people regard these his policies but not watershed policies.
:24:41. > :24:45.If you do not have a job and Durer young person that will be pretty
:24:45. > :24:49.important. The government has always promised more jobs,
:24:49. > :24:55.delivering is another matter. Last time you for these elections you
:24:55. > :24:59.lost 300 seats. It was terrible for you. James Purnell was writing his
:24:59. > :25:05.resignation letter, Gordon Brown was unpopular, the economy was in
:25:05. > :25:09.recession. You need to win back the 300 seats for this to be a success.
:25:09. > :25:14.Agreed? I'm not going to make a prediction about that but you're
:25:14. > :25:18.right, these elections were very bad for Labour. But these are
:25:18. > :25:21.predominantly in Tory heartlands, because they are county councils.
:25:21. > :25:26.We will be fighting to win control of councils all over the country
:25:26. > :25:36.but I'm not going to predict what debt will be. You cannot win these
:25:36. > :25:41.300 seats, and claimed it is a great result. We are fighting to
:25:41. > :25:51.win seats across the country and I think we will undoubtedly see
:25:51. > :25:51.
:25:51. > :27:02.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 71 seconds
:27:02. > :27:06.improvements on what was a very bad In the shadow of President Assad,
:27:06. > :27:10.they're still playing football in the capital Damascus. But the
:27:10. > :27:16.fighting goes on. Two years of civil war have left 70,000 Syrians
:27:16. > :27:26.dead. More than a million have fled to refugee camps in other countries,
:27:26. > :27:29.millions more are displaced within So what's the British position?
:27:29. > :27:32.We've even sent the Prime Minister's wife and the royal
:27:32. > :27:41.family to the region to show that this is something Britain cares
:27:41. > :27:44.about. Here at the Foreign Office they had hoped that Assad would be
:27:44. > :27:47.toppled quickly or stand down. Since that hasn't happened there's
:27:47. > :27:51.been a gradual ramping up of British government support for the
:27:51. > :27:53.opposition. Here's the Foreign Secretary last year. Her Majesty's
:27:53. > :27:55.Government have decided to recognise the National Coalition of
:27:55. > :28:04.Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the sole legitimate
:28:04. > :28:08.representative of the Syrian people. Last Month: We will also provide
:28:08. > :28:13.new types of non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians,
:28:13. > :28:17.going beyond what we have given before. We have taken no decision
:28:17. > :28:22.that we would like to send arms to the Syrian opposition, but the UK
:28:22. > :28:31.and France argue we will need further amendments to the arms
:28:31. > :28:34.embargo. In other words - sending weapons to the rebels. But who
:28:34. > :28:37.actually are the rebels? You have various factions who can just about
:28:37. > :28:40.agree that they want Assad to step down. Rosemary Hollis has studied
:28:40. > :28:42.the region for decades. You have the Islamists, the various factions
:28:42. > :28:45.including the Nusra front, the various Al-Qaeda types from
:28:45. > :28:55.overseas, including Iraqis who were trained in the Iraqi context,
:28:55. > :28:59.
:28:59. > :29:07.Chechens in the mix, those from the This is another phase in a story
:29:07. > :29:09.that originates in Afghanistan in the 1980s. There are more moderate
:29:09. > :29:13.elements though, who are meeting the Foreign Secretary in Istanbul
:29:13. > :29:16.this weekend. But they can't do anything without the support of
:29:16. > :29:26.other countries like the US, China and Russia who are nowhere near
:29:26. > :29:30.
:29:30. > :29:34.agreement on how to end the Alan Mendoza runs the Henry Jackson
:29:34. > :29:44.Society, think-tank which promotes Western in that vet -- Western
:29:44. > :29:52.
:29:52. > :29:57.arms embargo? It is obvious that in action has caused more problems than
:29:58. > :30:02.action. There is a humanitarian tragedy going on right now in
:30:02. > :30:06.Syria. More people have been killed in recent months than in the first
:30:06. > :30:12.year of the conflict. We want to see a managed transition in Syria, but
:30:12. > :30:22.there is no sign of that happening. We have to change the terms of trade
:30:22. > :30:26.
:30:26. > :30:29.We have to change the terms of trade on the ground. It started with a
:30:29. > :30:39.peaceful demonstration in the street peaceful demonstration in the street
:30:39. > :30:45.
:30:45. > :30:55.It moved on and now we are involved in more Islamists. They have given
:30:55. > :30:56.
:30:56. > :31:04.support. This creates a division. Are you worried about giving them
:31:04. > :31:11.guns? Of course, they have been planning to gain sympathy and
:31:11. > :31:16.support from the Syrian people, because they appeared a few months
:31:16. > :31:26.ago and they are giving up to al- Qaeda. You will end up giving guns
:31:26. > :31:34.
:31:34. > :31:39.to the bad guys. Not necessarily. fighting on the ground, the people
:31:39. > :31:45.with more arms are the Islamists. They are going to win if we do
:31:45. > :31:49.nothing. What we need to do is to get the moderate, secular side to
:31:49. > :31:54.have forced to actually counterbalance that. You think, in
:31:54. > :32:01.sending arms to the opposition, you could actually distinguish as to who
:32:01. > :32:07.is going to get the guns? Absolutely. You cannot do that. It
:32:07. > :32:12.is not practical on the ground. You would create isolation between the
:32:12. > :32:16.rebels, because the bad guys think of themselves as the good guys, who
:32:16. > :32:21.are liberating Syria from the dictatorship. By arming the rebels
:32:21. > :32:27.in Syria, you are creating a revolution, a kind of battle between
:32:27. > :32:33.the Islamists and between the Syrian free army. We have three poll is of
:32:33. > :32:40.the conflict, and political solution is the only way to move forward.
:32:40. > :32:49.do we get that? Through pressure on Assad. Not through the pressure of
:32:49. > :32:53.Russia and Iran. Assad is not the supermassive power in Syria.
:32:53. > :33:00.cannot get Russia to do any pressuring. They are bolstering the
:33:00. > :33:08.Iranians. It will end up with terrorism in Syria. Even if Al-Qaeda
:33:08. > :33:13.has lost its war with America, it can regain in Syria. You say 70,000
:33:13. > :33:19.people have died there, and that is probably a reasonably accurate
:33:19. > :33:25.estimate. If you give these people guns, and more than guns, a lot more
:33:25. > :33:31.will die. They've got guns already. Syria is awash with small arms
:33:31. > :33:36.already. The problem is we cannot force Assad to a political
:33:36. > :33:41.transition. Nobody wants to see a violent overthrow, but it is
:33:41. > :33:45.happening in slow motion right now, because he has enough power to hang
:33:45. > :33:50.on without being forced to the negotiation table. We have to bring
:33:50. > :33:55.the moderate and secular forces there, because that is the only
:33:55. > :33:59.guarantee you can get pressure on Russia, Iran and Hezbollah to change
:33:59. > :34:07.their mind. He says you have to do it to break the logjam on the
:34:07. > :34:13.ground. But that is not through getting more debt in Syria. Syria
:34:13. > :34:18.can use chemical weapons in order to gain power right now. It knows it
:34:18. > :34:28.will get the full power of the United States if it did that.
:34:28. > :34:33.solution is to pressure Iran and Russia and Hezbollah. We need to
:34:33. > :34:40.pressure more, more pressure from the superpowers like America,
:34:40. > :34:46.Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The situation could escalate more, to
:34:46. > :34:51.have a more regional war in Syria, where we have vulnerable borders,
:34:51. > :34:58.which can leak to Jordan, Israel and Lebanon. Then we have an
:34:58. > :35:03.international war in the region. Syria is a tribal mosaic. It is a
:35:03. > :35:11.hotchpotch of tribes that we understand almost none of. What has
:35:11. > :35:16.it got to do with us? Plenty -- plenty. Firstly, there is a
:35:16. > :35:25.challenge to values going on. Tens of thousands of people are dying,
:35:25. > :35:30.and that speaks to our values. you are talking about hard power.
:35:30. > :35:36.Those are national security situations of a classic kind. Now we
:35:36. > :35:39.have moral interests and strategic interests too. We are seeing
:35:39. > :35:46.refugees streaming over, destabilising Jordan, Iraq and
:35:46. > :35:50.Lebanon. It is in our interests to stop that happening. Thank you both.
:35:50. > :35:54.You are watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up, I will be
:35:54. > :36:04.looking at the week ahead with our political panel. Until then, the
:36:04. > :36:13.
:36:13. > :36:19.idea how much London councils are owed in unpaid charges and tax? �800
:36:19. > :36:25.million is how much. More on that later. Here to discuss that and who
:36:25. > :36:30.knows what else, Heidi Alexander, MP for Lewisham East, and Greg Hands,
:36:30. > :36:34.Conservative MP for Chelsea and Fulham. We were reminded this week
:36:34. > :36:38.that there is caste discrimination in London. There was a big
:36:38. > :36:43.demonstration in London against the practice. The prejudice shown,
:36:43. > :36:53.especially in the workplace among some communities, seek, Hindu and
:36:53. > :36:55.
:36:55. > :36:59.Muslim for example. Do you agree with that, break? It has been
:36:59. > :37:05.considered. We had a short debate in the House of Commons this week. It
:37:05. > :37:09.is something that needs to be studied. There is not a consensus
:37:09. > :37:11.within the communities themselves, let alone within the wider
:37:11. > :37:18.community. It was rejected this week in the
:37:18. > :37:22.vote, and you voted against including it. I did. All forms of
:37:22. > :37:27.discrimination need to be taken seriously and to be tackled. I'm
:37:27. > :37:32.sure further studies will be done. So you might accept the principle of
:37:32. > :37:37.it being included in legislation at some stage, or do you see any reason
:37:37. > :37:43.for it? It is possible it might be accepted, but it is something we
:37:43. > :37:47.should not rush into at this point, and to really examine the pros and
:37:47. > :37:49.cons of this issue. There is not a consensus within those communities
:37:49. > :37:56.themselves as to whether this is something that should be tackled
:37:56. > :38:00.head-on through legislation. One of the reasons for that is that some
:38:00. > :38:06.people say it might stigmatise and make the problem worse. Yet you
:38:06. > :38:12.think it should be part of this legislation. It should be illegal to
:38:12. > :38:17.discriminate on a caste basis. did vote for the principle of having
:38:17. > :38:22.legislative underpinning on racial prejudice on the grounds of caste.
:38:22. > :38:32.While it is a relatively small problem, and one which is rejected
:38:32. > :38:40.by the Hindu and Sikh faith, I think Greg and I would agree that there is
:38:40. > :38:43.no place for any prejudice of any kind in our society. It may be a
:38:43. > :38:48.lessening problem as cultures develop. Is the government right
:38:48. > :38:53.that we can address this with education, and we do not need to go
:38:53. > :38:59.down the legislative route? If you talk to anyone who has been subject
:38:59. > :39:03.to discrimination on the basis of caste... And we have spoken to
:39:03. > :39:07.people who have had quite traumatic experiences, then I think in British
:39:07. > :39:11.society there isn't a place for that, and it is right that there is
:39:11. > :39:21.some sort of legal protection. We have to look at the definition of
:39:21. > :39:25.
:39:25. > :39:27.caste, we have to look at how this works in practice. I think there are
:39:27. > :39:30.still discussions ongoing at the moment, but it is an important issue
:39:30. > :39:34.that needs to be tackled. Many of the things that have been described
:39:34. > :39:37.may be covered under racial legislation. It is a question of
:39:37. > :39:43.whether legislation is necessarily the right and only solution to this
:39:43. > :39:48.problem. There are lot of forms of prejudice out there in this world,
:39:48. > :39:53.and not all of them are covered by legislation and by the force of
:39:53. > :39:57.law. Thank you. We often report on the tough times
:39:57. > :40:00.faced by London councils. They're spending pressures and difficult
:40:00. > :40:06.choices. Are they getting their hands on all the money they could
:40:06. > :40:16.be? It's a merge that authorities in the capital are owed �800 million in
:40:16. > :40:21.
:40:21. > :40:27.council tax than the residents of any other part of the country, and
:40:27. > :40:31.in some borough is one in ten do not pay. Hundreds of millions is missing
:40:31. > :40:38.from our town Hall. Sunday politics decided to find out just how much
:40:38. > :40:43.debt our local authorities had. Across the capital, there's a �640
:40:43. > :40:48.million outstanding, and in addition, we have discovered at
:40:48. > :40:56.least �170 million extra from unpaid business accounts, rent and other
:40:56. > :41:01.sources. That makes over �810 million. To put all that in
:41:01. > :41:05.perspective, the total government cuts to councils in London this year
:41:05. > :41:10.are �157 million. We are talking about money which is much more than
:41:10. > :41:16.the government cuts we hear so much about. The signs are that this year,
:41:16. > :41:22.the money will be even harder to collect. The council tax benefit
:41:22. > :41:26.reforms, which mean that from 2013 onwards, tiny amounts of money will
:41:26. > :41:31.be collected from a large number of households who previously paid
:41:31. > :41:35.nothing. It will inevitably lead to higher rates than we have seen
:41:35. > :41:40.before, and action against more households than before. So we will
:41:40. > :41:47.see an uptake in the overall level of Korea's year next. According to
:41:47. > :41:53.the government, there is no excuse. If you have �650 million owed to
:41:53. > :41:57.you, you have a duty to collect that tax, so you keep bills down next
:41:57. > :42:02.year. Local authorities will find it easier to manage their finances if
:42:02. > :42:12.they do the right things to collect the money they are owed, and do not
:42:12. > :42:15.
:42:15. > :42:20.put that Bill on other hard-working be that councils are overzealous in
:42:20. > :42:24.their pursuit of the missing money? According to one charity who helps
:42:24. > :42:29.the public with money problems, the number of calls they get about debts
:42:29. > :42:35.to local authorities is rising, and councils' methods may be
:42:35. > :42:41.counter-productive. The use of Bayliss is one example. That will
:42:41. > :42:47.often ratchet up debt quite quickly. Somebody might be saved -- served
:42:47. > :42:52.with a parking fine, but quite quickly found that the Bayliss
:42:52. > :42:59.charges make that higher. It is then impossible for them to pay it.
:42:59. > :43:04.Things like that set the chances of the person paying that debt. In the
:43:04. > :43:11.last year, celebrities, corporations and even the BBC faced criticism
:43:11. > :43:16.over their tax arrangements. Some might want that attention to turn to
:43:16. > :43:22.the revenue of ordinary taxpayers. Simon Parker is here from the New
:43:22. > :43:27.Local Government Network. Why is so much underpaid? It is difficult to
:43:27. > :43:32.put it into context. This is an awful lot of money at a time when we
:43:32. > :43:36.are asking council taxpayers to pay more. It is important councils
:43:36. > :43:42.collect as much as possible. The figures here are gigantic, but they
:43:42. > :43:45.have been around for a long time. It is 20 years worth of arrears. We
:43:45. > :43:52.should not get too excited about getting that money back, because it
:43:52. > :43:57.is old debt. In the 1990s, some councils were abominable at
:43:57. > :44:06.collection rates. Now, most councils are in the high 90s, but no one ever
:44:06. > :44:13.gets all of it. How worth it is it, in the end? Presumably you have to
:44:13. > :44:17.put a lot of effort into chasing. There is a difficult balance for
:44:17. > :44:23.councils to strike. In some cases, it can cost almost as much as the
:44:23. > :44:28.debt to get it. On the other hand, it is really important for councils
:44:28. > :44:32.that they do not send a message that it is worth giving it a try. They
:44:32. > :44:40.have to try and enforce it, because the principle is clear. If you owe
:44:40. > :44:45.it, you should pay it. How'd you get away without paying it? You are
:44:45. > :44:49.there registered against an address. The bill arrives. Often, you are not
:44:49. > :44:54.registered against an address. In parts of London where they have the
:44:54. > :44:59.lowest collection rates, they have transient populations. People don't
:44:59. > :45:03.stay in properties for a long time. Even if they did register, they
:45:04. > :45:09.perhaps register and then leave, and then they are hard to chase.
:45:09. > :45:17.Exactly. If you can't find someone, it is hard to make them pay. Given
:45:18. > :45:23.that, we heard in the report that it is hard to address and these are
:45:23. > :45:27.huge sums of money. Perfectly understandable? Under Labour,
:45:27. > :45:32.council taxes doubled. The amount spent on council tax benefit
:45:32. > :45:37.doubles. If tax rates are as high as that, then arrears will start to
:45:37. > :45:45.rise. Councils like mine, Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington
:45:45. > :45:51.and Chelsea, have got two of the lowest. Hammersmith and Fulham has
:45:51. > :45:59.cut its council tax by 3%, and that helps people to afford their council
:45:59. > :46:03.Is their correlation between the size of the council tax and how few
:46:04. > :46:09.people pay it? We do not have the data. I meant to look at it before
:46:09. > :46:17.I came on. If you look at the figures, it looks like it will be
:46:17. > :46:23.more collected in wealthier areas. The picture is messy. Somewhere
:46:23. > :46:29.like Lewisham is higher, relatively speaking. We hear Hammersmith, once
:46:29. > :46:34.worth, so on. Is that problem? also have a more deprived community
:46:34. > :46:39.in Lewisham than we do in places like Chelsea or Fulham. Lewisham
:46:39. > :46:44.collect about 96% of its council tax. It could be better, it could
:46:44. > :46:54.do more. It does take quite robust action against people who do not
:46:54. > :46:54.
:46:54. > :46:58.pay. Last year, the issue 29,000 summonses, and they took action
:46:58. > :47:03.against a number of households. There are differences between
:47:03. > :47:07.people, some people who cannot pay, there are big issues going forward
:47:08. > :47:14.with the impact upon the reforms to council tax benefits, with the
:47:14. > :47:21.amount of money has been cut by 10%. In Lewisham, 24,000 people have
:47:21. > :47:26.received a council tax bill as a result of the changes.
:47:26. > :47:30.implications of benefit changes and localising council tax, a number of
:47:30. > :47:40.people or a lot more, how many people will be paying council tax
:47:40. > :47:44.who were not before? For London 75,000 in London. There are already
:47:44. > :47:51.signs that the people there are least able to pay will not be
:47:51. > :47:54.paying. The council will find it very difficult to find that money.
:47:54. > :47:59.Particularly well administered councils, they are finding savings
:47:59. > :48:03.elsewhere. The idea that government said we want to cut the amount we
:48:03. > :48:08.pay you in your total council tax benefit by 10% but leaving it up to
:48:08. > :48:13.the council, those councils have actually chosen to make savings
:48:13. > :48:19.elsewhere. These were individuals who never had to pay before.
:48:19. > :48:23.Naturally, they will find it difficult. A lot is down to that
:48:23. > :48:28.individual local council as to how they decide to pass on the changes.
:48:28. > :48:35.At a heart of this is Britain's benefits bill, which Labour have
:48:35. > :48:37.consistently voted against, all the savings, these benefits, under the
:48:37. > :48:41.last government the benefits bill overall was higher than what we are
:48:41. > :48:45.spending on health, schools, and defence put together. The
:48:45. > :48:52.Government needed to take action on the overall benefits bill. Every
:48:52. > :48:56.single one of these changes has been opposed by Labour. Let's be
:48:56. > :49:03.clear about what the government are doing in respect to benefit changes,
:49:03. > :49:07.it is the bedroom tax, the total cap on benefits, there is a
:49:07. > :49:12.cumulative impact on households in London which is going to make it
:49:12. > :49:17.really difficult for some households to pay their bills.
:49:17. > :49:21.Anything obvious or knew that local authorities can do here? I'm not
:49:21. > :49:24.sure there is. We have been trying to collect tax for a long time so
:49:24. > :49:27.we know how it is done, the difficult choice will be between
:49:28. > :49:32.letting some of the school and cracking down on it. When we look
:49:32. > :49:39.at these figures, people are going into arrears and getting visits
:49:39. > :49:44.from the bailiffs. On that gloomy note, thank you. Could soon become
:49:44. > :49:48.easier for you to knock up that much wanted Conservatory in your
:49:48. > :49:51.back garden. A much bigger one than you expected as well. Government
:49:51. > :49:59.plans relaxing planning rules survive the Commons will this week.
:49:59. > :50:04.There might be compromise or a climbdown in the air. Ministers
:50:04. > :50:13.announced plans for a three-year relaxation in building laws,
:50:13. > :50:20.allowing expansions on houses to be up from 16 ft to 26 beat. Critics
:50:20. > :50:28.fear the relaxation will lead to disputes among us neighbours and
:50:28. > :50:35.unsightly extensions. The narrow victory highlighted real concerns.
:50:35. > :50:43.Eric Pickles is now wanting to find a compromise. This new approach
:50:43. > :50:50.will be set out in the House of Lords. Bob Blackman has joined us,
:50:50. > :50:57.Conservative MP. You do not like these proposals, narrowly lost. You
:50:57. > :51:03.were going to meet and make a compromise? Obviously discussions
:51:03. > :51:06.were going on, the conversation of doubling the amount of Permitted
:51:07. > :51:10.Development closed last Christmas and we have been waiting for the
:51:10. > :51:14.Government to come forward with the results of that consultation and
:51:14. > :51:17.what they propose to do. This debate was about local authorities,
:51:17. > :51:27.should they be allowed to opt out of whatever the Government came up
:51:27. > :51:29.
:51:29. > :51:34.with? I take the view that this approach, London should be allowed
:51:34. > :51:40.to set their own standards, because here we sit in the suburbs and
:51:40. > :51:43.urban London, cheek by jowl, if somebody wants to do an extension
:51:44. > :51:46.on their property, which would be very welcome for them, they will
:51:46. > :51:51.affect properties either side and at the back of them. Those people
:51:52. > :51:56.need to have the opportunity to object to these proposals.
:51:56. > :52:01.saying you want an opt-out, are you saying there is no point in this
:52:01. > :52:06.change? Clearly there is a point across the country, there are areas
:52:06. > :52:10.where this will not affect you at all. If you live in a rural area,
:52:10. > :52:16.why shouldn't you extend your home to as much as you want? Here in
:52:16. > :52:20.suburban areas, you will have a dramatic effect. Imagine waking up
:52:20. > :52:27.the day after somebody starts building up 26 ft extension in the
:52:27. > :52:33.garden without you even knowing. Imagine that, Greg Hands, your
:52:33. > :52:38.current neighbours may or may not be watching, if you walk up and
:52:38. > :52:44.decided to put a 20 ft extension, how would your neighbour's field?
:52:44. > :52:50.And not sure there is 26 ft available in my road. The objective
:52:50. > :52:59.here is to make it easier for people to extend their home. It is
:52:59. > :53:04.part of the housing shortage. In terms of the particular us, we are
:53:04. > :53:09.listening carefully. What made his points very eloquently last week,
:53:09. > :53:13.we are listening to him and others. -- Bob Blackman. We will come back
:53:13. > :53:19.next week with a revised proposal in the House of Lords. Until then
:53:19. > :53:24.we will wait to see what that is. Will this get the building industry
:53:24. > :53:28.going again? We need more homes across the country. The key thing
:53:28. > :53:33.is London councils are very effective at processing planning
:53:33. > :53:41.applications for extensions. Et 7% go through within eight weeks. The
:53:41. > :53:45.13% refused, people do not want. -- 87%. What is not to like about that
:53:45. > :53:51.information? We will have to wait and see. Next week we will see
:53:51. > :54:01.precisely how to respond, how ministers respond, but I am very
:54:01. > :54:04.
:54:04. > :54:08.confident. Where do you stand? What you say as a Londoner? I feel the
:54:09. > :54:15.current planning system, and I have served as a local councillor for
:54:15. > :54:19.eight years, is too restrictive. It needs to be liberalised somewhat.
:54:19. > :54:24.Planning is always a question of compromise is, between the person
:54:24. > :54:31.making the application and the people nearby. It is about getting
:54:32. > :54:39.that balance right. Would you be happy to see at 20 ft extension in
:54:39. > :54:46.the house next door to you? I do not live in a conservation area, so
:54:46. > :54:51.it could happen. Would you be happy? I do not think you could.
:54:51. > :54:57.However far you could go, 15 ft, cover the whole garden. As with all
:54:57. > :55:04.these things the Iraqi considerations, any extension,
:55:04. > :55:10.whether it cuts out light, implications. We know these
:55:10. > :55:15.considerations, everyone feels them. Planning is always a balance of
:55:15. > :55:21.these considerations, where do you have that balance? Is that balance
:55:21. > :55:25.in the right point? That question will be down next week. These
:55:25. > :55:30.changes give the householder the power to make that decision about
:55:30. > :55:34.the balance. They take it away from an independent third party, the
:55:34. > :55:39.authority, and they say it is a householder who can choose whether
:55:39. > :55:43.that development is appropriate, and it takes the say away from the
:55:43. > :55:47.people who live next door. It is deeply ironic that this government
:55:47. > :55:50.say they want to give more power to local communities to have a say in
:55:50. > :55:54.what happens in their neighbourhood and they are changing the planning
:55:54. > :56:04.rules in such a way that are going to cause huge attention in
:56:04. > :56:05.
:56:05. > :56:08.communities. Are you in a better place? Yes, we got a pledge that a
:56:08. > :56:12.compromise arrangement will be tabled in the House of Lords on
:56:12. > :56:16.Monday. Obviously it will come back to the House of Commons for a
:56:16. > :56:21.decision. Lots of MPs on the conservative side said we will
:56:21. > :56:28.accept what the Government have said, and gave the Government the
:56:28. > :56:35.benefit of the doubt. -- the Conservative side. We want to make
:56:35. > :56:45.sure the compromise arrangement works for everyone. We need to move
:56:45. > :56:46.
:56:46. > :56:49.on. Thank you. Now the rest of the A report by the Conservatives on
:56:50. > :56:54.the London assembly called for tube workers to be banned from going on
:56:54. > :56:58.strike. They are suggesting a mediation process overseen by an
:56:58. > :57:03.independent judge, but unions say this will be doomed to failure. The
:57:03. > :57:07.home of British skateboarding since the 1970s is set to close after
:57:07. > :57:11.plans to redevelop the Southbank Centre. An alternative site is
:57:11. > :57:21.being offered but users what the cultural significance to be
:57:21. > :57:26.
:57:26. > :57:36.respected and for it to be saved. How would you like to builds and
:57:36. > :57:40.
:57:40. > :57:43.the Olympic Park. People will be losing out on benefit changes, the
:57:43. > :57:53.opposition say the money will be better spent creating permanent
:57:53. > :57:56.
:57:56. > :58:05.At Conservative group pushing on this, wanting to change the loss on
:58:05. > :58:15.strikes. In general, London tube strikes happen far too often for
:58:15. > :58:16.
:58:16. > :58:23.trivial reasons. It is a complete abuse. A lot of it will be up to
:58:23. > :58:32.Boris in terms of how he handles it. More of my constituents travel by
:58:32. > :58:42.chewed their end any other constituency in the country. It can
:58:42. > :58:45.
:58:45. > :58:53.be quite difficult. Do you support this? I think this is another rash
:58:53. > :59:03.policy. I think they are difficult unions, hard work needs to going to
:59:03. > :59:07.
:59:07. > :59:14.engaging with them. Back to you. In a moment we will look ahead to the
:59:14. > :59:18.big stories that will dominate next week but first the news. Runners
:59:18. > :59:22.taking part in the London Marathon stood in silence to remember the
:59:22. > :59:31.victims of the Boston bombings last Monday. Thousands of people lined
:59:31. > :59:36.the route after security was tightened in response. It was a day
:59:36. > :59:46.for London but also for Boston. Many runners wore black ribbons,
:59:46. > :59:50.
:59:50. > :59:55.all experienced tighter security. Despite the week's events, the
:59:55. > :00:00.crowd emerged in their thousands to chew on the runners. Mo Farah ran
:00:00. > :00:07.the first path before dropping out. The spirit of the day was summed up
:00:07. > :00:14.by another athlete, Tatyana McFadden, who won the event in
:00:14. > :00:20.Boston just ours before the bombing. They were in my heart for the whole
:00:20. > :00:25.weekend. I dedicate this win to Boston. Remembering those affected
:00:25. > :00:33.by it. David Weir could only finish 5th in the men's wheelchair event.
:00:34. > :00:42.Victory in the elite races was won by an Ethiopian. The faults were
:00:42. > :00:46.It will never get any body down here. The great thing about the
:00:47. > :00:52.marathon is no matter what colour you are, religion, nationality,
:00:52. > :00:56.everyone comes together. For every runner that crosses the finish line,
:00:56. > :01:01.the organisers are donating �2 to the Boston fund, raising thousands
:01:01. > :01:11.and thousands in the process. Many runners are still out on the course.
:01:11. > :01:17.
:01:17. > :01:23.to question the teenager who is thought to have carried out the
:01:23. > :01:29.bombing. These pictures show Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hiding in a boat,
:01:29. > :01:33.shortly before the exchange of gunfire that led to his arrest. He
:01:33. > :01:37.remains under armed guard in hospital.
:01:37. > :01:44.More than 200 people are known to be dead or missing after yesterday's
:01:44. > :01:48.earthquake in China. Thousands of people have been injured. Rescue
:01:48. > :01:53.workers have been searching remote villages for survivors.
:01:53. > :01:57.Celtic have been crowned Scottish Premier League champions after they
:01:57. > :02:04.beat Inverness at Celtic Park. Celtic needed only a point to retain
:02:04. > :02:11.the title in front of their home fans, but they ended up winning 4-1.
:02:11. > :02:20.That is all the news for now. More news on BBC One just after 6:30pm.
:02:20. > :02:25.For now, back to Andrew. Britain has already lost its AAA. Is
:02:25. > :02:30.it now going for the triple dip? A row over whether a separate Scotland
:02:30. > :02:35.could keep the pound, and trade unions are considering holding a
:02:35. > :02:40.general strike. All up for discussion in the week ahead.
:02:40. > :02:44.On Thursday, we are going to get the growth figures for the first quarter
:02:44. > :02:50.of this year. That's when we will see whether the growth has been so
:02:50. > :02:57.weak, or whether there is no growth at all that we are technically into
:02:57. > :03:01.another recession, almost a triple dip reception. -- recession. Then
:03:01. > :03:07.there is that warning that the Chancellor had from the head of the
:03:07. > :03:11.IMF, Christine Lagarde. Should growth be particularly low, then
:03:11. > :03:19.there should be consideration to adjusting, by way of slowing the
:03:19. > :03:23.pace. So the politicians always use the IMF when it agrees with them,
:03:23. > :03:28.and they attack the IMF when it disagrees with them. Does the IMF
:03:28. > :03:32.matter in terms of the politics of our economic debate? What would
:03:32. > :03:37.really matter in terms of the politics is if we do go into triple
:03:37. > :03:43.dip recession this week. It is a presentational issue. Either way, it
:03:43. > :03:48.sounds like growth is going to be very weak. Politically, a triple dip
:03:48. > :03:54.would be an extraordinary blow for the Chancellor, and it has been one
:03:54. > :04:00.thing after another this week, with the unemployment figures - which are
:04:00. > :04:06.quite a shock - and then the credit rating again. There is no way this
:04:06. > :04:12.economic news is getting better. You asked us to make predictions for
:04:12. > :04:17.2013, one of which was the overall GDP growth for this year. All of us
:04:17. > :04:24.said less and 1%, and it looks like, on Thursday, we will be on
:04:24. > :04:31.course for something under 1% for the whole year. If there is growth,
:04:31. > :04:34.it will be anaemic. It is easy to predict growth, because you just
:04:35. > :04:42.take the OBR figures and then subtract a couple of percentage
:04:42. > :04:47.points! The IMF really matters for George Osborne, because Christine
:04:47. > :04:54.Lagarde was his big friend. When Dominic Strauss Kahn had to resign,
:04:54. > :04:58.he was on the phone in seconds saying that it should be her. George
:04:58. > :05:07.Osborne says that the dynamics of the IMF have changed, because
:05:07. > :05:13.Olivier Blanchard, the chief economist... Is he French?He is.
:05:13. > :05:19.The number two in the IMF would take a more Keynesian approach. The lack
:05:19. > :05:25.of support from the guard is a real change in the dynamics. -- from
:05:25. > :05:30.Christine Lagarde. The IMF says we should have less austerity here,
:05:30. > :05:34.because it isn't working. But in Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Spain,
:05:34. > :05:41.where the austerity is much worse, it says they have to carry on with
:05:41. > :05:47.more. How do we square that? The IMF seem to be all over the place with
:05:47. > :05:52.their views on austerity. It varies from country to country. But George
:05:52. > :05:58.of Swan cannot say that because he spent the last two years supporting
:05:58. > :06:03.the IMF. -- George Osborne. He has had a strange month because all of
:06:03. > :06:07.the economic news has been uniformly bad, and yet his one big success has
:06:07. > :06:12.had nothing to do with his own brief, which is the issue of
:06:12. > :06:16.welfare. He has pushed that very aggressively, and it seems to have
:06:16. > :06:24.had some moderate impact on the polls. It pushes him away from his
:06:24. > :06:28.natural area of economic, the Treasury brief. I thought you were
:06:28. > :06:34.going to say that his one big success was the tears at the
:06:34. > :06:38.funeral! And I am not being entirely flippant about that. It did show a
:06:38. > :06:44.different side to Osborne's personality, which will not do him
:06:44. > :06:48.any harm. What is striking is that George Osborne is looking nervous.
:06:48. > :06:54.In that speech he gave at the Morrison's distribution centre, he
:06:54. > :07:03.was nervous. His people was saying -- were saying afterwards, how did
:07:03. > :07:08.he do? For all that confidence, he looks insecure. He has probably seen
:07:08. > :07:16.the list of chancellors who fade -- failed listening to Treasury briefs.
:07:16. > :07:20.Now, remember this? Not unless you are over 90 years old. 1926 was the
:07:20. > :07:25.last time Britain saw a general strike. The unions will meet at the
:07:25. > :07:32.TUC to decide whether to stage another one in protest at the
:07:32. > :07:41.government's austerity measures. The 1926 general strike was meant to be
:07:41. > :07:43.an open-ended conflict. It wasn't just a protest. It was an overall,
:07:43. > :07:49.open-ended strike, and eventually it collapsed. This would be a one day
:07:49. > :07:54.affair, if it happens at all. What's the point? The worst thing for the
:07:54. > :07:59.unions would it be -- would be to call a general strike and then for
:07:59. > :08:03.it to be a complete flop. In 1926, they had the powers and the
:08:03. > :08:12.involvement in the economy to paralyse the country. You can
:08:12. > :08:16.imagine them calling this now and it being a damp squib. The strikes we
:08:16. > :08:22.have had so far have been pretty lame. So I agree. If they did call a
:08:22. > :08:27.strike, I can't seem -- I can't see it and mounting to much. If they
:08:27. > :08:33.call a strike and only the usual suspects turn up, it will undermine
:08:33. > :08:38.the unions. It will. The tragedy for the unions is that in the 1980s,
:08:38. > :08:45.when Labour did its best to leave planet Earth, the one element of the
:08:45. > :08:53.Labour movement that was sane and helpful was the trade unions. There
:08:53. > :08:59.were people in the trade unions that we have got to fight, so said a
:08:59. > :09:03.member of the Shadow Cabinet. like me will say, do you support the
:09:03. > :09:08.strike or don't you. Someone like Ed Miliband is between a rock and a
:09:08. > :09:13.hard place. We were talking about Ed Miliband's failures in the polls,
:09:13. > :09:17.and this is the last thing he needs. I'm sure his poll ratings would go
:09:17. > :09:21.down even further, because he is forced into a position where he has
:09:21. > :09:31.to come out against the unions, and every one is reminded yet again that
:09:31. > :09:36.
:09:36. > :09:38.it was the unions that got him the job in the first place. A battle
:09:38. > :09:40.between Edinburgh and Whitehall. The SNP's latest policy came out last
:09:40. > :09:44.year that they would stick with sterling. The Treasury coming out
:09:44. > :09:48.with the paper this week suggesting it may not be quite as easy as Alex
:09:48. > :09:52.Salmond would have us think. nearly choked on my called legs when
:09:52. > :10:00.I read the piece by George Osborne, because he was arguing in favour of
:10:00. > :10:03.a single currency and saying what a good thing it was. It turned out it
:10:03. > :10:06.was the pound! A pound for the United Kingdom as a whole, and it
:10:06. > :10:11.will not work if Scotland becomes independent. There was a report on
:10:11. > :10:17.the House of Lords economic committee on this, saying it was
:10:17. > :10:20.without precedent having a part of the United Kingdom opting out, and
:10:20. > :10:24.it would be unconstitutional and improper for the bank of England, on
:10:25. > :10:29.the monetary policy committee, to give a seat to an independent
:10:29. > :10:33.Scotland. The problem to the SNP is, when you come down to the nuts
:10:33. > :10:38.and bolts of it, they were going to have their future in the European
:10:38. > :10:42.union. They were going to be an independent country, but they are
:10:42. > :10:46.going to have the same head of state. They were going to be an
:10:46. > :10:50.independent country, but they are going to keep the pounced on, and
:10:50. > :10:56.what is their relationship with the bank of England? Once you get down
:10:56. > :11:01.to the nuts and bolts, it gets very difficult for them. You cannot have
:11:01. > :11:05.a currency union without a political union, and the SNP are flirting with
:11:05. > :11:12.doing that. If you think this position is unattainable now, just
:11:12. > :11:15.think of the heat of the referendum campaign. Alex Salmond is, to give
:11:15. > :11:20.him credit, a really sinuous tactical operator. But when it comes
:11:20. > :11:25.to the heavy lifting on questions of substance, the currency, or whether
:11:25. > :11:33.Scotland would have to reapply for EU membership, he is much more
:11:33. > :11:40.shaky. We have had Stuart Hollies in here on politics Scotland. Let's
:11:40. > :11:44.hear what he was saying. I look forward to the document, because it
:11:44. > :11:53.will not be much more than a repetition of the scare story that
:11:53. > :11:59.we will have to join the euro. It is false to say that a foreign country
:11:59. > :12:06.will be controlling our economy. was talking about the SNP's
:12:06. > :12:10.independence within Europe. Now they do not want the euro. It is good you
:12:10. > :12:16.wield him out, because otherwise we would get criticisms for being
:12:16. > :12:23.biased. I agree exactly with what the others have said. The SNP's
:12:23. > :12:27.position is riddled with contradictions. We were talking
:12:27. > :12:33.about unions breaking up, and this union is breaking up, because this
:12:33. > :12:40.is your last appearance as a regular! Why? You are moving to the
:12:40. > :12:50.country, I hear! It's where it all happens. Not at all! Will you miss
:12:50. > :12:51.
:12:51. > :13:01.her? You should hear where she is moving to! I am joining the Chipping
:13:01. > :13:01.
:13:01. > :13:11.Norton sect. I will be having you all-rounder to lunch! In that case,
:13:11. > :13:13.
:13:13. > :13:18.we are up for it! Will you come back and see us? Will do, yes.Thank you