:00:36. > :00:39.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:40. > :00:42.Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball tactics
:00:43. > :00:47.and intimidation by unions in industrial disputes. That's our top
:00:48. > :00:51.story. Thousands dead. Hundreds of
:00:52. > :00:56.thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to
:00:57. > :00:58.help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:00:59. > :01:03.International Development Secretary Justine Greening.
:01:04. > :01:06.Winter is coming and so, it seems, is another crisis in England's
:01:07. > :01:15.hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow Health Secretary how he'd put a stop
:01:16. > :01:20.to the NHS's annual woes. In London, an alarming series of cycle
:01:21. > :01:23.fatalities on the capital's streets, and renewed calls to get lorries off
:01:24. > :01:37.the roads in peak hours. With me, the best and brightest
:01:38. > :01:39.political panel that money can buy. Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this
:01:40. > :01:44.week, Zoe Williams, who'll be tweeting their thoughts throughout
:01:45. > :01:47.the programme. The Government has announced a
:01:48. > :01:49.review to investigate what the Prime Minister has called "industrial
:01:50. > :02:02.intimidation" by trade union activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair
:02:03. > :02:05.a panel to examine allegations of the kind of tactics that came to
:02:06. > :02:07.light during the Grangemouth dispute, when the Unite union took
:02:08. > :02:14.their protests - replete with a giant rat - outside the family homes
:02:15. > :02:19.of the firms' bosses. Earlier this morning the Cabinet office minister,
:02:20. > :02:23.Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and this is what he had to say. To look
:02:24. > :02:27.at whether the law currently works and see if it is ineffective in
:02:28. > :02:32.preventing the kind of intimidatory activity that was alleged to have
:02:33. > :02:41.taken place around range mouth during the previous disputes --
:02:42. > :02:46.Grangemouth. We make no presumptions at the beginning of this. I do think
:02:47. > :02:51.it is a responsible thing for the government to establish what
:02:52. > :02:55.happened and really do a proper review into whether the law is
:02:56. > :03:02.adequate to meet the needs. That was Francis Maude. This is a purely
:03:03. > :03:06.political move, isn't it? Unite did this a couple of times, it is hardly
:03:07. > :03:09.happening all over the country but the government want to say, we are
:03:10. > :03:16.prepared to investigate Unite properly, Labour isn't. This seemed
:03:17. > :03:23.a lot worse when I thought it was a real rat. I thought it was a giant
:03:24. > :03:26.dead rat. I am not sure if you know much about rats but real rats are
:03:27. > :03:33.not this big, even the ones in London. The thing is, obviously it
:03:34. > :03:38.is naked politics but I think it is more intelligent than it looks. They
:03:39. > :03:44.are trying to taint Miliband as a week union puppet and that doesn't
:03:45. > :03:49.really wash. They hammer away with it and it might wash for some
:03:50. > :03:53.people. But it really castrates Miliband in the important issues he
:03:54. > :03:57.has to tackle. Zero hours, living wage, all of those things in which
:03:58. > :04:03.he needs to be in concert with the unions, and to use their expertise.
:04:04. > :04:16.He is making them absolutely toxic to go anywhere near. It keeps the
:04:17. > :04:18.Unite story alive, have to kill -- particularly since Mr Miller band is
:04:19. > :04:33.under pressure to reopen the investigation into what Unite are up
:04:34. > :04:37.to -- Mr Miliband. They are frustrated, not only at the BBC but
:04:38. > :04:40.the media generally at what they think is a lack of coverage. I see
:04:41. > :04:46.the political rationale from that respect. There is a risk. There are
:04:47. > :04:52.union members who either vote Tory or are open to the idea of voting
:04:53. > :05:04.Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party comes across as too zealous in as --
:05:05. > :05:11.its antipathy, there is an electoral consequence. Ed Miliband has been
:05:12. > :05:16.careful to keep a distance. Yes, they depend on vast amounts of
:05:17. > :05:19.money. When Len McCluskey had a real go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was
:05:20. > :05:23.straight out there with a very strong statement. Essentially Len
:05:24. > :05:28.McCluskey wanted Blairites in the shadow cabinet sacked and Ed
:05:29. > :05:33.Miliband was keen to distance himself or for that is why it is not
:05:34. > :05:38.quite sticking. Another story in the Sunday papers this morning, the Mail
:05:39. > :05:43.on Sunday got hold of some e-mails. When I saw the headline I thought it
:05:44. > :05:49.was a huge cache of e-mails, it turns out to be a couple. They peel
:05:50. > :05:56.away the cover on the relationship between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls,
:05:57. > :06:03.with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts describing what Mr balls is trying
:06:04. > :06:08.to do as a nightmare. How bad are the relations? They are pretty bad
:06:09. > :06:10.and these e-mails confirm the biggest open signal in Westminster,
:06:11. > :06:16.which is that relations are pretty tense, -- open secret. That Ed
:06:17. > :06:21.Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls is acknowledging the economy has
:06:22. > :06:29.grown that Labour needs to admit to past mistakes. The sort of great
:06:30. > :06:36.open signal is confirmed. On a scale of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown
:06:37. > :06:40.was ten. I think it is between six and seven. They occupy this joint
:06:41. > :06:46.suite of offices that George Cameron and -- David Cameron and George
:06:47. > :06:50.Osborne had. It is not just on the economy that there were tensions,
:06:51. > :06:57.there were clearly tensions over HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question
:06:58. > :07:00.over it at his conference. There will be more tensions when it comes
:07:01. > :07:05.to the third runway because my information is that Mr balls wants
:07:06. > :07:11.to do it and Ed Miliband almost resigned over it when he was in
:07:12. > :07:13.government. I don't think Ed Miliband is thinking very
:07:14. > :07:19.politically because he has tried live without Ed Balls and that is
:07:20. > :07:23.not tenable either. -- life without. He has defined a way of making it
:07:24. > :07:28.work. That is where Tony Blair had the edge on any modern politician.
:07:29. > :07:32.He didn't want to make Ed Balls his Shadow Chancellor, he had to.
:07:33. > :07:36.Somebody said to him, if you make Ed Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will
:07:37. > :07:45.be the last decision you take as leader of the Labour Party. Is it as
:07:46. > :07:57.bad? I was surprised at how tame the e-mails were. At the FT it is
:07:58. > :08:01.compulsory, one French word per sentence! To call him a nightmare,
:08:02. > :08:06.compared to what they are willing to say in briefings, conversations,
:08:07. > :08:09.bits of frustrations they express verbally come what is documented in
:08:10. > :08:15.the e-mails is actually pretty light. It has been a grim week for
:08:16. > :08:18.the people of the Philippines as they count the cost of the
:08:19. > :08:24.devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived
:08:25. > :08:28.near the worst hit areas - part of Britain's contribution to bring aid
:08:29. > :08:32.to the country. It has been one of the worst natural
:08:33. > :08:35.disasters in the history of the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the
:08:36. > :08:40.country nine days ago, leaving devastation in its wake. The numbers
:08:41. > :08:45.involved are shocking. The official death toll is over 3600 people, with
:08:46. > :08:50.many thousands more unaccounted for. More than half a million people have
:08:51. > :08:54.lost their homes and the UN estimates 11 million have been
:08:55. > :08:58.affected. David Cameron announced on Friday that the UK government is to
:08:59. > :09:05.give an extra ?30 million in aid, taking the total British figure ?250
:09:06. > :09:07.million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft landed yesterday with equipment to
:09:08. > :09:13.help aid workers get too hard to reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on
:09:14. > :09:21.its way and due to arrive next weekend. The British public have
:09:22. > :09:25.once again dipped into their pockets and given generously. They have
:09:26. > :09:28.given more than ?30 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
:09:29. > :09:31.The International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, joins
:09:32. > :09:35.me now for the Sunday Interview. Good morning, Secretary of State.
:09:36. > :09:40.How much of the ?50 million that the government has allocated has got
:09:41. > :09:45.through so far? All of it has landed on the ground now. HMS Daring has
:09:46. > :09:48.turned up, that will be able to start getting help out to some of
:09:49. > :09:54.those more outlying islands that have been hard to reach. We have
:09:55. > :09:58.seen Save the Children and Oxfam really being able to get aid out on
:09:59. > :10:02.the ground. We have a plane taking off today that will not read just
:10:03. > :10:09.carrying out more equipment to help clear the roads but will also have
:10:10. > :10:16.their staff on board, too. We have ?50 million of aid actually on the
:10:17. > :10:20.ground? We instantly chartered flights directly from Dubai where we
:10:21. > :10:24.have preprepared human Terry and supplies, and started humanity work
:10:25. > :10:36.-- humanitarian supplies. A lot of it has now arrived. I think
:10:37. > :10:41.we have done a huge amount so far. We have gone beyond just providing
:10:42. > :10:44.humanitarian supplies, to getting the Royal Air Force involved. They
:10:45. > :10:49.have helped us to get equipment out there quickly. We have HMS
:10:50. > :10:54.Illustrious sailing over there now. Why has that taken so long? It was
:10:55. > :10:57.based in the Gulf and is not going to get there until two weeks after
:10:58. > :11:02.the storm first hit and that is the one ship we have with lots of
:11:03. > :11:05.helicopters. The first decision we took was to make sure we could get
:11:06. > :11:10.the fastest vessel out there that was able to help HMS Daring. HMS
:11:11. > :11:14.Illustrious was just finishing an exercise and planning to start to
:11:15. > :11:18.head back towards the UK. We have said to not do that, and diverted
:11:19. > :11:24.it. Shouldn't it have happened more quickly? We took the decisions as
:11:25. > :11:29.fast as we were able to, you can't just turn a big warship around like
:11:30. > :11:32.the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we took those decisions and that is
:11:33. > :11:38.while it will be taking over from HMS Daring come and that is why HMS
:11:39. > :11:42.Daring is ready there. It will be able to provide key support and
:11:43. > :11:48.expertise that has not been there so far. The US Navy is doing the heavy
:11:49. > :11:52.lifting here. The US Navy had the USS Washington, there is an aircraft
:11:53. > :11:57.carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel and they have the fleet, they are
:11:58. > :12:02.doing the real work. We obviously helping but the Americans are taking
:12:03. > :12:06.the lead. It is a big international effort. Countries like the US and
:12:07. > :12:15.the UK, that have a broader ability to support that goes beyond simply
:12:16. > :12:19.call humanitarian supplies -- have made sure we have brought our
:12:20. > :12:23.logistics knowledge, we have sent out our naval vessels. It shows we
:12:24. > :12:32.are working across government to respond to this crisis. Why does
:12:33. > :12:36.only just over 4% of your aid budget go on emergency disaster and
:12:37. > :12:40.response? A lot depends on what crises hit in any given year. We
:12:41. > :12:44.have done a huge amount, responding to the crisis in Syria, the conflict
:12:45. > :12:48.there and the fact we have 2 million refugees who have fled the country.
:12:49. > :12:54.We are part of an international effort in supporting them. Shouldn't
:12:55. > :12:57.we beginning more money to that rather than some of the other
:12:58. > :13:04.programmes where it is harder to see the results question of if we were
:13:05. > :13:07.to give more money to the refugees, it would be a visible result. We
:13:08. > :13:14.could see an improvement in the lives of children, men and women.
:13:15. > :13:17.What we need to do is alongside that is stop those situations from
:13:18. > :13:21.happening in the first place. A lot of our development spend is helping
:13:22. > :13:26.countries to stay stable. Look at some of the work we are doing in
:13:27. > :13:32.Somalia, much more sensible. Not just from an immigration but there
:13:33. > :13:36.is a threat perspective. There is a lot of terrorism coming from
:13:37. > :13:42.Somalia. You only have to look at Kenya recently to see that. Which is
:13:43. > :13:46.why you talk about what we do with the rest of the spend. It is why it
:13:47. > :13:52.is responsible to work with the government of Somalia. Should we
:13:53. > :13:57.give more, bigger part of the budget to disaster relief or not? I think
:13:58. > :14:01.we get it about right, we have to be flexible and we are. This Philippine
:14:02. > :14:08.relief is on top of the work in Syria. Where can you show me a
:14:09. > :14:12.correlation between us giving aid to some failed nation, or nearly failed
:14:13. > :14:17.nation, and that cutting down on terrorism? If you look at the work
:14:18. > :14:21.we have done in Pakistan, a huge amount of work. Some of it
:14:22. > :14:29.short-term. It is written by terrorism. That is -- ridden by
:14:30. > :14:36.terrorism. That is not going to fix it self in a sense. Look at the work
:14:37. > :14:45.that we do in investing in education. The things that little
:14:46. > :14:52.girls like Malala talk about as being absolutely key. We are ramping
:14:53. > :14:58.up our aid to Pakistan, it will be close to half ?1 billion by the time
:14:59. > :15:05.of the election. Why should British taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion
:15:06. > :15:09.to a country where only 0.5% of people in Pakistan pay income tax,
:15:10. > :15:19.and 70% of their own MPs don't pay income tax. It is a good point and
:15:20. > :15:23.that is why we have been working with their tax revenue authority to
:15:24. > :15:34.help them increase that and push forward the tax reform. You are
:15:35. > :15:40.right, and I have setup a team that will go out and work with many of
:15:41. > :15:44.these countries so they can raise their own revenues. You really think
:15:45. > :15:58.you will raise the amount of tax by sending out the British HRM see? How
:15:59. > :16:02.many troops I we sending out to protect them? They don't need
:16:03. > :16:16.troops. We make sure that we have a duty of care alongside our staff,
:16:17. > :16:20.but we have to respond to any crisis like the Philippines, and alongside
:16:21. > :16:25.other countries we have two work alongside them so that they can
:16:26. > :16:31.reinvest in their own public services. If they can create their
:16:32. > :16:36.own taxes, will we stop paying aid? We need to look at that but the new
:16:37. > :16:43.Pakistan Government has been very clear it is a priority and we will
:16:44. > :16:50.be helping them in pursuing that. Let me show you a picture. Who are
:16:51. > :16:57.these young women? I don't know, I'm sure you are about to tell me. They
:16:58. > :17:02.are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and I'm surprised you don't know because
:17:03. > :17:09.they have only managed to become so famous because your department has
:17:10. > :17:13.financed them to the tune of ?4 million. All of the work we do with
:17:14. > :17:19.women on the ground, making sure they have a voice in their local
:17:20. > :17:25.communities, making sure they have some control over what happens to
:17:26. > :17:33.their own bodies in terms of tackling FGM, female genital
:17:34. > :17:38.mutilation... Did you know your department has spent ?4 million on
:17:39. > :17:46.the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I do, and we have to work with girls
:17:47. > :17:50.and show them there is a life ahead of them with opportunity and
:17:51. > :17:55.potential that goes beyond what many of them will experience, which
:17:56. > :18:06.includes early and forced marriage. It is part of the work we do with
:18:07. > :18:11.local communities to change attitudes everything you have just
:18:12. > :18:14.said is immeasurable, and they broadcast on a radio station that
:18:15. > :18:26.doesn't reach most of the country so it cannot have the impact. It only
:18:27. > :18:26.reaches 20 million people and the project has been condemned saying
:18:27. > :18:35.there were serious inefficiencies. That aid report was done a while ago
:18:36. > :18:39.now, and it was talking about the project when it first got going, and
:18:40. > :18:45.a lot of improvements have happened since. I would go back to the point
:18:46. > :18:48.that we are working in very difficult environments where we are
:18:49. > :18:53.trying to get longer term change on the ground and that means working
:18:54. > :18:57.directly with communities but also investing for the long-term,
:18:58. > :19:04.investing in some of these girls start changing attitudes in them and
:19:05. > :19:14.their communities. Why does the British taxpayers spend ?5 million
:19:15. > :19:20.on a Bangladesh version of Question Time? We work with the BBC to make
:19:21. > :19:40.sure we can get accountabilities... That is bigger then the BBC Question
:19:41. > :19:48.Time Normal -- budget. That includes the cost of David Dimbleby's
:19:49. > :19:52.tattoo! We are working to improve people's prospects but also we are
:19:53. > :19:56.working to improve their ability to hold their governments to account so
:19:57. > :20:00.that when they are not getting services on the ground, they have
:20:01. > :20:08.ways they can raise those concerns with the people who are there to
:20:09. > :20:12.deliver services for them. In your own personal view, should the next
:20:13. > :20:18.Conservative Government, if there is one, should you continue to ring
:20:19. > :20:23.fence spending on foreign aid? But it is critical that if we are going
:20:24. > :20:28.to spend 7.7% of our national income, we should make sure it is in
:20:29. > :20:33.our national interest and that means having a clear approach to
:20:34. > :20:37.humanitarian responses, in keeping the country safe, and a clearer
:20:38. > :20:43.approach on helping drive economic development and jobs so there is a
:20:44. > :20:49.long-term end of the dependency. Do you believe in an shrine in the
:20:50. > :20:55.percentage of our GDP that goes on foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is
:20:56. > :21:05.a coalition agreement. There have been a lot of agreements that you
:21:06. > :21:09.are sceptical about ring fencing. We are focused on shaking up the
:21:10. > :21:23.economy and improving our public finances. Why haven't you done that?
:21:24. > :21:28.At the end of the day we will be accountable but we are committed to
:21:29. > :21:34.doing that. You are running out of time, will you do it? I hope we can
:21:35. > :21:40.find the Parliamentary time, but even if we don't, we have acted as
:21:41. > :21:46.if that law is in place and we have already met 0.7% commitment. If you
:21:47. > :21:53.are British voter that doesn't believe that we should enshrine that
:21:54. > :21:57.in by law, which means that with a growing economy foreign aid will
:21:58. > :22:01.rise by definition, and if you think we should be spending less money on
:22:02. > :22:09.the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom should you wrote in the next
:22:10. > :22:15.election? I think we have a very sensible approach. I don't know what
:22:16. > :22:21.the various party manifestoes... The only party who thinks we shouldn't
:22:22. > :22:31.be doing this is UKIP. I think you have to look at the response to both
:22:32. > :22:38.the Philippines crisis and Children In Need. Of all the steps we are
:22:39. > :22:44.taking to get the country back on track, it shows the British people
:22:45. > :22:52.will respond to need when they need it and it is one of the things that
:22:53. > :22:55.makes Britain's special. Thank you. "It's always winter but
:22:56. > :22:57.never Christmas" - that's how doctors describe life inside
:22:58. > :23:00.accident and emergency. The College of Emergency Medicine have warned
:23:01. > :23:04.that this year could bring the "worst crisis on record". If that
:23:05. > :23:06.dire prediction comes, expect a spring of political recriminations,
:23:07. > :23:10.but how prepared are the NHS in England? And what do they make of
:23:11. > :23:19.this autumnal speculation? Giles has been to Leeds to find out.
:23:20. > :23:25.This winter has already come to our hospitals. It had an official start
:23:26. > :23:33.date, November the 3rd. That is when weekly updates are delivered to the
:23:34. > :23:39.NHS's most senior planners, alerting them to any sudden changes in
:23:40. > :23:47.patient numbers coming in. Where do they numbers register most then
:23:48. > :23:51.A They are the barometer for what is going on everywhere else, and
:23:52. > :23:55.they are the pressure point, so if the system is beginning to struggle
:23:56. > :24:03.then it is in the A department that we see the problems. It is not
:24:04. > :24:09.that the problems are the A departments, but they are the place
:24:10. > :24:14.where it all comes together. Plans to tackle those problems start being
:24:15. > :24:23.drawn up in May and they look at trends, even taking notice of any
:24:24. > :24:33.flu epidemics in New Zealand. They also look at the amount of bets. But
:24:34. > :24:37.the weather, economic realities, structural reforms, and changes to
:24:38. > :24:41.the general health of the population, are all factors they
:24:42. > :24:46.have to consider. We get huge amounts of information through the
:24:47. > :24:51.winter in order to help the NHS be the best it can be, but we had to
:24:52. > :24:56.redouble our efforts this year because we expected to be a
:24:57. > :25:03.difficult winter. We know the NHS is stretched so we are working hard to
:25:04. > :25:10.be as good as we can be. That means they are looking at winter staffing
:25:11. > :25:14.levels, plans to ask for help from neighbouring hospitals, and
:25:15. > :25:20.dovetailing help with GP surgeries, and still having the ability to move
:25:21. > :25:26.up an extra gear, a rehearsed emergency plan if the NHS had to
:25:27. > :25:30.face a major disease pandemic. You spend any time in any of our
:25:31. > :25:35.hospitals and you realise the NHS knows that winter is coming and they
:25:36. > :25:38.are making plans, but you also get a palpable feeling amongst health
:25:39. > :25:46.workers across the entire system that they do get fed up of being
:25:47. > :25:49.used as a political football. Doctors and all health care
:25:50. > :25:55.professionals are frustrated about the politics that surrounds the NHS
:25:56. > :25:58.in health care. They go to work to treat patients as best as they can,
:25:59. > :26:05.and the political knock-about does not help anyone. I find it
:26:06. > :26:09.frustrating when there is a commentary that suggests the NHS
:26:10. > :26:15.does not planned, when it is surprised by winter, and wherever
:26:16. > :26:21.that comes from it is hard to take, knowing how much we do nationally
:26:22. > :26:30.and how much our hard working front line staff are doing. When the
:26:31. > :26:36.Coalition have recently tried to open up the NHS to be a more
:26:37. > :26:43.independent body, it is clear the NHS feel they have had an unhealthy
:26:44. > :26:47.dose of political wrangling between parties on policy. The NHS is not
:26:48. > :26:53.infallible or making any guarantees, but they seem confident that they
:26:54. > :26:56.and their patients can survive the winter.
:26:57. > :27:04.Joining me now from Salford in the Shadow Health Secretary, Andy
:27:05. > :27:09.Burnham. Tell me this, if you were health secretary now, you just took
:27:10. > :27:19.over in an emergency election, what would you do to avoid another winter
:27:20. > :27:25.crisis? I would immediately halt the closure of NHS walk-in centres. We
:27:26. > :27:30.heard this week that around one in four walk-in centres are closed so
:27:31. > :27:34.it makes no sense whatsoever for the Government to allow the continued
:27:35. > :27:40.closure of them. I would put nurses back on the end of phones and
:27:41. > :27:47.restore an NHS direct style service. The new 111 service is not in a
:27:48. > :27:54.position to provide help to people this winter. I think the time has
:27:55. > :27:58.come to rethink how the NHS care is particularly for older people so I
:27:59. > :28:03.propose the full integration of health and social care. It cannot
:28:04. > :28:09.make any sense any more to have this approach where we cut social care
:28:10. > :28:13.and let elderly people drift to hospitals in greater numbers. We
:28:14. > :28:21.have two rethink it as a whole service. So you would repeal some of
:28:22. > :28:26.the Tory reforms and move commissioning to local authorities
:28:27. > :28:32.so the NHS should brace itself for another major top-down health
:28:33. > :28:36.reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew Lansley I will work with the
:28:37. > :28:47.organisations ie inherit. He could work with primary care trusts but he
:28:48. > :28:53.turned it upside down when it needed stability. I will not do that but I
:28:54. > :29:06.will repeal the health and social care act because last week we heard
:29:07. > :29:09.that hospitals and health services cannot get on and make sensible
:29:10. > :29:16.merger collaborations because of this nonsense now that the NHS is
:29:17. > :29:21.bound by competition law. Let me get your views on a number of ideas that
:29:22. > :29:25.have been floated either by the press or the Coalition. We haven't
:29:26. > :29:37.got much time. Do you welcome the plan to bring back named GPs for
:29:38. > :29:42.over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder to get the GP appointment under this
:29:43. > :29:46.Government because David Cameron scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that
:29:47. > :29:51.Tony Blair brought in. He was challenged in the 2005 election
:29:52. > :29:55.about the difficulty of getting a GP appointment, and Tony Blair brought
:29:56. > :30:02.in the commitment that people should be able to get that within 48
:30:03. > :30:06.hours. That has now been scrapped. Do you welcome the idea of allowing
:30:07. > :30:14.everyone to choose their own GP surgery even if it is not in our
:30:15. > :30:19.traditional catchment area? I proposed that just before the last
:30:20. > :30:23.election, so yes. Do you welcome the idea of how a practice is being
:30:24. > :30:30.rated being a matter of public record, and of us knowing how much,
:30:31. > :30:34.at least from the NHS, our GP earns? Of course, every political party
:30:35. > :30:38.supports transparency in the NHS. More information for the public of
:30:39. > :30:44.that kind is a good thing. Do you welcome this plan to make it will
:30:45. > :30:52.form the collect in an NHS hospital -- make wilful neglect a criminal
:30:53. > :30:54.offence. It is important to say you can't pick and mix these
:30:55. > :30:58.recommendations, you can't say we will have that one and not the
:30:59. > :31:03.others. It was a balanced package that Sir Robert Francis put forward.
:31:04. > :31:06.My message is that it must be permitted in full. If we are to
:31:07. > :31:12.learn the lessons, the whole package must be addressed, and that includes
:31:13. > :31:17.safe staffing levels across the NHS. Staff have a responsible to two
:31:18. > :31:20.patients at the government also has responsible at T2 NHS staff and it
:31:21. > :31:33.should not let them work in understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a
:31:34. > :31:43.responsibility to NHS staff. Is there a part of the 2004 agreements
:31:44. > :31:48.that you regret and should be undone? A lot of myths have been
:31:49. > :31:53.built up about the contract. When it came in, there was a huge shortage
:31:54. > :31:58.of GPs across the country. Some communities struggle to recruit.
:31:59. > :32:04.This myth that the government have built, that the 2004 GP contract is
:32:05. > :32:12.responsible for the AM decries is, it is spin of the worst possible
:32:13. > :32:17.kind -- the A crisis. You would redo that contract? It was redone
:32:18. > :32:22.under our time in government and change to make it better value for
:32:23. > :32:25.money. GPs should be focused on improving the health of their
:32:26. > :32:32.patients and that is a very good principle. Not so great if you can't
:32:33. > :32:37.get 24-hour access. I agree with that. We brought in evening and
:32:38. > :32:41.weekend opening for GPs. That is another thing that has gone in
:32:42. > :32:44.reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much harder to get a GP appointment under
:32:45. > :32:55.him and that is one of the reasons why A is an oppressor. -- under
:32:56. > :33:00.pressure. What do you make of the review into intimidatory tactics by
:33:01. > :33:04.unions? If there has been intimidation, it is unacceptable,
:33:05. > :33:12.and that should apply to unions as well as employers. Was Unite wrong
:33:13. > :33:16.to turn up and demonstrate? I don't know the details, this review will
:33:17. > :33:20.look into that presumably. I need reassurance that this is not a
:33:21. > :33:23.pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on the designed to appear near the
:33:24. > :33:35.election -- that this is not a political call. Are you sponsored by
:33:36. > :33:44.unite? No. Do you get any money from Unite? No. What have you done wrong?
:33:45. > :33:51.It seems others are getting money from Unite. Can I tell you what I
:33:52. > :33:54.think is the scandal of British party political funding, two health
:33:55. > :34:02.care companies have given ?1.5 million in donations to the Tory
:34:03. > :34:07.party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS contracts. I wonder why you don't
:34:08. > :34:11.spend much time talking about that and obsess over trade union funding.
:34:12. > :34:18.We are happy to talk about that. We see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's
:34:19. > :34:24.closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls as a bit of a nightmare, do you see
:34:25. > :34:29.a bit of a nightmare about him as well? I don't at all, he is a very
:34:30. > :34:33.good friend. I can't believe that you are talking about those e-mails
:34:34. > :34:38.on a national political programme. My goodness, you obviously scraping
:34:39. > :34:42.the barrel today. I have been in front-line labour politics for 20
:34:43. > :34:46.years. I can't remember the front bench and the wider party being as
:34:47. > :34:50.united as it is today and it is a great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed
:34:51. > :34:53.Balls. We are going into a general election and we are going to get rid
:34:54. > :34:58.of a pretty disastrous coalition government. It was worth spending a
:34:59. > :35:02.few seconds to establish your not having nightmares. Thank you for
:35:03. > :35:04.joining me. It's just gone 11:30am. You're
:35:05. > :35:08.watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be
:35:09. > :35:10.talking to the MP accused of using his political contacts for financial
:35:11. > :35:20.gain. Until then, the Sunday Politics across the UK.
:35:21. > :35:29.Hello and welcome. We will be kicking off in a -- with a focus on
:35:30. > :35:33.the safety of cycling in the capital after recent fatalities. And later,
:35:34. > :35:37.we'll be asking whether a winter crisis in London hospitals
:35:38. > :35:44.casualties departments can be averted. With me, Mike Freer,
:35:45. > :35:50.Conservative MP for Golders green and Nick Hillier. With a sudden
:35:51. > :35:57.spike in fatal incidents, there have been calls for urgent safety reviews
:35:58. > :36:01.amidst claims that London's Mayor, Boris Johnson, has rushed to
:36:02. > :36:04.encourage cycling in the capital without making it safe enough. He
:36:05. > :36:09.has promised to analyse and learn from the latest deaths will stop
:36:10. > :36:11.improvements to his so-called superhighways are promised but as he
:36:12. > :36:16.told me earlier in the week, they would not be scrapped. It is very
:36:17. > :36:23.important to continue with the cycle superhighway programme, to continue
:36:24. > :36:26.to make cycling ever safer. We will see what happened at the bow
:36:27. > :36:33.roundabout, we will analyse it. There is no traffic engineer in the
:36:34. > :36:39.world who can accommodate every eventuality. What should happen? Do
:36:40. > :36:43.we need a review? Do we need to stop any further construction of
:36:44. > :36:48.superhighways? I would not stop because most of them seem to be
:36:49. > :36:51.working OK. We have to have a look at the back spots, there are
:36:52. > :36:55.problems with the Bow roundabout. Where there are problems, we need to
:36:56. > :37:01.find out what we can do to make it safer for cyclists. I cycle, I use a
:37:02. > :37:05.bus lane, I don't have a superhighway and it works well.
:37:06. > :37:08.Where it is working well we should leave it alone, where it is not
:37:09. > :37:12.working we should look at making it better for cyclists, but also make
:37:13. > :37:18.drivers aware they are in a heavy cyclist area. Would you say that you
:37:19. > :37:24.feel just as happy cycling in a road where there is no defined
:37:25. > :37:26.superhighway? Is there an issue about the cycle superhighway that
:37:27. > :37:33.gives you a false sense of safety and security? Every cyclist is
:37:34. > :37:37.different. I don't feel particularly safer or less safe when I'm on the
:37:38. > :37:41.roads. Just cycling down a piece of blue paint doesn't make me feel any
:37:42. > :37:46.safer. I only feel safe when I'm in a bus lane because on the old, the
:37:47. > :37:50.buses seem to be very conscious of cycle safety. Once you on a normal
:37:51. > :37:54.road, which most of my patch is, you have to have your wits about you. It
:37:55. > :37:58.is quite frightening, what you see drivers doing and especially truck
:37:59. > :38:03.drivers. There needs to be a bit of an awareness of drivers. I would
:38:04. > :38:05.like see a few prosecutions. You see some terrible things of people
:38:06. > :38:16.driving and text link Mawhinney dove a bit of a crackdown -- people
:38:17. > :38:21.driving and text messaging, we need to have a bit of a crackdown. We
:38:22. > :38:27.looked at whether people doing the driving test should also have to
:38:28. > :38:35.cycle. We thought there should be more cycle awareness. In terms of
:38:36. > :38:39.segregation, in Hackney, we have done an awful lot without
:38:40. > :38:41.segregating because you cannot segregate everywhere. Simple, cheap
:38:42. > :38:47.measures have made it a lot better for cyclists. For things like the
:38:48. > :38:54.superhighway, there is an order in for closer segregation and there are
:38:55. > :38:58.blackspots like the Bow roundabout. The plan is for further segregation,
:38:59. > :39:06.you would not go along with what Lord Adonis think should happen a
:39:07. > :39:09.review. There must be reviews that transport for London are doing on
:39:10. > :39:14.the superhighways. When you look at some of the footage we have seen
:39:15. > :39:18.recently, there are lorries going across and they are clearly not well
:39:19. > :39:23.signposted. Just putting some blue paint across a junction will not
:39:24. > :39:28.stop drivers, or cyclists being reassured falsely. There are
:39:29. > :39:33.blackspots, I am not sure you stop it altogether. They could be seen as
:39:34. > :39:36.a gimmick because good training and transport design throughout makes
:39:37. > :39:41.cycling safer and the highways themselves are not the solution. You
:39:42. > :39:45.think most of these routes seem to be going OK in certain parts, but it
:39:46. > :39:52.is a distinction you can't really make. A cycle superhighway is either
:39:53. > :39:57.safe or not. If it has got flaws anywhere along the route, it is not
:39:58. > :40:01.safe. I don't think it is fair to say that all of the superhighways
:40:02. > :40:07.are flawed. I think you have to look at where there have been accidents.
:40:08. > :40:10.We are looking now. We are getting the distinct impression, not least
:40:11. > :40:15.from evidence that has been put to inquests, that people before,
:40:16. > :40:18.Metropolitan Police officers, were saying these were accidents waiting
:40:19. > :40:26.to happen or it was confusing. Don't those things get done before you
:40:27. > :40:31.pursue a policy? The danger is of reacting to accidents rating Tappan,
:40:32. > :40:39.it is pretty much every road in the borough -- accidents waiting to
:40:40. > :40:46.happen. You have to look at where you have lots of HDV is -- HGVs and
:40:47. > :40:52.cyclists and vehicles all converging. If there was a plan for
:40:53. > :40:57.one in Finchley Road, would you accept that and be happy for it to
:40:58. > :41:01.go ahead? It is not in my constituency but I get the point.
:41:02. > :41:06.Before it was introduced, all the stakeholders should be consulted and
:41:07. > :41:10.I would say, as a cyclist who uses Finchley Road, here are the pinch
:41:11. > :41:13.points. That is what happened in Hackney, the cycling group has been
:41:14. > :41:19.instrumental in shaping what the council has done, they have worked
:41:20. > :41:23.together. That is what we can take from this, more involvement of the
:41:24. > :41:27.people involved. Well over half of cyclist fatalities
:41:28. > :41:32.on the road have happened as a result of collisions with HGVs.
:41:33. > :41:36.There are fresh calls to get lorries off of London streets during peak
:41:37. > :41:41.hours, and not just for cyclist safety but to cut congestion and
:41:42. > :41:46.improve traffic flow. In just over two hours, the controversial GLC
:41:47. > :41:49.lorry ban will come into force. Trucks over 16 and a half tonnes
:41:50. > :41:54.will be prohibitive from entering the capital at night and during the
:41:55. > :41:57.weekend. Restrictions on night-time deliveries in London have been in
:41:58. > :42:01.place for almost 30 years. Heavy trucks need a permit and are told to
:42:02. > :42:07.keep away from residential streets. The scheme, now operated by London
:42:08. > :42:10.councils, is coming under pressure to reform. New technologies mean the
:42:11. > :42:13.trucks are much quieter than they would have been when the
:42:14. > :42:18.restrictions were introduced. Modern technologies coming out very soon,
:42:19. > :42:24.and they are amazing, some of the systems they have got. With quieter
:42:25. > :42:28.trucks, the disturbance caused at night should be mitigated. In Paris
:42:29. > :42:31.and Dublin, they do the opposite of what we do in London and they
:42:32. > :42:40.restrict what lorries can do in the day rather than at night. Is it time
:42:41. > :42:43.we looked again? There is increasing pressure to get lorries off the
:42:44. > :42:48.streets in London and stop them clogging the streets for everyone
:42:49. > :42:52.else. If you can get more and more lorries delivering out of hours, it
:42:53. > :42:57.will free up the roads for every other road user including buses,
:42:58. > :43:03.cyclists and pedestrians. Around about this week, a cyclist was
:43:04. > :43:09.killed at this interchange after a collision with an HGV. This happened
:43:10. > :43:12.at 8:45am, peak time for lorries as the restrictions are lifted and they
:43:13. > :43:18.rushed onto the roads to make deliveries. The questions is --
:43:19. > :43:21.question is if weather those restrictions were different,
:43:22. > :43:24.accidents would be fewer. During the Olympics lorries were encouraged to
:43:25. > :43:27.make out of hours deliveries. Transport for London said it was a
:43:28. > :43:29.success and are hoping to introduce more trials will stop the Olympic
:43:30. > :43:36.showed us the Olympics showed us it was
:43:37. > :43:42.possible to create everything never can change. We worked closely with
:43:43. > :43:45.the boroughs of London councils, the freight industries and big
:43:46. > :43:50.supermarkets to help that happen. You can make a big change, the
:43:51. > :43:54.question is how do you make it part of everyday life rather than a
:43:55. > :43:59.one-off thing for the Olympics. Olympic transport policy may not
:44:00. > :44:04.prove so popular outside of the Games. Customers were advised to
:44:05. > :44:08.avoid the underground at the busiest times. During the Olympics,
:44:09. > :44:12.transport for London spend a lot of time telling people about where the
:44:13. > :44:15.busiest places on the network would be and how and when to avoid them.
:44:16. > :44:19.They thought it was a great success and this is an attempt to bring that
:44:20. > :44:25.logic into normal travelling circumstances. Not all passengers
:44:26. > :44:28.are warming to the advice that they consider not using the tube at the
:44:29. > :44:32.time is that they want to. Could it be that out of hours deliveries
:44:33. > :44:38.prove less popular if the reality becomes a big truck clattering down
:44:39. > :44:42.your street when you're trying to sleep.
:44:43. > :44:47.The former leader of Islington Council joins us. What do you think?
:44:48. > :44:50.Transport for London look as if they would be interested in allowing a
:44:51. > :44:55.lot more journeys at night, what is the problem with that? We have to
:44:56. > :45:01.balance the needs of London is to have a decent nights sleep, and lots
:45:02. > :45:05.of people live on busy roads, above shops and so on. We have to be
:45:06. > :45:11.mindful that the lorry delivery at 3am or 4am May not be so grateful
:45:12. > :45:14.residents. London councils are on the side of residents rather than
:45:15. > :45:23.supermarkets and we have to get that balance right. A lot of the major
:45:24. > :45:33.roads you are talking about, transport in London would been in
:45:34. > :45:38.charge of them, and aunt Laurie is just much quieter now? Those new
:45:39. > :45:44.measures have not made as much difference as we thought, and don't
:45:45. > :45:47.forget, when there are refrigerators and big dump masters being placed
:45:48. > :45:53.onto the highway in the middle of the night, they can be really noisy.
:45:54. > :45:59.More and more people are living in London now and we have to protect
:46:00. > :46:06.the environment for local people. Peter John, fellow Labour
:46:07. > :46:11.councillor, he feels that we should look at this. On the cycle
:46:12. > :46:17.accidents, I think the scheme we run, we could be using that because
:46:18. > :46:23.40,000 lorries are registered with us to make sure that each Laurie has
:46:24. > :46:30.this pass, to make sure it is the safest possible vehicle, and we
:46:31. > :46:34.could also make sure drivers are being held to account for their
:46:35. > :46:40.reckless behaviour. You are not prepared to consider loosening this
:46:41. > :46:47.night-time band, how do you know people wouldn't mind it now? It is
:46:48. > :46:54.not a complete ban. You give permits to a limited number per year, a lot
:46:55. > :47:05.more lorry journeys and surely we could direct a lot more of them to
:47:06. > :47:16.the evening. Hardly any lorries do deliveries at that time so maybe
:47:17. > :47:24.more drivers could look at their start and finish times a lot of the
:47:25. > :47:33.deliveries could be delivered at 4pm. Do you think we should change
:47:34. > :47:38.this, there is more latitude now? I think there is a case to say we
:47:39. > :47:42.could revisit the rules. There is a difference between allowing
:47:43. > :47:47.deliveries into central London where there are relatively few people
:47:48. > :47:50.living, and I would be happy to look at relaxing those deliveries
:47:51. > :47:54.throughout the night. It is different to having deliveries into
:47:55. > :47:59.the high streets of most town centres around London, whether it is
:48:00. > :48:05.Islington or high Barnet. We need to look at the difference between the
:48:06. > :48:15.high centres and maximise deliveries. Wouldn't the people of
:48:16. > :48:18.Hackney say that, given these cycle accidents, we will take more
:48:19. > :48:24.disruption and noise at night if we can get some of these lorries off
:48:25. > :48:34.the roads during the day? There is an argument for that, but Catherine
:48:35. > :48:38.is right. It is about getting the balance with noise pollution. I
:48:39. > :48:42.think the Olympic experiment was interesting and showed there can be
:48:43. > :48:47.more deliveries at night but there are some streets in my constituency
:48:48. > :48:50.where it wouldn't be a problem to have night-time deliveries, and
:48:51. > :48:54.others where it would still be a nightmare for residents because it
:48:55. > :48:58.would still be noisy, and we also have to look at the training of
:48:59. > :49:05.drivers because often the noise comes from loud radios and the
:49:06. > :49:11.slamming of doors. When do you make another decision on this? We are
:49:12. > :49:16.doing some pilots in Camden and Richmond in the New Year and I will
:49:17. > :49:22.be happy to come back and tell you how they are going. Next, what to do
:49:23. > :49:30.to ease the pressure on A departments in London. On a wider
:49:31. > :49:34.scale, new plans to reorganise and take the strain of the system, and
:49:35. > :49:39.the latest data from the London assembly shows the recommended
:49:40. > :49:43.waiting time is being missed all too often. During the summer Health
:49:44. > :49:49.Secretary Jeremy Hunt admitted he was concerned about the potential
:49:50. > :49:55.for a crisis with A this winter. Despite the extra ?110 million he
:49:56. > :50:00.found to help them get through this and next winter, he said it will be
:50:01. > :50:05.difficult to make sure staff can cope with demand and keep waiting
:50:06. > :50:14.times under control. A report from the London assembly showed London
:50:15. > :50:19.A are already struggling. With the cold on its way, senior doctors
:50:20. > :50:24.are warning this winter could be the worst on record for A treatment.
:50:25. > :50:28.The London assembly says somebody needs to be charged with getting a
:50:29. > :50:37.grip on the problem. When this coalition Government came into
:50:38. > :50:41.being, they changed the hierarchy and now there is a vacuum of
:50:42. > :50:45.leadership. This needs to be given to a new body, whether it is the
:50:46. > :50:50.Mayor of London or another authority, that is open to debate,
:50:51. > :50:59.but I think it should be given to the Mayor of London. Doctors
:51:00. > :51:03.continue to expect a crisis this winter.
:51:04. > :51:07.The Government this week saying we will create a new role for the
:51:08. > :51:16.family doctor, making sure older people don't go to A as much,
:51:17. > :51:23.possibly bringing in a two tier A, that seems like sensible
:51:24. > :51:29.rationalisation, doesn't it? Most good GPs would be keeping an eye on
:51:30. > :51:34.their elderly patients anyway so we have got to not over blow what the
:51:35. > :51:41.Government is promising here. In terms of the make up of the A, my
:51:42. > :51:46.own A doesn't do anything anyway but it is still fully functioning,
:51:47. > :51:49.people with heart problems go elsewhere to get better treatment
:51:50. > :51:54.and I don't have a problem with that. There has not been proper
:51:55. > :51:57.planning about how people access emergency care overall, and on the
:51:58. > :52:03.Public Accounts Committee we have seen a lot of this, people competing
:52:04. > :52:11.to shunt the problem elsewhere and often people end up going to A
:52:12. > :52:16.Notably, people are warning there will be a crisis but it hasn't
:52:17. > :52:31.happened, it has not necessarily happened. Things like flu jabs
:52:32. > :52:39.matter, because elderly and vulnerable people are affected by
:52:40. > :52:44.that. Are you concerned about preparations not being in place? To
:52:45. > :52:53.be fair, every Government has faced a crisis as winter approaches, it is
:52:54. > :53:00.how you plan for it and I have visited one A recently. It is
:53:01. > :53:06.about ensuring that we get it right this winter whilst we also deal with
:53:07. > :53:12.the underlying problem of increased demand and people using A more and
:53:13. > :53:16.more when they should be using the primary care system. So many people
:53:17. > :53:23.who are used to social care divided by local authorities, we know the
:53:24. > :53:30.cuts to that kind of provision, that is contributing, isn't it? I went
:53:31. > :53:38.into my local A and asked them why they are coping so well. We do have
:53:39. > :53:47.a part of the population that is new to the country where going to the GP
:53:48. > :53:52.is not part of their culture. 65% of A admissions are elderly, and in
:53:53. > :53:59.Barnet we are looking at which care homes have a regular referral and
:54:00. > :54:04.which don't and what is going wrong. This is about communication, isn't
:54:05. > :54:10.it? We need to be concerned about shortage of A nurses because it is
:54:11. > :54:19.partly a financial issue. If you look at the hospital in Hackney, a
:54:20. > :54:23.hospital is run next to A so people are in the right place for
:54:24. > :54:30.the right treatment, and I think it is about that sense as well. We are
:54:31. > :54:34.seeing walk-in centres being closed so the Government cannot dodge
:54:35. > :54:39.responsibility. It is regular changes and lack of planning leading
:54:40. > :54:47.to this. What do you want your Government to do? What are you doing
:54:48. > :54:52.to get a change of behaviour? In the short-term, half ?1 billion has gone
:54:53. > :54:56.in to make sure they can deal with increase in demand as the winter
:54:57. > :55:01.approaches. In the long term I want a grown-up conversation about how we
:55:02. > :55:09.get the change of care working properly, and I would like some
:55:10. > :55:14.A to be tougher interning people around and telling them they are in
:55:15. > :55:18.the wrong place. A big subject but let's move on. It is time for the
:55:19. > :55:28.rest of the political news in 60 seconds. Education Secretary Michael
:55:29. > :55:32.Gove this week praised Hackney Council for letting go up to a third
:55:33. > :55:37.of their social workers. He claimed it showed the council to be holding
:55:38. > :55:41.social workers and managers to the highest professional standards.
:55:42. > :55:44.Labour should apologise for its poor record of building social housing,
:55:45. > :55:49.the party 's own spokesperson has said. London assembly member pointed
:55:50. > :55:55.out that Margaret ThatcherGovernment build more houses
:55:56. > :55:59.in a single year than Tony Blair managed in 13 years of power.
:56:00. > :56:06.Hundreds of children in London's most deprived areas are about to be
:56:07. > :56:17.taught Latin. They will use a grant of ?250,000 from the Mayor's
:56:18. > :56:21.education fund. A new report has prompted calls for
:56:22. > :56:28.transport bosses to publish details of the worst performing bus
:56:29. > :56:33.companies and routes. Meg Hillier, that is the kind of
:56:34. > :56:37.praise you must welcome from a conservative education minister,
:56:38. > :56:43.praising Labour Hackney Council for getting rid of a third of social
:56:44. > :56:52.workers who were not up to scratch. That is the way Michael Gove would
:56:53. > :57:00.like to spin it, but we have a very good leader in Hackney who tailors
:57:01. > :57:07.the services. It is still painful, let's be clear. A lot of suffering
:57:08. > :57:10.is still going on in Hackney. Is it true there are a lot of social
:57:11. > :57:17.workers out there who should not be in their jobs? Every area has good
:57:18. > :57:20.and bad people. One of the keys is that good local authorities can
:57:21. > :57:25.continue to attract good local people, and we have seen that in
:57:26. > :57:31.Birmingham where they have not been able to recruit. What about the
:57:32. > :57:36.suggestion of more private organisations dealing with child
:57:37. > :57:42.protection? I think it depends on individual circumstances. I wanted
:57:43. > :57:48.my social workers reporting to my offices as leader of the council
:57:49. > :57:55.because you need to have the direct levers to pull. I don't think I
:57:56. > :58:00.would go down that route. It is heartening to hear that because
:58:01. > :58:06.neither would I. You can see how much these private companies cream
:58:07. > :58:11.of from people who should be receiving it. We will return to this
:58:12. > :58:25.if we hear more. Thank you. Andrew, it is back to you.
:58:26. > :58:30.Who'd be an MP? It's a good question. Certainly something Mark
:58:31. > :58:33.Pritchard must have asked himself when his picture graced the front
:58:34. > :58:36.page of the Daily Telegraph, with allegations that he had offered to
:58:37. > :58:38.set up business deals overseas in return for hundreds of thousands of
:58:39. > :58:41.pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the claims as hurtful and wrong. He
:58:42. > :58:43.referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
:58:44. > :58:46.who has now said there is insufficient evidence to
:58:47. > :58:49.investigate. In a moment we'll talk to Mr Pritchard, but first let's
:58:50. > :58:52.take a look back at how the story unfurled. A Conservative MP has
:58:53. > :58:57.denied allegations that he used his Parliamentary contacts for financial
:58:58. > :59:01.gain... The daily Telegraph says Mark Pritchard offered to broker
:59:02. > :59:11.investments overseas. In a statement he said the allegations made by the
:59:12. > :59:16.Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard was secretly filmed... What do you
:59:17. > :59:19.make of these allegations? He has referred himself to the
:59:20. > :59:22.Parliamentary Commissioner for standards to clear his name and I
:59:23. > :59:32.suspect this story will reopen the debate about what MPs should be
:59:33. > :59:40.allowed, having business interests elsewhere. Is it not clear that you
:59:41. > :59:50.did ask for money in consultancy services? First of all I would like
:59:51. > :59:56.to apologise for the sunglasses, I have had a lot of comments about
:59:57. > :00:05.that. On a serious point, these claims by the Telegraph of false.
:00:06. > :00:11.You didn't ask for ?3000? They are false, hurtful and malicious. It is
:00:12. > :00:14.known widely that I have sued the Telegraph previously. I have also
:00:15. > :00:20.been critical of their coverage of the plebgate affair, their reporting
:00:21. > :00:23.of that. I have been supportive of the cross-party Royal Charter and I
:00:24. > :00:28.know that some people in the media don't like my position on that. That
:00:29. > :00:34.is why it is malicious. I believe in a free press. That free press also
:00:35. > :00:40.has a responsibility to be fair, accurate and lawful. In discussions
:00:41. > :00:45.with this business who turned out to be a Telegraph reporter, it is true
:00:46. > :00:54.that you ask for ?3000 a month consultancy fee. The point is...
:00:55. > :00:59.That is the point. No. That video has been cut and pasted to serve the
:01:00. > :01:05.Telegraph's story. The story was that we want to get Mark Bridger,
:01:06. > :01:09.for whatever reason, at any cost. -- Mark Bridger hard. I would not go
:01:10. > :01:12.down the line they were hoping I would go down. Everything I own
:01:13. > :01:18.outside of Parliament is openly declared. We are allowed to have
:01:19. > :01:21.outside witness interests. The Telegraph need to say clearly
:01:22. > :01:27.whether they accept that or they don't. I think you need to say
:01:28. > :01:32.clearly whether you asked for the money or not. You then went on to
:01:33. > :01:36.ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10 million deal, you asked for 3%
:01:37. > :01:43.commission. Let me be clear, if I was asking for income in return for
:01:44. > :01:48.lobbying, or raising issues in Parliament, or setting up
:01:49. > :01:52.Parliamentary groups, or going to ministers, writing to ministers,
:01:53. > :01:56.that would be completely inappropriate. I was approached by
:01:57. > :02:03.somebody to advise them on business. It is entirely proper and entirely
:02:04. > :02:06.within the rules for members of Parliament to have outside
:02:07. > :02:12.consultancies and interests. Did you or didn't you? I am answering the
:02:13. > :02:16.question in the way that I want to answer it, not in the way that fits
:02:17. > :02:20.a particular narrative. The narrative, unfortunately, of some
:02:21. > :02:23.parts of the Telegraph and to be fair, there are some very good
:02:24. > :02:27.journalists, I know there is a dispute about the direction of that
:02:28. > :02:32.paper at senior parts. Do they want to return to being a Catholic,
:02:33. > :02:37.objective newspaper or do they want to slip into the slippery slope of
:02:38. > :02:41.being an agnostic rag, looking for sensationalist headlines? Part of
:02:42. > :02:49.this has come from your membership of these all-party Parliamentary
:02:50. > :02:52.groups. You were in Malta when you are first approached, I think you
:02:53. > :02:56.were on a trip there, Hungary is another one, there is an
:02:57. > :03:01.uncomfortable overlap between your political and business interests. I
:03:02. > :03:05.have no business interests in any of those countries. Some of the country
:03:06. > :03:13.is the Telegraph mentioned, let me be clear, I have not even visited.
:03:14. > :03:16.You were boasting that you knew the Albanian Prime Minister and the
:03:17. > :03:22.Mayor of Teheran and the previous prime minister. I make no apology
:03:23. > :03:26.for making foreign trips. I think it is unfortunate we have a narrative
:03:27. > :03:30.developing in some parts of the press that if a politician goes
:03:31. > :03:35.abroad at the taxpayers expense, it is wrong. If they go abroad at a
:03:36. > :03:39.host government's expense it is wrong. If they go abroad with a
:03:40. > :03:43.charity, NGO and private company, even if it is declared, it is wrong.
:03:44. > :03:48.We want people with an international perspective in Parliament. Look at
:03:49. > :03:54.this map. You are a member of 54 country groups. I don't know what
:03:55. > :04:00.Canada has done not to deserve you, or Australia. 54 groups, you are a
:04:01. > :04:05.part of. You're like... This is the Mark Pritchard British Empire. That
:04:06. > :04:10.is very kind. If I had global interests that white I would not be
:04:11. > :04:16.in Parliament. No, no, no. That is the point... It is the suspicion,
:04:17. > :04:22.that you used these groups to drum up business for your consultants.
:04:23. > :04:26.Prove it, that is the trouble. These sorts of headlines, create
:04:27. > :04:35.suspicion. I am suing the Telegraph... Have you issued a writ?
:04:36. > :04:42.I expect an apology. Have you issued a writ? I have just answered your
:04:43. > :04:47.question. It is yes or no, have you issued a writ? I am in final legal
:04:48. > :04:52.discussions tomorrow about issuing a writ. You have raised something for
:04:53. > :04:55.top the fact is that is inaccurate. I am a member of 40-something
:04:56. > :05:03.Parliamentary groups, of which I make no apology. We have got 54. Let
:05:04. > :05:11.me answer the question if I may. It would be very useful. There are 196
:05:12. > :05:15.countries around the world, it is less than a quarter of the country
:05:16. > :05:22.groups on my figures. I make no apology. One of my regrets is not
:05:23. > :05:25.having visited Syria, I don't know if I am a member of the Syria group,
:05:26. > :05:30.part I should become a member, I make no apology. -- perhaps I should
:05:31. > :05:38.become. When it came to the Syria vote, I was blind sided foot of yes,
:05:39. > :05:41.we have excellent briefings. I had to make a judgement based on part
:05:42. > :05:46.knowledge with nothing beats being on the ground, as even BBC
:05:47. > :05:51.journalists recognised this week. Nothing beats being on the ground.
:05:52. > :05:55.You posted about your connections in Albania to getting a business
:05:56. > :05:58.contract. You meet these people through these all Parliamentary
:05:59. > :06:06.groups. That is where there is an unhealthy overlap. That is what the
:06:07. > :06:10.Telegraph said, let's wait and see. Look... You are a newspaperman, you
:06:11. > :06:15.know lots of people in the newspaper industry, as well as being a
:06:16. > :06:19.respected broadcaster. I am not going to prejudice my legal
:06:20. > :06:23.proceedings against the Telegraph. I make no apology. A good politician
:06:24. > :06:30.has to be local am a national and international. Hang on hang on --
:06:31. > :06:34.has to be local, national and international. We need politicians
:06:35. > :06:37.who get out of the Westminster bubble, who have a business
:06:38. > :06:41.hinterland, who keep their foot in the real world and have an
:06:42. > :06:47.international perspective. And ask for 3% commission? I have answered
:06:48. > :06:51.the question. It was a cut and pasted video, photo shopped to suit
:06:52. > :06:54.the agenda of the Telegraph. They need to get back to serious news
:06:55. > :06:59.reporting and I wish those well at the senior part of the Telegraph who
:07:00. > :07:02.want to get to those days. We look forward to the writ. Thank you.
:07:03. > :07:05.Now - there's been more good news on the economy for George Osborne this
:07:06. > :07:07.week - inflation's down, growth forecasts have been revised up and
:07:08. > :07:11.unemployment has fallen again. On Friday the former Bullingdon boy
:07:12. > :07:13.donned a head torch and went down't pit for just one of many photo
:07:14. > :07:16.opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement, which he'll deliver in
:07:17. > :07:23.the Commons on fifth December. And, who knows, he might even take his
:07:24. > :07:32.hard hat off for that. # Going underground.
:07:33. > :07:39.# Let the boys all saying and let the boys all shout for tomorrow.
:07:40. > :07:42.# Lah, lah, love, love. # I talk and talk until my head
:07:43. > :07:50.explodes. # Make this boy shout, make this boy
:07:51. > :08:03.scream. # Going underground.
:08:04. > :08:10.# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.
:08:11. > :08:17.George Osborne in his heart out, he probably sleeps with it on. This
:08:18. > :08:22.Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political
:08:23. > :08:25.calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally
:08:26. > :08:31.going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game
:08:32. > :08:35.changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they
:08:36. > :08:40.will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer
:08:41. > :08:44.but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is
:08:45. > :08:50.receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on
:08:51. > :08:54.his own side, for tax cuts and extra bits spending and he has to spend
:08:55. > :08:57.the next two weeks reminding people of something that has been skewered
:08:58. > :09:06.by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which
:09:07. > :09:09.is twice that of France, supposedly the crisis economy in western Europe
:09:10. > :09:12.or if you accept it will take another parliament again to
:09:13. > :09:15.eliminate this deficit, we are not even halfway through the age of
:09:16. > :09:20.austerity. He is in no position to give anything away. He has to hold
:09:21. > :09:24.the line. Danny Alexander has been useful but this is his real
:09:25. > :09:29.challenge. He is going to give stuff away. When the Autumn Statement
:09:30. > :09:33.comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been
:09:34. > :09:38.talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,
:09:39. > :09:42.talk of moving green levies of the electricity bills, he is going to
:09:43. > :09:44.give stuff away. We will get funding for free school meals that Nick
:09:45. > :09:49.Clegg mentioned in his party conference. The significance of the
:09:50. > :09:54.Autumn Statement is twice a year, a Chancellor stands up and we all look
:09:55. > :09:57.at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's
:09:58. > :10:01.circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don't
:10:02. > :10:04.assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't
:10:05. > :10:09.assume everything is fine in the eurozone. I think what would help
:10:10. > :10:14.the Chancellor is if somebody was able to see some of that humility in
:10:15. > :10:15.public. It is recognised that he was far too triumphalist
:10:16. > :10:22.speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,
:10:23. > :10:23.we have one and you cannot make an economic policy on the cost of
:10:24. > :10:36.living -- we have... Won. economic policy on the cost of
:10:37. > :10:40.people don't seem to learn from Norman Lamont's green shoots. Labour
:10:41. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is no growth, now there is, to say
:10:47. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are
:10:47. > :10:51.not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank
:10:52. > :10:56.is saying it will grow by 2.8%, living standards could start to
:10:57. > :10:59.rise. It does but everybody in a difficult position politically if
:11:00. > :11:02.the economy starts growing, ironically. We need to remind
:11:03. > :11:08.ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.
:11:09. > :11:13.Unless the politicians screw up. Unless you have some idiot in
:11:14. > :11:17.charge! It is not a cause for the Morris dance that they seem to be
:11:18. > :11:20.doing, certainly on the Tory side. Osborne is put in a difficult
:11:21. > :11:27.position goes he will have to stop giving stuff away, he cannot push
:11:28. > :11:33.the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth -- he
:11:34. > :11:39.will have to start giving stuff away. It puts Labour in a difficult
:11:40. > :11:46.position, it is very unlikely that living standards will match GDP. Not
:11:47. > :11:52.since 2003, GDP has been a great indicator. Wages have stagnated for
:11:53. > :11:56.ten years, food has gone up 17%, energy has gone up 24%. That is a
:11:57. > :12:01.decade in which everybody has got poorer. The real sweet spot comes
:12:02. > :12:06.when wages start to outstrip inflation. It is a sweet spot and
:12:07. > :12:11.will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy
:12:12. > :12:15.with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the
:12:16. > :12:18.governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.
:12:19. > :12:22.Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%
:12:23. > :12:25.unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,
:12:26. > :12:31.it is the moment when we look at it. Everything was saying he did not
:12:32. > :12:33.want to do that. When do you anticipate wages outstripping
:12:34. > :12:40.inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.
:12:41. > :12:42.Wages and prices are not the sole measure of living standards, there
:12:43. > :12:46.are broader measures which no one seems willing to use.
:12:47. > :12:49.That's all for today. The Daily Politics will be back at tomorrow at
:12:50. > :12:53.midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next
:12:54. > :12:58.week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.