Browse content similar to 30/04/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
It's Sunday Morning, and this is the Sunday Politics. | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
Theresa May says she has no plans to increase tax levels, | :00:40. | :00:41. | |
but refuses to repeat David Cameron's 2015 manifesto | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
promise ruling out hikes in VAT, national insurance and income tax. | :00:46. | :00:52. | |
The leaders of the EU's 27 member states unanimously | :00:53. | :00:55. | |
agree their negotiating strategy for the upcoming Brexit talks, but | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
And in the last of our series of interviews ahead of Thursday's | :01:00. | :01:09. | |
local elections, I'll be talking to the leader of Plaid Cymru Leanne | :01:10. | :01:12. | |
Wood, and the former leader of the SNP Alex Salmond. | :01:13. | :01:19. | |
They hit an all-time low after coalition government, | :01:20. | :01:47. | |
but are the Lib Dems poised to bounce back, | :01:48. | :01:48. | |
And with me to analyse the week's politics, | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
Isabel Oakeshott, Steve Richards, Tom Newton-Dunn. | :01:54. | :01:54. | |
They'll be tweeting using the hashtag #bbcsp. | :01:55. | :01:56. | |
So when Theresa May was interviewed just over an hour ago | :01:57. | :01:59. | |
on The Andrew Marr Show, the Prime Minister was asked | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
to confirm that she would repeat David Cameron's 2015 election | :02:03. | :02:04. | |
promise not to raise VAT, national insurance and income tax | :02:05. | :02:06. | |
We have absolutely no plans to increase the level of tax, | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
but I'm also very clear that I don't want to make specific proposals | :02:12. | :02:14. | |
on taxes unless I'm absolutely sure that I can deliver on those. | :02:15. | :02:16. | |
But it is, would be my intention as a Conservative Government | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
and a Conservative Prime Minister, to reduce the taxes | :02:20. | :02:21. | |
The Tories like to have a clear tax message in elections, are they | :02:22. | :02:31. | |
getting into a bit of a mess? That method wasn't clear, but does it | :02:32. | :02:34. | |
mean, saying they have no plans to increase the level of tax? We are | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
clear there will not be a rise in VAT, a lot of commentators will get | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
overexcited about that, but there was no great expectations there | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
would be a rise in VAT. Tempting as it is, because even one percentage | :02:50. | :02:54. | |
point on VAT rate is 4.5 billion for the exchequer so it is tempting but | :02:55. | :02:58. | |
there has been no speculation that would happen. We can see that she | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
clearly wants to reiterate the language about hard-working families | :03:06. | :03:08. | |
but I don't think we are that much the wiser. Even if she does not put | :03:09. | :03:14. | |
up rates, according to projections the overall tax burden, as a | :03:15. | :03:18. | |
percentage of GDP, is rising, will rise in the years ahead. That is why | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
it was an odd phrase, I know she is doing it to be evasive but to say | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
they have no plans to raise the general level of taxation, they do | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
have. We also know they have specific plans because it was in the | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
last budget, they had a tax rise which they had to revise, National | :03:37. | :03:43. | |
Insurance rises, so very wisely in my view they are keeping options | :03:44. | :03:51. | |
open, the 2015 tax-and-spend debate was a fantasy world, totally | :03:52. | :03:55. | |
unrelated to the demands that would follow. They now have the | :03:56. | :04:00. | |
flexibility, one of the arguments you had heard last time was Philip | :04:01. | :04:03. | |
Hammond saying to her, we have to break away from the 2015 manifesto | :04:04. | :04:09. | |
commitment and we can only do it this way, that is one of the better | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
arguments. The Tories like to talk about tax cuts in elections, whether | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
they do it is another matter, but they are not being allowed to talk | :04:18. | :04:24. | |
about tax cuts, they are now on the defensive over whether they will | :04:25. | :04:28. | |
raise taxes. That is not a healthy position for the campaign to be in. | :04:29. | :04:31. | |
If you look at the numbers, quite frankly, if you will not do this at | :04:32. | :04:37. | |
this election with eight 20 point lead over Labour, then when will you | :04:38. | :04:40. | |
take these tough decisions? Reading between the lines of what Theresa | :04:41. | :04:45. | |
May has said all over different broadcasters this morning, income | :04:46. | :04:48. | |
tax will go down for low-income families, such as the threshold rise | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
that microbes that was already factored in. She has had to commit | :04:53. | :04:59. | |
to it again. VAT will be fat, national insurance contributions | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
will go up. Do you think they will go up? I think so, she had plenty of | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
opportunity to rule it out and she didn't. There was a terrible mess | :05:10. | :05:15. | |
with the budget, it is a good tax argument but not a good electoral | :05:16. | :05:18. | |
argument that you are eroding the base so heavily with people moving | :05:19. | :05:23. | |
into self-employment that as you raise national insurance | :05:24. | :05:26. | |
contributions for everybody but the self-employed, it is something the | :05:27. | :05:29. | |
Treasury will have to look at. The other triple lock on pensions, we | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
don't know if they will keep to that either? If they are sensible they | :05:35. | :05:38. | |
will find a form of words to give them flexibility in that area as | :05:39. | :05:42. | |
well. I would say there is no question over that, that has gone. | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
As Mrs May would say, you will have to wait for the manifesto. That is | :05:48. | :05:50. | |
what all the party leaders tell me! Labour have spent the weekend | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
pushing their messages Speaking at a camapign rally | :05:56. | :05:56. | |
in London yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn promised a Labour | :05:57. | :05:59. | |
government would fix what he called People are fed up, fed up with not | :06:00. | :06:08. | |
being able to get somewhere to live, fed up waiting for hospital | :06:09. | :06:12. | |
appointments, fed up with 0-hours contracts, fed up with low pay, fed | :06:13. | :06:17. | |
up with debt, fed up with not being able to get on in their lives | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
because we have a system that is rigged against so many. | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
I've been joined from Newcastle by Labour's elections | :06:26. | :06:27. | |
and campaigns co-ordinator, Ian Lavery. | :06:28. | :06:28. | |
Good morning. To deal with this rigged economy, as Mr Corbyn calls | :06:29. | :06:39. | |
it, the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has a 20 point plan for | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
workers out today. When you add up everything he plans to do to help | :06:45. | :06:47. | |
workers, how much will it cost? The full costings, one thing I need to | :06:48. | :06:52. | |
say at the very beginning, the costings of any policy which we have | :06:53. | :06:58. | |
already ruled out and any policy we will be ruling out in the next few | :06:59. | :07:02. | |
days and weeks will be fully costed in the manifesto and in addition to | :07:03. | :07:08. | |
the fact that it will be fully costed, we will see it in the | :07:09. | :07:12. | |
manifesto how indeed it has been funded, so we are very clear, | :07:13. | :07:17. | |
anything we have seen already, and there are some exciting policy | :07:18. | :07:20. | |
releases and there will be more in the future, anything we are going to | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
do will be fully costed and in the manifesto. You announced a 20 point | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
plan but cannot tell me what the costs will be this morning so at the | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
moment it is a menu without prices? It is not a menu without prices, it | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
is a fantastic opportunity. This 20 point plan is something which will | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
transform the lives of millions of millions of people in the | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
workplace... But what is the cost? It will be welcomed by many people | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
across the UK. The fact the costings have not been released, you will | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
have to be patient, it will be released very clearly, it will | :07:57. | :08:01. | |
identify that in the manifesto. Let me come down to one of the points, | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
the end of the public sector pay freeze. Can you give us any idea how | :08:06. | :08:11. | |
much that will cost? The end of the public sector pay freeze, so | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
important to the future of the Labour Party, it is an massive | :08:15. | :08:21. | |
policy decision. Let me say at this stage, Theresa May, the Prime | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
Minister, this morning, on The Andrew Marr Show, did not have the | :08:27. | :08:29. | |
common decency, courtesy all respect to condone the fact that nurses, the | :08:30. | :08:35. | |
heroes of the NHS, have had a reduction of nearly 14% in their | :08:36. | :08:41. | |
wages since 2010 and are using food banks to feed themselves! Does that | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
not say everything that is wrong with today's society? So can you | :08:46. | :08:51. | |
tell me what it will cost, which is what my question was? What I will | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
say is everything the Labour Party pledges, everything that we come out | :08:57. | :08:59. | |
with, what we will roll out between now and the 8th of June, will be | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
fully costed, people will be very much aware of how much the costings | :09:05. | :09:07. | |
will be, where the funding will come from, when the manifesto is | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
published. What about doubling paternity leave, nu minimum wage, | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
four new bank holidays, any idea what it will | :09:18. | :09:28. | |
cost? These are exciting new proposals and of course today cost | :09:29. | :09:32. | |
money but we are the sixth richest economy in the world. It is about | :09:33. | :09:34. | |
redistribution of the wealth we create. We are seeing growth in the | :09:35. | :09:37. | |
economy, it is how we utilise the finances in the best way we possibly | :09:38. | :09:40. | |
can for a fairer society for the many and not the few. You just can't | :09:41. | :09:46. | |
tell me how much it will cost? That is why I will repeat again that you | :09:47. | :09:51. | |
need to be very patient. Do you know the cost yourself? You are the head | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
of the campaign, do you know the cost of these things yourself? I am | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
very much aware of how much the costings are likely to be, they have | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
been identified, they will be published in the manifesto. You | :10:04. | :10:09. | |
really do understand I would not be releasing today, live on your show, | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
any costings or predictions with regards the manifesto. Why not? You | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
have released the policy, why not the cost? Because there is a fine | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
detail and we will identify it to the general public in the manifesto. | :10:25. | :10:27. | |
We not only explain how much it will cost but we will explain where the | :10:28. | :10:34. | |
funding comes from. Be patient. Will some of the costs be met by | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
increasing taxes? I would think at this point in time there is not any | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
indication to increase basic taxes and again the taxes and spending of | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
the Labour Government with the proposals of the 20 point plan, the | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
issues we have got, housing, the NHS, crime, education will all be | :10:56. | :11:01. | |
identified with the costings in the publication. Can you tell us this | :11:02. | :11:06. | |
morning, we'll tax for most people rise or not to finance this? We in | :11:07. | :11:13. | |
the Labour Party are looking to a fair tax system which will be | :11:14. | :11:19. | |
clearly identified in the manifesto. Mr McDonnell also wants to ban all | :11:20. | :11:25. | |
0-hours contracts. Would that include those who actually like | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
those contracts? There are nearly 1 million, depending on which figured | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
you'd use, there are nearly 1 million people on zero-hours | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
contract and the vast proportion of those want to be able to live a | :11:39. | :11:43. | |
decent life, a secure life, they want to understand whether they will | :11:44. | :11:49. | |
be at work the next day, they're included hours... I understand a lot | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
of people don't like zero-hours contract and your proposal will | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
address that, but there are those, I saw one survey where 65% of people | :11:58. | :12:02. | |
on zero-hours contract like the flexibility it gives them. Will you | :12:03. | :12:06. | |
force them off zero-hours contract or if they like them will they | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
continue with them? We will discuss it with employee is to make sure | :12:11. | :12:15. | |
individuals in the workplace have the right to negotiate hours in that | :12:16. | :12:19. | |
workplace. Guaranteed hours is very, very important. Zero-hour contracts | :12:20. | :12:27. | |
are an instrument in which employers abuse and exploit mainly young | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
people, mainly female people in the workplace. We would be banning | :12:32. | :12:37. | |
zero-hour contract. But there are those, students for example, who | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
like them, would they be forced off zero-hour contracts in your | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
proposal? Our proposal would be banning zero-hour contract and | :12:47. | :12:50. | |
introducing contracts which have set hours in the workplace. You also say | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
no company will be able to bid for a public contract unless the boss | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
earns no more than 20 times the lowest paid, or the average wage, | :13:00. | :13:04. | |
I'm not quite sure which. What would happen if British Aerospace bids to | :13:05. | :13:07. | |
build more joint strike Fighters and the boss is paid more than 20 times? | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
I understand the point you raise but we have an obscene situation in this | :13:14. | :13:20. | |
country, Andrew, in which the bosses at the very top make an absolute | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
fortune... But what would happen then? Who would build joint strike | :13:26. | :13:31. | |
Fighters... The difference in wages between the top earners in the | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
country and the people in the factories, in the workshops, | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
producing the goods, is vast. I understand that is the reason you | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
want a ratio. What I am saying is, what happens if the ratio is | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
greater? Who gets the contract if not British Aerospace? Who else | :13:51. | :13:56. | |
builds the planes? We are going to introduce a wage rate CEO of one to | :13:57. | :14:03. | |
20. -- wage ratio. We want to close the gap between the people at the | :14:04. | :14:06. | |
very top and people who produce the goods. Let me try one more Time, who | :14:07. | :14:10. | |
would build the joint strike fighter? We would look at the issue | :14:11. | :14:17. | |
as it came along but the policy is clear... Can you name a single | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
defence contractor weather boss' salary is less than 20 times average | :14:22. | :14:29. | |
earnings? We are not reducing, we have rolled that out as part of this | :14:30. | :14:35. | |
fantastic plan to transform society to get rid of discrimination, to try | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
and bring together our communities. We will introduce a pay ratio of one | :14:42. | :14:46. | |
to 20. Fair enough, thank you very much. | :14:47. | :14:48. | |
It's a month after the triggering of Article 50, and EU leaders - | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
with the exception of Britain - met in Brussels this weekend | :14:53. | :14:54. | |
to agree their opening negotiating stance, to get the divorce | :14:55. | :14:57. | |
It is inside this psychedelic chamber where Britain's 'Grexit' | :14:58. | :15:13. | |
future will be decided over the next two years, but there is a vast gulf | :15:14. | :15:18. | |
in rhetoric coming from the UK and the EU. With parallel narratives | :15:19. | :15:28. | |
emerging for both sides. There is broad agreement that an orderly | :15:29. | :15:31. | |
withdrawal is in the interests of both sides. But Theresa May's | :15:32. | :15:36. | |
position is that the terms of our future trade deal should be | :15:37. | :15:39. | |
negotiated alongside the terms of our divorce. Meanwhile the EU says | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
the terms of the UK's exit must be decided before any discussion on a | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
future trade deal can begin. But don't forget that divorce | :15:51. | :15:53. | |
settlement. Don't remind me. In Brussels, many think written should | :15:54. | :15:59. | |
pay even more, while in the UK ministers said the divorce bill | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
should be capped at 3 billion. After you. Thank you. | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
For are you looking forward to it? Isn't that divorce bill a bit high? | :16:08. | :16:18. | |
Isn't this about punishing Britain? We are very united, you all seem so | :16:19. | :16:23. | |
surprised but it's a fact. How soon can we get a deal? We have to wait | :16:24. | :16:31. | |
for the elections. It was the decision of Mrs May. It took over an | :16:32. | :16:36. | |
hour for the leaders to make their entrances but once inside it's just | :16:37. | :16:39. | |
a few minutes to agree the negotiating guidelines. They set out | :16:40. | :16:45. | |
three main areas. The first phase of talks on the divorce settlement will | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
deal with the existing financial commitments to the EU, the Northern | :16:50. | :16:52. | |
Ireland border and the rights of EU citizens in the UK. They said a UK | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
trade agreement can be discussed when the first phase of talks | :16:57. | :17:01. | |
reaches significant progress. And that there must be unity in the | :17:02. | :17:06. | |
negotiations, that individual EU members won't negotiate separately | :17:07. | :17:12. | |
with the UK. They are quite good here at negotiating because they are | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
used to it. They set a maximum and then they have to recede a little | :17:17. | :17:20. | |
bit depending on what the other side is prepared to offer. I think there | :17:21. | :17:26. | |
is room for manoeuvre in some issues, but I don't think some of | :17:27. | :17:30. | |
the baseline things will change that much. For example I don't think the | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
European Union will concede on the rights of citizens who are already | :17:36. | :17:40. | |
in the UK. It will be very difficult for them to accept that they will | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
not be any exit bill, and the question of Northern Ireland is very | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
important as well, the hard order question. The baseline things are | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
not going to move that much, then you have room for manoeuvring | :17:55. | :17:58. | |
between. On security, defence and the fight against terrorism, the | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
guidelines said the EU stands ready to work together. And after lunch, | :18:03. | :18:07. | |
friendly signs from some EU leaders as they gave individual press | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
conferences. Paul and said the talks should open doors to new | :18:13. | :18:15. | |
opportunities and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had | :18:16. | :18:22. | |
earlier said some in Britain were deluded about Brexit, softened her | :18:23. | :18:24. | |
tone saying there was no conspiracy against the UK. Unity was the | :18:25. | :18:29. | |
buzzword at this summit and for once everybody seemed to be sticking to | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
the script. That unity is not only amongst the 27 states, it's also | :18:35. | :18:38. | |
among the institutions so many of the divisions we have seen in the | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
past at European level do not exist. That is very important and it's not | :18:44. | :18:47. | |
be unity that is directed somehow against the UK because I think we | :18:48. | :18:51. | |
all want this to be an orderly process and part of that is that the | :18:52. | :19:04. | |
EU side is unified. So although there are no surprises here, what | :19:05. | :19:08. | |
took place in this room was a significant step towards the real | :19:09. | :19:11. | |
Brexit negotiations which will begin soon after the general election in | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
June, said to be the most complex the UK has faced in our lifetimes. | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
Isabel, Steve and Tom are still with me. | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
Isabel, doesn't the British media have to be a bit careful here? We | :19:27. | :19:34. | |
would never take at face value anything a British politician tells | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
us. We would question it, put it in context and wonder if they are | :19:40. | :19:43. | |
bluffing, but we seem to take at face value anything a European | :19:44. | :19:47. | |
politician says about these negotiations. You only have to look | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
at the front page of the Sunday Times today to see that. They quoted | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
at length Juncker, who didn't like the food at the reception and this | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
and that, and I think the mood is very optimistic. The key thing is | :20:01. | :20:05. | |
the EU trade Commissioner has said we will get a free trade deal and a | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
lot of people seem to be wilfully ignoring that incredibly big | :20:11. | :20:13. | |
concession. That is what will happen in their view. Everything that is | :20:14. | :20:19. | |
said at the moment needs a slight rerun over. They are all in | :20:20. | :20:24. | |
negotiating positions, plus we seem to be completely unaware that they | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
all have their own domestic constituencies as well. Angela | :20:29. | :20:34. | |
Merkel has an important election coming up in September, | :20:35. | :20:36. | |
Euroscepticism is quite different from Britain of course, but there's | :20:37. | :20:40. | |
a different kind of euro scepticism in Germany, she has got to deal with | :20:41. | :20:45. | |
that. Of course she has, which is why you are right, nothing should be | :20:46. | :20:49. | |
taken too seriously out of the mouths of British politicians or | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
European politicians until October this year. We have got to wait for | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
the French elections, then German elections, and if you look through | :21:00. | :21:03. | |
this you can see a way forward. There's no trade talks until pay up, | :21:04. | :21:09. | |
but what was actually written was no trade talks until we make | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
significant progress on the money. You can define significant progress | :21:14. | :21:17. | |
in a lot of ways but come December, fireworks over the summer, we all | :21:18. | :21:22. | |
get very excited about it, in these chairs I'm sure, come December | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
things will look a lot smoother. The German elections are at the end of | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
September but I've seen reports in German press, depending how it goes | :21:32. | :21:34. | |
it could take until Christmas before a new coalition government is put | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
together. The Brussels long-standing negotiating tactic of nothing is | :21:41. | :21:43. | |
agreed until everything is agreed, then I guess the British could say | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
we agree a certain sum of money if that's what it takes but that | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
depends on them, what good trade deal we get. If we don't get that, | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
the sum of money is off the table. In that sense, the two are going | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
parallel. However, I wouldn't entirely dismiss what people are | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
saying in their pre-election periods to their own electorates because | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
they have to some extent to deliver subsequently. Of course Angela | :22:15. | :22:18. | |
Merkel is campaigning and electioneering, who wouldn't, she | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
has a tough election to fight, but she is measured and thoughtful and | :22:23. | :22:26. | |
when she says things like some of the British are delusional, that is | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
unusually strong language for her. What was she referring to? I don't | :22:31. | :22:37. | |
know, it wasn't specific. Have the cake and eat it perhaps the | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
sequencing the British don't want. When they thought the British | :22:42. | :22:44. | |
government was going to effectively demand membership of the single | :22:45. | :22:48. | |
market, that's not going to happen now. Unless you sign up to the four | :22:49. | :22:55. | |
pillars, that's the cake and eat it proposition, which they are right in | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
saying Theresa May has made. But everybody has access, even with no | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
deal you have access. The other side of it is I think there will be a | :23:06. | :23:15. | |
united position from them. And so, as somebody pointed out in that | :23:16. | :23:21. | |
report, they are experienced, tough negotiators, so I don't think it | :23:22. | :23:29. | |
will be quite as easy as some think. I spoke to one of those who drew up | :23:30. | :23:35. | |
Article 50 and they said to me they deliberately put this two year | :23:36. | :23:38. | |
timetable in to make it impossible for anybody to think about leaving. | :23:39. | :23:45. | |
This is really tight, this negotiation. Easy, it isn't. | :23:46. | :23:48. | |
This coming Thursday, voters up and down the country | :23:49. | :23:50. | |
will be going to the polls in this year's local elections. | :23:51. | :23:53. | |
Over the past few weeks I've interviewed representatives | :23:54. | :23:55. | |
of the Conservative Party, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, | :23:56. | :23:57. | |
Today it's the turn of Plaid Cymru and the SNP. | :23:58. | :24:00. | |
A little earlier I spoke Alex Salmond, who until 2014 | :24:01. | :24:03. | |
I started by asking him why Scots should vote SNP in local elections | :24:04. | :24:07. | |
when the Scottish Government had just cut central Government funding | :24:08. | :24:09. | |
It's actually a funding increase going into Scottish councils this | :24:10. | :24:25. | |
year, and if you look at the funding position for example between | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
Scottish councils and those in England, which are obviously | :24:30. | :24:32. | |
directly related through the Barnett formula, the funding in Scotland has | :24:33. | :24:36. | |
been incomparably better than that in England so there's a whole range | :24:37. | :24:47. | |
of the -- of reasons... What's happening south of the border | :24:48. | :24:50. | |
indicates the protection the Scottish Parliament has been able to | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
put in that helps vital services in Scotland. But there hasn't been a | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
funding increase, the block grant from Westminster to Edinburgh was | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
increased by 1.5% in real terms but the grant to councils was cut by | :25:04. | :25:10. | |
2.6%. It was going to be a cut of 330 million, the Greens got you to | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
reduce it to 170 million but it is still a cut of 2.6%. Your own | :25:16. | :25:25. | |
Aberdeenshire Council has had a cut to 391 million. You have cut the | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
money to councils. Yes, but councils have available to them more | :25:31. | :25:33. | |
resources this year, and as you say the budget increased that further | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
which is why we put forward an excellent local government budget in | :25:39. | :25:41. | |
Aberdeenshire and resisted a Tory attempts to knock ?3 million off... | :25:42. | :25:48. | |
You asked me about Aberdeenshire, and Aberdeenshire has put forward a | :25:49. | :25:52. | |
budget for investment expansion and resisted a Tory attempts to knock ?3 | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
million off the education budget, and I'm very grateful you have given | :25:58. | :26:00. | |
me the opportunity to make that point. The Government in Edinburgh | :26:01. | :26:06. | |
has cut the money to Aberdeenshire by ?11 million. It is a cut. But | :26:07. | :26:13. | |
there is an investment budget in Aberdeenshire that has been made | :26:14. | :26:16. | |
available by the ability to increase the council tax by 2.5% after a | :26:17. | :26:22. | |
nine-year freeze in Scotland, and that has brought more resources into | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
local government and that's why the butchered in Aberdeenshire has been | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
an investment budget including protection of the education budget | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
in the face of a Tory and liberal attempt to cut bit. You have to | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
compare what is happening in Scotland and England, and there's no | :26:39. | :26:41. | |
doubt Scottish local authorities have been much better funded than | :26:42. | :26:48. | |
those in England over the last few years and that's been the ability of | :26:49. | :26:50. | |
the Scottish Government to protect the services at local level. A good | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
reason for voting SNP. If they have been so well funded, why after a | :26:57. | :27:02. | |
decade of SNP rule do one in five Scottish pupils leave primary school | :27:03. | :27:10. | |
functionally illiterate? You have got to take these things... Nicola | :27:11. | :27:14. | |
Sturgeon has made it a top priority to address these challenges but | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
let's take another statistic. 93% of Scottish kids are now emerging from | :27:20. | :27:22. | |
school to positive destinations, that means to further education, | :27:23. | :27:30. | |
apprenticeships or work. Why are one in five functionally illiterate? You | :27:31. | :27:36. | |
argue one statistic, I'm arguing Scottish education is putting in | :27:37. | :27:40. | |
some substantially good performances like the 93% going on to positive | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
destinations. You can't have a failing education system if you have | :27:46. | :27:50. | |
got that 93%, and incidentally a record low youth unemployment in | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
Scotland without the second lowest unemployment rate in Europe. These | :27:55. | :27:59. | |
pupils are being prepared by the Scottish education system. Let's | :28:00. | :28:03. | |
take the figures in the round on education. It's so important. Under | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
your watch, under your government, the Scottish schools in the most | :28:09. | :28:13. | |
important global comparison have fallen from tenth to 19th in | :28:14. | :28:24. | |
science, and 11 to 24th in maths, that is a record of decline and | :28:25. | :28:31. | |
failure. That is by the OECD and first questions about that, but the | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
OECD has also described Scotland is one of the best educated societies | :28:37. | :28:40. | |
in the world. That was from the school system in previous years gone | :28:41. | :28:46. | |
by. For those who are currently in Scottish schools, you have fallen | :28:47. | :28:52. | |
from 11th to 24th in mathematics. The OECD was commenting on | :28:53. | :28:55. | |
introduction of the new curriculum for excellence in which they have | :28:56. | :28:59. | |
given a resounding thumbs up to it, and that's the same source as the | :29:00. | :29:04. | |
rankings which you are comparing. Nicola Sturgeon has said there are | :29:05. | :29:08. | |
challenges on Scottish education, particularly the access through the | :29:09. | :29:11. | |
education system and the attainment gap but don't tell me it's failing | :29:12. | :29:16. | |
when 55% of our pupils have gone on to higher education. That's one of | :29:17. | :29:19. | |
the most impressive figures in the world. Why have you cut 4000 | :29:20. | :29:26. | |
teachers? The pupil numbers in Scotland have been falling over | :29:27. | :29:30. | |
recent years as well and now of course we are increasing the number | :29:31. | :29:34. | |
of people going through teachers training so we can make sure that | :29:35. | :29:38. | |
number increases, but listen, the Scottish Government and Scottish | :29:39. | :29:43. | |
Parliament, as you very well know, are subject to real terms spending | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
cuts over the last few years and all public services have been under | :29:48. | :29:51. | |
pressure. The main reason in terms of teacher numbers has been an | :29:52. | :29:54. | |
attempt on the Scottish Government to protect the teacher pupil ratio, | :29:55. | :29:59. | |
and that will now be enhanced by a further taker -- intake. You | :30:00. | :30:07. | |
promised you would reduce primary class sizes to 18 and instead they | :30:08. | :30:12. | |
are now 23.5 and rising. You broke that promise. You didn't mention | :30:13. | :30:19. | |
where we started from. We have kept the teacher pupil ratio very solid | :30:20. | :30:23. | |
in Scotland and that's been against a range of public expenditure cuts | :30:24. | :30:27. | |
but the new intake of teachers into the new teacher training in Scotland | :30:28. | :30:29. | |
I think will enhance the system. You have spent in the pasty in | :30:30. | :30:40. | |
Hollywood 43 hours on Government time debating independence. How many | :30:41. | :30:45. | |
hours have you debated education on Government time? I don't have that | :30:46. | :30:50. | |
they get a hand... The answer is zero, you have spent zero-hours | :30:51. | :30:53. | |
debating education on Government time. Isn't it time the SNP got back | :30:54. | :30:59. | |
to concentrating on the day job? Andrew, as you very well know Nicola | :31:00. | :31:04. | |
Sturgeon has identified a key priority, closing the attainment gap | :31:05. | :31:07. | |
in Scottish education. That is exactly what she has done. Let me | :31:08. | :31:13. | |
answer the question, it is difficult to be in a remote location, if you | :31:14. | :31:18. | |
talk before I answer the question then the view was will not be able | :31:19. | :31:24. | |
to listen. I let you answer that without saying a word. Is this | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
general election about independence, as you say it is, or not about | :31:30. | :31:33. | |
independence, as Mrs Sturgeon says it is? No, I have said exactly the | :31:34. | :31:40. | |
same as Nicola Sturgeon on that. The issue what independence will be | :31:41. | :31:43. | |
decided in a national referendum of the Scottish people. The mandate for | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
that referendum was gained in last year's Scottish elections. What this | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
election is about is backing the right of the Scottish parliament to | :31:54. | :31:55. | |
exercise that mandate and also providing real opposition to this | :31:56. | :31:58. | |
Tory Government and allowing the Scottish Parliament to reverse | :31:59. | :32:03. | |
austerity and some of the public expenditure cutbacks you have been | :32:04. | :32:08. | |
talking about, that is what this is about, backing our Scottish | :32:09. | :32:08. | |
Parliament. Alex Salmond, speaking | :32:09. | :32:10. | |
to me earlier. I'm now joined by the leader | :32:11. | :32:12. | |
of Plaid Cymru, Leanne Wood. You accuse the Government of wanting | :32:13. | :32:19. | |
an extreme Brexit, those are your words. What is the difference | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
between hard Brexit and extreme Brexit? My concern is the way in | :32:25. | :32:27. | |
which we leave the European Union could be very damaging to Wales if, | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
for example, there are tariffs introduced then that would have a | :32:33. | :32:36. | |
real impact in terms of Welsh jobs, and I want to make sure that we have | :32:37. | :32:42. | |
a Brexit that doesn't cause the damage to Wales that could be | :32:43. | :32:46. | |
caused. But what is the difference between extreme and hard? Anything | :32:47. | :32:52. | |
that puts Welsh jobs at risk is either extreme or hard and | :32:53. | :32:55. | |
unacceptable to Plaid Cymru, and we will do what we can to protect those | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
jobs. You want Wales to remain a member of the single market even if | :33:00. | :33:04. | |
the UK isn't, which would mean Wales having to accept the free movement | :33:05. | :33:08. | |
of people, still being under the jurisdiction of the European Court, | :33:09. | :33:20. | |
and you also want to stay in the customs union which means you could | :33:21. | :33:22. | |
not do your own free trade deals. What is the difference between that | :33:23. | :33:25. | |
and being a member of the European Union? We would be like Norway, | :33:26. | :33:27. | |
outside the European Union and inside the single market. The key | :33:28. | :33:30. | |
question is the issue of jobs and the ability to continue to trade. | :33:31. | :33:34. | |
Wales exports, we are the biggest exporter in the whole of the UK, so | :33:35. | :33:38. | |
there are many jobs reliant upon those goods being able to be sold to | :33:39. | :33:47. | |
the single market. Is it central to the UK? Out of the four countries | :33:48. | :33:52. | |
that make up the UK... Proportionally, yes. If you remain | :33:53. | :34:00. | |
in the single market, it is hard to see how Wales could stay in the | :34:01. | :34:04. | |
single market if the UK -- when the rest of the UK was not, you cite | :34:05. | :34:08. | |
Norway, that has free movement, it has to be said, it effectively have | :34:09. | :34:13. | |
to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court, it is not in the | :34:14. | :34:17. | |
customs union so it can do some of its own free trade deals, but the | :34:18. | :34:26. | |
Welsh people voted to leave. We have to accept the principle of free | :34:27. | :34:30. | |
movement if there is not going to be a hard border between the north and | :34:31. | :34:34. | |
south of Ireland. There is going to be free movement within Ireland and | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
therefore freedom of movement, as we said in the referendum campaign, | :34:39. | :34:43. | |
would be very, very difficult to rule out. You lost that campaign, as | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
you know, Wales voted to leave, 17 Council areas voted to leave, only | :34:50. | :34:55. | |
five voted to remain. Doesn't it explain why your party is going | :34:56. | :34:59. | |
nowhere? A majority in Wales voted to leave but you effectively want to | :35:00. | :35:06. | |
support that and de facto remain in the EU? I don't accept that, we | :35:07. | :35:10. | |
accepted the result but Plaid Cymru now is about defending Wales. There | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
are so many risks facing our people from the jobs perspective, the | :35:16. | :35:19. | |
privatisation perspective, the cuts perspective, and from the fact that | :35:20. | :35:23. | |
the Tories would like to grab power was back from our National Assembly, | :35:24. | :35:28. | |
so the key point... If you look at the Wales bill that went through | :35:29. | :35:32. | |
recently, the list of reserved powers there suggests there are some | :35:33. | :35:36. | |
powers currently within the Welsh Assembly jurisdiction that would be | :35:37. | :35:42. | |
dragged back. Which power was will Westminster take back? They could | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
take powers back over the NHS, for example. There is no indication they | :35:48. | :35:54. | |
want to do that. The Tories have attacked the Welsh NHS. That is my | :35:55. | :36:03. | |
point! Quite viciously. If they increase their mandate, I wouldn't | :36:04. | :36:06. | |
put it past them to try to take power was back over the NHS and then | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
of course we risk our NHS being privatised though this election is | :36:12. | :36:16. | |
all about defending Wales, protecting Welsh people from further | :36:17. | :36:19. | |
privatisation and cuts and a power grab from the Tories. Why is there | :36:20. | :36:24. | |
never a breakthrough for your party, Plaid Cymru? Labour dominated in | :36:25. | :36:28. | |
Wales for years, the Tories do quite well, Ukip had a surge for a while, | :36:29. | :36:32. | |
it looks like the Tories will have another surge, never you, always the | :36:33. | :36:37. | |
bridesmaid, never the bride. Wait until Thursday and I think you will | :36:38. | :36:41. | |
see that in many parts of Wales we will increase our representation at | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
a local council level. In the Rhondda, where I am assembly member, | :36:46. | :36:51. | |
we are looking to increase our representation... You are only 13% | :36:52. | :36:59. | |
in the polls will stop which is half of even the Tories in Wales! If you | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
don't breakthrough in the selection, if the real problem is going | :37:04. | :37:10. | |
nowhere, do you think you will pack it in? Robert Green not, I have a | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
job to do, a vision of Wales which is about building up our nation and | :37:16. | :37:20. | |
standing on our own two feet and my job is not done yet. Thank you for | :37:21. | :37:23. | |
being with us as part of your job, we will see how it goes on Thursday. | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
It's just gone 11.35, you're watching the Sunday Politics. | :37:28. | :37:29. | |
We say goodbye to viewers in Scotland who leave us now | :37:30. | :37:32. | |
Coming up here in 20 minutes, the Week Ahead. | :37:33. | :37:35. | |
First though, the Sunday Politics where you are. | :37:36. | :37:58. | |
We have three MPs with us this morning - Sarah Olney, | :37:59. | :38:02. | |
Lib Dem MP for Richmond Park, Meg Hillier, Labour MP | :38:03. | :38:04. | |
for Hackney South and Shoreditch, and for the Conservatives, | :38:05. | :38:05. | |
is it hugely hard work, Theresa Villiers? We will all be knocking on | :38:06. | :38:19. | |
as many doors as we can over the next few weeks, it will be a tough | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
contest. I do this kind of thing year round, it does not take an | :38:25. | :38:28. | |
election to get me on the doorstep, but obviously you step up a gear in | :38:29. | :38:31. | |
a big way at this time of year, particularly when it was a snap | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
election, obviously the long preparation period we had the 2015 | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
we are trying to do in about a week. You are the chairman of the Public | :38:41. | :38:47. | |
Accounts Committee and had to try to get all of these reports out in | :38:48. | :38:50. | |
time. We had 12 reports waiting to get out so we had to get them out | :38:51. | :38:53. | |
very quickly, so that has been a big part of this week, but I have also | :38:54. | :38:58. | |
been knocking on doors, I do it all year round, we would not be in | :38:59. | :39:02. | |
politics if we didn't like talking to people. You cannot say you do it | :39:03. | :39:06. | |
all year round, you have only been there six months! But I'm sure you | :39:07. | :39:12. | |
will say you do it every week, potentially, having just got in in | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
December, it could all be over soon? Well, I hope not, I am working very | :39:18. | :39:21. | |
hard, as I have been since I came into Parliament, but this has come | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
sooner than I expected, so it is a bit tiring getting back out there | :39:27. | :39:29. | |
and being back on the campaign trail. But I'm enjoying it, I'm | :39:30. | :39:34. | |
enjoying being an MP, I hope the people of Richmond Park will want me | :39:35. | :39:37. | |
to continue as their MP, I look forward to it. | :39:38. | :39:39. | |
So what challenges does a snap election throw | :39:40. | :39:41. | |
up for the parties - those activists, party | :39:42. | :39:43. | |
organisers and volunteers who could play a pivotal role | :39:44. | :39:45. | |
In recent elections, Labour has shown itself a formidable | :39:46. | :39:48. | |
Less than six weeks to go until voting day, | :39:49. | :39:58. | |
but here in Hampstead and Kilburn, where at the last election Labour | :39:59. | :40:02. | |
narrowly still had the strongest pull, the Conservatives have only | :40:03. | :40:04. | |
just selected their candidate - local councillor and art therapist | :40:05. | :40:07. | |
Meanwhile, the campaign to re-elect the sitting MP, | :40:08. | :40:15. | |
And where Labour might enjoy a possible advantage is the number | :40:16. | :40:22. | |
They claim to have the largest membership of any party in Europe. | :40:23. | :40:29. | |
It's all systems go from the off, and it's very | :40:30. | :40:31. | |
But it's been really easy here to organise | :40:32. | :40:34. | |
because there's so many volunteers, so many local characters | :40:35. | :40:36. | |
We had many people across the constituency come and help, | :40:37. | :40:41. | |
so the Labour Party is very strong in terms of mobilisation. | :40:42. | :40:46. | |
On the other side of the constituency, we were told | :40:47. | :40:49. | |
it was too early in the campaign to speak to anyone from the local | :40:50. | :40:52. | |
Conservative group, who are out canvassing too. | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
Alex Crowley worked on both of Boris Johnson's successful | :40:57. | :40:58. | |
mayoral campaigns, so he knows how to get a Conservative elected | :40:59. | :41:01. | |
in what historically is not their territory. | :41:02. | :41:05. | |
If you're anywhere else in the country, there'll | :41:06. | :41:07. | |
be lot of complacency, I suspect. | :41:08. | :41:10. | |
You'll see all the opinion polls showing the Tories are well ahead, | :41:11. | :41:13. | |
and I think that will be a bit of a challenge because that | :41:14. | :41:16. | |
means people might be tempted to stay at home. | :41:17. | :41:18. | |
There's a lot of people don't tend to vote for their constituency MP. | :41:19. | :41:21. | |
They actually tend to look at the national picture. | :41:22. | :41:25. | |
Crucially, they also look at the party leaders. | :41:26. | :41:28. | |
Back on the doorstep with Labour, and this lady says there's only one | :41:29. | :41:31. | |
I want to say a bad decision, and no-one really understood, | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
so I think ahead of this voting campaign people are actually | :41:37. | :41:39. | |
going to need to know what they're voting for. | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
So the party will try and build on their majority in this staunchly | :41:45. | :41:47. | |
Some people down here were firmly against in the past, | :41:48. | :41:54. | |
but we'll just see how it might have changed in the light | :41:55. | :41:57. | |
Exactly, and, yeah, any people, really, any voter who lives | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
in the constituency and has any issues. | :42:02. | :42:03. | |
I think most Londoners will understand that it's happened | :42:04. | :42:07. | |
and there no going back now - Article 50 has been triggered, | :42:08. | :42:10. | |
and the question before us is, what does our future look like? | :42:11. | :42:15. | |
How are we going to handle those negotiations over | :42:16. | :42:20. | |
the next couple of years, and what are we going | :42:21. | :42:23. | |
And while some Tories may still secretly be | :42:24. | :42:29. | |
mourning their own Dave's sudden departure, they know that | :42:30. | :42:31. | |
what comes next will in part be decided by who can | :42:32. | :42:34. | |
mobilise their volunteers most effectively. | :42:35. | :42:36. | |
It's amazing how many people are prepared to come out | :42:37. | :42:42. | |
in the evenings after a long day at work and just slot things | :42:43. | :42:45. | |
It's a very important election for us to win, | :42:46. | :42:48. | |
Since Jeremy Corbyn was elected, we have had Momentum, which has | :42:49. | :43:02. | |
increased the activist base enormously, so you must be welcoming | :43:03. | :43:05. | |
what this could do to the campaign. Membership of the Labour Party has | :43:06. | :43:12. | |
increased massively, we had good turnout in my constituency, it is | :43:13. | :43:13. | |
difficult for me to judge what is going on across London, and as you | :43:14. | :43:20. | |
rightly say we are formidable as a campaign machine and in an election | :43:21. | :43:24. | |
like this, where Brexit is an issue, cost of living is an issue, those | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
conversations on the doorstep will be very important, partly to get | :43:29. | :43:34. | |
turnout up. It is tragic, I cannot think of the right word, but when | :43:35. | :43:38. | |
you have seen such difficulty with your leader establishing a presence | :43:39. | :43:42. | |
in terms of the polls or whatever else, this sort paradox here, this | :43:43. | :43:45. | |
great fighting force potentially on the ground but what are you selling? | :43:46. | :43:50. | |
We have clear policies today on the workplace, things that resonate very | :43:51. | :43:55. | |
much in my constituency about protecting low paid workers, | :43:56. | :43:58. | |
zero-hours and temporary contract and so on, they resonate with people | :43:59. | :44:01. | |
and there is a danger that people like you and me, well-paid and in | :44:02. | :44:10. | |
comfortable positions, don't see that. On the doorstep, the people I | :44:11. | :44:13. | |
represent, I know that is an issue, and things like that, my party has | :44:14. | :44:15. | |
very good policies. The strategy of Theresa May is so good, a lot of | :44:16. | :44:19. | |
Conservative regions, like in London, etc, had no idea there would | :44:20. | :44:23. | |
be an election, it is difficult to get the machinery up and running. It | :44:24. | :44:28. | |
is taking a lot of effort across London for the Conservatives to get | :44:29. | :44:31. | |
activists out on the street but we are determined to do that, we have | :44:32. | :44:38. | |
hit the ground running, and on the doorstep people respect the Prime | :44:39. | :44:41. | |
Minister and I think there is a positive response for a Government | :44:42. | :44:47. | |
led by Theresa May, stable and in the national interest. Two years | :44:48. | :44:53. | |
ago, everyone whipped themselves up against and the Conservatives were | :44:54. | :44:58. | |
left with rocks, you still don't have candidates in a lot of places | :44:59. | :45:03. | |
the seats. We have moved swiftly to select many places and get campaigns | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
going. The reality is people need to turn out to vote Conservative | :45:09. | :45:11. | |
because anything else could open the way for a coalition of kirrioss led | :45:12. | :45:15. | |
by Jeremy Corbyn which would be a disaster for this country, if on the | :45:16. | :45:20. | |
night to view Jeremy Corbyn was the one smiling on the steps of Downing | :45:21. | :45:23. | |
Street I don't believe that would be in the national interest. Coalition | :45:24. | :45:30. | |
of chaos, people are talking about progressive alliances, a candidate | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
did not stand in Richmond Park when you won in the by-election, | :45:36. | :45:40. | |
indication they might not stand this time, Liberal Democrats not standing | :45:41. | :45:46. | |
against Caroline Lucas in Brighton, would you like to see a Liberal | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
Democrat candidate standing aside in more places in London? They are | :45:51. | :46:01. | |
specific examples, conversations took place and we agreed there was | :46:02. | :46:05. | |
common ground that we both wanted to fight on and it made sense. I cannot | :46:06. | :46:09. | |
say that is going to happen in every seat or that it always makes sense | :46:10. | :46:16. | |
in every individual... Do you feel the Liberal Democrats will be | :46:17. | :46:18. | |
serious here because you clearly have gained from it but it looks | :46:19. | :46:22. | |
like the Greens are making the running in saying they are prepared | :46:23. | :46:25. | |
to do it in more places, has the time come for you not to stand so | :46:26. | :46:27. | |
many candidates, I think it is too soon to say. What | :46:28. | :46:37. | |
is clear is the Liberal Democrats are the only party providing real | :46:38. | :46:42. | |
opposition to the hard Brexit and if people want their voices heard they | :46:43. | :46:46. | |
need to vote for the Liberal Democrat candidate. And Ukip are | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
standing aside in Vauxhall to favour a Labour MP, Labour gaining from | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
Ukip's decision. It is up to individual parties if they decide | :46:58. | :47:01. | |
not to stand. I think we should stand in every seat and contest | :47:02. | :47:11. | |
every seat. We should be putting our proposal clearly. It takes the | :47:12. | :47:15. | |
choice out of the hands of the electorate. It looks like, Theresa | :47:16. | :47:20. | |
Villiers, you will gain, you are in a Remain area, Ukip will not stand | :47:21. | :47:25. | |
against you either. Do you feel happy benefiting from their active | :47:26. | :47:29. | |
decision to stand aside so you can strengthen your position? I don't | :47:30. | :47:35. | |
know what choices Ukip will make in relation to the Chipping Barnet | :47:36. | :47:39. | |
constituency, it is entirely a matter for them, but this collection | :47:40. | :47:43. | |
is not just about Brexit. One of the main reasons why we need a strong | :47:44. | :47:47. | |
and secure government under Theresa May is to continue with economic | :47:48. | :47:51. | |
stability. This Government has delivered roughly 1000 new jobs for | :47:52. | :47:59. | |
every day we have been in office. We must not jeopardise that economic | :48:00. | :48:02. | |
success, we still have a deficit to deal with. There's no way Jeremy | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
Corbyn can cope with those kind of challenges. OK, let's move on, lots | :48:08. | :48:09. | |
to get through. In 2015, the Lib Dems | :48:10. | :48:12. | |
were reduced to one MP They've won one back of course - | :48:13. | :48:14. | |
Sarah in Richmond Park And they are hoping they can do | :48:15. | :48:18. | |
the same in other constituencies, especially those which voted Remain | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
in the referendum. The last general election | :48:23. | :48:24. | |
was pretty close to disaster Voters kicked out six | :48:25. | :48:27. | |
of their seven MPs, including But two years and one referendum | :48:28. | :48:31. | |
later, the former Business Secretary is campaigning to win back this | :48:32. | :48:37. | |
almost aggressively pleasant corner With highly-educated, | :48:38. | :48:40. | |
healthy and wealthy voters, this The reason for that is what happened | :48:41. | :48:43. | |
just over the water here last December in the neighbouring | :48:44. | :48:52. | |
Richmond Park constituency, where the Lib Dems in a by-election | :48:53. | :48:54. | |
managed to kick out the then Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, who had had a massive | :48:55. | :48:58. | |
majority of over 20,000 votes. The Lib Dems put it down | :48:59. | :49:02. | |
to a lot of things, but one factor over others, | :49:03. | :49:05. | |
and that was Brexit. The Lib Dems have tried to cast | :49:06. | :49:10. | |
themselves as the party of the 48%, How much is this an | :49:11. | :49:16. | |
election about Brexit? Well, it's starting off that way | :49:17. | :49:23. | |
and we are willing to take it on on that basis, | :49:24. | :49:26. | |
and Theresa May has argued that it is, | :49:27. | :49:38. | |
but we have a fundamental The Lib Dems took us | :49:39. | :49:40. | |
out doorknocking... ..To a street where almost | :49:41. | :49:43. | |
miraculously, everybody seemed I think you were a very good | :49:44. | :49:47. | |
local MP, and also... I'm glad to hear you | :49:48. | :49:51. | |
are running again. Next stop, Twickenham Green, | :49:52. | :49:56. | |
for Vince Cable's campaign launch I just want to say something | :49:57. | :49:59. | |
about the bigger issues. We've just been out | :50:00. | :50:04. | |
on the streets around here. A lot of support for us, | :50:05. | :50:07. | |
a lot of it around the Remain issue, In a two-minute speech, | :50:08. | :50:10. | |
one subject came up. ..Pursuing this very | :50:11. | :50:17. | |
extreme form of Brexit... But there might be a problem | :50:18. | :50:18. | |
with that here in Twickenham. The Conservative MP, | :50:19. | :50:21. | |
Tania Mathias, also backed Remain. If Theresa May is in | :50:22. | :50:23. | |
Government, you get someone The leaflets being handed out | :50:24. | :50:35. | |
here focus on strong There's also no mention | :50:36. | :50:38. | |
of the Lib Dems or Vince Cable, although they do talk about Jeremy | :50:39. | :50:42. | |
Corbyn. Over a cup of tea, | :50:43. | :50:45. | |
we talked about why. Because the simple fact | :50:46. | :50:49. | |
is Number Ten, Downing Street on June 9th is either Theresa May | :50:50. | :51:00. | |
walking in there or it's It's not going to be Tim Farron, | :51:01. | :51:03. | |
and that's the reality, so I appreciate your point, | :51:04. | :51:08. | |
but for people here, I want them to realise | :51:09. | :51:10. | |
the vote is critical. But in Twickenham, doctors | :51:11. | :51:19. | |
Mathias and Cable agree on many of the big local issues - | :51:20. | :51:22. | |
both oppose Heathrow expansion and are concerned | :51:23. | :51:25. | |
about cuts to school budgets. Without fundamental disagreement, | :51:26. | :51:27. | |
the conversation on the doorstep turns to who would be more | :51:28. | :51:28. | |
effective. I do believe if I'm part | :51:29. | :51:37. | |
of the team, part of the Government, the party in power, | :51:38. | :51:40. | |
I will represent our interests well. Without me, you have somebody | :51:41. | :51:45. | |
on the opposition benches. Labour and the Greens will also be | :51:46. | :51:48. | |
putting up candidates. Ukip have yet to decide, | :51:49. | :51:58. | |
but the party many eyes will be on come June the 8th | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
will be the Lib Dems, win back Twickenham, | :52:04. | :52:05. | |
any hopes of a national revival Tanya Mattias trying very hard, but | :52:06. | :52:18. | |
it is difficult there in Kingston were the Liberal Democrats want to | :52:19. | :52:21. | |
get back in the strong Remain areas, do you accept it will be difficult | :52:22. | :52:26. | |
to hold those seats? Is there will be a tough fight there but Tania | :52:27. | :52:40. | |
Mathias is right, you could risk Jeremy Corbyn becoming Prime | :52:41. | :52:42. | |
Minister in this country which would be a disaster. We have Tim Farron | :52:43. | :52:47. | |
talking about cross-party co-operation, the Lib Dems would | :52:48. | :52:51. | |
prop up a week and bumbling leader as Prime Minister in Jeremy Corbyn. | :52:52. | :52:54. | |
And that's what they were going to do in the last prime -- general | :52:55. | :53:05. | |
election... We are standing on our own manifesto with our own message | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
to voters and a few vote Lib Dem you get the lid Dem member of Parliament | :53:11. | :53:14. | |
and that will be somebody who will be a consistent opposition to | :53:15. | :53:17. | |
Conservative Brexit plans. We are the only party consistently opposed | :53:18. | :53:24. | |
to Brexit and that's what you get if you vote Liberal Democrat. The | :53:25. | :53:27. | |
purity of a Liberal Democrat position on Brexit will make this | :53:28. | :53:32. | |
very difficult. I think the Lib Dems have put all their eggs in one | :53:33. | :53:36. | |
basket. We are seeing the cost of living go up and Theresa May has | :53:37. | :53:41. | |
made a really big gamble. Even David Davis has acknowledged this | :53:42. | :53:45. | |
negotiation in Europe will be the most difficult over. She has wasted | :53:46. | :53:49. | |
several months, Parliament won't be properly up and running until autumn | :53:50. | :53:53. | |
and there has to be some sort of deal in 18 months' time if there is | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
any hope of Parliament having a say on it. People will be making | :54:00. | :54:03. | |
decisions not just on Brexit, though that is clearly an issue. They will | :54:04. | :54:08. | |
note that figures like Tony Blair is saying his position is closer to the | :54:09. | :54:12. | |
Liberal Democrats on something like this and Labour voters could move | :54:13. | :54:16. | |
heavily over to the Liberal Democrats in seats like yours. | :54:17. | :54:19. | |
People are very loyal to their parties, of course we are going to | :54:20. | :54:25. | |
see Brexit and Europe cut across party lines in different ways and in | :54:26. | :54:30. | |
party lines in different ways. I voted against triggering Article 50, | :54:31. | :54:36. | |
there were similar rebellions, in fact even the Lib Dems were not | :54:37. | :54:40. | |
united in Parliament on this vote, not all of them voted for the Remain | :54:41. | :54:45. | |
position they now advocate. We touched before that film on the fact | :54:46. | :54:48. | |
this campaign group, the three campaign groups, yours is one of the | :54:49. | :54:55. | |
seats in London. Eight of the 20 they are targeting with resources, | :54:56. | :54:58. | |
with extra volunteers and so on, eight of them in London, one of them | :54:59. | :55:03. | |
is yours, as I said in a Remain area. Are you concerned when they | :55:04. | :55:09. | |
focus this kind of attention on you? It will be difficult. I will be | :55:10. | :55:16. | |
campaigning hard on the basis of my record but also on the basis this is | :55:17. | :55:21. | |
a clear choice. Do they want Theresa May as their Prime Minister or | :55:22. | :55:25. | |
Jeremy Corbyn? But they will also look at Brexit and say we didn't | :55:26. | :55:29. | |
want in this area, and it's not as if Theresa Villiers was one way or | :55:30. | :55:33. | |
the other, you were very strong, part of the Leave campaign, and they | :55:34. | :55:38. | |
may think my God, we didn't want to go there. We don't know exactly how | :55:39. | :55:45. | |
the constituency voted, but there was a significant majority for | :55:46. | :55:54. | |
Remain. So you'll think your constituents was a little less | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
Remain? I speak to many voters on the doorstep who say that whilst | :56:00. | :56:03. | |
they voted Remain, they feel a decision has been made and we need | :56:04. | :56:08. | |
to get on with it. I want a settlement with our European | :56:09. | :56:13. | |
partners, a deep and special partnership which hopefully the | :56:14. | :56:15. | |
majority of Leave and Remain voters... We have this on the Public | :56:16. | :56:22. | |
Accounts Committee, no detail from government about what the | :56:23. | :56:26. | |
negotiations are about. And you think Jeremy Corbyn is going to do | :56:27. | :56:31. | |
better? You are the party in Government so you should have had a | :56:32. | :56:35. | |
plan when this happened and there is still no plant one year after the | :56:36. | :56:40. | |
referendum. Did you vote for the no-confidence resolution in Jeremy | :56:41. | :56:44. | |
Corbyn or didn't you? My record is clear on that but he is our leader. | :56:45. | :56:52. | |
In spite of it, it picks up on what Theresa Villiers has said, in spite | :56:53. | :56:57. | |
of him being a Brexiteer, one of Theresa May's colleagues, Zac | :56:58. | :57:04. | |
Goldsmith, a Remain orientated Conservative Party have brought him | :57:05. | :57:07. | |
back this week which indicates they are thinking about who delivers the | :57:08. | :57:11. | |
best deal. The decision has been made, which would spell trouble for | :57:12. | :57:18. | |
you, wouldn't it? Firstly I was very surprised they selected Zac | :57:19. | :57:21. | |
Goldsmith. He stood down in October because he didn't want to be part of | :57:22. | :57:25. | |
a party that supported Heathrow expansion. We went through the | :57:26. | :57:29. | |
expense of a by-election because he made that decision, and now six | :57:30. | :57:34. | |
months later, although Tory policy on Heathrow expansion hasn't | :57:35. | :57:38. | |
changed, suddenly it is OK for him to be a Tory again and there is a | :57:39. | :57:44. | |
great deal of irritation in the constituency that he has put local | :57:45. | :57:47. | |
voters through that. But they have decided, they have seen something, | :57:48. | :57:50. | |
fair enough the decision has been made and they've invited him back, | :57:51. | :57:56. | |
they must think he's a winner. I don't know what they think to be | :57:57. | :58:00. | |
honest. To pick up on the point you were making about needing to get on | :58:01. | :58:03. | |
with it, it is clear what Theresa May is asking for is a blank cheque. | :58:04. | :58:10. | |
She has no plan as to how she plans to deliver Brexit, and all she wants | :58:11. | :58:14. | |
is a blank cheque from the electorate so that anything she does | :58:15. | :58:17. | |
over the next five years she can claim she has a mandate for and it's | :58:18. | :58:21. | |
very important we have a strong opposition in the Commons so we can | :58:22. | :58:25. | |
continue to challenge and scrutinise. She has made it clear | :58:26. | :58:29. | |
she doesn't want opposition. Can I pick up on the Zac Goldsmith point | :58:30. | :58:37. | |
here, because you supported him in the by-election. How was it that he | :58:38. | :58:40. | |
can go back not as an independent but as a Conservative candidate? | :58:41. | :58:46. | |
Because he is the strongest possible champion for Richmond. He's been a | :58:47. | :58:50. | |
hugely effective local campaigner, he cares deeply about the place. He | :58:51. | :58:55. | |
threw out his time in Parliament was always ready to question the | :58:56. | :58:58. | |
Government, to challenge the front bench. He was always one standing | :58:59. | :59:03. | |
up, defending the interests of Richmond on all sorts of issues. He | :59:04. | :59:09. | |
would be undoubtedly... It is worth saying this is what he said. He was | :59:10. | :59:13. | |
trying to claim circumstances had changed. This is what he said after | :59:14. | :59:18. | |
he was selected this week. I think the circumstances of this election | :59:19. | :59:21. | |
are very different to the circumstances of the by-election, | :59:22. | :59:25. | |
that was a one-off opportunity caused by my resignation over | :59:26. | :59:29. | |
Heathrow but it gave people an opportunity to express their rage | :59:30. | :59:32. | |
about the outcome of the referendum and it was an opportunity they | :59:33. | :59:35. | |
weren't to going miss. No matter how much I spoke about Heathrow, people | :59:36. | :59:40. | |
wanted to talk about Brexit which is understandable but I didn't have a | :59:41. | :59:44. | |
choice. I knew it would be difficult, if it had been a | :59:45. | :59:46. | |
calculated decision I wouldn't have done it but I don't think | :59:47. | :59:50. | |
politicians should break their promises. The point is he will have | :59:51. | :59:55. | |
the full backing of the Conservatives, the machinery. It's | :59:56. | :59:59. | |
ridiculous, nothing substantial has changed. We are still heading for a | :00:00. | :00:04. | |
hard Brexit and of anything we have more information about Theresa May's | :00:05. | :00:06. | |
plans to leave the single market than we did at the time of the | :00:07. | :00:11. | |
by-election. You have got to admire the dedication, to risk going back | :00:12. | :00:14. | |
for selection, they might have rejected him. I won't comment on the | :00:15. | :00:19. | |
selection process but Heathrow, the Tories are trying to promote this | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
strong and stable leadership, they haven't even got the courage to put | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
their actual position on Heathrow in the manifesto so it is hardly strong | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
government being offered. It's actually give us a blank cheque and | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
we will take the mandate that we want. To all three of you, thank | :00:36. | :00:39. | |
you. Andrew, back to you. So, how will Thursday's local | :00:40. | :00:51. | |
election results affect Who's winning the | :00:52. | :00:53. | |
election ground war? And as he celebrates 100 | :00:54. | :00:56. | |
days in the White House, We have the local elections, Metro | :00:57. | :01:13. | |
elections in Liverpool, greater Birmingham, West Midlands, how will | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
they play into the general election? Significantly, it is very unusual. | :01:19. | :01:21. | |
People keep comparing this with the election in 83, not! Margaret | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
Thatcher was nervous and to wait until after the local elections to | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
call the election to see the result. We are getting these result in the | :01:31. | :01:34. | |
middle of an election campaign so it will be important, whoever does | :01:35. | :01:40. | |
badly will suffer a dent in confidence in terms of how they | :01:41. | :01:43. | |
approach the election and we are also going to have mayoral figures | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
as a reminder of another big difference with the 80s that however | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
big, say, the Conservatives win in Westminster, there are now sectors | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
of power in other parts of the United Kingdom which were not there | :01:58. | :02:00. | |
in the 80s. One of the reasons niches that are rated in 83 was | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
memories were still alive in political circles of 1970, Wilson | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
saw the local election results and thought, I can win, he was told he | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
would win by the Economist magazine, who had done the analysis, and of | :02:16. | :02:19. | |
course he lost, so that is why she waited, Mrs May does not need to | :02:20. | :02:27. | |
wait for that at all now, and on the Metro elections, the one she will be | :02:28. | :02:30. | |
looking at is the West Midlands, that is the one that is a | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
competition. I think she can really lose on Thursday in the local | :02:35. | :02:37. | |
elections, governing parties are supposed to take effect again, | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
losing lots of council seats. She is projected to put on 100 or so seats, | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
Labour projected to lose around 200, the first time the main opposition | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
party has shed seats since something like 83 so clearly the local | :02:53. | :02:55. | |
elections give Mrs May great momentum going into the general | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
election campaign but there is a downside in that, which is what we | :03:00. | :03:02. | |
have already heard fighting about this morning, if it looks like it is | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
going too well for the Tories, it says to voters, why bother turning | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
up? Sushi comes up with totally unbelievable sound bites this | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
morning that this is the most important general election in her | :03:16. | :03:21. | |
lifetime. Really?! For her it is! It always is until the next one! I | :03:22. | :03:28. | |
wonder if voter turnout is a problem? Tory voters are more likely | :03:29. | :03:32. | |
to vote than Labour voters. If there is a sense that it is all over bar | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
the shouting, the overall turnout will be low that Tory voters are | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
still likely to turn out more than Labour voters so she would still win | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
some. I don't think she needs to be too worried, I think there will be a | :03:47. | :03:51. | |
significantly low turnout, even I am finding it hard to be that excited | :03:52. | :03:58. | |
about this general election. Really, the policies, we have spent a lot of | :03:59. | :04:02. | |
time talking about them today and we have to examine them, but all this | :04:03. | :04:07. | |
is about is, do you want Theresa May or Jeremy Corbyn in Number Ten? | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
Those are the only question is, apart from possibly how strong do | :04:12. | :04:14. | |
you feel about Brexit, that will be on the voters' minds. You may say | :04:15. | :04:20. | |
that but I will not be put off from going through a list of policies | :04:21. | :04:24. | |
that we have already had in the last 24 hours. On the Conservatives, more | :04:25. | :04:31. | |
powers to stop company bosses under pensions, of course Philip Green was | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
in mind there. Labour has come up with quite a few policies, actually, | :04:39. | :04:43. | |
give all work of equal rights, whether part-time or full-time, | :04:44. | :04:52. | |
temporary or permanent. Ukip, scrap VAT or takeaway -- on takeaway food | :04:53. | :04:57. | |
and end the BBC licence fee. The Liberal Democrats have come out | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
posed to the runway at Heathrow. I thought I knew that already? Will | :05:04. | :05:10. | |
any of these policies make a difference? They are all nice handy | :05:11. | :05:16. | |
things that people quite liked but probably not, is the answer. They | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
are an awful way away from polling day now for people to remember and | :05:21. | :05:24. | |
latch onto. I don't think you make your mind up on small issues like | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
Heathrow, unless you live in Richmond-upon-Thames, maybe, but the | :05:31. | :05:33. | |
problem Labour have got with unfailing a lot of these retail type | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
policies which, in themselves, are very popular, is no one will listen | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
to them until they get over the leadership credibility issue. Jeremy | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
Corbyn could the world on a stick, but if no one believes he can | :05:47. | :05:49. | |
deliver it then he will not be listened to and he has not done much | :05:50. | :05:52. | |
apart from a speech yesterday in which is claim to fame was getting | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
arrested, I don't see how that would work for him getting to Number Ten. | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
They are not making progress on it. Labour has rolled out a number of | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
policies which, taken individually, would have certain traction in | :06:09. | :06:13. | |
normal times, quite interesting ideas, this sense of unfairness, a | :06:14. | :06:16. | |
feeling that ordinary workers have not done well out of the recovery, | :06:17. | :06:22. | |
those who caused the crash have, 20 points, I went through some of them | :06:23. | :06:25. | |
earlier, putting aside they are not costed, we are assured they will be. | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
The problem I suggest is not the costing but the cut through? Every | :06:31. | :06:36. | |
election has a context which is determined by opinion polls, however | :06:37. | :06:40. | |
sceptical we are these days, and if one party is way ahead it is | :06:41. | :06:43. | |
difficult for the other party to appear relevant, because if people | :06:44. | :06:49. | |
assume they are not going to win, even some of its own MPs are saying, | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
we are not going to win this, so you can vote for us, it is very hard to | :06:54. | :07:00. | |
get attention and relevance. Where I think all the parties are bad with | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
their current leaders is framing arguments, so those policies you | :07:05. | :07:10. | |
have highlighted makes sense. The best leaders are brilliant framers | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
of an argument and neither Theresa Maynor Jeremy Corbyn R. They have | :07:14. | :07:20. | |
been campaigning, their manifestos are not out yet, both sides have | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
been telling us we have to wait for costings, but it has not stopped | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
them campaigning. Let's remind you of where they have been and what | :07:29. | :07:33. | |
they have been doing so far. Let's start with Jeremy Corbyn, his | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
first official visit was in the ultra-marginal Conservative seat of | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
Croydon Central where the MP Gavin Barwell has a lead of just 165. That | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
is not the only Conservative seat he has visited, along the way he popped | :07:48. | :07:51. | |
in on Bristol North West, a Conservative majority of nearly | :07:52. | :07:58. | |
5000. The Tory seat of Cardiff North, a lead of just over 2000, | :07:59. | :08:05. | |
Warrington South, just over 2700, and Crewe and Nantwich, Tory | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
majority of three and a half thousand. Yesterday he visited | :08:11. | :08:15. | |
Bethnal greed and Bob, a Labour lead of 20 4000. Theresa May kicked off | :08:16. | :08:21. | |
her campaign in Bolton, Labour majority of over 4000. On her way | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
round the UK she had a comfy stop in her own maidenhead seat, where she | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
is defending a majority of nearly 30,000, before travelling to other | :08:31. | :08:34. | |
Labour marginals including Dudley North, a Labour lead of 4000. | :08:35. | :08:41. | |
Bridgend, a lead of just under 2004 Labour, before becoming ambitious | :08:42. | :08:42. | |
and visiting shadow minister Richard Bergen's Leeds East seat, which he | :08:43. | :08:58. | |
won by over 12,500 votes. Yesterday she went north of the border to | :08:59. | :09:01. | |
Aberdeenshire, where amongst other places she visited the SNP seat of | :09:02. | :09:03. | |
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, where the Tories would have to gain | :09:04. | :09:04. | |
over 7000 votes to unseat the NP. What do you make of it all so far? | :09:05. | :09:12. | |
It is remarkable she is doing these visits in Scotland. Past but even | :09:13. | :09:16. | |
five years and the idea of a Tory Prime Minister going round Scotland | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
would be utterly counter-productive, and actually they are ambitious for | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
Scotland now under with Davidson, a prospect of multiple seats, and that | :09:25. | :09:28. | |
would be a real genuine shift in Scottish politics, the likes of | :09:29. | :09:31. | |
which we have not seen for 15 or 20 years. If she gets that, that helps | :09:32. | :09:41. | |
towards 100 seats, because if she wins ten in Scotland, it is | :09:42. | :09:46. | |
effectively 20, the SNP lose ten, she gains ten, she wants to do that | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
in the Midlands with Labour, and the North. To get the 100 majority, | :09:51. | :09:56. | |
other than Scotland, she has to win Labour seats, that is all that is | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
there. And clearly she has been told, it is obvious, that she has a | :10:02. | :10:05. | |
chance of doing so, otherwise you don't go to these parts of the | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
country in the first few days of the campaign. All logic points to her | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
being able to pull it off as well. The opinion polls, the state of the | :10:14. | :10:18. | |
Labour Party. The only qualification I have in this is that politics is | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
so wild and free Braille at the moment, it doesn't feel like | :10:23. | :10:29. | |
landslide to rain. That is true, it doesn't. It is early days, we | :10:30. | :10:35. | |
haven't yet had the manifestos, the campaign is yet to gather momentum. | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
It doesn't feel like landslide territory. I disagree, look at every | :10:39. | :10:47. | |
single poll, the Tory lead is 10% in Wales, you can see her picking up 20 | :10:48. | :10:52. | |
seat there. Put this together, I am told by the way she is going into | :10:53. | :10:56. | |
traditional Labour heartland again tomorrow, the key is the Ukip vote. | :10:57. | :11:02. | |
That will implode... Crumble towards Tories? If she can hoover that up | :11:03. | :11:21. | |
and retain the Tory vote, she will have a majority of 150. | :11:22. | :11:22. | |
I cannot let you go without reminding you that it is Donald | :11:23. | :11:22. | |
Trump's 100 days. He's not making a lot of it now, this is what he said | :11:23. | :11:23. | |
last night. We are just beginning in our fight | :11:24. | :11:25. | |
to make America great again. Now, before we talk about my first | :11:26. | :11:28. | |
100 days, which has been very exciting and very productive, | :11:29. | :11:37. | |
let's rate the media's 100 days. Because, as you know, | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
they are a disgrace. There you go, still bashing the | :11:43. | :12:02. | |
media, that was at a rally in Virginia, the 100 days was last | :12:03. | :12:07. | |
night. He seems happier campaigning than running the country. You each | :12:08. | :12:10. | |
have 20 seconds to give me your board on the first 100 days. | :12:11. | :12:19. | |
Remarkable, he will not stop slagging off the media but America | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
first has not meant America first in terms of national policy, he has | :12:25. | :12:27. | |
reneges on what he said about Nato being obsolete. He is moving from | :12:28. | :12:32. | |
the old right to the centre because that is where you get things done, | :12:33. | :12:40. | |
he is a pragmatist, also is about's friend Nigel Parrott is no longer | :12:41. | :12:46. | |
welcome, we read this morning! Allegedly! He loves campaigning but | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
finds governing much more difficult. Who would have thought being | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
president of the United States was a difficult job?! He loves rallies but | :12:56. | :12:59. | |
being president and politics is a very difficult thing indeed. Thank | :13:00. | :13:05. | |
you, there we go, Mr Trump's 100 days, we will see what the next 100 | :13:06. | :13:06. | |
brings. The Daily Politics is back | :13:07. | :13:09. | |
on BBC Two after the bank holiday on Tuesday at midday, | :13:10. | :13:12. | |
with all the latest And I'll be back here | :13:13. | :13:14. | |
on BBC One next Sunday Remember - if it's Sunday, | :13:15. | :13:18. | |
it's the Sunday Politics. | :13:19. | :13:28. |