:00:35. > :00:38.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:39. > :00:41.Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball tactics
:00:42. > :00:46.and intimidation by unions in industrial disputes. That's our top
:00:47. > :00:50.Thousands dead. Hundreds of Thousands dead. Hundreds of
:00:51. > :00:54.thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to
:00:55. > :00:56.help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:00:57. > :01:00.International Development Secretary Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:01:01. > :01:03.Justine Greening. Winter is coming and so, it seems,
:01:04. > :01:05.is another crisis in England's hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow
:01:06. > :01:07.Health Secretary how he'd put visit a North East street to see how
:01:08. > :01:20.its residents cope with rising fatalities on the capital's streets,
:01:21. > :01:29.and renewed calls to get lorries off the roads in peak hours.
:01:30. > :01:37.With me, the best and brightest political panel that money can buy.
:01:38. > :01:39.Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this week, Zoe Williams, who'll be
:01:40. > :01:45.tweeting their thoughts throughout the programme.
:01:46. > :01:47.The Government has announced a review to investigate what the Prime
:01:48. > :01:59.Minister has called "industrial intimidation" by trade union
:02:00. > :02:03.activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair a panel to examine allegations of
:02:04. > :02:05.the kind of tactics that came to light during the Grangemouth
:02:06. > :02:08.dispute, when the Unite union took their protests - replete with a
:02:09. > :02:14.giant rat - outside the family homes of the firms' bosses. Earlier this
:02:15. > :02:21.morning the Cabinet office minister, Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and
:02:22. > :02:24.this is what he had to say. To look at whether the law currently works
:02:25. > :02:29.and see if it is ineffective in preventing the kind of intimidatory
:02:30. > :02:38.activity that was alleged to have taken place around range mouth
:02:39. > :02:44.during the previous disputes -- Grangemouth. We make no presumptions
:02:45. > :02:47.at the beginning of this. I do think it is a responsible thing for the
:02:48. > :02:51.government to establish what happened and really do a proper
:02:52. > :02:58.review into whether the law is adequate to meet the needs. That was
:02:59. > :03:03.Francis Maude. This is a purely political move, isn't it? Unite did
:03:04. > :03:07.this a couple of times, it is hardly happening all over the country but
:03:08. > :03:13.the government want to say, we are prepared to investigate Unite
:03:14. > :03:18.properly, Labour isn't. This seemed a lot worse when I thought it was a
:03:19. > :03:24.real rat. I thought it was a giant dead rat. I am not sure if you know
:03:25. > :03:30.much about rats but real rats are not this big, even the ones in
:03:31. > :03:34.London. The thing is, obviously it is naked politics but I think it is
:03:35. > :03:39.more intelligent than it looks. They are trying to taint Miliband as a
:03:40. > :03:44.week union puppet and that doesn't really wash. They hammer away with
:03:45. > :03:50.it and it might wash for some people. But it really castrates
:03:51. > :03:54.Miliband in the important issues he has to tackle. Zero hours, living
:03:55. > :03:59.wage, all of those things in which he needs to be in concert with the
:04:00. > :04:06.unions, and to use their expertise. He is making them absolutely toxic
:04:07. > :04:16.to go anywhere near. It keeps the Unite story alive, have to kill --
:04:17. > :04:25.particularly since Mr Miller band is under pressure to reopen the
:04:26. > :04:34.investigation into what Unite are up to -- Mr Miliband. They are
:04:35. > :04:38.frustrated, not only at the BBC but the media generally at what they
:04:39. > :04:42.think is a lack of coverage. I see the political rationale from that
:04:43. > :04:48.respect. There is a risk. There are union members who either vote Tory
:04:49. > :04:55.or are open to the idea of voting Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party
:04:56. > :05:09.comes across as too zealous in as -- its antipathy, there is an electoral
:05:10. > :05:13.consequence. Ed Miliband has been careful to keep a distance. Yes
:05:14. > :05:17.they depend on vast amounts of money. When Len McCluskey had a real
:05:18. > :05:21.go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was straight out there with a very
:05:22. > :05:26.strong statement. Essentially Len McCluskey wanted Blairites in the
:05:27. > :05:29.shadow cabinet sacked and Ed Miliband was keen to distance
:05:30. > :05:35.himself or for that is why it is not quite sticking. Another story in the
:05:36. > :05:40.Sunday papers this morning, the Mail on Sunday got hold of some e-mails.
:05:41. > :05:45.When I saw the headline I thought it was a huge cache of e-mails, it
:05:46. > :05:49.turns out to be a couple. They peel away the cover on the relationship
:05:50. > :05:56.between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts
:05:57. > :06:05.describing what Mr balls is trying to do as a nightmare. How bad are
:06:06. > :06:08.the relations? They are pretty bad and these e-mails confirm the
:06:09. > :06:13.biggest open signal in Westminster, which is that relations are pretty
:06:14. > :06:17.tense, -- open secret. That Ed Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls
:06:18. > :06:22.is acknowledging the economy has grown that Labour needs to admit to
:06:23. > :06:30.past mistakes. The sort of great open signal is confirmed. On a scale
:06:31. > :06:37.of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown was ten. I think it is between six
:06:38. > :06:43.and seven. They occupy this joint suite of offices that George Cameron
:06:44. > :06:47.and -- David Cameron and George Osborne had. It is not just on the
:06:48. > :06:52.economy that there were tensions, there were clearly tensions over
:06:53. > :06:57.HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question over it at his conference. There
:06:58. > :07:00.will be more tensions when it comes to the third runway because my
:07:01. > :07:05.information is that Mr balls wants to do it and Ed Miliband almost
:07:06. > :07:10.resigned over it when he was in government. I don't think Ed
:07:11. > :07:14.Miliband is thinking very politically because he has tried
:07:15. > :07:20.live without Ed Balls and that is not tenable either. -- life without.
:07:21. > :07:25.He has defined a way of making it work. That is where Tony Blair had
:07:26. > :07:29.the edge on any modern politician. He didn't want to make Ed Balls his
:07:30. > :07:33.Shadow Chancellor, he had to. Somebody said to him, if you make Ed
:07:34. > :07:37.Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will be the last decision you take as
:07:38. > :07:55.leader of the Labour Party. Is it as bad? I was surprised at how tame the
:07:56. > :07:59.e-mails were. At the FT it is compulsory, one French word per
:08:00. > :08:04.sentence! To call him a nightmare, compared to what they are willing to
:08:05. > :08:07.say in briefings, conversations bits of frustrations they express
:08:08. > :08:13.verbally come what is documented in the e-mails is actually pretty
:08:14. > :08:16.light. It has been a grim week for the people of the Philippines as
:08:17. > :08:21.they count the cost of the devastation wrought by Typhoon
:08:22. > :08:24.Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived near the worst hit areas - part of
:08:25. > :08:29.Britain's contribution to bring aid to the country.
:08:30. > :08:33.It has been one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the
:08:34. > :08:36.Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the country nine days ago, leaving
:08:37. > :08:42.devastation in its wake. The numbers involved are shocking. The official
:08:43. > :08:47.death toll is over 3600 people, with many thousands more unaccounted for.
:08:48. > :08:50.More than half a million people have lost their homes and the UN
:08:51. > :08:55.estimates 11 million have been affected. David Cameron announced on
:08:56. > :08:59.Friday that the UK government is to give an extra ?30 million in aid,
:09:00. > :09:05.taking the total British figure ?250 million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft
:09:06. > :09:11.landed yesterday with equipment to help aid workers get too hard to
:09:12. > :09:14.reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on its way and due to arrive next
:09:15. > :09:21.weekend. The British public have once again dipped into their pockets
:09:22. > :09:26.and given generously. They have given more than ?30 million to the
:09:27. > :09:28.Disasters Emergency Committee. The International Development
:09:29. > :09:31.Secretary, Justine Greening, joins me now for the Sunday Interview
:09:32. > :09:35.Good morning, Secretary of State. How much of the ?50 million that the
:09:36. > :09:42.government has allocated has got through so far? All of it has landed
:09:43. > :09:45.on the ground now. HMS Daring has turned up, that will be able to
:09:46. > :09:50.start getting help out to some of those more outlying islands that
:09:51. > :09:55.have been hard to reach. We have seen Save the Children and Oxfam
:09:56. > :10:00.really being able to get aid out on the ground. We have a plane taking
:10:01. > :10:04.off today that will not read just carrying out more equipment to help
:10:05. > :10:10.clear the roads but will also have their staff on board, too. We have
:10:11. > :10:16.?50 million of aid actually on the ground? We instantly chartered
:10:17. > :10:23.flights directly from Dubai where we have preprepared human Terry and
:10:24. > :10:29.supplies, and started humanity work -- humanitarian supplies.
:10:30. > :10:37.A lot of it has now arrived. I think we have done a huge amount so far.
:10:38. > :10:42.We have gone beyond just providing humanitarian supplies, to getting
:10:43. > :10:46.the Royal Air Force involved. They have helped us to get equipment out
:10:47. > :10:51.there quickly. We have HMS Illustrious sailing over there now.
:10:52. > :10:54.Why has that taken so long? It was based in the Gulf and is not going
:10:55. > :10:57.to get there until two weeks after the storm first hit and that is the
:10:58. > :11:02.one ship we have with lots of helicopters. The first decision we
:11:03. > :11:08.took was to make sure we could get the fastest vessel out there that
:11:09. > :11:10.was able to help HMS Daring. HMS Illustrious was just finishing an
:11:11. > :11:15.exercise and planning to start to head back towards the UK. We have
:11:16. > :11:21.said to not do that, and diverted it. Shouldn't it have happened more
:11:22. > :11:25.quickly? We took the decisions as fast as we were able to, you can't
:11:26. > :11:30.just turn a big warship around like the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we
:11:31. > :11:34.took those decisions and that is while it will be taking over from
:11:35. > :11:39.HMS Daring come and that is why HMS Daring is ready there. It will be
:11:40. > :11:44.able to provide key support and expertise that has not been there so
:11:45. > :11:49.far. The US Navy is doing the heavy lifting here. The US Navy had the
:11:50. > :11:54.USS Washington, there is an aircraft carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel
:11:55. > :11:57.and they have the fleet, they are doing the real work. We obviously
:11:58. > :12:02.helping but the Americans are taking the lead. It is a big international
:12:03. > :12:06.effort. Countries like the US and the UK, that have a broader ability
:12:07. > :12:15.to support that goes beyond simply call humanitarian supplies -- have
:12:16. > :12:19.made sure we have brought our logistics knowledge, we have sent
:12:20. > :12:25.out our naval vessels. It shows we are working across government to
:12:26. > :12:32.respond to this crisis. Why does only just over 4% of your aid budget
:12:33. > :12:37.go on emergency disaster and response? A lot depends on what
:12:38. > :12:41.crises hit in any given year. We have done a huge amount, responding
:12:42. > :12:46.to the crisis in Syria, the conflict there and the fact we have 2 million
:12:47. > :12:50.refugees who have fled the country. We are part of an international
:12:51. > :12:55.effort in supporting them. Shouldn't we beginning more money to that
:12:56. > :12:59.rather than some of the other programmes where it is harder to see
:13:00. > :13:05.the results question of if we were to give more money to the refugees,
:13:06. > :13:10.it would be a visible result. We could see an improvement in the
:13:11. > :13:14.lives of children, men and women. What we need to do is alongside that
:13:15. > :13:19.is stop those situations from happening in the first place. A lot
:13:20. > :13:22.of our development spend is helping countries to stay stable. Look at
:13:23. > :13:27.some of the work we are doing in Somalia, much more sensible. Not
:13:28. > :13:32.just from an immigration but there is a threat perspective. There is a
:13:33. > :13:38.lot of terrorism coming from Somalia. You only have to look at
:13:39. > :13:43.Kenya recently to see that. Which is why you talk about what we do with
:13:44. > :13:47.the rest of the spend. It is why it is responsible to work with the
:13:48. > :13:54.government of Somalia. Should we give more, bigger part of the budget
:13:55. > :13:59.to disaster relief or not? I think we get it about right, we have to be
:14:00. > :14:04.flexible and we are. This Philippine relief is on top of the work in
:14:05. > :14:08.Syria. Where can you show me a correlation between us giving aid to
:14:09. > :14:14.some failed nation, or nearly failed nation, and that cutting down on
:14:15. > :14:17.terrorism? If you look at the work we have done in Pakistan, a huge
:14:18. > :14:24.amount of work. Some of it short-term. It is written by
:14:25. > :14:31.terrorism. That is -- ridden by terrorism. That is not going to fix
:14:32. > :14:40.it self in a sense. Look at the work that we do in investing in
:14:41. > :14:48.education. The things that little girls like Malala talk about as
:14:49. > :14:53.being absolutely key. We are ramping up our aid to Pakistan, it will be
:14:54. > :14:58.close to half ?1 billion by the time of the election. Why should British
:14:59. > :15:06.taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion to a country where only 0.5% of
:15:07. > :15:15.people in Pakistan pay income tax, and 70% of their own MPs don't pay
:15:16. > :15:19.income tax. It is a good point and that is why we have been working
:15:20. > :15:29.with their tax revenue authority to help them increase that and push
:15:30. > :15:36.forward the tax reform. You are right, and I have setup a team that
:15:37. > :15:40.will go out and work with many of these countries so they can raise
:15:41. > :15:53.their own revenues. You really think you will raise the amount of tax by
:15:54. > :15:59.sending out the British HRM see How many troops I we sending out to
:16:00. > :16:06.protect them? They don't need troops. We make sure that we have a
:16:07. > :16:17.duty of care alongside our staff, but we have to respond to any crisis
:16:18. > :16:22.like the Philippines, and alongside other countries we have two work
:16:23. > :16:27.alongside them so that they can reinvest in their own public
:16:28. > :16:33.services. If they can create their own taxes, will we stop paying aid?
:16:34. > :16:38.We need to look at that but the new Pakistan Government has been very
:16:39. > :16:46.clear it is a priority and we will be helping them in pursuing that.
:16:47. > :16:53.Let me show you a picture. Who are these young women? I don't know I'm
:16:54. > :16:58.sure you are about to tell me. They are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and
:16:59. > :17:05.I'm surprised you don't know because they have only managed to become so
:17:06. > :17:10.famous because your department has financed them to the tune of ?4
:17:11. > :17:14.million. All of the work we do with women on the ground, making sure
:17:15. > :17:21.they have a voice in their local communities, making sure they have
:17:22. > :17:29.some control over what happens to their own bodies in terms of
:17:30. > :17:35.tackling FGM, female genital mutilation... Did you know your
:17:36. > :17:43.department has spent ?4 million on the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I
:17:44. > :17:47.do, and we have to work with girls and show them there is a life ahead
:17:48. > :17:51.of them with opportunity and potential that goes beyond what many
:17:52. > :17:57.of them will experience, which includes early and forced marriage.
:17:58. > :18:08.It is part of the work we do with local communities to change
:18:09. > :18:11.attitudes everything you have just said is immeasurable, and they
:18:12. > :18:17.broadcast on a radio station that doesn't reach most of the country so
:18:18. > :18:25.it cannot have the impact. It only reaches 20 million people and the
:18:26. > :18:32.project has been condemned saying there were serious inefficiencies.
:18:33. > :18:36.That aid report was done a while ago now, and it was talking about the
:18:37. > :18:41.project when it first got going and a lot of improvements have happened
:18:42. > :18:45.since. I would go back to the point that we are working in very
:18:46. > :18:49.difficult environments where we are trying to get longer term change on
:18:50. > :18:53.the ground and that means working directly with communities but also
:18:54. > :18:59.investing for the long-term, investing in some of these girls
:19:00. > :19:05.start changing attitudes in them and their communities. Why does the
:19:06. > :19:17.British taxpayers spend ?5 million on a Bangladesh version of Question
:19:18. > :19:23.Time? We work with the BBC to make sure we can get accountabilities...
:19:24. > :19:43.That is bigger then the BBC Question Time Normal -- budget. That includes
:19:44. > :19:50.the cost of David Dimbleby's tattoo! We are working to improve
:19:51. > :19:54.people's prospects but also we are working to improve their ability to
:19:55. > :19:57.hold their governments to account so that when they are not getting
:19:58. > :20:01.services on the ground, they have ways they can raise those concerns
:20:02. > :20:07.with the people who are there to deliver services for them. In your
:20:08. > :20:14.own personal view, should the next Conservative Government, if there is
:20:15. > :20:18.one, should you continue to ring fence spending on foreign aid? But
:20:19. > :20:25.it is critical that if we are going to spend 7.7% of our national
:20:26. > :20:30.income, we should make sure it is in our national interest and that means
:20:31. > :20:34.having a clear approach to humanitarian responses, in keeping
:20:35. > :20:39.the country safe, and a clearer approach on helping drive economic
:20:40. > :20:46.development and jobs so there is a long-term end of the dependency Do
:20:47. > :20:53.you believe in an shrine in the percentage of our GDP that goes on
:20:54. > :20:59.foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is a coalition agreement. There have
:21:00. > :21:05.been a lot of agreements that you are sceptical about ring fencing. We
:21:06. > :21:15.are focused on shaking up the economy and improving our public
:21:16. > :21:24.finances. Why haven't you done that? At the end of the day we will be
:21:25. > :21:31.accountable but we are committed to doing that. You are running out of
:21:32. > :21:35.time, will you do it? I hope we can find the Parliamentary time, but
:21:36. > :21:44.even if we don't, we have acted as if that law is in place and we have
:21:45. > :21:47.already met 0.7% commitment. If you are British voter that doesn't
:21:48. > :21:54.believe that we should enshrine that in by law, which means that with a
:21:55. > :21:59.growing economy foreign aid will rise by definition, and if you think
:22:00. > :22:03.we should be spending less money on the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom
:22:04. > :22:10.should you wrote in the next election? I think we have a very
:22:11. > :22:16.sensible approach. I don't know what the various party manifestoes.. The
:22:17. > :22:22.only party who thinks we shouldn't be doing this is UKIP. I think you
:22:23. > :22:36.have to look at the response to both the Philippines crisis and Children
:22:37. > :22:40.In Need. Of all the steps we are taking to get the country back on
:22:41. > :22:46.track, it shows the British people will respond to need when they need
:22:47. > :22:52.it and it is one of the things that makes Britain's special.
:22:53. > :22:54.Thank you. "It's always winter but never Christmas" - that's how
:22:55. > :22:57.doctors describe life inside accident and emergency. The College
:22:58. > :23:01.of Emergency Medicine have warned that this year could bring the
:23:02. > :23:04."worst crisis on record". If that dire prediction comes, expect a
:23:05. > :23:08.spring of political recriminations, but how prepared are the NHS in
:23:09. > :23:15.England? And what do they make of this autumnal speculation? Giles has
:23:16. > :23:20.been to Leeds to find out. This winter has already come to our
:23:21. > :23:30.hospitals. It had an official start date, November the 3rd. That is when
:23:31. > :23:34.weekly updates are delivered to the NHS's most senior planners, alerting
:23:35. > :23:42.them to any sudden changes in patient numbers coming in. Where do
:23:43. > :23:47.they numbers register most then A They are the barometer for what
:23:48. > :23:53.is going on everywhere else, and they are the pressure point, so if
:23:54. > :23:58.the system is beginning to struggle then it is in the A department
:23:59. > :24:05.that we see the problems. It is not that the problems are the A
:24:06. > :24:10.departments, but they are the place where it all comes together. Plans
:24:11. > :24:16.to tackle those problems start being drawn up in May and they look at
:24:17. > :24:29.trends, even taking notice of any flu epidemics in New Zealand. They
:24:30. > :24:33.also look at the amount of bets But the weather, economic realities
:24:34. > :24:38.structural reforms, and changes to the general health of the
:24:39. > :24:42.population, are all factors they have to consider. We get huge
:24:43. > :24:48.amounts of information through the winter in order to help the NHS be
:24:49. > :24:52.the best it can be, but we had to redouble our efforts this year
:24:53. > :24:58.because we expected to be a difficult winter. We know the NHS is
:24:59. > :25:04.stretched so we are working hard to be as good as we can be. That means
:25:05. > :25:11.they are looking at winter staffing levels, plans to ask for help from
:25:12. > :25:15.neighbouring hospitals, and dovetailing help with GP surgeries,
:25:16. > :25:22.and still having the ability to move up an extra gear, a rehearsed
:25:23. > :25:28.emergency plan if the NHS had to face a major disease pandemic. You
:25:29. > :25:32.spend any time in any of our hospitals and you realise the NHS
:25:33. > :25:36.knows that winter is coming and they are making plans, but you also get a
:25:37. > :25:40.palpable feeling amongst health workers across the entire system
:25:41. > :25:47.that they do get fed up of being used as a political football.
:25:48. > :25:51.Doctors and all health care professionals are frustrated about
:25:52. > :25:56.the politics that surrounds the NHS in health care. They go to work to
:25:57. > :26:02.treat patients as best as they can, and the political knock-about does
:26:03. > :26:06.not help anyone. I find it frustrating when there is a
:26:07. > :26:11.commentary that suggests the NHS does not planned, when it is
:26:12. > :26:16.surprised by winter, and wherever that comes from it is hard to take,
:26:17. > :26:27.knowing how much we do nationally and how much our hard working front
:26:28. > :26:34.line staff are doing. When the Coalition have recently tried to
:26:35. > :26:40.open up the NHS to be a more independent body, it is clear the
:26:41. > :26:45.NHS feel they have had an unhealthy dose of political wrangling between
:26:46. > :26:51.parties on policy. The NHS is not infallible or making any guarantees,
:26:52. > :26:53.but they seem confident that they and their patients can survive the
:26:54. > :26:56.winter. Joining me now from Salford in the
:26:57. > :27:07.Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham. Tell me this, if you were
:27:08. > :27:14.health secretary now, you just took over in an emergency election, what
:27:15. > :27:20.would you do to avoid another winter crisis? I would immediately halt the
:27:21. > :27:26.closure of NHS walk-in centres. We heard this week that around one in
:27:27. > :27:31.four walk-in centres are closed so it makes no sense whatsoever for the
:27:32. > :27:37.Government to allow the continued closure of them. I would put nurses
:27:38. > :27:42.back on the end of phones and restore an NHS direct style service.
:27:43. > :27:50.The new 111 service is not in a position to provide help to people
:27:51. > :27:55.this winter. I think the time has come to rethink how the NHS care is
:27:56. > :27:59.particularly for older people so I propose the full integration of
:28:00. > :28:05.health and social care. It cannot make any sense any more to have this
:28:06. > :28:09.approach where we cut social care and let elderly people drift to
:28:10. > :28:18.hospitals in greater numbers. We have two rethink it as a whole
:28:19. > :28:21.service. So you would repeal some of the Tory reforms and move
:28:22. > :28:27.commissioning to local authorities so the NHS should brace itself for
:28:28. > :28:33.another major top-down health reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew
:28:34. > :28:44.Lansley I will work with the organisations ie inherit. He could
:28:45. > :28:48.work with primary care trusts but he turned it upside down when it needed
:28:49. > :29:03.stability. I will not do that but I will repeal the health and social
:29:04. > :29:07.care act because last week we heard that hospitals and health services
:29:08. > :29:11.cannot get on and make sensible merger collaborations because of
:29:12. > :29:16.this nonsense now that the NHS is bound by competition law. Let me get
:29:17. > :29:21.your views on a number of ideas that have been floated either by the
:29:22. > :29:31.press or the Coalition. We haven't got much time. Do you welcome the
:29:32. > :29:39.plan to bring back named GPs for over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder
:29:40. > :29:42.to get the GP appointment under this Government because David Cameron
:29:43. > :29:47.scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that Tony Blair brought in. He was
:29:48. > :29:53.challenged in the 2005 election about the difficulty of getting a GP
:29:54. > :29:57.appointment, and Tony Blair brought in the commitment that people should
:29:58. > :30:04.be able to get that within 48 hours. That has now been scrapped.
:30:05. > :30:08.Do you welcome the idea of allowing everyone to choose their own GP
:30:09. > :30:14.surgery even if it is not in our traditional catchment area? I
:30:15. > :30:20.proposed that just before the last election, so yes. Do you welcome the
:30:21. > :30:24.idea of how a practice is being rated being a matter of public
:30:25. > :30:31.record, and of us knowing how much, at least from the NHS, our GP earns?
:30:32. > :30:35.Of course, every political party supports transparency in the NHS.
:30:36. > :30:40.More information for the public of that kind is a good thing. Do you
:30:41. > :30:43.welcome this plan to make it will form the collect in an NHS hospital
:30:44. > :30:51.-- make wilful neglect a criminal -- make wilful neglect a criminal
:30:52. > :30:53.offence. It is important to say you can't pick and mix these
:30:54. > :30:57.recommendations, you can't say we will have that one and not the
:30:58. > :31:02.others. It was a balanced package that Sir Robert Francis put forward.
:31:03. > :31:05.My message is that it must be permitted in full. If we are to
:31:06. > :31:11.learn the lessons, the whole package must be addressed, and that includes
:31:12. > :31:16.safe staffing levels across the NHS. Staff have a responsible to two
:31:17. > :31:17.patients at the government also has responsible at T2 NHS staff and it
:31:18. > :31:25.should not let them work in responsible at T2 NHS staff and it
:31:26. > :31:40.understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a responsibility to NHS staff. Is
:31:41. > :31:45.there a part of the 2004 agreements that you regret and should be
:31:46. > :31:49.undone? A lot of myths have been built up about the contract. When it
:31:50. > :31:56.came in, there was a huge shortage of GPs across the country. Some
:31:57. > :32:01.communities struggle to recruit This myth that the government have
:32:02. > :32:07.built, that the 2004 GP contract is responsible for the AM decries is,
:32:08. > :32:15.it is spin of the worst possible kind -- the A crisis. You would
:32:16. > :32:19.redo that contract? It was redone under our time in government and
:32:20. > :32:22.change to make it better value for money. GPs should be focused on
:32:23. > :32:27.improving the health of their patients and that is a very good
:32:28. > :32:33.principle. Not so great if you can't get 24-hour access. I agree with
:32:34. > :32:38.that. We brought in evening and weekend opening for GPs. That is
:32:39. > :32:41.another thing that has gone in reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much
:32:42. > :32:48.harder to get a GP appointment under him and that is one of the reasons
:32:49. > :32:55.why A is an oppressor. -- under pressure. What do you make of the
:32:56. > :33:01.review into intimidatory tactics by unions? If there has been
:33:02. > :33:07.intimidation, it is unacceptable, and that should apply to unions as
:33:08. > :33:13.well as employers. Was Unite wrong to turn up and demonstrate? I don't
:33:14. > :33:17.know the details, this review will look into that presumably. I need
:33:18. > :33:21.reassurance that this is not a pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on
:33:22. > :33:27.the designed to appear near the election -- that this is not a
:33:28. > :33:40.political call. Are you sponsored by unite? No. Do you get any money from
:33:41. > :33:48.Unite? No. What have you done wrong? It seems others are getting money
:33:49. > :33:52.from Unite. Can I tell you what I think is the scandal of British
:33:53. > :33:55.party political funding, two health care companies have given ?1.5
:33:56. > :34:03.million in donations to the Tory party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS
:34:04. > :34:09.contracts. I wonder why you don t spend much time talking about that
:34:10. > :34:16.and obsess over trade union funding. We are happy to talk about that We
:34:17. > :34:21.see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls
:34:22. > :34:26.a bit of a nightmare about him as a bit of a nightmare about him as
:34:27. > :34:30.well? I don't at all, he is a very good friend. I can't believe that
:34:31. > :34:34.you are talking about those e-mails on a national political programme.
:34:35. > :34:38.My goodness, you obviously scraping the barrel today. I have been in
:34:39. > :34:43.front-line labour politics for 0 years. I can't remember the front
:34:44. > :34:47.bench and the wider party being as united as it is today and it is a
:34:48. > :34:51.great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. We are going into a general
:34:52. > :34:56.election and we are going to get rid of a pretty disastrous coalition
:34:57. > :34:57.government. It was worth spending a few seconds to establish your not
:34:58. > :35:01.having nightmares. Thank you for having nightmares. Thank you for
:35:02. > :35:03.joining me. It's just gone 11:30am. You're
:35:04. > :35:05.watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be
:35:06. > :35:19.talking to the MP Hello and a warm welcome to your
:35:20. > :35:24.local part of the show, just for the North East and Cumbria. Coming up...
:35:25. > :35:27.Can the new Police Commissioners keep crime down in the face of
:35:28. > :35:30.shrinking budgets or will council tax have to rise? We will ask
:35:31. > :35:35.Northumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird.
:35:36. > :35:38.My other guests this week is North East Liberal Democrat Lord Shipley
:35:39. > :35:41.and, on the weekend of their first`ever party conference in the
:35:42. > :35:52.region, the deputy leader of UKIP, Paul Nuttall. You have planned well
:35:53. > :35:57.in Parliamentary and other elections in the last 12 months, you think you
:35:58. > :36:02.could make the big breakthrough and actually win seats in the North?
:36:03. > :36:14.Look at last night. We are polling well. We polled 56 and 58%. We are
:36:15. > :36:18.holding our first confidence in the North East and that shows how much
:36:19. > :36:21.our membership has grown in this part of the world in the last couple
:36:22. > :36:26.of years and we are wanting to take this forward to the European
:36:27. > :36:34.elections. Is it not just a protest vote? No, I do not agree with that.
:36:35. > :36:44.We have proved very well in local elections and county elections. When
:36:45. > :36:53.you are looking at the situation in the North East and Cumbria, your
:36:54. > :37:05.party is falling well behind UKIP. We have many more councillors than
:37:06. > :37:09.they do and UKIP, friendly have two fight not just the odd by`election,
:37:10. > :37:18.but only county elections and local elections, they will find more of
:37:19. > :37:22.difficulty. Wait until next year. More on UKIP later, but first, what
:37:23. > :37:25.were you doing around this time last year? Were you among the 15% of
:37:26. > :37:28.people who bothered to vote in the first Police and Crime Commissioner
:37:29. > :37:32.elections? 12 months on, their profile may still be relatively low,
:37:33. > :37:35.but that is not to say the Police Commissioners are not grappling with
:37:36. > :37:38.some big issues. The most difficult is how to keep crime levels down
:37:39. > :37:56.with fewer officers and shrinking budgets. Do you know how I am? No, I
:37:57. > :37:59.am afraid not. The police and ten Commissioner Ron Hogg is proud of
:38:00. > :38:07.the work he has done in the first year. What has been difficulties
:38:08. > :38:18.trying to get out to the community, to put across the cost of policing,
:38:19. > :38:22.so as not to disrupt services. It is not going to get easier for any of
:38:23. > :38:26.the commissioners. Durham will have to find savings of ?5 million over
:38:27. > :38:35.the next two years, Cleveland ?7 million, Cumbria ?4 million in
:38:36. > :38:40.Northumbria ?10 million. The challenge of funding is going to get
:38:41. > :38:49.even worse. The financial resources for policing our getting squeezed
:38:50. > :38:58.every year. In that climate, how do the commissioners keep promises?
:38:59. > :39:04.Cumbria have said they will keep the number of officers for two years.
:39:05. > :39:15.But only have to be a part of the council tax bill purely from the
:39:16. > :39:23.police? The amount of money that we are talking about will think police
:39:24. > :39:34.the precept. It is around ?4 per year. If we proceed with the
:39:35. > :39:40.proposals with this year. Some are unhappy about trusting that slice of
:39:41. > :39:49.money to the police commissioners. That money will be an 43 pairs of
:39:50. > :39:55.hands up and down the country. The success failure of the commissioners
:39:56. > :40:01.will be judged by voters in 2016. Given the cuts they have to make,
:40:02. > :40:03.the main struggle to make an impact. The Police and Crime Commissioner
:40:04. > :40:12.for Northumbria, Labour's Vera Baird, is here now. With the impact
:40:13. > :40:20.on resources, can you do a lot more than manage a declaim? It is a great
:40:21. > :40:27.challenge. We have been forced to lose 1,000 officers. The lease
:40:28. > :40:30.constable is championing the front line and I agree with that, because
:40:31. > :40:37.that is really front`line lies and Republic confidences. We face the
:40:38. > :40:42.loss of another ?10 million in our region and the are looking at
:40:43. > :40:47.everything else apart from cutting officers and personnel. Well that be
:40:48. > :40:54.possible? We are systematically going through is the support, the
:40:55. > :40:59.cost of running particular parts of the estate, the prospect of jointly
:41:00. > :41:07.buying things with other police forces. You thinking of raising the
:41:08. > :41:16.council tax, for you did last year? We did last year, but 82% of people
:41:17. > :41:27.who were consulted before this happened, said the would do that. I
:41:28. > :41:34.will ask the public again if I have two. Is it fair to ask people to pay
:41:35. > :41:45.more in these difficult financial times? We have the smallest council
:41:46. > :41:59.tax precept in the country. That is by a long way. A lot of the houses
:42:00. > :42:04.in this region are banned a. This was only half of what people were
:42:05. > :42:09.paid PPO to pay. But the government will say is, we give you their
:42:10. > :42:15.resources, so you should be able to manage without raising the council
:42:16. > :42:22.tax. But they have cut it by another ?10 million on top of the other
:42:23. > :42:29.cuts. Let us talk about the Labour attitude. They did not Police and
:42:30. > :42:36.Crime Commissioners want, they did not feel they should put so much
:42:37. > :42:40.power in the hands of one person. I think the pioneers in this role have
:42:41. > :42:46.to do not only a good job, it is exciting and challenging, I think I
:42:47. > :42:52.have made the success of it. You need a good relationship with the
:42:53. > :42:59.chief constable. But where we agree is that the one to one relationship,
:43:00. > :43:02.if it does not work, could have a dramatically add impact. I think the
:43:03. > :43:08.jury is still out is whether this individualistic approach is the way
:43:09. > :43:18.to go. One thing I am sure is that democracy will not come back. That
:43:19. > :43:24.is not going to go away. The Liberal Democrats did not like this idea.
:43:25. > :43:30.Where are you on this? I agree with the that the jury is out. I think
:43:31. > :43:33.just one year to assess it was rather harsh. I think you have to
:43:34. > :43:46.wait a couple of years before this is judged. I am surprised that 70%
:43:47. > :43:49.of people are aware that the have a police claim Commissioner, even if
:43:50. > :44:00.they do not know the social name of them. Only 20% apparently dead. I am
:44:01. > :44:08.encouraged by that. I am in favour of the police run panel in its
:44:09. > :44:13.entirety being elected. But only 15% of people voted for the policing
:44:14. > :44:17.claim Commissioner is, how many people would turn out to vote for
:44:18. > :44:23.that? I think once it is established, once the panel is
:44:24. > :44:28.elected, you would then guarantee that the likes of Northumberland
:44:29. > :44:39.would have a representative on the police authority. What is the view
:44:40. > :44:47.of UKIP about this? I think the elections last year when a disgrace.
:44:48. > :44:51.They did not allow for a free leaflet to go for everyone's house.
:44:52. > :44:56.They had to pay for it themselves. The big parties ensured that they
:44:57. > :45:04.were able to put their machinery in place. What about the way it is
:45:05. > :45:12.working? Again, I think the jury is out. We are only talking about one
:45:13. > :45:15.year. It would help the commissioners if the government did
:45:16. > :45:24.not keep cutting their resources for them? Actually, claim is down, do
:45:25. > :45:29.you then need as many staff? But there has been a huge amount of
:45:30. > :45:37.back`office bureaucracy in the police force. I think that needed
:45:38. > :45:40.reformed. I am heartened by what he said, which is what she said she is
:45:41. > :45:47.going through the budget line by line, to look at all aspects of the
:45:48. > :45:51.police force cost. That is exactly the right thing to do.
:45:52. > :45:55.It has been a good 12 months for UKIP in the region as we have heard,
:45:56. > :45:58.but could that be derailed? Their policy of leaving the European Union
:45:59. > :46:02.does not play well with many business leaders, who believe jobs
:46:03. > :46:05.would be put at risk. Only last week came this warning from Nissan, a
:46:06. > :46:14.firm which employs 6,000 workers in Sunderland. It is a very productive
:46:15. > :46:19.time, but it is a European point based in the United Kingdom. If
:46:20. > :46:25.anything change, we would have to reconsider our strategy. It could
:46:26. > :46:34.have implications on investment? You cannot look at the United Kingdom
:46:35. > :46:42.independent of its environment. That was the Chief Executive of Nissan.
:46:43. > :46:52.Though, we have felt that Hitachi, have made a similar announcement. Is
:46:53. > :46:58.this not worrying? We have been hearing all of this at the time. We
:46:59. > :47:05.were told years ago that we would have problems every did not join the
:47:06. > :47:14.union and that has not transpired. You are as Guinness is to just your
:47:15. > :47:23.party and assuming that you know exactly what you are talking about.
:47:24. > :47:32.The business world is split on this. So why are these chief Executive
:47:33. > :47:42.saying this? Not all of them are. If we left the European Union beaded
:47:43. > :47:47.same eight trade deal. If we came out, we would sign a free trade deal
:47:48. > :48:00.and be able to deal and trade with the rest of the world. There is no
:48:01. > :48:06.way that we would he suddenly putting this edgy party just because
:48:07. > :48:10.we left the European Union surely? Well, you have to remember that
:48:11. > :48:17.Nissan will then be faced with the tariff barrier. The calls would
:48:18. > :48:20.become much more expensive. There is no evidence that the rest of Europe
:48:21. > :48:25.would sign up to a free trade agreement. Finally, of the trade
:48:26. > :48:33.agreements we are part of that in the European Union, we would be a
:48:34. > :48:38.side of the street trade agreements. What UKIP is saying is simply
:48:39. > :48:44.incorrect. There are 12 million jobs on the continent which are directly
:48:45. > :48:51.related to British trade. They would not put 12 million jobs at this by
:48:52. > :49:00.not signing a free trade treaty. Do you not have a referendum? I do not
:49:01. > :49:06.have the problem holding a referendum because I am sure it
:49:07. > :49:13.would be one and stone by those wanting to remain within the
:49:14. > :49:16.European Union. Fundamentally, so much of our trade goes to the
:49:17. > :49:21.European Union, we would suddenly find ourselves faced with the tariff
:49:22. > :49:27.barrier. All our goods would become much more expensive. The Chief
:49:28. > :49:32.Executive of Nissan and Hitachi are absolutely right. What about the
:49:33. > :49:40.truth of what these companies are seeing. If we came out, we could
:49:41. > :49:45.sign free`trade deals with the rest of the world. Our trade with Europe
:49:46. > :49:52.is going down year`on`year and trade with the rest of the world is going
:49:53. > :50:06.up and up. The European Union is effectively an economic block for
:50:07. > :50:09.hours. Germany has built trade and the road and they remain within the
:50:10. > :50:17.union, why are they not talking about coming out of it? I am
:50:18. > :50:20.absolutely convinced we will be doing this debate for quite a while.
:50:21. > :50:23.We talked earlier about crime, but what about the job of supervising
:50:24. > :50:26.offenders after they get out of prison? The government believes the
:50:27. > :50:29.best way of keeping them out of trouble is to hand over the
:50:30. > :50:32.supervision of many offenders to private companies and charities.
:50:33. > :50:34.Ministers believe it will be more efficient than the existing
:50:35. > :50:38.Probation Service. Those proposals passed through their latest stage in
:50:39. > :50:46.the Commons this week, but as Fergus Hewison reports, their potential
:50:47. > :50:51.impact is causing concern. Serving up coffee, but there is a lot more
:50:52. > :51:01.to this class cafe in Newcastle in the CIA. Many of the people employed
:51:02. > :51:13.here are eight offenders. `` former of offenders. I have been involved
:51:14. > :51:17.in petty claim for much of my life. There I came from, everyone seemed
:51:18. > :51:27.to be pinching things and stealing things. For him, the cafe has become
:51:28. > :51:33.a weird of the life of claim. This has been a great help to help build
:51:34. > :51:39.a foundation in work. It has also made me meet new friends and
:51:40. > :51:45.improved my spirit. He has also been involved with the project which runs
:51:46. > :51:56.the cafe. He said he had a positive experience with the probation
:51:57. > :52:02.service. The Rectory help with the aims and aspirations of where I
:52:03. > :52:07.wanted go. The North East and Cumbria as one of the worst records
:52:08. > :52:20.in the United Kingdom of people reoffending. Under plans debated in
:52:21. > :52:22.the House of Commons, some of the services of the probation service
:52:23. > :52:30.will be handed over to other groups. This will only involve
:52:31. > :52:35.low`risk offenders. This will also link into people who receive no help
:52:36. > :52:47.us support once the finish a sentence. Some people are not so
:52:48. > :52:54.sure. I think there could be a reversal in the expertise of what
:52:55. > :53:01.the probation service has given offenders. There is absolutely no
:53:02. > :53:08.guarantee that this will work. Probation workers have been on
:53:09. > :53:12.strike over the issue, but Conservative MPs say many of the
:53:13. > :53:20.proposals are put forward by the last Labour government. In 2008,,
:53:21. > :53:29.when the Labour Party were planning to put this format, it is said, we
:53:30. > :53:38.estimate that 29,400 prisoners will start shortly. Why does he not know
:53:39. > :53:41.like the plan which has been in the offing for nearly ten years and is
:53:42. > :53:50.finally being produced by the coalition government? The Labour
:53:51. > :53:58.Party says a desperate overhaul of the system and an ex`offenders are
:53:59. > :54:04.treated is drastically needed. A lot of Labour MPs have been worried
:54:05. > :54:07.about this. Let us get Police Commissioner Vera
:54:08. > :54:17.Baird's view on the changes to probation. Yes, the probation
:54:18. > :54:22.service results have been very good. But this is about bringing support
:54:23. > :54:32.for people on lower`level sentencing, lower than one year.
:54:33. > :54:40.This is the plan. This is the plan that Labour were planning to
:54:41. > :54:43.introduce? Yes, they were going to bring in support for people with
:54:44. > :54:49.less than one year sentences. The very people who should be delivering
:54:50. > :54:56.that should be the probation trust, not private companies. There is no
:54:57. > :54:58.evidence that this will work, but there is evidence that the current
:54:59. > :55:07.system is not working, because reoffending rates are to Harry. How
:55:08. > :55:11.I begun to improve it? By fragment in the service and bringing people
:55:12. > :55:21.in the desk in one category and then went your situation changes, you
:55:22. > :55:25.find yourselves being dealt with by a completely different organisation?
:55:26. > :55:31.The rate of reoffending as I ended stricken down, but the probation
:55:32. > :55:41.trust has one of the best reputations and records in doing
:55:42. > :55:45.this. He's a huge contract. They are going to be delivered not to local
:55:46. > :55:52.companies who know the ADF, they are going to be delivered to huge
:55:53. > :55:58.nationwide companies. The government said reoffending rates are too high,
:55:59. > :56:03.is this a good idea to try this? Reoffending is that 600,000 times a
:56:04. > :56:10.year and that needs to come down. I hope charities will come on to take
:56:11. > :56:13.the low two major risk probationers. If the probation trust is doing such
:56:14. > :56:26.a good job, why is this being considered? Many of them, but are
:56:27. > :56:30.600,000 we offenders. It is possible there could be a problem. The jury
:56:31. > :56:37.may be out there, but more generally, there is to be a National
:56:38. > :56:43.probation service, with 30,000 high`risk offenders still in that.
:56:44. > :56:47.OK, thank you. Now, some good news on jobs and a
:56:48. > :56:50.plan to save Durham Tees Valley Airport. Just a couple of the
:56:51. > :56:57.stories making the news this week, all in a jet`powered 60 Seconds.
:56:58. > :57:03.Prepare for take`off. Unemployment is down by 1,000 dead in the East.
:57:04. > :57:14.There is a plan to rescue Durham Tees Valley Airport. A Wearside MP
:57:15. > :57:24.said Mark trains will be cancelled only once the North East mainline is
:57:25. > :57:29.privatised. We will see 15,000 trains officially late or cancel or
:57:30. > :57:43.without the operator reaching the required standard. He liberal MP has
:57:44. > :57:44.this voted against the bedroom tax, well another regional MP voted for
:57:45. > :57:59.it feel for forehead. And that is about it from us. There
:58:00. > :58:02.is more on my blog about police commissioners, including details of
:58:03. > :58:05.a new poll, that is at bbc.co.uk/richardmoss. You can also
:58:06. > :58:07.track me down on Twitter. Next Sunday, we have a special report on
:58:08. > :58:10.the problems receiving it. We will return to this
:58:11. > :58:24.if we hear more. Thank you. Andrew, it is back to you.
:58:25. > :58:29.Who'd be an MP? It's a good question. Certainly something Mark
:58:30. > :58:32.Pritchard must have asked himself when his picture graced the front
:58:33. > :58:35.page of the Daily Telegraph, with allegations that he had offered to
:58:36. > :58:38.set up business deals overseas in return for hundreds of thousands of
:58:39. > :58:40.pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the claims as hurtful and wrong. He
:58:41. > :58:42.referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
:58:43. > :58:45.who has now said there is insufficient evidence to
:58:46. > :58:48.investigate. In a moment we'll talk to Mr Pritchard, but first let's
:58:49. > :58:51.take a look back at how the story unfurled. A Conservative MP has
:58:52. > :58:56.denied allegations that he used his Parliamentary contacts for financial
:58:57. > :59:00.gain... The daily Telegraph says Mark Pritchard offered to broker
:59:01. > :59:10.investments overseas. In a statement he said the allegations made by the
:59:11. > :59:15.Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard was secretly filmed... What do you
:59:16. > :59:18.make of these allegations? He has referred himself to the
:59:19. > :59:21.Parliamentary Commissioner for standards to clear his name and I
:59:22. > :59:31.suspect this story will reopen the debate about what MPs should be
:59:32. > :59:39.allowed, having business interests elsewhere. Is it not clear that you
:59:40. > :59:49.did ask for money in consultancy services? First of all I would like
:59:50. > :59:55.to apologise for the sunglasses I have had a lot of comments about
:59:56. > :00:04.that. On a serious point, these claims by the Telegraph of false.
:00:05. > :00:10.You didn't ask for ?3000? They are false, hurtful and malicious. It is
:00:11. > :00:13.known widely that I have sued the Telegraph previously. I have also
:00:14. > :00:19.been critical of their coverage of the plebgate affair, their reporting
:00:20. > :00:22.of that. I have been supportive of the cross-party Royal Charter and I
:00:23. > :00:27.know that some people in the media don't like my position on that. That
:00:28. > :00:33.is why it is malicious. I believe in a free press. That free press also
:00:34. > :00:39.has a responsibility to be fair accurate and lawful. In discussions
:00:40. > :00:44.with this business who turned out to be a Telegraph reporter, it is true
:00:45. > :00:53.that you ask for ?3000 a month consultancy fee. The point is..
:00:54. > :00:58.That is the point. No. That video has been cut and pasted to serve the
:00:59. > :01:04.Telegraph's story. The story was that we want to get Mark Bridger,
:01:05. > :01:08.for whatever reason, at any cost. -- Mark Bridger hard. I would not go
:01:09. > :01:11.down the line they were hoping I would go down. Everything I own
:01:12. > :01:17.outside of Parliament is openly declared. We are allowed to have
:01:18. > :01:20.outside witness interests. The Telegraph need to say clearly
:01:21. > :01:26.whether they accept that or they don't. I think you need to say
:01:27. > :01:31.clearly whether you asked for the money or not. You then went on to
:01:32. > :01:35.ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10 million deal, you asked for 3%
:01:36. > :01:42.commission. Let me be clear, if I was asking for income in return for
:01:43. > :01:47.lobbying, or raising issues in Parliament, or setting up
:01:48. > :01:51.Parliamentary groups, or going to ministers, writing to ministers
:01:52. > :01:55.that would be completely inappropriate. I was approached by
:01:56. > :02:02.somebody to advise them on business. It is entirely proper and entirely
:02:03. > :02:05.within the rules for members of Parliament to have outside
:02:06. > :02:11.consultancies and interests. Did you or didn't you? I am answering the
:02:12. > :02:15.question in the way that I want to answer it, not in the way that fits
:02:16. > :02:19.a particular narrative. The narrative, unfortunately, of some
:02:20. > :02:22.parts of the Telegraph and to be fair, there are some very good
:02:23. > :02:26.journalists, I know there is a dispute about the direction of that
:02:27. > :02:31.paper at senior parts. Do they want to return to being a Catholic,
:02:32. > :02:36.objective newspaper or do they want to slip into the slippery slope of
:02:37. > :02:40.being an agnostic rag, looking for sensationalist headlines? Part of
:02:41. > :02:48.this has come from your membership of these all-party Parliamentary
:02:49. > :02:51.groups. You were in Malta when you are first approached, I think you
:02:52. > :02:55.were on a trip there, Hungary is another one, there is an
:02:56. > :03:00.uncomfortable overlap between your political and business interests. I
:03:01. > :03:04.have no business interests in any of those countries. Some of the country
:03:05. > :03:12.is the Telegraph mentioned, let me be clear, I have not even visited.
:03:13. > :03:15.You were boasting that you knew the Albanian Prime Minister and the
:03:16. > :03:21.Mayor of Teheran and the previous prime minister. I make no apology
:03:22. > :03:25.for making foreign trips. I think it is unfortunate we have a narrative
:03:26. > :03:29.developing in some parts of the press that if a politician goes
:03:30. > :03:34.abroad at the taxpayers expense it is wrong. If they go abroad at a
:03:35. > :03:38.host government's expense it is wrong. If they go abroad with a
:03:39. > :03:41.charity, NGO and private company, even if it is declared, it is wrong.
:03:42. > :03:47.We want people with an international perspective in Parliament. Look at
:03:48. > :03:53.this map. You are a member of 5 country groups. I don't know what
:03:54. > :03:59.Canada has done not to deserve you, or Australia. 54 groups, you are a
:04:00. > :04:04.part of. You're like... This is the Mark Pritchard British Empire. That
:04:05. > :04:09.is very kind. If I had global interests that white I would not be
:04:10. > :04:15.in Parliament. No, no, no. That is the point... It is the suspicion,
:04:16. > :04:21.that you used these groups to drum up business for your consultants.
:04:22. > :04:25.Prove it, that is the trouble. These sorts of headlines, create
:04:26. > :04:34.suspicion. I am suing the Telegraph... Have you issued a writ?
:04:35. > :04:40.I expect an apology. Have you issued a writ? I have just answered your
:04:41. > :04:46.question. It is yes or no, have you issued a writ? I am in final legal
:04:47. > :04:51.discussions tomorrow about issuing a writ. You have raised something for
:04:52. > :04:54.top the fact is that is inaccurate. I am a member of 40-something
:04:55. > :05:02.Parliamentary groups, of which I make no apology. We have got 54 Let
:05:03. > :05:10.me answer the question if I may It would be very useful. There are 196
:05:11. > :05:14.countries around the world, it is less than a quarter of the country
:05:15. > :05:21.groups on my figures. I make no apology. One of my regrets is not
:05:22. > :05:24.having visited Syria, I don't know if I am a member of the Syria group,
:05:25. > :05:29.part I should become a member, I make no apology. -- perhaps I should
:05:30. > :05:37.become. When it came to the Syria vote, I was blind sided foot of yes,
:05:38. > :05:40.we have excellent briefings. I had to make a judgement based on part
:05:41. > :05:45.knowledge with nothing beats being on the ground, as even BBC
:05:46. > :05:50.journalists recognised this week. Nothing beats being on the ground.
:05:51. > :05:54.You posted about your connections in Albania to getting a business
:05:55. > :05:57.contract. You meet these people through these all Parliamentary
:05:58. > :06:04.groups. That is where there is an unhealthy overlap. That is what the
:06:05. > :06:09.Telegraph said, let's wait and see. Look... You are a newspaperman, you
:06:10. > :06:13.know lots of people in the newspaper industry, as well as being a
:06:14. > :06:18.respected broadcaster. I am not going to prejudice my legal
:06:19. > :06:22.proceedings against the Telegraph. I make no apology. A good politician
:06:23. > :06:29.has to be local am a national and international. Hang on hang on -
:06:30. > :06:33.has to be local, national and international. We need politicians
:06:34. > :06:35.who get out of the Westminster bubble, who have a business
:06:36. > :06:40.hinterland, who keep their foot in the real world and have an
:06:41. > :06:46.international perspective. And ask for 3% commission? I have answered
:06:47. > :06:50.the question. It was a cut and pasted video, photo shopped to suit
:06:51. > :06:53.the agenda of the Telegraph. They need to get back to serious news
:06:54. > :06:58.reporting and I wish those well at the senior part of the Telegraph who
:06:59. > :07:01.want to get to those days. We look forward to the writ. Thank you.
:07:02. > :07:04.Now - there's been more good news on the economy for George Osborne this
:07:05. > :07:06.week - inflation's down, growth forecasts have been revised up and
:07:07. > :07:10.unemployment has fallen again. On Friday the former Bullingdon boy
:07:11. > :07:12.donned a head torch and went down't pit for just one of many photo
:07:13. > :07:15.opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement, which he'll deliver in
:07:16. > :07:22.the Commons on fifth December. And, who knows, he might even take his
:07:23. > :07:31.hard hat off for that. # Going underground.
:07:32. > :07:37.# Let the boys all saying and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
:07:38. > :07:41.# Lah, lah, love, love. # I talk and talk until my head
:07:42. > :07:49.explodes. # Make this boy shout, make this boy
:07:50. > :08:02.scream. # Going underground.
:08:03. > :08:08.# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.
:08:09. > :08:16.George Osborne in his heart out he probably sleeps with it on. This
:08:17. > :08:21.Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political
:08:22. > :08:24.calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally
:08:25. > :08:30.going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game
:08:31. > :08:34.changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they
:08:35. > :08:39.will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer
:08:40. > :08:43.but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is
:08:44. > :08:49.receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on
:08:50. > :08:53.his own side, for tax cuts and extra bits spending and he has to spend
:08:54. > :08:56.the next two weeks reminding people of something that has been skewered
:08:57. > :09:05.by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which
:09:06. > :09:08.is twice that of France, supposedly the crisis economy in western Europe
:09:09. > :09:11.or if you accept it will take another parliament again to
:09:12. > :09:14.eliminate this deficit, we are not even halfway through the age of
:09:15. > :09:19.austerity. He is in no position to give anything away. He has to hold
:09:20. > :09:23.the line. Danny Alexander has been useful but this is his real
:09:24. > :09:28.challenge. He is going to give stuff away. When the Autumn Statement
:09:29. > :09:32.comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been
:09:33. > :09:37.talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,
:09:38. > :09:41.talk of moving green levies of the electricity bills, he is going to
:09:42. > :09:44.give stuff away. We will get funding for free school meals that Nick
:09:45. > :09:48.Clegg mentioned in his party conference. The significance of the
:09:49. > :09:53.Autumn Statement is twice a year, a Chancellor stands up and we all look
:09:54. > :09:56.at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's
:09:57. > :10:00.circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don t
:10:01. > :10:03.assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't
:10:04. > :10:08.assume everything is fine in the eurozone. I think what would help
:10:09. > :10:13.the Chancellor is if somebody was able to see some of that humility in
:10:14. > :10:14.public. It is recognised that he was far too triumphalist
:10:15. > :10:21.speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,
:10:22. > :10:22.we have one and you cannot make an economic policy on the cost of
:10:23. > :10:35.living -- we have... Won. economic policy on the cost of
:10:36. > :10:39.people don't seem to learn from Norman Lamont's green shoots. Labour
:10:40. > :10:45.has moved from complaining there is no growth, now there is, to say
:10:46. > :10:45.has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are
:10:46. > :10:50.not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank
:10:51. > :10:55.is saying it will grow by 2.8%, living standards could start to
:10:56. > :10:58.rise. It does but everybody in a difficult position politically if
:10:59. > :11:01.the economy starts growing, ironically. We need to remind
:11:02. > :11:07.ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.
:11:08. > :11:12.Unless the politicians screw up Unless you have some idiot in
:11:13. > :11:16.charge! It is not a cause for the Morris dance that they seem to be
:11:17. > :11:19.doing, certainly on the Tory side. Osborne is put in a difficult
:11:20. > :11:26.position goes he will have to stop giving stuff away, he cannot push
:11:27. > :11:32.the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth - he
:11:33. > :11:38.will have to start giving stuff away. It puts Labour in a difficult
:11:39. > :11:45.position, it is very unlikely that living standards will match GDP Not
:11:46. > :11:51.since 2003, GDP has been a great indicator. Wages have stagnated for
:11:52. > :11:55.ten years, food has gone up 17% energy has gone up 24%. That is a
:11:56. > :12:01.decade in which everybody has got poorer. The real sweet spot comes
:12:02. > :12:05.when wages start to outstrip inflation. It is a sweet spot and
:12:06. > :12:10.will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy
:12:11. > :12:13.with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the
:12:14. > :12:17.governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.
:12:18. > :12:21.Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%
:12:22. > :12:24.unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,
:12:25. > :12:30.it is the moment when we look at it. Everything was saying he did not
:12:31. > :12:32.want to do that. When do you anticipate wages outstripping
:12:33. > :12:39.inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.
:12:40. > :12:41.Wages and prices are not the sole measure of living standards, there
:12:42. > :12:45.are broader measures which no one seems willing to use.
:12:46. > :12:48.That's all for today. The Daily Politics will be back at tomorrow at
:12:49. > :12:52.midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next
:12:53. > :12:57.week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.