:00:36. > :00:39.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:40. > :00:42.Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball tactics
:00:43. > :00:47.and intimidation by unions in industrial disputes. That's our top
:00:48. > :00:51.story. Thousands dead. Hundreds of
:00:52. > :00:56.thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to
:00:57. > :00:58.help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:00:59. > :01:03.International Development Secretary Justine Greening.
:01:04. > :01:06.Winter is coming and so, it seems, is another crisis in England's
:01:07. > :01:07.hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow Health Secretary how he'd put a stop
:01:08. > :01:16.to And in the North West: Are we
:01:17. > :01:18.lagging in the jobs market? And joined`up thinking: why Merseyside's
:01:19. > :01:20.six councils reckon they'll be better together.
:01:21. > :01:23.fatalities on the capital's streets, and renewed calls to get lorries off
:01:24. > :01:37.the roads in peak hours. With me, the best and brightest
:01:38. > :01:39.political panel that money can buy. Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this
:01:40. > :01:44.week, Zoe Williams, who'll be tweeting their thoughts throughout
:01:45. > :01:47.the programme. The Government has announced a
:01:48. > :01:49.review to investigate what the Prime Minister has called "industrial
:01:50. > :02:02.intimidation" by trade union activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair
:02:03. > :02:05.a panel to examine allegations of the kind of tactics that came to
:02:06. > :02:08.light during the Grangemouth dispute, when the Unite union took
:02:09. > :02:14.their protests - replete with a giant rat - outside the family homes
:02:15. > :02:19.of the firms' bosses. Earlier this morning the Cabinet office minister,
:02:20. > :02:24.Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and this is what he had to say. To look
:02:25. > :02:27.at whether the law currently works and see if it is ineffective in
:02:28. > :02:32.preventing the kind of intimidatory activity that was alleged to have
:02:33. > :02:41.taken place around range mouth during the previous disputes --
:02:42. > :02:47.Grangemouth. We make no presumptions at the beginning of this. I do think
:02:48. > :02:51.it is a responsible thing for the government to establish what
:02:52. > :02:55.happened and really do a proper review into whether the law is
:02:56. > :03:02.adequate to meet the needs. That was Francis Maude. This is a purely
:03:03. > :03:06.political move, isn't it? Unite did this a couple of times, it is hardly
:03:07. > :03:10.happening all over the country but the government want to say, we are
:03:11. > :03:17.prepared to investigate Unite properly, Labour isn't. This seemed
:03:18. > :03:23.a lot worse when I thought it was a real rat. I thought it was a giant
:03:24. > :03:26.dead rat. I am not sure if you know much about rats but real rats are
:03:27. > :03:33.not this big, even the ones in London. The thing is, obviously it
:03:34. > :03:39.is naked politics but I think it is more intelligent than it looks. They
:03:40. > :03:44.are trying to taint Miliband as a week union puppet and that doesn't
:03:45. > :03:49.really wash. They hammer away with it and it might wash for some
:03:50. > :03:53.people. But it really castrates Miliband in the important issues he
:03:54. > :03:57.has to tackle. Zero hours, living wage, all of those things in which
:03:58. > :04:03.he needs to be in concert with the unions, and to use their expertise.
:04:04. > :04:16.He is making them absolutely toxic to go anywhere near. It keeps the
:04:17. > :04:19.Unite story alive, have to kill -- particularly since Mr Miller band is
:04:20. > :04:33.under pressure to reopen the investigation into what Unite are up
:04:34. > :04:37.to -- Mr Miliband. They are frustrated, not only at the BBC but
:04:38. > :04:41.the media generally at what they think is a lack of coverage. I see
:04:42. > :04:46.the political rationale from that respect. There is a risk. There are
:04:47. > :04:52.union members who either vote Tory or are open to the idea of voting
:04:53. > :05:04.Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party comes across as too zealous in as --
:05:05. > :05:11.its antipathy, there is an electoral consequence. Ed Miliband has been
:05:12. > :05:17.careful to keep a distance. Yes they depend on vast amounts of
:05:18. > :05:19.money. When Len McCluskey had a real go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was
:05:20. > :05:23.straight out there with a very strong statement. Essentially Len
:05:24. > :05:28.McCluskey wanted Blairites in the shadow cabinet sacked and Ed
:05:29. > :05:34.Miliband was keen to distance himself or for that is why it is not
:05:35. > :05:38.quite sticking. Another story in the Sunday papers this morning, the Mail
:05:39. > :05:43.on Sunday got hold of some e-mails. When I saw the headline I thought it
:05:44. > :05:49.was a huge cache of e-mails, it turns out to be a couple. They peel
:05:50. > :05:56.away the cover on the relationship between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls,
:05:57. > :06:03.with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts describing what Mr balls is trying
:06:04. > :06:08.to do as a nightmare. How bad are the relations? They are pretty bad
:06:09. > :06:10.and these e-mails confirm the biggest open signal in Westminster,
:06:11. > :06:16.which is that relations are pretty tense, -- open secret. That Ed
:06:17. > :06:21.Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls is acknowledging the economy has
:06:22. > :06:29.grown that Labour needs to admit to past mistakes. The sort of great
:06:30. > :06:36.open signal is confirmed. On a scale of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown
:06:37. > :06:40.was ten. I think it is between six and seven. They occupy this joint
:06:41. > :06:47.suite of offices that George Cameron and -- David Cameron and George
:06:48. > :06:51.Osborne had. It is not just on the economy that there were tensions,
:06:52. > :06:57.there were clearly tensions over HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question
:06:58. > :07:00.over it at his conference. There will be more tensions when it comes
:07:01. > :07:05.to the third runway because my information is that Mr balls wants
:07:06. > :07:11.to do it and Ed Miliband almost resigned over it when he was in
:07:12. > :07:13.government. I don't think Ed Miliband is thinking very
:07:14. > :07:19.politically because he has tried live without Ed Balls and that is
:07:20. > :07:23.not tenable either. -- life without. He has defined a way of making it
:07:24. > :07:28.work. That is where Tony Blair had the edge on any modern politician.
:07:29. > :07:32.He didn't want to make Ed Balls his Shadow Chancellor, he had to.
:07:33. > :07:36.Somebody said to him, if you make Ed Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will
:07:37. > :07:46.be the last decision you take as leader of the Labour Party. Is it as
:07:47. > :07:57.bad? I was surprised at how tame the e-mails were. At the FT it is
:07:58. > :08:02.compulsory, one French word per sentence! To call him a nightmare,
:08:03. > :08:07.compared to what they are willing to say in briefings, conversations
:08:08. > :08:09.bits of frustrations they express verbally come what is documented in
:08:10. > :08:15.the e-mails is actually pretty light. It has been a grim week for
:08:16. > :08:18.the people of the Philippines as they count the cost of the
:08:19. > :08:24.devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived
:08:25. > :08:28.near the worst hit areas - part of Britain's contribution to bring aid
:08:29. > :08:33.to the country. It has been one of the worst natural
:08:34. > :08:35.disasters in the history of the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the
:08:36. > :08:40.country nine days ago, leaving devastation in its wake. The numbers
:08:41. > :08:46.involved are shocking. The official death toll is over 3600 people, with
:08:47. > :08:50.many thousands more unaccounted for. More than half a million people have
:08:51. > :08:54.lost their homes and the UN estimates 11 million have been
:08:55. > :08:58.affected. David Cameron announced on Friday that the UK government is to
:08:59. > :09:05.give an extra ?30 million in aid, taking the total British figure ?250
:09:06. > :09:07.million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft landed yesterday with equipment to
:09:08. > :09:13.help aid workers get too hard to reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on
:09:14. > :09:21.its way and due to arrive next weekend. The British public have
:09:22. > :09:26.once again dipped into their pockets and given generously. They have
:09:27. > :09:28.given more than ?30 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
:09:29. > :09:31.The International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, joins
:09:32. > :09:35.me now for the Sunday Interview Good morning, Secretary of State.
:09:36. > :09:40.How much of the ?50 million that the government has allocated has got
:09:41. > :09:45.through so far? All of it has landed on the ground now. HMS Daring has
:09:46. > :09:48.turned up, that will be able to start getting help out to some of
:09:49. > :09:54.those more outlying islands that have been hard to reach. We have
:09:55. > :09:58.seen Save the Children and Oxfam really being able to get aid out on
:09:59. > :10:03.the ground. We have a plane taking off today that will not read just
:10:04. > :10:10.carrying out more equipment to help clear the roads but will also have
:10:11. > :10:16.their staff on board, too. We have ?50 million of aid actually on the
:10:17. > :10:20.ground? We instantly chartered flights directly from Dubai where we
:10:21. > :10:24.have preprepared human Terry and supplies, and started humanity work
:10:25. > :10:36.-- humanitarian supplies. A lot of it has now arrived. I think
:10:37. > :10:41.we have done a huge amount so far. We have gone beyond just providing
:10:42. > :10:44.humanitarian supplies, to getting the Royal Air Force involved. They
:10:45. > :10:50.have helped us to get equipment out there quickly. We have HMS
:10:51. > :10:54.Illustrious sailing over there now. Why has that taken so long? It was
:10:55. > :10:57.based in the Gulf and is not going to get there until two weeks after
:10:58. > :11:02.the storm first hit and that is the one ship we have with lots of
:11:03. > :11:06.helicopters. The first decision we took was to make sure we could get
:11:07. > :11:10.the fastest vessel out there that was able to help HMS Daring. HMS
:11:11. > :11:15.Illustrious was just finishing an exercise and planning to start to
:11:16. > :11:19.head back towards the UK. We have said to not do that, and diverted
:11:20. > :11:24.it. Shouldn't it have happened more quickly? We took the decisions as
:11:25. > :11:30.fast as we were able to, you can't just turn a big warship around like
:11:31. > :11:32.the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we took those decisions and that is
:11:33. > :11:38.while it will be taking over from HMS Daring come and that is why HMS
:11:39. > :11:42.Daring is ready there. It will be able to provide key support and
:11:43. > :11:48.expertise that has not been there so far. The US Navy is doing the heavy
:11:49. > :11:53.lifting here. The US Navy had the USS Washington, there is an aircraft
:11:54. > :11:57.carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel and they have the fleet, they are
:11:58. > :12:02.doing the real work. We obviously helping but the Americans are taking
:12:03. > :12:06.the lead. It is a big international effort. Countries like the US and
:12:07. > :12:15.the UK, that have a broader ability to support that goes beyond simply
:12:16. > :12:19.call humanitarian supplies -- have made sure we have brought our
:12:20. > :12:23.logistics knowledge, we have sent out our naval vessels. It shows we
:12:24. > :12:32.are working across government to respond to this crisis. Why does
:12:33. > :12:36.only just over 4% of your aid budget go on emergency disaster and
:12:37. > :12:40.response? A lot depends on what crises hit in any given year. We
:12:41. > :12:44.have done a huge amount, responding to the crisis in Syria, the conflict
:12:45. > :12:48.there and the fact we have 2 million refugees who have fled the country.
:12:49. > :12:54.We are part of an international effort in supporting them. Shouldn't
:12:55. > :12:57.we beginning more money to that rather than some of the other
:12:58. > :13:04.programmes where it is harder to see the results question of if we were
:13:05. > :13:07.to give more money to the refugees, it would be a visible result. We
:13:08. > :13:14.could see an improvement in the lives of children, men and women.
:13:15. > :13:18.What we need to do is alongside that is stop those situations from
:13:19. > :13:21.happening in the first place. A lot of our development spend is helping
:13:22. > :13:26.countries to stay stable. Look at some of the work we are doing in
:13:27. > :13:32.Somalia, much more sensible. Not just from an immigration but there
:13:33. > :13:36.is a threat perspective. There is a lot of terrorism coming from
:13:37. > :13:42.Somalia. You only have to look at Kenya recently to see that. Which is
:13:43. > :13:46.why you talk about what we do with the rest of the spend. It is why it
:13:47. > :13:52.is responsible to work with the government of Somalia. Should we
:13:53. > :13:57.give more, bigger part of the budget to disaster relief or not? I think
:13:58. > :14:02.we get it about right, we have to be flexible and we are. This Philippine
:14:03. > :14:08.relief is on top of the work in Syria. Where can you show me a
:14:09. > :14:12.correlation between us giving aid to some failed nation, or nearly failed
:14:13. > :14:17.nation, and that cutting down on terrorism? If you look at the work
:14:18. > :14:21.we have done in Pakistan, a huge amount of work. Some of it
:14:22. > :14:29.short-term. It is written by terrorism. That is -- ridden by
:14:30. > :14:36.terrorism. That is not going to fix it self in a sense. Look at the work
:14:37. > :14:45.that we do in investing in education. The things that little
:14:46. > :14:52.girls like Malala talk about as being absolutely key. We are ramping
:14:53. > :14:58.up our aid to Pakistan, it will be close to half ?1 billion by the time
:14:59. > :15:05.of the election. Why should British taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion
:15:06. > :15:09.to a country where only 0.5% of people in Pakistan pay income tax,
:15:10. > :15:19.and 70% of their own MPs don't pay income tax. It is a good point and
:15:20. > :15:23.that is why we have been working with their tax revenue authority to
:15:24. > :15:34.help them increase that and push forward the tax reform. You are
:15:35. > :15:40.right, and I have setup a team that will go out and work with many of
:15:41. > :15:44.these countries so they can raise their own revenues. You really think
:15:45. > :15:58.you will raise the amount of tax by sending out the British HRM see How
:15:59. > :16:02.many troops I we sending out to protect them? They don't need
:16:03. > :16:16.troops. We make sure that we have a duty of care alongside our staff,
:16:17. > :16:20.but we have to respond to any crisis like the Philippines, and alongside
:16:21. > :16:26.other countries we have two work alongside them so that they can
:16:27. > :16:32.reinvest in their own public services. If they can create their
:16:33. > :16:36.own taxes, will we stop paying aid? We need to look at that but the new
:16:37. > :16:43.Pakistan Government has been very clear it is a priority and we will
:16:44. > :16:51.be helping them in pursuing that. Let me show you a picture. Who are
:16:52. > :16:58.these young women? I don't know I'm sure you are about to tell me. They
:16:59. > :17:02.are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and I'm surprised you don't know because
:17:03. > :17:09.they have only managed to become so famous because your department has
:17:10. > :17:14.financed them to the tune of ?4 million. All of the work we do with
:17:15. > :17:20.women on the ground, making sure they have a voice in their local
:17:21. > :17:25.communities, making sure they have some control over what happens to
:17:26. > :17:33.their own bodies in terms of tackling FGM, female genital
:17:34. > :17:38.mutilation... Did you know your department has spent ?4 million on
:17:39. > :17:46.the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I do, and we have to work with girls
:17:47. > :17:50.and show them there is a life ahead of them with opportunity and
:17:51. > :17:55.potential that goes beyond what many of them will experience, which
:17:56. > :18:07.includes early and forced marriage. It is part of the work we do with
:18:08. > :18:11.local communities to change attitudes everything you have just
:18:12. > :18:15.said is immeasurable, and they broadcast on a radio station that
:18:16. > :18:26.doesn't reach most of the country so it cannot have the impact. It only
:18:27. > :18:26.reaches 20 million people and the project has been condemned saying
:18:27. > :18:35.there were serious inefficiencies. That aid report was done a while ago
:18:36. > :18:40.now, and it was talking about the project when it first got going and
:18:41. > :18:45.a lot of improvements have happened since. I would go back to the point
:18:46. > :18:48.that we are working in very difficult environments where we are
:18:49. > :18:53.trying to get longer term change on the ground and that means working
:18:54. > :18:57.directly with communities but also investing for the long-term,
:18:58. > :19:04.investing in some of these girls start changing attitudes in them and
:19:05. > :19:14.their communities. Why does the British taxpayers spend ?5 million
:19:15. > :19:21.on a Bangladesh version of Question Time? We work with the BBC to make
:19:22. > :19:41.sure we can get accountabilities... That is bigger then the BBC Question
:19:42. > :19:49.Time Normal -- budget. That includes the cost of David Dimbleby's
:19:50. > :19:53.tattoo! We are working to improve people's prospects but also we are
:19:54. > :19:56.working to improve their ability to hold their governments to account so
:19:57. > :20:00.that when they are not getting services on the ground, they have
:20:01. > :20:08.ways they can raise those concerns with the people who are there to
:20:09. > :20:12.deliver services for them. In your own personal view, should the next
:20:13. > :20:18.Conservative Government, if there is one, should you continue to ring
:20:19. > :20:23.fence spending on foreign aid? But it is critical that if we are going
:20:24. > :20:28.to spend 7.7% of our national income, we should make sure it is in
:20:29. > :20:33.our national interest and that means having a clear approach to
:20:34. > :20:38.humanitarian responses, in keeping the country safe, and a clearer
:20:39. > :20:43.approach on helping drive economic development and jobs so there is a
:20:44. > :20:50.long-term end of the dependency Do you believe in an shrine in the
:20:51. > :20:56.percentage of our GDP that goes on foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is
:20:57. > :21:05.a coalition agreement. There have been a lot of agreements that you
:21:06. > :21:10.are sceptical about ring fencing. We are focused on shaking up the
:21:11. > :21:23.economy and improving our public finances. Why haven't you done that?
:21:24. > :21:28.At the end of the day we will be accountable but we are committed to
:21:29. > :21:34.doing that. You are running out of time, will you do it? I hope we can
:21:35. > :21:40.find the Parliamentary time, but even if we don't, we have acted as
:21:41. > :21:46.if that law is in place and we have already met 0.7% commitment. If you
:21:47. > :21:53.are British voter that doesn't believe that we should enshrine that
:21:54. > :21:57.in by law, which means that with a growing economy foreign aid will
:21:58. > :22:02.rise by definition, and if you think we should be spending less money on
:22:03. > :22:09.the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom should you wrote in the next
:22:10. > :22:15.election? I think we have a very sensible approach. I don't know what
:22:16. > :22:21.the various party manifestoes.. The only party who thinks we shouldn't
:22:22. > :22:31.be doing this is UKIP. I think you have to look at the response to both
:22:32. > :22:39.the Philippines crisis and Children In Need. Of all the steps we are
:22:40. > :22:44.taking to get the country back on track, it shows the British people
:22:45. > :22:52.will respond to need when they need it and it is one of the things that
:22:53. > :22:55.makes Britain's special. Thank you. "It's always winter but
:22:56. > :22:57.never Christmas" - that's how doctors describe life inside
:22:58. > :23:00.accident and emergency. The College of Emergency Medicine have warned
:23:01. > :23:04.that this year could bring the "worst crisis on record". If that
:23:05. > :23:06.dire prediction comes, expect a spring of political recriminations,
:23:07. > :23:11.but how prepared are the NHS in England? And what do they make of
:23:12. > :23:19.this autumnal speculation? Giles has been to Leeds to find out.
:23:20. > :23:25.This winter has already come to our hospitals. It had an official start
:23:26. > :23:33.date, November the 3rd. That is when weekly updates are delivered to the
:23:34. > :23:39.NHS's most senior planners, alerting them to any sudden changes in
:23:40. > :23:47.patient numbers coming in. Where do they numbers register most then
:23:48. > :23:51.A They are the barometer for what is going on everywhere else, and
:23:52. > :23:56.they are the pressure point, so if the system is beginning to struggle
:23:57. > :24:03.then it is in the A department that we see the problems. It is not
:24:04. > :24:09.that the problems are the A departments, but they are the place
:24:10. > :24:14.where it all comes together. Plans to tackle those problems start being
:24:15. > :24:23.drawn up in May and they look at trends, even taking notice of any
:24:24. > :24:33.flu epidemics in New Zealand. They also look at the amount of bets But
:24:34. > :24:37.the weather, economic realities structural reforms, and changes to
:24:38. > :24:42.the general health of the population, are all factors they
:24:43. > :24:46.have to consider. We get huge amounts of information through the
:24:47. > :24:51.winter in order to help the NHS be the best it can be, but we had to
:24:52. > :24:56.redouble our efforts this year because we expected to be a
:24:57. > :25:03.difficult winter. We know the NHS is stretched so we are working hard to
:25:04. > :25:10.be as good as we can be. That means they are looking at winter staffing
:25:11. > :25:14.levels, plans to ask for help from neighbouring hospitals, and
:25:15. > :25:21.dovetailing help with GP surgeries, and still having the ability to move
:25:22. > :25:26.up an extra gear, a rehearsed emergency plan if the NHS had to
:25:27. > :25:30.face a major disease pandemic. You spend any time in any of our
:25:31. > :25:35.hospitals and you realise the NHS knows that winter is coming and they
:25:36. > :25:39.are making plans, but you also get a palpable feeling amongst health
:25:40. > :25:46.workers across the entire system that they do get fed up of being
:25:47. > :25:49.used as a political football. Doctors and all health care
:25:50. > :25:55.professionals are frustrated about the politics that surrounds the NHS
:25:56. > :25:58.in health care. They go to work to treat patients as best as they can,
:25:59. > :26:05.and the political knock-about does not help anyone. I find it
:26:06. > :26:09.frustrating when there is a commentary that suggests the NHS
:26:10. > :26:16.does not planned, when it is surprised by winter, and wherever
:26:17. > :26:22.that comes from it is hard to take, knowing how much we do nationally
:26:23. > :26:31.and how much our hard working front line staff are doing. When the
:26:32. > :26:36.Coalition have recently tried to open up the NHS to be a more
:26:37. > :26:43.independent body, it is clear the NHS feel they have had an unhealthy
:26:44. > :26:48.dose of political wrangling between parties on policy. The NHS is not
:26:49. > :26:53.infallible or making any guarantees, but they seem confident that they
:26:54. > :26:56.and their patients can survive the winter.
:26:57. > :27:04.Joining me now from Salford in the Shadow Health Secretary, Andy
:27:05. > :27:09.Burnham. Tell me this, if you were health secretary now, you just took
:27:10. > :27:19.over in an emergency election, what would you do to avoid another winter
:27:20. > :27:25.crisis? I would immediately halt the closure of NHS walk-in centres. We
:27:26. > :27:30.heard this week that around one in four walk-in centres are closed so
:27:31. > :27:34.it makes no sense whatsoever for the Government to allow the continued
:27:35. > :27:40.closure of them. I would put nurses back on the end of phones and
:27:41. > :27:47.restore an NHS direct style service. The new 111 service is not in a
:27:48. > :27:55.position to provide help to people this winter. I think the time has
:27:56. > :27:58.come to rethink how the NHS care is particularly for older people so I
:27:59. > :28:03.propose the full integration of health and social care. It cannot
:28:04. > :28:09.make any sense any more to have this approach where we cut social care
:28:10. > :28:14.and let elderly people drift to hospitals in greater numbers. We
:28:15. > :28:21.have two rethink it as a whole service. So you would repeal some of
:28:22. > :28:27.the Tory reforms and move commissioning to local authorities
:28:28. > :28:32.so the NHS should brace itself for another major top-down health
:28:33. > :28:36.reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew Lansley I will work with the
:28:37. > :28:48.organisations ie inherit. He could work with primary care trusts but he
:28:49. > :28:54.turned it upside down when it needed stability. I will not do that but I
:28:55. > :29:06.will repeal the health and social care act because last week we heard
:29:07. > :29:10.that hospitals and health services cannot get on and make sensible
:29:11. > :29:16.merger collaborations because of this nonsense now that the NHS is
:29:17. > :29:21.bound by competition law. Let me get your views on a number of ideas that
:29:22. > :29:26.have been floated either by the press or the Coalition. We haven't
:29:27. > :29:37.got much time. Do you welcome the plan to bring back named GPs for
:29:38. > :29:42.over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder to get the GP appointment under this
:29:43. > :29:47.Government because David Cameron scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that
:29:48. > :29:51.Tony Blair brought in. He was challenged in the 2005 election
:29:52. > :29:55.about the difficulty of getting a GP appointment, and Tony Blair brought
:29:56. > :30:02.in the commitment that people should be able to get that within 48
:30:03. > :30:06.hours. That has now been scrapped. Do you welcome the idea of allowing
:30:07. > :30:14.everyone to choose their own GP surgery even if it is not in our
:30:15. > :30:19.traditional catchment area? I proposed that just before the last
:30:20. > :30:23.election, so yes. Do you welcome the idea of how a practice is being
:30:24. > :30:31.rated being a matter of public record, and of us knowing how much,
:30:32. > :30:34.at least from the NHS, our GP earns? Of course, every political party
:30:35. > :30:38.supports transparency in the NHS. More information for the public of
:30:39. > :30:45.that kind is a good thing. Do you welcome this plan to make it will
:30:46. > :30:52.form the collect in an NHS hospital -- make wilful neglect a criminal
:30:53. > :30:54.offence. It is important to say you can't pick and mix these
:30:55. > :30:59.recommendations, you can't say we will have that one and not the
:31:00. > :31:03.others. It was a balanced package that Sir Robert Francis put forward.
:31:04. > :31:06.My message is that it must be permitted in full. If we are to
:31:07. > :31:12.learn the lessons, the whole package must be addressed, and that includes
:31:13. > :31:17.safe staffing levels across the NHS. Staff have a responsible to two
:31:18. > :31:20.patients at the government also has responsible at T2 NHS staff and it
:31:21. > :31:33.should not let them work in understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a
:31:34. > :31:43.responsibility to NHS staff. Is there a part of the 2004 agreements
:31:44. > :31:48.that you regret and should be undone? A lot of myths have been
:31:49. > :31:53.built up about the contract. When it came in, there was a huge shortage
:31:54. > :31:59.of GPs across the country. Some communities struggle to recruit
:32:00. > :32:04.This myth that the government have built, that the 2004 GP contract is
:32:05. > :32:12.responsible for the AM decries is, it is spin of the worst possible
:32:13. > :32:17.kind -- the A crisis. You would redo that contract? It was redone
:32:18. > :32:22.under our time in government and change to make it better value for
:32:23. > :32:25.money. GPs should be focused on improving the health of their
:32:26. > :32:32.patients and that is a very good principle. Not so great if you can't
:32:33. > :32:37.get 24-hour access. I agree with that. We brought in evening and
:32:38. > :32:41.weekend opening for GPs. That is another thing that has gone in
:32:42. > :32:44.reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much harder to get a GP appointment under
:32:45. > :32:55.him and that is one of the reasons why A is an oppressor. -- under
:32:56. > :33:00.pressure. What do you make of the review into intimidatory tactics by
:33:01. > :33:04.unions? If there has been intimidation, it is unacceptable,
:33:05. > :33:12.and that should apply to unions as well as employers. Was Unite wrong
:33:13. > :33:17.to turn up and demonstrate? I don't know the details, this review will
:33:18. > :33:20.look into that presumably. I need reassurance that this is not a
:33:21. > :33:24.pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on the designed to appear near the
:33:25. > :33:35.election -- that this is not a political call. Are you sponsored by
:33:36. > :33:44.unite? No. Do you get any money from Unite? No. What have you done wrong?
:33:45. > :33:51.It seems others are getting money from Unite. Can I tell you what I
:33:52. > :33:54.think is the scandal of British party political funding, two health
:33:55. > :34:02.care companies have given ?1.5 million in donations to the Tory
:34:03. > :34:07.party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS contracts. I wonder why you don t
:34:08. > :34:12.spend much time talking about that and obsess over trade union funding.
:34:13. > :34:19.We are happy to talk about that We see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's
:34:20. > :34:24.closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls as a bit of a nightmare, do you see
:34:25. > :34:29.a bit of a nightmare about him as well? I don't at all, he is a very
:34:30. > :34:33.good friend. I can't believe that you are talking about those e-mails
:34:34. > :34:38.on a national political programme. My goodness, you obviously scraping
:34:39. > :34:43.the barrel today. I have been in front-line labour politics for 0
:34:44. > :34:46.years. I can't remember the front bench and the wider party being as
:34:47. > :34:50.united as it is today and it is a great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed
:34:51. > :34:53.Balls. We are going into a general election and we are going to get rid
:34:54. > :34:59.of a pretty disastrous coalition government. It was worth spending a
:35:00. > :35:02.few seconds to establish your not having nightmares. Thank you for
:35:03. > :35:05.joining me. It's just gone 11:30am. You're
:35:06. > :35:06.watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be
:35:07. > :35:19.talking to the MP accused of using Hello, I'm Arif Ansari. Coming up in
:35:20. > :35:28.the North West: Joined`up thinking, but will Merseyside's six councils
:35:29. > :35:33.really be better together? The decisions for the Wirral and West
:35:34. > :35:36.left with Wirral politicians and people who represent the business
:35:37. > :35:39.forums. And joining me this week are the Labour MP for Manchester
:35:40. > :35:44.Central, Lucy Powell, and the Liberal Democrat for Cheadle, Mark
:35:45. > :35:47.Hunter. Welcome. And you were on opposite sides this week in Labour's
:35:48. > :35:53.debate calling for the scrapping of housing benefit reforms. Mark, why
:35:54. > :36:03.do you think your party's president Tim Farron voted with Labour? Were
:36:04. > :36:08.you disappointed? As the deputy Chief Whip, of course I was
:36:09. > :36:12.disappointed. But I think the important context is that there are
:36:13. > :36:16.a quarter of a million households in this country living in overcrowded
:36:17. > :36:20.accommodation and winner from all the statistics that there are 1
:36:21. > :36:23.million spare bedrooms in the social housing sector so something has got
:36:24. > :36:29.to be done in order to try and get those people currently living in
:36:30. > :36:34.overcrowded accommodation into social housing wherever possible.
:36:35. > :36:39.But Tim Farron felt that it was deeply unfair, the way you have gone
:36:40. > :36:54.about it. Clearly, but you would have to ask him for his reasons I
:36:55. > :37:00.suspect you have at asked him. Lucy, does Labour have plans on how to
:37:01. > :37:05.contract housing benefit? What I said in the debate on Tuesday was
:37:06. > :37:09.that this policy of the bedroom tax, not only is it morally wrong
:37:10. > :37:14.but it will cost more than it saves any to the taxpayer and it cannot
:37:15. > :37:18.work, it won't work in terms of what Mark is talking about in reducing
:37:19. > :37:23.the housing waiting list so this policy is just a wrong headed one.
:37:24. > :37:27.We need to tackle these issues that need a long`term strategy and this
:37:28. > :37:31.blunt instrument will not work. Both get a flavour of the debate in the
:37:32. > :37:37.Commons. Housing benefit payments and was
:37:38. > :37:42.doubled up to 23 billion in the last Government. Like the poll tax, it is
:37:43. > :37:48.based on mean mindedness and physical dogma. Just like I am being
:37:49. > :37:55.shouted at now, unfortunately the voices of nearly 2 million people on
:37:56. > :37:59.waiting lists have been shouted out. The same callous indifference shown
:38:00. > :38:00.to my indifference has been shown by the Secretary of State by not being
:38:01. > :38:10.here. Pick upon the point that Lucy is
:38:11. > :38:14.making, Mark, that the policy does not work practically. We do not know
:38:15. > :38:18.that because time will tell which of us is right about this. I would say
:38:19. > :38:22.to Lucy and the Labour Party that there is not an alternative scenario
:38:23. > :38:26.being put forward and of Labour think it is so easy to fix it, why
:38:27. > :38:31.didn't they do it in 13 years they were in power? Diminished either
:38:32. > :38:38.just heard saying, 2 million people an housing lists and this is a
:38:39. > :38:44.determined attempt `` the Minister you just heard saying. As people
:38:45. > :38:47.moving around, people trying to downsize, also is of unintended
:38:48. > :38:52.consequences so my constituency we are ending up with a glut of two
:38:53. > :38:58.bedroom flats in blocks which are not suitable for families and people
:38:59. > :39:02.cannot afford the spare bedroom tax for single occupier so they are now
:39:03. > :39:05.going to people much less in need so the people most in need on the
:39:06. > :39:08.housing list are not getting anywhere near these properties
:39:09. > :39:12.because they cannot access them This is about supply, housing
:39:13. > :39:15.supply. We need a long`term strategy to build the right homes. Let's move
:39:16. > :39:18.on. Now it was another difficult week
:39:19. > :39:21.for workers at Blackpool Council, the latest local authority to
:39:22. > :39:24.announce more job cuts. The news came as the latest unemployment
:39:25. > :39:32.figures showed a 0.1% increase in the North West. That's the third
:39:33. > :39:40.successive rise, contrasting with a national decrease. So why are we
:39:41. > :39:45.struggling more than other areas? The news from Blackpool this week
:39:46. > :39:51.was bleak. 700 jobs to go and ? 6 million in saving required. We are
:39:52. > :39:53.talking about a serious impact on front line services. People will
:39:54. > :39:58.find it harder to make benefit claims, to get blue badges, they
:39:59. > :40:02.will find day to day transaction with the council take longer and
:40:03. > :40:05.that is not fair. And they're not alone as councils across the North
:40:06. > :40:08.West prepare their budgets for next year. A situation not lost on the
:40:09. > :40:15.employment minister, herself a North West MP. To be fair, the North West
:40:16. > :40:21.has got a more difficult picture than the rest of the country so
:40:22. > :40:26.whilst I have seen 1 million more people in jobs across the country,
:40:27. > :40:29.it is not fully reflected in the north`west. What the region needs is
:40:30. > :40:32.more private`sector jobs. This week, AstraZeneca announced 300 new jobs
:40:33. > :40:39.near Macclesfield. But for many finding any work is tough. You hear
:40:40. > :40:42.these figures all the time saying unemployment is down and nobody is
:40:43. > :40:49.unemployed and when you are living it day to day and you're not living
:40:50. > :40:52.in your little bubble, it is hard. Opportunities for people like Nicky
:40:53. > :40:58.to find work in the public sector are getting harder. But services and
:40:59. > :41:01.construction are doing better in the private sector and for those
:41:02. > :41:05.analysing the data say it is looking good for the Chancellor come the
:41:06. > :41:10.election. From the Government perspective, we are looking at
:41:11. > :41:14.growth up, jobs up, unemployment down, inflation is falling,
:41:15. > :41:20.Government rowing is looking better. `` Government borrowing The
:41:21. > :41:24.public sector is still feeling the impact of Government cuts in the
:41:25. > :41:27.North West, and will do for years to come. But the Government hopes the
:41:28. > :41:33.recovery will take hold in time for the next election. Mark, how worried
:41:34. > :41:39.are you that unemployment is still going up in the region? It is
:41:40. > :41:41.disappointing, there is a marginal increase and the figures
:41:42. > :41:44.year`on`year will show that it is heading in the right direction,
:41:45. > :41:48.downwards. We should not ignore the fact that the economic indicators
:41:49. > :41:51.have generally been positive. The governor of the Bank of England
:41:52. > :41:56.saying that the economy is picking up and the signs are more
:41:57. > :41:59.encouraging, and unemployment nationally and youth unemployment
:42:00. > :42:03.are generally going down. If the Government is trying to rebalance
:42:04. > :42:07.the economy, and the national picture is going down, and we are
:42:08. > :42:11.going up, we are going in the wrong direction. It is a very slight
:42:12. > :42:16.increase. Any increase is obviously a cause for concern. The figures
:42:17. > :42:22.only 12 month period show that the employment is generally coming down.
:42:23. > :42:32.Freedom successive increases are still a problem. There is still work
:42:33. > :42:37.to do `` three successive increases. High`Speed two is probably the most
:42:38. > :42:41.high`profile of recent cases. We shall growth fund, lots of extra
:42:42. > :42:46.things. You are fairly happy with progress made in Manchester? In
:42:47. > :42:49.Manchester, we have had traditionally a better strategy for
:42:50. > :42:52.bringing in private`sector jobs from the local authorities working
:42:53. > :42:56.together and having that strategy but across the region as a whole,
:42:57. > :43:01.the North West has been more reliant on public sector jobs and so when
:43:02. > :43:05.they have been withdrawn as quickly as they are by this Government, we
:43:06. > :43:08.need a strategy in place for what will replace them and it is no good
:43:09. > :43:11.saying that we will leave it to the markets because what happens in that
:43:12. > :43:15.sense is that the jobs go to the London and the south`east economies
:43:16. > :43:20.which are growing quickly whereas the North West economies are being
:43:21. > :43:23.left behind. But if you are saying that Manchester has got it game
:43:24. > :43:27.together and doing well, that is an argument for other local authorities
:43:28. > :43:30.not doing as well. Possibly sober then you must have the other
:43:31. > :43:43.stretches in place to support those authorities doing that `` possibly
:43:44. > :43:49.so, but then you must have. We have had other things stripped away. As
:43:50. > :43:52.we saw in Blackpool, the continued cuts to local authorities, are you
:43:53. > :43:57.worried about that or is that just the way we will see things with the
:43:58. > :44:02.shrinking away the public sector? Course I am worried. These are
:44:03. > :44:10.services that people desperately rely on. As this gone too far? They
:44:11. > :44:13.certainly have two local authorities in the north and the North West
:44:14. > :44:21.Labour would restore some of the funding? No, they have gone too far
:44:22. > :44:24.in the North West and the Northern economies because we have seen and
:44:25. > :44:29.liked cuts in the local Government where Manchester and the pool have
:44:30. > :44:34.had some of the worst cuts `` Manchester and Liverpool. Whereas
:44:35. > :44:41.London and oxygen have had virtually no cuts at all. So you chance for
:44:42. > :44:44.funding to the North West? That is the opposite to what the Government
:44:45. > :44:52.have done. They have effectively transferred some of the transferred
:44:53. > :44:59.money from some of the most deprived economies. For every ?1 central
:45:00. > :45:03.Government says, 20% goes to local Government, it is a major
:45:04. > :45:09.expenditure area `` Government saves. As big as a former council
:45:10. > :45:14.leader in Stockport and the performance of councils vary
:45:15. > :45:18.greatly. Some of them very good taking these difficult decisions and
:45:19. > :45:22.I don't pretend it has been easy, to protect front line services. Others
:45:23. > :45:30.instead have gone straight out and looked at front line services. We
:45:31. > :45:35.have had a letter from a viewer Mr Howarth, talking about the way that
:45:36. > :45:40.they have been cuts to hospital after care to befriending services,
:45:41. > :45:44.but huge amount of money but he points out that they have had a
:45:45. > :45:47.devastating impact on those kinds of services. And that in his words
:45:48. > :45:52.they are failing the most vulnerable. I do know what area your
:45:53. > :45:56.correspondent is from so it is difficult to comment on individual
:45:57. > :46:00.circumstances but certain only NHS spending has been ring fenced. We
:46:01. > :46:03.are putting more money into the NHS. Local authorities now are working
:46:04. > :46:09.much more closely with the NHS to try to get joined`up thinking and
:46:10. > :46:13.provide better services in all of our communities. That is all
:46:14. > :46:19.happening on the ground now. I am not pretending this is easy. There
:46:20. > :46:22.have been tough decisions to take but we have taken them in the
:46:23. > :46:26.coalition government and have provided that platform of stability
:46:27. > :46:31.to get the economy moving. As you say, it has not been easy and the
:46:32. > :46:34.cuts continue to divide opinion Could councils be better together?
:46:35. > :46:37.Merseyside's six councils are looking at creating a combined
:46:38. > :46:40.authority. It's what's happened in Greater Manchester where the ten
:46:41. > :46:44.local authorities cooperate on major projects. But is it innovation, or a
:46:45. > :46:51.throwback to the county council that was scrapped in the '80s?
:46:52. > :46:57.# Come on, come on and let's stick together.
:46:58. > :47:05.County councils were abolished in 1986. Back in the 1970s and 80s
:47:06. > :47:10.Liverpool's authorities were stuck together in something called the
:47:11. > :47:14.Merseyside Council. 25 years after it was disbanded, the six
:47:15. > :47:19.authorities are joining forces once again but none of them are being
:47:20. > :47:22.replaced. So what is the point of this new body?
:47:23. > :47:27.One reason, supporters say, is to ensure the success of projects like
:47:28. > :47:31.this. You can see the vessel out to sea, that will be deep in the
:47:32. > :47:34.approach. A large shed down their complete in development and as we
:47:35. > :47:38.come out here we have got the Liverpool development to allow us to
:47:39. > :47:43.text of the largest container ships in the world. `` to take.
:47:44. > :47:45.Liverpool's port, the UK's fifth biggest, already imports and exports
:47:46. > :47:48.everything from Jaguars to soya beans. Its expansion by owners Peel
:47:49. > :47:52.Holdings will lead to developments in each of the six Merseyside
:47:53. > :47:55.council areas. It is not the answer to all our prayers but anything that
:47:56. > :47:59.can streamline the process streamlines the way that it works
:48:00. > :48:01.and the numbers of interaction that you have, that can only be
:48:02. > :48:04.beneficial. This new council group won't be
:48:05. > :48:06.involved in day`to`day decisions, instead concentrating on strategic
:48:07. > :48:14.decisions about the economy, regeneration and transport. We have
:48:15. > :48:19.six local authorities plus the local enterprise partnership collectively
:48:20. > :48:24.making should he do decisions about where investment will go to in the
:48:25. > :48:27.area in the future. Only greater matches as a combined authority but
:48:28. > :48:32.Newcastle, Leeds and Sheffield are also looking to form combined
:48:33. > :48:38.authorities on the same timetable as ourselves.
:48:39. > :48:45.In a matter of months, hopefully we should see this site developed. You
:48:46. > :48:49.can see it has been cleared. This is the latest part of Widnes to
:48:50. > :48:57.be transformed. The town is growing as a river, road and rail transport
:48:58. > :48:59.hub. It will give access to gritty funding `` greater funding
:49:00. > :49:05.opportunities. In terms of the development and regeneration.
:49:06. > :49:11.So far, so positive but across the Mersey in the Wirral, you will find
:49:12. > :49:14.concerns from people that this is a return to what they think are the
:49:15. > :49:22.bad old days when they were not in favour of the big mother over there.
:49:23. > :49:28.`` brother. We do not want to be part of a big, cumbersome Liverpool
:49:29. > :49:32.`based local authority. Even though this will not replace existing
:49:33. > :49:39.authorities? It will have limiting powers and I will be pleased if it
:49:40. > :49:43.has extremely limited powers. People are worried that people had not been
:49:44. > :49:50.consulted and that this will be a partisan body. These decisions are
:49:51. > :49:53.best left with local residents and local Wirral people who represent
:49:54. > :49:57.the business forums. So even with the tide moving in the
:49:58. > :50:02.direction of a combined authority, some still feel they are better off
:50:03. > :50:10.on their own. And we're joined now by Phil Davies,
:50:11. > :50:16.the leader of Wirral Council. Welcome. Dellacqua hello. Are you in
:50:17. > :50:25.favour? It is a common sense way forward. It makes sense for the to
:50:26. > :50:30.come to streamline decision`making because clearly these are issues
:50:31. > :50:32.that cut across our boundaries. We're not talking about delegating
:50:33. > :50:39.everything that we do, it is those strategic decisions which it makes
:50:40. > :50:42.sense to cooperate around. That you have already got organisations like
:50:43. > :50:53.Mersey travel for transport, the local enterprise partnership. Isn't
:50:54. > :50:58.that their job? We often have to go to about five or six board
:50:59. > :51:01.separately for agreement and have to take them to our own separate
:51:02. > :51:13.councils and it takes an interest in double amount of time. `` takes an
:51:14. > :51:19.awful lot of time. Visual enable us to compete with other city regions.
:51:20. > :51:23.`` it will enable. Is this something the Government would like you to do
:51:24. > :51:29.and they way to get more funding, or do you think it is a good thing It
:51:30. > :51:34.is a bit of both. We are being pragmatic. The Government are
:51:35. > :51:40.encouraging us to look at things like this. Maybe in the. Time,
:51:41. > :51:44.savings, if we can share services between the councils will happen. It
:51:45. > :51:49.is a good thing for the taxpayer. This will not cost any more money,
:51:50. > :51:55.it is not an additional level of bureaucracy, it is more about having
:51:56. > :51:58.a more streamlined process. As far as the critics go, that is one of
:51:59. > :52:03.the charges against you, the extra bureaucracy. The other one is the
:52:04. > :52:11.danger that places like the wearer or Sefton will get subsumed ``
:52:12. > :52:23.places like the Wirral. We have six council leaders on the combined
:52:24. > :52:29.authority. The leader... We have all got big voices and I will certainly
:52:30. > :52:34.make sure that my voice is heard but we have got past the stage where
:52:35. > :52:39.this is down to personalities. We have got quite a chore relationships
:52:40. > :52:44.now and we know that what is often good for one authority is good for
:52:45. > :52:50.the others as well. Lucy, how well has it worked in Manchester? And how
:52:51. > :52:58.would you like to see it develop? It has worked very well in Manchester,
:52:59. > :53:04.and I think it is something that is a reason that Manchester has grown
:53:05. > :53:11.better than Liverpool's conurbation over the same time. Decisions can be
:53:12. > :53:18.taken aback economic develop them, transport, jobs. But there are
:53:19. > :53:24.savings that we have, how rude the cycle for example. `` how we
:53:25. > :53:28.recycle. And I think it gives Manchester a bigger voice. I would
:53:29. > :53:32.like to see it develop further, possibly with some kind figurehead
:53:33. > :53:43.for the whole conurbation, so we can maximise the boys. `` the voice
:53:44. > :53:46.Like a regional mayor. Mark, the issue I raised about people saying
:53:47. > :53:52.that Liverpool will dominate, has that in an issue of Manchester
:53:53. > :53:56.dominating? It is self`evidently the regional capital so it plays a lead
:53:57. > :54:01.role in this but we are a good model in greater Manchester for how local
:54:02. > :54:07.authorities can work together. It is not that revolutionary an idea, but
:54:08. > :54:10.getting the ten as it is in Manchester, ten council leaders and
:54:11. > :54:14.Chief Executive 's in the same room once a month actually does pay
:54:15. > :54:17.dividends and there is a history of this being a successful approach in
:54:18. > :54:21.Manchester and it is quite surprising that it is not yet being
:54:22. > :54:27.taken up in parts of the country elsewhere. You want to see more of
:54:28. > :54:33.it? Yes, it is the way forward. Why is the Government so keen? This is
:54:34. > :54:39.about looking at other ways of working and you use the phrase
:54:40. > :54:42.yourself, better together, although it is being used differently in
:54:43. > :54:46.Scotland. Manchester has blazed the trail on this through the previous
:54:47. > :54:51.association and greater Manchester authorities and through the new body
:54:52. > :54:56.and I am very confident that Liverpool will follow the same way.
:54:57. > :55:01.What you think about the idea of a regional mayor for Merseyside? My
:55:02. > :55:05.view is that it is not the direction of travel that I would like to go
:55:06. > :55:10.down personally, we have come to an agreement that the combined
:55:11. > :55:15.authorities are a model that will work for us. All the reasons I have
:55:16. > :55:18.mentioned. In terms of the models are up for grabs, the combined
:55:19. > :55:30.authority will get broad consensus across all the leaders in Liverpool.
:55:31. > :55:35.Joe has been talking about that but I disagree but we are open about
:55:36. > :55:40.this. This is about making sure that all the residents of Merseyside can
:55:41. > :55:45.benefit and I do generally deliberately genuinely believe that
:55:46. > :55:52.it will work. We had from Blackpool Council, what is the position in
:55:53. > :55:55.Wirral? The position is dire, we are losing lots of money over the next
:55:56. > :56:04.three years and it is about fairness. More jobs to come `` more
:56:05. > :56:08.job cuts to come? Sadly yes, and front line services are in danger
:56:09. > :56:12.and for me it is about the agenda that needs to be rethought by this
:56:13. > :56:16.Government that seems to be like a furnace. So what else has happened
:56:17. > :56:19.this week? Mark Edwardson can tell us in 60 Seconds.
:56:20. > :56:22.A "spectacular mistake" ` former Home Secretary Jack Straw confessed
:56:23. > :56:25.that his Labour Government "messed up" on immigration. The Blackburn MP
:56:26. > :56:32.said relaxing restrictions for Eastern Europeans was wrong.
:56:33. > :56:35.A seven`year`old boy from Merseyside was ordered to leave the country,
:56:36. > :56:38.leaving his mother behind. Jamie Leung from Southport is Canadian but
:56:39. > :56:41.his mother Sara has dual nationality.
:56:42. > :56:45.The Royal College of Nursing said staff shortages are threatening
:56:46. > :56:52.patient safety. Hospitals in the North West are sending teams to
:56:53. > :56:55.Portugal and Spain to recruit. There is so much on offer now, the
:56:56. > :57:01.spread in what we have God, it is being spread so much more thinner.
:57:02. > :57:04.`` that we have got. A food bank's being launched on the Isle of Man to
:57:05. > :57:08.help tackle what's being described as the problem of the hidden hungry.
:57:09. > :57:09.Last year the Salvation Army provided food parcels for 3,000
:57:10. > :57:12.people. And Morecambe Bay's getting a ?
:57:13. > :57:15.million make over. The heritage lottery funding will help wildlife,
:57:16. > :57:25.historic sites and go towards a new cycle route.
:57:26. > :57:31.Lucy, what do you make of Jack Straw saying that the Labour Government
:57:32. > :57:37.made a spec to kill a mistake over Eastern European immigration? He is
:57:38. > :57:40.saying what Ed Miliband has been saying, we did make a mistake and we
:57:41. > :57:45.need to learn lessons. The estimates that were provided at the time
:57:46. > :57:49.proved to be wrong and therefore we were not able to manage the impact
:57:50. > :57:56.on our public services. You think he is right. Do you agree, Mark? He is
:57:57. > :57:59.correct to apologise for the appalling record. Since the
:58:00. > :58:03.coalition came into Government, immigration is down by one fifth so
:58:04. > :58:07.we are taking measures to try to make sure that the immigration
:58:08. > :58:11.policies... Thank you very much receiving it. We will return to this
:58:12. > :58:25.if we hear more. Thank you. Andrew, it is back to you.
:58:26. > :58:30.Who'd be an MP? It's a good question. Certainly something Mark
:58:31. > :58:33.Pritchard must have asked himself when his picture graced the front
:58:34. > :58:36.page of the Daily Telegraph, with allegations that he had offered to
:58:37. > :58:39.set up business deals overseas in return for hundreds of thousands of
:58:40. > :58:41.pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the claims as hurtful and wrong. He
:58:42. > :58:44.referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
:58:45. > :58:46.who has now said there is insufficient evidence to
:58:47. > :58:49.investigate. In a moment we'll talk to Mr Pritchard, but first let's
:58:50. > :58:52.take a look back at how the story unfurled. A Conservative MP has
:58:53. > :58:57.denied allegations that he used his Parliamentary contacts for financial
:58:58. > :59:02.gain... The daily Telegraph says Mark Pritchard offered to broker
:59:03. > :59:11.investments overseas. In a statement he said the allegations made by the
:59:12. > :59:17.Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard was secretly filmed... What do you
:59:18. > :59:19.make of these allegations? He has referred himself to the
:59:20. > :59:23.Parliamentary Commissioner for standards to clear his name and I
:59:24. > :59:33.suspect this story will reopen the debate about what MPs should be
:59:34. > :59:40.allowed, having business interests elsewhere. Is it not clear that you
:59:41. > :59:51.did ask for money in consultancy services? First of all I would like
:59:52. > :59:57.to apologise for the sunglasses I have had a lot of comments about
:59:58. > :00:05.that. On a serious point, these claims by the Telegraph of false.
:00:06. > :00:11.You didn't ask for ?3000? They are false, hurtful and malicious. It is
:00:12. > :00:14.known widely that I have sued the Telegraph previously. I have also
:00:15. > :00:21.been critical of their coverage of the plebgate affair, their reporting
:00:22. > :00:23.of that. I have been supportive of the cross-party Royal Charter and I
:00:24. > :00:28.know that some people in the media don't like my position on that. That
:00:29. > :00:34.is why it is malicious. I believe in a free press. That free press also
:00:35. > :00:40.has a responsibility to be fair accurate and lawful. In discussions
:00:41. > :00:45.with this business who turned out to be a Telegraph reporter, it is true
:00:46. > :00:54.that you ask for ?3000 a month consultancy fee. The point is..
:00:55. > :00:59.That is the point. No. That video has been cut and pasted to serve the
:01:00. > :01:05.Telegraph's story. The story was that we want to get Mark Bridger,
:01:06. > :01:09.for whatever reason, at any cost. -- Mark Bridger hard. I would not go
:01:10. > :01:12.down the line they were hoping I would go down. Everything I own
:01:13. > :01:19.outside of Parliament is openly declared. We are allowed to have
:01:20. > :01:21.outside witness interests. The Telegraph need to say clearly
:01:22. > :01:27.whether they accept that or they don't. I think you need to say
:01:28. > :01:32.clearly whether you asked for the money or not. You then went on to
:01:33. > :01:37.ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10 million deal, you asked for 3%
:01:38. > :01:44.commission. Let me be clear, if I was asking for income in return for
:01:45. > :01:48.lobbying, or raising issues in Parliament, or setting up
:01:49. > :01:52.Parliamentary groups, or going to ministers, writing to ministers
:01:53. > :01:56.that would be completely inappropriate. I was approached by
:01:57. > :02:03.somebody to advise them on business. It is entirely proper and entirely
:02:04. > :02:06.within the rules for members of Parliament to have outside
:02:07. > :02:12.consultancies and interests. Did you or didn't you? I am answering the
:02:13. > :02:16.question in the way that I want to answer it, not in the way that fits
:02:17. > :02:20.a particular narrative. The narrative, unfortunately, of some
:02:21. > :02:23.parts of the Telegraph and to be fair, there are some very good
:02:24. > :02:28.journalists, I know there is a dispute about the direction of that
:02:29. > :02:32.paper at senior parts. Do they want to return to being a Catholic,
:02:33. > :02:37.objective newspaper or do they want to slip into the slippery slope of
:02:38. > :02:41.being an agnostic rag, looking for sensationalist headlines? Part of
:02:42. > :02:50.this has come from your membership of these all-party Parliamentary
:02:51. > :02:53.groups. You were in Malta when you are first approached, I think you
:02:54. > :02:56.were on a trip there, Hungary is another one, there is an
:02:57. > :03:01.uncomfortable overlap between your political and business interests. I
:03:02. > :03:05.have no business interests in any of those countries. Some of the country
:03:06. > :03:13.is the Telegraph mentioned, let me be clear, I have not even visited.
:03:14. > :03:16.You were boasting that you knew the Albanian Prime Minister and the
:03:17. > :03:22.Mayor of Teheran and the previous prime minister. I make no apology
:03:23. > :03:26.for making foreign trips. I think it is unfortunate we have a narrative
:03:27. > :03:31.developing in some parts of the press that if a politician goes
:03:32. > :03:35.abroad at the taxpayers expense it is wrong. If they go abroad at a
:03:36. > :03:39.host government's expense it is wrong. If they go abroad with a
:03:40. > :03:43.charity, NGO and private company, even if it is declared, it is wrong.
:03:44. > :03:48.We want people with an international perspective in Parliament. Look at
:03:49. > :03:55.this map. You are a member of 5 country groups. I don't know what
:03:56. > :04:01.Canada has done not to deserve you, or Australia. 54 groups, you are a
:04:02. > :04:05.part of. You're like... This is the Mark Pritchard British Empire. That
:04:06. > :04:10.is very kind. If I had global interests that white I would not be
:04:11. > :04:17.in Parliament. No, no, no. That is the point... It is the suspicion,
:04:18. > :04:22.that you used these groups to drum up business for your consultants.
:04:23. > :04:26.Prove it, that is the trouble. These sorts of headlines, create
:04:27. > :04:35.suspicion. I am suing the Telegraph... Have you issued a writ?
:04:36. > :04:42.I expect an apology. Have you issued a writ? I have just answered your
:04:43. > :04:48.question. It is yes or no, have you issued a writ? I am in final legal
:04:49. > :04:52.discussions tomorrow about issuing a writ. You have raised something for
:04:53. > :04:55.top the fact is that is inaccurate. I am a member of 40-something
:04:56. > :05:03.Parliamentary groups, of which I make no apology. We have got 54 Let
:05:04. > :05:11.me answer the question if I may It would be very useful. There are 196
:05:12. > :05:15.countries around the world, it is less than a quarter of the country
:05:16. > :05:22.groups on my figures. I make no apology. One of my regrets is not
:05:23. > :05:25.having visited Syria, I don't know if I am a member of the Syria group,
:05:26. > :05:31.part I should become a member, I make no apology. -- perhaps I should
:05:32. > :05:38.become. When it came to the Syria vote, I was blind sided foot of yes,
:05:39. > :05:41.we have excellent briefings. I had to make a judgement based on part
:05:42. > :05:46.knowledge with nothing beats being on the ground, as even BBC
:05:47. > :05:51.journalists recognised this week. Nothing beats being on the ground.
:05:52. > :05:55.You posted about your connections in Albania to getting a business
:05:56. > :05:59.contract. You meet these people through these all Parliamentary
:06:00. > :06:06.groups. That is where there is an unhealthy overlap. That is what the
:06:07. > :06:11.Telegraph said, let's wait and see. Look... You are a newspaperman, you
:06:12. > :06:15.know lots of people in the newspaper industry, as well as being a
:06:16. > :06:19.respected broadcaster. I am not going to prejudice my legal
:06:20. > :06:23.proceedings against the Telegraph. I make no apology. A good politician
:06:24. > :06:30.has to be local am a national and international. Hang on hang on -
:06:31. > :06:34.has to be local, national and international. We need politicians
:06:35. > :06:37.who get out of the Westminster bubble, who have a business
:06:38. > :06:41.hinterland, who keep their foot in the real world and have an
:06:42. > :06:47.international perspective. And ask for 3% commission? I have answered
:06:48. > :06:51.the question. It was a cut and pasted video, photo shopped to suit
:06:52. > :06:54.the agenda of the Telegraph. They need to get back to serious news
:06:55. > :06:59.reporting and I wish those well at the senior part of the Telegraph who
:07:00. > :07:02.want to get to those days. We look forward to the writ. Thank you.
:07:03. > :07:05.Now - there's been more good news on the economy for George Osborne this
:07:06. > :07:08.week - inflation's down, growth forecasts have been revised up and
:07:09. > :07:11.unemployment has fallen again. On Friday the former Bullingdon boy
:07:12. > :07:14.donned a head torch and went down't pit for just one of many photo
:07:15. > :07:17.opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement, which he'll deliver in
:07:18. > :07:23.the Commons on fifth December. And, who knows, he might even take his
:07:24. > :07:32.hard hat off for that. # Going underground.
:07:33. > :07:39.# Let the boys all saying and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
:07:40. > :07:42.# Lah, lah, love, love. # I talk and talk until my head
:07:43. > :07:50.explodes. # Make this boy shout, make this boy
:07:51. > :08:03.scream. # Going underground.
:08:04. > :08:10.# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.
:08:11. > :08:17.George Osborne in his heart out he probably sleeps with it on. This
:08:18. > :08:22.Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political
:08:23. > :08:25.calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally
:08:26. > :08:31.going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game
:08:32. > :08:36.changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they
:08:37. > :08:40.will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer
:08:41. > :08:44.but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is
:08:45. > :08:50.receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on
:08:51. > :08:54.his own side, for tax cuts and extra bits spending and he has to spend
:08:55. > :08:57.the next two weeks reminding people of something that has been skewered
:08:58. > :09:06.by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which
:09:07. > :09:10.is twice that of France, supposedly the crisis economy in western Europe
:09:11. > :09:12.or if you accept it will take another parliament again to
:09:13. > :09:16.eliminate this deficit, we are not even halfway through the age of
:09:17. > :09:20.austerity. He is in no position to give anything away. He has to hold
:09:21. > :09:24.the line. Danny Alexander has been useful but this is his real
:09:25. > :09:29.challenge. He is going to give stuff away. When the Autumn Statement
:09:30. > :09:33.comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been
:09:34. > :09:38.talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,
:09:39. > :09:42.talk of moving green levies of the electricity bills, he is going to
:09:43. > :09:45.give stuff away. We will get funding for free school meals that Nick
:09:46. > :09:50.Clegg mentioned in his party conference. The significance of the
:09:51. > :09:54.Autumn Statement is twice a year, a Chancellor stands up and we all look
:09:55. > :09:57.at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's
:09:58. > :10:01.circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don t
:10:02. > :10:04.assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't
:10:05. > :10:09.assume everything is fine in the eurozone. I think what would help
:10:10. > :10:15.the Chancellor is if somebody was able to see some of that humility in
:10:16. > :10:15.public. It is recognised that he was far too triumphalist
:10:16. > :10:22.speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,
:10:23. > :10:23.we have one and you cannot make an economic policy on the cost of
:10:24. > :10:36.living -- we have... Won. economic policy on the cost of
:10:37. > :10:40.people don't seem to learn from Norman Lamont's green shoots. Labour
:10:41. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is no growth, now there is, to say
:10:47. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are
:10:47. > :10:51.not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank
:10:52. > :10:56.is saying it will grow by 2.8%, living standards could start to
:10:57. > :10:59.rise. It does but everybody in a difficult position politically if
:11:00. > :11:03.the economy starts growing, ironically. We need to remind
:11:04. > :11:08.ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.
:11:09. > :11:13.Unless the politicians screw up Unless you have some idiot in
:11:14. > :11:17.charge! It is not a cause for the Morris dance that they seem to be
:11:18. > :11:20.doing, certainly on the Tory side. Osborne is put in a difficult
:11:21. > :11:27.position goes he will have to stop giving stuff away, he cannot push
:11:28. > :11:34.the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth - he
:11:35. > :11:39.will have to start giving stuff away. It puts Labour in a difficult
:11:40. > :11:46.position, it is very unlikely that living standards will match GDP Not
:11:47. > :11:52.since 2003, GDP has been a great indicator. Wages have stagnated for
:11:53. > :11:56.ten years, food has gone up 17% energy has gone up 24%. That is a
:11:57. > :12:02.decade in which everybody has got poorer. The real sweet spot comes
:12:03. > :12:07.when wages start to outstrip inflation. It is a sweet spot and
:12:08. > :12:11.will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy
:12:12. > :12:15.with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the
:12:16. > :12:18.governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.
:12:19. > :12:22.Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%
:12:23. > :12:26.unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,
:12:27. > :12:31.it is the moment when we look at it. Everything was saying he did not
:12:32. > :12:33.want to do that. When do you anticipate wages outstripping
:12:34. > :12:40.inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.
:12:41. > :12:43.Wages and prices are not the sole measure of living standards, there
:12:44. > :12:46.are broader measures which no one seems willing to use.
:12:47. > :12:50.That's all for today. The Daily Politics will be back at tomorrow at
:12:51. > :12:53.midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next
:12:54. > :12:59.week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.