Browse content similar to 06/04/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Morning folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics. | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
Pressure on Culture Secretary Maria Miller mounts as the Tory press | :00:40. | :00:42. | |
Tory voters and even a Tory Minister turn against her. That's our top | :00:43. | :00:47. | |
story. The economic outlook is getting | :00:48. | :00:49. | |
rosier. But Ed Miliband is having none of it. The cost of living | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
crisis is here to stay, says Labour. Shadow Minister Caroline Flint joins | :00:55. | :01:04. | |
us for the Sunday Interview. And we bring you the Sunday Politics | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
Gallery. But which former world leader is behind these paintings of | :01:08. | :01:09. | |
world leaders? new London borough. A blue flint for | :01:10. | :01:22. | |
regeneration or economic Armageddon? And with me as always, the best and | :01:23. | :01:34. | |
the brightest political panel in the business - Janan Ganesh, Helen Lewis | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
and Nick Watt. Their tweets will be as brief as a Cabinet Minister's | :01:39. | :01:39. | |
apology. A frenzy of betting on the Grand | :01:40. | :01:48. | |
National yesterday. But there was one book on which betting was | :01:49. | :01:51. | |
suspended, and that was on the fate of Culture Secretary Maria Miller, | :01:52. | :01:54. | |
now the 2/1 favourite to be forced out the Cabinet. She galloped | :01:55. | :01:57. | |
through her apology to the Commons on Thursday in just 32 seconds. But | :01:58. | :02:01. | |
speed did her no favours. There s been mounting pressure on her to | :02:02. | :02:04. | |
resign ever since, especially from Tories. And this weekend the | :02:05. | :02:07. | |
Chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, | :02:08. | :02:10. | |
Ian Kennedy, said it's time MPs gave away the power to decide how | :02:11. | :02:13. | |
colleagues who break the rules are punished. An inquiry into Maria | :02:14. | :02:28. | |
Miller's expenses claims was launch in 2012, following allegations he | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
claimed ?90,000 to fund a house she lived in part time with her parents. | :02:34. | :02:38. | |
She had designated this her second home. She was referred to the | :02:39. | :02:41. | |
Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, who recommended that | :02:42. | :02:50. | |
she repay ?45,000. But this week the Commons Standards Committee, | :02:51. | :02:53. | |
comprising of MPs from all parties, dismissed the complaint against | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
Maria Miller and ordered her to repay just ?5,800 for inadvertently | :02:58. | :03:06. | |
overclaiming her merge claimants. She was forced to apologise to the | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
Commons for the legalistic way she dealt with the complaints against | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
her. But Tony Gallagher told the Daily Politics on Friday: We got a | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
third call from Craig Oliver who pointed out, she is looking at | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
Leveson and the call is badly timed. I think if you are making a series | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
of telephone calls to a newspaper organisation investigating the | :03:29. | :03:30. | |
conduct of a Cabinet Minister, that comes close | :03:31. | :03:32. | |
After that interview Craig Oliver contacted us, saying there was no | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
threat in anyway over Leveson. I mead it clear at the time. Tony | :03:38. | :03:42. | |
Gallagher is talking rubbish about me, and you can use that. The Daily | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
Telegraph have released a tape of a phone call between Maria Miller s | :03:47. | :03:50. | |
aid, Joanna Hindley, and a reporter investigating her expenses claim. | :03:51. | :03:56. | |
Joanna Hindley said: Maria's obviously been having quite | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
a lot of editor's meetings around Leveson at the moment. So I'm just | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
going to kind of flag up that connection for you to think about. | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
The Prime Minister is sticking by his Culture Secretary, but this | :04:13. | :04:14. | |
weekend's crescendo of criticism of her presents him with a problem and | :04:15. | :04:17. | |
he could be wishing Maria Miller would just fall on her sword. Even | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
over 80% of Tory voters in a Mail on Sunday poll think she should go On | :04:22. | :04:26. | |
the Andrew Marr Show, the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan | :04:27. | :04:33. | |
Smith, defended his colleague. I've known her always to be a reasonable | :04:34. | :04:37. | |
and honest person. But is she doing the Government or her any good by | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
staying in office at the moment do you think? This is a matter the | :04:42. | :04:44. | |
Prime Minister has to take consideration of and she herself. My | :04:45. | :04:49. | |
view generally is I'm supportive of Maria, because if we are not careful | :04:50. | :04:54. | |
we end one a witch-hunt of somebody. And I'm joined now by the | :04:55. | :04:57. | |
Conservative MP, Bob Stewart, and the man in the white suit, former MP | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
and anti-sleaze campaigner Martin Bell. Welcome to you both. Stuart | :05:01. | :05:03. | |
Stuart sturkts let me put this to you, a Conservative MP told this | :05:04. | :05:07. | |
programme, this is a quote, she has handled this appallingly. Downing | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
Street has acted like judge and jury, for Craig Oliver to get | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
involved is disastrous. She's been protected by the whips from the | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
start. What do you say to that? It's not great, is it? The fact of the | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
matter is the question one should ask is, did she deliberately try to | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
make money? Did she deliberately try to obscure ate? The answer is she | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
certainly didn't deliberately try to make money, in the system, which was | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
the old system, and with regard to obscure ago, I wasn't there, but | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
let's put it this way. She was going through a quasi-judicial process and | :05:45. | :05:48. | |
might have ended up in court, so she has a right to defend herself. Hold | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
on o you said she doesn't do it to make money, she remortgaged the | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
house a couple of times to earn more interest to us, the taxpayer, and | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
when interest rates went down she didn't reduce the amount she was | :06:02. | :06:05. | |
charging in expenses. Well, the point is the adjudicator said there | :06:06. | :06:12. | |
was ?45,000 she was owed. And then a committee, Standards Committee, said | :06:13. | :06:16. | |
actually it should be reduced. That was mainly MPs but there are three | :06:17. | :06:19. | |
lay members. Yes, but they don't have the vote. OK, fine, that is | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
where it is wrong and we've got to get it sorted. Let me put another | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
quote from our Conservative MP. He didn't want to be named. None of you | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
do at the moment. I'm being named. But you are backing her. George | :06:34. | :06:38. | |
young in cahoots. He's been leading on the Standards Committee to find | :06:39. | :06:41. | |
her innocent. The Standards Committee is unfit for purpose. I | :06:42. | :06:46. | |
think the Standards Committee should be revisited. I think the system is | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
still evolving. And I think actually we ought to have totally independent | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
judgment on MPs' pay and allowances. We haven't have not got there yet | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
and that is where it is wrong. Martin Bell, have MPs interfered in | :07:02. | :07:06. | |
the Maria Miller process and with the current Standards Commissioner | :07:07. | :07:10. | |
in the same way that they saw off a previous Commissioner they thought | :07:11. | :07:13. | |
was too independent? Andrew it is exactly the same. Yesterday I looked | :07:14. | :07:21. | |
at a diary entry I made for May 2000, I said, dreadful meeting | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
standards and privileges, they are playing party politics. One of them | :07:28. | :07:33. | |
told Elizabeth fill kin to her face the gossip in the tea room was she | :07:34. | :07:39. | |
had gone crazy. Nothing's changed. What this shows is most of all, | :07:40. | :07:42. | |
what's the committee for? If it is just going to rubber stamp what the | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
party wants and its mates, I don't see any point. But it hasn't rubber | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
stamped. It's changed it. Well, it has watered down. That's why we | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
should make it totally independent and it shouldn't be involved in the | :07:58. | :08:04. | |
House of Commons. It is plus plus ca change isn't it? MPs', scandal, and | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
MPs closing ranks for one of their own. Has the Commons learned | :08:10. | :08:16. | |
nothing? And this is after the expenses scandal, where everything | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
was out for everybody to see, you would think MPs would be careful. | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
This is before the expenses scandal. We are looking at an historical | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
event, during your time, Martin not mine. I'm clean on this. You | :08:29. | :08:31. | |
campaigned for him as an independent. I did, he was a good | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
friend of mine. And now you've joined the club. And now you are | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
defending Maria Miller? I'm defending someone who hasn't been | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
proved guilty of anything beyond the fact she was rather slow to come | :08:46. | :08:48. | |
forward with evidence. My point on that, is I understand that. MPs are | :08:49. | :08:53. | |
being lambasted the whole time these days. There were a heck of a lot of | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
them, Martin, who are utterly decent. She didn't try to make | :08:59. | :09:03. | |
money. We've just been through that. I don't think that's right. The jury | :09:04. | :09:06. | |
is out on that. What should have happened in the Miller case, Martin | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
Bell? I don't think there should be a committee on standards. I think | :09:12. | :09:14. | |
the Commissioner should make a report. There has been to be justice | :09:15. | :09:19. | |
for the MP complained against. Then the committee of the whole House can | :09:20. | :09:24. | |
consider it. But we are, the House of Commons, then as now is incapable | :09:25. | :09:29. | |
of regulating itself. That's been proving yet again. She made a | :09:30. | :09:36. | |
perfunctory apology. She threatened and instructed the Standards | :09:37. | :09:39. | |
Commissioner investigating her, and her special adviser linked expenses | :09:40. | :09:45. | |
to Leveson, when trying to stop the Daily Telegraph from publishing I | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
mean, is that the behaviour of a Cabinet Minister? Well, it's | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
probably not the behaviour of someone that's got time on their | :09:54. | :09:56. | |
hands. She's a very busy Cabinet Minister. Well, she had enough time | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
to write lots of letters to the Standards Commission ser. She felt | :10:03. | :10:08. | |
under such threat. She had the time. She had to make the time. Die know | :10:09. | :10:14. | |
the lady is not trying desperately to make money. I disagree but on | :10:15. | :10:17. | |
that. The fact of the matter is this was an old, old system, that | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
we've tried to put right, or the Commons has tried to put right. I | :10:24. | :10:26. | |
agree that MPs shouldn't get involved in this. Should we get rid | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
of this committee? It serves no purpose except to cause trouble The | :10:33. | :10:37. | |
adjudicator has said that and it should be the end of it. It | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
shouldn't come back to the Commons. Although her special adviser | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
threatened them over Leveson she was and is the Minister responsible for | :10:47. | :10:49. | |
trying to introduce something like Leveson and that is something a big | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
chunk that the press doesn't want. She is a target. It has a good | :10:55. | :11:02. | |
record on this issue. It played wit a straight bat. The facts aren't in | :11:03. | :11:07. | |
dispute are they? Will she make it to the next cabinet reshuffle and | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
then go? Iain Duncan Smith said it is a matter for the Prime Minister. | :11:14. | :11:19. | |
In my view, as things stand, I question did she deliberately want | :11:20. | :11:23. | |
to make money? I don't think she did. Should she go? No. Should she | :11:24. | :11:29. | |
be reshuffled? I don't know. Goodness me, you are asking someone | :11:30. | :11:32. | |
who will never be reshuffled, because he will never make it. I was | :11:33. | :11:38. | |
only asking for your opinion, not your ability to do it. This is a | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
problem for Cameron isn't it? It is a problem for Cameron. There is | :11:43. | :11:49. | |
nothing wrong with returning to be badge benches, as you know. Hear, | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
hear. To that. Stick with me. Helen, can she survive? Is I'm going out of | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
the prediction game when I said Clegg is going to win the date, so I | :12:00. | :12:07. | |
owe Janan a tenner on that one. Grant Shapps has supported her. She | :12:08. | :12:14. | |
was ringed by Sir George young and Jeremy Hunt... This is pretty | :12:15. | :12:20. | |
devastating. On past form David Cameron hates having to bounce | :12:21. | :12:23. | |
people out of the cabinet. He will want to keep Maria Miller until the | :12:24. | :12:28. | |
summer reshuffle. This is a question mark on whether she survive this is. | :12:29. | :12:31. | |
This isn't damaging to the Conservative or the Labour Party, it | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
is damaging to everyone. This is catastrophic damage to the entire | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
political establishment. Every single speech that David Cameron and | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
Ed Miliband have given since 20 9, talking about restoring trust, they | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
can wipe them from their computers, because voters are going to look | :12:49. | :12:51. | |
that there and say, this lot haven't learnt anything. They are giving | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
perfunctory apologies and then you have MPs sitting in judgment on MPs | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
and rather than paying back ?45 000, she pays back ?5,800 after MPs have | :13:03. | :13:09. | |
been into it. Damage is huge. Just getting rid of one Cabinet Minister, | :13:10. | :13:13. | |
you will need to do more than that. You will notice that Labour haven't | :13:14. | :13:16. | |
made huge weather of this. No, goodness me, they have their own | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
skeletons. Exactly. The person who has made hay out of this is Nigel | :13:22. | :13:27. | |
Farage, who has not been backwards in coming forward. He doesn't seem | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
to care about skeletons. The Prime Minister has be-Gunby backing her, | :13:32. | :13:35. | |
but that's not popular even with Tory voters. How does he get out of | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
this? This is the problem for him. Five years ago his reaction to the | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
expenses scandal was seen by many Tory backbenchers as excessive. They | :13:46. | :13:51. | |
felt hung out to dry by a man who is independently wealthy. To go from | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
that to making a special exemption to Maria Miller because it is | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
politically suitable is more incendiary and provocative. It is | :14:01. | :14:02. | |
not just upsetting the voters and the Daily Telegraph but a good | :14:03. | :14:05. | |
number of people behind him. I think they will get rid of her. I think | :14:06. | :14:11. | |
the Government, to paraphrase Churchill, will zoo the decent thing | :14:12. | :14:19. | |
after exhausting all options, of the European elections a reshuffle. The | :14:20. | :14:22. | |
culture department has gone from a baulk water in haul to one of the | :14:23. | :14:27. | |
most politically sensational jobs because of its proximity to the | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
Leveson issue. She has to be replaced by someone Lily skillful | :14:32. | :14:43. | |
and substantial. Mr Cameron is not short of smart women? Nikki Morgan, | :14:44. | :14:54. | |
the education department, these are absolutely outstanding women and the | :14:55. | :14:57. | |
problem that the generation elected in 2005, Maria Miller generation, | :14:58. | :15:04. | |
there are some really good people elected in 2010. You are not | :15:05. | :15:12. | |
responsible for hacking into the culture Department's Twitter account | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
last night? I was out at the time! They all say that! One so, Maria | :15:18. | :15:24. | |
Miller is like a modern-day Robin Hood... She robs the poor to help | :15:25. | :15:31. | |
the rich. Which one of us has not embezzled the taxpayer? I reckon it | :15:32. | :15:40. | |
is the lady. You have the perfect cover. We would not know how to | :15:41. | :15:49. | |
would we? You cannot tweet from a mobile device, can you? Play it | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
safe. No, do something dramatic Have lots of pledges. Have just a | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
few pledges. Ah, there must be a Labour policy review reaching its | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
conclusion because everyone has some free advice for the party about its | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
message and the man delivering it. Here's Adam. He is well liked by the | :16:06. | :16:13. | |
public don't quite buy him as a leader. The papers say he is in hock | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
to the unions and the party has a lead in the polls but it is not | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
solid. Bartenders Neil Kinnock. That is what they said Winnie who lost | :16:25. | :16:31. | |
the 1982 election. The whole country deserves better and we will work to | :16:32. | :16:39. | |
ensure that the day will come when with the Labour government, the | :16:40. | :16:42. | |
country will get better. Someone who was there can see some spooky | :16:43. | :16:50. | |
parallels. The important lesson from 1992 is it cannot rest on your | :16:51. | :16:53. | |
laurels and hope for the best, you cannot sit on a lead of seven points | :16:54. | :16:59. | |
because the election narrows that and you cannot rely on the | :17:00. | :17:02. | |
government not getting its act together because the Conservative | :17:03. | :17:05. | |
Party was well funded and organised, the double whammy posters, the tax | :17:06. | :17:10. | |
bombshell, but incredibly effective and the message was unified and they | :17:11. | :17:16. | |
beat us on the campaign. The lesson for Labour today is this lead will | :17:17. | :17:21. | |
evaporate quite possibly over the next few months and we might go into | :17:22. | :17:27. | |
the election behind in the polls. But Ed Miliband is getting | :17:28. | :17:30. | |
conflicting advice about how to avoid 1992 happening. Be bold, be | :17:31. | :17:37. | |
cautious and then, the idea that Labour can squeak into office with | :17:38. | :17:41. | |
just 35% of the vote, which worries some people. Each month, the Labour | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
Party meets around the country and last week, everybody spoke about the | :17:47. | :17:53. | |
dangers of this 35% strategy. They were increasingly unhappy and it is | :17:54. | :17:58. | |
very important that those people around the leader naturally have a | :17:59. | :18:04. | |
duty to protect him and they make sure he gets this message that while | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
there is total support for him, they do want this key year in the run-up | :18:10. | :18:13. | |
to the General Election to be putting out an alternative which we | :18:14. | :18:20. | |
can defend on the doorstep. The doorstep where Neil Kinnock made his | :18:21. | :18:23. | |
concession speech is crammed with Spanish back hackers. The old Labour | :18:24. | :18:32. | |
offices are no a budget hostel. Labour headquarters is down the road | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
and they are putting the finishing touches to a speech Ed Miliband will | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
give this week about the cost of living and I am told he will drop | :18:41. | :18:43. | |
hints about new policies in juicy areas like housing, low pay, growth | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
and devolving power. As for the charge that they are not radical | :18:50. | :18:52. | |
enough, his people say they want to be bold but they have to be credible | :18:53. | :18:58. | |
as well. They say that Labour is more united than it has ever been | :18:59. | :19:02. | |
but there has been some grumbling that the cost of living campaign is | :19:03. | :19:05. | |
not the same as a vision for the country. And that Ed Miliband was | :19:06. | :19:11. | |
not statesman-like enough at Prime Minister's Questions and one figure | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
who sat at the same table in the Neil Kinnock years summed it up like | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
this. Things are OK but it feels like we're playing for the draw | :19:20. | :19:22. | |
Shadow Energy Secretary Caroline Flint joins me now for the Sunday | :19:23. | :19:37. | |
Interview. This 35% victory strategy, it does not sound very | :19:38. | :19:43. | |
ambitious? I am campaigning to win this election with a majority | :19:44. | :19:46. | |
government and everybody else around the table is also. But we want to go | :19:47. | :19:53. | |
to every corner of the country and win votes for Labour and win seats, | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
that is what we are working towards. To avoid last time, the coalition | :19:58. | :20:05. | |
bartering. But that 35% is a victory strategy so are you saying there is | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
no 35% strategy and that no one at the heart of Labour is not arguing | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
for this? We are working to win around the country and to win all of | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
those battle ground seats and we must have a strategy that appeals to | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
a cross-section of the public but within that, that broad group Queen | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
Elizabeth Olympic Park and. You could do that with 35% of the vote? | :20:30. | :20:38. | |
There is lots of polling and everyone looks at this about what we | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
need to do to get seats and we want to have a comprehensive majority at | :20:45. | :20:47. | |
the next election to win to govern this country. Last week, we have | :20:48. | :20:54. | |
been reading reports of splits in the party over policy and on | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
tactics, even strategy. A struggle for control of the General Election | :21:00. | :21:05. | |
manifesto, we are told. What are you arguing over? I said on the | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
committee and just listening to the film before, it is about being | :21:12. | :21:15. | |
radical but also credible and we are talking about evolution and that is | :21:16. | :21:21. | |
an important subject but we are also united and to be honest, in 201 | :21:22. | :21:27. | |
people were writing us off saying we would turn on ourselves and that has | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
not been the case. We are not arguing about the fundamentals, we | :21:32. | :21:35. | |
are discussing the policies that are coming up with different colleagues | :21:36. | :21:40. | |
and talking about how we can make sure they are presented to the | :21:41. | :21:43. | |
public and that is part of a process. That is a discussion, not | :21:44. | :21:49. | |
disagreement. The Financial Times, which is usually pretty fair, | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
reports a battle between Ed Miliband's radical instincts and the | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
more business fiscal conservatism of Ed Balls. What side are you on? I am | :22:00. | :22:05. | |
for radical change, I am for energy and I believe strongly we must be | :22:06. | :22:10. | |
formed the market and people might portray that as anti-business but | :22:11. | :22:16. | |
this is about more competition and transparency and others coming into | :22:17. | :22:19. | |
this market so our policy on this is radical, not excepting the status | :22:20. | :22:26. | |
quo. It is also for business. Opinion polls show that few people | :22:27. | :22:34. | |
regard Ed Miliband as by Minister material -- Prime Minister material. | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
That has been true since he became leader. And in some cases, they have | :22:41. | :22:48. | |
been getting worse. Why is that Opinion polls say certain things | :22:49. | :22:52. | |
about the personalities of leaders, David Cameron is not great either. | :22:53. | :22:56. | |
And they were not great when he was in opposition. At this stage, he was | :22:57. | :23:03. | |
getting 49% as Prime Minister real material and Ed Miliband, 19. - | :23:04. | :23:13. | |
Prime Minister material. When you look at certain questions that the | :23:14. | :23:17. | |
public is asked about who you think you would trust about being fair in | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
terms of policy towards Britain who understands the cost of living | :23:22. | :23:24. | |
crisis, they very much identify with Ed Miliband. We are ahead in the | :23:25. | :23:31. | |
polls. Ed Miliband has made that happen. We have one more | :23:32. | :23:38. | |
councillors, we have been running in by-elections and we have held this | :23:39. | :23:42. | |
government over the barrel over six months on energy prices. That is to | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
do with his leadership. The more that voters save him, the less they | :23:48. | :23:53. | |
seem convinced. In 2011, he had been leader for one year, and only 1 % | :23:54. | :24:00. | |
regarded him as weird, by 2014, that was 41%. Look at that! Look at that | :24:01. | :24:09. | |
weirdness! What people need is to know where the Labour Party stands | :24:10. | :24:12. | |
on fundamental issues. And in those areas, particularly the cost of | :24:13. | :24:18. | |
living and fairness and people being concerned that we are entering into | :24:19. | :24:22. | |
a period where people will be worse for the first time ever at the end | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
of the Parliament, these things are important and Ed Miliband is part of | :24:28. | :24:33. | |
our success. Definitely. I think this is ridiculous, to be fair, he | :24:34. | :24:39. | |
is not a politician that says, I am dying with the Arctic monkeys, I | :24:40. | :24:43. | |
know who is the number one. He did not play that game. -- down. He is | :24:44. | :24:52. | |
not either there to portray himself as someone who was with the | :24:53. | :24:55. | |
children, I know everything about popular culture. His authenticity is | :24:56. | :25:01. | |
the most important thing. People do not think he is authentic, unless | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
they think we were at is authentic. Is it true that his staff applaud | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
him when he comes back after giving even a mediocre speech? I have never | :25:12. | :25:20. | |
heard that. I have never heard about him being applauded. And I am | :25:21. | :25:25. | |
pleased to applaud him with he makes speeches, I have given him a | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
standing ovation. You have to do that because the cameras are | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
rolling! No, he made a good speech. Five minutes without notes. It took | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
a long time to memorise I don't blame him! The cost of living. | :25:40. | :25:44. | |
Focusing on that, it has paid dividends. But inflation is falling | :25:45. | :25:50. | |
and perhaps collapsing, unemployment is falling faster than anybody | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
thought, as we can see. Wages are rising, soon faster than prices | :25:55. | :26:01. | |
Retail sales are booming, people have got money in their pockets | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
Isn't the cost of living crisis narrative running out of steam? I do | :26:07. | :26:12. | |
not think so and I should say that I welcome any sign of positive changes | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
in the economy, if anybody gets a job in Doncaster, I am pleased by | :26:18. | :26:22. | |
the end of this Parliament families will be over ?900 worse off because | :26:23. | :26:27. | |
of tax and benefit changes and the working person is ?1600 worse off | :26:28. | :26:33. | |
and it is the first government since the 1870s where people will be at | :26:34. | :26:38. | |
the end of the Parliament. We believe the government made wrong | :26:39. | :26:42. | |
choices that lead the rich off at the expense of those on middle and | :26:43. | :26:48. | |
lower incomes. -- let the rich. The average family ?794 worse off from | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
tax and benefit changes. That has been backed up. They are those | :26:55. | :27:00. | |
figures. But he has skewed these figures by including the richest, | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
where the fall in tax and the penalty they pay is highest. If you | :27:05. | :27:09. | |
take away the richest, it is nowhere near that figure. Everybody agrees | :27:10. | :27:14. | |
and even the government and knowledges that at the end of their | :27:15. | :27:17. | |
tenure in Parliament, people will be worse off. 350,000 extra people who | :27:18. | :27:24. | |
would desperately like full-time work who are working part-time and 1 | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
million young people unemployed and the reason the cost of living has a | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
residence is people feel that. I was in a supermarket and at Doncaster | :27:34. | :27:37. | |
and someone summed this up, he said I work hard and at the end of the | :27:38. | :27:41. | |
week, beyond paying bills, I have got nothing else. If you take away | :27:42. | :27:49. | |
the top 10% who are losing over ?600,000, the average loss comes | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
down to around ?400, less than half of what you claim. That figure is | :27:56. | :28:02. | |
totally misleading. These are the figures from the IFS. It still | :28:03. | :28:09. | |
shows... Whatever way you shape this, people will still be worse | :28:10. | :28:14. | |
off, families worse off because of these changes to tax and benefits | :28:15. | :28:18. | |
and working people because wages have not kept up with prices. Your | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
energy portfolio, you back the enquiry into the big six companies | :28:25. | :28:29. | |
and you intend to go ahead with the price freeze and reconfigure the | :28:30. | :28:33. | |
market even before it reports. If you win, this is a waste of time? | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
Whilst we have had this process before the announcement, we always | :28:38. | :28:41. | |
feel if it goes that way, there might be areas we have not thought | :28:42. | :28:46. | |
of that the enquiry will also draw attention to that we might want to | :28:47. | :28:51. | |
add on. You are right, our basic reforms for the new regulator, to | :28:52. | :28:54. | |
separate generation supply, we will pursue that. What happens if this | :28:55. | :29:00. | |
report concludes that your plans are not correct? You will still go | :29:01. | :29:06. | |
ahead? I don't think so. Actually, if you look at the report that Ofgem | :29:07. | :29:10. | |
produced, some of the issues Labour has been drawing attention to like | :29:11. | :29:13. | |
vertical integration, they cover that. I was asking about the | :29:14. | :29:20. | |
Competition Commission? The report last week is a result of working | :29:21. | :29:25. | |
together and I think it is clearly accepted in this sector, look at SSE | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
last week, they will separate the business. We are pushing at the open | :29:32. | :29:51. | |
door. It has already pulled out of gas. So it follows if you freeze | :29:52. | :29:55. | |
energy prices across the market it might be the right thing to do but | :29:56. | :29:59. | |
there will be a cost in terms of jobs and investment, correct? Well, | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
I met with SSE last weekand the chief executive and talked about | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
these issues. The jobs changes are partly about them looking at how | :30:08. | :30:11. | |
they could be more efficient as a company. On offshore wind that | :30:12. | :30:15. | |
wasn't really to do with the price freeze. That was more to do with | :30:16. | :30:17. | |
issues around confidence in that area and therefore willing to put | :30:18. | :30:22. | |
the money into it, as well as technical issues as well But | :30:23. | :30:28. | |
there'll be job losses. Is that a price worth paying? We believe the | :30:29. | :30:32. | |
reason we are having a price freeze is these companies have been | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
overcharging customers and haven't been investing in their | :30:37. | :30:39. | |
organisations and making them more efficient. I do not believe a price | :30:40. | :30:44. | |
freeze is linked to job losses. These companies do need to be more | :30:45. | :30:48. | |
efficient. Goal for all of us is realising the fantastic opportunity | :30:49. | :30:52. | |
for more jobs and growth from an energy sector that has certainty | :30:53. | :30:55. | |
going forward. That's what Labour will deliver. Caroline Flint, thank | :30:56. | :30:58. | |
you. It's 1130 and you're watching The | :30:59. | :31:01. | |
Sunday Politics. We say goodbye to viewers in Scotland, who leave us | :31:02. | :31:04. | |
now for Sunday Politics Scotland. Coming up here in | :31:05. | :31:17. | |
Hello. I'm Arif Ansari. Comhng up in the north`west, cracking up. And | :31:18. | :31:24. | |
nobody is laughing on Mersexside after the combined authoritx's first | :31:25. | :31:28. | |
meeting. Whitehall is just touring their hands up and laughing at us, | :31:29. | :31:32. | |
and I'm sure the Manchester authorities are sniggering `ll the | :31:33. | :31:35. | |
way to the bank over this. They could not have had a worse start. In | :31:36. | :31:40. | |
proper working order in our studio, we have Ivan Lewis, the Labour MP | :31:41. | :31:44. | |
for Bury South, and the Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, and | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
Graham Evans, Conservative LP for Weaver Vale. Graham, we will talk | :31:50. | :31:53. | |
about the Merseyside combindd authority, about political | :31:54. | :31:57. | |
cooperation. How difficult hs that in politics? I think it is fairly | :31:58. | :32:02. | |
easy. My experience as a new MP I have always worked really treasure | :32:03. | :32:08. | |
MP, and all the cash MPs, including Merseyside MPs. I find it e`sy to | :32:09. | :32:12. | |
act in the regional interest. Even with a different party? Yes. Ivan, | :32:13. | :32:19. | |
Northern Ireland is all abott relationships and cooperation now. | :32:20. | :32:22. | |
Yes, and putting aside historical differences, feuds, egos, and the | :32:23. | :32:27. | |
kissing on the big picture, jobs, growth, transport and | :32:28. | :32:32. | |
infrastructure. As a Mancunhan, I am reluctant to comment on Merseyside, | :32:33. | :32:38. | |
but I think local authoritids do a remarkable job protecting the | :32:39. | :32:41. | |
communities from Tory lead cuts But it is incredibly important they come | :32:42. | :32:44. | |
together to look at the intdrest of the sub region as a whole, `nd I | :32:45. | :32:47. | |
hope they can put aside these divisions of recent days and focus | :32:48. | :32:50. | |
on the things that matter to the people of Merseyside. Maybe they | :32:51. | :32:55. | |
need to get you in there to give me talking to! On last week's | :32:56. | :33:00. | |
programme, we tell you how Merseyside's combined authority | :33:01. | :33:03. | |
would be for the first time on April Fools' Day. But which of thd six | :33:04. | :33:06. | |
council leaders will be chahring itlast week, I asked the le`der of | :33:07. | :33:13. | |
Knowsley Council about it. That will be decided by democratic process on | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
Tuesday morning. That will be our first item on the agenda. So how | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
well did that go? Not very. Our reporter has more. | :33:24. | :33:28. | |
Take B6 Merseyside council `nd create a single body to provide | :33:29. | :33:32. | |
clear leadership. The plan was simple enough. But that was before | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
the six heads were asked to choose one to represent them. Liverpool | :33:37. | :33:42. | |
mayor and his political allx, second bug macro petered out, weren't even | :33:43. | :33:46. | |
in the room when Phil Davies of the Wirral was appointed the ch`ir of | :33:47. | :33:51. | |
the new regional authority. It was not the start many had hoped for the | :33:52. | :33:55. | |
new combined authority, which met here. And it did not end thdre, | :33:56. | :34:02. | |
because what followed was a public fallout and concern over ex`ctly who | :34:03. | :34:05. | |
would be less involved in this new authority. Joe Anderson, thd leader | :34:06. | :34:11. | |
of the biggest council, clahmed he was banned from becoming ch`ir | :34:12. | :34:15. | |
because the majority felt hd was too big a personality, and Liverpool was | :34:16. | :34:19. | |
too strong, and described it as a missed opportunity, accusing the | :34:20. | :34:23. | |
others up indulging in Toytown politics. Ultimately, a votd is to | :34:24. | :34:29. | |
place, a democratic process occurred, and we have a chahr of the | :34:30. | :34:34. | |
combined authority. If you live in the other authorities in thhs | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
country, whether Sheffield, Leeds all the Northeast, none of the core | :34:39. | :34:43. | |
cities chair them. I think dach leader chose Phil on his merits Be | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
split is being seen as amatdur in. This is bad for investment, both | :34:50. | :34:53. | |
public and private sector. Whitehall is throwing their hands up `nd | :34:54. | :34:57. | |
laughing at us. Be combined authority should be focusing on | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
regional strategies on the dconomy, regeneration and transport, | :35:03. | :35:06. | |
something one group that represents around 170 organisations is quick to | :35:07. | :35:12. | |
point out. We have members who are big national and international | :35:13. | :35:14. | |
organisations, and they feel they are part of a city and a region | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
which is beginning to work very effectively, so they are | :35:20. | :35:23. | |
disappointed. Joe Anderson hs taking legal advice, which he says is about | :35:24. | :35:28. | |
how we extricate ourselves from the process legally and not abott the | :35:29. | :35:32. | |
behaviour of others will stop there was clearly a majority in the room. | :35:33. | :35:36. | |
There were four people who voted for somebody else to be chair, so the | :35:37. | :35:40. | |
decision is made, under the legislation, it is thereford | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
invalid. That has not stoppdd some people asking if we are heading for | :35:45. | :35:47. | |
the end of the combined authority before it has even begun. | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
We are joined from Liverpool by Peter Dowd, the Labour leaddr of | :35:53. | :35:57. | |
Sefton Council. Thank you vdry much for joining us. Perhaps you could | :35:58. | :36:01. | |
begin by explaining what happened, and why you and Joe Anderson were | :36:02. | :36:05. | |
not in the votes to decide who should be chairman. There w`s a | :36:06. | :36:11. | |
meeting at ten o'clock that all the leaders were out, a pre`meeting to | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
go through some business, and we effectively could not get a | :36:16. | :36:18. | |
consensus as to who should be the leader. I left about our past ten. | :36:19. | :36:23. | |
Joe Anderson and I went into a meeting to discuss matters with our | :36:24. | :36:27. | |
chief executives, and by thd time we came out, after 11 o'clock, the | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
decision to appoint the new chair and vice`chair had been madd. One | :36:33. | :36:37. | |
thing we are told by the others in the rumour that the chief Executive | :36:38. | :36:42. | |
of the authority came out and spoke to you and Joe Anderson, and you | :36:43. | :36:46. | |
both said that you were not going to be in that meeting, and that's why | :36:47. | :36:50. | |
she went back, told them th`t, and they decided to press on. Is that | :36:51. | :36:55. | |
true or not? No, that is not what happened. That is not correct. The | :36:56. | :37:01. | |
bottom line is, I turned about the meeting at ten o'clock, with every | :37:02. | :37:05. | |
intention, as is my responshbility, of going to the 11 o'clock leeting, | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
which I did fall is top I arrived slightly later, because of the | :37:11. | :37:14. | |
conversations we were having. What do you make of the leader of Saint | :37:15. | :37:22. | |
Helens Council telling us that the problem is that his ego is `t the | :37:23. | :37:30. | |
centre of all this and otherwise Joe Anderson and's? Identix at that We | :37:31. | :37:35. | |
as leaders have met in one form or another for the past 30 years. There | :37:36. | :37:39. | |
has been a huge amount of cooperation. That is why we are here | :37:40. | :37:43. | |
at the moment. You push this through. I don't think it w`s about | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
that. I believe the status puo was the most appropriate way forward, at | :37:49. | :37:51. | |
least during the transition period. There is no compelling reason why | :37:52. | :37:56. | |
Joe, who chaired the non`st`tutory body, why that shouldn't carry on in | :37:57. | :38:01. | |
the statutory format. You fdlt it was important that he should? Yes. | :38:02. | :38:07. | |
There was a period of continuity for the next 12 months, maybe, while we | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
got everything in place. Thhs is a new statutory body, and it seemed to | :38:12. | :38:17. | |
change course halfway through was inappropriate. In the case of | :38:18. | :38:20. | |
Greater Manchester, they have Lord Peter Smith and Wigan, not from | :38:21. | :38:26. | |
Manchester. This is not Manchester. We are all different in that regard. | :38:27. | :38:33. | |
We came into this body on the 1st of April, and it seemed to me that at | :38:34. | :38:39. | |
this particular point, Mersdyside's situation, that continuity would | :38:40. | :38:42. | |
have been the most appropri`te way forward. It was determined that | :38:43. | :38:45. | |
would not be the case, and we now just move on and get on with the | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
business. Joe Anderson has lade it clear there would be legal `ction, | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
that he is going to get on with the job now. But I would think xou | :38:55. | :38:59. | |
access that this is the worst start to it imaginable? It is a dhfficult | :39:00. | :39:05. | |
start, but at the end of thd day. Politics can be robust, and it can | :39:06. | :39:10. | |
be that way in Merseyside. H think it shows that we are passionate | :39:11. | :39:13. | |
about we want to do and how we want to take things forward, and I would | :39:14. | :39:17. | |
rather be passionate about things than sleepwalking on the job. But | :39:18. | :39:22. | |
you can be passionate withott falling out. In politics, you | :39:23. | :39:29. | |
sometimes fallout. You fallout in every area of occasions, and this | :39:30. | :39:32. | |
has to be put into context `nd perspective. We have worked | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
collaboratively, progressivdly and proactively for many years, and will | :39:38. | :39:40. | |
continue to do so. I don't think this particular incident is a show | :39:41. | :39:46. | |
stopper. Graham, we have halted in Council, that is part of it, partly | :39:47. | :39:52. | |
in your constituency. How sdrious a problem is this? Well, I am very | :39:53. | :39:58. | |
disappointed. He talked abott the politics of it, but what about the | :39:59. | :40:01. | |
economic 's? There is huge potential in Merseyside. The message hs that | :40:02. | :40:06. | |
we can't agree and we are split on the first day. It is about hnward | :40:07. | :40:10. | |
investment. What message dods it send to Chinese investors, bringing | :40:11. | :40:14. | |
investment, jobs and growth to Merseyside? Not the right mdssage. | :40:15. | :40:18. | |
As Ivan said, you only have to look at what has happened and Manchester | :40:19. | :40:22. | |
will stop inward investment and long`term, sustainable growth. That | :40:23. | :40:28. | |
is what we need in Merseyside, in all the boroughs of Merseyshde. Are | :40:29. | :40:32. | |
you certain this is damaging, or will it be brushed off and love on? | :40:33. | :40:38. | |
I am an optimist. I like to think things can be sorted out, and they | :40:39. | :40:42. | |
can get background the tabld to sort out this issue, and I would | :40:43. | :40:45. | |
encourage them to do that as soon as possible. It sends out the wrong | :40:46. | :40:50. | |
message, not just nationallx, but internationally. Ivan, you probably | :40:51. | :40:55. | |
agree. Of course. But we should remember the major challengd facing | :40:56. | :41:00. | |
these leaders, who are doing an excellent job, at least Torx lead | :41:01. | :41:05. | |
cuts from Westminster. We should remember on an occasion likd this | :41:06. | :41:09. | |
that the people we are taught me about a high`calibre people | :41:10. | :41:11. | |
providing really exceptional leadership individual circulstances. | :41:12. | :41:17. | |
They understand better than anyone, and only lectures from outshde, that | :41:18. | :41:20. | |
this was unfortunate. It wotld have been better if it had not h`ppened. | :41:21. | :41:25. | |
We know in terms of the Manchester model, the potential for getting | :41:26. | :41:28. | |
this right, in tins of jobs and growth will stop the cost of living | :41:29. | :41:31. | |
crisis facing people across Merseyside. I would ask my | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
colleagues, and I don't think they need me to tell them, to put the big | :41:37. | :41:40. | |
picture first, and that is the interests of the people of | :41:41. | :41:44. | |
Merseyside, the bread and bttter issues concerning them, and also | :41:45. | :41:48. | |
celebrating the fact that Mdrseyside has recently made significant | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
progress. There is always a Manchester ` Merseyside deb`te. But | :41:53. | :41:57. | |
in Manchester, we are proud of the last 30 years' development. But | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
Merseyside has also recentlx been doing well as well, and that has | :42:02. | :42:04. | |
come from civic leadership. This is not a good example of that, though. | :42:05. | :42:11. | |
Let me go back quickly to Pdter in Liverpool. Peter, what do you make | :42:12. | :42:14. | |
of what Graham was saying, that economic leave this is damaging in | :42:15. | :42:20. | |
terms of investment? I don't think it is damaging at all. I thhnk it | :42:21. | :42:24. | |
amounts to a head`up, and shows you how passionate we are about it. It | :42:25. | :42:28. | |
is partly about economic 's, but in the context of the kicking we are | :42:29. | :42:31. | |
getting from his government in terms of expenditure, this is on the | :42:32. | :42:38. | |
low`end of the Richter scald. Thank you very much for talking to us | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
Now, while the combined authority is proving to be more of a gamble than | :42:45. | :42:47. | |
expected, many of you will have gambled on more traditional sporting | :42:48. | :42:51. | |
event this weekend. But the betting slip is on the way out, and one | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
local MP claims that adverts for online betting or gambling `` are | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
gambling with our children's future. Our reporter has more. | :43:02. | :43:12. | |
It's the biggest betting wedkend of the year, but gambling isn't just a | :43:13. | :43:21. | |
race course feature any mord. It is all about the next goal, thd number | :43:22. | :43:26. | |
of calls, the match goals, the final score. It is now online and on your | :43:27. | :43:33. | |
TV. Last year, there were 1.4 million gambling ads. One in 24 of | :43:34. | :43:39. | |
all adds shown on television. Tory MPs Jake Berry wants to restrict | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
those adverts to after 9pm. Jake, why are you trying to bring in this | :43:45. | :43:49. | |
bill? I am really concerned as in the last decade, the number of | :43:50. | :43:53. | |
opportunities for people to gamble at massively increased. I al | :43:54. | :43:56. | |
concerned about those adverts being shown to people under the age of | :43:57. | :44:03. | |
16. We must act now. This wdek, he launched a bill in the Commons, but | :44:04. | :44:06. | |
faced opposition from some on his own side. My honourable fridnd is a | :44:07. | :44:13. | |
good man, but on this, he is badly misguided. I think this measure is | :44:14. | :44:20. | |
an extension of the nanny state it is a liberal, it is not backed up by | :44:21. | :44:26. | |
the available evidence. How did you get on yesterday? Really good. We | :44:27. | :44:32. | |
had 300 people in altogether. As a youth worker, Nathan feels lany | :44:33. | :44:36. | |
teenagers can be misguided `bout gambling. Same macro the three main | :44:37. | :44:41. | |
areas we struggle with our pal, pornography and gambling. Those are | :44:42. | :44:44. | |
things people have unrestricted access to, even though it is really | :44:45. | :44:48. | |
for over 18 's. If you are constantly being told ending courage | :44:49. | :44:52. | |
to find that behaviour, it hs something that can be quite | :44:53. | :44:53. | |
addictive. Paul is constantly on the lookout | :44:54. | :45:04. | |
for addicts and underage galblers. Protecting his punters and being | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
responsible, he says, is part of the job. We have a strict think 21 | :45:11. | :45:16. | |
policy, the same as in any pub or licensed premises. No under 18 is | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
allowed to enter the premisds, and we regulate in`house and do external | :45:21. | :45:26. | |
checks as well. Gambling restrictions were relaxed bx the | :45:27. | :45:29. | |
Blair government. Gordon Brown dropped the idea of super c`sinos, | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
but kept most of the legisl`tion. This campaign group supports | :45:35. | :45:38. | |
gambling, but not at any prhce. The last Labour government the regular | :45:39. | :45:42. | |
and liberalised gambling to the extent where we are now the Las | :45:43. | :45:49. | |
Vegas of Europe. We have 24`hour advertisements. It is badly wrong. | :45:50. | :45:53. | |
Will rolling some of that b`ck be a safe bet for our children? | :45:54. | :45:59. | |
Ivan, you are formerly the shadow Secretary of State for Culttre, | :46:00. | :46:02. | |
Media and Sport. These support that kind of move? Hundreds of thousands | :46:03. | :46:06. | |
of people will have a fight at on the Grand National safely. But we | :46:07. | :46:14. | |
know gambling ravages peopld lives and has a detrimental effect if out | :46:15. | :46:17. | |
of control. It is getting the balance right between a harlless | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
flutter for some and a terrhble addiction for some. We support | :46:23. | :46:25. | |
giving local authorities, for example, the power to limit the | :46:26. | :46:30. | |
number of gambling shops in any one area. The current government do not | :46:31. | :46:37. | |
support that. We called on the government for a fundamental review | :46:38. | :46:41. | |
of advertising before the w`tershed, because we have major concerns. So | :46:42. | :46:47. | |
you would ban it? No, our position is to have a fundamental review | :46:48. | :46:52. | |
look at the positives and ndgatives. But we are concerned. The government | :46:53. | :46:55. | |
listened to our call for a review, and it is under way at the loment. | :46:56. | :47:03. | |
Why do you think? It is a L`bour Party issue, because it was them who | :47:04. | :47:07. | |
introduced the legislation. There were no gambling machines then, but | :47:08. | :47:14. | |
there were 30000 x 2010. Thdre is already the power to restrict the | :47:15. | :47:17. | |
number of gambling shops on the High Street in place. With regard to Jake | :47:18. | :47:23. | |
Berry's Bill, I agree, thinking that advertising before the watershed is | :47:24. | :47:28. | |
not a good idea, so I support that. You would ban it? Same macro I would | :47:29. | :47:34. | |
restrict it, yes. You don't believe it is the nanny state? No, H think | :47:35. | :47:40. | |
it is like smoking, and also alcohol advertising. On balance, I think | :47:41. | :47:47. | |
Jake Berry is correct. Realistically, he will not get | :47:48. | :47:50. | |
anywhere, because this is a ten minute rule Bill, and they'll lose | :47:51. | :47:53. | |
bail. Should the government take this up? I would think so, xes. If | :47:54. | :47:59. | |
there is evidence it could hnfluence young people and become an | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
addiction, of course we shotld take necessary action. This is the party | :48:05. | :48:08. | |
that relaxed the legislation, so it is very much at their doorstep. | :48:09. | :48:13. | |
First, we suggested that local authorities be able to control the | :48:14. | :48:17. | |
number of betting shops. Thd government would not supporters | :48:18. | :48:22. | |
Second, they were calling for more and more deregulation, not lore | :48:23. | :48:25. | |
legislation, so it is hypocritical for them to try and blame L`bour | :48:26. | :48:31. | |
when they wanted more deregtlation. Local authorities or the have the | :48:32. | :48:38. | |
power to restrict the number of business premises on one High St. | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
Let's leave it there. Now thme for the rest of the week's news. This | :48:43. | :48:50. | |
conservative setback MP Mark Menzies after Loroupe tabloid alleg`tions. | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
The Prime Minister has offered his qualified support. He wants to set | :48:55. | :48:58. | |
out in his own time, and cancer to the allegations, anything wd should | :48:59. | :49:02. | |
give him the chance to do that. Calls for Foreign Office al Parejo | :49:03. | :49:06. | |
housewife imprisoned in Iran for posting critical message on | :49:07. | :49:10. | |
Facebook. She was visiting family, and denies spying. The sun of Arthur | :49:11. | :49:14. | |
Horrocks was among those who paid tribute to lost loved ones `t the | :49:15. | :49:18. | |
inquest into the deaths of 86 football fans at Hillsborough got | :49:19. | :49:20. | |
underway in Warrington. It could take one year. Is the | :49:21. | :49:26. | |
volumes to the regard in whhch at the was held. The TUC wants action, | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
after figures showed as manx as 40% of workers in the north`west are | :49:32. | :49:35. | |
paid less the living wage. Lake District hoteliers gavd the | :49:36. | :49:38. | |
thumbs down to plans for a new 5 million development. Premier Inn | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
must now submit a full planning application. | :49:43. | :49:52. | |
Ivan, the Mark Menzies situ`tion has been quite important. What do you | :49:53. | :50:00. | |
think? Are these really personal matters? I think it's a personal | :50:01. | :50:03. | |
tragedy, and entirely betwedn him and his constituents. Where do you | :50:04. | :50:08. | |
draw the line between a personal issue and an MP's behaviour pushing | :50:09. | :50:14. | |
it into the public realm? I think that is a judgement to be m`de by | :50:15. | :50:19. | |
the people who vote for that person. That is the nature of | :50:20. | :50:22. | |
democracy, a direct relationship between us and our voters, but also | :50:23. | :50:28. | |
the party we stand for, as we stand on a ticket. That is where those | :50:29. | :50:32. | |
issues should be resolved. People have a right to defend themselves. | :50:33. | :50:36. | |
Mark has said many of these allegations are untrue and he wants | :50:37. | :50:40. | |
to contest them. He is entitled to space for that. What do you think | :50:41. | :50:43. | |
should be done, Graham? I essentially agree. It is a latter of | :50:44. | :50:50. | |
the relationship between Mark and his association, but they are | :50:51. | :50:55. | |
allegations, and he wants to clear his name because he disputes a lot | :50:56. | :50:59. | |
of them. Does he need to be able to say some of this is untrue? In the | :51:00. | :51:03. | |
fullness of time, I'm sure that is what will come out. Thank you to | :51:04. | :51:05. | |
both of Dobson. Tim Donovan is back in the | :51:06. | :51:08. | |
chair next week. And with that, back to Andrew. Welcome back and time now | :51:09. | :51:21. | |
to get more from our panel. So they can justify their meagre patents. | :51:22. | :51:28. | |
This cost of living mantra will last all the way until the election. | :51:29. | :51:33. | |
Cannot? Ed Miliband leaves he is onto something and for most of this | :51:34. | :51:37. | |
Parliament, inflation has outstripped wages. That is going to | :51:38. | :51:42. | |
go the other way and wages will rise, to which you say Ed Miliband | :51:43. | :51:48. | |
has nothing to say. He says if you think people are going to feel | :51:49. | :51:52. | |
better in the blink of an eye, you are a Conservative and do not | :51:53. | :51:55. | |
understand the depth of this and he is taking the message from a | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
presidential election in America in 2012 and make Romney was ahead on | :52:00. | :52:05. | |
some of the economic indicators but Barack Obama was ahead on the key | :52:06. | :52:10. | |
one, do you believe this candidate will make your family's life | :52:11. | :52:13. | |
better? The message that Ed Miliband will try to say is the next election | :52:14. | :52:20. | |
is about whose side are you on? And he believes Labour will be on the | :52:21. | :52:23. | |
side of more voters than conservatives. It would be crazy for | :52:24. | :52:27. | |
Labour not to talk about the cost of living because even if wages exceed | :52:28. | :52:33. | |
inflation next year, it is not as if voters will walk around feeling like | :52:34. | :52:36. | |
Imelda Marcos, they will still feel as if they were struggling and not | :52:37. | :52:42. | |
just compared... Retail sales are slowing? That is not the sign of | :52:43. | :52:49. | |
palpable disparity. Circumstances are better than three years ago but | :52:50. | :52:56. | |
not better than five years ago. The Reagan question will still be | :52:57. | :52:59. | |
employed, are you better off than at the last election? But things in | :53:00. | :53:05. | |
America were actually getting worse when he asked that. I covered that | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
election, that is why it resonated and they did get worse. The | :53:11. | :53:15. | |
Ayatollah had quadrupled the price of oil. This is based on things | :53:16. | :53:21. | |
getting relatively better, after a very long wait, so the cost of | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
living critique will have to adapt? It will but it gets out of a very | :53:27. | :53:32. | |
sticky spot and the IFS says wages will not outstrip inflation and by | :53:33. | :53:36. | |
that time they can start talking about other things, plans for the | :53:37. | :53:40. | |
railways and tuition fees and at the moment, everything is up for grabs. | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
Labour know that every time they talk about something they want to | :53:46. | :53:48. | |
do, the question is, how do you pay for it? They can talk about the | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
economy and they don't have substantial things to say. Is it | :53:54. | :53:56. | |
true that Mr Iain Duncan Smith was going to make a major announcement | :53:57. | :54:02. | |
on benefit cheats? Or something to do with that this morning? But he | :54:03. | :54:07. | |
decided against it because of the tobacco over Maria Miller? It would | :54:08. | :54:11. | |
be very odd to go on to The Andrew Marr Show to have a chat and see | :54:12. | :54:17. | |
what he is having for lunch. Patrick went from the Guardian said he was | :54:18. | :54:20. | |
going to set out higher financial penalty phase for providing | :54:21. | :54:24. | |
inaccurate information in claims. This is a bad day to do that, given | :54:25. | :54:30. | |
that MP expenses are treated far more lenient the than any one from | :54:31. | :54:36. | |
Joe public. That would be fascinating, if true. And he is | :54:37. | :54:41. | |
making a very big speech on well for tomorrow and this tweet from Patrick | :54:42. | :54:46. | |
went at the Guardian, he has proper sized on welfare matters and he | :54:47. | :54:50. | |
tends to know what is going on. But it would be deeply unfortunate if | :54:51. | :54:56. | |
that was the message today. How can he make a speech that has anything | :54:57. | :54:59. | |
about cracking down on benefit claimants? Not today but I am not | :55:00. | :55:04. | |
sure tomorrow. Do you get the impression that nobody in both main | :55:05. | :55:11. | |
parties is very confident of winning in 2015? I column last week said the | :55:12. | :55:16. | |
result, the most likely result from one year on is another hung | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
parliament and which government results from that depends on the | :55:21. | :55:25. | |
mathematical specifics of whether the Tories can do a deal as well as | :55:26. | :55:29. | |
Labour, leaving everything in the hands of Nick Clegg or whether one | :55:30. | :55:33. | |
party can do a straightforward deal but I do not detect any sense of | :55:34. | :55:37. | |
exuberance or confidence in either camp. And the Tories are still | :55:38. | :55:43. | |
shooting themselves over losing the boundary commission reforms because | :55:44. | :55:47. | |
that was going to net them 20 seats and they lost that because they | :55:48. | :55:51. | |
messed up the House of Lords reform and there are still furious with | :55:52. | :55:54. | |
themselves. The former US President, George W Bush, has been a busy boy | :55:55. | :55:58. | |
and here at the Sunday Politics we thought you'd like to see the | :55:59. | :56:02. | |
results of his artistic endeavours. Time for the gallery. | :56:03. | :56:06. | |
I was a prize to find myself saying, some of these are not bad! -- | :56:07. | :56:54. | |
surprised. Vladimir Putin? I like the one of Tony Blair but his early | :56:55. | :57:01. | |
ones of dogs, to be in the presence of the master is to see his portrait | :57:02. | :57:06. | |
of a Joanne Love. He is not of the Turner prize but I was surprised. He | :57:07. | :57:11. | |
gets the mask of Vladimir Putin also Tony Blair. I was impressed | :57:12. | :57:17. | |
that he did not allow personal or political grudges to influence his | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
artwork. Jacques Chirac, he comes out of this incredibly well! And | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
Angela Merkel comes out astonishingly well. Quite generous | :57:27. | :57:33. | |
as well. Tony Blair is the best one and the reason is he had the closest | :57:34. | :57:37. | |
relationship with them and he has talked about this portrait, saying | :57:38. | :57:41. | |
he was quite fond of him and you can see that. These are awful, they | :57:42. | :57:47. | |
would not get you an A-level but you must admire him to have the guts to | :57:48. | :57:53. | |
do this, and display them publicly! An A-level? Just doing joined up | :57:54. | :57:59. | |
numbers gets you that these days! What do you do when you retire? This | :58:00. | :58:04. | |
is less embarrassing than some of the other things people have done. | :58:05. | :58:08. | |
As good as Churchill? I don't know... No! Churchill was brilliant! | :58:09. | :58:17. | |
And on that! That's all for today. Tune into BBC Two every day at | :58:18. | :58:20. | |
lunchtime this week for the Daily Politics. And we'll be back at the | :58:21. | :58:23. | |
later time of 2:30pm next Sunday after the London Marathon. Remember, | :58:24. | :58:26. | |
if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics. | :58:27. | :58:33. |