Browse content similar to 11/05/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics, where we're talking | :00:34. | :00:37. | |
about the Europe-wide contest that really matters. No, not Eurovision. | :00:38. | :00:46. | |
The European elections. There are local elections across England too | :00:47. | :00:49. | |
on May 22nd. The party leaders are campaigning ahead of polling day. | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
The results could be a pointer to the Big One, May 2015. We'll be | :00:54. | :00:59. | |
speaking to the man in charge of Labour's election battle plan. Has | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
the opposition really got its sights set on all-out victory in 2015? Or | :01:03. | :01:06. | |
will it just be content with squeaking home? And you can't | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
mention elections these days without talking about the impact of this | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
man, Nigel Farage. I'll be asking him if UKIP really is fit | :01:17. | :01:20. | |
And in the North West. What's the future for AstraZeneca? | :01:21. | :01:25. | |
And: Whetting the appetite for the European elections ` we get a | :01:26. | :01:28. | |
flavour of what's influencing your vote. | :01:29. | :01:29. | |
boroughs. What will make a difference to the way you vote? | :01:30. | :01:37. | |
And I'm joined by three journalists guaranteed to bring a touch of | :01:38. | :01:41. | |
Eurovision glamour to your Sunday morning. With views more | :01:42. | :01:44. | |
controversial than a bearded Austrian drag act and twice the | :01:45. | :01:47. | |
dress sense, it's Nick Watt, Helen Lewis and Janan Ganesh. So you might | :01:48. | :01:57. | |
have thought you've already heard David Cameron promise an in-out | :01:58. | :02:00. | |
referendum on EU membership in 2017 if he's still Prime Minister. Many | :02:01. | :02:07. | |
times. Many, many times. Well he obviously doesn't think you've been | :02:08. | :02:09. | |
listening, because he's been saying it again today. Here he is speaking | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
to the BBC earlier. We will hold a referendum by the end of 2017. It | :02:15. | :02:17. | |
will be a referendum on an in-out basis. Do we stay in a reformed | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
European Union or do we leave? And I've said very clearly that whatever | :02:22. | :02:24. | |
the outcome of the next election, and of course I want an overall | :02:25. | :02:28. | |
majority and I'm hoping and believing I can win an overall | :02:29. | :02:30. | |
majority, that people should be in no doubt I will not become Prime | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
Minister unless I can guarantee that we will hold a referendum. Here's | :02:35. | :02:45. | |
saying there that an overall majority there will definitely be a | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
referendum. If these are the minority position, he won't form a | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
new coalition unless they agree to a referendum, too. The Lib Dems a | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
pulmonary agree to that. They probably will because the Prime | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
ministers have a strong argument which is I gave you a referendum | :03:01. | :03:04. | |
back in 2010 so the least I need is theirs and the Lib Dems are the only | :03:05. | :03:07. | |
party who have stood in recent elections on a clear mandate to hold | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
a referendum, so it is difficult for them to say no, there was | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
interesting the interview he did earlier today. He named everything | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
was going to ask for. The most controversial with him, as he said | :03:20. | :03:25. | |
in his speech last year, he wants to take Britain out of the commitment | :03:26. | :03:30. | |
to make the European Union and ever closer union. That is a very big | :03:31. | :03:34. | |
ask, but the point is, he may well get it because the choice for the | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
European Union now, France and Germany, is a clear wonderful do | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
Britain in or out? Previously, it was can you put up with a British | :03:44. | :03:47. | |
prime ministers being annoying? I think you'll find the answer is they | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
are willing to pay a price but not any price to keep Britain in. In | :03:52. | :03:56. | |
this scenario, Labour would have lost the election again because we | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
are talking the slowly happen if Mr Cameron is the largest party or has | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
an overall majority. Could you then see Labour deciding we had better go | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
along with a referendum, too? I think that's unlikely because as I | :04:11. | :04:12. | |
think that's unlikely because there's a huge upside for that for I | :04:13. | :04:15. | |
think what's interesting is the idea he would for minority government. | :04:16. | :04:19. | |
Would you get confidence and look at other options that might well happen | :04:20. | :04:23. | |
with the way the arithmetic is going or is he going to hold out and say | :04:24. | :04:26. | |
the only way I will be Prime Minister is in a majority | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
Conservative government? No, the implication of his remarks was I | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
wouldn't form a coalition government unless my coalition partners would | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
also agree to vote for a referendum. He's basically talking about is | :04:40. | :04:42. | |
negotiating strategy in those coalition talks. It's a red line and | :04:43. | :04:48. | |
a huge opportunity for the Lib Dems, because they know David Cameron | :04:49. | :04:51. | |
absolutely has to do, for accidental reasons, as a person who survives as | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
Tory leader, to ask for that referendum, so they can ask anything | :04:58. | :05:00. | |
they want in return and if I was Nick Clegg, I would work out in the | :05:01. | :05:04. | |
next year one absolute colossal negotiating demand for those | :05:05. | :05:11. | |
coalition talks. For a party around 10% in the polls, they will do have | :05:12. | :05:14. | |
the Prime Minister over a barrel on this one, assuming that coalition | :05:15. | :05:23. | |
talks goes well. They could make Michael Gove Tbyte meeting. OK, we | :05:24. | :05:29. | |
need to move on. So, the politicians are out and about on what used to be | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
called the stump ahead of local and European elections in less than two | :05:34. | :05:36. | |
weeks' time. But, without wanting to depress you on a damp Sunday | :05:37. | :05:38. | |
morning, the party strategists are already hard at work on their | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
campaign plans for the General Election next May. Yes, it's less | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
than a year to go. They may have taken their time, but Labour's | :05:46. | :05:47. | |
battleplan for 2015 is starting to take shape. As well as take | :05:48. | :05:50. | |
promising to freeze your energy bills, and reintroduce the 50p rate | :05:51. | :05:53. | |
of tax, Ed Miliband now says he wants to intervene in the housing | :05:54. | :05:58. | |
market to keep rents down. There's even talk that the party leadership | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
wants to bring more railway lines into public ownership. And Labour is | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
gambling that its big push on the cost of living will see it through | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
to the general election despite evidence that growth is firmly back. | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
Labour's campaign chief Douglas Alexander hopes it all adds up to | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
victory next May. But so far, the evidence is hitting home very thin. | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
One survey today shows that 56% of people don't think Mr Miliband is up | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
to the job of Prime Minister. As we head towards one of the least | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
predictable general elections in 70 years, has Labour got a message to | :06:34. | :06:39. | |
win seats up and down the country? And Labour's election co-ordinator | :06:40. | :06:41. | |
and Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, joins me now. | :06:42. | :06:49. | |
Welcome to Sunday Politics. A lot of these policies announced polar | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
pretty well. By popular with the country. When you add them together, | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
it's a move to the left and what would be wrong with that? I think is | :06:58. | :07:01. | |
your packet suggests, the contours in the coming campaign are becoming | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
clear. Our judgement is the defining issue of the year in British | :07:08. | :07:10. | |
politics will be the widening gap between the wealth of the country | :07:11. | :07:14. | |
and the finances of ordinary families. We believe it will be a | :07:15. | :07:17. | |
cost of living election and we have been setting out our thinking in | :07:18. | :07:21. | |
relation to energy prices and rent, but you will hear more from Labour | :07:22. | :07:24. | |
Party in the coming months because we're now less than one year away | :07:25. | :07:29. | |
from a decisive moment. If the leftish think tank suggested any of | :07:30. | :07:32. | |
his policies in that Tony Blair years, you would have opposed them. | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
Let's be clear, when not going for an interest but seeking to secure a | :07:39. | :07:43. | |
majority for the only way to do that is not simply to appeal to your | :07:44. | :07:46. | |
base, but to the centre ground. I believe we got genuine opportunities | :07:47. | :07:52. | |
in the next year. You have the Conservatives in a struggle with | :07:53. | :07:55. | |
UKIP on the right of politics. The Lib Dems 9% of trying to find their | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
base, and there's a genuine opportunity in the next year for | :08:00. | :08:03. | |
Labour to dominate the centre ground of politics and secure the majority | :08:04. | :08:06. | |
Labour government we are planning for in the coming year. I notice you | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
didn't deny you wouldn't have opposed. You say you have got an | :08:12. | :08:21. | |
message for aspirational voters in the South. This is what John Denham | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
said. He thinks you're talking too much to your core vote. | :08:28. | :08:37. | |
He is right to recognise we took a terrible beating in 2010. 29%. If | :08:38. | :08:45. | |
you look at what we've done in the last week, for example, the | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
signature policy on rent Ed Miliband announced to launch the campaign, | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
there's now more than 9 million people in the country in the private | :08:54. | :08:58. | |
rented sector, more than 1 million families. Many of them are in the | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
south-east. They are seeing circumstances where, suddenly, | :09:03. | :09:04. | |
landlord will increase the rent and they put the pressure involved in | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
schooling, health care facing the families, so it is important both in | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
terms of policy and in terms of politics that we speak to the whole | :09:15. | :09:16. | |
country, not simply to one part of it falls up what is the average rise | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
in event last year? I don't know. Can you tell me? 1%. 1% not in real | :09:21. | :09:29. | |
terms. I'm not sure what the problem is. It will happen to wages in last | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
year, we are facing circumstances where people will be worse off, up | :09:36. | :09:41. | |
to ?1600 off worse and frankly, if our opponents want to argue that the | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
economy has healed and they deserve a victory lap, good luck to them | :09:48. | :09:50. | |
because actually, what we are hearing from the Buddhist public, | :09:51. | :09:55. | |
not just in the north and south, is not the cost living crisis is | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
continuing and it affects families. There was nothing aspirational about | :10:01. | :10:02. | |
your party election broadcast for the European elections. It looked | :10:03. | :10:07. | |
like crude class war to money people. That's a bit of it. Bedroom | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
tax. Isn't it going to look bad that two thirds of those affected are | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
disabled? Who cares? They can't fight back. Shall be lay-offs and | :10:17. | :10:22. | |
NHS nurses? The National Health Service? Oh yes. Mr Cameron? Who | :10:23. | :10:36. | |
said that? Me. My gosh. The man has shrunk. He's actually shrunk. What | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
shall we do with him? Can we hunt him? Nothing about Europe, Labour | :10:41. | :10:48. | |
policy. News that the Tories would result in negative campaigning and | :10:49. | :10:53. | |
smear. You didn't tell you would be just as bad. Let's start the party | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
broadcast. The one thing guaranteed to have most people reaching for the | :10:58. | :11:03. | |
remote control these days are the words, there now follows a party but | :11:04. | :11:07. | |
the broadcast. I make no apology in the factory to be innovative in how | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
we presented. It's factual. It was a policy -based critic of this | :11:13. | :11:15. | |
government. And the Lib Dems role within it. So you're claiming it's | :11:16. | :11:21. | |
factual to betray the camera and cabinet is not even knowing what the | :11:22. | :11:29. | |
NHS is, -- the Cameron Cabinet. They attack the disabled because they | :11:30. | :11:32. | |
can't fight back. The Pinellas Tanner severely Prime Minister Sun | :11:33. | :11:37. | |
and he was treated during a short life by the NHS. It's a fact many | :11:38. | :11:44. | |
disabled people across the country including in my constituency have | :11:45. | :11:47. | |
been directly affected by the bedroom tax. And ultimately, this | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
Conservative led government, including the Lib Dems, will be held | :11:52. | :11:55. | |
accountable by the politicians. You say that, the Prime Minister, who | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
had a severely disabled son of. I you not ashamed about? I shadowed | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
Iain Duncan Smith of five months also they don't have the excuses of | :12:05. | :12:10. | |
seeing that saying nobody told them the consequences of the bedroom tax. | :12:11. | :12:14. | |
They went into this with their eyes open. They knew about the hardship | :12:15. | :12:19. | |
and difficulty. If they were one-bedroom properties available | :12:20. | :12:21. | |
across the country for people to move into, their argument would be | :12:22. | :12:26. | |
OK but they knew they were dealing with the most vulnerable people. Did | :12:27. | :12:31. | |
you sign off that part of the broadcast? Of course I stand by the | :12:32. | :12:37. | |
fact of it. I wish David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith would apologise to | :12:38. | :12:41. | |
the disabled people of the country and the poorest people for the | :12:42. | :12:44. | |
effects of the bedroom tax. I hope we get that apology between now and | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
election. As someone who thinks integrity is important in politics, | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
not ashamed of this kind of thing? It's important we scrutinise the | :12:56. | :12:58. | |
policies of this government as well as adding a positive agenda for | :12:59. | :13:05. | |
change. You want that you won't promise this is the last time we'll | :13:06. | :13:10. | |
see such a negative press campaign? I don't think it is negative or | :13:11. | :13:13. | |
personal to scrutinise the government. So we'll get more of | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
this? I'm less interested in the background of the cabinet than their | :13:19. | :13:24. | |
views. You call the upper-class twits. It's for the British public | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
to make a judgement in terms of the British... That's how you depicted | :13:28. | :13:31. | |
them. We are held in accountable for the bedroom tax, the NHS, taxation, | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
and our record they have to defend. One reason are so fearful in this | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
election is actually because they know they have a poor record. Let's | :13:43. | :13:46. | |
look at other part of the election campaign. This poster. Particularly | :13:47. | :13:54. | |
digitally doing the rounds. On that shopping basket, can you tell us | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
which items take the full 20% VAT? It's representative of household | :14:01. | :14:03. | |
shopping, which includes items like cleaning products, and we know that | :14:04. | :14:08. | |
food is not that trouble. People don't go to the supermarket and say | :14:09. | :14:17. | |
this is -- vatable. don't go to the supermarket and say | :14:18. | :16:11. | |
your policy. It is the exception rather than the rule to have the | :16:12. | :16:14. | |
position we have at the moment. In Northern Ireland we have seen the | :16:15. | :16:18. | |
continued rise in terms of the rented sector but there is a | :16:19. | :16:22. | |
widespread recognition that for those people in the rented sector, | :16:23. | :16:30. | |
change is necessary. Are you coordinating this campaign? It seems | :16:31. | :16:36. | |
accident prone. This is a party that has set the agenda more effectively | :16:37. | :16:45. | |
than a Conservative party that said when David Cameron was elected he | :16:46. | :16:49. | |
wasn't going to bang on about Europe. The day after the election | :16:50. | :16:57. | |
we expect the Conservative party to be engulfed in crisis. I'm proud of | :16:58. | :17:04. | |
what we talk about and I think there is a clear contrast about a party | :17:05. | :17:07. | |
talking about issues people care about, and a Conservative party | :17:08. | :17:13. | |
talking about exclusively a referendum. Are you in charge of the | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
campaign? I am coordinating the campaign is, yes. The expensive | :17:20. | :17:25. | |
election guru you have hired, has he been involved in any of this? We | :17:26. | :17:30. | |
have started our discussions with him. You are going to have to brief | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
him about British politics because he doesn't know anything about it. I | :17:36. | :17:42. | |
make no apology for hiring him. He has a lot of experience in winning | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
tight elections and that is what we are expecting. If you are expecting | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
us to say, they have passed and we have to hold them accountable, then | :17:55. | :18:01. | |
I am sorry but we have a campaign that holds the Government and the | :18:02. | :18:04. | |
Conservatives to account for what I think is a very hopeless record in | :18:05. | :18:15. | |
government. Thank you. He leads a party with zero MPs but | :18:16. | :18:18. | |
his media presence is huge. He's had an expenses scandal, but the public | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
didn't seem to mind. He's got a privileged background but he's seen | :18:23. | :18:24. | |
as an anti-establishment champion. Nothing seems to stick to him, not | :18:25. | :18:27. | |
even eggs. I speak of course of Nigel Farage. We'll talk to him in a | :18:28. | :18:31. | |
moment, but first Giles has been out on the campaign trail ahead of | :18:32. | :18:34. | |
elections that could make or break the UKIP leader. | :18:35. | :18:37. | |
Nigel Farage likes a stage, and at this stage of the Euro and local | :18:38. | :18:40. | |
election campaign he is, like his party, in buoyant mood. They feel | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
they are on the verge of what they see as causing an earthquake in | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
British politics. Today Nigel is filling thousands seat venues and | :18:51. | :18:55. | |
bigger. Not that there's much sign of that at this press launch. But | :18:56. | :19:03. | |
it's a threat with serious money behind it, that they believe the | :19:04. | :19:06. | |
media and the political elite just haven't realised yet, much less | :19:07. | :19:09. | |
learned how to counter it. Not that it's all been plain sailing. | :19:10. | :19:11. | |
Offensive comments from some candidates has not only seen UKIP | :19:12. | :19:14. | |
labelled as racist, but necessitated a rally by the party to visibly and | :19:15. | :19:20. | |
verbally challenge that. The offensive idiotic statements made by | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
this handful of people have been lifted up and presented to the great | :19:25. | :19:27. | |
British public as if they represent the view of this party, which they | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
do not. They never have and they never will. APPLAUSE | :19:34. | :19:44. | |
I don't care what you call us, but from this moment on, please do not | :19:45. | :19:53. | |
call must trust a racist party. We are not a racist party. | :19:54. | :20:02. | |
The need to say that is not just about the European and local | :20:03. | :20:05. | |
elections even at that campaign launch it's clear UKIP's leader has | :20:06. | :20:08. | |
set his sights firmly on the ultimate prize. I come from the | :20:09. | :20:10. | |
south of England and I would not want to be seen as an opportunist | :20:11. | :20:14. | |
heading to the north, north Norfolk or whatever it will be. I will make | :20:15. | :20:19. | |
my mind up and stand in the general election for somewhere in Kent, East | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
Sussex, Hampshire, somewhere in my home patch. Back at UKIP HQ they are | :20:26. | :20:29. | |
still drilling down how the last fortnight of campaigning should go. | :20:30. | :20:39. | |
They aren't taking any chances, and one imagines having offices above | :20:40. | :20:42. | |
those of Max Clifford is a reminder how fragile built reputations can be | :20:43. | :20:44. | |
of the bubble bursting. They want their reputation to be built on | :20:45. | :20:48. | |
votes and they know anything but significant success on May 22nd and | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
some seats in Westminster in 2015 isn't going to be good enough. And | :20:52. | :20:58. | |
after that, having sold yourselves as the honest outsiders, that stance | :20:59. | :21:01. | |
is harder to maintain once your people are on the inside. And subtle | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
changes from the past are already noticeable. The ordinary man of the | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
people stance is still working. Characteristically outside a pub, | :21:12. | :21:14. | |
Nigel Farage is glad handed by a customer. Two weeks to go, let's | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
cause an upset. Wouldn't that be great? The only sign that such an | :21:21. | :21:25. | |
interaction is different now is the ever presence of bodyguards who | :21:26. | :21:37. | |
shadow his every move. Over lunch ahead of Question Time, a radio | :21:38. | :21:40. | |
appearance, and then off to Scotland, I ask him if some of those | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
minded to vote UKIP who see him as a man they'd be comfortable having a | :21:45. | :21:47. | |
drink with are the sort of people he'd be entirely comfortable sitting | :21:48. | :21:50. | |
down with. Every political party attracts support from across the | :21:51. | :21:52. | |
spectrum and there will be some magnificent people who vote for us | :21:53. | :22:00. | |
and some ne'er-do-wells. The one common thing about UKIP voters is | :22:01. | :22:06. | |
that they are often not very political. And it's that people's | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
army that if UKIP can get to a polling booth might just create that | :22:11. | :22:12. | |
earthquake they want. Nigel Farage joins me now. When you | :22:13. | :22:19. | |
decided not to stand at the new work by election coming said if you lost | :22:20. | :22:22. | |
it that the bubble would have burst. What did you mean by that? I | :22:23. | :22:43. | |
was asked at seven 20p -- at 7:21pm if I would stand, I have decided by | :22:44. | :22:49. | |
the next morning that I would not. I didn't know he was going to resign. | :22:50. | :22:55. | |
You claim only a handful of UKIP candidates have ever said things | :22:56. | :22:59. | |
that are either stupid or offensive, I'm right on that, yes? 0.1%, I'd | :23:00. | :23:08. | |
rather it was non-. But why have you chosen a candidate to fight this | :23:09. | :23:11. | |
by-election that has said many things most people would regard as | :23:12. | :23:18. | |
stupid or offensive? Roger is fighting this for us, someone of 70 | :23:19. | :23:23. | |
years of age who grew up with a strong Christian Bible background, | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
in an age when homosexuality was imprisonable. He had a certain set | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
of views which he maintained for many years which he now says he | :23:33. | :23:36. | |
accepts the world has moved on and he is relaxed about it. The comments | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
about homosexuality are not from the dark ages, they are from two or | :23:43. | :23:49. | |
three years ago. From when he was a Conservative, yes, so will you be | :23:50. | :23:55. | |
asking David Cameron that question? I have never seen a single comment | :23:56. | :23:58. | |
from Roger that would be deemed to be offensive. Do you regard his | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
comments on homosexuality as offensive? When he grew up, | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
homosexuality was illegal in this country. But this was in 2012 but he | :24:10. | :24:19. | |
said that. Most people have his age still feel uncomfortable about it -- | :24:20. | :24:29. | |
of his age. In 2012 he said, if two men can be married, why not three, | :24:30. | :24:37. | |
why not a commune. Many people in this country are disconcerted by the | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
change in the meaning of marriage and in a tolerant society we | :24:42. | :24:44. | |
understand that some people have different views. But he has changed | :24:45. | :24:50. | |
his views now in only two years? He says he is more relaxed about it. | :24:51. | :25:00. | |
Was he your candidate? He is a first-class campaigner who has had | :25:01. | :25:04. | |
30 years in industry, he served in the European Parliament, he is a | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
good candidate. This morning's papers suggest you are about to | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
select Victoria Ayling for Grimsby, but she is on camera saying that, of | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
immigrants, I just want to send a lot back. This is all very | :25:21. | :25:23. | |
interesting, and we can talk about it, all we could talk about the fact | :25:24. | :25:28. | |
that in 12 days we have a European election and every voter across the | :25:29. | :25:33. | |
UK can vote on it and it is really interesting. Are you happy to pick a | :25:34. | :25:39. | |
candidate that says of immigrants, I just want to send a lot back? I have | :25:40. | :25:47. | |
seen the tape, it is a complete misquote and she says it in the | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
context of illegal immigrants. I have seen the full quote and in the | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
context it is not about illegal immigrants. Let's come onto the | :26:00. | :26:04. | |
European campaign, you have used a company that employs Eastern | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
European is to deliver leaflets in London and the Home Counties. Have | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
we? I'm told that in Croydon one branch might have done that. Have | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
you found some indigenous Brits to deliver leaflets in Europe? We have | :26:20. | :26:24. | |
thousands joining the party every month and they are not all | :26:25. | :26:28. | |
indigenous because what is interesting is that in today's | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
opinion polls, UKIP is above the Lib Dems and the Conservatives amongst | :26:35. | :26:45. | |
the indigenous voting. We have not agreed a manifesto for | :26:46. | :27:00. | |
the general election, we will do over the course of the summer. This | :27:01. | :27:08. | |
is in your local election. We are having local elections in some part | :27:09. | :27:11. | |
of the country but we are fighting a European election. It is impossible | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
with the British media to have an intelligent debate on the European | :27:16. | :27:22. | |
question. But as I say, we are also fighting the local elections too. | :27:23. | :27:26. | |
You have promised these tax cuts, how much will they cost? I have met | :27:27. | :27:32. | |
-- read the local election manifesto and it doesn't make those promises. | :27:33. | :27:37. | |
We do talk about local services, we do talk about the need to keep | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
council tax down but we don't talk about income tax. Absolutely not. In | :27:43. | :27:49. | |
local election campaigning you say you would restore cuts to policing, | :27:50. | :27:56. | |
double prison places, restore cuts to front line NHS, spend more on | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
roads, how much would that cost? You are obviously reading different | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
documents to me. We are voting for local councillors in district | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
councils who have got little local budgets. Every party in a manifesto | :28:12. | :28:18. | |
puts his aspirations in it. Have you read it? Of course I have, cover to | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
cover, which is why I'm saying you are misquoting it. By the way, on | :28:25. | :28:31. | |
the bubble bursting, you told that to Norman Smith of the BBC. 75% of | :28:32. | :28:38. | |
British laws are now made in the European Union. Now AstraZeneca is | :28:39. | :28:43. | |
potentially going to be taken over by Pfizer. The BBC is refusing to | :28:44. | :28:48. | |
show the public that that decision cannot be taken here but by an | :28:49. | :28:52. | |
elected European commissioner, and we sit and argue about what is in or | :28:53. | :29:00. | |
not in the local election manifesto. It is my job, but let me come on to | :29:01. | :29:10. | |
AstraZeneca. Is it your view that a British government should stop the | :29:11. | :29:17. | |
takeover of AstraZeneca? It cannot. Can we please get this clear. I sat | :29:18. | :29:26. | |
next to Chuka Umunna the other day at question time and he said what | :29:27. | :29:32. | |
could and couldn't be done. He said I am being studiously neutral, and | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
the reason is we don't have this power. That is what the European | :29:37. | :29:43. | |
elections is about. Should France have the takeover of the food | :29:44. | :29:55. | |
company Danan? We seem to do things to the Nth degree and nobody else | :29:56. | :30:03. | |
does, perhaps because we have this culture and we obey it. In your | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
view, you don't think Pfizer should be able to take over AstraZeneca? | :30:09. | :30:16. | |
There is some good science within AstraZeneca which is in danger of | :30:17. | :30:21. | |
being asset stripped and lost. Because it is run by a Swede and a | :30:22. | :30:27. | |
Frenchman and most of its employees are overseas. I understand that but | :30:28. | :30:33. | |
there are still some good science being produced here. What did you | :30:34. | :30:36. | |
think of the Prime Minister saying he would not form a government after | :30:37. | :30:42. | |
the election unless he was able to have a referendum in 2017? I sat | :30:43. | :30:50. | |
here talking to you and you said to me that David Cameron had given a | :30:51. | :30:55. | |
cast-iron guarantee that if David Cameron becomes Prime Minister he | :30:56. | :30:57. | |
will have a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, but he didn't deliver on | :30:58. | :31:03. | |
that. He knows that people struggle to believe the renegotiation is | :31:04. | :31:08. | |
worth a row of beans. He is saying he will not form a government unless | :31:09. | :31:12. | |
he can go forward with the referendum. I know he is desperately | :31:13. | :31:16. | |
trying to pretend to be Eurosceptic whilst at the same time saying he | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
will campaign for Britain to remain in. In a sense, that is what this | :31:21. | :31:25. | |
election is about. We have three traditional parties, all of whom | :31:26. | :31:28. | |
passionately believe in the continued membership of the European | :31:29. | :31:32. | |
Union and we have UKIP saying we want trade and cooperation but there | :31:33. | :31:36. | |
is a bigger and better world out there. You are now travelling with I | :31:37. | :31:44. | |
think four bodyguards, has this affected you and your family life? I | :31:45. | :31:52. | |
can't stand it. I've always wondered about the place and on my own thing. | :31:53. | :31:56. | |
Sadly we have a couple of organisations out there headed up by | :31:57. | :32:00. | |
senior Labour Party figures who purport to be against fascism and | :32:01. | :32:03. | |
extremism, who received funding from the Department of communities, from | :32:04. | :32:08. | |
the trade unions, who have acted in a violent wait more than once. You | :32:09. | :32:12. | |
are saying the Labour Party is behind the threats? No, I said a | :32:13. | :32:18. | |
taxpayer funded, trade union funded and headed by senior Labour Party | :32:19. | :32:21. | |
figures, and I'm happy for them to come to my meetings and have an | :32:22. | :32:25. | |
itinerant with me, but it's not so much fun when there are banging you | :32:26. | :32:29. | |
over the head. I is still keen to be an MP? Yes, what UKIP will then do | :32:30. | :32:34. | |
is target before the general election next year for the one life | :32:35. | :32:39. | |
be easier if you just went to the Lords? That's the last thing I want | :32:40. | :32:45. | |
to do. There's an awful lot to do. Most of all, I will not rest until | :32:46. | :32:50. | |
we are free from political union and government from Brussels. Nigel | :32:51. | :32:52. | |
Farage, thank you for being with us. It's just gone 11.30am. You're | :32:53. | :32:55. | |
watching the Sunday Politics. We say goodbye to viewers in Scotland, who | :32:56. | :32:58. | |
leave us now for Sunday Politics Scotland. Coming up here in 20 | :32:59. | :33:01. | |
minutes, our panel talks about the big stories of the week. First | :33:02. | :33:02. | |
though, the I'm Arif Ansari. Coming up in the | :33:03. | :33:13. | |
North West. How hungry are you for the European | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
elections? We sample the appetite in this region. | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
Nobody in our house is voting. Not me, not my wife, not my children, | :33:22. | :33:24. | |
nobody. A complete and utter waste of time and energy. | :33:25. | :33:30. | |
I'm joined by three candidates who are a bit more excited. Last week we | :33:31. | :33:33. | |
had Labour, the Conservatives and the Greens, this week Louise Bours | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
for the UK Independence Party and two sitting MEPs ` Nick Griffin of | :33:38. | :33:40. | |
the BNP and the Liberal Democrat Chris Davies. Welcome to you all. | :33:41. | :33:48. | |
And we start with U.S. Drug giant Pfizer's possible hostile takeover | :33:49. | :33:50. | |
of AstraZeneca, which employs around 2,000 people in Cheshire. The | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
American company says all options are open after its ?63 billion bid | :33:56. | :34:06. | |
was rejected. Mr Griffin, what would you do? There has almost been a | :34:07. | :34:14. | |
takeover of a British company and there has been promises made. They | :34:15. | :34:18. | |
are usually broken and it is bad news for Britain. It should be kept | :34:19. | :34:22. | |
within British ownership and I think attention should focus on the real | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
scandal, that when you have the takeover bids, who is a PR man, a | :34:27. | :34:34. | |
personal friend of the Prime Minister, you see these connections | :34:35. | :34:40. | |
between the people ripping off Britain and the corrupt elite. | :34:41. | :34:51. | |
Louise. It is the government's job to protect the British people and | :34:52. | :34:54. | |
they need to protect their jobs. They have a duty to protect their | :34:55. | :35:00. | |
jobs. I think they have to look at that first. That has to be paramount | :35:01. | :35:09. | |
in their mind. Chris Davies? AstraZeneca is losing 2500 jobs in | :35:10. | :35:14. | |
the North West of England. It is a Swedish company. 90% of its 50,000 | :35:15. | :35:19. | |
employees don't work in Britain. This is part of the global system | :35:20. | :35:26. | |
and what is made of stronger is inviting foreign | :35:27. | :35:34. | |
done well out of it. Vince Cable has a difficult decision to make | :35:35. | :37:14. | |
are written on. Are they? The company exports 2% of all UK goods, | :37:15. | :37:16. | |
and if this takeover does happen it will be the largest acquisition of a | :37:17. | :37:19. | |
British company by a foreign business. Pfizer has already run | :37:20. | :37:24. | |
down three of the companies it has bought. Pfizer had been acting in my | :37:25. | :37:31. | |
language like a praying mantis. They have been sucking the lifeblood out | :37:32. | :37:34. | |
of those three units in order to sustain themselves. The Business | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
Secretary is keeping a careful watch on events. In conclusion, I say I | :37:39. | :37:47. | |
want to assure the house we are alive to the national interest | :37:48. | :37:50. | |
considerations here. We see the future of the UK as a knowledge | :37:51. | :37:54. | |
economy, not a tax haven. The bosses of both firms are to be questioned | :37:55. | :37:57. | |
by the Business Select Committee. A get`together which will be carefully | :37:58. | :38:04. | |
watched by MPs from all parties. So Chris Davies, you've talked about | :38:05. | :38:11. | |
the free market, but you also said Vince Cable has a difficult decision | :38:12. | :38:17. | |
to make. He has to weigh up whether this is in the British interest and | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
we don't know. There are American state governors where Pfizer is | :38:24. | :38:29. | |
situated at the moment. They think they will lose jobs in America to | :38:30. | :38:33. | |
Britain and of course at their headquarters is moved here the tax | :38:34. | :38:37. | |
reasons, that does change the orientation. It may not all be bad. | :38:38. | :38:46. | |
Vince Cable talked about serious EU legal constraints. What did he mean | :38:47. | :38:51. | |
by that? The constraints are the ones we have encouraged the EU to | :38:52. | :38:56. | |
adopt, which is to try to break down the barriers to take overs in order | :38:57. | :39:02. | |
to encourage free flow in investment. You are not so keen on | :39:03. | :39:08. | |
the free market? It has been a disaster for British workers. I was | :39:09. | :39:14. | |
in St Helens yesterday and accompany you soon employ 20,000 people, and | :39:15. | :39:20. | |
now it has reduced. To have closed down and the other is going. It is a | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
disaster for British workers. We need a government which invests in | :39:26. | :39:33. | |
companies. The tragedy is that it is no longer in British ownership. It | :39:34. | :39:37. | |
was badly managed under British management because the same | :39:38. | :39:43. | |
workers... Now it is under foreign management? That is a great shame. | :39:44. | :39:51. | |
It is not a great shame in the company is still going. It is better | :39:52. | :39:56. | |
that it is going than closing down. Instead of throwing billions of | :39:57. | :39:59. | |
pounds to corrupt banks the British government should have invested that | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
money in British industry and British workers, so we had those for | :40:04. | :40:09. | |
those workers under our control. You said it was all about protecting | :40:10. | :40:16. | |
British jobs. How will they do it? We have been here before. We've had | :40:17. | :40:20. | |
promises from companies that they will protect jobs. That didn't | :40:21. | :40:26. | |
happen. I live in Cheshire. I know how worried and concerned people | :40:27. | :40:29. | |
were when AstraZeneca move to Cambridgeshire. I've seen what | :40:30. | :40:35. | |
effect that has had on local businesses. The government should | :40:36. | :40:38. | |
look at theirs. They should seek assurances. If this goes ahead, | :40:39. | :40:44. | |
assurances must be given that binding that British workers would | :40:45. | :40:49. | |
lose their jobs. I do not trust Pfizer. I think it is obvious they | :40:50. | :40:54. | |
are a takeover giant and it has to be paramount. British workers. | :40:55. | :41:08. | |
British jobs for British workers. I didn't say that. At the end of the | :41:09. | :41:12. | |
day it affect the local economy. It is not just about the company, it is | :41:13. | :41:19. | |
about everything which surrounds it. Let's move on. Well, the main | :41:20. | :41:26. | |
business for my guests this month is persuading us that we should send | :41:27. | :41:30. | |
them to Brussels. A quick reminder that in North West England we'll be | :41:31. | :41:34. | |
electing eight of the UK's 73 MEPs on May 22nd. We currently have three | :41:35. | :41:37. | |
Conservatives, two from Labour, Chris Davies and Nick Griffin here | :41:38. | :41:40. | |
for the Lib dems and the British National Party, and one for UKIP. | :41:41. | :41:44. | |
But are any of them whetting the appetite of the voters? Elaine | :41:45. | :41:50. | |
Dunkley's been to find out. Here at Bury Market there is plenty | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
of European flavour but is there an appetite for the European politics? | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
Nobody in our house is voting. Not me, not my wife, not my children, | :42:00. | :42:03. | |
nobody. A complete and utter waste of time and energy. Talk of Brussels | :42:04. | :42:07. | |
isn't high on the list but border control and British jobs are. In | :42:08. | :42:13. | |
Britain at this particular time we're not looking after ourselves. | :42:14. | :42:22. | |
It's quite ludicrous in my opinion, the way numbers are flowing in. It's | :42:23. | :42:30. | |
crazy. All people are the same. It doesn't matter where they come from. | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
As long as they can speak English it doesn't really matter. Yannis came | :42:35. | :42:37. | |
to Bury to start a new life after the economic collapse in Greece. He | :42:38. | :42:40. | |
believes the issue of immigration has been high jacked for political | :42:41. | :42:44. | |
gain. I think it's right you can go from one country to the another to | :42:45. | :42:48. | |
start a new life, to learn new things. That's why I cam here. Most | :42:49. | :42:52. | |
of the people that come from other countries are working really hard. | :42:53. | :42:55. | |
We have people here from Poland, Greece and Cyprus and they are very | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
good workers. Over in Burnley, it's Guttentag to good times. Veka, a | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
German company, employs 340 people making PVC frames. Business is | :43:06. | :43:12. | |
booming, links with Europe have created a window of opportunity. | :43:13. | :43:17. | |
Without the backing of our German mother company and the German banks | :43:18. | :43:21. | |
to help us with our finances, we probably wouldn't be here today with | :43:22. | :43:24. | |
what we've got, in terms of a facility which has gone from ?24 | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
million to near a ?68 million turnover. But not everyone agrees | :43:29. | :43:32. | |
that Europe is working in the interest of British business. In | :43:33. | :43:36. | |
Accrington the Cardboard Box company provides packaging for leading UK | :43:37. | :43:42. | |
brands. Owner Peter Street is a member of UKIP. He feels boxed`in by | :43:43. | :43:47. | |
European Policy and wants out. Rules, regulations. The fishing | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
industry has been devastated. Most industries have been hurt by it. | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
Fortunately this one isn't. I had a chemical industry back in the 1980s. | :43:57. | :44:00. | |
I couldn't start that company now with all the rules and regulations. | :44:01. | :44:04. | |
I wouldn't be allowed to. This is a new national centre for Graphene in | :44:05. | :44:07. | |
Manchester, built with ?23 million of European funding, but are we | :44:08. | :44:10. | |
getting out of Europe what were putting in? Of course Manchester | :44:11. | :44:16. | |
will be definitely the centre of this innovative material. It is | :44:17. | :44:23. | |
something which will influence the industry all around Europe and | :44:24. | :44:26. | |
therefore we have to calculate in terms of business opportunities. The | :44:27. | :44:30. | |
European election is one of the largest democratic events in the | :44:31. | :44:37. | |
world. We don't believe in a country called Europe and we won't be part | :44:38. | :44:41. | |
of it. How much we invest in Europe and how much Europe invests in the | :44:42. | :44:45. | |
North West is a key issue. Our membership of the EU gives Britain | :44:46. | :44:49. | |
access to market with 21 million companies. Who are you? We can't | :44:50. | :44:53. | |
have an immigration policy as a member of the European Union because | :44:54. | :44:56. | |
we have an open door to 485 million people. Is it going to get personal? | :44:57. | :45:00. | |
In an uncertain world it is strength in numbers. Now it's the voters who | :45:01. | :45:10. | |
will get their say. Louise Bours, can I get this right? | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
You hate the European Union so much you're desperate to become a | :45:16. | :45:22. | |
European MP. If we didn't have UKIP MPs, a lot of the auger questions | :45:23. | :45:25. | |
and the things at the centre of political debate would not be | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
there. We have made you didn't issue a central issue and if our UKIP MPs | :45:31. | :45:37. | |
went there, that wouldn't have been brought to the British public's | :45:38. | :45:43. | |
attention. I can't think of time it hasn't been to their attention. When | :45:44. | :45:54. | |
you asked people about Europe people don't have a interest in the | :45:55. | :46:01. | |
elections. I think we have inflamed that. Why do you want to be a | :46:02. | :46:07. | |
European MP? We want to get out and the way to get out is to put our | :46:08. | :46:11. | |
message out in the north`west, so people can see what kind of | :46:12. | :46:15. | |
organisation nurses. They can work here in the North West, break the | :46:16. | :46:21. | |
stories and issues that have been shown to be ludicrous and damaging. | :46:22. | :46:28. | |
Nick Griffin, why vote BNP when you can vote UKIP? People are voting | :46:29. | :46:37. | |
overwhelmingly on the image of `` issue of immigration. When 300,000 | :46:38. | :46:49. | |
British people emigrate each year, they would replace them with | :46:50. | :46:56. | |
Africans. If you want 50,000 Asians come in, both Nigel Farage. If you | :46:57. | :47:05. | |
want to shut the door, vote us. What utter nonsense. Our policies are | :47:06. | :47:09. | |
moderate. It is a policy of common sense. You want to pull the | :47:10. | :47:14. | |
drawbridge. We don't. We say if you have the skills, you are welcome. | :47:15. | :47:21. | |
The whole thing is just basically referring the debate on | :47:22. | :47:24. | |
immigration. We want people to come if they can contribute to this | :47:25. | :47:32. | |
economy. What we don't want is uncontrolled mass immigration. The | :47:33. | :47:37. | |
borders need to be controlled. Chris Davies, you describe yourself as the | :47:38. | :47:45. | |
party of in, in what? Ensuring Britain is a key part of the EU. | :47:46. | :47:49. | |
That is for the sake of our jobs and the union. For the promotion of | :47:50. | :47:54. | |
values, like liberty and equality which lie in the heart of the | :47:55. | :47:58. | |
European Union. 28 countries working together in peace, promoting a | :47:59. | :48:03. | |
British agenda. You do accept you on the wrong side of public opinion? I | :48:04. | :48:12. | |
don't agree with that. These two parties are competing for the | :48:13. | :48:14. | |
anti`immigration vote. They are welcome to it. I've heard that man | :48:15. | :48:24. | |
from Greece. I welcome... I welcome, not only my party is | :48:25. | :48:28. | |
standing up for the pro`Europeans but also the pad so many young | :48:29. | :48:33. | |
people from across Europe come to this country. These are part of our | :48:34. | :48:39. | |
future. They're one of the reasons this country... Why aren't you | :48:40. | :48:45. | |
winning the argument? You tell me how many local newspapers have | :48:46. | :48:49. | |
covered this issue other than perhaps scandals about UKIP. Five | :48:50. | :48:56. | |
years ago... That is nothing to do with it. I am looking forward to | :48:57. | :49:03. | |
have an in`out referendum but one of the strongest argument I hear is, | :49:04. | :49:10. | |
how can we have a referendum when all the newspapers are stacked on | :49:11. | :49:14. | |
one side. They're putting oddments over which undermined the | :49:15. | :49:17. | |
credibility of the EU and don't tell the truth. Mr Griffin, have you | :49:18. | :49:24. | |
achieved anything as a European MP? I stop this country Dragon this war | :49:25. | :49:29. | |
in Syria which had nothing to do with us. I was able to go to | :49:30. | :49:38. | |
Damascus. It swayed the boat of another Tory MPs against war to keep | :49:39. | :49:42. | |
us out of that monstrous war. I think that is an achievement. Are | :49:43. | :49:49. | |
you being serious? I yam. People can go on a website and see that. You | :49:50. | :49:55. | |
think they were swayed on the issue of Syria because of you? According | :49:56. | :50:00. | |
to the BBC, they are talked to a number of people, and that the | :50:01. | :50:05. | |
people who were thinking of voting did so in the end because they had a | :50:06. | :50:11. | |
letter from the Syrian parliament expressing their position in terms, | :50:12. | :50:18. | |
which English politicians could understand. Again, utter nonsense. | :50:19. | :50:29. | |
Of course we have policies. They are highlighted in the manifesto. When | :50:30. | :50:32. | |
it comes out of the 20 15th, you will see. Nigel Farage has rubbished | :50:33. | :50:46. | |
your manifesto. That was in 2010. The one the 12015 is in development. | :50:47. | :50:51. | |
We are on the side of public opinion. `` though one for 2015. | :50:52. | :51:09. | |
Time for the rest of the week's news now. Here's Ian Haslam with 60 | :51:10. | :51:14. | |
Seconds. An investigation by BBC North West | :51:15. | :51:17. | |
Tonight found that some people with serious health conditions are | :51:18. | :51:20. | |
waiting up to seven months for their new disability benefits. The cancer | :51:21. | :51:23. | |
charity MacMillan is helping the government reduce delays. | :51:24. | :51:26. | |
A House of Lords report called on the government to speed up | :51:27. | :51:28. | |
production of shale gas. Meanwhile, American scientists found a rise in | :51:29. | :51:31. | |
the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma after fracking began. | :51:32. | :51:36. | |
It was another difficult week for the Co`Op. The former City Minister | :51:37. | :51:39. | |
Lord Myners warned the 160`year`old organisation founded in Rochdale | :51:40. | :51:41. | |
won't survive unless it focuses more on profit. | :51:42. | :51:46. | |
The new Anglican Bishop of Liverpool says he won't shy away from | :51:47. | :51:49. | |
challenging politicians over the impact their policies have on | :51:50. | :51:58. | |
ordinary people. I won't run away from that. I will tell people, have | :51:59. | :52:04. | |
you noticed what is happening on the ground. | :52:05. | :52:07. | |
And work's begun on access roads for the new Runcorn Bridge. The | :52:08. | :52:10. | |
government says the toll crossing will boost the local economy by ?61 | :52:11. | :52:16. | |
million a year. That's almost it from us. Before we | :52:17. | :52:20. | |
go, a reminder that there are a total of 11 parties fielding | :52:21. | :52:23. | |
candidates in the North West. Also fielding a full list of candidates | :52:24. | :52:26. | |
are: An Independence from Europe, the English Democrats, No2EU and the | :52:27. | :52:33. | |
Socialist Equality Party. And for more information on the parties and | :52:34. | :52:36. | |
who's standing for them, you can go to the BBC Website. That's at | :52:37. | :52:44. | |
bbc.co.uk/news/events/vote2014. Next week we'll be focusing on the | :52:45. | :52:48. | |
local elections, which also take place on May 22nd. Just time to | :52:49. | :52:53. | |
thank my guests ` Louise Bours, Nick Griffin and Chris Davies. Now, I'll | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
hand you back to Andrew Neil in London. | :53:00. | :53:05. | |
the website now. Now it is back to you, Andrew. | :53:06. | :53:17. | |
Welcome back, let's go straight to our panel. What did you make of Mr | :53:18. | :53:25. | |
Alexander's defence of the Labour party election broadcast? It is | :53:26. | :53:28. | |
difficult for them because they started by saying they were not | :53:29. | :53:32. | |
going to do negative campaigning and they have thrown that away for an | :53:33. | :53:38. | |
advert which is funny but crude in the class war sense. He didn't look | :53:39. | :53:45. | |
thrilled to be defending it. There is a page in Tony Blair's memoirs | :53:46. | :53:51. | |
talking about negative campaigning, and he says that anything too | :53:52. | :53:54. | |
extreme turns off the average voter so his line of attack on Hague was | :53:55. | :54:06. | |
funny jokes but... I think this failed the Blair test, it was too | :54:07. | :54:11. | |
vicious. If your strategy is to shore up your car vote, that advert | :54:12. | :54:18. | |
was genius. If your strategy is to reach out to a broader number of | :54:19. | :54:25. | |
voters, Middle Britain, then that advert was a complete disaster. It | :54:26. | :54:28. | |
looks like there is a lot of negativity and smears all round in | :54:29. | :54:33. | |
the next year. That definitely looks the way we are going. They will be | :54:34. | :54:51. | |
essentially trying to re-run by -- the American election. I am slightly | :54:52. | :55:03. | |
puzzled why we cannot have our own election gurus who live here and | :55:04. | :55:08. | |
understand the country. I should point out that the ?450 extra VAT | :55:09. | :55:15. | |
that was claimed in that Labour poster, both Ed Balls and the Labour | :55:16. | :55:20. | |
Treasury team have said that is ?450 per year. Nonsense the VAT rise, one | :55:21. | :55:27. | |
year. I should also point out that Nigel Farage said to Norman Smith, | :55:28. | :55:31. | |
the BBC is always reliable Norman Smith that if you run in Newark and | :55:32. | :55:38. | |
lost the bubble would burst. I should also point out that although | :55:39. | :55:43. | |
a number of the tax rises I mentioned on council tax, minimum | :55:44. | :55:47. | |
wage tax and some other things that UKIP wants to cuts, a couple of | :55:48. | :55:53. | |
these are in the local manifesto but several are not. They are on the | :55:54. | :55:56. | |
UKIP website, which is still several are not. They are on the | :55:57. | :56:03. | |
and dated 2014. We like to make sure we are absolutely right. Let's talk | :56:04. | :56:08. | |
about Nick Clegg and Michael Gove and the latest spat. Let me show you | :56:09. | :56:13. | |
this headline in the Observer this morning. From both the Independent, | :56:14. | :56:22. | |
he called him a zealot, lunatic is of -- another word. Do we take this | :56:23. | :56:33. | |
seriously? It hinges on this question of what counts as an area | :56:34. | :56:36. | |
of need in education. question of what counts as an area | :56:37. | :56:41. | |
there are not enough school question of what counts as an area | :56:42. | :58:20. | |
politics of the playground. I read in the Mail on Sunday this morning | :58:21. | :58:31. | |
that some Tory insiders are accusing Lib Dems of spreading rumours about | :58:32. | :58:35. | |
the camera in marriage. The rebuttals of education story is that | :58:36. | :58:43. | |
the free school meals is sucking money away. I always thought they | :58:44. | :58:52. | |
would work together without fuss and yet it has been more the source of | :58:53. | :58:58. | |
disagreement then I would have expected a couple of years ago. Is | :58:59. | :59:04. | |
it serious? It is serious obviously, using that language, but is it fatal | :59:05. | :59:11. | |
for the Coalition? I think it is a road bump because I don't think | :59:12. | :59:13. | |
anybody wants to dissolve the Coalition. It is a challenge for | :59:14. | :59:18. | |
Labour because where do they stand on the free schools? They invented | :59:19. | :59:22. | |
the Academy programme so it is difficult for them to take a | :59:23. | :59:26. | |
hands-off approach at this stage. There was a danger for Michael Gove | :59:27. | :59:30. | |
that he looks ideological but the danger for the Liberal Democrats is | :59:31. | :59:33. | |
that they are breaking the rules for the Coalition they said that they | :59:34. | :59:37. | |
wouldn't break which is that they looked like opposition in | :59:38. | :59:43. | |
government. Is Michael Gove's position safe? Very safe. If he | :59:44. | :59:50. | |
moves in a reshuffle that will be to a a job. That's all for today. The | :59:51. | :59:56. | |
Daily Politics will be back on BBC Two at lunchtime from Tuesday | :59:57. | :59:59. | |
onwards. I'll be back here on BBC One at 11am next week. Remember if | :00:00. | :00:02. | |
it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics. | :00:03. | :00:50. | |
What if the person that killed her... | :00:51. | :00:52. | |
I found out she'd been taking drugs. Just let me explain. | :00:53. | :00:55. | |
You wasn't at that party all night. Yeah, I was. | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
What was she even doing there? Oi, you keep your mouth shut. | :01:00. | :01:01. | |
She was exchanging a significant number of texts and calls | :01:02. | :01:04. | |
with someone in the weeks leading up to her death. | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
It's like we didn't really know her at all. | :01:08. | :01:10. |