:00:36. > :00:40.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:41. > :00:42.Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball
:00:43. > :00:46.Downing Street announces an inquiry and intimidation by unions in
:00:47. > :00:50.industrial disputes. That's our top story.
:00:51. > :00:54.Thousands dead. Hundreds of thousands without homes. Millions
:00:55. > :00:57.affected. What is Britain doing to help the Philippines in the wake of
:00:58. > :01:01.Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask International Development Secretary
:01:02. > :01:04.Justine Greening. Winter is coming and so, it seems,
:01:05. > :01:08.is another crisis in England's hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow
:01:09. > :01:11.And coming up here, should the to
:01:12. > :01:15.And coming up here, should the Assembly have the power to alter the
:01:16. > :01:19.levels of income tax and stamp duty? We'll examine NI21's big ideas and
:01:20. > :01:20.the SDLP's demand for the return of the Civic Forum. Join
:01:21. > :01:23.fatalities on the capital's streets, and renewed calls to get lorries off
:01:24. > :01:37.the roads in peak hours. With me, the best and brightest
:01:38. > :01:39.political panel that money can buy. Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this
:01:40. > :01:44.week, Zoe Williams, who'll be tweeting their thoughts throughout
:01:45. > :01:47.the programme. The Government has announced a
:01:48. > :01:50.review to investigate what the Prime Minister has called "industrial
:01:51. > :02:02.intimidation" by trade union activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair
:02:03. > :02:05.a panel to examine allegations of the kind of tactics that came to
:02:06. > :02:08.light during the Grangemouth dispute, when the Unite union took
:02:09. > :02:14.their protests - replete with a giant rat - outside the family homes
:02:15. > :02:19.of the firms' bosses. Earlier this morning the Cabinet office minister,
:02:20. > :02:24.Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and this is what he had to say. To look
:02:25. > :02:27.at whether the law currently works and see if it is ineffective in
:02:28. > :02:32.preventing the kind of intimidatory activity that was alleged to have
:02:33. > :02:41.taken place around range mouth during the previous disputes --
:02:42. > :02:47.Grangemouth. We make no presumptions at the beginning of this. I do think
:02:48. > :02:51.it is a responsible thing for the government to establish what
:02:52. > :02:55.happened and really do a proper review into whether the law is
:02:56. > :03:02.adequate to meet the needs. That was Francis Maude. This is a purely
:03:03. > :03:06.political move, isn't it? Unite did this a couple of times, it is hardly
:03:07. > :03:09.happening all over the country but the government want to say, we are
:03:10. > :03:17.prepared to investigate Unite properly, Labour isn't. This seemed
:03:18. > :03:23.a lot worse when I thought it was a real rat. I thought it was a giant
:03:24. > :03:26.dead rat. I am not sure if you know much about rats but real rats are
:03:27. > :03:33.not this big, even the ones in London. The thing is, obviously it
:03:34. > :03:38.is naked politics but I think it is more intelligent than it looks. They
:03:39. > :03:44.are trying to taint Miliband as a week union puppet and that doesn't
:03:45. > :03:49.really wash. They hammer away with it and it might wash for some
:03:50. > :03:53.people. But it really castrates Miliband in the important issues he
:03:54. > :03:57.has to tackle. Zero hours, living wage, all of those things in which
:03:58. > :04:03.he needs to be in concert with the unions, and to use their expertise.
:04:04. > :04:16.He is making them absolutely toxic to go anywhere near. It keeps the
:04:17. > :04:19.Unite story alive, have to kill -- particularly since Mr Miller band is
:04:20. > :04:33.under pressure to reopen the investigation into what Unite are up
:04:34. > :04:37.to -- Mr Miliband. They are frustrated, not only at the BBC but
:04:38. > :04:40.the media generally at what they think is a lack of coverage. I see
:04:41. > :04:46.the political rationale from that respect. There is a risk. There are
:04:47. > :04:52.union members who either vote Tory or are open to the idea of voting
:04:53. > :05:04.Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party comes across as too zealous in as --
:05:05. > :05:11.its antipathy, there is an electoral consequence. Ed Miliband has been
:05:12. > :05:17.careful to keep a distance. Yes, they depend on vast amounts of
:05:18. > :05:19.money. When Len McCluskey had a real go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was
:05:20. > :05:23.straight out there with a very strong statement. Essentially Len
:05:24. > :05:28.McCluskey wanted Blairites in the shadow cabinet sacked and Ed
:05:29. > :05:33.Miliband was keen to distance himself or for that is why it is not
:05:34. > :05:38.quite sticking. Another story in the Sunday papers this morning, the Mail
:05:39. > :05:43.on Sunday got hold of some e-mails. When I saw the headline I thought it
:05:44. > :05:49.was a huge cache of e-mails, it turns out to be a couple. They peel
:05:50. > :05:56.away the cover on the relationship between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls,
:05:57. > :06:01.with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts describing what Mr balls is trying
:06:02. > :06:06.with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts to do as a nightmare. How bad are
:06:07. > :06:09.the relations? They are pretty bad and these e-mails confirm the
:06:10. > :06:14.biggest open signal in Westminster, which is that relations are pretty
:06:15. > :06:18.tense, -- open secret. That Ed Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls
:06:19. > :06:23.is acknowledging the economy has grown that Labour needs to admit to
:06:24. > :06:31.past mistakes. The sort of great open signal is confirmed. On a scale
:06:32. > :06:38.of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown was ten. I think it is between six
:06:39. > :06:44.and seven. They occupy this joint suite of offices that George Cameron
:06:45. > :06:48.and -- David Cameron and George Osborne had. It is not just on the
:06:49. > :06:52.economy that there were tensions, there were clearly tensions
:06:53. > :06:57.economy that there were tensions, HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question
:06:58. > :07:00.over it at his conference. There will be more tensions when it comes
:07:01. > :07:05.to the third runway because my information is that Mr balls wants
:07:06. > :07:11.to do it and Ed Miliband almost resigned over it when he was in
:07:12. > :07:13.government. I don't think Ed Miliband is thinking very
:07:14. > :07:19.politically because he has tried live without Ed Balls and that is
:07:20. > :07:23.not tenable either. -- life without. He has defined a way of making it
:07:24. > :07:28.work. That is where Tony Blair had the edge on any modern politician.
:07:29. > :07:32.He didn't want to make Ed Balls his Shadow Chancellor, he had to.
:07:33. > :07:36.Somebody said to him, if you make Ed Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will
:07:37. > :07:45.be the last decision you take as leader of the Labour Party. Is it as
:07:46. > :07:57.bad? I was surprised at how tame the e-mails were. At the FT it is
:07:58. > :08:02.compulsory, one French word per sentence! To call him a nightmare,
:08:03. > :08:07.compared to what they are willing to say in briefings, conversations,
:08:08. > :08:09.bits of frustrations they express verbally come what is documented in
:08:10. > :08:15.the e-mails is actually pretty light. It has been a grim week for
:08:16. > :08:18.the people of the Philippines as they count the cost of the
:08:19. > :08:24.devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived
:08:25. > :08:28.near the worst hit areas - part of Britain's contribution to bring aid
:08:29. > :08:33.to the country. It has been one of the worst natural
:08:34. > :08:35.disasters in the history of the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the
:08:36. > :08:40.country nine days ago, leaving devastation in its wake. The numbers
:08:41. > :08:45.involved are shocking. The official death toll is over 3600 people, with
:08:46. > :08:50.many thousands more unaccounted for. More than half a million people have
:08:51. > :08:54.lost their homes and the UN estimates 11 million have been
:08:55. > :08:58.affected. David Cameron announced on Friday that the UK government is to
:08:59. > :09:05.give an extra ?30 million in aid, taking the total British figure ?250
:09:06. > :09:07.million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft landed yesterday with equipment to
:09:08. > :09:13.help aid workers get too hard to reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on
:09:14. > :09:21.its way and due to arrive next weekend. The British public have
:09:22. > :09:25.once again dipped into their pockets and given generously. They have
:09:26. > :09:28.given more than ?30 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
:09:29. > :09:30.The International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, joins
:09:31. > :09:32.The International Development me now for the Sunday Interview.
:09:33. > :09:37.Good morning, Secretary of State. How much of the ?50 million that the
:09:38. > :09:43.government has allocated has got through so far? All of it has landed
:09:44. > :09:46.on the ground now. HMS Daring has turned up, that will be able to
:09:47. > :09:51.start getting help out to some of those more outlying islands that
:09:52. > :09:56.have been hard to reach. We have seen Save the Children and Oxfam
:09:57. > :10:01.really being able to get aid out on the ground. We have a plane taking
:10:02. > :10:05.off today that will not read just carrying out more equipment to help
:10:06. > :10:11.clear the roads but will also have their staff on board, too. We have
:10:12. > :10:17.?50 million of aid actually on the ground? We instantly chartered
:10:18. > :10:24.flights directly from Dubai where we have preprepared human Terry and
:10:25. > :10:31.supplies, and started humanity work -- humanitarian supplies.
:10:32. > :10:38.A lot of it has now arrived. I think we have done a huge amount so far.
:10:39. > :10:43.We have gone beyond just providing humanitarian supplies, to getting
:10:44. > :10:47.the Royal Air Force involved. They have helped us to get equipment out
:10:48. > :10:52.there quickly. We have HMS Illustrious sailing over there now.
:10:53. > :10:55.Why has that taken so long? It was based in the Gulf and is not going
:10:56. > :10:59.to get there until two weeks after the storm first hit and that is the
:11:00. > :11:03.one ship we have with lots of helicopters. The first decision we
:11:04. > :11:09.took was to make sure we could get the fastest vessel out there that
:11:10. > :11:12.was able to help HMS Daring. HMS Illustrious was just finishing an
:11:13. > :11:16.exercise and planning to start to head back towards the UK. We have
:11:17. > :11:19.exercise and planning to start to said to not do that, and diverted
:11:20. > :11:24.it. Shouldn't it have happened more quickly? We took the decisions as
:11:25. > :11:30.fast as we were able to, you can't just turn a big warship around like
:11:31. > :11:32.the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we took those decisions and that is
:11:33. > :11:38.while it will be taking over from HMS Daring come and that is why HMS
:11:39. > :11:42.Daring is ready there. It will be able to provide key support and
:11:43. > :11:48.expertise that has not been there so far. The US Navy is doing the heavy
:11:49. > :11:53.lifting here. The US Navy had the USS Washington, there is an aircraft
:11:54. > :11:57.carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel and they have the fleet, they are
:11:58. > :12:02.doing the real work. We obviously helping but the Americans are taking
:12:03. > :12:06.the lead. It is a big international effort. Countries like the US and
:12:07. > :12:09.the UK, that have a broader ability to support that goes
:12:10. > :12:16.the UK, that have a broader ability call humanitarian supplies -- have
:12:17. > :12:20.made sure we have brought our logistics knowledge, we have sent
:12:21. > :12:26.out our naval vessels. It shows we are working across government to
:12:27. > :12:33.respond to this crisis. Why does only just over 4% of your aid budget
:12:34. > :12:38.go on emergency disaster and response? A lot depends on what
:12:39. > :12:42.crises hit in any given year. We have done a huge amount, responding
:12:43. > :12:47.to the crisis in Syria, the conflict there and the fact we have 2 million
:12:48. > :12:51.refugees who have fled the country. We are part of an international
:12:52. > :12:56.effort in supporting them. Shouldn't we beginning more money to that
:12:57. > :13:00.rather than some of the other programmes where it is harder to see
:13:01. > :13:06.the results question of if we were to give more money to the refugees,
:13:07. > :13:11.it would be a visible result. We could see an improvement in the
:13:12. > :13:15.lives of children, men and women. What we need to do is alongside that
:13:16. > :13:20.is stop those situations from happening in the first place. A lot
:13:21. > :13:23.of our development spend is helping countries to stay stable. Look at
:13:24. > :13:28.some of the work we are doing in Somalia, much more sensible. Not
:13:29. > :13:34.just from an immigration but there is a threat perspective. There is a
:13:35. > :13:39.lot of terrorism coming from Somalia. You only have to look at
:13:40. > :13:44.Kenya recently to see that. Which is why you talk about what we do with
:13:45. > :13:48.the rest of the spend. It is why it is responsible to work with the
:13:49. > :13:55.government of Somalia. Should we give more, bigger part of the budget
:13:56. > :14:00.to disaster relief or not? I think we get it about right, we have to be
:14:01. > :14:06.flexible and we are. This Philippine relief is on top of the work in
:14:07. > :14:09.Syria. Where can you show me a correlation between us giving aid to
:14:10. > :14:15.some failed nation, or nearly failed nation, and that cutting down on
:14:16. > :14:18.terrorism? If you look at the work we have done in Pakistan, a huge
:14:19. > :14:25.amount of work. Some of it short-term. It is written by
:14:26. > :14:32.terrorism. That is -- ridden by terrorism. That is not going to fix
:14:33. > :14:41.it self in a sense. Look at the work that we do in investing in
:14:42. > :14:49.education. The things that little girls like Malala talk about as
:14:50. > :14:54.being absolutely key. We are ramping up our aid to Pakistan, it will be
:14:55. > :15:00.close to half ?1 billion by the time of the election. Why should British
:15:01. > :15:07.taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion to a country where only 0.5% of
:15:08. > :15:16.people in Pakistan pay income tax, and 70% of their own MPs don't pay
:15:17. > :15:21.income tax. It is a good point and that is why we have been working
:15:22. > :15:30.with their tax revenue authority to help them increase that and push
:15:31. > :15:37.forward the tax reform. You are right, and I have setup a team that
:15:38. > :15:41.will go out and work with many of these countries so they can raise
:15:42. > :15:54.their own revenues. You really think you will raise the amount of tax by
:15:55. > :16:00.sending out the British HRM see? How many troops I we sending out to
:16:01. > :16:07.protect them? They don't need troops. We make sure that we have a
:16:08. > :16:18.duty of care alongside our staff, but we have to respond to any crisis
:16:19. > :16:23.like the Philippines, and alongside other countries we have two work
:16:24. > :16:28.alongside them so that they can reinvest in their own public
:16:29. > :16:34.services. If they can create their own taxes, will we stop paying aid?
:16:35. > :16:40.We need to look at that but the new Pakistan Government has been very
:16:41. > :16:47.clear it is a priority and we will be helping them in pursuing that.
:16:48. > :16:54.Let me show you a picture. Who are these young women? I don't know, I'm
:16:55. > :16:59.sure you are about to tell me. They are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and
:17:00. > :17:06.I'm surprised you don't know because they have only managed to become so
:17:07. > :17:12.famous because your department has financed them to the tune of ?4
:17:13. > :17:15.million. All of the work we do with women on the ground, making sure
:17:16. > :17:22.they have a voice in their local communities, making sure they have
:17:23. > :17:30.some control over what happens to their own bodies in terms of
:17:31. > :17:36.tackling FGM, female genital mutilation... Did you know your
:17:37. > :17:44.department has spent ?4 million on the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I
:17:45. > :17:48.do, and we have to work with girls and show them there is a life ahead
:17:49. > :17:52.of them with opportunity and potential that goes beyond what many
:17:53. > :17:58.of them will experience, which includes early and forced marriage.
:17:59. > :18:09.It is part of the work we do with local communities to change
:18:10. > :18:13.attitudes everything you have just said is immeasurable, and they
:18:14. > :18:18.broadcast on a radio station that doesn't reach most of the country so
:18:19. > :18:26.it cannot have the impact. It only reaches 20 million people and the
:18:27. > :18:33.project has been condemned saying there were serious inefficiencies.
:18:34. > :18:37.That aid report was done a while ago now, and it was talking about the
:18:38. > :18:42.project when it first got going, and a lot of improvements have happened
:18:43. > :18:46.since. I would go back to the point that we are working in very
:18:47. > :18:50.difficult environments where we are trying to get longer term change on
:18:51. > :18:54.the ground and that means working directly with communities but also
:18:55. > :19:00.investing for the long-term, investing in some of these girls
:19:01. > :19:06.start changing attitudes in them and their communities. Why does the
:19:07. > :19:18.British taxpayers spend ?5 million on a Bangladesh version of Question
:19:19. > :19:24.Time? We work with the BBC to make sure we can get accountabilities...
:19:25. > :19:44.That is bigger then the BBC Question Time Normal -- budget. That includes
:19:45. > :19:51.the cost of David Dimbleby's tattoo! We are working to improve
:19:52. > :19:55.people's prospects but also we are working to improve their ability to
:19:56. > :19:58.hold their governments to account so that when they are not getting
:19:59. > :20:02.services on the ground, they have ways they can raise those concerns
:20:03. > :20:08.services on the ground, they have with the people who are there to
:20:09. > :20:12.deliver services for them. In your own personal view, should the next
:20:13. > :20:18.Conservative Government, if there is one, should you continue to ring
:20:19. > :20:23.fence spending on foreign aid? But it is critical that if we are going
:20:24. > :20:28.to spend 7.7% of our national income, we should make sure it is in
:20:29. > :20:33.our national interest and that means having a clear approach to
:20:34. > :20:38.humanitarian responses, in keeping the country safe, and a clearer
:20:39. > :20:43.approach on helping drive economic development and jobs so there is a
:20:44. > :20:50.long-term end of the dependency. Do you believe in an shrine in the
:20:51. > :20:54.percentage of our GDP that goes on foreign aid in law? Yes, and
:20:55. > :21:01.percentage of our GDP that goes on a coalition agreement. There have
:21:02. > :21:06.been a lot of agreements that you are sceptical about ring fencing. We
:21:07. > :21:16.are focused on shaking up the economy and improving our public
:21:17. > :21:25.finances. Why haven't you done that? At the end of the day we will be
:21:26. > :21:32.accountable but we are committed to doing that. You are running out of
:21:33. > :21:37.time, will you do it? I hope we can find the Parliamentary time, but
:21:38. > :21:45.even if we don't, we have acted as if that law is in place and we have
:21:46. > :21:47.already met 0.7% commitment. If you are British voter that doesn't
:21:48. > :21:53.already met 0.7% commitment. If you believe that we should enshrine that
:21:54. > :21:57.in by law, which means that with a growing economy foreign aid will
:21:58. > :22:01.rise by definition, and if you think we should be spending less money on
:22:02. > :22:09.the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom should you wrote in the next
:22:10. > :22:15.election? I think we have a very sensible approach. I don't know what
:22:16. > :22:21.the various party manifestoes... The only party who thinks we shouldn't
:22:22. > :22:31.be doing this is UKIP. I think you have to look at the response to both
:22:32. > :22:38.the Philippines crisis and Children In Need. Of all the steps we are
:22:39. > :22:44.taking to get the country back on track, it shows the British people
:22:45. > :22:52.will respond to need when they need it and it is one of the things that
:22:53. > :22:55.makes Britain's special. Thank you. "It's always winter but
:22:56. > :22:57.never Christmas" - that's how doctors describe life inside
:22:58. > :23:00.accident and emergency. The College of Emergency Medicine have warned
:23:01. > :23:04.that this year could bring the "worst crisis on record". If that
:23:05. > :23:07.dire prediction comes, expect a spring of political recriminations,
:23:08. > :23:11.but how prepared are the NHS in England? And what do they make of
:23:12. > :23:19.this autumnal speculation? Giles has been to Leeds to find out.
:23:20. > :23:25.This winter has already come to our hospitals. It had an official start
:23:26. > :23:33.date, November the 3rd. That is when weekly updates are delivered to the
:23:34. > :23:39.NHS's most senior planners, alerting them to any sudden changes in
:23:40. > :23:47.patient numbers coming in. Where do they numbers register most then
:23:48. > :23:51.A They are the barometer for what is going on everywhere else, and
:23:52. > :23:56.they are the pressure point, so if the system is beginning to struggle
:23:57. > :24:03.then it is in the A department that we see the problems. It is not
:24:04. > :24:09.that the problems are the A departments, but they are the place
:24:10. > :24:14.where it all comes together. Plans to tackle those problems start being
:24:15. > :24:23.drawn up in May and they look at trends, even taking notice of any
:24:24. > :24:33.flu epidemics in New Zealand. They also look at the amount of bets. But
:24:34. > :24:37.the weather, economic realities, structural reforms, and changes to
:24:38. > :24:42.the general health of the population, are all factors they
:24:43. > :24:46.have to consider. We get huge amounts of information through the
:24:47. > :24:51.winter in order to help the NHS be the best it can be, but we had to
:24:52. > :24:56.redouble our efforts this year because we expected to be a
:24:57. > :25:03.difficult winter. We know the NHS is stretched so we are working hard to
:25:04. > :25:10.be as good as we can be. That means they are looking at winter staffing
:25:11. > :25:14.levels, plans to ask for help from neighbouring hospitals, and
:25:15. > :25:20.dovetailing help with GP surgeries, and still having the ability to move
:25:21. > :25:26.up an extra gear, a rehearsed emergency plan if the NHS had to
:25:27. > :25:30.face a major disease pandemic. You spend any time in any of our
:25:31. > :25:35.hospitals and you realise the NHS knows that winter is coming and they
:25:36. > :25:39.are making plans, but you also get a palpable feeling amongst health
:25:40. > :25:46.workers across the entire system that they do get fed up of being
:25:47. > :25:49.used as a political football. Doctors and all health care
:25:50. > :25:55.professionals are frustrated about the politics that surrounds the NHS
:25:56. > :25:58.in health care. They go to work to treat patients as best as they can,
:25:59. > :26:05.and the political knock-about does not help anyone. I find it
:26:06. > :26:09.frustrating when there is a commentary that suggests the NHS
:26:10. > :26:16.does not planned, when it is surprised by winter, and wherever
:26:17. > :26:22.that comes from it is hard to take, knowing how much we do nationally
:26:23. > :26:31.and how much our hard working front line staff are doing. When the
:26:32. > :26:36.Coalition have recently tried to open up the NHS to be a more
:26:37. > :26:43.independent body, it is clear the NHS feel they have had an unhealthy
:26:44. > :26:48.dose of political wrangling between parties on policy. The NHS is not
:26:49. > :26:53.infallible or making any guarantees, but they seem confident that they
:26:54. > :26:56.and their patients can survive the winter.
:26:57. > :27:04.Joining me now from Salford in the Shadow Health Secretary, Andy
:27:05. > :27:09.Burnham. Tell me this, if you were health secretary now, you just took
:27:10. > :27:19.over in an emergency election, what would you do to avoid another winter
:27:20. > :27:25.crisis? I would immediately halt the closure of NHS walk-in centres. We
:27:26. > :27:30.heard this week that around one in four walk-in centres are closed so
:27:31. > :27:35.it makes no sense whatsoever for the Government to allow the continued
:27:36. > :27:40.closure of them. I would put nurses back on the end of phones and
:27:41. > :27:47.restore an NHS direct style service. The new 111 service is not in a
:27:48. > :27:54.position to provide help to people this winter. I think the time has
:27:55. > :27:57.come to rethink how the NHS care is particularly for older
:27:58. > :28:00.come to rethink how the NHS care is propose the full integration of
:28:01. > :28:06.health and social care. It cannot make any sense any more to have this
:28:07. > :28:10.approach where we cut social care and let elderly people drift to
:28:11. > :28:19.hospitals in greater numbers. We have two rethink it as a whole
:28:20. > :28:23.service. So you would repeal some of the Tory reforms and move
:28:24. > :28:29.commissioning to local authorities so the NHS should brace itself for
:28:30. > :28:33.another major top-down health reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew
:28:34. > :28:45.Lansley I will work with the organisations ie inherit. He could
:28:46. > :28:50.work with primary care trusts but he turned it upside down when it needed
:28:51. > :29:04.stability. I will not do that but I will repeal the health and social
:29:05. > :29:08.care act because last week we heard that hospitals and health services
:29:09. > :29:12.cannot get on and make sensible merger collaborations because of
:29:13. > :29:18.this nonsense now that the NHS is bound by competition law. Let me get
:29:19. > :29:22.your views on a number of ideas that have been floated either by the
:29:23. > :29:32.press or the Coalition. We haven't got much time. Do you welcome the
:29:33. > :29:40.plan to bring back named GPs for over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder
:29:41. > :29:42.to get the GP appointment under this Government because David
:29:43. > :29:47.to get the GP appointment under this scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that
:29:48. > :29:51.Tony Blair brought in. He was challenged in the 2005 election
:29:52. > :29:55.about the difficulty of getting a GP appointment, and Tony Blair brought
:29:56. > :30:02.in the commitment that people should be able to get that within 48
:30:03. > :30:06.hours. That has now been scrapped. Do you welcome the idea of allowing
:30:07. > :30:14.everyone to choose their own GP surgery even if it is not in our
:30:15. > :30:19.traditional catchment area? I proposed that just before the last
:30:20. > :30:23.election, so yes. Do you welcome the idea of how a practice is being
:30:24. > :30:31.rated being a matter of public record, and of us knowing how much,
:30:32. > :30:32.at least from the NHS, our GP earns? Of course, every political party
:30:33. > :30:36.supports transparency in Of course, every political party
:30:37. > :30:41.More information for the public of that kind is a good thing. Do you
:30:42. > :30:48.welcome this plan to make it will form the collect in an NHS hospital
:30:49. > :30:53.-- make wilful neglect a criminal offence. It is important to say you
:30:54. > :30:57.can't pick and mix these recommendations, you can't say we
:30:58. > :31:01.will have that one and not the others. It was a balanced package
:31:02. > :31:05.that Sir Robert Francis put forward. My message is that it must be
:31:06. > :31:10.permitted in full. If we are to learn the lessons, the whole package
:31:11. > :31:14.must be addressed, and that includes safe staffing levels across the NHS.
:31:15. > :31:19.Staff have a responsible to two patients at the government also has
:31:20. > :31:26.responsible at T2 NHS staff and it should not let them work in
:31:27. > :31:42.understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a responsibility to NHS staff. Is
:31:43. > :31:47.there a part of the 2004 agreements that you regret and should be
:31:48. > :31:51.undone? A lot of myths have been built up about the contract. When it
:31:52. > :31:57.came in, there was a huge shortage of GPs across the country. Some
:31:58. > :32:03.communities struggle to recruit. This myth that the government have
:32:04. > :32:08.built, that the 2004 GP contract is responsible for the AM decries is,
:32:09. > :32:16.it is spin of the worst possible kind -- the A crisis. You would
:32:17. > :32:18.redo that contract? It was redone under our time in government and
:32:19. > :32:23.change to make it better under our time in government and
:32:24. > :32:25.money. GPs should be focused on improving the health of their
:32:26. > :32:32.patients and that is a very good principle. Not so great if you can't
:32:33. > :32:37.get 24-hour access. I agree with that. We brought in evening and
:32:38. > :32:41.weekend opening for GPs. That is another thing that has gone in
:32:42. > :32:45.reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much harder to get a GP appointment under
:32:46. > :32:55.him and that is one of the reasons why A is an oppressor. -- under
:32:56. > :33:00.pressure. What do you make of the review into intimidatory tactics by
:33:01. > :33:05.unions? If there has been intimidation, it is unacceptable,
:33:06. > :33:09.and that should apply to unions as well as employers. Was Unite wrong
:33:10. > :33:15.to turn up and demonstrate? I don't well as employers. Was Unite wrong
:33:16. > :33:18.know the details, this review will look into that presumably. I need
:33:19. > :33:23.reassurance that this is not a pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on
:33:24. > :33:28.the designed to appear near the election -- that this is not a
:33:29. > :33:42.political call. Are you sponsored by unite? No. Do you get any money from
:33:43. > :33:49.Unite? No. What have you done wrong? It seems others are getting money
:33:50. > :33:53.from Unite. Can I tell you what I think is the scandal of British
:33:54. > :33:57.party political funding, two health care companies have given ?1.5
:33:58. > :34:04.million in donations to the Tory party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS
:34:05. > :34:10.contracts. I wonder why you don't spend much time talking about that
:34:11. > :34:18.and obsess over trade union funding. We are happy to talk about that. We
:34:19. > :34:22.see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls
:34:23. > :34:27.as a bit of a nightmare, do you see a bit of a nightmare about him as
:34:28. > :34:31.well? I don't at all, he is a very good friend. I can't believe that
:34:32. > :34:36.you are talking about those e-mails on a national political programme.
:34:37. > :34:40.My goodness, you obviously scraping the barrel today. I have been in
:34:41. > :34:45.front-line labour politics for 20 years. I can't remember the front
:34:46. > :34:48.bench and the wider party being as united as it is today and it is a
:34:49. > :34:53.great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. We are going into a general
:34:54. > :34:58.election and we are going to get rid of a pretty disastrous coalition
:34:59. > :34:58.government. It was worth spending a few seconds
:34:59. > :35:02.government. It was worth spending a having nightmares. Thank you for
:35:03. > :35:05.joining me. It's just gone 11:30am. You're
:35:06. > :35:08.watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be
:35:09. > :35:16.talking to the MP accused of using his
:35:17. > :35:20.Hello, and welcome to Sunday Politics in Northern Ireland. It's
:35:21. > :35:24.the newest party on the block, but can NI21 deliver realistic
:35:25. > :35:33.alternatives? Its leader Basil McCrea says Stormont should be given
:35:34. > :35:35.more tax powers. It will increase accountability, it will make a
:35:36. > :35:40.greater propensity for local parties to work together, it will make them
:35:41. > :35:43.more accountable and I think it will make for better government.
:35:44. > :35:47.Also up for discussion today - its last incarnation was in 2002, but
:35:48. > :35:54.now the SDLP wants to see a return of the Civic Forum. Alex Attwood
:35:55. > :35:58.will be telling me why. The economy is starting to grow, but when will
:35:59. > :36:05.people's standard of living increase? We'll be asking if we're
:36:06. > :36:09.finally beginning to emerge from the economic downturn. And to discuss
:36:10. > :36:11.all of that and more, I'm joined by the political correspondent of the
:36:12. > :36:14.News Letter, Sam McBride, and the University of Ulster's Dr Cathy
:36:15. > :36:17.Gormley-Heenan. The party political conference season is well and truly
:36:18. > :36:22.upon us. Yesterday it was the turn of the newest party here, NI21. Its
:36:23. > :36:24.leader, Basil McCrea, wants Westminster to allow local
:36:25. > :36:28.politicians the authority to raise or reduce the levels of income tax
:36:29. > :36:31.and stamp duty. He set up the party this year, along with John
:36:32. > :36:34.McCallister, after the two men left the Ulster Unionist Party. Stephen
:36:35. > :36:42.Walker went along to the party's inaugural conference for Sunday
:36:43. > :36:49.Politics. Outside Belfast's Europe Hotel, NI21 show their colours.
:36:50. > :36:55.Inside they claimed to have found a new political formula. This marks
:36:56. > :36:59.the first opportunity for NI21 to map out in detail some of their
:37:00. > :37:03.policies. But what do their activists and supporters make of
:37:04. > :37:10.their plans, in particular the idea that the Executive could control
:37:11. > :37:15.levels of income tax? I think it is an aspiration. If we want to grow up
:37:16. > :37:24.as a party and the country, we should be looking at saying we need
:37:25. > :37:26.responsibility for ourselves. I am happy in my income tax that I am
:37:27. > :37:35.contributing, it involves local people. Income tax is where the
:37:36. > :37:40.finances come from, and if you control how you tax people, the more
:37:41. > :37:45.power that comes to Stormont the better and the more effective
:37:46. > :37:50.parliament can be. Basil McCrea believes greater fiscal powers will
:37:51. > :37:54.make devolution stronger. It will increase accountability, it will
:37:55. > :37:58.help Northern Ireland parties to work together, and I think it will
:37:59. > :38:03.make for better government. What do the Business Committee think? We
:38:04. > :38:11.need to be cautious in the steps we take in that. We have been at the
:38:12. > :38:14.forefront of the devolution of corporation tax. If you go into more
:38:15. > :38:19.broad measures such as income tax, it requires a lot more to be done
:38:20. > :38:24.before we can be sure where that path will go. Other policies
:38:25. > :38:27.included an official opposition at Stormont and the First and Deputy
:38:28. > :38:33.First Minister becoming Stormont and the First and Deputy
:38:34. > :38:37.ministers. Peter and Martin are joined. One cannot order a fish
:38:38. > :38:45.supper without the other one. Let's call it what it is, a joint office.
:38:46. > :38:49.So how should we now view NI21? You look at people around the room, this
:38:50. > :38:55.is the first time they have come to politics. But are they ready for the
:38:56. > :38:59.hard slog of standing in elections, pounding the puck past and knocking
:39:00. > :39:05.on doors? That will be a challenge to get past this idealism and a
:39:06. > :39:10.vague feeling that things aren't right and translated into commitment
:39:11. > :39:15.to do something. So their first conference is over but another first
:39:16. > :39:18.is on the horizon. Next to me the Council and European elections
:39:19. > :39:23.resent NI21 with their first electoral test.
:39:24. > :39:33.Let's get some reaction from my guests, Cathy Gormley-Heenan and Sam
:39:34. > :39:36.McBride. Cathy, Basil's big thought, local politicians being
:39:37. > :39:44.able to set income tax and stamp levelled levels. Good idea? Yes, I
:39:45. > :39:50.am glad he rated because Northern Ireland has declared itself from the
:39:51. > :39:52.debate on tax, up to this point we have had some tentative
:39:53. > :39:57.conversations about fiscal devolution and autonomy but nothing
:39:58. > :40:05.more substantial. Sam, is that how you see it? People talk about this
:40:06. > :40:08.before but it never happens. The argument for work which was made
:40:09. > :40:12.yesterday is that it helps Stormont grow up, it lets them raise their
:40:13. > :40:16.own taxes so grow up, it lets them raise their
:40:17. > :40:19.about cuts here or there, they need to take responsibility themselves
:40:20. > :40:28.and that is a good argument. The problem is that Northern Ireland
:40:29. > :40:33.gets a huge help from Westminster, millions of pounds each year. If
:40:34. > :40:38.Northern Ireland races all its own income tax, it would be obvious how
:40:39. > :40:43.much we get from Westminster. Those sorts of questions weren't really
:40:44. > :40:46.addressed. Another notion was getting rid of the office of First
:40:47. > :40:54.Minister and Deputy First Minister and calling it it is -- what it is,
:40:55. > :41:03.a joint office. I imagine that would inflame matters in some quarters.
:41:04. > :41:09.This would raise by the Alliance in 2007 and Martin McGuinness had asked
:41:10. > :41:15.the Hansard team to change the D in OFMDFM to a small deed to signify
:41:16. > :41:18.that it is a joint office, so there have been some moves at signifying
:41:19. > :41:24.that this is a joint office, which it is but it has never been
:41:25. > :41:30.explicitly said, and I think the NI21 remarks shine a spotlight on
:41:31. > :41:38.that. The issue of an opposition was raised. John McCallister's pitch to
:41:39. > :41:45.be leader of the Austrian party was about going into opposition. That is
:41:46. > :41:49.what differentiates them from the Alliance Party, which is their big
:41:50. > :41:52.task. There was some meat on the bones of what the opposition stuff
:41:53. > :41:56.would mean but also the role of the speaker, which is technical but
:41:57. > :41:58.crucial in making the speaker more like the speaker at
:41:59. > :42:04.crucial in making the speaker more where they have less control, the
:42:05. > :42:09.parties have less control of that process. Did you get the sense it
:42:10. > :42:14.was a successful conference or will it weather on the vine? It was a
:42:15. > :42:21.successful conference in the short space of time they had. A lot of
:42:22. > :42:24.young people, energy, Basil McCrea's speech was a bit rambling
:42:25. > :42:31.but there were things that enthused people. Liam Clarke's point, lots of
:42:32. > :42:36.youthful enthusiasm but will it translate to political commitment? I
:42:37. > :42:40.think it will. One strapline was a post-agreement party for a
:42:41. > :42:45.post-agreement generation, and most people voting for the first time in
:42:46. > :42:49.the next elections were born as the agreement was signed, so there is an
:42:50. > :42:49.appetite there. Thank you both for now.
:42:50. > :42:53.There's been a lot of talk over now.
:42:54. > :42:57.past week about jobs and business in general, and mention even of the
:42:58. > :43:00."green shoots" of recovery. But is that too optimistic? In a moment
:43:01. > :43:03.I'll be talking to the chair of the Assembly's Finance Committee, Daithi
:43:04. > :43:06.McKay, and David McIlveen, who sits on the Enterprise Trade and
:43:07. > :43:09.Investment Committee. But first, our economics and business editor, John
:43:10. > :43:12.Campbell, assesses if things are really improving, and if there are
:43:13. > :43:19.hard facts to back up the feel-good factor. The economy is recovering
:43:20. > :43:22.but the pace of growth is slow. We have a long way to go before we get
:43:23. > :43:30.back to where we were before the recession. There were a couple of
:43:31. > :43:32.bits of good news, the decline in unemployment is continuing and some
:43:33. > :43:37.evidence that job creation has picked up. Inflation also fell this
:43:38. > :43:42.week but other figures show the service sector, the biggest part of
:43:43. > :43:48.the local economy, shrank during the year, but most economists say the
:43:49. > :43:54.growth we have seen it not pick up until the third quarter during the
:43:55. > :43:58.summer months. Next week, with the new instalment of the house price
:43:59. > :44:02.index, expect that to show an increase in transaction but not
:44:03. > :44:05.prices, we also get a survey of earnings which will show how much
:44:06. > :44:12.pressure household budgets are under, because a question for the
:44:13. > :44:15.economy is how can it grow if people's wages are falling in real
:44:16. > :44:19.terms? John Campbell setting out the stall there. The Sinn Fein MLA
:44:20. > :44:21.Daithi McKay is the chair of the Assembly's Finance Committee. He's
:44:22. > :44:24.with me now, along with the DUP's David McIlveen, who's private
:44:25. > :44:30.secretary to the Finance Minister, Simon Hamilton. John ended his
:44:31. > :44:35.comments with an interesting assessment, which may be a good
:44:36. > :44:40.place to dart. How can the economy grow if wages are static or
:44:41. > :44:44.place to dart. How can the economy in real terms? Over the past nine
:44:45. > :44:50.months, there has been a continuing fall in the employment rate. We have
:44:51. > :44:54.seen more good news stories, more direct foreign investment and
:44:55. > :44:58.exports are up, which indicates indigenous businesses are doing
:44:59. > :45:03.well, so the elephant in the room is the cost of living. People go to the
:45:04. > :45:10.shops on a weekly basis and spend over ?100 each time, the cost of
:45:11. > :45:13.goods is another issue, and a lot of these issues can be dealt with if
:45:14. > :45:20.you take control of fiscal powers, as was referred to in your previous
:45:21. > :45:25.peace. Are you backing Basil McCrea in that demand? They are backing us
:45:26. > :45:32.because we raised the issue, but income tax and stamp duty were two
:45:33. > :45:35.issues raised a couple of weeks ago on some commission recommendations
:45:36. > :45:43.so it is limited in terms of their scope. Do you agree, David McIlveen,
:45:44. > :45:49.that the parties at Stormont and Simon Hamilton has to get his hands
:45:50. > :45:55.on the real evils of power, the capacity to raise or lower income
:45:56. > :45:58.tax? The term green shoots of recovery I would hope is permanently
:45:59. > :46:05.etched from vocabulary, because we have to realise whom and bust did
:46:06. > :46:10.not work and we now need a level head to ensure our economy grows at
:46:11. > :46:13.a sustainable rate. I do not believe devolving fiscal powers to Stormont
:46:14. > :46:19.is the best way forward, surely because it is fantasy politics.
:46:20. > :46:27.Conservative estimations indicate we received ?11 billion more each year
:46:28. > :46:31.then what we sent in tax receipts. That is around ?6,500 for every
:46:32. > :46:36.citizen of Northern Ireland. I don't know about Sinn Fein or NI21, but if
:46:37. > :46:42.they want to go to the electorate and tell them they will give them a
:46:43. > :46:49.?6,500 greater tax bill, they are braver amend alive. What about stamp
:46:50. > :46:55.duty? These things come as a part -- at a cost. We have targeted requests
:46:56. > :46:59.for fiscal powers to areas where we believe we can gain an overall
:47:00. > :47:08.economic benefit. Corporation tax, air traffic duty. So should we just
:47:09. > :47:13.soak it up? Wages are static or falling, you don't want the levers
:47:14. > :47:17.of power to change things, which some people think would be an
:47:18. > :47:24.important asset. We just have to get on with it? There are two things we
:47:25. > :47:29.can do. We can keep household taxes low and this Assembly has delivered
:47:30. > :47:34.that. Second, we can create better higher paid jobs. We know our
:47:35. > :47:39.economy is too reliant on the public sector. There have been more
:47:40. > :47:41.private-sector jobs created in the last two years then in the history
:47:42. > :47:53.of Northern Ireland. That is good news. Daithi McKay, so you are
:47:54. > :47:58.engaged in in fantasy politics? Dublin had chances in terms of the
:47:59. > :48:06.taxes down there. We don't have that here, we have guesses based on the
:48:07. > :48:10.surveys 's David referred to. They are not based on actual figures.
:48:11. > :48:15.Dublin is a sovereign state in control of its own affairs, the
:48:16. > :48:21.reality for us is that we are part of the UK economy. You have to
:48:22. > :48:29.accept that. I don't accept that. It is backed at the moment. But to get
:48:30. > :48:34.back to fiscal powers, what we are entitled to is accurate figures in
:48:35. > :48:38.terms of taxes we raise so we can go to London with a stronger hand when
:48:39. > :48:43.it comes to the economy. But look at corporation tax. That was trailed as
:48:44. > :48:47.a great panacea but it hasn't happened and now we are told it is
:48:48. > :48:55.on the long finger and will come at a cost. It is a risky thing to
:48:56. > :48:59.engage. We have to take risks. You cannot keep throwing out estimates
:49:00. > :49:02.and scaring people off because ultimately this economy will not go
:49:03. > :49:08.anywhere. In terms of moving this issue forward, we need a proper,
:49:09. > :49:13.mature debate as is happening in Wales and Scotland. The real problem
:49:14. > :49:16.is the dogma that has been introduced by Unionist politicians
:49:17. > :49:21.because when Sammy Wilson, the previous Finance Minister, was
:49:22. > :49:26.questioned about devolution, he said he would be opposed to it because he
:49:27. > :49:31.is a Unionist. That does not cut it with the Business Committee. -- with
:49:32. > :49:38.the people who want to see this happen. You should be practical, not
:49:39. > :49:43.dogmatic? We have to use devolution to our best advantage and it is
:49:44. > :49:46.ironic we have a Sinn Fein representative saying we should be
:49:47. > :49:50.more like what is happening across the border. I struggle to find
:49:51. > :49:55.anyone in Northern Ireland today who would want to be in an economy which
:49:56. > :50:00.has undergone such extreme austerity as Republic of Ireland has had to
:50:01. > :50:04.face. Briefly, can you comment on the petrol bomb attack on an
:50:05. > :50:07.Alliance Party office in East Belfast last night? Naomi Long says
:50:08. > :50:14.it's an attack on democracy. Is she right? I agree entirely with that.
:50:15. > :50:19.We have experienced many attacks on our people on property we are no
:50:20. > :50:25.stranger to how that feels. This is an attack on democracy. It's not
:50:26. > :50:29.only was an attack on an elected representative's office but it could
:50:30. > :50:35.have damaged adjoining premises. I don't see how that is good for East
:50:36. > :50:37.Belfast. Our thoughts should be with Naomi and all their elected
:50:38. > :50:42.representatives working in that office and their families because
:50:43. > :50:44.this has a huge impact that people do not realise, but in terms of
:50:45. > :50:49.Belfast, we do not want to do not realise, but in terms of
:50:50. > :50:54.repeat of what happened here before. We want to see a happy and
:50:55. > :50:57.productive Christmas and see businesses grow and flourish as they
:50:58. > :51:02.should have done this year. Thank you both. Time now for a look at
:51:03. > :51:13.what's been making the headlines in the political week gone past.
:51:14. > :51:21.Tributes were paid to one of the SDLP's founders. From Cranfield to
:51:22. > :51:30.Crossgar, everyone had the highest respect for Edinburgh they. Stormont
:51:31. > :51:35.was told to hurry up welfare reform. ?400 million a month does not sound
:51:36. > :51:42.a lot but it will be 60 million in the first year. Another bill was
:51:43. > :51:48.killed by Mark H Durkan. I am not scrapping the national parks built
:51:49. > :51:51.but I am shelving it. Parading talks continued but there was no
:51:52. > :51:56.breakthrough. They were helpful meetings. That does not mean there
:51:57. > :52:03.was a miracle. And Edwin Poots gave us some marriage guidance. Many
:52:04. > :52:08.people who are heterosexual desire lots of other folks. Those of us who
:52:09. > :52:15.are married should not be doing that, so people can resist urges.
:52:16. > :52:20.Now, if you've been a keen follower of local politics for a while,
:52:21. > :52:23.you'll very probably recall the Civil Forum. It was set up in 2000
:52:24. > :52:28.to address pressing social economic and cultural matters. However, its
:52:29. > :52:33.life was short-lived, and it hasn't met since 2002. Tomorrow, the
:52:34. > :52:38.Assembly will debate an SDLP motion to recall it by as soon as the end
:52:39. > :52:44.of January. Let's hear more from Alex Attwood, who's proposed the
:52:45. > :52:48.motion. Thank you for joining us. It met 12 times between 2000 and 2002,
:52:49. > :52:54.and then slipped away into the shadows. Doesn't it look a bit like
:52:55. > :52:59.a relic of the past at this stage? I think the greater strength of
:53:00. > :53:03.society today and over the last ten or 20 years has been the party of
:53:04. > :53:07.our civic groups. They held this place together during the years of
:53:08. > :53:12.conflict and they are the people, and Richard Haass could tell you
:53:13. > :53:16.this, who have given the wisest advice to this new talks process. I
:53:17. > :53:23.think it is time now to scale up the input of civic society into our
:53:24. > :53:28.politics, and doing so will make politics more honest than we have
:53:29. > :53:32.seen recently. Do we really need a Civic Forum to do that, because you
:53:33. > :53:36.have said there have been hundreds of submissions from civic society to
:53:37. > :53:44.the house is all talks without this form? Lets take as an example the
:53:45. > :53:48.victims form, add all the indications are that while its work
:53:49. > :53:53.is challenging, it has shaken up well and that creates a better
:53:54. > :53:56.understanding of the issues around victims and helps politicians to do
:53:57. > :54:00.what has to be done on their behalf. In respect of civic groups,
:54:01. > :54:06.we need to build an inclusive society, we need to capture all
:54:07. > :54:12.those who give good authority and advice. Creating a new Civic Forum
:54:13. > :54:16.is one way of doing so, and in my view will create a great point of
:54:17. > :54:21.contrast between the failure of party politics and the strength of
:54:22. > :54:25.civic groups. But isn't this a spectacular own goal on your part
:54:26. > :54:29.because by calling for the reintroduction of the Civic Forum,
:54:30. > :54:35.you are admitting our politicians have failed us. Yes, we have. Look
:54:36. > :54:40.around us at the flags and parades dispute, look at politics degrading.
:54:41. > :54:44.Some parties clearly had a bigger responsibility to govern and they
:54:45. > :54:50.have the biggest failure in not leading or governing. But your party
:54:51. > :54:55.has failed to. It is part of that overall failure? I think politics
:54:56. > :55:01.has failed people in Northern Ireland. I think it is more true for
:55:02. > 0:48:07some parties than others, but how are we going to have the image of