:00:35. > :00:43.Afternoon folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics. Yes we're back
:00:43. > :00:51.after the summer recess and the party conference season is upon us.
:00:51. > :00:58.First up, the Liberal Democrats. And Nick Clegg has some convincing
:00:59. > :01:02.to do. According to our very own Sunday Politcs poll his troops don't
:01:02. > :01:05.like his Coalition bed mates. The country's not too keen either - the
:01:05. > :01:08.latest poll has the Lib Dems languishing behind UKIP in fourth
:01:08. > :01:12.place with only 9%. So can the Lib Dems claw their way
:01:13. > :01:15.back come the election in 2015? We'll be talking to former leader,
:01:16. > :01:22.now the party's General Election Commander in Chief, Paddy Ashdown.
:01:22. > :01:26.George Osborne's a happy bunny these days. He's got some good economic
:01:26. > :01:29.news to shout about. At last. So where does that leave Labour? We'll
:01:29. > :01:39.be talking to the Shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna. ?NEWLINE
:01:39. > :01:44.and then Sunday Politics Scotland, who will delete womb in the
:01:44. > :01:55.referendum? Bash Apple who will debate who?
:01:55. > :01:58.signifies. And freshly showered from the Great
:01:59. > :02:03.North Run and looking as fresh as daisies, the best and brightest
:02:03. > :02:07.political panel in the business. Janan Ganesh, Helen Lewis and Iain
:02:08. > :02:11.Martin, who will be tweeting throughout the programme.
:02:11. > :02:15.Now, their leader is our Deputy Prime Minister. They are the junior
:02:15. > :02:19.partners of our coalition government. They like the colour
:02:19. > :02:21.yellow and they have not won a general election since dinosaurs
:02:21. > :02:25.walked the earth. Now they are behind UKIP in the polls, so as the
:02:25. > :02:33.party gathers for its annual bash this year in Glasgow, what is on
:02:33. > :02:35.their mind? Who are the people gathering at the Clyde this weekend?
:02:35. > :02:40.their mind? Who are the people Before they started drinking, we
:02:40. > :02:45.surveyed 580 Liberal Democrat councillors in England and Wales,
:02:45. > :02:52.with the help of some pollsters, comrade. The first question we asked
:02:52. > :02:55.was, if the next election results in a hung parliament, which team would
:02:55. > :02:57.you rather go into coalition with, the Reds or the blues? Lib Dem
:02:57. > :03:03.councillors said Labour, two to one. the Reds or the blues? Lib Dem
:03:03. > :03:13.Tories or Labour? It is not for us the Reds or the blues? Lib Dem
:03:13. > :03:21.to say. It is for the voters to say. We will decide depending on
:03:21. > :03:22.what the voters tell us. Your councillors favoured a coalition
:03:22. > :03:35.with Labour. Well, it depends what is on the table. Who would you
:03:35. > :03:43.rather play table football against? I would rather play against you,
:03:43. > :03:46.because I am winning. So in the Lib Dems shop, which policies are
:03:46. > :03:46.because I am winning. So in the Lib winning 's which ones are heading
:03:46. > :03:52.for the bargain bin? The most winning 's which ones are heading
:03:52. > :03:54.popular policy was a mansion tax on house is worth more than £2 million,
:03:54. > :04:03.popular policy was a mansion tax on which was supported by 80 -- 86% of
:04:03. > :04:05.councillors. The next most popular policy was scrapping the Trident
:04:05. > :04:07.councillors. The next most popular nuclear deterrent, supported by 72%
:04:07. > :04:13.of councillors. Then there was the nuclear deterrent, supported by 72%
:04:13. > :04:18.reinstatement of the 50p top rate of income tax. 70% of councillors like
:04:18. > :04:22.the look of that. When it came to the idea of banning the burka in
:04:22. > :04:27.public places like schools and airports, 45% of councillors were in
:04:27. > :04:34.favour. Finally, a ban on topless Page three model is won the support
:04:34. > :04:42.of 33% of councillors. Why is it so popular, the idea of a mansion tax?
:04:42. > :04:46.It is a much fairer tax. We know there are people out there with very
:04:47. > :04:53.expensive houses. Which of these is most important to you? Banning
:04:53. > :04:59.Trident. The cold war ended in 1989. Another one was the idea of
:04:59. > :05:01.banning the burka in public places. No, I feel people should wear
:05:01. > :05:07.whatever they like. If they want to No, I feel people should wear
:05:07. > :05:13.wear the birth or a kilt or if they want to be naked or not wear
:05:13. > :05:21.anything. We are the party of jobs. Thank you. Last night, a fully
:05:21. > :05:24.clothed Nick Clegg rallied his troops, but if he was not around,
:05:24. > :05:30.who would Lib Dem councillors want instead? Business Secretary Vince
:05:30. > :05:37.Cable was most popular, with a third of the votes. In second place, the
:05:37. > :05:41.party's president, Tim Farron, with 27%. 10% went to Danny Alexander,
:05:41. > :05:45.Chief Secretary to the Treasury, while the business minister Joe
:05:45. > :05:51.Swinson received 7%. The Energy Secretary Ed Davey scooped 6%, and
:05:51. > :05:58.in last place, Steve Webb, the pensions minister, who got 5%. If
:05:58. > :06:02.any of these councillors want to talk to me about it, I would be
:06:02. > :06:09.delighted to hear from them. Is that a bid for a leadership campaign? It
:06:09. > :06:13.certainly isn't. What do you think of these? That is quite a
:06:14. > :06:18.collection. These are the contenders. But our survey is not
:06:18. > :06:23.the only one that has got tongues wagging in Glasgow, because the Lib
:06:23. > :06:24.Dem leadership have commissioned their own poll which showed that 75%
:06:25. > :06:26.Dem leadership have commissioned of the country will never vote for
:06:26. > :06:29.Dem leadership have commissioned the party, no matter what they do.
:06:29. > :06:36.Also meeting here this weekend, this the party, no matter what they do.
:06:36. > :06:39.group of bikers. But Liberal Democrats like to think they have
:06:39. > :06:47.got just as much va-va-voom, even if a big chunk of the country doesn't.
:06:47. > :06:53.Add, back in his hometown. So, the Lib Dems are on 9% in the polls.
:06:53. > :06:58.Much of their party thinks they are Lib Dems are on 9% in the polls.
:06:58. > :07:01.moving in the wrong direction. Earlier, I spoke to former party
:07:01. > :07:02.moving in the wrong direction. leader Paddy Ashdown. He has been
:07:02. > :07:07.put in charge of heading up the 2015 leader Paddy Ashdown. He has been
:07:07. > :07:15.election campaign. I asked him if the mood in Glasgow was grim. No. In
:07:15. > :07:19.many ways, as you know, Tory old commentator that you are just as I
:07:20. > :07:23.am a hoary old member at the other end of the camera, we have been
:07:23. > :07:28.there, done that and got the T-shirt. Where you are in the
:07:28. > :07:32.midterm of a government, especially when you are in government and the
:07:32. > :07:38.country is going for in a deep economic crisis, has almost no
:07:38. > :07:43.relevance to where you might be when the nipple come to consider how they
:07:43. > :07:48.will vote in 600 days time -- when the people come to consider how they
:07:48. > :07:51.will vote. We do not dismiss polls, but they are a snapshot of what is
:07:51. > :07:56.happening now and give little indication of where we will be. My
:07:56. > :08:01.guess is, for what it is worth, that as we come to the election, the
:08:01. > :08:04.public will be in a very serious, probably frightened mood. Their main
:08:04. > :08:09.public will be in a very serious, thoughts will be, who maintains my
:08:09. > :08:14.job, makes sure I don't have to pay thoughts will be, who maintains my
:08:14. > :08:21.to higher mortgage? The coalition has delivered not only the required
:08:21. > :08:26.policies to make Britain's economy prosperous, but also its society
:08:26. > :08:30.fair. That is what people will want to see. I think coalition politics
:08:30. > :08:35.are here to stay and we have a role to play in it. But you are in a grim
:08:35. > :08:38.mood this morning. You tweeted that you were not happy with how the
:08:39. > :08:44.Observer newspaper handled your interview. What was the problem? Is
:08:44. > :08:47.there anything we can do to help? There is probably something they
:08:48. > :08:54.could do to help. I have no arguments with the interview. The
:08:54. > :08:58.headline they chose to put on it late last night was outrageous,
:08:58. > :09:03.misrepresentative and in one case in accurate. What was the headline?
:09:03. > :09:06.Something about Ashdown wants a coalition with the Tories, or at
:09:06. > :09:13.Something about Ashdown wants a least they gave that in for us --
:09:13. > :09:17.inference. Let me make this point. We are coming up to the next
:09:17. > :09:24.election. I am in charge of the campaign. Any journalist who in
:09:24. > :09:28.these next two years says that any Liberal Democrat prefers anything
:09:28. > :09:32.else in terms of the outcome of a coalition but the result of the
:09:32. > :09:34.ballot box dictating that outcome, that any prefer one side to another
:09:34. > :09:38.over and they want to see a that any prefer one side to another
:09:38. > :09:43.coalition determined by the electors that any prefer one side to another
:09:43. > :09:49.in the votes, will get a bloody hard time from me, no matter who they
:09:49. > :10:09.are. We take the warning. A survey of Lib Dem councillors shows that in
:10:09. > :10:10.the event of another hung parliament, only 16% of your
:10:10. > :10:11.the event of another hung councillors want to renew the
:10:11. > :10:14.coalition with the Tories. That is a councillors want to renew the
:10:14. > :10:16.clear sign that your activists want a change of direction. I don't think
:10:17. > :10:19.it is news that as a left-wing party, we find it more congenial
:10:19. > :10:22.with those on the left wing, but that is not the issue. You saw it
:10:22. > :10:25.was not the issue at the last election. We are servants of the
:10:25. > :10:27.ballot box. We do watch the British people require us to do to provide a
:10:27. > :10:29.stable government in the interests of our country. I am sure you have
:10:29. > :10:34.got the point by now. I have fought of our country. I am sure you have
:10:34. > :10:36.the Tories all my life. But when Labour run away from
:10:36. > :10:39.the Tories all my life. But when responsibility to amend the economic
:10:39. > :10:44.crisis, was this right for the country? That is what drives me. Let
:10:44. > :10:52.me say again. The people will determine who are going to be in any
:10:52. > :10:56.coalition, should there be one, the voters and nobody else. It is not
:10:57. > :11:01.about what we like. I understand that. But your own internal polls
:11:01. > :11:06.show that Mr Clegg and the leadership are not taking the party
:11:06. > :11:11.with them on that. I don't think that is true. Nick Clegg has done
:11:11. > :11:16.what no other party leader has done. He took the coalition agreement to
:11:16. > :11:21.the party, and they voted for it. So it is not true to say that members
:11:21. > :11:25.of the party are moving in a different direction. I think we are
:11:25. > :11:29.extraordinarily united. I did not expect them to be so under these
:11:29. > :11:34.pressures, but they have surprised me and made me joyful at the same
:11:34. > :11:38.time. The party has done what it needs to do. This is what
:11:38. > :11:43.time. The party has done what it done in local government for a long
:11:43. > :11:48.time. We may have our private likes and dislikes, but the thing that
:11:48. > :11:52.time. We may have our private likes dictates the formation of a
:11:52. > :11:58.coalition is the ballot box. You have said that three times. I can
:11:58. > :12:02.say it again if you like. Please don't! What if your party votes to
:12:02. > :12:07.reinstate tuition fees as party policy afternoon? We will have to
:12:07. > :12:14.reinstate tuition fees as party listen to that and act accordingly.
:12:14. > :12:18.You must listen to the voice of the party and take it into account in
:12:18. > :12:24.what you do. I am always quite careful, as you know, about
:12:24. > :12:29.answering hypothetical questions. I don't think it is likely to happen,
:12:29. > :12:32.but if it did, we would have to do consider it. I thought what
:12:32. > :12:36.distinguished Lib Dems was that if your party conference voted for
:12:36. > :12:42.something, it was in the manifesto. The manifesto is taken in its final
:12:42. > :12:48.form before the party for decision. The party will express views at this
:12:48. > :12:52.stage in all sorts of ways. It did in my leadership, too. The manifesto
:12:52. > :12:57.is democratically agreed by the party at the time of the election,
:12:57. > :13:02.not before. The Tory conference will be about how they think they have
:13:02. > :13:07.been vindicated, that austerity has worked, the economy is turning a
:13:07. > :13:11.corner. But Nick Clegg's conference announcements will be about plastic
:13:11. > :13:14.bags. Have you got the hang of this coalition think? Andrew, you can
:13:14. > :13:18.always be guaranteed to put things coalition think? Andrew, you can
:13:18. > :13:26.in the most discreditable form! That is part of your charm. That was
:13:26. > :13:33.about to be a minor announcement in the middle of his speech. But it was
:13:33. > :13:37.discovered beforehand. It has not been very popular in terms of how it
:13:37. > :13:41.has been received, but that is not the central message. That leads me
:13:41. > :13:47.to what I think is the biggest danger you face at the next
:13:47. > :13:53.election. Isn't the biggest danger that the Tories, not you, if there
:13:53. > :14:03.is an economic recovery, they will get the credit for it? I don't think
:14:03. > :14:06.that is true. By the way, I don't think the electorate does gratitude.
:14:06. > :14:10.The only time people cast a thank you vote was probably for Mrs
:14:10. > :14:13.Thatcher over the sale of council houses. We could have a different
:14:13. > :14:21.discussion over whether that was a good idea. But what you have done is
:14:21. > :14:22.the underpinning for the promise of what you will do. In this
:14:22. > :14:30.government, we have stayed firm on a what you will do. In this
:14:30. > :14:38.very tough economic policy. But will you get the credit? What we have
:14:38. > :14:42.very tough economic policy. But will done by ourselves, which the Tories
:14:42. > :14:47.would never have done, is make sure that when the pain is felt, it is
:14:47. > :14:51.not the poor who feel it. We have seen the biggest shift of taxation,
:14:51. > :14:54.lifting the poorest in the country out of taxation, that has ever
:14:54. > :15:01.happened, including in the previous Labour government. You are presiding
:15:01. > :15:06.over the biggest squeeze on living standards in modern times. Because
:15:06. > :15:15.it is the biggest recession in modern times. When you speak to the
:15:15. > :15:19.2.5 million people who have been lifted out of taxation altogether
:15:19. > :15:21.because of the Liberal Democrats, speak to those who have had a £400
:15:21. > :15:32.tax cut. You may be able to make the speak to those who have had a £400
:15:32. > :15:36.connection, Andrew, you are a sharp observer, between a very deep
:15:36. > :15:40.economic crisis and difficulty for everybody. But it is clear that if
:15:40. > :15:44.the Tories had been by themselves, none of that would have happened. We
:15:44. > :15:48.have sought to shift the burden away from the poorest in this country. I
:15:48. > :15:50.am part of that. So when we go into the next election, the message will
:15:50. > :15:55.am part of that. So when we go into be that if you want to continue to
:15:55. > :16:03.have a prosperous economy and a society, only the Liberal Democrats
:16:03. > :16:09.will deliver that. Tim Farron says he likes Ed Miliband and he does not
:16:09. > :16:15.want to diss him. Can you confirm that there will be no dissing of Ed
:16:15. > :16:19.Miliband? It is not much my style. I've never much liked comments about
:16:19. > :16:27.the other leaders. I do not intend to make it so in the future. Can I'd
:16:27. > :16:33.finish up on Syria? You said after the Syria vote that Britain was a
:16:33. > :16:36.hugely diminished country. Given it was the British Parliament that said
:16:36. > :16:39.both sides on a course which could now see Syria give up chemical
:16:39. > :16:44.weapons without records to military action, would you like to withdraw
:16:44. > :16:49.these remarks and admit that you should be proud and happy with what
:16:49. > :16:57.Britain has done? No. You and I both know, because we are old observers,
:16:57. > :16:59.that that would never have happened unless there had been an
:16:59. > :17:02.underpinning of a threat to use force. The British Parliament
:17:02. > :17:06.resigned from that. We have no part to play in the fact that Assad and
:17:06. > :17:09.Putin have moved towards peace for to play in the fact that Assad and
:17:09. > :17:12.fear of military action. We decided not to be part of that. It is
:17:12. > :17:15.fear of military action. We decided exactly the opposite. Why would have
:17:15. > :17:23.liked to have seen our country join in with those who are serious about
:17:23. > :17:27.upholding an international law which has restrained even than axes and
:17:27. > :17:35.talent, but instead we resigned and left others to make sure that we
:17:35. > :17:41.moved towards peace. -- even the Maxis and Stalin. But if it had not
:17:41. > :17:45.been for the British Parliament, we would not have had the time to allow
:17:45. > :17:50.this to happen. It has avoided war. Job done, British Parliament. That
:17:50. > :17:59.would be true if it was accurate but it is not. The resolution proposed a
:17:59. > :18:01.delay, that we should wait until the inspectors came back. That time
:18:01. > :18:05.frame was absolutely nothing to do inspectors came back. That time
:18:05. > :18:08.with the parliamentary vote. The vote was going to incorporate that.
:18:08. > :18:14.I do not think you can claim what vote was going to incorporate that.
:18:14. > :18:17.you claim. In the Balkans, I remember that diplomacy, which was
:18:17. > :18:22.not reinforced by the threat of military action, does not work. It
:18:22. > :18:26.is when diplomacy runs with a grain of military action that it works.
:18:26. > :18:31.And if you want a fantastic illustration of that, look at what
:18:31. > :18:35.is happening over the last two weeks. By regret to say that our
:18:35. > :18:38.country, which has always been in favour of engagement and not
:18:38. > :18:44.disengagement, had no part to play in that. They give a joining us,
:18:44. > :18:49.Paddy Ashdown. Enjoy my old university city.
:18:49. > :18:57.And you we would get to the Balkans eventually, and we did. His biggest
:18:57. > :19:01.challenge is if the economy is looking reasonably good by 2015, to
:19:01. > :19:07.get some credit for the Lib Dems, when the Tories will want to halt it
:19:07. > :19:11.all. But his position is not to be the necessary axeman. That is George
:19:11. > :19:15.Osborne's role. Their role is to be the chaser party, taking the edge
:19:15. > :19:18.off. They will because of me going on about the pupil premium and
:19:18. > :19:22.racing people out of income tax. That is what you will hear from
:19:22. > :19:27.them, how they have taken the edge of the cuts. Will that work? They
:19:27. > :19:31.are in a pretty good position. Even if they have lost two thirds of the
:19:31. > :19:36.popular support, according to the polls, I do not know anyone in
:19:36. > :19:38.Westminster methinks that will be matched in their parliamentary
:19:38. > :19:45.representation. If they have 56 MPs now, they might lose a dozen but
:19:45. > :19:49.they will not be decimated. Strategically, they are in a better
:19:49. > :19:53.position than the reading of the polls would tell you. I think Nick
:19:53. > :19:59.Clegg's survival has been one of the stories of this Parliament. He is
:19:59. > :20:04.looking good at the comfort -- at the conference. When he was at his
:20:04. > :20:09.lowest after the AV referendum, people were saying he would survive
:20:09. > :20:13.and lead us into 2015 and beyond and I thought that was fanciful. Believe
:20:13. > :20:19.it or not... Paddy Ashdown was wrong, you were wrong and... I
:20:19. > :20:25.wasn't. I'm underestimated how bad his rivals are. If you are Lib Dem
:20:25. > :20:28.member, however aggrieved you are with Nick Clegg, you do not think,
:20:28. > :20:34.wouldn't it be great if Christian was in charge? Nick Clegg is the
:20:34. > :20:39.best they have. -- Chris Huhne was in charge. Of course, the people do
:20:39. > :20:42.not vote for the coalition government and it is a consequence
:20:42. > :20:48.of the way they vote, a different matter. If Janan Ganesh is right,
:20:48. > :20:51.and they lose 15 seats in the next election, they could be still
:20:51. > :20:55.pivotal in the next government. It could be. But there is a danger.
:20:55. > :20:59.Possibly the most amusing outcome would be a Labour or Tory overall
:20:59. > :21:00.majority, which would be hilarious for the look on Paddy Ashdown's
:21:00. > :21:06.face. The danger is they get trapped for the look on Paddy Ashdown's
:21:06. > :21:11.constantly in talking about the politics of coalition and of a hung
:21:11. > :21:17.parliament. And they are very puffed up and they enjoy Parliament and
:21:17. > :21:20.they will enjoy the next one, but up and they enjoy Parliament and
:21:20. > :21:24.there is a possibility they will not be. While they are talking about the
:21:24. > :21:28.Polish and themselves, they are not talking about the issues facing the
:21:28. > :21:35.country. -- talking about the coalition. It was interesting that
:21:35. > :21:39.he said that we are a left-wing party, not a centre-left party or a
:21:39. > :21:46.centre party, but a left-wing party. I'm going to put myself in the
:21:46. > :21:48.firing line and say that there is a big split between the Tim Farron
:21:48. > :21:51.firing line and say that there is a line who say they like Ed Miliband,
:21:51. > :21:54.firing line and say that there is a and another one, Jeremy Browne in
:21:54. > :21:58.the Home Office saying that Labour are intellectually lazy. The risk
:21:58. > :22:05.clearly a clique around Nick Clegg who wants to be a synthetic party,
:22:05. > :22:11.but that is not where the membership who wants to be a synthetic party,
:22:11. > :22:16.and broad base is. The real activists are clearly of the left,
:22:16. > :22:20.not just the centre-left. They are very pro-immigration and they want
:22:20. > :22:23.to get rid of Trident. Mr Clegg's strategy has to be to take the party
:22:23. > :22:26.to the centre. The something not happen at some stage? The poll
:22:26. > :22:28.to the centre. The something not suggests it is a left-wing party.
:22:28. > :22:30.to the centre. The something not Very left-wing. Other think the poll
:22:30. > :22:37.would have yielded -- would have Very left-wing. Other think the poll
:22:37. > :22:42.yielded the same results before the 2010 election. This is reflected by
:22:42. > :22:48.the arithmetic. Whichever party is biggest will most likely be the ones
:22:48. > :22:56.in coalition with the Lib Dems. Nick Clegg's on latitude to choose is
:22:56. > :23:01.exaggerated by us. The choice is no tears, it is written into
:23:01. > :23:04.parliamentary arithmetic. But if you remember the structure of the Lib
:23:04. > :23:09.Dems, they can tie themselves up in infighting. -- the choice is not
:23:09. > :23:15.ours. They are fundamentally infighting. -- the choice is not
:23:15. > :23:16.stable. And Nick Clegg has had a good conference last year, and will
:23:16. > :23:20.have another one this year. The good conference last year, and will
:23:20. > :23:22.economy is better than it was a year ago. It could still go quite well
:23:22. > :23:27.for him. Yes, it is one of the ago. It could still go quite well
:23:27. > :23:31.stories of this Parliament, his survival and the way in which he has
:23:31. > :23:35.prospered. But there are a lot of people out there, students,
:23:35. > :23:38.campaigners, labour activists who have not forgotten what he has done
:23:38. > :23:42.in government and are determined to get him. It will be a tough year and
:23:43. > :23:47.a half. Tougher than he imagined. Now, not so long ago they were
:23:47. > :23:54.writing George Osborne's political obituary. Be on the Omni shambles
:23:54. > :23:58.budget of 2012 and a lacklustre performance of the British economy
:23:58. > :24:04.meant his reputation work -- was in the dirt. -- the omnishambles. But
:24:04. > :24:08.things have changed. The Chancellor is saying he has been vindicated. If
:24:08. > :24:12.true, we're do that leave his critics? At your stuck on the
:24:12. > :24:15.runway, it looks as though the British economy has taken off,
:24:15. > :24:19.growing by 0.7% in the second British economy has taken off,
:24:19. > :24:23.quarter. Forecasts for the rest of the year have been revised up words.
:24:23. > :24:28.What's more, the office for National statistics says that the double-dip
:24:28. > :24:32.recession never actually happened. Unemployment is down in the three
:24:32. > :24:36.months to July and the number of people claiming jobseeker's
:24:36. > :24:37.months to July and the number of allowance is falling at its
:24:37. > :24:42.months to July and the number of spasticity rate since 1997. On
:24:42. > :24:45.Monday, George Osborne said his policies were bearing fruit. We held
:24:45. > :24:51.our nerve when many told us to abandon our plans. As a result,
:24:51. > :24:59.thanks to the efforts and sacrifices of the British people, Britain is
:24:59. > :25:02.turning a corner. The message for his Labour critics was clear. The
:25:02. > :25:07.Chancellor thinks he was right and they were wrong. And Chuka Umunna
:25:07. > :25:13.joins me now for the Sunday interview.
:25:13. > :25:22.Good afternoon. Good afternoon.Do you accept that the economy has
:25:22. > :25:23.turned a corner? I think it is good that a stalled recovery appears to
:25:23. > :25:25.turned a corner? I think it is good have come back to life, but let's
:25:25. > :25:29.turned a corner? I think it is good get this in perspective. We have had
:25:29. > :25:34.three wasted years. We have the worst economic recovery in history.
:25:34. > :25:38.Debt is up and we have record youth unemployment. If you ask your
:25:38. > :25:43.viewers who are watching this programme if they feel better or
:25:43. > :25:48.worse off, compared to 2010, the majority will tell you they feel
:25:48. > :25:54.worse because, on average, wages are down by £1500 compared to May of
:25:54. > :25:58.2010. That is the situation. The questionnaires, what is the
:25:58. > :26:02.government going to do about it? And one of the things we have seen
:26:02. > :26:07.talked about, Vince Cable has been talking about this as well, is what
:26:07. > :26:11.is happening in the housing market. It seems that much of the solution
:26:11. > :26:16.to powering the recovery in the eyes of George Osborne lies in sorting
:26:16. > :26:19.out the housing market but the problem is, we are at risk of being
:26:19. > :26:21.out the housing market but the another housing bubble. Because of
:26:21. > :26:26.out the housing market but the research that came out this week, we
:26:26. > :26:28.know that housing in the UK is three times more expensive than in the US.
:26:28. > :26:32.know that housing in the UK is three We know that house prices are rising
:26:32. > :26:35.five times faster than wages, but we also know that the government is
:26:35. > :26:40.five times faster than wages, but we building new housing at a slower
:26:40. > :26:46.rate, the slowest rate that we have seen since the 1920s. Labour
:26:46. > :26:52.complaining about a housing bubble, isn't that like Satan complaining
:26:52. > :26:56.about seven? -- seven. We all know that we cannot go back to business
:26:56. > :27:01.as usual. We need to build a new model of growth. But the housing
:27:01. > :27:07.bubble you talk about, it is not a bubble. It might turn into one. I
:27:07. > :27:10.said the risk of a bubble. It is nothing like what happened on the
:27:10. > :27:13.labourer when the prices soared. As I said, in 2009, we had the crash
:27:13. > :27:16.labourer when the prices soared. As and we knew we needed to reconfigure
:27:16. > :27:22.the way that our economy works. Having an economy based on crisis is
:27:22. > :27:26.not a good thing. We need to rebalance the economy. We saw the
:27:26. > :27:30.unemployment statistics this week, and it is welcomed overall, that
:27:30. > :27:36.climate has come down -- unemployment has come down. At half
:27:36. > :27:42.of the UK has seen unemployment go up. And it went down in other parts.
:27:42. > :27:49.We know that we need to rebalance our economy, so that we do not just
:27:49. > :27:53.rely on consumption, but that we grow our productive sectors. And
:27:53. > :28:01.also that we grow our exports as well. We know we have a continuing
:28:01. > :28:11.deficit. We always have a trade deficit. There was never a trade
:28:11. > :28:14.surplus under Labour. Want to come onto what you have mentioned but
:28:14. > :28:19.would you scrap the help to buy scheme? We have not said that we
:28:19. > :28:24.would do that. Why not if it is causing the bubble? If you let me
:28:25. > :28:31.finish, on one hand what that scheme does at the moment, at the moment it
:28:31. > :28:35.is inhalation to a new scheme but tomorrow -- next year it will be in
:28:35. > :28:39.relation to the existing scheme. If you do not sort out the supply of
:28:39. > :28:43.housing, then that is a recipe for the problems we have seen. Our
:28:43. > :28:47.argument is build more houses. Help more people to buy them by all means
:28:47. > :28:53.but if you do not have the supply you will end up with rising prices.
:28:53. > :28:56.That is obvious. Labour said that government austerity would prevent
:28:56. > :29:00.the return of growth. Austerity is still with us but so is growth. You
:29:00. > :29:01.were wrong. We never said that growth would never return. What we
:29:02. > :29:06.said was that if you went for an growth would never return. What we
:29:06. > :29:12.overly extreme deficit reduction package, you would choke the
:29:12. > :29:17.recovery and you would choke growth. That is what we saw for three years.
:29:17. > :29:23.If you say, look at the US economy, it has grown at three times the rate
:29:23. > :29:28.of the UK economy. The German economy has grown at twice the rate.
:29:28. > :29:31.But the British economy is growing quicker than the American or German
:29:31. > :29:37.economy is now. But over time we have not seen that happen. But it is
:29:37. > :29:42.now. That may be the case. But my point is that those three years saw
:29:42. > :29:47.people undergoing huge stress and worry. It is good that we have
:29:47. > :29:52.growth back again but the question is, what kind of growth? What we
:29:52. > :29:55.have said... I'm going to come onto that but your credibility depends on
:29:55. > :29:57.your previous analysis. And there that but your credibility depends on
:29:57. > :30:05.are doubts about it. This is what you said not that long ago. In
:30:05. > :30:16.2012. Our economy has flat lined near the 0% mark...
:30:17. > :30:33.You and the Labour Party said it had choked off growth. You were wrong.
:30:33. > :30:38.We were not wrong, because we had three years where the economy was
:30:38. > :30:42.not moving. Let's remind ourselves. Claude Osborne was predicting that
:30:42. > :30:46.the economy was going to grow by 6.9% between the start of this
:30:46. > :30:55.Parliament and now. It has grown by 1.8%. We did not say we would never
:30:55. > :30:59.have a return to growth. You never said that austerity would only
:30:59. > :31:03.temporarily delay growth. We have looked through your speeches and Ed
:31:03. > :31:09.Balls'. We can't find any reference to say this is simply delaying the
:31:09. > :31:18.recovery. You said austerity would choke off growth. If that is true,
:31:18. > :31:20.why has it returned now? Did we say it would choke off growth for ever?
:31:20. > :31:29.why has it returned now? Did we say We did not. You have changed your
:31:29. > :31:34.tune. I think your package at the top of this programme, to frame this
:31:34. > :31:38.around George Osborne, this is not a Westminster soap opera, it is
:31:38. > :31:44.people's lives, and the people who deserve huge credit for the growth
:31:44. > :31:48.we are seeing are our country's businesses, who despite the tough
:31:48. > :31:52.economic times, have succeeded. They are the ones who have powered this
:31:52. > :31:57.growth. It is not for us in Westminster to take credit. But you
:31:57. > :32:03.blame the government for lack of growth. So therefore, when the
:32:03. > :32:07.growth comes, the government has to take some credit. Look at the
:32:07. > :32:13.situation Britain is in now. We know the recovery still has to reach many
:32:13. > :32:21.parts of the country, but this is the OECD annualised growth in the
:32:21. > :32:25.G-7, the world's guest economies. That is looking pretty healthy. That
:32:25. > :32:31.is a recovery. I am not denying that That is looking pretty healthy. That
:32:31. > :32:36.we are seeing a stalled recovery, That is looking pretty healthy. That
:32:36. > :32:43.but who benefits from the growth? On average, your viewers have sustained
:32:43. > :32:52.a £1500 pay cut. That is the second biggest fall in the G20 since May
:32:52. > :32:56.2010. Because we had the biggest financial services sector and took
:32:56. > :33:00.the biggest crash. Financial services are still in decline.
:33:00. > :33:08.Financial services are about 10% of the economy. They are not the only
:33:08. > :33:15.contributor to the economy. The point is, who benefits? Unemployment
:33:15. > :33:19.is falling, but we don't just want people to have any job, we want them
:33:19. > :33:57.to have decent jobs that pay a weight you can live off and
:33:57. > :34:13.Over the last 20 years people are less secure at work than ever. The
:34:13. > :34:21.other thing is the uneven spread of this across the economy. In places
:34:21. > :34:29.like the north-east, the Northwest, Yorkshire, they have seen
:34:29. > :34:38.unemployment increase. I understand there is a regional imbalance but
:34:38. > :34:44.this service sector is growing. Financial services are in decline.
:34:44. > :34:57.The reed balances happening. It is not happening to the degree that we
:34:57. > :35:00.need to transform our economy. We need to reconfigure our economy.
:35:00. > :35:09.Your party conference is coming up next week. Why do Ed Miliband's
:35:09. > :35:15.approval ratings get worse the more people see of him? I do not accept
:35:15. > :35:26.that. I am just giving you the figure. Surveys go up and down.His
:35:26. > :35:39.approval rating is consistently down. What matters are votes. We
:35:39. > :35:58.have seen the Labour Party put on new candidates. We have been putting
:35:58. > :36:01.on votes and members as well. Your leader is no more unpopular than
:36:01. > :36:09.Gordon Brown was when he too laboured to the worst defeat in
:36:09. > :36:24.living memory. -- when he to Labour. Votes are what matter.Twice
:36:24. > :36:40.as many people think Elvis Presley lives on the moon. We are winning
:36:40. > :36:45.support in important areas. Since 2010 we have put on thousands of
:36:45. > :36:49.members. Compare and contrast that to the Conservative party, which has
:36:49. > :36:59.not won a general election since 1992. Why will you not pledge to
:36:59. > :37:03.renationalise Royal Mail? That would be like writing a blank cheque. We
:37:03. > :37:08.do not know how much the Government will receive from the sale of Royal
:37:08. > :37:13.Mail. We do not know how much it would cost to buy it back. That
:37:13. > :37:22.would not be responsible. The Government is not lead to do this
:37:22. > :37:27.right now. Sources in the city and Whitehall tell me that if Labour
:37:27. > :37:31.pledged to renationalise it it would kill off the flotation. So if you
:37:31. > :37:39.are against it why do you not do it? That would be like writing a
:37:40. > :37:43.blank cheque. But if you put it in the prospectus, people in the city
:37:43. > :37:48.who know more about these things than you or I, say it would not
:37:48. > :37:54.happen at all. Why do you not do it? That would not be responsible.
:37:54. > :38:02.It would be like writing a blank cheque. You would not have to write
:38:02. > :38:06.a check if it had not happened. I had to deal with the facts. I will
:38:06. > :38:15.not deal with what anybody might speculate about. For me to pledge to
:38:15. > :38:20.renationalise it is now would be like writing a blank cheque. We want
:38:20. > :38:33.to be fiscally responsible as a Government. You are watching the
:38:34. > :38:37.Sunday Politics. Good afternoon and welcome back to
:38:37. > :38:47.Sunday Politics Scotland. Coming up on the programme - jawing at the
:38:47. > :38:55.battle lines on independence. How will the campaign be sustained? Alex
:38:55. > :38:59.Salmond should be prepared to debate with his opponents in Scotland on
:38:59. > :39:03.television. You would expect that in this day and age. I cannot
:39:03. > :39:08.understand why he is refusing to do a televised debate with anyone other
:39:08. > :39:12.than David Cameron. We will be putting that to the First Minister
:39:12. > :39:15.Alex Salmond live in Fraserburgh this afternoon.
:39:15. > :39:19.The Liberal Democrat conference is being held in Glasgow. We will hear
:39:19. > :39:27.from the Scottish leader Willie Rennie.
:39:27. > :39:30.On Wednesday campaigners will mark an important milestone in the run-up
:39:30. > :39:34.to next year's referendum on independence. After the summer
:39:34. > :39:39.cease-fire, if you can call it that, the battle for Scotland's future
:39:39. > :39:44.will be rejoined with only a year to go until the decisive vote. Here is
:39:44. > :39:48.our political correspondent. These days the battle over
:39:48. > :39:53.Scotland's future are fought with words, not swords. But the struggle
:39:53. > :39:59.now and we could be no less significant than those woven into
:39:59. > :40:10.the tapestry on display in Holyrood. In politics the word historic is
:40:10. > :40:14.vastly overused. But in one year from now one such event will take
:40:14. > :40:22.place. Scots will be asked should Scotland be an independent country.
:40:22. > :40:24.Those arguing to maintain the 300-year-old union said public
:40:24. > :40:30.opinion as on their side. They insist the referendum is not sewn up
:40:30. > :40:34.yet. Flying the flag for the UK on the streets of Scotland, they say
:40:34. > :40:41.that Alex Salmond is spinning voters and Yarm. You cannot tell us what
:40:41. > :40:45.currency we would have. He cannot tell us because he does not know. Or
:40:45. > :40:51.take what will happen with debt. He says he will default on debt. I
:40:51. > :40:57.really really going to start off by saying that Scotland is a country
:40:57. > :41:04.that will default on debt? Yes campaigners say they want the
:41:04. > :41:11.Scottish Parliament to take on more responsibilities from Westminster.
:41:11. > :41:13.It is because we have decision-making over education that
:41:13. > :41:17.young people can still go to university in Scotland. Because we
:41:17. > :41:21.have got the Scottish parliament we have got three personal care for
:41:21. > :41:30.older people. We could have been nitty in their old age. These are
:41:30. > :41:38.the kind of decisions we can take. -- they can have dignity in old age.
:41:38. > :41:52.As MSP is prepared to vote on the principles of the referendum Bill,
:41:52. > :41:56.one figure warns for temperance. The public has no great impression of
:41:56. > :42:01.politicians as it is. Another shouting match will cement that
:42:01. > :42:05.negative perception. The great tapestry of Scotland covers
:42:05. > :42:09.thousands of years of history. But there is one panel missing. Next
:42:09. > :42:13.year we will know what form it will take as Scots take the decision that
:42:13. > :42:18.will be time and the pattern of the nation future.
:42:18. > :42:24.I enjoyed now by First Minister Alex Salmond from Fraserburgh. An
:42:24. > :42:33.interesting time ahead. Just minute ago. I am interested to gauge how
:42:33. > :42:36.significant is that for you? It shows the piece is quickening. We
:42:36. > :42:43.are going to see a process over the next year where more and more Scots
:42:43. > :42:46.engage with the arguments. As people engage with these arguments more
:42:46. > :42:51.people will support an independent Scotland. You have stated
:42:51. > :42:56.emphatically this week that you would abolish the spare room subsidy
:42:56. > :42:59.or bedroom tax. What is your real big vision for Scottish
:42:59. > :43:09.independence? You spent the summer talking about maintaining the
:43:09. > :43:14.unions. We want to create a more prosperous country and a more equal
:43:14. > :43:20.society in Scotland. Constitutional change is an argument in itself.
:43:20. > :43:23.That is a noble ideal. An independent Scotland is also a means
:43:23. > :43:29.by which we can have a more prosperous country. Also,
:43:29. > :43:32.importantly, a more just society. That is an attractive vision.
:43:32. > :43:37.Compared with the dismal future if we stay and London control it is an
:43:38. > :43:45.exciting and galvanising vision. What other policy areas reduce you
:43:45. > :43:48.to change? A whole range of policy areas to make Scotland a more
:43:48. > :43:53.competitive country and therefore more prosperous economic league. A
:43:53. > :43:57.range of measures to avoid bearing down on some of the most vulnerable
:43:57. > :44:02.people in society as is being done at the present moment. Policies
:44:02. > :44:06.which keep public assets under public control like the Post Office
:44:06. > :44:10.at the present moment. Policies which mean that the great natural
:44:10. > :44:16.resources in Scotland, oil, gas, renewables, are treated as natural
:44:16. > :44:21.resources and go to the benefit of the people and the nation. These are
:44:21. > :44:27.quite different policies than the ones produced by Westminster. Add to
:44:27. > :44:32.that the fact that the Scottish Parliament has already written about
:44:32. > :44:41.the environmental challenge on greenhouse gases, shows that we can
:44:41. > :44:44.rise to the occasion. We can do that with the economy as well. You
:44:44. > :45:02.mentioned the privatisation of Royal Mail. What is the problem with that?
:45:02. > :45:09.We need the Royal Mail in public hands. We are spending hundreds of
:45:09. > :45:12.lines of pounds in terms of the spread out of five and broadband
:45:12. > :45:15.around Scotland to make sure that all the areas of Scotland have
:45:15. > :45:18.access to that wonderful new technology. We think it will do
:45:18. > :45:23.amazing things to the ability of businesses to sustain themselves in
:45:23. > :45:28.real areas. That depends on the infrastructure of Royal Mail. It
:45:28. > :45:32.depends on having a reliable and cost-effective postal delivery. Many
:45:32. > :45:36.of the great private companies who use the internet also use the Royal
:45:36. > :45:39.Mail as the best way of getting to people across the country. We should
:45:39. > :45:45.also look at it from another point of view. How to business people get
:45:45. > :45:49.their goods and services? You need that Royal Mail service. I
:45:49. > :45:55.jeopardise that? Why place it in private hands? My challenge to the
:45:56. > :46:02.Prime minister is clear. We are debating the future of Scotland over
:46:02. > :46:09.the next year. 80% or more of the Royal Mail is owned by the people of
:46:09. > :46:12.Scotland. -- 8%. What right does David Cameron have to cell of that
:46:12. > :46:20.before the people of Scotland have the opportunity to the assets like
:46:20. > :46:24.that into Scotland's hands? What do you mean by that? Are you wanting a
:46:24. > :46:33.moratorium on the Royal Mail cell of the four independence? I want a
:46:33. > :46:37.moratorium on the sale of Royal Mail to allow the people of Scotland to
:46:37. > :46:44.come to a decision whether that a national asset should stay in other
:46:45. > :46:49.cans -- stay in public hands or beehive off as the London Government
:46:49. > :46:56.intends to do. I am demanding that the Prime Minister, rather than
:46:56. > :47:01.pre-empt the decision of the people of Scotland, have a moratorium, so
:47:01. > :47:13.that we can decide what to do with our share of that national asset.
:47:13. > :47:20.This is a reserved issue. Real areas are represented by Lib Dem MPs. With
:47:20. > :47:27.all due respect to you to say that the UK Government cannot proceed
:47:27. > :47:33.with this sale? We are divided over three of the mandate lies on this.
:47:33. > :47:42.Two years ago and overwhelming majority of Scottish MPs voted
:47:42. > :47:45.against privatisation plans. But if those proposing privatisation wants
:47:45. > :47:46.to put that matter to the Scottish people after independence then that
:47:46. > :47:51.to put that matter to the Scottish is a matter for them. I think they
:47:51. > :48:00.will get short shrift. I do not think many Lib Dems will be
:48:00. > :48:10.surviving a process which combines selling off the Royal Mail and
:48:10. > :48:13.imposing the bedroom tax. This is about how we should treat the assets
:48:13. > :48:17.and resources of this country. The empowerment of the people through
:48:17. > :48:22.the referendum has to be expressed in their ability to make these
:48:22. > :48:25.decisions. That is why I am making a challenge to the Prime Minister to
:48:25. > :48:32.call a halt at this stage. The other challenge to the Prime Minister is
:48:32. > :48:38.your challenge to debate them. Alistair Darling is calling for you
:48:38. > :48:45.to debate. He says why not debate with them? Are you running scared of
:48:45. > :48:50.debating with Alistair Darling? I will keep my eyes set on the Prime
:48:50. > :48:54.Minister on this particular campaign. The Royal Mail issue is an
:48:54. > :48:57.exact example of that. I debate that should take place against the
:48:57. > :49:02.different futures that Scotland has should include issues like the
:49:02. > :49:05.bedroom tax, like the Royal Mail, whether these are right or wrong for
:49:05. > :49:10.the Scottish people and who should make these decisions. We cannot
:49:10. > :49:13.debate with somebody who has no control over these issues at the
:49:13. > :49:19.moment. The Prime Minister and myself have been given a joint award
:49:19. > :49:26.for democratic innovation in Edinburgh agreement. That agreement
:49:26. > :49:38.allowed the referendum to take place on a statutory Asus. -- statutory
:49:38. > :49:48.basis. Despite all your campaigning over the summer the opinion polls
:49:48. > :49:53.have not shifted. An American pollster said that you would need a
:49:53. > :50:01.crisis in England for the yes campaign to be successful next year.
:50:01. > :50:04.There is plenty of crisis developing and constitutional politics across
:50:04. > :50:13.the country at the present moment. The bedroom tax is a crisis but many
:50:13. > :50:23.people at the present moment. Look at the opinion polls this morning.
:50:23. > :50:27.If Scotland voted against independents Westminster was put
:50:27. > :50:36.Scotland in the dustbin file somewhere. An opinion poll in a
:50:36. > :50:40.Sunday newspaper has said that 50% of people are not sure yet. There
:50:40. > :50:46.are a lot of people like that at present. The one thing we can say
:50:46. > :50:51.about the opinion polls this morning is that it is game on. Secondly we
:50:51. > :50:54.can say that as people get more information about the different
:50:54. > :51:07.futures of this country then I think people will move towards acquiesced
:51:07. > :51:13.position for Scotland. what dated November can colours for the White
:51:13. > :51:19.Paper being released? We have all ways so that it will be in the
:51:19. > :51:25.autumn. I think the debate with the Prime Minister should be on St
:51:25. > :51:31.Andrews Day, what better day to have the finest acting against Scottish
:51:31. > :51:35.independence, me arguing in favour is to mark that would be a grand
:51:35. > :51:41.day. I think you can anticipate that the White Paper may be in the public
:51:41. > :51:46.domain by November, as Nicola Sturgeon said. Now, the tans are
:51:46. > :51:49.fading, the holiday credit card bills are dropping through the
:51:49. > :51:52.letterbox. Yes, summer is well and truly over and autumn is here.
:51:52. > :51:56.Politicos are bristling with excitement as party conference
:51:56. > :51:59.season now begins. The Liberal Democrats have taken their UK
:51:59. > :52:02.conference to Glasgow for the first time in ten years, telling voters
:52:02. > :52:12.they've got a track record now on jobs and the economy. The UK
:52:12. > :52:17.conference on the doorstep across the Clyde. The lip Dems are trying
:52:17. > :52:23.to build a bridge into the future, a fresh start looking ahead to the
:52:23. > :52:28.election after a difficult years in government. Senior figures and 5000
:52:28. > :52:34.party members have descended on Glasgow. Security is pretty tight
:52:34. > :52:40.here. Even the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has to have his pass
:52:40. > :52:43.carefully checked. These protesters gathered to complain about the spare
:52:44. > :52:50.room subsidy, which they call the bedroom tax. It is difficult for
:52:50. > :52:56.some delegates to keep calm like these people. They are angry about
:52:56. > :53:02.the bedroom tax and the U-turn on tuition fees. Do you think it was a
:53:02. > :53:08.good idea to go into coalition? No, I don't. I have lost a lot of my
:53:08. > :53:14.benefits, I have lost my home, I am struggling. When you are in
:53:14. > :53:20.coalition there always enjoy going to have to compromise on. Being in
:53:20. > :53:27.government has damaged the party 's popularity that it is because of
:53:27. > :53:34.being in government that we are working in the national interest.
:53:34. > :53:39.Nick Clegg is unapologetic. I was always very open that it would be a
:53:39. > :53:43.risk politically but the biggest duty for us was to provide jobs and
:53:43. > :53:50.a sense of economic well-being to the people of Scotland and written.
:53:50. > :53:55.Jobs and the economy, that is what he is trying to put the focus on,
:53:55. > :54:00.claiming a strong track record. That is the message they are desperately
:54:00. > :54:01.trying to get across as they try to rebuild support here in Scotland and
:54:01. > :54:04.trying to get across as they try to further afield. I spoke to the
:54:04. > :54:08.Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie, a little
:54:08. > :54:14.earlier as he prepared to make his speech to conference this afternoon.
:54:14. > :54:21.I asked if it had been the right decision to go into coalition. Nick
:54:21. > :54:26.Clegg and the party made the right decision in 2010 for the whole
:54:26. > :54:30.country. We make that step in order to secure the economy and to secure
:54:30. > :54:37.fairness in the wider society as well. It was not easy. To go in with
:54:37. > :54:42.the Conservatives was a big step for the party but it was the right thing
:54:42. > :54:48.to do. In 2010 there was chaos throughout Europe. There was chaos
:54:48. > :54:52.in the economy. Now what we have got is GDP up, unemployment is going
:54:52. > :54:57.down, the prospects are far better. You also have big improvements like
:54:57. > :55:02.tax cuts for those unloading comes, tension rises, many things which if
:55:02. > :55:08.the Tories were running the country on their own would never be done.
:55:08. > :55:14.But at what cost to your party for the future gesture marked up poll in
:55:14. > :55:20.the Sunday Times suggested your ratings have gone down from 19 to
:55:20. > :55:27.7%. That would work out with you losing half of your Scottish MPs.
:55:27. > :55:29.But if you look at the elections across Scotland, in Aberdeen
:55:29. > :55:36.powerboat went up and we overtook the Tories. If Melrose, all these
:55:36. > :55:43.elections, powerboat went up significantly and the others went
:55:43. > :55:51.down. We are making progress in real votes in real elections. I am not
:55:51. > :55:54.pretending that things are smooth. But when we put the message across
:55:54. > :56:02.people understand that we are making a difference to equal slice. There
:56:02. > :56:11.was the U-turn over tuition fees, there is the bedroom tax, we have
:56:11. > :56:15.the Sarah Teather, the MP, saying she will not stand again because she
:56:15. > :56:22.is angry at the progress of the party. What kind of progress is
:56:22. > :56:31.that? We are making progress, in terms of reform, in terms of welfare
:56:31. > :56:34.reform. If we were not there, that would not happen. Is that what the
:56:34. > :56:37.protesters would like, for us not to be involved and to make that
:56:37. > :56:42.difference? We are making a difference on things like cutting
:56:42. > :56:47.tax. There are about 2 million people in Scotland who have no tax
:56:47. > :56:50.bills as a result of us. We have raised the threshold to 10,000 which
:56:50. > :56:57.has made a big difference to ordinary working people. It makes
:56:57. > :57:00.work pay. Another poll in another newspaper suggested that act of this
:57:00. > :57:05.was shifting in their attitude newspaper suggested that act of this
:57:05. > :57:13.towards a coalition with Labour or a confidence and supply agreement with
:57:13. > :57:17.Labour, away from the Conservatives. It is difficult to know what the
:57:17. > :57:24.circumstances will be in 2015. We have worked in Scotland with Labour
:57:25. > :57:30.for nine years. Across Scotland, we form administrations with the SNP in
:57:30. > :57:37.local councils. We are prepared to work with others. What would you
:57:37. > :57:43.like to see, Conservative or Labour? It depends on how may people vote
:57:43. > :57:45.Liberal Democrat in that election. The more people vote Liberal
:57:45. > :57:50.Democrat, the more site we can have. If we can persuade the others
:57:50. > :57:56.to come in form a joint programme, we are prepared to do it. You have
:57:56. > :58:00.that joint programme at the conference over the river just now.
:58:00. > :58:04.You're talking about exposing argument with the Conservatives. Is
:58:04. > :58:11.this just creating some artificial died between the two of you? People
:58:11. > :58:15.need to understand that we are fighting our corner, we are standing
:58:15. > :58:19.up for things. Making sure that things like the green investment
:58:19. > :58:25.bank, which is coming to Edinburgh, was fought for by the Liberal
:58:25. > :58:30.Democrats. There's no in hiding it. Get out there and tell people how we
:58:30. > :58:34.are making a difference. We're not there to drop the Conservatives,
:58:34. > :58:35.were there ensure the Liberal Democrats are delivering policies
:58:35. > :58:40.and we are stopping them from doing Democrats are delivering policies
:58:40. > :58:46.their worst. You're going to be addressing the delegates this
:58:46. > :58:48.afternoon, but as you fight your corn in the argument about
:58:48. > :58:55.independence, where is the argument about more powers. And? The Liberal
:58:55. > :59:00.Democrats say they want federalism, but why can't the UK Government is
:59:00. > :59:06.more powers for Scotland after the referendum? Listen to Nick Clegg
:59:06. > :59:11.this weekend and the CPI event earlier this month. He made it clear
:59:12. > :59:16.that in 2015 the Liberal Democrats will be campaigning in the manifesto
:59:16. > :59:22.for home rule in a federal UK. We think Ed Miliband and David Cameron
:59:22. > :59:25.should hold their hands up and say they will commit to more powers as
:59:25. > :59:28.well. We are leading the way on this. If you look at the polls and
:59:29. > :59:32.listen to the people on the door is this. If you look at the polls and
:59:32. > :59:36.what they say is that they want to reject independence, because they
:59:36. > :59:41.want to stay in partnership, but they want more powers over the
:59:41. > :59:45.domestic agenda. They want more financial power and more
:59:45. > :59:50.constitutional power. I think we are developed in a consensus. You look
:59:50. > :59:56.at some of the think tank, some of the academic, who are arguing this
:59:56. > :00:00.is where the common ground is. We think we can get Labour and the
:00:00. > :00:05.Conservatives to join us on it. Why can you not come to some common
:00:05. > :00:14.ground in the UK Government and make that kind of offering to the people
:00:15. > :00:20.of Scotland? You have to take a step at a time. What we are committing to
:00:20. > :00:27.is to do more after the referendum. Now does not mean no change, it
:00:27. > :00:34.means more change will stop but within the United Kingdom, because
:00:34. > :00:45.the UK is good for Scotland. As a decentralising party, we want power
:00:45. > :00:49.to be in the nations. A great concern to many people in rural
:00:49. > :00:54.communities in Scotland is the privatisation of the Royal Mail. And
:00:54. > :00:58.they are represented by Liberal Democrat MPs in many parts of
:00:58. > :01:05.Scotland. How can you MPs be agreeing to this? They will not lose
:01:05. > :01:11.out. The universal service guarantee is in law and will remain. It brings
:01:12. > :01:15.more money into the Royal Mail. For years and a Labour in decline.
:01:16. > :01:21.Thousands of job were lost, post offices closed. We have protected
:01:21. > :01:25.sub post offices and we are investing in the Roma. This will be
:01:25. > :01:33.good for Royal Mail, it will make flourish. If you just stay as you
:01:33. > :01:42.are, it will stagnate. We need to invest 81 of the best mail services
:01:42. > :01:51.in in the whole world. Let's cross now for the news, with Clive Myrie
:01:51. > :01:55.and Graham Stewart. Good afternoon. Nick Clegg says victory for either
:01:55. > :01:58.the Conservatives or Labour at the next election would put at risk the
:01:58. > :02:05.economic recovery. Speaking at the Liberal Democrat annual conference
:02:05. > :02:10.he said it would allow the government to finish the job of
:02:10. > :02:15.repairing the economy fairly. If we go back to the bad old days, not of
:02:15. > :02:18.coalition and balance politics, but of either the left or right
:02:18. > :02:24.dominating government on their own, you will get a recovery that is
:02:25. > :02:27.neither fair nor sustainable. I think Labour would wreck that
:02:27. > :02:34.recovery and under the Conservatives you get the wrong kind of recovery.
:02:34. > :02:39.219-year-old women arrested after fatal stabbing in Leicester Thursday
:02:39. > :02:42.have been released without charge. Police are trying to discover if
:02:42. > :02:47.there is a link between the killing and fired nearby. Five people in all
:02:47. > :02:53.still being questioned in with the blaze. A Syrian government minister
:02:53. > :02:57.has described the agreement drawn up by America and Russia to displace of
:02:57. > :03:02.his country chemical weapons as a victory. The minister claims that
:03:02. > :03:07.the deal helps the Syrians out of a crisis and adverts war. The US
:03:07. > :03:18.Secretary of State is in Israel to brief the Prime Minister Binyamin
:03:18. > :03:22.Netanyahu on the proposal. Britain's Mo Farah has missed out on
:03:22. > :03:27.winning his first half marathon by around one second. He was taking
:03:27. > :03:33.part in the Great North Run between Newcastle and South Shields. He was
:03:33. > :03:41.the favourite following his two gold medals at the world Championships.
:03:41. > :03:44.He lost out in a split finish. A carnival atmosphere in Newcastle for
:03:44. > :03:50.the start of the 33rd rate North run. Thousands limbered up and for
:03:50. > :03:57.some it was about the challenge, for others simply dressing up for fun. I
:03:57. > :04:01.am walking it, so I have no time in mind, I just want to get round,
:04:01. > :04:08.enjoy it, and appreciated the crowds. Both these athletes, today's
:04:08. > :04:14.race was about who would be first over the line. Despite the wind and
:04:14. > :04:18.rain, large crowds turned out for the world 's most popular half
:04:18. > :04:25.marathon, which attracts some of the finest women's runners as well.
:04:25. > :04:29.There were high hopes for Britain's double Olympic champion Mo Farah.
:04:29. > :04:39.After a long sprint finish, he was narrowly beaten by an Ethiopian
:04:39. > :04:44.runner. It was a great race, it was a great finish. When he went with a
:04:44. > :04:48.mile to go I thought the pace was ridiculous and I thought I could
:04:48. > :04:54.come back and close the gap. You cannot take away what he has, he has
:04:54. > :04:59.great read. Wheelchair athlete David Weir won his race for a fourth time.
:04:59. > :05:07.More than £200 million has been raised since the Great North Run
:05:08. > :05:16.began. That is it for now. Though be more News at 6:50pm.
:05:16. > :05:22.The first Minister Alex Salmond has called for a moratorium on the
:05:23. > :05:29.privatisation of Royal Mail until after the independence referendum.
:05:29. > :05:34.The service has undergone that people with job losses and price
:05:34. > :05:37.rises in recent years. Alex Salmond said privatisation could have a
:05:38. > :05:49.serious impact on the Scottish economy. I am demanding of the Prime
:05:49. > :05:52.Minister that he has a moratorium on the sale to allow the people of
:05:52. > :05:55.Scotland to decide what we want to do with our share of that great
:05:55. > :05:59.national asset. A young Scottish woman held in a
:05:59. > :06:03.Peruvian jail on suspicion of trying to smuggle £1.5 million worth of
:06:04. > :06:09.cocaine is reported to be preparing to plead guilty in exchange for a
:06:09. > :06:13.short sentence. Melissa Reid told a Sunday newspaper that she hopes a
:06:13. > :06:17.plea deal will allow her to return home in three years. She is also
:06:17. > :06:22.expected to apply to serve her sentence in a prison in the UK.
:06:22. > :06:26.The weather is causing disruption. Ferry passengers are being advised
:06:26. > :06:29.to check for delays and cancellations. There are also
:06:29. > :06:37.warnings of high winds on the Forth and Tay bridges. You is the full
:06:37. > :06:40.weather forecast. We are brightening up this
:06:40. > :06:46.afternoon. We have lost the persistent rain to the South East.
:06:46. > :06:52.The Met office still has a warning for deal force winds across many
:06:52. > :07:01.parts. This afternoon there will be some heavy showers. More in the way
:07:01. > :07:08.of sunshine for the East but there is still wind gusting to deal force.
:07:08. > :07:14.In the east we will see the best of the sunshine and the top
:07:14. > :07:18.temperature. This evening we keep a feed of showers coming in across
:07:18. > :07:29.western parts. Drier and clearer in the East but that will be a cold
:07:29. > :07:36.night everywhere. The Autumn term at Westminster has
:07:36. > :07:43.begun. There is a big year ahead for independence campaigners.
:07:43. > :07:49.I am now joined by Ian Blackford from the SNP and Pauline McNeill
:07:50. > :08:04.from Labour. Welcome to you both. Let us look at the headlines in the
:08:04. > :08:14.Sunday newspapers. Quite a stark page there. How
:08:14. > :08:23.important is this anniversary as it where for campaigners? This is the
:08:23. > :08:27.marathon towards the vote next September. There is a great deal of
:08:27. > :08:32.excitement about the importance of the decision we will all take next
:08:32. > :08:35.year. As part of that we should be having a debate on the kind of
:08:35. > :08:42.society we want. How do we create economic role? How do we deliver
:08:42. > :08:55.social services in Scotland? These things should be central to the
:08:55. > :09:04.debate. Talking about the people of Scotland, is this debate going
:09:04. > :09:08.beyond that? One person is quoted as saying he will wait until two weeks
:09:08. > :09:13.before the referendum to make up his mind. This is a critical stage in
:09:13. > :09:17.the run-up to the referendum. The fact that it is one year will make
:09:17. > :09:21.people sit up and realise there is a decision to be made. In the coming
:09:21. > :09:25.year people will want politicians to come out of that bubble. They will
:09:25. > :09:32.want clarity around the consequences. The publication of the
:09:32. > :09:37.White Paper is a very important point for the yes campaign. That is
:09:37. > :09:42.the time you need to set out with some clarity what it will mean going
:09:42. > :09:47.independent in relation to pensions, welfare, all of these
:09:47. > :09:52.issues. People want to trust the information on both sides. This is a
:09:52. > :10:09.Big Issue. He wants to be able to trust the issue on the no campaign.
:10:09. > :10:16.Can you give us an insight into what the campaigners are thinking? When
:10:16. > :10:23.you look at the opinion polls you can see it is all to play for. A lot
:10:23. > :10:25.of people have not decided. People want information. What are the
:10:25. > :10:30.consequences of Scotland going independent? Those of us on the yes
:10:30. > :10:36.side have got to spell out with clarity how we will deliver economic
:10:36. > :10:41.growth and social services in a fair Scotland that we believe people
:10:41. > :10:46.should aspire to. It is important that the no side also shows how they
:10:46. > :10:49.perceive Scotland within the UK. I hope we go beyond talking about
:10:49. > :10:53.process and that we have a more details debate on the kind of
:10:53. > :10:58.society that we all aspire to on both sides. We have two remain
:10:58. > :11:03.positive. We have to show that we can make a difference and that we
:11:03. > :11:10.can protect those in our society from policies such as the bedroom
:11:10. > :11:17.tax. You pay for that by making sure that you can deliver sustainable
:11:17. > :11:24.economic growth. What are the strategists on the no side saying?
:11:24. > :11:29.There is a clear lead in the opinion polls. I agree with Alistair
:11:29. > :11:36.Darling. He is taking a cautious approach to this campaign. He
:11:36. > :11:39.acknowledged that the voters are quite fluid in their approach to how
:11:39. > :11:46.they vote. That is the right approach. We cannot take the results
:11:46. > :11:59.were granted. An important opinion poll today shows that voters who are
:11:59. > :12:08.going to vote no also want change. In the coming months the Labour
:12:08. > :12:13.Commission on devolution will be important because it will fill in
:12:13. > :12:17.some of the gaps about how we would bring about change. There will be no
:12:17. > :12:23.complacency in our campaign even though we clearly have a Leeds. Let
:12:23. > :12:33.us turn our attention to the Lib Dem conference across the river. Nick
:12:33. > :12:38.Clegg said, we took a hit but we did it for Britain.
:12:38. > :12:45.The Lib Dems have been damaged by going into Coalition. When you hear
:12:45. > :12:59.some of the stories coming out today, they are having to defend the
:12:59. > :13:05.bedroom tax, they are backing the privatisation of Royal Mail, it does
:13:05. > :13:12.that the Liberal Democrats in Scotland are in big trouble. -- it
:13:12. > :13:18.does highlight that the Liberal Democrats in Scotland are in big
:13:18. > :13:24.trouble. The bedroom tax has become a political football. The starting
:13:24. > :13:30.point is that Labour and the SNP are opposed to the bedroom tax. At
:13:30. > :13:34.Labour opposed to it? I knew you were going to ask me that. It is
:13:34. > :13:38.quite clear that if there is a Scottish Labour Government it would
:13:38. > :13:41.abolish the bedroom tax. The reason the Scottish Parliament exists is
:13:41. > :13:46.that it can mitigate some of the policies of a Labour Government. It
:13:46. > :13:49.is within the needs of the SNP to completely deal with this. As far as
:13:49. > :13:55.the Labour position on this is concerned, you need to watch this
:13:55. > :14:01.space. They need to develop a policy for 2015. Labour are clearly opposed
:14:01. > :14:05.to the bedroom tax. The Liberal Democrats are clearly not. They are
:14:05. > :14:12.struggling to call themselves the party for fairness here. That is all
:14:12. > :14:17.for this week. We are back at 1130 AM next week. Goodbye.