:00:36. > :00:39.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:40. > :00:42.Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball tactics
:00:43. > :00:47.and intimidation by unions in industrial disputes. That's our top
:00:48. > :00:51.story. Thousands dead. Hundreds of
:00:52. > :00:55.thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to
:00:56. > :00:57.help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:00:58. > :01:02.International Development Secretary Justine Greening.
:01:03. > :01:05.Winter is coming and so, it seems, is another crisis in England's
:01:06. > :01:07.hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow Health Secretary how he'd put a stop
:01:08. > :01:15.to the NHS's annual woes. It may be saving money but what
:01:16. > :01:20.could fatalities on the capital's streets,
:01:21. > :01:23.and renewed fatalities on the capital's streets,
:01:24. > :01:31.and renewed calls to get lorries off the roads in peak hours.
:01:32. > :01:38.With me, the best and brightest political panel that money can buy.
:01:39. > :01:41.Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this week, Zoe Williams, who'll be
:01:42. > :01:46.tweeting their thoughts throughout the programme.
:01:47. > :01:49.The Government has announced a review to investigate what the Prime
:01:50. > :02:01.Minister has called "industrial intimidation" by trade union
:02:02. > :02:04.activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair a panel to examine allegations of
:02:05. > :02:07.the kind of tactics that came to light during the Grangemouth
:02:08. > :02:10.dispute, when the Unite union took their protests - replete with a
:02:11. > :02:15.giant rat - outside the family homes of the firms' bosses. Earlier this
:02:16. > :02:22.morning the Cabinet office minister, Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and
:02:23. > :02:25.this is what he had to say. To look at whether the law currently works
:02:26. > :02:30.and see if it is ineffective in preventing the kind of intimidatory
:02:31. > :02:40.activity that was alleged to have taken place around range mouth
:02:41. > :02:45.during the previous disputes -- Grangemouth. We make no presumptions
:02:46. > :02:48.at the beginning of this. I do think it is a responsible thing for the
:02:49. > :02:53.government to establish what happened and really do a proper
:02:54. > :03:00.review into whether the law is adequate to meet the needs. That was
:03:01. > :03:04.Francis Maude. This is a purely political move, isn't it? Unite did
:03:05. > :03:09.this a couple of times, it is hardly happening all over the country but
:03:10. > :03:15.the government want to say, we are prepared to investigate Unite
:03:16. > :03:20.properly, Labour isn't. This seemed a lot worse when I thought it was a
:03:21. > :03:25.real rat. I thought it was a giant dead rat. I am not sure if you know
:03:26. > :03:31.much about rats but real rats are not this big, even the ones in
:03:32. > :03:35.London. The thing is, obviously it is naked politics but I think it is
:03:36. > :03:40.more intelligent than it looks. They are trying to taint Miliband as a
:03:41. > :03:46.week union puppet and that doesn't really wash. They hammer away with
:03:47. > :03:52.it and it might wash for some people. But it really castrates
:03:53. > :03:55.Miliband in the important issues he has to tackle. Zero hours, living
:03:56. > :04:01.wage, all of those things in which he needs to be in concert with the
:04:02. > :04:08.unions, and to use their expertise. He is making them absolutely toxic
:04:09. > :04:18.to go anywhere near. It keeps the Unite story alive, have to kill --
:04:19. > :04:26.particularly since Mr Miller band is under pressure to reopen the
:04:27. > :04:36.investigation into what Unite are up to -- Mr Miliband. They are
:04:37. > :04:40.frustrated, not only at the BBC but the media generally at what they
:04:41. > :04:44.think is a lack of coverage. I see the political rationale from that
:04:45. > :04:49.respect. There is a risk. There are union members who either vote Tory
:04:50. > :04:57.or are open to the idea of voting Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party
:04:58. > :05:10.comes across as too zealous in as -- its antipathy, there is an electoral
:05:11. > :05:14.consequence. Ed Miliband has been careful to keep a distance. Yes
:05:15. > :05:18.they depend on vast amounts of money. When Len McCluskey had a real
:05:19. > :05:22.go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was straight out there with a very
:05:23. > :05:27.strong statement. Essentially Len McCluskey wanted Blairites in the
:05:28. > :05:30.shadow cabinet sacked and Ed Miliband was keen to distance
:05:31. > :05:37.himself or for that is why it is not quite sticking. Another story in the
:05:38. > :05:42.Sunday papers this morning, the Mail on Sunday got hold of some e-mails.
:05:43. > :05:47.When I saw the headline I thought it was a huge cache of e-mails, it
:05:48. > :05:51.turns out to be a couple. They peel away the cover on the relationship
:05:52. > :05:58.between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts
:05:59. > :06:07.describing what Mr balls is trying to do as a nightmare. How bad are
:06:08. > :06:10.the relations? They are pretty bad and these e-mails confirm the
:06:11. > :06:15.biggest open signal in Westminster, which is that relations are pretty
:06:16. > :06:19.tense, -- open secret. That Ed Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls
:06:20. > :06:23.is acknowledging the economy has grown that Labour needs to admit to
:06:24. > :06:32.past mistakes. The sort of great open signal is confirmed. On a scale
:06:33. > :06:39.of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown was ten. I think it is between six
:06:40. > :06:44.and seven. They occupy this joint suite of offices that George Cameron
:06:45. > :06:49.and -- David Cameron and George Osborne had. It is not just on the
:06:50. > :06:53.economy that there were tensions, there were clearly tensions over
:06:54. > :06:59.HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question over it at his conference. There
:07:00. > :07:02.will be more tensions when it comes to the third runway because my
:07:03. > :07:07.information is that Mr balls wants to do it and Ed Miliband almost
:07:08. > :07:12.resigned over it when he was in government. I don't think Ed
:07:13. > :07:15.Miliband is thinking very politically because he has tried
:07:16. > :07:21.live without Ed Balls and that is not tenable either. -- life without.
:07:22. > :07:26.He has defined a way of making it work. That is where Tony Blair had
:07:27. > :07:31.the edge on any modern politician. He didn't want to make Ed Balls his
:07:32. > :07:35.Shadow Chancellor, he had to. Somebody said to him, if you make Ed
:07:36. > :07:39.Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will be the last decision you take as
:07:40. > :07:56.leader of the Labour Party. Is it as bad? I was surprised at how tame the
:07:57. > :08:00.e-mails were. At the FT it is compulsory, one French word per
:08:01. > :08:06.sentence! To call him a nightmare, compared to what they are willing to
:08:07. > :08:08.say in briefings, conversations bits of frustrations they express
:08:09. > :08:15.verbally come what is documented in the e-mails is actually pretty
:08:16. > :08:17.light. It has been a grim week for the people of the Philippines as
:08:18. > :08:23.they count the cost of the devastation wrought by Typhoon
:08:24. > :08:26.Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived near the worst hit areas - part of
:08:27. > :08:31.Britain's contribution to bring aid to the country.
:08:32. > :08:34.It has been one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the
:08:35. > :08:38.Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the country nine days ago, leaving
:08:39. > :08:44.devastation in its wake. The numbers involved are shocking. The official
:08:45. > :08:48.death toll is over 3600 people, with many thousands more unaccounted for.
:08:49. > :08:52.More than half a million people have lost their homes and the UN
:08:53. > :08:56.estimates 11 million have been affected. David Cameron announced on
:08:57. > :09:00.Friday that the UK government is to give an extra ?30 million in aid,
:09:01. > :09:06.taking the total British figure ?250 million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft
:09:07. > :09:12.landed yesterday with equipment to help aid workers get too hard to
:09:13. > :09:16.reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on its way and due to arrive next
:09:17. > :09:23.weekend. The British public have once again dipped into their pockets
:09:24. > :09:28.and given generously. They have given more than ?30 million to the
:09:29. > :09:29.Disasters Emergency Committee. The International Development
:09:30. > :09:33.Secretary, Justine Greening, joins me now for the Sunday Interview
:09:34. > :09:37.Good morning, Secretary of State. How much of the ?50 million that the
:09:38. > :09:44.government has allocated has got through so far? All of it has landed
:09:45. > :09:47.on the ground now. HMS Daring has turned up, that will be able to
:09:48. > :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. > :10:02.really being able to get aid out on the ground. We have a plane taking
:10:03. > :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. > :10:56.Why has that taken so long? It was based in the Gulf and is not going
:10:57. > :10:59.to get there until two weeks after the storm first hit and that is the
:11:00. > :11:04.one ship we have with lots of helicopters. The first decision we
:11:05. > :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. > :11:22.said to not do that, and diverted it. Shouldn't it have happened more
:11:23. > :11:27.quickly? We took the decisions as fast as we were able to, you can't
:11:28. > :11:31.just turn a big warship around like the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we
:11:32. > :11:36.took those decisions and that is while it will be taking over from
:11:37. > :11:41.HMS Daring come and that is why HMS Daring is ready there. It will be
:11:42. > :11:45.able to provide key support and expertise that has not been there so
:11:46. > :11:51.far. The US Navy is doing the heavy lifting here. The US Navy had the
:11:52. > :11:56.USS Washington, there is an aircraft carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel
:11:57. > :11:59.and they have the fleet, they are doing the real work. We obviously
:12:00. > :12:04.helping but the Americans are taking the lead. It is a big international
:12:05. > :12:08.effort. Countries like the US and the UK, that have a broader ability
:12:09. > :12:16.to support that goes beyond simply call humanitarian supplies -- have
:12:17. > :12:21.made sure we have brought our logistics knowledge, we have sent
:12:22. > :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. > :12:43.crises hit in any given year. We have done a huge amount, responding
:12:44. > :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. > :13:12.it would be a visible result. We could see an improvement in the
:13:13. > :13:16.lives of children, men and women. What we need to do is alongside that
:13:17. > :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. > :13:29.some of the work we are doing in Somalia, much more sensible. Not
:13:30. > :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. > :13:45.Kenya recently to see that. Which is why you talk about what we do with
:13:46. > :13:49.the rest of the spend. It is why it is responsible to work with the
:13:50. > :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. > :14:10.Syria. Where can you show me a correlation between us giving aid to
:14:11. > :14:16.some failed nation, or nearly failed nation, and that cutting down on
:14:17. > :14:19.terrorism? If you look at the work we have done in Pakistan, a huge
:14:20. > :14:25.amount of work. Some of it short-term. It is written by
:14:26. > :14:33.terrorism. That is -- ridden by terrorism. That is not going to fix
:14:34. > :14:42.it self in a sense. Look at the work that we do in investing in
:14:43. > :14:50.education. The things that little girls like Malala talk about as
:14:51. > :14:55.being absolutely key. We are ramping up our aid to Pakistan, it will be
:14:56. > :15:00.close to half ?1 billion by the time of the election. Why should British
:15:01. > :15:08.taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion to a country where only 0.5% of
:15:09. > :15:17.people in Pakistan pay income tax, and 70% of their own MPs don't pay
:15:18. > :15:21.income tax. It is a good point and that is why we have been working
:15:22. > :15:31.with their tax revenue authority to help them increase that and push
:15:32. > :15:37.forward the tax reform. You are right, and I have setup a team that
:15:38. > :15:42.will go out and work with many of these countries so they can raise
:15:43. > :15:55.their own revenues. You really think you will raise the amount of tax by
:15:56. > :16:00.sending out the British HRM see How many troops I we sending out to
:16:01. > :16:08.protect them? They don't need troops. We make sure that we have a
:16:09. > :16:18.duty of care alongside our staff, but we have to respond to any crisis
:16:19. > :16:24.like the Philippines, and alongside other countries we have two work
:16:25. > :16:29.alongside them so that they can reinvest in their own public
:16:30. > :16:35.services. If they can create their own taxes, will we stop paying aid?
:16:36. > :16:40.We need to look at that but the new Pakistan Government has been very
:16:41. > :16:48.clear it is a priority and we will be helping them in pursuing that.
:16:49. > :16:55.Let me show you a picture. Who are these young women? I don't know I'm
:16:56. > :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. > :17:31.some control over what happens to their own bodies in terms of
:17:32. > :17:37.tackling FGM, female genital mutilation... Did you know your
:17:38. > :17:45.department has spent ?4 million on the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I
:17:46. > :17:49.do, and we have to work with girls and show them there is a life ahead
:17:50. > :17:53.of them with opportunity and potential that goes beyond what many
:17:54. > :17:58.of them will experience, which includes early and forced marriage.
:17:59. > :18:10.It is part of the work we do with local communities to change
:18:11. > :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. > :18:34.project has been condemned saying there were serious inefficiencies.
:18:35. > :18:38.That aid report was done a while ago now, and it was talking about the
:18:39. > :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. > :18:51.difficult environments where we are trying to get longer term change on
:18:52. > :18:55.the ground and that means working directly with communities but also
:18:56. > :19:00.investing for the long-term, investing in some of these girls
:19:01. > :19:07.start changing attitudes in them and their communities. Why does the
:19:08. > :19:19.British taxpayers spend ?5 million on a Bangladesh version of Question
:19:20. > :19:25.Time? We work with the BBC to make sure we can get accountabilities...
:19:26. > :19:45.That is bigger then the BBC Question Time Normal -- budget. That includes
:19:46. > :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. > :19:59.hold their governments to account so that when they are not getting
:20:00. > :20:03.services on the ground, they have ways they can raise those concerns
:20:04. > :20:09.with the people who are there to deliver services for them. In your
:20:10. > :20:16.own personal view, should the next Conservative Government, if there is
:20:17. > :20:20.one, should you continue to ring fence spending on foreign aid? But
:20:21. > :20:26.it is critical that if we are going to spend 7.7% of our national
:20:27. > :20:31.income, we should make sure it is in our national interest and that means
:20:32. > :20:36.having a clear approach to humanitarian responses, in keeping
:20:37. > :20:41.the country safe, and a clearer approach on helping drive economic
:20:42. > :20:47.development and jobs so there is a long-term end of the dependency Do
:20:48. > :20:54.you believe in an shrine in the percentage of our GDP that goes on
:20:55. > :21:01.foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is a coalition agreement. There have
:21:02. > :21:07.been a lot of agreements that you are sceptical about ring fencing. We
:21:08. > :21:17.are focused on shaking up the economy and improving our public
:21:18. > :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. > :21:48.already met 0.7% commitment. If you are British voter that doesn't
:21:49. > :21:56.believe that we should enshrine that in by law, which means that with a
:21:57. > :22:01.growing economy foreign aid will rise by definition, and if you think
:22:02. > :22:04.we should be spending less money on the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom
:22:05. > :22:11.should you wrote in the next election? I think we have a very
:22:12. > :22:18.sensible approach. I don't know what the various party manifestoes.. The
:22:19. > :22:24.only party who thinks we shouldn't be doing this is UKIP. I think you
:22:25. > :22:37.have to look at the response to both the Philippines crisis and Children
:22:38. > :22:42.In Need. Of all the steps we are taking to get the country back on
:22:43. > :22:47.track, it shows the British people will respond to need when they need
:22:48. > :22:54.it and it is one of the things that makes Britain's special.
:22:55. > :22:56.Thank you. "It's always winter but never Christmas" - that's how
:22:57. > :22:58.doctors describe life inside accident and emergency. The College
:22:59. > :23:03.of Emergency Medicine have warned that this year could bring the
:23:04. > :23:05."worst crisis on record". If that dire prediction comes, expect a
:23:06. > :23:10.spring of political recriminations, but how prepared are the NHS in
:23:11. > :23:17.England? And what do they make of this autumnal speculation? Giles has
:23:18. > :23:22.been to Leeds to find out. This winter has already come to our
:23:23. > :23:31.hospitals. It had an official start date, November the 3rd. That is when
:23:32. > :23:36.weekly updates are delivered to the NHS's most senior planners, alerting
:23:37. > :23:44.them to any sudden changes in patient numbers coming in. Where do
:23:45. > :23:49.they numbers register most then A They are the barometer for what
:23:50. > :23:54.is going on everywhere else, and they are the pressure point, so if
:23:55. > :24:00.the system is beginning to struggle then it is in the A department
:24:01. > :24:06.that we see the problems. It is not that the problems are the A
:24:07. > :24:12.departments, but they are the place where it all comes together. Plans
:24:13. > :24:18.to tackle those problems start being drawn up in May and they look at
:24:19. > :24:30.trends, even taking notice of any flu epidemics in New Zealand. They
:24:31. > :24:35.also look at the amount of bets But the weather, economic realities
:24:36. > :24:39.structural reforms, and changes to the general health of the
:24:40. > :24:44.population, are all factors they have to consider. We get huge
:24:45. > :24:50.amounts of information through the winter in order to help the NHS be
:24:51. > :24:53.the best it can be, but we had to redouble our efforts this year
:24:54. > :24:59.because we expected to be a difficult winter. We know the NHS is
:25:00. > :25:05.stretched so we are working hard to be as good as we can be. That means
:25:06. > :25:12.they are looking at winter staffing levels, plans to ask for help from
:25:13. > :25:16.neighbouring hospitals, and dovetailing help with GP surgeries,
:25:17. > :25:23.and still having the ability to move up an extra gear, a rehearsed
:25:24. > :25:29.emergency plan if the NHS had to face a major disease pandemic. You
:25:30. > :25:33.spend any time in any of our hospitals and you realise the NHS
:25:34. > :25:37.knows that winter is coming and they are making plans, but you also get a
:25:38. > :25:42.palpable feeling amongst health workers across the entire system
:25:43. > :25:48.that they do get fed up of being used as a political football.
:25:49. > :25:52.Doctors and all health care professionals are frustrated about
:25:53. > :25:58.the politics that surrounds the NHS in health care. They go to work to
:25:59. > :26:04.treat patients as best as they can, and the political knock-about does
:26:05. > :26:07.not help anyone. I find it frustrating when there is a
:26:08. > :26:13.commentary that suggests the NHS does not planned, when it is
:26:14. > :26:18.surprised by winter, and wherever that comes from it is hard to take,
:26:19. > :26:28.knowing how much we do nationally and how much our hard working front
:26:29. > :26:35.line staff are doing. When the Coalition have recently tried to
:26:36. > :26:41.open up the NHS to be a more independent body, it is clear the
:26:42. > :26:47.NHS feel they have had an unhealthy dose of political wrangling between
:26:48. > :26:52.parties on policy. The NHS is not infallible or making any guarantees,
:26:53. > :26:55.but they seem confident that they and their patients can survive the
:26:56. > :26:58.winter. Joining me now from Salford in the
:26:59. > :27:08.Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham. Tell me this, if you were
:27:09. > :27:15.health secretary now, you just took over in an emergency election, what
:27:16. > :27:22.would you do to avoid another winter crisis? I would immediately halt the
:27:23. > :27:28.closure of NHS walk-in centres. We heard this week that around one in
:27:29. > :27:33.four walk-in centres are closed so it makes no sense whatsoever for the
:27:34. > :27:38.Government to allow the continued closure of them. I would put nurses
:27:39. > :27:44.back on the end of phones and restore an NHS direct style service.
:27:45. > :27:52.The new 111 service is not in a position to provide help to people
:27:53. > :27:57.this winter. I think the time has come to rethink how the NHS care is
:27:58. > :28:01.particularly for older people so I propose the full integration of
:28:02. > :28:06.health and social care. It cannot make any sense any more to have this
:28:07. > :28:11.approach where we cut social care and let elderly people drift to
:28:12. > :28:20.hospitals in greater numbers. We have two rethink it as a whole
:28:21. > :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. > :28:34.another major top-down health reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew
:28:35. > :28:46.Lansley I will work with the organisations ie inherit. He could
:28:47. > :28:50.work with primary care trusts but he turned it upside down when it needed
:28:51. > :29:03.stability. I will not do that but I will repeal the health and social
:29:04. > :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. > :29:17.this nonsense now that the NHS is bound by competition law. Let me get
:29:18. > :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. > :29:43.to get the GP appointment under this Government because David Cameron
:29:44. > :29:48.scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that Tony Blair brought in. He was
:29:49. > :29:54.challenged in the 2005 election about the difficulty of getting a GP
:29:55. > :29:58.appointment, and Tony Blair brought in the commitment that people should
:29:59. > :30:05.be able to get that within 48 hours. That has now been scrapped.
:30:06. > :30:09.Do you welcome the idea of allowing everyone to choose their own GP
:30:10. > :30:15.surgery even if it is not in our traditional catchment area? I
:30:16. > :30:21.proposed that just before the last election, so yes. Do you welcome the
:30:22. > :30:25.idea of how a practice is being rated being a matter of public
:30:26. > :30:32.record, and of us knowing how much, at least from the NHS, our GP earns?
:30:33. > :30:36.Of course, every political party supports transparency in the NHS.
:30:37. > :30:41.More information for the public of that kind is a good thing. Do you
:30:42. > :30:47.welcome this plan to make it will form the collect in an NHS hospital
:30:48. > :30:53.-- make wilful neglect a criminal offence. It is important to say you
:30:54. > :30:54.can't pick and mix these recommendations, you can't say we
:30:55. > :30:58.will have that one and not the recommendations, you can't say we
:30:59. > :31:03.others. It was a balanced package that Sir Robert Francis put forward.
:31:04. > :31:06.My message is that it must be permitted in full. If we are to
:31:07. > :31:12.learn the lessons, the whole package must be addressed, and that includes
:31:13. > :31:17.safe staffing levels across the NHS. Staff have a responsible to two
:31:18. > :31:19.patients at the government also has responsible at T2 NHS staff and it
:31:20. > :31:33.should not let them work in understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a
:31:34. > :31:42.responsibility to NHS staff. Is there a part of the 2004 agreements
:31:43. > :31:48.that you regret and should be undone? A lot of myths have been
:31:49. > :31:52.built up about the contract. When it came in, there was a huge shortage
:31:53. > :31:58.of GPs across the country. Some communities struggle to recruit.
:31:59. > :32:04.This myth that the government have built, that the 2004 GP contract is
:32:05. > :32:12.responsible for the AM decries is, it is spin of the worst possible
:32:13. > :32:17.kind -- the A crisis. You would redo that contract? It was redone
:32:18. > :32:22.under our time in government and change to make it better value for
:32:23. > :32:24.money. GPs should be focused on improving the health of their
:32:25. > :32:32.patients and that is a very good principle. Not so great if you can't
:32:33. > :32:37.get 24-hour access. I agree with that. We brought in evening and
:32:38. > :32:41.weekend opening for GPs. That is another thing that has gone in
:32:42. > :32:44.reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much harder to get a GP appointment under
:32:45. > :32:55.him and that is one of the reasons why A is an oppressor. -- under
:32:56. > :33:00.pressure. What do you make of the review into intimidatory tactics by
:33:01. > :33:04.unions? If there has been intimidation, it is unacceptable,
:33:05. > :33:12.and that should apply to unions as well as employers. Was Unite wrong
:33:13. > :33:16.to turn up and demonstrate? I don't know the details, this review will
:33:17. > :33:20.look into that presumably. I need reassurance that this is not a
:33:21. > :33:23.pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on the designed to appear near the
:33:24. > :33:35.election -- that this is not a political call. Are you sponsored by
:33:36. > :33:44.unite? No. Do you get any money from Unite? No. What have you done wrong?
:33:45. > :33:51.It seems others are getting money from Unite. Can I tell you what I
:33:52. > :33:54.think is the scandal of British party political funding, two health
:33:55. > :34:02.care companies have given ?1.5 million in donations to the Tory
:34:03. > :34:06.party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS contracts. I wonder why you don't
:34:07. > :34:11.spend much time talking about that and obsess over trade union funding.
:34:12. > :34:18.We are happy to talk about that. We see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's
:34:19. > :34:23.closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls as a bit of a nightmare, do you see
:34:24. > :34:29.a bit of a nightmare about him as well? I don't at all, he is a very
:34:30. > :34:32.good friend. I can't believe that you are talking about those e-mails
:34:33. > :34:38.on a national political programme. My goodness, you obviously scraping
:34:39. > :34:42.the barrel today. I have been in front-line labour politics for 20
:34:43. > :34:46.years. I can't remember the front bench and the wider party being as
:34:47. > :34:50.united as it is today and it is a great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed
:34:51. > :34:53.Balls. We are going into a general election and we are going to get rid
:34:54. > :34:58.of a pretty disastrous coalition government. It was worth spending a
:34:59. > :35:01.few seconds to establish your not having nightmares. Thank you for
:35:02. > :35:04.joining me. It's just gone 11:30am. You're
:35:05. > :35:08.watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be
:35:09. > :35:23.talking to the MP accused of using his political contacts
:35:24. > :35:29.This is the Sunday Politics in the south`east. Coming up later ` it is
:35:30. > :35:37.the heart of many communities but with pubs closing is enough being
:35:38. > :35:54.done to save them. To talk about pubs and youth clubs. The Prime
:35:55. > :35:55.Minister is talking on politicians to
:35:56. > :36:10.Minister is talking on politicians talking about immigration. Is it
:36:11. > :36:17.possible to control the language of a debate that is so emotive? Does it
:36:18. > :36:25.make much difference what language is used? It is important that we use
:36:26. > :36:32.the right language. It is also important that we recognise that
:36:33. > :36:37.there is a problem. We should not be blaming people that have come to our
:36:38. > :36:45.country. We should be blaming people that have let them come. Is it
:36:46. > :36:56.possible to have a sensible and can debate? Even senior Labour figures
:36:57. > :37:01.say that Labour got it wrong. Jack is a sensible person and he uses
:37:02. > :37:09.sensible language. Language is terribly important. The problem with
:37:10. > :37:14.UKIP is that they tell us we will be flooded with people from Romania and
:37:15. > :37:20.Bulgaria and that's just not true. We need to have a sensible approach
:37:21. > :37:28.to these things. Immigration controls are important and we have
:37:29. > :37:35.to get it right. I am pleased that David Cameron has called for a
:37:36. > :37:43.sensible language discourse or what is an important issue.
:37:44. > :37:52.It has become a familiar story ` reductions in council budgets. Last
:37:53. > :37:57.week West Sussex County Council confirmed further reductions in
:37:58. > :38:10.services. Opposition councillors say the reductions are savage. Firstly
:38:11. > :38:16.get the view of a volunteer worker. I am 16 and I volunteer at this
:38:17. > :38:19.youth centre. I started coming into this centre a few years ago when I
:38:20. > :38:28.was having trouble at school. The youth workers advise me on how to
:38:29. > :38:33.stay in school. The youth service enables people to gain skills such
:38:34. > :38:45.as cooking. It gives young people the chance to learn drug and alcohol
:38:46. > :39:02.awareness. In April 2014 the people that use the services at the moment
:39:03. > :39:06.will not be able to do so. If the young people do not have a youth
:39:07. > :39:11.centre anti`social behaviour and crime rates will go up stop I am so
:39:12. > :39:23.angry about it I have started my own petition. I have got 200 signatures
:39:24. > :39:32.so far stop. I do not think any of the councillors have been to a youth
:39:33. > :39:48.centre in their life. We are joined by Peter Evans. I have
:39:49. > :39:58.visited youth centres. I came through the youth centres myself
:39:59. > :40:03.when I was a youngster. West Sussex County Council has had to save ?79
:40:04. > :40:17.million over the last three years. We are now facing further reductions
:40:18. > :40:21.in. We have had to respond to these staggering reductions. You make
:40:22. > :40:27.decisions about where the reductions are made. Do you understand young
:40:28. > :40:31.people which Mac they do not want to make an appointment at the youth
:40:32. > :40:39.club. They want to come and go at their leisure that is why the model
:40:40. > :40:45.of a youth service we are changing too is a 16 have centre. There will
:40:46. > :40:53.be 16 hubs throughout West Sussex. That will be throughout the county.
:40:54. > :40:58.Early intervention is what we need to do. We need to work with young
:40:59. > :41:05.people who have alcohol and drug problems. But if you do not have an
:41:06. > :41:12.open door Wallasey how do you know who those needy children are
:41:13. > :41:20.watching Mac we act them up through various federal systems. This
:41:21. > :41:24.programme has been running for a few years. The communities have come
:41:25. > :41:25.forward to years. The communities have come
:41:26. > :41:29.forwarwar%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%war%%%%%%% years. The communities have come
:41:30. > :41:36.forward to run the services. We have provided training and support to
:41:37. > :41:49.enable communities to do that. We have transferred holdings to
:41:50. > :41:58.community groups. What about the centre that's just close? The doors
:41:59. > :42:09.are closed. We have removed our service because we are targeting
:42:10. > :42:13.from other hubs. We want the communities to come forward and run
:42:14. > :42:19.that universal service. That has been happening very successfully in
:42:20. > :42:30.Crawley. It has been set up as a charity. I would like to see that
:42:31. > :42:37.extended. Let us turn to our guests. Can we really expect that big
:42:38. > :42:44.society, as it is called, to take over these resources? Is there still
:42:45. > :42:53.a role for local authorities? We still need intervention from local
:42:54. > :42:59.authorities. Young people and youth centres is a particular problem. We
:43:00. > :43:19.have one of the best centres in my constituency. But the people who we
:43:20. > :43:27.want to intervene do not attend. They do not want organised control.
:43:28. > :43:32.That is a problem. We were talking about your efforts to keep a local
:43:33. > :43:41.children's centre open last time. You said the fight was the central
:43:42. > :43:45.Government. The point was being made that they have cut back on the
:43:46. > :43:52.funding for local authorities. Should this argument with central
:43:53. > :43:58.Government? There is a problem with central Government funding. But the
:43:59. > :44:05.Government has a problem it inherited. But you said you would
:44:06. > :44:27.take the fight to the Prime Minister I did. I handed a copy of that
:44:28. > :44:31.letter from the Prime Minister. As a former social worker what do
:44:32. > :44:38.you think happens to kids who have got nowhere else to go when the
:44:39. > :44:49.youth centre closes? It will create problems in the community. Crawley
:44:50. > :45:04.seems to have lost most of its youth services. Those who campaign against
:45:05. > :45:15.the reductions are doing a worthwhile thing. We need to get the
:45:16. > :45:32.Government to think again. Council tax ` last week it was said that
:45:33. > :45:48.this cannot remain frozen. I am a great believer in local democracy.
:45:49. > :45:59.Nobody likes paying any sort of attack. But people say they want to
:46:00. > :46:11.see the money well spent. It depends where you are coming from. Council
:46:12. > :46:18.tax is quite high. Council tax has been frozen over the last three
:46:19. > :46:33.years. There is a cost of living crisis. There needs to be another
:46:34. > :46:44.look at local Government funding. You have got to get the balance
:46:45. > :46:51.right local council tax increases. Our high streets are changing. Papas
:46:52. > :46:59.are becoming supermarkets and bookmakers.
:47:00. > :47:02.Politicians are joining a campaign to save pubs. Do they deserve to be
:47:03. > :47:21.saved? Our planning was to blame? It is a great addition institution
:47:22. > :47:25.and the heart of many communities. That the pub is under threat on many
:47:26. > :47:33.fronts whether from cheap alcohol being sold in supermarkets, or being
:47:34. > :47:41.turned into supermarkets. Locals at this pub are fighting to keep it the
:47:42. > :47:46.way it is. If this was to be turned into a supermarket it would destroy
:47:47. > :47:59.the area. It is not just our building. It is like a home for
:48:00. > :48:03.everyone else. This pub has been listed as an asset
:48:04. > :48:07.of community value. Local people have the power to postpone a sale
:48:08. > :48:20.for six months to raise funds to buy the pub for themselves. That is
:48:21. > :48:28.off`putting for developers. They have two contest with us. We get
:48:29. > :48:35.first choice. We have seen it in a few of the pubs in Tunbridge Wells.
:48:36. > :48:42.Good community pubs are going that way. The Government says it is doing
:48:43. > :48:47.everything it can to safeguard community pubs from closure. Nearly
:48:48. > :48:52.200 hubs have now been listed as assets of community value. But some
:48:53. > :48:58.fear this protection does not go far enough stop the developers could buy
:48:59. > :49:04.a pub like this they would not need planning permission to convert it
:49:05. > :49:10.into a supermarket. Campaigner is what this loophole to be plugged.
:49:11. > :49:13.Two groups are asking local councils to join them in lobbying the
:49:14. > :49:22.Government for better protection for community hubs. There is no record
:49:23. > :49:32.on how many pubs are converted into shops or demolished because planning
:49:33. > :49:35.permission is not needed. Because of the unique contribution
:49:36. > :49:41.they bring to society and the economy they should be in their own
:49:42. > :49:58.planning use class. Any change in use should require full consultation
:49:59. > :50:00.and planning permission. The pub and brewing industry is of particular
:50:01. > :50:08.importance in the south`east. We have more pubs than anywhere else in
:50:09. > :50:18.the country. Hubs think they alien pounds per year `` pubs bring three
:50:19. > :50:32.alien pounds per year. The meeting room will be there.
:50:33. > :50:36.Hundreds of residents of this suburb formed Co`operative to reopen their
:50:37. > :50:45.derelict local, but they would not have benefited from the property
:50:46. > :50:58.becoming an item of community value. We got the tender. There is
:50:59. > :51:02.no way we could raise the money. I am not knocking the idea that it is
:51:03. > :51:12.not enough for communities like this. Is there a reason all the
:51:13. > :51:26.community pubs are in posh areas? I know things are tight, but it is
:51:27. > :51:30.more than a pub. Should we be calling time on the
:51:31. > :51:44.lack of protection for our neighbourhood pubs?
:51:45. > :51:50.Do all pubs deserve to be saved? I do not think we can save every pub
:51:51. > :51:54.in the land. Attitudes have changed. Able do not go to the pub in the
:51:55. > :52:10.same way that they did dirty years ago. `` 30 years ago.
:52:11. > :52:14.A campaign group says that the big chains are more interested in
:52:15. > :52:19.selling to developers. Should your members be able to sell off a valued
:52:20. > :52:27.local? I do not think they are doing that. That is where the locals act
:52:28. > :52:30.is in place. If you have 21 people in a community they can ask the
:52:31. > :52:38.local authority to put it on a register. Changing the use class
:52:39. > :52:45.orders, I would want to see more flexibility, particularly with the
:52:46. > :52:54.regeneration of our town centres. I could give you for different things
:52:55. > :53:00.that the Government could do. A change in planning laws is a step
:53:01. > :53:08.too far? Absolutely right. View jury went up 42% in four years. If you go
:53:09. > :53:15.to the supermarket tonight you can buy a meal to dine at home. You do
:53:16. > :53:25.not pay VAT on that. You pay VAT in a pub. I am campaigning to have
:53:26. > :53:30.extended hours for the World Cup next year. There are a lot of things
:53:31. > :53:36.we could get behind to help our immunity pubs.
:53:37. > :53:41.Let us start with the planning laws. Do you support a change in
:53:42. > :53:48.planning laws so what would be harder for a local supermarket to
:53:49. > :54:00.take over a pub? I am in favour of pubs. You have controlled drinking.
:54:01. > :54:11.That is important. But changing the planning laws? I am not sure that
:54:12. > :54:14.that is needed. We have got to do something about the effect that
:54:15. > :54:24.supermarkets are having on the trade. They are able to sell beer at
:54:25. > :54:27.a far cheaper price. The fact that pubs can turn into supermarkets is
:54:28. > :54:36.not the problem, it is the fact that supermarkets sell beer more
:54:37. > :54:40.cheaply. Now we are at holding pubs as a
:54:41. > :54:48.force for social good. Times have changed. Absolutely. Cheap alcohol
:54:49. > :54:54.in supermarkets has become a problem for them. The pubs that survive are
:54:55. > :55:11.those that puts variety into what they offer. Good food is imported. I
:55:12. > :55:21.like street corner pubs. But in the film they were talking
:55:22. > :55:32.about the problem of money stop. They serve an area that is high in
:55:33. > :55:37.deprivation status. I hope the campaign they have been waging works
:55:38. > :55:48.and they can set up a thriving business.
:55:49. > :55:57.The big society bash. Is that happening in your constituency? Just
:55:58. > :56:04.opposite my office there is a new micro pub just opened. In that role
:56:05. > :56:11.there is already just to pubs. I do not bid every road can have a pub
:56:12. > :56:24.you used to have a pub in every road when everyone went to the pub and
:56:25. > :56:27.they don't any more. It is time for a round`up of the
:56:28. > :56:39.other political events of this week.
:56:40. > :56:45.This hospital has insisted it will be able to cope this winter despite
:56:46. > :56:51.figures showing that emergency admissions has gone up by 30%.
:56:52. > :56:59.This category MP has called on the Government to broaden its ban on
:57:00. > :57:08.so`called legal highs. This is a real challenge. That is a
:57:09. > :57:16.high priority. A freedom of information requests
:57:17. > :57:28.asks how often Michael Fallon has written correspondence to himself.
:57:29. > :57:44.David Dimbleby revealed he has got at up to. It is just a bit of fun.
:57:45. > :57:57.Have either of you been tempted to get a tattoo? Never. I have never
:57:58. > :58:07.been tempted. That is all we have time for. We
:58:08. > :58:09.will be here again next week with more political debate.
:58:10. > :58:11.receiving it. We will return to this if we hear more. Thank you. Andrew,
:58:12. > :58:12.it is if we hear more. Thank you. Andrew,
:58:13. > :58:29.it is back to you. Who'd be an MP? It's a good
:58:30. > :58:32.question. Certainly something Mark Pritchard must have asked himself
:58:33. > :58:35.when his picture graced the front page of the Daily Telegraph, with
:58:36. > :58:38.allegations that he had offered to set up business deals overseas in
:58:39. > :58:41.return for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the
:58:42. > :58:42.claims as hurtful and wrong. He referred himself to the
:58:43. > :58:45.Parliamentary Standards Commissioner who has now said there is
:58:46. > :58:48.insufficient evidence to investigate. In a moment we'll talk
:58:49. > :58:51.to Mr Pritchard, but first let's take a look back at how the story
:58:52. > :58:55.unfurled. A Conservative MP has denied allegations that he used his
:58:56. > :58:59.Parliamentary contacts for financial gain... The daily Telegraph says
:59:00. > :59:06.Mark Pritchard offered to broker investments overseas. In a statement
:59:07. > :59:14.he said the allegations made by the Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard
:59:15. > :59:19.was secretly filmed... What do you make of these allegations? He has
:59:20. > :59:22.referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for
:59:23. > :59:30.standards to clear his name and I suspect this story will reopen the
:59:31. > :59:39.debate about what MPs should be allowed, having business interests
:59:40. > :59:49.elsewhere. Is it not clear that you did ask for money in consultancy
:59:50. > :59:53.services? First of all I would like to apologise for the sunglasses I
:59:54. > :00:01.have had a lot of comments about that. On a serious point, these
:00:02. > :00:09.claims by the Telegraph of false. You didn't ask for ?3000? They are
:00:10. > :00:13.false, hurtful and malicious. It is known widely that I have sued the
:00:14. > :00:18.Telegraph previously. I have also been critical of their coverage of
:00:19. > :00:22.the plebgate affair, their reporting of that. I have been supportive of
:00:23. > :00:26.the cross-party Royal Charter and I know that some people in the media
:00:27. > :00:32.don't like my position on that. That is why it is malicious. I believe in
:00:33. > :00:39.a free press. That free press also has a responsibility to be fair
:00:40. > :00:43.accurate and lawful. In discussions with this business who turned out to
:00:44. > :00:50.be a Telegraph reporter, it is true that you ask for ?3000 a month
:00:51. > :00:57.consultancy fee. The point is.. That is the point. No. That video
:00:58. > :01:02.has been cut and pasted to serve the Telegraph's story. The story was
:01:03. > :01:07.that we want to get Mark Bridger, for whatever reason, at any cost. --
:01:08. > :01:11.Mark Bridger hard. I would not go down the line they were hoping I
:01:12. > :01:18.would go down. Everything I own outside of Parliament is openly
:01:19. > :01:20.declared. We are allowed to have outside witness interests. The
:01:21. > :01:25.Telegraph need to say clearly whether they accept that or they
:01:26. > :01:30.don't. I think you need to say clearly whether you asked for the
:01:31. > :01:33.money or not. You then went on to ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10
:01:34. > :01:41.million deal, you asked for 3% commission. Let me be clear, if I
:01:42. > :01:45.was asking for income in return for lobbying, or raising issues in
:01:46. > :01:49.Parliament, or setting up Parliamentary groups, or going to
:01:50. > :01:55.ministers, writing to ministers that would be completely
:01:56. > :02:01.inappropriate. I was approached by somebody to advise them on business.
:02:02. > :02:04.It is entirely proper and entirely within the rules for members of
:02:05. > :02:11.Parliament to have outside consultancies and interests. Did you
:02:12. > :02:14.or didn't you? I am answering the question in the way that I want to
:02:15. > :02:18.answer it, not in the way that fits a particular narrative. The
:02:19. > :02:22.narrative, unfortunately, of some parts of the Telegraph and to be
:02:23. > :02:27.fair, there are some very good journalists, I know there is a
:02:28. > :02:31.dispute about the direction of that paper at senior parts. Do they want
:02:32. > :02:36.to return to being a Catholic, objective newspaper or do they want
:02:37. > :02:40.to slip into the slippery slope of being an agnostic rag, looking for
:02:41. > :02:43.sensationalist headlines? Part of this has come from your membership
:02:44. > :02:51.of these all-party Parliamentary groups. You were in Malta when you
:02:52. > :02:56.are first approached, I think you were on a trip there, Hungary is
:02:57. > :03:00.another one, there is an uncomfortable overlap between your
:03:01. > :03:04.political and business interests. I have no business interests in any of
:03:05. > :03:10.those countries. Some of the country is the Telegraph mentioned, let me
:03:11. > :03:15.be clear, I have not even visited. You were boasting that you knew the
:03:16. > :03:21.Albanian Prime Minister and the Mayor of Teheran and the previous
:03:22. > :03:25.prime minister. I make no apology for making foreign trips. I think it
:03:26. > :03:29.is unfortunate we have a narrative developing in some parts of the
:03:30. > :03:34.press that if a politician goes abroad at the taxpayers expense it
:03:35. > :03:37.is wrong. If they go abroad at a host government's expense it is
:03:38. > :03:41.wrong. If they go abroad with a charity, NGO and private company,
:03:42. > :03:47.even if it is declared, it is wrong. We want people with an international
:03:48. > :03:52.perspective in Parliament. Look at this map. You are a member of 5
:03:53. > :03:57.country groups. I don't know what Canada has done not to deserve you,
:03:58. > :04:04.or Australia. 54 groups, you are a part of. You're like... This is the
:04:05. > :04:07.Mark Pritchard British Empire. That is very kind. If I had global
:04:08. > :04:15.interests that white I would not be in Parliament. No, no, no. That is
:04:16. > :04:19.the point... It is the suspicion, that you used these groups to drum
:04:20. > :04:23.up business for your consultants. Prove it, that is the trouble. These
:04:24. > :04:31.sorts of headlines, create suspicion. I am suing the
:04:32. > :04:38.Telegraph... Have you issued a writ? I expect an apology. Have you issued
:04:39. > :04:46.a writ? I have just answered your question. It is yes or no, have you
:04:47. > :04:50.issued a writ? I am in final legal discussions tomorrow about issuing a
:04:51. > :04:54.writ. You have raised something for top the fact is that is inaccurate.
:04:55. > :05:01.I am a member of 40-something Parliamentary groups, of which I
:05:02. > :05:08.make no apology. We have got 54 Let me answer the question if I may It
:05:09. > :05:13.would be very useful. There are 196 countries around the world, it is
:05:14. > :05:21.less than a quarter of the country groups on my figures. I make no
:05:22. > :05:24.apology. One of my regrets is not having visited Syria, I don't know
:05:25. > :05:29.if I am a member of the Syria group, part I should become a member, I
:05:30. > :05:33.make no apology. -- perhaps I should become. When it came to the Syria
:05:34. > :05:40.vote, I was blind sided foot of yes, we have excellent briefings. I had
:05:41. > :05:45.to make a judgement based on part knowledge with nothing beats being
:05:46. > :05:50.on the ground, as even BBC journalists recognised this week.
:05:51. > :05:53.Nothing beats being on the ground. You posted about your connections in
:05:54. > :05:56.Albania to getting a business contract. You meet these people
:05:57. > :06:03.through these all Parliamentary groups. That is where there is an
:06:04. > :06:08.unhealthy overlap. That is what the Telegraph said, let's wait and see.
:06:09. > :06:12.Look... You are a newspaperman, you know lots of people in the newspaper
:06:13. > :06:16.industry, as well as being a respected broadcaster. I am not
:06:17. > :06:21.going to prejudice my legal proceedings against the Telegraph. I
:06:22. > :06:27.make no apology. A good politician has to be local am a national and
:06:28. > :06:32.international. Hang on hang on - has to be local, national and
:06:33. > :06:36.international. We need politicians who get out of the Westminster
:06:37. > :06:39.bubble, who have a business hinterland, who keep their foot in
:06:40. > :06:46.the real world and have an international perspective. And ask
:06:47. > :06:49.for 3% commission? I have answered the question. It was a cut and
:06:50. > :06:53.pasted video, photo shopped to suit the agenda of the Telegraph. They
:06:54. > :06:56.need to get back to serious news reporting and I wish those well at
:06:57. > :07:01.the senior part of the Telegraph who want to get to those days. We look
:07:02. > :07:04.forward to the writ. Thank you. Now - there's been more good news on
:07:05. > :07:07.the economy for George Osborne this week - inflation's down, growth
:07:08. > :07:09.forecasts have been revised up and unemployment has fallen again. On
:07:10. > :07:13.Friday the former Bullingdon boy donned a head torch and went down't
:07:14. > :07:15.pit for just one of many photo opportunities ahead of the Autumn
:07:16. > :07:19.Statement, which he'll deliver in the Commons on fifth December. And,
:07:20. > :07:26.who knows, he might even take his hard hat off for that.
:07:27. > :07:36.# Going underground. # Let the boys all saying and let
:07:37. > :07:41.the boys all shout for tomorrow # Lah, lah, love, love.
:07:42. > :07:50.# I talk and talk until my head explodes.
:07:51. > :07:54.# Make this boy shout, make this boy scream.
:07:55. > :08:03.# Going underground. # Going underground.
:08:04. > :08:10.# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.
:08:11. > :08:18.George Osborne in his heart out he probably sleeps with it on. This
:08:19. > :08:22.Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political
:08:23. > :08:26.calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally
:08:27. > :08:32.going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game
:08:33. > :08:36.changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they
:08:37. > :08:41.will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer
:08:42. > :08:44.but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is
:08:45. > :08:51.receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on
:08:52. > :08:54.his own side, for tax cuts and extra bits spending and he has to spend
:08:55. > :08:57.the next two weeks reminding people of something that has been skewered
:08:58. > :09:07.by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which
:09:08. > :09:10.is twice that of France, supposedly the crisis economy in western Europe
:09:11. > :09:13.or if you accept it will take another parliament again to
:09:14. > :09:16.eliminate this deficit, we are not even halfway through the age of
:09:17. > :09:20.austerity. He is in no position to give anything away. He has to hold
:09:21. > :09:24.the line. Danny Alexander has been useful but this is his real
:09:25. > :09:29.challenge. He is going to give stuff away. When the Autumn Statement
:09:30. > :09:34.comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been
:09:35. > :09:39.talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,
:09:40. > :09:43.talk of moving green levies of the electricity bills, he is going to
:09:44. > :09:45.give stuff away. We will get funding for free school meals that Nick
:09:46. > :09:50.Clegg mentioned in his party conference. The significance of the
:09:51. > :09:54.Autumn Statement is twice a year, a Chancellor stands up and we all look
:09:55. > :09:58.at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's
:09:59. > :10:02.circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don t
:10:03. > :10:05.assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't
:10:06. > :10:09.assume everything is fine in the eurozone. I think what would help
:10:10. > :10:15.the Chancellor is if somebody was able to see some of that humility in
:10:16. > :10:15.public. It is recognised that he was far too triumphalist
:10:16. > :10:23.speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,
:10:24. > :10:23.we have one and you cannot make an economic policy on the cost of
:10:24. > :10:36.living -- we have... Won. economic policy on the cost of
:10:37. > :10:41.people don't seem to learn from Norman Lamont's green shoots. Labour
:10:42. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is no growth, now there is, to say
:10:47. > :10:47.has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are
:10:48. > :10:52.not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank
:10:53. > :10:56.is saying it will grow by 2.8%, living standards could start to
:10:57. > :10:59.rise. It does but everybody in a difficult position politically if
:11:00. > :11:03.the economy starts growing, ironically. We need to remind
:11:04. > :11:09.ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.
:11:10. > :11:14.Unless the politicians screw up Unless you have some idiot in
:11:15. > :11:17.charge! It is not a cause for the Morris dance that they seem to be
:11:18. > :11:21.doing, certainly on the Tory side. Osborne is put in a difficult
:11:22. > :11:27.position goes he will have to stop giving stuff away, he cannot push
:11:28. > :11:34.the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth - he
:11:35. > :11:39.will have to start giving stuff away. It puts Labour in a difficult
:11:40. > :11:46.position, it is very unlikely that living standards will match GDP Not
:11:47. > :11:52.since 2003, GDP has been a great indicator. Wages have stagnated for
:11:53. > :11:56.ten years, food has gone up 17% energy has gone up 24%. That is a
:11:57. > :12:02.decade in which everybody has got poorer. The real sweet spot comes
:12:03. > :12:07.when wages start to outstrip inflation. It is a sweet spot and
:12:08. > :12:12.will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy
:12:13. > :12:15.with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the
:12:16. > :12:19.governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.
:12:20. > :12:22.Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%
:12:23. > :12:26.unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,
:12:27. > :12:31.it is the moment when we look at it. Everything was saying he did not
:12:32. > :12:33.want to do that. When do you anticipate wages outstripping
:12:34. > :12:41.inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.
:12:42. > :12:43.Wages and prices are not the sole measure of living standards, there
:12:44. > :12:46.are broader measures which no one seems willing to use.
:12:47. > :12:50.That's all for today. The Daily Politics will be back at tomorrow at
:12:51. > :12:54.midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next
:12:55. > :12:59.week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.