:00:35. > :00:40.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics. Walls are being
:00:41. > :00:43.re-painted in Belfast as Gerry Adams begins his fourth day in police
:00:44. > :00:47.custody in connection with one of the most brutal and shocking murders
:00:48. > :00:59.of the Troubles. That's our top story.
:01:00. > :01:02.He may have got egg on his face this week but Nigel Farage is a serious
:01:03. > :01:04.electoral threat in this month's elections. I'll ask the Conservative
:01:05. > :01:07.Party Chairman Grant Shapps how worried he is.
:01:08. > :01:11.And we're on the trail of Nick Clegg. You were voted the best
:01:12. > :01:21.In the South East, it is 18 days likely to be a good
:01:22. > :01:22.In the South East, it is 18 days until we fought in the European
:01:23. > :01:27.elections. We will ask, will the questions of identity, immigration
:01:28. > :01:34.and independence. We have a table full of Euro candidates here to
:01:35. > :01:38.debate what it means for London. And with me, as always, the best and
:01:39. > :01:41.the brightest political panel in the business - Nick Watt, Helen Lewis
:01:42. > :01:46.and Janan Ganesh. They'll be throwing metaphorical rotten eggs
:01:47. > :01:49.into the twittersphere. First this morning - Gerry Adams,
:01:50. > :01:52.President of Sinn Fein, has spent a fourth night in police custody after
:01:53. > :02:06.he was arrested in connection with the killing of Jean McConville more
:02:07. > :02:08.than 40 years ago. Sinn Fein has claimed that the arrest is
:02:09. > :02:12.politically motivated coming, as it does, during local and European
:02:13. > :02:14.election campaigns. Northern Ireland's deputy first minister,
:02:15. > :02:17.Martin McGuinness, has indicated he might review the party's support for
:02:18. > :02:20.policing in the province if Gerry Adams is charged. The Jean
:02:21. > :02:21.McConville murder was one of the most notorious cases of the
:02:22. > :02:27.Troubles. The widowed mother of ten was
:02:28. > :02:33.kidnapped from her home in December 1972, never to be seen alive again.
:02:34. > :02:39.The IRA denied involvement but in 1999 admitted it had murdered her
:02:40. > :02:44.and several others, known as the Disappeared. Before his death, the
:02:45. > :02:46.former IRA commander Brendan Hughes pointed the finger at Gerry Adams,
:02:47. > :03:00.claiming: In April this year, either Bell was
:03:01. > :03:10.charged with aiding and abetting the murder. -- Ivor Bell. Gerry Adams
:03:11. > :03:15.has always insisted he is innocent of any part in the abduction and
:03:16. > :03:18.killing all burial of Mrs McConville.
:03:19. > :03:21.We were hoping to speak to the Northern Ireland Secretary, Theresa
:03:22. > :03:25.Villiers, but having agreed to do an interview with us this morning, she
:03:26. > :03:31.pulled out. But we are joined from Belfast by Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey.
:03:32. > :03:45.Welcome to the Sunday Politics. And the police just doing their job by
:03:46. > :03:49.questioning Gerry Adams? Gerry Adams said publicly some time ago that he
:03:50. > :03:54.was available to speak to the police, but that is not what this is
:03:55. > :03:58.about at the moment, because what we have here is clearly evidence in our
:03:59. > :04:03.mind of political interference in what should be due process. Gerry
:04:04. > :04:08.Adams made it clear some time ago he wanted to speak to the police, it
:04:09. > :04:13.was available at any time, and yet that request was not taken up until
:04:14. > :04:17.three weeks into an election and we believe that was deliberately
:04:18. > :04:22.orchestrated by a small number of people. What evidence can you
:04:23. > :04:30.present this morning that proves that claim? The direct circumstances
:04:31. > :04:37.Gerry Adams finds himself in at the moment, take that in stark contrast
:04:38. > :04:51.when they have dealt with members of the British Army for instance...
:04:52. > :04:56.That is just circumstantial. The PSNI know that the soldiers involved
:04:57. > :05:00.in that and a number of other high-profile killings of citizens
:05:01. > :05:07.here, and not one of those people has been arrested. In fact any of
:05:08. > :05:13.the people who were interviewed were interviewed by request. There was a
:05:14. > :05:21.stark contrast, in terms of how they have dealt with the British military
:05:22. > :05:27.involving state killings. We haven't got too much time. Sinn Fein said it
:05:28. > :05:32.would review its support for the PSNI if Gerry Adams is charged. That
:05:33. > :05:36.sounds like political interference in the police process. It's not
:05:37. > :05:42.because we have a clear mandate from the people who elect us. Policing
:05:43. > :05:50.has been an important part of the peace process here for many years,
:05:51. > :05:54.Sinn Fein plays an important role in local policing partnerships. We
:05:55. > :05:59.negotiate to make sure we have powers transferred here to elected
:06:00. > :06:06.representatives in the north. It is a long way to go before we have
:06:07. > :06:19.policing highly accountable, and making sure they deliver a very
:06:20. > :06:27.impartial service. How will he react if Gerry Adams is charged? I am
:06:28. > :06:33.still trying to get a clear answer. If Gerry Adams is charged, will you
:06:34. > :06:39.withdraw support for the Northern Ireland police service? We view this
:06:40. > :06:45.as a serious situation and a serious ongoing situation and we will
:06:46. > :06:49.monitor how this pans out. We have a very important role to play to
:06:50. > :06:57.support the police service here. We have done consistently, worked with
:06:58. > :06:59.them on a daily basis, but we will not accept political interference by
:07:00. > :07:07.a small number of people in the police who are undermining the
:07:08. > :07:13.police. We will not accept political policing. If there was evidence, and
:07:14. > :07:17.I emphasise the word if, because we have seen none, but if there were
:07:18. > :07:23.evidence to justify Gerry Adams being charged, why should he not be
:07:24. > :07:27.charged? It is my understanding from the family of Gerry Adams that there
:07:28. > :07:37.has not been a single shred of evidence put forward. I understand
:07:38. > :07:42.that, but if there was evidence, why should he not be charged? You put
:07:43. > :07:47.that caveat yourself and then you expect me to speculate, there is no
:07:48. > :07:50.way I will do that. The fact of the matter is there hasn't been one
:07:51. > :07:57.single shred of evidence put to Gerry Adams in the last few days, in
:07:58. > :07:59.fact what has been put to him is a range of issues of newspaper
:08:00. > :08:05.cuttings, books, statements made from people, including from people
:08:06. > :08:16.who didn't want their statements released until they have died.
:08:17. > :08:16.who didn't want their statements was charged, again I emphasise the
:08:17. > :08:27.word if, does the police process fall apart? The police process is a
:08:28. > :08:29.fragile entity, it requires work and we have been saying this publicly
:08:30. > :08:44.and privately with the Irish and British
:08:45. > :08:44.and privately with the Irish and process has to be nurtured and
:08:45. > :08:49.developed. We are not out of the woods yet. From a Republican point
:08:50. > :08:58.of view we have been working flat out. I just wanted a quick answer to
:08:59. > :09:03.my question, is a yes or no? What question I asking me? Is the peace
:09:04. > :09:08.process in jeopardy? It is fragile and I am not going to have words put
:09:09. > :09:15.into my mouth but I don't want to use. It has to be worked out and
:09:16. > :09:19.nurtured. Thank you for joining us. Nick Watt, you were a Northern
:09:20. > :09:26.Ireland correspondent like myself in days gone by. Where is this going to
:09:27. > :09:30.go? It shows how challenging the peace process is because on the one
:09:31. > :09:35.hand you have the unspeakable pain of the McConville family, but you
:09:36. > :09:39.also have the danger of not having mechanisms to deal with the past.
:09:40. > :09:43.South Africa is a good example, you have to have some mechanism to deal
:09:44. > :09:53.with the past because if you don't, you are going to have, as Sinn Fein
:09:54. > :09:59.have now, someone in a police cell but you don't have the arrests of
:10:00. > :10:06.the Bloody Sunday soldiers. Paramilitary prisoners were released
:10:07. > :10:11.after two years... We have seen no action against somebody accused of
:10:12. > :10:16.the Hyde Park bombings, it is not a one-way street. We have the
:10:17. > :10:24.decommissioning of IRA weapons by the IRA, therefore destroying
:10:25. > :10:27.crucial evidence. You have these inconsistencies because you don't
:10:28. > :10:32.have an mechanism for dealing with the past, but doing that is really
:10:33. > :10:37.difficult because of the pain of real people. Don't you get a feeling
:10:38. > :10:42.that here in London they are hoping he will not be charged? Definitely
:10:43. > :10:45.because it would be nice if everything went away, but the civil
:10:46. > :10:53.case of the family is taken out of the hands of the police. You can see
:10:54. > :11:00.here a real failure in Westminster to see this as anything other than
:11:01. > :11:05.settled. David Cameron we know sees himself as a chairman. I was
:11:06. > :11:09.speaking to a friend in Northern Ireland who said he has never met
:11:10. > :11:15.Gerry Adams and I think this is very revealing. They consider this as a
:11:16. > :11:20.settled issue that will not trouble Westminster again. It would be, but
:11:21. > :11:25.the relatives of the disappeared don't want it to be settled. This
:11:26. > :11:30.points to the reality that the Belfast agreement probably had to be
:11:31. > :11:35.done, but the moral price at which it was purchased was far greater
:11:36. > :11:39.than we were willing to admit during the euphoria. For a country that
:11:40. > :11:47.prides itself by the rule of law to tolerate the early release of
:11:48. > :11:52.prisoners and former pal and military -- paramilitaries, I think
:11:53. > :11:58.was a very serious matter. As for the PSNI, it only exists because its
:11:59. > :12:05.predecessor failed to command the confidence of the nationalist
:12:06. > :12:12.community. It is a very big deal if even the PSNI ends up falling into
:12:13. > :12:20.the same trap. We have to is leave it there I'm afraid. It was the
:12:21. > :12:23.Conservative's local election campaign launch on Friday, and what
:12:24. > :12:26.did David Cameron focus on? Burning local issues like the state of our
:12:27. > :12:29.roads, rubbish collection or care of the elderly? No. It was Europe. The
:12:30. > :12:33.Prime Minister re-iterated again his promise of an in-out referendum on
:12:34. > :12:36.our membership of the EU in 2017. And it's being reported this morning
:12:37. > :12:40.that he will share a platform with Nigel Farage in a pre-general
:12:41. > :12:44.election debate. Here's what the UKIP leader had to say about the
:12:45. > :12:52.issue when he was on the Marr Show this morning with Ed Miliband. David
:12:53. > :12:57.Cameron very often makes these vague promises, then doesn't deliver
:12:58. > :13:03.afterwards. I don't think he has any intention of allowing me into any of
:13:04. > :13:10.these debates. Perhaps Ed Miliband wants to debate? We have got to have
:13:11. > :13:13.the TV debates as we did join the last general election. I think David
:13:14. > :13:18.Cameron is doing everything he can to wriggle out of them. It is up to
:13:19. > :13:28.the broadcasters but whether they invite Nigel. My main desire is that
:13:29. > :13:37.the debates go ahead. We are joined now by Grant Shapps. Will he be
:13:38. > :13:41.included? The debates were not without problems, they took place
:13:42. > :13:46.during the campaign period and disrupted the flow of the campaign,
:13:47. > :13:51.taking it out of the regions, people getting to speak to the leaders so a
:13:52. > :13:56.longer period for that would be helpful. I think they are good idea
:13:57. > :14:01.and they should go ahead, but all of the negotiation about who is
:14:02. > :14:07.involved is yet to happen. So it is not a done deal that Nigel Farage
:14:08. > :14:12.will be included? That needs to be negotiated with the TV companies.
:14:13. > :14:19.The Conservatives believe we should have debates, but exactly the format
:14:20. > :14:26.and the timing, all of the -- that will be debated in the autumn, but
:14:27. > :14:33.first we have European elections, the Queen 's speech and a Scottish
:14:34. > :14:37.referendum. The local election campaign was launched on Friday. Why
:14:38. > :14:47.did you talk more about Europe than local councils? Both are important.
:14:48. > :14:51.The local elections are critically important for people, their local
:14:52. > :14:57.services. It is easy to forget, for example, that the council tax has
:14:58. > :15:02.been largely frozen since this Government came to power, a big
:15:03. > :15:08.contrast to Dublin under the previous Labour government. So why
:15:09. > :15:16.did you go on and on about Europe? Let me show you the poster used to
:15:17. > :15:21.launch your local election campaign. There it is, and in-out referendum
:15:22. > :15:26.on Europe, the day of the local elections, where is the word local?
:15:27. > :15:31.Is it in small print? I hear what you're saying, I am happy to be here
:15:32. > :15:35.to talk about the local elections. But you are right, they are on the
:15:36. > :15:40.same day, and not many people know that only by voting conservative can
:15:41. > :15:46.you get an in-out referendum. -- Conservative. UKIP cannot deliver,
:15:47. > :15:51.we can, it is the same date, so people... This was the launch of the
:15:52. > :15:55.local election campaign. Why does the Prime Minister have to keep on
:15:56. > :16:01.promising something he has already promised? The actual referendum
:16:02. > :16:06.would be in 2017. He promised it before, he keeps repeating it
:16:07. > :16:11.because he knows people don't really trust him. I think it is a question
:16:12. > :16:16.of the fact that, actually, unless you remind people that the pledges
:16:17. > :16:20.there, that the only way to get an in-out referendum is to vote for
:16:21. > :16:25.it, this is a critical moment at which we need people to vote for
:16:26. > :16:30.that referendum if they want it. It is not the case, as I saw this
:16:31. > :16:34.morning, being said by Nigel Farage, that a referendum was promised
:16:35. > :16:38.before and not delivered. There was no referendum in the last manifesto.
:16:39. > :16:47.There will be in the next one. There was a cast-iron guarantee, in the
:16:48. > :16:55.Sun in 2006. Let's just clear that up... Once the Lisbon Treaty... In
:16:56. > :16:59.the Sun article, he said, we will have a referendum on the Lisbon
:17:00. > :17:03.Treaty. Clearly, because that treaty had been passed before the general
:17:04. > :17:09.election, it is difficult to have a referendum on something in the past.
:17:10. > :17:15.We joined Europe in the 1970s, having a referendum on that! Look,
:17:16. > :17:18.that is about the future. Our relationship with Europe is
:17:19. > :17:23.absolutely critical. Most people in this country feel, I was not old
:17:24. > :17:29.enough to vote in that referendum, most of those who voted, they voted
:17:30. > :17:32.for a Common Market, that is not what we have got. We want to
:17:33. > :17:40.continue the work we have been doing in the EU Budget, what did UKIP do?
:17:41. > :17:44.They voted against it. We want more of those powers brought home, and we
:17:45. > :17:48.will put it to a referendum, and people will have to vote
:17:49. > :17:52.Conservative to get it. We have been looking at new research, almost two
:17:53. > :17:57.thirds of Conservative members are considering voting for UKIP, almost
:17:58. > :18:07.two thirds. I have a simple message here, which is this. If you vote for
:18:08. > :18:13.UKIP... Can we have it up? 30% are likely, 30% are possible. That is
:18:14. > :18:18.why it is important we are making these arguments. If you vote for
:18:19. > :18:22.UKIP, you are voting to take us further away from returning powers
:18:23. > :18:26.to this country, further from a referendum. It is support for Ed
:18:27. > :18:31.Miliband becoming Prime Minister, and he will do exactly what Labour
:18:32. > :18:36.have always done - hand away powers, and away the rebate for nothing in
:18:37. > :18:40.return, giving Europe even more so over the day-to-day affairs in
:18:41. > :18:44.Britain. Why are so many people considering voting UKIP? It is to
:18:45. > :18:48.hold your feet to the fire, they do not trust you on a referendum, so
:18:49. > :18:55.they will vote UKIP to force you to tap in your line. We have a very
:18:56. > :18:59.tough line. If I had said four years ago that this government would
:19:00. > :19:03.manage to cut the overall EU budget, would take us out of the
:19:04. > :19:07.bailout fund that Labour got us into, passing a law that no more
:19:08. > :19:11.powers can go to Europe without a referendum, if I had said that,
:19:12. > :19:15.people would say, I do not believe it will happen. Not only have we
:19:16. > :19:19.done these things, we are promising and in-out referendum, and the only
:19:20. > :19:23.way to get it is to vote Conservative. Nigel Farage has
:19:24. > :19:27.said, we can't change anything in Europe, and it is no wonder that the
:19:28. > :19:31.president of the European Commission has said, we love having these UKIP
:19:32. > :19:38.MEPs, because they don't turn up and vote, apart from when they vote
:19:39. > :19:42.against the cut in the budget. It goes beyond UKIP in your party,
:19:43. > :19:47.because this research also showed that those Conservative members most
:19:48. > :19:52.likely to vote for UKIP, they said they do not feel valued or respected
:19:53. > :19:55.by their own leadership, and they regard David Cameron as ideological
:19:56. > :20:02.eat more remote from them than UKIP. What I would say is look at that
:20:03. > :20:11.list... Let me take that step further. What people need our series
:20:12. > :20:20.solutions to serious problems. When people vote for a UKIP MEP, I will
:20:21. > :20:24.say, which one of the 40% of the MEPs who got in for UKIP last time
:20:25. > :20:30.are you voting for, the ones above left or defected, the ones have gone
:20:31. > :20:33.to jail? 40% have ended up not delivering. People have a right to
:20:34. > :20:38.know what to expect when they vote in these elections. They can look at
:20:39. > :20:42.our record at home, and this goes to the point you have raised about what
:20:43. > :20:48.we have done in Britain to get this economy back on track, recover from
:20:49. > :20:56.Labour's recession. We are prepared to take those decisions in Europe as
:20:57. > :20:58.well. Presumably, active Conservative members, they know
:20:59. > :21:04.that, so why do they not feel valued by the leadership? I spend time
:21:05. > :21:10.going up and down the country meeting Conservative members, and
:21:11. > :21:13.they are on the doorstep, last weekend 150 out in Enfield
:21:14. > :21:21.campaigning for the European and local elections... Why are they keen
:21:22. > :21:27.on UKIP? When I meet somebody who says that, not necessarily a
:21:28. > :21:37.member... Have you met members of say they will vote UKIP? No, but a
:21:38. > :21:42.vote for UKIP is... Do not do it, you will end up with Labour having
:21:43. > :21:47.more control, handing away powers to Europe. 51-year-old meeting members
:21:48. > :21:53.who say they will vote UKIP, you must be out of touch. -- if you are
:21:54. > :21:57.not meeting members. Some of your members are thinking of voting UKIP.
:21:58. > :22:02.I spend huge amount of time travelling around, I just told you
:22:03. > :22:08.about this action day in Enfield, where we had an enormous turnout.
:22:09. > :22:11.Those members were on the doorsteps pointing out that you can only get
:22:12. > :22:18.reform in Europe by voting Conservative. Labour and the Lib
:22:19. > :22:23.Dems will not deliver, UKIP can't, Conservatives will. You have not got
:22:24. > :22:30.that message across, because a YouGov poll shows, on Europe, who
:22:31. > :22:36.has the best policies? Tories 18%, Labour 19%, UKIP 27%. On the
:22:37. > :22:41.economy, Tories 27%, Labour 23, UKIP 4. Why don't you shut up about
:22:42. > :22:48.Europe and talk about the economy? Look, on the 27th of May, we have
:22:49. > :22:51.European elections, as well as local elections. If I don't talk about the
:22:52. > :22:54.European elections, you would say what you said at the beginning about
:22:55. > :22:58.not talking about the local elections! These are serious
:22:59. > :23:03.elections, and the point I am tried to make is that the issues at stake
:23:04. > :23:08.are not peripheral, they are not unimportant. Our MEPs have been
:23:09. > :23:10.battling to cut red tape from a European level on small businesses,
:23:11. > :23:13.the same thing this government has been doing for small businesses
:23:14. > :23:20.domestic league, where for example every small business owner watching
:23:21. > :23:22.this show knows they have got ?2000 back in employment announced on
:23:23. > :23:26.national insurance contributions. We are doing it at home, we are doing
:23:27. > :23:31.it in Europe, and it is important to tie that together. Ireland that Mr
:23:32. > :23:47.Cameron saying, you should stop banging on about Europe... -- I
:23:48. > :23:56.remember. This is before the last general election, as in days for the
:23:57. > :24:00.Lib Dems, 18%. Even then, you didn't win the election, and now you are
:24:01. > :24:06.only three or four points ahead, it doesn't look good for you, does it?
:24:07. > :24:12.Even then, the poll did not turn out to be what it was on the day. No,
:24:13. > :24:15.that is what happens, that is the voting intentions now! You are in a
:24:16. > :24:21.worse position than a year before the last election, which you didn't
:24:22. > :24:26.win. We are almost proving the point that you can take a clip at any
:24:27. > :24:30.moment in time, not sounding like a politician, but the only poll that
:24:31. > :24:35.matters is on the day. In just over a year's time, people will have a
:24:36. > :24:40.completely different picture to look at than these opinion polls. We have
:24:41. > :24:45.an economy from being a basket case, the great Labour recession
:24:46. > :24:49.knocking 7% of this economy, hurting every family, to a point where we
:24:50. > :24:55.the fastest-growing economy in the developed world. In a year's time, I
:24:56. > :24:58.hope people will see that we are the people who've taken the difficult
:24:59. > :25:02.decisions, got the economy to the right place, more security for you
:25:03. > :25:07.and your family. Do not give the car keys back to the people who crashed
:25:08. > :25:11.it in the first place. If I had a pound for every time I have heard
:25:12. > :25:17.that! It is clearly not getting through. On the Pfizer attempted of
:25:18. > :25:23.AstraZeneca, Mr Miliband called this morning for a tougher public
:25:24. > :25:27.interest test such big takeovers. Do you agree with that or not? Let me
:25:28. > :25:34.be absolutely clear, if there is any kind of joining, we are in favour of
:25:35. > :25:44.British jobs, British aren't deep, expanding our pharmaceutical sector.
:25:45. > :25:55.-- R But what Mr Mallon and wants to do with rent caps, he is
:25:56. > :26:04.anti-business. -- Mr Miliband. He wants to take us back to the bad old
:26:05. > :26:11.those. -- bad old days. Should there be a bigger public interest test? We
:26:12. > :26:16.have seen some takeovers that people have criticised, but others, like
:26:17. > :26:22.Bentley, Land Rover, which have been very successful. Should there be a
:26:23. > :26:25.tougher test?! We will have tests that ensured this get-together
:26:26. > :26:30.becomes a great Anglo-American project, or it doesn't happen, but
:26:31. > :26:35.the Miliband approach is simply to be anti-business, anti-jobs and
:26:36. > :26:38.anti-job security. Grant Shapps, thank you.
:26:39. > :26:42.A challenging week for the Liberal Democrats with a local election
:26:43. > :26:47.campaign overshadowed by another row with the Conservatives about knife
:26:48. > :26:52.crime. Adam has spent the day with Nick Clegg on the campaign trail.
:26:53. > :26:56.How nice! Nick Clegg is taking me on a political mini break to the
:26:57. > :27:01.Cotswolds. Yes, we are getting the train. He wants to highlight what
:27:02. > :27:06.his party is doing in local government, and a personal passion
:27:07. > :27:10.of his in Europe. Graham Watson, the Lib Dem MEP for the south-west, has
:27:11. > :27:15.been running a campaign to have prunes recognised as a laxative. Is
:27:16. > :27:20.that Lib Dems battling for Britain in Europe? It is not our front page
:27:21. > :27:25.manifesto commitment! It is one of many things that Graham does, he
:27:26. > :27:32.does many other things. In fact, he is a good example of an MEP who took
:27:33. > :27:36.a pioneering role, for instance, in making sure... There is the proven
:27:37. > :27:43.world, but also the crime-fighting role. -- prune. He has done work to
:27:44. > :27:48.make sure that when British criminals flee justice, we can bring
:27:49. > :27:52.them back. And he has promoted prunes! First stop, a gorgeous
:27:53. > :27:58.country pub, but it turns out everyone is a journalist or a very
:27:59. > :28:03.on message activist. Dark days, being a Lib Dem in the last few
:28:04. > :28:07.years? Strangely not. If you find you are a Lib Dem deep down, you do
:28:08. > :28:11.not get that disheartened, because you know that, locally, you are
:28:12. > :28:16.doing so well for the people that you live next door to that,
:28:17. > :28:21.actually, I find I am almost impervious to what happens on a
:28:22. > :28:25.national level. I am mayor of Cirencester. Have you taken any
:28:26. > :28:30.leadership lessons from Nick Clegg, inspiring new in your leadership of
:28:31. > :28:34.Cirencester? I think what he has demonstrated his patience. It has
:28:35. > :28:38.been a tough time, he has taken a lot of flak, and as the mayor of a
:28:39. > :28:44.town, lots of people agree with you and a fair few don't. You are a full
:28:45. > :28:49.on mayor, he is just a Deputy Prime Minister, do you outrank him? I
:28:50. > :28:55.don't think so, he is in government, I am not. So our there any normal
:28:56. > :29:00.people in here? We are from Swindon, you cannot get more
:29:01. > :29:07.abnormal. Are you a big fan of his? No! What has he done wrong? I don't
:29:08. > :29:14.believe in his views at all. Where has he got to? Nigel Farage would
:29:15. > :29:20.have had a pint! At this time in the morning a copy was more appropriate.
:29:21. > :29:25.I have no time for a drink of any kind, because now we are off to look
:29:26. > :29:29.at a local traffic blackspot. This is amazing, like a Lib Dem election
:29:30. > :29:35.leaflet brought to life, Lib Dems pointing at a road. High-vis
:29:36. > :29:42.jackets! Next we had to giggle full bath, but there will be no Regency
:29:43. > :29:51.sightseeing for us, oh no, Nick is taking us to an abandoned
:29:52. > :29:55.wilderness. We have just had a health and safety briefing, we have
:29:56. > :29:58.been told to look out for dive-bombing seagulls and an angry
:29:59. > :30:03.fox. That is the sort of thing Nick Clegg has to put up with. He wants
:30:04. > :30:10.to talk about the economy but he has to dodge the day's beat new story,
:30:11. > :30:13.letters leaked by a Tory suggesting that Lib Dems are soft on knife
:30:14. > :30:24.crime. Isn't that a new kind of warfare? I just think it is silly.
:30:25. > :30:26.They may think they are clever by catching some headlines but they are
:30:27. > :30:36.not helping people who catching some headlines but they are
:30:37. > :30:41.knife crime, like I do. We work together... Just like the
:30:42. > :30:46.Coalition! This is a co-working space where different businesses
:30:47. > :30:52.share the same office. My time with the Deputy Prime Minister is drawing
:30:53. > :30:55.to a close. We haven't talked about the most important story of the
:30:56. > :31:03.week, that you were voted the best looking party leader and the most
:31:04. > :31:08.likely to be a good cook. Right, this is news to me and I can
:31:09. > :31:13.guarantee you that my scepticism of opinion polls has just been
:31:14. > :31:19.confirmed. Just as well because the more serious polls don't look great
:31:20. > :31:25.for him or his party. Goodbye, and thanks for the offer of a ride
:31:26. > :31:31.home! He is still walking. Malcolm Bruce
:31:32. > :31:37.joins us now. According to Lib Dem briefing documents, you are likely
:31:38. > :31:39.to choose -- lose a big chunk of your MEPs. If you lose a lot, what
:31:40. > :31:41.would that say about a