:00:37. > :00:41.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics. Walls are being
:00:42. > :00:45.re-painted in Belfast as Gerry Adams begins his fourth day in police
:00:46. > :00:49.custody in connection with one of the most brutal and shocking murders
:00:50. > :01:00.of the Troubles. That's our top story.
:01:01. > :01:03.He may have got egg on his face this week but Nigel Farage is a serious
:01:04. > :01:06.electoral threat in this month's elections. I'll ask the Conservative
:01:07. > :01:08.Party Chairman Grant Shapps how worried he is.
:01:09. > :01:13.And we're on the trail of Nick Clegg. You were voted the best
:01:14. > :01:19.In the South West: The host of Euro likely to be a good
:01:20. > :01:23.In the South West: The host of Euro election candidates competing for
:01:24. > :01:25.the get`out`of`Europe vote. And warnings of a rural bus funding
:01:26. > :01:29.crisis. questions of identity, immigration
:01:30. > :01:36.and independence. We have a table full of Euro candidates here to
:01:37. > :01:40.debate what it means for London. And with me, as always, the best and
:01:41. > :01:43.the brightest political panel in the business - Nick Watt, Helen Lewis
:01:44. > :01:48.and Janan Ganesh. They'll be throwing metaphorical rotten eggs
:01:49. > :01:51.into the twittersphere. First this morning - Gerry Adams,
:01:52. > :01:54.President of Sinn Fein, has spent a fourth night in police custody after
:01:55. > :02:07.he was arrested in connection with the killing of Jean McConville more
:02:08. > :02:10.than 40 years ago. Sinn Fein has claimed that the arrest is
:02:11. > :02:14.politically motivated coming, as it does, during local and European
:02:15. > :02:16.election campaigns. Northern Ireland's deputy first minister,
:02:17. > :02:19.Martin McGuinness, has indicated he might review the party's support for
:02:20. > :02:21.policing in the province if Gerry Adams is charged. The Jean
:02:22. > :02:23.McConville murder was one of the most notorious cases of the
:02:24. > :02:29.Troubles. The widowed mother of ten was
:02:30. > :02:35.kidnapped from her home in December 1972, never to be seen alive again.
:02:36. > :02:41.The IRA denied involvement but in 1999 admitted it had murdered her
:02:42. > :02:46.and several others, known as the Disappeared. Before his death, the
:02:47. > :02:47.former IRA commander Brendan Hughes pointed the finger at Gerry Adams,
:02:48. > :03:02.claiming: In April this year, either Bell was
:03:03. > :03:12.charged with aiding and abetting the murder. -- Ivor Bell. Gerry Adams
:03:13. > :03:16.has always insisted he is innocent of any part in the abduction and
:03:17. > :03:20.killing all burial of Mrs McConville.
:03:21. > :03:23.We were hoping to speak to the Northern Ireland Secretary, Theresa
:03:24. > :03:26.Villiers, but having agreed to do an interview with us this morning, she
:03:27. > :03:33.pulled out. But we are joined from Belfast by Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey.
:03:34. > :03:46.Welcome to the Sunday Politics. And the police just doing their job by
:03:47. > :03:51.questioning Gerry Adams? Gerry Adams said publicly some time ago that he
:03:52. > :03:56.was available to speak to the police, but that is not what this is
:03:57. > :03:59.about at the moment, because what we have here is clearly evidence in our
:04:00. > :04:05.mind of political interference in what should be due process. Gerry
:04:06. > :04:10.Adams made it clear some time ago he wanted to speak to the police, it
:04:11. > :04:15.was available at any time, and yet that request was not taken up until
:04:16. > :04:19.three weeks into an election and we believe that was deliberately
:04:20. > :04:24.orchestrated by a small number of people. What evidence can you
:04:25. > :04:32.present this morning that proves that claim? The direct circumstances
:04:33. > :04:39.Gerry Adams finds himself in at the moment, take that in stark contrast
:04:40. > :04:52.when they have dealt with members of the British Army for instance...
:04:53. > :04:58.That is just circumstantial. The PSNI know that the soldiers involved
:04:59. > :05:02.in that and a number of other high-profile killings of citizens
:05:03. > :05:09.here, and not one of those people has been arrested. In fact any of
:05:10. > :05:14.the people who were interviewed were interviewed by request. There was a
:05:15. > :05:23.stark contrast, in terms of how they have dealt with the British military
:05:24. > :05:28.involving state killings. We haven't got too much time. Sinn Fein said it
:05:29. > :05:34.would review its support for the PSNI if Gerry Adams is charged. That
:05:35. > :05:38.sounds like political interference in the police process. It's not
:05:39. > :05:44.because we have a clear mandate from the people who elect us. Policing
:05:45. > :05:52.has been an important part of the peace process here for many years,
:05:53. > :05:56.Sinn Fein plays an important role in local policing partnerships. We
:05:57. > :06:01.negotiate to make sure we have powers transferred here to elected
:06:02. > :06:08.representatives in the north. It is a long way to go before we have
:06:09. > :06:21.policing highly accountable, and making sure they deliver a very
:06:22. > :06:29.impartial service. How will he react if Gerry Adams is charged? I am
:06:30. > :06:34.still trying to get a clear answer. If Gerry Adams is charged, will you
:06:35. > :06:41.withdraw support for the Northern Ireland police service? We view this
:06:42. > :06:46.as a serious situation and a serious ongoing situation and we will
:06:47. > :06:51.monitor how this pans out. We have a very important role to play to
:06:52. > :06:59.support the police service here. We have done consistently, worked with
:07:00. > :07:01.them on a daily basis, but we will not accept political interference by
:07:02. > :07:08.a small number of people in the police who are undermining the
:07:09. > :07:15.police. We will not accept political policing. If there was evidence, and
:07:16. > :07:19.I emphasise the word if, because we have seen none, but if there were
:07:20. > :07:24.evidence to justify Gerry Adams being charged, why should he not be
:07:25. > :07:29.charged? It is my understanding from the family of Gerry Adams that there
:07:30. > :07:39.has not been a single shred of evidence put forward. I understand
:07:40. > :07:43.that, but if there was evidence, why should he not be charged? You put
:07:44. > :07:48.that caveat yourself and then you expect me to speculate, there is no
:07:49. > :07:51.way I will do that. The fact of the matter is there hasn't been one
:07:52. > :07:58.single shred of evidence put to Gerry Adams in the last few days, in
:07:59. > :08:01.fact what has been put to him is a range of issues of newspaper
:08:02. > :08:07.cuttings, books, statements made from people, including from people
:08:08. > :08:17.who didn't want their statements released until they have died.
:08:18. > :08:18.who didn't want their statements was charged, again I emphasise the
:08:19. > :08:28.word if, does the police process fall apart? The police process is a
:08:29. > :08:31.fragile entity, it requires work and we have been saying this publicly
:08:32. > :08:46.and privately with the Irish and British
:08:47. > :08:46.and privately with the Irish and process has to be nurtured and
:08:47. > :08:51.developed. We are not out of the woods yet. From a Republican point
:08:52. > :09:00.of view we have been working flat out. I just wanted a quick answer to
:09:01. > :09:05.my question, is a yes or no? What question I asking me? Is the peace
:09:06. > :09:09.process in jeopardy? It is fragile and I am not going to have words put
:09:10. > :09:17.into my mouth but I don't want to use. It has to be worked out and
:09:18. > :09:21.nurtured. Thank you for joining us. Nick Watt, you were a Northern
:09:22. > :09:28.Ireland correspondent like myself in days gone by. Where is this going to
:09:29. > :09:32.go? It shows how challenging the peace process is because on the one
:09:33. > :09:36.hand you have the unspeakable pain of the McConville family, but you
:09:37. > :09:41.also have the danger of not having mechanisms to deal with the past.
:09:42. > :09:45.South Africa is a good example, you have to have some mechanism to deal
:09:46. > :09:54.with the past because if you don't, you are going to have, as Sinn Fein
:09:55. > :10:00.have now, someone in a police cell but you don't have the arrests of
:10:01. > :10:08.the Bloody Sunday soldiers. Paramilitary prisoners were released
:10:09. > :10:13.after two years... We have seen no action against somebody accused of
:10:14. > :10:17.the Hyde Park bombings, it is not a one-way street. We have the
:10:18. > :10:26.decommissioning of IRA weapons by the IRA, therefore destroying
:10:27. > :10:29.crucial evidence. You have these inconsistencies because you don't
:10:30. > :10:34.have an mechanism for dealing with the past, but doing that is really
:10:35. > :10:39.difficult because of the pain of real people. Don't you get a feeling
:10:40. > :10:43.that here in London they are hoping he will not be charged? Definitely
:10:44. > :10:47.because it would be nice if everything went away, but the civil
:10:48. > :10:55.case of the family is taken out of the hands of the police. You can see
:10:56. > :11:02.here a real failure in Westminster to see this as anything other than
:11:03. > :11:07.settled. David Cameron we know sees himself as a chairman. I was
:11:08. > :11:11.speaking to a friend in Northern Ireland who said he has never met
:11:12. > :11:17.Gerry Adams and I think this is very revealing. They consider this as a
:11:18. > :11:21.settled issue that will not trouble Westminster again. It would be, but
:11:22. > :11:27.the relatives of the disappeared don't want it to be settled. This
:11:28. > :11:32.points to the reality that the Belfast agreement probably had to be
:11:33. > :11:36.done, but the moral price at which it was purchased was far greater
:11:37. > :11:41.than we were willing to admit during the euphoria. For a country that
:11:42. > :11:49.prides itself by the rule of law to tolerate the early release of
:11:50. > :11:53.prisoners and former pal and military -- paramilitaries, I think
:11:54. > :11:59.was a very serious matter. As for the PSNI, it only exists because its
:12:00. > :12:07.predecessor failed to command the confidence of the nationalist
:12:08. > :12:14.community. It is a very big deal if even the PSNI ends up falling into
:12:15. > :12:22.the same trap. We have to is leave it there I'm afraid. It was the
:12:23. > :12:25.Conservative's local election campaign launch on Friday, and what
:12:26. > :12:28.did David Cameron focus on? Burning local issues like the state of our
:12:29. > :12:31.roads, rubbish collection or care of the elderly? No. It was Europe. The
:12:32. > :12:34.Prime Minister re-iterated again his promise of an in-out referendum on
:12:35. > :12:38.our membership of the EU in 2017. And it's being reported this morning
:12:39. > :12:42.that he will share a platform with Nigel Farage in a pre-general
:12:43. > :12:46.election debate. Here's what the UKIP leader had to say about the
:12:47. > :12:53.issue when he was on the Marr Show this morning with Ed Miliband. David
:12:54. > :12:59.Cameron very often makes these vague promises, then doesn't deliver
:13:00. > :13:05.afterwards. I don't think he has any intention of allowing me into any of
:13:06. > :13:11.these debates. Perhaps Ed Miliband wants to debate? We have got to have
:13:12. > :13:15.the TV debates as we did join the last general election. I think David
:13:16. > :13:20.Cameron is doing everything he can to wriggle out of them. It is up to
:13:21. > :13:30.the broadcasters but whether they invite Nigel. My main desire is that
:13:31. > :13:39.the debates go ahead. We are joined now by Grant Shapps. Will he be
:13:40. > :13:42.included? The debates were not without problems, they took place
:13:43. > :13:48.during the campaign period and disrupted the flow of the campaign,
:13:49. > :13:52.taking it out of the regions, people getting to speak to the leaders so a
:13:53. > :13:57.longer period for that would be helpful. I think they are good idea
:13:58. > :14:03.and they should go ahead, but all of the negotiation about who is
:14:04. > :14:08.involved is yet to happen. So it is not a done deal that Nigel Farage
:14:09. > :14:13.will be included? That needs to be negotiated with the TV companies.
:14:14. > :14:21.The Conservatives believe we should have debates, but exactly the format
:14:22. > :14:27.and the timing, all of the -- that will be debated in the autumn, but
:14:28. > :14:35.first we have European elections, the Queen 's speech and a Scottish
:14:36. > :14:39.referendum. The local election campaign was launched on Friday. Why
:14:40. > :14:49.did you talk more about Europe than local councils? Both are important.
:14:50. > :14:52.The local elections are critically important for people, their local
:14:53. > :14:58.services. It is easy to forget, for example, that the council tax has
:14:59. > :15:04.been largely frozen since this Government came to power, a big
:15:05. > :15:09.contrast to Dublin under the previous Labour government. So why
:15:10. > :15:18.did you go on and on about Europe? Let me show you the poster used to
:15:19. > :15:23.launch your local election campaign. There it is, and in-out referendum
:15:24. > :15:28.on Europe, the day of the local elections, where is the word local?
:15:29. > :15:32.Is it in small print? I hear what you're saying, I am happy to be here
:15:33. > :15:37.to talk about the local elections. But you are right, they are on the
:15:38. > :15:42.same day, and not many people know that only by voting conservative can
:15:43. > :15:48.you get an in-out referendum. -- Conservative. UKIP cannot deliver,
:15:49. > :15:53.we can, it is the same date, so people... This was the launch of the
:15:54. > :15:57.local election campaign. Why does the Prime Minister have to keep on
:15:58. > :16:03.promising something he has already promised? The actual referendum
:16:04. > :16:08.would be in 2017. He promised it before, he keeps repeating it
:16:09. > :16:13.because he knows people don't really trust him. I think it is a question
:16:14. > :16:18.of the fact that, actually, unless you remind people that the pledges
:16:19. > :16:21.there, that the only way to get an in-out referendum is to vote for
:16:22. > :16:27.it, this is a critical moment at which we need people to vote for
:16:28. > :16:31.that referendum if they want it. It is not the case, as I saw this
:16:32. > :16:36.morning, being said by Nigel Farage, that a referendum was promised
:16:37. > :16:40.before and not delivered. There was no referendum in the last manifesto.
:16:41. > :16:48.There will be in the next one. There was a cast-iron guarantee, in the
:16:49. > :16:56.Sun in 2006. Let's just clear that up... Once the Lisbon Treaty... In
:16:57. > :17:01.the Sun article, he said, we will have a referendum on the Lisbon
:17:02. > :17:05.Treaty. Clearly, because that treaty had been passed before the general
:17:06. > :17:11.election, it is difficult to have a referendum on something in the past.
:17:12. > :17:17.We joined Europe in the 1970s, having a referendum on that! Look,
:17:18. > :17:20.that is about the future. Our relationship with Europe is
:17:21. > :17:25.absolutely critical. Most people in this country feel, I was not old
:17:26. > :17:30.enough to vote in that referendum, most of those who voted, they voted
:17:31. > :17:34.for a Common Market, that is not what we have got. We want to
:17:35. > :17:42.continue the work we have been doing in the EU Budget, what did UKIP do?
:17:43. > :17:45.They voted against it. We want more of those powers brought home, and we
:17:46. > :17:50.will put it to a referendum, and people will have to vote
:17:51. > :17:54.Conservative to get it. We have been looking at new research, almost two
:17:55. > :17:58.thirds of Conservative members are considering voting for UKIP, almost
:17:59. > :18:09.two thirds. I have a simple message here, which is this. If you vote for
:18:10. > :18:15.UKIP... Can we have it up? 30% are likely, 30% are possible. That is
:18:16. > :18:20.why it is important we are making these arguments. If you vote for
:18:21. > :18:24.UKIP, you are voting to take us further away from returning powers
:18:25. > :18:28.to this country, further from a referendum. It is support for Ed
:18:29. > :18:33.Miliband becoming Prime Minister, and he will do exactly what Labour
:18:34. > :18:38.have always done - hand away powers, and away the rebate for nothing in
:18:39. > :18:42.return, giving Europe even more so over the day-to-day affairs in
:18:43. > :18:45.Britain. Why are so many people considering voting UKIP? It is to
:18:46. > :18:50.hold your feet to the fire, they do not trust you on a referendum, so
:18:51. > :18:56.they will vote UKIP to force you to tap in your line. We have a very
:18:57. > :19:01.tough line. If I had said four years ago that this government would
:19:02. > :19:05.manage to cut the overall EU budget, would take us out of the
:19:06. > :19:09.bailout fund that Labour got us into, passing a law that no more
:19:10. > :19:13.powers can go to Europe without a referendum, if I had said that,
:19:14. > :19:17.people would say, I do not believe it will happen. Not only have we
:19:18. > :19:21.done these things, we are promising and in-out referendum, and the only
:19:22. > :19:24.way to get it is to vote Conservative. Nigel Farage has
:19:25. > :19:28.said, we can't change anything in Europe, and it is no wonder that the
:19:29. > :19:33.president of the European Commission has said, we love having these UKIP
:19:34. > :19:40.MEPs, because they don't turn up and vote, apart from when they vote
:19:41. > :19:44.against the cut in the budget. It goes beyond UKIP in your party,
:19:45. > :19:49.because this research also showed that those Conservative members most
:19:50. > :19:54.likely to vote for UKIP, they said they do not feel valued or respected
:19:55. > :19:57.by their own leadership, and they regard David Cameron as ideological
:19:58. > :20:04.eat more remote from them than UKIP. What I would say is look at that
:20:05. > :20:13.list... Let me take that step further. What people need our series
:20:14. > :20:22.solutions to serious problems. When people vote for a UKIP MEP, I will
:20:23. > :20:26.say, which one of the 40% of the MEPs who got in for UKIP last time
:20:27. > :20:31.are you voting for, the ones above left or defected, the ones have gone
:20:32. > :20:35.to jail? 40% have ended up not delivering. People have a right to
:20:36. > :20:40.know what to expect when they vote in these elections. They can look at
:20:41. > :20:44.our record at home, and this goes to the point you have raised about what
:20:45. > :20:49.we have done in Britain to get this economy back on track, recover from
:20:50. > :20:57.Labour's recession. We are prepared to take those decisions in Europe as
:20:58. > :21:00.well. Presumably, active Conservative members, they know
:21:01. > :21:06.that, so why do they not feel valued by the leadership? I spend time
:21:07. > :21:12.going up and down the country meeting Conservative members, and
:21:13. > :21:15.they are on the doorstep, last weekend 150 out in Enfield
:21:16. > :21:23.campaigning for the European and local elections... Why are they keen
:21:24. > :21:28.on UKIP? When I meet somebody who says that, not necessarily a
:21:29. > :21:39.member... Have you met members of say they will vote UKIP? No, but a
:21:40. > :21:44.vote for UKIP is... Do not do it, you will end up with Labour having
:21:45. > :21:48.more control, handing away powers to Europe. 51-year-old meeting members
:21:49. > :21:54.who say they will vote UKIP, you must be out of touch. -- if you are
:21:55. > :21:59.not meeting members. Some of your members are thinking of voting UKIP.
:22:00. > :22:03.I spend huge amount of time travelling around, I just told you
:22:04. > :22:10.about this action day in Enfield, where we had an enormous turnout.
:22:11. > :22:13.Those members were on the doorsteps pointing out that you can only get
:22:14. > :22:20.reform in Europe by voting Conservative. Labour and the Lib
:22:21. > :22:25.Dems will not deliver, UKIP can't, Conservatives will. You have not got
:22:26. > :22:31.that message across, because a YouGov poll shows, on Europe, who
:22:32. > :22:38.has the best policies? Tories 18%, Labour 19%, UKIP 27%. On the
:22:39. > :22:43.economy, Tories 27%, Labour 23, UKIP 4. Why don't you shut up about
:22:44. > :22:49.Europe and talk about the economy? Look, on the 27th of May, we have
:22:50. > :22:53.European elections, as well as local elections. If I don't talk about the
:22:54. > :22:56.European elections, you would say what you said at the beginning about
:22:57. > :23:00.not talking about the local elections! These are serious
:23:01. > :23:04.elections, and the point I am tried to make is that the issues at stake
:23:05. > :23:09.are not peripheral, they are not unimportant. Our MEPs have been
:23:10. > :23:12.battling to cut red tape from a European level on small businesses,
:23:13. > :23:14.the same thing this government has been doing for small businesses
:23:15. > :23:21.domestic league, where for example every small business owner watching
:23:22. > :23:24.this show knows they have got ?2000 back in employment announced on
:23:25. > :23:27.national insurance contributions. We are doing it at home, we are doing
:23:28. > :23:33.it in Europe, and it is important to tie that together. Ireland that Mr
:23:34. > :23:49.Cameron saying, you should stop banging on about Europe... -- I
:23:50. > :23:58.remember. This is before the last general election, as in days for the
:23:59. > :24:01.Lib Dems, 18%. Even then, you didn't win the election, and now you are
:24:02. > :24:07.only three or four points ahead, it doesn't look good for you, does it?
:24:08. > :24:13.Even then, the poll did not turn out to be what it was on the day. No,
:24:14. > :24:16.that is what happens, that is the voting intentions now! You are in a
:24:17. > :24:23.worse position than a year before the last election, which you didn't
:24:24. > :24:27.win. We are almost proving the point that you can take a clip at any
:24:28. > :24:31.moment in time, not sounding like a politician, but the only poll that
:24:32. > :24:37.matters is on the day. In just over a year's time, people will have a
:24:38. > :24:42.completely different picture to look at than these opinion polls. We have
:24:43. > :24:47.an economy from being a basket case, the great Labour recession
:24:48. > :24:51.knocking 7% of this economy, hurting every family, to a point where we
:24:52. > :24:56.the fastest-growing economy in the developed world. In a year's time, I
:24:57. > :24:59.hope people will see that we are the people who've taken the difficult
:25:00. > :25:04.decisions, got the economy to the right place, more security for you
:25:05. > :25:08.and your family. Do not give the car keys back to the people who crashed
:25:09. > :25:13.it in the first place. If I had a pound for every time I have heard
:25:14. > :25:19.that! It is clearly not getting through. On the Pfizer attempted of
:25:20. > :25:25.AstraZeneca, Mr Miliband called this morning for a tougher public
:25:26. > :25:29.interest test such big takeovers. Do you agree with that or not? Let me
:25:30. > :25:36.be absolutely clear, if there is any kind of joining, we are in favour of
:25:37. > :25:46.British jobs, British aren't deep, expanding our pharmaceutical sector.
:25:47. > :25:57.-- R But what Mr Mallon and wants to do with rent caps, he is
:25:58. > :26:05.anti-business. -- Mr Miliband. He wants to take us back to the bad old
:26:06. > :26:13.those. -- bad old days. Should there be a bigger public interest test? We
:26:14. > :26:18.have seen some takeovers that people have criticised, but others, like
:26:19. > :26:23.Bentley, Land Rover, which have been very successful. Should there be a
:26:24. > :26:26.tougher test?! We will have tests that ensured this get-together
:26:27. > :26:31.becomes a great Anglo-American project, or it doesn't happen, but
:26:32. > :26:36.the Miliband approach is simply to be anti-business, anti-jobs and
:26:37. > :26:40.anti-job security. Grant Shapps, thank you.
:26:41. > :26:44.A challenging week for the Liberal Democrats with a local election
:26:45. > :26:49.campaign overshadowed by another row with the Conservatives about knife
:26:50. > :26:54.crime. Adam has spent the day with Nick Clegg on the campaign trail.
:26:55. > :26:58.How nice! Nick Clegg is taking me on a political mini break to the
:26:59. > :27:03.Cotswolds. Yes, we are getting the train. He wants to highlight what
:27:04. > :27:08.his party is doing in local government, and a personal passion
:27:09. > :27:11.of his in Europe. Graham Watson, the Lib Dem MEP for the south-west, has
:27:12. > :27:17.been running a campaign to have prunes recognised as a laxative. Is
:27:18. > :27:21.that Lib Dems battling for Britain in Europe? It is not our front page
:27:22. > :27:27.manifesto commitment! It is one of many things that Graham does, he
:27:28. > :27:34.does many other things. In fact, he is a good example of an MEP who took
:27:35. > :27:37.a pioneering role, for instance, in making sure... There is the proven
:27:38. > :27:45.world, but also the crime-fighting role. -- prune. He has done work to
:27:46. > :27:50.make sure that when British criminals flee justice, we can bring
:27:51. > :27:54.them back. And he has promoted prunes! First stop, a gorgeous
:27:55. > :28:00.country pub, but it turns out everyone is a journalist or a very
:28:01. > :28:04.on message activist. Dark days, being a Lib Dem in the last few
:28:05. > :28:09.years? Strangely not. If you find you are a Lib Dem deep down, you do
:28:10. > :28:12.not get that disheartened, because you know that, locally, you are
:28:13. > :28:17.doing so well for the people that you live next door to that,
:28:18. > :28:22.actually, I find I am almost impervious to what happens on a
:28:23. > :28:27.national level. I am mayor of Cirencester. Have you taken any
:28:28. > :28:32.leadership lessons from Nick Clegg, inspiring new in your leadership of
:28:33. > :28:36.Cirencester? I think what he has demonstrated his patience. It has
:28:37. > :28:39.been a tough time, he has taken a lot of flak, and as the mayor of a
:28:40. > :28:46.town, lots of people agree with you and a fair few don't. You are a full
:28:47. > :28:51.on mayor, he is just a Deputy Prime Minister, do you outrank him? I
:28:52. > :28:56.don't think so, he is in government, I am not. So our there any normal
:28:57. > :29:02.people in here? We are from Swindon, you cannot get more
:29:03. > :29:09.abnormal. Are you a big fan of his? No! What has he done wrong? I don't
:29:10. > :29:16.believe in his views at all. Where has he got to? Nigel Farage would
:29:17. > :29:22.have had a pint! At this time in the morning a copy was more appropriate.
:29:23. > :29:27.I have no time for a drink of any kind, because now we are off to look
:29:28. > :29:31.at a local traffic blackspot. This is amazing, like a Lib Dem election
:29:32. > :29:37.leaflet brought to life, Lib Dems pointing at a road. High-vis
:29:38. > :29:43.jackets! Next we had to giggle full bath, but there will be no Regency
:29:44. > :29:53.sightseeing for us, oh no, Nick is taking us to an abandoned
:29:54. > :29:57.wilderness. We have just had a health and safety briefing, we have
:29:58. > :30:00.been told to look out for dive-bombing seagulls and an angry
:30:01. > :30:05.fox. That is the sort of thing Nick Clegg has to put up with. He wants
:30:06. > :30:12.to talk about the economy but he has to dodge the day's beat new story,
:30:13. > :30:15.letters leaked by a Tory suggesting that Lib Dems are soft on knife
:30:16. > :30:26.crime. Isn't that a new kind of warfare? I just think it is silly.
:30:27. > :30:29.They may think they are clever by catching some headlines but they are
:30:30. > :30:40.not helping people who worry about knife crime, like I do. We work
:30:41. > :30:45.together... Just like the Coalition! This is a co-working
:30:46. > :30:50.space where different businesses share the same office. My time with
:30:51. > :30:55.the Deputy Prime Minister is drawing to a close. We haven't talked about
:30:56. > :30:58.the most important story of the week, that you were voted the best
:30:59. > :31:08.looking party leader and the most likely to be a good cook. Right,
:31:09. > :31:12.this is news to me and I can guarantee you that my scepticism of
:31:13. > :31:17.opinion polls has just been confirmed. Just as well because the
:31:18. > :31:23.more serious polls don't look great for him or his party. Goodbye, and
:31:24. > :31:30.thanks for the offer of a ride home!
:31:31. > :31:34.He is still walking. Malcolm Bruce joins us now. According to Lib Dem
:31:35. > 0:24:42briefing documents, you are likely to choose -- lose a big chunk of