23/09/2012 Sunday Politics Wales


23/09/2012

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 23/09/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Will we hear more about Nick Clegg's wealth tax and? Will it

:01:08.:01:15.

work and would it be good for the economy? Evan Harris and John

:01:15.:01:24.

Redwood go head to head. And time for a fresh crackdown on yobs who

:01:24.:01:31.

attack the police? We will ask the Cabinet's Eric Pickles whether his

:01:31.:01:34.

party colleague should get back on his bike and pedal add to the

:01:34.:01:37.

Cabinet. We are well into conference season

:01:37.:01:40.

and we will hear from Kirsty Williams, the leader of the Welsh

:01:40.:01:50.
:01:50.:01:50.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2007 seconds

:01:50.:35:17.

Hello. On Sunday Politics Wales, we are in conference mode as the

:35:17.:35:20.

Liberal Democrats meet in Brighton. We will hear from Kirsty Williams,

:35:20.:35:25.

their leader in Wales. Nick Clegg has said sorry over student tuition

:35:25.:35:29.

fees - does she think the party needs to make any more apologies?

:35:29.:35:35.

We will also be hearing from Plaid Cymru's leader and UK's group

:35:35.:35:38.

leading voice in Wales. During the two-day, Helen Mary Jones and Jenny

:35:38.:35:45.

Willott. Good morning. -- joining me today. Let's talk about Andrew

:35:45.:35:49.

Mitchell. He is still in the papers today. What do you think of this

:35:49.:35:55.

situation? It has shown a rather nasty underbelly of attitude. Bad

:35:55.:36:02.

language is not acceptable but to use the word he is said to have

:36:02.:36:07.

used his wrong. I have toffs aren't my mother's side of my family but

:36:07.:36:11.

public servants deserve more than that. This is a guy who is supposed

:36:11.:36:15.

to be in charge of disciplining the government. We are always critical

:36:15.:36:20.

of people who are young not treating authority figures with

:36:20.:36:25.

respect. He needs to accept what he has said and apologise. Should he

:36:25.:36:28.

stay in his job? That is not a matter for me but I am glad not

:36:28.:36:35.

have to work with him postop Jenny Willott, he is your boss as he is a

:36:35.:36:40.

government whip. Has he ever shouted at you? Know and I would

:36:40.:36:46.

not expect him to. Why do you make the situation? We don't know who

:36:46.:36:49.

said what and until that is resolved, we will not know one way

:36:49.:36:54.

or the other. But Liberal Democrat autumn

:36:54.:36:59.

conference kicks off in Brighton today. Our correspondent David

:36:59.:37:04.

Cornock has been speaking to the leader of the Welsh Lib Dems.

:37:04.:37:07.

Hello from Brighton, where Liberal Democrat members have their first

:37:07.:37:11.

chance to digest Nick Clegg's apology for making a promise he

:37:11.:37:15.

could not keep. Let's talk about that and more with the leader of

:37:15.:37:19.

the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams. Nick Clegg admits saying

:37:19.:37:24.

sorry is a gamble - do you think it is the right thing to do? Washable

:37:24.:37:28.

Democrats felt that they could not break their pledge and our MPs did

:37:28.:37:34.

not vote for the rise in tuition fees. -- Welsh Liberal Democrats.

:37:34.:37:39.

But I support Nick Clegg in making the apology. If only politicians in

:37:39.:37:44.

the past could have apologised or pins they got wrong. Why stop with

:37:44.:37:48.

tuition fees? Why not apologise for a double-dip recession, an increase

:37:48.:37:53.

in youth employment? The Liberal Democrats in Wales have supported

:37:53.:37:59.

measures on the economy that have led to the state we are in. We are

:37:59.:38:02.

battling with a well-tried recession, made particularly

:38:02.:38:06.

difficult for Britain because of the context of Europe, big trading

:38:06.:38:11.

partners of hours. The government is doing all it can to address the

:38:11.:38:15.

previous government's deficit as well as investing in our future. We

:38:15.:38:19.

have had some good news in Wales which I am pleased to celebrate

:38:19.:38:22.

about investment and delayed publication of the railway lines to

:38:22.:38:32.
:38:32.:38:32.

Swansea and the valleys. -- electrification. We need the Welsh

:38:32.:38:35.

government to be doing more around improving the skills levels of

:38:35.:38:39.

young people. That is why we supported the introduction of the

:38:39.:38:42.

pupil premium so we can make sure that our young people have the

:38:42.:38:46.

policies they need to succeed of stock we have put more money into

:38:46.:38:50.

apprenticeships and that is what Nick Clegg has been doing. We are

:38:51.:38:55.

determined to carry on investing in young people and infrastructure so

:38:55.:38:58.

we can get ourselves into the terrible mess the previous

:38:58.:39:04.

government left us with. You have a Liberal Democrat voice in the world

:39:04.:39:08.

government now. She is unelected and unpaid. What does that say

:39:08.:39:16.

about the be the Liberal Democrats take in Westminster of Wales?

:39:16.:39:19.

are never happy. Now we have a Liberal Democrat in the Welsh

:39:19.:39:24.

Office, you are still not satisfied. Having a Welsh Liberal Democrat

:39:24.:39:27.

voice in the office who has ministerial experience of Cardiff

:39:27.:39:34.

is going to be really important. Her role is to ensure that Cardiff

:39:34.:39:38.

and London get together and co- operate on education. Given the

:39:38.:39:42.

GCSE row, how do you think that is going? It is an inevitable

:39:42.:39:47.

consequence of devolution but we will see divergence in policy areas

:39:47.:39:52.

where responsibility now lies in Cardiff. But it is also important

:39:52.:39:57.

that while students are not disenfranchise to. We need to know

:39:57.:40:02.

what both governments are doing and it worked together. Things like

:40:02.:40:06.

higher education are still very much linked severing that link is

:40:06.:40:10.

going to be very important to ensure that while students are not

:40:10.:40:12.

disadvantaged by developments in England that we cannot keep pace of

:40:12.:40:20.

in Wales. The conference slogan is "fairer tax in hard times". What

:40:20.:40:25.

was there about putting up VAT? know the Lib Dems in Westminster

:40:25.:40:29.

have done more than any party ever to try to make the tax system of

:40:29.:40:33.

this country ever. We have lifted tens of thousands of people in

:40:33.:40:37.

Wales out of paying income tax altogether. We are a stone's throw

:40:37.:40:42.

away from achieving our manifesto commitment of an Eddie paying tax

:40:42.:40:45.

on their first �10,000 of income. We are also taking huge steps to

:40:45.:40:49.

tackle issues around capital-gains, stamp duty and making sure those at

:40:49.:40:54.

the Top End pay more to help this country. No party has done more

:40:54.:40:58.

than we have to address the taxation situation. Why are you

:40:58.:41:05.

giving people of �150,000 per year attacks cut? While income tax may

:41:05.:41:09.

be coming down, those people on the highest levels will be paying more.

:41:09.:41:13.

Stamp duty on big property purchases in London, cracking down

:41:13.:41:17.

on tax avoiders, increases in capital gains - that is what is

:41:17.:41:23.

really making a difference. We need to make sure we do not kill of

:41:23.:41:25.

entrepreneurial spirit but tax those people who can afford to make

:41:26.:41:31.

a bigger burden. I know you enjoy the conference. Your Scottish

:41:31.:41:34.

counterpart has got a platform role here but you have been airbrushed

:41:34.:41:41.

out. David, David, as you know... You don't know because you missed

:41:41.:41:44.

it but I spoke at the spring conference and the previous two

:41:44.:41:49.

autumn conferences. Sometimes you have to share the speeches around

:41:49.:41:51.

and I am looking forward to hearing what my Scottish colleagues have to

:41:51.:41:57.

say. Thank you very much. Let's see what our guests think.

:41:57.:42:00.

Jenny Willott, you are heading over to Brighton later. You are not

:42:00.:42:03.

speaking on the main conference stage either so Kirsty Williams

:42:03.:42:08.

will not be left out. Nick legs apology - you have to get elected

:42:08.:42:16.

or re-elected in a couple of weeks -- years' time. Does a leadership

:42:16.:42:21.

apology help you? A we very rarely get apologies. I think people

:42:21.:42:25.

appreciate when politicians hold their hands up and say, we made a

:42:25.:42:29.

mistake. You don't hear Tony Blair apologising for the illegal war in

:42:29.:42:34.

Iraq or Gordon Brown for the financial mess he left. I think it

:42:34.:42:36.

is important sometimes that leaders stand up and say they made a

:42:36.:42:41.

mistake and does sorry. It is a brave move on Nick's Park. You took

:42:41.:42:45.

a stand. You did not want to go ahead with a U-turn on tuition fees

:42:45.:42:48.

but resigned from government and made a stand. He is not apologising

:42:48.:42:53.

on your behalf, is he? He was apologising for the fact that as a

:42:53.:42:57.

party we made a pledge before the election. I did not vote for the

:42:57.:43:00.

rise but there are plenty of my colleagues who felt they were in an

:43:00.:43:03.

extremely difficult position as a result of having committed to a

:43:03.:43:08.

pledge which they then fell we could not deliver in government. I

:43:08.:43:12.

think Nick is recognising it was a difficult time for a lot of MPs.

:43:12.:43:16.

am sure you have spoken to colleagues - are you all supportive

:43:16.:43:21.

of his decision to apologise? Did you know he was going to do it?

:43:21.:43:25.

I did and I am completely supportive. It shows a side of him

:43:25.:43:28.

that people often don't see unless they know him well. He was sincere

:43:28.:43:32.

and honest and education is something he feels extremely

:43:32.:43:38.

passionate about. I think that came across him what he said. Lady Dacre,

:43:38.:43:45.

you were part of Plaid Cymru in government. -- Helen Mary Jones.

:43:45.:43:51.

Why no apology from Ieuan Wyn Jones? Politics is all about

:43:51.:43:55.

compromise. We had to compromise on that but still left well students

:43:55.:43:59.

in a much better position of paying �6,000 a year less these because we

:43:59.:44:03.

were in a position to stop it. We delivered more than half hour

:44:03.:44:07.

manifesto promises. It is a difficult situation and I don't you

:44:07.:44:11.

should always criticise people who apologise. For me, the issue was

:44:11.:44:15.

that he was not apologising for breaking his promise but for making

:44:15.:44:19.

the promise in the first place. I think that deadlock - with all

:44:19.:44:25.

respect to Jenny - a bit insincere. It either look insincere or that

:44:25.:44:29.

they did not know what they were doing. I would say boat that he has

:44:29.:44:33.

done the right thing in allowing the joke video to be sold on I

:44:33.:44:38.

tunes. And I think I will go to a good cause. Some politicians would

:44:38.:44:43.

not have done that. A parody it is in the charts! Watch out for the

:44:43.:44:50.

top 40 busy bin. I am out of Radio 1's group demographic. Do you think

:44:50.:44:55.

there was a calculation by Nick Clegg that it would take the sting

:44:55.:44:59.

out of a backlash that conference? I am sure it must be difficult for

:45:00.:45:03.

rank-and-file Lib Dems who thought they were signing up to something

:45:03.:45:06.

and ended up with a government that was very different from the one

:45:06.:45:12.

that many of them wanted to be part of. Has it been successful? I don't

:45:12.:45:16.

know. From the outside, it does not look as if it has been but Jenny is

:45:16.:45:20.

off to conference and will be able to tell you when she comes back.

:45:21.:45:25.

But it is Helen's job to tell you where it has gone wrong. We have

:45:25.:45:28.

delivered it huge number of our manifesto commitments, including

:45:28.:45:32.

all the key pledges on our front page. The but people will remember

:45:32.:45:37.

the apology - what you have not done. Our hope they will remember a

:45:37.:45:43.

lot. Taking lots of people out of paying income tax has a much wider

:45:43.:45:47.

impact on people's lives and will make a real difference,

:45:47.:45:50.

particularly from April, when people get far more money in their

:45:50.:45:56.

take-home pay. Just favourite week ago, the new

:45:56.:45:59.

company that group leader Leanne Wood made her first speech as a

:45:59.:46:04.

party's new boss. Elected leader six months ago, she promised that a

:46:04.:46:07.

Plaid Cymru government would induce a green deal to benefit the what

:46:07.:46:12.

economy. I put it to Leanne Wood that her policy might make a good

:46:12.:46:17.

headline, but what would people actually get if they voted for a?

:46:17.:46:20.

have asked the economic Commission which has been set up to look at

:46:20.:46:25.

Plaid Cymru's government and especially plants around the

:46:25.:46:29.

economy to work out the detail of how many jobs that will create, how

:46:29.:46:34.

we will be funded and how much renewable energy we can expect to

:46:34.:46:38.

be generated from such a proposal. There were a raft of ideas in my

:46:38.:46:43.

speech at the conference. All of them were geared at transforming

:46:43.:46:47.

our economy. We all know that we have got a very weak economic

:46:47.:46:51.

position at the moment and it is imperative we do everything we can

:46:51.:46:55.

now to turn around Wales's economic performance. A you talk about how

:46:55.:46:59.

many jobs renewable energy could create. There is an option of

:46:59.:47:03.

hundreds of jobs on Anglesey to develop aside for nuclear power.

:47:03.:47:08.

What do you think about those ideas? Back is a matter that the

:47:08.:47:12.

Westminster government will make a determination on. Our determination

:47:12.:47:16.

as a party has been cleared. We want to do as much as we can to

:47:16.:47:21.

create jobs in Anglesey. It has a very weak economy there but

:47:21.:47:29.

obviously other parts of Wales have weak economies, too. There are they

:47:29.:47:32.

cannot any -- there are other opportunities that should be

:47:32.:47:38.

explored bed. Next May, Anglesey council has an election. Will you

:47:38.:47:43.

be Tarin Plaid Cymru candidates to oppose the development of nuclear?

:47:43.:47:49.

I will be telling them to make sure they communicate Plaid Cymru's

:47:49.:47:53.

clear message, which is about to run everything we can at local

:47:53.:47:57.

government level, working with the assembly and a Westminster level to

:47:57.:48:01.

create as many jobs as possible on that island. Will you tell them to

:48:01.:48:06.

oppose the development of nuclear? People on Anglesey have a different

:48:06.:48:11.

position. They are a range of perspectives. Our position is clear

:48:11.:48:14.

and we favour renewable technologies and all efforts to be

:48:14.:48:19.

put into the creation of renewable jobs. If the Westminster government

:48:19.:48:24.

decides to go ahead with their new nuclear power station at Anglesey,

:48:24.:48:27.

our local power representatives will work with the authorities

:48:27.:48:31.

locally to ensure those jobs that are created they go to local people

:48:31.:48:34.

and that local people there have the skills to be able to do those

:48:34.:48:41.

jobs. But renewable technology is my priority. It is not a very

:48:42.:48:47.

consistent message from a leader - you pose something but if you go

:48:47.:48:51.

ahead -- if it goes ahead, you will support it. We have no say over new

:48:51.:48:56.

nuclear power stations in Wales. I would like that to change. I would

:48:56.:48:59.

like us to have controllable all energy production in Wales but that

:48:59.:49:03.

is not the case. That does not mean we. Arguing for that but at the

:49:03.:49:09.

moment, that is her Westminster decision and is out of Athens.

:49:09.:49:12.

assembly starts a new turn this week. You have spent a week with

:49:12.:49:16.

your group working out what time -- type of things you will be talking

:49:16.:49:23.

about. How will you try and Carwyn Jones? We are working to put

:49:23.:49:26.

together a programme that will be comprehensive and meet the needs of

:49:26.:49:30.

people in Wales. They have money worries and are concerned about the

:49:30.:49:34.

future. Our plan is to put together that programme. We have a long time

:49:34.:49:38.

to build that but all our efforts and focus will go into building a

:49:38.:49:42.

positive programme of government but to the people of Wales and 2016.

:49:42.:49:45.

Lastly, we learn to had taken an oath to republicanism - do you

:49:45.:49:50.

stand by that? Back was a piece of political theatre designed to

:49:50.:49:53.

highlight some antiquated legislation around the law of

:49:53.:49:56.

treason. I have learned my lesson and will not be performing

:49:56.:50:02.

political theatre again. Helen Mary Jones, she outlined what she

:50:02.:50:08.

thought the green a deal would be. It does not really exist at the

:50:08.:50:15.

moment. Leanne has established the economic policy commission so we

:50:15.:50:19.

all working out the detail of ideas. This is about creating a company

:50:19.:50:23.

limited by guarantee because the assembly government cannot borrow

:50:23.:50:28.

at the moment. We want to be able to borrow, to invest in a massive

:50:28.:50:32.

programme of renewable energy but also of fitting homes and

:50:32.:50:36.

businesses in Wales. The amount of money we waste and energy that we

:50:36.:50:41.

do not need to use, we need to put it right. It is right for the

:50:41.:50:43.

environment and could create hundreds of new jobs and

:50:43.:50:47.

communities across Wales back need them really badly. It is an

:50:47.:50:53.

exciting idea jobseeker's allowance it is an idea, not a policy. It is

:50:53.:51:02.

the bare bones. You would not expect me to talk about the entire

:51:02.:51:07.

contents of our manifesto in 2016. But Leanne is right to make the

:51:07.:51:15.

economy be a priority. People are in difficult situations. The issue

:51:15.:51:19.

of jobs for young people is coming upon the doorsteps everywhere. It

:51:19.:51:22.

is disappointing that the Welsh government has not used to the

:51:22.:51:25.

levers at its availability to make the differences. We know that

:51:25.:51:29.

things are tough but it is not enough to blame the government. The

:51:29.:51:34.

worst government has got to use the powers it has got. Other parties

:51:34.:51:38.

are standing on that by-election you mentioned and you can see them

:51:38.:51:45.

on our website. What do you make of the green New Deal idea? A sound

:51:45.:51:47.

similar to the policies the Westminster government is putting

:51:47.:51:53.

in place. They have stolen your ideas? I would not say that but

:51:53.:51:59.

they are copying us what is the sincerest form of flattery. One of

:51:59.:52:02.

the big priorities of the Westminster government is to try to

:52:02.:52:06.

create highly skilled jobs in the renewable sector. It is an area

:52:06.:52:16.
:52:16.:52:19.

where the UK is behind the rest of Europe. We'll be levering in many

:52:19.:52:23.

both from public and private sources in order to do the things

:52:23.:52:28.

that Helen Mary has mentioned. has been a priority for two years.

:52:28.:52:33.

The not a single penny has been spent on it. If there are levels of

:52:33.:52:37.

corporation that can be delivered work with Westminster government,

:52:37.:52:41.

great, but we believe the but government need some of the leaders

:52:41.:52:45.

in our control. The Welsh Assembly government has done very little to

:52:45.:52:49.

help the Welsh economy and should have done more. It is disingenuous

:52:49.:52:53.

to say that after two years, we have not spent any money. It takes

:52:53.:52:58.

time to set things up. If Plaid expect to put their policy in place

:52:58.:53:01.

immediately, they would be disappointed. The Welsh Assembly

:53:01.:53:06.

needs to put more of them economic priority on things. They are

:53:06.:53:09.

complaining about Westminster rather than doing what they can to

:53:09.:53:12.

make a difference. They have a huge number of leaders in their power

:53:12.:53:16.

and there is more they could be doing. We have nobody from the

:53:16.:53:19.

worst government but I am sure they might take issue with what Jenny is

:53:19.:53:25.

saying. I agree that the levers that are needed are not in the

:53:25.:53:29.

hands of the Welsh government yet. We haven't dealt with the issue on

:53:29.:53:33.

tax-raising powers. But there are leaders that were effectively used

:53:33.:53:37.

when Ieuan Wyn Jones was the minister. We have to end it there.

:53:37.:53:41.

Thank you. We have had a taste of conference

:53:41.:53:44.

season from the Liberal Democrats and beat UK Independence Party.

:53:44.:53:52.

They are meeting this weekend. I caught up with the UK it MEP for

:53:52.:53:56.

Wales just before he headed off to his party's gathering in Birmingham.

:53:56.:54:06.
:54:06.:54:06.

He was reflecting on the state of the Union speech made by Jose

:54:06.:54:11.

Manuel Barroso. He mimics the American model but this one was

:54:11.:54:15.

different because he came out with the idea that we should have a

:54:15.:54:19.

federation of nation-states. It is the first time he has come out and

:54:19.:54:24.

said this so now we are well on the way to a federal Europe. But there

:54:24.:54:28.

is another very important matter, as well. Jose Manuel Barroso Ricks

:54:28.:54:32.

said it would require a treaty change and brought in the days of

:54:32.:54:41.

2014. On Monday in Warsaw, a group of 11 foreign ministers in the EU

:54:41.:54:47.

met and decided to put forward proposals about their ideas for

:54:47.:54:51.

taking his proposal forward, which will have huge implications for us.

:54:51.:54:55.

Could you spell out for us what you see as the implications? Were once

:54:55.:55:01.

we go down this route, if we don't have a referendum in our country,

:55:01.:55:06.

we will have a European superstate with a European army, a European

:55:06.:55:10.

anthem, a single currency and so forth. They will take more powers

:55:10.:55:16.

from the member states back to the centre. From our point of view, we

:55:16.:55:19.

need David Cameron at his conference to say to the British

:55:19.:55:27.

people, quantum speech we will have eight referendum. That was the UK

:55:27.:55:32.

Independence Party MEP. A up back at some other political

:55:32.:55:42.

stories from the week. -- look back. The Newport West MP Paul Flynn was

:55:42.:55:46.

suspended from the House of Commons for five days after repeatedly

:55:46.:55:49.

refusing to withdraw his claim that UK government ministers were

:55:49.:55:52.

telling lies about the conflict in Afghanistan.

:55:52.:55:57.

More than 2000 Welsh pupils had their English language GCSE grades

:55:57.:56:00.

increased following a regrading ordered by the Education Minister

:56:00.:56:09.

Leighton Andrews. OFQUAL's chair Amanda Speelman said

:56:09.:56:13.

the regrading was politically motivated. She issued an expression

:56:13.:56:21.

of regret over any eggs -- upset caused by her comments.

:56:21.:56:24.

The joint ministerial committee meeting was chaired by David

:56:24.:56:28.

Cameron at 10 Downing Street. Carwyn Jones renewed the case for

:56:28.:56:31.

the last government to be given borrowing powers, suggesting they

:56:31.:56:34.

were the key to funding improvements to the M4.

:56:34.:56:44.
:56:44.:56:45.

Derek Jones was appointed head of the Civil Service in Wales.

:56:46.:56:50.

A quick final chat with our guests. Jenny, you were in the House of

:56:50.:56:56.

Commons when Paul Flynn was removed. Were you watching on the TV? In the

:56:56.:57:00.

it is a bit naughty. You can't accuse people of lying but Paul did

:57:00.:57:03.

it for effect. He is experienced politician and knows exactly what

:57:03.:57:09.

he was doing. That was a point made. Helen, from the 60 seconds there,

:57:09.:57:13.

it was the GCSEs that jump out at you? I should declare a family

:57:13.:57:18.

interest because my daughter to go GCSEs this year postop she was not

:57:18.:57:22.

affected by the regrading but some of their colleagues were and young

:57:22.:57:24.

people would have lost vital opportunities for further education

:57:24.:57:29.

and apprenticeships. We have to make sure we have an exam system

:57:29.:57:33.

here that is consistent across Wales with young people sitting the

:57:33.:57:36.

same papers so that employers can get -- know what they are getting.

:57:36.:57:40.

We have to make sure this does not happen again because it has been

:57:40.:57:43.

distressing for the young people involved. I am pleased to see a

:57:43.:57:50.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS