: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. > :00:56.thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to
:00:57. > :00:58.help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:00:59. > :01:03.International Development Secretary Justine Greening.
:01:04. > :01:06.Winter is coming and so, it seems, is another crisis in England's
:01:07. > :01:07.hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow Health Secretary how he'd put a stop
:01:08. > :01:18.to In the Midlands, missed targets,
:01:19. > :01:20.U`turns and climb downs. Successive governments have
:01:21. > :01:23.fatalities on the capital's streets, and renewed calls to get lorries off
:01:24. > :01:37.the roads in peak hours. With me, the best and brightest
:01:38. > :01:39.political panel that money can buy. Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this
:01:40. > :01:44.week, Zoe Williams, who'll be tweeting their thoughts throughout
:01:45. > :01:47.the programme. The Government has announced a
:01:48. > :01:50.review to investigate what the Prime Minister has called "industrial
:01:51. > :02:02.intimidation" by trade union activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair
:02:03. > :02:05.a panel to examine allegations of the kind of tactics that came to
:02:06. > :02:08.light during the Grangemouth dispute, when the Unite union took
:02:09. > :02:14.their protests - replete with a giant rat - outside the family homes
:02:15. > :02:19.of the firms' bosses. Earlier this morning the Cabinet office minister,
:02:20. > :02:24.Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and this is what he had to say. To look
:02:25. > :02:27.at whether the law currently works and see if it is ineffective in
:02:28. > :02:32.preventing the kind of intimidatory activity that was alleged to have
:02:33. > :02:41.taken place around range mouth during the previous disputes --
:02:42. > :02:47.Grangemouth. We make no presumptions at the beginning of this. I do think
:02:48. > :02:51.it is a responsible thing for the government to establish what
:02:52. > :02:55.happened and really do a proper review into whether the law is
:02:56. > :03:02.adequate to meet the needs. That was Francis Maude. This is a purely
:03:03. > :03:06.political move, isn't it? Unite did this a couple of times, it is hardly
:03:07. > :03:09.happening all over the country but the government want to say, we are
:03:10. > :03:17.prepared to investigate Unite properly, Labour isn't. This seemed
:03:18. > :03:23.a lot worse when I thought it was a real rat. I thought it was a giant
:03:24. > :03:26.dead rat. I am not sure if you know much about rats but real rats are
:03:27. > :03:33.not this big, even the ones in London. The thing is, obviously it
:03:34. > :03:39.is naked politics but I think it is more intelligent than it looks. They
:03:40. > :03:44.are trying to taint Miliband as a week union puppet and that doesn't
:03:45. > :03:49.really wash. They hammer away with it and it might wash for some
:03:50. > :03:53.people. But it really castrates Miliband in the important issues he
:03:54. > :03:57.has to tackle. Zero hours, living wage, all of those things in which
:03:58. > :04:03.he needs to be in concert with the unions, and to use their expertise.
:04:04. > :04:16.He is making them absolutely toxic to go anywhere near. It keeps the
:04:17. > :04:19.Unite story alive, have to kill -- particularly since Mr Miller band is
:04:20. > :04:33.under pressure to reopen the investigation into what Unite are up
:04:34. > :04:37.to -- Mr Miliband. They are frustrated, not only at the BBC but
:04:38. > :04:41.the media generally at what they think is a lack of coverage. I see
:04:42. > :04:46.the political rationale from that respect. There is a risk. There are
:04:47. > :04:52.union members who either vote Tory or are open to the idea of voting
:04:53. > :05:04.Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party comes across as too zealous in as --
:05:05. > :05:11.its antipathy, there is an electoral consequence. Ed Miliband has been
:05:12. > :05:17.careful to keep a distance. Yes they depend on vast amounts of
:05:18. > :05:19.money. When Len McCluskey had a real go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was
:05:20. > :05:23.straight out there with a very strong statement. Essentially Len
:05:24. > :05:28.McCluskey wanted Blairites in the shadow cabinet sacked and Ed
:05:29. > :05:34.Miliband was keen to distance himself or for that is why it is not
:05:35. > :05:38.quite sticking. Another story in the Sunday papers this morning, the Mail
:05:39. > :05:43.on Sunday got hold of some e-mails. When I saw the headline I thought it
:05:44. > :05:49.was a huge cache of e-mails, it turns out to be a couple. They peel
:05:50. > :05:56.away the cover on the relationship between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls,
:05:57. > :06:03.with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts describing what Mr balls is trying
:06:04. > :06:08.to do as a nightmare. How bad are the relations? They are pretty bad
:06:09. > :06:11.and these e-mails confirm the biggest open signal in Westminster,
:06:12. > :06:17.which is that relations are pretty tense, -- open secret. That Ed
:06:18. > :06:21.Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls is acknowledging the economy has
:06:22. > :06:29.grown that Labour needs to admit to past mistakes. The sort of great
:06:30. > :06:36.open signal is confirmed. On a scale of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown
:06:37. > :06:40.was ten. I think it is between six and seven. They occupy this joint
:06:41. > :06:47.suite of offices that George Cameron and -- David Cameron and George
:06:48. > :06:51.Osborne had. It is not just on the economy that there were tensions,
:06:52. > :06:57.there were clearly tensions over HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question
:06:58. > :07:00.over it at his conference. There will be more tensions when it comes
:07:01. > :07:05.to the third runway because my information is that Mr balls wants
:07:06. > :07:11.to do it and Ed Miliband almost resigned over it when he was in
:07:12. > :07:13.government. I don't think Ed Miliband is thinking very
:07:14. > :07:19.politically because he has tried live without Ed Balls and that is
:07:20. > :07:23.not tenable either. -- life without. He has defined a way of making it
:07:24. > :07:28.work. That is where Tony Blair had the edge on any modern politician.
:07:29. > :07:32.He didn't want to make Ed Balls his Shadow Chancellor, he had to.
:07:33. > :07:36.Somebody said to him, if you make Ed Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will
:07:37. > :07:45.be the last decision you take as leader of the Labour Party. Is it as
:07:46. > :07:57.bad? I was surprised at how tame the e-mails were. At the FT it is
:07:58. > :08:02.compulsory, one French word per sentence! To call him a nightmare,
:08:03. > :08:07.compared to what they are willing to say in briefings, conversations
:08:08. > :08:09.bits of frustrations they express verbally come what is documented in
:08:10. > :08:15.the e-mails is actually pretty light. It has been a grim week for
:08:16. > :08:18.the people of the Philippines as they count the cost of the
:08:19. > :08:24.devastation wrought by Typhoon Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived
:08:25. > :08:28.near the worst hit areas - part of Britain's contribution to bring aid
:08:29. > :08:33.to the country. It has been one of the worst natural
:08:34. > :08:35.disasters in the history of the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the
:08:36. > :08:40.country nine days ago, leaving devastation in its wake. The numbers
:08:41. > :08:45.involved are shocking. The official death toll is over 3600 people, with
:08:46. > :08:50.many thousands more unaccounted for. More than half a million people have
:08:51. > :08:54.lost their homes and the UN estimates 11 million have been
:08:55. > :08:58.affected. David Cameron announced on Friday that the UK government is to
:08:59. > :09:05.give an extra ?30 million in aid, taking the total British figure ?250
:09:06. > :09:08.million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft landed yesterday with equipment to
:09:09. > :09:13.help aid workers get too hard to reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on
:09:14. > :09:21.its way and due to arrive next weekend. The British public have
:09:22. > :09:26.once again dipped into their pockets and given generously. They have
:09:27. > :09:28.given more than ?30 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee.
:09:29. > :09:31.The International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, joins
:09:32. > :09:36.me now for the Sunday Interview Good morning, Secretary of State.
:09:37. > :09:40.How much of the ?50 million that the government has allocated has got
:09:41. > :09:45.through so far? All of it has landed on the ground now. HMS Daring has
:09:46. > :09:48.turned up, that will be able to start getting help out to some of
:09:49. > :09:54.those more outlying islands that have been hard to reach. We have
:09:55. > :09:58.seen Save the Children and Oxfam really being able to get aid out on
:09:59. > :10:03.the ground. We have a plane taking off today that will not read just
:10:04. > :10:10.carrying out more equipment to help clear the roads but will also have
:10:11. > :10:16.their staff on board, too. We have ?50 million of aid actually on the
:10:17. > :10:20.ground? We instantly chartered flights directly from Dubai where we
:10:21. > :10:24.have preprepared human Terry and supplies, and started humanity work
:10:25. > :10:37.-- humanitarian supplies. A lot of it has now arrived. I think
:10:38. > :10:41.we have done a huge amount so far. We have gone beyond just providing
:10:42. > :10:45.humanitarian supplies, to getting the Royal Air Force involved. They
:10:46. > :10:50.have helped us to get equipment out there quickly. We have HMS
:10:51. > :10:54.Illustrious sailing over there now. Why has that taken so long? It was
:10:55. > :10:57.based in the Gulf and is not going to get there until two weeks after
:10:58. > :11:02.the storm first hit and that is the one ship we have with lots of
:11:03. > :11:05.helicopters. The first decision we took was to make sure we could get
:11:06. > :11:11.the fastest vessel out there that was able to help HMS Daring. HMS
:11:12. > :11:15.Illustrious was just finishing an exercise and planning to start to
:11:16. > :11:19.head back towards the UK. We have said to not do that, and diverted
:11:20. > :11:24.it. Shouldn't it have happened more quickly? We took the decisions as
:11:25. > :11:30.fast as we were able to, you can't just turn a big warship around like
:11:31. > :11:33.the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we took those decisions and that is
:11:34. > :11:38.while it will be taking over from HMS Daring come and that is why HMS
:11:39. > :11:42.Daring is ready there. It will be able to provide key support and
:11:43. > :11:49.expertise that has not been there so far. The US Navy is doing the heavy
:11:50. > :11:53.lifting here. The US Navy had the USS Washington, there is an aircraft
:11:54. > :11:57.carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel and they have the fleet, they are
:11:58. > :12:02.doing the real work. We obviously helping but the Americans are taking
:12:03. > :12:06.the lead. It is a big international effort. Countries like the US and
:12:07. > :12:15.the UK, that have a broader ability to support that goes beyond simply
:12:16. > :12:19.call humanitarian supplies -- have made sure we have brought our
:12:20. > :12:24.logistics knowledge, we have sent out our naval vessels. It shows we
:12:25. > :12:32.are working across government to respond to this crisis. Why does
:12:33. > :12:36.only just over 4% of your aid budget go on emergency disaster and
:12:37. > :12:40.response? A lot depends on what crises hit in any given year. We
:12:41. > :12:44.have done a huge amount, responding to the crisis in Syria, the conflict
:12:45. > :12:48.there and the fact we have 2 million refugees who have fled the country.
:12:49. > :12:54.We are part of an international effort in supporting them. Shouldn't
:12:55. > :12:57.we beginning more money to that rather than some of the other
:12:58. > :13:04.programmes where it is harder to see the results question of if we were
:13:05. > :13:07.to give more money to the refugees, it would be a visible result. We
:13:08. > :13:14.could see an improvement in the lives of children, men and women.
:13:15. > :13:18.What we need to do is alongside that is stop those situations from
:13:19. > :13:21.happening in the first place. A lot of our development spend is helping
:13:22. > :13:26.countries to stay stable. Look at some of the work we are doing in
:13:27. > :13:32.Somalia, much more sensible. Not just from an immigration but there
:13:33. > :13:36.is a threat perspective. There is a lot of terrorism coming from
:13:37. > :13:42.Somalia. You only have to look at Kenya recently to see that. Which is
:13:43. > :13:46.why you talk about what we do with the rest of the spend. It is why it
:13:47. > :13:52.is responsible to work with the government of Somalia. Should we
:13:53. > :13:57.give more, bigger part of the budget to disaster relief or not? I think
:13:58. > :14:02.we get it about right, we have to be flexible and we are. This Philippine
:14:03. > :14:08.relief is on top of the work in Syria. Where can you show me a
:14:09. > :14:12.correlation between us giving aid to some failed nation, or nearly failed
:14:13. > :14:17.nation, and that cutting down on terrorism? If you look at the work
:14:18. > :14:21.we have done in Pakistan, a huge amount of work. Some of it
:14:22. > :14:29.short-term. It is written by terrorism. That is -- ridden by
:14:30. > :14:36.terrorism. That is not going to fix it self in a sense. Look at the work
:14:37. > :14:45.that we do in investing in education. The things that little
:14:46. > :14:52.girls like Malala talk about as being absolutely key. We are ramping
:14:53. > :14:58.up our aid to Pakistan, it will be close to half ?1 billion by the time
:14:59. > :15:05.of the election. Why should British taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion
:15:06. > :15:09.to a country where only 0.5% of people in Pakistan pay income tax,
:15:10. > :15:19.and 70% of their own MPs don't pay income tax. It is a good point and
:15:20. > :15:23.that is why we have been working with their tax revenue authority to
:15:24. > :15:34.help them increase that and push forward the tax reform. You are
:15:35. > :15:40.right, and I have setup a team that will go out and work with many of
:15:41. > :15:44.these countries so they can raise their own revenues. You really think
:15:45. > :15:58.you will raise the amount of tax by sending out the British HRM see How
:15:59. > :16:02.many troops I we sending out to protect them? They don't need
:16:03. > :16:16.troops. We make sure that we have a duty of care alongside our staff,
:16:17. > :16:20.but we have to respond to any crisis like the Philippines, and alongside
:16:21. > :16:26.other countries we have two work alongside them so that they can
:16:27. > :16:32.reinvest in their own public services. If they can create their
:16:33. > :16:36.own taxes, will we stop paying aid? We need to look at that but the new
:16:37. > :16:43.Pakistan Government has been very clear it is a priority and we will
:16:44. > :16:50.be helping them in pursuing that. Let me show you a picture. Who are
:16:51. > :16:57.these young women? I don't know I'm sure you are about to tell me. They
:16:58. > :17:02.are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and I'm surprised you don't know because
:17:03. > :17:09.they have only managed to become so famous because your department has
:17:10. > :17:14.financed them to the tune of ?4 million. All of the work we do with
:17:15. > :17:20.women on the ground, making sure they have a voice in their local
:17:21. > :17:25.communities, making sure they have some control over what happens to
:17:26. > :17:33.their own bodies in terms of tackling FGM, female genital
:17:34. > :17:38.mutilation... Did you know your department has spent ?4 million on
:17:39. > :17:47.the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I do, and we have to work with girls
:17:48. > :17:50.and show them there is a life ahead of them with opportunity and
:17:51. > :17:55.potential that goes beyond what many of them will experience, which
:17:56. > :18:07.includes early and forced marriage. It is part of the work we do with
:18:08. > :18:11.local communities to change attitudes everything you have just
:18:12. > :18:15.said is immeasurable, and they broadcast on a radio station that
:18:16. > :18:26.doesn't reach most of the country so it cannot have the impact. It only
:18:27. > :18:26.reaches 20 million people and the project has been condemned saying
:18:27. > :18:35.there were serious inefficiencies. That aid report was done a while ago
:18:36. > :18:40.now, and it was talking about the project when it first got going and
:18:41. > :18:45.a lot of improvements have happened since. I would go back to the point
:18:46. > :18:48.that we are working in very difficult environments where we are
:18:49. > :18:53.trying to get longer term change on the ground and that means working
:18:54. > :18:57.directly with communities but also investing for the long-term,
:18:58. > :19:04.investing in some of these girls start changing attitudes in them and
:19:05. > :19:14.their communities. Why does the British taxpayers spend ?5 million
:19:15. > :19:21.on a Bangladesh version of Question Time? We work with the BBC to make
:19:22. > :19:41.sure we can get accountabilities... That is bigger then the BBC Question
:19:42. > :19:49.Time Normal -- budget. That includes the cost of David Dimbleby's
:19:50. > :19:52.tattoo! We are working to improve people's prospects but also we are
:19:53. > :19:57.working to improve their ability to hold their governments to account so
:19:58. > :20:00.that when they are not getting services on the ground, they have
:20:01. > :20:08.ways they can raise those concerns with the people who are there to
:20:09. > :20:13.deliver services for them. In your own personal view, should the next
:20:14. > :20:18.Conservative Government, if there is one, should you continue to ring
:20:19. > :20:23.fence spending on foreign aid? But it is critical that if we are going
:20:24. > :20:28.to spend 7.7% of our national income, we should make sure it is in
:20:29. > :20:33.our national interest and that means having a clear approach to
:20:34. > :20:38.humanitarian responses, in keeping the country safe, and a clearer
:20:39. > :20:43.approach on helping drive economic development and jobs so there is a
:20:44. > :20:50.long-term end of the dependency Do you believe in an shrine in the
:20:51. > :20:56.percentage of our GDP that goes on foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is
:20:57. > :21:05.a coalition agreement. There have been a lot of agreements that you
:21:06. > :21:10.are sceptical about ring fencing. We are focused on shaking up the
:21:11. > :21:23.economy and improving our public finances. Why haven't you done that?
:21:24. > :21:28.At the end of the day we will be accountable but we are committed to
:21:29. > :21:34.doing that. You are running out of time, will you do it? I hope we can
:21:35. > :21:40.find the Parliamentary time, but even if we don't, we have acted as
:21:41. > :21:46.if that law is in place and we have already met 0.7% commitment. If you
:21:47. > :21:53.are British voter that doesn't believe that we should enshrine that
:21:54. > :21:57.in by law, which means that with a growing economy foreign aid will
:21:58. > :22:02.rise by definition, and if you think we should be spending less money on
:22:03. > :22:09.the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom should you wrote in the next
:22:10. > :22:15.election? I think we have a very sensible approach. I don't know what
:22:16. > :22:21.the various party manifestoes.. The only party who thinks we shouldn't
:22:22. > :22:31.be doing this is UKIP. I think you have to look at the response to both
:22:32. > :22:39.the Philippines crisis and Children In Need. Of all the steps we are
:22:40. > :22:44.taking to get the country back on track, it shows the British people
:22:45. > :22:52.will respond to need when they need it and it is one of the things that
:22:53. > :22:55.makes Britain's special. Thank you. "It's always winter but
:22:56. > :22:57.never Christmas" - that's how doctors describe life inside
:22:58. > :23:00.accident and emergency. The College of Emergency Medicine have warned
:23:01. > :23:04.that this year could bring the "worst crisis on record". If that
:23:05. > :23:07.dire prediction comes, expect a spring of political recriminations,
:23:08. > :23:11.but how prepared are the NHS in England? And what do they make of
:23:12. > :23:19.this autumnal speculation? Giles has been to Leeds to find out.
:23:20. > :23:25.This winter has already come to our hospitals. It had an official start
:23:26. > :23:33.date, November the 3rd. That is when weekly updates are delivered to the
:23:34. > :23:39.NHS's most senior planners, alerting them to any sudden changes in
:23:40. > :23:47.patient numbers coming in. Where do they numbers register most then
:23:48. > :23:51.A They are the barometer for what is going on everywhere else, and
:23:52. > :23:56.they are the pressure point, so if the system is beginning to struggle
:23:57. > :24:04.then it is in the A department that we see the problems. It is not
:24:05. > :24:09.that the problems are the A departments, but they are the place
:24:10. > :24:14.where it all comes together. Plans to tackle those problems start being
:24:15. > :24:23.drawn up in May and they look at trends, even taking notice of any
:24:24. > :24:33.flu epidemics in New Zealand. They also look at the amount of bets But
:24:34. > :24:37.the weather, economic realities structural reforms, and changes to
:24:38. > :24:42.the general health of the population, are all factors they
:24:43. > :24:46.have to consider. We get huge amounts of information through the
:24:47. > :24:51.winter in order to help the NHS be the best it can be, but we had to
:24:52. > :24:57.redouble our efforts this year because we expected to be a
:24:58. > :25:03.difficult winter. We know the NHS is stretched so we are working hard to
:25:04. > :25:11.be as good as we can be. That means they are looking at winter staffing
:25:12. > :25:14.levels, plans to ask for help from neighbouring hospitals, and
:25:15. > :25:20.dovetailing help with GP surgeries, and still having the ability to move
:25:21. > :25:26.up an extra gear, a rehearsed emergency plan if the NHS had to
:25:27. > :25:30.face a major disease pandemic. You spend any time in any of our
:25:31. > :25:35.hospitals and you realise the NHS knows that winter is coming and they
:25:36. > :25:39.are making plans, but you also get a palpable feeling amongst health
:25:40. > :25:46.workers across the entire system that they do get fed up of being
:25:47. > :25:49.used as a political football. Doctors and all health care
:25:50. > :25:55.professionals are frustrated about the politics that surrounds the NHS
:25:56. > :25:59.in health care. They go to work to treat patients as best as they can,
:26:00. > :26:05.and the political knock-about does not help anyone. I find it
:26:06. > :26:09.frustrating when there is a commentary that suggests the NHS
:26:10. > :26:16.does not planned, when it is surprised by winter, and wherever
:26:17. > :26:22.that comes from it is hard to take, knowing how much we do nationally
:26:23. > :26:31.and how much our hard working front line staff are doing. When the
:26:32. > :26:36.Coalition have recently tried to open up the NHS to be a more
:26:37. > :26:43.independent body, it is clear the NHS feel they have had an unhealthy
:26:44. > :26:48.dose of political wrangling between parties on policy. The NHS is not
:26:49. > :26:53.infallible or making any guarantees, but they seem confident that they
:26:54. > :26:56.and their patients can survive the winter.
:26:57. > :27:04.Joining me now from Salford in the Shadow Health Secretary, Andy
:27:05. > :27:09.Burnham. Tell me this, if you were health secretary now, you just took
:27:10. > :27:19.over in an emergency election, what would you do to avoid another winter
:27:20. > :27:25.crisis? I would immediately halt the closure of NHS walk-in centres. We
:27:26. > :27:30.heard this week that around one in four walk-in centres are closed so
:27:31. > :27:35.it makes no sense whatsoever for the Government to allow the continued
:27:36. > :27:40.closure of them. I would put nurses back on the end of phones and
:27:41. > :27:47.restore an NHS direct style service. The new 111 service is not in a
:27:48. > :27:55.position to provide help to people this winter. I think the time has
:27:56. > :27:58.come to rethink how the NHS care is particularly for older people so I
:27:59. > :28:03.propose the full integration of health and social care. It cannot
:28:04. > :28:09.make any sense any more to have this approach where we cut social care
:28:10. > :28:14.and let elderly people drift to hospitals in greater numbers. We
:28:15. > :28:21.have two rethink it as a whole service. So you would repeal some of
:28:22. > :28:26.the Tory reforms and move commissioning to local authorities
:28:27. > :28:32.so the NHS should brace itself for another major top-down health
:28:33. > :28:36.reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew Lansley I will work with the
:28:37. > :28:47.organisations ie inherit. He could work with primary care trusts but he
:28:48. > :28:54.turned it upside down when it needed stability. I will not do that but I
:28:55. > :29:06.will repeal the health and social care act because last week we heard
:29:07. > :29:10.that hospitals and health services cannot get on and make sensible
:29:11. > :29:16.merger collaborations because of this nonsense now that the NHS is
:29:17. > :29:21.bound by competition law. Let me get your views on a number of ideas that
:29:22. > :29:26.have been floated either by the press or the Coalition. We haven't
:29:27. > :29:37.got much time. Do you welcome the plan to bring back named GPs for
:29:38. > :29:42.over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder to get the GP appointment under this
:29:43. > :29:47.Government because David Cameron scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that
:29:48. > :29:51.Tony Blair brought in. He was challenged in the 2005 election
:29:52. > :29:55.about the difficulty of getting a GP appointment, and Tony Blair brought
:29:56. > :30:02.in the commitment that people should be able to get that within 48
:30:03. > :30:06.hours. That has now been scrapped. Do you welcome the idea of allowing
:30:07. > :30:14.everyone to choose their own GP surgery even if it is not in our
:30:15. > :30:19.traditional catchment area? I proposed that just before the last
:30:20. > :30:23.election, so yes. Do you welcome the idea of how a practice is being
:30:24. > :30:31.rated being a matter of public record, and of us knowing how much,
:30:32. > :30:34.at least from the NHS, our GP earns? Of course, every political party
:30:35. > :30:38.supports transparency in the NHS. More information for the public of
:30:39. > :30:45.that kind is a good thing. Do you welcome this plan to make it will
:30:46. > :30:52.form the collect in an NHS hospital -- make wilful neglect a criminal
:30:53. > :30:55.offence. It is important to say you can't pick and mix these
:30:56. > :30:59.recommendations, you can't say we will have that one and not the
:31:00. > :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. > :31:20.patients at the government also has responsible at T2 NHS staff and it
:31:21. > :31:33.understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a
:31:34. > :31:43.responsibility to NHS staff. Is there a part of the 2004 agreements
:31:44. > :31:48.that you regret and should be undone? A lot of myths have been
:31:49. > :31:53.built up about the contract. When it came in, there was a huge shortage
:31:54. > :31:59.of GPs across the country. Some communities struggle to recruit.
:32:00. > :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. > :32:25.money. GPs should be focused on improving the health of their
:32:26. > :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. > :33:05.unions? If there has been intimidation, it is unacceptable,
:33:06. > :33:13.and that should apply to unions as well as employers. Was Unite wrong
:33:14. > :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. > :33:24.pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on the designed to appear near the
:33:25. > :33:35.election -- that this is not a political call. Are you sponsored by
:33:36. > :33:45.unite? No. Do you get any money from Unite? No. What have you done wrong?
:33:46. > :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. > :34:07.party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS contracts. I wonder why you don't
:34:08. > :34:12.spend much time talking about that and obsess over trade union funding.
:34:13. > :34:19.We are happy to talk about that. We see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's
:34:20. > :34:24.closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls as a bit of a nightmare, do you see
:34:25. > :34:29.a bit of a nightmare about him as well? I don't at all, he is a very
:34:30. > :34:33.good friend. I can't believe that you are talking about those e-mails
:34:34. > :34:38.on a national political programme. My goodness, you obviously scraping
:34:39. > :34:43.the barrel today. I have been in front-line labour politics for 20
:34:44. > :34:47.years. I can't remember the front bench and the wider party being as
:34:48. > :34:51.united as it is today and it is a great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed
:34:52. > :34:53.Balls. We are going into a general election and we are going to get rid
:34:54. > :34:59.of a pretty disastrous coalition government. It was worth spending a
:35:00. > :35:02.few seconds to establish your not having nightmares. Thank you for
:35:03. > :35:04.joining me. It's just gone 11:30am. You're
:35:05. > :35:07.watching the Sunday Politics. Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be
:35:08. > :35:08.talking to the MP accused Hello once again from the Midlands.
:35:09. > :35:20.is needed. Hello once again from the Midlands.
:35:21. > :35:26.I'm Patrick Burns. And our guests today share a passion for music. But
:35:27. > :35:29.will they be singing from the same song sheet here today? Somehow I
:35:30. > :35:32.doubt it. Jack Dromey, Labour MP for
:35:33. > :35:41.Birmingham Erdington, became the shadow police minister in the recent
:35:42. > :35:44.Opposition reshuffle. John Hemming, Liberal Democrat MP for Birmingham
:35:45. > :35:51.Yardley, is his party's leader here in the West Midlands.
:35:52. > :35:54.And they were both embroiled in a heated Commons debate last week,
:35:55. > :35:57.called by Labour to demand the immediate scrapping of what they
:35:58. > :36:03.call "the bedroom tax" and the Government call the "under`occupancy
:36:04. > :36:08.penalty". Two Liberal Democrats voted with Labour and several others
:36:09. > :36:13.abstained. But for the record, John Hemming was among 31 Lib Dems who
:36:14. > :36:23.supported the Government. So did our local Tories. Instead of conducting
:36:24. > :36:28.a campaign of misinformation against the reforms to housing benefit,
:36:29. > :36:32.reforms that Labour accepted were necessary at the last election,
:36:33. > :36:38.local authorities should instead be helping people to downsize, to
:36:39. > :36:46.accommodation that meets their needs, and so free up much`needed
:36:47. > :36:50.housing stock. 11,000 people are on the waiting list in Stoke`on`Trent.
:36:51. > :36:54.Where are these one`bedroom flats, two`bedroom flats? They do not exist
:36:55. > :37:00.in Stoke`on`Trent. Lots of places like Stoke, single
:37:01. > :37:09.bedroom, double bedroom accommodation, very thin on the
:37:10. > :37:13.ground. If you have a couple who have got a child who is becoming an
:37:14. > :37:19.adult it is now worth keeping that child at home because they do not
:37:20. > :37:23.get penalised financially. In my constituency I have a 3`way exchange
:37:24. > :37:28.which the council is blocking because one of the doors is warped a
:37:29. > :37:33.certain amount. That is ludicrous. What happened in the past was houses
:37:34. > :37:37.were converted into two units, which were smaller. That is what they
:37:38. > :37:44.should be doing, making sure the housing we have fits the demand.
:37:45. > :37:48.Rather than jeering from the sidelines, shouldn't Labour councils
:37:49. > :37:55.be constructively helping more people downsize? That is what
:37:56. > :38:01.councils have done for a long period of time. One generation is taxed so
:38:02. > :38:08.bad, the next generation looks back at it and asked why it did they do
:38:09. > :38:14.it? It is unfair and iniquitous. In Birmingham there are 30,700 homes
:38:15. > :38:20.that are affected, only 130 available one`bedroom homes. It is
:38:21. > :38:24.causing pain, even driving some to suicide, and the only other point I
:38:25. > :38:32.would make is all the evidence is it will end up costing the taxpayer
:38:33. > :38:37.more. If you move a disabled family into a home that is not adapted, you
:38:38. > :38:39.have to pay for the adaptation. But at the last election, Labour
:38:40. > :38:44.acknowledged aspects of housing benefits needed to be altered. You
:38:45. > :38:50.were looking at something fairly similar to this. We would not in a
:38:51. > :38:54.month of Sundays have gone down the path of the bedroom tax, because if
:38:55. > :39:02.you look at Birmingham, the impact it is having has been absolutely
:39:03. > :39:06.dramatic. I have a couple in my constituency, he is a paraplegic as
:39:07. > :39:12.a result of an operation that went wrong. The wife has given up work to
:39:13. > :39:15.care for him. She cannot sleep in his bedroom because of all his
:39:16. > :39:21.equipment, and therefore sleeps in the spare room and she is having to
:39:22. > :39:26.pay the bedroom tax. Just to deal with that point, on 19th January
:39:27. > :39:32.2004 the labour minister said, we hope to commence a flat rate housing
:39:33. > :39:39.benefit system in the social sector, similar to that anticipated in the
:39:40. > :39:44.private rented sector. In 2013 you did stand up for your constituents.
:39:45. > :39:50.But this was Labour's policy in Government. You have both made
:39:51. > :39:54.Europe point perfectly clear. `` your point.
:39:55. > :39:58.Coming up: The recovery has finally taken hold, says the Bank of England
:39:59. > :40:00.Governor. But what kind of a recovery, when unemployment remains
:40:01. > :40:04.significantly higher here than the national average? Our part of the
:40:05. > :40:08.country was first into the downturn, and we appear to be last out. We'll
:40:09. > :40:10.have more on this a little later. But let's stay with housing for the
:40:11. > :40:13.moment. Because successive governments have tried, and
:40:14. > :40:19.generally failed, to deliver enough affordable housing where it's so
:40:20. > :40:21.desperately needed. From proposed "eco`towns" like Middle Quinton in
:40:22. > :40:24.Warwickshire to the Regional Spatial Strategy for almost 400,000 new
:40:25. > :40:27.homes here, housing targets have come and gone, usually to a
:40:28. > :40:36.resounding chorus of "not in my backyard". And all the time, as our
:40:37. > :40:39.Coventry and Warwickshire political reporter Sian Grzeszczyk discovered,
:40:40. > :40:45.a real social crisis just keeps`on getting worse.
:40:46. > :40:51.It's been a frustrating few months for Becky Francis. She's not having
:40:52. > :40:57.much luck finding a new home for her family in Warwick. Finding
:40:58. > :41:06.affordable housing, even housing that is available, that is more than
:41:07. > :41:14.two bedrooms, is really difficult. There's a real, and were finding the
:41:15. > :41:17.more we look, a shortage of houses. And it's proving to be a bigger
:41:18. > :41:20.headache for Becky's estate agent, who's struggling to find properties
:41:21. > :41:26.for families across Warwickshire. If I compare to 12 minutes ago, our
:41:27. > :41:32.stock levels are 30% less than they were then, and compared to some of
:41:33. > :41:38.this year we are 25% less. That brings with it its own issues. The
:41:39. > :41:42.lack of supply means that the demand is high. High demand, lack of
:41:43. > :41:46.supply, equals prices rising, which brings its own issues for people.
:41:47. > :41:49.But over in Southam it's a different story. Developers are eager to build
:41:50. > :41:53.here. They've got their eyes on these fields in Holywell ` but are
:41:54. > :42:01.facing opposition from those living nearby. I think we really do feel
:42:02. > :42:07.that Southam is under siege. There are lots of different applications
:42:08. > :42:10.that are going to be going in to build houses, and whilst we do
:42:11. > :42:16.support the development in the town we really do want new housing,
:42:17. > :42:21.affordable housing, but we do think it needs to be in certain areas and
:42:22. > :42:26.not on these fields, which are an area under restraint. The developers
:42:27. > :42:31.are trying to cherry pick the best hits of land, what they think they
:42:32. > :42:37.have the window opportunity `` the window of opportunity.
:42:38. > :42:45.There are plans to build more than 70 homes here, and elsewhere in the
:42:46. > :42:47.town plans for more than 200. The conservative leader of the district
:42:48. > :42:50.council is frustrated with the way his own Government are handling
:42:51. > :42:56.planning policy for housing. We must be allowed to take back
:42:57. > :43:03.local control. Nick Boles recently said, get your local plan in place.
:43:04. > :43:06.But he had just signed off a new set of regulations which have found that
:43:07. > :43:10.process `` made that process more taxing.
:43:11. > :43:14.It is estimated more than 9,500 homes wanted to be built over the
:43:15. > :43:22.next decade, the biggest question is where?
:43:23. > :43:25.And just following on from what Councillor Saint was saying there,
:43:26. > :43:29.the Planning Minister Nick Boles told me the other day there could be
:43:30. > :43:31."no excuse" for councils not getting their housing plans in place.
:43:32. > :43:34.Sian Grzeszczyk reporting. A reminder that before Labour's recent
:43:35. > :43:37.reshuffle Jack Dromey was their Shadow Housing Minister. And we're
:43:38. > :43:39.also joined here today by Gemma Duggan from the National Housing
:43:40. > :43:41.Federation, the umbrella organisation representing social
:43:42. > :43:55.landlords including housing associations. Nick Boles told me as
:43:56. > :43:58.well that councils had to get on with it in terms of delivering
:43:59. > :44:05.housing development plans. You have got to welcome that. Yes, we are
:44:06. > :44:11.seeing moves to port housing up the agenda, but not fast enough. Timing
:44:12. > :44:17.is great to move things forward, but a lot more needs to be done, and a
:44:18. > :44:20.lot more investment in homes. We have rising house prices, rising
:44:21. > :44:26.homelessness and rising rents. At one point we say, stop, we cannot
:44:27. > :44:29.have this? Housing is just as important as health and education.
:44:30. > :44:33.People need affordable, suitable homes.
:44:34. > :44:38.So thinking of that proposed development in South Warwickshire,
:44:39. > :44:44.presumably you want to see more like that, because red Rose say a
:44:45. > :44:49.proportion of the new homes will be affordable housing? We would
:44:50. > :44:52.obviously prefer housing to be built on Brownfield sites, but forum or
:44:53. > :44:59.communities to continue to thrive, we have to build homes in the green
:45:00. > :45:04.belt area. `` for rock amenities. There is a real democratic issue,
:45:05. > :45:08.because successive governments have been trying to deliver, but you get
:45:09. > :45:15.a storm of protest, like Middle Quinton. Councils have to make it
:45:16. > :45:23.clear where you can and cannot do, so developers do not get caught up
:45:24. > :45:28.with problems. Some people would call it sensitivity to green spaces,
:45:29. > :45:36.but also Brownfield 's, contaminated land, much more expensive for
:45:37. > :45:41.developers to deal with. Yes, but then it is worth reusing that land
:45:42. > :45:47.for development. You can also as a council negotiate to make sure that
:45:48. > :45:50.those expenses are taken into account.
:45:51. > :45:53.Jack, you spent the first half of this Parliament beating the
:45:54. > :45:58.Government up over its house`building records. Surely you
:45:59. > :46:00.know cannot stand against the efforts that make balls and others
:46:01. > :46:11.are making to accelerate this progress towards new houses? `` Nick
:46:12. > :46:17.all is. House`building last year sunk to its lowest level since the
:46:18. > :46:22.1920s. We have got the biggest housing crisis in a generation. That
:46:23. > :46:28.is why we have committed to build in excess of 200,000 homes a year.
:46:29. > :46:32.Although I am critical of this Government, the problem of housing
:46:33. > :46:37.is it has not been sufficiently centrestage for 13 years, so we have
:46:38. > :46:43.put it centrestage because it is not just about a decent home and are ``
:46:44. > :46:46.at a price you can afford, but the best way to get a sluggish economy
:46:47. > :46:52.moving is to invest in house`building. One key problem is
:46:53. > :46:56.if you look at the rules of supply and demand on housing, it doesn't
:46:57. > :47:01.necessarily bring the housing to where it is most needed, parts of
:47:02. > :47:08.the city, it tends to take it towards those green fields. They are
:47:09. > :47:13.easier for the developers and it is a question of land values, but the
:47:14. > :47:16.help to buy scheme will at least mean that more houses will be sold
:47:17. > :47:21.and there will be more cash in the system in the private sector side to
:47:22. > :47:25.build more houses. I agree housing is an important issue because if you
:47:26. > :47:30.have unstable housing, children move from school to school which is not
:47:31. > :47:39.good for the children. So there are a lot of knock on effects. And bad
:47:40. > :47:45.housing damages health. It is the unstable Tanya I worry about. How do
:47:46. > :47:50.you get to the bottom of this problem, that successive governments
:47:51. > :47:54.have tried to deliver on this and whatever different projects have
:47:55. > :47:57.come along, you have this fundamental problem of democratic
:47:58. > :48:02.sensitivity to the wishes of local communities, concerns about the
:48:03. > :48:08.environment, it seems like the holy Grail trying to find the answer. It
:48:09. > :48:15.is correct that you build on Brownfield land, but you have two
:48:16. > :48:20.also build on greenfield land. You have to engage local communities to
:48:21. > :48:25.win their consent. But the evidence is that they are reluctant. I will
:48:26. > :48:28.give you one example, if you ask people do they want more homes in
:48:29. > :48:35.the area where they live, the majority say no. If you ask them do
:48:36. > :48:39.they want them so young people can live locally including their sons
:48:40. > :48:42.and daughters, a majority say yes. It is how you convince communities
:48:43. > :48:49.that development is good for the future. On that point, your
:48:50. > :48:53.federation has been campaigning for a couple of years for local
:48:54. > :48:58.authority is particularly to say yes to homes, but on the evidence of
:48:59. > :49:04.what you are seeing, the tenor of the debate is not really shifting.
:49:05. > :49:09.We are seeing a shift in the debate, it is rising up the political
:49:10. > :49:14.scale. And we are seeing councils take motions to adopt the campaign
:49:15. > :49:20.themselves to say they will positively move towards promoting
:49:21. > :49:24.more developed `` of allotment, Ashfield for example in the East
:49:25. > :49:27.Midlands. If viewers think there is a housing issue that they know
:49:28. > :49:34.somebody struggling with housing costs, they should go on our website
:49:35. > :49:41.and lobbied their own counsel, their own MPs. `` lobby.
:49:42. > :49:44.Thank you all for coming in here today.
:49:45. > :49:48.The Chancellor's still warning of "serious challenges ahead". So it
:49:49. > :49:52.fell to the Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, to tell us, "You no
:49:53. > :49:56.longer have to be an optimist to see the glass is half full". Inflation:
:49:57. > :50:00.down. Growth: up. Unemployment: down, for the second quarter running
:50:01. > :50:05.in our part of the country. But it's still almost 2% above the UK
:50:06. > :50:07.average. So is Mr Carney right to say "the recovery has taken hold"?
:50:08. > :50:13.Here's our Business correspondent Peter Plisner.
:50:14. > :50:17.Are these really the green shoots of recovery we've been waiting for so
:50:18. > :50:21.long? Andy Plester and Graham Bird started their tree felling business
:50:22. > :50:29.while they were still studying. They're in work and turning a
:50:30. > :50:34.profit. We qualified in July. We have gone from strength to strength
:50:35. > :50:39.from there. We have been working all through the summer and now into the
:50:40. > :50:43.winter. We have the determination to be successful, and we will continue
:50:44. > :50:47.to work at it and hopefully expand the business into further things.
:50:48. > :50:51.The latest figures show unemployment fell by 15,000 in the West Midlands
:50:52. > :50:54.in the last quarter to 257,000. But that figure is still 22,000
:50:55. > :50:58.higher than it was this time last year. And at 9.5%, the West Midlands
:50:59. > :51:04.rate of unemployment is well above the national average of 7.6%.
:51:05. > :51:07.Part of the answer to getting that jobless total down even lower and
:51:08. > :51:13.encouraging economic growth is for companies in our region to export
:51:14. > :51:21.more. That's what this event in Birmingham, organised by UK Trade
:51:22. > :51:24.and Investment, is all about. Exports are the things that will
:51:25. > :51:29.grow our economy and move us forward. The companies here today
:51:30. > :51:32.that are going out there looking for export markets are the ones that
:51:33. > :51:40.will be driving growth, creating jobs, creating the new products and
:51:41. > :51:43.driving the West Midlands forward. The question now is whether we're
:51:44. > :51:46.seeing sustainable growth after a series of tough years, or whether it
:51:47. > :51:51.will be cut off before it takes root.
:51:52. > :51:58.Not just any recovery, apparently, but an export`led one. Peter Plisner
:51:59. > :52:02.reporting. Jack, surely the lesson of that
:52:03. > :52:09.report is that really the best way to improve people's living standards
:52:10. > :52:13.is to get an overall growth uplift in the economy with real jobs in
:52:14. > :52:17.real businesses of the sort we were seeing there. Of course, but if you
:52:18. > :52:24.talk to people in Erdington, they will say, recovery, what recovery?
:52:25. > :52:32.From `` from their point of view wages and down, energy bills are up.
:52:33. > :52:35.Any signs of recovery are welcome, but there have been three wasted
:52:36. > :52:42.years because the Government has cut too far, too fast, we are only
:52:43. > :52:46.now... But your Government if they came in with have to deal with
:52:47. > :52:53.austerity as well. If you are going to have sustainable economic
:52:54. > :52:59.recovery, exports, house`building. Is `` isn't that the nub of the
:53:00. > :53:02.issue, but the Government can't talk about recovery, but in real terms
:53:03. > :53:07.with wages being squeezed, people still worrying about jobs,
:53:08. > :53:14.unemployment, it does not feel real to people on the ground. You know I
:53:15. > :53:20.am concerned about energy prices, and my view is if wholesale prices
:53:21. > :53:26.go up globally that will cause us a problem. There are issues about
:53:27. > :53:31.driving down the wage rates, not just being static compared to
:53:32. > :53:35.inflation but been driven down. Those are factors we need to be
:53:36. > :53:40.concerned about. We have to make sure that the recovery is shared,
:53:41. > :53:49.but the system works to do that. We have to have a better quality of
:53:50. > :53:52.life for people in lowering incomes. `` in lower incomes. We need to aim
:53:53. > :53:58.to build up wages so people are not rushed down to the minimum wage. I
:53:59. > :54:01.think the TUC proposals of wages councils are things we should look
:54:02. > :54:06.at, because it could be different in different areas. George Osborne says
:54:07. > :54:11.even during what he called the debt fuelled home of the Labour years,
:54:12. > :54:14.productivity in the West Midlands region was still going down, silver
:54:15. > :54:25.are still structural issues beyond one Government to the next. `` so
:54:26. > :54:30.there are still. Mrs Thatcher tore the heart out of manufacturing in
:54:31. > :54:33.the 1980s, and the abolition of our regional development agency by this
:54:34. > :54:37.Government has not helped, which is why you have to much opportunity is
:54:38. > :54:44.a skill. The work I am doing with Jaguar Land Rover, what we are doing
:54:45. > :54:48.is ensuring that the kids in the estate across the road from the
:54:49. > :54:51.factory are getting opportunities in that factory.
:54:52. > :54:55.Now our regular round`up of the political week in the Midlands in 60
:54:56. > :55:01.seconds, brought to us this week by our mid`morning presenter on BBC WM
:55:02. > :55:04.95.6, Adrian Goldberg. Wrekin Tory MP Mark Pritchard's been
:55:05. > :55:07.told there's "insufficient evidence" to open an inquiry into newspaper
:55:08. > :55:16.claims that he wanted money to broker business deals using his
:55:17. > :55:18.political contacts in Albania. Stratford Conservative Nadhim Zahawi
:55:19. > :55:22.is to pay back his electricity expenses in full after it emerged
:55:23. > :55:33.part of his claim was for the bill in the riding school stables at his
:55:34. > :55:36.constituency home. Labour says the West Midlands has some of the
:55:37. > :55:46.highest levels of fuel poverty in the country. What will happen if you
:55:47. > :55:48.threaten to freeze energy bills is that the energy companies will put
:55:49. > :55:51.their prices up. Children's services at Birmingham
:55:52. > :55:54.City Council could be taken over by the Department for Education before
:55:55. > :55:56.Christmas if standards do not improve.
:55:57. > :56:00.And a survey for the BBC suggests more than a third of people don't
:56:01. > :56:07.know they have a Police and Crime Commissioner ` not great news for
:56:08. > :56:10.these men. But undaunted, the Police Minister Damian Green marked the
:56:11. > :56:12.first anniversary of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections by
:56:13. > :56:21.announcing a further ?20 million in funding for them.
:56:22. > :56:27.As shadow police Minister, Damian Green also makes the point that for
:56:28. > :56:31.all its imperfections, this new system of Commissioners is an
:56:32. > :56:37.improvement on what went before with those faceless police authorities.
:56:38. > :56:41.They spent ?100 million on this experiment, 90% of people do not
:56:42. > :56:46.know who the police commissioner is, and whilst we have a good one here
:56:47. > :56:49.in the Midlands, across the country there have been all sorts of
:56:50. > :56:53.tensions, for example police commissioners cycling their chief
:56:54. > :56:59.constables. Democratic accountability, without doubt, what
:57:00. > :57:02.I suspect the people in the West Midlands would prefer that ?100
:57:03. > :57:08.million to have been spent on more police officers on the beat. You had
:57:09. > :57:14.a lot to say against them, but would Police and Crime Commissioners be
:57:15. > :57:21.safe under Labour? On Monday week we will be publishing out a landmark
:57:22. > :57:25.review `` publishing a landmark review on the future of policing in
:57:26. > :57:31.our country and our Police and Crime Commissioners in particular. John,
:57:32. > :57:40.what is your verdict? We have to give it a bit more time but I am not
:57:41. > :57:44.massively enthusiastic about them. My thanks to John and Jack. And
:57:45. > :57:47.we'll be following`up on our discussion about the housing crisis
:57:48. > :57:50.and what's to be done about it on Midlands Today tomorrow evening.
:57:51. > :57:52.I'll have an overview of how successive governments have
:57:53. > :57:56.struggled to deliver affordable housing to the people who most need
:57:57. > :57:59.it, where residents least want it, with reports from the latest front
:58:00. > :58:02.line on the housing battlefield. Midlands Today is at 6.30 tomorrow
:58:03. > :58:03.evening here on BBC One. This, though, is where we rejoin Andrew
:58:04. > :58:12.Neil. receiving it. We will return to this
:58:13. > :58:25.if we hear more. Thank you. Andrew, it is back to you.
:58:26. > :58:30.Who'd be an MP? It's a good question. Certainly something Mark
:58:31. > :58:33.Pritchard must have asked himself when his picture graced the front
:58:34. > :58:36.page of the Daily Telegraph, with allegations that he had offered to
:58:37. > :58:39.set up business deals overseas in return for hundreds of thousands of
:58:40. > :58:41.pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the claims as hurtful and wrong. He
:58:42. > :58:44.referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
:58:45. > :58:46.who has now said there is insufficient evidence to
:58:47. > :58:49.investigate. In a moment we'll talk to Mr Pritchard, but first let's
:58:50. > :58:52.take a look back at how the story unfurled. A Conservative MP has
:58:53. > :58:58.denied allegations that he used his Parliamentary contacts for financial
:58:59. > :59:02.gain... The daily Telegraph says Mark Pritchard offered to broker
:59:03. > :59:11.investments overseas. In a statement he said the allegations made by the
:59:12. > :59:17.Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard was secretly filmed... What do you
:59:18. > :59:19.make of these allegations? He has referred himself to the
:59:20. > :59:23.Parliamentary Commissioner for standards to clear his name and I
:59:24. > :59:33.suspect this story will reopen the debate about what MPs should be
:59:34. > :59:40.allowed, having business interests elsewhere. Is it not clear that you
:59:41. > :59:51.did ask for money in consultancy services? First of all I would like
:59:52. > :59:56.to apologise for the sunglasses I have had a lot of comments about
:59:57. > :00:05.that. On a serious point, these claims by the Telegraph of false.
:00:06. > :00:11.You didn't ask for ?3000? They are false, hurtful and malicious. It is
:00:12. > :00:14.known widely that I have sued the Telegraph previously. I have also
:00:15. > :00:20.been critical of their coverage of the plebgate affair, their reporting
:00:21. > :00:24.of that. I have been supportive of the cross-party Royal Charter and I
:00:25. > :00:28.know that some people in the media don't like my position on that. That
:00:29. > :00:34.is why it is malicious. I believe in a free press. That free press also
:00:35. > :00:40.has a responsibility to be fair accurate and lawful. In discussions
:00:41. > :00:45.with this business who turned out to be a Telegraph reporter, it is true
:00:46. > :00:54.that you ask for ?3000 a month consultancy fee. The point is..
:00:55. > :00:59.That is the point. No. That video has been cut and pasted to serve the
:01:00. > :01:05.Telegraph's story. The story was that we want to get Mark Bridger,
:01:06. > :01:09.for whatever reason, at any cost. -- Mark Bridger hard. I would not go
:01:10. > :01:12.down the line they were hoping I would go down. Everything I own
:01:13. > :01:19.outside of Parliament is openly declared. We are allowed to have
:01:20. > :01:21.outside witness interests. The Telegraph need to say clearly
:01:22. > :01:27.whether they accept that or they don't. I think you need to say
:01:28. > :01:32.clearly whether you asked for the money or not. You then went on to
:01:33. > :01:37.ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10 million deal, you asked for 3%
:01:38. > :01:44.commission. Let me be clear, if I was asking for income in return for
:01:45. > :01:48.lobbying, or raising issues in Parliament, or setting up
:01:49. > :01:52.Parliamentary groups, or going to ministers, writing to ministers
:01:53. > :01:56.that would be completely inappropriate. I was approached by
:01:57. > :02:03.somebody to advise them on business. It is entirely proper and entirely
:02:04. > :02:06.within the rules for members of Parliament to have outside
:02:07. > :02:12.consultancies and interests. Did you or didn't you? I am answering the
:02:13. > :02:16.question in the way that I want to answer it, not in the way that fits
:02:17. > :02:20.a particular narrative. The narrative, unfortunately, of some
:02:21. > :02:23.parts of the Telegraph and to be fair, there are some very good
:02:24. > :02:28.journalists, I know there is a dispute about the direction of that
:02:29. > :02:32.paper at senior parts. Do they want to return to being a Catholic,
:02:33. > :02:37.objective newspaper or do they want to slip into the slippery slope of
:02:38. > :02:41.being an agnostic rag, looking for sensationalist headlines? Part of
:02:42. > :02:50.this has come from your membership of these all-party Parliamentary
:02:51. > :02:53.groups. You were in Malta when you are first approached, I think you
:02:54. > :02:57.were on a trip there, Hungary is another one, there is an
:02:58. > :03:02.uncomfortable overlap between your political and business interests. I
:03:03. > :03:05.have no business interests in any of those countries. Some of the country
:03:06. > :03:13.is the Telegraph mentioned, let me be clear, I have not even visited.
:03:14. > :03:16.You were boasting that you knew the Albanian Prime Minister and the
:03:17. > :03:22.Mayor of Teheran and the previous prime minister. I make no apology
:03:23. > :03:26.for making foreign trips. I think it is unfortunate we have a narrative
:03:27. > :03:31.developing in some parts of the press that if a politician goes
:03:32. > :03:35.abroad at the taxpayers expense it is wrong. If they go abroad at a
:03:36. > :03:39.host government's expense it is wrong. If they go abroad with a
:03:40. > :03:43.charity, NGO and private company, even if it is declared, it is wrong.
:03:44. > :03:48.We want people with an international perspective in Parliament. Look at
:03:49. > :03:55.this map. You are a member of 5 country groups. I don't know what
:03:56. > :04:01.Canada has done not to deserve you, or Australia. 54 groups, you are a
:04:02. > :04:05.part of. You're like... This is the Mark Pritchard British Empire. That
:04:06. > :04:11.is very kind. If I had global interests that white I would not be
:04:12. > :04:16.in Parliament. No, no, no. That is the point... It is the suspicion,
:04:17. > :04:22.that you used these groups to drum up business for your consultants.
:04:23. > :04:26.Prove it, that is the trouble. These sorts of headlines, create
:04:27. > :04:35.suspicion. I am suing the Telegraph... Have you issued a writ?
:04:36. > :04:42.I expect an apology. Have you issued a writ? I have just answered your
:04:43. > :04:48.question. It is yes or no, have you issued a writ? I am in final legal
:04:49. > :04:52.discussions tomorrow about issuing a writ. You have raised something for
:04:53. > :04:55.top the fact is that is inaccurate. I am a member of 40-something
:04:56. > :05:03.Parliamentary groups, of which I make no apology. We have got 54 Let
:05:04. > :05:11.me answer the question if I may It would be very useful. There are 196
:05:12. > :05:15.countries around the world, it is less than a quarter of the country
:05:16. > :05:22.groups on my figures. I make no apology. One of my regrets is not
:05:23. > :05:25.having visited Syria, I don't know if I am a member of the Syria group,
:05:26. > :05:31.part I should become a member, I make no apology. -- perhaps I should
:05:32. > :05:38.become. When it came to the Syria vote, I was blind sided foot of yes,
:05:39. > :05:41.we have excellent briefings. I had to make a judgement based on part
:05:42. > :05:46.knowledge with nothing beats being on the ground, as even BBC
:05:47. > :05:51.journalists recognised this week. Nothing beats being on the ground.
:05:52. > :05:55.You posted about your connections in Albania to getting a business
:05:56. > :05:59.contract. You meet these people through these all Parliamentary
:06:00. > :06:06.groups. That is where there is an unhealthy overlap. That is what the
:06:07. > :06:10.Telegraph said, let's wait and see. Look... You are a newspaperman, you
:06:11. > :06:15.know lots of people in the newspaper industry, as well as being a
:06:16. > :06:19.respected broadcaster. I am not going to prejudice my legal
:06:20. > :06:23.proceedings against the Telegraph. I make no apology. A good politician
:06:24. > :06:31.has to be local am a national and international. Hang on hang on -
:06:32. > :06:34.has to be local, national and international. We need politicians
:06:35. > :06:37.who get out of the Westminster bubble, who have a business
:06:38. > :06:41.hinterland, who keep their foot in the real world and have an
:06:42. > :06:47.international perspective. And ask for 3% commission? I have answered
:06:48. > :06:51.the question. It was a cut and pasted video, photo shopped to suit
:06:52. > :06:55.the agenda of the Telegraph. They need to get back to serious news
:06:56. > :06:59.reporting and I wish those well at the senior part of the Telegraph who
:07:00. > :07:02.want to get to those days. We look forward to the writ. Thank you.
:07:03. > :07:05.Now - there's been more good news on the economy for George Osborne this
:07:06. > :07:08.week - inflation's down, growth forecasts have been revised up and
:07:09. > :07:11.unemployment has fallen again. On Friday the former Bullingdon boy
:07:12. > :07:14.donned a head torch and went down't pit for just one of many photo
:07:15. > :07:17.opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement, which he'll deliver in
:07:18. > :07:23.the Commons on fifth December. And, who knows, he might even take his
:07:24. > :07:32.hard hat off for that. # Going underground.
:07:33. > :07:39.# Let the boys all saying and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
:07:40. > :07:42.# Lah, lah, love, love. # I talk and talk until my head
:07:43. > :07:50.explodes. # Make this boy shout, make this boy
:07:51. > :08:03.scream. # Going underground.
:08:04. > :08:10.# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.
:08:11. > :08:17.George Osborne in his heart out he probably sleeps with it on. This
:08:18. > :08:22.Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political
:08:23. > :08:25.calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally
:08:26. > :08:32.going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game
:08:33. > :08:35.changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they
:08:36. > :08:40.will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer
:08:41. > :08:44.but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is
:08:45. > :08:50.receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on
:08:51. > :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. > :09:06.by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which
:09:07. > :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. > :09:33.comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been
:09:34. > :09:38.talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,
:09:39. > :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. > :09:57.at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's
:09:58. > :10:01.circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don t
:10:02. > :10:04.assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't
:10:05. > :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. > :10:22.speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,
:10:23. > :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. > :10:46.has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are
:10:47. > :10:51.not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank
:10:52. > :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. > :11:08.ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.
:11:09. > :11:13.Unless the politicians screw up Unless you have some idiot in
:11:14. > :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. > :11:33.the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth - he
:11:34. > :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. > :12:11.will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy
:12:12. > :12:15.with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the
:12:16. > :12:18.governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.
:12:19. > :12:22.Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%
:12:23. > :12:25.unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,
:12:26. > :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. > :12:40.inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.
:12:41. > :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. > :12:53.midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next
:12:54. > :12:58.week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.