:00:37. > :00:39.It's Sunday afternoon - this is the Sunday Politics.
:00:40. > :00:42.Jeremy Corbyn wants to give everyone in Britain four
:00:43. > :00:45.extra bank holidays - but is the Labour leader up
:00:46. > :00:47.to being Prime Minister if he wins the election in just
:00:48. > :00:53.Theresa May says she wants a stronger hand to deliver Brexit -
:00:54. > :00:56.how will the Conservatives go about getting the bigger
:00:57. > :01:02.I'll be asking Party Chairman, Patrick McLoughlin.
:01:03. > :01:07.And I've been in Paris where voters are going to the polls in first
:01:08. > :01:15.In the West: election - what could be the impact
:01:16. > :01:17.The signs go up, the leaflets go out and the
:01:18. > :01:21.Did somebody mention a general election?
:01:22. > :01:24.Will the Remain majority punish the Tories for the decision?
:01:25. > :01:26.Or feel they may not like it but the Tories
:01:27. > :01:41.And with me has always ready for the marathon task of covering a snap
:01:42. > :01:44.general election, even working on bank holidays, the best and
:01:45. > :01:45.brightest political panel in the business. David Wooding, Polly
:01:46. > :01:49.Toynbee and Toby Young. So Labour's big announcement this
:01:50. > :01:51.morning was a crowd pleaser. Four more rainy bank
:01:52. > :01:53.holidays to enjoy - one for each of the patron saints
:01:54. > :01:55.of England, Scotland, But Mr Corbyn probably won't be
:01:56. > :02:01.getting the time off work if he wins And on The Andrew Marr Show this
:02:02. > :02:06.morning he was asked what he would do as Prime Minister
:02:07. > :02:09.if the security services asked him to authorise a drone strike
:02:10. > :02:12.on the leader of Islamic State. What I'd tell them is,
:02:13. > :02:16.give me the information you've got, tell me how accurate that is,
:02:17. > :02:18.tell me what you I'm asking you about decisions you
:02:19. > :02:27.would take as Prime Minister. Can I take you back
:02:28. > :02:29.to the whole point? Is the objective
:02:30. > :02:33.to start more strikes that may kill many innocent
:02:34. > :02:36.people, as has happened? Do you think killing
:02:37. > :02:38.the leader of Isis would be I think the leader of Isis not
:02:39. > :02:47.being around would be helpful, and I'm no supporter or defender
:02:48. > :02:49.in any way of Isis. But I would also argue that
:02:50. > :02:53.the bombing campaign has killed a of whom were virtually prisoners of
:02:54. > :02:56.Isis. So you've got to think
:02:57. > :03:03.about these things. Mr Corbyn earlier. David, is his
:03:04. > :03:08.reply refreshing damaging? It is damaging. He has clearly been
:03:09. > :03:12.freaked to the fire already in the first week, there will be lots of
:03:13. > :03:15.questions on his suitability as a leader and the damage it could cause
:03:16. > :03:19.to our national security over the weeks ahead and Andrew Marr has cut
:03:20. > :03:23.straight to the chase here. The other thing, of course, is the
:03:24. > :03:26.letters of last resort, one of the first duties of a Prime Minister
:03:27. > :03:31.when he walks into No 10 is to sign these letters on his own, on or --
:03:32. > :03:35.or on her own in a room, a very lonely moment, to decide whether he
:03:36. > :03:39.should press the nuclear button and that goes in the Vanguard submarines
:03:40. > :03:43.and is opened in the event of a strike and he has dodged a question
:03:44. > :03:47.so many times. One must wonder what he would do that. He has to make
:03:48. > :03:52.these decisions as Prime Minister. On the Isis point, refreshing or
:03:53. > :03:56.damaging? It sure is his base, the people who support him, that's the
:03:57. > :03:59.sort of thing they support info and maybe his tactic is that's all he's
:04:00. > :04:03.going to get, that is what the polls seem to suggest, in which case they
:04:04. > :04:07.will be pleased, and say yes, the man is a man for these who doesn't
:04:08. > :04:13.press buttons and shoot people down. But if you want to win you have to
:04:14. > :04:17.deal with your own weaknesses and reach out to other people. I think
:04:18. > :04:22.most people would say that's not somebody who could defend the
:04:23. > :04:26.country. I wonder if he was being totally honest in saying he would
:04:27. > :04:31.consider it he would ask for more information. He has previously been
:04:32. > :04:34.on the record as being against drone strikes in principle, he's
:04:35. > :04:38.campaigned against them, he wants to abolish drones. I think Andrew Marr
:04:39. > :04:41.let him off saying it was a drone strike rather than a Navy SEAL or
:04:42. > :04:44.SAS operation and he had the fact that they could be collateral
:04:45. > :04:50.damage. We that's not his position because he condemned the
:04:51. > :04:54.assassination of Osama Bin Laden even though there was no collateral
:04:55. > :04:57.damage. David is right on the Trident point, he fetched the
:04:58. > :05:03.question. We heard Niall Griffiths on this very show saying Trident,
:05:04. > :05:06.the renewal of Trident, would be in the next Labour Party manifesto. It
:05:07. > :05:10.turns out now we don't know and when he was asked he said that remains to
:05:11. > :05:14.be seen, his re-opened a can of worms. What he has said about
:05:15. > :05:18.Trident which was extraordinary was, we will rebuild the submarines but
:05:19. > :05:21.not have any nukes on them which is expensive and useless. And of course
:05:22. > :05:25.the Labour Party were forced soon after that interview to put out a
:05:26. > :05:31.statement saying it is Labour Party policy to renew Trident. So where
:05:32. > :05:35.are we? Do we know what the party's policy is? It is to renew Trident
:05:36. > :05:41.but he has started this review which involves looking at it all again. We
:05:42. > :05:45.know he is a unilateralist to start with but whether he can force this
:05:46. > :05:50.through is dubious. Does it matter, though, if the party policy is in
:05:51. > :05:54.favour of Trident, if the leader is not? The potential Prime Minister is
:05:55. > :05:57.not? They split three ways when they went to vote on it in the Commons.
:05:58. > :06:01.The party agreed they were pro-Trident and when it came to the
:06:02. > :06:06.vote they split three ways. I think it's difficult for them, it's always
:06:07. > :06:10.been a really difficult issue for Labour. The question is whether you
:06:11. > :06:14.want to seal off your negatives, whether you really want to try and
:06:15. > :06:17.reach out to people. There are an awful lot of people who will like
:06:18. > :06:22.what he said, there are an awful lot of people that think we have been
:06:23. > :06:25.involved in terrible wars, we have wasted a lot of money and blood and
:06:26. > :06:30.let's just get back from the whole thing, let's retreat from the world
:06:31. > :06:33.and not try punching above our weight. There is something to be
:06:34. > :06:38.said for that and it is a reasonable argument. He's been true to himself
:06:39. > :06:41.on this. I think he is and Polly is right, lots of people will agree
:06:42. > :06:46.with him, not enough to win a general election, the latest ComRes
:06:47. > :06:49.poll shows Tories on 50% and Labour on 25 and as my colleague James
:06:50. > :06:52.Forsyth in the Spectator said if this was a boxing match it would
:06:53. > :06:54.have been stopped by now by the revelry. We are not stopping, we are
:06:55. > :06:55.going on. So the political parties have had
:06:56. > :06:58.to move into election mode Stand by for battle buses,
:06:59. > :07:02.mail shots and your social media timeline being bombarded
:07:03. > :07:03.by political propoganda. But none of this comes cheap -
:07:04. > :07:08.Adam's been doing his sums. Democracy is priceless but those
:07:09. > :07:13.planes, trains and automobiles used in the last election cost money
:07:14. > :07:16.and we know exactly how much, thanks to the Electoral
:07:17. > :07:22.Commission database. The Conservatives flew David Cameron
:07:23. > :07:26.to every part of the UK in one day on a private plane costing ?29,000,
:07:27. > :07:32.in-flight meals extra. They shelled out ?1.2 million
:07:33. > :07:37.for adverts on Facebook. The most expensive item was their
:07:38. > :07:41.election guru Lynton Crosby. They bought ?2.4 million worth
:07:42. > :07:44.of advice and research from his firm Labour's biggest expenditure
:07:45. > :07:51.was on good old-fashioned leaflets, costing ?7.4 million
:07:52. > :07:54.to print and deliver. Hope they didn't go straight
:07:55. > :07:59.into the recycling. Cheap for all the
:08:00. > :08:08.enjoyment it gave us. To turn a normal minibus
:08:09. > :08:10.into Harriet Harman's pink bus Nick Clegg toured the country doing
:08:11. > :08:17.all manner of stunts transported although the party got a grand's
:08:18. > :08:30.discount when it broke down. Ukip's then leader Nigel Farage
:08:31. > :08:32.was accompanied by bodyguards Nicola Sturgeon's chopper
:08:33. > :08:41.cost the SNP ?35,450. Plaid Cymru spent just over
:08:42. > :08:44.?1,000 on media training And the Greens spent ?6,912
:08:45. > :08:58.promoting their tweets. It adds up to a grand total
:08:59. > :09:02.for all the parties of ?37,560,039. Jabbing at my calculator that works
:09:03. > :09:09.out at less than ?1 per voter. Adam Fleming there -
:09:10. > :09:14.and joining me now is the man responsible for the Conservative
:09:15. > :09:17.election campaigns - for the locals next month
:09:18. > :09:25.and the general election in June - Welcome to the programme. The Crown
:09:26. > :09:29.Prosecution Service is reviewing evidence from 14 police forces that
:09:30. > :09:34.your party breached election spending rules on multiple occasions
:09:35. > :09:39.in the last election. What are you going to do differently this time?
:09:40. > :09:45.Well, the battle buses are part of the National campaign spend. You saw
:09:46. > :09:48.them just on the shot that you did, all three parties had those battle
:09:49. > :09:52.buses so that's why we believe they were part of the national spend and
:09:53. > :09:56.it was declared that way. At least 30 people in your party, MPs and
:09:57. > :10:00.agents, being investigated because they may not have been right to
:10:01. > :10:03.include it in the national spend. Are you saying you are going to do
:10:04. > :10:11.nothing differently this time? You asked me about last time and the way
:10:12. > :10:14.the position is... Was. I asked you about this time. We will take a
:10:15. > :10:21.careful count and make sure that everything that we do is within the
:10:22. > :10:24.law. But as I say, the last election, all three parties had
:10:25. > :10:29.battle buses. It is your party that above all has been investigated by
:10:30. > :10:34.14 police forces. You must surely be taking stock of that and working out
:10:35. > :10:38.how to do some things differently. You are being investigated because
:10:39. > :10:42.you put stuff on the National Ledger which should have been on the local
:10:43. > :10:46.constituency ledger. Are you looking at that again? All of the parties
:10:47. > :10:49.had battle buses and they all put them on their national spend. I
:10:50. > :10:55.don't think any of the parties put them on the local spend. The other
:10:56. > :10:57.battle buses were not full of their party activists. Your party stuffed
:10:58. > :11:03.these battle buses with activists and took them to constituencies.
:11:04. > :11:08.That's the difference. And I ask again, what is different this time?
:11:09. > :11:11.Are you going to run the risk of being investigated yet again? We
:11:12. > :11:17.believe that we fully compliant with the electoral law as it was. What
:11:18. > :11:21.will happen if one of these, or two or three or four or five of these 30
:11:22. > :11:28.people, Tory MPs, or agents running campaigns are charged during the
:11:29. > :11:31.campaign? As I say I believe we properly declared our election
:11:32. > :11:34.expenses. What happens if they are charged? You asking me a
:11:35. > :11:38.hypothetical question, the importance of this election is about
:11:39. > :11:42.who is in Downing Street in seven weeks' time. Let me clarify this,
:11:43. > :11:46.you maintain that in 2015 you did nothing wrong with how you allocated
:11:47. > :11:49.the cost and the activities of the battle buses and you would do
:11:50. > :11:54.exactly the same this time round? What we did at the last election we
:11:55. > :11:59.believe fully complied with the law. So the battle buses this time,
:12:00. > :12:02.stocked full of activists, will still be charged to the national
:12:03. > :12:10.campaign even when they go to local constituencies? Will they? We will
:12:11. > :12:14.be looking at the way we do it, there is new guidance from the
:12:15. > :12:18.Electoral Commission out and we will look at that guidance. It is not the
:12:19. > :12:23.guidance, it is the lawful stop the Electoral Commission said that, if
:12:24. > :12:26.you look at the report they did on us, they said there was one area
:12:27. > :12:29.where we had over claimed, over declared, and another area we had
:12:30. > :12:32.and declared. We haven't worked out what to do
:12:33. > :12:36.yet, have you? We will get on with the campaign and
:12:37. > :12:39.start the campaign and I'm looking forward to the campaign.
:12:40. > :12:42.I'm trying to work out of the campaign is going to be legal or not
:12:43. > :12:46.because last time it seems it could have been illegal.
:12:47. > :12:48.I am sure the campaign will be legal.
:12:49. > :12:53.You started the campaign warning about the prospect of, the coalition
:12:54. > :13:00.of chaos. Mr Corbyn has ruled out a post-election coalition with the SNP
:13:01. > :13:03.and so have the Lib Dems so who is going to be in this coalition?
:13:04. > :13:05.Vince Cable said he was looking towards a possible coalition trying
:13:06. > :13:08.to stop a Conservative government. Is not the leader of the Lib Dems.
:13:09. > :13:14.He's an important voice in the Lib Dems. Who will be in it? Let's see
:13:15. > :13:17.because of the Conservative Party is not re-elected with a strong
:13:18. > :13:21.majority, what will happen? There will be a coalition stopping us
:13:22. > :13:25.doing the things we need to do. Who will be in it? It will be a
:13:26. > :13:29.coalition of the Labour Party, the SNP and the Liberal party. They have
:13:30. > :13:33.ruled it out. I think they would not rule it out if that was the
:13:34. > :13:37.situation. Like Theresa May not ruling out an election and then
:13:38. > :13:40.changing her mind? The things the Prime Minister said were very clear,
:13:41. > :13:44.once she had served Article 50 there was an opportunity, as we know
:13:45. > :13:48.today, there is going to be the start of a new government formed in
:13:49. > :13:52.France and in September we have the German elections. So it was quite
:13:53. > :13:58.right that we didn't get ourselves boxed into a timetable. That is why
:13:59. > :14:01.the Prime Minister took the view that they should be a general
:14:02. > :14:05.election to give her full strength of an electoral mandate when it
:14:06. > :14:11.comes to those negotiations. What about Mr Corbyn's plan for four new
:14:12. > :14:15.bank holidays, good idea? I'm not... If we get Corbyn in No 10 Downing St
:14:16. > :14:20.we will have a permanent bank holiday of the United Kingdom. We
:14:21. > :14:26.will have fewer bank holidays of most other major nations, most about
:14:27. > :14:30.major wealthy nations. What about at least one more? Well, look, he's
:14:31. > :14:34.talked about four bank holidays. Today would be a bank holiday and
:14:35. > :14:39.next Monday would be a bank holiday and the other week was a bank
:14:40. > :14:43.holiday too. I don't think it's very well thought out. It sounded more to
:14:44. > :14:46.me something like you get in school mock elections rather than proper
:14:47. > :14:50.elections. Your party is the self-styled party of the workers and
:14:51. > :14:54.you have no plans to give the workers even one extra bank holiday?
:14:55. > :14:59.What we want to do is ensure Britain is a strong economy and building on
:15:00. > :15:03.the jobs that we have created since 2010. We were told that by reducing
:15:04. > :15:08.public expenditure unemployment in this country would go up,
:15:09. > :15:12.unemployment has gone down and the number of jobs have gone up
:15:13. > :15:16.substantially. But no more bank holidays? Well, we will make our
:15:17. > :15:20.manifesto in due course but I don't think four bank holidays held in
:15:21. > :15:26.April, March and November are very attractive to people. When Ed
:15:27. > :15:35.Miliband as leader of the Labour Party suggested the government
:15:36. > :15:38.should control energy prices by capping them, the Conservatives
:15:39. > :15:42.described that as almost Communist and central planning. Do still take
:15:43. > :15:47.that view? You'll see what we have to say on energy prices. I didn't
:15:48. > :15:51.you about that, I asked you if you take the view... The Prime Minister
:15:52. > :15:54.made a speech at the Conservative Spring conference in which she
:15:55. > :15:57.outlined her dissatisfaction about people who are kept locked on a
:15:58. > :15:59.standard tariff and those are the issues we will address in the next
:16:00. > :16:05.few weeks when the manifesto was published.
:16:06. > :16:11.Would that be an act of communism? You will need to see what we say
:16:12. > :16:17.when we set out the policies. It could be. You could put a Communist
:16:18. > :16:21.act into your manifesto? I don't think you'll find a Communist
:16:22. > :16:25.manifesto in a Conservative manifesto which will be launched...
:16:26. > :16:30.You are planning to control prices? We will address what we think is
:16:31. > :16:33.unfairness in the energy market. Mr Jeremy Corbyn was reluctant this
:16:34. > :16:40.morning to sanction a drone strike. You heard us talking about it
:16:41. > :16:43.earlier against the leader of Islamic State if our intelligence
:16:44. > :16:48.services identified him. What would it achieve? When the Prime Minister
:16:49. > :16:53.gets certain advice in the national interests, she has to act been that.
:16:54. > :16:56.We've seen with Theresa May in her time as Home Secretary and Prime
:16:57. > :17:00.Minister, she's not afraid to take those very difficult decisions. What
:17:01. > :17:04.we say this morning from Jeremy Corbyn was a his tans, a reluctance.
:17:05. > :17:11.I don't think that serves the country well. What would it achieve
:17:12. > :17:15.if we take out the head of Islamic State he's replaced by somebody
:17:16. > :17:20.else. It brings their organisation into difficulties. It undermines
:17:21. > :17:25.their organisation. It shows we'll take every measure to undo an
:17:26. > :17:28.organisation which has organised terrorism in different parts of
:17:29. > :17:31.Europe, the UK. I think it is absolutely right the Prime Minister
:17:32. > :17:36.is prepared to take those kind of measures. Jeremy Corbyn said he
:17:37. > :17:41.wasn't prepared to take that. Because he wasn't sure what it would
:17:42. > :17:46.achieve. The Obama administration launched hundreds of drone strikes
:17:47. > :17:52.in various war zones and we in the west are still under attack on a
:17:53. > :17:57.regular basis. Mr Corbyn's basis was what would it achieve? It would
:17:58. > :18:02.achieve a safer position for the UK overall. The war on terrorists. But
:18:03. > :18:07.the Westminster attack, Paris has just been attacked again? There's
:18:08. > :18:11.been attacks which have been stopped by the intelligence services. We
:18:12. > :18:15.must do all we can to support them. The question was about drone
:18:16. > :18:20.strikes. Whether it is drone strikes or other action, we have to be
:18:21. > :18:23.prepared to act. Let's move on to Brexit. It is the major reason the
:18:24. > :18:28.Prime Minister's called the election? Not the only within but
:18:29. > :18:32.the main reason? It is one of the reasons. Now we start the two-year
:18:33. > :18:37.negotiations and then a year afterwards. Also the way in which
:18:38. > :18:40.certain people said they would try to use in the House of Lords or
:18:41. > :18:47.House of Commons to prevent us making progress. I think you'll put
:18:48. > :18:53.in your manifesto, it is the Government's policy, the Brexit
:18:54. > :19:00.negotiating position will be no more freedom of movement. Leave the
:19:01. > :19:03.single market and no longer under the jurisdiction Europe. You expect
:19:04. > :19:09.every Tory MP to fight on that manifesto. What will you do with Ken
:19:10. > :19:13.Clarke and Anna? They will have fought on their manifesto. They will
:19:14. > :19:16.understand the Prime Minister has the authority of the ballot box
:19:17. > :19:21.behind them. Will they fight the election on these positions? I'm
:19:22. > :19:26.sure they'll fight the election supporting the election of a
:19:27. > :19:30.Conservative Government and it's manifesto will quite clearly set
:19:31. > :19:34.out... You know they're against these positions. Ken Clarke has a
:19:35. > :19:39.prod tradition of expressing a certain view. Overall, the party's
:19:40. > :19:43.manifesto, it is not just individuals like Ken Clarke, it is
:19:44. > :19:47.what happens as far as the House of Lords are concerned, people said
:19:48. > :19:51.they'd use the House of Lords to prevent certain measures. You're the
:19:52. > :19:56.party chairman, will it be possible for people like Ken Clarke to fight
:19:57. > :20:01.this election under the Conservative ticket without sub describing to all
:20:02. > :20:07.-- subscribing to all of these Brexit conditions? Ken Clarke will
:20:08. > :20:11.fight as Conservative candidates. That wasn't my question. I know
:20:12. > :20:15.that. Will they be allowed to fight it on their own ticket and not
:20:16. > :20:20.subscribe to what is in your manifesto? The manifesto will be
:20:21. > :20:24.what the Conservative Party fights the General Election on. There will
:20:25. > :20:30.always be cases where people have had different views on different
:20:31. > :20:36.parts of the manifesto. That will be the guiding principles for the
:20:37. > :20:41.party. Philip Hammond says your election promises in 2015, in your
:20:42. > :20:45.manifesto not to raise taxes tied his hands when it came to managing
:20:46. > :20:49.the economy. Do you agree with him? No. The simple fact is we have to do
:20:50. > :20:54.the best things for the economy. We'll set out in our manifesto in a
:20:55. > :20:59.few weeks' time, what the policies will be for the next Parliament. Can
:21:00. > :21:04.I clarify, you don't agree with your Chancellor? What Philip was saying
:21:05. > :21:09.was some of the areas we wants to address as Chancellor, what the
:21:10. > :21:13.party will do, it will set out all the issues we're fighting on. It
:21:14. > :21:17.will set out clearly the choice we have in this country. That's the
:21:18. > :21:21.important thing. Let me put the question to you again. Philip
:21:22. > :21:25.Hammond said this week your election promise in 2015 not to raise taxes
:21:26. > :21:31.had tied his hands when it came to managing the economy. I ask you, do
:21:32. > :21:36.you agree with him? You said no. Philip expressed his view as to what
:21:37. > :21:40.he would like. What I'm saying is in a few weeks' time we'll set the
:21:41. > :21:45.manifesto which will set the policies, agreed with the the
:21:46. > :21:48.Cabinet. He's Chancellor. Doesn't he determine what the economic part of
:21:49. > :21:54.the manifesto is? We'll talk about that in due course. Will you have a
:21:55. > :21:59.lock on the taxes that you locked in 2015 on income tax, VAT, national
:22:00. > :22:06.insurance? That will be decided. You'll see that when we publish the
:22:07. > :22:10.manifesto in a few weeks' time. Will you rule out the possibility taxes
:22:11. > :22:15.may have to rise under a future Conservative Party? Conservative
:22:16. > :22:21.Government. We've taken four million people out of tax. Now, on average,
:22:22. > :22:27.people are paying ?1200 less tax than they were on the same salaries
:22:28. > :22:29.in 2010. I'm very provide of that. I can assure you, the Conservative
:22:30. > :22:33.Party will want to see taxes reduced. It is the Labour Party
:22:34. > :22:39.which will put up taxes. We have the evidence where this he did so.
:22:40. > :22:45.Council tax went up by over 100%. You haven't reduced the tax burden
:22:46. > :22:50.as a percentage of the GDP is now going to reach its highest level
:22:51. > :22:55.since the mid-180s which was when Conservatives were in power. The tax
:22:56. > :22:59.burden in this country under your Government is rising? We've more
:23:00. > :23:02.people paying taxes which is something, because we've a growing
:23:03. > :23:07.economy and more people... What about the tax band? You said you
:23:08. > :23:12.reduced the tax burden on your own Government's figures is rising? We
:23:13. > :23:17.have reduced the tax burden. The threshold at which people start
:23:18. > :23:23.paying. These are tax rates not the tax burden. It is rising. The tax
:23:24. > :23:28.rates have been reduced. You said tax burden. Perhaps I misspoke. Tax
:23:29. > :23:36.rates have been reduced. We'll leave it there. No doubt we'll speak again
:23:37. > :23:37.between now and June Is France now about to make it
:23:38. > :23:42.a hat-trick of shocks The prospect terrifies
:23:43. > :23:45.the governing elite in Paris. But they're no less scared
:23:46. > :23:47.in Brussels and Berlin, given what it could mean
:23:48. > :23:49.for the whole EU project, never mind the huge potential impact
:23:50. > :24:09.on our own Brexit negotiations. 11 candidates are contesting
:24:10. > :24:12.the first round of the presidential Only the top two will go forward
:24:13. > :24:18.to the run-off on May 7th. For the first time since General De
:24:19. > :24:22.Gaulle created the fifth Republic in 1958, it's perfectly possible that
:24:23. > :24:27.no candidate from the ruling parties of the centre-left or the
:24:28. > :24:30.centre-right will even make it The election has been dominated by
:24:31. > :24:37.the hard right in the shape of the who's never been elected
:24:38. > :24:44.to anything and only started his own party
:24:45. > :24:46.a few months ago. And the far left in the form
:24:47. > :24:49.of Jean-Luc Melenchon, a former Trotskyite who has surged
:24:50. > :24:53.in the final weeks of the campaign. The only candidate left from the
:24:54. > :24:56.traditional governing parties is the centre-right's
:24:57. > :24:59.Francois Fillon and he's been struggling to stay in
:25:00. > :25:02.the race ever since it was revealed that his Welsh wife was being paid
:25:03. > :25:07.at generous public expense for a job I've just come across
:25:08. > :25:22.this magazine cover and it kind of sums up the mood
:25:23. > :25:25.of the French people. It's got the five main candidates
:25:26. > :25:28.for President here but it calls them the biggest liar, the biggest cheat,
:25:29. > :25:31.the biggest traitor, the most paranoid, the biggest demagogue,
:25:32. > :25:34.and it says they are the winners The four leading candidates,
:25:35. > :25:44.Le Pen, Melenchon, Macron and Fillon, or in with a chance
:25:45. > :25:48.of making it to the second round. Only a couple of points separates
:25:49. > :25:50.them in the polls, Frankly, no one has a clue what's
:25:51. > :25:56.going to happen. Of the four, there is a feeling that
:25:57. > :26:02.two of them may be President But the two of them may not find
:26:03. > :26:14.themselves in the second round. Somebody said to me that the man or
:26:15. > :26:28.woman on the Paris Metro has as much a chance of knowing
:26:29. > :26:32.who will win as the greatest experts Because the more expert you are
:26:33. > :26:39.the more you may be wrong. The country has largely
:26:40. > :26:44.stagnated for over a decade. One in ten are unemployed,
:26:45. > :26:47.one in four if you are unlucky Like Britain in the '70s there is
:26:48. > :26:51.the pervasive stench There are three keywords that come
:26:52. > :26:58.to mind. Anger, anger at the elite, and in
:26:59. > :27:05.particular the political elite. And an element of
:27:06. > :27:10.nostalgia for the past. These three words were decisive
:27:11. > :27:15.in the Brexit referendum. They are decisive in
:27:16. > :27:26.the French election. Identity and security has been
:27:27. > :27:29.as important in this election France is a proud nation, it worries
:27:30. > :27:37.about its future in Europe It seems bereft of ideas about how
:27:38. > :27:41.to deal with its largely Muslim migrant population, huge chunks of
:27:42. > :27:45.which are increasingly divorced It is quite simply exhausted by
:27:46. > :27:55.the never-ending Islamist terrorist attacks, the latest only days before
:27:56. > :27:59.voting in the iconic heart of this If Fillon or Macron emerge
:28:00. > :28:10.victorious then there will be continuity of sorts, though Fillon
:28:11. > :28:13.will struggle to implement his Thatcherite agenda and Macron will
:28:14. > :28:18.not be able to count on the support of the French parliament, the
:28:19. > :28:21.National Assembly, for his reforms. But if it's Le Pen or Jean-Luc
:28:22. > :28:27.Melenchon then all bets are off. Both are hardline French
:28:28. > :28:30.nationalists, anti the euro, anti the European Union, anti-fiscal
:28:31. > :28:33.discipline, anti the market, Either in the Elysee Palace
:28:34. > :28:42.would represent an existential Brexit would simply become
:28:43. > :28:51.a sideshow, the negotiations could just peter out as Brussels
:28:52. > :28:55.and Berlin had bigger fish to fry. We're joined now from
:28:56. > :29:07.Paris by the journalist 8th Welcome to the programme.
:29:08. > :29:11.Overshadowing the voting today was yet another appalling terrorist
:29:12. > :29:17.attack in Paris on Thursday night. Do we have any indications of how
:29:18. > :29:21.that's playing into the election? That initially people thought this
:29:22. > :29:27.has been almost foiled in that the police were there as a ramp up. One
:29:28. > :29:31.policeman was killed. But the terrorist did not spray the crowd
:29:32. > :29:36.with bullets. It was seen as not having much of an effect on the
:29:37. > :29:42.election. This has changed. We now know the policeman who was killed, a
:29:43. > :29:48.young man about to the promoted, he was at the Bataclan the night of the
:29:49. > :29:55.terror attack. He was a fighter for LGBT rights. The fact he was
:29:56. > :30:01.promoted, happy within his job, he has this fresh face. Sudden, he's
:30:02. > :30:07.one of us. It took perhaps 48 hours for the French to process this. But
:30:08. > :30:13.now they're angry and this may actually change the game, at least
:30:14. > :30:19.at the margins. To whose advantage? I would say the two who might
:30:20. > :30:23.benefit from this are Marine Le Pen, she's been absolutely
:30:24. > :30:28.anti-immigration, anti-anything. And made no bones about it as she
:30:29. > :30:32.immediately made rather strange announcement in which she'd said if
:30:33. > :30:36.she'd been president none of the terror attacks which happened in
:30:37. > :30:44.France would have happened. Francois Fillon has written a book two years
:30:45. > :30:48.ago called Combating Islamic Terrorism he's has an organised plan
:30:49. > :30:52.in his manifesto. Unlike Emmanuel Macron who stumbled when he was
:30:53. > :30:56.asked the evening this happened what he thought, he said, I can't dream
:30:57. > :31:00.up an anti-terror programme overnight. The question, of course,
:31:01. > :31:04.that arrows was this is not the sort of thing that's just happened
:31:05. > :31:09.overnight. It's been unfortunately the fate of France for many years.
:31:10. > :31:15.Let me ask you this finally, what ever the outcome on May 7th in the
:31:16. > :31:21.second round, who ever wins, would it be fair to say French politics
:31:22. > :31:24.will never be the same again? Yes. Absolutely it's a very strange
:31:25. > :31:28.thing. People have no become really excited about this. You cannot go
:31:29. > :31:33.anywhere without people discussing heatedly this election. The anger
:31:34. > :31:39.that was described is very accurate. Very true. There was this feeling as
:31:40. > :31:43.for the Brexit voters and the Trump voters, vast parts of the people
:31:44. > :31:50.were being talked down to by people who despised them. This has to
:31:51. > :31:55.change. If it doesn't change, we cannot predict what the future will
:31:56. > :32:00.be. We'll know the results or at least the ex-the Poll London time
:32:01. > :32:02.tonight at 8.00pm. Thank for joining us from the glorious heart of your
:32:03. > :32:06.city. Now, the Green Party currently has
:32:07. > :32:09.one MP and they'll be contesting many more seats in June
:32:10. > :32:11.as well as hoping to increase their presence on councils in
:32:12. > :32:14.the local elections on 4th May. Launching their campaign
:32:15. > :32:16.on Thursday, co-leader Caroline Lucas made
:32:17. > :32:18.a pitch to younger voters. When it comes to young
:32:19. > :32:20.people they've been But one crucial way they've been
:32:21. > :32:25.betrayed is by what this generation and this government and the previous
:32:26. > :32:28.ones have been doing when it comes We know we had the hottest year
:32:29. > :32:33.on record last year, you know, you almost think what else does
:32:34. > :32:35.the environment need to be doing All the signs are there
:32:36. > :32:39.and it is young people who are going to be bearing
:32:40. > :32:42.the brunt of a wrecked environment and that's why it's so important
:32:43. > :32:45.that when we come to making that pitch to, yes, the country at large
:32:46. > :32:48.but to young people in particular, I think climate change,
:32:49. > :32:50.the environment, looking after our precious resources,
:32:51. > :32:55.has to be up there. And I'm joined now by the Green
:32:56. > :33:09.MEP, Molly Scott Cato. Welcome back to the programme.
:33:10. > :33:13.Promised to scrap university tuition fees, increase NHS funding, rollback
:33:14. > :33:16.cuts to local councils spending, how much would that cost and how would
:33:17. > :33:20.you pay for it? Like the other parties we haven't got a costed
:33:21. > :33:23.manifesto yet, it's only a few days since the election was announced so
:33:24. > :33:27.I will come back and explain the figures. You don't know? Like every
:33:28. > :33:33.party we have not produced accosted manifesto yet, we produced one last
:33:34. > :33:36.time but public spending figures have changed so we're not in a
:33:37. > :33:41.position to do that but we will be in a week or so. What taxes would
:33:42. > :33:45.you like to consider raising? We would consider having higher taxes
:33:46. > :33:50.for the better off in society. I think we need to increase the amount
:33:51. > :33:53.of tax wealthier people pay. How do you define better off? I'm not
:33:54. > :33:59.entirely clear what the precise number would be but I think 100,000
:34:00. > :34:03.people would pay a bit more, 150,000 quite considerably more but the real
:34:04. > :34:06.focus needs to be on companies avoiding paying taxes. I work on
:34:07. > :34:09.that a lot in my role in the European Parliament, we see an
:34:10. > :34:12.enormous amount of tax avoidance by companies moving profits from
:34:13. > :34:16.country to country and we need European corporation to make that
:34:17. > :34:22.successful. It has not made much difference yet. We have made lots of
:34:23. > :34:25.changes. Google turned over $1 billion and only paid 25 million in
:34:26. > :34:30.taxes last year. There was a significant fine introduced by the
:34:31. > :34:34.competition commission on Apple and in the case of Google we must change
:34:35. > :34:40.the laws so that people cannot move profits from country to country.
:34:41. > :34:43.Everybody wants to do it. But you couldn't face a big spending
:34:44. > :34:47.programme on the ability to do that. You'd have to increase other taxes.
:34:48. > :34:50.If you look at the cost of free student tuition, tuition fees and
:34:51. > :34:53.also maintenance grants to students, that would come in at about 10
:34:54. > :34:57.billion a year. One way of paying for that would be to remove the
:34:58. > :35:00.upper threshold on National Insurance, bringing in 20 billion a
:35:01. > :35:05.year, that's the order of magnitude we are talking about. It is not
:35:06. > :35:09.vast, and some of the proposals we have... That would be an increase on
:35:10. > :35:15.the better of tax? National Insurance on people earning...
:35:16. > :35:20.People earning above 42,000. You would have another 10% tax above
:35:21. > :35:25.42,000? I can't remember exactly how much the National Insurance rate
:35:26. > :35:30.changes by. But in government figures it would be 28 billion
:35:31. > :35:33.raised. I think it is up to 45, a bit more you pay a marginal rate of
:35:34. > :35:38.40%, you would have them pay a marginal rate of over 50%? We would
:35:39. > :35:42.put the National Insurance rate on higher incomes the same as it is on
:35:43. > :35:46.lower incomes. If you are a school head of an English department on 50,
:35:47. > :35:52.60,000 a year you would face a marginal rate under U of over 50%?
:35:53. > :35:57.It is not useful to do this as a mental maths exercise but if you
:35:58. > :36:01.look at other proposals would could have a landlord licensing system,
:36:02. > :36:04.longer term leases on properties, so young people particularly, but also
:36:05. > :36:07.older people who rent, could have more security which needn't cost
:36:08. > :36:11.anything. We could insist on landlords paying for that. The
:36:12. > :36:15.mental arithmetic seems clear but we will come back to that. How is the
:36:16. > :36:20.Progressive Alliance coming? It is going well, I have heard of a lot of
:36:21. > :36:25.interest at local level. Winterset this in contest, context, lots of
:36:26. > :36:29.progressives are concerned about the crisis in public services, prisons,
:36:30. > :36:33.social care system, and also about the Tories' hard extreme Brexit they
:36:34. > :36:38.are threatening. You want the left to come together? Theresa May has
:36:39. > :36:41.given us opportunity, she has taken a risk because she has problems with
:36:42. > :36:44.backbenchers, she doesn't think she can get through Brexit with a small
:36:45. > :36:48.majority so there is an opportunity and we are saying progressives must
:36:49. > :36:50.come together to corporate, Conservatives are effective at using
:36:51. > :36:56.the first-past-the-post system and we have to become effective as well.
:36:57. > :36:59.Do you accept this Progressive Alliance cannot become the
:37:00. > :37:03.government and Mr Corbyn is the Prime Minister? How could it happen
:37:04. > :37:06.otherwise? I think that is a secondary question. For me the
:37:07. > :37:10.primary question is who do people choose to vote for? Aluminium
:37:11. > :37:14.government afterwards comes after the election. In most countries that
:37:15. > :37:17.is the case. I understand that but we have the system we have and you
:37:18. > :37:21.accept this Progressive Alliance cannot be in power and thus mystical
:37:22. > :37:24.Burmese Prime Minister? Personally I think Mr Corbyn is less of a threat
:37:25. > :37:27.to the country than Theresa May, she has shown herself to be an
:37:28. > :37:33.authoritarian leader and she has said she doesn't want to have
:37:34. > :37:35.dissidents, which I would say is reasonable opposition, and what we
:37:36. > :37:38.are suggesting at the moment is there is a way of avoiding that very
:37:39. > :37:41.hard Brexit and damage to public services. You'd be happy to pay the
:37:42. > :37:46.price of having Mr Corbyn as Prime Minister? I do not see that as a
:37:47. > :37:49.price. People have the choice of Jeremy Corbyn or Theresa May as
:37:50. > :37:54.Prime Minister, that's the system that works. You would prefer Mr
:37:55. > :37:56.Corbyn? I would but votes are translated into seats and the
:37:57. > :37:58.Progressive Alliance is a step towards that.
:37:59. > :38:00.It's just gone 3:50pm, you're watching the Sunday Politics.
:38:01. > :38:02.We say goodbye to viewers in Scotland, Wales
:38:03. > :38:04.and Northern Ireland who leave us now.
:38:05. > :38:15.Coming up here in 20 minutes, the Week Ahead.
:38:16. > :38:18.Thank you Andrew - Hello, and welcome to the Sunday Politics
:38:19. > :38:24.We're live here on BBC One - because it's election time!
:38:25. > :38:26.Election campaigns can often be a bumpy ride -
:38:27. > :38:30.but there's one issue that really shakes up the voters.
:38:31. > :38:32.Still waiting for our road improvements.
:38:33. > :38:43.As you know - we're on late today because of the London Marathon.
:38:44. > :38:50.We've got a lot to jog through - so let's meet our competitors today.
:38:51. > :38:55.They are the Conservative MP Michelle Donelan.
:38:56. > :39:00.Max Wilkinson is from the Liberal Democrats
:39:01. > :39:08.The Greens will be joining us later.
:39:09. > :39:20.First - the West Country will see some of the most fascinating battles
:39:21. > :39:25.So, are the parties getting up to speed?
:39:26. > :39:29.I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet where the Government
:39:30. > :39:31.decided that we should call a general election.
:39:32. > :39:33.The announcement of a snap election took everyone by surprise,
:39:34. > :39:35.even if they weren't delighted by it.
:39:36. > :39:42.I am not sure I can take it after the referendum
:39:43. > :39:49.It is too much. It's too much, isn't it?
:39:50. > :39:54.But campaigning got under way straightaway.
:39:55. > :39:57.Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was in Bristol on Tuesday night.
:39:58. > :39:59.And think we've got candidates chosen pretty much everywhere.
:40:00. > :40:02.Let's be honest, at the moment, we are in a situation
:40:03. > :40:05.where the people have a great chance to change the direction
:40:06. > :40:10.In Somerset, the Tories immediately started turning their county
:40:11. > :40:12.council campaign into one for the general election.
:40:13. > :40:16.Fortunately, we have had the county council can think up and going.
:40:17. > :40:19.And we will use the same people, same resources
:40:20. > :40:26.We are in a good place to actually launch the national campaign.
:40:27. > :40:29.The Green Party chose Bristol West to launch their national
:40:30. > :40:36.We are confident we have an excellent candidate with that
:40:37. > :40:40.kind of basis to build on so we can win the seat in Bristol West.
:40:41. > :40:43.And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was here on Friday.
:40:44. > :40:51.To win it, to deal with poverty, and a pilot, housing and social
:40:52. > :40:54.injustice in Britain and bringing a minimum wage that means something.
:40:55. > :40:57.Journalists and politicians are trying to sound excited.
:40:58. > :41:04.Not another one. Oh, for God's sake.
:41:05. > :41:15.We've still got more than six weeks left to go.
:41:16. > :41:25.Songs of praise is coming up later, don't worry. What kind of result as
:41:26. > :41:31.you expecting her? I think it is about getting our message out about
:41:32. > :41:34.what we have done over the last two years as local MPs. The choice is
:41:35. > :41:42.stark ear. A strong, stable stark ear. A strong, stable
:41:43. > :41:47.Government and a coalition of chaos propped up by the Liberal Democrats
:41:48. > :41:51.and led by Jeremy Corbyn. In your case, part of the Tory strategy to
:41:52. > :41:58.take the Lib Dems off the face of the map. Can you win the seat again?
:41:59. > :42:04.I will ask my voters to look at what I have done. I have made progress.
:42:05. > :42:13.As visited 150 visitors. -- businesses. I will show my
:42:14. > :42:19.constituents, they will judge me on my record. They will judge me on
:42:20. > :42:24.local and national issues. Like I say, this is a choice between Jeremy
:42:25. > :42:33.Corbyn and Reza made. I will be the local choice. Steve. A proud
:42:34. > :42:41.supporter of Jeremy Corbyn. Seen by some as a hindrance. I am a fan of
:42:42. > :42:48.judging people on policies and not just personality. The policies I
:42:49. > :42:55.support on the council, with support from my friends in the Greens and
:42:56. > :43:03.Liberal Democrats, things like affordable housing. In Stroud, it
:43:04. > :43:06.It is not affordable. I think we It is not affordable. I think we
:43:07. > :43:15.need a housing boom. We need to build. I have challenged the
:43:16. > :43:20.occasions on the issue of allowing occasions on the issue of allowing
:43:21. > :43:29.us to build the homes we need. We have a crisis in the NHS, queueing
:43:30. > :43:37.in water. A shortage of GPs. You point out there are problems in the
:43:38. > :43:43.NHS, social care, housing. Why are you not massively ahead in the
:43:44. > :43:51.polls? It bounced from Brexit. I will support us trying to do our
:43:52. > :43:56.best... You should be miles ahead. You are on the same page as the
:43:57. > :44:01.Government and Brexit. In Stroud, we held up our vote and Labour did not
:44:02. > :44:09.lose votes in the last general election. We are now ruling Stroud.
:44:10. > :44:15.That is not the same as ruling Britain. But examples there, in the
:44:16. > :44:21.south of England, Labour policies can be as effective in rural areas.
:44:22. > :44:29.Any chance of a Lib Dem revival? Yes. The county council election and
:44:30. > :44:33.then the general election. We are looking to take votes from Labour
:44:34. > :44:36.and Conservative. That is because the Conservatives are driving a hard
:44:37. > :44:44.Brexit supported by the Labour Party. People know there is a clear
:44:45. > :44:52.choice. If you support the UK's role within the European Union, nobody
:44:53. > :44:56.voted for a hard exit, and you have to vote for the Liberal Democrats
:44:57. > :45:01.this time. Most people in the West Country voted in favour. There are
:45:02. > :45:08.plenty of people who voted to remain in places like Bath, overwhelming.
:45:09. > :45:18.In Cheltenham, overwhelmingly to remain. In Stroud, where I am
:45:19. > :45:23.standing as the Liberal Democrat candidate, people voted to remain.
:45:24. > :45:28.As I said, whether you voted the league and remain, no one voted for
:45:29. > :45:34.the hard Brexit. This rhetoric concerns me. The Lib Dems are
:45:35. > :45:40.pushing for the second referendum. We live in a democracy. If we vote
:45:41. > :45:44.one way, people vote to leave, it needs to be honoured. I am concerned
:45:45. > :45:50.the rhetoric might be anti-democratic. I voted remain. I
:45:51. > :45:56.wanted to stay. I have accepted the vote because of democracy. A lot of
:45:57. > :46:01.my constituents just want to get on with it and get the best deal.
:46:02. > :46:06.Presumably you were against because you thought it would be bad for the
:46:07. > :46:10.country? Looking after the interests of constituents. If I lose on the
:46:11. > :46:17.next election, I am not going to say we need another election. I want the
:46:18. > :46:25.best deal and we should all work together to achieve that. Let's
:46:26. > :46:31.bring in Ukip. People like Michelle Dunster where they stand, they had
:46:32. > :46:35.told how to vote. Remain one week, leave next week. There is no such
:46:36. > :46:42.thing as a hard Brexit. There is a true Brexit. People voted for border
:46:43. > :46:48.controls, taking back the fisheries. I didn't see that on the ballots.
:46:49. > :46:55.When Lord Ashcroft and other people did polls afterwards. They have
:46:56. > :47:03.people why -- asked them why. They said yes, border controls. Hold on a
:47:04. > :47:12.second. They said they wanted to take back controls of the laws,
:47:13. > :47:18.against the ECJ. My worry is Theresa May has called the election to
:47:19. > :47:26.devote the true voice of the Tory party and get people like Michelle
:47:27. > :47:32.to vote how she wants. 51% for 49% against. Half an hour. Wouldn't a
:47:33. > :47:46.reasonable moderate Brexit be happy to do -- writing? One of the ... MPs
:47:47. > :47:52.still go and make our laws. We knew what we would get into. It was leave
:47:53. > :48:02.of remain and people voted league. A true Brexit we need. What is the
:48:03. > :48:10.point of Ukip now? Can we trust the Conservatives? The real opposition
:48:11. > :48:17.without many MPs, now zero, is Ukip. You just have to look at Theresa
:48:18. > :48:25.May, grammar schools came back, that was a Ukip policy. The Tories and
:48:26. > :48:34.the chink well to the right. It is putting people off, the former
:48:35. > :48:43.moderate conservative voters. The terms of departure. It is not a
:48:44. > :48:46.second referendum. It is. This election is supposed to provide
:48:47. > :48:56.certainty. We need to pull together to get the best deal. If Theresa May
:48:57. > :49:02.wins and when this bigly. Is that her mandate for a hard Brexit? We
:49:03. > :49:08.are on about getting the best deal for Britain. The premise that has to
:49:09. > :49:12.go to a negotiating room and get the best deal for Britain. That is not a
:49:13. > :49:19.hard deal or a socket, it is trying to get the deal to support local
:49:20. > :49:22.industry. If asked, you will vote for us not to be in the single
:49:23. > :49:33.market? The Prime Minister said that this week. That is the hard Brexit.
:49:34. > :49:40.We must thank you for coming in because you are going to go and be
:49:41. > :49:42.replaced by the Greens. Before we get...
:49:43. > :49:45.Before we get to the general election, there's the small matter
:49:46. > :49:48.Voters in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire go to the polls
:49:49. > :49:51.on May the 4th to choose who will run their
:49:52. > :49:58.We've asked our political reporters to sum up what's at stake.
:49:59. > :50:02.This is County Hall in Trowbridge, the home of the West's
:50:03. > :50:06.It has been dominated by the Conservatives
:50:07. > :50:13.Of the 98 seats in the chamber, the Conservatives have 61,
:50:14. > :50:18.the Liberal Democrats 22, Labour just four, and Ukip, one.
:50:19. > :50:21.The Conservatives are promising more of the same.
:50:22. > :50:24.Saving money by bringing all the services of the town
:50:25. > :50:33.And therefore escaping the worst of the cuts seen in other councils.
:50:34. > :50:36.The Lib Dems are helping to make gains with promises like rescuing
:50:37. > :50:40.Labour and the Greens are fielding a record number of candidates.
:50:41. > :50:42.But Ukip are only standing in a handful of seats
:50:43. > :50:50.But will this be fought on filling the holes in the budget more
:50:51. > :51:10.One candidate has already won their seat.
:51:11. > :51:13.Here in Gloucestershire, it is a conservative run council.
:51:14. > :51:20.Of the 53 seats, the Conservatives have 25, the lead them to 14,
:51:21. > :51:29.All the main parties say they want to improve the roads.
:51:30. > :51:31.But the Tories are also promising better broadband and thousands
:51:32. > :51:34.They believe more seats and overall control
:51:35. > :51:41.Despite spending cuts from Westminster.
:51:42. > :51:43.The Lib Dems said it will lobby the Government
:51:44. > :51:50.And they hope a strong showing in remaining areas like Cheltenham
:51:51. > :51:52.and the Cotswolds will launch a national revival.
:51:53. > :51:54.While Labour want a more compassionate care service
:51:55. > :52:01.But with the party trailing in the polls, their priority will be
:52:02. > :52:05.Meanwhile, Ukip say they will oppose large housing developments
:52:06. > :52:15.and the Greens say they will cancel the Javelin Park incinerator.
:52:16. > :52:21.Here in Somerset, the council is being run by the Conservatives
:52:22. > :52:30.Of the 55 seats, the Conservatives have 31.
:52:31. > :52:32.The Lib Dems are the opposition with 14.
:52:33. > :52:36.The Lib Dems and Tories are both promising funding
:52:37. > :52:47.Children's services have an inadequate Ofsted.
:52:48. > :52:50.The Conservatives hope they can gain seats like promising low council tax
:52:51. > :52:57.The Lib Dems have done well in recent by-elections.
:52:58. > :52:59.They want to take back control of the council.
:53:00. > :53:02.They are promising ?25 million per year for roads, including
:53:03. > :53:05.Labour campaigning to integrate health and social care,
:53:06. > :53:07.and Ukip wants to keep up the Brexit pressure.
:53:08. > :53:15.I want Taunton to feel it is going somewhere.
:53:16. > :53:16.Still waiting for our roads improvements.
:53:17. > :53:25.One thing to look out for on election night -
:53:26. > :53:27.a former MP who is trying to unseat the Conservative
:53:28. > :53:39.Tessa Munt is taking on John Osman in the city of Wells.
:53:40. > :53:55.Exciting stuff. And the Greens are represented. Why have the Greens got
:53:56. > :54:04.so few council seat outside Bristol? It is a big focus for us. We have
:54:05. > :54:08.sold a good message there. You step into the shires, there are very
:54:09. > :54:12.green Tories who have not decided they can vote for the Green Party.
:54:13. > :54:19.We have not traditionally stood many candidates. Talking about funding
:54:20. > :54:25.from local government, the big issue, isn't it the fact the
:54:26. > :54:31.Conservatives have undermined local government continually? And even
:54:32. > :54:39.conservatives and local councils are saying, you cannot do the job with
:54:40. > :54:43.the money given. We are devolving a lot of power over the next few years
:54:44. > :54:48.mobility to find their own services. mobility to find their own services.
:54:49. > :54:55.Devolving the powers but not the money. Business rates give them a
:54:56. > :55:03.revenue stream. Wiltshire, a series of efficiency savings. We have kept
:55:04. > :55:09.libraries, leisure centres, ensuring the key funding goes on the most
:55:10. > :55:15.vulnerable. I am the leader of Stroud District Council. In three
:55:16. > :55:23.years' time, ?500,000 back because of the Mickey Mouse formula as part
:55:24. > :55:28.of the business rates money. We have ran a tight ship. We are going to be
:55:29. > :55:37.penalised for that. Business rates, no one has a clue. No one has a clue
:55:38. > :55:43.how that will work and be balanced and what difference it will make on
:55:44. > :55:48.the ground. I see it as a county council. The roads, number one
:55:49. > :55:51.issue. 80 million pounds to get the roads in Gloucester back to a steady
:55:52. > :55:56.state, that is how far behind we have fallen. If this is what the
:55:57. > :56:01.Conservatives do on the roads, what are they doing to young people and
:56:02. > :56:09.on social care? A lack of investment and falling far behind. The
:56:10. > :56:17.conservative Government introducing a significant amount of money for
:56:18. > :56:19.adult social care. Potholes is a problem including Wiltshire and we
:56:20. > :56:29.are introducing more money year-on-year. You know local gadgets
:56:30. > :56:32.at -- budgets have been cut. It is not a sturdy, it is bringing the
:56:33. > :56:37.budget is down to deal with the deficit. To spend more you have to
:56:38. > :56:49.raise it. Where is the money coming from? Utah about adult social care.
:56:50. > :56:54.The county council only allowing an extra 2%, that will not meet the
:56:55. > :57:01.deficit. Going into more debt is not the answer. What are you going to do
:57:02. > :57:08.about potholes? The Conservatives have been in charge for 12 years and
:57:09. > :57:13.the Conservatives have failed to resurface the roads and fill in the
:57:14. > :57:18.potholes. A contract in, doing it on the cheap and this is because of
:57:19. > :57:23.Government cuts. A Lib Dem Government, you would reverse the
:57:24. > :57:32.cat? The Lib Dems brought in posterity with the Conservatives?
:57:33. > :57:39.I'm not sure -- austerity. I'm not sure that is true. I think the point
:57:40. > :57:42.is where we are now is people have a decision to make any council
:57:43. > :57:47.elections in May. More of the same with the Conservatives in Gloucester
:57:48. > :57:53.County Council and the other ones where they note the roads are worse,
:57:54. > :57:57.health and social care budgets cut. Even services from looking after
:57:58. > :58:04.disabled children are being cut, that is callous. The only way you
:58:05. > :58:08.can stop that is by voting for Liberal Democrat councillors. But
:58:09. > :58:16.the budgets are set by central Government. What could you do? We
:58:17. > :58:23.would lobby for more. I don't think it will be a Labour Government. But
:58:24. > :58:29.Labour and Conservative are the most lightly, you will have to ask for
:58:30. > :58:33.more money? Firstly, you ask. Second, you look to do things
:58:34. > :58:36.better. In Gloucester, the highest-paid Chief Executive across
:58:37. > :58:54.the south-west. At times of cats, a new telephone system. -- cuts. What
:58:55. > :59:02.is your local at offering in the Green Party? Michelle talks about
:59:03. > :59:07.paying down the deficit. It has got bigger. In terms of roads, we need
:59:08. > :59:16.to see all the minor roads more travel above. They are diabolical. A
:59:17. > :59:23.lady died, she broke her neck in a pothole. We want people to get off
:59:24. > :59:29.the main roads, out of their cars and onto bikes. People in power it
:59:30. > :59:33.to make their own decisions. At the moment, everything is far too
:59:34. > :59:44.centralised. That is undermining people feeling they have a part to
:59:45. > :59:48.play. The roads, what else? Social care that actually works. How would
:59:49. > :59:54.that be paid for? We have to reassess the whole budget. These are
:59:55. > :59:59.not set in stone. From what area would you cut to give social care
:00:00. > :00:05.more? It depends in principle about where business rates are raised
:00:06. > :00:10.from. We need to make sure that they rates are proportionate, so the
:00:11. > :00:24.highest would get less so Mark money Inbee Park. -- more money in the
:00:25. > :00:31.overall pot. There is not a pipe in pace -- plan in place by anyone
:00:32. > :00:38.else. That is why the Conservatives can offer the confidence to the
:00:39. > :00:46.electorates and ends the entertaining. The party I am proudly
:00:47. > :00:51.a member of stands on values of equality and fairness. Yes, if it
:00:52. > :00:56.does mean how do we pay for these things, we would consider raising
:00:57. > :01:01.taxes. As part of our annual service, I asked the question every
:01:02. > :01:08.year, our people prepared to pay for more buses and adult social care?
:01:09. > :01:09.Thank you. My thanks to all of my guests.
:01:10. > :01:17.on issues like the NHS. Run out of time. Andrew, back to you.
:01:18. > :01:24.Now, Ukip have made their first significant policy announcement
:01:25. > :01:29.of the election campaign today with a call for a ban on wearing
:01:30. > :01:35.But is it a policy that will meet with the approval of the man
:01:36. > :01:37.who bankrolled the party's last general election campaign?
:01:38. > :01:45.Hello, Andrew. Let me see if I can clarify some things, are you a
:01:46. > :01:51.member of Ukip? I a patron of Ukip so I don't stop being a member. So
:01:52. > :01:55.you are still a member? I am, apparently for life. Are you still
:01:56. > :02:01.hoping to bankroll Ukip? Not at the moment. Why is that? The internal
:02:02. > :02:06.problems we have had in Ukip have been aired, and a lot needs to
:02:07. > :02:10.happen in the party in terms of professionalising it and I think it
:02:11. > :02:16.is ill-prepared for this general election. Are you going to run in
:02:17. > :02:23.Clacton? I will be if selected. For Ukip? Yes. Have you been to Clacton?
:02:24. > :02:27.I've been with Nigel Mansell on the campaign. You will run for a
:02:28. > :02:33.constituency you've only been in once? Yes, why does that surprise
:02:34. > :02:38.you? You know nothing about it. I've just recently decided to become the
:02:39. > :02:42.candidate there. Did you know where it is? Of course I do, your piece
:02:43. > :02:46.the other night was completely wrong. I said I knew where it was
:02:47. > :02:52.but I didn't know much about it. Maybe the people of Clacton will
:02:53. > :02:58.regard you as a carpetbagger? Why? Because you have never been there.
:02:59. > :03:02.Most politicians are carpetbaggers and I will be there for the right
:03:03. > :03:08.reasons. I thought it was because of your visceral hatred of Douglas
:03:09. > :03:12.Carswell. He only lasted 24 hours after I announced my candidacy so we
:03:13. > :03:15.will see what happens. The main thing I am going to Clacton on
:03:16. > :03:18.Monday to meet the Ukip councillors, see what the issues are and see if
:03:19. > :03:25.they want me as a candidate. They may not want me. Who do you think
:03:26. > :03:31.you will be up against? The potential Conservative candidate.
:03:32. > :03:36.Who in Ukip? I don't suppose anyone in Ukip will stand against me, I
:03:37. > :03:43.wouldn't have thought. Really? I would have thought. Money talks! Why
:03:44. > :03:47.do you say that? You talked about having a pirate radio station to
:03:48. > :03:49.blast into Clacton so it is not covered by the election rules.
:03:50. > :03:55.You've been talking about financing a sort of right-wing Momentum
:03:56. > :04:00.movement. I just wonder, has politics now just become a
:04:01. > :04:03.Richmond's hobby? From my perspective the reason I'm
:04:04. > :04:06.interested in it is if you have looked at what has happened in the
:04:07. > :04:10.country, it's clear the Conservatives will have a massive
:04:11. > :04:16.majority. -- has politics become a rich man's hobby. Only putting up
:04:17. > :04:23.candidates not against Brexit MPs. Is Ukip over? I don't think so. The
:04:24. > :04:25.electoral maths is interesting because first-past-the-post
:04:26. > :04:36.effectively could help Ukip in this example. Ukip got one MP with 4
:04:37. > :04:40.million votes. What we are seeing is the total collapse of Labour. In
:04:41. > :04:43.that situation there are certain seats up north in Hartlepool and
:04:44. > :04:46.other seats like that, the total collapse of the Labour Party could
:04:47. > :04:53.help Ukip to win a few seats. Is Ukip over? It looks that way, yes.
:04:54. > :04:56.They haven't made much of a dent in Labour's vote in the north, they
:04:57. > :05:00.don't really have a defining issue anymore and all the polls we have
:05:01. > :05:05.seen published since the election was called show Ukip vote is going
:05:06. > :05:08.to the Conservatives. Is Ukip over? It always happens when the
:05:09. > :05:13.Conservative Party goes far to the right, really hard Brexit, there is
:05:14. > :05:19.no space for BMP, Ukip and all of that. Are you associating the BNP
:05:20. > :05:23.with Ukip? Or that, movements to the right of the Conservatives get eaten
:05:24. > :05:28.up one the Conservatives move as far right as Theresa May has done. I
:05:29. > :05:33.think what your enterprise shows is how it's really time to reform
:05:34. > :05:38.funding of political parties. It is disgraceful that very rich people
:05:39. > :05:41.can move in and bankroll the Brexit campaigned to the extent that they
:05:42. > :05:47.did. We need proper state funding of parties. The union is bankrolling
:05:48. > :05:55.Labour. I assume the reform would include trade unions? Indeed. Ukip
:05:56. > :05:59.has lost its talisman in Nigel Farage, it was a one-man party, I
:06:00. > :06:04.have to say, people like Tim. Having voted for Brexit its reason to be
:06:05. > :06:08.has gone. It will still take votes from Labour and the Conservatives
:06:09. > :06:11.but probably only from the don't knows. There are seats in certain
:06:12. > :06:17.places where if enough Tories back Ukip dated when. Hartlepool is an
:06:18. > :06:21.example. Were the Tories will never win. The demise of Ukip has been
:06:22. > :06:25.forecasted many times before but I don't see a Tory candidate winning
:06:26. > :06:29.in a place like Hartlepool. So we could see, and I think we will see,
:06:30. > :06:34.the total collapse of the Labour vote. We shall see. The leader of
:06:35. > :06:38.the party of which you say you are still a patron, Paul Nuttall, said
:06:39. > :06:46.he would ban the Burcea and the niqab in public, what is your view?
:06:47. > :06:51.-- the niqab and the Burcea? I'm not in agreement with that. If it is a
:06:52. > :06:54.security issue at airports or public transport it could be acceptable but
:06:55. > :06:58.I'm not in favour of curtailing people's writes. You have gone
:06:59. > :07:02.further than him, haven't you? You tweeted you wanted to ban Muslim
:07:03. > :07:06.immigration. In my view the problem we have had with the lack of
:07:07. > :07:10.integration in certain communities has come about through mass
:07:11. > :07:14.open-door immigration. If you are a must win you wouldn't be allowed in?
:07:15. > :07:19.What I said in the tweet was I think they should be a ban on
:07:20. > :07:25.immigration... You said Muslim immigration. That's what I believe.
:07:26. > :07:28.If you are a world famous doctor coming to help one of our big
:07:29. > :07:31.teaching hospitals in this country because you are a Muslim you could
:07:32. > :07:35.not get in? We have to start somewhere, there are huge problems
:07:36. > :07:40.in areas where 20% of the population don't speak the language, they
:07:41. > :07:46.haven't integrated. You should read the rest of the tweet, it is control
:07:47. > :07:49.of immigration from a 10-year ban on unskilled immigration. The first
:07:50. > :07:53.thing you said was to ban Muslim immigration, it is in black and
:07:54. > :07:57.white. I have said that, I do not dispute that. I was questioning
:07:58. > :08:01.that. There is my answer, you cannot tell somebody's will adjust freedoms
:08:02. > :08:06.but what you can do is stop adding to the problem. Doesn't that sound a
:08:07. > :08:11.bit like the BNP? It's as like BNP and like Trump. Its, we hate
:08:12. > :08:16.Muslims, fine, if that is what you are standing for, that is clear. The
:08:17. > :08:18.final word is we have had open-door mass immigration from the
:08:19. > :08:21.Conservative Party, we've had it from the Labour Party and its fine
:08:22. > :08:25.if you are in north London to say these things, if you live in Oldham
:08:26. > :08:29.and your community has been radically changed and you have a
:08:30. > :08:32.whole population not integrating in, not speaking the language, something
:08:33. > :08:37.has got to be done. We had better leave it there. Thank you for coming
:08:38. > :08:39.in. I am en route to Clacton. We will see how you get on there.
:08:40. > :08:42.Now, Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was on TV earlier today
:08:43. > :08:45.and he was asked again about an issue that he's been
:08:46. > :08:47.asked about repeatedly - his attitude to homosexuality.
:08:48. > :08:57.when they asked you whether gay sex was a sin.
:08:58. > :08:59.Come on, Robert, I've been asked this question loads
:09:00. > :09:03.few days and I have been clear, even in the House of Commons,
:09:04. > :09:13.It's possible I'm not the only person getting tired
:09:14. > :09:17.Probably, but then why don't you just close it down?
:09:18. > :09:29.Toby Young, why does he get into such a mess over this? I mean, he is
:09:30. > :09:33.leader of the Liberal Democrats. Its 2017. I guess the reason he keeps
:09:34. > :09:37.refusing to answer that question is because what the implication is that
:09:38. > :09:43.he does think that homosexual acts are sinful, and he cannot bring
:09:44. > :09:47.himself not to say that, or to say what Robert Peston and others want
:09:48. > :09:52.him to say because he is an evangelical Christian who converted
:09:53. > :09:54.at the age of 20, 21, and clearly he really struggles with this issue and
:09:55. > :09:59.I think it will be really difficult for the Lib Dems to promote, or even
:10:00. > :10:02.Lib Dem candidates like Vince Cable, to promote the idea of the
:10:03. > :10:06.Progressive Alliance even though Tim has ruled it out, if he is not
:10:07. > :10:14.prepared to say I don't think homosexual acts are sinful. What is
:10:15. > :10:17.your view? It is disastrous if that is what he really thinks but Preston
:10:18. > :10:20.did not push the hard. I'm not sure he understood the difference about
:10:21. > :10:23.the question between gay sex and being gay. I think he just thought
:10:24. > :10:27.he was going on saying I'm not anti-gay. He needs to command
:10:28. > :10:31.immediately and clarify it. If you are right and he does actually think
:10:32. > :10:35.it is a sin he is in real trouble. There is a slight parallel with what
:10:36. > :10:39.police said before about Jeremy Corbyn, how his unilateral nuclear
:10:40. > :10:44.policy would appeal to the hard core of the left. The problem for Tim
:10:45. > :10:49.Farron with what he is saying here, while he is an evangelical
:10:50. > :10:56.Christian, this will not appeal to traditional Liberal Democrats. An
:10:57. > :11:00.LGBT community member cannot possibly vote for an MP who believes
:11:01. > :11:04.that a sexual act between homosexuals is sinful. He has not
:11:05. > :11:08.made that clear. Of course, he wants to stop Brexit as well so he is
:11:09. > :11:11.neither liberal nor democratic. He will have seven weeks to make it
:11:12. > :11:16.clear because I am sure he will be asked again. We have the chairman of
:11:17. > :11:20.the Conservative Party on earlier, Polly. An important figure for the
:11:21. > :11:24.Tory campaign. What did you make of what he said? I don't think he will
:11:25. > :11:28.have him on very often, he didn't do brilliantly. I think they will bring
:11:29. > :11:33.back chemical Ali, Michael Fallon, he can say anything with a straight
:11:34. > :11:38.face, he can say black is white. Michael Fallon, chemical Ali? Why do
:11:39. > :11:44.you say that? He can absolutely say black is white. For instance if you
:11:45. > :11:51.look back at what he said, you challenged him about the energy
:11:52. > :11:55.policy, when Ed Miliband came out with it, he said any kind of freeze
:11:56. > :12:00.would stop investment, the lights will go out. You have him on, he
:12:01. > :12:06.will say the exact opposite. He is magic at that. But I don't think
:12:07. > :12:13.your guy today was up to the job. If Michael Fallon was chemical Ali, or
:12:14. > :12:19.we should say chemical Fally, Patrick was more like comical Ali.
:12:20. > :12:23.The whole Iraq war is rushing back at me. He is the warm up comedian,
:12:24. > :12:28.there is another six weeks to go, just getting things started. What
:12:29. > :12:31.did you think? I don't think he was too bad, it was difficult for him to
:12:32. > :12:36.say exactly what was in the 2050 manifesto is going to be replicated
:12:37. > :12:38.in the Conservatives' manifesto during this general election, he
:12:39. > :12:42.doesn't want to be seen rowing back on stuff but on the other hand I
:12:43. > :12:46.don't think he can conceal the fact they will be far fewer commitments
:12:47. > :12:49.in this Conservative manifesto than in the last one, as you and I know,
:12:50. > :12:58.it was full of rash promises last time because they thought they would
:12:59. > :13:00.have to trade a lot of them away in the negotiations with the Liberal
:13:01. > :13:03.Democrats to form a second coalition so they are saddled with policies
:13:04. > :13:05.they don't particularly want to be hemmed in by. The forthcoming
:13:06. > :13:08.Conservative manifesto will be much lighter and shorter with fewer
:13:09. > :13:12.commitments. Different? Some stuff jumped from the 2050 manifesto? I
:13:13. > :13:15.think so but we will see a commitment to run schools to
:13:16. > :13:18.overcome that hurdle in the next parliament and I don't think, in
:13:19. > :13:22.spite of what you think, Polly, that it will be a hard tack to the right.
:13:23. > :13:27.I think if anything the mood music of the Conservative manifesto will
:13:28. > :13:31.be a centrist inclusive one. The mood music will be because the
:13:32. > :13:34.specifics would be there. She is good at saying governing for
:13:35. > :13:39.everybody and the many and not the few but when you look at the hard
:13:40. > :13:42.facts of what her and Hammond's budget looks like, you look at her
:13:43. > :13:49.hard Brexit, it's a very different story. Or that, the music has
:13:50. > :13:57.stopped for this week! Thank you. I will be back next week at the normal
:13:58. > :14:00.time of 11am on Sunday morning. On BBC One The Daily Politics is back
:14:01. > :14:05.at midday tomorrow and we will be on every day next week on BBC Two.
:14:06. > :14:34.Remember, if it's Sunday, it is The Sunday Politics.
:14:35. > :14:37.There'll be a couple of hours of just fantastic music, really,
:14:38. > :14:40.all the Ella classics, as well as some very special guests,
:14:41. > :14:46.we have Mica Paris, Imelda May, Dame Cleo Laine
:14:47. > :14:49.'There's a side to Rory that the public doesn't see.