:00:35. > :00:38.Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:39. > :00:41.Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball tactics
:00:42. > :00:46.and intimidation by unions in industrial disputes. That's our top
:00:47. > :00:50.story. Thousands dead. Hundreds of
:00:51. > :00:55.thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to
:00:56. > :00:57.help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask
:00:58. > :01:02.International Development Secretary Justine Greening.
:01:03. > :01:05.Winter is coming and so, it seems, is another crisis in England's
:01:06. > :01:06.hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow Health Secretary how he'd put a stop
:01:07. > :01:21.to Stay with us in Yorkshire and
:01:22. > :01:22.Lincolnshire. We reflect on the first
:01:23. > :01:30.and renewed calls to get lorries off the roads in peak hours.
:01:31. > :01:37.With me, the best and brightest political panel that money can buy.
:01:38. > :01:39.Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this week, Zoe Williams, who'll be
:01:40. > :01:45.tweeting their thoughts throughout the programme.
:01:46. > :01:47.The Government has announced a review to investigate what the Prime
:01:48. > :01:59.Minister has called "industrial intimidation" by trade union
:02:00. > :02:03.activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair a panel to examine allegations of
:02:04. > :02:05.the kind of tactics that came to light during the Grangemouth
:02:06. > :02:08.dispute, when the Unite union took their protests - replete with a
:02:09. > :02:14.giant rat - outside the family homes of the firms' bosses. Earlier this
:02:15. > :02:21.morning the Cabinet office minister, Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and
:02:22. > :02:24.this is what he had to say. To look at whether the law currently works
:02:25. > :02:29.and see if it is ineffective in preventing the kind of intimidatory
:02:30. > :02:39.activity that was alleged to have taken place around range mouth
:02:40. > :02:44.during the previous disputes -- Grangemouth. We make no presumptions
:02:45. > :02:47.at the beginning of this. I do think it is a responsible thing for the
:02:48. > :02:51.government to establish what happened and really do a proper
:02:52. > :02:59.review into whether the law is adequate to meet the needs. That was
:03:00. > :03:03.Francis Maude. This is a purely political move, isn't it? Unite did
:03:04. > :03:08.this a couple of times, it is hardly happening all over the country but
:03:09. > :03:14.the government want to say, we are prepared to investigate Unite
:03:15. > :03:18.properly, Labour isn't. This seemed a lot worse when I thought it was a
:03:19. > :03:24.real rat. I thought it was a giant dead rat. I am not sure if you know
:03:25. > :03:30.much about rats but real rats are not this big, even the ones in
:03:31. > :03:34.London. The thing is, obviously it is naked politics but I think it is
:03:35. > :03:39.more intelligent than it looks. They are trying to taint Miliband as a
:03:40. > :03:44.week union puppet and that doesn't really wash. They hammer away with
:03:45. > :03:50.it and it might wash for some people. But it really castrates
:03:51. > :03:54.Miliband in the important issues he has to tackle. Zero hours, living
:03:55. > :03:59.wage, all of those things in which he needs to be in concert with the
:04:00. > :04:06.unions, and to use their expertise. He is making them absolutely toxic
:04:07. > :04:17.to go anywhere near. It keeps the Unite story alive, have to kill --
:04:18. > :04:25.particularly since Mr Miller band is under pressure to reopen the
:04:26. > :04:35.investigation into what Unite are up to -- Mr Miliband. They are
:04:36. > :04:39.frustrated, not only at the BBC but the media generally at what they
:04:40. > :04:43.think is a lack of coverage. I see the political rationale from that
:04:44. > :04:48.respect. There is a risk. There are union members who either vote Tory
:04:49. > :04:55.or are open to the idea of voting Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party
:04:56. > :05:09.comes across as too zealous in as -- its antipathy, there is an electoral
:05:10. > :05:13.consequence. Ed Miliband has been careful to keep a distance. Yes
:05:14. > :05:17.they depend on vast amounts of money. When Len McCluskey had a real
:05:18. > :05:21.go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was straight out there with a very
:05:22. > :05:26.strong statement. Essentially Len McCluskey wanted Blairites in the
:05:27. > :05:29.shadow cabinet sacked and Ed Miliband was keen to distance
:05:30. > :05:35.himself or for that is why it is not quite sticking. Another story in the
:05:36. > :05:41.Sunday papers this morning, the Mail on Sunday got hold of some e-mails.
:05:42. > :05:45.When I saw the headline I thought it was a huge cache of e-mails, it
:05:46. > :05:50.turns out to be a couple. They peel away the cover on the relationship
:05:51. > :05:57.between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts
:05:58. > :06:05.describing what Mr balls is trying to do as a nightmare. How bad are
:06:06. > :06:08.the relations? They are pretty bad and these e-mails confirm the
:06:09. > :06:13.biggest open signal in Westminster, which is that relations are pretty
:06:14. > :06:17.tense, -- open secret. That Ed Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls
:06:18. > :06:22.is acknowledging the economy has grown that Labour needs to admit to
:06:23. > :06:30.past mistakes. The sort of great open signal is confirmed. On a scale
:06:31. > :06:37.of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown was ten. I think it is between six
:06:38. > :06:43.and seven. They occupy this joint suite of offices that George Cameron
:06:44. > :06:48.and -- David Cameron and George Osborne had. It is not just on the
:06:49. > :06:52.economy that there were tensions, there were clearly tensions over
:06:53. > :06:58.HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question over it at his conference. There
:06:59. > :07:00.will be more tensions when it comes to the third runway because my
:07:01. > :07:05.information is that Mr balls wants to do it and Ed Miliband almost
:07:06. > :07:11.resigned over it when he was in government. I don't think Ed
:07:12. > :07:14.Miliband is thinking very politically because he has tried
:07:15. > :07:20.live without Ed Balls and that is not tenable either. -- life without.
:07:21. > :07:25.He has defined a way of making it work. That is where Tony Blair had
:07:26. > :07:29.the edge on any modern politician. He didn't want to make Ed Balls his
:07:30. > :07:33.Shadow Chancellor, he had to. Somebody said to him, if you make Ed
:07:34. > :07:37.Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will be the last decision you take as
:07:38. > :07:55.leader of the Labour Party. Is it as bad? I was surprised at how tame the
:07:56. > :07:59.e-mails were. At the FT it is compulsory, one French word per
:08:00. > :08:04.sentence! To call him a nightmare, compared to what they are willing to
:08:05. > :08:07.say in briefings, conversations bits of frustrations they express
:08:08. > :08:13.verbally come what is documented in the e-mails is actually pretty
:08:14. > :08:16.light. It has been a grim week for the people of the Philippines as
:08:17. > :08:21.they count the cost of the devastation wrought by Typhoon
:08:22. > :08:24.Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived near the worst hit areas - part of
:08:25. > :08:30.Britain's contribution to bring aid to the country.
:08:31. > :08:33.It has been one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the
:08:34. > :08:36.Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the country nine days ago, leaving
:08:37. > :08:42.devastation in its wake. The numbers involved are shocking. The official
:08:43. > :08:47.death toll is over 3600 people, with many thousands more unaccounted for.
:08:48. > :08:50.More than half a million people have lost their homes and the UN
:08:51. > :08:55.estimates 11 million have been affected. David Cameron announced on
:08:56. > :08:59.Friday that the UK government is to give an extra ?30 million in aid,
:09:00. > :09:05.taking the total British figure ?250 million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft
:09:06. > :09:11.landed yesterday with equipment to help aid workers get too hard to
:09:12. > :09:14.reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on its way and due to arrive next
:09:15. > :09:22.weekend. The British public have once again dipped into their pockets
:09:23. > :09:26.and given generously. They have given more than ?30 million to the
:09:27. > :09:28.Disasters Emergency Committee. The International Development
:09:29. > :09:32.Secretary, Justine Greening, joins me now for the Sunday Interview
:09:33. > :09:36.Good morning, Secretary of State. How much of the ?50 million that the
:09:37. > :09:42.government has allocated has got through so far? All of it has landed
:09:43. > :09:46.on the ground now. HMS Daring has turned up, that will be able to
:09:47. > :09:50.start getting help out to some of those more outlying islands that
:09:51. > :09:55.have been hard to reach. We have seen Save the Children and Oxfam
:09:56. > :10:00.really being able to get aid out on the ground. We have a plane taking
:10:01. > :10:04.off today that will not read just carrying out more equipment to help
:10:05. > :10:10.clear the roads but will also have their staff on board, too. We have
:10:11. > :10:16.?50 million of aid actually on the ground? We instantly chartered
:10:17. > :10:23.flights directly from Dubai where we have preprepared human Terry and
:10:24. > :10:29.supplies, and started humanity work -- humanitarian supplies.
:10:30. > :10:37.A lot of it has now arrived. I think we have done a huge amount so far.
:10:38. > :10:42.We have gone beyond just providing humanitarian supplies, to getting
:10:43. > :10:46.the Royal Air Force involved. They have helped us to get equipment out
:10:47. > :10:51.there quickly. We have HMS Illustrious sailing over there now.
:10:52. > :10:54.Why has that taken so long? It was based in the Gulf and is not going
:10:55. > :10:58.to get there until two weeks after the storm first hit and that is the
:10:59. > :11:03.one ship we have with lots of helicopters. The first decision we
:11:04. > :11:08.took was to make sure we could get the fastest vessel out there that
:11:09. > :11:11.was able to help HMS Daring. HMS Illustrious was just finishing an
:11:12. > :11:15.exercise and planning to start to head back towards the UK. We have
:11:16. > :11:21.said to not do that, and diverted it. Shouldn't it have happened more
:11:22. > :11:25.quickly? We took the decisions as fast as we were able to, you can't
:11:26. > :11:30.just turn a big warship around like the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we
:11:31. > :11:34.took those decisions and that is while it will be taking over from
:11:35. > :11:40.HMS Daring come and that is why HMS Daring is ready there. It will be
:11:41. > :11:44.able to provide key support and expertise that has not been there so
:11:45. > :11:50.far. The US Navy is doing the heavy lifting here. The US Navy had the
:11:51. > :11:55.USS Washington, there is an aircraft carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel
:11:56. > :11:57.and they have the fleet, they are doing the real work. We obviously
:11:58. > :12:02.helping but the Americans are taking the lead. It is a big international
:12:03. > :12:07.effort. Countries like the US and the UK, that have a broader ability
:12:08. > :12:15.to support that goes beyond simply call humanitarian supplies -- have
:12:16. > :12:20.made sure we have brought our logistics knowledge, we have sent
:12:21. > :12:25.out our naval vessels. It shows we are working across government to
:12:26. > :12:32.respond to this crisis. Why does only just over 4% of your aid budget
:12:33. > :12:37.go on emergency disaster and response? A lot depends on what
:12:38. > :12:41.crises hit in any given year. We have done a huge amount, responding
:12:42. > :12:46.to the crisis in Syria, the conflict there and the fact we have 2 million
:12:47. > :12:50.refugees who have fled the country. We are part of an international
:12:51. > :12:55.effort in supporting them. Shouldn't we beginning more money to that
:12:56. > :12:59.rather than some of the other programmes where it is harder to see
:13:00. > :13:05.the results question of if we were to give more money to the refugees,
:13:06. > :13:10.it would be a visible result. We could see an improvement in the
:13:11. > :13:14.lives of children, men and women. What we need to do is alongside that
:13:15. > :13:19.is stop those situations from happening in the first place. A lot
:13:20. > :13:22.of our development spend is helping countries to stay stable. Look at
:13:23. > :13:28.some of the work we are doing in Somalia, much more sensible. Not
:13:29. > :13:33.just from an immigration but there is a threat perspective. There is a
:13:34. > :13:38.lot of terrorism coming from Somalia. You only have to look at
:13:39. > :13:43.Kenya recently to see that. Which is why you talk about what we do with
:13:44. > :13:47.the rest of the spend. It is why it is responsible to work with the
:13:48. > :13:54.government of Somalia. Should we give more, bigger part of the budget
:13:55. > :13:59.to disaster relief or not? I think we get it about right, we have to be
:14:00. > :14:05.flexible and we are. This Philippine relief is on top of the work in
:14:06. > :14:08.Syria. Where can you show me a correlation between us giving aid to
:14:09. > :14:14.some failed nation, or nearly failed nation, and that cutting down on
:14:15. > :14:17.terrorism? If you look at the work we have done in Pakistan, a huge
:14:18. > :14:24.amount of work. Some of it short-term. It is written by
:14:25. > :14:31.terrorism. That is -- ridden by terrorism. That is not going to fix
:14:32. > :14:40.it self in a sense. Look at the work that we do in investing in
:14:41. > :14:48.education. The things that little girls like Malala talk about as
:14:49. > :14:53.being absolutely key. We are ramping up our aid to Pakistan, it will be
:14:54. > :14:59.close to half ?1 billion by the time of the election. Why should British
:15:00. > :15:07.taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion to a country where only 0.5% of
:15:08. > :15:15.people in Pakistan pay income tax, and 70% of their own MPs don't pay
:15:16. > :15:20.income tax. It is a good point and that is why we have been working
:15:21. > :15:30.with their tax revenue authority to help them increase that and push
:15:31. > :15:36.forward the tax reform. You are right, and I have setup a team that
:15:37. > :15:40.will go out and work with many of these countries so they can raise
:15:41. > :15:53.their own revenues. You really think you will raise the amount of tax by
:15:54. > :15:59.sending out the British HRM see How many troops I we sending out to
:16:00. > :16:06.protect them? They don't need troops. We make sure that we have a
:16:07. > :16:17.duty of care alongside our staff, but we have to respond to any crisis
:16:18. > :16:22.like the Philippines, and alongside other countries we have two work
:16:23. > :16:27.alongside them so that they can reinvest in their own public
:16:28. > :16:33.services. If they can create their own taxes, will we stop paying aid?
:16:34. > :16:39.We need to look at that but the new Pakistan Government has been very
:16:40. > :16:47.clear it is a priority and we will be helping them in pursuing that.
:16:48. > :16:54.Let me show you a picture. Who are these young women? I don't know I'm
:16:55. > :16:58.sure you are about to tell me. They are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and
:16:59. > :17:05.I'm surprised you don't know because they have only managed to become so
:17:06. > :17:11.famous because your department has financed them to the tune of ?4
:17:12. > :17:14.million. All of the work we do with women on the ground, making sure
:17:15. > :17:21.they have a voice in their local communities, making sure they have
:17:22. > :17:29.some control over what happens to their own bodies in terms of
:17:30. > :17:35.tackling FGM, female genital mutilation... Did you know your
:17:36. > :17:43.department has spent ?4 million on the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I
:17:44. > :17:48.do, and we have to work with girls and show them there is a life ahead
:17:49. > :17:51.of them with opportunity and potential that goes beyond what many
:17:52. > :17:57.of them will experience, which includes early and forced marriage.
:17:58. > :18:08.It is part of the work we do with local communities to change
:18:09. > :18:12.attitudes everything you have just said is immeasurable, and they
:18:13. > :18:17.broadcast on a radio station that doesn't reach most of the country so
:18:18. > :18:25.it cannot have the impact. It only reaches 20 million people and the
:18:26. > :18:32.project has been condemned saying there were serious inefficiencies.
:18:33. > :18:36.That aid report was done a while ago now, and it was talking about the
:18:37. > :18:41.project when it first got going and a lot of improvements have happened
:18:42. > :18:45.since. I would go back to the point that we are working in very
:18:46. > :18:49.difficult environments where we are trying to get longer term change on
:18:50. > :18:53.the ground and that means working directly with communities but also
:18:54. > :18:59.investing for the long-term, investing in some of these girls
:19:00. > :19:05.start changing attitudes in them and their communities. Why does the
:19:06. > :19:17.British taxpayers spend ?5 million on a Bangladesh version of Question
:19:18. > :19:23.Time? We work with the BBC to make sure we can get accountabilities...
:19:24. > :19:44.That is bigger then the BBC Question Time Normal -- budget. That includes
:19:45. > :19:50.the cost of David Dimbleby's tattoo! We are working to improve
:19:51. > :19:54.people's prospects but also we are working to improve their ability to
:19:55. > :19:57.hold their governments to account so that when they are not getting
:19:58. > :20:01.services on the ground, they have ways they can raise those concerns
:20:02. > :20:07.with the people who are there to deliver services for them. In your
:20:08. > :20:15.own personal view, should the next Conservative Government, if there is
:20:16. > :20:19.one, should you continue to ring fence spending on foreign aid? But
:20:20. > :20:25.it is critical that if we are going to spend 7.7% of our national
:20:26. > :20:30.income, we should make sure it is in our national interest and that means
:20:31. > :20:34.having a clear approach to humanitarian responses, in keeping
:20:35. > :20:39.the country safe, and a clearer approach on helping drive economic
:20:40. > :20:46.development and jobs so there is a long-term end of the dependency Do
:20:47. > :20:53.you believe in an shrine in the percentage of our GDP that goes on
:20:54. > :21:00.foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is a coalition agreement. There have
:21:01. > :21:05.been a lot of agreements that you are sceptical about ring fencing. We
:21:06. > :21:15.are focused on shaking up the economy and improving our public
:21:16. > :21:24.finances. Why haven't you done that? At the end of the day we will be
:21:25. > :21:31.accountable but we are committed to doing that. You are running out of
:21:32. > :21:35.time, will you do it? I hope we can find the Parliamentary time, but
:21:36. > :21:44.even if we don't, we have acted as if that law is in place and we have
:21:45. > :21:47.already met 0.7% commitment. If you are British voter that doesn't
:21:48. > :21:54.believe that we should enshrine that in by law, which means that with a
:21:55. > :21:59.growing economy foreign aid will rise by definition, and if you think
:22:00. > :22:03.we should be spending less money on the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom
:22:04. > :22:10.should you wrote in the next election? I think we have a very
:22:11. > :22:17.sensible approach. I don't know what the various party manifestoes.. The
:22:18. > :22:22.only party who thinks we shouldn't be doing this is UKIP. I think you
:22:23. > :22:36.have to look at the response to both the Philippines crisis and Children
:22:37. > :22:40.In Need. Of all the steps we are taking to get the country back on
:22:41. > :22:46.track, it shows the British people will respond to need when they need
:22:47. > :22:53.it and it is one of the things that makes Britain's special.
:22:54. > :22:55.Thank you. "It's always winter but never Christmas" - that's how
:22:56. > :22:57.doctors describe life inside accident and emergency. The College
:22:58. > :23:02.of Emergency Medicine have warned that this year could bring the
:23:03. > :23:04."worst crisis on record". If that dire prediction comes, expect a
:23:05. > :23:08.spring of political recriminations, but how prepared are the NHS in
:23:09. > :23:16.England? And what do they make of this autumnal speculation? Giles has
:23:17. > :23:20.been to Leeds to find out. This winter has already come to our
:23:21. > :23:30.hospitals. It had an official start date, November the 3rd. That is when
:23:31. > :23:34.weekly updates are delivered to the NHS's most senior planners, alerting
:23:35. > :23:42.them to any sudden changes in patient numbers coming in. Where do
:23:43. > :23:48.they numbers register most then A They are the barometer for what
:23:49. > :23:53.is going on everywhere else, and they are the pressure point, so if
:23:54. > :23:58.the system is beginning to struggle then it is in the A department
:23:59. > :24:05.that we see the problems. It is not that the problems are the A
:24:06. > :24:11.departments, but they are the place where it all comes together. Plans
:24:12. > :24:16.to tackle those problems start being drawn up in May and they look at
:24:17. > :24:29.trends, even taking notice of any flu epidemics in New Zealand. They
:24:30. > :24:33.also look at the amount of bets But the weather, economic realities
:24:34. > :24:38.structural reforms, and changes to the general health of the
:24:39. > :24:43.population, are all factors they have to consider. We get huge
:24:44. > :24:48.amounts of information through the winter in order to help the NHS be
:24:49. > :24:52.the best it can be, but we had to redouble our efforts this year
:24:53. > :24:58.because we expected to be a difficult winter. We know the NHS is
:24:59. > :25:04.stretched so we are working hard to be as good as we can be. That means
:25:05. > :25:11.they are looking at winter staffing levels, plans to ask for help from
:25:12. > :25:15.neighbouring hospitals, and dovetailing help with GP surgeries,
:25:16. > :25:22.and still having the ability to move up an extra gear, a rehearsed
:25:23. > :25:28.emergency plan if the NHS had to face a major disease pandemic. You
:25:29. > :25:32.spend any time in any of our hospitals and you realise the NHS
:25:33. > :25:36.knows that winter is coming and they are making plans, but you also get a
:25:37. > :25:41.palpable feeling amongst health workers across the entire system
:25:42. > :25:47.that they do get fed up of being used as a political football.
:25:48. > :25:51.Doctors and all health care professionals are frustrated about
:25:52. > :25:56.the politics that surrounds the NHS in health care. They go to work to
:25:57. > :26:02.treat patients as best as they can, and the political knock-about does
:26:03. > :26:06.not help anyone. I find it frustrating when there is a
:26:07. > :26:12.commentary that suggests the NHS does not planned, when it is
:26:13. > :26:16.surprised by winter, and wherever that comes from it is hard to take,
:26:17. > :26:27.knowing how much we do nationally and how much our hard working front
:26:28. > :26:34.line staff are doing. When the Coalition have recently tried to
:26:35. > :26:40.open up the NHS to be a more independent body, it is clear the
:26:41. > :26:46.NHS feel they have had an unhealthy dose of political wrangling between
:26:47. > :26:51.parties on policy. The NHS is not infallible or making any guarantees,
:26:52. > :26:53.but they seem confident that they and their patients can survive the
:26:54. > :26:56.winter. Joining me now from Salford in the
:26:57. > :27:07.Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham. Tell me this, if you were
:27:08. > :27:14.health secretary now, you just took over in an emergency election, what
:27:15. > :27:21.would you do to avoid another winter crisis? I would immediately halt the
:27:22. > :27:27.closure of NHS walk-in centres. We heard this week that around one in
:27:28. > :27:31.four walk-in centres are closed so it makes no sense whatsoever for the
:27:32. > :27:37.Government to allow the continued closure of them. I would put nurses
:27:38. > :27:42.back on the end of phones and restore an NHS direct style service.
:27:43. > :27:50.The new 111 service is not in a position to provide help to people
:27:51. > :27:55.this winter. I think the time has come to rethink how the NHS care is
:27:56. > :27:59.particularly for older people so I propose the full integration of
:28:00. > :28:05.health and social care. It cannot make any sense any more to have this
:28:06. > :28:09.approach where we cut social care and let elderly people drift to
:28:10. > :28:18.hospitals in greater numbers. We have two rethink it as a whole
:28:19. > :28:22.service. So you would repeal some of the Tory reforms and move
:28:23. > :28:28.commissioning to local authorities so the NHS should brace itself for
:28:29. > :28:33.another major top-down health reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew
:28:34. > :28:44.Lansley I will work with the organisations ie inherit. He could
:28:45. > :28:49.work with primary care trusts but he turned it upside down when it needed
:28:50. > :29:03.stability. I will not do that but I will repeal the health and social
:29:04. > :29:07.care act because last week we heard that hospitals and health services
:29:08. > :29:11.cannot get on and make sensible merger collaborations because of
:29:12. > :29:17.this nonsense now that the NHS is bound by competition law. Let me get
:29:18. > :29:21.your views on a number of ideas that have been floated either by the
:29:22. > :29:31.press or the Coalition. We haven't got much time. Do you welcome the
:29:32. > :29:39.plan to bring back named GPs for over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder
:29:40. > :29:42.to get the GP appointment under this Government because David Cameron
:29:43. > :29:48.scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that Tony Blair brought in. He was
:29:49. > :29:53.challenged in the 2005 election about the difficulty of getting a GP
:29:54. > :29:57.appointment, and Tony Blair brought in the commitment that people should
:29:58. > :30:04.be able to get that within 48 hours. That has now been scrapped.
:30:05. > :30:08.Do you welcome the idea of allowing everyone to choose their own GP
:30:09. > :30:14.surgery even if it is not in our traditional catchment area? I
:30:15. > :30:20.proposed that just before the last election, so yes. Do you welcome the
:30:21. > :30:25.idea of how a practice is being rated being a matter of public
:30:26. > :30:31.record, and of us knowing how much, at least from the NHS, our GP earns?
:30:32. > :30:35.Of course, every political party supports transparency in the NHS.
:30:36. > :30:40.More information for the public of that kind is a good thing. Do you
:30:41. > :30:47.welcome this plan to make it will form the collect in an NHS hospital
:30:48. > :30:52.-- make wilful neglect a criminal offence. It is important to say you
:30:53. > :30:56.can't pick and mix these recommendations, you can't say we
:30:57. > :31:00.will have that one and not the others. It was a balanced package
:31:01. > :31:04.that Sir Robert Francis put forward. My message is that it must be
:31:05. > :31:09.permitted in full. If we are to learn the lessons, the whole package
:31:10. > :31:13.must be addressed, and that includes safe staffing levels across the NHS.
:31:14. > :31:18.Staff have a responsible to two patients at the government also has
:31:19. > :31:25.responsible at T2 NHS staff and it should not let them work in
:31:26. > :31:41.understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a responsibility to NHS staff. Is
:31:42. > :31:46.there a part of the 2004 agreements that you regret and should be
:31:47. > :31:50.undone? A lot of myths have been built up about the contract. When it
:31:51. > :31:56.came in, there was a huge shortage of GPs across the country. Some
:31:57. > :32:01.communities struggle to recruit. This myth that the government have
:32:02. > :32:07.built, that the 2004 GP contract is responsible for the AM decries is,
:32:08. > :32:15.it is spin of the worst possible kind -- the A crisis. You would
:32:16. > :32:19.redo that contract? It was redone under our time in government and
:32:20. > :32:22.change to make it better value for money. GPs should be focused on
:32:23. > :32:27.improving the health of their patients and that is a very good
:32:28. > :32:33.principle. Not so great if you can't get 24-hour access. I agree with
:32:34. > :32:38.that. We brought in evening and weekend opening for GPs. That is
:32:39. > :32:42.another thing that has gone in reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much
:32:43. > :32:48.harder to get a GP appointment under him and that is one of the reasons
:32:49. > :32:55.why A is an oppressor. -- under pressure. What do you make of the
:32:56. > :33:01.review into intimidatory tactics by unions? If there has been
:33:02. > :33:08.intimidation, it is unacceptable, and that should apply to unions as
:33:09. > :33:13.well as employers. Was Unite wrong to turn up and demonstrate? I don't
:33:14. > :33:17.know the details, this review will look into that presumably. I need
:33:18. > :33:21.reassurance that this is not a pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on
:33:22. > :33:27.the designed to appear near the election -- that this is not a
:33:28. > :33:40.political call. Are you sponsored by unite? No. Do you get any money from
:33:41. > :33:48.Unite? No. What have you done wrong? It seems others are getting money
:33:49. > :33:52.from Unite. Can I tell you what I think is the scandal of British
:33:53. > :33:56.party political funding, two health care companies have given ?1.5
:33:57. > :34:03.million in donations to the Tory party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS
:34:04. > :34:09.contracts. I wonder why you don't spend much time talking about that
:34:10. > :34:16.and obsess over trade union funding. We are happy to talk about that. We
:34:17. > :34:21.see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls
:34:22. > :34:26.as a bit of a nightmare, do you see a bit of a nightmare about him as
:34:27. > :34:30.well? I don't at all, he is a very good friend. I can't believe that
:34:31. > :34:34.you are talking about those e-mails on a national political programme.
:34:35. > :34:39.My goodness, you obviously scraping the barrel today. I have been in
:34:40. > :34:43.front-line labour politics for 20 years. I can't remember the front
:34:44. > :34:47.bench and the wider party being as united as it is today and it is a
:34:48. > :34:51.great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. We are going into a general
:34:52. > :34:56.election and we are going to get rid of a pretty disastrous coalition
:34:57. > :34:59.government. It was worth spending a few seconds to establish your not
:35:00. > :35:02.having nightmares. Thank you for joining me.
:35:03. > :35:05.It's just gone 11:30am. You're watching the Sunday Politics. Coming
:35:06. > :35:28.up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be talking to the MP accused
:35:29. > :35:35.Hello, you are watching the Sunday Politics for Yorkshire and
:35:36. > :35:42.Lincolnshire. Coming up today: We reflect on the first year of Police
:35:43. > :35:51.And Crime Commissioners. Should we be bothered that so few people know
:35:52. > :36:00.or care who they are? And we'll look at claims that deprived parts of the
:36:01. > :36:09.North are set to lose NHS funding which is being diverted to the leafy
:36:10. > :36:18.South. Let's say hello to our guests today. Kevin Barron is the Labour MP
:36:19. > :36:27.and Andrew Percy is in our whole studio. Hello to you both. It has
:36:28. > :36:36.one year since Police And Crime Commissioners where first elected. I
:36:37. > :36:44.want to get your first thoughts. On issues like social behaviour and
:36:45. > :36:54.things like that, I have said that on Friday I heard the Deputy Prime
:36:55. > :37:03.Minister being asked on radio Sheffield for the name of the Police
:37:04. > :37:13.And Crime Commissioners in South Yorkshire and he did not know. If
:37:14. > :37:25.the Deputy Prime Minister does not note the name of his? The night
:37:26. > :37:35.before I saw Shaun Wright and Ingliston in Sheffield. They are
:37:36. > :37:43.trying to put themselves about a bit but it is something politically we
:37:44. > :37:48.do not want. Is it the success from your point of view? They replaced
:37:49. > :37:55.police authorities and I think you get the much lower number of people
:37:56. > :38:01.who knew who their police authority was. Matthew called in my
:38:02. > :38:08.constituency has been good at getting himself out and about. A
:38:09. > :38:18.poll by the PCC suggests one third of people but not that do not know
:38:19. > :38:26.they have someone in their area. `` The poll commissioned by the BBC
:38:27. > :38:29.suggests that more than one third of people don't know they have the PCC
:38:30. > :38:33.in their area. With questions asked about this man's area, how does he
:38:34. > :38:36.deal with the accusation that Police And Crime Commissioners are largely
:38:37. > :38:39.anonymous? If I walked down the average high street in South
:38:40. > :38:44.Yorkshire I would be lucky to find a handful of people who did know who I
:38:45. > :38:48.was but we are on a journey. By the time the next elections come around
:38:49. > :38:52.I would expect they will more people to know not just who I am but what I
:38:53. > :38:54.do. A report highlighted the inconsistent way that the Yorkshire
:38:55. > :38:57.police force had dealt with child grooming. Do what they press release
:38:58. > :39:01.from the crime commission that said we had to do more about burglary and
:39:02. > :39:08.car crime. We have been clear to our staff we have to get more criminal
:39:09. > :39:18.prosecutions on Child crime. I accept we need to do further work.
:39:19. > :39:23.They have the power to hire and fire police constables. This man wasted
:39:24. > :39:28.little time flexing his muscles when he suspended his Chief Constable in
:39:29. > :39:35.February only for that to be overturned by a judge. He insists he
:39:36. > :39:39.is still the right man for the job. It is easier for me to communicate
:39:40. > :39:46.in a meaningful way and get something done. While these
:39:47. > :39:53.constables are still responsible for operation police matters it is the
:39:54. > :39:58.PCC who will be judged on whether crime has fallen in the air force
:39:59. > :40:07.areas. Crime has fallen in the past year but whether that can be because
:40:08. > :40:13.of the Police And Crime Commissioners is debatable. However,
:40:14. > :40:18.I think the introduction of police commissioners was not primarily
:40:19. > :40:26.about reducing crime but about increasing lease accountability. ``
:40:27. > :40:36.police accountability. An independent body ranks Humberside's
:40:37. > :40:46.Matthew Gove as a second most responsible PCC when it comes to
:40:47. > :40:53.being transparent with the public. It is down to whether they are
:40:54. > :40:57.making use of staff outside the office of the PCC, the staff of the
:40:58. > :41:01.police constable or the local authority. Information on equal
:41:02. > :41:10.opportunity and a whole variety of things. If the PCC was a football
:41:11. > :41:15.club they would be competing for the European place and would have a shot
:41:16. > :41:22.at the title. Police And Crime Commissioners have 2.5 years left to
:41:23. > :41:30.prove they have made an impact in the fight against crime. Crime has
:41:31. > :41:38.gone up in your force area, that is hardly a ringing endorsement. On
:41:39. > :41:46.crimes have gone up, some have gone down. We have got local councillors
:41:47. > :41:52.like in Lincolnshire where we are putting extra money into supporting
:41:53. > :41:59.the CSO 's. They is a lot of partnership working. We have seen a
:42:00. > :42:07.taste of the tensions to come between PCCs and the Chief
:42:08. > :42:11.Constable. If the Commissioner says we should target burglary and car
:42:12. > :42:18.crime the Chief Constable has to follow suit, hasn't he? That is what
:42:19. > :42:22.is being highlighted here. I am not sure that is a good thing. The
:42:23. > :42:27.police should be taking decisions about where they should be
:42:28. > :42:32.concentrating their efforts. The Labour Party was against Greece and
:42:33. > :42:41.Crown Commissioners. It remains to see their worth. `` Cleese and
:42:42. > :42:44.crying commissioners. I am not sure that politically driven
:42:45. > :42:52.commissioners are the right thing. Do you think Labour should scrap
:42:53. > :43:00.them? That would be something for people on a higher scale than me. My
:43:01. > :43:07.personal view is that we will have to make an assessment 18 months on
:43:08. > :43:11.now anyway. We may be able to get a better picture and the public will
:43:12. > :43:15.have a better picture of what they are doing and what they are
:43:16. > :43:24.influencing. We do not want conflict. Andrew Percy, do you think
:43:25. > :43:33.PCCs are value for money? Yours has a deputy, others do not, they manage
:43:34. > :43:37.themselves. It be these from authority to authority. The Police
:43:38. > :43:40.And Crime Commissioners came from authorities where there were extra
:43:41. > :43:47.police commissioners drawing salaries. In terms of value for
:43:48. > :43:56.money you will find that there is because it costs less. Also, the
:43:57. > :44:05.public know who is responsible for policing in their area. What do you
:44:06. > :44:10.say to that? It is quite right that they were local elected councillors
:44:11. > :44:17.on the from the four different regions in South Yorkshire. I know
:44:18. > :44:21.who to talk to anyway. This is not about saving money. It is about
:44:22. > :44:36.improving the service and what the public think about this. The jury is
:44:37. > :44:39.out at the moment. Now, we constantly hear about the financial
:44:40. > :44:42.pressure facing the health service. But moves by NHS bosses to
:44:43. > :44:44.reallocate funding to areas where there is a growing elderly
:44:45. > :44:47.population are raising some concerns. Labour claimed that
:44:48. > :44:50.deprived areas of the North are set to lose NHS money, which would
:44:51. > :44:57.benefit leafier parts of the country. Here is Len Tingle.
:44:58. > :45:04.Barnsley in South Yorkshire. Live here on `` all your life and
:45:05. > :45:10.according to official statistics you have every chance of dying for years
:45:11. > :45:25.sooner than someone in our welfare part of the country. With that
:45:26. > :45:31.background, you might expect that Barnsley is a priority for health
:45:32. > :45:42.spending but it is quite the opposite. In 2014 much of the money
:45:43. > :45:46.that Barnsley spends will be allocated elsewhere. It is not
:45:47. > :45:57.fear, it should be allocated equally. I cannot see how taking
:45:58. > :46:02.money we will do any good. The hospital is understaffed, they are
:46:03. > :46:09.doing their best for everybody. How can they take all that money out of
:46:10. > :46:15.Barnsley? Barnsley is not alone. Every health area in Yorkshire is
:46:16. > :46:27.likely to lose out with the reallocation of funding by 2015.
:46:28. > :46:33.Annual budgets reduced by ?41 million in Barnsley, in Wheatfield
:46:34. > :46:40.it will be ?43 million. The money is expected to head to the south of
:46:41. > :46:51.England and the Midlands where health officials say it is needed by
:46:52. > :46:56.a growing and ageing population. Officials in Yorkshire are far from
:46:57. > :47:02.convinced. Local communities you will lose out because the formula
:47:03. > :47:12.does not place as great an emphasis on deprivation but more emphasis on
:47:13. > :47:20.age. Even the older populations in Yorkshire are expected to move ``
:47:21. > :47:26.lose out. Proposed budget productions here are not expected to
:47:27. > :47:31.be so much but the doctor is spearheading we spending is in North
:47:32. > :47:38.Yorks told me that any reduction is a cause for concern. We have lobbied
:47:39. > :47:42.MPs nationally about this issue. I am not sure the current funding
:47:43. > :47:48.formula addresses all of our concerns. In the north perhaps we
:47:49. > :47:59.have not done so badly as other places. We are here to defend
:48:00. > :48:03.Yorkshire's National Health Service. The was the rally in Leeds against
:48:04. > :48:10.this proposed reallocation of funding last week. The final
:48:11. > :48:16.decision will be made next month. Protesters said they want their
:48:17. > :48:24.views to be made clear now before the health budget head south. Andrew
:48:25. > :48:30.Percy, do you think it is right that NHS money is being taken away from
:48:31. > :48:40.deprived areas? This formula has not been determined yet. The funding
:48:41. > :48:46.formula will be dependent `` decided by NHS England. Resources will be
:48:47. > :48:53.allocated to where there is the greatest need. Deprivation remains
:48:54. > :49:03.an important part of that but an ageing population is a massive
:49:04. > :49:06.burden on the NHS. 80% is spent on long`term conditions which is
:49:07. > :49:12.particularly prevail and in elderly populations. The idea that we get
:49:13. > :49:17.some perky little political argument with the North versus the south,
:49:18. > :49:22.this should be about our resources and putting them where they can have
:49:23. > :49:27.the best and most effective clinical impact. That is a decision to be
:49:28. > :49:33.made by NHS England, not the government. Let me get Kevin Barron
:49:34. > :49:42.to respond. Do you think this is being done for the right reasons? I
:49:43. > :49:48.do not. People living longer in the South would seem to have a better
:49:49. > :49:56.quality of life. Let's get away from it, this is government Devlin ``
:49:57. > :49:59.driven. The government are trying to wipe their hands of the National
:50:00. > :50:06.Health Service and it is totally wrong. This is not unique. It was
:50:07. > :50:10.stopped by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s because more money was coming
:50:11. > :50:15.into Yorkshire because we needed it because of our deprivation index.
:50:16. > :50:21.The last government where at least trying to balance this out. We used
:50:22. > :50:26.to get an annual increase because of our needs on deprivation. You will
:50:27. > :50:36.be taking millions away from us. It is wholly wrong. Is this politically
:50:37. > :50:42.motivated? This is the NHS. NHS England are independent of ministers
:50:43. > :50:45.and politicians. What we had in my area under your government was
:50:46. > :50:49.cancer patients in the East Riding of Yorkshire receiving far less on
:50:50. > :50:56.their gear than cancer patients in Hull. We had this uneven allocation
:50:57. > :51:01.across the country precisely because politicians had been involved.
:51:02. > :51:07.Politicians should not be involved in deciding how NHS resources are
:51:08. > :51:13.spent, it should be left to people who know how to get the best out of
:51:14. > :51:20.NHS allocations. This policy is by no means set yet. NHS England have
:51:21. > :51:28.not decided yet. The government have said they would factor in issues. In
:51:29. > :51:33.our bean areas bear is a much greater per head figure than in
:51:34. > :51:37.rural areas. We need to take the politicians out of the NHS
:51:38. > :51:45.altogether and let clinicians decide. That is so we get the best
:51:46. > :51:49.outcome for patients. We looked at it in the deficit enquiry that we
:51:50. > :51:53.did when I cheered our select committee in the last parliament.
:51:54. > :52:00.This idea that our bean areas where getting more than rural areas is a
:52:01. > :52:07.mess. What this government is trying to do is absolve its responsibility.
:52:08. > :52:11.It is under the watch of the government that keeps telling us
:52:12. > :52:16.every day that they are increasing expenditure in health care and not
:52:17. > :52:22.decreasing. You will have to square this. You cannot keep saying it is
:52:23. > :52:30.the new structure you brought in under the 2010 at. You cannot keep
:52:31. > :52:36.saying it is nothing to do with government. This is the greatest
:52:37. > :52:42.irony. Other people who introduced the Nicholson challenge which took
:52:43. > :52:48.money out of our hospitals, they are committed to cutting the NHS budget
:52:49. > :52:55.but it is increasing. It was 100 billion when Labour left office. It
:52:56. > :53:00.is 108 billion now. We see a massive activity in the NHS as people live
:53:01. > :53:03.longer. They are living longer with long`term conditions which are
:53:04. > :53:12.expensive to treat. `` long`term conditions. It is not political.
:53:13. > :53:25.Silly arguments about North and South... Every other day in the
:53:26. > :53:32.media, do not tell me it is not political! Take those day`to`day
:53:33. > :53:36.running decisions in the NHS out of the hands of ministers and put them
:53:37. > :53:40.in the hands of clinicians who understand patient need and how the
:53:41. > :53:45.NHS should work, that is what we are trying to do. Let's get some more of
:53:46. > :53:56.the week's political news now. Louise Martin has our round`up in 60
:53:57. > :54:00.seconds. Former Home Secretary and Sheffield MP David Blunkett sparked
:54:01. > :54:04.controversy after warning rioting could result from the bad behaviour
:54:05. > :54:11.of some Roma immigrants in his constituency. If we do not get a
:54:12. > :54:16.grip, get the right messages out so that people change their culture,
:54:17. > :54:26.the community do not back those taking positive measures. The Labour
:54:27. > :54:34.front bench Leeds MP Rachel reads claimed changes to the bedroom tax
:54:35. > :54:40.herself defeating. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has
:54:41. > :54:48.apologised for the role of officers during the 1984 miners strike. They
:54:49. > :54:52.referred themselves to the IPC see after police officers statements
:54:53. > :54:58.about this event had been seen to be manipulated. A reminder of the
:54:59. > :55:04.miners strike but former miners have had some good news this week.
:55:05. > :55:08.Concessionary call is back for those people who used to get it from UK
:55:09. > :55:13.called when it went into liquidation. The government have
:55:14. > :55:19.decided to give it back and that is good news, nothing more than I
:55:20. > :55:22.expected. I remember in 1993I got the paper out of my archives with
:55:23. > :55:27.the promise that with any privatisation they would protect the
:55:28. > :55:36.miners and their concessionary fuel, I am pleased they have. And what do
:55:37. > :55:40.you make about Roma migrants? In my constituency we have seen a big
:55:41. > :55:46.influx in migrants from eastern Europe which has put pressure on
:55:47. > :55:50.services in the town. We must have a way of controlling EU immigration
:55:51. > :55:55.which we cannot at the moment. Part of that is driven by the fact it is
:55:56. > :56:02.completely uncontrolled elsewhere in the EU because of our terms of
:56:03. > :56:06.membership. That is not acceptable. Opening the floodgates was a huge
:56:07. > :56:15.mistake it was said this week, do you agree with that? In the end we
:56:16. > :56:19.are a member of the club. I was walking with my brothers in France
:56:20. > :56:24.and the guy who was taking us out wads from Leeds, he had lived there
:56:25. > :56:31.for 11 years. We have the right to do this. A lot of our people live in
:56:32. > :56:36.different parts of the EU as well. A lot of these issues are difficult,
:56:37. > :56:42.these communities perhaps need managing better than they are now,
:56:43. > :56:47.but it is rem and icing `` reminiscent of Enoch Powell's river
:56:48. > :56:55.of blood speech. We must do it better than we do on occasions.
:56:56. > :57:03.Surely one of you is an arch Europhile and another is athletic?
:57:04. > :57:15.We are mad to give away control of our policy. `` the sceptic. It is
:57:16. > :57:19.crazy that people can just get up from anywhere in the EU and start
:57:20. > :57:25.looking for work in this country and living here. We need to control our
:57:26. > :57:29.immigration system. A lot of people from their work in countries around
:57:30. > :57:37.the world but we have to have a way of controlling that. We cannot do
:57:38. > :57:43.that within Europe and my wee round would be to get out of it. They are
:57:44. > :57:48.macro we would have the major crisis in terms of looking after the
:57:49. > :57:54.elderly if they all returned from Spain and Portugal. There are issues
:57:55. > :57:59.you we should talk more about. Politicians tend to dodge these
:58:00. > :58:03.issues but we have to get it in perspective. In parts of problem we
:58:04. > :58:06.have the Roma community. It is difficult to police but not
:58:07. > :58:10.impossible. People have to live with one another and we have done that
:58:11. > :58:11.for years. That's about it from us. Thanks to
:58:12. > :58:29.Who'd be an MP? It's a good question. Certainly something Mark
:58:30. > :58:32.Pritchard must have asked himself when his picture graced the front
:58:33. > :58:35.page of the Daily Telegraph, with allegations that he had offered to
:58:36. > :58:38.set up business deals overseas in return for hundreds of thousands of
:58:39. > :58:40.pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the claims as hurtful and wrong. He
:58:41. > :58:43.referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner
:58:44. > :58:45.who has now said there is insufficient evidence to
:58:46. > :58:48.investigate. In a moment we'll talk to Mr Pritchard, but first let's
:58:49. > :58:51.take a look back at how the story unfurled. A Conservative MP has
:58:52. > :58:56.denied allegations that he used his Parliamentary contacts for financial
:58:57. > :59:01.gain... The daily Telegraph says Mark Pritchard offered to broker
:59:02. > :59:10.investments overseas. In a statement he said the allegations made by the
:59:11. > :59:16.Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard was secretly filmed... What do you
:59:17. > :59:18.make of these allegations? He has referred himself to the
:59:19. > :59:22.Parliamentary Commissioner for standards to clear his name and I
:59:23. > :59:32.suspect this story will reopen the debate about what MPs should be
:59:33. > :59:39.allowed, having business interests elsewhere. Is it not clear that you
:59:40. > :59:50.did ask for money in consultancy services? First of all I would like
:59:51. > :59:55.to apologise for the sunglasses I have had a lot of comments about
:59:56. > :00:04.that. On a serious point, these claims by the Telegraph of false.
:00:05. > :00:10.You didn't ask for ?3000? They are false, hurtful and malicious. It is
:00:11. > :00:13.known widely that I have sued the Telegraph previously. I have also
:00:14. > :00:19.been critical of their coverage of the plebgate affair, their reporting
:00:20. > :00:22.of that. I have been supportive of the cross-party Royal Charter and I
:00:23. > :00:27.know that some people in the media don't like my position on that. That
:00:28. > :00:33.is why it is malicious. I believe in a free press. That free press also
:00:34. > :00:39.has a responsibility to be fair accurate and lawful. In discussions
:00:40. > :00:44.with this business who turned out to be a Telegraph reporter, it is true
:00:45. > :00:53.that you ask for ?3000 a month consultancy fee. The point is..
:00:54. > :00:58.That is the point. No. That video has been cut and pasted to serve the
:00:59. > :01:04.Telegraph's story. The story was that we want to get Mark Bridger,
:01:05. > :01:08.for whatever reason, at any cost. -- Mark Bridger hard. I would not go
:01:09. > :01:11.down the line they were hoping I would go down. Everything I own
:01:12. > :01:18.outside of Parliament is openly declared. We are allowed to have
:01:19. > :01:20.outside witness interests. The Telegraph need to say clearly
:01:21. > :01:26.whether they accept that or they don't. I think you need to say
:01:27. > :01:31.clearly whether you asked for the money or not. You then went on to
:01:32. > :01:35.ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10 million deal, you asked for 3%
:01:36. > :01:42.commission. Let me be clear, if I was asking for income in return for
:01:43. > :01:47.lobbying, or raising issues in Parliament, or setting up
:01:48. > :01:51.Parliamentary groups, or going to ministers, writing to ministers
:01:52. > :01:55.that would be completely inappropriate. I was approached by
:01:56. > :02:02.somebody to advise them on business. It is entirely proper and entirely
:02:03. > :02:05.within the rules for members of Parliament to have outside
:02:06. > :02:11.consultancies and interests. Did you or didn't you? I am answering the
:02:12. > :02:15.question in the way that I want to answer it, not in the way that fits
:02:16. > :02:19.a particular narrative. The narrative, unfortunately, of some
:02:20. > :02:22.parts of the Telegraph and to be fair, there are some very good
:02:23. > :02:27.journalists, I know there is a dispute about the direction of that
:02:28. > :02:31.paper at senior parts. Do they want to return to being a Catholic,
:02:32. > :02:36.objective newspaper or do they want to slip into the slippery slope of
:02:37. > :02:40.being an agnostic rag, looking for sensationalist headlines? Part of
:02:41. > :02:49.this has come from your membership of these all-party Parliamentary
:02:50. > :02:52.groups. You were in Malta when you are first approached, I think you
:02:53. > :02:56.were on a trip there, Hungary is another one, there is an
:02:57. > :03:01.uncomfortable overlap between your political and business interests. I
:03:02. > :03:04.have no business interests in any of those countries. Some of the country
:03:05. > :03:12.is the Telegraph mentioned, let me be clear, I have not even visited.
:03:13. > :03:15.You were boasting that you knew the Albanian Prime Minister and the
:03:16. > :03:21.Mayor of Teheran and the previous prime minister. I make no apology
:03:22. > :03:25.for making foreign trips. I think it is unfortunate we have a narrative
:03:26. > :03:30.developing in some parts of the press that if a politician goes
:03:31. > :03:34.abroad at the taxpayers expense it is wrong. If they go abroad at a
:03:35. > :03:38.host government's expense it is wrong. If they go abroad with a
:03:39. > :03:42.charity, NGO and private company, even if it is declared, it is wrong.
:03:43. > :03:47.We want people with an international perspective in Parliament. Look at
:03:48. > :03:53.this map. You are a member of 5 country groups. I don't know what
:03:54. > :04:00.Canada has done not to deserve you, or Australia. 54 groups, you are a
:04:01. > :04:04.part of. You're like... This is the Mark Pritchard British Empire. That
:04:05. > :04:09.is very kind. If I had global interests that white I would not be
:04:10. > :04:15.in Parliament. No, no, no. That is the point... It is the suspicion,
:04:16. > :04:21.that you used these groups to drum up business for your consultants.
:04:22. > :04:25.Prove it, that is the trouble. These sorts of headlines, create
:04:26. > :04:34.suspicion. I am suing the Telegraph... Have you issued a writ?
:04:35. > :04:41.I expect an apology. Have you issued a writ? I have just answered your
:04:42. > :04:47.question. It is yes or no, have you issued a writ? I am in final legal
:04:48. > :04:51.discussions tomorrow about issuing a writ. You have raised something for
:04:52. > :04:54.top the fact is that is inaccurate. I am a member of 40-something
:04:55. > :05:02.Parliamentary groups, of which I make no apology. We have got 54 Let
:05:03. > :05:10.me answer the question if I may It would be very useful. There are 196
:05:11. > :05:14.countries around the world, it is less than a quarter of the country
:05:15. > :05:21.groups on my figures. I make no apology. One of my regrets is not
:05:22. > :05:24.having visited Syria, I don't know if I am a member of the Syria group,
:05:25. > :05:30.part I should become a member, I make no apology. -- perhaps I should
:05:31. > :05:37.become. When it came to the Syria vote, I was blind sided foot of yes,
:05:38. > :05:40.we have excellent briefings. I had to make a judgement based on part
:05:41. > :05:45.knowledge with nothing beats being on the ground, as even BBC
:05:46. > :05:50.journalists recognised this week. Nothing beats being on the ground.
:05:51. > :05:54.You posted about your connections in Albania to getting a business
:05:55. > :05:58.contract. You meet these people through these all Parliamentary
:05:59. > :06:05.groups. That is where there is an unhealthy overlap. That is what the
:06:06. > :06:10.Telegraph said, let's wait and see. Look... You are a newspaperman, you
:06:11. > :06:14.know lots of people in the newspaper industry, as well as being a
:06:15. > :06:18.respected broadcaster. I am not going to prejudice my legal
:06:19. > :06:22.proceedings against the Telegraph. I make no apology. A good politician
:06:23. > :06:30.has to be local am a national and international. Hang on hang on -
:06:31. > :06:33.has to be local, national and international. We need politicians
:06:34. > :06:36.who get out of the Westminster bubble, who have a business
:06:37. > :06:40.hinterland, who keep their foot in the real world and have an
:06:41. > :06:46.international perspective. And ask for 3% commission? I have answered
:06:47. > :06:50.the question. It was a cut and pasted video, photo shopped to suit
:06:51. > :06:54.the agenda of the Telegraph. They need to get back to serious news
:06:55. > :06:58.reporting and I wish those well at the senior part of the Telegraph who
:06:59. > :07:01.want to get to those days. We look forward to the writ. Thank you.
:07:02. > :07:04.Now - there's been more good news on the economy for George Osborne this
:07:05. > :07:07.week - inflation's down, growth forecasts have been revised up and
:07:08. > :07:10.unemployment has fallen again. On Friday the former Bullingdon boy
:07:11. > :07:13.donned a head torch and went down't pit for just one of many photo
:07:14. > :07:16.opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement, which he'll deliver in
:07:17. > :07:22.the Commons on fifth December. And, who knows, he might even take his
:07:23. > :07:31.hard hat off for that. # Going underground.
:07:32. > :07:38.# Let the boys all saying and let the boys all shout for tomorrow
:07:39. > :07:41.# Lah, lah, love, love. # I talk and talk until my head
:07:42. > :07:49.explodes. # Make this boy shout, make this boy
:07:50. > :08:02.scream. # Going underground.
:08:03. > :08:09.# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.
:08:10. > :08:16.George Osborne in his heart out he probably sleeps with it on. This
:08:17. > :08:21.Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political
:08:22. > :08:24.calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally
:08:25. > :08:31.going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game
:08:32. > :08:35.changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they
:08:36. > :08:39.will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer
:08:40. > :08:43.but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is
:08:44. > :08:49.receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on
:08:50. > :08:53.his own side, for tax cuts and extra bits spending and he has to spend
:08:54. > :08:56.the next two weeks reminding people of something that has been skewered
:08:57. > :09:05.by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which
:09:06. > :09:09.is twice that of France, supposedly the crisis economy in western Europe
:09:10. > :09:11.or if you accept it will take another parliament again to
:09:12. > :09:15.eliminate this deficit, we are not even halfway through the age of
:09:16. > :09:19.austerity. He is in no position to give anything away. He has to hold
:09:20. > :09:23.the line. Danny Alexander has been useful but this is his real
:09:24. > :09:28.challenge. He is going to give stuff away. When the Autumn Statement
:09:29. > :09:32.comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been
:09:33. > :09:37.talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,
:09:38. > :09:42.talk of moving green levies of the electricity bills, he is going to
:09:43. > :09:44.give stuff away. We will get funding for free school meals that Nick
:09:45. > :09:49.Clegg mentioned in his party conference. The significance of the
:09:50. > :09:53.Autumn Statement is twice a year, a Chancellor stands up and we all look
:09:54. > :09:56.at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's
:09:57. > :10:00.circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don t
:10:01. > :10:03.assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't
:10:04. > :10:08.assume everything is fine in the eurozone. I think what would help
:10:09. > :10:14.the Chancellor is if somebody was able to see some of that humility in
:10:15. > :10:14.public. It is recognised that he was far too triumphalist
:10:15. > :10:21.speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,
:10:22. > :10:22.we have one and you cannot make an economic policy on the cost of
:10:23. > :10:35.living -- we have... Won. economic policy on the cost of
:10:36. > :10:40.people don't seem to learn from Norman Lamont's green shoots. Labour
:10:41. > :10:45.has moved from complaining there is no growth, now there is, to say
:10:46. > :10:45.has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are
:10:46. > :10:50.not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank
:10:51. > :10:55.is saying it will grow by 2.8%, living standards could start to
:10:56. > :10:58.rise. It does but everybody in a difficult position politically if
:10:59. > :11:01.the economy starts growing, ironically. We need to remind
:11:02. > :11:07.ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.
:11:08. > :11:12.Unless the politicians screw up Unless you have some idiot in
:11:13. > :11:16.charge! It is not a cause for the Morris dance that they seem to be
:11:17. > :11:19.doing, certainly on the Tory side. Osborne is put in a difficult
:11:20. > :11:26.position goes he will have to stop giving stuff away, he cannot push
:11:27. > :11:32.the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth - he
:11:33. > :11:38.will have to start giving stuff away. It puts Labour in a difficult
:11:39. > :11:45.position, it is very unlikely that living standards will match GDP Not
:11:46. > :11:51.since 2003, GDP has been a great indicator. Wages have stagnated for
:11:52. > :11:55.ten years, food has gone up 17% energy has gone up 24%. That is a
:11:56. > :12:01.decade in which everybody has got poorer. The real sweet spot comes
:12:02. > :12:06.when wages start to outstrip inflation. It is a sweet spot and
:12:07. > :12:10.will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy
:12:11. > :12:14.with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the
:12:15. > :12:17.governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.
:12:18. > :12:21.Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%
:12:22. > :12:25.unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,
:12:26. > :12:30.it is the moment when we look at it. Everything was saying he did not
:12:31. > :12:32.want to do that. When do you anticipate wages outstripping
:12:33. > :12:39.inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.
:12:40. > :12:42.Wages and prices are not the sole measure of living standards, there
:12:43. > :12:45.are broader measures which no one seems willing to use.
:12:46. > :12:49.That's all for today. The Daily Politics will be back at tomorrow at
:12:50. > :12:52.midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next
:12:53. > :12:57.week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.