17/11/2013 Sunday Politics Yorkshire and Lincolnshire


17/11/2013

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Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.

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Downing Street announces an inquiry into allegations of hardball tactics

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and intimidation by unions in industrial disputes. That's our top

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story. Thousands dead. Hundreds of

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thousands without homes. Millions affected. What is Britain doing to

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help the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan? We'll ask

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International Development Secretary Justine Greening.

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Winter is coming and so, it seems, is another crisis in England's

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hospitals. I'll be asking the Shadow Health Secretary how he'd put a stop

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to Stay with us in Yorkshire and

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Lincolnshire. We reflect on the first

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and renewed calls to get lorries off the roads in peak hours.

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With me, the best and brightest political panel that money can buy.

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Janan Ganesh, Nick Watt and this week, Zoe Williams, who'll be

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tweeting their thoughts throughout the programme.

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The Government has announced a review to investigate what the Prime

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Minister has called "industrial intimidation" by trade union

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activists. Bruce Carr QC will chair a panel to examine allegations of

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the kind of tactics that came to light during the Grangemouth

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dispute, when the Unite union took their protests - replete with a

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giant rat - outside the family homes of the firms' bosses. Earlier this

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morning the Cabinet office minister, Francis Maude spoke to the BBC and

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this is what he had to say. To look at whether the law currently works

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and see if it is ineffective in preventing the kind of intimidatory

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activity that was alleged to have taken place around range mouth

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during the previous disputes -- Grangemouth. We make no presumptions

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at the beginning of this. I do think it is a responsible thing for the

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government to establish what happened and really do a proper

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review into whether the law is adequate to meet the needs. That was

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Francis Maude. This is a purely political move, isn't it? Unite did

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this a couple of times, it is hardly happening all over the country but

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the government want to say, we are prepared to investigate Unite

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properly, Labour isn't. This seemed a lot worse when I thought it was a

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real rat. I thought it was a giant dead rat. I am not sure if you know

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much about rats but real rats are not this big, even the ones in

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London. The thing is, obviously it is naked politics but I think it is

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more intelligent than it looks. They are trying to taint Miliband as a

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week union puppet and that doesn't really wash. They hammer away with

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it and it might wash for some people. But it really castrates

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Miliband in the important issues he has to tackle. Zero hours, living

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wage, all of those things in which he needs to be in concert with the

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unions, and to use their expertise. He is making them absolutely toxic

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to go anywhere near. It keeps the Unite story alive, have to kill --

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particularly since Mr Miller band is under pressure to reopen the

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investigation into what Unite are up to -- Mr Miliband. They are

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frustrated, not only at the BBC but the media generally at what they

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think is a lack of coverage. I see the political rationale from that

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respect. There is a risk. There are union members who either vote Tory

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or are open to the idea of voting Tory. All Lib Dem. If the party

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comes across as too zealous in as -- its antipathy, there is an electoral

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consequence. Ed Miliband has been careful to keep a distance. Yes

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they depend on vast amounts of money. When Len McCluskey had a real

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go at the Blairites, Ed Miliband was straight out there with a very

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strong statement. Essentially Len McCluskey wanted Blairites in the

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shadow cabinet sacked and Ed Miliband was keen to distance

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himself or for that is why it is not quite sticking. Another story in the

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Sunday papers this morning, the Mail on Sunday got hold of some e-mails.

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When I saw the headline I thought it was a huge cache of e-mails, it

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turns out to be a couple. They peel away the cover on the relationship

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between Ed Miliband and Ed Balls, with some of Ed Miliband's cohorts

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describing what Mr balls is trying to do as a nightmare. How bad are

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the relations? They are pretty bad and these e-mails confirm the

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biggest open signal in Westminster, which is that relations are pretty

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tense, -- open secret. That Ed Miliband doesn't feel that Ed Balls

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is acknowledging the economy has grown that Labour needs to admit to

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past mistakes. The sort of great open signal is confirmed. On a scale

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of 1-10, assuming that Blair-Brown was ten. I think it is between six

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and seven. They occupy this joint suite of offices that George Cameron

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and -- David Cameron and George Osborne had. It is not just on the

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economy that there were tensions, there were clearly tensions over

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HS2, Ed Balls put a huge question over it at his conference. There

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will be more tensions when it comes to the third runway because my

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information is that Mr balls wants to do it and Ed Miliband almost

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resigned over it when he was in government. I don't think Ed

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Miliband is thinking very politically because he has tried

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live without Ed Balls and that is not tenable either. -- life without.

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He has defined a way of making it work. That is where Tony Blair had

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the edge on any modern politician. He didn't want to make Ed Balls his

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Shadow Chancellor, he had to. Somebody said to him, if you make Ed

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Balls Shadow Chancellor, that will be the last decision you take as

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leader of the Labour Party. Is it as bad? I was surprised at how tame the

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e-mails were. At the FT it is compulsory, one French word per

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sentence! To call him a nightmare, compared to what they are willing to

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say in briefings, conversations bits of frustrations they express

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verbally come what is documented in the e-mails is actually pretty

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light. It has been a grim week for the people of the Philippines as

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they count the cost of the devastation wrought by Typhoon

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Haiyan. HMS Daring has just arrived near the worst hit areas - part of

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Britain's contribution to bring aid to the country.

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It has been one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the

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Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan hit the country nine days ago, leaving

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devastation in its wake. The numbers involved are shocking. The official

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death toll is over 3600 people, with many thousands more unaccounted for.

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More than half a million people have lost their homes and the UN

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estimates 11 million have been affected. David Cameron announced on

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Friday that the UK government is to give an extra ?30 million in aid,

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taking the total British figure ?250 million. An RAF Sea 17 aircraft

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landed yesterday with equipment to help aid workers get too hard to

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reach areas. HMS Illustrious is on its way and due to arrive next

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weekend. The British public have once again dipped into their pockets

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and given generously. They have given more than ?30 million to the

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Disasters Emergency Committee. The International Development

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Secretary, Justine Greening, joins me now for the Sunday Interview

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Good morning, Secretary of State. How much of the ?50 million that the

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government has allocated has got through so far? All of it has landed

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on the ground now. HMS Daring has turned up, that will be able to

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start getting help out to some of those more outlying islands that

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have been hard to reach. We have seen Save the Children and Oxfam

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really being able to get aid out on the ground. We have a plane taking

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off today that will not read just carrying out more equipment to help

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clear the roads but will also have their staff on board, too. We have

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?50 million of aid actually on the ground? We instantly chartered

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flights directly from Dubai where we have preprepared human Terry and

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supplies, and started humanity work -- humanitarian supplies.

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A lot of it has now arrived. I think we have done a huge amount so far.

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We have gone beyond just providing humanitarian supplies, to getting

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the Royal Air Force involved. They have helped us to get equipment out

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there quickly. We have HMS Illustrious sailing over there now.

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Why has that taken so long? It was based in the Gulf and is not going

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to get there until two weeks after the storm first hit and that is the

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one ship we have with lots of helicopters. The first decision we

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took was to make sure we could get the fastest vessel out there that

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was able to help HMS Daring. HMS Illustrious was just finishing an

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exercise and planning to start to head back towards the UK. We have

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said to not do that, and diverted it. Shouldn't it have happened more

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quickly? We took the decisions as fast as we were able to, you can't

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just turn a big warship around like the HMS Illustrious. We made sure we

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took those decisions and that is while it will be taking over from

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HMS Daring come and that is why HMS Daring is ready there. It will be

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able to provide key support and expertise that has not been there so

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far. The US Navy is doing the heavy lifting here. The US Navy had the

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USS Washington, there is an aircraft carrier, 80 planes, 5000 personnel

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and they have the fleet, they are doing the real work. We obviously

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helping but the Americans are taking the lead. It is a big international

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effort. Countries like the US and the UK, that have a broader ability

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to support that goes beyond simply call humanitarian supplies -- have

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made sure we have brought our logistics knowledge, we have sent

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out our naval vessels. It shows we are working across government to

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respond to this crisis. Why does only just over 4% of your aid budget

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go on emergency disaster and response? A lot depends on what

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crises hit in any given year. We have done a huge amount, responding

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to the crisis in Syria, the conflict there and the fact we have 2 million

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refugees who have fled the country. We are part of an international

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effort in supporting them. Shouldn't we beginning more money to that

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rather than some of the other programmes where it is harder to see

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the results question of if we were to give more money to the refugees,

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it would be a visible result. We could see an improvement in the

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lives of children, men and women. What we need to do is alongside that

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is stop those situations from happening in the first place. A lot

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of our development spend is helping countries to stay stable. Look at

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some of the work we are doing in Somalia, much more sensible. Not

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just from an immigration but there is a threat perspective. There is a

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lot of terrorism coming from Somalia. You only have to look at

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Kenya recently to see that. Which is why you talk about what we do with

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the rest of the spend. It is why it is responsible to work with the

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government of Somalia. Should we give more, bigger part of the budget

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to disaster relief or not? I think we get it about right, we have to be

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flexible and we are. This Philippine relief is on top of the work in

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Syria. Where can you show me a correlation between us giving aid to

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some failed nation, or nearly failed nation, and that cutting down on

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terrorism? If you look at the work we have done in Pakistan, a huge

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amount of work. Some of it short-term. It is written by

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terrorism. That is -- ridden by terrorism. That is not going to fix

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it self in a sense. Look at the work that we do in investing in

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education. The things that little girls like Malala talk about as

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being absolutely key. We are ramping up our aid to Pakistan, it will be

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close to half ?1 billion by the time of the election. Why should British

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taxpayers be giving half ?1 billion to a country where only 0.5% of

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people in Pakistan pay income tax, and 70% of their own MPs don't pay

:15:08.:15:15.

income tax. It is a good point and that is why we have been working

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with their tax revenue authority to help them increase that and push

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forward the tax reform. You are right, and I have setup a team that

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will go out and work with many of these countries so they can raise

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their own revenues. You really think you will raise the amount of tax by

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sending out the British HRM see How many troops I we sending out to

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protect them? They don't need troops. We make sure that we have a

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duty of care alongside our staff, but we have to respond to any crisis

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like the Philippines, and alongside other countries we have two work

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alongside them so that they can reinvest in their own public

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services. If they can create their own taxes, will we stop paying aid?

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We need to look at that but the new Pakistan Government has been very

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clear it is a priority and we will be helping them in pursuing that.

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Let me show you a picture. Who are these young women? I don't know I'm

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sure you are about to tell me. They are the Ethiopian Spice Girls and

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I'm surprised you don't know because they have only managed to become so

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famous because your department has financed them to the tune of ?4

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million. All of the work we do with women on the ground, making sure

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they have a voice in their local communities, making sure they have

:17:15.:17:21.

some control over what happens to their own bodies in terms of

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tackling FGM, female genital mutilation... Did you know your

:17:30.:17:35.

department has spent ?4 million on the Ethiopian Spice Girls? Yes, I

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do, and we have to work with girls and show them there is a life ahead

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of them with opportunity and potential that goes beyond what many

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of them will experience, which includes early and forced marriage.

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It is part of the work we do with local communities to change

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attitudes everything you have just said is immeasurable, and they

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broadcast on a radio station that doesn't reach most of the country so

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it cannot have the impact. It only reaches 20 million people and the

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project has been condemned saying there were serious inefficiencies.

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That aid report was done a while ago now, and it was talking about the

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project when it first got going and a lot of improvements have happened

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since. I would go back to the point that we are working in very

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difficult environments where we are trying to get longer term change on

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the ground and that means working directly with communities but also

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investing for the long-term, investing in some of these girls

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start changing attitudes in them and their communities. Why does the

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British taxpayers spend ?5 million on a Bangladesh version of Question

:19:06.:19:17.

Time? We work with the BBC to make sure we can get accountabilities...

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That is bigger then the BBC Question Time Normal -- budget. That includes

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the cost of David Dimbleby's tattoo! We are working to improve

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people's prospects but also we are working to improve their ability to

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hold their governments to account so that when they are not getting

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services on the ground, they have ways they can raise those concerns

:19:58.:20:01.

with the people who are there to deliver services for them. In your

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own personal view, should the next Conservative Government, if there is

:20:08.:20:15.

one, should you continue to ring fence spending on foreign aid? But

:20:16.:20:19.

it is critical that if we are going to spend 7.7% of our national

:20:20.:20:25.

income, we should make sure it is in our national interest and that means

:20:26.:20:30.

having a clear approach to humanitarian responses, in keeping

:20:31.:20:34.

the country safe, and a clearer approach on helping drive economic

:20:35.:20:39.

development and jobs so there is a long-term end of the dependency Do

:20:40.:20:46.

you believe in an shrine in the percentage of our GDP that goes on

:20:47.:20:53.

foreign aid in law? Yes, and that is a coalition agreement. There have

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been a lot of agreements that you are sceptical about ring fencing. We

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are focused on shaking up the economy and improving our public

:21:06.:21:15.

finances. Why haven't you done that? At the end of the day we will be

:21:16.:21:24.

accountable but we are committed to doing that. You are running out of

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time, will you do it? I hope we can find the Parliamentary time, but

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even if we don't, we have acted as if that law is in place and we have

:21:36.:21:44.

already met 0.7% commitment. If you are British voter that doesn't

:21:45.:21:47.

believe that we should enshrine that in by law, which means that with a

:21:48.:21:54.

growing economy foreign aid will rise by definition, and if you think

:21:55.:21:59.

we should be spending less money on the Ethiopian Spice Girls, for whom

:22:00.:22:03.

should you wrote in the next election? I think we have a very

:22:04.:22:10.

sensible approach. I don't know what the various party manifestoes.. The

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only party who thinks we shouldn't be doing this is UKIP. I think you

:22:18.:22:22.

have to look at the response to both the Philippines crisis and Children

:22:23.:22:36.

In Need. Of all the steps we are taking to get the country back on

:22:37.:22:40.

track, it shows the British people will respond to need when they need

:22:41.:22:46.

it and it is one of the things that makes Britain's special.

:22:47.:22:53.

Thank you. "It's always winter but never Christmas" - that's how

:22:54.:22:55.

doctors describe life inside accident and emergency. The College

:22:56.:22:57.

of Emergency Medicine have warned that this year could bring the

:22:58.:23:02.

"worst crisis on record". If that dire prediction comes, expect a

:23:03.:23:04.

spring of political recriminations, but how prepared are the NHS in

:23:05.:23:08.

England? And what do they make of this autumnal speculation? Giles has

:23:09.:23:16.

been to Leeds to find out. This winter has already come to our

:23:17.:23:20.

hospitals. It had an official start date, November the 3rd. That is when

:23:21.:23:30.

weekly updates are delivered to the NHS's most senior planners, alerting

:23:31.:23:34.

them to any sudden changes in patient numbers coming in. Where do

:23:35.:23:42.

they numbers register most then A They are the barometer for what

:23:43.:23:48.

is going on everywhere else, and they are the pressure point, so if

:23:49.:23:53.

the system is beginning to struggle then it is in the A department

:23:54.:23:58.

that we see the problems. It is not that the problems are the A

:23:59.:24:05.

departments, but they are the place where it all comes together. Plans

:24:06.:24:11.

to tackle those problems start being drawn up in May and they look at

:24:12.:24:16.

trends, even taking notice of any flu epidemics in New Zealand. They

:24:17.:24:29.

also look at the amount of bets But the weather, economic realities

:24:30.:24:33.

structural reforms, and changes to the general health of the

:24:34.:24:38.

population, are all factors they have to consider. We get huge

:24:39.:24:43.

amounts of information through the winter in order to help the NHS be

:24:44.:24:48.

the best it can be, but we had to redouble our efforts this year

:24:49.:24:52.

because we expected to be a difficult winter. We know the NHS is

:24:53.:24:58.

stretched so we are working hard to be as good as we can be. That means

:24:59.:25:04.

they are looking at winter staffing levels, plans to ask for help from

:25:05.:25:11.

neighbouring hospitals, and dovetailing help with GP surgeries,

:25:12.:25:15.

and still having the ability to move up an extra gear, a rehearsed

:25:16.:25:22.

emergency plan if the NHS had to face a major disease pandemic. You

:25:23.:25:28.

spend any time in any of our hospitals and you realise the NHS

:25:29.:25:32.

knows that winter is coming and they are making plans, but you also get a

:25:33.:25:36.

palpable feeling amongst health workers across the entire system

:25:37.:25:41.

that they do get fed up of being used as a political football.

:25:42.:25:47.

Doctors and all health care professionals are frustrated about

:25:48.:25:51.

the politics that surrounds the NHS in health care. They go to work to

:25:52.:25:56.

treat patients as best as they can, and the political knock-about does

:25:57.:26:02.

not help anyone. I find it frustrating when there is a

:26:03.:26:06.

commentary that suggests the NHS does not planned, when it is

:26:07.:26:12.

surprised by winter, and wherever that comes from it is hard to take,

:26:13.:26:16.

knowing how much we do nationally and how much our hard working front

:26:17.:26:27.

line staff are doing. When the Coalition have recently tried to

:26:28.:26:34.

open up the NHS to be a more independent body, it is clear the

:26:35.:26:40.

NHS feel they have had an unhealthy dose of political wrangling between

:26:41.:26:46.

parties on policy. The NHS is not infallible or making any guarantees,

:26:47.:26:51.

but they seem confident that they and their patients can survive the

:26:52.:26:53.

winter. Joining me now from Salford in the

:26:54.:26:56.

Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham. Tell me this, if you were

:26:57.:27:07.

health secretary now, you just took over in an emergency election, what

:27:08.:27:14.

would you do to avoid another winter crisis? I would immediately halt the

:27:15.:27:21.

closure of NHS walk-in centres. We heard this week that around one in

:27:22.:27:27.

four walk-in centres are closed so it makes no sense whatsoever for the

:27:28.:27:31.

Government to allow the continued closure of them. I would put nurses

:27:32.:27:37.

back on the end of phones and restore an NHS direct style service.

:27:38.:27:42.

The new 111 service is not in a position to provide help to people

:27:43.:27:50.

this winter. I think the time has come to rethink how the NHS care is

:27:51.:27:55.

particularly for older people so I propose the full integration of

:27:56.:27:59.

health and social care. It cannot make any sense any more to have this

:28:00.:28:05.

approach where we cut social care and let elderly people drift to

:28:06.:28:09.

hospitals in greater numbers. We have two rethink it as a whole

:28:10.:28:18.

service. So you would repeal some of the Tory reforms and move

:28:19.:28:22.

commissioning to local authorities so the NHS should brace itself for

:28:23.:28:28.

another major top-down health reorganisation? No, unlike Andrew

:28:29.:28:33.

Lansley I will work with the organisations ie inherit. He could

:28:34.:28:44.

work with primary care trusts but he turned it upside down when it needed

:28:45.:28:49.

stability. I will not do that but I will repeal the health and social

:28:50.:29:03.

care act because last week we heard that hospitals and health services

:29:04.:29:07.

cannot get on and make sensible merger collaborations because of

:29:08.:29:11.

this nonsense now that the NHS is bound by competition law. Let me get

:29:12.:29:17.

your views on a number of ideas that have been floated either by the

:29:18.:29:21.

press or the Coalition. We haven't got much time. Do you welcome the

:29:22.:29:31.

plan to bring back named GPs for over 75s? Yes, but it has got harder

:29:32.:29:39.

to get the GP appointment under this Government because David Cameron

:29:40.:29:42.

scrapped the 48-hour guarantee that Tony Blair brought in. He was

:29:43.:29:48.

challenged in the 2005 election about the difficulty of getting a GP

:29:49.:29:53.

appointment, and Tony Blair brought in the commitment that people should

:29:54.:29:57.

be able to get that within 48 hours. That has now been scrapped.

:29:58.:30:04.

Do you welcome the idea of allowing everyone to choose their own GP

:30:05.:30:08.

surgery even if it is not in our traditional catchment area? I

:30:09.:30:14.

proposed that just before the last election, so yes. Do you welcome the

:30:15.:30:20.

idea of how a practice is being rated being a matter of public

:30:21.:30:25.

record, and of us knowing how much, at least from the NHS, our GP earns?

:30:26.:30:31.

Of course, every political party supports transparency in the NHS.

:30:32.:30:35.

More information for the public of that kind is a good thing. Do you

:30:36.:30:40.

welcome this plan to make it will form the collect in an NHS hospital

:30:41.:30:47.

-- make wilful neglect a criminal offence. It is important to say you

:30:48.:30:52.

can't pick and mix these recommendations, you can't say we

:30:53.:30:56.

will have that one and not the others. It was a balanced package

:30:57.:31:00.

that Sir Robert Francis put forward. My message is that it must be

:31:01.:31:04.

permitted in full. If we are to learn the lessons, the whole package

:31:05.:31:09.

must be addressed, and that includes safe staffing levels across the NHS.

:31:10.:31:13.

Staff have a responsible to two patients at the government also has

:31:14.:31:18.

responsible at T2 NHS staff and it should not let them work in

:31:19.:31:25.

understaffed, unsafe conditions -- a responsibility to NHS staff. Is

:31:26.:31:41.

there a part of the 2004 agreements that you regret and should be

:31:42.:31:46.

undone? A lot of myths have been built up about the contract. When it

:31:47.:31:50.

came in, there was a huge shortage of GPs across the country. Some

:31:51.:31:56.

communities struggle to recruit. This myth that the government have

:31:57.:32:01.

built, that the 2004 GP contract is responsible for the AM decries is,

:32:02.:32:07.

it is spin of the worst possible kind -- the A crisis. You would

:32:08.:32:15.

redo that contract? It was redone under our time in government and

:32:16.:32:19.

change to make it better value for money. GPs should be focused on

:32:20.:32:22.

improving the health of their patients and that is a very good

:32:23.:32:27.

principle. Not so great if you can't get 24-hour access. I agree with

:32:28.:32:33.

that. We brought in evening and weekend opening for GPs. That is

:32:34.:32:38.

another thing that has gone in reverse under Mr Cameron. It is much

:32:39.:32:42.

harder to get a GP appointment under him and that is one of the reasons

:32:43.:32:48.

why A is an oppressor. -- under pressure. What do you make of the

:32:49.:32:55.

review into intimidatory tactics by unions? If there has been

:32:56.:33:01.

intimidation, it is unacceptable, and that should apply to unions as

:33:02.:33:08.

well as employers. Was Unite wrong to turn up and demonstrate? I don't

:33:09.:33:13.

know the details, this review will look into that presumably. I need

:33:14.:33:17.

reassurance that this is not a pretty cool call by Mr Cameron on

:33:18.:33:21.

the designed to appear near the election -- that this is not a

:33:22.:33:27.

political call. Are you sponsored by unite? No. Do you get any money from

:33:28.:33:40.

Unite? No. What have you done wrong? It seems others are getting money

:33:41.:33:48.

from Unite. Can I tell you what I think is the scandal of British

:33:49.:33:52.

party political funding, two health care companies have given ?1.5

:33:53.:33:56.

million in donations to the Tory party, they have ?1.5 billion in NHS

:33:57.:34:03.

contracts. I wonder why you don't spend much time talking about that

:34:04.:34:09.

and obsess over trade union funding. We are happy to talk about that. We

:34:10.:34:16.

see from e-mails that Mr Miliband's closest advisers regard Mr Ed Balls

:34:17.:34:21.

as a bit of a nightmare, do you see a bit of a nightmare about him as

:34:22.:34:26.

well? I don't at all, he is a very good friend. I can't believe that

:34:27.:34:30.

you are talking about those e-mails on a national political programme.

:34:31.:34:34.

My goodness, you obviously scraping the barrel today. I have been in

:34:35.:34:39.

front-line labour politics for 20 years. I can't remember the front

:34:40.:34:43.

bench and the wider party being as united as it is today and it is a

:34:44.:34:47.

great credit to Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. We are going into a general

:34:48.:34:51.

election and we are going to get rid of a pretty disastrous coalition

:34:52.:34:56.

government. It was worth spending a few seconds to establish your not

:34:57.:34:59.

having nightmares. Thank you for joining me.

:35:00.:35:02.

It's just gone 11:30am. You're watching the Sunday Politics. Coming

:35:03.:35:05.

up in just over 20 minutes, I'll be talking to the MP accused

:35:06.:35:28.

Hello, you are watching the Sunday Politics for Yorkshire and

:35:29.:35:35.

Lincolnshire. Coming up today: We reflect on the first year of Police

:35:36.:35:42.

And Crime Commissioners. Should we be bothered that so few people know

:35:43.:35:51.

or care who they are? And we'll look at claims that deprived parts of the

:35:52.:36:00.

North are set to lose NHS funding which is being diverted to the leafy

:36:01.:36:09.

South. Let's say hello to our guests today. Kevin Barron is the Labour MP

:36:10.:36:18.

and Andrew Percy is in our whole studio. Hello to you both. It has

:36:19.:36:27.

one year since Police And Crime Commissioners where first elected. I

:36:28.:36:36.

want to get your first thoughts. On issues like social behaviour and

:36:37.:36:44.

things like that, I have said that on Friday I heard the Deputy Prime

:36:45.:36:54.

Minister being asked on radio Sheffield for the name of the Police

:36:55.:37:03.

And Crime Commissioners in South Yorkshire and he did not know. If

:37:04.:37:13.

the Deputy Prime Minister does not note the name of his? The night

:37:14.:37:25.

before I saw Shaun Wright and Ingliston in Sheffield. They are

:37:26.:37:35.

trying to put themselves about a bit but it is something politically we

:37:36.:37:43.

do not want. Is it the success from your point of view? They replaced

:37:44.:37:48.

police authorities and I think you get the much lower number of people

:37:49.:37:55.

who knew who their police authority was. Matthew called in my

:37:56.:38:01.

constituency has been good at getting himself out and about. A

:38:02.:38:08.

poll by the PCC suggests one third of people but not that do not know

:38:09.:38:18.

they have someone in their area. `` The poll commissioned by the BBC

:38:19.:38:26.

suggests that more than one third of people don't know they have the PCC

:38:27.:38:29.

in their area. With questions asked about this man's area, how does he

:38:30.:38:33.

deal with the accusation that Police And Crime Commissioners are largely

:38:34.:38:36.

anonymous? If I walked down the average high street in South

:38:37.:38:39.

Yorkshire I would be lucky to find a handful of people who did know who I

:38:40.:38:44.

was but we are on a journey. By the time the next elections come around

:38:45.:38:48.

I would expect they will more people to know not just who I am but what I

:38:49.:38:52.

do. A report highlighted the inconsistent way that the Yorkshire

:38:53.:38:54.

police force had dealt with child grooming. Do what they press release

:38:55.:38:57.

from the crime commission that said we had to do more about burglary and

:38:58.:39:01.

car crime. We have been clear to our staff we have to get more criminal

:39:02.:39:08.

prosecutions on Child crime. I accept we need to do further work.

:39:09.:39:18.

They have the power to hire and fire police constables. This man wasted

:39:19.:39:23.

little time flexing his muscles when he suspended his Chief Constable in

:39:24.:39:28.

February only for that to be overturned by a judge. He insists he

:39:29.:39:35.

is still the right man for the job. It is easier for me to communicate

:39:36.:39:39.

in a meaningful way and get something done. While these

:39:40.:39:46.

constables are still responsible for operation police matters it is the

:39:47.:39:53.

PCC who will be judged on whether crime has fallen in the air force

:39:54.:39:58.

areas. Crime has fallen in the past year but whether that can be because

:39:59.:40:07.

of the Police And Crime Commissioners is debatable. However,

:40:08.:40:13.

I think the introduction of police commissioners was not primarily

:40:14.:40:18.

about reducing crime but about increasing lease accountability. ``

:40:19.:40:26.

police accountability. An independent body ranks Humberside's

:40:27.:40:36.

Matthew Gove as a second most responsible PCC when it comes to

:40:37.:40:46.

being transparent with the public. It is down to whether they are

:40:47.:40:53.

making use of staff outside the office of the PCC, the staff of the

:40:54.:40:57.

police constable or the local authority. Information on equal

:40:58.:41:01.

opportunity and a whole variety of things. If the PCC was a football

:41:02.:41:10.

club they would be competing for the European place and would have a shot

:41:11.:41:15.

at the title. Police And Crime Commissioners have 2.5 years left to

:41:16.:41:22.

prove they have made an impact in the fight against crime. Crime has

:41:23.:41:30.

gone up in your force area, that is hardly a ringing endorsement. On

:41:31.:41:38.

crimes have gone up, some have gone down. We have got local councillors

:41:39.:41:46.

like in Lincolnshire where we are putting extra money into supporting

:41:47.:41:52.

the CSO 's. They is a lot of partnership working. We have seen a

:41:53.:41:59.

taste of the tensions to come between PCCs and the Chief

:42:00.:42:07.

Constable. If the Commissioner says we should target burglary and car

:42:08.:42:11.

crime the Chief Constable has to follow suit, hasn't he? That is what

:42:12.:42:18.

is being highlighted here. I am not sure that is a good thing. The

:42:19.:42:22.

police should be taking decisions about where they should be

:42:23.:42:27.

concentrating their efforts. The Labour Party was against Greece and

:42:28.:42:32.

Crown Commissioners. It remains to see their worth. `` Cleese and

:42:33.:42:41.

crying commissioners. I am not sure that politically driven

:42:42.:42:44.

commissioners are the right thing. Do you think Labour should scrap

:42:45.:42:52.

them? That would be something for people on a higher scale than me. My

:42:53.:43:00.

personal view is that we will have to make an assessment 18 months on

:43:01.:43:07.

now anyway. We may be able to get a better picture and the public will

:43:08.:43:11.

have a better picture of what they are doing and what they are

:43:12.:43:15.

influencing. We do not want conflict. Andrew Percy, do you think

:43:16.:43:24.

PCCs are value for money? Yours has a deputy, others do not, they manage

:43:25.:43:33.

themselves. It be these from authority to authority. The Police

:43:34.:43:37.

And Crime Commissioners came from authorities where there were extra

:43:38.:43:40.

police commissioners drawing salaries. In terms of value for

:43:41.:43:47.

money you will find that there is because it costs less. Also, the

:43:48.:43:56.

public know who is responsible for policing in their area. What do you

:43:57.:44:05.

say to that? It is quite right that they were local elected councillors

:44:06.:44:10.

on the from the four different regions in South Yorkshire. I know

:44:11.:44:17.

who to talk to anyway. This is not about saving money. It is about

:44:18.:44:21.

improving the service and what the public think about this. The jury is

:44:22.:44:36.

out at the moment. Now, we constantly hear about the financial

:44:37.:44:39.

pressure facing the health service. But moves by NHS bosses to

:44:40.:44:42.

reallocate funding to areas where there is a growing elderly

:44:43.:44:44.

population are raising some concerns. Labour claimed that

:44:45.:44:47.

deprived areas of the North are set to lose NHS money, which would

:44:48.:44:50.

benefit leafier parts of the country. Here is Len Tingle.

:44:51.:44:57.

Barnsley in South Yorkshire. Live here on `` all your life and

:44:58.:45:04.

according to official statistics you have every chance of dying for years

:45:05.:45:10.

sooner than someone in our welfare part of the country. With that

:45:11.:45:25.

background, you might expect that Barnsley is a priority for health

:45:26.:45:31.

spending but it is quite the opposite. In 2014 much of the money

:45:32.:45:42.

that Barnsley spends will be allocated elsewhere. It is not

:45:43.:45:46.

fear, it should be allocated equally. I cannot see how taking

:45:47.:45:57.

money we will do any good. The hospital is understaffed, they are

:45:58.:46:02.

doing their best for everybody. How can they take all that money out of

:46:03.:46:09.

Barnsley? Barnsley is not alone. Every health area in Yorkshire is

:46:10.:46:15.

likely to lose out with the reallocation of funding by 2015.

:46:16.:46:27.

Annual budgets reduced by ?41 million in Barnsley, in Wheatfield

:46:28.:46:33.

it will be ?43 million. The money is expected to head to the south of

:46:34.:46:40.

England and the Midlands where health officials say it is needed by

:46:41.:46:51.

a growing and ageing population. Officials in Yorkshire are far from

:46:52.:46:56.

convinced. Local communities you will lose out because the formula

:46:57.:47:02.

does not place as great an emphasis on deprivation but more emphasis on

:47:03.:47:12.

age. Even the older populations in Yorkshire are expected to move ``

:47:13.:47:20.

lose out. Proposed budget productions here are not expected to

:47:21.:47:26.

be so much but the doctor is spearheading we spending is in North

:47:27.:47:31.

Yorks told me that any reduction is a cause for concern. We have lobbied

:47:32.:47:38.

MPs nationally about this issue. I am not sure the current funding

:47:39.:47:42.

formula addresses all of our concerns. In the north perhaps we

:47:43.:47:48.

have not done so badly as other places. We are here to defend

:47:49.:47:59.

Yorkshire's National Health Service. The was the rally in Leeds against

:48:00.:48:03.

this proposed reallocation of funding last week. The final

:48:04.:48:10.

decision will be made next month. Protesters said they want their

:48:11.:48:16.

views to be made clear now before the health budget head south. Andrew

:48:17.:48:24.

Percy, do you think it is right that NHS money is being taken away from

:48:25.:48:30.

deprived areas? This formula has not been determined yet. The funding

:48:31.:48:40.

formula will be dependent `` decided by NHS England. Resources will be

:48:41.:48:46.

allocated to where there is the greatest need. Deprivation remains

:48:47.:48:53.

an important part of that but an ageing population is a massive

:48:54.:49:03.

burden on the NHS. 80% is spent on long`term conditions which is

:49:04.:49:06.

particularly prevail and in elderly populations. The idea that we get

:49:07.:49:12.

some perky little political argument with the North versus the south,

:49:13.:49:17.

this should be about our resources and putting them where they can have

:49:18.:49:22.

the best and most effective clinical impact. That is a decision to be

:49:23.:49:27.

made by NHS England, not the government. Let me get Kevin Barron

:49:28.:49:33.

to respond. Do you think this is being done for the right reasons? I

:49:34.:49:42.

do not. People living longer in the South would seem to have a better

:49:43.:49:48.

quality of life. Let's get away from it, this is government Devlin ``

:49:49.:49:56.

driven. The government are trying to wipe their hands of the National

:49:57.:49:59.

Health Service and it is totally wrong. This is not unique. It was

:50:00.:50:06.

stopped by Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s because more money was coming

:50:07.:50:10.

into Yorkshire because we needed it because of our deprivation index.

:50:11.:50:15.

The last government where at least trying to balance this out. We used

:50:16.:50:21.

to get an annual increase because of our needs on deprivation. You will

:50:22.:50:26.

be taking millions away from us. It is wholly wrong. Is this politically

:50:27.:50:36.

motivated? This is the NHS. NHS England are independent of ministers

:50:37.:50:42.

and politicians. What we had in my area under your government was

:50:43.:50:45.

cancer patients in the East Riding of Yorkshire receiving far less on

:50:46.:50:49.

their gear than cancer patients in Hull. We had this uneven allocation

:50:50.:50:56.

across the country precisely because politicians had been involved.

:50:57.:51:01.

Politicians should not be involved in deciding how NHS resources are

:51:02.:51:07.

spent, it should be left to people who know how to get the best out of

:51:08.:51:13.

NHS allocations. This policy is by no means set yet. NHS England have

:51:14.:51:20.

not decided yet. The government have said they would factor in issues. In

:51:21.:51:28.

our bean areas bear is a much greater per head figure than in

:51:29.:51:33.

rural areas. We need to take the politicians out of the NHS

:51:34.:51:37.

altogether and let clinicians decide. That is so we get the best

:51:38.:51:45.

outcome for patients. We looked at it in the deficit enquiry that we

:51:46.:51:49.

did when I cheered our select committee in the last parliament.

:51:50.:51:53.

This idea that our bean areas where getting more than rural areas is a

:51:54.:52:00.

mess. What this government is trying to do is absolve its responsibility.

:52:01.:52:07.

It is under the watch of the government that keeps telling us

:52:08.:52:11.

every day that they are increasing expenditure in health care and not

:52:12.:52:16.

decreasing. You will have to square this. You cannot keep saying it is

:52:17.:52:22.

the new structure you brought in under the 2010 at. You cannot keep

:52:23.:52:30.

saying it is nothing to do with government. This is the greatest

:52:31.:52:36.

irony. Other people who introduced the Nicholson challenge which took

:52:37.:52:42.

money out of our hospitals, they are committed to cutting the NHS budget

:52:43.:52:48.

but it is increasing. It was 100 billion when Labour left office. It

:52:49.:52:55.

is 108 billion now. We see a massive activity in the NHS as people live

:52:56.:53:00.

longer. They are living longer with long`term conditions which are

:53:01.:53:03.

expensive to treat. `` long`term conditions. It is not political.

:53:04.:53:12.

Silly arguments about North and South... Every other day in the

:53:13.:53:25.

media, do not tell me it is not political! Take those day`to`day

:53:26.:53:32.

running decisions in the NHS out of the hands of ministers and put them

:53:33.:53:36.

in the hands of clinicians who understand patient need and how the

:53:37.:53:40.

NHS should work, that is what we are trying to do. Let's get some more of

:53:41.:53:45.

the week's political news now. Louise Martin has our round`up in 60

:53:46.:53:56.

seconds. Former Home Secretary and Sheffield MP David Blunkett sparked

:53:57.:54:00.

controversy after warning rioting could result from the bad behaviour

:54:01.:54:04.

of some Roma immigrants in his constituency. If we do not get a

:54:05.:54:11.

grip, get the right messages out so that people change their culture,

:54:12.:54:16.

the community do not back those taking positive measures. The Labour

:54:17.:54:26.

front bench Leeds MP Rachel reads claimed changes to the bedroom tax

:54:27.:54:34.

herself defeating. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has

:54:35.:54:40.

apologised for the role of officers during the 1984 miners strike. They

:54:41.:54:48.

referred themselves to the IPC see after police officers statements

:54:49.:54:52.

about this event had been seen to be manipulated. A reminder of the

:54:53.:54:58.

miners strike but former miners have had some good news this week.

:54:59.:55:04.

Concessionary call is back for those people who used to get it from UK

:55:05.:55:08.

called when it went into liquidation. The government have

:55:09.:55:13.

decided to give it back and that is good news, nothing more than I

:55:14.:55:19.

expected. I remember in 1993I got the paper out of my archives with

:55:20.:55:22.

the promise that with any privatisation they would protect the

:55:23.:55:27.

miners and their concessionary fuel, I am pleased they have. And what do

:55:28.:55:36.

you make about Roma migrants? In my constituency we have seen a big

:55:37.:55:40.

influx in migrants from eastern Europe which has put pressure on

:55:41.:55:46.

services in the town. We must have a way of controlling EU immigration

:55:47.:55:50.

which we cannot at the moment. Part of that is driven by the fact it is

:55:51.:55:55.

completely uncontrolled elsewhere in the EU because of our terms of

:55:56.:56:02.

membership. That is not acceptable. Opening the floodgates was a huge

:56:03.:56:06.

mistake it was said this week, do you agree with that? In the end we

:56:07.:56:15.

are a member of the club. I was walking with my brothers in France

:56:16.:56:19.

and the guy who was taking us out wads from Leeds, he had lived there

:56:20.:56:24.

for 11 years. We have the right to do this. A lot of our people live in

:56:25.:56:31.

different parts of the EU as well. A lot of these issues are difficult,

:56:32.:56:36.

these communities perhaps need managing better than they are now,

:56:37.:56:42.

but it is rem and icing `` reminiscent of Enoch Powell's river

:56:43.:56:47.

of blood speech. We must do it better than we do on occasions.

:56:48.:56:55.

Surely one of you is an arch Europhile and another is athletic?

:56:56.:57:03.

We are mad to give away control of our policy. `` the sceptic. It is

:57:04.:57:15.

crazy that people can just get up from anywhere in the EU and start

:57:16.:57:19.

looking for work in this country and living here. We need to control our

:57:20.:57:25.

immigration system. A lot of people from their work in countries around

:57:26.:57:29.

the world but we have to have a way of controlling that. We cannot do

:57:30.:57:37.

that within Europe and my wee round would be to get out of it. They are

:57:38.:57:43.

macro we would have the major crisis in terms of looking after the

:57:44.:57:48.

elderly if they all returned from Spain and Portugal. There are issues

:57:49.:57:54.

you we should talk more about. Politicians tend to dodge these

:57:55.:57:59.

issues but we have to get it in perspective. In parts of problem we

:58:00.:58:03.

have the Roma community. It is difficult to police but not

:58:04.:58:06.

impossible. People have to live with one another and we have done that

:58:07.:58:10.

for years. That's about it from us. Thanks to

:58:11.:58:11.

Who'd be an MP? It's a good question. Certainly something Mark

:58:12.:58:29.

Pritchard must have asked himself when his picture graced the front

:58:30.:58:32.

page of the Daily Telegraph, with allegations that he had offered to

:58:33.:58:35.

set up business deals overseas in return for hundreds of thousands of

:58:36.:58:38.

pounds. Mr Pritchard dismissed the claims as hurtful and wrong. He

:58:39.:58:40.

referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner

:58:41.:58:43.

who has now said there is insufficient evidence to

:58:44.:58:45.

investigate. In a moment we'll talk to Mr Pritchard, but first let's

:58:46.:58:48.

take a look back at how the story unfurled. A Conservative MP has

:58:49.:58:51.

denied allegations that he used his Parliamentary contacts for financial

:58:52.:58:56.

gain... The daily Telegraph says Mark Pritchard offered to broker

:58:57.:59:01.

investments overseas. In a statement he said the allegations made by the

:59:02.:59:10.

Telegraph are false. Mr Pritchard was secretly filmed... What do you

:59:11.:59:16.

make of these allegations? He has referred himself to the

:59:17.:59:18.

Parliamentary Commissioner for standards to clear his name and I

:59:19.:59:22.

suspect this story will reopen the debate about what MPs should be

:59:23.:59:32.

allowed, having business interests elsewhere. Is it not clear that you

:59:33.:59:39.

did ask for money in consultancy services? First of all I would like

:59:40.:59:50.

to apologise for the sunglasses I have had a lot of comments about

:59:51.:59:55.

that. On a serious point, these claims by the Telegraph of false.

:59:56.:00:04.

You didn't ask for ?3000? They are false, hurtful and malicious. It is

:00:05.:00:10.

known widely that I have sued the Telegraph previously. I have also

:00:11.:00:13.

been critical of their coverage of the plebgate affair, their reporting

:00:14.:00:19.

of that. I have been supportive of the cross-party Royal Charter and I

:00:20.:00:22.

know that some people in the media don't like my position on that. That

:00:23.:00:27.

is why it is malicious. I believe in a free press. That free press also

:00:28.:00:33.

has a responsibility to be fair accurate and lawful. In discussions

:00:34.:00:39.

with this business who turned out to be a Telegraph reporter, it is true

:00:40.:00:44.

that you ask for ?3000 a month consultancy fee. The point is..

:00:45.:00:53.

That is the point. No. That video has been cut and pasted to serve the

:00:54.:00:58.

Telegraph's story. The story was that we want to get Mark Bridger,

:00:59.:01:04.

for whatever reason, at any cost. -- Mark Bridger hard. I would not go

:01:05.:01:08.

down the line they were hoping I would go down. Everything I own

:01:09.:01:11.

outside of Parliament is openly declared. We are allowed to have

:01:12.:01:18.

outside witness interests. The Telegraph need to say clearly

:01:19.:01:20.

whether they accept that or they don't. I think you need to say

:01:21.:01:26.

clearly whether you asked for the money or not. You then went on to

:01:27.:01:31.

ask for ?300,000 if it was a 10 million deal, you asked for 3%

:01:32.:01:35.

commission. Let me be clear, if I was asking for income in return for

:01:36.:01:42.

lobbying, or raising issues in Parliament, or setting up

:01:43.:01:47.

Parliamentary groups, or going to ministers, writing to ministers

:01:48.:01:51.

that would be completely inappropriate. I was approached by

:01:52.:01:55.

somebody to advise them on business. It is entirely proper and entirely

:01:56.:02:02.

within the rules for members of Parliament to have outside

:02:03.:02:05.

consultancies and interests. Did you or didn't you? I am answering the

:02:06.:02:11.

question in the way that I want to answer it, not in the way that fits

:02:12.:02:15.

a particular narrative. The narrative, unfortunately, of some

:02:16.:02:19.

parts of the Telegraph and to be fair, there are some very good

:02:20.:02:22.

journalists, I know there is a dispute about the direction of that

:02:23.:02:27.

paper at senior parts. Do they want to return to being a Catholic,

:02:28.:02:31.

objective newspaper or do they want to slip into the slippery slope of

:02:32.:02:36.

being an agnostic rag, looking for sensationalist headlines? Part of

:02:37.:02:40.

this has come from your membership of these all-party Parliamentary

:02:41.:02:49.

groups. You were in Malta when you are first approached, I think you

:02:50.:02:52.

were on a trip there, Hungary is another one, there is an

:02:53.:02:56.

uncomfortable overlap between your political and business interests. I

:02:57.:03:01.

have no business interests in any of those countries. Some of the country

:03:02.:03:04.

is the Telegraph mentioned, let me be clear, I have not even visited.

:03:05.:03:12.

You were boasting that you knew the Albanian Prime Minister and the

:03:13.:03:15.

Mayor of Teheran and the previous prime minister. I make no apology

:03:16.:03:21.

for making foreign trips. I think it is unfortunate we have a narrative

:03:22.:03:25.

developing in some parts of the press that if a politician goes

:03:26.:03:30.

abroad at the taxpayers expense it is wrong. If they go abroad at a

:03:31.:03:34.

host government's expense it is wrong. If they go abroad with a

:03:35.:03:38.

charity, NGO and private company, even if it is declared, it is wrong.

:03:39.:03:42.

We want people with an international perspective in Parliament. Look at

:03:43.:03:47.

this map. You are a member of 5 country groups. I don't know what

:03:48.:03:53.

Canada has done not to deserve you, or Australia. 54 groups, you are a

:03:54.:04:00.

part of. You're like... This is the Mark Pritchard British Empire. That

:04:01.:04:04.

is very kind. If I had global interests that white I would not be

:04:05.:04:09.

in Parliament. No, no, no. That is the point... It is the suspicion,

:04:10.:04:15.

that you used these groups to drum up business for your consultants.

:04:16.:04:21.

Prove it, that is the trouble. These sorts of headlines, create

:04:22.:04:25.

suspicion. I am suing the Telegraph... Have you issued a writ?

:04:26.:04:34.

I expect an apology. Have you issued a writ? I have just answered your

:04:35.:04:41.

question. It is yes or no, have you issued a writ? I am in final legal

:04:42.:04:47.

discussions tomorrow about issuing a writ. You have raised something for

:04:48.:04:51.

top the fact is that is inaccurate. I am a member of 40-something

:04:52.:04:54.

Parliamentary groups, of which I make no apology. We have got 54 Let

:04:55.:05:02.

me answer the question if I may It would be very useful. There are 196

:05:03.:05:10.

countries around the world, it is less than a quarter of the country

:05:11.:05:14.

groups on my figures. I make no apology. One of my regrets is not

:05:15.:05:21.

having visited Syria, I don't know if I am a member of the Syria group,

:05:22.:05:24.

part I should become a member, I make no apology. -- perhaps I should

:05:25.:05:30.

become. When it came to the Syria vote, I was blind sided foot of yes,

:05:31.:05:37.

we have excellent briefings. I had to make a judgement based on part

:05:38.:05:40.

knowledge with nothing beats being on the ground, as even BBC

:05:41.:05:45.

journalists recognised this week. Nothing beats being on the ground.

:05:46.:05:50.

You posted about your connections in Albania to getting a business

:05:51.:05:54.

contract. You meet these people through these all Parliamentary

:05:55.:05:58.

groups. That is where there is an unhealthy overlap. That is what the

:05:59.:06:05.

Telegraph said, let's wait and see. Look... You are a newspaperman, you

:06:06.:06:10.

know lots of people in the newspaper industry, as well as being a

:06:11.:06:14.

respected broadcaster. I am not going to prejudice my legal

:06:15.:06:18.

proceedings against the Telegraph. I make no apology. A good politician

:06:19.:06:22.

has to be local am a national and international. Hang on hang on -

:06:23.:06:30.

has to be local, national and international. We need politicians

:06:31.:06:33.

who get out of the Westminster bubble, who have a business

:06:34.:06:36.

hinterland, who keep their foot in the real world and have an

:06:37.:06:40.

international perspective. And ask for 3% commission? I have answered

:06:41.:06:46.

the question. It was a cut and pasted video, photo shopped to suit

:06:47.:06:50.

the agenda of the Telegraph. They need to get back to serious news

:06:51.:06:54.

reporting and I wish those well at the senior part of the Telegraph who

:06:55.:06:58.

want to get to those days. We look forward to the writ. Thank you.

:06:59.:07:01.

Now - there's been more good news on the economy for George Osborne this

:07:02.:07:04.

week - inflation's down, growth forecasts have been revised up and

:07:05.:07:07.

unemployment has fallen again. On Friday the former Bullingdon boy

:07:08.:07:10.

donned a head torch and went down't pit for just one of many photo

:07:11.:07:13.

opportunities ahead of the Autumn Statement, which he'll deliver in

:07:14.:07:16.

the Commons on fifth December. And, who knows, he might even take his

:07:17.:07:22.

hard hat off for that. # Going underground.

:07:23.:07:31.

# Let the boys all saying and let the boys all shout for tomorrow

:07:32.:07:38.

# Lah, lah, love, love. # I talk and talk until my head

:07:39.:07:41.

explodes. # Make this boy shout, make this boy

:07:42.:07:49.

scream. # Going underground.

:07:50.:08:02.

# I'm going underground. # I'm going underground.

:08:03.:08:09.

George Osborne in his heart out he probably sleeps with it on. This

:08:10.:08:16.

Autumn Statement is becoming a more important part of the political

:08:17.:08:21.

calendar for the coalition. It looks like this is where they are finally

:08:22.:08:24.

going to come up with some kind of response to Ed Miliband's game

:08:25.:08:31.

changing electricity price freeze. The idea which is mooted is they

:08:32.:08:35.

will move people's green tax on two general bills which is not an answer

:08:36.:08:39.

but cosmetically it could have apolitical impact. George Osborne is

:08:40.:08:43.

receiving a lot of representations from lobby groups, business, MPs on

:08:44.:08:49.

his own side, for tax cuts and extra bits spending and he has to spend

:08:50.:08:53.

the next two weeks reminding people of something that has been skewered

:08:54.:08:56.

by the economic recovery. This country has a fiscal deficit which

:08:57.:09:05.

is twice that of France, supposedly the crisis economy in western Europe

:09:06.:09:09.

or if you accept it will take another parliament again to

:09:10.:09:11.

eliminate this deficit, we are not even halfway through the age of

:09:12.:09:15.

austerity. He is in no position to give anything away. He has to hold

:09:16.:09:19.

the line. Danny Alexander has been useful but this is his real

:09:20.:09:23.

challenge. He is going to give stuff away. When the Autumn Statement

:09:24.:09:28.

comes away, 15 months from an election, Nick Clegg has been

:09:29.:09:32.

talking about raising the tax allowance threshold even further,

:09:33.:09:37.

talk of moving green levies of the electricity bills, he is going to

:09:38.:09:42.

give stuff away. We will get funding for free school meals that Nick

:09:43.:09:44.

Clegg mentioned in his party conference. The significance of the

:09:45.:09:49.

Autumn Statement is twice a year, a Chancellor stands up and we all look

:09:50.:09:53.

at the state of the economy. If you talk to members of the Chancellor's

:09:54.:09:56.

circle, it is interesting how nervous they are. They say, don t

:09:57.:10:00.

assume we are going to have this wonderful growth for ever, don't

:10:01.:10:03.

assume everything is fine in the eurozone. I think what would help

:10:04.:10:08.

the Chancellor is if somebody was able to see some of that humility in

:10:09.:10:14.

public. It is recognised that he was far too triumphalist

:10:15.:10:14.

speech he made on the 9th of September, when he said to Ed Balls,

:10:15.:10:21.

we have one and you cannot make an economic policy on the cost of

:10:22.:10:22.

living -- we have... Won. economic policy on the cost of

:10:23.:10:35.

people don't seem to learn from Norman Lamont's green shoots. Labour

:10:36.:10:40.

has moved from complaining there is no growth, now there is, to say

:10:41.:10:45.

has moved from complaining there is is gross but living standards are

:10:46.:10:45.

not rising. If the economy grows by nearly 3% next year, even the bank

:10:46.:10:50.

is saying it will grow by 2.8%, living standards could start to

:10:51.:10:55.

rise. It does but everybody in a difficult position politically if

:10:56.:10:58.

the economy starts growing, ironically. We need to remind

:10:59.:11:01.

ourselves that economy, the natural direction of an economy is to grow.

:11:02.:11:07.

Unless the politicians screw up Unless you have some idiot in

:11:08.:11:12.

charge! It is not a cause for the Morris dance that they seem to be

:11:13.:11:16.

doing, certainly on the Tory side. Osborne is put in a difficult

:11:17.:11:19.

position goes he will have to stop giving stuff away, he cannot push

:11:20.:11:26.

the austerity line at the same time as jangling his magical growth - he

:11:27.:11:32.

will have to start giving stuff away. It puts Labour in a difficult

:11:33.:11:38.

position, it is very unlikely that living standards will match GDP Not

:11:39.:11:45.

since 2003, GDP has been a great indicator. Wages have stagnated for

:11:46.:11:51.

ten years, food has gone up 17% energy has gone up 24%. That is a

:11:52.:11:55.

decade in which everybody has got poorer. The real sweet spot comes

:11:56.:12:01.

when wages start to outstrip inflation. It is a sweet spot and

:12:02.:12:06.

will be a huge challenge for Ed Miliband. As ever on the economy

:12:07.:12:10.

with a sweet spot, you have a danger moment because that is when the

:12:11.:12:14.

governor of the Bank of England will have to look at interest rates.

:12:15.:12:17.

Everything he was saying last week was when we move toward 7%

:12:18.:12:21.

unemployment come that is not the trigger for raising interest rates,

:12:22.:12:25.

it is the moment when we look at it. Everything was saying he did not

:12:26.:12:30.

want to do that. When do you anticipate wages outstripping

:12:31.:12:32.

inflation? It hasn't happened for so long. The second half of next year.

:12:33.:12:39.

Wages and prices are not the sole measure of living standards, there

:12:40.:12:42.

are broader measures which no one seems willing to use.

:12:43.:12:45.

That's all for today. The Daily Politics will be back at tomorrow at

:12:46.:12:49.

midday on BBC Two and I will back here on BBC One at 11:00am next

:12:50.:12:52.

week. Remember if it's Sunday, it's the Sunday Politics.

:12:53.:12:57.

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