:00:36. > :00:40.Morning folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:41. > :00:42.Fears that Ukraine could face invasion escalate this morning as
:00:43. > :00:47.Russian forces take control of Crimea. President Obama and his
:00:48. > :00:52.European allies tell President Putin to back off. It doesn't sound like
:00:53. > :00:54.he's listening. Shadow Education Secretary Tristram
:00:55. > :00:59.Hunt has started spelling out Labour's plans for schools. So
:01:00. > :01:04.what's the verdict - full marks, or must try harder? He joins us for the
:01:05. > :01:07.Sunday Interview. And all the big political parties
:01:08. > :01:22.appeal. We'll look at some unusual appeal. We'll look at some unusual
:01:23. > :01:25.We are on the hunt for the missing European millions to fund our food
:01:26. > :01:30.banks. finances.
:01:31. > :01:34.And with me, as always, three journalists who'd make a clean sweep
:01:35. > :01:39.if they were handing out Oscars for political punditry in LA tonight.
:01:40. > :01:44.But just like poor old Leonardo DiCaprio they've never won so much
:01:45. > :01:47.as a Blue Peter badge! Yes, it's Nick Watt, Helen Lewis and Janan
:01:48. > :01:49.Ganesh. Instead of acceptance speeches they'll be tweeting faster
:01:50. > :01:56.than the tears roll down Gwyneth Paltrow's face. Yes, that's as
:01:57. > :02:00.luvvie as we get on this show. Events have been moving quickly in
:02:01. > :02:03.Ukraine this weekend. The interim government in Kiev has put the
:02:04. > :02:05.Ukrainian military on full combat alert after Russia's parliament
:02:06. > :02:10.rubber-stamped the deployment of Russian troops anywhere in Ukraine.
:02:11. > :02:12.Russian troops seem already to be in control of the mainly
:02:13. > :02:16.Russian-speaking Crimea region, where Russia has a massive naval
:02:17. > :02:19.base. President Obama told President Putin that Russia has flouted
:02:20. > :02:27.international law by sending in Russian troops but the Kremlin is
:02:28. > :02:29.taking no notice. This is now turning into the worst stand-off
:02:30. > :02:31.between Russia and the West since the conflict between Georgia and
:02:32. > :02:37.Russia in 2008, though nobody expects any kind of military
:02:38. > :02:42.response from the West. Foreign Secretary William Hague is on his
:02:43. > :02:44.way to Kiev this morning to show his support for the new government,
:02:45. > :02:47.though how long it will survive is another matter. We can speak to our
:02:48. > :02:56.correspondent David Stern, he's in Kiev.
:02:57. > :03:01.As things look from Kiev, can we take it they've lost Crimea, it is
:03:02. > :03:09.now in all essence under Russian control? Yes, well for the moment,
:03:10. > :03:14.Crimea is under Russian control Russian troops in unmarked uniforms
:03:15. > :03:22.have moved throughout the peninsula taking up various positions, also at
:03:23. > :03:28.the Ismis which links Ukraine into Crimea. They've surrounded Ukrainon
:03:29. > :03:34.troops there. Three units have been captured according to a top
:03:35. > :03:38.officials. We can say at the moment Russia controls the peninsula. It
:03:39. > :03:43.should also be said, also they have the support of the ethnic Russian
:03:44. > :03:47.population. The ethnic Russians make up the majority of the population.
:03:48. > :03:54.They are also not entirely in control because there are other
:03:55. > :03:59.groups, namely the Tatar as and the ethnic Ukrainian speakers who are at
:04:00. > :04:05.least at the moment tacitly resisting. We'll see what they'll
:04:06. > :04:11.start to do in the coming days. David, I'm putting up some pictures
:04:12. > :04:16.showing Russian troops digging in on the border between Crimea and
:04:17. > :04:21.Ukraine. I get the sense that is just for show. There is, I would
:04:22. > :04:28.assume, no possibility that the Ukrainians could attempt to retake
:04:29. > :04:33.Crimea by military force? It seems that the Ukrainians are weighing
:04:34. > :04:38.their options right now. Their options are very limited. Any
:04:39. > :04:42.head-to-head conflict with Russia would probably work against the
:04:43. > :04:47.Ukrainians. They seem to be taking more of a long-term gain. They are
:04:48. > :04:52.waiting for the figs's first move. They are trying not to create any
:04:53. > :04:57.excuse that the Russians can stage an even larger incursion into Crimea
:04:58. > :05:03.or elsewhere, for that matter. They also seem to be trying to get
:05:04. > :05:05.international support. It should be said, this is a new Government. It
:05:06. > :05:08.has only been installed this week. They are trying to gain their
:05:09. > :05:15.footing. This is a major crisis They have to count on the loyalty of
:05:16. > :05:18.the army they might have some resistance from solders from the
:05:19. > :05:22.eastern part of the country who are Russian speaking. They probably
:05:23. > :05:27.could count on Ukrainian speakers and people from the centre and west
:05:28. > :05:31.of the country as well as regular Ukrainians. A lot of people are
:05:32. > :05:38.ready to fight to defend Ukrainian Terre Tory. Where does the Kremlin
:05:39. > :05:44.go next? They have Crimea to all intents and purposes. There's a weak
:05:45. > :05:47.Government in Kiev. Do they move to the eastern side of Ukraine which is
:05:48. > :05:53.largely Russian speaking and there's already been some unrest there?
:05:54. > :05:57.That's the big question, that's what everybody's really asking now. Where
:05:58. > :06:01.does this go from here? We've had some unrest in the eastern part of
:06:02. > :06:06.the country. There have been demonstrations and clashes. More
:06:07. > :06:13.ominously, there have been noises from the Kremlin they might actually
:06:14. > :06:17.move into eastern Ukraine. Putin in his conversation with Barack Obama
:06:18. > :06:21.said they might protect their interests there. It should be said,
:06:22. > :06:28.if they do expand, in fact, they've also said they are dead against the
:06:29. > :06:35.new Government seeing it as illegitimate and fascist. It does
:06:36. > :06:38.contain risks. They will have to deal with international reactions.
:06:39. > :06:43.America said there will be a deep reaction to this and it will affect
:06:44. > :06:47.Russia's relations with Ukraine and the international community. They
:06:48. > :06:52.have to deal with the reaction in Ukraine. This may unite Ukrainians
:06:53. > :07:00.behind this new interim Government. Once Russia moves in, they will be
:07:01. > :07:07.seen as an invading force. It plays on historical feelings of Russia
:07:08. > :07:13.being an imperial force. Joining me is MP Mark Field who sits
:07:14. > :07:15.on the security Security and Intelligence Committee in the House
:07:16. > :07:21.of Commons. What should the western response be to these events? I can
:07:22. > :07:30.understand why William Hague is going to Kiev tomorrow to stand side
:07:31. > :07:35.by side whizz whoever's in charge. They need to CEOP sit numbers and
:07:36. > :07:43.also President Putin. The truth is we are all co significant fatries to
:07:44. > :07:51.the Budapest Memorandum of almost 20 years ago which was designed to
:07:52. > :07:55.maintain the integrity of the Ukraine and Crimea. There needs to
:07:56. > :08:00.be a discussion along those lines. The difficulty is President Putin
:08:01. > :08:07.has watched events in recent months, in relation to Syria, it is palpable
:08:08. > :08:12.President Obama's focus of attention ask the other side of the Pacific
:08:13. > :08:16.rather than the Atlantic. The vote in the House of Commons, I was very
:08:17. > :08:21.much against the idea of military action or providing weapons to the
:08:22. > :08:27.free Syrian army. My worry is, events proved this, the majority of
:08:28. > :08:32.the other options toed as sad are rather worse. It is clear now we are
:08:33. > :08:37.in a constitutional mess in this country. We cannot even contemplate
:08:38. > :08:40.military action without a parliamentary vote that moves
:08:41. > :08:45.against quick reaction that is required from the executive or, I
:08:46. > :08:53.suspect, there will be very little appetite for any military action
:08:54. > :08:58.from the West over in Ukraine. We are corn tours under the agreement
:08:59. > :09:01.of less than 20 years ago. We may be but we've guaranteed an agreement
:09:02. > :09:06.which it is clear we haven't the power to enforce. You wrote this
:09:07. > :09:12.morning, Britain is a diminished voice. Clams Iley navigating the
:09:13. > :09:17.Syrian conflict we relick wished decisions to the whims of
:09:18. > :09:24.parliamentary approval. That may or may not be but the Kremlin's not
:09:25. > :09:29.watching how we voted on the Syrian issue? In relation to Syria, it was
:09:30. > :09:35.where is the western resolve here. The truth ask Putin's position is
:09:36. > :09:40.considerably less strong. In diplomatic terms. He had a victory
:09:41. > :09:45.in Syria in relation to chemical weapons and in relation to the
:09:46. > :09:53.West's relationship with Iran. Putin is a vital inter locking figure In
:09:54. > :09:57.demographic and economic terms, Russia's in very deep trouble. The
:09:58. > :10:03.oil price started to fall to any degree, oil and gas price, given the
:10:04. > :10:08.importance of mineral wealth and exports for the Russian economy
:10:09. > :10:15.Putin would be in a lot of trouble. It requires an engagement from the
:10:16. > :10:18.EU and the EU are intending to look at their internal economic problems
:10:19. > :10:23.and will be smarting from the failure within a matter of hours of
:10:24. > :10:28.the deal they tried to broker only nine days' ago.
:10:29. > :10:31.You say if Mr Putin decides to increase the stakes and moves into
:10:32. > :10:37.the east, takes over the whole place, our Government, you say, will
:10:38. > :10:41.find itself with another colossal international headache. Some people
:10:42. > :10:46.watching this will be thinking, what's it got to do with us? It s a
:10:47. > :10:51.long way away from Britain. We haven't a dog in this fight? We have
:10:52. > :10:57.in this regard for the longer term here. I think if there were to be
:10:58. > :11:01.some military action in Ukraine the sense of Russia taking over, it
:11:02. > :11:06.could have a major impact on the global economy in very quick order.
:11:07. > :11:10.You should not deny that. There will be move to have sanctions against
:11:11. > :11:17.Russia. The escalation of that will be difficult. The other fact is
:11:18. > :11:24.looking at our internal affairs and reform, partners, the Baltic states,
:11:25. > :11:28.Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, they will be looking at a resurgent
:11:29. > :11:34.Russia now and think they'll need to hold as tightly as possible to the
:11:35. > :11:41.EU institutions and the power of Germany at the centre of that. This
:11:42. > :11:46.whole appetite for the reforms politically and economically will be
:11:47. > :11:52.closed very much within a matter of a short period of time. It has
:11:53. > :12:01.longer term implications. Mark Field, thank you.
:12:02. > :12:05.We're joined now by BBC News night's Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban. Is
:12:06. > :12:12.there any prospect of a western military response? Clearly at the
:12:13. > :12:18.moment, it is nil. The boat has sailed with the Crimean. It has been
:12:19. > :12:24.per performed by Russian forces It is now a matter of coordinating a
:12:25. > :12:30.plate cal line. European foreign ministers tomorrow. To say what will
:12:31. > :12:34.our future limits be? Where could we possibly draw red lines? To try to
:12:35. > :12:40.think a couple of steps down this, what happens if Russia interrupts
:12:41. > :12:43.energy supplies to EU member states ornate owe countries? These are the
:12:44. > :12:48.important steps they have to think about. It is quite clear we are in a
:12:49. > :12:53.different world here now. Also, Ukraine is facing a urgent foreign
:12:54. > :12:58.exchange crisis. Within literally a few weeks they could run out of
:12:59. > :13:03.money. All of these are rushing towards decision makers very fast.
:13:04. > :13:08.There is an interim and I suggestion unstable Government in Kiev. Crimea
:13:09. > :13:11.semi-to be under Russian control. There are clashes between the
:13:12. > :13:16.reformers and Russian nationals in the east of the country. What does
:13:17. > :13:21.Mr Putin do next? He has lots of options, of course. He has this
:13:22. > :13:28.carte blanch carte blanch from his Parliament to go in to the rest of
:13:29. > :13:33.Ukraine if he wants to. His military deployment suggests the one bite at
:13:34. > :13:36.a time, just Crimea to start with. See what response comes from the
:13:37. > :13:41.Ukrainian Government. Of course so far, there hasn't been a coherent
:13:42. > :13:45.response. The really worrying thing about recent months, not just recent
:13:46. > :13:52.days, are the indications that the future of Ukraine as a unitary state
:13:53. > :13:59.is now in doubt. Look at it from the other side of the equation. The
:14:00. > :14:03.President when faced with demonstrations, many extremists he
:14:04. > :14:08.was unable to deal with that. Now we have the other side, if you like,
:14:09. > :14:13.the Russian speakers, the other side of the fight, Russian nationalists
:14:14. > :14:21.showing they can get away with unilateral action more or less with
:14:22. > :14:25.impunity. The Ukrainian chiefs have been sacked. I think there are
:14:26. > :14:33.considerable questions now as to whether Ukraine is falling apart
:14:34. > :14:35.and, if that happens, we're into a Yugoslav-type situation which will
:14:36. > :14:43.continue posing very serious questions for the EU and NATO for
:14:44. > :14:51.months or years to come. So, Janan, Ukraine is over? Where the west to
:14:52. > :14:57.concede to the Russian in Crimea, it would perversely be a net loss for
:14:58. > :15:02.Russia. You'd assume the rest of Ukraine would become an un
:15:03. > :15:12.unambiguously a member of the the EU, maybe NATO. On top of that a
:15:13. > :15:15.Russian dream of Eurasion dream they will look at Putin's behaviour
:15:16. > :15:20.and is a, no, thanks, we'll head towards the EU. It is a short-term
:15:21. > :15:34.victory for Putin which backfires on his broader goals in Well, many
:15:35. > :15:40.people said if he grabs Crimea, he loses Ukraine, which is your point.
:15:41. > :15:45.We have seen violent demonstrations in the big eastern cities in Ukraine
:15:46. > :15:50.yesterday. People taking control of certain buildings. The risk is there
:15:51. > :15:54.of spreading beyond Crimea. I think the lack of any unified or visible
:15:55. > :15:58.response from Ukrainian armed forces... They allowed Russian
:15:59. > :16:02.troops to walk into the bases in Crimea. They have supposedly gone on
:16:03. > :16:06.red alert but they have done absolutely nothing. We don't see
:16:07. > :16:09.them deploying from barracks. There are serious questions about whether
:16:10. > :16:18.they would just fall apart. Putin is not going to let them split away. I
:16:19. > :16:22.would have thought he would like the entire Ukraine to come into the
:16:23. > :16:27.Russian ambit. Barack Obama is saying this will not stand. He has a
:16:28. > :16:32.90 minute conversation with Vladimir Putin and what is his response? I am
:16:33. > :16:39.suspending my cooperation in the run-up to the Sochi Summit. What is
:16:40. > :16:43.the EU doing? Nothing. There is nothing they can do and Putin knows
:16:44. > :16:48.there are a series of lines that he is able to cross and get away with
:16:49. > :16:54.it. Why should Berlin, London, Washington be surprised by the
:16:55. > :16:59.strength of Vladimir Putin's reaction? It was never going to let
:17:00. > :17:05.Ukraine just fall into the arms of the EU. That is the interesting
:17:06. > :17:08.point. And who does he listen to? Paddy Ashdown was saying sent Angela
:17:09. > :17:12.Merkel because she is the only person who can talk to him and I
:17:13. > :17:16.find that response worrying. We need to speak with a united voice but
:17:17. > :17:21.nobody knows what we should be saying. Military intervention is out
:17:22. > :17:25.for the West so we go to economic sanctions. Doesn't Vladimir Putin
:17:26. > :17:32.just say, oh, you want sanctions? I have turned off the gas tap. Yes, it
:17:33. > :17:36.is move and countermove, and it is difficult to predict where it will
:17:37. > :17:41.end up. In all these meetings that are being held, they do think a step
:17:42. > :18:12.or two ahead and try and set out clear lines. Thank you for coming in
:18:13. > :18:15.this morning. Labour has been struggling since
:18:16. > :18:17.2010 to decide exactly how to take education secretary Michael Gove,
:18:18. > :18:19.one of the boldest reformers of the coalition and most divisive figures.
:18:20. > :18:21.Ed Miliband appointed TV historian Tristram Hunt and many thought
:18:22. > :18:24.Labour had found the man to teach Michael Gove a lesson. But how much
:18:25. > :18:26.do we really know about the party's plans for England's schools? Wales,
:18:27. > :18:29.Scotland and Northern Ireland are a devolved matter. Child has been back
:18:30. > :18:31.to school to find out. A politician once told me, do you know why
:18:32. > :18:33.education secretaries changed schools? Because they can. Michael
:18:34. > :18:36.Gove might dispute the motive but he is changing schools, like this one.
:18:37. > :18:38.The changes he is ringing in our encouraging them to be academies,
:18:39. > :18:40.free from local authorities to control their own budgets, ushering
:18:41. > :18:42.in free schools, focusing on toughening exams and making them the
:18:43. > :18:46.core of the curriculum with less coursework, and offering heads more
:18:47. > :18:52.discretion on tougher discipline. And he is in a hurry to put all this
:18:53. > :18:56.in place. But has that shut out any chance for a Labour Government to
:18:57. > :19:01.change it all themselves and do they really want to? Any questions?
:19:02. > :19:06.Visiting a different school, first in line to get a crack at that
:19:07. > :19:10.would-be Labour's third shadow education secretary since 2010,
:19:11. > :19:14.Tristram Hunt. In post, he has not been taken about fine tuning
:19:15. > :19:17.previous direct opposition to free schools and he has also suggested
:19:18. > :19:21.teachers in England would have to be licensed under a Labour Government,
:19:22. > :19:25.allowing the worst to be sacked and offering training and development to
:19:26. > :19:29.others and of course ending coalition plans to allow unqualified
:19:30. > :19:40.teachers into classrooms. Full policy detail is still unmarked
:19:41. > :19:45.work. Your opinion about evolution? What is very clear is that Labour's
:19:46. > :19:49.education policy is still evolving. We are learning that they have some
:19:50. > :19:54.clear water, but we also seem, from the sting at the back, to get the
:19:55. > :19:57.feeling that there is not a great deal of difference from them and the
:19:58. > :20:03.current Government on types of schools and the way education should
:20:04. > :20:08.proceed. -- from listening at the back. So what exactly is different
:20:09. > :20:13.about their policy? What Tristram Hunt's job is to do is to be open
:20:14. > :20:18.and honest about the shared agenda between us and the Tories. There are
:20:19. > :20:22.a lot of areas where there is clear water between us and Tristram Hunt
:20:23. > :20:26.as to turn his back, shared agenda, stop fighting it, and forge our
:20:27. > :20:32.agenda, which I think people will be really interested in. The art of
:20:33. > :20:38.Government, of course, is to balance competing pictures of policy, even
:20:39. > :20:41.inside your own party. It is fair to say that if Labour reflects and
:20:42. > :20:45.draws its own visions of a shared agenda, it might have to square that
:20:46. > :20:49.idea with teaching unions, who are already unhappy with the pace and
:20:50. > :20:54.tone of change that the Government had sketched out. What we sincerely
:20:55. > :20:58.hope is that if Labour were to form the next Government, that they would
:20:59. > :21:21.look at a serious review of accountability measures. That is
:21:22. > :21:23.really what ways on teachers every single day. Actually they would look
:21:24. > :21:25.at restoring the possibility, for example, of local councillors to be
:21:26. > :21:28.able to open schools. That seems eminently sensible. If they are not
:21:29. > :21:30.going to move back from the free schools and academies programme at
:21:31. > :21:33.the very least they need to say that academy chains will be inspected
:21:34. > :21:35.because at the moment they are not. Labour have balls in the air on
:21:36. > :21:38.education and are still throwing around precise policy detail. There
:21:39. > :21:40.are areas that they could grab hold of and seize possession. A focus on
:21:41. > :21:42.the rounding of the people, developing character, the impact of
:21:43. > :21:45.digitalisation on the classroom Also the role and handling of
:21:46. > :21:49.teachers in the system and the interdependence of schools. That is
:21:50. > :21:53.all still to play for. Currently I think the difference between the
:21:54. > :21:58.parties is that the coalition policies, while we do not agree with
:21:59. > :22:02.all of them, are clear and explicit, and Labour's policies are yet to be
:22:03. > :22:09.formulated in a way that everybody can understand clearly. I don't
:22:10. > :22:16.think that Tristram Hunt or Miliband will want to pick unnecessary fights
:22:17. > :22:22.before the election. I think we will have quite a red, pinkish fuzziness
:22:23. > :22:28.around the whole area of policy but after the election there will be
:22:29. > :22:33.grey steel from Tristram Hunt. But if fuzzy policy before the election
:22:34. > :22:37.is the lesson plan, it does rather risk interested voters being left in
:22:38. > :22:47.the dark. Tristram Hunt joins me now for the
:22:48. > :22:53.Sunday interview. Welcome. Thank you. Which of Michael
:22:54. > :22:57.Gove's school reforms would you repeal? We are not interested in
:22:58. > :23:00.throwing a change for the sake of it. When I go round schools,
:23:01. > :23:04.teachers have been through very aggressive changes in the last three
:23:05. > :23:07.years, so when it comes to some of the curriculum reforms we have seen,
:23:08. > :23:12.we are not interested in changing those for the sake of it. Where we
:23:13. > :23:16.are interested in making change is having a focus on technical and
:23:17. > :23:21.vocational education, making sure that the forgotten 15% is properly
:23:22. > :23:25.addressed in our education system. What we saw in your package was an
:23:26. > :23:28.interesting description of how we have seen structural reforms in the
:23:29. > :23:32.names of schools. Academies, free schools, all the rest of it.
:23:33. > :23:35.International evidence is clear that it is the quality of leadership of
:23:36. > :23:39.the headteachers and the quality of teaching in the classroom that
:23:40. > :23:44.transforms the prospects of young people. Instead of tinkering around
:23:45. > :23:47.the names of schools, we focus on teacher quality. Viewers will be
:23:48. > :24:04.shocked to note that this Government approves of unqualified teachers in
:24:05. > :24:05.the classroom. We want to have fully qualified, passionate, motivated
:24:06. > :24:08.teachers in the classroom. It sounds like you might not repeal anything.
:24:09. > :24:10.You might build on it and you might go in a different direction, with
:24:11. > :24:13.more emphasis on technological education but no major repeal of the
:24:14. > :24:17.reforms of Michael Gove? I don't think you want to waste energy on
:24:18. > :24:21.undoing reforms. In certain situations they build on Labour
:24:22. > :24:26.Party policy. We introduced the sponsored academy programmes and we
:24:27. > :24:32.began the Teach First programmes, and we began the London challenge
:24:33. > :24:36.which transformed the educational prospects of children in London We
:24:37. > :24:39.want to roll that out across the country. You have said there will be
:24:40. > :24:44.no more free schools, which Michael Gove introduced, but you will allow
:24:45. > :24:53.parents let academies, which just means free schools by a different
:24:54. > :24:57.name. No, because they will be in certain areas. We want to create new
:24:58. > :25:01.schools with parents. What we have at the moment is a destructive and
:25:02. > :25:04.market-driven approach to education. I was in Stroud on
:25:05. > :25:10.Thursday and plans for a big new school, in an area with surplus
:25:11. > :25:14.places, threatened to destroy the viability of local, rural schools.
:25:15. > :25:17.We want schools to work together in a network of partnership and
:25:18. > :25:21.challenge, rather than this destructive market-driven approach.
:25:22. > :25:47.You say that, but your version of free schools, I think, would only be
:25:48. > :25:49.allowed where there is a shortage of places. That means that where there
:25:50. > :25:52.is an excess of bad schools, parents will have no choice. They still have
:25:53. > :25:55.to send their kids to bad schools. And we have to transform bad schools
:25:56. > :25:58.and that was always the Labour way in Government. At the moment we just
:25:59. > :25:59.have an insertion of new schools. Schools currently underperforming
:26:00. > :26:02.are now underperforming even more. Children only have one chance at
:26:03. > :26:04.education. What about their time in school? Our focus is on the
:26:05. > :26:06.leadership of the headteacher and having quality teachers in the
:26:07. > :26:09.classroom. So they cannot set up new better schools and they have to go
:26:10. > :26:12.to the bad schools. Tony Blair said it should be easier for parents to
:26:13. > :26:15.set up new schools where they are dissatisfied with existing schools.
:26:16. > :26:18.You are not saying that. Even where they are dissatisfied with existing
:26:19. > :26:24.schools, they cannot set up free schools and you are reneging on
:26:25. > :26:28.that. We live in difficult economic circumstances where we have got to
:26:29. > :26:35.focus public finances on the areas of absolute need. We need 250,0 0
:26:36. > :26:39.new school places. 150,000 in London alone. We have to focus on building
:26:40. > :26:47.new schools and where we have to put them. And secondly... Absolutely
:26:48. > :26:52.not. Focusing on those schools. Making sure we turned them around,
:26:53. > :26:55.just as we did in Government. We have had a remarkable degree of
:26:56. > :26:59.waste under the free school programme. If you think of the free
:27:00. > :27:04.school in Derby, the Academy in Bradford, and as we saw in the
:27:05. > :27:08.Telegraph on Friday, the free schools in Suffolk, a great deal of
:27:09. > :27:11.waste of public money on underperforming free schools. That
:27:12. > :27:15.is not the Labour way. We focus on making sure that kids in schools at
:27:16. > :27:21.the moment get the best possible education. Except that in your own
:27:22. > :27:28.backyard, in Stoke, only 34% of secondary school pupils attend a
:27:29. > :27:33.good or outstanding school. 148 out of 150 of the worst performing local
:27:34. > :27:36.authorities and it is Labour-controlled. Still terrible
:27:37. > :27:42.schools and yet you say parents should not have the freedom to start
:27:43. > :27:46.a better school. We have great schools in Stoke-on-Trent as well.
:27:47. > :27:50.We face challenges, just as Wolverhampton does and the Isle of
:27:51. > :27:55.Wight and Lincolnshire. Just like large parts of the country. What is
:27:56. > :27:59.the solution to that? Making sure we share excellence among the existing
:28:00. > :28:03.schools and making sure we have quality leadership in schools. Those
:28:04. > :28:07.schools in Stoke-on-Trent are all academies. It is not a question only
:28:08. > :28:10.of structure but of leadership. It is also a question of going back to
:28:11. > :28:14.the responsibility of parents to make sure their kids are school
:28:15. > :28:49.ready when they get to school. To make sure they are reading to their
:28:50. > :28:51.children in the evening. We can t put it all on teachers. Parents have
:28:52. > :28:54.responsibilities. I understand that but you have told me Labour's policy
:28:55. > :28:57.would not be to set up new schools which parents hope will be better.
:28:58. > :29:00.Parents continue to send their kids to bad schools in areas like Stoke.
:29:01. > :29:02.Labour has had plenty of time to sort out these schools in Stoke and
:29:03. > :29:04.they are still among the worst performing in the country. You are
:29:05. > :29:07.condemning these parents to having to send their kids to bad schools.
:29:08. > :29:10.Where we have seen the sett ing up of Derby, Suffolk, we have seen that
:29:11. > :29:13.is not the simple solution. Is simply setting up a new is not a
:29:14. > :29:15.successful model. What works is good leadership. I was in Birmingham on
:29:16. > :29:18.Friday at a failing comprehensive is not a successful model. What works
:29:19. > :29:20.is good leadership. I was in Birmingham on Friday at a failing
:29:21. > :29:23.comprehensive school and now people are queueing round the block to get
:29:24. > :29:24.into it. You can turn around schools with the right leadership,
:29:25. > :29:29.passionate and motivated teachers, and parents engaged with the
:29:30. > :29:35.learning outcome of their kids. In the last few years of the Labour
:29:36. > :29:38.Government, only four kids from your this Government would set up the new
:29:39. > :29:40.school. In Birmingham, they got in a great headmaster and turned the
:29:41. > :29:42.school around and now people are queueing round the block to get into
:29:43. > :29:44.it. You can turnaround schools with the right leadership, passionate and
:29:45. > :29:47.motivated teachers, and parents engaged with the learning outcome of
:29:48. > :29:50.their kids. In the last few years of a Labour Government, only four kids
:29:51. > :29:53.from your area of and you had plenty of chances to put this right but
:29:54. > :29:56.only four got to the two and you had plenty of chances to put this right
:29:57. > :30:02.but only four got to the two leading universities. Traditionally young
:30:03. > :30:06.people could leave school at 16 and walking two jobs in the potteries,
:30:07. > :30:09.the steel industry, the traditionally young people could
:30:10. > :30:15.leave school at 16 and walking two jobs in the potteries, the steel
:30:16. > :30:20.industry, the but also to get an apprenticeship at Jaguar Land
:30:21. > :30:26.Rover, JCB, Rolls-Royce. That is why Ed Miliband's focus on the forgotten
:30:27. > :30:29.15%, which we have just not seen from this Government, focusing on
:30:30. > :30:50.technical and vocational pathways, is fundamental to Your headmaster
:30:51. > :30:58.was guiles Slaughter. Was he a good teacher? He He never taught me.
:30:59. > :31:03.Over 90% of teeners in the private sector are qualified. They look for
:31:04. > :31:08.not simply teachers with qualified teacher status. Teachers with MAs.
:31:09. > :31:10.Teachers who are improving them cephalitis. Becoming better
:31:11. > :31:20.educators. cephalitis. Becoming better
:31:21. > :31:24.teaching. You were taught by unqualified teachers. Your parents
:31:25. > :31:28.paid over ?15,000 a year for you being taught by unqualified
:31:29. > :31:32.teachers. Why did you make such a big deal of it? Because we've seen
:31:33. > :31:38.right around the world those education systems which focus on
:31:39. > :31:44.having the most qualified teachers perform the best. It cannot be right
:31:45. > :31:49.that anyone can simply turn up, as at the moment, have schools at
:31:50. > :31:54.veritising for unqualified teachers teaching in the classroom. We want
:31:55. > :32:00.the best qualified teachers with the deepest subject knowledge, for the
:32:01. > :32:06.passion in learning for their kids. It is absurd we are having arguments
:32:07. > :32:10.about this. Simply having a paper qualification doesn't make you a
:32:11. > :32:16.great teacher. Let me take you to Brighton college. It is gone from
:32:17. > :32:19.the 147th to the 18 18th best private school in the land. Fllt the
:32:20. > :32:41.headmaster says: This is the top Sundaytimes school
:32:42. > :32:47.of the year. The school in derby where this Government allowed
:32:48. > :32:52.unqualified teaching assist taints. We had teachers who could barely
:32:53. > :32:56.speak English. That is because if you have unqualified teachers you
:32:57. > :33:00.end up with a dangerous situation. The problem with that school was not
:33:01. > :33:07.unqualified teachers. People were running that school who were unfit
:33:08. > :33:10.to run a school. We have an issue about discipline and behaviour
:33:11. > :33:14.management in some of our schools. Some of the skills teachers gain
:33:15. > :33:19.through qualifications and learning is how to manage classes and get the
:33:20. > :33:23.best out of kids at every stage. It doesn't end with a qualified teacher
:33:24. > :33:28.status. That's just the beginning. We want our teachers to have
:33:29. > :33:34.continue it will development. It is not good enough to have your initial
:33:35. > :33:39.teacher trainingaged work through your career for 30 years. You need
:33:40. > :33:44.continual learning. Learning how to deal with digital technology.
:33:45. > :33:50.Refresh your subject knowledge. As an historian I help teachers. You've
:33:51. > :33:55.taught as an unqualified teacher. Not in charge of a subject group. I
:33:56. > :34:01.give the odd lecture. I'm-y to go to as many schools as possible. I don't
:34:02. > :34:06.blame you. It is uplifting. Would you sack all unqualified teachers?
:34:07. > :34:13.We'd want them all to gain teacher status. What if they say no? If they
:34:14. > :34:19.are not interested in improving skills and deepening their knowledge
:34:20. > :34:27.they should not be in the classroom. If a free school or academy hired a
:34:28. > :34:31.teach thinking they are a great teacher but unqualified, if they are
:34:32. > :34:36.then forced by you to fire them, they will be in breach of the law.
:34:37. > :34:40.They are being urged by us to make sure they have qualified teacher
:34:41. > :34:44.status. We've lots of unqualified teachers as long as they are on the
:34:45. > :34:49.pathway to making sure they are qualified. But if they say they
:34:50. > :34:52.don't want to do this, will you fire them? It is not an unreasonable
:34:53. > :34:57.suggestion is that the teachers in charge of our young people have
:34:58. > :35:03.qualifications to teach and inspire our young people particularly when
:35:04. > :35:09.we face global competition from Shanghai, Korea and so on. The head
:35:10. > :35:14.teacher of Brighton college finds incredibly inspeechational teachers
:35:15. > :35:19.who don't' necessarily have a teaching qualifications. It is a
:35:20. > :35:26.different skill to teach ten young nice boys and girls in Brighton to
:35:27. > :35:29.teaches 20 or 30 quids with challenging circumstances, special
:35:30. > :35:34.educational needs, different ability. Being a teacher at Brighton
:35:35. > :35:41.college is an easy gig in comparison to other schools. Where we want
:35:42. > :35:46.teachers to have a capacity to teach properly. Do you think Tristram
:35:47. > :35:53.could ever lead the Labour Party? I think Ed is a great leader, the
:35:54. > :35:56.reforms yesterday were a real sign for his leadership. And the fact
:35:57. > :36:01.David Owen, the man with a pre-history with our party is back
:36:02. > :36:05.with us. It is great. Even Gideon had to change his name to George.
:36:06. > :36:15.Have you thought of switching to Tommy or Tony? Maybe not Tony!
:36:16. > :36:19.Michael Foot was called Dingle Foot. I love the Labour because it accepts
:36:20. > :36:24.everybody from me to Len McCluskey. We are a big, broad happy family on
:36:25. > :36:26.our way to Government. Thank you very much.
:36:27. > :36:48.You're watching The Sunday Politics. Coming up today. We are on the hunt
:36:49. > :36:56.for the missing European millions to fund our food banks, and that is
:36:57. > :36:58.amid claims we are only getting crumbs from the table in Brussels.
:36:59. > :37:03.And we will be asking why so few women want to get involved in local
:37:04. > :37:07.politics in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. I will be discussing
:37:08. > :37:15.this with our guests, Craig Whittaker, the Conservative MP and
:37:16. > :37:18.Fabian Hamilton, the Labour MP. David Cameron says he does not want
:37:19. > :37:26.another coalition after the next election. He is narrowing his
:37:27. > :37:30.options, isn't he? Finally we are on the same page, I would like that as
:37:31. > :37:34.well. I think the coalition has done the job it has set out to do but it
:37:35. > :37:38.has run its course and it is time we went back to proper politics. Every
:37:39. > :37:43.week, Nick Clegg seems to be getting closer to Labour and going for that
:37:44. > :37:48.coalition with Labour with the next election, how do you feel about
:37:49. > :37:53.that? Sick! To be honest! I think it would be a big mistake. I always
:37:54. > :37:57.think the Conservatives made a mistake. If they governed as a
:37:58. > :38:03.minority party after 2010, they might not have lasted that long, but
:38:04. > :38:06.the Lib Dems would have looked principled and the government could
:38:07. > :38:11.have done what it could do with a minority administration. If we are a
:38:12. > :38:16.minority, we should do the same. The live them spring `` the Lib Dems
:38:17. > :38:20.Spring conference is in York next week, tickets still available!
:38:21. > :38:26.Yorkshire food banks are being deprived of millions of pounds of
:38:27. > :38:29.European money. Some MPs have good`sized government for not
:38:30. > :38:38.cutting into an EU fund which could help feed the poorest people in our
:38:39. > :38:41.part of the world. The European Union is meant to be an
:38:42. > :38:45.organisation that can help its members in times of extreme
:38:46. > :38:51.trouble. With billions of euros available in special funds for
:38:52. > :38:53.emergency economic relief. This week, here at the European
:38:54. > :38:57.Parliament here in muscle, the UK government has been under fire for
:38:58. > :39:04.deciding not to apply for funding. Other European union states are not
:39:05. > :39:08.so resident. We are 100 metres away from the European Parliament here,
:39:09. > :39:11.and look at this building. It has been specially built for a
:39:12. > :39:19.delegation from just one European state, of area. Every day, dozens if
:39:20. > :39:24.not `` Bavaria. Dozens if not hundreds of the officials are
:39:25. > :39:27.lobbying everyday for aid and funds. This is where some of that European
:39:28. > :39:31.money could be spent. This is a breakfast club for families in one
:39:32. > :39:36.of the poorest parts of south Leeds, run entirely by volunteers, funded
:39:37. > :39:41.by donations. It opened its doors here at a local Methodist church six
:39:42. > :39:46.months ago. And the hungry families keep on coming. We give food that
:39:47. > :39:52.will last you about three days. Free world down the road, another
:39:53. > :39:58.initiative aimed at giving emergency relief to the hungry. This is a food
:39:59. > :40:02.bank. It will mean a lot, it will stop before big starving, and will
:40:03. > :40:08.be able to eat and get me on until I can get somebody started. Upstairs
:40:09. > :40:13.in the warehouse, three days of supplies are kicked and bag `` are
:40:14. > :40:18.bagged for Byron, who is waiting for a benefit claim to kick in and
:40:19. > :40:26.literally has nothing will stop this operation is growing fast. In South
:40:27. > :40:30.Leeds alone, it is feeding a thousand people per week, half of
:40:31. > :40:37.them children, and the food is staggering. I need three tonnes of
:40:38. > :40:40.food every month so I plan to engage the local supermarkets, churches and
:40:41. > :40:46.businesses into giving us a regular supply of food. Back in Brussels,
:40:47. > :40:52.Liberal Democrat MEP Edward McMillan Scott said more could be done if the
:40:53. > :40:56.UK government asks for more for what the EU calls its Solidarity fund.
:40:57. > :41:04.There is 3.5 billion available. The British government has applied for 3
:41:05. > :41:08.million. France, same size, has applied for 443 million. These are
:41:09. > :41:15.the sort of figures we should get right both as the government and the
:41:16. > :41:20.MEPs are presenting the region. The Conservatives argue it is not as
:41:21. > :41:24.simple as that. It is not that we are not going to commit money, it is
:41:25. > :41:27.how we get it. We have got to be careful, taking it from the
:41:28. > :41:32.Solidarity fund, we have to beat all the trite area and that might cost
:41:33. > :41:37.us more money `` we have to meet all the criteria and that might cost us
:41:38. > :41:42.more money than we can save. They claim that the flood relief and
:41:43. > :41:47.poverty funding comes to MIDI strings attached, Labour say that
:41:48. > :41:53.misses the point. It is a bit sad that food aid comes to the poorest
:41:54. > :41:59.parts of the EU, we do need it now. If we have a, we should apply for
:42:00. > :42:04.it. Those disputes about high finance and European budgets are not
:42:05. > :42:07.on the menu back in Leeds. Here, concern is keeping the children fed
:42:08. > :42:12.and being able to produce a couple of shopping bags full of food.
:42:13. > :42:17.Craig Whittaker, how can the government justify not making the
:42:18. > :42:20.most of the EU food aid budget? The French are getting 100 times more
:42:21. > :42:25.than we are. My understanding with the Solidarity fund is, which is
:42:26. > :42:32.what we are talking about, is that there are quite a lot of criteria
:42:33. > :42:35.attached to it , one of which is a threshold which says you have two
:42:36. > :42:39.have spent a certain amount of money before you get it. And the cost of
:42:40. > :42:44.paying it back is quite huge as well. Would you rather millions of
:42:45. > :42:48.pounds went to Richard French farmers hungry people in Yorkshire?
:42:49. > :42:53.Hungry people in Yorkshire, but we're not talking the same funding.
:42:54. > :42:58.We are talking about... The farmers cap which is a totally different
:42:59. > :43:03.separate budget, could lead to the Solidarity fund which is what we are
:43:04. > :43:06.talking about today. `` compared to the Solidarity fund. If anything
:43:07. > :43:10.sums up the failures of the European Union, it has to be this. The French
:43:11. > :43:15.get more than ?400 million out of this food aid pot and we get a tiny
:43:16. > :43:26.fraction. Why is that a failure of the European Union? Surely
:43:27. > :43:34.surely that is a failure of the British government, and not shouting
:43:35. > :43:38.so much as the French government. That is perpetuating the idea that
:43:39. > :43:43.we get a bum deal from Brussels. Let's try harder, but isn't it a
:43:44. > :43:50.disgrace that we have do apply for food banks and this day and age? The
:43:51. > :43:55.fact we have them speaks volumes for the state we have now. There were
:43:56. > :43:59.criticism from this letter, written to newspapers, by the bishops, why
:44:00. > :44:02.do people have food banks? This has been the case for a long time, they
:44:03. > :44:08.doubled under the Labour government and more people need to know. Our
:44:09. > :44:13.economy is in a mess. I thought it was getting better? It is, but it
:44:14. > :44:17.has been in the mess for a very long time. This is one of the issues we
:44:18. > :44:21.face. The government are signposting people to food banks which
:44:22. > :44:25.traditionally has not happened. Things will get better. But this is
:44:26. > :44:34.the current situation that we are in. Staying on the EU theme, there
:44:35. > :44:44.is also an issue in a lack money in our area, the money given to the
:44:45. > :44:46.areas after the flooding. My flood hit constituents are mystified as to
:44:47. > :44:50.why the government does not seem to be applying for EU funds which could
:44:51. > :44:58.be assisting them. There are issues about the overall scale of the
:44:59. > :45:03.circumstances or the damage that gives rise to a claim on EU funds,
:45:04. > :45:09.but there is also an issue that I remember from the past that related
:45:10. > :45:15.to the impact that such claims would have on the British rebate, so it is
:45:16. > :45:19.not necessarily a cost free option. Fabian Hamilton, you are unashamedly
:45:20. > :45:24.pro`European. Do we get more out of Europe than we put in? Because it
:45:25. > :45:28.does not seem like it. I am not sure the figures are. Certainly for the
:45:29. > :45:34.last few years. It seems very here from the food banks issue that if
:45:35. > :45:38.there is this contingency fund that is available, we should be applying
:45:39. > :45:42.for it. If there is money available for flood defences, we need to look
:45:43. > :45:46.at the strings attached but we need to apply for as much as we can get.
:45:47. > :45:51.It is up to us to apply, not up to the EU to give the money out. It
:45:52. > :45:55.goes back to Maggie's rebate 30 years ago, that is why we are not
:45:56. > :45:59.getting as much as we should be. I do not think it is. Under the
:46:00. > :46:04.flooding, Fabian is right, with the flooding, the government has to show
:46:05. > :46:11.that you have spent 3.5 billion on clean`up costs before you can apply
:46:12. > :46:14.to the fund. As our flooding issues are still ongoing, we do not know
:46:15. > :46:20.how much we have spent. I either Andrew Lansley did not say that, ``
:46:21. > :46:25.I know he did not say that, that is what he meant! You summed it up
:46:26. > :46:30.beautifully! Many people would say, what is the point of the EU, would
:46:31. > :46:35.you be simpler that every tax pound that the government to collect
:46:36. > :46:40.should be spent in this country, not in Brussels. The EU is not just
:46:41. > :46:45.about paying money and credit, it is part of it. But it is much more of
:46:46. > :46:48.that. It is a trade and social organisation to make sure that the
:46:49. > :46:52.barriers between nations that caused wars in the last century could never
:46:53. > :46:58.happen again. It rages the threshold of freedom of speech, of rule of
:46:59. > :47:04.law, democratic ability to stop that is why most of the Ukraine wants to
:47:05. > :47:08.join the EU because they see that is the one of the benefits of the club.
:47:09. > :47:12.Plenty more in the run`up to the European elections in May.
:47:13. > :47:16.Take a look at the people who represent you on the local council.
:47:17. > :47:21.Chances are, they are male, white and older than average. Council
:47:22. > :47:24.chiefs say they are trying hard to attract a more diverse range of
:47:25. > :47:27.candidates but some claim it is not financially worthwhile for many
:47:28. > :47:35.people to get involved in local politics.
:47:36. > :47:38.We live in diverse communities. But step inside the world of local
:47:39. > :47:44.government, and it is a different story. Jackie Brockway sits on
:47:45. > :47:52.Lincolnshire county council, where men outnumber women three to one.
:47:53. > :47:56.The female introductory to be here, women have a lot to offer. There
:47:57. > :48:00.needs to be a balance to give a proper for perspective of what
:48:01. > :48:04.society is. Last week, this authority voted to raise the amount
:48:05. > :48:13.it pays its councillors by 23%. Taking it to just over ?10,000 per
:48:14. > :48:22.year. Over a 50 week year, I do 45 hours a week, they give the eighth
:48:23. > :48:31.take`home of two 87 `` ?2 87, which is fine, I am not in this for money
:48:32. > :48:34.I won a pension. But how can we expect a young person or someone
:48:35. > :48:38.with a mortgage to step aside from their careers to take on this
:48:39. > :48:42.response ability? I think that is something we really need to be
:48:43. > :48:47.thinking about. There is only one party admitted to improving social
:48:48. > :48:50.mobility at this country. At 21 years of age, Robin Hunter Clark is
:48:51. > :48:55.one of the country's youngest chancellors, but he voted against
:48:56. > :49:01.the rise of the county council. Providing we are not out of pocket,
:49:02. > :49:04.I do not think we are, there are quite adequate allowances, there are
:49:05. > :49:09.people in this country suffering, choosing whether to heat or eat. I
:49:10. > :49:13.think this is an immoral thing to do and councillors should not be
:49:14. > :49:17.increasing their allowances. It is still the case that the average
:49:18. > :49:22.councillor in Lincolnshire is a white, middle`class, middle`aged
:49:23. > :49:24.man. But councils are starting to realise more than ever that those
:49:25. > :49:31.are sitting on the bench here and not altogether `` do not altogether
:49:32. > :49:36.reflect those in the outside world. Take Lincoln, the city has slightly
:49:37. > :49:40.more women than men and its largest age group is the under 30s. The same
:49:41. > :49:46.cannot be said for its city council. More than half of the councillors
:49:47. > :49:52.are men, with an average age of 55. Just one is a member of an ethnic
:49:53. > :50:01.minority. We currently pay ?4480 as a basic amounts, and we have agreed
:50:02. > :50:06.a 1% increase and will take it up to 4500. Ultimately is this not an
:50:07. > :50:11.issue of money? We present it might be one of the factors that people
:50:12. > :50:17.are not standing. The average salary in Lincoln is ?23,000, so it is the
:50:18. > :50:23.sixth of what the average person will earn. Whether they are a
:50:24. > :50:26.bargain for taxpayers or an overpriced privileged set,
:50:27. > :50:30.councillors are a cornerstone of local democracy. Which is why
:50:31. > :50:36.authorities want them to come from all walks of life.
:50:37. > :50:40.We have also been joined by one of the youngest mayors in the country,
:50:41. > :50:44.she is 28, she is the mayor of Broughton in North Lincoln, she's
:50:45. > :50:49.also. The question many are asking is, how do we get more people like
:50:50. > :50:55.you involved in local politics? We need to be very careful, thinking
:50:56. > :50:58.about what people saw that on the renumeration, I do not want people
:50:59. > :51:03.to go into the local government for the money. I think we need to be
:51:04. > :51:07.careful that we do not end up with a situation where only people who are
:51:08. > :51:11.independently wealthy or retired or people whose partners are able to
:51:12. > :51:14.support them are able financially, practically, to go into local
:51:15. > :51:23.government. But you think customers should it paid more? Adequately to
:51:24. > :51:27.have a `` I think we need to have a serious conversation about this, as
:51:28. > :51:30.think maybe they do. Is there an argument for more generous
:51:31. > :51:35.allowances and local government? It would be controversial. I do not
:51:36. > :51:40.know, but I think she is right. We do not want to go back to the old
:51:41. > :51:44.days where it was only will `` wealthy businessmen or business
:51:45. > :51:48.people who are giving civic duty. We have got to set it at a level where
:51:49. > :51:53.single mums or dads can do it, people of low beams, because they
:51:54. > :51:59.have got a lot to give to local and national government. Why do you
:52:00. > :52:03.think the majority of people in local government and be male, white
:52:04. > :52:09.and middle`aged? The allowances may have something to do with it but we
:52:10. > :52:13.need to look at the way our political parties work as well, are
:52:14. > :52:20.they friendly to both genders and people from ethnic Menorah tees? Is
:52:21. > :52:28.it a male dominated `` ethnic minorities? Is it male dominated?
:52:29. > :52:37.The parties need to reflect the local population. If the poor that
:52:38. > :52:45.we are electing people from is reflecting the local publishing, we
:52:46. > :52:49.are likely to get better candidates. What do you think about all women
:52:50. > :52:54.short lists? I think it would be very humiliating, to think I would
:52:55. > :52:59.be put in a position. We need to move forward from that. I you saying
:53:00. > :53:03.that these selection committees cannot be trusted to choose the
:53:04. > :53:06.female candidate if she is the most able candidate? If that is the case,
:53:07. > :53:12.you really need to look at your selection committees and re`educate
:53:13. > :53:19.how they are choosing these people, not give them no option but to
:53:20. > :53:24.choose a woman. My party takes a different view but I think if you
:53:25. > :53:27.have equal number of men and women on a short list, leave it to your
:53:28. > :53:36.members to select the best person. They need to do that. See beyond the
:53:37. > :53:39.child the `` the gender. That cannot be happening, because of that did
:53:40. > :53:45.happen, you could not have 80% of MPs being male. If a woman is
:53:46. > :53:50.nominated on and open short list in the Labour Party, many women do get
:53:51. > :53:54.put on the final short list. It seems to me if you have got the
:53:55. > :53:58.choice, it is up to the members to decide. If your members reflect
:53:59. > :54:03.society more widely, you will choose the right person. It is about
:54:04. > :54:07.attracting women at the grassroots, into parish and town councils, and
:54:08. > :54:12.bringing them up. If you are rooted in your local area, you understand
:54:13. > :54:19.it and you are passionate about it as I am, you will make a better
:54:20. > :54:24.empty. You have got a situation where the Conservative party could
:54:25. > :54:28.be left with a single female MP in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire after the
:54:29. > :54:33.deselection. We have got a different problem, it is about the working
:54:34. > :54:39.environment. There is a very large number of female MPs on both side of
:54:40. > :54:43.the house standing down after the election because the working
:54:44. > :54:46.environment is not conducive to family life or the agendas they want
:54:47. > :54:51.to follow. We need to look at that at national and local level. I do
:54:52. > :54:57.not believe positive discolouration of the right way forward. The female
:54:58. > :55:01.MPs that I speak to lose it. `` I do not believe positive discrimination
:55:02. > :55:05.is the right way forward. Do you think it will be damaging for your
:55:06. > :55:10.party to have only two or three female MPs in the whole country
:55:11. > :55:14.after the election? Absolutely, and we need to have a look at how we
:55:15. > :55:18.select candidates as a party, as do all the major parties, because we
:55:19. > :55:21.need to get a better balance and diversity and cross`section of what
:55:22. > :55:24.our communities are present. The hours have changed in the House of
:55:25. > :55:29.Commons. But I was elected in 1997, it was not uncommon to sit until
:55:30. > :55:32.3am. That is incompatible with family life. We have changed
:55:33. > :55:37.radically, there have been many more changes that need to take place, but
:55:38. > :55:41.it has changed a lot. When I was elected there were 100 women MPs,
:55:42. > :55:45.not enough, but that was more than the total of all women who had ever
:55:46. > :55:48.been elected to Parliament since 1990.
:55:49. > :55:51.Let's get more of the political views of the week.
:55:52. > :56:03.`` political news. The government has criticised Hull
:56:04. > :56:07.City Council's plans to increase council tax by just under 2% and
:56:08. > :56:10.lose up to 450 jobs. The Labour run authority is one of the number to
:56:11. > :56:14.set their annual budgets claiming they are being forced to reduce
:56:15. > :56:16.services and cut thousands of jobs in all.
:56:17. > :56:20.The workforce at a military base in north Yorkshire is to be reduced
:56:21. > :56:26.over the next two years. Around 2200 staff work at the base near
:56:27. > :56:29.Harrogate. 500 American posts will be phased out by 2016, some British
:56:30. > :56:32.jobs are to go as well. One of the biggest chain of
:56:33. > :56:38.academies in England has walked away from age contract walking `` running
:56:39. > :56:44.a number of schools. The carrot `` recruit Charity E`Act walked away
:56:45. > :56:47.after Ofsted inspectors raised concerns about some schools. Lead
:56:48. > :56:53.City Council that could lead Judy Blake was unimpressed. We are facing
:56:54. > :57:00.up the pieces of a catastrophic series of events where the sponsor
:57:01. > :57:03.has walked away. The government is critical, Craig
:57:04. > :57:06.Whittaker, of Northern Labour councils who have decided to
:57:07. > :57:11.increase council tax but they say they are getting a raw deal from
:57:12. > :57:16.central government. Some of the poorest councils in our area have
:57:17. > :57:18.had their funding cut. Our Labour council in Calderdale have put in
:57:19. > :57:24.their budget to freeze this year, the conservative and liberal
:57:25. > :57:27.Democrat one is the further three years. I think it is having a
:57:28. > :57:33.serious look at how they can freeze. People are hurting, it is very
:57:34. > :57:39.difficult for families and you get ?200 increases in your council tax,
:57:40. > :57:44.that is a big ask. Should Labour councils be taking Eric Pickles
:57:45. > :57:53.lottery money and freezing council tax? `` Eric Pickles' money?
:57:54. > :57:59.Councils are in a real pickle here, if I can use the pun. They need to
:58:00. > :58:05.deliver services efficiently but they do not want to raise council
:58:06. > :58:07.tax so it is a real dilemma. On to academies, E`Act Luuk De Jong of
:58:08. > :58:13.another of academies across the country, `` losing control of a
:58:14. > :58:17.number of academies, some people saying that cracks are starting to
:58:18. > :58:20.appear in the academy programme. Not at all. The unions also said
:58:21. > :58:24.academies are not policed or checked up on enough and here is a prime
:58:25. > :58:30.example of that going in and highlighting the issues of this
:58:31. > :58:32.Academy chain. Ten schools is a minority to converge to how many
:58:33. > :58:40.state schools we haven't similar situations. `` compared to family
:58:41. > :58:44.state schools. This shows that Ofsted are doing the job, the checks
:58:45. > :58:48.and balances for academies and they are doing the right thing. It is not
:58:49. > :59:00.good news for those schools. In those goodbye, `` in days gone by,
:59:01. > :59:03.they could turn to the local authority but now they can't, their
:59:04. > :59:12.calls are not returned. It is a polity. `` appalling. They took my
:59:13. > :59:17.calls if they are trying to get through the Department of education
:59:18. > :59:21.so they should get in touch with me. I know from the member of West lead
:59:22. > :59:26.in East lead, they are not getting a response and that a shocking. Thank
:59:27. > :59:39.you for your time. You have been watching the Sunday politics.
:59:40. > :59:42.Government to change it. Thank you both for being here. Andrew, back to
:59:43. > :59:55.you. This week grant Shap said he wanted
:59:56. > :00:01.to rebrand the Tories as the workers' party to show it can reach
:00:02. > :00:05.out to blue-collar workers. One Conservative Party MP said they
:00:06. > :00:13.should scrap what he said was their boring old logo. We asked him and
:00:14. > :00:22.two other independent MPs how they'd freshen up their logos.
:00:23. > :00:28.Aspiration's always been our core value. About helping people get on
:00:29. > :00:33.with life. Giving people ladders of opportunity. That's why our symbol
:00:34. > :00:38.must reflect our values of aspiration and why I'm calling for
:00:39. > :00:45.our symbol to be changed from a tree to a ladder which symbolises social
:00:46. > :00:49.mobility and stands up for everything conservatism represents.
:00:50. > :00:55.I like an he will fanned, an animal that never forgets. We're the only
:00:56. > :01:01.party which seems to remember what life was like before the NHS and
:01:02. > :01:04.minimum wage and the global financial crash was caused by too
:01:05. > :01:10.little regulation not too much. We have a leader who can spot the
:01:11. > :01:16.elephant in the room, the lack of women on the Tory frontbench. The
:01:17. > :01:22.republicans in America have had the same idea. Theirs is a suspicious
:01:23. > :01:26.blue. Our would be deepest red. We love our Liberal Democrat bird. Mrs
:01:27. > :01:31.Thatcher called it the dead parrot when we launched it. We won the
:01:32. > :01:37.Eastbourne by-election off the Tories very soon aftered with.
:01:38. > :01:42.Perhaps it feels like we're in a coalition cage but we're escaping
:01:43. > :01:46.that soon. Why does it fly to the right? Most Liberal Democrats would
:01:47. > :01:54.want it to fly to the left. I hope it will soon.
:01:55. > :01:59.Interesting there. Let's stick with the Robert Hall pin one. He was
:02:00. > :02:05.being serious. The others were fun. It is interesting that talking about
:02:06. > :02:11.appealing to the blue collared vote, the upper working class, lower
:02:12. > :02:15.middle class, curiously now neither Mr Cameron nor Mr Miliband has great
:02:16. > :02:23.cut through with these people. But in wanting to be the Workers Party,
:02:24. > :02:29.how do you square that with choosing five old Etonians to draw up four
:02:30. > :02:34.next manifesto. Labour said one of the things was cutting inheritance
:02:35. > :02:38.tax, after all their priorities they went to privilege rather than earned
:02:39. > :02:43.income. Rebranding is not enough. The one question the modernisers
:02:44. > :02:50.never asked themselves when they took party ten years ago is the
:02:51. > :02:53.thing we know as the Conservative Party, salvageable as a brand? I'm
:02:54. > :02:59.beginning to think it isn't. If you look at all public opinion research,
:03:00. > :03:04.there are lots of people in this contrary with Conservative views.
:03:05. > :03:10.They won't vote Tory or contemplate the possibility of voting Tory. Can
:03:11. > :03:16.we get over the electoral problems by relaunching as a different
:03:17. > :03:21.pro-business, pro-worker party. That means new name, new logo. It will
:03:22. > :03:26.mean new people as well. If you say you're on the sides of what Thatcher
:03:27. > :03:30.called the strivers, the people themselves want to see you have
:03:31. > :03:35.strivers in the people who run your party so you know what we've been
:03:36. > :03:40.through, the struggles we've had. How many of the six drawing up the
:03:41. > :03:45.manifesto have had ever a mortgage. The one who's not an old Etonian
:03:46. > :03:50.went to St Paul's. He's a day schoolboy! It is interesting and it
:03:51. > :03:56.was funny you mentioned an elephant. Don't think of an elephant as the
:03:57. > :04:00.title of that book. Calling it the Workers Party draws attention to the
:04:01. > :04:05.Tories biggest electoral weakness. The idea they are a class apart Out
:04:06. > :04:10.of touch. I think it is interesting, they have identified their elections
:04:11. > :04:18.are won or lost by this particular demo graphic of the C 1, and C .
:04:19. > :04:23.Mrs Thatcher got them by the shed load, Tony Blair got them. His
:04:24. > :04:29.failure in 2010 is the reason David Cameron didn't win an overall
:04:30. > :04:34.majority. I'm disappointed with the ladder. You should have a hammer or
:04:35. > :04:39.sickle! The Conservatives have a terrible brand problem. You heard
:04:40. > :04:42.them explaining why they did badly in the Wythenshawe by-election,
:04:43. > :04:47.saying there's quite a large council estate there In 1961, I think the
:04:48. > :04:53.Conservatives won a by-election back then, they were getting through to
:04:54. > :04:56.those sort of voters. There is not a single Conservative councillor in
:04:57. > :05:02.Manchester. They have this terrible problem. You're right for them to
:05:03. > :05:08.pick up on the five Etonians writing their manifesto. David Cameron sir
:05:09. > :05:16.rounding himself with his own. He doesn't have to do that. I seas
:05:17. > :05:24.things like isn't Robert Halpen great. He decides and has his own.
:05:25. > :05:28.He has some more slightly common people from St Paul's! One of the
:05:29. > :05:33.ways the Conservatives hoped to broaden their appeal is the tougher
:05:34. > :05:39.line on immigration. We learned net immigration is rising substantially.
:05:40. > :05:45.Back up over 200,000. Nigel Farage of UKIP wrapped up the rhetoric In
:05:46. > :05:55.scores of our cities and market towns, this country, in a short
:05:56. > :06:01.space of time, has become N'Zonzi rkable whether it is --
:06:02. > :06:07.unrecognisable. Whether it is the impact on local schools and
:06:08. > :06:11.hospitals. In many parts of England you don't hear English spoken, this
:06:12. > :06:16.is not the kind of the community we want to leave to our children and
:06:17. > :06:23.grandchildren. Helen, maybe people, I assume, will love the sentiments.
:06:24. > :06:30.Others will say, this is getting... It is going down a dangerous road.
:06:31. > :06:37.Nigel Farage's wife is German and he shares a flat with Godfully Bloom,
:06:38. > :06:44.nobody knows what he's saying half of the time. You can handle the
:06:45. > :06:54.letters from Yorkshire. Alex Salmond does not make his case on Scotland
:06:55. > :07:01.for the Scottish. Let's put aside whether the policy's right or wrong.
:07:02. > :07:08.How bad, by the Tories own lights, is the fact the net figure for
:07:09. > :07:13.immigration went up 60,000? It looks really bad. If I was a Tory
:07:14. > :07:18.strategist, I'd be philosophical about it. Immigration, even if they
:07:19. > :07:23.were meeting the target, I don't think the public would believe it.
:07:24. > :07:28.It is like crime a few years ago, the crime rates had been declining
:07:29. > :07:34.for the best part of 20 years but the fear of crime remains high.
:07:35. > :07:37.There's such a degree of cynicism that regardless of your
:07:38. > :07:43.administrative record in Government, the public will remain hostile to
:07:44. > :07:47.you. This is where Nigel Farage can be potent. He said it is not about
:07:48. > :07:54.numbers. It is about community. It is about people seeing their
:07:55. > :07:59.communities change. And in the Sunday Telegraph, it was said this
:08:00. > :08:03.isn't a dog whistle, a it is a meaty bone for a bull terrier. The problem
:08:04. > :08:07.for the Government on these figures is we know why the net migration
:08:08. > :08:13.figures are not looking good. They got down the non-EU figures but the
:08:14. > :08:19.EU figures are going up. From Italy and Spain as their economies tanked,
:08:20. > :08:24.people came here. If he hadn't made such a big deal of the numbers, the
:08:25. > :08:26.Tories, I mean, you could present this as a huge success story. If you
:08:27. > :08:31.believe immigration was good for the country. You would say it doesn t
:08:32. > :08:34.matter what Labour says, the best and the brightest young people from
:08:35. > :08:39.all over Europe are voting with their feet to come to Britain. But
:08:40. > :08:43.you never hear that case being made and certainly not by Labour. They
:08:44. > :08:47.acknowledge although immigration is best in the abstract for the
:08:48. > :08:52.economy, people don't feel it in their daily lives. There's a huge
:08:53. > :08:56.vacuum for the case where immigration should be in our public
:08:57. > :09:01.life. I remember a time when the economy was in such decline there
:09:02. > :09:05.was a rush to the door in the sixties and seventies. Now we are
:09:06. > :09:10.claiming our economy's doing better than any of the other major
:09:11. > :09:15.economies bar Germany, people want to join in our success. London was a
:09:16. > :09:22.declining city until the mid-eighties. Theresa May cannot be
:09:23. > :09:27.honest. She was proposing a cap on immigration. Not going to happen.
:09:28. > :09:32.Today she is saying maybe people from poorer member states cannot
:09:33. > :09:37.come in until their economies grow. That's future accession states.
:09:38. > :09:41.That's Turkey in ten years' time It is causing divisions with the
:09:42. > :09:46.coalition. She's bashing Vince Cable. You often see Liberal
:09:47. > :09:50.Democrats bashing the Tories. You don't often see a Tory minister bash
:09:51. > :09:54.Vince Cable. She does on the immigration figures. He thought they
:09:55. > :09:59.were good news. Last week, Vince responded to the news by saying it
:10:00. > :10:03.was a policy he was happy for the gift to flunk. The problem was going
:10:04. > :10:09.for a cap. There are six moving parts. UK citizens leaving, coming
:10:10. > :10:15.back. EU citizens leaving and coming back and then third party nationals.
:10:16. > :10:23.And students coming to study. Of course. You only have control over
:10:24. > :10:31.the EU citizens. Have you to clamp down on ace strayian, Chinese or
:10:32. > :10:38.American graduates. They should have gone for the Australian points
:10:39. > :10:47.system. I don't have a pure cap on numbers just background etc. Tim
:10:48. > :10:50.Farran said in the European election either vogue Liberal Democrat or
:10:51. > :10:55.UKIP. He turned that to his advantage. It is hopeful but he s
:10:56. > :11:05.come up with a way to spin this Labour has his special conference.
:11:06. > :11:11.Was it or was it not an event? Not sure it was the biggest moment in
:11:12. > :11:16.the party since 1918. But things fell apart in the special conference
:11:17. > :11:21.in 1981. 2004 got another special conference. Who's on board? David
:11:22. > :11:26.Owen who founded the gang of four. He's not joined but he's given them
:11:27. > :11:31.money. He's not going to sit with them in the Lord's. He's given
:11:32. > :11:37.money. They lost the gang of four. Back comes David Owen. Not historic?
:11:38. > :11:43.Why would he want it to be more significant than it was. There's a
:11:44. > :11:47.tendency to see him taking the fight to his party. Why would he want
:11:48. > :11:55.that? The fact it has not pleased Grant Shapps is not a test to see
:11:56. > :12:06.whether this has worked. It has been described as an historic moment and
:12:07. > :12:11.incremental of what John did. The trade union block voters disappeared
:12:12. > :12:19.a long time ago. They still have 50% of the vote. But 2,000 of union
:12:20. > :12:24.members voting for this guy has gone. It is a reform from 20 years
:12:25. > :12:28.ago. Welcome but not historic. Ed Miliband's stored up trouble. Len
:12:29. > :12:34.McCluskey wants a million new homes and answered to the benefit caps is
:12:35. > :12:38.not reconcilable with the deficit reduction strategy. In five years'
:12:39. > :12:44.time if there is a Labour Government it becomes very difficult. We should
:12:45. > :12:48.keep an eye on it? Always. Labour Party process is never ending.
:12:49. > :12:54.Unlike this programme. That's all from us today. Continuing reports of
:12:55. > :12:59.events in the Ukraine on the BBC News Channel. There's no Daily
:13:00. > :13:04.Politics tomorrow because of cover Arg of the Nelson Mandela memorial
:13:05. > :13:09.service at Westminster Abbey on BBC Two live. We'll be back on the Daily
:13:10. > :13:14.Politics on Tuesday at midday. We'll be back here next week with the Work
:13:15. > :13:18.and Pensions Secretary, Ian Smith. If it is Sunday, it is the Sunday
:13:19. > :13:36.Politics.