17/07/2011

Download Subtitles

Transcript

:00:38. > :00:42.Good morning and welcome. We had planned to be at the Olympic

:00:42. > :00:47.Stadium today, but instead we are sticking with the big story of the

:00:47. > :00:51.week. More shock revelations from the Rupert Murdoch Empire and the

:00:51. > :00:55.Chipping Norton said. The columnist and broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson

:00:55. > :01:00.admits this morning that they used to drink cocktails made from

:01:00. > :01:04.crushed Socialists and talk about taking her over the BBC before

:01:04. > :01:09.Rupert Murdoch joined us on a live video feed from his private

:01:09. > :01:13.volcano's stroking a white cat. It is extremely worrying, it is just

:01:13. > :01:19.possible it is a joke. But it has been an amazing week and to talk

:01:19. > :01:23.about the fall-out I am joined for today's paper review by one of the

:01:23. > :01:27.very few people close to Rupert Murdoch, Sky News Business

:01:27. > :01:32.presenter Jeff Randall, Polly Toynbee and the former editor of

:01:32. > :01:36.the Telegraph and Evening Standard, Max Hastings. It has been a real

:01:36. > :01:40.what next week in politics. Terrible for Rupert Murdoch's

:01:40. > :01:45.newspaper and television companies while some of his rivals are

:01:46. > :01:50.gloating like mad. This is the Independent on Sunday, they take on

:01:50. > :01:53.a once famous front page about Neil Kinnock from the Sun newspaper. As

:01:53. > :01:58.a Labour calls for new laws to ensure no individual every game has

:01:58. > :02:02.so much power in Britain's media, a lot of attention is moving to the

:02:02. > :02:08.role of the police as the saga unfolds. As the Government is

:02:08. > :02:10.buffeted by a firestorm of revelations, which I joined this

:02:10. > :02:12.morning by the Deputy Prime Minister whose Lib Dem colleagues

:02:12. > :02:17.are formally asking whether the owners of BSkyB are fit and proper

:02:17. > :02:21.people to run a television company in the UK. The hottest ticket in

:02:21. > :02:24.town will be for the Commons committee room where Mr Murdoch,

:02:24. > :02:28.his son James and Rebekah Brooks will be questioned by MPs on

:02:28. > :02:32.Tuesday. The man sharing that session is the Conservative MP John

:02:32. > :02:37.Whittingdale and he is with me as well. Labour have been enjoying all

:02:37. > :02:42.of this and I will be joined by the shadow Home Secretary a debt Cooper.

:02:42. > :02:48.I wonder if she has any regrets about Labour's once cosy

:02:48. > :02:52.relationship with Rupert Murdoch. And some music, Donna Summer that

:02:52. > :03:02.is. Andrea Corr and her band are going to play as out with a

:03:02. > :03:09.

:03:09. > :03:12.wonderful cover of a great 1980s High-volume, cold morning. First,

:03:12. > :03:16.the news. The Labour leader Ed Miliband is

:03:16. > :03:21.calling for a change in the law to stop anyone proprietor from owning

:03:21. > :03:25.as many newspapers and broadcasters as Rupert Murdoch. The effect of

:03:25. > :03:28.the proposal would be to force the break-up of News International,

:03:28. > :03:32.currently under investigation for phone hacking. The company has

:03:32. > :03:35.placed another set of adverts in today's newspapers, saying it is

:03:35. > :03:40.committed to putting right what has gone wrong.

:03:40. > :03:45.He in an article in today's observe her Ed Miliband said Rupert Murdoch

:03:45. > :03:49.had too much power over public life. He said the concentration of media

:03:49. > :03:54.ownership in one person's hands was and healthier. The message from

:03:54. > :03:58.News International is in many of today's newspapers. It says there

:03:58. > :04:02.should be no place to hide from a police investigation into phone

:04:02. > :04:06.hacking. There is more pressure to bear on Metropolitan Police

:04:06. > :04:10.Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson who has already come under fire for

:04:10. > :04:14.his close links with News International. Scotland Yard said

:04:14. > :04:18.he stayed for five weeks at a resort whilst recovering from a leg

:04:18. > :04:24.injury. The cost of accommodation and meals was paid for by the boss,

:04:24. > :04:27.a family friend. One of the PR advisers was Neil Wallace, the

:04:28. > :04:31.former News of the World Jenise questioned by police on Friday. The

:04:31. > :04:36.Met Police said the commissioner was unaware of that until yesterday.

:04:36. > :04:41.Links between the media and politicians are also under scrutiny.

:04:41. > :04:45.John Whittingdale has confirmed that former News International

:04:45. > :04:49.executive Rebekah Brooks is one of hiscontacts. She has been summoned

:04:49. > :04:56.to give evidence to the committee on Tuesday. Mr Whittingdale said he

:04:56. > :04:59.would not call her a friend. The Ministry of Defence says a

:04:59. > :05:03.soldier from the Royal Lancers has been killed while on duty in

:05:03. > :05:08.Afghanistan. His family has been informed. An army spokesman said

:05:08. > :05:12.the soldier was on a joint patrol with the Afghan National Army in

:05:12. > :05:15.Helmand Province when he was shot. An investigation is being carried

:05:15. > :05:18.out into reports that he was barred on by an Afghan National Army

:05:18. > :05:22.soldier. MPs are warning that pulling

:05:22. > :05:26.British troops out of Afghanistan prematurely could weaken remaining

:05:26. > :05:31.forces. The Commons defence committee believes David Cameron's

:05:31. > :05:35.plan to withdraw by the end of 2014 could undermine the international

:05:35. > :05:40.coalition's strategy and they are not convinced the troops in

:05:40. > :05:45.Afghanistan have sufficient helicopters.

:05:45. > :05:51.On his recent visit to Helmand, the Prime Minister again made clear he

:05:51. > :05:54.wants combat operations to finish by the end of 2014. But MPs on the

:05:54. > :05:57.defence committee have warned against withdrawing British boys

:05:58. > :06:02.are too quickly or too soon from Afghanistan, saner the withdrawal

:06:02. > :06:06.was depend on the situation on the ground, and they are not sure where

:06:06. > :06:11.their the Afghan national army and police will be ready to take over

:06:11. > :06:15.security by then. Looking back at her the mission in Helmand began in

:06:15. > :06:22.2006, the MPs expressed many concerns, among them that the MoD

:06:22. > :06:25.did not anticipate sending in British troops. They are also

:06:25. > :06:28.critical of failure to warn ministers of the dangers facing

:06:28. > :06:32.those forces when they were first deployed under Tony Blair's

:06:32. > :06:36.Government. They said that for three years British troops lacked

:06:36. > :06:42.the necessary numbers and equipment after senior commanders in the UK

:06:42. > :06:46.told the then Defence Secretary that the commanders on the ground

:06:47. > :06:51.did not have what they needed. left our troops exposed and at risk

:06:51. > :06:54.in a way that was unacceptable. That has to be put right. There has

:06:54. > :07:00.got to be better communication between the military and the

:07:00. > :07:04.politicians. The military have got to be absolutely careful not to

:07:04. > :07:09.suppress warnings from the commanders on the ground. The MPs

:07:09. > :07:12.also said they are not yet convinced that troops now in

:07:12. > :07:18.Afghanistan have enough helicopters, not least after previous this year

:07:18. > :07:22.rinses were later proved wrong. The United Nations has made the

:07:22. > :07:27.first delivery of food and medicine to drought victims in areas of

:07:27. > :07:31.Somalia after a ruling militants lifted an aid ban. It comes as the

:07:31. > :07:34.famine could be formally declared in the next week by the UN. The

:07:34. > :07:38.International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, has been visiting

:07:38. > :07:42.the region and is urging other countries to do more to help. The

:07:42. > :07:46.UK has pledged �52 million in emergency aid.

:07:46. > :07:50.Tributes have been paid to the actor's Googie Withers who died

:07:51. > :07:55.aged 94. She was best known for working with Arford Hitchcock

:07:55. > :07:58.before the Second World War, but also had a successful career on

:07:58. > :08:03.television in later life. Her unusual first name was given to her

:08:03. > :08:07.by her nanny who struggle to say her real name, Georgette. That is

:08:07. > :08:13.all for now. I will be back just before 10 o'clock.

:08:13. > :08:18.We will have our regular review in a short while, but first I am

:08:18. > :08:21.joined by the Conservative MP John Whittingdale, chair of the Commons

:08:21. > :08:27.Committee on Culture and Media and he will be quizzing the Murdochs,

:08:27. > :08:31.father and son, on Tuesday and Rebekah Brooks. Famously Rebekah

:08:31. > :08:36.Brooks never gives TV interviews. But she did once talked to my

:08:36. > :08:40.predecessor David Frost in 2001. strongly believe we are on the side

:08:40. > :08:45.of the right, the public are behind us and we will continue to make

:08:45. > :08:54.sure that people understand the basis of Sarah's lock, controlled

:08:54. > :08:58.public access. That was Sarah's law, about identifying paedophiles. Now

:08:58. > :09:03.that they have accepted John Whittingdale's invitation, what can

:09:03. > :09:09.we expect on Tuesday? Will there be blood on the carpet in Boothroyd

:09:09. > :09:15.Room? They have accepted your invitation, but after quite a lot

:09:15. > :09:19.of pushing and tucking. There were some extraordinary stories that you

:09:19. > :09:27.would have gone to the extent of actually having them arrested by an

:09:27. > :09:31.officer of the House of Commons and they would have been put up in the

:09:31. > :09:35.Tower of Westminster. Is that true or is that a joke? I am not sure

:09:35. > :09:39.anyone knows because it has not been done for hundreds of years.

:09:39. > :09:43.Rebekah Brooks accepted the invitation to come to the committed.

:09:43. > :09:46.James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch said they were both unavailable, so

:09:47. > :09:51.the committee passed a formal motion to serve a summons on them.

:09:51. > :09:53.Had they refuse to accept that, I would have gone to the House of

:09:53. > :09:57.Commons and asked for a motion to be passed by the whole house

:09:57. > :10:03.requiring them to attend. That would have been pretty much

:10:03. > :10:07.unprecedented. If they then failed to abide by that, to be honest I do

:10:07. > :10:10.not think anyone knows what would have happened next. In theory they

:10:10. > :10:15.would have been marred to the Commons and there is a little room

:10:15. > :10:20.which acts as a self. I believe there is something in the clock

:10:20. > :10:25.tower. Anyway, they are coming on Tuesday. Are they all coming

:10:26. > :10:29.together? Now the situation has changed, Rebekah Brooks is no

:10:29. > :10:32.longer an employee of News Corporation, I think we will

:10:32. > :10:37.probably want to talk to her separately from Rupert and James

:10:37. > :10:43.Murdoch. One of the things you will have to be careful about is not

:10:43. > :10:48.prejudging the judicial inquiry. Presumably one of the great

:10:48. > :10:55.questions is about this very large number of e-mails which were being

:10:55. > :10:59.held by News International's lawyers for years without being

:10:59. > :11:04.acknowledged or analysed. Is that at the heart of what you will be

:11:04. > :11:07.looking at? This is such an immensely complicated saga and

:11:07. > :11:11.there are a vast number of questions, that was certain it is

:11:11. > :11:14.one of them. We looked at all this two years ago when we had an

:11:14. > :11:19.inquiry, which is when we were assured but all of our witnesses

:11:19. > :11:23.that nobody had any involvement, it was down to one man. At that time

:11:23. > :11:27.we were told 2500 e-mails had been gone through with great care and no

:11:27. > :11:31.evidence emerged there was any involvement outside of Clive

:11:31. > :11:36.Goodman. Yes, we will certainly want to ask if that is the case had

:11:36. > :11:39.come now suddenly all of this is coming out? What would make a good

:11:39. > :11:44.day for the committee in terms of the breakthrough answers you would

:11:44. > :11:48.like to get? I think the sole purpose of the committee is to try

:11:48. > :11:53.and get closer to what actually happened and to uncover the truth.

:11:53. > :11:56.I would like and I hope there is a good chance that all three of the

:11:56. > :11:59.witnesses will come determined to do their best to help us. We

:11:59. > :12:03.understand there is an ongoing police inquiry, but that should not

:12:03. > :12:09.prevent us from learned a lot more about what went on and to

:12:09. > :12:12.authorised it. Do you think the committee was lied to us? We said

:12:12. > :12:16.in 2009 that we did not believe what what we had been told, that it

:12:16. > :12:22.was one person. We thought it was inconceivable that just one person

:12:22. > :12:26.could have been involved. What we did not know was whether or not the

:12:26. > :12:30.witnesses knew more than they were saying. Hopefully now that will

:12:30. > :12:36.become clearer. James Murdoch himself has said that Parliament

:12:36. > :12:41.was misled. Essentially he has told us that. You have got a lot of

:12:41. > :12:48.helpful advice no doubt, but also about the tone of the committee.

:12:48. > :12:52.There is presumably a lot of big egos in the room, and they will be

:12:52. > :12:56.shouting and so on, what are you going to achieve as chairman?

:12:57. > :13:01.not want us to be a lynch mob. On the other hand I do not want us to

:13:01. > :13:05.let them off without properly addressing the questions. I hope,

:13:05. > :13:10.and I am sure my colleagues will take the same you on the committee,

:13:10. > :13:13.that we will be calm and ask Batchelor, detailed questions.

:13:13. > :13:19.have got a few hours to do this, but if you do not get what you want,

:13:19. > :13:23.or you have them back again? It is far too soon to say that. We have

:13:23. > :13:28.to bear in mind there is a judicial inquiry and it will have more power

:13:28. > :13:32.and it will take much longer. The full picture will not emerge until

:13:32. > :13:36.that inquiry is complete. You have heard on the news there was a comic

:13:36. > :13:43.about you being a close friend of Rebekah Brooks, you are on her face

:13:43. > :13:46.that page. I am shocked you have a face that paid. I have 570 friends

:13:46. > :13:51.on Facebook, whether or not Rebekah Brooks is still one of them I still

:13:51. > :13:55.doubt. But you are not closely connected. I have been doing this

:13:55. > :14:00.breed in one capacity or another for 10 years. I have met almost

:14:00. > :14:06.every major figure in the media. This story appeared in the

:14:06. > :14:12.Independent on Sunday. I have met Alexander Lebedev, but he is not a

:14:12. > :14:22.friend on Facebook. Thank you very much. We are on to the papers as

:14:22. > :14:23.

:14:23. > :14:26.promised. Lots of front pages. One of the interesting themes is the

:14:26. > :14:31.papers are trying to get News of the World readers. This is the

:14:31. > :14:38.first time we have not had the News of the World to show you. The

:14:38. > :14:43.Sunday Mirror. His paper costs just 50 pence. Ashley is at it again.

:14:43. > :14:49.The Mail on Sunday, this paper costs less than �1. They are

:14:49. > :14:53.talking about Sarah's law. Now there is a different campaign. The

:14:53. > :14:59.Sunday People. It is for people like you, prayer to be independent,

:14:59. > :15:06.proud to put you first. On the other front page a very big story

:15:06. > :15:14.about the boss of the Metropolitan Police. Paul Stephenson got �12,000

:15:14. > :15:19.of help and care after he had been ill. Also a row with Gordon Brown.

:15:20. > :15:26.The Sunday Telegraph, please focus on James Murdoch's role in the

:15:26. > :15:36.cover up and much more besides, but very clever and well plugged in.

:15:36. > :15:38.

:15:38. > :15:44.And you all for joining us. Where The Observer have got a full page

:15:44. > :15:49.lead-up of questions that Rebekah Brooks, James and Rupert Murdoch

:15:49. > :15:59.should be asked. When did you become aware of the 2009 payments

:15:59. > :16:00.

:16:00. > :16:06.authorised by your son James... For example. It is strong stuff. It is

:16:06. > :16:10.open season on the Murdoch empire and obviously this is Chapter 1.

:16:10. > :16:15.has been a terrific fortnight for Ed Miliband, when you get even the

:16:15. > :16:21.Sunday Telegraph saying Ed Miliband thrives as growing storm and Golfs

:16:21. > :16:26.Cameron. It has been zero to hero coverage. He was being thoroughly

:16:26. > :16:31.trashed Until this began, and he has been ahead in the demands he

:16:31. > :16:35.has been making. Today's demand that they should be cross-party

:16:35. > :16:40.agreement on new media ownership laws, and we should go back perhaps

:16:40. > :16:46.to the laws Thatcher broke to allow Murdoch to acquire such an enormous

:16:46. > :16:56.empire. The laws they have in America, where you can't have one

:16:56. > :16:57.

:16:57. > :17:01.man as super dominant as he has become. you are one of the few

:17:01. > :17:07.people who has interviewed Rupert Murdoch at the BBC, but the Sunday

:17:07. > :17:12.Times is a good newspaper. He has built proper businesses, there is

:17:12. > :17:18.no doubt about that, and I was struck by this piece in the

:17:18. > :17:23.Observer. It is by Peter Preston, a former editor of the Guardian no

:17:23. > :17:29.less, the paper that has led the way on this story. He would have

:17:29. > :17:35.thought it would be full of bitter criticism, absolutely not. Warm,

:17:35. > :17:39.open-hearted, generous. This is Rupert Murdoch he is talking about?

:17:39. > :17:43.Exactly. There is a much truncated list of good things you could say

:17:43. > :17:49.about Rupert but it is crazy amid the grey wash of righteousness to

:17:49. > :17:54.pretend they don't exist. And he goes through them. He says Rupert

:17:54. > :17:59.has subsidised the Times, he has improved the Wall Street Journal,

:17:59. > :18:04.and created BSkyB. You think Rupert would be delighted by this,

:18:04. > :18:09.wouldn't he? Not quite because when you get to the end you can see this

:18:09. > :18:15.is about pity, and Rupert will hate being pitted, in particular by

:18:15. > :18:23.Peter Preston. In the end, he says "this is an old charismatic leader

:18:24. > :18:30.struggling to adjust in an empire full complexity". I remember as an

:18:30. > :18:34.editor of the Daily Telegraph in 1986, we all knew we would never

:18:34. > :18:39.have made the breakthrough into profitability if Rupert had not

:18:39. > :18:44.fought the battle in Wapping for the whole industry. As you have

:18:44. > :18:49.just been saying, the Times and the Sunday Times, God only knows what

:18:49. > :18:53.happens if Ed Miliband gets his way and the Empire is broken up.

:18:53. > :18:58.Everyone has known for years the Murdoch empire has been able to

:18:58. > :19:02.maintain a culture of fear which has been fundamentally unhealthy.

:19:02. > :19:06.We have all seen by ministers trembling before the power of

:19:06. > :19:11.Rupert and this is not healthy in a democracy. In it started with John

:19:11. > :19:17.Major. He said quite specifically he knew he was done for the moment

:19:17. > :19:21.Rupert Murdoch gave him the thumbs down. The whole idea was that

:19:21. > :19:26.Rupert Murdoch decided who would be prime minister. It is not

:19:26. > :19:30.necessarily true, and the analysis of how much effect it has is

:19:30. > :19:35.ambiguous, but prime ministers believed it sufficiently that they

:19:35. > :19:40.could be bullied. The extent to which David Cameron can be bullied

:19:40. > :19:45.has come out. Most shocking of all the fact emerges in the Mail on

:19:45. > :19:48.Sunday today that Rebekah Brooks told David Cameron to employed Andy

:19:48. > :19:58.Coulson so that he would be a direct conduit straight into the

:19:58. > :20:00.

:20:00. > :20:06.heart of the evil empire. It would have been a different story it

:20:06. > :20:10.otherwise. Talking of politicians trembling, many regard this as

:20:10. > :20:20.payback time. Let's face it, it has been like shooting fish in a barrel

:20:20. > :20:25.this week, having an attack on the Murdochs. Gordon Brown, as if to

:20:25. > :20:31.underline his status as a big loser, had two pot shots at the Murdochs

:20:31. > :20:37.and got it wrong with both. The fish somehow managed to swim away.

:20:37. > :20:45.First he alleged they had access to the medical files of his son, that

:20:45. > :20:52.was proven to be rubbish, then he said that they hired known

:20:52. > :20:56.criminals to look at his tax files, and that was denied today. It is a

:20:56. > :21:03.shame for Gordon when he should be getting his revenge, he has fluffed

:21:03. > :21:09.his lines again. After the criminal hacking, there he was schmoozing

:21:09. > :21:15.with Rebekah Brooks again. There is this notion that there is a tight

:21:15. > :21:22.little circle of people schmoozing and drinking, and that is where the

:21:22. > :21:32.real power is. This paper has been talking about the Chipping Norton

:21:32. > :21:36.said. I don't know if you have been to any of these parties? I remember

:21:36. > :21:40.seeing everyone on the terrace drinking Murdoch champagne, but out

:21:40. > :21:46.on the lawn 20 yards out is the prime minister with Rupert Murdoch.

:21:46. > :21:54.This went on for 45 minutes, and guests were lead over to meet them.

:21:54. > :22:03.If I had been advising David Cameron, I would have said you must

:22:03. > :22:08.be mad. I thought David Cameron was badly advised to get himself into

:22:08. > :22:18.that posture, just as he was out of his mind to go to dinner at Rebekah

:22:18. > :22:20.

:22:20. > :22:25.Brooks's home when these scandals were ongoing. They just need to

:22:25. > :22:30.show common sense, which is what has been missing. I think it has

:22:30. > :22:37.damaged him enormously. It is interesting he has been like Teflon

:22:37. > :22:41.until now but he has been profoundly unnerved, as he should.

:22:41. > :22:45.I think the police are the other really big part of this story.

:22:45. > :22:48.don't think the British public has ever had a high opinion of the

:22:48. > :22:53.media at the best of the Times, and they may be appalled and disgusted

:22:53. > :23:01.by what is going on but maybe not shocked. The police is a different

:23:01. > :23:11.kettle of fish. This Sunday Times story about the Metropolitan boss

:23:11. > :23:12.

:23:12. > :23:16.taking a freebie. There has been stories about senior officers, an

:23:16. > :23:20.alarming number, it is a dirty business and I think it is more

:23:20. > :23:26.serious than the press end of this because we need to believe the

:23:27. > :23:32.police are honest and efficient. Would you agree with that?

:23:32. > :23:36.Definitely. What surprised me is when Rebekah Brooks appeared before

:23:36. > :23:40.that select committee, several years ago now, can you remember she

:23:40. > :23:44.admitted they had paid police officers. I thought that was a

:23:44. > :23:52.damning confession. Why was that not followed up on both sides of

:23:52. > :23:58.the fence? Because everybody knows lots of newspapers did. I think she

:23:58. > :24:05.didn't even realise it was illegal. It wasn't until she got back to her

:24:05. > :24:10.lawyer's and they said to her she should rescind bit, then she said

:24:10. > :24:15.she didn't know anything about it. They thought it was just a perk of

:24:15. > :24:20.the job. This is an international story, and you have an

:24:20. > :24:24.international angle. You us, whether or not the whole Murdoch

:24:24. > :24:29.Empire survives will depend on the American shareholders and how on

:24:29. > :24:34.earth they are by the sight of this. If it turns out that one rather

:24:34. > :24:38.slender allegation that the 9/11 victims' families were hacked, he

:24:38. > :24:42.is toast and we don't know where that is going, but even without

:24:42. > :24:45.that it appears American shareholders are saying hang on,

:24:45. > :24:50.this family run business looks pretty ropey. He may lose

:24:50. > :24:56.everything. American corporate law is much tougher than in this

:24:56. > :25:00.country. Rupert Murdoch could be in big trouble. If there is one bit of

:25:01. > :25:06.evidence that somehow or either the police have been suborned in New

:25:06. > :25:10.York or victims of horror shows like 9/11 have had their phones

:25:10. > :25:15.tapped, the full weight of the liberal establishment will pour

:25:15. > :25:19.down on Murdoch and I think he will struggle to cope with that.

:25:19. > :25:25.just the liberal establishment, the Republicans will be there as well.

:25:25. > :25:30.Let's move on to other stories. were talking about international

:25:30. > :25:37.stories, there is just one I have got a mention. It is my favourite

:25:37. > :25:42.of the week. This is the cheekiest piece of journalism. On Thursday,

:25:42. > :25:48.who turns up in the Financial Times being asked to write his assessment

:25:48. > :25:53.of Rupert Murdoch? None other than Conrad Black, a convicted criminal

:25:53. > :25:59.who was about to go back to jail. There he is sitting in judgment. I

:25:59. > :26:05.thought it was fantastically cheeky. He does it with style, saying

:26:05. > :26:11."Murdoch bashing has until recently generally been a disreputable

:26:11. > :26:18.activity engaged in by the envious, the far left, and the commercially

:26:18. > :26:23.on competitive. Well that is now all over so it is open season". He

:26:23. > :26:28.finishes with a flourish, saying "Murdoch has been assiduously

:26:28. > :26:35.kissing undercarriage of the rulers of Beijing for years". We have to

:26:35. > :26:43.face the fact that most newspaper powers, if they don't start of

:26:43. > :26:48.March, they end up mad. Their roots, bizarrely, a world beyond the

:26:48. > :26:53.Murdoch empire so let's have a quick nod at that. I the British

:26:53. > :26:58.force was too weak to defeat the Taliban, say MPs. I am bound to say

:26:58. > :27:03.some of us were writing again and again in 2006 this is a doomed

:27:03. > :27:09.venture, I called it gesture strategy. They have caught up with

:27:09. > :27:13.the reality that the commitment in Helmand was ill judged. The other

:27:13. > :27:18.story is the economy, I think. Without doubt. History will look

:27:18. > :27:25.back and say here was the world teetering on the edge. The European

:27:25. > :27:32.economy in chaos, who knows which way it will go? The American

:27:32. > :27:37.economy in great doubt. A very good story in the Observer talking about

:27:37. > :27:41.how may be what is going on across Europe is just a handy alibi to

:27:41. > :27:45.cover up the extent to which George Osborne has strangled Arrow and

:27:45. > :27:54.economic recovery and made matters much worse here. I'm in danger of

:27:54. > :28:00.agreeing with folly so I must review my position on the spot she

:28:00. > :28:06.is right. While this soap opera that is the Murdoch family goes on,

:28:06. > :28:11.extraordinary things are happening in Europe. Greece is going to

:28:11. > :28:16.default, that is for sure, Ireland hangs on by a thread, and Italy has

:28:16. > :28:20.had to impose a new package of measures, 48 billion euros of

:28:20. > :28:23.austerity and that country is sliding towards the chaos we have

:28:23. > :28:33.seen in Athens and clearly Berlusconi is not the man to rescue

:28:33. > :28:38.the country. The school run story very briefly. A nice column in the

:28:38. > :28:41.Observer, should Dave and Nick Clegg be doing the school run at

:28:41. > :28:47.all? What were they doing mucking about taking the children to

:28:47. > :28:52.school? We want them to be sorted out the country. We only scratched

:28:52. > :28:57.the surface of some great Sunday newspapers. There have been so many

:28:57. > :29:03.great stories, thank you. Over to the weather. Torrential rain in

:29:03. > :29:10.London yesterday. If it rains on St Swithin's Day, it will rain for 40

:29:10. > :29:19.days, so says the legend. St Swithun's Day was Friday, July 15th,

:29:19. > :29:24.It is not set to rain non-stop for the next 40 days but it is looking

:29:24. > :29:32.pretty mixed. Today there will be rain or showers which could be

:29:32. > :29:37.heavy for most of the UK. Persistent rain at times affecting

:29:37. > :29:41.West and Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England, later pushing

:29:41. > :29:46.into northern Wales and the Midlands. For everyone else it is a

:29:46. > :29:51.mixture of sunshine and showers. Quite cool for July, temperatures

:29:51. > :29:56.up to 20 degrees. Tonight low- pressure throws in more rain across

:29:56. > :30:00.much of Scotland, Northern Ireland and later into the Midlands and

:30:00. > :30:06.Wales as well. Mild and breezy, temperatures staying in double

:30:06. > :30:12.figures. From Monday, still a mixed picture across the UK, Western

:30:12. > :30:17.Areas more prone to seeing persistent rain. For the rest again

:30:17. > :30:27.it is deja-vu, a mixture of sunny spells and showers. A breezy and it

:30:27. > :30:36.will stay cool again, temperatures firmly fixed in the teens. That it

:30:36. > :30:39.We were discussing earlier on one group who have very serious

:30:39. > :30:44.questions to answer by the Metropolitan Police whose

:30:44. > :30:47.investigations into phone hacking was so half-hearted for so long and

:30:48. > :30:52.twos officers seem to be so closely connected to the Rupert Murdoch

:30:52. > :30:59.empire they were meant to be scrutinising. I am joined by Yvette

:31:00. > :31:03.Cooper. Good morning and welcome. Good morning. You have seen yet

:31:03. > :31:07.more allegations about police officers taking money and being

:31:07. > :31:11.very close to the Rupert Murdoch people as well. What is your

:31:11. > :31:17.assessment about the scale of the crisis by the Metropolitan Police

:31:17. > :31:20.this morning. We have got a drip, drip now of allegations and

:31:20. > :31:25.information that raises serious questions. I have been calling for

:31:25. > :31:28.some time for full disclosure from the Metropolitan Police, for them

:31:28. > :31:33.to be open and transparent about all of their links with News of the

:31:33. > :31:37.World. I think they should do that, they should have done so already.

:31:37. > :31:43.The trip means there is a cloud created over the Metropolitan

:31:43. > :31:46.Police because of this. I think both the leadership and the Home

:31:46. > :31:50.Secretary need to take some action now to make sure you can resolve

:31:50. > :31:54.this for the future. You cannot have this sort of thing tarnishing

:31:54. > :31:59.the reputation of the Met. Do you think Sir Paul Stephenson is now

:31:59. > :32:04.fatally damaged? I think he needs to act now to restore confidence in

:32:04. > :32:07.the leadership of the Met. That includes full disclosure,

:32:07. > :32:11.recognising mistakes that have been made and setting out action for the

:32:11. > :32:16.future. I hope he can do that. But I also think the Home Secretary

:32:16. > :32:20.needs to do that as well. This is partly her responsibility, what the

:32:20. > :32:23.confidence is in British policing. She should be demanding for

:32:23. > :32:27.disclosure and she should be setting out what action the Met

:32:27. > :32:30.knees to take to restore that confidence. At the moment she is

:32:30. > :32:35.saying all of this can wait until the judicial inquiry. It cannot

:32:35. > :32:39.possibly wait for what could be years for conclusions from the

:32:39. > :32:43.judicial inquiry. We need is to be resolved now so that police

:32:43. > :32:47.officers across the country can get on with their job without their

:32:47. > :32:53.reputation being affected. This is a difficult situation because the

:32:53. > :32:56.people running the Met are responsible for huge issues, the

:32:56. > :33:02.anti-terrorism affairs, the future of the policing of the Olympics,

:33:02. > :33:07.never mind the day-to-day running of law and order around London. We

:33:07. > :33:13.now have a group of people who are being got at day after day in the

:33:13. > :33:20.newspapers with serious allegations. We both need them, or people like

:33:20. > :33:24.them, and yet they are all in deep trouble, aren't they? The important

:33:24. > :33:30.thing is you have got to have confidence in the way policing is

:33:30. > :33:33.taking place. There has got to be public respect for policing as well.

:33:33. > :33:37.I've been Sir Paul Stephenson has been doing a good job in fighting

:33:37. > :33:41.crime in London, but he needs to act on this now, but so too does

:33:41. > :33:44.the Home Secretary. She needs to demonstrate it she has got full

:33:44. > :33:49.disclosure and full answers to these questions which we have not

:33:49. > :33:53.yet seen publicly. And also that she has continued confidence in the

:33:53. > :34:01.Met, but if so she needs to say so and not simply hide and wait for

:34:01. > :34:05.this to go away. For example, the question about the Met taking on

:34:05. > :34:11.Neil Wallace, the deputy editor of the News of the World, that is a

:34:11. > :34:16.very questionable employment judgment. There are important to

:34:16. > :34:20.answer these questions, but it is important about Downing Street

:34:20. > :34:26.employing the editor of the News of the World. The Home Secretary is

:34:26. > :34:30.not pursuing this, I hope it is not because she is reticent because the

:34:30. > :34:34.same cloud hangs over Downing Street as well. Surely the

:34:34. > :34:42.difference is that Neil was's employment was generally not know

:34:42. > :34:47.it either by politicians or buy anybody else at the time? We have

:34:47. > :34:52.got that allegations about the resort, again involving the same

:34:53. > :34:56.individual. What is your view about that? You are right, transparency

:34:56. > :35:02.is at the heart of that, but we do not have transparency Bonn the

:35:02. > :35:05.Prime Minister and what security checks that he did on taking on

:35:05. > :35:10.Andy Coulson, just as we do not have those answers from the Met

:35:10. > :35:15.about Neil Wallace. I do think there are still questions for

:35:15. > :35:18.Downing Street. On the issue of the stories in the front page of the

:35:18. > :35:21.Sunday Times, we have not had answers on that one. That looks

:35:21. > :35:26.like a separate issue from the questions about hacking, but we do

:35:26. > :35:30.not know the answers yet. What is important you have the full

:35:30. > :35:33.disclosure, you have the full information, but I have not seen

:35:33. > :35:37.the answers to those questions, but I think the Home Secretary should

:35:37. > :35:41.have made sure that she has seen the answers to the questions. She

:35:41. > :35:45.cannot just leave this to the judicial enquiry. She needs to make

:35:45. > :35:50.sure we can all have confidence in the work the Met is doing. Labour

:35:50. > :35:57.is having a good campaign so far or all of this and yet there was

:35:57. > :36:01.nobody who was closer and keener to sell Cup to Rupert Murdoch and his

:36:01. > :36:05.editors in the old days then you former boss Gordon Brown, you

:36:05. > :36:12.former leader Tony Blair. Any thoughts about Labour's

:36:12. > :36:17.embarrassment about getting so close to people you are now

:36:17. > :36:22.castigating and excoriating? Miliband has said there should have

:36:22. > :36:26.been stronger questioning in the past. The relationship between the

:36:26. > :36:31.press and politics, as well as the relationship between the press and

:36:31. > :36:35.the plays, is one which should have exposed earlier. That is why it is

:36:35. > :36:37.right that Ed Miliband has now been talking about the importance of

:36:37. > :36:44.addressing this cross-media ownership issue that was not dealt

:36:44. > :36:48.with, was not talked about, before. He is right to say we should have

:36:49. > :36:53.stronger controls on cross-media ownership. That is what we will be

:36:53. > :36:55.put into the judicial inquiry. We should not have those sorts of

:36:55. > :37:00.concentrations of media power and we have to learn lessons from what

:37:00. > :37:05.has happened, not simply have two wakes up outrage when we do not

:37:05. > :37:09.take action for the future. I used uprise Andy Coulson was invited to

:37:09. > :37:13.Chequers after he left the employment of Number 10? Very

:37:13. > :37:19.surprised. It raises further questions about the judgment of the

:37:19. > :37:23.prime minister, we know he was warned against taking on Andy

:37:24. > :37:28.Coulson and taking him into Downing Street by a whole series of very

:37:28. > :37:32.senior people, including the Lib Dems, including in the media and

:37:32. > :37:36.the newspapers. He chose to do so and he has chosen to continue that

:37:36. > :37:42.connection sense. It raises questions about what they discuss,

:37:42. > :37:46.just as it raises questions about what was discussed at BSkyB and the

:37:46. > :37:50.continued contact with News International as well. Any friendly

:37:50. > :37:54.advice for Gordon Brown whose intervention was scarcely helpful.

:37:54. > :37:58.He is clearly angry about all sorts of things, and yet he seems to be

:37:58. > :38:03.made the allegations which are either impossible to substantiate

:38:03. > :38:07.or he has not be able to substantiate. I have not seen the

:38:07. > :38:10.information Gordon Brown says he has one of these things. I do know

:38:10. > :38:16.that for him and for the whole family it was very distressing to

:38:16. > :38:20.have to deal with the things that were being said and being written

:38:20. > :38:25.in the newspapers about the health of their son. I think that did

:38:25. > :38:29.cause great distress for them and he has talked about information he

:38:29. > :38:32.has and I have not seen that, but these are the reasons why we need

:38:32. > :38:36.this judicial inquiry to get to the bottom of all of that. Yvette

:38:36. > :38:39.Cooper, thank you very much for joining us.

:38:40. > :38:44.It has been a foundation shaking time for the Rupert Murdoch empire,

:38:44. > :38:49.but the scandal has also sent shock waves to the rest of the

:38:49. > :38:54.establishment. I am joined by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

:38:54. > :38:57.Welcome. Can I start with the business of cross-media ownership?

:38:57. > :39:02.A lot of people, not just in the Labour Party, are saying this is

:39:02. > :39:07.the moment where we should ensure that nobody ever again is quite so

:39:07. > :39:12.Dominic in the media world in this country. What is your view of that?

:39:12. > :39:16.I think it is undoubtedly true that when you give up one individual, or

:39:16. > :39:21.a small number of people, a huge amount of power without proper

:39:21. > :39:25.accountability, things go wrong. That has happened here as it does

:39:25. > :39:30.in other walks of life. We need to look again in the round at the

:39:30. > :39:35.plurality rules to make sure there is proper plurality in the British

:39:35. > :39:40.press. A healthy press is a diverse one, where you have got lots of

:39:40. > :39:44.different organisations competing. That is what we need. But even if

:39:44. > :39:48.you get the plurality rules right, which I hope we do, and we have

:39:49. > :39:52.been calling for it for years, none of that will matter an issue also

:39:52. > :39:56.hold people to account in the media. At the moment you have the

:39:56. > :39:59.ludicrous situation where you have editors of national newspapers who

:40:00. > :40:04.make or break the reputation of innocent individuals in the blink

:40:04. > :40:14.of an eye, and yet they themselves are not held independently to

:40:14. > :40:18.account. It is even worse. If anything goes wrong, the editors

:40:18. > :40:22.decide how things in the press should be pleased. In no other walk

:40:22. > :40:27.of life do you have people acting as judge and jury. That needs to

:40:27. > :40:32.stop and change. Let me be clear about the plurality issue. It would

:40:32. > :40:35.have to be enshrined in legislation. Would you be prepared and be

:40:35. > :40:42.sitting down with Ed Miliband who has called for the same sort of

:40:42. > :40:48.thing? As I say, my party has been calling for a long time for a

:40:48. > :40:53.change. Are you happy to sit with people? I am very happy to sit with

:40:53. > :40:58.people. The inquiry we have set up will produce ideas about what we

:40:58. > :41:02.should do. If we can act on it on a cross-party basis, as we did last

:41:02. > :41:06.week in the house of Commons, all the better. Let me give you one

:41:06. > :41:10.specific proposal. At the moment you can only apply this test of

:41:10. > :41:15.plurality, whether there is enough diversity, when you have a business

:41:15. > :41:19.transaction when you have got to examine. I do not see why that test

:41:19. > :41:24.is not applied all the time. There might be changes in the way the

:41:24. > :41:28.media operates whereby one operation gets bigger. At the

:41:28. > :41:32.moment the plurality test cannot be applied in those circumstances.

:41:32. > :41:37.That presumably would mean if a newspaper became more successful

:41:37. > :41:41.because it was a good newspaper, it could suddenly be too successful.

:41:41. > :41:44.The main focus is cross-media ownership and with the new media

:41:44. > :41:50.that are growing up and developing that is what you need to look at.

:41:50. > :41:53.That is what the inquiry will do. But the point I am trying to make

:41:53. > :41:58.is whether it is the plurality tests or the fitness test, it is

:41:58. > :42:03.being applied in a very snapshot way. We need to look at the way in

:42:03. > :42:06.which concentrations of power might evolve over time. I think a lot of

:42:06. > :42:11.good can come out of this if we are brave enough to look at the rules

:42:11. > :42:16.on competition and plurality and who is fit and proper to run our

:42:16. > :42:19.media organisations. To allow the inquiry independently to make

:42:19. > :42:25.recommendations, because you do not want politicians to be in charge

:42:25. > :42:29.entirely. What about foreign ownership? The Americans have got

:42:29. > :42:33.very strong rules about people who can control their media. We do not

:42:33. > :42:37.and we do not even have strong rules about whether people have to

:42:37. > :42:42.pay taxes on that. I think Rupert Murdoch is a US citizen because he

:42:42. > :42:47.needed to become a US citizen in order to own Fox News. I think this

:42:47. > :42:52.is a complex area because you cannot impose those nationality

:42:52. > :42:57.rules within the European Union. It is a complex area. Of course it is

:42:57. > :43:04.a legitimate area we should look at, but this key thing of plurality,

:43:04. > :43:09.diversity and accountability so you have independent regulation, not

:43:09. > :43:12.regulation which is in the gift of politicians. I do not want to live

:43:12. > :43:19.in a country where politicians Bill comfortable with the press, that

:43:19. > :43:23.would be a disaster. But that is very difficult. You are taking a

:43:23. > :43:27.different line from Ed Miliband he says he wants a continuation of

:43:27. > :43:32.self regulation. You are saying it should be statutory regulation. A

:43:32. > :43:35.lot of people cannot see how you can have a statutory system that is

:43:35. > :43:42.properly outside the purview of politicians, that politicians

:43:42. > :43:44.cannot get at. Every time there has been a crisis in different pillars

:43:44. > :43:48.of the established but the response sensibly has been to give more

:43:48. > :43:53.power to people who are independent of those people who have got into

:43:53. > :43:57.trouble. When the MPs got into trouble, the response was to take

:43:57. > :44:02.all responsibility for their pay and expenses out of their hands

:44:02. > :44:07.into an independent body. What has been the response after the banking

:44:07. > :44:10.crisis? Independent regulators are given more power. I do not see why

:44:10. > :44:15.the press should be unique in having a so-called ethics committee

:44:15. > :44:20.overseeing had the code of conduct for editors works. The only people

:44:20. > :44:24.on it are editors of newspapers. In no other walk of life would you

:44:24. > :44:27.have people acting as judge and jury for their own mistakes.

:44:27. > :44:30.have talked about politicians and the press, but we have not talked

:44:30. > :44:34.about the police. There is a perception that the police have

:44:34. > :44:41.been on the take from the bottom to the top. Are you worried about

:44:41. > :44:44.this? I am incredibly worried. From the public's point of view, the

:44:44. > :44:49.fact that their cynicism in politicians and the press might

:44:49. > :44:52.have deepened is not entirely surprising. I think when that

:44:52. > :44:56.public stats losing faith in the police it is much more serious and

:44:57. > :45:01.we are in some trouble. That is why I think it is very important the

:45:01. > :45:05.commission should answer the questions that have been put to

:45:05. > :45:13.them and answer the questions very fully. You mean Sir Paul Stephens

:45:13. > :45:16.and. Yes. You think his position is tenable still? I am not going to

:45:17. > :45:21.judge them now until they have given the reassurances and the

:45:21. > :45:31.answers to the questions that have been put to them. The questions

:45:31. > :45:31.

:45:31. > :45:39.need to be answered very fully and The coalition has had a rough week,

:45:39. > :45:44.a rough few weeks on this. Yes, the Liberal Democrats were protesting

:45:44. > :45:49.about Rupert Murdoch in the old days, partly because you were too

:45:49. > :45:54.small a party for them to court, I suspect! How uncomfortable are you

:45:54. > :45:59.with the way David Cameron has behaved around Andy Coulson? Did

:45:59. > :46:03.you say to him yourself you should not employed this man?

:46:03. > :46:08.anxieties as a party about the hacking allegations, Andy Coulson

:46:08. > :46:13.and so on, we made them publicly before the election. Nobody should

:46:13. > :46:17.be surprised we came at this from different standpoints. The Prime

:46:17. > :46:25.Minister has explained why he gave Andy Coulson what he calls a second

:46:26. > :46:32.chance. We did discuss it, of course we did. Did you say to him...

:46:32. > :46:38.If you don't mind, I am not going to give you a word-for-word account.

:46:38. > :46:44.It was an issue we raised publicly before. Ray used by you? Of course,

:46:44. > :46:48.David Cameron and myself spoke about it. At the end of the day, it

:46:48. > :46:52.was his appointment, he has explained the reasons why he made

:46:52. > :46:57.that appointment. And you got the impression he wasn't going to

:46:57. > :47:01.flinch on this matter, it was personal and he wasn't going to

:47:01. > :47:08.change? He explained why he did it and the circumstances in which he

:47:08. > :47:13.did it. Vince Cable lost a large part of his job for saying he was

:47:13. > :47:18.going to war on Murdoch and he must now feel vindicated and you must

:47:18. > :47:23.ask yourself why he was booted out of that part of his role. I don't

:47:23. > :47:31.think it is down to the feelings of any one politician. This is down to

:47:31. > :47:38.a crisis in public confidence. We have the banking crisis, a total

:47:38. > :47:43.collapse of basic decency in the way the press conduct themselves,

:47:43. > :47:46.and we need to make sure we get something good coming up out of all

:47:46. > :47:53.this would create greater distance between politicians and the press,

:47:53. > :47:58.and make sure we have a healthy, free, plural, accountable press.

:47:58. > :48:02.you think you had enough influence at the early stage in the coalition,

:48:02. > :48:07.thinking of Andy Coulson, the NHS and many other issues, where you

:48:07. > :48:11.seemed to have a deal which looked relatively equitable and yet as

:48:11. > :48:17.things have turned out, your party has been brushed to one side?

:48:17. > :48:22.don't agree. If you look at things that have happened in this country,

:48:22. > :48:25.whether it is taking over a million people out of paying income tax

:48:25. > :48:31.altogether, whether it is more money to children from

:48:31. > :48:35.disadvantaged backgrounds, you entitlement to young toddlers from

:48:35. > :48:38.three childcare, sweeping away a barrage of legislation which eroded

:48:38. > :48:46.civil liberties, renewing and refreshing the way we do politics,

:48:46. > :48:51.these things are Liberal Democrats. Some people say either Lib Dems

:48:51. > :48:55.have too much influence or the Conservatives do, that is the

:48:55. > :48:59.nature of coalition. Do you think the last two weeks has changed the

:48:59. > :49:04.nature of the coalition? He it has changed fundamentally the way in

:49:04. > :49:08.which the political class and the media class Interact, and hopefully

:49:08. > :49:12.it will create greater accountability. You are charmingly

:49:12. > :49:19.not answering the question I asked, which was what about relationships

:49:19. > :49:24.inside the coalition? Relationships evolve all the time. Have the last

:49:24. > :49:30.few weeks changed it? A sharp spotlight has been cast on a very

:49:30. > :49:37.murky part of the Establishment, interactions between the

:49:37. > :49:42.establishment, the press and the police. This will have been

:49:42. > :49:47.improved because of events over the last two weeks. From where you are

:49:47. > :49:53.standing, those relationships, the Conservative Party, Rebekah Brooks,

:49:53. > :49:58.the Murdochs, the Labour Party, Rebekah Brooks, the Murdochs, that

:49:59. > :50:05.was unhealthy, it had to change? have always been a staunch critic

:50:06. > :50:10.of the tendency of Labour and Conservative to constantly fall to

:50:10. > :50:15.their knees obsequiously towards very powerful vested interests in

:50:15. > :50:20.the media. That I hope will change. If anyone had doubt about the

:50:20. > :50:24.fundamental judgment of this coalition government to deal with

:50:24. > :50:29.another of the crisis, namely the crisis in our public finances, look

:50:29. > :50:33.at what is happening across the Channel. This is very important,

:50:33. > :50:38.look at what is happening in the United States about wrangling on

:50:38. > :50:43.the debt ceiling. I wish it was otherwise, but surely there can be

:50:43. > :50:47.no one left now who agrees the fundamental decision, the biggest

:50:47. > :50:54.decision this coalition took, that we needed to Yank this country back

:50:54. > :50:57.from the precipice and into an area of greater economic safety. If the

:50:57. > :51:03.Murdoch story happened, we would be talking about nothing apart from

:51:03. > :51:07.what is going on in the euro-zone and America. How worried are you

:51:07. > :51:12.that we are on the edge of another serious global financial crisis?

:51:12. > :51:17.Incredibly worried. The gravity of the uncertainty in the United

:51:17. > :51:22.States, which is a product of political gridlock, and the growing

:51:22. > :51:32.fiscal crisis in the euro-zone is immensely serious. If anyone thinks

:51:32. > :51:34.

:51:34. > :51:40.somehow we can wash our hands of it and say -- and turn our backs on it,

:51:40. > :51:44.we can't. I believe we should play an active role behind the scenes to

:51:44. > :51:49.help euro-zone members to make the reforms necessary to create a

:51:49. > :51:54.strong prosperous euro-zone in the future. It is worse than that

:51:54. > :52:04.however, is it not? The Office of budget responsibility report looks

:52:04. > :52:12.ahead to an era of 40 years of Viva considerably higher taxes or a

:52:12. > :52:19.smaller state, or both. That is why I know that although many of the

:52:19. > :52:24.decisions we have taken around popular, they have been taken to

:52:24. > :52:27.avoid long-term problems. Whether it is pensions, public services,

:52:27. > :52:32.the balance between taxing and spending, how we deal with the

:52:32. > :52:37.deficit, these are big decisions we have taken now because if you don't

:52:38. > :52:43.sort it now, our children and grandchildren will be the victim of

:52:43. > :52:47.the mistakes and the failure of this generation to sort things out.

:52:47. > :52:52.What, in essence, does Rupert Murdoch have to say to the House of

:52:52. > :52:58.Commons on Tuesday? He needs to come absolutely clean about what he

:52:58. > :53:02.knew, about what his senior executives knew, and why this

:53:02. > :53:06.culture of industrial scale corruption, so it is alleged,

:53:06. > :53:12.happened without anyone higher up taking responsibility for it.

:53:12. > :53:19.have got a kicking again in the papers today for doing the school

:53:19. > :53:23.run. Let me let you into a secret, which I suspect many fathers feel,

:53:24. > :53:33.I like being with my children and I love having the opportunity to take

:53:34. > :53:34.

:53:34. > :53:38.them on the school run. This is 2011, not 1911, and the idea that

:53:38. > :53:44.fathers can't remain dedicated his in attitude that belongs in a

:53:44. > :53:47.previous century. Thank you for joining us. Now the news headlines.

:53:47. > :53:52.A deputy prime minister has said politicians should be brave enough

:53:52. > :53:56.to look again at the rules on media ownership to ensure plurality and

:53:56. > :54:02.competition. Nick Clegg was responding to a call from Ed

:54:02. > :54:06.Miliband for a change in the law to stop any one proprietor from owning

:54:06. > :54:10.as many newspapers as Rupert Murdoch. News International is

:54:10. > :54:14.currently under investigation for phone hacking at the News of the

:54:14. > :54:17.World. The company has placed another set of adverts in this

:54:17. > :54:21.morning's newspapers saying it is committed to putting right what has

:54:21. > :54:26.gone wrong. The MoD says a soldier from the

:54:26. > :54:30.Royal Lancers has been killed in Afghanistan. His family has been

:54:30. > :54:34.informed. The soldier was on a joint patrol with the Afghan

:54:34. > :54:39.National Army in Helmand province when he was shot. In investigation

:54:39. > :54:43.is being carried out into reports he was fired on by an Afghan

:54:44. > :54:48.National Army soldier. The next news on BBC One is at

:54:48. > :54:53.midday, back to Andrew and guest in a moment but first a look at what

:54:53. > :54:58.is coming up after this show. Today, has Britain been corrupted?

:54:58. > :55:03.We will hear from a former top police officer. And we are asking a

:55:03. > :55:08.teacher turned porn star if we should shut up about sex. Are we

:55:08. > :55:12.too scared about offending Muslims? Go to the website to join the

:55:12. > :55:17.debate. Now, one of the most successful

:55:17. > :55:22.bands of the 1990s was the Irish quartet The Corrs. The siblings

:55:22. > :55:26.have gone their separate ways professionally, but Andrea has just

:55:26. > :55:36.released an album of cover songs. Recently she has been winning

:55:36. > :55:39.critical acclaim for her acting on stage in London. Welcome. This is

:55:39. > :55:44.an album which you say in the cover notes of one of your albums came

:55:44. > :55:49.from a dark place, and you almost turned away from music. What was

:55:49. > :55:55.that about? I kind of stopped doing it. I know it sounds dramatic what

:55:55. > :56:00.I said, but I just wanted to live a quiet and normal life. The producer

:56:00. > :56:06.of the record John Reynolds got in touch with me, and loved my voice,

:56:06. > :56:15.wanted to make a record together. So I did that. I was mentioning the

:56:15. > :56:20.acting, which has gone very well for you. will we see you back on

:56:20. > :56:25.stage Again? Yes, I hope to do it all my life. I really love it, I am

:56:25. > :56:29.passionate about it. Tell us about the song you are going to sing now.

:56:29. > :56:37.Most people know it as a Donna summer's song, State of

:56:37. > :56:42.Independence, and it is epic. An amazing song. We have had a lot of

:56:42. > :56:47.gloom and despair, but this is a happy song. Yes, but I think it is

:56:47. > :56:53.relevant actually. That is all we have got time for today. I am going

:56:53. > :56:56.filming so next week my colleague James Landale will be here and his

:56:57. > :57:06.guests include Dame Kelly Holmes and no doubt plenty of politicians.

:57:07. > :57:09.

:57:09. > :57:12.For now, we leave you with Andrea # State of life, may I live, may I

:57:12. > :57:16.love # coming out the sky, I name me a

:57:16. > :57:20.name # coming out silver word for what

:57:20. > :57:30.it is # it is very nature of the sound,

:57:30. > :57:42.

:57:42. > :57:46.the game Home, be the temple of your heart

:57:46. > :57:50.# home, be the body of your love # just like holy water to my lips

:57:50. > :57:53.# Yes, I do know how I survive # yes, I do know why I'm alive

:57:53. > :57:57.And be with you # day by day by day by day

:57:57. > :58:00.# Time, time again, it is said # we will hear, we will see

:58:01. > :58:04.# see it all in His wisdom hear # His truth will abound the land

:58:04. > :58:07.# this truth will abound the land # this state of independence shall

:58:07. > :58:15.# this state of independence shall # Say, yeah -e-yay, yeah-e-yo yeah-

:58:15. > :58:17.e-yay, yeah-e-yo... # Be the sound of higher love today

:58:17. > :58:21.yeah-e-yeah # Time, time again, it is said

:58:21. > :58:25.# we will hear, we will see # see it all in His wisdom hear

:58:25. > :58:28.# His truth will abound the land # this truth will abound the land