:00:41. > :00:45.Good morning. The holiday season is upon us, Andrew is on the other
:00:45. > :00:49.side of the world, the politicians have abandoned Westminster and,
:00:49. > :00:53.amazingly, the sun is actually out. Good news for the second Royal
:00:53. > :00:57.Wedding of the year yesterday when the Queen's granddaughter married
:00:57. > :01:01.the rugby star Mike Tindall in Edinburgh. Unlike Kate and
:01:01. > :01:05.William's wedding, it was a low-key affair and not even the Chancellor
:01:05. > :01:08.will be able to blame poor economic growth figures on these nuptials.
:01:08. > :01:13.Plenty of coverage of their wedding in the papers today and joining me
:01:13. > :01:17.to review them, Dame Barbara Stocking Chief Executive of Oxfam
:01:17. > :01:20.and George Pascoe-Watson, former Political Editor of the Sun. The
:01:20. > :01:24.Government's been talking up the economic figures but most agree
:01:24. > :01:27.they are deeply disappointing. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
:01:27. > :01:31.Danny Alexander, will be here later to give us his view. What course
:01:31. > :01:37.will the Treasury take if the economy doesn't show signs of
:01:37. > :01:41.better and faster groth soon is there a Plan B? Tax cuts to
:01:41. > :01:44.stimulate the economy. Ed Miliband has won plaudits inside and outside
:01:44. > :01:49.the Labour Party for his vigorous attack on News International over
:01:49. > :01:52.the phone hacking saga. With David Cameron ahead on personal ratings,
:01:53. > :01:56.we'll ask Labour's Deputy leader how much more her party needs to do
:01:56. > :01:59.to become a credible Government in waiting. I'll ask her Shadow
:01:59. > :02:04.Development Secretary about the famine in Somalia.
:02:04. > :02:09.I've been talking to one of the most prolific music makers, Dave
:02:09. > :02:14.Stewart will tell me about his new West End production and how
:02:14. > :02:18.musicals of the 50s like South Pacific helped inspire his time as
:02:18. > :02:25.one half of the Eurythmics. And we'll have something truly tongue
:02:25. > :02:31.twisting from the golden era of Gilbert and Sullivan. I'm the very
:02:31. > :02:35.model of a Major General... annual Gilbert and Sullivan
:02:35. > :02:39.festival begins this weekend in Derbyshire, 100 years after they
:02:39. > :02:44.died. Why is their music so endure something all that and more coming
:02:44. > :02:48.up after the news with Naga. Efforts to prevent the United
:02:48. > :02:51.States defaulting on its debts look set to go to the wire with just two
:02:51. > :02:55.days left before the deadline for reaching agreement expires.
:02:55. > :02:59.President Obama's held more talks with democrat and republican
:02:59. > :03:03.leaders in congress. The democrat controlled Senate has postponed
:03:03. > :03:07.another vote on the issue until later today to give negotiators
:03:07. > :03:11.more time. America's top military officer
:03:11. > :03:15.thanks US troops serving in southern Afghanistan. In recent
:03:15. > :03:21.weeks, there's been an increase in violence there, but many of these
:03:21. > :03:26.troops were thinking of one issue alone. Will they get paid next
:03:26. > :03:33.month? There was no guarantee. I honestly can't answer that
:03:33. > :03:37.question. I mean, in its simplest form, if we are not allowed to...
:03:37. > :03:40.If the debt ceiling doesn't get raised, we won't have enough money
:03:40. > :03:44.to pay our bills and there are a lot of them. Democrats and
:03:44. > :03:52.Republicans simply can't agree on how to tackle America's spending
:03:52. > :03:55.habit. Their rival plans share common goals, but the democrats
:03:55. > :04:00.favour one that bankrolls America until 2013. There are some signs
:04:00. > :04:04.that compromise may be on the cards. Glad to see this moving towards
:04:04. > :04:07.cooperation and compromise. I hope it bears fruit. I'm confident that
:04:07. > :04:10.a final agreement that will adopt the Senate's long-term approach,
:04:10. > :04:13.rather than the short-term Band Aid proposed by the House of
:04:13. > :04:17.Representatives will move forward. That's been the sticking point. The
:04:17. > :04:21.house wants to see a smaller rise in the debt, a plan that would
:04:21. > :04:26.require congress to address the same issue again in six months'
:04:26. > :04:29.time. Both parties accuse each other of failing to compromise.
:04:30. > :04:34.After another week of this political soap opera, Republicans
:04:34. > :04:39.and democrats are still deadlocked, both sides are now turning to
:04:39. > :04:45.President Obama in the hope he can find a solution before the US
:04:45. > :04:49.Treasury runs out of cash. A political row has broken out over
:04:49. > :04:54.NHS funding in England. Labour says that poorer areas, largely in the
:04:54. > :04:58.north, are losing out, while richer southern counties are gaining. The
:04:58. > :05:02.Government accuses the party of misleading the public.
:05:02. > :05:06.Andrew Lansley must be getting a bit sick of all the criticism under
:05:06. > :05:09.pressure from the Lib Dems, health professionals, the opposition and
:05:09. > :05:14.even a few of his Conservative colleagues, he's had to rethink
:05:14. > :05:19.some of his NHS reforms. Labour are accusing him of harming
:05:19. > :05:23.the poor to help the rich. Using figures calculated by public health
:05:23. > :05:27.bodies in Manchester, Labour say poorer parts of England, forgot
:05:27. > :05:31.just Manchester, but Liverpool and Tower Hamlets in East London, will
:05:31. > :05:34.lose out when health spending is allocated, while richer areas such
:05:34. > :05:40.as Surrey and Hampshire, will benefit. But the Government say the
:05:40. > :05:44.opposition are raising the temperature of the debate by using
:05:44. > :05:51.misleading figures. Health spending across England will rise, a policy
:05:51. > :05:54.which Labour hasn't endorsed. And in fact, the NHS PCT in less well
:05:54. > :05:58.off Tower Hamlets will see an increase in its funding very
:05:58. > :06:01.similar to the rise in Bert off Surrey this year.
:06:01. > :06:04.-- better off Surrey. The NHS will face bigger changes in the future,
:06:04. > :06:09.the Government says a greater emphasis on preventing illness will
:06:09. > :06:12.help people living in some of the poorer parts of England. But Labour
:06:12. > :06:17.believe the Government are vulnerable on the NHS and they'll
:06:17. > :06:22.do what they can to prevent Andrew Lansley from staging a political
:06:23. > :06:27.recovery. In Syria, government tanks and
:06:27. > :06:31.soldiers have entered the city of Hama with some reports saying more
:06:31. > :06:35.than 40 people have been killed. The city to north of the capital
:06:35. > :06:38.Damascus, has been a sen orof opposition to the Government of
:06:38. > :06:41.President Bashar Assad and has seen some of the biggest protests
:06:41. > :06:44.against his rule. Labour is calling on the Prime Minister and his
:06:44. > :06:48.senior colleagues to come clean over their dealings with Rupert
:06:48. > :06:51.Murdoch and his son James. The party has sent letters to Cabinet
:06:51. > :06:55.Ministers with more than 50 questions it claims haven't been
:06:55. > :06:58.addressed in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. They ask what
:06:58. > :07:02.discussions ministers had with the Murdochs about their attempt to
:07:02. > :07:06.take full control of BSkyB. That bid collapsed after intense
:07:06. > :07:12.pressure from hacking revelations. Drivers will have to state whether
:07:12. > :07:16.or not they want to be an organ doe more when they apply for a new or
:07:16. > :07:19.replacement driving licence online. The DVLA already asks if applicants
:07:19. > :07:22.want to be donors, but from tomorrow the online form will
:07:22. > :07:26.require an answer. Ministers hope it will improve organ donation
:07:27. > :07:31.rates. That is all from me for now. More just before 10 with the
:07:31. > :07:33.headlines. Now back to Sophie. We'll have the paper review in a
:07:33. > :07:38.moment, but first, the international military action over
:07:38. > :07:41.Libya's now been going on for four months. Even with the help of NATO
:07:41. > :07:45.airstrikes, the rebels have been unable to Turn The Tide decisively
:07:45. > :07:48.against the forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi and now there are signs of
:07:48. > :07:51.disunity among the rebel factions with the murder last week of their
:07:52. > :07:56.military leader apparently by an Islamist group. What is really
:07:56. > :08:00.going on, and is there any sign of an end to the stalemate? I'm joined
:08:00. > :08:05.from Tripoli by our correspondent, James Reynolds. Do we know now for
:08:05. > :08:08.sure who killed the rebel leader? It's pretty tricky to say that
:08:08. > :08:14.because we are still getting conflicting reports from the rebels
:08:14. > :08:20.in Benghazi and we are not sure if the sequence of events, we were
:08:20. > :08:23.told at one stage he'd been summoned to being questioned and
:08:23. > :08:27.now we have been told he was killed and now we are told he was
:08:27. > :08:31.questioned first then killed. The suggestion from the Government in
:08:31. > :08:35.Tripoli is that he was killed by Al-Qaeda, by an Al-Qaeda element
:08:35. > :08:39.within the rebel leadership and that's been denied by the rebels in
:08:39. > :08:43.Benghazi. Whoever killed him, this is definitely damaging isn't it to
:08:43. > :08:47.the rebel cause? It's hugely damaging. He was the
:08:48. > :08:52.rebel military commander, he was killed by fellow rebels inside
:08:52. > :08:56.rebel territory. That I think is an extremely damaging series of events.
:08:56. > :08:59.How awkward does it make it now given that Britain's recognised the
:08:59. > :09:05.rebels as the legitimate Government?
:09:05. > :09:09.I think it's probably a fairly tricky moment. I think certainly
:09:09. > :09:12.politically Britain, France and Italy and I think the US as well,
:09:12. > :09:15.including Portugal, they signed up to the National Transitional
:09:15. > :09:19.Council, the rebel leadership in Benghazi. They put all their hopes
:09:19. > :09:22.in that rebel leadership. Of course, as we have seen in the last few
:09:22. > :09:26.days, the murder of the General proves there is significant
:09:26. > :09:28.military and political difficulties within that movement and we haven't
:09:28. > :09:33.seen any particular military advances by the rebels towards
:09:33. > :09:38.either here in Tripoli or other areas for some time. Whilst this is
:09:38. > :09:40.going on, we saw Colonel Gaddafi, he popped up on television yet
:09:40. > :09:43.again yesterday, doesn't look like he's going anywhere, looks like
:09:44. > :09:47.he's in it for the long haul really? Yes, he was certainly very
:09:47. > :09:50.defiant in his speech, but then again, he always is. He appeared on
:09:50. > :09:54.TV to say he was with the people of Libya, that they would win, that
:09:54. > :09:58.NATO was about to give up, that no- one should give up hope in Libya
:09:58. > :10:03.because he was still in charge and he'd be with them in their hearts
:10:03. > :10:10.frofr. What about the rebel side? We know it's made up of different
:10:10. > :10:13.factions, but how big a faction is the Islamic side?
:10:13. > :10:18.It's a really good question, very difficult to answer from here
:10:18. > :10:22.because we are on Colonel Gaddafi's side, certainly the accusation here
:10:23. > :10:27.is that Al-Qaeda place a huge -- plays a huge role with the rebels.
:10:27. > :10:30.The rebels say that is not true and say that Al-Qaeda has no place in
:10:30. > :10:33.Libya and that they are essentially an indigenous movement fighting
:10:33. > :10:36.Colonel Gaddafi. Of course, standing here, in Tripoli on
:10:36. > :10:41.Colonel Gaddafi's side of the conflict, is very difficult just to
:10:41. > :10:44.go and be able to ask people in Benghazi which side they're on and
:10:44. > :10:49.whether they support Al-Qaeda and have Islamist tendencies and so on.
:10:49. > :10:55.Thank you very much. Let's go straight to the papers now.
:10:55. > :11:05.On the front-pages, we can start with the Observer running with the
:11:05. > :11:09.story. And the first front-page to show Zara Phillips there who got
:11:09. > :11:13.married to Mike Tindall yesterday in Edinburgh and there is an
:11:13. > :11:19.enormous amount of coverage of the second Royal Wedding of the year in
:11:19. > :11:24.all the papers today. Every single front-page, the Sunday Telegraph
:11:24. > :11:29.there, Zara weds her rugby star. British suppliers provided key
:11:29. > :11:33.equipment which helped Anders Breivik build his arsenal of
:11:33. > :11:42.weaponry and explosives, it's alleged there. Zara on the front of
:11:42. > :11:45.the Sunday Mir plir and a story about Amy Winehouse. -- Sunday
:11:45. > :11:52.Mirror. Mike and Zara's not so Royal
:11:52. > :11:57.Wedding in the Sunday Times. They are emerge thrg from the church. A
:11:57. > :12:01.story about cutting fees for top students at university. Chilcot to
:12:01. > :12:05.damn Blair on Iraq. They say they have been told this is what is
:12:05. > :12:10.going to happen when it's published in the autumn. More on Zara and
:12:10. > :12:15.finally, the Independent on Sunday, a lot of coverage about the
:12:15. > :12:20.terrible famine in the Horn of Africa, a terrible new front in
:12:20. > :12:25.Africa's famine and they say particularly badly hit is Kenya in
:12:25. > :12:28.which 3.5 million people are at risk of famine there as well.
:12:28. > :12:32.Thousands of people crossing over the border into Kenya from Somalia
:12:32. > :12:36.every day. With me to review the papers are Dame Barbara Stocking
:12:37. > :12:40.and also George Pascoe-Watson. Good morning to you both. Let's start
:12:40. > :12:44.with this story on the front-page of the Independent. It's really a
:12:44. > :12:48.terrible, terrible situation that's goping there?. Yes, we know that
:12:48. > :12:53.both Kenya and in fact Ethiopia are also hit very badly by the drought
:12:53. > :12:59.and in fact the numbers are huge. They are up to ten million across
:12:59. > :13:03.the whole set of countries. The Independent does a good piece on
:13:03. > :13:09.the story on the cover and the inside. It describes what is
:13:09. > :13:13.happening among the postralists who have no water for their animals and
:13:13. > :13:17.are having to trek to find water. It doesn't, sadly, explain more
:13:17. > :13:20.about why we've come to this again. Most of the British public are
:13:20. > :13:27.saying, we've been here before, why is this happening again and we know
:13:27. > :13:29.why it is, largely it's because of lack of investment in small hold or
:13:29. > :13:34.agriculture, including the pastoralists who could produce a
:13:34. > :13:39.lot, but the world hasn't been too great in putting in money for the
:13:39. > :13:44.long-term, we can get money for crises, but hard to get it long-
:13:44. > :13:49.term. So it's man-made? The drought precipitates it and that's very
:13:49. > :13:53.serious, but we could have done better. Where money's gone in Kenya
:13:53. > :13:57.and Ethiopia into social security systems, they're called hunger
:13:57. > :14:01.safety nets, those people are OK, six million people. So why is the
:14:01. > :14:06.money not going in then? The usual that the Government make pledges,
:14:06. > :14:11.they were made in 2008, a quarter is all that's arrived on the ground,
:14:11. > :14:15.that's not true to the UK, to be fair, our Government has always
:14:15. > :14:20.been very good at the money flowing through. Also the British public
:14:20. > :14:23.has been very good at donating money? Yes. Is there an issue when
:14:23. > :14:27.people donate money to something like, this obviously we know there
:14:27. > :14:31.is fighting going on, Islamist insurgents in Somalia, is there a
:14:31. > :14:35.danger that people are put off from giving money because they are not
:14:35. > :14:38.sure where the money is going to? The British public continue to be
:14:38. > :14:40.generous, you have to keep explaining to them how we are
:14:41. > :14:45.managing to handle money that comes through at least on the charity
:14:45. > :14:48.side. For us, we've been working in Somalia for a long time and work
:14:48. > :14:52.through local partners and we go there to monitor, because that's
:14:52. > :14:57.all we can do. When you get the crisis, you get more money and have
:14:57. > :15:01.to be even more careful. It's be even more difficult in Somalia. We
:15:01. > :15:06.see no evidence that any serious amount of money or the work we do
:15:06. > :15:08.on water and sanitation, none of that is being diverted. This is the
:15:08. > :15:11.worst drought for decades we are seeing now, George, terrible
:15:11. > :15:21.pictures on the TV screens, yet there isn't that much coverage is
:15:21. > :15:25.
:15:25. > :15:34.No, one report says that there is a danger that students going on their
:15:34. > :15:44.gap year could be seen as a new colonialism from the rich West. The
:15:44. > :15:48.idea that teenagers go off and lend a hand. It is up to �4,500 a month
:15:48. > :15:53.for this kind of thing but the report says they are not doing much
:15:53. > :15:58.to help. They are -- there is a danger it is giving a bad
:15:58. > :16:03.impression of Britain across the world. It is a dilemma because you
:16:03. > :16:09.want young people to go off and see the world and see other people live
:16:09. > :16:14.in different ways. At the same time, you can -- you only one of them
:16:14. > :16:18.there if they can contribute. In a humanitarian crisis, I would not
:16:18. > :16:24.suggest anybody does. It is a professional job and it can be very
:16:24. > :16:31.traumatic. It is not a playground. Absolutely not an people do get in
:16:31. > :16:38.the way. I met an American admiral who called them "spontaneous and
:16:38. > :16:43.invited the volunteers". But I wouldn't put people off going into
:16:43. > :16:50.other situations as a junior teaching assistants and so on.
:16:50. > :16:55.Moving on. This is an extraordinary situation in America. Yes, the
:16:55. > :17:04.great decision making about the debt. He we are in the Sunday Times,
:17:04. > :17:09.I think, talking about the tea party Taliban. I guess the issue is,
:17:09. > :17:12.can they get on my get it sorted immediately? It seems quite
:17:12. > :17:18.outrageous that they are in an almost debt but they will be able
:17:18. > :17:23.to get out of it without putting up taxes or reducing social welfare.
:17:23. > :17:26.That doesn't add up. What is phenomenally interesting is that
:17:27. > :17:34.this story does not appear on the front story of any national
:17:34. > :17:40.newspaper. If they don't make an agreement... By Tuesday, they have
:17:40. > :17:43.to solve it. The chaos is that our businesses, our industries will be
:17:43. > :17:49.affected by the fall-out if Washington does not get its act
:17:49. > :17:54.together. Barbara's Oxfam and other organisations depend on consumer
:17:54. > :18:01.confidence. This has to be sorted out. There are further votes today
:18:01. > :18:06.in the Senate. Why is it not on the front pages, do you think? There is
:18:06. > :18:10.a silly-season in the UK but it cannot just be down to that. People
:18:10. > :18:14.find it enormously difficult to get excited about something happening
:18:14. > :18:19.on the far side of the world and the same question is two of why
:18:19. > :18:26.there isn't more coverage of the famine in East Africa. There is a
:18:26. > :18:30.sense of, unless it is on our doorstep,... The Sunday Telegraph
:18:30. > :18:37.has something on our doorstep and it is immediate. The former
:18:37. > :18:43.chancellor, Norman Lamont, says to scrap the 50 p top tax rate because
:18:43. > :18:45.it is fast becoming a debate in the Conservative Party. A lot of big
:18:45. > :18:53.beasts in the Conservative Party are beginning to say to George
:18:53. > :19:00.Osborne, it is time to cut the top layer of tax from 50p. We have both
:19:00. > :19:05.figures in the week which are pretty miserable. The problem for
:19:05. > :19:12.David Cameron and George Osborne is there may well be a dividend but
:19:12. > :19:16.what do they do with the extra money they gain? If they give it to
:19:16. > :19:20.be 50 p tax rate band, that is basically the wealthy people in the
:19:20. > :19:25.country and there is a big political problem with doing that.
:19:25. > :19:29.It is about stimulating business there, isn't it? It is a really
:19:29. > :19:35.important thing because the very high earners are the very often the
:19:35. > :19:40.people who create jobs for others but it is a -- and acute and
:19:40. > :19:46.growing difficult political problem. We are talking to dally Alexander
:19:46. > :19:50.about that later. Your next story? This was an interesting piece in
:19:50. > :19:55.the Independent about people who have resigned, when they did it and
:19:55. > :19:59.why a they did it. It is an interesting question about who
:19:59. > :20:01.resigns and what responsibilities they take. Paul Stephenson was
:20:01. > :20:07.interesting in the sense that he said he did nothing wrong but was
:20:07. > :20:11.head of the Met and was responsible. There is a question about how much
:20:11. > :20:15.top leaders are expected to take responsibility and to know what is
:20:15. > :20:20.going on in their organisations, which slips over into the Murdoch
:20:20. > :20:24.story and of whether it was appropriate for him to say that he
:20:24. > :20:31.didn't know what was going on in his organisation. In the Sunday
:20:31. > :20:38.Telegraph, the latest in the hacking saga, it reflects a
:20:39. > :20:42.fatigued with this story, perhaps. American lawyers and the Murdoch
:20:42. > :20:45.employees - what is interesting about this debate is that the
:20:46. > :20:50.Labour Party are trying to embarrass the Conservatives with
:20:50. > :20:56.the amount of contact they have had with publishers and editors. Of
:20:56. > :21:00.course, in my former guise as a political editor i know that they
:21:00. > :21:03.are all playing the same game. It is an important thing to remember
:21:03. > :21:11.that politicians do need to have relationships with journalists and
:21:11. > :21:16.editors. It is now transparent and they published during the week the
:21:16. > :21:20.number of meetings with politicians that editors have. You work for
:21:20. > :21:26.News International four years. As this unravels, are you surprised
:21:26. > :21:30.that the extent of hacking? I am very surprised and shocked and
:21:30. > :21:38.repulsed by the whole thing, as, I may say, are all the journalists
:21:38. > :21:47.like me who put in professionalism four years. Absolutely no inkling
:21:47. > :21:51.about it whatsoever. It is a very sad thing for journalism in general.
:21:51. > :22:01.Very professional journalists had no idea that this was going on and
:22:01. > :22:01.
:22:01. > :22:06.had no ideas about it themselves and are now out of jobs. Private
:22:06. > :22:16.investigators... It that is a sad state of affairs. It is hitting the
:22:16. > :22:16.
:22:16. > :22:22.Murdoch empire hard, isn't it? has many months and perhaps used to
:22:22. > :22:30.go this affair and nobody knows where it will go next. Let's just
:22:30. > :22:36.have a bit of transparency, that is what I expect. This article in the
:22:36. > :22:40.Sunday Times says men are now spending 60 minutes more a day in
:22:40. > :22:45.doing household chores than they were in the 1970s but it points out
:22:45. > :22:53.they do absolutely no laundry whatsoever. Do you do laundry,
:22:53. > :22:59.George? Always. It is interesting because it is followed by an
:22:59. > :23:05.article about a woman coming onto the Dragon's den saying it women
:23:05. > :23:14.can't have it all, always, only men. I'm glad to see they are doing more
:23:14. > :23:19.work there. George. This is the Sunday Express. There are pictures
:23:19. > :23:23.in every national newspaper and they are fantastic. Zara Phillips
:23:23. > :23:28.and Mike Tindall in a really fantastic day. The royal family has
:23:28. > :23:34.had a fantastic view with the Royal Wedding, a fantastically successful
:23:35. > :23:39.tour of North America by William and Kate. It is a sort of rebirth
:23:39. > :23:43.of the royals coming through in a new generation and I think it is a
:23:43. > :23:47.happy thing. There has been a huge outpouring of popularity and
:23:47. > :23:53.support by the British people who clearly enjoy this sort of thing.
:23:53. > :23:57.I'm not one of those people who think this is terribly old Falkland
:23:57. > :24:07.-- old fashioned. With famine and economic crisis, it is quite nice
:24:07. > :24:13.to have some good news. And nice hat to! We now know that men do the
:24:13. > :24:18.chores, come on... We now know that it is and Eugenie covered
:24:18. > :24:27.themselves with a bit of glory yesterday. I'm not a fashion expert
:24:27. > :24:35.though. This is so fascinating about tweeting. MPs spend about
:24:35. > :24:42.�1,000 a year tweeting. It can take up a lot of time, can't it? When it
:24:42. > :24:48.gets boring on the backbenches, do they treat? You can get a lot of
:24:48. > :24:53.responses you have to do something with. You can get into deep water,
:24:53. > :24:59.can't you? Is it dangers for MPs? If they say the wrong thing at the
:24:59. > :25:07.wrong time. And it is a permanent record. So Jeremy Hull, the Culture
:25:07. > :25:12.Secretary, -- Jeremy Hunt, a lot of his tweeds were apparently wiped.
:25:12. > :25:16.It is a modern way of communicating with constituents and we can't
:25:16. > :25:24.complain about that because that is what we want them to do. Football
:25:24. > :25:28.now. There is very good sports news around. If you are an England fan,
:25:28. > :25:37.that 2014 World Cup draw is down and it is the easiest group they
:25:37. > :25:41.can possibly be. Mall Dover, and for me as a Scot and if you are a
:25:41. > :25:45.Welsh passion, there is a tricky group there but what is great is
:25:45. > :25:52.that the whole World Cup thing will go through and England will be
:25:52. > :25:56.there. Great sporting use which I haven't got here but a big hand for
:25:56. > :26:04.Stuart Broad he got a hat-trick yesterday at the Test against India.
:26:04. > :26:08.It is so rare to have a Test hat- trick that it is a great day. I
:26:08. > :26:14.think England and cricket we are doing really well. And Rebecca
:26:14. > :26:20.Adlington as well? Yes and she treats as well. Where does she do
:26:20. > :26:25.her treating? An underwater phone! Thank you both very much. Let us
:26:25. > :26:30.look at the weather now it. It was glorious when I arrived here this
:26:30. > :26:40.morning. What are the prospects for more blue skies and decent
:26:40. > :26:43.
:26:43. > :26:52.Thanks a lot. Some of us was the a welcome some a comeback. 25 degrees
:26:52. > :26:57.Celsius in the capital and 29 degrees Celsius by Saturday. Bright
:26:57. > :27:02.enough today for most parts and hazy spells of sunshine. Some
:27:02. > :27:07.western coasts will struggle with more in the way of cloud and one or
:27:07. > :27:11.two light showers. Rain clears Northern Ireland but it posters
:27:11. > :27:18.western Scotland. Best of the temperatures towards South East
:27:19. > :27:23.England. Overnight, turning cloudy and grey and misty weather around
:27:23. > :27:28.western coasts where they could be the odd spot of drizzle. Overnight
:27:28. > :27:33.temperatures may make it to warm for some of us. A cloudy start on
:27:33. > :27:43.Monday but it will Brighton quickly with hazy sunshine developing quite
:27:43. > :27:43.
:27:43. > :27:50.widely. A warm-up day. We will be into the Eighties Fahrenheit. Not
:27:50. > :27:59.quite as warm further north. A few showers across northern England and
:27:59. > :28:03.southern Scotland. But summery It is generally agreed that the
:28:03. > :28:07.Labour Party leader has had a better time of it by taking the
:28:07. > :28:13.lead on the phone hacking scandal and bringing the Prime Minister to
:28:13. > :28:18.book on his closeness to News International. The bouncy has been
:28:18. > :28:23.enjoying, with Labour being neck and neck with that there Tories,
:28:23. > :28:28.but do some in the party still wonder whether they chose the wrong
:28:28. > :28:31.Brother? Deputy Leader Harriet Harman joins me and she is also at
:28:31. > :28:35.Shadow International Development Secretary. Let us start with the
:28:35. > :28:41.terrible situation in the Horn of Africa. Do thing we could be doing
:28:41. > :28:45.more? The government is carrying on with the commitment we established
:28:45. > :28:48.of increasing the amount of national wealth given in
:28:48. > :28:53.development aid and we can see how important that is. What they should
:28:53. > :28:57.do more of his making sure that other countries around the world
:28:58. > :29:03.play their part. It is a desperate situation there. Every time you see
:29:03. > :29:07.a picture of a huge skull with its horns of a cow and you see dusty
:29:07. > :29:12.land, you know the farmers there have had to leave their land and
:29:12. > :29:16.fully with their families to a refugee camp which is terrible
:29:16. > :29:22.suffering for them and millions are threatened with death from famine.
:29:22. > :29:25.But it means instability and ongoing poverty. So the government
:29:25. > :29:31.is right to keep up with the development aid but we have to do
:29:31. > :29:38.more to make sure other countries play their part. So, you wouldn't
:29:38. > :29:44.do anything differently? No, and it is much to their credit. What about
:29:44. > :29:49.public donations? There is concern that people all over the world
:29:49. > :29:53.start are suffering from famine fatigue, an awful title that is
:29:53. > :29:58.given. But you think they are put off by not really been sure whether
:29:58. > :30:03.money is giving? The Disaster Emergency Committee appeal has had
:30:03. > :30:08.a dramatic response from people in this country. People give to Oxfam,
:30:08. > :30:15.a Islamic Relief and they can see it is saving lives so people have
:30:15. > :30:25.been very generous. We have a big de-iced aura of people who have
:30:25. > :30:26.
:30:26. > :30:30.come from Africa and they live in A terrible situation for those
:30:30. > :30:34.people, 1500 a day crossing the border into Kenya arriving in the
:30:34. > :30:37.camps and there are people who've lived there for decades already in
:30:37. > :30:41.the camps? You are absolutely right, it's a longer term problem. That's
:30:41. > :30:46.why it's worrying to see, in the longer term, well obviously we have
:30:46. > :30:49.to be stepping up our action on climate change which is very much
:30:49. > :30:54.in the background on this, but also commodity speculation, people who
:30:54. > :30:57.actually want to make money, speculating on food prices and that
:30:57. > :31:01.is something which I think internationally we have the take
:31:01. > :31:05.action on. Internationally, taking action also on people who're
:31:05. > :31:09.speculating on land prices so they buy up land, don't farm it, hope to
:31:09. > :31:13.make a profit on selling it, meanwhile, that deprives the local
:31:13. > :31:17.people of the ability to farm. There are longer term things that
:31:17. > :31:20.need action on them as well. Making money out of Africa is something
:31:20. > :31:23.that you have been very much interested in because you went to
:31:23. > :31:28.Sierra Leone. You are calling for bigger companies to be more
:31:28. > :31:34.transparent about what they get out of those countries? Across Africa,
:31:34. > :31:39.there's massive mineral wealth, including in Sudan as well, whether
:31:39. > :31:42.it's in diamonds, oil, gold, they have massive natural resources and
:31:42. > :31:46.what's important is not only that the investment goes in to extract
:31:46. > :31:51.the natural resources but also the companies toing that pay their fair
:31:51. > :31:54.share of taxs sothose countries can benefit in the longer term. I want
:31:54. > :31:57.to talk about Ed Miliband at the moment, but first of all, the story
:31:57. > :32:00.today about health in the news. You are accusing the Government of
:32:01. > :32:03.harming the poor to help the rich. That's not true, is it? Well, I
:32:03. > :32:07.think the Government are breaking their promises on the health
:32:07. > :32:12.service and it's a really worrying situation. We have seen for the
:32:12. > :32:16.first time since 1997, spending on the health service fall. In my own
:32:16. > :32:21.area, I was talking to Kings College Hospital last week and they
:32:21. > :32:25.are having to cut their spending by �50 million. We have seen reports
:32:25. > :32:29.around the country of them making people wait longer when they need
:32:29. > :32:34.an operation for a hip replacement or a knee replacement or cataract,
:32:34. > :32:38.you've got to wait longer in order to help them save money. This is
:32:38. > :32:42.not what should be happenings. It's breaking a promise. You are saying
:32:42. > :32:46.the Government's moving funds around, so poor areas like Tower
:32:46. > :32:49.Hamlets are getting less money than areas like Surrey, based on figures
:32:49. > :32:53.that have been drawn from Manchester, extrapolated from that,
:32:53. > :32:57.the Government says it's nonsense. Isn't the truth that you are just
:32:57. > :33:01.trying to hone in on a weak point that you think that the Government
:33:01. > :33:04.might have? No, these are national figures and show for every Health
:33:04. > :33:07.Authority three things are happening, firstly they are cutting
:33:07. > :33:10.the money going to the National Health Service overall for the
:33:10. > :33:15.first time, secondly, they're shifting resources away from the
:33:15. > :33:20.poor areas which are more needy in health terms and thirdly, they're
:33:20. > :33:23.wasting money on reorganisation so they're spending more money on
:33:23. > :33:26.administration and, as a result, the Health Service will suffer, no
:33:26. > :33:32.doubt about that. People shouldn't have to be waiting longer and it's
:33:32. > :33:36.a broken promise. So we are going to keep on arguing about this. It's
:33:36. > :33:40.worrying. Very difficult to know who to believe because the
:33:40. > :33:44.Government is insists it's increasing spending. These are from
:33:44. > :33:47.the Treasury figures and it's something like �76 6 million less
:33:47. > :33:51.compared to what was in the figures for what we were going to spend and
:33:51. > :33:55.it's in real terms, these are the Treasury's own figures, you can ask
:33:55. > :33:59.Danny Alexander about them, I'm sure you will, but these are the
:33:59. > :34:02.Treasury's own figures and it's very worrying. As I say, you can
:34:02. > :34:06.see it area by area in Kings College Hospital they are having to
:34:06. > :34:10.cut �50 million. They'll do their very best and the Health Service
:34:10. > :34:14.has been really improving with death rates falling and patient
:34:14. > :34:18.satisfaction increasing and we saw the end of those terrible waiting
:34:18. > :34:22.lists that there were before we came into Government, but now it's
:34:22. > :34:25.starting to creep back up again. Let's talk about Ed Miliband. In
:34:25. > :34:29.September, it will be a year since he became leader of the party. He's
:34:29. > :34:33.been given some bounce, he's been widely recognised as having done
:34:33. > :34:37.well during the whole phone hacking scandal. How is he going to keep
:34:37. > :34:41.that going? Can he keep it going? wouldn't say it's so much that he's
:34:41. > :34:46.been given some bounce, he basically took a very bold step,
:34:46. > :34:51.just saying that all of this phone hacking is absolutely terrible, the
:34:51. > :34:56.idea that the Government was days away of handing over to Rupert
:34:56. > :35:00.Murdoch the whole of BSkyB and he stepped in and said, this has got
:35:00. > :35:05.to stop. I think that that was very important in terms of not having a
:35:05. > :35:09.huge monopoly ownership of the press, ensuring there was proper
:35:09. > :35:14.investigation on hacking, but it's also given a sense of confidence
:35:14. > :35:19.that even faced with a global multibillionaire that actually, the
:35:19. > :35:24.public interest and people's voices have to be listened to. So I think
:35:25. > :35:29.he's really spoken up for... It's it's one issue isn't it But it's
:35:29. > :35:32.symbolic, you see. But is it an election-winning thing, is it
:35:32. > :35:37.something that will make him the next Prime Minister. There's a poll
:35:37. > :35:42.out today that says 47% of people think he'll still be Labour Leader
:35:42. > :35:46.by 2015, doesn't reaifrshire you, does it? -- reassure you? I think
:35:46. > :35:48.what is reassuring is that people can see, normally you would think
:35:48. > :35:52.well Murdoch, global multibillionaire, nothing that can
:35:52. > :35:56.be done about it, and actually, Ed Miliband stepped forward.
:35:56. > :36:01.there's got to be something else than phone hacking, isn't there?
:36:01. > :36:07.He's got bounce but if you look at last month, the headlines were
:36:07. > :36:10.about weak leadership, he had to defend himself on having no
:36:10. > :36:15.dynamism. He's won the right to be heard, now we know what he's going
:36:15. > :36:20.to say? My point is that if you can actually make the public interest
:36:20. > :36:25.override the decisions of a billionaire, then perhaps the
:36:25. > :36:28.energy companies, it's the same, and actually where there are vested
:36:28. > :36:32.interests that are too powerful and harming in public interest,ed
:36:32. > :36:36.Miliband's shown that he's prepared to step forward and speak up for
:36:36. > :36:39.that and really make a difference. Without what he did, not only would
:36:39. > :36:44.they have oned the Times, the News of the World, the Sunday Times and
:36:44. > :36:48.the Sun but also the whole of the BSkyB and no doubt all of those
:36:48. > :36:52.abuses would have carried on unabated so I think it's very
:36:52. > :36:56.important even as loplgs, he's made a huge difference -- Leader of the
:36:56. > :37:00.Opposition. One bold move he's made is giving himself the ability to
:37:00. > :37:03.choose the top team. Will we know who the team is before party season
:37:03. > :37:08.in September, before the conferences? It's for him to decide
:37:08. > :37:11.who is going to be in his top team and when he makes that decision.
:37:11. > :37:16.Have you having those discussions with him? Is he openly talking
:37:16. > :37:21.about it now? Obviously that's entirely a matter for him and we
:37:21. > :37:23.all have to play our part in that but I think that the worry about
:37:23. > :37:28.the economy, the worry about the Health Service, is really key
:37:28. > :37:31.things that we'll focus on, keeping on asking those questions about
:37:31. > :37:34.what the Murdoch empire have been up to and making sure that those
:37:34. > :37:39.who have been wrongdoing are held to account but also those very
:37:39. > :37:42.important issues about jobs and the Health Service too.
:37:42. > :37:47.Harriet Harman, thank you very much. Dave Stewart may be best known for
:37:47. > :37:52.his years in the Eurythmics are Annie Lennox, but he's also a
:37:52. > :37:56.prolific producer who's worked magic with the likes of Tom Petty,
:37:56. > :38:01.Sinead O'Connor and his good friend Bob Dylan. He's just recorded his
:38:01. > :38:08.first album in almost 15 years, composed the music for the new West
:38:08. > :38:12.End musical Ghost based on the film and there's SuperHeavy, the group
:38:12. > :38:19.which started with Mick Jagger and Joss Stone. The video is released
:38:19. > :38:24.next month. He explained how his new album, the Blackbird Diaries
:38:24. > :38:28.came about in Tennessee. When I arrived in Nashville, it was like
:38:28. > :38:32.this weird going home feeling. I was really enamoured by it and I
:38:33. > :38:36.said I was going to come back and make a record and they thought I
:38:36. > :38:41.meant next year and I was back straightaway. I wrote and recorded
:38:41. > :38:46.an album in five days. The thing is, I hadn't made an album for 13 years
:38:46. > :38:55.so I obviously had a lot of things brewing. I didn't know exactly what
:38:55. > :39:01.but it just came out like that! # The night was hot and dangerous
:39:01. > :39:05.# Like a raging fire # Later on we all hung out and van
:39:06. > :39:09.Gogh's cafe # Well, we drank until there was
:39:09. > :39:13.no-one left # Just the gypsy girl and me... #
:39:13. > :39:19.So different to the music that we all remember you for, the
:39:19. > :39:24.Eurythmics? Yes. Funny thing is, I was always a guitar player and I
:39:24. > :39:29.learned guitar by learning blues from old records, my cousin was
:39:29. > :39:34.from Memphis. For me, it was more like a going home. For a lot of
:39:34. > :39:39.people who've seen me a lot of the time behind other singers or
:39:39. > :39:47.artists and all tifrpbt kinds of music, it might be a new revelation
:39:47. > :39:51.that I'm a guitar player but actually that's what I've always
:39:51. > :39:56.done -- all different kinds of things. Does the music that you
:39:56. > :40:03.were known for tip over into what you are doing now, for example in
:40:03. > :40:07.the West End in Ghost? Annie and I made lots of albums so I was used
:40:07. > :40:13.to working fast. Back then we'd make an album in three weeks and
:40:13. > :40:21.covered so many styles from electronic threw to huge
:40:21. > :40:25.orchestrals like Here Comes the Rain. # Here comes the rain again
:40:25. > :40:31.# Falling on my head like a memory... # I had a lot of
:40:31. > :40:36.experience to bring to, for instance, writing a musical score.
:40:36. > :40:42.The songs, yes, sometimes they wander in and out of Eurythmics-
:40:42. > :40:47.type feeling but I wrote it with my partner, so it's a merge of all of
:40:47. > :40:50.us. Also a brilliant director, Matthew. The thing about Ghost, the
:40:50. > :40:57.audience are spell bound by what's happening on stage because it's
:40:57. > :41:04.full of inceebl magic and illusions because there is a Ghost --
:41:04. > :41:11.incredible magic. The music turns everything into that. Sharon Clarke
:41:11. > :41:16.plays the whoopy Goldberg character and she takes over the stage with
:41:16. > :41:26.these belters, as a crazy fake psychic.
:41:26. > :41:30.# Making my transition right here # Crystal tears
:41:30. > :41:34.# Permanent vacation... # A lot of people would never have thought of
:41:34. > :41:39.you about writing the music for a musical, but you were brought up on
:41:39. > :41:45.that, weren't you? My father, when I was about four or five, he put on
:41:45. > :41:49.everything from the South Pacific to the King and I to the Sound of
:41:49. > :41:55.Music every day, but they'd fill the house up. For me it was amazing
:41:55. > :41:59.but all the mau zick he played was musicals. -- music. I didn't think
:41:59. > :42:04.about this much but I realised that I can sing you probably most of the
:42:04. > :42:08.musicals from the '50s, not that you would enjoy it! You never know!
:42:08. > :42:11.But that was your introduction to music. You look at the opposite
:42:11. > :42:17.extreme it led you to because you have this extraordinary group that
:42:17. > :42:22.you set up, that you launched your album, SuperHeavy, tell us about
:42:22. > :42:31.that? Again, it's a whole fusion of different styles because Damien
:42:31. > :42:35.Marley is Jamaicans, AR Roman is Indian and Mick's, you know...
:42:35. > :42:42.Jagger? Yes, he's from England, so am I and Joss is from Devon. Joss
:42:42. > :42:46.Stone, yes. Some of the first songs were an hour long, we had to edit
:42:46. > :42:49.them down, wrote 30 songs, then brought it down to 16 which is an
:42:49. > :42:53.album coming out in September. You've got this great power, you
:42:53. > :42:58.are known for your power to draw these people together, people like
:42:58. > :43:06.Mick Jagger exyou've got them there, Bob Dylan as well? # Everybody's
:43:06. > :43:12.got somebody to lean on # I've done lots of different
:43:12. > :43:21.things with different artists and I met Bob all the time and of course,
:43:21. > :43:29.the the Travelling Willbury's recorded their music in my house
:43:29. > :43:32.and garden. Hearing Roy Orbison singing in your back garden is
:43:32. > :43:38.pretty mind-blowing... # I'm still feeling tired and lonely
:43:38. > :43:43.# I still have some love to give... # You are busier than ever now,
:43:43. > :43:49.aren't you? It's nuts, people say I'm a work ahol lick, but every day
:43:49. > :43:53.at about 7.30 or 8, I stop work and have a very strong vodka Martini
:43:53. > :43:57.which is like a mallet on the back of your head as you know. You are
:43:57. > :44:03.drinking lots of those in the videos you shot actually? But they
:44:03. > :44:08.were all shots after 7.30. course. I was on the radio this
:44:08. > :44:12.other day, explaining my love for vodka Martini, I'm not a drunk or
:44:12. > :44:16.anything, never drink in the day, and I said, the thing is, Martinis
:44:16. > :44:20.are like breasts because one's not enough and three's too many.
:44:20. > :44:23.think we are going to leave it on that note. Dave Stewart, thank you
:44:23. > :44:28.very much. Dave Stewart there with a whole new
:44:28. > :44:35.take on vodka Martinis. To a different subject now, we heard
:44:35. > :44:38.that the British economy grew by less than 0.25% in the last quarter.
:44:39. > :44:41.Labour says the Government should act now and pump money into the
:44:41. > :44:47.economy while many on the right believe that the answer lies in tax
:44:47. > :44:50.cuts. There's a big lobby to dump the 50p top rate of tax. I'm joined
:44:50. > :44:54.by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander. Good
:44:54. > :44:57.morning. Morning. 0.2% in the second quarter, the Chancellor says
:44:57. > :45:00.it's positive, but the only positive thing about it is that it
:45:00. > :45:03.could have been worse? It's good news that the economy's moving in
:45:03. > :45:06.the right direction, but we always said that recovering from the
:45:06. > :45:09.deepest recession that we've had for many decades, with the largest
:45:09. > :45:14.budget deficit we have seen for a very long time, was going to be
:45:14. > :45:16.choppy and I think probably the waters have been choppier than
:45:16. > :45:20.anyone expected and we have seen big head winds in the global
:45:20. > :45:26.economy, rising oil and commodity prices, they have an impact on the
:45:26. > :45:28.economy. You were hoping for a growth of 0.8, it might be moving
:45:28. > :45:38.in the right direction but it's falling short of what you were
:45:38. > :45:42.
:45:42. > :45:47.But we have rising oil prices which affects everybody. The most
:45:47. > :45:52.important thing we can do is stick to the plan be set out - the
:45:52. > :45:57.credibility we set out for this country when the two parties came
:45:57. > :46:01.together in a Coalition to make a plan to ensure there was confidence
:46:01. > :46:10.in the UK's ability to pay its way and that delivers significant
:46:10. > :46:16.monetary stimulus because by having a credible monetary policy it keeps
:46:16. > :46:19.interests -- interest rates low and throwing credibility out of the
:46:19. > :46:25.window would see interest rates rise. On a basic level, are you
:46:25. > :46:31.worried about if growth figures? The chancellor says you are
:46:31. > :46:37.sticking to the plan but are you worried? Of course we must every --
:46:37. > :46:42.do everything we can... But are you worried? We had huge economic
:46:42. > :46:45.problems we inherited. It is also to do with the fact that the
:46:45. > :46:49.economy weak to Cover was unbalanced with the focus on
:46:49. > :46:54.banking and the City of London and not enough on growth in other parts
:46:54. > :47:00.of the country. As well as dealing with the deficit, we have to take
:47:00. > :47:07.decisions to rebalance the economy to get growth elsewhere.
:47:07. > :47:13.intrigued to to know why I asked a simple question, are you worried,
:47:13. > :47:16.and you are not giving me a yes or no answer. Of course we are
:47:16. > :47:22.concerned about the situation in the economy. That is what we spend
:47:22. > :47:25.every hour of every day working on but we face big and long term
:47:25. > :47:30.problems with no easy or quick fix which the Labour Party might have
:47:30. > :47:35.you believe. We inherited a in -- an enormous deficit and there are
:47:35. > :47:41.problems with growth where we have to free at businesses to lead the
:47:41. > :47:47.economic recovery. Apprenticeships and skills and training - skeps we
:47:47. > :47:53.are taking to make the banks lend more -- steps. The idea is that
:47:53. > :47:58.there is an easy way out is not right. What people want to know and
:47:58. > :48:02.you say you are concerned, so when people are concerned, they often
:48:02. > :48:06.have alternatives. Is there one? You must be thinking about other
:48:06. > :48:10.ways because, if this keeps going with figures like this, you must
:48:10. > :48:14.then have to do something different? You have to look at what
:48:15. > :48:18.the consequences will be of what some people are advising us to do -
:48:18. > :48:23.to step back from the fiscal credibility week established when
:48:23. > :48:28.we came into office. From other parts of Europe and what is going
:48:28. > :48:32.on in the US, when the country is unable to pay its way there are
:48:32. > :48:37.serious problems so the credibility is hard won and we have to stick
:48:37. > :48:41.with it. It is delivering benefits in terms of low interest rates. But
:48:41. > :48:46.you are right to say we have to do more to encourage and support
:48:46. > :48:50.businesses to grow. Going after the banks and encouraging them to lend
:48:50. > :48:55.more. That will make a real difference. I reject the argument
:48:55. > :48:59.that by changing our stance we will make the economy better. It makes
:49:00. > :49:04.things difficult for you if the figures continue to be as low as
:49:04. > :49:11.they are. It makes it difficult to deliver on deficit reduction
:49:11. > :49:16.because you are basing them on growth forecasts of 0.7% for the
:49:16. > :49:22.year but what happens if you don't get that? We are dealing with the
:49:22. > :49:29.structural deficit which needs spending cuts or tax rises to deal
:49:29. > :49:33.with. If growth is different, that causes fluctuations in benefit
:49:33. > :49:37.payments and the so-called automatic stabilisers which will
:49:38. > :49:43.continue to operate. Fundamentally, we have won an important prize for
:49:43. > :49:47.this country and that is eight credibility internationally
:49:48. > :49:52.supported by the IMF and the G20. It is a country that can pay its
:49:52. > :49:55.way in the world and deal with economic problems and that delivers
:49:55. > :50:01.benefits to businesses and households in terms of lower
:50:01. > :50:06.interest rates and that will be at threat if we step away from our
:50:06. > :50:16.plan and adopted an alternative strategy. There are real bonuses
:50:16. > :50:18.
:50:18. > :50:23.then -- benefits here. A 50 p tax rate. Were you do it? We, as
:50:23. > :50:27.Liberal Democrats, pushed hard that eight Government's first priority
:50:27. > :50:32.would be for tax reductions for people on low on middle incomes.
:50:32. > :50:36.Anyone who things we will shift a priority and reduce the tax burden
:50:36. > :50:41.for the wealthiest has another thing coming. It cannot be the
:50:41. > :50:44.right priority for a country at this time going through different -
:50:44. > :50:49.- difficult circumstances and we will stick to our priority that
:50:49. > :50:57.says tax reductions we can push through will be aimed at the low
:50:57. > :51:06.and middle incomes. Vat for example? We have already increased
:51:06. > :51:10.that. We will lift the income tax threshold to �10,000 which was a
:51:10. > :51:14.major Liberal Democrat commitment. It was our first income tax
:51:14. > :51:19.priority and we have to stick to it. The idea we will shift of focus to
:51:19. > :51:24.the wealthiest when everyone is under pressure is in cloud cuckoo
:51:24. > :51:29.land if people think that. If the Americans do not reach an agreement
:51:29. > :51:34.in the next 48 hours, they could be chaos and we could be tipped back
:51:34. > :51:39.into recession let alone other economies around the world.
:51:39. > :51:45.American politicians have shown an enormous capacity for leadership
:51:45. > :51:50.over the decades and that is what they have to show now. If two
:51:50. > :51:55.parties bury their political differences and do the right thing,
:51:55. > :52:00.not just for America and the whole world, the whole world is watching.
:52:00. > :52:05.If they get it wrong and there is a default, but we do not expect that,
:52:05. > :52:09.but if it were to happen, it will have consequences for every family
:52:09. > :52:13.and business in this country and across the world. What would happen
:52:13. > :52:18.to Britain if they didn't sort it out? We would see some deeply
:52:18. > :52:23.damaging consequences. It would depend how things unfold under
:52:23. > :52:29.stress I do not think it will happen. Politicians on Capitol Hill
:52:29. > :52:34.can see the implications of what they are looking at - a precipice
:52:34. > :52:37.and they will step back from it. It will have a big effect on the
:52:37. > :52:42.global financial system and the US is one of our major trading
:52:43. > :52:46.partners. It could have big implications for us. Let us talk
:52:46. > :52:50.about the Lib Dems and the poll in the papers this morning in the
:52:50. > :52:55.Sunday Times. It doesn't look good for Nick Clegg with any 35% of
:52:55. > :53:01.people thinking he will be the Lib Dem leader by 2015. Do you agree?
:53:01. > :53:04.No. The Lib Dems have borne the brunt of the Coalition and we have
:53:04. > :53:10.lost some very hard-working councillors and campaigners over
:53:10. > :53:14.the last year but we are a resilient party. We are used to
:53:14. > :53:19.marching to the sound of gunfire, if you like, and we are very proud
:53:19. > :53:27.of what we are achieving in government. Not just the tax cuts
:53:27. > :53:31.for low and as I was talking about, shifting pension is with a --
:53:31. > :53:37.pensions into a triple lock guarantee, expanding renewable
:53:37. > :53:42.energy. But you have a lot to turn around here. If you look at the
:53:42. > :53:46.polls and the figures and if you look at the economy, if you don't
:53:46. > :53:51.sort out that, the Lib Dems will be in big trouble at the next election,
:53:51. > :53:55.won't you? We all have to sort it out but we will enter the next
:53:55. > :53:59.election on a strong record where people were see we have done the
:53:59. > :54:03.right things for the right reasons. I think we will do even better at
:54:03. > :54:07.the next election. Thank you. Now for the news
:54:07. > :54:11.headlines. Thank you. Efforts to prevent the
:54:11. > :54:16.United States defaulting on its debts look set to go to the wire.
:54:16. > :54:21.President Obama has been meeting Republican and Democrat leaders to
:54:21. > :54:26.break the deadlock. With today's to go before deadline for an agreement,
:54:26. > :54:30.Senate has postponed another vote on the issue until later today. A
:54:30. > :54:34.default would have serious consequences for President Obama
:54:34. > :54:37.and the world economy. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury
:54:37. > :54:41.has acknowledged that the government is concerned about last
:54:41. > :54:46.week's figures showing a reduction in the rate at which the economy is
:54:46. > :54:50.recovering. But he insisted the government would not scrap the 50p
:54:50. > :54:54.tax rate which some people would argue would stimulate growth. He
:54:54. > :54:57.said that anyone who thought the Government's priority should be tax
:54:57. > :55:03.cuts for the highest paid was living in cloud-cuckoo-land. That
:55:03. > :55:08.is all. The next news is that make day. Back to Sophie but first a
:55:08. > :55:12.look at what is coming up after this programme.
:55:12. > :55:16.Is the law right to insist immigrants coming here should speak
:55:16. > :55:24.English before they arrive? You see a crime in the street, what should
:55:24. > :55:28.you do? Somebody said you should all comply and we talk to a woman
:55:28. > :55:32.he says she gave her entire inheritance to the RSPCA.
:55:32. > :55:35.Sophie. A century after their deaths,
:55:35. > :55:38.Gilbert and Sullivan's operas continue to be hugely popular. A
:55:38. > :55:40.major festival dedicated to their work takes place in Derbyshire
:55:40. > :55:43.every summer, and attracts thousands of enthusiasts from
:55:43. > :55:46.around the world. This year's extravaganza began yesterday and
:55:46. > :55:49.runs until 20th August. Earlier, I spoke to one of the Festival's
:55:49. > :55:52.Trustees, Bernard Lockett, and the singer Simon Buttriss and began by
:55:52. > :56:02.asking them how they overcome the suspicion of some people that
:56:02. > :56:09.Gilbert and Sullivan is really the territory of amateur dramatics.
:56:09. > :56:13.People have said that but it is not so. When they hear it, they see it
:56:13. > :56:19.essences they would like to see in musical theatre. Simon, the people
:56:19. > :56:25.who listen to you know the music and lyrics so well. You miss out to
:56:25. > :56:34.work and you are in trouble! Yes, people turn at that stage doors and
:56:34. > :56:38.say I haven't turned up to here "and" instead of "but". You hear
:56:38. > :56:42.the laughter of familiarity but people who hear it for the first
:56:42. > :56:48.time laughing in a slightly different way. It is the great
:56:48. > :56:53.place for combining the old audience and the new, young blood
:56:53. > :56:59.to adore it. In the Festival Club, you will see little old ladies in
:56:59. > :57:07.hot debate with teenage boys. In the best possible way! What will
:57:07. > :57:10.you play for us? The major General song. Perfect. Before we enjoy
:57:10. > :57:14.their merry tunes, there's just enough time to thank all my guests
:57:14. > :57:17.this morning. Mariella Frostrup will be here next week, standing in
:57:17. > :57:25.for Andrew. So, join her at the usual time of nine o'clock. Until
:57:25. > :57:27.then, we leave you with a timeless # I am the very model of a modern
:57:27. > :57:30.Major-General, # I've information vegetable,
:57:30. > :57:32.animal, and mineral, # I know the kings of England, I
:57:32. > :57:35.quote the fights historical # From Marathon to Waterloo, in
:57:35. > :57:37.order categorical. # I'm very well acquainted, too,
:57:37. > :57:41.with matters mathematical, # I understand equations, both the
:57:41. > :57:44.simple and quadratical, # About binomial theorem I'm
:57:44. > :57:48.teeming with a lot o' news, # With many cheerful facts about
:57:48. > :57:51.the square of the hypotenuse. # I'm very good at integral and
:57:51. > :57:53.differential calculus. # I know the scientific names of
:57:53. > :57:57.beings animalculous: # In short, in matters vegetable,
:57:57. > :58:01.animal, and mineral, # I am the very model of a modern
:58:01. > :58:04.Major-General. # I know our mythic history, King
:58:04. > :58:07.Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's, # I answer hard acrostics, I've a
:58:07. > :58:09.pretty taste for paradox, # I quote in elegiacs all the
:58:09. > :58:12.crimes of Heliogabalus, # In conics I can floor
:58:12. > :58:15.peculiarities parabolous, # I can tell undoubted Raphaels
:58:15. > :58:19.from Dows and Zoffanies, # I know the croaking chorus from
:58:19. > :58:22.The Frogs of Aristophanes! # Then I can hum a fugue of which
:58:22. > :58:26.I've heard the music's din afore, # And whistle all the airs from
:58:26. > :58:29.that infernal nonsense Pinafore. # Then I can write a washing bill
:58:29. > :58:31.in Babylonic cuneiform, # And tell you ev'ry detail of
:58:31. > :58:35.Caractacus's uniform: # In short, in matters vegetable,
:58:35. > :58:39.animal, and mineral, # I am the very model of a modern
:58:39. > :58:43.Major-General. # In fact, when I know what is
:58:43. > :58:46.meant by "mamelon" and "ravelin", # When I can tell at sight a Mauser
:58:46. > :58:50.rifle from a javelin, # When such affairs as sorties and
:58:50. > :58:52.surprises I'm more wary at, # And when I know precisely what is
:58:52. > :58:56.meant by "commissariat", # When I have learnt what progress
:58:56. > :59:00.has been made in modern gunnery, # When I know more of tactics than
:59:00. > :59:02.a novice in a nunnery, # In short, when I've a smattering
:59:02. > :59:10.of elemental strategy # You'll say a better Major-General
:59:10. > :59:13.has never sat a-gee. # For my military knowledge, though
:59:13. > :59:16.I'm plucky and adventury, # Has only been brought down to the