:00:40. > :00:43.Good morning, some excellent news in the paper - conditions are so
:00:43. > :00:49.good, food is so plentiful, that the British are having larger
:00:50. > :00:52.families and looking ahead with increased optimism. Sadly this only
:00:52. > :00:57.refers to British bluetits who have been loving this remarkably warm
:00:57. > :00:59.autumn. If only this week's autumn statement really was what it
:00:59. > :01:01.sounded like - "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness", announces
:01:01. > :01:04.Chancellor "butterflies surprisingly plentiful" - but it
:01:04. > :01:06.ain't and anyone of a sensitive disposition should probably skip
:01:06. > :01:16.the newspaper front pages, where most economics editors explain with
:01:16. > :01:20.
:01:20. > :01:22.And joining me today for our review of the Sunday newspapers are the
:01:22. > :01:25.other Blair, Lord Blair, former head of the Metropolitan police,
:01:25. > :01:28.the columnist and broadcaster Mary Ann Sieghart, and Max Mosley, who
:01:28. > :01:32.was among the first witnesses at the Leveson inquiry on press
:01:32. > :01:34.standards. The chancellor, George Osborne, makes his speech in
:01:34. > :01:43.parliament, second only to the Budget each year, against a
:01:43. > :01:53.thunderous, stormy sky. Bad news is expected on growth, jobs, how long
:01:53. > :01:55.
:01:55. > :01:58.it will take to pay off the deficit. And with the entire Eurozone - our
:01:58. > :02:00.biggest market - making splintering and cracking noises, the focus has
:02:00. > :02:03.turned to urgent plans to keep our economy moving, with announcements
:02:03. > :02:06.expected on everything from rail fares and bank taxes to help for
:02:06. > :02:09.small firms. The chancellor George Osborne joins us to explain more,
:02:09. > :02:12.ahead of what - with, let's remember, a national public sector
:02:12. > :02:14.strike called for Wednesday - is beginning to feel like the most
:02:14. > :02:18.important week for the Coalition government since it was formed.
:02:18. > :02:21.We're also joined by Mr Osborne's number one critic, Ed Balls, who
:02:21. > :02:25.has consistently called for less in the way of cuts, more borrowing, a
:02:25. > :02:28.Plan B for growth. But would Labour really do things so very
:02:28. > :02:31.differently? Wouldn't they be making the same kinds of unpopular
:02:31. > :02:34.cuts as the coalition? Also this morning, we'll be going back to an
:02:34. > :02:36.earlier period of austerity Britain, as the Oscar-winning actress Rachel
:02:36. > :02:42.Weisz discusses her latest film, Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue
:02:42. > :02:52.Sea. That might cheer you up. If it doesn't, we'll have some soothing
:02:52. > :02:52.
:02:52. > :02:57.music, played by the bright new talent of the violin, Charlie Siem.
:02:57. > :03:05.All that's coming up, but first over to Susanna Reid with the news.
:03:05. > :03:08.Good morning. A rescue operation is under way to try to find six people
:03:08. > :03:14.missing after a cargo vessel got into trouble off the north coast of
:03:14. > :03:18.Wales. Eight people were on board the ship, which is thought to have
:03:18. > :03:21.suffered from a cracked hole. The ship was grounded off the coast of
:03:21. > :03:24.Cornwall last year. Details are emerging of a package
:03:24. > :03:27.of measures which the Government hopes will boost growth, and ease
:03:27. > :03:30.the pressure on family budgets, amid fears that the economy will
:03:30. > :03:33.deteriorate next year. The measures, to be outlined by the Chancellor in
:03:33. > :03:35.his autumn statement this week, are expected to include more spending
:03:35. > :03:39.on infrastructure, a possible freeze in petrol duty, and lower
:03:39. > :03:41.increases in rail fares. Billions of pounds will also be made
:03:42. > :03:50.available in government-backed loans to small and medium sized
:03:50. > :03:54.enterprises, as our business correspondent Joe Lynam reports.
:03:55. > :03:58.Britain may not be in the eurozone but the crisis which is swallowing
:03:58. > :04:03.up the Continent threatens to engulf the UK as well. The
:04:03. > :04:07.government is worried that bank lending could seize up entirely. To
:04:07. > :04:11.prevent that from happening to ordinary British companies, the
:04:11. > :04:15.coalition is to set up ambitious lending programmes to make sure the
:04:15. > :04:19.engines of growth do not stall. Known as credit easing, the first
:04:19. > :04:26.scheme would see the government using guarantees to reduce the cost
:04:26. > :04:30.of credit firms turning over less than �50 million. The second
:04:30. > :04:35.programme would see the government taking a stake in investment forms
:04:35. > :04:39.which provide credit or loans to medium-sized companies, and thirdly
:04:39. > :04:45.hoping to create an alternative to traditional bank loans, by
:04:45. > :04:49.encouraging companies to sell bondss to the markets. The
:04:49. > :04:57.Chancellor says that none of the credit easing schemes will drive up
:04:57. > :04:59.the already massive deficit. A further 100,000 jobs could be cut
:04:59. > :05:02.in the public sector, according to an independent forecasting group.
:05:02. > :05:05.The Ernst and Young Item Club says the Government has been too
:05:05. > :05:09.conservative in its estimate of the number of job losses required to
:05:09. > :05:12.meet spending cuts. It expects around half a million public sector
:05:12. > :05:22.jobs to be lost in the next five years, instead of the 400,000,
:05:22. > :05:23.
:05:23. > :05:25.predicted in March. Pakistan has shut down NATO supply
:05:25. > :05:27.routes into Afghanistan after NATO helicopters and fighter jets
:05:27. > :05:30.attacked two military outposts on Pakistani territory. 25 Pakistani
:05:30. > :05:33.soldiers were killed in the incident, in Mohmand near the
:05:33. > :05:35.border with Afghanistan. The US has apologised to Pakistan for the
:05:35. > :05:38.attack. Police investigating the fatal
:05:38. > :05:42.mugging of an elderly woman in Greater Manchester are now treating
:05:42. > :05:45.her death as murder. 79-year-old Nellie Geraghty was found with
:05:45. > :05:48.serious head injuries in an alleyway in Oldham. She'd
:05:48. > :05:55.apparently tried to resist robbers, who stole a bag containing cash and
:05:55. > :05:59.the ashes of her late husband. That's all from me for the moment.
:05:59. > :06:06.I'll be back with the headlines just before ten.
:06:06. > :06:12.Thank you, Susanna. I did mention the front pages are pretty gloomy
:06:12. > :06:20.this morning. Here is a flavour on the Observer. The Sunday Times has
:06:20. > :06:26.a great headline - Britain faces six years of misery. Lucky us. The
:06:26. > :06:31.Express - starving Britain, saying thousands of farmers are relying on
:06:31. > :06:37.food parcels and even road kill. The Independent on Sunday has
:06:37. > :06:45.people trying to leave Britain for Mars. Ed Balls - I have sympathy
:06:45. > :06:50.for the strikers. A strange front page here - the Mail on Sunday, Lib
:06:50. > :06:59.Dems: we should be more like Oxfam, suggesting many would be queuing up
:06:59. > :07:05.to give old clothes to the Liberal Democrats. Why?! Mary Ann Sieghart
:07:05. > :07:13.and Max Mosley, thank you for joining us. You're starting with
:07:13. > :07:17.the Autumn Statement. The big political story Of the Week are the
:07:17. > :07:21.Autumn Statement and the public sector strike the day after. It is
:07:22. > :07:28.a classic in politics. One news story which you are completely in
:07:28. > :07:34.control of, another which you have no control over whatsoever. In some
:07:34. > :07:38.senses, it is quite good for him because he can get the good news
:07:38. > :07:44.stories out in advance so we have the Sunday Telegraph talking about
:07:44. > :07:52.help for the squeezed middle, lower fuel duty rises, and lower train
:07:52. > :07:56.fare rises. On Wednesday itself, all the bad figures are coming out,
:07:56. > :08:02.and that is on unemployment, lack of growth, and the fact they
:08:02. > :08:07.haven't managed to cut the deficit as fast as they had hoped to. There
:08:07. > :08:13.is one story about support and opposition for the strike. 43% are
:08:13. > :08:18.opposing it, only 39% supporting it, but a plurality blame the
:08:18. > :08:23.government rather than the unions for the strike, and 65% disapprove
:08:23. > :08:30.of the way David Cameron has dealt with it. So the politics are still
:08:30. > :08:36.pretty unclear. Lord Blair, you have a story in the Independent.
:08:36. > :08:43.Yes, and this leaves on from that, because it is the way it fits into
:08:43. > :08:48.the public mood. Most of it is about not really wanting the
:08:48. > :08:52.strikes, but the last two paragraphs say the problem with the
:08:52. > :08:56.government's response is they have failed to convince many people we
:08:56. > :09:03.are genuinely all in this together so they should be doing things
:09:03. > :09:09.about the bankers and the rich. Another of the big stories, Max
:09:09. > :09:14.Mosley, was the one you were involved in in the Leveson Inquiry.
:09:14. > :09:19.The slight backlash, some pupils saying it has been taken over by
:09:19. > :09:29.celebrities. I don't know what you think about that. I don't think it
:09:29. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:38.is true. The people who have really made the impression, they are the
:09:38. > :09:41.ones who are illustrated what can happen to ordinary people. Then
:09:41. > :09:46.there are other celebrities, and whoever you are, when people start
:09:46. > :09:51.invading your private life it is intolerable. How do you define
:09:51. > :09:55.celebrity? JK Rowling is a celebrity in the sense she is
:09:55. > :10:01.famous, but she is famous for having written successful
:10:01. > :10:11.children's books. When you sit and writer book for children, you don't
:10:11. > :10:12.
:10:12. > :10:16.make a forced to -- a Faustian pact. She has not like Jordan selling
:10:16. > :10:22.herself because of her celebrity. Do you think we are after tipping
:10:22. > :10:28.point? I hope we are. The trouble is there have been a lot of so-
:10:28. > :10:34.called tipping point over the last 20 years, when very little has
:10:34. > :10:39.tipped. Diana, Princess of Wales, David Mellor, and not much has
:10:39. > :10:44.changed. I think in this case it is the Milly Dowler moment that
:10:44. > :10:48.changed the entire mood. I think people were seeing the phone
:10:48. > :10:53.hacking as a kind of celebrity meets politicians discussion.
:10:53. > :11:01.Suddenly, one Tuesday afternoon, that discovery changed everything.
:11:01. > :11:05.I entirely agree. Until then, it was them, not us. Then, when the
:11:05. > :11:11.Milly Dowler thing happened, people realised that could happen to
:11:11. > :11:16.anybody in the country. One of the most disturbing things surely it is
:11:16. > :11:20.the involvement of the police in a lot of these. Quite clearly,
:11:20. > :11:29.relations between the tabloid press and the police have been far too
:11:29. > :11:37.close. Money has been changing hands and story -- stories keep
:11:37. > :11:42.appearing. You are right, it has been a far too close relationship.
:11:42. > :11:47.I don't know about the money changing hands, I feel it is more
:11:47. > :11:51.about influence and getting the police's position right. Clearly
:11:51. > :11:57.there is skulduggery and that has got to be wiped out. The other
:11:57. > :12:07.interesting thing is the way journalists are responding to this.
:12:07. > :12:08.
:12:08. > :12:12.There are two moods. One of them is saying lot of us. This one - why I
:12:12. > :12:16.am proud to be a British journalist - it has been a long time coming,
:12:16. > :12:21.the admission that there are some very bad journalists, people who
:12:21. > :12:28.have been behaving very badly, which must have been known about.
:12:28. > :12:33.To be fair, some people wrote about this before the Leveson Inquiry.
:12:33. > :12:38.What was very noticeable was the Guardian was going on and on, then
:12:38. > :12:41.we had the New York Times, and the rest of the paper and these
:12:41. > :12:49.wonderful up standing journalists did not write one word about it. It
:12:49. > :12:57.was kept secret until it became impossible to keep the lid on it.
:12:57. > :13:01.Lord Blair mentioned the word skulduggery, and there is a
:13:01. > :13:08.fascinating piece of skulduggery surrounding Dominique Strauss-Kahn,
:13:08. > :13:13.and how much of this was a set-up. This is fascinating because I am
:13:13. > :13:17.not a believer in conspiracies, but here there are so many elements, so
:13:17. > :13:22.many things that happened, that when you read the story you think
:13:22. > :13:26.it is just possible this whole thing was set up. There is an
:13:26. > :13:29.allegation for instance that staff in the hotel were seen during a
:13:29. > :13:34.victory dance once Dominique Strauss-Kahn was grabbed and
:13:35. > :13:39.arrested for this alleged assault. Then, allegedly, the chambermaid
:13:39. > :13:43.when repeatedly into the room of a mysterious man who has not been
:13:43. > :13:49.identified during the period between the incident and the arrest.
:13:49. > :13:54.There are endless elements. I think it might be the Mail on Sunday that
:13:54. > :13:59.suggested this might have all been set up by Nicolas Sarkozy's people.
:13:59. > :14:03.If that is the case, what a wonderful story that would be.
:14:03. > :14:07.would be an amazing story but I think we should pause for a moment.
:14:07. > :14:12.I seem to remember there was a victim with serious injuries
:14:12. > :14:16.floating around in the middle of this, so whatever happened, it is
:14:16. > :14:21.still a great difficulty with Strauss-Kahn in terms of who he is
:14:21. > :14:26.and how he behaves. He was unwise, to say the least. There does seem
:14:26. > :14:31.to have been a pattern of behaviour as well. Let's stay abroad because
:14:31. > :14:38.one of the other stories is Egypt, where things are falling apart at a
:14:38. > :14:44.terrible rate. This is, to me, the biggest story in the world at the
:14:44. > :14:48.moment. In terms of what has happened this year, the Arab Spring
:14:48. > :14:52.is the greatest story, and Egypt is the most significant of those
:14:53. > :15:01.countries. We have a position here which is very well put in the
:15:01. > :15:04.Observer again. The most difficult one is at the bottom, there is a
:15:04. > :15:14.phrase that there is an alliance between the Muslim Brotherhood and
:15:14. > :15:16.
:15:16. > :15:19.the generals which has put the revolution in peril. They are
:15:19. > :15:23.suggesting that the army moving towards elections has been
:15:23. > :15:33.supported by the Muslim Brotherhood against the secular do, which was
:15:33. > :15:34.
:15:34. > :15:38.so significant in Tahrir Square. This might seem trivial against the
:15:38. > :15:44.Arab Spring, but this is about parking. London is in uproar,
:15:44. > :15:50.because this is not just a London story, but in London Westminster
:15:51. > :15:55.City Council has decided that in the evenings and on Sundays they
:15:55. > :15:59.are going to carry on charging for parking until 1 am and are not
:15:59. > :16:02.going to allow you to park on a single yellow line. This is
:16:02. > :16:07.disastrous for people working in the West End. If you are not a
:16:07. > :16:11.highly -- if you are a highly paid -- not a highly paid waitress, you
:16:11. > :16:14.can park your car and drive home safely, but now you cannot do it.
:16:14. > :16:18.But for those of us who want to go to the West End to see a film or
:16:18. > :16:21.have a play or have supper, we cannot afford to do it. What is so
:16:21. > :16:27.frustrating is there is nothing we can do about it because we do not
:16:27. > :16:30.have votes in Westminster. Local democracy? Local democracy does not
:16:30. > :16:34.even work, because the people who live in the borough of Westminster
:16:34. > :16:38.will not mind because they have parking permits. The businesses
:16:38. > :16:42.will mind, but they have a -- do not have a vote and those of us
:16:42. > :16:48.outside do not have a vote. To move from people worried about parking
:16:48. > :16:52.to people who drive a little faster. The last day of Formula One. The
:16:52. > :16:58.headline about how the season has gone? The number one thing is that
:16:58. > :17:00.nobody gets killed or hurt and that has happened. A boring championship
:17:00. > :17:05.because Sebastian Vettel was so much better than everyone but on
:17:05. > :17:09.the other hand there have been many exciting races and one cannot ask
:17:10. > :17:16.for more. The bottom line is, did anyone get hurt? It is a dangerous
:17:16. > :17:24.sport. Nobody did, so no one was hurt in the making of this
:17:24. > :17:27.newspaper review either. Thank you all very much. Now to the weather -
:17:27. > :17:30.it's been very windy, the leaves are coming off the trees, and in
:17:30. > :17:33.the North of Scotland gale force winds overnight. In the south,
:17:33. > :17:36.however, we're still waiting for the cold to set in. Can this mild
:17:36. > :17:46.autumn go on much longer? Bluetits are glued to their screens waiting
:17:46. > :17:49.for the answer, so over to Darren It has been very windy and I think
:17:49. > :17:52.the winds have peaked and it improves through the day with more
:17:52. > :17:57.sunshine coming through and the winds easing off. Still blowing a
:17:57. > :18:00.gale in Scotland and the showers will retreat to the West with some
:18:00. > :18:06.snow over the mountain. The odd shower for Northern Ireland but for
:18:06. > :18:09.England and Wales it dries up and more showers coming through. It
:18:09. > :18:13.will probably feel colder today, particularly across the North. This
:18:13. > :18:17.evening, with the clear skies and light winds, the temperatures will
:18:17. > :18:20.fall away and for Northern Ireland and western Scotland a freshening
:18:20. > :18:24.breeze would increase the cloud but away from here it will be cold and
:18:24. > :18:28.there will be a widespread ground frost across England and Wales and
:18:29. > :18:34.in rural areas temperatures will be close to freezing. The story
:18:34. > :18:38.through tomorrow is one of a freshening up south wind which will
:18:38. > :18:42.increase the cloud and bring patchy rain to the west, whereas East it
:18:42. > :18:46.is likely to be dry and there will be sunshine, but after a chilly
:18:46. > :18:50.start the temperatures will struggle to double figures.
:18:50. > :18:53.Temperatures will be nearer 12 degrees. For any blue tits watching,
:18:53. > :18:57.nothing particularly cold over the weekend, but it does stay unsettled
:18:57. > :19:02.and we will have showers or longer spells of rain and it looks like it
:19:02. > :19:06.spells of rain and it looks like it For months, the Shadow Chancellor,
:19:06. > :19:10.Ed Balls has been telling the government it needs a plan B, a
:19:10. > :19:12.plan for growth. Well, during the week, we had a flurry of
:19:12. > :19:16.announcements - on house-building, tackling youth unemployment and so
:19:16. > :19:19.on - so does he see plan B taking shape in front of his eyes? If
:19:19. > :19:22.Labour were in government, it would presumably be cutting too by now -
:19:22. > :19:25.and having to deal with the backwash from the eurozone crisis.
:19:25. > :19:30.So what would Ed Balls really do differently? He's with me now.
:19:30. > :19:34.Welcome. Before we turn to the Autumn Statement, let's talk about
:19:34. > :19:38.Wednesday's strike. Is this something that you would urge the
:19:38. > :19:42.unions to call off even at this late stage? I would urge the
:19:42. > :19:46.government to get round the table and give some ground and sort this
:19:46. > :19:51.out. I don't think anybody wants to strike on Wednesday and will be
:19:51. > :19:59.hugely disruptive for families but I also have sympathy for the low-
:19:59. > :20:03.paid public workers and we are talking about dinner ladies,
:20:03. > :20:08.teaching assistants who are paid under �15,000 per year who are
:20:08. > :20:14.being hit hard. The government has to give ground and so do the Joep -
:20:14. > :20:17.- unions. There has to be two sides to sort this out. The two is
:20:17. > :20:21.probably fair to say you have more influence on the unions than the
:20:21. > :20:28.government, so would you learned -- urged the union leaders to give
:20:28. > :20:32.enough ground and perhaps delay this or call it off? I would urge
:20:32. > :20:38.the union leaders to give ground and talk. I think Ed Miliband was
:20:38. > :20:41.right to say it was the wrong thing to do to strike in June when the
:20:41. > :20:46.government were talking, but they made clear two weeks ago they would
:20:46. > :20:50.give no more ground. Even John Hutton said it was risky, the 3%
:20:50. > :20:56.contribution rise, and also deeply unfair. And in the circumstances
:20:56. > :21:01.there are lots of low-paid workers, 750,000 low-paid workers, paid
:21:01. > :21:05.under �15,000, predominantly women, who will be retired on pensions of
:21:05. > :21:09.�4,000 per year and will be hit really hard. I think people do not
:21:09. > :21:13.think it is fair. I have to say, David Cameron and George Osborne
:21:13. > :21:17.have always been clear in their minds that they wanted this
:21:17. > :21:21.confrontation. But both sides are quite close to agreement in
:21:21. > :21:26.different areas. Their unions and employers and different government
:21:26. > :21:29.departments coming-together and a lot of people would say it is
:21:29. > :21:33.inevitable, even a Labour government would have to deal with
:21:33. > :21:37.the cost of public sector pensions. It was never going to be easy, it
:21:37. > :21:40.was always going to be painful, but there has to be a compromise and
:21:40. > :21:44.striking does not help. A Labour Prime Minister would have had to
:21:44. > :21:48.sit down and negotiate. The trade unions would have had to give some
:21:48. > :21:52.ground. But David Talib -- David Cameron said to the Daily Telegraph
:21:52. > :21:58.he was privately delighted that the trade unions had walked into his
:21:58. > :22:03.trap. No Labour prime minister in the last 13 years sat around saying
:22:03. > :22:06.he was delighted about private -- confrontations and strikes. It was
:22:06. > :22:11.deeply irresponsible and the disruption on Wednesday to families
:22:11. > :22:17.and businesses could be avoided if David Cameron decided he wanted to
:22:17. > :22:21.act, and he hasn't. It is his intransigence and, I think, his
:22:21. > :22:24.opposition to progress which is causing the problem. Let me put a
:22:24. > :22:29.proposition to you about the Autumn Statement and the argument around
:22:29. > :22:33.it, which is that if you look at a lot of the things the government
:22:33. > :22:36.has recently announced and looks likely to announce this week, they
:22:36. > :22:40.are not so different from the kind of things that Labour would be
:22:40. > :22:44.doing when it comes to youth unemployment, and try to get some
:22:44. > :22:49.money into struggling small and medium-sized businesses, when it
:22:49. > :22:52.comes to helping commuters. And when people look at the exchanges
:22:52. > :22:56.in the House of Commons, including between yourself and George Osborne
:22:56. > :23:00.and there is all this shouting and finger stabbing, things are too
:23:00. > :23:04.serious for that and it would be welcome to have the opposition say,
:23:04. > :23:07.do you know what, or all of these measures, we agree. These are the
:23:07. > :23:11.kind of things to do and we will get them through the House of
:23:11. > :23:14.Commons quickly. I would love a consensus on the way forward with
:23:14. > :23:19.George Osborne, David Cameron and the Liberal Democrats, and it would
:23:19. > :23:22.be better for Britain. You are completely right. Nick Clegg is now
:23:22. > :23:26.announcing the reintroduction of the future jobs funded or smaller
:23:26. > :23:30.form it should not have been abolished in the first place. And
:23:30. > :23:34.they are saying put back 10 % of the housing spending they cut,
:23:34. > :23:37.saying put back some infrastructure, do more for small firm lending,
:23:37. > :23:43.building on something Labour did which they should have done Allah -
:23:43. > :23:48.- earlier. But fundamentally there was a big day issue, -- Bedi issue.
:23:48. > :23:52.We disagreed months ago and they said if we went fast on deficit
:23:52. > :23:56.reduction, �40 billion of cuts, the fastest cuts of any country, they
:23:56. > :24:01.said it would lead to private sector jobs, growth, confidence,
:24:01. > :24:07.falling unemployment and the hasn't worked. We are in economic troubles
:24:07. > :24:12.at the moment. If their deficit reduction system has not worked,
:24:12. > :24:17.why is it that the British government is able to borrow money
:24:17. > :24:23.at 4.5 % below what it is costing the Spanish and the Italians and
:24:23. > :24:26.others. Britain has a triple-A credit rating. And our
:24:26. > :24:29.international reputation seems to be pretty strong and the government
:24:29. > :24:32.will say it is down to their deficit reduction plan and sticking
:24:32. > :24:36.to it. They would, and that is the fantasy they have peddled for the
:24:36. > :24:40.last year. Taking the points in turn, first of all, they say we
:24:40. > :24:44.have low interest rates because of deficit reduction but it is
:24:44. > :24:50.fundamentally because we are not in the euro and have low growth. In
:24:51. > :24:54.America, America had their credit rating downgraded and their
:24:54. > :24:57.interest weights did not go up. They say they have credibility with
:24:57. > :25:01.the financial markets because they have the deficit reduction plan,
:25:01. > :25:05.but you talk about me advocating more borrowing, and George Osborne
:25:05. > :25:09.will borrow billions and billions of pounds more than he planned
:25:09. > :25:12.because unemployment is going up because the plan has failed.
:25:12. > :25:19.truth is that the difference between the is now infinitesimally
:25:19. > :25:24.small. It is a third of 1%. If you are still sticking to the original
:25:24. > :25:28.Alastair Darling plan, and you suggest you laugh? Yes, of course.
:25:28. > :25:32.So the difference between what you're doing is not enormous. It is
:25:32. > :25:36.not the difference between slump and prosperity. I am sticking to
:25:36. > :25:41.the plan in the sense that we would have done that plan in government.
:25:41. > :25:45.George Osborne didn't. He ripped it up and went �40 billion faster,
:25:45. > :25:49.including VAT rise which hasn't worked and he is trying to blame
:25:49. > :25:53.the snow or the euro and it was his decisions that slowed down the
:25:53. > :25:58.recovery. The IMF said a few months ago, who George Osborne used to
:25:58. > :26:02.boast about supporting him, they said if the economy undershot the
:26:02. > :26:06.growth plans and it wasn't growing, the sensible, balanced thing to do
:26:06. > :26:09.was to slow the pace of cuts and reversed and do some tax cuts to
:26:09. > :26:13.get the economy moving, boost the growth in jobs and get unemployment
:26:13. > :26:18.and the deficit down. The IMF is right and dieback them in their
:26:18. > :26:21.proposals. George Osborne doesn't. If he moves to a balanced but we
:26:21. > :26:26.will support him. If he doesn't, I am deeply fearful about what this
:26:26. > :26:32.will mean for the growth, jobs and deficit reduction. What you would
:26:32. > :26:38.do that is different is that she would reverse the VAT rise -- you
:26:38. > :26:44.would reverse -- and reverse the cuts? That cost you a lot of money
:26:44. > :26:48.straight away, so where do you find it? It is a five-point plan. You
:26:48. > :26:54.mentioned two elements, repeating the bank bonus tax for you to jobs,
:26:54. > :26:57.but we would agree with the IMF. is said that you have spent nine
:26:57. > :27:01.times the bank bonus tax on different projects.
:27:01. > :27:05.Conservative Party say that, but it doesn't make it true. It is a lie.
:27:05. > :27:10.The only proposal would have made to spend the bank bonus tax was for
:27:10. > :27:14.use jobs, with a five-point plan which the IMF was saying that if
:27:14. > :27:18.there was no growth we should slow the pace and move to a balanced
:27:18. > :27:22.plan. George Osborne said it would lead to more borrowing and it would
:27:22. > :27:27.be irresponsible. In the next five years, he will borrow, according to
:27:27. > :27:30.his own forecasters, over �100 billion more than he planned. He is
:27:30. > :27:34.borrowing for unemployment and failure. I say get the economy
:27:34. > :27:38.moving, get some help for families and businesses, which will get
:27:38. > :27:44.growth in jobs moving and get the deficit down. It is a very big
:27:44. > :27:47.choice and it is not just trivia and inconsequential. Realistically,
:27:47. > :27:52.you would both be borrowing a great deal and faced with the same
:27:52. > :27:57.extremely difficult international situation and you would both have
:27:57. > :28:01.economic plans for growth which are not the same, but they are not a
:28:01. > :28:04.million miles apart. I just asked again whether the heat and
:28:04. > :28:08.aggression between the parties at this time of national crisis is
:28:08. > :28:12.appropriate? I think it is fundamentally necessary. When a
:28:12. > :28:15.government is making a catastrophically wrong decision and
:28:15. > :28:22.people are fearful and angry, the opposition has to stand up for the
:28:22. > :28:24.alternative, as happened in 1929, 1930 and 1931 in a similar
:28:25. > :28:28.situation after a financial crisis. I have been on this programme and
:28:28. > :28:32.you have said to me that what I am proposing would be irresponsible.
:28:32. > :28:36.You cannot now say it is the same as George Osborne's plans. There
:28:37. > :28:42.was a big choice year ago. We were out on a limb in advocating a
:28:42. > :28:45.different approach. Actually, increasingly, the IMF and business
:28:45. > :28:51.organisations and Conservative MPs are saying that the George Osborne
:28:51. > :28:55.and David Cameron plan has not worked. We need a different course.
:28:55. > :29:01.So if we seek the credit easing plan for small companies that we
:29:01. > :29:04.are reading that we will see, will you back that? That is presumably
:29:04. > :29:08.something you would be pleased by. If there is a credit easing plan,
:29:08. > :29:12.that is a good thing. If they reintroduce a future jobs fund,
:29:12. > :29:17.good. If they do not go ahead with the freeze in fuel prices in
:29:17. > :29:22.January, that is good. They should delay temporary cut in VAT. If they
:29:22. > :29:26.do more to get down child poverty, we will support that. We will look
:29:26. > :29:29.at the details, because I don't know how it will work yet. But it
:29:29. > :29:36.is very similar to the small firms guarantee scheme which had been
:29:36. > :29:41.around for years. The issue is, why he's our economy not growing? Why
:29:41. > :29:46.are firms not borrowing? Why is the economy slumping? Because the
:29:46. > :29:51.fundamental strategy is not working. George Osborne will want to placate
:29:51. > :29:56.here and push this aside on the bigger issue he is totally in
:29:56. > :30:06.denial and until he gets his head out of the sand and sees that it is
:30:06. > :30:08.
:30:08. > :30:11.failing. His head will be out of One of Britain's finest playwrights,
:30:11. > :30:14.Terence Rattigan, was out of vogue for decades but in this, his
:30:14. > :30:17.centenary, Rattigan's work is back with a vengeance. His masterpiece,
:30:17. > :30:20.The Deep Blue Sea, has been filmed by Terence Davies and stars the
:30:20. > :30:22.Oscar-winning actress Rachel Weisz. She plays a judge's wife in torpid
:30:22. > :30:26.1950s London who breaks free from her marriage with tragic
:30:26. > :30:32.consequences. Weisz is on a peak professionally and personally right
:30:32. > :30:35.now. She's shooting the next Jason Bourne action thriller, while
:30:35. > :30:38.enjoying domestic life with new husband James Bond, or Daniel Craig,
:30:38. > :30:44.as he's also known. When I met her this week, Rachel Weisz told me
:30:44. > :30:48.about working with Terence Davies, and his style of directing. There
:30:48. > :30:53.is a certain feeling of repression and that comes from having to
:30:53. > :30:58.remain within Terence Davies' frame, because it will not follow you
:30:58. > :31:01.everywhere. I have been shooting the Bourne films, and the camera
:31:01. > :31:06.moves a lot, you can move everywhere and the camera will
:31:06. > :31:16.follow you so you have 2011 freedom. Tell me about your character,
:31:16. > :31:20.
:31:20. > :31:24.Hester. She is very sophisticated and kind, but her marriage is very
:31:24. > :31:31.boring. A occasionally play a game of
:31:31. > :31:37.canasta. That is boring, I am into sport. I have always thought of
:31:37. > :31:42.sport as one of the more pointless human activities. That was almost
:31:42. > :31:47.offensive. At that point in the 50s, Terence
:31:47. > :31:52.has told me people simply did not get divorced, no one got divorced.
:31:52. > :31:57.Nothing could be done. He said the only people who got divorced were
:31:57. > :32:02.movie-star has, but they were not people, they were Demi gods at that
:32:02. > :32:11.time. Elizabeth Taylor got divorced but no one did, so you just stayed
:32:11. > :32:15.in your marriage. My character meets a younger man, and ex-RAF
:32:15. > :32:22.pilot. He has been emotionally damaged by his experiences in the
:32:22. > :32:32.war, he is unreliable but she falls head over heels in love with him.
:32:32. > :32:42.Freddie, darling, would you come home with me, please? No, I will
:32:42. > :32:48.
:32:48. > :32:58.not. You will start talking and bleeding. No, I won't. -- talking
:32:58. > :33:04.and pleading. I won't even talk if you don't want me to. Trust me, I
:33:04. > :33:07.swear. She leaves this safe and
:33:08. > :33:15.comfortable marriage for him. At that time it was a shocking thing
:33:15. > :33:20.to do. She moves out of her home in a bedsit in Ladbroke Grove. A am
:33:20. > :33:28.not giving anything away to tell you that she tries to kill herself,
:33:28. > :33:37.because that is how the film starts. It is an eye-opener. You work in
:33:37. > :33:42.Streetcar Named Desire, and there are obvious similarities, breaks
:33:42. > :33:46.throughs in society, and I wonder having done a film like this if you
:33:47. > :33:55.still have ambitions to go back and do some big theatre roles. I would
:33:55. > :34:00.love to. It's funny you mention, because I am not clear about the
:34:00. > :34:05.connections between Terence Rattigan and Terence Davies, but
:34:05. > :34:10.the characters felt like cousins of each other. When I read about
:34:10. > :34:15.Hester, I thought this is Blanche's English cousin. They are trying to
:34:15. > :34:19.find their place in the world at a time when the roles they were
:34:19. > :34:24.allowed to fit into were very limited to them. The biggest
:34:24. > :34:29.breakthrough was the constant Gardner, that was the Oscar moment.
:34:29. > :34:33.A lot of people have said it is a game Changer, something that allows
:34:33. > :34:40.you a bigger stage to play on, in terms of the Rolls you can take
:34:40. > :34:43.afterwards. Is that true? Yes, definitely. It means more
:34:43. > :34:48.interesting directors of the you more interesting script and you
:34:48. > :34:57.have to audition less often. It does change your career and
:34:57. > :35:01.visibility, Forshaw. Everybody in the movie business is of huge
:35:01. > :35:07.interest to millions out there, and yet you are human beings come you
:35:07. > :35:11.have lives to live, which are private, and in this country we are
:35:11. > :35:19.thrashing through what is appropriate, right and fair when it
:35:19. > :35:23.comes to people in the public eye. What would your take be on that?
:35:23. > :35:30.don't think it is a public interest, I don't think it is important for
:35:30. > :35:33.people to know about what is in the rubbish bin of famous people. I
:35:33. > :35:39.think people should be allowed their privacy. I have never
:35:39. > :35:43.experienced it, so I have never had the direct experience of being
:35:43. > :35:47.terrorised, as some celebrities seem to have been, but it seems
:35:47. > :35:52.there should be some laws in place to stop it from happening, that is
:35:52. > :35:57.my knee-jerk reaction. So you will be rooting for Hugh Grant, when he
:35:57. > :36:03.is out fighting for this? I think so, I thought he was rather
:36:03. > :36:13.impressive. He is certainly a man with a mission, isn't he? Yes, the
:36:13. > :36:17.problem is I think people feel like celebrities lose the right to
:36:17. > :36:22.privacy by being out there, but I understand the train of thought and
:36:22. > :36:30.I don't agree with it. You have this great body of work now, which
:36:30. > :36:35.you have won awards for, I suppose the next question is what is next?
:36:35. > :36:42.What are your next ambitions? learn how to cook. Very
:36:42. > :36:50.passionately, I really need to. The time is now. I know a few dishes.
:36:50. > :36:56.Shrimp. Just trimmed by itself? With rice noodles. I would love to
:36:56. > :37:05.be able to be creative in the kitchen. Will we be seeing you with
:37:05. > :37:11.Mr Rachel Weisz in a film together, do you think? It is a lot of action
:37:11. > :37:17.in one family now. We haven't got any plans to do that, but it would
:37:17. > :37:23.be nice. Why not? Do you watch each other's films? Do you critique each
:37:23. > :37:31.other? We have not caught up with all love each other's films. Some
:37:31. > :37:34.would have been hard to not notice over the years, but yes. Thank you.
:37:34. > :37:37.The actress Rachel Weisz. So Tuesday is the big day for the
:37:37. > :37:40.Chancellor George Osborne - his autumn statement will give the
:37:40. > :37:43.Commons all the figures for how the economy is performing, and the
:37:43. > :37:46.outlook for the months and indeed years ahead. And as we've heard all
:37:46. > :37:50.is not entirely tickety-boo. Mr Osborne is with me now. Good
:37:50. > :37:55.morning. Can I start by looking at the deficit reduction plan, which
:37:55. > :37:59.has been at the heart of your purpose in government? It is no
:37:59. > :38:04.longer the case, is it, that you will be getting rid of the
:38:04. > :38:08.structural deficit by the end of this Parliament? I would not say
:38:08. > :38:14.that was the heart of our purpose in government. The heart of our
:38:14. > :38:18.purpose is to get the economy moving. That is crucial, and to do
:38:18. > :38:24.that you have to command confidence in the world in your ability to pay
:38:24. > :38:30.your debts. We have got a deficit reduction plan that has brought us
:38:30. > :38:36.record low interest rates, that has earned a good credit rating, and we
:38:36. > :38:39.will be sticking to that plan because that is helping Britain
:38:39. > :38:48.through the debt storm and lay the foundations of a stronger economy.
:38:48. > :38:54.A you said you would get rid of the structural deficit by 2014. Is that
:38:54. > :39:04.still possible? We set up two rules, one is that we
:39:04. > :39:08.would get debt falling, one to get rid of the deficit. We will be
:39:08. > :39:13.judged on that by the Independent office for budget responsibility
:39:13. > :39:21.that we have set up. I am trying to calibrate how
:39:21. > :39:25.serious the situation is that the country is facing, and I put it to
:39:25. > :39:33.you that you will not managed to get rid of the structural deficit
:39:33. > :39:37.by 2014. Unlike my predecessors, I have set up an independent body
:39:37. > :39:42.that studies whether what I am saying is true, whether I have met
:39:42. > :39:49.the targets I set out. I am confident we will meet the targets
:39:49. > :39:54.we set out, the fiscal mandate, but the judgment about whether we have
:39:54. > :39:59.or not is made independently of me by the Office for budget
:39:59. > :40:06.responsibility so you don't get Chancellor's fiddling the figures.
:40:06. > :40:10.I'm not suggesting you would. is different now. We have been
:40:10. > :40:16.independent body. I am clear the government will do what it takes to
:40:16. > :40:20.meet its fiscal mandate, to meet its debt target, that Britain will
:40:20. > :40:26.show the world it can pay its way and keep those very low interest
:40:26. > :40:32.rates, without which families watching this, businesses, would be
:40:32. > :40:39.in real trouble. That body which you talked about, the Office for
:40:39. > :40:44.budget responsibility, its figures will come out on Tuesday. To cut to
:40:44. > :40:48.the chase, these figures will be pretty dreadful. If you look at
:40:48. > :40:53.independent forecasters, they have clearly told us what we already
:40:53. > :40:58.know, which is the economic situation facing many countries at
:40:58. > :41:02.the moment is very difficult. It has clearly had an impact on the UK,
:41:03. > :41:07.on our growth prospects, it is a challenge for public finances, but
:41:07. > :41:13.frankly you could get any finance minister in the Western world to
:41:13. > :41:20.sit here today and they would say something similar. What I am saying
:41:20. > :41:24.is different, that our plan has commanded confidence. We are taking
:41:24. > :41:29.Britain through a very difficult international situation, we are
:41:29. > :41:34.also dealing with Britain's legacy. You have just had Ed Balls in this
:41:34. > :41:39.chair, when he and his colleagues run up enormous debts, and paying
:41:39. > :41:44.off that debt is of course a challenge. Do I wish we were not in
:41:44. > :41:49.a situation where we had enormous debts were had inherited, we had
:41:49. > :41:57.the eurozone creaking on our doorstep, of course! But I have got
:41:57. > :42:03.to deal with this to keep Britain's safe in these difficult times.
:42:03. > :42:10.Growth, which was predicted that 1.7% this coming year will be 1% or
:42:10. > :42:16.below, isn't it? Independent forecasters have a range of
:42:16. > :42:21.estimates around the number you have said. You are not going to say
:42:21. > :42:26.they are wrong? If you want to see the Independent forecast, let's
:42:26. > :42:31.wait until Tuesday. International bodies, forecasters in the private
:42:31. > :42:37.sector, they are all saying the same thing which is the British
:42:37. > :42:43.economy has slowed, by the way so has the American, German and French
:42:43. > :42:47.economy. I am not using that as an excuse, I am using it as an
:42:47. > :42:52.explanation for why this is a difficult time. What is almost
:42:52. > :42:56.unique about the crisis we face at the moment is that we have a
:42:56. > :43:02.slowing economy, a slowing world economy, we have this financial
:43:02. > :43:06.crisis brewing in Europe, and at the heart of this is a concern
:43:06. > :43:10.about the Government's ability to pay its debts. You can't just turn
:43:10. > :43:16.on the borrowing taps because there is not necessarily anybody in the
:43:16. > :43:21.world ready to lend to you. The British government will be selling
:43:21. > :43:26.its debt over the next week, but we are not facing the same kind of
:43:26. > :43:33.debt strike that you get in other European countries at the moment,
:43:33. > :43:43.including some not in the euro, and that is because of our credibility.
:43:43. > :43:53.
:43:53. > :43:59.In essence, what became called Plan A, if you got credibility the
:43:59. > :44:05.private sector would produce the jobs, and the problem you have got
:44:05. > :44:10.is the second bit is not happening - true? The first plan is all about
:44:10. > :44:14.credibility on Britain's large budget deficit. Alongside that, we
:44:14. > :44:18.have to lay the foundations of economic success in the future and
:44:18. > :44:22.move away from the economy based on the success of one sector, the city
:44:22. > :44:27.of London, to a more balanced economy where we invest in our
:44:27. > :44:32.infrastructure, education, we have a welfare system where it pays to
:44:32. > :44:36.work. We will be setting out these measures on Tuesday to get the
:44:36. > :44:42.private sector enjoy a more competitive place so that British
:44:42. > :44:46.companies can compete now against companies in China, America and
:44:46. > :44:50.India as well as European counterparts. So there is a problem
:44:50. > :44:53.with getting the private sector moving again and you will try to
:44:53. > :44:59.address that this week. Can I go through some of the measures
:44:59. > :45:03.discussed? Perhaps most importantly, this idea of credit easing or
:45:03. > :45:09.getting cheaper money directly to small and medium-sized businesses
:45:09. > :45:13.for whom that would be an enormous thing. As I understand it, the plan
:45:13. > :45:20.is to underwrite cheaper money, which will then go via the banks to
:45:20. > :45:25.The basic idea of the National Loan guarantee Scheme is we can borrow
:45:25. > :45:28.money more cheaply so businesses can borrow more cheaply so we can
:45:28. > :45:31.underwrite the loans we make two small businesses to cut the
:45:31. > :45:35.interest rates that small businesses pay which will help with
:45:35. > :45:39.cash flow and to retain their workforces and help them expand and
:45:39. > :45:42.invest. We are using the fact we have earned the low interest rates
:45:42. > :45:46.as a government with the difficult decisions we have taken on spending
:45:46. > :45:51.to get lower interest rates for business is up and down the country.
:45:51. > :45:54.How much money will be available in the scheme? We are making �20
:45:54. > :45:59.billion available for the scheme but it sits within an envelope that
:45:59. > :46:06.could be as large as �40 billion. These are guarantees. We are not
:46:06. > :46:10.borrowing the money to ourselves, we are underwriting the loan. We
:46:10. > :46:14.are using our good name and are credit worthiness. There are many
:46:14. > :46:19.governments who could not operate the scheme because they would not
:46:19. > :46:23.be worthy enough in credit to do it. It is using the hard decisions we
:46:23. > :46:28.have taken to benefit small businesses. On behalf of tax payers
:46:28. > :46:32.up and down the country, a note of caution. If banks get into trouble
:46:32. > :46:36.and businesses who have taken the money get into trouble, in the end,
:46:36. > :46:42.the taxpayer is standing behind it. So this is not a decision without
:46:42. > :46:46.risk. Of course, we make a balanced judgement about the risks we take
:46:46. > :46:49.in the economy. I think this is relatively low risk for a
:46:49. > :46:52.government given the strength of our balance sheet and low interest
:46:52. > :46:56.rates and the credibility we haven't the world. We are
:46:56. > :47:01.underwriting the Loans the banks make to the small businesses so the
:47:01. > :47:04.banks are not carrying a credit risk for the small business and we
:47:04. > :47:08.have worked with the banks to make sure it is a sensible scheme. It
:47:08. > :47:14.means if you are a small business borrowing money at 5%, we might be
:47:14. > :47:21.able to reduce the interest rate to 4%, so that costs by a 5th the
:47:21. > :47:26.interest your pain. You would have -- the interest you are paying.
:47:26. > :47:30.What we can do with our credibility with small businesses is to offer
:47:30. > :47:34.something similar on mortgages for first-time buyers and new-build
:47:34. > :47:38.homes to help the construction industry to get the homes built and
:47:38. > :47:45.create demand for new homes and help families who can't possibly
:47:45. > :47:49.afford the deposit to pay for one. In all sorts of ways we are trying
:47:49. > :47:55.to not deliberately borrow more money to reset the low interest
:47:55. > :47:59.rates and the credit rating, but we will use every other tall at the
:47:59. > :48:03.disposal to get the economy moving to pull us out of the situation
:48:03. > :48:07.that many countries find themselves in at the moment. Asking about
:48:07. > :48:16.another of those things in the tool box, the notion of bringing forward
:48:16. > :48:20.and boosting the infrastructure spending. And getting pension funds
:48:20. > :48:23.to pay for it. Given that they do not want to take the risk of
:48:23. > :48:27.getting into the big schemes, how will you tempt them? British
:48:27. > :48:30.pension funds have not been investing the savings of British
:48:30. > :48:34.people in British infrastructure and we are totally going to change
:48:34. > :48:38.that. We have signed an agreement with the big pension funds which
:48:38. > :48:42.will see them investing British savings in British infrastructure,
:48:42. > :48:48.building an economy based on savings and investments rather than
:48:48. > :48:53.on debt and that the same time, overhauling Britain's and equip --
:48:53. > :48:57.antiquated road network and energy systems and actually building the
:48:57. > :49:02.things we need to have a more balanced economy. The City of
:49:02. > :49:05.London are behind us with this tool box. The City of London have done
:49:05. > :49:09.well in the last 10 years and financial services are important to
:49:09. > :49:14.the country, but be on the City of London we have to get the rest of
:49:14. > :49:18.the economy moving -- beyond the City of London. Are you going to
:49:18. > :49:22.bring in a further bank tax? will set out any tax measures on
:49:22. > :49:27.Tuesday. But I am clear that the financial sector has had to make a
:49:27. > :49:31.contribution and we have introduced a permanent bank levy, each and
:49:31. > :49:36.every year, seen the banks paying the tax they never paid in the past.
:49:36. > :49:40.We are in this together, all parts of society. All parts of the
:49:40. > :49:43.industry are contributing to recovery. A lot of people have been
:49:43. > :49:46.ahead to the strike plan on Wednesday, people at the bottom are
:49:46. > :49:54.making a disproportionate sacrifice. And the better-off are still not
:49:54. > :49:57.doing their share. I have attracted a lot of criticism for suggesting
:49:57. > :50:02.that child benefit should be taken away from higher rate tax-paying
:50:02. > :50:10.families. I get a lot of letters from people and I understand it is
:50:10. > :50:14.a difficult decision, but I did that that those measures... Father
:50:14. > :50:17.Richard better off? I don't think those with the child benefit would
:50:17. > :50:20.regard themselves as rich but they are better off than other parts of
:50:20. > :50:24.society. It was a difficult decision but I'm trying to be fair
:50:24. > :50:28.in a very difficult place where Britain has borrowed far too much
:50:28. > :50:32.money and has to pay back their debts. In the end, the money has to
:50:32. > :50:36.come from the British people and from a growing economy. You are
:50:36. > :50:40.having, as at a government, an argument with the trade unions, but
:50:40. > :50:44.do you personally have sympathy with those really quite poorly-paid
:50:44. > :50:49.public sector workers who will have to be paying more and working
:50:49. > :50:55.longer for a much poorer pension in some cases? I think there is a lot
:50:55. > :50:59.of misinformation around. Ed Balls was on this chair a few minutes ago
:50:59. > :51:03.saying that people earning under �15,000 will have to pay more. We
:51:03. > :51:06.have explicitly excluded people on low salaries from paying more
:51:06. > :51:10.contributions for their pensions. I think what is on offer is a good
:51:10. > :51:15.deal. I use sympathetic to public sector workers who were angry or
:51:15. > :51:19.not? -- are you sympathetic? I am trying to give them a decent
:51:19. > :51:25.pension for many years to come, better than you could get if you
:51:25. > :51:28.are in the private sector these days. We have the last Labour
:51:28. > :51:32.pension Secretary, Lord Hutton, to come in and do a report and we are
:51:32. > :51:36.using the report as the basis of a deal that is fair to the taxpayer
:51:36. > :51:41.but also fair to the public sector. In many cases they will get a
:51:41. > :51:44.bigger pension than they have had before. Yes, they will have to
:51:44. > :51:47.retire later or pay more contributions, but will have to do
:51:48. > :51:52.that because the society is older and the country is in debt. I have
:51:52. > :51:56.to try and asked you about the Eurozone before we finish. Do we
:51:56. > :52:00.face the danger of the country's leading the Eurozone or the
:52:00. > :52:03.Eurozone itself beginning to break up? Of course countries like
:52:03. > :52:10.Germany and France have openly asked the questions whether Britain
:52:10. > :52:14.can stake in the euro -- they can stay in the euro. If you want a cop
:52:14. > :52:17.-- microcosm of my life as a Chancellor, on Tuesday we are
:52:17. > :52:22.talking about the statement for the British Parliament, then I have to
:52:22. > :52:26.get on a train to go to Brussels to talk about the Eurozone. It is
:52:26. > :52:32.having a hugely chilling effect on the British economy. And you have a
:52:32. > :52:35.plan, do you, and I presume you do, for what we do if the Eurozone
:52:35. > :52:39.collapses completely? We have contingency plans for all
:52:39. > :52:43.situations. We have obviously stepped up contingency planning in
:52:43. > :52:48.recent months, and you would expect us to do that, but that does not
:52:48. > :52:53.mean that we predict any particular outcome, we are ready for whatever
:52:53. > :52:56.the Eurozone throws at us. What would it do to the country here if
:52:56. > :53:02.the Eurozone collapse? Give would have a massive impact on the UK if
:53:02. > :53:08.it were a diesel -- disorderly class. One in �7 of exports goes to
:53:08. > :53:11.Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece, just those countries. So it
:53:11. > :53:15.is a very important part of our economic strategy that we get the
:53:15. > :53:20.Eurozone moving as well. Thank you very much indeed, Chancellor. Here
:53:20. > :53:24.The Chancellor has admitted he expects official figures to show
:53:24. > :53:26.that economic growth has slowed. He said Britain was facing an
:53:26. > :53:31.exceptionally difficult time but insisted the government would do
:53:31. > :53:36.what it takes to deliver its plan for bringing down the deficit. On
:53:36. > :53:39.this programme, George Osborne gave details of a 20 billion pound loan
:53:40. > :53:42.guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized businesses. The shadow
:53:42. > :53:45.chancellor Ed Balls said Labour would look at the detail of the
:53:45. > :53:50.plan to boost lending to companies before deciding whether to support
:53:50. > :53:53.it. A rescue operation is under way to try and find six people missing
:53:53. > :53:58.after a cargo vessel got into difficulty in rough conditions off
:53:58. > :54:02.the coast of North Wales. Eight people were on board the ship which
:54:02. > :54:05.is believed to have suffered a cracked hull. Two people were
:54:05. > :54:10.rescued from the water. The ship was grounded off the coast of
:54:10. > :54:18.Cornwall last year. That is all from me for now. The next news on
:54:18. > :54:21.Well, the Chancellor is still with me, and we've been joined again by
:54:21. > :54:28.his Shadow, Ed Balls. And we also have with us Charlie Siem, who's
:54:28. > :54:31.been hailed as one of the most exciting young violinists around.
:54:31. > :54:36.Charlie will be playing this out with a slightly unfamiliar piece of
:54:36. > :54:39.music. It is by a Norwegian composer. Ole Bull, a distant
:54:39. > :54:43.relative of mine, and a colourful character from the 19th century.
:54:43. > :54:51.wrote some cracking music and you will be playing it on an
:54:51. > :54:56.extraordinary violin. This is from 1735, played by the Great Yehudi
:54:56. > :54:59.Menuhin. A one of his favourite violins. It is a great honour to be
:54:59. > :55:07.able to play it. We are looking forward to that. Maybe you should
:55:07. > :55:13.go and get ready and I will ask these two gentlemen to talk us out.
:55:13. > :55:17.You famously tear up, I read, when it comes to Antiques Roadshow. I
:55:17. > :55:20.think we should have an emotional moment between the two of you
:55:20. > :55:27.because you shout at each other all the time and I wonder what makes
:55:27. > :55:33.the Chancellor T Iraq. -- tear up. I have never cried watching
:55:33. > :55:36.Antiques Roadshow. I am watching the Killing, a Danish crime
:55:36. > :55:40.thriller. It is absolutely brilliant and there are moments
:55:40. > :55:43.there, mainly in the early episodes, so don't tell me what happens, but
:55:43. > :55:49.with the loss of the child and the grieving of the parents which are
:55:49. > :55:53.very, very hard to watch. Is there any chance of the two of you sort
:55:53. > :56:01.of standing shoulder to shoulder at this moment of national crisis?
:56:01. > :56:04.Earlier wrong, people watching a very scared now -- early on.
:56:04. > :56:07.believe Ed Balls has good motives and I hope people think I do. We
:56:07. > :56:11.both want to get the British economy moving. He has different
:56:11. > :56:16.views about how we do it but we would not question each other's
:56:16. > :56:19.motives. We question each other's policies. And we both are
:56:19. > :56:22.completely clear together that Britain didn't join the single
:56:22. > :56:28.currency and that was one of the most important decisions of the
:56:28. > :56:32.last 20 years. We have a debate about the strategy on deficit-
:56:32. > :56:36.reduction but we both want to do the best thing by Britain. Do you
:56:36. > :56:40.think he is the brightest they have got? George and I have got on quite
:56:40. > :56:44.well always. He is good at his job, is a good politician, but has made
:56:44. > :56:49.one big judgment wrong and that is what we are debating. We both agree
:56:49. > :56:52.that we cannot play the violin like Charlie. On that note, we can all
:56:52. > :56:58.agree. Thank you very much to both of you. That is all we have time
:56:58. > :57:01.for. Thank you to the Chancellor, the Shadow Chancellor and all my