05/02/2012 The Andrew Marr Show

Good morning. And welcome a little admission, that title film with the

car, it is not live, you see, it was filmed! This morning we have

made heroic efforts to get here, slays, huskies. David Cameron was

was suppose to be and all lost in the blizzard of London. Shall we

see their like again? We shall have to struggle on. Joining me to

review the newspapers, Clemency Burton-Hill, Sarah Baxter, editor

of the Sunday Sunday times magazine and the BBC's Middle East editor,

Jeremy Bowen who is just back from Damascus. Repression from the

regime there seems to be intensifying. The resignation of

Chris Huhne as Energy and Climate Change Secretary matters to him,

but does it matter to the Government and to the rest of us? A

big Tory revolt over windfarms is building up and many Lib Dems

thought that Hoon was an -- Huhne was an essential bruiser. President

of the Liberal Democrats, and a man tipped as a future leader, Tim

Farron joins us from snowy Cumbria. Problems in Britain's schools

continue to make headlines too. There is the Sunday Times. 5,000

heads are no good says the new chief inspector. So what has gone

wrong? Labour's education spokesman is Steven Rawlings. He joins us to

-- Stephen Twigg. He joins us. It is 60 years since Princess

Elizabeth was told that her father died in his sleep and she was now

Queen. What has her reign meant for British politics? Sir John Major,

one of her dozen Prime Ministers opened his heart to her almost

every week for five years and he joins us this morning to reflect on

a diamond Queen. We will hear from the BBC's director General, about a

shocking development in Iran where relatives of a BBC journalist

working in London have been arrested.

First to the news desk and Naga Munchetty.

Herself owe know swept across much of the UK bringing disruption to to

road, rail and air travel. Sections of the M25 and the M40 motorways

were at a standstill last night with many vehicles abandoned and

drivers trapped. Rail services were affected and airport runways closed.

Heathrow's operators have chanceled 350 flights today.

The M11, traffic is moving slowly, but it is moving. Some other

motorways came to a standstill for a time as lorries jackknifed and

cars got stuck. People pulled over on the side of

the road. There is just snow and ice everywhere. Not good. Not good.

On the M40, about 100 vehicles were stranded for over three hours

before the police got the traffic moving again with the help of snow

snow Ploughs. Some people saw the snow as an opportunity for thrill

seeking. Others needed a hand to get home. In London, many Tube

services were cancelled so passengers had to seek alternative

means of transport. This footage was taken on the Tube on the

Central line in Essex. Passengers had to get off the train and walk

for 15 minutes to the nearest station. But most bus services did

carry on working. Despite the weather forecast, there

was those that hadn't heard there was deep snow on the way. The worst

of the snow is set to move off towards the Continent today,

leaving icy conditions behind. The gritters have been on the roads

overnight and at the airports, snow clearance has been underway. The

agencies are are doing their best to get the road, rail and air

There has been international outrage after after China and

Russia - William Hague said their move marked an hour of shame. It

follows reports that 200 people were killed in Homs on Friday.

How does the international community stop this? The Syrian

city of Homs under attack. Activists called it a massacre and

blamed the authorities. But the Syrian Government says it

wasn't responsible. For days now, diplomats at the

United Nations have been working on a resolution to end the violence.

The proposal backed an Arab League peace plan and called for President

Assad to stand down. But when the vote came on Saturday,

so did the veto. Russia, and China both saying no. They feared the

resolution could lead to military intervention. Britain, France and

the US all condemned the move. The United States is disgusted that

a couple members of this council continued to prevent us from

fulfilling our soul purpose here, addressing and ever deepening

crisis in Syria and a growing threat to regional peace and

security. Protesters have been demonstrating

outside Syrian embassies around the globe. They want the world to do

more. But with the United Nations divided,

an international resolution to the crisis in Syria seems further away

Republicans in Nevada have voteted for Mitt Romney to take on

President Obama. The front-runner easily saw off his rivals. Mitt

Romney is favourite to win his party's presidential nomination.

Here over 100 Conservative MPs have written to the Prime Minister

calling on him to cut subsidies for onshore wind turbines. The MPs wand

planning rules changed to make it easier for local people to object

to that construction. Downing Street said that wind was an

important energy mix. I have shown you the Sunday Times

and the Sunday Telegraph already. Heathrow has been cancelling lots

of flights. This is the Observer with another snow picture. Ed

Miliband turning up the pressure on the Government over their NHS

reforms. The people say just panic about

snow. The Daily Star, my 200 lovers in one year. TV's star's shocking

confession. What are you like? Our man from Damascus Jeremy Bowen.

Thank you for coming. Jeremy, let's talk about the Syrian stories over

the papers, of course. Yes.

It is very, very hard to see where this goes. A lot of frustration, we

heard, on the news there about China and Russia, but a sad, --

Assad must be enjoying that? It is over the newspapers. Bombs fell

like rain. You could only pray. What is interesting this morning is

the view from the Presidential Palace in Damascus. I think he will

be waking up, happy with life because you think about it. They

have got the Russians and the Chinese watching their backs,

internationally. There is a bit of a dispute among diplomats in

Damascus about how overstretched or not his forces are, but he does

have important units in reserve and he is under pressure from people on

his own side and he does have genuine support within the country

to take the gloves off and that doesn't just come from his own

community, it comes from the likes of some Christians saying you have

to deal with this. I think their point of view is, you may not like

Assad, but what might come instead of him? This could be a much more

extreme regime? The bring spector which he brings up and a lot of

people buy the argument is that it could be some kind of Sunni regime

and Christians looked at what happened to Christians since 2002,

the invasion -- 2003, the invasion in Iraq. They say something like

that could happen. For Assad, he will be feeling good this morning

despite the fact that all around the world he has been condemned.

That's a grim thought. Sarah. You have got another story here? Well,

it is an interesting and surprising prospective to me. When you see

pictures like this seeing hundreds of massacred in Syria's bloodiest

day and you see the bodies laid out, Syria has gone to enormous lengths

to stop people getting at the truth of what is happening there.

Journalists are not allowed to wander freely and yet these

pictures are coming out and it is hard to see what the end game is

when you see a row of dead bodies and mourning crowds around him and

things are going to get nastier, Jeremy is right, it could take a

dark turn and the country could become very frackled.

It they used to be able to do things like this in private. The

difference about the modern modern world it comes out the same way.

French, Britain and Americans outraged at has happened. Strong

language. The Americans said "disgusted" these Syrian lives are

expendable. We have seen hugely valuable arms deal for Russia.

There is an election this year. They want, you know, cheap oil

imports and it is a preposterous situation there. China voting

behind Russia because China need Russian support on issues like

North Korea. But a short-termist strategy because it looks like

Assad's position is unsustainable. My view is the regime is going one

way and that's down into the dustbin of history, but it won't be

be easy. It will take sometime and it will be bloody. Unless something

changes on the inside and there might be some truce, but some

internal collapse, but there will be that tipping point that reached

perhaps when big army units defect from his forces which hasn't

happened yet. It has been individuals. But for the time being,

from his point of view, he is feeling quite strong. He is He is

feeling he is riding it out and the message, the wider message that

people like Assad took from the beginning of the Arab Spring with

Mubarek and Ben ally, -- Ali, they didn't use enough force. Force

works. You have got to use enough of it.

Sarah. On the front of the Sunday Times,

school chief, 5,000 heads are no good. The chief inspector is a

tough guy. He is an inspired leader and he is saying that leadership

matters and it is no good heads making excuses for poor performance,

they have got to inspire teachers and inspire the best teachers to

stay in their jobs because too many good teachers leave and the bog-

standard ones, the bog bog-standard, we need everybody to think a

comprehensive has got to be above average.

Your next story, clemency. -- well, it has been an

extraordinary week for the internet. There is 845 million monthly users,

half of hom sign in every day -- hom sign in every day. It has a

rocketing growth rate. The growth rate is really interesting, because

Facebook, it is seven years since since it was started. Astonishing

rise now one in eight people on the planet are on Facebook, but where

does it go from there? The shareholders will be expecting a

lot from Facebook if they do buy into it. Where is that growth going

to come from? Huge questions being raised about how Facebook makes its

money and from whom it makes its money? Facebook is not a normal

company and doesn't offer a regular product or service, the only thing

it has to offer are its users. It will have to work hard to keep the

faith. I love the story that the guy who

decorated their original offices who got paid in shares instead, he

was offered a couple of grand or shared, he took the shares and they

will be worth worth $200 million. We are, the users, we are what

makes Facebook so valuable. We are the essence of our profits,

I am not, but other people are. Apple, you know, a lot of people

look at Facebook on their Apple computers. There is a man in

America who is saying he is run off his feet. He is a performer and he

has done a play, not a play, an address, a lecture about the

conditions faced by workers in China who make these wonderful

sleek devices, I declare an interest, I have several of them.

Apparently the conditions there are very bad. After the death of Steve

Jobs there is a bit of a back lash You found a very strange political

story. It did make me laugh at. I'm sure your viewers have seen

cartoons by Peter Brookes, depicting Ed Miliband as Wallace

from Wallace and Gromit. The company, Aardman Animations, is

getting concerned about its image. Its brand is being damaged by its

association with a ludicrous politician called Ed Miliband! It

made me giggle. And your story comes from the Independent as well.

Female lorry drivers, not what you'd normally expect to see behind

the wheel of a big lorry. A 25- year-old single mum. The numbers of

female lorry drivers have doubled over the past decade. For this

woman, it's a way of targeting two major issues, employment and child

care. She takes her son with her on these 140 mile round trips. What I

love about this is she is saying when she first started she thought

she couldn't even reverse park in Vauxhall Corsa. How on earth am I

going to be able to reverse this truck? She's not the only one. Lots

of women are getting involved. It is still a predominantly male

profession, though. In Australia, they have these fast tractor things

for the mining companies. They are bigger than a house. They are

mostly driven by women because women drive them better.

Confounding gender stereotypes. Panic. I can corroborate this

because yesterday afternoon I was in my local supermarket. I was

buying some ice-cream for the kids. It was not panic-buying but it was

like Christmas Eve in there. People going berserk. The car park full of

people desperately trying to get home before the blizzard hit. And

it is there this morning in my part of London, may be about an inch.

The main roads are clear. We will survive. The shops will be open, I

imagine. What is it about the British and snow? Certainly the

British in the south of England and the snow. Your reaction was to go

out and buy ice-cream, not soup and potatoes. Sarah, you have spent

quite a lot of time in the States. They would regard at a hysteria

about snow with amusement. Absolutely. They still used to get

out of the house, go to school, grit the roads. I heard a funny

thing that a lot of the wives do it because too many of them end Kewley

over and have heart attacks trying to clear the drives. A lot of the

wives get out there. If you don't like your husband to say, go and

clear the snow. Another story. got one from the Sunday Times.

Jeremy Hunt is giving his Cabinet colleagues are very special edition

of Dickens to mark the 200th anniversary of Dickens' birth. It

is brilliant. His interpretation of which of his colleagues should get

which book. Bleak House is quite a good representation of Westminster

at the moment anyway. For example, Nick Clegg is getting Oliver Twist.

The utter pathos of those words, please, sir, I want some more.

Particularly in this difficult week for the Liberal Democrats. David

Cameron is getting great expectations and Hard Times. Jeremy

Hunt believes all children should read Dickens at school. He says the

initiative is there to show that Dickens has stood the test of time

and his beams are as relevant today as they ever were. Eric Pickles is

getting a book called a house to let. If Eric Pickles gets his way

there will be a lot of houses to let, some of them in the green belt.

Clever stuff. The Sunday Times magazine, there it is. 50 years old.

It is an amazing thought. There's a very nice anniversary edition with

lots of the original covers. Sarah, some of them quite racy. I'm not

sure you'd get away with all of them these days. No, particularly

in the 70s there were bronzed, nude ladies and bottoms on show. That

was the era of St Tropez and the topless beach. It's always been a

mixture of fashion, glamour and gritty stuff it. I think the first

cover was Jean Shrimpton. It was, February 1962. There you have the

arrival of the Swinging 60s. What could be more glamorous than Jean

Shrimpton, shot by David Bailey, a very cool, young photographer at

the time, and she wasn't wearing a Mary Quant dress. There are some

poignant images - international famine stories, the Anatomy of

hunger. Photojournalism as we haven't seen it before. I can

remember the magazine coming through the door when I was a kid,

and the excitement of these fresh pictures. Lord Lucan was another

story. A brilliant article by James Fox. He was the co-author of Keith

Richards' autobiography as well. There were extraordinary pictures

from Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladesh. Really moving stuff that brought

the reality of war home to people for the first time. The great and

the gloss. A wonderful picture of Kylie Minogue as well. Kylie out of

the bath tub. That summed up what the art director of the Sunday

Times for many years called grit and glamour. I hadn't realised, I'm

not trying to find it of course, that when I was training as a

journalist, everybody used to quote something that Nick Tomlin, a great

foreign correspondent, wrote, when he said that a journalist needed

three things. Rat-like cunning, it plausible manner and a little

literary ability. That came from an article in the Sunday Times

magazine which youths reproduced. yes, it's one of my favourite

articles as well. All journalists should read it because it

translates very nicely into the digital age. He says, actually, you

need lots of other things, too. Including an knack with trains,

telephones and petty officials. Good digestion, steady head, Total

recall. Another idealism to inspire intelligent prose. Paranoid

temperament and an ability to believe in second rate projects.

Well-placed relatives, good luck, at the willingness to betray it not

friends then acquaintances. I think they are all very good things, you

need all of those as a journalist. It takes a lot to get at the truth

sometimes. That witty take really sums up what the profession is

about. We should also note his bravery because he actually died on

the Golan Heights, a Syrian missile. We will be talking about other

brave journalists. Thank you all very much, that was great fun. Now

one to the weather. Seriously cold and a fair bit of snow, too. Tell

us what we can expect over the next It will turn very cold but there's

not that much snow in the forecast. This morning, I guess, a blanket

for much of central and eastern England. Reports of up to 15

centimetres in Church Fenton. Perhaps more due to drifting

conditions. Our attention turns to ice. And amber warning from the Met

Office. There will be freezing conditions in central and eastern

areas. Cloud rolls in through Cornwall, West Devon and

Pembrokeshire. East of here, plenty of brightness developing.

Temperatures climbing to seven or eight degrees, some five or six

degrees up on where we were yesterday. Cloudier skies and

milder conditions push into Northern Ireland, patchy outbreaks

of rain here. Clouding over through western Scotland. North-west

Scotland continues to see scattered showers, potentially the risk of

some ice. Eastern Scotland and northern England will see plenty of

brightness. Freezing fog through eastern areas at the moment which

will be reluctant to clear. The temperatures will rise far above

freezing. The South East for many days days cloudy. It will turn cold

by night again. Where we've had the snow falling, for tomorrow morning

it's worth bearing in mind it could be very icy. On Monday it is

looking fairly cloudy, misty and foggy in the east, milder in the

West. In the next 24 hours it is set to turn cold. Make the most of

Part of the BBC is under attack, but serious attack, not just the

regular newspaper bashing. Our Persian service, bringing straight,

uncensored news to Iran, is now the subject of smears and intimidation

by the regime. In the latest development, relatives of people

working for it in London have been detained in Iran and threatened.

I'm joined from Oxford studio by the BBC's director general, Mark

Thompson. Can you explain to us what has happened in the particular

case of relatives being detained and threatened in Tehran? This is a

growing pattern, the recent case of the sister of one of our colleagues

working in the Persian Service in London, the sister was arrested in

Tehran, unspecified charges, kept in solitary confinement, threatened

and intimidated. For reasons I don't want to go into detail, we

are quite clear, and she was quite clear, this was absolutely

associated with the fact that her sister was working for the Persian

Service in London. To put this into context, the Persian service,

although there are attempts to jam it and stop it reaching people in

Iran, is something that is used by a lot of people there as their main

source of news. That is right. We have the Persian service for many

decades, but some years ago we launched a TV version. There is TV,

where and radio. They have been persistent attempts by the

authorities in Tehran to jam it, particularly to jam the television

service. To be honest, Iranian audiences are very ingenious at

finding ways of reaching the service. We know from the

extraordinary feedback we get that it is relied upon by many millions

of people inside Iran. It is relied upon not because it is in any sense

oppositional. Like any other BBC service, this is an impartial,

fair-minded service. The authorities admitted it was

impartial in a report a few years ago, but the report went on to say

that was why it was so dangerous. This particular act of intimidation

is part of a pattern. There has been its Mears and all sorts of

strange things happening to the service. That's right. And I'm

afraid it's getting worse. With two intentions minus one, to intimidate

people, simply to refuse or work for the service or to resign from

the service. Secondly, to become informants to the Iranian

intelligence service inside the service. The very clear evidence

that this is aimed at particular and very negative objectives for

the Iranian service. And there is not much more can be done beyond

protesting loudly and explaining what is happening. The BBC has no

control over what happens in Tehran. No. We thought long and hard. There

are many factors to think about, not least the safety of the family

members of our colleagues inside Iran. We've decided to be more

public than we have before in calling for the Iranian authorities

to desist from this. To ask for other governments to put on as much

pressure as they can. And to hope that the embarrassment of this will

get those who are responsible for these actions to think again.

there a more general problem here? Clearly it is very hard to report,

Jeremy Bowen has just been back from Syria, it's very hard to

report their. Is there a pattern in that part of the world of

intimidation attempts? The story of censorship and control of media is

complex around the world. But there are many countries around the world,

including the Middle East, where the situation is deteriorating. We

have many colleagues in Judah and many colleagues killed every year.

-- many colleagues injured. The courage it requires in many parts

of the world, Jeremy himself has often been in very dangerous

situations, the courage it now requires to report from some of

these countries is immense. I can't tell you how grateful I am and how

will the BBC's audiences are by the immense courage shown by our

colleagues. Do you think you're getting the backing you need from

ministers? Yes, I believe the British government and other

international governments, we are not alone, the Persian news network

in America is suffering similar things. Western governments are

definitely very clear in condemning this. On the other hand, there is a

We've already talked about the big blast against school heads in

today's papers. But the coalition is forging ahead with all sorts of

educational reforms. Hundreds of schools becoming academies and the

first wave of new free schools. Other changes as well as a Michael

Gove announced that he wants vocational courses to be made more

rigorous. More emphasis on traditional academic subjects -

literacy, numeracy and all that. What is Labour's attitude to this?

Stephen Twigg is with me now. Labour started a few Academy

Schools and now that has been pushed much further forward. I

think there has been a bit of confusion about free schools. It

may very well be that if you won the next general election, quite a

lot of the schools will be up and running and some of them pretty

successfully. Good morning, and it. The purpose behind our policy is to

have good schools in all neighbourhoods. The reason the

Labour Party started academies was to make sure that some of our most

deprived neighbourhoods would have such schools. We didn't support the

free schools policy. Some of the free schools that are being

established could have been established under our Academy

programme. My worry is Michael Gove's approach is to focus on

certain pet project at the expense of the majority of schools. But it

there are free schools up and running, are you saying that Labour

would come in and close them down Of course not. Of course not. I

have been to visit one of the free schools and I have spoken to some

of the others that are setting free schools up. Which schools are the

only way new schools can be established under this Government.

Some good people are setting schools up. We will want to see if

the schools are successful. Are they serving the local demunet? Are

-- community? Are they meeting local need? No Education Secretary

will be in the business of closing schools.

If there were free schools that were serving the local community,

would you let them go ahead? We are having a review of our policy and

we will have detailed approach to these issues come the next election.

We will have a different schools landscape in 2015. There will be

several thousand academies, several hundred free schools, what we will

want to ensure is fair funding, fair admissions, and also schools

collaborating with each other. I worry about schools becoming

isolated from each other. Schools work best if they support one

another and challenge one another. But the old full on hostility to

free schools has gone? I don't think, I don't there was a full on

hostility, the Government is spend less on building new schools and

where there is new money it is for the free schools and it is they are

meeting the local need. There are lots of problems about

the quality of education in schools all over Britain, but in England

and Wales, which is what we are talking about just now. A lot of

surprise that, you know, vocational qualifications in hair care and

looking after horses, where being treated as the equivalent of a

couple of GCSEs? We have seen an announcement from the Government

which makes sense. Some of the equivalents were not right. I

support the Government in making the changes. However, I am worried

they are throwing the babe baby out with the bath water. The

engineering diploma which is a hugely respected qualification

which was equivalent to five GCSEs is equivalent to one.

Do you any looking back that Labour's emfa siz on -- emphasis on

more people going for white collar degrees in universities around the

country, up to 50%, you wanted and all these diplomas rather than old-

fashioned vocational training so we can have an industrially effective

economy again. Do you think that was a mistake? The mistake was that

he didn't put enough emphasis on the 50% who weren't going to go to

higher education. We didn't think enough about what the quality

routes would be for the other 50%. That's why we developed the

diplomas, I gave the example of the engineering diploma, my worry is

the Government are going to close down path ways for young people who

want to go into things like engineering.

Do you accept the world has changed. The money won't be available for

building lots of schools and in the past, some of that money was not

well spent? We had an ambitious programme, Building Schools for the

Future, but it didn't always deliver value for money. There will

be less money if we are elected in 2010 so they will have to spend

more carefully. There is a shortage of primary school places in many

parts of the country and I'm concerned that the Government's

focus on building lots of new free schools in some areas won't meet

the local need for extra primary places.

Can I ask more generally, clearly as I said, economically the world

has changed. We maybe looking at a long period of austerity. Do you

think that Labour has yet got a single, clear message, about what

it is for in this new political dimat? I think what Ed Miliband has

been doing is to set out a clear message which is about addressing

the needs of the vast bulk of the population, seeking responsibility

as he said both at the top and at the bottom of society. When Ed made

his speech at the party conference last year, a lot of people

criticised him for his critique of capital capitalism, now it is back

something that is aped by David Cameron and Nick Clegg. We can be

ready to create a fairer society without significant amounts of

money. David Miliband said last week there

was a danger of of reassurance Labour, Labour was in favour of the

big State, delivering welfare and so on in the old way. Would you

agree? I a I gree and David -- agree and David's input is an

important one. Ed has been striking out a different approach. I don't

think Ed's approach has been reassurance Labour. He has been

prepared to challenge vested interests in the private and public

sector. We need to encourage co- operatives, civic action. We We

can't direct everything from the centre, that was one of our

weaknesses in Government. When it comes to the overall

message, the notion in the old days Labour was was able to enjoy a long

boom and take the money from the City and spend it on services?

is going to be a different world, we will have to deliver value for

money, but we will have priorities based on our values which is about

fairness and creating a more equal society.

You think Ed Miliband is staying the course? Ed Miliband is

certainly staying the course. It is challenging being Leader of the

Opposition, but he was ahead of the curve on responsible capitalism. He

is leading the campaign on the NHS where we have a real opportunity to

say to the Government "think again and drop this Bill." Has to go into

a new gear this year, do you think? I think he is in top gear now and

all of us in his team have to pull behind him and show that we have

not just a leader ready to take over as Prime Minister, but a Prime

Minister. The Liberal Democrats have a direct

role in Government for the first time since well, since the party

was founded. However, their individual identity and their

separate policies have been rather overshadowed by the Conservatives

who form the larger part of the coalition. The most outspoken Lib

Dem sitting at the Cabinet table a man prepared to lock horns with the

Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister was Chris Huhne. What dus

his court a-- does his court appearance mean for the Liberal

Democrats? Tim Farron is in Cumbria. It looks cold there. Thank you for

coming out? This is normal, Andrew. Let me start with some politics as

normal. A lot of hostility hostility building up to windfarms,

one of Chris Huhne's key policies. Do you think his departure from

Government is going to blunt the climate change agenda that the

Liberal Democrats have been so enthusiastic about? No, it isn't.

Ed Davey is on outstanding environmentalist and someone with

years, and a track record on green issues and the right person to take

over in the job, that doesn't mean we will miss Chris Huhne, we will.

The whole Government will miss miss Chris Huhne. I have seen many

tributes to Chris's work. In Ed Davey, we have someone who is

formidable. He has come from the business department where he saw

through the Royal Mail reforms. Ed Davey is a very, very capable

man and we will be finding out more about him in the coming days.

You said the hole Government would miss Chris Huhne, I am not sure if

that is right. There is lots and lots of Conservatives jumping up

and down with glee about the fact that Chris Huhne has gone and one

of the reasons for that this is one of the most outspoken and if you

like rough house political fighters on your side of the coalition. Him

not being there, weakens the Lib Dem voice surely?. No. Absolutely

none of us, you or I is indensable. We will miss -- indispensable. We

will miss miss Chris. But what matters is we work together as a a

Government. It is important that the Liberal Democrats flex our

muscles and we demonstrate our separate separate idea. What is

important to most people watching this programme is we get out of the

appalling mess we have been left by Labour. One thing we have in common

is a desire to make sure we make a coalition Government work. This is

the third in nearly three years, a third resignation from the Cabinet.

This is the most stable Government in living memory. Many thought

coalition Government would be some shambles, but it is anything, but.

You just said that Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have

very little in common and yet you are having this... Politically and

logically, but we can work together. You have little in common, but you

can work together successfully. How does that work? Because we behave

like grown-ups. What does everybody else do in their normal every day

lives. They get on with people and they compromise with people they

don't necessarily agree eye to eye with. I am not a Tory, but I don't

see why I shouldn't work with David Cameron, Eric Pickles to make

things better. We have left a set of arithmetic which meant only one

option was available a Conservative/Liberal Democrat

majority. The result of this adult, grown-up

behaviour for your party has been a really serious slump in the polls

which must worry all of you. How do you start to make the the Liberal

Democrat case more distincttively while being in the Cabinet? Well,

you don't panic for one thing. If you look at our opinion polls

ratings recently and we all do even though we pretend we don't care,

but we do care. The last poll I saw was 16%. We are doing better than

people assume we are. We are talking about a set of

circumstances circumstances. The Liberal Democrats have taken a hit.

If you look at local council by- elections and opinion polls and a

range of other indicators, the Lib Dems are recoveringment our opinion

poll rating is higher than it it would be normal in medium-term.

That doesn't mean to say we haven't taken a hit, we have. But you don't

panic. You demonstrate your identity by doing things like

ensuring you get fair taxes and making sure the lowest paid don't

pay any income tax and making sure that Trident isn't replaced by an

expensive and aggressive nuclear system. So we are making a real

difference in the Government. What's the fresh agenda to

emphasise that difference? What would you like to see Liberal

Democrats talking more about over the year or two ahead that will

make people think about them differently? Well, you saw Nick

Clegg just a couple of weeks ago pushing hard for an extension and a

speeding up of our successful plan so far to take the lowest paid out

of paying any income tax what so so ever. That was our top line promise

and it is a promise we have delivered. We want to deliver it

quicker and some of us would like to deliver it further. Not only is

that fair, it is sensible. If you think about it, boosting demand in

the economy is a good thing, but you can do that by cutting taxes

for the least well paid. If you give tax cuts to the wealthy, they

they spend it in Tuscany or save it. If you give it to the least well

off, they spend it. Pushing forward on the green agenda, Ed Davey's

arrival meansing it important we carry on to push out the Green

Investment Bank, the green deal, to make sure that not only do we save

the planet, but create new jobs. It is important that politics is open

and accessible to people and we are for example pushing forward the

reform in the House of Lords, we are making sure we have a democracy

that is fit for the 20th century! Chris Huhne himself says that he is

not guilty of any of the charges. You are crossing your fingers for

him and you think he will be vindicated and he will be back in

Government? I very much hope so. He is a real talent Chris. The

Government is not destable identitiesed -- destabilised by

this. We miss him. He is an outstanding performer. The fact

that he will comb with this eight or nine months pressure, I am sure

I would have cracked, but he has been outstanding member of Cabinet

and has been given plaudits by the green green organisations and been

the most successful climate change secretary we have had. We hope to

see him back quickly. And you expect him back as well as

wanting to see him back? I want and expect him back.

Thank you very much indeed for It was 60 years ago tomorrow that

the young Princess learned that her father had died and that she was

now Queen. Unlike most democracies, Britain has no written constitution

and the monarch's wide ranging powers are relying on the fact that

you rarely exercises them. But how pivotal is her role? I study the

Queen in action and talked to many members of the Royal Family about

what she does. Here is a clip from our programme which Aires tomorrow

night. If there was one place on earth

which has defined its identity against the British Crown it is

here. It is important that we remember our history. But sometimes

we have to forget it again. And for all the no use we are about to hear,

that is the Queen's job. She is here to put a little history to

It is like a door that has been locked for a long time. She's been

dying to see what is on the other side of it was too many people

won't understand not being able to go somewhere or see something for

your life and being almost like a child not allowed to go into a

certain room. For her, very much a case of it off-limits. She's always

wanted to go and be able to go in an official capacity. It was a huge

turning point for her. They must have been a certain amount of

nervousness beforehand because there is a lot of history to put to

bed. I was nervous about it. I was hugely admiring of the fact that

the Royal Family wanted to go ahead with this is it relatively quickly

after the finalising of the last bits of devolution of power to

Northern Ireland. They didn't want to wait and play it a bit longer.

That was a fantastic judgment. John Major, like every Prime

Minister, enjoyed private weekly sessions with the Queen. We were

looking at that extraordinary Irish visit there. The process began when

you were Prime Minister. Tony Blair picked it up and went further

forward with it. How contras were you when you were doing that, that

this might be difficult for the Royal Family? They'd lost Lord

Mountbatten, they'd seen these terrible scenes of carnage not far

from Buckingham Palace in the old days. When we began it in the early

1990s with Reynolds, who was then the Irish Prime Minister, of course

I discussed it with the Queen at our private meetings. She was aware

of what we were doing. We had two objectives, both of which I think

the Queen approved of. The first was to stop the slaughter we were

seeing in Northern Ireland, the indiscriminate murder that had gone

on for far too long. Secondly, to normalise relations between the

United Kingdom and Ireland, and North and South within Ireland. The

visit she made to Ireland, I think it set the final seal on a

relationship that has wholly changed in the last 20 years.

Ireland are our nearest neighbour, they should be a close and enduring

friend. I think that is the circumstance we now have a. A one

of the things I came across a lot was people talking about the

Queen's religious side. And there for forgiveness being absolutely

central to what she is for. Queen is a wise lady. She

understands different views. She has never been perturbed by people

who have different views to her. She would have understood that

point very well. I think the fact she is head of the Church in the UK.

She would fully understand other people's convictions in a different

church. That wouldn't faze her. understood, encouraging those very

difficult early talks with the IRA. Our I've no intention of telling

what was said privately. Let me simply say that the Queen was fully

informed, and you have seen how she feels about it now. A lot of people

are very interested about not what is said during those meetings but

are they really useful to Prime Ministers? David Cameron said it

was a chance to really ask himself what he was up to, because he was

just in front of one person. They are very useful. Where else can you

talk to one person in total certainty that it is entirely

secret, that nobody is going to talk to anybody else about what is

said? They are very free and frank, they are very useful. The Queen has

been there for 60 years. Her first Prime Minister was Winston

Churchill. Most of the present Cabinet weren't born when the Queen

became monarch. So there is very little she hasn't seen and very

little she doesn't understand. Anyone who doesn't listen to her

view and consoled to where necessary is missing a huge

opportunity. We are allowed a little clip with you and the Queen.

I think you've just come back from Russia. I laid a wreath near the

Kremlin at the site where the three demonstrators were crushed and

killed. There were huge crowds there. I have the opportunity of

stopping to talk to some of them. Not too many of them spoke English.

I found one man who spoke beautiful English and I ask him how he felt.

He said he was extremely interested but he came from Woking. That's the

sort of thing that happens to me when I talk in a crowd. These

things are terribly important. She is obviously very interested in her

constitutional role. That is the Irish side. What about Scotland? We

are at the edge of some difficult decisions about Scotland. Whatever

happens, she will be Queen of Scots. I wondered what you thought of Alex

Salmond's comment that the UK would carry on because it is a union of

crowns. I've no intention of mixing the Queen and politics. But I think

I heard Alex Salmond sale last week that whatever may happen in

Scotland, and I have my clear views about what should, but whatever may

happen in Scotland, the Queen would remain Queen as far as the Scots

are concerned. I think that is absolute and the view, I would

imagine, of the vast majority of Scots. A mike any other country, we

have someone at the apex of the system has been there for 60 years.

Does she have a reasonable recall of the previous crises, all the ups

and downs? She's been through the Cold War. You don't forget crisis.

Neither does the Queen. She remembers them very well. In some

cases within the Commonwealth, she has this special affinity for the

Commonwealth. I think for two reasons. Firstly, because King

George VI, her father, to whom she was very close indeed, was

significant in setting up the Commonwealth in the first place.

Secondly, because she has grown up with the Commonwealth. When it

began it had eight members and it now has 54. Often when we discussed,

she would not only know something about the country in the

Commonwealth we were talking about all the head of state, but their

father or mother. Often there were occasions where background

information was extremely useful. We saw Prince William in that clip

early on. Speaking very eloquently about the Queen and Ireland. He is

now down in the Falklands in his helicopter. In some respects you

have watched them grow up, because you were involved when he was

younger. Give us your sense of how he is revolving in the role that he

has got now. If you travel abroad, you can see a different perspective.

You can see that the Duke of Cambridge and the Duchess of

becoming iconic around the world. They are a tremendous bonus for the

Royal Family at the present time. The way they have conducted

themselves has been absolutely without fault. I think most people

can see that. Clearly, his career is a very important to him, as it

is to Prince Harry. That is what people admire and respect. But all

those people who rather glibly open the papers and say, can we not have

him as our next king? Constitutionally not. The Queen

took an oath at the coronation that she would remain as Queen for the

rest of her life. When, hopefully many years hence, the Queen is no

longer with us, Prince Charles will become king. They can be no

question of skipping a generation. It isn't going to happen. After the

Queen will come Prince Charles. After Prince Charles will come

Prince William. That is the matter which is settled and is beyond

doubt. Tomorrow, you are going to be launching a huge charitable

project, Diamond Jubilee Trust. Can you tell us a bit about that?

are establishing tomorrow the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust. It

was agreed it would be set up by all the heads of government at the

Commonwealth, at their recent meeting in Australia. I am greatly

honoured to be asked to chair it. The purpose is to raise money

across the whole of the Commonwealth, governance,

individuals and companies, I hope they will all contribute. We will

raise this money for a single year. We will spend it on appropriate

projects across the whole of the Commonwealth, including the United

Kingdom. We will enter, I hope, into partnerships with People, so

that we can leverage and increase the amount of money we have had

donated, to use it for the sort of projects that most people would

approve of it. Projects involving children and disadvantaged groups?

And no detailed decisions have been taken, but that sort of project. It

will be there specifically as a legacy to the Queen and her long

reign and her long service to the Commonwealth. I don't think people

who haven't seen her with the Commonwealth heads of government

can possibly understand what it is like. There is a very good

relationship. She is iconic to them. She and the Duke of Edinburgh, and

the Duke has been superb throughout her reign, she and the Duke of

Edinburgh are enormously popular across the Commonwealth. It is

unsurprising that when there was his suggestion from the heads of

government for a tribute, that the Queen would like the sums raised to

be dispersed across the Commonwealth, including the UK.

Falklands are part of the Commonwealth. Prince William downer

at the moment. But huge amount of jumping up and down and shouting in

Buenos Aires. There's bound to be a certain amount of shouting, that is

what it will amount to, shouting. The Met Office has issued an amber

alert, warning of further icy conditions today across much of the

UK. Heavy snow last night brought severe disruption to the transport

system. The operators of Heathrow Airport have cancelled 350 flights

today. About a third of the total. Other airports have warned

passengers to expect delays. Britain, the US and France have

condemned Russia and China for be to win a UN Security Council

resolution designed to end the violence in Syria. The Foreign

Secretary, William Hague, said they moved marked an hour of shame. It

followed reports that more than 200 people were killed in a bombardment

of a southern city on Friday. The next news on BBC One is at 11am.

Let's take a look at what's coming Join us in Southampton, where we

will be asking - is it right to cut benefits at 26,000? The Bishop of

Southampton is here to defend vulnerable children. Peter Hitchens

will no doubt parade the bishops. Should a future monarch seek to be

We are going to talk a bit just at the end about Syria. We have used

enormously strong language at the United Nations yesterday, as have

the Americans, about the Russians and Chinese. I wanted your

perspective on what can happen. It seems that the international

community is now badly stuck. think there are two things are

happening. We've seen the enormous changes across the whole of the

Middle East. The democratic genie is out of the bottle. I don't think

it's going to stop at the borders of Syria. This is an issue which

will continue. First, we are moving perilously close to a full-scale

civil war. Secondly, I think Syria is becoming a pariah state. If I

can add a third thought, I don't think, in these circumstances, that

the Assad regime will survive. How much damage it will do in the short

term, I can't say. How long it will survive is unknown. But I don't

think it will be a credible government for all that much longer.

It has no support, except no doubt for Iran and China and Russia.

Beyond that, no one can possibly sanction what they are doing.

there anything more that a country like Britain can do too well for

you to the break-up and fall of the regime being too bloody and to

destructive? There are several thought related to that. Firstly, I

think those in China and Russia might search their consciences

about their veto. They are effectively giving the green light

to a pretty bad regime to murder people. I think one needs to put it

bluntly so they understand what they have done, and so the world

understands what they have done. As far as what other nations can do,

it is possible to apply sanctions through the European Union. It is

possible to apply sanctions to nation states. It is possible to

use diplomacy. I think all those measures should be used and used as

a matter of urgency. I don't think the United Nations should leave

this matter. If China and Russia have vetoed it once, let us see if

they will at some stage Beatle It Again, as public pressure and

international condemnation builds up. Thank you to all of my guests.

Next Sunday, apart from the usual serious stuff, there will be a