25/03/2012 The Andrew Marr Show

Good news and bad news this morning. Good news is that, if you're a

little worried about the Budget, or planning, or anything, really, you

can tell David Cameron about it personally. One to one. Possibly

even at Chequers. The less good news is that,

according to a Sunday Times sting, published today, it'll cost you

�250,000, something like that. Joining me today for our review of

the Sunday newspapers, no money has changed hands I promise: Tim

Montgomerie of Conservative home website. Ann Treneman,

parliamentary sketch writer for the Times; Tim Montgomerie of

Conservative home website. Ann Treneman, parliamentary sketch

writer for the Times. And the Daily Mail columnist, Sir

Max Hastings. David Cameron, with uncanny

perspicacity, said a couple of years ago that secret corporate

lobbying was the next big scandal waiting to happen in British

politics. And, before 7am, the Tory treasurer involved has already

resigned, which, given the clocks went forward last night was some

going. It may be, however, that the Budget remains a bigger issue. The

leaks, the cut in the top rate, and the so-called granny tax. We're

joined today by one of the people responsible for it all, the Liberal

Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander. Is he

responsible for picking the pockets of pensioners, as one headline put

And, for all the talk of austerity, government spending is still going

Also this morning: What about the young unemployed, of whom there are

now more than a million? It's one of the issues David Miliband has

chosen to focus on, since leaving frontbench politics. We'll hear his

take on that. The former Foreign Secretary still follows

international affairs closely. And we'll be talking about Afghanistan

and Iran too. And: The D-Day landings were the

beginning of the end of the Second World War in Europe. Now a new book

tells the remarkable story of how the Nazis were deceived. About

where the operation would take place. It's a tale of dashing spies

and dummy tanks. And its author Ben Macintyre is here, to spill the

beans. But first, over to Naga Munchetty

for the news. Good morning. The Conservatives'

chief fundraiser has resigned, after he was secretly filmed

offering access to the Prime Minister, in exchange for a

substantial donation. The party's co-treasurer, Peter

Cruddas, made the remarks to undercover reporters from the

Sunday Times. He's described his actions as "bluster", and said he

deeply regretted any impression of impropriety.

This is a headline David Cameron hoped he would never see again,

wealthy donors try to buy access to the top of government. Gritting is

the millionaire businessman who said he could make it -- Peter

Cruddas. 100 Grant is not bird. �200,000. If you're not happy about

something, we will listen to you, and we will put it into the policy

committee at Number Ten. We will feed that back into the policy

committee. A sensational claim. The Sunday Times said it sent in

undercover reporters posing as reporters who wanted direct access

to the Prime Minister. In fact, some of our bigger donors have been

for dinner at Number Ten Downing Street, in the Prime Minister's

private apartment with Samantha. Things will open up for you. It

will be awesome for your business. Your guests will get a photo with

David Cameron. Within hours of that being made public, he had resigned.

He said he deeply regretted what he described as his plastered during

the conversation. Saying: -- as his "bluster".

David Cameron that says undue influence over government is a big

problem. In 2010, he promised to deal with the opaque business of

lobbying. It is the next big scandal and a waiting to happen.

Which exposes the cosy relationship between politics, government,

business and money. I am talking There is no claim David Cameron

knew what was being offered during the meeting. What is being

discussed is not illegal, but it is a reminder of what many consider to

be the worst side of politics. Members of the Army are to be

trained to deliver fuel to petrol stations, ahead of a possible

strike by tanker drivers. 2,000 members of the Unite union are

being balloted, on industrial action.

Scenes which the government are keen not to see repeated, blockades

and fears of shortages in 2000 led to panic buying and long queues at

petrol stations. 12 years on, the Unite union is balloting tanker

drivers in a row over safety. It involves 2000 members who work for

seven major fuel distribution companies. The ballot closes

tomorrow and is likely to result in a strike next month possibly over

Easter. Ministers say the training of army drivers will begin next

week as part of contingency planning. Whitehall insists the

strikes if they happen will not lead to a repeat of the fuel

blockades which brought the country to a near standstill. Nevertheless,

they do accept motorists may be concerned in anticipation of

problems ahead. President Obama has arrived in the South Korean capital

Seoul, where he will attend a major nuclear security summit. He'll be

joined by leaders from more than 50 nations, including the Deputy Prime

Minister Nick Clegg. Tensions in the region have increased recently,

after North Korea announced plans to send a satellite in to space.

The US and others say the launch is a cover for a long-range missile

test. The former Irish Prime Minister,

Bertie Ahern, has resigned from his party, Fianna Fail. He is being

investigated for alleged corruption, and the party was preparing a vote

on whether to expel him. Mr Ahern said he would fight to clear his

name. The government is being urged to

contribute to the repair and maintenance of Britain's great

churches. A BBC local radio survey has found that many of England's

finest cathedrals are struggling to find the money they need to keep up

their buildings. Church leaders are concerned they won't be able to

meet their running costs, from their own reserves and visitor

donations. That's all from me, for now. I'll

be back just before ten o'clock with the headlines. Andrew.

Thank you, Naga. Now, on to the front pages today.

The Observer has changed its front page. That is the Sunday Times

And a story about soldiers standing by to drive petrol tankers, you saw

that in the news. The Sun newspaper and, this

headline. And a very interesting thing, this offer. The Budget has

increased the tax on hot Prize -- pies.

And the Sunday Express. That seemed to be a suspiciously Nelda Lee

photograph! And the Sunday Telegraph, maybe an

even bigger political story in due course.

I think we should probably start with the cash for access story. A

classic, or old fashioned newspaper sting, and I'm glad to say they are

still going on. Another reminder, if we needed one, as much as we

disapprove of our newspapers's Pavia, they mustn't be shackled, so

they can do this kind of staying. What we see in the Sunday Times,

this picture of David Cameron and Chequers, and the idea if you paid

250,000 House, you can perhaps get access to him. The wine should

businessmen give large sums, and less that can buy them access?

will they raise money otherwise? the past, we have had a more

ideological brand of donor. People gave because they were Euro-

sceptics. But now, the party is in power, you get a slightly different

kind of donor, who is not so ideologically committed to the

party but which wants to get closer to the Prime Minister. So, the less

the gap in politics, the more likely the corruption. That is the

danger. How dangerous is this? you look at the Conservative Party

website this morning. There is a donor's club. The �5,000, you have

the opportunity to meet and debate with MPs. �25,000, you meet senior

figures from the Conservative Party. �50,000, you are invited to join

David Cameron and senior figures. The Sunday Times has pulled back

the curtain and showed us what happens in a very vivid way. The

Conservative Party is quite transparent. The difference is,

using Downing Street and Chequers, that is where it moves into a

particularly difficult area. that is damaging? A I wonder if

many people think this is the sort of thing politicians get up to

anyway. In a way, people won't like it but added big it will change our

views of politicians. Only special people who pay that kind of money

can get in there. 80 or 90% of Labour's funding comes from the

unions. I agree, the public won't be surprised but I would think it

is most damaging to the government's reputation for

competence. Once again, that this could be allowed to happen on that

David Cameron's watch. And in the week of the Budget. Let us turn to

the Budget. It will be interesting to see whether this produces

another round of talk about reforming party funding which has

been going on. It will be interesting to see if anything

changes. If, in six months, the actual practice will stop. That is

where David Cameron can get back the moral authority. The Prime

Minister who once and for all resolves this. Talk us through some

of the Budget coverage? The most amazing thing is the acres of words

on it, and I can't find anything positive. It has managed to unite

the country. All of the headlines. I still can't believe he meant it

to be like this, but apparently so. Anyone could have seen this was a

PR disaster, the anything that hadn't been leaked, if anyone ever

says to you, you must simplify your tax dealings. The Budget it is

about theatre, the sums of money are tiny compared with this huge

business of public spending, hundreds of billions, completely

unaffordable, public spending is out of control. Here is this Budget,

this is about political theatre, an opportunity for the Chancellor to

make the country feel better. And, he blows it. I can't understand why

somebody sitting by George, how are these figures going to play with

Middle England which feels it is being kicked by this government.

Like, changes to planning law, wind power, a gay marriage. Why now give

the more to be uncomfortable about? You have picked out this story on

stamp duty. One of the problems with the Budget, a lot of people

don't think the numbers stack up about how much money he will get.

It is obvious, these super-rich have better accountants than George

Osborne and they will find new ways to get out of it. No one can think

that the last few days have been good politically in the short run

for the government. George Osborne has made the calculation that this

is a mid term Budget, and he needed to get rid of the 50p tax. Cut

corporation tax. These are the sort of things business has been asking

If this helps, these headlines will be forgotten. I don't care if they

will be forgotten because people do see them as rich public schoolboys.

Do they not think that already? They do, but now even more. Do you

believe in this Budget on points of substance? Do you believe it does

significantly advanced the prospect of getting the economy right?

with you on the fact that the government keeps promising to cut

spending properly in a few more years, like me promising I will

lose weight in a few more years. It needs to be done now in order to

get the problem sorted. official figures show public-

spending in real terms, inflation going up by about 0.5% this year

when we thought it was coming down. I thought it meant austerity

cutting. That means a lot of the cuts are still to come. That's

right, and if it happens now we wouldn't need a tax on hot cakes

and grannies and the other things that caused controversy! Another

story I picked out, Britain's 10 billion pound fiasco about these

aircraft carriers. I was watching these enormous things being built.

Here they are, these aircraft, and now we can't afford the aeroplanes

to fly off them and we will end up with these enormous aircraft

carriers wasting billions of pounds and nobody has dared to say stop,

this is madness. I would like to use a brilliant segue, going from

aircraft carriers to aircraft at Heathrow. You have picked up a

possible U-turn on the third runway at Heathrow. One of the defining

features of David Cameron's time of leaders of the opposition was to

fly got the green issue. -- flag up. This decision is most popular with

business. I was speaking to someone the other day who was saying that

Heathrow is becoming a nightmare airport for international business

people to come into. I think the government have realised we need to

increase airport capacity. The Liberal Democrats are probably more

committed to opposing a third runway than the Conservatives so I

don't know where this will end up. The Independent on Sunday talks

about RAF Northolt, 13 miles away, becoming the third runway! The road

connections are very poor as well. We should probably move on from the

Budget, enjoyable as that has been. Do you have another story there?

The whole world is about the Budget, but I have this great little story

about the fact that now, bread, which is not being taxed, possibly

the only thing left, but now there is a discussion about what is bread

and what isn't. Is a hot cross formed bread? -- bun. A group of

civil servants will have to redefine bread, otherwise the tax

will not work. The European Court judgments in future years, it is a

whole tabloid game. And this is part of the hot pie scandal. Greg

the bakers have been taking quite a hit. All the papers have stories

about this Russian banker who has been shot in the middle of London.

The mystery of two wives comes down on London street. I think this

should be a wake-up call about the significance of this huge Russian

community in Britain. Russia is now in the hands of a gangster culture,

which is now seeping into London. I spoke to a central banker a few

weeks ago, asking if it was wrong to be alarmed about what was going

on, he said absolutely not, and London has become the money-

laundering capital of the world. Ministers laugh about this, saying

they buy football teams, but these people are essentially gangmasters

and they are bringing it to London. This is a serious story. This guy

could not go back to Russia, he would be on safer. I said to my old

friend that he should write an investigative walk about the

Russians in the West, and at first he said it was a great idea but

then when he thought about it he said I am not going to do it

because I don't want to die. These people shoot you. Do we want people

like these here? Not much. Sir Michael Spicer, tell me about who

he was in the Conservative Party. He used to be chairman of the 1922

backbench committee, a powerful group of Tory MPs, his memoirs are

coming out and he has the story about how Margaret Thatcher

regretted going into politics because of the impact on her family.

I don't know if we believe it or not, it sounds fascinating claim,

but if you can imagine Margaret Thatcher at home as a housewife.

This is almost unthinkable. believe she might have said it but

I don't believe it is true. In a moment of frustration. Yes, one

moment. He is a classic example of the kind of Conservative you don't

see on the back benches so much these days, the shy Tory who was a

great fixer and had authority on the back benches. Senior

backbenchers used to be people of real significance. Now it has all

changed and they are all identikit Central Office people. I don't

think that is fair. There are some real stars, people who are very

independent. Rebellion is what we want. The art independently minded,

they really are. I like the story in the memoirs about Margaret

Thatcher refusing hairspray because none of it was made in Britain. She

was prepared to go on camera looking a bit wild!

Thank you. The start of British Summer Time has been accompanied by

some summery weather, there are some summery weather, there are

already drought warnings. Let's go to the weather studio. In men in

respect, more of the same. Temperatures more like those of

June than those of late March. We have another one day on the cards

with plenty of sunshine but we have some patches of dense fog once

again affecting Central Scotland and north-eastern England. A little

bit cool look across East Anglia and the south-east, particularly

around the coastal fringes. The mist and fog burning away as we go

into the early part of the afternoon. Most areas bathed in

sunshine, the exception being the coast of East Anglia. Temperatures

could be 22 across the north-east of Wales. Overnight, mist and fog

patches will become thick and dense again across the Central lowlands

of Scotland. Across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire as well. By the time

we get to the afternoon, most will have fine spells of sunshine again.

Temperatures soaring into the high teens if not the low 20s. Just to

give you a flavour of howl unusual this temperature at is, the current

March record is 22.2 Celsius which has toured for over 50 years, and

has toured for over 50 years, and it might go over the next few days.

We know he is earning lots of money and we know he has strong views

about youth unemployment, but we have not seen a lot of David

Miliband since the fight for the leadership.

He takes a lot of interest in foreign affairs, notably the

deadliest of dilemmas to do with Iraq and Afghanistan. Good morning.

Let's start with the big political story of the day, this sting

operation conducted by the Sunday Times. Very embarrassing to have

the exchange, the to and fro with alleged business people wanting to

buy access into Downing Street. The to is a bit more than embarrassing.

The idea that policy is for sale is grotesque. I think David Cameron

will have to publish the list of policies that have been sent from

these dinners and have been sent to this committee, this number 10

committee that has been advertised. In the end he will have to do that,

I would say he should do it now because this goes to the heart of

the relationship of being a party and a government. It goes through

the lines that should exist between party and government. A business

people, including under New Labour, have always sought access to

ministers so what is different about this case? Secrecy, the

crashing of the line between party and government, and something else

because it goes to the heart of the question over whether the Tory

party had changed. David Cameron claimed he had modernised the party.

My own view is that the public didn't believe the Tory party had

changed. The budget provided further evidence that the change

was skin deep. The revelations today go to the heart of the claim

that he can trust the Conservative Party because they got rid of those

bad old ways. Your own party when through some pretty big scandals

back in the day. Is the time finally here when parties have got

to get together and talk seriously about reforming the way British

politics works? There has been no shortage of discussions and debates.

My own priority would be to lower the limit of spending. The less

cash you're allowed to be spent, the less need there is for this

kind of thing. There is also the question of public funding that

goes into parties. My own view is that you can't in these times argue

for that to be increased. You can't increase the tax burden to pay for

more public funding. I also think there is an issue about a single

individual giving so much but that is something that needs to be

worked through by the party. Your view is that it has to formalise

the relationship with the unions, isn't it? The old party structures

don't work any more, in the Tories' or in Labour. In the Labour Party,

we have got to do a better job with engaging with trade unionists, who

we want to be more active in politics. It is a matter of real

individuals. So you want to get off the hook off the block vote and get

on to a mass party? We have got to. I have spent a lot of the last 18

months working on community politics, I have set up a

leadership academy. Some people might think that is ironic, but I

have set it up for community leadership so people can make

change in their own community. That has taught me about government that

engages people in a different way because the truth about Britain is

not that we have an over- centralised state, we have

underpowered communities and I think that is something we have to

address directly. To break that up, we should get into a position where

no rich person pays more than a million pounds no union pays more

than a million pounds, we get away from that centralised funding.

thing about the Labour Party is you have individual unionists, none of

them pay a million pounds. Barons do tend to call the shots.

Yes, I know a bit about barons. I know from my own constituency, the

individual trade unionists who want to make sure their voices are heard

in politics, I think we should go with that, not run against it. It

is about transparency openness. I spend my time working for the

grassroots of the Labour Party. I am as committed today to the Labour

Party as I am when I joined, but I want to make sure it becomes a

sustainable organisation at the grass roots. And yet, it has been

the big union barons who have been able to Grandstand, as you say you

were on a sticky side of that yourself, and that has to change,

doesn't it? If we are talking about the deep suspicion of Conservative

funding on one side, there is still the suspicion about your party.

Balls, Ed Miliband, they are the leaders of the party. They speak

loud and clear about the party. Not given the pace since they got for

what they said about the economy, they should be no doubt that the

people who run the Labour Party are You raise your own position there.

When are you going to come back on to frontline politics? You have had

some time out, you have earned a bit of money. You have looked at

some of the grass roots organisations. You don't seem to

beat somebody whose ambition is limited to be a backbencher.

My ambition is the return of a Labour government. I have to have

the humility to recognise, while a daily soap opera might be fun for

the media, it will not be for the Labour Party. My brother won the

leadership, and I am committed to supporting him. I can best support

him by working at the grassroots. The Shadow Cabinet has its place.

Does that mean you will leave politics? If you are not going, if

you don't have aspirations to play at the top team, are you going to

carry on as a Labour MP? Yes, I represent my constituency in South

Shields. 590 young people have been unemployed for months, over nine

months, it in my constituency... lot of people out there want to

know, they admire you and want to know you are going to stay in

British politics. And you will stand, next election. Absolutely.

You have spent a lot of time looking at the youth unemployment

question, something that has been a long-standing quite crisis. Nobody

has come up with an answer. truth is, the current government

didn't invent this problem but have made it worse. Their flagship work

programme helps one in 10 of the Million Youth unemployed. On that

work programme, the success rate is about 20%. So, two in 100 are

getting help from the flagship government programme. I chaired the

commission. There is a structural element. As well as a cyclical

element, it is partly about the recession. It is about education,

motivation, opportunities, and the apprenticeship system doesn't even

advertise. 75% in the increase of apprenticeships has gone to over 25.

A lot of talk has focused on the granny tax, but there is a

dangerous complacency about the young unemployed. Young people say

to me, what hope have I got? That is a challenge to all of us in the

political elite about what are you doing for the next generation? If

you are unemployed for a few years as a youngster, the fact is you

will earn less and work less for the rest of your life. If you were

a government minister watching this, what is the next stage? There is a

notion of compulsion, people should be obliged to go to work for

nothing. If people are offered a job, that is right. But that is not

the issue. 590 youngsters in South Shields looking for jobs. If I were

a government minister, if my party was in government, even if you

accepted the fiscal straitjacket the government has created, we

could do so much more. We know a part-time job guarantee, which

would pay the minimum wage and get young people into work and allow

them to do job search on the side, would make a difference. It has a

success rate of 50%. We have to get the apprenticeship system working

for young people. The government have done something good, they are

starting in April a subsidy scheme so 50,000 youngsters will get that.

But the government's figures showed they expect figures to be going

down by 2014. I say, spend on it now. What about withdrawing benefit,

is that wrong? It is a contract. Young people aren't afraid of a

contract. They say, don't give me responsibility if there is no

opportunity. So, if they don't take it, and stay at home, you can take

the benefits. The vast majority don't get benefits. 16 and 17 year-

olds do get benefit. The idea you have this welfare state paying for

the unemployed to live lives of luxury is absolute nonsense.

would like to talk about foreign affairs. The idea get passionate

about it. Going back, he did not seem to be somebody who wants to

step away from British politics. The things which brought me into

the Labour Party, a passion about the potential of this country,

remained. I also have to recognise I must do that in a different way.

I am learning and changing as a person. The world is being

transformed by the minute. Two huge crisis you experienced in

government which have not gone away, Afghanistan, and Iran. Afghanistan,

after the terrible events, it is looking as if we are going to have

to withdraw rather chaotically, different Western governments don't

have the same timescale, the Taleban are going to come back.

Everything you hoped in government is falling away. You are right to

be worried that this will become the forgotten war, only in the

headlines when there is terrible tragedy. And that the danger of a

continued civil war which does damage to our secluded interests,

our legacy of work, I fear things will get worse and not better.

Changing course means putting centre-stage the political talks

which are the only way to end this conflict. That can't be America or

Britain. It has to be a United Nations Security Council sanctions

mediator. People will say, didn't I here 10 days ago the Taleban have

said they won't talk to the Americans. The point of an

independent mediator drawn from the Muslim world is he would go around

talking to all sides, the Afghan government, to us, to the different

parts of the insurgency. There is only one way to end the war in

Afghanistan, and that is all of the tribes in the political settlement,

Al-Qaeda, out, and the neighbours onside and committed to stability.

Is getting that process working more important than getting our

troops out? They go together. The problem is the debate about the end

date for combat is getting in the wake of the debate over the end

strategy. It seems a strange way to fight a war, having an end date.

The Taleban know that as well. There is unbelievable bravery and

intelligence being shown by our troops, and a tactical gains. But

it has to be a political strategy. Iran, something you are familiar

with. We seem to be in a new phase of greater danger where the Israeli

government is saying, there has been enough diplomacy, very soon

they will have the bomb, and we will at if nobody else does. I see

it fathered a fiddly. I wrote in December I was worried we were

asleep and walking to war. That the drumbeat of war had started. What

happened in Washington last month, in that meeting, was significant.

Barack Obama took charge of the Iran dossier it and said, I am

going to be clear, if Iran gets a bomb, I will take them out. Until

that moment comes, I will make sure a political and diplomatic process

sorts this out. It was a clear warning about his own position. The

game has changed. The Israelis have been told, do not bomb. Rightly, in

my view. The game has changed. We have to discuss what other

conditions in which Iran might actually agree to a cessation of

this military programme. There are conditions. We have to give them

something? What is on the table is a civilian nuclear programme which

can help their economy. If they feel the deal is humiliation, if

they're giving in to the Americans, they will not accept it. In

government, I used to say, stick to the nuclear programme, don't worry

about this additional staff. Now, you need to have the additional

role of Iran and the nuclear question on the table at the same

time. Barack Obama has been clear, the

red line is, weapons. The world should be clear, that is what

America will deliver. And now to Double-Cross. Not a

return to Labour politics, but the name of a secret World War Two

committee. Early in the summer of 1944, the ferocious fight back to

drive the Germans out of France began. D-Day, on 6th June, was make

or break time for the Allies. Convincing Hitler that the Allied

landings were going to take place on a different part of the

coastline was a ruse that helped win the beaches, and then the war.

Central to that masterful dupe was a group of double agents, the five

D-Day spies, who were as eccentric as they were daring. Ben

Macintyre's new book assesses their role, and also reveals for the

first time a shadowy sixth spy whose courage and cunning really

saved the Day itself. A fascinating piece of historical research here.

Just start by giving us a sense of some of these extraordinary

characters? Well, they were without doubt the

oddest military unit ever assembled. Their code names give a flavour.

Treasure, Brutus, Bronx. They included a Serbian playboy, a

bisexual Peruvian girl called Elvira Chaudoir. Another was a

highly strung Russian French woman. And in a failed Spanish chicken

farmer, with a wild imagination. Exotic because they were the kind

of characters on the fringe of continental Europe, able to go back

and forward, be recruited by the German military intelligence.

they had in common they had been initially recruited by the Germans.

Then, were turned by British intelligence to work as double

agents for us. I am not sure whether a particular kind of

character is attracted to this world, or whether the world

manufactures them. The crucial he wrote in your book is a man called

Jebsen, a very slight figure. He is a figure we haven't heard about

really before. Tell us a little? Jebsen is fascinating, a wealthy

playboy, he was Danish by origin but German by citizenship. At the

beginning of the war, he took a job, a senior job in German military

intelligence. He was not an obvious recruit, pro-British, a fan of PG

Wodehouse. He looked a little like a Germanic Bertie Worcester. But,

he was recruited in 1943 by British intelligence, and he became our

most senior spy within German intelligence. He began to produce

brilliant information about secret weapons, military production. But,

he was too good. He began to reveal the identities them of the spies

but Germany believed it had operating in Britain. They had all

been turned as well. When they were not picked up, Jebsen made the

obvious deduction they must be double agents, so he was privy to

the D-Day secret. Jebsen was a dodgy businessman, burning a

forgery scam for some time. Just apo became very interested in him,

and partly because they suspected he might defect. Six weeks before

D-Day, he was kidnapped in a neutral Portugal, drugged, and put

into a tin trunk, given it to Gestapo headquarters. For the

following four weeks, MI5 was terrified that Jebsen might crack.

Had he revealed the D-Day secret, which was to try to convince the

Germans instead of Normandy being the land in point, the target was

Calais, had he revealed every single spies in Britain was in fact

a double agent, the Germans would have worked out exactly what was

going on. Tens of thousands of lives could have been lost. But, he

hung on. We don't know what happened to him. We do know a

little bit more about the other characters. Elvira Chaudoir. She

was the bisexual Peruvian. extraordinary. Her father had made

a fortune, much of which she had lost at gambling tables. In 1943,

in France, she was recruited by German intelligence. Came back to

Britain, and turned. And spent the rest of the war writing letters in

secret ink, describing conversations she had never

actually had with Cabinet ministers. And fooling the Nazis. What I loved

about her story was how she ends up. So many end up badly but she

At the end of the war she retired and ran a souvenir shop in France.

Shortly before she died, she ran out of money again, and MI5 sent

her a cheque in recognition of what she had done during the war. Tidied

her over for a happy few weeks in France. Thank you very much.

Central to the coalition is the group sinisterly known as the Quad.

Alongside the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and Nick Clegg, Danny

Alexander sits on the group that runs the government. He was central

to the decisions unveiled in the Budget. Welcome. The granny tax,

so-called, was a Liberal-Democrat idea way back, are you happy to

take ownership of that? The central story of this Budget are the

massive tax cuts we are delivering, the largest tax cuts in a

generation for people on middle and lower incomes. Of course I will

take ownership of all the measures in his Budget. If we are addressing

ourselves to the question of pensioners, I would say there are 5

million pensioners in this country, and every single pensioner this

year will benefit from the largest ever increase in the state pension.

We announced we are moving towards a single tear pension over the next

few years, another Liberal Democrats commitment. The net

effect on these things, on pensioners, is positive and in the

end we had to make some difficult decisions in this Budget because we

had such a strong focus on delivering big tax cuts for the

working people. And for the people at the top as well. No, you are

wrong about that. Overall, the net effect of this Budget is to raise

five times more from the wealthiest. Can I suggest to you gently you

don't know that, this is guesswork about how individuals and their

accountants will behave over the next few years. There is no where

you can know how much money will be taken after the cut from 50p to 45p.

Those figures are certified by the Independent office for budget

responsibility. They are at estimate. The independent

organisation have to certify the numbers in the Budget book. One of

the things we are doing as a government, alongside cutting taxes

for people on lower incomes, is cracking down on tax dodges. I

think people I have spoken to think that the government which is

finally getting tough on people who dodge stamp duty is a major step

forward. Nobody really knows what will happen. This is a gamble based

on how people are going to behave and how much tax they will pay.

would say that we have had the expert at HMRC, the Office for

budget responsibility, looking at the regional estimate of these

measures. I think in the end, a budget that increases taxes on the

wealthiest overall, it stresses the fact working people are under

pressure at the moment. This government, we are doing our best

to help people in this difficult time. What changed? What I always

said is that now would not be the right time to be cutting the

overall tax burden on the wealthiest, and this Budget is not.

Through things like a tycoon tax, through the stamp duty reforms, we

are effectively introducing a mansion tax on stamp duty dodgers.

We have a new anti-abuse rule. We are taking changes which will raise

more overall from the wealthiest. In the context of that, why were

you persuaded that the 50 pence rate should be reduced to 45p?

the context of budget discussions, when we set out our main priority

from the Liberal Democrats point of view going further and faster,

delivering the largest tax cut for a long time, we were persuaded in

the context of an overall package of measures on the wealthy which

raises five times more, when we looked at the independent

assessment which the HMRC had done, that actually said... So you are

sitting around the table, we will accept that if you will accept that.

It is a straightforward deal? discovered when this work was done

that far from the promised millions Labour had said we would get from

this 50p rate emerging, it showed it was not a tax that was working.

We have tried to replace that tax with a number of taxes that well-

worked, getting money from the wealthiest. There is also a

philosophical shift in the tax system, where we want to reduce tax

on people with lower incomes. That is a good direction for the tax

policy to go in, I think. If that is what happens, but nobody really

knows. Can I ask again about the granny tax changes because you can

defend them as a simplification, anomalous this was a major change

in the Budget which was not signalled clearly in the Budget

speech itself. A lot of the anger in the press afterwards was that

there was a sense you wanted to hoodwink people. The Chancellor

signalled clearly we would be doing this. It is a difficult choice in

this Budget. Were you happy with the way it was presented? At the

lewdly. It is a change that is justified. I don't see why someone

who is working at age 26 should have the same allowance as a

pensioner. We are increasing the tax threshold so quickly, and the

other measures such as the largest ever increase in the state pension,

they are quite rightly delivering benefits to pensioners. Perhaps

many pensioners would say the answer is because they have been

dealing with a very difficult climate when it comes to interest

rates and investments are the cost of living shooting up. It may be

that the pension has gone up to cover the cost of living increases

but a lot of people are having a really hard time on low incomes and

they did not expect a budget for fairness was going to hit them with

this. There are an awful lot of people having a tough time right

across the population. The poorest 50% of pensioners do not pay income

tax at all so they will be unaffected. By moving to a triple

lock, we are making sure that the arrangements about the basic state

pension are more generous than they were under the previous government.

Do you regret the serial leaking of aspect of this Budget? In a

coalition government there will be debate, publicly, about the nature

of some of these measures. We were very explicit about the priority we

attached to going further and faster about the income tax cuts,

as Liberal Democrats. He your party was blamed, it was even said George

Osborne had to ask Liberal Democrats aides to leave the room

because he assumed they would go straight to the papers. I have no

idea where these things came from. Most of these discussions were in

the court that you refer to, in the four of us plus one Treasury

official so that is not true. In the end, this country was very

poorly served over the last 30 years by a previous government

which obsessed every day about what was in the headlines and didn't

think about what was right for the country. We spend our time thinking

about what is right for the country, and that is what will stand the

test of time. What do you make of this extraordinary story about

Conservative treasurer with a tariff, offering access to David

Cameron at Chequers? For it is utterly disgraceful. As the prime

minister has said, there is no place for this one acceptable

behaviour. This makes the case for reforming the system of party

funding in this country even stronger. No political party has

been without its problems in relation to this issue. In the

coming weeks, we will be getting round the table to discuss how we

can change the way party funding works to get the big money out of

politics. When the Quad sits down next time, what will you be saying?

This is a matter that is being discussed in the government over

many weeks, something we were committed to in our coalition

agreement, and Nick Clegg is taking forward to make sure we bring

reforms to our political system which means this perception of

people that make large donations, whether they are from trade unions,

that those people should not have excessive influence. Are you sure

you will be able to come forward with concrete clear proposals you

can get through the House of Commons? All parties have nominated

people to take part in this process. There will be a short sharp series

of discussions, and I am hopeful that will yield proposals. These

headlines show the necessity of having reforms to the party funding

system to deal with this taint that donors might be able to influence.

Hallowed do you think the cap could be? The committee on public funding

were talking about �10,000. Where would you like to see it? That is

something I would like to see coming out of these discussions.

The issue that David Miliband raised about how much the parties

spend is important to look at, as is the question of the cap on

donations. All parties have an interest in sorting this out. There

is no prospect of donors influencing public policy but we

have to make sure the system does not allow that perception to arise

either. Thank you. Now the news headlines.

The Conservative's chief fundraiser has resigned after he was secretly

filmed offering access to the Prime Minister in exchange for a

financial donation. Peter Cruddas made the comments, but he has

described his actions as bluster and regretted any impression of

propriety. Danny Alexander said the revelations were utterly

disgraceful. The former Labour foreign secretary David Miliband

said there had been of the lowering of the crucial distinction between

party and government. The idea that policy is for sale is grotesque. I

think David Cameron will have to do publish the list of policies that

have been sent from these dinners and have been sent to this David

Cameron committee or even the Cabinet committee, this number 10

committee that has been advertised. I say he should do it now. The next

news on BBC One is at 12 o'clock. Let's have a look at what is coming

up after this programme. In the week a judge stands down

majora for one refusing to reveal her face, we ask about this. We

look at whether football is doing enough, and if we need religion to

create a moral society. A few hefty questions. I'm afraid

that is all we have got time for. Next week I will be speaking to the