:00:47. > :00:55.Good morning. Britain's and Olympic Torch. Symbolising the theft of
:00:55. > :00:58.fire from the gods. The relay goes back to the Olympics of 1936, yes,
:00:58. > :01:02.that one - Hitler's one. But, in modern times, it has been a key
:01:02. > :01:06.part of the build-up. At different times, they have been carried from
:01:06. > :01:09.Greece by runners, horse-riders, on camels, Concorde, even underwater.
:01:09. > :01:15.They have been fuelled by everything from butane to olive oil
:01:15. > :01:18.and carried by among others, Muhammed Ali. Our one, the British
:01:18. > :01:21.one, being called the cheese-grater, has 8,000 little holes because they
:01:21. > :01:24.can get very hot and, beginning this week, it arrives in Britain
:01:24. > :01:33.and is going to be carried through more than 1,000 towns and villages,
:01:33. > :01:36.on everything from a zip-wire to ice. It is really the start of the
:01:36. > :01:41.Olympics ballyhoo and, as you may have guessed by now, we have an
:01:41. > :01:44.Olympics theme today. That includes the paper review, with the double
:01:44. > :01:47.gold medallist runner, Dame Kelly Holmes, Jude Kelly, of London's
:01:47. > :01:50.South Bank Centre, who is on the Olympic Cultural Board and Andrew
:01:50. > :01:56.Pierce of the Daily Mail, hoping for a gold medal in the all-
:01:56. > :02:00.important marathon lunches category. Well, later on, we will hear from
:02:00. > :02:05.the British athlete who will carry the torch for real when it is
:02:05. > :02:08.actually flaming, the triple gold medal winning sailor Ben Ainslie.
:02:08. > :02:11.We will talk about tickets and how we are placed generally as Britain
:02:11. > :02:15.prepares for the Olympics with Lord Sebastian Coe - a great athlete
:02:15. > :02:21.himself of course. He won four Olympic medals, then Tory MP. Now,
:02:22. > :02:25.above all, the man in charge of the London Games. It will be a great
:02:25. > :02:30.summer for couch potatoes but what will it do for the health and
:02:30. > :02:32.vigour of the country long term? And we're joined too by the man who
:02:32. > :02:37.has perhaps the biggest Olympic headache, the Defence Secretary,
:02:37. > :02:42.Philip Hammond. Questions for him on security at the Olympic Park,
:02:42. > :02:45.plus an embarrassing government U- turn on fighter aircraft. Away from
:02:45. > :02:48.the Olympics, Trevor Phillips is stepping down as chair of the
:02:48. > :02:51.Equality and Human Rights Commission. Is Britain less
:02:51. > :02:55.prejudiced now than when he took over? And what is the truth about
:02:55. > :03:05.his clashes with the Government? Finally, the man who will sing at
:03:05. > :03:11.
:03:11. > :03:16.the end of the Olympics, Damon What's perhaps the final Blur song
:03:16. > :03:19.will be heard as the Games closes. Today, he will be playing from his
:03:19. > :03:22.solo album, an Elizabethan story, which is part of the cultural
:03:22. > :03:28.Olympiad. So, let's get going, starting as usual with the news
:03:28. > :03:33.from Riz Lateef. Good morning. The Ministry of Defence has confirmed
:03:33. > :03:36.the death of two British servicemen who are killed in Lashkar Gah in
:03:36. > :03:40.Helmand province yesterday. One soldier was from the Welsh Guards
:03:40. > :03:44.and one from the Royal Air Force were providing security for a
:03:44. > :03:47.meeting of local officials. They were shot and killed by members of
:03:47. > :03:52.the Afghan police force. The families of those involved have
:03:52. > :03:54.been informed. The bodies of a father and a boy have been
:03:54. > :03:57.recovered from the River Avon in Warwickshire after their rowing
:03:57. > :04:01.boat went over a weir and capsized. It happened yesterday near Barford.
:04:01. > :04:04.Two other children who were in the boat are in hospital, one is in a
:04:04. > :04:09.serious condition. The accident happened in early evening in what
:04:09. > :04:15.were described as hazardous white water conditions. The father of
:04:15. > :04:19.three children, all aged under 10, had set out on a small plastic
:04:19. > :04:24.rowing boat on the River Avon. The boat appears to have gone over a
:04:24. > :04:28.weir and capsized. Two children were pulled the short by a police
:04:28. > :04:32.officer and passer-by. The girl had a cardiac arrest and needed
:04:32. > :04:37.emergency treatment at the scene. She was taken to Birmingham
:04:37. > :04:41.Children's Hospital. Her condition is described as serious but stable.
:04:41. > :04:47.The boy was conscious but poorly. As the emergency services search
:04:47. > :04:51.the river, they found the body of another child - a boy and father,
:04:51. > :04:57.late on Saturday night. Tonight I have been looking at emergency
:04:57. > :05:01.services workers who have been in tears. You do not see that very
:05:01. > :05:06.often. We are all feeling it. We are feeling for the family tonight
:05:06. > :05:14.as well. Police are due to breed the villagers of Barford later on
:05:14. > :05:18.the circumstances surrounding the deaths. They have described this as
:05:18. > :05:21.a difficult and tragic incident. The President of Greece is
:05:21. > :05:24.overseeing a last ditch attempt to form a new government. It is a week
:05:24. > :05:27.since the elections in which no party won an overall majority. The
:05:27. > :05:30.three parties which did best, have all so far failed to assemble
:05:30. > :05:32.coalitions. The main sticking point has been disagreement over the
:05:32. > :05:42.strict austerity measures needed, in order for Greece to receive
:05:42. > :05:46.further bailouts from the EU and the IMF. Patients are being treated
:05:46. > :05:52.in corridors and left on hospital trolleys for hours because of bed
:05:52. > :05:58.shortages, and nurses' union is warning. This comes from a survey
:05:58. > :06:03.by the Royal College of Nursing. This woman knows all about
:06:03. > :06:09.pressures in hospitals. Her father had to wait on a trolley for 21
:06:09. > :06:16.hours last year. Her mother have waited 10 hours for a bed at the
:06:16. > :06:21.same hospital in Belfast. It became apparent that things have not
:06:21. > :06:26.changed. There was a shortage of staff - shortage of nurses -
:06:26. > :06:31.shortage of doctors. The nurses' union asked 10 Baeza members to
:06:31. > :06:39.share their experiences of patients being treated on trollies. --
:06:39. > :06:49.10,000 members. 21% said patients would be treated in corridors at
:06:49. > :06:52.least once a day. -- were being treated. This survey clearly
:06:52. > :06:57.demonstrates to us that progress that had been made in previous
:06:57. > :07:01.years is now lost. Things are going backwards and they're going
:07:01. > :07:06.backwards fast. The Health Minister in Northern Ireland has apologised
:07:07. > :07:12.a number of times to patients who have had long delays. In England,
:07:12. > :07:17.the Department of Health says it would take action against hospitals
:07:17. > :07:20.who fell to ensure patients get beds quickly. It is the final day
:07:20. > :07:24.of the Premier League season and the contest is going right them to
:07:24. > :07:30.the final whistle. Either Manchester City or Manchester
:07:30. > :07:40.United will take the title. Both are level on points. Manchester
:07:40. > :07:48.
:07:48. > :07:54.City are at home to Queen's Park Rangers and United are awake at
:07:54. > :08:04.Sunderland. Now, on the front pages today: William Hague has given an
:08:04. > :08:05.
:08:05. > :08:12.interview. You must work harder. Who is you? It is YOU. There is a
:08:12. > :08:20.story about how Andy Coulson called the bluff of David Cameron. There
:08:20. > :08:27.is a story in the Observer about Mara in schools. Also �100 Boots
:08:27. > :08:34.purchase to be given to tearaways. In the Sunday Times, talk, --
:08:34. > :08:41.talked of Macro is going to give an opt-out to families who do not want
:08:41. > :08:51.to get any porn, abuse or violence on of websites to protect families.
:08:51. > :08:56.
:08:56. > :09:03.We need to start with politics. Independent on Sunday is
:09:03. > :09:10.serialising an updated memoir of Cameron, practically a Conservative.
:09:10. > :09:17.It says Andy Coulson is -- so desperate was David Cameron to
:09:17. > :09:24.recruit him, that he refused to sign a confidentiality deal. That
:09:24. > :09:29.could come back to haunt Mr Cameron. He was asked about the diary he
:09:29. > :09:37.kept. He said it was not the diary that he had kept detailed notes. I
:09:37. > :09:40.hope they're more detailed than Piers Morgan. He described in vivid,
:09:40. > :09:45.glorious, technicolour detail coffee with Tony Blair and Cherie
:09:45. > :09:49.Blair in March, 1997. The trouble is then it would have been coffee
:09:49. > :09:54.with John and Norma Major because Labour did not win the election
:09:54. > :10:01.until May, 1997. If you are a political leader, the last thing
:10:01. > :10:07.you want is an experienced Trav -- tabloid journalist in trouble who
:10:07. > :10:13.has been working closely with you and kept notes. I think it would be
:10:13. > :10:19.a very interesting and compelling memoir. The other huge political
:10:19. > :10:25.story is the euro crisis - Greece and Spain. Greece is in terrible
:10:25. > :10:31.trouble and without a government. This is a great title. We are
:10:31. > :10:36.seeing true Greek tragedy. That is true. I had come back from Greece
:10:36. > :10:40.at last night. The stories on the streets are frightening. Ordinary
:10:40. > :10:45.people were actually saying to me, they were considering leaving the
:10:45. > :10:51.country because there didn't have anything to eat. I have never heard
:10:51. > :10:57.anyone say that to me in a modern day spate -- estate where people
:10:57. > :11:02.look after and that are not any more. You looked at that story and
:11:02. > :11:08.then you have here, in the Observer, two different analyses of what
:11:08. > :11:15.should happen. The economics editor says, there is no choice, they have
:11:15. > :11:21.to leave the euro. Another quote of Shakespeare says, there will be
:11:21. > :11:27.havoc and the dogs of war will enter. I understand that if they
:11:27. > :11:33.leave the hero there will be real difficulties about have Greece pays
:11:33. > :11:39.full of baby foods, basic goods and stuff coming into the country. --
:11:39. > :11:47.for baby foods. You do wonder how long be sticking plaster can hold.
:11:47. > :11:55.It is a terminally ill patient. Argentina, they devalued. Then they
:11:55. > :12:00.were booming. It is not clear what Greece has to offer itself. We will
:12:00. > :12:10.talk more about the Olympics later on. You have chosen a story from
:12:10. > :12:11.
:12:11. > :12:16.the Sunday Express. Children get risky fact box on the NHS. --
:12:16. > :12:25.operations. This is gastric bands and all that kind of thing. There
:12:25. > :12:29.is always this thing about young people found obesity rates being up.
:12:29. > :12:34.If parents are encouraging sport of young people at a young age, they
:12:34. > :12:41.will ultimately choose a healthier lifestyle. There is a lot to say
:12:41. > :12:47.with the fact in fruits and takeaways that schools try to do as
:12:47. > :12:52.much as they can to prevent this. What is not happening is the Health
:12:52. > :13:00.and the sports departments do not speak. I do not get it. I do not
:13:00. > :13:05.get why it is a common thing. They are saying the NHS will become
:13:05. > :13:10.bankrupt in 2025. If kids were running and jumping and catching
:13:10. > :13:16.pulls a bit more, they would not be in this position. They would have a
:13:16. > :13:23.healthier lifestyle. That is all it takes. I agree with taxation of
:13:23. > :13:27.higher fatty foods to encourage people to have a look at the other
:13:27. > :13:32.options. Then they need to bring the price down of those, I expect.
:13:32. > :13:37.That is the problem. I do not know if anyone has seen the story on the
:13:37. > :13:43.internet about the schoolgirl who has been posting has school lunches.
:13:43. > :13:50.They are meagre and miserable looking objects. Anyway, we must
:13:50. > :13:57.move on. Gay marriage is a huge story in America. President Obama
:13:57. > :14:03.is the first President to back single-sex marriages. David Cameron
:14:03. > :14:09.was backing gay marriages but it was absent from the Queen's Speech
:14:09. > :14:13.last week. The Children's Minister said, it was the wrong thing at the
:14:13. > :14:18.wrong time. He has been slapped down by the Lib Dems and he is not
:14:18. > :14:22.alone. Philip Hammond is the first Cabinet minister who says he does
:14:22. > :14:31.not agree with a match because it is too contentious and too
:14:31. > :14:37.difficult at the time. -- gay marriage. As a member of Stonewall,
:14:37. > :14:40.I was never aware there was a huge pressure for gay marriage. Civil
:14:40. > :14:46.partnerships seemed fine. David Cameron will probably have to
:14:46. > :14:56.completely retreat on this. In the Independent on Sunday, it says the
:14:56. > :14:59.
:14:59. > :15:02.UK is the best place in Europe to be gay. Monaco is at the bottom. I
:15:02. > :15:08.just think this is something that the public, they do not care enough
:15:08. > :15:13.about it and that is a good thing. Gay marriages will happen gradually
:15:13. > :15:18.and they should. It is great that Britain, by being easy, has managed
:15:18. > :15:28.to get itself in a situation where it believes that people should have
:15:28. > :15:36.
:15:36. > :15:42.rights. It is not an electoral It is stunning. It has 8,000 halls.
:15:42. > :15:45.That means that there will be 8,000 torch-bearers. I was looking in the
:15:45. > :15:51.Sunday Mirror about the people that are proud to carry the Olympic
:15:51. > :15:58.flame. You have everyone from war heroes to cancer sufferers, the
:15:59. > :16:03.young, the old, a 100 year-old lady carrying the torch. It is great to
:16:03. > :16:08.have high profile sports people. Ben Ainslie will be starting the
:16:08. > :16:12.relay, but I absolutely agree with having people that have done great
:16:12. > :16:19.things in the community. That moment when they hold this for
:16:19. > :16:23.their 300 metres, in the local town, they will feel so proud.
:16:24. > :16:27.Olympics can feel like it is a bit of a club for other people and this
:16:27. > :16:33.is a way of knitting it into the rest of the country, getting
:16:33. > :16:38.everyone close to it. It has to be gains for the United Kingdom and
:16:38. > :16:43.the rest of the world, but it has to be for real people. Not everyone
:16:43. > :16:48.will get to see the games at large, but they want to feel part of it.
:16:48. > :16:53.If we're going to have a legacy, it is going to be about the story's
:16:53. > :16:59.afterwards. I would always encourage the IOC to try to speak
:16:59. > :17:03.about the story of the Olympics and Paralympics more than they do. The
:17:03. > :17:11.symbolism of the idea of running for peace, which is what it always
:17:11. > :17:14.was, I do not feel we bring those stories to the surface often enough.
:17:14. > :17:20.The whole idea of the flame of peace is something that the
:17:20. > :17:28.Olympics has cornered and I wish it used it more strongly. It is coming
:17:28. > :17:34.here in six days' time, after the opening ceremony in Athens. This is
:17:34. > :17:39.the horrific story about Rochdale up and the sexual exploitation.
:17:39. > :17:44.There is so much confusion about this, because this is about
:17:44. > :17:49.criminality and gang culture. It is nothing to do with being a Muslim
:17:50. > :17:54.or otherwise. That is clouding the issue completely. Men will target
:17:55. > :18:00.vulnerable people. You do not think there is any issue about the way
:18:00. > :18:05.that women are seen in one community? There is an issue, but
:18:05. > :18:12.if you slice that up and say, who will be marginalised the most, that
:18:12. > :18:17.will get us into trouble with our own community? Then you could say,
:18:17. > :18:27.those would be a young white women. I will speak about that later with
:18:27. > :18:27.
:18:27. > :18:34.Trevor Phillips. Let's keep moving, the armed forces, Kelly, as for Met
:18:34. > :18:44.-- as a form a serving soldier? Military suffer a shameful abuse at
:18:44. > :18:54.the hands of the public. I do not understand this. Soldiers have been
:18:54. > :18:56.
:18:56. > :19:02.reserved service in pubs. -- refused service. You have 16 year-
:19:02. > :19:08.olds going to fight for their country. These are every day people.
:19:08. > :19:15.I want to get in this William Hague story. This has echoes of Norman
:19:16. > :19:20.Tebbutt and get on your bike. He is saying, stop moaning. That is
:19:20. > :19:25.because the budget went down so badly, not least with members of
:19:25. > :19:31.the business community. He is the right MP to give that advice,
:19:31. > :19:35.because after he lost the general election as Tory leader, he worked
:19:35. > :19:43.incredibly hard and made at least �1 million on the international
:19:43. > :19:47.lecture circuit with his book! Thank you very much. Many of you
:19:47. > :19:52.may have looked up and seen something unfamiliar and shiny in
:19:52. > :19:56.the sky this morning. Will this break in what has been a dismal
:19:56. > :20:01.break in what has been a dismal spring go on. The Let's take a look
:20:01. > :20:05.at the weather. -- Let's take a look at the weather.
:20:05. > :20:12.Good morning. The son is set to disappear behind rain clouds this
:20:12. > :20:16.week. But not in the southern half of the UK. There will be a
:20:16. > :20:22.strengthening breeze, but the winds will be more significant further
:20:22. > :20:28.North. That will bring some wet weather. The pressure is hide to
:20:28. > :20:34.the south of boss, and that is squeezing the isobars. It is
:20:34. > :20:39.already raining quite hard in parts of western Scotland. That will last
:20:39. > :20:48.through the day. Patchy rain to the South East of Scotland. Further
:20:48. > :20:58.south, you stay dry. Not as funny as this morning, but in these --
:20:58. > :21:03.not as sunny as this morning, but there will be some hazy sunshine.
:21:03. > :21:07.Overnight, the temperature will be around 8 degrees in the south.
:21:07. > :21:11.Cloudy in the south tomorrow with outbreaks of rain. For many, it
:21:11. > :21:17.will be a story of dry and bright weather, with a scattering of
:21:17. > :21:20.showers. There will be some heavy showers across the North of
:21:20. > :21:25.showers across the North of Scotland and England.
:21:25. > :21:29.Since he took over as chair of the Commission for Equality, since
:21:29. > :21:35.expanding to include other minority rights, Trevor Phillips has never
:21:35. > :21:42.been far from the headlines. He has upset the left over
:21:42. > :21:45.multiculturalism. Equalities rows never disappear, of course. Davies
:21:45. > :21:53.the current one about the exploitation of children by
:21:53. > :21:59.Pakistani men and of course, gay marriage. Trevor Phillips, welcome.
:21:59. > :22:04.You're organisation was involved in the Olympics bid as well. We have
:22:04. > :22:11.worked with Sebastian Coe and his team, and the Olympic bid was sold
:22:11. > :22:16.on the diversity of London. It is the most welcoming city in the
:22:17. > :22:21.world. I think we can look forward to a good summer. You have had 10
:22:21. > :22:27.years at the top of this organisation. Has Britain changed
:22:27. > :22:31.much in that time? There has been an enormous change. We have the
:22:31. > :22:40.most advanced equality loss in the world. People come from China to
:22:40. > :22:43.speak about how we work. The BNP was decimated a couple of weeks ago
:22:43. > :22:53.in the local elections while the Right are advancing across the
:22:53. > :22:57.continent. I have a work, rest and play Test. We ask people, would you
:22:57. > :23:01.mind having a female boss, and neighbour of a different race,
:23:01. > :23:06.would you mind if your daughter married someone of a different
:23:06. > :23:11.religion? The numbers now are dramatically different to 10 years
:23:11. > :23:17.ago. You struggle to find anyone who has worries about those issues.
:23:17. > :23:22.You are stepping down. Looking back, what is your greatest regret?
:23:22. > :23:28.public official would say that everything has gone perfectly. But
:23:28. > :23:33.you learn. If I had to pinpoint one single thing, I wish that when I
:23:33. > :23:39.took over 10 years ago I had been more aggressive on the issue of
:23:39. > :23:44.trans-racial adoption. If I had ordered an inquiry into that at the
:23:44. > :23:49.time, I think it would have shown clearly that the life chances of
:23:49. > :23:53.children would have been much better in a family of any race,
:23:53. > :23:59.compared to staying in care. We would have then been able to change
:23:59. > :24:02.the policy in local authorities 10 years ago. My personal regret is I
:24:02. > :24:08.think that hundreds, maybe thousands of children would now be
:24:08. > :24:13.in families, who got stuck in the care system. If I had to do
:24:13. > :24:18.something different, I would do something about that. To be clear,
:24:18. > :24:22.these are very often black or Asian children who were not adopted by
:24:22. > :24:26.white families because there was a sort of hostility to a white
:24:26. > :24:31.families taking children from different cultural backgrounds.
:24:31. > :24:37.Because they are trapped in the care system, they are likelier to
:24:37. > :24:42.stay institutionalised and run into trouble later on. I did my first
:24:42. > :24:47.film on this 30 years ago. It shows that being in the care system is
:24:47. > :24:52.the surest indicator that you will end up in crime, in drugs, that you
:24:52. > :24:57.will be unemployed, and that your children will repeat your
:24:57. > :25:02.experience. It has always been like that. If we had been more
:25:02. > :25:06.aggressive on this issue, we could have transformed the lives of many
:25:06. > :25:11.children. What about the criticisms that have been made of the
:25:11. > :25:17.Commission itself, most recent by the Home Secretary, saying it has
:25:17. > :25:22.not made the more -- the best use of money. You set up an advice line
:25:22. > :25:30.and not many people have used it. You have come under criticism for
:25:30. > :25:34.being too domineering as a boss. This work is a conflict zone. This
:25:34. > :25:42.is an area in which there are strong opinions, there are
:25:42. > :25:48.passionate issues, life-and-death issues. It would not be surprising
:25:48. > :25:52.if one did not collect enemies and so on. Show me someone who has no
:25:52. > :25:58.enemies, and I will show you someone who has never made a
:25:58. > :26:03.decision. I spoke to the Home Secretary on Friday. Peace has
:26:03. > :26:07.broken out and we all believe that we're going in the right direction.
:26:07. > :26:11.We have solved some of the problems the commission had to begin with.
:26:12. > :26:18.What would you say to those who it say that it is all about public
:26:18. > :26:24.mood, and you do not really need a commission, a public body. Why have
:26:24. > :26:28.the organisation at all? Let me deal with one practical point. The
:26:28. > :26:35.only thing that matters in Britain today is the economy, and can we
:26:35. > :26:40.fix it? Interesting research from the United States shows that anti
:26:40. > :26:45.discriminating legislation, properly enforced, has made a
:26:45. > :26:52.positive 17 % difference in America's GDP over the last seven
:26:52. > :26:55.years. That has to be the priority for my successor. We cannot have
:26:55. > :27:04.discrimination shutting people out of the labour market and from
:27:04. > :27:11.contributing. Deer subjects which have been in the newspaper review
:27:11. > :27:16.it. -- two subjects. The first is this grooming case. Where do you
:27:16. > :27:22.stand on the point that there is a cultural problem in the Pakistani
:27:22. > :27:27.community about how men regard white women. The commissioner will
:27:27. > :27:33.review this, but the most important thing about this at is that these
:27:33. > :27:40.men are criminals. Anyone who says that most of the men are Asian and
:27:40. > :27:45.most of the children are white, that is not relevant. It is fatuous.
:27:45. > :27:51.When the children's commissioner does her report, I will be looking
:27:51. > :27:55.to see answers to two questions. These that are closed communities.
:27:55. > :28:00.I worry that there were people who knew what was going on and did not
:28:00. > :28:05.say anything, either because they were frightened or because they
:28:05. > :28:12.thought, that is just how white people at their children carry on.
:28:12. > :28:17.The other thing, do any of the agencies who arcane for these
:28:17. > :28:20.children, did they take the view that being aggressively
:28:20. > :28:25.interventionist to save these children, would that lead to the
:28:25. > :28:29.demonisation of some group because of the ethnicity? If either thing
:28:29. > :28:35.is true, it is a national scandal and something that we need to deal
:28:35. > :28:41.with urgently. What about the gay marriage issue, because you cover
:28:41. > :28:48.the whole range of equality. Some people think this is one issue too
:28:48. > :28:54.far? They are saying it is one issue too far because it will take
:28:54. > :28:59.time. It will only take time if they make a fuss about it. Actually,
:28:59. > :29:05.they have lost this one. The country thinks, what is the fuss,
:29:05. > :29:09.get on with it? A lot of the people who are making a fuss, religious
:29:09. > :29:14.groups, I have to say that for those people there are many more
:29:14. > :29:19.important things to object to. If we want to make this country at
:29:20. > :29:25.better country, campaigning against gay marriage is not top of the
:29:25. > :29:33.agenda. It is not even important. To the people who say that marriage
:29:33. > :29:35.has been this way it for centuries, remember that I was born into a
:29:35. > :29:41.world where a marriage in the United States between someone like
:29:41. > :29:46.me and someone of a different colour was not possible. My message
:29:46. > :29:53.to David Cameron and friends is to get on with it. My message to other
:29:53. > :29:57.people is, get over it. Get on with something that really matters. This
:29:57. > :30:01.is not the ground on which to fight the battle for the place of
:30:01. > :30:11.religion in public society. It is an important battle but this is not
:30:11. > :30:17.We started the programme looking forward to the Olympic Torch Relay,
:30:17. > :30:21.which begins in the UK on Saturday. And a few days ago, the athlete who
:30:21. > :30:24.will carry the torch on its first leg in Cornwall was named. He is
:30:24. > :30:29.Ben Ainslie, three times Olympic gold medallist, who is competing
:30:29. > :30:31.once again in the Finn Sailing Class. I caught up with him in
:30:31. > :30:35.Falmouth, where he has been training and asked him just how
:30:35. > :30:41.much of an honour it was to be asked to begin the Olympic Torch
:30:41. > :30:46.Relay. It is going to be an amazing honour. I think really it is a
:30:46. > :30:54.fantastic moment for the country - to have the first moments of the
:30:54. > :31:04.Olympic flame in the United Kingdom. For core more as well, to have
:31:04. > :31:11.those first moments of the flame on home soil. -- Cornwall. So, how are
:31:11. > :31:17.you with the running? You are not a runner yourself. A sprint, Jock,
:31:17. > :31:25.what will happen? I have to get 200 metres down the road. I was
:31:25. > :31:32.thinking of calling a Usain Bolt to get some tips but iOS think even a
:31:32. > :31:35.sailor like me can make it down the road. -- I think. You are going for
:31:35. > :31:43.your 5th Olympic medal. You are no stranger to the tension beginning
:31:43. > :31:47.to build up. How are the athletes feeling now? This period is the
:31:47. > :31:53.most critical in an Olympic campaign. You are coming down to
:31:53. > :31:59.the final days of training - every day camps. You need to stay healthy
:31:59. > :32:05.and make those days count. There will be a lot of tense athletes
:32:05. > :32:11.around at the moment. Really, it is also extremely exciting that the
:32:11. > :32:16.Olympics are so close. You are sailing again in the Finn class
:32:16. > :32:20.boat. How are the preparations going? The preparations are going
:32:20. > :32:27.well. I had a few issues at the beginning of the year with a back
:32:27. > :32:32.injury which I have overcome. I am back sailing 100%. The world
:32:32. > :32:36.championships start very soon in Cornwall. I'm looking forward to
:32:36. > :32:41.that. Back up to Weymouth and Portland on the Olympic waters and
:32:41. > :32:48.getting ready for big games. Back in the world championships in Perth,
:32:48. > :32:55.there were extraordinary pictures. A media boat got in the way and to
:32:55. > :32:59.reveal let them have it! I think that was definitely a once in a
:32:59. > :33:04.lifetime experience. It was a very difficult situation, very
:33:04. > :33:12.frustrating. It should not have happened and I over-reacted. You
:33:12. > :33:18.learn from these things and move on. He is hoping for calmer waters this
:33:18. > :33:21.time around. Thank you very much indeed. The only person who is
:33:21. > :33:24.probably under more pressure than the athletes is the man who, more
:33:24. > :33:27.than anyone else, is responsible for making London 2012 happen. Lord
:33:27. > :33:30.Coe, Sebastian Coe, is chair of the London Organising Committee of the
:33:30. > :33:33.Games. He is the one ultimately responsible for preparing and
:33:33. > :33:42.staging the Olympics. Presumably he has to answer to the IOC if
:33:42. > :33:47.anything goes wrong. Sebastian Coe is with me. So much to talk about.
:33:47. > :33:52.Let's start with one other things that gets people hot under the
:33:52. > :33:56.collar - the tickets. It is said almost two-thirds of the tickets in
:33:56. > :34:01.the main venue for the top events are actually not available to the
:34:01. > :34:08.public. They are there for the big wigs and corporate sponsors. That
:34:08. > :34:13.seems a very high proportion. of all the tickets available - the
:34:13. > :34:16.11 million tickets available - are in hands of the British public. We
:34:16. > :34:22.make that commitment at the beginning of this process and, at
:34:22. > :34:27.the end of the process, we will deliver it. There are big ticket
:34:27. > :34:32.events where, a large chunk of the stadium, is taken up by media as
:34:32. > :34:37.well. The 100 metres ceremonies and things like that. The most
:34:37. > :34:42.important promise that we have committed to was that 75% of the
:34:42. > :34:47.tickets will be going to the British public. A lot of people
:34:47. > :34:51.perhaps, if they are lucky enough to get a ticket allocation at all,
:34:51. > :35:01.and they find it is for and no doubt where the butt of school
:35:01. > :35:04.
:35:04. > :35:07.sport at an early stage, will be disappointed. -- are you
:35:07. > :35:14.disappointed with the number of people who will not be able to go
:35:14. > :35:20.there? When you have 2 million people chasing a -- 200 million
:35:20. > :35:25.people chasing 23 million tickets, there will be disappointment. There
:35:25. > :35:30.was disappointment. That is why, since the opening round of ticket
:35:30. > :35:34.sales, we have committed to getting as many people from the initial
:35:34. > :35:40.ballots across the line. That is what Friday and Saturday it of this
:35:41. > :35:47.week were about. 25,000 people did not get tickets in the first and
:35:47. > :35:53.second rounds. That is why we gave them 31 hours. At 11 o'clock this
:35:53. > :35:58.morning, there will be access to 9 million tickets. The overall point
:35:58. > :36:03.is that there has never been a ticket in the history of sports
:36:03. > :36:06.tickets that has ever had such an extraordinary demand. We committed
:36:06. > :36:15.to three important things - the first was to make sure of the
:36:15. > :36:21.venues were full. We will achieve that. Affordable prices - two
:36:21. > :36:25.thirds are �50 or under. If you look at any Premiership match today,
:36:25. > :36:30.back bench marks pretty well. As an organisation that raises a large
:36:30. > :36:36.chunk of money from the private sector, we had to hit revenue
:36:36. > :36:42.targets. We are on stream to do that. There is a sense that there
:36:42. > :36:46.is a corporate hangover over the Games. For a lot of people it is
:36:46. > :36:52.slightly symbolised by what appears to have been a heavy handedness
:36:52. > :36:59.about the use of even something like London 2012 and the local
:36:59. > :37:03.bakers who want to put London 2012 on than doughnuts. If I said it was
:37:03. > :37:08.the Andrew Marr Show London 2012 show, you could have me, and led
:37:08. > :37:14.off. I probably could not because the BBC up their rights holder. In
:37:14. > :37:19.protecting those sponsors who come to the table with lots of money to
:37:19. > :37:24.stage these Games, the operating budget is, in large part, our
:37:24. > :37:30.ability to stage the Games, is in large part based on our ability to
:37:30. > :37:35.bring sponsors to the table. We have done that. The BBC is a rights
:37:35. > :37:39.holder. We would be protecting you from the thought that other
:37:39. > :37:45.broadcasters... Of your organisation from the thought that
:37:45. > :37:49.other broadcasters might be ambition what you have paid for and
:37:49. > :37:57.delivered. What about local bakers who want to put something on their
:37:57. > :38:04.doughnuts and cannot? Our first point of call has not been
:38:04. > :38:08.litigation. By protecting these brands and protecting the companies
:38:08. > :38:13.that have put money into the Games, we are also protecting the tax
:38:13. > :38:19.payer. If we do not reach those targets, be tax payer is the
:38:19. > :38:25.guarantor of last resort. What you have to do is deliver a Games which
:38:25. > :38:30.works. Everyone needs to see it as a success. What about the longer
:38:30. > :38:35.term legacy? It is great for couch potatoes but there is a real worry
:38:35. > :38:39.that there is not going to be enough of a legacy. Kelly Holmes
:38:39. > :38:43.was talking about young people in playgrounds not doing enough. Will
:38:43. > :38:48.there be something this country will remember and change the
:38:48. > :38:54.national attitude in any way to sport? That is why I went to
:38:54. > :38:57.Singapore. I could not see, in my lifetime, a better vehicle for
:38:57. > :39:01.encouraging and inspiring young people to take up sport. It is
:39:01. > :39:05.always a challenge. I have never doubted the biggest challenge
:39:05. > :39:11.outside of delivering 26 simultaneous world championships,
:39:11. > :39:15.over the course of 12 of days, I have never doubted the biggest
:39:15. > :39:19.challenge outside a project manager was to make sure that, in 10 years'
:39:19. > :39:24.time, Ince -- in the unlikely event I am talking to you about where we
:39:24. > :39:30.have got to, that we are able to look back and say, yes, more young
:39:30. > :39:34.people are playing sport by yes, the community we have already
:39:34. > :39:41.transformed in East London is still working and in a sustainable way,
:39:41. > :39:46.and that the cross any sliver of that legacy that we are delivering.
:39:46. > :39:52.That is the challenge. We had the torch over at the end of these
:39:52. > :39:58.games. Whether or not that happens is, in large part, due to local,
:39:58. > :40:03.national and political energy. A lot of things are in place. I spoke
:40:03. > :40:08.to 22,000 kits the other night and the eve of the school games.
:40:08. > :40:12.Because we have seen very good flight on the wall documentary
:40:12. > :40:20.about this, do you know the difference between legacy and
:40:20. > :40:24.sustainability? -- a fly-on-the- wall documentary. Yes, I too.
:40:24. > :40:27.you very much indeed. Of course, the most important factor at the
:40:27. > :40:30.Olympics, like any major event, is going to be security. Protecting
:40:30. > :40:33.the venues by land, water and air is going to be a huge task.
:40:33. > :40:36.Recently we have seen sites allocated for missile launchers and
:40:36. > :40:41.13,000 military personnel are going to be on duty. So how confident can
:40:41. > :40:43.we be that London 2012 will be safe? Joining me to talk about that,
:40:43. > :40:53.and some other political issues is the Defence Secretary, Philip
:40:53. > :40:59.Hammond. Can I just start off, we have heard a lot about missile
:40:59. > :41:04.sites around London and so on? What actually happens if there is a
:41:04. > :41:08.plane coming across that is not responding to air traffic control
:41:09. > :41:13.that the military is worried about. We have missiles to take it down
:41:13. > :41:22.for us of who takes that decision? We have a well-rehearsed plan for
:41:22. > :41:27.dealing with road aircraft 24/ 7. During the Olympics there will be a
:41:27. > :41:31.prohibited zone around the Games centres in London. The additional
:41:31. > :41:37.resources we are deploying are because the small size of that so
:41:37. > :41:41.means the decision-making time will be significantly reduced. The whole
:41:41. > :41:47.process of identifying a rogue aircraft and dealing with it
:41:47. > :41:56.becomes much more time compressed. Whose duty is it to say, yes, Sue
:41:56. > :42:02.that down? Ultimately the Prime Minister. -- and shoot that down.
:42:02. > :42:06.There is a group of people who are able to do that. I will not say who
:42:06. > :42:12.they are for obvious reasons. There is a well-rehearsed routine for
:42:12. > :42:17.such events. This is meant to be a celebratory events that everyone
:42:17. > :42:23.enjoys. These are still tough times. It will feel too much like a ring
:42:23. > :42:27.of steel around the Olympic site. Absolutely not. All games since the
:42:27. > :42:34.Atlanta Games have had a significant security presence
:42:34. > :42:39.around them. We did a big live exercise with the military over
:42:39. > :42:43.last weekend and through part of this preceding week. The idea is
:42:43. > :42:48.that the military will fade into the background. We wanted to be a
:42:48. > :42:52.first full of sport and culture. The military will be there and we
:42:52. > :42:57.want people to know they are in the background to provide ultimate
:42:57. > :43:07.reassurance. Can I ask whether this is in response to a specific
:43:07. > :43:09.
:43:09. > :43:14.threat? Is there something you are worried about? It is the fact that
:43:14. > :43:18.there is no specific threat to the Games. Another area of military
:43:18. > :43:24.controversy is the absolute you turn the Government has done on the
:43:24. > :43:28.fighter jets that are going to go on the new aircraft. -- U-turn.
:43:28. > :43:33.David Cameron and Conservatives in general roundly mocked the Labour
:43:33. > :43:39.Party for taking the wrong decision, saying they had the wrong claims -
:43:39. > :43:42.silly fools - we will put it right. Now, you are going back to the
:43:42. > :43:48.Labour Party version of the plane and you are spending an enormous
:43:48. > :43:53.amount of money reversing policy. It is a huge embarrassment.
:43:53. > :43:59.facts have changed and we have changed our minds about the right
:43:59. > :44:07.decision. The bizarre decision that the Labour Party took was to buy
:44:07. > :44:12.65,000 tonnes -- 65,000 tonne carriers and not have the ability
:44:12. > :44:18.for aircraft to take off. That is the big, historically an unanswered
:44:18. > :44:22.question. Why did Labour do that? Our job is to make the best
:44:22. > :44:29.possible military use of them without busting the Budget.
:44:29. > :44:34.have said, we will go back to these planes. Can you explain how much
:44:34. > :44:41.extra money that will cost the country? I said on Thursday, we
:44:41. > :44:47.have spent about �40 million on design work - on fitting cats and
:44:47. > :44:55.tracks to the carriers. There may be �10 million of exit costs around
:44:55. > :45:02.the project. Fitting ski runs could cost another �50 million. We are
:45:02. > :45:07.looking at �100 million on a 10 billet -- �10 billion project.
:45:07. > :45:12.said in terms of the cuts and austerity, it is finished in terms
:45:12. > :45:17.of the armed forces. You have said it is finished as far as the Civil
:45:17. > :45:23.Service is concerned. That will alarm a lot of Conservatives.
:45:23. > :45:28.me be clear what I said. The announcements we have already made
:45:28. > :45:30.about reductions in manpower are as far as we need to go to balance the
:45:30. > :45:37.budget. There are further reductions in the size of the Army
:45:37. > :45:40.to get down to the 82,000 we have announced. There will be further
:45:40. > :45:43.tranches of Civil Service redundancies to get the Civil
:45:43. > :45:47.Service than to the size we have announced. I was answering a
:45:47. > :45:51.question about whether we will have to do another round in the future.
:45:51. > :45:56.We have announced the size of the MoD and the size of the Army that
:45:56. > :46:00.will be sustainable for the future. We have heard some bad news this
:46:00. > :46:06.morning about Army deaths in Afghanistan. What can you tell us
:46:06. > :46:12.about that? It is still early days. With these incidents, the
:46:12. > :46:15.information that comes in at first is often infused. I would send up
:46:15. > :46:23.my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the airmen
:46:23. > :46:30.and God's men who were killed. What appears to have happened is that an
:46:30. > :46:35.Afghan police officer opened fire on a mentoring team - support team
:46:35. > :46:41.- working with the Afghan police. One of the assailants was killed,
:46:41. > :46:45.we think, by other Afghan police officers and one escaped. That goes
:46:45. > :46:51.directly to the criticism many people are making of this war,
:46:51. > :46:56.which is, we keep being told that our forces are doing good and are
:46:56. > :47:01.preparing Afghanistan's for secure and independent future. The people
:47:01. > :47:11.we are supposed to be training, some of them turn round and attack
:47:11. > :47:15.
:47:15. > :47:20.International terrorists were launching attacks on our society.
:47:20. > :47:26.In five years' time, will it be again? That is the mission we have
:47:26. > :47:31.embarked on, making sure that the insurgency is controlled, that the
:47:31. > :47:38.Afghan security forces can control the country when we end our combat
:47:38. > :47:43.role in 2014. To put this into context, the British forces water
:47:43. > :47:48.alongside Afghan forces every day, with thousands and thousands of
:47:48. > :47:54.contacts with them every day. This country has an insurgency going on
:47:54. > :47:58.within, and sadly, these events occur. We do not know what the
:47:58. > :48:02.motive was yet, we do not know if this is someone who had infiltrated
:48:03. > :48:07.the police, or whether it was a policeman who simply had a
:48:08. > :48:13.grievance. Remember, this is a society where people traditionally
:48:13. > :48:18.settle grievances by violence. Let's turn to this society where we
:48:18. > :48:21.have less of that. There is a big argument going on about the
:48:21. > :48:28.direction of the Government and whether the Government is spending
:48:29. > :48:33.enough time focusing on the growth of the economy. When it comes to it
:48:33. > :48:36.gay marriage, is that something the Government should be focusing on,
:48:36. > :48:42.or should it be dropped so we can get on with the rest of the
:48:42. > :48:45.business? The answer is in the middle. It is not the number one
:48:46. > :48:51.priority if you stop people in the street and ask them what their
:48:51. > :48:57.concerns are. They will speak about economic growth, the level of the
:48:57. > :49:03.wages they are earning, rising prices, crime, immigration. Should
:49:03. > :49:08.you press on with the legislation on gay marriage or not? There is no
:49:08. > :49:12.legislation in the Queen's Speech. Did is a consultation going on, and
:49:12. > :49:18.we should listen to what people are saying in response to that
:49:18. > :49:23.consultation. The Government has got too sure that it is focused on
:49:23. > :49:28.the things that matter to people in this country, not just the short
:49:28. > :49:32.term things, but the long term things as well, the education
:49:32. > :49:39.system, the welfare system, which is like turning around a
:49:39. > :49:45.supertanker, and making sure that the welfare system pays. These are
:49:45. > :49:49.things that will affect the long- term prosperity of our people.
:49:49. > :49:53.reform of the House of Lords matter to people in the street? If you ask
:49:53. > :49:57.people about the principle that the people who govern them should be
:49:57. > :50:02.elected by them, I am sure that almost everyone would agree with
:50:02. > :50:08.that. If you ask them if it is the most important thing on their
:50:08. > :50:12.agenda, they will tell you it is not. If you tell them we should
:50:12. > :50:18.sacrifice legislation to strengthen families, to deal with crime and
:50:18. > :50:21.support growth in the economy, if we should sacrifice that to force
:50:21. > :50:25.through controversial constitutional legislation, I am
:50:25. > :50:32.sure that most people would say, focus on the things that matter to
:50:32. > :50:36.us in our every day lives. legislation on gay marriage and a
:50:36. > :50:46.great argument about the future of the house of Lords are things, that
:50:46. > :50:47.
:50:47. > :50:52.India view, -- that in your view, should be in the pending tray?
:50:52. > :50:56.will proceed, the legislation will proceed, but the question will be
:50:56. > :50:59.to what extent the Government should be prepared to clear the
:50:59. > :51:08.decks of everything else to deal with a long, and possibly complex
:51:08. > :51:11.war of attrition over this very complex piece of legislation. I
:51:11. > :51:17.think the public would expect us to take a balanced view and to get it
:51:17. > :51:22.through if we have time, but not to throw everything else out if that
:51:22. > :51:27.is what is required. You have a brand new opposite number in Paris
:51:27. > :51:33.and they want to get their troops out of Paris pretty fast. Do you
:51:33. > :51:37.have concerns about that? concern is that the NATO countries
:51:37. > :51:42.went into Afghanistan together and we always said we would, it
:51:42. > :51:47.together. It is important for alliance cohesion that we have a
:51:47. > :51:51.properly structured exit, but it is clear that in parts of Afghanistan,
:51:51. > :51:58.the security situation is already such that it is possible for troops
:51:58. > :52:03.to withdraw from a fighting role. The area that the French occupy in
:52:03. > :52:06.their support to the Afghans is a relatively quiet area, so it
:52:06. > :52:11.probably will be possible for the French to withdraw their troops
:52:11. > :52:15.over sensible period of time, without any sensible damage to the
:52:16. > :52:18.effort. Thank you very much for speaking to us. Now over to Riz
:52:18. > :52:20.Lateef for the news headlines. The Ministry of Defence has
:52:20. > :52:25.confirmed that two NATO servicemen killed in Afghanistan yesterday
:52:25. > :52:28.were British. The incident happened in the Lashkar Gar district. The
:52:28. > :52:31.men, a soldier from the 1st Battalion, the Welsh Guards, and an
:52:31. > :52:34.airman from the Royal Air Force, were providing security for a
:52:34. > :52:39.meeting with local officials when they were shot and killed by
:52:39. > :52:44.members of the Afghan Police Force. The Defence Secretary told this
:52:44. > :52:49.prop -- told this programme it is believed that they were shot by V8
:52:49. > :52:52.members of the Afghan police. He also spoke about the security
:52:52. > :52:59.effort for the Olympics this summer and confirmed there was no specific
:52:59. > :53:06.threat to the game -- to the Olympics, and that the military
:53:06. > :53:10.would fade into the background. Trevor Phillips has said that it is
:53:10. > :53:14.fatuous to say that the men involved... Trevor Phillips told us
:53:14. > :53:22.programme that he was worried that in a closed community other people
:53:22. > :53:26.may have been afraid to speak out about what was happening.
:53:26. > :53:30.That's all for now. The next news on BBC One is at 11 o'clock. Back
:53:30. > :53:32.to Andrew in a moment, but first a look at what's coming up after this
:53:32. > :53:36.programme. We will be asking if the Pakistani
:53:36. > :53:41.community should put its house in order following the Asian grinning
:53:41. > :53:47.case. And should you imply a private detective to spy on your
:53:47. > :53:51.partner? This woman started a female detective agency for people
:53:51. > :53:55.to do just that. And should doctors be forced to act against
:53:55. > :53:58.conscience? Now, as we heard from Jude Kelly at
:53:58. > :54:01.the beginning, there's a lot more to the Olympic experience than just
:54:01. > :54:04.sport, and few artists are going to be as busy during this summer as
:54:04. > :54:07.Damon Albarn. He's going to be performing his latest work, Dr Dee,
:54:07. > :54:17.at the English National Opera. And there'll also be a little more of
:54:17. > :54:18.
:54:18. > :54:22.this. # He lives in a house, a very big house... Yes, the fringes may
:54:22. > :54:25.not be quite as floppy as when they duelled with Oasis for number one
:54:25. > :54:27.in the charts. But the legendary Britpoppers Blur will perform what
:54:27. > :54:30.is possibly their last ever gig at the Olympics Closing Concert.
:54:30. > :54:37.This is going to be a brand-new Blur song that you will be belting
:54:37. > :54:43.out at the end of the Olympics. Now? No, at the end of the
:54:43. > :54:49.Olympics. Yes, maybe a couple of brand-new songs. This may or may
:54:49. > :54:55.not be the last Blur. Definitely the last. Definitely the last
:54:55. > :54:59.concert. What we will hear from you in a minute is Dr Dee, which is
:54:59. > :55:07.back to an earlier Elizabethan age. It is our rock opera that you have
:55:07. > :55:13.written? Not rock. I do not even know if you could strictly collet
:55:13. > :55:21.and opera. I would like to call it a song cycle with dramatic bits.
:55:21. > :55:27.Her dramatic song-cycle. At the English National Opera? Yes. We did
:55:27. > :55:33.it in Manchester and it was more of a workshop, T pooed his record out
:55:33. > :55:39.as a sampler, a taster for people. It will be different for people who
:55:39. > :55:44.are used to Blur. Yes, but when it starts in the Colosseum in June, I
:55:44. > :55:51.hope it will have a proper narrative and feel like an opera.
:55:51. > :55:58.Briefly, you are taking a train to Africa? I am taking a train around
:55:58. > :56:05.the UK in September, the African Express. It to raise money?
:56:05. > :56:12.just to bring musicians from Africa, and visit places like Bradford and
:56:12. > :56:15.Swansea. Thank you. That's almost it for this week.
:56:15. > :56:18.When we return next Sunday, the torch relay will be underway and
:56:18. > :56:21.the Olympic flame finally on these shores. Plenty more from us then,
:56:21. > :56:23.from the worlds of politics and culture. But now I'll leave you
:56:23. > :56:33.with Damon Albarn performing O Spirit, Animate Us from his album,
:56:33. > :57:01.
:57:01. > :57:11.Dr Dee. From me and all the team, # Oh, Father. # We who have become.
:57:11. > :57:12.
:57:12. > :57:22.# Hallowed by the night. # Our demons done. # Father, give your
:57:22. > :57:53.
:57:53. > :58:03.# Oh, Father. # Not be tied. # Keep my spirit strong. # The charge of
:58:03. > :58:11.