15/07/2012 The Andrew Marr Show

Good morning. There's only one thing that matters

today, St Swithin's Day, and that's the weather. Folklore says that if

it rains today, then it will rain for the next forty days. If not,

then 40 days of clear skies. But who was St Swithin, you may be

asking? An Anglo-Saxon bishop, famous after his death for the

miracles performed by various bits of his body, distributed round

different cathedrals. Apparently when workmen maliciously broke an

old woman's eggs on Winchester bridge he put them back together

again. Also, his name probably translates as pig man. I thought

I'd bring this important information because I have a

feeling we'll be quoting today's weather, whatever it is, for some

time. Joining me today for our review of

the Sunday newspapers, arch- eurosceptic, leader of UKIP, Nigel

Farage, and after a busy week in the Commons, the Times

parliamentary sketch writer, Ann Treneman.

Of course one of the reasons we're so interested in the weather is

that it's less than a fortnight now to the London Olympics, claimed to

be the biggest peacetime project we've ever undertaken in the UK. So

how will we do? Not enough security people, and the organisers have had

to call in the troops. Tomorrow, teams and officials from all over

the world will start pouring in to London. Will Heathrow and the

transport system cope? Well this morning, we're going to hear from

Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. How

confident is he that this country can put on the greatest show on

earth? We'll talk too about the troubled

coalition government with the former Liberal Democrat leader Sir

Ming Campbell, who held the British 100 metres record in his day and

competed in the 1964 Olympics. But today it's the row over Lords

reform that's in the news. Can a deal be done over the summer? Will

his party or the Tory rebels climb down?

We'll be surveying the political scene in the United States where

the presidential election is looking very tight. The civil

rights campaigner and Obama supporter Jesse Jackson discusses

the President's chances of winning a second term.

Finally, with one eye nervously squinting at the clouds, we'll be

going live to the Latitude Festival in Suffolk where the line-up

includes the man who'll play us out, the brilliant Chinese pianist, Lang

More from him and all the others later but first the news with Naga

Munchetty. Good morning. It's been confirmed

that inspectors raised concerns 10 months ago about security planning

for the Olympic Games. The Home Office says all the issues were

resolved by February, but last week the private security contractor G4S

admitted it was unable to supply enough guards. It's since emerged

that the Home Office Minister James Brokenshire has been attending

meetings with representatives of G4S since late June, as Ben

Geoghegan reports. G4S admit they have failed to deliver and they

have apologised, but should ministers have stepped in earlier

to deal with the short fall in security guards for the Games?

were receiving reassurances from G4S until very recently. The

absolute gap in the numbers was only crystallised finally yesterday.

The Home Secretary says the full extent of the problems at G4S only

became clear last Wednesday, even though a minister has been having

daily meetings with the company for the last three weeks. Labour says

there are serious questions about how carefully ministers were

monitoring the plans. Today it has been revealed that the Home Office

was warned about other problems with security planning in September

last year, but the Government says those issues were dealt with. 3500

extra soldiers have been drafted in to plug the gap left by G4S. Some

of them are already being deployed. The Olympics will soon be under way

but questions about the security plans are likely to resurface when

the Games have ended. UN observers who have visited the

site of a mass killing in Syria believe pro-government forces had

been targeting opposition activists and army deserters. The opposition

claim 200 people were killed in a government assault on the village

of Tremseh on Thursday. Jim Muir sent this report from neighbouring

Lebanon. You may find some of the images in his report distressing.

It took them 48 hours to get there, but United Nations observers

finally made it to Tremseh to try to answer the question, was it a

massacre? What has been clearly established so far is that

Government forces launched a bitter attack on Tremseh on Thursday using

heavy weapons, tanks and helicopters. After a preliminary

visit to the village by a big team of military and civilian inspectors,

the UN mission said the scale of casualties was still not clear but

they said the attack appeared to target specific housing and

buildings used by army deserters and opposition activists. That runs

counter to some of the village ofs' records. They came from all

directions with tanks and helicopters. They bombarded our

homes and 200 martyrs were killed. The report said there were pools of

blood in some of the targeted houses and a school and five

dwellings had been set on fire. They avoid drawing conclusions, but

the findings certainly do not confirm that there was a wholesale

indiscriminate massacre of civilians as activist initially

reported. It seems to be more in line with the Government's

insistence that they were attacking what they call the nests of

terrorists and rebel hideouts. The team is planning to return to the

village today to continue the investigation. They will try to

find out how many died, who they were and who was responsible.

A British team of plant scientists has won a multi-million-pound grant

to develop genetically modified cereal crops which will grow

without fertiliser. The money comes from the foundation set up by the

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and is one of the biggest ever

investments into GM research in the The Royal College of Surgeons is

calling for changes to the law to stop people without proper medical

qualifications from using the title surgeon. Doctors believe it's wrong

that people without a medical degree who carry out cosmetic

procedures or operations on patients' feet describe themselves

as surgeons. Finally, the rock stars Bruce

Springsteen and Sir Paul McCartney were silenced after defying the

sound curfew at the London concert Hard Rock Calling. Springsteen had

been playing for more than three hours and had exceeded the curfew

by half an hour. Sir Paul had joined Springsteen on stage at the

end of the singer's headline slot in Hyde Park but both stars found

their microphones cut off before they could address the crowds.

That's all from me for now. I'll be back with the headlines just before

10 o'clock. Back to you, Andrew. Nobody is above the law! Now, the

front pages as usual. The Independent on Sunday has that

story, Theresa May warned of the Olympics security fiasco 10 months

ago, they say. The Sunday Times has an interesting story, a leaked

document from the top of the NHS, warning that thousands of doctors

and nurses face the sack unless they accept pretty dramatic changes

to their pay and conditions. The big NHS crisis coming there,

according to the Sunday Times. A very different story on the front

of the Sunday Telegraph. They have named who they say is the killer of

WPC Fletcher, that is in inverted And the Mail on Sunday, a Sudanese

refugees who raped a 12 year-old girl has been allowed to stay in

the UK because returning him what breaches human rights. Lots to talk

about, lots of other stories to talk about. Nigel Qaraaba and Ann

Treneman, thank you for joining us. Where are we starting? -- Nigel

G4S because we are riveted by this. The boss has a marvellous name,

Nick Buckles, and he has given an interview to the Sunday Telegraph.

Nick Buckles buckles? He has buckled in the sense that he talks

about his Olympics nightmare. Basically he will not be taking his

bonus. He has to survive on a tender than �23,000, which must be

really hard for him. -- �823,000. G4S has only supplied 4000 of the

10,000 security personnel. The numbers still do not seem to be

adding up. 3500 troops? We have not got near what is going on. But even

better than that, of the 4000 that he recruited, when he was asked

whether they all spoke English, he said that was a difficult question

to answer! One of the big political stories in the old days was that

the public sector was completely useless and the private sector was

fantastic. After Barclays, G4S, all the rest of it, that no longer

seems to be true. There seems to be something in this country that

means we are no good at running big organisations. Or big events?

go there! Or the Government! That is a story that we have chosen

about the security staff not speaking English. I find that

astonishing. Surely at some point in time, and I guess you will be

asking the Government this later, did they know what kind of mess G4S

were in? That is a big question. don't think that happened on

Wednesday. They say the gap crystalised on Wednesday. We will

talk to Jeremy Hunt about that later. Let's talk politics, lots of

political stories in the newspaper today. Things are going swimmingly.

Not! The David Cameron says they are. I think you know that things

are in crisis went the Prime Minister tells you how great things

are. He has written a piece for the Sunday Times. He says things are OK.

The Lib Dems and thus have disagreements but we are all on the

same side, making progress. -- the Lib Dems and us. Nobody cares about

the House of Lords but the real issue is that if it is scuppered,

will we get the boundary changes that the Conservatives desperately

want? That is a real issue. These are two issues that people in

general do not care about at all. agree. It is amazing that the

economy is tanking, the Olympics are wobbling, this is supposed to

be the summer of fun and Westminster has added with two

issues that people do not care about. I do agree but there is

bigger disagreement between the Lib Dems and the Tories and that is the

Conservative Party itself is split. What a surprise! Well, just think

about this. Since Cameron became the party leader, they have lost

50% of their members. Their great worry is that your lot, UKIP, picks

up support. Ultimately picking up seats. Do you think next election

there will be UKIP members in the House of Commons? I think if we are

able to win the Euro-elections of 2014 then the momentum that gives

us will give asked every chance to get seats in Westminster. This is a

cultural split in the Conservative Family as much as anything else?

it is at historic split. We have seen it over Corn Laws, other

reforms, and people are saying that this guy leads our party but how is

he Conservative? On Europe, immigration, human rights? He is a

liberal conservative. That is not going down very well in the shires.

The worst case scenario has been drawn and that is riveting. The

boundaries Commission does know where. Obama goes nowhere.

theory if they get these changes through. Everything goes wrong and

apparently they will not vote for the boundary changes. It is all

horse-trading. It is possible that the coalition will collapse in

Poisoner's acrimony and Ed Miliband will be Prime Minister by Christmas.

-- poisonous acrimony. He does not so that is terribly like late!

would get some good odds on that. - terribly likely! And this one, a

new deal with the EU and we have to do it right now. This is putting

yet more pressure on the Prime Minister and exposing that split

that we were talking about. should also talk on a similar thing

about the immigration story in the Mail on Sunday. This is the kind of

thing that is causing alarm not just in the country but in the

Conservative Party, too. Don't forget that David Cameron was

looking at a British Bill of Rights and he would deal with this issue.

This is the inability of British courts to send back refugees who

have done terrible crimes in this country. In this case it is a

refugee but very often it is illegal immigrants that have come

here. There are lots of different categories of this but in the end

it is the sheer impotence of the British courts, the British

Parliament and the British Government. Again within the

Conservative Party the vast majority of Tory party members and

voters will say that we need a completely new deal. But once again

it is our old friend Europe that comes back and dominates issue

after issue. We have talked about some of the extreme possibilities

already. Labour in power by Christmas, you mentioned. And you

have got another example. You know that things are going as swimmingly

as David Cameron says when they reprint this picture. Whenever you

see this picture, the knives are out. This is the great picture of

George Osborne looking, we think... Just as he is today? You think he

has gotten a bit better because he has perfected sneering. That is in

training. He is now saying that William Hague is tipped for his job.

Their war Games with his departure and things are in crisis. Roll-on

I can tell you one thing, there will be plenty of guards at. That

will be the beach volley ball in Whitehall, I think. What the Sunday

Times regards as a very worrying story, here. Because it is a little

cold, some of these girls might have to put on clothing.

Apparently... Leggings. And that means the crowds won't come!

says the Prime Minister is not alone in believing watching women

in bibgeenies is a vital part of watching the Olympic experience!

also have a story about, in the mail of Sunday, a leak about what's

going to be in the closing ceremony. Russell Brand is singing! He's

singing a Sex Pistols song and there will be stripping lollipop

ladies. It must be April 1st. 200 and odd children. It sounds

truly awful. I'm sure it will be wonderful when it happens. You have

to good news story? It is St Swithin's Day. The forecast is it

will rain forever. Whilst it has been a rotten year for many things,

wild flowers, but the big story is it is one of the best years ever

for the beeorchid. We're clutching at straws. A lovely Twist here

about the grape vines in Kent and Sussex saying it has been

disastrous for the graeps. The growers have had to use special

blow dryers. An army out there giving new hair doos. Thank you

both very much. St Swithin's Day. There is one

other possibility we haven't mentioned so far, this great legend

is entirely piffl, and yet, I can't help being interested. Over to

Sarah Keith Lucas in the weather studio. I can't promise you that

the next 40 days will be fine and dry. If they are like today, there

dry. If they are like today, there will be be much better. A bit of a

cool breeze today. Many places have had a fine start to the day with

blue sky and sunshine, if you can remember what that looks like. More

cloud over western Scotland introducing outbreaks of rain.

Manying places staying dry and bright. Heavy showers over the east

of Scotland. We could see a rumble of thunder here. Largely dry for

Northern England with some bright spells. Cloud building over the

afternoon. Some glimpses of blue sky here an there. Fairly decent

conditions for the south-east. A scattering of one or two light

showers moving through quickly. Some sunny spells towards the

south-west. Nothing to write home about with temperatures. Mid-teens.

Most places looking dry in Wales. Perhaps a few passing showers in

the east. Into Northern Ireland, a lot of dry weather with brighter

intervals. Temperatures about 17 degrees. Monday, turning cloudy,

damp and breezy once again. Enjoy the fine weather while it lasts

during the rest of St Swithin's Day. I think you've blown the legend

I think you've blown the legend entirely.

If it will be nice today and rain for the rest of the week it doesn't

work. The latest plan for an 80% elected

chamber in the House of Lords like s like it is expeering painfully

after a huge Tory revolt in the Commons. Cameron will take one pore

try at persuading them. If he can't, what does that mean? Sir Ming

Campbell's with me now. Good morning. Good morning.

coalition agreement says, as I understand it, it has to be a

largely electeded second chamber baseded on PR and that that will be

delivered by the coalition. How important is that? Everything

that's in the coalition agreement is important. But, as you point out,

it is a liberal Government which tried to reform the House of Lords

a00 years ago but wasn't able to do so. It is very important part of

the liberal approach to Government which is to say the dem rattic

prince -- democratic principle should apply in the House of

Commons and the upper House. What do you say to those Conservatives

who say the British public really don't care? Politicians are

obsessed by the opinion polls. The latest about the House of Lords is

something like 70% of the British people think it should be reformed

and reformed based on the democratic principle. So what

happens if it cannot be reformed because Conservative MPs won't have

it? Just remember this. It is not just Conservative MPs you have to

take account of. It is the Labour Party. Although I'm disappointeded

with Conservative MPs who don't believe in reform, I'm rather

dumbfounded by the Labour Party which voted in principle for House

of Lords reform but declined to provide support for the programme

motion which would have allowed us to take that reform through and

implement it. That is because the Labour Party think it is can smash

the coalition on this process? is a pretty ignoble motive. I can't

help thinking Robin Cook... late, lamb enteded Robin Cook.

new - knew more about the House of Lords reform would be spinning in

his grave somewhere. Is it true that if the Conservatives won't

have this, your party won't have the boundary changes which would

give them, it is said, another 20 seats in the election? I'm against

tit for tat politics. In relation to a coalition, it is not pick and

mix or to coin another phrase, coalitions are not just for

Christmas. The purpose of this coalition, as Duchess of

Cambridge's set out in the article -- as David Cameron's set out in

the article in the Times is to restore economic stability. If

there are people around who say we should break the coalition, I ask

them this, do they think the British public would be impressed

by the fact that a minority Government which lasted for three

months would inevitably fall,' be back in the a general election and

the consequences for the markets, confidence in the financial system

severely dented. We are not top of the opinion polls at the moment and

the Tories are 10% behind Labour. That suggests strongly that the

Conservative MPs who want to kill off Lords reform can get away with

it? Not as far as I'm concerned. Because the Prime Minister has -

when you say get away with it, they can... They can block it, they can

fall and life will go on? I don't believe that that. Why not? I was

listening to the review of the papers. It is all doom and gloom.

How many times have you had that week in politics. The recess is

about to arrive. There's a opportunity to put this back

together which will endorse the fact over 400 MPs voted in the

House of Commons this week to reform the House of Lords.

you're a Conservative opponent of this, you now know you can carry on

opposing it after the recess and there will not be any consequences.

I don't think you know that. From what you say that suggests... What

consequences would be there? you're a Liberal Democrat member of

Parliament whose Saturday has been substantially carved up as a result

of proposals for a review of the boundaries, then the idea that you

would simply march into the lobbies in support of the Conservative

Government's particular anxiety to obtain this piece of legislation is

one which may be very hard to swallow. I don't believe that it

can be accepted that we will simply form up in the way some people

think. I think there will be a lot of hard talking going on. So that

threat remains? I don't regard it as a threat. I think these are two

pronged s of the same agreement. I expect the first and second to be

honoured. Presumably, this is a matter of absolutely central

importance? One thing that could happen is both sides of the

coalition could walk away. You could walk away from Lords reform

and the Conservative could walk away from Boundary Commissions?

think both sides will find that difficult. They've committed

themselves. The coalition as a whole should find it difficult. It

is part of the coalition agreement. You can't have a coalition on the

basis of pick and mix. We'll have the things which we now like but

the things that we don't. It has been suggested there may be some

compromise on Lords reform. Getting rid of the remaining hereditary

peers as an interim measure. We've had interim measures for 100 years.

One of the interesting features about this, listen carefully to the

speeches made by Conservative backbenchers opposing reform, not

once did they mention the Democratic Deficit. If you believe

in democracy, this, after all, is a country based on democratic

principles which we seek to export round the world, how can you

justify a second chamber which is not elected on a democratic mandate.

Going ahead, you'll, as a party, stand on a very different manifesto

from the Conservatives at the next election. It could be tuition fees,

House of Lords again. Are you talking quietly to the Labour Party

as well. Are you keeping those channels open? Well, I'm not. I'm

no longer the leader so not directly concerned with these

things. I'm politician of the centre-left. I always have been. I

support a coalition, from which there are people with the sen --

from the centre-right. It is sometimes described as a marriage

of convenience. It is a marriage of inconvenience but it is necessary

in order to restore nick -- economic stability. I hope our men

fess toe will reflect that centre- left Position once we get economic

stability reFord to the future of the UK. Do you reared Ed Miliband

as applauseible, electible, serious leader? It is not for me to

determine whether he is plausible, serious or electable. What I do say

is after this week, it will be very difficult for Labour to claim to be

a progressive party in favour of progressive politics when they used

the question of the programme motion as a means of effectively

doing down for the moment, the whole idea of Lords reform. They

have a lot to answer for. Just quickly, you are on the overall

body overseeing the Olympics. How do you react to the G4S scandal?

The fact so close to the Olympics, they are so lacking in properly

trained people to undertake basic security function? It is

disappointing. You've Jeremy Hunt coming on. He knows rather more

about this than I do. But we've 3,500 members of the British Army.

The one thing we can be certain of is they'll do the job. They are

flexible, adaptable. Follow instructions. A lot of the stuff

they do now abroad is dealing with the public. Patting people down at

checkpoints. So don't panic? Don't panic and they'll do it well.

Ming Campbell, thank you. It is Presidential year in the

Yates. Obama and Mitt Romney are neck and neck. President -- among

those sticking by President Obama is Jessie Jackson. He came into the

studio recently and we began by talking about music, hip hop in

fact, many young black people found an outlet in a culture which is

often criticiseded for being aggressive. But Jessie Jackson told

me there is a more positive side to it. There are some hip-hop ways

which are truly commendable. It is a way out. Music has become a way

out. For so long, musicians just sang and danced. There was a high

degree of political, social consciousness. That sometimes has

frightened them because they expose hypocracy. They expose

contradictions. It is always fascinating to listen to. On the

positive side, you've hugely successful black entrepreneurs, a

black President, you started really in public consciousness at the time

of Martin Luther King and you knew him well. What do you think he

would say now about the progress and lack of progress of black

Americans? The progress side would be, I was arrested trying to use a

public library. We're beyond that now. We were killed and beaten

trying to get the right to vote. We're beyond that now. We have the

social progress. But then there's this huge gap between the real

wealthy, the 1 prs and the 99%. His last act was a organise a poor

people's campaign to occupy the space between the Washington and

Lincoln memorials. We will be measured ultimately by how we

defend the poor and feed the hungry and set the captive free. Too few

have concentrated wealth. Too many are in poverty. Too much violence

in America and too much spent on unnecessary wars. Do you worry

about the polarisation of American politics which seems to have gone

alongside that? There's a great deal of anger? When President Obama

won, it was very redemptive moment for America. Given the years of

slavery, for him to win the election as a black man for the

first time, it was a big step for America. Then came this huge

backlash of attacks on his person. Donald trump challenged his

citizenship, his bit right which was foolishness but it captured

much of the imagination of the Some people on what in Europe is

called the left are concerned with his enthusiasm for drone strikes in

Pakistan. They feel that on foreign policy it has been too mawkish,

particularly there. That is a great concern. We were attacked on 9/11

and America is traumatised by the threat of Al-Qaeda and the threat

of the Taliban and the fear of terrorism and the fear of suicide

bombers. Against that context, he is operating. We hope that the idea

of assassinations and attacks will stop. When you were a presidential

candidate, it seemed to many people that the American presidency had

more power perhaps than it does these days. That the Washington

gridlock had not tightened quite so much as it has since then.

gridlock now is a ideological. There are two ideas in American

politics. The union for which the civil war was fought and States

rights. 150 years after the Civil War was fought in America, they

want to return rights to the States. Many of us could not vote, could

not use public accommodation back then. Barack Obama argues for a

more perfect union, on the Abraham Lincoln side. And I think he will

prevail because he has got a track record and we are better of today

than we were four years ago. -- better off. Four years ago, if

people did not fall in love with Barack Obama, they fell in love

with the idea of Barack Obama. After four years of governing,

people know him as a poised, deliberative, perhaps sometimes

even slightly cool character. Much less a Michelin open and somebody

like Bill Clinton. Do you think America can fall in love with

Barack Obama again? He has brought honour to the office, no disgrace.

He has brought strength to office. A keen intellect. He has brought

two of his progress. We have gone from going out the back door

because of the pressure to making rules again. Albeit slow because

the stimulus has not responded to the size of the crisis. Detroit is

back. It is four years of progress and hope and a line of joy, no

disgrace. Dignity, I am convinced. Jesse Jackson, thank you very much

indeed for joining us. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, talking

to me a while ago. He was in London for a debate about hip-hop culture

which you can see if you're interested on the Google Plus

channel on the internet. Lang Lang's extrovert style has won

him many of fans and he has inspired piano craze in his own

country, China, as well as taking piano music to new audiences around

the world. You may have seen his commanding performance on stage at

the Queen's Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace and this weekend

he is at another unusual venue of the Latitude music and arts venue

in Suffolk. Good morning, Lang Lang. But morning. I can see sunshine

behind you, no rain. -- good morning. The first thing to ask you,

Latitude, like other rock festivals, known for its planned in pop and

rock music and all the rest of it, how does it feel to be bringing

classical music to this audience? am still trying to figure out the

right repertoire to play for our audience today! I just want to say

that it is really cool to be here and we are really lucky with the

weather. It is pretty warm actually. That is good to hear. Presumably it

is part in breaking down the boundaries. Certainly in this

country there is one group of people that have traditionally gone

to classical concerts and different people that go to rock concerts.

Your message is that actually you should go to all sorts of music and

there is no necessary boundary between the two. I think we should

do both. During this season most of the time I play in the concert hall,

and then in the summertime it is a really nice chance to try something

different. Add to communicate classical music with different

groups of audiences. At the Queen's Jubilee concert, which was the last

equivalent, I suppose, you have shown some pretty popular melodies

and tunes, do you feel you have to compromise too much when you are

playing to that kind of mixed audience? Not really. Today are

will be focusing on Sherpao. -- I will be focusing on the Romantic

period. We are doing the same as in a concert hall but with a different

audience. It was the beginning of the Beijing Olympics that shot you

to phone around the world. -- to fame. Presumably all those people

performing at the beginning and end of our Olympics will be looking

forward to the same sort of global audience. Yes. I think the London

Olympics will be amazing. And actually really looking forward to

it. I will be in the audience this time to be in a stadium for the

opening. The level of tension must be enormous. You have gone into it

yourself. Any advice? One of the challenge is in Beijing was the

heat. It was so hot, almost like 37 or 38. But in London, I think, it

will be much better. The weather is much cooler. Just enjoy the time.

It will be one of the best moments in your life. That is a safe

prediction, Lang Lang! What will you be playing at the end of the

show? I will play Hop. To play that it -- to play that study on the

lake will be very relaxing. Thank you for joining us.

Apart from the opening ceremonies and closing ceremonies, 14,000

athletes, 10 million spectators, 30 different venues, when you consider

the scale of the Olympics there were always going to be some

glitches but the problems with G4S that we were talking about a more

serious than that. There is also concern about the transport system.

And also are the games becoming too corporate? -- Games. Jeremy Hunt is

with me now. Welcome. Let's talk about the G4S security problem. Now

we know that the Government were talking to them for months and

months and months about security, it does seem a little strange that

it is only so close to the Games that the full scale of the problem

has become apparent. I will talk about that in a moment but Lang

Lang has got it right and it will be fantastic for the country and we

have to keep things in perspective. Off court we have been monitoring

the situation with G4S and their management told us until last week

that everything was on track. -- of course. When they told last it was

not, we put in place the contingency plan that we have had

in place the whole time as a contingency plan. We are lucky to

have the armed forces that can do this wonderful job, as Sir Ming

Campbell said. I want to say this to the family is coming to the

Olympics. There will be 11,000 troops helping alongside trained

G4S stuff and I am sure the ones we have will be very good to make this

a very safe Olympics. People should put their minds at rest. This will

be a wonderful summer and we will not compromise anything to make

sure it is safe as well. Without putting too much of a damper on it

nonetheless, I am not sure whether it was the fact that ministers were

not asking the right questions of G4S, or whether you were getting

back lies or completely obfuscating replies. Were you pressing them

properly? Nothing is more important from the Government's point of view

than the security side of it. G4S were given this vastly expensive

contract. There have been endless meetings between the Government and

G4S. What was going wrong? Well, we were asking the right questions and

we were being told everything was on track. We thought we must have a

contingency plan in place just in case it is not. The moment we were

told they would not meet the targets, reactivated the plan. We

just think there is a danger... We have talked about the hit that we

sorted out. There is a danger of forgetting the bigger picture.

will come on to that but I want to be clear about that. What are your

feelings, the Government's feelings about it? It is a pretty vast

mistake for a company to be so far out on the numbers of people that

it promises it will bring as train security staff to an event like

this. They ever going to get a contract again from this

Government? Are you angry? What is your reaction? This is not the

moment to be getting into the blame game. G4S have been honourable.

They put up their hands, Nick Buckles has apologised, they will

cover the costs, and they have apologised to the troops being

drafted in at the last moment. I think this is a moment for pulling

together. And it is an amazing project. Can I make this point? I

do not think the Olympics have been reflected in the newspaper

headlines properly. The Olympic Village is the biggest construction

project in Europe and it was completed on time and within budget.

That is a triumph for the British construction industry. At a time

when people are fed up with this kind of politics, this whole

project has been a model of cross- party co-operation with Labour

firing a starting gun and a coalition Karina batten over the

starting line. -- the coalition carrying the batten. We have half

the schools in the country registering a fall Olympics style

games, so more Olympic sport going forward. So you do not feel anger

or betrayal about the behaviour of G4S? It is completely normal that

there will be some contractors on a project of this size that cannot

deliver what they promised. As a minister, you have to make sure

there are contingency plans in place so that the overall project

is not at risk and that is what we have done. Are you happy with the

quality of staff that have been selected? What about the stories of

people that cannot be English in charge of security? Let's be clear.

To be selected you have to pass the security industry qualification,

which means you have to speak English. There is a process going

on. One of the reasons that we have brought in extra help from the

armed forces is because we do not want G4S to be pushing through

people who should not be doing the job. We know that the people they

push through will be good because they have passed the qualifications

and they have done the minimum of five days' training. We have got

these fantastic soldiers and sailors. And if necessary there may

be more coming from the armed services to fill the gap? We have

contingency plans for all eventualities. We are very lucky in

this country. I will just make this one point. If your bag is being

searched by a soldier as you go through to get into the Olympic

Park, I hope people will say thank you because that person may well

have come back from Afghanistan, come back from annual leave and

they do a fantastic job for our country. We are so lucky to have

them. What about the Transport Questions? Will the tube be able to

cope? And the lanes, including from Heathrow, will they work? I have

spoken to people on the front line at Heathrow this morning and people

are getting through the immigration checks. It is busy. Over the next

few weeks we will have the busiest period in Heathrow's history.

London Underground and the buses will be busy and we do not want to

pretend that it will take longer to get around, when we host the

biggest sporting event in the world, but we want people to come with

their families from Norwich, chest and Plymouth, and have a fantastic

day out. Even if they do not have tickets, there will be fantastic

big screens in Hyde Park and other places. It will take a bit longer.

Your message is to come? Come, it will be fun. If you have got

children, you will want them to be able to say that they were there in

this fantastic summer when London had the huge honour of hosting this

amazing sports event. You will want to be part of it in some way or

another. As Lang Lang said, we want to support that. It was a fantastic

British moment when he said it was very warm but he was wearing a

scarf! If prepare for all eventualities! Absolutely. Mark

Rylance was on show a week ago and he said he was not terribly happy

about McDonald's and some of the other big corporate names. We

understand that corporate sponsorship is part of the modern

Olympic world. Some of these big brands are not exactly healthy

eating browns and they are not sending the right message to the

school children involved. Do you have any uneasiness? I would make a

couple of points there. First of all, the Olympics is much stricter

than any other international sport event about branding. There is no

branding on the inside of any of the Olympic venues, which is a

complete change to football, rugby, cricket, everything else. They do

take trouble to make it as uncommercial as possible. But these

sponsors are paying for half the cost of hosting these Olympics. If

they were not doing that, we would have to do it as taxpayers and we

cannot have it both ways. We have to recognise that they are doing a

First time wech' talked since - we've talked since the Leveson

Inquiry. Looking back, do you have any questions over your

relationship with the Murdoch team? Were you a little naive, got too

close to them? I had some sympathy for this bid before I took

responsibility for this it. This was an exhaustive process. When all

the evidence came out, what became clear, I gave evidence for five-

and-a-half hours, because I'd expressed those sympathies I put in

place a process before every big decision I took I sought

independent advice from Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading. I

followed that advice. I hope that has reassured the public. Did you

squirm slightly when you saw those emails and text messages made

public? Of course there are moments when you think things you didn't

expect to be made public are. But the important thing is the

integrity of the decision making process. We did take independent

advice. But also, we've learnt a great deal about how to conduct

these processes in the future. you learned lessons you will carry

with you? Absolutely. We'll wait to see what Lord Justice Leveson said.

The Cabinet secretary's already sent round new guidelines about how

we conduct qais eye judicial situations. We need to keep our

distance from media prop righters. David Cameron's introduced a rule

which says all meetings with media prop righters, editors, by

ministers have to be published. That prance parancey is the best

way of making sure the public know what's happening. Back at the time,

everybody was saying you would be a dead duck, it is all over for

Jeremy Hunt. You've survived thus far. Do you look forward to

maintaining a Cabinet career in the years ahead? I very much hope so.

That's the decision of the Prime Minister. I have to lot of things

I'm very excited about not least the Olympics which will be

fantastic. That's what I'm focusing on at the moment. You came into

this huge row right at the beginning because you feared that

if this bid didn't go through, Britain's media industry would be

harmed. That the whole new range of company that Rupert Murdoch

wanteded to put together was essential to Britain's media

survival. The deal hasn't gone through. He has pulled back in some

respects to the United States, does that mean you are now worried about

the condition of the media and the future of media businesses in

Britain? First of all, ierpl' very proud of our media industry. We

have fantastically high quality television. Some of the highest

quality television in the world and a very robust newspaper industry.

But I've always wanted to make sure they do modernise and recognise

we're in the middle of a huge technology revolution. But, as far

as the bid was concerned, I set those views aside. That was my view

as a seblgtry of state but when I was responsible for the bid itself

I was looking at something different. Did you contemplate

resignation? Think I'm going to have to go? You think about these

things but, in the end, I thought the most important thing for the

public was the integrity of the bid and the fact that I acted

impatienty and followed independent advice. I thought it was very

important that I stayed to make the case so people understood under

huge pressure it was the most important thing the Government got

right. Do you feel you were on the edge? That's what everybody else

thought? It was an experience being at the centre of a media scrum.

That's part of the territory in a democracy. Turning to the coalition

more generally, Lords reform, as it was agreed in the coalition

document, largely 80% elected, 15- year terms, PR etc. Are you

yourself signed up to that? actually would go further. I would

like to have is a stronger House of Lords. I would go for a wholly

elected House of Lords. I think if you give it democratic legitimacy,

it will be stronger. I think that will be good for Parliament and

holding the executive to account. We came to a sensible agreement.

What's your message to those Conservatives who voted against it

on second reading? We need to make the case. I want a strong

Parliament. I happen to believe a strong House of Lords is a good

thing for the whole of Parliament. We talk about the primacy of the

House of Commons. That's because it is wholly elected. Do you think the

Government failed to whip strongly enough? I think they tried very

hard but there are issues which divide parties. The NHS reforms

were a very difficult issue for the Liberal Democrats. We went through

those reforms, made some changes to make it acceptable for people like

Shirley Williams. I hope that's what we'll do with Lords reform.

Find a way to go forward which satszifies their concerns.

heard Menzies Campbell say it will be difficult to go through the

lobbies with boundary change s. If that happens, what's theure for the

coalition. I heard Menzies Campbell say he didn't agree with tit for

tat policies. He went on to talk about Boundary Commissions. We are

in a coalition. The coalition recognises we are two different

parties with two different political traditions but we are

coming together on this issue and many others in the national

interest. When we face the economic crisis that we are facing at the

moment across the whole of Europe, the country needs strong Government.

That's the shared values that underpin the coalition. I think

that will continue. Chances of making it through to the election?

Arm in arm? Shoulder to shoulder? have no doubt that we will. I make

this point. The coalition hasn't just come together because we need

strong Government in tough economic times. We've also got this very

important belief that we need to tackle some of the non-economic

issues that we face in a radical, brave way. You make a choice as a

Government. You govern for popularity, which is what the last

Government did, you may stay ahead in the polls for a long time but

duck a lot of the issues or you take on these issues. The cultural

failure in parts of our education system, the terrible waste of

talent, people stuck in welfare roles. These are deep-seated

problems. We are determined to confront them. That will mean we

have to tough patch and may well mean we're behind in the polls.

has a new Director General, message to him? Everything I've heard about

him suggests to me this is someone who, as a person, is modest, decent

but is passionately commit ed to excellence in programming. I can't

think of anyone better to represent the BBC. What do you think the BBC

needs to do over the next few years to change further? You know, there

are tough economic times. There's going to be cost that is have to be

cuts. That's an incredibly difficult process. There's a big

technology revolution which Mark Thompson was successful as riding.

That will be a very big challenge. Most of all, the BBC has to remain

true to its core values. It is about finding something special and

different that the BBC does in every area that it does. Not always

chasing ratings. One fantastic example of that, a month ago I went

to a concert outside stirlg. That was broadcast on BBC Four. It had

330,000 viewers but it was a fantastic thing for the BBC to be

doing. Timey, there will be a reshuffle in the autumn. Do you

want a different job? I would love to stay where I am. There's a lot

to do with securing the Olympic legacy. You expect to stay?

can't expect anything. It is the gift of the Prime Minister. I love

what I'm doing-the-next couple of months will really show that.

Jeremy Hunt, thank you for joining us. Over to Naga for the news

headlines. The Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt

called on everyone involved in the Olympic s to pull together. Mr Hunt

told us it was completely normal that private companies would

occasionally be unable to deliver on contracts. He said it shouldn't

be made into a political issue. It has been confirmed inspectors

raised concerns ten months ago about security planning for the

games. G4Sed admitted it was unable to supply enough guards. Over 3,000

soldiers have been drafted in to help.

UN observers will furpb to the village of trem say in Syria where

at least 300 people are thought to have been killed. Heavy weaponry

were used. Homes of rebels and activists were targeted. Opposition

supporters claimed unarmed civilians were killed in the attack.

That's it from me for now. The next news on BBC One is at midday. Back

to Andrew in a moment. First, a look at what's coming up after the

show. On Sunday live, magistrates found

John Terry innocent of racial abuse. Should it have gone to court? Is it

wrong to promote contraceptive jabs to women in the developing world

and Jamie Oliver's wife spice on his emails and texts? Is it always

wrong to snoop on your partner? That's all we've time for this

morning. Join me g next Sunday for our last show before the summer