:00:37. > :00:44.Good morning. Two of the most talked about stories this week. The Monty
:00:45. > :00:47.Python team back together again. And that extraordinary story about the
:00:48. > :00:49.Methodist Minister, the Reverend Flowers, whose pastimes included
:00:50. > :00:55.porn, rent boys, and substances such as horse tranquilliser mixed with
:00:56. > :00:58.cocaine. Allegedly. The Crystal Methodist, as one paper calls him
:00:59. > :01:02.today. Not surprisingly, perhaps, he wasn't too good at running a bank.
:01:03. > :01:06.As the Pythons would put it, he's not a vicar, he's just a very
:01:07. > :01:10.naughty boy! We'll be talking to one of the Pythons later. And joining me
:01:11. > :01:13.today for our review of the Sunday newspapers, the Guardian columnist,
:01:14. > :01:17.Polly Toynbee. And Iain Dale, broadcaster and publisher.
:01:18. > :01:20.The opportunity for every child to attend a great school is the "civil
:01:21. > :01:23.rights struggle of our time". So says the Education Secretary who
:01:24. > :01:26.admitted last week that "the odds remained stacked" against young
:01:27. > :01:30.black people, especially those from poor backgrounds. Michael Gove will
:01:31. > :01:35.be here later to explain why he believes that his reforms will bring
:01:36. > :01:38.about "the dream of equality". He's also been having a serious go at the
:01:39. > :01:41.cult of celebrity, and seems particularly angry about the
:01:42. > :01:45.X-Factor's Simon Cowell. Why? We'll find out later.
:01:46. > :01:49.There's a big report out this week on the future of policing. The
:01:50. > :01:53.report is backed by the Labour Party and the Shadow Home Secretary Yvette
:01:54. > :01:56.Cooper will join me later to explain how Labour would spend heavily to
:01:57. > :02:00.boost the number of Bobbies on the beat. Might we also discuss the
:02:01. > :02:03.Co-Op and Reverend Flowers? I think we might.
:02:04. > :02:05.This week also sees the Scottish Government publish its long-awaited
:02:06. > :02:10.White Paper on independence. How will London respond? I'll be joined
:02:11. > :02:14.later by Alistair Carmichael, the new Secretary of State for Scotland,
:02:15. > :02:19.who's been put in the job to be tougher. In a few years from today,
:02:20. > :02:25.will the UK still exist? The Independent on Sunday has a leak
:02:26. > :02:33.saying that Independence Day has been set by the SNP for 2016.
:02:34. > :02:41.John Cleese will be here later as well. But first, the news with Naga
:02:42. > :02:46.Munchetty. Good morning. Iran has agreed to
:02:47. > :02:49.limit the development of its nuclear programme in return for an easing of
:02:50. > :02:53.sanctions, following talks with the US and other world powers in Geneva.
:02:54. > :02:57.The details of the interim deal are still emerging. It aims to give
:02:58. > :03:05.negotiators from all sides time to work on a broader agreement.
:03:06. > :03:08.War, not handshakes between old enemies, seemed the most likely
:03:09. > :03:13.scenario at the start of this year. But a new government in Iran and new
:03:14. > :03:17.attitude in America and the West made the agreement possible. The
:03:18. > :03:25.embraces were for the woman who brokered the deal, Lady Ashton. Here
:03:26. > :03:28.in Geneva John Kerry said Iran had agreed to restrictions on its
:03:29. > :03:32.nuclear programme. Among them, cutting stocks of enriched uranium
:03:33. > :03:37.and stopping work on a controversial nuclear plant. His boss said the
:03:38. > :03:43.deal addressed what mattered most to the US and its allies. These are
:03:44. > :03:50.substantial limitations which. Iran building a nuclear weapon. They cut
:03:51. > :03:54.off its most likely path to a bomb. Iran's Foreign Minister said he had
:03:55. > :03:56.achieved what mattered most to his country. Recognition of its
:03:57. > :04:02.continued right to enrich uranium which can be used to make a nuclear
:04:03. > :04:07.bomb, something he insists Iran does not want to do. We believe the
:04:08. > :04:18.current agreement, the current plan of action, into distinct places has
:04:19. > :04:23.a very clear reference to the fact that the Iranians enrichment
:04:24. > :04:30.programme will continue and will be part of any agreement. Now and in
:04:31. > :04:33.the future. When the Americans brought in the stars and stripes
:04:34. > :04:38.further statement, they denied any such right had been conceded. This
:04:39. > :04:43.is a first step. It allows them six months to negotiate a permanent
:04:44. > :04:46.deal. More than 11,000 children have been
:04:47. > :04:49.killed in the Syrian conflict, including hundreds targeted by
:04:50. > :04:55.snipers, according to the first major study of casualty figures. The
:04:56. > :04:58.report by the Oxford Research Group think tank says teenage boys are
:04:59. > :05:03.particularly vulnerable, but summary executions and torture have also
:05:04. > :05:06.been used against infants. The majority of children have been
:05:07. > :05:11.killed by bombs or shells in their own neighbourhoods.
:05:12. > :05:15.A major report into the future of the police service will call for
:05:16. > :05:18.more officers to return to the beat, and a guarantee that every crime
:05:19. > :05:21.reported is investigated. The former head of the Metropolitan force, Lord
:05:22. > :05:25.Stevens, has led an independent inquiry into policing in England and
:05:26. > :05:28.Wales. Writing for The Sunday Telegraph, he says that more
:05:29. > :05:31.criminals are escaping justice and that the service is seen by the
:05:32. > :05:40.public as having "sadly deteriorated".
:05:41. > :05:45.Police forces in England and Wales face a 20% reduction in their
:05:46. > :05:49.funding in the next four years and has been a controversial report into
:05:50. > :05:54.their pay and conditions. Lord Stevens described the current police
:05:55. > :05:59.reform programme as confused, and unfocused and warns that officers
:06:00. > :06:03.are retreating to a reactive model of policing. He argues that chief
:06:04. > :06:07.constables should set out a guaranteed level of policing for
:06:08. > :06:11.every neighbourhood as well as guaranteed response times when a
:06:12. > :06:14.crime is reported. He also once every crime reported to the police
:06:15. > :06:20.to be investigated or if it is not possible to do so, the big ones
:06:21. > :06:27.should be told why. -- the victims. The report includes ideas on saving
:06:28. > :06:32.money, including the bulk buying of equipment. It also called on
:06:33. > :06:36.officers to have mobile access to the national police computer so they
:06:37. > :06:40.can effectively operate on the streets without having to return to
:06:41. > :06:44.the police station. Following recent allegations of police misconduct in
:06:45. > :06:46.the plebgate affair and Hillsborough, Lord Stevens concludes
:06:47. > :06:52.that forces should no longer investigate the behaviour of their
:06:53. > :06:54.own officers. The Scottish Government has
:06:55. > :06:57.announced the date it expects Scotland to become independent if
:06:58. > :07:02.there is a "Yes" vote in next September's referendum. The date is
:07:03. > :07:05.March 24th, 2016, which is the anniversary of the union of the
:07:06. > :07:10.crowns of Scotland and England in 1603, and also the uniting of their
:07:11. > :07:14.parliaments a century later. The date is included in a White Paper on
:07:15. > :07:19.Independence, which will be published this week.
:07:20. > :07:22.Ed Miliband has said his decision to stand against his brother, David,
:07:23. > :07:26.for the leadership of the Labour Party has been "incredibly tough" on
:07:27. > :07:29.the two of them. Speaking on Desert Island Discs on Radio Four, the
:07:30. > :07:32.Labour leader said he understood why people might have found his choice
:07:33. > :07:39.to put party before family unpalatable, but he insisted it was
:07:40. > :07:44.the right thing to do. Both David and I went into politics partly
:07:45. > :07:50.because our parents welcomed as into that conversation and did not put us
:07:51. > :07:56.out. It was not Das Kapital over the breakfast table, I used to sneak off
:07:57. > :08:02.and watched Dallas! Dad was someone who would do something with that was
:08:03. > :08:08.not about politics. But politics was a big part of it.
:08:09. > :08:11.That's all from me, for now. I'll be back with the headlines just before
:08:12. > :08:19.ten o'clock. Back to you, Andrew. Thank you. Now to the papers. The
:08:20. > :08:26.Sunday Times has a big story about Cameron about to defy the European
:08:27. > :08:33.union about immigration. The Independent on Sunday, Miliband
:08:34. > :08:37.accusing the Conservatives of being in the gutter about recent attacks.
:08:38. > :08:43.The Observer has an important story, Labour facing a cash crisis
:08:44. > :08:48.if they have to pay back money to the Co-operative bank. The Sunday
:08:49. > :08:53.Telegraph follows a sensational story, this slave cult in London
:08:54. > :08:58.stop suggesting some political connection there. And the most
:08:59. > :09:04.jaw-dropping front page, the Mail on Sunday. Rupert Murdoch in a feud
:09:05. > :09:11.with Tony Blair over his ex-wife. More about that later.
:09:12. > :09:18.And with me to review the papers are Polly Toynbee and Iain Dale. Well we
:09:19. > :09:24.will start with what the newspapers have not got. The Iran deal which
:09:25. > :09:30.came just too late. The Observer had just a few words away from a nuclear
:09:31. > :09:33.agreement breakthrough. Very close overnight and then it finally
:09:34. > :09:38.happened. We have to hope that that sticks. There does seem to be some
:09:39. > :09:44.disagreement on what it at Chile means. Both the Saudis and the
:09:45. > :09:53.Israelis looking worried about it. As we would expect. I mentioned the
:09:54. > :09:59.immigration story. This is from the Sunday Times. If you look at the
:10:00. > :10:04.first paragraph, David Cameron himself could have written that.
:10:05. > :10:10.Preparing for a showdown with Europe over fears of a looming implant of
:10:11. > :10:15.Romanian and Bulgarians in Britain. He was essentially to change the
:10:16. > :10:19.rules. At the moment you can claim benefits after three months. He
:10:20. > :10:24.wants to delay that to one year. And he is getting backing apparently
:10:25. > :10:29.from Germany, Denmark and Spain. But it would be a big thing to go
:10:30. > :10:39.against the European commission. We expect there to be a referendum in
:10:40. > :10:42.2017 if he is back in power. It would be quite a dividing line. And
:10:43. > :10:50.if he went into battle in Brussels and failed, how is he then going to
:10:51. > :10:55.be able to negotiate anything else? Huge short-term popularity for doing
:10:56. > :11:01.it. Building up to a legal challenge, was. But that would take
:11:02. > :11:08.years. This is really to attack UKIP who are expected to do well in the
:11:09. > :11:14.European elections next year. I think all the parties are worried.
:11:15. > :11:19.Who knows how many Romanians and Bulgarians may arrive here. Many
:11:20. > :11:23.European countries have different benefits systems. You have to put
:11:24. > :11:30.money in before you get anything out. Our system is different. It is
:11:31. > :11:38.a difficult system to start from scratch. People have built up right
:11:39. > :11:44.and it is hard to completely alter the benefits system. I think there
:11:45. > :11:48.may be some compromise on this. Because other countries have some
:11:49. > :11:54.sympathy with this. That is the key. It is not just written against
:11:55. > :12:04.Europe. Ed Miliband all over the newspapers today. Well one story
:12:05. > :12:11.that follows on about benefits. In Duncan Smith in the Observer,
:12:12. > :12:16.targeting ill claimants. He wants to be arranged the benefit system for
:12:17. > :12:22.people who are seriously ill but who could go back to work at some stage.
:12:23. > :12:29.He has already removed benefits and sanctioned huge numbers of people,
:12:30. > :12:34.over 1000 people died last year within a short time of being
:12:35. > :12:37.declared fit for work. So I think those Romanians and Bulgarians would
:12:38. > :12:42.have a lot of difficulty naming within a year. Takes a long time to
:12:43. > :12:49.get the benefit even when you're entitled. Ed Miliband all over the
:12:50. > :12:54.newspapers. The front of the Independent on Sunday has this
:12:55. > :12:59.story, he is accusing the Tories of being in the gutter of the Reverend
:13:00. > :13:05.Paul Flowers. He accuses the Tories of being in the gutter. Adam Boulton
:13:06. > :13:15.in the Sunday Times saying that mud flies everywhere, but only Ed
:13:16. > :13:19.Miliband is splattered. And it heralds probably a dirty election
:13:20. > :13:24.campaign. I think we are all expecting that. There is a kind of
:13:25. > :13:29.personal antipathy between David Cameron and Ed Miliband. It would be
:13:30. > :13:34.nice to turn that part of the campaign off. Ed Miliband has
:13:35. > :13:41.written a piece about this himself. Saying that the Prime Minister means
:13:42. > :13:47.his office. A lot of the Tories, Grant Shapps seems to be able to say
:13:48. > :13:53.anything. Many of them are off the leash. I think they need to distance
:13:54. > :14:00.themselves. Ed Miliband is in difficult territory. If a Tory vicar
:14:01. > :14:04.who had been chairman of the bank who indulged in rent boys, do you
:14:05. > :14:10.not think that Ed Miliband might have possibly asked about it at by
:14:11. > :14:15.ministers questions! No one seriously thinks, the Dorries to not
:14:16. > :14:21.seriously think Ed Miliband had anything much to do with this guy.
:14:22. > :14:26.-- the Tories. He was a personal adviser to him. The regulation is
:14:27. > :14:32.the story. How on earth did someone like this get into running a large
:14:33. > :14:38.bank. He could not read the most basic financial statements. The Mail
:14:39. > :14:43.on Sunday has a piece about the current deputy chairman of the, bank
:14:44. > :14:47.who was also a former Labour councillor. If you or I were on a
:14:48. > :14:52.board of the bank we would think it was ridiculous. I certainly am not
:14:53. > :14:59.qualified. Do you have to be a Labour Party member or counsellor?
:15:00. > :15:06.It is ridiculous. Well that bank is now going to be run by hedge funds
:15:07. > :15:13.is from America. The bank suddenly grew and of course George Osborne
:15:14. > :15:18.encouraged it to do so. Wanted it to buy this enormous chunk of Lloyd's.
:15:19. > :15:28.If I was Ed Miliband that is what I would be chipping away at now. Tessa
:15:29. > :15:33.Jowell has been much talked about as a potential mayor of London. I have
:15:34. > :15:39.interviewed her a couple of times on my radio show, and she is seriously
:15:40. > :15:42.thinking about having a serious think about becoming a London mayor.
:15:43. > :15:47.She is one of the few politicians who could do what Tony Blair did
:15:48. > :15:51.nationally in London. Because the Conservatives quite like her, soaked
:15:52. > :15:59.she could build some kind of big ten coalition. She has got a lot of
:16:00. > :16:03.kudos. She has, and there are about eight Labour politicians vying to be
:16:04. > :16:09.their candidate. The problem for the Tories is, how do you follow Boris?
:16:10. > :16:12.In a sense, the question of who is going to be the Labour candidate is
:16:13. > :16:18.the big issue, for once. Labour is very likely to win next time. The
:16:19. > :16:24.chances are, Labour will win, so the primary, as it were, for Labour luck
:16:25. > :16:30.Ed Miliband has said he wants to throw it open to primaries, so that
:16:31. > :16:37.all Londoners could choose. What a pity they do not do that in
:16:38. > :16:42.Parliamentary selections. But there are quite a lot of candidates out
:16:43. > :16:48.there. Let's move on delicately to Tessa Jowell's old boss, Tony Blair,
:16:49. > :16:59.who is very friendly, it says, with the former wife of Rupert Murdoch.
:17:00. > :17:06.We should emphasise right at the beginning that this newspaper says
:17:07. > :17:13.it is not alleging any impropriety, though it takes three pages to do
:17:14. > :17:16.so! If you remember that first meeting with Murdoch, when he flew
:17:17. > :17:22.across the world in 1995, and that bond with Murdoch seemed to seal his
:17:23. > :17:27.future. This split, whether there is truth in bed or not, is obviously
:17:28. > :17:31.absolutely gut-wrenching. I remember Murdoch said at the time, if this
:17:32. > :17:35.flirtation between new Labour and the Murdoch empire is ever
:17:36. > :17:40.concentrated, I suspect we will end up making love like to porcupines,
:17:41. > :17:44.very carefully, he said. But those are amazing comments from Tony
:17:45. > :17:49.Blair's office am calling it the ravings of a sad old man. And a
:17:50. > :17:53.source close to Rupert Murdoch says, Rupert has been very careful and has
:17:54. > :18:00.not acted lightly. So it seems it is Murdoch that has put this out. This
:18:01. > :18:04.takes us back to the tragic state of new Labour in the beginning, where
:18:05. > :18:09.it felt, and possibly rightly, that you could not win an election in
:18:10. > :18:15.this country without Murdoch, without making a act with the devil,
:18:16. > :18:21.if you like. Both Brown and Blair went out of their way to rule him.
:18:22. > :18:26.The extent in this country, almost uniquely, perhaps apart from
:18:27. > :18:30.Berlusconi in Italy, of the extent to which the right-wing press...
:18:31. > :18:37.Rutting Murdoch to one side, whenever media tycoons and
:18:38. > :18:48.politicians get in bed together, literally or otherwise, becomes...
:18:49. > :18:52.But David Cameron did this without the support of any newspaper. I said
:18:53. > :18:58.when he became leader. It was only when Andy Coulson came in that he
:18:59. > :19:03.started to get closer to newspapers. But why did he bring Murdoch right
:19:04. > :19:09.into the heart... ? It is a democratic problem for the country.
:19:10. > :19:12.Were we careful enough? 1-storey left each. I think you wanted to
:19:13. > :19:21.speak about the inheritance tax story. At the moment, 21,000 people
:19:22. > :19:26.a year are paying inheritance tax, and by 2017, it is going to be
:19:27. > :19:30.45,000. Before the last election, George Osborne promised to raise the
:19:31. > :19:34.threshold, but it is still at ?325,000, next to the Liberal
:19:35. > :19:38.Democrats. It is a pernicious tax because it is double tax. You are
:19:39. > :19:42.taxed on your earnings when you are alive, and then you get taxed again
:19:43. > :19:46.when you die. I think they should aim to abolish it in the long term
:19:47. > :19:52.grubby it is only a tiny number of people, 6% of people. But why should
:19:53. > :19:57.you pay taxed twice? Much more exciting is this. Who would have
:19:58. > :20:01.thought a revolution was likely to break out in Switzerland? Today, the
:20:02. > :20:06.Swiss have a referendum on whether to make sure that all chief
:20:07. > :20:09.executive is our only paid 12 times the salary of their lowest paid
:20:10. > :20:12.worker. I think it will be quite close, it probably will not get
:20:13. > :20:19.through, but if we had that in this country, I am sure a referendum
:20:20. > :20:25.would vote for it. Thank you both very much indeed. Now, a date for
:20:26. > :20:28.the diary, March 24th 2016, the date pencilled in as Scotland's
:20:29. > :20:33.Independence Day, if a majority vote for it in the referendum next year.
:20:34. > :20:37.This week, the Scottish Government will publish its white paper setting
:20:38. > :20:40.out how an independent Scotland would operate. The SNP has been
:20:41. > :20:43.accused of being too vague on the details, but there will be no
:20:44. > :20:48.stinking this time, we are promised more than 600 pages of this. We will
:20:49. > :20:53.hear more about it on Tuesday. But first, defending the union, here is
:20:54. > :20:56.the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alistair Carmichael. Good morning.
:20:57. > :20:59.We read that you had warned your Cabinet colleagues not to be
:21:00. > :21:03.complacent about this boat, so do you think the English government by
:21:04. > :21:07.and large is complacent? I think there are people all over the
:21:08. > :21:10.country who kind of take the existence of the United Kingdom for
:21:11. > :21:14.granted. What we have got to get across is that there is a very real
:21:15. > :21:17.danger to the United Kingdom, and that in fact the United Kingdom is
:21:18. > :21:21.good not just for the people of Scotland, but for England, Wales and
:21:22. > :21:25.Northern Ireland as well. This should not be allowed to become some
:21:26. > :21:30.sort of Puncheon Judy match between Edinburgh and London. Why do you
:21:31. > :21:33.think it could be close? First of all you have to look at the number
:21:34. > :21:39.of people who are undecided. There are an enormous number, maybe a
:21:40. > :21:43.quarter, maybe up to a third, who say they are still undecided. If you
:21:44. > :21:48.look back to the situation before the 2011 Scottish elections, a
:21:49. > :21:52.similar number of people were undecided, and at the end of the
:21:53. > :21:57.day, they all went to the SNP. If that happens again, and these people
:21:58. > :22:02.go for independence, then this becomes very, very close. I believe
:22:03. > :22:10.there is a great case, a positive case, for being part of the United
:22:11. > :22:14.Kingdom. Some people have got an optimistic view of the future of
:22:15. > :22:18.Scotland, slightly to the left of England, a social democratic view,
:22:19. > :22:23.and the pro-union campaign has been a bit more pessimistic and dour, it
:22:24. > :22:27.has been said? Well, there is a long way to go in this contest yet. There
:22:28. > :22:31.is a great story for the United Kingdom, and Scotland is part of the
:22:32. > :22:34.United Kingdom. As part of the United Kingdom, we have
:22:35. > :22:38.opportunities to perform on the world stage, as part of the United
:22:39. > :22:42.Nations security council, a member of the European Union and a member
:22:43. > :22:46.of NATO. At the same time we have still got a Scottish parliament in
:22:47. > :22:49.Edinburgh, able to deal with Scottish issues. It is the best of
:22:50. > :22:56.both world's. Why would you want to walk away from that? When you were
:22:57. > :22:59.given the job by David Cameron and Nick Clegg, what did they say they
:23:00. > :23:03.wanted from you? They said they wanted a positive case for Scotland
:23:04. > :23:08.being part of the union, being put out with passion. Inc back to the
:23:09. > :23:12.Olympic Games, yes, we had great days with Andy Murray and Chris Hoy
:23:13. > :23:15.winning gold medals, but also, remember that fantastic Saturday
:23:16. > :23:20.night when you had Mo Farah, but Rutherford, Jessica Ennis... If
:23:21. > :23:26.Scotland were a foreign country, you would have no stake in that. So the
:23:27. > :23:30.English should stop sleepwalking into this? This decision will be
:23:31. > :23:34.taken in Scotland, but people in the rest of the United Kingdom, and
:23:35. > :23:39.remember, there are a lot of people in the rest of the United Kingdom
:23:40. > :23:47.who are not English... We heard the Welsh First Minister talking about
:23:48. > :23:50.it this week. I want to ask you about the currency union
:23:51. > :23:54.particularly, is it true that George Osborne would refuse to allow the
:23:55. > :23:57.Scots to use the pound, because the pound is the property of the Scots
:23:58. > :24:02.as much as the English, so how could that be? It is, as long as we are
:24:03. > :24:06.part of the United Kingdom. But international law is very clear,
:24:07. > :24:09.that if you remove yourself from the United Kingdom, then you would
:24:10. > :24:14.remove yourself from all sorts of institutions, and the pound would he
:24:15. > :24:18.one of them. How would it benefit England not to allow the Scots to
:24:19. > :24:26.use the pound? Have a situation where the rest of the United Kingdom
:24:27. > :24:30.would have no control over banks, for example, and from Scotland
:24:31. > :24:32.needlepoint of you, they would be handing over control of their
:24:33. > :24:36.interest rates and borrowing levels and all of these things to the rest
:24:37. > :24:41.of the United Kingdom, which would be a foreign country. But surely on
:24:42. > :24:44.a single island, with a huge amount of trade going on across that
:24:45. > :24:49.border, having the same currency would make sense. Which is a perfect
:24:50. > :24:53.reason for remaining part of the United Kingdom. But it also means it
:24:54. > :24:57.would be ridiculous to say the Scots, if you have independence, you
:24:58. > :25:01.cannot keep the pound. The fact is, currency union would not work for
:25:02. > :25:06.Scotland or for the rest of the United Kingdom. If you look at what
:25:07. > :25:11.happens in the Eurozone, the currency union their runs into
:25:12. > :25:15.difficulties... That is very different. But it runs into
:25:16. > :25:20.difficulty because it does not have the fiscal, economic independence is
:25:21. > :25:26.about political disintegration, it is not about integration. Look what
:25:27. > :25:31.happened with Czechoslovakia, they tried to have a currency union when
:25:32. > :25:36.they split, and it lasted 33 days. But both sides are quite happy in
:25:37. > :25:39.their separate countries you could argue that a currency union works
:25:40. > :25:45.very well between them say, Germany, Holland and Denmark. It remains to
:25:46. > :25:50.be seen whether the economies would be similar. I think the fact is that
:25:51. > :25:52.when we come to Tuesday, the question is going to be for Alex
:25:53. > :25:56.Salmond and the Scottish Nationalists, George Osborne and Ed
:25:57. > :26:02.Balls have already said, this is highly unlikely. Carwyn Jones says
:26:03. > :26:05.he does not want this to happen. In these circumstances, surely, you
:26:06. > :26:09.should be telling the people of Scotland what your Plan B is going
:26:10. > :26:13.to be. What about the military side? Will you be saying to the Scots that
:26:14. > :26:19.you cannot just take assets out of the UK Armed Forces which is what
:26:20. > :26:22.Alex Salmond says he wants? That is just one layer of uncertainty which
:26:23. > :26:27.comes on top of many others. The truth of the matter is that this is
:26:28. > :26:30.one of the things which the Scottish Government will have to acknowledge
:26:31. > :26:33.on Tuesday. There are some things which they can control, there are
:26:34. > :26:36.some things which they cannot, which will have to be the subject of the
:26:37. > :26:39.go see Asian, and that is one of them. The Scottish Nationalists have
:26:40. > :26:44.been having some fun at your expense. Before you took this job,
:26:45. > :26:47.you thought the office should be abolished, it was grossly wasteful,
:26:48. > :26:53.with far too many civil servants, so are you going to act on that now
:26:54. > :26:55.that you are Secretary of State for Scotland? It is probably the most
:26:56. > :26:59.important job input text for the next 12 months, and I am relishing
:27:00. > :27:03.it. Nobody would say to Alex Salmond, when he was an MP at
:27:04. > :27:08.Westminster, you want to abolish Westminster, so you should not be an
:27:09. > :27:11.MP here. In politics, you take the job you are given, and I am
:27:12. > :27:15.relishing and loving this one. Thank you very much for joining us. It has
:27:16. > :27:19.been bright, invigorating and extremely cold, almost champagne
:27:20. > :27:26.weather. Can the rain state of? I have no idea. Let's hear from Nina
:27:27. > :27:33.Ridge. It looks like the rain is going to stay off.
:27:34. > :27:40.Overall I think we are looking at a dry picture, with bright spells. The
:27:41. > :27:48.south-west of England probably seeing some of the best of the
:27:49. > :27:53.sunshine. Some bright skies across Scotland and Northern Ireland, with
:27:54. > :27:57.some sunshine in Northern Ireland at times. Still quite breezy in the
:27:58. > :28:13.south-east corner, feeling cooler. Tonight, some breaks in the cloud.
:28:14. > :28:19.To begin the day tomorrow, some sunshine, but it will be more
:28:20. > :28:29.overcast towards the north-west, due to a week weather front. Also there
:28:30. > :28:33.will be some less cold air. Temperatures still struggling
:28:34. > :28:36.further south, however. The week ahead, with high
:28:37. > :28:38.further south, however. The week across much of the country, stays
:28:39. > :28:40.dry. Temperatures struggling at first but aching up around the
:28:41. > :28:53.middle part of next week. Two years ago, Labour set up an
:28:54. > :28:57.independent review of policing. Yvette Cooper told her party
:28:58. > :29:01.conference in 2011 that the Tories were taking a "reckless risk" with
:29:02. > :29:07.the fight against crime by cutting budgets. The results of Labour's
:29:08. > :29:10.police review, headed by the former Met Police chief Lord Stevens, will
:29:11. > :29:15.be made public this week. Yvette Cooper joins me now. The headline of
:29:16. > :29:18.this is an increase in neighbourhood policing and bobbies on the beat,
:29:19. > :29:21.but police officers have said that if you look at the numbers and
:29:22. > :29:26.divide them by the numbers of police forces, it only adds up to two more
:29:27. > :29:31.police people on the beat for each part of the UK, which is not a great
:29:32. > :29:35.change, is it? In fact, what Lord Stevens is saying is that this is
:29:36. > :29:39.about a change in attitude which seems to be taking place in
:29:40. > :29:42.policing, and that there is a retreat going on from neighbourhood
:29:43. > :29:46.policing and from bobbies on the beach, and that this reflects in
:29:47. > :29:50.part what Teresa May has said, which is that policing is just about
:29:51. > :29:54.crime-fighting, pure and simple. What Lord Stevens and his commission
:29:55. > :29:57.is saying is that in fact, policing is about prevention of crime,
:29:58. > :30:02.working with communities, respect for law and order and public
:30:03. > :30:06.safety. So, it is not about more police on the beat, as we have been
:30:07. > :30:12.told? It is certainly about having the numbers of police on the beat,
:30:13. > :30:15.rather than in their cars. We asked Lord Stevens to look at what could
:30:16. > :30:18.be done without additional resources, because we understand
:30:19. > :30:22.that resources are pressured. We do think that the Government has gone
:30:23. > :30:26.too far and too fast in the scale of the cuts they have made during this
:30:27. > :30:35.Parliament, but of course there are financial pressures on everybody. I
:30:36. > :30:40.remember you telling me a while ago that with the scale of the cuts,
:30:41. > :30:46.there was a huge risk with crime. I think we have lost 10,000 policemen
:30:47. > :30:49.but crime has gone down. The government I think has been
:30:50. > :30:57.complacent about what is happening with crime. In some areas we have
:30:58. > :31:02.had a 20 year drop. But you also have increases in the level of
:31:03. > :31:08.domestic violence taking place. Increases in economic crime. A lot
:31:09. > :31:13.of that is not reported. Senior chief constables have doubts about
:31:14. > :31:18.the accuracy of reported crime figures. And in the North West they
:31:19. > :31:27.say serious crime is giving to go up. But they were able to cut the
:31:28. > :31:31.numbers of police officers without the disastrous effects suggested at
:31:32. > :31:36.the time. In justice for the DIMMs for example, the number of
:31:37. > :31:46.prosecutions for domestic violence is going down more than 10%. --
:31:47. > :31:54.victims. Reports of rape has fallen 30 3%. And similar drops in child
:31:55. > :31:58.abuse. So I think there is a serious impact as a result of the cuts. But
:31:59. > :32:02.Lord Stevens is saying there are things you can do even with the
:32:03. > :32:09.resources that you have. Is this just another type of think tank
:32:10. > :32:15.report? Well I asked Lord Stevens to do the equivalent of a Royal
:32:16. > :32:20.commission. He has drawn together material from 30 different
:32:21. > :32:28.universities, the head of Europe all, former MI6 chiefs and so on.
:32:29. > :32:31.They have drawn up a series of recommendations and we will now
:32:32. > :32:41.consult on those. Because they have done those independently. I think we
:32:42. > :32:44.should not underestimate the importance of this. So many people
:32:45. > :32:51.have been prepared to get involved and that shows serious concerns
:32:52. > :32:58.about the direction of Theresa May's chaotic reforms. Jack's jaw
:32:59. > :33:01.said the government made a spectacular mistake on not imposing
:33:02. > :33:06.controls on people coming in from the European union. We already said
:33:07. > :33:14.it was the wrong thing to do not to have those transitional controls. --
:33:15. > :33:22.Jack Straw. We should also have done more about the impact on the labour
:33:23. > :33:27.market. You have said in the past at the rate of increase was too fast.
:33:28. > :33:31.As a result of things like the lack of transitional controls, the pace
:33:32. > :33:38.of immigration was too fast. The level was too high. That is why we
:33:39. > :33:44.have supported measures to bring immigration down. If David Cameron
:33:45. > :33:52.says he wants to change the rules on welfare, will Labour support him in
:33:53. > :33:55.that? Well already last year we said the government could make changes
:33:56. > :34:00.within the existing rules to make sure the system is fairer. When
:34:01. > :34:06.people come to this country they should be contributing. There are
:34:07. > :34:11.changes that could be made to John 's -- to Job Seeker's Allowance. If
:34:12. > :34:15.the government had done that nine months ago we could have had more
:34:16. > :34:21.progress on this right now. But most people coming to this country to
:34:22. > :34:25.come to work. Did you have any idea what the Reverend Paul Flowers was
:34:26. > :34:31.up to? No, that was completely shocking. It is confusing that
:34:32. > :34:35.someone like this could be running a bank. Has Labour behaved well over
:34:36. > :34:40.the whole issue of the corporative group? I think these are different
:34:41. > :34:47.issues. There is a question about what happened with the Co-operative
:34:48. > :34:53.bank. Why the problems were not spotted by the regulator and the
:34:54. > :34:58.Treasury earlier. That is why there should be an enquiry. There is a
:34:59. > :35:02.separate issue about the many generations, relationships between
:35:03. > :35:11.the Labour Party and the Co-operative movement. There is a
:35:12. > :35:14.commercial relationship with the Co-operative bank but a separate
:35:15. > :35:18.issue about our long-standing relationship with the Co-operative
:35:19. > :35:23.movement. That has been about asset of values. It is right to support
:35:24. > :35:27.that. What happens to the Labour Party if you have to pay back all
:35:28. > :35:36.that money from the corporative bank? You could be asked to pay that
:35:37. > :35:41.bank -- that back. The arrangements the Labour Party has with its bank,
:35:42. > :35:46.all parties have banking arrangements in place. Those are on
:35:47. > :35:54.a long-term commercial basis. What the party has made clear, it is true
:35:55. > :35:58.we do not have the same scale of donations and resources that the
:35:59. > :36:02.Conservative party gets from hedge funds and things like that. But we
:36:03. > :36:07.have sources of funding from all different areas. The Shadow
:36:08. > :36:14.Chancellor has been asked to pay back ?50,000 and said that he did
:36:15. > :36:16.not have the money. You have a situation where you have
:36:17. > :36:23.long-standing relationships with the Co-operative movement. Donations as
:36:24. > :36:29.a result of the Co-operative shops and so on. That long-standing
:36:30. > :36:37.relationship has nothing to do with Mr Flowers. It is just the politics
:36:38. > :36:43.of the blog -- of the gutter. And it is and nastiness going on. But in
:36:44. > :36:47.the future you can never say to the Tories, look at the terrible
:36:48. > :36:54.behaviour of that bank. You cannot use the same rhetoric against them
:36:55. > :36:58.now. It is right for us to be proud of our long-standing and historic
:36:59. > :37:04.relationship with the Co-operative movement and mutual societies. What
:37:05. > :37:07.we have seen recently is a real deterioration in the nature of the
:37:08. > :37:13.politics that the Tory party is bristling. I do not think John Major
:37:14. > :37:19.would ever have done this. It is a different style of politics. You and
:37:20. > :37:23.your colleagues can never again look at the Tories and say, those
:37:24. > :37:33.terrible Tories, look at how they have behaved. The point we have made
:37:34. > :37:37.about the relationship between the Tories and some of their big
:37:38. > :37:42.financial backers and so on is about the fact that they have cut taxes
:37:43. > :37:45.for their friends who are giving them donations. Substantial tax cuts
:37:46. > :37:51.for the richest people in the country at the time when those on
:37:52. > :37:57.lower incomes are facing a cost of living crisis.
:37:58. > :38:01.Not since the return of Lazarus has a comeback caused so much
:38:02. > :38:04.excitement. The news that the surviving members of Monty Python
:38:05. > :38:07.are getting together once again was greeted with a mixture of disbelief
:38:08. > :38:11.and delight last week. They've promised "comedy, pathos, music and
:38:12. > :38:14.a tiny piece of ancient sex". I'm going to be chatting to John Cleese
:38:15. > :38:18.about flying circuses and all that in a moment. But first, here's a
:38:19. > :38:42.reminder of what made the Pythons peerless.
:38:43. > :38:55.Good morning. I am sorry to have kept you waiting. My walk has become
:38:56. > :39:02.sillier recently. We are all looking forward to this. We are told it is a
:39:03. > :39:08.one-off in London. Is there going to be more? It will depend how the
:39:09. > :39:15.tickets go. It is quite cost me to put on. Hiring the stadium is not
:39:16. > :39:20.cheap. So if we can add shows then we will but it will depend on
:39:21. > :39:24.whether the tickets sell. Will it be the favourite old scenes or new
:39:25. > :39:32.material? We have to be careful about new stuff. I had been many
:39:33. > :39:37.years ago to see Neil Diamond and he got booed in the second part because
:39:38. > :39:43.he dared to sing some new songs. It is not a theatrical presentation, it
:39:44. > :39:50.is like a rock concert. They are disappointed if you do new material.
:39:51. > :39:54.But there are ways of presenting material, where we can play with the
:39:55. > :40:00.audience, using the fact that they know the material so well. And the
:40:01. > :40:05.motivation according to one of your colleagues, was greed, I think he
:40:06. > :40:13.said. I thought it was the Daily Mail! I think it was a Python. I
:40:14. > :40:18.think it was something to do with paying off Terry Jones's mortgage.
:40:19. > :40:25.We are certainly going to get paid for it as far as I understand. But
:40:26. > :40:30.what we can do is have fun while earning money. And when we do get
:40:31. > :40:35.together, we always say we laugh more than at any other time of our
:40:36. > :40:43.lives. A lot of people will look forward to it. We had a bit of a go
:40:44. > :40:48.at the BBC is not commissioning enough comedy. But some people would
:40:49. > :40:53.say there is a lot of good stuff around. The last big thing you did
:40:54. > :41:02.for the BBC was of course faulty towers. A lot of people feel you did
:41:03. > :41:16.not do enough of them. Why was it so great? Let us take a look.
:41:17. > :41:27.Where is your? Door is gone! It was here! Good morning, major. I am so
:41:28. > :41:33.sorry. The dining room door seems to have disappeared.
:41:34. > :41:39.Some of the greatest comedies ever made for television. If you went to
:41:40. > :41:44.the BBC and said Basil Fawlty is still around, I would like to bring
:41:45. > :41:48.him back. They would grasp at it with open arms. Of course they
:41:49. > :41:58.would. Because they want familiar material. But when we went in 1969
:41:59. > :42:03.into the office of Michael Mills, head of light entertainment, he had
:42:04. > :42:07.heard we wanted to do a series and we did not know, he did commission
:42:08. > :42:14.it just on the basis that we had talent. A lot of my criticisms of
:42:15. > :42:19.the BBC are based on conversations with younger comedians who tell me
:42:20. > :42:28.about the level of control that executives have got. And unlike the
:42:29. > :42:32.old days they have not come up from the ground level so they do not
:42:33. > :42:36.really know what they are doing. The old guys like Michael Mills, they
:42:37. > :42:41.had a fingertip feeling of what comedy is about. That is not the
:42:42. > :42:46.case with the executives these days. Would you ever bring back Basil
:42:47. > :42:52.Fawlty? No, that was of his time. And if you want to buy tickets for
:42:53. > :43:02.the Python show, you can go to the website. Is the price of were going
:43:03. > :43:10.to last? We do not know. -- the- humour. People always ask why do
:43:11. > :43:20.people love it worldwide. We do not know. We were as astonished as
:43:21. > :43:27.anyone. We became world news. We thought it was hilarious. If you do
:43:28. > :43:39.sell-out, there will be more shows? I should think so, yes. One last
:43:40. > :43:48.clip to show you. Is this the right room for an
:43:49. > :44:08.argument? I told you once. Now, you did not. I did. I did not! That was
:44:09. > :44:11.something completely different. And now for something completely
:44:12. > :44:14.different again. Education has been one of the busiest ministries over
:44:15. > :44:17.the past three years, introducing free schools, reforming the exam
:44:18. > :44:21.system and the curriculum. Along the way, the Secretary of State has
:44:22. > :44:23.picked a few fights with the teaching unions, and with the
:44:24. > :44:30.educational establishment which, apparently, he calls "the blob".
:44:31. > :44:34.Michael Gove joins me now. Welcome. What went wrong originally with the
:44:35. > :44:39.free schools, do you think you were naive when you first set out on this
:44:40. > :44:44.great crusade? I do not think we were naive, but there was that
:44:45. > :44:48.school in Derby where things went very badly wrong. For me, the test
:44:49. > :44:52.is, how quickly do you deal with failure? We recognised after a
:44:53. > :44:55.whistle-blower had brought to our attention some real concerns with
:44:56. > :44:59.this school that we needed to take action. Just last week we were able
:45:00. > :45:03.to say that the current group of governors, idealistic people, but
:45:04. > :45:07.who had got it completely wrong, are now standing down, and there is a
:45:08. > :45:15.great new teacher now taking over. But secondly, have free schools, and
:45:16. > :45:20.have the reforms started to move the education system in the right
:45:21. > :45:28.direction? And I think overall, they have. According to Ofsted, non-free
:45:29. > :45:32.schools have actually done slightly better. We have looked at this in
:45:33. > :45:37.terms of free schools versus local authority schools. We have got a new
:45:38. > :45:41.inspector, who is a great man. If you look at free schools and compare
:45:42. > :45:45.them, all schools which have started in the last couple of years,
:45:46. > :45:48.sometimes in the teeth of political opposition, they have outperformed
:45:49. > :45:53.other schools which have been inspected under this framework, and
:45:54. > :45:56.in particular, they have outperformed new local authority
:45:57. > :46:00.schools. Are you comfortable about the very large number of unqualified
:46:01. > :46:06.teachers coming into these schools? In the case of Al-Madinah, there
:46:07. > :46:12.were teachers who it was alleged were not qualified to teach,
:46:13. > :46:16.particularly at primary level. Al-Madinah was a specific case, but
:46:17. > :46:21.more broadly, there are now fewer unqualified teachers in sake schools
:46:22. > :46:26.than there were previously. -- in state schools. Am I not right in
:46:27. > :46:29.saying that in the free schools, there are many more unqualified
:46:30. > :46:33.teachers coming in? There are some teachers in free schools who do not
:46:34. > :46:37.have qualified teacher status, which is a bit killer type of teaching
:46:38. > :46:43.convocation, but the same thing is true in independent schools. --
:46:44. > :46:47.which is a particular type of teaching. Schools for example like
:46:48. > :46:52.Batley Grammar School, which used to be a very exclusive school, now, in
:46:53. > :46:55.effect, myself, as a Conservative Education Secretary, have
:46:56. > :46:59.nationalised independent schools. Some of the teachers there went from
:47:00. > :47:03.top universities into the school, though they do not have that
:47:04. > :47:07.qualified teacher status. What they do have, in the case of Batley
:47:08. > :47:10.Grammar School, and it head of geography, is a first-class degree
:47:11. > :47:18.from Cambridge University. And you are very worried about the condition
:47:19. > :47:23.of young, black men in schools? You are like Shirley Williams in a
:47:24. > :47:26.suit! Well, there is a lot to be said about Shirley Williams, but
:47:27. > :47:31.what I would say is that the reason why we are changing the education
:47:32. > :47:35.system, and taking independent, fee-paying schools and making them
:47:36. > :47:39.state schools is because we need to make our society more equal. We have
:47:40. > :47:44.got a big problem in this country is that England has been stratified and
:47:45. > :47:47.segregated for generations because of an unequal education system. Free
:47:48. > :47:51.schools are part of changing that, to bring good schools to areas which
:47:52. > :47:54.have not had them in the past. But also we are spending more money on
:47:55. > :47:59.the education of the very poorest children, and we are also changing
:48:00. > :48:03.the curriculum, so that it includes a higher level of ambition. Just
:48:04. > :48:09.lastly on free schools, before we come onto the curriculum, I wonder
:48:10. > :48:11.whether one thing you had not fully appreciated was that there are lots
:48:12. > :48:15.of different cultures around the country, and some of them, there is
:48:16. > :48:19.a lot of secrecy in these schools, and what might appear to be a very
:48:20. > :48:23.sensible idea in Surrey town does not work so well in other parts of
:48:24. > :48:27.the country, so that was a mistake, as it were? I take your point, but
:48:28. > :48:31.we have seen free schools making a difference across the country. They
:48:32. > :48:36.are backed by people from a variety of cultures and faith back rounds.
:48:37. > :48:39.You are right, we need to police carefully schools which have a faith
:48:40. > :48:44.ethos, and I will be saying more about that in due course. But there
:48:45. > :48:50.are outstanding schools which have a faith ethos in different parts of
:48:51. > :48:56.the country. For example, one guy who is the head teacher not of a
:48:57. > :49:00.minority faith school but of a judge of England school in the West
:49:01. > :49:06.Country. What that school does is provide an education which reflects
:49:07. > :49:12.faith values, but in an inclusive environment. I do not see why I, the
:49:13. > :49:16.taxpayer, should be funding schools where girls are segregated from boys
:49:17. > :49:21.average I agree with you. I think it is absolutely wrong to have any form
:49:22. > :49:26.of segregation. The whole point about state faith schools is that
:49:27. > :49:32.they strike the right balance. They must reflect the diversity and
:49:33. > :49:37.richness of modern society, but by the same time, we must make sure
:49:38. > :49:40.that children can both respect their heritage and be fully integrated
:49:41. > :49:48.into modern Britain. Do you agree with the Attorney-General that there
:49:49. > :49:52.is a problem with political corruption in Pakistani communities
:49:53. > :49:56.in this country? Well, I am not an expert in political corruption, so I
:49:57. > :49:59.will not go there. I think what Dominik wanted to say is that
:50:00. > :50:06.wherever corruption occurs, we need to root it out. For example, changes
:50:07. > :50:09.can be made to the way voters are registered. I think it is
:50:10. > :50:15.important, which is what I was arguing on Friday, to look at the
:50:16. > :50:17.way in which all of Britain's minority communities are
:50:18. > :50:23.contributing to our success, but also asking ourselves, what can we
:50:24. > :50:26.do in government to help? I am concerned about the underperformance
:50:27. > :50:32.of black Hummer Caribbean boys, from poorer homes. We need to do more to
:50:33. > :50:39.improve their education. -- black, Caribbean boys. In the past, these
:50:40. > :50:42.children have suffered from the soft bigotry of low expectations. We need
:50:43. > :50:46.to introduce them to a rigorous curriculum, the sawdust daddies
:50:47. > :50:53.which we did when we were boys, which gave us the chance to succeed.
:50:54. > :50:57.-- the sort of studies. I am going to shamelessly introduce one of my
:50:58. > :51:00.pet enthusiasms, which is the teaching of art. A lot of teachers
:51:01. > :51:05.are worried that it is getting pushed to one side, which, given
:51:06. > :51:12.that we have got a very rich culture of architects and so on, does not
:51:13. > :51:16.make economic sense, so, can we have more drawing, please? I completely
:51:17. > :51:24.agree with you. We want to put a new emphasis on drawing and painting, to
:51:25. > :51:27.include this within art and design. We will be discussing it because I
:51:28. > :51:31.take this enormously seriously. Yes, people need to have literacy
:51:32. > :51:37.and numerous, but it is at school that people can be introduced to the
:51:38. > :51:41.geniuses of the past, and also to have the chance to nurture a talent.
:51:42. > :51:46.The other thing about art and design is that, like you, I am fascinated
:51:47. > :51:51.by painting, but we also need to recognise that design now
:51:52. > :51:57.encompassing is -- now encompasses things like coding and programming.
:51:58. > :52:03.Children now are learning to do coding at school, to generate
:52:04. > :52:08.applications, which divides a whole new vista of creativity for young
:52:09. > :52:11.people. We are just about to get the inevitable international
:52:12. > :52:15.comparisons, so how do you think English schools will do? I do not
:52:16. > :52:19.know. But it is important to recognise that the comparisons which
:52:20. > :52:22.the OECD are going to bring out will reflect to a significant extent what
:52:23. > :52:28.happened under the last government. They were comparisons of teenagers
:52:29. > :52:32.taken just a couple of years into our time in government. We had been
:52:33. > :52:37.able to do some things, but I think these tables will be a judgment on
:52:38. > :52:41.the past, not the present. But I do think that there were some good
:52:42. > :52:44.things which happened under the last government, which we wanted to build
:52:45. > :52:48.on, as well as some things where we disagreed with them. Let's turn to
:52:49. > :52:53.some of the other big issues. Immigration, the Prime Minister is
:52:54. > :52:56.determined to have a showdown, if he needs to, with the EU, on the number
:52:57. > :53:02.of Bulgarians and Romanians coming into this country, to remove rights
:53:03. > :53:11.for them for a year rose so, is that practical, do you think? Yes, I
:53:12. > :53:13.absolutely agree with him on that. The Prime Minister has struck
:53:14. > :53:15.exactly the right note on immigration, which is to celebrate
:53:16. > :53:20.the achievements of people coming here, to recognise that migration
:53:21. > :53:24.has worked for people already here, from whatever background. But when
:53:25. > :53:27.it comes to new migrants from the accession countries, we need to look
:53:28. > :53:32.properly at the benefits system here, to make sure that people are
:53:33. > :53:36.coming here to work and to contribute, not to take advantage.
:53:37. > :53:40.Your party has been having a great deal of fun at the expense of the
:53:41. > :53:43.Labour Party in the matter of Paul Flowers, but it has been suggested
:53:44. > :53:48.that actually, the Conservatives have a lot to answer for, and we ask
:53:49. > :53:51.ourselves how it could happen that somebody with no banking
:53:52. > :53:55.experience, like this Methodist minister, who was far too busy doing
:53:56. > :54:00.other things to run banks, could end up running this bank, and it
:54:01. > :54:05.happened under your party's watch? I absolutely think that we need to
:54:06. > :54:07.have some answers. That is why the Chancellor of the Exchequer took the
:54:08. > :54:12.advice to setup and inquiry which ask searching
:54:13. > :54:12.advice to setup and inquiry which went on, right up to the moment
:54:13. > :54:17.we discovered everything that we discovered about Paul Flowers. It is
:54:18. > :54:21.certainly the case that the Treasury discovered about Paul Flowers. It is
:54:22. > :54:24.is perfectly happy to answer those questions, and indeed
:54:25. > :54:26.is perfectly happy to answer those inquiry so that they could be asked.
:54:27. > :54:30.The difficulty I think Labour has is that they were
:54:31. > :54:32.The difficulty I think Labour has is responsible for allowing Paul
:54:33. > :54:34.Flowers to be appointed on their watch, and there is a pattern of
:54:35. > :54:36.Flowers to be appointed on their behaviour which is that when tough
:54:37. > :54:41.questions are asked of labour over Paul Flowers, over the Unite union,
:54:42. > :54:44.questions are asked of labour over and Grangemouth and all the rest of
:54:45. > :54:47.it, they tend to climb up. One thing which I think is slightly odd is
:54:48. > :54:51.that Ed Miliband, who has been a great advocate of transparency, but
:54:52. > :54:54.whenever anybody asks great advocate of transparency, but
:54:55. > :55:00.about the Labour Party, he has a kind of coquettish reticence he says
:55:01. > :55:04.that this is becoming a very dirty campaign, and that we are heading
:55:05. > :55:09.towards a very dirty campaign, so can you assure him that that is not
:55:10. > :55:13.going to happen? Absolutely. We have had some disagreeable aspects in the
:55:14. > :55:17.past. For example, we know that Damian McBride under Gordon Brown
:55:18. > :55:23.was a particular type of, you know, hit man. To his credit, Ed Miliband
:55:24. > :55:28.and Douglas Alexander said to Gordon Brown, get rid of this chapter. I
:55:29. > :55:31.think Ed Miliband wants to fight a chain election campaign. I know that
:55:32. > :55:36.David Cameron does. I think the election campaign should we
:55:37. > :55:40.conducted on the basis of policy versus policy. One of my worries is
:55:41. > :55:43.that actually, so far, quite a lot of the critique of the Government
:55:44. > :55:49.from Labour has been very personal. I remember the ways in which, at
:55:50. > :55:53.different times, for example in the Crewe by-election, people were
:55:54. > :55:56.attacked for their background, not for their beliefs. I think that is
:55:57. > :56:01.wrong. We should have an argument about the extent to which, with our
:56:02. > :56:04.additional investment, we are pushing forward social mobility.
:56:05. > :56:08.That is what matters more than where a particular politician went to
:56:09. > :56:15.school. One final area, we could go on, but the Prime Minister is quoted
:56:16. > :56:20.as attacking the pro-windfarm policies and so on. Do you agree
:56:21. > :56:24.with him on the broad principle that the Government has gone too far in
:56:25. > :56:30.green subsidies? I think it is absolutely right to look to see if
:56:31. > :56:35.we are making sure that the costs faced by people when they pay their
:56:36. > :56:38.energy bills properly reflects a balance between paying their bills
:56:39. > :56:43.but also making sure there is appropriate investment. I saw the
:56:44. > :56:48.Prime Minister on Friday, and he had just been speaking to a number of
:56:49. > :56:51.people who want to see investment in green companies. Investment by
:56:52. > :56:55.companies like Siemens is critical. So, there is a balance to be struck.
:56:56. > :56:58.There are jobs to come from renewable energy, but we have to
:56:59. > :57:05.make sure the balance of taxation is right. Thank you very much for
:57:06. > :57:08.joining us this morning. Time for the headlines. Foreign Minister is
:57:09. > :57:14.from six world powers have reached a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear
:57:15. > :57:18.programme. News of the interim agreement came in the early hours of
:57:19. > :57:23.the morning after a day of intense negotiations in Geneva. According to
:57:24. > :57:27.the US, Iran has agreed to die loot its stocks of enriched uranium and
:57:28. > :57:32.grant unprecedented access to its nuclear facilities, in return for an
:57:33. > :57:34.easing of international sanctions. The Foreign Secretary, William
:57:35. > :57:38.Hague, described the agreement as an important moment. The Shadow Health
:57:39. > :57:41.Secretary has backed a call in a major report into the future of the
:57:42. > :57:46.police for more officers to return to the beat. But Yvette Cooper said
:57:47. > :57:51.that this could be achieved without additional resources. Labour
:57:52. > :57:55.commissioned a former head of the Metropolitan Police force to lead an
:57:56. > :57:59.independent inquiry into policing in England and Wales. Writing for the
:58:00. > :58:03.Sunday Telegraph, he says that more chronicles are escaping justice, and
:58:04. > :58:06.that the service is seen by the public as having "sadly
:58:07. > :58:11.deteriorated". The next news on BBC One is at one o'clock . next, a
:58:12. > :58:18.brief look at what is coming up immediately after this programme.
:58:19. > :58:22.Restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians entering the UK are being
:58:23. > :58:30.lifted. Is immigration good for Britain? And also, why banning slang
:58:31. > :58:33.in schools is linguistic fascism. I am afraid that is about it for this
:58:34. > :58:39.week. I hope we have shed a little light. Thanks to all of my guests.
:58:40. > :58:43.Join me at the same time next week, when I will be speaking to the
:58:44. > :58:45.Chancellor, George Osborne, and his shadow, Ed Balls. Until then,
:58:46. > :58:50.goodbye.