:00:39. > :00:42.Hello. Some good news to start with. According to the 10,000 British
:00:43. > :00:47.supporters of Norse mythology, the end of the world happened yesterday.
:00:48. > :00:50.If you've had a chance to squint through the curtains this morning,
:00:51. > :00:53.you'll see that it didn't. The Mayans were wrong, and so were the
:00:54. > :00:56.Vikings. But we're still in apocalyptic mood. The revolution has
:00:57. > :01:00.happened in one of Europe's biggest countries. The dangers ahead include
:01:01. > :01:04.civil war in the Ukraine, and for the West a new confrontation with
:01:05. > :01:07.Russia. Some quite extraordinary pictures on TV news bulletins, and
:01:08. > :01:11.equally dramatic front pages this morning. Joining me to review the
:01:12. > :01:14.papers are Sarah Baxter, pagan goddess of the Sunday Times
:01:15. > :01:16.Magazine, and that well known taxi driver, really, and Justice
:01:17. > :01:22.Minister, the Lib Dems' Simon Hughes. As statues of Lenin topple
:01:23. > :01:24.across Ukraine, along with the Yanukovych presidency, is the
:01:25. > :01:29.struggle between Putin and the West over, or just beginning? I'll be
:01:30. > :01:34.discussing this exceptionally dangerous crisis with the Foreign
:01:35. > :01:37.Secretary, William Hague. And he'll be talking too about the visit to
:01:38. > :01:40.Britain of the German Chancellor this week. Is Angela Merkel
:01:41. > :01:47.Britain's best hope for European reform? And from power struggles
:01:48. > :01:50.abroad to power stations at home. Ed Miliband's big promise is to freeze
:01:51. > :01:55.energy bills, but it's upset the power companies. Does Labour care?
:01:56. > :02:00.Caroline Flint has Shadow Cabinet responsibility for energy policy.
:02:01. > :02:03.She's here to discuss that, the recent floods and Labour's latest
:02:04. > :02:12.ideas for reforming itself. And a play that's as relevant now as
:02:13. > :02:16.it was in 1912. I know I have no small talk, but people don't mind.
:02:17. > :02:19.Don't they? What about your large talk? Behind the scenes of Pygmalion
:02:20. > :02:22.with Alistair McGowan and Rula Lenska later. Plus, we have cracking
:02:23. > :02:34.live music from Nigel Kennedy. All that and more coming up soon,
:02:35. > :02:40.but first the news with Katherine Downes.
:02:41. > :02:42.Thanks, Andrew. Hello. Anti-government protestors in Kiev
:02:43. > :02:45.have maintained their presence in the city centre overnight following
:02:46. > :02:48.the announcement yesterday that parliament had removed President
:02:49. > :02:52.Viktor Yanukovych from office. Mr Yanukovych has remained defiant and
:02:53. > :02:54.called the moves against him a coup. Ukraine's former Prime Minister
:02:55. > :02:57.Yulia Tymoshenko addressed thousands of demonstrators in Independence
:02:58. > :02:59.Square after being freed from more than two years in prison. Simon
:03:00. > :03:09.Clemison reports. Blink and you may miss huge
:03:10. > :03:15.political upheaval here. Events move in hours, not days and weeks. Last
:03:16. > :03:17.night, protesters were urged to stay in Kiev's Independence Square until
:03:18. > :03:25.the job is done. The call came from former Prime
:03:26. > :03:27.Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Prisoner one day, speaking to a mass rally
:03:28. > :03:35.the next. Not all welcomed her words, and some
:03:36. > :03:42.made their feelings clear, saying she did not represent them.
:03:43. > :03:47.Ukraine's Parliament may have voted to remove President Yanukovych and
:03:48. > :03:52.hold elections in May, but he says he's the victim of a coup. And he's
:03:53. > :03:59.still on the scene, appearing on television in the last 24 hours.
:04:00. > :04:03.Yanukovych has support from Moscow and could appeal to a power base in
:04:04. > :04:07.the east of the country. His next move will be crucial in determining
:04:08. > :04:13.whether this is just another scene in a fast-moving drama.
:04:14. > :04:16.Simon Clemison, BBC News. 19 Afghan soldiers have been killed
:04:17. > :04:20.and seven are missing after the Taliban attacked an army base in
:04:21. > :04:22.eastern Afghanistan in the early hours of this morning. The attack
:04:23. > :04:27.happened in the country's eastern Kunar province. In an email to the
:04:28. > :04:30.BBC, a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the incident and
:04:31. > :04:34.said it had taken the soldiers as prisoners.
:04:35. > :04:36.Here, the British Chambers of Commerce has called on the
:04:37. > :04:40.Chancellor to invest in youth training and employment to avoid
:04:41. > :04:44.what it calls a lost generation. In its submission ahead of next month's
:04:45. > :04:47.Budget, the group is pressing for a ?100 million fund to be established
:04:48. > :04:52.to get young people into work or apprenticeships.
:04:53. > :04:54.The future of the oil industry will be the focus of the debate about
:04:55. > :04:57.Scottish independence tomorrow, as the UK and Scottish Cabinets will
:04:58. > :05:00.hold separate meetings in the Aberdeen area. David Cameron will
:05:01. > :05:03.explain why he thinks the industry would benefit from staying in the
:05:04. > :05:06.UK, while First Minister Alex Salmond will promise that the energy
:05:07. > :05:11.department of an independent Scotland would have part of its
:05:12. > :05:15.headquarters in Aberdeen. That's all from me for now. I'll be
:05:16. > :05:21.back with the headlines just before ten o'clock. Back to you, Andrew.
:05:22. > :05:25.Many thanks for that. As we heard in the news, the situation in Ukraine
:05:26. > :05:29.remains highly volatile, and I am now joined live from Kiev by Europe
:05:30. > :05:32.editor Gavin Hewitt. Gavin, anti-government protesters in the
:05:33. > :05:39.square, but no governments to protest against. Absolutely,
:05:40. > :05:42.Andrew. I think the situation here is still quite fragile. Apart from
:05:43. > :05:48.looking for the whereabouts of the President, what the focus is on here
:05:49. > :05:51.is to try to form a functioning government. These will be a
:05:52. > :05:55.technocrat government, and today they are going to go to the
:05:56. > :05:58.parliament and begin discussing who will take on which role, perhaps
:05:59. > :06:04.which ministry until connections take place. The fact is, these
:06:05. > :06:09.streets, there is no police presence there. It is actually being run by
:06:10. > :06:13.people from the self defence committees. There is one or two bits
:06:14. > :06:16.of evidence that some police are working alongside those self defence
:06:17. > :06:20.units, but the leaders of the opposition are saying to the
:06:21. > :06:24.protesters, stay on the street, you are the only authority at the
:06:25. > :06:27.moment. The other big concern remains of a country splitting, and
:06:28. > :06:32.opposition leaders we have been talking to this morning still
:06:33. > :06:37.believe this is a real concern, that the kind of Russian facing part of
:06:38. > :06:42.the country might try and push away from what has been happening here.
:06:43. > :06:44.We saw extraordinary footage last night of Tymoshenko in her
:06:45. > :06:50.wheelchair addressing the crowds, but she is not an entirely popular
:06:51. > :06:55.figure, is she? No, you are quite right, she is a controversial
:06:56. > :06:57.figure, quite divisive. The truth last night, she received a huge
:06:58. > :07:03.welcome because she had been released from detention, but she was
:07:04. > :07:07.listened to quite politely. There was not a great deal of spontaneous
:07:08. > :07:11.applause, there were one or two people who actually left while she
:07:12. > :07:15.was speaking. There are also those here who believe that she bears some
:07:16. > :07:21.responsibility for the crisis that Ukraine finds itself in. But she is
:07:22. > :07:25.very ambitious, very well-known, and there could well be some tension
:07:26. > :07:28.between her and the opposition leaders who have been out here on
:07:29. > :07:33.the barricades for the past two months. So although there was a
:07:34. > :07:37.welcome, I think a lot of people have reservations about what role
:07:38. > :07:41.she is going to play going forward. Briefly, everybody also looking
:07:42. > :07:46.east, wondering what Putin is going to do about this. Absolutely. We
:07:47. > :07:51.haven't heard in the last few days, we do not know what is going to
:07:52. > :07:56.happen to President Yanukovych. Is he somehow going to make his way to
:07:57. > :08:01.Russia? There were reports yesterday that his plane was prevented from
:08:02. > :08:05.leaving Donetsk. All of that remains uncertain. Of course, in his great
:08:06. > :08:10.tug of war which is happening over Ukraine between the West and Russia,
:08:11. > :08:14.this is the bigger picture, and I think a great cause of concern, and
:08:15. > :08:17.I don't think President Putin of Russia as really yet declared his
:08:18. > :08:24.hand as to what he wants to happen in this very precarious situation.
:08:25. > :08:28.Gavin, thank you very much indeed, Gavin Hewitt. And now to the
:08:29. > :08:31.papers, inevitably lots of that in the papers. The Sunday Telegraph has
:08:32. > :08:36.Yulia Tymoshenko talking last night, as I was discussing. They
:08:37. > :08:42.have a story about lottery places. Is. The Observer has the Revolution
:08:43. > :08:49.in Ukraine, protesters seize control. -- lottery places for
:08:50. > :08:54.schools. The Independent has Yulia Tymoshenko's words, slightly
:08:55. > :08:58.difficult to read! The dictatorship has fallen on the Sunday Times, the
:08:59. > :09:02.picture of an alleged sniper who was caught and forced to grovel in front
:09:03. > :09:07.of his victims. Now, Sarah Baxter from the Sunday Times, Simon Hughes,
:09:08. > :09:14.thank you for joining us. You really are a taxi driver, you do drive a
:09:15. > :09:20.taxi. I do, yes! Pilau people in the back saying, I don't blame
:09:21. > :09:25.immigrants and they should open prisons... One of the challenges is
:09:26. > :09:32.to make sure I do not alienate all my mates, real black cab drivers,
:09:33. > :09:36.picking people up, but people do try to get in, uninvited, and then I
:09:37. > :09:39.have to deal with getting them out. You could give them good liberal
:09:40. > :09:46.haranguing from the front. Ukraine, you have chosen a picture pull-out
:09:47. > :09:49.from the Sunday Times. I chose it without realising I am sitting next
:09:50. > :09:55.to its progenitor, because Sarah had a lot to do with this. This has been
:09:56. > :10:00.a huge story visually as well as intellectually, as it work. To
:10:01. > :10:04.declare my interest, I love Ukraine, I have been often, it is one of the
:10:05. > :10:08.huge potential parts of Europe that has never really reached its
:10:09. > :10:16.potential. It is a paradox, isn't it? Yalta is the place where the
:10:17. > :10:21.post-war settlement was arranged, this is in away the last and most
:10:22. > :10:26.recent big turn of events in that development of how you end the
:10:27. > :10:31.division of Europe into the Communist East and the West. And
:10:32. > :10:36.there is a lot yet to be said, but this is real people, it is real
:10:37. > :10:43.people being killed, real people engage for a country that should be
:10:44. > :10:48.the grain store of Europe. Very wealthy agriculture. And
:10:49. > :10:53.industrially, beautiful culturally, we really need to make sure they
:10:54. > :10:58.have our support. But recognising that just tracking them into the
:10:59. > :11:03.West is not something that we can arrogantly assume. They have been
:11:04. > :11:09.struggling for years to get their constitution soldered. You are going
:11:10. > :11:12.to a Ukrainian service. I am going to a Roman Catholic cathedral for
:11:13. > :11:16.their service as a gesture of solidarity, because they just need
:11:17. > :11:23.our support as they work out their own political future. I was very
:11:24. > :11:26.struck, watching the TV pictures and seeing images come out of Ukraine,
:11:27. > :11:31.that what we were looking at was almost like the set of Les
:11:32. > :11:37.Miserables coming to life, it looked like 1848 friends on the barricades.
:11:38. > :11:43.I had expected Liberty from the painting to come jumping over. And I
:11:44. > :11:47.just felt this was such a visual Revolution, and something that has
:11:48. > :11:53.made us sit up and notice. Simon is so right that it is so rich in
:11:54. > :12:02.history, this area, and such a fault line, a borderland. It is still
:12:03. > :12:06.divided by east and west down the middle. That is the important thing,
:12:07. > :12:11.it is not the end, it is the beginning of a whole new uncertain
:12:12. > :12:15.phase for Ukraine, because they have their Russian speaking peoples who
:12:16. > :12:22.want to break away, pro-European, Western rural poor... And an
:12:23. > :12:26.autonomous region. You have chosen the front page of the Mail on Sunday
:12:27. > :12:33.which has hidden a Ukrainian story. I just thought it was slightly odd,
:12:34. > :12:36.to say no more. They are going with a Labour minister having a holiday,
:12:37. > :12:42.who we have not heard of before, Barry Granger. A huge amount of
:12:43. > :12:46.coverage of Ukraine, have we learnt anything new from the papers today?
:12:47. > :12:49.I thought there was an interesting piece by the former British
:12:50. > :12:53.ambassador in the Sunday Telegraph, and we have to talk to Putin, but it
:12:54. > :12:57.is slightly catch up after the extraordinary scenes on television
:12:58. > :13:06.last night. We have learnt it is not a simple east-West question, it is
:13:07. > :13:11.not just between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko, and it is one of those
:13:12. > :13:17.debates about what sort of constitution you have, because
:13:18. > :13:20.yesterday they moved from a French presidential type constitution to
:13:21. > :13:24.one where Parliament is more dominant. And those are real
:13:25. > :13:29.issues. It is difficult for us to know what we want. Putin knows what
:13:30. > :13:34.he wants, a client state in the Ukraine, but what do we want? I do
:13:35. > :13:38.not think he loved the current... A lot of Scots say that England want a
:13:39. > :13:45.client state in the north of the UK, and you have chosen a place from the
:13:46. > :13:48.Sun. I did like this piece by Alistair Darling, saying that David
:13:49. > :13:52.Bowie did more for the debate in a sentence than politicians in the
:13:53. > :14:02.year. He did not even turn up to the awards, he got Kate Mosse to say
:14:03. > :14:05.stay with us. I think there is more to be gained from telling Scots that
:14:06. > :14:16.we love them rather than, you really need us. And you have got a Scotland
:14:17. > :14:22.rugby story, hurray, we won! Yes, with the last kick of the game. The
:14:23. > :14:26.link is, sport is a great surrogate for national is, but it is a healthy
:14:27. > :14:35.circuit and a fantastic surrogates. Not a healthy so that if you support
:14:36. > :14:42.Scotland. I understand these things! Yes, you won, you beat Italy, but
:14:43. > :14:49.yesterday the England-Ireland game was fantastic. Wales beat France,
:14:50. > :14:53.contrary to expectations. Four out of the six teams are equal on
:14:54. > :14:56.points, you could not ask for more. And the Winter Olympics, the
:14:57. > :15:09.football is great, the tennis, come on! National us can be subjugated to
:15:10. > :15:16.much better and healthier sport. We are going to move to another huge
:15:17. > :15:21.political story, Angola Merkel's arrival in the UK. Yes, David
:15:22. > :15:28.Cameron desperately needs some allies in Europe and he is hoping
:15:29. > :15:32.Angola Merkel will be one. So she gets to go to Buckingham Palace to
:15:33. > :15:41.address both Houses of Parliament, red carpets everywhere. Followed by
:15:42. > :15:48.a pub lunch, it is quite interesting how these things work out! We are
:15:49. > :15:54.moving into a different stage in the relationship with the German leader,
:15:55. > :16:00.who has been seen as frosty and remote. David Cameron has had for
:16:01. > :16:04.some time. And she definitely has an interest in making an ally out of
:16:05. > :16:08.David Cameron and giving some concessions that will allow David
:16:09. > :16:15.Cameron to win this referendum, should ever take place, on Europe.
:16:16. > :16:19.We have Nigel Farage, the UKIP leader, and Nick Clegg now agreeing
:16:20. > :16:27.to talk in a debate on television, which is a great spectacle. The real
:16:28. > :16:32.reason why Nick decided to throw down the gauntlet... I know why,
:16:33. > :16:39.because we passionately believe we should be in Europe, it has its
:16:40. > :16:43.problems and it is not perfect, but we need it for jobs and trade. The
:16:44. > :16:50.way to engage people is to personalise it for many people
:16:51. > :16:54.because my judgement is that a lot of people have a prejudice that
:16:55. > :17:00.actually most people are open to an argument about it. I think it is
:17:01. > :17:08.bold of Nick Clegg to take on Nigel Farage who is a very popular
:17:09. > :17:11.performer. I agree, but of all the people equipped to know the workings
:17:12. > :17:18.of the EU and its benefits, I think Nick Clegg is hugely well-qualified
:17:19. > :17:24.and he can speak as a solid Brits who understands the benefits. It
:17:25. > :17:29.will be a tough gig is a Nick Clegg. He knows that, but he has never been
:17:30. > :17:39.afraid... He wouldn't be in government with the Tories if he was
:17:40. > :17:43.afraid of tough gigs! There has also been things in the paper about the
:17:44. > :17:52.Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party playing Footsie more. Last
:17:53. > :17:56.election there was only one coalition that was numerically
:17:57. > :18:01.possible, in the national interest we went into that, otherwise we
:18:02. > :18:06.would have left the Tories to run the country on their own which in my
:18:07. > :18:12.view would have been far worse. The next election is a whole new ball
:18:13. > :18:18.game, we have a long way to go, and there isn't any conversation we are
:18:19. > :18:24.having internally. Our job as the Liberal Democrats is to have the
:18:25. > :18:29.maximum seats and votes. We believe we are the guaranteed to have a
:18:30. > :18:43.secure economy but also a fairer Britain than with the Tories on
:18:44. > :19:00.their own. In the papers there are these talks about the memorial
:19:01. > :19:15.service for Sir David Frost. Yes, Pundit' Corner, what a great name.
:19:16. > :19:26.He invited Hoover onto his show once, who had him thoroughly
:19:27. > :19:32.investigated. He described him as a hippie, anyone less of a hippie
:19:33. > :19:40.would be hard to imagine. He would love the opportunity just wonderful.
:19:41. > :19:45.Thank you both very much indeed, and we now move to the weather forecast
:19:46. > :19:48.of course. I was out in the country yesterday and saw two remarkable
:19:49. > :19:52.things - a carpet of crocuses and sunlight. Are we at last on the edge
:19:53. > :19:56.of spring or is there more Norse filth to come? Oh, come on, you all
:19:57. > :20:04.know the answer to that. Over to Jay Wynne. It is a bit of both, I'm
:20:05. > :20:07.afraid. It is a windy day, and the strongest wind will be in the
:20:08. > :20:14.north-west of the UK, blowing a gale. The satellite picture shows
:20:15. > :20:19.most of the UK swamped in cloud, the heaviest rain is in the north-west
:20:20. > :20:23.and will continue over the next hour or so but eventually it will clear
:20:24. > :20:29.away from Scotland leaving behind some blustery showers. In the
:20:30. > :20:39.Midlands, dribs and drabs of rain really, the south-west corner should
:20:40. > :20:42.dry up, and it will be very mild. We keep it mild this evening and
:20:43. > :20:48.overnight and that band of rain does not move too far, too quickly, but
:20:49. > :20:53.during the day on Monday it will move eastwards and fizzle out as it
:20:54. > :20:58.does so. It will be quite bright for many and still quite mild. However,
:20:59. > :21:08.out of the rest is more rain which will be accompanied by brisk wind.
:21:09. > :21:12.Moving into Tuesday, it will be wet and windy, the persistent rain
:21:13. > :21:13.should move away to the east, and it will be windy with some pretty heavy
:21:14. > :21:27.showers. Yuck! Ed Miliband's plan to freeze
:21:28. > :21:31.energy prices and reform the energy market, if he's elected, has not
:21:32. > :21:34.gone down well with the power companies. The head honchos at
:21:35. > :21:37.Centrica - owners of British Gas - have been complaining of political
:21:38. > :21:39.interference, and called for a less confrontational approach. Labour's
:21:40. > :21:42.Shadow Energy and Climate Change minister Caroline Flint is here.
:21:43. > :21:44.Welcome. Were you disturbed by what Centrica has had to say because
:21:45. > :21:53.their profits have gone down as well? Centrica have made healthy
:21:54. > :21:55.profits but I have to say they are scaremongering on this. I don't
:21:56. > :22:01.believe the price freeze will contribute to the lights going out,
:22:02. > :22:08.in fact according to my discussions with other representatives of the
:22:09. > :22:13.big six, they have not mentioned it. This is about giving something back
:22:14. > :22:20.to the consumers. They have lost 20% of their share value since this
:22:21. > :22:24.announcement. Share values go up and down but we have got to have the
:22:25. > :22:30.right policy for the country. We have got to decide that and there is
:22:31. > :22:36.no doubt the public are not happy with the big six. We want to open up
:22:37. > :22:40.the market and make it more competitive and transparent. You
:22:41. > :22:47.have a 20 month price freeze, what happens at the end of it? Whilst it
:22:48. > :22:51.is happening, we will take through our reforms including separating the
:22:52. > :23:03.generation and supply side of the big six because at the moment they
:23:04. > :23:07.create generally -- electricity and sell it to themselves. We will
:23:08. > :23:13.monitor wholesale prices and if they go down that must be passed onto
:23:14. > :23:17.consumers. After the price freeze, people will be looking around for a
:23:18. > :23:22.good deal so we want a modern dynamic and competitive market with
:23:23. > :23:31.these companies hungry for custom. Would you cap rise increases after
:23:32. > :23:35.that period? What we have said is that we will give powers to the
:23:36. > :23:39.regulator to monitor wholesale costs and our electricity pool will make
:23:40. > :23:45.that easier, and if wholesale costs go down and it is not reflected in
:23:46. > :23:49.the bills, they can force the energy companies to pass that on. I want
:23:50. > :23:56.the public to feel that even if bills to go up, it is a fair price
:23:57. > :24:00.they are paying. For too long we have had overcharging and not a very
:24:01. > :24:07.competitive market. What kind of dialogue is going on with the energy
:24:08. > :24:15.companies at the moment? I have been talking for two years about some of
:24:16. > :24:20.the changes, and the announcements are not new to the energy companies.
:24:21. > :24:24.There is quite a lot of support for our proposal and the smaller
:24:25. > :24:27.suppliers and independent generators, for the chance to get
:24:28. > :24:34.into the electricity market and trade openly, that is something they
:24:35. > :24:41.would welcome. With the global warming argument, many people would
:24:42. > :24:44.say nuclear is the answer but the Hinkley point Power Station is one
:24:45. > :24:48.of the most expensive in the world and a lot of people are saying it is
:24:49. > :24:56.unaffordable and a ridiculous contract, will you renegotiate it if
:24:57. > :24:59.you are elected? I support nuclear build and paying for a power station
:25:00. > :25:04.will cost more than setting up a wind farm but not a penny will be
:25:05. > :25:09.paid until they start creating electricity. When you look at the
:25:10. > :25:13.unit cost of electricity, providing energy for 60 years which is low
:25:14. > :25:17.carbon, it is cheaper than other renewable sources but it is a
:25:18. > :25:22.contract being negotiated by this Government and I don't think it is
:25:23. > :25:26.helpful for governments coming in to say we will renegotiate all
:25:27. > :25:32.contracts, but down the road the Public Accounts Committee will look
:25:33. > :25:35.at the details of this. I do believe nuclear is right, and going back to
:25:36. > :25:42.our reforms will give governments in the future much clearer ideas about
:25:43. > :25:46.what the reference price should be. If the Commons says this is a
:25:47. > :25:55.terrible deal and the EU concludes it is illegal, you will revisit it?
:25:56. > :26:00.We are supporting the contract because we believe in the long run
:26:01. > :26:04.the costs will come down but it is important to recognise when you look
:26:05. > :26:10.at the unit costs it works out cheaper than other forms of
:26:11. > :26:14.renewable energy. Can I talk about the Labour Party's reforms because
:26:15. > :26:20.it turns out that anybody who wants to be a supporter of the Labour
:26:21. > :26:26.Party just needs to pay ?3 as opposed to ?40 and gets a vote and
:26:27. > :26:34.other important things, is this going to involve huge numbers of
:26:35. > :26:39.people coming in and infiltrating your party? I hope it brings large
:26:40. > :26:44.numbers of Labour supporters into our party, and it allows people who
:26:45. > :26:48.don't want to be a full member to take part in our policy discussions
:26:49. > :26:52.and it is a fantastic opportunity, but we will have rules about when
:26:53. > :26:59.people are signing up they are signing up to the values of the
:27:00. > :27:03.Labour Party. If you are not signing up to that, there will be action
:27:04. > :27:07.taken but the truth is that we want to build our party, we don't want to
:27:08. > :27:14.be like the Tories whose membership has dipped below 100,000, relying on
:27:15. > :27:23.rich donors. I'm really looking forward to reaching out to the
:27:24. > :27:28.people. You are not worried about UKIP infiltrating the party? No, I'm
:27:29. > :27:33.more worried about people who do support Labour and would like to get
:27:34. > :27:38.involved. Do you believe we need a completely different level of
:27:39. > :27:44.investment on flood defences around the coast? We have to look at how
:27:45. > :27:51.adequate the flood defences are, but also climate change adaptation. They
:27:52. > :27:55.are inadequate at the moment. Yes, and sadly in 2010 and number of
:27:56. > :28:07.proposals for the defences were choked off by this Government. What
:28:08. > :28:09.I think is right is that we need to have an independent review of flood
:28:10. > :28:12.protection in this country. Not another independent review? We need
:28:13. > :28:17.to have a cross-party consensus, and I hope that in light of this we can
:28:18. > :28:25.get back to where we were in 2008 when only five MPs voted against the
:28:26. > :28:29.Climate Change Act. We have a lot of backbenchers who don't believe in
:28:30. > :28:33.climate change but also David Cameron is playing to UKIP so let's
:28:34. > :28:37.get back to where we were because it puts us in a strong position for
:28:38. > :28:41.battling climate change and also getting the jobs that arise from
:28:42. > :28:46.doing things differently. When people complain about their prices
:28:47. > :28:54.rising, you have no embarrassment about that, energy prices hard to
:28:55. > :28:58.take the hit? We need to make sure in the future we have cheaper costs,
:28:59. > :29:03.and the chair of the committee on climate change has made it very
:29:04. > :29:07.clear that the cost of not moving to cleaner energy will far outweigh the
:29:08. > :29:13.costs of paying in the future but the costs have to be fair and that
:29:14. > :29:19.is why we have to fix the market. A dead simple question to finish with,
:29:20. > :29:27.are you pledging more money for flood defences? We will look at its
:29:28. > :29:31.as part of our 0-based review but I'm not going to come out on the
:29:32. > :29:35.programme with how much I think that will be. It has got to be
:29:36. > :29:40.prioritised and the -- the right amount of resources go there. The
:29:41. > :29:44.Government have already said they are paying over ?1 billion more and
:29:45. > :29:48.it is false economics to have a situation where we don't do the
:29:49. > :29:56.right thing in front and pay more after. When he was a young
:29:57. > :30:00.violinist, Nigel Kennedy learned from Eugene Menuhin. What is less
:30:01. > :30:02.well-known is that you was mental in his teens by Stephane Grappelli. --
:30:03. > :30:15.menu. Nigel will be performing for us
:30:16. > :30:30.later, but in the meantime he is here life and unplugged. Great to be
:30:31. > :30:35.with you. I mentioned your Yehudi Menuhin, but do you regard the jazz
:30:36. > :30:39.and classical traditions as equal in value? Equal in value, but different
:30:40. > :30:45.people, if you transfer the ideology to people, everyone is equal but
:30:46. > :30:49.they have different things to do. Music is a wonderful journey if you
:30:50. > :30:56.can take it all equally but discover things along the way. You had two
:30:57. > :31:03.great mentors. We will just have a look at you with Yehudi Menuhin. Oh
:31:04. > :31:14.dear! Poor old Yehudi having to listen to that! Very patient. Yeah.
:31:15. > :31:19.Thank you, that is coming along nicely. It is coming along nicely!
:31:20. > :31:23.And then you had Stephane Grappelli, and now you have got to the stage
:31:24. > :31:28.where you are a grey whiskered veteran of the music world, where
:31:29. > :31:36.you are also mentoring other people. There is a Palestinian violinist who
:31:37. > :31:39.you think is the next big thing. He is an amazing violinist, an example
:31:40. > :31:46.of how, when people are treated equally, there does not need to be
:31:47. > :31:49.all those violent images about a part of the Middle East. I am
:31:50. > :31:55.playing the same piece here today later with another phenomenal young
:31:56. > :32:00.violinist from Wales, talent comes from all over the world. You are
:32:01. > :32:04.carrying on the tradition of Yehudi Menuhin. I am so lucky to have had
:32:05. > :32:10.such generous people helping me along the way. This is you playing
:32:11. > :32:17.at the Albert all, tell us available bit about it. Well, you know, it was
:32:18. > :32:23.wonderful for the Palestinian people to be represented in a cultural way
:32:24. > :32:27.and not as a problem. I think everyone felt it was a wonderful
:32:28. > :32:31.opportunity to be seen doing something beautiful and not being a
:32:32. > :32:40.political problem. People gave so much to it, the musicians, it was a
:32:41. > :32:46.very intense moment. We will do our best at the end of the show, lovely
:32:47. > :32:49.to be here. All the plays written by George Bernard Shaw, his most
:32:50. > :32:56.consistent crowd-pleaser is Pygmalion, a palpable hit since
:32:57. > :33:00.1912. A new production begins a national tour this weekend, Alistair
:33:01. > :33:03.McGowan plays Henry Higgins, and Rula Lenska is his level-headed
:33:04. > :33:08.mother. I caught up with both actors during rehearsals, and here is a
:33:09. > :33:16.sneak preview of how it is shaping up. Tell me about the girl. She is
:33:17. > :33:22.coming to see you. I asked to. If you had no no, you would not have
:33:23. > :33:27.asked. It is like this, she is a common flower girl. I picked her off
:33:28. > :33:32.a cab stand. And invited her to my home? I told her to speak properly,
:33:33. > :33:38.she is to keep to two subjects, weather and everybody's health, not
:33:39. > :33:45.talk about things in general. That will be safe. Safe?! Things in
:33:46. > :33:52.general, always to be avoided! When I talked to the actors, Alistair
:33:53. > :33:56.McGowan told me why he believe Higgins' attitudes towards Aliza was
:33:57. > :34:01.benevolent. He wants to help her, and I am sure that they are aware
:34:02. > :34:06.that the language says everything about you and can limit your chance
:34:07. > :34:10.of progress in life, and I think Higgins wants to try and help this
:34:11. > :34:14.bill, that is what he says, but it becomes a bet with his friend
:34:15. > :34:19.Pickering, so we cannot deny that aspect. He takes somebody from the
:34:20. > :34:22.bottom of the social piled to the top, is there any connection with
:34:23. > :34:31.reality television these days? Completely, it is a theme which is
:34:32. > :34:35.very contemporary today. Our language can limit where we get to.
:34:36. > :34:40.I think about one month ago there was something in the papers about
:34:41. > :34:44.whether you should use the word innit in an interview, and people
:34:45. > :34:49.were saying you should not, but our language is still very much part of
:34:50. > :34:55.where we end up. You have one of the very few fully rounded characters in
:34:56. > :34:59.this play, the Professor's mother. The only woman that he trusts and
:35:00. > :35:07.listens to. You are the voice of sanity and reason. I would hope so,
:35:08. > :35:12.a very well balanced person who has a greater depth of feeling than her
:35:13. > :35:20.son. She is a very warm, caring matriarch. Is Mrs Higgins a proto-
:35:21. > :35:25.suffragist? I think in some ways, which is completely truthful, and
:35:26. > :35:31.although when she first meets Eliza, she can see that there has been an
:35:32. > :35:34.enormous amount of work done, his speech is terribly well pronounced,
:35:35. > :35:40.but there is no way she is going to be able to pass fulsomely naturally
:35:41. > :35:46.from that area of life. You are a pretty pair of babies playing with
:35:47. > :35:50.your doll! Playing? The hardest job I ever tackled, make no mistake
:35:51. > :35:54.about that! You have no idea how frightfully interesting it is to
:35:55. > :35:57.take a human being and change into a quite different human being by
:35:58. > :36:02.creating a new speech for her, filling up the deepest gulf that
:36:03. > :36:06.separates class from class and soul from Seoul. I come from a highly
:36:07. > :36:11.aristocratic background, although I was born in this country, and I have
:36:12. > :36:17.never in my life been cast as a commoner, for want of a better word.
:36:18. > :36:23.When I asked producers and directors, white wine ever get cast
:36:24. > :36:28.as the girl next door, -- why don't I ever get cast as the girl next
:36:29. > :36:43.door, they say, you have a regal bearing. Amp thrilled to be sharing
:36:44. > :36:46.the stage with him. -- I am. It was interesting, in rehearsals, the
:36:47. > :36:53.director has been wonderful and said at one point, he had been watching
:36:54. > :36:57.Question Time, and David Starkey had been on the programme, and David
:36:58. > :37:02.said to me, that is the equivalent of a modern Henry Higgins, somebody
:37:03. > :37:05.who will speak his mind and is not afraid to upset anybody. In fact, he
:37:06. > :37:11.takes it as a challenge to upset as many people as he can. That was a
:37:12. > :37:15.great revelation for me. Is there an element in which there are fewer
:37:16. > :37:20.people who are interesting to impersonate these days? Politicians,
:37:21. > :37:24.it is harder to do Cameron and Osborne than it might have been to
:37:25. > :37:33.do Tony Benn and Tony Blair and so forth. No, I don't think so. Rory
:37:34. > :37:37.Bremner did politics so well. Someone like Boris Johnson, there is
:37:38. > :37:44.a huge character, there is a key sound which I love to get with him,
:37:45. > :37:47.do, it goes on and on. Playing Higgins is a lovely fit. You were
:37:48. > :37:53.talking about your aristocratic background, your father was Polish
:37:54. > :37:58.Greek army and was very nearly killed when a plane went down at the
:37:59. > :38:02.end of the war. That is right. He started his life in the diplomatic
:38:03. > :38:08.service, and he left Poland before the war broke out, and he was an
:38:09. > :38:12.aide to come. He would have been on that plane if it was not for the
:38:13. > :38:15.fact that his daughter arrived completely suddenly and took my
:38:16. > :38:23.father's place. He would have been killed. And I would never have
:38:24. > :38:26.happened. And your mother was in a concentration camp, a Polish
:38:27. > :38:32.countess. The you feel a connection to the huge numbers of polls now
:38:33. > :38:43.living in this country? -- do you feel. My first visit I was so
:38:44. > :38:46.surprised at how different Polish Poles to emigrate Poles. I could not
:38:47. > :38:51.live there. It is still, in many ways, 50 years behind what we are
:38:52. > :38:57.here, particularly if you need something done, or if you ask a
:38:58. > :39:03.workman to come, he does not turn up. That is because they are all
:39:04. > :39:06.here! There are not any left. Is there a big difference in taking a
:39:07. > :39:10.play to provincial theatres in Britain, as compared to doing the
:39:11. > :39:15.west end? Is there a different atmosphere? Do you approach it
:39:16. > :39:18.differently? It is a completely different kettle of fish.
:39:19. > :39:24.Personally, I love touring, and I have done an enormous amount of it.
:39:25. > :39:27.If you have a good product and a good cast, and by good cast, I do
:39:28. > :39:30.not just mean talented, but people who will get on and support each
:39:31. > :39:33.other and like each other. If you are going to good venues and the
:39:34. > :39:39.play is well received, it is a total joy. I wish our politicians could do
:39:40. > :39:45.what we do and see areas of the country. When you live, like I do,
:39:46. > :39:51.in Richmond, you do not have much idea what it is like, and when you
:39:52. > :39:53.go to places like Leicestershire, you see what effect policies are
:39:54. > :39:59.having on people and how they are living. I wish our politicians at
:40:00. > :40:04.the time to go around the country. Well, let's sends them invitations.
:40:05. > :40:10.They can come and see Pygmalion at the same time. Most of our
:40:11. > :40:15.politicians, for instance on Big Brother, an extraordinary moment,
:40:16. > :40:20.you and George Galloway, what was going on?! It was a completely
:40:21. > :40:24.innocent improvisation! Would you like me to be the cat? I was
:40:25. > :40:31.supposed to be a concerned cat owner who wanted to know why the pussycat
:40:32. > :40:34.wasn't eating its food, and I was told to talk to it in animal
:40:35. > :40:37.language. Being a conservationist and animal lover, I did not realise
:40:38. > :40:41.how George Galloway was going to throw himself into it. When I came
:40:42. > :40:45.out and that photograph was on the head of every single paper,
:40:46. > :40:49.including the New York Times, 35 years in the business, that is
:40:50. > :40:52.something that nobody ever forgets. It will be hard to top that with
:40:53. > :40:58.Pygmalion, but lovely to talk to you.
:40:59. > :41:02.German Chancellor Angela Merkel is coming to London this week, and by
:41:03. > :41:05.all accounts will be getting a royal reception. She is now the Prime
:41:06. > :41:10.Minister's key ally in his project to renegotiate the UK's relationship
:41:11. > :41:14.with the rest of the EU. William Hague joins us from Yorkshire to
:41:15. > :41:20.talk about that, but first about the extraordinary situation in Ukraine.
:41:21. > :41:25.Good morning. There is no government in the Ukraine at the moment, and
:41:26. > :41:28.the opposition is deeply divided. Our you confident there will be a
:41:29. > :41:34.provisional government by the end of the weekend? Or within a few days at
:41:35. > :41:38.least? Well, I hope, of course, that very quickly there will be. There is
:41:39. > :41:42.a moment of opportunity now for the Ukraine, after those terrible
:41:43. > :41:46.scenes, the horrific bloodshed of a few days ago, there is an
:41:47. > :41:50.opportunity, but there are still many dangers, of course, as you were
:41:51. > :41:55.discussing earlier on your programme. The political situation,
:41:56. > :42:01.even among the opposition, is very complex. It has clearly been a very
:42:02. > :42:06.divided country. The position, the whereabouts of Mr Yanukovych and not
:42:07. > :42:12.clear as we speak. So there are many dangers, but it is urgent that they
:42:13. > :42:20.get on to form that a government of national unity in effect. It is
:42:21. > :42:23.urgent that they agree the constitution, that they confirm
:42:24. > :42:29.their constitutional arrangements for elections coming up, which they
:42:30. > :42:33.have declared for May. And it is really urgent that they and we get
:42:34. > :42:39.on with improving the economic situation. While all of this as been
:42:40. > :42:42.happening, the Ukrainian economy is in a desperately poor situation, and
:42:43. > :42:48.they need an economic programme that the rest of us, through the IMF and
:42:49. > :42:51.other institutions, can support so that they can stave off even more
:42:52. > :42:56.serious economic situations. These things are very urgent, and we will
:42:57. > :42:59.be working with the Ukrainians and other European countries and the US
:43:00. > :43:05.and Russia on all of these things. Are we talking to the Russians? The
:43:06. > :43:09.Ukraine could split. We are talking to the Russians. This is a very
:43:10. > :43:13.important question. It is very important for us to continue to try
:43:14. > :43:19.to persuade Russia that this need not be a zero-sum game. It is in the
:43:20. > :43:23.interests of the people of Ukraine to be able to trade more freely with
:43:24. > :43:26.the European Union. It is in the interests of the people of Russia
:43:27. > :43:30.for that to happen as well. You know, the Prime Minister spoke to
:43:31. > :43:36.President Putin about this on Thursday, I will be talking to
:43:37. > :43:40.Foreign Minister Lavrov of Russia tomorrow, so we are in constant
:43:41. > :43:45.discussion with Russia, and it is very important that we keep that up,
:43:46. > :43:50.particularly if there is an economic package. It will be important that
:43:51. > :43:53.Russia does not do anything to undermine an economic package and is
:43:54. > :43:57.working in co-operation and support of it. So a lot of work to do with
:43:58. > :44:00.Russia over the coming days. Given that a lot of people in the east of
:44:01. > :44:05.the country are pro-Russian and worried about what is happening in
:44:06. > :44:11.Kiev, is there any possibility of Russia sending the tanks in? Well,
:44:12. > :44:16.we don't know, of course, what Russia's next reaction will be. We
:44:17. > :44:23.do know that Russia, as well as the unaided states, said a few days ago
:44:24. > :44:28.that they would get behind the deal that had been signed. -- the United
:44:29. > :44:35.States. This is the importance of us continuing the dialogue with
:44:36. > :44:41.Russia. The deal that had been made has now been overtaken by events,
:44:42. > :44:50.and this is the importance of us working with them. Any external
:44:51. > :44:54.duress, sorry, any external duress on Ukraine, anymore than we have
:44:55. > :44:58.seen in recent weeks, would make any of those things more likely. It is
:44:59. > :45:06.not in the interests of Russia. I am surprised, nonetheless, to GU being
:45:07. > :45:10.slightly equivocal. -- to hear you. Could there be a Russian
:45:11. > :45:16.intervention? You were suggesting that, I am not suggesting that. I am
:45:17. > :45:21.suggesting that it would not be in the interests of Russia to do any
:45:22. > :45:24.such thing, that we have to keep up communication with Russia, as we are
:45:25. > :45:30.doing, as you can gather, so that the people of Ukraine can use their
:45:31. > :45:35.own way forward. I am not suggesting anyone will stop them, but there are
:45:36. > :45:40.many dangers and uncertainties. The people of Ukraine must choose their
:45:41. > :45:43.own way forward. I am not suggesting that anybody is going to stop them,
:45:44. > :45:54.but there are many dangers and uncertainties. Can I turn to the
:45:55. > :46:00.future of our relationship with the EU and Angola Merkel's arrival next
:46:01. > :46:04.week. Francois Hollande got a pub supper, whereas Angola Merkel is
:46:05. > :46:11.getting reception in Downing Street, and being given the Royal red-carpet
:46:12. > :46:20.treatment. Is this a suggestion she is much more important to us now
:46:21. > :46:25.than the French? Of course Germany and Germany's Chancellor are very
:46:26. > :46:32.important partners in Europe. This is a different sort of visits from
:46:33. > :46:36.the French visit, that was a short summit to discuss our bilateral
:46:37. > :46:43.defence and security cooperation. This is a more wide-ranging visit
:46:44. > :46:48.from Angola Merkel. Germany is our most important partner on seeking
:46:49. > :46:53.reform in the European Union because it is Germany that has such a strong
:46:54. > :46:58.position in the Eurozone and has managed to maintain a dynamic
:46:59. > :47:04.economy itself, and Germany is in that key position in the European
:47:05. > :47:08.Union. Our relations with Angola Merkel are very good and we want
:47:09. > :47:13.together to make sure that Europe is more competitive, more flexible,
:47:14. > :47:19.more democratically accountable than it is today and those are the sorts
:47:20. > :47:24.of ideas we will be discussing. She is a deep, profound believer in
:47:25. > :47:31.strengthening the European Union. Realistically, what can you get out
:47:32. > :47:36.of her in this negotiation? She is a believer in those things but also a
:47:37. > :47:42.believer in Britain being a member of the European Union, and she knows
:47:43. > :47:47.and I believe she understands what our Prime Minister David Cameron has
:47:48. > :47:52.been putting forward, that this is the age of flexibility,
:47:53. > :47:57.accountability, competitiveness. The European Union cannot be immune from
:47:58. > :48:02.those things. In every nation state we are having to adapt to those
:48:03. > :48:06.pressures and it is important the EU does so as well so we will be
:48:07. > :48:13.discussing the ideas we have in common, and it is our intention
:48:14. > :48:18.after the next general election to improve Britain's relationship with
:48:19. > :48:22.the European Union, to renegotiate the relationship between Britain and
:48:23. > :48:29.the EU and improve it on the lines we have spoken so we can give people
:48:30. > :48:34.a choice in a referendum by the end of 2017 of staying in or leaving the
:48:35. > :48:40.European Union. I was astonished last week when Jose Manuel Barroso
:48:41. > :48:48.said there were no talks whatsoever, is this just smoke and
:48:49. > :48:52.mirrors before the election? The negotiation is for the future. There
:48:53. > :48:57.are important things happening all the time, we have succeeded in many
:48:58. > :49:03.negotiations such as bringing down the European budget for the first
:49:04. > :49:09.time ever, reforming the fisheries policy, protecting the countries
:49:10. > :49:13.outside of the Eurozone during proposals for banking union, all of
:49:14. > :49:17.these things are negotiations in which Britain is succeeding. The
:49:18. > :49:23.negotiation of the changes I am talking about is for after the next
:49:24. > :49:26.general election but we are establishing the common ground with
:49:27. > :49:31.Germany, with the Netherlands for instance, where their government has
:49:32. > :49:36.issued a report talking about Europe, where necessary, but
:49:37. > :49:41.national wherever possible. That is a good guiding forts and it is one
:49:42. > :49:46.on which we can work with the Dutch. Returning to Angola Merkel,
:49:47. > :49:50.are you going to be talking to her about things like the free movement
:49:51. > :49:59.of people and welfare payments inside the EU or not? I'm sure these
:50:00. > :50:03.subjects will come up. Germany also has strict benefit rules, it doesn't
:50:04. > :50:08.want its benefits system to be abused. We support the principle of
:50:09. > :50:11.the free movement of workers and many British people rightly take
:50:12. > :50:15.advantage of that in the rest of Europe but we don't support people
:50:16. > :50:19.moving from one country to another because of the incentives of
:50:20. > :50:25.different benefit systems and I think again with Germany we have a
:50:26. > :50:30.lot of common ground on that. William Hague in 2014 sounds to be
:50:31. > :50:34.like a completely committed Europhile who wants moderate changes
:50:35. > :50:40.but not too much, a mile away from the William Hague who lead the
:50:41. > :50:46.Conservative party way back when. Fair point? No, actually my views on
:50:47. > :50:53.Europe are exactly the same. My slogan then was in Europe, not run
:50:54. > :51:00.by Europe and it remains the same now. It is essential for it to
:51:01. > :51:04.reform and show that power can come back to nation states and
:51:05. > :51:09.competencies can be returned to nation states. I want to see that
:51:10. > :51:14.happen so that we can make a success of being in the European Union. That
:51:15. > :51:18.has always been my position. I'm glad to say these days there aren't
:51:19. > :51:23.really any people in Britain who say let's give up the pound, let's join
:51:24. > :51:28.the euro, which is what they were saying when I was the leader of the
:51:29. > :51:33.Conservative party and I was reacting against that. That debate
:51:34. > :51:38.is over and now there is a new debate. If the Conservatives are
:51:39. > :51:47.re-elected, that debate will be about keeping us in Europe, from
:51:48. > :51:54.your point of view? It is about giving this country a choice. It
:51:55. > :51:58.will be more than 40 years since before you or I have the right to
:51:59. > :52:03.vote, that's the last time people had a referendum in this country. It
:52:04. > :52:09.is right to give them a democratic choice. We want to be able to say,
:52:10. > :52:14.as David Cameron has said, we want to be able to recommend that in a
:52:15. > :52:19.reformed Europe and with a better relationship with it, we can stay
:52:20. > :52:23.in, we can recommend to stay in, but people will have the choice and that
:52:24. > :52:30.negotiation will have to take place. The changes we need to see
:52:31. > :52:36.are serious and very important for this country's future and Europe's
:52:37. > :52:43.future. Don't underestimate the scale. You mention the Dutch, are
:52:44. > :52:48.they our new crucial allies in all of this? They are very important
:52:49. > :52:52.allies in this because in the Netherlands as in this country there
:52:53. > :52:57.is a debate about these ideas, there is a government that is talking
:52:58. > :53:03.about these things and that is across Dutch politics and it is true
:53:04. > :53:05.in their Labour party as well as they are very important allies in
:53:06. > :53:08.this because in the Netherlands as in this country there is a debate
:53:09. > :53:10.about these ideas, there is a government that is talking about
:53:11. > :53:13.these things and that is across Dutch politics and it is true in
:53:14. > :53:15.their Labour party as well as they're more centre-right parties.
:53:16. > :53:18.They are not the only ones, there are people in many of the Nordic
:53:19. > :53:21.countries who share these ideas, in Germany there is a strong overlap of
:53:22. > :53:25.ideas so I think the time is coming in Europe to push these ideas of
:53:26. > :53:29.flexibility, accountability and competitiveness. Sorry, there is a
:53:30. > :53:35.time delay. Thank you for joining us.
:53:36. > :53:40.The whereabouts of the Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych are
:53:41. > :53:46.still unclear the day after he was voted to be removed from office. He
:53:47. > :53:51.is thought to be in the east of the country. Last night the former Prime
:53:52. > :53:56.Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, addressed crowds at Independence
:53:57. > :54:00.Square in central Kiev, praising demonstrators for having removed a
:54:01. > :54:03.dictator. The Foreign Secretary has said many dangers are present in the
:54:04. > :54:13.current situation in the Ukraine which he described as a divided
:54:14. > :54:18.country. He said it was important to persuade Russia that the crisis in
:54:19. > :54:21.the Ukraine need not be a zero-sum game. The British Chambers of
:54:22. > :54:26.commerce has called on the Chancellor to invest in youth
:54:27. > :54:31.training to avoid what it called a lost generation. In its submission
:54:32. > :54:36.the group is pressing for a ?100 million fund to be established to
:54:37. > :54:40.get young people into work or apprenticeships. The next news is on
:54:41. > :54:46.BBC One at one o'clock. Now let's look at what is coming up
:54:47. > :54:49.immediately after this programme. We will be in Oxford at ten o'clock
:54:50. > :54:55.when we will be debating whether hate is a crime, should paying for
:54:56. > :55:04.sex be illegal, and religions meddling in politics.
:55:05. > :55:09.I am joined once more by Caroline Flint and Sarah Baxter. Let's talk
:55:10. > :55:16.about women in politics because the Conservatives have some problems,
:55:17. > :55:21.don't they? To their credit they elected a woman as their leader and
:55:22. > :55:25.they seem to be squandering that heritage by not treating their
:55:26. > :55:33.female MPs terribly well and not doing enough to attract female MPs.
:55:34. > :55:39.Right across the spectrum, it remains difficult to get women in.
:55:40. > :55:43.Is there more to be done? The job is never over, we have to strive to
:55:44. > :55:53.make Parliament more representative of different backgrounds. Part of
:55:54. > :55:58.our change and the reform next weekend when we are opening up our
:55:59. > :56:03.party to registered supporters, that will give us an even bigger base
:56:04. > :56:07.including women, from all sorts of different backgrounds, getting
:56:08. > :56:15.involved in politics. Do you think we should be moving towards all
:56:16. > :56:19.women short lists? I dislike that sort of positive discrimination but
:56:20. > :56:23.something has to change because they don't want to become a party of men
:56:24. > :56:30.only and they have got a real problem. I would like to see them
:56:31. > :56:36.have so many more women. Ever since politics has started we have had all
:56:37. > :56:41.male short lists for a long time. All-female short lists have played a
:56:42. > :56:48.huge part but also it changes the nature of politics. It has made a
:56:49. > :56:52.difference. I'm afraid that's all we've got time for this morning.
:56:53. > :56:55.Join us again next Sunday here on BBC One at the usual time of nine
:56:56. > :57:01.o'clock. In the meantime, as promised earlier, we leave you with
:57:02. > :57:04.Nigel Kennedy. Accompanied by Eos from The Bond Quartet, this is
:57:05. > :57:09."Melody In The Wind". And we are very glad to have women on the front
:57:10. > :57:16.line here!