:00:15. > :00:18.Hello and Welcome to the Record Review. The PM is for turning. This
:00:18. > :00:21.week it's been Ken Clarke's sentencing policy. David Cameron
:00:21. > :00:29.says he's listening to the people. But Labour doesn't quite see it
:00:29. > :00:33.like that. After another week of chaos from this coalition, is it
:00:33. > :00:38.any wonder that the Archbishop of Canterbury is now on his knees in
:00:38. > :00:44.despair? One man has been talking quietly to all the top people in
:00:44. > :00:49.the Coalition and he tells us it's working like a well-oiled machine.
:00:49. > :00:54.This coalition has proved remarkably stable, united and very
:00:54. > :00:57.effective in terms of quick, firm decisions. Also, two new MPs
:00:57. > :01:00.celebrate their first anniversary with some frank things to say about
:01:00. > :01:08.life at Westminster. And politics meets art - we reveal the paintings
:01:08. > :01:12.the politicians choose for their offices. But first, there was no
:01:12. > :01:14.shortage of items filling David Cameron's in-tray this week. First,
:01:14. > :01:19.the Prime Minister gave apparent concessions to the Liberal
:01:19. > :01:22.Democrats on changes to the NHS. Next, the liberal plans of the
:01:22. > :01:27.Justice Secretary, for a 50% cut in sentences for offenders who plead
:01:27. > :01:30.guilty early, was unceremoniously dropped by David Cameron. On
:01:30. > :01:37.Thursday, Labour totted up the U- turns and wondered what had
:01:37. > :01:39.happened to the Coalition's agenda for public service reform. Back in
:01:39. > :01:43.February the Prime Minister proclaimed we will soon publish a
:01:44. > :01:49.White Paper setting out our approach to public service reform
:01:49. > :01:54.that will signal the decisive end of the old-fashioned top-down model.
:01:54. > :01:59.Bold words, soon, decisive. What's happened? Nothing. First it was put
:01:59. > :02:04.off until May. Now, we hear, it's been delayed until July because of
:02:04. > :02:08.another coalition split. One Lib Dem official said, "Nick does not
:02:08. > :02:13.want there to be any sense that the public sector can't be a provider
:02:13. > :02:21.of good quality public services." We can all feel another pause
:02:21. > :02:28.coming on. Finally, Baroness Thatcher famously possessed no
:02:28. > :02:34.reverse gear. This Prime Minister has a car stuffed full of them and
:02:34. > :02:36.a reverse gear as well! It does make us wonder what exactly goes on
:02:36. > :02:43.inside Number Ten when the Prime Minister approves of all these
:02:43. > :02:47.policies only to reverse in the opposite direction scattering his
:02:47. > :02:51.Cabinet colleagues in the way. So after another week of chaos from
:02:51. > :02:58.this coalition, is it any wonder that the Archbishop of Canterbury
:02:58. > :03:03.is now on his knees in despair? the question of the Archbishop, I
:03:03. > :03:06.haven't seen the full text of what the Archbishop has said. I hope he
:03:06. > :03:11.has found time to balance any criticism of the coalition with
:03:11. > :03:15.commendation for some of the things we have done. The 0.7% of GMI
:03:15. > :03:20.commitment on overseas aid making sure the poorest people in the
:03:20. > :03:27.world don't bear the burden of solving our problems. I hope he
:03:27. > :03:32.also finds time to commend, to commend our action on the pupil
:03:32. > :03:36.premium, taking lower income people out of tax. The Archbishop said
:03:36. > :03:39.that the coalition was rushing things through which nobody voted
:03:39. > :03:46.for. You could turn the coin over and say in a Parliament where no
:03:46. > :03:49.one party has a majority there is much less likelihood of that
:03:49. > :03:52.happening. Hilary Benn poking some fun at the Government. Sir George
:03:52. > :03:55.Young fighting back after the Archbishop of Canterbury has said
:03:55. > :03:59.no-one voted for the Coalition. Well, no-one did vote directly for
:03:59. > :04:02.a Con-Lib Dem Coalition. But that's what we've got and could in fact
:04:02. > :04:04.have all the way to the Spring of 2015. But, regardless of its
:04:04. > :04:09.policies, has this two-party coalition, something pretty unusual
:04:09. > :04:12.in UK politics, actually been working effectively? A detailed
:04:12. > :04:15.study of the way the Coalition has been operating in the power
:04:15. > :04:19.corridors of Whitehall is being carried out by London University's
:04:19. > :04:25.Constitution Unit. The project's led by the constitutional expert,
:04:25. > :04:30.Professor Robert Hazell. When he came into the Record Review studio,
:04:30. > :04:35.he told me about the way his team had gone about its research. Well,
:04:35. > :04:42.this is a 12-month study. We began in January. Over the spring, we
:04:42. > :04:47.have interviewed 90 people, mainly in Whitehall, in Cabinet Office, in
:04:47. > :04:51.Number Ten... This is at all levels of seniority? These are all pretty
:04:51. > :04:57.senior people. In three case study departments in Whitehall, which are
:04:57. > :05:03.DEFRA and DEC and the Department of Communities and Local Government.
:05:03. > :05:06.And in Parliament, we have interviewed a lot of MPs on the
:05:06. > :05:09.Conservative and Lib Dem benches and also in the House of Lords we
:05:09. > :05:16.have interviewed a lot of Conservative and Lib Dem peers.
:05:16. > :05:19.have all got our own ideas about Coalition Government and academics
:05:19. > :05:22.have had theories about how our Coalition Government might work.
:05:22. > :05:26.What surprises would you say there have been in the year of Coalition
:05:26. > :05:30.Government that we weren't really expecting at all? I think the big
:05:30. > :05:36.surprise for the British people, who were pretty prejudiced against
:05:36. > :05:41.coalitions, and thought that they would be weak and indecisive, is
:05:41. > :05:47.that this coalition in its first year has proved remarkably stable,
:05:47. > :05:50.united and very effective in terms of quick, firm decisions, some of
:05:50. > :05:54.which admittedly they are now going wobbly on, but no-one can say this
:05:54. > :05:58.Government has been indecisive. large part of the strength of the
:05:58. > :06:03.coalition has been the two people at the top, Cameron and Clegg?
:06:03. > :06:05.Absolutely. That relationship is crucial and they do get on famously
:06:05. > :06:09.well together. They have very regular meetings every Monday
:06:09. > :06:13.morning and they also chat together on Sunday evening and sometimes
:06:13. > :06:17.they have an additional meeting during the week. Every one else at
:06:17. > :06:21.the top, especially at Number Ten and Cabinet Office, takes their
:06:21. > :06:25.tune from Cameron and Clegg and so around them they have top advisors
:06:25. > :06:29.who also get on very well together and have very, very regular
:06:29. > :06:32.informal dealings with each other, some of them several times a day.
:06:32. > :06:35.little bit of resentment from Conservative MPs that the Prime
:06:35. > :06:40.Minister, the leader of their party is doing so much talking to a
:06:40. > :06:45.Liberal Democrat? Of course. That is a natural outcome of a coalition,
:06:45. > :06:50.that the backbenchers feel excluded because their frontbench as it were
:06:50. > :06:54.has got into bed with someone else. In both parties it is important for
:06:54. > :06:58.the leadership also to keep closely in touch with the Parliamentary
:06:58. > :07:02.Party and with the party outside. Do you think that has led to more
:07:02. > :07:05.rebellions than would have been expected because of that point?
:07:06. > :07:09.This Parliament has been the most rebellious we have ever seen, in
:07:09. > :07:13.fact in the first nine months of this Parliament there have been
:07:13. > :07:17.more rebellions on the Government benches than in the first four
:07:17. > :07:19.years of Tony Blair's first Government. So there is an
:07:19. > :07:23.extraordinarily high degree of rebellion. One of the key findings
:07:23. > :07:26.that you have discovered is that the Lib Dem identity has been lost
:07:26. > :07:31.as a result of this coalition. What do you think the Liberal Democrats
:07:31. > :07:36.can do about that? I think it is very difficult for them. In the
:07:36. > :07:39.coalition agreement, they did really well and in an analysis that
:07:39. > :07:43.we did of the two manifestos against the coalition agreement
:07:43. > :07:47.shows the Lib Dems got more of their manifesto, 75%, into the
:07:48. > :07:52.coalition agreement compared with the Tories who only got 60% in. So
:07:52. > :07:57.in terms of the underlying policy for this Government, it is arguably
:07:57. > :08:02.more Lib Dem than Tory. But the public I think will never see how
:08:02. > :08:05.much influence the Lib Dems have because they are making lots of
:08:05. > :08:09.small wins across the whole of Whitehall most of which are
:08:09. > :08:13.invisible to the media and to the public. The Lib Dems, there is an
:08:13. > :08:19.inherent problem here. As the Lib Dems try to show their distinct
:08:19. > :08:23.identity, that must come at a slight cost to the stability of the
:08:23. > :08:28.coalition? It's a classic dilemma for coalitions that they have to
:08:28. > :08:31.demonstrate unity in Government, but enable both the parties also to
:08:31. > :08:37.demonstrate their distinctive identity to the public, especially
:08:37. > :08:42.as we look to the next election. It is much harder for the junior
:08:42. > :08:46.partner. Do you think the Lib Dems made a mistake by pressing on with
:08:46. > :08:51.the AV referendum and Lords reform? It was a mistake, particularly on
:08:51. > :08:54.the AV referendum. I have been warning if they held the referendum
:08:54. > :09:00.on the timetable which they did it was going to be lost. The main
:09:00. > :09:04.reason why they suffered that defeat was reckless haste. On Lords
:09:04. > :09:08.reform, they partly learnt the lesson and they are going very slow
:09:08. > :09:13.on that, in that it took a year for them to publish their proposals.
:09:13. > :09:17.They are now going to be considered by a Joint Committee and that may
:09:17. > :09:23.take another year. What did you notice about divisions between
:09:23. > :09:28.members of the Cabinet? The Cabinet, we haven't found many divisions
:09:28. > :09:31.across the coalition divide. Interestingly, several of our
:09:31. > :09:35.interviewees said to us the strongest disagreements in this
:09:35. > :09:39.Government have been between ministers of the same party.
:09:39. > :09:43.Examples given, and these aren't secret, are the big tussles there
:09:43. > :09:47.have been between Ken Clarke as Justice Secretary and Theresa May
:09:47. > :09:55.as Home Secretary over justice versus security and law-and-order
:09:55. > :09:59.kind of issues, or on the Lib Dem side between Chris Huhne, batting
:09:59. > :10:04.for climate change, and Vince Cable, batting for business. There's an
:10:04. > :10:09.obvious tension between these two. That reminds the Lib Dems are
:10:09. > :10:12.sprinkled across - I think they have 22 ministerial posts - across
:10:12. > :10:14.the departments. Do you think it would have been better if they had
:10:14. > :10:17.one or two departments that would have been exclusively Liberal
:10:17. > :10:21.Democrat? Would that have worked? That is a really good question.
:10:21. > :10:25.That is something we are going to explore much more in the next phase
:10:25. > :10:29.of our project. You are quite right, the Lib Dems did decide at the
:10:29. > :10:34.beginning of this Government to go for breadth rather than depth. And
:10:34. > :10:37.as a result of that breadth, it is really difficult for them to
:10:37. > :10:41.demonstrate significant impact on specific areas of policy so that if
:10:41. > :10:46.there is a reshuffle, and if I were offering advice to Nick Clegg, I
:10:46. > :10:49.think I would say if you can, regroup your ministers in much more
:10:49. > :10:52.concentrated areas so that you can show to the public where the Lib
:10:52. > :10:58.Dems are making a difference. Another finding that you have made
:10:58. > :11:02.is that the Deputy Prime Minister's office is under strength. What can
:11:03. > :11:08.be done to make amends there? largely it has been strengthened in
:11:08. > :11:12.terms of numbers, but Nick Clegg's team will never be as senior or
:11:12. > :11:16.experienced as the people in Number Ten and that's their underlying
:11:16. > :11:20.difficulty so it is never going to have the same clout as Number Ten
:11:20. > :11:24.working for the Prime Minister. And I think all that Nick Clegg can do
:11:24. > :11:29.is look for support from some of the people in Number Ten, which he
:11:29. > :11:32.does get, but also carve out for himself very clear strategic
:11:32. > :11:36.priorities which the public can know and understand. Do you think
:11:36. > :11:40.the Liberal Democrats have enough time? 2015, the next general
:11:40. > :11:44.election, have they got enough time to turn things around because
:11:44. > :11:47.electorally they have just had a bit of a mauling in the recent
:11:47. > :11:51.local elections? It's always difficult for the junior partner
:11:51. > :11:53.and the junior partner in a coalition suffers electorally
:11:53. > :11:58.because they can't distinguish themselves sufficiently to the
:11:58. > :12:01.electorate. But they have got four years. If they do begin to carve
:12:01. > :12:05.out some very clear strategic priorities so that they can go to
:12:05. > :12:10.the electorate in 2015 and say, "Look, this is the difference that
:12:10. > :12:14.we have made, in this area, this area and this." At the moment, if
:12:14. > :12:18.you look at the Lib Dem website and you see the policy documents where
:12:18. > :12:24.they analyse the difference they have made, when I last looked they
:12:24. > :12:28.had 140 different items. They are never going to convince the
:12:28. > :12:31.electorate if they have that many policy items. On the general
:12:31. > :12:36.political landscape, because there's two parties in Government
:12:36. > :12:40.and one party in opposition, does that change the dynamics on every
:12:40. > :12:43.issue and how the public perceives it because you have one main party,
:12:43. > :12:47.namely Labour, that is in opposition each time, do you think
:12:47. > :12:50.that has an effect on how the public perceive each issue?
:12:50. > :12:54.would be very interesting to know how many members of the public know
:12:54. > :13:01.that the Lib Dems are in Government. What they see is a Government led
:13:01. > :13:03.by David Cameron. So, I suspect for a lot of the public we have a Tory
:13:03. > :13:07.Government. That's another difficulty for the Lib Dems in
:13:07. > :13:10.convincing the public that they are having an impact and to some extent,
:13:10. > :13:15.sometimes they have to come out almost in opposition to the
:13:15. > :13:20.Government of which they are members. Finally, history is not on
:13:20. > :13:25.the Liberals side, when they have taken part in peacetime coalitions,
:13:25. > :13:29.it has been a complete disaster for them at the next election. That
:13:29. > :13:34.must be weighing heavily on the minds of Nick Clegg and his senior
:13:34. > :13:39.Lib Dem colleagues? Indeed. The Liberals, as they were, have been
:13:39. > :13:44.in coalition three times in the last century or so. And on each
:13:44. > :13:49.occasion it's led to a split in the Liberal Party. The key lesson for
:13:49. > :13:53.Nick Clegg, what he's got to watch out for, is that when the party
:13:54. > :14:00.becomes uncomfortable about being in coalition, the rot as it were
:14:00. > :14:02.starts from the tail not from the head. So it's the members of the
:14:02. > :14:08.party or the Parliamentary Party who become really unhappy and begin
:14:08. > :14:15.to split away and he needs to keep his party and his parliamentary
:14:15. > :14:18.colleagues strongly on board. Professor Hazell. It's one year on
:14:18. > :14:21.for the class of 2010, and the Hansard Society has just published
:14:21. > :14:23.a survey of the attitudes of the new Commons intake. MPs complain of
:14:23. > :14:26.being overworked and unimpressed with some of Parliaments'
:14:26. > :14:29.procedures. Many have taken a big pay cut. Our reporter Emma Murray
:14:29. > :14:32.asked the Conservative MP Simon Hart and the Commons' first Green
:14:32. > :14:42.MP, Caroline Lucas, if they'd known what they were letting themselves
:14:42. > :14:42.
:14:42. > :14:45.I did know it was a pretty weird and wonderful place. It has lived
:14:45. > :14:50.up to that assessment. What shocked me most is the amount of time that
:14:50. > :14:55.MPs have to waste, whether it is sitting in the chamber for hours on
:14:55. > :14:59.hours on the offchance they might get the speaker's eye or and the
:14:59. > :15:04.queuing up in order to vote much we calculated over the lifetime of a
:15:04. > :15:14.four-year Parliament MPs could be wasting 250 hours waiting to go
:15:14. > :15:20.through the aye lobby or the no lobby. That inefficiency has been
:15:20. > :15:23.shocking. I think most of my voters expect me to be in the chamber
:15:23. > :15:27.listening to debate. Standing around talking to colleagues while
:15:27. > :15:33.you are waiting to vote, which is the last thing we do often in the
:15:33. > :15:37.day's work, isn't a bad use of time. I'm an evolutionist, not a
:15:37. > :15:43.revolutionist. Many new MPs complained about being overworked.
:15:43. > :15:48.Can you be effective when you are working a 74-hour week? We went
:15:48. > :15:53.into it with our eyes open. It's tough. I'm not whingeing about it.
:15:53. > :15:56.It's an exhilarating place to work. Yes, it's demanding. Yes, it's long
:15:56. > :16:00.hours. It's not particularly socialable from a family point of
:16:00. > :16:04.view. We'd like to think it's valuable work. Valuable work for
:16:04. > :16:11.the people we represent. If we didn't like the hours which we were
:16:11. > :16:16.going to work we shouldn't have applied for the job in the first
:16:16. > :16:20.place Can you be effective? I too take nart debates and sit and
:16:20. > :16:25.listen to debates. To wait six hours not know if anything you will
:16:25. > :16:29.get into a debate day after day is not, I would contend a good use of
:16:29. > :16:33.time when you have constituents contact you on issues. I think the
:16:33. > :16:37.issue here is how we organise our time. The way Westminster does it
:16:37. > :16:41.is not very efficient. You wouldn't look at any other institution in
:16:41. > :16:45.this country and think thiss with a good way of acting. The amount of
:16:45. > :16:48.hours we work are many. That is not a surprise. I do think we should be
:16:48. > :16:53.looking at other ways ever operating. For example, I attracted
:16:53. > :16:56.much mirth when I suggested the idea of job sharing for MPs. I'm
:16:56. > :17:01.serious about. It more women could get involved. Younger people could
:17:01. > :17:06.get involved we could make this job a meaningful and febgive job rather
:17:06. > :17:11.than it being the boys late at night. It's an old boys club. That
:17:11. > :17:16.needs to change. I don't think I'm that old. I don't see it as a club.
:17:16. > :17:20.I think what we do, it's prot duct. Are we providing value-for-money?
:17:20. > :17:25.Are we doing what they want us to do? Sometimes, when we have
:17:25. > :17:31.conversations like this it looks pretty self-indull gent. We spend
:17:31. > :17:35.years trying to get elected, we get elected and then we complain about
:17:35. > :17:40.how the system doesn't work. It does work quite well. There are
:17:40. > :17:45.quite a lot of checks and balances in there which make sure in the end,
:17:45. > :17:50.no matter how frustrating it is, it stops us making stupid decisions.
:17:50. > :17:54.Well, mainly stops us taking stupid decisions. We have to be cautious
:17:54. > :18:00.about saying, it's all rubbish, let's get rid of it because we
:18:00. > :18:06.kfplt I'm not saying it's all rubbish or get rid of. It I say
:18:06. > :18:09.look at reforms that I proposed. We have had debates in Westminster
:18:09. > :18:14.Hall we will have a debate on the floor of the House. There is
:18:14. > :18:17.concern about how we make Parliament more efficient and more
:18:17. > :18:21.effective. I hope that translates into effective reforms very soon.
:18:21. > :18:24.There is going to change? I'm sure it can change if the political will
:18:24. > :18:27.is there. I might have to work on him first.
:18:27. > :18:29.The views there of two spring chickens in the Westminster
:18:29. > :18:31.farmyard. Now, a look at some of the other
:18:31. > :18:34.stories around Parliament in the last seven days.
:18:34. > :18:36.The Home Secretary, Theresa May, has given details of the new
:18:36. > :18:41.National Crime Agency, which will replace the Serious Organised Crime
:18:41. > :18:44.Agency, set up only five years ago. It'll cover drugs and gun crime,
:18:44. > :18:49.and will also have responsibility to tackle the exploitation of
:18:49. > :18:53.children on the internet. National Crime Agency will be a
:18:53. > :18:56.crime fighting organisation. It will tackle organised crime, defend
:18:57. > :19:01.our borders, fight fraud and sieb cyber crime and protect children
:19:01. > :19:09.and young people. The Government is pushing ahead with American-style
:19:09. > :19:13.plans for -- that nobody wants much they are dogged by chaos and
:19:14. > :19:16.confusion. There is no sign the Home Secretary has got a grip.
:19:16. > :19:18.A financial crisis at the care provider Southern Cross prompts
:19:19. > :19:23.some peers to attack the involvement of private companies in
:19:23. > :19:29.the care sector. Given the latest revelation that is Southern Cross
:19:29. > :19:32.traded the care of older people for short-term profit. Given the
:19:32. > :19:37.revolution that the quality care commission failed to come to the
:19:37. > :19:42.help of suffering people in a home in Bristol, can I urge him to take
:19:43. > :19:48.the most urgent steps, as soon as possible, to relieve the suffering
:19:48. > :19:54.of people old and frail and dependant, who are currently
:19:54. > :20:00.suffering much neglect? problems besetting Southern Cross
:20:00. > :20:04.are an object lesson in the dangers of market failure attending the
:20:04. > :20:07.privatisation of public services. The newest Royal of all, but could
:20:07. > :20:09.the phone messages of Kate Middleton, before she became the
:20:09. > :20:15.Duchess of Cambridge, have been hacked into?
:20:15. > :20:21.A Labour MP alerts the Prime Minister. The Metropolitan Police
:20:21. > :20:26.are in pocession of paperwork that details the dealings of Jonathan
:20:26. > :20:30.reest. It strongly suggests that on behalf of News International he was
:20:30. > :20:33.illegally targeting members of the Royal Family, senior Pol Pot
:20:34. > :20:38.titions and high level terrorist informers. In the case of phone
:20:38. > :20:41.haging, which is illegal and wrong, there have been prosecutions, there
:20:41. > :20:46.have been imprisonments. If that is where the evidence takes them, that
:20:46. > :20:48.is what will happen in the future. A home grown crisis of a rather
:20:48. > :20:51.green nature. Can we convince everyone that the
:20:51. > :20:57.British cucumber is safe to eat, following the E-coli outbreak in
:20:57. > :21:03.Germany? Despite British produce being perfectly safe many farmers
:21:03. > :21:07.are seeing a fall in sales of 30% to 50%. Some are on their way to
:21:07. > :21:12.bankruptcy. Account Government redouble their efforts to fair
:21:12. > :21:20.access tolts 150 million euros of EU compensation and for Russia to
:21:20. > :21:23.lift its unfair ban on UK cucumbers. I share his concern about UK
:21:23. > :21:27.cucumber producers. All the evidence is that it's perfectly
:21:27. > :21:29.safe to eat them. Sir George Young rallying to the
:21:29. > :21:31.defence of the British cucumber. Food for thought.
:21:31. > :21:34.From Whitehall to the Whitechapel Art Gallery.
:21:34. > :21:36.Did you know the government owns a massive art collection, worth many
:21:36. > :21:41.millions? The art is used to adorn the
:21:41. > :21:43.offices of Ministers and Mandarins. Yet the public, which owns the
:21:43. > :21:46.collection, has never seen it. Until now.
:21:46. > :21:48.Five exhibitions over the coming years are going to be put on around
:21:48. > :21:52.the country. Emma Murray has been down to the
:21:52. > :21:57.first exhibition in East London to take a look at what we've been
:21:57. > :22:00.buying all these years. From 16th century monarch arks to 21st
:22:00. > :22:07.century politicians. Where the political elite are to be found so
:22:08. > :22:10.too is art. Now, for the first time, in its 113th year history, a small
:22:10. > :22:17.slice of the government art collection is open to the public.
:22:17. > :22:23.The exhibit features work choosen by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg
:22:23. > :22:29.and Culture Minister. Labour's Lord Mandelson and Lord Boateng have
:22:29. > :22:33.also made selections from the government's pieces. I asked Daniel
:22:33. > :22:38.Herman where the connection lies between art and politics? I think
:22:38. > :22:44.politics and art has long been a connection. We can't think of
:22:44. > :22:49.politics without art. Ever since the Romans who had their heads of
:22:49. > :22:53.state embossed on coins, do we have picture politics. Of course, there
:22:53. > :22:57.is a strong connection between what you put up in your room. What you
:22:57. > :23:00.put up in an official building and how you carry yourself and how you
:23:00. > :23:04.represent yourself. It's about putting your best foot forward.
:23:04. > :23:09.This particular painting is very popular because it is by one of the
:23:09. > :23:14.best British artists of the post- war generation. It shows a scene of
:23:14. > :23:20.post-war austerity. A group scene of lots of people aseming at the
:23:20. > :23:26.Lancashire Fair, the painting was painted in 1946. It was acquired by
:23:26. > :23:30.the government art collection for �120. Even though it's quite a
:23:30. > :23:34.substantial sum of money at the time has been a tremendous
:23:34. > :23:41.investment. These paintings are ambassadors for Britain. This is is
:23:41. > :23:48.the first of five displace and is on at the Whitechapel Art Gallery.
:23:48. > :23:51.It will finish in the Ulster Museum in Belfast.
:23:51. > :23:52.You're watching the Record Review, after a week when the coalition
:23:53. > :24:02.government found itself under double attack from
:24:03. > :24:03.
:24:03. > :24:06.and the Archbishop of Canterbury., cooling and Labour.
:24:06. > :24:09.The Duke of Edinburgh is 90, and MPs and peers have been paying
:24:09. > :24:13.tribute. Prince Phillip is the longest-
:24:13. > :24:16.serving Royal consort in British history.
:24:16. > :24:18.He's spent more than six decades talking to people, all kinds of
:24:18. > :24:22.people, on, literally, thousands of official Royal visits, sometimes in
:24:22. > :24:25.his own right, but often alongside the Queen.
:24:25. > :24:27.The Duke has made several hundred speeches and is, perhaps, best
:24:28. > :24:32.known for his quirky, unpredictable comments, some of which might be
:24:32. > :24:34.called 'politically incorrect'. His world-renowned Duke of
:24:34. > :24:44.Edinburgh's Award Scheme has helped children achieve skills and self-
:24:44. > :24:46.
:24:46. > :24:51.reliance. The Prime Minister described the Prince's naval record
:24:51. > :24:55.and his great support for environment charities. He has a
:24:55. > :24:59.down-to-earth no nonsense approach that the British people, I believe,
:24:59. > :25:03.find.endearing. Of course, many of us who give public speeches would
:25:03. > :25:07.be honoured to have a book published of our most famous
:25:07. > :25:11.sayings. There have been several published of his. My own favourite
:25:11. > :25:16.was when, after a long flight, the eager to please official asked him,
:25:16. > :25:21."how was your flight?" He replied, "have you been on a plane, you know
:25:21. > :25:27.how it goes up in the air and comes back down again, well, it was just
:25:27. > :25:35.like that". I would like to go on for longer I'm reminded about his
:25:35. > :25:43.remark about certificate mons who overrun. The Duke put it, "the mind
:25:43. > :25:49.cannot absorb what the backside cannot endure". With that in mind
:25:49. > :25:53.let me give the final say to the person who knows him best of all
:25:53. > :25:58.Her Majesty the Queen. She said in a speeched he had been, "her
:25:58. > :26:02.strength and stay all these years" that she and his whole family and
:26:02. > :26:08.this and many other countries owe him a debt greater than he would
:26:08. > :26:13.ever claim or we shall ever know. The Duke has been a Prince amongst
:26:13. > :26:18.consort is a King amongst characters. His unique turn of
:26:18. > :26:24.phrase has become a-loved feature of modern British life. There are
:26:24. > :26:30.two repeatable examples that I want to share with the House today. To
:26:30. > :26:36.the matron of a hospital he visited in the Caribbean he commented, "you
:26:36. > :26:40.have mosquitos, I have the press". I think that's a sentiment which
:26:40. > :26:46.many of us should share at various times in politics. Legend also has
:26:46. > :26:53.it that following the Coronation in 1953 he turned to Her Majesty and
:26:53. > :27:01.say said, "where did you tkpwhaet hat?" We should, in this House, and
:27:01. > :27:05.we do, feel gratitude, respect and pride for Prince Philip's service
:27:05. > :27:10.to his country and to recall that he is indeed part of that
:27:10. > :27:16.remarkable generation that served with distinction during the war,
:27:16. > :27:22.who did their duty and just got on with it then with the rebuilding of
:27:22. > :27:32.Britain afterwards. He certainly is, Mr Speaker, a formidable man and
:27:32. > :27:37.
:27:37. > :27:40.refreshingly does not suffer fools gladly. As I know to my cost.
:27:40. > :27:45.2001 he was invited, as I think was the Prime Minister and others
:27:45. > :27:49.elected, it was our tenth anniversary yesterday, we were
:27:49. > :27:54.invited to Buckingham Palace and the Duke of Edinburgh came up to
:27:54. > :27:59.Panjit and said, "what did you do before you got this job?" He said,
:27:59. > :28:09."I worked in a trade union". The Duke of Edinburgh immediately
:28:09. > :28:09.
:28:09. > :28:16.replied, "bugger all then". To which, he thought he could
:28:16. > :28:20.retaliate with force said, "what did you do before you got this job"
:28:20. > :28:26.to which he replied, "fought in the Second World War". There are
:28:26. > :28:32.occasions when I think a little bit of humility from this House towards
:28:32. > :28:39.his Royal highness is appropriate. In a BBC documentary for his 90th
:28:39. > :28:43.birthday I understand the Duke says of his role, "it's all been trial
:28:43. > :28:47.and ror," as his son says in the programme, "that view is typical of
:28:47. > :28:52.him, he is modest about himself". While the Duke of Edinburgh may
:28:52. > :28:56.indeed be modest his achievements are not. For many people, all over
:28:56. > :29:02.the world, the words Duke of Edinburgh are linked with the award
:29:02. > :29:06.scheme which carries his name. While confounding all the
:29:06. > :29:12.stereotypical views we hold of someone facing his tenth decade,
:29:12. > :29:16.the Duke retained his bounce and interest in life. His robust sense
:29:16. > :29:20.of humour added a welcome informality to official occasions.
:29:20. > :29:27.A reported conversation at a press reception to mark the Golden
:29:27. > :29:36.Jubilee in 2002 went something like this, "who are you?", "I'm the
:29:36. > :29:42.Editor in Chief of the Independent". "what are you doing here?" "you
:29:42. > :29:50.invited me, sir ." "well, you didn't have to come". He likes to
:29:50. > :30:00.cut to the heart of the matter. The current Bishop of Norwich the Duke
:30:00. > :30:00.
:30:00. > :30:05.asked him, "are you happy clappie?" To hi he reresponded "no, I'm
:30:05. > :30:14.smells and bells". I'm pleased to say following this robust exchange
:30:14. > :30:19.This week saw a special sitting of the Northern Ireland Assembly at
:30:19. > :30:23.Stormont. David Cameron became the second Prime Minister to address
:30:23. > :30:25.the Assembly since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The Prime
:30:25. > :30:27.Minister was driven to Stormont, on the outskirts of Belfast on
:30:27. > :30:31.Thursday afternoon meeting officials as he arrived before
:30:32. > :30:34.stepping inside the famous and historic building. A short walk
:30:35. > :30:38.through Stormont and then, Members of the Assembly got to their feet
:30:38. > :30:45.as the Prime Minister entered the debating chamber. David Cameron
:30:45. > :30:50.first struck a historical note. I also say what an honour it is to
:30:50. > :30:55.stand here and speak in this historic chamber? Of course, I
:30:55. > :31:00.recognise this is not a place without controversy. In the past,
:31:00. > :31:04.it was for some a guarantee of their place within the Union. For
:31:04. > :31:10.others, a symbol of a state and a system from which they felt
:31:10. > :31:16.excluded. I don't intend to ignite that debate, but I am reminded of
:31:16. > :31:26.the words of King George V in 1921 and his appeal to all Irishmen and
:31:26. > :31:27.
:31:27. > :31:36.women, "To stretch the hand of forebearance and conciliation and
:31:37. > :31:41.to forgive and forget." It was time to revive the private sector and
:31:41. > :31:45.attract investment. Northern Ireland is too dependent on the
:31:45. > :31:52.state. Three quarters of your GDP is accounted for by state spending.
:31:52. > :31:55.At a time when we are dealing with the biggest budget deficit in our
:31:55. > :31:59.peacetime history, that is unsustainable and has to change. We
:31:59. > :32:03.recognise the difficulties facing Northern Ireland as you chart a new,
:32:03. > :32:07.more sustainable economic future, it requires us in Westminster to
:32:07. > :32:10.act responsibly. That is why we made sure that Northern Ireland did
:32:10. > :32:14.proportionately better than other parts of the UK in the Spending
:32:14. > :32:20.Review. By the end of this Parliament, the Northern Ireland
:32:20. > :32:27.Resource Budget will have gone down by 6.9%, that is 1. And he
:32:27. > :32:30.concluded. 7% a year. Let us work together to make devolution a
:32:30. > :32:34.success. Let us work together to revive the economy. Let us work
:32:35. > :32:40.together to build a shared future. In working together, be assured
:32:40. > :32:43.that you have a Prime Minister, a Secretary of State and a Government
:32:43. > :32:53.that will always stand by the people here in Northern Ireland.
:32:53. > :33:01.
:33:01. > :33:04.Thank you. APPLAUSE David Cameron. Now they're springing up in ever
:33:04. > :33:08.greater numbers. And they're increasingly important for the UK's
:33:08. > :33:10.energy mix. But are wind turbines friendly for us if we're near them?
:33:10. > :33:17.Peers have been told that there's growing evidence that wind turbines
:33:17. > :33:21.are having an adverse effect on those who live in their shadow.
:33:21. > :33:26.Wind farm noise differs from other continuous forms of noise for
:33:26. > :33:31.example the noise from a nuclear power station. It has a rhythmic
:33:31. > :33:35.pulsing quality with a vibrating effect which many have found too
:33:35. > :33:40.invasive and disturbing to live with. It can quite obviously
:33:40. > :33:47.seriously damage people's health. My experience is that people mind
:33:47. > :33:54.very much indeed at this persistent noise. It is painful, it is harmful.
:33:54. > :33:59.I recently was at one station and it has larger wind turbines but far
:33:59. > :34:03.fewer of them which is the way that they tend to, the movement is going
:34:03. > :34:08.at the moment, less individual turbines but larger ones which are
:34:09. > :34:14.much more efficient. I walked around that wind farm and I have to
:34:14. > :34:21.say I can't remember hearing the noise while being at the site. I am
:34:21. > :34:25.sure they do on occasions, there is those noise issues, but I would
:34:26. > :34:32.suggest that noble Lords here stand by them and see what noise there is.
:34:32. > :34:35.It is extremely low. Certainly far less than a main road. It is
:34:35. > :34:41.bizarre that the environmental worriers support this programme
:34:41. > :34:46.when what it does to the visual environment as has been pointed out
:34:46. > :34:51.is quite appalling. I object to the fact that they are described as
:34:51. > :34:56."wind farms". I think the farms and the farming community contribute
:34:56. > :35:04.enormously to our environment and to our visual environment. These
:35:04. > :35:09.objects are quite the opposite, they scar, I think we need a new
:35:09. > :35:13.collective name. I think "wind blight" is one that could be used
:35:13. > :35:15.in the future. Views about wind turbines. Talking about heat and
:35:15. > :35:19.light, Prime Minister's Questions was back on Wednesday after a two-
:35:19. > :35:22.week break, so no shortage of issues for Ed Miliband to focus on.
:35:22. > :35:25.The Labour leader claimed the criminal justice policy was in a
:35:25. > :35:30."total mess" following news that David Cameron had blocked the plans
:35:30. > :35:33.to give 50% reductions in sentences to criminals who plead guilty early.
:35:33. > :35:41.The Labour leader said he knew why David Cameron was in effect
:35:41. > :35:44."tearing up" Kenneth Clarke's original proposal. We read in the
:35:44. > :35:47.newspapers today that the Prime Minister's torn up the Justice
:35:47. > :35:53.Secretary's proposals because he felt he had to step in and I can
:35:53. > :35:58.see why. There is widespread public concern around this country about
:35:58. > :36:01.this proposal to cut by 50% the sentencing for those who plead
:36:01. > :36:04.guilty. I just ask the Prime Minister again, the consultation
:36:04. > :36:10.ended in March. The Justice Secretary was advocating the policy
:36:10. > :36:12.two weeks' ago. Has he torn it up, "yes" or "no"? I think the right
:36:12. > :36:22.honourable gentleman ought to do something more useful than read the
:36:22. > :36:23.
:36:23. > :36:26.newspapers. One response to the consultation paper came from his
:36:26. > :36:30.Shadow Justice Secretary, the man sitting next to him, who said this
:36:30. > :36:34.in response to the consultation paper. He said this: "It is a
:36:34. > :36:37.perfectly sensible vision for a sentencing policy entirely in
:36:37. > :36:45.keeping with the emphasis on punishment and reform that Labour
:36:45. > :36:50.followed in Government." Why the sudden U-turn? Mr Speaker, he knows
:36:50. > :36:55.and the whole country knows he is in a total mess on his sentencing
:36:55. > :36:59.policy. Just like on all of his other crime policies. I now want to
:36:59. > :37:04.ask about another area where he is in a complete mess. Can the Prime
:37:04. > :37:10.Minister tell us why he has made such a mess of his health plans?
:37:10. > :37:13.I'm not surprised he wants to move on. On the first subject he was
:37:13. > :37:18.found guilty. And as regards NHS reforms, the Prime Minister again
:37:18. > :37:22.quoted the words of Labour's John Healey, the Shadow Health Secretary.
:37:22. > :37:27.This is what he said: "Looking at the evidence of what works,
:37:27. > :37:30.listening hard to those who know the NHS and learning from the views
:37:30. > :37:37.they get, that is not rocket science, it is simply good
:37:37. > :37:41.Government." So, what he calls a shambles, his Shadow Health
:37:41. > :37:46.Secretary calls good Government. He is not in command of the ship.
:37:46. > :37:51.did he tell the Royal College of Nursing a year before the election?
:37:51. > :37:57.There will be no more of those pointless top-down reorganisations
:37:57. > :38:01.that aim for change and instead bring chaos. Why did he say that?
:38:01. > :38:05.If he wants to look at what is happening in the NHS, there is only
:38:05. > :38:09.one part of the country that is controlled by neighbour, that is
:38:09. > :38:15.Wales. In Wales, waiting lists are massively up and health spending is
:38:15. > :38:20.being cut. That is what Labour would do to the NHS. Mr Speaker, I
:38:20. > :38:30.will tell him why he made promises that he then broke because he is
:38:30. > :38:33.
:38:33. > :38:36.shameless and he will say anything. And the second reason he's made a
:38:36. > :38:42.mess of the Health Service is because he didn't think the policy
:38:42. > :38:45.through. Last June, he ordered the NHS to stop enforcing Labour's 18-
:38:45. > :38:52.week waiting time target. As a result of that, the number of
:38:52. > :38:57.patients waiting more than 18 weeks has gone up by 69%. Why did he
:38:57. > :39:02.scrap that instruction to enforce the waiting time target? I think
:39:02. > :39:07.the best that can be said about this performance is obviously...
:39:07. > :39:13.Quite rightly, he wasn't thinking about politics on his honeymoon.
:39:13. > :39:17.Look, the point I would make is waiting times, what matters is the
:39:17. > :39:20.time people wait. Medium waiting times are down. That is what's
:39:20. > :39:23.happened in the NHS, that is something he misled the House of
:39:23. > :39:26.Commons about a fortnight ago and still hasn't...
:39:26. > :39:30.THE SPEAKER: Order. I know the Prime Minister will be a follower
:39:30. > :39:33.of parliamentary protocol and he won't suggest the Leader of the
:39:33. > :39:36.Opposition misled the House of Commons. I am sure he will withdraw
:39:36. > :39:43.that remark. I'm grateful. He gave an interesting use of facts
:39:43. > :39:45.in terms of waiting times which are down in the NHS. David Cameron and
:39:45. > :39:48.Ed Miliband with the weekly ritualistic exchanges. Backbench
:39:48. > :39:51.MPs raised a variety of subjects with the Prime Minister. One
:39:51. > :39:56.focused on the age of magistrates compared with the age of Kenneth
:39:56. > :40:01.Clarke, the Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor. Why do magistrates
:40:01. > :40:11.have to retire at the age of 70 when the Lord Chancellor who
:40:11. > :40:13.
:40:13. > :40:20.appoints them is 71 this year? point I would make to my honourable
:40:20. > :40:23.friend is, it is important - and I speak of somebody whose mother
:40:23. > :40:28.serve as a magistrate - it is important you get turnover in the
:40:28. > :40:33.magistrates so new come can come in. He's only been in his job for a
:40:33. > :40:35.year. He is doing a superb job and I can tell you there is plenty more
:40:35. > :40:40.fuel in his tank. Abroad, and a Conservative asks about the
:40:40. > :40:43.worsening situation in Syria. Speaker, we are reminded on a daily
:40:43. > :40:47.basis that not everyone in the world is as fortunate as us in the
:40:47. > :40:51.freedoms that we enjoy in this country. In particular, I would
:40:51. > :40:54.like to highlight the horror of the images of the 13-year-old boy who
:40:54. > :40:57.was tortured by forces of the Syrian government in the recent
:40:57. > :41:01.weeks. Will the Prime Minister give me his assurance that he will use
:41:01. > :41:04.every influence he has to ensure the international community condemn
:41:05. > :41:09.the activities of the Syrian government and the demand that
:41:09. > :41:12.their reign of terror ends? I think the honourable lady has spoken for
:41:12. > :41:16.the whole House in what she said about those dreadful pictures of
:41:16. > :41:21.that poor boy. There are credible reports of 1,000 dead and as many
:41:21. > :41:24.as 10,000 detained and the violence being meted out to peaceful
:41:24. > :41:29.protesters is completely unacceptable. Of course, we must
:41:29. > :41:32.not stand silent in the face of these outrages, and we won't. We
:41:32. > :41:36.have frozen assets and banned travel by members of the regime and
:41:36. > :41:40.we have added President Assad to that list. We need to go further
:41:40. > :41:44.and today, in New York, Britain and France will be tabling a resolution
:41:44. > :41:47.at the Security Council condemning the repression and demanding
:41:47. > :41:51.accountability and humanitarian access. If anyone votes against
:41:51. > :41:53.that resolution, or tries to veto it, that should be on their
:41:53. > :41:58.conscience. And time for a comment about
:41:58. > :42:02.football. I am sure the Prime Minister will agree with me that
:42:02. > :42:05.there should be no place for corruption in football, given the
:42:05. > :42:08.re-election of Sepp Blatter has brought FIFA into disrepute further,
:42:08. > :42:15.will he take this opportunity to voice his support for those who are
:42:15. > :42:18.calling for the reforms we need to show Mr Blatter the red card?
:42:18. > :42:22.feel personally I have seen football governance at an
:42:22. > :42:26.international level and I wasn't that impressed by what I saw.
:42:26. > :42:31.FIFA's reputation is now at an all- time low and obviously the election
:42:31. > :42:34.with one candidate was something of a farce. It has to become more
:42:34. > :42:37.transparent and more accountable. They have to prove that they are
:42:37. > :42:41.capable of doing the job that they are meant to. Change has got to
:42:41. > :42:44.come from within football and I am sure the FA will want to play a
:42:44. > :42:46.very major role in helping to bring that about. David Cameron. Now who
:42:46. > :42:50.chooses what gets debated in Parliament? Well, historically,
:42:50. > :42:54.it's the Government, apart from Opposition Days. But in the last
:42:54. > :42:57.year there's been a change in the rules. And ordinary MPs, in the
:42:57. > :43:00.form of a Backbench Business Committee, also get to decide on a
:43:00. > :43:03.section of the timetable. First, individual MPs have to make their
:43:03. > :43:06.own pitch to the committee. Here's the former Shadow Home Secretary
:43:06. > :43:16.David Davis arguing on Tuesday why time must be found for a debate on
:43:16. > :43:21.super-injunctions. The last time I spoke to this committee I was here
:43:21. > :43:25.to talk about prisoner votes. That was a pretty clear-cut
:43:25. > :43:28.straightforward black-and-white issue. This is absolutely the
:43:28. > :43:35.opposite. I am looking at Mr Hemming, he knows it is the
:43:35. > :43:40.absolute opposite. We have a series of competing rights and privileges
:43:40. > :43:47.which have now become confused in the last five or ten years after
:43:47. > :43:51.the effects of judicial law-making effectively on the back of the
:43:51. > :43:55.Human Rights Act. It's an area where Parliament rather than
:43:55. > :43:59.Government should have or at least as well as Government should have a
:43:59. > :44:04.major say. We have got so little time and we are never sure when it
:44:04. > :44:10.is going to be taken away from us and the first day we have isn't
:44:10. > :44:17.until 23rd June. It is very topical. The Government will be setting up
:44:17. > :44:20.in short order two Joint Committees. I think one's already set up. One
:44:20. > :44:23.on privacy and one on the super- injunction issue. I think it is
:44:24. > :44:26.important that Parliament rather than Government effectively sets
:44:27. > :44:31.the criteria by which those committees will address their task
:44:31. > :44:41.and they will be reporting within a year so they will be set up shortly.
:44:41. > :44:42.
:44:42. > :44:46.That is the primary deadline if you This committee can only allocate
:44:46. > :44:51.the time given to it by the government. That is limited,
:44:51. > :44:56.especially in the chamber. I know you want a whole day, if we were
:44:56. > :45:00.able to offer you two to three hours would you take it? I would
:45:00. > :45:05.say no. This is to point to have an effect. If it can't have that
:45:05. > :45:09.effect I'd rather steal that time from somebody else.. I'm a big fan
:45:09. > :45:14.of what the backbench committee does and the new role it created
:45:14. > :45:19.for Parliament. I wouldn't want to take us and use time effectively
:45:19. > :45:24.when someone else could use it effectively. Another pitch as an
:45:24. > :45:30.MPs argues argues for time for a debate on the proposed new high-
:45:30. > :45:35.speed rail line between London and Birmingham. Those directly affected
:45:35. > :45:40.in their own constituency have as yet formed a view. This is �30
:45:40. > :45:45.billion plus project, more expensive than replacing Trident.
:45:45. > :45:49.If you ask the House 550 members wouldn't have a view. We are keen
:45:49. > :45:55.to have the profile that a debate in the chamber would give us, a
:45:55. > :46:03.three-hour debate in the chamber. You pressed us to have a votable
:46:03. > :46:06.motion. The transport Select Committee inquiry into the business
:46:06. > :46:10.case and the national consultation it would not be appropriate for the
:46:10. > :46:14.House to divide until after the consultation. The need to put that
:46:14. > :46:18.issue out into the public domain, in a high profile way, is
:46:19. > :46:21.absolutely urgent. The Attorney General, Dominic
:46:21. > :46:24.Grieve, has rejected calls for an inquest into the death of the
:46:24. > :46:28.government scientist Dr David Kelly. The scientist was at the centre of
:46:28. > :46:32.a huge row between the BBC and the Labour government over the use of
:46:32. > :46:35.intelligence on Iraq. The Hutton Inquiry in 2004 found
:46:35. > :46:38.that Dr Kelly had committed suicide, but a group of doctors says there's
:46:38. > :46:41.plenty of evidence it wasn't suicide.
:46:41. > :46:46.Dominic Grieve spoke first about the large amount of paperwork he'd
:46:46. > :46:50.received concerning Dr Kelly's death. Having given all the
:46:50. > :46:57.material that has been sent to me the most careful consideration, I
:46:57. > :46:59.have concluded that the evidence that Dr Kelly took his own life is
:46:59. > :47:03.overwhelmingly strong. Further, there is nothing I've seen that
:47:03. > :47:08.supports any allegations that Dr Kelly was murdered, or that his
:47:08. > :47:12.death was the subject of any kind of conspiracy or coverup. In my
:47:12. > :47:17.view, no purpose would be served by my making an application to the
:47:17. > :47:23.High Court for an inquest. Indeed, I have no reasonable basis for
:47:24. > :47:30.doing so. There is no possibility that at an inquest a verdict other
:47:30. > :47:35.than suicide would be returned. Attorney-General's decision
:47:35. > :47:42.substanciates the post-mortem and toxicology reports and published by
:47:42. > :47:44.the Ministry of justice last October in the interest of
:47:44. > :47:49.maintaining the public support. We accept the Attorney-General's
:47:49. > :47:54.decision today on the basey he has carefully and clearly outlined his
:47:54. > :47:57.detailed reasons for not applying to the High Court to request an
:47:57. > :48:02.inquest into Dr Kelly's death duer duh to the lack of new compelling
:48:02. > :48:06.evidence that Dr Kelly did not commit suicide. As a member of the
:48:06. > :48:11.Foreign Affairs Committee that took evidence from Dr David Kelly I
:48:11. > :48:16.never doubted he committed suicide. I leave Lord Hutton was right on
:48:16. > :48:19.this even though his conclusions on the war have been challenged. I
:48:19. > :48:26.have known the Attorney-General for many years. I know he would have
:48:26. > :48:33.done a thorough job. Will he accept that the evidence on this is clear
:48:33. > :48:39.and it a's's time to bring closure to that matter and move on.
:48:39. > :48:41.questioned Dr Kelly two-days before he died, I formed the view that a
:48:41. > :48:48.very distinguished public servant was deeply distressed by the
:48:48. > :48:53.situation in which he had placed himself. Although I'm wholly
:48:53. > :48:59.unpersuaded by any of the theories put forward as an alternative to
:48:59. > :49:03.suicide could the attorney spell out what he thinks would be lost by
:49:03. > :49:08.allowing the process of inquiry to be completed by an inquest?
:49:08. > :49:13.first problem I have to say is that there is no basis on which the High
:49:13. > :49:18.Court could possibly order an inquest. In my judgement, if I were
:49:18. > :49:22.to go to the High Court and make such an application it would be
:49:22. > :49:27.dismissed. Dismissed I would say, on the basis of my reasoning, with
:49:27. > :49:34.a certain amount of irritation. Would the Attorney-General agree
:49:34. > :49:38.with me that his statement today should put to bed some of the
:49:38. > :49:48.outrageous speculations that members of our security forces
:49:48. > :49:48.
:49:48. > :49:51.might have murdered Dr Kelly? On Monday, a Labour peer spoke of
:49:51. > :49:54.the bravery of women who served in the Special Operations Executive,
:49:54. > :49:57.or SOE, during the Second World War. The women were deployed behind
:49:57. > :49:59.enemy lines and lived as ordinary citizens while helping the
:49:59. > :50:02.Resistance. Agents for the SOE were taught how
:50:02. > :50:07.to get out of handcuffs with a pencil, and how to kill with their
:50:07. > :50:11.bare hands. They acted variously as couriers, wireless operators
:50:11. > :50:14.saboteurs. They found places for planes to land, bringing more
:50:14. > :50:18.agents and supplies. They established safe houses and worked
:50:18. > :50:25.with resistance movements to disrupt the occupation and to clear
:50:25. > :50:30.the paths for the allied advance. They did these things after given
:50:30. > :50:35.wartime pressures, my lords, a very brief period of training.
:50:35. > :50:41.Apparently, they had each been told, when recruited, that there was a
:50:41. > :50:47.50% chance of personal survival. Yet, my lords, to their credit off
:50:47. > :50:53.they went. They became the unofficial meeting place for SOE
:50:53. > :50:58.people on leave. I do know that one brave woman stayed on over two
:50:58. > :51:02.years after the war had finished. Every night she drank her two gins
:51:02. > :51:07.and tonics and ate her dinnerment she never asked for or was given a
:51:07. > :51:13.bill. That was the way that small hotel honoured our heroes. It is a
:51:13. > :51:18.pity that those in charge never saw fit to do the same. My LordS, is it
:51:18. > :51:23.too thriet put right this wrong? There are a number of memorials
:51:23. > :51:31.around the country. Actually, what we sneed a memorial for all the
:51:31. > :51:37.women in the SOE, not just those who were recognised post hue
:51:37. > :51:42.mousely. I felt a great deal of shame when Eileen Nern was found by
:51:43. > :51:48.herself, no family and the local authority in Torquay had to bury
:51:48. > :51:52.her. What an indictment on a nation that owes so much to such a small
:51:52. > :51:56.number. Comparison with the French may be difficult because the war on
:51:56. > :52:00.their soil. They recognised the work of women. The key message was
:52:00. > :52:05.universial reinforced throughout the museum. The service of these
:52:05. > :52:10.women was of the highest order and undoubtedly militarily. I have seen
:52:10. > :52:15.the brief displays where SOE agents, men and women were trained, barely
:52:15. > :52:18.a mention of women. My LordS, it is clear that the outstanding
:52:18. > :52:23.dangerous and sometimes deadly service of these women needs to be
:52:23. > :52:28.recognised and at the highest level. I ask the Minister to consider
:52:28. > :52:33.reevaluating the medals awarded to these women, both alive and post
:52:33. > :52:42.hue mousely to be sure they reflect the highest military contribution
:52:42. > :52:48.possible. We need tone sure there is a permanent archive in place.
:52:48. > :52:54.Otherwise, we will forget. At this small regional museum every sheet
:52:54. > :52:58.on the display about the women have these words - I'm refrain to our
:52:58. > :53:03.youth. Now, when a grandmother talks to you of the resistance here
:53:03. > :53:10.in the lot, watch her eyes. If she shares her story, they'll tell you
:53:10. > :53:13.she is always 20. Listen to her. The Business Secretary, Vince Cable,
:53:13. > :53:15.has again been criticised for failing to force banks to lend
:53:15. > :53:18.money to small businesses. Some months ago, Britain's four
:53:18. > :53:21.biggest banks agreed to increase lending in an arrangement known as
:53:21. > :53:23.'Project Merlin'. New figures show the banks are
:53:23. > :53:27.already falling short of their lending targets by several billion
:53:27. > :53:34.pounds. Vince Cable faced MPs on Thursday
:53:34. > :53:38.during questions to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.
:53:38. > :53:44.There is a genuinely difficult problem here of trying to get
:53:44. > :53:47.previously highly over extended banks to lend to small and medium-
:53:47. > :53:52.sized businesses. The Secretary of State was very critical of the last
:53:52. > :53:55.government's performance on this issue much he said the banks ran
:53:55. > :54:00.ring around that government. Given that the first indication of
:54:00. > :54:03.Project Merlin show a 2.2 billion pound shortfall between what the
:54:03. > :54:07.banks are doing and what the government agreed they would do,
:54:07. > :54:12.how would he describe the performance of his government on
:54:12. > :54:16.bank lending? Of the lending banks two of them have met the targets.
:54:16. > :54:21.Which demonstrated that the demand is there for banks that are able
:54:21. > :54:25.and willing to change their culture of lending. Where we have taken on
:54:25. > :54:30.the arrangements which the last government had was bringing in the
:54:30. > :54:34.private banks, which are not owned wholly or partly by the taxpayer,
:54:34. > :54:38.into this agreement. They are taking it seriously. We are making
:54:38. > :54:45.it clear that we expect this agreement to be delivered and the
:54:45. > :54:49.volume of lending to SME's will increase. Is he ready to do a
:54:49. > :54:52.little more than monitor this situation. In particular, not allow
:54:52. > :54:55.banks to get away with the excuse that the demand isn't there, when
:54:55. > :55:02.it's the price of the loan and the terms attached to it that so often
:55:02. > :55:05.is too difficult for struggling small businesses who need the
:55:05. > :55:10.credit? The Minister must realise that the agreement is a busted
:55:10. > :55:16.flush. No good coming from it. The continued failure of the banking
:55:16. > :55:21.sector to meet the minimum targets set, continued net, no new lending
:55:21. > :55:26.is not acceptable the terms and conditions, as his own member has
:55:26. > :55:31.said, under which the loans are made are really very penal very
:55:31. > :55:35.often. Can't he get into that? No point monitoring it. We want him to
:55:36. > :55:39.examine what is going on and come forward with concrete proposals to
:55:39. > :55:40.improve it. We finish with the very first
:55:40. > :55:43.speech of the newest Member of Parliament.
:55:43. > :55:46.Jon Ashworth was recently voted in as MP for Leicester South.
:55:46. > :55:48.By tradition, Mr Ashworth's maiden speech acknowledged the work of his
:55:48. > :55:55.predecessor, Sir Peter Soulsby, and also contained plenty of
:55:55. > :56:00.interesting facts about his constituency. My constituency can
:56:00. > :56:10.boost of much cultural and sporting heritage. The 6 '30s playwright
:56:10. > :56:11.
:56:11. > :56:18.grew up there. I believe at one time the singer Engelbert grew up
:56:18. > :56:27.in Leicester South as well. Mr Ashworth, please release me