Browse content similar to 17/01/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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given birth to a baby boy. Now, the week -- the Week in | :00:00. | :00:20. | |
Parliament. Hello, welcome to The Week In Parliament. How much are our | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
banks worth? That is the question that dominated PMQs. Surely he can | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
say that for people earning ?1 million, a bonus of ?1 million | :00:29. | :00:31. | |
should be quite enough? Where is the apology for the mess they made of | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
RBS and the first place? As the European elections approach and | :00:36. | :00:38. | |
after another week of toing and froing about our role in Europe, two | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
think tanks give us their view on how the political debate is | :00:42. | :00:44. | |
unfolding. And in the House of Lords chat room, the first lady leads a | :00:45. | :00:51. | |
debate on the worldwide web. It is a small step for mankind, but a little | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
leap for the Lords to have a whole 2.5 hours discussing the Web. First, | :00:56. | :00:59. | |
Labour Leader Ed Miliband has challenged the government to block | :01:00. | :01:03. | |
any attempt by RBS to pay bonuses of up to double a banker's salary. From | :01:04. | :01:06. | |
next year, under EU rules, banks will only be able to pay bonuses | :01:07. | :01:09. | |
that big if shareholders approve. In the case of RBS, the government is | :01:10. | :01:14. | |
by far the largest shareholder. The Treasury believes that EU rules | :01:15. | :01:16. | |
could be counter-productive because banks would simply pay bigger | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
salaries instead, there is no way to claw that money back if things go | :01:20. | :01:24. | |
wrong at the bank. Ed Miliband thought the PM should nip in the bud | :01:25. | :01:33. | |
any talk of big pay-outs. RBS are talking to part of the government | :01:34. | :01:36. | |
about the proposal to pay over 100% bonuses. He is the PM, the taxpayer | :01:37. | :01:40. | |
will foot the bill, will he put a stop to it right now by telling RBS | :01:41. | :01:47. | |
to drop this idea? I will tell him exactly what we are saying to RBS. | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
It is this. If there are any proposals to increase the overall | :01:52. | :01:55. | |
pay, that is, pay and bonus bill at RBS, at the investment bank, any | :01:56. | :01:58. | |
proposals like that, we will veto it. What a pity the past government | :01:59. | :02:07. | |
never took an approach like that! Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker. However long it | :02:08. | :02:21. | |
takes. The questions will be heard. And the answers. Mr Ed Miliband. Mr | :02:22. | :02:29. | |
Speaker, I am not asking about increases in pay and bonuses, I'm a | :02:30. | :02:31. | |
very simple question about the proposal that is expected to come | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
forward from RBS, which is to pay more than 100% bonuses on pay. Now, | :02:36. | :02:46. | |
we know, when RBS is making a loss, when they themselves have been | :02:47. | :02:49. | |
saying they have been failing small businesses, these kind of bonuses | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
lead to risky, one-way bets, we know it should not be allowed to happen. | :02:53. | :02:59. | |
When ordinary families are facing a cost of living crisis, surely can't | :03:00. | :03:02. | |
say that for people earning ?1 million, a bonus of ?1 million | :03:03. | :03:09. | |
should be quite enough? If he's not asking about the overall pay and | :03:10. | :03:12. | |
bonuses at RBS, why on earth isn't he? That is what he should be asking | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
about. What I have said very clearly a is that the enumeration, the total | :03:18. | :03:20. | |
pay bill at that investment bank, must come down. I have to say, to | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
get a lecture from the right honourable gentleman, when we had | :03:27. | :03:29. | |
from them the biggest bust anywhere in the world at RBS, we had 125% | :03:30. | :03:32. | |
mortgages at Northern Rock, we had all of the embarrassment about Fred | :03:33. | :03:36. | |
Goodwin, he comes here every week to complain about a problem created by | :03:37. | :03:50. | |
the Labour Party. Last week it was betting, this week it is banking. He | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
rises up with all of the moral authority of Reverend Flowers. Where | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
is the apology for the mess they made of RBS in the first place? | :04:01. | :04:09. | |
David Cameron. Now, there is no escaping the subject of our | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
relationship with Europe. It was back on the agenda in the week when | :04:15. | :04:17. | |
95 conservative MPs signed a letter demanding that Parliament should | :04:18. | :04:20. | |
have the power to veto EU law unilaterally, a proposal the Foreign | :04:21. | :04:22. | |
Secretary William Hague dubbed unrealistic. Meanwhile, the | :04:23. | :04:25. | |
Chancellor George Osborne gave a speech warning that the UK could be | :04:26. | :04:29. | |
forced to quit the European Union if the organisation does not change. | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
All this, on the back of the row about them free movement of workers | :04:34. | :04:36. | |
across Europe and arrivals of migrants into the UK from Romania | :04:37. | :04:45. | |
and Bulgaria. The biggest economic risk facing Europe does not come | :04:46. | :04:48. | |
from those who want reform and renegotiation. It comes from a | :04:49. | :04:52. | |
failure to reform and renegotiate. It is the status quo which condemns | :04:53. | :04:56. | |
the people of Europe to an ongoing economic crisis and continuing | :04:57. | :05:08. | |
decline. A few hours later, Mr Osborne got a reply on the subject | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
of free movement in the EU. The free movement is one of those basic right | :05:13. | :05:15. | |
citizens enjoy. And if you look at our Europe barometer, it is also the | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
right that they cherish most. I would like to make it very clear | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
that it is a right that is not up for negotiation. So, not exactly a | :05:24. | :05:30. | |
meeting of minds. Well, let's try and find a little light among the | :05:31. | :05:36. | |
heat. With me is a representative from the think tank Open Europe and | :05:37. | :05:39. | |
Peter Wilding, director of the cross-party campaign group British | :05:40. | :05:46. | |
Influence. Pavel, do you think that Britain is winning any allies inside | :05:47. | :05:49. | |
the EU on this issue of free movement? The way I would put it, | :05:50. | :05:54. | |
the UK definitely has potential allies on this issue, depending how | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
it frames the argument. I don't think there is any support among the | :05:59. | :06:01. | |
governments of Europe to fundamentally rewrite the rules on | :06:02. | :06:04. | |
free movement itself, by which I mean the right of EU citizens to | :06:05. | :06:07. | |
travel to and work in any other member states. But there could be | :06:08. | :06:16. | |
supporter and clarifying and reforming the rules around things | :06:17. | :06:18. | |
like access to benefits and those kind of issues. Peter, do you think | :06:19. | :06:26. | |
that Britain could have a bit of support or sympathy on this idea of | :06:27. | :06:29. | |
free movement, but what countries in the EU really don't like is the way | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
that the argument is being couched? Absolutely. What he said there, the | :06:34. | :06:37. | |
difference between the statements, and the fact that we are not getting | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
our statements through. We are not getting our message through because | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
our code is, essentially, very cleverly created to alienate people | :06:46. | :06:48. | |
rather than attract them to our concept. I can illustrate that. | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
There is a difference between freedom to move and freedom to | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
claim. The government is not doing anything to dispute freedom of | :06:59. | :07:03. | |
movement. Why should they? There are 2.5 million Britons living in | :07:04. | :07:06. | |
Europe. They are trying to get allies to benefit tourism. And they | :07:07. | :07:16. | |
have allies. The problem is, the moment Britain speaks in the | :07:17. | :07:19. | |
language it speaks, it loses those friends. That is a problem of | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
foreign policy and I think it is the most important thing generated from | :07:25. | :07:31. | |
those clips. Labour has accepted there needs to be some change on | :07:32. | :07:34. | |
this as well, where does that leave us? I think it leaves us in a | :07:35. | :07:37. | |
situation where there is generally cross-party agreement in the UK | :07:38. | :07:40. | |
between the Tories, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Obviously there | :07:41. | :07:42. | |
are differences in tone and emphasis. I think this is something | :07:43. | :07:46. | |
in particular that the EU Commission would do well to heed. I think this | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
also has not gone when observed in other member states. Let's turn our | :07:52. | :08:04. | |
attention to a few wider points. Neither David Cameron nor George | :08:05. | :08:06. | |
Osborne are talking about us leaving the EU in this instance. Is it | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
because all Prime Ministers and ministers, after a while, realise | :08:13. | :08:15. | |
they have to take a rather pragmatic approach to Europe and it is the | :08:16. | :08:19. | |
only way they can deal with that? Britain is one of the top three | :08:20. | :08:22. | |
countries in Europe. Britain therefore has a capacity to lead the | :08:23. | :08:25. | |
agenda in Europe if it gets the allies to do so. Britain has always | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
had a clear idea of what it wants. It wants a free market, a single | :08:30. | :08:32. | |
market, it wants democratic reform and it wants Europe to step up to | :08:33. | :08:35. | |
the plate, certainly against global competition, certainly in favour of | :08:36. | :08:38. | |
European security. The problem we have is that we do not make those | :08:39. | :08:41. | |
messages clear, we do not attract allies for them in a tone that will | :08:42. | :08:46. | |
keep them as allies. British Prime Ministers find themselves in a | :08:47. | :08:49. | |
battle between what is not only pragmatic, but right, against their | :08:50. | :08:51. | |
internal audience, part of the Conservative Party and Fleet Street. | :08:52. | :08:59. | |
Unfortunately, that is a terrible dilemma for any PM to be in. They | :09:00. | :09:04. | |
truly do will be able to bridge that gap. A true leader will be able to | :09:05. | :09:36. | |
do that. Do you think we discourage you have to accept the European | :09:37. | :09:39. | |
Union works at two speeds, if not more, because all of these countries | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
need different things? I wouldn't put it in terms of speed. That | :09:43. | :09:45. | |
assumes everybody is going in the same direction, albeit at different | :09:46. | :09:48. | |
speeds. What I would say is we need a more flexible Europe, where | :09:49. | :09:51. | |
different countries can get together to do different things. I think the | :09:52. | :09:54. | |
single currency is a good example of that. There are a team members now. | :09:55. | :09:57. | |
There are other member states, ten are not, some will join, I think, | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
but not in the immediate future. Others, like the UK, will most | :10:02. | :10:04. | |
likely never join. I think in that sense we need to talk about what the | :10:05. | :10:08. | |
most important thing in Europe is, which we would say is the single | :10:09. | :10:11. | |
market. If you have that as the core of Europe, then member states are | :10:12. | :10:14. | |
free to cooperate on other issues as and when they see fit, be it | :10:15. | :10:17. | |
environmental protection, crime and justice, whatever. But that can be | :10:18. | :10:20. | |
more, as and when member states agree, when they want to. This is | :10:21. | :10:32. | |
the economic argument, and I agree with it. He mentioned 18 states that | :10:33. | :10:35. | |
are now in the Euro. These Euro members wish to control the European | :10:36. | :10:38. | |
Union against our interests. But I would also say there are 18 member | :10:39. | :10:41. | |
states who signed a letter written by the PM, asking for the completion | :10:42. | :10:45. | |
of the single market and the liberalisation of sectors which are | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
going to create jobs for our kids and grandkids. So, there is, as he | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
said, a series of streams in European opinion. The key problem, | :10:55. | :10:59. | |
and I think this is a major mistake from politicians, Fleet Street and | :11:00. | :11:02. | |
downwards, is that we think Europe is all about economics. It is about | :11:03. | :11:07. | |
economics and politics. You can achieve these things, but not | :11:08. | :11:10. | |
without political leadership. We talk about this being an economic | :11:11. | :11:13. | |
union, we have to complete the single market, but, as politicians, | :11:14. | :11:16. | |
they have to create reform with allies to achieve that objective. In | :11:17. | :11:23. | |
the second part, we seem not to be able to do that. Is that because | :11:24. | :11:31. | |
there are a lot of politicians in this country, for example, who very | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
much see the EU about being about economics and nothing else? They are | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
quite happy with a large free trade area, but that is what they want? | :11:39. | :11:41. | |
NATO is about defence, but also about politics. You cannot divorce | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
the two. The problem is, as you quite rightly say, there is a | :11:46. | :11:48. | |
tendency, a considerable number of politicians, say it is all about | :11:49. | :11:51. | |
economics. It is, but the fact of the matter is that if you are going | :11:52. | :11:55. | |
to try to create alliances to deliver the economic achievements | :11:56. | :11:59. | |
you want, that is politics. The problem is, if you are shaking hands | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
with the people that could be your allies and then telling them, in no | :12:04. | :12:06. | |
uncertain terms, that you simply disagree with them and, frankly, you | :12:07. | :12:09. | |
don't want their immigrants here and you don't want to deal with their | :12:10. | :12:12. | |
government, in particular ways, that is not going to achieve the | :12:13. | :12:25. | |
objective. What to you think the letter we saw from the 95 MPs has | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
done to this debate? I think it has illustrated that there are a lot of | :12:30. | :12:32. | |
people in the Conservative Party and in the country more generally, who | :12:33. | :12:36. | |
are hungry and impatient for reform. I think the MPs who signed that | :12:37. | :12:39. | |
letter have come from other ideal backgrounds within the Party, but | :12:40. | :12:42. | |
the key issue is that they want reform to be delivered and they want | :12:43. | :12:45. | |
the British Parliament to be able to have a bigger influence on EU | :12:46. | :12:48. | |
policy, which is something that we hope everyone would agree with. It | :12:49. | :12:57. | |
is not possible to have a single Parliament to have a veto, but | :12:58. | :13:00. | |
certainly we think there should be stronger mechanisms for national | :13:01. | :13:03. | |
parliaments to be able to block and review legislation. We think that is | :13:04. | :13:08. | |
the strongest way of strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the EU. | :13:09. | :13:19. | |
Peter, briefly, is that a fair assessment? Superficially it seems | :13:20. | :13:24. | |
to be that way, and I would agree that national parliaments must | :13:25. | :13:27. | |
increase their capacity to scrutinise EU legislation better, | :13:28. | :13:28. | |
and indeed using existing opportunities in the EU Treaty, the | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
Green card than yellow card, to stop legislation. -- green card and | :13:33. | :13:46. | |
yellow card. But it would be a kind person who looks at the 95 - in | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
fact, less, because some MPs found themselves on the letter without | :13:51. | :13:53. | |
their consent - this is all about positioning in the Conservative | :13:54. | :14:00. | |
Party after the European elections. After the election is the | :14:01. | :14:02. | |
Conservative Party could enter a very difficult period akin to 96-97 | :14:03. | :14:06. | |
under John Major, were a good part of the Party wants to carry on | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
reforming but a significant minority wants to see the Party joined with | :14:10. | :14:21. | |
UKIP as the better off out Party. Thank you very much for coming in to | :14:22. | :14:29. | |
see us. Back now to Westminster. At PMQ's, David Cameron was challenged | :14:30. | :14:32. | |
over documents dating back to 1984 suggesting there might have been | :14:33. | :14:35. | |
British involvement in the Sikh Golden Temple at Amritsar. Hundreds | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
died as Indian troops tried to put down a rebellion. A Labour MP wanted | :14:41. | :14:47. | |
a year from conservatives who were in government at the time. | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
Instead of ordering the Siddle service to investigate, why does the | :14:53. | :14:55. | |
Prime Minister not just ask Lord Geoffrey Howe and Lord Brittan | :14:56. | :14:57. | |
whether they agreed with Margaret Thatcher and whether it had anything | :14:58. | :15:00. | |
to do with the Westland Helicopters deal at the time? I fear the | :15:01. | :15:08. | |
honourable gentleman may have gone one conspiracy theory too far on | :15:09. | :15:14. | |
this one. It is important to get to the bottom of what happened and that | :15:15. | :15:17. | |
is why I have asked the Cabinet Secretary to lead a review. He will | :15:18. | :15:22. | |
establish the facts, the process is under way. I wanted to be fast, and | :15:23. | :15:28. | |
the findings will be made public. It is no secret we are all getting | :15:29. | :15:33. | |
fatter, but who is to blame? There were calls in the week for more to | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
be done to cut the amount of sugar we eat, but one Tory peer said he | :15:38. | :15:40. | |
knew who was really responsible. Does the government not accept that | :15:41. | :15:43. | |
people ought to know that if they stuff themselves silly with high | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
calorie, rubbish foods, they will get fat? It is their responsibility | :15:47. | :15:55. | |
and all of the forums and other nonsense are merely trying to force | :15:56. | :15:58. | |
people from the consequences of their own stupid actions. Familiar | :15:59. | :16:10. | |
farmland birds are disappearing from the rural landscape according to | :16:11. | :16:15. | |
conservation bodies. Latest estimates say numbers of such | :16:16. | :16:17. | |
species as scarred that Michael Starling 's, turtledoves and | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
lapwings have fallen by 50% from the 1970s. | :16:21. | :16:21. | |
The main reason is intensification of farming methods. Changing crop | :16:22. | :16:28. | |
patterns have led to a lot of winter stubble. The main feeding habitats | :16:29. | :16:31. | |
of many birds such as buntings have therefore disappeared. Greater use | :16:32. | :16:43. | |
of pesticides and herbicides have removed critical food resources. And | :16:44. | :16:46. | |
of course the loss of hedges and other seminatural habitats has | :16:47. | :16:48. | |
combined with intensive grassland management to take away vital | :16:49. | :16:50. | |
habitats. Peers who break the rules of the | :16:51. | :16:54. | |
House faces new sanctions. The chairman of the Committee's Lord | :16:55. | :16:56. | |
Sewel said there were only currently two available punishments. Peers can | :16:57. | :17:00. | |
be asked to apologise or they can be suspended. The Lord's do not have | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
the power to expel errant members and Lord Sewel pointed out those | :17:06. | :17:08. | |
suspended at the start of the House would be a way for far longer than | :17:09. | :17:12. | |
those suspended at the end of the session. | :17:13. | :17:16. | |
The remedy proposed is the introduction of two new sanctions. | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
The first would prevent peers from claiming any financial support by | :17:23. | :17:25. | |
way of expenses or allowances from the House. The second sanction would | :17:26. | :17:32. | |
prevent peers using the facilities of the House. Neither of these | :17:33. | :17:42. | |
sanctions would prevent the peer from taking part in the proceedings | :17:43. | :17:45. | |
of the House in the chamber or its Committee. These sanctions could be | :17:46. | :17:48. | |
used in addition to suspension from the House or as an alternative to | :17:49. | :18:01. | |
suspension. Unlike suspension, the sanctions could be applied for a | :18:02. | :18:04. | |
period extending beyond the end of a Parliament. They would be applied | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
for a fixed period, and therefore are not equivalent to expulsion. | :18:09. | :18:14. | |
They would not be retrospective. The question is that this motion should | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
be agreed to. As many as a rather that opinion will see content. The | :18:19. | :18:25. | |
contents have it. This year marks the 25th anniversary | :18:26. | :18:30. | |
of the world wide web. It was marked by a debate in the House of Lords | :18:31. | :18:33. | |
led by the government's former digital champion. | :18:34. | :18:36. | |
I now find the web usage numbers not even surprisingly huge any more. 2.4 | :18:37. | :18:40. | |
billion people worldwide use the web. It took 38 years for the | :18:41. | :18:45. | |
television to reach 50 million users. It took 14 years for the | :18:46. | :18:56. | |
radio. It took four years for the web. It took ten months for Facebook | :18:57. | :19:03. | |
to reach 50 million users. We will need to fill one million technology | :19:04. | :19:06. | |
sector jobs by Twenty20, which is looking nearly impossible from the | :19:07. | :19:12. | |
current workforce. And, more depressingly, the number of women in | :19:13. | :19:14. | |
the UK technological sector is falling as an overall percentage. If | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
current trends are not reversed only 1% of the sector will be female by | :19:20. | :19:29. | |
2014. We have allowed a situation to develop where it is legal for | :19:30. | :19:31. | |
multinational, multibillion-dollar industry to holy, in perpetuity on | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
the intimate and personal details of children. -- to completely. We know | :19:36. | :19:44. | |
that this space is moving so fast we do not really know what may happen | :19:45. | :19:52. | |
to it in the future. A number of years ago I held the second book to | :19:53. | :19:56. | |
be printed in Scotland in my hands in the National library of Scotland, | :19:57. | :19:59. | |
printed in 1509, and today I had it in my pocket, along with the Magna | :20:00. | :20:02. | |
Carta and the US declaration of Independence, and Anne Frank's | :20:03. | :20:05. | |
diaries, and a fair few of the movies the noble lord Lord Puttnam | :20:06. | :20:15. | |
produced. The noble lady mentioned Thailand, I was there just after | :20:16. | :20:17. | |
Christmas. -- Taiwan. We have also heard | :20:18. | :20:29. | |
Sherlock Holmes mentioned today. You may think this is an incongruous | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
link, but when I was in Taiwan using the free Wi-Fi system for anyone, | :20:34. | :20:36. | |
local resident or tourist, I was reading the South China news were | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
2.8 million people the previous day had watched the new addition of | :20:40. | :20:41. | |
Sherlock on their version of YouTube. | :20:42. | :20:48. | |
Ahead of that debate, Emma Murray spoke to Martha Lane Fox and asked | :20:49. | :20:51. | |
how significant it was that peers were to spend the afternoon talking | :20:52. | :20:55. | |
about the web. It is a small step for mankind but a | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
leap for the Lord's to have a hold two and a half hours discussing | :21:00. | :21:03. | |
technology. I am interested in trying to keep the agenda around | :21:04. | :21:07. | |
tech a bit more dominant in Lord's discussions. There will be very | :21:08. | :21:13. | |
interesting people that run the BBC through to people that run the | :21:14. | :21:15. | |
health service through to people that run the Siddle service talking. | :21:16. | :21:24. | |
You have been on hand as a technology guru for peers in the | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
House of Lord, would they be lost without you? | :21:29. | :21:30. | |
Really not come and I think that is an overestimation of my skills. We | :21:31. | :21:35. | |
set up a digital champion 's network and I have had some interesting | :21:36. | :21:38. | |
questions, as different as how can I open the attachment on my blackberry | :21:39. | :21:41. | |
through to what is a that -- exactly is an iPad? There is a huge spectrum | :21:42. | :21:46. | |
of talent in the Lords, some will never want to touch screen, others | :21:47. | :21:51. | |
are many more competent than me. There are many people in the country | :21:52. | :21:54. | |
of a certain age who hide from technology, is this a mistake? | :21:55. | :21:58. | |
I have met so many people who are 80, 90, very old or in their middle | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
to older age group that said the internet has transformed what they | :22:03. | :22:05. | |
can do, reduce loneliness, so I reject this notion you are ever to | :22:06. | :22:13. | |
hold two try something. Martha Lane Fox on the anniversary | :22:14. | :22:17. | |
of the world wide web in a week dominated by our relations with our | :22:18. | :22:18. | |
neighbours in Europe. After a night where we have seen | :22:19. | :22:34. | |
some heavy showers we have the rain pushing its way northwards, that | :22:35. | :22:38. | |
stays with us throughout the day on Saturday but by the time we get to | :22:39. | :22:41. | |
Sunday it should have started to clear away so although there may be | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
one of two showers around overall it looks like the | :22:47. | :22:48. |