20/10/2011 This Week

Tonight, Citizen Neil gets into the revolutionary spirit. As protesters

are cleared out of Dale Farm and violence returns to the streets of

Athens, will the rebellious spirit in the Tory Party cause trouble for

the PM in Westminster? The Guardian's Nick Watt joins a

peaceful protest on the steps of St Paul's Cathedral. It may be

frightfully civilised down here, but back in Westminster Tory MPs

are rattling the gates of Downing Street. Citizens protesting about

the price of food and fuel as inflation soars and unemployment

hits a 17-year high. Channel Four's Fairy Jobmother holds her placard

up high. If the Government want to incentivise people to gain

employment they need to show us more carrots and less sticks. And

crowds of joy, rather than protest, as the Stone Roses re-unite. But

can you really recreate the magic in music and in politics? The

original Prince Charming, Adam Ant, stands and delivers. If people want

to get back together and make some money in the process, that's fine

Power to the people! Evening all. Welcome to This Week - a week that

began with a Cabinet Minister's blood on the Westminster carpet and

ended with a Colonel's blood in a Libyan drainpipe. Yes, after seven

long months, the NATO campaign to prevent Muammar Gaddafi attending

the 2012 Olympics has finally borne some fruit. The Brother Leader

avoided being lynched, but couldn't dodge the bullet that ended 42

years of brutal, idiosyncratic rule. Starring in his very own snuff

movie appears to be the Colonel's final gift to a grateful Libyan

nation, who are now free from the yoke of tyranny, while Seb Coe now

has half a dozen tickets going spare for the 100m final. If

anyone's interested, just call 0800 TICKET FARCE. He's waiting on the

line now. Speaking of those who know a thing or two about

personality cult, I'm joined on the sofa tonight by the dear leader and

calm down dear of late-night political chat - I speak, of course,

of Michael Portillo and, back again despite no public demand whatsoever,

Diane Abbott! Welcome it you both. Good to have you back. Michael,

moment of the week, obviously the death of Mr Gaddafi. Is it good

that he was shot in the end rather than taken alive? Yes. I think it

helps the people to move on. It brings back so many recollections.

I remember sitting in the House one night in 1986 and we were in the

middle of a very important vote and I looked at Margaret Thatcher and I

saw the look on her face and I thought what was going on, the

planes were flying that night from Britain to bomb Gaddafi in Libya.

They were American planes, Reagan was trying to kill Gaddafi off and

then I think there was the Lockerbie bombing and the murder of

PC Fletcher, and then there was the release of the bomber and Tony

Blair embracing Gaddafi and now he's been brought down by NATO led

by David Cameron. The British foreign policy. Not for nothing?

Better dead than alive? Probably. Just on your point, didn't someone

say no eternal allies, only eternal interests? It is probably more

practical that he was shot, but there is a lingering wish that he

could have stood trial, but you can see the difficulty there. The

challenge now is going to be rebuilding Libya as a stable

country. Will it encourage David Cameron to be more

interventionalist? Mr Blair was successful first time out. He went

mad in the end. I think what David Cameron ought to think is that he

was jolly lucky in this case, because I don't think he ever

really intended this campaign. I think he was calling the bluff of

the Americans that they wouldn't go along. He didn't think they would

be part of this. He was jolly nearly right because they weren't

really. We were stuck with the situation and for a long period it

looked like a failure. In the end we snatched some sort of victory

from the jaws of defeat, but if I were him I would cash in my chips

at this point. I think so. You made the point, when Blair had what

seemed like success in Kosovo it went right to his head. The other

big development tonight is the eurozone leaders saying they will

not come to an agreement this weekend. We'll talk about that

later, but that will have dramatic impact on the markets. Now,

unemployment's at a record levels. People up and down the country are

struggling to get jobs. I can tell you even here in Westminster, we're

feeling the effects. Look at poor old Diane, overlooked once

again,for a Shadow Cabinet role. Does Mr Miliband not recognise

talent when he sees it? Clearly not. I'll have a word with you., Edward.

But back to the real world, Call Me Dave and his chums have announced

various schemes to get the unemployed into work, so we thought

we'd ask our very own Fairy Jobmother, Hayley Taylor, for her

take on whether or not he's leading On the faces of the people I work

with, all I see is pure fear. Fear of failure, fear of being stuck on

a system that they can't get off. Fear, also, of being sanctioned for

six weeks if a job possibility doesn't work out. We are seeing

high rates of unemployment, rocketing inflation, and people

under pressure and people are very scared. It seems strange to me that

the Government are praying on the fear and imposing the sanctions. I

know it's about carrots and sticks, but where are the carrots? Measures

in the welfare to work programme like stopping benefits for those

that won't accept a position. Travelling 90 minutes one way to

take up an opportunity. They realy don't sit well with me at all. It's

obvious to me that the Government have absolutely no idea what it is

like to live hand to mouth. Have they ever lived in council houses?

Any real comprehension of what the people have to go through on a

daily basis? I've met lots of unemployed people and the majority

of them do want to work. It's totally unfair that the Government

would put the sanctions in place and effect those that for whatever

reason cannot move forward now. The Government is wrong to penalise the

many in the hope of targeting the few. If you were employment

minister for the day what I would do is to invest more in the job

centre advisers. They are on strict targets and deadlines and therefore

can't match an individual's specific needs. I also would

introduce, for the 25% who have no intention of working, the food

stamp system. That way there's less disposable income and they may be

more likely to go out there and work. I know it's not easy getting

back in employment, but what the Government need to do is give us

more incentives. More carrots, please, and less sticks. As if by

magic, Hayley appears here. You don't need a high-speed train. We

are here in the Westminster bubble. Doncaster is about as far away as

you can get from that. What is life like to be unemployed there? Life

to be unemployed in Doncaster is absolutely horrendous. Wear a black

spot -- we are a black spot. Birmingham is the largest block

spot, followed by Middlesbrough. Doncaster I don't think is far

behind. It's tough? Very. This business of the sticks the

Government is using to encourage people to look for work, to get

work, just explain why you are worried about that, because I guess

the feeling may be that if you are looking - if you are looking for

work the sticks don't matter, because you are looking? It's the

way the Government is dealing with the situation that we have got.

They are really penalising people that do want to work. The sanctions

that they are putting in place are creating such fear. People feel

they are unable to even try to move forward, because every time they

take a step forward they are beaten back down and this is where the

stick comes in. What do you mean by that? It's my understanding that if

you can't find a job and if the Government isn't offering to help

you get a job, you continue with your benefits? Nothing happening to

you -- nothing happens to you. Government have come up with a

crazy scheme of 90 minutes to travel to find a job. Some of the

people I work with have had to sell their cars. 90 minutes from

Doncaster to London. �60 is minimum I've ever paid. �145 is the most

expensive. That is for a day return. How is that realistic. Nobody could

expect people looking for work to have to pay for a train fare to

London? This 90-minute rule is something suggested. How can that

be at all the right thing to even start to look towards? You are

walking on people who are already down. Do you think the Government

is out of touch with these kind of practicalities? I think they are

totally out of touch and with the people. The Government do not live

the lives of these unemployed people that I deal with on a daily

basis. Unemployment is absolutely devastating. It is demoralising and

depressing. People cannot face getting out of bed. There is

nothing to look forward to and there is no assistance whatsoever

of any practical side. Can a Cabinet of millionaires understand

the difficulties in Doncaster? Probably not. I think a big

criticism of this Cabinet is that it doesn't have the direct line to

the working man and woman that I think Margaret Thatcher had. She

had the automatic connection, probably because she was a grocer's

daughter. I think there are big issues about incentives. For

example, there is the most tremendous accumulation of

households in council housing without work. Whereas, in private

renting housing and in owner occupation you have much higher

levels of contact with the labour market. You have to ask this. One

of the reasons is for instance we give housing to people who are the

most in deed, so people have an incentive to maximise their

neediness. They are no incentive to try to improve themselves and get

into work. A councillor was saying we are going to prioritise our

housing by giving it to people who are in work. Why would they do

that? Because they then begin to create some incentives. Not only do

I get a job, but I get the opportunity to get a house. Whereas,

at the moment is the houses are going to people who don't have

houses and people have no incentive to raise themselves from that

position. What is your response to that? My response would be I think

the reason why the people in council houses are mainly

unemployed is because they very much become their environment.

There may be a concentration of unemployed, but I'm not sure the

majority are? I disagree. In London they are. One of the problems is

housing benefit. One of the things that traps people in council

accommodation is if they go and get a job they lose a lot of other

benefits like housing benefit, so you have to steak now where

children don't see people going out to work. They just don't see it.

What is the point? My point is I agree with you. I think the

Government's got it wrong. Even though to an extent my Government

were starting to buy into that narrative. You laid the ground work

for it as Mr Purnell will be happy to tell you. A great man. The next

leader of the Labour Party! I wanted to talk about the 25% you

said don't want to work. I think attitudes to work have changed. My

father got up, went to work, five days a week. It's absolutely in my

brother's and mine DNA that's what men do. They go out to work. I

represent people who are on estates where nobody works and there are

all sorts of reasons, but they don't see it. You talked about the

25% and I think there are an issue and you talked about food stamps.

The attitudes to work have changed. One of the things you find with

young people and when I counsel them about work, some say I

couldn't do that, because I wouldn't enjoy it. I think to

myself, who says you have to enjoy your job. If it is so debilitating

why is it that almost two million immigrants are found -- have found

jobs in this country and - This is one of the things that has

emboldened the Government. British Chamber of Commerce found

out that attitude to work and ability to get up and go to work in

the morning and to apply yourself to be reliable, these immigrants

had it and a lot of British-born folk didn't. The immigrants, do

they have the same opportunities in their country? Why do they take

them here? Because there are opportunities here. Why don't our

own people take them? They are prepared to work for the minimum

wage. Why shouldn't our people do that? The 25% are professionally

unemployed. It's their job. They are professional at it. Don't they

need some sticks, because they are living at our expense? For that 25%,

yes, of course, but what I'm saying is you cannot give to the 25% that

really -- 75% that really want to work, you can't tar them with the

same brush. They are the ones who should be pressed. The other 95%

should be treated in a different way? Of course. Do you think you

can look at someone and you know whether they are in the 25 or 75?

One of the problems is that you are applying your judgment and

discretion and the law does not allow you to do that. What the law

says is that if somebody presents in your office and they have gone

through the business of saying they are looking for work in the

previous week, you have to pay them a benefit. You're not allowed to

use your judgment, discretion and experience. If we introduced a

system where you could, I would be on your side and that would be a

step forward. We had better leave it there on that agreement. That is

a first. Thank you for being with us. Now, calm yourselves because

there's only one thing more exciting than a missing G-spot and

a strip search at the World Scrabble Championships, and he's

waiting in the wings as we speak, the dandy highwayman himself, the

king of the wild frontier, Adam Ant, who'll be talking about the wisdom

of the reunion. And if your font is stuck on your favourite large green

typeface and you're down to your last barrel of Blue Nun, stick your

head in it, then head on over to our interweb site, or follow us on

Twitter. Or sign up to The Facebook and tell us why we deserve a pay

rise. Now, Michael and I went camping at

the weekend. Doesn't happen very often. But our friends Tamara and

Arabella were both going, and besides the brochure promised 50 or

so delightful self-catering plots with stunning views of the Basildon

countryside. The next thing you know Tamara's got herself arrested,

Arabella's chained by the neck to a portaloo and Michael's been tasered.

He's still coming round. Next year, I think we should pitch our tent

somewhere quieter, like the Guardian's Nick Watt did at St

Paul's. It is only me. Don't tell my mum

I'm here. Look, somebody's got to take a stand, there have been

shocking price rises recently. I blame those filthy capitalists. One

can hardly afford to eat these days. Yummy! That is something I picked

It helps to fund this modern -- modest lifestyle if you can pocket

�17,000 as a golden goodbye when you lose your job. And some people

are still not happy. Last week's media frenzy was not unprecedented

and it happens when a necessary free press and politics collide.

But I believe there was from some quarters a personal vindictiveness,

even hatred, that should worry all of us. Liam Fox apologised for

blurring the lines between his private and official roles in those

five-star hotels, but the crack in his voice shows that he believes he

has been unfairly treated. He believes it is still ride for

ministers to have outside advice. I think the best way to understand Dr

Fox is to think of him as an American politician, constantly

challenging the system, who just happens to have been born in

Scotland. There may be no love lost between David Cameron and Dr Fox,

but the Prime Minister was irritated when Ed Miliband -- Ed

Miliband challenged him over his handling of the affair.

Secretary of State for Defence recognised he had made a mistake,

acknowledged that he broke the ministerial code and he resigned.

That is not something that always happened in the last 13 years.

Speaker, a piece of advice to the Prime Minister, this week, of all

weeks, show a bit of humility. I wonder what else mummy has packed

for me. A bit of caviar, gentleman's relish, and a guide to

push bingo. Of course, a Cabinet would never -- never be selected

that way. And who is the winner of this week's Cabinet reshuffle? The

millionaire from Surrey. It is a moment of sadness as well. Liam Fox

did a great job at Defence, making a great starting clearing up the

mess that Labour left behind. I will do everything in my power to

justify the trust the Prime Minister has placed in me by

offering me this job. Thank you. The old guard are not happy. John

Redwood has joined forces with a sizable group of Euro-sceptics, to

sign a Commons motion calling for a referendum on Britain's membership

of the European Union. David Cameron is so nervous about a

rebellion that he has brought the debate forward by three days to

ensure he is around next Monday. do not support holding a referendum

come what may. That is not our policy and I will not be supporting

that motion. I am sure my special adviser, otherwise known as my

ballet, is here somewhere. Anyway, the Prime Minister will be adding

to Brussels on Sunday for what has been dubbed a bazooka summit.

European leaders are hoping to reach agreement on a new bail-out

of up to two trillion euros to prevent the defaults in Greece.

They are absolutely terrifying that could have a domino effect in other

weaker economies like Spain and Portugal. Well, the protests in

Greece make this look a bit like Glyndebourne. But make no mistake,

the storm clouds are gathering as we in Britain head back to the

dreaded stagflation of the 1970s. We have had 18 months of his

economic experiment and what has he got to show for it? More and more

people losing their jobs, more and more businesses going bust and

inflation going through the roof. And all we have got is a Prime

Minister who is hopelessly out of touch. His plan is to add �23

billion to Britain's deficit this year at almost �100 billion to our

deficit by the end of the parliament. There is not one single

country in Europe that would have such a crazy blam. Such a crazy

plan that you deal... Us anti- capitalist protesters would do away

with the pair of them. Mum was my friend, Mervyn, he is a bit gloomy

at the moment. In the absence of rebalancing globally, and

especially in the euro area, we could be facing a recovery that is

not nearly reluctant but recalcitrant. Oh, dear! I could be

here for some time. I need these by He is still outside St Paul's. Go

and visit him, ensure he will give you a drink of champagne. Michael,

let's start with the Westminster end of Europe. Her or damaging is

it for David Cameron that so many Conservative MPs are pushing hard

for a referendum. -- how damaging. It is a big nuisance, and

embarrassment, a distraction, it takes the public mind back to the

Conservative Party of old, the Conservative Party when I was in

Government when we were split from top to bottom on Europe. He feels

he needs to focus on his approach to the euro issues, and he does not

want to be distracted by this talk of having a referendum, which he

regards as unrealistic and irrelevant. I think he must be

somewhat surprised at the number of new members of parliament who are

in this group, and even some of them who have been closely

associated with him. There are former special advisers him there,

people who actually know what real politics is about and yet they are

signed up to it, too. The 2010 Tory intake, the new intake, is more

Euro-sceptic than your lot were. It is one of their defining features.

You could see the faces when this came up in Prime Minister's

Questions, the faces of his backbenchers. They are up for it.

Why would David Cameron pick a fight on this, because the motion

is not going to get through? Why go for a three-line whip and with

everybody into line on this? He may have to step back from that, but...

I suppose because otherwise people will say his authority is worth

nothing. But one of the options in a referendum is to repatriate

powers back to London. Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't that in

the Tory manifesto? Why we do not vote for that? I suppose that is

one of the reasons all of this is happening, that there is a lot of

disappointment that David Cameron, when he was trying to be elected

leader of the Conservative Party, made quite a lot of statements

about his Euro-scepticism. He thought he was fighting tooth and

nail with David Davies, who had a more Euro-sceptic position. This

was a misconception, because David Davis had been a whip on the

Maastricht bill and had no friends on the Euro-sceptic right after all.

But David Cameron played along and said a lot of Euro-sceptic things

and people are angry has pulled back a long way from that, because

when you are Prime Minister you drop -- do not want to be in that

position. Why has Labour got a three-line whip against this?

backbenchers are so probably disaffected that they have seen --

because they have seen jobs could the Lib Dems, so they are poised to

kick up over this. My personal view, I voted against the economic and

monetary union section of Maastricht. For reasons that we

have all seen. I am a loyal frontbencher. What happened to the

Diane Abbott that we know. You just do as you're told. I think

personally we could take them down on this because they are so split.

All that we would have to do is give people a free vote and let

them do what they want. But we are not going to do that. If you had

given your side a free vote, quite a lot of Labour people would have

voted for the referendum. Indeed, and then Cameron would have been

frightened. However, the people who advise my leader are more

scrupulous than myself. I want to, and to the wider position in a

minute, but if you are a Euro- sceptic, bliss it is to the Euro-

sceptic at the moment. It has all gone pear-shaped. It is exactly as

proper side. My point is that this is now going to become a defining

issue of the Cameron years. Yes, because the Euro-sceptics think the

collapse of the euro is an opportunity to reassess our entire

relationship, including the possibility of leaving the European

Union. While the Government is urging the eurozone to engage in

closer political Corporation and Union, there may well be a treaty

amendment and then there would have to be a referendum in this country,

in my view. -- closer political co- operation. There is not going to be

a referendum in this Parliament, is there? No, but we could have fun

voting with the Tory right on it. This talk of throwing money at the

eurozone to stop Greece defaulting, everybody knows that Greece will

have to default in some form or another. It is money down the drain.

So there will not be a referendum. There will not be a repatriation of

powers either, probably, in this Parliament. No, there will not.

Tory backbench will be furious. there is a treaty amendment, which

is a high probability, and no referendum, that means trouble for

David Cameron because he has always said any treaty amendment would go

to a referendum. Sticking with domestic, Liam Fox's resignation

statement, what did you make of it? First of all, his resignation was

completely necessary and warranted. He breached the ministerial code,

clearly. In his resignation speech - it may well be that his family

and his friends and everybody has known has been hounded by the press,

and if that is the case, I do not see why he should not cry foul and

mention that in his statement. I think that is probably what he was

alluding to. I was in the house and I thought he sounded like he was

whingeing. I am sure his family and friends got a hard time, but that

happens in politics. He does not really seem to understand he has

done anything wrong. I am not sure he does think he has done anything

wrong. That is what came over when he made his speech. That is the

problem. He may think he did something wrong at the margin but

he does not feel he has done anything corrupt. That is

problematic. From my point of view, I cannot understand what could

possibly have merited this degree of, let me call it exotic financial

arrangements. The thing is, man, woman or a hamster, he had an

inappropriate relationship with that young man. Was there a

hamster? I thought I had read everything. The lawyers on this

programme have been relaxed while you were not here. They are already

speaking in my ear. Am I right in thinking they can be no comeback

this side of the election, this Parliament? Yes, when money is

involved, it is difficult to make a comeback. Does it do damage to Mr

Cameron, or to the Tory modernising project? I do not think people

really understand what he did, but they feel that here is another MP,

a minister that has been up to no good. Yes, that is undoubtedly the

case but I think David Cameron had a lot of luck on this. Thank

goodness Liam Fox resigned on Friday. If David Cameron had waited

until Tuesday to get the report, that would have been desperate.

he jump, or was he pushed? I think he had difficulty answering some of

the question from Gus O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary, so he

thought he had better go before the report comes out. Now, the

countdown to the amazing two weeks we face in the eurozone crisis. The

European summit this weekend, Angela Merkel and President Sarkozy,

things are so bad that President Sarkozy flew to Germany while his

wife as giving birth. We are now told, just before we came on air,

that there will not be an agreement this weekend. They will try to get

one next week, and we have this cut-off point that Mr Obama and Mr

Cameron and Mr Osborne have made. It has to be done and dusted by the

The sort of agreement that people have now decided is necessary is a

two trillion euro agreement. There is absolutely no way that the

Germans will accept that. It's all very well Sarkozy going around and

saying we want leadership in Europe. What he meends is he wants German -

- means is he wants German money. It's not available. Stepping back,

what we have here is a whole lot of different-shaped economies at

different stages of development, rammed together in a currency which

is unsuitable for most and none of the problems will go away. That is

why you were against it I remember meeting the then President of

Bundesbank and we said what would be the ideal monetary unit, France

and Germany and the Benelux countries. Let's say you were both

right and not walk down on memory lane, but get to now. I put it to

you, Diane, that if there is - there has to be an agreement on

Greece defaulting and there has to be the bail out fund of two

trailion and recapitalisation of the banks and if there is not an

agreement to present to the G20 there will be a market meltdown. We

are heading for a major financial crash in the next three weeks.

will be very problematic. I'm not quite as convinced on that. I think

the focus is on the recapitalisation on the banks and

the number is around 350 billion euros. A lot of money, but not the

two trillion. I think the default - The French and Germans are divided

on that. The French want the Europeans to bail out the banks.

It's more achievable. I think a 60% haircut of the bond holders losing

their money is pretty written into market expectations now. Watch this

space. It's going to be an interest -- interesting couple of weeks. Now

when Diane told us she was quitting our band for the dizzy heights of

Labour's crack health team, we feared the worst imagine John and

Paul without Linda, or Mick and Keith without Bianca. You get some

idea the scale of our loss, but you know what they say, if the cheque

has enough zeros there will be a car for 10.30 on Thursday night,

tell it to pick me up outside the Ritz. With Diane back and the stone

roasts back, we decided to put reunions in this week's spotlight.

-- Stone Roses back, we decided to put reunions in this week's

spotlight. News the world has been waiting for, the Stone Roasts are

reuniting, because they want to be adored. I want to shake up the

world and we are going to play two big gigs at heat on park. -- Heton

Park and then take it around the world. There will be a bumper bonus

for the Manchester scallies as Steps are proving with their album.

As boy band Westlife finally do us all a favour and call it a day, it

can't be long before they are tempted back by the prospect of one

final pay day. Is it really wise to get the old gang back together? Is

it the money or just the bore dem that makes people -- bordem that

tempts people to make the effort? AdamAnt is with us. Welcome. The

reruinions in the rock world, am I too cynical to say it's about the

money? I think that is certainly true, but they have to bring home

the bacon and they have families and once you are in the charts and

naive and you sign the contracts and when it is all over and you

have paid everyone off you realise you actually don't have that much

money in the bank, so I see no reason why they shouldn't get bag

together and go back to the audience that is still with them if

they make good records. You may know how to do it better to your

advantage second time around, because you have learnt a few

tricks? Well, yeah. Sometimes it takes 20 years. You do. You are

dealing with a situation where you are signing contracts as thick as a

phone book and there's one line saying, "If you don't show this to

a lawyer within seven days it's illegal." And you don't, because

your drummer wants a drum kit and that is ten albums, in my case, so

your whole life is under control, so you are dealing with something

that tanned amount to a very old Hollywood system. Some reunions and

comebacks seem to be bigger than the original. Take That seem to be

bigger? Yeah, I think - I saw the show at Wembley and it was amazing.

It was like an Olympic event. They really pulled it off, but I think

people foreget that bands like the Stone Roses and my band, you start

off as four or five guys that are mates, carrying equipment around

and travelling up and down the country and you become good mates

and then suddenly you are worth a lot of money to a lot of people.

You are a big earner and then the work is too hard and you don't hear

the word no, no don't do that, because that tour, the management

basically are not going to say no to that amount of money. Then with

that exhaustion, cracks begin to appear and other influences come

into the group and you start being not so friendly. That can be the

start of it. Tkph you have come back, but not as -- You've come

back, but not as Adam and theants. That's my baby and I have the

rights to that and it may happen in the future. I decided to go solo

after the friendship wasn't there. We were all exhausted. I decided

that I didn't want to continue. I wanted to go solo, but it's a hard

thing. I do enjoy it, but there is a difference between doing a solo

album and doing Adam and the Ants. Political reunions or comebacks,

they are more rare in politics than the music business, aren't they?

Yes. I mean I suppose Gordon Brown brought back Alastair Campbell and

Peter Mandelson. That's true. Mandelson had a couple of them.

or three. Too many for my opinion. One was one too many. It's not

quite the same as a reunion. I've noticed that this evening I spent

the evening with my university weekends and the weekend with my

school friends and I made a speech about you, and I never had a

reunion with my political friends. With the old Cabinet colleagues?

Some of them I feel quite warmly about and when I see them, it's

great, but nobody suggest let's go eat for a evening. Is that because

there was a lot of bad blood between you? Probably. You had -

It's like a band the way it fell apart. You had a comeback, you lost

your seat and then got back in for Kensington and Chelsea. Does that

count? Did you go back and join with old friends the way a band

would? There was a tiny reunion. I was a big ally of Francis Maude. He

had lost his seat in the election before I did, so he had been out

since 1992. I was out in 1997 so in 2000 we were working together for

the first time in eight years. is your comeback in public health.

It's impressive. I had a mini reunion tonight, because I went to

speak at Camberwell and peck hall - - Peckham. I went there and I first

worked with Harriet Harman and a whole host of others at the Old

National Council for Civil Liberties. When you do one in the

music business, you are under some kind of pressure from the fans to

recycle all the old songs, are you not? They don't want to hear the

new ones so much? I've been on tour over the summer and during the

winter, but I put on the show I would like to see from a band I

grew up with. If I went to see Roxy Music or David Bowie or anybody I

would want to hear the hits. I think it's unfair not to give them

that, but among that, you drop in one or two new things, but if I

wasn't proud of the songs I wrote I wouldn't put them out in the first

place, so I see no reason. I love them. I'm just trying to get them

right. It's a challenge. Each militates against reruinions in

British poll tiblgz. You can have rock -- politics. You have rock

stars where they fill stadia now. It's not true in America or France

or Germany. Lord howl was in the Government today and he was in

Edward Heath's Government. David Young and Michael Heseltine, both

have little positions with the Government and they are people who

again are right back. You mean there is a chance for you to come

back? I'm a bit too young. Since you are naming all of the names on

the periphery of the Government, I think we'll have a quiz. Stick with

us, because they're useless. Now, you know these are strange times

when the French head of state actually fathers a legitimate child.

And, tonight President Sarkozy and his wife, Carla, have revealed the

name of their new baby daughter - Giulia. Let's hope she grows up to

be like her brand new name, because according to Deed Poll, there's

been a huge surge in the number of people changing their birth name.

So, as we're joined tonight by a certain Mr Adam Ant, nee Stuart

Goddard, what better time could there be for a Political Name

Change Quiz? What is the Chancellor's real full name? Gideon

Osborne. No. You are right on both, but there is another name. Oliver.

What is the London mayor Boris Johnson's real name? Colin.!

Alexander What is former Tory A list candidate Nancy Mogg's real

name? Rees-Mogg. Well done. Adam, thank you for joining us. I told

you they were useless. That's your lot for tonight folks. We're all

off to Berkeley Square, because it's Zumba night at Annabel's! And,

in her exalted role as Grand Poobah of the Headline-dodging Shadow

Public Health Team, Diane's promised to show Michael the latest

way of keeping himself fit on the dance floor. Squats and lunges are

merely optional. In the meantime, and with Adam here in the studio,