:00:16. > :00:18.Tonight This Week limbers up for the London Marathon. As the long-
:00:18. > :00:24.running battle to deport terror suspect Abu Qatada continues, Home
:00:24. > :00:26.Secretary Theresa May is finding the going tough. Barrister and
:00:26. > :00:36.judge Constance Briscoe thinks it's time for the politicians to get
:00:36. > :00:37.
:00:37. > :00:40.into shape. The Home Office needs to get back on track, to stop
:00:40. > :00:44.making elementary mistakes, otherwise we are destined to lose
:00:44. > :00:47.the race against terror. Charities are the big winners of the London
:00:47. > :00:52.Marathon, but are Cameron and Clegg going wobbly over their charity tax
:00:52. > :01:00.relief plans? Journalist and commentator Mary Ann
:01:00. > :01:03.Sieghart does a bit of cleaning to keep fit. The Budget continues to
:01:03. > :01:08.be an omnishambolic for the Government. David Cameron's really
:01:08. > :01:11.got to clean up his act. And the US presidential race is
:01:12. > :01:15.certainly a marathon campaign. But with the front runners flexing
:01:15. > :01:23.their muscles, one of the voices of The Simpsons, Harry Shearer, gets
:01:23. > :01:33.behind the characters. The circus is over. The big spending is about
:01:33. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :01:39.to begin. On your marks, get set, go!
:01:39. > :01:43.Evenin' all. Welcome to the This Week party. It's been quite a week
:01:43. > :01:46.for us denizens of the international wet set. First we
:01:46. > :01:48.jetted to Columbia, where Hilary Clinton was papped out on the pop,
:01:49. > :01:52.while Secret Service agents hired their own local "refreshments" and
:01:52. > :02:01.refused to pay for some of the "secret services" rendered and were
:02:01. > :02:03.then sacked as a result. Then it was off to Italy, where it's
:02:03. > :02:10.claimed former PM Silvio "Bunga- sconi" entertained strippers
:02:10. > :02:14.dressed as nuns! Can it be true? Is the Pope - and the strippers -
:02:14. > :02:19.really a Catholic? After that we made it to Paris, where up popped
:02:19. > :02:22.Pippa Middleton with a pistol- packing French prat in toe. Her
:02:22. > :02:25.Eurotrash "chums" proved money doesn't by you sense or taste by
:02:25. > :02:27.holding a lavish fancy dress party with fire eaters, dwarves, and a
:02:27. > :02:37.Day-Glo 18th century S&M theme, making Prince Harry's Nazi outfit
:02:37. > :02:38.
:02:38. > :02:41.look tasteful by comparison. Finally, to dear old Blighty, where
:02:41. > :02:44.Theresa May celebrated the arrest - yet again - of terror suspect Abu
:02:44. > :02:47.Qatada by partying the night away with X Factor judges, Lorraine
:02:47. > :02:56.Kelly, and some slack-jawed rapscallions from The Only Way Is
:02:56. > :03:01.Essex! Though while the Home Secretary was comparing spray-on
:03:01. > :03:05.tans, Qatada was lodging a last- minute appeal in Strasbourg. So it
:03:05. > :03:09.now appears that the only way isn't Essex but the European Court of
:03:09. > :03:18.Human Rights appeals process. Which doesn't sound like nearly as much
:03:18. > :03:21.fun as vajazzling. Whatever that is! Speaking of the pointless and
:03:21. > :03:23.the socially useless, I'm joined on the sofa tonight by two of
:03:24. > :03:27.Westminster's biggest party girls, the Kardashian sisters of late-
:03:27. > :03:36.night political chat. I speak, of course, of #manontheleft, Alan 'AJ'
:03:36. > :03:37.Johnson, and #sadmanonatrain, Michael 'choo choo' Portillo. And
:03:37. > :03:47.by overwhelming public demand, #maninthemiddle, 'chatshow' Charles
:03:47. > :03:51.
:03:51. > :04:01.Kennedy. Two people wrote in. Good to see you. Pleased to be back.
:04:01. > :04:03.
:04:03. > :04:08.Michael, your moment of the week. Since Mr Vikram became chairman of
:04:08. > :04:16.the bank, my stock has gone down. This week the shareholders noting
:04:16. > :04:22.that the bank had acquired his hedge fund for $159 million and
:04:22. > :04:26.paid him another �53 million thought maybe he had another money
:04:26. > :04:30.already and the shareholders voted against his package in a majority.
:04:30. > :04:33.Capitalism is only going to work when shareholders fight back and
:04:33. > :04:37.stop these ludicrous salaries. At the moment the people who run the
:04:37. > :04:41.banks are plundering the banks. Bankrupting the shareholders and
:04:41. > :04:44.making off with the loot. It is important, because this is
:04:44. > :04:48.happening in the United States. It is time that people in the United
:04:48. > :04:51.Kingdom stopped saying we need competitive salaries because
:04:51. > :04:56.salaries are higher in the United States. Smell the coffee. In the
:04:56. > :05:01.United States the remuneration is coming down. Shareholders fight
:05:01. > :05:04.back, it's a least. Who would have thunk it. Alan. Yesterday in the
:05:04. > :05:10.Budget debate, my moment of the weeks there we were fighting
:05:10. > :05:15.against the VAT increases in pasties and church repairs and
:05:15. > :05:24.caravans. Static caravans. When we discovered there was one item upon
:05:24. > :05:30.which VAT has been reduced from 20% to 5%. I found out it was ski lifts.
:05:30. > :05:36.Ski lifts. Someone is taking the piste here. That's why you chose it
:05:36. > :05:43.as your moment of the week. You wanted to get that line out.
:05:43. > :05:50.benefits Aviemore, which is in the constituency of the Chief Secretary
:05:50. > :05:57.to the Treasury. How clever. Do you have any ski lifts in your
:05:57. > :06:03.constituency? I do as a matter of fact. It is a carve-up. Your moment
:06:03. > :06:07.Mine is Scottish as well. I don't know how much traction hate had
:06:07. > :06:12.south of the border. A particularly horrible murder case, dating back a
:06:12. > :06:16.number of years, 15 years ago in Scotland, on a limited basis, but
:06:16. > :06:20.they allowed the cameras into the court for the judge's sentencing.
:06:20. > :06:26.We saw that on network television. There's been a lot of discussion
:06:26. > :06:33.about where this might lead to. My mind was going back over 20 years,
:06:33. > :06:38.in my first Parliament,' 73 to 1976. I was put on the committee into the
:06:39. > :06:44.televising of the House of Commons. I was in favour of that. Sure. It
:06:44. > :06:47.seemed natural. You look back at some of the dire warnings. It was
:06:47. > :06:52.like reading the debates about giving women the vote, that it
:06:52. > :06:56.would be the end of civilisation as we know it. A lot of the
:06:56. > :07:04.discussions with journalists and the public now are taking place
:07:04. > :07:09.about the courts. It is a static image of the judge. That will
:07:09. > :07:13.change. You are only allowed to show the dispatch box. If
:07:13. > :07:19.somebody's asleep you are not allowed to show that. Now it is
:07:19. > :07:24.more flexible and I think the courts will go that way. Very good
:07:24. > :07:30.moments of the week from all three. It can only go downhill from now on.
:07:30. > :07:35.Like the ski lifts! If it does go down we'll get a ski lift to take
:07:35. > :07:39.us back up. It's been a difficult Thursday of Theresa May. Maybe she
:07:39. > :07:42.got confused and thought it was a Wednesday or a Tuesday! Whatever.
:07:42. > :07:47.This morning the Home Secretary was force to do so come to the Commons
:07:47. > :07:54.to explain how Abu Qatada, for it is he, managed to launch an appeal
:07:54. > :07:59.against his portation and continued to run rings around the Home Office,
:07:59. > :08:07.their well-paid lawyers and the legal system. Recorder and
:08:07. > :08:12.barrister Constance Briscoe joins us for her take of the week.
:08:12. > :08:17.The attempts to deport Abu Qatada has descended into a ridiculous
:08:17. > :08:23.farce. The Home Secretary, Theresa May, ordered his arrest on Tuesday,
:08:23. > :08:30.believing that the deadline for him to return to the European Court of
:08:30. > :08:36.Human Rights had passed on Monday midnight. His lawyers believe that
:08:36. > :08:41.the true deadline was Tuesday midnight. And so they then launched
:08:41. > :08:47.a last-minute appeal with about an hour to go. Whether Theresa May is
:08:47. > :08:51.right or wrong, it really doesn't matter. It is her handling of the
:08:51. > :08:57.situation which really matters. It is farcical and it has left us in
:08:57. > :09:02.this country as a laughing stock of Europe. If there was a deadline,
:09:02. > :09:08.surely the best thing to do is to play it safe. You allow for a day
:09:08. > :09:13.or two, one way or another. Being in this country for a very long
:09:13. > :09:22.time and did it really matter whether there was a day or two
:09:22. > :09:26.extra? Since 2001, successive Home Secretaries have repeatedly failed
:09:26. > :09:36.to deport him out of the country. As a result of, that they've left
:09:36. > :09:36.
:09:36. > :09:40.this country vulnerable to terror and to attack. We have been playing
:09:40. > :09:45.cat and mouse between us attempting to deport him out of the country
:09:45. > :09:50.and Europe telling us that we need to make certain guarantees. Of
:09:50. > :09:56.course, we all respect the European Court of Human Rights, and of
:09:56. > :10:04.course we must carry out the rule of the law. It should be a matter
:10:04. > :10:09.of grave concern that a sovereign state cannot decide who can and
:10:09. > :10:17.cannot remain in this country. We should not have to rely on Europe
:10:17. > :10:27.to tell us that we cannot deport dangerous individuals who are a
:10:27. > :10:27.
:10:27. > :10:32.threat to our national interest. Constance joins us. Welcome. Let me
:10:32. > :10:36.put some of the points you were making there. A lot of people will
:10:36. > :10:41.think constance is right that police stations of all the major
:10:41. > :10:45.parties have failed and that Mr Abu Qatada's become a national
:10:45. > :10:51.embarrassment, Alan? He has become a national embarrassment. In terms
:10:51. > :11:00.of all politicians failed, Theresa May, she reminds me of that Eric
:11:00. > :11:08.Morecambe sketch when he is playing the piano and Andre Previn says,
:11:08. > :11:18."You are playing the wrong notes" and he says, "I'm playing the right
:11:18. > :11:19.
:11:19. > :11:24.found a problem with Article 6, the right to a fair trial. Witnesses
:11:24. > :11:28.might be tortured. But showing her hand and almost laying down an
:11:28. > :11:38.invitation for his lawyers to appeal on that basis, you had to be
:11:38. > :11:40.
:11:40. > :11:44.way to do that was to wait until Wednesday. It looked like it was
:11:44. > :11:54.rushed out to meet the headlines. understand that. You will
:11:54. > :11:56.
:11:56. > :11:59.yours have been trying to deport this guy since 2001. I watched
:11:59. > :12:05.Yvette Cooper play party politics with this issue. I think most
:12:05. > :12:10.people will think a little bit of modesty on Labour's part as well as
:12:10. > :12:15.contrition on the other part wouldn't go amiss. I don't play
:12:15. > :12:20.that card. The Conservatives do. He was given leave to remain. We can
:12:20. > :12:23.play that game as well. That's where your point is right. You have
:12:24. > :12:28.to do it the right way. I believe in the European Court of Human
:12:28. > :12:34.Rights. I believe that it is right to question these decisions against
:12:34. > :12:39.Article 3 and Article 6 and Article 8. Due process can take a long time
:12:39. > :12:43.Countries where they don't have due process they do it quickly. They
:12:43. > :12:47.are not the countries I want to live in. Constance, clarify, one
:12:47. > :12:51.thing I didn't understand in your take, you said we should always
:12:51. > :12:54.respect the rule of law but also that we should have ignored the
:12:55. > :12:59.European Court and put him on a plane. I didn't say that at all. I
:12:59. > :13:02.said the rule of law, we should always respect that and carry it
:13:02. > :13:08.out. At the moment, as I understand it, we could have question ported
:13:08. > :13:13.him. All we needed to do was wait another 24 hours. It seems to me
:13:13. > :13:18.that Theresa May foregot in was a leap year. I think that's where she
:13:18. > :13:23.got her calculations wrong. Sorry, what makes you think if Theresa May
:13:23. > :13:27.had not spoken that day things would have been any different.
:13:27. > :13:33.Because the appeal came after. reason it's been delayed is that
:13:33. > :13:39.Abu Qatada's lawyers put in an appeal which prima facie seems to
:13:39. > :13:44.be within the time limit. obviously has an appeal and he's
:13:44. > :13:49.appealed. He's done nothing wrong. I'm not saying he has done anything
:13:49. > :13:54.wrong. Theresa May's decision to make a statement, even if it now
:13:54. > :13:58.looks foolish, if we had waited 24 hours we wouldn't be in a different
:13:58. > :14:05.position. That isn't right. Her statement triggered an appeal
:14:05. > :14:08.process. She wasn't planning to deport Mr Abu Qatada tomorrow.
:14:08. > :14:13.Even she admitted it would take weeks, if not months for the
:14:13. > :14:18.process to go through. So it wasn't a window she could have stuck him
:14:18. > :14:22.on a plane because he hadn't appealed in Strasbourg. Nobody is
:14:22. > :14:26.suggesting she was going to put him on a plane. As I understand it, the
:14:26. > :14:31.whole reason why she waited after the ruling in January was so that
:14:31. > :14:37.the appeal process would be exhausted. Now, had she waited
:14:37. > :14:41.another 24- 48 hours, he would not have got his appeal in time.
:14:41. > :14:46.not? If they were planning, in they understood the deadline better than
:14:46. > :14:50.she - that's the point isn't? don't know whether they understood
:14:50. > :14:55.the deadline. All we know is as a result of Theresa May saying the
:14:55. > :14:59.deadline had passed, they put in the appeal. There's a wired
:14:59. > :15:03.political issue here and it is part, many will see it as a gulf between
:15:03. > :15:07.the mass of what people think and the political establishment on the
:15:07. > :15:12.left and the right. The people of this country don't think he should
:15:12. > :15:19.be here. They are fid. He's been around for long enough, since 2001,
:15:19. > :15:22.just get him out. And the politicians can't deliver. That's a
:15:22. > :15:28.fair assessment. Most people would say the whole thing is barking mad.
:15:28. > :15:33.We are going round the circles. God knows what the cash register is at
:15:33. > :15:36.since this man first set foot in Britain to the taxpayer. I'm a
:15:36. > :15:42.member of the Council of Europe. The House of Commons and House of
:15:42. > :15:48.Lords, both houses of Parliament send a delegation, as do the other
:15:48. > :15:53.46 countries. I was in strar earlier in the year --? Strasbourg
:15:53. > :15:57.earlier in the year. David Cameron made, and I'm not from the same
:15:57. > :16:01.wing as him, we are poles apart. He made a first class performance in
:16:02. > :16:08.Strasbourg to address probably the most disparate parliamentary
:16:08. > :16:12.Assembly in the world. You could be dealing with social assist
:16:12. > :16:22.agrarians from Eastern Europe or UKIP and all point in between, or
:16:22. > :16:24.
:16:24. > :16:28.We lose the chairmanship of the council in May. It is only for six
:16:28. > :16:31.months and we do not get it again for 23 years. The reforms the
:16:32. > :16:36.British Government wanted have already been watered down to get
:16:36. > :16:40.the consensus of 47 countries. It is like herding cats to get
:16:41. > :16:44.agreement there. Even if they got the reforms through without
:16:44. > :16:50.watering them down, it would make no difference to a case like Abu
:16:50. > :16:55.Qatada. I entirely agree. It is all very well whistling in the wind
:16:55. > :17:00.about this, but if you are raid charge or a legislator, you have to
:17:00. > :17:04.take the position that you abide by it the rule of law. -- if you are a
:17:04. > :17:08.judge or legislator. We may think it is ridiculous, but we are signed
:17:08. > :17:14.up to the European Commission of -- Convention on Human Rights. Very
:17:14. > :17:18.few people think we should not be. When you look at its articles, they
:17:18. > :17:21.appear broadly sensible and they seem to have lots of leeway to the
:17:22. > :17:25.application of national law and circumstances. We believe the way
:17:25. > :17:29.in which the court is interpreting some of these matters is wayward
:17:29. > :17:33.and we are doing what we can to address that. But none of us can
:17:33. > :17:38.grandstand and say, we would put him on a plane. We would not
:17:38. > :17:43.because we have a duty as legislators and judges to abide by
:17:43. > :17:46.the law. If you could wave your magic wand - and I am well aware
:17:46. > :17:51.that the chairman of the European Court said there is no magic wand -
:17:51. > :17:54.but if you had won what major change would you make in the way
:17:54. > :17:59.the European Court works, or the relationship between the European
:18:00. > :18:03.Court and our own Supreme Court in domestic circumstances. There are
:18:03. > :18:10.two areas I would be concerned about. There is a delay in the
:18:10. > :18:12.backlog of cases that the European Court, 152,000. The whole point was
:18:12. > :18:18.speedy justice and it seems that backlog is because there are quite
:18:18. > :18:26.a lot of cases that really ought not to be there. The second point,
:18:26. > :18:30.I suppose, is that there should be a clearer definition as to the
:18:30. > :18:35.national interest and how we, as a country, deal with that. Rather
:18:35. > :18:40.than have our national law interpreted in the way that it has
:18:40. > :18:45.been by the European courts. 50% of judges in the European Court have
:18:45. > :18:50.no previous judicial experience. would say we need clarification and
:18:50. > :18:57.perhaps a realignment as to what it is that they do. One was a TV
:18:57. > :19:05.presenter before becoming a judge. I can see a future here! The very
:19:05. > :19:12.quickly, Theresa May, will her head end up on a plate? It may. He said
:19:12. > :19:17.with a smirk! Knocked over this. She has already stayed twice as
:19:18. > :19:24.long as most Home Secretary is but she will not be their infinitely.
:19:24. > :19:29.Charles? I do not think this is the thing that will bring her down.
:19:29. > :19:32.Tomorrow in the Telegraph, Abu Qatada free in days after Theresa
:19:32. > :19:37.May got the date wrong. Even the Tory press not giving her the
:19:37. > :19:44.benefit of the doubt. The Left press had a go at Tony Blair and
:19:44. > :19:50.the Tory press are having a go at Cameron. I think this is a Mayday
:19:50. > :19:53.crisis for her. This is what I think. It is serious. Thank you.
:19:53. > :19:56.Now, it's too late to prevent a fracking earthquake toppling the
:19:56. > :20:01.Blackpool Tower, but not too late to brace yourself for our next
:20:01. > :20:04.guest. Because coming up, voice of the Simpsons, star of This Is
:20:04. > :20:12.Spinal Tap, Harry Shearer, who'll be explaining the desire to become
:20:12. > :20:15.President of the United States. And for those with more limited
:20:15. > :20:24.ambitions, kid yourself that you matter, by following us on The
:20:24. > :20:29.Twitter, The Facebook, and the plain old vanilla interweb.
:20:29. > :20:32.Now, politics is a dirty business at the best of times. But even we
:20:32. > :20:36.were shocked to see how grubby David Cameron's Downing Street
:20:36. > :20:40.operation is looking these days. If you ask us, the whole place could
:20:40. > :20:45.do with a spring clean and a spray of air freshener to dispel the
:20:45. > :20:48.whiff of panic. We've always liked to lend a hand to those in need so
:20:49. > :20:52.we've asked the Independent's Mary Anne Sieghart to head off to David
:20:52. > :21:02.Cameron's flat above Number Ten, feather duster at the ready, to
:21:02. > :21:24.
:21:24. > :21:28.give us her round up of the Look at the state of this place!
:21:28. > :21:34.Sam and Dave have let it go downhill since they have not had to
:21:34. > :21:39.keep it spruced up for kitchen suppers with party donors. I bet
:21:39. > :21:45.Dave wishers many of the measures in this had been left before they
:21:45. > :21:48.were announced to the country. Budget 2012, known in polite
:21:48. > :21:53.circles as a shambles, has caused no end of troubles for the
:21:53. > :21:57.Government. Pasty tax, Granny Tax, and now the decision to limit the
:21:57. > :22:01.amount of tax relief that top-rate taxpayers get back from charity
:22:01. > :22:05.giving. He was supposed to be bashing the rich, but now he is
:22:05. > :22:09.accused of bashing charities, because their income is going to
:22:09. > :22:13.fall by about half a billion pounds. It looks like Dave has realised
:22:13. > :22:17.what a mess his neighbour has been making. This was never going to be
:22:17. > :22:21.introduced until next year - plenty of time to get it right, consult
:22:21. > :22:25.and listen. The principle is more for charities and philanthropic
:22:25. > :22:34.giving, yes. Allowing people to drive down their tax rate to 10%
:22:34. > :22:37.when they are the richest in the country, No.
:22:38. > :22:42.And this must have been in a few years. I bet I could get a few bob
:22:42. > :22:45.on eBay for this. This man made a rare visit to the TV studios this
:22:45. > :22:49.week to give the current Prime Minister some advice. What they
:22:49. > :22:54.should do now that they have the time - I have been through
:22:54. > :22:58.situations like this and sometimes things slip through - the important
:22:58. > :23:03.thing is to correct them and not to end up in a battle with the
:23:03. > :23:07.philanthropic sector that they will find difficult to win.
:23:07. > :23:12.Government is in a right lather. Some of its proposals, like the
:23:12. > :23:17.charity staff, were badly thought- out. Others, like the Granny Tax
:23:17. > :23:20.and pasty tax were justifiable but really badly sold. Ministers have
:23:20. > :23:30.been so scalded by the bad press that they are not prepared to stand
:23:30. > :23:32.
:23:32. > :23:35.their ground. It is a complete mess. Ed Miliband is starting to clean up,
:23:35. > :23:38.with the latest polls giving him a nine-point lead. But if Ken
:23:38. > :23:41.Livingstone does not win the London mayoral election and Labour lose
:23:41. > :23:45.control of Glasgow City Council at the local elections, those
:23:45. > :23:48.mutterings against Ed Miliband's leadership could start again. But
:23:48. > :23:53.none of the political leaders is immune because Tory backbenchers
:23:53. > :23:56.are muttering about Cameron's leadership and the loss of grip in
:23:57. > :24:02.Number 10. Meanwhile, poor old Nick Clegg is watching his party's
:24:02. > :24:12.ratings go down the plughole. I bet he longs for the sunny days of
:24:12. > :24:18.
:24:18. > :24:22.I need a breather. George Galloway returned to the House of Commons
:24:22. > :24:25.for the third time this week. Let's hope he remembers which
:24:25. > :24:30.constituency he is representing because after the by-election in
:24:30. > :24:34.Bradford West, he tweeted that he was the new MP for Blackburn. It
:24:35. > :24:40.must be so confusing going from Scotland to London, to somewhere up
:24:40. > :24:43.in the north-west. The Prime Minister took the opportunity at
:24:43. > :24:46.Prime Minister's Questions to welcome him back, but mainly to
:24:46. > :24:51.have a dig at Ed Miliband, whose party should have held Bradford
:24:51. > :25:00.West. He lost the Bradford by- election. That was a great success.
:25:00. > :25:03.He has given one person a job opportunity, George Galloway.
:25:03. > :25:07.Meanwhile, Ken Livingstone had to come clean about his own tax
:25:07. > :25:11.affairs, and this from a man who said tax avoiders were rich
:25:11. > :25:15.bustards who should not be allowed to vote, which gives Cameron a
:25:15. > :25:19.sitting target. We have a Labour candidate for Mayor of London who
:25:19. > :25:25.is paying less tax on his earnings than the people who claimed his
:25:25. > :25:32.office. I think that is disgraceful. Why will he not condemn it?
:25:32. > :25:35.thought he only cared about rich people. He certainly cares about
:25:35. > :25:39.Boris, because if he wins London again it will be a triumph for the
:25:39. > :25:42.Tories. But it might be a problem later because it puts Boris in a
:25:42. > :25:49.strong position to get back into the Commons at the next election
:25:49. > :25:53.and challenge George for the Tory leadership.
:25:53. > :25:57.And there has been a stubborn stain in the British justice system which
:25:57. > :26:01.even Theresa May has been unable to scrub out. She gleefully announced
:26:01. > :26:06.this week that the extremist Muslim cleric Abu Qatada was finally going
:26:06. > :26:13.to be deported. Officers from the UK Border Agency arrested and
:26:13. > :26:19.detained Abu Qatada and served notice that we are resuming his
:26:19. > :26:22.deportation. The assurances and information the Government has
:26:22. > :26:26.secured from Jordan mean we can undertake deportation in full
:26:26. > :26:31.compliance with the law and with the ruling of the European Court of
:26:31. > :26:35.Human Rights. Only to discover the next day that he has lodged an
:26:35. > :26:39.appeal. She says it will not stand and it turns on how many days
:26:39. > :26:43.elapsed since the original judgment. How hard can it be to count them,
:26:43. > :26:50.even in a leap year? I know the Home Office is shambolic but you
:26:50. > :26:54.would have thought civil servants could count to 29th. Cameron has
:26:54. > :26:58.got to clean up his act, fast. It is bad enough if the voters do not
:26:58. > :27:02.agree with what he is doing, but if they think he is weak, incompetent
:27:02. > :27:12.and willing to do a U-turn when he is criticised, it is a whole lot
:27:12. > :27:17.
:27:17. > :27:23.worse. She is now serving tea and scones.
:27:23. > :27:28.Michael, four weeks since the Budget, and it continues to unravel.
:27:29. > :27:36.Can you remember a Budget that keeps on giving, but not in a good
:27:36. > :27:39.way, for the Government? Yes, I can probably remember a couple. 1981,
:27:39. > :27:43.Geoffrey Howe's budget, that rumbled on and on, and I think it
:27:43. > :27:52.turned out to be one of the great budgets of modern time. But that
:27:52. > :27:55.was over the whole macro-economic stance. And Gordon Brown with the
:27:56. > :27:59.10 pence tax. For what it is worth, I think this will turn out to be
:27:59. > :28:03.very important and outstandingly successful Budget because he
:28:03. > :28:08.tackled things he needed to tackle, the top rate of tax and the rate of
:28:08. > :28:14.corporation tax. But, yes, the Government now seems to be
:28:14. > :28:18.incapable of explaining its policies. And to make unpopular a
:28:18. > :28:22.provision that stops the highest earning people from deciding they
:28:22. > :28:27.will pay nothing at all towards the National Health Service, towards
:28:27. > :28:33.defence, towards education, to make that unpopular is a kind of
:28:33. > :28:36.perverse triumph for Government. Here is an existential question -
:28:37. > :28:41.is it classic mid-term blues, or, as some people even in Downing
:28:41. > :28:45.Street think, there is something more systemic about this, something
:28:45. > :28:50.more serious? There is something more systemic but that is not mean
:28:50. > :28:53.it is not recoverable. There has been a massive loss of form by the
:28:53. > :28:56.top players. Both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the
:28:56. > :29:00.Exchequer have lost form in the last few weeks. They seem incapable
:29:00. > :29:04.of explaining their policies at the moment. But that has happened
:29:04. > :29:08.before two governments and they have got better thereafter. There
:29:08. > :29:12.is an awfully long time between now and the election. It is serious.
:29:13. > :29:18.They are 11 points behind in one of the polls. The whiff of panic that
:29:18. > :29:22.was mentioned just now, there will be a whiff of panic. Charles, the
:29:22. > :29:28.incoming missiles are targeted at the moment at Mr Cameron and Mr
:29:28. > :29:34.Osborne. But there is bound to be, by virtue of coalition politics, on
:29:34. > :29:38.all of these things, collateral damage for your party as well.
:29:38. > :29:43.Precisely so. We were discussing this very point on Tuesday evening.
:29:43. > :29:48.Nick Clegg was making that very point, that with local elections
:29:49. > :29:55.coming up in two weeks, that is going to be difficult for both
:29:55. > :29:58.governing parties, both coalition partners. But if the Conservatives
:29:58. > :30:04.take this heavy shelling and it carries on for the next fortnight,
:30:04. > :30:08.and it is not showing much sign of abating... The Abu Qatada thing
:30:08. > :30:13.adds to the criticism of incompetence. Yes, incompetence,
:30:13. > :30:17.out of touch, all of these things. The Conservatives might well take a
:30:17. > :30:22.hit but we would get caught in the slipstream and we are not in a
:30:22. > :30:26.strong position, as we know. So you have to look at it not just in
:30:26. > :30:32.terms of partisan politics, even as coalition partners, but competing
:30:32. > :30:36.in two weeks, hand to hand combat in the streets in certain areas at
:30:36. > :30:39.the moment where we are head to head. The fact is that the
:30:39. > :30:46.coalition overall takes the Dent, we probably take a disproportionate
:30:46. > :30:53.Terms of polls these are good times for Labour at the moment. The kind
:30:53. > :31:00.of midterm lead that an opposition party expects has materialised.
:31:00. > :31:04.Tomorrow's poll in the Times will put Labour ahead. Yet your party
:31:04. > :31:10.lost Bradford West. It is in danger of losing Glasgow to the
:31:10. > :31:16.nationalists in the local elections. And according to the polls, this
:31:16. > :31:21.Labour City of London, Mr Livingston doesn't look like
:31:21. > :31:27.winning that. No, and we shouldn't get carried away with the polls at
:31:27. > :31:33.this stage. They could have a medium term increase. Bradford West
:31:33. > :31:39.was a problem, but you can't replicate the Galloway factor. She
:31:39. > :31:46.very eloquent. You can't detract from his campaigning skills. They
:31:46. > :31:54.that very well. If Respect could produce 300 Galloways it would be a
:31:54. > :31:59.problem. All the people who talk to me say it doesn't feel that Boris
:31:59. > :32:06.is six points ahead on the streets. Ken has a great deal of substance
:32:06. > :32:10.that frankly I don't think Boris has got. He's got the charm and
:32:10. > :32:20.other attributes. How do you explain this. The polls for London
:32:20. > :32:20.
:32:20. > :32:27.show that Labour as are 8 to 10 points ahead. The same points show
:32:27. > :32:33.a 13-point discrepancy. Why? Don't ask me to explain the polls. He's
:32:33. > :32:40.been damaged by some of that stuff. Even Alan Sugar is saying don't
:32:40. > :32:44.vote for Ken Livingstone. You can't, because your party put him in the
:32:44. > :32:50.Lords as well. You must be over the Moon that the Conservative
:32:50. > :33:00.candidate looks like winning London. Well, we'll wait and see on the day.
:33:00. > :33:00.
:33:00. > :33:06.As they say. Would you care tonight to make a ringing endorsement of Mr
:33:06. > :33:10.Boris Johnson? No., I wouldn't. Would you care tonight to tell us
:33:10. > :33:15.who you are going to vote for in the London mayoral elections?
:33:15. > :33:17.will be looking for a candidate who endorses a third runway for
:33:17. > :33:26.Heathrow Airport. That is fundamentally important for the
:33:26. > :33:31.capital. I cannot understand any candidate presenting himself or
:33:31. > :33:35.herself without such an idea. You've waxed lyrical on the couch
:33:35. > :33:45.that you would have voted for the man with 30 years of experience of
:33:45. > :33:51.keeping Londoners safe. Briefly Charles, is Labour in danger of
:33:51. > :34:00.losing Glasgow Glasgow to the nationalists Has is almost as bad
:34:00. > :34:05.as losing London to Boris. I was in Glasgow yet. I was speaking to two
:34:05. > :34:10.sage and long in the tooth Labour politicians, one of whom is
:34:10. > :34:13.retiring as councillor after many decades. Their private view was
:34:13. > :34:20.Labour would probably emerge as the largest party on Glasgow City
:34:20. > :34:26.Council, short of an overall majority. It is not quite a
:34:26. > :34:32.symbolic defeat. A lot of hacks north of the border are sharpening
:34:32. > :34:37.their pencils to write some negative stories about the SNP and
:34:37. > :34:43.Mr Salmond. That might well get written up if there's a defeat or a
:34:43. > :34:48.setback for the SNP. How much do you think is George Osborne did
:34:48. > :34:52.blame for the current sense of incompetence and out of touchness?
:34:52. > :35:02.As I said already, I think George has failed to explain policies
:35:02. > :35:11.
:35:12. > :35:17.which seem to me to have absolutely than most other European countries,
:35:17. > :35:21.and which is solidly supported by both parts of the coalition. So you
:35:21. > :35:31.think it is still going to come right? I think the growth rate in
:35:31. > :35:40.
:35:40. > :35:50.the economy is very low, which austerity package. OK. On that
:35:50. > :35:50.
:35:50. > :38:06.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 135 seconds
:38:06. > :38:13.unusual agreement there... # I am so in love with you.. #
:38:13. > :38:20.let's get on with it. We are joined by the voice of many
:38:20. > :38:30.of the iconic Simpson's characters. Montgomery Burns. Yes, interesting,
:38:30. > :38:31.
:38:31. > :38:41.a man of many powers. And Principal Skinner. Absolutely. But not Willy
:38:41. > :38:45.
:38:45. > :38:49.We saw you playing Nixon in this programme on Sky Arts next week, in
:38:49. > :38:53.doing that, did it give you any insight into the kind of
:38:53. > :39:02.personality that makes you want to be President? He is a special case.
:39:02. > :39:08.He was a tremendously twisted psyche with burning resentments.
:39:08. > :39:14.Huge chips. Huge chips and paranoias and fears, something very
:39:14. > :39:20.rare in America, blazing class resentment. He hated the Ivy League.
:39:20. > :39:26.And the fancy people. But normally, when you think that somebody has to
:39:26. > :39:31.look in the mirror and say, "You are the leader of the free world"
:39:31. > :39:36.no-one who puts himself up for President is probably psyche
:39:36. > :39:41.alongically eligible for the job. Just by wanting to be. Just by that
:39:41. > :39:48.desire or sense, because they are saying I'm going to spend two years
:39:48. > :39:54.of my life raising more money than God has to repeat the same four
:39:54. > :40:01.sentences coast to coast, eat the worst food prepared by man just to
:40:01. > :40:05.prove, "I like what you like." It is a nonsensical concept. It should
:40:05. > :40:12.be a random lottery the Saturday before election day and you choose
:40:12. > :40:17.who to vote for. Does that mean why the cast of characters in the
:40:17. > :40:25.primary race was more dysfunctional than the cast in the Simpsons?
:40:25. > :40:35.be fair, less yellow. The cast of characters was amazing. You had
:40:35. > :40:38.
:40:38. > :40:43.mishally batchman who -- Michelle batchman. And Herman Cane, the
:40:43. > :40:50.black pizza magnate, I don't think that praise has been used enough,
:40:51. > :40:56.whose sole platform was a tax plan summed up with three numbers - 999.
:40:56. > :41:00.In Britain that's what we use to call the police. Of course. And
:41:00. > :41:03.Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, who in a television debate said
:41:03. > :41:07.there are three departments of the United States Government I want to
:41:07. > :41:14.abolish. The Department for Education, the Department of Energy
:41:14. > :41:19.and... Oops, and this was the end of him. And Rick Santorum, who quit
:41:19. > :41:24.the race last week. A former Senator from Pennsylvania, rejected
:41:24. > :41:28.by his home state by a vast margin, who talked a lot on the campaign
:41:28. > :41:34.trail. He is a right-wing Republican, appealed to
:41:34. > :41:40.fundamentalists. Talked a lot about his three-year-old daughter who was
:41:40. > :41:44.born with a chromosomal defect, and as a member of the rifle
:41:44. > :41:52.association, he enrolled her as a life member.
:41:52. > :42:02.Newt Gingrich is still He hasn't quit yet. He visits zoos and was
:42:02. > :42:08.
:42:08. > :42:16.bitten by a penguin last week. Obama and Mitt Romney different
:42:16. > :42:20.politically. Policies and issues will matter. But I have to say that.
:42:20. > :42:27.Personality will matter too won't it? This will be a big personality
:42:27. > :42:35.election. I think it will be the subtext of Mitt Romney's campaign.
:42:35. > :42:42.I was saying on Twitter 8 months ago nominee rhymes with Romney. The
:42:42. > :42:49.subtext of his campaign is we tried charisma, it didn't work. That was
:42:49. > :42:56.a New York mayoral candidate who tried that against the famous Mayor
:42:56. > :43:01.Lindsay, a squat campaign. Had enough of car is match. Mitt Romney
:43:01. > :43:06.has zero charisma but Americans are suckers for this idea that a
:43:06. > :43:11.businessman can run this bar than a politician. And we in New Orleans
:43:11. > :43:17.where I come from will experience of that and it didn't work out too
:43:17. > :43:22.well. Your programme is on Sky Arts
:43:22. > :43:32.week on Thursday. You are works than Theresa May!
:43:32. > :43:33.
:43:33. > :43:35.look forward to that. That's your lot for tonight, folks.
:43:36. > :43:38.But with half the BBC now broadcasting from a bothy in the
:43:38. > :43:41.Salford Wheel Tappers' and Shunters' Club and the House of
:43:41. > :43:44.Lords being encouraged to relocate to the abandoned tripe factory next
:43:44. > :43:46.door, a tripe factory being quite fitting some may say, we leave you