19/12/2013

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:00:21. > :00:24.Tonight, This Week presents a festive return to Downturn Abbey, or

:00:25. > :00:28.should that now be Upturn? As the economic outlook improves will it be

:00:29. > :00:36.enough to see off the cost of living crisis? Britain's economic plan is

:00:37. > :00:41.working. This was a year where cost-of-living prices hit working

:00:42. > :00:46.families. Lord of the Manor, Quentin Letts and Head Butler, Kevin

:00:47. > :00:51.Maguire, review the political year. I hope we can get back to Christmas

:00:52. > :00:56.shopping. I've been scrutinising the accounts and our incomes are only

:00:57. > :01:01.1.4%. Easy, we must learn to do more with less. We also look ahead to

:01:02. > :01:08.2014, a big political year, with European elections and a Scottish

:01:09. > :01:12.referendum. And the other TV sofa sensation of the year - we'll have a

:01:13. > :01:23.very special Gogglebox Christmas Quiz. She don't mess about. They

:01:24. > :01:35.look like criminals. He's a Ging. She looks bad. Would you do that for

:01:36. > :01:38.me? No. Evenin' all. Welcome to This Week and a very special round-up of

:01:39. > :01:42.the political year. Because as you can probably tell, we've partaken of

:01:43. > :01:48.the Christmas spirit here on This Week and by that I mean the Blue Nun

:01:49. > :01:51.Christmas Royale Special Brew. So we're ready to celebrate what makes

:01:52. > :01:54.this time of year just so damn wonderful. A time of year when

:01:55. > :01:58.hard-working families - do politicians know any other kind -

:01:59. > :02:01.are busy borrowing up to the hilt to pay for the yuletide festivities,

:02:02. > :02:03.stocking up on canned fruit and turkey twizzlers from the festive

:02:04. > :02:06.food bank, excitedly wrapping the kids' pay-day loan presents and

:02:07. > :02:10.thanking the Lord that Christmas jumpers are in fashion once more and

:02:11. > :02:18.not so much an accessory as an essential, given they can't afford

:02:19. > :02:21.to put the heating on anymore. Ah, Christmas - only a scrooge, or Boy

:02:22. > :02:27.George Osborne, would deny that It's a Wonga-full Life. Speaking of those

:02:28. > :02:30.who are out of their depth and up to their necks in it, I'm joined on the

:02:31. > :02:35.sofa tonight by two Westminster stars jostling to be the fairy at

:02:36. > :02:38.top of the tree. Think of them as the Plum Sugar and Plum Duff of

:02:39. > :02:40.late-night political chat. I speak, of course, of #sadmanonatrain

:02:41. > :02:41.Michael -step-away-from-the track-Portillo and #londonnightmayor

:02:42. > :03:02.Diane-back-by-absolutely-no-public-- demand-whatsoever-Abbott. And not

:03:03. > :03:05.forgetting #mollythedog. It's Michael. Who would have thought it?

:03:06. > :03:12.What's your moment of the year, other than you being in a onesie?

:03:13. > :03:17.The funeral of Margaret Thatcher. Partly for me because it was an

:03:18. > :03:21.amazing State occasion with all the pomp and ceremony and partly because

:03:22. > :03:26.it was the reunion of the class of the 180s, but also to misquote

:03:27. > :03:31.Shakespeare, to take her for all in all, we shall not see her like

:03:32. > :03:38.again. She was an extraordinary leader. A woman of amazing courage

:03:39. > :03:43.and conviction of certainties. And these things are not common these

:03:44. > :03:47.days. Molly is a bit bored about that. Your moment of the year? I

:03:48. > :03:52.think I would have to say the funeral of Nelson Mandela. If you

:03:53. > :03:56.are on the other side. You two are cheery. It's because he theyed

:03:57. > :04:00.Thatcher. If you are on the other side of politics in the 1980s,

:04:01. > :04:05.antiapartheid was the international campaign. And London was the centre?

:04:06. > :04:11.Yes. And the marches and picketing and boycotting and to live to see

:04:12. > :04:14.him released and the first democratic election as the President

:04:15. > :04:19.that is a big thing. Although, not everything is perfect in South

:04:20. > :04:23.Africa, his great thing that he did was he ensured a peaceful

:04:24. > :04:28.transition. It wasn't a bloodbath. You can't take that away from him.

:04:29. > :04:32.Very interesting. Molly is so interested she has left the studio!

:04:33. > :04:35.Now, get your camera phone and tinsel out for the boys, because

:04:36. > :04:39.it's the Twelfie Night of Christmas. Yes, we're flogging a dead reindeer

:04:40. > :04:42.and asking you to tweet us once again. This time with your festive

:04:43. > :04:49.twelfies. Remember how it works - we want you to tweet us pictures of you

:04:50. > :04:55.watching This Week. With extra points for any Christmas balls or

:04:56. > :04:59.Blue Nun in shot. And if we get more than half a dozen, we'll try and

:05:00. > :05:03.feature as many as we can in our end credits. Now, it's been a very long

:05:04. > :05:08.year and just like a coalition away day, we've completely run out of

:05:09. > :05:16.ideas. So let's recycle last year's drivel with a return to Downturn

:05:17. > :05:20.Abbey. And what a difference a year makes. Fortunes are on the rise

:05:21. > :05:23.upstairs, but down below there are dark rumblings of discontent among

:05:24. > :05:26.the servants, though that may have something to do with the horsemeat

:05:27. > :05:28.canapes. Joining Quentin Letts, Kevin Maguire and Nick Watt this

:05:29. > :06:22.year, is a very familiar face. Get on with it. Faster, faster. Get

:06:23. > :06:27.on with it. The the mail is so much more efficient since I privatised.

:06:28. > :06:31.My Lord, my Lord, I've been looking at the bill and we appear to be

:06:32. > :06:36.overcharged. What have you done now? Chas all this lot. Don't worry about

:06:37. > :06:41.that. Now that the finances are back on the up, I thought we could do

:06:42. > :06:44.some proper Christmas shopping. How can we afford all this? I've studied

:06:45. > :06:54.the estate accounts and our income is only up 1.4%? We must learn to do

:06:55. > :06:59.more with less. And as my chum Lord Cameron says, we only have to make

:07:00. > :07:01.do with a few cuts downstairs. Never mind about that sort of thing. Pull

:07:02. > :07:20.yourself together, woman. Typical Tory, every Christmas it's

:07:21. > :07:28.one rule for him upstairs and another for us town here. How will I

:07:29. > :07:36.cut back? Poor Polly is on a zero-hours contract. One lump or

:07:37. > :07:41.two? You're an angel. I was talking about coal. Quay can't afford it. It

:07:42. > :07:45.will have to be half a piece. I don't know how we'll afford to heat

:07:46. > :07:51.this place this winter. It makes me want to knock the whole place down.

:07:52. > :07:59.# I came in like a wrecking ball # I never felt so bad

:08:00. > :08:12.# All I wanted was to break you up # All you ever did was wreck me... #

:08:13. > :08:16.# I flinch, you hide up in the sky... #

:08:17. > :08:23.I think I've just seen the most extraordinary thing. Maguire

:08:24. > :08:27.tweshinging. -- twerking. Calm down, you'll wake baby George. I'm fed up

:08:28. > :08:31.with the way that downstairs keeping on complaining about the cost of

:08:32. > :08:35.living. We've never been doing better. I like to think that

:08:36. > :08:40.marriage is a team effort and I have something to do with the change...

:08:41. > :08:43.Some people are too daft to know how to get on with life. I don't think

:08:44. > :08:55.there would be a recovery without me. You don't listen to a word I

:08:56. > :09:00.say, do you? Maguire, we've got a bit of a

:09:01. > :09:05.problem upstairs. Is that a whole lump of coal? We have that ban Balls

:09:06. > :09:09.upstairs sticking nis nose into the estate finances making a nuisance of

:09:10. > :09:15.himself. Face has gone bright red like a beetroot. Would you like me

:09:16. > :09:18.to set the dogs on him? No, he's doing a marvellous job. Put him on

:09:19. > :09:24.the payroll and don't forget it's the Chris imagine ball tomorrow, so

:09:25. > :09:29.don't scrimp on the can pays. -- canopes. Sack someone if you have

:09:30. > :09:36.to. That's it. Choosing between eating and heating. Mrs May we'll

:09:37. > :09:50.have to make a few changes to the Christmas menu.

:09:51. > :09:57.I bet you're really glad that's only the end of part one and there's more

:09:58. > :10:03.to come. Look what Santa has left under the tree, leading lady mare

:10:04. > :10:09.Rand da Greened -- Miranda Green and we have an extra special present,

:10:10. > :10:16.Nigel Farage. Welcome both. Michael, how long before a recovery --

:10:17. > :10:20.recovering economy... Oh, sorry, we wanted you to feel at home. Sadly

:10:21. > :10:26.health and safety won't let you have a fag as well. Cheers, everybody.

:10:27. > :10:30.Cheers. Why are we on the water and he's got the beer? Back to the

:10:31. > :10:37.politics. How is the beer? Rather good. How long before a recovering

:10:38. > :10:41.economy equals a recovery in Tory poll ratings? Possibly a very long

:10:42. > :10:47.time, because my theory is that living standards will not improve.

:10:48. > :10:50.Because wages have been stuck flat for a very long time and prices are

:10:51. > :10:54.continuing to rise. The Government is now trying to decrease the rise

:10:55. > :10:57.in prices, but I would have thought between now and the election not

:10:58. > :11:01.many people are going to see a rise in their real wages. What some of

:11:02. > :11:06.them will see is a rise in their property prices which will make some

:11:07. > :11:13.people feel better. If it doesn't translate into recovering, it means

:11:14. > :11:19.that there is no chance of a Tory victory? I have never thought there

:11:20. > :11:23.was much chance, I'm saying even any chance, of a Tory majority, but the

:11:24. > :11:28.decisive thing is we are getting nearer and what people will think of

:11:29. > :11:32.Ed Miliband. Will they think he's Prime Minister material? On the

:11:33. > :11:35.whole, I don't think they will. It doesn't mean that David Cameron

:11:36. > :11:41.won't be Prime Minister. That brings me to Diane. If Labour, according to

:11:42. > :11:44.the polls lack credibility on the economy, when the economy was

:11:45. > :11:49.tanking, how does it win credibility when the economy is growing? Because

:11:50. > :11:53.people won't feel things are better for them. I don't think that Ed

:11:54. > :12:01.Miliband being Prime Minister is going to be the killer thing or not.

:12:02. > :12:09.It's the Reagan question. Are you better off now than when I first

:12:10. > :12:12.came to power? He's Reagan? No David Cameron is Ronald Reagan. People do

:12:13. > :12:15.not feel better. People's living standards have been squeezed much

:12:16. > :12:21.more recently than they are to be next year. Michael is right, they'll

:12:22. > :12:26.be squeezed, but all the polls show Labour has no credibility on the

:12:27. > :12:29.economy. But the stuff we are talking about with living standards

:12:30. > :12:34.is hitting home. Ed has dominated the agenda for the past three months

:12:35. > :12:40.on energy. Will he carry on? I believe he can. It's good to know

:12:41. > :12:47.they've put the loyalty chip back into the head. Right, will it

:12:48. > :12:51.translate into Lib Dem votes? I think you have to look at it other

:12:52. > :12:55.the way around. If George Osborne and his plan had not worked, then

:12:56. > :13:01.the Liberal Democrat would have bet the whole farm on a disasterous

:13:02. > :13:05.card. In fact, they just have to make something of it. It's very

:13:06. > :13:13.lucky for them that the plan is starting to work. Will it translate

:13:14. > :13:18.into votes? I think they're spooked. Earlier in the year, after the

:13:19. > :13:22.victory in eastly, which was -- Eastleigh, which was quite a

:13:23. > :13:26.surprise, they were confident and they thought they could hang on and

:13:27. > :13:29.people like our MPs and they have to work hard, because they are not in

:13:30. > :13:33.safe seats, but they're quite spooked and that's why you're

:13:34. > :13:38.getting Nick Clegg making a speech on green issues and Europe, on free

:13:39. > :13:47.schools. Let me try for a third time. Will it translate into votes?

:13:48. > :13:58.it will translate into votes. Everywhere? Not everywhere, but they

:13:59. > :14:04.are confident about the South and South West, those Tory facing seats.

:14:05. > :14:12.They are not getting those student communities. They are very difficult

:14:13. > :14:18.to hold. Does the recovering economy spike your guns? Not particularly.

:14:19. > :14:24.It is a London led recovery and eight property led recovery, partly

:14:25. > :14:29.fuelled by the Help to Buy scheme. I do not think people feel better off.

:14:30. > :14:34.Manufacturing orders are at the highest level since 1992. Things are

:14:35. > :14:38.definitely slightly better and that is good, and there is divergences

:14:39. > :14:43.between the UK economy and the eurozone, which is a good thing and

:14:44. > :14:46.validates the fact that some of us campaigned against joining the

:14:47. > :14:51.euro. Economics has aways been important in elections but there are

:14:52. > :14:54.other factors. It is well and good talking about unemployment coming

:14:55. > :14:58.down, but get away from London and get to parts of the country where

:14:59. > :15:03.actually youngsters cannot get jobs and feel discriminated against in

:15:04. > :15:06.terms of getting jobs, and believe me, immigration is the number one

:15:07. > :15:13.issue in this country and it is something people will vote on. There

:15:14. > :15:16.is also the issue of interest rates. Unemployment coming down is good

:15:17. > :15:21.news for the government at Mark Carney has said that if unemployment

:15:22. > :15:26.gets below 7%, they might start to raise interest rates. You then bring

:15:27. > :15:31.a whole category of middle classes into feeling worse off. Actually, he

:15:32. > :15:35.has not said that clearly. He has said he will think about it, look at

:15:36. > :15:39.it. He has not said he will change it and the closer it gets to the

:15:40. > :15:45.election, the less likely he will get involved, just as the Federal

:15:46. > :15:50.reserve in America removes itself from interest rate changes in the

:15:51. > :15:53.run-up to the election. If unemployment is 7% in June next

:15:54. > :15:59.year, then the government is in trouble over interest rates. Has the

:16:00. > :16:04.coalition ended the year in better shape than it started? Hugely

:16:05. > :16:08.better. It is hard to remember that this time last year we were thinking

:16:09. > :16:15.about a double dip recession, even triple dip. And we did not even go

:16:16. > :16:17.for double. Nigel mentioned the divergences between the British and

:16:18. > :16:22.European economies. The prediction is that for the next four years, the

:16:23. > :16:25.margin between the British rate of growth and the eurozone rate of

:16:26. > :16:34.growth will be 1.8% in the first year and all the other years, around

:16:35. > :16:38.1.5%. It is an enormous divergences. I think Lib Dem activists are more

:16:39. > :16:48.unhappy than ever, champing at the bit to have some sort of polite

:16:49. > :16:53.divorce. We are all speculating about what is going to happen to the

:16:54. > :16:56.economy and what the effects will be in 2015 and we have all forgotten

:16:57. > :17:04.that there is an election on May the 22nd. In terms of the Lib Dems, the

:17:05. > :17:09.Lib Dems are on a knife age. They could get wiped out in European

:17:10. > :17:16.elections. We are coming there. Stick to the running order. Is Ed

:17:17. > :17:23.Miliband is now seen as a potential future prime minister, or is the

:17:24. > :17:29.jury still out? I think so. I think he has had a good year. Have you

:17:30. > :17:34.been offered another job? He is almost choking on his mince pie.

:17:35. > :17:38.Clearly, he is not going to sweep us to victory on his own but he has had

:17:39. > :17:44.a good year. He has dominated the agenda. He has had a good autumn

:17:45. > :17:48.into winter, but they terrible summer. There is no question that he

:17:49. > :17:56.has set the terms of trade in many ways, but I am asking if he is now

:17:57. > :18:00.seen as a Prime Minister? Whether he is seen as that is not the key fact.

:18:01. > :18:08.The key fact is how well off people feel. So you do not think he is seen

:18:09. > :18:17.as prime ministerial. I think he is seen as prime ministerial enough. I

:18:18. > :18:23.do not think so. That is because you are a child of Thatcher. Clement

:18:24. > :18:30.Attlee did not look Prime Minister Arial. That is exactly what he

:18:31. > :18:37.looked like. He was not the stereotype of a leader. I am talking

:18:38. > :18:45.about Neil Kinnock, William Hague, Michael Howard, Iain Duncan Smith.

:18:46. > :18:50.Iain Duncan Smith was not there at an election. They are leaders about

:18:51. > :18:56.whom the public made up its mind that they are not Prime Minister

:18:57. > :19:01.Arial. How can you say that about William Hague. Because I have not

:19:02. > :19:05.been given a chip in my head to stop me from seeing clearly.

:19:06. > :19:08.Now, it's late, very late, too late to do anything but a meaningless

:19:09. > :19:12.gesture to cope with Romanian and Bulgarian benefit tourism. So get

:19:13. > :19:15.stuck into another layer of the Blue Nun chocolate liqueurs, because

:19:16. > :19:20.still to come the Gogglebox This Week mash-up quiz of the year! And

:19:21. > :19:24.the return of #twelfie, which you can tweet to us on The Twitter.

:19:25. > :19:29.Plus, we're still ignoring all feedback on The Fleecebook and the

:19:30. > :19:34.Interweb. Right, time now to return to our second and possibly last ever

:19:35. > :19:41.instalment of Upturn Abbey. And it's the estate Christmas Ball. Who will

:19:42. > :19:43.be invited? What will be on the menu? And will Baby George say his

:19:44. > :19:59.first words? I am afraid it is no secret, things

:20:00. > :20:08.between her ladyship and me are not good. Really? Things are not right

:20:09. > :20:13.between me and his Lordship. Sometimes I wish I had stayed in the

:20:14. > :20:20.kitchens. I married beneath my station. The trouble is, I married

:20:21. > :20:26.above my station. At first it was lovely. I gave her roses from the

:20:27. > :20:38.garden. The trouble is his bleeding family. It is her family. They can't

:20:39. > :20:43.stand me. They can't stand me. Sometimes I think about Mr

:20:44. > :20:50.Miliband's proposal. I have seen the way she looks at that farm hand,

:20:51. > :20:54.millipede. But he did save you from a dangerous trip to Syria.

:20:55. > :21:04.Nonsense, it would have been my finest hour. Do you think she will

:21:05. > :21:10.ever... Take me back? I have 100 people to cook for and the horse

:21:11. > :21:16.will not be raising himself. That is quite enough of that. Cut my

:21:17. > :21:25.toenails. I will get the garden shears, my lord. Right, look smart,

:21:26. > :21:39.it is the Lord's cousin, the Duke of Salmond. Is something the matter? He

:21:40. > :21:43.is refusing to get out. He says the car is a shared asset. He has paid

:21:44. > :21:48.his share of the engine oil and he will not get out until his cousin

:21:49. > :21:55.acknowledges it in writing. Tell him if he does not get out, we will send

:21:56. > :22:23.Andrew Neil back. That is a great idea.

:22:24. > :22:35.Reindeer pate, my lord. I know we have had our ups and downs. You are

:22:36. > :22:41.complacent and out of touch. I have a plan and you have not. You stand

:22:42. > :22:46.up for the wrong people. We both do that.

:22:47. > :22:49.I would like you to know that what happens next year with Europe and

:22:50. > :22:53.Scotland, even if I am no longer here, I would like you to know that

:22:54. > :23:03.I will always think of you as a butler. My lord. Quiet. Baby George

:23:04. > :23:15.is about to say his first words. We are all in this together. That's my

:23:16. > :23:20.boy. Merry Christmas! You might never see that again. I

:23:21. > :23:24.like to bring Christmas cheer. Michael, things have gone quiet for

:23:25. > :23:31.UKIP recently but is anybody in any doubt that 2014 will be a good year

:23:32. > :23:38.for them? No. The real talk is about what is going to happen in 2015. And

:23:39. > :23:42.if you come top of the poll in the European elections, what are the

:23:43. > :23:46.implications for British politics. Things have not gone quiet for UKIP

:23:47. > :23:52.in the last few months. Every Thursday there are by-elections up

:23:53. > :23:57.and down country. The results show that UKIP get 27% minimum of the

:23:58. > :24:03.vote wherever it stands, hard labour areas, safe Tory areas. We are

:24:04. > :24:07.picking up votes across-the-board. In particular what matters is which

:24:08. > :24:11.seats in the European elections can we win by a big margin? Which seats

:24:12. > :24:19.do we look like possible potential winners under the first past the

:24:20. > :24:27.post system in 2015? Molly would like to disagree. She is not

:24:28. > :24:32.disagreeing. What are the implications of you coming first in

:24:33. > :24:36.the European polls? If people believe in us and think we can win

:24:37. > :24:40.in our target seats, if people think, in two or three dozen

:24:41. > :24:46.constituencies, that voting UKIP means getting UKIP, there is an

:24:47. > :24:54.ardent that says UKIP could hold the balance of power in Westminster in

:24:55. > :25:01.2015. -- there is an argument. That is not going to happen. On the

:25:02. > :25:06.contrary. If people thought voting UKIP would get you UKIP, they would

:25:07. > :25:08.run terrified. It is safe in the European election but people will

:25:09. > :25:16.vote efficiently in the general election. People like you said it

:25:17. > :25:22.would never happen in a domestic election, and it did happen. What

:25:23. > :25:26.they said was that UKIP would not win a seat in the UK Parliament.

:25:27. > :25:38.That is all we can find ourselves to. I am prepared to stake a mince

:25:39. > :25:44.pie on it. Just a mince pie? A whole packet, if you like. I have listened

:25:45. > :25:48.to this for ten years, and all the way through, the Westminster bubble

:25:49. > :25:52.have not believed it is possible for a fourth party that is not based on

:25:53. > :26:01.socioeconomics to do it. Our poll ratings are strong. Miranda has to

:26:02. > :26:06.speak. The problem is that David Cameron has played along too much

:26:07. > :26:12.with the UKIP agenda. If Nigel's party does well next year in the

:26:13. > :26:15.European elections, David Cameron will be destabilised by that. He has

:26:16. > :26:20.a ready promised a referendum after the next election, should he be

:26:21. > :26:27.Prime Minister again. Should he have a majority. If Nigel's party does

:26:28. > :26:32.well, his own right wing will push and push and destabilise. That will

:26:33. > :26:38.affect the 2015 election considerably, whether or not Nigel

:26:39. > :26:43.wins parliamentary seats. If the Lib Dems come fourth or fifth, it will

:26:44. > :26:49.destabilise Nick Clegg. They have been there before. The Lib Dems have

:26:50. > :26:54.been tested in this fire before. The Greens overtook them in the European

:26:55. > :27:02.election. Again, it did not turn into parliamentary seats. In 2015,

:27:03. > :27:07.UKIP will get enough votes probably to stop the Conservatives getting a

:27:08. > :27:16.majority. And therefore there will not be a referendum on Europe. This

:27:17. > :27:21.is total and utter rubbish. Only one in three of the people that intend

:27:22. > :27:27.to vote UKIP in 2015 voted Conservative in 2010. The fact is we

:27:28. > :27:36.are picking up a large chunk of old Labour voters. We are picking up one

:27:37. > :27:44.in five. It is quite difficult with you to get a point across. What you

:27:45. > :27:52.are saying is not relevant. There will not be a referendum on Europe.

:27:53. > :27:55.Actually, the ink -- the impact clearly is that actually in many of

:27:56. > :28:00.the coastal marginals in which UKIP is strong, the only party that can

:28:01. > :28:08.beat Labour is the Conservatives, because the Tories are now a poor

:28:09. > :28:14.third. You are protecting Ed Miliband and Michael Portillo

:28:15. > :28:21.tonight. There will be two effects of UKIP doing well. One will be that

:28:22. > :28:25.we would get a referendum. The other would be that it would drag the

:28:26. > :28:31.terms of debate on immigration to the right, because immigration will

:28:32. > :28:37.be your big subject. After Europe, is immigration your biggest issue?

:28:38. > :28:41.Without any shadow of a doubt. The interesting thing is that the great

:28:42. > :28:45.footage public are now realising that Europe and immigration are the

:28:46. > :28:51.same thing. -- the great writ issued public. That is because it is a

:28:52. > :28:54.fact. When you are a member of the EU, there is nothing you can do

:28:55. > :28:57.about it. What is interesting is what the Labour position will be on

:28:58. > :29:00.a referendum. Miliband is saying there will not be a referendum but I

:29:01. > :29:05.predict that in the run-up to the European elections, he will pledge a

:29:06. > :29:10.referendum as well. Which you would want, wouldn't you? I don't think he

:29:11. > :29:19.wants to do it, but he may have to give in to pressure. Where from? It

:29:20. > :29:23.is a strategic thing. It is the toxic effect of UKIP on the

:29:24. > :29:26.political debate. There is a strategic argument which says you

:29:27. > :29:32.have to trump the Tory promise of a referendum. Mr Miliband, do not

:29:33. > :29:35.pledge yourself to a referendum because you will find that two years

:29:36. > :29:39.into your premiership you would suddenly have a referendum on an

:29:40. > :29:41.issue you did not believe in and you could find that people vote against

:29:42. > :29:47.you in vast numbers just because your government will be unpopular.

:29:48. > :29:57.You expect them to take advice from a man in a reindeer suit? Mr

:29:58. > :30:02.Miliband, if you're watching, don't, just ignore what's said. His

:30:03. > :30:08.medication will arrive shortly. What will be the impact be - we don't

:30:09. > :30:18.know how many Romanians and Bulgarians are going to come, but if

:30:19. > :30:23.they come in fair numbers that creates a bit of a headline, what

:30:24. > :30:26.will happen to the political debate in Britain? It's really crucial,

:30:27. > :30:31.because we don't know what the effect will be. We don't if it will

:30:32. > :30:37.be destabilising to individual communities. It's a story. There

:30:38. > :30:46.will be a underward spire Israel and UKIP will take every advantage --

:30:47. > :30:59.spiral and U kill will take -- UKIP will take every advantage of it. Why

:31:00. > :31:02.do you say that? With Romania, being able to stop people coming into

:31:03. > :31:11.Britain who are criminals. Do you think that's a underward spiral or

:31:12. > :31:25.do you think it's good to let them in? Nurses are registering with the

:31:26. > :31:30.NHS who would like to come in. Without immigration the public

:31:31. > :31:35.services would collapse. We need it. Nigel, what would be the impact on

:31:36. > :31:40.how the European Union operates if parties like yours and those to the

:31:41. > :31:45.further right like the National Front, end up with about 35% of the

:31:46. > :31:49.seats in the European Parliament? It will be a disruptive European

:31:50. > :31:53.Parliament next time around, which would be rather fun. It will come

:31:54. > :31:58.not just from the far right, but a think a lot of the Communist parties

:31:59. > :32:06.in the south are becoming very, very anti-EU. The far left will do more

:32:07. > :32:09.too? There will be a broad spectrum of euro-sceptic. Whether it will

:32:10. > :32:13.make much difference, I don't know. I suspect if we got to the point

:32:14. > :32:17.where the Parliament was really able to stop and delay legislation they

:32:18. > :32:25.would probably just change the rules. I should point out that Molly

:32:26. > :32:29.has no life-threatening diseases otherwise Diane wouldn't be sitting

:32:30. > :32:33.beside her. Scottish referendum, September 18th. Does the union

:32:34. > :32:41.survive or break up? Let's hope it does, but I think the problem.. .

:32:42. > :32:49.Yes or no? No-one believes the polls. Does it survive or break up?

:32:50. > :32:58.It's in danger. Does it survive? You can't prepare for failure. I'm not

:32:59. > :33:09.going to get an answer. The union will survive and go on. IeshingS too

:33:10. > :33:24.close to call. There are a lot of don't knows. Too close to call.

:33:25. > :33:31.There are a lot of don't knows. For the moment, I agree with what Nigel

:33:32. > :33:42.is saying. Two for the union sticking together and one too early

:33:43. > :33:48.to say and one we have no idea. I say it's too early to say. Now, iin

:33:49. > :33:51.2013 the world bade a final farewell to figures of huge international

:33:52. > :33:54.influence and political stature. As well as Chris Huhne, Godfrey Bloom

:33:55. > :33:58.and Diane Abbott, who was summoned to the leader's cubicle to be told

:33:59. > :34:01.her career prospects were going downhill faster than Ed Balls'

:34:02. > :34:04.reputation. Now, for many This Week viewers, this was one of their

:34:05. > :34:07.highlights of the year, but we wondered which other events made

:34:08. > :34:10.such an impact and so we've turned to another sofa-based hit TV show

:34:11. > :34:19.for a very special Gogglebox This Week Quiz of the Year. So, the

:34:20. > :34:23.question to our studio team is this - what news story from the past 12

:34:24. > :34:33.months are the Gogglebox viewers watching? Take it away Gogglebox. I

:34:34. > :34:39.suppose we have seen that coming for a long time, but all the same it's -

:34:40. > :34:47.one feels sad. She don't mess about. No. She talked like her mum. She

:34:48. > :34:57.looked like a man from the side. Tote Marmite case, if ever there was

:34:58. > :35:05.one. First and locking last. It's like when I had my first child. I

:35:06. > :35:07.don't think you can trust anyone who talks about themselves in the third

:35:08. > :35:18.person. Margaret Thatcher? Definitely. It's

:35:19. > :35:23.the correct answer, because the average IQ in the studio is in

:35:24. > :35:29.simingle figures -- single figures. That was the death of Margaret

:35:30. > :35:38.Thatcher. What programme were they watching to elicit these comments?

:35:39. > :35:44.That's a Greek tragedy. A pair of twits. I'm delighted to hear it.

:35:45. > :35:53.They should have taken the bike to work. What is it she does for a

:35:54. > :35:59.living, though? Lock all now. They look like criminals. They do

:36:00. > :36:06.actually. At least Bonnie And Clyde stayed friendly before they were

:36:07. > :36:17.shot. Look, that is new. Would you do that for me? No. All right, what

:36:18. > :36:23.were they watching? Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce. I can't better that.

:36:24. > :36:30.She's right. She is indeed right. It was Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce. OK,

:36:31. > :36:39.what were they watching to elicit these comments? Well, it is what it

:36:40. > :36:45.is. There it is. After all these days and weeks of waiting. Finally,

:36:46. > :36:50.there is it is. It's exactly what we expected it to be. Shall we have

:36:51. > :36:55.have a knees up. I'll happy. I want more. They didn't do that on the

:36:56. > :36:58.national health, did they? Bloody country's going hysterical about

:36:59. > :37:02.something that happened God knows how many times every day all over

:37:03. > :37:09.the world. It happens every second. Another one for the taxpayer to

:37:10. > :37:19.support! I think they should call it Ging. -- Ginge. Who were they

:37:20. > :37:23.talking about? Prince George. I didn't like the Republican tone, but

:37:24. > :37:33.it must be Prince George. Off with their heads. I knew if we made them

:37:34. > :37:38.ease than they ask on the X-Factor you would answer that. On right of

:37:39. > :37:42.centre, which politician has had a good year and which has had a bad

:37:43. > :37:48.year? I'll go with George Osborne for the good year for obvious

:37:49. > :37:53.reasons with the economy and symbolically on the bad side I would

:37:54. > :37:56.say Sir George Young. He was the Chief Whip who was there when

:37:57. > :37:59.Parliament was summoned in the summer in August, for a vote on

:38:00. > :38:04.Syria and the Government lost the vote. In a way it wasn't George

:38:05. > :38:09.Young's fault because he's the Chief Whip, but I'm saying we should

:38:10. > :38:14.remember that at catastrophe befell the Government in the middle of the

:38:15. > :38:18.year. It was very for tuS Tuesday, because if they had been landed with

:38:19. > :38:28.the Syrian war they would be in dead trouble. George Osborne, good year,

:38:29. > :38:32.George Young bad year? Yeah. On the Labour side, which politicians had a

:38:33. > :38:44.good year and which one had a bad year? Ed Miliband has had a good

:38:45. > :38:47.year. His brother has gone off to America. That is a good year. Ed

:38:48. > :38:52.Balls has not had a good year, but he's one of the most effective

:38:53. > :38:59.members of the Cabinet. The Mac economics are going George Osborne's

:39:00. > :39:05.way though. And that has put him in a bad way. Mr Balls bad and Mr

:39:06. > :39:09.Miliband good? Yes, at this point. Among the Liberal Democrats? I think

:39:10. > :39:13.it's been an upward turn year for Dan Lex Lex, because when things --

:39:14. > :39:18.Danny Alexander, because when things were going bad he was the whipping

:39:19. > :39:22.boy for the party for make too many concessions to the Tories. As the

:39:23. > :39:28.economy starts to come good, he is the person who has indicated that

:39:29. > :39:38.the role he's played has been... Any other people? Probably not.

:39:39. > :39:43.Reindeers maybe. An answer there. And the bad person? I don't think

:39:44. > :39:47.anyone has had a worse year than Chris Huhne. That was an easy one.

:39:48. > :39:51.Not difficult. Have you got enough people to have a good and bad year?

:39:52. > :39:59.I think I've had a fairly good year. I have to say that. I shall be very

:40:00. > :40:05.happy if next year is as good. Godfrey? He's great fun and a friend

:40:06. > :40:09.of mine, but we got to a point where it was impossible. You've had the

:40:10. > :40:13.good and the bad. That's your lot for tonight folks, until the new

:40:14. > :40:16.year. But not for us, because it's Mission Accomplished Night at Lou

:40:17. > :40:18.Lou's and now that David Cameron and footballer, Michael Owen, have

:40:19. > :40:21.declared final victory in Afghanistan, we're off to celebrate

:40:22. > :40:24.with a Kabul Cocktail or three - apparently they're explosive, but we

:40:25. > :40:27.leave you tonight with further disturbing evidence that there

:40:28. > :40:30.really are people out there who think watching this programme is a

:40:31. > :40:37.sensible use of their time and beer money. Genteel viewers of a nervous

:40:38. > :40:38.disposition may want to turn away now. Nighty-night - please don't let

:40:39. > :41:04.the Twelfie Night of Christmas bite. # There's a new beginning

:41:05. > :41:11.# Dreams of Santa # Dreams of snow

:41:12. > :41:17.# Fingers numb, faces aglow # It's Christmas time

:41:18. > :41:22.# Mistletoe and wine # Children singing singing Christian

:41:23. > :41:27.rhymes # With logs on the fire and gifts on

:41:28. > :41:33.the tree # Time to rejoice in the good that

:41:34. > :41:42.we see... #