19/12/2013 This Week


19/12/2013

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 19/12/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Tonight, This Week presents a festive return to Downturn Abbey, or

:00:21.:00:24.

should that now be Upturn? As the economic outlook improves will it be

:00:25.:00:28.

enough to see off the cost of living crisis? Britain's economic plan is

:00:29.:00:36.

working. This was a year where cost-of-living prices hit working

:00:37.:00:41.

families. Lord of the Manor, Quentin Letts and Head Butler, Kevin

:00:42.:00:46.

Maguire, review the political year. I hope we can get back to Christmas

:00:47.:00:51.

shopping. I've been scrutinising the accounts and our incomes are only

:00:52.:00:56.

1.4%. Easy, we must learn to do more with less. We also look ahead to

:00:57.:01:01.

2014, a big political year, with European elections and a Scottish

:01:02.:01:08.

referendum. And the other TV sofa sensation of the year - we'll have a

:01:09.:01:12.

very special Gogglebox Christmas Quiz. She don't mess about. They

:01:13.:01:23.

look like criminals. He's a Ging. She looks bad. Would you do that for

:01:24.:01:35.

me? No. Evenin' all. Welcome to This Week and a very special round-up of

:01:36.:01:38.

the political year. Because as you can probably tell, we've partaken of

:01:39.:01:42.

the Christmas spirit here on This Week and by that I mean the Blue Nun

:01:43.:01:48.

Christmas Royale Special Brew. So we're ready to celebrate what makes

:01:49.:01:51.

this time of year just so damn wonderful. A time of year when

:01:52.:01:54.

hard-working families - do politicians know any other kind -

:01:55.:01:58.

are busy borrowing up to the hilt to pay for the yuletide festivities,

:01:59.:02:01.

stocking up on canned fruit and turkey twizzlers from the festive

:02:02.:02:03.

food bank, excitedly wrapping the kids' pay-day loan presents and

:02:04.:02:06.

thanking the Lord that Christmas jumpers are in fashion once more and

:02:07.:02:10.

not so much an accessory as an essential, given they can't afford

:02:11.:02:18.

to put the heating on anymore. Ah, Christmas - only a scrooge, or Boy

:02:19.:02:21.

George Osborne, would deny that It's a Wonga-full Life. Speaking of those

:02:22.:02:27.

who are out of their depth and up to their necks in it, I'm joined on the

:02:28.:02:30.

sofa tonight by two Westminster stars jostling to be the fairy at

:02:31.:02:35.

top of the tree. Think of them as the Plum Sugar and Plum Duff of

:02:36.:02:38.

late-night political chat. I speak, of course, of #sadmanonatrain

:02:39.:02:40.

Michael -step-away-from-the track-Portillo and #londonnightmayor

:02:41.:02:41.

Diane-back-by-absolutely-no-public-- demand-whatsoever-Abbott. And not

:02:42.:03:02.

forgetting #mollythedog. It's Michael. Who would have thought it?

:03:03.:03:05.

What's your moment of the year, other than you being in a onesie?

:03:06.:03:12.

The funeral of Margaret Thatcher. Partly for me because it was an

:03:13.:03:17.

amazing State occasion with all the pomp and ceremony and partly because

:03:18.:03:21.

it was the reunion of the class of the 180s, but also to misquote

:03:22.:03:26.

Shakespeare, to take her for all in all, we shall not see her like

:03:27.:03:31.

again. She was an extraordinary leader. A woman of amazing courage

:03:32.:03:38.

and conviction of certainties. And these things are not common these

:03:39.:03:43.

days. Molly is a bit bored about that. Your moment of the year? I

:03:44.:03:47.

think I would have to say the funeral of Nelson Mandela. If you

:03:48.:03:52.

are on the other side. You two are cheery. It's because he theyed

:03:53.:03:56.

Thatcher. If you are on the other side of politics in the 1980s,

:03:57.:04:00.

antiapartheid was the international campaign. And London was the centre?

:04:01.:04:05.

Yes. And the marches and picketing and boycotting and to live to see

:04:06.:04:11.

him released and the first democratic election as the President

:04:12.:04:14.

that is a big thing. Although, not everything is perfect in South

:04:15.:04:19.

Africa, his great thing that he did was he ensured a peaceful

:04:20.:04:23.

transition. It wasn't a bloodbath. You can't take that away from him.

:04:24.:04:28.

Very interesting. Molly is so interested she has left the studio!

:04:29.:04:32.

Now, get your camera phone and tinsel out for the boys, because

:04:33.:04:35.

it's the Twelfie Night of Christmas. Yes, we're flogging a dead reindeer

:04:36.:04:39.

and asking you to tweet us once again. This time with your festive

:04:40.:04:42.

twelfies. Remember how it works - we want you to tweet us pictures of you

:04:43.:04:49.

watching This Week. With extra points for any Christmas balls or

:04:50.:04:55.

Blue Nun in shot. And if we get more than half a dozen, we'll try and

:04:56.:04:59.

feature as many as we can in our end credits. Now, it's been a very long

:05:00.:05:03.

year and just like a coalition away day, we've completely run out of

:05:04.:05:08.

ideas. So let's recycle last year's drivel with a return to Downturn

:05:09.:05:16.

Abbey. And what a difference a year makes. Fortunes are on the rise

:05:17.:05:20.

upstairs, but down below there are dark rumblings of discontent among

:05:21.:05:23.

the servants, though that may have something to do with the horsemeat

:05:24.:05:26.

canapes. Joining Quentin Letts, Kevin Maguire and Nick Watt this

:05:27.:05:28.

year, is a very familiar face. Get on with it. Faster, faster. Get

:05:29.:06:22.

on with it. The the mail is so much more efficient since I privatised.

:06:23.:06:27.

My Lord, my Lord, I've been looking at the bill and we appear to be

:06:28.:06:31.

overcharged. What have you done now? Chas all this lot. Don't worry about

:06:32.:06:36.

that. Now that the finances are back on the up, I thought we could do

:06:37.:06:41.

some proper Christmas shopping. How can we afford all this? I've studied

:06:42.:06:44.

the estate accounts and our income is only up 1.4%? We must learn to do

:06:45.:06:54.

more with less. And as my chum Lord Cameron says, we only have to make

:06:55.:06:59.

do with a few cuts downstairs. Never mind about that sort of thing. Pull

:07:00.:07:01.

yourself together, woman. Typical Tory, every Christmas it's

:07:02.:07:20.

one rule for him upstairs and another for us town here. How will I

:07:21.:07:28.

cut back? Poor Polly is on a zero-hours contract. One lump or

:07:29.:07:36.

two? You're an angel. I was talking about coal. Quay can't afford it. It

:07:37.:07:41.

will have to be half a piece. I don't know how we'll afford to heat

:07:42.:07:45.

this place this winter. It makes me want to knock the whole place down.

:07:46.:07:51.

# I came in like a wrecking ball # I never felt so bad

:07:52.:07:59.

# All I wanted was to break you up # All you ever did was wreck me... #

:08:00.:08:12.

# I flinch, you hide up in the sky... #

:08:13.:08:16.

I think I've just seen the most extraordinary thing. Maguire

:08:17.:08:23.

tweshinging. -- twerking. Calm down, you'll wake baby George. I'm fed up

:08:24.:08:27.

with the way that downstairs keeping on complaining about the cost of

:08:28.:08:31.

living. We've never been doing better. I like to think that

:08:32.:08:35.

marriage is a team effort and I have something to do with the change...

:08:36.:08:40.

Some people are too daft to know how to get on with life. I don't think

:08:41.:08:43.

there would be a recovery without me. You don't listen to a word I

:08:44.:08:55.

say, do you? Maguire, we've got a bit of a

:08:56.:09:00.

problem upstairs. Is that a whole lump of coal? We have that ban Balls

:09:01.:09:05.

upstairs sticking nis nose into the estate finances making a nuisance of

:09:06.:09:09.

himself. Face has gone bright red like a beetroot. Would you like me

:09:10.:09:15.

to set the dogs on him? No, he's doing a marvellous job. Put him on

:09:16.:09:18.

the payroll and don't forget it's the Chris imagine ball tomorrow, so

:09:19.:09:24.

don't scrimp on the can pays. -- canopes. Sack someone if you have

:09:25.:09:29.

to. That's it. Choosing between eating and heating. Mrs May we'll

:09:30.:09:36.

have to make a few changes to the Christmas menu.

:09:37.:09:50.

I bet you're really glad that's only the end of part one and there's more

:09:51.:09:57.

to come. Look what Santa has left under the tree, leading lady mare

:09:58.:10:03.

Rand da Greened -- Miranda Green and we have an extra special present,

:10:04.:10:09.

Nigel Farage. Welcome both. Michael, how long before a recovery --

:10:10.:10:16.

recovering economy... Oh, sorry, we wanted you to feel at home. Sadly

:10:17.:10:20.

health and safety won't let you have a fag as well. Cheers, everybody.

:10:21.:10:26.

Cheers. Why are we on the water and he's got the beer? Back to the

:10:27.:10:30.

politics. How is the beer? Rather good. How long before a recovering

:10:31.:10:37.

economy equals a recovery in Tory poll ratings? Possibly a very long

:10:38.:10:41.

time, because my theory is that living standards will not improve.

:10:42.:10:47.

Because wages have been stuck flat for a very long time and prices are

:10:48.:10:50.

continuing to rise. The Government is now trying to decrease the rise

:10:51.:10:54.

in prices, but I would have thought between now and the election not

:10:55.:10:57.

many people are going to see a rise in their real wages. What some of

:10:58.:11:01.

them will see is a rise in their property prices which will make some

:11:02.:11:06.

people feel better. If it doesn't translate into recovering, it means

:11:07.:11:13.

that there is no chance of a Tory victory? I have never thought there

:11:14.:11:19.

was much chance, I'm saying even any chance, of a Tory majority, but the

:11:20.:11:23.

decisive thing is we are getting nearer and what people will think of

:11:24.:11:28.

Ed Miliband. Will they think he's Prime Minister material? On the

:11:29.:11:32.

whole, I don't think they will. It doesn't mean that David Cameron

:11:33.:11:35.

won't be Prime Minister. That brings me to Diane. If Labour, according to

:11:36.:11:41.

the polls lack credibility on the economy, when the economy was

:11:42.:11:44.

tanking, how does it win credibility when the economy is growing? Because

:11:45.:11:49.

people won't feel things are better for them. I don't think that Ed

:11:50.:11:53.

Miliband being Prime Minister is going to be the killer thing or not.

:11:54.:12:01.

It's the Reagan question. Are you better off now than when I first

:12:02.:12:09.

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

:12:10.:12:12.

not feel better. People's living standards have been squeezed much

:12:13.:12:15.

more recently than they are to be next year. Michael is right, they'll

:12:16.:12:21.

be squeezed, but all the polls show Labour has no credibility on the

:12:22.:12:26.

economy. But the stuff we are talking about with living standards

:12:27.:12:29.

is hitting home. Ed has dominated the agenda for the past three months

:12:30.:12:34.

on energy. Will he carry on? I believe he can. It's good to know

:12:35.:12:40.

they've put the loyalty chip back into the head. Right, will it

:12:41.:12:47.

translate into Lib Dem votes? I think you have to look at it other

:12:48.:12:51.

the way around. If George Osborne and his plan had not worked, then

:12:52.:12:55.

the Liberal Democrat would have bet the whole farm on a disasterous

:12:56.:13:01.

card. In fact, they just have to make something of it. It's very

:13:02.:13:05.

lucky for them that the plan is starting to work. Will it translate

:13:06.:13:13.

into votes? I think they're spooked. Earlier in the year, after the

:13:14.:13:18.

victory in eastly, which was -- Eastleigh, which was quite a

:13:19.:13:22.

surprise, they were confident and they thought they could hang on and

:13:23.:13:26.

people like our MPs and they have to work hard, because they are not in

:13:27.:13:29.

safe seats, but they're quite spooked and that's why you're

:13:30.:13:33.

getting Nick Clegg making a speech on green issues and Europe, on free

:13:34.:13:38.

schools. Let me try for a third time. Will it translate into votes?

:13:39.:13:47.

it will translate into votes. Everywhere? Not everywhere, but they

:13:48.:13:58.

are confident about the South and South West, those Tory facing seats.

:13:59.:14:04.

They are not getting those student communities. They are very difficult

:14:05.:14:12.

to hold. Does the recovering economy spike your guns? Not particularly.

:14:13.:14:18.

It is a London led recovery and eight property led recovery, partly

:14:19.:14:24.

fuelled by the Help to Buy scheme. I do not think people feel better off.

:14:25.:14:29.

Manufacturing orders are at the highest level since 1992. Things are

:14:30.:14:34.

definitely slightly better and that is good, and there is divergences

:14:35.:14:38.

between the UK economy and the eurozone, which is a good thing and

:14:39.:14:43.

validates the fact that some of us campaigned against joining the

:14:44.:14:46.

euro. Economics has aways been important in elections but there are

:14:47.:14:51.

other factors. It is well and good talking about unemployment coming

:14:52.:14:54.

down, but get away from London and get to parts of the country where

:14:55.:14:58.

actually youngsters cannot get jobs and feel discriminated against in

:14:59.:15:03.

terms of getting jobs, and believe me, immigration is the number one

:15:04.:15:06.

issue in this country and it is something people will vote on. There

:15:07.:15:13.

is also the issue of interest rates. Unemployment coming down is good

:15:14.:15:16.

news for the government at Mark Carney has said that if unemployment

:15:17.:15:21.

gets below 7%, they might start to raise interest rates. You then bring

:15:22.:15:26.

a whole category of middle classes into feeling worse off. Actually, he

:15:27.:15:31.

has not said that clearly. He has said he will think about it, look at

:15:32.:15:35.

it. He has not said he will change it and the closer it gets to the

:15:36.:15:39.

election, the less likely he will get involved, just as the Federal

:15:40.:15:45.

reserve in America removes itself from interest rate changes in the

:15:46.:15:50.

run-up to the election. If unemployment is 7% in June next

:15:51.:15:53.

year, then the government is in trouble over interest rates. Has the

:15:54.:15:59.

coalition ended the year in better shape than it started? Hugely

:16:00.:16:04.

better. It is hard to remember that this time last year we were thinking

:16:05.:16:08.

about a double dip recession, even triple dip. And we did not even go

:16:09.:16:15.

for double. Nigel mentioned the divergences between the British and

:16:16.:16:17.

European economies. The prediction is that for the next four years, the

:16:18.:16:22.

margin between the British rate of growth and the eurozone rate of

:16:23.:16:25.

growth will be 1.8% in the first year and all the other years, around

:16:26.:16:34.

1.5%. It is an enormous divergences. I think Lib Dem activists are more

:16:35.:16:38.

unhappy than ever, champing at the bit to have some sort of polite

:16:39.:16:48.

divorce. We are all speculating about what is going to happen to the

:16:49.:16:53.

economy and what the effects will be in 2015 and we have all forgotten

:16:54.:16:56.

that there is an election on May the 22nd. In terms of the Lib Dems, the

:16:57.:17:04.

Lib Dems are on a knife age. They could get wiped out in European

:17:05.:17:09.

elections. We are coming there. Stick to the running order. Is Ed

:17:10.:17:16.

Miliband is now seen as a potential future prime minister, or is the

:17:17.:17:23.

jury still out? I think so. I think he has had a good year. Have you

:17:24.:17:29.

been offered another job? He is almost choking on his mince pie.

:17:30.:17:34.

Clearly, he is not going to sweep us to victory on his own but he has had

:17:35.:17:38.

a good year. He has dominated the agenda. He has had a good autumn

:17:39.:17:44.

into winter, but they terrible summer. There is no question that he

:17:45.:17:48.

has set the terms of trade in many ways, but I am asking if he is now

:17:49.:17:56.

seen as a Prime Minister? Whether he is seen as that is not the key fact.

:17:57.:18:00.

The key fact is how well off people feel. So you do not think he is seen

:18:01.:18:08.

as prime ministerial. I think he is seen as prime ministerial enough. I

:18:09.:18:17.

do not think so. That is because you are a child of Thatcher. Clement

:18:18.:18:23.

Attlee did not look Prime Minister Arial. That is exactly what he

:18:24.:18:30.

looked like. He was not the stereotype of a leader. I am talking

:18:31.:18:37.

about Neil Kinnock, William Hague, Michael Howard, Iain Duncan Smith.

:18:38.:18:45.

Iain Duncan Smith was not there at an election. They are leaders about

:18:46.:18:50.

whom the public made up its mind that they are not Prime Minister

:18:51.:18:56.

Arial. How can you say that about William Hague. Because I have not

:18:57.:19:01.

been given a chip in my head to stop me from seeing clearly.

:19:02.:19:05.

Now, it's late, very late, too late to do anything but a meaningless

:19:06.:19:08.

gesture to cope with Romanian and Bulgarian benefit tourism. So get

:19:09.:19:12.

stuck into another layer of the Blue Nun chocolate liqueurs, because

:19:13.:19:15.

still to come the Gogglebox This Week mash-up quiz of the year! And

:19:16.:19:20.

the return of #twelfie, which you can tweet to us on The Twitter.

:19:21.:19:24.

Plus, we're still ignoring all feedback on The Fleecebook and the

:19:25.:19:29.

Interweb. Right, time now to return to our second and possibly last ever

:19:30.:19:34.

instalment of Upturn Abbey. And it's the estate Christmas Ball. Who will

:19:35.:19:41.

be invited? What will be on the menu? And will Baby George say his

:19:42.:19:43.

first words? I am afraid it is no secret, things

:19:44.:19:59.

between her ladyship and me are not good. Really? Things are not right

:20:00.:20:08.

between me and his Lordship. Sometimes I wish I had stayed in the

:20:09.:20:13.

kitchens. I married beneath my station. The trouble is, I married

:20:14.:20:20.

above my station. At first it was lovely. I gave her roses from the

:20:21.:20:26.

garden. The trouble is his bleeding family. It is her family. They can't

:20:27.:20:38.

stand me. They can't stand me. Sometimes I think about Mr

:20:39.:20:43.

Miliband's proposal. I have seen the way she looks at that farm hand,

:20:44.:20:50.

millipede. But he did save you from a dangerous trip to Syria.

:20:51.:20:54.

Nonsense, it would have been my finest hour. Do you think she will

:20:55.:21:04.

ever... Take me back? I have 100 people to cook for and the horse

:21:05.:21:10.

will not be raising himself. That is quite enough of that. Cut my

:21:11.:21:16.

toenails. I will get the garden shears, my lord. Right, look smart,

:21:17.:21:25.

it is the Lord's cousin, the Duke of Salmond. Is something the matter? He

:21:26.:21:39.

is refusing to get out. He says the car is a shared asset. He has paid

:21:40.:21:43.

his share of the engine oil and he will not get out until his cousin

:21:44.:21:48.

acknowledges it in writing. Tell him if he does not get out, we will send

:21:49.:21:55.

Andrew Neil back. That is a great idea.

:21:56.:22:23.

Reindeer pate, my lord. I know we have had our ups and downs. You are

:22:24.:22:35.

complacent and out of touch. I have a plan and you have not. You stand

:22:36.:22:41.

up for the wrong people. We both do that.

:22:42.:22:46.

I would like you to know that what happens next year with Europe and

:22:47.:22:49.

Scotland, even if I am no longer here, I would like you to know that

:22:50.:22:53.

I will always think of you as a butler. My lord. Quiet. Baby George

:22:54.:23:03.

is about to say his first words. We are all in this together. That's my

:23:04.:23:15.

boy. Merry Christmas! You might never see that again. I

:23:16.:23:20.

like to bring Christmas cheer. Michael, things have gone quiet for

:23:21.:23:24.

UKIP recently but is anybody in any doubt that 2014 will be a good year

:23:25.:23:31.

for them? No. The real talk is about what is going to happen in 2015. And

:23:32.:23:38.

if you come top of the poll in the European elections, what are the

:23:39.:23:42.

implications for British politics. Things have not gone quiet for UKIP

:23:43.:23:46.

in the last few months. Every Thursday there are by-elections up

:23:47.:23:52.

and down country. The results show that UKIP get 27% minimum of the

:23:53.:23:57.

vote wherever it stands, hard labour areas, safe Tory areas. We are

:23:58.:24:03.

picking up votes across-the-board. In particular what matters is which

:24:04.:24:07.

seats in the European elections can we win by a big margin? Which seats

:24:08.:24:11.

do we look like possible potential winners under the first past the

:24:12.:24:19.

post system in 2015? Molly would like to disagree. She is not

:24:20.:24:27.

disagreeing. What are the implications of you coming first in

:24:28.:24:32.

the European polls? If people believe in us and think we can win

:24:33.:24:36.

in our target seats, if people think, in two or three dozen

:24:37.:24:40.

constituencies, that voting UKIP means getting UKIP, there is an

:24:41.:24:46.

ardent that says UKIP could hold the balance of power in Westminster in

:24:47.:24:54.

2015. -- there is an argument. That is not going to happen. On the

:24:55.:25:01.

contrary. If people thought voting UKIP would get you UKIP, they would

:25:02.:25:06.

run terrified. It is safe in the European election but people will

:25:07.:25:08.

vote efficiently in the general election. People like you said it

:25:09.:25:16.

would never happen in a domestic election, and it did happen. What

:25:17.:25:22.

they said was that UKIP would not win a seat in the UK Parliament.

:25:23.:25:26.

That is all we can find ourselves to. I am prepared to stake a mince

:25:27.:25:38.

pie on it. Just a mince pie? A whole packet, if you like. I have listened

:25:39.:25:44.

to this for ten years, and all the way through, the Westminster bubble

:25:45.:25:48.

have not believed it is possible for a fourth party that is not based on

:25:49.:25:52.

socioeconomics to do it. Our poll ratings are strong. Miranda has to

:25:53.:26:01.

speak. The problem is that David Cameron has played along too much

:26:02.:26:06.

with the UKIP agenda. If Nigel's party does well next year in the

:26:07.:26:12.

European elections, David Cameron will be destabilised by that. He has

:26:13.:26:15.

a ready promised a referendum after the next election, should he be

:26:16.:26:20.

Prime Minister again. Should he have a majority. If Nigel's party does

:26:21.:26:27.

well, his own right wing will push and push and destabilise. That will

:26:28.:26:32.

affect the 2015 election considerably, whether or not Nigel

:26:33.:26:38.

wins parliamentary seats. If the Lib Dems come fourth or fifth, it will

:26:39.:26:43.

destabilise Nick Clegg. They have been there before. The Lib Dems have

:26:44.:26:49.

been tested in this fire before. The Greens overtook them in the European

:26:50.:26:54.

election. Again, it did not turn into parliamentary seats. In 2015,

:26:55.:27:02.

UKIP will get enough votes probably to stop the Conservatives getting a

:27:03.:27:07.

majority. And therefore there will not be a referendum on Europe. This

:27:08.:27:16.

is total and utter rubbish. Only one in three of the people that intend

:27:17.:27:21.

to vote UKIP in 2015 voted Conservative in 2010. The fact is we

:27:22.:27:27.

are picking up a large chunk of old Labour voters. We are picking up one

:27:28.:27:36.

in five. It is quite difficult with you to get a point across. What you

:27:37.:27:44.

are saying is not relevant. There will not be a referendum on Europe.

:27:45.:27:52.

Actually, the ink -- the impact clearly is that actually in many of

:27:53.:27:55.

the coastal marginals in which UKIP is strong, the only party that can

:27:56.:28:00.

beat Labour is the Conservatives, because the Tories are now a poor

:28:01.:28:08.

third. You are protecting Ed Miliband and Michael Portillo

:28:09.:28:14.

tonight. There will be two effects of UKIP doing well. One will be that

:28:15.:28:21.

we would get a referendum. The other would be that it would drag the

:28:22.:28:25.

terms of debate on immigration to the right, because immigration will

:28:26.:28:31.

be your big subject. After Europe, is immigration your biggest issue?

:28:32.:28:37.

Without any shadow of a doubt. The interesting thing is that the great

:28:38.:28:41.

footage public are now realising that Europe and immigration are the

:28:42.:28:45.

same thing. -- the great writ issued public. That is because it is a

:28:46.:28:51.

fact. When you are a member of the EU, there is nothing you can do

:28:52.:28:54.

about it. What is interesting is what the Labour position will be on

:28:55.:28:57.

a referendum. Miliband is saying there will not be a referendum but I

:28:58.:29:00.

predict that in the run-up to the European elections, he will pledge a

:29:01.:29:05.

referendum as well. Which you would want, wouldn't you? I don't think he

:29:06.:29:10.

wants to do it, but he may have to give in to pressure. Where from? It

:29:11.:29:19.

is a strategic thing. It is the toxic effect of UKIP on the

:29:20.:29:23.

political debate. There is a strategic argument which says you

:29:24.:29:26.

have to trump the Tory promise of a referendum. Mr Miliband, do not

:29:27.:29:32.

pledge yourself to a referendum because you will find that two years

:29:33.:29:35.

into your premiership you would suddenly have a referendum on an

:29:36.:29:39.

issue you did not believe in and you could find that people vote against

:29:40.:29:41.

you in vast numbers just because your government will be unpopular.

:29:42.:29:47.

You expect them to take advice from a man in a reindeer suit? Mr

:29:48.:29:57.

Miliband, if you're watching, don't, just ignore what's said. His

:29:58.:30:02.

medication will arrive shortly. What will be the impact be - we don't

:30:03.:30:08.

know how many Romanians and Bulgarians are going to come, but if

:30:09.:30:18.

they come in fair numbers that creates a bit of a headline, what

:30:19.:30:23.

will happen to the political debate in Britain? It's really crucial,

:30:24.:30:26.

because we don't know what the effect will be. We don't if it will

:30:27.:30:31.

be destabilising to individual communities. It's a story. There

:30:32.:30:37.

will be a underward spire Israel and UKIP will take every advantage --

:30:38.:30:46.

spiral and U kill will take -- UKIP will take every advantage of it. Why

:30:47.:30:59.

do you say that? With Romania, being able to stop people coming into

:31:00.:31:02.

Britain who are criminals. Do you think that's a underward spiral or

:31:03.:31:11.

do you think it's good to let them in? Nurses are registering with the

:31:12.:31:25.

NHS who would like to come in. Without immigration the public

:31:26.:31:30.

services would collapse. We need it. Nigel, what would be the impact on

:31:31.:31:35.

how the European Union operates if parties like yours and those to the

:31:36.:31:40.

further right like the National Front, end up with about 35% of the

:31:41.:31:45.

seats in the European Parliament? It will be a disruptive European

:31:46.:31:49.

Parliament next time around, which would be rather fun. It will come

:31:50.:31:53.

not just from the far right, but a think a lot of the Communist parties

:31:54.:31:58.

in the south are becoming very, very anti-EU. The far left will do more

:31:59.:32:06.

too? There will be a broad spectrum of euro-sceptic. Whether it will

:32:07.:32:09.

make much difference, I don't know. I suspect if we got to the point

:32:10.:32:13.

where the Parliament was really able to stop and delay legislation they

:32:14.:32:17.

would probably just change the rules. I should point out that Molly

:32:18.:32:25.

has no life-threatening diseases otherwise Diane wouldn't be sitting

:32:26.:32:29.

beside her. Scottish referendum, September 18th. Does the union

:32:30.:32:33.

survive or break up? Let's hope it does, but I think the problem.. .

:32:34.:32:41.

Yes or no? No-one believes the polls. Does it survive or break up?

:32:42.:32:49.

It's in danger. Does it survive? You can't prepare for failure. I'm not

:32:50.:32:58.

going to get an answer. The union will survive and go on. IeshingS too

:32:59.:33:09.

close to call. There are a lot of don't knows. Too close to call.

:33:10.:33:24.

There are a lot of don't knows. For the moment, I agree with what Nigel

:33:25.:33:31.

is saying. Two for the union sticking together and one too early

:33:32.:33:42.

to say and one we have no idea. I say it's too early to say. Now, iin

:33:43.:33:48.

2013 the world bade a final farewell to figures of huge international

:33:49.:33:51.

influence and political stature. As well as Chris Huhne, Godfrey Bloom

:33:52.:33:54.

and Diane Abbott, who was summoned to the leader's cubicle to be told

:33:55.:33:58.

her career prospects were going downhill faster than Ed Balls'

:33:59.:34:01.

reputation. Now, for many This Week viewers, this was one of their

:34:02.:34:04.

highlights of the year, but we wondered which other events made

:34:05.:34:07.

such an impact and so we've turned to another sofa-based hit TV show

:34:08.:34:10.

for a very special Gogglebox This Week Quiz of the Year. So, the

:34:11.:34:19.

question to our studio team is this - what news story from the past 12

:34:20.:34:23.

months are the Gogglebox viewers watching? Take it away Gogglebox. I

:34:24.:34:33.

suppose we have seen that coming for a long time, but all the same it's -

:34:34.:34:39.

one feels sad. She don't mess about. No. She talked like her mum. She

:34:40.:34:47.

looked like a man from the side. Tote Marmite case, if ever there was

:34:48.:34:57.

one. First and locking last. It's like when I had my first child. I

:34:58.:35:05.

don't think you can trust anyone who talks about themselves in the third

:35:06.:35:07.

person. Margaret Thatcher? Definitely. It's

:35:08.:35:18.

the correct answer, because the average IQ in the studio is in

:35:19.:35:23.

simingle figures -- single figures. That was the death of Margaret

:35:24.:35:29.

Thatcher. What programme were they watching to elicit these comments?

:35:30.:35:38.

That's a Greek tragedy. A pair of twits. I'm delighted to hear it.

:35:39.:35:44.

They should have taken the bike to work. What is it she does for a

:35:45.:35:53.

living, though? Lock all now. They look like criminals. They do

:35:54.:35:59.

actually. At least Bonnie And Clyde stayed friendly before they were

:36:00.:36:06.

shot. Look, that is new. Would you do that for me? No. All right, what

:36:07.:36:17.

were they watching? Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce. I can't better that.

:36:18.:36:23.

She's right. She is indeed right. It was Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce. OK,

:36:24.:36:30.

what were they watching to elicit these comments? Well, it is what it

:36:31.:36:39.

is. There it is. After all these days and weeks of waiting. Finally,

:36:40.:36:45.

there is it is. It's exactly what we expected it to be. Shall we have

:36:46.:36:50.

have a knees up. I'll happy. I want more. They didn't do that on the

:36:51.:36:55.

national health, did they? Bloody country's going hysterical about

:36:56.:36:58.

something that happened God knows how many times every day all over

:36:59.:37:02.

the world. It happens every second. Another one for the taxpayer to

:37:03.:37:09.

support! I think they should call it Ging. -- Ginge. Who were they

:37:10.:37:19.

talking about? Prince George. I didn't like the Republican tone, but

:37:20.:37:23.

it must be Prince George. Off with their heads. I knew if we made them

:37:24.:37:33.

ease than they ask on the X-Factor you would answer that. On right of

:37:34.:37:38.

centre, which politician has had a good year and which has had a bad

:37:39.:37:42.

year? I'll go with George Osborne for the good year for obvious

:37:43.:37:48.

reasons with the economy and symbolically on the bad side I would

:37:49.:37:53.

say Sir George Young. He was the Chief Whip who was there when

:37:54.:37:56.

Parliament was summoned in the summer in August, for a vote on

:37:57.:37:59.

Syria and the Government lost the vote. In a way it wasn't George

:38:00.:38:04.

Young's fault because he's the Chief Whip, but I'm saying we should

:38:05.:38:09.

remember that at catastrophe befell the Government in the middle of the

:38:10.:38:14.

year. It was very for tuS Tuesday, because if they had been landed with

:38:15.:38:18.

the Syrian war they would be in dead trouble. George Osborne, good year,

:38:19.:38:28.

George Young bad year? Yeah. On the Labour side, which politicians had a

:38:29.:38:32.

good year and which one had a bad year? Ed Miliband has had a good

:38:33.:38:44.

year. His brother has gone off to America. That is a good year. Ed

:38:45.:38:47.

Balls has not had a good year, but he's one of the most effective

:38:48.:38:52.

members of the Cabinet. The Mac economics are going George Osborne's

:38:53.:38:59.

way though. And that has put him in a bad way. Mr Balls bad and Mr

:39:00.:39:05.

Miliband good? Yes, at this point. Among the Liberal Democrats? I think

:39:06.:39:09.

it's been an upward turn year for Dan Lex Lex, because when things --

:39:10.:39:13.

Danny Alexander, because when things were going bad he was the whipping

:39:14.:39:18.

boy for the party for make too many concessions to the Tories. As the

:39:19.:39:22.

economy starts to come good, he is the person who has indicated that

:39:23.:39:28.

the role he's played has been... Any other people? Probably not.

:39:29.:39:38.

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

:39:39.:39:43.

anyone has had a worse year than Chris Huhne. That was an easy one.

:39:44.:39:47.

Not difficult. Have you got enough people to have a good and bad year?

:39:48.:39:51.

I think I've had a fairly good year. I have to say that. I shall be very

:39:52.:39:59.

happy if next year is as good. Godfrey? He's great fun and a friend

:40:00.:40:05.

of mine, but we got to a point where it was impossible. You've had the

:40:06.:40:09.

good and the bad. That's your lot for tonight folks, until the new

:40:10.:40:13.

year. But not for us, because it's Mission Accomplished Night at Lou

:40:14.:40:16.

Lou's and now that David Cameron and footballer, Michael Owen, have

:40:17.:40:18.

declared final victory in Afghanistan, we're off to celebrate

:40:19.:40:21.

with a Kabul Cocktail or three - apparently they're explosive, but we

:40:22.:40:24.

leave you tonight with further disturbing evidence that there

:40:25.:40:27.

really are people out there who think watching this programme is a

:40:28.:40:30.

sensible use of their time and beer money. Genteel viewers of a nervous

:40:31.:40:37.

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

:40:38.:40:38.

the Twelfie Night of Christmas bite. # There's a new beginning

:40:39.:41:04.

# Dreams of Santa # Dreams of snow

:41:05.:41:11.

# Fingers numb, faces aglow # It's Christmas time

:41:12.:41:17.

# Mistletoe and wine # Children singing singing Christian

:41:18.:41:22.

rhymes # With logs on the fire and gifts on

:41:23.:41:27.

the tree # Time to rejoice in the good that

:41:28.:41:33.

we see... #

:41:34.:41:42.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS