13/02/2014 This Week


13/02/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 13/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Tonight, join This Week for the Westminster Blame Game.

:00:00.:00:08.

Our Contestants, Prime Minister, David Cameron, Environment Agency

:00:09.:00:12.

Chairman, Chris Smith, and other leading Westminster politicians, all

:00:13.:00:19.

wearing wellies. Didn't they do well? Or did they? Magician Paul

:00:20.:00:23.

Daniels and his very lovely assistant, wife Debbie McGee, think

:00:24.:00:26.

it will take more than a pair of waders and a magic wand to fix the

:00:27.:00:34.

flood damage. Flubbed, flood, flood. Whose idea was it to live by

:00:35.:00:43.

the river? Are you blaming me? I blame you. I blame you. I blame you.

:00:44.:00:48.

Chancellor George Osborne plays the Yes or No game in Scotland. If

:00:49.:00:53.

George wins, he says Scotland can't have the pound. BBC Five Live

:00:54.:00:56.

Presenter Victoria Derbyshire looks at the scores on the doors. If Alex

:00:57.:01:06.

plays his cards right he gets an independent Scotland, but will he

:01:07.:01:11.

get tonight's big-money prize. And playing the technology game -

:01:12.:01:14.

Hollywood actor Matthew Modine. Will we all be winners in the future?

:01:15.:01:25.

Hey, Britain. Mice to see you, to see you nice.

:01:26.:01:37.

Evenin' all. Welcome to This Week, a week in which it was back to the

:01:38.:01:43.

future, after the Prime Minister told us "Money is no object". Yes,

:01:44.:01:46.

all it took was rising damp for floating voters in the Home Counties

:01:47.:01:50.

for old Auntie Austerity to be dumped overboard in favour of a

:01:51.:01:53.

return to the Loadsamoney Eighties. But what, we asked, did he mean by

:01:54.:01:57.

"Money is no object"? "Money is no object", he helpfully explained, as

:01:58.:02:01.

the Treasury taps opened and unlimited dosh gurgled forth. But

:02:02.:02:10.

where's it all coming from? I can reveal tonight that the famous note

:02:11.:02:14.

left behind in 2010 by an outgoing Labour Treasury minister saying

:02:15.:02:17.

there's no money left was a cunning diversion. Sources tell me, or maybe

:02:18.:02:21.

it was on Sky News, that Labour had secretly stuffed the back of the

:02:22.:02:24.

Treasury sofa with overflowing funds for a rainy day, and that

:02:25.:02:27.

Call-Me-Dave had accidentally stumbled across this hidden treasure

:02:28.:02:30.

when he was doing a bit of housework to pass the time, waiting for his

:02:31.:02:34.

new bespoke King Canute outfit to be finished. So now he's all Aqua Man,

:02:35.:02:37.

flush with watermarked cash, and busy pointing at flood water

:02:38.:02:41.

everywhere. And what will he do for an encore? Sources tell me it's a

:02:42.:02:45.

toss up between announcing the first hosepipe ban of spring and banning

:02:46.:02:48.

smoking in dinghies carrying children. Speaking of those who turn

:02:49.:02:53.

up late and try to take all the credit, I'm joined on the sofa

:02:54.:02:56.

tonight by two ancient antiquities we refuse to send home. Think of

:02:57.:03:00.

them as the Elgin Marbles and Lost His Marbles of late night political

:03:01.:03:06.

chat. I speak, of course, of #manontheleft Alan "AJ" Johnson, and

:03:07.:03:14.

#sadmanonatrain Michael Portillo. Good evening to you both. Michael,

:03:15.:03:20.

your moment of the week. President Obama was asked which was his

:03:21.:03:26.

favourite ally, France or Britain. He said he had two daughters and he

:03:27.:03:30.

could not choose between them and could not choose between these

:03:31.:03:34.

allies. I reflected that these were the French, who were described in

:03:35.:03:37.

this Sons as the cheese eating surrender monkeys, who would not

:03:38.:03:45.

back the United States in Iraq. He could not choose between France,

:03:46.:03:49.

which admittedly has lost 86 soldiers in Afghanistan, and Britain

:03:50.:03:53.

which has lost 450. I think it is a poor deal that he cannot choose

:03:54.:03:57.

between an ally which has been loyal to the United States. I think the

:03:58.:04:01.

United States is being ungracious, ungrateful and confused about the

:04:02.:04:04.

situation in Europe, and it makes you wonder what this sucking up to

:04:05.:04:09.

the night of state has been about. You get the feeling the relationship

:04:10.:04:13.

between Washington and London is getting less and less important. I

:04:14.:04:18.

think because we did not have enough troops to do two operations

:04:19.:04:21.

simultaneously, the fact that we could not hold Basra or Helmand has

:04:22.:04:25.

led the Americans to think we are an unreliable ally, not literally, but

:04:26.:04:31.

militarily. Monday's abject performance at the dispatch box by

:04:32.:04:36.

Eric Pickles. The problem with Eric Pickles is that he has convinced

:04:37.:04:40.

himself he is a national treasure. His job, taking over from Owen

:04:41.:04:44.

Paterson, was just to keep the ship steady. Instead of that, he had this

:04:45.:04:49.

incredible music hall act. On Sunday, he tried to shift the blame

:04:50.:04:54.

and pass the buck. On Monday he was called to Parliament and with this

:04:55.:04:58.

kind of ironic self-awareness tried to do a music hall act. And the tone

:04:59.:05:03.

was wrong. When you get the tone wrong, you can't recover. He ended

:05:04.:05:07.

up by saying about the Environment Agency, might admiration for the

:05:08.:05:13.

Environment Agency exceeds no one. I looked at Hansard. He probably

:05:14.:05:19.

meant, it is exceeded by no one. No wonder one of the flood experts said

:05:20.:05:23.

he would be more use as a sandbag. I think the Prime Minister thinks

:05:24.:05:29.

that. I think I'm going to move on! Now, it's been, ooh, several weeks

:05:30.:05:32.

since we received any of your poorly composed TWelfies. So with February

:05:33.:05:36.

14th upon us and romance in the air and studio, it's surely time for a

:05:37.:05:42.

special ValenTWelfie night. See what we did there? It is wasted on you!

:05:43.:05:53.

So tweet us your photo at #TWelfie. We want a soppy display of public

:05:54.:05:55.

affection, with proof you're watching This Week in the

:05:56.:05:58.

background. Extra points for any Blue Nun in shot as usual. If we get

:05:59.:06:03.

enough, or any, we'll put them in our end credits. Remember, keep it

:06:04.:06:06.

clean folks. And if you can't be clean, be careful.

:06:07.:06:11.

Now, when waters first lapped around politicians' feet last month, a

:06:12.:06:13.

previously unknown UKIP councillor from Henley-under-Thames, David

:06:14.:06:15.

Silvester, broke ranks with the wider scientific community and

:06:16.:06:18.

blamed the heavy floods and violent storms on gay men. With even more of

:06:19.:06:28.

the country underwater and the Tories increasingly under pressure

:06:29.:06:31.

to outflank UKIP, the government now thinks Councillor Silvester was onto

:06:32.:06:34.

something and decided it was the fault of a gay man all along, and

:06:35.:06:37.

been busy trying to hang Environment Agency Chairman, Chris Smith, out to

:06:38.:06:45.

dry ever since. We decided it wasn't that straightforward and turned to

:06:46.:06:48.

river man and magician Paul Daniels and his lovely wife, Debbie McGee,

:06:49.:06:49.

for their take of the week. Hello, cuddly. Floods are not caused

:06:50.:07:27.

by rain. They are not. Floods in river areas are caused by a total

:07:28.:07:33.

lack of preparation. I just it you there is nobody in the Environment

:07:34.:07:37.

Agency has even got a boat. And when these politicians sit there and they

:07:38.:07:44.

are urban, they have not got a clue about this environment at all. I

:07:45.:07:51.

said you should trade chum and the Environment Agency representatives

:07:52.:07:54.

said, that would disturb the Environment Agency of the fish. What

:07:55.:07:58.

about the wildlife that is me? I mean, I am wild. He definitely is.

:07:59.:08:04.

To me, it is a nonsense. I wrote to Theresa May and I said,

:08:05.:08:21.

go into the kitchen, fill a bowl with water, put it in the Job, then

:08:22.:08:28.

fill the bowl half up with mud and try putting the same water back in.

:08:29.:08:34.

It is so mathematically logical that how anybody can say that dredging

:08:35.:08:40.

does not work, I don't believe it. I also believe they shouldn't allow

:08:41.:08:44.

building on the flood plain, unless they are built up high and out of

:08:45.:08:49.

it. It is just a simple truth. You build on a flood plain, the water

:08:50.:08:53.

has to go somewhere else, and look where it has gone.

:08:54.:09:08.

The best example about whether the Environment Agency are on top of

:09:09.:09:14.

this is that we got a phone call to say our house might be at risk from

:09:15.:09:19.

flooding. Four days before that, the water was up over the top of my

:09:20.:09:24.

waders. They were a bit late. So I don't think they know what they are

:09:25.:09:28.

doing and I don't think they are on top of the situation whatsoever.

:09:29.:09:34.

Well said. Come on, my lovely. At least I have taken you for a

:09:35.:09:38.

romantic stroll, not by the river, but in the river. A piggyback. What,

:09:39.:09:54.

will I give you one? Yes, please. From the wildlife of

:09:55.:09:57.

Henley-on-Thames to the wildlife of Westminster, welcome to you both.

:09:58.:10:03.

Paul, let me come to you first. Could anything have really been done

:10:04.:10:07.

to have stopped the widespread flooding? Yes, I believe it could.

:10:08.:10:12.

It is inevitable that we will get excesses of rain. Whether it is

:10:13.:10:16.

caused by global warming or whatever, you are going to get, and

:10:17.:10:19.

sometime in the history of this, excessive rain. I thought the job of

:10:20.:10:25.

the Environment Agency was to plan for that influx, and if you get it,

:10:26.:10:32.

where are we going to put it, where are we going to store it, to keep

:10:33.:10:36.

it? In 2003, there were meetings after the flood and I suggested to

:10:37.:10:44.

the chap holding their seminar that if you lower the level of the

:10:45.:10:48.

river, that is a good place for water. I was told it would upset the

:10:49.:10:54.

environment of the fish. Our hedges were full of dead fish at the time.

:10:55.:10:59.

And then I said, if you lower the level of the river at the end of

:11:00.:11:03.

September, when people stop using it for leisure, the fields would train

:11:04.:11:09.

into it chewing October-November. And everything would be ready for

:11:10.:11:14.

the rain. -- juror in October- November. Dredging is not the one

:11:15.:11:18.

solution, but it would have made a hell of a difference. People in the

:11:19.:11:23.

Somerset Levels said they had wanted dredging but it did not happen and

:11:24.:11:26.

now people in the Thames Valley are saying that the Thames has not been

:11:27.:11:30.

dredged enough. We know it is not the only solution, but is it a major

:11:31.:11:34.

fault of the Environment Agency that they seem to not want to do

:11:35.:11:40.

dredging? Yes, absolutely. If you look at the history of the River

:11:41.:11:44.

Thames particularly, when they were dredging, it did not flood as much.

:11:45.:11:49.

It will still flood a bit, but not as excessive as this time. How do

:11:50.:11:53.

you think the Environment Agency has performed? Very badly, considering

:11:54.:11:59.

how many they have working for them. 11,000. You have to wonder what they

:12:00.:12:07.

are doing. Two of them turned up at our house when I was putting a

:12:08.:12:10.

concrete pad in the garden to rest the cars on. They had just come from

:12:11.:12:13.

a straight year couple of months before and apply for a job because

:12:14.:12:17.

they saw it in the paper and were given it. I said, what do you know

:12:18.:12:21.

about the flow rate of the River Thames? I think that is another

:12:22.:12:25.

problem with the Environment Agency. It is all bundled together. You have

:12:26.:12:29.

sea defences, which is a completely different problem. Northern Rivers,

:12:30.:12:34.

Sutherlin refers, they are different. -- southern rivers. The

:12:35.:12:44.

people we meet from the Environment Agency are in offices in London and

:12:45.:12:48.

do not live or work on the river. There is a real division of opinion

:12:49.:12:52.

between a lot of the academic experts, we spoke to some on the

:12:53.:12:56.

Daily Politics this week, and people working for the quangos in London,

:12:57.:13:01.

who are quite sniffy about drainage. They tend to dismiss it as being

:13:02.:13:05.

almost irrelevant. And the drainage boards on the ground, the farmers

:13:06.:13:09.

and the people living on the ground who really think that drainage would

:13:10.:13:12.

at least make it better. It would not flood as badly as much. Well,

:13:13.:13:19.

you would not turn to me for expertise on this. Firstly, it seems

:13:20.:13:23.

that Paul has made an obvious point, that if there is more room in the

:13:24.:13:27.

river because you have taken silt out of the bottom, more water will

:13:28.:13:31.

fit in the river. Secondly, I think the Environment Agency, like a

:13:32.:13:36.

number of other public authorities, gets obsessed with a particular

:13:37.:13:40.

agenda which drives its policy in a particular direction over the long

:13:41.:13:44.

period of time. Again, Paul put his finger on it when he made reference

:13:45.:13:48.

to disturbing the fish. The balance in the Environment Agency seems to

:13:49.:13:52.

have been distorted. It is this brown bread and sandals idea, that

:13:53.:13:55.

the most important thing in the world, by far, is all wildlife. The

:13:56.:14:00.

survival of every fish, not just some fish. And all other

:14:01.:14:05.

considerations come second. That is a kind of ideology that needs to be

:14:06.:14:11.

wound back. None of us are experts but Hull was heavily flooded in

:14:12.:14:16.

2007. It was not the rivers which overflowed. It was a deluge of

:14:17.:14:22.

water. And I think we have had an exceptional deluge of water now. The

:14:23.:14:26.

Environment Agency did a lot at that time to stop it happening again.

:14:27.:14:30.

There were arguments similar to these, about whether we should be

:14:31.:14:34.

dredging the rivers. And it is very clear that bridging makes a

:14:35.:14:39.

contribution. And it might not have stopped the flooding but it would

:14:40.:14:43.

not have been as bad as it was. -- it is clear that dredging makes a

:14:44.:14:47.

difference. There was the argument when the farmers wrote to the Prime

:14:48.:14:49.

Minister last year on the Somerset Levels and said they needed to be

:14:50.:15:01.

dredging. His third reply to dredging was that. He began by

:15:02.:15:04.

saying it was marginal. Then he said, well, we could do it but it is

:15:05.:15:10.

not a magic bullet, which there is no such thing as a magic bullet. And

:15:11.:15:15.

the third time he came out he said, the Treasury would not let us do it.

:15:16.:15:23.

When you look at the documents, the directives from the Environment

:15:24.:15:25.

Agency, particularly in the Somerset Levels, it was the policy not to be

:15:26.:15:33.

dredging. Indeed, it was a policy of returning a lot of that area to

:15:34.:15:37.

wildlife. The predecessor, Baroness Young, another Labour peer, she

:15:38.:15:42.

said, if you want habitat, just add water. That was the policy. When I'm

:15:43.:15:50.

designing my business, I look at every trick and I think where can

:15:51.:15:55.

this go wrong? That is my prime problem in my head. Where can this

:15:56.:16:00.

go wrong? What do I do about it when it goes wrong? These people have sat

:16:01.:16:04.

there year in, year out, knowing this problem is coming. At some

:16:05.:16:10.

stage it would rain a lot? Of course it will. It will bucket down at some

:16:11.:16:13.

stage. Where are we going to store it? They have done nothing about it.

:16:14.:16:17.

What is it like living with this problem at the moment? It is not

:16:18.:16:21.

good. We are very lucky. We are not in the situation that I have seen a

:16:22.:16:24.

lot of people on television are. We were in that situation ten years

:16:25.:16:29.

ago, so we put precautions in place, so for us, it's just getting, in the

:16:30.:16:34.

last few days, it is access to the house because now it is so high

:16:35.:16:38.

outside it is not inside, so we are cosy indoors. But getting to it is

:16:39.:16:42.

dangerous. So most of our neighbours have moved out and gone to live with

:16:43.:16:48.

family. A lot of empty homes at the moment? If they had dredged, a lot

:16:49.:16:53.

of people who are in a much worst position than us because their homes

:16:54.:16:57.

are so badly damaged, wouldn't have been flooded and, in our case, there

:16:58.:17:01.

would be a bit of water over the garden and it wouldn't be a problem.

:17:02.:17:04.

We need to leave it there. We hope you and your neighbours get a return

:17:05.:17:10.

to normality soon. Do drop in for tea. Not tomorrow! It is never

:17:11.:17:18.

normal in our lane, though! We were hoping for something stronger than

:17:19.:17:23.

tea! Thank you. He is from Scotland, love! It never rains in Scotland, of

:17:24.:17:31.

course(!) Now, remember, only limited time

:17:32.:17:34.

left, so keep sending us your ValenTWelfies. And in the meantime,

:17:35.:17:38.

here's some forward guidance policy you can actually trust. Because

:17:39.:17:41.

waiting in the wings, Hollywood actor Mathew Modine will soon be

:17:42.:17:44.

here to talk about apps, technology, and terrifying robot armies of the

:17:45.:17:51.

future! And speaking of dystopian worlds where all hope has long gone

:17:52.:17:55.

- don't forget to bother us on The Twitter, The Fleecebook and The

:17:56.:17:59.

Skynet. Now, we're just a few minutes away

:18:00.:18:03.

from the midnight hour and for those of you who haven't twigged it yet,

:18:04.:18:14.

it's Valentine's Day! Ahhhh! Enough of that! Don't do that! I have to do

:18:15.:18:22.

my own sound effects! But the past few days have seen little love lost

:18:23.:18:26.

between our politicians. So for her roundup of the week, we asked our

:18:27.:18:30.

very own agony aunt, Radio 5 Live's Victoria Derbyshire, to host a

:18:31.:18:32.

special Westminster lonely hearts show. Come on you two, snuggle up.

:18:33.:18:44.

Yes, it is almost Valentine's Day and we want to hear from all you

:18:45.:18:49.

lonely hearts out there. Our politicians have also soft,

:18:50.:18:53.

sensitive souls who want to be loved, by you that is, even if they

:18:54.:18:58.

have little love for each other. We have Eric from Brentwood... What

:18:59.:19:05.

would you like to say? Well, hello. It's Uncle Eric. I have run into a

:19:06.:19:10.

spot of bother. I have ended up offending everybody. I mean,

:19:11.:19:13.

sometimes I feel a bit misunderstood, you know what I mean?

:19:14.:19:18.

I'm a bluff Old York shireman who wants to be loved. This week,

:19:19.:19:23.

Downing Street stand-in emergency floods Minister Eric Pickles caused

:19:24.:19:26.

a few waves himself when he hit out at the Environment Agency for their

:19:27.:19:30.

failure to dredge and then had to back pedal the next day. We perhaps

:19:31.:19:37.

have relied too much on the Environment Agency's advice. We

:19:38.:19:42.

recognise now that we should have done, we should have dredged. It is

:19:43.:19:46.

entirely wrong for the honourable lady to suggest for one moment that

:19:47.:19:52.

I have issued even the slightest criticism of the marvellous

:19:53.:19:57.

workforce of the Environment Agency. And that really broke the heart of

:19:58.:20:02.

Chris from Islington. I have been inundated with messages of support

:20:03.:20:05.

from our staff up-and-down the country who have said thank you for

:20:06.:20:09.

standing up for us because that's what a chairman has to do. Many

:20:10.:20:14.

Conservative MPs might agree with the bluff, Mr Pickles. One allegedly

:20:15.:20:18.

said about Lord Smith: I would like to stick his head down the loo and

:20:19.:20:22.

flush. But the blame game did not go down well with many of my listeners,

:20:23.:20:27.

some of whom were flood victims. They thought the politicians should

:20:28.:20:31.

be doing something to help them, listening to them instead of blaming

:20:32.:20:35.

each other. Mind you, they probably didn't think so many politicians

:20:36.:20:45.

would end up on their doorstep. Our next caller is Dave from Chipping

:20:46.:20:50.

Norton. I gather you have commitment issues? Yes, here, I'm so committed,

:20:51.:20:55.

I'm 100% committed, I'm so committed, it is so not true, money

:20:56.:21:00.

is no object, I will do whatever it takes. Nigel, you are live on the

:21:01.:21:07.

air? I get the feeling I'm looking for love in all the wrong places.

:21:08.:21:16.

That is what the polls are saying. Hi, Boris? This is a message for my

:21:17.:21:26.

bronze nemesis from Woodford Green, Bob. I'm sorry I called you a

:21:27.:21:32.

swaggering fat-necked oath. Will you be my Valentine? The floods haven't

:21:33.:21:38.

just been a human disaster, but a financial one. It could cost

:21:39.:21:43.

insurers up to ?1 billion and we all know who will end up paying for

:21:44.:21:46.

that. Could it have an effect on the growing economy? Well, it is too

:21:47.:21:49.

early to say, obviously. Don't splash out on that wallet-busting

:21:50.:21:54.

Valentine's Day treat just yet. The Bank of England's governor says we

:21:55.:21:57.

are not out of the woods and he will have to change the bank's policy

:21:58.:22:01.

again before he will consider putting up interest rates. We have

:22:02.:22:07.

taken stock. We move into a phase where we are still looking to

:22:08.:22:12.

maintain the momentum in the recovery. But where we have to make

:22:13.:22:18.

more judgment. Ed, you are on the radio? I'm also in a car on a date

:22:19.:22:22.

with Ed Balls in the back and it is not good enough. That is what I say,

:22:23.:22:25.

Britain can do better dates than this. I want to go home. Charles is

:22:26.:22:32.

in Highgrove? Hello, this is kind of you to put me on. I have been

:22:33.:22:36.

touring the studios very much this week and I am really feeling the

:22:37.:22:41.

love and I'm sorry not to have seen you there, I brought you a nice

:22:42.:22:45.

Valentine box of my posh biscuits, yeah. Hi, Alex, I know you have

:22:46.:22:50.

something to say about this? Hello, I have been listening, you are doing

:22:51.:22:55.

a smashing job. After nearly 300 years, I want to end my

:22:56.:23:01.

relationship, but my partner is being unreasonable. If I leave her,

:23:02.:23:07.

she will take me to the cleaners! Today's review said a currency union

:23:08.:23:10.

could work but that both countries would have to agree to subsidise

:23:11.:23:16.

each other's taxpayers, agree on spending. A bit like now, really.

:23:17.:23:21.

It's brought together the most unlikely romantic partners. I could

:23:22.:23:25.

not, as Chancellor, recommend that we could share the pound with an

:23:26.:23:29.

independent Scotland. Scotland cannot keep the pound and the Bank

:23:30.:23:32.

of England if it chooses independence. It is clear to me that

:23:33.:23:37.

a currency union wouldn't work for Scotland if it was independent, it

:23:38.:23:40.

wouldn't work for the rest of the UK. All three main Westminster

:23:41.:23:44.

parties have told Scotland if they vote for independence, they will

:23:45.:23:47.

lose the pound. Alex, are you still there? They may take our lives, but

:23:48.:23:52.

they'll never take our currency! We are in a campaign. It is in the

:23:53.:23:57.

interests of George Osborne, Ed Balls and Danny Alexander to talk up

:23:58.:24:07.

the uncertainty. Still, who would have thought they would be sharing a

:24:08.:24:12.

valuen Tain's day. We have one more caller tonight, Michael from Spain?

:24:13.:24:16.

I have been very much enjoying the programme tonight and as you will

:24:17.:24:19.

see when we cut to the studio, my blouse is particularly fantastic

:24:20.:24:24.

tonight and my point therefore is, Victoria, will you will be my value

:24:25.:24:29.

inTyne? I have already got a date tonight. I'm sorry.

:24:30.:24:36.

Victoria Derbyshire and of course Jon Culshaw as her lonely heart

:24:37.:24:45.

listeners. Michael, is it a sign of the panic that the Prime Minister

:24:46.:24:52.

says money is no object? Yes. The Government has been behind the curve

:24:53.:24:58.

all the way through. The common testimony of all the people affected

:24:59.:25:01.

by the floods is that relief and advice and everything else has come

:25:02.:25:05.

to them too late. By the way, this still continues to be the case. Even

:25:06.:25:09.

though the soldiers have been seen in some places, each new place tells

:25:10.:25:14.

the same stor that they feel they are on their own for the first 24

:25:15.:25:19.

hours. Yes, obviously, he is saying money is no object. That is a

:25:20.:25:23.

desperate thing to say. It cannot really be true. These are the

:25:24.:25:28.

floods, they are in the Tory heartlands? They are. They are not

:25:29.:25:34.

in the North of England? That's true. It's an horrendous problem to

:25:35.:25:39.

be dealing with. We had foot-and-mouth. Everyone has

:25:40.:25:43.

sympathy for politicians caught by these disasters. Michael is right.

:25:44.:25:47.

It is a bit like the way they stack their front bench with women this

:25:48.:25:51.

week. It was too late because the image was there last week. It is the

:25:52.:25:56.

same thing with the floods. The initial inertia is going to cost

:25:57.:26:00.

them. There is not a sign yet - this is obviously not Britain's Leeds,

:26:01.:26:08.

but very tough by the people who have been hurt by it. When these

:26:09.:26:13.

things happen and ordinary folk are being seriously inconvenienced,

:26:14.:26:17.

politicians have to be seen to give a lead, don't they? They do. I don't

:26:18.:26:23.

think that anyone, even the worst affected would blame the Government

:26:24.:26:26.

for the rain and the unusual weather conditions. There are certainly a

:26:27.:26:29.

category of events which put, they know that politicians can't control,

:26:30.:26:34.

but it is then how you cope with the uncontrollable events and it is this

:26:35.:26:38.

issue of grip. Government has to be seen to have a grip when there is a

:26:39.:26:43.

crisis and it's a number one requirement, really, of whoever is

:26:44.:26:46.

in charge of you at the time, that they can cope with an unexpected

:26:47.:26:50.

event and mitigate the problems for people, so for everyone involved in

:26:51.:26:54.

the Government, David Cameron strode to the front of the team this week,

:26:55.:26:59.

didn't he, and took over? Obviously, therefore... COBRA seems to meet in

:27:00.:27:07.

permanent sessions? Exactly. He is taking a big personal risk with his

:27:08.:27:11.

political capital. If it goes badly, it reflects on the whole Government.

:27:12.:27:16.

At the moment, I don't get the sense that this is a political hole below

:27:17.:27:21.

the waterline for the Government, do you? No. I said last week, when the

:27:22.:27:26.

waters recede, the problem will recede. It hasn't gone at all well.

:27:27.:27:30.

Indeed, in one way, I think it raises an interesting argument for

:27:31.:27:34.

the Conservatives because many Conservatives really take the view

:27:35.:27:38.

that it is an arrogance to believe that by controlling the way we

:27:39.:27:42.

consume energy, we can change the climate or change the climate back,

:27:43.:27:46.

which ever one it is. Actually, what we ought to be concentrating on is

:27:47.:27:50.

how we devote resources to coping with the consequences of what the

:27:51.:27:56.

climate is going to do to us. Actually, that is now what a lot of

:27:57.:27:59.

people on the ground are saying. We don't want wind turbines, we don't

:28:00.:28:03.

want to pay higher energy bills, we want a lot of money spent on

:28:04.:28:08.

preventing the worst consequences of flooding. It is difficult in these

:28:09.:28:11.

circumstances, particularly given it's in the Tory heartlands, what

:28:12.:28:15.

does the leader op the opposition do? He was ridiculed for walking

:28:16.:28:21.

around in his wellies in a marginal, one of the few marginal seats in

:28:22.:28:24.

that part of the world. On the other hand, if he hadn't gone, he would

:28:25.:28:29.

have been ridiculed? He had to go. He had to, which I think he did

:28:30.:28:33.

quite well at Prime Minister's Questions this week, he tried to

:28:34.:28:36.

make this look - he asked questions, they were proper questions this

:28:37.:28:39.

week. Get this idea that we have all got a political consensus about

:28:40.:28:43.

sorting this out. Eric Pickles damaged that. The Prime Minister

:28:44.:28:46.

tried to get a grip on it. I would agree with Michael about them not

:28:47.:28:55.

being holed below the waterline. People are having to pay local

:28:56.:29:00.

authorities for sandbags. Yes. That phrase, "Whatever happens in the

:29:01.:29:05.

future" - it would have been better to say, "There is not a blank cheque

:29:06.:29:09.

here, the governments can't magic Monday neat, but we will do

:29:10.:29:12.

everything we can." Instead of that, it looked more like a PR exercise

:29:13.:29:17.

than a properly thought out policy. PR from the Prime Minister(?) How

:29:18.:29:24.

did that happen. Shocking allegation. Who will be the fall

:29:25.:29:29.

guy, Mr Pickles, Mr Paterson, Chris Smith, all of the above, the Agency?

:29:30.:29:35.

I think Chris Smith is very badly damaged. He oo is leaving the

:29:36.:29:48.

Agency. He leaves in June. I don't know why Chris Smith hasn't pulled

:29:49.:29:51.

out the director-general of the agency. He is the chairman, in

:29:52.:29:53.

charge of governance and appointing members of the board and that kind

:29:54.:29:57.

of thing, so why exactly he has allowed himself to be the fall guy.

:29:58.:30:01.

I think the Environment Agency is probably a fall guy as well. I would

:30:02.:30:10.

not be surprised if it is removed. One of the things which has gone

:30:11.:30:15.

below the radar for most people was the governor of the Bank of

:30:16.:30:20.

England's press conference. He is now predicting growth of 3.4% this

:30:21.:30:27.

year. It is phenomenal, isn't it. I also thought, the interpretation of

:30:28.:30:34.

some of the papers was that it is great news for mortgage holders

:30:35.:30:38.

because interest rates are not going up. Actually, they are going up and

:30:39.:30:42.

the point at which they will is becoming visible. It will probably

:30:43.:30:45.

be just the other side of the general election. And I just

:30:46.:30:55.

wonder, there are still quite a lot of people whose level of personal

:30:56.:30:59.

debt is so critical that an increase of a percentage point or two,

:31:00.:31:02.

because they are talking about 3% in the medium term, could be very

:31:03.:31:07.

serious. The governor also said the recovery was neither balanced more

:31:08.:31:12.

sustainable, and that is clear because it is driven by consumption

:31:13.:31:15.

spending and rising house prices. That might matter for the economy,

:31:16.:31:18.

but it may not matter for the political cycle. Not being balanced

:31:19.:31:23.

or sustainable may still get the recovery through to election day.

:31:24.:31:27.

Yes, and people will not analyse what the recovery is about. I think

:31:28.:31:37.

his problem is - who was it who said an economist is like a man who knows

:31:38.:31:41.

100 sexual positions but has never met a woman? I think it was Jeffrey

:31:42.:31:52.

Howell. Disaster 9pm. Six months ago he set a medium-term policy. Six

:31:53.:31:59.

months later it has all changed. Nevertheless, in terms of how the

:32:00.:32:06.

economics plays into politics, to be able to be pretty sure that interest

:32:07.:32:09.

rates are not going to rise this side of the election, that

:32:10.:32:13.

unemployment, on the Bank of England's projections, is going to

:32:14.:32:18.

be 6% or lower by the election, and the economy is going to go over 3%,

:32:19.:32:23.

that has an impact. It is extremely good news for the government,

:32:24.:32:28.

really. But still, behind the success in the data and Mark

:32:29.:32:31.

Carney's remarks this week, there is this fear in the government, and

:32:32.:32:36.

both parties in the government fear this the Norman, what they call a

:32:37.:32:41.

recovery without votes. The idea that you do not get the credit for

:32:42.:32:45.

it, or people do not feel it enough. The point about whether a

:32:46.:32:49.

rate rises in the offing is significant. If the anxiety builds

:32:50.:32:52.

and mortgage companies start removing fixed rate deals, builds a

:32:53.:32:59.

sense of anxiety. Now is the time to get onto a fixed rate deal. I have

:33:00.:33:04.

got one, thank you. And we cross now to the Wythenshawe

:33:05.:33:07.

and Sale East by-election where the BBC's Arif Ansari is at the count.

:33:08.:33:11.

This by-election was triggered by the death in January of Labour MP

:33:12.:33:20.

Paul Goggins. There has never been any doubt that Labour would hold

:33:21.:33:23.

onto the seat, probably very comfortably. We are interested in

:33:24.:33:30.

who has come second. Do we think UKIP has come second, and is it a

:33:31.:33:38.

decent second? That is the key question, Andrew. I think you did

:33:39.:33:42.

make the right decision not to come here and retire to Annabel's

:33:43.:33:46.

instead. It has not been the most exciting by-election of all time.

:33:47.:33:52.

That is the key question, about UKIP. The indication I am getting is

:33:53.:33:57.

that UKIP has probably come second. But as you point out, that is not

:33:58.:34:01.

enough in itself. There have been a number of by-elections in which UKIP

:34:02.:34:08.

have already come second, and four out of five of those were in the

:34:09.:34:11.

North of England, so it is not unprecedented for them to come

:34:12.:34:14.

second. The question is how well they have done. If they come second,

:34:15.:34:19.

how far behind Labour are they, and how far in front of the Tories? The

:34:20.:34:24.

hint that I'm getting here is that it is probably pretty close, not a

:34:25.:34:30.

convincing second for UKIP. Thank you very much for marking our card.

:34:31.:34:35.

If it is not a convincing second, it is much ado about nothing. The

:34:36.:34:39.

difference -- be in difference behind him was almost palpable!

:34:40.:34:50.

Let's come on to Scotland. This remarkable array of a Tory

:34:51.:34:54.

Chancellor, Labour Shadow Chancellor, Lib Dem Chief Secretary

:34:55.:34:58.

to the Treasury all saying bluntly to the Scottish Nationalists, you

:34:59.:35:03.

leave the UK, you leave behind the pound, you ain't taking it with you.

:35:04.:35:09.

There is a strong economic and monetary argument for saying that.

:35:10.:35:14.

We think an SNP government of an independent Scotland would try to

:35:15.:35:21.

pursue fiscal policies of which the UK Government would not approve.

:35:22.:35:26.

There is no way the UK Government wants to bail out Scotland in that

:35:27.:35:30.

situation, and if Scotland wants independence, maybe it should take

:35:31.:35:36.

full independence. Whether it is the right political decision, maybe your

:35:37.:35:39.

opinion is more interesting than mine. It is clear that in the short

:35:40.:35:45.

term Alex Salmond can argue that the parties are ganging up against

:35:46.:35:48.

Scotland and this is bullying and intimidation. They say that, but the

:35:49.:35:53.

thing I have never understood is that it is the purpose of the

:35:54.:35:56.

Scottish Nationalists to break up the British state. So why are they

:35:57.:36:03.

so angry, or surprised, when the British state fights back?

:36:04.:36:11.

Absolutely. Fighting talk. Also, I would think the people who would be

:36:12.:36:14.

angry about this and think it is bullying would be the people who

:36:15.:36:18.

were going to vote yes anyway. At some stage, this is a big, meaty,

:36:19.:36:23.

chunky political issue, and at some stage it was going to have to be out

:36:24.:36:28.

there. I think this is probably the right time. We have run out of time.

:36:29.:36:36.

We have you frozen like that. Only another seven months to go. Plenty

:36:37.:36:38.

of time before the vote. Now, ex-Immigration Minister, Mark

:36:39.:36:41.

Harper must be happy. Sure, he was forced to resign after his

:36:42.:36:44.

department found that the women employed to iron his shirts for the

:36:45.:36:48.

past seven years and whose wages, inexplicably, were paid by

:36:49.:36:50.

hard-working taxpayers, was, in fact, an illegal whose papers had

:36:51.:36:53.

somehow gone AWOL from Mr Harper's safe-keeping. But he must be happy

:36:54.:37:00.

because as soon as his total inability to follow his own legal

:37:01.:37:04.

advice was revealed, he was roundly patted on the back for doing the

:37:05.:37:07.

decent thing and resigning, which was the very least he could do. If

:37:08.:37:12.

only he'd had a handy "Check the Immigration Status of Your Cleaner"

:37:13.:37:17.

app. Now that's a thought. And that's why we've decided to put

:37:18.:37:20.

technology and the future in this week's Spotlight.

:37:21.:37:35.

Smartphones, laptops and iPads are in almost every home. Is this deluge

:37:36.:37:43.

of devices a good thing, or could technology cause society to mouth

:37:44.:37:49.

function? Actor Matthew Modine thinks it can inform and entertain.

:37:50.:37:56.

With his full metal jacket app, using diary entries, photos and

:37:57.:37:59.

music to recreate his time making the film. But with apps, there are

:38:00.:38:06.

doubts. Ask flappy bird creator, who pulled the game, saying it was

:38:07.:38:09.

dangerously addictive and ruining his simple life. Tristram Hunt is

:38:10.:38:16.

worried, and thinks pupils need lessons in attention to combat

:38:17.:38:20.

social media distractions. With research showing parents unaware of

:38:21.:38:24.

internet dangers, are we doing enough to protect youngsters online?

:38:25.:38:32.

Never mind the drones, what about the robots? Compared to Robocop, our

:38:33.:38:37.

technology might look rusty, but the robots are coming. Should we be

:38:38.:38:44.

afraid? Whether used for entertainment, education or evil,

:38:45.:38:50.

technology is everywhere. Can we harness it, or is the techno tied

:38:51.:38:57.

beyond our control? There has not been so much violence on the

:38:58.:39:00.

programme since Diane Abbott was last here! Matthew, great to see

:39:01.:39:04.

you. You wrote a book about your experience filming full metal

:39:05.:39:09.

jacket. It was filmed in London. In the Docklands. You have released an

:39:10.:39:16.

interactive app. Is this the future, not books but apps? I don't

:39:17.:39:21.

think you can replace books. People want the experience with paper, to

:39:22.:39:26.

fall asleep reading a book on the beach. If you take an app, you fall

:39:27.:39:29.

asleep and it hits you in the face and breaks your nose. And what if

:39:30.:39:35.

there is a solar flare and all of the -- Electronics break. We want

:39:36.:39:39.

books and to be able to go to the library. There is something romantic

:39:40.:39:44.

about a book. But with the app, you can do lots of things and it is more

:39:45.:39:50.

interactive. I was approached by a real genius from Apple. He loved my

:39:51.:39:57.

book and he said, what if we took your book and made it into an app?

:39:58.:40:02.

He said, we would have you record it, create an original score, sound

:40:03.:40:06.

effects, and take all the photographs you took while making

:40:07.:40:12.

the film, notes that Stanley wrote to you, Polaroids he gave you and we

:40:13.:40:16.

will put it in and make it this deeply immersive experience for

:40:17.:40:19.

people to learn more about the making of the film, about Stanley

:40:20.:40:25.

Kubrick. I said, that's a good idea do you think we could create

:40:26.:40:28.

something Stanley Kubrick would be proud of? He said, I think we can.

:40:29.:40:34.

In 2001 a space Odyssey, when the person is flying to the moon, there

:40:35.:40:39.

is a woman carrying something in an app. That was made in 1967-68. Back

:40:40.:40:47.

when app was short for apartment. For younger people, this is the way

:40:48.:40:51.

they will get their information now. They are using them in schools.

:40:52.:40:56.

They do have their application, their uses. I am not frightened of

:40:57.:41:03.

the technology. I think it is something that can be very useful.

:41:04.:41:08.

For instance, people in Africa having the ability to have a

:41:09.:41:11.

cellphone, to communicate with the world, is very important. They say

:41:12.:41:16.

there are children in Israel communicating with kids in

:41:17.:41:19.

Palestine, being able to share ideas and say, I am a kid like you and I

:41:20.:41:24.

don't hate you, and let's get on with it, put this aside. So social

:41:25.:41:30.

media is a useful technology and could be a great way to unite us.

:41:31.:41:35.

Would it not be fair to say that when it comes to technology,

:41:36.:41:38.

politicians are always behind the curve? I certainly am always behind

:41:39.:41:45.

the curve. But I think in another five or 10-year is there will not be

:41:46.:41:49.

a single MP who, like me, is not on Twitter and is not using new

:41:50.:41:52.

technology. I don't use it very much, but I'm a fading example. What

:41:53.:42:02.

is amazing is how a new generation, if you have ever been to Tech city

:42:03.:42:06.

on Old Street in London, it is amazing how many young people. All

:42:07.:42:10.

that Google do is provide a space for youngsters to talk to each

:42:11.:42:14.

other, positions, designers, artists, technicians. They design

:42:15.:42:19.

apps and games and it is a huge part of our economy, 6% of GDP, second

:42:20.:42:26.

only to the states. Will you one day give up the quill pen? I was

:42:27.:42:30.

interested in what you said about books surviving. It seems to me like

:42:31.:42:35.

saying the horse and cart would survive. I can't see why the book

:42:36.:42:39.

will survive. Because they look nice. They are nice to touch now and

:42:40.:42:49.

then. People said radio would die out when TV came. Hollywood is a

:42:50.:42:56.

waste trying to frighten us about technology. We saw Robocop, the

:42:57.:43:01.

terminator, minority report, it is always about technology devouring

:43:02.:43:04.

us. But for most people it makes life better. Hopefully. It is

:43:05.:43:10.

opposed to make life better, to give us more time. But the technology

:43:11.:43:15.

hasn't done that. We spend more time on our cellphones. Walking through

:43:16.:43:19.

the streets of London, everybody has their face down in their apps. I am

:43:20.:43:25.

looking forward to the posters in minority report that recognise you

:43:26.:43:28.

as you go down the street and tell you the products you would like to

:43:29.:43:34.

buy. That is not far away. And cars that drive themselves behind each

:43:35.:43:39.

other. That is not far away either. It is here with us. I did a

:43:40.:43:44.

commercial last night talking about a car that parks itself. I think you

:43:45.:43:49.

will see anatomical changes. People's necks and thumbs will

:43:50.:43:52.

change. Thank you. That's your lot for tonight, folks.

:43:53.:43:56.

But not for us, because with Britain now on emergency flood alert, the

:43:57.:44:00.

army's been deployed to Lou Lou's after someone spilled their drink.

:44:01.:44:03.

And Michael's keen to help out the heroes. But we leave you tonight

:44:04.:44:06.

with proof that whilst romance might not be dead, it's certainly on life

:44:07.:44:11.

support. Nighty night - don't let the Twelfie bite.

:44:12.:44:15.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS