17/03/2016 This Week


17/03/2016

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As we say farewell to the voice of Lady Penelope,

:00:00.:00:21.

Will International Rescue be needed as President Putin surprises many

:00:22.:00:37.

Foreign Affairs expert, Tim Marshall, thinks

:00:38.:00:43.

the Russian President is pulling the strings.

:00:44.:00:45.

If Thunderbird are go, and let's say Nato, and Putin

:00:46.:00:47.

is the Hood, only one of them is ahead of the game.

:00:48.:00:53.

Chancellor George Osborne delivers his eighth Budget.

:00:54.:00:56.

But has the Government's 'Brains' out-smarted himself?

:00:57.:00:59.

The Economist's, Lady Penelope, Anne McElvoy, is our special

:01:00.:01:01.

The Chancellor's been staring into a black hole of lower growth

:01:02.:01:08.

forecasts and missed targets, but can he pull off a rescue mission

:01:09.:01:11.

We'll be talking the politics of paying for sex.

:01:12.:01:27.

Piloting This Week 3, presenter and film-maker,

:01:28.:01:29.

I just hope I make it back to Stacey Island in one piece.

:01:30.:01:38.

Because tonight we bring you a Wild West London desperado

:01:39.:02:04.

who lives outside the confines of polite society

:02:05.:02:06.

and the Charter for Budget Responsibility.

:02:07.:02:09.

Behold, The Outlaw Gideon 'Boy George' Osborne.

:02:10.:02:12.

Leader of the ?56 billion Black Hole-in-the-Wall Gang.

:02:13.:02:18.

As we speak, Most Wanted posters are plastered across Westminster

:02:19.:02:22.

for a menace-to-society, who's broken two of the Government's

:02:23.:02:26.

rules, and the jury's still out 50-50 on the third.

:02:27.:02:32.

Inviting the question - has an arrest warrant been

:02:33.:02:34.

Because what's the point of introducing a legal duty to cap

:02:35.:02:40.

welfare spending and to reduce debt as a share of GDP

:02:41.:02:43.

if, when you break the rules, nobody is held to account,

:02:44.:02:46.

nobody is found guilty and nobody goes to jail?

:02:47.:02:52.

If only there was an honest man, prepared to call for serious legal

:02:53.:02:58.

sanctions against the fiscal bad guys.

:02:59.:03:02.

to see so-called budget 'responsibility' acts as instruments

:03:03.:03:10.

"of the fiscally irresponsible to con the public."

:03:11.:03:12.

And man brave enough to state that "a law introduced by Parliament that

:03:13.:03:14.

contains absolutely no legal sanction whatsoever for those

:03:15.:03:20.

who break it" was "absolutely ridiculous."

:03:21.:03:25.

But he was Shadow Chancellor at the time.

:03:26.:03:39.

Where are my handcuffs, call the cops, he's nicked.

:03:40.:03:49.

I'm joined on the sofa tonight by two of the sweetest

:03:50.:03:53.

Think of them as the Sugar Tax and the Sugar Daddy of late-night

:03:54.:03:57.

I speak, of course, of #manontheleft Alan 'AJ' Johnson

:03:58.:04:05.

and #sadmanonatrain Michael 'choo choo' Portillo.

:04:06.:04:08.

Your thought of the week? If David Cameron survives the referendum if

:04:09.:04:22.

he announces another runway, Boris is now the favourite to succeed. If

:04:23.:04:26.

Boris said, I will not do that, the thing is dead in the water. No-one

:04:27.:04:29.

will invest in an airport that the next Prime Minister is going to

:04:30.:04:33.

scrap. Don't you think Mr Cameron might want to do it as a revenge

:04:34.:04:38.

against Boris? I am - that is a possibility. I'm beginning to think

:04:39.:04:43.

that the greater likelihood is they will have to announce Gatwick. That

:04:44.:04:46.

is something Boris wouldn't feel obliged to scrap. My point is that,

:04:47.:04:50.

just as happened to Tony Blair, as happens to all Prime Ministers who

:04:51.:04:53.

announce they are going to go, there is a massive loss of power. It's

:04:54.:04:58.

like the air going out of a balloon. After the referendum, if he

:04:59.:05:01.

survives, every decision that Cameron makes people will say - I

:05:02.:05:05.

wonder what Boris thinks about that. Interesting. Alan. Is I will help

:05:06.:05:11.

him survive. Yes. The Budget contained a statement that has

:05:12.:05:16.

nothing to do with fiscal policy it. Was about schools and academies. The

:05:17.:05:23.

idea that every school becomes an academy, local authorities have

:05:24.:05:25.

nothing to do with schools, which they don't in the main on secondary

:05:26.:05:30.

schools, this is primary schools, is strange, given that, in my neck of

:05:31.:05:33.

the woods, Yorkshire and the Humber have not had a good Ofsted round.

:05:34.:05:38.

Ofsted write to the local authority and the three MPs and say - we'd

:05:39.:05:42.

like a meeting with you about education in your area. We have no

:05:43.:05:50.

input into education in our area. We would like to see the Secretary of

:05:51.:05:56.

State. It's a mistake, local authorities, not as providers, as

:05:57.:05:58.

commissioners of education in the way the great London challenge was

:05:59.:06:02.

worked, local authorities had a key role in that, and I think there's a

:06:03.:06:07.

contrast between Osborne saying that, and then saying - we're going

:06:08.:06:12.

to he devolve all kind of things. You know, the Probation Service.

:06:13.:06:16.

Criminal justice moving to Manchester Health devolved in some

:06:17.:06:20.

areas. In a strange way education is being sucked into the centre. That

:06:21.:06:25.

strikes me as a paradox. Every town will have its own militia. Did

:06:26.:06:30.

Gordon Brown make all your big education announcements? Not

:06:31.:06:36.

education, everythingelse. He left education to others Very well.

:06:37.:06:43.

Now, President Putin surprised just about everybody this week

:06:44.:06:45.

by beginning the partial withdrawal of Russian military

:06:46.:06:47.

British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, played

:06:48.:06:49.

down its significance, saying it was the equivalent

:06:50.:06:51.

of a man who has merely stopped "beating his wife."

:06:52.:06:54.

But Syria has not turned out to be the quagmire for Russia many,

:06:55.:06:57.

from President Obama down, predicted and the Kremlin is now

:06:58.:06:59.

calling many of the shots in the region.

:07:00.:07:01.

Here's the former diplomatic and foreign affairs editor

:07:02.:07:04.

of Sky News, Tim Marshall, with his take of the week.

:07:05.:07:13.

It doesn't always work, but this week Russian President

:07:14.:07:45.

and judo expert, Vladimir Putin, wrongfooted his opponents yet again.

:07:46.:07:47.

# Baby, baby...# military from Syria.

:07:48.:07:59.

Unlike in judo, Putin signalled his intentions.

:08:00.:08:02.

Last year he said Russian engagement would be limited in time

:08:03.:08:05.

and would support Syria's army against what he described

:08:06.:08:09.

as terrorist groups and this would be from the air,

:08:10.:08:12.

not the ground and that mostly is what happened.

:08:13.:08:16.

# You've got to feel it...# Putin is not a mere tactician,

:08:17.:08:36.

Putin has bombed his and President Assad's way

:08:37.:08:40.

to the negotiating table and, this week, the peace talks

:08:41.:08:42.

And by showing that his support is not open-ended, Putin has hinted

:08:43.:08:51.

to Assad that he needs to compromise and so the Russian President

:08:52.:08:55.

is playing the responsible, sober statesman.

:08:56.:08:59.

Any deal that eventually emerges will have to ensure that there's

:09:00.:09:08.

a leader in Damascus who is not hostile to Moscow.

:09:09.:09:12.

That leader would have to accept that Russia can keep its port

:09:13.:09:15.

and lifting the Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia would be

:09:16.:09:21.

Russia also tested a lot of its new military equipment and it

:09:22.:09:30.

It's re-established itself as a player in the Middle East.

:09:31.:09:36.

Very Putin, although many of the ground forces will leave,

:09:37.:09:52.

Putin will leave behind several hundred troops,

:09:53.:09:54.

also intelligence officers and specials forces.

:09:55.:09:56.

He needs to guard Russia's port and airstrip.

:09:57.:10:00.

So Putin did not rush blindly into Syria, biting off more

:10:01.:10:06.

than he can chew, and the bear is not about to rush off

:10:07.:10:09.

home without making sure its cubs are safe.

:10:10.:10:11.

From the Budokwai Martial Arts Club in Chelsea to our own little judo

:10:12.:10:25.

mat here in the heart of Westminster.

:10:26.:10:27.

Welcome back. Well done in there. Don't push me, Andrew. I will be

:10:28.:10:38.

very nice to you. Did Mr Putin outmanoeuvre the West again with his

:10:39.:10:43.

withdrawal? Yes. I believe he did. I don't understand the media coverage

:10:44.:10:47.

about why it was a surprise. I said to you on one of the programmes,

:10:48.:10:53.

last year, that it would be limited. My phrase for it, an IKEA operation

:10:54.:11:00.

shall. Flat-pack, pick it up and take it home. The idea of

:11:01.:11:03.

Afghanistan was a nonsense. The money they were spending was minute

:11:04.:11:08.

compared to what the Americans were spending in Afghanistan. The evil

:11:09.:11:12.

genius of what he has done, he has made sure that Assad cannot lose.

:11:13.:11:15.

Not that Assad can win. But that he can't lose. And, it follows on from

:11:16.:11:20.

that in a few months time, everyone else will get that. Once they get

:11:21.:11:23.

that Assad can't lose you have to at some point go to the peace table. I

:11:24.:11:29.

don't know if they are ready yet. He has positioned everybody else into

:11:30.:11:32.

that position that Assad can't lose, we had better talk. President Assad

:11:33.:11:38.

shouldn't be worried. This isn't a sign he is expendable? He is very

:11:39.:11:42.

expendable. He can be thrown under a bus at any point. Putin needs to

:11:43.:11:48.

find the right replacement figure, an Alawite or a Sunni inside Syria

:11:49.:11:54.

that can rule and be acceptable and acceptable to Moscow to give them

:11:55.:11:59.

the port and to give them the airstrip. That leads to the next

:12:00.:12:04.

bit, which is he's also manoeuvred people to talking about a Federal

:12:05.:12:07.

Syria. At one point - absolute slid off the cards. Assad had to go

:12:08.:12:11.

immediately. They have moved and said, not straightaway. The US

:12:12.:12:15.

Secretary of State has been taebging to the Russian Foreign Secretary

:12:16.:12:19.

about a Federal idea? Two things fundamental have changed since Putin

:12:20.:12:24.

started this last September. He has manoeuvred the opponents to accept

:12:25.:12:29.

that Assad can have some sort of transition period. Still has to

:12:30.:12:32.

gshgs of course. Before they were saying, he's got to go now.

:12:33.:12:37.

Secondly, they are talking about a potential of a Federalised country.

:12:38.:12:42.

You know, in two ways he has done that judo move, if you like, he has

:12:43.:12:46.

some very good arms contracts out of it. As events unfold you get a

:12:47.:12:52.

feeling the West is largely a spectator You do. I think that Tim's

:12:53.:13:00.

analysis is right. I've never felt that the defeat was in our best

:13:01.:13:05.

interests. The defeat of Assad was in our best interests. It seems to

:13:06.:13:09.

me there's a kind of good Putin and a bad Putin. We are hearing this

:13:10.:13:15.

week, you know, which one is he? I tend to think he never wanted Assad

:13:16.:13:20.

to go, but he didn't want victory for the forces against him. I mean,

:13:21.:13:27.

what seems to have happened is, we haven't touched Daesh, IS, Islamic

:13:28.:13:32.

State, which was one of his stated ambitions, of course he still has

:13:33.:13:36.

about 1,000 personnel staying. He has special forces - military

:13:37.:13:42.

advisers. He has ships. So he has certainly not gone home. I think

:13:43.:13:47.

he's found the right moment to actually withdraw. I agree - I think

:13:48.:13:53.

it's - what's surprising is that it's a surprise.

:13:54.:13:59.

Do you agree that Putin is a good strategist? I do. If anything, Tim

:14:00.:14:09.

understated Putin's achievement. We have been involved in a lot of

:14:10.:14:13.

operations principally from the air with limited success. Its operation

:14:14.:14:18.

from the air, it seems to have had considerable success, despite

:14:19.:14:21.

killing a large knob of civilians, which has been appalling. One of the

:14:22.:14:25.

reasons people thought he wouldn't get out of it, is that most Western

:14:26.:14:30.

interventions before and even Soviet ones in the past have got bogged

:14:31.:14:35.

down. The fact he managed not to get bogged down is a significant

:14:36.:14:39.

achievement. As for the non-activity of the west, what is happening at

:14:40.:14:42.

the moment is that John Kerry appears to be, as it were, invited

:14:43.:14:48.

to talk to Putin rather than the other way round. It is clear who the

:14:49.:14:51.

ringmaster is. Federalisation is also an interesting aspect, the

:14:52.:14:58.

Russians seem to have the courage -- to have encouraged the discussion of

:14:59.:15:05.

three Kurdish provinces to become a quasi-autonomous part of Syria. The

:15:06.:15:09.

west really has to think this one through, because this is anathema to

:15:10.:15:13.

Turkey, who do not want to see any furtherance of Kurdish aspirations,

:15:14.:15:18.

and we may have an uncomfortable choice. In another part of the game,

:15:19.:15:24.

as we know, we are trying to appease Turkey over the migrant crisis and

:15:25.:15:27.

we are also trying to have a negotiation with the Russians. They

:15:28.:15:31.

are now proposing something in Syria which will annoy the Turks

:15:32.:15:39.

considerably. We will betray the Kurds, eventually. To stay onside

:15:40.:15:48.

with Turkey? Yes, but they are the bigger player. It happened after the

:15:49.:15:52.

war. At the moment, they are on our side. Push comes to shove, Turkey is

:15:53.:15:58.

a naked member -- a Nato member, I think they will be thrown under the

:15:59.:16:03.

bus. Alan is a great politician to say that he has never bought Assad

:16:04.:16:08.

is going the right way. It doesn't make him a great person. It doesn't

:16:09.:16:16.

mean you like Assad. That was the reason why Cameron's proposal to

:16:17.:16:19.

intervene was defeated in Parliament,. It switched round

:16:20.:16:25.

before allegedly the solution was to get rid of Assad and then we will

:16:26.:16:30.

eventually sought out Isis but now it is, we have to sort the peace out

:16:31.:16:35.

and get everybody to turn on Islamic State and then move on to Kurdish

:16:36.:16:39.

question, which never go away. Something that Kim said in passing

:16:40.:16:44.

was important. It is very likely that, out of all of this, the

:16:45.:16:48.

European Union and others are going to lift their sanctions on Russia

:16:49.:16:52.

over Ukraine. That is such a huge prize for the Russians, and it is

:16:53.:16:58.

another instance of no handcuffs, no punishment. The Russian economy

:16:59.:17:03.

declined by 4% last year, so the lifting of sanctions is something

:17:04.:17:06.

the Kremlin would like. The chances of a breakthrough in the peace talks

:17:07.:17:11.

are slight, I would suggest, so what do we think is Mr Putin's endgame?

:17:12.:17:18.

To hang court, to have his foothold in the Middle East. Those things are

:17:19.:17:22.

now in place. -- to hang on to the port. Iraq is now buying arms from

:17:23.:17:28.

them again, Egypt is as well, the Iranians are buying arms from them,

:17:29.:17:33.

so is India, and they have shown these, forgive me, toys, and I don't

:17:34.:17:37.

like saying that, but it is a game to them, and the toys they have

:17:38.:17:41.

displayed in the last six months which have killed all these

:17:42.:17:45.

civilians have worked, and it has helped them. Their colony is

:17:46.:17:50.

tanking, but the expenditure and their military is about to reduce.

:17:51.:17:57.

-- there, me. -- their economy is tanking. They are doing fine. The

:17:58.:18:02.

endgame is to hang on to what they have got. If there is a federalised

:18:03.:18:07.

Syria and Russia is a player in the Middle East, what have they lost?

:18:08.:18:12.

Indeed, they have gained a lot of influence again. What does he do for

:18:13.:18:17.

an encore? Russian TV at the moment has been dominated by Russian

:18:18.:18:20.

sorties over Aleppo. There is very little domestic news on all the

:18:21.:18:25.

channels which Mr Putin controls. It is all about abroad. Before that, it

:18:26.:18:34.

was the Ukraine or Crimea. If he hasn't got those sorties over

:18:35.:18:38.

Aleppo, what does he do for an encore? What is the next new foreign

:18:39.:18:47.

diversion? There are various places he could push.

:18:48.:18:50.

diversion? There are various places Azerbaijan situation is one.

:18:51.:18:56.

diversion? There are various places conflict that is there, he could

:18:57.:18:59.

push there. He could push in the Baltics. He could try to get

:19:00.:19:03.

resolution in the Ukraine. I think that he does gamble, but I don't

:19:04.:19:09.

think he is a wild gambler, so I think he will try to get some sort

:19:10.:19:12.

of peace. To answer your previous question, Andrew, this peace process

:19:13.:19:18.

at the moment may not work, but often you have to fail to or three

:19:19.:19:22.

times and eventually you get your peace conference. Let's

:19:23.:19:23.

times and eventually you get your the one, but I

:19:24.:19:26.

times and eventually you get your another one and each time you get

:19:27.:19:27.

closer. Bosnia another one and each time you get

:19:28.:19:33.

can push in a lot of places, but I think he might consolidate if he can

:19:34.:19:36.

get the sanctions taken off about Ukraine. Thank you.

:19:37.:19:43.

Now it's late - Gwyneth Paltrow's "moon dust" late -

:19:44.:19:45.

so stir a spoonful into your Blue Nun and stay up late,

:19:46.:19:48.

because waiting in the wings, documentary maker Stacey Dooley

:19:49.:19:50.

And, don't forget, we're still taking no notice whatsoever

:19:51.:19:54.

of any of your pixie dust on the Twitter, the Fleecebook

:19:55.:19:57.

or even our former Great Leader's Intergalactic Web Sphere.

:19:58.:20:04.

They say you can never have too much of a good thing.

:20:05.:20:07.

Clearly they've never had to sit through four -

:20:08.:20:09.

count 'em - - financial statements from the Chancellor of the Exchequer

:20:10.:20:12.

Even those of us who paid tuppence ha'penny to put up with Boy George

:20:13.:20:19.

So it's a good job we have the Economist's Anne McElvoy on hand.

:20:20.:20:24.

Here's her Budget round-up of the week.

:20:25.:20:26.

For some reason she's in an ice cream van -

:20:27.:20:29.

George has got us all thinking about our financial futures,

:20:30.:20:43.

but the best news is this week I finally landed me a job my kids

:20:44.:20:48.

MUSIC: My Boy Lollipo by Millie Small.

:20:49.:20:58.

All the lolly on offer couldn't disguise the bad news.

:20:59.:21:01.

Downbeat economic forecasts, a big missed debt target,

:21:02.:21:05.

and our old friend productivity still floundering,

:21:06.:21:07.

The Chancellor's been desperate for some green shoots of an early

:21:08.:21:40.

summer, but growth forecasts have fallen sharply and that means

:21:41.:21:42.

smaller portions of just about everything.

:21:43.:21:46.

George is going to have to borrow to pay for any treats or cut

:21:47.:21:51.

The British economy is resilient because, whatever the challenge,

:21:52.:22:01.

however strong the headwinds, we have held to the course

:22:02.:22:04.

I must tell the House that we face such a challenge now.

:22:05.:22:08.

Financial markets are turbulent, productivity growth across the West

:22:09.:22:14.

is too low and the outlook for the global economy is weak.

:22:15.:22:18.

It makes for a dangerous cocktail of risks but one which Britain

:22:19.:22:22.

is well prepared to handle if we act now so we don't pay later.

:22:23.:22:30.

Keeping health campaigners and a giddy Jamie Oliver sweet,

:22:31.:22:40.

the Chancellor announced a sugar tax on fizzy drinks, though not

:22:41.:22:44.

It's unsweetened peanuts in money terms, about half a billion to help

:22:45.:22:51.

fund primary school sport, but George's message

:22:52.:22:54.

He's got his eye on the next generation.

:22:55.:23:01.

It's symbolic that a robust government can actually get control

:23:02.:23:09.

of big business when it's having ill effects on child health.

:23:10.:23:14.

The logic behind it is the single largest source of sugar

:23:15.:23:18.

in childrens' diets is sugary sweetened drinks.

:23:19.:23:25.

There were not many giveaways but Mr Osborne doubtless wants us

:23:26.:23:32.

to be grateful for the taxes that he left in the deep freeze,

:23:33.:23:35.

so levies on fuel and alcohol stayed put, but the sin tax that didn't get

:23:36.:23:38.

It wouldn't be George without mention of his own favourite

:23:39.:23:45.

child, in policy terms, the Northern Powerhouse.

:23:46.:23:47.

Some of us thought we'd heard a few of these announcements before.

:23:48.:23:53.

The HS3 rail link between Manchester and Leeds and extra money for flood

:23:54.:23:56.

defences for those up north who've spent too much time

:23:57.:23:59.

We are giving the green light to High Speed 3 between Manchester

:24:00.:24:06.

and Leeds, finding new money to create a four lane M62

:24:07.:24:09.

and we will develop the case for a new tunneled road

:24:10.:24:11.

My honourable friends for Carlisle, Penrith and Hexham have told us not

:24:12.:24:17.

to neglect the north Pennines so we'll upgrade

:24:18.:24:19.

Hipster Osborne is the millennials' new best friend and he's been

:24:20.:24:27.

worrying about what's going to happen to those carefree

:24:28.:24:31.

young pleasure seekers later in life, so he's set up a new Isa

:24:32.:24:35.

for the under 40s to help them set up pension pots for their old age.

:24:36.:24:39.

And the Chancellor raised the annual Isa limit to ?20,000.

:24:40.:24:48.

Now, that, according to Jeremy Corbyn, is a lot of lolly

:24:49.:24:52.

that won't benefit the young or the least well off.

:24:53.:24:58.

This Budget, Mr Deputy Speaker, has unfairness at its very core,

:24:59.:25:03.

paid for by those who can least afford it.

:25:04.:25:08.

He could not have made his priorities clearer.

:25:09.:25:11.

While half a million people with disabilities are losing over

:25:12.:25:14.

?1 billion in personal independence payments,

:25:15.:25:20.

corporation tax is being cut and billions handed out in tax cuts

:25:21.:25:23.

It was a bit of a vanilla Budget, designed to help the Chancellor

:25:24.:25:31.

boost his case for an In vote in the EU referendum and sprinkle

:25:32.:25:34.

a few favours for those Tory backbenchers, ready for the day

:25:35.:25:37.

when George tries to seize the keys to the Tory van.

:25:38.:26:03.

We're joined in the studio by a woman many people north

:26:04.:26:06.

of the border are calling the new Nicola Sturgeon -

:26:07.:26:08.

SNP leader-in-waiting and Scottish powerhouse,

:26:09.:26:10.

Welcome to the programme. Thank you. Michael, what is your big takeaway

:26:11.:26:30.

from this Budget? My big takeaway is that George had probably planned to

:26:31.:26:34.

make his mark on history. Each Chancellor likes to be remembered

:26:35.:26:38.

for a great reform. I think is was going to be on pensions and it would

:26:39.:26:42.

have eased his burden considerably, but it would have brought money

:26:43.:26:46.

forward. I think that's probably be Prime Minister told him he couldn't

:26:47.:26:51.

do that and so the whole centre of the Budget at that point collapsed,

:26:52.:26:54.

and we were left with virtually nothing which had to be filled in

:26:55.:26:58.

with the sugar tax. Reverting to the point I made earlier, I think the

:26:59.:27:02.

whole referendum campaign, and I think George Osborne was against

:27:03.:27:08.

having a referendum, it has handed this amazing opportunity to Boris

:27:09.:27:12.

Johnson to come out on the sceptic side and endear himself with the

:27:13.:27:16.

Tory rank-and-file. I would think George Osborne is probably have the

:27:17.:27:20.

most miserable week of his life, because he is seeing Boris is

:27:21.:27:24.

rampant and his Budget and place in history as a Chancellor destroyed.

:27:25.:27:29.

He could have had a lot of money from pension tax relief. More than

:27:30.:27:34.

that, it would have been the monument. Quite a progressive

:27:35.:27:39.

change, too, taking away relief from the top end. What is your take? I

:27:40.:27:45.

think it is a dark mark on history, not a good day for those who are

:27:46.:27:50.

worse off, at the bottom end of the ladder. The cuts, as Corbyn said,

:27:51.:27:55.

for disabled people. This government says it wants to get disabled people

:27:56.:28:00.

back into employment but it is going to be taking away their aides and

:28:01.:28:05.

benefits. That seems to be unravelling tonight, shades of

:28:06.:28:08.

another tax credit would treat about it. Reed absolutely. All the

:28:09.:28:16.

opposition, including, I assume, your own party, will vote against

:28:17.:28:20.

it, and it only needs a handful of Tories to do the same. Fundamentally

:28:21.:28:25.

for us, he has missed all of the targets he has imposed on himself

:28:26.:28:29.

and he is not willing to move. The Chancellor seems like a man isolated

:28:30.:28:35.

and boxed in by his own targets. Productivity, he is down. Exports,

:28:36.:28:39.

he is down. Growth, not doing as well as forecast, and the Obiang are

:28:40.:28:46.

forecasting a bleak outlook. You have to ask yourself, when is he

:28:47.:28:50.

going to listen? The SNP put forward a credible plan which is being

:28:51.:28:57.

backed by the IMF and OCD of a 0.5% increase in public spending, which

:28:58.:29:01.

were released money into the economy. Not over a year, a

:29:02.:29:08.

five-year period? Fundamentally, not only is he not missing his own

:29:09.:29:13.

targets, we are contracting, we are not growing. No, the economy is

:29:14.:29:18.

growing by over 2%, the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

:29:19.:29:22.

It is factually untrue to say it isn't growing. OK, we are not

:29:23.:29:29.

growing at the same rate. Alan, what is your takeaway? It is

:29:30.:29:33.

extraordinary that he has broken to... Three. And the third one, he

:29:34.:29:41.

has to make this incredible shift to a ?10 billion surplus in a year, one

:29:42.:29:45.

financial year. But something always goes wrong in a George Osborne

:29:46.:29:51.

Budget. We had the omnishambles some years ago when everything went

:29:52.:29:54.

wrong. He got away with this amazing U-turn on working families tax

:29:55.:30:00.

credit, ?4 billion, and I agree with you, Andrew. This attack on people

:30:01.:30:08.

on PIP, there was nothing wrong with disability living allowance. People

:30:09.:30:12.

said, you try and change it, you will make it more expensive. It has

:30:13.:30:16.

made it more expensive. Now he is trying to grow it back. By making it

:30:17.:30:22.

more difficult to qualify. It is how disabled people can live full lives.

:30:23.:30:26.

It was a consensus among all politicians. Two cups that at the

:30:27.:30:31.

same time as cutting capital gains tax for the very rich is an obvious

:30:32.:30:33.

U-turn waiting to happen. It doesn't help George Osborne, it

:30:34.:30:41.

makes him look foolish, missing all the targets. If we take a step back.

:30:42.:30:46.

All these people complaining about austerity. Our economy went went

:30:47.:30:51.

into recession in 2007-2008. Since then it has been growing quite

:30:52.:30:55.

strongly. We are 11 years into a recovery. Throughout the period that

:30:56.:30:59.

that recovery has been going on, George Osborne has been borrowing

:31:00.:31:04.

hundreds of billions of pounds. Year after year the British people get

:31:05.:31:07.

much more in Government services than is raised in taxes. That money

:31:08.:31:11.

is borrowed and handed down to future generations to pay off. You

:31:12.:31:16.

know, if a country, after 10 years of growth or whatever, isn't going

:31:17.:31:20.

to try and run a surplus, isn't going to try to pay back some of

:31:21.:31:24.

that debt, you wonder when on earth it is. What is the Scottish

:31:25.:31:30.

nationalist response is to barrow more and hand a greater burden of

:31:31.:31:35.

debt to the next generation. That's not a solution. Nobody disagrees we

:31:36.:31:39.

need to reduce the deficit and the debt. You said you wanted another

:31:40.:31:43.

?150 billion in spending? That will inject investment into the economy.

:31:44.:31:49.

Will it? Yes, it will. That's fancy arithmetic, I must say. It's not

:31:50.:31:54.

just us saying that, it's the IMF saying that as well. We continue to

:31:55.:31:59.

the run the high deficit in the European Union. A after all these

:32:00.:32:04.

years. More than Spain, litly than Greece. He cut back on capital

:32:05.:32:11.

spending. He cut back on Alistair Darling capital spending plans by

:32:12.:32:15.

?18 billion. You may remember the note to the Chief Secretary the

:32:16.:32:17.

Labour Government saying there was no money. Come on. One of yours that

:32:18.:32:23.

left a similar note. It might still be true. He escaped by the skin of

:32:24.:32:30.

his teeth a double-dip recession. He has lived a charmed life. He is is

:32:31.:32:35.

running out of rope. Since ever Budget has an exploding bomb in it

:32:36.:32:41.

The way he sets things up. The tax credit thing, a cynic could say he

:32:42.:32:45.

set it up to U-turn on it. No. The cynic would be wrong. He was totally

:32:46.:32:51.

blindsided on that. Remind me who won the last general election?

:32:52.:32:55.

Whether that was expected. You have to give credit - That was maybe Mr

:32:56.:33:04.

Cameron? Well, he's the first lord of the treasury and he's the

:33:05.:33:06.

Chancellor of the Exchequer. It turned out to be an election winner.

:33:07.:33:11.

The people were convinced that the policies that he was following were

:33:12.:33:15.

necessary and people like Ed Miliband, who said they were

:33:16.:33:20.

unnecessary, were defeated. That to me adds up to a political strategy.

:33:21.:33:24.

He was extraordinarily successful in planting in people's minds that

:33:25.:33:28.

that, you know, what happened after Lehmann brothers was Labour's fault.

:33:29.:33:32.

I don't blame him for that. Maxed out on your credit card. Don't give

:33:33.:33:36.

the keys back to the driver who drove the car into the ditch. Not

:33:37.:33:40.

only could we not find the sound bites to match that. We seemed at

:33:41.:33:43.

the last election not to want to address it. Let's deal with 2015 not

:33:44.:33:49.

2010. This reputation that we crashed the economy. He is saying,

:33:50.:33:55.

international issues are what's - Blaming it on the global - Global

:33:56.:33:59.

problems. It's the poorest people in society who are paying. Those people

:34:00.:34:03.

were not the people who pushed the economy over the edge. Yeah. It was

:34:04.:34:08.

bankers. It was people in those financial institutions. And we are

:34:09.:34:12.

not doing the things that we should be doing, you know, to see that

:34:13.:34:17.

comeback. I thought Jeremy Corbyn was very good. On the most difficult

:34:18.:34:23.

gig in the West End, replying to the Chancellor's speech. Always

:34:24.:34:25.

difficult. Always difficult. I think he was very good, spot on. . If you

:34:26.:34:31.

had won the referendum you would be 10 days from independence with a 10%

:34:32.:34:35.

deficit? You have to call in the IMF, wouldn't you? I'm glad you

:34:36.:34:42.

asked me that. It's so littered with inaccuracies and misinformation.

:34:43.:34:46.

What the 10% deficit? No. The point we wouldn't be able to survive. All

:34:47.:34:49.

of the countries in the developed world is running a deficit. Who is

:34:50.:34:55.

running a 10 terz % deficit. Tell me. Which other countries are

:34:56.:34:59.

running a 10% deficit? The leaders who got us into the deficit is like

:35:00.:35:03.

saying - Michael should take over your show and it doesn't do as well

:35:04.:35:14.

so - That's obviously the case. We are the only country being judged by

:35:15.:35:17.

the miss imaginement - You have a deficit because you spend so much

:35:18.:35:21.

more than you take in tax. We have the powers. You are only able to run

:35:22.:35:25.

that deficit because London sends you so much money. You asked me a

:35:26.:35:29.

question. Let me answer it. We would have the economic powers and the

:35:30.:35:35.

levers to grow our economy - Aah, the John McConnell answer. It's

:35:36.:35:41.

true. OK. Financial mismanagement by this Chancellor is balancing the

:35:42.:35:44.

books on the back of the poor and not doing enough for the poorest in

:35:45.:35:48.

society. Thank you for being with us. Thank you.

:35:49.:35:54.

Earlier this week, former Lib Dem minister, David Laws,

:35:55.:35:56.

revealed that, in order to look like he feels your pain,

:35:57.:35:59.

the Prime Minister relies on an official 'crib sheet',

:36:00.:36:01.

put together by his staff, briefing him on the cost of common

:36:02.:36:04.

household items and low-cultural pursuits.

:36:05.:36:06.

Think of it as a 'pleb sheet' for Old Etonians.

:36:07.:36:08.

If ever he's asked a tricky question, Dave can confidently

:36:09.:36:10.

pretend he knows exactly how much it costs to buy a pint of semi-skimmed

:36:11.:36:14.

milk in Asda, a Mars Bar costs in a corner shop and a pint

:36:15.:36:17.

But one non-essential item was curiously missing from Dave's

:36:18.:36:25.

list, so that's why we've decided to address the issue and put paying

:36:26.:36:28.

It's the oldest profession in the world, but how much do

:36:29.:36:39.

people's attitudes to prostitution vary across the world?

:36:40.:36:41.

New documentary, Sex in strange Places, sees reporter,

:36:42.:36:46.

Stacey Dooley, uncover the stories behind the sex industry,

:36:47.:36:49.

She hears of the dangers and prejudices faced by prostitutes

:36:50.:37:17.

of all genders in Brazil, but there's a surprise to witness

:37:18.:37:20.

state-run brothels in Turkey and the glamorous lifestyles

:37:21.:37:22.

seemingly enjoyed by some of Russia's high class escorts.

:37:23.:37:39.

So are there lessons the UK can learn?

:37:40.:37:42.

Some argue that regulating the industry would protect sex

:37:43.:37:45.

workers, some argue anyone paying for sex should be prosecuted.

:37:46.:37:49.

Jeremy Corbyn says he backs decriminalisation, but can we ever

:37:50.:37:51.

get past the old moral view that paying for sex is wrong?

:37:52.:38:02.

I'm joined in the studio by Stacey Dooley.

:38:03.:38:04.

Thank you for having me. It looks like you had amaze being access, was

:38:05.:38:14.

it difficult to get? It was tricky, actually. We went out there and had

:38:15.:38:18.

conversations. Slowly, we will talk to you for half an hour. Turkey,

:38:19.:38:24.

Russia and Brazil. Yeah. What were the difference? We choose those

:38:25.:38:30.

three countries because they were different politically, culturally,

:38:31.:38:33.

the religious aspect. For me I was blown away. I didn't realise the

:38:34.:38:40.

brothels in Turkey were state-run until I started researching. In an

:38:41.:38:46.

Islamic country? Hugely conserve i it looked to Europe, it looks as if

:38:47.:38:53.

it's looking close to the Middle East, Erdogan was voted in when we

:38:54.:38:58.

were there. You think Brazil is liberal and accepting. Far from it

:38:59.:39:03.

in many circumstances. Having seen prostitution in three different

:39:04.:39:06.

societies, did you come to any views on this issue of legalisation that

:39:07.:39:13.

people argue would be safer if it was legalised and then people kind

:39:14.:39:17.

of say, but the women, even legalised, they will be trafficked.

:39:18.:39:22.

They will be exploited, what did you conclude? You do come to your own

:39:23.:39:28.

conclusions. I can understand it's an emotive, controversial subject

:39:29.:39:32.

for many people. For me, personally, I've spent, you know, an extensive

:39:33.:39:35.

amount of time with a lot of sex workers now around the world. Corbyn

:39:36.:39:42.

was pulled up by female Labour MPs suggesting that decriminalisation

:39:43.:39:45.

might be an alternative solution. I sort of admire him for entertaining

:39:46.:39:50.

another idea because it's evident what's currently in place is not

:39:51.:39:54.

working. These girls are treated like second-class citizens. They are

:39:55.:39:58.

marginalised. They are demonised. There is a lot of trafficking in

:39:59.:40:02.

this country, too? There is. Trafficking hases, unfor few

:40:03.:40:06.

fatally, always existed. There is a definite difference between forced

:40:07.:40:11.

trafficked prostitutes and adult consensual prostitution. You think

:40:12.:40:16.

decriminalisation would help or it's worth having a debate about it? .

:40:17.:40:20.

Absolutely it's worth having a debate about. Corbyn, certain things

:40:21.:40:23.

he says I'm not that doubt with. That I thought he was spot on. I

:40:24.:40:27.

don't agree. I do agree there is not a perfect answer to this. Yeah. I

:40:28.:40:33.

mean, I talk to the girls - I don't think there is a constituency MP,

:40:34.:40:37.

certainly in a city like Hull or - You are Hull, aren't you? Who don't

:40:38.:40:42.

get involved in this through various charities. The thing, is I think, I

:40:43.:40:46.

haven't seen your documentary, this is not, you know, well educated

:40:47.:40:54.

girls who take the decision - shall I be a nuclear scientists or go on

:40:55.:40:58.

the game? Are. You would be surprised. They are damaged, pushed

:40:59.:41:02.

into it. Very vulnerable who end up in this situation. The girls I talk

:41:03.:41:07.

to. OK. Are in that situation. I don't think legalising this is going

:41:08.:41:13.

to help them. I quite like the Nordic idea of of making it legal to

:41:14.:41:17.

pay for sex. You are looking at one end of it and not criminalising the

:41:18.:41:21.

girls. Decriminalising the whole thing I think will lead to more

:41:22.:41:25.

problems than it Sols. Will that work? I disagree. I don't agree

:41:26.:41:29.

there. I had the same trail of thought initially. Surely it's

:41:30.:41:32.

circumstantial. Who would choose to be a prostitute? Actually, in Russia

:41:33.:41:36.

particularly, the girl was very bright. Bilingual, had been to uni.

:41:37.:41:39.

She said I could be a bright. Bilingual, had been to uni.

:41:40.:41:44.

I want to be a sex worker. We have to accept and acknowledge that some

:41:45.:41:52.

girls do choose sex work. Michael. R The issue is complicated and a lot

:41:53.:41:55.

of exploitation is involved along the line. I think, at the core, a

:41:56.:42:00.

willing buyer and a willing siller is not a place where the state

:42:01.:42:02.

should be intervening. I think is not a place where the state

:42:03.:42:07.

some level, some aspect of it ought to be legalised. The law in

:42:08.:42:10.

some level, some aspect of it ought is complicated. It's different

:42:11.:42:12.

some level, some aspect of it ought Northern Ireland where I'm told they

:42:13.:42:14.

made it illegal to pay for sex. Very recently, yeah. Prostitution is

:42:15.:42:23.

legal in Great Britain for over 18s but some activity, street

:42:24.:42:26.

prostitution, kerb crawling, running a brothel are not. A lot of mixed

:42:27.:42:32.

signals. Very complicated. I had to dedicate loads of time to

:42:33.:42:35.

researching what goes on here in the UK. You are right, Northern Ireland,

:42:36.:42:39.

very recently, changed their rules. Here, you know, paying for sex isn't

:42:40.:42:44.

illegal. Accepting money for sex isn't illegal. You are right, the

:42:45.:42:47.

circumstances surrounding the industry are. So I just think it's

:42:48.:42:53.

muddy. The laws in Great Britain are not I think stupid. Preventing

:42:54.:42:58.

street prostitution - I understand. Is about creating nusance to other

:42:59.:43:03.

people. Running a brothel being illegal is about exploitation. The

:43:04.:43:07.

British law is trying to get at aspects which affect other people

:43:08.:43:10.

which tend towards exploitation. The basic point - willing seller,

:43:11.:43:14.

willing buyer is not touched by British law. Is it not dangerous

:43:15.:43:19.

making this? There was a couple of hairy moments. Turkey was trickier

:43:20.:43:23.

than Brazil and Russia were. It's great work. Yeah. Congratulations on

:43:24.:43:27.

it. Thank you. I really appreciate it. What is the next subject? I'm

:43:28.:43:33.

going to Iran. Off to South Africa. Come back to see us. Thank you for

:43:34.:43:36.

having me. Hopefully just as interesting. Thank you.

:43:37.:43:44.

That's your lot for tonight, folks, but not for us.

:43:45.:43:47.

It's Office for National Statistics Night at Lou Lou's and we're off

:43:48.:43:49.

to boogie with the number nerds who decided this week that nightclub

:43:50.:43:52.

entrance fees will no longer be used to calculate the UK

:43:53.:43:55.

How will they know what the rate is then?

:43:56.:44:03.

Not that we're bothered - we're on the guest list as usual.

:44:04.:44:06.

But we leave you tonight with exclusive footage of the exact

:44:07.:44:09.

moment the Chancellor's Treasury colleagues found out that he'd

:44:10.:44:11.

# Don't want to be all by myself any more.

:44:12.:44:31.

# Don't want to live all by myself any more.

:44:32.:44:49.

# Don't want to live all by myself any more

:44:50.:44:57.

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