Browse content similar to 23/11/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Tonight... Get me out of here. The
Budget was one of the biggest | 0:00:12 | 0:00:22 | |
challenges Philip Hammond ever
faced. I'm pushing myself to the | 0:00:22 | 0:00:27 | |
limit for this week. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
faced. I'm pushing myself to the
limit for this week. I had no idea | 0:00:30 | 0:00:35 | |
I'd sign myself to the jungle.
Please help me. | 0:00:35 | 0:00:41 | |
Like me, Angela Merkel is walking a
difficult tightrope. I'm hoping | 0:00:41 | 0:00:47 | |
she'll win the Bush took the
challenge. This week is worse than | 0:00:47 | 0:00:51 | |
it dark chamber. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:53 | |
Evenin' all. | 0:01:00 | 0:01:02 | |
Welcome to This Week. | 0:01:02 | 0:01:05 | |
And who knew that our beloved
Chancellor, old Spreadsheet Phil, | 0:01:05 | 0:01:08 | |
was really Happy Hammond,
the stand up comedian? | 0:01:08 | 0:01:11 | |
And I'm not referring to his remarks
about Jeremy Clarkson | 0:01:11 | 0:01:14 | |
or Lewis Hamilton
in Wednesday's Budget. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:16 | |
That was serious stuff. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:23 | |
Who knew that taxing Lewis'
private jet could pay | 0:01:23 | 0:01:25 | |
for 25 billion more in spending? | 0:01:25 | 0:01:27 | |
No, I'm talking about his throwaway
remarks on how economic | 0:01:27 | 0:01:31 | |
growth was collapsing,
and how Britain would be | 0:01:31 | 0:01:33 | |
stuck in the slow lane
for the foreseeable future. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
How we laughed at that. | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
We split our sides at his revelation
that wage stagnation, | 0:01:37 | 0:01:41 | |
already with us for a decade,
is likely to stay with us | 0:01:41 | 0:01:43 | |
for a second decade. | 0:01:43 | 0:01:46 | |
How could you not chuckle at that? | 0:01:46 | 0:01:49 | |
And we were rolling the aisles when,
with cunning sleight of hand, | 0:01:49 | 0:01:53 | |
he revealed that balancing
the budget, which the Tories once | 0:01:53 | 0:01:57 | |
said would be done by 2015,
then 2020, then 2025, | 0:01:57 | 0:02:01 | |
was now consigned to never-never
land, also known as the 2030s. | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
Genius. | 0:02:05 | 0:02:06 | |
It was, understandably,
too much for dear old Jezza, | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
whose job it was to respond
to the Budget. | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
The only way the Labour leader
could stop himself from breaking out | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
in tears of laughter,
was to spend 20 minutes | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
reading out a tombstone
of a speech he'd written in 2013. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
It was a veritable tour
d'horizon of Britain's woes, | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
covering everything, except anything
actually in the Budget. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
No wonder Chuckles Hammond thought
he'd had the last laugh. | 0:02:29 | 0:02:32 | |
Speaking of those who you'd never
mistake for a ray of sunshine, | 0:02:32 | 0:02:36 | |
but who are quick on their feet,
if only these days they could | 0:02:36 | 0:02:40 | |
struggle to get on them,
I'm joined on the Zimmer frames | 0:02:40 | 0:02:43 | |
by Michael #choochoo Portillo | 0:02:43 | 0:02:44 | |
and Alan #sadmanontheleft Johnson. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:52 | |
Michael, your moment of the week?
Bangladesh is very keen to get rid | 0:02:52 | 0:02:57 | |
of the Rohingya Muslim refugees who
have spread across the border and | 0:02:57 | 0:03:03 | |
wants them to go back into my own
mark. Today apparently an agreement | 0:03:03 | 0:03:06 | |
has been signed between the
countries. It is hard to imagine why | 0:03:06 | 0:03:13 | |
any of the Rohingya Muslims would go
back considering they have clearly | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
been rates and murdered and
tortured, and their bit -- villagers | 0:03:16 | 0:03:19 | |
burned to the ground. The highest
civilian in the government, Aung San | 0:03:19 | 0:03:26 | |
Suu Kyi, who used to be a universal
saint, has had her reputation | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
absolutely trashed. Bob Geldof has
described her as being complicit in | 0:03:29 | 0:03:37 | |
extermination, in ethnic cleansing.
It is a horrific situation. It | 0:03:37 | 0:03:44 | |
demonstrates how ineffective the
world is at controlling crimes | 0:03:44 | 0:03:47 | |
against humanity.
Indeed. Alan? Until now there has | 0:03:47 | 0:03:53 | |
been a lot of talk about Brexit but
nothing tangible has happened. Until | 0:03:53 | 0:03:57 | |
Monday, when it was decided the
European medicines agency and the | 0:03:57 | 0:04:01 | |
banking authority would move from
London to Amsterdam and Paris | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
respectively. That is a thousand
jobs, high-value jobs, directly. And | 0:04:04 | 0:04:12 | |
thousands more indirectly. Britain,
because we are no longer in the EU | 0:04:12 | 0:04:17 | |
economic post these organisations,
we're having to pay the bill as | 0:04:17 | 0:04:25 | |
well, which is hundreds of millions
of pounds to relocate them. 23 | 0:04:25 | 0:04:31 | |
cities in 19 countries wanted these
centres because they give prestige, | 0:04:31 | 0:04:38 | |
they get jobs. They boost the
economy. And we're waving farewell | 0:04:38 | 0:04:43 | |
to them. And then we still have to
discover whether we have to pay | 0:04:43 | 0:04:48 | |
millions more to replicate
everything that VMA do. We get a | 0:04:48 | 0:04:56 | |
blue passport. Silver lining. | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
For much of this year it looked
as if Western Europe | 0:04:59 | 0:05:01 | |
was going to escape the populist
insurgency that gave Britain Brexit | 0:05:01 | 0:05:04 | |
and America Donald Trump. | 0:05:04 | 0:05:06 | |
Anti-immigrant leader Geert Wilders
failed to breakthrough in Holland, | 0:05:06 | 0:05:09 | |
and Marine Le Pen was thumped
by centrist Emmanuel Macron | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
in France's presidential elections. | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
So nobody expected any kind
of upset in that most | 0:05:16 | 0:05:19 | |
stable of democracies,
Germany, or problems | 0:05:19 | 0:05:24 | |
for its long-standing
leader Angela Merkel. | 0:05:24 | 0:05:28 | |
But the rise of a right-wing
nativist party, the AfD, | 0:05:28 | 0:05:32 | |
and the poor performance
of Mrs Merkel's CDU, | 0:05:32 | 0:05:35 | |
which managed only 27% of the vote,
has conspired to thwart her efforts | 0:05:35 | 0:05:38 | |
to form a new coalition government. | 0:05:38 | 0:05:42 | |
Two months after Germans went
to the polls, they still don't | 0:05:42 | 0:05:49 | |
have a new government,
and it's not clear when they will. | 0:05:49 | 0:05:52 | |
There's even talk of fresh
elections in the new year. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:54 | |
Germany's President says
the situation is unprecedented | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
for the Federal Republic,
and when there's a political crisis | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
in Berlin it means there's
a leadership vacuum in the EU. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
But not everybody thinks Germany -
or the EU - faces political turmoil. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:06 | |
Here's Andrew Adonis
with his take of the week. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:16 | |
Margaret Thatcher used to say, those
Europeans are always getting into a | 0:06:21 | 0:06:26 | |
mess and we have to save them. There
is nothing the Brexiteers have | 0:06:26 | 0:06:30 | |
enjoyed more than the schadenfreude
of the past week, that Germany is | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
falling to pieces, we're going to
save them and this is a chance to | 0:06:34 | 0:06:37 | |
screw them for a good Brexit deal.
Germany has had a terrible past in | 0:06:37 | 0:06:43 | |
many respects. But since 1949 it has
been one of the best governed | 0:06:43 | 0:06:47 | |
countries in the world and we are
all the better off for it. In fact, | 0:06:47 | 0:06:54 | |
as we shoot ourselves in the foot
with Brexit, I wish we had Germany's | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
problem. | 0:06:57 | 0:07:03 | |
We all know that Germany has gone
through dark times in the past. | 0:07:08 | 0:07:14 | |
Hyperinflation, Nazism, communism in
the east. But even allowing for a | 0:07:14 | 0:07:17 | |
national psyche that dislikes
uncertainty, the collapse of these | 0:07:17 | 0:07:22 | |
coalition talks is nothing more than
a political hiccup. Germany's | 0:07:22 | 0:07:26 | |
instability is far more apparent
than real. Since 1949, Germany has | 0:07:26 | 0:07:31 | |
had only eight chancellors. In that
period we have had 15 prime | 0:07:31 | 0:07:35 | |
ministers. I would trade our
instability for their stability any | 0:07:35 | 0:07:41 | |
time. While German prosperity rises,
ours declines. Only yesterday, the | 0:07:41 | 0:07:46 | |
cat -- chance of a slashed our
growth rate to 1.5%. Germany's has | 0:07:46 | 0:07:51 | |
been increased by the same amount.
Their productivity is something the | 0:07:51 | 0:07:55 | |
British only dream of, and the
disparities of wealth are far less | 0:07:55 | 0:07:58 | |
in Germany than here in Britain.
Of course, admitting large numbers | 0:07:58 | 0:08:04 | |
of Syrian refugees made Mrs Merkel
very unpopular. Unsurprisingly so, | 0:08:04 | 0:08:09 | |
it would be even worse here in a
NAND. But a country which managed to | 0:08:09 | 0:08:15 | |
absorb an entire other country, East
Germany, as successfully as the | 0:08:15 | 0:08:19 | |
Germans have done, will not have a
problem with the Syrians. They will | 0:08:19 | 0:08:22 | |
look back on this as a source of
huge dynamism and opportunity for | 0:08:22 | 0:08:26 | |
them as a country.
In the words of build, the Brits, | 0:08:26 | 0:08:36 | |
they sure know what a crisis is. We
have just got a problem of a small | 0:08:36 | 0:08:41 | |
party walking out of coalition
talks. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:43 | |
But Britain's all future as a
country is now at stake. -- whole | 0:08:43 | 0:08:48 | |
future. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:48 | |
Danke to our friends
at Zeitgeist pub in Lambeth. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:51 | |
And welcome to Lord Adonis. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:57 | |
So Michael, in Berlin, nothing to
see here, little local difficulty? I | 0:08:57 | 0:09:03 | |
agree with what Andrew said the
German economy, which has done very | 0:09:03 | 0:09:08 | |
well since 1949 and they have had a
lot of political stability. I did | 0:09:08 | 0:09:13 | |
think it was extraordinary that Mrs
Merkel, who lost 8.6 percentage | 0:09:13 | 0:09:17 | |
point at the election, did not see
the writing on the wall. It is | 0:09:17 | 0:09:23 | |
typical European arrogance to
believe that you can be effectively | 0:09:23 | 0:09:25 | |
defeated by the public and yet go on
being Chancellor. It was a massive | 0:09:25 | 0:09:31 | |
vote of no-confidence. It was an
entirely self-inflicted wound to | 0:09:31 | 0:09:35 | |
invite a million Syrians into the
country. It has created the rise of | 0:09:35 | 0:09:39 | |
this very dangerous AF Tea Party. It
is extraordinary that we now have an | 0:09:39 | 0:09:47 | |
ultra right-wing party in Germany
today. It is Mrs Merkel's. And the | 0:09:47 | 0:09:54 | |
German people have punished. And the
idea, by the way, that a whole that | 0:09:54 | 0:09:58 | |
the Germans from the east and west
who have been separated by the iron | 0:09:58 | 0:10:02 | |
curtain, the idea that bringing the
Germans back together, all German | 0:10:02 | 0:10:05 | |
people, is the same as absorbing a
million Syrians, I think shows a | 0:10:05 | 0:10:11 | |
massive insensitivity and
incomprehension of what the German | 0:10:11 | 0:10:12 | |
people are alike. It was a bigger
challenge absorbing east Germany. | 0:10:12 | 0:10:19 | |
These countries had grown apart for
the best part of two generations. It | 0:10:19 | 0:10:23 | |
was a huge challenge. It was very
untypical of Michael, who has a good | 0:10:23 | 0:10:28 | |
sense of history. The really tough
challenge, huge challenge, economic | 0:10:28 | 0:10:33 | |
challenge, social challenge... You
don't think that the situation in | 0:10:33 | 0:10:41 | |
Berlin denied is a problem? There is
clearly a problem forming a | 0:10:41 | 0:10:47 | |
coalition. They will have to form a
minority government. Mrs Merkel has | 0:10:47 | 0:10:52 | |
ruled out a minority government? It
is not for her to entirely decide. | 0:10:52 | 0:10:59 | |
She hasn't said that. What she said
is she would prefer not to lead a | 0:10:59 | 0:11:04 | |
minority government but it is not
for her to decide. Germany is a | 0:11:04 | 0:11:08 | |
constitutionally governed country
and the president will decide if | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
elections are to be held. She would
prefer elections. But this is not | 0:11:11 | 0:11:15 | |
entirely her call. There are
constitutional procedures. The | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
crucial thing to understand is the
reason why she is finding it so | 0:11:18 | 0:11:22 | |
difficult to form a coalition is
first-rate forwardly political | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
reasons. She has had three coalition
partners in the past. The FTP, the | 0:11:25 | 0:11:30 | |
SDP twice. She has destroyed all
three. She has destroyed them. Yes. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:38 | |
There are wary of going on again.
The idea of being eaten alive by Mrs | 0:11:38 | 0:11:42 | |
Merkel for a second time... A series
do think the situation is? I think | 0:11:42 | 0:11:50 | |
it is serious because one of the
reasons that the STB don't want to | 0:11:50 | 0:11:53 | |
go into government is because it
would leave alternative for Germany, | 0:11:53 | 0:11:59 | |
the right-wing grouping, as the
official opposition. That is one of | 0:11:59 | 0:12:03 | |
the reasons Martin Schultz has
given. There are whole dilemma is | 0:12:03 | 0:12:07 | |
that the Bundestag is far left are
far right. I think Michael is being | 0:12:07 | 0:12:11 | |
very unfair that Angela Merkel had
brought this about. She has been a | 0:12:11 | 0:12:19 | |
strong and stable leader for Europe
and the country. She was taking in | 0:12:19 | 0:12:25 | |
refugees from Syria at a time when
all countries, including our own, | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
which made a pretty small
contribution, were worried about | 0:12:29 | 0:12:34 | |
that. These were people fleeing war.
It was an extraordinarily generous | 0:12:34 | 0:12:40 | |
-- generous gesture further to make.
My puzzlement is, do the Germans | 0:12:40 | 0:12:44 | |
want to return to another election?
My feeling was they didn't. But | 0:12:44 | 0:12:48 | |
there is a Polter night saying the
majority want another election. They | 0:12:48 | 0:12:54 | |
have never had a majority government
in Germany before. We're getting | 0:12:54 | 0:13:03 | |
used to minority government. Germany
has done much better to have a | 0:13:03 | 0:13:07 | |
majority coalition governments which
have proved remarkably stable. It is | 0:13:07 | 0:13:10 | |
not exactly a great crisis if you
have two elections in one year. It | 0:13:10 | 0:13:14 | |
has even been known in this historic
British democracy a virus to have | 0:13:14 | 0:13:19 | |
elections in successive years. We
don't know how Mrs Merkel would get | 0:13:19 | 0:13:24 | |
the show back on the road. But if
she can and stays as Chancellor, | 0:13:24 | 0:13:28 | |
isn't she a much diminished figure? | 0:13:28 | 0:13:33 | |
She will find it more difficult to
strike deals to get legislation | 0:13:33 | 0:13:38 | |
through, but in my experience the
only thing that really matters in | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
terms of the fate of governments is
the quality and calibre of the | 0:13:41 | 0:13:45 | |
leader. A strong and effective
leader can do just as well with a | 0:13:45 | 0:13:49 | |
small majority, or even with no
majority, as with a large majority. | 0:13:49 | 0:13:54 | |
Even when her own party only got 27%
of the vote? She is still the | 0:13:54 | 0:14:01 | |
largest party. For as long as she
has that authority, ability to | 0:14:01 | 0:14:04 | |
continue as Chancellor... Gordon
Brown got that? Is she diminished or | 0:14:04 | 0:14:17 | |
not? Hugely diminished. With the
events of the last few days it will | 0:14:17 | 0:14:21 | |
be difficult for her to clamber back
into a position of authority. What | 0:14:21 | 0:14:26 | |
does it mean for Brexit rest room if
Germany is going to go through a | 0:14:26 | 0:14:30 | |
period of political turmoil, where
it will take awhile to put together | 0:14:30 | 0:14:36 | |
a coalition, or it may mean there
will have be elections. The | 0:14:36 | 0:14:40 | |
elections may not be until April.
What does it mean? It is bad news. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:48 | |
We spent three months on a general
election and we knew that until the | 0:14:48 | 0:14:52 | |
German elections nothing would
really move. Now we have had German | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
elections but there are such
uncertainty that once again, I think | 0:14:55 | 0:14:58 | |
it will lead to a certain amount of
paralysis. I think the villains of | 0:14:58 | 0:15:03 | |
the piece are the Free Democrats,
walked away from coalition talks, | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
the centrist party, with a young
leader who seems inexperienced at | 0:15:06 | 0:15:11 | |
this. Actually, I think he may be
experienced and shrewd. I remember | 0:15:11 | 0:15:18 | |
being told, I don't know whether it
is true but it is a fantastic story, | 0:15:18 | 0:15:22 | |
that shortly before the 2010
election, when David Cameron met Mrs | 0:15:22 | 0:15:27 | |
Merkel and said, what do I do if I
don't get a majority, she said to | 0:15:27 | 0:15:31 | |
him, it is very simple. You get hold
of one of the small parties, form a | 0:15:31 | 0:15:36 | |
coalition and then you screw them.
That is precisely what she has done | 0:15:36 | 0:15:40 | |
with three coalition partners in a
row. They have got wise to the fact. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:46 | |
Not a great strategy because she is
running out of partners. Tonight | 0:15:46 | 0:15:50 | |
there is talk of having to go back
to the social Democrats and putting | 0:15:50 | 0:15:53 | |
a grand coalition on the road, which
could be in the longer term | 0:15:53 | 0:15:58 | |
disastrous for the social Democrats.
There is even talk that if the head | 0:15:58 | 0:16:03 | |
of the Social Democrats steps down
and Mrs Merkel steps down and two | 0:16:03 | 0:16:08 | |
new people come... The idea that
this is politics as normal in | 0:16:08 | 0:16:12 | |
Germany, I just don't understand. My
question is, what does it mean for | 0:16:12 | 0:16:15 | |
Brexit? Let's assume, I know you
think it can be put on the road, but | 0:16:15 | 0:16:22 | |
if there is a period of uncertainty,
changing German politics, what does | 0:16:22 | 0:16:26 | |
it mean for Brexit? Well, countries
are governed by interests. Except in | 0:16:26 | 0:16:35 | |
occasional bouts of madness, they
are not governed by sentiment. The | 0:16:35 | 0:16:39 | |
interests of Germany are in having a
good, constructive relationship with | 0:16:39 | 0:16:43 | |
Britain and this nonsense about them
wanting to do us down is not where | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
things are at. The problem is that
we have a government here that does | 0:16:46 | 0:16:50 | |
not know what it wants to negotiate.
The biggest problem in negotiations | 0:16:50 | 0:16:55 | |
is somebody on the other side who
does not know what they want. I | 0:16:55 | 0:16:59 | |
don't entirely agree. The overall
German interest is to have a | 0:16:59 | 0:17:05 | |
harmonious settlement with Britain,
but Germany is also persuadable that | 0:17:05 | 0:17:10 | |
it might be in the European interest
to make sure that Britain is | 0:17:10 | 0:17:13 | |
punished, to discourage others from
going over the prison wall. Mrs | 0:17:13 | 0:17:18 | |
Merkel, if she was still there...
The prison wall? That is what East | 0:17:18 | 0:17:26 | |
Germany was. Carreon, Michael. Let
me carry on. Mrs Merkel, as an | 0:17:26 | 0:17:36 | |
authority figure, was strong enough
to say we can be confident about | 0:17:36 | 0:17:40 | |
being good Europeans without being
persuaded by the French, for | 0:17:40 | 0:17:43 | |
example, that we need to punish
Britain, a harmonious relationship | 0:17:43 | 0:17:47 | |
is necessary. A less experienced
leader might find it difficult to | 0:17:47 | 0:17:51 | |
resist the French impulse. Here may
be a bigger issue, which is that | 0:17:51 | 0:17:56 | |
President Macron has put big store
by reforming the eurozone, a number | 0:17:56 | 0:18:02 | |
of changes to be made, and he needs
the Germans onside. There is also | 0:18:02 | 0:18:07 | |
talk that once we are out of the
way, the Europeans can get on with a | 0:18:07 | 0:18:12 | |
proper reform of Europe and make
Europe fit for the next decade. Mrs | 0:18:12 | 0:18:18 | |
Merkel can't deliver any of that.
Further reforms of the eurozone were | 0:18:18 | 0:18:24 | |
always going to happen. There is no
sign of any of that now. It is | 0:18:24 | 0:18:31 | |
inevitable. Mr Macron wants it
within the next five years. None of | 0:18:31 | 0:18:37 | |
his agenda could now get through the
Bundestag. We don't know. When there | 0:18:37 | 0:18:41 | |
is a German government we will know
if negotiations it proceed. I think | 0:18:41 | 0:18:46 | |
it is just a matter of time before
it happens. This has always been | 0:18:46 | 0:18:52 | |
clear. You will need economic
institutions to reflect the fact | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
that you are pulling more
sovereignty than we ever did when we | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
were in the outer tear. Good luck
with that, when you have the Free | 0:18:58 | 0:19:03 | |
Democrats not agreeing to be in
coalition, the CSU running scared | 0:19:03 | 0:19:07 | |
and the AfD who now have 94
deputies, MPs in the Bundestag. And | 0:19:07 | 0:19:14 | |
more centralisation in Europe will
help the growth of right-wing | 0:19:14 | 0:19:17 | |
parties. It is one of the things
getting people cheesed off. Mr | 0:19:17 | 0:19:22 | |
Macron does not want to acknowledge
this but many Germans do. If you had | 0:19:22 | 0:19:26 | |
to guess, Andrew, it is March of
next year. What will the political | 0:19:26 | 0:19:34 | |
situation be in Berlin? It is a very
fluid situation, so I am not fully | 0:19:34 | 0:19:40 | |
sure enough to start predicting who
is going to be in coalition with | 0:19:40 | 0:19:44 | |
whom by then. What I would say with
a degree of confidence is that | 0:19:44 | 0:19:50 | |
German policy will not change, that
there will not be some cataclysm on | 0:19:50 | 0:19:54 | |
the other side of the channel which
means there is nobody there for us | 0:19:54 | 0:19:57 | |
to negotiate with, and the biggest
enemy of a successful Brexit at the | 0:19:57 | 0:20:03 | |
moment is the Brexiteers who don't
know what their policy is, and a | 0:20:03 | 0:20:07 | |
good half of them want to get out of
anything with the word Europe in the | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
title. As I listened to Alan Johnson
at the beginning, and we never | 0:20:10 | 0:20:16 | |
disagree on anything, he is
completely right on the European | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
medical agency and the European
banking agency. When I was a | 0:20:19 | 0:20:24 | |
minister, when Longridge was
threatened with closure, you had the | 0:20:24 | 0:20:27 | |
Prime Minister was there within 15
minutes, this was regarded as | 0:20:27 | 0:20:31 | |
national catastrophe and a crisis.
We have a government at the moment | 0:20:31 | 0:20:35 | |
that is not only sitting on the
sidelines while thousands of the | 0:20:35 | 0:20:40 | |
highest-paid and most productive
jobs in the country are being lost, | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
but is actually forcing these jobs
abroad. Let Michael come in. We are | 0:20:43 | 0:20:53 | |
huge contributors to the European
Community. Every capital and city in | 0:20:53 | 0:20:57 | |
Europe goes around with its snout in
the trough wanting to get hold of | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
these agencies. It is the most
undignified scramble for patronage | 0:21:00 | 0:21:05 | |
from the European Union, and who
pays for this? The British taxpayer, | 0:21:05 | 0:21:10 | |
because we contribute vast lean more
than most other countries. Because | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
we are richer. For the purpose of
this segment, it was to be about | 0:21:13 | 0:21:24 | |
Berlin and Mrs Merkel and the
consequences of that for Britain and | 0:21:24 | 0:21:28 | |
the European Union. We have done a
bit of that but it always gets | 0:21:28 | 0:21:32 | |
dragged back to Brexit so we will
leave it there. You did ask us what | 0:21:32 | 0:21:37 | |
it meant for Brexit. I did not want
to get down to the details of one | 0:21:37 | 0:21:43 | |
medical agency which has nothing to
do with Mrs Merkel. Thank you. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:52 | |
Andrew Adonis, thanks for stepping
in tonight. | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
It's late.
EuroTunnel late. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:56 | |
Yes, after 30 years
of faithful service, | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
our fast route to the continent,
for reasons nobody can fathom, is | 0:21:58 | 0:22:01 | |
changing its name to is Getlink. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:03 | |
I mean, really, what's
wrong with Eurotunnel? | 0:22:03 | 0:22:06 | |
And if you must change the name,
why not make it Brexit Rail? | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
Or Remainers' Escape? | 0:22:09 | 0:22:12 | |
Or The Farage Pullman? | 0:22:12 | 0:22:14 | |
Or the Flying Adonis? | 0:22:14 | 0:22:16 | |
But Getlink? | 0:22:16 | 0:22:18 | |
Get lost! | 0:22:18 | 0:22:19 | |
Someone who needs no
re-branding is the comedian | 0:22:19 | 0:22:21 | |
and author Margaret Cho,
who's shining the Spotlight | 0:22:21 | 0:22:24 | |
on the allure and danger
of power tonight. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
And if you'd like to get in touch, | 0:22:27 | 0:22:29 | |
well, all I can say is I'm
disappointed in you. | 0:22:29 | 0:22:31 | |
I mean, I've warned you about this
sort of thing, time and time again. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:35 | |
And it's only a matter of time
before I get another | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
exclusion order out. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:38 | |
But if you're feeling lucky -
or should that be desperate - | 0:22:38 | 0:22:41 | |
then do your worst! | 0:22:41 | 0:22:43 | |
It's only what the Tweeter,
the Fleecebook, and | 0:22:43 | 0:22:45 | |
SnapNumpty deserve. | 0:22:45 | 0:22:49 | |
It's dreadful, but somehow you can't
take your eyes off the TV screen. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:52 | |
Those gruesome trials,
as a minor celebrity, | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
vaguely recognisable -
hot, scared and sweaty - | 0:22:54 | 0:22:57 | |
risks nausea and public ridicule
in front of millions. | 0:22:57 | 0:22:59 | |
What will he have to chew on? | 0:22:59 | 0:23:02 | |
What foul-smelling mess
will be thrown at him? | 0:23:02 | 0:23:04 | |
Will he do enough to survive? | 0:23:04 | 0:23:09 | |
Or will he be summarily ejected
into total ignominy? | 0:23:09 | 0:23:11 | |
Yes, it's not pretty,
but it is part of the BBC's public | 0:23:11 | 0:23:14 | |
service remit to carry the Budget
live so we have to do it. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
Here's Emma Barnett with her
round-up of this week's | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
political monkey business. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:24 | |
This Week have really
dropped me in it this time. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
When they told me they were
sending me to the jungle, | 0:23:46 | 0:23:48 | |
I assumed they meant Westminster. | 0:23:48 | 0:23:50 | |
Nope, they sent me
to the real thing. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:52 | |
They've put me in the actual
jungle with actual bugs. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
But no celebrities. | 0:23:56 | 0:24:01 | |
Have they actually
got the right place? | 0:24:01 | 0:24:04 | |
I don't think they do. | 0:24:04 | 0:24:06 | |
Hey, come back. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:13 | |
I'd better make camp. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:15 | |
The political week began
with the Cabinet agreeing to boost | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
the amount we are going to pay
in the Brexit divorce bill in a hope | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
to break the deadlock
over the trade talks. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:32 | |
Well, 40 billion is what's rumoured,
but that's still way below | 0:24:32 | 0:24:35 | |
what the EU actually want,
because guess what, | 0:24:35 | 0:24:37 | |
they are in "you've made your bed,
now you need to lie in it" mode. | 0:24:37 | 0:24:44 | |
The EU does not want to punish,
once again, it simply drew | 0:24:44 | 0:24:50 | |
the logical consequence of the UK
decisions to take back control. | 0:24:50 | 0:24:57 | |
On financial services,
UK voices suggest that Brexit | 0:24:57 | 0:25:02 | |
does not mean Brexit. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:06 | |
Brexit means Brexit. | 0:25:06 | 0:25:09 | |
Everywhere. | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
Still, at least £40 billion
makes the DUP deal look | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
like an absolute bargain. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:17 | |
The other issue the EU wants
to sort before trade talks | 0:25:17 | 0:25:19 | |
is the Irish border. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:22 | |
The DUP said that warnings
from Brussels and from Dublin that | 0:25:22 | 0:25:25 | |
a hard border would cause sectarian
violence was playing politics | 0:25:25 | 0:25:30 | |
with the peace process. | 0:25:30 | 0:25:33 | |
Playing politics? | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
Can you imagine? | 0:25:35 | 0:25:36 | |
To suggest somehow that our leaving
the European Union would put that | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
in danger is a careless
thing to say. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:41 | |
You shouldn't play about
with Northern Ireland, | 0:25:41 | 0:25:43 | |
particularly at a time
when we are trying to bring | 0:25:43 | 0:25:45 | |
about devolved government again. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:50 | |
The Prime Minister and Jeremy Corbyn
provided the warm up | 0:25:50 | 0:25:53 | |
act in Parliament at
Prime Minister's Questions, | 0:25:53 | 0:25:54 | |
with the Labour leader,
for a change, asking | 0:25:54 | 0:25:56 | |
questions about Brexit. | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
But a pugnacious Prime Minister hit
back, accusing the Labour leader | 0:25:58 | 0:26:00 | |
of talking down the country. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:05 | |
17 months after the referendum,
they say there can be no hard border | 0:26:05 | 0:26:09 | |
but haven't worked out how. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:14 | |
They say they'll protect workers'
rights, then vote against it. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:19 | |
Isn't the truth this
government has no energy, | 0:26:19 | 0:26:21 | |
no agreed plan and no strategy
to deliver a good | 0:26:21 | 0:26:23 | |
Brexit for Britain? | 0:26:23 | 0:26:29 | |
Let me tell him, I'm
optimistic about our future. | 0:26:29 | 0:26:31 | |
I'm optimistic about the success
we can make of Brexit. | 0:26:31 | 0:26:35 | |
I'm optimistic about the well-paid
jobs that will be created. | 0:26:35 | 0:26:39 | |
I'm optimistic about
the homes we will build. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:41 | |
That's Conservatives, building
a Britain fit for the future. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:49 | |
Spreadsheet Phil got
to his feet and tried | 0:26:49 | 0:26:51 | |
to strike an optimistic tone,
but without many stars in his back | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
pocket he didn't have much joy
to spread around the camp. | 0:26:54 | 0:27:00 | |
The growth forecasts were down,
hit by lower-than-expected | 0:27:00 | 0:27:02 | |
levels of productivity. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:08 | |
He did find some money for housing
but less than the £50 billion | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
that the Communities Secretary,
Sajid Javid, wanted. | 0:27:11 | 0:27:13 | |
He also talked about measures
to help with the roll-out | 0:27:13 | 0:27:15 | |
of universal credit,
and found a bit of cash for the NHS. | 0:27:15 | 0:27:20 | |
Over the next five years
we will commit a total of at least | 0:27:20 | 0:27:24 | |
£44 billion of capital funding,
loans and guarantees | 0:27:24 | 0:27:25 | |
to support our housing market,
to boost the supply of skills, | 0:27:25 | 0:27:29 | |
resources and building land,
and to create the financial | 0:27:29 | 0:27:33 | |
incentives necessary to deliver
300,000 net additional homes per | 0:27:33 | 0:27:36 | |
year on average by the mid-2020s. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:42 | |
But we also recognise that the NHS
is under pressure right now. | 0:27:42 | 0:27:45 | |
I am, therefore, exceptionally,
outside the spending review process, | 0:27:45 | 0:27:49 | |
making an additional commitment
of resource funding of £2.8 | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
billion to the NHS. | 0:27:52 | 0:28:02 | |
The Chancellor's rabbit
was an appeal to the youth vote | 0:28:02 | 0:28:05 | |
by scrapping stamp duty
for first-time buyers on properties | 0:28:05 | 0:28:07 | |
worth up to £300,000. | 0:28:07 | 0:28:11 | |
But then some people said that
will actually increase house prices. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:13 | |
Sorry, Thumper. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:17 | |
With effect from today,
for all first-time buyer | 0:28:17 | 0:28:20 | |
purchases up to £300,000,
I am abolishing stamp | 0:28:20 | 0:28:24 | |
duty altogether. | 0:28:24 | 0:28:27 | |
When we say we will revive
the homeowning dream | 0:28:27 | 0:28:30 | |
in Britain, we mean it. | 0:28:30 | 0:28:32 | |
We do not underestimate
the scale of the challenge, | 0:28:32 | 0:28:34 | |
but today we have made
a substantial down payment. | 0:28:34 | 0:28:41 | |
Labour said the measures
wouldn't make a difference. | 0:28:41 | 0:28:44 | |
The reality test of this Budget has
to be how it affects | 0:28:44 | 0:28:48 | |
ordinary people's lives. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:51 | |
I believe as the days go ahead
and this Budget unravels, | 0:28:51 | 0:28:54 | |
the reality will be a lot of people
will be no better off and the misery | 0:28:54 | 0:28:58 | |
that many are in will be continuing. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:03 | |
They call this a Budget
fit for the future. | 0:29:03 | 0:29:06 | |
The reality is, this is a government
no longer fit for office. | 0:29:06 | 0:29:13 | |
Others said the Chancellor hadn't
addressed the real risks | 0:29:13 | 0:29:15 | |
posed to the economy. | 0:29:15 | 0:29:19 | |
This was an opportunity
for the Chancellor to restore some | 0:29:19 | 0:29:23 | |
confidence in the economy
and he failed, dismally. | 0:29:23 | 0:29:25 | |
Living standards are going to be
severely curtailed. | 0:29:25 | 0:29:29 | |
We've got a very severe squeeze
continuing in public services. | 0:29:29 | 0:29:31 | |
That's the ugly
reality of the Budget. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:35 | |
Never mind Phil's problems. | 0:29:35 | 0:29:36 | |
His Budget hasn't unravelled yet,
which by recent standards | 0:29:36 | 0:29:40 | |
is a total triumph. | 0:29:40 | 0:29:42 | |
What about me, stranded
in the BBC jungle? | 0:29:42 | 0:29:45 | |
Apparently the place
is a graveyard of lefties. | 0:29:45 | 0:29:51 | |
I think I recognise him. | 0:29:51 | 0:29:52 | |
Didn't he used to run
the new ideas unit? | 0:29:52 | 0:29:54 | |
The truth is, we fished out the best
talent in the BBC and they are now | 0:29:54 | 0:29:59 | |
Conservative members of Parliament. | 0:29:59 | 0:30:01 | |
It was so great to see
so many of you here today. | 0:30:01 | 0:30:04 | |
Maybe there are only
lefties left in the BBC. | 0:30:04 | 0:30:10 | |
I'm not waiting around here,
eating grubs, hoping that CCHQ | 0:30:10 | 0:30:14 | |
is going to come and rescue me. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:16 | |
I'm on This Week,
get me out of here! | 0:30:16 | 0:30:21 | |
Maybe it won't taste so bad
with a little bit of salt. | 0:30:24 | 0:30:30 | |
Thanks to St John's Wood Adventure
Playground in North London. | 0:30:30 | 0:30:33 | |
No creepy crawlies were
harmed in that film. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:36 | |
But we haven't seen Emma since. | 0:30:36 | 0:30:38 | |
And hot off the press from Novara
media is political commentator | 0:30:38 | 0:30:41 | |
and millennial brain, Ash Sarkar. | 0:30:41 | 0:30:48 | |
Welcome. Michael, the Tories said a
pretty low bar for a Philip Hammond | 0:30:48 | 0:30:55 | |
for this Budget. Just don't screw it
up. Job done? Yes. So far. You don't | 0:30:55 | 0:31:03 | |
know what could be in the details?
To get this far is quite a triumph. | 0:31:03 | 0:31:10 | |
I think a little bit better than
that. I think the stamp duty | 0:31:10 | 0:31:13 | |
announcement was welcomed. I think a
certain number of young people, | 0:31:13 | 0:31:17 | |
middle-class young people inking
about the possibility of buying a | 0:31:17 | 0:31:22 | |
home, would have been cheered by
that. The money for the NHS would | 0:31:22 | 0:31:26 | |
have been pretty well received. Not
so much by the NHS. What? Not so | 0:31:26 | 0:31:35 | |
much by the NHS, we never thought --
didn't think it was nearly enough. | 0:31:35 | 0:31:40 | |
Yellow They always do. It was a
generous gesture, certainly compared | 0:31:40 | 0:31:45 | |
with the many other demands. I think
the Chancellor would have got a fair | 0:31:45 | 0:31:49 | |
amount of sympathy because his
problems were pretty much external. | 0:31:49 | 0:31:52 | |
It was the downgrading of the
forecast by the OBR, the Office for | 0:31:52 | 0:31:58 | |
Budget Responsibility, that gave him
his biggest problem. Since we were | 0:31:58 | 0:32:02 | |
in a position where the British
economy had performed better than | 0:32:02 | 0:32:05 | |
many people thought it was going to,
it was rather odd that the OBR | 0:32:05 | 0:32:10 | |
suddenly produced these pessimistic
estimates for the future, which the | 0:32:10 | 0:32:13 | |
Chancellor is bound to include in
his Budget. Alan, he loosened his | 0:32:13 | 0:32:19 | |
belt. He is spending a bit more here
and there. Deficit reduction has | 0:32:19 | 0:32:23 | |
been slowed down. Is this a change
of tack? I don't think so. He has | 0:32:23 | 0:32:30 | |
got more tax returns than expected.
He is spending more on this Budget. | 0:32:30 | 0:32:39 | |
It is very marginal. Let's face it,
he was expecting Theresa May to give | 0:32:39 | 0:32:45 | |
him the sack, and she ended up
giving him throat lozenges. That was | 0:32:45 | 0:32:54 | |
entirely on staged. It absolutely
just happened. We are now seven | 0:32:54 | 0:32:59 | |
years into a Conservative
government. Two years ago George | 0:32:59 | 0:33:03 | |
Osborne was saying we would
eradicate borrowing by 1990 -- by | 0:33:03 | 0:33:09 | |
2020. We would be in surplus by
2021. We have heard all of this guff | 0:33:09 | 0:33:14 | |
about how this is a Budget for
tomorrow. It has been an absolute | 0:33:14 | 0:33:18 | |
disaster. The trade gap is wider
than ever. Productivity is abysmal. | 0:33:18 | 0:33:22 | |
It is not as if this is happening in
every country. It is not happening | 0:33:22 | 0:33:27 | |
every country in Europe. We are
doing worse than any country in | 0:33:27 | 0:33:31 | |
Europe except Greece. Look what is
happening in Portugal. They are | 0:33:31 | 0:33:34 | |
managing to come back from the
crisis of 2008. They are actually | 0:33:34 | 0:33:41 | |
coming back from 2012. They are
later in the cycle. Does spending a | 0:33:41 | 0:33:46 | |
bit more here and there, does that
Spike Labour Party guns are simply | 0:33:46 | 0:33:52 | |
make the case for even more
borrowing? I don't think it is | 0:33:52 | 0:33:58 | |
parking tanks on Labour's long at
all. We have seen more of the same | 0:33:58 | 0:34:03 | |
from Philip Hammond. Cosmetic
measures to prop up a broken | 0:34:03 | 0:34:08 | |
orthodoxy. I don't know what planet
you are on when you think that was a | 0:34:08 | 0:34:11 | |
positive showing from the
Chancellor. There have been | 0:34:11 | 0:34:15 | |
estimates that wages are going to
stay stagnant, or indeed fall for | 0:34:15 | 0:34:20 | |
the next decade. That disposable
household income is going to keep | 0:34:20 | 0:34:24 | |
falling until 2020. Real people are
sovereign. And you can throw us a | 0:34:24 | 0:34:28 | |
Railcard here or Stamp Duty decrease
there, it is not actually addressing | 0:34:28 | 0:34:37 | |
the fundamental structural problems
embedded in our economy. We have had | 0:34:37 | 0:34:42 | |
wage stagnation for ten years. The
latest forecasts suggested could be | 0:34:42 | 0:34:46 | |
for another years. They take this
into the 20 20s. The Budget did | 0:34:46 | 0:34:52 | |
nothing to address that. Well, it
could be that is going to happen, it | 0:34:52 | 0:34:59 | |
could be something completely
different. Forecasts are generally | 0:34:59 | 0:35:01 | |
wrong. I don't know talking about
which planet we're wrong, I don't | 0:35:01 | 0:35:07 | |
know what government measures will
transform people's wages or the | 0:35:07 | 0:35:12 | |
productivity of the economy. Growth.
Growth is a product of productivity | 0:35:12 | 0:35:18 | |
as much of the other way round.
There are businesses and people out | 0:35:18 | 0:35:22 | |
there who have to do their bit. The
government has created conditions in | 0:35:22 | 0:35:25 | |
which we have massive employment. We
have nearly every shoulder to the | 0:35:25 | 0:35:29 | |
wheel. Our growth is at a
disappointing rate. Actually, we | 0:35:29 | 0:35:34 | |
have done rather better than most
European countries in recent years. | 0:35:34 | 0:35:41 | |
Those who got screwed by the euro
are Spain, Italy and Greece. For the | 0:35:41 | 0:35:49 | |
foreseeable future the OBR is saying
that we won't ever reach 2% again | 0:35:49 | 0:35:55 | |
for the foreseeable future. Of
course, they are forecasts. If the | 0:35:55 | 0:36:00 | |
OBR is wrong on this, does it
survive its reputation? Well, I | 0:36:00 | 0:36:06 | |
think they have finally been
realistic. They were forecasting | 0:36:06 | 0:36:13 | |
increases in productivity. Now they
have said it's a much more rigorous | 0:36:13 | 0:36:18 | |
look at what is likely to happen. If
we don't see that, fine. There is | 0:36:18 | 0:36:23 | |
nothing in the Budget. Let alone
that, nothing about adult social | 0:36:23 | 0:36:30 | |
care, the biggest crisis we face.
And the poorest in our society, | 0:36:30 | 0:36:35 | |
under every government since the war
until the coalition two years in, | 0:36:35 | 0:36:39 | |
made sure that benefits, people on
the lowest income, have their pay | 0:36:39 | 0:36:43 | |
increased. They will be frozen for
another two years with inflation at | 0:36:43 | 0:36:47 | |
3%. Wherever you look, this is not a
government that is doing well on the | 0:36:47 | 0:36:52 | |
economy. Michael does his best, as
he does every year. Every Budget. | 0:36:52 | 0:36:58 | |
But every Budget it is fantasyland.
What is more likely to happen is the | 0:36:58 | 0:37:03 | |
growth figures are correct rather
than incorrect. Because there is | 0:37:03 | 0:37:06 | |
nothing happening to stimulate it.
Should we be borrowing more? I think | 0:37:06 | 0:37:14 | |
that we need to really reimagine
what the role of the state is. You | 0:37:14 | 0:37:20 | |
you said that businesses need to
create employment, we need to pull | 0:37:20 | 0:37:23 | |
more people into the economy. That
is only useful if the jobs being | 0:37:23 | 0:37:27 | |
offered are quality jobs, not
precarious, not part-time, not low | 0:37:27 | 0:37:31 | |
paid. The role the government can
take is to bring in legislative | 0:37:31 | 0:37:35 | |
measures to encourage more secure
forms of contract, paid work like a | 0:37:35 | 0:37:40 | |
temp and minimum wage, not the
National Living Wage put in by the | 0:37:40 | 0:37:43 | |
Conservatives, which is being
revised lower and lower with | 0:37:43 | 0:37:47 | |
seemingly every passing day. And I
think that what a government can do | 0:37:47 | 0:37:51 | |
is really, like I said, chop off a
broken economic orthodoxy. I don't | 0:37:51 | 0:37:57 | |
know what that means. Neoliberalism
isn't working. Austerity isn't | 0:37:57 | 0:38:02 | |
working. Why is the German economy
growing? It is a neoliberal economy. | 0:38:02 | 0:38:12 | |
But they haven't done to the same
extent as we have seen in this | 0:38:12 | 0:38:16 | |
country is privatise games and
socialise losses. What we have seen | 0:38:16 | 0:38:21 | |
is a tremendous shifting the burden
of private debt onto the nation's | 0:38:21 | 0:38:26 | |
taxpayer. That is what we have seen
in this country. Philip Hammond | 0:38:26 | 0:38:32 | |
yesterday, on something that hasn't
been reported much, was floating | 0:38:32 | 0:38:35 | |
plans to sell off government shares
in RBS. That would be a 26 billion | 0:38:35 | 0:38:39 | |
loss. That is tremendous. That is
not austerity for everyone. That is | 0:38:39 | 0:38:47 | |
austerity for poor and socialism for
the rich. The word austerity is | 0:38:47 | 0:38:51 | |
always bandied around in these
discussions. When the coalition came | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
to office, the country was spending
ten percentage points more each year | 0:38:54 | 0:38:59 | |
than it was actually earning. And
now it is spending 2.4 percentage | 0:38:59 | 0:39:04 | |
points more each year than it is
earning. In other words, every year | 0:39:04 | 0:39:08 | |
we have lived beyond our means. And
every year we have been increasing | 0:39:08 | 0:39:12 | |
the national debt. And every year
we're past the cost of set -- | 0:39:12 | 0:39:17 | |
serving the national debt to our
children and grandchildren. There | 0:39:17 | 0:39:21 | |
has not been austerity because we
have never lived within our means. | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
And it is frankly immoral that we
have always lived beyond our means | 0:39:24 | 0:39:28 | |
today to add more of the services
that people demand, more of the | 0:39:28 | 0:39:32 | |
welfare state, water the NHS, so
that future generations will have to | 0:39:32 | 0:39:35 | |
spend more on servicing debt and
will have less to spend on those | 0:39:35 | 0:39:38 | |
services themselves. I think we have
seen the creation of a public health | 0:39:38 | 0:39:45 | |
crisis and the chronic underfunding
of these services. A study found | 0:39:45 | 0:39:49 | |
that since 2012 there have been
120,000 extra unnecessary deaths. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:59 | |
How much would you like to be? We
need to revisit some ideas about | 0:39:59 | 0:40:05 | |
what borrowing can do in terms of
stimulating growth. How large would | 0:40:05 | 0:40:10 | |
you like the national debt to be? If
you think 86% is not high enough, | 0:40:10 | 0:40:14 | |
what would you like it to be? The
current model of using taxpayers' | 0:40:14 | 0:40:21 | |
money to subsidise shareholders and
corporations is unsustainable. Just | 0:40:21 | 0:40:24 | |
tell me how big you want the
national debt to be. We brought it | 0:40:24 | 0:40:31 | |
down to 36% from 42%. When the
coalition came in, there was a | 0:40:31 | 0:40:36 | |
growth rate of 3.1%. George Osborne
didn't inherit a recession and | 0:40:36 | 0:40:41 | |
deliver growth, it was the other way
round. It was a double dip | 0:40:41 | 0:40:45 | |
recession. Then he changed to
Alistair Darling's plan. He took £18 | 0:40:45 | 0:40:51 | |
billion of capital investment that
was put aside for capital | 0:40:51 | 0:40:55 | |
investment, no better time to do
with them when interest rates were | 0:40:55 | 0:40:58 | |
zero, and ever since then there has
been no real investment in our | 0:40:58 | 0:41:03 | |
infrastructure, which is what
Germany does very well. What | 0:41:03 | 0:41:05 | |
countries all over Europe have done
very well. People can look out of | 0:41:05 | 0:41:11 | |
their windows MCE investment. We
have got the largest infrastructure | 0:41:11 | 0:41:16 | |
projects in Europe. One of the big
issues in the German election last | 0:41:16 | 0:41:23 | |
year, highlighted by your colleagues
in the social Democrats, was how | 0:41:23 | 0:41:27 | |
Germany has not invested recently in
its infrastructure. But they are | 0:41:27 | 0:41:32 | |
putting capital investment. No, the
problem is they haven't done, | 0:41:32 | 0:41:37 | |
particularly in the digital Economy
Bill, but of course the | 0:41:37 | 0:41:43 | |
infrastructure they had in the 70s,
80s and 90s was pretty good. A final | 0:41:43 | 0:41:47 | |
thought from you? I would like to
see an economy built towards the | 0:41:47 | 0:41:53 | |
maximisation of human flourishing
for everybody in this country. What | 0:41:53 | 0:41:56 | |
I don't want to see is a falling
standard of living for most of us. | 0:41:56 | 0:42:00 | |
While the rich get richer. What the
resolution foundation found was that | 0:42:00 | 0:42:05 | |
for the richest third in society,
they would be better off to the tune | 0:42:05 | 0:42:08 | |
of £185 per year. The poorest third
will be worse off by over £700 a | 0:42:08 | 0:42:13 | |
year. Not only does that seem
grotesquely unfair, it is not | 0:42:13 | 0:42:18 | |
sustainable. A big change has to
come across. It can either be one of | 0:42:18 | 0:42:22 | |
social justice, reducing
inequalities, or you can let the far | 0:42:22 | 0:42:26 | |
right make electoral gains.
OK. Thanks for joining us. | 0:42:26 | 0:42:30 | |
A wise person - so clearly none
who's ever been in this show - | 0:42:30 | 0:42:33 | |
once said, "It is not power
that corrupts but fear. | 0:42:33 | 0:42:35 | |
Fear of losing power corrupts
those who wield it." | 0:42:35 | 0:42:37 | |
Rather ironically, those words
are attributed to an erstwhile | 0:42:37 | 0:42:40 | |
stateswoman and international hero
whose star has rather | 0:42:40 | 0:42:42 | |
waned in recent months.
Her name: Aung San Suu Kyi. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:44 | |
But what is the allure of power that
losing it causes such fear? | 0:42:44 | 0:42:47 | |
Robert Mugabe, given his tyranny,
had much to fear from losing power. | 0:42:47 | 0:42:50 | |
But he seems to have
got away with it. | 0:42:50 | 0:42:55 | |
And what does it feel like to be
on cusp of losing it, | 0:42:55 | 0:42:58 | |
like Gerry Adams and Angela Merkel? | 0:42:58 | 0:43:02 | |
This week we're putting
power in the Spotlight. | 0:43:02 | 0:43:13 | |
After 37 years, Robert Mugabe's iron
grip on power has evacuated. | 0:43:22 | 0:43:27 | |
I formally tender my resignation
as the President of the Republic | 0:43:27 | 0:43:32 | |
of Zimbabwe, with immediate effect. | 0:43:32 | 0:43:34 | |
But will his successor abuse
executive power in the same way? | 0:43:34 | 0:43:40 | |
Those superpowers
that the President has | 0:43:40 | 0:43:43 | |
in the constitution will be limited. | 0:43:43 | 0:43:44 | |
That is what we need going forward,
a leader, not a ruler. | 0:43:44 | 0:43:49 | |
Mugabe couldn't hang on,
but can Angela Merkel stay in power | 0:43:49 | 0:43:51 | |
after coalition talks
collapsed this week? | 0:43:51 | 0:43:54 | |
TRANSLATION: No, resigning
was never an option. | 0:43:54 | 0:43:58 | |
I always said that I wanted to serve
Germany for a further four years. | 0:43:58 | 0:44:03 | |
What if you want to jump
before you are pushed? | 0:44:03 | 0:44:05 | |
After 34 years in charge,
Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams thinks | 0:44:05 | 0:44:08 | |
it's time to stand down. | 0:44:08 | 0:44:11 | |
Leadership means knowing
when it's time to change. | 0:44:11 | 0:44:13 | |
And that time is now. | 0:44:13 | 0:44:19 | |
And what if you're powerful
but you don't really | 0:44:19 | 0:44:21 | |
know what you're doing? | 0:44:21 | 0:44:22 | |
Stephen Kinnock shuts up
and listens to his wife. | 0:44:37 | 0:44:39 | |
And isn't it nice to sometimes
feel totally powerless? | 0:44:39 | 0:44:41 | |
Stanley Johnson's enjoying
being lost in the jungle. | 0:44:41 | 0:44:44 | |
I do not have to think
about Brexit at all. | 0:44:44 | 0:44:46 | |
We have to think about breakfast. | 0:44:46 | 0:44:50 | |
What you propose on breakfast. | 0:44:50 | 0:44:51 | |
Breakfast. | 0:44:51 | 0:44:52 | |
Breakfast. | 0:44:52 | 0:44:53 | |
Breakfast, or not breakfast? | 0:44:53 | 0:44:57 | |
Yeah, all right, Margaret,
let's hear what you've | 0:44:57 | 0:44:59 | |
got to say about power. | 0:44:59 | 0:45:06 | |
Welcome to Margaret Cho. | 0:45:06 | 0:45:14 | |
Does political power always corrupt?
I don't know. I think it depends on | 0:45:14 | 0:45:23 | |
what you are a politician for. If
you are a politician to be there for | 0:45:23 | 0:45:29 | |
the people, maybe that's a little
different to if you decide to try to | 0:45:29 | 0:45:34 | |
get Russia to vote you into power.
It's different. Robert Mugabe said | 0:45:34 | 0:45:39 | |
he was there for the people when he
became leader of Zimbabwe, having | 0:45:39 | 0:45:44 | |
been a freedom fighter against
colonial rule and white minority | 0:45:44 | 0:45:47 | |
rule after the British period. He
was corrupt. It's a pretty good | 0:45:47 | 0:45:54 | |
ruse. The way that Trump did it was
to seem like he was going Rogue, | 0:45:54 | 0:46:02 | |
like he was also there to shake
everything up. Trained the swamp. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:08 | |
Yes, to drain the swamp. To train
the masses, somehow, or to turn it | 0:46:08 | 0:46:18 | |
into a reality competition show. But
the magic of democracy, as compared | 0:46:18 | 0:46:25 | |
to tyranny is like Mr Mugabe's
Zimbabwe, is that even powerful | 0:46:25 | 0:46:32 | |
leaders are constrained. And we've
seen that in America, where Mr Trump | 0:46:32 | 0:46:37 | |
has come up against the US
Constitution. Yes. Most times, the | 0:46:37 | 0:46:43 | |
US Constitution has one. Yes, and I
think that that is the one thing | 0:46:43 | 0:46:47 | |
that we have. Our defence is that we
have a good constitution. We have | 0:46:47 | 0:46:56 | |
Congress, a house of
Representatives, but there is a lot | 0:46:56 | 0:46:59 | |
of corruption there, too. I think
Donald Trump is concerned with his | 0:46:59 | 0:47:05 | |
image and how he looks on social
media more than anything else. I | 0:47:05 | 0:47:10 | |
think he is more constrained by his
own ego and misunderstanding of what | 0:47:10 | 0:47:17 | |
government is. Does power always
corrupt? In democracies, I don't | 0:47:17 | 0:47:22 | |
think people experience very much
power. People have to compromise all | 0:47:22 | 0:47:27 | |
the time with their own party, with
the electorate, with the media. | 0:47:27 | 0:47:35 | |
Examples of individual power are few
and far between. Tony Blair's | 0:47:35 | 0:47:39 | |
decision to go to war in Iraq is an
unusual example of the real personal | 0:47:39 | 0:47:46 | |
exercise of power. But that was
agreed by Parliament. That is | 0:47:46 | 0:47:50 | |
perfectly true. But it was his
decision. He argued it through, he | 0:47:50 | 0:47:56 | |
made it happen. That is what I mean.
Even something that the Budget this | 0:47:56 | 0:48:02 | |
week, it is so constrained, so
difficult for the Chancellor. That | 0:48:02 | 0:48:05 | |
has to get through Parliament too,
to stand the test of the press. In | 0:48:05 | 0:48:12 | |
democracies, I'm not sure power is
the right word at all. Maybe an area | 0:48:12 | 0:48:18 | |
where there will be less power,
particularly power for men of being | 0:48:18 | 0:48:21 | |
able to do what they want, as a
result of all the Harvey Weinstein | 0:48:21 | 0:48:25 | |
fallout. That was power, these are
all power plays. Yes. Particularly | 0:48:25 | 0:48:32 | |
now that women are now more ready to
speak out, rather than try to make | 0:48:32 | 0:48:38 | |
it never happened, that is going to
curb some power, isn't it? Yes, and | 0:48:38 | 0:48:44 | |
that's incredible to see. I was
around the film industry in the 90s, | 0:48:44 | 0:48:49 | |
I was with Tarantino between
Reservoir dogs and pulp fiction, and | 0:48:49 | 0:48:52 | |
you could not have had a larger
kingdom than Miramax. Miramax was | 0:48:52 | 0:49:00 | |
everything. And that was Harvey
Weinstein? That was Harvey and Bob | 0:49:00 | 0:49:06 | |
and that was their kingdom and
Quentin Tarantino was their crown | 0:49:06 | 0:49:10 | |
prince. They could do whatever they
wanted. They were absolutely above | 0:49:10 | 0:49:14 | |
the law. I have never seen such an
egregious display of power. It's | 0:49:14 | 0:49:21 | |
insane that all of that has been
toppled. Maybe these days are over. | 0:49:21 | 0:49:26 | |
What brings you to these shores? I
am doing a show here, to explain all | 0:49:26 | 0:49:34 | |
the stuff about sexual harrassment
and... When can we see it? I will be | 0:49:34 | 0:49:42 | |
in London at the O2. Shepherd's
Bush. I don't know. You don't know | 0:49:42 | 0:49:50 | |
but you are touring round the
country. | 0:49:50 | 0:49:53 | |
So that's your lot for tonight. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:55 | |
Scripts by Joey Essex,
costumes by Clowns R Us, | 0:49:55 | 0:49:57 | |
studio by Her Majesty's Pleasure. | 0:49:57 | 0:49:58 | |
After news that Brexit Secretary
David Davis insisted on having | 0:49:58 | 0:50:01 | |
the RAF fly him around Europe,
we've decided we deserve the same. | 0:50:01 | 0:50:04 | |
So we have an armoured division
waiting outside to take us | 0:50:04 | 0:50:06 | |
to Lou Lou's nightclub. | 0:50:06 | 0:50:08 | |
Should make quite an
impact when we arrive. | 0:50:08 | 0:50:10 | |
Alas, Michael's determined
to go full commando, | 0:50:10 | 0:50:14 | |
which has got the rest
of us worried. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:17 | |
He's not been the same
ever since he coined | 0:50:17 | 0:50:20 | |
the phrase Who Dares Wins? | 0:50:20 | 0:50:25 | |
Nighty, night. | 0:50:25 | 0:50:26 | |
Don't let the gobbler bite. | 0:50:26 | 0:50:31 | |
# Could it be forever or am
I just wasting time? | 0:50:31 | 0:50:35 | |
# I don't think so,
because you let me know. | 0:50:35 | 0:50:38 | |
# You make me feel like you're mine. | 0:50:38 | 0:50:40 | |
# Well, I feel like you're mine. | 0:50:40 | 0:50:42 | |
# And I can't remember when
the feelings have been stronger. | 0:50:42 | 0:50:45 | |
# And all I know is I
can't let go of you. | 0:50:45 | 0:50:49 | |
Hi, Drumstick. | 0:50:49 | 0:50:53 | |
# Just a little while longer. | 0:50:53 | 0:50:55 | |
Wow! | 0:50:55 | 0:50:56 | |
Big bird. | 0:50:56 | 0:50:58 | |
Drumstick, you are hereby pardoned. | 0:50:58 | 0:51:08 | |
Drumstick and his friend will live
out their days at Gobbler's Rest. | 0:51:09 | 0:51:11 | |
Beautiful place. | 0:51:11 | 0:51:17 |