:00:27. > :00:32.Hello and welcome to the programme. Coming up this week. Will Edwin
:00:32. > :00:35.Poots apologise for calling a fellow MLA a village idiot? We
:00:35. > :00:39.offer him the opportunity. Is it arrogance and fear that drive
:00:39. > :00:44.the Assembly to control the flow of information?
:00:44. > :00:50.And, Mike Nesbitt tells us why he's the man to run the Ulster Unionist
:00:50. > :00:54.Party. Coward, blackguard, git,
:00:54. > :00:57.guttersnipe, hooligan, hypocrite, ignoramus, liar, pip squeak, rat,
:00:57. > :01:02.swine, stool pigeon, tart and traitor, all terms of abuse that
:01:02. > :01:05.have been deemed unParliamentary in the House of Commons. So when the
:01:05. > :01:09.Health Minister, Edwin Poots called Keiron McCarthy a village idiot,
:01:09. > :01:15.the party asked the speaker to take action. No retraction or apology
:01:15. > :01:18.for the minister so far who's with me now. Are you guilty of using
:01:18. > :01:21.unParliamentary language? That's for the speaker's office to judge
:01:21. > :01:25.and obviously people have complain and we'll await the outcome. Do you
:01:25. > :01:28.think you should be using such terms? Well, we are in the cut and
:01:28. > :01:31.thrust of robust debate and certainly there's a lot of things
:01:31. > :01:35.that were thrown about that particular day. Nothing like that?
:01:36. > :01:39.That's the nature of it. You were accused of things like destroying
:01:39. > :01:43.the Health Service but nobody called you any of the terms like
:01:43. > :01:48.the ones I've thrown out? McCarthy said anybody with a brain
:01:48. > :01:53.would have seen this was going to be a disaster, so the contagions of
:01:53. > :01:56.that... William Hague, a member of your party, said that language in
:01:56. > :01:59.Stormont would be judged against standards of courtesy, good temper
:01:59. > :02:04.and moderation. Do you think calling someone a village idiot is
:02:04. > :02:09.in line with that? Well, that's a judgment for the speaker. What I do
:02:10. > :02:14.think is that the Assembly should be somewhere where people are
:02:14. > :02:18.robust, where debate is strong, that it isn't a name, isn't boring
:02:18. > :02:23.and doesn't lack colour and I leave nit the hands of the speaker's
:02:23. > :02:26.office. You could of course pre- empt that by saying sorry for using
:02:26. > :02:30.that language? Over the 14 years I've been an assembly member, I've
:02:30. > :02:35.shown respect for the speaker's office, whoever holds that position,
:02:35. > :02:38.and that continues to be the case. That's by the by though, nothing to
:02:38. > :02:42.do with whether you should apologise. I leave the judgment to
:02:42. > :02:48.the speaker's office. If he says you should do that, you will do
:02:48. > :02:52.that? I will abide by the office. This is was about a debate by the
:02:52. > :02:55.speaker's office. Mr McCarthy was just making some points about what
:02:55. > :02:59.he saw and what other people see as the state of the Health Service. Is
:02:59. > :03:03.it not a sign of you being perhaps more rattled than you would let on
:03:03. > :03:07.to being that you could react in such a way to the criticisms which
:03:07. > :03:14.are perfectly valid criticisms? would identify a lot of the
:03:14. > :03:18.comments that were made by three individuals. The vast majority of
:03:18. > :03:22.members made constructive comments. Some of them aren't happy with
:03:22. > :03:27.certain aspects, but they were done in a very constructive way. So for
:03:27. > :03:31.people like Mr Alastair, for example, to suggest that people
:03:31. > :03:37.dying on a trolley was something new, it's not something new.
:03:37. > :03:41.Something to be avoided even you would agree I'm sure? Absolutely.
:03:41. > :03:46.Very sadly, over the course of the years in accident and emergency,
:03:46. > :03:49.people come in there very unwell and over the period... And if left
:03:49. > :03:53.untreated, they will die? People have died. Well, of course that
:03:53. > :03:56.would be the case when people are not being left untreated. I would
:03:56. > :04:00.like to make this absolutely clear to the listeners tonight. The
:04:00. > :04:03.quality of care that people receive in our accident and emergency is
:04:03. > :04:09.higher than it was previously. Whenever we are dealing with
:04:09. > :04:12.situations where people have heart attacks, strokes, accept tus, major
:04:12. > :04:16.trauma, we are getting better results in accident and emergency
:04:16. > :04:20.than we ever were. Yes but... is where the real test lies.
:04:20. > :04:25.real test lies in several hundred people waiting more than 12 hours
:04:25. > :04:28.last month for care? The real test lies where people who're really
:04:28. > :04:31.seriously ill can go into an accident and emergency and have a
:04:31. > :04:37.fighting chance of actually coming out of that surviving and there's a
:04:37. > :04:40.better chance for those people than there ever was before. But you know
:04:40. > :04:45.that the response rate isn't high enough, you have asked for 95% of
:04:45. > :04:49.patients to be treated within four hours. That's clearly not happening.
:04:50. > :04:54.You will say it's 73 or 83, but you want it up more so it's not good
:04:54. > :04:56.enough? No, I want it to be better but the test on quality is the
:04:56. > :05:02.first Test that should be applyed to emergency departments and they
:05:02. > :05:05.are passing that test. It's the same quality for everyone surely,
:05:05. > :05:08.there should be an equality of treatment? I think someone who's
:05:08. > :05:12.had a bad back for two or three weeks and had the opportunity of
:05:12. > :05:15.going to their GP comes in, they shouldn't be seen in the same time
:05:15. > :05:20.as someone who comes in with a heart attack. The person with the
:05:20. > :05:25.heart attack needs treated immediately, the other person...
:05:25. > :05:31.Isn't that what triage is for, that's what happens anyway and we
:05:31. > :05:35.are not really arguing about that? If people have a sore wrist...
:05:35. > :05:38.them wait? No, prioritise and save people's lives. That's not really
:05:38. > :05:42.what the argument is about, the argument is about the 400 people
:05:42. > :05:44.who waited more than 12 hours last month to be seen. That's not
:05:44. > :05:48.acceptable according to the Assembly. Do you think it's
:05:48. > :05:52.acceptable? Not to the public, not acceptable to the Assembly and it's
:05:52. > :05:56.not acceptable to me. That was the very clear message I gave to the
:05:56. > :06:00.Chief Executives and the chairs of the Trusts -- the Trusts. I made it
:06:00. > :06:03.clear that in terms of the accountable system, the buck stops
:06:03. > :06:06.with me, but the chairs are accountable to me and the Chief
:06:06. > :06:12.Executives are accountable to the chairs. If the chairs and the
:06:12. > :06:15.boards... You keep saying they haven't been in office a year yet
:06:15. > :06:17.but a year is a long time in politics. If things have been
:06:17. > :06:21.allowed to slip to this state, surely that is your responsibility.
:06:21. > :06:26.You have to stand up and say, I am responsible for this. I would say
:06:26. > :06:30.things are not slipping. I would suggest that we took over a Health
:06:30. > :06:33.Service which had been allowed to descend into a shambles, and we've
:06:33. > :06:36.carried out actions which will help put things right. Easy for you to
:06:37. > :06:41.say, of course. Over the period of time, we will see improvements and
:06:41. > :06:44.we are seeing them. Many times your party called for the resignation of
:06:44. > :06:47.certain people, for example. You said he got �500 million extra,
:06:47. > :06:51.what happened to it, you are the Health Minister, you should know
:06:51. > :06:56.what happened to it? Sometimes we do ask rhetorical questions, but
:06:56. > :07:01.far too much of it has been spent on wages and so forth and not
:07:01. > :07:04.enough was spent on delivering. We need to ensure that every penny we
:07:04. > :07:08.get in the Health Service is money that is well spent. We can't afford
:07:08. > :07:15.to be wasting money within the health system. That's been the case
:07:15. > :07:19.and we do need to drive out that waste from the system. The minister
:07:19. > :07:23.has to take control and bring things back on an even keel before
:07:23. > :07:26.public confidence disappears. That was your party talking about the U
:07:26. > :07:35.ch P Health Minister, so you are not in exactly the same position oz
:07:35. > :07:40.that now? No, I'm not -- UUP. like you are according to the
:07:40. > :07:43.Assembly? No, I sat before the health mittty on Wednesday, very
:07:43. > :07:47.constructive discussions took place and we are working very well
:07:47. > :07:51.together. If we get two or three people in the Assembly who wish to
:07:51. > :07:55.make a lot of noise, that's something that they can do.
:07:55. > :08:00.took time to blame the media for this crisis, minister. You know
:08:00. > :08:03.very well the media, certainly the BBC, has responded to desperation
:08:03. > :08:08.calls from members of the public whose families have gone through
:08:08. > :08:12.the most terrible events. We have heard from doctors of all ranks
:08:12. > :08:16.who've gone through terrible events. There is a perception that there is
:08:16. > :08:20.a state of crisis? No, I'm not blaming the media on anything.
:08:20. > :08:25.you did in the Assembly? What I would be critical of is when the
:08:25. > :08:29.media encouraged people to come to them... Why would we not, we bring
:08:29. > :08:33.to you the problems of the nation? Exactly, you do bad news, not good
:08:33. > :08:36.news. So if you say to people, if you have some bad news story in the
:08:36. > :08:43.Health Service, come to us, you didn't say if you have good news
:08:44. > :08:47.stories we'd like to hear about them, doctors and nurses doing a
:08:47. > :08:52.great job saving life with exceptional skills, you didn't call
:08:52. > :08:56.for that, so the media needs to be balanced in these issues. We have
:08:56. > :09:01.issues and problems. I was in the Ulster Hospital in the accident and
:09:01. > :09:04.emergency on Tuesday, they have 303 people in on Monday and last year
:09:04. > :09:08.202, that's intense pressure but they are dealing with it very well.
:09:08. > :09:12.I need to ask you about the review of cardiac care for children which
:09:12. > :09:17.has started in the light of deaths of a number of children. Is that a
:09:17. > :09:22.sign that something's seriously wrong there? Over the course of the
:09:22. > :09:27.time, seven eight years, there were 68 operations carried out. They are
:09:27. > :09:30.very difficult operations and three babies lost their lives. That isn't
:09:30. > :09:35.that far from what the figures should be, 1 in 25, but nonetheless
:09:35. > :09:45.they were in the last three years and we are investigating that.
:09:45. > :09:46.
:09:46. > :09:50.I don't know why anyone is surprised by the cash for access
:09:50. > :09:54.revelations in Tory party, or the fact that David Cameron's secretly
:09:54. > :09:58.been having his rich donor pals over for crustless cucumber
:09:58. > :10:02.sandwiches at Downing Street. Forget the cuddly, pseudo-
:10:02. > :10:08.progressive stuff about supporting gay marriage, forget the fact that
:10:08. > :10:13.Tory babe Louise Mensch, fresh from posing for GQ magazine in a tight
:10:13. > :10:17.leather skirt and pussy blow blouse considers Cameron the most feminist
:10:17. > :10:21.Prime Minister ever. You only have to look at the smooth posh faces of
:10:21. > :10:26.Cameron, the old Etonian son of a stockbroker and George Osborne,
:10:26. > :10:31.heir to a barron, to realise the truth. Despite their attempts to
:10:31. > :10:35.detoxify the brand, the Tories remain the party of wealth,
:10:35. > :10:39.entitlement and privilege. Still, at least politicians across the
:10:39. > :10:43.water are compelled to be reasonably open about who's
:10:43. > :10:48.bankrolling their parties. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK
:10:48. > :10:52.where all identities of donors to political parties are kept secret.
:10:52. > :10:56.Supposedly this is because of the unique security situation here.
:10:56. > :11:00.There is a convenient and plausible sounding excuse, but I'm not
:11:01. > :11:04.convinced that identifying donors puts them or their party of choice
:11:04. > :11:08.at particular risk. The current arrangement allows
:11:08. > :11:10.parties to say, oh, of course we'd love to be fully open, but we
:11:11. > :11:14.simply can't, it's just too dangerous.
:11:14. > :11:18.Once more, the get-away was pleading special circumstances, but
:11:18. > :11:23.allow them to hold on to information that should rightly be
:11:23. > :11:28.in the public domain. This is the culture of entitlement, Northern
:11:28. > :11:31.Ireland style. Here, it's not about keeping power in the hands of the
:11:31. > :11:37.wealthy privileged few, our politicians are more than rough and
:11:37. > :11:46.ready types, sons of the soil, I can't imagine the likes of Edwin
:11:46. > :11:49.Poots or John O'Dowd holding white tie champagne soirees. There is a
:11:49. > :11:53.high-handed bent to distortment administration. For all the talk
:11:53. > :11:58.about transparency, there is a clear attempt to hold on to and
:11:58. > :12:03.control information. Brs placed under mild interrogation by
:12:03. > :12:07.journalists squawk at the very outrage at being called to account
:12:07. > :12:11.-- ministers. They comb plain that their noble work is far too
:12:11. > :12:15.negative. Now the Northern Ireland Executive wants to charge people
:12:15. > :12:21.for making a Freedom of Information request and we already know about
:12:21. > :12:26.the absurdly large squadron of spin doctors up at Stormont, 161 at the
:12:26. > :12:31.last count ready to shoot down any dangerous incoming inquiries. There
:12:31. > :12:36.really is a sort of siege mentality up there, just look at that
:12:36. > :12:40.paranoid memo from DCAL minister who said that the key consideration
:12:40. > :12:46.for all media handling is that the implementation of an early warning
:12:46. > :12:48.system is to ensure there are no surprises. The big difference
:12:48. > :12:52.between the Conservative Party brand of entitlement and the kind
:12:52. > :12:57.that prevails at Stormont is that the Tories are motivated by an easy
:12:57. > :13:01.in-born sense of privilege. Here, it's down to a weird combination of
:13:01. > :13:05.arrogance and fear. Either way, there should be no excuses about
:13:05. > :13:12.being open, truthful and genuinely accountable to the people who place
:13:12. > :13:16.them in power. Now, do you know what NEETs are? Not something you
:13:16. > :13:20.eat with potatoes on burns night or an infestation from a primary
:13:20. > :13:25.school. It's the acronym for youngsters not in education,
:13:26. > :13:35.employment or training. Their numbers are growing and they are
:13:35. > :13:40.costing Northern Ireland a quarter of a billion in lost productivity.
:13:40. > :13:45.I do one day a week. Sounds like a good job. Anyone want to come up...
:13:45. > :13:53.Meet the NEETs, these youngsters are between 16 and and in danger of
:13:53. > :13:58.becoming part of a lost generation. There are currently nearly 50,000
:13:58. > :14:03.young people like this in Northern Ireland, people not involved in
:14:03. > :14:06.education, employment or training. That figure has increased by 10,000
:14:06. > :14:11.since 2007. In the last six years, Northern
:14:11. > :14:15.Ireland has seen the greatest increase in NEETs of any UK region.
:14:15. > :14:20.It's an issue groups like this one, Opportunity Youth in Belfast, are
:14:20. > :14:24.trying to address. We'll assess on paper in terms of looking at what
:14:24. > :14:31.they need, to enable them to compete positively within the world
:14:31. > :14:35.of work. A lot of young people work through the employment programme
:14:35. > :14:42.and they have limiting self-belief in themselves and limited
:14:42. > :14:45.aspirations for their future in terms of employment. For me it's
:14:45. > :14:50.about letting them see they have qualities and skills that are often
:14:50. > :14:54.hidden but often drawn out through the focus of our work which is
:14:54. > :15:00.built upon a youth work manner. It's a problem for more than just
:15:00. > :15:04.the young people themselves. This week, experiments from across the
:15:04. > :15:08.world have been meeting in Belfast to offer solutions. The big issue
:15:08. > :15:12.is, there's something like one in five young people between the ages
:15:12. > :15:17.of 16 and 24 in this category. That from an economic point of view is a
:15:17. > :15:20.huge waste of resource to have these people sitting when they
:15:20. > :15:23.could contribute positively to the economy. We have done a bit of
:15:23. > :15:27.arithmetic around it which suggests that if you count the lost
:15:27. > :15:31.productivity from these people and you add in the benefits that they
:15:31. > :15:34.get, it's something in Northern Ireland like �5 million a week that
:15:34. > :15:39.it's costing the economy and you could do a lot in Northern Ireland
:15:39. > :15:43.with �5 million. It could be that this presents an
:15:43. > :15:49.opportunity... This isn't just a talking shop. This group are
:15:49. > :15:57.discussing business ideas. Here is another way of looking at a
:15:57. > :16:01.hair brain. This is my brain... One of the success stories is only
:16:01. > :16:07.19 and thanks to the youth centre in North Belfast, she now works
:16:07. > :16:13.with young people. It's the wee drop-in service and I called in
:16:13. > :16:17.when I was 15-25 when I had nothing to do, was sitting in, playing pool,
:16:17. > :16:21.Ping-Pong, TV, then I started volunteering, then they offered me
:16:21. > :16:25.a job and got funding from the lottery and offered me a part-time
:16:25. > :16:34.job nine hours a week and from then on I've been working there. So how
:16:34. > :16:38.do young adults end up with no qualifications?
:16:38. > :16:43.Basically I went to school for the first year then hardly went. I sat
:16:43. > :16:46.my GCSEs and all but never done well. Chris is now retaking
:16:46. > :16:53.qualifications, thanks to the Prince's Trust and Opportunity
:16:53. > :16:59.Youth and he's opt Mickic about the future -- optimistic. I think it
:16:59. > :17:03.will be all right. I'm doing a wee ICT course at night as well.
:17:03. > :17:08.Through Opportunity Youth, I've got my ICT level two, so hopefully that
:17:08. > :17:12.will open a few doors for me. young people in Northern Ireland
:17:12. > :17:15.leave school with no formal qualifications and that needs to
:17:15. > :17:19.change, according to the business community.
:17:19. > :17:22.In Northern Ireland, we are sort of deluding ourselves about the
:17:23. > :17:28.quality of our education system. We have got some brilliant education
:17:28. > :17:31.institutions and outcomes in education, but our problem is, we
:17:31. > :17:34.have a hugely long tail of under achievement where literally
:17:34. > :17:37.thousands of young people are churned out of the system every
:17:37. > :17:40.year who don't have enough to function properly in the labour
:17:40. > :17:45.market. We need to fix that, if we don't, it's up.
:17:45. > :17:50.Well, these are the men who can fix it. Both the first and Deputy First
:17:51. > :17:55.Ministers attended the last day of the Conference, albeit separately.
:17:55. > :17:59.Peter Robinson told delegates improving the economy for all was a
:17:59. > :18:04.priority, but there was a risk some would be left behind.
:18:04. > :18:08.While we have a policy programme for Government which is directed
:18:08. > :18:12.towards growing our economy, there is a recognition on our part that
:18:12. > :18:17.there are people who will continue to require support and we are
:18:17. > :18:22.putting in place programmes such as our social investment fund, social
:18:22. > :18:25.protection fund, to give assistance until we get the growth in jobs in
:18:25. > :18:29.our economy. Martin McGuinness, himself a former
:18:29. > :18:34.Education Minister, denied that the splits over selection were holding
:18:34. > :18:40.the system back. There is a very important debate
:18:40. > :18:42.taking place within education and there are different views and
:18:42. > :18:47.opinions. The debate around education is very important. Out of
:18:47. > :18:50.it will come a much stronger education system, much more equal
:18:50. > :18:54.education system and I think, for example, the establishment of the
:18:54. > :18:57.Education and Skills authority will be a very important contribution to
:18:57. > :19:02.all of that. As far as we were talking this morning about the
:19:02. > :19:05.opportunities for getting some work experience, what kind of... Back at
:19:05. > :19:14.Opportunity Youth, despite the great weather, this group of young
:19:14. > :19:23.people are persevering. Julia Paul with the NEETs.-he wants
:19:23. > :19:26.to lead the UUP. The contest is at the weekend. Welcome to the
:19:26. > :19:29.programme. Let's deal with that recent
:19:29. > :19:32.membership of the party. You have been in politics for three years,
:19:32. > :19:36.you want to lead the party, how could you possibly have the
:19:36. > :19:41.experience to enable you to do that? The surprising thing, when
:19:41. > :19:44.you think about the Ulster Unionist Party and the narrative that would
:19:44. > :19:49.suggest that it's a party that likes to have people serve their
:19:49. > :19:52.time and that usually is quite a long time, it's not an issue in the
:19:52. > :19:57.party. You need 35 signatures in nine constituencys to be able to
:19:57. > :20:00.stand with leader, I ended up with 94, certainly over 90, from about
:20:00. > :20:04.15 constituency, and when you look at tt names and get people who've
:20:04. > :20:08.been in the party a long time to look at the names, as I did, they
:20:08. > :20:13.are saying, you are right across every alleged faction, every area.
:20:13. > :20:18.Are you the desperation candidate? No. The mood has changed. This is
:20:18. > :20:23.the surprising, and to some people, shocking thing about the UUP. Go
:20:23. > :20:27.back 18 months when Basil and Tom sluged it out for the leadership,
:20:27. > :20:31.there was a settlement in the party that we wanted a transition from
:20:31. > :20:35.Reg to Tom. That's changed totally. People want change. You are not
:20:35. > :20:40.offering change, just more of the same? I'm offering change all right,
:20:40. > :20:46.I am. Where? There is no quick fix and that's the first thing to say,
:20:46. > :20:53.no quick foix where we are as the UUP. -- fix. If there is a big idea,
:20:54. > :21:00.it's not saying, let's get into bed with David Irvine, let's speak to
:21:00. > :21:04.the DUP. If there is a big idea, let's concentrate on ourselves. We
:21:04. > :21:10.are a unique party in Northern Ireland in terms of having around
:21:10. > :21:16.2,000 members. That is a fantastic resource. In Fermanagh? What is
:21:16. > :21:21.wrong with that? Slightly skews it all? Is that an issue to you,
:21:21. > :21:25.because I think the Fermanagh south Tyrone membership would be insulted
:21:25. > :21:29.that you are pointing at that. It emphasises there's a no-win
:21:29. > :21:33.situation with the media because it used to have... Don't go start
:21:33. > :21:38.blaming media! I'm not blaming the media, but you would have said
:21:38. > :21:41.previously a few years ago, you have got a block vote and the
:21:41. > :21:45.orange would have had this and that. We changed it and made it one
:21:45. > :21:48.person, one vote and this's no good either because there are more
:21:48. > :21:53.voters in Fermanagh. The challenge isn't to bash the people over the
:21:53. > :21:56.head, it's to grow up the membership, it's to build up the
:21:56. > :22:01.membership. You haven't told me where the change is in your
:22:01. > :22:06.campaign and leadership? We need to be more cohesive as a unit and
:22:06. > :22:10.coherent in the messages we offer. Nobody is going to vote for a party
:22:10. > :22:17.which appears to be split which demonstrates ill-discipline,
:22:17. > :22:20.particularly in the media, as we have done previously. We need to do
:22:20. > :22:24.two things, one political, one organisational. In terms of
:22:24. > :22:29.politics, we need better policies, better communicated, in terms of
:22:29. > :22:32.organisation, a better resourced organisation. I can offer both
:22:32. > :22:37.those things and there is nothing to beat hard work on the ground. I
:22:37. > :22:40.came in a couple of years ago, stood in the Westminster election,
:22:40. > :22:45.I had a campaign of six or eight weeks to convince people to vote
:22:45. > :22:48.for me. I was up against a man who had 20 plus years service on the
:22:48. > :22:56.ground, Noel, there was only ever going to be one winner. If we want
:22:56. > :23:00.to get back to where we want to be... Plus you were standing for...
:23:00. > :23:06.You seem to have abandoned that? have no problem with social justice.
:23:06. > :23:11.I'm not, I would say, a natural Tory, if you are talking about
:23:11. > :23:16.Thatcherer it policy, but social justice I would go with. Are you a
:23:16. > :23:21.type of Tory? No, I'm not. The difficulty was, we had an electoral
:23:21. > :23:24.pact with the Conservatives, rather than based on policy and politics.
:23:24. > :23:28.We didn't unveil it particularly well, in my opinion. There were a
:23:28. > :23:32.lot of logistical issues. Also, I would never give up our brand on
:23:32. > :23:35.our name. We will stand as Ulster Unionists on our own flag. It's not
:23:35. > :23:40.a flag of convenience, it summarises the values of service to
:23:40. > :23:44.the public. Let me read you this, a vision of unionism threatening to
:23:44. > :23:48.no-one, open to all in cooperation with our neighbours. Do you know
:23:48. > :23:51.who said that? Was it me? Peter Robinson was to say that this
:23:51. > :23:54.evening. What can you say that will beat that? It's not about words,
:23:54. > :23:58.it's about delivery. You could have said it because you wondered if you
:23:58. > :24:00.had, so it's something you could say? Oh, I could. What is the
:24:00. > :24:05.difference between you? difference is in delivery. He's
:24:05. > :24:09.said, for example, that he'd like a single education system. That is
:24:09. > :24:16.our policy. He said he'd set up a commission. He said that over a
:24:16. > :24:21.years ago. Where is the Commission? We will push through policies.
:24:21. > :24:24.not an original policy, that is DUP policy, it's in the manifesto?
:24:24. > :24:28.where is the delivery. The difference between us and the DUP
:24:28. > :24:31.is that I want us to have a light touch Government. If you speak to
:24:31. > :24:36.business people, they want to get rid of the red tape which the
:24:36. > :24:39.Chamber of Commerce estimates has cost something like �2.4 billion in
:24:39. > :24:43.recent years. If you speak to teachers, why not let them get on
:24:43. > :24:46.and teach. If we went to university together to get a degree and went
:24:46. > :24:50.back for the certificates to teach, it's not because we believe that in
:24:50. > :24:54.ten years' time, we are going to be millionaires from working in the
:24:54. > :24:58.classroom, teachers do it because thenl it's a vocation. Why can't we
:24:58. > :25:03.design a system which moves from a higher accountability, low trust
:25:03. > :25:06.regime to something which puts more trust in those who are volunteering
:25:06. > :25:11.to to do this incredibly important job. You have pointed out a couple
:25:11. > :25:14.of differences, maybe not significant some would say...
:25:14. > :25:18.Compared to the control freakery of the DUP and Sinn Fein is a major
:25:18. > :25:22.difference. All right. What is the defining characteristic or what
:25:22. > :25:26.would be the defining characteristic of a Mike Nesbitt
:25:26. > :25:30.Ulster Unionist Party? We'd have better policies better communicated
:25:30. > :25:34.and a better organisation which would reach out to every pro-union
:25:34. > :25:37.voter in Northern Ireland and we are coming up to the centenaries.
:25:37. > :25:40.When we look at the environment, there's never been a better time,
:25:40. > :25:48.Noel, never a better time to say to people, there is no reason not to
:25:48. > :25:51.vote for us. There's no reason not to support the union, the economy
:25:51. > :25:55.the country. Why would people not just to continue to vote for the
:25:55. > :25:59.DUP, as they have done? Look at the DUP, there's a control freakery
:25:59. > :26:04.about them, there is a similarity between the DUP and Sinn Fein. They
:26:04. > :26:08.like to have tight control. You look at what is coming out of the
:26:08. > :26:11.leisure industry, the ministers saying all the arms length bodies,
:26:11. > :26:15.you cannot issue a news release without approval from my department.
:26:15. > :26:22.I was in an arms length body, the Commission for victims and
:26:22. > :26:27.survivors, I would not have tolerated an ofpz FM saying do not
:26:27. > :26:31.put out a news release without our permission. What would you do with
:26:31. > :26:36.David? When I heard the news this morning that he'd been suspended
:26:36. > :26:43.for nine months, I was surprised because I thought it was a black-
:26:43. > :26:49.and-white issue, you are either in or not. You look at David McNary.
:26:49. > :26:53.The papers said 30 years ago he was criticising the then leader Jim
:26:53. > :26:59.Mullin. I heard him on live television before the Southampton
:26:59. > :27:04.result was declared, saying that... So you would have kicked him out?
:27:04. > :27:07.cannot see any circumstances under which he would get my whip as party
:27:07. > :27:13.leader. Would you kick him out if you were leader? It's not in the
:27:13. > :27:18.gift of the leader to kick him in and out. McAllister thinks it is?
:27:18. > :27:23.don't think he's right. The whole subject of opposition. John
:27:23. > :27:27.McAllister has an idea to take the party into opposition to establish
:27:27. > :27:31.a real identity for itself. You are going to refuse to do that or just
:27:31. > :27:35.now? There is no opposition or mechanism. Make one? Form one?
:27:35. > :27:39.would like to do that. I've called for one and you will have noticed I
:27:39. > :27:42.said why not have a referendum and that was rejected by Peter Robinson
:27:42. > :27:45.and the DUP have it in black-and- white that it's their policy to go
:27:45. > :27:49.for an opposition. But not to have a referendum on it, they say people
:27:49. > :27:53.vote for their thft, people know what they want? Yes, but they say
:27:53. > :27:59.they want an opposition and I do, so we agree on the result. The only
:27:59. > :28:03.argument is what mechanism to employ. Don't force the pace --
:28:03. > :28:07.just force the pace? I've tried. Why doesn't Peter Robinson come up
:28:07. > :28:13.with his alternative? He doesn't need to, it's you that's going to
:28:13. > :28:17.form the new road? He seds he wants an opposition that's as black-and-
:28:17. > :28:23.white as their policy. How will they bring it into effect. He wants
:28:23. > :28:29.a commission on a single education system. Where it? It's up to the
:28:29. > :28:32.DUP to come up with the idea? I'll press ahead and set up my own
:28:32. > :28:35.commission if I'm leader and we'll look at all the structures of
:28:35. > :28:39.Government. We'll bring in experts from all walks of life who'll tell
:28:39. > :28:45.us in the best way to take our political journey to the next stage.
:28:45. > :28:50.All the ins fusions -- institutions are finally up and running, we are
:28:50. > :28:55.not going backwards and the next positive step forward is to get
:28:55. > :29:01.closer to normal politics. weekend will tell. As always, we
:29:01. > :29:11.say may the best man win. We are taking a break over Easter along
:29:11. > :29:15.
:29:16. > :29:21.with the MLAs. We'll be back for the summer run in a fortnight. Bye.
:29:21. > :29:25.Br Bertie Ahern branded a liar because he couldn't account for
:29:25. > :29:35.�200,000 in cash. That would just buy you half an hour of a UVF trial
:29:35. > :29:37.