Browse content similar to 18/06/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Politics Scotland. | :00:18. | :00:19. | |
A plan for Prestwick to take off again. | :00:20. | :00:25. | |
The Scottish Government sets out how the airport will benefit | :00:26. | :00:27. | |
from a multi-million pound loan and funding deal. | :00:28. | :00:38. | |
Growing concern that the mounting crisis in Iraq, and how it could | :00:39. | :00:41. | |
affect us in Britain. And as the temperature heats up this | :00:42. | :00:46. | |
summer, so does the debate on independence - | :00:47. | :00:47. | |
with Scotland's Future up for Prestwick Aiport is to receive | :00:48. | :00:50. | |
a multi-million pounds makeover, Nicola Sturgeon, | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
the Infrastructure Secretary, told MSPs much of the money would be | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
used to improve the terminal building and that a maintenance | :01:00. | :01:02. | |
backlog would be tackled. More than ?15 million has already | :01:03. | :01:05. | |
been spent, Our Transport Correspondent David | :01:06. | :01:08. | |
Miller has more. And aircraft like this costs $80 | :01:09. | :01:26. | |
million, but it is landing at an airport bought by the Scottish | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
Government for just ?1. And remainder of the scale of | :01:31. | :01:33. | |
Prestwick's problems, but we are being told there are big | :01:34. | :01:37. | |
opportunities here. The main runway is huge, one of the longest anywhere | :01:38. | :01:44. | |
in the United Kingdom. The airport's supporters says it | :01:45. | :01:47. | |
underlines this place's importance, not only to the local economy, but | :01:48. | :01:52. | |
to the economy of Scotland as a whole. The Scottish Government's | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
aim, to avert closure and safeguard thousands of jobs. More than ?50 | :01:59. | :02:03. | |
million is already being invested as part of the effort to return | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
Prestwick to profitability and ultimately the private sector. If | :02:09. | :02:11. | |
and when that happens it will still be known as Glasgow Prestwick. The | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
Scottish Government is making an investment in the airport, in the | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
form of loan funding. And we require to generate a long-term return for | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
taxpayers money, so that is the first important point to stress, the | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
airport will be run on a commercial basis. Changing the name would | :02:31. | :02:35. | |
undoubtedly be a welcome move locally, but we need to promote and | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
market Prestwick airport to airlines and passengers across the world. | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
Critics argue the airport should have been allowed to close. Listers | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
are adamant it can have a viable future. | :02:50. | :02:52. | |
Let's speak to David Miller now. He's in our Edinburgh studio. | :02:53. | :03:00. | |
What is the big plan here? The big plan is to save jobs across central | :03:01. | :03:09. | |
Scotland. Ministers believe that Prestwick was too important, too big | :03:10. | :03:13. | |
to be allowed to fail. That is something its commercial rival | :03:14. | :03:18. | |
believes should have been allowed to happen, but the Scottish Government | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
took the view that this business could be turned around with | :03:24. | :03:28. | |
taxpayers money invested. It could be returned to profitability within | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
the next few years, and ultimately, as I mentioned in the report, to the | :03:34. | :03:37. | |
private sector. No one at transport Scotland or the Scottish Government | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
is suggesting it is going to be easy. Prestwick clearly has | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
turbulent times still to come. Mentioned the commercial rivals. | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
What could be the impact on them of Prestwick being saved? Up until | :03:53. | :03:59. | |
today, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports have been fairly | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
tight-lipped. They have been expressing concerns, and they are | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
not at all happy at the prospect of being forced to compete with the | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
publicly funded rival. Glasgow Airport, because it is closest, has | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
the most to lose. At Edinburgh would also point the number of arson | :04:18. | :04:21. | |
jurors from the capital and across the Lothian region who travel to | :04:22. | :04:29. | |
Prestwick to fly out with Ryanair to European destinations. So the big | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
two airports believe they have something to lose. They were | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
frustrated until today, and that frustration, I sense, is becoming | :04:39. | :04:42. | |
more and more leading to anger, really. They are certainly not happy | :04:43. | :04:51. | |
that so much money, as they would see it, is being invested in a | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
commercial rival to successful businesses at Glasgow and Edinburgh. | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
Interesting to hear anger is building up. At the Scottish | :05:03. | :05:04. | |
Government confident of the future of Prestwick? They seem to be | :05:05. | :05:12. | |
publicly, and they are acting on expert advice. They brought in | :05:13. | :05:16. | |
experts before they decided to step in and by the airport. Nicola | :05:17. | :05:20. | |
Sturgeon made it clear today that if she had not backed the plan, it | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
would have been closed on the jobs would have been lost. So publicly, | :05:26. | :05:31. | |
they are saying they are confident, and Prestwick will be more run on a | :05:32. | :05:48. | |
commercial basis. Each and every time they have to come back to | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
Parliament and say they are investing more public money in the | :05:52. | :05:54. | |
airport they will be subjected to more and more intense scrutiny, so | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
the pressure is on ministers to perform. | :05:59. | :06:03. | |
I'm joined for the duration of the programme by the political | :06:04. | :06:07. | |
It was a controversial decision for the government to buy Prestwick. It | :06:08. | :06:23. | |
still remains a contravention plan -- controversial plan. Prestwick has | :06:24. | :06:30. | |
suffered for -- from years of underinvestment. This links up | :06:31. | :06:40. | |
domestic policy, how Scotland is promoted and so on. It gets to the | :06:41. | :06:46. | |
crux of what is the Scottish Government's development strategy | :06:47. | :06:50. | |
because they have had to be short term reactive. They bought it for | :06:51. | :06:56. | |
?1, and we're hearing about rival airports. Yes, and Edinburgh has | :06:57. | :07:03. | |
good tram links, Glasgow Airport has never managed to work out the | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
transport. When the Grangemouth disaster happened last year, the | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
Scottish Government did not have in-depth relationships with | :07:14. | :07:15. | |
Grangemouth, so it is how to do things that are strategic rather | :07:16. | :07:19. | |
than being caught making decisions with long-term consequences quickly. | :07:20. | :07:21. | |
Thank you. Now, as the mercury rises this | :07:22. | :07:24. | |
summer, so does the heat Labour have time in parliament this | :07:25. | :07:27. | |
afternoon to debate, and they've chosen Scotland's Future with | :07:28. | :07:31. | |
a motion in Johann Lamont's name. We're on-air a bit later today, | :07:32. | :07:33. | |
so this is what the Scottish Labour Earlier this week I joined with my | :07:34. | :07:49. | |
colleagues to pledge more powers to Scotland. The people of Scotland now | :07:50. | :07:54. | |
know that whatever the result of the referendum, there will be change. | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
The choices separating off on to Rome, or sharing power our | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
neighbours will be believe it is in our interest to do that. Whether | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
those powers come to a devolved parliament on an independent one. | :08:11. | :08:13. | |
This debate has dominated Scottish politics. But we should not allow | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
that to distract from significant powers we already have at the | :08:19. | :08:23. | |
Scottish Parliament. I believe the key areas of realising ambitions for | :08:24. | :08:30. | |
Scotland lie in Holyrood, and it is up to us to set those priorities. | :08:31. | :08:38. | |
Education, to give those who lose their job the opportunity to retrain | :08:39. | :08:42. | |
for the next one. Health, the means to ensure sex and vulnerable are | :08:43. | :08:50. | |
supported and cared for. And to building a Scotland where people | :08:51. | :08:53. | |
have the physical and mental health to take up opportunities we would | :08:54. | :08:59. | |
create. Too often we debate about what we cannot do, and not enough | :09:00. | :09:10. | |
time talking about what we can do. For sometime this Parliament has | :09:11. | :09:21. | |
been the forum... We need to get past the constitutional question. | :09:22. | :09:24. | |
Issues over schools and hospitals are still a key factor in the | :09:25. | :09:28. | |
referendum campaign. That is because people will be asking themselves | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
whether I guess bought on a no vote will be best for public services. | :09:34. | :09:43. | |
And Yes vote give schools and services... | :09:44. | :09:55. | |
Members of the Scottish public, people who will come together to | :09:56. | :10:08. | |
decide our future, will have to choose between which side they | :10:09. | :10:10. | |
believe, whose arguments make the most sense, and what fits in best | :10:11. | :10:17. | |
with their view of the future. People often bemoan having to make a | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
choice at all. We see politicians setting out contradictory positions, | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
arguing that black is white, and are left wondering who to believe. | :10:30. | :10:33. | |
For some live political reaction, I'm joined from the Garden Lobby of | :10:34. | :10:50. | |
Holyrood by Labour's Infrastructure Spokesperson James Kelly and, | :10:51. | :10:52. | |
Do you think she was going for the natural topic of services? Isn't | :10:53. | :11:18. | |
there more topics to deal with? , in an independent Scotland B would have | :11:19. | :11:23. | |
?4.7 million less to spend, and what that would mean if you were a | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
classroom assistant or a cleaner that there would be less money in | :11:27. | :11:30. | |
budgets, and less money in the economy, people would have less | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
money in their pockets. It is becoming clear that we need the best | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
of both worlds, we need to share across the country of 63 million, | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
rather than the risk of independence with only 5 million to protect us. | :11:43. | :11:50. | |
James Kelly, she was talking about the powers that we have already, | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
they lie in Holyrood, such as education. It does not sound as if | :11:55. | :11:59. | |
they are particularly keen to bringing more powers to Holyrood. In | :12:00. | :12:03. | |
the proposals for a possible no vote, you were out by the | :12:04. | :12:09. | |
Conservatives. Not at all. We have an extensive report and a devolution | :12:10. | :12:16. | |
commission, just to give an example, if you devolved housing benefit, | :12:17. | :12:20. | |
which is 1.7 billion, that would give a substantial power in order to | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
use that money imaginatively to tackle Scotland's housing crisis, | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
which the SNP has not been able to do currently. There are substantial | :12:30. | :12:35. | |
further powers that can come to give us a stronger Scottish Parliament. | :12:36. | :12:39. | |
It has become clear that this is what people are looking for. Kenny | :12:40. | :12:46. | |
Gibson, we will hear from Nicola Sturgeon shortly, but just on that | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
point that Mr Kelly was pointing out, the Scottish Government, he | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
says, do not use their powers properly. It took a long time to | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
tackle this so-called bedroom tax. Labour see that you're not using the | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
you already have. Bedroom tax is reserved. In terms of housing, to | :13:08. | :13:13. | |
contradict what James said, the number of affordable houses is that | :13:14. | :13:18. | |
a record level. We have reduced crime to the lowest level for 40 | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
years, and reduced NHS waiting times and cleaned up the hospitals. So | :13:24. | :13:28. | |
clearly things are working. It Scotland had more powers to do the | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
things that we've all want to be done, Scotland could be a much more | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
successful place. James denigrates countries of 5 million people or so, | :13:37. | :13:41. | |
if you look at fenland, Norway or Denmark, the amount of disposable | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
income people have and the quality of life is higher than in Scotland, | :13:47. | :13:53. | |
so be believe decisions will be better made. Johann Lamont has got | :13:54. | :13:58. | |
it wrong in terms of public services. If the Tories privatised | :13:59. | :14:07. | |
health, there will be further consequences because our budget will | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
be cut. Scotland will suffer a 17.2% cut in its budget over the next five | :14:13. | :14:20. | |
years with a no vote. If they vote no, we will have more cuts and | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
austerity. We believe with austerity, we can make Scotland more | :14:25. | :14:29. | |
successful and prosperous. But with a no vote, there is the possibility | :14:30. | :14:36. | |
of more powers. We heard that from the prounion parties. Stewart | :14:37. | :14:42. | |
Maxwell said today that you cannot trust the Unionist parties. John | :14:43. | :14:47. | |
Major said that was cheap and silly to say you cannot trust the prounion | :14:48. | :14:51. | |
parties to give more powers. Is that correct? We cannot trust them. We | :14:52. | :14:58. | |
already saw in the devolution commission, Labour promised to | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
devolving contacts, and they are not going to do that. They were going to | :15:03. | :15:08. | |
devolve air passenger duty, but they will not do that. It is quite clear | :15:09. | :15:23. | |
that having control of your own resources is a better way forward | :15:24. | :15:27. | |
than having to rely on someone taking decisions on your behalf. I | :15:28. | :15:33. | |
want to mention Prestwick airport, to get your reaction. Games, what do | :15:34. | :15:37. | |
you make of the Scottish Government's announcement today? | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
Multi-million pound investment? What we have seen today is ?50 million | :15:44. | :15:48. | |
being invested, but it months down the line, we still have not seen the | :15:49. | :15:53. | |
business plan. It is all very well bringing forward investment, but | :15:54. | :15:56. | |
Nicola Sturgeon admitted it will take several years to make the | :15:57. | :16:00. | |
airport profitable again, and the taxpayer, the public, the community | :16:01. | :16:05. | |
deserve to know how that money has been spent and what plans have even | :16:06. | :16:08. | |
put in place to make the airport profitable. Should taxpayers be | :16:09. | :16:18. | |
worried about the amount of money being invested eight in Prestwick | :16:19. | :16:24. | |
Airport? Taxpayers would be more worried if the jobs that rely on the | :16:25. | :16:32. | |
airport go. Air passenger duty, if it was devolved, would restore ten | :16:33. | :16:35. | |
flight a day to Stansted alone just through Ryanair. Quite clearly, if | :16:36. | :16:45. | |
air passenger duty was devolved, which the Tories and Labour have | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
rejected, that would help restore Prestwick Airport. You can only get | :16:51. | :16:53. | |
that policy for Scotland with independence. Thank you both very | :16:54. | :17:08. | |
much for joining us. Let's pick up first on that Labour point. What did | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
you think of Johan Lamont focusing on public services? She is focusing | :17:14. | :17:26. | |
on risks. This is a very traditional Labour approach, talking about | :17:27. | :17:32. | |
public services. The independence debate is not just about public | :17:33. | :17:35. | |
services, it is about the kind of society we are, wealth and | :17:36. | :17:43. | |
inequality. It is a kind of base approach. What do you make of the | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
wider independence debate this week? There was a photocall at | :17:48. | :17:58. | |
Carlton Hill. John Major intervened as well. How have they played out in | :17:59. | :18:06. | |
the referendum debate? Every former Prime Minister will be involved in | :18:07. | :18:13. | |
this debate to an extent. He thought he intervened to save the union in | :18:14. | :18:19. | |
1992. He was talking about the perceived threat to NATO, how the | :18:20. | :18:23. | |
Americans feel about this. There is clearly American anxiety about | :18:24. | :18:27. | |
change. I thought the Carlton Hill declaration was interesting. The | :18:28. | :18:33. | |
three prounion parties have to work together. But I working together, | :18:34. | :18:40. | |
they make this debate about the most feasible kind of change they can | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
deliver. That plays on to Alex Salmond's territory of independence | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
been the simplest form of change. There was caught in Scotsman | :18:52. | :19:00. | |
newspaper today about parties coalescing to the lowest common to | :19:01. | :19:04. | |
nominate in terms of an offer of more powers for the parliament. Do | :19:05. | :19:09. | |
you agree with that? Yes, because all three parties are different. We | :19:10. | :19:18. | |
have heard a set of interior and minimalist apostles. If they come | :19:19. | :19:27. | |
together, they would fall back to their minimalist position because | :19:28. | :19:35. | |
there would be a huge story of the parties rewriting their policies. | :19:36. | :19:37. | |
Thank you. Now, we heard earlier from the | :19:38. | :19:39. | |
Labour leader Johann Lamont about Scotland's Future - the Labour-led | :19:40. | :19:42. | |
debate in the Scottish Parliament. It's the turn of the | :19:43. | :19:45. | |
Scottish Government to respond, so let's now hear from the Deputy | :19:46. | :19:47. | |
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. I very much welcome the debate from | :19:48. | :19:55. | |
Labour today. Johan Lamont said in her opening speech that one of the | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
key questions in this debate is whether yes or no is best for our | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
public services. I very much agree with that. So this debate is very | :20:04. | :20:10. | |
timely, I did say, coming as it does coming on the very same day that the | :20:11. | :20:15. | |
vice convener of Unison in Scotland has declared for yes. His backing | :20:16. | :20:23. | |
for independence comes hard on the heels of Pat Kelly, senior Labour | :20:24. | :20:29. | |
activist and former president of the STUC, Jimmy Carter, vice-chair of | :20:30. | :20:35. | |
Renfrewshire South Labour Party and the general secretary of Muslim | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
friends for Labour. All of these people, together with Bob Thomson | :20:40. | :20:45. | |
and Carol Fox, understand that independence is the best route to a | :20:46. | :20:50. | |
favour Scotland. Who knows? Independence may also be the best | :20:51. | :20:57. | |
rate reinvigorated Labour Party. On the evidence of today, the Labour | :20:58. | :21:00. | |
Party in Scotland badly needs reinvigorated. All in all, Presiding | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
Officer, Johan Lamont couldn't have picked a better moment to | :21:07. | :21:12. | |
demonstrate how increasingly out of touch she is with her own | :21:13. | :21:15. | |
supporters. The real reason I welcome this debate is it gives me, | :21:16. | :21:22. | |
against the backdrop of building momentum for yes, the perfect | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
opportunity to set out again the positive case for Scotland becoming | :21:28. | :21:36. | |
an independent country. To set out firstly the evidence that we can | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
more than afford to be an independent country. Let's just | :21:42. | :21:45. | |
remind ourselves of the facts in the midst of the doom and gloom that | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
characterised the speech from Johan Lamont. An independent Scotland | :21:50. | :21:55. | |
would be the 14th richest country in the OECD. Not worse off, but better | :21:56. | :22:03. | |
off than the UK. We generate more I put her hate -- per head than France | :22:04. | :22:14. | |
and Japan. We have generated more tax per person than the UK as a | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
whole. Over the past five years, our public finances have been stronger | :22:20. | :22:24. | |
than the UK's to the tune of ?8.3 billion. Does the Deputy First | :22:25. | :22:31. | |
Minister not feel a little bit silly for saying in the White Paper that | :22:32. | :22:38. | |
we would be the eighth? The key point here is the relative advantage | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
of Scotland over the UK is absolutely maintained. I don't know | :22:44. | :22:46. | |
whether the Conservatives think it is silly to point out the inherent | :22:47. | :22:51. | |
wealth of this country. I actually think that is a good thing. If they | :22:52. | :22:57. | |
spent more time talking up Scotland, rather than talking it down, maybe | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
they would not be in the dire position they are in. Scotland can | :23:02. | :23:09. | |
be independent. The question on the ballot paper is not can we, it is | :23:10. | :23:17. | |
should we. We published our draft independence bill earlier this week. | :23:18. | :23:25. | |
Johan Lamont is right that there was a contrast. Our bill shows how | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
Scotland, with the confidence and powers of an independent nation, | :23:32. | :23:35. | |
could set our aspirations and work towards fairness in our society as | :23:36. | :23:42. | |
well as remove nuclear weapons from our soil. The opposition parties | :23:43. | :23:50. | |
offered are paid in our pork. -- J Hake. -- a pig.. | :23:51. | :24:09. | |
We want the people of this country to decide how this country is run in | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
the whole range of government activity. Taxation, welfare, health, | :24:16. | :24:22. | |
foreign affairs and Justice. To take responsibility for our own future. | :24:23. | :24:29. | |
To maximise our own opportunities. Let's hear the response | :24:30. | :24:31. | |
from the Scottish Conservatives, in Back in the real world, let's look | :24:32. | :24:47. | |
at the document that Nicola Sturgeon bustle keen to court, but less keen | :24:48. | :24:52. | |
to take interventions and questions on. She boasted about what a | :24:53. | :24:57. | |
fabulous document the outlook for Scotland's public finances and the | :24:58. | :25:02. | |
opportunities of independence actually is. She talked about how | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
this document proved that on every conceivable measure an independent | :25:06. | :25:11. | |
Scotland would be richer, would have healthier finances, than the rest of | :25:12. | :25:18. | |
the UK. What Nicola Sturgeon didn't say, and what the document doesn't | :25:19. | :25:23. | |
say at the beginning, what it only says tucked away in a box halfway | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
through on page 26 is this. Every single scenario in that document | :25:30. | :25:35. | |
relies upon what is called scenario four of the Scottish Government's | :25:36. | :25:42. | |
oil and gas projections. That believes that he would get ?6.9 | :25:43. | :25:49. | |
billion of revenue from oil and gas in the first year of an independent | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
Scotland. Rising to ?7.3 billion the year after. On any analysis, deputy | :25:56. | :26:00. | |
Presiding Officer, that is an optimistic scenario for oral and | :26:01. | :26:08. | |
gas. It is a fool for billion pounds higher than the central scenario of | :26:09. | :26:13. | |
the Office for Budget Responsibility. They predict... | :26:14. | :26:22. | |
Every time you mention the OBR, you get a scoffing from the SNP. You get | :26:23. | :26:29. | |
Alex Neil, of all people, seeing they are very reliable, that what. | :26:30. | :26:34. | |
Time now for Prime Minister's Questions, where the issue of Iraq | :26:35. | :26:37. | |
dominated exchanges between David Cameron and Ed Miliband. | :26:38. | :26:39. | |
Mr Cameron repeated his warning that British people who | :26:40. | :26:41. | |
became radicalised in Iraq and Syria could carry out attacks here | :26:42. | :26:42. | |
He added the Home Secretary had used powers to seize the passports | :26:43. | :27:05. | |
from people suspected of wanting to travel to the region. | :27:06. | :27:08. | |
I can tell the house that the latest reports indicate fighting is | :27:09. | :27:23. | |
continuing and there is a large-scale recruitment of Shia | :27:24. | :27:30. | |
militias and other young recruits to the Iraqi armed forces. When you get | :27:31. | :27:42. | |
this combination of poor governance, support for extremists, you get the | :27:43. | :27:51. | |
opportunities for the terrorists. I agree. This crisis has consequences | :27:52. | :27:58. | |
for the whole world, including the UK. Can he tell us the extra | :27:59. | :28:05. | |
measures the government is taking to ensure that British National is in | :28:06. | :28:08. | |
the region cannot return here and engage in violent extremism or | :28:09. | :28:14. | |
terrorism? Can he say what the government is doing to prevent | :28:15. | :28:17. | |
people in this country becoming radicalised and travelling to the | :28:18. | :28:20. | |
region in order to fight? I believe this is the correct focus. Our | :28:21. | :28:26. | |
approach to this issue must be based on a hard-headed assessment of our | :28:27. | :28:30. | |
national interest. Most important of all is how to keep our citizens at | :28:31. | :28:36. | |
home safe. We will be legislating in this session of Parliament to make | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
the planning of terrorist attacks overseas illegal here in the UK. We | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
will be making sure our security, intelligence and policing resources | :28:48. | :28:50. | |
are focused on this part of the world and the danger of British | :28:51. | :28:54. | |
people travelling there, becoming radicalised and returning to the UK. | :28:55. | :28:58. | |
We have stopped a number of people travelling and have taken away | :28:59. | :29:02. | |
passports, including using the new powers we legislated for in the last | :29:03. | :29:06. | |
Parliament. We will continue doing all we can to keep our country safe. | :29:07. | :29:11. | |
Everything we are seeing across this region begs a fundamental question | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
of whether it can develop politics where people live alongside each | :29:16. | :29:21. | |
other as citizens, rather than dividing along religious or | :29:22. | :29:26. | |
sectarian lines? While we should provide assistance for that to | :29:27. | :29:30. | |
happen, in the end it is about the political will of those in the | :29:31. | :29:33. | |
region that will determine whether that happens or not? It would be a | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
mistake to believe that the only answer to these problems is the hard | :29:40. | :29:45. | |
attack of direct intervention. We know that can create problems of | :29:46. | :29:49. | |
itself. I disagree with those people who think this is nothing to do with | :29:50. | :29:54. | |
us and if you want to have some sort of extreme Islamist regime in the | :29:55. | :29:58. | |
middle of Iraq, that won't affect us. It will. The people in that | :29:59. | :30:03. | |
region, as well as trying to take territory, are also planning to | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
attack us in the United Kingdom. The right answer is to be patient and | :30:09. | :30:13. | |
intelligent with the interventions we make. The most important | :30:14. | :30:18. | |
intervention of all is to make sure these governments are truly | :30:19. | :30:20. | |
representative of the people who live in their countries, that they | :30:21. | :30:24. | |
caused in the ungoverned space and remove the export -- remove the | :30:25. | :30:29. | |
support for the extremists. We have to help in Iraq, Somalia, Syria, | :30:30. | :30:40. | |
because if we don't these problems will come back to hurt us at home. | :30:41. | :30:45. | |
Let's stay at Westminster, this time outside the chamber of the | :30:46. | :30:48. | |
House of Commons and over to College Green, where our correspondent | :30:49. | :30:51. | |
What has Ed Balls been saying? There has been a com prince of enquiry | :30:52. | :31:06. | |
into the consequences of independence in Scotland. They have | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
been focusing over the currency issue. They have heard evidence from | :31:10. | :31:16. | |
the Chancellor, the chief secretary, Danny Alexander, and | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
today it was the turn of Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor. He has said | :31:21. | :31:26. | |
that if there was an independent Scotland would be no currency union | :31:27. | :31:29. | |
between the rest of the UK an independent Scotland. He was at | :31:30. | :31:36. | |
pains today to make it plain that as far as he was concerned whoever | :31:37. | :31:40. | |
would be in government at this place after the next general election, and | :31:41. | :31:43. | |
if there was Scottish independence, there would not be a currency union | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom. Once you move away | :31:49. | :32:01. | |
from the fundamental underpinnings of a single currency, to continue | :32:02. | :32:05. | |
with the single currency would be to make all the mistakes and worse that | :32:06. | :32:11. | |
were made in the Euro in the early years. It would not be being -- it | :32:12. | :32:17. | |
would not be in the interests of anyone in the United Kingdom. I | :32:18. | :32:23. | |
could never recommend it. It would not happen, shouldn't happen, and | :32:24. | :32:27. | |
will not happen if there is a Labour government. So, Ed Balls not | :32:28. | :32:33. | |
changing his position there. I understand you have some guests to | :32:34. | :32:36. | |
pick up on those issues. Yes, I have. We will pick up on some | :32:37. | :32:43. | |
important issues. I am joined by Charles Kennedy, and Angus MacNeil. | :32:44. | :32:50. | |
Charles Kennedy, a bit of a strange Prime Minister's Questions today. | :32:51. | :32:54. | |
The politics went out of it because there was an important issue, the | :32:55. | :33:00. | |
mounting crisis in Iraq. Yes, we have been here before, tragically. | :33:01. | :33:03. | |
We have seen that kind of atmosphere before. The big difference this time | :33:04. | :33:14. | |
is, thank God, Barack Obama is not George Bush, and David Cameron is | :33:15. | :33:20. | |
not trying to follow up Tony Blair. Do we have a situation where the | :33:21. | :33:23. | |
British Trade Minister has to say, however much we might not like it, | :33:24. | :33:28. | |
we have to step out on this one? The Americans will dictate the pace, | :33:29. | :33:35. | |
ultimately. The big difference with what went before is going to be a | :33:36. | :33:40. | |
very cautious pace. We are right to have this engagement with Iran, but | :33:41. | :33:45. | |
we have to proceed with great care because it is a double-edged sword. | :33:46. | :33:51. | |
It was noticeable, Mr Brown, that David Cameron was blunt, saying that | :33:52. | :33:57. | |
what happens in Iran could at some point have a direct impact on what | :33:58. | :34:04. | |
happens in the UK. Absolutely. If we look at the figures quoted today, | :34:05. | :34:07. | |
potentially 400 young individuals from here in the UK taking part in | :34:08. | :34:16. | |
the conflict, the killing of innocent people, it makes you | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
wonder, how will we control that going forward in the future? The | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
questions we are being asked about any of the individuals coming back | :34:25. | :34:28. | |
to this country, what will we do to prevent that happening, and the | :34:29. | :34:31. | |
Prime Minister has said about anyone from here engaging in a process that | :34:32. | :34:36. | |
would lead in conflict overseas. Legislation will be considered for | :34:37. | :34:43. | |
dealing with that in the future. You have some personal knowledge of the | :34:44. | :34:46. | |
area out there. Yes, four or five years ago I went with one of my | :34:47. | :34:51. | |
parliamentary colleagues. That was at the request of a group in London, | :34:52. | :35:00. | |
and we witnessed the press it -- persecution of Christians and | :35:01. | :35:05. | |
murdering of people as well. It was a horrible state of affairs. And it | :35:06. | :35:10. | |
shows that the area is still anything but secure, but with | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
different people involved in conflict. Angus MacNeil, what can | :35:15. | :35:20. | |
the British government do, realistically. Is it enough to say, | :35:21. | :35:25. | |
we have to leave it to the United Nations, orders necessary, we follow | :35:26. | :35:30. | |
the United States? The reality is that the Empire is long over. It | :35:31. | :35:38. | |
will be the Americans who dictate the pace in this. David Cameron last | :35:39. | :35:47. | |
August was trying to roll in behind the very people he is trying to rail | :35:48. | :35:58. | |
against in Iraq. We have to look at the history of this and the | :35:59. | :36:01. | |
tinderbox situation it is, who was the lighting the fire at the | :36:02. | :36:07. | |
beginning. We had words calling for Tony Blair to be impeached, which I | :36:08. | :36:19. | |
would support. And the Chilcott enquiry, that should not be buried | :36:20. | :36:24. | |
until after the referendum. We have to understand the processes going on | :36:25. | :36:27. | |
at Westminster that the time leading up to the Iraq war, which has led to | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
the situation we have at the moment. If the situation gets worse and the | :36:33. | :36:39. | |
Americans decide to take some kind of military action and they request | :36:40. | :36:43. | |
help from Britain, what should David Cameron do? It depends on the nature | :36:44. | :36:49. | |
of the military action. It is highly unlikely the Americans with boot GIs | :36:50. | :37:07. | |
-- would put GIs into this. If, on the other hand, which is in line | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
with what Barack Obama does elsewhere, if he decides on drone | :37:13. | :37:15. | |
attacks, that is something we have to acquiesce in. The problem about | :37:16. | :37:21. | |
drone attacks in these built-up areas is that you are liable to take | :37:22. | :37:25. | |
out as many civilians as you are to hit the people you are trying to | :37:26. | :37:29. | |
get. Russell, what is Labour's view on this? Charles has laid it out | :37:30. | :37:39. | |
precisely. It is about, do you go in random drone attacks which kill | :37:40. | :37:44. | |
innocent people? I would hope we would be speaking to other allies in | :37:45. | :37:51. | |
that area to try to get people round a table. There will be some who say | :37:52. | :37:57. | |
that the group are not for talking to. But at some stage we have got to | :37:58. | :38:02. | |
engage with allies in the area to try to assist us through this and | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
get people to start talking to one another, rather than continual | :38:07. | :38:12. | |
killing and slaughtering. If the call comes from the White House, | :38:13. | :38:15. | |
what should the British government do? We have to assess the situation | :38:16. | :38:23. | |
as it is at the time. We have to look at how the situation is | :38:24. | :38:27. | |
developing, as was done in the Syrian situation last August, and | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
the correct call was made not to intervene then, which would have | :38:32. | :38:36. | |
made the situation worse. Half to assess the situation when it arises. | :38:37. | :38:47. | |
Engagement is our one whole because... Charles Kennedy, the Home | :38:48. | :38:54. | |
Office is getting a lot of stick about the problems with passports, | :38:55. | :38:57. | |
people cannot get them. Is it something that you, as a | :38:58. | :39:05. | |
constituency MP, is impacting on you? Yes, it has been going on for | :39:06. | :39:11. | |
some time, it is getting worse. The government and passport authority | :39:12. | :39:16. | |
are both responding to it, but it is too little, too late. It has caused | :39:17. | :39:21. | |
real upset and distress at local community family level. We have all | :39:22. | :39:28. | |
experienced it as constituency MPs. And Scotland are ahead of the pack | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
because our calendar is difficult because of the school holiday | :39:34. | :39:38. | |
timing, so we have been hit first. People with long memories will | :39:39. | :39:41. | |
perhaps remember when Labour was in government, when there were similar | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
problems with the passport office. Can it affect any party? Yes, it is | :39:46. | :39:50. | |
how you deal with the problem that arises. And early indications for us | :39:51. | :39:56. | |
well around mid-February, and it has escalated. So within the passport | :39:57. | :40:01. | |
service, people knew there were problems then, but it was not being | :40:02. | :40:08. | |
dealt with. Thankfully they are not looking -- they are looking at | :40:09. | :40:11. | |
applications based on who needs the passport first, and those people who | :40:12. | :40:15. | |
are applying for a passport is about three weeks before they are due to | :40:16. | :40:21. | |
go do not stand much chance, I suspect. But it is about getting | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
more resources to get rid of this backlog. It went from 300,000 to | :40:28. | :40:38. | |
420,000. Will the government have to throw whatever resources are needed | :40:39. | :40:42. | |
that this problem? If you look back at 1999, the problem was caused by | :40:43. | :40:47. | |
outsourcing to private companies. The problem is due to the demand. I | :40:48. | :40:51. | |
have a constituent in Hong Kong who wants to get her son back to the | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
Outer Hebrides. She is married to a Canadian, fortunately, because | :40:57. | :41:04. | |
whatever she tries to do, the tobacco at the UK passport office | :41:05. | :41:07. | |
means she cannot get one for her son. Canada can do what Britain | :41:08. | :41:14. | |
cannot. Thank you very much for joining me. Act to you. -- back to | :41:15. | :41:18. | |
you. Time for a final chat with | :41:19. | :41:21. | |
our political commentator Let us focus on the Iraq situation. | :41:22. | :41:31. | |
David was talking about that at the top of his discussion. A difficult | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
situation for David Cameron. Yes, and it totally shape Prime | :41:37. | :41:42. | |
Minister's Questions today. Iraq casts a huge shadow, rightly, over | :41:43. | :41:46. | |
British foreign policy for the last decade. Western foreign policy | :41:47. | :41:55. | |
towards the Middle East and particularly Iran, Iraq, there is a | :41:56. | :41:59. | |
long failing going on there, since 1970, 1980. Britain has a lot of | :42:00. | :42:05. | |
responsibility there, we created a rack, the Balfour declaration, | :42:06. | :42:10. | |
Palestinian peace talks were stalled. -- we created Iraq. We are | :42:11. | :42:17. | |
following in the coat-tails of the US, because of defence cuts. A | :42:18. | :42:25. | |
senior Lib Dem minister has confirmed that people in the party | :42:26. | :42:30. | |
are discussing whether they should change their view on whether there | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
should be a referendum on Britain's membership on the European Union. | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
Yes, given that they stood for a referendum. When Nick Clegg was | :42:41. | :42:48. | |
asked what was the future of the European Union in ten years, he said | :42:49. | :42:57. | |
he saw at broadly as it is now. The status quo is fatal. We are almost | :42:58. | :43:04. | |
out of time. Let us just have a word on Ed Miliband. The problem with | :43:05. | :43:14. | |
holding the Sun newspaper. He then apologised for holding the | :43:15. | :43:16. | |
newspaper, which offended its readers. He is more unpopular than | :43:17. | :43:22. | |
Nick Clegg, which is an act in itself. Thanks very much for that. | :43:23. | :43:30. | |
That's it for now. We're back at our usual time of 2:30pm | :43:31. | :43:33. | |
over on BBC Two next week. I hope you can join us then. | :43:34. | :43:38. | |
Thanks for your company this afternoon. Bye for now. | :43:39. | :43:45. |