26/09/2012

:00:16. > :00:19.Hello and welcome to Politics Scotland. Coming up in this two

:00:19. > :00:29.hour special: We'll have live coverage of the Liberal Democrat

:00:29. > :00:34.conference in Brighton. The stage is set and Nick Clegg will be on

:00:34. > :00:37.his feet in the next half-hour seeking to reassure his party that

:00:37. > :00:40.the -- that there are stormy waters ahead.

:00:40. > :00:43.Scotland's new police chief says as many as 3,000 support staff could

:00:43. > :00:51.be lost as the forces merge. And the author JK Rowling says

:00:51. > :01:01.independence has not cast a spell on her. Scotland is doing great

:01:01. > :01:03.

:01:03. > :01:07.under devolution, I think. We are in a pretty stable condition.

:01:07. > :01:13.First, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will today tell his

:01:14. > :01:18.party conference not to pull back from economic decisions. With me to

:01:18. > :01:21.discuss this is Professor John Curtis from start -- Strathclyde

:01:22. > :01:31.University and ugly Barnes, the editor of the Scotsman. Thank you

:01:32. > :01:42.

:01:42. > :01:48.The question of the people in the hall are going to be asking is how

:01:48. > :01:58.are we Azzopardi going to get up the very low opinion poll ratings.

:01:58. > :02:06.What messages can the party come up with. Messages they might be able

:02:07. > :02:10.to get across on the doorstep and in the media. As far as the public

:02:10. > :02:14.is concerned, he has to give them a reason as to why they should listen

:02:14. > :02:24.to him in the first place. He tried to do that last week by saying he

:02:24. > :02:30.

:02:30. > :02:34.was sorry about the tuition fees promise. He has got to grab

:02:34. > :02:41.people's attention and he's got to be able to say, I am worth

:02:42. > :02:47.listening to. He has some key messages to get across. Last year,

:02:47. > :02:57.the first party conference when the cuts were starting to bite, is this

:02:57. > :02:57.

:02:57. > :03:04.a tough a conference for Nick Clegg? The economy has not picked

:03:04. > :03:07.up since last year the way they were hoping. There is also a

:03:07. > :03:17.question of a Nick Clegg's leadership and whether he is going

:03:17. > :03:22.

:03:22. > :03:32.to take them into the next general election. I think the apology may

:03:32. > :03:34.

:03:34. > :03:40.have dealt with the issue. He has articulated in this conference that

:03:40. > :03:44.he wants to contest the next general election. He has also tried

:03:44. > :03:51.to set out that the Lib Dems are not going to be a party of protest

:03:51. > :04:01.or a party that is none of the above party. He wants to show this

:04:01. > :04:01.

:04:01. > :04:06.is a genuine third party of Government. It is going to be tough.

:04:06. > :04:16.It is difficult for the Liberal Democrats to try and a just their

:04:16. > :04:18.

:04:18. > :04:27.mindset. -- I just their mindset. The Liberal Democrats are in

:04:27. > :04:30.Government so how do they get out of the whole they are in? The way

:04:30. > :04:36.they have revived themselves and the passes through successfully

:04:36. > :04:41.dealing on the back of a protest vote in by-elections. They were in

:04:41. > :04:44.trouble in the late 1980s, they won a by-election in Eastbourne and

:04:44. > :04:49.then a few months later in the North of England and they managed

:04:49. > :04:54.to recover. That avenue is not open to them because they are in

:04:54. > :04:58.Government. They have to learn how to revive their fortunes, given

:04:58. > :05:08.that voters are cross with some of the decisions they have made in

:05:08. > :05:11.

:05:11. > :05:16.Government. Thank you for now. Nick Clegg will speak at around 3pm.

:05:16. > :05:20.Let's cross to Brighton to speak to our political correspondent. We

:05:20. > :05:29.have been hearing from my guests in the studio that it is a difficult

:05:29. > :05:33.time ahead for Nick Clegg. I think that messages going to be

:05:33. > :05:42.throughout the speech. It is not going to be one of the jovial

:05:42. > :05:49.nature at all. We have seen some advanced copies of the speech

:05:49. > :05:55.already and he is warning the party that there are going to be tough

:05:55. > :05:58.times ahead. He's trying to persuade the party that the

:05:58. > :06:02.decisions being taken by the coalition of the right ones. They

:06:02. > :06:12.might well be difficult but he is looking forward to the 2015

:06:12. > :06:19.

:06:19. > :06:26.Election. Two of the people are going to be watching that speech

:06:26. > :06:33.joining out to discuss what you're hoping for from the speech. You

:06:33. > :06:41.were a candidate in Edinburgh North. What are you hoping for from the

:06:41. > :06:50.speech? What we're hoping for is that we'll get a clear sense of

:06:50. > :06:55.where we're going to stand in this next election. We want to see how

:06:55. > :06:58.we have differentiated from the at parties. A lot of this conference

:06:58. > :07:03.has been trying to put that clear distance between you and the Tories

:07:03. > :07:10.but there has been a lot of the century. How does Nick Clegg

:07:10. > :07:17.persuade you that that dissent is wrong? There is always to send at a

:07:17. > :07:27.Liberal Democrat conference. -- dissent. He'll be wanting to know

:07:27. > :07:33.

:07:33. > :07:37.that we are with him. We have to thrash out our differences. He has

:07:37. > :07:46.talked about that abuse that you can expect on the doorstep. That is

:07:46. > :07:52.not a message that is going to fill people with confidence. It is

:07:52. > :07:57.almost like a half-time speech. It is a rallying of the troops. We are

:07:57. > :08:07.not exactly popular at the moment but we have achieved rather a lot

:08:07. > :08:08.

:08:08. > :08:10.since we have been in Government. I hope Nick Clegg will be reinforcing

:08:10. > :08:17.this afternoon what we have achieved and set out the agenda for

:08:17. > :08:26.the second half of the parliament. What we have to say to those

:08:26. > :08:31.outside the hall? -- what will he have to say. He has started a new

:08:31. > :08:39.narrative with the apology. Whatever people make of that, it is

:08:39. > :08:43.an opportunity to start a new dialogue with people. He will be

:08:43. > :08:53.trying to say, we know we have not got everything right but I want to

:08:53. > :08:56.

:08:56. > :09:06.listen see you. -- listen to you. The other big constitutional issue

:09:06. > :09:11.

:09:12. > :09:20.is the referendum. I don't think he'll be making a big issue of it.

:09:20. > :09:24.He has treated it with a great deal of respect. There has not been much

:09:24. > :09:31.talking about leadership challenges. Do you think Nick Clegg has put

:09:31. > :09:38.back to bed? The media always likes to run the narrative of disruption

:09:38. > :09:43.in the Liberal Democrats. But he has done an excellent job. I think

:09:43. > :09:48.he's done a fantastic job with the situation he has been placed in. I

:09:48. > :09:51.don't see any sense in getting rid of him. This conference has not

:09:51. > :09:57.just nip asked just been about the austerity measures but about some

:09:57. > :10:07.of the things you are putting through the parliament. Do you hope

:10:07. > :10:08.

:10:08. > :10:14.the leadership take lessons of that? Into date after debate, which

:10:14. > :10:20.had cabinet member after Cabot number coming to persuade us which

:10:20. > :10:30.means they take the results of those debates extremely Sisley --

:10:30. > :10:35.

:10:35. > :10:44.Cabinet. There is still a lot of work to be done. When you leave

:10:44. > :10:50.here today, will you leave with a spring in your step as luck it has

:10:50. > :10:56.stopped raining for a start! You can hear some of the music starting

:10:56. > :11:00.in the conference hall. We are expecting the speech to last around

:11:00. > :11:05.50 minutes and that will bring the curtain down on this conference.

:11:05. > :11:10.Nick Clegg's wife is wearing a dress designed by a Scottish

:11:10. > :11:20.designer so we will have a look at that and see if it is likely to be

:11:20. > :11:21.

:11:21. > :11:27.a big conference when a. -- winner. Just listening to the delegates,

:11:27. > :11:32.they seem in an upbeat mood. There are always seems to be done and a

:11:32. > :11:42.care, whenever the media is having a pop up -- Popat party, in these

:11:42. > :11:42.

:11:43. > :11:46.conferences there is a natural rallying of the troops. But they

:11:46. > :11:54.are struggling and it is not a media hatchet job. It is desperate

:11:54. > :12:03.times for them. Nick Clegg's popularity is desperate. According

:12:03. > :12:08.to two recent opinion polls, it is at its lowest level ever. It was

:12:08. > :12:18.unrealistic to expect that there would be any movement on the

:12:18. > :12:18.

:12:18. > :12:22.leadership issue. The crucial date is going to be around 2014. That is

:12:22. > :12:27.when the party will decide whether it wants to get out of the

:12:27. > :12:32.coalition and whether they want to fight the election under Nick Clegg.

:12:32. > :12:40.The crucial people to decide will be his MPs. If they lose confidence

:12:40. > :12:46.in Nick Clegg, he won't last May -- very long. A busy day at Brighton

:12:46. > :12:55.for the Lib Dem conference and a busy day at Holyrood. Let's turn

:12:55. > :13:03.our attention to environmental policy. Efforts are being made to

:13:03. > :13:11.bus travel. Announcement will be made on the Green Bus Fund.

:13:11. > :13:16.Keith O'Brien is just getting to his feet. The Labour party is

:13:16. > :13:20.saying that this -- buses are being cut. The Government is committed to

:13:20. > :13:24.creating a more successful country for everybody in Scotland are to

:13:24. > :13:34.flourish through increasing economic growth. The Scottish Green

:13:34. > :13:37.

:13:37. > :13:43.Bus Fund is a subject of our debate today. It is an integral part of

:13:43. > :13:47.our commitment to sustainable economic future of Scotland. Public

:13:47. > :13:51.transport services play a vital role for employment and public

:13:51. > :14:01.services and training and leisure and friends and family. They

:14:01. > :14:08.

:14:08. > :14:12.produce less pollution and less congestion than the private car.

:14:12. > :14:22.The bus sector plays a particularly key role. The number of miles run

:14:22. > :14:25.

:14:25. > :14:30.by buses in Scotland covers 354 million kilometres. 80 % of all

:14:30. > :14:34.passenger journeys made by public transport. They also carry 12 % of

:14:34. > :14:38.the population to work on a daily basis. For many communities, they

:14:38. > :14:42.are the only means of public transport. Over the last few years,

:14:42. > :14:45.the Government has worked closely with the bus industry to support

:14:45. > :14:49.the introduction of more environmentally friendly vehicles

:14:49. > :14:59.into the Scottish Bus fleet. This debate will consider the importance

:14:59. > :15:13.

:15:13. > :15:23.of this work. This work is I would like to start by setting

:15:23. > :15:24.

:15:24. > :15:30.the context on delivering on our climate change agenda. Transport is

:15:30. > :15:33.a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions

:15:34. > :15:40.are by all transport account for quarter of all emissions in

:15:40. > :15:46.Scotland. Bus produces a 3% of road emissions but this figure is

:15:46. > :15:50.growing because of increases in the wake of conventional buses

:15:50. > :16:00.resulting from the equipment needed to be sure they are accessible by

:16:00. > :16:01.

:16:01. > :16:07.all passengers. Buses in urban areas also contribute to other

:16:07. > :16:10.emissions which affected air- quality. Since we see bus transport

:16:10. > :16:14.as an important and growing part of the transport makes it is important

:16:14. > :16:18.we take action to address environmental impacts and that is

:16:18. > :16:25.why we have been at incentive rising the purchase of low carbon

:16:25. > :16:29.vehicles. Part of this is the Scottish green bus fund. It can

:16:29. > :16:33.reduce the direct impact buses have on the environment in terms of

:16:33. > :16:40.carbon and other emissions. It improves the quality of service as

:16:40. > :16:48.a result of newer vehicles. It can increase demand for low cop on

:16:48. > :16:52.vehicles benefiting bus manufacturers. Although the

:16:52. > :16:56.government role is to try to incentive buys the purchase of a

:16:56. > :17:02.low carbon vehicles, it is not the idea we continue to do that for

:17:02. > :17:07.ever more. We want to provide encouragement for operators. This

:17:07. > :17:16.will help contribute to the reduction and cost of low carbon

:17:16. > :17:20.vehicles. It creates and sustained opportunities for Scottish

:17:20. > :17:26.businesses. It develops expertise in bus manufacturing an operation.

:17:26. > :17:31.We have completed two rounds of the green bus fund. The first have

:17:31. > :17:40.delivered 721 low carbon hybrid vehicles to nine different bus

:17:40. > :17:47.operators which provides services in Glasgow, Perth and Aberdeen. The

:17:47. > :17:57.cabinet secretary announce further funding for hybrid buses in 2013.

:17:57. > :17:57.

:17:57. > :18:03.It will bring Scottish funding for green buses to �11.3 million. What

:18:04. > :18:13.are the practical benefits? We have reduced the environmental impact as

:18:13. > :18:18.each new bass delivers a reduction in CO2 of 21 tonnes per year. In

:18:18. > :18:25.parallel with reducing carbon use these buses are producing less

:18:25. > :18:33.exhaust gases, helping to improve air quality. The initial estimate

:18:33. > :18:38.of around 40 % of a reduction in fuel consumption has been succeeded.

:18:38. > :18:45.As well as using far less fuel the benefits it has for the environment

:18:45. > :18:52.and businesses. New vehicles which have been supported by helping to

:18:52. > :18:57.encourage moral shift by delivering higher quality services. An example

:18:57. > :19:01.of the successful operation has been the No. 10 route for those who

:19:01. > :19:06.have used it in Edinburgh. The took the opportunity of improving the

:19:06. > :19:10.speck of the vehicle and developed a specific marketing brand. That

:19:10. > :19:16.demonstrates the extent boss uses respond to the provision of high

:19:16. > :19:26.quality, green transport. I mentioned also the economic

:19:26. > :19:29.

:19:29. > :19:35.opportunity. Green buses are very much a case in point. We are

:19:35. > :19:39.fortunate in Scotland at having Alexander Dennis, a world-class bus

:19:39. > :19:43.manufacturer which has been successful in developing hybrid

:19:43. > :19:49.buses. The green bus fund is competitive and market-driven.

:19:49. > :19:55.Operators receive grants. It is commendable that Alexander Dennis

:19:55. > :19:59.has enjoyed so considerable success in the first two grounds of the

:19:59. > :20:06.green bus funds and that has helped the company invest further in

:20:06. > :20:09.hybrid bus technology. I am grateful and I recognise the

:20:09. > :20:13.benefit of some of what he is saying but is there not a danger

:20:13. > :20:18.that this approach gives opportunities for the bigger bus

:20:18. > :20:22.companies to improve what they are doing while the smaller companies,

:20:22. > :20:26.some of whom are running the least fuel efficient and most polluting

:20:26. > :20:32.vehicles, do they get the chance to improve the vehicles they are

:20:32. > :20:37.running? That is a fair concerned but if you look at the way the fund

:20:37. > :20:43.is distributed you will see that small companies compared to the

:20:43. > :20:48.bigger ones benefit greatly from hybrid bus technology. Further

:20:48. > :20:53.development of the green bus fund there is the possibility of doing

:20:53. > :21:00.exciting things in relation to the school bus transport system, which

:21:00. > :21:06.is comprised of a number of small operators. So far that has been the

:21:06. > :21:10.picture with the green bus fund. Alexander Dennis has been winning

:21:10. > :21:15.orders across the world and they have substantial investment in bus

:21:15. > :21:25.building in Australia and they are continuing to innovate and look at

:21:25. > :21:33.

:21:33. > :21:36.how hybrids can be effective in operation. Alexander Dennis are

:21:36. > :21:42.able to provide examples of the delivery of other benefits that we

:21:42. > :21:46.have sought to deliver through the green bus fund. They have invested

:21:46. > :21:51.in technology, developed Scottish expertise and they are delivering

:21:51. > :21:57.real commercial benefits as well as environmental ones. We should all

:21:57. > :22:01.be very pleased about the turnaround taking place. That was

:22:01. > :22:06.the transport minister at Holyrood. Lots going on at Holyrood. In 10

:22:06. > :22:12.minutes we will get Nick Clegg's Speech but let's join Brian Taylor,

:22:12. > :22:18.our political editor. A big story today is Stephen House, the man

:22:18. > :22:27.taking the reins as Scotland's new chief constable, has said that as

:22:27. > :22:31.many 3,000 support staff could be lost as the forces merge. This is

:22:31. > :22:40.the consequence of centralisation which the party opposed most

:22:40. > :22:45.vigorously on grounds of exactly this point about jobs. They are

:22:45. > :22:49.saying they had been promises that jobs would be protected but one of

:22:49. > :22:57.the principal purposes of this exercise is to save money and you

:22:57. > :23:03.do not do that without shedding what would be in future duplication

:23:03. > :23:09.of back office effort. The response of the government would be that

:23:09. > :23:11.police numbers, policing on the ground will be maintained but they

:23:11. > :23:16.one of the new appointment and already there is a challenge to

:23:16. > :23:22.jobs. The Lib Dems have voiced their opposition but supported by

:23:22. > :23:28.the Conservatives and Labour. But 3,000 jobs is a lot for politicians

:23:28. > :23:35.to swallow. It is a lot of jobs over the entirety of Scotland but

:23:35. > :23:40.that could be spread over a period. Nonetheless cities are a

:23:40. > :23:44.disquieting factor but no one should be surprised about this. The

:23:44. > :23:50.object of the exercise is to save money and you save money by

:23:50. > :23:58.trenching on the number employed. The Labour leader signalling this

:23:58. > :24:02.policy shift. The something for nothing culture, that is still

:24:02. > :24:07.reverberating around Hollywood today. It is, members of the

:24:07. > :24:16.parliament still chatting over this. The narrative she is trying to

:24:16. > :24:20.drive is one where she depicts Alex Salmond as in some way shifty or

:24:20. > :24:24.untrustworthy. She did mix him in that position and she tries to

:24:24. > :24:29.characterise herself as being honest and straightforward with the

:24:29. > :24:33.voters. People are beginning to question whether the various free

:24:33. > :24:38.goodies can be sustained in the longer term and Labour's hope is is

:24:38. > :24:41.that they can gain political advantage by being straight with

:24:41. > :24:45.the electorate but the big challenge is that they are sitting

:24:45. > :24:50.on a commission that will not report for quite some time. In that

:24:50. > :24:55.interim, the SNP will be entitled to say that we are offering

:24:55. > :25:05.certainty on issues such as free personal care, Labour offering

:25:05. > :25:06.

:25:06. > :25:11.uncertainty. The Unionists are saying that the independence

:25:11. > :25:15.proposal is fraught with uncertainty. I have to say that SNP

:25:15. > :25:21.ministers are absolutely delighted, they can scarcely conceal their

:25:21. > :25:31.glee at what they will field is an advantage for them but Labour say

:25:31. > :25:34.

:25:34. > :25:38.this is genuinely what Joanne Lehman believes. -- Joanne Lamont.

:25:38. > :25:42.If they are talking about potentially removing some goodies,

:25:42. > :25:47.they have to talk up what they believe will be there in their

:25:47. > :25:51.place. If you are removing a council tax freeze, then you talk

:25:51. > :25:59.about the services that could be sustained in that regard. Right now

:25:59. > :26:04.ates the SNP faces that are looking chirpy around here. One other thing

:26:04. > :26:09.that is appearing at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton and possible

:26:09. > :26:13.agreement on the process of the referendum. Signals were coming out

:26:13. > :26:17.that there will be a single question. It has been looking

:26:17. > :26:22.extremely likely for quite some time. There are a couple of

:26:22. > :26:29.sticking points. Nothing is agreed until it is all agreed. I think

:26:29. > :26:34.there will be a single question. There will be a transfer of power

:26:34. > :26:41.as a consequence of section 30 of the Scotland Act to bring about a

:26:41. > :26:46.referendum and there will be an accompanying member on the other

:26:46. > :26:52.issues such as funding. I believe the Scottish government have set

:26:52. > :26:56.out a proposal for certain levels of promised an agreed funding and

:26:56. > :27:03.funding limits for the various campaigns. The other side would

:27:03. > :27:08.like them to be higher. Why? Well nationals say they UK wider

:27:08. > :27:12.unionist opponents can afford rather more than the SNP can. That

:27:12. > :27:17.is causing difficulty. I think the outcome will be this - there will

:27:17. > :27:21.be a single question. The power to determine the nature of that

:27:21. > :27:27.question will be given to the Scottish parliament and they will

:27:27. > :27:37.put the proposals to the electoral commission. 16-17-year-old will be

:27:37. > :27:39.entitled to vote and the ballot will be in October. The elements

:27:39. > :27:44.governing the broadcasting by the various campaigns during the

:27:44. > :27:49.elections, are other elements will be a memorandum that goes alongside

:27:49. > :27:55.it. It will all be signed and sealed in mid-October and it is on

:27:55. > :27:59.with the referendum. Let's talk once again with our two

:27:59. > :28:05.political commentators, Professor John Curtice and Eddie Barnes. We

:28:05. > :28:09.were just hearing from Brian and before we go to the conference

:28:09. > :28:16.speech in Brighton, we are moving close to a deal. But the

:28:16. > :28:20.interesting question is how that deal will be sold. Also we are also

:28:20. > :28:24.getting suggestions from the SNP that we may well discover that just

:28:24. > :28:28.before the agreement is reached they will publish the result of the

:28:28. > :28:32.consultation on the referendum they held in the spring, and they will

:28:32. > :28:36.conclude from that that there is a demand in Scotland for a second

:28:36. > :28:42.question on devolution and then when the agreement is reached they

:28:42. > :28:48.will say, this is the agreement we had to reach. We did want to give

:28:48. > :28:55.you a vote on devolution. The UK government would not be asked to do

:28:55. > :29:05.so -- allowed us to do so. That is I suspect the line the SNP will

:29:05. > :29:11.

:29:11. > :29:16.pursue. There was one London commentator who were saying a

:29:16. > :29:26.single question, a victory for the pro-union parties. Do you think it

:29:26. > :29:38.

:29:38. > :29:44.They have got what they wanted. Alex Salmond was tempted by a

:29:44. > :29:51.second question. The fact they have a single question, he said that was

:29:51. > :29:57.his preference. He can now try and sell it to bring in these so-called

:29:57. > :30:07.soft nationalists and try to attract them by saying they haven't

:30:07. > :30:07.

:30:07. > :30:12.got the middle ground option they wanted so come over to our side.

:30:12. > :30:16.Willie Rennie was talking up the a Dem conference yesterday. Is he

:30:16. > :30:24.getting concerned that if there is a no vote in the referendum that

:30:24. > :30:32.the Labour and the Conservatives will park the Deval marks option

:30:32. > :30:36.and move on from any more powers for Holyrood. If there are going to

:30:36. > :30:40.be some voters who want more devolution and are wondering what

:30:40. > :30:47.way to go on the single question, the question is what steps are they

:30:47. > :30:53.going to take to persuade them to stay with the union. The Liberal

:30:53. > :30:59.Democrats are going to announce the result next month and that is going

:30:59. > :31:09.to come out for more taxation powers but not the devolution of

:31:09. > :31:15.

:31:15. > :31:19.welfare benefits. The Labour Party announced a commission last spring

:31:19. > :31:23.and the Prime Minister said he was interested in having a conversation

:31:23. > :31:27.about devolution but nothing has happened. The danger for the unions

:31:27. > :31:37.is that we might end up having three different answers to this

:31:37. > :31:39.

:31:39. > :31:42.question in the event of a No vote. Willie Rennie is saying we do not

:31:42. > :31:52.think there needs to be a referendum in order to introduce

:31:52. > :31:56.more devolution and he may find the nationalists won't want a vote on

:31:56. > :32:05.their preferred option. We are waiting to hear from Nick Clegg who

:32:05. > :32:13.is going to speak at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton. He is being

:32:13. > :32:17.introduced and we will hear from him shortly. Ugly Barnes from the

:32:17. > :32:22.Scotsman, the whole concept of this conference was about fairer taxes

:32:22. > :32:29.and there was a lot of discussion on Sunday and Monday about a

:32:29. > :32:34.mention tax but not good strong announcements on fairer taxes.

:32:35. > :32:44.Clegg is trying to say, we are going to be the party of coalition

:32:44. > :32:52.but at the same time there is this decoupling agenda. The same time as

:32:52. > :33:00.being the responsible coalition partner, there is this attempt to

:33:00. > :33:04.push party political proposition. He is having a dig at David Cameron

:33:04. > :33:13.attempts to embrace the green agenda before he became party

:33:13. > :33:19.leader. So let's see how that plays out in this speech. It has been a

:33:19. > :33:26.week of gigs at the Lib Dem conference. The Andrew Mitchell

:33:26. > :33:29.chief whip story, the problem that the Downing Street gait and so on.

:33:29. > :33:38.Has that been cranking up the tension or is it a relief of

:33:38. > :33:43.tension? If you have a pot shot at the Conservatives, Andrew

:33:43. > :33:52.Mitchell's troubles presented a ready target. Andrew Mitchell was

:33:52. > :34:02.not always entirely popular on his own side of the House and firing at

:34:02. > :34:02.

:34:02. > :34:06.Andrew Mitchell was a fairly safe shot. It was an obvious crowd-

:34:07. > :34:12.pleaser. In truth, we wait and see over the next few days whether the

:34:12. > :34:22.Prime Minister comes back and whether Andrew Mitchell towers

:34:22. > :34:29.

:34:29. > :34:36.survive. -- whether Andrew Mitchell does survive. We are hearing that

:34:36. > :34:40.the speech is two minutes away. Nick Clegg speaking on Sunday was

:34:40. > :34:48.trying to make it clear he was trying to be fair and did not want

:34:49. > :34:52.to take on aggressive Tory caps any more. Was he just trying to paint

:34:52. > :35:02.that dividing lines that he wanted these fairer taxes but actually he

:35:02. > :35:08.

:35:08. > :35:15.will have to agree to the 2015 -- 2015 -- 2016 spending cuts? This

:35:15. > :35:20.signal about the taxes, there is not much substance. There needs to

:35:20. > :35:25.be further tightening of the Government revenues in 2015 and

:35:25. > :35:35.2016. The Liberal Democrats will want that to come by way of raising

:35:35. > :35:37.

:35:37. > :35:41.taxation. They are saying, we accept that there is a need to get

:35:41. > :35:44.more demand in the economy and we're not going to be willing to

:35:44. > :35:48.tighten Government spending any further if the Revenue's don't come

:35:49. > :35:58.in and they will look at put some more money back into the capital

:35:59. > :36:05.

:36:05. > :36:15.budget. I hear that in the hall, there collecting donations for the

:36:15. > :36:20.

:36:21. > :36:30.party at the moment. Ugly Barnes from the Scotsman, -- ugly Barnes

:36:31. > :36:44.

:36:44. > :36:52.An there has been a slow rolling back from that. In that period, the

:36:52. > :36:58.every issue -- the other issue, this is another issue he might have

:36:58. > :37:05.to tackle in that period. You're going to have this two-track

:37:05. > :37:15.manifesto. You've signed up to these ideas but in not going to

:37:15. > :37:19.

:37:19. > :37:25.have a concrete pledge like good tuition fees. The voters will be

:37:25. > :37:28.more can he because they will no, whatever we're getting now may be

:37:28. > :37:32.completely different in two of three months' time. We've had the

:37:32. > :37:42.experience of coalition now but perhaps we have not it -- we don't

:37:42. > :37:57.

:37:57. > :38:03.know how the experience will change next time. Danny Alexander suffers

:38:03. > :38:07.from the sketch writers. His main point was he was trying to tackle

:38:07. > :38:17.tax evasion and was appointing more people to work at Heacham Revenue

:38:17. > :38:21.

:38:21. > :38:26.and Customs to tackle Lichtenstein, the famous tax haven. The issue of

:38:26. > :38:29.tax evasion has become a common theme for Danny Alexander. This is

:38:29. > :38:35.the third conference in a row that he has been saying what we're

:38:35. > :38:41.trying to do is ensure that those who we think are managing to evade

:38:41. > :38:49.should be paying more, this is what they're trying to do about it.

:38:49. > :38:55.Given the very tight financial circumstances, it is very difficult

:38:56. > :39:05.for Danny Alexander to offer very much in the way of policing red

:39:06. > :39:14.

:39:14. > :39:22.meat to the crowd. -- pleasing red meat. Thank you for the moment. We

:39:22. > :39:32.are hoping to go to Brighton as soon as we can. A debate is going

:39:32. > :39:35.

:39:36. > :39:45.on in Holyrood about The Green Bus In terms of C02, they are rather

:39:46. > :39:47.

:39:47. > :39:56.less so. Graham Day raised the fact that the World Health Organisation

:39:56. > :40:05.now believes that diesel fumes are a carcinogen. We have to worry

:40:05. > :40:12.about how we deal with that problem longer term. Hybrid buses to have

:40:12. > :40:20.the effect of taking away much of the pollution. I do remember being

:40:20. > :40:26.able to travel around Aberdeen in a demonstration best -- best. It was

:40:26. > :40:33.powered by chip fat I believe. It was very efficient but the smell

:40:33. > :40:39.did result in the becoming very hungry! That is where we have to

:40:39. > :40:47.think about the effects of other changes and how they affect the

:40:47. > :40:52.green this fund. Bus service operators grant and concessionary

:40:52. > :40:58.fares scheme have been the basis of support for broader bus travel for

:40:58. > :41:04.some years. The effect we've seen over the term of this Government

:41:04. > :41:08.and in its previous term is that concessionary fares have been the

:41:08. > :41:12.highest priority. It could be argued that the bus service

:41:12. > :41:18.operators grant has been squeezed to some extent in order to protect

:41:18. > :41:23.the course of the value of concessionary fares. We've had some

:41:23. > :41:28.recent changes and I have stood in this chamber previously and

:41:28. > :41:33.expressed my support and -- in principle for many of these changes.

:41:33. > :41:37.The refocused nature of the scheme it means that operators are

:41:37. > :41:44.encouraged to go for fuel efficiency when they replace their

:41:44. > :41:53.vehicles and consequently hybrid vehicles are becoming more

:41:53. > :41:58.attractive. However, they do have a significantly higher purchase price

:41:58. > :42:04.and that is deterring some potential customers. But these

:42:04. > :42:08.changes to mean that in many of our city areas, there is a shortage of

:42:08. > :42:12.funding because city bus routes have in some cases been

:42:12. > :42:17.disadvantaged by the change. That is why we on this side of the

:42:17. > :42:21.chamber believe the total value of support currently being given to

:42:22. > :42:29.buses in the round must be considered in terms of how it is

:42:29. > :42:36.focused in the future. I have said it before, that we believe the

:42:36. > :42:40.concessionary fares scheme must be aligned to pension age.

:42:40. > :42:45.That was the Conservative transport spokesman talking about The Green

:42:45. > :42:53.Bus Fund. We are going to head a bright and short before Nick

:42:53. > :43:00.Clegg's speech. Nick Clegg will be getting up to speak but lots of

:43:00. > :43:10.rumours about his future and possible alliances with Labour.

:43:10. > :43:15.

:43:15. > :43:24.Have there been overtures from Labour? Some of which is yes. --

:43:24. > :43:29.some mortgages, yes. It is clear that some members of the Labour

:43:29. > :43:33.Party and some members of the Liberal Democrats are indeed

:43:33. > :43:38.talking to each other. They have done for many years. On the other

:43:38. > :43:45.hand, there are parties in -- there are people in both parties that are

:43:45. > :43:52.not keen on the idea. Harriet Harman said, we should not be

:43:52. > :43:55.cosying up to the Liberal Democrats. We should be aiming for a majority.

:43:56. > :44:00.It is all about whether the Labour Party will do well enough in the

:44:00. > :44:04.next election to get an overall majority. As the opinion polls

:44:04. > :44:10.stand at the moment, it suggests they would. There is also a lot of

:44:10. > :44:20.feeling that those opinion polls are as much to do with

:44:20. > :44:26.

:44:26. > :44:30.dissatisfaction as to do with positivity from Labour. Despite the

:44:30. > :44:34.Liberal Democrats problems, we might end up with a hung parliament

:44:34. > :44:38.again but one in which the Liberal Democrats and Labour might be able

:44:38. > :44:43.to do a deal with each other. At least some people in both parties

:44:43. > :44:49.which to keep the avenues of discussion open so that if they do

:44:49. > :44:56.find encouraged to negotiate after 2015, those negotiations go rather

:44:56. > :45:02.better than widespread report during the negotiations between the

:45:02. > :45:12.Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. In 2015, will there be any Liberal

:45:12. > :45:15.

:45:15. > :45:19.I do not think they will be in as bad a place as they are now.

:45:19. > :45:23.think Nick Clegg is coming on to stage at the Brighton Centre. He

:45:23. > :45:29.will address the delegates there. They are standing up and applauding

:45:29. > :45:35.him as he makes his way to the podium. Nick Clegg going to give a

:45:35. > :45:45.very important speech to the delegates. Let's listen to what he

:45:45. > :45:53.

:45:53. > :45:58.has to say. Thank you. Let me start. Colleagues, this summer as we took

:45:58. > :46:04.our athletes to gold after gold after gold, Britain remembered how

:46:04. > :46:11.it feels to win again. But more importantly we remembered what it

:46:11. > :46:15.takes to win again. Whether from Jessica Ennis or Mo Farah, Sarah

:46:15. > :46:22.Storey or David Weir, the message was the same. We may be the ones on

:46:22. > :46:28.the podium but behind each of us stands a coach and behind the coach

:46:28. > :46:36.a team. Behind the team, the organisers, the volunteers, the

:46:36. > :46:43.supporters and behind them a whole city, an entire country, the UK

:46:43. > :46:50.nations united behind one goal. What a contrast from a year ago.

:46:50. > :46:54.When England's cities burned in a week of riots, when the images

:46:54. > :46:59.beamed to the world were not of athletes running to the finishing

:46:59. > :47:06.line but the mob running to police lines. When the flames climbed not

:47:06. > :47:11.from the Olympic torch in east London but a furniture shop in

:47:11. > :47:17.south London. A 140 year-old family run business which survived two

:47:17. > :47:24.world wars and countless recessions raced to the ground. Of course,

:47:24. > :47:30.even then amid the smoke and embers, we saw our country's true character

:47:30. > :47:36.when residents came out onto the streets to clean up the mass and we

:47:36. > :47:41.saw it again this summer when the furniture shop in Croydon reopened

:47:41. > :47:46.in new premises. The walls are decked off photos of young people

:47:46. > :47:53.holding up messages of hope and who put those pictures up? Young

:47:53. > :48:02.volunteers from Croydon and and 81- year-old man who likes to three

:48:02. > :48:12.generations before him, ran the shop before handing it to his son.

:48:12. > :48:18.

:48:18. > :48:25.Your example should inspire a generation. You see, what Morris

:48:25. > :48:32.has shown, what our Olympians and Paralympians have reminded us off

:48:32. > :48:37.is that for most people success does not come easy or quick. That

:48:37. > :48:42.is what a culture of instant celebrity obscures, that real

:48:42. > :48:50.achievement in the real world, it takes time, effort, perseverance

:48:50. > :48:52.and resilience. The war veteran, a victim of a roadside bomb in

:48:52. > :48:58.Afghanistan competing at the Paralympics. The businessman, the

:48:58. > :49:03.victim of an arson attack in south London, serving his customers again.

:49:03. > :49:09.The millions of people up and down the country who no matter how

:49:09. > :49:16.heroic or mundane their battles keep going, keep trying, keep

:49:16. > :49:21.working at whatever life throws at them and these are the qualities

:49:21. > :49:27.that will see our country through these tough times, and these are

:49:27. > :49:33.the qualities that will guide an all-party through tough times also.

:49:33. > :49:38.So let's take our example from the British people, as together we

:49:38. > :49:43.embark on the journey ahead. Our party from the compotes of

:49:43. > :49:48.opposition to the harsh realities of government and our country, from

:49:48. > :49:54.the sacrifices of austerity to the rewards of shared prosperity. Two

:49:54. > :50:00.journeys linked. The success of each depending on the successor of

:50:00. > :50:08.the other. Nine there will be easy and neither will be quick but it

:50:08. > :50:18.will be worth it and be in no doubt, if we secured our country's future,

:50:18. > :50:27.

:50:27. > :50:33.we will secure our own. As a politician, you get used to

:50:33. > :50:38.receiving criticism and praise from the strangers quarters but even I

:50:38. > :50:43.was taken by surprise by the force some backing I received on the

:50:43. > :50:50.comment pages of the Daily Telegraph on Monday. The article

:50:50. > :50:58.praised my judgment, my policies, Miriam of course, but then I saw

:50:58. > :51:08.who it was by, a certain Alexander Johnston. At least he has found one

:51:08. > :51:16.party litre he is prepared to endorse in public. -- party leader.

:51:16. > :51:21.Colleagues, we live in a time of profound change. Almost

:51:21. > :51:26.revolutionary in its pace and scale. Here in Britain we are faced with a

:51:26. > :51:31.gargantuan task of building a new economy from the rubble of the old

:51:31. > :51:35.and we are doing so when our main export market is facing its biggest

:51:35. > :51:41.crisis since it was formed. Well the European economy has stalled,

:51:41. > :51:48.countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, India and China continue to grow at

:51:48. > :51:53.an a phenomenal rate. The potential consequences of the shift in power

:51:53. > :51:59.should we in the West failed to respond cannot in my view be

:51:59. > :52:03.overstated. Our influence in the world, our standard of living, our

:52:03. > :52:10.ability to fund our public services and maintain our culture of

:52:11. > :52:17.openness and tolerance - a call on in the balance. Four power would

:52:17. > :52:22.move not only away from the liberal and democratic world but within it

:52:22. > :52:27.also, from moderate to hardliners, from internationalists took

:52:27. > :52:31.isolationist, from those committed to the politics of corporation did

:52:31. > :52:38.those hell-bent on confrontation. If history has taught us anything

:52:38. > :52:43.it is that extremists ride in tough times. If we fail to deal with our

:52:43. > :52:49.debts and tackle the weaknesses in our economy, our country will pay a

:52:49. > :52:53.heavy political price. But the human cost would be higher still.

:52:53. > :53:01.Not only would be fall behind internationally, we would leave a

:53:01. > :53:07.trail of victims at home also. So to those who ask what we, the Lib

:53:07. > :53:13.Dems are doing cutting public spending, I simply say this - who

:53:13. > :53:18.suffers most when governments go bust? When they can no longer pay

:53:19. > :53:24.salaries, benefits and pensions? Not the bankers and the hedge fund

:53:24. > :53:29.managers that is for sure. No. It will be the poor, the old, the

:53:29. > :53:35.infirm, those are the least to fall back on. Labour may have thought it

:53:35. > :53:41.was funny after crashing the economy and racking up record debts

:53:41. > :53:46.to leave a note on David Laws desk saying, there is no money left. But

:53:46. > :53:50.it is no joke for the most vulnerable in our society, the

:53:50. > :53:55.people Labour claimed to represent but let down. But let's take no

:53:55. > :54:05.more lectures about betrayal. It was Labour who plunged us into

:54:05. > :54:21.

:54:21. > :54:26.austerity and it is we the Liberal Democrats who will get us out! It

:54:26. > :54:31.is easy to forget sometimes that the debate we are having in this

:54:31. > :54:36.country is actually playing out across our continent. It is a

:54:36. > :54:42.debate between those who understand how much the world has changed and

:54:42. > :54:47.those who do not. Between those who understand the need to adapt to be

:54:47. > :54:53.changes and those who balk at the size of the challenge. And the fate

:54:53. > :54:58.of every European country, ours included will depend on the outcome.

:54:58. > :55:03.In the coming years, some countries will get their own house in order

:55:03. > :55:08.but some will not. Those that do will continue to write their own

:55:08. > :55:13.budgets, said their own priorities and shape their rogue futures. But

:55:13. > :55:18.those that do not all find their right to self-determination

:55:18. > :55:25.withdrawn by the markets and new rules imposed by their creditors

:55:25. > :55:27.without warning or clemency. That that will never to happen to us is

:55:27. > :55:35.often blithely assumed. The comparisons with Greece breezily

:55:36. > :55:42.dismissed. Yet it is the decisions we take as a government, as a party,

:55:43. > :55:52.that will determine whether we succeed or fail. For the first time

:55:53. > :55:57.

:55:57. > :56:02.the future is away us to make. -- is ours to make. Our journey from

:56:02. > :56:06.austerity to prosperity starts of course with economic rescue.

:56:06. > :56:11.Dealing with our debt and delivering growth. If you listen to

:56:11. > :56:18.Labour you would be forgiven for thinking that austerity is a choice,

:56:18. > :56:21.that the sacrifices it involves can be avoided. If we only and acted Ed

:56:21. > :56:24.Balls's press release we would be instantly transported to that

:56:24. > :56:33.fantasy world where there is no boom or bust and the money never

:56:33. > :56:38.runs out. But the truth is this - there is no silver bullet that will

:56:38. > :56:45.instantly solve all our economic problems. Some of our problems are

:56:45. > :56:49.structural, others international. All will take time to overcome. We

:56:49. > :56:54.are dealing with an ongoing surge in global energy, food and

:56:54. > :56:58.commodity prices, an existential crisis in the euro-zone and the

:56:58. > :57:03.banking collapse which more than four years on is still blocking the

:57:04. > :57:08.arteries of our entire economic system. Ranged against these forces

:57:08. > :57:13.the idea that if government just the regulated a bit more as Liam

:57:13. > :57:19.Fox proposes all borrowed and spend as Ed Balls proposes, we would

:57:19. > :57:27.achieve strong and lasting growth and that is not credible. In my

:57:27. > :57:31.experience, A E Q are being attacked by Liam facts are -- Liam

:57:31. > :57:39.Fox from one side and Ed balls from the other, you worry in the right

:57:39. > :57:44.place. You see, what is needed and what we are delivering is a plan

:57:44. > :57:49.that is tough enough to keep the bond markets off our backs, yet

:57:49. > :57:53.flexible enough to support demand. A plan that allowed us when the

:57:53. > :57:58.forecast worsened last year to reject calls for further spending

:57:58. > :58:02.cuts or tax rises and balance the budget over a longer timescale. A

:58:02. > :58:10.plan that even at the end of this parliament will see public spending

:58:10. > :58:16.accounts for 42 % of GDP, higher than at any point between 1995 and

:58:16. > :58:21.2008 when the banks collapsed. And a plan that because it commands the

:58:21. > :58:27.confidence of the markets has given us the room to create a business

:58:27. > :58:29.bank, provide billions of pounds of infrastructure and house building

:58:29. > :58:34.guarantees and and �80 billion funding fallen the scheme, the

:58:34. > :58:42.biggest of its kind, anyway in the world. So much of this is about

:58:42. > :58:48.perception. People keep telling what they do not tell you is a much

:58:48. > :58:54.of what the President had to legislate for we are already do it

:58:54. > :59:00.automatically. So let's not allowed the caricature of of what we are

:59:00. > :59:05.doing go unchallenged. If plan a really was as rigid and dogmatic as

:59:05. > :59:12.our critics claim, or I would be demanding a plan B at getting Danny

:59:12. > :59:17.and Vince to design it. But it is not. Which is why you were right.

:59:17. > :59:21.Earlier this week, to overwhelmingly reject the call for

:59:21. > :59:27.us to change our economic course. We have taken a big and bold steps

:59:27. > :59:37.to support demand and boost growth and we stand ready to do so again

:59:37. > :59:51.

:59:51. > :59:54.and again and again until self Of course, arguments about economic

:59:54. > :59:58.Theory are no interest to the millions of people struggling to

:59:58. > :00:01.get by right now. The home help whose earnings barely cover the

:00:01. > :00:07.cost of childcare, the builder who knows the company will be laying

:00:07. > :00:12.people off but has not yet know if he will be one of them, the couple

:00:12. > :00:18.who want to buy their first home but can't raise the money for a

:00:18. > :00:25.deposit. To them and to all the other hard-working families just

:00:25. > :00:31.trying to stay afloat, I say this. The Liberal Democrats are on your

:00:31. > :00:41.side. You are the ones we're in Government to serve. But with empty

:00:41. > :00:41.

:00:41. > :00:45.rhetoric but real practical help. We will cut your income tax bills.

:00:45. > :00:49.You can keep more of the money you have worked for, so your effort

:00:49. > :00:57.will be properly rewarded, so the task of making ends meet is made

:00:57. > :01:07.that little bit easier. At the last Budget, we made two bid

:01:07. > :01:11.announcements. We were spending �3 billion increasing the tax-free

:01:12. > :01:17.allowance and just �50 million reducing the top rate of tax while

:01:17. > :01:24.recouping five times that amount in additional taxes on the wealthiest.

:01:24. > :01:33.I insisted on the first, I conceded on the second. But I stand by the

:01:33. > :01:38.package as a whole. Why? Because as liberals, we want to see attacks on

:01:38. > :01:42.work produced, the tax on unearned wealth increased and the system as

:01:42. > :01:47.a whole tilted in favour of those on low and middle incomes. The

:01:47. > :01:53.Budget delivered all three but let me make one thing clear. Now we

:01:53. > :01:57.have brought the top rate of tax down to 45 p, a level let's not

:01:57. > :02:01.forget that is still higher than throughout labour's 13 years in

:02:01. > :02:11.office, there can be no question of reducing it further in this

:02:11. > :02:23.

:02:23. > :02:28.All future caps in personal taxation must pass one clear test.

:02:28. > :02:33.Do they help people on low and middle incomes get by and get on?

:02:33. > :02:38.It is as simple as that. At the next election, all parties will

:02:38. > :02:42.have to acknowledge the need for further belt-tightening. That much

:02:42. > :02:46.is inescapable, but the key question we will have to answer is

:02:46. > :02:52.who will have to tighten their belts the most? Our position is

:02:53. > :02:56.clear. If we have to ask people to take less out will pay more in, we

:02:56. > :03:02.will start with the richest and Wicklow Way Down, not the other way

:03:02. > :03:12.around. We won't sway there in our determination to deal with our

:03:12. > :03:16.debts but we will do it in our own way. -- we won't waver. We will not

:03:16. > :03:21.have ourselves to detailed spending plans with the Conservatives

:03:22. > :03:26.through the next Parliament. We should be proud of the fact that we

:03:26. > :03:30.have delivered fairer taxes in tough times, we should be proud of

:03:30. > :03:40.the fact that we are taking 2 million people out of income tax

:03:40. > :03:41.

:03:41. > :03:48.altogether. We should never miss an opportunity to tell people about it.

:03:48. > :03:53.But as we do so, remember this. Our tax cuts, like our extra support

:03:54. > :03:58.for child care and pensioners, these are not consume offers, there

:03:58. > :04:03.apart of a broader agenda of economic and social reform to

:04:04. > :04:09.reward work, enhance social mobility and Secure Britain's

:04:09. > :04:14.position in a fast-changing world. In short, national renewal. That is

:04:15. > :04:24.our mission. Our policies either serve that purpose or they serve

:04:25. > :04:34.

:04:34. > :04:40.One of the things about governing is it forces you to confront the

:04:40. > :04:45.inconvenient truths oppositions 2 - - choose to ignore. Like the fact

:04:45. > :04:52.that over the last 50 years, our economy has grown threefold and our

:04:52. > :04:58.welfare spending is up sevenfold. Or the fact that to sustain our

:04:58. > :05:02.spending we're still borrowing a billion pounds every three days.

:05:02. > :05:10.All that as a result of that borrowing will now spend more

:05:10. > :05:14.servicing the national debt than we do on our schools. These three

:05:14. > :05:18.facts present us with a fundamental challenge to not only regain

:05:18. > :05:24.control of public spending that to complete the redirect it so that it

:05:24. > :05:29.promotes a rather than undermines prosperity. How we do that, how we

:05:29. > :05:35.reshape the British state for the economic challenges of the 21st

:05:35. > :05:41.century is a debate I want our party to lead. There are only two

:05:41. > :05:45.ways of doing politics. By following opinion, to get yourself

:05:45. > :05:53.on the populist side of each issue, or by leading opinion grandstanding

:05:53. > :05:57.on the future side of each issue. The first brings short-term rewards

:05:57. > :06:07.but the big prizes are for those with the courage and vision to get

:06:07. > :06:07.

:06:07. > :06:14.out in front, set the agenda and point the way. Let's take the lead

:06:14. > :06:20.in building a new economy for the next century. A strong balance

:06:20. > :06:27.economy built on productive investment. An inventive economy

:06:27. > :06:37.driven by advances in science and research. And a clean, green

:06:37. > :06:38.

:06:38. > :06:48.economy as well. Powered by the new low carbon technologies Britain --.

:06:48. > :06:54.

:06:54. > :06:59.But I have to tell you, we won't succeed in this last part unless we

:06:59. > :07:04.can see off that most short sighted are arguments that we have to

:07:04. > :07:09.choose between going green and going to grow. T carbonised in our

:07:09. > :07:13.economy is not just the right thing to do, be it is a fantastic

:07:13. > :07:16.economic opportunity. The Green economy in Britain is growing

:07:16. > :07:26.strongly right now, bringing in billions of pounds and creating

:07:26. > :07:30.

:07:30. > :07:35.thousands of jobs. Going green means going for growth. It means

:07:35. > :07:42.going for more energy that we produce ourselves, it means going

:07:42. > :07:50.for clear air and clean water and a planet that we can proudly handover

:07:50. > :07:54.Flower children. Going green means going forward. So let the

:07:54. > :08:04.Conservatives being no doubt, we will hold them to their promises on

:08:04. > :08:09.

:08:09. > :08:16.the environment. -- so let the He of course, there was a time when

:08:16. > :08:19.it looked like they got it. It seems like a long time ago now. The

:08:20. > :08:27.Tories will going through the naturalist phase. The windmills

:08:27. > :08:33.gently turning, the sun shining. As a PR exercise, it was brilliant.

:08:33. > :08:39.But at last year's party conference they ruined it all, admitting that

:08:39. > :08:49.you can't fault blue and green. Of course you can't. To make blue go

:08:49. > :09:13.

:09:13. > :09:18.green, you have to add yellow. That He as the plot our path to

:09:18. > :09:24.prosperity, we need to remember that nothing we do will make a

:09:25. > :09:29.difference and less we make the most important investment of all.

:09:29. > :09:33.In the education and training of Laurie and people. We will only

:09:33. > :09:37.fulfil our collective economic potential if we fulfil our

:09:37. > :09:42.individual human potential. Yet, the legacy of educational

:09:42. > :09:46.inequality in Britain is an economy operating at half power with far

:09:47. > :09:50.too many and people never getting the qualifications they could get,

:09:50. > :09:56.never earning the wages they could earn were doing the jobs they could

:09:56. > :10:02.do. The true cost of this cannot be costed in pounds and pence alone.

:10:02. > :10:06.It is a huge drag on our economy but more than that, it is an

:10:06. > :10:11.affront to natural justice and everything we stand for as Liberal

:10:11. > :10:16.Democrats. If you strip away all the outer layers to explain --

:10:16. > :10:26.expose this parties for the last -- philosophical core, what do you

:10:26. > :10:27.

:10:27. > :10:32.find? And unshakeable belief in freedom. -- an unshakeable belief.

:10:32. > :10:38.The rich sound of liberal freedom amplified and sustained by the

:10:38. > :10:48.thing that gives it real meaning, opportunity. The freedom to be who

:10:48. > :10:54.

:10:54. > :11:02.you are. The freedom to before you are, the opportunity to beat her

:11:02. > :11:07.you could be. That in essence is the Liberal promise. That is why

:11:07. > :11:11.this party has always been an almost always be the party of

:11:11. > :11:16.education because just as they can be no real freedom without

:11:16. > :11:21.opportunity, so they can be no opportunity with a dedication.

:11:21. > :11:26.Every parent knows how it feels when you leave your child on that

:11:26. > :11:30.first day at school, that last look they give you before the door

:11:30. > :11:36.closes, the instinct to go with them and protect them and to help

:11:36. > :11:43.them every step of the way. That is how we should feel about every

:11:43. > :11:48.child. That is the responsibility we have to every parent. To support

:11:48. > :11:52.them at every stage from nursery to primary, from primary to secondary

:11:52. > :11:56.and from secondary to college and universe your work. That is why we

:11:56. > :12:02.are providing more money so the poorest to the roads as well as

:12:02. > :12:12.every three or four-year-old can benefit from pre-school education.

:12:12. > :12:15.�900 per child next year in pupil premium. When they leave school, we

:12:15. > :12:24.are providing bursaries and grants and scholarships and

:12:24. > :12:29.apprenticeships. Extra resources won't make a difference unless

:12:29. > :12:35.matched by greater ambition which is why many must be accompanied by

:12:35. > :12:40.a reform, reform to ensure all children can read and write, to

:12:40. > :12:50.make schools focus on performance of every child, to turn round

:12:50. > :13:01.

:13:01. > :13:06.failing schools and put more pressure on standards. I can

:13:06. > :13:11.announce from this year's that we will provide a new catch-up system,

:13:11. > :13:21.an additional �500 for every child who leaves primary school below the

:13:21. > :13:29.

:13:29. > :13:35.expected level in English summer. - If you are a parent whose child has

:13:35. > :13:39.fallen behind, who fears they might get lost in that daunting leap from

:13:39. > :13:44.primary to secondary school and was worried poll this talk about making

:13:44. > :13:50.exams tougher, let me reassure you, we will do whatever it takes to

:13:50. > :13:55.make sure your child is not left behind. A place at a summer school,

:13:56. > :14:00.catcher classes, one-to-one tuition. We are providing the help they need.

:14:00. > :14:10.We are raising the bar but we are ensuring that every child can clear

:14:10. > :14:19.

:14:19. > :14:24.I am proud of the resolve we Liberal Democrats have shown over

:14:24. > :14:29.the last two-and-a-half years. We have had some real disappointments.

:14:29. > :14:39.Tough election results, a bruising referendum, My Song not making it

:14:39. > :14:46.into the top 10! But through it all, we have remained focused,

:14:46. > :14:52.determined, disciplined. When we made mistakes, we have put our

:14:52. > :15:00.hands up. But we have stuck to a task and to the coalition agreement,

:15:00. > :15:07.even as others have wavered. It was believed we would not be able to

:15:07. > :15:11.make the transition of going from opposition to Government. It was

:15:11. > :15:16.said the Liberal Democrats were a party of protest not power. Two

:15:16. > :15:22.years on, the credits have been confounded. A metal has been tested

:15:22. > :15:26.in the toughest of circumstances and we have not been found wanting.

:15:26. > :15:29.We have taken the difficult decisions to reduce the deficit by

:15:30. > :15:39.a quarter and have laid the foundations for a stronger economy

:15:40. > :15:43.

:15:43. > :15:50.But our task, it is far from complete. Our party's journey far

:15:50. > :15:54.from over. I know there were some in the party, some in this ball

:15:55. > :15:58.even who faced with several more years of spending restraint would

:15:58. > :16:03.rather turn back and press on. Break our deal with the

:16:03. > :16:07.Conservatives, give up on the coalition and present ourselves to

:16:07. > :16:13.the electorate as a party and change. It is an alluring prospect

:16:13. > :16:17.in some ways. Gone would be the difficult choices, the necessary

:16:17. > :16:20.compromises and the betrayal and abuse from right and left as we

:16:20. > :16:26.work every day to keep this government anchored in the centre

:16:26. > :16:31.ground. But conference, I tell you this, the choice between the party

:16:31. > :16:36.we were and the party we are becoming is a false one. The past

:16:36. > :16:41.is gone and it is not coming back. If voters want a party of

:16:41. > :16:46.opposition, a stop the World I Want to Get of party, they have plenty

:16:46. > :16:56.of options but we are not one of them. There is a better, more

:16:56. > :17:06.

:17:06. > :17:16.There is a better, more meaningful future waiting for us. Not as the

:17:16. > :17:21.

:17:21. > :17:26.third party but as one of three parties of government. There has

:17:26. > :17:29.been a lot of discussion on the fringe of this conference about our

:17:29. > :17:33.party's next steps, our relationships with the other

:17:34. > :17:37.parties, what we should do it in the event of another hung

:17:38. > :17:43.parliament. It is the sort of discussion politicians love, full

:17:43. > :17:48.of speculation and rumour. But it is all based on a false and deeply

:17:48. > :17:53.illiberal assumption that it is we rather than the people who get to

:17:54. > :18:03.decide. In a democracy, politicians that take their orders from the

:18:04. > :18:08.

:18:08. > :18:13.voters. So let's forget... So let's forget all the Westminster gossip

:18:13. > :18:19.and focus on what really matters. Not our relationship with other

:18:19. > :18:25.parties but our relationship with the British people. And imagine

:18:25. > :18:32.yourself standing on the doorstep in 2015, talking to someone who has

:18:32. > :18:37.not decided who to vote for. This is what you will be able to say. We

:18:37. > :18:42.cut taxes for ordinary families and made sure the wealthiest pay their

:18:42. > :18:45.fair share. We put more money in schools to give every child a

:18:46. > :18:49.chance. We did everything possible to get people into work, millions

:18:49. > :18:53.of new jobs and more apprenticeships than ever before

:18:54. > :18:58.and we did the right thing by older people. The biggest-ever cash rise

:18:58. > :19:03.in a state pension, but most importantly we brought our economy

:19:04. > :19:09.back from the brink and put it on the right path. And then ask them,

:19:09. > :19:16.are you ready to trust Labour with your money again? And do you really

:19:16. > :19:20.think the Tories will make Britain a fairer? Because the truth is only

:19:20. > :19:30.the Liberal Democrats can be trusted on the economy and relied

:19:30. > :19:47.

:19:47. > :19:53.upon to deliver a fairer society And to help get that message out

:19:53. > :20:03.there, I can announce today that Paddy Ashdown has agreed to front

:20:03. > :20:22.

:20:22. > :20:29.up our campaign as chair of the He is presenting he does not like

:20:29. > :20:34.the limelight. He loves it! I must admit I am not ready for all those

:20:34. > :20:44.urgent e-mails and 5:00am phone calls but I cannot think of anyone

:20:44. > :20:52.

:20:52. > :20:59.I would rather have by my side. Paddy, it is great to have you back.

:20:59. > :21:04.50, 60 years ago, before I was born, small groups of liberal activists

:21:04. > :21:09.would meet up to talk politics and plan their campaigns. Stubborn,

:21:09. > :21:15.principled, they ignored the cynics who mocked them. They simply

:21:15. > :21:19.refused to give up on their dreams. They refuse to accept that Liberals

:21:19. > :21:24.would never again be in government and they refused to accept that

:21:24. > :21:30.liberalism, but most decent, enlightened and British of credence

:21:30. > :21:35.which did so much to shape our past, with not shape our future again. We

:21:35. > :21:41.think we have it tough now, but it was much tougher in their day. It

:21:41. > :21:45.was only their resolve, their resilience and their unwavering

:21:45. > :21:50.determination they kept the flickering flame of liberalism a

:21:50. > :21:55.life through our party's darkest days. At our last conference in

:21:55. > :21:59.Gateshead, I urged you to stop looking in the rear-view mirror as

:21:59. > :22:04.we journey from the party of opposition that we were to the

:22:04. > :22:08.party of government we are at the coming. But before we head off on

:22:08. > :22:15.the next stage of our journey, I want you to take one last look in

:22:15. > :22:20.that mirror to see how far we have come. I tell you what icy, I see

:22:20. > :22:26.generations of liberals marching towards the sound of gunfire and

:22:26. > :22:36.yes, I see them going back to their constituencies to prepare for

:22:36. > :22:40.

:22:40. > :22:47.government. It took us a while but we got there in the end. These are

:22:47. > :22:51.the people on whose shoulders we stand. They never flinched and nor

:22:51. > :22:56.should we. We owe it to them to seize the opportunity that they

:22:56. > :23:02.gave us which they never had, taking on the vested interests,

:23:02. > :23:06.refusing to be bullied, refusing to give up, always overturning the

:23:06. > :23:10.odds, fighting for what we believe in because we know that nothing

:23:10. > :23:20.worthwhile can be won without a battle. A fair, free and open

:23:20. > :23:23.

:23:23. > :23:27.society, that is the prize so let's go for red! -- let go for it!

:23:28. > :23:32.Clegg, the leader of the UK Liberal Democrats receiving applause from

:23:32. > :23:35.the delegates at the Brighton Centre after giving his conference

:23:35. > :23:39.speech. He justified the coalition's budgetary plans,

:23:39. > :23:44.charted his path from austerity to prosperity and saying their critics

:23:44. > :23:49.have been confounded, their metal has been tested in the toughest of

:23:49. > :23:52.circumstances. He says they are no longer an opposition party, they

:23:52. > :23:59.ran out three parties of government. They brought the economy back from

:23:59. > :24:04.the brink and he announced that Paddy Ashdown will chaired their

:24:04. > :24:10.2015 election campaign. With me is Professor John Curtice and Eddie

:24:10. > :24:17.Barnes. Your initial response to that speech. That was a speech that

:24:17. > :24:20.was to listen to with respect rather that generated enthusiasm.

:24:21. > :24:26.It was rather a low-key event in terms of the emotion that was

:24:26. > :24:31.coming out of that war. The essential message, he was trying to

:24:31. > :24:35.say to his activists and the public, yes we are a party of government

:24:35. > :24:40.not of protest, that is what we were told the speech would be about

:24:40. > :24:44.and there are indeed he has a very substantial task because one poll

:24:44. > :24:48.suggested that only 18 % of people think the Lib Dems involvement in

:24:48. > :24:55.this coalition has so far helped to make them look like a credible

:24:55. > :25:00.party of government. Essentially he was focusing on the economy. In a

:25:00. > :25:05.sense he was trying to argue that actually the good things that are

:25:05. > :25:08.happening about the economy are actually things for which the

:25:08. > :25:14.Liberal Democrats are responsible, so he is defending the austerity

:25:14. > :25:21.and arguing that without austerity it would be worse. He was saying

:25:21. > :25:25.that it was asked pushing for taxes to be reduced for those at the

:25:25. > :25:29.lower end of the income spectrum. They are still pushing on the

:25:29. > :25:36.economy and they've realised matters. They are not willing to

:25:36. > :25:42.cut public spending any more. They think this is a plan that is

:25:42. > :25:47.flexible. He is trying to gain credibility for the economic

:25:47. > :25:52.successes of the coalition that he is hoping will come down the track.

:25:52. > :25:58.He was not suggesting that economic success would come soon and There

:25:58. > :26:01.is only two-and-a-half years until the next election. The second thing

:26:01. > :26:07.is how easy going to succeed in persuading the public that it is

:26:07. > :26:13.not the Conservative Party, the senior party of the coalition, the

:26:13. > :26:19.party that people regard as being the party of lower taxes, how are

:26:19. > :26:23.they going to stop the Conservatives taking the credit?

:26:23. > :26:28.although he is trying to justify the party and what they are doing

:26:28. > :26:35.to the people, he is trying to do it to the people in the conference

:26:35. > :26:39.also, telling them what to tell the people. It was almost

:26:39. > :26:45.characterising them as the Millwall of political parties, nobody likes

:26:45. > :26:51.us, we do not care. Throughout our history we have these kinds of

:26:51. > :26:59.pelters, we will pursue it. He did not mention tuition fees and that

:26:59. > :27:03.tells you a lot about the apology. The aim was to try to make that

:27:03. > :27:09.break. He could not have led opinion, he could not have come out

:27:09. > :27:15.with that passage had he not dealt with the tuition fee issue. The

:27:15. > :27:19.message that he gave on the economy was interesting because he was

:27:19. > :27:25.trying to occupy the ground of the Blairite administration from the

:27:25. > :27:29.90s saying, on the one hand can you trust the Tories to be fair, on the

:27:29. > :27:34.other can you trust Labour to look after your cash? I am in the middle

:27:34. > :27:41.trying to do both. He was trying to reassure the party and told them

:27:41. > :27:47.that things have changed. They are no longer a party of opposition. He

:27:47. > :27:51.said that the future is ours to make. He is trying to tell his

:27:51. > :27:57.party that there were things that they will argue on the doorsteps

:27:57. > :28:00.that they have achieved. One of the problems they face are the things

:28:00. > :28:05.they have not achieved all the things that they did that they said

:28:05. > :28:12.they would not do. They do not have been a tour reform, Lords reform,

:28:12. > :28:17.they did the opposite of what they said on tuition fees. That is what

:28:17. > :28:21.people are aware of. According to polls, many think the Lib Dems are

:28:21. > :28:28.not influential enough in the coalition and he was trying to come

:28:28. > :28:34.up with some lines... We are responsible for raising personal

:28:34. > :28:39.allowance, the people premium, we are responsible for ensuring

:28:39. > :28:42.pensions will go up. But the truth is at the moment, none of those

:28:42. > :28:49.messages are ones that the party has succeeded in getting across to

:28:49. > :28:53.the public. There are ones have -- they have been trying to sell for

:28:53. > :28:57.18 months already but what it is that Nick Clegg has to say that

:28:57. > :29:04.will make the public think this adds up to something. In that

:29:04. > :29:10.passage about, we want to lead, he was not able to tell us what was

:29:10. > :29:15.the vision of the 21st century British economy or at least he did

:29:15. > :29:20.not come up with a vision that David Cameron or Ed Miliband could

:29:20. > :29:25.equally aspire. He was also coming up with their few lines about the

:29:25. > :29:30.Conservatives, saying that Boris Johnson would not endorse David

:29:30. > :29:33.Cameron as leader and criticising the Conservative support their view

:29:33. > :29:39.on Queen Policies saying you need a bit of yellow in the blue to make

:29:39. > :29:44.it Queen. That is the line he is hoping will appear on the National

:29:44. > :29:49.news this evening. It was not too tough on the Conservatives. The

:29:49. > :29:56.genuine problem is what are people going to remember from the last

:29:56. > :30:01.seven days? They will remember a YouTube clip of him saying sorry.

:30:01. > :30:05.The message of his speech will not feed through. How do they get

:30:05. > :30:12.beyond the caricature of this party over the last couple of years which

:30:12. > :30:15.has sold out on their principles. It all really does depend on the

:30:15. > :30:19.economy. If he can go into the election saying, we stuck through

:30:19. > :30:24.this, we went through the hard times and now you can see the

:30:24. > :30:30.benefits, he might get the attraction that enables him to get

:30:30. > :30:40.beyond the first phase. Nick Clegg, the man as a speaker, he does

:30:40. > :30:47.

:30:47. > :30:53.compare well to Ed Miliband and I am not quite sure Nick Clegg is

:30:53. > :31:01.as good a platform speaker as Vince Cable. On Monday, Vince Cable gave

:31:01. > :31:11.a speech which was more assured. He is this impression that Nick Clegg

:31:11. > :31:12.

:31:12. > :31:16.is a slightly overgrown schoolboy. Thank you very much for the moment.

:31:16. > :31:26.We will leave events in Brighton for the moment and head back for

:31:26. > :31:27.

:31:27. > :31:35.Holyrood. Sandra White from the SNP and James Kelly from Scottish

:31:35. > :31:45.Labour join us now. Let's just get some reaction from you about Nick

:31:45. > :31:54.Clegg's speech. He was saying he was giving his justification for

:31:54. > :31:58.the coalition spending strategy. What is your reaction? By first

:31:58. > :32:07.reaction was about benefits and he said there has been too much spent

:32:07. > :32:13.on benefits. He spoke about benefit cuts and about the fact he would

:32:13. > :32:18.not work with the Conservatives. I found his speech fairly flowery

:32:18. > :32:27.without much substance. If Nick Clegg said you can't trust Labour

:32:27. > :32:33.with your money again. Is he right? I thought it was a pretty meek

:32:33. > :32:38.speech from Nick Clegg. Labour put together a package which rescued

:32:39. > :32:48.the banks including the Scottish banks and I think that's something

:32:49. > :32:51.

:32:51. > :32:55.Scottish workers will come from the last Labour Government. There are

:32:55. > :33:05.questions about whether we can afford free prescriptions and bus

:33:05. > :33:06.

:33:06. > :33:11.passes. Had the SNP got their heads in the sand? Certainly not. I think

:33:11. > :33:17.it is time we did have a debate but I think Chor and should have moved

:33:17. > :33:27.elsewhere in this debate. Instead of talking about cats, she should

:33:27. > :33:31.

:33:31. > :33:37.be looking at the independence question. The cuts will come from

:33:37. > :33:47.Westminster and yet here we have Chor and aligning herself with

:33:47. > :33:53.

:33:53. > :33:55.I think she was making the point that people like us who get free

:33:55. > :34:00.prescriptions should not get that when there are people who are

:34:00. > :34:10.facing cuts, for example the education committee said yesterday

:34:10. > :34:10.

:34:10. > :34:18.there was going to be a wave of redundancies in the college sector.

:34:18. > :34:25.If you're looking up means testing, it would cost more money. She can

:34:25. > :34:35.have it all her own way. I think we should have a debate on it but we

:34:35. > :34:35.

:34:35. > :34:39.must bring in -- bringing to that debate the mention of independence.

:34:39. > :34:49.James Kelly is speaking about the Labour MSP and was saying on the

:34:49. > :34:54.

:34:54. > :35:04.radio this morning that free prescriptions will have to stay.

:35:04. > :35:16.

:35:16. > :35:20.This is about bringing some honesty into politics. We can't have a

:35:20. > :35:25.position where people on six-figure salaries are getting handouts

:35:25. > :35:30.instead of those two are poor and vulnerable. Pensioners were having

:35:30. > :35:40.care packages cut, families living in overcrowded accommodation and

:35:40. > :35:42.

:35:42. > :35:46.workers not being paid a living wage. It is time we had that debate.

:35:47. > :35:52.Let's move on to another issue making the headlines today. The new

:35:52. > :35:57.Chief Constable of the unified Scottish police force says up to

:35:57. > :36:07.3,000 support staff may be lost when the forces emerge. That is

:36:07. > :36:08.

:36:08. > :36:18.pretty worrying. I think Stephen House has done a very good job but

:36:18. > :36:24.he said it could be up to 3,000. We are talking about merging eight

:36:24. > :36:28.police forces into one. I think we're looking at something that

:36:28. > :36:38.will go forward. Stephen House says it will not affect frontline

:36:38. > :36:47.

:36:47. > :36:54.services. I am open to debate. you are in the same boat because

:36:54. > :36:59.Labour supported this merger. consistently raised the issue of

:36:59. > :37:05.support staff job losses. Stephen House has indicated 3,000 support

:37:05. > :37:15.staff jobs and our concern would be that that would take away from

:37:15. > :37:16.

:37:16. > :37:20.officers on the French line -- on the front line. The priority at

:37:20. > :37:29.this point is to protect pensioners and vulnerable families and we must

:37:29. > :37:39.endure during this process that is what happens. It is the negative

:37:39. > :37:40.

:37:40. > :37:50.mantra of the Labour Party. I said I am open to debate. The SNP are

:37:50. > :37:50.

:37:50. > :37:58.running away from it. We will have to stop it there because we are out

:37:58. > :38:03.of time. Scotland needs more powers within the unions, that's the

:38:03. > :38:13.conclusion of a report by Deval plus campaigners want Holyrood maul

:38:13. > :38:17.

:38:17. > :38:22.-- to have more tax-raising powers. I am joined by Jeremy Purves. Your

:38:22. > :38:28.former leader did not even mention Scotland. I am not here to talk

:38:28. > :38:34.about my former parliamentarian colleagues but I am sure that when

:38:34. > :38:41.the Lib Dems publish their home rule Commission will get a clear

:38:41. > :38:45.picture of the Lib Dem position for devolution. Your report was to make

:38:45. > :38:48.Holyrood a more accountable for what it spends and you are

:38:48. > :38:51.recommending the transfer of some taxes but not others. What are you

:38:51. > :38:57.recommending? We've been concerned that quite a lot of the debate had

:38:57. > :39:02.been about process rather than what will constitutional issues mean for

:39:02. > :39:11.families across Scotland. We have looked at a number of areas that

:39:11. > :39:15.affect the most hard to reach people. We have tried to analyse it

:39:15. > :39:20.objectively as to where we are performing in Scotland since the

:39:20. > :39:26.creation of the Scottish Parliament. By we had the ability to make laws

:39:26. > :39:35.in areas but you can't pass a law to abolish homelessness or alcohol

:39:35. > :39:39.misuse. What seems to be lacking is a spread of fiscal powers. We have

:39:39. > :39:42.looked at it methodically and have challenged all the different

:39:42. > :39:48.parties to address some of the issues around social policy

:39:48. > :39:58.outcomes rather than about processing tactics. Social policy

:39:58. > :40:02.

:40:02. > :40:10.at Thames, these issues are hitting the headlines. In your report, are

:40:10. > :40:14.you picking out any areas which Scotland can and cannot afford?

:40:14. > :40:19.We've tried to avoid some of the policy choices that politicians can

:40:19. > :40:24.make. If we're talking about whether or not Scotland stays apart

:40:24. > :40:31.of the UK or if it does stay part of the UK what powers it should

:40:31. > :40:34.have, to take an objective view. By yesterday we were addressing these

:40:34. > :40:44.issues because all the different party leaders could have their

:40:44. > :40:47.policy options. Our focus is do we have at the right mix of powers and

:40:47. > :40:51.responsibilities and accountability in Holyrood that means that they

:40:51. > :40:57.can deliver on what their intentions are. We have found there

:40:57. > :41:00.has been no shortage of good intentions and some good pieces of

:41:00. > :41:10.legislation but those have been hindered because they don't have

:41:10. > :41:14.the options to make balanced fiscal choices. We have also looked

:41:14. > :41:24.carefully at the welfare reform agenda because there is a strong

:41:24. > :41:31.

:41:31. > :41:37.case to retain some elements that the UK level. -- At the UK level.

:41:37. > :41:46.Do you think there is a certain irony that you are so clear about

:41:46. > :41:54.what you want with independence but we're still waiting what will

:41:54. > :41:56.happen with the pro Unionist parties. The irony is that come 24

:41:57. > :42:03.teams and a no result, you could be left standing still and we might

:42:03. > :42:07.not have any more powers devolved to Holyrood. It is an issue of

:42:07. > :42:10.political will now. We are clear that we didn't think there is a

:42:10. > :42:15.case for a second question in the referendum because the referendum

:42:15. > :42:18.is about whether Scotland should be separate from the UK. The reason

:42:19. > :42:25.why we are put in this information and the public domain is to try and

:42:25. > :42:35.work with the parties and challenge them to present objective views and

:42:35. > :42:41.

:42:41. > :42:45.information. It is up to them if they go around it and that is going

:42:45. > :42:50.to be the focus of our third report next month which is how we could

:42:50. > :42:53.deliver some form of common ground so that when it does come to the

:42:54. > :43:01.referendum, this is a clear chose between what independence may or

:43:01. > :43:08.may not be but when people vote no, hopefully they will have a set of

:43:08. > :43:15.proposals that are different. It is up to the parties to coalesce

:43:15. > :43:19.around them. Just a few moments ago, we heard from Sandra White and

:43:19. > :43:29.James Kelly from Holyrood. Let's head back now and talk to their

:43:29. > :43:32.

:43:32. > :43:42.colleagues from other parties. What is your reaction to Nick Clegg's

:43:42. > :43:45.

:43:45. > :43:51.speech. I was particularly pleased to see the strong emphasis on

:43:51. > :43:56.education. I think the commitment to �500 of catch-up funding for

:43:56. > :44:00.those pupils moving between primary and secondary school who have not

:44:00. > :44:05.attained the requisite level in English and mathematics will be

:44:05. > :44:09.very welcome step. That is in England though. A at my argument

:44:09. > :44:17.would be that there are good positive initiatives being taken

:44:17. > :44:22.forward at the UK level. Scottish Government needs to learn

:44:22. > :44:32.the lessons from south of the border and implement a pupil

:44:32. > :44:33.

:44:33. > :44:42.premium in Scotland. It is an area where SNP ministers need to look at

:44:42. > :44:47.South of the border. Ruth Davidson, do you get frustrated that Nick

:44:47. > :44:57.Clegg seems to be taking the credit for all the things the Government

:44:57. > :45:02.

:45:02. > :45:08.is doing? We've seen the Liberal Democrats do that in the past. It

:45:08. > :45:12.was actually quite a muted speech. He seemed tired to me. His half-

:45:12. > :45:16.time pep talk of let's just get through this was not the most

:45:17. > :45:26.inspirational leadership speech referred. What about the noises

:45:27. > :45:30.

:45:30. > :45:34.we've been hearing from conference about things like a mention tax?

:45:34. > :45:38.be honest, I think this year's Liberal Democrat conference appears

:45:38. > :45:41.to have been much less about the hard decisions being made in

:45:41. > :45:47.Government right now and making sure our country is back on the

:45:47. > :45:53.road to growth and reducing the deficit, it is actually about a

:45:53. > :45:56.very early start to the 2015 general election. In terms of being

:45:56. > :46:04.a responsible member of Government, and not sure that responsibility

:46:04. > :46:07.has shone through in the last few days. I would disagree. Nick Clegg

:46:07. > :46:12.has been saying they have been tough decisions that have been

:46:12. > :46:19.taken by the coalition Government and those were necessary decisions.

:46:19. > :46:23.Nevertheless, he has been cutting clearly in his speech -- saying

:46:23. > :46:33.clearly in a speech about the influence the Liberal Democrats

:46:33. > :46:38.

:46:38. > :46:46.In terms of Furnace, lifting many of the low paid out of paying

:46:46. > :46:49.income tax, lifting the amount of pension that is paid to elderly -

:46:49. > :46:57.that would not have happened without the Lib Dems in the

:46:57. > :47:04.coalition. Becky. Made it was Mr Clegg saying he wanted to look at

:47:04. > :47:10.benefits which the Conservatives do not want to do. The richest not

:47:10. > :47:18.getting a bus passes. It does not make you popular. What we have seen

:47:18. > :47:22.in terms of the rhetoric coming out of the SNP for the last five years

:47:22. > :47:28.is a view that every car it is the responsibility of Westminster and

:47:28. > :47:34.every spending decision is the result of SNP ministers. It does

:47:34. > :47:40.not wash. Their right choices people need to make particularly in

:47:40. > :47:45.these tough economic times. I may disagree with some of the language

:47:45. > :47:52.Johann Lamont has been using, nevertheless, the honesty she is

:47:52. > :47:56.asking for in the debate we have is absolutely the right one. Roof,

:47:56. > :48:01.where do you stand on that? The Prime Minister has said he would

:48:01. > :48:07.not want to cut free bus passes for pensioners. Where do you stand on

:48:07. > :48:12.this debate? If we look at what Johann Lamont were saying, her

:48:12. > :48:15.analysis was quite right. Some of the things she would put the money

:48:15. > :48:23.back into I would disagree whip but in terms of what she was talking

:48:23. > :48:30.about, things like using free prescriptions having a cost, fewer

:48:30. > :48:34.nurses and midwives that we used to have - we would not have which

:48:34. > :48:40.people getting their aspirin free on the NHS. What we would be doing

:48:41. > :48:46.is planning that into frontline services. Spending and politics is

:48:46. > :48:49.all about priorities and what the SNP do in terms of freebies,

:48:49. > :48:54.giveaways and bribes have to be paid for somewhere and we do need

:48:54. > :48:59.honesty in the debate about what it is your priorities are. For me in

:48:59. > :49:07.health, it is not free prescriptions for rich people. It

:49:07. > :49:12.is frontline staff. One other issue making the headlines, Stephen House,

:49:12. > :49:18.the new Chief Constable of the unified Scottish police force says

:49:18. > :49:23.up to 3,000 support staff jobs may have to go. We were always told

:49:23. > :49:33.there was going to be savings but I want to make sure it is not fund

:49:33. > :49:36.

:49:36. > :49:41.like staff. The Tories made heart - - worked hard to ensure... It is a

:49:41. > :49:50.very big challenge. Stephen house is an experienced policemen. I

:49:50. > :49:55.represent Glasgow, I know he has a clarity of leadership and I hope he

:49:56. > :49:59.can bring that to a difficult post. The fact is that savings need to be

:49:59. > :50:06.made somewhere and savings will not be made from frontline police

:50:06. > :50:09.officers but it will be support staff that will have to go. I would

:50:09. > :50:16.first congratulate Stephen house on his appointment but he has been

:50:16. > :50:21.left a thankless task. While he has indicated that frontline staff may

:50:21. > :50:26.be protected, you take 3,000 civilian support staff out of the

:50:26. > :50:31.equation and quickly you find a lot of the frontline staff being

:50:31. > :50:40.deployed to back-office functions that they were never intended to do.

:50:40. > :50:45.The implications for this are him - - in serious. He has to balance the

:50:45. > :50:49.local accountability of policing in our communities with the kind of

:50:50. > :50:59.political accountability he has to the justice minister. The task

:51:00. > :51:00.

:51:00. > :51:06.facing Stephen house is usually difficult. Thank you.

:51:06. > :51:08.0 Olympic legacy, what Olympic legacy? That is what MSPs and

:51:08. > :51:14.sports committees have been hearing during their inquiry into

:51:14. > :51:23.grassroots sports. They focused on coaching and had from Judy married,

:51:23. > :51:31.the mother of US Open champion Andy and Liz McColgan, an Olympic

:51:31. > :51:35.athlete and a coach. The message.. We need facilities are to be

:51:35. > :51:39.accessible and they need to be affordable because we have an

:51:39. > :51:46.enormous opportunity on the back of the Olympics to capture the

:51:46. > :51:50.imagination of the Scottish public. It is the adults, the parents in

:51:50. > :51:54.particular who will end rolled the children into sports classes so if

:51:54. > :51:58.we can end the use the adults, then we have more chance of getting

:51:58. > :52:03.children playing but they have to be places that are localised and

:52:03. > :52:08.easy to access and they have to be affordable. I was at the Olympic

:52:08. > :52:13.Games and we got all this emotion about the legacy of the game's and

:52:13. > :52:17.how we will all going to go back to our corners of the world and have

:52:17. > :52:25.these lovely children well catered for in fantastic facilities and it

:52:25. > :52:30.has not happened. My main grief is the fact that we have all these

:52:30. > :52:34.facilities in deprived areas yet we are charging �3 from local councils

:52:34. > :52:39.are to try in get kids to use it and they do not have that finance

:52:39. > :52:48.to use it. I went to my local club when I came back from the Olympics,

:52:48. > :52:55.I had 120 kids and we had three coaches and they are volunteers. We

:52:55. > :53:00.still have 112 kids turning up, a fantastic sight to see and they are

:53:00. > :53:05.not turned away but again, how are we supposed to cope with that and

:53:05. > :53:14.how are we supposed to keep their interest? Where is the next Andy

:53:14. > :53:22.Murray? I do not see them. Whereas the next Liz McColgan? It is not

:53:22. > :53:28.because we do not have the ability. I have to go elsewhere to get the

:53:28. > :53:36.support for them. The Commonwealth Games legacy in Glasgow is for

:53:36. > :53:42.politicians and departments. The department's... The East End of

:53:42. > :53:50.Glasgow is supposed to be regenerated. But we have been

:53:50. > :54:00.tagged the murder will capita -- capital of Europe. There is not one

:54:00. > :54:00.

:54:00. > :54:05.facility that Glasgow has said is billed for these Games. Sport from

:54:05. > :54:12.a organisation it is something that saves lives. We are not getting the

:54:12. > :54:17.funding. As far as I am concerned, a great many people involved with

:54:17. > :54:21.organisations will say we do not see this legacy. We really don't.

:54:21. > :54:26.can say the exact same thing from my club. We are not getting the

:54:26. > :54:31.finances. We have a club house that is derelict and we are having to

:54:31. > :54:37.rent a toilet facility from the council at the track for the club.

:54:37. > :54:42.It is pretty much similar positions all over Scotland and this is the

:54:42. > :54:46.sad state of affairs that we are in now. Scotland saying we are a great

:54:47. > :54:51.nation and we have Andy Murray and all these great, fantastic sporting

:54:51. > :54:57.heroes but they have not come from the development in Scotland. They

:54:57. > :55:04.have come from exceptional people that have taken the good and bad

:55:04. > :55:14.all around them, they have just excelled through red. Poverty, no

:55:14. > :55:23.

:55:23. > :55:28.matter how talented the kid, poverty is a barrier. At the end of

:55:28. > :55:36.the day, poverty is the on climate or barrier. No matter how good that

:55:36. > :55:43.kid gets, once it gets to a certain level, end of Korea. -- end of

:55:43. > :55:48.career. We have had an extended programme today to cover Nick

:55:48. > :55:56.Clegg's speech at Brighton so let's get some final thoughts Professor

:55:56. > :56:04.John quarters and Eddie Barnes. What does Ed Miliband have to do?

:56:04. > :56:10.In truth, the party is going in a strong position. They have been

:56:10. > :56:14.enjoying leads in the polls. It is their strongest position since May

:56:14. > :56:22.2010 but there are two nagging issues ignoring away at the Labour

:56:22. > :56:26.party. The first, although voters are saying yes, we are more likely

:56:26. > :56:32.to vote Labour than either Conservative or Liberal Democrat,

:56:32. > :56:40.ask them who best will run the economy, the answer is still not

:56:40. > :56:45.Labour. The second issue is that although Ed Miliband is not quite

:56:45. > :56:49.as unpopular as he was, he is still in negative territory and in

:56:49. > :56:57.particular, people are still not convinced that Mr Ed Miliband is

:56:57. > :57:04.able to convey to the his image of what his party stands for. What is

:57:04. > :57:07.the Ed Miliband Labour about? We have heard phrases about preened

:57:07. > :57:11.redistribution and responsible capitalism but the public are not

:57:11. > :57:15.clear about what Labour is about. Labour have to cement that lead and

:57:15. > :57:20.put some foundations on it to ensure it will survive all the way

:57:20. > :57:27.through to 2015. Do people see Ed Miliband as a possible Prime

:57:27. > :57:30.Minister? He is a drag on the party. He is lagging behind the party's

:57:31. > :57:38.popularity and the interesting thing is the village has begun

:57:38. > :57:42.looking at him as a potential prime minister because of the poles. The

:57:42. > :57:48.Westminster village is now looking at this feller and thinking, he

:57:48. > :57:54.might be the next prime minister, and that makes this beach from him

:57:54. > :58:00.the most interesting. People are asking, will he make a speech of a

:58:00. > :58:04.Prime Minister? And that is the hurdle he has to leap over. Some of

:58:04. > :58:09.the Conservatives were saying if there was an Alistair Darling

:58:09. > :58:12.figure in charge of labour, they would be dead, they would be out of

:58:12. > :58:17.the general election already so at Ed Miliband, if he can manage to

:58:17. > :58:24.rise to that occasion next week, it makes it very interesting indeed.

:58:24. > :58:27.Do you think he will do it? I think he has more in him than the public

:58:27. > :58:37.have seen at the moment. It was just a question of building that

:58:37. > :58:38.