:00:28. > :00:33.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. They say while the cat is away the
:00:33. > :00:38.mice will play but as the first and Deputy First Minister celebrated a
:00:38. > :00:41.belated St Patrick's Day, it was business as usual in the chamber.
:00:42. > :00:47.The Finance Minister has strong words for the Chancellor's regional
:00:47. > :00:52.pay idea of. It will be divisive, deflationary and it is not a good
:00:52. > :00:56.tactic economically if you want to promote growth across the whole UK.
:00:56. > :01:00.And there with a leadership race going up here but it was a
:01:00. > :01:05.different race that had our MLAs out of the chamber.
:01:05. > :01:13.And with animal welfare on the agenda, I am joined by Stephen will
:01:13. > :01:17.pot of the USPCA. New and a full welfare legislation
:01:17. > :01:21.is about to come into force in the next few weeks which is designed to
:01:21. > :01:26.provide protection for pets, working animals and livestock but
:01:26. > :01:31.there are some concerns about the changes. Stephen Philpott, you have
:01:31. > :01:35.reservations about this. It is getting very late in the day, the
:01:35. > :01:39.legislation is due a week on Saturday and we still have not
:01:39. > :01:46.clarified where the animals are going. Rescued animals will be
:01:46. > :01:51.going through some sort of third party who look after the animals
:01:51. > :01:56.but as yet no one can tell us who that is. The tender documents do
:01:56. > :02:00.not deal with how the animal is the disposed of. As a welfare
:02:00. > :02:06.organisation that is a great concern. Are there any good part in
:02:07. > :02:10.it? Yes, this is going to put Northern Ireland ahead of the game
:02:10. > :02:18.with regards to the legislation and the budgetary side of this
:02:18. > :02:23.legislation is not to be sneezed at, almost �750,000 will come from
:02:23. > :02:28.Westminster. That is a big positive but we very much need to be
:02:28. > :02:32.satisfied that this legislation will be enforced properly and the
:02:32. > :02:37.animals will be the beneficiaries not the humans. It is a big change
:02:37. > :02:46.for people, we will not be able to phone you for lost animals or
:02:46. > :02:50.cruelty to animals, is that why? is a grey area. We believe that the
:02:50. > :02:56.public will still continue to contact us. What we would have to
:02:56. > :03:02.do is read direct them. We have to ascertain what type of animal and
:03:02. > :03:08.then we will we direct them to local government to get their query
:03:08. > :03:13.sorted out. That fills us with the dread because we deal with 7,000
:03:13. > :03:19.calls a month and that brings its Channel jeers. To be direct those
:03:19. > :03:23.calls will be a big issue. With a generous pay rise coming and
:03:23. > :03:28.a day off yesterday, the agenda was packed with a double helping of
:03:28. > :03:32.questions. Four half hour sessions instead of the usual two. We will
:03:32. > :03:36.hear questions to the employment and learning Minister, but first
:03:36. > :03:42.here is the agricultural Minister being asked about reform to the
:03:42. > :03:50.single farm repayment scheme. new payment system due to its
:03:50. > :03:55.complexity could have the potential to increase the risk of fines.
:03:55. > :04:05.department over all departments has the most engagement in European
:04:05. > :04:09.funding. It is very frustrating the said policies. How they are being
:04:09. > :04:19.implemented and how you are faced with a fines. The proposals would
:04:19. > :04:21.
:04:21. > :04:26.be so hard that Ministers will find it hard to administer. Potentially
:04:26. > :04:30.moving from one payment to six would be hard to administer and you
:04:30. > :04:34.would have the commission watching every stage of that. We are in
:04:34. > :04:39.negotiation stage and we have to get this process simple as possible.
:04:39. > :04:47.Four fines could be on the way and in particular the horse mussel
:04:47. > :04:51.weeks. We are looking at a multi- million pound infraction find. Does
:04:51. > :04:57.she accept it is a failure on behalf of her department that we
:04:57. > :05:01.find ourselves in this unpleasant position? This issue has been going
:05:01. > :05:07.on for quite some time as the member is quite aware. There has
:05:07. > :05:12.been a number of actions taken in terms of increasing exclusion zones,
:05:12. > :05:18.a management plan put in place but the commission, the Queen's
:05:18. > :05:25.University report was keep in moving forward. On to employment
:05:25. > :05:30.and learning. They wanted to know if the Minister had plans for
:05:30. > :05:35.retraining outgoing present offenders. I recognise this is a
:05:35. > :05:42.particular cohort of people who have a particular set of needs. We
:05:42. > :05:47.are not talking about a redundancy situation but these are people who
:05:47. > :05:50.will have the ability to make a further contribution to the economy
:05:50. > :05:57.and the Careers Service of by department is very much available
:05:57. > :06:01.to everyone in Northern Ireland, adults included. I will certainly
:06:01. > :06:05.strongly recommend anyone in that circumstance to make contact with
:06:05. > :06:14.the careers service through their local jobs and benefits office and
:06:14. > :06:18.to make an appointment to discuss their future opportunities. Can I
:06:18. > :06:23.ask the Minister, given the vast amount of money that has been set
:06:23. > :06:27.aside for severance in this scheme, does the Minister agree that when
:06:27. > :06:31.an enhanced package like that is available, that people should not
:06:31. > :06:40.be allowed to go back into the service again? There should be a
:06:40. > :06:45.cause. It is important that we distinguish -- responsibilities and
:06:45. > :06:49.the direct command the member has asked me something my collie the
:06:49. > :06:52.Minister of Justice would be better placed to respond to. Public sector
:06:52. > :06:56.workers are holding their breath for tomorrow's Budget over plans to
:06:56. > :07:00.introduce regional rates of pay. The pilots Minister Sammy Wilson is
:07:00. > :07:05.flying to London tonight and plans to speak during the Budget debate
:07:05. > :07:10.at Westminster. I asked him to outline his objections to the idea.
:07:11. > :07:15.He has to look at what happens to benefits. Do you realise benefits
:07:15. > :07:22.because you cannot have a situation where people in work have their
:07:22. > :07:27.wages frozen and people in benefits have it improved by inflation every
:07:27. > :07:30.year. You close the gap between work and being out of work. The
:07:30. > :07:34.Government is talking about making work pay and once you start down
:07:35. > :07:39.this road you are going to hit the poorest by having to reduce
:07:39. > :07:43.benefits in areas like Northern Ireland. How do you sort out the
:07:43. > :07:50.difference in the rate of pay between the public and private
:07:50. > :07:55.sector? If you go back four yes -- years ago, private sector wages
:07:55. > :08:01.were a bar of public sector wages in many situations. For example,
:08:01. > :08:06.when I was the Minister, we could not hold on to officers. We could
:08:06. > :08:09.not hold on to a technical staff in the health service. Joiners,
:08:09. > :08:13.electricians because they were going to the private sector because
:08:13. > :08:18.wages were so good and this is a swings and roundabouts. Daybreak
:08:18. > :08:22.they get the private sector wages up is to get the economy growing,
:08:22. > :08:29.once it is growing, there will be an increase in demand for labour
:08:29. > :08:34.and that will pull the wages are. You do not get better wage parity
:08:34. > :08:39.by making the economy even poorer because in doing that you will
:08:39. > :08:44.enforce rages in the private sector, which are very sensitive to
:08:44. > :08:49.economic activity, down further. You say you will not stop this on
:08:49. > :08:53.your own, we do support industrial action? I would prefer to see a
:08:53. > :08:58.proper political debate about this. If this were debated properly in
:08:58. > :09:02.the House of Commons and all live the consequences of the it teased
:09:02. > :09:08.out, then there will be a lot of people on the benches as well as
:09:09. > :09:12.the opposition benches who realised this is a bad policy. It is not an
:09:12. > :09:17.economically sensible policy and the Government will be forced to
:09:17. > :09:22.pull it up. Is there a sense of regret that the Executive did not
:09:22. > :09:27.take control of public sector pay when it was offered? There is not
:09:27. > :09:31.because to have separate pay negotiations here in Northern
:09:31. > :09:34.Ireland would have meant we would have to set up a whole
:09:34. > :09:39.infrastructure for those negotiations which would have been
:09:40. > :09:45.costly in itself. Secondly, I think if there is a national rate for a
:09:45. > :09:49.job, whether you are a teacher in Northern Ireland or London, you are
:09:49. > :09:54.still doing the same job. It is better to have those rates agreed
:09:54. > :09:59.rather than to have devolution of them. I have no doubt that Gordon
:09:59. > :10:03.Brown offered it at that stage and we were sensitive to this. He often
:10:03. > :10:06.did because it was another way of him being able to put the squeeze
:10:06. > :10:12.of from the Treasury on Northern Ireland because he simply said,
:10:12. > :10:16.let's cut the Northern Ireland a block grant and ensured they can
:10:16. > :10:21.make the adjustment by negotiating lower wages with the public sector
:10:21. > :10:26.employees. MLAs voted through two motions on
:10:26. > :10:34.animal where fell. The first that procedures other than beds are
:10:34. > :10:38.carried out on animals. The second livestock. Prohibited procedure
:10:38. > :10:44.involves interference of the tissues and bone structure of an
:10:44. > :10:47.animal. To insure the procedures that are commonly undertaken by lay
:10:47. > :10:51.permanent -- persons remained legal, the regulations set out the
:10:51. > :10:55.procedures and which may be carried out by the lay person. The
:10:55. > :10:58.regulation will provide clarity by listing all those procedures are
:10:58. > :11:08.acceptable for a lay person to perform and also provide clarity
:11:08. > :11:12.Stephen, there was some housekeeping going on in the
:11:12. > :11:19.Chamber. Going back to an issue we saw last week, just interested to
:11:19. > :11:22.find out about the badger baiting and what sort of response have you
:11:22. > :11:29.had? There's been a massive response to the work we did with
:11:29. > :11:33.the BBC last week. Our phones have rung off the hook. People who have
:11:33. > :11:36.not spoken to the USPCA for years are keen to tell us what they have
:11:36. > :11:39.seen in the countryside and where they have seen it. Interesting news
:11:40. > :11:44.from Wales this afternoon on this ongoing debate about the badger
:11:44. > :11:50.cull? The news out of Wales late this afternoon - I was on my way
:11:50. > :11:56.here when I was text - the Welsh Assembly have decided to cancel the
:11:56. > :12:00.plan cull of badgers. They have now decided they are not going to do it.
:12:00. > :12:06.They are based that on scientific information. As a welfare
:12:06. > :12:09.organisation, we would welcome that. Thank you. It's 25 years since the
:12:09. > :12:12.first IVF baby was born here in Northern Ireland. It was timely,
:12:12. > :12:15.therefore, for members to discuss the perceived failings of the
:12:15. > :12:18.Health Service to deliver fertility treatment. They're calling on the
:12:18. > :12:22.Health Minister to fund three full cycles of IVF for couples who can't
:12:23. > :12:30.conceive, as opposed to the current one cycle. Here's the Health
:12:30. > :12:40.Committee Chair, Sue Ramsey, outlining the problem. We should be
:12:40. > :12:42.
:12:42. > :12:47.providing a cycle. The only chance to try again is to go privately.
:12:47. > :12:53.Going privately will cost people in and around �4,000. If it doesn't
:12:53. > :12:58.work, and then they try a third cycle, that is another �4,000. So
:12:58. > :13:04.in total, couples could find themselves in and around �8,000 in
:13:04. > :13:09.debt, at a time when you are trying for a baby, this can create more
:13:09. > :13:13.stress at a very emotional time for couples. What happens in practice
:13:13. > :13:19.here is the couples go for Health Service treatment and receive one
:13:19. > :13:23.fresh cycle of IVF. If it doesn't result in a pregnancy, then that is
:13:23. > :13:30.it in terms of treatment available to them. However, half of the
:13:30. > :13:35.couple also have generated frozen embryos. -- couples will have
:13:35. > :13:40.generated frozen embrie owes. The only way they can use -- embryos.
:13:40. > :13:44.The only way they can use these is to pay to have them transferred. We
:13:44. > :13:47.are on tricky moral ground here. We are creating embryos for people in
:13:47. > :13:51.the Health Service as part of the public-funded treatment. In the
:13:51. > :13:55.case of any frozen embryos being available, we are only allowing
:13:55. > :13:58.them to be transferred on the private sector. It was a short
:13:58. > :14:05.debate with little dissent, however Jim Allister did raise three points
:14:05. > :14:14.he wished to see clarified. first pertains to the fact as part
:14:14. > :14:24.of the process ultimately there is destruction of unused embryos. An
:14:24. > :14:27.
:14:27. > :14:31.embryo is biologically a human embryo, is a living human being at
:14:32. > :14:38.the earliest stage of its development. Of course it needs -
:14:38. > :14:44.it is dependent upon the mother to give it nurture and life, but
:14:44. > :14:51.genetically it is a distinct organism different from both the
:14:51. > :14:54.egg and the sperm. The second issue that I would have concerns about is
:14:54. > :15:01.the development of process, particularly in the United States,
:15:01. > :15:05.of sex selection within IVF treatment where you have that
:15:05. > :15:11.particular dimension. The Minister maybe can tell us how far, if at
:15:11. > :15:17.all, that is permitted within Northern Ireland's arrangements.
:15:17. > :15:26.The third issue which does concern me is something not referred to in
:15:26. > :15:30.the NICE guidelines, is the question of the use or abuse of IVF
:15:30. > :15:33.treatment by lesbian couples. response, the Minister, Edwin Poots,
:15:33. > :15:35.made it clear the guidelines for embryo storage and on sex selection
:15:35. > :15:38.were laid down by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
:15:38. > :15:41.Authority and that he was personally opposed to sex selection.
:15:41. > :15:48.On same-sex couples he said the treatment was available to all
:15:48. > :15:51.eligible couples. We've heard many of the arguments for and against
:15:51. > :15:55.the plastic bag levy, environmental and economic, but what about health
:15:55. > :15:59.and safety? The Environment Committee has been hearing expert
:15:59. > :16:02.evidence on that topic and we'll hear more in a minute. But we start
:16:02. > :16:04.our look at the work of the committees with health, where
:16:04. > :16:14.members were hearing evidence on a planned private psychiatric
:16:14. > :16:19.hospital. Am I right in thinking - this new facility will not be
:16:19. > :16:24.subject to the Freedom of Information Act, unlike a Trust
:16:24. > :16:27.facility? Is that not an immediate impediment? Does that mean for
:16:27. > :16:33.instance if we were to ask a question about provision, that we
:16:33. > :16:40.would get a response saying, "This is a private company, it is none of
:16:40. > :16:45.our business." Will that cause some unease? There will be a requirement,
:16:45. > :16:48.registration includes a requirement - sorry, a requirement on a private
:16:48. > :16:52.health facility to provide the Department with such reports it
:16:52. > :16:55.requires for the purpose of its operation under the mental health
:16:56. > :17:00.order. Failure to provide that information will constitute an
:17:00. > :17:05.offence. Would that be the same as if the information had been
:17:05. > :17:13.available for a state-run institution? The same information
:17:13. > :17:18.will be provided by this facility each time someone is detained there,
:17:18. > :17:26.so a Freedom of Information will apply and any Trust who place
:17:26. > :17:30.people in this. As Christine has already said, Article 93-E provides
:17:30. > :17:34.that the Department and other bodies can obtain what information
:17:34. > :17:38.they want from a private organisation and that organisation
:17:38. > :17:46.must provide it because it is an offence not to do so. I understand.
:17:46. > :17:53.But does that mean it is available to the public under the normal way
:17:53. > :17:59.under FOI? We have the information from the private company so we
:17:59. > :18:05.can't divulge that to you? It would be my view that if the Department
:18:05. > :18:09.holds information about a private facility, we would be required to
:18:09. > :18:14.provide it. We do support the work that's been done on environmental
:18:14. > :18:19.issues in every way. However, we have a serious concern about the
:18:19. > :18:23.introduction of this charge because we see this as a potential food
:18:23. > :18:27.safety issue. We are concerned about the risk of cross-
:18:27. > :18:32.contamination and because of that risk, we sat down with our members
:18:32. > :18:35.and discussed it and decided we would get independent research
:18:35. > :18:39.carried out to establish whether there was a risk of cross-
:18:39. > :18:45.contamination, whether consumers would be put at risk of consuming
:18:45. > :18:50.food that had been put into multi- use bags and we engaged Professor
:18:50. > :18:56.McDowell on my right to carry out that research on our behalf. Just
:18:56. > :19:01.looking at the science, it is clear there is a potential significant
:19:01. > :19:11.risk of bacterial cross- contamination in relation to bags
:19:11. > :19:13.
:19:13. > :19:17.to carry hot-food items. The scientific evidence demonstrates
:19:17. > :19:24.that contact with the surface of a previously-used bag is likely to
:19:24. > :19:28.lead to the transfer of bacteria on ready-to-eat foods. Food can carry
:19:28. > :19:32.potentially dangerous bacteria but these are killed by standard
:19:32. > :19:36.cooking processes either inside or outside the home. Bacteria can
:19:36. > :19:42.recontaminate food after cooking. There is nothing to stop them
:19:42. > :19:46.getting into people and causing serious disease. Looking at the
:19:46. > :19:50.Welfare Bill, do you see a point over the next week or so that you
:19:50. > :19:55.will get clarification on what is going to happen? Or will it be put
:19:55. > :19:59.into practice and then it will be solved one way or the other? I know
:19:59. > :20:03.there are meetings scheduled over the next ten or 11 days. We think
:20:03. > :20:07.it is very, very late in the day for some of these important issues
:20:07. > :20:11.to be left this close to the deadline to be resolved. Other
:20:11. > :20:16.issues we have with the Bill are the recruitment process is now over.
:20:16. > :20:21.The new Animal Welfare Officers have been recruited. We are
:20:21. > :20:25.disappointed those people aren't from a welfare background. Animal
:20:25. > :20:30.welfare and animal control are two different tasks. As we saw in the
:20:30. > :20:35.Dogs Order, controlling dogs and ensuring for their welfare were two
:20:35. > :20:39.separate things. We need to be very sure that the legislation is being
:20:39. > :20:44.brought in and is going to be implemented for the animals'
:20:44. > :20:47.benefit, not for the Government's. Thanks very much. It was an economy
:20:47. > :20:50.and finance double header for the second half of Question Time. Golf
:20:50. > :20:52.tourism, hurling tourism, what could be next? Here's the Economy
:20:52. > :20:59.Minister, Arlene Foster, on the economic boost the Irish Open Golf
:20:59. > :21:06.Championship at Royal Portrush will bring. Let's hope she turns up at
:21:06. > :21:11.the right course! We haven't staged an event such as this for nearly 60
:21:11. > :21:20.years, so we, as a Department, are working very much in partnership
:21:20. > :21:26.with our colleagues at Royal County - that is the wrong place! The
:21:26. > :21:31.Portrush Golf Club and the council and with other partners in DRD
:21:31. > :21:35.because we realise that we need to have a delivery structure in place
:21:35. > :21:41.to ensure the effective co- ordination across all of the
:21:41. > :21:45.Departments and all of the local governments. Would the Minister
:21:45. > :21:51.agree that we should look at promoting GAA tourism in particular
:21:51. > :22:01.hurling tourism given we have some of the best hurling teams in the
:22:01. > :22:02.
:22:02. > :22:06.world in North Antrim? Order. This is certainly very focused on golf!
:22:06. > :22:11.LAUGHTER Order. Access to finance is a huge issue. This member wanted
:22:11. > :22:14.to know had all avenues been explored. Can I ask whether she
:22:15. > :22:18.feels that the introduction of a credit review office or agency
:22:18. > :22:22.which would give small businesses an opportunity to appeal
:22:22. > :22:26.unsuccessful loan applications would prove a beneficial aspect of
:22:26. > :22:31.getting businesses more access to finance? As I understand it, that
:22:31. > :22:35.is a scheme that works in the Republic of Ireland. I think the
:22:35. > :22:40.junior minister has looked at this issue in the context of the
:22:40. > :22:45.economic sub-group. It is a matter we are discussing at that sub-
:22:45. > :22:48.committee. At last, a helping hand for retailers. Together with
:22:48. > :22:53.executive colleagues, I propose to carry out a comprehensive
:22:53. > :22:56.consultation with the independent retail sector to identify areas of
:22:56. > :23:04.difficulty and develop a co- ordinated approach to helping the
:23:04. > :23:11.sector overcome these. At present, a range of advisory support to
:23:11. > :23:20.business is provided, including ICT advice. Retail businesses will also
:23:20. > :23:24.be able to benefit from the new �5 million loans fund through which
:23:24. > :23:30.three to five year unsecured loans will be available to viable
:23:30. > :23:40.businesses in all sectors. On to finance questions, and the equal
:23:40. > :23:40.
:23:40. > :23:44.pay issue. Could I ask the Minister why are PSNI staff excluded from
:23:44. > :23:49.the settlement and yet Policing Board staff are included in the
:23:49. > :23:54.settlement? Well, if I could deal with the Policing Board staff
:23:54. > :24:02.first? The Policing Board staff were not entitled to the lump sum
:24:02. > :24:07.payments. The Policing Board staff were paid in error based on
:24:08. > :24:12.incomplete information. That information later came to light.
:24:12. > :24:17.But the payments had already been made to the staff. No attempt has
:24:17. > :24:21.been made by the Policing Board to recoup that money. So let's make it
:24:21. > :24:25.something quite clear here. That payment was paid in error. There
:24:25. > :24:28.was no entitlement there. The Policing Board did not present all
:24:28. > :24:38.of the information at the time. Therefore, the payment was made. As
:24:38. > :24:38.
:24:38. > :24:46.far as the PSNI staff are concerned, the agreement that was negotiated
:24:46. > :24:50.was negotiated by Northern Ireland civil service staff, was agreed and
:24:50. > :24:56.it was only for Northern Ireland civil service staff. If the police
:24:56. > :25:00.and the police do have money for the equal pay claim, that money was
:25:00. > :25:04.negotiated and sits in the police budget at present, but the Police
:25:04. > :25:11.Service of Northern Ireland, who are the employers and who have the
:25:11. > :25:14.pay delegation have to show that there is an equal pay entitlement.
:25:14. > :25:17.The Green Party's Stephen Agnew has a bee in his bonnet about the new
:25:17. > :25:20.golf course resort near the Giant's Causeway. Mark Devenport can
:25:20. > :25:27.explain - along with the latest on the Ulster Unionist leadership
:25:27. > :25:32.campaign. Mike Nesbitt didn't make any official statement today. But
:25:32. > :25:42.it did come up in the course of a question that he was trying to ask
:25:42. > :25:43.
:25:43. > :25:48.to the Agriculture Minister. Mike Nesbitt dealt with it like this.
:25:48. > :25:54.they call me leader? Question four, Mr Speaker.
:25:54. > :25:58.Not yet! And Mark, the other leadership contender had some
:25:58. > :26:05.interesting thoughts in the newsletter today? Yes, he said that
:26:05. > :26:08.if he became leader, he would expel David McNarry from the party. He is
:26:08. > :26:13.involved in disciplinary action which is all to do with newspaper
:26:13. > :26:22.reports and talks between the Ulster Unionists and the DUP. This
:26:22. > :26:28.is what he had to say. I just think that it's run far too long and we
:26:28. > :26:34.need to bring it to a close. McNarry said he intended to clear
:26:34. > :26:38.his name in the disciplinary proceedings and he said that
:26:38. > :26:44.statement said more about the depth of his ability to unite the party
:26:44. > :26:48.than anything else. An interesting question to the Environment
:26:48. > :26:55.Minister? This is in relation to the Giant's Causeway golfing resort
:26:55. > :27:00.which was announced with so much fanfare and the Environment
:27:00. > :27:10.Minister decided that financial and tourist considerations would
:27:10. > :27:10.
:27:10. > :27:18.outweigh any environmental concerns. He's raised a question about a bee
:27:18. > :27:22.that has been seen up around that area in the dunes near Giants
:27:22. > :27:30.Causeway. Stephen Agnew is concerned lest it might be affected
:27:30. > :27:34.by this and wanted to know whether UNESCO had been informed. A
:27:34. > :27:37.conservation report is on its way but he repeats in this instance, he
:27:37. > :27:40.felt there were circumstances which outweighed the environmental
:27:40. > :27:46.concerns to press ahead. We will have to see what happens to the bee,
:27:46. > :27:49.whether it turns out to be a fly in the golfing ointment! If some of
:27:49. > :27:52.our MLAs looked a bit jaded this afternoon, it's because they ran
:27:52. > :27:54.the mile up the road to Parliament Buildings for Sport Relief at
:27:54. > :27:57.lunchtime. The DUP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance took part
:27:57. > :28:00.along with the SDLP who took silver and gold, with Conall McDevitt and
:28:00. > :28:05.his colleague Mark Durkan across the finish line well before
:28:05. > :28:09.everyone else. Mervyn Storey gets a special mention though for running
:28:09. > :28:19.the mile in his suit - and as for our political correspondent Gareth
:28:19. > :28:20.
:28:20. > :28:23.Gordon - well the pictures speak for themselves really. It is a
:28:23. > :28:28.great opportunity to raise awareness and money for a good
:28:28. > :28:30.cause and to have a bit of fun and exercise at the same time! It's
:28:31. > :28:35.good that, as public representatives, we are taking part
:28:35. > :28:39.in such things and raising the profile of causes such as Sport
:28:39. > :28:45.Relief. You are getting a bit of name for yourself with all this
:28:45. > :28:51.sporting stuff after your boxing? I'm not a good sportsman! It is a
:28:51. > :28:55.fun way to highlight a good cause. It's a good charity to back. Also,
:28:55. > :28:58.some much-needed exercise. It is a great opportunity to support a very
:28:58. > :29:05.worthwhile cause. Obviously, it is great to get out in the fresh air.
:29:05. > :29:10.It is a break to get some exercise. It is fantastic. Well done to