0:00:16 > 0:00:20Evening all. Welcome to our first Today at Conference of the 2011
0:00:20 > 0:00:24party conference season. We're in Birmingham with the Lib Dems
0:00:24 > 0:00:29battered and bruised from those terrible May local election results,
0:00:29 > 0:00:34the loss of the AV referendum, remember that? And flat lining in
0:00:34 > 0:00:37the polls at around 11%. But the Lib Dems are in a chipper mood.
0:00:37 > 0:00:41They insist there's still all to play for as part of a Tory-led
0:00:41 > 0:00:46coalition. But that was before they heard from Business Secretary,
0:00:46 > 0:00:52Vince Cable, who delivered a speech laden with economic gloom and doom.
0:00:52 > 0:00:58Here are the highlights. We now face a crisis that is the
0:00:58 > 0:01:07economic equivalent of war and this is not a time for business as usual
0:01:07 > 0:01:11or politics as usual. The financial crisis is still with us. It never
0:01:11 > 0:01:18went away. We can now see that recovery has stalled in the United
0:01:18 > 0:01:23States and the position in the eurozone is, well, dire. But it's
0:01:23 > 0:01:28wishful thinking to imagine that we have a healthy economy which has
0:01:28 > 0:01:34somehow been infected by a dangerous foreign virus, because
0:01:34 > 0:01:40many of our problems are home grown. Gordon Brown regularly advised the
0:01:40 > 0:01:45rest of the world to follow his British model of growth, but the
0:01:45 > 0:01:51model was flawed. It led to the highest level of household debt in
0:01:51 > 0:01:56relation to income in the world. It produced a dangerously inflated
0:01:56 > 0:02:01property bubble. It encouraged bloated banking, while
0:02:01 > 0:02:05manufacturing declined at an unprecedented rate. And then they
0:02:05 > 0:02:14socialised the cost of the crash through a massive budget deficit,
0:02:14 > 0:02:23the biggest of any major economy. His disciple, Ed balds, has, well
0:02:23 > 0:02:29sort of, apologised -- Ed Balls. What this period of crisis should
0:02:29 > 0:02:34have taught us, above all, is humility. And humility in politics
0:02:34 > 0:02:38means accepting that one party doesn't have all the answers.
0:02:38 > 0:02:48Recognising that working in partnership is progress, not
0:02:48 > 0:02:55
0:02:55 > 0:03:00treachery. And it has been hard. It's required
0:03:00 > 0:03:05courage from our party to with stand the tribalism, which is
0:03:05 > 0:03:10British politics at its worst. It's not been possible for the party to
0:03:10 > 0:03:14get its own way on everything. I mean, I regret this year that we
0:03:14 > 0:03:18didn't secure tighter control on bank pay and bonuses for example. A
0:03:18 > 0:03:24bad message was sent, that unrestrained greed is acceptable.
0:03:24 > 0:03:30We now know where that leads. But we do have very real achievements.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35My team in the business department and I want to acknowledge David
0:03:35 > 0:03:43Willetts and our own and outstanding minister Ed Davies...
0:03:43 > 0:03:48APPLAUSE We've not only made a major
0:03:48 > 0:03:51contribution to deficit reduction, but we're now helping recovery. We
0:03:51 > 0:03:55have greatly expanded apprenticeships giving respect and
0:03:55 > 0:03:59recognition to the 60% of young people who do not pursue academic
0:03:59 > 0:04:03study in universities. We protected our science budget and we've
0:04:03 > 0:04:08launched a chain of technology innovation centres promoting the
0:04:08 > 0:04:16technologies of the future. Then after a generation of manufacturing
0:04:16 > 0:04:21decline, we brought jobs back to Britain in steel at Redcar, in
0:04:21 > 0:04:25motor vehicle supply chains, electric vehicles and in aerospace
0:04:25 > 0:04:30through Rolls Royce and Airbus. This morning, Jaguar Land Rover
0:04:30 > 0:04:34announced that they're to build a new engine plant in the West
0:04:34 > 0:04:44Midlands, a massive boost for British manufacturing and for this
0:04:44 > 0:04:53
0:04:53 > 0:05:00That's what I mean by a business recovery. Cars not casinos.
0:05:00 > 0:05:07APPLAUSE The truth is that financial
0:05:07 > 0:05:16discipline is not ideological, it's a necessary condition for effective
0:05:16 > 0:05:20Government. I see us following in the footsteps of Roy Jenkins in
0:05:20 > 0:05:26post-war Britain and abroad, the Canadian liberals, Clinton
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Democrats in the United States, because they understood, unlike
0:05:30 > 0:05:34today's Labour Party, that the progressive agenda of centre-left
0:05:34 > 0:05:44parties cannot be delivered by bankrupt governments.
0:05:44 > 0:05:51
0:05:51 > 0:05:56I think most of the British public do get it. But there are
0:05:56 > 0:06:01politicians on both left and right who don't. And some of them believe
0:06:01 > 0:06:04governments, like Father Christmas, they draw up lists of tax cuts and
0:06:04 > 0:06:09giveaways and they assume that Santa Claus will pop down the
0:06:09 > 0:06:14chimney and leave presents under the tree. This is childish fantasy.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20Some of them, for example, believe that if taxes on the wealthy are
0:06:20 > 0:06:24cut, new revenue will miraculously appear. I think the reasoning is
0:06:24 > 0:06:28something like this: All those British billionaires, who
0:06:29 > 0:06:34demonstrate their patriotism by hiding from the taxman in Monaco or
0:06:34 > 0:06:43some Caribbean island will come rushing back to pay more tax at a
0:06:43 > 0:06:49lower rate. I'm afraid my view about this is "pull the other one".
0:06:49 > 0:06:56Banks offered a one-way bail. If they gambled and win, they fill up
0:06:56 > 0:07:01the bonus pool. When they lose, the taxpayer pays. And the Independent
0:07:01 > 0:07:05Banking Commission, the Vicers commission, provides a means to
0:07:05 > 0:07:11stop this dangerous nonsense. The commission's key findings, which
0:07:11 > 0:07:16are to separate retail and casino banking, must be put in place.
0:07:16 > 0:07:26Legislation will start soon and it will be completed within this
0:07:26 > 0:07:27
0:07:27 > 0:07:33Parliament. APPLAUSE
0:07:33 > 0:07:40And if there were any doubts about the need for radical reform, the
0:07:40 > 0:07:44UBS rogue trader has dispeld them. We simply cannot have rogue
0:07:44 > 0:07:53institutions exposing taxpayers to the risk of exploding financial
0:07:53 > 0:08:03weapon s of mass destruction. People accept capitalism, but what
0:08:03 > 0:08:06they want is responsible cappism. - - Capitalism. As for irresponsible
0:08:06 > 0:08:12capitalism, some of you may have noticed that a big media company
0:08:13 > 0:08:15has recently had a spot of bother. I think you know who I am referring
0:08:15 > 0:08:21LAUGHTER What I want to do is strengthen the
0:08:21 > 0:08:24best of British business. I've taken two initiatives in particular.
0:08:24 > 0:08:31I've asked Professor Jon Kay, together with Sir John Rose, the
0:08:31 > 0:08:35former boss of Rolls Royce, whose company embodies responsible
0:08:35 > 0:08:42capitalism, its commitment to long- term investment, training, I've
0:08:42 > 0:08:48asked them to look at how we make our stock markets and institutional
0:08:48 > 0:08:52investors get out of the short-term, speculative mind set. I'm
0:08:52 > 0:08:56separately consulting on how best to tackle the escalation of
0:08:56 > 0:08:59executive pay, which in many cases, has lost any connection with the
0:08:59 > 0:09:07value of shares let alone average employee pay.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13APPLAUSE The truth is, there are difficult
0:09:13 > 0:09:19times ahead, that Britain's post- war pattern of ever rising living
0:09:19 > 0:09:26standards has been broken by the financial collapse. I believe we
0:09:26 > 0:09:32can turn the economy round. We will. In the coalition agreement we
0:09:32 > 0:09:37promised to put fairness at the heart of all we do, and as we
0:09:37 > 0:09:44rebuild our broken economy from the rubble, Liberal Democrats know that
0:09:44 > 0:09:54you can't do one without the other. So we must now do both, fairness
0:09:54 > 0:09:56
0:09:56 > 0:10:02APPLAUSE Vince Cable. Much more low key than
0:10:02 > 0:10:06last year's populist playing to the gallery. His much trailed plan to
0:10:06 > 0:10:12curb executive pay has been widely regarded as a bit of a damp squib.
0:10:12 > 0:10:17He didn't even indulge in this conference's favourite sport, whack
0:10:17 > 0:10:21a Tory. The populist mantle of the party lies on the shoulder of the
0:10:21 > 0:10:25President, Tim Farron. He has said without the Lib Dems this
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Government would be "an absolute nightmare.". I asked Energy
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Secretary, Chris Huhne, if he agreed. It would be much less
0:10:31 > 0:10:35interesting for me and probably for Tim, if there weren't Lib Dem
0:10:35 > 0:10:38ministers. But a nightmare? I think that the political balance of the
0:10:38 > 0:10:43Government is a coalition. It's a coalition between the Liberal
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Democrats, who have a very clear, independent stand on a number of
0:10:47 > 0:10:49issues and the Conservatives, who come from a different political
0:10:49 > 0:10:54tradition. We have to compromise. It's very important. I don't think
0:10:54 > 0:10:58there's anything to be ashamed of in compromising. In fact, if we
0:10:58 > 0:11:01hadn't compromised to get us out of the economic problems we had at the
0:11:01 > 0:11:06election, we would be in the same difficulty that the President and
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Congress are in, in failing to compromise over the budget and
0:11:09 > 0:11:14losing their triple-A credit rating. The Financial Times this morning
0:11:14 > 0:11:21has done calculations using the same mothodology of the Government
0:11:21 > 0:11:27has discovered that the structural deficit, the bit that doesn't
0:11:27 > 0:11:29disappear with economic growth is �12 billion higher than the
0:11:29 > 0:11:36Government calculated. Financial Times is a journalistic
0:11:36 > 0:11:43organisation and not... We know that. Not a well established and
0:11:43 > 0:11:47reputable economic organisation. Take the IMF, the OECD, they both
0:11:47 > 0:11:51do serious calculations of of the structural balance. They both is
0:11:51 > 0:11:56slightly different mothodology to the Treasury. That's more likely -
0:11:56 > 0:12:00So is the FT wrong? I have no idea. One thing that the Government
0:12:00 > 0:12:03should not do, given that we've put in place a framework that has an
0:12:03 > 0:12:09office of budget responsibility, which is an independent body with a
0:12:09 > 0:12:15lot of resources. But they've used the OBR's mechanism to calculate
0:12:15 > 0:12:18this. Are you saying the FT on such matters is not athoritative?
0:12:18 > 0:12:23They're not the final word. didn't say that. But it has
0:12:23 > 0:12:27authority. One of the things that we're clearly going to see Robert
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Chote, the director of the office of budget responsibility, will hold
0:12:30 > 0:12:33forth on these matters. That's the appropriate body for putting
0:12:33 > 0:12:38forward, if there is a problem of this sort to the Government. If the
0:12:38 > 0:12:41OBR, as the independent body under statute that is charged with coming
0:12:41 > 0:12:45up with this analysis, if they find a problem, we will respond to it.
0:12:46 > 0:12:53If there is a problem, if the FT's calculations are right and we'll
0:12:53 > 0:12:56find out in the days ahead from the OBR, if there is a �12 billion or
0:12:56 > 0:13:00so bigger structural deficit, will we have to cut more? It is
0:13:00 > 0:13:04absolutely clear that the Government is committed to ensuring
0:13:04 > 0:13:08that we have a sustainable structural current balance. That's
0:13:08 > 0:13:12an absolutely key commitment. It is what has got us out of the danger
0:13:12 > 0:13:16zone that we were in immediately after the election. We had that big
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Greek crisis the zai after the general election. We've had a
0:13:19 > 0:13:22number of countries falling into economic crisis since then, even
0:13:23 > 0:13:27though they have smaller budget deficits than we do. We have been
0:13:27 > 0:13:32able to get out of the danger zone precisely because of our commitment
0:13:32 > 0:13:38to credible fiscal programme. still not clear if you have to cut
0:13:38 > 0:13:46more? Neither am I, because it will depend on what the recommendations
0:13:46 > 0:13:56are. That's the appropriate way to do it. It's not reacting to what
0:13:56 > 0:13:59
0:13:59 > 0:14:02appears in the papers. Very good investment it's proved for them.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06Chris Huhne. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg doesn't give his annual
0:14:06 > 0:14:12address to the party faithful until Wednesday afternoon. He took to the
0:14:12 > 0:14:14stage today for a Q&A session. It was a pretty low-key affair. If
0:14:14 > 0:14:18delegates have reservation abouts being in bed with the Tories, and
0:14:18 > 0:14:22many do, they kept that largely to themselves. But they do worry,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25given the poll ratings, if the situation is terminal. The first
0:14:25 > 0:14:34question caught the mood, how account party regain the trust of
0:14:35 > 0:14:39I don't think in the coalition government you will ever win people
0:14:39 > 0:14:44back who regard any compromise as treachery, any compromise as
0:14:44 > 0:14:50betrayal, any compromise as a U- turn. I think there are some people
0:14:50 > 0:14:56out there who become, curiously enough, more shrill and more tribal
0:14:56 > 0:15:00rather than less. I kind of thing, we will never persuade them. You
0:15:00 > 0:15:07either believe that Clarissa's some can be good in politics, you either
0:15:07 > 0:15:13believe that we have to listen to the British people and they said
0:15:13 > 0:15:16very clearly that no one deserved a majority. I'd love to be in the
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Liberal Democrat government, I would love to be Prime Minister but
0:15:20 > 0:15:24people have to vote for a Liberal Democrat government and they didn't.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29We have to explain over and over again, in politics, as in life,
0:15:29 > 0:15:34there is nothing wrong in principle saying we cannot do everything we
0:15:34 > 0:15:38want so we have to compromise. I think we have to constantly,
0:15:38 > 0:15:48constantly, constantly tell our side of the story. If we don't tell
0:15:48 > 0:15:50
0:15:50 > 0:15:54our side of the story, very many people will not.
0:15:54 > 0:16:01Perfect satisfaction with that answer. Does anyone else want to
0:16:01 > 0:16:07ask a supplementary? Heavens, what docility! It is like a North Korean
0:16:07 > 0:16:12conference meeting. Are a lot of people out there are feeling pain
0:16:12 > 0:16:15because of things the you have had to do as part of the government. Do
0:16:15 > 0:16:20you think it would help if you said a bit more, we feel your pain, we
0:16:20 > 0:16:26did not want to do some of these things, the situation wherein has
0:16:26 > 0:16:32forced us into it? I say over and over again, I did not get into
0:16:32 > 0:16:37politics to make cuts. Of course not. None of us did. Do I like the
0:16:37 > 0:16:41decisions were having to take? Of course not. It is bizarre to relish
0:16:41 > 0:16:47having to make very dramatic savings in public spending. That is
0:16:47 > 0:16:51where we cannot repeat enough that there is nothing fair or
0:16:51 > 0:16:55progressive or good in simply shrugging our shoulders, which
0:16:55 > 0:16:59seems to be the message from Ed Miliband and Ed Balls and saying,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03it is all a bit too difficult to balance the books, it is too
0:17:03 > 0:17:08difficult to pay off the debts, we will at the next generation do it.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12It is a bit like Miriam and myself saying I cannot be bothered to pay
0:17:12 > 0:17:17our credit card bills, we will get our three little children to pay it
0:17:17 > 0:17:24off instead. There is nothing fair about that. There is nothing good,
0:17:24 > 0:17:27or progressive or liberal, or fair in letting bond traders let this
0:17:27 > 0:17:34country be pushed from pillar to post. You cannot do anything good
0:17:34 > 0:17:40if you have no control of your own destiny. Given that the economy is
0:17:40 > 0:17:46at best flat lining and may even be in recession, if we cannot have
0:17:46 > 0:17:53Plan B, can we at least have a plan a start with some investment and
0:17:53 > 0:18:00infrastructure and a Obama style job-creation programme? The first
0:18:00 > 0:18:03thing, on the Obama package, it is worth remembering this, quite a lot
0:18:03 > 0:18:08of the Obama package is stuff we do automatically any weight in Europe.
0:18:08 > 0:18:15You bet the other bit of it is to make sure that we invest in things
0:18:15 > 0:18:21which not only help us in the long run, but actually produced jobs
0:18:21 > 0:18:26today. Transport, rail, road, housing, super-fast broadband, the
0:18:26 > 0:18:30kind of things we need as a country anyway because, in so many respects,
0:18:30 > 0:18:35we still have clapped out physical infrastructure compared to many
0:18:35 > 0:18:40other developed economies. When David Cameron said he was relaxed
0:18:40 > 0:18:45about giving friends and neighbours internships, rather than people who
0:18:45 > 0:18:50deserve them solely on merit, were you feeling more hopeless or
0:18:50 > 0:18:55ashamed that you were in coalition with someone who thinks about
0:18:55 > 0:19:02aspiration along those terms? it is quite up to David Cameron how
0:19:02 > 0:19:05he runs his private office. But it is a bit embarrassing. I am the
0:19:05 > 0:19:11leader of the Liberal Democrats, he is leader of the Conservatives. We
0:19:11 > 0:19:14are completely different. I am not going to ask him... He is not going
0:19:14 > 0:19:21to agree with everything I say and I do not agree with everything he
0:19:21 > 0:19:25says, of course. Nadine Dorries complimented you on the influence
0:19:25 > 0:19:30you have over David Cameron. I do not think she thought it was a
0:19:30 > 0:19:38complement. Unintentionally, then. How can we persuade the British
0:19:38 > 0:19:41public than that is -- that that is true. It is not true. The
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Conservatives do not run the government, the Liberal Democrats
0:19:45 > 0:19:52do not run the government. You will get people making shrill claims one
0:19:52 > 0:19:57way or the other. It is a coalition. It is built on compromise. Let me
0:19:57 > 0:20:01say one more general thing on this. We have had a really, really tough
0:20:01 > 0:20:06year. The likes of which many of us could not predict and certainly do
0:20:06 > 0:20:11not want to repeat. We have got to stop beating ourselves up about it.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16We have got to look ahead, not constantly, mournfully look
0:20:16 > 0:20:19backwards. Nick Clegg. It is not quite clear
0:20:19 > 0:20:24the purpose of the Lib Dem Conference when you are in
0:20:24 > 0:20:29coalition. Calls for new policies are likely to be ignored and it
0:20:29 > 0:20:38risks becoming little more than a rally. So, in an effort to be more
0:20:38 > 0:20:43relevant, there were two emergency discussions today on the riots and
0:20:43 > 0:20:48phone hacking. We can no longer accept a media regulator which is
0:20:48 > 0:20:52run by the media for the media. It needs independence from the press
0:20:52 > 0:20:55and independence from the state. We said it last year and we say it
0:20:55 > 0:21:01again today. But there are still some, mostly within the press
0:21:01 > 0:21:06itself, who tried to equate independent regulation with a state
0:21:06 > 0:21:12controlled regime which would undermine press freedom. Let me be
0:21:12 > 0:21:15absolutely clear, the fundamental liberal principles of a free,
0:21:15 > 0:21:21independent and unfettered Fourth Estate, holding power and authority
0:21:21 > 0:21:26to account, are absolutely sacrosanct for Liberal Democrat.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30have a window of opportunity. Lord Justice Levison will report next
0:21:30 > 0:21:34year. I expect the police will finish their investigations in the
0:21:34 > 0:21:40next few months. His scenes in next session of Parliament starting next
0:21:40 > 0:21:44May, there must be a government commitment to implement the
0:21:44 > 0:21:48recommendations of Leavis and and take action then. If we do not take
0:21:48 > 0:21:54action soon, it may be political consensus will dry up and go away.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58When I was the police commander in 2002, and unfortunately the police
0:21:58 > 0:22:03shot someone who was carrying a cigarette lighter in the shape of a
0:22:03 > 0:22:07gun, a peaceful protest about a shooting developed into a riot. The
0:22:07 > 0:22:11police should have known that that was going to happen in Tottenham on
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Saturday night. They should have had and they could have had
0:22:14 > 0:22:19sufficient officers who were suitably trained and equipped on
0:22:19 > 0:22:24hand to deal with that and they should have arrested the
0:22:24 > 0:22:26perpetrators of the rioting at the time, rather than relying on
0:22:26 > 0:22:32closed-circuit television images afterwards.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35A Davies, a Lib Dem minister who works alongside Vince Cable in the
0:22:35 > 0:22:40business department. He has responsibility for both officers
0:22:40 > 0:22:48say he was keen to trumpet a policy the Lib Dems like, the end to the
0:22:48 > 0:22:52closure of local post offices -- Ed Davey. I want the Post Office to
0:22:52 > 0:22:56become the front line of government, national and local. Earlier this
0:22:56 > 0:23:02year, Westminster Council awarded the Post Office a contract for
0:23:02 > 0:23:05services such as parking tickets and permits and other things.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Westminster councillors are hard- headed people. They did not do it
0:23:09 > 0:23:13for a cheap headline, they did it because the Post Office is great at
0:23:13 > 0:23:18what it does. Westminster is not the only council which is working
0:23:18 > 0:23:23with the Post Office. Sheffield Council have a pilot with it as
0:23:23 > 0:23:29well. And now, I believe we should explore the links between councils
0:23:29 > 0:23:33and post offices even more. Later this month, I will be writing to 25
0:23:33 > 0:23:41councils asking them to join in. If you are one of the people I write
0:23:41 > 0:23:44to, please say aye, yes. There are no guaranteed contracts here. I am
0:23:44 > 0:23:49telling every post office manager there is a business opportunity
0:23:49 > 0:23:53here they can seize. It is not just councils and the government which
0:23:53 > 0:24:01see the Post Office as an attractive partner. Many banks,
0:24:01 > 0:24:06Barclays, co-ops let their customers use the Post Office for
0:24:06 > 0:24:11banking. I'm delighted to tell you that from this current Friday, for
0:24:11 > 0:24:18the first time, NatWest customers will be able to do so as well. In
0:24:18 > 0:24:23fact, just two banks are holding out - HSBC and Santander. Frankly,
0:24:23 > 0:24:28I am really disappointed. Today, I hope that you will join me on
0:24:28 > 0:24:37calling on them to think again and if they don't respond, maybe we
0:24:37 > 0:24:41need another campaign. APPLAUSE. We need to tell these
0:24:41 > 0:24:45banks, they have a responsibility to their customers and local
0:24:45 > 0:24:50communities. If they still don't listen when we have campaigned, I
0:24:50 > 0:24:54hope you will think about switching your account to another bank.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59Davey. He had begun his speech by admitting being in coalition with
0:24:59 > 0:25:04the party he had opposed all his life was not that easy. But he was
0:25:04 > 0:25:09not going to complain about being in power. Earlier in the day I
0:25:09 > 0:25:16spoke to Jeremy Brown, the Foreign Office Minister. I asked him if the
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Tory bashing got his approval. doubt there will be some Lib Dem
0:25:19 > 0:25:23bashing in the margins of the Conservative conference as well so
0:25:23 > 0:25:29I let it wash over me. You're not going to be embarrassed when you
0:25:29 > 0:25:33next bump into your Tory boss at the Foreign Office? No, I don't
0:25:33 > 0:25:39think I will. I have missed some of what you call Tory bashing. Really?
0:25:39 > 0:25:43It has been hard to avoid at this conference. I think all party
0:25:43 > 0:25:47conferences, as long as I have been going to them, have had people
0:25:47 > 0:25:52taking a knock at other parties and all three parties do it and
0:25:52 > 0:25:56probably the public do not respond that well to it but the party
0:25:56 > 0:26:03faithful enjoy it and it raises their spirits. Are you bashing the
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Tories more than Labour? I don't know, maybe. Yes you are. They may
0:26:07 > 0:26:11be concern in some quarters that we do not appear to have lost our
0:26:11 > 0:26:15distinctiveness and maybe people feel there is an audience for
0:26:15 > 0:26:20showing there is -- we are different in spirit but I think it
0:26:20 > 0:26:25is pretty peripheral. The secretary of the 1922 Committee of
0:26:25 > 0:26:29backbenchers, Mark Pritchard, he wants a vote on Britain's
0:26:29 > 0:26:34membership of the European Union. That was in your Lib Dem manifesto
0:26:34 > 0:26:38last year so presumably you are in favour of that? I don't think it is
0:26:38 > 0:26:43anything which is likely to happen any time soon. Mark Pritchard, who
0:26:43 > 0:26:48wino well, and he is a perfectly reasonable MP, I get on well with
0:26:48 > 0:26:53him, but he needs to raise that to be the leader of his own party.
0:26:53 > 0:27:02it was in your manifesto. The European Union has evolved
0:27:02 > 0:27:06significantly after the last vote, the Liberal Democrats remain
0:27:06 > 0:27:10committed to an in out referendum. The we had the courage agreement
0:27:10 > 0:27:14which was forged in the days of the general election and there was no
0:27:14 > 0:27:18commitment to a referendum of Britain's membership of the
0:27:18 > 0:27:23European Union. Should we file this promise in your manifesto alongside
0:27:23 > 0:27:29Trish and fees as not being worth the paper it was written on --
0:27:29 > 0:27:38tuition fees. I would not put it that way. I was born in 1970. We
0:27:38 > 0:27:42have had general elections from the 70s to 2005, no Lib Dem promises
0:27:42 > 0:27:47our manifesto commitments were implemented in any of those
0:27:47 > 0:27:51elections. In 2010, three-quarters of our manifesto commitments were
0:27:51 > 0:27:56implemented which is an amazing achievement. We finished third in
0:27:56 > 0:27:59the general election, or in coalition with the Conservatives in
0:27:59 > 0:28:03the national interest, no party has a mandate to implement its
0:28:03 > 0:28:10manifesto in full, but for the first time in my grandparents a'
0:28:10 > 0:28:13lifetime, we are implementing large sections of our manifesto. People
0:28:13 > 0:28:17have reason to be ecstatic that their vote counts for something and
0:28:17 > 0:28:21the policies which they supporters at the general election are being
0:28:21 > 0:28:27implemented in the government. That is it for today. Here in
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Birmingham, the Lib Dems have yet to come to terms with the potential
0:28:31 > 0:28:34consequences of Vince Cable's grim economic predictions. If they are
0:28:34 > 0:28:40accurate, things could get worse for the party before it gets better,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44if it ever does. Tomorrow, we will be hearing from
0:28:44 > 0:28:48Steve Webb, the Work and Pensions minister, Energy Secretary Chris
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Huhne and the communities minister, Andrew sternal. I will be back of