:00:11. > :00:16.Good evening and welcome back to Brighton for a round-up of the
:00:16. > :00:20.goings-on at the Liberal Democrat Conference today. It stopped
:00:20. > :00:23.raining on the Lib Dems today and started blowing a gale. But there
:00:23. > :00:26.was no comfort in the conference hall, where Danny Alexander told
:00:26. > :00:31.them an extra �16 billion had to be found in election year 2015 and the
:00:31. > :00:34.Welfare Bill wasn't immune from cuts.
:00:34. > :00:38.Nick Clegg indicated his party could target the benefits of the
:00:38. > :00:41.richest pensioners in its election manifesto. Elsewhere, is Alex
:00:42. > :00:46.Salmond a stooge of Beijing? The leader of the Scottish Lib Dems
:00:46. > :00:49.seems to think so. And we test the mood in the ranks
:00:49. > :00:59.to see if the thought of a future partnership with Labour cheers up
:00:59. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:04.the poor rained upon, blown about, down in the polls, Lib Dems.
:01:04. > :01:10.Here in the bar of the Grand Hotel, I expect these rather battle-weary
:01:10. > :01:14.Lib Dems could use a bit of warming up. They know tackling the deficit
:01:14. > :01:17.will take a lot of doing. One Minister told me today that he
:01:17. > :01:21.would like the coalition to consider cutting the benefits of
:01:21. > :01:24.the best-off pensioners now. But the coalition has already promised
:01:25. > :01:29.to leave universal benefits alone. Nick Clegg has probably apologised
:01:29. > :01:34.enough to be getting on with! What about after the election? What
:01:34. > :01:37.about the best-off pensioners? Nick Robinson spoke to the Deputy Prime
:01:37. > :01:42.Minister. You will have to cut the welfare
:01:42. > :01:46.budget in part to meet those savings? Yes, I don't think it will
:01:46. > :01:50.be possible to set the welfare budget entirely aside. It
:01:50. > :01:55.constitutes a third of total of public spending. We won't do what
:01:55. > :02:00.has been suggested by some which is scoop out almost all of that amount,
:02:00. > :02:05.�10 billion worth, from welfare alone. We need to ask people who
:02:05. > :02:09.have far more considerable means, are much wealthier than normal
:02:09. > :02:12.people, to make an additional contribution. Will you stop the
:02:12. > :02:16.better-off pensioners getting top- ups to their incomes that they
:02:16. > :02:19.don't need? On winter fuel allowance, free bus passes, free TV
:02:19. > :02:24.licences, there is a debate to be had in the next Parliament - we
:02:24. > :02:30.have ruled it out in this coalition agreement - there is a question
:02:30. > :02:37.mark about whether it is right that Peter Stringfellow or Alan Sugar
:02:37. > :02:41.have available to them free bus passes subsidised by normal workers
:02:41. > :02:44.paying taxes. What about people who are not hugely wealthy, but are
:02:44. > :02:49.better off - doctors, senior teachers, police officers? I start
:02:49. > :02:56.at the top. It seems to me, as a matter of principle, not right that
:02:57. > :02:59.when we are taking housing benefit away from some people, we are not
:02:59. > :03:05.asking Alan Sugar and Peter Stringfellow - I don't know whether
:03:05. > :03:10.they receive those benefits - we are not saying that other taxpayers
:03:10. > :03:15.are not going to subsidise those free benefits to you. Don Foster is
:03:15. > :03:24.not a millionaire and he says this coalition, now, not maybe some time
:03:24. > :03:28.in the future, should take money away from people like him? He is
:03:28. > :03:32.wrong. It is not going to happen during this Parliament. What I'm
:03:32. > :03:35.talking about is people who are very, very wealthy indeed, who
:03:35. > :03:41.receive through the generosity of millions of ordinary taxpayers in
:03:41. > :03:46.this country free bus passes, free TV licences, winter fuel support,
:03:46. > :03:50.winter payment support, even though they frankly don't need it. If, as
:03:50. > :03:56.seems unlikely, the Conservatives agree to your mansion tax, how many
:03:56. > :04:00.more billions of savings, cuts or tax rises, would you still have to
:04:00. > :04:04.find? Considerably more billions. A mansion tax... �14 billion in one
:04:04. > :04:08.year? A mansion tax is not going to fill the blackhole. This is the
:04:08. > :04:13.whole point. No single measure will when you are dealing with the
:04:13. > :04:17.enormity of this difficult task of filling the blackhole left to us by
:04:17. > :04:21.Gordon Brown and Ed Balls. I think what you are saying to party and
:04:21. > :04:25.country at this conference is, "We have grown up, we are being more
:04:25. > :04:29.candid with you." Isn't the honest thing to say, "It won't come from
:04:29. > :04:32.mansions and it won't come from oligarchs and it won't come from
:04:32. > :04:37.millionaires. Ladies and gentlemen, it is tough, but it will come from
:04:37. > :04:42.you"? You are missing a point. In polls, as in life, your values are
:04:42. > :04:45.reflected in where you start. When you have a difficult decision,
:04:45. > :04:49.where do you start? Who do you first ask to make a sacrifice? You
:04:49. > :04:53.are right, there is a difference between myself and my Conservative
:04:53. > :04:57.colleagues in Government, for reasons that you will need to ask
:04:57. > :05:01.them, they don't want to ask people who live in mansions worth �5
:05:01. > :05:05.million to pay a 1% levy on the value of mansions over �2 million.
:05:05. > :05:10.Personally, I think there are millions of people in this country
:05:10. > :05:13.who can barely imagine what it means to live in a mansion worth �2
:05:13. > :05:17.million. It is worth that the Liberal Democrats are saying that
:05:17. > :05:23.as we move to this debate, we are saying we will start by asking them
:05:23. > :05:27.to make the first sacrifice. Nick Clegg talking to Nick Robinson. Mr
:05:27. > :05:31.Clegg's close colleague, David Laws, is saying there is no point in
:05:31. > :05:34.cutting the benefit of rich pensioners because it would not
:05:35. > :05:38.raise much cash. Ever fancied running a country? Be careful what
:05:38. > :05:42.you wish for! Yesterday, Vince Cable managed to convince the party
:05:42. > :05:48.that they were right to tackle the deficit. Today, Danny Alexander
:05:48. > :05:54.brought home just how tough that was going to be. Thanks to the
:05:54. > :05:59.Liberal Democrats taxes are getting fairer. Our tough budget
:05:59. > :06:04.negotiations mean that next year 24 million people will benefit from
:06:05. > :06:08.the largest-ever increase in the tax-free amount. The income tax cut
:06:08. > :06:13.was by far the most important measure in the Budget and the
:06:13. > :06:19.working people of this country will have over �3 billion more of their
:06:19. > :06:25.own money to spend next year as a result. A cleaner working full-time
:06:25. > :06:33.on the minimum wage will see their tax bill halved thanks to the
:06:33. > :06:38.Liberal Democrats. APPLAUSE Very soon, very soon no-one will pay
:06:38. > :06:48.income tax at all until they are earning more than �10,000, thanks
:06:48. > :06:48.
:06:48. > :06:52.to the Liberal Democrats. APPLAUSE We promised it in our manifesto. We
:06:52. > :06:57.campaigned for it and we had the courage to go into coalition to
:06:57. > :07:02.deliver it. At the next election, we will promise to raise that
:07:02. > :07:06.figure yet further to �12,500 so that you don't pay any income tax
:07:07. > :07:15.until you are earning more than a full-time salary on the minimum
:07:15. > :07:20.wage. APPLAUSE Despite all the difficulties, and challenges in the
:07:20. > :07:27.years that lie ahead, in the last two years we have resecured for
:07:27. > :07:31.this country a very precious commodity - credibility. No-one now
:07:31. > :07:35.doubts that Britain is a nation that can pay its way. We have
:07:35. > :07:38.rebuilt the confidence in this nation's ability to pay its way in
:07:38. > :07:42.the world. We can now put that credibility to work for the British
:07:42. > :07:51.people. There could not be a worse time to argue that we should
:07:51. > :07:55.abandon our plan. APPLAUSE As we overwhelmingly agreed in this hall
:07:55. > :08:04.yesterday, we won't do it. It is the foundation for everything else.
:08:04. > :08:09.It is the foundation for jobs and prosperity in the future. APPLAUSE
:08:09. > :08:12.Last autumn, we were faced with a worsening forecast from the
:08:12. > :08:19.independent office of budget responsibility. Rather than add
:08:19. > :08:25.more cuts now, we decided to take another two years to do the job.
:08:25. > :08:28.That was right. The pragmatic response to things getting worse.
:08:29. > :08:33.But fellow Liberal Democrats, that decision has consequences, too. It
:08:33. > :08:40.means we are now committed to further deficit reduction into the
:08:40. > :08:45.next Parliament. Let me be clear. I will not sacrifice this party's
:08:45. > :08:51.independence by binding us to detailed spending plans deep into
:08:52. > :08:57.the next Parliament. APPLAUSE there is one thing we must do. We
:08:57. > :09:05.have to set a detailed budget for Government for the years 2015/16.
:09:05. > :09:13.We will be in Government for the first five weeks of it at least.
:09:13. > :09:17.APPLAUSE That means setting out specific plans for the �16 billion
:09:17. > :09:21.of savings that are needed in that year. It also means setting out how
:09:21. > :09:26.we, as Liberal Democrats, would make the further tough choices
:09:26. > :09:32.needed beyond that. Nick and I will negotiate hard to get this right,
:09:32. > :09:35.to make choices that are shaped by our liberal values and driven by
:09:36. > :09:45.our Liberal Democrat priorities. We will simply not allow the books to
:09:46. > :09:48.
:09:49. > :09:54.be balanced in a way that hits the poorest hardest. APPLAUSE But at
:09:54. > :10:02.�220 billion, welfare is one-third of all public spending. Despite our
:10:02. > :10:06.painful reforms, it is still rising. We will have to look at it. But
:10:06. > :10:11.that cannot, must not, and will not be the only place we look. We
:10:11. > :10:19.insist that the difficult choices must be fairly shared, that those
:10:19. > :10:23.who can afford more must contribute more. APPLAUSE At our conference
:10:24. > :10:28.two years ago I announced an extra �900 million and told you by the
:10:28. > :10:32.end of the Parliament it would deliver �7 billion a year in
:10:32. > :10:35.revenues. Last year, I reported back that we were on track for an
:10:35. > :10:41.additional �2 billion and this year, I can announce that we are on track
:10:42. > :10:47.to raise an additional �4 billion. Fairer taxes, in tough times, it
:10:47. > :10:52.means everyone playing by the same rule book and everyone paying their
:10:52. > :10:56.fair share. The vast majority of taxpayers in this wealth bracket do
:10:56. > :11:00.pay their fair share. We have this message to the small minority of
:11:00. > :11:10.wealthy people who don't play by the rules. We are coming to get you
:11:10. > :11:10.
:11:10. > :11:13.and you will pay your fair share. APPLAUSE In the summer I shut down
:11:13. > :11:18.the scandalous situation where thousands of public sector workers
:11:18. > :11:22.were being paid in a way that potentially allowed them to pay too
:11:22. > :11:26.little tax. Rules are now in place to stop that happening. Based on
:11:27. > :11:31.the simple principle that if you are being paid public money, you
:11:31. > :11:34.should pay your taxes. But it cannot be right that similar rules
:11:34. > :11:39.don't apply to companies doing business with the Government, too.
:11:39. > :11:48.If you want to work for us, you should play by our rules.
:11:48. > :11:51.Taxpayers' money should not be funding tax dodgers. So I have... I
:11:51. > :11:54.have tasked HMRC and the Cabinet Office to come up with a workable
:11:54. > :11:59.solution to this problem and we will set out more details later
:12:00. > :12:07.this year. And we need to get wealthy individuals to pay a fairer
:12:07. > :12:12.share, too. In this country, we tax work, effort, income too highly.
:12:12. > :12:16.And unearned wealthy far too little. You can move your money offshore,
:12:16. > :12:23.but you can't move your mansion. That is why we want a mansion tax.
:12:23. > :12:26.It is simple. It is fair. It is unavoidable. An extra levy on high-
:12:26. > :12:31.value property would get more money from those who can afford it. It
:12:31. > :12:36.would ensure that the burden of the next round of deficit reduction is
:12:36. > :12:42.shared more fairly. We will continue to argue for it within
:12:42. > :12:46.Government. APPLAUSE Danny Alexander speaking earlier today.
:12:46. > :12:49.We are all in it together! Not that you would know, the green and proud
:12:49. > :12:53.of it Liberal Democrats were in the same Government as a lot of
:12:53. > :13:01.Conservatives when it comes to climate change. Andrew Neil spoke
:13:01. > :13:07.to Ed Davey. At the weekend, you talked about
:13:07. > :13:13."the Tory Tea Party tendency which didn't want to spend money on green
:13:13. > :13:17.power". Who were you thinking of? Well, there is a number of people
:13:17. > :13:22.on the Conservative backbenches who never believed that climate change
:13:22. > :13:26.is an issue, have always opposed the green agenda and I believe we
:13:26. > :13:29.need to stand up to that. The Prime Minister made it very clear by
:13:29. > :13:33.making sure that when he was opposition leader that the
:13:33. > :13:37.Conservative Party voted for the Climate Change Act and indeed,
:13:37. > :13:45.George Osborne campaigned when he was running the election campaign
:13:45. > :13:51.on a slogan of "vote plue, go green" and this will -- "vote blue,
:13:51. > :13:56.go green" and this will be the greenest Government ever. It is not
:13:56. > :14:02.just Conservative backbenchers, is it, your own Energy Minister is
:14:02. > :14:08.part of the Tea Party tendency when it comes to green issues, isn't he?
:14:08. > :14:13.He told BBC News in 2009 that renewable energy needs to pass the
:14:13. > :14:23.twin test of environmental and economic sustainability and wind
:14:23. > :14:25.
:14:25. > :14:29.power fails on both accounts. He is Not at all. I worked with John
:14:29. > :14:34.before, and got on with him incredibly well. I am delighted
:14:34. > :14:42.that he is in my department. We are already working on a range of
:14:42. > :14:48.issues. When he and others who studied renewables, they will see
:14:48. > :14:53.that they can be cost-effective and important for preventing a reliance
:14:53. > :14:59.on carbon in our economy. But what you stand for and what you believe
:14:59. > :15:06.cannot be the same as Mr Hayes saying wind power fails on both
:15:06. > :15:10.accounts. You don't agree with that. He said it. The he said it in 2009.
:15:10. > :15:16.I am sure he will look at the evidence now. Meaning he didn't
:15:16. > :15:22.look before? I don't know whether he looked before. When you are a
:15:22. > :15:28.minister, you look at an awful lot, and the evidence is clear. How is
:15:28. > :15:33.your secret plot to get the Lib Dem leadership coming on? It is so
:15:33. > :15:41.secret that I have not heard about it. So I am delighted to have yet
:15:41. > :15:47.another opportunity to deny that story. So you have not also gone on
:15:47. > :15:51.a special new diet because you ate too many pies in the pie factory?
:15:51. > :15:57.was in the pie factory many years ago. I take that sort of story with
:15:57. > :16:04.a pinch of salt and a large glass of Rioja. Bat will not work for the
:16:04. > :16:09.diet! Maybe we should both -- we should both go on a diet, Andrew.
:16:09. > :16:14.maybe you should also be standing the leadership. Would you consider
:16:14. > :16:20.being Lib Dem leader? We have the best Liberal Democrat leader we
:16:20. > :16:24.have ever had. I am immensely proud of him. Better than Lloyd George?
:16:24. > :16:30.Well, he was a Liberal leader. We have a Liberal Democrat leader.
:16:30. > :16:33.Nick Clegg would measure up well to Lord George -- Lloyd George. He has
:16:33. > :16:39.been our most successful leader for decades, and he is doing an
:16:39. > :16:43.incredibly brilliant -- difficult job brilliantly. This leadership
:16:43. > :16:46.talk that you and others in the media love to focus on, it is just
:16:46. > :16:52.not kicking off here in the conference. There is not a single
:16:52. > :16:57.MP any of you lot have found who is against Nick Clegg's the leadership.
:16:57. > :17:02.We are a united party. You should be asking the other parties about
:17:02. > :17:07.how much they are united. We will, don't worry. If Mr Clegg is doing
:17:07. > :17:13.such a brilliant job, why do the polls show him as the least popular
:17:13. > :17:18.party leader since Michael Foot? well, both Nick and the Liberal
:17:18. > :17:23.Democrats are not doing well in the polls. That is self-evident. But
:17:23. > :17:28.some polls show us doing better, and you tend not to report those.
:17:28. > :17:33.An ICM poll put us on 80% this week. People are selective in the
:17:33. > :17:36.evidence they use. The es Liberal Democrats may be
:17:36. > :17:41.lagging behind in the polls, but for some parties, life is much
:17:41. > :17:46.tougher, like the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Michael Moore, the
:17:46. > :17:50.Secretary of State for Scotland and Willie Rennie were both on the
:17:50. > :17:57.platform today. Willie Rennie was out to pick a fight. Last year in
:17:57. > :18:04.Scotland, people were writing us off. Perhaps even some of our
:18:04. > :18:07.supporters right here wondered how a group of five MSPs cut by two-
:18:07. > :18:12.thirds in the elections could make an impact on the Scottish political
:18:12. > :18:15.scene. Although our opponents will always to write us, I can tell you
:18:15. > :18:21.that they are privately fizzing in that the Liberal Democrats will
:18:21. > :18:27.just not disappear. Well, I am not actually sorry to disappoint them.
:18:27. > :18:35.As history shows, we have a bit more staying power than that. We
:18:35. > :18:39.will make the Liberal case. Unlike Alex Salmond, who does not. He
:18:39. > :18:44.likes to court the rich and powerful. The cosy relationship
:18:44. > :18:50.that he has fostered with those with vested interests runs counter
:18:50. > :18:57.to the values that Scotland holds dear. He was asked to write a
:18:57. > :19:02.column in the first edition of the new Sun on Sunday. In it, he said
:19:02. > :19:09.that News International was not the only company involved in phone
:19:09. > :19:14.hacking. It is a familiar argument that many mothers used when
:19:14. > :19:20.defending their errant son. He was not the only one that did it. There
:19:20. > :19:26.were others as well. Alex Salmond's defence of Rupert Murdoch's empire
:19:26. > :19:30.revealed a politician who was prepared to do anything to get the
:19:30. > :19:37.support of the media, even if it meant betraying the phone hacking
:19:37. > :19:41.victims. We saw the same in the summer. The Dalai Lama came to
:19:41. > :19:47.Scotland, and we learnt that the Chinese government was going around,
:19:47. > :19:55.telling everybody not to meet him. People in Scotland didn't listen to
:19:55. > :19:59.them for bow to the pressure. Except for one man, the First
:19:59. > :20:09.Minister. He submitted to pressure from the Chinese in a way that I am
:20:09. > :20:11.
:20:11. > :20:18.so proud that our deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, did not. It
:20:18. > :20:24.actually seems that if you have got �1 billion or a billion people, the
:20:24. > :20:28.First Minister will do whatever you want. We have shaped a fairer
:20:28. > :20:37.country, a fairness dividend delivered by Liberal Democrats for
:20:37. > :20:41.all of Scotland and all of the UK. And in making these changes, we
:20:41. > :20:45.will also strengthen Scotland within the UK. There are those in
:20:45. > :20:50.the Scottish National Party who see devolution as a stepping stone to
:20:50. > :20:55.independence. But they are wrong. Devolution is about strengthening
:20:55. > :21:01.Scotland within the UK. Independence is about taking
:21:01. > :21:11.Scotland out of it. So I, we, stand up for devolution and against
:21:11. > :21:12.
:21:12. > :21:18.independence. And when referendum day comes, Liberal Democrats will
:21:18. > :21:22.be at the forefront of the campaign to keep our UK family together. Of
:21:22. > :21:26.course, the issue of independence cannot be resolved until a
:21:26. > :21:30.referendum agreement is reached between Scotland's two governments.
:21:30. > :21:36.I have said from the outset that any referendum must be legal, fair
:21:36. > :21:42.and decisive. It should be made in Scotland for the people of Scotland.
:21:42. > :21:45.But a referendum run from the Scottish parliament, fulfilling the
:21:45. > :21:50.SNP's election pledge, could only happen if we could reach an
:21:50. > :21:53.agreement on devolving power. As Liberal Democrats, it is not in our
:21:53. > :21:59.nature to be nationalists. We believe in a fair society where
:21:59. > :22:03.what unites us is stronger than what divides us, whether nations of
:22:03. > :22:08.our country come together and invest in good times and bad in our
:22:08. > :22:12.common goals and interests. Let's sort out the process and move on to
:22:12. > :22:16.the argument. Let's get the referendum started, and let's show
:22:16. > :22:22.the people of this country that Liberal Democrats in government's
:22:22. > :22:25.stand for a fairer Scotland and a stronger United Kingdom. Michael
:22:25. > :22:29.Moore there. Vince Cable told his party yesterday that we were
:22:29. > :22:33.heading for yet another hung parliament. So, with the Lib Dems
:22:33. > :22:38.prefer to cuddle up with Labour after 2015? Adam Fleming took his
:22:38. > :22:41.mood box out to try to find out. Today, we are asking Liberal
:22:41. > :22:45.Democrat delegates who they would like to share power with at the
:22:45. > :22:49.next -- if the next election results in a hung parliament. Do
:22:49. > :22:54.they want to be in a coalition with the Tories or Labour? For got to be
:22:54. > :22:59.Labour. We have already been in collision with the Tories, and it
:22:59. > :23:03.is sensible that we are in coalition with Labour next.
:23:03. > :23:09.have come for the Tories. Yes, because Labour screwed up the
:23:09. > :23:14.country so much last time. Certainly not the Tories. Earth I
:23:14. > :23:19.guess I will put it in Labour being the least worst of the other two.
:23:19. > :23:24.Very optimistic. I don't trust either of them as far as I can
:23:24. > :23:30.throw them. Then act it out eloquently with the ball. What
:23:30. > :23:40.would be your ideal coalition arrangement? Greens. A green-Lib
:23:40. > :23:43.Dem minority government. Wouldn't that be about 57 MPs? Why not?
:23:43. > :23:53.would you rather be in coalition with at the next election if it is
:23:53. > :23:54.
:23:54. > :24:03.a hung parliament? What message are you trying to send with that?
:24:03. > :24:09.not about coalitions after 2015, it is about being in power after 2015.
:24:09. > :24:13.It is going pretty slowly this time. Vince, do you want to do the balls
:24:13. > :24:20.this year? You did it last year. I will lend some money to your
:24:20. > :24:26.business bank. I will give you a tenner if you take one of my balls.
:24:26. > :24:31.Is it a tricky one? Well, have a look. Who is your preferred
:24:31. > :24:38.coalition partner? Can I have two balls? I would hurl the ball at
:24:38. > :24:48.both of them. Put one in each. scrupulously impartial. Who is your
:24:48. > :24:55.preferred coalition partner next time? Go away. As a minister, you
:24:55. > :25:05.have to juggle many balls. might say that, I couldn't possibly
:25:05. > :25:05.
:25:05. > :25:10.comment. Yes, Minister. We don't have a preferred coalition partner,
:25:10. > :25:14.as you know, so I will put it back. That was exhausting, getting this
:25:14. > :25:22.many balls. But the majority have gone in that direction, towards
:25:22. > :25:26.Labour. I just like getting MPs to Sables, basically. I know. Balls,
:25:26. > :25:31.balls, balls. Adam Fleming. A back in the conference hall,
:25:31. > :25:34.George Osborne's plans for regional public sector pay were held up,
:25:34. > :25:39.chewed over and comprehensively spat out by the Liberal Democrats
:25:39. > :25:44.when the time came to vote. To me, fairness means spreading our wealth
:25:44. > :25:51.more widely. It is unfair and a liberal to suck money out of those
:25:51. > :25:55.poorest communities. Regional pay would do that. So instinctively, as
:25:55. > :26:00.Liberal Democrats, we must know that regional pay is wrong. But
:26:00. > :26:03.apparently, George Osborne does not. He wants to allow government
:26:03. > :26:09.departments to depress public sector salaries in regions across
:26:09. > :26:14.the UK, to open the possibility of postcode pay. The motion we are
:26:14. > :26:17.discussing today a poses the expansion of regional pay.
:26:17. > :26:23.private and that sector workers in our most deprived regions are
:26:23. > :26:27.paying tax so that the taxpayer employed workers in other regions
:26:28. > :26:34.can enjoy a lifestyle they can't. That is not simply unfair, that is
:26:34. > :26:38.absolutely unjust. But we are not only tea party of fairness, we are
:26:38. > :26:43.the party of localism. And to deny local public sector commission has
:26:43. > :26:46.the right to negotiate local rates of pay flies in the face of our
:26:46. > :26:51.policy on local democracy, accountability and the
:26:51. > :26:55.decentralisation of power to the regions. I understand the emotion,
:26:55. > :27:00.the idea that we will cut wages. If I believe regional pay would do
:27:01. > :27:05.that, I would be as angry and emotional as the proposals are.
:27:05. > :27:11.However, the time has come for us to recognise that as a party that
:27:11. > :27:16.supports localism, if we intend to promote regional diversity, we must
:27:16. > :27:22.also allow our local government units to adapt to the local
:27:22. > :27:29.conditions. We already struggled to attract into areas like mine people
:27:29. > :27:32.to come and fill posts in hospitals, teachers and other public-sector
:27:32. > :27:36.workers. If they thought the cost of coming to North Devon was that
:27:36. > :27:42.they would see their wage cuts, they simply would not come.
:27:42. > :27:45.contrast, our workers will go elsewhere, where they will get
:27:45. > :27:50.higher pay and face lower cost. We have been asking ourselves this
:27:50. > :27:54.week, what can we do to make a difference in government? We have
:27:54. > :27:58.been told me about fairness. We can start right here, right now, by
:27:58. > :28:04.taking a stand against this and making it clear to our colleagues
:28:04. > :28:08.in the coalition that up with this we will not put. That is it for
:28:08. > :28:11.tonight. Tomorrow on the conference floor, we will hear from the
:28:11. > :28:16.business minister and the main event, the deputy prime minister,
:28:16. > :28:20.Nick Clegg. It is a big moment. No one imagines he can turn around his
:28:20. > :28:25.or his party's fortunes with a single speech, but this party is
:28:25. > :28:28.still behind him, but the most part. But they want and need a good
:28:28. > :28:32.performance from their leader. And he will not be making any more