Transcripts For CSPAN Q A 20140210 : comparemela.com

Between Great Britain and the United States via cspan, what comes to mind . I think the great period of closeness between britain and the United States. Fluctuated. Ship has of course, we were particularly close in world war ii. It was revived under Margaret Thatchers premiership. There were some rocky patches had a close but she ideological relationship with ronald reagan. They were very fond of each other personally. Beginning of a it was not quite so warm under her successors. Tony blair became extremely close to bill clinton. And to president bush. I would say that that was a particularly interesting time of the transatlantic relationship. Politicians were sometimes embarrassed at what the public like to call the special relationship. Comeshe Prime Minister into town, some of those things are little unnecessary. You have watched our government over 25 years and your own government. What is the main difference for someone who has never thought about it, between the two democracies . Logjam theot have same way under a parliamentary system that you can have and do have under your system. The government cannot shut down. If the government cannot get its business through the house of to call at has general election and let the people decide. What is the main difference between the house of commons and the house of lords . The house of lords is a very dignified chamber. If you want to see what the house of commons looks like once ,ou look at the house of lords there is a lot once it is their time to leave the house of commons. Voluntary or at the hands of the electorate. Not all of them, but a lot in the house of lords also have a number of members who are very distinguished and professional. I should remind people that the house of lords, there are very few hereditary peers left. They are also known as life peers. I think thetarted, number was 1200 members of the house of lords. What is it now . I think it is about 800. The hereditary is all gone. Tony blair started to reform the house of lords and kind of lost interest. Everybody agrees that the house of lords should not exist as it does. It ought to be mainly, if not exclusively, and election chamber. Nobody can agree precisely what and what itsuld be powers of the elected Upper Chamber should be. That it might be a rival for the house of commons and they do not want a rival. We have some edited tape from a number of times where black describei want you to who he is, comes into the house of commons the day the queen is speaking to both houses. There is a man sitting on the front the front bench by the name of Dennis Skinner. He has been there since 1970 and he always says something that usually gets a chuckle out of people when blackrock comes in. He is the sergeant of arms of the upper house. Who chooses . He is chosen by a committee of the house of lords. He is a civilian. Are civiliansem in the sense that a lot are ex military people. Chosen by a committee of the house of lords. And that is it. So he comes over from the house of lords as the queen is arriving and what does he do . He comes to the emissary of back fromto summon the house of commons to attend the house of lords. Arrives, the door is slammed in his face and he bangs on it with his staff. This dates back to the reign of , when the king and parliament were at loggerheads. Message down to the house of commons at one point to arrest five members and they slammed the door. Of the monarchy. Dennis skinner has been in Parliament Since 1970, was a coal miner. People should turn their Television Sets up to hear this. What is the purpose of what he does . Did he start this . The comment that he makes . The little heckle. His own thing entirely. He is a republican in the american sense, but he does not believe in the monarchy. Withll have no truck members of the commons being summoned to the house. He does not go to the house of lords elections. His colleagues go, but he sits there. One year, he occupied part of the speakers chair while the speaker at the house of commons was at the house of lords. When he started, he was chairman of the labour party for a couple of years. Of course, he was a very tinguished chair, but own but that only lasted for a year or so. It was a shortterm thing. Is about three minutes. I want everybody to listen closely. I have them written down so we will be able to repeat them. Heres the video. Go, theis his last general said. He has to knock for entrance. You could be doing this job next time because they advertise for it in the newspaper. Equal opportunity, man, woman, does not matter. As long as you have the authority and the administership experience to do the job, which is listening to the house of lords and their complaints. There is Dennis Skinner, who normally has something to say at this stage. Mr. Speaker. The queen commands its honorable attend her majesty immediately. Tell her to read the guardian. [laughter] to attend upon her majesty immediately. It tolls for thee, maggot. [laughter] there,have heard Dennis Skinner saying, it tolls for thee, maggot. To attend immediately in the house appears. Of peers. This need to say to experience viewers, that was probably the labor mp Dennis Skinner. Therefore the royal family. The queen commands the honorable house to attend her majesty immediately. Royal expenses are on the way. Speaker, the queen. Ommands the honorable house no Royal Commission this week. Immediately in the house appears. Pof peers. Thank you. [laughter] to attend her majesty immediately. Jubilee, doubledip recession, what a start. To attend her majesty immediately in the house of peers. Royal mail for sale, the queens head privatized. [laughter] contribution from Dennis Skinner. Some of those were hard to hear. Them,ing a number of telling her to read the guardian. Why would you want to read the guardian . They do not like the monarchy, i assume. I would not call the guardian republican. There was a story about the royal family that was drawn to her attention. It tolls for thee, maggie. Before she was ejected by her party from the premiership. Referring to the queen, said she brought to Milla Camilla with her. That was when the prince of wife was a more controversial figure that she is nowadays. The next year, who shot the harriers . Was. Do not know what that there is an aircraft called the harrier. And the next one, royal expenses are on their way. She has always been concerned about the expenditure of the royal household. Shouted, he simply tell her to pay her taxes no Royal Commission this week. And then, jubilee year, double recession, what a start. Common on what he regarded as the unnecessary expenditure of the Diamond Jubilee a couple of years ago. Recession,e during a when probably he felt that his constituents were suffering. Year, royal mail for sale, queens head privatized. The government privatize the royal mail and it was always said that Margaret Thatcher would not drive it ties privatize the royal mail because the queens head was on the stamps. And it would be inappropriate for a queens head or the queens image to be involved in any commercial activity. Back to the beginning. Was,irst day, i believe it november 28, 1989. Neil hynek and Margaret Thatcher , can i get you to explain this . When is the government going to stop . No, mr. Speaker. They have not made a profit at all. This is the year when it sold jaguar. It was only able to carry on at all because of a government guarantee to its creditors and a government guarantee to the banks. The liability building up on the british taxpayer was enormous. It was a very good thing to be able to privatize under those circumstances. Speaker, the Prime Minister does the Prime Minister think that that, in any awning off her company for 60 Million Pounds less than it was worth . Well, mr. Speaker, if it was such a good bargain, why did the unions not try to buy it first . Was the reaction in Great Britain to televising the house of commons . I think it was generally accepted by everybody. It is amazing how quickly it down. Down settled there were all sorts of arguments put forward, as they are here, the televising of the congress, that this would lead to all sorts of dire consequences. In fact, thatcher herself was strongly opposed to televising the house of commons. The house of lords did not worry her at all. She did not want the commons to be televised. She let it be known that she expected conservative members to vote against it. It was the very first crack in her authority. Andhouse voted against her decided to let the cameras in for an experiment. Once it started, there was no way it was going to stop. Here is another clip of her with an unknown member of parliament questioning her. Does the aspiring president for life and Prime Minister except the extensive anger and resentment against walter privatization . These are the people who bought and paid for a system of water supply and disposal. And when items are sold off that people already own, it is legalized theft. And if the honorable member henley has the gumption to stand against her honorable gentleman is aware, 25 of the water supply industry is already privatized. Lance plants is a better deal than nationalized water. , i water privatization believe, will go very successfully indeed. Therefore we ought to wait and see it so that we can pontificate the likes of the facts. And forth,ting back this country got upset when one member of Congress Called the president a liar. It sounds like nothing is barred in the house of commons. That is not true. There is a whole list of what is on parliamentary unp arliamentary expressions. A few weeks ago, the Prime Minister was required to withdraw ed markey made because the a remark he made because the leader of the opposition was i do not remember it now, but he wassaid that constructed to withdraw and activation of lying. Whoever wasccusing instead of telling a lie, he , i will call it a titude. Ogical inexac it is probably a myth. Jon stewart has often used our video to make fun of the parliament. Here he is. It is an interesting thing that comes up in this video. You recall, parliament held an inquiry into the incident, even dragging Prime Minister David Cameron in front of parliament for a right cross roger and square in the bumshir es. We talk about it on this very program. Did the Prime Minister be want to be kept in the dark . I am still waiting for a reply. He cannot smell a rat when he has one in his midst. England is awesome. That you sawegment if you were watching our show in america or one of the 85 countries where freespeech havens are. Syria, yemen. D, i am huge in him and in yemen. If you are in Great Britain, here is what you saw that segment. You did not see it. They censored it. Why . We were praising them. Are you not allowed to praise england . Is that a result of the 1683 edict of false modesty. Is it because praise from america makes you feel dirty about yourself somehow . It turns out our show was censored because we aired footage of their parliament on a comedy program. True . Yes, there is a rule that parliamentary material may not be used in entertainment programs, including news programs, Public Affairs programs, educational programs. Section of jon stewarts show, i suppose, could have been banned. I am not aware of what particular channel did not show it, what they carry it on. I am not sure it is carried in carried. I am sure you could find it somewhere on your cable system. They made fun of the parliament with the puppets and all of that over the years. That was not using actual footage of the house of commons. You can say what you would like and comedians do so. Extremely disrespectful to senior politicians. You cannot illustrate it with material from the house of commons or the house of lords. Is there a fine . I am not aware of one. What do they do . They would be reprimanded. There is a system whereby, if journalists do something regarded as in contempt of the summoned tocan be the house of commons to be severely reprimanded by the speaker. Indeed, i can remember some years since it happened, but the idea of one of our distinguished contempt of was in the house, where she accused, at the time, in 1956, a crisis which i will not elaborate right , a, but as a result of that rationing of gasoline in the united kingdom. He accused members of parliament of fiddling with their gasoline allowance. He was called in to be severely reprimanded and to apologize. Here is another clip, this one with Prime Minister john major. Will theght Prime Minister join me in condemning the Salary Increase of 58 which has been awarded to the chief executive National Power . Yes, sir. [laughter] rex order. In this matter and in so many others, the Prime Minister said one thing but is not prepared to act to back it up. What are both sides trying to accomplish and how much influence does it have on the British Society . To answer the second, but the first, probably not much influence. Not many people watch it. It is not at a convenient time of day. It is midday in the u. K. Most people are at work or doing other things. Onre is no occasion except bbc parliament, when they can naturally see it. Is committed,nce but it is point scoring. Straightforward point scoring, trying to make the other person look bad. The would happen difference between the Prime Ministers image in Great Britain and the president s image in this country after he or she gets beat up during question time compared to you watch the president s day conversation. Does it ever come close to what happens and do people think less of her or him because they are beat up during question time . I do not think so. It has to do with the difference between the president and the Prime Minister. The president is not just the head of government, but he is also the head of state, commander in chief of the prime of the armed forces. The Prime Minister is the leader who is the head of the government, that he is not the commanderinchief or the head of state. With quiteeckoned the same respect as the president. He or she has to be a member of the house of commons. Our audience do not know this, but you, for 25 years, were our man in london. Where did it all start for you . Where did you grow up . I grew up in the middle of england. I was born in the county of work sure. Warrickshire. Now it says shakespeare county, especially for the visitors, but it was a reorganization about 40 years ago. I spent most of my education away. I was notorious for a couple of those boarding schools. You find him puzzling . Which ones did you go to . I went to a proprietary school, different from a prep scholol here. It was to prepare you for the school that you would go to at the age of about 13. Untilwill see you through you are perhaps 18. When did you go where did you go when you were 13 . I went to a school just on the edge of london and spent five enjoyable years there. It was called harrow. And then oxford. Years, those distant what did it take to get into oxford . You had to achieve certain ,evels of examination success the exams you took at approximately 16 and again at 18. You also had to pass an Entrance Exam for the college that you applied to join. Which college . It was called braise knows college. How big was it . About 500. What did you major in . Law. What does that mean . What did that compare to . It was about the same. It was the first degree. I am not sure you have first degrees in law in the United States. It is different when you reach the age of 18 and pass these exams, that is the end of your general education. A singlebly read subject and broader courses. To work foryou go the bbc and what did you do . Ini went to work for the bbc 1964. Before that, i spent 2. 5 years at a newspaper. The art of journalism on the job. Always hankered after broadcasting. I tried to get a job with the bbc directly, but i was not successful in getting what i wanted, so i had to wait until they advertise for something, which was appealing. 25 years with the bbc, doing what . Obligate affairs programming, and radio. Soupedup npr,a bbc radio. They are very wellresourced still. Serious Public Affairs programming. Which i very much enjoyed. Over the 25 years that you have been our producer in london with alle provided us kinds of opportunities to interview people in london. I look up on the screen a couple of months ago and saw this interview, did not remember doing it, cannot believe we had these two people in our studio at a time when they were not even involved in the leadership of the country. We will show you the clip and you can comment on it. Why did john major win and george bush lose . And you got to be careful with things than might be glib and not really stand up, and i think in the end john major benefited from the fact he took over from Margaret Thatcher and people thought there was a change in government before the british election. Is johntony is saying major wasnt and tony was. Over the years from which he was Vice President to ronald reagan, and there is a time in the administration, and there was a sense we couldnt solve the big economic problems. Both of those went on to be Great Britain<\/a> and the United States<\/a> via cspan, what comes to mind . I think the great period of closeness between britain and the United States<\/a>. Fluctuated. Ship has of course, we were particularly close in world war ii. It was revived under Margaret Thatcher<\/a>s premiership. There were some rocky patches had a close but she ideological relationship with ronald reagan. They were very fond of each other personally. Beginning of a it was not quite so warm under her successors. Tony blair became extremely close to bill clinton. And to president bush. I would say that that was a particularly interesting time of the transatlantic relationship. Politicians were sometimes embarrassed at what the public like to call the special relationship. Comeshe Prime Minister<\/a> into town, some of those things are little unnecessary. You have watched our government over 25 years and your own government. What is the main difference for someone who has never thought about it, between the two democracies . Logjam theot have same way under a parliamentary system that you can have and do have under your system. The government cannot shut down. If the government cannot get its business through the house of to call at has general election and let the people decide. What is the main difference between the house of commons and the house of lords . The house of lords is a very dignified chamber. If you want to see what the house of commons looks like once ,ou look at the house of lords there is a lot once it is their time to leave the house of commons. Voluntary or at the hands of the electorate. Not all of them, but a lot in the house of lords also have a number of members who are very distinguished and professional. I should remind people that the house of lords, there are very few hereditary peers left. They are also known as life peers. I think thetarted, number was 1200 members of the house of lords. What is it now . I think it is about 800. The hereditary is all gone. Tony blair started to reform the house of lords and kind of lost interest. Everybody agrees that the house of lords should not exist as it does. It ought to be mainly, if not exclusively, and election chamber. Nobody can agree precisely what and what itsuld be powers of the elected Upper Chamber<\/a> should be. That it might be a rival for the house of commons and they do not want a rival. We have some edited tape from a number of times where black describei want you to who he is, comes into the house of commons the day the queen is speaking to both houses. There is a man sitting on the front the front bench by the name of Dennis Skinner<\/a>. He has been there since 1970 and he always says something that usually gets a chuckle out of people when blackrock comes in. He is the sergeant of arms of the upper house. Who chooses . He is chosen by a committee of the house of lords. He is a civilian. Are civiliansem in the sense that a lot are ex military people. Chosen by a committee of the house of lords. And that is it. So he comes over from the house of lords as the queen is arriving and what does he do . He comes to the emissary of back fromto summon the house of commons to attend the house of lords. Arrives, the door is slammed in his face and he bangs on it with his staff. This dates back to the reign of , when the king and parliament were at loggerheads. Message down to the house of commons at one point to arrest five members and they slammed the door. Of the monarchy. Dennis skinner has been in Parliament Since<\/a> 1970, was a coal miner. People should turn their Television Sets<\/a> up to hear this. What is the purpose of what he does . Did he start this . The comment that he makes . The little heckle. His own thing entirely. He is a republican in the american sense, but he does not believe in the monarchy. Withll have no truck members of the commons being summoned to the house. He does not go to the house of lords elections. His colleagues go, but he sits there. One year, he occupied part of the speakers chair while the speaker at the house of commons was at the house of lords. When he started, he was chairman of the labour party for a couple of years. Of course, he was a very tinguished chair, but own but that only lasted for a year or so. It was a shortterm thing. Is about three minutes. I want everybody to listen closely. I have them written down so we will be able to repeat them. Heres the video. Go, theis his last general said. He has to knock for entrance. You could be doing this job next time because they advertise for it in the newspaper. Equal opportunity, man, woman, does not matter. As long as you have the authority and the administership experience to do the job, which is listening to the house of lords and their complaints. There is Dennis Skinner<\/a>, who normally has something to say at this stage. Mr. Speaker. The queen commands its honorable attend her majesty immediately. Tell her to read the guardian. [laughter] to attend upon her majesty immediately. It tolls for thee, maggot. [laughter] there,have heard Dennis Skinner<\/a> saying, it tolls for thee, maggot. To attend immediately in the house appears. Of peers. This need to say to experience viewers, that was probably the labor mp Dennis Skinner<\/a>. Therefore the royal family. The queen commands the honorable house to attend her majesty immediately. Royal expenses are on the way. Speaker, the queen. Ommands the honorable house no Royal Commission<\/a> this week. Immediately in the house appears. Pof peers. Thank you. [laughter] to attend her majesty immediately. Jubilee, doubledip recession, what a start. To attend her majesty immediately in the house of peers. Royal mail for sale, the queens head privatized. [laughter] contribution from Dennis Skinner<\/a>. Some of those were hard to hear. Them,ing a number of telling her to read the guardian. Why would you want to read the guardian . They do not like the monarchy, i assume. I would not call the guardian republican. There was a story about the royal family that was drawn to her attention. It tolls for thee, maggie. Before she was ejected by her party from the premiership. Referring to the queen, said she brought to Milla Camilla<\/a> with her. That was when the prince of wife was a more controversial figure that she is nowadays. The next year, who shot the harriers . Was. Do not know what that there is an aircraft called the harrier. And the next one, royal expenses are on their way. She has always been concerned about the expenditure of the royal household. Shouted, he simply tell her to pay her taxes no Royal Commission<\/a> this week. And then, jubilee year, double recession, what a start. Common on what he regarded as the unnecessary expenditure of the Diamond Jubilee<\/a> a couple of years ago. Recession,e during a when probably he felt that his constituents were suffering. Year, royal mail for sale, queens head privatized. The government privatize the royal mail and it was always said that Margaret Thatcher<\/a> would not drive it ties privatize the royal mail because the queens head was on the stamps. And it would be inappropriate for a queens head or the queens image to be involved in any commercial activity. Back to the beginning. Was,irst day, i believe it november 28, 1989. Neil hynek and Margaret Thatcher<\/a> , can i get you to explain this . When is the government going to stop . No, mr. Speaker. They have not made a profit at all. This is the year when it sold jaguar. It was only able to carry on at all because of a government guarantee to its creditors and a government guarantee to the banks. The liability building up on the british taxpayer was enormous. It was a very good thing to be able to privatize under those circumstances. Speaker, the Prime Minister<\/a> does the Prime Minister<\/a> think that that, in any awning off her company for 60 Million Pounds<\/a> less than it was worth . Well, mr. Speaker, if it was such a good bargain, why did the unions not try to buy it first . Was the reaction in Great Britain<\/a> to televising the house of commons . I think it was generally accepted by everybody. It is amazing how quickly it down. Down settled there were all sorts of arguments put forward, as they are here, the televising of the congress, that this would lead to all sorts of dire consequences. In fact, thatcher herself was strongly opposed to televising the house of commons. The house of lords did not worry her at all. She did not want the commons to be televised. She let it be known that she expected conservative members to vote against it. It was the very first crack in her authority. Andhouse voted against her decided to let the cameras in for an experiment. Once it started, there was no way it was going to stop. Here is another clip of her with an unknown member of parliament questioning her. Does the aspiring president for life and Prime Minister<\/a> except the extensive anger and resentment against walter privatization . These are the people who bought and paid for a system of water supply and disposal. And when items are sold off that people already own, it is legalized theft. And if the honorable member henley has the gumption to stand against her honorable gentleman is aware, 25 of the water supply industry is already privatized. Lance plants is a better deal than nationalized water. , i water privatization believe, will go very successfully indeed. Therefore we ought to wait and see it so that we can pontificate the likes of the facts. And forth,ting back this country got upset when one member of Congress Called<\/a> the president a liar. It sounds like nothing is barred in the house of commons. That is not true. There is a whole list of what is on parliamentary unp arliamentary expressions. A few weeks ago, the Prime Minister<\/a> was required to withdraw ed markey made because the a remark he made because the leader of the opposition was i do not remember it now, but he wassaid that constructed to withdraw and activation of lying. Whoever wasccusing instead of telling a lie, he , i will call it a titude. Ogical inexac it is probably a myth. Jon stewart has often used our video to make fun of the parliament. Here he is. It is an interesting thing that comes up in this video. You recall, parliament held an inquiry into the incident, even dragging Prime Minister<\/a> David Cameron<\/a> in front of parliament for a right cross roger and square in the bumshir es. We talk about it on this very program. Did the Prime Minister<\/a> be want to be kept in the dark . I am still waiting for a reply. He cannot smell a rat when he has one in his midst. England is awesome. That you sawegment if you were watching our show in america or one of the 85 countries where freespeech havens are. Syria, yemen. D, i am huge in him and in yemen. If you are in Great Britain<\/a>, here is what you saw that segment. You did not see it. They censored it. Why . We were praising them. Are you not allowed to praise england . Is that a result of the 1683 edict of false modesty. Is it because praise from america makes you feel dirty about yourself somehow . It turns out our show was censored because we aired footage of their parliament on a comedy program. True . Yes, there is a rule that parliamentary material may not be used in entertainment programs, including news programs, Public Affairs<\/a> programs, educational programs. Section of jon stewarts show, i suppose, could have been banned. I am not aware of what particular channel did not show it, what they carry it on. I am not sure it is carried in carried. I am sure you could find it somewhere on your cable system. They made fun of the parliament with the puppets and all of that over the years. That was not using actual footage of the house of commons. You can say what you would like and comedians do so. Extremely disrespectful to senior politicians. You cannot illustrate it with material from the house of commons or the house of lords. Is there a fine . I am not aware of one. What do they do . They would be reprimanded. There is a system whereby, if journalists do something regarded as in contempt of the summoned tocan be the house of commons to be severely reprimanded by the speaker. Indeed, i can remember some years since it happened, but the idea of one of our distinguished contempt of was in the house, where she accused, at the time, in 1956, a crisis which i will not elaborate right , a, but as a result of that rationing of gasoline in the united kingdom. He accused members of parliament of fiddling with their gasoline allowance. He was called in to be severely reprimanded and to apologize. Here is another clip, this one with Prime Minister<\/a> john major. Will theght Prime Minister<\/a> join me in condemning the Salary Increase<\/a> of 58 which has been awarded to the chief executive National Power<\/a> . Yes, sir. [laughter] rex order. In this matter and in so many others, the Prime Minister<\/a> said one thing but is not prepared to act to back it up. What are both sides trying to accomplish and how much influence does it have on the British Society<\/a> . To answer the second, but the first, probably not much influence. Not many people watch it. It is not at a convenient time of day. It is midday in the u. K. Most people are at work or doing other things. Onre is no occasion except bbc parliament, when they can naturally see it. Is committed,nce but it is point scoring. Straightforward point scoring, trying to make the other person look bad. The would happen difference between the Prime Minister<\/a>s image in Great Britain<\/a> and the president s image in this country after he or she gets beat up during question time compared to you watch the president s day conversation. Does it ever come close to what happens and do people think less of her or him because they are beat up during question time . I do not think so. It has to do with the difference between the president and the Prime Minister<\/a>. The president is not just the head of government, but he is also the head of state, commander in chief of the prime of the armed forces. The Prime Minister<\/a> is the leader who is the head of the government, that he is not the commanderinchief or the head of state. With quiteeckoned the same respect as the president. He or she has to be a member of the house of commons. Our audience do not know this, but you, for 25 years, were our man in london. Where did it all start for you . Where did you grow up . I grew up in the middle of england. I was born in the county of work sure. Warrickshire. Now it says shakespeare county, especially for the visitors, but it was a reorganization about 40 years ago. I spent most of my education away. I was notorious for a couple of those boarding schools. You find him puzzling . Which ones did you go to . I went to a proprietary school, different from a prep scholol here. It was to prepare you for the school that you would go to at the age of about 13. Untilwill see you through you are perhaps 18. When did you go where did you go when you were 13 . I went to a school just on the edge of london and spent five enjoyable years there. It was called harrow. And then oxford. Years, those distant what did it take to get into oxford . You had to achieve certain ,evels of examination success the exams you took at approximately 16 and again at 18. You also had to pass an Entrance Exam<\/a> for the college that you applied to join. Which college . It was called braise knows college. How big was it . About 500. What did you major in . Law. What does that mean . What did that compare to . It was about the same. It was the first degree. I am not sure you have first degrees in law in the United States<\/a>. It is different when you reach the age of 18 and pass these exams, that is the end of your general education. A singlebly read subject and broader courses. To work foryou go the bbc and what did you do . Ini went to work for the bbc 1964. Before that, i spent 2. 5 years at a newspaper. The art of journalism on the job. Always hankered after broadcasting. I tried to get a job with the bbc directly, but i was not successful in getting what i wanted, so i had to wait until they advertise for something, which was appealing. 25 years with the bbc, doing what . Obligate affairs programming, and radio. Soupedup npr,a bbc radio. They are very wellresourced still. Serious Public Affairs<\/a> programming. Which i very much enjoyed. Over the 25 years that you have been our producer in london with alle provided us kinds of opportunities to interview people in london. I look up on the screen a couple of months ago and saw this interview, did not remember doing it, cannot believe we had these two people in our studio at a time when they were not even involved in the leadership of the country. We will show you the clip and you can comment on it. Why did john major win and george bush lose . And you got to be careful with things than might be glib and not really stand up, and i think in the end john major benefited from the fact he took over from Margaret Thatcher<\/a> and people thought there was a change in government before the british election. Is johntony is saying major wasnt and tony was. Over the years from which he was Vice President<\/a> to ronald reagan, and there is a time in the administration, and there was a sense we couldnt solve the big economic problems. Both of those went on to be Prime Minister<\/a>. Did you know they were on their way . Blair was the shadow home secretary. Homelandit like security and parts of the justice department. , as was front venture gordon brown at that point. To tell you where we came from and the accident of death. The leader of the labour party died wholly smith. Nexpectedly he was apparently a youngish man in his 50s. He might never have been Prime Minister<\/a>. Rightbout being at the place at the right time. Was the shadow chancellor. He was in charge of the economic policy. Also in charge of the election machine. He was into election strategies. Went out to be Prime Minister<\/a> for how long . Over three years here is a famous name for people who can remember 20 years ago. Here is ian paisley. It. Can explain after we see if he wants a settlement the only honorable thing he can do is resign. Order. I really must seek a withdrawal from the honorable gentleman about the use of the word falsehood. Use sure he has tried to his words very carefully this afternoon, but i would ask him to reflect for a moment while i am speaking so he may withdraw so we can have copper order in our exchanges and are questioning in this house. Just the thing i am sure he would have liked. Speaker, there are far too many issues in Northern Ireland<\/a> that way on me at this time, and people of Northern Ireland<\/a> would say to me why did you not stand by, and i stand by what i said. It is what works. Put ian paisley in context. Ian paisley was around for a long time. Him onemember seeing television in the 60s. He was a young firebrand presbyterian teacher. He had his own independent , andh of presbyterianism he was saying uncomplimentary things about the pope, and he was a very considerable figure in Northern Ireland<\/a> for many , a staunch loyalist or unionist who was determined to theerve the link of counties of Northern Ireland<\/a> with the rest of the united , and there was one where he made some suggestion of cooperation i think with the republic of ireland, and he said, never, never, never, Something Like<\/a> because he knew after the he settledeement down to be first minister of Northern Ireland<\/a>. He was a former leader of the iras deputy. They used to travel around together. They came to the United States<\/a> and were trying to promote trade deals in Northern Ireland<\/a>. Were always grinning and laughing together. They seemed to be the best of friends. Warrant there are 3000 werent there 3000 killed in the u. K. . British or Northern Ireland<\/a> people who were british citizens, yes. Ofi am talking about some the bombings that went on. They were in the u. K. And london and manchester. They killed quite a few people, themost of them were on island of ireland. I remember you and out was killed by a bomb outside of his house. Was killed by a bomb outside his house. Was that ira bombing . Wreck that was an aire bombing. Byemember one who was killed a bomb that blew up as his car was going down the ramp underneath the house of commons. That was not the ira. That was a Splinter Group<\/a> called Irish National<\/a> liberation army,ho killed a number of people and Margaret Thatcher<\/a> and her government were very nearly blown up. One or two of her associate were killed when someone blew up the hotel. Clipe woman in the last was speaker between 1992 and 2000. I remember her saying she was florida,ng naples, while she was still on vacation. There was an interview in her chambers. Betty bruce roy. I have much more with the protestant than the advent. You know there is a resistance of when you are elected and your sponsors come and pull you to the chair, and you have to show signs of not wanting to go. Chair. Back to the this is part of the tradition of speakers being reluctant to take the chair. Madam speaker. The question she was asked was about sir thomas more with his head cut off. She refers to nine other speakers who had their head cut off. A number of them. That is untimely. Is she called a baroness . Is she in the house of lords . Does that automatically happened after you have been bigger . Yes. It is on the recommendation of the Prime Minister<\/a>, but i cannot speak cannot think of a speaker who has not been elevated. How do you get to be speaker, and how important is it in the house of commons . It is extremely important and different from the speaker here. Is the leader of a Majority Party<\/a> in the house. Referee,er is purely a and when you become speaker you give up all policy statements. You become nonpolitical. Forever. Forever. One or two speakers do this when they get to the house of lords, but that is rare. They do make speeches on things they are interested in, but they are not supposed to do anything that is in contention between the Political Parties<\/a>. It is extremely important. Are supposed to be dragged reluctantly into the speakers chair because of the history of what happened to a number of speakers. If i remember rightly betty was the first elected speaker to the house. Prior to that there were consultations between the government of the day and the opposition and smaller Political Parties<\/a> and the consensus would where your party headed last time or this time butthe other way around, she was actually elected to the house of commons in an open election. Heres an interview with the first speaker we were introduced to. He became a barren, and here is an interview with him that americans will find interesting i think. Is this virtually the same type of gown that is worn for how many years . Since the early days of the 18th century. You will see all speakers wearing wigs, sometimes more oldfashioned than this one. That goes right back for at least 600 years. How do you feel about wearing that every day . Is oftenused to it. It said speakers need to have selective lightness and selective deafness. Could perhaps hear everything that goes on. Losing some of it but i decide to disregard. Lived to be 87. What is your memory of him . He is a very charming individual, and extremely nice with a deep love for the house of commons. What about the week . The weight is gone. Wig is gone. It didnt come back. We have a clip. One of my first approaches was to a particularly distinguished colleague i wouldnt dream of identifying. I asked if he would back me today. Certainly not. You are not just too young. You are far too young. My judgment the speaker ought to be virtually senile. [laughter] if you were elected, it would be , disastrousor you for the house, disastrous for the country. Down. Hat, he slammed it just in case this is a widely held view, i shall merely preserve that speakers younger than me at 46 are actually quite common in times gone by. Speaker in 2009 . Yes. 2009. What did he have that they liked about him . They had at that time, and they have changed it they had an electoral system for the speaker. Elected quite. Onsiderably he had once been a consultant a rightwing conservative, and he has become a leftwing conservative. He is also a labor supporter, which amused quite a lot of people. It was partly a labor maneuver. A lot of conservatives didnt been am, because he had true thatcherite conservative and stopped being a true thatcherite. They didnt want him and didnt like him. It was a maneuver by the labour party. Would restore tension between the Prime Minister<\/a> and the speaker. If there was a labour party or a liberal party member a let it, would the speaker change . The speaker doesnt necessarily change because of change of administration. No. They tend to do just under a , and it probably wouldnt alter it, though the speaker should sometimes be an issue where there was one occasion like the general election in 1964 when labor had their breadth majority in house of commons. The speaker died unexpectedly who had been a conservative and labour didnt want to put up a speaker because that would rob one of the three or four in the majority. There were certain shenanigans there. They did end up with the labor speaker. Just because of the change of administration it wouldnt necessarily need to change the speaker, although if a Political Party<\/a> really wants to get rid of a lien onr they put him or her. Preks a brief description of the three major parties and what they stand for. If you are a member of the tory party or conservative, what do you stand for . What we have it to here. Conservativey the party is to the left of the republican party. Conservatives subscribe to National Health<\/a> service. They might criticize its time. Ion all the politicians will have criticisms of him, but any suggestion you aght fundamentally change provider of medical services for all members of a population, irrespective of means, is beyond the pale. The right wing of the whollyative party is not aresible in the sense they in favor of small government. One of the particular gripes about government is not so much to do with the National Government<\/a> of the united kingdom, but the European Union<\/a> if they can. The Prime Minister<\/a> indicated if he is Prime Minister<\/a> and the elections due next year there will not be a referendum on whether or not written intain should remain membership of the European Union<\/a> after he has tried to negotiate our terms. How does the liberal party member differ . Some not very much. I would say some liberal democrats would not be entirely if they were in the left g of the conservative rd, party, but there is a defection to the liberal democrats and the defection to the labour party, and they have found cohabitation coalitionwould find a with conservatives uncomfortable. They not like being a member . No. If you are a member of the labour party, give us some small difference if you are a tory or a liberal. Some would say there isnt that much difference. Say is you have two teams of managers trying to persuade the country they would manage slightly more efficiently than the other. There are huge ideological divides. Yes, the labour party is to the left of the conservative party, but under tony blair it was pulled very much toward the center. It remains there. There are those on the left and the labour party that have a handicap. They ought to be offering a more capitalism,tique of but it is a capitalist party. It is business friendly, partly because it is afraid to be seen as unfriendly. Conservatives were able to use that to persuade people it was a bad thing to vote for them. This brings me to the part of this interview i think i will enjoy the most. People that work at cspan will enjoy it the most, and that is that during your tenure here, and you can tell us a number of years ago you got married to an american. I did indeed. Tell us that story . How did it happen . Widower at the time, and my wife works for the united. Tates senate it is called the Recording Studio<\/a> and broadcast operations, and she was visiting london and televisingee how the and Radio Broadcasting<\/a> of British Parliament<\/a> was done, and ran to the International Producer<\/a> here in cspan and said could he guide her footsteps in , and he guided them towards me. We met for lunch, and i introduced her to the people she ands to be introduced to, that was very agreeable. , shethe next few years twice. London once or we met and had a drink or a meal, and as i used to say, we became a Critical Mass<\/a> over 10 years. Occurred while we were celebrating cspans 25th anniversary. That is when you propose to her . I propose to her shortly thereafter. I proposed to her in the summer. The anniversary celebration was in march, as you remember. Six months later, i propose to her. She decided it wasnt such a bad idea. Where did you get married . We didnt get married for a little while after that. We were married in her home state of arizona. Phoenix. C is in the senate Recording Studio<\/a>, and you have been involved, and you decided you want to leave us and retire. Very ill. E my wife and i would like to spend a bit more time together because when parliament is in session i have to be in london, and she has to be here, and we do a lot of commuting back and forth. My timetable schedules are a bit more flexible than hers. Now im able to spend a bit more time in washington. Comedy trips back and forth have you made . Would be10 years ago i in washington once a year. Cspan would bring me over at their expense to brief and deep debrief for the year ahead and the previous year. Therethen i have been half a dozen times a year. Everybody wants to know whether youre going to end up in Great Britain<\/a> or end up here. We would like to know. We havent decided yet. There are all sorts of complications, not the least, where you pay your taxes. The house of commons, this is from saturday night live. Again, using humor, and it looks like they built a set. I dont have the dates on this. Lets watch this and get your reaction to it. Next on cspan from the british house of commons in london, Prime Minister<\/a>s questions. This is a 15 minute period set aside for tuesday and thursday for Prime Minister<\/a> tony blair to take questions from the house of commons. Now, thursdays session. Order, order please. Questions to the Prime Minister<\/a>, mr. Adams. On behalf of all irish citizens i would like to personally thank the Prime Minister<\/a> for working with president clinton to achieve peace in Northern Ireland<\/a>, but does one single document really make up for decades of suffering caused the british oppression . Order, order. Perhaps not, but i would like to see the right honorable gentleman from belfast make up of years of reddish british suffering caused by riverdance. Order what do you think . Gerry adams was never a member of the house of commons. All of the sinn fein members elected were not taking seats. Offices in have theon, and they look after interests of their constituents, but they will not take their seats in either house. In parliament you have to swear an oath of allegiance to her majesty, and they are not prepared to do that. The deputy first minister of Northern Ireland<\/a> who is a leader of sinn fein along with gerry technically her majestys first minister, but he never took an oath, and he was allowed to avoid that. If you are british and you lived there all your life, can you pick up where people are from base on their accents like in the United States<\/a> . Were they know right away . What would they say your speech comes from . Oxford might come into it. I wonder why. What do people in oxford speak like . They speak all kinds of different accents nowadays, but a very small number of people were able to go there, and they tended to come from a single class. They tend to speak the same, but that was a long time ago. What did your parents do . I parents were both doctors, medical doctors. In the british world they dont make the kind of money they do over here. They do quite well. Or two who make over a million a year. Surgeons, but a family physician could make a couple hundred thousand. When you look back over your career and you talk to young people about if they were the slightest bit interested in being a correspondent or whatever, what would you tell them is the best training . You need to train as journalists. When i went into journalism there was almost no journalism trade. Was run by a which scottish newspaper and magazine but peopleotland, left school and joined a local newspaper and work their way in International Journalism<\/a> if that is what they wanted to do, and they were successful doing it. It was learning on the job. Now i would strongly recommend journalist training. What do you plan to do in your retirement . I have no plans at present. My favorite response is as liberal as possible. Certain people i know who have retired will say they dont know how they found time to work as they are busier than they after 25 been. Years i can tell you the folks at cspan will miss you, and the public has no idea how much you did for us by bringing it the british house of commons and British Society<\/a> closer and the difference between the two countries. I want to close why thanking you for that. Thank you very much. I would like to thank you for letting me work for cspan all these years and you never found me out. The former cspan producer in Great Britain<\/a>, thank you so much. You are welcome. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National<\/a> cable satellite corp. 2014] for free transcript visit us at qanda. Org. Cspan programs are also available as podcasts. I have often said that when i amtrak that i run, not walk, to the quiet car. But what i believe and i know ill have will provide for consumers and it already has on some airlines is more for data enrich engagement and open the market or more competitors to provide options so it will be hopefully over the long term less engage. For those to when you look at the International Ecosystem<\/a> when it i have been told hat 90 of the engagement is data only. So very small part of it is conversation. About t is also great this is up to the carriers, up airline. In the british house of common","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia800604.us.archive.org\/6\/items\/CSPAN_20140210_010000_Q__A\/CSPAN_20140210_010000_Q__A.thumbs\/CSPAN_20140210_010000_Q__A_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240619T12:35:10+00:00"}