The Big Interview - Diane James

In a WINOL exclusive interview, UKIP’s Diane James stated that other than its stance on Europe, the party is still working on its policies regarding other issues.

Since February, MEP candidate, Tim Aker has been developing the parties policies which will be announced “as and when it suits” UKIP before the General Election in 2015.

When it comes to current issues such as energy prices and economy, Diane stated that she is happy to sit back and watch the larger parties “battle it out”.

The Waverly Councillor also expressed her disgust against the Conservatives “illegal immigrants go home” posters calling them “abhorrent”, and stated that if UKIP were successful in the General Election they would not use such tactics.

WINOL - Week 4 - Vince Cable Energy Package

WINOL Week 4 -

On the Friday I managed to grab a quick interview with Business Secretary Vince Cable. I was pretty certain that I wouldn't be able to speak with him,as every other news organisation had booked a set slot with him, so I had the intention to grab some candid shots of him at the event and treat it similarly to my coverage of Nick Clegg. But as he walked away from the BBC my journalism training took over and I threw him a question regarding the energy price hikes, and thankfully he answered!

At Mondays news meeting Harry (this weeks News Editor) decided that we had to try and fit Vince Cable into the bulletin as he is a big name which would attract viewers, so I focused on turning it into a full package. My initial intention was to get a case study of an elderly resident to give the story a more local angle, however after knocking on many doors I eventually got the message that this was not going to happen.

As this was going to be a picture weak package I worked on making graphics to give it some more life. I also got in contact with British Gas to get their response to Vince Cables statement and they chose to send me a generic press release. Another tactic I chose to use to help get pictures for this story was "fair dealing" of a British Gas advertisement.

This weeks Guest Editor was Graham Bell. Angus Scott returned to WINOL aswell, so alongside Ian Anderson, we were spoiled for choice when it came to industry experts.

Graham Bell and Ian Anderson both said that my package was just missing one shot; Vince Cable arriving. His arrival would have provided me with the perfect set up shot so it was a real shame I didn't get it. Graham Bell used a Great British Bake Off analogy of Francis's picnic bake being "10 minutes away from perfection", my package was one shot away from perfection.

I had taken a lot of footage of Vince Cable throughout the day with the intention of using them for cutaways, however due to the colour difference between that and my interview footage, it wouldn't have made sense, so I chose to stick purely to the interview shot. My package also needed another shot to fill the time before the graphic, as it paused to white for an awkwardly long time. Graham Bell and Angus Scott were both quite pleased by my use of NAT SOT at the beginning and end of my package, which I was slightly worried was going to be bordering on cheesy.

Vince Cable slams energy companies over price hikes

Secretary of State for Business, Vince Cable, has slammed energy companies for blaming price hikes on green taxes.

Mr Cable told Winol: “There are green taxes and there are obligations on companies to help low income families with conservation but it’s not straightforward or honest to pretend that this is the cause of the big increase.”

British Gas has announced it will increase its prices by 9.2% from 23 November. They stated three reasons for the price hike; wholesale prices, improvements to pipes and wires, and the cost of complying with government programmes.

Vince Cable accepted that wholesale prices had played a big part in the increase.

But the Lib Dem minister said that energy companies were still not being transparent enough with customers.

Politics - Elections

Parliament can run for a maximum of five years – it needs to be dissolved by the Queen before an election, and it can be dissolved at any time. If the government no longer has the majority or they lose a vote of confidence in the Commons then an election can be triggered.  An example of this is Jim Callaghan, who lost by one vote in 1979 (winter of discontent), he was then followed by Margaret Thatcher. The coalition government has passed a law fixing the date of elections every five years, the next occurring on May 7^th 2015. Up until now the Prime Minister fixed the date of elections. It has been a tradition to hold them on a Thursday since 1935.

 In order to vote you have to be on the electoral register in your constituency. You’re not automatically on the register even if you pay council tax. Around 45 million people are on the electoral registers. Citizens overseas can vote, but less than 15,000 of the estimated 5.5 million people actually do. There has been a big rise in the number of postal votes, 15% of all votes cast in 2005 were postal.

Who can’t vote?

·         Anyone under the age of eighteen.

·         Members of the House of Lords.

·         European Union citizens.

·         Citizens of any other country apart from the Irish Republic and Commonwealth countries.

·         People serving a sentence in prison. (However this is set to change)

Representation of the People Act:

·         1918- Men over 21 and women over 30.

·         1928- Universal suffrage- all adults over 21.

·         1969- All adults over 18.
You have the right to vote but it is not compulsory.

Who can stand in an election?
Any citizen over eighteen.

How do you win?
First Past the Post – whoever gains a majority on the constituency is elected. This means that national voting percentages are not reflected in the number of seats. Therefore the election comes down to marginals because most votes in safe seats are wasted. Labour won half the seats in 2005 but only had 35% of the vote. This has led to people voting tactically, trying to stop the party they dislike most rather than voting for their first choice.
Each candidate must give a deposit of £500 which is returned if they get at least 5% of the votes cast. Spoilt ballots, such as ones with no markings or too many markings are disqualified. There will be a recount if the vote is very close.  

Growth of Political Parties

The 19^th century was a time of revolution. The “rotten boroughs” changed the population and demographics in cities such as Liverpool and Manchester. The Reform Act 1832 brought about a shift in representation for the towns and the North. The repeal of the Corn Laws caused a massive change as it was the end of the Tory Vs. Whig system and marked the beginning of the Liberal and the Conservative Parties. The working class gained the vote in the latter part of the 19^th century due to electoral reform and a steady increase of the reform acts.
Post First World War- Brought the rise of the Labour Party – The General Strike in 1926
Post Second World War- First Labour Government was established in 1945 with a secure majority. There were man social democratic reforms concerning the NHS, Keynesian Economics and Trade Union rights. This was also the point at which the British Empire began to decline.
William Beveridge promised national insurance from “cradle to grave” which was a golden moment for Labour. However disaster then followed in 1978-79 which the media labelled the “winter of discontent”. There were widespread strikes from many local authorities all demanding an increase in pay.

Margaret Thatcher won the General Election in 1979 and became Prime Minister. The miners strike was the biggest confrontation between the unions and the Thatcher government- she was committed to reducing the power of the trade unions, to cure the nation from this “British disease”. The miners lost and returned to work in 1985. Unions then changed drastically after realising the power of the state.

John Major then became Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party in 1990. The mid 1990’s were a boom period for tabloid journalism as the Tories got themselves involved with a string of “sleaze scandals”. This proved to be too much for John Major who resigned in 1995, to be re-elected as party leader.

Defence Minister, Jonathon Aitken stated he would resolve the problem of twisted journalism with his “sword of truth”. The Guardian reported that he was taking bribes, a claim which he denied, however he was later convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice.

The rise of the “new” Labour was seen as reformed leadership and Tony Blair was elected in 1997. His government introduced the Human Rights Act and the Freedom of Information Act, both of which are significantly important to journalists. Blair resigned in 2007 and Gordon Brown took over power. From 2010 to today we have a coalition government, which is formed by Tory, David Cameron and Liberal Democrat, Nick Clegg. 

National Politics

Political Reporting is known as “The Fourth Estate” or the “watchdog”.  The Legal Rights they hold are: Privilege and Comment/ Free Expression (Article 10 of the Human Rights Act). Fair comment is only a defence where the comment is supported by facts, is their honestly held opinion, is a matter of public interest and is not malicious.

John Wilkes is an example of a hero journalist, he was forced into exile, he was the Mayor of London and an MP and he was elected from prison on three occasions. His private life was also notorious as he had numerous mistresses, partook in duels and was buried in debt.  His publication “The North Briton” was anonymous and on one occasion he attacked (verbally) Lord Brute MP and King George the third, causing contempt of parliament. Wilkes established Statutory Qualified Privilege for reporting on parliament.

Westminster: The rules of privilege mean that you can report on virtually anything said in the House, however you must not forget the sub-judice rules such as contempt of court and you must avoid the taboo of mentioning the royals. Voting in the House of Commons is formally called a division. The parties will try and control the ways in which their MPs vote through whipping (they get the tough guys to persuade them) unless it is a matter of the conscience, for example abortion.

All new laws have to be approved by both Houses of Parliament, except for tax raising measures which are for the MPs alone to decide. Peers in the House of Lords are not elected and therefore do not represent constituencies, they are also not paid but they are allowed to claim expenses. Peers are not allowed to vote on changes to taxation or finance and they will never have the final word but they government may sometimes choose to compromise.

Hansard is the official report on the proceedings of parliament and is published daily.