Why haven’t we managed to ban fox-hunting when we have such a large majority?
I know that hunting with dogs raises strong emotions whichever side of the argument you stand. But it’s important not to let emotion cloud the facts. First, we may have a majority in the Commons but we certainly don’t have a majority in the Lords which also has to approve any ban. Second, we came into power with an ambitious programme to renew our country – to tackle poverty and unemployment, rescue our health service, create a stable and strong economy, improve school standards, extend opportunity – and have had just three Parliamentary sessions so far to put this programme into action. And thirdly, decisions like this are traditionally – and rightly, I believe – matters of conscience on which MPs have a free vote. What we promised in our manifesto was to allow a free vote. We did. The Commons overwhelmingly favoured a ban on hunting with dogs. A private member’s bill to bring in a ban then failed due to lack of time because of Tory opposition in the Commons. Even if we had found extra time in the Commons, we knew that Tory peers had threatened they would wage a guerrilla war in the Lords which would have seriously risked wrecking important other bills with little hope of the hunting bill getting through. So we are now giving the Commons in this next session another free vote on hunting with hounds on a range of options this time as part of a Government bill.
Do you think the selection of Labour’s candidates for Mayor of London and First Minister for Wales was mishandled?
I have admitted that we mishandled the selection for the job of First Minister of Wales and have taken my share of the blame. Rhodri Morgan is doing an excellent job. As for London, I hope I will also be proved wrong about my worries over Ken Livingstone but it is still too early to come to that conclusion. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. But there are always lessons you can learn from episodes like this and we will, I promise.
Isn’t the abolition of Married Couples Tax Allowance and Mortgage Interest Tax Relief an attack on the family?
Tell them not to fall for the Tory line. Far from attacking the family, we are directing and increasing help to the families who need it most – on those with children and on low and middle-income families. The MCA is being replaced by the Child Tax Credit which will boost the incomes of families with children by £442 a year – well over double the value of MCA if it had continued. Over five million families will benefit. We have also introduced the Working Families Tax Credit to help low and middle-income families. And all families with children have gained from the record increase in child benefit. The result is that while child poverty tripled under the Tories, this Government’s policies are lifting 1.2 million children out of poverty. That’s what I call putting the family first.
Why don’t we re-link pensions with earnings to avoid another increase like this year’s 75p?
Because this would not help the pensioners who need help most and surely that’s what we all believe is the priority. We have made a deliberate decision – and I believe the right one – to target the most help on the poorest pensioners. Over this Parliament, we are spending £6.5 billion on boosting pensioner incomes which is £2.5 billion more than if we had restored the link with earnings. But more importantly, almost half of this money is going to the poorest pensioners who suffered so badly in the Tory years. Let me explain why we have chosen this approach. It is not true to say that all pensioners are badly off. Largely due to occupational and private pensions, pensioners as a whole over the last 20 years have enjoyed a bigger rise in income than any other group in society. But while the incomes of the best-off pensioners have risen by 80 percent, the poorest pensioners – those usually without private or occupational pensions – have missed out on this growing prosperity. So we have targeted help on them rather than across the board. The measures we have announced – and, in particular, the Minimum Income Guarantee – means that a million of these poorest pensioners will be £20 a week better off. It is also important that Progress readers counter the ridiculous claim that all this Government has done is the inflation-linked rise in the basic state pension. Remind people that we have abolished Tory eye test charges, brought in the winter fuel allowance, which is being increased to £150 this year, and are bringing in concessionary bus travel for all pensioners and free TV licences for the 75s and over, who are not just those pensioners most likely to find it more difficult to get out, but also most likely to be among the poorest. And that does not include the extra investment in health, fighting crime and improving public transport which will also benefit pensioners. But I accept there is a lot more to be done – and we are determined to do it. It was the Tories who betrayed pensioners. It is this Government which is beginning to repay the debt we owe them.
In retrospect, do you think the restraint on public spending during our first two years in power was too harsh?
No. People who say this forget it’s because we took the necessary difficult – and, at times, unpopular – decisions, which included keeping to tough spending limits, that our economy is strong and stable. And it’s because we have a strong and stable economy that we have been able to announce record and sustained increases in investment in our hospitals, schools and other key public services. People should remember the economy we actually inherited and not fall for this myth of the golden economic legacy. When we came to power, the national debt had doubled, borrowing was running at £28 billion a year, we were spending more in debt interest payments than on our schools, and inflation was creeping back into the system. It was an economy, too, which had just suffered the two deepest recessions since the war following unsustainable booms. So we took the steps needed to tackle Tory boom and bust and sort out the financial chaos we inherited. The result is that we are reducing Tory debts, so that by 2004 we will be paying £5 billion a year less in interest payments. There are a million more people in work than at the election and, for the first time in decades, a downturn in the economy did not turn into a recession. It’s how we can afford the record investment in our public services that our party wants – and the country needs – not just this year, but for future years.
Which achievement of the last three years are you personally most proud of?
On a personal level, I suppose I would have to single out the real progress we have seen in the last three years towards a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. The fact that despite all the setbacks, there has been such progress is a tribute to all the people in Northern Ireland and beyond who have worked so hard and have shown such courage. But on a wider front, I think it has to be the fact that we have helped create a stronger and more stable economy. Living standards are rising, unemployment has fallen to the lowest level for twenty years and there are more people than ever before in work, which is important because work remains the best route out of poverty. It also means we can now afford the sustained investment needed to repair the damage of the Tory years. A strong economy is the foundation on which virtually everything else a Government can do rests.