00:00Well this is the first comprehensive plan that this country's had for its young people
00:03since before the iPhone was invented and we're putting 500 million into a new generation of
00:09youth clubs, of youth workers because too many young people told us that the places that they
00:15used to go to have disappeared, the activities that they used to do, music, art, dance, drama,
00:21sport, all the things that make life worthwhile have become almost exclusively only for young
00:25people whose parents can pay and many young people told us that the adults that they trust in their
00:31lives whether it's their mums or dads, their youth workers, their sports coaches, their teachers
00:36don't have the information and the skills that they need to help them navigate the complexities
00:41of growing up in this online world. So we're changing that, we're investing and we're going
00:46to give every young person in this country the chance that they need to succeed. I mean you're
00:50investing but at the same time you're putting up the charges on employers for employing young people,
00:55the taxes are going up, isn't it actually, wouldn't that be a much better way of you know getting
00:59people into, young people into the system if I can put it like that, contributing, feeling
01:03that there's a future for them than just having some money for some youth centres? Well we're
01:07investing in young people to make sure that they can get into the workplace. We've just
01:11announced a new scheme for 18 to 21 year olds to make sure that we get them into work, get
01:17them into a training placement, get them into education because we've got a million young
01:21people at the moment in this country who don't have anything meaningful to do. But the challenges
01:26for young people start far far earlier and during teenage years this generation of young people
01:33is navigating a really really complex set of issues, particularly the fact that they are often lack the
01:41people that they can trust, who can give them advice and support, they lack places to go, they lack things
01:46to do. They're the most connected generation in history but the most isolated that there has ever
01:52been and we're determined that that is going to change. Now Leveson 2, why after initially the
01:59government Labour Party saying they were going to follow up with the Leveson 2 recommendations and
02:03an extra report about the police and the press, why has the government abandoned it? Well we took a position
02:09before the general election that pursuing Leveson 2 in its entirety would not be the right approach.
02:16The reason for that is that we've got a really dissatisfactory situation in this country where
02:23broadcast media are held to one set of standards, the press are held to another and the online world
02:28is held to a different set of standards altogether. And what that means is that there isn't enough
02:35protection for individuals who are, like Jeremy McCann, suffering from appalling practices and intrusion
02:43that can ruin their lives. It also means that we've got to think carefully about how we balance the rights of
02:52victims with the need to have a free press that has always been responsible for regulating itself in order that it can
03:01hold the powerful, including people like me, to account. That takes time but we haven't wasted time as a government.
03:08I met with some of the families that have been affected by this very early 18 months ago and we've been working
03:15since then to make sure that when we bring forward proposals for change, and we will, that those proposals
03:22actually work. But you've been in power for more than one year. Can you show anything practical, tangible that you've
03:30actually taken to the newspaper industry to say, right, this is where we've got to put your house in order?
03:36Well, we've been talking to the newspaper industry about a number of proposals. The families have asked us
03:41for action on a number of fronts, including greater access to justice, the need to drive up standards and ethics
03:48within the print media, and action to make sure that they, when issues do arise, that victims and families
03:59who've been affected are heard much earlier in the system. But obviously we've got to make sure that when we take action in those areas, that we protect the absolutely core principle of a free and fair press that can hold the powerful to account.
04:15Now that does take time. I'm not in a position to announce new measures today. You would rightly criticise me if the government brought forward measures that were unworkable or that undermined that principle.
04:26But I am more than happy to meet with Gerry McCann and others who've been affected by this in order to explain to them what we're doing and talk to them about how we tackle this issue and strike the right balance.
04:40I mean, can you promise people like Gerry McCann that when you do have these measures, which you say you're taking time to work out, that he will be satisfied by them and that you will make sure they are put in place?
04:51Well, it's for him and others to judge whether the measures that we bring forwards go far enough, and I suspect that there will be different views about that.
05:02But what I can say is that the government does intend to act in this area. We've ruled out Leveson too, but that doesn't mean that there is no action that we can take, and we will.
05:13I mean, people like Gerry McCann are saying the government's just frightened of the newspapers, of the power of the press. Is that right?
05:19Well, I'm not frightened of the power of the press, but I do believe it's an absolutely essential part of a healthy, functioning democracy that the press can hold government and others in positions of authority to account.
05:34Without that, I don't think people will be able to trust in the democratic running of this country.
05:40So we're striking the right balance. We're taking care to get this right.
05:45I completely understand and appreciate the frustration of families who've had to meet with successive secretaries of state, talk to many iterations of previous governments about this.
05:55But when we make promises, we keep them. We will act, but I won't rush to bring forward measures that are not workable and don't protect those fundamental principles.
06:04Moving on. National Audit Office report on how the asylum system is working, or maybe not working.
06:11I won't go through all the figures, but people left in limbo. Less than one in ten people who have refused asylum actually being removed from the country.
06:18The system is still not working, is it?
06:20Well, we've been really upfront about the chaos that we inherited.
06:24We lost control of our borders under the last government, and there are a number of steps that we've already taken in order to start to turn that around, including making asylum decisions much more quickly.
06:36We hit a record number of deportations under the previous Home Secretary, and the new Home Secretary is taking further action, including today, the Deputy Prime Minister being in Strasbourg, urging European leaders to come together and take collective action to make sure that our human rights framework protects people who need it,
06:58but isn't used by others to gain the system and undermine trust in the immigration system.
07:04Lots have been done. Lots more to do. We accept the characterisation that this is a system that has not been working for some time, but we're not hesitating to take the action we need to sort that out.
07:16Are you comfortable, coming from where you come from in your political journey, being a Labour MP, being a Labour minister, that Labour government is now actively trying to reduce the rights under the European Convention on Human Rights,
07:30to cut back on what people who are in a situation where they're trying to appeal to that will have fewer rights if the government gets its way?
07:37People should always have the right to safety and sanctuary. That is absolutely fundamental in this country, has a long and proud history of upholding those rights.
07:48What they don't have the right to do is gain the system. If you undermine trust in the immigration system, if people can't trust that that is a fair process and that government has control of it and a grip on it,
08:00then it undermines the rights of genuine refugees, people who come to this country, make a contribution, and that can't be allowed to stand.
08:10That's why this government will not hesitate to take the action that previous governments have ducked in order to restore trust to the system, make sure we've got control of our borders, make sure people can have confidence in it.
08:22A couple more quick ones.
08:23Sorry, just to interrupt. We're going to have to make the last question because we've got to get to another line.
08:27Right, OK.
08:28If you do them quick, I'll do them both.
08:30Donald Trump, Europe is decaying. He's been very nasty about the mayor of London. Should we be pushing back harder?
08:37Look, we've been really clear that we disagree with that characterisation. This is an amazing country with great strengths, but when it comes to immigration, there is a problem.
08:48We inherited a chaotic system from the last government who had lost control of the borders. We've got to restore trust in the immigration system,
08:56and we will not hesitate to take the action that we need in order to get a grip on that chaos.
09:01Final question. Vodafone. Is there a problem? Should the government be getting involved?
09:05Should they be addressing the issue of Vodafone franchisees who've been left high and dry?
09:09Well, I'm really concerned to hear about what has happened to the Vodafone franchisees who've gone through what is clearly an appalling experience.
09:19This is something that the Business Secretary is looking at and, of course, will take seriously, and if there's action required, the government won't hesitate to take it.
09:27OK. What could that action be?
09:28Well, this is a question for the Business Secretary. He's got to have time to look at this case, but I know that he will take this seriously and make sure that if there is action needed, that we can take it.
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