have a last word. guest: that was shared by a lot of ceo's i have met in my time. host: thank you very much for being on "washington journal" this morning. guest: thank you for having me. >> coming up tomorrow morning, a look at the obama administration and its nuclear posture review with kingston reif. and the latest polls and politics of campaign 2010 with pollsters. also, arturo vargas will talk about the 2010 census and efforts by hispanic communities to increase census participation. that is coming up at 7:00 a.m. eastern time on c-span. in a couple of minutes, we will

have live coverage from "newsnight" about the upcoming british elections. at 8:00 eastern, we will have coverage of federal oversight carsick the standards. recent hearings on recalls and have raised questions about the government's enforcement of the standards -- oversigh of the car safety standards. >> all this month, see the winners of the studentcam competition. they submitted videos on a challenge the country is facing or what are the countries biggest strength? watch it just before "washington journal" at 6:30. at 8:30, during the program, meet the students who made them. for a preview, go to the website. >> i know what the challenge is and we are in a unique position to go to work. what we need is policymakers --

as policy makers is to develop a road map. >> something about energy policy you would like to talk about on your blog? at the c-span video library, you can search, watch, and quebec. over 60,000 hours of video -- or clip it. the c-span video library, cable's latest gift to america. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> british prime minister gordon brown has set a national election for the sixth. here is coverage from "newsnight". ♪

>> and so it begins, the claims, the promises, a flash photography. the staged public meetings with friends. the performance of democracy is familiar. the vote will be on may the sixth, and today they rushed out. the parties believe that the propaganda -- stunts and propaganda will persuade us. what will really decide the outcome? we have been on the campaign trail. >> good to be here. >> good to see you. >> everyone excited? >> yes. >> we have strategist from the three main parties and our regular menagerie, which david frost would double up the dream team. >>-- would dub the dream time. >> for the last time, the tories

have seized power. it looks more red there. >> not to be missed, and exciting taster of "newsnight"'s election coverage to come. do not risk change. in a voice saying it is not a two-horse race. none of this was surprising, but it was not that sort of the day. the crucial thing was at last gordon brown had named to the day on which he will put his government and himself at the mercy of the voters. let the baby kissing commence. in a moment, we will hear from our reporter followed david cameron it to deeds. and some regard -- to leeds.

in some regard nick clegg is a ray of sunshine. >> just after 10:00 this morning, gordon brown left downing street on the journey he had planned for 2.5 years ago. a 20-minute audience with the queen in which she granted him an election at one month from today. then, by law, neither had a great deal of choice. the 11th prime minister of the queen's rain off to seek his own personal mandate from the voters. the question is if in one month from now, the queen will be greeting prime minister number 12. outside, a man pedaling election odds, ignoring the fact that he had to pay a 30 pound fine. you have or even find once this morning. >> we will take as many fines as

necessary to get rid of us. we will be here until may the sixth and beyond. >> back at number 10, flanked by his cabinet, gordon brown gave a hint of how labour sees its goal. he was stressing his middle- class roots. >> i come from an ordinary middle-class family in an ordinary town. i know where i come from that and i will never forget the values, doing your duty, taking responsibility, working hard, that my parents instilled in me. >> then it was off to north kent, ihome of conceits that he held last time but only by the thinnest of threads. then rochester, compared to the

character in a novel by jane austen. he went straight to morrison's. >> not allowed in? >> glad to be let in. after they backed corey plans for national insurance cuts. -- tory plans for national insurance cut. he met staff and the canteen. but shoppers were not impressed . >> will you vote for him? >> i will not. no. the -- he has done that terrible things for education. >> will you be voting for mr. brown? >> yes. >> will you vote labour? have you voted for it before? >> no. >> a rise in the pension. our poor tax has gone up.

when you are on an ordinary pension, no. >> in 2005, gillingham saw the famous scene where tony blair was lovely debbie and -- lovey dovey. no such goodies this time as prime minister brown visited by family at home. "newsnight" ordered our own ice cream man is dead. -- van instead. one for gordon, please. this chimes about coming from a middle-class family. it is a nice middle-class the state. tony blair taught the labour party that it can only win a general election with a significant number of middle- class vote. >> i do not think there is a lot to choose between them. >> did you use to vote labour?

>> no. i like the u-kitt, their policies tied with my appeared >> have you voted for them before? >> i am undecided. i will be watching. >> but mr. brown was not much of a hit to the folks next door. what do think of him now? lovely. will you vote labour? he did not persuade do? >> no. >> as he waited for the train, mr. brown twice blind me. -- blanked me. but then he did not seem to speak to reporters at all today. his plan was to have him chatting to ordinary voters face-to-face in ordinary situations. he will need to meet a lot to make a difference.

can we have a quick word, mr. brown? >> michael is with us in studio. and david has been following david cameron around. what about browns' day? >> it was the kind of day you would have expected with tony blair. a string of seats that labour nearly lost last time. meeting a lot of middle-class voters. and a jibe at david cameron at his upper-middle-class background. in campaigning style, brown is not a player and he is not at ease with the voters. -- he is not a blair. he does not communicate with people in the same way. >> parliament agreed on what

they will get through in the washout? >> we are hearing the details of this. extraordinary. i do not recall this happening before. -- before an election. the government has dropped three of its tax measures announced in the budget a few days ago. the levy -- the broadband levy, the holiday lighting's tax, and the 10% rise in tax will be dropped from the 30th of june and was parliament votes to reinstate it. that is an interesting series of measures. at the same time, other important measures will have to be dropped. -- at the time of the dissolution of parliament. the referendum on electoral reform, the alternative of the system has been dropped.

it has proposed reforms to libel laws. it dropped those. also, one of the measures from the right committee for parliamentary reform, the backbench business committee. they dropped that as well. >> when it is parliament supposed to come back? >> may 18. a week later than normal. they will have 12 days between the general election and parliament coming back. three years ago, they said mp's should have more time for induction. if there's a hung parliament, there is more time for the parties to negotiate how the government will work. >> thank you. and david has been what -- following david cameron in leeds. >> the conservatives have a challenge to date which was how to look like they were setting the pace, when it was a gordon

brown's initiative today. it is he who goes to the palace and announces the date of the general election. the solution they came up with is to pepper it this morning with a lot of little photograph opportunities. at 7:00 a.m., we have david cameron going out with tea or coffee with photographers camped outside his home. later, he went for a jog. then about 10:30, he launched his campaign. he had officially confirmed -- the date of the general election. gordon brown was still on his way back from the palace. >> did we learn anything important today? >> not in terms of policy. we learned the themes the conservatives are going to explore during this campaign. the only bit of policy was nothing new -- they were opposing the national insurance rise.

it all boils down to this -- david cameron's message was this -- it is a choice. do you want five more years of gordon brown or do you want change? [applause] from the south bank, david camera has a river to cross to reach downing street. how wide that journey we will see over the next four weeks. the warm sunshine gave the conservative leader of bit of help in his efforts to said an optimistic tone. >> if you vote conservative, you are voting for hope. you are voting for optimism, for change, you are voting for a fresh start this country so badly needs. do not let anybody tell you that there is no real choice at this election. there is a real choice.

>> while mrs. cameron has opted for labour again, another baby due in the autumn, her husband's future depends on the country turning away from the labour party. he said a serious case today. he shook every hand on the south bank -- a serious pace today. he then headed for birmingham. for the conservatives, it was david cameron on his own. later, it was part of or brown as part of a big, experienced team. and nick clegg into spokesman. >> this is a chance to do something different this time. you have been like downb by labour for 13 years. you have conservatives and labour governments, making the

same mistakes over and over again. the real choice at this election is between more of the same from labour and conservatives or will change from the liberal democrats. we have to do something new this time. we will clean up politics and deliver fairness. we will bring about that will change that britain needs, the change that works for you. >> the action for david cameron has moved on to leeds. in the next few minutes, she is to address a rally -- he is to address a rally. there are two or three seats the conservatives are hoping to pick up. more than that, it is to send a message that no where is off limits to the conservative party in the general election. a crowd of supporters looked

happy enough to wait. they have been waiting for a conservative breakthrough in this part of your chair for a while viper -- in yorkshire for a while now. >> times have changed. we have the modern conservative party that people are warming to. >> there was an american presidential field to david cameron's opening day. the white shirt is reminiscent of president barack obama. he echoed in hixon's silent majority. remember this? >> ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can do for your country. >> today we got -- >> not just asking what the government can do for me, but asking what can we do together to make our country stronger? we know we need a new approach with it comes to the wreckage of

our political system. it is not just the expenses scandal brought shame on our parliament and our politics, bad though it was. it goes much deeper than that. it is the mentality of bossy government knows best. take what you get from westminster but do not have your own ideas about your government. this party understands that politicians are meant to be accountable and answerable to people and not the other way round. >> i am exhausted and it is only day one. consider this -- they have been planning these events 40 degree of years. there were not sure until late last night until they had -- until late last night that they could put them into operation. -- they have been planning these events for two years.

it was the most energetic, most intense 30 days of his life -- it will be paired. >> let's start off by talking about your party, jeremy. it isn't one man band on the basis of today. yes. -- i ti t is a one mand band. >> david summed up the difference this election will be about. he stands for optimism. gordon brown set a pessimistic picture. >> a pessimistic picture if we did not re-elect him. >> that is what he was thinking. >> the class war, and those old debates we thought we moved on from. >> this great slogan at that york leader talked about, "the

great ignored" -0- your leader talked about. who is not ignored? >> the people he is talking about are the people who are the biggest losers from the economic collapse. look at the people lose out from the jobs tax. it will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. business leaders say they will employ fewer people of this goes ahead. that will affect people earning more than 20,000 pounds. those are the people in the end to have the most to lose if we have five more years of gordon brown. >> his basic pitch is we do not want five more years of gordon brown. if your party wins the election, would we get five more years of gordon brown? you expect him to fulfil a full term? >> yes. we have a job to do.

cleaning up politics and protecting promises. >> when we look at what you are offering -- tomorrow there will be a speech promising or referendum on electoral reform. that was promised in 1997. why does he need another five years to do things he has failed to deliver on so far? >> most people recognize the need for reform has only grown in the face of the expenses scandal. -- change the conservative party. this very evening, the conservative party failed to change it -- by blocking change it in terms -=- >> and you have had 13 years to do. >> of course there is further change to go. we are looking for a fresh --

>> this is change promised 13 years ago. if you have not done it in the last decade -- >> you have not done the things he promised in 1997. >> according brown is convinced, as a result of the expenses scandal, he will argue it in terms of a referendum. >> you must be persuaded. >> we could have had these things in any of the last 13 years. they have failed, not just on constitutional reform. the gap between rich and poor has widened. they ignored the fact that people are becoming more in debt and the bankers are going on getting bigger bonuses. >> what would be the price of your forming some sort of coalition with the labour party? >> it is not a discussion we

have had. >> you have not thought about this? >> we are in this election to win more seats for the causes that liberal democrats stand for. >> let's have a reality check. are you suggesting that you think the end of this election, nick clegg could emerge as the leader of the largest party? >> of course that is possible. >> that was not what i said. >> the probability is that we will not be the leader of the largest party. >> our return to my question -- with the price of your collaborating with the labour party be gordon brown's head? >> that is a matter for the labour and tory parties. we are there for policy implementation. we are there to make sure poor

people do not have to pay tax. we want to make sure young people get a better investment. we want to make sure we do not spoiled britain's economic recovery and that we put money into jobs. and we want to make sure that we get the constitutional reform that labor failed to deliver. >> let's talk about the way this campaign looks. we have seen a number of stunts already today, party supporters gathering around applauding when asked. all the usual. let me be honest. do you really think the public believes this stuff? >> there's theatre in general elections. there is something very important going on. this is a process we go through to allow people to decide who they want to govern the country. i think it is something we should respect. >> no one is questioning the

importance of the democratic process. nobody does that. the suggestion is you are trivializing and distorting it. >> i don't think so. >> sitting next to an icea ceam cream van, . there will be opportunities for all the main political leaders to be scrutinized. we will have live television debates for the first time in history. there'll be an opportunity for an exchange in the debate about how we secure the country and how we pick -- clean up politics. >> in the last two elections, we saw lowest turnout. it is nick's determination is that we reach more people and persuade more people that voting is worthwhile. that will increase the turnout.

the television debates may do that. our job is to get out there and spend more time with no cameras, knocking on doors, talking to people, making sure they understand the real issues. it is more of the same -- >> the media that attends these things. >> it obliges you to staged stunts. >> if you go around with your camera crew, people will not give you the honest answer -- >> you behave differently? >> yes, obviously. it is a dilemma. >> can you look at the context. if you think back to 1997 and you think of the promises, the confidence, the hope that characterized their campaign. it was an historic victory. you compare that with what you are offering us now, which is simply clinging onto earth for

fear of something worse. it is a not particularly potent, is it? >> it suggests that this election, our jobs -- this election is about the jobs of people watching this program. the livelihoods of the people watching this program. we have seen a community transformed, whether schools were built, level of prosperity -- >> it is about your competence. what are we to make of a government -- reforms to libel laws were trumpeting a few weeks ago. all of those that you and those in the budget -- how can we have any confidence? >> in the last 18 months, we have seen the biggest single decision that any government has faced. >> why have you been decided? >> my understanding of the position is that there was a

sunset clause introduced this evening, and the side will apply to a second finance bill in june. there are negotiations between all parties. >> in june -- >> it is the nature of any washout that there will be negotiations between parties. >> thank you very much, indeed. anyone who tells you they know how this election will turn out has been practicing swingo ometer abuse. i can't read this machine. the problem conservatives have is that the system is biased against them. emily has a neat thing to explain. >> during the campaign, i will

be looking at the u.k. seat by seat, the molecular detail of each constituency and see how it plays into the big picture of the election. i wanted to give you an idea of the scale of the challenge that david cameron faces if he is to win out right. and what cordoba route needs to do to stay in power -- gordon brown needs to do to stay in power. this is how we voted last time out. you might be surprised to see how much blue there is. you may think the tories won, and not labour. tory mp's tend to have big rural seats, dorset west. the labour is aroudn thnd the un areas.