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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Joining me now is the Shadow Foreign Secretary, Douglas Alexander, a very good morning to you Mr Alexander. First, your thoughts about these British girls who it appears have gone to Turkey, teenagers who may be heading into Syria.  What is going wrong with the Prevent strategy that has been running for many years and others that people like this, young teenagers like this, become radicalised in the first place?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well both as a parent as well as a politician I was horrified by this news and I hope and pray that still these girls can be received and dealt with ahead of them getting across the border into Syria but on your substantive point about Prevent, listen this is a responsibility that all of us share, certainly government, certainly the law enforcement agencies, also priests and imams, family members, teachers, brothers, sisters, all kinds of family members must work together to prevent the kind of dangerous outcome that we are potentially seeing with these three girls.  But I think as well as recognising we have a collective responsibility, there is a substantive point in relation to the government.  When we were in office we put significant sums into the Prevent programme, not just dealing at the hard end of law enforcement but also trying to support community leaders to prevent radicalisation.  Now alas what we’ve seen in recent years has been a huge cutting back of that Prevent programme under the present government and I hope in light of these very worrying developments the government will think again about its approach to Prevent.  Of course there is an important task to support the law enforcement agencies but there’s also a task to support teachers, parents and community leaders as well to prevent this kind of outcome.  

DM: Okay, so more resources there, what about on the practical point, more resources at the border on British citizens leaving the country?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well I do think ultimately there will be questions that have to be answered in relation to three young girls under the age of 16 who seem to have been able to travel on a Turkish Airlines flight to southern Turkey which is well known as the principle crossing point into Syria and in that sense of course there are specific issues in relation to this case which need to be looked at but there is also a broader point in that it reinforces the importance of a widespread recognition across the United Kingdom of the importance of stopping young people susceptible to being radicalised on the internet, falling prey to the kind of hateful propaganda that is now being pumped out by organisations like IS.

DM: Okay, now to the issue of Russia and the threat it may pose.  We mentioned there that you have charged the government with a loss of influence in Europe and therefore influence over the events in the negotiations with President Putin, do you think that loss of influence is in direct relation to the loss of armed muscle, the defence cuts?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: I don't think exclusively in relation to the loss of military capability, I think there has been an abject diplomatic failure.  If you look at the report of the all-party House of Lord Select Committee this week, it was a damning indictment of Britain’s loss of diplomatic influence.  We’re in a position where, when the French President and the German Chancellor are going to Minsk, the British Prime Minister is going AWOL.  We still haven’t had a decent explanation from the Prime Minister as to why he seems to have absented himself from the diplomatic initiatives to try and de-escalate this crisis so I think there has been a misreading of the situation and a loss of influence diplomatically.  I think Britain’s loss of influence within the European Union is also coming into play because clearly one of the ways that we need to confront the challenge of Eastern Ukraine is by unity and resolve within the European Union and yet David Cameron, with his threat of exit from the European Union, has overseen a very significant loss of influence in European over recent years.  

DM: What more could Britain achieve?  What would Prime Minister Cameron, or indeed Prime Minister Miliband if it is him after the next general election, if he was sitting there alongside President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel talking to President Putin, what extra would Britain bring to the table?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well firstly I think there are several steps that could and should be being taken now.  Firstly there have been important words overnight from John Kerry in the United States about powerful further sanctions from the United States.  I hope a British Prime Minister would be working hard to build unity and consent within the European Union for tougher sanctions so that Russia feels the cost and consequences of its actions in Eastern Ukraine.  Secondly, I think it is important for a British Prime Minister to be taking a strong lead within NATO.  This is a time of very real anxiety within the Baltic nations and therefore it’s important that Britain, along with other leading members of NATO are confirming the cornerstone of our transatlantic security which is the integrity of the Article Five commitment of NATO.  So whether it is work within Europe, whether it is work within NATO or whether it is work face to face with President Putin, there is certainly a lot of work that a more active and engaged British Prime Minister could be playing at the moment when sadly David Cameron seems to be AWOL.

DM: But of course it has to move forward, doesn’t it, on many tracks.  Do you think the time, Mr Alexander, is coming closer when the West might have to start, NATO may have to start fighting fire with fire and start helping the Ukrainians with their armed forces and their military equipment?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well I don’t think this is about engaging in conflict, it’s about making sure that Russia recognise limits and constraints on its behaviour.  In relation to arming of the Ukrainian armed forces, I tend to support the position that John Kerry set out last night rather than Liam Fox or indeed some of the speculation around Michael Fallon’s comments.  I think the right response is to maintain unity and resolve within the West, that’s why I welcome the steps that John Kerry is contemplating in terms of further sanctions.  Chancellor Merkel has made clear that she does not support the arming of the Ukrainian forces by Europe but in that sense we wouldn’t be able to secure a consensus at a European level. I think the right response now is to look at  how we can tighten those economic sanctions given what we’ve seen with the fall of the price in recent months, the fact that overnight it was confirmed that Russian loans now have junk bond status, I think there’s a lot more that could and should be considered in relation to tier three economic sanctions.  

DM: Okay and can I just change tack a bit and ask you about the return of Lord Prescott, your former colleague of course in government.  Is he just going to get involved in the climate change issue?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well what was announced last night was that John Prescott will take a leading role as Ed’s envoy working ahead of the Paris Conference later this year which is going to be a key moment in relation to climate change.  People forget that John Prescott was central to the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol so personally I welcome warmly somebody with his expertise and experience coming back to be able to advise us on what’s going to be critical international negotiations in the months ahead.

DM: But is it going to be more than that, Mr Alexander?  You’d know, you’re centrally involved in the election planning, this is a man who was at Tony Blair’s right hand side during three thumping victories for the party, he’s got a lot he could offer hasn’t he?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: I certainly remember the thumping victory in 2001 and the key role that John played there.  The truth is that John has for many years been one of our strongest campaigners and I think whether it is work on social media, whether it’s his work motivating Labour supporters over many years, he’s done a fantastic job.  The role and brief that John’s been given right now is to focus on climate change but I fully expect that as well as that policy role, he’ll continue to support the Labour campaign in the months ahead and I certainly welcome that.

DM: But as you say, he is a prolific writer on Twitter and indeed in the papers as well, I mean he could focus Mr Miliband’s attack couldn’t he a bit.  In the past I know he’s said that Mr Miliband has been a bit complacent and a bit timid.

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Well listen, as Tony Blair famously said, John’s John.  He’s said a lot of things about a lot of people over the years but I welcome the fact that overnight he made very clear his determination to make sure that Ed Miliband is leading a Labour government after May 7th, that’s something that all of us are committed to and we’ve all got a role to play in that endeavour.

DM: And as you’re there in your constituency, Mr Alexander, do you think you will still be the MP after the next general election?  Some of the polling is a bit alarming for you isn’t it?

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Sure, we’ve got work to do in Scotland and I am not complacent, I never have been about this constituency.  This is the community that I grew up in, I know well and am working hard to make sure that we have a Labour representative because the arithmetic dictates every one less Labour MP in Scotland makes it more likely that we will have a Conservative government and I don’t have any sense that people in Renfrewshire or across Scotland want to hand the keys of Downing Street to David Cameron.  A re-elected Conservative government would be a disaster for working people in Renfrewshire and right across the whole of the United Kingdom.  That’s the message I’ll be communicating in the weeks ahead.

DM: Okay, Shadow Foreign Secretary, thank you very much for your time. Douglas Alexander there.  

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER: Thank you .