Browse content similar to 04/03/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Coming up, June demands for more government cash to ease road | :01:30. | :01:36. | |
congestion. And the folly of the development. Why the citizens of | :01:36. | :01:46. | |
:01:46. | :01:46. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1782 seconds | :01:46. | :31:29. | |
Southend have that it had plans for Hello, I'm Etholle George. Coming | :31:29. | :31:32. | |
Plans for an international airport in the Thames Estuary. A crackpot | :31:32. | :31:35. | |
idea from London Mayor Boris Johnson or a visionary scheme to | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
safeguard the future of British aviation? Shortly, we will be | :31:38. | :31:40. | |
finding out the views of this week's guests, Robert Halfon, the | :31:40. | :31:43. | |
Conservative MP for Harlow and Gavin Shuker, Labour's MP for Luton | :31:43. | :31:46. | |
South but we'll start with a brief word about fuel duty. | :31:46. | :31:49. | |
Now, there have been questions this week as to whether the Chancellor | :31:49. | :31:52. | |
will put prices up in his Budget later this month. Fuel protesters | :31:52. | :31:55. | |
went to Downing Street this week to try to persuade the Government to | :31:55. | :31:58. | |
scrap a planned three pence a litre rise. Robert Halfon, record prices, | :31:58. | :32:01. | |
price rises in petrol. I know you're a seasoned campaigner | :32:01. | :32:03. | |
against price rises, but the Chancellor is going ahead with it | :32:03. | :32:13. | |
:32:13. | :32:17. | ||
this time, isn't he? Yes, we will have to wait and see. It is the | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
number one issue facing our country. In my constituency, it is costing a | :32:20. | :32:23. | |
10th of the average motorist their income, the amount of money they're | :32:23. | :32:26. | |
paying on petrol prices every year. I was glad the Government cut fuel | :32:26. | :32:30. | |
duty last year and did not go ahead with the January increase. We're | :32:30. | :32:33. | |
urging the Government to postpone the August increase and also to cut | :32:33. | :32:43. | |
:32:43. | :32:45. | ||
fuel tax as soon as financial conditions allow. Let us talk about | :32:45. | :32:48. | |
the Labour position on this. I understand that Labour was keen on | :32:48. | :32:50. | |
this fuel price escalator which automatically increases prices | :32:50. | :32:53. | |
ahead of inflation, sold as a green benefit, but actually just another | :32:53. | :32:56. | |
tax on the motorist. I think if the economy were growing, we would be | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
in a different place, but we actually accept that the best way | :32:59. | :33:03. | |
you can get growth in the economy and reduce fuel cost is VAT. That | :33:03. | :33:06. | |
is adding �2 or �3 on to the average fill-up at the tanks and | :33:06. | :33:10. | |
that is actually a really important thing that we could do right now | :33:10. | :33:13. | |
and George Osborne should do. is a fuel protest planned on | :33:13. | :33:16. | |
Wednesday, but this has not gained the momentum of last year. Well, it | :33:16. | :33:19. | |
has and there are still thousands of people that have signed the | :33:19. | :33:22. | |
petition. The problem with a VAT cut is that not only does it cost | :33:22. | :33:25. | |
�12 billion and would increase our mortgages because it would increase | :33:25. | :33:28. | |
borrowing, but businesses do not pay VAT, so they would not benefit | :33:28. | :33:31. | |
from any reduction. Thank you very much. Now, staying with frustrated | :33:31. | :33:34. | |
motorists, here in the East, road improvements are always near the | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
top of the agenda. This week, ministers have agreed to sit down | :33:37. | :33:40. | |
with MPs to discuss how to upgrade the A47 from Great Yarmouth to | :33:40. | :33:42. | |
Peterborough. Delegates at a special summit in Northamptonshire | :33:42. | :33:45. | |
put pressure on the Government to find the cash to pay for promised | :33:45. | :33:48. | |
improvements to the A14. Business, politicians and motorists all agree | :33:48. | :33:50. | |
that delays to developments on improving this important road will | :33:50. | :34:00. | |
:34:00. | :34:06. | ||
damage the region's economy. Here is Andrew Sinclair. | :34:06. | :34:13. | |
It is one of the busiest roads in the region. Used by 100,000 | :34:13. | :34:16. | |
vehicles a day. One in four jobs in Northamptonshire depends upon it, | :34:16. | :34:19. | |
which is why there is such a clamour for things to be done | :34:19. | :34:21. | |
quickly. We, frankly, are less concerned about the actual solution | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
than the fact that we desperately need extra capacity as soon as | :34:24. | :34:27. | |
possible. The Government has pledged �218 million to junction | :34:27. | :34:29. | |
improvements and widening sections of the road. It has launched a | :34:29. | :34:32. | |
consultation on a toll road in Cambridgeshire. But many at the | :34:32. | :34:35. | |
summit said that was not enough. They want new carriageway all along | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
this route. I think they're probably hoping for far more than | :34:38. | :34:41. | |
they are ever going to get. They want a three-lane motorway instead | :34:41. | :34:44. | |
of a two-lane dual-carriageway A- road and whilst that is going to | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
happen in sections, possibly, there is just not the money to do that | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
from Felixstowe, to join it up to the M6. And then there is the | :34:51. | :34:54. | |
question of funding. Public money is highly unlikely. A PFI deal | :34:54. | :34:58. | |
could be possible. There might also be European funding. This is after | :34:58. | :35:01. | |
all a European highway. But some say building new lanes is not the | :35:01. | :35:08. | |
answer to the A14's problems. think what we need to do is get the | :35:08. | :35:12. | |
heavy goods vehicles off that road. When they are there, when they | :35:12. | :35:15. | |
start passing each other, blocking up the road, that causes problems | :35:15. | :35:17. | |
and it is them who are predominantly involved in accidents. | :35:17. | :35:21. | |
I would like to see more work to get those off the road and on to | :35:21. | :35:24. | |
the railways. We can do much more work to expand the railways, get | :35:24. | :35:28. | |
those off and then the road will flow much better. Both business and | :35:28. | :35:31. | |
the Government want a solution. But whatever option is chosen, it is | :35:31. | :35:33. | |
going to take time. Gavin Shuker, what about the idea, | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
then, of a new toll road? That is one way to improve our road. It is | :35:37. | :35:41. | |
clear it is the only way that the Government will be willing to put | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
money and investment into this vital route, the A14. I think that | :35:44. | :35:47. | |
is probably the wrong choice, though. I would say that right now | :35:47. | :35:50. | |
what we need to get their economy moving and businesses able to get | :35:50. | :35:53. | |
their goods to market is a proper expansion of the A14. The first | :35:53. | :35:56. | |
thing this coalition government did in transport when they came in was | :35:56. | :36:00. | |
to scrap plans for the A14 and two years later, we still have no | :36:00. | :36:04. | |
solution. Robert Halfon, if we have a toll road, the already hard- | :36:04. | :36:08. | |
pressed motorist will just have to pay even more money to go about | :36:08. | :36:12. | |
their daily business. It is good news that the Government are | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
investing 130 million in this new road, but it was impossible to, | :36:15. | :36:18. | |
given the economic situation we are in, to fully fund the �1 billion | :36:18. | :36:25. | |
roughly that it would cost, so we have to look at alternative methods. | :36:25. | :36:28. | |
The toll road works very well for the M6 in the North of England and | :36:28. | :36:32. | |
I think we should go further and faster in looking at toll roads | :36:32. | :36:35. | |
because, if we want these roads, we have to fund them somehow. Money | :36:35. | :36:38. | |
does not grow on trees. We're facing a very difficult economic | :36:38. | :36:41. | |
time. But how can people afford to utilise a road like that? It is an | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
expensive way to go. It is, but at least people have the option. The | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
M6 toll road has been incredibly successful. Gavin Shuker, don't you | :36:50. | :36:53. | |
feel that we're being very stuck in the mud about continuing with the | :36:53. | :36:56. | |
amount of traffic on our roads? What about this idea that was | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
mooted at the end of that film about simply getting the freight | :36:59. | :37:02. | |
off? It is great. And across the East of England, we know we need | :37:02. | :37:05. | |
further and greater investment in public transport as well as road | :37:05. | :37:09. | |
transport as well. The key thing on the M6 toll road is that you have a | :37:09. | :37:13. | |
choice. For many people living across the East Anglia, the A14 is | :37:13. | :37:16. | |
not another choice that they can choose to access, it is their only | :37:16. | :37:24. | |
route and they suffer really badly from delays. This is why the | :37:24. | :37:26. | |
Government are investing 130 million. But we have to recognise | :37:26. | :37:30. | |
that money does not grow on trees and we have to make a judgement | :37:30. | :37:33. | |
about where money is spent. In my own area, we're looking for an | :37:33. | :37:38. | |
extra junction. That is going to cost �50 million. I know that | :37:38. | :37:41. | |
you're a Euro-sceptic, but Europe could be the saviour of all these | :37:41. | :37:46. | |
problems. Of course, if money is available for the scheme, all well | :37:46. | :37:49. | |
and good and I would support the Government doing everything it can | :37:49. | :37:53. | |
to get European funding, but let us wait and see to see if they are | :37:53. | :38:00. | |
ready and waiting to give us the money. Let me give you an example | :38:00. | :38:03. | |
from my own constituency, this government have been good in | :38:03. | :38:07. | |
improving a junction there, that means that we can move more and the | :38:07. | :38:11. | |
new businesses to Luton and they can get their goods to market. It | :38:11. | :38:17. | |
helps everyone. I do not accept the argument that there is no money for | :38:17. | :38:27. | |
:38:27. | :38:36. | ||
improvements. The Chancellor does not be there. we to get you across | :38:36. | :38:39. | |
the whole of the Regent that he had put the money where you could get | :38:39. | :38:48. | |
We know that for every paid to that end, you get three or �4 out of | :38:48. | :38:51. | |
these major improvement projects. We need to have a long-term vision | :38:51. | :38:56. | |
on it. A want to talk about another form of transport dive. Let us look | :38:56. | :39:02. | |
at the new plans for an airport in the Thames estuary. The mayor of | :39:02. | :39:06. | |
London has championed the idea, but that first minister has poured cold | :39:06. | :39:09. | |
water on it. Now the plan and are some were more expensive scheme | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
have gone from PY and the sky to being under consideration. This | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
week, councillors in Southend came out overwhelmingly against the | :39:17. | :39:22. | |
plans, describing them as a folly of a development, which would | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
prompt an extremely damaging change of life for people in the borough. | :39:26. | :39:34. | |
So, well and estuary airport ever take-off? | :39:34. | :39:38. | |
The Thames estuary, where a battle is being fought over nothing less | :39:38. | :39:43. | |
than the future a deviation. The UK has a problem. Heathrow was there | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
only hub airport, and you put that flies a long haul to world call -- | :39:48. | :39:54. | |
worldwide destination. It is at full stretch and their coalition | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
has ruled out building another runway. Some say the answer is to | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
forget Heathrow and build a new hub airport some were out there, in the | :40:03. | :40:12. | |
Thames estuary, off at Southend. Talk of an estuary airport was back | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
to the 1950s. Now the mayor of London has resurrected the idea. | :40:16. | :40:20. | |
The problem with Heathrow is that it is a great the airport, but he | :40:20. | :40:26. | |
cannot indefinitely expand that because it is in the wrong place. | :40:26. | :40:34. | |
Boris Johnson's vision is an island airport. Other plants have been | :40:34. | :40:36. | |
unveiled for the Thames Cup, directly opposite said then. This | :40:36. | :40:42. | |
is what it could look like. Supporters say that if we cannot | :40:42. | :40:45. | |
have more fights, our economic future is bleak. A London and the | :40:45. | :40:50. | |
Saudis could end up at the end of a branch line. He will want to come | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
here? If they do not have access to regular flights to major | :40:53. | :40:59. | |
destinations? As the plants came a momentum, so does opposition to | :40:59. | :41:06. | |
them in his set end. This would not be an estuary town, looking out to | :41:06. | :41:10. | |
the open sea. It would become an industrial environment. A we have | :41:10. | :41:17. | |
all sorts of wildlife on either side of the Thames and whether it | :41:17. | :41:23. | |
be either project's idea, I think neither are appropriate. But not | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
everyone agrees. This was Southend airport in the 1950s, now it is a | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
thriving again. This new terminal officially opened on Monday. The | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
managing director says an estuary airport is worth considering, for | :41:36. | :41:42. | |
economic regions. If we're going to trade with that the Far East and so | :41:42. | :41:45. | |
on, we need to work out how we're going to get there. It is important | :41:45. | :41:53. | |
for the nation to work this out. One Suffolk MP supports the idea. | :41:53. | :41:56. | |
come in favour of a new airport, which will actually have by product | :41:56. | :42:01. | |
of being great for the economy of East Anglia. But the estuary is | :42:01. | :42:06. | |
rich with wildlife. The RSPB is horrified by the idea as is this | :42:06. | :42:16. | |
:42:16. | :42:16. | ||
man. He started a protest group. would be 12 times more dangerous to | :42:16. | :42:19. | |
fly from an estuary airport and any other airport in the UK. That is | :42:19. | :42:25. | |
just madness. It is peaceful around here. It there always has been. It | :42:25. | :42:29. | |
will be a massive difference. It will have a massive impact if it | :42:29. | :42:35. | |
goes ahead. There is no doubt it that it would damage the estuary. | :42:35. | :42:42. | |
Supporters say that without it, the UK economy will stagnate. | :42:42. | :42:46. | |
Joining us now is a former director of Friends of the Earth, now an | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
environmental campaigner who stood for the Green Party in the general | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
election in the Cambridge. As a prominent environmentalist, you are | :42:54. | :42:59. | |
totally against any kind of airport expansion. A week to take a broad | :42:59. | :43:02. | |
view of this and one of the things that I would not is that in the | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
cities of England, we have quite a lot of airport and not much | :43:05. | :43:10. | |
wildlife. If we go ahead of this a large-scale development, we will | :43:10. | :43:14. | |
push that equation still further up in the wrong direction. You that | :43:14. | :43:18. | |
there the comparisons here about it the other countries that we compete | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
with on the global economic stage in terms of the size of their hub | :43:22. | :43:27. | |
airports. This is a commonly repeated plight about Heathrow be | :43:27. | :43:32. | |
not big enough to compete, but bear in mind that in Amsterdam the have | :43:32. | :43:36. | |
one big airport and we have one big airport and five others of the the | :43:36. | :43:39. | |
incises, so we have an enormous amount of airport capacity already. | :43:40. | :43:45. | |
If there is a case for expansion, the terms of getting access to | :43:45. | :43:48. | |
long-haul destinations, then let us change the way we're using the | :43:48. | :43:53. | |
capacity we have got, by reducing them at of short-haul flights, I | :43:53. | :43:58. | |
put in place more high-speed rail. What about the fact that we need it | :43:58. | :44:04. | |
new jobs? Gandhi environmental arguments stem -- stand up to be | :44:04. | :44:09. | |
economical and? As long as we see that the environmental and economic | :44:09. | :44:13. | |
argument are in opposition, have we will not get far. What we need to | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
do is build a Green economy which invest in those kind of industries | :44:16. | :44:19. | |
that will deliver long-term benefits for the future of the | :44:19. | :44:24. | |
planet, as well as jobs in the short term. It is strange that we | :44:24. | :44:28. | |
say that we should not be doing these things if China is bulletin | :44:28. | :44:31. | |
so much. A key goal to China today, you'll see the biggest investment | :44:31. | :44:35. | |
in the world going to soar panels, and to wind turbines and battery | :44:35. | :44:39. | |
technology, because they have realised that the future is based | :44:39. | :44:42. | |
on environmentally clean technologies. That is what we | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
should be putting our investment rather it than in highly polluting | :44:46. | :44:51. | |
sectors like aviation and a fossil fuels. We will come by tea and a | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
second. Gavin Shuker, the government is launching a | :44:55. | :45:03. | |
sustainable framework for radiation later this month. Why did this not | :45:03. | :45:08. | |
happen years ago? I think it is a shame that they are not building a | :45:08. | :45:10. | |
third runway at Heathrow because I believe that there is an aviation | :45:11. | :45:16. | |
capacity crunch coming her way. Once we have looked at it China as | :45:16. | :45:21. | |
the example, we can also look at them and realised they are building | :45:21. | :45:24. | |
100 you airports to get that technology into the hands of the | :45:25. | :45:30. | |
rest of the world. That is part of her be built a new a Green economy. | :45:30. | :45:34. | |
They are starting from having no airport. The her modernising their | :45:34. | :45:38. | |
economies. They are playing catch- up, not picking stuff on top of | :45:38. | :45:42. | |
what they already have. You can see clearly that there is a capacity | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
issue. Back in a believe Boris Johnson's plan will happen. The | :45:47. | :45:53. | |
collision can say they have an economic strategy. Is it | :45:53. | :45:58. | |
convenient? Even within the college and there is a lot of opposition. | :45:58. | :46:01. | |
Brazil is opposition to anything new that is proposed. Let us face | :46:01. | :46:06. | |
the facts. My idea of torture is going to Heathrow airport. It needs | :46:06. | :46:13. | |
modernisation. We need have some vision and look at whether this | :46:13. | :46:18. | |
island might be a good idea. I am moderately sympathetic to it and I | :46:18. | :46:25. | |
do not know whether I would think he wants the environment will | :46:25. | :46:28. | |
consultation has come through. We need to look at options because | :46:28. | :46:33. | |
Heathrow has had its day. There has always been an opposition. Let us | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
talk about the Victorians, who were against the railways. Surely we | :46:37. | :46:43. | |
should move with the Times? Times are of a shrinking planet, in | :46:43. | :46:48. | |
ecological terms, climate change getting to the point where | :46:48. | :46:51. | |
scientists are warning of a catastrophe later in this century. | :46:51. | :46:55. | |
We're getting to the point where mass extinction of plant and | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
animals is under way. We have to start recognising some of these | :46:59. | :47:03. | |
major environmental problems and playing a role in solving them as | :47:03. | :47:10. | |
if the future actually mattered. The scientists at the heart of | :47:10. | :47:13. | |
government are at signing letters that they have an unprecedented | :47:13. | :47:19. | |
emergency honour a Hance, when it comes to the climate issue and the | :47:19. | :47:22. | |
loss of animals and plants and here we are not in an airport in the | :47:22. | :47:24. | |
middle of a wildlife haven that will make massive carbon-dioxide | :47:24. | :47:31. | |
emissions. Let us build a clean and green economy. What about expansion | :47:31. | :47:37. | |
at Luton? At have welcomed the plans to expand all the time. We | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
think we can make a contribution to this capacity crunch that is coming, | :47:41. | :47:44. | |
using the infrastructure that is there. It does not solve our | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
problems about a hub airport. We need a serious hub that does not | :47:49. | :47:57. | |
fall over every time it rains or snows. We believe it there. It is | :47:57. | :48:07. | |
:48:07. | :48:11. | ||
time for her political round-up. A last ditch attempt was made to | :48:11. | :48:14. | |
serve in the coastguard at Great Yarmouth. Will it was the saving | :48:14. | :48:21. | |
other rural banks. By answer an important part of our towns and | :48:21. | :48:24. | |
villages. When they leave somewhere, you like to think it is done in an | :48:24. | :48:28. | |
open way rather than in cuts just putting the shutters up. At Bedford | :48:28. | :48:33. | |
MP made the case for safeguarding our Tad -- cab drivers. They | :48:33. | :48:36. | |
deserve to be afforded the same protections for their physical | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
safety and the safety of their property as are a bus drivers. | :48:42. | :48:44. | |
Peterborough MP to do not want to save face with the Lib Dems, but | :48:44. | :48:49. | |
instead lashed out at their leader. Will the Prime is to close the | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
loophole for are multinational companies that allows the migrant | :48:52. | :48:59. | |
cap to be floated, using end to it -- into a company just for us, or | :48:59. | :49:07. | |
as is another one that will fall victim to the curse of Nick Clegg? | :49:07. | :49:12. | |
Objections to charges introduced to our national treasure. | :49:13. | :49:22. | |
:49:23. | :49:24. | ||
What about that died at the Nick Clegg? that he died at Nick Clegg? | :49:24. | :49:30. | |
I think that Nick Clegg should start acting on his own principles. | :49:30. | :49:35. | |
The cracks in the coalition, are the real or is it just that our | :49:35. | :49:39. | |
East Anglian awkward squad, stirring the pot? There were always | :49:39. | :49:49. | |
:49:49. | :49:52. | ||
be MPs raising questions. There are always going to be difficult pieces, | :49:52. | :49:58. | |
-- difficulties, but we were working together. Let us talk about | :49:58. | :50:03. | |
Big Ben. Why are you concerned about these charges? I think this | :50:03. | :50:06. | |
is unprecedented because people have never been charged for going | :50:07. | :50:10. | |
into the House of Commons before. It is undemocratic because no MPs | :50:10. | :50:16. | |
have had an input. A family of four will have to pay �60 a time to go | :50:16. | :50:22. | |
up the tower. We pay for it through her taxes. You are nodding and she | :50:22. | :50:27. | |
can go ahead at the same time! completely agree. I find it | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
astounding. One of the nicest things that I'd do when I got to | :50:31. | :50:36. | |
schools is say that I worked next to Big Ben. Addressing the best | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
thing is that they own it and they can come and see me there. It is | :50:40. | :50:47. | |
our office, but all of us on it. have tabled a motion that has been | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
signed by a lot of MPs from all parties and had gone to the | :50:50. | :50:54. | |
backbench committee asking for a vote on this. Thank you both very | :50:54. | :50:59. |