21/04/2013 Sunday Politics East


21/04/2013

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green, or beware until the economic slump came along. How can voters

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care about saving the planet when they are struggling to pay their

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1900 seconds

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That is probably reasonably accurate. If you give these people

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guns, and more of them guns, a lot more of them will die.

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The problem at the moment is we cannot force Assad to go into

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transition. Nobody wants to see a violent overthrow where the country

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goes to the dogs. It is happening in slow motion right now. The reason is

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because he has enough power to hang on without being forced to

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negotiate. We need to change the terms of trade on the ground. We

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need moderate forces there. That is the only guarantee that we can get

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pressure on Russia and Iran to change their mind. He says you need

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to break the logjam in the ground. But not by increasing more deaths in

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Syria. Even Syria can use chemical power in order to maintain its

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power. What is the guarantee? It knows it would meet the full

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weight of the United States if it did that.

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The only way to pressure Assad is to pressure Iran and Russia in order to

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involve it in a more political solution.

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But that pressure just has not worked.

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It can work if there is more pressure from superpowers such as

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America and Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Having this solution in Syria will

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1900 seconds

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Marathon today, congratulations. On the 2nd of May that is another race,

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this one to elect new County Council is. With 11 days to go, we assess

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the chances of voters here springing a surprise at the voting station.

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Plus, if you are struggling to pay this month electricity bill, will

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you are struggling to pay this month electricity bill, with UK about

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recycling targets? We ask the Greens if they are still relevant with

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comments business on Tuesday. The MP for Peterborough has a question for

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the communities secretary about controversial new planning laws.

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I am sure you will agree that local Government families is good in parts

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and good in others. Will he not agree with me that the issues that

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he raised would have been ventilated to a much better degree had the

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consultation period on longer along with Cabinet office guidelines? And

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that the department itself would come to a second consensus after 16

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weeks, which has not happened. I have always regarded local

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Government as an omelette of happiness and consensus and it is my

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hope that by the time I sit down I may have spun together a dish that

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the honourable gentleman would happily eat.

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I am delighted to say that Stewart Jackson is here alongside the

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Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge. Talk of eggs there, but you believe

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Eric Pickles now has eggs on his face?

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I don't believe he has cracked the issue. We are very concerned to make

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sure that householders had not a beetle, but a meaningful say on

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development in back gardens and it is up to the Government to come

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forward with proposals. It was not satisfactory and I hope ministers

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have listened to the very legitimate concerns of people on this issue.

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Local authorities and Government associations want them to change the

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policy. Freddie you stand on this? -- where

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do you stand on this? We largely agree here. I was very

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pleased that Eric Pickles said he would have concessions to change

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what the rules look like. But we have not seen exactly what they are.

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If they are not enough, it will cause a huge problem. If it is just

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a little bit of seasoning, it will not work. It needs to really space

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up the dish. We will have to stop the food analogy is there that

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banks. -- but thank you. We may think that

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the case for green policies has never been clearer as the ice caps

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melt. But the environment can often take a back-seat when the economy is

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going along the bottom. In a moment we will speak to the Leader of the

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Green party the Green party has been a success over the past few decades.

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A few years ago, they got their first MP in Parliament. Their

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success has forced the main parties to take green issues far more

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seriously. Cycling is now commonplace and there are tax breaks

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for energy efficiency. We all have efficient light bulbs in our homes.

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But despite all of this, environmentalists worry that green

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issues are slipping down the agenda. This is the first time that I've

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seen the green agenda going into reverse as the Government tries to

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lean more and more towards the market. They are trying to tear up

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regulations and remove Government from the process of protecting the

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national environment. What do you put this down to?

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I put this down to a combination of ideology and ignorance. And then

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there is planning. A controversial scheme for 1100 new

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homes has just been given the go-ahead here in Norfolk, despite

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protests that it will increase the size of the time by 50%. The

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Government is leaning on councils to build new homes. Planning policy has

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been changed in favour of development. The Chancellor will not

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mind if Britain misses its carbon emission targets.

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Britain makes up less than 2% of the world's carbon emissions to China

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to save the planet by putting our country out of business.

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And what about eco-friendly power? Many Conservative MPs are openly

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opposed to onshore wind farms. Last month plans for a wind farm in

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Northamptonshire were rejected. But it is all -- but is it all the

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Government's fault? The concerns of people, not

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surprisingly, I dominated by the economy. Jobs, wages, these kinds of

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things. And green issues and concern for the environment is at quite a

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low level. Natalie Bennett is leader of the

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Green party. While ago I put it to her that surely, with things so

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tight, there is a case for putting business before the environment.

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We very much believe about worrying about the economy and bringing our

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economy back from globalisation. We want to build strong local economies

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around shops and businesses. We want to create jobs that gives workers

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real job security and no zero are contracts. What we're doing is

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working towards a kind of economy that really works for people. Also,

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it is interesting that this week the IMF has come out and said that

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George Osborne's austerity programme is entirely the wrong direction, and

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that is what we have been saying since 2010.

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Let's look at a graph from the University of Essex. It shows how

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your popularity has happened since 2010. There is a comparison to UKIP

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there. In comparison, you do not seem to be doing as well.

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I think the situation is that UKIP has a very simple popular message

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and also people do not know much about them. I hope that during this

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campaign a little more light will be shown on them, for example, I do

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think many people know that their policy is to completely privatise

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the NHS. That is the opposite of our policy. I think if you look at the

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Eastern region specifically, we currently have around 40 councillors

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across the region where as you can only has a handful. We have strong

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local parties working year after year, campaigning and going

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door-to-door, running campaigns on local issues, so we are really

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embedded in the community in a way that UKIP is not.

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Let's talk about some local issues. Let's talk about the nuclear power

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plant in Suffolk. A major construction project which could

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generate thousands of jobs and of course help to meet future energy

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needs. As things stand, on the face of it, it sounds as though it might

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be difficult to argue against it. I find it extremely easy to argue

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against it. We are looking at negotiations still being described

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as long and difficult. And we are looking at a potential �40 billion

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worth of subsidies, that is �1 billion per year that would come out

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of people 's energy bills. Nuclear is very expensive. Gas is very

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expensive. Renewables, and energy conservation, can provide many more

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jobs and really tackle fuel poverty, keep our costs of energy within

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reasonable bounds, and of course cut our carbon emissions.

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What about renewable energy that comes from wind turbines? People

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seem to think it is a good idea, and yet they do not want one in their

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own backyard. I think something that we are in

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favour of, and what happens on the continent, is community initiative

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wind farms. That makes it look and feel very different. If the

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community, a town or village, actually owns the wind farm on the

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hill, and the profit slow-down into the village, that is very different

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to when you have a large multinational energy company. We

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have found with at least one of them recently, they were not paying any

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tax in this country. Profit simply blow away in the wind. What we want

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our community energy schemes. We find that community's fight among

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themselves to say, we want the scheme, no, we want the scheme.

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What village can afford to buy a wind turbine?

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What you can do is you have community bonds, you know what the

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return is going to be from these kind of scheme so it is perfectly

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possible to have local investment. Indeed, I was on the Isle of Lewis

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and earlier this week where there was a huge solar array that has been

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put up by the community with community investment and the returns

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are going back into the community. That is the kind of approach which

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can really deliver and of course, give us the energy we need. So, do

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you think that when turbines are currently, do you think the

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Government is going about it wrong? Very much so. We have the Energy

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Bill in Parliament just now and we call operating with people like the

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Association Of British Industry, which is saying that the Government

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is getting energy policy all wrong. Thank you very much. Natalie

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Bennett, speaking to me earlier. What you think of this idea of towns

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and villages owning wind turbines? I think it's a great idea. We have

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to see more of these. Having more of the profits flowing to the people

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who live near them is great. The question is not whether or not we

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can afford to invest in these energies, it's whether we can afford

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not to. As Natalie was saying, the Confederation Of British Industry,

:46:09.:46:19.
:46:19.:46:20.

Not A Pro Environment Organisation, , says it could be great for this

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region. Stewart, you are not such a fan.

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No. I think we have to look at whether or not it has a direct

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impact on peoples bills and the long-term issue of carbon capture,

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of reduction in CO2 emissions, things like that. At the moment, the

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Government has not made a case for the level of subsidy which is

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currently happening in terms of onshore wind energy.

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Would you want a turbine in your back garden?

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I am not sure it would fit. What we must do is find a way of getting

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that energy. Stewart is right that people care about what their bills

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are. Energy bills are shooting up because we are dependent on gas

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which is increasingly imported from overseas. If we do not very

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seriously find alternatives, bills will continue to go up and up and

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up. Up I reject that analysis because I think it is fair to say

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the Government is either so buying sources. We are looking at nuclear

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energy and the Green Investment Bank. We're looking new tariffs. I

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think the idea that we're going backwards on the environment is not

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the case. Thank you. Let's take a closer look

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at the County Council elections. Voters in Northamptonshire have an

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interesting scenario. They have the lowest Council tax bills in England,

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which is great, say the ruling Tories. But opponents say it has

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been achieved at the cost of massive cuts to services. Let's have a look

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at how the parties currently stand. The Tories have a commanding 54

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seats. The Liberal Democrats have ten, and labour six. On the 2nd of

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May, there will be 16 fewer seats to contest, which could make for a more

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uncertain outcome. Northamptonshire is a county of

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contrast. Rolling countryside dotted with large centres of population.

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Traditional industries exist alongside motor sport and high-tech

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engineering. Like all candles, Northamptonshire has had to make

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cuts. Streetlights have been switched off and lollipop patrols

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axed. It is Labour's time. People are fed

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up with this happening in Northamptonshire, people out of

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work, the police being threatened, lack of jobs. If we cannot make

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gains and take control of this County Council now, then I don't

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think we ever can. The Liberal Democrats also feel that the axe has

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cut too deeply. They also believe that under the

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stewardship of the Conservatives, standards in the county's children's

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services had dropped to unacceptable levels.

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We have had disastrous reports. The Ofsted report in hope they look

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after young children, for example. For years we have word that these

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cuts will cut too far. And here we are, we have a County Council that

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is inadequate in all categories. I think that is disgraceful.

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The Conservatives say that, overall, they have a record to be proud of.

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The county was recently voted the most enterprising in England and

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despite having to make cuts, they say they have done all they can to

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limit their impact. As result of each year tenure here,

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we have the lowest Council tax in England. All of those sort of things

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really way in with people when they are thinking about their own

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livelihoods and their own households.

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This year 's elections will be very different. Because of boundary

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changes, the number of councillors elected will reduce from 73 to 57,

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which means that predicting the outcome will be harder than ever.

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And to some extent these changes are dictating the way the parties are

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fighting these elections. Labour will be targeting Northampton and

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Kettering. And the more rural areas, both the Conservatives and the

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Liberal Democrats will be working hard to maintain their support as

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well as in some urban strongholds. But the real challenge to all

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parties is managing the potential impact of UKIP whilst also heading

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off the threat of border apathy which could throw up some surprising

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results. We are joined by the regional court

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nature for the Green party. Pretty you strike a balance between

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providing services and providing a reasonable level of Council tax?

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As was said in the report, we don't want to have a small reduction in

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Council tax which leads to a big cut in services. The Green councillors

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in Northampton have been strongly resisting Conservative cuts which

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have been damaging crucial services such as mental health services and

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social services. We have been the real opposition to the

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Conservatives. On this issue of streetlights. Would

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you turn streetlights of? Again, if I use my experience from

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Norfolk, Green councillors have defended areas where residents did

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not want their street switched off. We have proposed that we should have

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solar tariffs for the streetlights instead of turning them off in

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certain areas. But having said that, I do think it is terribly important

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that politicians treat this kind of issue responsibly. I am very

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concerned that some politicians are going around fear mongering about

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the issue of crime. It is very important to note is that police

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officers, for example, have said to me that sometimes having lights on

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and can encourage groups of jobs. This is a complicated issue.

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Let's talk about the Tories in Northamptonshire. Clearly, they have

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made cuts, things like crossing patrols. The public will pass their

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opinion on the 2nd of May. How well do you think they will do?

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You have got to remember that they were at the top of the electoral

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cycle at 2009 and the last Government was enormously unpopular.

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It would be foolish of me to say there will be no losses for the

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Conservatives. However, they have a very strong local record and that

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balance of delivering strong local services while keeping Council tax

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them. Quite rightly, we are looking not just that a challenge from

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Labour but you can as well. UKIP or protest party. Labour do not have a

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coherent and credible alternative for the Council tax payers of

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Northampton. It is a fine line, is it not,

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between keeping services and keeping Council tax low.

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Absolutely. Council taxes people who can sometimes struggle to pay it.

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What I have seen is Conservative and Labour councils around the country

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spending money they could have saved. For instance, we have the

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guided bus subject which is now a multi-million pound dispute with

:53:26.:53:30.

tens of millions of pounds likely to be spent on legal fees. We have the

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leader of the County Council who says that, while times are tough, is

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also trying to have a 25% increase in councillors allowances. There is

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money being wasted on interest payments. There is a lot more that

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could be done. Rather than spending money on communications and legal

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fees, you could spend it on better services, so Cambridgeshire could

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have much better cycle routes and six pavements and a whole range of

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things. That is happening across the country for a whole range of things.

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You mention people who are struggling to pay Council tax. What

:54:01.:54:05.

about those who have been asked to pay it for the first time because of

:54:05.:54:10.

changes to benefits? We in the Green state that Council

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tax be abolished. Council tax is a very un-progressive tax. We favour

:54:17.:54:21.

moving to a system where it would be much more proportional to your

:54:21.:54:25.

ability to pay and we also favour bringing in land value tax, when

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those who are enormously wealthy because of land that they all will

:54:30.:54:35.

pay their fair amount. Could there be an alternative?

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I think you have to see that change in Council tax in the wider

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context. Universal Credit, for instance, the bedroom tax. Really,

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basically, focusing on the idea that work should always pay and trying to

:54:51.:54:55.

get people off of welfare dependency and into training or work that is

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meaningful and changes their life for the better. I think people

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understand that that is what we are about.

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I just want to ask all of you what your feelings are about an election

:55:05.:55:09.

which is 11 days away. What is the best the Liberal Democrats can hope

:55:09.:55:12.

for? I think that we can gain seats

:55:12.:55:17.

around the region. In Cambridge City Council we managed not to hit anyone

:55:17.:55:24.

with a new Council tax, so there are solutions. I hope it will make a

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difference. And the Tories? I think they may take some from the

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Liberal Democrats. Some loyalists may go to UKIP. It will not be as

:55:36.:55:40.

good as 2009 but not a disaster. And the Green's?

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We are looking to break through in Suffolk and we have a real prospect

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in Northamptonshire with the former Labour MP, Tony Clark, joining as

:55:49.:55:56.

last month. Thank you. Of course, it has been a

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momentous week in Westminster with the funeral of Baroness Thatcher.

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And in Suffolk, a family tragedy which opportunity. Chris will round

:56:05.:56:13.

it all up. The death of a young mother and her

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children and Lowestoft shocked the region this week.

:56:16.:56:21.

The community is very close-knit. They have very much pull together in

:56:21.:56:26.

difficult times and are giving the family all of the support that they

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can. Meanwhile, while spread the

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management failures and the resignation of the region's

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ambulance chief were laid before the Health Secretary.

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Can he joined me in calling for the Trust to also reflect upon their own

:56:41.:56:45.

position? Elsewhere in the NHS, the campaign

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to keep services at Kettering continued.

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We must maintain a proper Accident and Emergency service in Kettering.

:56:52.:57:00.

It was thumbs up from a local MP as the culture secretary signalled the

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start of better broadband in secretary. And among mourners at

:57:03.:57:06.

Saint Pauls Cathedral this week was an Essex artist with a special

:57:06.:57:09.

collection of portraits of Lady Thatcher.

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With that final portrait, I was able to see a very quiet, retiring,

:57:15.:57:25.
:57:25.:57:26.

reflective side of Lady Thatcher. Clearly, Lady Thatcher's funeral was

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a very momentous event this week. There was a lot of discussion about

:57:30.:57:33.

it in the run-up. Was it the right way to do it?

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I think it is important to have a funeral to mark somebody who was a

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great figure in British history. People will look back and see that

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she made a big difference, some good things, some bad things. I drew up

:57:47.:57:55.

-- I grew up in a period that was defined by disagreeing with her. We

:57:55.:57:58.

should be clear about what these funerals will look like. It would be

:57:58.:58:02.

nice to have a standard pattern. Do you think we will see another

:58:02.:58:07.

funeral like that for a politician? Probably not. She was a unique

:58:07.:58:13.

figure. I believe she led with principal and integrity, not just a

:58:13.:58:17.

domestic politician but clearly an international stateswoman. The

:58:17.:58:23.

ceremony, which I was honoured to be a part of, was absolutely perfect.

:58:23.:58:29.

What was it like to be there? It was so long, but at the same time

:58:29.:58:33.

uplifting. I thought the words of the bishop were gracious and

:58:33.:58:36.

beautiful and reflected a great national occasion and even those

:58:36.:58:40.

people who were opposed to her and wanted to demonstrate did it, I

:58:40.:58:43.

believe, in a respectful and appropriate way so I think it was a

:58:43.:58:47.

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