Browse content similar to 24/06/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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And in the South East: Second-class passengers? Why rail | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
commuters in Kent and Sussex face Olympic hurdles getting into London | :01:26. | :01:36. | |
:01:36. | :01:36. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2009 seconds | :01:36. | :35:05. | |
Hello. This is the Sunday Politics in the south-east. Coming up: can | :35:05. | :35:09. | |
we have our money back? Why local councils want a change in the law | :35:09. | :35:14. | |
to allow them to keep more of the taxes they collect. Joining me is | :35:14. | :35:20. | |
the immigration in Mr Damian Green and the Labour peer Lord Bassam, | :35:20. | :35:27. | |
also known as Steve. This week the mayor of London Boris Johnson given | :35:27. | :35:33. | |
an interview in New York magazine says he wants Supreme powers in | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
England so he can make the airport in the Thames estuary happen. It is | :35:37. | :35:44. | |
not something you are in favour of, Damien. What is the answer? | :35:44. | :35:46. | |
Government will produce a consultation document on airports | :35:46. | :35:55. | |
in the south-east later this summer. I am not attracted to the idea of a | :35:55. | :36:02. | |
brand new Ireland somewhere in the Thames estuary for environmental | :36:02. | :36:09. | |
and practicality reasons. There are a number of airports in Kent you | :36:09. | :36:13. | |
could see contributing to the overall expansion of airport | :36:13. | :36:18. | |
capacity in the south-east but let's try looking at it as a whole | :36:18. | :36:27. | |
rather than picking one solution. Big problem this for the government. | :36:27. | :36:31. | |
It has itself in a whole, it has taken well over two years to make | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
any progress and they have Boris to deal with on the sidelines. Boris | :36:35. | :36:40. | |
Ireland is a bad idea and the environmental impact of it and the | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
cost is enormous. I suspect a lot of pressure within the Tory party | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
to go back to Heathrow and think about the third runway. Not an easy | :36:50. | :36:54. | |
question to sulphur but one we have to solve because both Gatwick and | :36:54. | :37:00. | |
Heathrow are close to capacity and we need extra capacity if we are to | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
continue to thrive economically in the south and our hub is very | :37:03. | :37:09. | |
important to us. We will discuss it more as the summer goes on. We will | :37:09. | :37:13. | |
leave it there for now. When millions of visitors pour into | :37:13. | :37:19. | |
London for the Olympics, many will get to the capital by the South | :37:19. | :37:25. | |
East but are our rail networks equipped? Regular commuters could | :37:25. | :37:35. | |
:37:35. | :37:39. | ||
Four months and now the government has been advising Londoners on how | :37:39. | :37:43. | |
to get a run during the Olympics. Stagger working hours, cycle event. | :37:43. | :37:47. | |
But is it taking the needs of people outside of London E | :37:47. | :37:51. | |
seriously enough? Kent will be particularly busy. With up to a | :37:51. | :37:55. | |
quarter of a million extra people at any given time according to the | :37:55. | :38:01. | |
council, so well this summer be chaos for commuters? Kelly-Marie | :38:01. | :38:05. | |
Blundell clears to London every day from Ashford. The government has | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
not provided any advice down here. Everybody is very worried about | :38:10. | :38:17. | |
troubling. We have a problem with overcrowding so there are 10-15 | :38:17. | :38:21. | |
people standing in every carriage. The Olympics will exacerbate that. | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
Hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors to the Olympics will come | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
into the country via the South East, through the port of Dover, the | :38:30. | :38:35. | |
Eurotunnel, Gatwick airport. Some south-east MPs are worried the | :38:35. | :38:39. | |
region has been neglected by the government. Everything has been | :38:39. | :38:44. | |
London centric and for anything outside it is a different story. We | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
need some much stronger message is going out and hopefully the | :38:48. | :38:51. | |
government can help bang heads together when it comes to the rail | :38:51. | :38:57. | |
companies. Transport for London says people should cycle more, but | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
you have well companies saying you cannot take your bikes on the train | :39:00. | :39:04. | |
and that will make it more difficult. The Olympics should be a | :39:04. | :39:09. | |
time when we are celebrating and excited and happy. I fear it will | :39:09. | :39:16. | |
be a time we will get cross. fleet and blue water a designated | :39:16. | :39:26. | |
:39:26. | :39:27. | ||
coach and park sides from Stratford. At the moment, fewer than two. -- | :39:27. | :39:32. | |
2,500 people use the station here at Ebbsfleet. Up to 25,000 people | :39:32. | :39:37. | |
use the service between St Pancras Ebbsfleet and Stafford per hour. In | :39:37. | :39:41. | |
order to cater for the demand, South Eastern trains has a new | :39:41. | :39:46. | |
timetable for the Olympic period. It means no high-speed trains | :39:46. | :39:53. | |
running to places including Marks gate, Ramsgate and London. For the | :39:53. | :39:58. | |
London Games, the timetable we are operating has been set up by the | :39:58. | :40:02. | |
Department for Transport and the Olympic delivery authority. It is | :40:02. | :40:06. | |
first and foremost to meet the needs of spectators, people going | :40:06. | :40:10. | |
to the Games. If the timetable changes entirely. They will not be | :40:10. | :40:15. | |
the normal high-speed service and actually main line and metro | :40:15. | :40:19. | |
services alter significantly as well. People are likely not to be | :40:19. | :40:24. | |
able to make the usual journey. While most people are expected to | :40:24. | :40:27. | |
travel to the games on public transport, driving is an unknown | :40:27. | :40:31. | |
quantity. Many are worried about roads in the North Kent especially | :40:31. | :40:36. | |
around the Dartford river crossing. The Dartford tunnel could be pinch | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
points at the best of time. There is more uncertainty about the | :40:39. | :40:46. | |
impact on the road and South Eastern have done the planning on | :40:46. | :40:49. | |
the rail system -- situation but the roads will be busier in some | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
areas but not all. It is unpredictable and we were just need | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
to be prepared. Has the government done everything it could to raise | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
transport issue awareness? There is more to be done. We are getting | :41:02. | :41:06. | |
closer to the Games and that effort needs to be stepped up. | :41:06. | :41:11. | |
Olympics start next month and the Paralympics and in September. Over | :41:11. | :41:16. | |
that time, it is the government giving visitors to the games are a | :41:16. | :41:19. | |
gold medal service while commuters struggle to get out of the starting | :41:19. | :41:23. | |
blocks? Joining us is the Conservative MP | :41:23. | :41:30. | |
for Folkestone and Hythe Damian Collins. From what south-east and | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
said in that report, you have made a decision to prioritise spectators | :41:35. | :41:40. | |
over ordinary commuters. Is that why? I do nothing that is right. In | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
terms of level of awareness, on the committee we have pushed this issue | :41:44. | :41:49. | |
hard with the government and the organisers for some period of time. | :41:49. | :41:53. | |
There is a lot of information out there for the public to look at so | :41:53. | :41:57. | |
they can plan their journeys with more care. It will not be business | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
as normal during the Olympic Games and people will look at how they | :42:01. | :42:07. | |
plan their journeys and accept that for a couple of weeks around the | :42:07. | :42:11. | |
main game as there is likely to be disruption. Because they are not | :42:11. | :42:20. | |
the priority. I think we have to remember the games are taking place | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
during the summer when demand for domestic drops off anyway, people | :42:24. | :42:29. | |
on their holidays, students are not at college or school so it is | :42:29. | :42:31. | |
expected that some of the demand will be satisfied because there | :42:31. | :42:36. | |
will be fewer commuters on the service but what people should look | :42:36. | :42:40. | |
at is what time of day they choose to travel, could they use | :42:40. | :42:43. | |
alternative routes and certainly from Ashford and the rest of the | :42:43. | :42:49. | |
county, there will be a fairly normal well service but for further | :42:49. | :42:52. | |
east, people will have to change trains and planned their journey | :42:53. | :42:58. | |
more carefully. It is only for the two weeks of the main games, then | :42:58. | :43:03. | |
services get back to normal, then amended services for the | :43:03. | :43:07. | |
Paralympics. The core two weeks of the Games will be the greater | :43:07. | :43:15. | |
period of disruption. You say there are alternative routes. But a lot | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
of other people will have jobs to get to that they need to get to. | :43:20. | :43:24. | |
What are they supposed to do? you are coming from the east of the | :43:24. | :43:30. | |
county of Kent, you might have to change trains on the way in. But | :43:30. | :43:36. | |
that will run from Ashford throughout the day back and forth. | :43:36. | :43:43. | |
What if you are beyond Faversham and to take a high-speed train? | :43:43. | :43:47. | |
you look at the times tables, there are good connecting services from | :43:47. | :43:52. | |
the east of the county to pick up the high-speed network. The journey | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
will take longer but the rail services there, people will have to | :43:56. | :44:01. | |
plan their brews and people will have to plan their time but that | :44:01. | :44:05. | |
will be the same for everyone. We have a direct rail service into the | :44:05. | :44:12. | |
Olympic Park. We are talking about other passengers though. What about | :44:12. | :44:17. | |
what was said in the report that there is more to be done to get the | :44:17. | :44:23. | |
message to commuters. A lot of people are not aware perhaps. | :44:23. | :44:28. | |
is a lot of information out there. We get some benefits from the | :44:28. | :44:32. | |
Olympics because we are close to them, a lot of Tests, tourists, | :44:32. | :44:36. | |
will stay in Kent and the games are a great advert for people to come | :44:36. | :44:45. | |
to Britain. Other countries had a great tourism boom after the games. | :44:45. | :44:50. | |
Damian Collins, thank you. Lord Bassam, you can eat regularly up | :44:50. | :44:53. | |
from Brighton. Are you concerned about the situation during the | :44:53. | :44:59. | |
Games? I am a bit concerned because our rail services have been a bit | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
badly disrupted and I am not sure why. I think it will put strains | :45:04. | :45:10. | |
and stresses on the network but as Damien says, it is for the wider | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
economic benefit and there is a long-term pay-off. Our services are | :45:14. | :45:19. | |
fairly fast and frequent but they are subject to a lot of disruption. | :45:19. | :45:26. | |
There are improvements we could make to our local network. What | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
about you, Damian Green? A lot of your constituents will be hit by | :45:30. | :45:38. | |
this. Services from Ashford which are extremely good, 38 minutes into | :45:38. | :45:43. | |
central London, but let's get some perspective former this is the | :45:43. | :45:48. | |
biggest and best global event taking in this country -- taking | :45:48. | :45:53. | |
place in this country. It is taking place in August when there are | :45:53. | :45:58. | |
fewer commuters than at any time of year. Let's celebrate what we are | :45:58. | :46:02. | |
getting out a bit. We can positively endorsed this. We will | :46:02. | :46:07. | |
get a bit of disruption but it will be worth it. Thank you. | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
If you live in Sussex, Kent or Surrey, you are probably paying a | :46:11. | :46:17. | |
lot more council tax and residence in London, up to 66 % more but you | :46:17. | :46:21. | |
also have less money spent on the services you use such as health and | :46:21. | :46:25. | |
transport compared to people in the capital. A group of councillors in | :46:25. | :46:30. | |
the south-east says the system distribution taxes is unfair and | :46:30. | :46:39. | |
they want more control over the more -- money raised. What a change | :46:40. | :46:45. | |
benefit the poorest parts of our region? Joining us is Paul Clark. | :46:45. | :46:51. | |
You are in favour of the current system. What I am in favour of his | :46:51. | :46:56. | |
having a fair system of funding for local authorities across the south- | :46:56. | :47:02. | |
east and across the United Kingdom in general. Anything that gives | :47:02. | :47:06. | |
power to local authorities to retain money, of course on the face | :47:06. | :47:12. | |
of it it looks good but the problem we have got is that the government | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
has to have responsibility in terms of making sure there are resources | :47:16. | :47:20. | |
throughout the country in all areas to meet the demands they Iraq in | :47:20. | :47:25. | |
providing services for older people, whether it is deprivation, helping | :47:25. | :47:31. | |
those unemployed and looking after youngsters that need to be in care | :47:31. | :47:35. | |
and supported in that way or special education needs. It is | :47:35. | :47:40. | |
complicated but it could not be done any other way? It is | :47:40. | :47:45. | |
complicated but the problem we have got is the local government today | :47:45. | :47:50. | |
is facing on average a cut of a fifth in central government funding | :47:50. | :47:55. | |
for services and indeed I know one of the things that is being argued | :47:55. | :47:58. | |
by the south-east councils is more money for a business to keep on | :47:58. | :48:03. | |
business growth. Indeed the regional development agencies that | :48:03. | :48:06. | |
were abolished were in fact putting money into local authorities to | :48:06. | :48:13. | |
help with economic growth. Lord Bassam, you were once leader of | :48:13. | :48:16. | |
Brighton council, one of the councillors who won control of | :48:16. | :48:20. | |
their funding so they can use it more to benefit people in their | :48:20. | :48:25. | |
area more. The truth of the matter is budgets are under pressure and | :48:25. | :48:33. | |
that is why local authorities are pressing for greater local control. | :48:33. | :48:40. | |
The greens will cut budgets by 40 %. The principle of giving the money | :48:40. | :48:44. | |
to the nation to see as the government sees fit, what is wrong | :48:44. | :48:49. | |
with that? Nothing wrong with the principle. But you now need to get | :48:49. | :48:53. | |
the element of localism with getting as sensible and fair | :48:54. | :48:58. | |
distribution that is why these councils have argued that the | :48:58. | :49:02. | |
Distributed System is a quite right and they want a greater degree will | :49:02. | :49:07. | |
of localism. It is something that is difficult to work out. I am | :49:07. | :49:11. | |
sympathetic to where they are coming from. Most people would be | :49:12. | :49:19. | |
as well. What pickles and the Department for local government is | :49:20. | :49:28. | |
trying to do is drive Powell -- power were down to local levels. I | :49:28. | :49:33. | |
think the key to this is to encourage councils through the | :49:33. | :49:36. | |
financial system to promote growth in their own areas so that they | :49:36. | :49:40. | |
will have a bigger and more prosperous tax base and then if | :49:40. | :49:45. | |
they get more control over that, then that will solve the problems | :49:45. | :49:49. | |
because Paul his way to the extent that essentially you do need to | :49:49. | :49:57. | |
ensure that very poor areas do get enough money to spend on services. | :49:57. | :50:01. | |
There will always have to be some we do speak Russian but the more | :50:01. | :50:07. | |
power you double locally, the better. -- Distribution. A billion | :50:07. | :50:13. | |
pounds more taxes is collected and is received in funding in this part | :50:13. | :50:20. | |
of the world. It is unfair but as I say, it is a price you pay for | :50:20. | :50:24. | |
being a more prosperous area than some other parts of the country so | :50:24. | :50:29. | |
on the whole we all benefit from that. Were to have to do a strike | :50:29. | :50:34. | |
the balance between the National redistribution and giving the power | :50:34. | :50:38. | |
to the local councils, and I think the balance has been to national. | :50:38. | :50:43. | |
Poorer cities do seem to lose out in this and with the big cuts they | :50:43. | :50:50. | |
are making locally, it is a big problem. I can understand councils | :50:50. | :50:55. | |
wanting to get more out of the cash. Is that the danger that the | :50:55. | :50:59. | |
disparity get bigger if councils keep that money? That is exactly | :50:59. | :51:05. | |
the danger that happens. Nobody is opposing localism but what happens | :51:05. | :51:10. | |
if you have a predominantly rural areas that cannot generate business | :51:10. | :51:14. | |
in a way that has been proposed. They would then miss out and also I | :51:14. | :51:18. | |
have to say that was local authorities are not in control of | :51:18. | :51:24. | |
the key economic growth indicators that are required, so if you have a | :51:24. | :51:28. | |
backdrop of major cuts, economic decline whether that is a world | :51:28. | :51:35. | |
lead or Number 11 lead, if you are control, you cannot do much as | :51:35. | :51:41. | |
leader of county council. Poorer parts within the South East, how do | :51:41. | :51:45. | |
we make sure if we kept the money that it could get to the bits that | :51:45. | :51:51. | |
need it most? That is very much the responsibilities of the individual | :51:51. | :51:55. | |
councils. From their part they will know where the poor areas are and | :51:55. | :51:59. | |
if they need to spend more money there, they should do so and those | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
are the decisions that are best taken at a local level rather than | :52:03. | :52:10. | |
on the basis of some national formula. That is fine in theory. | :52:10. | :52:13. | |
These poorer councils, if they do not have the money in the first | :52:13. | :52:18. | |
place and they are badly managed, they are making the wrong sorts of | :52:18. | :52:22. | |
decisions, what guarantee that local says and -- will local | :52:22. | :52:27. | |
residents have that they will get services? Thank you. It is time for | :52:27. | :52:37. | |
:52:37. | :52:38. | ||
a round-up of the Week events with our political editor Louise Stuart. | :52:38. | :52:43. | |
Hopes that 2000 jobs could be created in Sheerness were dashed | :52:43. | :52:47. | |
after the wind turbine manufacturer announced it would not open a | :52:47. | :52:51. | |
factory there. It comes after the Chancellor wants to cut green | :52:51. | :52:56. | |
subsidies by 25 %. Two Kent MPs back the fair fuel | :52:56. | :53:00. | |
campaign calling for the Chancellor to scrap the three pence increase | :53:00. | :53:04. | |
in fuel duty during August. There was fighting talk from the | :53:04. | :53:08. | |
Lib Dem MP for Eastbourne. He told ministers he would not stand by | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
while services were cut at his local hospital. I have one of the | :53:13. | :53:15. | |
fastest-growing towns in the south- east and we are determined we will | :53:16. | :53:21. | |
win this. The Canterbury MP called for a change to immigration rules | :53:21. | :53:24. | |
says the government should take a tough line with criminals without | :53:24. | :53:27. | |
making it difficult for a genuine visitors. | :53:27. | :53:34. | |
And true she crouched agreed ministers should not attend year- | :53:34. | :53:38. | |
old editor of matches. Send a minister and they lose, it could be | :53:38. | :53:48. | |
that Beijing's the team. -- jinx the team. It is a shame about the | :53:48. | :53:54. | |
when turbine factory pulling out. It is a commercial decision and the | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
subsidies for the wind industry had got out of hand. They need to be | :53:59. | :54:05. | |
cut back. It is obviously a great shame for the area but there is | :54:05. | :54:10. | |
huge publications about how we get a proper renewable energy strategy. | :54:10. | :54:20. | |
:54:20. | :54:26. | ||
-- complications. You had a fairly Sussex... It is a bit rich coming | :54:26. | :54:31. | |
from the Lib Dems. They are the ones that backed the Health Bill. | :54:31. | :54:35. | |
It is nice to hear campaigning for the local community but they should | :54:36. | :54:41. |