Browse content similar to 07/10/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Live animal experts. Perfectly legal but currently banned from | :01:30. | :01:40. | |
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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2127 seconds | :01:40. | :37:08. | |
I'm Julia George, and this is the Sunday Politics in the South East. | :37:08. | :37:11. | |
Coming up later, Tories under pressure: The battle for Hastings, | :37:11. | :37:15. | |
and other key seats that could fall to Labour. Joining us this week is | :37:15. | :37:18. | |
Mark Reckless, the Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood, and from | :37:18. | :37:20. | |
Brighton, Baroness Jones, who speaks for Labour on Education, | :37:20. | :37:27. | |
Culture, Media and Sport in the House of Lords. That's quite a rang | :37:27. | :37:33. | |
of expertise and we're not going to start with any of those. We're | :37:33. | :37:36. | |
going to start with transport, and specifically the fallout in the | :37:36. | :37:39. | |
South East from this week's rail franchise fiasco. The decision as | :37:39. | :37:41. | |
to which company will run your trains between Brighton London and | :37:41. | :37:45. | |
Bedford will be delayed. It follows the admission by the Transport | :37:45. | :37:47. | |
Secretary Patrick McLoughlin that his department botched the | :37:47. | :37:51. | |
tendering process. The new Thameslink contract had been due to | :37:51. | :38:00. | |
start in September 2013. Israeli incompetent and it is deeply | :38:00. | :38:04. | |
unsettling for south-east commuters -- it is clearly incompetent. This | :38:04. | :38:11. | |
is gruesome for the government, isn't it? The Minister for Rail, | :38:11. | :38:16. | |
she's probably the hardest working Minister that lino. She has given | :38:17. | :38:26. | |
very clear assurances, the mistake they made was so serious that I'm | :38:26. | :38:29. | |
pleased to say that people have been suspended and there has been | :38:30. | :38:34. | |
some accountability. Do you really think the public will say, OK, it | :38:34. | :38:37. | |
was all down to the civil servants and we don't blame the government? | :38:37. | :38:43. | |
I suspect that is unlikely. You may be right, but I think it is good | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
that when mistakes are made, the people responsible are suspended | :38:47. | :38:54. | |
and there's a proper investigation. Lynne Homer had previously been at | :38:54. | :39:00. | |
the UK Border Agency and said that it wasn't fit for purpose, yet then | :39:00. | :39:05. | |
she was promoted. We have to make sure the civil service as well as | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
ministers are held accountable. of the Brighton MPs wrote to the | :39:08. | :39:12. | |
Guardian this week calling for the railways to be renationalise. Does | :39:12. | :39:16. | |
she have an even stronger argument this week? I think she does because | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
the contract have become so complicated that it is virtually | :39:19. | :39:22. | |
impossible for civil servants to be able to manage them effectively. It | :39:22. | :39:27. | |
is not right that we should automatically play in the civil | :39:27. | :39:29. | |
servants. At the other ministers here are culpable and they have to | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
take responsibility for setting up the system that is very difficult | :39:33. | :39:37. | |
for civil servants to be able to manage effectively -- I think. They | :39:38. | :39:42. | |
blame civil servants all too often without being able to see their own | :39:42. | :39:45. | |
mistakes. We need to see an independent inquiry to look at what | :39:45. | :39:52. | |
went wrong, including the ministers in this. Now, as the Tories hold | :39:52. | :39:55. | |
their annual conference, let's look at how the party's doing in the | :39:55. | :39:57. | |
South East - roughly half way through the government's five year | :39:57. | :40:01. | |
term. Some Tory MPs may be getting anxious as Labour have been ahead | :40:01. | :40:11. | |
:40:11. | :40:12. | ||
in the polls for months. This is how the political map of the region | :40:12. | :40:22. | |
:40:22. | :40:25. | ||
looks. In the south-east, the Tories at 25 Seat's. An average of | :40:25. | :40:30. | |
recent national polls gave the Conservatives 33, Labour 41 and the | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
Liberal Democrats 11 %. If the people in the south-east a boat | :40:34. | :40:38. | |
along those lines, the Tories would lose a five seats to Labour, the | :40:38. | :40:42. | |
Greens would lose 1, but the Conservatives would also gain 1, | :40:42. | :40:46. | |
Eastbourne, from the Liberal Democrats. This does not take into | :40:46. | :40:50. | |
account local variations in swing. Those kind of results would give | :40:50. | :40:55. | |
Labour a majority of 90. Art reporter has been to gauge the mood | :40:55. | :41:05. | |
in one of the Tories' most vulnerable seats. This is Hastings, | :41:05. | :41:13. | |
a hysterics -- historic town. It is harder to get to than its | :41:13. | :41:17. | |
neighbours like Brighton and Eastbourne, and the town suffers | :41:17. | :41:23. | |
the consequences. Hastings it makes up one of the most vulnerable | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
Conservative seat in the south-east. The seat was help -- held by Labour | :41:28. | :41:37. | |
to Rutherglen -- throughout the Blair years. The local economy | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
could play a part. One in four here is on benefits, far more than the | :41:42. | :41:47. | |
average for the south-east, and people who do work and less. I | :41:47. | :41:51. | |
first met just kept on a wintry day when she was 19 and had been out of | :41:51. | :41:56. | |
work for a year -- at first met Jessica. Like 13 % of people in | :41:56. | :42:02. | |
Hastings, she has no qualifications but is now studying for GCSEs. | :42:02. | :42:10. | |
we met last time, and now, the job situation is the same. It is | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
getting on my nerves now. I just want to get out, get a job and earn | :42:14. | :42:21. | |
money and get my own place. I would rather work for my money than just | :42:21. | :42:25. | |
come off the dole. It is not fair on the government and it is not | :42:25. | :42:32. | |
fair on the other taxpayers -- can be on the door. And you're trying | :42:32. | :42:39. | |
very hard? Yes, I am. How many jobs have been tried for? Over 100 in | :42:39. | :42:45. | |
the last year. Up more than 40 % of people in worker in the public | :42:45. | :42:55. | |
:42:55. | :42:56. | ||
sector. But there will be a loss of jobs. Their three emergency | :42:56. | :43:05. | |
services. From the government's advertisement you have to be first | :43:05. | :43:11. | |
somewhere fast. The problems are you can't get between the two towns | :43:11. | :43:15. | |
quickly. I'm sure there will be redundancies at the hospital, but | :43:15. | :43:19. | |
for the business community, no new business will start up in a town | :43:19. | :43:24. | |
that doesn't have emergency services for its staff. Could | :43:24. | :43:27. | |
higher unemployment and the government's healthcare cuts could | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
have contributed to to Labour doing so well in the local elections here | :43:31. | :43:34. | |
in May. They took five seats from the Conservatives, strengthening | :43:34. | :43:38. | |
their grip on the council. It was a shock the Tories did not see coming. | :43:38. | :43:48. | |
:43:48. | :43:48. | ||
We could see where up -- we were in trouble. With Labour being a main | :43:48. | :43:53. | |
competitor in Hastings, that was always going to be a concern. We | :43:53. | :43:59. | |
should have done more to try and counter that if possible. So, could | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
be concerned as experience a similar fate to the next election? | :44:02. | :44:05. | |
We asked people at the farmers' market in Rye. They're not going to | :44:05. | :44:09. | |
make themselves more popular eyeless they dish out money to | :44:09. | :44:15. | |
everybody and say, have this! Then everybody would be happy. I would | :44:15. | :44:21. | |
be voting for the Conservative Party because I think they are more | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
focused and I think that basically, the direction that they are moving | :44:25. | :44:29. | |
and is preferable to that of Labour. I haven't voted Conservative for | :44:29. | :44:32. | |
the last tour three elections and at the moment I wouldn't vote for | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
them in the next election. Nor would I vote Labour. And I | :44:37. | :44:41. | |
certainly wouldn't vote for Liberal Democrats. So, what does that mean? | :44:41. | :44:47. | |
What does that leave? For current polls suggest that the | :44:47. | :44:50. | |
Conservatives off the pitch and the unpopular that they were definitely | :44:50. | :45:00. | |
:45:00. | :45:01. | ||
lose some seats. To question will be, how many did they win? Did they | :45:01. | :45:04. | |
win enough to have legitimate grounds to call themselves a party | :45:04. | :45:08. | |
of the whole nation, and do they win enough to undermine the | :45:08. | :45:11. | |
Conservatives? There are two separate questions. The centres are | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
going to be struggling for every vote at the next general election - | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
- the Conservatives are going to be. A Hastings is one of a handful of | :45:19. | :45:23. | |
seats in the south-east that the Conservatives could lose. With the | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
government's commitment austerity, are voters like he did think they | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
will get a better deal with a different party? -- are that is | :45:30. | :45:40. | |
:45:40. | :45:47. | ||
likely to think? What does Labour do to win back votes in a | :45:47. | :45:51. | |
constituency like Hastings and Rye? The key criticism of the government | :45:51. | :45:56. | |
is the lack of growth strategy. That emanates completely from the | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
Chancellor's policy, where he sat back and allow the economy did go | :46:00. | :46:04. | |
into decline without actually investing... Are you telling me the | :46:04. | :46:09. | |
people of Hastings a sitting at home, saying, I want a great growth | :46:09. | :46:14. | |
strategy? The people in that constituency, not the whole country, | :46:14. | :46:18. | |
that constituency, had you heard about, the issues of unemployment | :46:18. | :46:24. | |
and education, what do they want to make them vote Labour? They need | :46:24. | :46:28. | |
jobs in the public sector. We have seen the cuts that are occurring in | :46:28. | :46:33. | |
the health service. Similar cuts in local government, the borough | :46:33. | :46:43. | |
:46:43. | :46:49. | ||
council's have had enormous cups. - - Cup's -- in almost cuts. They | :46:49. | :46:52. | |
need to start their own enterprises, which is why Labour have announced | :46:52. | :46:55. | |
we're going to have a technical Baccalaureate which will give | :46:55. | :46:58. | |
people a good vocational training so they can get jobs, but also | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
hopefully they can start their own businesses. In an area like | :47:02. | :47:07. | |
Hastings, that is what will revitalise the economy. Sadly, | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
Labour let down a whole generation. We had a staggering figure, 13 % of | :47:11. | :47:16. | |
the people in Hastings have no qualifications at all. This was a | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
previous Labour government that said education, education, | :47:19. | :47:28. | |
education. Barratt -- that is a damning indictment. But we have | :47:28. | :47:34. | |
more people going to university. We have a far more to do, of course. | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
We do need to address the issue of vocational training, which the | :47:38. | :47:42. | |
government are not doing at the moment. If you want -- if you look | :47:42. | :47:45. | |
at what Michael Gove has been announcing, it is by much | :47:45. | :47:51. | |
attracting and a lead with the Baccalaureate. We want to make sure | :47:51. | :47:54. | |
that young people who are not going to university have the skills to | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
get a decent job. He it was interesting that chap talking about | :47:58. | :48:07. | |
UKIP. You have had it in increasing share of the vote in Hastings. Are | :48:07. | :48:12. | |
you wary of them and what they would at the next election? | :48:12. | :48:20. | |
Conservatives need to offer people a clear referendum. Cook's their | :48:21. | :48:28. | |
membership of the European Union? - - so a membership. Yes. To a few | :48:28. | :48:32. | |
offer that, is that bloke in the market going to vote view? I think | :48:32. | :48:37. | |
there is a much better chance that he would. There are other issues we | :48:37. | :48:45. | |
need to address, as well, particularly immigration. We are | :48:45. | :48:50. | |
now seeing numbers coming down, we have put in a lot of measures to | :48:50. | :48:54. | |
restrict that. If the Tories want to hold on to seats in the south- | :48:54. | :49:00. | |
east, their leader could be crucial. The Prime Minister is usually ahead | :49:00. | :49:03. | |
of Ed Miliband in leadership service. David Cameron has been | :49:03. | :49:07. | |
talking to our political editor. She began by asking him why | :49:07. | :49:11. | |
commuters in the south-east are facing a crisis in rail fares well | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
above the rate of inflation. not satisfied that what is | :49:15. | :49:22. | |
happening on Relph there's. -- rail fares. We need to do two things. | :49:22. | :49:27. | |
Firstly, we need to cut costs and make our railways more efficient | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
and effective. I'm determined to make sure we drive that through and | :49:31. | :49:34. | |
try to keep costs down. But also we need to look at the decisions we | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
make each year about rail fares and make sure we demonstrate that | :49:38. | :49:43. | |
people who work hard and want to get to work will do that. But in | :49:43. | :49:47. | |
the south-east, Tory MPs point out they have already had to pay more | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
for investment in HS1. Season tickets are costing a fortune, you | :49:52. | :49:56. | |
need to do something about that. The south-east economy is vitally | :49:56. | :50:01. | |
important for the economy of our future. I accept that rail fares | :50:01. | :50:06. | |
have been too expensive and we need to work out why that is. We're | :50:06. | :50:09. | |
going to bear down on costs and in that way we can help commuters. But | :50:09. | :50:14. | |
let's be clear, we want to expand our realm that workforce will be | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
putting massive investment into a rail network. That money can only | :50:19. | :50:27. | |
come from one of two players -- places, taxpayers all rail users. | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
Rail users will be very concerned at the disarray of the Department | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
of Transport at the moment. Thameslink is now on pause, its | :50:35. | :50:41. | |
franchise, what is going on there? We want to assure everybody who | :50:41. | :50:44. | |
uses our railways that they will continue to run as they do today. | :50:44. | :50:47. | |
But clearly this is very disappointing and I'm very angry | :50:47. | :50:51. | |
about how this was allowed to happen. Clearly there was a fault | :50:51. | :50:55. | |
in the department and the need to get to the bottom of that and the | :50:55. | :50:57. | |
review will be carried out. If mistakes have been made, people | :50:57. | :51:01. | |
will pay the price for that. Be in no doubt that railways will | :51:01. | :51:07. | |
continue to run and we will sort this out. It could cost �300 | :51:07. | :51:10. | |
million to tax payers though, could that mean rail fares will go up | :51:10. | :51:14. | |
again? Clearly there will be costs before -- because of the legal | :51:14. | :51:17. | |
challenge and because of having to pay some of the costs involved in | :51:17. | :51:22. | |
this failed franchise. We have to go to the bottom of how this went | :51:22. | :51:26. | |
wrong. Clearly there were mistakes. A lot of technical errors in the | :51:26. | :51:29. | |
department. I'm personally disappointed by that because I | :51:29. | :51:32. | |
asked for the Cabinet Secretary to look into this whole area and make | :51:32. | :51:36. | |
sure the decisions had been made in the right way. But it does seem | :51:36. | :51:40. | |
some serious technical errors were made and we will get to the bottom | :51:40. | :51:48. | |
of those and make sure that doesn't happen again. You have been accused | :51:48. | :51:53. | |
of dithering. What we said very clearly at the last election was | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
that we wouldn't build a third runway at Heathrow. I think it is | :51:56. | :52:01. | |
very important for the long-time leader of our economy that we | :52:01. | :52:06. | |
maintain our hub status of the country. This is a very big | :52:06. | :52:10. | |
decision for Britain. The decision we make, we will have to live with | :52:10. | :52:15. | |
for decades to come. It is right to take the time to then decide what | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
is the right answer. But let's not, while we do that could walk down | :52:20. | :52:29. | |
the excellent airports that we have a. -- talked down -- let's not, | :52:29. | :52:38. | |
while we do that, talk down. David Cameron says you have got to | :52:38. | :52:41. | |
do what you can to bear down on prices and then the next breath he | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
talks about the need to invest and that they have rail user needs to | :52:45. | :52:49. | |
pick up the tab for that. It is not in the least reassuring for the | :52:49. | :52:53. | |
commuters in your constituency. What we have got to focus on is the | :52:53. | :52:59. | |
cost of living, which I think is that the single issue that worries | :52:59. | :53:05. | |
people the most. So, what should happen? Should cost be picked up by | :53:05. | :53:12. | |
the border taxpayer, or do we stop improving the railways? I think we | :53:12. | :53:19. | |
need affairs going up by one % above inflation. -- we need rail | :53:19. | :53:25. | |
fares. Last year, for the first time, thanks up to lobbying from | :53:26. | :53:32. | |
MPs, we got RPI plus one. We have got to carry on campaigning for | :53:32. | :53:42. | |
:53:42. | :53:42. | ||
that. Ed Miliband versus David Cameron, Ed Miliband was perceived | :53:42. | :53:50. | |
as not a strong public leaders. But he came up with this killer line, | :53:50. | :53:54. | |
to incompetent, make it up as you go along, back-of-the-envelope | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
miserable shower. He is not your secret weapon any more, is he? | :53:59. | :54:04. | |
think his presentation was much improved. I saw that speech and it | :54:04. | :54:08. | |
was well memorised and he came over much better in that speech. But the | :54:08. | :54:12. | |
key issue this what the Labour government did with borrowing and | :54:12. | :54:16. | |
spending before. Until Ed Miliband and sapped the mistakes that Labour | :54:16. | :54:23. | |
made, editing people trust him again -- owns up to the mistakes. | :54:23. | :54:29. | |
Can he take David Cameron on? think he can. It was about content. | :54:29. | :54:32. | |
His theme of one nation is something that appeals to all of | :54:32. | :54:36. | |
the electorate. It is the dividing line between Labour and the Tories. | :54:36. | :54:40. | |
Unfortunately, David Cameron has squandered that image he has about | :54:40. | :54:45. | |
all of us being in this together. People now see him as an elitist | :54:45. | :54:50. | |
and devices to. In contrast to Ed Miliband who represents one nation | :54:50. | :54:56. | |
for this country. Thank you. A lot of the issues we care about most a | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
decided at a local level, for instance, three words that stuff up | :55:00. | :55:07. | |
incredible emotion, live animal exports. -- stir up. It has been | :55:07. | :55:12. | |
back in the news since 40 she died as the result of two incidents at | :55:12. | :55:16. | |
the port of Ramsgate. Thanet District Council took the | :55:16. | :55:20. | |
opportunity to suspend live exports, but presser is growing from a | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
resumption. -- pressure is growing for a resumption. Are you pleased | :55:26. | :55:33. | |
that the trade is dried up? I am, personally. I think in up so -- in | :55:33. | :55:38. | |
a civilised nation we should not be inflicting this sort of long | :55:38. | :55:41. | |
journeys in cramped conditions on the animals that you have seen on | :55:41. | :55:46. | |
the news. That is not about the Channel crossing, though, is it? We | :55:46. | :55:49. | |
shouldn't be transporting live animals around the country at all | :55:49. | :55:53. | |
if that is shocking and. Most farmers rhino care very deeply | :55:53. | :55:57. | |
about the welfare of the -- their animals and they take enormous | :55:57. | :56:04. | |
steps to make sure they are well looked after and have pop -- Popat | :56:04. | :56:13. | |
animal husbandry. If it means the UK goes it a long, they should do | :56:13. | :56:21. | |
that. We should set a standard. UK going it alone, the DEFRA | :56:21. | :56:25. | |
website is very interesting. It says, we would prefer to see meat | :56:25. | :56:31. | |
exported them like animals, but a clear legal position is that it is | :56:31. | :56:33. | |
illegitimate Craig with the European Community. Why should the | :56:33. | :56:37. | |
farmers be told they can't do it if it is legal? Because this is an | :56:37. | :56:40. | |
issue on which the UK should go our own way. People in this country | :56:40. | :56:44. | |
care very strongly about animal welfare. I don't see why animals | :56:44. | :56:49. | |
should be exported halfway across Europe. In this area, we should | :56:49. | :56:54. | |
reflect the UK public. They are not exported a half across Europe with | :56:54. | :56:59. | |
a go across the Channel, the shortest crossing. They travel | :56:59. | :57:03. | |
further around the country in this country. But some off and then go | :57:03. | :57:08. | |
on and travel quite a distance in Europe. -- but some of them then go | :57:08. | :57:13. | |
on. The fact that EU law says this should happen, I don't think that | :57:13. | :57:20. | |
is sufficient. We should go our own way on this issue. A was it a huge | :57:20. | :57:28. | |
relief when the trade stopped in Brighton? Absolutely. All business | :57:28. | :57:34. | |
at the harbour stop for many months. I'm very pleased that the trade at | :57:34. | :57:38. | |
Ramsgate has stopped now or you could have seen more protests will | :57:38. | :57:41. | |
stop that it is not just the protests, at the heart of it is | :57:41. | :57:46. | |
animal-welfare. Thank you. Now our regular round-up of the critical | :57:46. | :57:56. | |
:57:56. | :57:58. | ||
week in the south-east. The Mayor of London Boris Johnson launched | :57:59. | :58:02. | |
his strongest attack yet on the lack of aviation policy and the | :58:02. | :58:07. | |
south-east. No European country is being so blind and so complacent. | :58:07. | :58:11. | |
Back in the 70s, there was no such demand for airport capacity when | :58:11. | :58:16. | |
holidaymakers flocked to places like Margate, but the Conservative | :58:16. | :58:21. | |
MP for Rochester and strewed said it is just a different type of his | :58:21. | :58:26. | |
to the town is now attracting. He says too many prisoners are being | :58:26. | :58:36. | |
:58:36. | :58:37. | ||
released and coming here. It was announced the shadow chancellor Ed | :58:37. | :58:45. | |
Balls is adopting a marginal seat. We have got to show we are standing | :58:45. | :58:50. | |
up, families are having a hard time at the moment. Ed Balls admits he | :58:50. | :58:54. | |
has not taken his wife on a date for a decade. Let's hope he has | :58:54. | :59:04. | |
:59:04. | :59:08. | ||
more success from floating voters. Ed Balls there. Is that good news | :59:08. | :59:16. | |
or bad news? I'm sure it is a marriage or mutually agreed it? And | :59:16. | :59:26. | |
sure they would do very well! lack of date made you laugh out | :59:26. | :59:31. | |
loud, when did you last go on a date? It was our anniversary last | :59:31. | :59:41. | |
:59:41. | :59:43. | ||
week. We managed to go out on a date! Does political life take its | :59:43. | :59:50. | |
toll on marriages? Oh, yes it does. We should have more of it life work | :59:50. | :59:53. |