07/10/2012 Sunday Politics South East


07/10/2012

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Live animal experts. Perfectly legal but currently banned from

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2127 seconds

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I'm Julia George, and this is the Sunday Politics in the South East.

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Coming up later, Tories under pressure: The battle for Hastings,

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and other key seats that could fall to Labour. Joining us this week is

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Mark Reckless, the Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood, and from

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Brighton, Baroness Jones, who speaks for Labour on Education,

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Culture, Media and Sport in the House of Lords. That's quite a rang

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of expertise and we're not going to start with any of those. We're

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going to start with transport, and specifically the fallout in the

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South East from this week's rail franchise fiasco. The decision as

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to which company will run your trains between Brighton London and

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Bedford will be delayed. It follows the admission by the Transport

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Secretary Patrick McLoughlin that his department botched the

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tendering process. The new Thameslink contract had been due to

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start in September 2013. Israeli incompetent and it is deeply

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unsettling for south-east commuters -- it is clearly incompetent. This

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is gruesome for the government, isn't it? The Minister for Rail,

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she's probably the hardest working Minister that lino. She has given

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very clear assurances, the mistake they made was so serious that I'm

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pleased to say that people have been suspended and there has been

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some accountability. Do you really think the public will say, OK, it

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was all down to the civil servants and we don't blame the government?

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I suspect that is unlikely. You may be right, but I think it is good

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that when mistakes are made, the people responsible are suspended

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and there's a proper investigation. Lynne Homer had previously been at

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the UK Border Agency and said that it wasn't fit for purpose, yet then

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she was promoted. We have to make sure the civil service as well as

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ministers are held accountable. of the Brighton MPs wrote to the

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Guardian this week calling for the railways to be renationalise. Does

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she have an even stronger argument this week? I think she does because

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the contract have become so complicated that it is virtually

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impossible for civil servants to be able to manage them effectively. It

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is not right that we should automatically play in the civil

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servants. At the other ministers here are culpable and they have to

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take responsibility for setting up the system that is very difficult

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for civil servants to be able to manage effectively -- I think. They

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blame civil servants all too often without being able to see their own

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mistakes. We need to see an independent inquiry to look at what

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went wrong, including the ministers in this. Now, as the Tories hold

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their annual conference, let's look at how the party's doing in the

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South East - roughly half way through the government's five year

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term. Some Tory MPs may be getting anxious as Labour have been ahead

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in the polls for months. This is how the political map of the region

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looks. In the south-east, the Tories at 25 Seat's. An average of

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recent national polls gave the Conservatives 33, Labour 41 and the

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Liberal Democrats 11 %. If the people in the south-east a boat

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along those lines, the Tories would lose a five seats to Labour, the

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Greens would lose 1, but the Conservatives would also gain 1,

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Eastbourne, from the Liberal Democrats. This does not take into

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account local variations in swing. Those kind of results would give

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Labour a majority of 90. Art reporter has been to gauge the mood

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in one of the Tories' most vulnerable seats. This is Hastings,

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a hysterics -- historic town. It is harder to get to than its

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neighbours like Brighton and Eastbourne, and the town suffers

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the consequences. Hastings it makes up one of the most vulnerable

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Conservative seat in the south-east. The seat was help -- held by Labour

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to Rutherglen -- throughout the Blair years. The local economy

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could play a part. One in four here is on benefits, far more than the

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average for the south-east, and people who do work and less. I

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first met just kept on a wintry day when she was 19 and had been out of

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work for a year -- at first met Jessica. Like 13 % of people in

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Hastings, she has no qualifications but is now studying for GCSEs.

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we met last time, and now, the job situation is the same. It is

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getting on my nerves now. I just want to get out, get a job and earn

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money and get my own place. I would rather work for my money than just

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come off the dole. It is not fair on the government and it is not

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fair on the other taxpayers -- can be on the door. And you're trying

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very hard? Yes, I am. How many jobs have been tried for? Over 100 in

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the last year. Up more than 40 % of people in worker in the public

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sector. But there will be a loss of jobs. Their three emergency

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services. From the government's advertisement you have to be first

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somewhere fast. The problems are you can't get between the two towns

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quickly. I'm sure there will be redundancies at the hospital, but

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for the business community, no new business will start up in a town

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that doesn't have emergency services for its staff. Could

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higher unemployment and the government's healthcare cuts could

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have contributed to to Labour doing so well in the local elections here

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in May. They took five seats from the Conservatives, strengthening

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their grip on the council. It was a shock the Tories did not see coming.

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We could see where up -- we were in trouble. With Labour being a main

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competitor in Hastings, that was always going to be a concern. We

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should have done more to try and counter that if possible. So, could

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be concerned as experience a similar fate to the next election?

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We asked people at the farmers' market in Rye. They're not going to

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make themselves more popular eyeless they dish out money to

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everybody and say, have this! Then everybody would be happy. I would

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be voting for the Conservative Party because I think they are more

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focused and I think that basically, the direction that they are moving

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and is preferable to that of Labour. I haven't voted Conservative for

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the last tour three elections and at the moment I wouldn't vote for

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them in the next election. Nor would I vote Labour. And I

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certainly wouldn't vote for Liberal Democrats. So, what does that mean?

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What does that leave? For current polls suggest that the

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Conservatives off the pitch and the unpopular that they were definitely

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lose some seats. To question will be, how many did they win? Did they

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win enough to have legitimate grounds to call themselves a party

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of the whole nation, and do they win enough to undermine the

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Conservatives? There are two separate questions. The centres are

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going to be struggling for every vote at the next general election -

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- the Conservatives are going to be. A Hastings is one of a handful of

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seats in the south-east that the Conservatives could lose. With the

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government's commitment austerity, are voters like he did think they

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will get a better deal with a different party? -- are that is

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likely to think? What does Labour do to win back votes in a

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constituency like Hastings and Rye? The key criticism of the government

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is the lack of growth strategy. That emanates completely from the

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Chancellor's policy, where he sat back and allow the economy did go

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into decline without actually investing... Are you telling me the

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people of Hastings a sitting at home, saying, I want a great growth

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strategy? The people in that constituency, not the whole country,

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that constituency, had you heard about, the issues of unemployment

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and education, what do they want to make them vote Labour? They need

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jobs in the public sector. We have seen the cuts that are occurring in

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the health service. Similar cuts in local government, the borough

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council's have had enormous cups. - - Cup's -- in almost cuts. They

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need to start their own enterprises, which is why Labour have announced

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we're going to have a technical Baccalaureate which will give

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people a good vocational training so they can get jobs, but also

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hopefully they can start their own businesses. In an area like

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Hastings, that is what will revitalise the economy. Sadly,

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Labour let down a whole generation. We had a staggering figure, 13 % of

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the people in Hastings have no qualifications at all. This was a

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previous Labour government that said education, education,

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education. Barratt -- that is a damning indictment. But we have

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more people going to university. We have a far more to do, of course.

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We do need to address the issue of vocational training, which the

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government are not doing at the moment. If you want -- if you look

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at what Michael Gove has been announcing, it is by much

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attracting and a lead with the Baccalaureate. We want to make sure

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that young people who are not going to university have the skills to

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get a decent job. He it was interesting that chap talking about

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UKIP. You have had it in increasing share of the vote in Hastings. Are

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you wary of them and what they would at the next election?

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Conservatives need to offer people a clear referendum. Cook's their

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membership of the European Union? - - so a membership. Yes. To a few

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offer that, is that bloke in the market going to vote view? I think

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there is a much better chance that he would. There are other issues we

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need to address, as well, particularly immigration. We are

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now seeing numbers coming down, we have put in a lot of measures to

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restrict that. If the Tories want to hold on to seats in the south-

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east, their leader could be crucial. The Prime Minister is usually ahead

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of Ed Miliband in leadership service. David Cameron has been

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talking to our political editor. She began by asking him why

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commuters in the south-east are facing a crisis in rail fares well

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above the rate of inflation. not satisfied that what is

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happening on Relph there's. -- rail fares. We need to do two things.

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Firstly, we need to cut costs and make our railways more efficient

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and effective. I'm determined to make sure we drive that through and

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try to keep costs down. But also we need to look at the decisions we

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make each year about rail fares and make sure we demonstrate that

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people who work hard and want to get to work will do that. But in

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the south-east, Tory MPs point out they have already had to pay more

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for investment in HS1. Season tickets are costing a fortune, you

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need to do something about that. The south-east economy is vitally

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important for the economy of our future. I accept that rail fares

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have been too expensive and we need to work out why that is. We're

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going to bear down on costs and in that way we can help commuters. But

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let's be clear, we want to expand our realm that workforce will be

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putting massive investment into a rail network. That money can only

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come from one of two players -- places, taxpayers all rail users.

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Rail users will be very concerned at the disarray of the Department

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of Transport at the moment. Thameslink is now on pause, its

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franchise, what is going on there? We want to assure everybody who

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uses our railways that they will continue to run as they do today.

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But clearly this is very disappointing and I'm very angry

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about how this was allowed to happen. Clearly there was a fault

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in the department and the need to get to the bottom of that and the

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review will be carried out. If mistakes have been made, people

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will pay the price for that. Be in no doubt that railways will

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continue to run and we will sort this out. It could cost �300

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million to tax payers though, could that mean rail fares will go up

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again? Clearly there will be costs before -- because of the legal

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challenge and because of having to pay some of the costs involved in

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this failed franchise. We have to go to the bottom of how this went

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wrong. Clearly there were mistakes. A lot of technical errors in the

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department. I'm personally disappointed by that because I

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asked for the Cabinet Secretary to look into this whole area and make

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sure the decisions had been made in the right way. But it does seem

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some serious technical errors were made and we will get to the bottom

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of those and make sure that doesn't happen again. You have been accused

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of dithering. What we said very clearly at the last election was

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that we wouldn't build a third runway at Heathrow. I think it is

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very important for the long-time leader of our economy that we

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maintain our hub status of the country. This is a very big

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decision for Britain. The decision we make, we will have to live with

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for decades to come. It is right to take the time to then decide what

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is the right answer. But let's not, while we do that could walk down

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the excellent airports that we have a. -- talked down -- let's not,

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while we do that, talk down. David Cameron says you have got to

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do what you can to bear down on prices and then the next breath he

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talks about the need to invest and that they have rail user needs to

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pick up the tab for that. It is not in the least reassuring for the

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commuters in your constituency. What we have got to focus on is the

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cost of living, which I think is that the single issue that worries

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people the most. So, what should happen? Should cost be picked up by

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the border taxpayer, or do we stop improving the railways? I think we

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need affairs going up by one % above inflation. -- we need rail

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fares. Last year, for the first time, thanks up to lobbying from

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MPs, we got RPI plus one. We have got to carry on campaigning for

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that. Ed Miliband versus David Cameron, Ed Miliband was perceived

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as not a strong public leaders. But he came up with this killer line,

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to incompetent, make it up as you go along, back-of-the-envelope

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miserable shower. He is not your secret weapon any more, is he?

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think his presentation was much improved. I saw that speech and it

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was well memorised and he came over much better in that speech. But the

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key issue this what the Labour government did with borrowing and

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spending before. Until Ed Miliband and sapped the mistakes that Labour

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made, editing people trust him again -- owns up to the mistakes.

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Can he take David Cameron on? think he can. It was about content.

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His theme of one nation is something that appeals to all of

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the electorate. It is the dividing line between Labour and the Tories.

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Unfortunately, David Cameron has squandered that image he has about

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all of us being in this together. People now see him as an elitist

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and devices to. In contrast to Ed Miliband who represents one nation

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for this country. Thank you. A lot of the issues we care about most a

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decided at a local level, for instance, three words that stuff up

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incredible emotion, live animal exports. -- stir up. It has been

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back in the news since 40 she died as the result of two incidents at

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the port of Ramsgate. Thanet District Council took the

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opportunity to suspend live exports, but presser is growing from a

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resumption. -- pressure is growing for a resumption. Are you pleased

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that the trade is dried up? I am, personally. I think in up so -- in

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a civilised nation we should not be inflicting this sort of long

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journeys in cramped conditions on the animals that you have seen on

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the news. That is not about the Channel crossing, though, is it? We

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shouldn't be transporting live animals around the country at all

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if that is shocking and. Most farmers rhino care very deeply

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about the welfare of the -- their animals and they take enormous

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steps to make sure they are well looked after and have pop -- Popat

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animal husbandry. If it means the UK goes it a long, they should do

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that. We should set a standard. UK going it alone, the DEFRA

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website is very interesting. It says, we would prefer to see meat

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exported them like animals, but a clear legal position is that it is

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illegitimate Craig with the European Community. Why should the

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farmers be told they can't do it if it is legal? Because this is an

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issue on which the UK should go our own way. People in this country

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care very strongly about animal welfare. I don't see why animals

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should be exported halfway across Europe. In this area, we should

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reflect the UK public. They are not exported a half across Europe with

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a go across the Channel, the shortest crossing. They travel

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further around the country in this country. But some off and then go

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on and travel quite a distance in Europe. -- but some of them then go

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on. The fact that EU law says this should happen, I don't think that

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is sufficient. We should go our own way on this issue. A was it a huge

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relief when the trade stopped in Brighton? Absolutely. All business

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at the harbour stop for many months. I'm very pleased that the trade at

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Ramsgate has stopped now or you could have seen more protests will

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stop that it is not just the protests, at the heart of it is

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animal-welfare. Thank you. Now our regular round-up of the critical

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week in the south-east. The Mayor of London Boris Johnson launched

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his strongest attack yet on the lack of aviation policy and the

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south-east. No European country is being so blind and so complacent.

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Back in the 70s, there was no such demand for airport capacity when

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holidaymakers flocked to places like Margate, but the Conservative

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MP for Rochester and strewed said it is just a different type of his

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to the town is now attracting. He says too many prisoners are being

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released and coming here. It was announced the shadow chancellor Ed

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Balls is adopting a marginal seat. We have got to show we are standing

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up, families are having a hard time at the moment. Ed Balls admits he

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has not taken his wife on a date for a decade. Let's hope he has

:58:54.:59:04.
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more success from floating voters. Ed Balls there. Is that good news

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or bad news? I'm sure it is a marriage or mutually agreed it? And

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sure they would do very well! lack of date made you laugh out

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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

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toll on marriages? Oh, yes it does. We should have more of it life work

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