15/01/2012 Sunday Politics South


15/01/2012

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In the south, high speed rail is back on track but could it still

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hit the buffers? Conservative-run councils and MPs along the route a

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1688 seconds

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deeply unhappy at the decision. -- Welcome to Sunday politics south.

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High Speed Two may have had the green light from ministers but will

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it get derailed by the Conservative MPs and councillors on the route to

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are not happy about it? More on that in a bit. With me about the

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programme are two of the region's MPs. Collarbones is the

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Conservative member for Conservative West and we have the

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Liberal Democrat member for Mid Dorset and North Poole. Busy start

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to the parliamentary year. The welfare bill. A good thing that

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they send it back? I think so. The second chamber is there for

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scrutinising and saying let's have a look at this again, and it is

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only right be sensitive issues are looked at again. Many of us still

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very sensitive about cancer patients, in particular. I

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certainly need some more reassurances on that. I have to say,

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I am overwrought in support of the welfare bill. Moving to universal

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credit, giving a real incentive for people who were able to work, is a

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good move. -- an overall in support. Do you think people will want to

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defend those things against the very cement bands? It is the House

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of Lords doing what it is there to do which is to review and challenge

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the House of Commons. The House of Lords does a very good job which is

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where I am slightly surprised the Deputy Prime Minister wishes to

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abolish it. Getting rid of the Lords is an abolish rid of the

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Lords, not a reform. This will be an opportunity for those of this in

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House of Commons to make his case again. -- those of us. Tony Blair

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tried, backed off. The Universal Credit which wasn't in the

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manifesto, 80% of households will be better off. A cross the

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coalition we support that. The reality is there are over 5 million

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people in this country of working age on out-of-work benefits. 1.4

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million of those will be out of work and on this benefit for more

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than a year. The country needs to fix this. I welcome it coming back

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and I welcome making the case again. Very sympathetic to the point in it

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makes about cancer sufferers. We encounter this all the time --

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Annette. We have to have a balance, and certainly from my perspective

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as a Liberal Democrat it is speaking up all the time. There are

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other aspects in the welfare bill and queasy about, the cap on

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housing benefits, as much as that needs tightening and worried about

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the impact on many families. I think it is right that we look at

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everything very carefully. The Liberal Democrats have pushed very

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hard on some issues and one thing I have been involved in to some

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degree has been employment support allowance for people with

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fluctuating conditions. The government has attempted to look at

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this very sensibly bringing in Professor Harrington, all the

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organisations have been able to have an input. We get cases now

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with legacy from the last government with people with ME for

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example, multiple sclerosis, who go for an assessment and they are told

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they are capable of working and it just happens that they have got a

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good day and that is a travesty. much has been already happening

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this year. Scotland as well. And the film, or about Mrs Thatcher.

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Connor Burns, have to ask you about this, you are a regular visitor to

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Mrs Thatcher? I went to see the film in Leicester Square at 3pm and

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I went as they do most Sunday to see her at her home at 6:30pm.

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Brilliant piece of acting by Meryl Streep, absolutely amazing. I have

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to say, and police to say, the patrol of her in the film, the real

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one is so much better and so much better in herself. It is an an

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accurate portrayal of how she now is. Insulting? Regrettable. I find

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it difficult to attack people who talk about her as she now is

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because her daughter, Carol, who rotor batted in the book, so it is

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in the public domain but the lady is in good form. When I came

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through the door to seal a Sunday was, tummy what has been going on?

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Did you tell her about the film? would have loved to. It is

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flattering but had to tell her they are making a film that betrays her

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late husband appearing and taunting her. I thought that said it was a

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bit cruel. Let's talk about the other big

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thing that happened this week. According to its critics and there

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are plenty of them it will cost at least �32 billion, �1,200 per

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family, just so businessman to get to Birmingham a few minutes faster.

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As the government announced this week they are going ahead with the

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HS2 the country's second high-speed rail line running from London to

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Birmingham, they will also pushing the benefits to the colony of the

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whole country -- they were also. This makes the project look very

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flash, but it flashes through Tory heartlands, uniting MPs and

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Conservative councils in opposition. There were concessions this week.

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Longer tunnels to appease critics. But at a cost of millions more on

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the bill. Making the announcement, the minister was cleared off the

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cost of not going ahead. The price of that would have been paid in

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lost business, there were growth, fewer jobs, and more misery for

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passengers on a network that could not cope with the capacity. Joining

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us now is Martin tete, the leader of Buckinghamshire County Council.

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The Government's point is there is no alternative. What we do spend

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�32 billion on? Certainly not on this. The key thing is Tuesday was

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described as many independent observers as the triumph of spin

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ever commonsense. If you are going to spend �32 billion at the sky it

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-- time of sky-high National that you have to make sure you are

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spending it well. There are three criteria, make sure it is good

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value for money because your money, my money and that many of every

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single person watching this programme, you have to make sure

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there are no viable alternatives, you have assess those bubbly, and

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you have to persuade people it is genuinely in the national interest.

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-- you have assessed those properly. Every independent analyst has found

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the government wanting on all three of those. One key example, the

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whole business case of this trip to Birmingham and the value for money

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of that means every single minute spent on a train by a businessman

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is wasted but we all know in an age of technology, some of the most

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productive time any businessman ever spent his on a train. The idea

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it generates billions of pounds to the economy is just nonsense.

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If they admitted that. You can work on a train, you are going to patch

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this up, you are all Conservatives together?

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This is a coalition government decision. Ironically, of course,

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this is as Maria Eagle reminded the House on Tuesday, this is Gordon

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Brown's project. His big dream, his big silver bullet. He turned this

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up and the coalition Cabinet have run with it. The problem is,

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virtually every government gets deleted by the idea that some big

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prestige project is a silver bullet that solves problems. The reality

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is what really sold structural problems in our economy is actually

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investing in the road and rail infrastructure around the whole

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country that people actually use today. The broken roads, pavements,

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trains that are overcrowded, that we really need to sort out, that is

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what the -- that is what is going to persuade people to invest and

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bring local jobs. Big projects like this, could a

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coalition government have the will to push them through, do you think?

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I think so. My party obviously is in favour of the whole scheme, and

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details of really important, particularly for the local area, I

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would like to deny that. It is an awful lot of money. A large sum of

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money but we have to think how long is it since we have had a major

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investment in our railways. It goes back to the 19th century, something

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really major, rather than just doing something on the edges, which

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all of that is important but it is not solving our fundamental problem

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of under capacity. Whilst we are talking about the roads, if we are

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going to be putting more freight on the rail, that will be an enormous

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advantage to many of us and long term when this is expanded further

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north and Scotland, that of course is going to save on air travel and

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carbon emissions. There is an awful lot that you can argue for, but I

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have obviously understand, I looked in Aylesbury, I know the area well,

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and I understand the local objections. You are going to have

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to go to legal action to stop this? We are obviously looking at the

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detail announced on Tuesday. have you taken a decision on legal

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action? It is like the London A-Z telephone directory published on

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Tuesday, it is right we go through this, analyse it, and a standard.

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So might is emerging as you get through the detail, I am tempted to

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say bad news buried deep on Tuesday, because one of the things we have

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found out is what they call the cost-benefit ratio, the value for

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money of this thing, has dropped yet again. It is now down to what

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the government describes as a low value for money. You are going to

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go to legal action, I do? Her we are not. We are not they didn't to

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legal action is the point and making. We are going to do this in

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a considered way. This will not take cars of the road, a substitute

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for air. Every landing slots at Heathrow at that is freed up anyway

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is going to be substituted with a long-haul flight so it will have a

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negative effect in terms of carbon. This is all spent.

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Thank you very much for joining us. It is about now we get the bad news

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about Christmas as bills start London are our doormats. For many

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the only answer to a temporary cashflow crisis will be doorstep

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lenders with expensive interest rates. New rules the government

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brought in from the start of the canny credit unions will be moving

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in on some of that business. No idea what a credit union is? Nicola

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Marie has all you need to know. -- Nicola Marie. -- Murray. It has

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been a gloomy Christmas for many retailers but one sector has been

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booming, but things might be about to change, new rules have been

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introduced to make credit unions began and more competitive. --

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The United States Navy has a credit union, the White House has won, in

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this country you get police credit unions, but you also get credit

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unions based on regions, geographic areas, where you might live or work,

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so our common bond has been anybody who lives and works in Hampshire

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and very soon the Isle of Wight. What people do it is they Paul the

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savings together, then other members borrow them. That is how

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credit unions have worked up until now, so what is new? What is being

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removed is the obstacle to credit unions achieving in this country on

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the scale they have achieved everywhere else, where they are

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people's main financial service provider, where you have your

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salary, your income, or your income paid into your credit union, and a

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credit union offers you a mortgage had manages your bill payments and

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everything else. Opening the credit union membership up to businesses

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and organisations, all in all, it will free us up to do more for more

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people and be more attractive to people who currently does see the

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point of credit unions. They may be popular with the US Navy but how

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many people have heard of them in the UK? No. No. If something goes

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wrong, I know what Unionists. people who cannot afford much and

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they have got low-interest rate. With so few people aware of their

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existence will these changes enable credit unions in the UK to become

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serious competitors with the backs? They will help credit unions

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consolidate themselves in a limited market in which they operate. But

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we shouldn't imagine they are going to stop providing competition for

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banks, and they still have to erode the commercial sector's market

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which is a very efficient one. that commercial market targets

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people who are not able to go to the bank for money, like unemployed

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single mother of two, Helen, who felt she had no choice but to turn

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to a doorstep lender and her debts more than doubled. I knew I should

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have gone to them, to be honest, but I had no choice. Then the

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statement came through from a housing association and I had a

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card with a credit union for top I didn't pay any attention, went to

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my bank, try to get a loan, they were not interested unless you're

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working. Went down to ease credit union people and luckily enough

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they could help me. -- these. Making them a bigger player isn't

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likely to worry the traditional high-street lenders but could give

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far more people access to cheaper borrowing when the bank says

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another. I am committed to credit unions and have been for over 20

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years and I firmly believe there is a future for credit unions,

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alongside the banks. If we get it right people will want to use it.

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If it wasn't for them, I would dread to think what would have

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happened, to be honest and where I Those who use them love them, but

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it seems most people haven't heard of them., have few ever thought of

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Migrate and used to volunteer it in one in a very deprived part of

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north Belfast. These doorstep lenders are parasites who are

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preying on some of the most vulnerable people in our community,

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have very little money and engaging them in loans that they have no

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hope of ever repaying and making some of the poorest in society even

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poorer. I am so in favour. The area of my constituency, you see these

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people are collecting the debt and it is obscene. I am passionately in

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favour of everyone, government, local government, capitalising

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credit unions and Pavenham get out there to serve these people who are

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in really dire straits. They have been given a bit of a beast. They

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need to be. Arisen report came out and pointed out if for example a

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lower income households has to read a new washing machine than they

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paid an enormous sum of money for it. Or if they are getting the

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credit from the doorstep lenders, terribly expensive. We are talking

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about making the poor poorer. This is an area we can tackle making

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sure they have credit on good, sound, reasonable terms. People are

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not getting much interest from about and the Mehmet so maybe if

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people have got a bit of money would be a good thing to put it

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into this. Our regular round-up of the

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The Prime Minister kicked off the political year in Maidenhead and

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Bracknell. He gave Waitrose a big society award and it was all smiles.

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But then he took a broadside from a In Dorset divers had a sinking

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feeling over plans to chop the coastguard rescue chopper.

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Southampton biggest airline cut rates after their profits took a

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nosedive. -- routes. In the Isle of Wight they are building lightweight

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carbon-fibre engine parts for planes. The robots are so cutting-

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edge we had to blow the pictures. Each wonders five weeks' work in 10

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hours. Mr Frisk Cooke's they are a secret weapon for new jobs in their

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staff -- hopes. They really did ask the steeper the

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blur over there so that when it is on line the Chinese cannot look at

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it and gobby these machines, or Americans, or whoever. -- copy

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these machines. Do you think private sector jobs will make up

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for a lot of the public sector once lost? It would be one of the most

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exciting things for me as a member of the coalition to see the

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manufacturing industry grow again because it has been dreadful under

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the Labour government, shrinking and shrinking. It is our future to

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believe Britain can be great again, investing in technology, and for me

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the coalition's putting the emphasis on growth policies is all-

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important. So the problems out but at the centre and stimulate growth.

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Will a make-up for the public sector jobs? We know the rate of

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change is out of sync at the moment and that means more pressure from

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the Liberal Democrats on government that we must get on with the growth

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policies. A There is a lot of aerospace industry in Dorset, even

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though we think of it as an agricultural area. Rape is a centre

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0:48:370:48:39

-- growth is at the centre of what we need to do. Small businesses

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that how you they need more regulation. They are bought by

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American and German companies and exploited and developed. We have --

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we are still an entrepreneurial country and we need to embrace that.

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Two Dorset MPs would search a range of views on all sorts of different

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things, joining us on this first programme. You can keep up-to-date

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with what is politically hot during the week by following my blog. We

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