13/05/2012 Sunday Politics South


13/05/2012

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Sunday Politics South... Worries about bobbies on the beat and

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finding a police officer in a station as opening hours are

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2001 seconds

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Welcome to Sunday Politics South. My name's Peter Henley. On today's

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show We've heard often enough about how the public wants more bobbies

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on the beat, but with forces being squeezed, we could struggle to find

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them in the police station. More front desks are being closed, or

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having their opening hours reduced. We can meet the politicians that

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will be with us for the next 20 minutes. The Conservative MP for

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Christchurch and the deputy Labour group leader on Southampton City

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Council. Anything particular that he would have liked to have seen in

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the Queen's Speech or that you didn't like? I think we had lots of

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interesting things but I think the devil is in the detail and we need

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to get into the details of the crime aspects. The national agency,

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I am still doubtful it will achieve what is expected of it. I think it

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could be an expensive exercise. But I need to do a bit more research.

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Interesting that you thought there was a lot in it. What do you think?

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I looked at an item with a private member's Bill on drinking and

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driving. The drug test? Yes and I am keen for that to progress

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quickly. There is a legal problem and as a lawyer he would be able to

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answer that and the test is for impairment. It is not as simple as

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testing for alcohol, is it? Do we not have a case for testing to see

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if a driver is just impaired? driver has got illegal drugs in

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their system, I think they should be guilty of an offence. Even if

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they have been there a long time? Yes, because drugs are illegal. We

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understand what interviews with young people that are driving with

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cannabis in their system, at a high proportion of people have said that

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if there was a driving offence with cannabis in their system, they

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would not take it in the first place. I do not think it will be

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contained in the Bill in that form but I hope we have a chance to look

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at it in detail. 50 deaths a year in drinking and driving. A loyal's

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charter, possibly? It is a big issue. If somebody gets killed like

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that, somebody gets hit head on and a young student is killed, that is

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a wasted life. Is it a right solution? Probably. But I am

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concerned about delivery. I think people driving with drugs in their

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system is probably a growing concern and something we are trying

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to combat already. I take police I suppose away from their duty if

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they have got to fill forms and detests. By at we have to do what

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the public want us to do. -- and Do One of the announcements that you

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might have missed in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday was the

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proposed Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill - not the snappiest title

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perhaps, but the government is so keen on it that they published the

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actual bill on Friday. According to them, it will beef up protection

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for farmers and suppliers in their dealings with the big supermarkets.

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Joining me now from our Westminster studio is Nick von Westenholz of

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the NFU. Just lately, we have got a lot of supermarkets increasing

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suppliers from small and local sources. In Hampshire, Devizes, the

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Isle of Wight, they are looking after the supply chain and

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investing. Why do they need these changes, barbers? I think --

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farmers? I think they have been promoting some of the good work

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that they have been doing. This is some good work out there which

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supermarkets are doing. But we have not got any doubt that some

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producers and suppliers are suffering because of unfair

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practices. This new Bill published on Friday is going to go closer to

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resolving that. It is a Court of Appeal and you can represent

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suppliers as a third party and they can go there and somebody can

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decide if they are getting a fair price and deal? It will not really

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be on price. That is outside the scope of its powers. They will look

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at the code of practice for supermarkets which came in a couple

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of years ago. We have not had any referee to enforce the rules.

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it not revolve around the price and the money they are getting?

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might impact on that. A lot of farmers have found themselves being

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asked to contribute to promotions at supermarkets. That clearly

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impact upon the price that they are getting. But the bulk of produce is

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purchased from big multinationals like Unilever or. Why do we need

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adjudication for them? We had a report in 2008 and that found it

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had an effect on competition, where risk was passed down the supply

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chain. Even if this adjudicator is consigned about the supermarket and

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the supplier, when supermarkets are acting unfairly, that will get

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unfairly passed down to the producers at the end. It is often

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producers that bear the brunt of that practice. Do you think we have

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got a chance that this will put up cost? Is this extra regulation?

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must say, I am sceptical about whether it will do what it says. We

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have got very competitive supermarket. We have got much lower

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customer costs than a lot of other countries. And I am not sure it is

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will address the big issues, like why are greengrocers not able to

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operate on the high street? That is because of the burden of rates. Why

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is the cost of getting food from the farm to the supermarket I? That

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is because, largely of big diesel prices. We have got big issues and

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I am not sure if this is worthy of the parliamentary time involved. I

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think we have got more serious and underlying issues to be addressed.

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I'll be fiddling at the edges? are we? Well, we do have bigger

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problems. We have got a big problem with the way supermarkets Street

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the producers. We have got cross- party support. -- treat the

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producers. I think this will go through pretty quickly and we will

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get it up and running by the end of this year, early next year it.

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most dangerous bills are the ones with cross-party support. You have

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to build connections with the countryside because they have

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fallen out badly with your party. Yes, and we have to engage with

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rural communities and areas in the country that are still suffering.

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We recognise that. We are starting to engage on a much bigger scale

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and in a better way but a lot to be done. Thank you for joining us from

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Police officers from all over our region were at a march in

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Westminster this week - not policing the marchers this time,

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but actually protesting themselves against budget cuts and changes to

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their pay and conditions. It is not just on the front line though that

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the cuts are biting. As Tiffany Foster reports, police station

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opening hours are being reduced or in some cases the stations are

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being closed down entirely. This is the scene of Act -- this is the

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scene of a crime at a village hall, where a gas cylinder used to be. It

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was stolen and it deprived the class using recall the next day of

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hot sausage rolls. Not the Great Train robbery. But who do we report

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this crime to? The nearest station is miles away. That is where this

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Secretary has been. In the old days, we had a local policeman in the

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village. But we are now having to travel all this distance to report

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the crime. I could have done it by telephone but I wanted to talk to

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somebody. Front desk opening hours are being reduced in the Thames

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are being reduced in the Thames Valley to save �600,000. In

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Wokingham, this station will be open 14 hours every day from July.

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But down the road, it will be open just four hours a day, five days a

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week. In Hungerford, just four hours a day, three days a week. But

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better than Hampshire, where 17 front desks have been closed

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Long gone are the days when the bobby on the beat was the same

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person behind the counter at the local station. Now, you are

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expected to telephone or even use the internet or even social media

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to report crime all learn about prevention. It is about matching

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service and demand. We are talking about less than 20 by tasks per

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week actually carried out. -- 25. We need to reduce the hours

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according to when they are actually used. In Hungerford, that is why

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fewer hours should not mean less street contact. But no front

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counter would be going too far. would object to complete withdrawal.

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We are a long way from Newbury and any other police force. I think we

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need to have that positive contact with them, where people can go and

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complain if necessary. If not through the council then directly

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to the desk. This is about face-to- face contact with the police.

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disagree that we do not have opportunities for interaction. We

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have got plenty of opportunities. We have increased officers on

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neighbourhood patrol and we have got opportunities for people to

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meet the police in places where we operate, schools, town centres,

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community events. Plenty of opportunity to do that. This is

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about making savings in areas where the public are not using the

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service. It is all very well picking up the telephone to report

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crimes in areas where opening hours are restricted or in Hampshire,

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some stations do not have a front counter, but that relies on people

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knowing the number. 101, by the way. But nobody in Tadley appeared to

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know that. A town the size of Tadley, with the number of people

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we have got, lots more housing and more people going to the area and

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big employers, and not having front line police and front desk but is

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is dreadful in my opinion. As long as it is open, I just think it is a

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deterrent. Anything that closes is just asking for a bit more trouble.

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Finally, it appears local knowledge is key to confidence in the police.

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Back at this village hall, this dog handler from Fleet is worried.

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Coming back late at night, we have got a traffic jam because we have

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got a load of cows on the road. We have got a Taliban that we can use

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but I am not sure where it takes you did. -- telephone. I said it

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was dangerous because the roads was not lit and I was asked, where was

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the road that it happened in? He was obviously not local and

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ultimately, he said he expected the patrol man knew where it was.

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Pressure is on to reduce spending and cut in front desks is just one

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measure. It is not popular but perhaps inevitable, with every

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effort focused on the human touch, valued by everybody. It is all

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about confidence, isn't it? About knowing that they have got somebody

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they want to talk to? Very much said. But not just in Hampshire but

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nationwide research has said that people are being told the public

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want more officers on the beat. And to do that, whether it is for

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reassurance, or whatever, we need to make sure that would be cuts

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being forced upon us, we must deliver. We have been closing

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buildings in Hampshire but we have been investing in people. With

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Police Authority is, we are happy for the fund desks to be closed but

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we should have more money? -- front desks. I think money should be

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spent more wisely. That is the right decision? I think would be

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consultation, yes. We have some open and we have not closed them

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all. And in the Thames Valley, they are talking about keeping some

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stations open for just a few hours, for 80 days per week. Are we being

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squeezed too hard? -- a few days. think that these police and crime

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Commissioner candidates will have to explain to the electorate what

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the policies are going to be. We have got to have a lot of room for

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common sense. In my constituency, the police station moved out to and

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out of town location and that was replaced by having police officers

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in the community centre at. I think we have got a lot more scope than

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having a dedicated police station. Why can of this has not moved to

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the local places? You might get better value for money. But with

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elected commissioners, it will be an interaction between the public

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and the commissioners to determine the pattern. I am amazed that he

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both agree. Of course, you what about you for money. -- you both

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agree. But is that squeeze actually going to lead to quite dire

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consequences for the inquiry? not think so. I think we have got a

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bit but scaremongering here. I did not think anybody does not believe

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that we have not got savings to be made in policing. Is it just

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scaremongering? I do not then it is. 60,000 fewer officers, they need to

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be done, these jobs by other people in the country. By fulfilling the

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jobs in other ways, that cannot be good for anybody. Of course we must

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make savings and there are savings to be made if you look hard enough

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and that is what we have done in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,

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but this is putting pressure on people serving the community is

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daily. Do you sympathise with that London march? Did I? Yes. You are

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nothing when you say you should support the boys on the beat.

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nodding. I think we should support the police. But it is about having

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enough money. Any other public service is paid for by the

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taxpayers and it is reasonable to expect that in times of constraint,

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these police officers should not find it quite as easy as it was in

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the past. Perhaps they have got a bigger pension contribution and a

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lot about a public service his hat. It does not mean that we should not

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have any scope for reduction and Now our regular round-up of the

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Big changes on the M4 motorway. The transport ministers said we should

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be able to drive on the hard shoulder when it gets busy. We will

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get a brand new line and we will be using the asset. The road got

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clouded -- crowded this week. Police protesting against caps.

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When I call the police I want to understand that somebody is

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actually coming. And across the region, public sector workers on

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the picket line, striking because of plans to reduce pensions will

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stop a I will have to work longer and pay more --. I will have to

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work longer and pay more money. cost of public sector pensions has

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gone up by one-third. And the cost of aircraft carriers continues to

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rise faster than the vertical take- off of aircraft that the Navy has

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A lot of protest this week. What do you think of the public mood at the

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moment? I think morale is very depressed. If we talk to people

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from a range of industries, they think that the pressure is biting.

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I was disappointed I could not have been on the march yesterday because

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I would have been supporting the Hampshire contingent. On the public

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sector pensions, as the Government got to face that down? So it

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appears. The cost of public sector pensions has been shooting up. That

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is the cost falling on the taxpayer. And when times are hard, we have

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got to make sure people make a bigger contribution. I think that

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is where people are complaining because they have got to pay more

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because they are living longer and pensions are therefore going to

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cost more and it they do not contribute more, the taxpayer does.

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His David Cameron the man to do it? I have always been a great

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supporter of the man as Prime Minister, yes. And that continues?

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Of course, gets it. I am not. know! What about the aircraft

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carriers? You only have to watch some of the media interviews that

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David Cameron has done. He does not know if he is coming or going.

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word to you. When the facts change, then a sensible and prudent

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government can change opinion and that is what has happened. That is

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