0:00:13 > 0:00:1512 years ago, as a new millennium beckoned,
0:00:15 > 0:00:17I travelled across Britain
0:00:17 > 0:00:21to meet people in some of the country's most hard-pressed communities.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29These were the early years of Blair's Britain.
0:00:29 > 0:00:31TONY BLAIR: A new dawn has broken, has it not?
0:00:34 > 0:00:36And for most of us, the official story was of hope.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44It was the longest boom in British history.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47No return to Tory boom and bust.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51But my journey took me into another Britain,
0:00:52 > 0:00:56to places that seemed forgotten, in the new age of prosperity.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Among people who felt they belonged to another nation.
0:01:01 > 0:01:07Talked about by politicians, but whose own voices were rarely heard.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11It's soul destroying and there's really no other alternative to it.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13It is. It destroys you.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16And they would turn out to be
0:01:16 > 0:01:19some of the most powerful voices I'd ever encountered.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21I'm not a pawn and I'm not a number.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24I'm a man. I'm a human being and they will never,
0:01:24 > 0:01:25ever take my dignity from me.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29In the 12 years since I made that journey
0:01:29 > 0:01:31the world has been transformed.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37With Britain struggling to emerge from the deepest recession
0:01:37 > 0:01:40since the Second World War, I want to see how the people who
0:01:40 > 0:01:43made such an impression on me back then are coping today.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Last week, I went back to rural communities in Wales and Cornwall.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Country houses - you knock and then you can go in.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Tonight, I'll be returning to the cities.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00In Glasgow, I'm going back to the shipyard workers, who'd fought
0:02:00 > 0:02:04to stop decades of industrial decline and save their jobs.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09In Leeds, I'll return to families who lived on a housing estate
0:02:09 > 0:02:11blighted by crime and drugs.
0:02:12 > 0:02:1612 years on, I want to find out what's changed for the people
0:02:16 > 0:02:20and places that felt like part of a Forgotten Britain.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25- You don't worry that you're a dinosaur?- Dinosaurs lived for 250 million years.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28If it hadn't been for the meteor,
0:02:28 > 0:02:31the dinosaurs would still be running the world.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36I feel quite nervous, you know, about meeting these people.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38I feel quite nervous about meeting them.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02So much has changed in the 12 years since I was last in Glasgow.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Difficult to believe, looking up this river.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09The last time I was here, it was, like, the life
0:03:09 > 0:03:12and the colour had drained out of the place.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16And if you look around me now, you've got concrete and glass,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20millions upon millions has been spent here, and it's still going on.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23And I suppose the big question for me is, with all of this money
0:03:23 > 0:03:27and changing the face of the place, what's happened to the people
0:03:27 > 0:03:28that I knew then?
0:03:34 > 0:03:37Theirs was a story defined by the struggle for work.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Britain was booming.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46But in the Glasgow district of Govan, unemployment was three times
0:03:46 > 0:03:48the national average.
0:03:50 > 0:03:51'Next station, Govan.'
0:03:55 > 0:03:57John Brown was one of the lucky few back then -
0:03:57 > 0:03:59he had a job in the Govan shipyard.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05And his passion for the right to work was absolute.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10Like his father and grandfather before him,
0:04:10 > 0:04:13John had worked in shipbuilding all his adult life,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17joining the yard as an apprentice welder aged 21.
0:04:17 > 0:04:18What do I want out of life?
0:04:18 > 0:04:21I want a job, I want some money in my pocket at the end of the week.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24And I want my kids to get an education that means
0:04:24 > 0:04:25they can have a better life than me.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36In its heyday, the yard employed over 9,000 workers
0:04:36 > 0:04:37from the local area of Govan.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45But like the rest of British manufacturing,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47the modern story of shipbuilding was of decline.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53By the millennium, the shipyard employed less than 1,400 men.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03And when I arrived at the yard 12 years ago,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06it looked as if the remaining jobs were about to vanish.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10The Norwegian owners were quitting shipbuilding.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16John Brown, married with two small children,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19contemplated what was, for him, the abyss of life on benefits.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25I tossed and turned for nights on end, trying to wonder
0:05:25 > 0:05:27how I was going to get out of this problem.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Eh, that was my greatest worry, was actually keep a roof over my head.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I mean, that's a basic right, that's a practical thing.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36How am I going to keep a roof over my head?
0:05:36 > 0:05:38How am I going to clothe my children?
0:05:40 > 0:05:42The union campaigned and compromised.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47In a historic battle that went all the way to Downing Street,
0:05:47 > 0:05:48the yard was saved.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55But the price was several hundred redundancies.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Amid the celebrations, John Brown learned his job was gone.
0:06:02 > 0:06:0512 years later, I've come back to see what's become of a man
0:06:05 > 0:06:09who believed so passionately in the dignity of work.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15- John Brown.- Good to see you again! How are you?- I'm good.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19- That's Charlotte, my wife. - Hello, nice to meet you. How are you?- I'm fine, thanks.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21- Good to see you. Excellent. - In you come.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26- Fergal, this is my eldest son, Gavin.- How are you doing?
0:06:26 > 0:06:27And my youngest, Callum.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30How you doing, guys? What age are you now?
0:06:30 > 0:06:3116 and 14.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33They were only wee when you were first up here.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36They weren't aware they were on television then.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41- I have a 16-year-old son, as well. - Yeah, well, you'll know what I'm going through, then!
0:06:41 > 0:06:42Yes!
0:06:43 > 0:06:46So, this is the home, and how are you yourself?
0:06:46 > 0:06:48I'm not too bad. You're looking good, though.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53I'm looking good and I feel good, despite the intervening 12 years.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- Which have been eventful. - So much has happened.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59'I wanted to know how John
0:06:59 > 0:07:03'and his family felt about what had happened back then.'
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Oh, God, no! Now, don't laugh at any of this, right!
0:07:08 > 0:07:10'I take home pay on day shift,'
0:07:10 > 0:07:11£200 a week.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15That's hardly an excessive wage. But it keeps my head above water.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18'I can get a Chinese takeaway once a month
0:07:18 > 0:07:21'and a couple of bottles of beer out of the supermarket once a week.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23- 'That's my treats.' - That's his luxuries!
0:07:23 > 0:07:25So many people said to me
0:07:25 > 0:07:27that that was the line that really struck in their head.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31God! It's a luxury to get a Chinese takeaway once a month
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and a couple of bottles of beer.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36It's true. I'm only on £300 per week now.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39So there you go! And that's 12 years.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46John faced the prospect of finding work in a city which had lost
0:07:46 > 0:07:50over a third of its manufacturing jobs in the previous decade.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53First of all, let me say one thing.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55I'm one of the ones out the door on Friday.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Last night was an agony for me, and this is even worse.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04And I'd just like to say, on a personal vein,
0:08:04 > 0:08:06it's been 17 years in here.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09It's been a big part of my life, an important part of my life,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and I'll be sorry to leave youse.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15I was... I was crumbling into dust at that point, inside.
0:08:17 > 0:08:18I'd just had enough.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25- One of our workmates killed himself during that campaign...- Did he?
0:08:27 > 0:08:30..because he thought he was getting made redundant.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36John was on an emotional rollercoaster.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Then his fortunes took an unexpected turn.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42My manager just came over to me
0:08:42 > 0:08:45and says, "John, can I speak to you?"
0:08:45 > 0:08:50He says, "John, three guys have volunteered to take their redundancy.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52"You've been chosen to be saved."
0:08:53 > 0:08:55I'd completely forgotten that.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02That's...I even know the guy who done that.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05- Who took voluntary? - Who took voluntary and saved my job.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12Where else would you get that, but in a working-class community?
0:09:12 > 0:09:16"I'm going to take my redundancy and help somebody else in doing it."
0:09:16 > 0:09:18It's incredible.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19And that's what ordinary people do
0:09:19 > 0:09:21when they're in that sort of situation.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24'We're, hopefully, going to get a future.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'I think that's a tremendous achievement.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31'It's a victory. It's a victory been won at a cost.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34'And I, for one, will not forget the cost.'
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Watching it all these years later, what did you think?
0:09:37 > 0:09:39I used to be much older, then.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40I'm younger than that now.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Bob Dylan, My Back Pages.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45- Bob Dylan, seeing myself. - You never even like Bob Dylan!
0:09:45 > 0:09:46Aye.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50What a rollercoaster.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55It was hellish - that time, it was absolutely hellish.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59It was like getting punched in the face, right?
0:09:59 > 0:10:00That's what it was like.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03I've been punched in the face, so I know what I'm talking about!
0:10:03 > 0:10:06It was like getting punched in the face
0:10:06 > 0:10:10and then getting a bucket of ice-cold water thrown on you.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12And then somebody giving you a cheque for £100.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16It was extraordinary. It was unbelievable.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I mean, I was 15 minutes from going out the door.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24And then, bang, somebody's went, "You can stay."
0:10:26 > 0:10:29John's job had been saved on that day.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32And the yard had survived, too, for then, at least.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37Men like John and his colleagues, who'd fought to keep
0:10:37 > 0:10:41the shipyard open, knew what lay on the other side of the gates.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51The Govan of 12 years ago was one of Britain's poorest areas,
0:10:51 > 0:10:54devastated by the nation's industrial decline.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Without the 60,000 jobs that the shipyards on the River Clyde
0:11:00 > 0:11:02had once offered, work was scarce.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09'I'm sort of wondering what it is like, day after day after day,'
0:11:09 > 0:11:12year after year, to go without work?
0:11:14 > 0:11:19It's soul destroying and there's really no other alternative to it.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21It is. It destroys you.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26Davie McCuish was one of Govan's unemployed.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31The son of a shipyard worker, when I met Davie, he'd been
0:11:31 > 0:11:34out of work for five years, after a succession of part-time jobs.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42Davie had three small children and struggled to feed
0:11:42 > 0:11:45and clothe them on benefits.
0:11:45 > 0:11:46'What do you feel as a man,'
0:11:46 > 0:11:49being unable to provide for your family?
0:11:50 > 0:11:51Pretty disgusted.
0:11:51 > 0:11:57I look at my family and I think... why, why can't I do this,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00why can't I do that, why can't they have better things,
0:12:00 > 0:12:05why can't they have a decent meal rather than frozen, pre-packed?
0:12:11 > 0:12:15Davie was the first man in his family to live on benefits.
0:12:15 > 0:12:17He was only 39, but spoke like someone who'd
0:12:17 > 0:12:19long outlived his purpose.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25You just become a total degenerate. You're nothing in the community.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28You're not even a number any more, you're a barcode.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35The last time I saw Davie, I'll never forget what he said.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38He says, you know, "You're not a human being, you're a number.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41"You're not even a number, you're a barcode."
0:12:41 > 0:12:43And I don't think I ever met anyone, anywhere, who really
0:12:43 > 0:12:48got across to me the humiliation of being long-term unemployed.
0:12:53 > 0:12:54Hello, long time no see.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Jeepers! How are you, man?
0:12:57 > 0:12:59- Not bad.- I'll get you in in a wee second,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01just after I get these barriers down.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03So you're not a customer here?
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Afraid not, I wish I was.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07You're working here?
0:13:07 > 0:13:08Yes, I'm working here now.
0:13:08 > 0:13:09Fantastic.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I can tell you this much, you haven't aged.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16I could probably say the same about you.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19- You've put a bit a beef on, though. - I did, put a bit on.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22Funnily enough, you're not the first person to remark on that!
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Do you want a seat? Have a seat.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26I'll take a seat, indeed, I will.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29So this is... this is your place of work.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30It is, yeah.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Because I suppose, when I met you, with all due respect,
0:13:33 > 0:13:39- you were probably propping up the bar, rather than working behind it. - Yes, aye. I'm doing both now!
0:13:39 > 0:13:43OK, but you're paying for the drink with the money you earned,
0:13:43 > 0:13:44rather than benefit.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Hard-earned! Give me just a wee second.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Aye, go on.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56It's not everybody's cup of tea.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58Not everybody wants to be pouring pints.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01A lot of people would say to me,
0:14:01 > 0:14:04"Aye, but you only earn peanuts working behind a bar."
0:14:05 > 0:14:07So what? I'm earning.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11I'm comfortable in my job.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18It's really clear to me, when I watch you moving around
0:14:18 > 0:14:23this bar, that here's a man whose whole physical presence is different.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25You know, you're not a beaten dog.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29- No.- With all due respect, that's what you looked like the last time.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30Yep. And that's the way I felt.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35In fact, I felt lower than a beaten dog. However, now I know
0:14:35 > 0:14:40I am somebody and I know I'm capable of doing anything I put my mind to.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Davie's a changed man.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47And in some respects, so is Govan.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53They've done a really good job of the houses.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55What used to be a wee single ender...
0:14:57 > 0:15:02..a wee two apartment, is now being knocked together
0:15:02 > 0:15:05and made, like, three apartments with running hot water.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07Inside toilets.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Nearly £300 million has been spent trying to regenerate the area.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20And yet Govan is still one of the most deprived areas in Scotland.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25A quarter of business premises are still vacant here.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30The big truth about a place like Govan is that it needs jobs
0:15:30 > 0:15:33to keep it alive and to stop the corrosive effect
0:15:33 > 0:15:36unemployment can have on families who live here.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41When I last spoke to you, it was at your home.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44You don't live there anymore?
0:15:44 > 0:15:46No. Erm...
0:15:47 > 0:15:50My wife and I parted company, not on the worst of terms.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55But unemployment had a lot to do with it.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Erm, because it put a lot of strain on our relationship.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Davie and his wife separated when his son, Danny, was seven.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09I think it was the stress of not being able to support them
0:16:09 > 0:16:13and not being able to give them what I felt they deserved.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19I felt as if I was letting them down constantly.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23I'd lost all faith in myself as a person
0:16:27 > 0:16:29How did that play out in the relationship?
0:16:29 > 0:16:33It led to a lot of arguments, a lot of frustration.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35A lot of temper tantrums.
0:16:37 > 0:16:38In front of the children?
0:16:38 > 0:16:45No. Very rarely. I would try and avoid that.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Sometimes it just got too hot that I couldn't stop
0:16:48 > 0:16:51myself from moaning and bawling and whatever.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56And they obviously picked up on that, so they would feel hurt.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03'And that, I think, was the biggest downfall in my days, then,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07'was the hurt I could see in their faces.'
0:17:08 > 0:17:10I'll see you in the morning.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17I was only a wee boy.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21I don't remember being sad all the time,
0:17:21 > 0:17:25but when I was in the house I didn't like it.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27There was a few things I did catch,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29that I'd like to forget at some point.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Davie's son, Danny, was five years old when I last met him.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42His father was out of work for most of his childhood.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45What was he like, then?
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Wasn't very nice. Wasn't very happy at all. Ever.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54I don't think I even seen you smile, up until I was about 11.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00I'm not disagreeing with that. Because I wasn't a happy person.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04It wasn't a happy lifestyle.
0:18:04 > 0:18:05Angry, depressed.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08I don't want to embarrass you here,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12but I wonder when you hear that description of what it was like...
0:18:12 > 0:18:14I've heard it that many times.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17I can't deny that it's been a part of me.
0:18:17 > 0:18:23Um... The sheer frustration, the anger inside me.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27My family was an easy target.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I couldn't get to the people I wanted to get,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32who were the employers, who just ignored you completely.
0:18:35 > 0:18:36I hated you.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41But that all changed.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46What changed him? You clearly love him now,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49I can...you can feel that between you.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Probably working. When he was working, he was always happier,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57he was always there.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00If you needed anything, he was willing to help.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02I think it's the England game.
0:19:02 > 0:19:03Are you proud of him now?
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Aye. Definitely.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Hey, a smile!
0:19:12 > 0:19:13I always smile.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20'It's one of the greatest things that any dad can hear is
0:19:20 > 0:19:23'any of their kids actually admitting that.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29'Working doesn't just give you the satisfaction of having a job,'
0:19:29 > 0:19:31it brings a lot of other things into perspective.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36I think it improves your person.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44After years of being out of work, Davie took the job he could get.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47It wasn't glamorous or high paid, but it gave him back
0:19:47 > 0:19:51his self-respect - and healed his relationship with his son, Danny.
0:19:51 > 0:19:52INAUDIBLE
0:19:57 > 0:19:59On my journey across Britain 12 years ago,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02it wasn't just Govan where I'd found families caught in the crisis
0:20:02 > 0:20:04caused by long-term unemployment.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16I'm on my way back to Lincoln Green,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19a 1950s housing estate on the edge of Leeds city centre.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28When I was last here, Leeds was one of the most economically
0:20:28 > 0:20:31successful cities in the country. It had the second lowest
0:20:31 > 0:20:34unemployment total of any city in the UK.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43But Lincoln Green was worlds apart from the prosperous city centre
0:20:43 > 0:20:44a few streets away.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55Like many high rise estates,
0:20:55 > 0:20:57it was blighted by poverty and crime.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04There's no angels live in this area, Fergal,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07but it really did, you were invaded with it.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11You were frightened to go to the shop in case your door got kicked off.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14I mean, mine's have been kicked off umpteen times.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Back then, Lincoln Green felt like a community under siege.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22All the old people that used to live in the flats,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24the noise drove out.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27And more and more, we started seeing strangers,
0:21:27 > 0:21:28then it invited more crime.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35A Glaswegian, Liz Craig knew well the struggles of life here.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Her son was in jail and she was helping to raise his three children
0:21:40 > 0:21:44surrounded by boarded-up flats and drug dens.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46But she was determined to stay.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49I want to stay because I like it here.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51I might be grasping at straws, but...
0:21:53 > 0:21:57I think, I think we could be a community again, like we used to be.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59I think we could make a community again.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Liz's family were the last occupants of maisonettes
0:22:06 > 0:22:07listed for demolition.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13She hoped to see the children grow up in a better Lincoln Green.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17OK, it might be fruitless, but I've hung on for two-and-a-half years
0:22:17 > 0:22:22after all, everybody's left, because I'm personally hanging on to dreams.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26When I'd left Lincoln Green 12 years ago,
0:22:26 > 0:22:28Liz's maisonette was set to be knocked down.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37I've discovered that Liz died five years ago.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41But I'm curious to know what's happened to her grandchildren,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45especially Shane, a boy I remember as sensitive
0:22:45 > 0:22:46and close to his grandmother.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Shortly before her death, Liz had moved into this new council home
0:22:51 > 0:22:53on the estate, with her daughter-in-law, Gaynor.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58- Hello. How are you?- Hello.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00- Hello, Gaynor.- Long time no see. - Good to see you, god.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02- You OK?- I'm great. Absolutely.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05Apart from a few grey hairs.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08A few - a lot of grey hairs. Should I dye it?
0:23:08 > 0:23:10- How are you? Who's this fella?- Bailey.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12- Hello, Bailey.- And this is Marley.
0:23:12 > 0:23:13And Marley.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17'Bailey and Marley are Liz's great-grandsons.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20'Shane's mum, Gaynor, keeps watch over the extended family.'
0:23:20 > 0:23:23- Hello.- Alyshia, how are you, nice to see you. How are you doing?
0:23:23 > 0:23:25- I'm all right, thanks.- All right.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28- Shane.- Jeepers, have you changed?
0:23:28 > 0:23:30You were a kid the last time I saw you.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Shane was ten when I first met him.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38He's 22 now, and a father of four.
0:23:38 > 0:23:39No, I'm not leaving youse here.
0:23:45 > 0:23:47- Careful.- Careful, mind your heads.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53'His eldest daughter, Anyia, is five, his son, Bailey, is 18 months,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55'and he has twin girls in between.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00'12 years ago, his own dad was in jail.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04'And he's back there now for a violent crime.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07'I wondered how Shane was managing without his grandmother Liz's
0:24:07 > 0:24:08'strong presence.'
0:24:15 > 0:24:17'He took me to visit her grave.'
0:24:18 > 0:24:21She meant a great deal to you?
0:24:21 > 0:24:22Yeah, more than I can describe.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29I miss her loads. I don't know.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32She's the only person I ever really talked to about stuff.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Shane was embarrassed at the state of his grandmother's grave.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42It shouldn't be like this.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Well, you can come up and do some work with it, can't you?
0:24:46 > 0:24:48I used to come and just bring my hedge trimmers and that
0:24:48 > 0:24:49and cut it all down.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52What I want to do is, when I get the headstone,
0:24:52 > 0:24:53I'm going to lay the stones down,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57cos her favourite colour were dolphin blue, so I'm going to
0:24:57 > 0:25:00have something like that put down with the dolphin blue stones in.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07As a child, Shane's grandmother, Liz,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10and mother, Gaynor, raised him, while his dad, who had
0:25:10 > 0:25:13a history of drug addiction, was in and out of prison.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18On the Lincoln Green where Shane grew up, long-term unemployment,
0:25:18 > 0:25:20hard drugs and crime were endemic.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Across Britain in the late nineties, the number of people who
0:25:25 > 0:25:27died from drug use went up four-fold.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Shane's grandmother, Liz, had seen her own sons caught up
0:25:32 > 0:25:34in heroin addiction.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40I've seen so much despair, heartache and death and sorrow,
0:25:40 > 0:25:41just in a few hundred yards.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48My own two sons, you know, I never thought I'd live to see that day.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52And it was something that they tried to hide well.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55But, you know when you've been down that road before?
0:25:55 > 0:25:59I buried two brothers, you know, you can...
0:25:59 > 0:26:00- From drugs?- From drugs.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Shane's life was shaped by the support of his grandmother
0:26:06 > 0:26:08and mother.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11But there was a great absence - a father frequently in jail.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16You didn't have a father around for most of when you were growing up.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21Even when he was around, he's only been out for a year at a time.
0:26:21 > 0:26:26I used to play football, and when I used to go to football, all my friends would have their dads
0:26:26 > 0:26:29there watching them, and it would just be me and my grandma, you know.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35'Shane was 16 year's old when his grandmother, Liz, died.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39'His own life went off the rails soon after.'
0:26:39 > 0:26:43After my grandma died, a year or two later, I...
0:26:43 > 0:26:46made a few bad mistakes, I went down the wrong road, you know.
0:26:46 > 0:26:53I got, em, started getting into, got into the heroin trade
0:26:53 > 0:26:57a little bit when I was out of school and then I realised that...
0:26:59 > 0:27:00Were you dealing or using?
0:27:00 > 0:27:03No, no, I weren't using, I were selling it.
0:27:03 > 0:27:04I'm not proud of that.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07- Did you get caught? - Yeah, I went to jail.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Shane was sent to a young offenders' institute.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17He'd grown up in a place where drugs and crime were rife.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26The estate has really changed for the better.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Crime is down by nearly a quarter.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36The squats of drug addicts have long ago have become family homes.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44But has Shane been able to escape the legacy of his past?
0:27:44 > 0:27:45I'll be back to find out.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53From Leeds to Govan, this is a story about work
0:27:53 > 0:27:56and the struggle for self-respect.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04I'm drained, I'm exhausted. I've been through the wringer.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07But I'm just glad I've got a job and a place I like working
0:28:07 > 0:28:10with people like working with, and I'll put all this behind me.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18John Brown and his friends seemed to have won
0:28:18 > 0:28:21a great battle at the shipyard 12 years ago.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27In their fight to save the yard, the men embodied
0:28:27 > 0:28:31the centuries' old motto of Govan - "Without work, there is nothing".
0:28:35 > 0:28:37But what had happened to the shipyard itself
0:28:37 > 0:28:39since I last visited?
0:28:39 > 0:28:41Back then, the yard had been granted what
0:28:41 > 0:28:44I thought was probably a stay of execution.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49In a Britain where heavy industry was dying, where would
0:28:49 > 0:28:53the orders come from to guarantee a longer-term future?
0:28:55 > 0:28:58What none of us could have imagined back then was how global events
0:28:58 > 0:29:00would reverberate here in Govan.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10The Royal Navy wanted ultra-modern ships to operate alongside
0:29:10 > 0:29:13the US Navy in conflict zones across the world.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Under new owners, BAE Systems,
0:29:24 > 0:29:28there were orders for six new hi-tech destroyers.
0:29:30 > 0:29:35And then, the biggest contract in naval history - two colossal aircraft carriers.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42It's absolutely awesome.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48When I was last here 12 years ago, the idea that they would be
0:29:48 > 0:29:52working on this Leviathan, it wasn't on the cards.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56Staying open and getting by with whatever small-scale shipping work
0:29:56 > 0:29:59you could get was the idea.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03If it wasn't for defence, then this place would've been sunk.
0:30:06 > 0:30:11It is a sight beyond the hopes of the man who led the workers
0:30:11 > 0:30:14back from the brink of disaster 12 years ago.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17APPLAUSE
0:30:17 > 0:30:19CHEERING
0:30:21 > 0:30:24BAGPIPE RECITAL
0:30:24 > 0:30:26I would like to hand you over
0:30:26 > 0:30:30to the most genuine guy I've ever met in my life.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Jamie Webster! APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:30:33 > 0:30:39Back in 1999, Jamie Webster was the union convener of the shipyard.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43He was also one of the most determined men I'd ever met.
0:30:43 > 0:30:48We are the best. And that's the conviction we have for each other.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Jamie is still the union leader here.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02That's the big block from the aircraft carrier.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05We can just see it there, look, poking out. It's a mighty sight.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07Yes, that's a very minuscule part of it.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09Right back to the end of the tank shop.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13When that comes out it'll be a frightening sight, awesome.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15We build really good ships on the Clyde.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17I'd say we build the best ships on the Clyde.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19That's why they call it Clyde-built.
0:31:23 > 0:31:28But for John Brown, who fought so hard to save the yard,
0:31:28 > 0:31:30there was a cruel blow.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32In 2002, two years after I last filmed here,
0:31:32 > 0:31:35despite the new contracts,
0:31:35 > 0:31:39nearly 150 men, including John, lost their jobs.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43When they actually did pay me off,
0:31:43 > 0:31:45in a way, there was a finality about that.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49That was, "Thank Christ, that's the end of that nightmare."
0:31:49 > 0:31:52BELL RINGS
0:32:02 > 0:32:03Of course, little did I know
0:32:03 > 0:32:06another one was about to unfold, actually trying to find a job.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14John went on a succession of government retraining schemes.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18From proud worker to a man on benefit.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21John was out of work for a year.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25The big man from the shipyard
0:32:25 > 0:32:28eventually got work as a teaching assistant
0:32:28 > 0:32:30in a class full of ten-year-olds.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35John told me how his days out of work challenged his identity.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38What did it do to you psychologically to be out of work?
0:32:40 > 0:32:41It broke the major plank -
0:32:44 > 0:32:48the arc that made up my edifice of my personality.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51It smashed the arch. It was very difficult to rebuild it.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56- Were you depressed during that period?- Yes. Yes, I was.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00How did that manifest itself?
0:33:00 > 0:33:02A bit quieter, a bit more withdrawn.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Bad tempered. It got me into trouble.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10- Yes. I didn't want you to bring that into the family home.- Yeah.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14Thanks, at least, in part, in a large part, to Charlotte,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17I didn't give in to it. I couldn't afford to give in to it.
0:33:17 > 0:33:21If I...if I had sat in the back of a darkened room
0:33:21 > 0:33:23and threw a towel around my head
0:33:23 > 0:33:26and cried myself to sleep every night, nothing would have changed.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28I'd have become a victim.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32And I am absolutely determined that I don't become a victim.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46But John's life would take another extraordinary turn.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50One day, there was a phone call.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54When BAE Systems rang you up and said, "Come back to work,"
0:33:54 > 0:33:56what was your reaction?
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Apart from trying to hold down a laugh,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03what I thought was, basically, they must have had a list, right,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05and I had been at the bottom of that list.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10And because they didn't have enough skilled workers,
0:34:10 > 0:34:12they've been forced to call me back.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25It must have been pretty difficult for them to phone up the guy
0:34:25 > 0:34:28who was the biggest pain in the arse they'd ever had.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37When you walked back in through that gate, what did you feel?
0:34:37 > 0:34:40It was like pulling on an old pair of drawers. It was just like that.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43It was as if I'd never been away from the place.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Seriously, it was the same smells,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48the same noises, the same patter, the same sights.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Everything was exactly the same.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54I kept saying to myself, "Have I been out of here for two years?"
0:34:58 > 0:35:03Today, after being made redundant, then rehired by BAE Systems,
0:35:03 > 0:35:05John is still at the shipyard,
0:35:05 > 0:35:08working on the giant aircraft carrier.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11- Well, welcome to my world. - Ha-ha-ha! What a world it is!
0:35:14 > 0:35:17John now works in a quieter part of the yard
0:35:17 > 0:35:19and needs to take regular breaks.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23Because four years ago, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25a disease of the nervous system.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30This area where you are working, what's it called?
0:35:30 > 0:35:32It's the steel outfit shop, SOS.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35- It has a number of other names. - Like what?
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Pet's Corner, and the best one, Cripple Creek.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Cripple...! Pet's Corner. Why?
0:35:42 > 0:35:46There's a lot of guys in here with various different restrictions,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48due to health or accidents
0:35:48 > 0:35:51or getting back to work after a period of illness.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56It's a community!
0:35:56 > 0:36:00I get a bit of feedback, I get constantly slagged, I get provoked.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02What do they slag you about?
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Er...having MS and being a pain in the arse and useless.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09- You take that?- Of course I do!
0:36:09 > 0:36:11I mean, there was a thing...
0:36:11 > 0:36:13You know how MS can be quite debilitating, right?
0:36:13 > 0:36:16The boys know that, as well. They do things like
0:36:16 > 0:36:20putting my chair in a puddle and kid on I've wet myself, right?
0:36:24 > 0:36:26John jokes about his illness,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29but his last relapse left him unable to work for a month
0:36:29 > 0:36:32with a paralysed shoulder.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37- Do you find yourself getting more tired more easily nowadays?- Yes.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42About 2:00 in the afternoon, 2:30, I call it the brick wall.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44But I just absolutely bang into it.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47And after that, I'm really...
0:36:47 > 0:36:51I'm flying on fumes, to tell you the truth, to the end of the shift.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54That's one of the reasons I've had to give up one day a week
0:36:54 > 0:36:56and only work four days a week.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00I'm clinging on in here by my fingertips
0:37:00 > 0:37:03and I'll do it until I can't do it any more.
0:37:13 > 0:37:14What do I want out of life?
0:37:14 > 0:37:18I want a job, I want some money in my pocket at the end of the week
0:37:18 > 0:37:20and I want my kids to get an education
0:37:20 > 0:37:22that means they can have a better life than me.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32John is one of the last of a generation who entered the workplace
0:37:32 > 0:37:34believing in the idea of a job for life.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37For many beyond the shipyard gates,
0:37:37 > 0:37:41getting even a start in employment nowadays is proving difficult.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52RADIO: Last month, Scotland's jobless total fell by 12,000.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55But youth unemployment remains stubbornly high,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58with around one in five young Scots currently jobless.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04When Davie McCuish went looking for work,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07he had no qualifications and spent years on the dole.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15A decade later, his son Danny left school at 16
0:38:15 > 0:38:17without passing any exams.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21Two years on, Danny still has no job.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26When you were growing up along this river,
0:38:26 > 0:38:28there was the dream for you
0:38:28 > 0:38:31- of following your father into the shipyards.- Yep.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33- Now, it didn't work out.- A-huh.
0:38:33 > 0:38:37I'm just wondering what dream there is for Danny, your son,
0:38:37 > 0:38:39when all that industry is gone?
0:38:39 > 0:38:42What is there for Danny to aspire to?
0:38:42 > 0:38:45I'm sure there must be something for him. There must be.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52He's just got to find that niche and grab hold of it.
0:38:55 > 0:38:57And hopefully, he'll find it soon.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02I really sense you're worried this boy
0:39:02 > 0:39:06is going to drift and drift and end up like you were.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10I'm not letting him go until I know that he's absolutely bang on.
0:39:17 > 0:39:18It is strange, I do miss him,
0:39:18 > 0:39:22but you've got to cut the apron strings at some point.
0:39:22 > 0:39:27Danny has moved out of Govan to live in Falkirk, 30 miles away.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29Davie's still keeping an eye on him.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33He's not a hundred million miles away.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37So he knows that I'm still there, if he needs to get a hold of me.
0:39:37 > 0:39:39I'm only a phone call away.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43The local authority has given Danny a flat
0:39:43 > 0:39:47that he shares with his girlfriend Louise, who's also unemployed.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52Davie's visiting Danny for the first time
0:39:52 > 0:39:55and has brought with him a housewarming gift of a new TV.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Come and give us a hug. It's all yours.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03Right, then, let's see what you've got.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06- Kitchen.- That's quite a big kitchen, isn't it?
0:40:06 > 0:40:09They gave us a brand-new cooker, a brand-new fridge freezer.
0:40:09 > 0:40:14Er...a cupboard where we stick the tins and all that. So...
0:40:14 > 0:40:15That's all right, isn't it?
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- A brand-new washing machine, too. - Cool!
0:40:20 > 0:40:24It's a two-bedroom flat, far bigger than Danny expected.
0:40:24 > 0:40:26He's got a lovely wee place.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29People would die for this at my age, never mind his age.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33Materially, Danny seems to have everything he needs.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37But I wonder what he's doing to try and find a job.
0:40:37 > 0:40:42The horrible thing is I'm seeing the same thing happen to him
0:40:42 > 0:40:44as what happened to me,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48in that he's slowl,y but surely, getting himself into a rut.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51You won't let that happen to your son?
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Oh, I certainly won't let that happen to him.
0:40:53 > 0:40:54Because he won't be drowning.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57I'll be his life jacket, if I need be.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59There's no chance he's going down, not with him...
0:40:59 > 0:41:02not without taking me with him.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07Do you ever feel like grabbing him by the shoulders and saying,
0:41:07 > 0:41:10"Wake up! It's a recession out there."
0:41:10 > 0:41:12He's still a kid himself.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15He's not fully motivated.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17I think he needs to focus
0:41:17 > 0:41:19and needs to know exactly what he wants.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24Danny says he's been looking for work
0:41:24 > 0:41:27for the last two years, since he left school.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30As Britain begins to emerge from deep recession,
0:41:30 > 0:41:33the national employment picture is improving.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36But for those young people like Danny,
0:41:36 > 0:41:41out of work for more than two years, it's a different story.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Since the recession began, their number has soared.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49In Scotland, it's gone up fourfold in the last two years.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54When you think about being unemployed and signing on,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57what does it make you feel about yourself?
0:41:57 > 0:41:59It's pretty miserable.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Sort of...soul destroying, in a way.
0:42:03 > 0:42:06Because being unemployed, you've got nothing to do.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11You find yourself being really bored.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13You don't really have a reason to wake up.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15It's not a life for anybody.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20What are you trying to do now, in terms of getting a job?
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Anything. I would take any job going.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26I'm looking in the newspaper.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28For the first time, I'm actually reading a newspaper.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Looking online, asking friends, asking my family,
0:42:32 > 0:42:34going to the Jobcentre.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36Anything I can, really.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Not only are jobs scarce, but like so many young people in the area,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Danny hasn't the qualifications to give him a strong chance.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49All the while, he's still on benefits.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52What are the financial facts of your life?
0:42:52 > 0:42:54How much do you get on benefit?
0:42:54 > 0:42:57With a joint claim, every two weeks, it's £222.90.
0:42:58 > 0:43:03To feed two people, for the bills you have to pay.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05See, people who pay tax in this country
0:43:05 > 0:43:08would look at someone in your position and say,
0:43:08 > 0:43:09"Why are we funding them?"
0:43:09 > 0:43:12"He's young, he's fit, he should be out doing something."
0:43:14 > 0:43:16Even if it's working in a fast-food restaurant
0:43:16 > 0:43:19or it's cleaning hotel rooms.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23I'd be happy to do that, but nobody would rely on me.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25They don't even give you a shot.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29They're either not hiring or they want somebody more qualified.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36At the age of 18, your father didn't have a job.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39At the age of 18, you don't have a job.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43I wonder, are you worried about turning out like him?
0:43:44 > 0:43:47There's no chance I'll ever turn out like him.
0:43:47 > 0:43:48Cos I know what he was like
0:43:48 > 0:43:51and I know what it felt like to be on the other end of it.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Danny grew up in a world of low expectations.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02I just don't know if he believes he can find a job.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04Or following such a deep recession,
0:44:04 > 0:44:07whether there will be jobs for young people like him to find.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14From April next year, Danny may face a drop in his benefits,
0:44:14 > 0:44:18as the government's £18 billion worth of welfare cuts start to bite.
0:44:20 > 0:44:25I wondered what this drive to get people off benefit, into work,
0:44:25 > 0:44:27would mean for Shane in Leeds.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29TV: David Cameron has called for
0:44:29 > 0:44:32a new debate about the welfare system and those who benefit from it.
0:44:32 > 0:44:37TV: Can life be easier for parents on benefits, than parents in work?
0:44:41 > 0:44:45It strikes me, the bigger question is, how you create a work ethic
0:44:45 > 0:44:48in the lives of young men like Shane.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54Shane had grown up on Lincoln Green under the watchful eye
0:44:54 > 0:44:56of his grandmother Liz, who died five years ago,
0:44:56 > 0:44:59and his mother Gaynor.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01Unlike the young Scot, Danny McCuish,
0:45:01 > 0:45:04Shane never really had a father in his life.
0:45:04 > 0:45:06Certainly none to act as a role model.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14Now he has four children to support,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16alongside his partner of eight years, Shikisha.
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Neither of them work and they rely on benefits to raise their children.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30I didn't plan to get pregnant, but I thought with me having this baby,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33it'd be somebody for me to, you know, look after and stuff.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38I just felt like I was just there.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42- You know, there weren't... - That you had no purpose?
0:45:42 > 0:45:47Yeah. No purpose whatsoever. I was just there. So...
0:45:49 > 0:45:51- Did the baby give you purpose? - Yeah.
0:45:51 > 0:45:56I used to tell my dad that I weren't having kids and I weren't getting married.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58And I'm still not married yet, but I've got four!
0:46:00 > 0:46:04It's a difficult question, in a way, but it's kind of an obvious one.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06In this day and age, when there's so much contraception
0:46:06 > 0:46:09and education about contraception,
0:46:09 > 0:46:11how did you manage to fall pregnant?
0:46:12 > 0:46:16- Um...- And not just once, but on several occasions.
0:46:16 > 0:46:18Um...I were careless.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23Carelessness.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25There's no excuses.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28Just careless, and, you know, young.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35Do you regret having the four kids?
0:46:35 > 0:46:38I don't regret, but I think I would've waited.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42I think I'd have preferred to have, you know, lived a bit
0:46:42 > 0:46:44and have a good job, stable home and...
0:46:47 > 0:46:50then I might, then,I think I should've had them.
0:46:54 > 0:46:58Shane and Shikisha live in a council house on Lincoln Green.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Leeds City Council has spent millions on housing here
0:47:03 > 0:47:06in the 12 years since I first came.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10There's a report that there may have been a break-in there. I'm just going to check.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14One in eight flats was empty and a haunt of drug addicts.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16The property has been emptied.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20It looks like council chipboard and sheeting
0:47:20 > 0:47:22has been ripped off the kitchen window.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26PC Tony Sweeney was the bobby on the beat back then.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31- Now, this place, I recognise from our last...- Yeah, that's right.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34He's now in a desk job.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37But still has a passion for the estate he once patrolled.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44He took me back to the tower blocks which had once been so desolate.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46This is all a sign of confidence, really,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50because people have got confidence now to come and live here.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52Police officer. Is anybody here?
0:47:55 > 0:47:58When you look at this place now, it's hard to imagine
0:47:58 > 0:48:00all the misery that went on here.
0:48:00 > 0:48:01It is. It is very much.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04You can hear the children playing in the, in the playground there.
0:48:04 > 0:48:09It's testament to, to everybody.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13Not just the police and the local council,
0:48:13 > 0:48:15but also the community, as well.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18And yes, we have had a change in communities.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21They've all had to turn around and say,
0:48:21 > 0:48:23"Enough's enough, this has got to change."
0:48:27 > 0:48:30The arrival of a new population of migrants and asylum seekers
0:48:30 > 0:48:34means the high-rise estate is almost fully occupied.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42But for all the change, unemployment remains a stubborn problem.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45The number of people on benefits has risen.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52And with Shane, I really fear he's adrift.
0:48:54 > 0:48:57I really don't want to do a job that I won't be happy with,
0:48:57 > 0:48:59because that'll just make me worse.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05But, Shane, I suppose the danger is you might wait forever...
0:49:05 > 0:49:08Not in... The way it's all... Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:49:08 > 0:49:09..for the right job, or a job you like.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12And I suppose the longer you're out of work...
0:49:12 > 0:49:14The harder it is to get into it, yeah.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Shane is a sensitive man.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25And I sense he's depressed, because he knows he's drifting.
0:49:29 > 0:49:30Shikisha is unemployed, too,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34but she hopes once her youngest children are in pre-school,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36she'll study to be a midwife.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41I think if he went out to work
0:49:41 > 0:49:44and I went out to work and you know, we come home,
0:49:44 > 0:49:46I think we'd be a lot happier.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51I think Shikisha's right, they would be happier.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54And their children would see a work ethic in action.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00It's something Shane didn't see from his dad growing up.
0:50:02 > 0:50:06We've had 50 years and more of worrying away at this question.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08And you're no nearer an answer
0:50:08 > 0:50:10to what to do with young men like Shane.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13But it strikes me that, whatever mix you have
0:50:13 > 0:50:16of coercion or encouragement by the state,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19it is a matter of individual responsibility.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22Yes, it's very tough at the moment to get jobs.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25But Shane knows if he doesn't want his son
0:50:25 > 0:50:27to grow up in the same culture,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29he's going to have to make an effort.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46For now, the sun is shining at the seaside
0:50:46 > 0:50:50as I'm joining the family for a day out.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53What do you reckon of the quality of these fish and chips?
0:50:53 > 0:50:56They're not world famous, but they're nice.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58- They'll do.- Yeah. They're nice.
0:51:04 > 0:51:08Gaynor, Shane's mum, and an entourage of friends and family
0:51:08 > 0:51:11are helping to look after the children.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14Now, you could look at this family group,
0:51:14 > 0:51:18the young on benefits, children born to teenage parents,
0:51:18 > 0:51:22Shane with his father in prison and no job himself,
0:51:22 > 0:51:26and see it simply as a picture of a so-called Broken Britain.
0:51:27 > 0:51:29But that would be a mistake.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32Because when you're with this family,
0:51:32 > 0:51:35what's striking is the care devoted to the children.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38They are at the centre of Shane and Shikisha's world.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42And I do believe Shane wants to show them something he never knew,
0:51:42 > 0:51:45the example of a working father.
0:51:45 > 0:51:48I just try to do the opposite to what he's done.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52Give my family someone to be proud of, you know.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55If I'm there for my son how my Dad wasn't there for me,
0:51:55 > 0:51:57he should have enough knowledge
0:51:57 > 0:51:59not to make the same mistakes I've made, you know.
0:52:01 > 0:52:05What would you like your kids to do?
0:52:05 > 0:52:09Get a life outside of the area, you know. Like...
0:52:09 > 0:52:11- I do like it. - I mean, it's a good area,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15I just think that it traps a lot of people, you know,
0:52:15 > 0:52:17like it keeps them in a cycle.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21And it's hard to break out of a cycle
0:52:21 > 0:52:23once you're in that routine, you know.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26Because there's more to life than council estates.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31- Is there more to your life than council estates?- Yeah.
0:52:31 > 0:52:32- Will there be?- I hope so, yeah.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35There will. I'll make sure there is, yeah.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44If Britain keeps moving out of recession, then Shane and Shikisha
0:52:44 > 0:52:48could find opportunities to change their future.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51And with benefit cuts looming, there'll be pressure on them.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55But I hope that it's wanting to do well for his children's sake
0:52:55 > 0:52:57that will really drive Shane.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02Back in Govan, there's another twist
0:53:02 > 0:53:05in the story of John Brown and the shipyard.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12The government contracts that kept it open are coming to an end.
0:53:12 > 0:53:15TV: David Cameron has said that difficult decisions
0:53:15 > 0:53:18have been made about Britain's defences.
0:53:18 > 0:53:23But this government has inherited a £38 billion black hole
0:53:23 > 0:53:25in our future defence plans.
0:53:27 > 0:53:28£5 billion of defence cuts
0:53:28 > 0:53:31and the debate over Scottish independence
0:53:31 > 0:53:34are creating a climate of deep uncertainty.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39Anxiety is spreading.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43The yard, I'm concerned about.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48The problem we have in Govan is that we are now too specialised.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53We have one product range.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56We have only got one customer, the MoD.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58The MoD is getting no money
0:53:59 > 0:54:02and it won't have any money for the next ten years.
0:54:04 > 0:54:06Darwin shows you, nature shows you,
0:54:06 > 0:54:10that it's the specialists that become extinct.
0:54:10 > 0:54:12It's the generalists that survive.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15We need to be more of a fox and less of a panda.
0:54:25 > 0:54:28I accept that our industry will be downsized.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32I think all realistic, pragmatic people realise that.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34That's across the country.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37Nobody's immune from that.
0:54:37 > 0:54:41So we can't say we're God's chosen people or something like that.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44APPLAUSE
0:54:44 > 0:54:47I know better than to doubt the determination of Jamie Webster
0:54:47 > 0:54:49and the men of the Govan Yard.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53We rose from the ashes 12 years ago
0:54:53 > 0:54:57and have had 12 really good years,
0:54:57 > 0:54:59and we're going through a bumpy ride again
0:54:59 > 0:55:01and we'll come through that again, as well.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04APPLAUSE
0:55:04 > 0:55:08In this story of work in Britain, few have more experience
0:55:08 > 0:55:12of the precarious fortunes of industry than John Brown.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16John's a complicated man,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19both intensely realistic and irrepressibly romantic.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24As a person, he's wonderfully unchanged
0:55:24 > 0:55:26by the passing of the years.
0:55:28 > 0:55:30I've enjoyed the struggle.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34I've made a lot of good friends during the struggle and along the way.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37I intend to keep that struggle going as long as I'm able.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43I love my class, and I fight for them all the time.
0:55:45 > 0:55:46And I think I always will.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53But isn't it a fact that your doctor has told you
0:55:53 > 0:55:56that if you keep doing this,
0:55:56 > 0:55:58you're shortening your life expectancy?
0:55:58 > 0:56:01Yes, it is a fact, yeah.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04If that's the case, why do you keep doing it?
0:56:04 > 0:56:06I've a family to look after, Fergal.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08I've two boys who are teenagers
0:56:08 > 0:56:11that, within a short space of time, will not be in school.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16They need money in the house to keep a family.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20You'll know yourself, you don't live on fresh air, Fergal.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26The Govan shipyard has had the best years of John Brown's life.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31But I worry about his and the yard's future.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39It's late autumn and a great section of the aircraft carrier
0:56:39 > 0:56:41is being readied to leave Govan.
0:56:50 > 0:56:54It is, for a few moments at least, possible to imagine this place
0:56:54 > 0:56:58as it was when British shipyards dominated the world.
0:57:01 > 0:57:03The last time that I left Govan,
0:57:03 > 0:57:06there was, in the yard, a real positive sense of the future.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10And it's different now.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12There's a great deal of political uncertainty
0:57:12 > 0:57:15about independence in Scotland, recession.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19This yard doesn't know if it's going to get more defence contracts.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22And so, when I'm thinking of Jamie Webster and John Brown,
0:57:22 > 0:57:26of Davie McCuish and his son Danny, all the people of Govan,
0:57:26 > 0:57:29I think these are not encouraging times.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40And yet, for all that, it's possible to leave Govan
0:57:40 > 0:57:45feeling quietly inspired by people who don't give up.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48It's the story of my entire journey.
0:57:48 > 0:57:50From the struggle for work in urban Britain
0:57:50 > 0:57:55to rural areas where tenant farmers fight to keep their way of life.
0:57:57 > 0:58:01They keep going, not because politicians tell them to,
0:58:01 > 0:58:05or just because it's what their financial circumstances demand.
0:58:05 > 0:58:12# Sitting here wasted and wounded at this old piano
0:58:12 > 0:58:14There is something more hopeful here.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17A story of a resilient Britain,
0:58:17 > 0:58:20where the deeper claims of family and community
0:58:20 > 0:58:23are not at all forgotten,
0:58:23 > 0:58:27but far stronger than I'd ever expected.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31# Baby, you're all that I need
0:58:33 > 0:58:39# I want to lay you down on a bed of roses
0:58:42 > 0:58:48# For tonight I'll sleep on a bed of nails
0:58:48 > 0:58:54# I want to be just as close as
0:58:54 > 0:58:59# The holy ghost is
0:58:59 > 0:59:03# And lay you down
0:59:03 > 0:59:07# On a bed of roses. #
0:59:07 > 0:59:09Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd