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The Look North Debate

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Nowhere has been hit harder by the economic crisis than here, the

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North East and Cumbria. Two years of austerity has cost tens of

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thousands of people their jobs and put the squeeze on family incomes.

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Where will the jobs of the future come from? And can we find the

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skills - and the entrepreneurs - to get this region's economy back on

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track? I'm Victoria Derbyshire - welcome to the Look North Debate.

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Hello. Our audience this evening comes from right across the North

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East and Cumbria - and each has their own story to tell about the

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economic crisis. Unemployment in the North East fell last month, but

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it's still the highest in Britain. It's particularly tough for

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youngsters with one in ten on the dole. But there's another group -

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the over 50s - who fear they may never work again. I have worked

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here for 37 years. Never thought for one minute I would be finished

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at the drop of the hat. There was another 125 people on the same day.

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You think, "All them years "and it just took a minute. It is not a

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good time to look for a job. Every Thursday I meet with the lads that

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were finished the same day as me. You need it to keep you going. They

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are in the same position as you and they need help just as much as you.

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The job offers aren't there. They are telling you to look for work.

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There's thousands upon thousands doing the same. Where do I go? The

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last interview I was at, there were two other young lads there. They

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looked like two school kids. What I want to know is, am I on the

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employment scrapheap? Alan, you can relate to what

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happened to Eddie? Yes. I was sacked by AEI Cables, a minute's

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notice. How many minutes? minute. I was told, "You are

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finished, there's your letter, leave the premises now." It was

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called a CVA, which you will be finding out a lot more of in the

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near future. Do you feel you are on the scrapheap? I do. I'm a single

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parent. I'm finding it hard to get a job. I would love a job. My house

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is paid for. I was saving up for the biggest holiday of my life when

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I got to 65. Eddie, you are 61. You had worked there for 37 years. What

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is it like when that is taken away from you? It is such a shock. You

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don't expect it. At least if they are going to sack you, you would

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think they would do it in a better way, like, have some morales and

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explain why. There was nothing. Some might say you are about to

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reach retirement anyway? Unemployment is at a 17-year high

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at the minute. They are wanting to sack people at the drop of the hat.

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They want to make it easier for employers to sack people. They want

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to make it easier put more on the dole, which is a strain on the

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economy. All I can hear is, "We have to find jobs for the youth."

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There's thousands of people my age who haven't got a job. James is 23

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and you are a qualified bricklayer. How long have you been out of work

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for? Just under three year. many jobs have you applied for in

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that time? A couple of hundred. Have you had an interview?

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Nothing? No. I have had a work trial and that was it. That's all I

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have had. Do you think it is worse for you, or for gentlemen like Alan

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and Eddie? I can understand his point where he's coming from. What

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can we do? We have no support from the Government, have we? Especially

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people my age. Mickey, you would say you were at the end of your

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tether? Definitely. I'm a bricklayer as well. I have been

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applying for ten jobs nearly every day, going down London. I have

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given myself six to eight month. I'm going to go to Australia, I

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think, if I can't get no work. If I do get work, it is only for a

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couple of weeks. I cannot get my own place because there is no work

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at all. You would consider leaving this country and going thousands of

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miles... I'm going to. If I haven't got a permanent job, I have got my

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visa so it will happen. You can't blame him. He hasn't got a choice.

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The worst thing is, you end up in situation where you have a 23-year-

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old sat there who can't get a job, who has been trying for three years

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already. These older guys here who have still got a good few years

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work left in them and, again, they think that that is it, life is over

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work-wise. There is no way we are going to be able to keep youth like

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that in this country if they can see a future like this. Let us

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retire early at 60 and give the jobs to the youngsters. It would be

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a better country to live in. This country is going to the dogs.

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me as well, I already know people in Australia that have got work

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there and they are getting twice as much more money as me labouring and

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I'm doing a trade here. I cannot make a living. How will he get a

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job with no experience? You cannot get one. Particularly with me, I

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feel as if there is too much competition. If I haven't had a

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foot in the door work, there is them who have had over 20 years'

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experience, who will they take? will be cheaper! That is the honest

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truth. He is right. Last year I applied for a job. The foreman told

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me 380 people had applied for that one job and within two months the

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company went under. He is right what he is saying there. There's

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that many people applying for jobs. You cannot get a decent job. What

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do you do? I run a food bank. is a food bank? We provide free

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food to people who find themselves in a position where they can't

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afford to feed themselves. But that goes across society. We have single

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guys like these guys here who come in. They might have spent their

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dole money chasing after a job in Berkshire, you know, they come back,

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they have got no dole money or food. The gents on the end there, we have

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older people who have been made unemployed, they have been sacked

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and suddenly, their electricity bills go through the roof,

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everything else goes through the roof. The benefits stay down there

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and they are finding they have a choice - do they pay the bills or

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eat? Do families pay their mortgage or do they eat? Tracy, are you

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facing those choices? Yes, my partner works but he is unemployed

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at the minute. The work he does, there is no work. We are having to

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go on benefits. You use the food bank? Yes. We have to. What do

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people think about the fact we live in one of the richest economies in

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the world and we have a food bank operating? You can't be proud of

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that, can you? This has been - the North East had an unemployment

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problem for a lot of years. food bank has only been going for

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three weeks? We are now trying to find a way out of the recession. We

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have to create the jobs for these people to work. What do you think

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of the fact there is a food bank operating in Darlington? I'm from a

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charity in Stockton and Sainsbury's provide us with food parcels for -

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basically, it is an open-door policy. People from the local

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hostels, homeless people... What would happen to these people if...

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They would come and get... They would do crime. It is that bad, the

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ones at the bottom have got nothing and they are having to beg for food.

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How is the private sector going to pull the public sector out when you

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are paying the public sector workers off? In terms of why there

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is a problem, particularly perhaps regarding private versus public,

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Keith tell us why this region has the highest unemployment in the UK?

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It's had the highest rate for some considerable time. It's become a

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cliche, but there are lots of job opportunities lost in a narrow set

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of industries - coal, steel, shipbuilding - and the region never

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discovered. -- the region never recovered. The region has always

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been playing catch-up. In the last few years, the austerity drive from

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the Government has led to hundreds, thousands of public sector workers

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being made redundant? One of the measures that the Government

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brought in to address this issue was to locate some Government

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departments within regions like the North East to try to soak up some

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of this unemployment. That has created a dependency on the public

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sector. One in three jobs are in the public sector. The North East

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is suffering disproportionately. Had the Labour Party won the last

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election, that Government would have been making similar cuts in

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the public sector? Absolutely not. Yes, we had a huge recession and

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yes, there needed to be cuts to the public sector. But what this

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Government is doing is it is not only cutting too far and too fast -

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because we need growth we cannot cut our way out of the crisis. It

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is cutting the wrong thing. It is cutting the Future Jobs Fund.

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would have cut jobs in the public sector had you won the last

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election? We had to make some cuts... Hang on. What is causing

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the problem here is the level of cuts and the fact also because we

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have lost 23,000, 32,000 public sector jobs but also 8,000 private

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sector jobs in the years since the election. That is because the

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private sector is not being invested in to grow. James, are

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these public sector jobs a price worth paying? It is very dangerous

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to start using language like that. Why? No, no... What lies behind

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jobs figures are individuals who are trying to make the best of

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their lives. What we all have to do is get the economy in the North

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East up and running again. There are a lot of good signs to the

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North East economy. It has a long way to go. Unemployment fell by

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11,000 in two months. Corus is creating jobs. We have a long way

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to go. But some of the positive signs are there. We have to

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encourage private sector growth. We will come back to you. Well,

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with 53 people chasing every vacancy in parts of the North East

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it seems incredible that some businesses can't find the staff

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they need. But that's the case at I have been in manufacturing for 48

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years. In 2000, we were turning over �4 million. In 2005, we bought

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the business. This year, we will be doing �15 million. We are involved

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in defence, pharmaceutical equipment, you name it we have been

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involved in it. I feel a great deal of pride. We have achieved a lot.

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We are adding something to the economy in the North East and the

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country as a whole. We could be taking on 20 skilled people

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tomorrow, but we can't get the highest skilled people that we need

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and the result of that is that we have been turning business away.

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Media Studies, health, leisure, beauty, those degree courses are of

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no interest to me whatsoever. None of the degrees have been focusing

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on manufacturing. My key question is what is the education system

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going to do to accelerate the availability of skilled people to

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support my growth of my business? Are you producing the wrong

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trainees from Gateshead College? Peter can't take on the skilled

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workers? I know. I understand what Peter's problem is. Tell us, what

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is it? Why can't you solve it? have heard a bit of discussion

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going around. The interesting thing about the North East - the North

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East has always been - the very thing that Micky talked about - the

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thing that happens in the North East when you can't find work, what

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do you do? You leave. Then when you get an upsurge in the way Peter has,

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he has not got the high-end workers. It takes two or three years to

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train those people. Also, the other problem is that people aren't

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taking on apprenticeships either. Who else is worried about the lack

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of skills or the wrong kind of skills in the region? One of the

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problems is that there has been this fetish in Government for

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having half of the population going to university and the universities

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have been selling students a lie that there's millions of jobs in

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Media Studies. That won't happen now that Nick Clegg has decided to

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raise tuition fees? We need a lot more apprenticeships. That is one

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thing that people have to realise. There's been a massive amount of no

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more apprenticeships offered in the North East. Andrew, Andrew's earned

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an apprenticeship at Caterpillar, a couple of years ago. Last year, ten

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apprenticeships available and there were 510 applicants. What is so

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special about you? How did you get it? I don't know. I was lucky, I

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suppose. I went to sixth form for two-year and aapplied for an

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apprenticeship. The company was in a position where I could be offered

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that. That is not the case for everybody. What do you do with

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those ten... We put the apprentices through a four-year programme. We

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are looking for the skills that we need. There is a shortage within

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manufacturing and we are also working in local schools to

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encourage children that manufacturing is not a dirty and

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dark and dank place to be. There's skills that you can be had. The

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earnings potential in gaining a skilled trade, you could get

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�200,000 by the time you have finished. You moved your customer

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contact centre from Gloucester to Gateshead, Robert. Why? We had two

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contact centres. We felt that the service we were getting from the

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Gateshead one was exemplary in terms of sales, absence - we find

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the North East workforce the best workforce in the country. Every

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time we take over a business, we try and create as many North East

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jobs - 175 North East jobs in the last two years. Was part of the

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decision to move from Gloucester to do with the fact it is cheaper

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here? We paid the Newcastle people more than we paid the Gloucester

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people. That is interesting. Are you worried about the lack of

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skills? Yes, moving forward, one of the statistics I'm familiar with -

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there's only 10% of the companies in the manufacturing engineering

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sector in the North East. There's 4,800 of them take apprentices on.

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So we sort of - we reap what we sow, really. If we don't invest, we

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won't have the skills. If you look at offshore on Teesside, there's

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zero unemployment in offshore skills. We are employing foreigners

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to come and do jobs on Teesside. Offshore didn't have the foresight

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to train and educate. That is absurd. There are people here who

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could do those jobs but you have to bring foreigners in? I would like

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to pick up on a couple of the points from over there. A question

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to the economist is, why don't we attract and what is wrong with our

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reputation that we don't attract more blue ship plcs to come to the

:17:46.:17:51.

region? Nissan, the most production car plant in the world - we operate

:17:51.:17:57.

on Teesside, we have a fantastic workforce. We have still got this

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stigma, this reputation that the North East is a dull place to work.

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Our football team has struggled! have to invest in the future. One

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thing we cannot do. This is where we sometimes fall down. We don't

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have the infrastructure. We can't build roads or motorways. We can't

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build those world-class projects, so that is all I ever want

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Government to do. I don't want Government to support me in

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training, I don't need that. I can't build a motorway. So when we

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:18:40.:18:41.

are saying, "Hell us" we don't want major help. We -- are saying, "Help

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us", we don't want major help. problem that we have is that when

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we are facing significant cuts in public services, we do need to look

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at the investment there is in this region in terms of infrastructure,

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whether it be road, rail, what other links to the rest of the

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country. No-one bats for the North East. Keith, where are the jobs of

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the future going to come? If only I knew. That is why we have booked

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you! I know. I think it's - to pick up on some of the the other points

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- it is about Government creating the conditions within which the

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jobs can be created. Companies aren't looking for hand-outs, they

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are looking to draw on a stock of reasonably well-educated people

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that they can train for the specific disciplines that relate to

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their business. Rather perversely, at this time of economic difficulty,

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the Government is investing less. So if a company like Amazon wanted

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to come to this region, completely outbid and outfought by Scotland

:19:53.:19:56.

which has all of the infrastructure to take thousands of businesses

:19:56.:20:03.

north of the border, the region is missing out. It is very important

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because we all go out and sell the North East. All too often the

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national picture that is presented of the North East is the negative

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story. There are a lot of skills and great companies. There are good

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roads and good infrastructure in this region. When East Coast Trains

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closed a call centre in Newcastle and moved it to Mumbai a

:20:29.:20:33.

Government-run train operating company, they moved the workers to

:20:33.:20:35.

Mumbai the Conservative Government done nothing about it at all.

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Nothing about it at all! The point I'm making is... I have to say

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there is a lot that Government can do. It is important for

:20:52.:20:57.

Government... There is a lot they can be doing. Would the Labour

:20:57.:21:00.

Party require that call centre to re-open now if it was in

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Government? I bet it wouldn't. It set it up as an arms-length

:21:06.:21:10.

organisation. The Labour Party believes in active Government.

:21:10.:21:14.

Answer the question. Would you make that Government-controlled company

:21:14.:21:19.

re-open that call centre? You are going to privatise it anyway!

:21:19.:21:22.

Exactly. You can't answer for the industrial policy of this

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Government now and you can expecting me to answer in three

:21:26.:21:34.

years' time? I left school in the '60s. The biggest apprenticeship

:21:34.:21:39.

pool was in the British Coal, the coal industry, the shipbuilding,

:21:39.:21:44.

the steel industry, the railways and they were all nationalised

:21:44.:21:49.

companies. They just churned apprentices out for fun. Now we

:21:49.:21:52.

have privatised all these industries and they are looking for

:21:52.:22:00.

profit and money for shareholders, so apprentices, the easy way out.

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Let me ask Ian. There is speculation the Chancellor may

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scrap national pay rates, national pay bargaining so each region could

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work out its own pay for public sector workers which might bring

:22:14.:22:18.

their pay down so the private sector would be able to match it.

:22:18.:22:24.

Would that be a good idea? You need flexibility. I know colleagues like

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the big bulk bargaining power. If you want to be flexible, the people

:22:29.:22:32.

that are successful in business are the ones that can move, can change,

:22:32.:22:38.

people can retrain, get into new jobs. They survive. Should it be

:22:38.:22:42.

easier to "hire and fire"? should be. Why? People will take

:22:42.:22:46.

the risk. Not sure how long this job is going to last, but I will

:22:46.:22:51.

give it a go. I can only look at best three or four months in

:22:51.:22:55.

advance so am I going to guarantee somebody a job for life? That

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employment legislation... You can't do it. That is hampering

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businesses? Far too easy to dismiss people in this country already. We

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have some of the weakest employment rights anywhere in Europe. I think

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it is appalling we have got engaged in a debate that says someone who

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does a job in Newcastle that is exactly the same as someone who

:23:14.:23:18.

does a job in another part of the country should be paid a lot lower.

:23:18.:23:22.

What we are doing is accepting this area as a low-wage economy if we go

:23:22.:23:26.

down that line. That is bad for all of us. APPLAUSE Is it not true that

:23:26.:23:30.

it is more expensive to live in the South East so why should you not be

:23:30.:23:35.

paid a little bit more in the South East? You will subdue economic

:23:35.:23:41.

development throughout the whole range. How? You are taking out

:23:41.:23:46.

money from the economy. You are saying people in the north are

:23:46.:23:52.

worth less than those in the south. No, you are not. Had I been asked

:23:52.:23:57.

about it, I would have said I had some concerns about getting rid of

:23:57.:24:02.

national pay bargaining. If it is going to be done, we have to make

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sure it doesn't hit the North East unfairly. I will speak for myself.

:24:06.:24:09.

You can speak for your union members! It is an important point

:24:09.:24:14.

that we need to see investment in this region, we need to see people

:24:14.:24:19.

spend the money they earn in this region. The Government is

:24:20.:24:23.

increasing the lower tax threshold... James, thousands of

:24:23.:24:30.

public sector jobs have been sacrificed on your Government's

:24:30.:24:35.

austerity measures. People who were losing their jobs because they have

:24:35.:24:39.

very few rights... Can I ask you, Craig, why is it fair that the

:24:39.:24:43.

average wage for a public sector worker in the North East of England

:24:43.:24:48.

is 11% higher than the pay for a private sector? Why is it fair?

:24:48.:24:53.

you do the same job, you should get the same pay. That is not happening.

:24:53.:24:57.

If you accept this principle, it is the same as the nonsense argument

:24:57.:25:01.

the Government puts forward in terms of pensions. If you attack

:25:01.:25:05.

public sector pensions, no-one will have pension provision. We have

:25:05.:25:09.

businesses all over the UK. It is a fact in private business life in

:25:09.:25:12.

the South East we have to pay our managers more than we do in the

:25:12.:25:16.

North East. Our North East managers are better. It is a fact of life to

:25:16.:25:21.

retain those people, I have to keep them more. The only way for the

:25:21.:25:24.

North to get back on its feet - and end its reliance on the public

:25:24.:25:28.

sector - is to grow more new businesses of its own. But have we

:25:28.:25:31.

got the entrepreneurs ready to take on that challenge? Well, not

:25:31.:25:41.
:25:41.:25:45.

everyone's attempt to start their We had a sandwich shop in Gateshead.

:25:45.:25:50.

We took it over, we did really well for a while. You buy in the correct

:25:50.:25:54.

foods and whatever. But because there's a recession, people aren't

:25:54.:25:58.

willing to pay that price. We noticed people taking sandwiches to

:25:58.:26:03.

work as opposed to calling into the shop. And because of that, we had

:26:03.:26:09.

to close it down. Standing here it feels really depressing. All that

:26:09.:26:14.

time, all that energy put into the business and for what? This is

:26:14.:26:17.

Darren, my partner. He is running a building business. The construction

:26:17.:26:21.

industry has been hit hugely. Now we are getting to the point you are

:26:21.:26:25.

using your savings. Once that has gone, that will be the end. We have

:26:25.:26:29.

already had one failed business. We have another one on the brink. We

:26:29.:26:33.

need to find out what is the help out there for the likes of us and

:26:33.:26:37.

if it can happen to us, it can happen to all these other

:26:37.:26:42.

businesses around here. Darren, Valerie, how much have you

:26:42.:26:49.

got left in savings? Less than two grand. That is it. If work doesn't

:26:49.:26:56.

pick up, we will have to close it. We find - we have a building

:26:56.:27:00.

company and people aren't spending the money, or they want you to keep

:27:00.:27:07.

the price so tight that you can't make any money. So the balance is

:27:07.:27:11.

you are giving more out than you are getting in. When that two grand

:27:11.:27:15.

runs out, then what? Tell me. don't know. I have already asked

:27:15.:27:20.

the question, but apparently in this country if you try and do it

:27:20.:27:23.

yourself, and you try and look after yourself, you think you will

:27:23.:27:27.

have a safety net. We have paid our taxes for years and years. When you

:27:27.:27:34.

go for the help, it is like, "You are claiming benefits?" No. "I'm

:27:34.:27:40.

sorry, we can't help you." What are we supposed to do? That is the same

:27:40.:27:45.

for you? Yes. I work for a charity full-time. I have a 16-year-old

:27:45.:27:50.

daughter and I want to send her to uni. I'm doing business management.

:27:50.:27:56.

I do - I would like to have my own business, eventually. There's lots

:27:56.:27:59.

of worries. I'm really stretched now. I have paid for my course as

:27:59.:28:05.

well. I don't get any help there. I don't understand why there is not...

:28:05.:28:11.

You help yourself and you don't get any help? No. People are on

:28:11.:28:16.

benefits and they don't work. They get everything paid for them. In

:28:16.:28:21.

actual fact, I would be better off on benefit. That is what we said.

:28:21.:28:26.

understand why people on benefit stay on benefit. I tell you the

:28:26.:28:30.

difference, you know that every week or every two weeks, that is

:28:30.:28:39.

going to happen. However low it is. The likes of us, we just don't have

:28:39.:28:45.

that. I see people in this position every day. They have taken on

:28:45.:28:49.

mortgages they can't afford, or businesses that go under. They

:28:49.:28:52.

never thought they would be in a position where they would have to

:28:52.:28:55.

look at benefits. Unfortunately, the recession is hitting, but the

:28:55.:29:00.

Government is taking �18 billion out of the welfare benefits system

:29:00.:29:04.

and that is going to hit people who are just above the edge. People who

:29:04.:29:08.

are on benefits will find it difficult to get off benefits

:29:08.:29:17.

because the margin to get a job is not there. Yvonne has been waiting.

:29:17.:29:22.

What happened to your jewellery and accessory shop in Maryport?

:29:22.:29:27.

opened it up five-and-a-half years ago. Initially, it was very, very

:29:27.:29:32.

good. Then, unfortunately, when Northern Rock collapsed, it hit

:29:32.:29:37.

Cumbria because they invested in it as well. It literally sliced the

:29:37.:29:47.
:29:47.:29:47.

economy. You could literally see it cut in two. What did your

:29:47.:29:52.

accountant say to you? He said, "Shut the shop!" Simple as that?

:29:52.:29:57.

Simple as that. You are going under. I knew. I mean, I have been in

:29:57.:30:02.

business since I was 21. I have always been self-employed. The last

:30:03.:30:07.

business that we had was in the last recession and that went

:30:07.:30:12.

bankrupt and we lost our home, we lost everything. Literally, we had

:30:12.:30:16.

to live in the middle of a field. Now it's happened again, how does

:30:16.:30:22.

that make you feel? I'm really sad. I'm more sad for the fact that - I

:30:22.:30:26.

don't feel I have let myself down. I feel I have let the people that I

:30:26.:30:32.

have grown to like in the shop down. I went into something - I knew

:30:32.:30:36.

there was something wrong and I thought I have to find a gap.

:30:36.:30:40.

Michelle, let me ask you about your business. You set up a business in

:30:40.:30:46.

the middle of the recession, two years ago. I did. What was the

:30:46.:30:52.

thinking there? I'm thinking, "Was I a fool?" My business is luxury

:30:52.:30:56.

lingerie, I had the option to do standard lingerie or luxury. I went

:30:56.:31:00.

for the luxury market. We are exporting to 14 countries. We are

:31:00.:31:03.

based in Gateshead. I'm so proud of being from the North East. We need

:31:03.:31:08.

to look at some of the positives about living here. I have been

:31:08.:31:14.

given a hell of a lot of support from Gateshead Council and the

:31:14.:31:18.

University of Northumbria. How is the business doing? It is doing

:31:18.:31:25.

really well. I need to thank all of my students who have helped me get

:31:25.:31:32.

by. I have been to the job tenner. My business is run by me and two or

:31:33.:31:39.

three of the in -- I have been to the Jobcentre. My business is in

:31:39.:31:49.

run by me and two or three of the students. What is frustrating you

:31:49.:31:55.

at the moment, Jalf? There are fantastic opportunities. There are

:31:55.:31:58.

always opportunities in the recession. You need to find the

:31:58.:32:02.

right product for the right market. If you are forward-thinking, you

:32:02.:32:08.

could still make a successful business. In order to fund it, the

:32:08.:32:11.

Regional Development Agency has gone, the small loans guarantee

:32:11.:32:16.

scheme, which was in existence a few years ago, that's gone, and the

:32:16.:32:19.

Banks aren't giving any money regardless of how good your

:32:19.:32:23.

business plans are. They have said blank to the restaurant industry

:32:23.:32:28.

they are not borrowing at all. We could create jobs and create new

:32:28.:32:31.

businesses but we don't have the means to do so. James, the

:32:31.:32:35.

Coalition Government has been putting pressure on banks, it is

:32:35.:32:41.

not happening in the North East? Some banks are looking at whole

:32:41.:32:48.

sectors of commerce and saying, "We are not going to lend to

:32:48.:32:52.

restaurants." Why don't you have a word? Talk to the Bank managers?

:32:52.:32:58.

are aware of what the problem is. We have to facilitate it. You are

:32:58.:33:04.

right. There are huge numbers... Who runs the country, the Banks or

:33:04.:33:09.

the politicians? The politicians don't run the Banks. Everything is

:33:09.:33:14.

arms-length but it is our money. is. There are huge numbers of

:33:14.:33:17.

entrepreneurs in the North East and across the country who want to do...

:33:18.:33:22.

Why are you laughing? The previous Government's policy was to be at

:33:22.:33:28.

arms-length when we were offering support, we set up the RDAs...

:33:28.:33:33.

couldn't make the Banks lend either, let's be honest? They would be

:33:33.:33:38.

saying the same. We would have much... She would be saying the

:33:38.:33:46.

same. It is like a game of tennis! If you were in power, it would be

:33:46.:33:52.

the same thing. You would be blaming him. I have to say if you

:33:52.:33:56.

believe that, if everyone believes that no Government makes a

:33:56.:34:03.

difference, that is the reason why we get the... It is our fault!

:34:03.:34:07.

last four years of your power, you were no better, if not worse, than

:34:07.:34:11.

the Tories are at the moment. had the Future Jobs Fund which

:34:11.:34:16.

would have given jobs to these people. We had the National Health

:34:16.:34:21.

Service... Hang on a minute. Phil? I don't want a party political

:34:21.:34:27.

argument. The Bank loans go beyond restaurants. We are in a

:34:28.:34:31.

manufacturing industry. We have suppliers in our supply chain that

:34:31.:34:37.

can't buy raw materials to supply my factory. We are a very solid

:34:37.:34:42.

business. We is suppliers that can't buy steel. I have to say,

:34:42.:34:48.

with the Banks, I went with an order book of �26,000 of orders and

:34:48.:34:54.

said, "I have these orders. If you give me the money, I can supply

:34:54.:34:59.

these orders." "Sorry, we are not going to give you the money." So

:34:59.:35:09.
:35:09.:35:10.

those orders went. That is crazy. I want to bring you some research.

:35:10.:35:14.

Experian say the North East has the highest number of young small

:35:14.:35:19.

companies with the potential to grow and create new jobs. They call

:35:19.:35:23.

these companies business champions. Newcastle and Middlesbrough are in

:35:23.:35:26.

the top ten local authorities for business champions. Steve, you run

:35:26.:35:34.

such a company. What is it? Basically, we put high-resolution

:35:34.:35:39.

graphics on shutters, shop shutters, or basically any shutters. When the

:35:39.:35:46.

shuts are down, companies can advertise? Yes, it can be used as a

:35:46.:35:49.

cost-effective form of advertising, or just to brighten up - our

:35:49.:35:54.

mission statement is to brighten up Britain. OK. Keith, are you upbeat

:35:54.:35:59.

because of this research? I wish I was. There are clearly some great

:35:59.:36:04.

examples of these companies, but if they believe that they have found

:36:04.:36:09.

the formula to identify growth companies, that is the Holy Grail

:36:09.:36:15.

of economic development. Sadly, I don't think that is going to be the

:36:15.:36:19.

case. One of the reasons why the region has come out well is because

:36:19.:36:24.

there has been a little bit of an upsurge in new businesses starting.

:36:24.:36:28.

The business base is so small that relatively it looks as if there's

:36:28.:36:32.

lots of new young businesses, but it is also a reflection of the fact

:36:32.:36:36.

there aren't that many businesses in this region. OK. There's plenty

:36:36.:36:43.

of empty shops... Can I say, instead of having party political

:36:43.:36:49.

argpts full of -- arguments full of bluster, why don't the parties get

:36:49.:36:54.

together, get those guys into work, in some form, get that guy's

:36:54.:36:58.

business going again, promote this region, do what they can for this

:36:58.:37:05.

region, get this guy apprentices. If they acted like adults, they

:37:05.:37:15.
:37:15.:37:18.

would do some good. Well said. APPLAUSE Thank you, Craig. We are

:37:18.:37:23.

One NorthEast! I would like to end with some final thoughts from the

:37:23.:37:28.

three people we featured in our short films. Really to get your

:37:28.:37:32.

thoughts about how you are feeling about your future, Eddie? I haven't

:37:32.:37:38.

got a future. Not in work. There isn't anything there. They can

:37:38.:37:42.

argue as much as they like. Unless they find the jobs and the jobs are

:37:42.:37:48.

there, you have had it. Peter? can correct one thing that was said

:37:48.:37:52.

before about not investing in apprentices. Our business invests

:37:52.:38:00.

very strongly in apprentices. We have 10% of our workforce who are

:38:00.:38:05.

apprentices. Are you optimistic about the future? Generally,

:38:05.:38:10.

optimistic. Valerie? I think it's - there is nothing worse than being

:38:10.:38:14.

on these programmes and you have different political parties

:38:14.:38:18.

fighting. Get together and put it right. We have a great country.

:38:18.:38:23.

Thank you very much. APPLAUSE And that's about it from us, we're out

:38:23.:38:26.

of time. My thanks to everyone in our audience and to you at home for

:38:26.:38:30.

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