:02:47. > :02:51.Good evening and welcome to Bradford. Unemployment is close to
:02:51. > :02:57.a 17 year high, the cost of living is rising and as the Government
:02:57. > :03:02.tries to balance the books we have all grown used to cuts. What hope
:03:02. > :03:09.is there for Yorkshire's economy? We have come to the factory floor
:03:09. > :03:13.at BorgWarner, they make turbos for engines. We have with us an
:03:13. > :03:17.audience that reflects your chair's economy. And to answer their
:03:18. > :03:27.questions we have key players from the world of politics, business and
:03:28. > :03:48.
:03:48. > :03:53.banking. This is Our Economy -- The In two days it is the Budget and
:03:53. > :03:58.the Chancellor will set out his plan for the economy. Many people
:03:58. > :04:02.feel jobs that should be George Osborne's biggest priority. In
:04:02. > :04:08.Yorkshire more than a quarter of a million people are looking for work
:04:08. > :04:13.and one in five of those are under the age of 24. My name is Leanna, I
:04:13. > :04:19.am 20 and have been unemployed for the last two years. I am qualified
:04:19. > :04:25.as a youth worker, a child practitioner and I have got Level 2
:04:25. > :04:29.nail technician as well. It has been hard. Since I had my son, for
:04:29. > :04:34.the last two years I have been doing my hardest to find work. I
:04:34. > :04:39.have been getting help from the JobCentre, recruitment agencies,
:04:39. > :04:44.and I cannot find anything. At least three or four map times a
:04:44. > :04:49.week I am looking for work, handing out CVs and I have not got a life
:04:49. > :04:59.any more, it is just looking for jobs. It is getting me down because
:04:59. > :05:01.
:05:01. > :05:05.I am trying so hard but I cannot find any work. Leanna is in the
:05:05. > :05:11.audience with us tonight. First, Julia Smith, Conservative MP, what
:05:11. > :05:16.is going to be in the Budget that will help Leanna? I cannot predict
:05:16. > :05:21.the Budget, but I am looking for us much help for hard-working families
:05:21. > :05:25.across Yorkshire. As much help were businesses like the one we are
:05:25. > :05:32.sitting in today who are competing with 18 other locations across the
:05:32. > :05:37.world. And as much investment as possible for the Yorkshire and
:05:37. > :05:42.Humber region. What about young people? She seems desperate and
:05:42. > :05:45.cannot get anything. The situation for young people at the moment is
:05:46. > :05:50.very tough and everyone in Government and in opposition it
:05:50. > :05:55.recognises that. We have recently introduced the youth contract which
:05:55. > :06:00.is creating hundreds of thousands of work placements to give young
:06:00. > :06:08.people work experience. This factory, as do lots of others,
:06:08. > :06:11.employ apprentices. 67% up on last year. Hopefully these sorts of
:06:11. > :06:19.measures will give people more work opportunities, but it is very tough
:06:19. > :06:25.at the moment. You are youth worker and you were shaking your head.
:06:25. > :06:29.is at times like this I feel my rebel rising up a bit. The real
:06:29. > :06:34.issue for me is that work experience does not lead to jobs.
:06:34. > :06:38.Young people are going round and round in these revolving doors with
:06:38. > :06:45.nothing coming out. In the end it turns out it is their fault they
:06:45. > :06:52.have not got a job and it is wrong. You did work experience. What has
:06:52. > :06:56.happened to you? I was made redundant a few months ago and I
:06:56. > :07:00.contacted allayed the at the Hilton Hotels and did a bit of work-
:07:00. > :07:08.experience there. Through my hard work and determination I apply for
:07:08. > :07:15.a job and I got it on Friday. I received a job. You found your own
:07:15. > :07:20.job. Caroline Flint, you are a Labour MP, is that the way forward?
:07:20. > :07:24.For some people where experience is good and positive, but it does not
:07:24. > :07:29.work for everybody. If you are like Leanna who has got a child to look
:07:29. > :07:34.after and bills to pay, and to is not living at home, where
:07:34. > :07:39.experience is not enough in itself. We would like to see in the Budget
:07:39. > :07:46.a repeat of the bank bonus tax so we can fund 100,000 jobs for young
:07:46. > :07:51.people. To use the money for that to use paid work to get them seal
:07:51. > :07:56.work-experience. More than anything else, but big picture is we need to
:07:57. > :08:02.jobs and growth. We have seen jobs going and not being created and we
:08:02. > :08:05.have seen growth stagnating for a year. For somebody like Leanna in
:08:05. > :08:12.child care when parents are facing huge pressures on the cost of
:08:12. > :08:16.living one of the things that will go well be childcare. You told us
:08:16. > :08:20.Labour would have a screen at whether a guaranteed work and the
:08:20. > :08:25.youth contract... He is not paid work, it is just work experience.
:08:25. > :08:30.Quite a lot of schemes have been rolled out over the past few years.
:08:30. > :08:35.What do you think? You feel like you are being let down. What do you
:08:35. > :08:40.think? I feel like I'm being let down, I do not know what I should
:08:40. > :08:48.do to go any further to get a job. Do you think it is down to
:08:48. > :08:57.politicians? Yes, I do. What would you want in the Budget? What would
:08:57. > :09:01.make your life easier after the Budget? For them to put more money
:09:01. > :09:05.towards jobs for young people because there is nothing there. I
:09:05. > :09:10.have been unemployed for two years and I have been doing voluntary
:09:10. > :09:14.work and I cannot find anywhere, so there is nothing there. What did
:09:14. > :09:20.the rest of you think about the way our young people are being treated?
:09:20. > :09:24.Are we doing enough? No, I do not think any of the parties are
:09:24. > :09:30.putting a realistic proposal forward to help youth unemployment.
:09:30. > :09:34.In October I work from Jarrett down to London, which took five weeks,
:09:34. > :09:40.330 miles, and we were trying to raise the issue of youth
:09:40. > :09:46.unemployment. What is the issue of youth unemployment? Apart from the
:09:46. > :09:52.numbers, what is it that you are concerned about? There is not
:09:52. > :09:58.enough being given to youths in the way of training, in the way of
:09:58. > :10:04.apprenticeships, or any of that. These schemes just seemed to be
:10:04. > :10:08.exploiting young people. That is why we have said you should use the
:10:08. > :10:13.bank bonus to have paid employment and you also need to jobs and
:10:13. > :10:19.growth. You are a businessman and a farmer, what do you think about
:10:19. > :10:24.what you have heard? First of all, we have to encourage people to come
:10:24. > :10:29.and look for a job. We have to make it easier to get rid of somebody
:10:29. > :10:34.who does not want to do the job. When I say that I do not say that
:10:34. > :10:38.lightly. You can only help someone from a position of strength.
:10:38. > :10:43.Businesses need their help so they can help the younger people and the
:10:43. > :10:48.more vulnerable in society and we are not doing that. There is not
:10:48. > :10:52.enough commonsense in Government to approach these problems. We will
:10:52. > :10:58.have a chat in a moment. I know you cannot go into what is in the
:10:58. > :11:02.Budget, but one of the things that has been mooted is a national pay
:11:02. > :11:08.award whether civil service will be divided by a cost of living in
:11:08. > :11:12.different areas. In Yorkshire it might fall. Is that likely? It is
:11:12. > :11:17.something we should be looking at, but as a Yorkshire MP I would like
:11:17. > :11:22.to see what those proposals are before commenting. Is it a good
:11:22. > :11:28.idea? We should be looking at every opportunity to attract jobs to
:11:29. > :11:34.Yorkshire. So you are from Unison union. What do you think about the
:11:34. > :11:38.idea? Reflecting the standard of living in different areas. I heard
:11:38. > :11:45.Vince Cable talking about this yesterday and justifying it on the
:11:45. > :11:48.basis that it looks like giving more flexibility, allowing local
:11:48. > :11:54.employment agencies to recognise the different costs of living in
:11:54. > :11:57.different parts of the country. The there is enough flexibility within
:11:58. > :12:03.the existing pay and grading structures in the public sector to
:12:03. > :12:07.be able to deal with recruitment and retention. It is an attack on
:12:07. > :12:13.public sector pay and that will damage our economy in Yorkshire.
:12:13. > :12:17.it about making the public sector more attractive? If you are in the
:12:17. > :12:23.public sector and have a guaranteed weight, you are not going to go to
:12:23. > :12:28.a private sector? What do you think of the idea? Businesses employ
:12:28. > :12:34.people, not Government. The media have got a lot to do with us, I am
:12:34. > :12:41.sorry to say. I have got three manufacturing clients, I am in
:12:41. > :12:43.marketing and advertising. 4th they can barely cope with the workload
:12:43. > :12:47.and are exporting their products which they make in Dewsbury and
:12:47. > :12:52.they are looking for more apprentices and they are not
:12:52. > :12:55.getting Government help. You are in recruitment, what do you think
:12:55. > :13:01.about what we have said and this disparity in what people are paid a
:13:01. > :13:06.nationally? This is not a new problem. When the Labour Government
:13:06. > :13:11.came in in 1997, Tony Blair came in on a ticket where he was going to
:13:11. > :13:17.get a quarter of a million off the streets and into work. Go for it,
:13:17. > :13:22.Tony. It is a problem that has been with us year upon year. Then used
:13:22. > :13:27.to be radical rethinking about this. I believe we should have a much
:13:27. > :13:31.closer liaison between school and work. Work should not be a dirty
:13:31. > :13:37.word for people in school. They should bring down the school-
:13:37. > :13:41.leaving age, not put it up. It is a little bit more complicated because
:13:41. > :13:48.what about companies that are looking to expand, but he cannot
:13:48. > :13:54.get the right staff. This is Tayub Amjad's story. I am Tayub Amjad and
:13:54. > :13:58.I have been running Zouk for the last five years in Manchester. It
:13:58. > :14:03.has been fantastic, we have had one of our best years ever because
:14:03. > :14:08.there are still customers out there. Maybe they do not spend as much or
:14:08. > :14:13.go out as often. We are looking at growing and expanded as a business,
:14:13. > :14:19.but the biggest issues we have is finding the right people for those
:14:19. > :14:23.jobs. Although you hear there is a lot of unemployment in the news,
:14:23. > :14:29.the skill set is not there and the training those people need has not
:14:29. > :14:33.been given to them. It is frustrating that if the Government
:14:33. > :14:39.does not step in and do something, as businesses we have to take the
:14:39. > :14:47.lead. We are looking at opening our own training college where we can
:14:47. > :14:53.train chefs and front of house staff bought our own expansion. --
:14:53. > :15:00.for our own expansion. He is with us this evening and we will hear
:15:00. > :15:05.from him in a few moments. First, you are an employer, is that
:15:05. > :15:10.something you recognise? Yorkshire economy and generally in
:15:10. > :15:15.the UK it is recognised there is a mismatch between what the children
:15:15. > :15:20.are taught at school, the kind of courses they are advised to take on,
:15:20. > :15:26.the intelligence is there and that data is there. What I want to know
:15:26. > :15:31.from politicians is why is it that these are mismatched policies, why
:15:31. > :15:35.are we encouraging students to go to university and take these
:15:35. > :15:43.courses when we know they are going to end up and not have the skills
:15:43. > :15:48.to go to employers have to employ them? This is that the crux of our
:15:48. > :15:54.debate today. It was infuriating last week when Tesco was castigated
:15:54. > :15:59.for their scheme. Working in Tesco, shelf stacking with the foremost
:15:59. > :16:03.logistics firm in the world would have been a great experience for
:16:03. > :16:10.young people. We need to keep these real-life experiences to our young
:16:10. > :16:18.people. Part of the problem at the moment is a lot of people are
:16:18. > :16:22.presenting and not with those interpersonal skills. Are these
:16:22. > :16:27.people going into these businesses without the personal skills we
:16:27. > :16:32.need? We are not doing enough with technology or with the soft skills,
:16:32. > :16:36.those things that employers want. There was a report that said we
:16:36. > :16:44.should do more to give employers what they want, rather than target
:16:45. > :16:51.You are putting young people off further education. You have trebled
:16:51. > :16:59.tuition fees, got rid of the E M A, belittled the occasional
:16:59. > :17:04.qualifications. If you go onto the education website and look at work-
:17:04. > :17:08.related learning, after two years, they say they are devising policy.
:17:08. > :17:12.You have let down young people and after two years they are getting
:17:12. > :17:18.nothing. What about the increases in apprenticeships in this region
:17:18. > :17:24.since the coalition? 70 apprenticeships in this factory, at
:17:24. > :17:30.friendships across the region, how do you account for that? That is a
:17:30. > :17:35.small minority, very highly skilled people. It is academics, this
:17:35. > :17:38.country have got a good academic structure but if you're not willing
:17:39. > :17:45.to go through the structure, go to university, there is nothing for
:17:45. > :17:50.you. It is great in Rotherham there is a highly skilled engineering
:17:50. > :17:57.work area to be built but they are for highly skilled people, people
:17:57. > :18:01.at university. There's nothing out there if you don't go to university.
:18:01. > :18:07.What do you think about what to have heard, you have been ruled out
:18:07. > :18:11.of higher education? It is a difficult thing in getting to that
:18:11. > :18:18.stage. You are led through the school system, normally from a
:18:18. > :18:25.young age people say do you want to go to university, and as you get
:18:25. > :18:31.higher up in the system, then you see the other side, there are other
:18:31. > :18:37.options you can take and since the coalition came in, and tuition cuts,
:18:37. > :18:44.you get put off. You really do. I got put off going to university. I
:18:44. > :18:49.thought I would not go. It led to meet not getting in because I did
:18:49. > :18:54.not believe I could. Your films started us off, how many people
:18:54. > :18:58.apply for jobs and how many are suitable? We get quite a few people
:18:58. > :19:05.applying for the jobs. When they turn up for interview is another
:19:05. > :19:09.thing. And how many are suitable? Not a lot. It is good sending
:19:09. > :19:14.people to university but not everyone needs to go. We need to be
:19:14. > :19:19.working closely with businesses, schools, colleges and businesses to
:19:19. > :19:26.see what skills they need. And that is the way to get rid of
:19:26. > :19:33.unemployment. It is right but it's not a trade-off between university
:19:33. > :19:38.or further education. We need all of those skills at all those levels.
:19:38. > :19:43.If I look it energy and low carbon is the future, there are all sorts
:19:43. > :19:47.of jobs from people putting solar panels on the roof to the offshore
:19:47. > :19:54.wind farms and carbon capture. The Yorkshire and Humberside, there's
:19:54. > :19:59.huge potential but there has to be a... You said you would like to set
:19:59. > :20:03.up a training college to meet your business needs, other businesses in
:20:04. > :20:10.the restaurant trade in Bradford would also benefit from that. What
:20:10. > :20:15.are we doing to assist you to do that? And making sure we are doing
:20:15. > :20:24.that in other areas. The regional growth fund, people are awarded
:20:24. > :20:30.money but are not getting it. And the future jobs front was cancelled.
:20:30. > :20:36.In this whole debate we tend to lose the point at which is that we
:20:36. > :20:41.must raise the productivity levels across all sectors and what's so
:20:41. > :20:46.alluring for politicians and the media and the business support
:20:46. > :20:51.sector is they all want to go for the top companies, Tesco, Asda and
:20:51. > :20:55.multinationals but the family companies, the small companies,
:20:55. > :21:01.they are too busy creating wealth, nobody it connects with them,
:21:01. > :21:07.please connect with them. You have abandoned the Business Link, that
:21:07. > :21:12.was the political philosophy gone stupid. As you are suggesting, we
:21:12. > :21:18.have heard people believe small and medium businesses are the key to
:21:18. > :21:21.the recovery in the economy. The BBC research shows an entrepreneur
:21:21. > :21:31.spirit in Yorkshire with thousands setting up new companies. But do
:21:31. > :21:31.
:21:31. > :21:41.they get the support they need? My name is Bernie, I run a business.
:21:41. > :21:46.I employ eight people. We have cleaned the theatre, and restored a
:21:46. > :21:52.number of large males. Cleaning and restoration is what we are about.
:21:52. > :21:55.Today, we are back at the University of Bradford, finishing
:21:55. > :22:05.off be cleaning and restoration of the buildings around the principal
:22:05. > :22:06.
:22:06. > :22:11.entrance. From 2010 to 11, our sales doubled. On three occasions I
:22:11. > :22:20.went to my bank to say, I could do with a short-term increase in my
:22:20. > :22:27.overdraft to cover wages and material purchases. I did say, an
:22:27. > :22:32.extra 5,000 for five days. The response was know. Currently it is
:22:32. > :22:38.as bad as it has been in my experience. A because you have a
:22:38. > :22:44.triple whammy, if it isn't regulation and HMRC, it is the
:22:44. > :22:54.banks. It is the burden on the back of small businesses that makes it
:22:54. > :22:59.extremely difficult to move forward. Bernard Coleman is with us. We have
:22:59. > :23:04.somebody hit, Martyn Kendrick from one of the top banks. I do not
:23:04. > :23:09.think the future is currently with the existing banks. Most are
:23:09. > :23:13.secretly insolvent, and they do not have the resources or inclination
:23:13. > :23:18.from my judgment, to back small businesses. Backing small
:23:18. > :23:21.businesses is complex, 12 years ago most clearing banks got rid of
:23:21. > :23:26.their experienced managers because they found they could make more
:23:26. > :23:30.money in the City of London. We now face a situation with a huge
:23:30. > :23:36.financial black hole and no bank currently in my opinion is capable
:23:36. > :23:41.of tackling the job. There is merit in the Vince Cable merits --
:23:41. > :23:46.proposals to set up a regional bank, it would be worthwhile and some
:23:46. > :23:52.form of loan guarantee scheme from the government may be used for.
:23:52. > :24:02.Martyn Kendrick. The Merlin scheme was designed to get money out to
:24:02. > :24:04.
:24:04. > :24:10.small businesses. The five banks failed. Perversely, eight out of 10
:24:10. > :24:18.lanes and request for credits are agreed. -- interestingly. The
:24:18. > :24:26.Aquino is I have a team across Yorkshire, and 90 it relationship
:24:26. > :24:29.with managers. When a customer wants credit, to insure we support
:24:29. > :24:36.the customer in their application for credit to move the business
:24:36. > :24:45.forward. It's about investing and sustaining businesses. But Burnet
:24:45. > :24:52.is desperate to make his company work -- Burnet. All the reports
:24:52. > :24:59.show they are loads of companies -- companies in the same boat. 80% of
:24:59. > :25:05.loans and requests we agree, 20% we don't. The tipping point is... It
:25:05. > :25:14.wouldn't lend -- help business if we lent money we cannot repay. Of
:25:14. > :25:19.we want to help if we can. Everybody wants to help, but one of
:25:19. > :25:23.the weaknesses in the economy is we need long-term finance. We need
:25:23. > :25:28.people that understand it is this is such that we can commit to a
:25:28. > :25:34.long-term business development. All we have is overdrafts and we have a
:25:34. > :25:43.banking system utterly dominated by the City of London whose view is
:25:43. > :25:52.short term. What do you make of what he says? It is a trend coming
:25:52. > :25:59.through from our members and access to finance and it isn't happening
:25:59. > :26:03.on the ground. We have a banker here, he is very brave. Nobody
:26:03. > :26:13.wants to go back to days well our tour is in debt. What is the
:26:13. > :26:17.
:26:17. > :26:27.experience of people running businesses? Three years ago, the
:26:27. > :26:27.
:26:27. > :26:32.bank attempted to... Yorkshire Bank.... The overdraft situation
:26:32. > :26:36.the government instructed the banks to strengthen the balance sheets
:26:36. > :26:44.and help small businesses. You cannot debate. They cannot serve
:26:44. > :26:49.two masters. They have to lend money to make money. But the pride
:26:49. > :26:53.on small businesses to make up their losses, they lost across the
:26:53. > :26:57.world. You help small businesses and people sorting out their
:26:57. > :27:03.finances, what do you make of the debate and the fact the banks say
:27:03. > :27:07.they approve as much as they can. People like Martin are genuine
:27:07. > :27:11.people and try to help customers. At the top end of the banks, you
:27:11. > :27:16.have people who have allowed the investment bankers to go to the
:27:16. > :27:21.casino with their depositors money which is why we have ended up with
:27:21. > :27:28.the crisis we have. My experience of running my own firm for eight
:27:28. > :27:35.years and advising clients is the banks are zero help in any kind of
:27:36. > :27:43.situation where you need them. Bankers want to see me, they sit in
:27:43. > :27:53.front of me and the pitch was send us your platinum customers and we
:27:53. > :27:54.
:27:54. > :27:59.will give them 3.5% above base rate. What do you think about what's been
:27:59. > :28:05.said? A rock and a hard place, people on loans and she were not
:28:05. > :28:08.giving them. Casino banking as he defines it, we should not get mixed
:28:08. > :28:15.up between that and what we are doing with small businesses in
:28:15. > :28:18.Yorkshire. What we're trying to do for businesses in Yorkshire is
:28:18. > :28:23.support them and help them understand their business and if
:28:23. > :28:29.there is in need to support them through overdrafts and finance and
:28:29. > :28:35.also other schemes, but get the money and the funding out there for
:28:35. > :28:42.the ride is this is but a sustainable. You run a small
:28:42. > :28:46.business, what is your view about the way well-supported? In terms of
:28:46. > :28:55.the bank, I am not reliant on the bank at all for my finance and
:28:55. > :29:00.structuring. I have a bank account for suppliers to pay money in.
:29:00. > :29:05.says he is interested in your account. I am the ideal client at
:29:05. > :29:10.the moment. The thing I am really disappointed at is the loss of the
:29:10. > :29:15.Business Link and having the practical support of Business Link
:29:16. > :29:20.running courses, providing practical support for businesses
:29:20. > :29:25.like myself. I jumped on every course possible before it ended
:29:25. > :29:31.last November. Anybody setting up since, there is an internet site
:29:31. > :29:37.but not much help. It's a real shame. There's a huge amount of
:29:37. > :29:40.help. There are 48 business support schemes, tomorrow there will be
:29:40. > :29:46.announced the national guarantee scheme to make the lending issue...
:29:46. > :29:54.She says there is a nun. I have run my own business under Labour, it
:29:54. > :29:59.was increasingly difficult. It was a five-man business. Is that the
:29:59. > :30:08.future, individual MPs going around the country! Every MP, Conservative
:30:08. > :30:14.MP, is working hard with every business. Initially we start to the
:30:14. > :30:17.debate about the skills agenda, I bet the 20% of the people that you
:30:17. > :30:21.rejected were small to medium-size companies, setting up a business
:30:22. > :30:27.because they are a good business, they grew and at that level they
:30:27. > :30:32.did not have the expertise. And believe me, we do not have the
:30:32. > :30:38.support, help and support, for small businesses to actually raise
:30:38. > :30:40.their capacity, their expertise so they can put up a better business
:30:40. > :30:48.plan and expelling the formalities to do business institutions because
:30:48. > :30:56.it a moment nobody wants to know them. Business Link has gone, the
:30:56. > :31:01.Regional Development Agencies has gone. What's important is Julian is
:31:01. > :31:05.saying you are wrong, there is support but the fact is this
:31:05. > :31:10.government came in and in one fell swoop got rid of the support and
:31:10. > :31:15.has been tried to make it up and invent it again. In the meantime,
:31:15. > :31:18.when I represent businesses in my constituency in Doncaster, they
:31:18. > :31:28.have order books -- order books to fill but they need the bridging to
:31:28. > :31:28.
:31:29. > :31:32.take them to the next stage and The banks seem pretty sensible in
:31:32. > :31:37.the way forward, but people feel let down. It is the other stuff
:31:37. > :31:43.that gets in the way. They do not know the support you are talking
:31:43. > :31:48.about. What is your response? have a special interest in small
:31:48. > :31:53.business and I am happy to talk to people about these issues. There is
:31:53. > :32:00.a fantastic website for any viewers watching. There are schemes at the
:32:00. > :32:03.moment offering business support. Let's stop bashing the banker,
:32:03. > :32:11.financial-services provide over 100,000 jobs in Yorkshire and
:32:11. > :32:18.Humber. Yes, we have to move on. Should the Chancellor cut taxes or
:32:18. > :32:24.cut benefits? Maybe you think you should do both. On Wednesday the
:32:24. > :32:28.Chancellor could reduce income tax for people earning over �150,000.
:32:28. > :32:35.But in two weeks time thousands of people will get less money from the
:32:35. > :32:39.Government. Mining is Katie and this is my husband Martin. We have
:32:39. > :32:44.got three children. I work in bad thing in the NHS and I have done
:32:44. > :32:50.for eight years. Martin quit his job seven years ago to look after
:32:51. > :32:55.the children because we could not afford childcare. I was working
:32:55. > :33:01.full-time until around 18 months ago and to spend more time with the
:33:01. > :33:05.children I went down 2 1/2 hours. We thought, we are OK because we
:33:05. > :33:11.have working tax credits. We got a letter in December saying they will
:33:11. > :33:17.be stopping for our family because we are not working between us 24
:33:17. > :33:21.hours a week. We try and do the shopping together and we are
:33:21. > :33:28.getting the cheapest stuff now because it is too expensive. Bread
:33:28. > :33:35.is one pound 50 a loaf now. It is a joke. We will get some sweeties
:33:36. > :33:39.later. It has put a huge strain on us, we have been arguing. Not
:33:39. > :33:44.because we hate each other, but because we do not know what is
:33:44. > :33:51.going to happen. We are worried about the future and how we are
:33:52. > :33:57.going to cope. Katie and Martin are with us this evening. Let me ask
:33:57. > :34:03.you a straight question. If we face really hard times, why should we
:34:03. > :34:10.give money to you so you can choose to stay at home? It is not a choice
:34:10. > :34:14.to stay at home. You reduced the hours to stay at home. It was only
:34:14. > :34:19.supposed to be for a year because I wanted to spend more time with the
:34:19. > :34:25.children. Martin was supposed to be getting a job in September, but he
:34:25. > :34:29.has not been able to find anything. We did not want to sponge off the
:34:29. > :34:35.state, it was there as a lifeline to fall back on and that has been
:34:36. > :34:42.taken away from us. Is that what you think? The whole thing is a
:34:42. > :34:48.joke, really. I have applied for apprenticeships. Because I am over
:34:48. > :34:54.25 it does not work in my favour. It is not beneficial for me, to be
:34:54. > :35:01.honest. Katie and Martin have a tough time of it. You deal with
:35:01. > :35:07.lots of cases, is that quite common? Yes, it is and it has
:35:07. > :35:12.become a political football. In my experience 98% of people need to be
:35:12. > :35:16.on benefits and they deserve what they get, in fact they deserve a
:35:16. > :35:23.better deal. They are being let down by the state which has not
:35:23. > :35:27.found a way to get them into more productive employment. You have got
:35:27. > :35:34.2% whose ambition is to stay on benefits all their life and they
:35:34. > :35:40.will never change. That will be difficult to change. But I do not
:35:40. > :35:46.think we should go down the route of beating up people on benefits as
:35:46. > :35:52.those that will solve the problems of the economy. It was not people
:35:52. > :35:57.on benefits he were running Goldman Sachs and lemurs. But the country
:35:57. > :36:04.is facing hard times. There are things we are being hard on people
:36:04. > :36:09.on benefits? Who thinks we need to be a little bit harder? The change
:36:09. > :36:14.to working tax credit hit 250,000 of the poorest families in our
:36:14. > :36:20.society. These are people who are working and finding it really
:36:20. > :36:24.difficult. It cannot be fair that we hit the poorest in our society
:36:24. > :36:30.at the same time the Chancellor is contemplating cutting the tax for
:36:31. > :36:35.the most rich in our society. do you make of that? I want to be a
:36:35. > :36:42.bit revolutionary. Their governments cannot solve the long-
:36:42. > :36:46.term job problem. The private sector can. In order for it to
:36:47. > :36:52.function we need to shrink the public sector. Yes, there will be
:36:52. > :36:57.hardship, but you have to face the fact that we are broke. To make our
:36:57. > :37:03.way in the world in order that we can afford some of the luxuries
:37:03. > :37:09.like education, health and benefits, we need a bigger, stronger, more
:37:09. > :37:15.vibrant private sector. I am a retired public servant and we want
:37:15. > :37:20.the Yorkshire economy to grow, but our incomes are being depressed and
:37:20. > :37:25.frozen. We are public enemy number one, irrespective of the political
:37:26. > :37:34.party, whether it is the coalition or Labour, we are public enemy
:37:34. > :37:38.number one. The next thing Francis Maude and die Alexander will be
:37:38. > :37:42.issuing bells so we can walk around leaves and ring the bells at
:37:43. > :37:47.shouting, and a clean. We do not have the extra money to spend in
:37:47. > :37:52.the economy on the small businesses that some of these people he
:37:52. > :37:57.represents. People are saying we are being squeezed and the benefits
:37:57. > :38:02.are being squeezed and the economy is being squeezed, is that the
:38:02. > :38:07.right way forward? It is at half- time with energy prices and fruit
:38:07. > :38:12.prices going up and that tough situation at Labour left us in...
:38:12. > :38:20.We get a bit sick and tired. We were told we were not to talk about
:38:20. > :38:25.the past, let's look to the future. You say that but a �1 in every four
:38:25. > :38:32.because of the mess we were left in... I do not like the ping-pong
:38:32. > :38:37.between the parties. The people who are not affected by this are the
:38:38. > :38:46.very rich, the people who created this problem. George was burnt is
:38:46. > :38:52.going to get rid of the 50% tax and there is massive tax evasion. --
:38:52. > :38:57.George Osborne. Why don't we concentrate on people evading tax?
:38:57. > :39:06.There is no need to shout and a million people have been taken out
:39:06. > :39:14.of tax... I am shirting because I am annoyed. -- shouting. Lots of
:39:14. > :39:20.people have been taken out of tax by this Government. We are talking
:39:20. > :39:27.about people earning more than �150,000 a year in the highest tax
:39:28. > :39:34.bracket. Who agrees with the 50 pence tax rate disappearing?
:39:34. > :39:41.Anybody here? What do you think? When you hear that statistic that
:39:42. > :39:47.1% of the nation pay 30% of the revenue in tax, 1% pay 30% of the
:39:47. > :39:52.revenue that gets received by HMRC, it is those people we should be