:00:02. > :00:06.Hello and welcome to the Bristol Cathedral Choir School. Tonight
:00:06. > :00:10.we're having a class on economics. Can the west country climb out of
:00:11. > :00:20.the doldrums and back to prosperity. Welcome to Our Economy - The Points
:00:21. > :00:42.
:00:42. > :00:44.Thank you - this is the new performance centre here at Bristol
:00:44. > :00:53.Cathedral Choir School - which has recently switched from private to
:00:53. > :00:56.the state sector. There's been a lot of investment here - so if you
:00:56. > :00:59.are wondering where your taxes go - it's in places like this
:00:59. > :01:00.Tonight - in our classroom -We have gathered business leaders,
:01:00. > :01:09.entrepreneurs, government representatives, apprentices, those
:01:09. > :01:12.who are in work and those who can't find employment. We are going to
:01:12. > :01:17.talk about the economy and advise the chancellor on what he should do
:01:17. > :01:20.in his budget on Wednesday. Claire Perry is here - she's the MP for
:01:20. > :01:25.Devizes - and she used to work for George Osborne - so she knows how
:01:25. > :01:29.he thinks. We also have the Labour leader in the Lords Jan Royall -
:01:29. > :01:35.who's from the Forest of Dean. And for the Lib Dems - Stephen Williams
:01:35. > :01:37.- an MP who's thinking about running for Mayor in Bristol.
:01:37. > :01:44.Come Wednesday's budget, the squeeze on the public sector is one
:01:44. > :01:47.thing that's unlikely to change. Hundreds of thousands of jobs are
:01:47. > :01:50.being lost - but the coalition says "dont worry" - the private sector
:01:50. > :02:00.will pick up the slack. Well Anita Bradfield left Somerset County
:02:00. > :02:04.
:02:04. > :02:11.Council which is t shedding fifteen hundred staff. Here is her story.
:02:11. > :02:17.Crewkerne is a small market town. Somerset County Council are cutting
:02:17. > :02:22.1,500 jobs. That is going to affect the local economy. People's pockets
:02:22. > :02:28.are empty, they are not going to local shops and businesses, there
:02:28. > :02:35.is no money to spend. It has affected everyone. Salaries, petrol
:02:35. > :02:40.prices, energy prices, it has affected us. I decided I would set
:02:40. > :02:45.up as a dance teacher, I opened up a local dance score for children
:02:45. > :02:49.and adults in this town. There is no help. The government is saying
:02:49. > :02:59.that there is help, that the private sector will pick it up, I
:02:59. > :03:04.can't find that kind of help anywhere. There isn't any. I
:03:04. > :03:12.understand, it's tough out there. There are no handouts, there is no
:03:12. > :03:15.help from the government for this type of enterprise.
:03:15. > :03:18.So - Is the government right to be cutting services and jobs in the
:03:18. > :03:26.public sector - and can private businesses employ all those who've
:03:26. > :03:36.been given the boot? What sort of changes have happened
:03:36. > :03:40.
:03:40. > :03:45.in your life? It has been quite a big change. I decided to look after
:03:45. > :03:50.myself, set up on my own, which was very difficult at the moment.
:03:50. > :03:56.People are not investing in the local town. People are saying to me,
:03:56. > :04:01.I can take one type of class you are offering, but not another. They
:04:01. > :04:05.just don't have the money in their pockets at the moment. I have
:04:05. > :04:13.parents, both working, he can't afford what I'm offering. I'm
:04:13. > :04:20.having to cut my prices. It's tough. There's no pension, no holiday pay.
:04:20. > :04:26.I am reliant on myself. Euro Liberal Democrat, a successful
:04:27. > :04:33.businessman. What sort of effect is the economic situation having on
:04:33. > :04:37.the high street? I think we have to weigh up the pros and cons. There
:04:37. > :04:43.is opportunity available to small businesses. I have been in business
:04:43. > :04:50.for 20 years, it has been difficult, but at the same time, there is
:04:51. > :04:57.opportunity, and if you are a businessman, you are not able to
:04:57. > :05:03.think about a value judgment, and how to create wealth. Let's go to
:05:03. > :05:09.it Wendy, you working on are the most deprived areas of the West
:05:09. > :05:15.Country. What is it like out there on the streets? People are getting
:05:15. > :05:20.poorer. There are loan sharks, benefits been cut, people are being
:05:20. > :05:27.squeezed. What would you like the Chancellor to do one Wednesday?
:05:27. > :05:35.a lot more generous than he is going to be. He hasn't got the
:05:35. > :05:40.money? It seems to be going on a lot other things. Let's get a
:05:40. > :05:44.reaction from Claire Perry. You see the chance on a regular basis, is
:05:44. > :05:50.the private sector picking up the pieces? The private sector has
:05:50. > :05:58.created half a million jobs since the election. The pace is
:05:58. > :06:05.increasing. Vacancies have jumped 40% month-on-month. I'm fascinated
:06:05. > :06:09.by Anita's story. If women started businesses in this country at the
:06:09. > :06:19.same rate as in the United States, we would have another �42 million
:06:19. > :06:23.
:06:23. > :06:31.in the economy. -- �42 billion. We need to find out why they aren't.
:06:31. > :06:34.There is a huge gap between public cuts and private sector jobs?
:06:35. > :06:40.know councils are trying to get their budgets in order. What I want
:06:40. > :06:47.to say to business people, come on, we have British business is sitting
:06:47. > :06:52.on some of the highest levels of cash. We know interest rates are
:06:52. > :06:57.going to stay low, currency is going to stay stable, and they are
:06:57. > :07:01.saying they are not sure. I want to say to them, come on, we can do it.
:07:01. > :07:10.We are the 7th richest country in the world, we have a fantastic
:07:10. > :07:15.heritage. Anyone fancy doing that? I am from the Federation of Small
:07:15. > :07:22.businesses. I would like to employ people. There are to be the
:07:22. > :07:29.barriers. The government is not helping, there is a tax on jobs, it
:07:29. > :07:32.is called National Insurance. It is crazy to do that. People are bored
:07:32. > :07:41.stiff of hearing business is getting rid of the red tape, we
:07:41. > :07:46.would employ more people. That is a good point about National Insurance.
:07:46. > :07:49.There is a National Insurance holiday running right now. That is
:07:49. > :07:56.a business is outside the South of England. Lots of businesses are
:07:56. > :08:05.taking advantage of it. We have to make it easier. I'm taking on an
:08:05. > :08:13.apprentice. Jan Royall, from Labour's point of
:08:13. > :08:23.view, does the Chancellor had their -- have room for manoeuvre? Yes he
:08:23. > :08:23.
:08:23. > :08:33.does. We etc. Some of the tax got back from banks and large pinnaces.
:08:33. > :08:39.He has to offer greater tax relief. We need to restore some tax credits.
:08:39. > :08:49.Poorer people are getting poorer. Who believes that cuts have to be
:08:49. > :08:50.
:08:50. > :08:58.made? Who is now in the private sector, but now works in the --
:08:58. > :09:04.they use the word in the public sector? I'm a director of a social
:09:04. > :09:11.enterprise in Bristol. What I did see, when I was at a council, was a
:09:11. > :09:20.huge wastage. There were lots of middle-managers that didn't really
:09:20. > :09:23.need to be there. You have to be in one position of five years to get
:09:23. > :09:33.promoted. You when promoter on competence, it was length of
:09:33. > :09:36.
:09:36. > :09:45.service. -- keyword promoted on competence. I can't talk about the
:09:45. > :09:49.public sector in Bristol. I would say that in health education, the
:09:49. > :09:53.sector was and bloated. We depend on doctors and nurses, and having a
:09:53. > :10:02.substantial number of them. I am worried about the effect that cuts
:10:02. > :10:07.will have. I'm worried about what will happen in our schools.
:10:07. > :10:11.worry Swindon councillor, conservative, when you move into
:10:11. > :10:21.politics, did you find that the sector had a bit of fat that it
:10:21. > :10:22.
:10:22. > :10:29.should cut? The public sector can make savings. We are cutting money
:10:29. > :10:38.from senior management costs. These changes have been taking place, but
:10:38. > :10:43.more can be done. We need to offer better service, for less money. We
:10:43. > :10:47.need to stop closing our libraries. In Swindon, we are extending hours,
:10:47. > :10:52.while cutting motor costs. Why are people feeling the pinch on the
:10:52. > :10:59.front line? If they can be done without affecting frontline
:10:59. > :11:03.services? Services can be changed. He can deliver them in a different
:11:03. > :11:12.way. That is what councils are focusing on, the outcomes for the
:11:12. > :11:18.public sector, and how we treat residents. Peaches Golding, you
:11:18. > :11:24.have your hand up? I used to work for Bristol City Council, many
:11:24. > :11:29.years ago, and it was absolutely fantastic. The gentleman behind be
:11:29. > :11:33.made a point, what is the public sector for? It is to make sure that
:11:33. > :11:40.it delivers a good service, but also to focus on areas where there
:11:40. > :11:46.has been market failure. That can be education, the Environment, and
:11:46. > :11:56.getting the infrastructure sorted out. That is what we want our money
:11:56. > :11:56.
:11:56. > :12:03.to be spent. -- to be spent on. have public sector workers coming
:12:03. > :12:07.here and saying what can they do? Yes, lots of people are being made
:12:07. > :12:11.unemployed from the public sector. People have been taking early
:12:11. > :12:18.retirement, and they are looking for work. We hope that there would
:12:18. > :12:22.be a lot more private businesses that we could put them into. We're
:12:22. > :12:32.not seeing that just yet. If people are frightened to open up. We need
:12:32. > :12:34.
:12:34. > :12:44.to support businesses. You're a builder, construction professional.
:12:44. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:53.New line a lot on public sector They are disappearing. We got our
:12:53. > :12:59.fingers burned as a business with the whole debacle of the Learning
:12:59. > :13:04.and Skills Council. We have lost millions of pounds of public money
:13:04. > :13:09.because that was so badly and poorly managed. That is the sort of
:13:09. > :13:14.area of waste were we just don't see because it has wasted in poor
:13:14. > :13:18.management with too many middle managers and money is wasted.
:13:18. > :13:23.Government cuts back on public spending, you lose work and that
:13:23. > :13:26.has a knock-on effect? Indeed. We're not seeing that picked up by
:13:26. > :13:31.the private sector because there seems to be a blockage in
:13:31. > :13:35.developers getting funding for projects. The banks are paying out
:13:35. > :13:40.lots of bonuses, but not lending money to people to start these
:13:40. > :13:45.projects. Quickly some reaction, please. I hate this distinction
:13:45. > :13:52.between the public and private sector. Every family has someone in
:13:52. > :13:56.it who works in at the public sector and the private sector, I
:13:56. > :14:00.think. The Labour Party has committed to the same level of
:14:01. > :14:08.spending cuts, but they have not said where they would put them.
:14:08. > :14:11.have not. Four Ed Balls has. He has not. Ultimately, we will face a
:14:11. > :14:15.long-term big squeeze on public spending and we have to grow our
:14:16. > :14:22.way out of it. We are where we are and we have to get jobs growing.
:14:22. > :14:27.That is what is so important. talk more about jobs. How do you
:14:27. > :14:31.fancy welding for a living? The Government wants more people into
:14:31. > :14:38.manufacturing. But as it appeal to you? Are there enough
:14:38. > :14:47.opportunities? Let's hear from Rosemary Robinson who runs Arc
:14:47. > :14:51.Energy in Gloucestershire. This will end up in Brazil, maybe North
:14:51. > :14:58.Africa. It is difficult to get hold of skilled people. In the past, 10
:14:58. > :15:04.years ago, if we wanted as skilled a welder, we would not have to
:15:04. > :15:11.advertise, Op someone we know someone who had the skills. If we
:15:11. > :15:17.advertise nowadays, we would be lucky to get anyone with the right
:15:17. > :15:21.skills. Some of our welders are from Poland. We have people from
:15:21. > :15:24.the Czech Republic. They hear that there is a skills shortage here and
:15:24. > :15:31.they apply. If they are the best person for the job, they will get
:15:31. > :15:39.it. We get promises of apprenticeships. I go to the
:15:39. > :15:42.college and I ask them about apprentices for welding. There was
:15:42. > :15:48.-- there is nobody within a reasonable commuting distance who
:15:48. > :15:52.can provide that. We need to make manufacturing and engineering
:15:52. > :15:57.interesting for people. Those of us who work in Engineering think it is
:15:57. > :16:04.wonderful. We love coming m and smelling the metal in the morning.
:16:04. > :16:09.It is exciting for us. -- coming in. There is a lady who loves her work.
:16:09. > :16:16.I hardly recognise you without your safety goggles! Why can't you find
:16:16. > :16:19.new recruits? I think that years ago there were a lot of large
:16:19. > :16:26.companies who were manufacturing and they were running
:16:26. > :16:33.apprenticeship schemes. They are not around any more. There was not
:16:33. > :16:39.a pool of skilled welders, for example. Those that were trained
:16:39. > :16:47.are getting older. Just help me. How much does a welder earned?
:16:47. > :16:52.Somewhere around �7 or �10 an hour. Perhaps you should pay more.
:16:52. > :16:57.would love to pay more. If my engineering company was making more,
:16:57. > :17:03.I would love to pay them. You can't get enough apprentices, but you
:17:03. > :17:11.signed up to the idea, is that what you are seeing? I love the idea of
:17:11. > :17:15.apprenticeships. -- saying. build your own company and used
:17:15. > :17:20.apprenticeships. What was your experience? My experience is that
:17:20. > :17:24.there are a handful who are great. There is another handful were
:17:24. > :17:30.coming with no skills and you have to spend a large proportion of your
:17:30. > :17:35.time managing. In small businesses, cash flow is crucial. If you're not
:17:35. > :17:41.watching your books and concentrating -- and are
:17:41. > :17:46.concentrating on these young people coming in who are unskilled, it
:17:46. > :17:55.affects your bottom line. John Chudley is here from the National
:17:55. > :17:59.Apprentices Scheme. Can you explain why they can't be enough workers?
:17:59. > :18:06.Engineering is close to my heart. One of the things we're finding
:18:06. > :18:16.with apprenticeships is that we have become a generation that
:18:16. > :18:17.
:18:17. > :18:25.values A-levels up of all. I think there needs to be greater emphasis
:18:25. > :18:29.on it showing attractive careers. I think young people need to see
:18:29. > :18:33.case-studies and there should be ambassadors. She wants people and
:18:33. > :18:37.you are supposed to train them. would say that through the
:18:37. > :18:44.apprenticeships website we advertise more vacancies, so I
:18:45. > :18:49.think this is a specific case. Let's hear from an apprentice.
:18:49. > :18:53.have been doing my apprenticeship for the last 18 months. It is the
:18:53. > :19:00.best thing I have done. It is a great way of getting first-hand
:19:00. > :19:08.experience on the job. You get paid to learn. You were at college full-
:19:08. > :19:13.time for the first year. -- You are. It gives you great theory and
:19:13. > :19:19.practical base. You go into the industry and you learn how to work
:19:19. > :19:24.in that industry. What age were you when you left school? I did my A-
:19:24. > :19:28.levels, so I was 17 when I went into my apprenticeship. I was not
:19:28. > :19:32.happy with my A-levels because it did not feel like there was enough
:19:32. > :19:41.backing for Engineering. You would recommend manufacturing as at
:19:41. > :19:46.career? Definitely. There are so many different diverse areas of
:19:46. > :19:51.manufacturing that you can get into. It is attractive for many people.
:19:51. > :19:57.You are earning money and you don't have student loans to pay back?
:19:57. > :20:03.Exactly. I am earning and I have money coming in. There is somebody
:20:03. > :20:12.here with some money! Who thinks that manufacturing is a career that
:20:12. > :20:16.we should encourage our children to go into? Manufacturing is one of
:20:16. > :20:21.the great British industries. We have been fantastic at
:20:21. > :20:24.manufacturing things and exporting them worldwide. It pains me to you
:20:24. > :20:30.that we're losing skills from a fantastic an important part of our
:20:30. > :20:38.economy. What we know about the economy in Gloucestershire is that
:20:38. > :20:45.manufacturing is at heart of it. 17% of employment. We need more
:20:45. > :20:52.being done to help with recruitment. Engineering is a great career that
:20:52. > :20:56.pays well. If you had a son or daughter, would you tell them not
:20:56. > :21:02.to go to a factory and get a profession? Who would actually say
:21:02. > :21:06.that? My daughter is doing her A- levels. The lasting added want her
:21:06. > :21:14.to do is to go into a manufacturing jobs. I want her to become an
:21:14. > :21:20.accountant or solicitor. Is he right? Come on, let's be honest.
:21:20. > :21:28.Most parents would say that. think we have a problem of how we
:21:28. > :21:35.sell manufacturing to young people. I thought you said spell it!
:21:35. > :21:43.have a physics teachers and design and technology teachers at school
:21:43. > :21:49.who did not work in that environment. Let's talk to a
:21:49. > :21:55.student leader. Our students to pick a Premier League college about
:21:55. > :22:01.what they do? Are the sniffy about manufacturing? There is no problem
:22:01. > :22:08.with children being Smith -- with students being sniffy, but graduate
:22:09. > :22:13.unemployment is higher now than it has been for 20 years. We want high
:22:13. > :22:20.quality manufacturing, but we can only do that with a Government who
:22:20. > :22:27.is willing to invest in its skills. This Government has cut maintenance
:22:27. > :22:34.allowances which helped people in University. They have trebled
:22:34. > :22:39.student loans. There was a famous U-turn on student fees. Is that the
:22:39. > :22:44.right thing to be doing when we need the skills for the economy?
:22:44. > :22:48.All students who wish to go to university can go to university
:22:48. > :22:52.knowing it is free when you enter university. They will simply pay a
:22:52. > :22:58.graduate contribution when they leave. For many people, that will
:22:58. > :23:05.be at a more affordable rate than in the system that we inherited.
:23:05. > :23:13.You are looking for work? What is your situation? I have been at
:23:13. > :23:23.college for four years. I started off studying bricklaying. Then I
:23:23. > :23:25.
:23:25. > :23:31.went on to work on my NVQ in its food hygiene. I am now it looking
:23:31. > :23:38.to work in a gym instruction. you have tried hard to find work,
:23:38. > :23:44.but not found anything? Exactly. I live in Swindon, which is terrible
:23:44. > :23:53.for unemployment. You have also been out of work for a while.
:23:53. > :23:59.have been unemployed for just over one year. I have had several
:23:59. > :24:05.professional jobs over the years. My previous job was a management. I
:24:05. > :24:10.have looked to come down the wrong of the ladder. I would except
:24:10. > :24:17.taking a pay cut. My perception is that my age could be holding the
:24:17. > :24:23.back. I am 52. I still have 15 years left potentially. That is a
:24:23. > :24:27.significant period of time. Does its surprise both of you that
:24:27. > :24:33.Eastern Europeans in particular coming to this country seem to be
:24:33. > :24:36.able to find work? Again, this might be my perception, and I
:24:36. > :24:41.cannot blame them for coming here and I would probably do the same in
:24:41. > :24:47.their position to get a better life, but they look at the UK as a
:24:47. > :24:52.wealthy and affluent countries. The salaries that we get compared to
:24:52. > :24:57.their historic wages in their countries are high. Would you
:24:57. > :25:03.accept a low salary? Anything that gave me money in my pocket, I would
:25:03. > :25:12.accept that. What would your ideal job the? I would like to work on
:25:12. > :25:19.exhibition stands and install them in conference centres across Europe.
:25:19. > :25:27.If there is someone en that area watching tonight, they know where
:25:27. > :25:31.to find you. Thank you. But now I need my notes.
:25:31. > :25:34.If only I had a small suitcase in which to keep them. Here they are.
:25:34. > :25:37.This little case will soon be made in the West Country and has become
:25:37. > :25:44.an international hit. But should the Chancellor drop the tax on the
:25:44. > :25:48.trunki? The inventor, Rob Law, tells us his story. These are the
:25:48. > :25:56.world's first and only ride on suitcases for globe-trotting
:25:56. > :26:06.children. The dragons do not like it six years ago, but the public
:26:06. > :26:07.
:26:07. > :26:14.dead. I am out. I am out. We are now exporting to 60 countries. In
:26:14. > :26:18.the first 12 months of our business, we turned over 6 million. There are
:26:18. > :26:26.23 people in the business. The sales and marketing is done at head
:26:26. > :26:30.office. We have two factories in China who manufacture these. We
:26:30. > :26:38.have now made a decision to manufacture in the UK. This has
:26:38. > :26:42.been my long-held passion. There is a huge investment for us to set up
:26:42. > :26:47.the production in the UK. If we could set that off against tax, it
:26:47. > :26:54.would speed up or whole process. We sure the Government going on and on
:26:54. > :27:03.about UK production, yet I was flabbergasted to discover there
:27:03. > :27:08.were no incentives are tax write- offs. Financially, we cannot make
:27:08. > :27:13.all of our products in the UK. If there was more support, we could
:27:13. > :27:19.employ more people and it would pay for itself as we are a successful
:27:19. > :27:24.company. Well, the question of tax will be central to the Budget on
:27:24. > :27:30.Wednesday. Should businesses get more tax breaks? Should the
:27:30. > :27:35.priorities be elsewhere? What do those dragons are no! You are
:27:35. > :27:41.making them in China. I have heard that the wage in China is �1 per
:27:41. > :27:45.hour. The price is constantly increasing and the Government are
:27:45. > :27:51.rightly so improving standards. can the West Country compete?
:27:51. > :27:56.too long, businesses have just looked at a cost. Now we're at at
:27:56. > :28:02.tipping point where it is about the cost of the product, the carbon
:28:02. > :28:06.footprint, flexibility as a supplier to meet demand, innovating,
:28:06. > :28:10.there are so many good things that I think it really is starting to
:28:10. > :28:15.balance up. Yes, it is more expensive making things here than
:28:15. > :28:25.in China and it probably will be that way for 20 years. But there
:28:25. > :28:31.
:28:31. > :28:41.Tell us about your business? make high-technology business. We
:28:41. > :28:49.are I manufacture -- we are in manufacturing industry, it is very
:28:49. > :28:57.sad to see how difficult it is. We want people who can programme
:28:57. > :29:05.robots. We want a high degree of training, and a high degree of
:29:05. > :29:10.innovation. We export our pride that. It is a huge success, what
:29:10. > :29:16.could the government do to help you further? Do you need a tax breaks?
:29:16. > :29:22.The answer is, yes. I have to explain why. We are very successful,
:29:22. > :29:30.and cash rich. We can't get engineers, we are training people
:29:30. > :29:35.in the wrong things. Let's talk tax breaks. Why do need a tax break?
:29:35. > :29:39.The very fact that we have a proven success for Formula, we want to
:29:39. > :29:48.make it a bigger formula. We have to create wealth in this country.
:29:48. > :29:57.This is a low risk way of doing it. Why could the government to? --
:29:57. > :30:04.what could the government to do? Capital gains tax. Can we clarify
:30:04. > :30:08.tax breaks for. We have the largest tax system in the world. What we
:30:08. > :30:18.need is a low and stable tax environment. The first thing that
:30:18. > :30:23.
:30:23. > :30:31.the Chancellor did is cut the lowest rate of corporate tax. They
:30:31. > :30:40.-- there may be some further cuts they can make. We need a stable and
:30:40. > :30:44.low system. Is that your experience? It would be great to
:30:44. > :30:49.see a move on that. I spent two months researching, tried to get
:30:49. > :30:52.some support, to bring our production back from China. I saw
:30:52. > :30:56.David Cameron preaching on the television, I thought, there was
:30:56. > :31:05.going to be some support, there wasn't any. We need people to pick
:31:05. > :31:12.up the slack from the public sector, is -- it is about the job creation.
:31:12. > :31:20.I want a tax break. Why should the government's priority be? Would
:31:20. > :31:26.anyone not like a tax break? They have to be honest with ourselves as
:31:26. > :31:35.businesses. If we have this financial plan that, and we have a
:31:35. > :31:42.certain amount of business is doing reasonably well. I don't see the
:31:42. > :31:46.logic. You have to be careful. of our businesses are not paying
:31:46. > :31:51.taxes. We have incredibly high levels of tax avoidance in this
:31:51. > :32:00.country. We have to clamp down on that. What about the 50 pence rate
:32:00. > :32:10.of tax? Would you like to see it go? I have always thought it was a
:32:10. > :32:10.
:32:10. > :32:17.bad incentive. While we have low growth, I would like to keep it. I
:32:17. > :32:24.personally don't think it's the right time to do it. I would agree
:32:24. > :32:32.with Claire. I don't think any tax rate should be set in stone. It
:32:32. > :32:36.would be the wrong time to do it. It is said that the regime's to be
:32:36. > :32:40.in cent devised by lower taxes, but the poor need to be in cent devised
:32:40. > :32:50.by paying more taxes quite often. Or by having their tax credits
:32:50. > :32:55.
:32:55. > :33:03.reduced. The Liberal Democrats are in favour of lower taxes. We would
:33:03. > :33:10.like a tycoon tax. The tax break we would really like to see is raising
:33:10. > :33:13.that threshold to �10,000, so that everyone can enter work. The
:33:13. > :33:23.biggest barrier to someone taking a job is that makes between tax and
:33:23. > :33:24.
:33:24. > :33:29.benefits. -- is that a mix. Used to be an adviser for the Bank of
:33:29. > :33:38.England, what will the Chancellor be trying to balance between public
:33:38. > :33:43.spending and what the public will accept? The Chancellor will look to
:33:43. > :33:51.rebalance the economy. We need to the back on the fact that our
:33:51. > :34:01.public deficit over the last 2-3 years will be more than 10% of that
:34:01. > :34:02.
:34:02. > :34:07.and all are pert -- of our annual Albert. We have built up too much
:34:07. > :34:16.debt. That rebalancing is to continue. The Chancellor want to
:34:16. > :34:23.see the economy growing again. There is a need for incentives for
:34:24. > :34:32.large and smaller businesses. wealthy top 1% pay something like
:34:32. > :34:36.25% of all the taxes, can they be squeezed any more? As people said
:34:36. > :34:40.earlier, they are supposed to pay a certain amount of tax, but the fact
:34:40. > :34:49.is, they don't. There are too many loopholes. We have to close up
:34:49. > :34:54.those tax loopholes. Various people have talked about the cuts, and I
:34:54. > :35:02.do think we have been cutting too fast, as Clare herself said,
:35:02. > :35:06.councils have chosen to front a load some of the cuts. That is
:35:06. > :35:16.having an impact on jobs. We want to get rid of the deficit, we want
:35:16. > :35:19.
:35:19. > :35:27.to do it more slowly. Let's focus on the top 1%, can they be burdened
:35:27. > :35:36.more? I don't want to burden people. What you want to focus on is
:35:36. > :35:42.creating wealth. In these to be spread out evenly. I think we are
:35:42. > :35:52.missing the fundamental point. What we really need to rebalance, is our
:35:52. > :35:52.
:35:52. > :35:56.goals is a -- is our goals in society. What are we valuing? Why
:35:56. > :36:02.is it that nurses and teachers get paid very little, and bankers get
:36:02. > :36:07.paid of Eilat? We are valuing the wrong things. We need to challenge
:36:07. > :36:17.the notion of improving our economy. What is prosperity? It is the way
:36:17. > :36:23.more than economic benefits. -- it is way more. We all agree that the
:36:23. > :36:33.Sinn cent advise people to work -- we all agreed that we should raise
:36:33. > :36:38.
:36:38. > :36:45.incentives for people to work. Let's have ABA final word with the
:36:45. > :36:52.politicians -- let's have a final word with the politicians. We need
:36:52. > :36:57.jobs for young people. If they're out to work for a long time, they
:36:57. > :37:03.lose confidence. We are losing our future. What would be your
:37:03. > :37:05.priority? It is making sure that the low-paid and the middle incomes
:37:05. > :37:15.get basic dividend tax break. We want to get to a situation where
:37:15. > :37:16.
:37:16. > :37:24.you can enter work, completely free of tax. Is that going to work?
:37:24. > :37:27.have insisted it is in the coalition agreement. In the Budget
:37:27. > :37:37.statement, I'm looking for the Chancellor to announce when we can
:37:37. > :37:37.
:37:38. > :37:45.get to that position. Would you see the Chancellor before Wednesday?
:37:45. > :37:49.will be in the house. I want an unequivocal signal that Britain is
:37:49. > :37:53.open for business. This is the Best place to do business, and indeed
:37:53. > :37:56.that certainty either dealing with the deficit, the strong signals
:37:56. > :38:01.over dealing with tax, and cutting red tape and getting
:38:01. > :38:11.apprenticeships going. What I personally would like to see is the
:38:11. > :38:11.
:38:11. > :38:15.cut in fuel duty. And that's it. Our thanks to all of
:38:15. > :38:18.you who have come to debate with us tonight. The conversation continues
:38:18. > :38:21.on BBC local radio where there will be special programmes tomorrow. And