:00:38. > :00:48.At this is East Midlands Today false start it is the Budget that
:00:48. > :00:50.
:00:50. > :01:00.keeps on giving but not in a good way. How much damage is being done
:01:00. > :01:33.
:01:33. > :01:39.Why should it thousands of East Midlands families at lose tax
:01:39. > :01:49.credits when millionaires get off so lightly? And why should they
:01:49. > :01:49.
:01:49. > :30:39.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1730 seconds
:30:39. > :30:44.Hello, I am Marie Ashby. With me, the Conservative MP for Sherwood,
:30:44. > :30:50.Mark Spencer, and Jon Ashworth, Labour MP for Leicester South.
:30:50. > :30:53.Later, sleeping four to a bed, the plight of refugees and asylum-
:30:53. > :30:57.seekers and the volunteers determined to provide them with
:30:57. > :31:03.homes fit to live in. Plus the council that threaten to
:31:03. > :31:07.evict Arthur Martin from his allotment.
:31:07. > :31:13.First, from this week, thousands of families in the East Midlands have
:31:13. > :31:17.lost up to �80 in tax credits. Over a year, many stand to lose nearly
:31:17. > :31:22.�4,000. At the same time, the Chancellor says he is shocked to
:31:22. > :31:26.discover some of the richest people are paying only 10% in income tax.
:31:26. > :31:33.How can the coalition still pretend we are all in this together, Mark
:31:33. > :31:37.Spencer? We have got to get as much tax as we can out of the rich. The
:31:37. > :31:42.truth is, it is very difficult. Some of these companies and
:31:42. > :31:46.individuals are very good at moving the goalposts to avoid paying tax.
:31:46. > :31:50.As a government, we have got to find a system which ties them down
:31:50. > :31:56.and makes sure they pay the right amount. They have got to stop
:31:56. > :32:01.people avoiding it? I agree. But let us revisit what is happening.
:32:01. > :32:07.68,000 families across the East Midlands are losing out. 3500 in
:32:07. > :32:12.Leicester, one doesn't 500 in show would. I was talking to a mum of
:32:12. > :32:18.took in Mark's constituency. She is losing �500 a year and yet if you
:32:18. > :32:23.are a millionaire in show what you are getting a �40,000 tax cut. That
:32:23. > :32:28.is not right. You must be hearing similar stories? It takes some
:32:28. > :32:33.explaining. The reality is that it is very difficult to tie some of
:32:33. > :32:37.these very rich people down. We need to find a system that does it
:32:37. > :32:43.and stops is people avoiding paying the tax. Sometimes, the best way to
:32:43. > :32:47.do that is simplify the tax system and make it more simple soap when
:32:48. > :32:54.they make more money they pay more tax. Why is it fair that if you are
:32:54. > :33:04.a millionaire, the Tuzla has given the way for �2,000 tax cut. -- the
:33:04. > :33:05.
:33:05. > :33:10.Chancellor. -- has given you a �40,000 tax cut. To be fair, we
:33:10. > :33:17.have lifted the tax threshold pretty high, over �9,000, so that
:33:17. > :33:24.hard-working families pay less tax. I recognise some of the Commons Jon
:33:24. > :33:28.is making but the reality is it is about getting as much tax... David
:33:28. > :33:35.Cameron says that in seven years the amount we spend on tax credits
:33:35. > :33:40.has increased from �18 billion to a �30 billion a year. He is saying it
:33:40. > :33:47.is out of control. At the last general election, it David Cameron
:33:47. > :33:52.said families on �50,000 would not get tax credits. He has cut it back
:33:52. > :33:58.to �26,000. You will now be better off on the minimum wage claiming
:33:58. > :34:02.tax credits but but but you would be better off on the dole. You do
:34:02. > :34:07.not want people to think they are better off on benefits. We do not
:34:07. > :34:11.want people to think that. Some of the anomalies as we go through the
:34:11. > :34:16.process of changing it takes some changing. We are going in the right
:34:16. > :34:21.direction but there is more work to be done. Is expecting couples to
:34:21. > :34:24.work a total of three days a week between them unreasonable?
:34:24. > :34:30.Working Tax Credits are there to help mums particularly moving to
:34:30. > :34:33.work. We as the government are increasing the number of hours you
:34:33. > :34:40.need to work to claim the tax credits... You are forcing women
:34:40. > :34:44.out of work. We know the economy is in the doldrums. The labour market
:34:44. > :34:48.is tight. I was in Morrisons the other week in my constituency
:34:48. > :34:52.talking to people about this. People are worried that they will
:34:52. > :34:56.not be able to increase their hours. We will have a crazy situation
:34:56. > :35:04.where you are better off to be on the dole. The they are worried
:35:04. > :35:08.about feeding their families. We are worried about the Gulf getting
:35:08. > :35:14.bigger between the haves and the have-nots. People are now stealing
:35:14. > :35:18.to feed themselves, we have had. That is terrible. We have got to
:35:18. > :35:28.make the system fair for everyone. At the moment, there are a number
:35:28. > :35:34.of anomalies. If you have a partner, you may be asked to work more
:35:34. > :35:38.hours... The work is not always there in reality. Absolutely. That
:35:38. > :35:44.is where we are out in the economic cycle. We are doing as much as we
:35:44. > :35:47.can to improve the economy so that jobs are created. We inherited
:35:47. > :35:52.frankly this poisoned chalice. us not go back to what you
:35:52. > :35:57.inherited. Leave it there for the moment. With so many people
:35:57. > :36:01.struggling to get by, it is harder to mobilise support for people like
:36:01. > :36:04.refugees and asylum-seekers. Volunteers in one of our cities are
:36:04. > :36:11.so angry about the conditions many have to live in they have decided
:36:11. > :36:15.to do something about it. These volunteers are on a mission
:36:15. > :36:19.to sort out the squalid conditions some asylum-seekers and refugees
:36:19. > :36:23.find themselves in. They are doing an inventory of properties across
:36:23. > :36:31.Nottingham. They are gathering evidence on their housing
:36:31. > :36:40.conditions. I have seen holes in ceilings, gaps in walls, damp. All
:36:40. > :36:45.of which are not conducive to healthy living. Rhino and her --
:36:45. > :36:49.Rose and her five children live in this rooms. She is not able to
:36:49. > :36:56.claim benefits and nor is she able to work. There is overcrowding,
:36:56. > :37:06.there is a fungus affecting our health. The house is very cold. I
:37:06. > :37:06.
:37:06. > :37:10.can't afford to pay for the gas. Welcome. Zarif travelled from
:37:10. > :37:20.Afghanistan to start a life peer. He has been homeless since arriving
:37:20. > :37:22.
:37:22. > :37:26.five years ago. This is my house. That is your stuff? Yes. I feel so
:37:26. > :37:33.sad because everyone has a nice house and a nice job. I would love
:37:33. > :37:39.to have a family and I would love to have a wife. I would love to do
:37:39. > :37:46.a job. By and 21 years old. I have a lot of times. What we want to do
:37:46. > :37:50.is do a quality piece of research into destitution to be able to
:37:50. > :37:53.quantified and identify where people are saying. We also want
:37:53. > :37:57.taxpayers to get value for money in the accommodation provided by the
:37:57. > :38:07.state. Local authorities estimate that in Nottingham there are about
:38:07. > :38:09.
:38:09. > :38:12.400 asylum-seekers. In Derby, just under 300. In Leicester, around 450.
:38:12. > :38:17.Councillors at Nottingham City Council have told me they
:38:17. > :38:22.wholeheartedly support the work the citizens are doing. We were told no
:38:22. > :38:26.one was available to be interviewed today. Helping asylum-seekers and
:38:26. > :38:35.refugees at a time when local people are struggling to get by is
:38:35. > :38:42.something politicians often struggle to justify. Citizens of a
:38:42. > :38:49.Century plans to publish findings by June. -- citizens of The century.
:38:49. > :38:53.It is all our responsibility in civil society to expose what is
:38:53. > :38:57.going on and ask politicians to be accountable for the part they play.
:38:57. > :39:02.I am keen that we own our communities and what happens in
:39:02. > :39:05.them and I think that is what is called the Big Society. For these
:39:05. > :39:15.asylum-seekers, it does not matter what it is called. They just need
:39:15. > :39:18.
:39:18. > :39:27.help. It is not a normal life that a woman of my age... I feel so sad
:39:27. > :39:37.and so tired. Sometimes I cried because of the situation. We live
:39:37. > :39:42.in the shadow. We live like a rat underground. Alain Joeb has joined
:39:42. > :39:46.us, a refugee from the Cameroons. First, I want to find out where our
:39:46. > :39:50.MPs stand on this. The volunteers are disgusted that we do so little
:39:50. > :39:55.to help asylum-seekers. Do you agree with them? I think I do on
:39:55. > :39:59.balance. Asylum-seekers should be treated with dignity. I think the
:39:59. > :40:04.border agency has got to deal with what is known as legacy cases
:40:04. > :40:08.quickly and fairly. They have not been doing that. Under my own
:40:08. > :40:11.government, we were not doing it quickly enough although going back
:40:11. > :40:17.20 years or 15 years we were never doing it quickly enough. We have
:40:17. > :40:23.got to get legacy cases sorted out. I see it in my constituency all the
:40:23. > :40:29.time. By using more of it? I am seeing people not getting their
:40:29. > :40:33.responses and quick responses. -- are using more of it? It happened
:40:33. > :40:38.under John Major government, under the current government, under my
:40:38. > :40:44.government. To give you a quick example, I recently met some young
:40:44. > :40:48.men, 18, 19, in my constituency from Afghanistan. They came here
:40:48. > :40:53.when they were 10 years old. They have still not been told what their
:40:53. > :40:57.status as. That is not fair. Absolutely. When you see the way
:40:57. > :41:01.that some of these asylum-seekers are having to live, do you accept
:41:01. > :41:05.we have to do more? It is about getting the balance right. There
:41:05. > :41:10.does not seem to be any balance. They have to live in a cave, for
:41:10. > :41:14.example. A we are taking quite a few of these asylum-seekers... We
:41:14. > :41:18.cannot be the refugees home of the world. We need to do our share but
:41:18. > :41:22.we have just spent 10 minutes talking about the challenges facing
:41:22. > :41:27.hard working UK families. We have got to look after them as well.
:41:27. > :41:32.they come first? We need to do our fair share and at the moment it
:41:32. > :41:38.feels as though the proportions are tipping the long way. What happens?
:41:38. > :41:42.Does somebody like Zarif... Does he have to keep living in a cave?
:41:42. > :41:46.has travelled from Afghanistan and travelled through lots of other
:41:46. > :41:51.modern countries like France, Germany, Belgium. Why did he end up
:41:51. > :41:57.in the UK having travelled through all of those countries? He may say,
:41:57. > :42:03.why shouldn't he? We need to do our bit. We have to look after our own.
:42:03. > :42:08.The let us hear Alain Joeb's story. You fled prosecution in the
:42:08. > :42:12.Cameroon and it took you 10 years to get refugee status. Can you
:42:12. > :42:17.describe to me how you survived during that period? It was terrible.
:42:17. > :42:21.I fled Cameroon in 2000 after I was caught up in politics between the
:42:21. > :42:31.government in place on the opposition. I was locked up, beaten
:42:31. > :42:34.terribly. The charity in London identified 68 scars over my body.
:42:34. > :42:39.They recorded that I was systematically abused. When I came
:42:39. > :42:45.to make the application, there was total disbelief. For 10 years, I
:42:45. > :42:52.lost my wife for years ago... Until today, I cannot visit my wife
:42:52. > :42:59.because there was no resources for me available. I was not allowed to
:42:59. > :43:09.work for 10 years. I was not allowed to use my skills. They
:43:09. > :43:12.
:43:12. > :43:18.vanished within the 10 years. I remember receiving something...
:43:18. > :43:24.That is how you have had to live? I cannot imagine what that must have
:43:24. > :43:27.been light. But now you have your own business. You have got a food
:43:27. > :43:32.stall in the Victoria Centre in Nottingham. How is that working
:43:32. > :43:36.out? I hear it it is popular. Exciting. I am grateful to the
:43:36. > :43:43.resilience of the local people in Nottingham. They have been
:43:43. > :43:46.extremely supportive. They really helped me out. My work within the
:43:46. > :43:50.local community has been valuable and I am really happy today. Some
:43:50. > :43:55.people would say you have been lucky to find the right help. What
:43:55. > :44:01.we do say to Mark Spencer when he says that the situation is that we
:44:01. > :44:06.have to look after our own people first? I think Mark will accept
:44:06. > :44:11.that we cannot tolerate a family of four sleeping in one single bed. We
:44:11. > :44:17.cannot tolerate a young man where they he has come from to be
:44:17. > :44:20.sleeping in a cemetery where the dead people are. Something needs to
:44:20. > :44:26.change. The government has a duty of care to everyone who finds
:44:26. > :44:31.themselves here. They need to provide for these people the basic
:44:31. > :44:34.things for them to survive. heard earlier in the film saying
:44:34. > :44:38.that politicians are generally reluctant to speak out in support
:44:38. > :44:42.of asylum-seekers. When you hear what is happening, do we not have
:44:42. > :44:47.to be a bit braver and say, he is right. They deserve a better life.
:44:47. > :44:51.We should be able to help them, no matter what our own problems are.
:44:51. > :44:55.would say that politicians should always talk about the issues they
:44:55. > :44:58.believe in and should not try and cut their words for what they think
:44:58. > :45:05.would be most popular with the public. I know some politicians do
:45:05. > :45:08.that. I do not think Mark does that actually. I don't think I do that.
:45:08. > :45:11.This man has come here and he is running a small business and
:45:11. > :45:15.contributing to the Nottingham economy. I could take you down to
:45:15. > :45:18.lots of small businesses in Leicester where people have come
:45:18. > :45:24.here and saw refugee status and have been granted it and are now
:45:24. > :45:30.running small businesses. But there are other people... Look at Zarif
:45:30. > :45:34.living in his cave, surviving, barely surviving on �10 a month.
:45:34. > :45:40.That is from the charity. That is all he gets. He is desperate to
:45:40. > :45:43.work. Shouldn't we let him work? have also got a UK residents in the
:45:43. > :45:48.same circumstances who are homeless and find themselves in desperate
:45:48. > :45:52.circumstances. We need to make our fair share -- do our fair share,
:45:52. > :45:57.help these people, whether they come from in the world. But we can
:45:57. > :46:02.only do so many. Other nations need to step up as well and help us out.
:46:03. > :46:06.It is about getting the proportion right. It comes back to this point
:46:06. > :46:11.I made at the start. That young man's status needs to be resolved
:46:11. > :46:15.as quickly as possible. If the border Agency and the authorities
:46:15. > :46:20.decide he should not have refugee status, they should remove him from
:46:20. > :46:25.the country in the fairest way and with dignity. That is the issue is
:46:25. > :46:30.a start you would agree that these things need to be moved on more
:46:30. > :46:38.quickly. 10 years was far too long in your case. You had to endure
:46:38. > :46:44.terrible things in that time. need certainly to speed up. It is
:46:44. > :46:51.not our duty to move somebody on let somebody's day. In Nottingham
:46:51. > :46:56.and in the United Kingdom... As a citizen, my concern is for human
:46:56. > :47:02.beings being treated fairly and humanely. You will accept that we
:47:02. > :47:06.cannot tolerate that a family of four is in a single bed. That is
:47:06. > :47:15.not the kind of society we want to live in. Or indeed a young man
:47:15. > :47:18.sleeping in the cemetery. That should be shock us. We appreciate
:47:18. > :47:22.already that the representative in the Midlands are supporting our
:47:22. > :47:31.commission in addressing the issue and finding a solution. But more
:47:31. > :47:41.has to be done? More has to be done. Time now for our round-up. Here is
:47:41. > :47:46.
:47:46. > :47:49.With the news that Dutch company is planning to take over rally,
:47:49. > :47:56.Nottingham North MP is calling for the world-famous company to move
:47:56. > :47:58.back to his home city. In its heyday, it employed 8000 workers.
:47:58. > :48:00.Their report to Derbyshire County Council recommends its main
:48:00. > :48:05.opposition leader should get thousands of pounds more in
:48:05. > :48:12.allowances. But current Labour leader says she has no intention of
:48:12. > :48:17.claiming any more than she does now. Lib Dem MEP has been elected a full
:48:17. > :48:22.member of a new European Parliament committee on organised crime. It
:48:22. > :48:27.plans tougher action on corruption and human trafficking.
:48:27. > :48:30.Finally, Eastwood Town Council has reversed a decision to evict
:48:30. > :48:34.pensioner Arthur Martin from his allotment after a public outcry
:48:34. > :48:38.against claims that he is not fit enough to work it. We are going to
:48:38. > :48:46.move on from this. We have learnt from it. We are going to work
:48:46. > :48:50.together, this council. What do you think of that last
:48:50. > :48:57.story? Eastwood Council has climbed down now but only after protesters
:48:57. > :49:00.accused them of over-reacting. think they lost the plot, frankly!
:49:00. > :49:04.There are some things that politicians should get involved in
:49:04. > :49:08.and some that they shouldn't. We should encourage in -- be
:49:08. > :49:15.encouraging people to get out and keep fit. Did they lose the plot,
:49:15. > :49:22.Jon? Yes, I think they did. I am jealous that I did not think of
:49:22. > :49:28.that line! It was clearly a barmy decision from Eastwood Town Council.
:49:28. > :49:33.They said he had a dodgy hip then they tried to make out that they
:49:33. > :49:37.were doing it in his best interests. Terribly patronising. What did you
:49:37. > :49:42.think of that? It is patronising. I am glad they have climbed down on
:49:42. > :49:46.us. We want people garden in on their allotments. It is good for
:49:46. > :49:52.your health. This is another result of Big Society and shows the power
:49:52. > :49:57.of the other a lot when holders. is symptomatic of how we have ended
:49:57. > :50:00.up looking at the state to interfere and make these nanny
:50:00. > :50:04.state decisions. We need to let people live their own lives.
:50:04. > :50:08.shows that ordinary people have more power than the they think.
:50:08. > :50:18.That is good news was that back could be interesting in the run-up
:50:18. > :50:18.
:50:18. > :50:22.to the local elections! Thank you both what joining me. -- thank you