24/06/2012 Sunday Politics East Midlands


24/06/2012

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Here, parts of the region where a third of working households are one

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bill away from financial disaster. And we're in Brussels on a special

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2004 seconds

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Hello, I am Marie Ashby. My guests in the East Midlands this week as

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Shadow Treasury Minister, Chris Leslie, MP for Nottingham East and

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the Conservative MP for Derbyshire South, Heather Wheeler. Coming up,

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he has been censured for breaching the code of conduct over his

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European expenses. So should Councillor David Parsons stand down

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as leader of Leicestershire County Council? We have brought the Mayor

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of Leicester to Brussels to meet the city mayors here to find out

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whether he might have an answer or two.

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First, Nottingham-based Experian has told the Sunday Politics that a

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club of working households in Ashfield and Leicester are just one

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bill away from financial disaster, putting them in the 10 most

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vulnerable areas of the country. According to Experian, as many as

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238,000 working households have little or no savings and struggle

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to feed themselves and their children adequately. The coalition

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is constantly emphasising the importance of being better off

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working. These are working households and these figures are

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frightening. Those would be. It is interesting Experian have done this

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work. And also the areas chosen, Ashfield and Leicester. I would

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like to see the detail. But actually, what is interesting is

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that everything we are doing as a government, the coalition

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Government, is trying to make things better for every strata of

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society. Some people's experience of what poverty really means is

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different to other's. This group and described as traditionally

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proud self-reliant working people. That is good, people should be

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proud to work. Everything we do is about making work pay. It is good

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they are classed as working people, not good -- not good they are in

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such dire straits. White class them as one bill away? Everyone gets

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bills. -- why are those people classed as one bill away? It has

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been interesting the way people's pensions and savings and insurance,

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insurance tax, whatever, people have been attacked over the last 15

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years with different ways of raising money and France. It has

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affected people. Undoubtedly. In Europe constituency Nottingham East,

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22,000 and also that one bill away. -- in your constituency. Low and we

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are already insignificant poverty in Nottingham as things are. Low

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You are saying the Government is doing everything that they can.

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seems to be everything that can be done to make things worse, some

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changes hitting hard, and very significant changes to housing

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benefit, to other welfare changes. But some would say you got us into

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this in the first place. That would be said. We are back in recession,

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there are not the job opportunities for people to move out of it. More

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people have to go to part-time work. It is not as though people do not

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want to work, doing the right thing for themselves and their families,

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it is the conditions that the Chancellor has decided, stubbornly

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raising taxes quickly, cutting back the support that has been there,

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not increasing child benefit. The child share component of the

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working tax credit, not giving people the opportunity to get back

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into work. You are looking at the sea wrong way around. In South

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Derbyshire, the number of apprentices rose by 80% in one ear.

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That is because there was not meaningful work for those young

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kids. -- one a year. Those people have those aspirations. In your

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constituency, the number of job- seeker Allowance claimants has gone

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up by 19% in 12 months. unemployment has gone down. We can

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do statistics. You cannot blame everything... You Cabinet Secretary

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said we could be facing a decade of spending cuts. What do these people

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have to look forward to? I do not know why Sir Jeremy Heywood said

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that. The state is too big. We need a smaller state. I put that on

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every leaflet I distributed and got a 9.8% swing, so people believe me.

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We do not need a big state, it is too big. We shall leave it there.

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Next, a story which has sent political shockwaves through

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Leicestershire County Council. The council's Standards Committee has

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ruled the leader, David Parsons, breached its code of conduct over

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his European expenses. She declined to join us. Were as now is

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Councillor Sarah Hill, deputy leader of the lead in Group on the

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council. -- with us night. Let us explain how that came about. --

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deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats group. He was paid by one

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body, East Midlands Councils, they receive the same amount that he was

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meant to give back to EMC. The inquiry found he had failed to

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repay �4,000 on time, not quite the same as pocketing the money.

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but he had the benefit of the money for over 12 months in some cases,

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in his back account, so he had the benefit of the interest. Apparently

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�150, but he said there was no dishonest intent. Free possibly,

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but a massive failure to keep track of what he was doing. -- quite

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possibly. What should happen? should resign, not showing the

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standards you would expect as leader of the council, breaking the

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Code of Conduct on five different accounts. It is disappointing to

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see that as a leader of the Council the size of Leicestershire. I am

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sure others would agree. He the we were, do you agree? Absolutely not.

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-- Heather Wheeler. There is a lot of money revolving here, it can

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take six weeks to deal with, but it should not have taken longer than

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that. But it absolutely dead. There are also disputes about some

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cheques going missing. It has caused an awful lot of trouble.

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was warned about this. Have been warned about something is fine. If

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it is find... He had to act upon it. Free maybe this system needs to be

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changed. -- Maybe this system needs to be changed. He had letters

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asking him to change that. should not go through the council.

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Should David Parsons stand down? The Liberal Democrats are calling

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for that. The Labour group are calling for that. It has to be for

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the council and local people to decide. He has been humiliated by

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these allegations. He has to go through training, for example, in

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council standards. That is part of the punishment. Ultimately, it is

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for local people in Leicestershire to have a say on whether he should

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continue. He has made an apology. Had the Standards Committee met a

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fortnight earlier, they would have been able to suspend David Parsons.

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Since then, the Department of Communities has watered down their

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powers. How can that be right? is not watering down the powers.

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That is what it feels like. It has made it more important. With

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allegations of fraud, it is a criminal matter for the police.

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Nobody has taken this to the police, which is quite right, because it is

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obviously a mix up in paperwork. Leicestershire County Council has

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gone from strength to strength under his leadership. None of this

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paper work should have been going through his hands. It is far from

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over? It has not. Some papers were released on Friday. Nearly �2,000

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of outstanding invoices has been discovered. That is unfortunate,

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pitting us to square one and I am sure there are revelation will come

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out. And the council will discuss this again at the end of the week?

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We have a full council, the Conservative group will meet us

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before the full council, but we will see where it takes us and I am

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sure it will not only. Thank you. From one man clinging on to a power

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for another who wants more. The elected Mayor of Leicester, Sir

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Peter Soulsby, is urging David Cameron to give him more control

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over the local economy and the transport system. John Hess has

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taken him to Brussels. This is a journey about political

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power. Leicester's city mayor, so Peter Salsbury, heading to Brussels

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to meet its city mayor. Economic development is top of his agenda.

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The mayor can provide co-ordination and influence, but does not up a

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banner to make things happen. are in the historic heart of

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Brussels city centre to meet an old Brussels friend, Jef Baeck. They

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are some with their own mayor. beats Sir Peter on the mayor's

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powers. You have the police, one thing, but all other activities.

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You organise a city, commercial activities, even health. I would

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say, it is a local king. We have come to visit one of the mayor's

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projects that probably merits a royal seal of approval. It is

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lovely... It was once derelict, but it has been transformed, promoted

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by the city mayor, and has won awards. It was a factory until the

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1980s, was in the for almost 20 years. There are now 42 apartments,

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if mostly three-bedroomed, poor families to rent. We decided it

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could be a good idea to make this from the factory, a place for not

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really social housing, but average housing. To create a mixed city.

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Fascinating. This is the type of economic regeneration that he wants

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as part of his city next for Leicester. If only, he says, he had

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the powers of the Brussels may have. The mayor has control of the site,

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knotting -- not sitting around waiting for someone, having control.

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What local people, you can make things happen. -- with local people.

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Time for us to meet the city's mayor. On top of the staircase, a

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reminder of predecessors. Freddy Thielemans has been the Socialist

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mayor of Brussels for 12 years. Do you have responsibility for

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economic development within your area? For example, the police? I do

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not have control of those. And have both and they are very important.

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The mayor is the chair of the city. And he is the identity of a city.

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Exactly right. That is very important.

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Quite a wide range of funding available to you?

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We have commercial taxes that will local, restaurant taxes, terraces,

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taxes on charities, taxes on parking, taxes that helps a lot,

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giving us and the Normans independence.

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He faces elections this autumn, with public transport a big issue.

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We want to improve what is happening in the city, more backing

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of public transport, more individual possibilities, like

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walking, cycling, motor biking. I think that that is truly the

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future demand. The city mayor of Brussels, Freddy

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Thielemans, is more than just a figurehead with significant

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political powers over police and economic development, for example,

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that out of powers because Salsbury wants for Leicester and he is

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taking that message to Downing Street. -- the sort of powers that

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Sir Peter Soulsby wants. It is not just about powers. It is also about

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providing leadership. To that extent, the role of the mayor of

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Brussels and one of a UK cities such as Les there are many similar.

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Two men with very different powers to run their cities. -- such as

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Leicester. He wants to tell the Prime Minister that Brussels has

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the answer for me UK. If it is good enough for Boris

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Johnson, surely he should have more powers? I think it is a pretty

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convincing case. If you are the leader of a Cabinet, as in

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Nottingham, whatever the form of constitution, I think our cities

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and local authorities do need to have more powers devolved to them.

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Ultimately, we have to accept that we are living in one of the most

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centralised constitution's anywhere in the developed world. Whitehall

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is very good at clinging on to Paris. Across the political divide,

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we all sometimes see -- clinging on to Paras. We all sometimes say that,

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despite all those promises about devolving, it has not been

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happening. Will David Cameron give them more? The public and

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astonished at the short memories of politicians. There were referendums

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all over the country asking what people like a mayor. Nottingham

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said no. But no new cars. Should there be more? -- but no new Paras.

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The new mayors coming in, where the towns and cities said yes, there is

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the appetite on it. That will show how good they are, then be able, as

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they will have a cabinet meeting with all the mayors coming to a

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number 10, it is all very exciting. But should they have to prove

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themselves? Absolutely. Exactly as Boris Johnson proved himself, being

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re-elected, do you really think everyone will go carte blanche and

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have tax-raising powers? The idea of Derek Hatton in Liverpool!

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the idea that they should only get those if elected. Let me finish. --

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if re-elected. It is the cities and the people that should be able to

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shape their own destinies, not wait to be told by departments in

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Whitehall. We are seeing it as the budgets are cut, councils becoming

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very dependent on central Government. What about localism

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bill? Everything how you have recalled... It dictates to councils.

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You must have been sitting through a different bill. I suspect I was.

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And should be elected police commissioners would have something

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to say. When we have those elections, yes. There is danger of

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a dish joint. A meal that is directly-elected, a police

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commissioner, -- an air that is directly-elected, Police

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commissioner, but we need to sort out from an English perspective

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what we are doing on devolution. The difficulty is the boundaries.

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If it was a city with a city police force, it would be right to have

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someone like on us. Time for a round-up of the stories and 60

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seconds. -- in 60 seconds.

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US retailer, Walgreen, is being �4 billion on a 45% in Alliance Boots.

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Walgreen would have the option to take over in three years' time.But

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we are committed no jobs will be lost. We think it is an opportunity

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to grow up jobs. Leicestershire police say they have

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acted on claims that some officers have stopped and searched a

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disproportionate number of black people. Equality and Human Rights

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Commission says it will take legal action unless the ports can prove

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the situation has improved. Corbett Conservative MP has launched a

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macro blocking site to rival Twitter. She has regularly been the

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victim of abuse from twitters that she has described as immoral and

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misogynistic. Margaret Thatcher brought in the right to buy council

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homes. Now the coalition is allowing the Labour majority in

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Derby to keep the proceeds of new sales.

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All those years that councils complained they could not keep hold

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of the money from council house sales at the coalition has made

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this happen. It is very partial, looking at the details, being only

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allowed to keep the proceeds of the right to buy in some council house

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sales. That means the council will have a few tens of thousands for

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every sale, but will that replace like-for-like the houses that are

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sold on? I think it is very dubious. The proceeds can be kept as long as

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it is invested in new homes. have not seen new builds in social

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housing. I am really sorry... you know how many new houses?

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is terrible. There is just no will to do it. I arrived late here,

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because I came from an opening of eight new social houses. This was

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the first one of how many that have been done. We have been taking the

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money that we have been given, the 50% up until now, and...

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waiting lists are just growing. much money? Discounts of up to

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�75,000, not leaving a lot for councils? Before it was only 50%,

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so it will be more. Wetbacks are better than nothing? Of course.

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