:01:26. > :01:35.Here in the East Midlands: As the Government prepares to vote
:01:36. > :01:36.
:01:36. > :42:03.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2427 seconds
:42:03. > :42:10.on gay marriage, you're split on As the Government prepares to vote
:42:10. > :42:15.on the issue of gay marriage, you are split on the issue. Do you
:42:15. > :42:19.agree with same-sex marriages? No. It is their business and if they
:42:19. > :42:22.wish to make a commitment, it is their business.
:42:22. > :42:24.Hello, I'm Marie Ashby. Joining me this week, the Conservative MP for
:42:24. > :42:27.Mid-Derbyshire, Pauline Latham, and Labour's man in Chesterfield, Toby
:42:27. > :42:29.Perkins. Welcome. First, Tory hopes of fighting the
:42:29. > :42:32.next election on re-drawn constituency boundaries were
:42:32. > :42:35.crushed on Tuesday when Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrat MPs
:42:35. > :42:44.unanimously voted no. Conservative Mark Spencer was less than happy
:42:44. > :42:49.with his coalition colleagues. Fairness, fairness. It is all we
:42:49. > :42:52.have heard from some of our colleagues in collision. But a word
:42:52. > :42:56.I would like to introduce his operability and whether it is
:42:56. > :43:02.honourable to take a position and then move, frankly, to renewed
:43:02. > :43:12.position when you see what is before you. -- introduced
:43:12. > :43:15.
:43:15. > :43:19.From a personal perspective I am delighted I have a chance to fight
:43:19. > :43:22.another election but we did fight with the government because I do
:43:22. > :43:32.believe all constituencies should be the same size and I agree with
:43:32. > :43:40.
:43:40. > :43:46.fairness. So you would have sacrificed your seat? Yes. We have
:43:46. > :43:52.a huge number of people and a transient population. It is what we
:43:52. > :43:55.thought this boundary was entirely non-political and unfair. We should
:43:55. > :43:59.have seen and other eight seats but under the boundary we saw eight
:44:00. > :44:03.fewer seats in London, so those missing people, I thought we would
:44:03. > :44:13.get them on to the register and a whole raft of things was being done
:44:13. > :44:17.
:44:17. > :44:24.that would mean that didn't happen. We both still Rahmat and every
:44:24. > :44:33.member of Parliament still Brett -- we both stood on it and every
:44:33. > :44:36.member of Parliament stood on it. It would have been very different
:44:36. > :44:39.for those of us who had major changes.
:44:39. > :44:43.The other big story in our patch this week, of course, was the news
:44:43. > :44:46.that Toton Sidings has been chosen as the East Midlands Hub for the
:44:46. > :44:49.High Speed 2 rail extension to Leeds. Pauline, is Toton the best
:44:49. > :44:59.solution for the East Midlands? Should it have gone straight to
:44:59. > :44:59.
:44:59. > :45:03.Derby instead of Toton? Well, the Nottingham would have complained so
:45:03. > :45:06.Toton Sidings is very good for the East Midlands generally and it will
:45:06. > :45:10.be brilliant for Nottingham and Derby and a lot more businesses
:45:10. > :45:13.will be opening up in this area. It's causing a bit of a kerfuffle
:45:13. > :45:16.at Derby City Council, with leader Paul Bayliss campaigning for Derby
:45:16. > :45:26.to have the station there and Tory opposition leader Philip Hickson
:45:26. > :45:28.
:45:28. > :45:32.saying the idea's absurd. Yes, and where was Paul Bayliss when the
:45:32. > :45:41.idea was proposed? He is jumping on a bandwagon just because you wanted
:45:41. > :45:51.to oppose the Government, and it is not really about derby. -- he
:45:51. > :45:53.
:45:53. > :45:57.wanted. In the north of the region, the nearest we will be to the north
:45:57. > :46:00.side of Sheffield. This is a welcome bit of infrastructure but
:46:00. > :46:03.welcome bit of infrastructure but we need to remember it is 20 years
:46:03. > :46:07.away and we don't want to see these huge development projects that mean
:46:07. > :46:12.we don't get the investment we need right now, because we need to see
:46:12. > :46:22.those services on the East Coast Main Line, which service much wider
:46:22. > :46:26.
:46:26. > :46:32.parts of our region, continued. There is not enough capacity on the
:46:32. > :46:37.tray in lines at the moment. They are pretty full most of the time. -
:46:37. > :46:40.- train lines. It will open up that capacity because there will still
:46:40. > :46:44.be trains through Derby. It is not as though the stations in
:46:44. > :46:51.Nottingham and Derby will close. But the high-speed will go through
:46:51. > :46:54.Toton Sidings. Plenty more to come on this story.
:46:54. > :46:56.Next week, I'll be joined by North West Leicestershire Conservative MP
:46:56. > :47:00.Andrew Bridgen, who will definitely have something to say about HS2,
:47:00. > :47:02.because it's going to be running through his back garden! And the
:47:02. > :47:05.Shadow Minister for Rail and Nottingham South MP, Lilian
:47:05. > :47:09.Greenwood, will be here too. So if you've got a question for our
:47:09. > :47:19.guests next week on HS2 or anything else, you can tweet us or go to our
:47:19. > :47:22.
:47:22. > :47:25.else, you can tweet us or go to our Just a few weeks into his job, the
:47:25. > :47:28.new Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland
:47:28. > :47:31.seems to have ruffled a few feathers with his military style.
:47:31. > :47:33.Former Air Chief Marshall Sir Clive Loader has had a letter from the
:47:33. > :47:37.County Council in which they express their disappointment at his
:47:37. > :47:40.lack of consultation with them. Sir Clive met with councillors and
:47:40. > :47:46.members of the Police and Crime Panel at County Hall earlier this
:47:46. > :47:50.week to discuss his draft budget. Tim Parker is our political
:47:50. > :48:00.reporter in Leicester. Tim, you were at the meeting. A frosty
:48:00. > :48:04.
:48:04. > :48:08.encounter? Certainly. Some of the questions were pretty direct. A
:48:08. > :48:14.lack of detail about the crime plan itself and how it marries into the
:48:14. > :48:17.Budget. Thirdly, a big question about commissioning. Of course, Sir
:48:17. > :48:23.Clive Loader has control of this budget of money for partnership
:48:23. > :48:26.working in the community and wants to review that after six months. He
:48:26. > :48:31.and the local government panel and independent members are saying,
:48:31. > :48:35.hang on, because this kind of work is usually done over a 12 month
:48:35. > :48:45.period so there is a question mark over how those groups will go
:48:45. > :48:49.
:48:49. > :48:53.forward. Why did some councillors vote against the budget? Four city
:48:53. > :48:57.councillors did vote against it but the concerns from the councillors
:48:57. > :49:03.were that despite a freeze grant being introduced that will help the
:49:03. > :49:10.police to take over from the Police Authority and health Sir Clive do
:49:10. > :49:20.his work as he should of April, so there is a transition Grant. --
:49:20. > :49:20.
:49:20. > :49:27.helps Sir Clive. The city mayor helps Sir Clive. The city mayor
:49:27. > :49:31.still has concerns. By taking the freeze grant, it is worse, because
:49:31. > :49:34.by that time we get too near 3 the situation will be significantly
:49:34. > :49:41.worse and no plans have been presented as doubt that challenge
:49:41. > :49:51.will be met. So what did Sir Clive Loader have
:49:51. > :49:52.
:49:52. > :49:57.to say for himself? Both sides realise it is going to be difficult
:49:57. > :50:06.to do. But despite what the panel has said, he will not be put off
:50:06. > :50:12.his promises. The manifesto was based on what they wanted and
:50:12. > :50:14.expected and it is what I am required to do by law, that is have
:50:15. > :50:18.a connectivity between the Commission and the police agreed
:50:18. > :50:28.plan. No beating about the bush there, then. And isn't it that
:50:28. > :50:29.
:50:29. > :50:38.approach that's got backs up at County Hall? Yes, it is two worlds
:50:38. > :50:41.colliding. He is saying he wants to meet his manifesto regardless of
:50:41. > :50:44.what the panel and politicians are saying. This is exactly what people
:50:44. > :50:54.were worried about before these PCCs were elected - that there
:50:54. > :50:58.
:50:58. > :51:02.would be fall-outs with different parties? I don't think these are
:51:02. > :51:06.opposing parties. It will take a while because it is a completely
:51:06. > :51:09.different system, and where councillors are used to come --
:51:09. > :51:13.controlling a budget they will not want to give it up. But they will
:51:13. > :51:23.have to do so for the benefit of the people and criminals to make
:51:23. > :51:30.
:51:30. > :51:33.sure policing is done correctly. But it is not easy, is it?
:51:33. > :51:40.There will always be political arguments but they have to work
:51:40. > :51:50.together for the benefit of the people. Surely we're going to see
:51:50. > :51:52.
:51:52. > :51:57.more of this. Yes, but the Government have taken the
:51:57. > :52:02.incredibly cowardly step of taking huge cuts but not deciding where
:52:02. > :52:05.they will go. We have seen huge cuts to the Police Commission and
:52:05. > :52:11.the Government can then sit back and say, it is up to you council
:52:11. > :52:14.has to decide. -- counsellors. Paddy Tipping in Nottinghamshire
:52:14. > :52:17.wants to increase council tax to have more police, which is what
:52:17. > :52:24.everyone was asking for, but his County Council is saying it's going
:52:24. > :52:27.to freeze it again. How are they going to sort that one out? They
:52:27. > :52:33.are going to have to put some of the politics behind them for the
:52:33. > :52:43.benefit of the people in the area and tried to sort it out. Are we
:52:43. > :52:46.
:52:46. > :52:50.going to see more of these spats? Yes, because they used to doing
:52:50. > :52:53.things in a very different way. Parker, thank you.
:52:53. > :52:56.Last week, we told you that one of our Health Trusts had been judged
:52:56. > :52:59.one of the most gay-friendly employers in the country. And this
:52:59. > :53:02.week, MPs will have their first chance to vote on gay marriage when
:53:02. > :53:05.the bill to legalise marriage for same-sex couples gets its second
:53:05. > :53:08.reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday. They're both subjects
:53:08. > :53:14.close to the heart of Ian Campbell, who's gay and is a Bassetlaw
:53:14. > :53:19.District Councillor. He's prepared his own personal report for us.
:53:19. > :53:23.I am here to find out why this place is one of the most gay-
:53:23. > :53:26.friendly employers in the county. A number of East Midlands councils
:53:26. > :53:31.made it to the top 100 on the list of employers and so did
:53:31. > :53:40.Leicestershire Police, but this health Trust made it into the top
:53:40. > :53:50.five. Rachel Phillips is the chair of the Forum, representing Lesbian,
:53:50. > :53:53.
:53:53. > :53:57.Gay, bisexual and transsexuals staff. There is nothing forbidden
:53:57. > :54:03.to talk about because we want to provide for everybody in the
:54:03. > :54:06.community. So what is it staff can come to work feeling they can be
:54:06. > :54:16.their holes that -- whole selves, we can provide that service for
:54:16. > :54:17.
:54:17. > :54:22.patients in a much better way. to meet you. This is the chief
:54:23. > :54:32.executive of the Trust. What benefits do you get your
:54:33. > :54:37.
:54:37. > :54:41.organisation for employees by it being this way? I have got 8,800
:54:41. > :54:50.jobs and I won my staff representing the community they are
:54:50. > :54:54.in. I want to give choice to patients. It looks as though our
:54:54. > :55:00.employers are getting the message about gay rights but what about
:55:00. > :55:05.politicians? I think marriage is a fantastic institution for two
:55:05. > :55:09.people who love each other delayed to enter into. Into a contract, so
:55:09. > :55:14.to speak, not just with themselves but what -- with whichever God as
:55:14. > :55:19.they believe in, and die as a Christian and a gay man want to get
:55:19. > :55:29.married in my parish church, under God. With the person I love.
:55:29. > :55:35.
:55:35. > :55:39.Toby, Ian makes a fair point there. Yes, he makes a very good point.
:55:39. > :55:42.There are those on both sides of the argument and opinion polls show
:55:42. > :55:48.the majority of those support it but those who don't feel very
:55:48. > :55:51.strongly about it indeed. I just feel the God I believe in says we
:55:51. > :55:54.are equal and so gay people should have the same rights to say they
:55:54. > :55:59.want to get married. But what we are voting on this week is not
:55:59. > :56:03.about gay people getting married in church or churches being forced to
:56:03. > :56:08.do this or changing the school curriculum. It is simply about
:56:08. > :56:12.whether they will be able to rule on whether his civil partnership is
:56:12. > :56:15.worth less than a marriage and calling it a marriage. Ian's told
:56:15. > :56:24.us he's not very happy about the Church of England being exempt. He
:56:24. > :56:30.feels some parishes would carry out gay marriages but can't. I am sure
:56:30. > :56:34.they would. This is obviously a very divisive issue and any body
:56:34. > :56:39.against it Islamophobic. I want to say that in terms of Members of
:56:39. > :56:42.Parliament, it is not true. I have not come across one member of
:56:42. > :56:46.Parliament who is homophobic, so we're looking at it from a very
:56:46. > :56:56.different view. I am happy for gay people, if they love each other, to
:56:56. > :57:05.
:57:05. > :57:11.be together... And get married? I am not going to vote for this.
:57:11. > :57:17.And what about the temples? The Muslims, the Jews? We have not
:57:17. > :57:24.heard Dave Hughes very much. If Toby and I had an affair, he is
:57:24. > :57:29.married and I am married, his wife and my husband could divorce us on
:57:29. > :57:33.adultery. If I had an affair with you, my husband could not do more -
:57:33. > :57:43.- divorce made because there can be no adultery between two women and
:57:43. > :57:44.
:57:44. > :57:54.men. There are such anomalies. I thought Conservatives were
:57:54. > :57:55.
:57:55. > :58:01.generally in favour of the institution of marriage? We are,
:58:01. > :58:04.and I have had hundreds of letters. Only one homophobic letter. About
:58:04. > :58:08.this more than any other issue since I have been in Parliament, I
:58:08. > :58:11.have had four, though they are starting to come in now, because
:58:11. > :58:21.the gay community is getting their act together and bombarding us in
:58:21. > :58:24.the last day, but up till then I have had four for marriage.
:58:24. > :58:34.course, love aside, the Government reckons gay marriage could bring as
:58:34. > :58:41.much �14.4 million into the economy. That is not the reason for doing it.
:58:41. > :58:44.We are not equal until we all have that right. But Pauline is right to
:58:44. > :58:49.save his bill is not a particularly good one. What they should be doing
:58:49. > :58:55.is saying, leave it to the church to decide. We sent Des Coleman out
:58:55. > :58:58.onto the streets of his home town of Derby to see what you think. If
:58:58. > :59:03.there is a wedding here this weekend it will be between a man
:59:03. > :59:13.and a woman. Later this week, MPs debate on whether to allow same-sex
:59:13. > :59:13.
:59:13. > :59:23.marriages. I have here in Derby to find out what you think.
:59:23. > :59:28.
:59:28. > :59:32.Not my cup of tea. I don't believe in it.
:59:32. > :59:42.I have got her daughter and son and if they were gay, there would be no
:59:42. > :59:43.
:59:43. > :59:53.generation to carry on. People deserve to be happy like everybody
:59:53. > :59:54.
:59:54. > :00:04.else. I agree with it totally. you want to get married, go for it.
:00:04. > :00:06.
:00:06. > :00:16.It is legalised in the States. I have no a problem with that. I am a
:00:16. > :00:17.
:00:17. > :00:21.Muslim and it is not prohibited, same-sex marriage. So I disagree.
:00:21. > :00:29.think everybody should be allowed to get married. If the love is
:00:29. > :00:39.there, let them get married. In the future, the traditional wedding
:00:39. > :00:43.between a man and a woman may be a thing of the past. There of people
:00:43. > :00:47.queuing up to go to the Court of Human Rights to overturn this
:00:47. > :00:53.quadruple not for the churches, which is a complete anomaly, there
:00:53. > :00:58.will be all sorts of other things. If the registrar is licensed by the
:00:58. > :01:02.local authority for marriages in church, if they say, no, I don't
:01:02. > :01:06.agree with same-sex marriage, that church will probably not be able to
:01:06. > :01:10.conduct any marriages, never mind a gay marriage. So I think there are
:01:10. > :01:16.many things which need ironing out. I cannot have a civil partnership,
:01:16. > :01:26.I can only have her marriage. But gay couples can have both. There is
:01:26. > :01:26.
:01:26. > :01:31.something wrong there. 's go and you can see how mixed up
:01:31. > :01:41.-- opinions are -- we have been out and about in Derby and you can see
:01:41. > :01:43.
:01:43. > :01:48.how mixed opinions are with people. There are those who support it but
:01:48. > :01:52.some people feel very strongly against, and I think the idea of
:01:53. > :01:57.religion, and I am proud to call myself a Christian, but we believe
:01:57. > :02:00.Christianity and quality are closely linked, and the idea that
:02:00. > :02:10.any religious institution should be forced to do what they don't want
:02:10. > :02:12.
:02:12. > :02:15.to do is wrong. But that is not what we will be voting for. I have
:02:15. > :02:19.a three different meetings in Chesterfield's and I am intending
:02:19. > :02:23.in the debate on Tuesday to represent those used. They want to
:02:23. > :02:26.make a change -- they are worried about changes to the School
:02:26. > :02:29.Curriculum and whether they are going to be forced into it.
:02:29. > :02:36.Time for a round-up of some of the other political stories in the East
:02:36. > :02:40.Midlands in 60 seconds, with our Newark and Sherwood District
:02:40. > :02:43.Council is to pay its lowest-paid staff a living wage. That's the
:02:43. > :02:49.rate needed to avoid relying on benefits. Currently it's �7.45 an
:02:49. > :02:52.hour. The council reckons it'll cost �24,000 a year.
:02:52. > :02:55.Graham Allen is leading a move to give more powers to local councils,
:02:55. > :02:57.including the ability to raise taxes. The Nottingham North MP is
:02:57. > :03:00.chairman of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select
:03:00. > :03:08.Committee, which has just produced a report calling for a radical
:03:08. > :03:13.change in the relationship between central and local government. If
:03:13. > :03:20.and have it sewn money and be able to raise its own finance if the
:03:20. > :03:23.electors can centre local taxes. and have its own money.
:03:23. > :03:26.10,000 Blue Badge holders in Derby could lose their free parking in
:03:26. > :03:28.city council car parks from April next year. The council's proposed
:03:28. > :03:38.budget includes plans to charge people on the lower rate of
:03:38. > :03:39.
:03:39. > :03:42.disability allowance. The move would save �80,000 a year.
:03:42. > :03:52.So Graham Allen there, wanting to give more powers to local councils.
:03:52. > :03:55.
:03:55. > :03:59.Should they be able to raise some taxes for themselves? As long as
:03:59. > :04:04.the people in the area consent to it, I think there is a reason to
:04:04. > :04:07.say yes, because there is a problem with council tax. We cannot provide
:04:07. > :04:11.the money from national government because of the mess we have been
:04:11. > :04:21.left in, so local councils could look at that but it would have to
:04:21. > :04:23.
:04:23. > :04:26.be with the consent of the people. Toby, what do you think? There is
:04:26. > :04:31.the question of whether we raise more money locally because we do
:04:31. > :04:34.that far less than other countries. But the economy is very stagnant so
:04:34. > :04:40.we would need to have a requisite reduction in central government
:04:41. > :04:46.spending and more money raised locally. So quite a way to go.