Browse content similar to 27/05/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Here: A boost for our hi-tech industry. Meanwhile, up workers are | :01:41. | :01:51. | |
:01:51. | :01:51. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1676 seconds | :01:51. | :29:48. | |
fighting for jobs at Remploy Hello and welcome to Sunday | :29:48. | :29:55. | |
Politics East. As Remploy factories face closure workers are forced to | :29:55. | :30:00. | |
find work in mainstream employment. You are like a sparrow amongst the | :30:00. | :30:04. | |
starlings but here you are like a starling amongst the starlings - | :30:04. | :30:10. | |
all in the same boat. First, the economics secretary to the Treasury | :30:10. | :30:19. | |
is here. Let us start with a quick word about the IMF report this week. | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
It said the government might have to make some tough measures to | :30:24. | :30:31. | |
boost growth, such as cutting taxes like VAT. I know you think there | :30:31. | :30:35. | |
should be more growth, but do you think the IMF wants to see growth | :30:35. | :30:43. | |
as well? I believe they say it for themselves. These cuts on posterity | :30:43. | :30:49. | |
are self defeating in terms of people losing their jobs when it | :30:49. | :30:59. | |
:30:59. | :31:02. | ||
doesn't have to happen. I'm glad to be on with your other guest. Let us | :31:02. | :31:07. | |
begin on a mature note. Let us have a debate here based on what the IMF | :31:07. | :31:14. | |
said. Briefly, the IMF was positive in his report but there are mixed | :31:14. | :31:18. | |
messages. Britain needs to deal with its debts and that is what | :31:18. | :31:25. | |
this country has been doing and it has and as credibility to turn to | :31:25. | :31:29. | |
measures for growth. There isn't actually a fierce opposition | :31:29. | :31:34. | |
between austerity and growth. You need one to get to the other. | :31:34. | :31:39. | |
has been a mixed picture for jobs in the region. On the positive side, | :31:39. | :31:44. | |
the government gave millions to Life Science Research and one of | :31:44. | :31:48. | |
our universities announced plans to create more jobs. On the negative | :31:48. | :31:55. | |
side, there were redundancies and uncertainty as some well known - | :31:56. | :32:00. | |
might in some well-known companies. The Cromer crab Company has been | :32:00. | :32:04. | |
buying and processing the local produce and selling it around the | :32:04. | :32:07. | |
world and for the last year, the town has been fighting to keep it | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
open. They thought they were getting somewhere but this week, | :32:11. | :32:15. | |
they learned the plant will close in the summer. We all carried hope | :32:15. | :32:20. | |
in our hearts that something would come up and the owners would find a | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
buyer who would continue the crowd processing operation but the news | :32:24. | :32:30. | |
today that 109 jobs is going is a bit at blow. They have been | :32:30. | :32:38. | |
fighting hard to send -- save Lola cars in Huntingdon. The future of | :32:38. | :32:43. | |
the correct an oil depot became more and Sourton with reports that | :32:43. | :32:49. | |
refining could go elsewhere. The Cambridge computer firm Autonomy | :32:49. | :32:52. | |
has uncertainty after its founder left and it reported a big drop in | :32:52. | :32:57. | |
sales. But the government says this is only one side of the story. This | :32:57. | :33:03. | |
week, the Science Minister was digging for growth as he announced | :33:03. | :33:07. | |
�127 million for a research project in Cambridge and Norwich. Thousands | :33:08. | :33:12. | |
of jobs are likely to follow. is real support for East Anglia | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
where there are so many world-class centres. There are many businesses | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
to grow and bring us that jobs that the Coalition believes in for hi- | :33:22. | :33:29. | |
tech jobs in the future. Ruskin University announced a new project | :33:29. | :33:35. | |
in a move which could create 12,500 jobs. A delegation from China | :33:35. | :33:38. | |
visiting Norfolk this week is believed to be close to invent | :33:38. | :33:47. | |
sting tens of millions of pounds in the automotive engineering centre. | :33:47. | :33:52. | |
It is a great opportunity to bring jobs in Norfolk and wrote the | :33:52. | :33:57. | |
skills base we have. This large amount of investment is welcome | :33:57. | :34:02. | |
news. Government MPs are saying it puts the region at the forefront of | :34:02. | :34:06. | |
the economic recovery. By creating those jobs will take time and that | :34:06. | :34:11. | |
is not such good news for those out of work now. | :34:11. | :34:16. | |
Terry Smith, new hi-tech industries taking off but that is not | :34:16. | :34:21. | |
compensation for people who are losing their jobs now. Where will | :34:21. | :34:29. | |
they get jobs from -- Chloe Smith. It is extremely sad for those. | :34:29. | :34:33. | |
Every job lost his up a tragedy for an individual and family. What we | :34:33. | :34:37. | |
have to do in government is put in place the conditions to get jobs | :34:37. | :34:42. | |
out there. Things like infrastructure, credit to | :34:42. | :34:47. | |
businesses and this kind of funding that can help innovation in the hi- | :34:47. | :34:51. | |
tech economy. Richard, we have seen a lot of investment in life | :34:51. | :34:58. | |
sciences. That has got to be good news, hasn't it? I think more could | :34:58. | :35:05. | |
have been done. The local management dip their best and was | :35:05. | :35:12. | |
involved in negotiations. And Labour's campaign did his best to. | :35:12. | :35:20. | |
I agree that the East - in our universities and businesses - has a | :35:20. | :35:27. | |
specialism in life sciences. There is a great expertise in terms of | :35:27. | :35:30. | |
medical degrees and this will add to that in terms of medical | :35:30. | :35:35. | |
technology. When we talk about the government, giving a bit with one | :35:35. | :35:39. | |
hand when you take away a huge slice with the other. If you take | :35:39. | :35:48. | |
the universities, they have taken �2 billion a weight recently. We | :35:48. | :35:54. | |
have seen local enterprise partnerships set-up when the east | :35:54. | :36:00. | |
of England Development Agency was set up with 140 million. Giving | :36:00. | :36:04. | |
with one and taking away with the other. We had the double dip is | :36:04. | :36:10. | |
worse than feared. You need a plan for quotes, don't you? Has David | :36:10. | :36:15. | |
Cameron asked you to look at a triple-A rating to borrow money? | :36:15. | :36:19. | |
The plan begins with recognising when you have a problem. Richard, | :36:20. | :36:25. | |
I'm afraid, does not understand that. She a lack of credibility | :36:25. | :36:32. | |
with which Labour left our economy in is overwhelming. But what a back | :36:32. | :36:36. | |
infrastructure projects? It is from that position we have to begin. We | :36:36. | :36:41. | |
have to recognise that the position is tough at the moment and that | :36:41. | :36:46. | |
party left the economy in tatters. We have to put up with that Des and | :36:47. | :36:56. | |
doing that gives us credit on the international scene. Are you going | :36:57. | :37:02. | |
to use that to borrow to invest to stimulate growth? We have to be | :37:02. | :37:08. | |
able to use that and we are able to use that to use the Government's | :37:08. | :37:12. | |
balance sheet to increase growth. The government is doing something | :37:12. | :37:19. | |
right, isn't it, Richard? They are doing something right. This is the | :37:19. | :37:25. | |
week in which they have had to admit figures on recession are | :37:25. | :37:30. | |
worse than thought. The construction industry has been | :37:30. | :37:38. | |
shrunk. In France, people are turning away from Conservatives | :37:38. | :37:41. | |
towards a social democratic candidate. The German Conservatives | :37:41. | :37:46. | |
are losing their regional elections and it is only a matter of time | :37:46. | :37:52. | |
where the people make a judgement. You mention Greece and Europe. A | :37:53. | :37:58. | |
creek - that quick comment on Greece. Again, we are left in a | :37:58. | :38:03. | |
position where there are Conservative Euro-sceptics who want | :38:03. | :38:10. | |
to blame Europe whereas growth is better in Germany than in Britain. | :38:10. | :38:13. | |
Things are tough in Greece and they have some responsibility for where | :38:13. | :38:18. | |
they have got to but sitting on the edge of Europe and spectating has | :38:18. | :38:23. | |
not help businesses in this region. There is a lot more to talk about | :38:23. | :38:29. | |
on that but I want to move on. One set of workers are struggling to | :38:29. | :38:35. | |
hold on to their jobs and they are the employees that Remploy. One | :38:35. | :38:41. | |
fact respect -- set up for disabled workers is set to close. It is one | :38:41. | :38:47. | |
of 13 factories nationwide that is up for review. Hundreds of disabled | :38:47. | :38:54. | |
workers will have to find new jobs. Harvey has learning and mobility | :38:54. | :38:58. | |
difficulties. He has worked for Remploy for 21 years and knows | :38:58. | :39:03. | |
everything there is to know about the factories product, cardboard | :39:03. | :39:09. | |
packaging. It is a good company and offer support. It offers people a | :39:09. | :39:12. | |
chance to get back to work and get self-respect and dignity and | :39:12. | :39:21. | |
training. What I you going to do if this place closes? Probably never | :39:21. | :39:27. | |
work again. As hard as I might do, no one will employ me because they | :39:27. | :39:31. | |
look at my disability. Susan has worked for Remploy for a long time. | :39:31. | :39:36. | |
She has autism. Before getting her job 15 years ago she had been | :39:36. | :39:42. | |
unemployed. If you saw what we have been doing today it shows we have | :39:42. | :39:47. | |
jobs just the same as able-bodied people. Perhaps not on a production | :39:47. | :39:52. | |
line and working quickly but we still work for are bread-and-butter | :39:52. | :39:55. | |
and still earn a wage and we are not on benefits. The employee was | :39:55. | :40:00. | |
set up after the Second World War. For those who had been disabled | :40:00. | :40:05. | |
during the conflict. Of their 54 factories, 36 now face possible | :40:05. | :40:11. | |
closure, including Remploy in Norwich which has 28 disabled | :40:11. | :40:15. | |
employees. We cannot show your working because Remploy's head | :40:15. | :40:19. | |
office which comes under government control, will not allow West in. | :40:19. | :40:27. | |
The average wage is �14,000 a year and the government pays �11,000 per | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
employee to cover specialist support they need at work. | :40:30. | :40:35. | |
important thing for anyone affected by the decision here to make sure | :40:35. | :40:40. | |
the money we used and the projected budget we use is supporting more | :40:40. | :40:44. | |
disabled people is that this is an opportunity to support existing | :40:45. | :40:50. | |
Remploy factory employees into new work where required, to put in | :40:50. | :40:53. | |
place the sort of training that can make a real difference to the sorts | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
of jobs they might be able to get. I would reassure them that we will | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
make sure the support is there - one on one support - to make sure | :41:02. | :41:08. | |
they can look at all the options. While this factory attract business | :41:08. | :41:13. | |
from factories like Marks and Spencer, year-on-year, it has | :41:13. | :41:17. | |
operated at a loss. So will business leaders really be | :41:17. | :41:27. | |
:41:27. | :41:29. | ||
interested in taking all of this on? No-one -- it doesn't require | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
modernisation but they can remain open. It is a vital life source for | :41:33. | :41:38. | |
people and their families and to prevent them being a burden on the | :41:38. | :41:42. | |
tax payer. There is talk of a ballot for strike action but there | :41:42. | :41:49. | |
is little optimism. You can go and speak to someone with your problems. | :41:49. | :41:55. | |
All birds Of A Feather go together. If you going to the outside world | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
you are like a sparrow amongst the starlings. But here you are a | :42:00. | :42:04. | |
starling amongst starlings - all in the same boat. We will be staying | :42:04. | :42:09. | |
in touch with them to see how they get on. Joining us is Glen Holden | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
from the GMB union. What you think the future of that plant is? | :42:14. | :42:20. | |
don't think it has too much of a future, unfortunately. And | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
disappointed Remploy didn't take the opportunity to come on the | :42:24. | :42:29. | |
programme. We have a brand here which can be sustained and moved | :42:29. | :42:33. | |
forward into the future. Isn't there an argument for getting these | :42:33. | :42:39. | |
workers into mainstream jobs rather than segregating them? Let us make | :42:39. | :42:43. | |
it clear that we have always said people should have a choice to go | :42:44. | :42:47. | |
into mainstream employment and a lot have chosen to do so. Others | :42:47. | :42:54. | |
have chosen to stay at the factory. In 2011 there was a voluntary | :42:54. | :42:59. | |
redundancy factory where people saw a future with a factory and chose | :42:59. | :43:03. | |
to remain with them. I don't think there is a case financially or | :43:03. | :43:09. | |
economically for the closure of the factories. We are not against | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
modernisation and the unions will not say that necessarily 54 | :43:12. | :43:19. | |
factories will remain open. But is -- there is not a case for all too | :43:19. | :43:25. | |
close. But there are thousands of pounds of subsidies over the years | :43:25. | :43:29. | |
- is that enough incentive for employers to take on these workers? | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
I don't think it is at the end of the day. There are liabilities and | :43:35. | :43:42. | |
there is always a level of subsidy required as within rail network. No | :43:42. | :43:46. | |
one is saying there shouldn't be a subsidy but this is quality | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
employment. Clare week and Richard are aware of that. The let me bring | :43:52. | :43:59. | |
them in. -- Chloe. It will leave hundreds of workers back on | :43:59. | :44:08. | |
benefits. Not the case. I have visited this factory. I have talked | :44:08. | :44:14. | |
about this recently with members of Remploy. I'm conscious of some of | :44:14. | :44:18. | |
the numbers involved here. There were 26 people at the Norwich | :44:18. | :44:24. | |
factory. You could compare that to the many tens of thousands of | :44:24. | :44:29. | |
disabled people in the City as a whole. I think we have to look at | :44:29. | :44:33. | |
how the budget available - the protected budget for specialist | :44:33. | :44:38. | |
employment - could be used to help many more people. Harvey said he | :44:38. | :44:44. | |
will never work again in that film. Harvey and anyone else in that | :44:44. | :44:49. | |
situation, if that were the case at Norwich, would get a very decent | :44:50. | :44:55. | |
package to help him. We must make the money go further to help more | :44:55. | :45:00. | |
disabled people. That is what we want to see. Richard, modernisation | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
started under Labour. You could have done more? I have to | :45:04. | :45:10. | |
contradict what we have heard. Ian Duncan Smith said earlier this | :45:10. | :45:19. | |
month, they sit around and drink t. Say that to Harvey and Susan. I | :45:19. | :45:23. | |
have been associated with the Norwich factory and don't deeply | :45:23. | :45:27. | |
concerned the government will not let the cameras in. Local | :45:27. | :45:32. | |
management has done a great job in building the business up. They are | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
real jobs. We are talking about a comparison as a company where they | :45:37. | :45:43. | |
have a major contract for a hotel. If that is closed down, look at | :45:44. | :45:50. | |
ways beach in the Fens. The Remploy factory was closed and beat survey | :45:50. | :45:56. | |
shows that 85 diff -- 85% of the people are still out of work years | :45:56. | :46:03. | |
later. Do you think they will find mainstream jobs? No I don't and the | :46:03. | :46:10. | |
statistics will reflect that. 85% of those people left in 2008 did | :46:10. | :46:15. | |
not find meaningful employment. Only 7% remain in employment. I | :46:15. | :46:22. | |
deal with a host of employers and the longest that anyone has lasted | :46:22. | :46:27. | |
in those companies in mainstream employment has been about one year. | :46:27. | :46:32. | |
We will keep in touch with them to see what their future is. Thank you | :46:32. | :46:39. | |
for joining us. It is time for our weekly political round-up. There | :46:39. | :46:44. | |
were calls once again to reduce the cost of filling up your car. Here | :46:44. | :46:54. | |
:46:54. | :46:56. | ||
It is now a law that the coast of Suffolk is the only place in UK | :46:56. | :47:01. | |
waters where ship to ship all transfers can take place. We sent | :47:01. | :47:06. | |
out a big flashing beacon to come to our area so I am concerned there | :47:06. | :47:12. | |
will be a significant increase in their number. And onshore, EDF has | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
said it remains on course for expansion at Sizewell as the | :47:16. | :47:21. | |
Government's energy bill pledged financial incentives for future | :47:21. | :47:25. | |
nuclear development. But it was the price of petrol that prompted calls | :47:25. | :47:31. | |
for -- from the Harlow MP for a fuel duty cut. It feels like you | :47:31. | :47:39. | |
need a if court order to get prices down. One baby bonding charity won | :47:39. | :47:47. | |
praise from the PM. How where does her huge credit. Princess Anne's | :47:47. | :47:50. | |
passions for all things the question was reflected at this new | :47:50. | :47:56. | |
home in Newmarket for people who work in the racing industry. | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
Is there ever going to be any good news on crippling fuel prices? | :48:01. | :48:06. | |
is another of those things that need to be seen in the round. Many | :48:06. | :48:16. | |
:48:16. | :48:17. | ||
people know what it is like to fill up a car. The fact days that it is | :48:17. | :48:22. | |
the kind of decision that needs to be taken in the round. Prices are | :48:22. | :48:28. | |
deeply affected by the Middle East, by the global energy crisis and, of | :48:28. | :48:33. | |
course, the Government listens to the other half of the equation | :48:33. | :48:41. | |
about fuel duty. The government has put in around �4.5 billion for the | :48:41. | :48:51. | |
:48:51. | :48:52. | ||
motorists which is significantly better than what Labour did. If | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
there were called to lower duty again, is it a wise use of public | :48:57. | :49:03. | |
money. Rigid, I know you will say this. People are using their cars | :49:03. | :49:11. | |
less aren't they? I represent my constituency just as much as any | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
other MP. When the energy bill Kay mac this week, Greenpeace said | :49:15. | :49:20. | |
there was a complete failure to support renewable energy, a failure | :49:20. | :49:25. | |
of leadership from the government. The east of the region has been the | :49:25. | :49:33. |