Browse content similar to 23/09/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Here in the East, a former Home Secretary hits out at the new | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
police commissioner role. And the Liberal Democrat leader tells us | :01:36. | :01:46. | |
:01:46. | :01:46. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2006 seconds | :01:46. | :35:12. | |
he's open-minded over development Hello. I'm Etholle George. Welcome | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
back to the new series of Sunday Politics East. We'll be at this new | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
time every week. Coming up. Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke calls | :35:20. | :35:22. | |
for the forthcoming Police and Crime Commissioner elections to be | :35:22. | :35:30. | |
scrapped. I think the gunmen should call it off I this stage. I think | :35:30. | :35:36. | |
it is an accent that is going to happen -- per government. But first, | :35:36. | :35:39. | |
let's meet our guests for this week, Brenda Arthur, Labour leader of | :35:39. | :35:41. | |
Norwich City Council, and Peter Aldous, the Conservative MP for | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
Waveney. And joining us from the Liberal Democrat party conference | :35:44. | :35:46. | |
in Brighton, is newly appointed Health Minister and North Norfolk | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
MP, Norman Lamb. Starting with you, Mr Lamb, a word about your party | :35:50. | :35:52. | |
leader's apology for signing a pledge not to increase tuition fees | :35:52. | :36:01. | |
that was subsequently broken. This is what he told us. I am sure there | :36:01. | :36:07. | |
will be some people who will never moved on and never accept that it | :36:07. | :36:12. | |
is a sincere apology for a sincere mistake. But I think many we double | :36:12. | :36:17. | |
people will accept that in politics, as well as in life, it is sometimes | :36:17. | :36:22. | |
right to put your hand up when you have made a mistake but also hold | :36:22. | :36:26. | |
your head up high for the good things we are doing. Did you know | :36:26. | :36:31. | |
he was going to make this apology? Yes, he briefed the parliamentary | :36:31. | :36:37. | |
party a few days before doing it so we were all aware of it and nothing | :36:37. | :36:42. | |
will supported him. Is it a good idea to bring it up again at this | :36:42. | :36:52. | |
:36:52. | :36:53. | ||
time? Will thus be an ally lives make mistakes. When that happens, I | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
think it is best to accept it, to be open and honest about it, to say | :36:58. | :37:04. | |
that you have messed up. And to draw attention also to the fact | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
that there are unlawful lot of things we are doing in government | :37:07. | :37:12. | |
that we committed to in our manifesto, particularly reducing | :37:12. | :37:16. | |
the tax burden on middle and low income families, and taking | :37:16. | :37:22. | |
millions of people out of tax at the low income scale. That is | :37:22. | :37:26. | |
happening because of the Liberal Democrats in government. We made | :37:26. | :37:32. | |
mistakes, and we accept that. On student finance, all parties have a | :37:32. | :37:42. | |
:37:42. | :37:44. | ||
very chequered record full stop Brenda Arthur, there is no merit in | :37:44. | :37:49. | |
acknowledging a mistake. Absolutely, but I think Nick Clegg should also | :37:49. | :37:54. | |
be apologising back the other you turned he is making. They have | :37:54. | :38:00. | |
overseen an increase in taxes in terms of VAT, the granny tax. | :38:00. | :38:04. | |
Should not Labour apologise for leaving the country in a terrible | :38:04. | :38:11. | |
economic state? This is a myth that is being perpetuated. Hour national | :38:11. | :38:18. | |
deficit and debt was lower than we took on in 1997 and lower than | :38:18. | :38:27. | |
other countries until the crisis, when Lehman Brothers crashed. | :38:27. | :38:32. | |
Aldous, and students have said it is not making the pledge, but | :38:32. | :38:38. | |
breaking a pledge that he should apologise for. The rise in fees has | :38:38. | :38:44. | |
led to a 14 % fall in student numbers. I think he was right to | :38:44. | :38:49. | |
make that apology. The Liberal Democrats set out their pledge, | :38:50. | :38:54. | |
perhaps believing they were going to be in government on their own. | :38:54. | :38:59. | |
That was never likely to be happen. It was always going to be with one | :38:59. | :39:05. | |
of the two main parties. Both of those parties were committed to the | :39:05. | :39:10. | |
proposals of Lord Brown with regard to higher education. More from Nick | :39:10. | :39:13. | |
Clegg on the future for our airports in a moment, but first to | :39:13. | :39:16. | |
the attack on the role of Police and Crime Commissioners by former | :39:16. | :39:19. | |
Home Secretary and Norwich South MP, Charles Clarke. Elections for the | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
heads of our eight police forces, who will have the power to hire and | :39:23. | :39:25. | |
fire Chief Constables, will be taking place in just seven weeks | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
time. The Home Office insists the commissioners will hold forces to | :39:29. | :39:31. | |
account and restore trust, but according to Mr Clarke, they could | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
do untold damage and should be scrapped. Here's our home affairs | :39:35. | :39:45. | |
:39:45. | :39:45. | ||
correspondent, Sally Chidzoy. Cash-strapped police forces are | :39:45. | :39:51. | |
hard to stress to work the front line. In Essex, this crack down on | :39:51. | :39:54. | |
anti-social behaviour would probably not have gone ahead this | :39:54. | :39:59. | |
week had it not been for funding handout from the Home Office. | :39:59. | :40:05. | |
Police are facing a dramatic upheaval. They will soon be run by | :40:05. | :40:08. | |
all powerful elected to Police and Crime Commissioners. The plan will | :40:08. | :40:15. | |
fall at the first hurdle, once a former MP for the area he believes | :40:15. | :40:19. | |
it will be a disaster. I think it is an accent that is certain to | :40:19. | :40:24. | |
happen. It will learn to tensions and demoralisation and departure of | :40:24. | :40:29. | |
senior police officers. Theresa May could make the decision to call it | :40:29. | :40:36. | |
off and she should. The main politician who back this, Nick | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
Herbert, was either resigned or sack from the government. They | :40:39. | :40:44. | |
should wash their hands of it and start again. But the government has | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
no plans to do that. Powers include hiring and firing the Chief | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
Constable, producing the police and crime plan, setting force budgets | :40:54. | :40:59. | |
and engaging with the public. On this estate in Chelmsford, people | :40:59. | :41:07. | |
want to see more police on the street. Crime, drugs. There is lots | :41:07. | :41:11. | |
of drugs around here. But the police have not got the resources. | :41:11. | :41:16. | |
Would you be voting for the police and crime Commissioner? Haven't | :41:17. | :41:21. | |
heard of it, to be honest with you. What is it to the people in | :41:21. | :41:28. | |
Chelmsford? Around here, people are unaware of the new plan. Have you | :41:28. | :41:34. | |
heard of a police commissioner around here? Know. Around the | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
region, people preparing for elections in November. Potentially, | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
the person winning this election will have the largest mandate of | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
any person in Essex. They will be in charge of a very large police | :41:47. | :41:53. | |
force and a budget I've over �280 million. It is a very important | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
role and I think once the publicity comes out after the nominations | :41:58. | :42:02. | |
opened in October, then I think people will start to identify with | :42:02. | :42:10. | |
the role and see that it is an important job. The government says | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
the commissioners will not manage the forces that they Govan and that | :42:13. | :42:18. | |
operational decisions will be left to the chief constable. But the | :42:18. | :42:22. | |
guidance is and clear and critics save there is the potential for | :42:22. | :42:28. | |
conflict between the commissioner and the chief constable. If you get | :42:28. | :42:34. | |
elected politicians coming in on issues, back crates the crisis of | :42:34. | :42:37. | |
command and control, as the Chief Constable does not know how to | :42:37. | :42:43. | |
deploy forces in the most effective way. The Home Office insists that | :42:43. | :42:45. | |
police and crime commissioners cannot operate against the law, | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
that they will work with their forces to cut crime, give the | :42:49. | :42:53. | |
public and voice and hold forces to account. | :42:53. | :42:59. | |
Norman Lamb, your party says that they are not backing the role, but | :42:59. | :43:03. | |
local parties can fight these elections if they want to. That is | :43:03. | :43:10. | |
a strange Fudge, isn't it? I think it is on the record than we did not | :43:10. | :43:14. | |
see this as a priority. But just as we secured cutting tax as part of | :43:14. | :43:18. | |
the coalition agreement, this was something that the Conservatives | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
wanted and we went along with it, we have accepted it as part of the | :43:23. | :43:28. | |
coalition agreement. I would not want to see a party politicisation | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
of the police force, but I think there is a case for much greater | :43:32. | :43:37. | |
and local accountability of what the police do. In principle, there | :43:37. | :43:42. | |
is a good case for this. I do not agree there for with what Charles | :43:42. | :43:46. | |
Clarke has said. Brenda Arthur, Labour does not approve of the role | :43:46. | :43:54. | |
either, but is backing the election. Isn't that hypocritical? I do not | :43:54. | :43:57. | |
think it is. I support the view of Charles Clarke and we should | :43:57. | :44:03. | |
scrappage and put the funding of it towards the police. But we have the | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
situation that we are in, then we want to make sure that we have | :44:09. | :44:13. | |
Labour candidates there who will deliver our values and will make | :44:13. | :44:17. | |
sure communities are listened to, that local police forces are not | :44:17. | :44:25. | |
privatised. Peter Aldous, what about this cost, �125 million? Your | :44:25. | :44:33. | |
party has decided to spend it during the recession. It is costing | :44:33. | :44:37. | |
some two �5 million to Knowsley put on the election, but that is not | :44:37. | :44:42. | |
coming out of the police funds. Over the years, the police have | :44:42. | :44:47. | |
become more and more centralised. Accountability has become more | :44:47. | :44:52. | |
invisible, and this is about improving local accountability. | :44:52. | :44:59. | |
Your average council tax bill is made up of a council element, a | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
district council element and also the police precept. The other | :45:04. | :45:09. | |
bodies you can hold to account. who is going to hold the police and | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
crime Commissioner to account? too many, the electorate will, | :45:14. | :45:20. | |
every four cures. There is also a police and crime panel which will | :45:20. | :45:26. | |
oversee and provide those necessary checks on the commissioner. What | :45:26. | :45:34. | |
this is actually about his issues like crime and anti-social | :45:34. | :45:40. | |
behaviour, reconnecting them to the public. Norman Lamb, what back some | :45:40. | :45:44. | |
of those points raised by Charles Clarke, you cannot override the law | :45:44. | :45:48. | |
and the potential for conflict is enormous? There is the potential | :45:49. | :45:53. | |
for conflict but I think that can be managed. I think this essential | :45:53. | :45:58. | |
point that Peter has made that you can hold other and local | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
organisations who received our council tax money to account, but | :46:03. | :46:07. | |
you cannot hold the police to account. There is a case for giving | :46:07. | :46:16. | |
the police that local accountability. Very briefly, do | :46:16. | :46:22. | |
you think that introducing politics into policing is a good idea? | :46:22. | :46:26. | |
not a great fan of the party politicisation of police | :46:26. | :46:32. | |
commissioners. But I think the idea of fun accountability to the local | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
community, the party has said that independent candidates standing is | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
a good thing and weather are not independent candidates, then the | :46:40. | :46:46. | |
party will put forward candidates. I'd think it is absolutely wrong. | :46:46. | :46:50. | |
The accountability was there through the Police Authority, which | :46:50. | :46:56. | |
was made up from people across the whole area. There are very clear | :46:56. | :47:00. | |
checks and balances. The commissioner will have to sign a | :47:00. | :47:05. | |
pledge of impartiality and the police and crime panel will provide | :47:05. | :47:10. | |
a further cheque to sure there is not over politicisation. | :47:10. | :47:13. | |
Now, the Liberal Democrat Conference is under way in Brighton | :47:13. | :47:16. | |
and today they debate aviation policy. Party leader Nick Clegg | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
spoke to Andrew Sinclair earlier this week, when he restated the | :47:19. | :47:22. | |
Liberal Democrat opposition to a third runway at Heathrow, but in | :47:22. | :47:25. | |
what appears to be a shift in policy, he does not rule out more | :47:25. | :47:35. | |
:47:35. | :47:36. | ||
development at Stansted in Essex. I have heard so many politicians | :47:36. | :47:41. | |
somehow pretending they are aviation experts. I am not an | :47:41. | :47:44. | |
aviation expert. One moment someone says we should we build Stansted, | :47:44. | :47:49. | |
then they say build an airport in the history, then they say builder | :47:49. | :47:55. | |
up airport in Birmingham. Now I think it is important we say to | :47:55. | :48:01. | |
independent experts, report to ask. So it is possible any work then? | :48:01. | :48:06. | |
own view is that the one option that does not stand up to any | :48:06. | :48:13. | |
scrutiny at talk is the idea of an extra runway in Heathrow. From an | :48:13. | :48:19. | |
environmental perspective that his bat. They will be filled up within | :48:19. | :48:22. | |
years and you'd have to build another one. But I think you need | :48:22. | :48:28. | |
to be open-minded and driven by the evidence. The people are they to | :48:28. | :48:35. | |
beg for due again in the east, what do you stand for? You will have | :48:35. | :48:38. | |
compromises. There were numerous manifesto commitments made by the | :48:38. | :48:43. | |
Conservatives which they have not delivered. Bulwark in the point | :48:43. | :48:50. | |
too? I can point to the four things we put on the front of on manifesto. | :48:50. | :48:55. | |
More money for the people premium, so that all schools and all | :48:55. | :49:00. | |
children get the best education they deserve. Their commitment to | :49:00. | :49:06. | |
raise the point which you stop paying income tax to �10,000. A | :49:06. | :49:09. | |
commitment to sort out the banks and rescue the economy after the | :49:10. | :49:15. | |
mistakes of Labour. And fourth, pushing for political reform after | :49:15. | :49:19. | |
the expenses scandal. All those four things, which we campaigned on | :49:19. | :49:28. | |
as our key commitments, or four of them we have stuck to. Norman Lamb, | :49:28. | :49:31. | |
your manifesto about cancelling plans for a fourth runway at | :49:31. | :49:35. | |
Heathrow and any other expansion in the south-east, so what has | :49:35. | :49:41. | |
changed? As Nick said, I think it makes sense to look at the evidence | :49:41. | :49:46. | |
and have an independent process. What we all recognise is that if we | :49:46. | :49:51. | |
are to rebalance our economy, over the last decade it became | :49:51. | :49:56. | |
completely dependent on consumer debt and the public sector. Part of | :49:56. | :50:01. | |
the rebalancing is building export markets. If we are to compete in a | :50:02. | :50:05. | |
global economy we have to have the airport capacity in able to be able | :50:05. | :50:10. | |
to reach those new markets. Looking at the evidence on an independent | :50:10. | :50:16. | |
basis does surely make sense. We will seek to apply that evidence in | :50:16. | :50:21. | |
government. What about the future of Stansted? Should have become the | :50:21. | :50:28. | |
country's future heart airport? Rather as Mick said, I am not an | :50:28. | :50:31. | |
aviation expert, I do not know ultimately what the right outcome | :50:31. | :50:38. | |
should be on the basis of evidence. We should look at that evidence and | :50:38. | :50:43. | |
not reach premature judgments about what the right way forward is for | :50:43. | :50:47. | |
increasing capacity to ensure that we can reach those new export | :50:47. | :50:53. | |
markets whilst also being absolutely cognisant of the | :50:53. | :50:56. | |
environmental impact of aviation. That has driven up position on | :50:56. | :51:02. | |
Heathrow, in particular the impact on the built-up area in west London. | :51:02. | :51:07. | |
Let us talk more about General Liberal Democrats policies. Nick | :51:07. | :51:11. | |
Clegg and listed some of the achievements made, but you have not | :51:11. | :51:18. | |
have the credit for them with the public, have you? I think it is | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
tough in government. This is the toughest period to be in government | :51:22. | :51:26. | |
in any period since the second world war. But you try to do what | :51:27. | :51:32. | |
is right for the country. You did the right thing. I think political | :51:32. | :51:36. | |
stability at a time of incredible economic danger and turbulence is, | :51:36. | :51:43. | |
for me, a priceless commodity. That is what Nick Clegg and the Liberal | :51:43. | :51:48. | |
Democrats are providing. On top of that, we can achieve some real | :51:48. | :51:51. | |
Liberal Democrat objectives. I mention that we are taking the | :51:51. | :51:55. | |
lowest paid out of income tax and cutting the tax burden for millions | :51:55. | :52:00. | |
of low and middle-income households. These are real achievements, | :52:00. | :52:04. | |
together with targeting resources at children from the poorest | :52:04. | :52:07. | |
background at school. We would not be up to do that if we were not in | :52:08. | :52:14. | |
government. Do you want Nick Clegg to stay as party leader? Yes, I do. | :52:14. | :52:20. | |
He has taken the flak, he has taken the hit, in a sense, for the team. | :52:20. | :52:24. | |
But he did the right thing for the country in taking a really | :52:24. | :52:29. | |
difficult step for a party that have been in opposition, taking the | :52:29. | :52:35. | |
party into government. I think we stepped up to the plate. We have | :52:35. | :52:38. | |
demonstrated discipline in government. We are seeking to build | :52:38. | :52:47. | |
the foundations for recovery. That is in the national interest. Now, | :52:47. | :52:49. | |
it's not just police commissioner elections this autumn, but the | :52:49. | :52:52. | |
people of Corby and East Northamptonshire will also be | :52:52. | :52:56. | |
heading to the polls to elect a new MP. Best selling author Louise | :52:56. | :52:59. | |
Mensch resigned in the summer, sparking the first by-election the | :52:59. | :53:02. | |
Conservatives are defending in this parliament. And, as Andrew Sinclar | :53:02. | :53:12. | |
:53:12. | :53:13. | ||
reports, its outcome could be critical. | :53:13. | :53:18. | |
It is probably safe to say that whoever wins the court the by- | :53:18. | :53:22. | |
election will be very different to their predecessor. In the space of | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
two years, Louise Mensch became one of the most well-known women in | :53:26. | :53:31. | |
children. From magazine photo shoots, to print the Murdochs, to | :53:31. | :53:36. | |
no holding back on Twitter, she was rarely out of the news, and then | :53:36. | :53:40. | |
she decided to go. It was more about the family that was put | :53:40. | :53:45. | |
across the Atlantic and about being a working mother. It is incredibly | :53:45. | :53:50. | |
sad, she was a superb parliamentarian, Abri a member of | :53:50. | :53:54. | |
the select committee. So important is this election that they are not | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
even waiting for the starting gun. The candidates are already pounding | :53:59. | :54:04. | |
the streets and the big names dropping in to visit. Why? This is | :54:04. | :54:10. | |
no ordinary by-election. Corby has always gone with the party that has | :54:10. | :54:15. | |
formed a government, so it is an iconic seat and everybody will be a | :54:15. | :54:18. | |
king at it is Hibbert tells us anything about the next general | :54:18. | :54:23. | |
election. That is why the Prime Minister dropped in on Friday, | :54:23. | :54:27. | |
albeit briefly. The government has to stick with the programme to | :54:27. | :54:32. | |
deliver the change that is necessary and recognise that we are | :54:32. | :54:36. | |
starting to seek rebalancing in the economy. It is tough, it is | :54:36. | :54:40. | |
difficult, but we have to stick with the programme, because that | :54:40. | :54:46. | |
will deliver the growth that is needed. Labour start off with an | :54:46. | :54:54. | |
advantage. Their candidate, at Andy Sawford, was chosen last year. The | :54:54. | :54:59. | |
Tories quickly picked local businesswoman Christine Emmett. | :54:59. | :55:02. | |
Because this is a by-election there is already a string of other | :55:02. | :55:07. | |
candidates looking to make their mark. Whether it is in the town of | :55:07. | :55:11. | |
Corby or the pretty villages of East and Northamptonshire, everyone | :55:11. | :55:15. | |
is agreed that it is the economy that will be the main issue. Expect | :55:16. | :55:20. | |
a noisy and hard-fought campaign. Now, the Lib Dems are not the only | :55:21. | :55:24. | |
party with a Conference, as Deborah McGurran reports in our 60 second | :55:24. | :55:32. | |
round up of the political week. Still hoping to change the | :55:32. | :55:38. | |
political landscape, the UK Independence Party, his conference | :55:38. | :55:43. | |
calls for a pledge that there be a referendum on EU membership. | :55:44. | :55:48. | |
think some of the key things that we talked about, our relationship | :55:48. | :55:53. | |
with the European Union, are racing to the top of the political agenda. | :55:53. | :55:58. | |
The Green Party's new leader chose Suffolk for her first official | :55:58. | :56:05. | |
visit. Looking forward to the European elections in 2014. We are | :56:05. | :56:10. | |
hoping to elect our first Green MEP from the eastern region. Millions | :56:10. | :56:14. | |
of tons from under London is to form Europe's biggest man-made | :56:14. | :56:20. | |
nature reserve off the coast of Essex. Plans to shut a prison | :56:20. | :56:24. | |
caught Peter Bone off guard. have been told for years and years | :56:24. | :56:27. | |
that there are not enough places in our prisons, that they are | :56:27. | :56:33. | |
overcrowded. News at accommodation at a new centre parks in bed | :56:33. | :56:39. | |
picture could create up to 1500 jobs in the future. | :56:39. | :56:43. | |
Peter Aldous, what is this idea about an agreement with you could? | :56:43. | :56:52. | |
Is that a pact with the devil or a meeting of minds? I think Nigel | :56:52. | :57:00. | |
Farage is mischief-making. There will not be an agreement. The | :57:00. | :57:05. | |
Conservative Party will stand on its own two fate. For a | :57:05. | :57:09. | |
relationship with the European Union, with the eurozone and the | :57:09. | :57:14. | |
crisis came on there, there may be changes in the eurozone and that is | :57:14. | :57:18. | |
an appropriate time for us to we took our relationship with them and | :57:18. | :57:21. | |
we will come forward with policies that take into account the best | :57:21. | :57:26. | |
interests of the country. Brenda Arthur, if it worked, any pact with | :57:26. | :57:36. | |
Labour would work against you? not believe so. I think it shows | :57:36. | :57:39. | |
had an air of desperation from those Conservatives that of | :57:39. | :57:47. | |
thinking about it. Nigel Farage is sending very mixed messages. I | :57:47. | :57:51. |