18/11/2012 Sunday Politics East

Labour seizes Corby, the Tories get a drubbing, and the Lib Dems lose

their deposit. And now our Police and Crime Commissioners are elected,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2382 seconds

just how will they change the Hello, and welcome to Sunday

Politics East, I'm Etholle George. Later, Labour regains Corby, with a

swing of almost 13%. We have stood as a one-inch a candidate for in

one nation Labour Party. -- in one nation candidate for in one nation

Labour Party. And the region's Police and Crime Commissioners'

plans for their forces. But first, let me introduce our guests of the

week, Richard Bacon, Conservative MP for South Norfolk, Simon Wright

the Liberal Democrat MP for Norwich South, and Steve Morphew, Norwich

Labour Party president. Let's start with our soundbite of the week, now

a jury has decided that former Luton MP Margaret Moran falsely

claimed �53,000 in expenses. This is what she had to say at the time.

I do not want my constituents to think there is something dodgy,

there was not. I say that hand on heart. I would not. I am trying to

do a good job for my constituents and to give 110%.

Has justice been done, others went to jail? Margaret Moran is a shadow

of the person she was, she is a broken woman. Her health has

probably suffered, she has a reputation in tatters she won never

recover from. On the just decide come up when Ron Dearing has been

done, it should be identified and brought out -- wrong doing. One of

the reasons I am other MPs came in was because of the disillusionment

that there was with the political system because of the degree of

scandals associated with expenses. What is so important now is that

those of us in government today do what we can to clean up the system.

Does it seem fair that stress brought on by the subject being

involved in investigation means they do not pay the penalty? That

is difficult because what is most important is that wrong doing it

comes to surface, and help you punish people is separate. But it

cannot go on acknowledged and she will have to pay a price. Does this

draw a line under this sorry business of expenses? The decision

over whether someone is fit to stand trial or not is not something

politicians should interfere with. We have over 200 new MPs since the

last election and in much more open approach to expenses. Not as open

as I would like, and would like there to be instant publication of

expenses, so there is still more to do. -- I would like.

Now to Labour's romp home in the Corby by-election. Andy Sawford,

won a majority of almost 7,800, with a huge 12.7% swing to Labour

in the bell-weather seed. -- seat. The results also put a smile on the

faces of UKIP supporters in the town. But was this just a flash in

the pan, or is there something more profound in this result? Here is

Andrew Sinclair. It is easy to dismiss Corby as just

another by-election result that has not really matter. Parties do

always lose ground. But Corby was always going to be different. The

industrial town and the rolling countryside Borrie microcosm of the

whole country. Politicians believe that what people think here

reflects what everybody is thinking. The economy is important to me.

Corby needs a real boost. There are hardly any jobs, the foreigners are

getting them. Immigration is a big issue in this town. Jobs and the

economy were the main issues. The Tories spoke about the falling

unemployment figures and growth in investment as a sign of things were

turning a corner, voters did not agree. Labour talked about creating

jobs and focused on public services, the switching off of street lights

and the threat to the local hospital. They do not think the

Government is listening gone public services and they think they're a

major threat to Kettering General Hospital and they want a government

to build public services and a river for everybody. Immigration

was a serious concern. UKIP has said no other parties were

listening, one reason why it did so well. Eastern European immigration

has a massive knock-on effect to so many things and that is what people

wanted to talk about. It affects the NHS, housing, jobs, and

schooling. So if PPCs does reflect what the country is thinking,

should politicians do more than dismiss results? -- so with Corby.

A constituency that so dramatically throughout labour two years ago

seems now willing to give the party another chance, is this mid-term

blues or the start of something bigger?

Just a few minutes ago, I spoke to Andy Sawford and asked him why he

believes he won in Corby. Can I start by saying how proud I am that

people across Corby put their trust in me? We won because we worked

hard across the constituency to rebuild trust from the voters, and

refocused on their priorities. We had a big listening exercise and

people want action on the economy. They feel let down by David Cameron.

Two years ago, a lot of people who voted for me this week just to

David Cameron and they feel let down, so this is a big moment for

Labour and it shows we are reconnecting with voters. We have

heard what people had to say and they said there are problems that

need addressing locally, youth unemployment, the issue of

regeneration, how will you deliver? What I have said about unemployment

is that fighting for jobs here is my top priority, particularly for

young people, so I will call for alternative economic policies in

Parliament and I will say we should have a tax on bonuses for bankers

and a guarantee for younger people and jobs. I will work hard locally

with businesses, the council and other organisations to make sure we

match the skills young people have all with good jobs becoming

available to do everything we can to support local businesses to grow

and create jobs. Concerns over immigration have surfaced during

this campaign, how will you address those? One of the big issues in

Corby in particular and across this constituency of the number of

agency workers there are recruited from overseas on local people do

not feel they have had a fair chance to find work and apply for a

job. So I have promised to try to stop agencies just recruiting from

overseas. I think that is wrong. And joining us now is Professor

Paul Whiteley, from the Department of Government at the University of

Essex. The first by-election win for 15 years, do you think it is

the beginning of the end for David Cameron?

Obviously, Labour is going to be very cheerful about this and I

think there was an element of punishing the Conservatives over

the withdrawal of Louise Mensch, that was so quick. The present

economic climate is one of the key factors driving first and unless we

see more prosperity and growth, I think Labour will continue to take

places in by-elections -- driving first.

Is there anything about Corby intrinsically that makes it such an

important seat? It is not exactly a marginal, but

it is close and that is why it is interesting politically in

elections. Seats like that swing towards the party that is likely to

be most successful in the long-run. You can make too much of by-

elections because there are sometimes spectacular swings and

this can disappear in a general election, but it is a sign of the

times. What about the position of UKIP and the Liberal Democrats been

beaten into 4th place? elections for the PCCs has been

terrible for the Lib Dems and UKIP is snapping at the heels of the

Conservatives and this will affect the politics of the next couple of

years, especially in the context where there are a majority of

people who would leave the European Union if we had a referendum. This

has changed in comparison with 10 years ago. So this will be quite an

issue. Richard Bacon, this was a terrible result for you, the people

of Corby feel let down by the Conservatives.

It is a by-election and you can make too much of them. It is an

interesting result and we have to take notice but it is common for

party's mid-term to lose by- elections and we had the factor of

Louise Mensch. But she lost by a great deal, should we not read

something into that? -- but you lost. The swing to Labour was less

than in the crew and Norwich by- election. It is commonplace for

governments taking tough decisions to lose elections. We are doing

this because we were left in such a mess by it the Labour Party.

Simon, it was a shocking result for the Lib Dems and it's not the only

recent by-election, UKIP are overtaking you in the polls. It was

a bad result but a Liberal-Democrat candidate has been working hard in

Corby. The experience of party is not in the front running for a by-

election is that you get squeezed out. UKIP did exceptionally well

because there was a factor of Europe that emerged. But you also

need to look at the fact that Labour hammered away to get the

biggest result here. There was another factor with Corby, the

media were talking this up as a constituency where you can draw the

mood of the nation, so it was important for Labour to get the

best result. In that context, somebody is going to be squeezed

out. But she came 4th! Nobody was saying that we were in the running

for running it, we were always going to get squeezed out by the

bigger organisations. Steve, why did you lose Corby in

the first place? Because we lost the confidence of the country and

we are starting to regain the confidence and that was a good

indication. When you have been in politics for a while, you know when

the wind has changed. It looks as though the wind is blowing our way,

I knew when it was against us before and I know it is for us now.

Professor, do you believe -- Was this a vote for Labour, or a

vote against the Conservatives? big issue is the economy and of the

coalition can show this is improving, they may be able to

repeat the exercise of Barack Obama we do this successfully in the

presidential elections. If this continues to flop line, the

coalition are likely to lose the election -- flat line. This must be

a big worry for the Conservatives. The economy will play a big factor

in whether we are returned and there have been signs of economic

groves with nearly 1 million jobs created in the last two years.

Richard, you've got a lot of work to do to win over people before the

next election, and there is still 80% of the cuts to come.

government has to live within its means and cannot spend money it

does not have. The know at the last government left said, sorry, --

sorry, there is no money. -- note. People understand that the

government has to live within its own means.

Now to our other elections this week - for the new role of Police

and Crime Commissioners. You can see from the map that all our

forces have Conservative Commissioners, except for one

Independent in Norfolk and one Labour Commissioner in Bedfordshire.

Average turnout here was 15%. But 85 out of 100 of you decided not to

vote at all. And in several of our counties, almost 3% of ballot

papers were spoiled, many of those defaced by people criticising the

elections. Despite this, those elected have high hopes of success.

Have six Alexei Commissioner with the lowest mandate in the country.

-- Essex collapse a Commissioner. This is what the government does

and money will be tight, but if we are to get everybody pulling

together, their real opportunities. Labour go ahead in Suffolk but it

is a Tory win. Most important is to get the police plan ready for

public scrutiny. The only Labour police and crime Commission that

wins in Bedfordshire in the east. The turnout has been disappointing

and it has been because of the timing, people are not sufficiently

informed about it, and because of the obstacles the government chose

to put in the way of allowing the parties and the candidates to

inform people about the elections. Thames Valley Alexis for a

Conservative Commissioner up on the second ballot -- it lacks. As long

as you sit on top, you will reduce crime. You need to put resources

where they are required and make sure the officers are in the right

place, and you drive up performance. Northamptonshire, which also had a

by-election, had the highest regional turnout. I am promising a

voice so there is a leader of the criminal justice system for the

first time, there is a directly the leader -- directly elected leader,

and people in the middle who have never been victims up but no police

will turn up. A former MP wins for Cambridgeshire on the second ballot.

We have to put together the whole operation, it is new. I intend to

set up office away from the police headquarters to show my neutrality.

That is going to be a task, and I have to look at the staff that we

have and do some reorganisation. Hertfordshire's turnout was 14.5%,

just below the average in the east. It is important to shake up crime

reduction, working together with partnerships to make sure the safe

place is an even safer place to live and work and I am looking

forward to that. The only Independent is the elected in

Norfolk. I am going to see places in Suffolk and see if they will

carry on collaboration. This was the former Tory chairman of the

police authority. Steve Morphew, you, of course, were

standing as the Labour candidate in Norfolk. In the build-up to this

election, it emerged you failed to declare an interest in a charity

which was awarded �36,000 by a cabinet committee, of which you

were chairman. You issued a statement saying you had done

nothing wrong, but this is your first opportunity to give your side

of the story. It is an allegation that it

happened and I have disputed it and I have asked the council to

investigate because it is serious. But most people are surprised it

emerged at the time and in the way it did, but I am treating it

seriously. You are concerned about the recording of minutes of

meetings where apparently you wanted to make it plane it you

declared an interest, it yes? Having been on the Council for 15

years and declared an interest on numerous occasions, I could not

conceive by had not declared an interest, but I want to make sure

that is the case. Did you check the minutes? The meeting was in March

and I left the council immediately afterwards. The next meeting was in

June and I have not seen a copy of the minutes, the first time I saw

them was a couple of minutes ago. Professor Broadening it out, the

lowest turnout in a national election, does this damage

democracy? The electoral system helped 12 people who are

Independent to be elected. If it had been first past the post, the

Conservatives would have won in Norfolk and Labour would have won

in Suffolk. So the system made a difference. But the striking thing

about this is the terrible turnout. Frankly, the government promoted

this, I think it is a good idea, but they did not sell it and they

should have done. The public had no desire for this

post, demonstrated by the turnout and the thousands of defaced ballot

papers, why have the Conservatives pushed this policy? The government

did not promote it as well as it should have done, and there was a

clear sense on the part of some people who spoiled their ballot

papers that this was an overt attempt to politicise the police. I

think that was not correct, but there was a big concern about that

and the fact that so many Independents was elected was also

because of a sense that there were some Independents people of good

character with experience who deserved a chance.

An in-depth investigation into the dire voter turnout is being

launched by the Electoral Commission, isn't this a blot on

the government which you are part of? It is disappointing we did not

see a higher turnout. It was introduced as part of the coalition

agreement and it is only right that the Liberal Democrats support that,

but we were not very enthusiastic about this proposal. But we do

support greater accountability and transparency in the police, but

this system does not appear to have caught the imagination of the

public. You must have believed in the role,

isn't it a good thing to have democratically elected

commissioners? I did not support a role, I supported the importance of

police and crime reduction and I have always said it was the issues

I was standing for and I opposed the creation of the role because of

the politicisation. The Elf -- the overwhelming majority of the

country have rejected a flagship government policy it in a way that

is dangerous for democracy because people are actively excluding

themselves from the democratic process. Everybody has to listen,

the government, the media, and the public need to look at how we

tackle this to make sure this does not happen again. This is bad news

for the country. Do you think it will improve policing? Home Office

did a survey asking about the existing arrangements for political

control and nobody had heard about the police authorities. That is

unlikely to happen in this case. Some of these people will become

prominent and so it will be good. think there is a good chance it

will, it will take some time to gain public confidence, but there

is a chance it will succeed. It has the potential to, but the new PCCs

have to prove themselves and if they do, they will see a higher

turnout. Asked the right questions, came up with the wrong answers,

they need to review it. In time, we will see what the

outcome will be. And we've just got time to see what has come to light

this week, in Deborah McGurran's political roundup, all in 60

seconds. This MP voted against Labour's

calls to cut fuel duty. I would not support them if I was not confident

the government were going to listen. The Tories' campaign manager was

forced to apologise for appearing to encourage a rival candidate in

the Corby by-election. He has been guilty of Scilly back in. This man

will not be charged for his spending while he ran Essex county

council after it was revealed he but more than a quarter of a

million pounds on his credit card. I went to London mostly by train.

Were well opening Peterborough's new station, the Transport Minister

let this slept. It has improved in at the time since I came, because

the entrance was very dark. And in the jungle, Nadine diaries revealed

her metal. -- Dorries. That's all we've got time for.