05/05/2013 Sunday Politics East


05/05/2013

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barricades in this region. They did have six councillors. Now they've

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2234 seconds

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got 48. What does it mean for our the East of England. Coming up:

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Revenge of the fruitcakes. You can make massive gains in the East. The

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Prime Minister may have dismissed the other candidates as fruitcakes

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and with addicts but thousands of voters decide they want a slice of

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the action. -- fruitcakes and lunatics. Nobody trusts David

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Cameron anymore. That made a difference on the doorstep. Norfolk

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City Council goes from true will to no overall control. We have to

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scramble around for a coalition. That is not good for services or the

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people of Norfolk overall. But we now have two live with that. A full

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spectrum of opinions today. Health Minister and Norfolk MP, Norman

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Lamb, the UKIP director, Lisa Duffy, Brandon Lewis, local government

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Minister and Conservative MP, and George Nobbs, the Labour group

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leader on Norfolk county council. Later on, what happened partly by

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party across the region. But no doubt about the big story. The rise

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of the UKIP. Nobody saw this coming. Not even the UKIP. They

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hoped to pick up a handful of seats. But not as many as this. UKIP

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armload cemented as the third party. -- are now. Candidates uncovered a

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deep dissatisfaction. People in the three main parties are not listening

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to people. And another issue at play on the doorsteps. Top of peoples

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concerns was immigration. When we have 29 million Bulgarians and

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Europeans allowed access to this country, coming here for the system

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that they can get onto with benefits. Modern people are angry

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and frustrated and frightened. -- moderate. Many candidates who never

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expected to get elected are no county councils. Some of your

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councillors have yet to even be inside a city chamber. It is

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fabulous! They are not part of the professional political class.

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will now make decisions about schools, social services, and

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economic development. UKIP as the official opposition on the Norfolk

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county council. No longer a party of process. -- protest. It will be

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expected to scrutinise the work of a main oddity Conservative

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Administration. -- minority. The job of an opposition group is to

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scrutinise what the administration is doing. To look at detail at

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proposals and put forward alternatives. If you are a very

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small minority, late UKIP were, you can say and do things and it will

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not matter a great deal. But as the main opposition group, it does

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matter. The other parties are not certain what to expect. They are

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putting themselves up to make a protest to David Cameron. The new

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councils need to prove themselves as effective col -- politicians. If

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they do not, they run the risk of voters not taking them seriously

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again. I want to begin by talking about this extraordinary success.

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The same question for each of you. Norman Lamb, what do you the success

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of UKIP down to. Much of the Western world is facing economic turmoil.

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People are anxious about the future. There is a sense of powerlessness

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and remoteness from decision-making. People on low incomes with low skill

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bases see a threat to their jobs. We need to understand why people are

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anxious about remote power with the European Union bash which I

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personally think must change. It is vital that we are part of a single

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market and are trading nation but Europe must change. And some groups

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in society are affected by immigration. If you are at low

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skilled work and you will be anxious about the future. -- if you are a

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low skilled worker. Let's hear what others have to say. Brandon Lewis?

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There is a mixture of things. Immigration was an SU. Welfare

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reforms are so important. -- immigration was a concern. We need

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to show to people that we can make a difference. The benefits of welfare

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reform are only just beginning to come through. An important comment

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there was about councillors who have never been in a chamber before. I

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don't think that is a bad thing. Every politician when they are

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elected for the fast time is doing it for their community. The

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challenge now is to make sure these people are looking at the right

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thing for Norfolk. We have got Norman and Brandon who are both

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ministers in the same government. Normally with the opposition parties

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there is a choice of who you vote for. In this election it was only a

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choice of labour and UKIP. Both did well. Although I wish we did better!

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There was only one vote to dividing us in Thetford. So there is

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discontent not just with the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives

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being government together, but also on Norfolk county council, a lot of

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local concerns had made people sick and tired of the administration.

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said Duffy, what do you make of the claim that it does not matter if

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people have never been in a council chamber? -- Lisa Duffy. What I think

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is really fascinating is that we have got new, fresh people, with

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fresh ideas. They are passionate about their community. That is

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exciting, especially for a council like Norfolk were these fresh ideas

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are coming. You need to have real life experience. What Bill can you

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afford to pay, weird as the next job coming from? UKIP have stood up to

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be counted in representing real people. There has been talk about a

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lack of policy. What about education, transport, social care?

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Absolutely. And that is what you will get from the UKIP. We have a

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full local manifesto. We were clear about what we stand for. We have a

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zero whip system. We will deliver, working with other parties, to

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deliver what is right for local people. Wilma to disagreement

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amongst own members? -- well that? think it is correct we do not all

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fought like sheep. It is about bringing votes together. -- vote

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like sheep. How do the elections leave the tally of councils across

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the region? This is how it looked before the elections. The

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Conservatives dominant. And he that is no. -- here it is. UKIP up from

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six to 48. What does it mean for the other parties? If we cannot take

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control of this council now, we never can. Not totally disappointed.

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But we are the main opposition again. These were achievable targets

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for Labour but from great Yarmouth to catering, UKIP robs them of their

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prize. -- catering. A lot of those people have voted for UKIP. We have

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a lot of work to do. Any great Yarmouth, Labour field in seats they

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were hoping to take from the Tories. -- Labour fell short. People are fed

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up with Labour and the Conservatives and are looking for an alternative.

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Advances in team is shy feel to materialise for the Liberal

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Democrats. -- Cambridge. This is the first time we have not held a seat.

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The Greens suffered their first losses at county level. And it was

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difficult for the Conservatives, even though they were braced for

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losses will stop 88 less councillors than before. I am obviously

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disappointed. It was devastating. And your election that we expected

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to win. We were heading for first-class services in Norfolk. And

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we hoped to continue with the progress we have made. There were

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still many savings to be made but this has made a difference. Fresh

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political partnerships will now be put to the test. Some objected

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Conservatives. -- ejected. If this carries on, you could lose your seat

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in the next election. It is always a shame to lose councillors. But at

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the same time, Labour did not make big gains the expected to. There is

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a lesson for all the parties. Lots of work to do to years ahead of a

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general election. It fell short of the result you were expecting.

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a little! Not by much! Extraordinary to hear a conservative sounding so

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out of touch. Brandon, you contributed to some of the losses by

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making the biggest cut to any authority in Britain when you made

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the cut to the sport grant for a Yarmouth. Has that made a

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difference? That was a legacy from the financial settlement of the last

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Labour government. I've got �10 million extra for the Yarmouth. The

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last government left the place with �300 million per year less than

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before. They hadn't had the kind of losses that Labour left them.

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Lamb, are you no longer a party of protest just an unpopular part of a

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coalition government? It is a transition. We did pick up

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previously protest votes and now that is happening with UKIP. We are

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taking responsibility and doing the right thing working with another

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party in the national interest. Our mission is a strong economy and feel

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society. -- better society. Where we are able to get our message across

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on the ground, we actually did rather well. In many parts of the

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country where there are Liberal Democrats MPs. I want to talk about

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a 14, which needs investment. Can you confirm that your councillors

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will make it happen? We have to look at the priorities. What do we need

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to do to begin with, we can cuts be made? Let's look at wages and

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allowances. Not cutting frontline services, but those behind the

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scene. Different groups within councils, are needed? Not

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necessarily. In Cambridge we have a good team. Peter Reid clearly better

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good job because he got 67% of the vote. There is a danger that if you

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make a seductive promises, extra things, and cut taxes, people will

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end up disappointed and feel let down. We have cut taxes in Ramsey

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and deliver more services. It can be reflected in a county council. Are

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you seeing our town council is not important? Kill off all the elderly

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is critically important. -- here for the elderly. -- care. People who

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never voted before starting to vote for UKIP because they have no trust

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in the others. If this is engaging people in politics surely that is

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good news? Whoever you vote for, please do vote. We want more people

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engaged with politics. What ever reason people are getting involved,

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that for democracy is a good thing. It gets a debate going. Do you

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agree, Norman Lamb? I do. Particularly people who feel elated

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from the system. I agree with Lisa about that. -- eliminated.

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Guaranteeing that we provide efficient services with limited

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resources is difficult and these are difficult decisions being made.

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are the groups you think we could do with open councils? We need to look

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at every element. Name one.Chief Executive wages. So you would have

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him work for free? His council allowance... They do not get council

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allowances. We have two leave it there. What exactly does it mean for

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the councils? And for the voters? No overall control means that no

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individual party has enough councils to form a majority. -- enough

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councillors. The worst-case scenario is disagreements and stalemates.

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Here is some advice. As officers, we tread the line conscious that the

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next election can change results. We want every party and every council

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to have the opportunity to be involved. Obviously it is the

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cabinet making the majority of day-to-day decisions. Does it make

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your life more difficult? It just means you have to work harder

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engaging with all the leaders. George Nobs, and Norfolk Council

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or, -- a Norfolk councillor, let's talk about this booklet aimed about

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helping with this situation and giving advice. Brandon Lewis, there

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is the worry that decisions will not be made. I was actually an

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opposition leader for one year, and have been through this. And we were

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in the same situation with the Liberal Democrats. You need to work

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together to bring the best thing for your community. Either through a

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minority administration working properly with a small to get into a

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position with an overall majority. So, different ways of doing it.

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at the be stuck in Norfolk? -- well a deal? The task will be to approach

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the other group and try and do a deal. It is unlikely. Crooks can

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elect who they like as their leader -- trips. -- groups. No overall

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control is not a catastrophic situation. But there is the unitary

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status matter. They said, when we have this absolute power, we will

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share it. Any advice for the Conservatives on the council?

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at who you can work with, or you can do business with, and deliver the

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services. Particularly when you have issues like adult social care and

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children's care to deal with. Thank you all very much indeed. Some great

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