:01:17. > :01:27.ahead to the spending review, and once again, it is all eyes on the
:01:27. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :01:39.A14. Will the Chancellor finally find the money for a toll road
:01:39. > :01:39.
:01:39. > :36:40.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2100 seconds
:36:40. > :36:46.politics is in the East. Coming up - the spending review, will there be
:36:46. > :36:49.anything in it for us? Upgrading the A14 through Cambridgeshire would be
:36:49. > :36:54.the big prize. The business community is desperate for it to get
:36:54. > :36:59.the green light. We want it to happen, it has got to happen. If it
:36:59. > :37:04.does not, the planning will fall apart. We have asked business
:37:04. > :37:09.leaders in the region for their wish list. Better roads topped the bill.
:37:09. > :37:13.Also there were calls for improved railways and housing. First, the
:37:13. > :37:17.latest examples of MP power in the region. On Friday, ahead of
:37:17. > :37:23.children's services at Norfolk County Council stepped down
:37:24. > :37:27.following damning criticism from all nine of the county's MPs. Lisa
:37:27. > :37:33.Christensen has been under pressure over the quality of schools and the
:37:33. > :37:38.protection of children in Norfolk. Earlier in the week, five all
:37:39. > :37:42.members from the East of England Ambulance Service were named, whom
:37:42. > :37:47.some MPs want to see resigned over the poor quality of service. Those
:37:47. > :37:51.board members should be in no doubt whatsoever that we are disgusted
:37:51. > :37:54.with what has happened. We are deeply distressed on behalf of our
:37:54. > :38:00.constituents, members of the public, who have suffered. The current
:38:00. > :38:05.status is not good enough. Let's meet our guests, the Conservative MP
:38:05. > :38:10.for by recent Edmonds, David Ruffley Tom baroness Angela Smith, a Labour
:38:11. > :38:14.peer. David, starting with you - do you echo those calls for those
:38:14. > :38:19.people to stand down? I certainly do. There needs to be more
:38:19. > :38:23.accountability in public life, and people should stand or fall by their
:38:23. > :38:26.record. This is a set of non-executives on the trust who have
:38:26. > :38:33.been there for quite a while and they should do the decent thing and
:38:33. > :38:38.resign. Priti Patel is absolutely right. And this has been a big issue
:38:38. > :38:44.in Basildon as well? It certainly has. The public have their
:38:44. > :38:47.representatives in Parliament, and they expect them to speak for them.
:38:48. > :38:52.If members of Parliament are not speaking to their constituents,
:38:52. > :38:55.their constituents lose faith in the MPs. I do not think anybody is happy
:38:55. > :38:58.with the service we are getting from the do you know service. If you
:38:58. > :39:08.speak to staff there, they are under great for pressure because they
:39:08. > :39:10.
:39:10. > :39:14.want. It is bad management. We are not talking about the staff on the
:39:14. > :39:19.front-line. Is it right that MPs should join together and play
:39:19. > :39:23.hardball like this? Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Shooting off
:39:23. > :39:27.quickly is wrong, but when there is hard evidence of wrongdoing, with
:39:27. > :39:31.accountability which has not been fulfilled, then I think it is right
:39:31. > :39:36.to call for accountability. Conservative MPs wrote at the
:39:36. > :39:40.beginning of this month to David Cameron, that we were not up for
:39:40. > :39:44.Syrian intervention, and I was one of them, and it certainly put a
:39:44. > :39:49.check on the Prime Minister's enthusiasm for Syrian intervention.
:39:49. > :39:54.So you can see hunting as a pack working. I am called a rebel, but I
:39:54. > :39:58.say, I represent my constituents and reflect their views in Parliament.
:39:58. > :40:04.It is collective action. Thank you for now. The big talking point next
:40:04. > :40:10.week will be the Chancellor's spending review. Spending reviews
:40:10. > :40:17.are more rare than budget and Autumn statements. The last one was in
:40:17. > :40:20.2010, the one before that, 2007. The aim is to set targets for government
:40:21. > :40:26.departments, normally for a number of years, but this time, just for
:40:26. > :40:29.one year, 2015-16. It is mainly about cutting budgets, but the
:40:29. > :40:33.Treasury says it wants to send a powerful message about
:40:33. > :40:38.infrastructure. Good that mean that at last, we get the go-ahead for a
:40:38. > :40:43.toll road on the A14? A road goes from Felixstowe to the Midlands, but
:40:43. > :40:47.it is the stretch from Huntingdon to Cambridge which is the main problem.
:40:47. > :40:50.Improving it has been on and off the agenda of successive governments for
:40:50. > :40:54.years. The plan for a toll road has the backing of nearly all of
:40:54. > :40:58.Cambridgeshire's MPs, with the exception of the MP for Cambridge.
:40:58. > :41:07.But there is growing frustration about how long it is taking to get
:41:07. > :41:10.anything done. Deborah McGurran has been on a road trip. Here we are on
:41:10. > :41:19.the A14, on the stretch that is proposed for development, just north
:41:19. > :41:24.of Cambridge, all the way up to Huntingdon. We pulled into the busy
:41:24. > :41:30.Boxworth Services to see how bad the problem was. It means wasted time,
:41:30. > :41:34.missed appointments, which have to be rescheduled. Generally, it puts a
:41:34. > :41:42.drag on being able to plan your day if efficiently. The cost of
:41:42. > :41:46.congestion is huge. It really is an issue which has to be addressed. We
:41:46. > :41:52.are delighted that there is now some prospect of light at the end of a
:41:52. > :41:58.very long tunnel. The cost of the scheme here to widen the carriageway
:41:58. > :42:03.between Milton and Huntingdon is �1.5 billion. And that is why the
:42:03. > :42:11.road could become a toll road. What would you think if they did that?
:42:11. > :42:20.No, no, definitely not. No. It is a main road. We are already paying
:42:20. > :42:25.taxes. There is a lot of taxes already. Our main headlines... I
:42:25. > :42:31.would probably pay it, to make sure I could get to work on time. As a
:42:31. > :42:37.business user, I probably would use it, when they name it the road from
:42:37. > :42:42.hell, that is right. Traffic is very slow on the opposite carriageway,
:42:42. > :42:46.not great on ours. The A14 is critical as the centre of growth for
:42:46. > :42:51.the whole of the Cambridge area and beyond. I think we are now at the
:42:51. > :42:56.point where it needs to happen. It has been going on for so long. This
:42:56. > :43:02.time, if it does not happen, this country, which is relying on
:43:02. > :43:06.Cambridge to a certain extent to get it got its feet through the research
:43:06. > :43:11.cluster, will not be able to work properly. Despite its importance as
:43:11. > :43:14.an engine of the UK economy, the man who has been at the forefront of the
:43:14. > :43:19.A14 campaign still is not convinced that the Government will deliver.
:43:19. > :43:23.am very pessimistic that we will get a firm commitment, because I write
:43:23. > :43:29.regularly to ministers regarding the A14, and the latest correspondence
:43:29. > :43:32.from them indicates that the real decision on the funding of the main
:43:32. > :43:38.part of the A14 will not be made until after the next election. I do
:43:38. > :43:43.not think that is good enough. do the 75,000 vehicles who use the
:43:43. > :43:51.A14 every day. But after so many disappointments, will this
:43:51. > :43:54.government finally bring an end to all this? Well, the MP for
:43:54. > :43:58.Huntingdon, Jonathan Djanogly, has been at the forefront of the
:43:58. > :44:03.campaign. Earlier this week I asked him what if any progress was being
:44:03. > :44:07.made. About one year ago, the Government said they were minded to
:44:07. > :44:13.support an A14 project, based on what had been consulted upon in the
:44:13. > :44:17.past. What they said that firstly, a toll road element, and secondly,
:44:17. > :44:20.they would want a significant contribution from the local economy,
:44:20. > :44:25.from the region. Now, over the last six months, a lot of work has been
:44:25. > :44:29.going on with local councils and local business representatives in
:44:29. > :44:35.order to put a deal together. We have just heard last week, and this
:44:35. > :44:39.is really good news, but they have struck a deal to put in �100 million
:44:39. > :44:44.- half of that would in effect come from local businesses, through the
:44:44. > :44:48.mechanism, and half would come from the local councils. But apparently
:44:48. > :44:52.ministers have said there is still not enough money available, is that
:44:52. > :44:55.right? We have the spending announcement in one week, and let's
:44:55. > :45:05.hope that the Government is going to make that commitment. That is what
:45:05. > :45:22.
:45:22. > :45:25.all of the Cambridgeshire MPs, - that is quite damning, isn't it? I
:45:25. > :45:32.hope not. I am not holding my breath, but at the same time, I am
:45:32. > :45:38.very hopeful. A lot of this, of course, comes down to lobbying.
:45:38. > :45:46.Debates have been held about the A120, and similarly, the A11 - what
:45:46. > :45:48.have you been doing? Let me add, the Afour to eight, where I, together
:45:48. > :45:56.with Andrew Lansley and Alistair Burt in Bedfordshire, have been
:45:56. > :46:01.lobbying. -- A428. On the A14, I have been regularly lobbying the
:46:01. > :46:06.Government for changes, and dealing with the local media and organising
:46:06. > :46:09.local people to have our voice heard. As far as I know, there have
:46:09. > :46:13.not been any debates about the A14, there have not been any questions
:46:13. > :46:18.about it in prime ministers questions - I wonder if you feel you
:46:18. > :46:21.and the Cambridgeshire MPs have done enough to fight for this? I suppose
:46:21. > :46:27.one could always do more, but I am regularly writing to the Treasury,
:46:27. > :46:32.and other departments, to support the A14, and I can assure you that
:46:32. > :46:40.it remains a very high local priority, for all of the MPs into
:46:40. > :46:45.Bridget, bar the MP for the city of Cambridge. -- in Cambridgeshire.
:46:45. > :46:52.Will it come next week? I certainly hope so, and we shall have to wait
:46:52. > :46:57.and see. But the A14 seems to be mentioned every Autumn Statement and
:46:57. > :47:03.any budget, so will we see something concrete? I think the Government's
:47:03. > :47:10.position has changed, I think they now realise that austerity, in terms
:47:10. > :47:15.of cutting government spending, is not to be matched in terms of
:47:15. > :47:18.infrastructure, so they have realised that they do need to invest
:47:19. > :47:22.in infrastructure, at the same time as pruning spending in Whitehall.
:47:22. > :47:26.But even if we get an announcement next week, it could still be many
:47:26. > :47:30.years before we see anything being built? I think the pressure is now
:47:30. > :47:34.really building for those roads to get it is an important point to make
:47:34. > :47:37.that the money which has been pledged from the region last week is
:47:37. > :47:44.conditional full stop in one of those conditions is that the road
:47:44. > :47:48.starts being built by 2016. I think that will put an element of pressure
:47:48. > :47:54.on government, that they really have to get on with it. So there is only
:47:54. > :47:58.a small window of opportunity? the current deal David Ruffley, it
:47:58. > :48:03.runs through your constituency - what are you hearing? I would be
:48:03. > :48:08.surprised if George Osborne does not give some more detail this week. I
:48:08. > :48:13.have heard him say it is a priority, out of all of the infrastructure
:48:13. > :48:17.projects nationally. He wants to see this happening. We do need a toll
:48:17. > :48:22.road element to make it affordable, but I would also say that there are
:48:22. > :48:28.concerns in Felixstowe docks that this could in a sense be a poll tax
:48:28. > :48:31.on access to Felixstowe, further down the A14. I think there will
:48:31. > :48:37.need to be discussions to make sure that whatever tolling we have does
:48:37. > :48:41.not kill off Felixstowe, and I do not think it will. Jonathan Djanogly
:48:41. > :48:51.was saying that we only have a small window of opportunity now - do you
:48:51. > :48:55.accept that? I had stepped that, I agree, yes. -- I accept that. Rather
:48:55. > :48:59.sensibly, they have put this time limit on how long this commitment
:48:59. > :49:03.will be available, and if the Government does not give the green
:49:03. > :49:07.light, then that money disappears. So, it is good to see local business
:49:07. > :49:12.leaders putting the pressure on ministers. It is a very good bit of
:49:12. > :49:17.news. From a South Essex perspective, how important is the
:49:17. > :49:23.A14 do we obsess about it too much? From where I am, we would have to
:49:23. > :49:26.negotiate on loads of others, even to get to the A14. It may we -- it
:49:27. > :49:31.may be with the new Thames Gateway ports that it will become more
:49:31. > :49:35.important in the future. But if you are asking for a wish list, from my
:49:35. > :49:43.part of the country, it would not be the A14 first. We would have a
:49:43. > :49:46.similar list, I think, from the Essex area, with huge problems.
:49:47. > :49:52.Labour put a lot of money into the M25 in Essex - did it make a lot of
:49:52. > :49:56.difference? It has, we have not got the same congestion problems which
:49:56. > :50:01.we did have, one problem is that if you build more roads, you bring more
:50:01. > :50:05.traffic in. From my point of view, we would have to look at the A127,
:50:05. > :50:11.where we have been asking year after year, and the county council will
:50:11. > :50:18.not make it a priority. If we got the money, then we could deal with
:50:18. > :50:21.this huge problem. Of course, the A14 is far from the only item on
:50:21. > :50:25.people 's wish list 's. We have spoken to local enterprise
:50:25. > :50:32.partnerships and Chambers of commerce across the region to find
:50:32. > :50:35.out what would be top of their wish list. Roads featured heavily. There
:50:35. > :50:42.were calls to upgrade the A120 and the A12 in Essex. In Norfolk, the
:50:42. > :50:47.focus was on the A47 and the A10. Link roads to the A1. The vote in
:50:47. > :50:53.Bedfordshire and ginger. New bridges across rivers relieving town centre
:50:53. > :50:57.congestion, we were told, in Lowestoft, among others. And also,
:50:57. > :51:00.we were told about wishes for an extra track onto the line into the
:51:00. > :51:05.Chelmsford area, to ease the commuter crush into London. A wafer
:51:05. > :51:12.transport, there were calls for better housing, better broadband,
:51:12. > :51:17.even better water storage support these -- water storage facilities.
:51:17. > :51:23.You know a bit about lobbying, you successfully fought for a jewel
:51:23. > :51:26.carriageway on the A11, but looking at that list, it always seems to be
:51:26. > :51:33.roads first? I think that is because of the sheer number of people who
:51:33. > :51:37.make use of roads. Pretty much everyone has a car, and the road
:51:37. > :51:41.network is everywhere, or at least it should be. Rail infrastructure is
:51:41. > :51:46.important, but lobbying for particular rail lines has always
:51:46. > :51:51.been challenging. The green lobby would say we concentrate too much on
:51:51. > :51:57.cars. Yes, and I think a lot of people would include public
:51:58. > :52:02.transport improvements on their wish list as well. We have included
:52:02. > :52:11.public transport on our publications this week. Also, cycling routes, and
:52:11. > :52:15.also, using your own shoe leather. But looking at that list, which you
:52:15. > :52:18.published, it included six T5 schemes, but you are not going to
:52:18. > :52:28.get those funded for ages. Will you have to think about the private
:52:28. > :52:32.
:52:32. > :52:35.sector? It is accommodation. -- 65 schemes. We have to be realistic -
:52:35. > :52:39.infrastructure, there is a lot of it needed, and it is really about
:52:39. > :52:45.prioritising. Our focus is about what delivers the best economic
:52:45. > :52:52.return, rather than just hobbyhorse projects, what are the priorities
:52:52. > :52:56.which really deliver jobs. We have been speaking about lobbying today,
:52:56. > :53:00.but how do you actually do it, is it all about long lunches? It is a lot
:53:00. > :53:07.more subtle than that. It is really about building and evidence case,
:53:07. > :53:11.building a consortium of MPs, of business leaders, all around a case
:53:11. > :53:16.which is strong, which shows that if you make the investment, that this
:53:16. > :53:19.is the economic return and the jobs that it will deliver. On Fort,
:53:19. > :53:25.having of all the MPs are singing from the same hymn sheet, does that
:53:25. > :53:28.really help? In Norfolk and Suffolk, it has been tremendous. Over the
:53:28. > :53:32.past few years, the work that the MPs are doing together, uniting
:53:32. > :53:36.around common issues which do not necessarily benefit their own
:53:36. > :53:40.constituency, at which benefit the area generally, has been
:53:40. > :53:45.tremendous. It could be argued that this is all the fault of your party,
:53:45. > :53:51.because we had very little investment in the East during 13
:53:51. > :53:56.years of Labour government. We have lots of investment in hospitals, in
:53:56. > :54:00.housing and transport, but there is always more needed. In my area, the
:54:00. > :54:04.A14 would not figure in the same way. I was interested in those list
:54:04. > :54:07.being put up by those enterprise partnerships, and very few of them
:54:07. > :54:12.were affecting South Essex. If we want to have a cohesive region, we
:54:12. > :54:15.need to look across the region. We are not the kind of region which has
:54:15. > :54:20.a regional identity, we are like three regions in effect, and I think
:54:20. > :54:22.that is a problem for us. We punch below our weight as a region,
:54:22. > :54:27.because we do not have a regional centre, we do not have that
:54:27. > :54:35.identity. If you lick -- look at Yorkshire, Wales or the south-west,
:54:35. > :54:40.they respond very differently. is an interesting point, it is very
:54:40. > :54:46.hard to say what this region is, when it comes to lobbying? I have a
:54:46. > :54:51.working definition - the Golden Triangle, which is Norfolk, Norwich,
:54:51. > :54:57.Ipswich, Cambridgeshire, which is clean tech... That means you have
:54:57. > :55:01.left out Essex. Absolutely, and no disrespect to Angela, but that is
:55:01. > :55:07.what East Anglia and MPs understand as the engine of growth, that golden
:55:07. > :55:11.triangle. I think they have done a good job in arguing for roads and
:55:11. > :55:17.public transport. This is the point, we are arguing for part of the
:55:17. > :55:22.region, rather so, when we talk about the region, there are three
:55:22. > :55:27.different sets of lobbying to go on. Except, of course, if you
:55:27. > :55:33.improve the A11 or the A14, it will benefit Essex, won't it? In the
:55:33. > :55:36.longer term, but if you speak to people in Essex, they will say, our
:55:36. > :55:41.priorities would be slightly different. I think you are never
:55:41. > :55:45.going to get across the Eastern region one coherent view of what
:55:45. > :55:49.benefits the region, it will be three views. We all know that we are
:55:49. > :55:52.pushed for money, so are you more optimistic or less optimistic for
:55:52. > :55:56.the future? Well, it is a tough time, but the Government does
:55:56. > :56:03.recognise that investment in infrastructure is important, and we
:56:03. > :56:07.have to keep watching the coherent business case for our area. Yes,
:56:07. > :56:12.there is still more to do, but there is still this overall problem of how
:56:12. > :56:17.we lobby as a region. George Osborne understands the Golden Triangle and
:56:17. > :56:27.I think he will put money into help us. Let's take a look at what has
:56:27. > :56:27.
:56:27. > :56:30.been happening this week, in our political round-up in 60 seconds. We
:56:30. > :56:37.will start on the railways, and plans to improve the Thames Link
:56:37. > :56:43.service, with more trains. Not every MP has confidence over the
:56:43. > :56:47.timetable. Civil servants have a tendency to elongate contract
:56:47. > :56:54.management, to get procurement wrong, to take an enormous amount of
:56:54. > :56:58.time to do the things that they think they can do very quickly.
:56:58. > :57:03.Next, the long-running argument over plans to build an incinerator in
:57:03. > :57:10.King's Lynn. It has been put off again, but it was the right result,
:57:10. > :57:17.according to Labour. Corby Council had a rap on the knuckles over how
:57:17. > :57:21.it handled big regeneration projects like The Cube. Significant failings
:57:21. > :57:25.and poor management, said the auditors. Finally, AstraZeneca gave
:57:25. > :57:28.us more details about its move to Cambridge and its new headquarters.
:57:28. > :57:32.We will be able to take the knowledge which comes from our
:57:32. > :57:41.laboratories, and we will be able to convert that knowledge into better
:57:41. > :57:45.patient outcomes. That announcement about the city, it is a big coup for
:57:45. > :57:51.the region. I think it is, and the engine of growth in the East of
:57:51. > :57:57.England will be around Cambridge and the great science facilities we have
:57:57. > :58:00.up in Norwich. It is a real driver. No disrespect to Essex, because they
:58:00. > :58:05.have got the Thames Gateway. I think we are quite a vibrant region, with
:58:05. > :58:10.huge potential. I think this is just a symbol of how forward-looking we
:58:10. > :58:13.are. The science base here is world-class, which is wily city have
:58:13. > :58:18.come. You have both been representing this region for many
:58:18. > :58:22.years, and the region is changing a lot, isn't it? It is, and for the
:58:22. > :58:27.better, in many ways. David has spoken about the science, but also,
:58:27. > :58:30.if you look across Essex, you can see the cardiac unit we have got,
:58:31. > :58:37.and the research which goes on there, in Basildon. We have got the
:58:37. > :58:42.new port developments in Thurrock, as well as logistic developments. It
:58:42. > :58:46.is a vibrant region, while it may not be a cohesive region, and that
:58:46. > :58:51.vitality adds to our strength. I think we are punching below our
:58:51. > :58:55.weight and we could do better. quite exciting, isn't it? It is, and
:58:55. > :58:59.it always has been, but it is a region which attracts people with
:58:59. > :59:03.skills. The danger is now that the Government has been so focused on
:59:03. > :59:07.cutting the deficit and debt, and we have lost out a bit on growth.
:59:07. > :59:14.Hopefully we will now see some emphasis put on growth. We are not a
:59:14. > :59:18.backwater any more? As somebody said, we could be the California of