:01:33. > :01:43.Why families who lost loved ones to cancer-causing asbestos are missing
:01:43. > :01:43.
:01:43. > :31:18.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1774 seconds
:31:18. > :31:25.out on compensation they say they This region is one of the worst for
:31:25. > :31:33.cancer deaths. From exposure to asbestos. We have a special report
:31:33. > :31:41.on those seeking compensation. We're also talking about the latest
:31:41. > :31:48.rise and unemployment figures. Our guests today are Catherine
:31:48. > :31:54.McKinnell and Guy Opperman. This autumn, voters will choose a
:31:54. > :32:04.police and crime commissioner. He will be paid between 70 and �85,000
:32:04. > :32:08.Ministers say it will allow people to hold their local forced to
:32:08. > :32:18.account. That is a view shared by the Mayor of Hartlepool, Stuart
:32:18. > :32:23.
:32:23. > :32:29.Drummond. A commission or will not be responsible for operational
:32:29. > :32:36.policing. It is more about governments. It is about
:32:36. > :32:43.responsibilities at and around the budget and strategic decisions. It
:32:43. > :32:49.could be a positive. If you ask a lot of people who the members of
:32:49. > :32:55.the police authority are, they will struggle to name them. It does
:32:55. > :33:00.bring that sort of public face to the police force. You have a job a
:33:00. > :33:08.smear of Hartlepool, but is this a position that interests you? -- as
:33:09. > :33:17.mere of Hartlepool. Your poor by the 50th person that has asked me
:33:17. > :33:25.that this week! I have not planned my life that far ahead yet. Let us
:33:25. > :33:31.talk now to Lord Beecham, Newcastle councillor.
:33:31. > :33:34.I gather you're not a fan of this idea. Why? For a whole host of
:33:34. > :33:38.regions -- reasons. It will cost a lot of money at a
:33:38. > :33:41.time when police budgets are being cut. There is a danger that this
:33:41. > :33:46.will politicise policing in a way that we have not experienced in
:33:47. > :33:50.this country. I think it would be difficult for them to sustain
:33:50. > :33:55.pressure from candidates who have stoked up the fear of crime as a
:33:55. > :34:00.means of getting elected. Third, there is the programme - by the
:34:00. > :34:06.problem of fragmentation. The police commissioner, whose
:34:06. > :34:09.decisions can only be challenged by two thirds of the committee the
:34:10. > :34:15.serve under him, will have it power to raise almost 11% of council tax
:34:15. > :34:19.on his own. That is a serious concentration of power and than
:34:19. > :34:25.single pair of hands. The Northumbria, one person is supposed
:34:25. > :34:30.to be accountable from the region from Berwick Down to Sunderland.
:34:30. > :34:36.You do not like the idea. What we're talking about is making this
:34:36. > :34:42.is -- making the system more democratic? It is pitting the power
:34:42. > :34:49.in a single pair of hands. We will see what the turnout for the
:34:49. > :34:52.election is. David Cameron's favourite policeman is the Police
:34:52. > :34:58.Commissioner in New York. He is so impressed that he is thought --
:34:58. > :35:01.that it is thought he wanted him appointed Police Commissioner. He
:35:01. > :35:06.does not understand why they should be going over to an American system
:35:06. > :35:11.which he finds deeply flawed and heavily politicised. How is that
:35:11. > :35:17.single person going to be accountable, visible to and
:35:17. > :35:22.responding to people in a region as large as Northumbria? It is not as
:35:22. > :35:29.if the police are not making big efforts just now. They regularly
:35:29. > :35:36.attend public meetings, they have done for years. It is an effective
:35:36. > :35:45.relationship. Thank you very much. Guy Opperman, you have heard the
:35:45. > :35:49.case against - what do you make of it? I think democracy is a good
:35:49. > :35:55.thing. I do not know why he's so scared of the people. If we want
:35:55. > :36:00.more policemen on the beat, isn't that a good thing? I do not have
:36:00. > :36:05.any difficulty with that. The type of policing we ripped -- the Prison
:36:05. > :36:10.we have is with the police authority nobody knows. If you can
:36:10. > :36:18.name a dozen or so people batter on it, you're a better man than I. The
:36:18. > :36:25.policing is from Westminster... A chief constable is enforcing what
:36:25. > :36:31.Westminster says Cobb not what the local people here say. Local people
:36:31. > :36:41.will have control over the way the police force has run. But if it
:36:41. > :36:45.
:36:45. > :36:53.ain't broke, why fix it? Cleveland and Northumbria say that --
:36:53. > :36:57.apparently came first for public trust. Why change it? And London,
:36:57. > :37:02.they have cut knife crime and the murder rate is down. There is the
:37:02. > :37:10.suit is underground system in Europe. -- the safest Underground
:37:10. > :37:20.system. I take the view that you cannot say when -- no one person
:37:20. > :37:21.
:37:21. > :37:30.can do this. Catherine McKinnell, a good idea, it will cut crime? If it
:37:30. > :37:35.ain't broke, don't fix -- don't fix it. I am worried it's going to
:37:35. > :37:40.break it. There are a lot of cuts happening. To restructure in this
:37:40. > :37:44.way, at a time when they are facing significant constraint on their
:37:44. > :37:48.budgets, is quite irresponsible. But trusting the public to have a
:37:48. > :37:54.say - is that such a bad thing? We have a long history of a non
:37:54. > :38:00.politicised police force. The chief constable still has control of
:38:00. > :38:05.oppositional matters. I had been out on the beat with the police. I
:38:05. > :38:09.have seen how much the do, not just to prosecute crimes or catch
:38:09. > :38:14.criminals, but to prevent crime and that is what I worry. The shift
:38:14. > :38:18.will go on reaching targets, meeting figures, bumper numbers, as
:38:18. > :38:23.opposed to actually preventing crimes happening in the first place.
:38:23. > :38:32.There is a potential democratic problem here for you. Isn't there?
:38:32. > :38:41.Any police commissioner might not give any priority to rural
:38:41. > :38:45.Northumberland. I think they would, actually. You may get independents
:38:45. > :38:50.standing who are totally non- political. Do you Know Where It's -
:38:50. > :38:57.- you know there any here? I am absolutely certain independents
:38:57. > :39:01.will stand in Cumbria. I am absolutely certain. The candidates
:39:01. > :39:04.I have heard mention her the same people that sure the police
:39:04. > :39:10.authorities. Would it be a failure of Labour to find this new
:39:10. > :39:17.individuals to make this job work. -- to make this job were? I think a
:39:17. > :39:20.lot of people are coming forward. We need to get someone who
:39:20. > :39:23.understands the priorities of people and what they want to see
:39:23. > :39:29.their police force delivering, but can speak for the whole community.
:39:29. > :39:32.You have had a very important point. Sometimes, the loudest voices will
:39:32. > :39:36.get the most representation and when it comes to crime, that is not
:39:36. > :39:46.always the best approach. This is something that was in both of the
:39:46. > :39:47.
:39:47. > :39:50.coalition parties' manifestos. In 2008, David Hanson said in the
:39:50. > :39:56.House of Commons, it is a good thing. They have changed their mind
:39:56. > :40:00.in the last few years. The North's history of heavy industry has left
:40:00. > :40:05.an unfortunate legacy. Some of the highest rates of
:40:05. > :40:09.asbestos related deaths anywhere in Britain. Victims cannot get any
:40:09. > :40:14.compensation because their employers Insurance records cannot
:40:14. > :40:19.be traced. We have been to hear the story of a family. He could walk in
:40:19. > :40:24.the room and he would fill it. He was quite shy. That was until you
:40:24. > :40:34.got to know him. He was just amazing. Liz remembers happier
:40:34. > :40:35.
:40:35. > :40:45.times. A year ago, he died from asbestos related illnesses. He
:40:45. > :40:45.
:40:45. > :40:52.worked as a photographer. He was present when they were taking the
:40:52. > :40:59.photographs, when you dismantling their engines. -- when they were
:40:59. > :41:04.dismantling the the engines. You could see the particles in the air.
:41:04. > :41:07.30 years on, the family is still battling for compensation. Because
:41:07. > :41:13.his employer has gone out of business in the meantime, the
:41:13. > :41:17.insurance records lost, they have so far been unsuccessful stalls --
:41:17. > :41:22.unsuccessful. I promised him I would see it right or the bitter
:41:22. > :41:28.end. He nodded his head, because at that time, he could hardly speak.
:41:28. > :41:34.He should not have gone through that there. Other people should not
:41:34. > :41:38.have to. With the death toll from asbestos related cancer rising,
:41:38. > :41:43.that frustration is shared by others. A generation ago, workers
:41:43. > :41:46.were being exposed to asbestos in all sorts of occupations. It was in
:41:46. > :41:51.the heavy industries, like these shipyards, where the exposure was
:41:51. > :41:59.most common. Now many of the jobs have gone but the legacy of chronic
:41:59. > :42:04.ill health are still very much with us. More than 2000 people died from
:42:04. > :42:09.this every year. The figure in the North East has around 150, one of
:42:09. > :42:15.the highest rates in the country. At least one in 10 victims are not
:42:15. > :42:20.be able to trace their employer's insurance. Campaigners want a fund
:42:20. > :42:28.to help families to miss out on compensation, paid for by the
:42:28. > :42:36.insurance industry. There is a long time lag between the point in time
:42:36. > :42:42.where the victim is exposed and when the effects cocaine. -- when
:42:42. > :42:50.the effects happen. A lot of the companies have gone out of business
:42:50. > :42:53.and it is not possible to trace the insurers. Pressure on the
:42:53. > :43:00.Government is growing, but the insurance industry opposes the move.
:43:00. > :43:05.We do not think it is right that in circumstances where there may not
:43:05. > :43:11.have been insurance in place but there 40 years ago, thought to
:43:11. > :43:13.date's employers to fund that. They want to be sure that everything is
:43:13. > :43:20.done to trace the original insurance and it is paid on that
:43:20. > :43:30.basis. Lewis fight on, so that she can hold some of to account for her
:43:30. > :43:34.husband's unnecessary death. Why have be able not acted to help the
:43:34. > :43:41.relatives of people like Liz Bradshaw?
:43:41. > :43:47.I think we have, actually. The insurance Minister - sorry, the
:43:47. > :43:53.insurance businesses are struggling. The insurance industry as billions
:43:53. > :43:57.and billions of pounds, this is not huge amounts of money. How were you
:43:57. > :44:06.going to do it so there are not burdens upon the population? The
:44:06. > :44:10.Labour Party -- the Labour Party had the same thing. They were
:44:10. > :44:16.unsympathetic to a private member's bill. To be fair to the Labour
:44:16. > :44:23.government, they introduce the compensation Act of 2006 which
:44:23. > :44:26.cover some of these things. We know what we can do, that is why there
:44:26. > :44:32.is a consultation that cut and that is why it is going forward. I
:44:32. > :44:38.strongly support the idea. I have dealt with cases myself when I was
:44:38. > :44:42.a lawyer before I became an MP. Catherine McKinnell, is a difficult
:44:42. > :44:48.to work this out? Of the government some credit, it is trying to do it.
:44:48. > :44:54.It is taking far too long. I have seen a question today, it is the
:44:54. > :44:58.same response that we got 18 months ago. We are talking to people, we
:44:58. > :45:03.are considering the matter. That is just not good enough. It is leaving
:45:03. > :45:09.families without compensation. The taxpayer end up footing the bill
:45:09. > :45:13.for looking after these people when the insurer should be covered. --
:45:13. > :45:20.should be covering it. Labour introduced a consultation on this,
:45:20. > :45:24.20th February 10. It was months away from the election, they would
:45:24. > :45:34.not have to keep their promise. That is a very cynical way of
:45:34. > :45:36.
:45:36. > :45:40.looking at it! The onus is on the current government to get moving
:45:41. > :45:43.and get the insurance industry to excepted. A lot of people involved
:45:43. > :45:49.in the government suspect that the government wants to kick it into
:45:49. > :45:59.the long grass. The two of us agree that you need to stand up for those
:45:59. > :46:09.workers who have been exposed to asbestos. Both of us are in full
:46:09. > :46:09.
:46:09. > :46:16.agreement on that. How you go forward is difficult. There was 13
:46:16. > :46:23.years for Labour to introduce this. There is a code of practice. There
:46:23. > :46:26.are still 40% of those claims which are not being looked after. I think
:46:27. > :46:33.we should have something similar to that which covers uninsured drivers
:46:33. > :46:38.of cars. These families need compensation and support and the
:46:38. > :46:43.need what is rightfully and legally theirs. It has been a busy
:46:43. > :46:52.political week but we have managed to squeeze it into what action-
:46:52. > :46:55.packed minute. -- into one action-packed minutes.
:46:55. > :47:01.Theatres, museums and libraries across County Durham could be
:47:01. > :47:06.handed over to a charitable trust. They believe they could save
:47:07. > :47:11.millions on VAT. The Transport Minister arrived on Tyneside to
:47:11. > :47:16.have a look at the modernisation of the Metro. Unemployment in the
:47:16. > :47:22.North East rose by another 11,000. One Tyneside MP was quick to put
:47:22. > :47:28.the Prime Minister on the spot. And the North East, unemployment among
:47:28. > :47:33.slum and is rising at twice the rate of VAT amongst men. --
:47:33. > :47:38.unemployment amongst women. Where does the Prime Minister think a
:47:38. > :47:42.woman's place is? At home, in the workplace, or in the JobCentre?
:47:42. > :47:47.Darlington Football Club has been saved from liquidation - for the
:47:47. > :47:57.moment, at least. The town's MP said she was even willing to work
:47:57. > :48:01.behind the bar if it helped save her home town pub. The eagle-eyed
:48:01. > :48:07.among she will notice that it was Catherine McKinnell's question.
:48:08. > :48:12.What would you say to that question? Everybody understands
:48:12. > :48:17.that unemployment is a tragedy for every single family. It affects you
:48:17. > :48:21.and all of your loved ones. There is a huge problem. No one can
:48:21. > :48:25.diminish that and I do not dispute the statistics. We are doing
:48:25. > :48:29.something, we are trying to turn this around. We have got the work
:48:29. > :48:33.programme starting. We have got their abilities in relation to
:48:33. > :48:43.apprentices. There are 34,000 apprentices now compared to 18,000
:48:43. > :48:50.last year. We have double that in Hexham, in my constituency. The
:48:50. > :48:57.Employment Minister is coming to an event I have organised. A thing
:48:57. > :49:00.that is a good thing. The BBC should come. We may well do.
:49:00. > :49:07.Catherine McKinnell, of what impression are you getting from
:49:07. > :49:16.your constituents? They are deeply worried. We see a wage freeze, we
:49:16. > :49:21.see a BT -- a VAT increase. The Government are talking a good talk
:49:21. > :49:25.but it is having the opposite effect of what they're saying. An
:49:25. > :49:30.impact on the North East, a disproportionate impact, is
:49:30. > :49:34.overwhelming. This is a big change in the labour market, isn't it?
:49:34. > :49:39.We're moving from a dependence on the public sector to more private
:49:39. > :49:44.sector jobs. Readers need to be patient, don't we? There cutting so
:49:44. > :49:54.fast and so quickly and in the wrong way. Most of these cuts are
:49:54. > :49:58.targeted disproportionately on areas like the North East. By party
:49:58. > :50:08.has not said it will not reverse these cuts. There has just said it
:50:08. > :50:12.
:50:12. > :50:15.will not -- it cannot commit to what cuts it will reverse. You must
:50:15. > :50:20.dread the day these employment figures come out. The worrying is
:50:20. > :50:24.it for you seen these figures rising and continuing to rise?
:50:24. > :50:31.Unemployment did not mushroom overnight. Unemployment was
:50:31. > :50:36.already... In your own constituency, it was roughly the same as it was
:50:36. > :50:39.right now. Unemployment was going down and now it is going up again
:50:39. > :50:45.because the government cuts are having a detrimental impact. We