:01:23. > :01:25.In the North East and Cumbria: The two Teesside doctors who have
:01:25. > :01:35.run 40 miles to the Liberal Democrat conference in Gateshead.
:01:35. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :31:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1807 seconds
:31:43. > :31:47.It is to lodge their protest over Hello and a warm welcome to your
:31:47. > :31:52.local part of the show. Coming up: these hospital consultants have run
:31:53. > :31:57.from Middlesbrough to Gateshead to show their opposition to the
:31:57. > :32:04.coalition's NHS plans. We will hear from them and get our response from
:32:05. > :32:09.Cumbrian MP Tim Farron, who is at the Spring Conference. My guests
:32:09. > :32:14.are Labour MP Julie Elliott and conservative campaigner Graham Robb.
:32:14. > :32:20.Lots of economic news this week. The good was Nissan's's decision to
:32:20. > :32:26.build a new model at its Wearside plant, bringing 400 new jobs. Nick
:32:26. > :32:31.Clegg was keen to be in Sunderland on Friday. He was also at one of
:32:31. > :32:36.Nissan's suppliers Unipres. It is hoped 1,600 jobs will be created in
:32:36. > :32:41.the supply chain. Vince Cable describes this as a clear vote of
:32:41. > :32:47.confidence in the UK's manufacturing sector. Julie Elliott,
:32:47. > :32:54.is this a sign of good things to come? Hopefully it is. Nissan are
:32:54. > :32:58.exceptional, growing in the strengths of this region. Hopefully,
:32:58. > :33:04.the rest of the world, with changes in currency and problems countries
:33:04. > :33:08.are having, manufacturing is becoming more of an option. We have
:33:08. > :33:13.the track record, the skills, an excellent history in manufacturing
:33:13. > :33:21.and we have some very cutting edge manufacturing companies in the
:33:21. > :33:28.North East. Reduces yes policies are working? -- would you suggest
:33:28. > :33:36.policies are working? Nissan are investing on the basis of that
:33:36. > :33:40.grant. And that is good, but we need more. Graham Robb, record
:33:40. > :33:47.exports for North East businesses, good news, but 50% were from the
:33:47. > :33:53.sun. Is there no danger of too many eggs in one basket? -- 50% were
:33:53. > :33:57.from Nissan. We need to look at growing the private business sector.
:33:57. > :34:02.If you look at headlines, there have been 44,700 new jobs announced
:34:02. > :34:07.by local firms and the North East, not just big firms, may be small
:34:07. > :34:12.businesses. As those jobs go from announcement to hiring, you are
:34:12. > :34:17.seeing a real enterprise culture re-emerging. You talked about the
:34:17. > :34:22.Regional Growth Fund. Millions has been allocated to the North East
:34:22. > :34:28.firms from that fund. It is about factories, manufacturing, targeting
:34:28. > :34:34.public investment. Not as much as there was for other complex,
:34:34. > :34:41.bureaucratic systems... It is not all roses. We have had some bad
:34:41. > :34:46.news. It is not all roses at there are public sector job losses. When
:34:46. > :34:52.you look at the number of jobs created in the future from just the
:34:52. > :34:58.firms given funding, you are talking about 16,000 direct jobs
:34:58. > :35:00.and 26,000 indirect jobs. We will have to leave that at the moment.
:35:00. > :35:05.The Liberal Democrats are in Gateshead this weekend for their
:35:05. > :35:09.conference. But not everyone gave them a friendly welcome. Hundreds
:35:09. > :35:13.of people joined a trade union rally in Newcastle yesterday,
:35:13. > :35:18.marching to protest at cuts to local services. One of the most
:35:18. > :35:25.difficult issues is the Health Bill. Many would like to see it ditched.
:35:25. > :35:31.We will get the view of Cumbrian MP Tim Farron. But first, I went to
:35:31. > :35:39.Teesside. These men are usually doctors fighting cancer, but with a
:35:39. > :35:49.secret identity as St pounding campaigners battling the NHS bill.
:35:49. > :35:51.
:35:51. > :35:56.This dynamic duo have run across . The Royal College of Nurses have
:35:56. > :36:03.come out against it, various groups. The Government just is not
:36:03. > :36:08.listening. You have to go to extreme measures. The doctors ran
:36:08. > :36:12.42 miles from Teesside to Gateshead as part of their protest. They are
:36:12. > :36:18.believing that these plans should be blocked for the good of patients
:36:18. > :36:24.at the party. It will be disastrous, the NHS will be privatised over
:36:24. > :36:29.time, it will be hugely unpopular and will finish off the Liberal
:36:29. > :36:34.Democrats long term. It is electoral suicide and they should
:36:34. > :36:44.listen to NHS professionals. Redcar could be one place where the
:36:44. > :36:44.
:36:44. > :36:49.backlash could be felt. Their candidate took the seat from Labour.
:36:49. > :36:55.Going into Government was always going to be a gamble for the
:36:55. > :37:00.Liberal Democrats. You could get some losses with everyone mac.
:37:00. > :37:05.There are some worrying signs for the party in Redcar and their
:37:05. > :37:11.honeymoon with voters is well and truly over. Mrs John Hannon, who
:37:11. > :37:16.used to be a Lib Dem, quitting after 2010. -- this is. He won a
:37:16. > :37:21.by-election for Labour. Now he is convinced the tide is turning
:37:21. > :37:26.against his former colleagues. think there will be an up row with
:37:26. > :37:35.NHS reforms. I do not think people from the Liberal Democrats expected
:37:35. > :37:38.to be in this position. The people who brought us in in 2012 assure
:37:38. > :37:45.that the Liberal Democrats have more or less joined the Tory party,
:37:45. > :37:51.becoming their Withdean boys. That is what the people think. The Lib
:37:51. > :37:55.Dems have not been swept away just yet, continuing to do community
:37:55. > :38:00.campaigning they are so famous for. The party insists supporting red
:38:00. > :38:07.card is holding up. But even amongst these activists, opinion is
:38:07. > :38:13.divided on NHS reforms. My concern is the element of profit. We do not
:38:13. > :38:16.want to go down an American style health care system. There were some
:38:16. > :38:22.concerns in the first instance. Last spring, at the party
:38:22. > :38:25.conference, we raised some concerns and amendments. I think it is
:38:25. > :38:31.developing into something potentially effective. And the Dems
:38:31. > :38:36.will tell you being in Government is about difficult choices. -- and
:38:36. > :38:40.Lib Dems will tell you. But there are protests within and without the
:38:40. > :38:45.party telling them they could be about to make a huge mistake. Mark
:38:45. > :38:52.Denten is at that conference. We have had the result of the vote
:38:52. > :38:56.on the NHS in the last hour. have. Nick Clegg has walked past me.
:38:56. > :39:01.Activists have given him a battering, voting to remove a
:39:01. > :39:09.section backing health reforms. One described it as a High Speed Train
:39:10. > :39:13.crash. I have been getting reaction of the party President Tim Farron.
:39:13. > :39:18.We know the Health Bill is something we would not have drawn
:39:18. > :39:26.up in power on our own. But Reid at less than 20 for a present of the
:39:26. > :39:32.vote. -- but we got less than 20% of the port. Andrew Lansley brought
:39:32. > :39:35.in a bill last January which many people were concerned about. It
:39:35. > :39:41.would bring in even more marketisation than Labour brought
:39:41. > :39:45.in. We have spent 14 months dismantling it. Y are you going to
:39:45. > :39:51.the wire, risking your reputation over something not in the
:39:51. > :39:56.agreement? People talk about that, many of the things governments do
:39:56. > :40:01.is reacting to events, such as Libya. I am not happy with the bill.
:40:01. > :40:05.One thing we have to deal with is that the NHS is getting costlier
:40:05. > :40:10.and costlier. That is for good reasons, we are living longer with
:40:10. > :40:18.better medicines. People in your constituency will not have read
:40:18. > :40:24.this. You are saying, just us, this will privatise the NHS. -- trust us.
:40:24. > :40:30.I have no doubt that is what it will do. You get irritated when in
:40:30. > :40:36.my position. I love Andy Burnham, but when he was Secretary of State
:40:36. > :40:40.for Health, he privatised GP services across the North East,
:40:40. > :40:44.privatised surgery for instance. This is about doing the best thing
:40:44. > :40:51.for the National Health Service. You think doctors are wrong that
:40:51. > :40:57.this will be a disaster and destroy the NHS? And do not think so. One
:40:57. > :41:02.person living here do not understand what this is. We have a
:41:02. > :41:07.public NHS which is paid for by the tax payer and will be free at the
:41:08. > :41:11.point of use. What we have insured is that, at this is far from
:41:12. > :41:19.perfect, we have ensured that marketisation will be put in its
:41:19. > :41:23.box. The competition there will benefit patients. When contracts
:41:23. > :41:32.come up bought out of hour GP services, the cheapest but will
:41:32. > :41:41.Midlands Today -- the cheapest it will win, thanks to Labour. With us,
:41:41. > :41:45.it will be the best. Howe is the political marriage going? It is a
:41:45. > :41:49.very peculiar thing. It is important you behave in a
:41:49. > :41:54.collegiate way. I am a northerner, spending four years at university
:41:54. > :41:59.here. I know that the relationship with the Conservative Party for
:41:59. > :42:03.most of us born in this neck of the woods is not good. But with
:42:04. > :42:09.arithmetic across the country, if you have to former Conservative --
:42:09. > :42:16.form a coalition, you have to work with them. Tim Farron talking to
:42:16. > :42:22.Mark Denten. Julie Elliott, do you believe this is a better bill?
:42:22. > :42:25.Not at all, it is an nonsense. It is a marginal bill, with them
:42:26. > :42:32.voting for everything in his bill, not voting against it in the
:42:32. > :42:36.chamber. It is absolute hypocrisy. Graham Robb, the problem for
:42:36. > :42:40.Liberal Democrats and Conservative is every single problem in the NHS
:42:40. > :42:46.over the next few years will be blamed on that bill. You have major
:42:46. > :42:54.sells a hostage to fortune. That is a good political point. There are
:42:54. > :43:00.two things at this art. It makes GPs the kingmakers indeed -- in the
:43:00. > :43:05.NHS. You could have done that within the NHS. It enshrines that,
:43:05. > :43:11.seeing GPs do not have to buy from established NHS organisations. I
:43:12. > :43:14.have a close relative who has late- stage cancer, sadly. When she has
:43:15. > :43:20.got to see doctors at nurses in the NHS, it has been brilliant. Other
:43:20. > :43:24.things have not been. Things like tests that take a long time. GPs
:43:24. > :43:30.could get them from other areas. When she has gone to the hospital,
:43:30. > :43:37.the Macmillan Cancer Cure system is there, ready to help, but only
:43:37. > :43:43.through voluntary arrangements. -- care system. This means that GPs
:43:43. > :43:45.can contract with organisations, which has to be a good thing. Some
:43:45. > :43:53.of the hyperbole about privatisation is inappropriate.
:43:53. > :43:59.Labour did bring the private sector into the NHS. Was that a mistake?
:43:59. > :44:02.It was broad hint marginally. This is a wholesale privatisation. -- it
:44:02. > :44:08.was brought been marginally. GPs have to come to grips with changes
:44:08. > :44:12.happening, going out to anybody. There will be little if any
:44:12. > :44:17.monitoring of organisations. Their ethics of the organisations might
:44:17. > :44:22.be completely adrift to the ethics and history of the NHS. This has
:44:22. > :44:28.not been sold well. I would agree with that. What she is saying is
:44:28. > :44:36.not true. Monitoring will be done. There will be proper
:44:36. > :44:44.responsibilities. GPs are not a wholesale against it. 90% are
:44:44. > :44:54.against. There are 44,000 GPs and not many voted -- not many signed
:44:54. > :44:54.
:44:54. > :45:04.against it. Only 2,600 out of 44,000. I have not met a GP in
:45:04. > :45:10.favour. There was one on the radio on Friday. What are you for in the
:45:10. > :45:14.NHS? We are for a publicly funded health service that is there at the
:45:14. > :45:19.point of need without question of profit. I am not saying the health
:45:19. > :45:24.service and systems we had were perfect. Everything needs to change
:45:24. > :45:31.for changing the. There was no need to bring in legislation like this.
:45:31. > :45:33.Thank you. Now, a new case is being made for
:45:33. > :45:41.regional government in the North, eight years after John Prescott's
:45:41. > :45:45.plans were comprehensively rejected by voters in a referendum. The
:45:45. > :45:48.Hannah Mitchell Foundation held its public launch in Bradford on Friday.
:45:48. > :45:50.It called for a radical voice for the North, including directly-
:45:50. > :45:52.elected regional government. Supporters say the prospect of
:45:52. > :45:56.Scottish independence makes the case for a Northern parliament
:45:56. > :45:58.stronger. But many MPs who backed the idea in 2004 are wary of
:45:58. > :46:01.reopening the debate. But what about the voters? Fergus Hewison
:46:01. > :46:05.spoke to people in Darlington, where nearly nine out of 10 voted
:46:05. > :46:09.against a regional assembly in 2004. Are not independence, but the
:46:09. > :46:15.evolution would make sense. There is an imbalance of finance
:46:15. > :46:23.and others. We tried it once and turned it down. I do not honestly
:46:23. > :46:29.think it will work any better this time. It is a good idea. We will
:46:29. > :46:38.always have a say. Things are different down there to up here. It
:46:38. > :46:44.would be a good idea. And non scientific survey, surely. Do you
:46:44. > :46:49.think this idea has come and 2012? Let Labour advocated, it is
:46:49. > :46:55.political suicide. This is politicians talking shop. What we
:46:55. > :47:00.need a more factories, not another talking shop. Is this a serious
:47:00. > :47:05.point? Vince Cable said, imagine a situation where you had Alex
:47:05. > :47:11.Salmond, our First Minister for the North, with 15 million people
:47:11. > :47:19.behind him going to Ten Downing Street. He would be hard to ignore.
:47:19. > :47:23.It should be hard to ignore 30 MPs from the North. Vince Cable put the
:47:23. > :47:30.Green investment Bank of Scotland, a bad idea. I would like people in
:47:30. > :47:36.this region arguing for that. record for that locally. -- I
:47:36. > :47:40.argued for that and vocally. I sponsored meetings, did interviews.
:47:41. > :47:46.It was actually one of the things we could not put in a regional bid.
:47:46. > :47:51.There were a number across the region. We are being sidetracked.
:47:51. > :47:58.You were one campaigner burnt by this. Has this change? I do not
:47:58. > :48:04.think there is -- this is the time to revisit this. I believe in it,
:48:04. > :48:09.but the vote was overwhelming. I believe that you are looking at a
:48:09. > :48:16.period of 20 years before a book issue can be revisited. Maybe have
:48:16. > :48:20.a serious work with Labour MPs from this region backing this? I have no
:48:20. > :48:24.problem with people opening up the discussion. But in the North East,
:48:25. > :48:31.I am more interested in trying to raise the profile of the region,
:48:31. > :48:36.raise the profile to bring jobs and investment. She is quite right. She
:48:36. > :48:46.knows from experience. The problems is that frustration can build up.
:48:46. > :48:52.In Scotland, we have something like that. There could be frustration if
:48:52. > :49:00.this carries on. That is how democracy works. We need more of
:49:00. > :49:05.MPs for this region. I would say more Conservatives. Just because
:49:05. > :49:09.the Labour Party lost the election we should not have a super regional
:49:09. > :49:17.expensive regional Government. People might feel it will be
:49:17. > :49:20.ignored. It is up to the North to shout loudly at make its case. The
:49:20. > :49:25.Regional Growth Fund we talked about, a large proportion of that
:49:25. > :49:30.comes to the North. Sadly, a lot of Transport spent close to the South.
:49:30. > :49:36.There are swings and roundabouts. Julie Elliott, do you think this
:49:37. > :49:42.will happen? Hopefully in future, but not at the moment. It is a
:49:42. > :49:45.missed opportunity. For now, we do not even have to Regional
:49:45. > :49:50.Development Agency. That brought more investment than the Regional
:49:50. > :49:55.Growth Fund. We need mechanisms to bring in investment. Thank you very
:49:55. > :50:00.much. We like to get full value for money
:50:00. > :50:03.from Mark. So he has just run all the way from the Sage to do his
:50:03. > :50:05.regular gig, bringing us the rest of the week's political news in 60
:50:05. > :50:09.seconds. And he is not even out of breath.
:50:09. > :50:14.The North East will not be home to the new Green investment Bank.
:50:14. > :50:19.Sunderland, Durham and Teesside for all bidding, but ministers decided
:50:19. > :50:24.to get water it in Edinburgh. Somebody up will have two councils,
:50:24. > :50:32.one for the North and south, according to one Carlisle MP, and
:50:32. > :50:36.writing to Eric Pickles board reviewed. Many services for
:50:36. > :50:42.disabled people will close. It will get other jobs. Some ministers do
:50:42. > :50:45.not believe that will happen. not convinced that the people in my
:50:45. > :50:52.constituency are other parts of the North East will gain employment
:50:52. > :50:58.easily. And aluminium sector will close at the end of the month with
:50:58. > :51:01.many losing their jobs. And the former Redcar MP has confirmed she
:51:01. > :51:10.wants to be the newly elected Northumbria Police Commissioner.
:51:10. > :51:14.She is hoping to be Labour's candidate, amongst others. That is
:51:14. > :51:18.about all from us. BBC Newcastle's bricks to sue or
:51:18. > :51:22.comes from the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
:51:22. > :51:26.Euro MP Martin Callanan will be taking listeners' calls after nine.