17/06/2012 Sunday Politics North East and Cumbria

In the North East and Cumbria: As thousands turn out to welcome the

Olympic torch, what benefits will the region get from the billions of

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1624 seconds

pounds spent on the London games? Hello and a very warm welcome to

your local part of the show on this Olympic weekend. And as the torch

makes its way through the North East - cheered on by tens of

thousands of people along the route - we'll be asking what the London

Olympics means to us here in the North. With me to discuss that are

the Labour MP for Wansbeck Ian Lavery and Yorkshire Euro-MP

Timothy Kirkhope. Also coming up: Will government plans to let big

stores open for longer on Sundays during the Olympics damage our

smaller corner shops? First: it's travelled from Berwick in

Northumberland through Bamburgh, Ashington and Morpeth. It crossed

the River Tyne in spectacular fashion via zip wire on Friday

night in Newcastle - wowing the crowds watching down on the

Quayside. And this morning it left the historic centre of Durham where

cricketer Paul Collingwood - flanked by a guard of honour -

carried the torch on the next leg of its journey through the county.

The Olympic torch is the most visible sign of the London games

which are due to begin in exactly 40 days' time. It's now on its way

to Teesside and our reporter Luke Walton joins us from its latest

I am in Hartlepool where the Olympic torch has arrived. There is

lots of cheering. The torch is around the corner on the Historic

Quay and the entourage around it is taking a lunch break. We have had

lots of music and an appearance by a highly Paul's own Olympic hopeful,

the female boxer. Someone not in line for a medal but joins me is

the town's elected mayor. What does today mean in terms of extra

business for shops and the economy? Fantastic. Thousands of people are

lining the route. Everybody is out. I am sure people will go out and do

some shopping and a boost for the economy. And good for the image.

Absolutely. The pictures are going out around the world. It is our

moment in the sun. There has been a complaint to much of the investment

has gone up to the south-east, what are the wider economic benefits to

this area? We are quite a distance from London. The ripple effect is

taking effect. We have one company which won a contracts worth half

million pounds to do some work on the stadium. The major benefit is

two members in Team GB. A real gold medal chance. There is this wider

question of sporting participation. Will the Olympics encourage people

to take up sport? I hope so. Our hopefuls are on this page today. It

will inspire people to take part in activities and I hope after the

Olympics the government will seriously think about the legacy

and make money available for grassroots facilities because we

need him. Has that happened or do you hope it will happen in the

future? Four years ago, the lottery money was made unavailable, but was

only put into the Olympics. Hopefully there will be money

available for local authorities, we need better sporting facilities.

The Olympics will help the government to think of the strategy.

Thank you. As you heard, in terms of the permanent legacy of the

Olympics, there are many questions but the short-term benefits and a

procession, lots of enthusiasm and excitement. The torch will set off

south to Billingham and beyond. Thanks Luke. And the torch relay

this afternoon travels through Bishop Auckland, Darlington and

onto Middlesbrough for the lighting of the cauldron. Look North will be

live from Centre Square just before 6:20pm here on BBC1.

Many of the towns and villages the torch passes through have had their

slice of Olympic excitement. But what about the more tangible

economic benefits of the London games? Well, the biggest winners

have been companies in the South of England who took around 2 billion

pounds-worth of Olympic contracts. But 112 firms in the North East

also benefited, winning 123 million pounds of new business. They

include this one - Sotech in Peterlee - which made specialist

roofing and cladding materials for the aquatics centre and athletes

village. We expanded the business, and within the first year the

recession started. So, we made 11 people redundant and within the

following year the Olympics work came in. On the Aquatics Centre a

complicated work is the face in. We were asked to do the work because

of the technical abilities and 3D manufacturing. Later in the scheme

of things, we did some stainless steel cladding on one of the

athletes blocks. We knew the workers coming which gives you

confidence to keep going. It did help tremendously.

Let's talk about the wider legacy. I know you support the Olympics in

general and of seeing the impact of the torch but you are not short the

north-east is getting a fair slice from the Games. It is fair comment.

The London Games, it is a London Olympic and Paralympic Games. I

hope it is a tremendous excess and it will be of great benefit to the

economy as a whole but when you look at how it will benefit the

regional economy, I am not sure how it will. Despite what you had said

on the report earlier, looking at the statistics, 0.17 % of the

contracts have been awarded to people in the North East region.

That is hardly a trigger to boost the local economy in jobs and

growth. This was supposed big gains that would benefit the whole of the

UK but it will be the South rather than the north of the reaps the

rewards. This is awarded to a city, the gains and the City is London

and inevitably geographically it would have an emphasis on the

economy of that part of the UK. As far as I am aware, they did look at

the contracts carefully and many have been placed in the north. And

also on top of that considerable numbers of people engaged in

construction and other skills have gone and worked on the Olympic site.

Admittedly they have had to go and do it but it brings the money back

into the region. Also, we have benefited from the involvement of

the region in providing facilities for training and various other

things. There is a knock-on effect. Not as great as we would like but

there has been won. There are football games at St James's Park

and training facilities here. There is a limit as to what can be done.

Well, seven and �9 billion for the Olympic Games is fine but as a

region we have to analyse how we have benefited or not benefited. If

there are night football games at St James's Park, will it really

benefit the economy and the people in the north-east? That is all we

have got, that is all we have in the region. We need jobs and growth.

We should have more opportunity to participate, the construction of

the Olympic village. Many of that decisions have been taken. Can

something be taken now to correct the imbalance? There is an

underspend of �400 million. There was a danger the Minister for Sport

said the money would go back to the cherish -- Treasury. The money has

been drained from charities, community groups in regions like

the north-east who needed finance for grassroots projects. I am

appealing and continue to appeal for the money to be put back into

the lottery so local authorities and charity groups and other

organisations can access the money and develop the grassroots projects

which are currently under stocked. People think damage has been done

by diverting the money. The money has not been diverted. It has taken

away from the big lottery fund. it was a legitimate use of the

money. Hosting the Olympics is a good thing for the country and

London. You cannot be clearer about what the tangible effects are for

the region. The key question is should the money underspent go back

rather than to the Treasury? I do not know where the money will go.

There is an argument for it going back into the Lottery Fund and also

be distributed around the country. The minister said the underspend

would go back to the Treasury. It is tantamount to money laundering.

A lot of people might agree but is in the big benefit the inspiration

to young people whether in or Wansbeck or Axminster? It has been

fantastic seeing community champions and celebrities, it's

been brilliant and it has brought tears to my eyes. However, we have

40 days until the Olympics, this is our part of the Olympics. When the

Olympics starts we are so far away, it's unimaginable. The one sadness

is the North of England, the north- east and Yorkshire, there is a

percentage of young people who will be encouraged to be involved in

sport. We have to look generally at increasing interest in sport and

sporting activity in the North of England. We must leave it there.

Thank you. Now the Olympics may boost the economy in other ways too.

For eight weekends starting in July, the Government has suspended the

existing Sunday trading laws. That means for the first time big

supermarkets will be able to open all day. Good news if you want to

grab a few beers while watching the athletics or get the burgers in for

your Olympic-themed barbecue. Not so good perhaps if you work on the

supermarket checkout. Fergus Hewison reports.

It is morning at this garden centre. The staff are as busy as bees.

Sunday is a big day for a place like this but this tour can only

open for six hours. Our current trading hours are 10:30am to 6:30pm.

We shut at 4:30pm. People can shop until 5pm. Martin believes greater

flexibility would bring rewards for all. It will give staff an

opportunity to earn more money and they will come in when they want.

It will reduce retell congestion. There are many benefits for

unrestricted hours on a Sunday. the moment, stores can only open on

Sunday the six hours. The six hours must be some time between 10am and

6pm. Shopworkers have the right to opt out of working on Sundays but

during the Olympics the Sunday trading laws are being suspended

eight weekends. Workers legal protections remain in place. Keirin

can open his newsagent for as many hours as he wants. This gives him

an advantage over supermarkets, especially on a Sunday when the

opening hours are limited. What happens after the Olympics?

worry is the supermarkets will see how much extra money they can make

and put more pressure on government to make it permanent. We saw in

Scotland when they open all day on Sundays which they do now, they had

a bigger market share. Any move to relax Sunday trading laws would be

a disaster. I would see a massive drop in turnover. Milk, bread and

confectionery, if people are not coming for the newspapers I will

not see them. Unions have concerns about any relaxation could mean for

workers. Longer working hours and trading hours mean our members work

early Sunday morning and late Sunday night. Whilst our members to

work unsociable hours, they do not want to work any more. Sundays to

Christians and others is special and there is anxiety more shopping

were hit family life. I am dealing with people that are suicidal

because of debt or in depression, we are placing financial issues of

pressure on married couples and families and says what we're saying

is let's open it up so people can spend more but there is a

spiralling downwards of family life because of that. Some estimates say

relaxing the laws during the Olympics could bring tens of

millions into the economy. Smaller traders say they will lose out to

the tune of tens of millions of pounds. If the experiment is

successful, they may be calls for relaxation of the current rules to

revive the sluggish economy and a fresh battle over whether Sunday

special. How much do you share the concerns of the unions about the

concerns on workers? I was part of the House of Commons in 1994 than

the legislation -- went it was introduced. Certainly we had

support from the union with the reassurances that people would be

protected if they did not want to work. I see my colleagues voting

again on a new Bill which is a limited bill of eight weeks to

allow an extension of trading on Sundays in big stores during the

period. There is no way this should be permanent. You are happy for a

temporary introduction? Yes, and I am happy with the overall position

that we currently have but anything further, it would be controversial

and I am sure the House of Commons will be concerned. The unions have

concerns but there would be many people desperate for more hours or

delighted? It's a shame the argument has been put forward, we

have 55.5 people seeking each JobCentre vacancy, I am not

suggesting they should be delighted to work all the way through the

Olympics on Sunday. Isn't any work better than men? People might say

that but if you are in a desperate position and can only get

employment on a Sunday, in Alice allocated by the big stores... The

little retailers will suffer greatly, that is not what we are

after. We want sustainable jobs and decent working terms and conditions,

not just on Sundays. Why aren't you satisfied with a temporary measure,

a way of making sure the shops near the Olympic Park are open. It is a

temporary measure, it is a Trojan horse to extend the temporary de

regulation into permit the regulation. That is the ultimate

objective, it is ideology from the coalition. If it is to try and

assist people in the Olympic village and in London to allow them

to access shops are more readily and easily at different times,

there might be an argument for that but it is not an argument for the

massive stores to be open. temptation is to change the law.

was a comparatively controversial area in 1994 and is still is. I do

not see is becoming a permit issued. If it delivers economic growth for

example in this period, the temptation for the government to

carry on... In Scotland they can open any hours a like. Other

European countries have different approaches. Our approach, which win

again seated in the 90s with the unions, is the right balance to

approach allowing a flexible approach and allows people to

worship and have a special time on Sunday. Thank you. You can comments

on my blog. Now: to keep in the spirit of the Olympics, our

reporter Fergus Hewison ran the length of Cumbria and the North

East this week holding aloft a torch. He didn't attract any crowds

but he did gather some juicy bits of political news. So here he is -

a little out of breath with the The defence minister has blamed BAE

Systems for failing to win orders which would have kept the Newcastle

factory open. The local MP said the government should take

responsibility for the loss of their jobs. He says there's no

economic argument for introducing the changes. I do it except paying

public sector workers less will boost private sector work.

Conservatives have chosen a former detective as the candidate for the

election in November. Labour will announce its candidate tomorrow.

the bill comes to the house without amendments somebody might be

tempted... Rehearsals are under way for a play based on former

Sunderland MP's diaries. It transfers to London tomorrow.

And one other bit of news this weekend concerns Workington MP Tony

Cunningham who has received a knighthood in the Queen's birthday

honours. Our congratulations to him. And that's about all from us on our

special Olympic show. And in case you think our MPs just talk about

sport and don't do it, take a look at this. Here's Hexham's Guy

Opperman at Westminster enjoying a game of cage cricket. He was

joining a campaign to promote the sport - a sort of street version of

our national game. And as it's summer it was of course in the rain.