Browse content similar to 01/07/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the North East and Cumbria. Is the Government planning to pay | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
lower levels of benefits to people living in this region? A Lib Dem | :01:36. | :01:46. | |
:01:46. | :01:46. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1684 seconds | :01:46. | :29:50. | |
Minister tells us he won't support Hello, and the warmest of welcomes. | :29:50. | :29:57. | |
My guests, Roberta Blackman-Woods and James Wharton. I suspect they | :29:57. | :30:01. | |
will not see eye-to-eye on our big talking point, the Government plans | :30:01. | :30:07. | |
to cut �10 billion from the welfare bill. Also, the onward march of the | :30:07. | :30:11. | |
wind turbines, have councils in our emir are learned lessons from | :30:11. | :30:15. | |
Scotland and ligature in their efforts to stop developments like | :30:15. | :30:19. | |
this. First, the government has revealed radical thinking about | :30:19. | :30:24. | |
benefits and who should receive them. Scrapping housing benefit for | :30:24. | :30:29. | |
under 20 fives is one idea, but are ministers are also considering | :30:29. | :30:35. | |
paying lower benefits to people in parts of the North? The idea was | :30:35. | :30:40. | |
floated at, but during a visit to Teesside, one Cabinet minister told | :30:40. | :30:48. | |
us he was not prepared to support Dis week, Danny Alexander has been | :30:48. | :30:53. | |
taking the long view. From 250 feet up at the top of this chemical | :30:53. | :30:58. | |
plant. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury was here to discuss plans | :30:58. | :31:02. | |
for dozens of new jobs. He is not the only one who has been gazing | :31:02. | :31:07. | |
into the distance. David Cameron has also been looking ahead at what | :31:07. | :31:12. | |
he sees as the next big challenge. How to generate not just work but | :31:12. | :31:16. | |
also the work ethic by cracking down on the benefits culture. Among | :31:17. | :31:22. | |
the ideas he has floated, the axing of housing benefit for under 25 and | :31:22. | :31:26. | |
a cap on benefits to families with three or more children. They are | :31:26. | :31:30. | |
also looking at possible local rates of benefit that could mean | :31:30. | :31:35. | |
lower payments in the north and in the south. To the Liberal Democrats | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
decree in the need to get tougher? They might be other changes that | :31:38. | :31:44. | |
are need -- that are needed, but we will have to debate it in the | :31:44. | :31:47. | |
normal way, and if we think changes are needed, we will bring them | :31:47. | :31:53. | |
forward. What about local rates of benefit? There is no prospect of | :31:53. | :31:56. | |
the Government introducing regional benefits. We have looked at local | :31:56. | :32:01. | |
market facing pay in the public sector, an issue which we have | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
asked the independent bodies to consider, but they need to come | :32:04. | :32:07. | |
forward with overwhelming evidence to make us move in that direction. | :32:07. | :32:13. | |
In terms of Richard Rowe lies in benefits, there is a non-starter. | :32:13. | :32:18. | |
In this part of Middlesbrough, 40% are on benefit. Less than half are | :32:18. | :32:22. | |
in work. You might expect people living here to be against the idea | :32:22. | :32:29. | |
of cuts to welfare. But opinion it is divided. The people who are | :32:29. | :32:34. | |
straight, they do not get treated right. It is the people who play | :32:34. | :32:38. | |
the system that get the cream. if he was on the door, how would he | :32:38. | :32:43. | |
like it? It is not on. Some people do not want to work. Definitely, | :32:43. | :32:49. | |
they are scared of work. They are frightened of craft. They do not | :32:49. | :32:53. | |
know what work is. They do not appreciate money, they have never | :32:53. | :32:59. | |
bandit. Differences in the government mean they have to tread | :32:59. | :33:02. | |
carefully on welfare reform. But evidence of public frustration in | :33:02. | :33:06. | |
areas like this suggests a more radical approach could win votes as | :33:06. | :33:13. | |
well a save money. With me now, Robert McDonald, an | :33:13. | :33:18. | |
expert in poverty and the benefits system. What is the Government | :33:18. | :33:23. | |
trying to achieve with these ideas? Is it about cutting spending or a | :33:23. | :33:29. | |
radical reform to get people back to work? One of the things I would | :33:29. | :33:34. | |
say, for me, too many of these ideas about reform, whether from | :33:34. | :33:38. | |
politicians or the sort that you hear in the tabloid press, they are | :33:38. | :33:45. | |
too often based on anecdote and myth and exceptional stories. Danny | :33:45. | :33:49. | |
Alexander used the word evidence. What I would stress, any talk about | :33:49. | :33:54. | |
welfare reform needs to be based on the evidence that we need it. In | :33:54. | :33:59. | |
this case, in terms of discussions about regionalisation and | :33:59. | :34:04. | |
incentivise Asian of benefit, we need to look at the evidence -- | :34:04. | :34:08. | |
incentivising benefit. Our evidence is that people are desperate for | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
work, rather than lead in pushing or having their benefits cut | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
further in order to look for work. What about the idea of regional | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
benefits? Could that work? The government will look for ways to | :34:20. | :34:25. | |
cut the bill, which is massive. There are various things that we | :34:25. | :34:32. | |
can do. It seems that this is governed against the thrust of what | :34:32. | :34:37. | |
I understood what one of the key planks of the welfare reform, which | :34:37. | :34:42. | |
was to simplify benefits and the system. This would be introducing a | :34:42. | :34:45. | |
complex set of new rules about where we might draw the line | :34:45. | :34:50. | |
geographically between one neighbourhood and another one. I am | :34:50. | :34:57. | |
not sure that it is really a serious suggestion, given the | :34:57. | :35:03. | |
complexity of the latter. -- the matter. Any government will talk | :35:03. | :35:08. | |
about reducing the Bill, that is quite right, but the key way to do | :35:08. | :35:15. | |
it is to help people move away from benefits. The point that I would | :35:15. | :35:22. | |
differ on, we do that by cutting benefits, but we need to create | :35:22. | :35:28. | |
more jobs opportunities. There is a high rate of unemployment here. | :35:28. | :35:33. | |
Over 20 jobseeker's for every job. We need to create opportunities for | :35:33. | :35:43. | |
:35:43. | :35:45. | ||
the people who want and need them. There was a bit of anger from a | :35:45. | :35:51. | |
working-class community, Middlesbrough. People think enough | :35:51. | :35:56. | |
is enough. We do need to look at the system and in particular we | :35:56. | :36:00. | |
want to get a contributory principle back into the system, so | :36:00. | :36:07. | |
you pay in and get money out. All political parties have to think of | :36:07. | :36:13. | |
this. But what the professor said, this is unworkable, but it is also | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
undesirable, because it will further exacerbate the divide | :36:17. | :36:21. | |
between north and south, it will take money out of a local economy, | :36:21. | :36:25. | |
and that is not a policy we want the government to pursue. They need | :36:25. | :36:30. | |
to concentrate on getting more jobs into this region and others. | :36:30. | :36:35. | |
Everybody agrees, but actually, is there a disincentive for people to | :36:35. | :36:41. | |
work? When there is a system where the pay is lower here than ours | :36:41. | :36:49. | |
where cover it is marginally beneficial for you to leave the | :36:49. | :36:53. | |
benefits and... We need more confidence back into the economy, | :36:53. | :36:58. | |
so jobs are being created, and then you can look to give people the | :36:58. | :37:01. | |
skills and support them into employment. That is the way we | :37:01. | :37:09. | |
should go forward. We know that that worked until 2008, so we don't | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
-- so we want the Government to concentrate on getting people into | :37:12. | :37:21. | |
work. That is the criticism, these are mad schemes, but not a serious | :37:21. | :37:28. | |
platform policy. We have heard from Danny Alexander, there is little | :37:28. | :37:36. | |
prospect of this going ahead. But benefits are already partially | :37:36. | :37:39. | |
regionalised, through housing benefit, but that is a non starter. | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
Do you think it should have been a non-stop to? Chris Grayling said it | :37:44. | :37:48. | |
was right to have a debate. It is right to have a debate about all of | :37:48. | :37:54. | |
the options, but the problems about which you draw the boundaries, how | :37:54. | :37:57. | |
you identify areas in which the cost of living is higher or lower, | :37:57. | :38:04. | |
the potential knock-on impact to a regional economy, there are so many | :38:04. | :38:08. | |
problems and complexities, I would be very surprised if the end result | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
of any review all debate was an agreement that this was a good way | :38:11. | :38:15. | |
to go forward. We should look at everything, of course, we should | :38:15. | :38:21. | |
keep options open. But your advice would be to leave it alone? We have | :38:21. | :38:24. | |
heard from Danny Alexander, the government is unlikely to go down | :38:24. | :38:28. | |
this route. There are so many things we need to sort out, changes | :38:28. | :38:37. | |
to reform the system, but this is not one. The problem is, the Labour | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
Party are perceived as being on the side of people receiving benefits, | :38:40. | :38:46. | |
and there is anger that people exploit the system. When we were in | :38:46. | :38:51. | |
government, we did a lot to get people off benefits and into work. | :38:51. | :38:59. | |
Made up of people on incapacity benefit. For those who are able, we | :38:59. | :39:02. | |
want a supportive system that is compassionate. We do not hear about | :39:02. | :39:08. | |
compassion from the Conservatives. We need a system that encourages | :39:08. | :39:14. | |
people into work. What about housing benefit for the under 25? | :39:14. | :39:19. | |
would give an example, if you have got two young people with two | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
children, are they supposed to be back into the parental home? It is | :39:23. | :39:28. | |
an in-work benefit as well, it is paid to people on low incomes, | :39:28. | :39:32. | |
including people who work. It is an unworkable suggestion. You are | :39:32. | :39:36. | |
attacking benefits for younger people and leaving the benefits for | :39:36. | :39:41. | |
older people. This is one of the problems, people simplify and | :39:41. | :39:45. | |
exaggerate. If we are going to the cut housing benefit for people | :39:45. | :39:49. | |
under 25, there is a reasonable reason for looking at that. It has | :39:49. | :39:53. | |
not been we would say to every bond, you cannot have housing benefit -- | :39:53. | :40:00. | |
it does not mean. There would have to be a system in place. You are | :40:00. | :40:04. | |
supposed to be simplified the system. You could not take housing | :40:04. | :40:10. | |
benefit away from people coming out of care. Should you look at | :40:10. | :40:16. | |
licences for pensioners, cold weather payments, but go to | :40:16. | :40:24. | |
millionaires? The issue of the means testing of benefits, the | :40:24. | :40:27. | |
problem is means testing that would cost nearly as much as it would | :40:27. | :40:30. | |
save, and the government is committed to retaining those | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
benefits, because that was a pledge it made. | :40:34. | :40:37. | |
It was rain that made the headlines this week, but that does not always | :40:37. | :40:44. | |
the case. The number of wind turbines built recently have lodged | :40:44. | :40:51. | |
-- changed last parts of the area. But authorities are telling | :40:51. | :40:58. | |
developers enough is enough. Phil Wilson taking the chance to | :40:58. | :41:03. | |
get around his bit of County Durham. It is a pleasant environment, I | :41:03. | :41:09. | |
grew up here. I know the area, I am proud of it. He is worried about | :41:09. | :41:13. | |
the landscape. What we have got behind us, 17 wind turbines, two | :41:13. | :41:20. | |
wind farms together. If it was just the 17 turbines in the area, it | :41:20. | :41:25. | |
would not be a problem, because I am not against them totally, but we | :41:25. | :41:29. | |
get several applications, and the impact on the landscape is getting | :41:29. | :41:34. | |
desperate. The some of his constituents feel desperate as well. | :41:34. | :41:41. | |
The Duke is lovely, and it will be ruined. -- view. An energy company | :41:41. | :41:47. | |
wants but 24 wind turbines here. -- wants to put 24 wind turbines here. | :41:47. | :41:52. | |
The decision will be made by the Secretary of State, sitting in | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
Westminster, with no idea about this area. The people who make the | :41:56. | :42:01. | |
decision should be elected by the people affected by it. We are | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
losing our democratic right to control what happens in our county. | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
But the industry says if local councils have power to decide the | :42:09. | :42:13. | |
fate of every wind farm, the result will be chaos. Why should they be | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
treated any differently from any other development? The system that | :42:17. | :42:24. | |
we have applies across all types of development, energy, roads, housing, | :42:24. | :42:30. | |
etc. You are looking for a decision based on policy, not on single | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
issues, 50 vocal opponents campaigning to their local | :42:34. | :42:39. | |
councillor. That is not democracy, that is too ready. Despite what the | :42:39. | :42:43. | |
industry says, councils are putting their foot down about these things. | :42:43. | :42:46. | |
Policies are being drawn up all over the place to try to curtail | :42:47. | :42:52. | |
them. In Northern Ireland, a wind farm cannot be within 500 metres of | :42:52. | :42:56. | |
a house. The Scottish Borders Council has introduced bevvies of | :42:56. | :43:00. | |
constraint, banning them near some historic buildings. Lincolnshire | :43:00. | :43:05. | |
Council says no wind farm should be within two kilometres of a house. | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
The council has been busy publicising that policy, including | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
through this lorry, but the juggernaut is heading this way. | :43:12. | :43:16. | |
Next week, the leader of Lincolnshire Council this | :43:16. | :43:20. | |
travelling to Northumberland for a summit with the opposition | :43:20. | :43:25. | |
Conservative group. Northumberland already has three large wind farms, | :43:25. | :43:27. | |
another 13 are either at the planning stage or under | :43:27. | :43:33. | |
construction. Some local politicians say it is time for wind | :43:33. | :43:39. | |
farms exclusion zones. A national park must be one, and potentially, | :43:39. | :43:43. | |
a but least parts of green belt land. It is time for us to look out | :43:43. | :43:47. | |
of the box more and not plonk a wind farm in the middle of a | :43:47. | :43:51. | |
beautiful piece of countryside, just the same as we would not plonk | :43:51. | :43:55. | |
a bungalow in the middle of a field over there, we could not do that. | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
We must have the same John Pollard see that prevents that. | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
Government says we need a mix of energy to keep an eye lights on. | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
Take are increasingly part of it. Changing local landscapes, the | :44:09. | :44:17. | |
council has the final say. The problem is, your government was | :44:17. | :44:21. | |
a big player about handing power to the local people, but it is a con | :44:21. | :44:26. | |
job, and that is why people are getting frustrated. It is a very | :44:26. | :44:29. | |
complex of Gibbard, and it is right to say that you cannot have | :44:29. | :44:34. | |
complete local control over every type of government, but the big | :44:34. | :44:38. | |
issue up with wind farms, we should not build them anyway, because they | :44:38. | :44:43. | |
are inefficient, they drive up the cost of an atrocity, this bold | :44:43. | :44:48. | |
landscapes, they do not save huge amounts of carbon. -- they spoilt | :44:48. | :44:53. | |
landscapes. You were one of the MPs that complained it was impossible | :44:53. | :44:57. | |
to defeat applications to the planning system. That has been the | :44:57. | :45:04. | |
case for far too long. Your government is overseeing the system. | :45:05. | :45:09. | |
You have to have a system that can allow developments to go ahead that | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
the local community do not support, otherwise you would never build a | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
power station. Should it be changed? It needs to be adapted to | :45:18. | :45:22. | |
take account of local need and factors, and that is happening, | :45:22. | :45:29. | |
because communities can put up local plans. But the big issue with | :45:29. | :45:34. | |
wind farms is that the subsidy that the government is providing is | :45:34. | :45:43. | |
causing them to happen. Every us have had enough of wind turbines? | :45:43. | :45:45. | |
Durham county council have said they think there are probably | :45:46. | :45:50. | |
enough wind farms in County Durham. I agree with them, but I do think | :45:51. | :45:57. | |
it needs to remain part of our energy mix. People always say, we | :45:57. | :46:03. | |
can have offshore points. I would include onshore, but local | :46:03. | :46:08. | |
communities can have -- should have a greater say, and the policy | :46:08. | :46:11. | |
framework does not make it easier for local communities to have a say. | :46:12. | :46:17. | |
The threshold for referring it to the national policy decision-making | :46:17. | :46:22. | |
was set in 1989, and that does need to be reviewed. We did not think of | :46:22. | :46:28. | |
wind farms in that context, and we need to. Local committees should | :46:28. | :46:36. | |
have more say, but this is too important, one committee should not | :46:36. | :46:41. | |
decide. Communities need to consider alternatives. The | :46:41. | :46:50. | |
government have cut subsidy to solar energy. We should be | :46:50. | :46:53. | |
investing in this. This region is brilliant for that, but the | :46:53. | :46:58. | |
government has not invested. We could invest in wave energy. We | :46:58. | :47:05. | |
need to have a spectrum of renewables. Is this massively over | :47:05. | :47:10. | |
exaggerated? There are huge spaces of countryside, is it really | :47:10. | :47:15. | |
overwhelmed with wind turbines? come to my part of Teesside, | :47:15. | :47:19. | |
travelling into County Durham, you can see them all over the place. It | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
is the number of applications that is forcing this issue. Is it | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
because of the spectre of subsidies being cut that might be fighting it | :47:27. | :47:32. | |
-- forcing them to get in before it happens? These have been going in | :47:32. | :47:37. | |
for a long time, they have to run tests, go through in a longer | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
process. A lot of them have been around for a long time. It is | :47:41. | :47:46. | |
subsidy that we all pay to allow electric bills. The drive towards | :47:46. | :47:50. | |
subsidising wind power has pushed people into fuel poverty and pushed | :47:50. | :47:57. | |
our builds up. At this point last week, we made a | :47:57. | :48:03. | |
joke about how England might miss a penalty in the game last week. It | :48:03. | :48:10. | |
came true, but it was not my fault! Marker's only just recovered, with | :48:10. | :48:20. | |
:48:20. | :48:24. | ||
no comments about our prospects at A geologist says this plane could | :48:24. | :48:26. | |
be amongst the most suitable places for an underground nuclear waste | :48:26. | :48:33. | |
store. The emirs meet international guidelines. A campaign to allow big | :48:33. | :48:37. | |
Great North air ambulance to recover the VAT it pays on fuel is | :48:37. | :48:42. | |
to be taken to the Commons. There will be a debate next week to get | :48:42. | :48:45. | |
the charity exempted. There have been 65 expressions of interest | :48:46. | :48:51. | |
from companies bidding to take over the remainder of these factories. | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
The MP said the Government had handled the consultation badly. | :48:54. | :49:01. | |
has been a shambles, chaos and confusion from day one. Forget the | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
woes of the English national team, Tim Farron has his eyes set on the | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
lovely, he has tabled a motion calling for three teams to be | :49:09. | :49:12. | |
promoted and three relegated each season between the Football League | :49:12. | :49:17. | |
and the lower divisions, giving up the non-League teams a greater | :49:17. | :49:22. | |
chance of breaking into the big- time. | :49:22. | :49:27. |