Browse content similar to 30/09/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the North East and Cumbria: We talk to Labour leader Ed Miliband. | :01:31. | :01:34. | |
Plus, the rural schools that could lose out on tens of thousands of | :01:34. | :01:44. | |
:01:44. | :01:44. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2115 seconds | :01:44. | :36:59. | |
pounds because of a new Government Hello, and a very warm welcome to | :36:59. | :37:05. | |
your local part of the show just for the North East and Cumbria. | :37:05. | :37:09. | |
Coming up: Why some schools in Cumbria fear they could lose up to | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
a THIRD of their budget if a new Government funding formula is | :37:12. | :37:15. | |
introduced. My guests this week are two Teesside MPs - Hartlepool's | :37:15. | :37:19. | |
Iain Wright and Stockton South MP James Wharton. Well, Stockton is | :37:19. | :37:22. | |
just one of the many places where residents have been flooded out of | :37:22. | :37:25. | |
their homes this week - it's been the same awful story, of course, | :37:25. | :37:28. | |
for people living in Morpeth and many parts of County Durham, | :37:28. | :37:38. | |
:37:38. | :37:41. | ||
Teesside and North Yorkshire. It is painful for people, isn't it? | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
A local beck cricket banks and people had to sleep overnight in | :37:44. | :37:52. | |
the local swimming baths. -- broke its banks. It has a huge impact on | :37:52. | :37:58. | |
individuals. Before we get into the meat of this, have all politicians | :37:58. | :38:01. | |
been a bit guilty with failing to grapple with the enormity of this | :38:01. | :38:07. | |
problem? What you will see, with volatility and climate change, is | :38:07. | :38:13. | |
more and more of these extreme weather conditions. It might not be | :38:13. | :38:17. | |
considered particularly glamourous but getting to grips with | :38:17. | :38:19. | |
infrastructure when it comes to flooding is something all | :38:19. | :38:23. | |
politicians of all parties need to tackle. Well, in Morpeth, of course, | :38:23. | :38:27. | |
it's a repeat of the flooding of 2008. But four years on, the flood | :38:27. | :38:29. | |
defences that would have saved people's homes haven't yet been | :38:29. | :38:32. | |
built. Our correspondent Mark Denten asked the local MP Ian | :38:32. | :38:39. | |
Lavery what he could do about it. It is essential that we investigate | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
every means possible to try and bring forward a new system before | :38:43. | :38:47. | |
2014. The last thing in the world we want is this to happen again | :38:47. | :38:50. | |
before we even start the construction of the new flood | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
defence system. But the system was in place, the finances were in | :38:55. | :39:01. | |
place, but the coalition government decided to cut the budget for the | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
third defence systems in 2010, which meant we had to find the | :39:04. | :39:08. | |
finance. The local authority came to the rescue so the financial | :39:08. | :39:13. | |
package is there and the planning is there. Everything is there now | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
to start this system, which is a Rolls-Royce system. My view is that | :39:17. | :39:22. | |
we should be seeking to ensure that this is brought forward. It never | :39:22. | :39:29. | |
mind waiting until 2014. We should start at A S A P two ensure the | :39:29. | :39:34. | |
best interests of the people here in Morpeth. You pulled the plug on | :39:34. | :39:38. | |
this funding as part of your cuts. The people who paid the price are | :39:38. | :39:43. | |
the people who have had their homes flooded again. It is just not the | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
case that one government is failing to invest in flood defences. The | :39:48. | :39:54. | |
government will be spending over the next four years... There was | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
uncertainty over government funding. The flooding that caused the | :39:58. | :40:01. | |
investigation of the scheme was in 2008 and it does take time to bring | :40:01. | :40:05. | |
these things in. A minister was in Morpeth the other day and made it | :40:05. | :40:10. | |
very clear that scheme will go ahead. We have seen a huge increase | :40:10. | :40:12. | |
in the amount the government is going to be spending on flood | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
defence schemes in the north-east. It is not a moment too soon because | :40:16. | :40:19. | |
we can see that, increasingly, we are having communities that suffer | :40:19. | :40:26. | |
from these problems with the erratic weather and heavy rainfall. | :40:26. | :40:29. | |
As the government allowed to too many homes to be built on flood | :40:29. | :40:34. | |
plains? I think it is important that homes and buildings are built | :40:34. | :40:39. | |
in appropriate areas. I have to take issue with what James said. We | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
have seen a 27% cut in flood defences. It has been incredibly | :40:43. | :40:49. | |
short-sighted. Ian Lavery was spot- on when he said they had cut and as | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
a result, people's homes had been flooded. A we are not going to get | :40:54. | :40:58. | |
agreement on the figures. This general principle is that if you | :40:58. | :41:03. | |
had not built as many homes in vulnerable areas, they would not be | :41:03. | :41:09. | |
flooded. What you need to do - and I looked at this closely as a | :41:09. | :41:11. | |
former housing minister - is to make sure there are appropriate | :41:11. | :41:15. | |
schemes in place. We need more homes for the population of our | :41:15. | :41:21. | |
country. You need to mitigate the risk with appropriate defences and | :41:21. | :41:27. | |
infrastructure. It costs a fortune. So, what do we do? Have to we | :41:27. | :41:37. | |
:41:37. | :41:39. | ||
abandon York because it is going to be flooded every year? unsure | :41:39. | :41:44. | |
government's planning policies going to make this was? -- on to | :41:44. | :41:51. | |
York. A lot of the places where we are seeing problems, those houses | :41:51. | :41:55. | |
have been there for a long time. This is a changing weather pattern. | :41:55. | :41:59. | |
We can avoid making it worse. have to invest in it and that is | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
what this government is to ring. It is going to spend more every year, | :42:03. | :42:10. | |
in this tough environment, than Labour spent in 13 years. We have | :42:10. | :42:14. | |
got change in weather and we have to get value for money when | :42:14. | :42:17. | |
investing in this sort of project. Clearly there is a real need for | :42:17. | :42:23. | |
that investment. We will see it in Morpeth, with those defences start | :42:23. | :42:29. | |
very soon. You can always do more and we have to continue to campaign, | :42:29. | :42:38. | |
to be sure they get the priority they need. We cannot abandon York | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
but then maybe some smaller communities where it has to be | :42:41. | :42:45. | |
ensured that because of the defences is not going to be worth | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
more than the value of their homes. A one of the things the last Labour | :42:49. | :42:52. | |
government did was to come to an agreement with insurance companies, | :42:53. | :42:57. | |
whereby people at risk of flooding had appropriate, in -- affordable | :42:57. | :43:03. | |
insurance premiums. The government is very late in coming to the | :43:03. | :43:08. | |
negotiating table. Thanks very much. Now, the Labour conference gets | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
under way this afternoon. And the party goes into it with a decent | :43:12. | :43:16. | |
lead in the opinion polls. But Labour is facing scrutiny of their | :43:16. | :43:19. | |
economic policies. The government accuses Ed Miliband of attacking | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
the austerity programme without explaining where Labour's cuts | :43:23. | :43:28. | |
would fall. Ed Miliband made friends at this year's minors' | :43:28. | :43:38. | |
:43:38. | :43:40. | ||
Taylor in Durham but he has to answer whether supporting... | :43:40. | :43:50. | |
:43:50. | :43:53. | ||
Billions of pounds... When I met Mr Miliband this week, we started by | :43:53. | :44:03. | |
:44:03. | :44:03. | ||
talking about the economy. If Labour won the next election would | :44:04. | :44:06. | |
he consider setting up a new version of the development agency | :44:06. | :44:11. | |
One North East? We are going to set up a youth jobs task force because | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
the biggest priority I have is to get the ball back to work. That is | :44:15. | :44:19. | |
what day one for me as Prime Minister will be about. We are | :44:19. | :44:22. | |
going to wear with councils to ask how we can do it even before we get | :44:22. | :44:27. | |
to government. I understand that and that helps the country. But our | :44:27. | :44:30. | |
region has the worst employment rate in the country. If you will | :44:30. | :44:33. | |
not commit to a regional development agency, what specialist | :44:33. | :44:38. | |
help can you offer? Youth jobs - I think that is the big priority. | :44:39. | :44:42. | |
When you go round and talk to people and see what has happened to | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
long-term youth employment in the north-east, that needs to happen. | :44:46. | :44:49. | |
don't understand what you are going to do specifically for the north- | :44:50. | :44:54. | |
east. We are going to levy a banker's' bonus tax and use the | :44:54. | :44:59. | |
money to put young be back to work. We are going to say to employers | :44:59. | :45:02. | |
that we will give the money for wages but they have to provide | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
training. When you see the astronomical increase in youth | :45:06. | :45:10. | |
unemployment brighter across the north-east, it is such a priority | :45:10. | :45:14. | |
for people. It is the right thing to do and people will ask why we | :45:14. | :45:18. | |
are leaving young people languishing on the dole. You will | :45:18. | :45:23. | |
have met quite a few public sector workers recently. They have had to | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
endure a pay freeze, which you supported for the last couple of | :45:26. | :45:31. | |
years. Will we see more pay freezes if you are in office? We will make | :45:31. | :45:38. | |
that judgment at a time of the election. Let me explain. We will | :45:38. | :45:42. | |
make the judgments about what we can afford, including pay | :45:42. | :45:47. | |
settlements in the public sector, at the time of the election. When | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
we know what the public finances are like, at the time of the | :45:50. | :45:54. | |
election, we will set out our place. We have announced nothing about | :45:54. | :45:58. | |
what we will do in government at about pay and you would at expect | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
us to do at this stage. It is the top position to say, let's put jobs | :46:03. | :46:08. | |
ahead of pay now in this Parliament. I understand why people are upset | :46:08. | :46:11. | |
about that. We have got to be realistic about the choices we | :46:11. | :46:14. | |
would be facing if we were in government now. The difference | :46:14. | :46:18. | |
between us and this government is that we would make sure it was fair, | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
so it was not a 1% pay increase right across the board about we | :46:22. | :46:26. | |
treated the low-paid much better than the high paid. Second, we will | :46:26. | :46:30. | |
not be going down the road of regional pay. The government is | :46:30. | :46:33. | |
saying they want regional pay with people in the North paid less than | :46:33. | :46:36. | |
in the South. But is totally wrong and a Labour government is not | :46:36. | :46:41. | |
going to go down the road of regional pay. You are looking for | :46:41. | :46:46. | |
new ideas, I am sure. Nick Brown has a new idea - cancel Trident and | :46:46. | :46:50. | |
spend the money on tuition fees. Would you support that? We have set | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
out how we would lower tuition fees. We would put a gap of �6,000 on | :46:54. | :46:59. | |
them. You could make them even lower if you cancel Trident. We are | :46:59. | :47:04. | |
looking at the issue of defence spending and what will happen to | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
Trident. I am not for a unilateral disarmament. We should have a | :47:08. | :47:16. | |
multilateral approach. A new nuclear power station for Cumbria - | :47:16. | :47:21. | |
will you come into that even if it means spending taxpayers' many? | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
am in favour of nuclear power and we showed in government how we can | :47:24. | :47:29. | |
make nuclear power happen. It is not so much about taxpayers' money. | :47:29. | :47:33. | |
There is not an easy answer. I think it is part of the solution. | :47:33. | :47:37. | |
It is not the only solution but part of the solution to the | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
problems we face. Iain Wright, you and your colleagues have gone on | :47:41. | :47:47. | |
and on about the demise of One at North Beast. Are you disappointed | :47:47. | :47:55. | |
he would not bring it back? In my role as shadow industry minister at, | :47:55. | :47:58. | |
what businesses do not want is this that in new terms from government- | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
to-government. You have criticised the government wants. You have a | :48:02. | :48:08. | |
chance to reverse it. Let's see what the local economic | :48:08. | :48:13. | |
partnerships are doing. One in the Tees Valley is doing well. The last | :48:13. | :48:17. | |
thing businesses want to have is more uncertainty, which means less | :48:17. | :48:21. | |
investment. We need to try to provide as clear a cause as | :48:21. | :48:25. | |
possible. It is a question of seeing what works, rather than just | :48:25. | :48:29. | |
committing to overturn everything a previous government does. That is | :48:29. | :48:32. | |
not proper politics and businesses do not want to see that. James | :48:32. | :48:36. | |
Wharton, maybe your government will not introduce regional pay but as | :48:36. | :48:40. | |
long as it is on the table, it is pretty toxic for your party in this | :48:40. | :48:46. | |
region. I would be very surprised if we saw regional pay introduced. | :48:46. | :48:52. | |
It is something that we may well see forgotten but time will tell. | :48:52. | :48:56. | |
The Treasury is right to look at all options. It is damaging because | :48:56. | :48:59. | |
it gives the possession -- perception that people in the north | :48:59. | :49:03. | |
are worth less than people in the South. A I accept that that is an | :49:03. | :49:06. | |
argument the Labour party will try to put forward but it is not one in | :49:06. | :49:10. | |
which we should engage. I do not think it is likely to happen so the | :49:10. | :49:14. | |
idea that we need to spend a great deal of time worrying about it... | :49:14. | :49:18. | |
It is just not going to come. For all the questions you asked, I do | :49:18. | :49:22. | |
not be you got any answers. Watching Ed Miliband, he just did | :49:22. | :49:26. | |
not look like a future prime minister. But Labour Party got the | :49:26. | :49:33. | |
wrong Miliband. At least the government has got a regional | :49:33. | :49:37. | |
policy. It has the regional growth fund and the local economic | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
partnerships. What is Labour's policy? We need to rebalance the | :49:41. | :49:46. | |
economy, not just in terms of the sectors. The north-east has huge | :49:46. | :49:49. | |
potential when it comes to rebalancing. I don't hear anything | :49:49. | :49:54. | |
different and James would probably say. We need an industrial strategy, | :49:54. | :49:59. | |
in close conjunction with business, with industry, to ensure we can | :49:59. | :50:03. | |
exploit our strength in manufacturing, in growth sectors | :50:03. | :50:08. | |
like the automotive industry and energy on Teesside. We need a clear | :50:08. | :50:12. | |
framework of policy to allow that to happen. We do not have a | :50:12. | :50:17. | |
certainty. Public sector workers are very angry about what you'll | :50:17. | :50:20. | |
leader did in terms of the pay restraint. It sounds like there may | :50:20. | :50:26. | |
be more in the future. We are three years away from a general election. | :50:26. | :50:30. | |
Public finances are deteriorating markedly. We do not know what we | :50:30. | :50:34. | |
would inherit and 2015 so it is perfectly reasonable for the leader | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
of the Labour Party not to be able to commit three years away from it | :50:38. | :50:45. | |
general election. I know workers in my own constituency are suffering... | :50:45. | :50:53. | |
Group briefly, how wrong could keep pay freeze last? It was initially | :50:53. | :50:56. | |
introduced to four two years. We would like to see it removed as | :50:56. | :51:03. | |
quickly as it is practical to do so. Now, rural schools often face a | :51:03. | :51:06. | |
struggle for survival. But now there's fears that a change to the | :51:06. | :51:09. | |
way the Government allocates money could force some of them to cut | :51:09. | :51:11. | |
staff or close down altogether. In Cumbria, almost a hundred schools | :51:11. | :51:14. | |
could lose out - although others would gain from the changes. Our | :51:14. | :51:20. | |
Cumbria political reporter Megan Paterson went to find out more. | :51:20. | :51:26. | |
The more precise the measurements, the better the result. A few more | :51:26. | :51:30. | |
drops of alkali to make it neutral. But when it comes to school budgets, | :51:30. | :51:34. | |
it is hard to reach the bear-pit solution. A national funding | :51:34. | :51:38. | |
formula is designed to make the allocation of money between a | :51:38. | :51:41. | |
school simpler. But schools and Cumbria believe it will cost them | :51:41. | :51:48. | |
precious resources. At this school, they stand to lose more than | :51:48. | :51:53. | |
�250,000 - a third of the Budget. If they were to go ahead as has | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
been suggested, that would have a very detrimental effect on my | :51:56. | :52:00. | |
school and all the other small secondary schools in Cumbria. It | :52:00. | :52:04. | |
could potentially close them. One family comes down from a farm on a | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
Land Rover, are picked up by a village minibus, and that brings | :52:09. | :52:13. | |
them to the pub car-park and then the school bus picks them up. They | :52:13. | :52:22. | |
are already doing a journey of an hour to school. I think three | :52:22. | :52:27. | |
Allison a bus is a long time for children. All schools, regardless | :52:27. | :52:31. | |
of size, it would be given the same lump sum of cash under the plans. | :52:31. | :52:36. | |
That would be topped up based on factors like the number of pupils | :52:36. | :52:40. | |
and levels of deprivation. But overall, councils will have far | :52:40. | :52:46. | |
less power to direct funds to schools in greater need. | :52:46. | :52:51. | |
problem with a national formula is, obviously, it means every local | :52:51. | :52:54. | |
authority has to allocate funding in the same way, with very limited | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
discretion. At the moment, we have greater discretion to target the | :52:59. | :53:04. | |
funding that Cumbria has to the areas we think are a priority. In | :53:04. | :53:09. | |
future, our hands are going to be tied. Based on Cumbria County | :53:09. | :53:13. | |
Council's figures, 98 Schools here will lose money under the new | :53:13. | :53:21. | |
formula, with reductions ranging from 1% to 30%. By 132 schools will | :53:21. | :53:28. | |
gain with increases between 6% and 25%. In a statement, the Department | :53:28. | :53:32. | |
for Education said the government was firmly committed to rural | :53:32. | :53:35. | |
schools and recognise that the challenges they face. It believes | :53:35. | :53:38. | |
the new funding formula still gives local authorities the power to | :53:38. | :53:43. | |
protect small schools. In rural areas like Cumbria and | :53:43. | :53:47. | |
Northumberland, there is greatest concern. MPs in Colombia are | :53:47. | :53:54. | |
hopeful they can get ministers to adapt the formula. -- Cumbria. | :53:54. | :53:57. | |
is very serious but is easily fixed if we can get the county council | :53:57. | :54:02. | |
and the government to agree. All that needs to happen is that a | :54:02. | :54:08. | |
separate fund could be used to flexor be top of the schools that | :54:08. | :54:13. | |
could potentially close. -- flexibly. It needs to be crude but | :54:13. | :54:18. | |
into the current formula. But not everyone is convinced that | :54:18. | :54:22. | |
campaigning will make a difference. I do not think in recent years we | :54:22. | :54:26. | |
have had much evidence that local issues have been taken into account. | :54:26. | :54:31. | |
In education, the agenda now from Michael Gove is for academies and | :54:32. | :54:36. | |
central control of a cannabis, not about local schools. -- of | :54:36. | :54:43. | |
academies. Whatever the outcome, teachers are hoping their pupils | :54:43. | :54:49. | |
will be the winners. Whatever the details of this | :54:49. | :54:54. | |
formula, it takes some spectacular mismanagement for the government to | :54:54. | :54:58. | |
turn its own supporters against its own policy. It would have that was | :54:58. | :55:01. | |
actually the case. One of the problems the government is trying | :55:01. | :55:05. | |
to address is that under the current complex system, two similar | :55:05. | :55:08. | |
schools of similar size is with similar challenges have different | :55:08. | :55:12. | |
levels of funding. That needs to be ironed out but in doing that, we | :55:12. | :55:15. | |
have promised there will be a minimum funding guaranteed. Some | :55:15. | :55:20. | |
schools will be winners and some less successful but no school will | :55:20. | :55:27. | |
lose more than 1.5% per pupil funding, which is a pretty high cap. | :55:27. | :55:31. | |
These schools are saying up to 30% budget cuts. The schools say there | :55:31. | :55:35. | |
is no way they could survive. don't be we will see schools get | :55:36. | :55:45. | |
:55:46. | :55:46. | ||
that sort of funding cut. - but don't think. There will be a cap to | :55:46. | :55:51. | |
ensure no school loses more than 1.5% per pupil and many, many | :55:51. | :55:55. | |
schools will do better out of this. There will always be winners and | :55:55. | :55:59. | |
losers in any change to a formula for stop it is up to councils to | :55:59. | :56:05. | |
use common sense, isn't it? I am in favour of a system that is less | :56:05. | :56:08. | |
burdensome but I was speaking to some schools in my constituency | :56:08. | :56:13. | |
this week. I mentioned I was going to be on here talking about a | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
national funding formula. They were incandescent about it. It is not | :56:16. | :56:22. | |
just a rural areas. It seems across the board in Hartlepool, in a | :56:22. | :56:26. | |
relatively deprived area that has had good educational standards, | :56:26. | :56:31. | |
pupils will miss out. This is not fair and we will support any system | :56:31. | :56:36. | |
that is simpler but much fairer. Michael Gove is not listening. | :56:36. | :56:41. | |
odd thing about this is that not just in Hartlepool but in Cumbria, | :56:41. | :56:45. | |
some of the schools are in relatively poor urban areas. He | :56:45. | :56:55. | |
:56:55. | :56:59. | ||
goes against the idea of the Bupa premium. -- people a premium. | :56:59. | :57:03. | |
you have a net benefit overall, it brings a lot of money in. In any | :57:03. | :57:07. | |
change, there will be those who do better and those who do less well. | :57:07. | :57:11. | |
What is important is that the Government listens and local MPs | :57:11. | :57:14. | |
make the cases, where there are anomalies, to make sure it is done | :57:14. | :57:20. | |
right. No schools are going to lose out to the levels that has been | :57:20. | :57:25. | |
talked about in the predictions. The guarantee will kick in and | :57:25. | :57:29. | |
protect their funding. To do you accept they raise this safety net | :57:29. | :57:34. | |
guarantee? Grip were nine mentioned I was coming on here, head teachers | :57:34. | :57:38. | |
said to me that their pupils would lose out and their education would | :57:38. | :57:48. | |
:57:48. | :57:48. | ||
suffer. Are you saying teachers are wrong? Teachers will legitimately | :57:48. | :57:52. | |
have concerns about any change. When this is implemented, it will | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
be seen to be a better and more straightforward and understandable | :57:56. | :58:01. | |
system and will be fairer, across the board, for young people. Does | :58:01. | :58:05. | |
it matter if schools close? In an age of austerity, isn't bad going | :58:05. | :58:09. | |
to happen? Of course it matters. Schools will sometimes have to | :58:09. | :58:12. | |
close because of local circumstances but a change of | :58:12. | :58:18. | |
funding formula should not directly lead to schools closing. Thank you | :58:18. | :58:21. | |
both for your contributions. I'm sure you've been glued to the | :58:21. | :58:24. | |
party conference coverage this week. I don't know about you, but I just | :58:24. | :58:28. | |
can't get enough of those Lib Dems. If so, you may just have missed | :58:28. | :58:31. | |
some of the other political goings- on this week. But never fear - Mark | :58:31. | :58:38. | |
Denten is here, with his regular round-up of the week in 60 seconds. | :58:38. | :58:43. | |
The decision to move printing of a local paper out of the area with | :58:43. | :58:47. | |
the loss of 81 jobs has been condemned by the Bishop of Durham. | :58:47. | :58:50. | |
He said it was bad news for Sunderland and a north-east but | :58:50. | :58:54. | |
welcomed the prospect of new jobs at Rolls-Royce. The outgoing Chief | :58:54. | :58:58. | |
Constable of Durham expressed his reservations about any police and | :58:58. | :59:03. | |
Crown Commissioners, who will be elected in November. I have | :59:03. | :59:08. | |
concerns about the rationale behind them and about some of the dilemmas | :59:08. | :59:11. | |
that may be presented between the chief constable and a police and | :59:11. | :59:16. | |
crime commission a. A one-to-one relationship does away with some of | :59:16. | :59:22. | |
the checks and balances that the police authority has now. The party | :59:22. | :59:26. | |
-- Labour Party chose its candidate to fight for Carlisle in the next | :59:26. | :59:31. | |
election. She is currently eight city councillor. It will be | :59:31. | :59:34. | |
farewell to Stephen Hughes, who has announced he will not stand again | :59:35. | :59:39. | |
at the next election, having served 30 years in the European Parliament. | :59:39. | :59:42. | |
And that's about it from us. Next week we'll be looking at the | :59:42. | :59:45. | |
growing campaign against the closure of local banks. I'll also | :59:45. | :59:48. | |
be speaking exclusively to Prime Minister David Cameron. So do join | :59:48. | :59:51. | |
us from 11am next Sunday for that. In the meantime you can follow me | :59:51. | :59:55. |