:01:18. > :01:20.Here in the North East and Cumbria...
:01:20. > :01:24.An emphatic win for Labour in the Middlesbrough by-election, but it
:01:24. > :01:34.is UKIP again making the headlines. How far can the party go in the
:01:34. > :01:34.
:01:34. > :37:10.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2136 seconds
:37:10. > :37:14.Hello and a warm welcome to your local part of the show just for the
:37:14. > :37:16.North East and Cumbria. My guests this week are the Labour
:37:16. > :37:19.MP for Houghton & Sunderland South, Bridget Phillipson.
:37:19. > :37:23.And hot from the Palace, where he received a CBE this week,
:37:23. > :37:25.Conservative Jeremy Middleton. In a moment, as new figures show
:37:25. > :37:29.the South continues to get the lion's share of transport spending,
:37:29. > :37:34.we ask if the region's ambitions to dual the A1 or build a Tees Valley
:37:34. > :37:36.Metro will ever be met? But our top story this week is
:37:36. > :37:39.Labour's victory in the Middlesbrough by-election. Andy
:37:39. > :37:45.MacDonald was elected to the seat with a majority of more than 8.000,
:37:45. > :37:53.taking 60% of the vote. He said is was a message from the voters of
:37:53. > :38:00.Teesside to the coalition government. We sent a message to
:38:01. > :38:05.David Cameron any government. You do not understand us. You do not
:38:05. > :38:09.speak for us and you are a government that does not care about
:38:09. > :38:12.The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were not expected to
:38:12. > :38:14.win in what is, after all, safe Labour territory, but they could
:38:14. > :38:17.hardly have been happy being shunted into third and fourth place
:38:17. > :38:27.by UKIP. Their candidate took second place, the party's best ever
:38:27. > :38:32.result in the North East. I think that UK Independence Party is
:38:32. > :38:41.pouring even better in the north and it is in the south. And it
:38:41. > :38:46.makes it a light that we are any sudden, was the Conservative Party.
:38:46. > :38:56.I hope we will be sending a member of the European Parliament back in
:38:56. > :39:02.
:39:02. > :39:07.2014. This was a very poor result for you, wasn't it? Yes, I stood in
:39:07. > :39:17.the Hartlepool by election and duly finished 4th, despite been a
:39:17. > :39:22.marvellous candidate! But we came back and effectively won the
:39:22. > :39:29.general election. The last by- election in this part of the world
:39:29. > :39:34.was in Sedgefield and we were third in that one, but when it came to
:39:34. > :39:42.the general election, we were in second place. These are mid-term
:39:42. > :39:46.effects. By it are you going backwards? I know Middlesbrough is
:39:46. > :39:53.a Labour seat, but you found be a late 1,000 people wanting to vote
:39:53. > :40:03.for you. In mid-term by-election, the Conservatives did not do very
:40:03. > :40:09.well in Middlesbrough. The Liberal Democrats did slightly better. I in
:40:09. > :40:15.the past, when there was a mid-term by-election, used to rally round
:40:15. > :40:17.the liberals of the wanted to make a protest vote. Now, because the
:40:17. > :40:22.Liberal Democrats are in the coalition, the are looking for
:40:22. > :40:28.another party to do that and in this case, it appeared to be UK
:40:28. > :40:35.Independence Party. It was a fantastic result for us. It was a
:40:35. > :40:40.low turnout, but we actually increased or share of the vote. It
:40:40. > :40:46.is a great vote for Labour. By but it was a sea you were going to win.
:40:46. > :40:52.It does not saying much of the message out? I thing it is
:40:52. > :41:00.important that in Andy McDonald, we have a lot lumpy -- n p 8 there
:41:00. > :41:05.will be speaking out on local issues on behalf of local people.
:41:05. > :41:12.Up and down the country, whether it is Middlesbrough or Croydon or
:41:12. > :41:17.Corby, we are doing very well. People are so angry about cuts,
:41:17. > :41:23.which the election was largely fought on. Is it very disappointing
:41:23. > :41:31.that the turnout was just over one quarter? He is, turnout is always
:41:31. > :41:35.an issue on a cold and wet November day. By-election turnouts are
:41:35. > :41:42.notoriously low. It was not as bad as some of those we have seen
:41:42. > :41:50.recently. This was the good result for Labour and I am delighted that
:41:50. > :41:54.I have a new colleague in Andy McDonald joining me in Parliament.
:41:54. > :42:04.But this could actually lead to a threat to you're Euro seats in the
:42:04. > :42:06.
:42:06. > :42:11.North East, Germany? When people come to the main issue, they are
:42:11. > :42:15.going to see the difference between the Labour and Conservative Party,
:42:15. > :42:23.come the general election, they will see that the economy is
:42:23. > :42:28.improving. A but a one point, the Liberal Democrats over to the
:42:28. > :42:32.Conservative Party into second place in the North East. Is there
:42:32. > :42:40.not a worry that UK Independence Party may now take the place of
:42:40. > :42:44.both of your party's in that respect? The problem we have at the
:42:45. > :42:49.moment is too much debt, but they do not want to vote in the Labour
:42:49. > :42:55.Party, who will make that debt higher. That will be the main issue
:42:55. > :43:03.which will decide to the want to be Prime Minister - David Cameron or
:43:03. > :43:06.Ed Miliband. Thank you both very much for now.
:43:06. > :43:09.Now, MPs on the Transport Select Committee have this week heard
:43:09. > :43:11.claims that the North East is falling well behind when it comes
:43:11. > :43:14.to spending on roads and railways. According to Treasury figures, the
:43:14. > :43:24.region will have less money spent on transport infrastructure over
:43:24. > :43:25.
:43:25. > :43:29.the next five years than anywhere else in England. The A1 in north
:43:29. > :43:39.Northumberland. For decades, the police from businesses and drivers
:43:39. > :43:40.
:43:40. > :43:44.to the government, please give us the money for at dual carriageway.
:43:44. > :43:49.While London is getting millions of pounds of shiny new transport
:43:49. > :43:59.projects, what can we expect in the North East? According to one
:43:59. > :43:59.
:43:59. > :44:06.transport expert in Parliament, we can expect one of these. Lunn did
:44:06. > :44:16.well received 84 % of transport spending, compared to six % in the
:44:16. > :44:17.
:44:17. > :44:23.North East. It is only amounting to �5 per head for the North East. Be
:44:23. > :44:27.even if we spent all were transport finance on the A1 this year, we
:44:27. > :44:36.would only be able to put a dual carriageway on one mile of the road.
:44:36. > :44:40.It would take another 36 years for the job to be finished. It has led
:44:40. > :44:45.to a lack of investment for many decades. It takes a long time to
:44:45. > :44:52.build a road and for that investment to come or not come.
:44:52. > :44:59.government has made the A1 he writ of strategic importance, but the
:44:59. > :45:04.coalition partners are frustrated by the lack of funding. He it is
:45:04. > :45:10.very frustrating. That is why I am keeping on battling forwards. We
:45:10. > :45:14.need a clear economic voice to speak to the government with. And
:45:14. > :45:19.to here is another transport project for the future. These
:45:19. > :45:28.parties's pictures are for E �220 billion Tees Valley Metro. It would
:45:28. > :45:35.like Teesside to Darlington. Six years on, we have new artist's
:45:35. > :45:41.impressions because the Tees Valley Metro is still not here. There will
:45:41. > :45:51.be a new station at the James Cook hospital and other train stations.
:45:51. > :45:54.
:45:54. > :46:01.It is not exactly great progress, but officially, at Maine 10 mmac --
:46:01. > :46:06.Tees Valley Metro is officially up and running. The way will have the
:46:06. > :46:10.station at the hospital up and running shortly and the art of this
:46:10. > :46:16.are looking at fees to. It would be lovely if it was done as the Big
:46:16. > :46:26.Bang, but it cannot be done. We will see improvements to the rich
:46:26. > :46:28.
:46:28. > :46:32.and improvements to stations in the next few years. Improvements are
:46:32. > :46:36.promised for the stations, but commuters say that is not what they
:46:36. > :46:45.were promised. We are of a lovely hanging baskets and the stations,
:46:45. > :46:52.but that is not what we are promised. B E D Tees Valley Metro.
:46:52. > :46:57.Vital improvements are still awaited. But his transport money
:46:57. > :47:01.better spent in the prosperous south or where it is needed most,
:47:01. > :47:03.in the less prosperous north? Transport is one of the key issues
:47:03. > :47:06.identified in a report into the economic future of the North,
:47:06. > :47:09.published this week by the IPPR think-tank. But how sound is the
:47:09. > :47:16.economic case for more transport spending? With me Ross Smith from
:47:16. > :47:22.the North East Chamber of Commerce. We would like the money to be spent
:47:22. > :47:26.in the north, but there are insane traffic problems in the south and
:47:26. > :47:31.given the prosperous nature of that part of the country, is the money
:47:32. > :47:35.not better spent there? If we do not have the infrastructure
:47:35. > :47:44.investment in the north, we will be fighting with one arm tied behind
:47:44. > :47:49.our back. Why does the company's not put their hands in their
:47:49. > :47:55.pockets? If it is so advantageous to them, why did they not get
:47:55. > :48:01.involved? Infrastructure Investment has to be delivered by the United
:48:01. > :48:06.Kingdom government. By if private business was to put the money in,
:48:06. > :48:12.we did not encourage the government to be the match that sort of sum or
:48:12. > :48:20.encourage them to get involved more? The amount of money pales
:48:20. > :48:26.into insignificance compared to what the United Kingdom needs to
:48:26. > :48:33.pretend to pretend to the port in terms of investment. If you could
:48:33. > :48:42.persuade the government to do one thing, what would it be? Ironically
:48:42. > :48:45.enough, or project has not include any infrastructure spending. We
:48:45. > :48:55.need to have flights direct from the North East to the United States
:48:55. > :49:00.
:49:00. > :49:05.of America. Labour did not pretty dual carriageway on the A1 or build
:49:05. > :49:09.the Tees Valley Metro. Are the guilty of failing to invest in the
:49:09. > :49:16.infrastructure? I do not think we got everything right. We should
:49:16. > :49:19.have done more to bring down the disparity in spending between the
:49:19. > :49:26.south and the North East. There is a strong case for the dual
:49:26. > :49:31.carriageway of the A1. But in my constituency, there are problems.
:49:31. > :49:35.Be do not have the real like in my constituency in that is holding
:49:35. > :49:40.back investment. I accept that times are tough, but we need to use
:49:40. > :49:44.the money we have more wisely, which is why I have been
:49:44. > :49:51.campaigning for a better bus service. We do not even have the
:49:51. > :50:01.decent bus service denied constituency, never mind a train
:50:01. > :50:01.
:50:01. > :50:08.link. Is the big increase in infrastructure spending require?
:50:08. > :50:14.agree completely that there is an investment problem. The Treasury
:50:14. > :50:19.report also points out that it only takes into account spending in the
:50:19. > :50:26.region, but does not take into account spending between regions.
:50:26. > :50:29.It does not take into account, for instance, improvements to the north
:50:29. > :50:39.coast east coast line, where they ate a lot of money has been
:50:39. > :50:49.invested. A use that is why but then with the situation? -- argues
:50:49. > :50:53.satisfied? Non, not at all. We need to get more spent here. We have got
:50:53. > :51:03.the Investment on the East Coast line and electrification of the
:51:03. > :51:06.
:51:07. > :51:10.Trans Pennine writ. You have got hundreds of millions coming in.
:51:10. > :51:17.the north the scene still have done worse than the north-west and
:51:17. > :51:23.Yorkshire. Is it because we have less conservative voters here?
:51:23. > :51:27.think you have to ask why some Conservative Party's parts of the
:51:27. > :51:32.country are doing better than in Labour controlled council parts of
:51:32. > :51:37.the country and vice versa. It is keen to see investment in
:51:37. > :51:41.infrastructure. What you have to do is make a great business case for
:51:41. > :51:47.it. If you look at the likes of Manchester, they are coming
:51:47. > :51:54.together and putting forward the good case. That is the argument.
:51:54. > :52:00.The North East has failed to put its case forward. It is one of a
:52:00. > :52:05.number of areas that we have to look at. I think it is the question
:52:05. > :52:08.of finding which will deliver the best benefits for the region. It is
:52:08. > :52:17.true that the North East is suffering in comparison to other
:52:17. > :52:22.areas. We have so far more so than other areas, whether it is cuts to
:52:22. > :52:26.council services, we have seen disproportionate cuts in the North
:52:26. > :52:29.East and it is hampering investment and jobs in this part of the world.
:52:29. > :52:32.And tomorrow evening the BBC's Inside Out programme looks at how
:52:32. > :52:35.much congestion on the A1 is costing the region's economy and
:52:35. > :52:37.how it impacts on our health. That is at 7.30pm on BBC One.
:52:37. > :52:41.Now, budget restrictions in our local councils are affecting
:52:41. > :52:44.everybody, but are young people in particular losing out?
:52:44. > :52:47.In Newcastle, the council says it soon will not be able to offer
:52:47. > :52:50.youth services, while in Cumbria, a �1 million cut in the budget will
:52:50. > :53:00.mean that many unemployed teenagers will no longer get access to
:53:00. > :53:04.
:53:04. > :53:12.careers advice. Choosing the right job, one that all awful in the you
:53:12. > :53:21.happy and pay the bills. It is easier said than done. I am corner,
:53:21. > :53:27.I am 16 and I want to be a teacher. Lock of options, but how do you get
:53:27. > :53:37.to where you want to be? They ADB career advice and put me through a
:53:37. > :53:37.
:53:37. > :53:45.number of interviews. I am now doing a Certificate in catering.
:53:45. > :53:49.This scheme is paid for in part by Cumbria County Council. But they
:53:49. > :53:55.have �1.1 million cut in spending next year and this will have the
:53:55. > :53:59.serious impact. It is highly likely we will have to cut our services
:53:59. > :54:06.and schools in the future. It is really important that we can work
:54:06. > :54:10.with young people in the early years, because the best way to stop
:54:10. > :54:15.youth unemployment is to stop young people becoming unemployed in the
:54:15. > :54:21.first place. The cow so needs to save �18 million over the next here.
:54:21. > :54:27.They say the most vulnerable people will still receive help to get into
:54:27. > :54:32.work. But outside the classroom, the worry is that will be left to
:54:32. > :54:38.charities to provide the guidance, charities where budgets are already
:54:38. > :54:44.stretched. It just gives you the chance to have a future and move on
:54:44. > :54:52.in life. Taylor and his friends are hoping that the skills they learn
:54:52. > :55:01.here will stand them in good stead for the future jobs market. But cut
:55:01. > :55:05.like, at 8011 to 18 year-olds are in danger of not either been in
:55:05. > :55:11.unemployment when they leave school or not been in any sort of training
:55:11. > :55:17.or education. We can plug some of the gaps, but only in places where
:55:17. > :55:21.we get that funding. Young people need direction and advice, even
:55:21. > :55:27.when the reach their twenties. We get great advice in school, but we
:55:27. > :55:31.need it elsewhere as well. They county council is consulting on the
:55:31. > :55:38.budget plans until January, but people are hoping hear that it will
:55:38. > :55:42.not threaten the job foundation courses in the future. Councils
:55:42. > :55:46.have no duty to provide this advice, which is probably why it has been
:55:46. > :55:51.cut, but you see how much of a difference it makes when it is such
:55:51. > :55:56.a struggle to get a job. Here is, as used on there, the most
:55:56. > :56:03.important thing is to create the jobs. One of the top priorities of
:56:03. > :56:06.the government is to create more youth jobs. You have got the work
:56:06. > :56:11.experience six scheme, which hundreds of thousands of young
:56:11. > :56:17.people are getting involved with. Young people say the biggest hurdle
:56:17. > :56:22.to getting a job is not having experience. That is addressing that.
:56:22. > :56:26.We have over �1 billion in subsidy going to employees to take on young
:56:26. > :56:31.people. It is underpinned by the biggest ever apprenticeship
:56:31. > :56:35.programme in the country. New jobs are getting created and the are
:56:35. > :56:42.getting created here in the north. Took councils have to take some of
:56:42. > :56:47.the blame here? Why are they putting such a fundamental service?
:56:47. > :56:55.They're facing great difficulties. They are having to cut across the
:56:55. > :57:05.board. The but they do have a choice. They are opting to cut
:57:05. > :57:07.
:57:07. > :57:11.services to young people. We have seen some great success is in job
:57:11. > :57:17.creation programmes, in comparison to the current ones being run. But
:57:17. > :57:25.youth unemployment is at absolute crisis point it might constituency.
:57:25. > :57:29.The government is not acting to put that right. The figures from the
:57:29. > :57:35.work programme short that, despite what you're saying, you have not
:57:35. > :57:41.got to grips with getting young people back to work. Due there are
:57:41. > :57:48.a great number of prop programmes. The figures were pretty
:57:48. > :57:52.catastrophic. Youth unemployment in this country than the European
:57:52. > :57:59.Union average. It is lower than the average in the United States and
:57:59. > :58:02.lower than the likes of Spain, which have huge youth unemployment.
:58:02. > :58:07.The irony catastrophic position because they spent too much money.
:58:07. > :58:13.It is going in the right direction here. Youth unemployment is going
:58:13. > :58:17.down. You have to have the right economic policy for this to happen.
:58:17. > :58:20.I do very much. It has been a week of torrential
:58:20. > :58:23.rain and flooding, not to mention some severe frost, but it takes
:58:23. > :58:26.more than that to deter our intrepid reporter Megan. She has
:58:26. > :58:33.donned her wellies and thermals to wade right into the middle of this
:58:33. > :58:38.week's political news. Mind you, she only managed it for 60 seconds.
:58:38. > :58:44.A project to generate energy from waste on Teesside is the first to
:58:44. > :58:49.benefit from the government's Green Investment Bank. It will receive �8
:58:49. > :58:57.million. An open cast mine would blight the local community,
:58:57. > :59:02.according to the local MP. Another is to close to houses. Election
:59:02. > :59:08.should be hell for those who run a national parks, such as North
:59:08. > :59:13.Yorkshire and Cumbria. We want thriving businesses and thriving
:59:13. > :59:18.communities and we need to make sure that they are undertaken by
:59:18. > :59:23.people chosen by the people. They will respond to them an answer to
:59:23. > :59:27.them in the decisions they make. A Teesside MP faced the 600 pound
:59:28. > :59:37.repair bill from a car hire company, even though he said the car was not
:59:37. > :59:41.damaged. He has golden for tighter rules to protect customers. --
:59:41. > :59:44.called for. And that is about it from us. It is
:59:44. > :59:46.the Autumn Statement on Wednesday and BBC local radio and Look North
:59:46. > :59:50.will be assessing what it means for this region.
:59:50. > :59:53.And I dare say I will have something to say too, if you would