:01:25. > :01:30.His uncertainty over Europe putting thousands of jobs at risk? When
:01:30. > :01:40.will Cumbrians get their say on whether the county is suitable to
:01:40. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :40:02.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2302 seconds
:40:02. > :40:09.Be very warm welcome to your local part of the show. Coming up, as
:40:09. > :40:16.councils prepare Fourie crucial decision, what if Cumbria says no
:40:16. > :40:20.to Bering nuclear waste underground?
:40:21. > :40:30.Discussing the that I am joined by the MPs for Stockton North and
:40:31. > :40:31.
:40:31. > :40:35.Stockton South. Let's start with Europe. David
:40:35. > :40:43.Cameron's speech has been delayed, but the debate about whether to be
:40:43. > :40:49.in or out will not go away. You want the Prime Minister to commit
:40:49. > :40:53.to a referendum. Which way would you go? It depends what is on the
:40:53. > :40:58.table when the referendum takes place. I think there should be a
:40:58. > :41:04.clear plan to repatriate powers to the UK, to get a better deal from
:41:04. > :41:09.Europe. The British people have to have their say. The option of
:41:09. > :41:13.leaving should be on the table and people should be given a clear say.
:41:13. > :41:20.Alex, what could be wrong with giving your constituents as say
:41:20. > :41:25.over this? I do not think constituents want a say over this,
:41:25. > :41:31.they are more concerned with the issues of jobs and growth. They are
:41:31. > :41:39.more interested in jobs and when you think 51% of our trade is with
:41:39. > :41:42.the European Union, we cannot walk away from that. Look at Nissan, we
:41:42. > :41:51.have had had she come into this area, my constituents want jobs in
:41:51. > :41:57.these areas. -- had had chief. North East export more than a they
:41:57. > :42:00.import. Europe is one of the key markets for goods made here. What
:42:00. > :42:05.sort of relationship to those manufacturing businesses want with
:42:05. > :42:10.Europe? Massive metal structures covered in
:42:10. > :42:15.snow. These bits of kit had been through worse because normally
:42:16. > :42:20.their hundreds of metres under the ocean. This is used by the oil and
:42:20. > :42:26.renewable industries on the seabed. The firm that makes it does
:42:26. > :42:31.business worldwide but Europe is the crucial market. About 50% of
:42:31. > :42:37.what we do is in the EU markets. It has allowed us to grow and
:42:38. > :42:43.diversified to make the contract for the firm a more stable. They
:42:43. > :42:48.are concerned about a referendum on Europe, a vote we might not get for
:42:48. > :42:53.at least five years. We are worried it will bring uncertainty to were
:42:53. > :43:01.business partners and make us less attractive to work with. If we play
:43:01. > :43:08.loud, it would leave uncertainty in terms of future costs, tariffs,
:43:08. > :43:15.taxation. If we are looking at long-term contracts, we need long-
:43:15. > :43:20.term security. Around �6 billion worth of exports in the region pass
:43:20. > :43:28.through here. The North East is the only part of England which exports
:43:28. > :43:34.more than it imports. Where do all those exports go? Despite all the
:43:34. > :43:41.talk this week about the EU, it is not Europe. The number one that
:43:41. > :43:47.export market is the United States, nearly 16% of our exports end up
:43:47. > :43:51.their. The Netherlands is next, followed by Russia and France. This
:43:51. > :43:55.doctor and engineering firm gets most of his foreign orders from the
:43:55. > :44:01.United States. European contracts are important but the firm would
:44:01. > :44:06.gladly do without the EU. There are a lot of course so associated with
:44:06. > :44:12.being in Europe. A lot of our trading partners are not actually
:44:12. > :44:17.in Europe so as a consequence the impact would be minimal. We find a
:44:17. > :44:21.lot of regulation coming in on environmental law, health and
:44:21. > :44:27.safety and employment lob that add substantial costs to our business
:44:27. > :44:33.and we have to go through a lot of red tape to comply. Union leaders
:44:33. > :44:36.say pulling out of Europe would cost the region thousands of jobs.
:44:36. > :44:43.Trade with the European Union is responsible for thousands of jobs
:44:43. > :44:48.in the North East and Cumbria's. We are starting to see companies, even
:44:48. > :44:51.with the discussion on our future with Europe, think again about
:44:52. > :44:59.investments in the North East and thinking they came about investing
:44:59. > :45:03.in the current businesses. Producing stuff and then selling it
:45:04. > :45:08.overseas, we are good at it in the North East but is being in the EU
:45:08. > :45:13.driving us forward or holding us back?
:45:13. > :45:23.We no-one party, UKIP, definitely want out. We will find out what
:45:23. > :45:24.
:45:24. > :45:34.Ahmed Dogan things. 137,000 jobs in the North East dependent on the EU.
:45:34. > :45:35.
:45:35. > :45:39.I disagree they are dependent on the EU. We would of course still
:45:39. > :45:43.maintain a trading relationship with the youth. The EU sells more
:45:43. > :45:49.to us than we sell to them, so it would be madness if they were to
:45:49. > :45:53.say we are not going to trade with the UK. It has been reported that
:45:53. > :45:59.the Europeans would probably use more jobs as a result of a trade
:45:59. > :46:02.war than we would lose. I do not think it stacks up. The fact we
:46:02. > :46:09.have to be a member of a political union to be able to do trade with
:46:09. > :46:15.them. You are creating a potential uncertainty. You heard the concerns
:46:15. > :46:19.of one of the companies in that film. They said they would lose
:46:19. > :46:25.investment business outside the EU. They wants to ability. I was
:46:25. > :46:29.talking to some people yesterday, they have a parent company in Japan
:46:29. > :46:33.which has invested �20 million in increasing the production
:46:33. > :46:39.facilities there. They have no qualms about the potential of
:46:39. > :46:44.leaving the EU. We're in the EU at the moment. But you were saying
:46:44. > :46:49.people are hesitant because of the discussion of the possibility of
:46:50. > :46:54.leaving. It has not prevented them from investing. The Prime Minister
:46:54. > :46:59.has the right approach, he favours keeping the good bits of the EU and
:46:59. > :47:04.renegotiating to get rid of some of the bits people do not like. That
:47:04. > :47:09.would be fine in an ideal world, but I cannot see the EU letting us
:47:09. > :47:15.cherry-pick which parts we want to keep. The EU is going towards a
:47:15. > :47:20.federal state. 17 nations have already mentioned this. It is a
:47:20. > :47:30.centralised political and economic union. Do we want to be part of
:47:30. > :47:32.
:47:32. > :47:35.that, the answer is no. Alex, for all talk of open markets, we had
:47:36. > :47:44.the frustration of that interviewees saying all they get
:47:44. > :47:49.from the EU is red tape and hassle. That company, at their biggest
:47:49. > :47:53.market is the United States. The United States are giving us a clear
:47:53. > :47:59.message that we need the European market. And that company does not
:47:59. > :48:04.like what is coming from the EU. think he was making a comment on
:48:04. > :48:09.employment law. We need considerable change in Europe and
:48:09. > :48:13.the Prime Minister needs to do that to move forward. The common
:48:13. > :48:19.agricultural policy, for example, so much money going to very few
:48:19. > :48:24.places. More than half the trade in the North East is outside the EU.
:48:24. > :48:29.America is the biggest trading partner. We might be able to expand
:48:29. > :48:34.that and keep the EU business as well. There might be a possibility
:48:34. > :48:42.to expand but are we going to keep the jobs? Will Nissan pay
:48:42. > :48:46.additional tariffs or are we going to sit outside like Norway. We need
:48:46. > :48:52.a place at the table where we can argue in the interests of the
:48:52. > :48:55.people of Britain. James, the uncertainty created by a Prime
:48:55. > :49:01.Minister is jeopardising jobs and investment by saying this
:49:01. > :49:06.referendum may happen some time in the future. That is not credible.
:49:06. > :49:11.This is an issue which has come to the fore very recently. It is
:49:11. > :49:16.causing people to say we're not going to invest, I have not seen
:49:16. > :49:21.evidence of that. Europe is changing, we will not have the same
:49:21. > :49:25.European Union in five years' time. What business wants is stability.
:49:25. > :49:32.There is nothing more unstable than the idea of whether we will be in
:49:32. > :49:38.or out of the EU for. Businesses think there are good things about
:49:38. > :49:42.being in the EU and some bad things. What the Prime Minister's hopefully
:49:42. > :49:49.going to set out his we will get the best possible deal to get as
:49:49. > :49:56.many of the good things and has few of the bad things. Richard's. Is
:49:56. > :50:00.right, you cannot pick and choose. We should try to renegotiate for a
:50:00. > :50:07.better deal in the British interest. The end result should be put to
:50:07. > :50:10.people so they can choose to stay in or go wide. Alex, if you're so
:50:10. > :50:15.sure my constituents will be persuaded on the benefits of the EU,
:50:16. > :50:21.why not have a referendum? I do not see the value in going through a
:50:21. > :50:25.long process. We need a settlement in Europe which is the best for our
:50:25. > :50:29.region and the UK. Not just thinking about what will happen in
:50:29. > :50:36.a few years' time, we need to think about what is happening now with
:50:36. > :50:42.jobs and growth. People may go elsewhere rather than the North
:50:42. > :50:46.East or the UK. We have got to take action now for growth. We would
:50:46. > :50:55.like to see a growth Commissioner in Europe to encourage growth
:50:55. > :51:00.across the opinion. Richard, the Liberal Democrat MPs said this week
:51:00. > :51:05.that investments people are very proud of, the idea they will come
:51:05. > :51:09.when we're outside the European Union, is just ridiculous.
:51:09. > :51:13.disagrees. People come to the North East because of the excellent
:51:14. > :51:20.labour force here. They also know they will get the same trading
:51:20. > :51:25.conditions they have always had. Yes, but as I said earlier, it is
:51:25. > :51:29.almost impossible to consider the EU will not grant some sort of free
:51:29. > :51:33.trading arrangements with us when we leave because they currently has
:51:33. > :51:38.three trading arrangements with up to 50 other countries worldwide,
:51:38. > :51:42.many not anywhere near as owners as the ones Alex referred to it in
:51:42. > :51:47.Norway. In ten days' time councillors in Cumbria will be
:51:47. > :51:53.making a decision vital to the county and the whole of Britain.
:51:53. > :51:59.They will decide whether to press ahead looking for a site to bury it
:51:59. > :52:07.the UK's nuclear waste. This will prove controversial to the Lake
:52:07. > :52:12.District tourism industry. Here is our political reporter.
:52:13. > :52:18.Described as tranquil and beautiful in the guidebooks, there is concern
:52:18. > :52:22.that a decision to search for a nuclear repository site could
:52:22. > :52:28.unsettle this rural scenes. We're told no side has been officially
:52:28. > :52:33.identified, but experts have described this area as potentially
:52:33. > :52:37.suitable and that is enough to cause concern. We feel it is
:52:38. > :52:43.important that before the council's make their decision that the views
:52:43. > :52:48.of this community are made known to them. The whole basis of democracy
:52:48. > :52:51.is our politicians carry out the wishes of the people. He and to
:52:51. > :53:01.have their views heard, at the Campaign Group here have organised
:53:01. > :53:02.
:53:02. > :53:07.their own postal ballot. 94% voted against a waste facility here or
:53:07. > :53:13.anywhere else in the parish. But even campaigners admit that the
:53:13. > :53:20.postal votes carry more symbolism than power. The key decision will
:53:20. > :53:30.be taken by Cumbria County Council. They must all agree to proceed to
:53:30. > :53:33.
:53:33. > :53:38.the next stage or the whole process will come to a halt. The weight of
:53:38. > :53:42.the decision has not gone unnoticed by the county council. I am not
:53:42. > :53:48.sure there has been another issue which has had so much debate as
:53:48. > :53:52.this one has. Asking every single question, at turning it over and
:53:52. > :53:56.looking at the evidence. Councillors are keeping their views
:53:56. > :54:01.guarded, but there is hope that public involvement could be even
:54:01. > :54:07.more crucial in the future for. would be a pretty stupid government
:54:07. > :54:12.that tried to impose a facility on an area. I have always believed
:54:12. > :54:20.people should have a vote, whether that is the referendum or whatever
:54:20. > :54:25.it is. Whatever the decision, one thing is certain. The UK need
:54:25. > :54:30.somewhere to store its high-level nuclear waste. If a repository is
:54:30. > :54:35.not stored here, what is the Government's Plan B? If the
:54:35. > :54:40.decision does not go the way we wanted to go, we will have to go
:54:40. > :54:45.back and think about how we will make sure we look after our nuclear
:54:45. > :54:51.waste. This process is open to other communities across the
:54:51. > :54:56.country to also be in for. No other communities have come forward yet,
:54:56. > :55:01.so while national policy is usually made in Parliament, this time the
:55:01. > :55:07.Government is looking to Cumbria for a decision on the Gulf --
:55:07. > :55:17.country's nuclear future. Getting Cumbrians to agree to this
:55:17. > :55:20.
:55:20. > :55:24.is critical to your policies. this goes ahead, it will provide a
:55:24. > :55:29.neat solution to a problem of which is what you do with waste product
:55:29. > :55:34.after the production of nuclear power. At the moment this waste is
:55:34. > :55:38.stored, some of it is treated. This is a particularly neat solution
:55:39. > :55:42.which is being pursued. It will raise additional questions in the
:55:42. > :55:47.future because we will have to find another way of dealing with it.
:55:47. > :55:51.Should this really rest with councillors. When it is such a big
:55:51. > :55:55.decision for the country, shouldn't the Government decide? When we're
:55:56. > :56:01.talking about people's communities, a decision that will affect large
:56:01. > :56:06.numbers across Cumbria, it is right they have a significant role of
:56:06. > :56:12.cross the process. Although it would be a solution if it goes
:56:13. > :56:20.ahead, it is not the end of the story. It is right to local people
:56:20. > :56:25.have some say. Alex, should be local a decision be final? Labour
:56:25. > :56:29.made a commitment that it had to resolve this high-level waste
:56:29. > :56:34.problem before building nuclear power stations. This has been an
:56:34. > :56:39.ongoing problem for some decades. I remember as a reporter writing
:56:39. > :56:44.about the decision, or the proposal from a previous Conservative
:56:44. > :56:48.government to bury waste under Bellingham. The community one that
:56:48. > :56:53.time. The Cumbrian people have a difficult decision to make,
:56:53. > :57:00.Government should be taking a lead, but the science has yet to be
:57:00. > :57:05.proved that berrying and forgetting about it is the right policy.
:57:05. > :57:10.Nobody has actually designed are anything to last 10,000 years yet.
:57:10. > :57:20.The this is a tough sell. There are jobs and investment and Bob but it
:57:20. > :57:20.
:57:20. > :57:25.is difficult to sell it to anybody. It is. If we cannot grapple with
:57:25. > :57:31.the problem of nuclear energy, we should not press ahead with nuclear
:57:31. > :57:36.power stations. Nuclear is essential. Nobody will take the
:57:36. > :57:42.waste, but we do not have to bury it underneath Cumbria. We also have
:57:42. > :57:51.to think about the knock-on effect. What will it mean to the tourism
:57:51. > :57:56.industry. Will people avoid the Lake District? We will see what
:57:57. > :58:01.happens with that decision. Some ambulance have been waiting
:58:01. > :58:09.for two hours before patients could be admitted. Hospitals are under
:58:09. > :58:18.increasing pressure and could worsen as winter increases its grip.
:58:18. > :58:24.Here is the news in 60 seconds. Ambulances are queuing for up to it
:58:24. > :58:32.two hours outside hospitals before patients can be admitted. 113
:58:32. > :58:36.patients have been affected since December. An MP has written to the
:58:36. > :58:41.Health Secretary calling for action to tackle chronic underfunding of
:58:42. > :58:48.care in North Yorkshire. Phil Wilson has backed a campaign
:58:48. > :58:56.to erect a memorial to the Durham light Infantry in the North East.
:58:56. > :59:01.Will the Minister suit -- support of that campaign? Cumbria's new
:59:01. > :59:04.police commissioner wants to put up council tax. He says an increase of
:59:04. > :59:11.just under 2% would allow the forced to retain existing levels of
:59:11. > :59:18.police. Finally a �20 charge for collecting garden waste is to be
:59:18. > :59:23.scrapped six weeks after it was introduced.
:59:24. > :59:30.I will resist making a joke about recycling policies. What is going
:59:30. > :59:34.on with these ambulance delays? There is a wider problem and the
:59:34. > :59:39.number of different factors. The hospitals are running on as tight a
:59:39. > :59:43.budget as they possibly can. There are also issues about how they are
:59:43. > :59:49.managing patients coming in. They need to create some more capacity
:59:49. > :59:53.in order to do with that. It boils down to funding at the end of the
:59:53. > :59:59.day. They are working with a very tight budget and are suffering as a
:59:59. > :00:05.result. No coincidence this is happening at a time of great change
:00:05. > :00:09.within the NHS. NHS spending is going up year-on-year. One of the
:00:09. > :00:19.key factors is the reorganisation we have seen in the NHS over the
:00:19. > :00:24.last decade. A lot of accident and emergency facilities have closed.
:00:24. > :00:29.Doctors have to decide whether or not have a concentrated accident
:00:29. > :00:33.and emergency, or spread it out over a number of hospitals. Some of
:00:33. > :00:41.the designs of hospitals are not up to coping with the new levels of
:00:41. > :00:48.ambulance traffic. A hospital designed to take 60,000 patients a
:00:48. > :00:52.year in Casualty are finding -- are having to cope with 125,000.
:00:52. > :01:00.Hospitals are being used in a different generation. You need
:01:00. > :01:06.fewer centres of excellence to give the best standard of treatment.
:01:06. > :01:10.These are difficult decisions. you have patience turning up and
:01:10. > :01:15.sitting in an ambulance before two solid hours before been seen by
:01:15. > :01:20.clinician is totally unacceptable. We need to look at the reasons
:01:20. > :01:30.behind it. One of the reasons is because of the tremendous savings
:01:30. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :01:39.these hospitals are expected to make. That it is it right. There is
:01:39. > :01:42.�40 million from our own hospitals. Do we need to change our behaviour?
:01:42. > :01:49.A lot of people turning up to casualty with things that could be
:01:49. > :01:55.treated by a GP. That is very much the case. We saw a tremendous
:01:55. > :01:59.service in Hartlepool where people can go instead. Increased capacity
:01:59. > :02:04.in GPs' surgeries. Walk-in centres. All these things could be in
:02:04. > :02:09.jeopardy because of funding constraints. This all sounds a bit
:02:09. > :02:15.1980s. Patients waiting outside hospital. It is all reminiscent of
:02:15. > :02:21.when the Conservatives were last in charge of the NHS. NHS spending is
:02:21. > :02:26.going up. The NHS changes to meet clinical needs. Buildings are not
:02:26. > :02:33.designed for the modern way we do medicine. Tomorrow evening's Inside
:02:34. > :02:38.Out programme looks at the state of the health service. That is at