Browse content similar to 14/07/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the North East and Cumbria: How should Labour change its relations | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
with the trade unions? And plans to allow mining deep under | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
the National Park in North Yorkshire. Will it create jobs or | :01:35. | :01:45. | |
:01:45. | :01:45. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2220 seconds | :01:45. | :38:46. | |
local part of the show, our final one before the summer break. Before | :38:46. | :38:50. | |
we hand out the ice lollies, there is a busy political week to get | :38:50. | :38:55. | |
through with my guests, North East Euro MP Hughes and Redcar MP Ian | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
Swales. Coming up, 1000 jobs at stake as planners decide whether to | :39:01. | :39:05. | |
allow mining deep under the North York Moors National Park. Is it an | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
economic lifeline or could kill off tourism? We will also be talking | :39:09. | :39:12. | |
about zero hours contracts in the NHS, are they a way of dodging basic | :39:13. | :39:18. | |
employment rights? Let's start on this Miners' Gala | :39:18. | :39:21. | |
weekend with Labour's relationship with the trade unions, Ed Miliband | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
has promised big and historic changes. Stephen Hughes, you are a | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
committed trade unionist. Do you agree there is a need to change | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
Labour's relationship with the unions? It has opened peoples eyes | :39:33. | :39:38. | |
to what goes on in the political parties. The stories we have seen | :39:38. | :39:40. | |
coming out of Falkirk. We need to modernise the relationship. The | :39:41. | :39:46. | |
links with the trade unions are vital. I think it is only right that | :39:46. | :39:50. | |
the trade unions should not be automatically signed up, they should | :39:50. | :39:53. | |
have the right to make choices as to whether they want their affiliation | :39:53. | :39:56. | |
fee to go to a particular party or not. That is one thing that Labour | :39:56. | :40:03. | |
has promised. And also the editor of primaries and selection of | :40:03. | :40:05. | |
candidates where MPs are standing down, but my be a good positive | :40:06. | :40:09. | |
development as well. I'd like unions wielded somewhat power over | :40:09. | :40:15. | |
selection of a posse. -- policy. The relationship between the trade union | :40:15. | :40:21. | |
and the Labour Party as was been positive. We have had a system of | :40:21. | :40:24. | |
affiliation fees, unions balloting on is whether they want political | :40:25. | :40:34. | |
:40:35. | :40:35. | ||
funds or not. But the unions were able to influence the selection. | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
need to revitalise the Labour Party and we need to make sure the trade | :40:38. | :40:44. | |
unions want to sign up. One of the things he said was he wants to boots | :40:45. | :40:53. | |
-- boost this, doing crib -- to increase considerably. Why should | :40:53. | :40:58. | |
never be ashamed about being influenced by the very organisation | :40:58. | :41:01. | |
that was there at the start of the Labour Party two -- why should | :41:01. | :41:06. | |
Labour be ashamed. Time has moved on. In 2010, more people voted, more | :41:06. | :41:12. | |
trade unionists voted Conservative or a Lib Dem band voted Labour. The | :41:12. | :41:16. | |
relationship has been breaking down for a long time. And the public do | :41:16. | :41:20. | |
not want to see vested interests involved in candidate selection or | :41:20. | :41:25. | |
policy formulation, whether it is big business or trade unions. | :41:25. | :41:34. | |
you perhaps get a chance for the union members to subscribe... | :41:34. | :41:38. | |
agree with Stephen, I think somatic affiliation because you are in a | :41:38. | :41:48. | |
:41:48. | :41:49. | ||
trade union, but strongly need to be changed. -- automatic affiliation. | :41:49. | :41:56. | |
In the Netherlands, there is a strong trade union movement there. | :41:57. | :42:01. | |
It used to be cool, but these days we are more likely to be digging not | :42:01. | :42:04. | |
a of the ground, it used -- it is used to make fertiliser and what is | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
believed to be the world's the guests supply lies deep beneath the | :42:08. | :42:10. | |
ground in North Yorkshire. Later this month, planners will the site | :42:10. | :42:16. | |
whether to allow a 1500 -- if 1500 metre deep mine shaft to be sunk to | :42:16. | :42:20. | |
get it out. The development would create thousands of local jobs and | :42:20. | :42:24. | |
bring some economic benefits to do so. But it's worth it will come at a | :42:24. | :42:30. | |
high price to the environment and to tourism. | :42:31. | :42:34. | |
There are plenty of opportunities around Whitby if you want to work in | :42:34. | :42:38. | |
tourism for catering. If you want to work in science or engineering, | :42:38. | :42:43. | |
opportunities are a little harder to find. Two island like to be a civil | :42:43. | :42:50. | |
engineer. -- I would like to be a civil engineer. I would like to do | :42:50. | :42:54. | |
engineering at University. I would like to go into a science -based job | :42:54. | :43:01. | |
that I do not see it as being in this area. Without places to employ, | :43:01. | :43:07. | |
it forces you to move away. scientists may soon be able to start | :43:07. | :43:12. | |
their careers without leaving home. Baxter what is being found beneath | :43:12. | :43:16. | |
the ground here at the North York Moors National Park. It is basically | :43:16. | :43:25. | |
a form of fertiliser, the boost this could is, over 1000 jobs. The | :43:26. | :43:28. | |
injection of over �1 billion in building this project. But would any | :43:28. | :43:35. | |
jobs created be cancelled out by job losses in the tourist industry? We | :43:35. | :43:39. | |
are standing about a mile and a half from the proposed site of the mine, | :43:39. | :43:46. | |
looking across the moor land at the drilling rig. We have undertaken | :43:47. | :43:49. | |
research on the impact of the proposed mine on the economy and it | :43:50. | :43:54. | |
has revealed that could be as much as �35 million lost every year | :43:54. | :43:58. | |
during the construction. That is over a period of up to four years. | :43:58. | :44:04. | |
Aside from these fears that opening the mine would deter visitors, there | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
are concerns about the impact it would have on the environment. | :44:10. | :44:15. | |
Indisputable air, the last thing we want is a major industry, and | :44:15. | :44:20. | |
intrusion of this size, just over 12 months ago, I asked the company how | :44:20. | :44:28. | |
much excavate -- excavation would spoil the farm, and I was told it | :44:28. | :44:32. | |
would be 200,000 tubing meters. The planning application went in, that | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
was 600,000 tubing metres. Within a month, they made a correction of | :44:37. | :44:42. | |
saying it was 1.2 million cubic metres of spoil. That is enough to | :44:42. | :44:48. | |
fill Wembley Stadium to the roof. The company says those increases are | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
made due to mistake by consultants working for them. They insist they | :44:51. | :44:55. | |
will take care of the National Park. We have established a track record | :44:55. | :45:01. | |
of looking at the moment. -- looking after the environment. The National | :45:01. | :45:05. | |
Park is an important part of the country. It is something we are | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
working to ensure that it is stronger and better, and it is | :45:10. | :45:18. | |
getting a more vibrant economy. need to convince the park authority | :45:18. | :45:21. | |
to allow them to bring heavy industry to this vast expanse of | :45:21. | :45:26. | |
national beauty. The company will have to prove there is an | :45:26. | :45:30. | |
exceptional national need to build a mine in the National Park. | :45:30. | :45:37. | |
The local MP in the area where the miners plan is Scarborough and | :45:37. | :45:42. | |
Whitby MP. I asked him if every job rated by mining, another could be | :45:42. | :45:48. | |
lost in the tourism industry. I have was medically we cannot give | :45:48. | :45:52. | |
potash mining and environmental blank cheque. But they have bent | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
over backwards to make sure the impact on the environment in the | :45:56. | :45:58. | |
North York Moors National Park is minimised. There has been some | :45:58. | :46:03. | |
rather spurious figures published, that would say we would lose 20% of | :46:03. | :46:09. | |
our tourists, that is ridiculous. I have yet to see anyone turn a car | :46:09. | :46:14. | |
around when they passed the area. I'm -- I think it would be a shot in | :46:14. | :46:16. | |
the arm for the local economy, particularly some of the villages, | :46:16. | :46:22. | |
which I note dominated by second homes and holiday cottages. We will | :46:22. | :46:24. | |
get some life into those communities. People who work in the | :46:24. | :46:29. | |
mine will be able to live in the village, use the shop in the winter | :46:29. | :46:32. | |
when it is often quite a struggle. It will have a positive impact on | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
the communities and I think the impact on tourism will be minimal. | :46:36. | :46:42. | |
You cannot dismiss a National Park Service which suggested that this | :46:42. | :46:45. | |
mine during construction could cost �40 million a year to the tourist | :46:45. | :46:53. | |
industry. They asked people whether they would be put off going to the | :46:53. | :46:56. | |
National Park if there was a mass of mine, and I think 14% said they | :46:56. | :47:02. | |
might be. The evidence is not like that. If you go to the village at | :47:02. | :47:05. | |
the top of my constituency, it is within sight of another mine, and it | :47:05. | :47:10. | |
is still another vibrant tourist community. And we have the impact of | :47:11. | :47:13. | |
the construction workers, who will be staying in bed and Breakfast in | :47:13. | :47:19. | |
some cases, in local hotels, so they will be quite a positive impact on | :47:19. | :47:22. | |
hospitality industry. We need to be careful we do not have too big an | :47:22. | :47:28. | |
impact on the guesthouses -- and the ghettos as turnover to construction | :47:28. | :47:33. | |
workers for six or seven months and then lose their tourism trade. | :47:33. | :47:38. | |
Ian Swales, is it acceptable to put a potash mine in the National Park? | :47:38. | :47:43. | |
I have been working closely with York Potash and what did not come | :47:43. | :47:46. | |
from the film is the amazing design they have got which puts the mine | :47:46. | :47:53. | |
are low ground. The top of the mine, it will be underground. All you will | :47:53. | :47:58. | |
see is a building like a barn, and a car park. They have cleverly put it | :47:59. | :48:04. | |
underground. All the mind material will be pipelined to Teeside for | :48:04. | :48:11. | |
processing. I think they are bending over backwards on the environment | :48:11. | :48:16. | |
and I think some of the scare stories are just that. There is | :48:16. | :48:19. | |
concern that having a mine is not necessarily the greatest PR. As I | :48:19. | :48:25. | |
say, I have seen scale models and photographs, you will barely know | :48:25. | :48:31. | |
there is a mine. The processing will be done underground. You will not | :48:31. | :48:33. | |
actually see the typical mining activities above ground. It is a | :48:33. | :48:39. | |
very clever design. I think it is overwhelmingly positive, economic | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
leader and I do not accept that people will not visit the North | :48:42. | :48:46. | |
Yorkshire Moors because of this facility. Stephen Hughes, the North | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
East has a history of mining, but it is history, does it lead mines for | :48:50. | :48:55. | |
the 20th -- for the 21st century? Two we have always had a play-off | :48:55. | :49:01. | |
between jobs and the environment. That has been so for many years. | :49:01. | :49:11. | |
had a good environment and good jobs. One thing to take into account | :49:11. | :49:13. | |
is the European habitats directive, in terms of environmental impact | :49:13. | :49:18. | |
assessment. Other important issues might be visibility, but it might | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
have an impact on the water table, he could have a profound effect on | :49:23. | :49:28. | |
the flora and fauna and the habitat generally. It is hard to turn down | :49:28. | :49:33. | |
that number of jobs. That is the dilemma. There might be some | :49:34. | :49:38. | |
environmental concerns, but the jobs are very important. You have to bear | :49:38. | :49:42. | |
in mind as well that this is an international interest. The flora | :49:42. | :49:48. | |
and fauna, there are some rare flora and fauna in the North York is and | :49:48. | :49:53. | |
we have a responsible to to protect them as well. Would you accept that | :49:53. | :49:58. | |
this is a concern, even if they make it look fine, they could be an | :49:58. | :50:02. | |
impact on the environment that we cannot sell that just for the jobs. | :50:02. | :50:10. | |
That these to be -- that needs to be properly assessed. I do not think | :50:10. | :50:14. | |
there is the kind of impact that people might fear, for example, | :50:14. | :50:18. | |
people who have seen opencast mining, this is nothing like that. | :50:18. | :50:23. | |
We are talking about 1500 metres underground. And then up to just | :50:23. | :50:28. | |
under the ground, then piped away. It will not the affecting the woods | :50:28. | :50:34. | |
and moors around it at all. -- be affecting. | :50:34. | :50:37. | |
The Prime Minister recently agreed a real terms cut in the European Union | :50:37. | :50:41. | |
budget, that means inevitably there will be less you might share over | :50:41. | :50:44. | |
the next few years. In the past, the European structural funds of hot | :50:45. | :50:50. | |
paper project like the stadium might and the Baltic. But how much will | :50:50. | :50:52. | |
the region get in the future? I have been finding out. | :50:52. | :50:57. | |
You probably do not need me to tell you that this time along with buying | :50:57. | :51:02. | |
any time soon. It is being recycled by a company based at Durham Tees | :51:02. | :51:06. | |
Valley airport. The firm that would also have been grounded about almost | :51:06. | :51:12. | |
�1 million of your money. -- you money. It has enabled us to invest | :51:12. | :51:17. | |
in staff, we will have after completion of our funding, about | :51:17. | :51:23. | |
eight full-time staff, probably about six subcontractors per | :51:23. | :51:27. | |
aeroplane at any one time, that probably brings around 30 jobs into | :51:27. | :51:32. | |
this building. More European funding is on the way. Between 2014 and | :51:32. | :51:39. | |
2020, the area will get 406 to �5 billion. Tees Valley, 107 �5 | :51:39. | :51:46. | |
million. Cumbria, �78 million. Each will get a greater say over how it | :51:46. | :51:53. | |
is spent. Crucial to those who are handing out the money. Locally | :51:53. | :51:56. | |
delivered programmes can affect the particularities of the place where | :51:56. | :52:00. | |
they are. That makes them much more appropriate for the businesses that | :52:00. | :52:04. | |
are there, the entrepreneurs, the sorts of sectors being developed. It | :52:04. | :52:09. | |
is critical in terms of the effectiveness of those businesses. | :52:09. | :52:11. | |
The new funding might also follow the region to do more work like | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
this. Welcome to what is gone to become a science centre in | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
Newcastle, this 32 acre former brewery site is being transformed | :52:20. | :52:26. | |
model of the biggest regeneration product and not a lovely guy. -- | :52:26. | :52:33. | |
products -- projects in the UK. But the part of EU money available could | :52:33. | :52:37. | |
have been even bigger. The government has taken �675 million | :52:37. | :52:41. | |
away from England's EU funding allocation and handed it to | :52:41. | :52:44. | |
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. That means all nations face | :52:44. | :52:49. | |
a 5% cut in grants. Has that left a gaping hole in the deal? Not | :52:49. | :52:54. | |
according to some. We have to make streaming well, we have actually got | :52:54. | :52:57. | |
about the same sum of money that came in the last round. -- we have | :52:58. | :53:02. | |
done extremely well. Considering the changes that have happened, and | :53:02. | :53:06. | |
everyone says is the North East is the richer economic competitiveness | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
in Europe, we have done extremely well. European money has already | :53:10. | :53:13. | |
left a legacy throughout the region. Have we really got the best deal | :53:13. | :53:18. | |
available? Hard hat and the high viz vest is | :53:18. | :53:25. | |
now compulsory uniform for reporters. Stephen Hughes, you have | :53:25. | :53:29. | |
said the North East will miss out in favour of Scotland, explain why. | :53:29. | :53:35. | |
Like -- the test on whether a region get EU funding is a calculation of | :53:35. | :53:39. | |
what proportion that region has the average wealth of the nation. | :53:39. | :53:44. | |
take the south of this region, Durham and the Tees Valley, it is | :53:44. | :53:50. | |
less than 75% of the national average wealth. Scotland, 90%, so | :53:50. | :53:54. | |
they should be getting much less. But the Secretary of State has | :53:54. | :53:59. | |
creamed off part of the money from the English regions to distribute to | :53:59. | :54:03. | |
Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland. As you have heard, almost | :54:03. | :54:08. | |
200 million going to Scotland, when it is considerably better off in | :54:08. | :54:12. | |
wealth terms than the North East. But those nations are facing 30% | :54:12. | :54:20. | |
cuts. If you look at the level of wealth, the North East as a whole, | :54:20. | :54:26. | |
including Tyne & Wear, has just over 75% of the average wealth of the | :54:26. | :54:29. | |
nation has a whole. That is considerably less than Scotland. We | :54:29. | :54:33. | |
have done a good job using European money, but we do need more. The job | :54:33. | :54:40. | |
is not finished yet. This money could have been extremely useful. | :54:40. | :54:44. | |
you share those concerns? I do, but you can see why the Government has | :54:44. | :54:50. | |
decided to make those cuts. I think we should, as one of your reporters | :54:50. | :54:55. | |
said, we should look on the price they, the North East has the most | :54:55. | :54:58. | |
money in the country after London and Cornwall. -- look on the bright | :54:58. | :55:02. | |
side. The Tees Valley has about the same as Sheffield or Liverpool. | :55:02. | :55:06. | |
These are huge sums of money, recognising the needs of our area. | :55:06. | :55:09. | |
The central Government is only taking 5% of the top of these | :55:09. | :55:17. | |
amount, whereas the previous Government to 50% off the top. | :55:17. | :55:20. | |
about the money to Scotland, it seems that of a coincidence with an | :55:20. | :55:25. | |
independence referendum in the offing. It is only a confidence | :55:25. | :55:27. | |
because they have done exactly the same prep in them, Scotland, | :55:27. | :55:32. | |
Northern Ireland and Wales. The percentage cut is the same in all | :55:32. | :55:35. | |
four nations. People want to spin that story about the effect is the | :55:35. | :55:40. | |
same cut everywhere. You cannot pretend this isn't a good deal for | :55:40. | :55:42. | |
the North East in terms of the amount of money coming year compared | :55:42. | :55:47. | |
to other parts of England and the UK. Given our relative poverty, we | :55:47. | :55:51. | |
should have had more. The only reason we are going to get any money | :55:51. | :55:56. | |
at all is because we got transitional region status. Our own | :55:56. | :56:01. | |
Government did not support that. They opposed it. A settlement was | :56:01. | :56:07. | |
reached at European level. But the majority were in favour. | :56:07. | :56:10. | |
At least 6000 people in the North East including many shopworkers are | :56:10. | :56:13. | |
on what is called zero hours contracts. That is where the | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
employee is not guaranteed any work but is effectively on-call. This | :56:17. | :56:21. | |
week, Sunderland MP questioned the rise in the number of such contracts | :56:21. | :56:25. | |
within the NHS. With that, and the rest of the week's little news, | :56:25. | :56:34. | |
here's Mark Denten. Proposals are 21,000 new homes in | :56:34. | :56:39. | |
Newcastle by 2030 Abbey published in a plan. 6000 will be built on the | :56:40. | :56:43. | |
green belt. There will be a public enquiry next year bottle by | :56:43. | :56:45. | |
deliveries in Gateshead have been taken over by volunteers of the | :56:45. | :56:48. | |
council said it cannot afford to run them. The council has also scrapped | :56:48. | :56:55. | |
plans to compensate... Thousands of NHS are losing out on climate rights | :56:55. | :56:59. | |
because they are on zero hours contracts. Julie Elliott told the | :56:59. | :57:03. | |
debate it had a detrimental impact on the lives of many workers. Like | :57:03. | :57:07. | |
the disruption to family life is a result of frequent short notice | :57:07. | :57:10. | |
requirements to work. It makes so many things, from arranging | :57:10. | :57:14. | |
childcare to doing the weekly shopping, nearly impossible to | :57:14. | :57:18. | |
plan. North East MPs are calling propulsive to resolve the dispute on | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
the Tyne & Wear Metro, they will -- the one staff to be given up living | :57:23. | :57:27. | |
wage. And Lord Campbell savours is to be greater on the colour of the | :57:27. | :57:37. | |
:57:37. | :57:39. | ||
University of Canberra. -- Cumbria. Ian Swales, we can talk but the zero | :57:39. | :57:42. | |
hours contract, hospitals and Sunderland, Gateshead, Hartlepool, | :57:42. | :57:47. | |
both Cumbria, they are among those using them. They say it is about | :57:47. | :57:51. | |
being as flexible as possible -- as possible. It needs looking at. The | :57:51. | :57:55. | |
previous Government looked at it and concluded they should not do | :57:55. | :58:00. | |
anything. There has been a gross and I think it is time to look at it | :58:00. | :58:03. | |
again. I cannot say I have had a single constituent raised the issue | :58:04. | :58:09. | |
with me although I have had care workers raised the issue of reach of | :58:09. | :58:12. | |
the minimum wage regulations in terms of not being paid for their | :58:12. | :58:15. | |
travel time between calls, that is something I have taken up with the | :58:15. | :58:21. | |
minister. Is it a way of avoiding honouring workers' writes two that | :58:21. | :58:28. | |
is what needs looking at. Let's member, some people want these, this | :58:28. | :58:31. | |
kind of flexibility because it sees their lifestyle, students for | :58:31. | :58:38. | |
example. One key question is, is the flexibility to way, or are people | :58:38. | :58:41. | |
actually being abused, because they are expected to be factual but do | :58:41. | :58:46. | |
not have the effect that might flexibility in return two I cannot | :58:46. | :58:49. | |
imagine you are a great fan of this, but this is the real world for | :58:49. | :58:52. | |
many workers. It means they get work when perhaps they would not do | :58:52. | :59:01. | |
otherwise. We need to regularise all forms of contract. We introduced the | :59:01. | :59:05. | |
directive on part-time work, fixed term contract work, agency work. My | :59:06. | :59:11. | |
own government opposed them, I have today -- I have to say. The UK | :59:11. | :59:17. | |
Labour market and to devise a body is going to hell and handcart. This | :59:17. | :59:21. | |
is a major source of abuse of these workers. I have had workers come to | :59:21. | :59:23. | |
me who are required to be there early in the morning, stayed till | :59:23. | :59:27. | |
late at night, eight times during the day unpaid, that is in breach of | :59:27. | :59:33. | |
the minimum pay regulations. -- break times. Is this happening | :59:33. | :59:39. | |
across Europe? We are seeing various forms of flexibility emerging in all | :59:39. | :59:43. | |
of the markets. I think it is part of the rest of the body, it has to | :59:43. | :59:48. | |
stop. People deserve a decent contract of work. I think in the | :59:48. | :59:51. | |
health service, this is causing major disruption, dislocation in the | :59:51. | :59:56. | |
care of patients. They do not know who has gone to turn up to take care | :59:56. | :00:04. | |
of them. Some of these arrangements are already illegal. The thing that | :00:04. | :00:07. | |
keeps them asleep at night if they know a lot of the members are | :00:07. | :00:13. | |
actually breaching the minimum wage regulations. I think it is really | :00:13. | :00:17. | |
important that people who feel abused in that way report the | :00:17. | :00:23. | |
situation. What can the Government do? Can they stop it happening? A | :00:23. | :00:30. | |
lot of these contracts are not illegal. There are many types of | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
contracts out there, some will be fine, some, people will want. But | :00:34. | :00:38. | |
there are others which you could argue are a form of reviews. For | :00:38. | :00:42. | |
example, having to be on-call at home and disrupt life without | :00:42. | :00:47. | |
knowing whether you are going to get work or not. Or being told that you | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
have a job and then finding it in a whole week you do not earn any | :00:51. | :00:56. | |
money. Would you accept it is better to do these contracts and save money | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
for the NHS to spend on patients rather than staff? You have to bear | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
in mind, the rights of the people working in these jobs as well. They | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
have a right to a decent contract, decent life. They have been deprived | :01:10. | :01:14. | |
of that. That is unacceptable. you very much. | :01:14. | :01:21. | |
That's about all from us, but before we leave for the beach, a reminder | :01:21. | :01:24. | |
of my blog and Twitter address on the screen now. The you can keep | :01:24. | :01:29. |