:00:36. > :00:40.Morning folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics.
:00:41. > :00:42.Fears that Ukraine could face invasion escalate this morning as
:00:43. > :00:47.Russian forces take control of Crimea. President Obama and his
:00:48. > :00:51.European allies tell President Putin to back off. It doesn't sound like
:00:52. > :00:54.he's listening. Shadow Education Secretary Tristram
:00:55. > :00:58.Hunt has started spelling out Labour's plans for schools. So
:00:59. > :01:04.what's the verdict - full marks or must try harder? He joins us for the
:01:05. > :01:06.Sunday Interview. And all the big political parties
:01:07. > :01:07.are desperate to broaden their And all the big political parties
:01:08. > :01:10.appeal. We'll look at some Wembley. And all the glory of the
:01:11. > :01:16.Northern Lights. We're showing In the north`east and Cumbria, our
:01:17. > :01:19.Northern Lights. We In In the north`east and Cumbria, our
:01:20. > :01:23.government welfare increasing poverty. Cumbria and say they pay
:01:24. > :01:29.more changes. And tightening household
:01:30. > :01:32.finances. And with me, as always, three
:01:33. > :01:36.journalists who'd make a clean sweep if they were handing out Oscars for
:01:37. > :01:40.political punditry in LA tonight. But just like poor old Leonardo
:01:41. > :01:45.DiCaprio they've never won so much as a Blue Peter badge! Yes, it's
:01:46. > :01:48.Nick Watt, Helen Lewis and Janan Ganesh. Instead of acceptance
:01:49. > :01:52.speeches they'll be tweeting faster than the tears roll down Gwyneth
:01:53. > :01:57.Paltrow's face. Yes, that's as luvvie as we get on this show.
:01:58. > :02:01.Events have been moving quickly in Ukraine this weekend. The interim
:02:02. > :02:03.government in Kiev has put the Ukrainian military on full combat
:02:04. > :02:08.alert after Russia's parliament rubber-stamped the deployment of
:02:09. > :02:11.Russian troops anywhere in Ukraine. Russian troops seem already to be in
:02:12. > :02:14.control of the mainly Russian-speaking Crimea region,
:02:15. > :02:18.where Russia has a massive naval base. President Obama told President
:02:19. > :02:20.Putin that Russia has flouted international law by sending in
:02:21. > :02:27.Russian troops but the Kremlin is taking no notice. This is now
:02:28. > :02:30.turning into the worst stand-off between Russia and the West since
:02:31. > :02:33.the conflict between Georgia and Russia in 2008, though nobody
:02:34. > :02:39.expects any kind of military response from the West. Foreign
:02:40. > :02:42.Secretary William Hague is on his way to Kiev this morning to show his
:02:43. > :02:46.support for the new government, though how long it will survive is
:02:47. > :02:53.another matter. We can speak to our correspondent David Stern, he's in
:02:54. > :02:59.Kiev. As things look from Kiev, can we
:03:00. > :03:07.take it they've lost Crimea, it is now in all essence under Russian
:03:08. > :03:11.control? Yes, well for the moment, Crimea is under Russian control
:03:12. > :03:19.Russian troops in unmarked uniforms have moved throughout the peninsula
:03:20. > :03:26.taking up various positions, also at the Ismis which links Ukraine into
:03:27. > :03:30.Crimea. They've surrounded Ukrainon troops there. Three units have been
:03:31. > :03:35.captured according to a top officials. We can say at the moment
:03:36. > :03:40.Russia controls the peninsula. It should also be said, also they have
:03:41. > :03:44.the support of the ethnic Russian population. The ethnic Russians make
:03:45. > :03:49.up the majority of the population. They are also not entirely in
:03:50. > :03:55.control because there are other groups, namely the Tatar as and the
:03:56. > :04:01.ethnic Ukrainian speakers who are at least at the moment tacitly
:04:02. > :04:08.resisting. We'll see what they'll start to do in the coming days.
:04:09. > :04:13.David, I'm putting up some pictures showing Russian troops digging in on
:04:14. > :04:18.the border between Crimea and Ukraine. I get the sense that is
:04:19. > :04:24.just for show. There is, I would assume, no possibility that the
:04:25. > :04:30.Ukrainians could attempt to retake Crimea by military force? It seems
:04:31. > :04:36.that the Ukrainians are weighing their options right now. Their
:04:37. > :04:39.options are very limited. Any head-to-head conflict with Russia
:04:40. > :04:44.would probably work against the Ukrainians. They seem to be taking
:04:45. > :04:49.more of a long-term gain. They are waiting for the figs's first move.
:04:50. > :04:54.They are trying not to create any excuse that the Russians can stage
:04:55. > :04:59.an even larger incursion into Crimea or elsewhere, for that matter. They
:05:00. > :05:03.also seem to be trying to get international support. It should be
:05:04. > :05:06.said, this is a new Government. It has only been installed this week.
:05:07. > :05:12.They are trying to gain their footing. This is a major crisis
:05:13. > :05:16.They have to count on the loyalty of the army they might have some
:05:17. > :05:20.resistance from solders from the eastern part of the country who are
:05:21. > :05:24.Russian speaking. They probably could count on Ukrainian speakers
:05:25. > :05:29.and people from the centre and west of the country as well as regular
:05:30. > :05:34.Ukrainians. A lot of people are ready to fight to defend Ukrainian
:05:35. > :05:42.Terre Tory. Where does the Kremlin go next? They have Crimea to all
:05:43. > :05:46.intents and purposes. There's a weak Government in Kiev. Do they move to
:05:47. > :05:50.the eastern side of Ukraine which is largely Russian speaking and there's
:05:51. > :05:54.already been some unrest there? That's the big question, that's what
:05:55. > :05:58.everybody's really asking now. Where does this go from here? We've had
:05:59. > :06:03.some unrest in the eastern part of the country. There have been
:06:04. > :06:09.demonstrations and clashes. More ominously, there have been noises
:06:10. > :06:15.from the Kremlin they might actually move into eastern Ukraine. Putin in
:06:16. > :06:19.his conversation with Barack Obama said they might protect their
:06:20. > :06:24.interests there. It should be said, if they do expand, in fact, they've
:06:25. > :06:31.also said they are dead against the new Government seeing it as
:06:32. > :06:36.illegitimate and fascist. It does contain risks. They will have to
:06:37. > :06:41.deal with international reactions. America said there will be a deep
:06:42. > :06:44.reaction to this and it will affect Russia's relations with Ukraine and
:06:45. > :06:50.the international community. They have to deal with the reaction in
:06:51. > :06:55.Ukraine. This may unite Ukrainians behind this new interim Government.
:06:56. > :07:03.Once Russia moves in, they will be seen as an invading force. It plays
:07:04. > :07:10.on historical feelings of Russia being an imperial force.
:07:11. > :07:14.Joining me is MP Mark Field who sits on the security Security and
:07:15. > :07:19.Intelligence Committee in the House of Commons. What should the western
:07:20. > :07:25.response be to these events? I can understand why William Hague is
:07:26. > :07:33.going to Kiev tomorrow to stand side by side whizz whoever's in charge.
:07:34. > :07:42.They need to CEOP sit numbers and also President Putin. The truth is
:07:43. > :07:48.we are all co significant fatries to the Budapest Memorandum of almost 20
:07:49. > :07:52.years ago which was designed to maintain the integrity of the
:07:53. > :07:57.Ukraine and Crimea. There needs to be a discussion along those lines.
:07:58. > :08:05.The difficulty is President Putin has watched events in recent months,
:08:06. > :08:11.in relation to Syria, it is palpable President Obama's focus of attention
:08:12. > :08:14.ask the other side of the Pacific rather than the Atlantic. The vote
:08:15. > :08:19.in the House of Commons, I was very much against the idea of military
:08:20. > :08:23.action or providing weapons to the free Syrian army. My worry is,
:08:24. > :08:30.events proved this, the majority of the other options toed as sad are
:08:31. > :08:35.rather worse. It is clear now we are in a constitutional mess in this
:08:36. > :08:38.country. We cannot even contemplate military action without a
:08:39. > :08:43.parliamentary vote that moves against quick reaction that is
:08:44. > :08:47.required from the executive or, I suspect, there will be very little
:08:48. > :08:55.appetite for any military action from the West over in Ukraine. We
:08:56. > :09:00.are corn tours under the agreement of less than 20 years ago. We may be
:09:01. > :09:03.but we've guaranteed an agreement which it is clear we haven't the
:09:04. > :09:09.power to enforce. You wrote this morning, Britain is a diminished
:09:10. > :09:14.voice. Clams Iley navigating the Syrian conflict we relick wished
:09:15. > :09:20.decisions to the whims of parliamentary approval. That may or
:09:21. > :09:27.may not be but the Kremlin's not watching how we voted on the Syrian
:09:28. > :09:33.issue? In relation to Syria, it was where is the western resolve here.
:09:34. > :09:37.The truth ask Putin's position is considerably less strong. In
:09:38. > :09:43.diplomatic terms. He had a victory in Syria in relation to chemical
:09:44. > :09:50.weapons and in relation to the West's relationship with Iran. Putin
:09:51. > :09:55.is a vital inter locking figure In demographic and economic terms,
:09:56. > :10:00.Russia's in very deep trouble. The oil price started to fall to any
:10:01. > :10:05.degree, oil and gas price, given the importance of mineral wealth and
:10:06. > :10:12.exports for the Russian economy Putin would be in a lot of trouble.
:10:13. > :10:16.It requires an engagement from the EU and the EU are intending to look
:10:17. > :10:21.at their internal economic problems and will be smarting from the
:10:22. > :10:25.failure within a matter of hours of the deal they tried to broker only
:10:26. > :10:29.nine days' ago. You say if Mr Putin decides to
:10:30. > :10:33.increase the stakes and moves into the east, takes over the whole
:10:34. > :10:39.place, our Government, you say, will find itself with another colossal
:10:40. > :10:43.international headache. Some people watching this will be thinking,
:10:44. > :10:48.what's it got to do with us? It s a long way away from Britain. We
:10:49. > :10:54.haven't a dog in this fight? We have in this regard for the longer term
:10:55. > :10:58.here. I think if there were to be some military action in Ukraine the
:10:59. > :11:03.sense of Russia taking over, it could have a major impact on the
:11:04. > :11:08.global economy in very quick order. You should not deny that. There will
:11:09. > :11:12.be move to have sanctions against Russia. The escalation of that will
:11:13. > :11:20.be difficult. The other fact is looking at our internal affairs and
:11:21. > :11:26.reform, partners, the Baltic states, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic,
:11:27. > :11:32.they will be looking at a resurgent Russia now and think they'll need to
:11:33. > :11:36.hold as tightly as possible to the EU institutions and the power of
:11:37. > :11:44.Germany at the centre of that. This whole appetite for the reforms
:11:45. > :11:49.politically and economically will be closed very much within a matter of
:11:50. > :11:53.a short period of time. It has longer term implications. Mark
:11:54. > :12:02.Field, thank you. We're joined now by BBC News night's
:12:03. > :12:07.Diplomatic Editor Mark Urban. Is there any prospect of a western
:12:08. > :12:16.military response? Clearly at the moment, it is nil. The boat has
:12:17. > :12:21.sailed with the Crimean. It has been per performed by Russian forces It
:12:22. > :12:27.is now a matter of coordinating a plate cal line. European foreign
:12:28. > :12:32.ministers tomorrow. To say what will our future limits be? Where could we
:12:33. > :12:37.possibly draw red lines? To try to think a couple of steps down this,
:12:38. > :12:41.what happens if Russia interrupts energy supplies to EU member states
:12:42. > :12:45.ornate owe countries? These are the important steps they have to think
:12:46. > :12:51.about. It is quite clear we are in a different world here now. Also,
:12:52. > :12:54.Ukraine is facing a urgent foreign exchange crisis. Within literally a
:12:55. > :12:59.few weeks they could run out of money. All of these are rushing
:13:00. > :13:06.towards decision makers very fast. There is an interim and I suggestion
:13:07. > :13:10.unstable Government in Kiev. Crimea semi-to be under Russian control.
:13:11. > :13:13.There are clashes between the reformers and Russian nationals in
:13:14. > :13:18.the east of the country. What does Mr Putin do next? He has lots of
:13:19. > :13:22.options, of course. He has this carte blanch carte blanch from his
:13:23. > :13:29.Parliament to go in to the rest of Ukraine if he wants to. His military
:13:30. > :13:34.deployment suggests the one bite at a time, just Crimea to start with.
:13:35. > :13:38.See what response comes from the Ukrainian Government. Of course so
:13:39. > :13:43.far, there hasn't been a coherent response. The really worrying thing
:13:44. > :13:48.about recent months, not just recent days, are the indications that the
:13:49. > :13:56.future of Ukraine as a unitary state is now in doubt. Look at it from the
:13:57. > :14:01.other side of the equation. The President when faced with
:14:02. > :14:05.demonstrations, many extremists he was unable to deal with that. Now we
:14:06. > :14:10.have the other side, if you like, the Russian speakers, the other side
:14:11. > :14:15.of the fight, Russian nationalists showing they can get away with
:14:16. > :14:24.unilateral action more or less with impunity. The Ukrainian chiefs have
:14:25. > :14:27.been sacked. I think there are considerable questions now as to
:14:28. > :14:34.whether Ukraine is falling apart and, if that happens, we're into a
:14:35. > :14:39.Yugoslav-type situation which will continue posing very serious
:14:40. > :14:47.questions for the EU and NATO for months or years to come. So, Janan,
:14:48. > :14:52.Ukraine is over? Where the west to concede to the Russian in Crimea, it
:14:53. > :15:00.would perversely be a net loss for Russia. You'd assume the rest of
:15:01. > :15:06.Ukraine would become an un unambiguously a member of the the
:15:07. > :15:13.EU, maybe NATO. On top of that a Russian dream of Eurasion dream
:15:14. > :15:18.they will look at Putin's behaviour and is a, no, thanks, we'll head
:15:19. > :15:31.towards the EU. It is a short-term victory for Putin which backfires on
:15:32. > :15:38.his broader goals in Well, many people said if he grabs Crimea, he
:15:39. > :15:42.loses Ukraine, which is your point. We have seen violent demonstrations
:15:43. > :15:47.in the big eastern cities in Ukraine yesterday. People taking control of
:15:48. > :15:53.certain buildings. The risk is there of spreading beyond Crimea. I think
:15:54. > :15:55.the lack of any unified or visible response from Ukrainian armed
:15:56. > :16:00.forces... They allowed Russian troops to walk into the bases in
:16:01. > :16:04.Crimea. They have supposedly gone on red alert but they have done
:16:05. > :16:07.absolutely nothing. We don't see them deploying from barracks. There
:16:08. > :16:15.are serious questions about whether they would just fall apart. Putin is
:16:16. > :16:20.not going to let them split away. I would have thought he would like the
:16:21. > :16:26.entire Ukraine to come into the Russian ambit. Barack Obama is
:16:27. > :16:31.saying this will not stand. He has a 90 minute conversation with Vladimir
:16:32. > :16:34.Putin and what is his response? I am suspending my cooperation in the
:16:35. > :16:41.run-up to the Sochi Summit. What is the EU doing? Nothing. There is
:16:42. > :16:45.nothing they can do and Putin knows there are a series of lines that he
:16:46. > :16:53.is able to cross and get away with it. Why should Berlin, London,
:16:54. > :16:57.Washington be surprised by the strength of Vladimir Putin's
:16:58. > :17:01.reaction? It was never going to let Ukraine just fall into the arms of
:17:02. > :17:06.the EU. That is the interesting point. And who does he listen to?
:17:07. > :17:09.Paddy Ashdown was saying sent Angela Merkel because she is the only
:17:10. > :17:13.person who can talk to him and I find that response worrying. We need
:17:14. > :17:18.to speak with a united voice but nobody knows what we should be
:17:19. > :17:22.saying. Military intervention is out for the West so we go to economic
:17:23. > :17:29.sanctions. Doesn't Vladimir Putin just say, oh, you want sanctions? I
:17:30. > :17:33.have turned off the gas tap. Yes, it is move and countermove, and it is
:17:34. > :17:38.difficult to predict where it will end up. In all these meetings that
:17:39. > :18:12.are being held, they do think a step or two ahead and try and set out
:18:13. > :18:13.clear lines. Thank you for coming in this morning.
:18:14. > :18:15.Labour has been struggling since 2010 to decide exactly how to take
:18:16. > :18:18.education secretary Michael Gove, one of the boldest reformers of the
:18:19. > :18:20.coalition and most divisive figures. Ed Miliband appointed TV historian
:18:21. > :18:23.Tristram Hunt and many thought Labour had found the man to teach
:18:24. > :18:25.Michael Gove a lesson. But how much do we really know about the party's
:18:26. > :18:27.plans for England's schools? Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are a
:18:28. > :18:30.devolved matter. Child has been back to school to find out. A politician
:18:31. > :18:32.once told me, do you know why education secretaries changed
:18:33. > :18:34.schools? Because they can. Michael Gove might dispute the motive but he
:18:35. > :18:37.is changing schools, like this one. The changes he is ringing in our
:18:38. > :18:39.encouraging them to be academies, free from local authorities to
:18:40. > :18:41.control their own budgets, ushering in free schools, focusing on
:18:42. > :18:43.toughening exams and making them the core of the curriculum with less
:18:44. > :18:49.coursework, and offering heads more discretion on tougher discipline.
:18:50. > :18:53.And he is in a hurry to put all this in place. But has that shut out any
:18:54. > :18:58.chance for a Labour Government to change it all themselves and do they
:18:59. > :19:04.really want to? Any questions? Visiting a different school, first
:19:05. > :19:07.in line to get a crack at that would-be Labour's third shadow
:19:08. > :19:11.education secretary since 2010, Tristram Hunt. In post, he has not
:19:12. > :19:15.been taken about fine tuning previous direct opposition to free
:19:16. > :19:19.schools and he has also suggested teachers in England would have to be
:19:20. > :19:22.licensed under a Labour Government, allowing the worst to be sacked and
:19:23. > :19:27.offering training and development to others and of course ending
:19:28. > :19:31.coalition plans to allow unqualified teachers into classrooms. Full
:19:32. > :19:42.policy detail is still unmarked work. Your opinion about evolution?
:19:43. > :19:47.What is very clear is that Labour's education policy is still evolving.
:19:48. > :19:52.We are learning that they have some clear water, but we also seem, from
:19:53. > :19:55.the sting at the back, to get the feeling that there is not a great
:19:56. > :20:00.deal of difference from them and the current Government on types of
:20:01. > :20:06.schools and the way education should proceed. -- from listening at the
:20:07. > :20:11.back. So what exactly is different about their policy? What Tristram
:20:12. > :20:15.Hunt's job is to do is to be open and honest about the shared agenda
:20:16. > :20:19.between us and the Tories. There are a lot of areas where there is clear
:20:20. > :20:24.water between us and Tristram Hunt as to turn his back, shared agenda,
:20:25. > :20:30.stop fighting it, and forge our agenda, which I think people will be
:20:31. > :20:35.really interested in. The art of Government, of course, is to balance
:20:36. > :20:39.competing pictures of policy, even inside your own party. It is fair to
:20:40. > :20:43.say that if Labour reflects and draws its own visions of a shared
:20:44. > :20:46.agenda, it might have to square that idea with teaching unions, who are
:20:47. > :20:51.already unhappy with the pace and tone of change that the Government
:20:52. > :20:56.had sketched out. What we sincerely hope is that if Labour were to form
:20:57. > :21:19.the next Government, that they would look at a serious review of
:21:20. > :21:21.accountability measures. That is really what ways on teachers every
:21:22. > :21:24.single day. Actually they would look at restoring the possibility, for
:21:25. > :21:26.example, of local councillors to be able to open schools. That seems
:21:27. > :21:28.eminently sensible. If they are not going to move back from the free
:21:29. > :21:31.schools and academies programme at the very least they need to say that
:21:32. > :21:34.academy chains will be inspected because at the moment they are not.
:21:35. > :21:36.Labour have balls in the air on education and are still throwing
:21:37. > :21:39.around precise policy detail. There are areas that they could grab hold
:21:40. > :21:41.of and seize possession. A focus on the rounding of the people,
:21:42. > :21:43.developing character, the impact of digitalisation on the classroom
:21:44. > :21:46.Also the role and handling of teachers in the system and the
:21:47. > :21:52.interdependence of schools. That is all still to play for. Currently I
:21:53. > :21:55.think the difference between the parties is that the coalition
:21:56. > :22:00.policies, while we do not agree with all of them, are clear and explicit,
:22:01. > :22:07.and Labour's policies are yet to be formulated in a way that everybody
:22:08. > :22:10.can understand clearly. I don't think that Tristram Hunt or Miliband
:22:11. > :22:18.will want to pick unnecessary fights before the election. I think we will
:22:19. > :22:23.have quite a red, pinkish fuzziness around the whole area of policy but
:22:24. > :22:30.after the election there will be grey steel from Tristram Hunt. But
:22:31. > :22:34.if fuzzy policy before the election is the lesson plan, it does rather
:22:35. > :22:38.risk interested voters being left in the dark.
:22:39. > :22:50.Tristram Hunt joins me now for the Sunday interview.
:22:51. > :22:55.Welcome. Thank you. Which of Michael Gove's school reforms would you
:22:56. > :22:58.repeal? We are not interested in throwing a change for the sake of
:22:59. > :23:02.it. When I go round schools, teachers have been through very
:23:03. > :23:05.aggressive changes in the last three years, so when it comes to some of
:23:06. > :23:09.the curriculum reforms we have seen, we are not interested in changing
:23:10. > :23:14.those for the sake of it. Where we are interested in making change is
:23:15. > :23:18.having a focus on technical and vocational education, making sure
:23:19. > :23:23.that the forgotten 15% is properly addressed in our education system.
:23:24. > :23:26.What we saw in your package was an interesting description of how we
:23:27. > :23:30.have seen structural reforms in the names of schools. Academies, free
:23:31. > :23:34.schools, all the rest of it. International evidence is clear that
:23:35. > :23:36.it is the quality of leadership of the headteachers and the quality of
:23:37. > :23:40.teaching in the classroom that transforms the prospects of young
:23:41. > :23:45.people. Instead of tinkering around the names of schools, we focus on
:23:46. > :23:49.teacher quality. Viewers will be shocked to note that this Government
:23:50. > :24:04.approves of unqualified teachers in the classroom. We want to have fully
:24:05. > :24:06.qualified, passionate, motivated teachers in the classroom. It sounds
:24:07. > :24:09.like you might not repeal anything. You might build on it and you might
:24:10. > :24:11.go in a different direction, with more emphasis on technological
:24:12. > :24:14.education but no major repeal of the reforms of Michael Gove? I don't
:24:15. > :24:18.think you want to waste energy on undoing reforms. In certain
:24:19. > :24:24.situations they build on Labour Party policy. We introduced the
:24:25. > :24:27.sponsored academy programmes and we began the Teach First programmes,
:24:28. > :24:33.and we began the London challenge which transformed the educational
:24:34. > :24:37.prospects of children in London We want to roll that out across the
:24:38. > :24:43.country. You have said there will be no more free schools, which Michael
:24:44. > :24:45.Gove introduced, but you will allow parents let academies, which just
:24:46. > :24:55.means free schools by a different name. No, because they will be in
:24:56. > :24:59.certain areas. We want to create new schools with parents. What we have
:25:00. > :25:03.at the moment is a destructive and market-driven approach to
:25:04. > :25:07.education. I was in Stroud on Thursday and plans for a big new
:25:08. > :25:11.school, in an area with surplus places, threatened to destroy the
:25:12. > :25:15.viability of local, rural schools. We want schools to work together in
:25:16. > :25:19.a network of partnership and challenge, rather than this
:25:20. > :25:45.destructive market-driven approach. You say that, but your version of
:25:46. > :25:48.free schools, I think, would only be allowed where there is a shortage of
:25:49. > :25:50.places. That means that where there is an excess of bad schools, parents
:25:51. > :25:53.will have no choice. They still have to send their kids to bad schools.
:25:54. > :25:56.And we have to transform bad schools and that was always the Labour way
:25:57. > :25:58.in Government. At the moment we just have an insertion of new schools.
:25:59. > :26:00.Schools currently underperforming are now underperforming even more.
:26:01. > :26:02.Children only have one chance at education. What about their time in
:26:03. > :26:05.school? Our focus is on the leadership of the headteacher and
:26:06. > :26:07.having quality teachers in the classroom. So they cannot set up new
:26:08. > :26:10.better schools and they have to go to the bad schools. Tony Blair said
:26:11. > :26:12.it should be easier for parents to set up new schools where they are
:26:13. > :26:16.dissatisfied with existing schools. You are not saying that. Even where
:26:17. > :26:19.they are dissatisfied with existing schools, they cannot set up free
:26:20. > :26:25.schools and you are reneging on that. We live in difficult economic
:26:26. > :26:31.circumstances where we have got to focus public finances on the areas
:26:32. > :26:37.of absolute need. We need 250,0 0 new school places. 150,000 in London
:26:38. > :26:44.alone. We have to focus on building new schools and where we have to put
:26:45. > :26:48.them. And secondly... Absolutely not. Focusing on those schools.
:26:49. > :26:53.Making sure we turned them around, just as we did in Government. We
:26:54. > :26:57.have had a remarkable degree of waste under the free school
:26:58. > :27:02.programme. If you think of the free school in Derby, the Academy in
:27:03. > :27:06.Bradford, and as we saw in the Telegraph on Friday, the free
:27:07. > :27:09.schools in Suffolk, a great deal of waste of public money on
:27:10. > :27:12.underperforming free schools. That is not the Labour way. We focus on
:27:13. > :27:18.making sure that kids in schools at the moment get the best possible
:27:19. > :27:24.education. Except that in your own backyard, in Stoke, only 34% of
:27:25. > :27:32.secondary school pupils attend a good or outstanding school. 148 out
:27:33. > :27:34.of 150 of the worst performing local authorities and it is
:27:35. > :27:39.Labour-controlled. Still terrible schools and yet you say parents
:27:40. > :27:43.should not have the freedom to start a better school. We have great
:27:44. > :27:46.schools in Stoke-on-Trent as well. We face challenges, just as
:27:47. > :27:52.Wolverhampton does and the Isle of Wight and Lincolnshire. Just like
:27:53. > :27:57.large parts of the country. What is the solution to that? Making sure we
:27:58. > :28:01.share excellence among the existing schools and making sure we have
:28:02. > :28:04.quality leadership in schools. Those schools in Stoke-on-Trent are all
:28:05. > :28:09.academies. It is not a question only of structure but of leadership. It
:28:10. > :28:12.is also a question of going back to the responsibility of parents to
:28:13. > :28:16.make sure their kids are school ready when they get to school. To
:28:17. > :28:50.make sure they are reading to their children in the evening. We can t
:28:51. > :28:53.put it all on teachers. Parents have responsibilities. I understand that
:28:54. > :28:55.but you have told me Labour's policy would not be to set up new schools
:28:56. > :28:58.which parents hope will be better. Parents continue to send their kids
:28:59. > :29:01.to bad schools in areas like Stoke. Labour has had plenty of time to
:29:02. > :29:03.sort out these schools in Stoke and they are still among the worst
:29:04. > :29:06.performing in the country. You are condemning these parents to having
:29:07. > :29:09.to send their kids to bad schools. Where we have seen the sett ing up
:29:10. > :29:11.of Derby, Suffolk, we have seen that is not the simple solution. Is
:29:12. > :29:14.simply setting up a new is not a successful model. What works is good
:29:15. > :29:16.leadership. I was in Birmingham on Friday at a failing comprehensive is
:29:17. > :29:19.not a successful model. What works is good leadership. I was in
:29:20. > :29:21.Birmingham on Friday at a failing comprehensive school and now people
:29:22. > :29:23.are queueing round the block to get into it. You can turn around schools
:29:24. > :29:25.with the right leadership, passionate and motivated teachers,
:29:26. > :29:30.and parents engaged with the learning outcome of their kids. In
:29:31. > :29:36.the last few years of the Labour Government, only four kids from your
:29:37. > :29:38.this Government would set up the new school. In Birmingham, they got in a
:29:39. > :29:41.great headmaster and turned the school around and now people are
:29:42. > :29:43.queueing round the block to get into it. You can turnaround schools with
:29:44. > :29:45.the right leadership, passionate and motivated teachers, and parents
:29:46. > :29:48.engaged with the learning outcome of their kids. In the last few years of
:29:49. > :29:51.a Labour Government, only four kids from your area of and you had plenty
:29:52. > :29:54.of chances to put this right but only four got to the two and you had
:29:55. > :30:00.plenty of chances to put this right but only four got to the two leading
:30:01. > :30:04.universities. Traditionally young people could leave school at 16 and
:30:05. > :30:07.walking two jobs in the potteries, the steel industry, the
:30:08. > :30:09.traditionally young people could leave school at 16 and walking two
:30:10. > :30:16.jobs in the potteries, the steel industry, the but also to get an
:30:17. > :30:22.apprenticeship at Jaguar Land Rover, JCB, Rolls-Royce. That is why
:30:23. > :30:28.Ed Miliband's focus on the forgotten 15%, which we have just not seen
:30:29. > :30:39.from this Government, focusing on technical and vocational pathways,
:30:40. > :30:55.is fundamental to Your headmaster was guiles Slaughter. Was he a good
:30:56. > :31:03.teacher? He He never taught me. Over 90% of teeners in the private
:31:04. > :31:06.sector are qualified. They look for not simply teachers with qualified
:31:07. > :31:10.teacher status. Teachers with MAs. Teachers who are improving them
:31:11. > :31:19.cephalitis. Becoming better educators.
:31:20. > :31:20.cephalitis. Becoming better teaching. You were taught by
:31:21. > :31:25.unqualified teachers. Your parents paid over ?15,000 a year for you
:31:26. > :31:30.being taught by unqualified teachers. Why did you make such a
:31:31. > :31:34.big deal of it? Because we've seen right around the world those
:31:35. > :31:40.education systems which focus on having the most qualified teachers
:31:41. > :31:47.perform the best. It cannot be right that anyone can simply turn up, as
:31:48. > :31:50.at the moment, have schools at veritising for unqualified teachers
:31:51. > :31:57.teaching in the classroom. We want the best qualified teachers with the
:31:58. > :32:03.deepest subject knowledge, for the passion in learning for their kids.
:32:04. > :32:07.It is absurd we are having arguments about this. Simply having a paper
:32:08. > :32:13.qualification doesn't make you a great teacher. Let me take you to
:32:14. > :32:19.Brighton college. It is gone from the 147th to the 18 18th best
:32:20. > :32:34.private school in the land. Fllt the headmaster says:
:32:35. > :32:46.This is the top Sundaytimes school of the year. The school in derby
:32:47. > :32:49.where this Government allowed unqualified teaching assist taints.
:32:50. > :32:53.We had teachers who could barely speak English. That is because if
:32:54. > :32:58.you have unqualified teachers you end up with a dangerous situation.
:32:59. > :33:02.The problem with that school was not unqualified teachers. People were
:33:03. > :33:08.running that school who were unfit to run a school. We have an issue
:33:09. > :33:12.about discipline and behaviour management in some of our schools.
:33:13. > :33:16.Some of the skills teachers gain through qualifications and learning
:33:17. > :33:20.is how to manage classes and get the best out of kids at every stage It
:33:21. > :33:26.doesn't end with a qualified teacher status. That's just the beginning.
:33:27. > :33:31.We want our teachers to have continue it will development. It is
:33:32. > :33:37.not good enough to have your initial teacher trainingaged work through
:33:38. > :33:42.your career for 30 years. You need continual learning. Learning how to
:33:43. > :33:46.deal with digital technology. Refresh your subject knowledge. As
:33:47. > :33:52.an historian I help teachers. You've taught as an unqualified teacher.
:33:53. > :33:58.Not in charge of a subject group. I give the odd lecture. I'm-y to go to
:33:59. > :34:03.as many schools as possible. I don't blame you. It is uplifting. Would
:34:04. > :34:11.you sack all unqualified teachers? We'd want them all to gain teacher
:34:12. > :34:16.status. What if they say no? If they are not interested in improving
:34:17. > :34:23.skills and deepening their knowledge they should not be in the classroom.
:34:24. > :34:28.If a free school or academy hired a teach thinking they are a great
:34:29. > :34:33.teacher but unqualified, if they are then forced by you to fire them
:34:34. > :34:37.they will be in breach of the law. They are being urged by us to make
:34:38. > :34:42.sure they have qualified teacher status. We've lots of unqualified
:34:43. > :34:46.teachers as long as they are on the pathway to making sure they are
:34:47. > :34:51.qualified. But if they say they don't want to do this, will you fire
:34:52. > :34:55.them? It is not an unreasonable suggestion is that the teachers in
:34:56. > :34:59.charge of our young people have qualifications to teach and inspire
:35:00. > :35:05.our young people particularly when we face global competition from
:35:06. > :35:10.Shanghai, Korea and so on. The head teacher of Brighton college finds
:35:11. > :35:16.incredibly inspeechational teachers who don't' necessarily have a
:35:17. > :35:23.teaching qualifications. It is a different skill to teach ten young
:35:24. > :35:27.nice boys and girls in Brighton to teaches 20 or 30 quids with
:35:28. > :35:31.challenging circumstances, special educational needs, different
:35:32. > :35:36.ability. Being a teacher at Brighton college is an easy gig in comparison
:35:37. > :35:43.to other schools. Where we want teachers to have a capacity to teach
:35:44. > :35:50.properly. Do you think Tristram could ever lead the Labour Party? I
:35:51. > :35:55.think Ed is a great leader, the reforms yesterday were a real sign
:35:56. > :35:58.for his leadership. And the fact David Owen, the man with a
:35:59. > :36:03.pre-history with our party is back with us. It is great. Even Gideon
:36:04. > :36:12.had to change his name to George. Have you thought of switching to
:36:13. > :36:17.Tommy or Tony? Maybe not Tony! Michael Foot was called Dingle Foot.
:36:18. > :36:21.I love the Labour because it accepts everybody from me to Len McCluskey.
:36:22. > :36:24.We are a big, broad happy family on our way to Government. Thank you
:36:25. > :36:29.very much. our way to Government. Thank you
:36:30. > :36:34.You're watching The Sunday Politics. We say goodbye to viewers in
:36:35. > :36:51.Scotland who leave us for Sunday politics Scotland. In over 20
:36:52. > :36:57.A warm and springlike welcome to you. This week are government
:36:58. > :37:05.welfare reforms increasing poverty? We asked the Archbishop of
:37:06. > :37:10.Newcastle. We are in Cumbria meeting residents who say they are getting a
:37:11. > :37:18.raw deal. We have the man recently named a rising star, James Wharton.
:37:19. > :37:32.With him the woman tried to hit the high spots, . The government's
:37:33. > :37:37.welfare reforms are causing concerns. 27 Anglican bishops signed
:37:38. > :37:40.a letter blaming welfare cuts and failure is in the benefit system for
:37:41. > :37:45.the increase in the use of the banks. Now the Bishop of Newcastle
:37:46. > :37:50.has also signed a letter and he as been speaking to us. I believe one
:37:51. > :37:58.of the marks of a civilised society is how well we care for the progress
:37:59. > :38:02.and most fun rubble and midst. `` vulnerable. The fact that people are
:38:03. > :38:08.having to resort to such measures, they are on the breadline, that is
:38:09. > :38:12.an indictment on is all I think. Part of me thinks to myself we
:38:13. > :38:17.should be ashamed of ourselves to allow this to happen. Yes, we have
:38:18. > :38:29.got a crisis. And I think that the food banks are merely putting as ``
:38:30. > :38:35.a plaster over the wound. If you have David Cameron note `` standing
:38:36. > :38:43.in front of you, what would you say to him? Please take a look at it.
:38:44. > :38:50.The government says it's reforms are giving people new hope and freeing
:38:51. > :38:54.them from a cycle of dependency. One MP said that David Cameron should
:38:55. > :39:09.make that clear to critics in the clergy. There is nothing
:39:10. > :39:12.particularly wrong about pouring more even borrowed money into
:39:13. > :39:19.systems which contract people in poverty and trap them into
:39:20. > :39:23.dependence. Is the church right to get involved in such a controversial
:39:24. > :39:33.and political debate? Who has the moral high ground when it comes to
:39:34. > :39:43.these changes? Punishing the Pru, do you take note of them? `` the poor.
:39:44. > :39:48.Relative child poverty has decreased to the lowest level since 1986. We
:39:49. > :39:54.have to reform welfare because it was trapping people on benefits.
:39:55. > :39:58.There is nothing dispiriting than getting trapped on benefits and
:39:59. > :40:03.state holding you back rather than helping you go forward. It is right
:40:04. > :40:12.that benefit should be there for those who need it. The clergy may be
:40:13. > :40:18.more clued up than the government. They are seeing in reality what is
:40:19. > :40:24.happening with your policies. No one is arguing that we have gone through
:40:25. > :40:30.a very difficult economic period. The poorest have been made to
:40:31. > :40:35.suffer. 1.3 million people I know in work. We see relative child poverty
:40:36. > :40:41.decreasing to levels not seen before the 1980s. The government is helping
:40:42. > :40:48.those who want to get into work, get into work. Are they wrong? They are
:40:49. > :40:54.telling one side of the story. There is nothing moral and leaving people
:40:55. > :40:57.and welfare. It is good for the people and the taxpayer. There is
:40:58. > :41:05.nothing moral about leaving people in welfare. They want to change a
:41:06. > :41:09.system that will lift people with no incentives to get out of benefits.
:41:10. > :41:16.Everyone wants to bring the welfare bill down. The way we do it as the
:41:17. > :41:20.key. Bedroom tax, people have been forced to use the food bank is a
:41:21. > :41:25.moral in my opinion. For the first time ever, there are more children
:41:26. > :41:30.living in poverty and working families than ever before. After
:41:31. > :41:34.Labour took 1 million people out of poverty, there are more no going
:41:35. > :41:39.back into poverty. The focus is getting people back into work. That
:41:40. > :41:44.is the key route out of getting people `` of getting people out of
:41:45. > :41:49.poverty. It is the right type of work as well. It is not people in
:41:50. > :42:05.part`time jobs looking for full`time jobs. Not having working tax
:42:06. > :42:15.benefits paying as... It is not just people and work `` out of work true
:42:16. > :42:23.in poverty, it is people who are in work. We want more, we have a long
:42:24. > :42:28.way to go, particularly in regions in the north`east where unemployment
:42:29. > :42:32.has been high for generations. Steel`making is back in Teeside.
:42:33. > :42:37.This government is bringing jobs to this region. The bishops are still
:42:38. > :42:40.concerned. They are concerned that the system is not working right.
:42:41. > :42:45.There are gaps were people get no benefits. Nobody should be left with
:42:46. > :42:51.a gap where they do not get any benefits. It is not happening on a
:42:52. > :42:55.huge scale, where it is happening, people should get advice and sort
:42:56. > :42:58.out what the problem is. We have a functioning welfare system that
:42:59. > :43:03.looks after people who need it. It does not do everything it needs to
:43:04. > :43:07.do to help people get into work. If somebody finds that it does not work
:43:08. > :43:13.for them, it is important they go and see their MP or citizens and
:43:14. > :43:30.bass to get help. `` citizens advice. Do you think people should
:43:31. > :43:33.be paid more? There are people being attacked by their welfare reforms.
:43:34. > :43:37.It is standing up for everybody. James talks about all these jobs
:43:38. > :43:41.that have been created. If they are not enough to subsidise a family and
:43:42. > :43:46.paid for your family, it is not a good enough job.
:43:47. > :43:51.If you live in a rural area like Cumbria, Northumbria or North
:43:52. > :43:56.Yorkshire, you will earn less than you live in a city. The amount spent
:43:57. > :44:03.on your local services will be lower as well. MPs representing these a
:44:04. > :44:07.want that to change and they are supporting a rural campaign for
:44:08. > :44:13.fairer share. This is one of the's jobs. She runs
:44:14. > :44:22.a mobile hairdressing business, works as a provincial photographer
:44:23. > :44:28.and is a trained firefighter. `` professional. Most people like you
:44:29. > :44:33.talk to now have more than one job. The reason is because bills are
:44:34. > :44:38.high, fuel is a huge thing. You have to spend a lot on fuel to travel
:44:39. > :44:42.around remote areas. To make ends meet you need four or five jobs to
:44:43. > :44:47.pay the wages because nobody takes people on full time any more. They
:44:48. > :44:50.are all part`time jobs, there is nothing permanent and full`time.
:44:51. > :44:57.That is why I have four different jobs. This is the most sparsely
:44:58. > :45:04.populated district. Council tax is high and so is the cost for
:45:05. > :45:08.providing local services. It is a basic service but it eats up council
:45:09. > :45:15.cash. What we want is a level playing field. I think it is not
:45:16. > :45:19.difficult to see how the costs of services in our area differ if you
:45:20. > :45:25.take collecting refuse. The truck that has been down here to do ``
:45:26. > :45:29.today will have travelled 75 miles today. There are plenty of benefits
:45:30. > :45:34.to living in the countryside, all this praise glorious views and fresh
:45:35. > :45:39.air. But there are downsides to when it comes to local services. Rural
:45:40. > :45:43.councils receive far less funding than their urban counterparts.
:45:44. > :45:52.Cumbria and Northumberland to get just over ?940 a head. Well
:45:53. > :45:56.Newcastle and its `` Gateshead get 1040. This man travels around the
:45:57. > :46:02.region doing sheep shearing. He is fed up getting a raw deal. Not
:46:03. > :46:06.getting as good as service as urban areas as the county the county. No
:46:07. > :46:14.street lights, bus routes are nonexistent. The do not run that
:46:15. > :46:19.often, our closest is 2.5 miles away, it is potentially going to
:46:20. > :46:24.close. Our roads of the last ones to get gritted and called weather. With
:46:25. > :46:31.all local authorities losing money in the recent years, the argument
:46:32. > :46:37.for equality is clear, the fight to win it could get messy.
:46:38. > :46:44.The MP for Penrith is supporting rural fairer share campaign. What
:46:45. > :46:48.changed you want to see here? What we would like is a commitment from
:46:49. > :46:53.the government that over a five`year period they rebalance this, they
:46:54. > :46:58.begin to get a fairer deal for rural areas so we get something closer
:46:59. > :47:01.power had to what urban areas get. We understand this will be difficult
:47:02. > :47:04.for urban areas because they will lose. We would like to see a
:47:05. > :47:11.direction of travel, we would like to see the government say this is
:47:12. > :47:18.planned over the five years and we want to close up the gap. Are you
:47:19. > :47:23.going to say that you are going to take money from the urban areas and
:47:24. > :47:27.give it to the countryside? We have to be clear that these things are
:47:28. > :47:30.difficult to measure. There is deprivation in urban areas but you
:47:31. > :47:35.must not underestimate the problem is rural areas are facing. Our homes
:47:36. > :47:41.are very difficult to heat because they are old`fashioned homes. We pay
:47:42. > :47:47.more on fuel, people are far away from schools and shops. We pay more
:47:48. > :47:52.in council tax and we receive less and services. So we cannot get into
:47:53. > :47:55.a world where we feel that the only people who are struggling urban
:47:56. > :48:01.areas. Rural areas also have a tough time. Your government is full of
:48:02. > :48:12.rural representatives, they would say they are parties of the
:48:13. > :48:16.countryside, one council lost ?800,000 from this one. It was ?24
:48:17. > :48:20.million in funding this year. It will not make a lot of difference.
:48:21. > :48:24.The amount of government money we get is not enough. We need to change
:48:25. > :48:31.the formula. The way the decisions are made need to change. In the long
:48:32. > :48:35.run I believe that we need to take more control of our own finances. We
:48:36. > :48:40.need a more clear relationship between the amount of money we pay a
:48:41. > :48:45.tax and the services we receive. The time is coming when we need to look
:48:46. > :48:48.more at an American model where we have more localism, where we have
:48:49. > :48:54.more control in an area of our finances. The key is the money. Your
:48:55. > :48:58.government has been in power three years, and so far it is chicken
:48:59. > :49:03.feed. That is the message. And it is not changing. Exactly will stop and
:49:04. > :49:08.we need them to change. Why are they not changing? It is because the
:49:09. > :49:13.urban areas are saying we have huge deprivation and they are reluctant
:49:14. > :49:17.to lose anything. If you look at NHS funding at the moment, it is
:49:18. > :49:24.difficult to change the status quo, because every time to `` you make it
:49:25. > :49:28.more equitable, the people who lose that are very angry. We have this
:49:29. > :49:32.incredible problem that will only be resolved when we get out of central
:49:33. > :49:37.government playing God and deciding how much an urban or rural area gets
:49:38. > :49:43.I'm giving more control to the local area saw local councils raised local
:49:44. > :49:51.taxes and to local spending. I know you feel passionately about this. It
:49:52. > :49:56.was dominated lately by the bedroom tax, whether Scotland should be
:49:57. > :50:00.independent. You think it is between love between the two countries and
:50:01. > :50:05.sentiment. The only thing that will keep us together as remembering we
:50:06. > :50:09.are family. You cannot say when a family is breaking apart that you
:50:10. > :50:13.say it is going to be too expensive. You need to be to say we
:50:14. > :50:19.will miss you. What I would like to see where everybody, Northumbria and
:50:20. > :50:27.Cumbria, finds a way of saying, in an understated, funny, British way,
:50:28. > :50:31.not pompous, we may have our differences, but in the end we love
:50:32. > :50:35.you. Rory Stewart, thank you. This week the government revealed
:50:36. > :50:40.its new strategy on child poverty and says it is still committed to
:50:41. > :50:46.eliminating it by 2020. But Labour is not convinced. Alan Milburn says
:50:47. > :50:53.coalition policy is making it worse. It is a target that will be
:50:54. > :51:01.missed by a country mile. Here we have some of the highest levels of
:51:02. > :51:06.child poverty. This is where I `` average incomes are less than
:51:07. > :51:16.national incomes. 67% of children live in poverty. In Newcastle's
:51:17. > :51:24.Westgate Ward, the figure is 59%. In Cumbria, four out of ten children in
:51:25. > :51:26.one area live in poverty. The work and pensions Secretary Iain Duncan
:51:27. > :51:31.Smith said those figures are discredited because they are linked
:51:32. > :51:37.to average incomes which go up and recently have gone down. He wants a
:51:38. > :51:51.better way of measuring child poverty. Money is always going to be
:51:52. > :51:56.an issue about what you do with that money is important. If you do not
:51:57. > :51:59.get your kids to school, if you do not get children to school, they do
:52:00. > :52:04.not have a way out of poverty any way. We have to start with where
:52:05. > :52:08.these children are and help their parents to getting them to school in
:52:09. > :52:12.the morning. They need to know it is the most important thing they can do
:52:13. > :52:17.for them, safety and schooling, that is what it is all about. That is not
:52:18. > :52:23.about a check, that is about a way of life. To have one child poverty
:52:24. > :52:27.measure light Labour dead, is simplistic. Relative income can
:52:28. > :52:32.change according to circumstances. It does not matter if a mother has a
:52:33. > :52:41.heroin addiction, you cannot use just that. We need to do something
:52:42. > :52:45.about child poverty instead and something more practical. The
:52:46. > :52:48.projected figures there, there will be another 400,000 children in
:52:49. > :52:53.poverty by the end of this government. I was talking to someone
:52:54. > :52:58.from my local food bank and there are 300 referrals that the moment to
:52:59. > :53:02.the food bank in parallel. We need to do something about it because
:53:03. > :53:06.there are children involved and that as well. James Wharton, the
:53:07. > :53:12.statistics we had about this region are depressing. There are no size it
:53:13. > :53:19.is getting better, is there? 100,000 fewer children in relative poverty.
:53:20. > :53:25.We are all being paid less. This is what Iain Duncan Smith is saying.
:53:26. > :53:28.The whole measure is wrong. Money is important but if we need to look at
:53:29. > :53:33.a whole range of factors that influence how a child is made ``
:53:34. > :53:38.brought up. If you have more money, whether your parents spend it on
:53:39. > :53:42.alcohol, drugs or satellite television, that will not let you
:53:43. > :53:51.out of poverty. We need an intelligent and sensible approach.
:53:52. > :53:57.It is going to get `` to be about getting people off benefits. We have
:53:58. > :54:07.the Universal Credit which is in chaos. It is not in courage in, is
:54:08. > :54:10.it? You cannot have it both ways. The reality is that we are seeing
:54:11. > :54:15.people being lifted out of poverty by getting people back into work.
:54:16. > :54:20.That is what we have to do as a government. We are heading in the
:54:21. > :54:24.right direction, we have to continue to do that. Where people need
:54:25. > :54:32.support, the welfare system must give them that. Lee Sheriff, your
:54:33. > :54:40.government `` party wants to be in government beyond 2015. With the
:54:41. > :54:46.welfare reform, if their family have sanctioned their benefits, it is the
:54:47. > :54:52.children that will suffer. There is no more money. Can you eradicate
:54:53. > :54:57.child poverty by 2020? The last Labour government proved it. There
:54:58. > :55:08.were 1 million children taken out by `` out of poverty. There are 400,000
:55:09. > :55:13.going back in there. Where you have working people who are still in
:55:14. > :55:17.poverty. So more state subsidy? Again it comes down to the
:55:18. > :55:22.employees. If people are working, they need to have waged to allow the
:55:23. > :55:28.family to live so there is less need for tax credits which brings down
:55:29. > :55:32.the welfare as well. You are never going to reach this target, so why
:55:33. > :55:37.bother with it? It is never a bad thing to have a target to reduce
:55:38. > :55:44.child poverty. We must understand child poverty in a mature and they
:55:45. > :55:49.are away. It is about what it means to that child and what it means to
:55:50. > :55:53.that child's life. I would not like the government to scrap it. Some
:55:54. > :55:57.signs are that it is getting better. The solution will not be
:55:58. > :56:02.Labour's solution to throw more money at it. There is no money
:56:03. > :56:06.there. One police force covers the whole of Scotland. Do we need three
:56:07. > :56:12.in the north`east? That is one question being at as the area is
:56:13. > :56:23.looking at ways of reducing costs in this region.
:56:24. > :56:27.Labour's floating the idea of merging police forces. Chris Leslie
:56:28. > :56:33.said the current structure 43 separate forces may not be
:56:34. > :56:37.affordable in the future. Robert Goodwill who is the MP for
:56:38. > :56:44.Scarborough and Whitby was at Newcastle airport to launch a new
:56:45. > :56:47.business park. It is a good example of how an effective and successful
:56:48. > :56:59.regional airport can be part of the whole economy. The water in `` this
:57:00. > :57:04.MP said selling services should have an impact on jobs in Durham. It
:57:05. > :57:13.could lose more jobs and its new budget. The north`east is to get an
:57:14. > :57:27.extra ?7 million to extensive fast broadband. Extend its.
:57:28. > :57:37.Would you be prepared to see police forces merged if it would save
:57:38. > :57:42.jobs? We need to find out how it will work most effectively. It is it
:57:43. > :57:46.`` is it something you could stomach if it was merged? It is something we
:57:47. > :57:52.have said we would look at. But you personally, would you justify that
:57:53. > :57:56.to your constituents? If the consultation said it was the best
:57:57. > :58:01.way to go forward, then yes. You said Cleveland police are in the
:58:02. > :58:16.last chance alone. I am not convinced about having saying a ``
:58:17. > :58:21.is single regional police force. Their management has staggered from
:58:22. > :58:29.one disaster to another. He seems more interested in appointing people
:58:30. > :58:41.at ?85,000 a year to manage it. The public generally do not want to see
:58:42. > :58:49.the `` their police forces merged. In Cleveland police force, we are
:58:50. > :58:52.still seeing problems. The new chief constable is trying to get to grips
:58:53. > :59:00.with that. If there are more problems there, there may be a need
:59:01. > :59:04.for change and this could be it. Could you merge police forces and
:59:05. > :59:10.still keep the local knowledge? If you have a police constable based in
:59:11. > :59:15.Lancaster, it could be a problem? It is a case of looking at it and
:59:16. > :59:18.seeing how it could work. If we can work together without merging that
:59:19. > :59:23.could be the way to do it. It is something to look at, there are no
:59:24. > :59:28.definite and so is there, no definite decisions been made. That
:59:29. > :59:36.is it from us. If you want more from me, check out my blog. Next week we
:59:37. > :59:41.will be asking if the government's Government to change it. Thank you
:59:42. > :59:49.both for being here. Andrew, back to you.
:59:50. > :59:57.This week grant Shap said he wanted to rebrand the Tories as the
:59:58. > :00:00.workers' party to show it can reach out to