15/01/2012 Sunday Politics North West

In the north-west: The government plans to extend the role of

voluntary services, but will it be the region's embattled employers

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1700 seconds

Welcome to Sunday Politics in It is a New Year and a new

programme, a new set, a new building, so welcome to it and this

week's guests. We have two MPs, Debbie Abrahams from Alton East and

Andrew Stevens for the Conservatives. They will be with us

for the whole show to talk over the week's events.

First, let's look at this week's big political story. George

Osborne's de tell plan regarding But not everyone is convinced. Our

political editor has been canvassing opinion.

It is a part of the north-west that has already taken off, but the

Chancellor avoided the champagne as he arrived at the launch of airport

city. He saw the plans to attract new businesses, offices and hotels,

and the decision to make it an enterprise zone has potentially

given the project rocket boosters. Their paucity was something that

was conceived before Enterprise zones, but it is equally the case

that enterprise zones, but to clear the way they are structured, will

accelerate Airport cities -- airports City. It will help

enormously in bringing in investment that will help Greater

Manchester economy as well. Plans for the wider enterprise zone are

ambitious cousin --: 20,000 new jobs over the next 15 years.

This car-park is where Airport City will be born. Offices and

businesses will spring up here, creating new jobs. But is there a

danger that what is good for those inside the zone will be bad for

those outside it? The if you take Rochdale as an example, we have

Kingsway business park, a very big project. That will not receive the

sort of benefits that will be received in Renaissance to this

enterprise zone. It creates competition between areas. Nearby

with inshore is within the gates of the enterprise zone and people we

met our work for they will not be locked out. It will get a lot of

people in work so it has to be a good thing. It can only get better,

they cannot get worse. Airport city looks set to be a winner. The

challenge for greater Manta bass Greater Manchester is to ensure

there are no losers. The plans for the Manchester

Enterprise zones are parodying the best in the country. What is

impressive is going with something that works already, the success of

Manchester Airport, but connecting it with other things in the job

community. It is good for the City, good for the local community as

well, and it is a really good idea of national and local government

can work together with the business community to make a success of

something. I am not sure of how you will measure whether it has been a

success or not. If it does attract thousands of new jobs, which I'm

sure it will, how would you know it would not have done that anyway?

think we have looked out what has worked in the past and what has not

worked when it comes to ideas like enterprise zones. In the past,

sometimes they have just moved one job from one part of a city to

another. What you see here with the plans at the airport are for new

business is coming to the city of Manchester, the attraction of new

businesses from the UK and abroad, you are standing in the marketing

suite, the room where they have got their plans they want to take to

the rest of the world, that is one of the tests of whether this will

be a success, whether we have got new companies that are not already

in Manchester moving into Manchester. For companies that are

already in Manchester, are they expanding? What is to stop someone

in Greater Manchester saying, we will move over there and take

advantage of the tax breaks? They are there to help, but that is not

the only reason to be in an enterprise zone. There will be good

transport links, good links. If you have a successful business here,

you will go on carrying a successful business. We want new

businesses. You were a small businessmen, that

does not sound quite right, does it?! Which you have jumped at the

chance of upsetting a business in one of these zones? They are a

really good idea. Being a small businessman, it would not have been

appropriate for my business to move there, but when you have got

manufacturing firms or engineering firms and thinking about expanding

abroad, now or with this option of enterprise zones are dotted across

the North of England in particular, firms can really look at investing

by a belief in the north-west rather than thinking, let's invest

abroad. Isn't it a sideshow to think that these zones, we should

be looking at regeneration everywhere? Absolutely. This is

what the Labour Party believes. The North West Development Agency was

very effective in terms of the regional strategy they had. I

absolutely -- absolutely agree with you. I am asking you! In terms of

the evidence around evidence sones, we know that 80 % of jobs are

likely to be a likely to be displaced. They are not new jobs,

that is a real concern. If we look at the 1990s when they were first

tried here, but also in the US as well, the evidence is not good.

have the 1980s as an example, but it is a factor idea originally. It

did not really work then. You can say the Docklands was a success.

That is a shining example of the success. But we need to ensure that

that success is replicated particularly in the northern

England because it is not just under the last Labour government,

but for a long time the country has become more and more unbalanced

with a north and south divide. More investment has gone into the south.

Labour has criticised the Tories for concentrating activity in the

south rather than spreading it across the country. Look at what we

have here in the media city, the first showed in this newly

developed site. This is just an example of the culture. There are

loads of different ways that we have achieved growth with in

different regions. Overall, they think this will be a success? It

will not take jobs away from different areas in the north-west?

Enterprise zones in particular airport city it will draw invest

and into the UK. It shows we are open for business and want firms to

invest it, we also want our big local firms. These are global

companies and when they think about where they will invest, we want

them to invest in Manchester and the north-west. Thank you it to you

both. Over the past few months, employers

have been giving the government their thoughts on the plans to

extend the role of volunteer reserves in the armed forces. The

consultation ends in two weeks. The plan is to increase the proportion

of volunteers from under 20 to 30 % and increase their role in active

service. The government argues it will be more efficient, but in

these difficult times, how will be beaten's employers cope with their

employees disappearing for months? On the ground and in the air,

reservists have become an important part of the operation in am --

Afghanistan. Part-time members of the army fill many roles. Being a

member, you realise that you will be needed to mobilise at some point

and give your support to the army. It is different when it is normal

day-to-day life. It is definitely an experience, definitely worth

having. In some areas, they are in charge. For the last three months,

the hospital at Camp Bastion has been under the command of a

hospital. The respect for the TA has grown immensely since

operations in Iraq. We have brought a number of skills to the regular

army. They have not got the right numbers any more so it is reservist

lead at the moment. Units like this could play an even bigger role in

the future. The government wants to adjust the

balance between regulars and reservists to give part-time

service men and women are a bigger role in the future. That would mean

a cut in the biggest service, the army, with the number of full-time

soldiers falling from 101,000 to 84,000 by 2020. The number of

reservists would stay the same, but they would become a bigger

proportion of the army. It the TA develops in the way we intend, we

envisage a total force of around 120,000 in the ratio of 70-13, a

regular to reserve. The change in number would be a company but extra

training and support, plus a bigger role for volunteers dealing with

emergencies in the UK. But some people think and increased reliance

on reservists could create problems. At this software company, they are

proud to support reservists. If deployed, their salary would be

played -- paid by the MoD. A lot of the changes coming into place now

do look like the government are trying to get businesses to foot

the bill of the army. For us, that means they could phone us and say

they are not coming into work. In our line of business, we have

customers and so on, that could be quite devastating. A small

companies can appeal if they object to their employee being sent away

on deployment. If the deployment of that person is going to cause

serious harm to their business, they can apply for a deferment or

an exemption against that mobilisation the moment that they

are granted fairly freely. If it were to be the case that far more

reservists were called up, it may become difficult if everyone is

applying for an exemption and everyone is granted one. One might

see a hardening of attitudes by the MoD. The MoD says any cuts to the

Red Army would be made after British troops withdraw from

Afghanistan in 2015. We did ask for an interview with

the MoD, but they have sent us a statement saying, we need to

restructure our forces to ensure that they are sufficiently the

flexible and adaptable to meet the The MoD could not join us, but we

have two experts on this issue. Joining us from Plymouth is a

commander from the UK National Defence Association who has

campaigned against the cuts. Also with us is Anna -- a defence

analysis begins the cuts are overdue. Why? I feel like the

defence cuts like the commander does. We have some ill-balanced

armed forces. Manpower is expensive and if we can find ways of getting

more economic called Manpower, of using reservists, the army in

particular, not much of it is on deployment at any one time. If,

instead of readied has been kept in barracks, there are people who can

work in civil society in the time when they are at home, in an army

publication decency, -- recently, it was said that one regular, three

reservists. Is it realistic to have part-time soldiers to be

sufficiently trained up as they would get full-time counterparts?

Even for timed ones go through tremendous training. 40 % of the

army is involved in training. Even the regulars have to be trained to

go to war. There are examples in recent complex -- conflicts are

people who were trained up and went out there and were successful. They

can be done. Commander, he recently signed a letter, along with other

colleagues from the armed forces, very much against these proposals

on the cards. What is your main problem, is it that you think that

these reservists are not up to the job of the frontline service?

answer is yes and no. The reservists and beat TA have done a

brilliant job in Afghanistan and Iraq, but, and it is a huge but,

they cannot compensate for the ecstasies, the long training of the

professionals. -- expertise. The implication of the earlier

statement that it will be two reservists to one professional and

we will have 130,000, X number will be TA, that will not work. It

really will not work. You cannot build an amateur, volunteer, with

the best of intentions, who have done a good job, but it takes time

and effort. Eric has just said that it takes an awful lot of training

for the professional. They are training all the time. The TA

cannot just pick it up. What the government must not do is try and

substitute TA for regular. The army is going down to 84, I will wager

anything it will go down to 80,000. That is too few. BT A, at the

moment, would only have about 1,500 immediately trained men to go out.

OK. We must not compare the way the TA is now with how we will be part

of this whole concept by 2020. BTA has suffered considerably. The

regular army has ransacked them for money and resources. They are in a

pretty poor state. For a year in 29, they were going to have no money

for training at all. The cuts are not coming in so presumably none of

this can happen? I think there ought to be, in the 2015 Review,...

The last one left an unbalanced overall force. The Navy and the RAF,

which arguably Britain needs more, suffered very severely. The army

wrap itself in the Afghan blanket. Commander, that argument that the

other forces have missed out for the sake of the army, what is your

opinion? This has got to be done on a dry service basis. The army and

navy must be reviewed collectively. If we start infighting, which has -

- which is happening, the only people the benefit will be the

Treasury. You cannot substitute TA for professional on a normal basis.

May I make the point that the experts who know what they are

talking about, and we had a Colonel -- a few colonels, they all saying

do not sacrifice the army for the TA. I will have to -- to stop you

But Bentley for joining us. This is very much an issue for small

businesses. We have not mention that, but they will stop got out

their employees on the from mine. think lots of businesses across the

north-west are really proud to have employees who are members of the

armed forces. The skills that they learn when they are on training are

transferable to the workplace. Many employers will be encouraged.

are concerned about the potential about there being more than 7,000

cuts. We would need some guarantees. The TA cannot, as the commander

said, a substitute for the regulars. They need to be integrate --

integrated. Thank you very much. Now it is time to look at what else

The north-west got that much nearer to London this week after the

government gave the green light to the first stage of the 80 s to

high-speed rail project. It will cut some journey times to just

under an hour, but critics feel that the scheme will carve up the

countryside and reduce funding other services. A damning report

has found that Wirral council over charged 16 adults with Langer --

learning that the bodies further nine years. There has been a call

for senior officers to resign. The whistle Blower said that he was

given a pay out and asked to keep quiet, but he refused. When you see

that things happening to good people, you have no choice but to

respond. At the British Geological Society,

they have been conclusions that it is extremely unlikely that drilling

for Shell Gas will lead to water Before we go, we should mention

that some good news for you. David Cameron backed York changed for

victims to challenge bail conditions. This has come in

because of a recent murder. Very good news, I was delighted when I

asked a question at delighted -- Prime Minister's Questions to get

such a positive response. The parents were in the gallery to hear

the news and it was fantastic. We should mention it is exactly one

year since he became an MP! How has it been? It has been wonderful. I

have thoroughly enjoyed it. Even in opposition, you can make a

difference and that is what I have tried to do. And thinking about the

health bill and now it is in the Lords but there is a chance to stop

this dreadful legislation going before stock thank you for joining