Browse content similar to 29/01/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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And in the North West: Salford says yes to an elected | :01:22. | :01:24. | |
mayor, but it looks like Liverpudlians will not get any say | :01:24. | :01:34. | |
:01:34. | :01:35. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2023 seconds | :01:35. | :35:18. | |
in the matter at all. We bring you Welcome to the Sunday Politics in | :35:18. | :35:21. | |
the North West. In the next 20 minutes: | :35:22. | :35:25. | |
Salford says yes to an elected mayor, but it looks like voters in | :35:25. | :35:30. | |
Liverpool will not even get asked. We talk to the city's leader. | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
A big week in local politics here, then. Before we get to that, let's | :35:34. | :35:40. | |
meet this week's MPs. Today, we welcome the Labour MP for | :35:40. | :35:43. | |
Rochdale, Simon Danzcuk, and the Conservatives MP for Morecambe and | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
Lunesdale, David Morris. David, I gather you have been flirting with | :35:47. | :35:56. | |
a former career this week. Yes, I have written a song before the | :35:56. | :36:01. | |
local community. It has been a reawakening of warm up former | :36:01. | :36:08. | |
career at that I had. You used to write songs for Rick Astley. I did. | :36:08. | :36:13. | |
25 years ago. I'm a politician now, there is that turn up for the | :36:13. | :36:22. | |
book's! Any artistic ambitions yourself, Simon? Not really. I'm | :36:22. | :36:27. | |
not good in terms of artistic endeavours. Just before the general | :36:27. | :36:33. | |
election, I did at turn-on karaoke and I think that cost me about 50 | :36:33. | :36:43. | |
:36:43. | :36:51. | ||
volts, so best avoided! Glee will speak you in a minute. | :36:51. | :36:54. | |
It's time to ask how should our councils be run? On Thursday, there | :36:54. | :36:57. | |
was a referendum in Salford where people voted to get a directly | :36:57. | :36:59. | |
elected mayor. But in Liverpool, the council leader has decided | :36:59. | :37:03. | |
there is no need for a referendum and plans to switch to a mayor | :37:03. | :37:06. | |
through a special council meeting. I have been to both cities to | :37:06. | :37:08. | |
consider the contrast. Campaigners triggered a referendum | :37:08. | :37:14. | |
in Salford. But there was no rush to the polls. Turnout was just 18%. | :37:14. | :37:19. | |
The number of votes cast in favour of guests was 17,000. | :37:19. | :37:29. | |
:37:29. | :37:29. | ||
That was 56% of voters opted for a mayor. You are backtracking. | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
least it stirred up passions on the council. The existing system of a | :37:32. | :37:35. | |
council leader elected by fellow councillors rather than voters will | :37:35. | :37:41. | |
soon end. I am a democrat and I made it clear up my preference for | :37:41. | :37:46. | |
the other system. But, in May, I will be making it clear that my | :37:46. | :37:50. | |
intention, if I was lucky enough to be the candidate, would be to make | :37:50. | :38:00. | |
:38:00. | :38:02. | ||
the system work. Campaigners are hoping for more radical change. | :38:02. | :38:05. | |
Hopefully this will be a beacon to other cities that if you commit and | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
vote, you can make the change in inner-city is run. Here, the Labour | :38:10. | :38:15. | |
Party is planning to hold a vote in council. Opponents say that is not | :38:15. | :38:20. | |
right. You have to give people a chance to care. The Government has | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
suggested we have this referendum. It is the right people to say he | :38:24. | :38:31. | |
they are governed. And we found quite a few people who do want a | :38:31. | :38:35. | |
say. It is their city, so they should have the right to choose. | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
They it has not been picked to was, but I believe we should have the | :38:38. | :38:42. | |
vote. Joe Landers and should know better because he has always been | :38:42. | :38:46. | |
for Liverpool and all this and he has been decision that seems to be | :38:46. | :38:52. | |
just for himself. But Joe Anderson has also seized the political | :38:52. | :38:56. | |
initiative. Joining me now from Liverpool is | :38:56. | :39:01. | |
the Labour leader of the city council, Joe Anderson. You heard in | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
that report that there are certainly a number of people of | :39:04. | :39:08. | |
Liverpool who would like icy on this. Yes, well, this is not about | :39:09. | :39:16. | |
to Jo Anderson, this the but the opportunity for Liverpool. -- this | :39:16. | :39:20. | |
is about the opportunity for Liverpool. I simply said to | :39:20. | :39:25. | |
government, what difference does the city media make in terms of a | :39:25. | :39:32. | |
or Conservative government players back point of view. -- Conservative | :39:32. | :39:40. | |
Government's point of view. This is a very big decision for the council | :39:40. | :39:43. | |
and am wondering why you're going making it rather than allowing the | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
city to decide as they have in Salford. It is a big decision for | :39:48. | :39:56. | |
the whole of the city. We have no associated a fund for the city, we | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
have Nicola seated significant powers. I would go out and campaign | :39:59. | :40:03. | |
in a referendum if we had one, asking for people to vote for that | :40:03. | :40:11. | |
and I guess that they would support it. Rather than waste money, which | :40:11. | :40:19. | |
does get on with this now. What does accept the money, the powers, | :40:19. | :40:26. | |
-- let us accept the money, the powers. It makes a significant | :40:26. | :40:32. | |
difference. Oh why did you change your mind on this issue? I am | :40:32. | :40:37. | |
looking back at Adam previous interview that you gave. This is a | :40:37. | :40:42. | |
quote. You said it is something I have never aspired to be. The | :40:42. | :40:45. | |
powers held by the leader of the Council are significantly greater | :40:45. | :40:49. | |
than what used to be. It in the powers that I hold a quite | :40:50. | :40:54. | |
significant and are enough. Why did you change your mind? | :40:54. | :40:57. | |
circumstances have changed. We have been negotiating with government | :40:57. | :41:02. | |
for last four months. I asked them what the difference was. I was | :41:02. | :41:06. | |
right to make that statement at that time, because there was no | :41:06. | :41:14. | |
difference. Now, there are �134 million difference. Other powers | :41:14. | :41:18. | |
not enough? I he can the poor has been a fit we have negotiated | :41:18. | :41:24. | |
enough power as -- new powers? how can the powers be enough that | :41:24. | :41:33. | |
we have had to negotiate new powers? Of course, things had | :41:33. | :41:40. | |
changed. They are not the same and that is why we have negotiated with | :41:40. | :41:48. | |
government. Is there actually a deal in place, because we see this | :41:48. | :41:53. | |
letter that has been leaked from the Nick Clegg, saying it is | :41:53. | :41:58. | |
important to clarify that no deal, including Liverpool's proposal is | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
contingent on having an elected mayor. You could have these powers | :42:01. | :42:06. | |
if you were going for a mayor or not. Nick Clegg also told us they | :42:06. | :42:13. | |
would be no increase in tuition fees. If he gives us an assurance, | :42:13. | :42:17. | |
but we can have this money, plus the money that we have Nicolas | :42:17. | :42:27. | |
:42:27. | :42:33. | ||
Smith, we will say OK. The fact is, Nick Clegg cannot do this. But you | :42:33. | :42:43. | |
:42:43. | :42:43. | ||
for talking to us. This is Conservative policy. The want to | :42:43. | :42:48. | |
see more of these measures? Personally, I do not have an | :42:48. | :42:52. | |
opinion one way or another in terms of a referendum. As long as we have | :42:52. | :42:57. | |
more democracy and more public say in her local services are run | :42:57. | :43:02. | |
although we have to Westminster. is a curious situation, from | :43:02. | :43:09. | |
Labour's point of view. What Labour government had previously and the | :43:09. | :43:17. | |
view is now is that are directly elected mayors are the right thing. | :43:17. | :43:23. | |
Why are the right in Liverpool and not Salford? I think Joe Anderson | :43:23. | :43:31. | |
is doing a good job. What did not mention is that all the | :43:31. | :43:38. | |
consultation done in years gone by clearly showed that they were in | :43:38. | :43:44. | |
favour of a directly at elected mayor for Liverpool. It was not a | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
referendum, but it showed that there was an appetite. Compare that | :43:48. | :43:52. | |
to Manchester, a previous consultation showed that there was | :43:52. | :43:59. | |
no appetite for a directly elected mayor. | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
Now, how important is your schooling on your future life | :44:02. | :44:10. | |
chances? It is sometimes thought that an education at an independent | :44:10. | :44:13. | |
school, where parents pay fees, can open doors which would otherwise | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
remain closed. But is it fair that very bright, but less well off | :44:16. | :44:19. | |
pupils do not get the same chance? In the past, governments have run | :44:20. | :44:22. | |
assisted places schemes, giving grants to those pupils. They were | :44:22. | :44:25. | |
last abolished in 1997. But now one charity wants to bring them back. | :44:25. | :44:30. | |
Naomi Cornwell reports. It's one of the most famous schools | :44:30. | :44:36. | |
in the country. Entry to Manchester Grammar is fiercely competitive. | :44:36. | :44:46. | |
:44:46. | :44:48. | ||
It's one of the most famous schools in the country. But for years it | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
has been proud of its efforts to take in pupils from every | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
background. We have had a long-term commitment to educating pooper | :44:54. | :45:04. | |
:45:04. | :45:04. | ||
children. -- poorer. From 1945, it was one of around 200 grammar | :45:04. | :45:07. | |
schools that received a direct grant from the Government which | :45:07. | :45:10. | |
guaranteed that a quarter of their places were given free to talented | :45:10. | :45:12. | |
scholarship children. The scheme was cut when Labour returned to | :45:12. | :45:15. | |
power in the 1970s, but a few years later Margaret Thatcher | :45:15. | :45:18. | |
reintroduced a similar scheme, only to be abolished again by Labour in | :45:18. | :45:21. | |
1997. Fast forward 15 years, and there are new calls for the | :45:21. | :45:23. | |
Government to fund places at independent schools for bright | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
children from poorer families. With free places for those whose parents | :45:26. | :45:29. | |
are below a certain income, then fees increasing according to a | :45:29. | :45:36. | |
family's means. When you look at our universities and or professions, | :45:36. | :45:40. | |
students from other independent schools tend to dominate. We want | :45:40. | :45:45. | |
those positions, some of them to go to people from less privileged | :45:45. | :45:49. | |
backgrounds. The Sutton Trust would like the Government to meet half | :45:49. | :45:52. | |
the cost of the scheme while the schools or charitable foundations | :45:52. | :45:55. | |
pay for the rest. And this school wants to be part of it. Our problem | :45:55. | :45:59. | |
is that for every boy that we accept, and get a bursary to, there | :45:59. | :46:05. | |
is another boy who is perfectly capable of walking in the way that | :46:05. | :46:10. | |
we need our boys to work, for them to flourish, but we have to turn | :46:10. | :46:17. | |
away. These are children from poorer families who want to be here, | :46:17. | :46:27. | |
:46:27. | :46:30. | ||
who are capable of keen year, but cannot afford it. It is an idea the | :46:30. | :46:35. | |
Sutton Trust has already trialed at this school in Liverpool. Between | :46:35. | :46:38. | |
2000 and 2007 entry to Belvedere School was based on merit alone. | :46:38. | :46:40. | |
Previously, few pupils had come from surrounding Toxteth, a | :46:40. | :46:43. | |
relatively disadvantaged area. But under the scheme, the social mix | :46:43. | :46:46. | |
became more diverse, with 30% of pupils on free places, 40% paying | :46:46. | :46:49. | |
partial fees and only 30% paying full fees. A former head girl | :46:49. | :46:51. | |
remembers the benefits of having friends from different backgrounds. | :46:51. | :46:54. | |
Looking back, you can see that we had a variety of people from lots | :46:54. | :46:58. | |
of different backgrounds and I think that added to the school and | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
was a positive thing. It meant that French it for form that might not | :47:02. | :47:10. | |
have otherwise. It has now changed from an independent school to an | :47:10. | :47:13. | |
academy. But a study by the University of Buckingham found that | :47:13. | :47:16. | |
the scheme had been generally successful, with the first group of | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
girls to reach GCSE age gaining the highest results ever seen at the | :47:19. | :47:22. | |
school. But one major teaching union is against the idea and | :47:22. | :47:25. | |
thinks the money could be better spent in the state system. For a | :47:25. | :47:28. | |
start, it is interesting this has been put forward at the time of | :47:28. | :47:31. | |
recession when a lot of people are taking their children out of | :47:31. | :47:35. | |
private schools because they cannot afford them. It seems a little bit | :47:35. | :47:40. | |
of a coincidence that this has, but at this time. The reality is that | :47:40. | :47:44. | |
this is money that is being taken away from comprehensive schools | :47:44. | :47:51. | |
that are presently using it and is yet another step in the at up -- | :47:51. | :47:55. | |
direction of dismantling the state education system. The Sutton Trust | :47:55. | :47:58. | |
has received cross party support for its research into how to widen | :47:58. | :48:01. | |
social mobility. But the Government's only official line on | :48:01. | :48:03. | |
the proposals is that it values all contributions to the education | :48:03. | :48:05. | |
debate. So, can this kind of scheme assist | :48:05. | :48:09. | |
social mobility? Well, joining me now is someone who certainly thinks | :48:09. | :48:11. | |
so. John Denny is the chief executive of Cosmopolitan Housing | :48:11. | :48:16. | |
Association. They have estates in Cheshire and Liverpool and they are | :48:16. | :48:20. | |
offering to pay for one boy from one of those estates to go to Eton. | :48:20. | :48:27. | |
So why are you doing this? I've been the direct answer to that is, | :48:27. | :48:31. | |
why not? If you look at some of the estates that my organisation and | :48:31. | :48:35. | |
others walking, no matter where you come from on the education debate, | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
there is a genuine lack of aspiration and I wonder where that | :48:41. | :48:51. | |
:48:51. | :48:52. | ||
lack creeps in sometimes. He -- where that -- where it that lack | :48:52. | :48:58. | |
creeps in sometimes. Aspiration is a good thing, but it seems extreme | :48:58. | :49:04. | |
that they have to go all the way to Eton. Like most things, if you look | :49:04. | :49:10. | |
at the total package, the work that the group does, we had schemes on a | :49:10. | :49:13. | |
drug rehabilitation on Criminal defenders, we create more | :49:13. | :49:17. | |
apprentices in Merseyside and Cheshire than most other | :49:17. | :49:25. | |
organisations put together, but equally, on our estate, there are | :49:25. | :49:30. | |
children at that with the support and help can achieve great things | :49:30. | :49:33. | |
and I do not been there should be taken away by anyone. My job as a | :49:33. | :49:39. | |
chief executive is to weave my way through some of these politics, but | :49:39. | :49:44. | |
introduce the seeds of aspiration in a positive way. Has there been | :49:44. | :49:48. | |
much interest in its offer? They are has been an awful lot, at some | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
of that good, some of the bat. If you sit in of the grip of resident | :49:52. | :50:00. | |
in Merseyside or Cheshire. -- if you sit with a group of resident in | :50:00. | :50:05. | |
Merseyside and Cheshire, the initially react saying that it is | :50:05. | :50:10. | |
not for the likes of them. I think it is for the likes of them. | :50:10. | :50:17. | |
Ultimately, most people turn around and say, yes, this is about having | :50:17. | :50:27. | |
:50:27. | :50:28. | ||
faith in that the children on their estates. What do you think? I think | :50:28. | :50:35. | |
it is good. It sounds a bit like a gimmick, to pet project. I do not | :50:35. | :50:40. | |
have a problem with it. What are we to see is the Government putting | :50:40. | :50:43. | |
money into state education so that more children have a better chance | :50:43. | :50:48. | |
of getting on in terms of aspirations and a meeting their | :50:48. | :50:52. | |
desired aspirations and getting on in life. That is not happening at | :50:52. | :51:02. | |
:51:02. | :51:05. | ||
the moment. David Morris? I think it is marvellous what is going on. | :51:05. | :51:08. | |
I think the assisted places scheme should never have been scrapped and | :51:08. | :51:12. | |
the first place and I hope the government look at the way of | :51:12. | :51:19. | |
bringing some kind of a scheme back. The thing that would be better? | :51:19. | :51:23. | |
Ultimately, what you're saying is that local schools are not good | :51:23. | :51:29. | |
enough. I am not saying that. I think the system lets kids down. If | :51:29. | :51:32. | |
you are born on one other estates, the chances of you succeeding are | :51:33. | :51:37. | |
considerably less than someone being born at two or three miles | :51:37. | :51:40. | |
away. That link between affluence and education has never been broken | :51:40. | :51:45. | |
and will not be broken. It we all worked towards the perfect model | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
that takes place in Sweden, with equitable access to all forms of | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
education, I would love to get to that. The reality of that taking | :51:54. | :51:57. | |
place and where we're waiting for that to happen, from my perspective, | :51:58. | :52:03. | |
this could that are not realising their potential, but is a -- it is | :52:03. | :52:11. | |
too high a price to pay. It should be about creating a more equal | :52:11. | :52:18. | |
society. We were moving towards that with the Labour government. | :52:18. | :52:22. | |
But social mobility went down in the Labour government. In terms of | :52:22. | :52:28. | |
getting people free school meals, the gap narrowed. In terms of | :52:28. | :52:32. | |
aspirations, this is about people having the opportunity to get on. | :52:32. | :52:40. | |
One of the big problems is that the government are not focusing on | :52:40. | :52:44. | |
employment. We have mass unemployment yet again. That would | :52:44. | :52:52. | |
put more children on to free school meals. I think diversity in | :52:52. | :52:57. | |
education, the Government is addressing that. A school in my | :52:57. | :53:02. | |
constituency closed down and I had a direct input in getting it | :53:02. | :53:07. | |
reopened again. It was dormant, closed, and sealed. It is now | :53:07. | :53:17. | |
:53:17. | :53:18. | ||
reopened. That is proof and the pudding and -- that is the proof in | :53:18. | :53:23. | |
the pudding. Now it's time for our 60 second | :53:23. | :53:29. | |
roundup of the week's events, with Gill Dummigan. | :53:29. | :53:31. | |
It has been revealed that Liverpool's world famous waterfront | :53:31. | :53:34. | |
could be in danger of losing its world heritage status because of a | :53:34. | :53:37. | |
�5.5 billion planning application. UNESCO has urged the council and | :53:37. | :53:46. | |
developers to go back to the drawing board. | :53:46. | :53:48. | |
Backers for a military-style school run by former soldiers in Oldham | :53:48. | :53:51. | |
say they have found potential premises. The Phoenix, as it would | :53:51. | :53:54. | |
be called, could open as one of the Government's new free schools. | :53:54. | :53:57. | |
Salford City Council is calling for payday lenders to be banned, or | :53:57. | :54:00. | |
have their interest rates capped. They say people often do not | :54:00. | :54:06. | |
realise what they are signing up to. A buyer really believe that someone | :54:06. | :54:11. | |
will commit suicide as a result of borrowing this type of money. | :54:11. | :54:17. | |
believe. Back in Liverpool again and city | :54:17. | :54:19. | |
council leaders want a club that hosted the British National Party's | :54:19. | :54:22. | |
annual conference to have its licence revoked. There were | :54:22. | :54:24. | |
protests outside the Cricketers Arms in Wavertree last October. The | :54:24. | :54:34. | |
:54:34. | :54:41. | ||
club's owners say they have done nothing wrong. | :54:41. | :54:46. | |
You are taking on that pay-day lenders. I think they are a Neville | :54:46. | :54:56. | |
:54:56. | :54:57. | ||
Lawrence. -- and abhorrence. It in pursuit -- I think we should | :54:57. | :55:02. | |
legislate against them. I agree with the David about that. The good | :55:02. | :55:06. |