:01:30. > :01:40.And in the North West: In just three weeks, Liverpool will have a
:01:40. > :01:40.
:01:40. > :30:44.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1744 seconds
:30:45. > :30:48.mayor, but who? We hear from the Hello, I will -- I am Arif Ansari.
:30:48. > :30:51.In the next 20 minutes, we hear from the hopefuls for the top job
:30:51. > :30:53.in Liverpool as campaigning for the mayoral election gets on the home
:30:53. > :30:55.straight. First, let me introduce this week's
:30:55. > :30:58.guests. The Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, Louise Ellman, the
:30:58. > :31:00.Conservative MP for Weaver Vale, Graham Evans, and the Liberal
:31:01. > :31:04.Democrat MP for Southport, John Pugh. We're also joined by Dr
:31:04. > :31:07.Stuart Wilks-Heeg from Liverpool University.
:31:07. > :31:11.In just three weeks' time we will know who's been elected the new
:31:11. > :31:15.Mayor of Liverpool. It will be the first time any city in the region
:31:15. > :31:18.has had an election to choose the leader of the council - renamed the
:31:18. > :31:21.city mayor - and not to be confused with the Lord Mayor in the red
:31:21. > :31:31.cloak. There are 12 candidates standing for the job. Let's hear
:31:31. > :31:45.
:31:45. > :31:49.I want to use the new powers which all councillors have to make this a
:31:49. > :31:56.partnership setting. This is not a city that belongs to the council,
:31:56. > :32:05.it belongs to tip the 450,000 people who live here. -- it belongs
:32:05. > :32:09.What I would really like to do in Liverpool is create more jobs and
:32:09. > :32:13.more growth using my local and global business experience to
:32:13. > :32:17.improve the city's economy. I am also looking to improve council
:32:17. > :32:23.services and freeze council tax force for four years. Also to make
:32:23. > :32:33.Liverpool a cleaner, greener and safer and looking after our green
:32:33. > :32:37.
:32:37. > :32:41.If elected mayor, I would stop the local cuts. I would keep open the
:32:41. > :32:45.libraries and Sure Start centre us and reinstate grounds. I would
:32:45. > :32:52.bring jobs to the area and I would bring trade to the unemployed. I
:32:52. > :33:02.would reduce my salary by 50%, reduce council executives' pay and
:33:02. > :33:08.
:33:08. > :33:11.A vote for me is a win for the people of Liverpool. My manifesto
:33:11. > :33:21.message is all compulsory purchase orders in and around the
:33:21. > :33:25.
:33:25. > :33:30.communities will be called in and Liverpool has a chance to take his
:33:30. > :33:37.place on the world stage as a green city with Britain's first green men.
:33:37. > :33:42.We need slower traffic and less of it so our streets are safer --
:33:42. > :33:52.Britain's first green mayor. We can have a uniquely welcoming, high-
:33:52. > :33:57.
:33:57. > :34:01.quality urban environment that we Taxation is too high in this city
:34:01. > :34:05.and needs to be cut. I will run the city in the interest of the
:34:05. > :34:09.population and not the interests of the party machines. I will be tied
:34:09. > :34:15.to no party policy. A big issue is Anfield and the development of the
:34:15. > :34:25.super stadium there. I what Everton and Liverpool to come together and
:34:25. > :34:27.
:34:27. > :34:37.start action now on the site -- I So, plenty of people lining up to
:34:37. > :34:38.
:34:38. > :34:43.take on the job. Stuart Wilks-Heeg. Lot of confusion about what the
:34:43. > :34:47.city mayor is. Can you sum it up. simple change in some ways and in
:34:47. > :34:52.some ways a profound change. Previously, the leader of the
:34:52. > :34:57.council would have been selected by the councillors. Now, the electors
:34:57. > :35:00.have the say to directly choose who will be elected mayor. And will
:35:00. > :35:06.that city mayor, the new leader of the Council, will there be more
:35:06. > :35:09.powerful? Yes and no. They do not have more powers than the leader
:35:10. > :35:16.would and in that way it is a quite subtle change. The Government has
:35:16. > :35:19.said they want to give more powers to the mayors. Because they are
:35:19. > :35:22.directly elected and have this mandate, they have got off powers
:35:23. > :35:29.which they can use to push at the boundaries, if you like and achieve
:35:29. > :35:32.more than the leader. We have had a look at half of the candidates. But
:35:32. > :35:33.what about the issues? I've been looking at some of the challenges
:35:33. > :35:36.facing Liverpool. Liverpool's been rejuvenating,
:35:36. > :35:43.rebuilding and rebranding. Bold new buildings display a new city
:35:43. > :35:46.confidence. But the Town Hall is one of the
:35:46. > :35:52.dirtiest buildings in Liverpool. Inside it's undergoing something of
:35:52. > :35:55.a political spring clean with the creation of the new mayor. But
:35:55. > :36:05.whoever's elected will face a huge challenge, because beyond the city
:36:05. > :36:05.
:36:05. > :36:10.centre, Liverpool still has big problems. You can make more jobs
:36:10. > :36:20.and they should make it good for the kids. Heavy industry needs to
:36:20. > :36:23.be back in Liverpool. We used to have... We were heavily reliant on
:36:23. > :36:26.those areas. 22% of people in Liverpool are not
:36:26. > :36:28.working, compared to 12% in the UK. More than a third of Liverpool
:36:29. > :36:37.wards have unemployment rates twice the national average. And many
:36:37. > :36:41.people are waiting for better homes. They are building new ones and
:36:41. > :36:47.expecting us to live in the old ones. The one I went to view needs
:36:47. > :36:49.to be demolished. Some of them like the place. To be honest, it is not
:36:49. > :36:54.really good. There are 60,000 social properties
:36:54. > :36:57.in the city and 14,000 people on the waiting list. Half of them have
:36:57. > :37:06.a pressing housing need. There are also questions over school
:37:06. > :37:09.performance. Education isn't very good, is it? I don't think so
:37:09. > :37:11.anyway. In fact, 45% of children still
:37:11. > :37:16.leave school without GCSEs in Maths and English, slightly worse than
:37:16. > :37:18.the national average of 41% but a lot better than it used to be. And
:37:18. > :37:28.Liverpool's report card is a similar story, improving but with
:37:28. > :37:32.
:37:32. > :37:34.much more to do. Louise Ellman, you are an MP in Liverpool. When we
:37:34. > :37:38.look at that problem revolving around unemployment, I am sure you
:37:38. > :37:43.agree that jobs is one of the main factors in this race but what would
:37:44. > :37:47.Labour do to get more people into work? Jobs certainly are the
:37:47. > :37:51.biggest issue. And Labour would continue to attract private
:37:51. > :37:55.industry into Liverpool, support development of new schools and
:37:55. > :37:58.houses and that brings jobs with it. Support apprenticeships which they
:37:58. > :38:02.have already started and create a very business-friendly atmosphere
:38:02. > :38:05.like they have done by having the global entrepreneurship conference
:38:05. > :38:11.in Liverpool bringing people from hundred of countries around the
:38:11. > :38:15.world. But even more so than you have done so far? A good start has
:38:16. > :38:17.been made. Over the past decade, there has been great growth in
:38:17. > :38:21.Liverpool under the Labour government and now the Labour
:38:21. > :38:26.council needs to improve on that. It has already made a very good
:38:26. > :38:29.start working on the cruise liner terminal, turnaround facility, the
:38:29. > :38:37.return of major cruise liners to the city. That is what a great deal
:38:37. > :38:46.of money �1.1000000 pounds worth of benefit to be a, for every cruise
:38:46. > :38:50.liner. Would you be able to do any better for Labour as well? Industry
:38:50. > :38:53.and heavy industry and if you look at the decline in manufacturing
:38:53. > :38:57.that can lead to decline of the Liverpool communities in recent
:38:57. > :39:04.years. If we can attract international companies to reinvest
:39:04. > :39:10.into Liverpool, that will bring the jobs and wealth creation. Tony
:39:10. > :39:15.Caldeira is a local lad, a good business which employs 40 people.
:39:15. > :39:19.We need more people like him that he is also... But whereas the heavy
:39:19. > :39:24.industry coming from? He is an international businessman with
:39:24. > :39:29.contacts in America and China and what his whole campaign is about
:39:29. > :39:35.his putting Liverpool on the world stage and attracting those inward
:39:35. > :39:39.investments on the one hand but also saying to people of Liverpool,
:39:39. > :39:42.that we were the Capital of Culture a few years ago and we can be the
:39:42. > :39:45.capital of enterprise culture and having a fundamental change in how
:39:46. > :39:53.Liverpool is received in the world. It is in a great opportunity to
:39:53. > :39:58.play a part in the world stage. John Coyne? More investment and
:39:58. > :40:02.doing something about schools and that is crucial. But the problem is
:40:02. > :40:08.that everyone talks in these general terms but what I am looking
:40:08. > :40:13.for at our actual policies. Richard Kemp has got a lot of experience in
:40:13. > :40:17.Liverpool and he held his seat in the war will be a terrible year for
:40:17. > :40:20.Liberal Democrat. He has done well as a counsellor. He has a
:40:20. > :40:26.reputation nationally and locally. What is the Lib Dem policy on
:40:26. > :40:28.getting more jobs into Liverpool? The aim has been to improve the
:40:28. > :40:35.level of educational of attainment and apprenticeships right across
:40:35. > :40:39.the board, that is what we needs. Liverpool has to pull pull itself
:40:39. > :40:41.up by its own bootstraps. Are you worried about the education
:40:41. > :40:46.statistics that we got about the performance and Liverpool? They are
:40:46. > :40:56.not impressive and need to be improved. The coalition government
:40:56. > :40:57.
:40:57. > :41:02.is putting... The record got better in some ways. Things have improved
:41:02. > :41:04.and Joe Anderson is working very hard at the moment on securing
:41:04. > :41:09.development in Liverpool and Liverpool waters and that will
:41:10. > :41:13.bring investment from China and other places and create jobs.
:41:13. > :41:17.about skills so that people in Liverpool can get better jobs?
:41:17. > :41:22.Labour is already working hard on improving the level of education
:41:22. > :41:27.and skills training and supporting the new City University colleges,
:41:27. > :41:29.we already have one and are working hard to get another. Working with
:41:29. > :41:33.apprentices, over 600 apprenticeships have been developed
:41:33. > :41:38.in Liverpool since Labour took control. Joe was promising to build
:41:38. > :41:42.12 new schools. When all that happened was by this is part of an
:41:42. > :41:44.agreement with central government after the same government cancelled
:41:44. > :41:48.the Building Schools for the Future programme. But Joe did not say that
:41:48. > :41:52.was a failure, he tried to gather private finances to find a new way
:41:52. > :41:57.forward and he has done it. Building Schools for the Future was
:41:57. > :42:03.spending money that the country did not have. The area is now aimed
:42:03. > :42:09.enterprise zone and that will create new jobs. And they are hi-
:42:09. > :42:12.tech businesses of the future, the next Microsoft and Googles. Very
:42:12. > :42:16.good quality long-term jobs and along with that will come new
:42:16. > :42:19.housing but also the Sunday more free school which will bring
:42:19. > :42:24.science, technology... I am not sure that is Liverpool. It is
:42:24. > :42:34.Merseyside. Let's pause, because there had 12 candidates in this
:42:34. > :42:37.
:42:37. > :42:41.race and it is time to hear from The people of the city have been
:42:42. > :42:45.faced with cuts to the Order of 119 million in the first year, 50
:42:45. > :42:48.million in the current year and more to come in the next few years.
:42:48. > :42:53.It is a catastrophe that the services of the city which affect
:42:53. > :43:03.all disabled, the unemployed. My job in this election is offer a
:43:03. > :43:03.
:43:03. > :43:06.radical solution an alternative to I think I have got a unique
:43:06. > :43:09.experience of 30 years as a personnel manager in private
:43:09. > :43:14.business and 30 years as a counsellor. The key thing about the
:43:14. > :43:24.mayor deal is to him businesses the opportunity to come into the city.
:43:24. > :43:27.If we do that, the other problems I think I have got the passion and
:43:27. > :43:32.the vision to take the City forward and I think people will look at my
:43:32. > :43:35.record over the last 18 months and see what I have done. The cruise
:43:35. > :43:40.liner terminal, the apprenticeships that we have created, the jobs we
:43:40. > :43:50.have created, the housing we have built and they will see a man of
:43:50. > :43:51.
:43:51. > :43:56.I have been professionally reporting all Liverpool politics
:43:56. > :44:00.for the best part of 30 years and I know how the City works. I can see
:44:00. > :44:03.under the bonnet of Liverpool and the way it is governed and a thick
:44:03. > :44:13.we can do a whole lot better with some new thinking, new faces -- and
:44:13. > :44:14.
:44:14. > :44:19.I think we can do a whole lot A stand for local people. I will
:44:19. > :44:23.always put local people first. I will expose the mass emigration
:44:23. > :44:27.that has been foisted upon us and I will speak out for the silent
:44:27. > :44:31.majority who do not have a voice at the moment. I also bring business
:44:31. > :44:41.into the city because I am a marketing consultant and that is
:44:41. > :44:42.
:44:42. > :44:47.The FA was elected the Mayor of Liverpool, I will provide start-up
:44:47. > :44:51.businesses with funding and low- cost premises. -- if I was elected
:44:51. > :45:00.the Mayor of Liverpool. I also intend to develop the city centre
:45:00. > :45:04.with free parking on Sunday so people can enjoy our beautiful city.
:45:04. > :45:09.12 candidates, quite a big choice, what do you make of them? The they
:45:09. > :45:13.are not particularly socially diverse, white males of a certain
:45:13. > :45:16.age but politically diverse. From the far left light across to the
:45:16. > :45:20.far right. Lot of interesting ideas that have come from the selection
:45:20. > :45:26.so far. The kind of things we would normally see in a council elections
:45:26. > :45:30.so as well as big issues about jobs and education, lots of ideas about
:45:30. > :45:36.things such as constructing a Liverpool Bay area. Improving
:45:36. > :45:40.tourist facilities and things like developing a wireless network
:45:40. > :45:48.around the street lamps in the City, quite intriguing. Lot of things to
:45:49. > :45:53.put on the table with the many to consider. How much can somebody do
:45:53. > :46:01.as a mayor that they cannot do as a council leader? This is the right
:46:01. > :46:05.time for the double to have a mayor and it needs to think about
:46:05. > :46:10.bringing in the private sector -- the time for the poor to have a
:46:10. > :46:17.mayor. Labour has already shown that things can be done and more
:46:17. > :46:23.should be done. But not necessarily more if you have a mayor.
:46:23. > :46:30.business community say they feel comfortable with a mayor and this
:46:30. > :46:33.is a time for new thinking and it is the right thing to do. John Pugh.
:46:33. > :46:37.It does not have control over police and cannot do a great deal
:46:37. > :46:44.more than the city council leader can do other than centralised power
:46:44. > :46:47.within himself. I am not sure we are getting a great deal in
:46:47. > :46:51.Liverpool. You think promises are being made which cannot be
:46:51. > :46:55.delivered? I think they are much more problems that are not local
:46:55. > :46:59.problems. What capacities they will have to change things in Liverpool.
:46:59. > :47:04.Maybe there are promising too much? That is often the case with
:47:04. > :47:10.politicians. Graham Evans. I think it is a real stage and opportunity
:47:10. > :47:17.for a mayor to sell a pull and say it is open for business and attract
:47:17. > :47:22.inward investment -- opportunity to sell at Liverpool. But such a big
:47:22. > :47:27.stage that these huge independent figures would come on they were not
:47:27. > :47:35.usually interested in politics, where are they? There are some
:47:35. > :47:41.independent candidates and they are good can love. They are all talking
:47:41. > :47:44.about business -- they are good candidates. This is an opportunity
:47:44. > :47:48.to nationally and internationally raise the status of Liverpool. I
:47:48. > :47:55.would like to see them to work together to promote the cities of
:47:55. > :47:58.the North and see if we can close the North-South divide. To go down
:47:58. > :48:05.to damage it and talk to the Prime Minister. They can do that anyway.
:48:05. > :48:08.It is a real platform to state their case. People need to look at
:48:08. > :48:12.what is being promised by individuals to see if it can be
:48:12. > :48:18.promised and Labour's promises are realistic and her go on what has
:48:18. > :48:24.already have been issued. Stewart, how much of a different will an
:48:24. > :48:28.elected mayor make for Liverpool? Only a few outside London, so it is
:48:28. > :48:32.difficult to say. The economic development is not particularly
:48:32. > :48:35.strong, this is the first big test case outside London and we will see
:48:35. > :48:40.if the city's pick up on this agenda following the referenda in
:48:40. > :48:44.May. A social experiment and the jury is still very much at.
:48:44. > :48:52.Let's have a look at what else has been going on in the region this
:48:52. > :48:56.The parents of John Paul Massey, the young boy mauled to death by
:48:56. > :49:01.his uncle's pit bull, went to Downing Street this week to ask for
:49:01. > :49:04.more controls on dangerous dogs. John Paul was just four when he
:49:04. > :49:11.died in 2009. At the time, the Government promised to tighten up
:49:11. > :49:16.the rules but his parents say so far nothing's been done. Things
:49:16. > :49:19.could have or should have been changed to stop this happening to
:49:19. > :49:24.anybody else ever again. Wirral Council's bringing in a
:49:24. > :49:27.troubleshooter. The council, which was hit by a whistleblowing scandal
:49:27. > :49:30.under the previous administration in February, has brought in Michael
:49:30. > :49:32.Frater, who's held senior positions in a number of councils, as
:49:32. > :49:35."interim management support". It's been revealed that one of the
:49:35. > :49:38.candidates who wants to be Mayor of Salford is being investigated by
:49:38. > :49:41.police on suspicion of money laundering. Paul Massey who was
:49:41. > :49:44.previously jailed for 14 years in 1999 for stabbing a man, was
:49:44. > :49:54.arrested in December and remains on police bail. He says he's
:49:54. > :49:58.
:49:58. > :50:04.completely innocent and that it's a And I should so that there is a
:50:04. > :50:11.full list of those people standing for the Mayor of Liverpool on our
:50:11. > :50:15.website, it is BBC .co.uk/Liverpool. Next week we will look at the Mayor