:01:35. > :01:45.The private company brought in to tackle youth unemployment in the
:01:45. > :01:45.
:01:45. > :37:26.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2141 seconds
:37:26. > :37:32.In the North West, this architectural gem will be saved,
:37:32. > :37:37.but what happens to the money? That we will be hearing how he is
:37:37. > :37:42.going into Commons posterity at which oil painting is on offer this
:37:42. > :37:47.week? With me is Barbara Keeley, Labour MP for Worsley and Eccles
:37:47. > :37:52.South in Greater Manchester, and the Conservative MP for Lancaster
:37:52. > :37:56.and Fleetwood. It has been a big week in the Commons, hasn't it?
:37:56. > :38:01.With the Autumn Statement, it is a big week, but at least we are
:38:01. > :38:05.bearing down on the deficit, trying to balance the pain that the
:38:05. > :38:09.difficult global situation. If I think it is a very bad week
:38:09. > :38:13.for the north and north-west. It is a bad week for low and middle-
:38:13. > :38:17.income families and for women, who will bear the brunt of the tax
:38:17. > :38:22.credit changes and cuts to benefits. Some of those of the issues we will
:38:22. > :38:27.be talking about shortly. It sounded like a moment from
:38:27. > :38:31.science fiction - the Chancellor announced the creation of the
:38:31. > :38:40.Office for unconventional gas. That is the plan to press ahead with
:38:40. > :38:45.shale gas exploration through parts of the north-west. George Osborne's
:38:45. > :38:49.budget was, it is a hard road. He it has been credited with
:38:49. > :38:54.lowering energy prices in the US and boosting the American economy,
:38:54. > :38:57.and George Osborne says he does not want Britain left behind. If we are
:38:57. > :39:01.consulting on its tax incentives for shale gas and announcing the
:39:01. > :39:06.creation of a single office saw the regulation is safe and simple.
:39:06. > :39:11.A move welcomed by the Lancashire MP whose constituency is at the
:39:11. > :39:18.heart of the exploration. It will mean jobs, working with
:39:18. > :39:21.local colleges, very important that if this process goes ahead it has
:39:21. > :39:26.done so with transparency and all the consent of constituents being
:39:26. > :39:31.looked at properly. By it there remain concerns over
:39:31. > :39:36.safety after two birth trimmers and the UK's Climate Change targets.
:39:36. > :39:41.Shale gas is not clean, it is another dirty fossil fuel. We need
:39:41. > :39:47.to develop renewable energy sources. The north-west is ideally placed
:39:47. > :39:49.for this, we have onshore winds, solar and tidal resources.
:39:49. > :39:55.With the north-west were dependent on the public sector than others,
:39:55. > :40:01.the Government cuts in the next two years will hit hard. Those who have
:40:01. > :40:04.kept public sector jobs will receive a pay rise of 1% and
:40:04. > :40:07.benefits will be pegged at the same rate.
:40:07. > :40:11.The tis our region being hammered the most in terms of youth
:40:12. > :40:15.unemployment, long-term employment and social division. We know that
:40:15. > :40:18.we play it -- p a long-term price for that.
:40:18. > :40:22.Some other news... Salford will get ultra-fast
:40:22. > :40:25.broadband. Plans for high-speed rail have been delayed until New
:40:25. > :40:30.Year. That money for housing and schools
:40:30. > :40:36.will go into a single pot which local enterprise partnerships can
:40:36. > :40:40.bid for. We need a restructure from the bank
:40:40. > :40:41.dominated south-east took to exports and manufacturing,
:40:42. > :40:45.benefiting the north-west of England.
:40:45. > :40:49.The Government thinks the region is said to weather the storm but
:40:49. > :40:52.admits it will last longer than first predicted.
:40:52. > :40:57.Eric, Blair's the Government of course?
:40:57. > :41:00.And don't think the Government is particularly of course. We have
:41:00. > :41:05.managed to quarter of the biggest inherited deficit in the Western
:41:05. > :41:12.world, and when we look at countries around us, where they are
:41:12. > :41:16.cutting pensions, he has protected pensioners and got rid of the fuel
:41:16. > :41:20.tax escalator Labour would have brought in. It is a difficult time,
:41:20. > :41:25.and the balance of decisions he has taken are correct. He said he would
:41:25. > :41:29.balance the books after five years. We're still waiting for bat. He
:41:29. > :41:34.said that debt would start to come down, as well. He has now admitted
:41:34. > :41:37.it will certainly be at least a year late, perhaps longer. When I
:41:37. > :41:42.talk to my constituents they understand...
:41:42. > :41:48.But you can understand why this could be seen as a feeling. Not a
:41:48. > :41:52.feeling, they can seize success. They see interest rates down, 1.2 5
:41:52. > :41:58.million extra private sector jobs created, the deficit down and
:41:58. > :42:01.stability to get foreign investment. There saying to you, Lord Osborne
:42:01. > :42:05.said he is going to take control of the debt, the debt is not going to
:42:05. > :42:12.be controlled, it will be at least one year late, that is good news?
:42:12. > :42:14.No, obviously not, and he admitted that. My electorate is quite
:42:14. > :42:19.realistic when they look at other countries and they think we're
:42:19. > :42:22.getting through this better than the surrounding countries. Barbara,
:42:22. > :42:27.that is the point, that this country has managed to maintain the
:42:27. > :42:33.confidence of the market? Mickey point is, you meet the point about
:42:33. > :42:37.debt and deficit, we had a slight of hand from George Osborne. He
:42:37. > :42:42.wanted to bring down the figures so he could make a political point
:42:42. > :42:46.might in the Autumn Statement. He included �3.5 billion from the sale
:42:46. > :42:53.of the fortune mobile spectrum when it is still out there. It is a bit
:42:53. > :42:59.like saying there, my mortgage is paid off by selling the car, when
:42:59. > :43:02.the car is sitting in the driveway. He has tripled the -- the country
:43:02. > :43:07.still has a triple-A rating, which means the massive debt does not
:43:07. > :43:11.need to gawp. Well, I don't think that is the be-
:43:11. > :43:21.all and end-all. It is it not aboard an? I think it is important
:43:21. > :43:26.to have growth in the economy and then plundered. This week, a family
:43:26. > :43:30.on only �20,000 has foundered it will lose �279 as a result of the
:43:31. > :43:36.cuts to benefits, while people like Wayne Rooney and people on
:43:36. > :43:40.footballer salaries will get back hundreds of thousands of pounds.
:43:40. > :43:43.The people on ordinary incomes, middle incomes, they will gain from
:43:43. > :43:50.the fuel tax not going up, of which was planned by Labour.
:43:50. > :43:55.Remember, we also have three years of a council tax freeze. The
:43:55. > :44:00.personal allowance has been put up, and have of the people affected are
:44:00. > :44:04.actually women in workable again. Thousands of people in the north-
:44:04. > :44:09.west will be taken out of tax. It is difficult, we would all like to
:44:09. > :44:15.do wonderful things, but Barbara's party has never supported a single
:44:15. > :44:19.efficiency or cut we have proposed, and they have to answer that when
:44:19. > :44:23.we vote on what to do for the benefits. I argued going to support
:44:23. > :44:27.that? The Government said able increase it by 1%, less than
:44:27. > :44:31.inflation. We have not even seen that legislation yet, it is
:44:31. > :44:35.impossible to say. He has just told you the figures, it is not
:44:35. > :44:40.impossible to say. Do we trust figures from a Chancellor of
:44:40. > :44:43.playing Monopoly? The they are pretty basic, are they not?
:44:43. > :44:49.We will look at it when it comes out in legislation. This is a man
:44:49. > :44:52.who played Monopoly cash amounts, fictitious cash amount in his
:44:52. > :44:57.Autumn Statement so he could stand the up and say something is follow
:44:57. > :45:00.when it is actually rising. If it had not been for that 3.5 billion
:45:00. > :45:04.he tried to play into the figures, borrowing would have gone up �2
:45:04. > :45:07.billion this year. How can you trust account -- Chancellor we
:45:07. > :45:15.cannot be honest with his colleagues and the country?
:45:15. > :45:20.The interesting, the last time, 3G was it sold off by Labour and it
:45:20. > :45:24.was exactly the same. We did not put the figures in before the sale.
:45:24. > :45:28.It was sleight of hand. We will not get into mobile telephony, but
:45:28. > :45:32.let's stick with economics, because the North West Development Agency,
:45:32. > :45:35.that was abolished two years ago, but doesn't of sites across the
:45:35. > :45:43.region, including famous ones like the little wood building, were
:45:43. > :45:48.still on its books. The assets were transferred to central Government,
:45:48. > :45:58.but you should put the assets ski here in the north-west? -- but
:45:58. > :45:59.
:45:59. > :46:03.After a decade on the market, this building has just been sold. This
:46:03. > :46:08.land is still for sale despite a buyer waiting in the wings. In fact,
:46:08. > :46:12.more than 40 sites between Merseyside and Cumbria, worth up to
:46:12. > :46:17.�50 million, owned by something called the homes and communities
:46:18. > :46:21.agency, are up for grabs. Selling any sort of property can be pretty
:46:21. > :46:26.problematic, but imagine you have just sold your hands and then you
:46:26. > :46:32.have to split the proceeds with the rest of the country. That is what
:46:32. > :46:35.is happening to some of these sites. Before it was abolished, the North
:46:35. > :46:41.West Development Agency kept the money from any sales insuring cash
:46:41. > :46:46.stayed in the region. Two years ago, the assets transferred to the home
:46:46. > :46:51.and communities agency. In some cases, it is not clear exactly
:46:51. > :46:55.where the money has gone. It has been very depressing to see it
:46:56. > :46:59.taken out of use and gradually decay over the years. Empty and
:46:59. > :47:03.decaying for a decade, this building has been the most
:47:03. > :47:07.prominent example of such a sight. This week it was sold to a
:47:07. > :47:11.developer. The money raised will stay in Liverpool. We would
:47:11. > :47:16.obviously prefer to have had the ownership from day one, but a our
:47:16. > :47:18.deal has enabled the city council to work in partnership with the
:47:18. > :47:27.Gorman community's agency and uniquely has met control and
:47:27. > :47:32.destiny of these sites comes under But outside Liverpool, but will not
:47:32. > :47:37.necessarily be the case. The we it works is, when the land is sold,
:47:37. > :47:40.the money goes into a national pot. In that, it sits alongside other
:47:40. > :47:45.Government investments, so you have a combination of the money from
:47:45. > :47:48.sales alongside Government money, and that is then redistributed out
:47:48. > :47:54.to regeneration of sites across the country, depending where the need
:47:54. > :47:57.is. One re-generation expert says there needs to be more clarity.
:47:57. > :48:03.do not have any idea how much this sold for or what is happening to
:48:03. > :48:08.them, or if something is happening to them that will help the place
:48:08. > :48:12.where they are. It is quite hard to find out any flow of money at all.
:48:12. > :48:17.Craig is desperate for his money to flow into the dormant communities
:48:17. > :48:22.Agency coffers. Brand new units here, nothing there. A absolutely,
:48:22. > :48:28.this is phase one, completed in February. This is where we would
:48:28. > :48:33.like to build a further 45,000 square feet. He has been trying to
:48:33. > :48:36.buy this plot of land in Wirral for 12 months, but he says it is
:48:37. > :48:42.proving more frustrating and time- consuming than dealing with its
:48:42. > :48:47.predecessor. Acquire in public land from public sector bodies is always
:48:47. > :48:52.relatively slow. -- acquiring. We have been a little disappointed the
:48:52. > :48:58.progress with the H C aid deal has taken longer than hoped, it is more
:48:58. > :49:02.bureaucratic. Bureaucratic or not, we are
:49:02. > :49:05.starting to see its old signs on the properties. That means there
:49:05. > :49:10.can only be greater scrutiny about where the money generated finally
:49:10. > :49:15.ends up. A we're also joined now by Neil
:49:15. > :49:19.McIlroy, an expert in local regeneration from the centre of
:49:19. > :49:24.economic strategies. A bid at the Chancellor do anything
:49:24. > :49:28.in that the Budget which would help local economies grow? I think so.
:49:28. > :49:32.The Government is in a difficult place and has to reduce the deficit
:49:32. > :49:38.at the same time as stimulating demand. There have been some things
:49:38. > :49:43.he has done in terms of resources and new planning, local enterprise
:49:43. > :49:48.partnerships, it is something. There is more therefore local
:49:48. > :49:53.growth, but my sense is it is a little too late. A few we could ago
:49:53. > :49:57.we had that report from Michael Heseltine talking about my ass of
:49:57. > :50:03.devolution of money and power to these local -- talking about
:50:03. > :50:07.massive devolution of power. Did you think that has influenced
:50:07. > :50:11.in any way what the Chancellor has done?
:50:11. > :50:21.We can take any recommendation from Michael Heseltine, but the report
:50:21. > :50:22.
:50:22. > :50:26.was very much re-hashing of policies of the 1980s and 1990s. We
:50:26. > :50:29.need something much more immediate to deal with the problems of
:50:29. > :50:34.poverty in the north-west. If he were speaking to Eric and the
:50:34. > :50:44.Government, what would you say should be done? I think we need to
:50:44. > :50:48.dig hard and deep to find a new narrative for how to find new
:50:48. > :50:52.growth, we have the jobs going to come from? Will party has got to
:50:52. > :50:55.grips with what has going -- what is going to be the future of the
:50:55. > :51:00.north-west in the future. I do not think that has been thought through
:51:00. > :51:04.and more work needs to be done in that area. I think that Chancellor
:51:04. > :51:08.has promised there will be a White Paper in reaction to Lord
:51:08. > :51:12.Heseltine's proposals. There will be another billion
:51:12. > :51:17.pounds in the Regional Growth Fund. You point to those assets in your
:51:17. > :51:24.film. I bet there has not one of them in my constituency, because
:51:24. > :51:27.our end of Lancashire's got no look-in when it came to the
:51:27. > :51:32.regional development agencies. We will be hoping that our bit of
:51:32. > :51:39.Lancashire can react much quicker. The bass majority were and
:51:39. > :51:42.Merseyside. -- the vast majority. The a Arthur wrote the north-west.
:51:42. > :51:46.-- they are through wrote the north-west. The worry I have is
:51:46. > :51:55.that these are now being sold off, probably at the worst possible time
:51:55. > :51:59.for aside like that, and the money is going out of our area. Those
:51:59. > :52:05.assets were paid for by taxpayers here, the money should stay here.
:52:05. > :52:09.They were paid for by taxpayers across the country. Yes, but we are
:52:09. > :52:14.losing our share. It is going into a central pot, it may end up in the
:52:14. > :52:19.Olympic Park in London, who is to say? You said it would go we are
:52:19. > :52:23.river of the need is. We're finding the need is not recognised as it
:52:23. > :52:28.used to be. We have need for growth and long-term solutions, we are not
:52:28. > :52:33.getting them. You must be pleased that Salford will become this fibre
:52:33. > :52:39.optic city? That will not necessarily provided jobs. Of
:52:39. > :52:43.course, in terms of where we are today, Media City, the Digital
:52:43. > :52:48.Industries, in itself that is not important -- not enough to cope
:52:48. > :52:52.with the knock back this autumn statement was. North has -- North
:52:52. > :52:56.West Business leaders said they did not think the Budget did enough to
:52:56. > :53:02.help close the north-south divide. Small things will help, like the
:53:03. > :53:06.broadband, but it is not enough. you see the divide growing? That
:53:06. > :53:11.they abide is growing, and there was no sign that it will stop
:53:11. > :53:16.growing. -- the debate is growing. It is interesting to see one of the
:53:17. > :53:21.most centralised economies in the Western liberal democracies. We are
:53:21. > :53:27.trying to bridge the output gap between the south and the North.
:53:27. > :53:34.But do not see anyone having the heft to deal with that today. There
:53:34. > :53:40.is something about a new way... That they ride between us and
:53:40. > :53:43.London in terms of our contribution in GDP actually got wider under
:53:43. > :53:47.Labour. That is one of the reasons I
:53:47. > :53:51.personally wanted to get rid of the institutions are we could get more
:53:51. > :53:57.localised investment. They are have the old resources...
:53:57. > :54:01.We had just offered new resources. The things we're going to do with
:54:01. > :54:05.the university sector, that we were not bring. There are other things
:54:05. > :54:10.to build on there. It is at the myth to say that regional
:54:10. > :54:15.development agencies did anything about the divide, they got wider.
:54:15. > :54:19.The question that should be placed was right at the heart of Whitehall
:54:19. > :54:26.and a centralised economic state which fails to redistribute wealth
:54:26. > :54:29.and invest properly in those areas lagging behind. The Regional
:54:29. > :54:32.Development Agency as it point is an interesting one in that those
:54:32. > :54:37.assets should be repatriated for local benefit, and if they cannot
:54:37. > :54:41.find a market value at the moment, they should be open for other,
:54:41. > :54:45.social and cultural activities. They should be for the use of the
:54:45. > :54:55.people of the north-west. Thank you very much indeed. Time for the rest
:54:55. > :54:58.A new law will force serving South Yorkshire police officers to give
:54:58. > :55:03.evidence to an inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster. Until now,
:55:03. > :55:06.officers could choose whether to appear before the police watchdog.
:55:06. > :55:10.The Government has announced virgin trains will continue to run the
:55:10. > :55:15.West Coast Mainline for up to two use. They will also be a direct
:55:15. > :55:17.line from London to Blackpool. Minister has who oversaw a bizarre
:55:18. > :55:24.structural reorganisation of the department that left no one in
:55:24. > :55:29.charge of the rail services. In the Ince have called for scientific
:55:29. > :55:34.debate in two Cumbria's proposal to host a burial site for waste.
:55:34. > :55:38.The Natural Services Authority says it could pose a threat to the
:55:38. > :55:42.environment. Plans for a cute wind farm could
:55:42. > :55:46.have major impact on trouble for the Isle of Man.
:55:46. > :55:56.And the high court has overturned a ban by the National Park Authority
:55:56. > :55:58.
:55:58. > :56:02.on for by force and trail bikes in In terms of the west coast, we know
:56:02. > :56:07.it was a fiasco, but the reality is ministers were badly let down by
:56:07. > :56:12.civil servants, were they not? our accountability is to the
:56:12. > :56:17.ministers -- ministers, not the civil servants. It is not civil
:56:17. > :56:20.servants that are answerable for decisions, but ministers. And civil
:56:20. > :56:24.servants who gave such bad figures, that even the basics like inflation
:56:24. > :56:29.were not concluded. About his appalling, but they need to work
:56:29. > :56:32.out how to make better processes in the future. I think it is welcome
:56:32. > :56:36.for June will be running the West Coast Mainline for another two
:56:36. > :56:40.years because they have done a good draw and it was a mistake to take
:56:40. > :56:45.it away from them.. Bike is, will we get investment decisions made
:56:45. > :56:49.when it is still uncertain? That is strewn of all franchises. The you
:56:49. > :56:55.think it was a mistake to lose so much expertise in the department
:56:55. > :56:58.through spending cuts? We have looked at the report, which as not
:56:58. > :57:03.- but which has not blamed ministers are told. I am really
:57:03. > :57:07.pleased to say that at least it has come out with not just Britain
:57:07. > :57:10.carrying on, but carrying on with real improvements like the direct
:57:10. > :57:15.service between Blackpool and Manchester impacting on my
:57:15. > :57:19.constituency. But I at cost of �40 million to the taxpayer at least.
:57:19. > :57:24.That cost would have been here on top of it, then there are extra
:57:24. > :57:27.carriages and hopefully we will get a prudent in Lancaster station, and
:57:27. > :57:32.what Barbara has been campaigning for, the northern hub, has been
:57:32. > :57:37.funded before this. We have lost about �100 million... The let us
:57:37. > :57:42.leave that one in the station. No now it is time for that painting.
:57:42. > :57:46.Weeks ago we had Nigel Evans, one of the Commons deputy speakers, in
:57:46. > :57:48.the studio. It has turned out his portrait could be the first piece
:57:48. > :57:58.of urban arch to be accepted by the Commons.
:57:58. > :58:00.
:58:00. > :58:08.What does go for the official What do you make of it? I think it
:58:09. > :58:12.is absolutely superb. I knew that he was a modern artist, I met him
:58:12. > :58:17.at a party and it is absolutely superb. Top and us through what you
:58:17. > :58:21.were trying to capture and here. Klee, because of Nigel's role in
:58:21. > :58:24.the House of Commons, that is what I wanted to portray. That was a
:58:24. > :58:28.central theme of the canvas and I wanted to put him in his basic
:58:28. > :58:32.setting of the House of Commons behind him, and elements of that
:58:32. > :58:38.and what that represent, as well. Is it spray-paint you have used?
:58:38. > :58:41.Mainly, yes, because that is the main medium I used, but also do
:58:41. > :58:46.calligraphy, as well, hence the writing on the right of the
:58:46. > :58:50.painting. Also, his face and hands were with paintbrush. What will you
:58:50. > :58:54.do with it? A bowl or for it to the House of Commons art collection
:58:54. > :58:58.after a few people have seen it in my office, but I think it is superb,
:58:58. > :59:02.and I don't think a portrait of a deputy speaker, or indeed a speaker,
:59:02. > :59:06.has ever been done in this style before.
:59:06. > :59:13.I am sure you were right, I am wondering if I can buy at first!
:59:13. > :59:17.The we are open to negotiation! Eric, have you got room on the wall
:59:17. > :59:21.for that painting? And I don't have been run to get it through the door
:59:21. > :59:28.of my office in Parliament. What is sort of paintings do you have in
:59:28. > :59:36.your office? I have one of son Alec Douglas-Home and one of William
:59:36. > :59:41.Pitt. A historic coffee. Barbara, good news for you, you won an award
:59:41. > :59:44.this week. It's, it was for sports parliamentarian of the year. Why
:59:44. > :59:51.have been promoting sports for young girls and women generally
:59:51. > :59:56.which needs a big boost, and I was given the silver award for sport
:59:56. > :00:01.Parliament to reign of the year. Brilliant new, congratulation.