29/04/2012 Sunday Politics South East


29/04/2012

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In the south-east, concern for animal welfare. The RSPCA says live

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exports at Ramsgate are in breach of the rules. We hear from the

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1676 seconds

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Hello, this is the Sunday Politics in the south-east. Coming up in the

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next 20 minutes. Will it be a democratic snub or a liberal dose

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of good will? We take a look at the Lib Dem's prospect in next week's

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local council elections. Joining me is the Lib Dem MP get East Berlin,

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it Stephen Lloyd, and the Greens south-east MEP, Keith Taylor. First,

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is the Brighton and Hove Greens council losing its nerve? It has

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modified its policy of bubbling -- doubling parking charges on the

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seafront by introducing a cheaper tariff. It will be �15 for eight

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hours on the seafront, instead of �20. Keith, you are an ex

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councillor, is this the reality of power? Backing down? They are

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looking to the fact that air pollution is the number-one health

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risk for environmental causes. They are trying to solve the problems of

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congestion and pollution. This whole furore it is about a small

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proportion of the parking stuck in the City. I am really pleased they

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are announcing that they have reviewed it, and the charges are

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coming down. Part of the bigger plan is that parking charges in

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areas within 10 minutes of the seafront have been frozen, or have

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been kept very low. So that way, it is stopping the cars entering the

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most polluted and can jesting air - - congested areas. You know from

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your experience in Eastbourne, raise parking charges and there is

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a big uprising. There is. The East Sussex council a shot up charges a

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few years ago much to the disgust of the Champ -- the town. I was

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talking to a Brighton resident recently, he showed me a picture of

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the stretches up by the seafront, and there was a quarter of mile of

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parking spaces and only one car parked there. I knew the Greens

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would compromise otherwise the whole Tamar did combusted. -- the

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whole town would have combusted. The RSPCA started monitoring the

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live export trade in Rams court -- Ramsgate port last month. Ramsgate

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is the only port in the country that transports livestock for

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slaughter across the Channel. Animal rights campaigners say the

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practice is cruel and unnecessary, but they have not stopped tens of

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thousands of sheep and calves being shipped from there to Europe in the

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past year. He is this human profit over animal welfare?

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The emotional reaction to live animal exports from Ramsgate port.

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Every time the livestock lorries arrive, there is a protest. It is

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the only port in England that exports live animals for slaughter.

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Around 80,000 left the country this way last year. The animals are

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mainly sheep and calves on their way to the Continent. Everybody

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that is down there can carry these and wave them. Campaigners

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including Kenneth action appears live exports say this is called the

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animals, as it means they are being crammed in for very long journeys

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for more time than it would take to drive from Kent to Scotland. Let's

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say a farmer from Kent wishes to send some animals across. The have

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to load his transporter, moved to an area close to the dock, where

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they have to have a minimum of an hour's rest while they are

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inspected. They then board the ship from Ramsgate and takes four-and-a-

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half hours to get to Calais. They are then unloaded, and their

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nearest abattoir is an hour-and-a- half away. So we are already

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talking about a journey time of approximately eight hours plus. And

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it is just the slaughter. Animals going anywhere else, down to Spain,

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have considerably more time on the wagon. How long can those journeys

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take? The Jenny's can take two or three days. In the last few weeks,

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the RSPCA has taken matters into its own hands and is monitoring

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every live export. It is the first time in 10 years the charity has

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done this at a UK port. It does not have the power to stop the trade,

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so the better it can hope for is to get enough evidence to prosecute

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exporters if they are not treating the animals properly. All of the

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legislation and the rules are compliant on being enforced, and we

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know they are not being enforced. Our own investigations and our own

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spot checks hit Ramsgate have shown that some of the standards are not

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being implemented and that is a real concern. The annals are often

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slaughtered soon after the genet which -- after their journey which

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campaigners say is needless because they could be slaughtered here and

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then shipped abroad. But the way food is labelled a board means it

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is not happened. French people like a French sheep, but there is a huge

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loophole. If your sheep is in France for just a short time it can

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be labelled as the produce of France. Thanet District Council

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owns the port, and whilst it is against the trade, the 19th century

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harbours Act said it had no choice but to accept it. But the council

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says it will not make the exporters lives easy. Within the framework of

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the law, we are hoping that by exposing the infringements to the

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welfare of animals, that it is going to make the trade more and

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more difficult to operate out of that port -- the port of Ramsgate.

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There is plenty of scope within the law to make it difficult for the

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Some farmers say they need to stem the animals abroad for slaughter to

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get the biggest possible price. But the RSPCA says there is a market

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here which would also generate jobs. If we keep the animals like sheep

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or cards in the country, we have got a market for them, the farmer

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is being paid, we send them to an abattoir and slaughtermen are paid,

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it is better for a British animal to be kept in Britain and turn into

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good British food. That we know the consumers and public wants to buy

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British. So surely we should give the map of the car -- opportunity.

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It is it necessary for British sheep and calves are to go on

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journeys which it is said to last for days, when instead they could

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be slaughtered in this country, provided more local jobs and more

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local produce? From a studio in Birmingham we are

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joined by Peter Garbutt from the National for Masumi him. Why is

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this trade messes -- the National Farmers' Union. Why is this

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necessary? This is a legitimate and lawful trade. The market exists in

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the Continent, people wants to buy English stock and British stock

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over there. And as long as the transport takes place within the

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law, following the tight regulatory guidelines that we all have to

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follow, there is no reason that our farmers should not be allowed

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access to that market. You say it is unlawful, but we had from the

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RSPCA inspectors are saying they are concerned the guidelines are

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not being followed. The NFU has also called for their enforcement

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of the standards in Europe. We were there to be no loopholes that

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people can get through. We have seen it two revisions of the

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legislation in the last 10 years, and we want the standards to be

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abided by. So you will welcome the RSPCA inspectors' presents at

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Ramsgate? They are there at Ramsgate to insure their standards

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are being met, and I do not think any shipments have been shocked.

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People are adhering to the guidelines. They cannot stop

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shipments, but they can raise concerns. Death or issued warnings

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in March. -- Defra issued warnings. We have a high level of scrutiny at

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Ramsgate and still export are going out. Do you think the RSPCA are

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wrong to raise these concerns about lack of ventilation and of the way

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the animals are being handled? have very strict guidelines...

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they are not being adhered to a point to the RSPCA. If they are not

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being adhered to, we would expect the government to bring prosecution

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notices. And that is what is happening. We expect the trade to

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continue. It might be lawful, but people do not like it. Animals

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being cooped up for high times in height images without access to

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water, it is not a nice. I can understand the people's opinions of

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these traits are not good, and we need to listen to public opinion.

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But we also have to base it on sound science. There was a lot of

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science conducted, or when the legislation was drawn up, and none

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of them have suggested that overseas travel is a detriment to

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animal welfare, and none of them have suggested a limit to transport

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links. If we could sell the produce in France and not export animals

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for slaughter, would you like that? It would be great to exports --

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increase exports on the hook, but there is always demand for export

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on the who. -- on the hoof. But these people are within the law.

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I take issue with a couple of things that Peter said, perversely

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about the stress experienced by the animals -- firstly about the stress.

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I was speaking to a veterinary association yesterday that were

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explaining the levels of stress can increased -- decrease immunity to

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the diseases. Is there any difference between being in a ship

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or on the road? I am not happy with the whole trade, I have been on

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record signing early day motions, I have written to the... Animals

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travel for eight hours on the road in this country quite lawfully, so?

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You're not against that? No, I am not, it is a reality we have to

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face. With the CJD, what concerns me is what the RSPCA says. They are

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a respected organisation, and if they say they are not entirely

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happy that the rules are being adhered to, I share that Abbey's.

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One a point of accuracy, the European Parliament has voted its

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position that there should be a maximum eight-hour limit, but we

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are seeing of vehicles in Europe for 24 and 36 hours. This is not

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popular, it is in the top three of my postbag complaints. It is not

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worth doing for a very small number of farmers to make �15 more profit.

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Let's put that point to Peter Garbutt. I think there is quite a

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large European trade on this. There is a lot of over eight hour

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transport in the EU due to this year sides of the area and the

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Commission recently reviewed the legislation and decided not to

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impose a maximum eight-hour limit. They said they would be better at

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maximum enforcement across Europe, we would be behind that.

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Thank you very much for joining us. This Thursday, the residents of

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Hastings, Crawley, Tunbridge Wells, Maidstone and Tandridge will be

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casting their vote in council elections. In the 2011 poll, the

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Liberal Democrat vote was craft -- half in the south-east, falling

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from 182 council seats to just 93, with most of the losses and run up

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to benefiting the Conservatives as well as Labour. Will it be

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different this time and what will the results tell us about the

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political future of the party in the region? Let's go to the Liberal

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Democrat MP for Eastbourne, Stephen Lloyd. It could get worse for you

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on Thursday night. It could but I do not think it will. I was talking

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to a number of colleagues on my way here, in Woking, Worthing and

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Hastings, and the Duke is, we are doing well there and we are hoping

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to gain some seeds. Do you think you will? I think we will. Were the

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largest party is no overall control, but at the minute, from the views

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we are getting in the doorstep, we are going to take control in that

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area. In Worthing, we will take a couple of seats. In Eastbourne, we

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don't have elections. But you do in Hastings. I visited Hastings last

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weekend, or the weekend before last, it is a bit of a black! One of the

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-- a bit of a Blair! One of the local candidates, Labour won it a

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few years ago, they have got a huge majority, and what I was getting on

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the doorstep is once they won this award, they just ignored us. Your

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party in Crawley failed to meet the deadline to put in candidates. So

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you are not filled in any. It is infuriating, it was an

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administrative cock-up. It is human nature, Show Me one election where

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some activist has forgotten to do something. Watch out this year, a

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wedding, Mole Valley and Wedding and Hastings. -- Worthing, and

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Hastings. We actually lost our last two Lib Dem councillors, and I

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think that was a foretaste of what we are going to see next week.

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do you think will happen with the Lib Dems? I cannot work out whether

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they will get hammered or battered! I am not entirely sure what the

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difference is, but I get the gist! Last time, they got blamed after

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tuition fees, for the coalition government. This time round, you

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could expect the Conservatives to lose seats, but the Lib Dems go

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down with them. Of course they did. The Lib Dems have enabled a Tory

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government to get us into a terrible situation, with austerity

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measures, with a double-dip recession, whereas what we really

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need is more jobs, especially for young people, which actually tackle

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the real challenges of climate change. We need proper leadership

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from government. Apart from parking charges! Is there anything wrong

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for listening to people? People are blaming alike -- and right wing

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Tory government, thank God we have got a party with liberals in it. At

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the last Budget, we gave a tax benefit of 2 million people. With

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the Liberals in government, we have got some a equilibrium. Without

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us... If we are talking taxation, the government has just delivered a

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huge benefit for very rich people. Do we want the gap between rich and

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poor to carry on increasing? Can we talk about the Greenss? You are

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fielding told candidate in Maidstone, and putting all your

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eggs in one basket. Why Maidstone? And Red Hot East as well, we are

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looking to add another councillor to our two existing councillors. We

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are only a small party, we like to give as many people the chance to

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vote Greens in every election. you have identified that area?

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was there the other day. In Maidstone, we were doing a campaign

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in the local community about reducing speed limits, which is a

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big issue for me as a member of the Transport Committee in the European

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Cup -- parliament. We had a fantastic response. So we are quite

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hopeful of gaining seats. UKIP are fielding a lot more candidates, you

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are not worried that they could game candidates? I do not know why

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you would want to roads UKIP, in a European election, they never vote

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or turn up. In a local election, they are trying to reinvent

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themselves. I do not know if they have got any policies. In Seaford,

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they won because they take votes from the Tories. Michael -- Nigel

0:46:350:46:45
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Farage is not here to defend South-east MEP Nigel Farage welcome

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the news that the Kent bitters them bits -- Christopher Tappin has been

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mild -- released on bail. I am not a terrorist, I have never had any

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corrections -- connection with terrorism. I am appalled that

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things can come to this. Tracie couch, who has been

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campaigning on behalf of asbestos victims, held a climbdown which

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would have forced them to pay their own legal bills. The Green Party

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leader Caroline Lucas criticise Southern Water for criticised -- or

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waiting millions of gallons -- criticise other mortar for wasting

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millions of gallons a day. Look no further from -- Mark

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Reckless tested the Home Secretary Theresa May on her honest --

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knowledge of the ministerial code. I have not read every single

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ministerial code, and every single Prime Minister there has ever been,

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I have not. Well, Home Secretary, I have.

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I cannot pretend my knowledge of the ministerial code is any good!

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Be you admire him for his defiance and confident as a backbench MP?

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am rather worried, I know him and I can imagine him reading every

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single detail on every constitutional paper, rather him

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than the! It is a good thing, to have backbench MPs, not intimidated

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by ministers, prepared to be defiant. I asked a question of the

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MPs on Wednesday, I reminded the Prime Minister that there are many

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millions of people in this country who pay money into charity because

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they once too hot and do not expect anything back. I called that

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suffers, and I asked the Prime Minister, the percentage of wealthy

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people who wants to get the money - - charity to get money back...

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you are challenging as well! What is your knowledge of the

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ministerial code, Keith Taylor? could stand improvement. One word

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of praise for Mark Reckless. He has got enough about it -- to be

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rebellious about, what coalition government is doing. But one great

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thing he did was vote against the �9,000 tuition fees, and that was a

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very sound move. That is what we need MPs to do, to live up to their

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