01/07/2012 Sunday Politics South East


01/07/2012

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And in the South East. Another blow for jobs on the Isle of Sheppey as

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a wind power company walks away but that making a single turbine. Is

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1680 seconds

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He I and Julia George and this is the Sunday Politics in the South

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East. Coming up. Chris a sack and Gatwick runway becoming more

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likely? Anew report says it is a better idea than a whole new

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airport on the North Kent coast. John in the in the studio, the

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Conservative MP Tracey Crouch and for Labour, the Sussex-based

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columnist and commentator Paul Richards. Thank you for coming in.

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The Prime Minister started the week in Kent promising no benefit cuts

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for pensioners. John Simpson for the BBC this were to lead the

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debate about dementia when he said he would rather pop a pill than

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live in misery and be a nuisance. As Sussex in he says it is time for

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a Grey Pride Minister, looking out for the needs of older people.

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Tracey Crouch, the Institute for Fiscal Studies says that pensioners

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are doing quite well in terms of finances. The the to need their own

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Minister and I think the Labour Party were quite right in

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appointing a spokesman for it all to people. We made many decisions

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every day over transport, housing and health care that affect older

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people, but there is no joined-up approach. We could do with the

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Minister for older people. Do you think that older people are getting

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a tougher time work are younger people the ones who need looking

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out for? Part of this is about having an approach across

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government like Tracey said, but also having a single Minister would

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be a good idea. A 65 you will's needs are different from someone of

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the age of 100. You cannot refer to old people? People in the 60s are

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going skiing and surfing and are being active. People in their

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hundreds of are entirely different. You cannot lump them all together.

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Expand Gatwick and Heathrow, make Manston into a proper airport and

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just forget about Boris app Island. The latest report says a new hub

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airport on the North Kent coast would be too expensive and take too

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long to build. Helen Drew has been exploring the arguments for a

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bigger Gatwick. Gatwick Airport will soon be publishing its

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masterplan for the next few years which will include the possibility

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of the second runway. The airport told us that surrounding land will

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continue to be safeguarded to give the option to expand. There is

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local opposition, not least because the medieval village of Charlwood

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which lies close to the airport and has around 2000 residents could

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find itself sandwiched between the two runways. But the expansion to

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take place, but we need to be a good case for it. Aviation bosses

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have said that the UK needs more capacity it it does not want to be

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left behind. As we stagnate, our counterparts in Europe and around

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the world rub their hands with glee. Some, if not all have the capacity,

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will need to come from the South East. There is the ongoing debate

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over a third runway at Heathrow as well as the possibility of night

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flights at Manston and an extended run way here. There is also the

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proposal for a new airport in the Thames estuary, but this week a

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report said that this is not the right solution and we take too long

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to build. Gatwick cannot expand until after 2019 because of the

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legal ruling, but could still be the strongest contender. Doing

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nothing is not an option. If you were to talk about expanding

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Gatwick you would get away from the idea of building an airport in the

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Thames estuary which has been around for ten years and is frankly

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something we would seek sooner see the end of. It would cause

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environmental damage and we do not think the numbers stack up and it

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could be built in the crucial time frame that we need if we are going

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to be a player in the aviation hub of business. There is an awful lot

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of jobs resting on the back of this and we cannot afford to lose out.

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The Gatwick area has been helped in terms of employment. The airport is

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responsible for the to 6,000 direct or related jobs and Crawley has

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cure people claiming jobseeker's allowance and the national average.

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The local MP has been hosting a debate this week. The Crawley area

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has benefited from the existence of Gatwick Airport and that is why a

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lot of Global Connect the -- companies base their UK and

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European headquarters there. It is why we benefit from their

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headquarters of the British Crowan companies like Virgin Atlantic and

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many others that I could mention. We need to be mindful of future

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economic expansion. We are a trading nation and we rely heavily

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on the aviation industry. We are leaders in the aviation industry.

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To deny that would be foolish. I do not think we should rule out the

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expansion of Gatwick Airport in the future. Looking to the future,

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Gatwick is investing �20 million per month in its facilities. It

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recently won new routes are eight, including direct flights to China

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and South Korea and passenger numbers have risen to 34 million

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per year. A second runway would bring it further investment.

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obviously, there is the direct investment in the runway. Hopefully,

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a large UK company will get that work. The multiplier behind it,

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they would be five to 10 jobs behind every single shop at Gatwick.

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I know people commute up from the south coast us. People commute from

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Kent. It will help the local area and it will expand what we do took

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a further area. This summer, the Government will publish its

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document on the long-term future of aviation. Alongside that, it will

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be looking for suggestions on how to address the need for extra

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capacity. With ongoing investment in that with's facilities and the

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surrounding area that has been helped by the job opportunities, we

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are expanding Gatwick be just the lift that the nation he -- the

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region needs's John Innes now from our Westminster studio is the

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former Mayor of Medway Dai Liyanage and he is also the director of

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demand regeneration in North Kent. A second runway at Gatwick, it

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would be a quicker solution? will be. It will not happen for

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another seven years. If we start building up a longer-term solution

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on the estuary, then in about 10 years' time, we can have that

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airport. It is a better thing for a longer term solution rather than a

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short term, short-sighted solution. You are in a minority in Kent,

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calling for a new hub airport. Here is another report saying it is not

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the right solution. Are you losing confidence in the hub airport?

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If you look at the report and terms of reference it is looking for a

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short-term solution. We are looking for a long-term solution. That is

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the difference. People do not understand what a hub airport means.

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It means it is like a bus station, whereas other airports are like

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bus-stops. You need a bus station. Having at four runways, like other

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airports, look at China. They are building 50 airports in the next

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ten years. The UK will be left behind. You mention inconvenience

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for residents if Gatwick expanse, what about the inconvenience and

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the environmental damage that would be caused by a massive new

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development of the North Kent coast? How about the jobs. How

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about the regeneration for the area? That is the most important

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thing. There are a lot of young people who are unemployed in those

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areas. There is no hope for them for the future. Here is something

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that within 10 years' time, we did have a new airport, new jobs and a

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career and a future for the people of the area. Are you convincing

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anyone? The council had been opposed to this as have local MPs.

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Is anyone coming on side and is anyone listening to those voices?

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Absolutely. A lot of business people are supporting this campaign.

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We need to ask the people, without asking anyone spending �50,000 of

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my money, on propaganda. I do not understand the logic of the council.

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I do not know what their hidden agenda is. Let us bring in the

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studio guests in. Is there a hidden agenda here? Why would any MP say

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yes to a massive infrastructure project and a massive number of new

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jobs? I a whole variety of reasons. The man until impact is one of

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those reasons. This is a 50 billion pound project and it would take

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decades to get planning permission and to start up. Boris has made it

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clear that he sees this as an opportunity for Londoners to have

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jobs. He has made it clear that quite a few of the jobs would

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transfer from Heathrow directly, so any suggestion that there would be

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new jobs for local people is misguided. A youngsters need jobs

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today, not in 20 years' time. is a big opportunity for jobs that

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has disappeared in Kent recently the investment in the

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infrastructure is just an available to us at the moment. There is

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another point as well, in that Medway in particular is a highly

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populated and to suddenly find thousands of new homes and all the

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infrastructure at that could go with that, I do not think this is

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appropriate to build a brand-new airport off the Kent coast.

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Sussex they think it is a brilliant idea to have investment in their

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existing airport. If there was a simple choice for you, expand

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Gatwick or a new airport? You have got a perfectly good word class

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airport at Gatwick. The pain has been taken already in the council,

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now it has a world-class airport, so you expand what you have. The

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economy is flatlining and we cannot wait for that two decades. Does it

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have to take that long? The even the ones that have been referred to

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as being built in China and should by, the still take time to be built.

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With the economy flatlining and jobs needed now, with the airport

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already there, let us build in Gatwick.

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Another blow for jobs on the Isle of Sheppey. Vestas has abandoned

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plans to build wind turbines in a huge factory in Sheerness. No one

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knows exactly why, but could government policy be to blame?

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There are mixed messages about cuts in subsidies for wind energy. At

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least 10% and it could be 25% and according to one Cabinet Minister,

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subsidies could be gone altogether by 2020. You are one of the MPs who

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wrote to the Prime Minister earlier this year St you wanted to limit

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the growth of onshore wind production. Investors need long-

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term certainty. You are part of the reason that investors say they will

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not be part of the future in Kent. I think the decision by the company

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is a bit of a red herring. They closed a site on Tyne met on

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exactly the same day that the announce the decision on the Isle

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of Sheppey. The closed five sites in Scandinavia last year. It is a

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commercial decision. Why did one of your colleagues say that their

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decisions suggests a lack of confidence within the industry over

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the government's commitment to green energy? I heard her interview

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and she made clear that all energy has been subsidised at some point

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and the subsidies decline over time. We need to ensure that people do

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have an understanding about the government's commitment to

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renewable energy and in the next few weeks the government will be

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making announcements on the banding review. The taxpayer subsidises the

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energy and it has to subsidise the right energy that is getting the

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right results. You are shaking your head. How long to be go on

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subsidising wind energy? How long before we say it has to stand on

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his own two ft? We need a low- carbon economy, and we need jobs as

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well. This plant would have given 2000 high skilled jobs in the south.

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These are the kind of jobs we need in the low-carbon economy that the

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government claims to want to support. It seems to be closing its

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doors to Green Investment and those jobs are going elsewhere. You

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cannot say there is cause-and- effect between a government that

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signals it is not interested in subsidising the industry and a big

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supplier like Vestas at St forget it. To think that Tracey's decision

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is part of the recent Vestas is not here in Kent? It is. It is based on

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the framework of the government who does not seem to be serious about

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wind energy. Ed Davey said that we have to be green and been green it

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means being straight with investors and companies and not messing them

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around. We need a clear message so that people understand what the

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subsidies will be and whether this government backs renewable energy.

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I absolutely. We will see an announcement from Ed Davey over the

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next few weeks. It will set out the banding rebuke and what the subsidy

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will be for certain energies. what shook the level be? I favour

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offshore wind. It is more consistent. I would have less

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subsidy for onshore wind. We have to see the industry and --

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demonstrate it is what the tax payers money. We wanted jobs, but

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millions of households are believed to be in fuel Prof pretty. They are

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clamouring for cheaper electricity. The need MX-. You need a nuclear to

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blend slowly into types of low- carbon energy. You need action on

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fuel prices particularly. In the longer term, we need those green

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jobs in the south. We need a high skilled engineering jobs. Is there

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a prospect that and other renewable energy firm and they come along? Is

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anyone making positive noises? side that Vestas were going to use

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is perfect for renewable Engineering. Why aren't there any

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other companies coming? Vestas made a commercial decision. It has been

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closing sites all over the world for the last few years. They have

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not had a single order for a wind turbine. If the site was perfect

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and they decide not to come, you do not need to be a genius to work out

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because unaffected do you? Or lover let when this has suggested that

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all subsidies should go for renewable energy by 2020. There is

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a strain of thought in the Conservative Party that is quite

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anti- low-carbon the energy. They do not see it as the way forward.

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You can see that there is a strain of thought coming from the likes of

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those people, but that is not the way we will get the economic

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recovery that we need. Lookout for a camera you roll by

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Tracy in this week's political round-up. Tracey Crouch claimed a

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victory over the government's U- turn on petrol prices. Fuel prices

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have been increasing and they had been putting pressure on household

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budgets and business budgets. I think this is a good news and

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asthma. The Green Party leader urged the government to look at the

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extradition treaty between the UK and US under which this man was

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sent to the States to await trial. House of Lords reform has been

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dominating procedures in Parliament and MPs will debate the issue next

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week and a number are expected to rebel. This MP asked. Is it a bit

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stupid to ask for House of Lords reform, but against the programme

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motion? Do you recognise this man. Security guards at the Olympic site

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didn't and refused entry to him. He was apparently rather upset, giving

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that he is the Olympics Minister. With the game's less than a month

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away, it will help raise his profile. Everybody loves the story

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and we will come on to that in a moment. There you were at the

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beginning talking about a cut in the fuel duty rise. Is she right? A

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year us. It is good that the cut is taking place. The problem was the

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shambles that it led up to. Ministers at the Treasury and the

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Cabinet did not know about it and it seems unfunded. We do not know

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whether money is coming from to match the cuts. You were not the MP

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who was put up during the week, defending that decision. A I signed

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the pledge, so I would not have been put off to defend the position.

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At the that was the right decision to make. We have saved �500 million

:48:14.:48:24.
:48:24.:48:32.

on the Olympics, so we can ring- fence that for the cut. A bit MP

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with the whole do you know here a moment. Are those words that any

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politician should ever utter? No. I feel slightly sorry for the

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Private Office and the civil servants whose job it is to make

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sure that they have passes. You cannot blame the Minister. A two

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you get recognised? I do. Sometimes in embarrassing circumstances. In

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the supermarket -- in the supermarket sometimes. It is fine

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and it comes at the job. The would she ever uttered those words?

:49:07.:49:15.

no! I am regularly not recognised and I'm comfortable with that.

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Thank you. That is set for Sunday Politics in the South East. My

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