09/12/2012 Sunday Politics South East

And in the South East: Handouts for the hungry - more and

more families are being forced to rely on food banks but should

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2130 seconds

charities be filling the funding Good morning, this is Sunday

Politics in the South East. Coming up: The Chancellor gave encouraging

signs for shale gas extraction in his Autumn Statement. We hear from

the protesters in Kent and Surrey. Joining me is Rehman Chishti, the

Conservative MP for Gillingham & Rainham, and the Labour peer Lord

Bassam. Let us start with this novel idea to liven up British

politics. That is to set up a new party dedicated to preserving

financial interests of people in the South East. It is the idea of

Kelvin MacKenzie, the former Sun editor. Maybe he can do better at

representing people. We have a strong presence in the south. We

are getting stronger all the time. It is a crazy idea. It will not

catch on. It will not do the South much good. The traditional parties

have got representation here. We need to make sure we represent

people's interests. His argument is creative and hard-working people

should stop subsidising other parts of the country. He suggests home

rule as a solution. It is so bizarre. What we saw with the

previous government, they want regional assemblies. The referendum

got turned down. We are better together. This idea of home rule as

pathetic. His judgment is fraught legged was when he was editor of

the Sun. The Hillsborough disaster was covered in an appalling way.

household costs increase, more families are turning to charity for

support. Just this week, two food banks are adding to the growing

number in the South East. The first one opened last year. Food prices

are predicted to rise by 4% a year in the next 10 years. What can be

done about the problem? This is an affluent West Sussex town. It was a

surprise when a food bank opened in April. What is more shocking is it

has already paid 570 people and half of them are children. This man

is unemployed but says he is trying to get into work. -- this woman is

unemployed but says she is trying. It is embarrassing but at the same

time it is nice there are people here who understand that not

everybody can make ends meet. It is difficult for people. Especially

when you are on a low income. June last year, this Christian

charity opened its first food bank in Eastbourne. 18 months on, it has

opened 10 more, including two new ones this week in Bexhill. Another

one will open in the New Year and there are plans for three more. The

Freddie Starr as the 4th highest demand for food banks, well above

the national average. -- the South East has the fourth-highest demand.

We are hearing a lot of stories about parents going without meals

so they can feed their children. It is that working family that we are

seeing an increase coming into the food bank. Food banks are not about

feeding the homeless. They're about feeding people there are struggling

to make ends meet. They come up with a voucher, like this one. It

is given by the local council or a health care professional. This is

what they get. Boxes of food like rice and canned fruit, cereal and

long-life milk. It is emergency food, designed to feed you for

three days. The food is debated by the public and given out by

volunteers. With a man so high, we have learned at least six of our

pencils are giving money to food banks. The charity is wary of being

drawn into the welfare system. are responding to a problem that

has been created as a consequence of cuts. You do not want to fill a

funding gap? Absolutely not. That is not the purpose. Government

figures show food prices have risen by a third in five years, that is

twice as fast as inflation. Prices are expected to continue going up

by 4% a year for the next decade. What we have got is very powerful

companies dominating and politicians have been happy about

that because they have brought prices down. Now prices are going

up and a giant companies cannot control it. They cannot control

climate change or flood. They cannot control oil prices. The

politicians are a way with the ferries. Ordinary people get it. --

with the fairies. Five boxes of pizza. To bananas. What is the

solution? -- two bananas. Reducing the food we waste is one of them.

Here in Brighton, this company has been collecting surplus food from

supermarkets for 10 years and distributing it to 50 charities. It

is a well-oiled machine but plans for a law to oblige supermarkets to

donate food has stalled. The vast majority goes to landfill. It is

criminal. Hundreds of people cannot eat and we are throwing away

literally hundreds of thousands of tonnes a year of a double food. --

of edible food. A with thousands of people fed by charities this

Christmas, what will the Government to to make sure they do not go

hungry next year? Face reality. Stop patronising the poor. It is

dreadful the Prime Minister has come out in support of food banks.

This is OK for the Old Etonian classes but it is not good politics.

Food banks are papering over the cracks but the cracks a widening.

Joining us from our Hastings studio is the Conservative MP amber Rudd.

Lots of questions coming up. Food banks are papering over the cracks

and the cracks are widening. Do you agree? I think food banks are

providing an important service. I do not think they are a response to

what is going on because they were set up in the year 2001. They have

accelerated over the past few years but that is because people like

giving food. I have been to Sainsbury's and helped collect

fruit and a lot of people say, I preferred giving food to help

people rather than money. People want to help. They know it is not

just the homeless. It is people having hard times. Most people go

through that sort of situation. They like helping other people.

There is an element of people responding to people in their

community and wanting to help. That is not a bad thing. But the number

of food as a prince has gone up. -- food recipients. It is an explosion

of food banks in the last 18 months. That is not just because people

like giving food. It is because people are suffering because of the

Government's austerity programme. Can I point out, under the last

government, job seekers were not allowed to carry leaflets about

food banks. -- people were not allowed. I am not surprised about

the South East. We know there is a misconception that is the luggage

area and it is not. -- that is a lavish area. We fed 700 people

earlier in the year at one food bank. It does sound a bit

patronising to be saying, it is wonderful, the work they are doing.

The food banks have said they do not want to fill this gap. It is

patronising of you to say it is patronising of me. People do want

to help a we should welcome the fact they do. People have always

had needs. There is a problem and I admit that. Over that -- before

this Government, people were saying they had to go to food banks

because they were not getting benefits in time. That peaked at

35% and it has come off from them. Getting the benefits system better,

getting a more efficient so people do not have this crisis moments, is

something we can move on to. after the Autumn Statement,

benefits will rise by 1%. That is below inflation. Things are not

going to get better, they will get worse. In the past five years, out

of work benefits went up by 20%. In work benefits went up by 10%. In

the past, it has been skewed to two people out of work. Last year, they

went up by 5.2%. This year, it will be 1%. That is like the average

wage. With the deficit, we have to make some squeezes. We are hitting

the better-off and bureaucracy as well. It is a joint effort. Let's

talk about what you can do. Food prices are rising at 4%. That is

higher than inflation. You cannot control the weather, or oil prices.

You did have a food strategy -- the last government had a food strategy

you haven't abandoned. Energy prices have a big impact. -- you

have abandoned. The Chancellor has set out his plans to get shale gas

out of the ground. I am a supporter of wind farms. We need a more

diverse plant to supply energy. We must not be so dependent on oil. If

we have a better supply of energy, we will get food prices on an even

keel. Three we will talk about shale gas in a moment. Thank you.

Lord Bassam, what do you feel about relying on charities? Is it the

right thing? They care for people, they are doing the right thing. We

are in a desperate situation. The Autumn Statement is going to drive

more people, particularly those in work, into poverty. She is a way

with the fairies. She is suggesting it is nothing to do with the

Government increasing cuts. But it is. She knows that. The Chancellor

knows that. It is unfortunate about this week's announcement. I have to

give great credit to organisations like the ones we saw in your report.

Their figures show a over the last three years, a number of people --

are the number of people relying on food banks have trebled. If Rehman

Chishti, you will welcome the work they are doing. I did not ask about

the law which would force supermarkets to donate food. That

is a shame. There is more you could be doing. We have got to do

everything we can to make sure people who need help get help.

People at the bottom end a to go to a shop where there is a crisis,

benefits have been delayed, and the other category where people have

come out of prison and have not got the skills to get a job. They are

dependent on this as well. We need to get people into skilled jobs.

That, in combination with benefits are paid to people who need help,

rather than abuses, we have a good package. When I went to a food bank

and spoke to the volunteers, they did not ask me for more money, they

said, can we have another shelter? That shows me people are donating

and we have to give them the extra support to make sure they can do

that. Thank you. Fuel costs could go down if we could access

something back. Large parts of the South East could be exploited for

the controversial practice of fracking. The dots on the map show

areas where gas has been previously drilled for and could be potential

shale gas production sites. Fracking, involving pumping water

into shale rock at high pressure to extract IPCC, was temporarily

banned when it was blamed for causing mini earthquakes near

Blackpool. -- extract gas. Are we going to have to get used to

fracking on our doorstep? Rosie Rechter from East Kent Against

Fracking joins us now. You were quite unhappy when you heard the

Chancellor's comments in the Autumn Statement? Yes. I was prepared for

it but I was hoping against hope he would not go that far. Why is he

flogging a dead horse of fossil fuels instead of looking to the

future? He is gambling recklessly with all our futures. I will get a

wife he is doing it. If shale gas reserves could be accessed, they

would give us cheaper fuel. Rising fuel costs of putting people into

poverty. I'd challenge it being a cheaper fuel. Another thing he said

in the Autumn Statement was he was looking for regulations that were

simple and safe. It is an extremely complex procedure which can be

highly dangerous and it needs complex regulations and a legal

framework to protect us all. At most, it will last 20 years. It is

madness. The Government is not going to put people's lives at risk.

He is promising safe regulation. What would it take for you to

accept exploiting shale gas reserves is worthwhile? I do not

think anything would convince me. It is going in the wrong direction.

We should be developing renewable energy which will last for ever,

not a near 20 years. That is before I get on to the damage it could do

to everybody who lives anywhere near it. Let us remind us -- remind

us of your concerns about fracking. Looking at what happened in America,

it is difficult to get convincing reports from there, but in one

region alone, they had 1,000 cases of contamination of water last year.

We are worried about water. We are worried about the quality of life.

I think we need to 1,000 truckloads for the drilling of each single

well. On average, you have six to eight Matt Wells so you will have

constant noise, can destine on the roads, air pollution, possibly

contamination of the water. -- congestion on the roads. It is all

very well false -- it is all very well for people to say it is no

worse than a lorry going past the door but people have suffered

damage to their properties from earthquakes. Thank you. I could go

on! She did paint an alarming picture. 1,000 truckloads per well,

the contaminated water. It is hard to justify going ahead with this.

We have got to do everything we can to reduce energy prices around the

country. This is a way that could achieve that. The concerns that

have been raised can be dealt with. We have to make sure we do

everything we can to help. It is a risk. I am a sceptic. I think Rosie

Rechter has a lot going for her arguments. The Government is in a

pickle with its energy policy. We have not got the balance between

renewables and none renewables. Fracking smacks of desperation. We

do not need lessons from Labour on energy. I think, almost, before it

goes ahead, there has to be a planning application, it has to be

looked at by the Environmental Agency. And then it can be given

permission. There are concerns but bodies have said concerns can be

dealt with. A both areas they you represent have a high areas of fuel

poverty. We could have a cheap and secure fuel source. Security is the

issue. There may be circumstances where it is appropriate and right

to consider exploiting this energy but I am not sure we have yet got

to that point that. I am not convinced the Government has got

the right framework in place. It is fragmented between the local

authorities. There is a lack of cohesion in policy. If all that can

be overcome, let us assume that the Government does not want to put

lives at risk, what -- given what we have been talking about, this is

surely worth exploring? I think you have got to follow the science.

That is my approach. I do not think the science is perfected on this

yet. There are troubling questions that have not been answered. The

idea of selling it by talking about fuel poverty is not the right way.

In the Energy Bill, we have looked at this. The environmental

committee says this is the right way forward. Other agencies agree.

Are we have cut fuel poverty. The petrol prices have been cut. This

would be another way... A energy prices have gone up a third in the

last two years. We have to leave it there. Now a round-up of the week's

news. There was relief for south-east

motorists after the Chancellor announced he would cancel the three

pence rise for January. Good news for Brighton. They will receive

government funding for ultra-fast broadband. It is good for business.

The climate change Minister has been defending wind farms. He said

they can be wonderful and majestic. He has no objection to turbines in

his constituency. The Education Secretary announced �700,000 of

funding for the Territorial Army in Tunbridge Wells. Former soldiers

will be sent to classrooms to help raised -- to help raise results

been troubled youngsters. We can make an aspirational. That is what

is needed to bring discipline to Thanet Council. It is like a gang

culture. This independent councillor says petty vendettas

have led to council members -- council meetings resembling a

jungle. You have both served on local councils. The quality of

political debate taking place in than it gives cause for concern.

does seem that way. It seems petty. It seems personal. Is it a one-off?

It happens all over. It adds colour. But it can be very damaging.

Brighton and Hove is a good example. The quality is not as good as it

should be. I think it is the same thing in Parliament when you see

people pointing fingers, shading. - - shouting. Look at Ed Balls when

he sits on the opposition. He is the first one to give gestures. He

asked to be prepared to take it if he is going to dish it out. You

need integrity of politics. Lord Bassam, I am sure you welcome the

announcement about faster broadband in Brighton. It will add a lot to