:01:23. > :01:25.And in the South East: A year after it was given the green
:01:25. > :01:35.light, could disruption by protestors drive the Bexhill-
:01:35. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :38:11.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2196 seconds
:38:11. > :38:13.Hastings link road project onto the I am Natalie Graham and this is the
:38:13. > :38:15.Sunday Politics in the South East. Coming up later:
:38:15. > :38:18.As the Coalition Government considers opening up fire services
:38:18. > :38:26.to privatisation, Surrey County Council blazes the trail with a
:38:26. > :38:29.pioneering pilot scheme. Joining me in the studio today is
:38:29. > :38:36.Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood Mark Reckless and Labour's
:38:36. > :38:41.Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Hastings and Rye, Sarah Owen.
:38:41. > :38:44.First, let us talk about UKIP. The party pulled off a stunning victory
:38:44. > :38:48.in Eastleigh last week - the Lib Dems won, but only just, and both
:38:48. > :38:58.they and the Conservatives saw their share of the vote fall by 14%,
:38:58. > :39:04.
:39:04. > :39:14.UKIP's share rose by 24%. You must be very worried. Having encouraged
:39:14. > :39:15.
:39:15. > :39:24.it by Mr to cut their EU budget, we want a referendum on the EU. We got
:39:24. > :39:28.over half the vote yet election was won by the fanatical Liberal-
:39:28. > :39:34.Democrat. I hope we get that referendum to give people the
:39:34. > :39:40.chance to vote for an independent country. You have been a thorn in
:39:40. > :39:45.the Prime Minister's side on this issue. Use all UKIP pick up at huge
:39:45. > :39:52.side of the boat, what can you do? I think that the general election
:39:52. > :39:56.people will have a choice between David Cameron or at Ed Miliband and
:39:56. > :40:01.Ed Balls. And they had created the mess in the first place. People
:40:01. > :40:06.will have a clear choice between a Conservative Government with an end
:40:06. > :40:16.out referendum for people to decide for once and for all on the EU or a
:40:16. > :40:20.
:40:20. > :40:25.Labour party which wants to deny people a referendum. The danger of
:40:25. > :40:34.the year is that UKIP becomes a party that people go to to express
:40:34. > :40:38.their frustration with the Government. Not you. Eastleigh is a
:40:38. > :40:42.snapshot in time. It's is a lot more about the Conservatives'
:40:42. > :40:47.position in the South East than Labour's, it was not a target seat
:40:47. > :40:53.for us, it was poor at the Conservatives. People do not know
:40:53. > :40:56.where David Cameron stands any more. Is he left or right? But they know
:40:56. > :41:06.where he stands in Europe which is more than they are sure on Ed
:41:06. > :41:09.
:41:09. > :41:19.Miliband. It is difficult firm at the Conservatives. It is buying out
:41:19. > :41:27.
:41:28. > :41:30.in the ballot boxes. It is going to split the Conservative vote.
:41:30. > :41:36.need to improve the economy to deal with the debt that Labour will left
:41:36. > :41:40.us. The Conservative Party does want a referendum on EU. I hope
:41:40. > :41:50.over the next two years that we will get that message and make it
:41:50. > :41:59.
:41:59. > :42:03.clear to people. It's been a year since the Bexhill-
:42:03. > :42:05.Hastings link road was given the go ahead. Work on the site began in
:42:05. > :42:08.December but it has been continually hampered by campaigners
:42:08. > :42:10.who want to halt the project because of the damage it could do
:42:10. > :42:13.to the environment. East Sussex County Council estimates that
:42:13. > :42:16.dealing with the disruptions has already cost more than �750,000.
:42:16. > :42:26.But with no sign of the protests abating could the future of the
:42:26. > :42:27.
:42:27. > :42:37.link road be under threat? Lucinda Adam went to find out. Another road
:42:37. > :42:40.just means more traffic. Protest has tried to stop this road between
:42:40. > :42:45.Bexhill and tastings. The Cody council says the road will bring
:42:45. > :42:50.new jobs and a billion pounds of economic benefit to the most
:42:50. > :42:56.deprived area in the South East. Protesters say it is damaging the
:42:57. > :43:00.countryside and costing too much. Their opposition comes at a price.
:43:00. > :43:04.Four-and-a-half million pounds in legal fees, and more than three-
:43:04. > :43:08.quarters of a million pounds spent so far removing protesters and
:43:08. > :43:17.tightening security. Of 28 protesters cautioned by police,
:43:17. > :43:24.fewer than half let locally. These people are an no worse than a high
:43:24. > :43:29.we men of old. They're showing antics in the courts which have
:43:29. > :43:37.cost as a whole year. With inflation in building costs it cost
:43:37. > :43:42.us the equivalent of a new primary school. Work continues. Developers
:43:42. > :43:47.say to trees will be planted here for each one that is cut down. But
:43:47. > :43:51.protesters say they are planning their next move here. And this
:43:51. > :43:55.month they will march on Westminster to try to move on the
:43:55. > :43:58.scheme. Protesters have now been evicted from their camps on the
:43:58. > :44:02.site but have moved here to a third camp on a private farm which
:44:02. > :44:08.overlooks what the road is being built. We came here to try to talk
:44:08. > :44:13.to them and found a well-stocked larder and as a buyer. But no sign
:44:13. > :44:22.of the protesters. But later we did find some of them in full voice
:44:22. > :44:29.outside a Hastings Town Hall. get enough people down it to stop
:44:29. > :44:34.the trees being read them and get a hedge rows back. -- to stop that
:44:34. > :44:39.concrete being late. This is that that -- this is that problem that
:44:39. > :44:43.councillors are trying to solve. The claim that thousands of
:44:43. > :44:51.vehicles a day could be diverted from these roads. People from
:44:51. > :44:59.Hastings say it cannot come soon enough. Yet add on a lot of time
:44:59. > :45:06.from your journey. It will benefit the tone a lot. And then there will
:45:06. > :45:09.be a lot of advantages to it. To meeting can take a me it half an
:45:09. > :45:16.hour for a three-mile journey. think it will certainly encourage
:45:16. > :45:20.jobs and bring money to the area. There's a high level of
:45:20. > :45:25.unemployment in East Sussex. Developers planning a regeneration
:45:25. > :45:32.project of new homes and or Business Park say the road is its
:45:32. > :45:35.essential to its success. We're in discussions with the number of
:45:35. > :45:42.companies, but you do not even crossed the start line in those
:45:42. > :45:48.discussions if you cannot offer good quality, well landscaped and
:45:48. > :45:52.accessible sites. The game changing bet is giving a more relaxed
:45:52. > :45:58.business environment that can deliver these 3,000 jobs that
:45:58. > :46:01.Bexhill is capable of giving. But what the council still waiting on
:46:01. > :46:11.confirmation of the funding of the road from the Government, could the
:46:11. > :46:15.
:46:15. > :46:18.protesters succeeded? I hope not. Do you think they have a point? No,
:46:18. > :46:25.they should have been here air earlier if they had a problem with
:46:25. > :46:29.it, there it is jumping on the bandwagon now. There are the
:46:29. > :46:37.enemies of democracy. Could their actions but the brief sit on the
:46:37. > :46:41.future of the road and the economic success of the region?
:46:41. > :46:46.Lucinda Adam reporting. Joining me from our Westminster studio is Sian
:46:46. > :46:54.Berry from the Campaign for Better Transport.
:46:54. > :47:00.You are one of the Johnny-come- latelys, an enemy of democracy. No,
:47:00. > :47:03.absolutely not. In a very real problems. You have had your chance,
:47:03. > :47:09.if you're a at the public in a choir EU could have exhausted the
:47:09. > :47:16.democratic route. Not exactly. Department for Transport has not
:47:16. > :47:20.made its final decision. We're asking them at this final hurdle to
:47:20. > :47:24.deny that the funding so that East Sussex can spend less money on more
:47:24. > :47:30.effective things to do with the congestion that they showed us in
:47:30. > :47:40.that report. But the Democratic rose is has a row of it is course.
:47:40. > :47:40.
:47:40. > :47:44.It has been rejected by the local population. Leave it now. The it is
:47:44. > :47:49.not exactly true. The public were asked to comment on the different
:47:49. > :47:52.bits of that report, and there were dozens of things that went in
:47:52. > :47:58.favour to the Department for Transport, namely large businesses
:47:58. > :48:02.who want this giant business park to move into. But there were
:48:02. > :48:09.hundreds of and hundreds of objections from local people who
:48:09. > :48:13.value that and ballet. But only 16% a of the people who live there
:48:13. > :48:19.objected to this road. Most people seem to want it sooner rather than
:48:19. > :48:27.wage riots. You are denying them what they want. -- sooner rather
:48:27. > :48:33.than later. They are cutting other services. There are cheaper than
:48:34. > :48:38.she can do to make this happen. When the public see the other
:48:38. > :48:43.options then they might be more or on our side. They can see that
:48:43. > :48:48.there are other options to reduce the congestion rather than
:48:48. > :48:51.destroying a valley with the enormous value. They are also
:48:51. > :48:59.destroying the town centre by doing this, the town centres crying out
:48:59. > :49:03.for regeneration. A lot of businesses will not even crossed
:49:03. > :49:08.the starting line and they can be offered that space. The town centre
:49:08. > :49:15.cannot do that. You have forced the council to spent four-and-a-half
:49:15. > :49:19.million pounds in judicial costs, haven't you? It will be any of
:49:19. > :49:24.their will or a son were accurate figures. The road was not going to
:49:24. > :49:29.get funding any time before last year's Budget. They cannot start
:49:29. > :49:38.building so this winter anyway. There was no delay. You were
:49:38. > :49:48.wasting time. We're trying to save my knee in the air and a. These are
:49:48. > :49:49.
:49:49. > :49:54.important arguments to be had. The final decisions have not been made.
:49:54. > :50:04.If they do stop this wrote in science like it will upset a lot of
:50:04. > :50:08.
:50:08. > :50:16.people in Hastings. It has not been helpful. Taxpayers are being cost
:50:16. > :50:23.money. It is a real problem for a Hastings and Bexhill. As we pointed
:50:23. > :50:28.out Hastings is experiencing massive levels of deprivation. We
:50:28. > :50:36.saw that there were some areas where 50% of the children are at
:50:36. > :50:44.living below the poverty line. We need growth. How would you stop
:50:44. > :50:47.this then? Rather than the councils abolished attitude I would have had
:50:47. > :50:51.a conversation with people like that they do we do spoke to. That
:50:51. > :50:58.hasn't even been tried at the moment. The stand-off that we have
:50:58. > :51:05.at the moment isn't helping anyone. A day of a in a Government will
:51:05. > :51:11.listen to them, Mark Reckless? It was she who got their spending come
:51:11. > :51:20.in for an end to last year. East Sussex are pulling their money and
:51:20. > :51:25.it has been fought for or hired. Because it has done a great job.
:51:25. > :51:29.Even if the row at a do is a not get built, it they could live on to
:51:29. > :51:35.another constituency. The democratic process has ended yet
:51:35. > :51:39.the process -- the protests still go on. A protests need to be
:51:39. > :51:43.peaceable. Where are they it runs to these sorts of costs I am
:51:43. > :51:48.pleased to see that the police become a vigorous in trying to
:51:48. > :51:51.allow people to go about their lawful activity of red -- of
:51:51. > :51:56.building this road. There has been a public inquiry and there have
:51:56. > :52:06.been other legal cases about it. Do you approve of a consolatory
:52:06. > :52:06.
:52:06. > :52:10.approach as Sarah was talking about? The a be a has a four it
:52:10. > :52:19.they are a heart for the a so. Lots of people wanted and I think we
:52:19. > :52:21.should get on with it. We will move on the.
:52:21. > :52:24.Should our fire services be open to privatisation? Surrey County
:52:24. > :52:34.Council is currently outsourcing its Specialist Fire and Rescue
:52:34. > :52:41.
:52:41. > :52:43.Services to an independent contractor in a pilot scheme. The
:52:43. > :52:46.Fire Brigades Union has criticised this move, saying the money would
:52:46. > :52:48.have been better spent on increasing the number of fire
:52:48. > :52:51.fighters in the county. Meanwhile, Government Minister Brandon Lewis
:52:51. > :52:54.wants to change the law to allow fire and rescue services to operate
:52:54. > :53:04.under 'employee led mutuals' - in other words, companies functioning
:53:04. > :53:05.
:53:05. > :53:15.independently of local authorities. Sarah Owen, used to work for the
:53:15. > :53:17.
:53:17. > :53:21.fire service. Their priorities should be its saving lives. They
:53:21. > :53:26.say that more people die in the water in Surrey than in house fires,
:53:26. > :53:36.but they need specialist teams. are not going to get Government
:53:36. > :53:40.money in this climate. Why should they not do this? Our service is a
:53:40. > :53:47.barren rescue service. Our offers - - our officers should be able to
:53:47. > :53:56.deal with all of these issues. You're making your huge cuts will
:53:56. > :53:59.start a war it you think they should do mark? I worked for the
:53:59. > :54:03.Kent police authorities. A way it you are a one to make savings you
:54:03. > :54:13.want to protect the front line and make sure that public safety is the
:54:13. > :54:14.
:54:14. > :54:19.priority. On the Thames, Kent police and Essex Police joined
:54:19. > :54:22.together to go find their service there. With Surrey, in terms of the
:54:23. > :54:27.rivers and that it of rescue, it is something that the fire service do
:54:27. > :54:35.not feel specialist and but it is important to look at different ways
:54:35. > :54:39.of doing it. It just has to be saved for the public. But how is it
:54:39. > :54:47.safe for the public when we will reduce the fire service by about
:54:47. > :54:52.5,000? What is key is that it is a rescue from the river and we are
:54:52. > :54:55.people available and experience to carry them out. Whether it is the
:54:55. > :55:05.public are private sector it should be at whichever is best by the
:55:05. > :55:10.
:55:10. > :55:20.public. Where you draw the line, Marc question mark - Mark -- where
:55:20. > :55:20.
:55:20. > :55:25.you draw the line? You do not know till you try. We will watch what
:55:25. > :55:30.they're doing in Surrey from 10 per. If it looks like something that is
:55:30. > :55:35.working and then we will look at doing it as well. Would you be open
:55:35. > :55:41.to wholesale privatisation a of the by a service? I would not support
:55:41. > :55:49.it in that this area, but it should be the most safe and cost-effective
:55:49. > :55:53.for the public. Just look at the Olympics and the debacle that we
:55:53. > :56:01.had there. The fire service should just be about saving lives and not
:56:01. > :56:11.about getting the cheapest cut. a we are to a about these employee
:56:11. > :56:23.
:56:23. > :56:33.led mutuals. The concern is how this has been done without a public
:56:33. > :56:39.
:56:39. > :56:45.debate. Safety must be at its utmost. We would be looking at
:56:45. > :56:49.employee led metres and it would be a very different world. How
:56:49. > :56:53.comfortable late can you take that? We just need to make sure that it
:56:53. > :56:58.is saved and it is operating in the best interests of the public.
:56:58. > :57:04.not think we should be ideological about how it is done. As elected
:57:04. > :57:08.politicians we have to make sure that we do things properly. It
:57:08. > :57:18.would mean that firearm pleas would have a say in how the services were
:57:18. > :57:18.
:57:18. > :58:02.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2196 seconds
:58:02. > :58:07.We have had a small fire station close where I am. We're having a
:58:07. > :58:17.new fire station built in Rochester. We have to reach its that the
:58:17. > :58:21.
:58:21. > :58:24.purpose and we have to Pete -- and we have to keep people say.
:58:24. > :58:32.And now a round- up of the week's events with our reporter Lucinda
:58:32. > :58:37.Adam. There is a high-cost wait for four
:58:37. > :58:41.numbers for patients to use despite the ban. People at deterred to go
:58:41. > :58:48.to the doctors because they cannot make an appointment through the
:58:48. > :58:56.phone line. One MP has been accused of stirring up a xenophobic passion
:58:56. > :59:04.after the purchase of ferries. competition commission has told us
:59:04. > :59:12.to go back. Medway sees money put aside to campaign against the
:59:12. > :59:19.Thames estuary airport, it should be put towards a boat.
:59:19. > :59:29.Brighton and Hove is no longer England's drug death capital.
:59:29. > :59:32.
:59:32. > :59:39.Parents are being asked to sign a Alcohol pledges. I know you were a
:59:39. > :59:44.student in Brighton, Sarah. It is hard to enforce that, isn't it?
:59:44. > :59:50.Stopping people drinking to their routine? Ultimately, we have to
:59:50. > :59:55.look at the bigger issue here. It is about our night-time economy. In
:59:55. > :00:00.Brighton there are some no-go areas on Friday and Saturday nights. It
:00:00. > :00:03.is that sort of culture. Perhaps we did have a more continental
:00:03. > :00:07.approach to a night life. I do not think we should be stigmatising
:00:07. > :00:12.young people. All people have future alcohol problems as well, we
:00:12. > :00:15.should look at all people. They think that the answer will be that
:00:15. > :00:20.if you stop people until they're 18 then there will not be a problem
:00:21. > :00:25.when they are older. There are businesses that will suffer. There
:00:25. > :00:32.are areas that suffer from this sort of trade and business. We
:00:32. > :00:39.should be widening out the night time economy. Mark Reckless, I am
:00:39. > :00:46.sure you are enjoying this round. This French fix when it it comes to
:00:46. > :00:50.ferries, let's talk about that. want to see competition on the
:00:50. > :00:54.Channel and keeping prices down for consumers. But we should be trading
:00:54. > :01:00.with the Europe we just should not be governed by Europe. That you for