0:01:33 > 0:01:36An allegation of assault has made every three days him of impatience
0:01:36 > 0:01:46using the mental health services. Why is it so difficult to get
0:01:46 > 0:01:46
0:01:46 > 0:32:10Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1824 seconds
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Hello and welcome to the Sunday Politics in the South West. In a
0:32:13 > 0:32:18moment we'll hear from one of the region's Lib Dem councillors who
0:32:18 > 0:32:22says the coalition budget is unfair and bad for growth.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Here with me - I suspect to say the Budget was just what the doctor
0:32:27 > 0:32:30ordered - is Totnes MP and GP Sarah Wollaston. Also Plymouth MP Alison
0:32:30 > 0:32:40Seabeck who almost certainly thinks the chancellor is a bit of a quack
0:32:40 > 0:32:45
0:32:45 > 0:32:49who's trying to flog us his snake oil. A big announcement which I
0:32:49 > 0:32:53know you'll be interested in, the government saying it is looking at
0:32:53 > 0:33:00introducing a minimum price for alcohol. Why was this announcements
0:33:00 > 0:33:07made on a Friday? Many MPs back in their constituencies, things
0:33:07 > 0:33:12connecting with swine flu, it could it be to cover up a fuss over the
0:33:12 > 0:33:17budget? We have over a million people being sent to hospital a
0:33:17 > 0:33:21year, 700,000 children living with an alcohol dependent parent.
0:33:21 > 0:33:27Something needed to be done and it will be done now. The alcohol
0:33:27 > 0:33:35strategy is superb news. I am here in the South West talking about it
0:33:35 > 0:33:41and that is great. We are very glad. Alison, the official response from
0:33:41 > 0:33:45Labour is that this is broadly a good thing. Something that Yvette
0:33:45 > 0:33:55Cooper support. But others have said it is a headline grabbing
0:33:55 > 0:34:00gimmick and does not work. Ben has got strong views, I am more with
0:34:00 > 0:34:06Sarah on this one, I think we have reached a crisis point. We did it a
0:34:06 > 0:34:10little while ago. Too many young people, too many are going in with
0:34:10 > 0:34:14liver problems. Additional crime, domestic violence and everything
0:34:14 > 0:34:19else that goes with alcohol consumption. These are pilots and
0:34:19 > 0:34:25pilots should always be given an opportunity. We used to see people
0:34:25 > 0:34:28being drunk for 68p, we will see an end to that.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31There may have been some gnashing of teeth at Number 11 Downing
0:34:32 > 0:34:34Street over the last few days. With an eye on the likely political
0:34:34 > 0:34:37fall-out, the chancellor had clearly put a great deal of thought
0:34:38 > 0:34:40into the way he announced his decision to scrap the top 50p tax
0:34:41 > 0:34:44rate in the Budget. But the best laid plans...As things turned out
0:34:44 > 0:34:46it wasn't the top rate tax but the so-called "granny tax" - not of
0:34:47 > 0:34:49course the Chancellor's description - which caused the fiercest outcry.
0:34:49 > 0:34:57Here's Tamsin Melville. It's the morning after the night
0:34:57 > 0:35:01before for life-long Liberal Daphne Watts. And she's not happy. I put
0:35:01 > 0:35:08down on a piece of paper before the Budget I wanted to see fairness and
0:35:08 > 0:35:10growth, and I put alongside that have they achieved it? They did not.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12Daphne's particularly concerned about the so-called granny tax
0:35:12 > 0:35:20that's going to hit tens of thousands of south west pensioners
0:35:20 > 0:35:25like her in the pocket. As the allowance with us on the vine, my
0:35:25 > 0:35:31balance of money will go down. Goodness knows it is bad enough now
0:35:31 > 0:35:34with savings returns as well. Pensioners have enjoyed higher
0:35:34 > 0:35:39levels of personal allowance since a Winston Churchill policy from the
0:35:39 > 0:35:421920's. But the amount at which they start to fork out tax on any
0:35:42 > 0:35:45income - be that savings, work or pensions - is to be frozen from
0:35:45 > 0:35:482013. The idea is to bring their threshold into line with everyone
0:35:48 > 0:35:51else. Figures from the Treasury estimate in 2013/14, millions of
0:35:51 > 0:35:56older people WILL be worse off in real terms with an average loss of
0:35:56 > 0:36:01�83 a year. It is a major simplification, it saves money and
0:36:02 > 0:36:04no pensioner will lose in cash terms. Within this 360,000 65 year
0:36:05 > 0:36:14olds lose an average of �285.saving the Treasury �3.3 billion over four
0:36:15 > 0:36:16
0:36:16 > 0:36:26years. But the coalition's insisting pensioners are not being
0:36:26 > 0:36:26
0:36:26 > 0:36:30targeted. There is no granny tax. No pensioner will have money taken
0:36:31 > 0:36:36away from them that they currently have coming to them. They will all
0:36:36 > 0:36:40be getting pension increases in April this year, a pension increase
0:36:40 > 0:36:43of �5.30 a week on the state pensions. Campaigners disagree and
0:36:43 > 0:36:46say it means prudent savers retiring in the future WILL miss
0:36:46 > 0:36:54out. And this Lib Dem's warning that toying with the powerful grey
0:36:54 > 0:36:59vote could prove a very costly mistake. It may come to be
0:36:59 > 0:37:09remembered like the stopping of a children's milk at school. That and
0:37:09 > 0:37:10
0:37:10 > 0:37:16poll tax. Those are pyramids, if you like. People will remember this.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20Daphne Watts with that report. We are joined by another Lib Dem,
0:37:20 > 0:37:25Judith jolly. You will know more about this than me, right up until
0:37:25 > 0:37:29the eve of the Budget, horse- trading and haggling between the
0:37:29 > 0:37:35Liberal Democrats and Conservatives about what was in and what was out.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39The tickling with the top rate being axed. The Liberal-Democrat
0:37:39 > 0:37:44gain could be see the increase in personal allowances, but was not
0:37:44 > 0:37:49that soured by the cut to pensioners. To think that I have
0:37:49 > 0:37:56any say a night before the Budget is drawn up is nice but really, the
0:37:56 > 0:37:59idea was to harmonise allowances. You are absolutely right, I don't
0:37:59 > 0:38:05expect the Chancellor expected the spotlight to go on that so quickly
0:38:05 > 0:38:09or at all. The sort of thing they were hoping for was the reduction
0:38:09 > 0:38:18of 50 per cent to 45 per cent for those two and the most. Making that
0:38:18 > 0:38:22up by collecting stamp duty on big houses. The spotlight would have
0:38:23 > 0:38:26been anticipated if he was clear in his speech about what he was doing.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30I don't write his speech and had no idea about what he was going to say
0:38:31 > 0:38:37until I was watching the Commons on the day, I have no responsibility
0:38:37 > 0:38:43for that and clarity is useful. I think, by the time I got back to my
0:38:43 > 0:38:50office, the first e-mail I had was from a pensioners' lobby group. I
0:38:51 > 0:38:55would say, to Daphne, Steve Webb is putting together a package, a
0:38:55 > 0:39:03citizens' pension, which will be delivered by the end of this
0:39:03 > 0:39:09Parliament. That is good he is. Judith says clarity is always
0:39:09 > 0:39:13useful, you make a big point about wanting to be associated with new
0:39:13 > 0:39:17politics. When the Chancellor said he was simpler find the rates for
0:39:17 > 0:39:23pensioners, they might have thought it was good news. Should he have
0:39:23 > 0:39:27been more up front. We end you use the term simplified that will cause
0:39:27 > 0:39:32difficulties, I don't think that is necessarily the right word. Nobody
0:39:32 > 0:39:37wants to make life difficult for pensioners. As was stated, no
0:39:37 > 0:39:45pensionable pay more in cash terms and there is good news. The that is
0:39:45 > 0:39:51a little bit weaselly, isn't it? What we are talking about here,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54raising the personal threshold, towards �10,000. Seeing some into
0:39:54 > 0:39:59generation of panacea. Pointing out that pensioners are seen the
0:39:59 > 0:40:05biggest effort increase in real terms in their pensions. A actually,
0:40:05 > 0:40:09the overall package for pensioners is brilliant. A I am sure most of
0:40:09 > 0:40:15us have received e-mails from pensioners say this is not the case.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20VAT increases, field duty has seen no change so travelling is
0:40:20 > 0:40:25difficult. A very well-known campaigner in the South West is out
0:40:25 > 0:40:30there saying this is a con. Not only are we losing out here but we
0:40:30 > 0:40:36lost out with the shift from R P I to see PRI in pensions, a lot of
0:40:37 > 0:40:43very unhappy pensioners, and we may see some RECs in the ballot box in
0:40:43 > 0:40:53May. A on this point in clarity, it is true that very often the spin
0:40:53 > 0:40:57which is put on these measures that the ordinary person has to say to a
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Chancellor what they are saying. You don't believe in the old mode
0:41:01 > 0:41:05of politics. What is really important is to stress there will
0:41:05 > 0:41:09be the biggest-ever increase in pensions. What comes across to make
0:41:09 > 0:41:14his they pick pensions grab, the tax grab, which rarely caused a
0:41:14 > 0:41:18massive drop in pensions. It destroyed our pension system. That
0:41:18 > 0:41:21has been the biggest impact for most pensioners.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24Now - what is a "fair day's pay for a fair day's work"? Too often,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27according to George Osborne, that depends on whether you work in the
0:41:27 > 0:41:30public or private sector. And, according to the Institute for
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Fiscal Studies, the South West has the biggest gap between public and
0:41:33 > 0:41:35private sector pay in England - with public sector salaries being
0:41:35 > 0:41:38substantially more generous. The Chancellor says this holds back
0:41:38 > 0:41:40private sector growth, so he's looking at making public sector pay
0:41:40 > 0:41:43more "responsive to local pay rates". The unions say that just
0:41:43 > 0:41:53means "lower" and some business leaders have reservations too. Matt
0:41:53 > 0:41:55
0:41:55 > 0:41:59Pengelly reports. In November last year, many public sector workers in
0:41:59 > 0:42:02the South West went on strike over pensions. Now the Chancellor has
0:42:02 > 0:42:08set himself on a collision course with the unions again over local
0:42:08 > 0:42:13pay. The Treasury says the public sector workers enjoy a premium wage,
0:42:13 > 0:42:17attracting people away from the world of private business. So, we
0:42:17 > 0:42:22should see what we can do to make our public services more responsive
0:42:22 > 0:42:27and help our private sector to grow and create jobs in all parts of the
0:42:27 > 0:42:31country. Thick as from the Office of National Statistics show they
0:42:31 > 0:42:35are more than half a million public sector workers in the South West,
0:42:35 > 0:42:41and �60 a week more than their private sector counterparts. Sharon
0:42:41 > 0:42:45Robinson runs a recruitment agency in Cornwall and the Joan Allen is a
0:42:45 > 0:42:51union official. A surprisingly they have got very different views on
0:42:51 > 0:42:57the local pay proposal. I think it would mean that they would bring
0:42:57 > 0:43:03the pay rates down, there is low- pay within core more anyway. In the
0:43:03 > 0:43:06private sector. That would mean that we would lose skilled staff,
0:43:06 > 0:43:12they would look to go elsewhere because they will go where the
0:43:12 > 0:43:17money is. He years ago the majority of the people went into the private
0:43:17 > 0:43:21sector because the public sector was not that well paid. That has
0:43:21 > 0:43:25changed over a couple of decades and the public sector is now more
0:43:25 > 0:43:29longingly looked at. The issue we find is that we tend to lose a lot
0:43:29 > 0:43:35of people to the public sector, rather than being able to supply
0:43:35 > 0:43:40them to our public sector clients. This may become another piece of
0:43:40 > 0:43:43grit in be coalition oyster. Some have made no secret of their
0:43:43 > 0:43:47scepticism. There is a big gap between the public sector and
0:43:47 > 0:43:50private sector in the South West but we do not want a race to the
0:43:50 > 0:43:55bottom. We want to create opportunities for businesses to
0:43:55 > 0:43:57grow say they can better pay their employees. We don't want to be
0:43:57 > 0:44:04institutionalised in that difference and making it harder for
0:44:04 > 0:44:08families and the South West to do things. On the daily politics show
0:44:08 > 0:44:14last week it was clear that this proposal has some higher support.
0:44:14 > 0:44:20If you have one major surprise -- employer, being able to pay a
0:44:20 > 0:44:23higher than the local average, it crowds out smaller businesses.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26and review boards will look at the paperwork and report back later
0:44:26 > 0:44:35this year, some government departments have the option of
0:44:35 > 0:44:39moving to a national pay structure when the pay freeze is lifted.
0:44:39 > 0:44:45Judith Jolly is still with us. He is not the only Liberal-Democrat MP
0:44:45 > 0:44:49opposed to this. Adrian Sanders is one. Does this risk joining the
0:44:50 > 0:44:55list of things like tuition fees, health reform, Major government
0:44:55 > 0:45:00policies which many Lib Dems say is not liberal democracy. It is
0:45:00 > 0:45:05something which is not yet absolutely fixed. The Chancellor is
0:45:05 > 0:45:09pretty keen on it. Clearly a dialogue needs to happen within the
0:45:09 > 0:45:15coalition. Talking about the South West, the South West has high
0:45:15 > 0:45:21housing. I am with Steve, we need to encourage more industry and to
0:45:21 > 0:45:25raise the income generally. Alison, there is a certain amount of logic,
0:45:25 > 0:45:30really, that if there is the kind of gap we are seeing in the South
0:45:30 > 0:45:34West it will punish the private sector. Very interesting, the
0:45:34 > 0:45:39academic who appeared on the round- up of the South West last week said
0:45:39 > 0:45:44that if you look it in the good times, the public sector Germany is
0:45:44 > 0:45:48much closer to the private sector in terms of income. The private
0:45:48 > 0:45:52sector often leaps above the public sector. In times of recession the
0:45:52 > 0:45:58gap is wider and the public sector is the beneficiary. We are in bad
0:45:58 > 0:46:02times at the moment. The danger in a rigidly applying a regional pay
0:46:02 > 0:46:05policy, particularly in somewhere like the South West, is that we
0:46:05 > 0:46:09already have extremely low levels of disposable income compared to
0:46:09 > 0:46:15the rest of England. It will further depress that and it will
0:46:15 > 0:46:19have an impact. Towns and cities will find even less money to spend.
0:46:19 > 0:46:25The Prime Minister, are what he said to the colleagues of yours on
0:46:25 > 0:46:33Wednesday, that you are in favour of a regional benefit cap. Liam
0:46:33 > 0:46:38Byrne is looking at a regional benefit cap. I think debts are
0:46:38 > 0:46:41issues on both counts. Issues which need to be looked at. I am glad he
0:46:41 > 0:46:45has not gone hell-for-leather on this and he will look at some of
0:46:45 > 0:46:50the evidence. I think there will be a lot of evidence coming from
0:46:50 > 0:46:57regions like ours which say this will not work. It is a London
0:46:57 > 0:47:04centric policy. Sarah, it is difficult to see this not being a
0:47:04 > 0:47:10race to the bottom, not resulting in pay overall coming down. Just to
0:47:10 > 0:47:14pick Alison up on one detail, it is local pay not regional pay. For the
0:47:14 > 0:47:19local conditions, they should include house prices. We have one
0:47:19 > 0:47:25of the highest house price index is. That needs to be taken into account.
0:47:25 > 0:47:30A bureaucratic nightmare. Couldn't it make a difference though?
0:47:30 > 0:47:36would be a bureaucratic nightmare, very costly. The region is so
0:47:36 > 0:47:43varied. The affluent areas in the east, places like Bournemouth,
0:47:43 > 0:47:48Bristol, Exeter or even, even Totnes. Further west, down into
0:47:48 > 0:47:57Cornwall and parts of Plymouth it is a different picture. The you get
0:47:57 > 0:48:02disparities would in cities as well. -- you get disparities within
0:48:02 > 0:48:08cities as well. P plus saying it should be so difficult to implement,
0:48:08 > 0:48:12can we do it? All of these decisions need to be made, but some
0:48:12 > 0:48:16parts of it may be in a really tough inner cities where they can
0:48:16 > 0:48:21get people in and have the flexibility to pay more. It needs
0:48:21 > 0:48:25to be truly flexible at both ends. I think it is clear following on
0:48:25 > 0:48:30from what was said in the financial statement, he is pretty keen on it.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34The argument that it probably won't happen is looking less likely all
0:48:34 > 0:48:38the time. We need to look at the issues about whether it will work,
0:48:38 > 0:48:45we should not rule it out, we should look at it.
0:48:45 > 0:48:55Now our regular round-up of the political week in sixty seconds. In
0:48:55 > 0:49:00
0:49:00 > 0:49:05November last year, many public Calls for the introduction of a
0:49:05 > 0:49:11driving test for mobility scooters. They should have training for their
0:49:11 > 0:49:15own security. In Falmouth they hope that science will prove they can
0:49:15 > 0:49:20grace without destroying the rare marine flora. We are seeing the
0:49:20 > 0:49:25future of the port in a wider sense as our key mission. She should air
0:49:25 > 0:49:30ambulances get duty-free fuel, 100,000 people signed a petition
0:49:30 > 0:49:36saying yes. Staying airborne or not, as the case may be, Richard
0:49:36 > 0:49:43continued his target campaign to save Portland's search-and-rescue
0:49:43 > 0:49:48helicopter. The helicopter, must continue into their consenting,
0:49:48 > 0:49:58otherwise it will threaten the lives of my constituents on the
0:49:58 > 0:50:00
0:50:00 > 0:50:08This suggestion that doctors who object to the health reforms might
0:50:08 > 0:50:15stand against MPs, that would be an irony in your case. A GP. We are
0:50:15 > 0:50:21confident people will stasis -- still see their GPs. Free of charge.
0:50:21 > 0:50:26Receiving an excellent service. What will they campaign for? A lack
0:50:26 > 0:50:30of accountability? It is not going to materialise. The have made them
0:50:30 > 0:50:35much more democratic. For far more opportunities for people to have a
0:50:35 > 0:50:41real say, through health and well- being boards. We will see doctors
0:50:41 > 0:50:45in charge of commissioning, this is not about privatisation of the NHS.
0:50:45 > 0:50:50We now need to move forward and I think we will see all of the
0:50:50 > 0:50:56scaremongering will be over by the time of the next election. How has
0:50:56 > 0:51:02Sarah condense to Alison? I would like these GPs to joined the Labour
0:51:02 > 0:51:05Party, they should come home to Labour. Talking to you briefly, I
0:51:05 > 0:51:11know you are interested in the issue of driving test with people
0:51:11 > 0:51:16with mobility scooters. evidence that I have pulled up in
0:51:16 > 0:51:20the last few weeks, with the debate I had in the House of Commons,
0:51:20 > 0:51:25there is very little training at all. Not necessarily a test but
0:51:25 > 0:51:29adequate training. Most people don't know that if you use it on
0:51:29 > 0:51:33the pavement you should know the Highway Code. There are too many
0:51:33 > 0:51:38accidents and we really do need to have some sort of guidance coming
0:51:38 > 0:51:44from government. To be fair to the minister, he did give ground and is
0:51:44 > 0:51:48working towards looking at what can be done. Not something to Palma
0:51:48 > 0:51:52costs on the disabled and elderly? The that was a key issue, it was
0:51:52 > 0:51:58mentioned in the debate. The police and voluntary organisations will