23/09/2012 Sunday Politics South West

And in the South West: The prominent Liberal Democrat -

packing his bags for conference and calling for his leader's

And in the South West: The prominent Liberal Democrat -

packing his bags for conference and calling for his leader's

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2019 seconds

Good morning.. We will discuss Nick Clegg's pledged to restore trust in

# I 'm sorry, I'm sorry. # the next 20 minutes I am joined by

Labour's Alison Seabeck and the conservative Oliver Colvile.

Air power that you had been dressing up in military uniform?

went off to the mock Wharram Percy. I under which each uniform?

done the same thing, having shoe? It really does give you first-hand

experience. We will get you to dress up and come in and show was

the uniform sometimes. We have a packed programme, starting with the

news that a UKIP at a conference. Nigel Farage tells us that he is

increasingly possum -- optimistic about winning a seat in the south-

west. The massive gap it used to exist

between her and European elections cause and our general election

scores is narrowing. We are up in the opinion polls and people are

beginning to trust us more. Their understanding that we do not just

talk about who governs Britain, but we are also talking about how that

Britain should be governed. We have a broader agenda, whether we're

talking about fisheries or a wind farms. These are issues which are

huge and the south-west. Could it be you see that he has his eye on?

I do not been so. But he has targeted it is in the past? Yes,

but he has never actually made a breakthrough. The UKIP candidate

last time was disappointed that they did not make any more progress.

The issue here is that I am a Euro- sceptic, but I am not year-old

suicidal. We have to make sure that if we have -- that we have a

relationship with a run European neighbours. But we also do not want

to be told exactly what to do by the European Commission. Were she

agree to that question mark you think there is no threat to plummet

from you honourable gentleman? are talking about doing deals with

the Conservatives. I honestly cannot see David Cameron wanting to

hook up with another minority party, adding further deals. I'm quite

confident that the Conservatives will stand in every seat in the

south-west and Nigel Farage's which will not happen. But what about

UKIP as a viable alternative to those disillusioned with all three

main parties? You always have a degree of protest vote. Usually at

by-elections, not always at general elections. If you look at the

appalling, UKIP did not do very well in the south-west at the

general election. The Liberal Democrats, because they are in

government, are no longer the dustbin vote. UKIP are now being

perceived as doing that. I am sure Nigel Farage will be delighted to

have been called a dustman. Coalition believes that if it can

kick-start the construction industry it can create thousands of

jobs and potentially get the economy out of recession. It has

returned once again to the crucial area of planning.

This man has been fishing out of the poor at four or 20 years. In

that time, traditional coronal -- Cornish fishing villages have

become hot property areas. When it comes to owning his own home, he

fears that he has missed the boat. A I am a fisherman, I want to stay

here in this village, four generations of my family come from

here. One day I might have to move out of this village, may be made

inland a bit more weight it is cheaper. For years, affordable

housing has been a key method of helping people like David Guy.

Affordable means sold or rented at a below market value. The

government says it is going to spend �300 million building 15,000

affordable homes, but at the same time it is relaxing the rules next

year so that firms can start building risky commercial

developments without having to provide a affordable home. We are

telling the housing companies to get on and build. I want private

houses built, I once social houses built, we want to get Britain

building. Community benefits, parks and playgrounds, I things that

developers have to provide. initial plans for the site just

over here included two affordable homes, but the developer managed to

get those dropped. It is an example of what we could see more rock when

it comes to the new rules regarding section 100 and sex requirements.

Section 106. It to be a travesty of Labour to

made to some kind of idea of reservations, we only those who are

hugely wealthy can afford to buy. When I first read it government's

proposals, my immediate thought was, what about the affordable housing?

If they government will not make developers provide it, then who

else will? My concern is that we may have some Belmont but it might

not solve any of the housing worries, because it might not

provide affordable housing. David is left wondering what he

gets. We are joined by a property

developer Robin Furby. Well can to the programme.

It was your development on the Lizard that we just on the film.

What was it that we are providing only two affordable homes on that

site unviable for you? Three have to add up the cost of the site, at

it cost of building houses and some that theory -- fairly standard

spreadsheets which you get you are allowed to make around 15 per cent

as a profit. If you make less than 15 per cent you are allowed to go

back to local authority and after meeting the affordable housing

department, they accepted that ever scheme was not viable. To you think

that now that these rules had been relaxed, that a lot of affordable

housing elements will be dropped? They is a misunderstanding of how

housing rules work. There are three types of affordable housing, social

rent, intermediate and now the college affordable rent. I think it

is a change in the next year, because some of those types of

affordable housing actually cost more to build than you can sell

them to a housing association for, whereas others are OK, they wash

their face and they make a small profit. It's a this will help the

construction industry? I think it is a positive move, but it is not

really a huge change. The mechanism already works, in that you can

negotiate the type of affordable housing that you want to provide.

But the thing is, you are, from a property developer's point of view,

going to say that. It does benefit to because if the rules are relaxed

than a lot less affordable homes will be built. I do not in that is

so. A two year will not be built in the Wizard that were going to a

belt. That is true. Oliver, do you think we are going

to lose in the mind of affordable housing? I think we need to make

sure that we need to start out people being able to get money to

buy houses. The mean the bank's lending? The that is the key issue.

No political party has got their policy right on that. Robin is not

going to continue developing affordable homes if he does not

have the market to sell to. What is going to be significant is that

there will be more supply and more demand as well. Alison, what is

your take on this? Will there be more jobs? This proposal is, I am

afraid, adding further confusion into the whole process. We had a

complete revamp of planning and there the government is saying that

they are going to change it all again. What we are not getting a

enough affordable homes to meet local needs. In Cornwall there are

particular the difficult circumstances. The developers are

already all making significant profits whilst making fewer units.

If you look at many of the big developers, they are all making

very substantial profits. The think that they are using the recession?

What they're building RTR four- bedroom walls. What they're not

bending -- 3 R four-bedroom homes. What they are not building other

types of homes that are needed here in Cornwall. Alison is saying that

there will be less homes built, that you cannot say that there will

be more in that you are profiting out of the recession here? You have

to draw a line underneath the big house builders, who do seem to have

been doing well, and a lot of the smaller and medium-size firms who

really struggle. The banks have a role, my own experience of the

banks is that they are not really bangs at all, they do not really

lend anyone any money any more, so I don't know why the government has

not intervened. We have to move on, but thank you for joining us. Every

politician knows that broken promises do not go down well with

voters. Nick Clegg has now said sorry for failing to deliver his

promise to scrap tuition fees. He has made a political hot cast which

has already been turned into the song. -- broadcast. # There's no

easy way to say we're sorry. # But a number of members in the

south-west believe that the only way to rebuild trust is to see Nick

Clegg go. Andrew Bridgwater is a man on a

mission. I want to say to him now, police consider your position in

the interests of the country and the party, and please resign.

Lifelong liberal Andrew is not unhappy that there is a Coalition,

but failure to contend with the Conservatives on issues of tuition

fees and 10p tax, shows that the leader is not up to the job. We'll

let the party leader to do difficult things and we do so in

the light at the time of the fact that we think they are capable of

doing it. Nick Clegg has let the party and the company down. Andrew

is not the only one worried about what Clegg's leadership will mean

for the party's electoral prospects. He has been accused by one MP of

bumbling along. It is not about personality, it is about how Nick

Clegg is doing rationally about representing Lib-Dem values. The

time has come when he is now an issue, and it will have an impact

coming into the general election. It will certainly have an impact in

Cornwall, where next year all their seats will be up for election.

So serious questions are being asked about whether support from

the voters will still be there. There is a strong liberal tradition

here, but the people I spoke to were not treating the party's

chances. What have they done for you? I am not aware they have done

anything for me. I think their support will be down in the next

election as a result of what has happened. A lot of people are

disillusioned. We need to get someone in his a bit more forward-

thinking. We're very proud of what we have

achieved in government, getting people out of poverty, restoring

the link between pensions and earnings. I'm sure we will be

mentioning those within our campaigning.

Three Lib Dem councillors in Cornwall did not share his optimism,

and have defected in recent months. Particularly due to their tuition

fee U-turn. We need a pledge, we did not stick to it, and for that I

am sorry. But this is too little too late for

Andrew, who is urging other party members to speak out. A what we

really need to do is do what I am doing, coming out and stating my

views publicly, and not shielding my identity. Because then the

leadership will have to step up and take notice. Nick Clegg says he is

staying put, but it seems that choppy waters are ahead.

Nick Clegg himself has dismissed those concerned about his position.

He told us the descent was actually the result of strong leadership.

When you lead in a strong way, people will disagree with you. But

what I think we have done, and I have put my hands up will be have

made mistakes, I have apologised, but John Hall, on the pick

judgments, stepping up to the plate to make sure that the government

has strong leadership, we had been doing the painstaking,

controversial work of bringing the country back from the brink, which

is where Labour left it and I think we had done the right things.

I am joined from Brighton by one South West MP who is sticking with

his leader. Welcome to the programme, Stephen Gilbert. You may

be standing by Nick Clegg, but others clearly are not. Are you

worried? Not at all. But in the vast majority of the Liberal

Democrats blackening to brighten over the weekend, the entire

parliamentary party, ever -- are full square behind Nick Clegg. We

are coming together with ever political rivals, are Conservatives,

to come together when the country needs it. Focusing on liberal

values, taking 2 million people out of income tax, delivering the the

world's first Green Investment back. It is a legacy that Liberal

Democrat should be rightly proud of and it is one that Nick Clegg is

delivering. What about his apology over tuition fees? Would you stand

by that? If I think the apology was the right thing to do. I think what

Nick Clegg recognise was that there was no way that that pledge should

have been made by the Liberal Democrats, by myself. I am sorry

for making that pledge. But it was a core a grassroots policy, and it

seems only to have been dropped so that the leadership could make

their way into the government? Presumably which could then be

justified by policies which it then in the lamented. They only way

which we would have been able to implement that pledged would be if

we were the majority government. We were not in majority government at

the end of the last election. We have a Labour Party he introduced

fees and then tripled the and. The Conservative Party is wedded to

fees. We have had no apology from the Labour Party about their broken

promises to students on this issue. I think it is refreshing that a

politician of his stature has taken a view to say sorry. Is there an

apology from new Alison for what Stephen as a poll -- from what

Stephen is asking you to apologise for? I think they are delusional.

The idea that this is strong leadership is crazy. Most people

who watch the apology have said, why on earth had they done it? I

think it is a PR disaster. We had very clear views on it tuition fees

and they were not the same as the Liberal Democrats, and we stood by

them. Have you come into this Coalition and you are putting their

Liberal Democrat out? We have to remember the reason why the

Coalition came about was because we had to clean up the mess that there

previous Labour government left behind. We are not out of it yet

and we need to continue the job that we started to do. If the

Liberal Democrats want to have a debate about the leadership was the

economy is in such a state, that seems to be self-indulgent. Do you

think that Vince Cable would be better? You think he would be more

popular? I think Nick Clegg is the right man for the right job and

will lead us into the next general election and I think we will fight

that with the legacy of the Liberal Democrat promises that we have

implemented in government and that will make a difference to people's

lives. Now a round-up of the Week in 60

seconds. Is maternity leave to generous? An

MP has asked ministers to ask -- to listen to small businesses to say

that it is. In to have a company of six-12 employees where senior

individual has been absent from the workplace and does not inform their

employer until the 11th hour after a period of a year that they will

not be coming back. The government announced that from October it is -

- its official statistics will recognise Cornwall as a separate

part of the South West. And money-saving plans to switch

off some of the street lights in Somerset were met with amid an --

with a mixed reaction. It will be fine when no one is around, between

the hours of 12-three. But what about people like me to finish work

at two o'clock in the morning? is true.

I have a feeling he will be in the Dog House tonight. What about me at

3am when I walking home? Is it a good way to save money, turn off

the street lights? It is a really difficult one, because I would not

want to be walking late at night with no street lights. Some people

are trialling it, it will be interesting to see what the results

are. Whether there will be an increase in crime or whether road

accidents actually reduce. Personally, I would prefer not to

be turning off the street lights. agree, I think it is right that we

keep our streets as let as well as we possibly can in order to make

sure that we do not see a rise in crime. I think that anybody walking

home in darkened streets, that would be most unhelpful for them.

This maternity leave issue, do you think it is too generous for small

businesses? There is a broader set of issues, we need to look at the

whole idea of regulation. We want to make sure we are not regulating

so much that we are preventing small businesses in particular from

employing people. Body make of it, Alison? A lot of small businesses