:01:12. > :01:14.In the South West: The local elections dealt body blows to the
:01:15. > :01:24.coalition parties, new footholds for Labour and the breakthrough UKIP had
:01:25. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :38:32.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2227 seconds
:38:32. > :38:42.Hello, I'm Martyn Oates, coming up on the Sunday Politics in the South
:38:42. > :38:45.West...we'll hear from some of the region's brand new UKIP Councillors.
:38:45. > :38:48.First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,
:38:48. > :38:51.and then you win. And for the next 20 minutes, I'm
:38:51. > :38:54.joined by Conservative MP George Eustice and the Lib Dem peer John
:38:54. > :38:57.Burnett. Strangely enough, we're kicking off with UKIP. In Thursday's
:38:57. > :39:00.elections they took their first seats on each of the four South West
:39:00. > :39:03.councils up for grabs. Across the patch that breaks down to one
:39:03. > :39:13.councillor in Dorset, three in Somerset, four in Devon and six in
:39:13. > :39:15.
:39:15. > :39:21.Cornwall. George, three of those are in your very marginal constituency.
:39:21. > :39:28.You must be worried about that. Look, my constituency has always had
:39:28. > :39:34.a strong UKIP contingent, I myself was a UKIP candidate before, I have
:39:34. > :39:38.never hidden that fact or the reason why I left, which is that I felt
:39:38. > :39:42.UKIP are counter-productive to the cause they claim to support. In the
:39:42. > :39:49.case of the euro debate ten years ago, they said you couldn't keep the
:39:49. > :39:51.pound and stay in the union, they have been proven wrong on that. Now,
:39:51. > :39:59.they are counter-productive to the debate we are having about
:39:59. > :40:06.negotiating. I've got a majority of 66, and with that majority, you are
:40:06. > :40:10.never complacent. You can either threat -- fret about your components
:40:10. > :40:15.or you can roll your sleeves up and get things done and have a record to
:40:15. > :40:25.stand on for the next election. That's what I've been doing.
:40:25. > :40:26.
:40:26. > :40:36.Nationally, I have read a campaign. John, you are a Euro-sceptic Lib
:40:36. > :40:36.
:40:36. > :40:42.Dem. Many people probably don't even believe that exists! I remember Nick
:40:42. > :40:48.Clegg wrote a paper about eight or nine years ago and the thrust of it
:40:48. > :40:57.was Europe should do less and do it better. I hope he dusts that down. I
:40:57. > :41:05.always was against the euro. What was George, campaign director of the
:41:05. > :41:11.anti-euro group? I'm not Euro-sceptic, I'm a euro realist. I
:41:11. > :41:16.don't believe the British people want to see that. I think David
:41:16. > :41:26.Cameron's speech earlier this year hit the nail on the head in many
:41:26. > :41:28.
:41:28. > :41:34.ways. We always have a problem in mid-term. Economy, immigration and
:41:34. > :41:37.the EU are all important issues. In a moment we'll be joined by the
:41:37. > :41:40.UKIP chairman Steve Crowther, to find out what we can expect from
:41:40. > :41:49.UKIP councillors in office. But first, here's John Henderson with a
:41:49. > :41:57.look a the rise of UKIP in the South West.
:41:57. > :42:02.Making history, Cornwall's first ever UKIP councillor celebrates.
:42:02. > :42:10.flabbergasted. We're very close in many seats and I think the main
:42:10. > :42:15.parties are shocked. Perhaps picking up votes from its opposition to gay
:42:15. > :42:19.marriage and a type of renewable energy. Wind turbines are a big
:42:19. > :42:29.issue here. Not least because of the increasing recognition of the
:42:29. > :42:34.concern over health effects. They won in Somerset. It sends a very
:42:34. > :42:39.important message to the Government that the people are not happy with
:42:39. > :42:44.issues surrounding the European Union. They won in Devon. Everyone
:42:44. > :42:52.seems fed up, is the best way I can put it. With everything. And they
:42:52. > :42:57.won in Dorset. Gandhi once said first they ignore you, then they
:42:57. > :43:05.laugh at you, then they fight you, and then you win. You get started
:43:05. > :43:12.life in the early 1990s. They got their first MEP in 1999. In 2004,
:43:12. > :43:18.they got any other, and the party still got to South West MEPs. At
:43:18. > :43:26.times, they made a lot of noise. This was William Dartmouth getting
:43:26. > :43:31.high rate a few years ago. The Tories branded them a party of
:43:31. > :43:39.clowns, but they cranked up their push in the South West. Nigel Farage
:43:39. > :43:42.brought the party bus into battle. The party put up over 200 candidates
:43:42. > :43:51.across the four Southwest counties, a record number with its leader keen
:43:51. > :44:00.for even more. If anyone is here who is not yet a UKIP candidate, please
:44:00. > :44:05.come forward. One such candidate was Susan Bowen. She bowed out as the
:44:05. > :44:10.UKIP candidate after being disowned for speaking at a BMP perform a
:44:10. > :44:18.rally in 2010. Some in the north Cornish town were nonplussed.
:44:18. > :44:24.don't like the BNP as an organisation. There was no sign of
:44:24. > :44:30.her on the campaign trail, but her name remained on the ballot paper.
:44:30. > :44:37.She came second, beating the Conservatives. Immigration is what
:44:37. > :44:42.we're all talking about but nobody listens to it. UKIP is a way of
:44:42. > :44:46.protesting. Until Friday, UKIP councillors were thin on the ground
:44:46. > :44:51.in the south-west. Julian Parrott has been the sole UKIP voice in
:44:51. > :44:55.Torbay. For the past few years, he has been brushing shoulders with the
:44:55. > :45:00.established political classes, the mainstream, which he says has run
:45:00. > :45:07.out of ideas. We're seeing the breakdown of tribal boating on the
:45:07. > :45:12.basis of one out ideology. Where is the bedrock Labour and Conservative
:45:12. > :45:17.support? That now is a thing of the past. We're now talking about a
:45:17. > :45:21.society which is very differently structured. UKIP remains a long way
:45:21. > :45:30.from council control, but it has made a lot of people in the region
:45:30. > :45:34.wonder, what might be next? George, is it not likely that UKIP
:45:34. > :45:40.is making this breakthrough because, frankly, it is offering policies
:45:40. > :45:45.which appealed to Tory voters when you are not, and in fact you often
:45:45. > :45:50.dismiss and deride these policies? think what is absolutely true if
:45:50. > :45:55.this is a big protest vote. There is a lot of disillusionment, and we
:45:55. > :46:01.need to listen to that protest and respond to it. But when I've been
:46:01. > :46:05.going around and talking to people, I find when I explain to them what
:46:05. > :46:09.we've already done, promising an EU referendum and cutting immigration
:46:09. > :46:13.by a third, sorting out the welfare system, they actually don't realise
:46:13. > :46:20.the things we've achieved. So it is about helping people to understand
:46:20. > :46:25.what this Government has achieved. Well, UKIP are opposed to gay
:46:25. > :46:34.marriage, wind farms, they will protect the countryside. Aren't
:46:34. > :46:39.these key things which are pressing buttons on the countryside? Yes. I
:46:39. > :46:44.would say probably the majority of UKIP voters are former Tory voters.
:46:44. > :46:49.A lot of people in your party agree with these policies. Well, we have
:46:49. > :46:53.been trying to get the planning policy changed so that we can reject
:46:53. > :46:57.more wind farms. We are doing a lot to sort out the school system. You
:46:57. > :47:06.don't have to go back to grammar schools to improve the education
:47:06. > :47:10.system. Steve, is this a protest boat? It isn't just a protest vote.
:47:10. > :47:15.There is this language in politics which party is used to explain away
:47:15. > :47:20.bad results at half term. That is not what is happening. We've spent
:47:20. > :47:25.20 years building up to where we are. What's interesting is you
:47:25. > :47:29.mentioned a number of things to George. They are not conservative
:47:29. > :47:35.policies, they are the policies of all the other parties. There is
:47:35. > :47:41.nothing to choose between them. This is why UKIP has gained a seats
:47:41. > :47:44.nationally. It is not any EU vote, it is about disillusionment.
:47:44. > :47:50.Essentially, there is no differentiation between the other
:47:50. > :47:57.parties in Government. A lot of those things they are supporting,
:47:57. > :48:03.people do not like. There is no question that a lot of your policies
:48:03. > :48:08.appealed to Tory voters. We've got to get away from this idea that UKIP
:48:08. > :48:12.takes away Tory voters. It has taken away large numbers of labour and Lib
:48:12. > :48:17.Dem voters. It has also done one other thing, which I'm very proud
:48:17. > :48:21.of, which is bringing new people back into the democratic process. In
:48:21. > :48:31.the Eastleigh by-election, 15% of people were those who hadn't voted
:48:31. > :48:48.
:48:48. > :48:54.in years. We believe in renewable energy, of course we do. That is
:48:54. > :49:04.what the planning system is all about. We are fully supportive of
:49:04. > :49:06.
:49:06. > :49:10.the academy programme. If you ask the Labour Party now, they would be
:49:10. > :49:17.against that programme. So let's just look at it in the context of
:49:17. > :49:23.history. I don't dismiss lightly what UKIP have done, but only a
:49:23. > :49:32.third of people went to vote last time, and in addition to that...
:49:32. > :49:38.Sorry, I just want to come back to the policy on and -- on wind farms.
:49:38. > :49:43.Is their concern over the health associated with wind turbines?
:49:43. > :49:50.something we are looking very closely at. But I would like to
:49:50. > :49:54.point out this is not about wind farms. It is about energy. Well,
:49:54. > :50:04.your objection to wind farms is people argue they are ugly. That
:50:04. > :50:04.
:50:04. > :50:11.isn't our objection. Our objection, the problem is - and it is the great
:50:11. > :50:17.illustration of where we have come from dashed the other governing
:50:17. > :50:26.parties have left us in a pickle. They have entirely failed to equip
:50:26. > :50:30.this country with the resources that we will have need of. There will be
:50:30. > :50:35.soaring prices and massive energy poverty. All the governing parties
:50:35. > :50:40.have contributed to that. That is why we find ourselves rising in
:50:40. > :50:47.popularity. We have been utterly let down by our governing parties. Even
:50:47. > :50:50.the chairman of gem is coming on to the BBC, saying we're facing a
:50:50. > :50:53.catastrophe. Are you at all concerned that any of your
:50:53. > :50:58.councillors might embarrass you in office in the way some of your
:50:58. > :51:02.candidates in Paris due during this campaign? I'm very campaigned -- I'm
:51:02. > :51:11.very proud of our candidates. happens very embarrassing incidents
:51:11. > :51:14.during the campaign. I'd like to point out less than 0.5% of the
:51:14. > :51:22.candidates were in any way embarrassing. But you don't
:51:22. > :51:27.routinely get this with other parties, do you? The media would be
:51:27. > :51:34.on it like a shock if one of the governing parties had an
:51:34. > :51:38.embarrassing candidate who spoke at a BNP rally, for example. The point
:51:38. > :51:43.is, there was a concerted effort by the other parties to actually trawl
:51:43. > :51:51.through every word that any of our candidates had any -- had ever put
:51:51. > :51:56.on the Internet and tried to find embarrassing things. If we had done,
:51:56. > :52:03.it would've been a more fair playing field, to be honest. I'm very proud
:52:03. > :52:10.of our candidates. They are ordinary folk who have worked for years. You
:52:10. > :52:14.will see now what it means to elect UKIP could representatives. They
:52:14. > :52:17.will work at the grassroots and represent the views of their
:52:17. > :52:20.electorate. Steve Crowther, thank you. Now, with
:52:20. > :52:28.a whistlestop tour of how all the other parties did on Thursday,
:52:28. > :52:33.here's Ben Woolvin. The Tories kept control of Devon and
:52:33. > :52:37.Somerset county councils, their relief almost palpable. The people
:52:37. > :52:40.of Somerset have spoken, they said they clearly understand some of the
:52:40. > :52:45.tough decisions we've had to make, but they'd seen the plan we have for
:52:45. > :52:49.the future, the plan for jobs, for investment, for looking after
:52:49. > :52:53.vulnerable children. They've said yes to that plan, and I'm really
:52:53. > :52:59.happy. But voters had a different message for the Conservatives of
:52:59. > :53:05.Cornwall, who now face the prospect of opposition, having lost 18
:53:05. > :53:11.councillors, including their former leader, Alec Robertson. It's really
:53:11. > :53:13.sad. I was a council leader myself mid-term, and it is really awful
:53:13. > :53:18.when hard-working councillors who have served their communities well
:53:18. > :53:23.lose their seats because people want to send a message to Westminster.
:53:23. > :53:27.It's really sad. The Lib Dems only lost two seats here, making them the
:53:27. > :53:32.biggest party on Cornwall Council. In Dorset, the Lib Dems lost four,
:53:33. > :53:38.in Devon, where they once enjoyed control, the party has been reduced
:53:38. > :53:41.to nine. The man who leads them is preparing for the bunker. I love an
:53:41. > :53:46.old saying by our party president which is that after the nuclear
:53:46. > :53:50.war, the two things that would be left would be cockroaches and
:53:50. > :53:55.Liberal Democrats with leaflets knocking on doors. Around here, we
:53:55. > :53:58.claim to be indestructible because we aim to serve the public well.
:53:58. > :54:04.Labour made 17 gains across the region. They now have eight
:54:04. > :54:09.councillors in Cornwall, including a former MP. They lost the only seat
:54:09. > :54:13.they were defending here. Jude Robertson was beaten by 40 votes.
:54:13. > :54:19.The Greens got their first councillor in Cornwall and held on
:54:19. > :54:23.in Totnes. The Cornish nationalists gained one. But the people of
:54:23. > :54:26.Cornwall once again find themselves with no overall control. The Lib
:54:26. > :54:31.Dems have started power-sharing talks, but with very little love
:54:31. > :54:38.lost between them and some of the more influential independents, those
:54:38. > :54:44.negotiations are likely to be seated. We're joined now by two more
:54:44. > :54:50.guests, Michael, the new Labour councillor in Cornwall, and
:54:50. > :54:54.political analyst Adrian Lee. I want to begin with you, Michael, because
:54:54. > :55:00.your result is very interesting indeed. There are few places in the
:55:00. > :55:06.south-west which are traditional pockets of support. There is really
:55:06. > :55:13.no recent tradition where you are from. Yes, Labour went from fifth to
:55:13. > :55:18.first and I'm aware that is a very strong personal boat. Across
:55:18. > :55:22.Cornwall, I think Labour went from one councillor to eight. There are
:55:22. > :55:29.no no-go areas for the Labour Party. When you say it was a personal
:55:29. > :55:33.boat, are you suggesting it is a one-off? I'm proud to be Cornish and
:55:33. > :55:38.Labour and that was an important part of me standing. I'm very proud
:55:38. > :55:41.of my principles, which I've had that over 20 years. People knew I
:55:41. > :55:46.was a strong Labour candidate, someone who would stand up for our
:55:46. > :55:52.local area, so I think it is a combination of trust for me as a
:55:52. > :55:56.politician and a representative to speak up for the people, but also a
:55:56. > :56:00.recognition that I have strong principles, a progressive programme,
:56:00. > :56:07.a positive approach to working together, and standing up for our
:56:07. > :56:13.communities. Adrian, has significant do you think this is? We pore over
:56:13. > :56:18.the traditional Labour areas after every car -- after every election,
:56:18. > :56:23.don't we? Well, Labour had a disastrous result in 2009. This
:56:23. > :56:30.time, they have made considerable headway. We now back to where they
:56:30. > :56:37.were in the 1990s. The fact there is no Liberal Democrat representation
:56:37. > :56:45.in Exeter any more, it is entirely Labour apart from a couple of
:56:45. > :56:53.conservative areas. Elsewhere they did fairly well, particularly well.
:56:53. > :56:56.And of course getting seats like gun is late, which was almost a
:56:56. > :57:03.hereditary Labour supporting position. Elsewhere, in Somerset,
:57:03. > :57:08.they held onto Wellington. They've got a base upon which they can
:57:08. > :57:12.expand, but they were starting from a very low base indeed. George, the
:57:12. > :57:19.Conservatives had a really grim day, didn't they, in Cornwall?
:57:19. > :57:26.was disappointing, and we lost a lot of good councillors because a lot of
:57:26. > :57:30.our support voted UKIP. In some cases, that allowed UKIP candidates
:57:30. > :57:39.to win outright, but in other places it allowed the Lib Dems to take
:57:39. > :57:43.seats from is. That is disappointing but we have to listen to that. It is
:57:43. > :57:50.always sad when hard-working people lose their seats as a result of a
:57:50. > :57:54.protest vote. A drink, how bad was it for the Lib Dems? Pretty bad.
:57:55. > :58:00.They held on better in Cornwall than elsewhere, especially south
:58:00. > :58:06.Cornwall. But in Devon, Dorset and Somerset, therefore in the share of
:58:06. > :58:13.the vote was fairly uniform. The only bright spot for the is of
:58:13. > :58:17.course their position in Cornwall. John, you must be worried, not least
:58:17. > :58:27.if Labour is spreading into fresh areas, because you two have had
:58:27. > :58:32.Billy -- had the region basically sewn up. We did well in Cornwall, we
:58:32. > :58:37.didn't gain any seats, we didn't lose any seats. Devon wasn't good
:58:37. > :58:44.for us, I admit that. What is interesting for others is to see the
:58:44. > :58:48.protest vote not just being with Labour, but Labour and UKIP. I think
:58:48. > :58:53.history does teach us lessons. Labour is on the march in the
:58:53. > :59:01.south-west, you will suffer, when you? We will. But let's see. The
:59:01. > :59:06.economy is not in a good position, if it has improved by the election,
:59:06. > :59:11.I think the governing parties will get the recognition that. The
:59:11. > :59:15.deficit has gone down by a third. We will have a good story to tell and
:59:15. > :59:24.we will concentrate on the policies of the other two parties. We've got
:59:24. > :59:33.to draw the line there I'm afraid in. It's time for our political
:59:33. > :59:37.round-up of the week in 60 seconds. Demand for food banks continues to
:59:37. > :59:42.increase, bringing the total in the region to 18, according to one of
:59:43. > :59:48.the biggest providers. This is an ongoing thing, not just a recent
:59:48. > :59:51.thing. Concern from doctors as a private
:59:51. > :00:01.company takes on the running of nonemergency ambulances across most
:00:01. > :00:01.
:00:01. > :00:08.of the south-west. This has to be a concern.
:00:08. > :00:12.Solicitors claim legal aid cuts will damage justice. They are going to be
:00:12. > :00:19.pressurised to plead guilty. Somerset farmers asked the
:00:19. > :00:24.Government health -- help after a year of disastrous flooding. People
:00:24. > :00:33.are still adamant that they want the job done.
:00:33. > :00:41.And Plymouth submits its bid for UK city of culture 2017.
:00:41. > :00:44.John, you are a lawyer. Do you share these concerns? All I would say is
:00:45. > :00:48.legal aid for all criminal matters has been retained, anything to do
:00:48. > :00:52.with children has been retained, and at the end of the cutbacks, we will
:00:52. > :01:02.still have the most generous legal system probably in the whole of
:01:02. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :01:09.Europe. George, do you sympathise with the lawyers? We've got a lot,
:01:09. > :01:13.the biggest legal aid bill and we need to reduce it. I think we should