:01:14. > :01:24.for the future of our railway. And Labour's search for a candidate in
:01:24. > :01:24.
:01:24. > :36:35.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2111 seconds
:36:35. > :36:39.the place it thinks it's got the on the Sunday Politics in the South
:36:40. > :36:44.West: Labour's search for a candidate in the place it thinks
:36:44. > :36:47.it's got the best chance of gaining an MP down here.
:36:47. > :36:53.And for the next twenty minutes, I'm joined by Lib Dem MP Dan Rogerson
:36:53. > :36:56.and Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, welcome both of you to the programme. Let's
:36:56. > :36:59.start with schools. This week an Ofsted report said rural and coastal
:37:00. > :37:02.schools are failing poor pupils more than inner city areas. The report
:37:02. > :37:12.said disadvantaged children in London and Manchester are doing
:37:12. > :37:12.
:37:12. > :37:21.better than those children in the South West. Then, it is shocking.
:37:21. > :37:24.Why is it happening? Is it a Labour legacy? It is the positive story in
:37:24. > :37:29.London and Manchester. There have been huge improvements in inner
:37:29. > :37:35.cities. London had the worst schools but now has the best and fastest
:37:35. > :37:39.improving. That was the result of investment and initiatives in London
:37:40. > :37:44.and support for excellent head teachers. That is good news in
:37:44. > :37:49.London and Manchester. Labour is advocating a similar scheme in the
:37:49. > :37:55.south-west to London where you get super teachers coming in, schools
:37:55. > :38:00.corporate and, better leadership and good local authorities to manage
:38:00. > :38:05.this and with the fragmentation with academies and preschools, you have
:38:05. > :38:10.no means for the local authority to manage failure. The only person who
:38:10. > :38:18.can do anything is Michael Gove in London. You co-chaired the Lib Dem
:38:18. > :38:21.education group. What is happening? There's been a wide gap between the
:38:21. > :38:25.attainment historically of people from low income backgrounds and
:38:25. > :38:34.people from higher income backgrounds which is why the Lib
:38:34. > :38:39.Dems put the pupil premium to target money at schools. We want a change
:38:39. > :38:44.in the funding formula. Under previous government money has been
:38:44. > :38:50.focused in urban areas. There are in poor income areas like Cornwall to
:38:50. > :38:54.say we need a fairer allocation of money with additional resources to
:38:54. > :38:59.invest in more training for teachers and support them to deliver
:38:59. > :39:03.education. Stay with us. Plenty more to discuss. Trains were back on the
:39:03. > :39:06.agenda at Westminster last week. The tricky business of drawing up a new
:39:06. > :39:08.contract for the region's rail services is still on hold as the
:39:08. > :39:11.franchise system is repaired. Ministers are in the middle of
:39:11. > :39:14.negotiations for an interim contract to keep our trains running in the
:39:14. > :39:22.meantime. All this uncertainty is leading to renewed calls for the
:39:22. > :39:27.railways to return to public ownership. Tamsin Melville reports.
:39:27. > :39:32.This heritage line is the only train running in the constituency of North
:39:32. > :39:39.Cornwall. The local MP may deeply for a return of rail services to the
:39:39. > :39:41.area not seem since -- since the cats of the 1960s. There are hopes a
:39:41. > :39:47.new franchise will bring more services more regularly. But we
:39:47. > :39:52.could be waiting a long time. If everything went to plan, there would
:39:52. > :39:58.be a new franchise for great Western services by now. Things are still
:39:58. > :40:02.very much up in the air. Following the collapse of the West Coast line
:40:02. > :40:08.franchise process last day, the system is under review. That has
:40:08. > :40:11.meant the current operators have already had one extension to their
:40:11. > :40:17.contract and are now negotiating with government for a further two
:40:17. > :40:21.years. Unions are not happy. I think they are pushing it into the long
:40:21. > :40:25.grass. It takes us be on the next election. I do not think the
:40:25. > :40:31.critical parties have any idea what they want to do with the railways
:40:31. > :40:35.and transport in general and my view is there is only one option which is
:40:35. > :40:39.bring back the railways under public control. Whether the trains run by
:40:39. > :40:47.public or private companies is not the main issue.
:40:47. > :40:54.I could not care less really, as long as it is cheap when you're a
:40:54. > :40:58.pensioner. That is the thing that matters. It does not make the
:40:58. > :41:03.slightest difference whatsoever. The main thing is getting there. I am
:41:03. > :41:08.not bothered who runs it as long as it is run properly. This transport
:41:08. > :41:13.campaigner thinks the call for renationalisation is a red herring.
:41:13. > :41:16.People want value for money, reliability and frankly if franchise
:41:16. > :41:22.changes hands the only thing that changes the most passengers is the
:41:22. > :41:26.colour of the uniform. With the franchise timetable slipping, he is
:41:26. > :41:32.worried key engineering works further up the line mean a two-year
:41:32. > :41:38.extension for first group is not the right approach. It would make more
:41:38. > :41:40.sense to give an interim franchise to first group and then a new
:41:40. > :41:47.franchise in 2018 when the railway is ready to take something
:41:47. > :41:49.different. First group says the contract negotiations with
:41:50. > :41:51.government are progressing well. It expects to submit its proposals next
:41:51. > :41:55.month. Tamsin Melville reporting, earlier I
:41:55. > :41:58.spoke to Transport Minister, Simon Burns... I started by asking him
:41:58. > :42:08.whether the RMT was right to say these interim franchise negotiations
:42:08. > :42:08.
:42:08. > :42:12.are about to collapse. Well, I am afraid the RMT are not correct.
:42:12. > :42:18.Talks are going well, they are going smoothly and we will await the
:42:18. > :42:23.outcome of the conclusion of the talks in June course. The RMT says a
:42:23. > :42:32.rescue plan is on the cards, to bring in the publicly owned
:42:32. > :42:39.railways. What the RMT do not understand is with all franchises as
:42:39. > :42:45.they are being discussed and put together, we, as a department, have
:42:45. > :42:50.to use the procedures in place to ensure there is a cut plan if the
:42:50. > :42:57.franchise agreements are not reached. All franchisees are a if
:42:57. > :43:01.franchise is not agreed then a door will be operated so the Secretary of
:43:01. > :43:08.State for transport can fulfil his legal obligations to have a
:43:08. > :43:13.continuously running railway. franchise is known for having out of
:43:13. > :43:17.date rolling stock, overcrowded trains and lack of investment. Isn't
:43:17. > :43:24.it time proper investment was brought to the south-west? 33
:43:24. > :43:29.billion is being spent in the North. We are spending 33 billion over 20
:43:29. > :43:32.years on high-speed rail, that is a different project. It is but the new
:43:32. > :43:41.economic foundation said it was not value for money. If you let me
:43:42. > :43:49.answer, you might get. . Are spending over the next few years �37
:43:49. > :43:56.billion to network rail and investing in the railways. How much
:43:56. > :43:59.is coming to the south-west, ? What you are seeing on the first Great
:43:59. > :44:04.Western line is electrification moving forward down to Bristol and
:44:04. > :44:10.beyond into South Wales, we are seeing improvements to stations like
:44:10. > :44:17.the massive improvement on Reading station. That helps get to London
:44:17. > :44:24.that what about Bristol South? We are also seeing work being done in
:44:24. > :44:31.addition in Cornwall and Devon which has put in a passing loop at Penry
:44:31. > :44:41.increasing services which in Falmouth and Truro increasing... It
:44:41. > :44:44.
:44:44. > :44:51.is small amounts of money. Little bits money of on little projects,
:44:51. > :44:54.putting more carriages on the direct services down to Devon and to help
:44:54. > :45:04.alleviate the overcrowding. It is an ongoing process and it will
:45:04. > :45:06.
:45:06. > :45:12.continue. Thank you for joining us. Does that put your mind at rest? No,
:45:12. > :45:20.we are paying a high price for the incompetence of the West Coast Main
:45:20. > :45:24.line franchise. Ownership is not the issue. I wish the government would
:45:24. > :45:28.spend more time sorting out first Great Western franchises rather than
:45:28. > :45:34.re-privatising the East Coast mainline which is bringing millions
:45:34. > :45:40.of pounds back to the taxpayer. We desperately need this investment. We
:45:40. > :45:46.need it all over the region, better rolling stock, more reliable trains.
:45:47. > :45:53.It has been put off because of incompetence. Do you want to see the
:45:54. > :45:58.main railway line in public ownership? My approach is not
:45:58. > :46:02.ideological. Actually, it is not ownership that matters. The East
:46:02. > :46:07.Coast mainline has done well in the public sector. I have nothing
:46:07. > :46:11.against that in our franchise region. What the public want is a
:46:11. > :46:19.good service, affordable fares, decent rolling stock and reliable
:46:19. > :46:29.trains. That is investment we should have had by now.
:46:29. > :46:30.
:46:30. > :46:35.Dan, what do you say? It is a huge problem caused by the mess left over
:46:35. > :46:40.over the Western mainline issues. There has been a lot of fallout.
:46:40. > :46:43.Local authorities like Cornwall and the old Cornwall county council and
:46:44. > :46:52.the new administration are keen to work with government to look where
:46:52. > :46:57.we can bring local public transport funding. 33 billion is going up to
:46:57. > :47:04.the HS2 project wonderful and the North but what about us? We were cut
:47:04. > :47:09.over from Exeter for three weeks. How come there is no more money, how
:47:09. > :47:13.can you justify 30,000,000,001 direction and peanuts in the other?
:47:13. > :47:18.The debate was to look at things which will improve services. There
:47:18. > :47:27.is a gap in the franchise. We have time to make sure we get it right so
:47:27. > :47:33.it guarantees what we have and increases the level of service. I
:47:33. > :47:37.support electrification and we will get a cascading down of new rolling
:47:37. > :47:44.stock. You are right, it is the delay causing problems because we
:47:44. > :47:49.should have had investment by now. There is a challenge, where
:47:49. > :47:58.electrification has come to Exeter, what would it mean to Penzance?
:47:58. > :48:02.There are technological ways. In the short-term, we want investment in
:48:02. > :48:06.the key points and flood resilience which will see us through. Thank you
:48:06. > :48:09.very much. Last weekend the Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston was in the
:48:09. > :48:13.national papers reminding the Prime Minister of his promise that more MP
:48:13. > :48:15.candidates would be chosen the way she was - in an election open to
:48:15. > :48:18.every voter in the constituency. Meanwhile Labour is busy selecting
:48:18. > :48:24.its candidate to fight the party's number one South West target in
:48:24. > :48:34.2015. John Danks has been speaking to the two men who've made it to the
:48:34. > :48:35.
:48:35. > :48:42.final round. We live in a city of 265,000 people
:48:42. > :48:48.and a diverse group of people. In the last census there were 80 96,
:48:48. > :48:53.one of them is destined to be the MP for the area. Chaz Singh is
:48:53. > :48:57.confident, he has had a taste of victory. He was elected as a Labour
:48:57. > :49:01.councillor in the local elections. The former shopkeeper believes he is
:49:01. > :49:06.the right person to represent this Plymouth constituency as an MP.
:49:06. > :49:11.Being a people person is most important. People need to connect
:49:11. > :49:15.with you, being a real person, being a real voice and being able to bring
:49:15. > :49:24.those qualities and change for people in Plymouth Sutton and
:49:24. > :49:28.Devonport. Oliver Colvile took the seat from Linda Gilroy at the last
:49:28. > :49:32.election. Labour believe they can win back the seat. Luke Pollard
:49:32. > :49:38.hopes he will be the man the party chooses to do the job. It will not
:49:38. > :49:41.be easy to overturn the majority Oliver Colvile had but we will do
:49:41. > :49:46.that by listening and campaigning and making sure we are fighting on
:49:46. > :49:51.the issues people care about, the living wage and transport and
:49:51. > :49:55.performing -- reforming welfare. We have to be able to present a
:49:55. > :50:01.positive message, not just the negative message about how badly the
:50:01. > :50:08.Tories and Lib Dems are doing. Lucas interest began at an early age. --
:50:08. > :50:14.Luke Pollard macro interest. She was political and taught me you should
:50:14. > :50:19.do stuff to help other people and I wanted to get involved in the
:50:19. > :50:24.community and it was always labour I supported. When I joined the party I
:50:24. > :50:32.joined and I went campaigning on the doorstep.
:50:32. > :50:37.I am Sarah Wollaston. When the Sarah Wollaston was selected in 2009 it
:50:37. > :50:45.was with the backing of 8000 local voters. This was Britain's first
:50:45. > :50:49.open primary selection. The coalition promised 300 more. People
:50:49. > :50:53.say to me they did not vote at the general election but they did in the
:50:53. > :51:00.open primary. The point is they feel a sense of connection and ownership.
:51:00. > :51:04.I look at safe seats, there are many which never change hands. What
:51:04. > :51:09.happens is effectively around 50 people get to choose who will
:51:09. > :51:13.represent a constituency for decades to come. That cannot be right. Back
:51:13. > :51:18.in Plymouth, this hall is where 300 Labour Party members would choose
:51:18. > :51:22.their candidates to challenge for the Sutton and Devonport seat.
:51:22. > :51:30.Hustings next Sunday will be their chance to sell themselves to the
:51:30. > :51:37.party faithful. To discuss this we are joined by someone who stood
:51:37. > :51:45.against Sarah Wollaston in top mess. Welcome to the programme. -- top
:51:45. > :51:50.mess. Would you have been a better candidate? That is not the issue. It
:51:50. > :51:54.was good for democracy, it was good for the local Conservative party.
:51:54. > :51:58.The key thing is to try to get people from a broader range of
:51:58. > :52:04.backgrounds into Parliament and to engage people from the community in
:52:04. > :52:10.politics. The open primary did that in spades. It is a shame it has not
:52:10. > :52:16.been repeated elsewhere. If it less about the money, �40,000 per open
:52:16. > :52:23.primary, or more about the fact it leads to a more rebellious nature of
:52:23. > :52:27.MP, they do not owe their loyalty to anyone but the people. If you are
:52:27. > :52:36.selected as Sarah was by the wider community it puts you in a strong
:52:36. > :52:41.position when you go to Westminster. That is a good thing. I think she
:52:41. > :52:43.would have been an independent minded courageous member of
:52:44. > :52:51.Parliament no matter which way she was selected because what she brings
:52:51. > :52:54.is real experience of life, being a doctor, local GP, and watching her
:52:54. > :53:03.at the select committee questioning the chief executive of the National
:53:03. > :53:09.Health Service, splendid television. We do not often get that calibre,
:53:09. > :53:16.that calibre of questioning and scrutiny. Why have the Tories drop
:53:16. > :53:19.the idea of open primaries? There is no conspiracy. In Torbay we have
:53:19. > :53:26.selected a Parliamentary candidate and it's been an open process. But
:53:26. > :53:29.in general they were going to roll it out to 200 areas. The
:53:29. > :53:35.Conservatives are ahead of the others because it is common practice
:53:35. > :53:40.now from local associations to open up the final selection to people
:53:40. > :53:44.registered as voters. We only had a small turnout, 200 came along, maybe
:53:44. > :53:50.because it could have been given a longer time for the candidates to
:53:50. > :53:54.get across. There is a selection of candidates implement. The Labour
:53:54. > :54:00.Party selected to candidates, neither were female. Does that send
:54:00. > :54:06.out a message when they try to achieve more female MPs? We have
:54:06. > :54:13.more women MPs than any other parties. We have three women Labour
:54:13. > :54:16.MPs will stop they are good candidates with a strong pedigree.
:54:16. > :54:22.The local party thought they were the best candidate to choose
:54:22. > :54:24.between. I support the idea of open primaries. It is something to do
:54:25. > :54:31.with the fact Sarah Wollaston has been such an excellent and
:54:31. > :54:37.independent minded member of Parliament. How she damaged her
:54:37. > :54:40.chances of going further? I hope not but I fear she has. She would make a
:54:40. > :54:45.wonderful health minister given her experience as a GP but because she's
:54:45. > :54:52.been so critical of the government policies it is unlikely she will
:54:53. > :54:56.ever be made a minister. It is a great shame. Where do you stand? It
:54:56. > :55:00.is one of those one-off things people will do in the moment and it
:55:00. > :55:06.does not encouraging gauge route with the wider process. What I would
:55:06. > :55:10.like is for the political parties to have a bigger membership, it is
:55:10. > :55:15.partly our fault and partly a need to look at other ways of engagement.
:55:15. > :55:18.In terms of policy formation and local elections and the fabric of
:55:18. > :55:27.local communities it is better for everybody if political parties are
:55:27. > :55:33.broadly based. There is no incentive to engage with the party. This is
:55:33. > :55:39.something you could make a reality. I am not a fan of open primaries.
:55:39. > :55:49.The coalition agreement is between the parties I am here as a Lib Dem
:55:49. > :55:51.
:55:51. > :55:58.MP. Will you toe the party line? As you say, it is a coalition issue.
:55:59. > :56:03.Your background is mainly in politics. Nick that it is good for
:56:03. > :56:09.people from different backgrounds. I came in at a young age, I do not
:56:09. > :56:15.think it would suit everybody but it is helpful that I was a younger
:56:15. > :56:23.voice amongst... I was the only young councillor under the age of 50
:56:23. > :56:31.on the council. Have you rebelled? You can check that in Hansard.
:56:31. > :56:34.Tuition fees, I took a different view. Have you? It is difficult to
:56:34. > :56:41.rebel as a government minister but I have spoken my mind. Rebelliousness
:56:41. > :56:49.is not a good measure of being a good MP. You reach agreement and you
:56:49. > :56:54.stay loyal. Will we see more of you? Politicians are a dull lot. The
:56:54. > :57:04.system needs shaking up. Whether that is my task in life, I do not
:57:04. > :57:04.
:57:05. > :57:14.know. Who knows? We will watch and see. Thank you for joining us. Now
:57:15. > :57:18.
:57:18. > :57:21.our regular round-up of the political week in sixty seconds.
:57:21. > :57:26.A pothole row broke out with motorists questioning why the
:57:26. > :57:34.council does not repair the worst ones first. Because they are so
:57:34. > :57:38.deep, you hit it and do not realise and southerly the wheel has gone.
:57:38. > :57:44.New figures reveal the end of the spare room subsidy has put 40% of
:57:44. > :57:47.Cornwall Council tenants behind with their rent. They are not paying
:57:48. > :57:56.hoping it would be abolished or they are paying what they can afford or
:57:56. > :58:01.they are paying it all and they are going without. There were calls for
:58:01. > :58:08.better police funding in Dorset. We are not asking for more money. All
:58:08. > :58:10.we are asking for is a better share of the cake. And Torbay Council
:58:10. > :58:20.support of the Miss England competition divided opinion. We do
:58:20. > :58:21.
:58:21. > :58:26.not want the kiss me quick nights to be synonymous with Torquay any more.
:58:26. > :58:32.Let's look at the Miss world contest in Torbay. Is it acceptable to
:58:32. > :58:37.parade and judge women in this age based on looks? I do not think it
:58:37. > :58:40.presents the image most resorts want to. The wider issue with the council
:58:40. > :58:50.should have given it a subsidy when local authorities are strapped for
:58:50. > :58:52.
:58:52. > :58:57.cash. It is a bizarre decision.It raised more than they spent. It was
:58:57. > :59:04.worth that in advertising. How to quantify it might have been worth?
:59:04. > :59:14.My Lib Dem colleague is correct to say it is a strange use of money.
:59:14. > :59:15.
:59:15. > :59:19.Are you in favour? You asked me about �100,000 fake palm tree.