:01:22. > :01:32.families being chased for unpaid council tax. The women following in
:01:32. > :01:32.
:01:32. > :37:45.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2172 seconds
:37:45. > :37:48.the footsteps of those who won them Politics in the south-west. The
:37:48. > :37:55.woman following in the footsteps of those who won them the right to
:37:55. > :38:01.vote. And for the next 20 minutes I am joined by Adrian Sanders and the
:38:01. > :38:06.leader of the Labour group on Devon County Council, Richard Westlake.
:38:06. > :38:09.This week saw the bill for a referendum on EU membership passed
:38:09. > :38:14.its first test in Parliament unchallenged. It will be the later
:38:14. > :38:17.stages with the battle will be fought. The Prime Minister heard it
:38:17. > :38:22.introduced but Labour said the debate was a political stunt and
:38:22. > :38:32.advised its MPs to stay away. You going to vote for this bill when it
:38:32. > :38:33.
:38:33. > :38:36.gets to the more crucial stages? I will. I will vote in favour a
:38:36. > :38:40.referendum. That is unusual. You the only Liberal Democrat who's going to
:38:40. > :38:45.do that? I think some colleagues will join me. There are Liberal
:38:45. > :38:49.Democrats right across the country who feel strongly. A lot of us want
:38:49. > :38:54.to land this boil and start the campaign to remain in the EU and I
:38:54. > :38:59.will be in favour of us staying in the EU once we have got the
:38:59. > :39:09.referendum up and running. Richard, this is a mess for Labour. Do you
:39:09. > :39:22.
:39:22. > :39:24.risk being an anti-referendum party? This is a political stunt.
:39:25. > :39:27.They have got UKIP and they are losing votes. The Liberal Democrats
:39:27. > :39:30.recognise they are in trouble. What is happening is you are seeing this
:39:30. > :39:33.go through Parliament. We need to sort out Europe. We need to sort out
:39:33. > :39:37.what our position is. We cannot pussyfoot around. Should you not
:39:37. > :39:43.vote for the referendum? You could have a referendum, but you want to
:39:43. > :39:46.know what you are going to vote about. It seems to me, you will have
:39:46. > :39:51.a referendum without the real debate, which we will need, and
:39:51. > :39:56.certainly after the next Parliament, which is after 2015, and the effect
:39:56. > :40:06.that will have. We do not know what the economy will look like after
:40:06. > :40:09.
:40:09. > :40:11.2015, so we do need a debate, but if you rush into something, we could
:40:11. > :40:14.get an answer that may be detrimental to the country. We will
:40:14. > :40:18.see. It is three months since the government's welfare reforms kicked
:40:18. > :40:23.in. Figures obtained by the BBC show the changes to housing benefit and
:40:23. > :40:29.council tax benefit or already pushing people towards debt. In
:40:29. > :40:34.Torbay, over 1000 families have been sent final notices changing --
:40:34. > :40:38.chasing unpaid council tax bills. The situation in Cornwall is
:40:39. > :40:45.similar. It is what the government wants. Janet Mandeville has swapped
:40:45. > :40:50.a two-bedroom house for one-bedroom flat. Since April, social housing
:40:50. > :40:55.tenants with a spare room have had housing benefit cut. She was getting
:40:55. > :41:01.behind on her rent. It has worked out in the end. I did not
:41:01. > :41:06.particularly want to move. It is because it did what I needed it to
:41:06. > :41:11.do, which was to stop the stress about worrying about money. I am
:41:11. > :41:16.already worried about money, because benefits are not that high. �20 a
:41:16. > :41:21.week, it was making me ill. Ministers say the reform is designed
:41:21. > :41:27.to do this. It will free up social housing stock and make the system
:41:27. > :41:37.fairer. Janet says that is fine in theory, but there are not enough
:41:37. > :41:56.
:41:56. > :41:59.properties around. I was lucky. I can feel for the people who cannot,
:41:59. > :42:01.who want to, but cannot. Cornwall Council says four out of ten tenants
:42:01. > :42:03.affected by this charge or behind on their rent. Other housing
:42:03. > :42:06.associations are reporting an increase in arrears. It is repeated
:42:06. > :42:09.for around 20,000 households who are having to pay a chunk of council tax
:42:09. > :42:11.for the first time since the changes came in. Around one third are in
:42:11. > :42:13.arrears. Susie is currently on benefits because of illness and she
:42:13. > :42:18.is now on the brink of becoming a statistic herself after recently
:42:18. > :42:26.getting a large bill. I got the electric bill last Friday. That is
:42:26. > :42:31.how close I was. We walk a fine line. You can never tell if it will
:42:31. > :42:38.be you next. Local authorities have been passed responsibility for the
:42:38. > :42:42.tax benefit, but with less money. In Cornwall, the funding gap is being
:42:42. > :42:45.plugged by working age people. are happy to take on more
:42:45. > :42:51.responsibility but we cannot do so without any money and I am worried
:42:51. > :43:01.it is being passed on to the poorest families who cannot afford it. Our
:43:01. > :43:02.
:43:02. > :43:05.job is to make representations to government to say if you want to
:43:05. > :43:09.trust councils to do more, we will be happy to take on that role, but
:43:09. > :43:14.we need the money. The recession is hard. Cornwall Council has funds in
:43:14. > :43:20.place to help the most honourable, like Janet who is getting some help
:43:20. > :43:23.with their council tax payment. The government says the reforms will
:43:23. > :43:30.save taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds a year and give councils
:43:30. > :43:35.incentive is to get people back into work. To discuss this we are joined
:43:35. > :43:42.by the Conservative MP George Eustice. What is your message to
:43:42. > :43:47.these people who are in arrears? think there are a number of things
:43:47. > :43:51.that they can do. Different councils have approached this in different
:43:51. > :43:55.ways. Some councils decided to absorb the full cost of the
:43:55. > :44:04.reduction in the council tax support, some like Cornwall tried to
:44:04. > :44:07.pass it on to working people, but alongside that, a �1 million fund to
:44:07. > :44:09.support people, and I met the council a couple of months ago to
:44:10. > :44:14.discuss this, my message is that if people are struggling, do not wait
:44:14. > :44:23.until you go to court, approached the council and put in an
:44:24. > :44:26.application to get some support to help you adjust. We are talking
:44:26. > :44:29.about 20,000 families. interesting thing is that when I
:44:29. > :44:32.spoke to the council they said they have not had as many people
:44:32. > :44:37.approaching them as expected, even though they wrote to everyone and
:44:37. > :44:42.made clear at the funds were available. There are lots of funds
:44:42. > :44:52.to help people. There is one that the government put in place. It will
:44:52. > :44:58.not be there next year, will it? They are temporary. What will people
:44:58. > :45:06.do them? In a year's time, Cornwall Council will be in a better position
:45:06. > :45:10.to design something that is better tailored. Why will it be in a better
:45:10. > :45:16.position? We will have seen which people need support. The principle
:45:16. > :45:19.of this is the right thing to do. It is councils that understands council
:45:19. > :45:23.taxpayers and they can tailor solutions that work for them, so
:45:23. > :45:33.they can find the savings more efficiently. Some people will have
:45:33. > :45:36.
:45:36. > :45:39.full support for council tax, but in a time limited way. It may be that
:45:39. > :45:41.some of them have 90% or 60%. After one year of running this, when they
:45:41. > :45:43.have people approaching them for support, they will have a better
:45:43. > :45:48.understanding. In the meantime, a lot of people will have gone to
:45:48. > :45:52.court. It is creating a divided society, with some of the wealthiest
:45:52. > :46:02.people are still having a lot of money despite the recession, and the
:46:02. > :46:08.
:46:08. > :46:11.poorest people are facing legal challenges. Crime the government has
:46:11. > :46:13.passed it onto local government but it given them an amount of money
:46:13. > :46:17.which is shorter than what is required. People who qualify for
:46:17. > :46:21.this benefit are amongst the poorest families. We said we would be fairer
:46:21. > :46:26.and we would not hurt those most in need. This policy is doing that and
:46:26. > :46:31.the government needs to look at this again. There are further cuts in
:46:31. > :46:37.government funding next year, so the councils will be even less able to
:46:37. > :46:45.do their own package to help people who are in need next year. You have
:46:45. > :46:47.to look at this again them. Councils have to look at what works for them
:46:47. > :46:52.and some councils decided to absorb the full cost. Cornwall Council
:46:52. > :46:58.decided it could not. Other councils approached it differently. Are we
:46:58. > :47:04.all still in this together? Yes we are. The point is that there will be
:47:04. > :47:07.people watching who do not get any council tax support, but might also
:47:07. > :47:15.be in arrears. If you're going to claim some contribution from people
:47:15. > :47:19.who have never paid it before, it is inevitable that some people will go
:47:19. > :47:22.into arrears. I could point to lots of people who are working very hard,
:47:22. > :47:29.but do not qualify for the benefit and they also struggle to pay these
:47:29. > :47:35.bills and many of them will also have court summonses as well.
:47:35. > :47:41.bring in Richard. Would later reversed this? We would look at it
:47:41. > :47:46.and see after 2015, what the current state is. That is neither a yes or
:47:46. > :47:50.no. We do not know what will happen in 2015. We would have a fairer
:47:50. > :47:56.distribution. What we are looking at is local government not getting its
:47:56. > :48:01.fair share and as Adrian said, we are seeing in the next two years
:48:01. > :48:11.through the Chancellor's Autumn statement, another severe cut to
:48:11. > :48:32.
:48:32. > :48:34.local authority spending. Are you gaining support from people who are
:48:34. > :48:37.having benefits cut? We are gaining support in membership, but I do not
:48:37. > :48:40.want people to join a party because they find that the -- that there are
:48:40. > :48:43.benefits have been cut. Especially when it was Labour who left a note
:48:43. > :48:45.to say there was no money left. cannot argue with that. We need a
:48:45. > :48:47.shift. I was at a conference in Manchester and it was interesting
:48:47. > :48:50.that Michael Heseltine was saying that central government should be
:48:50. > :48:53.looking now to transfer more money to local government so that they can
:48:53. > :48:55.help those most in need. I want to come back to George. The Bishop of
:48:55. > :49:00.Truro spoke out and said the benefit changes are driving people to food
:49:00. > :49:06.banks and it is a scandal that we have them at all in the
:49:06. > :49:12.21st-century. That is your patch, what do you say? I have got food
:49:12. > :49:20.banks in my area and it is worth noting the important work they do.
:49:20. > :49:25.Should people have to go to charity? The use of food banks has been
:49:25. > :49:28.growing. It increased under the last government. This government has for
:49:28. > :49:33.the first time allowed job centres, where they think it is appropriate,
:49:33. > :49:38.to refer people to food banks. There is greater awareness of them and
:49:38. > :49:43.greater use. The changes we are making are right. We have put a cap
:49:43. > :49:52.on the total amount that people can claim in benefits in a year at
:49:52. > :49:55.around �26,000. That is the average for working families. It is wrong
:49:55. > :50:04.that we are paying more to people on benefits than what working people
:50:04. > :50:08.get. People are being driven over the edge. There is still a benefit
:50:08. > :50:13.system there. People still get housing benefit and council tax
:50:13. > :50:20.benefit. The benefits are still there. They are under pressure
:50:20. > :50:25.because national finances are under pressure. There is still support.
:50:25. > :50:30.Fight you for joining us. 100 years ago, women campaigning for the right
:50:30. > :50:34.to vote were marching through Devon. Various events are being held
:50:34. > :50:44.to commemorate their journey. We sent Johnny Robert the -- Johnny
:50:44. > :50:50.
:50:50. > :51:00.Rutherford along. Their dream was for equality and for women to be
:51:00. > :51:00.
:51:01. > :51:05.given the to vote. In 1913, women marched to London to have their
:51:05. > :51:09.voice heard. On July three en route to London they passed Plymouth,
:51:09. > :51:15.exactly 100 years to the date and women once again marched through the
:51:15. > :51:20.streets, this time in celebration of the great suffrage pilgrimage.
:51:20. > :51:30.were hoping for an end to sighted Labour, hoping for an end for
:51:30. > :51:31.
:51:31. > :51:36.children being that having to work. It took 15 years after the March
:51:36. > :51:41.before women were given an equal vote in 1928. They got us the vote
:51:41. > :51:49.and they thought this would solve all that. Here we are, 100 years
:51:49. > :51:54.later, and we are fine, largely? Women are a long way from political
:51:54. > :51:59.equality but much progress has been made. The south-west provided the
:51:59. > :52:03.first woman MP and she took up Parliament seat in 1919. She lived
:52:04. > :52:13.in Plymouth and gave her house to the city as a residence for future
:52:13. > :52:18.Lord Mayers. Today the Lord Mayor is Vivien Pengelly. We have always had
:52:18. > :52:23.lady members of Parliament, we have had the likes of Joan Vickers. They
:52:23. > :52:28.were all well respected members of Parliament. She was the first woman
:52:28. > :52:35.to lead the city council. My meeting set the standard of how we discussed
:52:35. > :52:41.the debate. I stuck to my guns. I stayed focused. I was determined to
:52:41. > :52:47.do what I thought was the right thing for Plymouth. We present our
:52:47. > :52:52.appeal. Our demand in response to the government's claim that women do
:52:52. > :52:56.not want the vote! By re-enacting the speeches made a century ago,
:52:56. > :53:00.these women hope to highlight outstanding campaigns on equal pay
:53:00. > :53:10.and the cost of childcare. They say they are unlikely to achieve those
:53:10. > :53:11.
:53:11. > :53:14.goals until there are as many women in politics as men. We are facing an
:53:14. > :53:17.economic crisis, an environmental crisis, we keep going to war, there
:53:17. > :53:24.are wars all over the place. It is not going well, guys, we need women
:53:24. > :53:34.on board and it needs to be half and half. We want half the presence in
:53:34. > :53:35.
:53:35. > :53:39.the corridors of power. Mary Lidgate ending that report. We are joined by
:53:39. > :53:44.Rhea Brooke from the Fawcett Society. It is striking watching
:53:44. > :53:49.that footage how far we have come from the long dresses and stern
:53:49. > :53:55.faces. Do you agree with the women, although we have come a long way, we
:53:55. > :54:02.have not come far enough? Apps lately. If you look at the number of
:54:02. > :54:07.female MPs, the number of women who are counsellors, and you start
:54:07. > :54:11.looking at council leaders, just over 2.5% of police and crime
:54:11. > :54:17.commissioners, women do have a long way to go until there is parity
:54:17. > :54:20.within political life. What can be done? It is about recognising why
:54:20. > :54:25.women engage with politics and recognising the barriers. If you
:54:25. > :54:28.think about the role of a councillor, where the expectation is
:54:28. > :54:34.they will be attending meetings and events in the evenings and at
:54:34. > :54:44.weekends and look at the cost of childcare, they are in a dilemma. Do
:54:44. > :55:05.
:55:05. > :55:08.they pay out for childcare, which is incredibly expensive, or do they
:55:08. > :55:10.attend and do what is expected of them, in terms of their roles as
:55:10. > :55:13.councillors? Actually, if they claim expenses because they need childcare
:55:13. > :55:16.in order to carry out their role, that gets played out in the press.
:55:16. > :55:17.Does participation vary? It does. If you look at London and the number of
:55:17. > :55:20.councillors there, there are significantly more. The further away
:55:20. > :55:23.you move, there are fewer MPs. That might have something to do with the
:55:23. > :55:26.balance between political life and the need to be in Parliament until
:55:26. > :55:28.late at night and a family life, where you need to go home, and that
:55:28. > :55:37.balance is hard. Tony Benn suggests that the system needs to be change,
:55:37. > :55:42.and male and female MP for each constituency. It is a novel idea.
:55:42. > :55:45.Changing the electoral system to a single transferable vote, would
:55:45. > :55:50.ensure a better balance of candidates. That would be the
:55:50. > :55:55.easiest and surefire way of getting more women and people from ethnic
:55:55. > :56:05.minorities reflecting Britain as it is in Parliament. 100 years on, the
:56:05. > :56:06.
:56:06. > :56:10.Cabinet is still made up of wealthy males. We have got four females
:56:10. > :56:14.compared to 27 men. My party cannot claim to be good at this. We have
:56:14. > :56:18.been looking at how we can attract more women. One of the biggest
:56:18. > :56:23.barriers is finance. Most men who engage in politics, it is their
:56:23. > :56:27.hobby that becomes part of their life, that they fund out of their
:56:27. > :56:35.higher earnings. For women, it is very difficult, with all the other
:56:35. > :56:39.responsibilities that they take on, if they have children. What about
:56:39. > :56:44.the paid? I do not think that would have impact at all on the number of
:56:45. > :56:49.women that would come in, except at the margins. What you need is the
:56:49. > :56:54.support that she was talking about, support with childcare, which we
:56:54. > :56:58.tried in Parliament and we have a creche, but we need more women to
:56:58. > :57:04.fill it up. It is getting the women in in the first place, but having
:57:04. > :57:14.the facilities there once they get elected. Is there anything that can
:57:14. > :57:20.
:57:20. > :57:23.be done? These problems do not just exist in politics. You look at
:57:23. > :57:26.teenage girls and there seems to be more of the cult of the celebrity
:57:26. > :57:28.rather than someone that you look up to in politics? Politicians, when it
:57:28. > :57:31.comes to their popularity rating, are well down the list. It is not
:57:31. > :57:37.something that someone would go into to become popular. I think the
:57:37. > :57:42.Labour Party has gone a long way to trying to make sure that there is
:57:42. > :57:46.equality, so that women have opportunities to go for seats and
:57:47. > :57:53.seats that you can win, not just the seat she cannot. I think she was
:57:53. > :57:59.right, one of the things we have to look at, being a politician, whether
:57:59. > :58:03.an MP or a local politician, the call on you is substantial. Today, I
:58:03. > :58:07.have done a lot of work and when you have got children, you have a
:58:07. > :58:13.responsibility in the household, it is how we balance that by making
:58:13. > :58:17.sure that there is equal opportunity. We need to close time
:58:17. > :58:27.on that discussion. It is time for our regular round-up of the
:58:27. > :58:28.
:58:28. > :58:33.political week in 60 seconds. The fire service in Devon and Somerset
:58:33. > :58:37.said it needed to save a further �2.5 million. We continue to make
:58:37. > :58:42.representation to the government to ensure that the needs of the public
:58:42. > :58:47.are fully reflected in future assessments, but we need to operate
:58:47. > :58:51.but the funds made available to us. And mother called on the government
:58:51. > :58:55.to ban legal highs after her 16-year-old daughter used one and
:58:55. > :59:02.collapsed. They need to be made illegal and in the meantime, we need
:59:02. > :59:06.to educate the parents and children about how dangerous they can be.
:59:06. > :59:13.Duchy of Cornwall was asked to come clean about its tax affairs by a
:59:13. > :59:19.Cornish MP. The Duke pays income tax voluntarily and perhaps we need to
:59:19. > :59:23.explore where else we can balance the books with his assistance.
:59:23. > :59:33.the decision on whether a pink Devon cottage will have to be repainted it
:59:33. > :59:33.
:59:33. > :59:39.was put on hold. Let us look at the cuts to the fire service, because
:59:39. > :59:44.that affects Plymouth and Torbay. Is this something which you have been
:59:44. > :59:48.campaigning against? Yes. I think the issue for the Fire Authority
:59:48. > :59:55.members, they will have to explain why 20% of the cuts are to
:59:55. > :59:57.front-line services and only 5% to back office. There are nearly 19,000
:59:57. > :00:02.people in Torbay engaged in the consultation progress and they said
:00:02. > :00:09.no to this proposal because they are concerned about public safety.
:00:09. > :00:13.do you make of that? The general public want to see no cuts to
:00:13. > :00:18.front-line services. They feel that. The other message is to government
:00:18. > :00:23.is when you are making cuts to local governments, you are also now