Browse content similar to 27/10/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Morning, folks. Welcome to the Sunday Politics. Hope you enjoyed | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
the extra hour in bed, and that you've realised it's not 12:45. It's | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
11:45! It's getting stormy outside. But they're already battening down | :00:47. | :00:48. | |
the hatches at Number Ten because coalition splits are back, with | :00:49. | :00:51. | |
bust-ups over free schools and power bills. We'll speak to the Lib Dems, | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
and ask Labour who's conning whom over energy. | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
EU leaders have been meeting in Brussels. But how's David Cameron | :01:01. | :01:03. | |
getting on with that plan to change our relationship with Europe? We | :01:04. | :01:14. | |
were there to ask him. Have we got any powers back yet? DS! | :01:15. | :01:17. | |
Foreign companies own everything from our energy companies to our | :01:18. | :01:19. | |
railways. Does it matter who In the South West, the plan to cut | :01:20. | :01:29. | |
mobile library services. And the wind farm opponents who say they | :01:30. | :01:31. | |
haven't got the stronger voice as many daily journeys made by bus | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
than by tube, so why is the planned investment in buses not keeping | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
pace? And with me, three journalists | :01:44. | :01:46. | |
who've bravely agreed to hunker down in the studio while Britain braces | :01:47. | :01:49. | |
itself for massive storm winds, tweeting their political forecasts | :01:50. | :01:51. | |
with all the accuracy of Michael Fish on hurricane watch. Helen | :01:52. | :01:59. | |
Lewis, Janan Ganesh and Nick Watt. Now, sometimes coalition splits are | :02:00. | :02:02. | |
over-egged, or dare we say even occasionally stage-managed. But this | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
week, we've seen what looks like the genuine article. It turns out Nick | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
Clegg has his doubts about the coalition's flagship free schools | :02:11. | :02:13. | |
policy. David Cameron doesn't much like the green levies on our energy | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
bills championed by the Lib Dems. Neither of them seems to have | :02:18. | :02:20. | |
bothered to tell the other that they had their doubts. Who better to | :02:21. | :02:24. | |
discuss these flare-ups than Lib Dem Deputy Leader Simon Hughes? He joins | :02:25. | :02:34. | |
me now. Welcome. Good morning. The Lib Dems spent three years of | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
sticking up for the coalition when times were grim. Explain to me the | :02:40. | :02:42. | |
logic of splitting from them when times look better. We will stick | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
with it for five years. It is working arrangement, but not | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
surprisingly, where there right areas on which we disagree over | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
where to go next, we will stand up. It is going to be hard enough for | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
the Lib Dems to get any credit for the recovery, what ever it is. It | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
will be even harder if you seem to be semidetached and picky. The | :03:07. | :03:10. | |
coalition has led on economic policy, some of which were entirely | :03:11. | :03:15. | |
from our stable. The one you have heard about most often, a Lib Dem | :03:16. | :03:20. | |
initiative, was to take people on blowing comes out of tax. The | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
recovery would not have happened, there would not have been confidence | :03:25. | :03:28. | |
in Britain, had there not been a coalition government with us in it, | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
making sure the same policies produced fair outcomes. We are not | :03:35. | :03:38. | |
going to leave the credit for any growth - and there has been very | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
good news this week. We have played a part in that, and without us, it | :03:43. | :03:47. | |
would not have happened. Does it not underline the trust problem you | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
have? You promised to abolish tuition fees. You oppose nuclear | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
power, now you are cheerleading the first multi-billion pounds | :03:58. | :04:03. | |
investment in nuclear generation. You are dying out on your enthusiasm | :04:04. | :04:07. | |
on green levies, and now they are up for renegotiation. Why should we | :04:08. | :04:12. | |
trust a word you say? In relation to green levies, as you well know, just | :04:13. | :04:20. | |
under 10% is to do with helping energy and helping people. Unless | :04:21. | :04:27. | |
there is continuing investment in renewables, we will not have the | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
British produced energy at cheaper cost to keep those bills down in the | :04:32. | :04:36. | |
future. At cheaper cost? Explain that to me. Off-shore energy is | :04:37. | :04:46. | |
twice the market rate. The costs of renewables will increasingly come | :04:47. | :04:50. | |
down. We have fantastic capacity to produce the energy and deliver lots | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
of jobs in the process. The parts of the energy bill that may be up for | :04:56. | :04:59. | |
renegotiation seems to be the part where we subsidise to help either | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
poor people pay less, or where we do other things. Too insulated the | :05:04. | :05:11. | |
homes? Are you up to putting that to general taxation? Wouldn't that be | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
progressive? I would. It would be progressive. I would like to do for | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
energy bills what the Chancellor has done for road traffic users, | :05:21. | :05:24. | |
drivers, which is too fuelled motor fuel -- to freeze new to fall. That | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
would mean there would be an immediate relief this year, not | :05:31. | :05:34. | |
waiting for the election. So there is a deal to be done there? Yes We | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
understand we have to take the burden off the consumer, and also | :05:40. | :05:43. | |
deal with the energy companies, who look as if they are not paying all | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
the tax they should be, and the regulator, which doesn't regulate | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
quickly enough to deal with the issues coming down the track. We can | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
toughen the regulator, and I hope that the Chancellor, in the Autumn | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
statement, was signalled that energy companies will not be allowed to get | :06:00. | :06:03. | |
away with not paying the taxes they should. And this deal will allow | :06:04. | :06:11. | |
energy prices to come down? Yes How could David Laws, one of your | :06:12. | :06:16. | |
ministers, proudly defend the record of unqualified teachers working in | :06:17. | :06:21. | |
free schools, and then stand side-by-side with Mr Clegg, as he | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
says he is against them? David Laws was not proudly defending the fact | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
that it is unqualified teachers He said that some of the new, | :06:31. | :06:34. | |
unqualified teachers in free schools are doing a superb job. But you want | :06:35. | :06:41. | |
to get rid of them? We want to make sure that everybody coming into a | :06:42. | :06:45. | |
free school ends up being qualified. Ends up? Goes through a process that | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
means they have qualifications. Just as we said very clearly at the last | :06:52. | :06:55. | |
election that the manifesto curriculum in free schools should be | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
the same as other schools. It looks like Mr Clegg is picking a fight | :07:02. | :07:07. | |
just for the sake of it. Mr Clegg was taught by people who didn't have | :07:08. | :07:11. | |
teaching qualifications in one of the greatest schools in the land, if | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
not the world. It didn't seem to do him any harm. What is the problem? | :07:16. | :07:21. | |
If you pay to go to a school, you know what you're getting. But that | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
is what a free school is. No, you don't pay fees. A free school is | :07:28. | :07:32. | |
parents taking the decisions, not you, the politicians. We believe | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
they would expect to guarantee is, firstly that the minimum curriculum | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
taught across the country is taught in the free schools, and secondly, | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
that the teachers there are qualified. Someone who send their | :07:45. | :07:47. | |
kids to private schools took a decision to take -- to send their | :07:48. | :07:55. | |
children there, even if the teachers were unqualified, because they are | :07:56. | :07:59. | |
experts in their field. Someone who send their kids to free schools is | :08:00. | :08:06. | |
because -- is their decision, not yours. Because some of the free | :08:07. | :08:11. | |
schools are new, and have never been there before, parents need a | :08:12. | :08:14. | |
guarantee that there are some basics in place, whatever sort of school. | :08:15. | :08:21. | |
So they need you to hold their hand? It is not about holding hands, it is | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
about having a minimum guarantee. Our party made clear at our | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
conference that this is a priority for us. Nick Clegg reflects the view | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
of the party, and I believe it is an entirely rational thing to do. Nick | :08:36. | :08:38. | |
Clegg complained that the Prime Minister gave him only 30 minutes | :08:39. | :08:45. | |
notice on the Prime Minister Buzz 's U-turn on green levies. That is | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
almost as little time as Nick Clegg gave the Prime Minister on his | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
U-turn on free schools. Aren't you supposed to be partners? Green | :08:56. | :09:03. | |
levies were under discussion in the ministerial group before Wednesday, | :09:04. | :09:06. | |
because we identified this as an issue. We do that in a practical | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
way. Sometimes there is only half an hour's notice. We had even less than | :09:12. | :09:18. | |
half an hour this morning! Simon Hughes, thank you. | :09:19. | :09:23. | |
So the price of energy is the big battle ground in politics at the | :09:24. | :09:29. | |
moment. 72% of people say that high bills will influence the way they | :09:30. | :09:33. | |
vote at the next election. Ed Miliband has promised a price freeze | :09:34. | :09:37. | |
after the next election, but will the coalition turned the tables on | :09:38. | :09:44. | |
Labour, with its proposal to roll back green levies. Caroline Flint | :09:45. | :09:52. | |
joins us from Sheffield. It looks like the coalition will be able to | :09:53. | :09:59. | |
take ?50 of energy bills, by removing green levies. It is quite | :10:00. | :10:04. | |
clear that different parts of the government are running round waking | :10:05. | :10:07. | |
up to the fact that the public feel that this government has not done | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
enough to listen to their concerns. Last week, there was a classic case | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
of the Prime Minister making up policy literally at the dispatch | :10:16. | :10:20. | |
box. Let's see what they say in the autumn statement. The truth is, | :10:21. | :10:23. | |
whatever the debate around green levies, and I have always said we | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
should look at value for money at those green levies. Our argument is | :10:29. | :10:46. | |
about acknowledging there is something wrong with the way the | :10:47. | :10:49. | |
market works, and the way those companies are regulated. Behind our | :10:50. | :10:51. | |
freeze for 20 months is a package of proposals to reform this market I | :10:52. | :10:54. | |
understand that, but you cannot tell as the details about that. I can. | :10:55. | :10:57. | |
You cannot give us the details about reforming the market. We are going | :10:58. | :10:59. | |
to do three things, and I think I said this last time I was on the | :11:00. | :11:04. | |
programme. First, we are going to separate out the generation side | :11:05. | :11:06. | |
from the supply side within the big six. Secondly, we will have a energy | :11:07. | :11:14. | |
pool, or power exchange, where all energy will have to be traded in | :11:15. | :11:20. | |
that pool. Thirdly, we will establish a tougher regulator, | :11:21. | :11:22. | |
because Ofgem is increasingly being seen as not doing the job right I | :11:23. | :11:29. | |
notice that you didn't mention any reform of the current green and | :11:30. | :11:33. | |
social taxes on the energy bill Is it Labour's policy to maintain the | :11:34. | :11:39. | |
existing green levies? In 2011, the government chose to get rid of warm | :11:40. | :11:44. | |
front, which was the publicly funded through tracks a scheme to support | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
new installation. When they got rid of that, it was the first time we | :11:50. | :11:54. | |
had a government since the 70s that didn't have such a policy. What is | :11:55. | :12:00. | |
your policy? We voted against that because we believe it is wrong. We | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
believe that the eco-scheme, a government intervention which is ?47 | :12:05. | :12:14. | |
of the ?112 on our bills each year, is expensive, bureaucratic and isn't | :12:15. | :12:17. | |
going to the fuel poor. I am up for a debate on these issues. I am up | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
for a discussion on what the government should do and what these | :12:23. | :12:25. | |
energy companies should do. We cannot let Cameron all the energy | :12:26. | :12:29. | |
companies off the hook from the way in which they organise their | :12:30. | :12:33. | |
businesses, and expect us to pay ever increasing rises in our bills. | :12:34. | :12:39. | |
There is ?112 of green levies on our bills at the moment. Did you vote | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
against any of them? We didn't, but what I would say ease these were | :12:45. | :12:51. | |
government imposed levies. When they got rid of the government funded | :12:52. | :12:55. | |
programme, Warm Front, they introduced the eco-scheme. The | :12:56. | :13:05. | |
eco-project is one of the ones where the energy companies are saying | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
it's too bureaucratic, and it is proving more expensive than | :13:10. | :13:13. | |
government estimates, apparently doubled the amount the government | :13:14. | :13:17. | |
thought. These things are all worth looking at, but don't go to the | :13:18. | :13:23. | |
heart of the issue. According to official figures, on current plans, | :13:24. | :13:31. | |
which you support, which you voted for, households will be paying 1% | :13:32. | :13:36. | |
more per unit of electricity by 2030. It puts your temporary freeze | :13:37. | :13:48. | |
as just a blip. You support a 4 % rise in our bills. I support making | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
sure we secure for the future access to energy that we can grow here in | :13:54. | :13:57. | |
the UK, whether it is through nuclear, wind or solar, or other | :13:58. | :14:03. | |
technologies yet to be developed. We should protect ourselves against | :14:04. | :14:09. | |
energy costs we cannot control. The truth is, it is every fair for you | :14:10. | :14:15. | |
to put that point across, and I accept that, but we need to hear the | :14:16. | :14:18. | |
other side about the cost for bill payers if we didn't invest in new, | :14:19. | :14:23. | |
indigenous sources of energy supply for the future, which, in the long | :14:24. | :14:27. | |
run, will be cheaper and more secure, and create the jobs we | :14:28. | :14:32. | |
need. I think it is important to have a debate about these issues, | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
but they have to be seen in the right context. If we stay stuck in | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
the past, we will pay more and we will not create jobs. How can you | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
criticise the coalition's plans for a new nuclear station, when jeering | :14:48. | :14:52. | |
13 years of a Labour government you did not invest in a single nuclear | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
plant? You sold off all our nuclear technology to foreign companies | :14:58. | :15:07. | |
Energy provision was put out to private hands and there has been no | :15:08. | :15:14. | |
obstacle in British law against ownership outside the UK. Part of | :15:15. | :15:25. | |
this is looking ahead. Because your previous track record is so bad | :15:26. | :15:30. | |
What we did decide under the previous government, we came to the | :15:31. | :15:34. | |
view, and there were discussions in our party about this, that we did | :15:35. | :15:41. | |
need to support a nuclear future. At the time of that, David Cameron | :15:42. | :15:45. | |
was one of those saying that nuclear power should be a last | :15:46. | :15:50. | |
resort. And as you said, the Liberals did not support it. We | :15:51. | :15:54. | |
stood up for that. We set in train the green light of 10 sites, | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
including Hinkley Point, for nuclear development. I am glad to | :16:00. | :16:03. | |
see that is making progress and we should make more progress over the | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
years ahead. We took a tough decision when other governments had | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
not done. You did not build a new nuclear station. When you get back | :16:15. | :16:23. | |
into power, will you build HS2? That has not had a blank cheque | :16:24. | :16:29. | |
from the Labour Party. I am in favour of good infrastructure. Are | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
you in favour of?, answer the question? I have answered the | :16:35. | :16:40. | |
question. It does not have a blank cheque. If the prices are too high, | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
we will review the decision when we come back to vote on it. We will be | :16:46. | :16:50. | |
looking at it closely. We have to look for value for money and how it | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
benefits the country. Have you stocked up on jumpers this winter? | :16:56. | :17:02. | |
I am perfectly all right with my clothing. What is important, it is | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
ridiculous for the Government to suggest that the answer to the loss | :17:08. | :17:11. | |
of trust in the energy companies is to put on another jumper. | :17:12. | :17:21. | |
The coalition has taken a long time to come up with anything that can | :17:22. | :17:27. | |
trump Ed Miliband's simple freezing energy prices, vote for us. Are | :17:28. | :17:33. | |
they on the brink of doing so? I do not think so. They have had a | :17:34. | :17:36. | |
problem that has dominated the debate, talking about GDP, the | :17:37. | :17:42. | |
figures came out on Friday and said, well, and went back to talking | :17:43. | :17:48. | |
about energy. My problem with what David Cameron proposes is he agrees | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
with the analysis that the Big Six make too many profits. He wants to | :17:54. | :17:58. | |
move the green levies into general taxation, so that he looks like he | :17:59. | :18:02. | |
is protecting the profits of the energy companies. If the coalition | :18:03. | :18:08. | |
can say they will take money off the bills, does that change the | :18:09. | :18:14. | |
game? I do not think the Liberal Democrats are an obstacle to | :18:15. | :18:19. | |
unwinding the green levies. I think Nick Clegg is open to doing a deal, | :18:20. | :18:26. | |
but the real obstacle is the carbon reduction targets that we signed up | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
to during the boom years. They were ambitious I thought at the time | :18:31. | :18:35. | |
From that we have the taxes and clocking up of the supply-side of | :18:36. | :18:40. | |
the economy. Unless he will revise that, and build from first | :18:41. | :18:43. | |
principles a new strategy, he cannot do more than put a dent into | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
green levies. He might say as I have got to ?50 now and if you | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
voters in in an overall majority, I will look up what we have done in | :18:55. | :18:59. | |
the better times and give you more. I am sure he will do that. It might | :19:00. | :19:05. | |
be ?50 of the Bill, but it will be ?50 on your general taxation bill, | :19:06. | :19:09. | |
which would be more progressive They will find it. We will never | :19:10. | :19:17. | |
see it in general taxation. The problem for the Coalition on what | :19:18. | :19:23. | |
Ed Miliband has done is that it is five weeks since he made that | :19:24. | :19:26. | |
speech and it is all we are talking about. David Cameron spent those | :19:27. | :19:30. | |
five weeks trying to work out whether Ed Miliband is a Marxist or | :19:31. | :19:33. | |
whether he is connected to Middle Britain. That is why Ed Miliband | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
set the agenda. The coalition are squabbling among themselves, | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
looking petulant, on energy, and on schools. Nobody is taking notice of | :19:45. | :19:50. | |
the fact the economy is under way, the recovery is under way. Ed | :19:51. | :19:55. | |
Miliband has made the weather on this. | :19:56. | :20:02. | |
It UK has a relaxed attitude about selling off assets based -- to | :20:03. | :20:12. | |
companies based abroad. But this week we have seen the Swiss owner | :20:13. | :20:15. | |
of one of Scotland's largest industrial sites, Grangemouth, come | :20:16. | :20:18. | |
within a whisker of closing part of it down. So should we care whether | :20:19. | :20:21. | |
British assets have foreign owners? Britain might be a nation of | :20:22. | :20:23. | |
homeowners, but we appear to have lost our taste for owning some of | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
our biggest businesses. These are among the crown jewels sold off in | :20:29. | :20:32. | |
the past three decades to companies based abroad. Roughly half of | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
Britain's essential services have overseas owners. The airport owner, | :20:39. | :20:40. | |
British Airports Authority, is owned by a Spanish company. | :20:41. | :20:43. | |
Britain's largest water company Thames, is owned by a consortium | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
led by an Australian bank. Four out of six of Britain's biggest energy | :20:48. | :20:49. | |
companies are owned by overseas giants, and one of these, EDF | :20:50. | :20:52. | |
Energy, which is owned by the French state, is building Britain's | :20:53. | :20:55. | |
first nuclear power plant in a generation, backed by Chinese | :20:56. | :21:03. | |
investors. It's a similar story for train operator Arriva, bought by a | :21:04. | :21:08. | |
company owned by the German state. So part of the railways privatised | :21:09. | :21:10. | |
by the British government was effectively re-nationalised by the | :21:11. | :21:19. | |
German government. But does it matter who owns these companies as | :21:20. | :21:22. | |
long as the lights stay on, the trains run on time, and we can | :21:23. | :21:27. | |
still eat Cadbury's Dairy Milk? We are joined by the general | :21:28. | :21:33. | |
secretary of the RMT, Bob Crow, and by venture capitalist Julie Meyer. | :21:34. | :21:39. | |
They go head to head. Have we seen the consequences of | :21:40. | :21:46. | |
relying for essential services to be foreign-owned? Four of the Big | :21:47. | :21:53. | |
Six energy companies, Grangemouth, owned by a tax exile in Switzerland. | :21:54. | :21:59. | |
It is not good. I do not think there is a cause and effect | :22:00. | :22:04. | |
relationship between foreign ownership and consumer prices. That | :22:05. | :22:08. | |
is not the right comparison. We need to be concerned about | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
businesses represented the future, businesses we are good at | :22:14. | :22:16. | |
innovating for example in financial services and the UK has a history | :22:17. | :22:23. | |
of building businesses, such as Monotypes. If we were not creating | :22:24. | :22:34. | |
businesses here -- Monotise. Like so many businesses creating | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
products and services and creating the shareholders. Should we allow | :22:41. | :22:48. | |
hour essential services to be in foreign ownership? It was | :22:49. | :22:53. | |
demonstrated this week at Grangemouth. If you do not own the | :22:54. | :22:58. | |
industry, you do not own it. The MPs of this country and the | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
politicians in Scotland have no say, they were consultants. | :23:04. | :23:06. | |
Multinationals decide whether to shut a company down. If that had | :23:07. | :23:13. | |
been Unite union, they are the ones who saved the jobs. They | :23:14. | :23:19. | |
capitulated. They will come back, like they have for the past 150 | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
years, and capture again what they lost. If it had closed, they would | :23:24. | :23:29. | |
have lost their jobs for ever. If the union had called the members up | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
without a ballot for strike action, there would have been uproar. This | :23:34. | :23:38. | |
person in Switzerland can decide to shut the entire industry down. The | :23:39. | :23:43. | |
coalition, the Labour Party, as well, when Labour was in government, | :23:44. | :23:49. | |
they played a role of allowing industries to go abroad, and it | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
should be returned to public ownership. Nestor. It has | :23:54. | :24:05. | |
demonstrated that the Net comes from new businesses. We must not | :24:06. | :24:14. | |
be... When Daly motion was stopped by the French government to be sold, | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
it was an arrow to the heart of French entrepreneurs. We must not | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
create that culture in the UK. Every train running in France is | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
built in France. 90% of the trains running in Germany are built in | :24:30. | :24:37. | |
Germany. In Japan, it has to be built in that country, and now an | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
energy company in France is reducing its nuclear capability in | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
its own country and wants to make profits out of the British industry | :24:49. | :24:52. | |
to put back into it state industry. That happened with the railway | :24:53. | :24:56. | |
industry. They want to make money at the expense of their own state | :24:57. | :25:02. | |
companies. We sold off energy production. How did we end up in a | :25:03. | :25:09. | |
position where our nuclear capacity will be built by a company owned by | :25:10. | :25:16. | |
a socialist date, France, and funded by a communist one, China, | :25:17. | :25:24. | |
for vital infrastructure? I am not suggesting that is in the national | :25:25. | :25:27. | |
interest. I am saying we can pick any one example and say it is a | :25:28. | :25:33. | |
shame. The simple matter of the fact is the owners are having to | :25:34. | :25:36. | |
make decisions. Not just Grangemouth, businesses are making | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
decisions about what is the common good. Not just in the shareholders' | :25:42. | :25:47. | |
interest. For employees, customers. What is in the common good when | :25:48. | :25:52. | |
prices go up by 10% and the reason is that 20 years ago they shut | :25:53. | :25:56. | |
every coal pit down in this country, the Germans kept theirs open and | :25:57. | :26:01. | |
subsidised it and now we have the Germans doing away with nuclear | :26:02. | :26:08. | |
power and they have coal. Under the Labour government, in 2008, the | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
climate change Act was passed. Well before that, and you know yourself, | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
they shut down the coal mines to smash the National Union of | :26:20. | :26:23. | |
Mineworkers because they dared to stand up for people in their | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
community. Even if we wanted to reopen the coalmines, it would be | :26:29. | :26:32. | |
pointless. Under the 2008 Act, we are not meant to burn more coal | :26:33. | :26:40. | |
The can, as if you spent some of the profits, you could have carbon | :26:41. | :26:47. | |
catch up. That does not exist on a massive scale. You are arguing the | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
case, Julie Meyer, for entrepreneurs to come to this | :26:52. | :26:56. | |
country. Even Bob Crow is not against that. We are trying to | :26:57. | :27:02. | |
argue, should essential services be in foreign hands? Not those in | :27:03. | :27:10. | |
Silicon round about doing start ups. I am trying to draw a broader | :27:11. | :27:16. | |
principle than just energy. Something like broadband services, | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
also important to the functioning of the economy. I believe in the | :27:20. | :27:27. | |
UK's ability to innovate. When we have businesses that play off | :27:28. | :27:31. | |
broadband companies to get the best prices for consumers. These new | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
businesses and business models are the best way. Not to control, but | :27:37. | :27:43. | |
to influence. It will be a disaster. Prices will go up and up as a | :27:44. | :27:49. | |
result. Nissan in Sunderland, a Japanese factory, some of the best | :27:50. | :27:54. | |
cars and productivity. You want that to be nationalised and bring | :27:55. | :27:57. | |
it down to the standard of British Leyland? It is not bring it down to | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
the standard. The car manufacturing base in this country has been | :28:03. | :28:07. | |
wrecked. We make more cars now for 20 years -- than in 20 years. | :28:08. | :28:13. | |
Ford's Dagenham produced some of the best cars in the world. Did you | :28:14. | :28:21. | |
buy one? I cannot drive. They moved their plants to other countries | :28:22. | :28:27. | |
where it was cheaper labour. Would you nationalise Nissan? There | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
should be one car industry that produces cars for people. This week | :28:33. | :28:39. | |
the EU summit was about Angela Merkel's mobile phone being tapped, | :28:40. | :28:45. | |
they call it a handy. We sent Adam to Brussels and told him to ignore | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
the business about phone-tapping and investigate the Prime | :28:51. | :28:52. | |
Minister's policy on Europe instead. I have come to my first EU summit to | :28:53. | :29:08. | |
see how David Cameron is getting on with his strategy to claim power was | :29:09. | :29:12. | |
back from Brussels. Got any powers back yet? Yes! Which ones? Sadly, | :29:13. | :29:21. | |
his fellow leaders were not as forthcoming. Chancellor, are you | :29:22. | :29:26. | |
going to give any powers back to Britain? Has David Cameron asked you | :29:27. | :29:33. | |
for any powers back? The president of the commission just laughed, and | :29:34. | :29:39. | |
listen to the Lithuanian President. How is David Cameron's renegotiation | :29:40. | :29:50. | |
strategy going? What's that? He wants powers back for Britain. No | :29:51. | :29:55. | |
one knows what powers David Cameron actually wants. Even our usual | :29:56. | :30:00. | |
allies, like Sweden, are bit baffled. We actually don't know yet | :30:01. | :30:07. | |
what is going through the UK membership. We will await the | :30:08. | :30:14. | |
finalisation of that first. You should ask him, and then tell us! | :30:15. | :30:20. | |
Here is someone who must know, the Dutch Prime Minister, he is doing | :30:21. | :30:25. | |
what we are doing, carrying out a review of the EU powers, known as | :30:26. | :30:30. | |
competencies in the jargon, before negotiating to get some back. Have | :30:31. | :30:35. | |
you had any negotiations with David Cameron over what powers you can | :30:36. | :30:40. | |
bring back from Brussels? That is not on the agenda of this summit. | :30:41. | :30:46. | |
Have you talked to him about it This is not on the schedule for this | :30:47. | :30:50. | |
summit. David Cameron's advises tummy it is | :30:51. | :30:59. | |
because he is playing the long game. -- David Cameron's advisers tell me. | :31:00. | :31:08. | |
At this summit, there was a task force discussing how to cut EU red | :31:09. | :31:15. | |
tape. Just how long this game is was explained to me outside the summit, | :31:16. | :31:19. | |
by the leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament. I think | :31:20. | :31:25. | |
the behind-the-scenes negotiations will start happening when the new | :31:26. | :31:28. | |
commissioner is appointed later next year. I think the detailed | :31:29. | :31:34. | |
negotiations will start to happen bubbly after the UK general | :31:35. | :31:38. | |
election. That is when we will start getting all of the detail of the | :31:39. | :31:43. | |
horse trading, and real, Lake night negotiations. Angela Merkel seems | :31:44. | :31:50. | |
keen to rewrite the EU's main treaties to deal with changes in the | :31:51. | :31:55. | |
Eurozone, and that is the mechanism David Cameron would use to | :31:56. | :31:59. | |
renegotiate our membership. Everyone here says his relationship with the | :32:00. | :32:03. | |
German Chancellor is strong. So after days in this building, here is | :32:04. | :32:09. | |
how it looks. David Cameron has a mountain to climb. It is climbable, | :32:10. | :32:14. | |
but he isn't even in the foothills yet. Has he even started packing his | :32:15. | :32:19. | |
bags for the trip? Joining us now, a man who knows a | :32:20. | :32:24. | |
thing or two about the difficulties Prime Minister 's face in Europe. | :32:25. | :32:29. | |
Former Deputy Prime Minister, Michael Heseltine. We are nine | :32:30. | :32:33. | |
months from David Cameron's defining speech on EU renegotiation. Can you | :32:34. | :32:41. | |
think of one area of progress? I don't know. And you don't know. And | :32:42. | :32:47. | |
that's a good thing. Why is it a good thing? Because the real | :32:48. | :32:52. | |
progress goes on behind closed doors. And only the most naive, | :32:53. | :33:03. | |
because the real progress goes on behind closed doors. Because, in | :33:04. | :33:11. | |
this weary world, you and I, Andrew, know full well that the moment you | :33:12. | :33:17. | |
say, I making progress, people say, where? And the machine goes to work | :33:18. | :33:21. | |
to show that the progress isn't enough. So you are much better off | :33:22. | :33:28. | |
making progress as best you can in the privacy of private diplomacy. It | :33:29. | :33:37. | |
is a long journey ahead. In this long journey, do you have a clear | :33:38. | :33:41. | |
sense of the destination? Do you have a clear sense of what powers Mr | :33:42. | :33:48. | |
Cameron wants to negotiate? I have a clear sense of the destination, | :33:49. | :33:52. | |
which is a victory for the campaign that he will win to stay inside the | :33:53. | :33:58. | |
European community. That is the agenda, and I have total support for | :33:59. | :34:07. | |
that. I understand that, but if he is incapable of getting any tangible | :34:08. | :34:12. | |
sign of renegotiation, if he is able only to do what Wilson did in 1 75, | :34:13. | :34:19. | |
which was to get a couple of token changes to our membership status, he | :34:20. | :34:23. | |
goes into that referendum without much to argue for. He has everything | :34:24. | :34:29. | |
to argue for. He's got Britain's vital role as a major contributor to | :34:30. | :34:37. | |
the community. He's got Britain s self interest as a major | :34:38. | :34:43. | |
beneficiary, and Britain's vital role in the City of London. He's got | :34:44. | :34:49. | |
everything to argue for. He could argue for that now. He could have a | :34:50. | :34:54. | |
referendum now. He doesn't want one now. I haven't any doubt that he | :34:55. | :35:02. | |
will come back with something to talk about. But it may be slightly | :35:03. | :35:11. | |
different to what his critics, the UK isolationist party people, want. | :35:12. | :35:17. | |
He may, for example, have found that allies within the community want | :35:18. | :35:23. | |
change as well, and he may secure changes in the way the community | :35:24. | :35:29. | |
works, which would be a significant argument within the referendum | :35:30. | :35:32. | |
campaign. Let me give you an example. I think it is a scandal | :35:33. | :35:37. | |
that the European Commission don't secure the auditing of some of the | :35:38. | :35:44. | |
accounts. Perhaps that could be on the agenda. He might find a lot of | :35:45. | :35:49. | |
contributing countries, like Germany, like Colin and, would be | :35:50. | :35:58. | |
very keen. -- like Holland. David vetoed the increase in the European | :35:59. | :36:03. | |
budgets the other day, and he had a lot of allies. So working within | :36:04. | :36:08. | |
Europe on the things that people paying the European bills want is | :36:09. | :36:13. | |
fertile ground. Is John Major right to call for a windfall tax on the | :36:14. | :36:20. | |
energy companies? John is a very cautious fellow. He doesn't say | :36:21. | :36:24. | |
things without thinking them out. So I was surprised that he went for a | :36:25. | :36:32. | |
windfall tax. First of all, it is retrospective, and secondly, it is | :36:33. | :36:36. | |
difficult to predict what the consequences will be. I am, myself, | :36:37. | :36:41. | |
more interested in the other part of his speech, which was talking about | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
the need for the Conservative Party to seek a wider horizon, to | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
recognise what is happening to the Conservative Party in the way in | :36:51. | :36:54. | |
which its membership is shrinking into a southeastern enclave. Are you | :36:55. | :37:04. | |
in favour of a windfall tax? I am not in favour of increasing any | :37:05. | :37:16. | |
taxes. Do you share Iain Duncan Smith's point of view on welfare | :37:17. | :37:22. | |
reform? I think Iain Duncan Smith is right. It is extremely difficult to | :37:23. | :37:31. | |
do, but he is right to try. I think public opinion is behind him, but it | :37:32. | :37:40. | |
isn't easy, because on the fringe of these issues there are genuine hard | :37:41. | :37:45. | |
luck stories, and they are the ones that become the focus of attention | :37:46. | :37:50. | |
the moment you introduce change. It requires a lot of political skill to | :37:51. | :37:56. | |
negotiate your way through that. But isn't Iain Duncan Smith right to | :37:57. | :38:01. | |
invoke the beverage principle, that you should be expected to make a | :38:02. | :38:05. | |
contribution for the welfare you depend on? Yes, he is. I will let | :38:06. | :38:11. | |
you get your Sunday lunch. Thanks for joining us. | :38:12. | :38:16. | |
Coming up in just over 20 minutes, I will be looking | :38:17. | :38:27. | |
Hello, I'm Lucie Fisher. Coming up on the Sunday Politics in the South | :38:28. | :38:31. | |
West. The council planning to cut mobile | :38:32. | :38:33. | |
library services whilst spending millions on the type which stay in | :38:34. | :38:39. | |
one place. And for the next 20 minutes, I'm | :38:40. | :38:43. | |
joined by the Lib Dem MP Stephen Gilbert, and the leader of the UKIP | :38:44. | :38:46. | |
group on Cornwall Council, Steph McWIlliam. Welcome to the programme. | :38:47. | :38:51. | |
Let's begin with school funding. In June, the Chancellor promised to | :38:52. | :38:55. | |
close the funding gap which can mean pupils in the South West are worth | :38:56. | :38:59. | |
more than ?3,000 a year less than those in London. The Education | :39:00. | :39:04. | |
Secretary hammered home the Government's good news on a visit to | :39:05. | :39:07. | |
Barnstaple's Pilton Community College. It is an historic | :39:08. | :39:17. | |
unfairness which means areas in the South West have been discriminated | :39:18. | :39:22. | |
against. That will end. This week, the North Devon MP Sir Nick Harvey | :39:23. | :39:26. | |
wrote to Michael Gove urging him to introduce a fairer funding formula | :39:27. | :39:30. | |
not in April 2015, but as quickly as possible. Do you agree with Nick | :39:31. | :39:33. | |
Harvey that the schools need the money now, not in the future? | :39:34. | :39:38. | |
Absolutely, it has been a running sore in Cornwall... There is a | :39:39. | :40:05. | |
growing number of people who want to see a fairer funding formula. We | :40:06. | :40:09. | |
heard Michael Gove been quite definite about this. It has not been | :40:10. | :40:17. | |
a great week for coalition unity. I do not think this is a big split in | :40:18. | :40:22. | |
the coalition, it is not that kind of story. What we are clear about as | :40:23. | :40:27. | |
a government is that there will be a fairer funding formula introduced. | :40:28. | :40:33. | |
It is worth millions? Yes, it is, and it will make a real difference | :40:34. | :40:37. | |
to those remote, rural schools who are struggling at the moment. Are | :40:38. | :40:44. | |
you satisfied this will go ahead? It is going to be much too late, we | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
already have some serious problems with the shortage of school places. | :40:49. | :40:52. | |
Schools, even where we have an adequate number of places, are | :40:53. | :40:58. | |
struggling. We have been let down for a very long time by all the | :40:59. | :41:05. | |
parties. Yes, we have been let down. But we have only been in power | :41:06. | :41:12. | |
for the last three years and are delivering a fairer funding | :41:13. | :41:15. | |
formula. 13 years of Labour did not address this. We saw a big buyers | :41:16. | :41:20. | |
towards funding for inner`city areas. It is quite a lot of money, | :41:21. | :41:31. | |
?3000. Even if you say that our line which problems in schools in London, | :41:32. | :41:36. | |
special educational needs must be the same for the South West as for | :41:37. | :41:42. | |
people in London? I have never understood the difference in nation | :41:43. | :41:48. | |
between `` the differentiation between London and rural areas. We | :41:49. | :41:54. | |
have difficulties in my local school because we are not in a big, urban | :41:55. | :42:01. | |
centre and our pupil numbers are critical. The funding means we have, | :42:02. | :42:08. | |
at the moment, a teacher coping with reception and year one. It is not | :42:09. | :42:16. | |
ideal. Hopefully, it will be addressed sooner rather than later. | :42:17. | :42:23. | |
Campaigners against wind farms say the Government's promise to give | :42:24. | :42:25. | |
communities new powers to block applications has turned out to be | :42:26. | :42:29. | |
nothing more than spin. In parts of Devon, councillors are continuing to | :42:30. | :42:32. | |
see their decisions to reject wind turbines overturned on appeal. Anna | :42:33. | :42:33. | |
Varle reports. It is an issue which continues to | :42:34. | :42:44. | |
divide society. The government should stop putting wind turbines in | :42:45. | :42:49. | |
the open countryside. The impact on the landscape is enormous. There | :42:50. | :42:53. | |
will soon be nowhere in the countryside where there will not | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
beef fuse of turbines. The government published new planning | :42:59. | :43:00. | |
guidance the summer of which is said would give communities more say in | :43:01. | :43:04. | |
refusing unsuitable projects. There have been some wind farm satire | :43:05. | :43:10. | |
inappropriately cited. Some people feel under siege on the strong wind | :43:11. | :43:18. | |
farms. But residents living in North Devon say this is not happening. The | :43:19. | :43:23. | |
local authority refused permission for a 35 metre turbine to be built | :43:24. | :43:29. | |
on this site, only for the decision to be overturned by the planning | :43:30. | :43:37. | |
inspector this week. It is such a disappointment for the expected to | :43:38. | :43:40. | |
come in and override all public opinion. `` for the inspector. | :43:41. | :43:46. | |
Torridge District Council see it has seen an increase in applications of | :43:47. | :43:55. | |
500% is since 2010, most of which it has said yes to. But 90% of the | :43:56. | :44:02. | |
projects they rejected last year had been overturned at national level. | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
It is ludicrous that we have no local determination. It is really | :44:10. | :44:16. | |
government views and forced upon us, and there seems to be nothing we | :44:17. | :44:28. | |
can do. It is not satisfactory. Nationally, others claim the | :44:29. | :44:31. | |
guidance the government has issued this year has been misunderstood and | :44:32. | :44:35. | |
local communities do not have the power to stop an application. There | :44:36. | :44:47. | |
is no veto in the guidance published this year. The news will be of | :44:48. | :44:51. | |
comfort to developers of renewable energy who say they do work closely | :44:52. | :44:57. | |
with local communities. More than 70% of people in the south`west say | :44:58. | :45:01. | |
they will support more wind farms being built there, but we want to | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
see the right places. It might be too late for these residents. Those | :45:07. | :45:10. | |
who have lived and farmed here for more than 50 years say they still | :45:11. | :45:15. | |
have hope. We will probably find we are up against a brick wall, but | :45:16. | :45:19. | |
nevertheless, we hope that this localism bill, much trumpeted by the | :45:20. | :45:26. | |
government, will actually have some value. | :45:27. | :45:29. | |
Wind turbine opponent Dennis Cronk ending that report from Anna Varle. | :45:30. | :45:35. | |
It does appear that localism has been a bit of a sham? It leaves a | :45:36. | :45:42. | |
very bitter taste in people's mouths when a democratic planning process | :45:43. | :45:46. | |
that local communities access through their local council is then | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
overturned by the planning Inspectorate. It happens in my | :45:51. | :45:54. | |
constituency in house`building applications as much as on wind | :45:55. | :46:01. | |
turbines. We need to use the provisions in the localism bill and | :46:02. | :46:06. | |
make sure that communities are exercising what is in there. But | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
that is what the localism bill should be doing. 90% of turbines at | :46:12. | :46:21. | |
`` but were rejected at local level, within approved at national level. | :46:22. | :46:26. | |
It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth when democratic local | :46:27. | :46:31. | |
decisions are overturned. But we need to be clear that the community | :46:32. | :46:35. | |
is using all the provisions that are in the localism act to be as | :46:36. | :46:45. | |
muscular as possible. We spoke to a lot of people in these communities | :46:46. | :46:50. | |
who are very cross, is UKIP benefiting from this? There is a | :46:51. | :46:57. | |
really important issue here. I have been at some site meetings for wind | :46:58. | :47:04. | |
farm applications, these wind turbines are everywhere and it is | :47:05. | :47:06. | |
frightening how close they are coming to residential properties of | :47:07. | :47:12. | |
non`financially involved people. There is in increasing body of | :47:13. | :47:16. | |
evidence that there is a link between proximity of turbines and | :47:17. | :47:20. | |
adverse health effects. This has got to get onto the agenda and I am | :47:21. | :47:24. | |
hoping that Stephen might be able to visit with it really `` with Ed | :47:25. | :47:35. | |
Davey. There is always going to be a debate we are situated, whether | :47:36. | :47:42. | |
neighbours have our financial interest or not. What is clear as | :47:43. | :47:45. | |
our country is that we need diverse energy provision, on short | :47:46. | :47:54. | |
renewables, offshore renewables. Nuclear power stations as well. | :47:55. | :48:01. | |
Where is the money coming form `` from for that? We have two large | :48:02. | :48:17. | |
offshore wind farms planned, paid for by foreign companies. There has | :48:18. | :48:29. | |
to be ?120 billion worth of money invested in energy to make sure that | :48:30. | :48:33. | |
we can keep the lights on and guard against climate change. That is the | :48:34. | :48:44. | |
government's position. That is why... But how can you have that and | :48:45. | :48:54. | |
community involvement? If foreign investors are investing billions of | :48:55. | :49:03. | |
pounds in these plans, how can community voices be heard? Lots of | :49:04. | :49:12. | |
their schemes we have heard about will be domestic. I am glad you | :49:13. | :49:17. | |
brought this up because we keep hearing about all these jobs, | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
renewable energy projects and jobs. In my parish, the entire workforce | :49:24. | :49:29. | |
and all the materials were brought in from overseas. Julian the | :49:30. | :49:35. | |
construction phase, the number of jobs for local people, none. `` | :49:36. | :49:47. | |
during. During the running phase, the number of jobs for local people, | :49:48. | :49:53. | |
none. The concern about the health risks of radiation, which we all | :49:54. | :49:57. | |
know accept, we need to be looking at the evidence which is already out | :49:58. | :50:05. | |
there. I do not note the detailed example, but if you look at the | :50:06. | :50:10. | |
billions of pounds of investment that has now been secured for the | :50:11. | :50:16. | |
new nuclear power station, 20,000 jobs will be created on the back of | :50:17. | :50:20. | |
it initially, pouring billions of pounds into the local economy. We | :50:21. | :50:28. | |
need to be open to businesses and investment from around the world. | :50:29. | :50:34. | |
Why are British people not investing? Why is it the Chinese, | :50:35. | :50:45. | |
who actually have a minority Shia and want a controlling interest. `` | :50:46. | :50:54. | |
minority share. We need ?120 billion worth of investment to keep the | :50:55. | :50:58. | |
lights on over the next period of time. We need to have our door is | :50:59. | :51:02. | |
open to all those who want to invest in the United Kingdom and create | :51:03. | :51:07. | |
jobs here. Jobs that... I have to stop you there. | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
Some of the region's most isolated communities are bracing themselves | :51:12. | :51:14. | |
for the loss of their mobile library service after Devon County Council | :51:15. | :51:17. | |
announced plans to cut stops where fewer than three people turn up. | :51:18. | :51:19. | |
Councillors are, of course, struggling to make ends meet in | :51:20. | :51:22. | |
increasingly straitened times, but some are now questioning their | :51:23. | :51:25. | |
decisions to spend millions doing`up static libraries. Jenny Kumah | :51:26. | :51:32. | |
reports. Devon's mobile library service | :51:33. | :51:35. | |
serves some of the county's most remote communities. But at a time of | :51:36. | :51:40. | |
tighter budget, the council is looking at making cutbacks. I have | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
got four vehicles that are coming to the end of their working life. To | :51:47. | :51:53. | |
replace them would cost about ?200,000. We have been looking at | :51:54. | :52:00. | |
the statistics that are coming out of the... That we take all the time. | :52:01. | :52:07. | |
We think that these stops are less than four people, quite often. One | :52:08. | :52:17. | |
of the 70s `` one of the 70 steps is this one. This week, it did not | :52:18. | :52:22. | |
appear to be underused. Around a dozen children have been on board to | :52:23. | :52:25. | |
borrow books. The headteacher did not want to appear on film, but she | :52:26. | :52:30. | |
told me that they need the service because it adds to the range of | :52:31. | :52:34. | |
books children can't read. There was also a young mother on board with | :52:35. | :52:38. | |
her child. She to be she was disappointed to hear that the | :52:39. | :52:41. | |
service was under threat. She said the next nearest service would mean | :52:42. | :52:52. | |
a car journey. In the past, visits to Devon's library have dropped by | :52:53. | :52:57. | |
17%. The county council says the decline is mainly down to people | :52:58. | :53:02. | |
accessing the library online and a reduction in opening hours. Despite | :53:03. | :53:07. | |
this decline, the authority is spending ?4.1 million on | :53:08. | :53:14. | |
refurbishing Exeter. This week, said mouth also reopened after a | :53:15. | :53:29. | |
refurbishment. `` said it's very nice. I like it. There is a decline | :53:30. | :53:40. | |
in people going to libraries. It is up to the council to bridge that | :53:41. | :53:44. | |
demand and decide whether to invest more in libraries or online. But the | :53:45. | :53:53. | |
council stands by its investment. You need to invest to make sure that | :53:54. | :53:58. | |
libraries provide what people want. When we have been refurbishing other | :53:59. | :54:05. | |
libraries, people's use of those libraries just goes through the roof | :54:06. | :54:09. | |
and that is what I expect to see from this library in Sidmouth. | :54:10. | :54:19. | |
Devon's councillors are proud of keeping libraries open. But as the | :54:20. | :54:23. | |
funding squeeze continues, councillors across the region will | :54:24. | :54:27. | |
face tough choices over how much priority libraries should be given | :54:28. | :54:32. | |
for the future. We love our libraries in Britain, | :54:33. | :54:37. | |
but is it right to continue investing in them when councils are | :54:38. | :54:42. | |
so strapped for cash? You have got to treat libraries the same way as | :54:43. | :54:48. | |
so many other services. Times are changing, people are using E books | :54:49. | :54:53. | |
and getting information electronically. There is not the | :54:54. | :54:57. | |
same demand as there was. But last week, I visited a wonderful library | :54:58. | :55:04. | |
in Upton cross which is in the kitchen of the primary school. It | :55:05. | :55:09. | |
doubles as a community library and a school library. A wonderful lady | :55:10. | :55:17. | |
runs it, and it was buzzing. What we must not lose is in using children | :55:18. | :55:22. | |
with that love of books, just picking them up and being familiar | :55:23. | :55:34. | |
with them. The investment and that was miniscule compared with building | :55:35. | :55:41. | |
a new library. And it does have Internet access. Have times moved | :55:42. | :55:47. | |
on, should we be investing in new things, our libraries on their way | :55:48. | :55:54. | |
out? I hope not. The passion for books, knowledge and education is | :55:55. | :55:57. | |
something that has helped to underpin our country's success and | :55:58. | :56:07. | |
libraries play a key role in that. I think there are tough choices for | :56:08. | :56:12. | |
councillors to make, to get the right balance in these difficult | :56:13. | :56:16. | |
times. It is great news that the economy has continued to grow over | :56:17. | :56:21. | |
the last quarter. But if you are council and you are facing cuts in | :56:22. | :56:25. | |
library services and cuts to adult services, respite care centres, it | :56:26. | :56:31. | |
is a difficult decision over what to go with? There is no doubt that | :56:32. | :56:37. | |
these are difficult decisions and there is a difficult balance for | :56:38. | :56:42. | |
councillors across the region to make. We simply do not have the | :56:43. | :56:47. | |
money to spend on the ideal scenario across all services at the moment. | :56:48. | :56:51. | |
That is why it is good news that the economy has improved. I hear what | :56:52. | :56:58. | |
you are saying? There is a plan to put up council tax to try to get | :56:59. | :57:08. | |
some... I am glad you brought this up because has been a lot of | :57:09. | :57:11. | |
misunderstanding. That motion that was discussed on Tuesday was to see | :57:12. | :57:18. | |
an alternative budget, not voting on 6%. In fact, from my point of view, | :57:19. | :57:29. | |
I am being presented as a new councillor with one budget, take it | :57:30. | :57:33. | |
or leave it. I wanted to see two, to compare it. To see what the impact | :57:34. | :57:40. | |
would be on services. So you might vote for a larger increase? Probably | :57:41. | :57:46. | |
not, but I have not been given the information to make an informed | :57:47. | :57:49. | |
decision. Because of the severe reduction in government funding that | :57:50. | :57:56. | |
we are getting, and it is this government that is making that | :57:57. | :58:02. | |
decision. Now our regular round`up of the political week in 60 seconds. | :58:03. | :58:14. | |
The Prime Minister came to Somerset to announce plans for a new nuclear | :58:15. | :58:22. | |
power station. This company is investing in local training, local | :58:23. | :58:25. | |
colleges to make sure that young people in Somerset can do | :58:26. | :58:30. | |
apprenticeships here and learn skills in engineering and | :58:31. | :58:36. | |
construction. There were reports an increase `` of an increase in | :58:37. | :58:41. | |
house`building. There is a rise in new home construction, it is good | :58:42. | :58:48. | |
news. Motorists in Torbay welcomed a cut to parking charges. It will | :58:49. | :58:58. | |
bring more local people in. And taxi drivers in Newton Abbot were told to | :58:59. | :59:06. | |
remove stickers on their cars with the words local driver on them. It | :59:07. | :59:11. | |
is quite upsetting that you cannot put our country's flag on the door. | :59:12. | :59:20. | |
We will come back to you on this. Taxi drivers told to remove stickers | :59:21. | :59:25. | |
with the words local driver on them. What do you make of that? They are | :59:26. | :59:32. | |
running a business and in order to run a successful business, if they | :59:33. | :59:39. | |
see this as a way of helping to keep their business going, if that is | :59:40. | :59:43. | |
what local people want to know, give them that information. If you drive | :59:44. | :59:53. | |
around Cornwall, that you will see lots of Cornish crosses on the cars. | :59:54. | :00:01. | |
I do not think it is racist. I think the council leader has suggested | :00:02. | :00:04. | |
they may have overreacted and asking the taxi drivers to remove them. I | :00:05. | :00:09. | |
suppose what they were thinking, they were not saying our local | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
driver in terms of being Cornish or Devon, it is more British driver, as | :00:14. | :00:23. | |
opposed to being Polish or whatever M is that a problem there? I do not | :00:24. | :00:36. | |
think it is important. What is important is being able to | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
communicate between driver and customer. When I have been to other | :00:41. | :00:51. | |
cities around the UK, that is what is important to me as a user of the | :00:52. | :00:56. | |
taxi. Would you have a problem with it? Somebody and advertising | :00:57. | :01:09. | |
themselves as being not foreign? I think that is stretching the point. | :01:10. | :01:16. | |
All you have to do is cross the river and go into Cornwall and you | :01:17. | :01:18. | |
will see free school area for into that | :01:19. | :01:31. | |
Is Labour about to drop its support category. Thank you. | :01:32. | :01:32. | |
Is Labour about to drop its support for High Speed 2, a rail line the | :01:33. | :01:36. | |
party approved while in government? for High Speed 2, a rail line the | :01:37. | :01:47. | |
these green shoots? These are all questions for The Week Ahead. | :01:48. | :01:59. | |
So, HS2. Miss Flint wouldn't answer the question. She's in northern MP | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
too. Ed Balls is comparing it to the Millennium Dome. | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
too. Ed Balls is comparing it to the minute's silence for HS2? It will | :02:10. | :02:14. | |
not be quite as crude as that. They will not stand up and say, we | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
not be quite as crude as that. They senior Labour person said to me it | :02:20. | :02:19. | |
would be a bit senior Labour person said to me it | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
that Gordon Brown and Ed Balls set for the euro back in 97. They will | :02:23. | :02:28. | |
be chucking lots of questions into the air, and the questions will | :02:29. | :02:31. | |
create doubt, and will create the grounds for Labour to say, at some | :02:32. | :02:38. | |
point, we think there is a much much better way of spending the money. It | :02:39. | :02:43. | |
isn't ?42 billion, because that includes a contingency. Let's see | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
what Peter Mandelson had to say about HS2. He was in the government | :02:50. | :02:57. | |
when Labour supported it. Frankly, there was too much of the argument | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
that if everyone else has got a high-speed train, we should have won | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
too. Regardless of need, regardless of cost, and regardless of | :03:09. | :03:14. | |
alternatives. As a party, to be frank, we didn't feel like being | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
trumped by the zeal of the then opposition's support for the | :03:20. | :03:26. | |
high-speed train. We wanted, if anything, to upstage them. So they | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
didn't really need it, and we're only talking about ?50 billion. Why | :03:32. | :03:38. | |
would you take a decision involving ?50 billion in a serious way? For | :03:39. | :03:42. | |
David Cameron, if it becomes clear Labour is against it, he cannot | :03:43. | :03:48. | |
proceed. He indicated last week that he wouldn't proceed if the certainty | :03:49. | :03:52. | |
wasn't there. For Labour, HS2 is really a debate about the deficit by | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
proxy. They think that if you don't go ahead with HS2, that releases | :03:57. | :04:01. | |
tens of billions of pounds to spend on other things, such as public | :04:02. | :04:06. | |
services, without going into boring. I don't think that works because | :04:07. | :04:28. | |
there was a difference between cancelling something that already | :04:29. | :04:30. | |
exists to pay for something else, and cancelling something that does | :04:31. | :04:33. | |
not yet exist and will be paid for over decades to pay for something | :04:34. | :04:35. | |
here and now. Can Labour do this? I know that the line will be, we are | :04:36. | :04:38. | |
not going to build this railway because we are going to build | :04:39. | :04:41. | |
200,000 houses a year. Can they do this without political cost? I think | :04:42. | :04:43. | |
there will be political costs, but they will play this card of we have | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
changed our mind. I think Cameron's line has been very clever, saying we | :04:49. | :04:53. | |
cannot do it without labour. You can put it in two ways. Sorry, we cannot | :04:54. | :04:58. | |
go ahead with it, but Labour has ruined your chance of prosperity, or | :04:59. | :05:03. | |
they can tie themselves to it, and then Labour cannot attack it on | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
great grounds when costs do spire. You can write Labour's script right | :05:10. | :05:14. | |
now. They can say, if we were in charge, the financial management | :05:15. | :05:22. | |
would be much better. This raises some really important questions for | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
the government. They have utterly failed to make the case for HS2 | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
There is a real case to make. Between London and Birmingham it is | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
about capacity not speed. North of Birmingham, it is about | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
connectivity. It is a simple case to make, but it is only in the last | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
month that they have been making that case. It shows really terrible | :05:47. | :05:49. | |
complacency in the coalition that they haven't done that. We'll HS2 | :05:50. | :05:57. | |
happen or not? I think it will. For the reasons that Nick outlined, | :05:58. | :06:01. | |
there is not of a constituency for it amongst Northern areas. -- there | :06:02. | :06:10. | |
is enough of a constituency for it. There is private investment as well. | :06:11. | :06:17. | |
It isn't like Heathrow. I say no, because I think Labour will drop | :06:18. | :06:24. | |
their support for it. Caroline Flint said she was in favour of the | :06:25. | :06:27. | |
concept of trains generally, but will it go further than that? It is | :06:28. | :06:32. | |
difficult to see how it will go ahead if Labour will not support it | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
after setting five tests that it clearly will not meet. Some will | :06:39. | :06:46. | |
breathe a sigh of relief. Some will say, even in the 20th century, we | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
cannot build a proper rail network. The economy was another big story of | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
the week. We had those GDP figures. There is a video the Tories are | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
releasing. The world premiere is going to be here. Where's the red | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
carpet? It gives an indication of how the Tories will hand Mr Miliband | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
and labour in the run-up to the election. Let's have a look at it. | :07:10. | :07:43. | |
These graphics are even worse than the ones we use on our show! How on | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
earth would you expect that to go viral? It did have a strange feel | :07:50. | :07:58. | |
about it. It doesn't understand the Internet at all. Who is going to | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
read those little screens between it? Put a dog in it! However, | :08:03. | :08:15. | |
putting that aside, I have no idea that that is going to go viral. The | :08:16. | :08:20. | |
Tories are now operating - and I say Tories rather than the coalition - | :08:21. | :08:26. | |
on the assumption that the economy is improving and will continue to | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
improve, and that that will become more obvious as 2014 goes on. We | :08:31. | :08:36. | |
just saw their how they will fight the campaign. Yes, and at the | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
crucial moment, you will reach the point where wages. To rise at a | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
faster pace than inflation, and then people will start to, in the words | :08:48. | :08:51. | |
of Harold Macmillan, feel that they have never had it so good. That is | :08:52. | :08:57. | |
the key moment. If the economy is growing, there is a rule of thumb | :08:58. | :09:05. | |
that the government should get a benefit. But it doesn't always work | :09:06. | :09:08. | |
like that. The fundamental point here is that Ed Miliband has had a | :09:09. | :09:11. | |
great month. He has totally set the agenda. He has set the agenda with | :09:12. | :09:17. | |
something - freezing energy prices - that may not work. That video shows | :09:18. | :09:22. | |
that the Conservatives want to get the debate back to the | :09:23. | :09:25. | |
fundamentals. That this is a party that told us for three years that | :09:26. | :09:32. | |
this coalition was telling us to -- was taking us to hell on a handcart. | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
That doesn't seem to have happened. The energy price was a very clever | :09:39. | :09:45. | |
thing, at the party conference season, which now seems years ago. | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
They saw that the recovery was going to happen, so they changed the | :09:50. | :09:55. | |
debate to living standards. Some economists are now privately | :09:56. | :10:00. | |
expecting growth to be 3% next year, which was inconceivable for five | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
months ago. If growth is 3% next year, living standards will start to | :10:06. | :10:07. | |
rise again. Where does Labour go then? I would go further, and say | :10:08. | :10:14. | |
that even though Ed Miliband has made a small political victory on | :10:15. | :10:18. | |
living standards, it hasn't registered in the polls. Those polls | :10:19. | :10:25. | |
have been contracted since April -- have been contracting since April. | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
That macro economic story matters more than the issue of living | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
standards. The interesting thing about the recovery is it confounds | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
everybody. No one was predicting, not the Treasury, not the media not | :10:39. | :10:44. | |
the IMF, not the academics, and the only people I can think of... I fit | :10:45. | :10:51. | |
-- I thought they knew everything! The only people I know who did are | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
one adviser who is very close to George Osborne, and the clever hedge | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
fund is who were buying British equities back in January. Because | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
the Treasury's record is so appalling, no one believe them, but | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
they were saying around February, March this year, that by the end of | :11:10. | :11:14. | |
the summer, the recovery would be gathering momentum. For once, they | :11:15. | :11:23. | |
turned out to be right! They said that the economy would be going gang | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
bust is! Where did the new Tory voters come from? I agree, if the | :11:27. | :11:33. | |
economic recovery continues, the coalition will be stronger. But | :11:34. | :11:42. | |
where will they get new voters from? For people who sign up to help to | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
buy, they will be locked into nice mortgages at a low interest rate, | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
and just as you go into a general election, if you are getting 3% | :11:52. | :11:57. | |
growth and unemployment is down the Bank of England will have to review | :11:58. | :12:00. | |
their interest rates. People who are getting nice interest rates now may | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
find that it is not like that in a few months time. The point John | :12:05. | :12:11. | |
Major was making implicitly was that Mrs Thatcher could speak to people | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
on low incomes. John Major could not speak to them -- John Major could | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
speak to them. But this coalition cannot speak to them. This idea | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
about the reshuffle was that David Cameron wanted more Northern voices, | :12:26. | :12:33. | |
more women, to make it look like it was not a party of seven men. When | :12:34. | :12:38. | |
David Cameron became leader, John Major said, I do not speak very | :12:39. | :12:43. | |
often, but when I do, I will help you, because I think you are good | :12:44. | :12:47. | |
thing and I do not want to be like Margaret Thatcher. But that speech | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
was clearly a lament for the party he believed that David Cameron was | :12:52. | :12:56. | |
going to lead and create, but that isn't happening. And energy prices | :12:57. | :13:02. | |
continue into this coming week. We have the companies going before a | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
select committee. My information is they are sending along the secondary | :13:08. | :13:11. | |
division, not the boss. How can they get along -- get away with that I | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
got the letter through from British Gas this week explaining why my | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
bills are going up, and at no point since this became a story have any | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
of the big companies handled it well. I will have to leave it there. | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
Make sure you pay your bill! That's it for today. The Daily Politics is | :13:31. | :13:37. | |
back on BBC Two tomorrow. I will be back here on BBC One next Sunday. | :13:38. | :13:44. | |
Remember, if it's Sunday, it is The Sunday Politics. | :13:45. | :13:51. |