0:01:24 > 0:01:29In the south, high speed rail is back on track but could it still
0:01:29 > 0:01:39hit the buffers? Conservative-run councils and MPs along the route a
0:01:39 > 0:01:39
0:01:39 > 0:29:48Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1688 seconds
0:29:48 > 0:29:52deeply unhappy at the decision. -- Welcome to Sunday politics south.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55High Speed Two may have had the green light from ministers but will
0:29:55 > 0:29:59it get derailed by the Conservative MPs and councillors on the route to
0:29:59 > 0:30:03are not happy about it? More on that in a bit. With me about the
0:30:03 > 0:30:07programme are two of the region's MPs. Collarbones is the
0:30:07 > 0:30:11Conservative member for Conservative West and we have the
0:30:11 > 0:30:17Liberal Democrat member for Mid Dorset and North Poole. Busy start
0:30:17 > 0:30:23to the parliamentary year. The welfare bill. A good thing that
0:30:23 > 0:30:26they send it back? I think so. The second chamber is there for
0:30:26 > 0:30:32scrutinising and saying let's have a look at this again, and it is
0:30:32 > 0:30:35only right be sensitive issues are looked at again. Many of us still
0:30:35 > 0:30:39very sensitive about cancer patients, in particular. I
0:30:39 > 0:30:44certainly need some more reassurances on that. I have to say,
0:30:44 > 0:30:49I am overwrought in support of the welfare bill. Moving to universal
0:30:49 > 0:30:56credit, giving a real incentive for people who were able to work, is a
0:30:56 > 0:31:00good move. -- an overall in support. Do you think people will want to
0:31:00 > 0:31:03defend those things against the very cement bands? It is the House
0:31:03 > 0:31:07of Lords doing what it is there to do which is to review and challenge
0:31:07 > 0:31:10the House of Commons. The House of Lords does a very good job which is
0:31:10 > 0:31:14where I am slightly surprised the Deputy Prime Minister wishes to
0:31:14 > 0:31:18abolish it. Getting rid of the Lords is an abolish rid of the
0:31:18 > 0:31:23Lords, not a reform. This will be an opportunity for those of this in
0:31:23 > 0:31:27House of Commons to make his case again. -- those of us. Tony Blair
0:31:27 > 0:31:32tried, backed off. The Universal Credit which wasn't in the
0:31:32 > 0:31:35manifesto, 80% of households will be better off. A cross the
0:31:35 > 0:31:40coalition we support that. The reality is there are over 5 million
0:31:40 > 0:31:43people in this country of working age on out-of-work benefits. 1.4
0:31:43 > 0:31:47million of those will be out of work and on this benefit for more
0:31:47 > 0:31:51than a year. The country needs to fix this. I welcome it coming back
0:31:51 > 0:32:01and I welcome making the case again. Very sympathetic to the point in it
0:32:01 > 0:32:09makes about cancer sufferers. We encounter this all the time --
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Annette. We have to have a balance, and certainly from my perspective
0:32:12 > 0:32:16as a Liberal Democrat it is speaking up all the time. There are
0:32:16 > 0:32:19other aspects in the welfare bill and queasy about, the cap on
0:32:20 > 0:32:25housing benefits, as much as that needs tightening and worried about
0:32:25 > 0:32:28the impact on many families. I think it is right that we look at
0:32:28 > 0:32:34everything very carefully. The Liberal Democrats have pushed very
0:32:34 > 0:32:38hard on some issues and one thing I have been involved in to some
0:32:38 > 0:32:42degree has been employment support allowance for people with
0:32:42 > 0:32:46fluctuating conditions. The government has attempted to look at
0:32:46 > 0:32:49this very sensibly bringing in Professor Harrington, all the
0:32:49 > 0:32:53organisations have been able to have an input. We get cases now
0:32:53 > 0:32:57with legacy from the last government with people with ME for
0:32:57 > 0:33:00example, multiple sclerosis, who go for an assessment and they are told
0:33:00 > 0:33:05they are capable of working and it just happens that they have got a
0:33:05 > 0:33:10good day and that is a travesty. much has been already happening
0:33:10 > 0:33:16this year. Scotland as well. And the film, or about Mrs Thatcher.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20Connor Burns, have to ask you about this, you are a regular visitor to
0:33:20 > 0:33:26Mrs Thatcher? I went to see the film in Leicester Square at 3pm and
0:33:26 > 0:33:30I went as they do most Sunday to see her at her home at 6:30pm.
0:33:30 > 0:33:37Brilliant piece of acting by Meryl Streep, absolutely amazing. I have
0:33:38 > 0:33:42to say, and police to say, the patrol of her in the film, the real
0:33:42 > 0:33:46one is so much better and so much better in herself. It is an an
0:33:47 > 0:33:52accurate portrayal of how she now is. Insulting? Regrettable. I find
0:33:52 > 0:33:56it difficult to attack people who talk about her as she now is
0:33:56 > 0:33:59because her daughter, Carol, who rotor batted in the book, so it is
0:33:59 > 0:34:04in the public domain but the lady is in good form. When I came
0:34:04 > 0:34:10through the door to seal a Sunday was, tummy what has been going on?
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Did you tell her about the film? would have loved to. It is
0:34:14 > 0:34:19flattering but had to tell her they are making a film that betrays her
0:34:19 > 0:34:23late husband appearing and taunting her. I thought that said it was a
0:34:23 > 0:34:26bit cruel. Let's talk about the other big
0:34:26 > 0:34:31thing that happened this week. According to its critics and there
0:34:31 > 0:34:36are plenty of them it will cost at least �32 billion, �1,200 per
0:34:36 > 0:34:40family, just so businessman to get to Birmingham a few minutes faster.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43As the government announced this week they are going ahead with the
0:34:43 > 0:34:48HS2 the country's second high-speed rail line running from London to
0:34:48 > 0:34:53Birmingham, they will also pushing the benefits to the colony of the
0:34:53 > 0:34:59whole country -- they were also. This makes the project look very
0:34:59 > 0:35:03flash, but it flashes through Tory heartlands, uniting MPs and
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Conservative councils in opposition. There were concessions this week.
0:35:07 > 0:35:12Longer tunnels to appease critics. But at a cost of millions more on
0:35:12 > 0:35:15the bill. Making the announcement, the minister was cleared off the
0:35:15 > 0:35:21cost of not going ahead. The price of that would have been paid in
0:35:21 > 0:35:25lost business, there were growth, fewer jobs, and more misery for
0:35:25 > 0:35:32passengers on a network that could not cope with the capacity. Joining
0:35:32 > 0:35:35us now is Martin tete, the leader of Buckinghamshire County Council.
0:35:35 > 0:35:40The Government's point is there is no alternative. What we do spend
0:35:40 > 0:35:44�32 billion on? Certainly not on this. The key thing is Tuesday was
0:35:44 > 0:35:49described as many independent observers as the triumph of spin
0:35:49 > 0:35:52ever commonsense. If you are going to spend �32 billion at the sky it
0:35:52 > 0:35:56-- time of sky-high National that you have to make sure you are
0:35:56 > 0:36:01spending it well. There are three criteria, make sure it is good
0:36:01 > 0:36:03value for money because your money, my money and that many of every
0:36:03 > 0:36:06single person watching this programme, you have to make sure
0:36:06 > 0:36:10there are no viable alternatives, you have assess those bubbly, and
0:36:10 > 0:36:15you have to persuade people it is genuinely in the national interest.
0:36:15 > 0:36:20-- you have assessed those properly. Every independent analyst has found
0:36:20 > 0:36:24the government wanting on all three of those. One key example, the
0:36:24 > 0:36:28whole business case of this trip to Birmingham and the value for money
0:36:28 > 0:36:34of that means every single minute spent on a train by a businessman
0:36:34 > 0:36:38is wasted but we all know in an age of technology, some of the most
0:36:38 > 0:36:44productive time any businessman ever spent his on a train. The idea
0:36:44 > 0:36:49it generates billions of pounds to the economy is just nonsense.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53If they admitted that. You can work on a train, you are going to patch
0:36:53 > 0:36:57this up, you are all Conservatives together?
0:36:57 > 0:37:02This is a coalition government decision. Ironically, of course,
0:37:02 > 0:37:08this is as Maria Eagle reminded the House on Tuesday, this is Gordon
0:37:08 > 0:37:12Brown's project. His big dream, his big silver bullet. He turned this
0:37:12 > 0:37:17up and the coalition Cabinet have run with it. The problem is,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21virtually every government gets deleted by the idea that some big
0:37:21 > 0:37:25prestige project is a silver bullet that solves problems. The reality
0:37:25 > 0:37:28is what really sold structural problems in our economy is actually
0:37:28 > 0:37:32investing in the road and rail infrastructure around the whole
0:37:32 > 0:37:37country that people actually use today. The broken roads, pavements,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40trains that are overcrowded, that we really need to sort out, that is
0:37:40 > 0:37:46what the -- that is what is going to persuade people to invest and
0:37:46 > 0:37:51bring local jobs. Big projects like this, could a
0:37:51 > 0:37:58coalition government have the will to push them through, do you think?
0:37:58 > 0:38:01I think so. My party obviously is in favour of the whole scheme, and
0:38:01 > 0:38:05details of really important, particularly for the local area, I
0:38:05 > 0:38:10would like to deny that. It is an awful lot of money. A large sum of
0:38:10 > 0:38:14money but we have to think how long is it since we have had a major
0:38:14 > 0:38:18investment in our railways. It goes back to the 19th century, something
0:38:18 > 0:38:22really major, rather than just doing something on the edges, which
0:38:22 > 0:38:26all of that is important but it is not solving our fundamental problem
0:38:26 > 0:38:30of under capacity. Whilst we are talking about the roads, if we are
0:38:30 > 0:38:34going to be putting more freight on the rail, that will be an enormous
0:38:34 > 0:38:40advantage to many of us and long term when this is expanded further
0:38:40 > 0:38:47north and Scotland, that of course is going to save on air travel and
0:38:47 > 0:38:52carbon emissions. There is an awful lot that you can argue for, but I
0:38:52 > 0:38:56have obviously understand, I looked in Aylesbury, I know the area well,
0:38:56 > 0:39:01and I understand the local objections. You are going to have
0:39:01 > 0:39:08to go to legal action to stop this? We are obviously looking at the
0:39:08 > 0:39:14detail announced on Tuesday. have you taken a decision on legal
0:39:14 > 0:39:19action? It is like the London A-Z telephone directory published on
0:39:19 > 0:39:23Tuesday, it is right we go through this, analyse it, and a standard.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27So might is emerging as you get through the detail, I am tempted to
0:39:27 > 0:39:31say bad news buried deep on Tuesday, because one of the things we have
0:39:31 > 0:39:36found out is what they call the cost-benefit ratio, the value for
0:39:36 > 0:39:40money of this thing, has dropped yet again. It is now down to what
0:39:40 > 0:39:45the government describes as a low value for money. You are going to
0:39:45 > 0:39:48go to legal action, I do? Her we are not. We are not they didn't to
0:39:48 > 0:39:54legal action is the point and making. We are going to do this in
0:39:54 > 0:39:58a considered way. This will not take cars of the road, a substitute
0:39:58 > 0:40:03for air. Every landing slots at Heathrow at that is freed up anyway
0:40:03 > 0:40:07is going to be substituted with a long-haul flight so it will have a
0:40:07 > 0:40:12negative effect in terms of carbon. This is all spent.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16Thank you very much for joining us. It is about now we get the bad news
0:40:16 > 0:40:19about Christmas as bills start London are our doormats. For many
0:40:19 > 0:40:23the only answer to a temporary cashflow crisis will be doorstep
0:40:23 > 0:40:26lenders with expensive interest rates. New rules the government
0:40:26 > 0:40:31brought in from the start of the canny credit unions will be moving
0:40:31 > 0:40:41in on some of that business. No idea what a credit union is? Nicola
0:40:41 > 0:40:45
0:40:45 > 0:40:49Marie has all you need to know. -- Nicola Marie. -- Murray. It has
0:40:49 > 0:40:54been a gloomy Christmas for many retailers but one sector has been
0:40:54 > 0:40:59booming, but things might be about to change, new rules have been
0:40:59 > 0:41:09introduced to make credit unions began and more competitive. --
0:41:09 > 0:41:12
0:41:12 > 0:41:16The United States Navy has a credit union, the White House has won, in
0:41:16 > 0:41:23this country you get police credit unions, but you also get credit
0:41:23 > 0:41:27unions based on regions, geographic areas, where you might live or work,
0:41:27 > 0:41:33so our common bond has been anybody who lives and works in Hampshire
0:41:33 > 0:41:38and very soon the Isle of Wight. What people do it is they Paul the
0:41:38 > 0:41:43savings together, then other members borrow them. That is how
0:41:43 > 0:41:47credit unions have worked up until now, so what is new? What is being
0:41:47 > 0:41:52removed is the obstacle to credit unions achieving in this country on
0:41:52 > 0:41:54the scale they have achieved everywhere else, where they are
0:41:54 > 0:41:59people's main financial service provider, where you have your
0:41:59 > 0:42:05salary, your income, or your income paid into your credit union, and a
0:42:05 > 0:42:09credit union offers you a mortgage had manages your bill payments and
0:42:10 > 0:42:15everything else. Opening the credit union membership up to businesses
0:42:15 > 0:42:19and organisations, all in all, it will free us up to do more for more
0:42:19 > 0:42:23people and be more attractive to people who currently does see the
0:42:23 > 0:42:33point of credit unions. They may be popular with the US Navy but how
0:42:33 > 0:42:35
0:42:35 > 0:42:40many people have heard of them in the UK? No. No. If something goes
0:42:41 > 0:42:45wrong, I know what Unionists. people who cannot afford much and
0:42:45 > 0:42:49they have got low-interest rate. With so few people aware of their
0:42:49 > 0:42:55existence will these changes enable credit unions in the UK to become
0:42:55 > 0:42:59serious competitors with the backs? They will help credit unions
0:42:59 > 0:43:03consolidate themselves in a limited market in which they operate. But
0:43:03 > 0:43:10we shouldn't imagine they are going to stop providing competition for
0:43:10 > 0:43:13banks, and they still have to erode the commercial sector's market
0:43:13 > 0:43:18which is a very efficient one. that commercial market targets
0:43:18 > 0:43:22people who are not able to go to the bank for money, like unemployed
0:43:22 > 0:43:26single mother of two, Helen, who felt she had no choice but to turn
0:43:26 > 0:43:31to a doorstep lender and her debts more than doubled. I knew I should
0:43:31 > 0:43:39have gone to them, to be honest, but I had no choice. Then the
0:43:39 > 0:43:43statement came through from a housing association and I had a
0:43:43 > 0:43:47card with a credit union for top I didn't pay any attention, went to
0:43:47 > 0:43:52my bank, try to get a loan, they were not interested unless you're
0:43:52 > 0:43:58working. Went down to ease credit union people and luckily enough
0:43:58 > 0:44:01they could help me. -- these. Making them a bigger player isn't
0:44:01 > 0:44:04likely to worry the traditional high-street lenders but could give
0:44:04 > 0:44:09far more people access to cheaper borrowing when the bank says
0:44:09 > 0:44:14another. I am committed to credit unions and have been for over 20
0:44:14 > 0:44:18years and I firmly believe there is a future for credit unions,
0:44:18 > 0:44:22alongside the banks. If we get it right people will want to use it.
0:44:23 > 0:44:32If it wasn't for them, I would dread to think what would have
0:44:33 > 0:44:33
0:44:33 > 0:44:39happened, to be honest and where I Those who use them love them, but
0:44:39 > 0:44:48it seems most people haven't heard of them., have few ever thought of
0:44:48 > 0:44:53Migrate and used to volunteer it in one in a very deprived part of
0:44:53 > 0:44:56north Belfast. These doorstep lenders are parasites who are
0:44:56 > 0:45:00preying on some of the most vulnerable people in our community,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03have very little money and engaging them in loans that they have no
0:45:03 > 0:45:11hope of ever repaying and making some of the poorest in society even
0:45:11 > 0:45:15poorer. I am so in favour. The area of my constituency, you see these
0:45:15 > 0:45:18people are collecting the debt and it is obscene. I am passionately in
0:45:18 > 0:45:22favour of everyone, government, local government, capitalising
0:45:22 > 0:45:26credit unions and Pavenham get out there to serve these people who are
0:45:26 > 0:45:31in really dire straits. They have been given a bit of a beast. They
0:45:31 > 0:45:36need to be. Arisen report came out and pointed out if for example a
0:45:36 > 0:45:39lower income households has to read a new washing machine than they
0:45:39 > 0:45:43paid an enormous sum of money for it. Or if they are getting the
0:45:43 > 0:45:49credit from the doorstep lenders, terribly expensive. We are talking
0:45:49 > 0:45:53about making the poor poorer. This is an area we can tackle making
0:45:53 > 0:45:57sure they have credit on good, sound, reasonable terms. People are
0:45:57 > 0:46:05not getting much interest from about and the Mehmet so maybe if
0:46:05 > 0:46:08people have got a bit of money would be a good thing to put it
0:46:08 > 0:46:18into this. Our regular round-up of the
0:46:18 > 0:46:23
0:46:23 > 0:46:28The Prime Minister kicked off the political year in Maidenhead and
0:46:28 > 0:46:38Bracknell. He gave Waitrose a big society award and it was all smiles.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44
0:46:44 > 0:46:49But then he took a broadside from a In Dorset divers had a sinking
0:46:49 > 0:46:53feeling over plans to chop the coastguard rescue chopper.
0:46:53 > 0:47:03Southampton biggest airline cut rates after their profits took a
0:47:03 > 0:47:03
0:47:04 > 0:47:07nosedive. -- routes. In the Isle of Wight they are building lightweight
0:47:07 > 0:47:11carbon-fibre engine parts for planes. The robots are so cutting-
0:47:11 > 0:47:18edge we had to blow the pictures. Each wonders five weeks' work in 10
0:47:18 > 0:47:23hours. Mr Frisk Cooke's they are a secret weapon for new jobs in their
0:47:23 > 0:47:26staff -- hopes. They really did ask the steeper the
0:47:26 > 0:47:31blur over there so that when it is on line the Chinese cannot look at
0:47:31 > 0:47:35it and gobby these machines, or Americans, or whoever. -- copy
0:47:35 > 0:47:39these machines. Do you think private sector jobs will make up
0:47:39 > 0:47:43for a lot of the public sector once lost? It would be one of the most
0:47:43 > 0:47:46exciting things for me as a member of the coalition to see the
0:47:46 > 0:47:49manufacturing industry grow again because it has been dreadful under
0:47:49 > 0:47:54the Labour government, shrinking and shrinking. It is our future to
0:47:54 > 0:47:58believe Britain can be great again, investing in technology, and for me
0:47:58 > 0:48:05the coalition's putting the emphasis on growth policies is all-
0:48:05 > 0:48:09important. So the problems out but at the centre and stimulate growth.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13Will a make-up for the public sector jobs? We know the rate of
0:48:14 > 0:48:17change is out of sync at the moment and that means more pressure from
0:48:17 > 0:48:22the Liberal Democrats on government that we must get on with the growth
0:48:22 > 0:48:27policies. A There is a lot of aerospace industry in Dorset, even
0:48:27 > 0:48:37though we think of it as an agricultural area. Rape is a centre
0:48:37 > 0:48:39
0:48:39 > 0:48:48-- growth is at the centre of what we need to do. Small businesses
0:48:48 > 0:48:55that how you they need more regulation. They are bought by
0:48:55 > 0:49:02American and German companies and exploited and developed. We have --
0:49:02 > 0:49:08we are still an entrepreneurial country and we need to embrace that.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13Two Dorset MPs would search a range of views on all sorts of different
0:49:13 > 0:49:19things, joining us on this first programme. You can keep up-to-date
0:49:19 > 0:49:24with what is politically hot during the week by following my blog. We