:01:37. > :01:47.In the south, critics claim that the new proposed when far more of
:01:47. > :01:47.
:01:47. > :30:42.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1735 seconds
:30:42. > :30:45.the Dorset coastline is a blot on Welcome to Sunday Politics. Until
:30:45. > :30:50.they show, now that the public consultation is over on the
:30:50. > :30:53.proposed wind farm of the Dorset coast, we are asking whether they
:30:53. > :30:58.are a blot on the landscape or whether they could become a tourist
:30:58. > :31:04.attraction. More on that shortly. First let's meet the two
:31:04. > :31:09.politicians that will be with me. Keith House it is with Liberal
:31:09. > :31:14.Democrat and John Denham is then Labour MP. Thank you for being with
:31:14. > :31:22.us. During this Easter recess, three weeks the MPs got off, we
:31:22. > :31:27.would like that, wouldn't we? luxury. John, you have been
:31:27. > :31:33.campaigning hard? Not just working hard, but working on constituency
:31:33. > :31:37.issues. There is a real problem here, actually. Although MPs have
:31:37. > :31:43.not all been on holiday, when Parliament is not sitting, our job
:31:43. > :31:47.as the opposition, asking questions, we can't do it. The whole function
:31:47. > :31:50.of Parliament which is to hold ministers to account and asked why
:31:50. > :31:55.things are going wrong, is impossible if Parliament is not
:31:55. > :32:00.sitting. The way in which things are being handled with Parliament
:32:00. > :32:04.being sent away and not able to do our job is not acceptable. You get
:32:04. > :32:08.to hear what is going on in the constituency and Ed Miliband has
:32:08. > :32:12.been on a visit here during holidays. How do you feel about the
:32:12. > :32:17.Budget? Is it being lost after Easter or do you think Labour are
:32:17. > :32:22.capitalising? The detail fades, but this Budget has changed the public
:32:22. > :32:26.view of the government. It is a Budget that cuts taxes for
:32:26. > :32:30.millionaires and increases taxes and cut benefits for ordinary
:32:30. > :32:35.people. People no longer think it is a government doing its best for
:32:35. > :32:39.the country, they see it as a group of people out of touch and to have
:32:39. > :32:46.the wrong priorities. That impression, real impression of the
:32:46. > :32:51.government, will last longer over the details of personal allowances.
:32:51. > :32:55.Those details are fading now. We see David Cameron on the national
:32:55. > :33:00.stage. What about Liberal Democrats? We are pleased that we
:33:00. > :33:05.were able to have strong influence on some aspects of the Budget. 25
:33:05. > :33:08.million people are paying less income tax and over a million
:33:08. > :33:13.people have been taken out of income tax altogether. That was on
:33:13. > :33:17.the front page of the Liberal Democrat manifesto. That was not a
:33:17. > :33:24.Conservative priority, that as the Liberal Democrats. We can't get
:33:24. > :33:28.everything we want, that is the way coalitions work. There are things
:33:28. > :33:32.we are less than enthusiastic stick about including the 50 p tax.
:33:32. > :33:36.People are saying Ed Miliband should have made more on this.
:33:36. > :33:41.the polls we have opened up a 10 point lead over the Conservatives.
:33:41. > :33:45.The problem for you, Keith, is you have raised personal answers but
:33:45. > :33:49.the Institute of Fiscal Studies says the average family's �500
:33:49. > :33:53.worse off this year when all of the tax changes come into place. Your
:33:53. > :33:58.MPs will go through the lobbies in a few weeks' time and vote for that
:33:58. > :34:01.tax cut for millionaires. They will vote for the cut in pensions and
:34:01. > :34:06.income has because of the personal allowance is being frozen. The
:34:06. > :34:10.truth is, you say you have made a difference, you have not. Your MPs
:34:10. > :34:17.are going to go through the lobby and vote for those things. He will
:34:17. > :34:20.be held to account. Not as simple as that. Let's be clear on pensions,
:34:20. > :34:25.the changes are redistributed in that we have seen the biggest
:34:25. > :34:31.change in pension this year. Because inflation was 5%. It is
:34:31. > :34:36.giving people no extra money to spend. Prices went up so many --
:34:36. > :34:41.pension went up. The Labour record on pensions was not very good. They
:34:41. > :34:46.could have indexed pensions, but did not. The because of the tax
:34:46. > :34:50.increase. Labour delivered the biggest-ever rise in pension, no
:34:50. > :34:54.matter how much you try to wriggle out of it, everyone is paying the
:34:54. > :34:59.price of the Labour government. We are still clearing up the mess so
:34:59. > :35:02.everyone is worse off. You took a decision after the last election
:35:02. > :35:07.when the economy was growing and people were getting back into work,
:35:07. > :35:11.to back the Conservatives in cutting public spending. As a
:35:11. > :35:17.result, the economy has not grown since your party decided to support
:35:17. > :35:21.the Conservatives. Unemployment has rocketed, the Government is
:35:21. > :35:25.borrowing �158 billion more than they said. It has not worked. Your
:35:25. > :35:29.claims to influence this government do not stack up. You have signed up
:35:29. > :35:36.with a series of disastrous decisions. Wind back to where we
:35:36. > :35:39.were when that coalition inherited government. Everyone has gone
:35:39. > :35:43.through a really tough time as a result of things that have had to
:35:43. > :35:48.happen. We know the reality is that if the Labour Party had been in
:35:48. > :35:53.power, most changes would have been made in the same way. If it is as
:35:53. > :35:57.tough as all of that for everyone, why were joined MPs vote for a cut
:35:57. > :36:03.in the taxation of millionaires. The top rate, which is only paid by
:36:03. > :36:07.people who own more than �150 per year. The government used to say we
:36:08. > :36:12.all in it together. Actually, if you are very rich you will get your
:36:12. > :36:18.tax cut. Elsewhere in society, overall your tax and benefit
:36:18. > :36:23.changes will make you worse off. What in fact -- impact will this
:36:23. > :36:28.may come a local elections. That Budget has aspects talked-about,
:36:28. > :36:33.but Labour have to do a lot better in May. Places like Southampton and
:36:33. > :36:39.Crawley and Reading, in the south generally labour has faded away so
:36:39. > :36:44.much. We have been here before and we will work hard to come back. We
:36:44. > :36:48.were here in the early Nineties and Labour fought back to win key seats
:36:48. > :36:54.in places you talked about. In north Kent, Brighton, places like
:36:54. > :37:00.that. That is what we will do. We are working very hard. They are not
:37:00. > :37:03.huge places of Labour target seats, but in Reading, Crawley,
:37:03. > :37:07.Basingstoke and Southampton, these are places where we want to take
:37:07. > :37:12.seats of the Tories and Liberal Democrats. Do you expect to take
:37:12. > :37:16.control? We are working hard. I would not make predictions. We had
:37:17. > :37:22.a good result last year and we are working hard to repeat that result.
:37:22. > :37:26.That would be good for us. If you repeat that he will take control?
:37:26. > :37:31.Yes, but I do not take a single vote for granted. We are working as
:37:32. > :37:37.hard as we can to do as well as we can. What about the backlash
:37:37. > :37:43.against Liberal Democrats? Labour are in a difficult place. In
:37:43. > :37:46.Eastleigh, with the coalition, the Liberal Democrats won the last seat.
:37:47. > :37:52.Labour have zero councillors, there is no realistic chance that they
:37:52. > :37:57.will win any seats in Eastleah. That pattern is typical a lost --
:37:57. > :38:02.across large parts of Southampton. Local elections are fascinating set
:38:02. > :38:07.of situations. They play out in different ways in different places
:38:07. > :38:15.based on experience. In Eastleah we are going to the electorate having
:38:15. > :38:20.kept residents with no council tax. That has won the respect of the
:38:20. > :38:24.electorate. We made gains last year that we expect to make this year.
:38:24. > :38:29.People say in Eastleigh, it is a bit like the Boris and Ken
:38:29. > :38:34.situation in London. It is all about Keith. Because there is no
:38:34. > :38:40.Labour representative. Who are the full-time council up -- council
:38:40. > :38:45.leaders? We have a very strong internal democracy in Eastleah. We
:38:45. > :38:50.have robust roles with each other, with local councillors in different
:38:50. > :38:54.ward setting up charities. It achieves results. What about the
:38:54. > :38:58.decision to put so much money into the Rose Bowl project? That money
:38:59. > :39:03.is risking an awful lot of taxpayers' money. That is an
:39:03. > :39:08.example of the sort of project we have been able to run that is
:39:08. > :39:11.protected. Good, strategic investments that generate income
:39:11. > :39:15.for the council, protecting the public purse so we have not had to
:39:15. > :39:20.make headline cuts that we have seen across the country. That is a
:39:20. > :39:23.sort of record that gets us re- elected year after year.
:39:24. > :39:29.reality is that across Hampshire, where you are part of the
:39:29. > :39:33.opposition, services are being cut dramatically. Sure Start has been
:39:33. > :39:39.stripped down to almost nothing. As a result to the cuts that your
:39:39. > :39:42.party is supporting. I don't agree with that. The cuts are from
:39:42. > :39:46.Hampshire Conservative are not ones that I would have put in place if I
:39:47. > :39:51.were leader. The Conservatives cut to the bone and put money to save
:39:51. > :39:55.up for elections. The it will take up their area the
:39:55. > :39:59.size of Glasgow and according to opponents will ruin the view of the
:39:59. > :40:04.coastline. According to his supporters, the proposed wind farm
:40:04. > :40:08.will be able to supply electricity to more than 800,000 homes. There
:40:08. > :40:12.are plenty of arguments going on about the pros and cons of wind
:40:12. > :40:22.power, but is it possible that those turbine is, instead of being
:40:22. > :40:30.
:40:30. > :40:34.a blot on the landscape, could This is what brings millions of
:40:34. > :40:40.visitors to the south coast every year, mile upon mile of golden
:40:40. > :40:46.sandy beaches. Iconic Pierres, Dorset's coastline with its World
:40:46. > :40:48.Heritage Ket -- status, yet it is part to stage three for green
:40:49. > :40:53.energy and could soon see the biggest development of its kind
:40:53. > :40:56.anywhere in the world. Slap-bang in the middle of this picture-perfect
:40:56. > :41:00.sea view. Opponents of the scheme fear it
:41:00. > :41:07.will look like this, up to 300 turbine is dominating the horizon
:41:07. > :41:10.and spoiling the region's greatest natural resource. We have to areas
:41:10. > :41:15.of outstanding natural beauty, internationally important areas of
:41:15. > :41:19.Heathland, there are sites of scientific interest. We have so
:41:19. > :41:23.many environmental designations around here. This area is a
:41:23. > :41:29.national asset as it stands and it would be a shame to see that
:41:29. > :41:34.degraded. Some UK offshore wind farms are
:41:34. > :41:38.fairly easy on the eye, this is Whitstable in Kent, a seaside town
:41:38. > :41:43.world famous for its shellfish and oysters which have been collected
:41:43. > :41:47.here since Roman times. These days, Whitstable is as famous for its
:41:47. > :41:53.turbine is as oysters. This is the Kentish collapsed offshore wind
:41:53. > :41:57.farms seven miles out from a north Kent coast. Up Close And Personal
:41:57. > :42:02.like this, these structures are hugely impressive and graceful, but
:42:02. > :42:07.the truth is, even on a clear day like today, the impact from the
:42:07. > :42:12.shore is a minimum. I think people are mostly for them. It means
:42:12. > :42:17.employment and I think they look quite nice. I think they are fine.
:42:17. > :42:23.They could feel it all up as far as I am concerned. They don't
:42:23. > :42:30.interfere with anybody, they are quite pleasing to look at. To be
:42:30. > :42:34.quite honest, you don't notice them most of the time.
:42:34. > :42:39.The local authority say that Whitstable turbine support both
:42:39. > :42:44.interest and economic benefits to the area. It has not put people off
:42:44. > :42:48.coming to Whitstable coastline, in fact, it has created another thing
:42:48. > :42:52.for them to look at. Local businesses have started running
:42:52. > :42:57.boat trips to the wind farm so people can have a look and it has
:42:57. > :43:01.created new businesses and new jobs for us. They love it as a wind farm
:43:01. > :43:08.propose for the self case could be 10 times larger than the ones here.
:43:08. > :43:12.That has led to serious concerns from campaigners and tourism chiefs.
:43:12. > :43:18.Tourism to Dorset is worth over 600 million per year and 20,000 jobs
:43:18. > :43:23.rely upon that. If we lost 2-8% of the numbers as a result of having a
:43:23. > :43:28.project like this, that would mean over 400 jobs and �12 million loss
:43:28. > :43:33.to the local economy. The company behind the scheme say visitors
:43:33. > :43:38.won't be put off coming to the area. The West Coast of England and East
:43:38. > :43:41.Coast have had at wind farms built over the last five years and I
:43:41. > :43:47.think, pretty much, the reaction has been that they are not as bad
:43:47. > :43:53.as we thought they were going to be. Opponents say not enough has been
:43:53. > :43:58.made known about the wind farm. Will still in design phase so, I
:43:58. > :44:03.think, anything new is obviously something that people will look at
:44:03. > :44:07.and say, we did not have it before so what will it look like? That is
:44:07. > :44:11.the piece of information we need to get across. There has also been
:44:11. > :44:16.criticism of the plans for many of their regions Conservative MPs.
:44:16. > :44:20.have a lot of coastline, we have places that have spectacular
:44:20. > :44:24.coastline where a lot of jobs depend on tourism so it is not
:44:24. > :44:30.nimbly to say that we want to protect the coastline and the jobs
:44:30. > :44:32.that go with it. That is the duty of a Member of Parliament
:44:32. > :44:36.representing a place like Bournemouth.
:44:36. > :44:40.From the Isle of Wight to Swanage, people say they want more
:44:40. > :44:49.information about the proposal. Bournemouth Tourism say they won't
:44:49. > :44:57.rule out a possible legal challenge to halt the scheme.
:44:57. > :45:01.You heard, Burns comments and 100 Conservatives have signed a posing
:45:01. > :45:05.onshore wind farms particularly because of the inefficient and
:45:05. > :45:12.intermittent energy they say that can come from them. It is not
:45:12. > :45:17.proven technology, is it? If you look at the climate change
:45:17. > :45:23.Commission those dismiss -- those objections have been dismissed.
:45:23. > :45:26.They were sufficient the efficiently and often to be a
:45:26. > :45:30.necessary part of our energy strategy for the future. Partly
:45:30. > :45:35.because we need energy supply from different sources and secondly, if
:45:35. > :45:40.we want to have to deal with the climate change issue, we have to
:45:40. > :45:44.move toward renewables. Frankly we need to do it now or if we want
:45:44. > :45:47.this to be an industry where we need the world instead of so often
:45:47. > :45:52.developing technologies and other people making money. But public
:45:52. > :45:55.opinion is against it. Conservatives are picking up on the
:45:55. > :45:59.plot and the landscape in particular. Also, the government is
:45:59. > :46:03.changing the rules because they are going to have to be 13 kilometres
:46:03. > :46:07.off and now they are seven miles off the Bournemouth coast. There is
:46:08. > :46:11.a problem with the visual appearance, isn't there? There is
:46:11. > :46:16.also an opportunity with the appearance. I took the point in the
:46:16. > :46:20.film that these can be a tourist attraction. I have sinned turbine
:46:20. > :46:27.is offshore where they are very attractive and they draw people to
:46:27. > :46:32.visit. John's point is right and we have to it diversify our renewables.
:46:32. > :46:35.The me to get our fixation of oil. We don't know, 20 years down the
:46:35. > :46:40.line, how much it will cost to maintain these things. Surely they
:46:40. > :46:44.cost a lot to produce? A lot of this technology is not that new any
:46:44. > :46:49.more. They have been wind turbine as for many years. We have seen
:46:49. > :46:53.them in other parts of the world for some time. This is not new or
:46:53. > :46:57.radical, but it is an important way to make sure we get a good mix of
:46:57. > :47:07.energy into the country and improve our energy security.
:47:07. > :47:11.
:47:11. > :47:14.Our regular round-up in 60 seconds. Wokingham council are now offering
:47:14. > :47:20.points for rubbish. The recycle bank's scheme extended to reward
:47:20. > :47:24.more people in Berkshire with money off in local stores. Meanwhile,
:47:24. > :47:29.Reading Borough Council is planning a crackdown on trolley dumping by
:47:29. > :47:32.fining supermarket �15 for every one of the Weald menaces they find
:47:32. > :47:37.abandoned. In Oxford, big supermarkets face
:47:37. > :47:42.competition from a people supermarket. The ideal came from
:47:42. > :47:45.Chris Wright's mobile grocery. Great value food cheaper than
:47:45. > :47:50.supermarkets but all locally sourced.
:47:50. > :47:53.250 people have volunteered to man the checkout to return for a
:47:54. > :47:57.discount. The people were in charge at a
:47:57. > :48:02.local elections debating events in Southampton. They had five minutes
:48:02. > :48:07.to make their case. Three weeks to will the going --
:48:07. > :48:14.vote, will free tickets to the Titanic museum make a difference or
:48:14. > :48:19.will Labour sink Conservative hopes. It is a titanic struggle, just a
:48:19. > :48:25.reminder that we have a special programme this afternoon. Titanic -
:48:25. > :48:29.Southampton Remembers he on BBC One at 4:50pm.
:48:29. > :48:32.Interesting in the local elections, but one thing that will make a
:48:32. > :48:39.difference of the smaller parties. We have to think about the George
:48:39. > :48:46.Galloway effect. Trade union Socialists in Southampton. And also
:48:46. > :48:50.UKIP. We are happy to see anyone contest elections. UKIP have been
:48:50. > :48:56.contesting in Eastleah for a number of years and in some places they
:48:56. > :49:02.have a number of votes. They took a lot of Conservative seats. D things
:49:02. > :49:06.more parties will make a difference, John? They can do. If you want to
:49:06. > :49:10.change of council and you want to get rid of the Conservatives or
:49:10. > :49:14.Liberal Democrats, vote Labour. Voting for the minor parties is not
:49:14. > :49:18.going to help you get rid of the people you really want to get rebel.
:49:18. > :49:24.A lot more greens in Southampton this time. The Green Party is doing
:49:24. > :49:27.well on the national stage. simple stages that after of May,
:49:27. > :49:31.Southampton will either have a Labour council or Conservative
:49:31. > :49:37.council. That is the big choice and Southampton and I hope people will
:49:37. > :49:43.vote for change. The trade union councillors, people are looking for
:49:43. > :49:47.changes to cuts. They may take that view, but most wards and councils
:49:47. > :49:51.ultimately come down to a struggle between two political parties. In
:49:51. > :49:54.Eastleigh that struggle has been traditionally between Liberal
:49:54. > :50:02.Democrat and Conservative. As is the case across most parts of
:50:02. > :50:07.Hampshire, Portsmouth for example. If people want to vote for small
:50:07. > :50:11.parties, they can. That is their choice and a welcome competition.
:50:11. > :50:18.Both of you, thank you very much for being here. That is Sunday
:50:18. > :50:24.Politics in the south. Thank you to both of our guests. Don't forget,