Browse content similar to 24/06/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the South: Bikers are gearing up to oppose EU plans to stop them | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
modifying their bikes - they say it would take away the freedom that's | :01:30. | :01:40. | |
:01:40. | :01:40. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2001 seconds | :01:40. | :35:01. | |
Welcome to Sunday Politics South, my name's Peter Henley. In the next | :35:01. | :35:04. | |
20 minutes: Why it could be far from easy | :35:04. | :35:06. | |
riding if EU plans to outlaw bikers' modifications to their | :35:06. | :35:11. | |
machines come into force. Riders and politicians are revving up for | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
a fight. More on that shortly. First though, | :35:15. | :35:18. | |
let's meet the two politicians who'll be with me for the next 20 | :35:18. | :35:20. | |
minutes. Damian Hinds is the conservative MP for East Hampshire, | :35:20. | :35:23. | |
and Gerald Vernon-Jackson is the Liberal Democrat leader of | :35:23. | :35:25. | |
Portsmouth City Council, who generously stepped into the breach | :35:25. | :35:28. | |
when the city's Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock had to go into hospital | :35:28. | :35:38. | |
unexpectedly on Thursday for heart surgery. Thank you. I am seeing him | :35:38. | :35:43. | |
later tonight so will pass on your best wishes. Also, we have had a | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
lot of rain that has caused trouble for the Isle of Wight festival. In | :35:47. | :35:52. | |
Portsmouth he have had to do special things to look after people. | :35:52. | :35:56. | |
We opened the common up to were used as an overspill car park so | :35:56. | :36:03. | |
that people caught with a -- without being able to get to the | :36:03. | :36:06. | |
island had somewhere to stay. It seems like the least we could do | :36:06. | :36:11. | |
when the weather is so terrible and the queues are appalling. On the | :36:11. | :36:15. | |
island, it does seem a little bit like things have fallen apart. Is | :36:15. | :36:19. | |
it that we are getting worse weather or less able to cope with | :36:19. | :36:24. | |
it? It seems we are having very violent swings in the whether these | :36:24. | :36:28. | |
days which is difficult to cope with. As a nation we are pretty | :36:28. | :36:35. | |
resilient. Perhaps we are giving up much more easily. The swings from | :36:35. | :36:39. | |
the good to the back and back again do seem to be more often and bigger | :36:39. | :36:45. | |
swings. And probably, with global warming we will get more of this. | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
So we probably have to spend more money to be prepared. Emergency | :36:50. | :36:52. | |
planning is important. We learned this week that Education | :36:53. | :36:55. | |
Secretary Michael Gove is getting ready to scrap GCSE exams and | :36:55. | :36:57. | |
replace them with O-level style qualifications instead. GCSEs were | :36:58. | :37:00. | |
introduced in the mid 1980s, by another Conservative education | :37:00. | :37:02. | |
secretary as it happens, and if they're ditched it'll be the | :37:03. | :37:07. | |
biggest exams upheaval for a generation. Joining me now is Pete | :37:07. | :37:13. | |
Sopowski from the National Union of Teachers. | :37:13. | :37:18. | |
Would you say that, I mean it is a rotten time for this to have been | :37:18. | :37:24. | |
leaked. It will cause problems for pupils worrying about it? That is | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
one of the concerns that everybody who has commentated has said. About | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
time while students are doing exams. Normally be get this wants results | :37:32. | :37:40. | |
are released. We think it is very bad timing. I have of the one that | :37:40. | :37:46. | |
which I can expand on. You think it was political? I think it was to | :37:46. | :37:50. | |
knock the doctors' strike of the top line of the headlines, but that | :37:50. | :37:53. | |
is my view. It has come from somewhere and it is pretty | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
deliberate. We will talk to our guests about that. On the substance | :37:58. | :38:02. | |
of it, perhaps because of league tables and pressure on schools, | :38:02. | :38:07. | |
competition between exam boards, the exams are getting easier, | :38:07. | :38:13. | |
aren't they? Our would not agree with you. People are getting higher | :38:13. | :38:18. | |
marks, maybe they are better at it? Could that not be that teachers are | :38:18. | :38:25. | |
working hard and standards are rising? Why are the exams not | :38:25. | :38:29. | |
increasing with that. He it may be that the GCSE system needs looking | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
at. Maybe there is a need for review because I have had very | :38:33. | :38:39. | |
bright pupils who have cracked or even the higher-level papers in | :38:39. | :38:45. | |
year 10. They maybe need for further review. Actually, if | :38:45. | :38:49. | |
children are going to stay in education until 18, do we need an | :38:49. | :38:53. | |
exam at 16? We need to think about this much more carefully rather | :38:53. | :38:59. | |
than it being O-levels at 16. would like change? Change is always | :39:00. | :39:06. | |
needed. The unions and everybody else. There are plenty of head | :39:06. | :39:11. | |
teachers coming back on that GCSEs. I think this is up for debate and | :39:11. | :39:15. | |
there is quite a lot of people making a lot of comment now, but it | :39:15. | :39:21. | |
is up for debate. I am sure that Michael go for have does it explain | :39:21. | :39:25. | |
himself again rather than blunder through with a plan. I don't think | :39:25. | :39:29. | |
he is able to do that. There is fierce opposition even from the | :39:30. | :39:34. | |
headmaster's Conference at private schools. They do not want to see | :39:34. | :39:41. | |
CSC comeback. Why do you think it has been leaked? Do you think it | :39:41. | :39:45. | |
was a on a poster the ideas that make them? Quite often the | :39:46. | :39:49. | |
Department for Education release things via the usual channel like | :39:49. | :39:54. | |
giving a leaked to the Daily Mail. It is kind of what they do. Nick | :39:54. | :39:59. | |
Clegg is caught on the hop. So it was aimed in some ways... | :39:59. | :40:03. | |
Absolutely. I hope that it has got a suitable response and it is | :40:03. | :40:10. | |
clearly dead now will and won't go anywhere. He is it dead? I hope it | :40:10. | :40:14. | |
is not. There is no reason to believe this is a deliberate leak | :40:14. | :40:23. | |
on behalf of the government. Nobody denied it. There is no mileage for | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
people in the government to have disagreements with coalition and | :40:26. | :40:30. | |
colleagues. Now there will be healthy debate and that is a good | :40:30. | :40:33. | |
thing. Peter was saying that there have been real improvements, that | :40:33. | :40:37. | |
is right. There have been improvements in pupils' attainment, | :40:37. | :40:42. | |
but I don't think anybody doubts that on top of that, there has been | :40:42. | :40:47. | |
great inflation. Part of that is to do with competition between exam | :40:47. | :40:52. | |
boards going after market share so there is that incentive overtime to | :40:52. | :40:58. | |
make the syllabus that little bit easier. We need to bring back world | :40:58. | :41:04. | |
class qualifications that 15 and 16. Isn't that elitist? What about | :41:04. | :41:10. | |
exams most people are sitting? Exams most people are sitting are | :41:10. | :41:15. | |
at 15 and 16 in English and maths and core subject. In Singapore, | :41:15. | :41:20. | |
four fifths of the children are doing O-levels in the same way than | :41:20. | :41:26. | |
they were done here. In a similar way to what used to happen. I think | :41:26. | :41:30. | |
we should aspire for all young people to reach that level, but as | :41:30. | :41:35. | |
Peter was saying, in future we will have anticipation at age 18. It is | :41:35. | :41:40. | |
possible to do a more core skills type qualification at 16 and then | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
still be able to do higher qualifications, particularly things | :41:44. | :41:51. | |
like maths, at 16 to 18 and beyond. I think one of the great problems | :41:51. | :41:54. | |
with this is bringing back a two- tier system which says to large | :41:54. | :42:01. | |
numbers of children that you're not good enough even to do O-levels. It | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
goes along with the Government's removal of a large number of | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
vocational qualifications. Employers come to me to say what a | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
real problem that is causing, getting rid of qualifications for | :42:13. | :42:16. | |
people to move into work just because the Secretary of State | :42:16. | :42:21. | |
seems to be obsessed with going back to create some sort of 1930s | :42:21. | :42:25. | |
style school they were everybody does Latin from the age of seven. | :42:25. | :42:29. | |
That is probably where Michael would like to get us to. He wants | :42:29. | :42:34. | |
to raise standards. No, he wants to take us backwards to an age which | :42:34. | :42:38. | |
served most people in this country very badly. Actually having a | :42:38. | :42:42. | |
single set of qualifications that everybody sits at 16 was a big step | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
forward with GCSE. It stop the two- tier part. Some children being | :42:47. | :42:53. | |
academic and some not. It is a step backwards to get rid of that. | :42:53. | :42:57. | |
absolutely not the case that the government is de emphasising | :42:57. | :43:00. | |
Vocational qualification if you look at the growth in | :43:00. | :43:06. | |
apprenticeship. You are cutting things. It is the equivalent is | :43:06. | :43:10. | |
which are misleading. On the two- tier thing, let's not kid ourselves, | :43:10. | :43:15. | |
the to tears never went away. First of all, the 40% of kids that are | :43:15. | :43:21. | |
not reaching the expected standard and secondly, within each | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
individual GCSE subject, there are literally to tears. There is a | :43:25. | :43:30. | |
foundation level and a higher level. If you do have the foundation level | :43:30. | :43:36. | |
you can only get a grade C. That is very similar. You are teaching the | :43:36. | :43:40. | |
science subjects? It is the point to which you make that decision. | :43:40. | :43:47. | |
The previous exam paper had three tears. You do mock exams in year 11 | :43:47. | :43:53. | |
and at that time you decide right near the end way you are going, in | :43:53. | :43:56. | |
consultation with parents and children, which is their best | :43:56. | :44:00. | |
option. There is no point in putting them in for a paper where | :44:00. | :44:03. | |
they will sit and clearly not be able to succeed and the lowest | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
grade you can get is a D. Nothing below that so it is a D or avail. | :44:09. | :44:17. | |
At least the difference is, Damian, the decision is made as you enter | :44:17. | :44:23. | |
the peoples for the exam in year 11. It depends on the subject. | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
course, but we should not be choosing at the end of Key Stage 3 | :44:27. | :44:31. | |
which track they are going on. Thank you. | :44:31. | :44:35. | |
Bikers in the South have been fighting to stop new EU laws that | :44:35. | :44:37. | |
they say will take away their freedom to customise motorcycles. | :44:37. | :44:40. | |
The European Parliament is going to vote on new anti-tampering laws | :44:40. | :44:43. | |
which could make bikes greener, and regulate them more strictly. Many | :44:43. | :44:46. | |
in the biking community say it won't make bikes any safer and want | :44:46. | :44:49. | |
Brussels to think again. Emma Vardy hopped on the pillion to find out | :44:49. | :44:59. | |
:44:59. | :45:13. | ||
The people that prefer to Wales to four, owning a bike is much more | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
than a method of transport. Something you can enjoy the journey | :45:17. | :45:22. | |
on. Many bike owners make small modifications to their vehicles. | :45:22. | :45:27. | |
Come to a popular bikers meeting cafe and almost everyone you see | :45:27. | :45:34. | |
here has been tweaked in some way by its owner.. But that's something | :45:34. | :45:38. | |
bikers are worried they may no longer be allowed to do in future. | :45:38. | :45:40. | |
If the proposed EU legislation comes into effect, restrictions | :45:40. | :45:46. | |
will be placed on some of the ways riders can modify bikes. For owners, | :45:46. | :45:56. | |
:45:56. | :45:57. | ||
that's something that goes right to the heart of biking culture. I have | :45:57. | :46:03. | |
put on a more efficient exorcist them. I have also changed the air | :46:03. | :46:08. | |
filter in here. If these changes go through, there are few things I am | :46:08. | :46:13. | |
your bike which will become illegal. If they go through, I will not be | :46:13. | :46:18. | |
able to do anything like this. It makes me angry. I want to be able | :46:18. | :46:26. | |
to modify my bike so that it suits my needs and does what I want. | :46:26. | :46:29. | |
Another worry is that if regulations are impose too quickly | :46:30. | :46:35. | |
it will be costly for businesses to adapt. The argument in favour is | :46:35. | :46:41. | |
that it would make bikes more safe and environmentally friendly, but | :46:41. | :46:46. | |
the Motorcycle Action Group, MAG, has been campaigning against plans. | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
In November, British bikers joined several 1000 others to a protest in | :46:52. | :46:56. | |
Brussels. They are really using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. The | :46:56. | :47:01. | |
problem is not what riders do with their bikes, the number of | :47:01. | :47:05. | |
accidents caused by modifications is tiny compared to the number of | :47:05. | :47:10. | |
accidents where other road-users do not look out for bite properly. | :47:10. | :47:14. | |
Their message it seems is being heard. The European Parliament made | :47:14. | :47:20. | |
some amendments. Manufacturers, meanwhile, are not just looking at | :47:20. | :47:24. | |
regulations on the European level, but globally. Some of the proposals | :47:24. | :47:28. | |
are welcome. We are hoping they will bring a level playing field in | :47:28. | :47:33. | |
Europe, but one of the problems is that an international level. These | :47:33. | :47:42. | |
are not global regulations. feeling here is that it will affect | :47:42. | :47:48. | |
the one thing that is so dear to many bike owners. Freedom out on | :47:48. | :47:54. | |
the road and freedom to be what you want to be. To be a very sensible | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
person in a suit all week and then come the weekend, on with their | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
leather and the crash helmet and growing old disgracefully. Which I | :48:02. | :48:08. | |
am doing! There will be a vote later this year, until then, many | :48:08. | :48:12. | |
bikers say they will keep up the pressure on MPs asking them to | :48:12. | :48:18. | |
resist changes. They are voting in principle, the problem is, the | :48:18. | :48:23. | |
technical data will be decided afterwards by unelected and | :48:23. | :48:27. | |
unaccountable people in Brussels who are going to actually write the | :48:27. | :48:37. | |
:48:37. | :48:40. | ||
fine print after it has been made. Joining me now from our Oxford | :48:40. | :48:46. | |
studio is the Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder. What is the | :48:46. | :48:52. | |
legislation designed to achieve? want to make bike Safe, we want to | :48:52. | :48:56. | |
make Co2 emissions reduced and we need to make sure that bicycles | :48:56. | :49:01. | |
that are made and sold across Europe are the same in terms of | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
safety and conformity across Europe so that you could not buy a cheaper | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
one in one country and bring it to another country where it is not | :49:09. | :49:14. | |
safe. That is the thinking behind it, but I think we have ended up | :49:14. | :49:20. | |
with the commission coming forward with a badly thought-out research. | :49:20. | :49:25. | |
And legislation. That is why we are working hard to amend the | :49:25. | :49:30. | |
legislation and make it fairer for every one and to preserve the | :49:30. | :49:34. | |
freedoms as you heard in the peace. That is it, have the commissioners | :49:34. | :49:40. | |
not realise that bikers like the idea of freedom. They all modify | :49:40. | :49:46. | |
their bikes. Do they understand that? Absolutely. I think so. They | :49:46. | :49:51. | |
have come forward with very heavy regulations and I want to thank the | :49:51. | :49:55. | |
Motorcycle Action Group for getting in touch with me and alerting May. | :49:55. | :49:59. | |
I am not a mechanic and they have taken me through some of the things | :49:59. | :50:04. | |
that they can do that will fall foul of this legislation. The | :50:04. | :50:09. | |
parliament and MPs who are directly elected and the council, the member | :50:09. | :50:14. | |
state governments, all working together in what we call a | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
tripartite. So it is the commission who write it, the council, we have | :50:19. | :50:24. | |
had a whole series of meetings and are improving it. I hope that by | :50:24. | :50:28. | |
the time we have had those meetings and have come up with something | :50:28. | :50:33. | |
sensible and workable. That will be towards the end of this year? | :50:33. | :50:39. | |
we expect of a tin September or October. A I have written us the | :50:39. | :50:42. | |
series of questions about the research they have done. It appears | :50:42. | :50:47. | |
they have bought this and without research. I have not had an answer | :50:47. | :50:52. | |
yet so I will be chasing them., the opposite point of view to you? | :50:52. | :50:59. | |
Car drivers stick to the rules, why should there be this opt-out for | :50:59. | :51:04. | |
bikers just because they have a desire for freedom? It is a tension | :51:04. | :51:10. | |
between what is safe and what is feasible. And what is fun for a | :51:10. | :51:15. | |
biker. Most people do not amend their cars. I remember in my youth, | :51:15. | :51:19. | |
people used to extend minnies. They would cut them in half and put a | :51:19. | :51:24. | |
piece in the middle. That became illegal because it meant you had a | :51:24. | :51:29. | |
car that was clearly unsafe. Sometimes we have to have | :51:29. | :51:33. | |
legislation that ensures that when people tinkle with machines, they | :51:33. | :51:38. | |
will not make them unsafe. The regulations that came in were too | :51:38. | :51:46. | |
much and on something as, I hate to say simplistic, as a motorcycle, | :51:46. | :51:50. | |
they are much more easily adapted. You can change the size of the | :51:51. | :51:55. | |
wheels. They did take me through it, I struggled a bit with the | :51:55. | :52:02. | |
mechanics, but that can change the whole nature of that bicycle. So we | :52:02. | :52:05. | |
need to come up with something sensible, but something that | :52:05. | :52:10. | |
maintain safety. That is why we need to work together and that is | :52:10. | :52:13. | |
why am so grateful to the Motorcycle Action Group because I | :52:13. | :52:19. | |
am there to represent them. Thank you very much. There is going to be | :52:19. | :52:22. | |
a big mass protest driving up the M3 later. | :52:22. | :52:26. | |
Now our regular round-up of the political week in the South in 60 | :52:26. | :52:36. | |
:52:36. | :52:38. | ||
seconds. UNISON's conference started with a | :52:38. | :52:45. | |
stunt. Breaking the public sector pay freeze, get it? Oxfordshire has | :52:45. | :52:48. | |
the largest owner farm in Britain and it is being sold to the | :52:48. | :52:54. | |
community. Greg Barker said people made just �250 to grab a share. | :52:54. | :53:01. | |
think community is going to be at the heart of the green revolution. | :53:01. | :53:07. | |
I want to see old friends again. She got an emotional welcome at her | :53:07. | :53:13. | |
old college. It is such an honour to be able to see her today. | :53:13. | :53:17. | |
love that we have this connection to her and she is trying so hard | :53:17. | :53:25. | |
for our country. The Dalai Lama met former Gurkhas and the government | :53:25. | :53:30. | |
released extra cash for Nepalese people. | :53:30. | :53:39. | |
The government refused to review the doctors' pension argument. | :53:39. | :53:43. | |
One person who did get treated was Mike Hancock Sir Gerald has stood | :53:43. | :53:49. | |
in for him because of his heart problems. T think he will be back? | :53:49. | :53:52. | |
Michael always want to serve the people of Portsmouth. He if he | :53:52. | :53:58. | |
didn't, would you step in? I would be very interested and there is no | :53:58. | :54:03. | |
vacancy and Mike is a great MP he works incredibly hard. I wish him | :54:03. | :54:09. | |
well. Damien, the pay freeze at the UNISON conference, you seem to be | :54:09. | :54:13. | |
getting somewhere with public sector pensions. Reform is needed | :54:13. | :54:18. | |
because people are living longer so most people actually realise that | :54:18. | :54:22. | |
and they want to get on with it. Pensions have to be fair and people | :54:22. | :54:27. | |
want to know what they get is there, but what is being taken forward is | :54:27. | :54:32. | |
in fact there. Thank you both for coming here and thank you Gerald | :54:32. | :54:35. | |
for stepping in at the That's the Sunday Politics in the | :54:35. | :54:41. | |
South, thanks to my guests Gerald Vernon-Jackson and Damian Hinds. | :54:41. | :54:44. |