:01:28. > :01:38.In the South: should prisoners get the vote? They
:01:38. > :01:38.
:01:38. > :39:09.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2251 seconds
:39:10. > :39:12.Welcome to Sunday Politics South, my name's Peter Henley. In the next
:39:13. > :39:15.20 minutes, more food banks are opening every week, often in pretty
:39:16. > :39:25.affluent areas and according to one charity, every town in the country
:39:26. > :39:31.
:39:32. > :39:38.needs one. Let's meet to politicians. One
:39:38. > :39:44.Liberal Democrat and one Conservative MP. Judith, Ross and
:39:44. > :39:48.time to try and become an MP, a Liberal Democrat in particular.
:39:48. > :39:52.think the Liberal Democrats are doing uninspiring job. As a punter,
:39:52. > :39:56.a vote on the outside, I was hugely impressed when they went into
:39:56. > :40:00.coalition. I know how hard it is for the party and as I've become
:40:00. > :40:06.more involved, I've been inspired. I thought why not throw my hat into
:40:06. > :40:11.the rain? You have had a little bit of a run in. David Rendell did try
:40:12. > :40:17.for all of those years. Newbury was on the Liberal Democrat Mark Foster
:40:17. > :40:22.pure experience previously was as a television person. Absolutely. I've
:40:22. > :40:24.worked in television making science documentaries. I have been
:40:24. > :40:28.attracting science and industry developments over 20 years. That is
:40:28. > :40:33.the one of the -- that is one of the reasons I have been attracted
:40:33. > :40:38.to Newbury, the high-tech, to indications and so on, also the
:40:38. > :40:41.transport. Right up my street. George, you have got to stay very
:40:41. > :40:45.much with the Liberal Democrats in his coalition but on the other hand,
:40:45. > :40:51.you don't have to fight people like Judith in places like Newbury.
:40:51. > :40:56.have some sympathy because I got involved in 1997, 1998, which is --
:40:56. > :41:00.which was the same sort of time, politically. The Liberal Democrats
:41:00. > :41:03.were brave enjoying the coalition. They saw something which needed
:41:03. > :41:07.fixing and I suspect strongly that Nick Clegg and others knew
:41:07. > :41:17.perfectly well this was not going to be easy and it hasn't been.
:41:17. > :41:17.
:41:17. > :41:23.there will have to be a split. is a matter of personal judgment.
:41:23. > :41:26.don't want to see a split. But you want to see -- win the seat! It is
:41:27. > :41:31.reasonable to say that we can fight each other in the election at the
:41:31. > :41:34.same time as being in coalition. We are in coalition, with not joined
:41:34. > :41:40.her parties at the head. It is worth saying that the one thing
:41:40. > :41:43.which will be of paramount importance... The estate of its
:41:43. > :41:50.economy will be the most important thing. We should be able to fight
:41:50. > :41:53.on a platform on the economy. It's been Parliament week this week,
:41:53. > :41:56.that time of year when young people in particular get the chance to
:41:56. > :41:59.find out a bit more about democracy, voting and the mother of
:41:59. > :42:09.parliaments. So I went over to Portsmouth to see what one group
:42:09. > :42:12.
:42:12. > :42:19.The bustle of Parliament can seem a world away from most people's daily
:42:19. > :42:22.lives, especially youngsters. For Parliament weaker, the Admiral Lord
:42:22. > :42:30.Nelson School in Portsmouth has arranged to bridge that gap with a
:42:30. > :42:35.special lesson. But these peoples are not being taught by a fusty
:42:35. > :42:39.academic... What comes to mind when you hear the word politics? This is
:42:39. > :42:47.a group set up by young people to encourage political engagement. The
:42:47. > :42:54.session is led by a politics student, Ben Darling. What do we
:42:54. > :43:01.think the council provides? Youth community activities. The benefits.
:43:01. > :43:07.Council houses. I think it is really exciting and the fact all of
:43:07. > :43:14.these lessons are taught by young people, 18-24, shows it can be
:43:15. > :43:22.interesting and fun. We do teacher made fun way. -- we do teach in a
:43:22. > :43:32.fun way. Uncapped promises. I think it is confusing because it and
:43:32. > :43:34.
:43:34. > :43:38.understand how the parties work. -- I don't understand. A lot of young
:43:39. > :43:43.people are inspired by politics but we need to know more about it.
:43:43. > :43:46.need more talks like the one we've had today because it benefits all
:43:46. > :43:51.of us. I've Quine to -- I've found out quite a lot about politics
:43:51. > :43:59.today. We can inspire other people to get involved and have their say,
:43:59. > :44:04.because it's about getting everyone involved. We just do it up but it
:44:04. > :44:09.was a cynic lesson. Because it was taught by him double, they didn't
:44:10. > :44:15.feel talked down to. Is that a good lesson? Or is it about empowerment?
:44:15. > :44:21.Getting them engaged, however you do it, is important. During the Avi
:44:21. > :44:25.campaign, I spent some time in a sixth-form college and a doesn't
:44:25. > :44:31.know how to vote, they didn't know where to go to vote. They've been
:44:31. > :44:34.switched off by politicians. Maybe they don't have access to politics
:44:34. > :44:39.and politicians. They are at teenagers. Let's encourage them in
:44:39. > :44:42.schools and get them involved a 16 years old. You are watching the
:44:42. > :44:47.Youth Parliament on Friday. They were talking about transport. They
:44:47. > :44:53.did that last year as well. Prices have gone up for public transport.
:44:53. > :44:57.A difficulty for any government is that there are a wealth of
:44:57. > :45:03.parameters. These are the sorts of discussions which turn young people.
:45:03. > :45:10.What I do observe is that there are no shortage of appetite so a young
:45:10. > :45:17.-- among the population. There is a problem when it comes to political
:45:17. > :45:22.parties. So, it should prisoners get the vote? There is a
:45:22. > :45:25.substantial issue to get your teeth into. The European Court of Human
:45:25. > :45:27.Rights says they should. The government's not so keen, with the
:45:27. > :45:30.Prime Minister saying it made him feel physically ill. Well, this
:45:30. > :45:33.week the Justice Secretary unveiled the latest proposal, which was a
:45:33. > :45:36.series of three options ranging from keeping the ban to limited
:45:36. > :45:40.rights depending on the length of your sentence. There is one place
:45:40. > :45:44.where prisoners already vote, the Isle of Wight. There are three
:45:44. > :45:46.prisons on the island and for the last three years inmates have been
:45:46. > :45:53.involved in their own version of democracy, voting for prison
:45:53. > :45:56.councils. It started there as a pilot but it's now been rolled out
:45:56. > :45:59.to 12 other sites across the country. OK, they're only voting
:45:59. > :46:02.within the prison system, but if they got the same rights to vote in
:46:02. > :46:08.local and parliamentary elections that the rest of us have, then a
:46:08. > :46:14.prison population of 1,500 could be a significant block of votes. With
:46:14. > :46:20.me now is a representative from a prison charity. What was the point
:46:20. > :46:23.of doing these councils? It is important to include people in
:46:23. > :46:28.decision-making processes, if we want to cut reoffending rates. It
:46:28. > :46:32.is vital to include them in those processes. What were the manifestos
:46:32. > :46:37.of the various candidates? They ranged from a whole lot of things,
:46:37. > :46:41.from basic things about the prison environment to access to education
:46:41. > :46:48.and other really important things that they want in order to assist
:46:48. > :46:53.their own rehabilitation and get back into society. Fend they were
:46:53. > :46:57.able... Was that put into action as a result of the vote? Exactly, yes.
:46:57. > :47:02.A council was formed and the representatives are elected by
:47:02. > :47:07.prisoners and staff, sit with the Governor and report on proposals
:47:07. > :47:12.for change. One goes for it every month which the Governor tries and
:47:12. > :47:19.puts into action. Who was attracted by this? What was the turnout?
:47:19. > :47:23.was around 50 %. That's fairly good. With a angry people or articulate
:47:23. > :47:27.all loved the sound of their own voices? The people who put
:47:27. > :47:33.themselves forward as candidates were a whole range of people. There
:47:33. > :47:36.were people who had previous experience, some as councillors in
:47:36. > :47:39.local elections, but also people who were frustrated by what they
:47:39. > :47:44.saw a cent -- around a man wanted to do something about it. They saw
:47:44. > :47:48.this as a mechanism to get themselves in fault. It has a
:47:48. > :47:53.positive impact on the committee. What message should we take from
:47:53. > :47:56.this about allowing prisoners to vote in wider elections? Ultimately,
:47:56. > :48:00.if we want people to feel a part of their local community, be that
:48:00. > :48:04.outside or in prison, they need to be included in those decisions.
:48:04. > :48:08.When people don't feel included, when they feel marginalised and
:48:08. > :48:14.estranged, that is when people disengaged even further and act out
:48:14. > :48:21.in other ways. In that case -- in this case, that is committing crime.
:48:21. > :48:28.Let's put this to buy other two guests. The Governor said it was
:48:29. > :48:34.phenomenal the X -- successful. Isn't it the same thing if they
:48:34. > :48:39.were given a vote? This whole issue that is going on in Parliament
:48:39. > :48:45.right now, two issues are being conflated. One is the influence of
:48:45. > :48:50.an outside court, in Strasbourg, as telling us what to do about our own
:48:50. > :48:55.issues. There is also the issue of prisoners voting for stop the two
:48:56. > :49:02.are getting mixed up. Personally, I think it is a reasonable idea that
:49:02. > :49:07.we consider allowing prisoners that. There are complications but on
:49:07. > :49:11.principle, it seems to me if you allow people to be responsible and
:49:11. > :49:18.think more holistically but the damage they've done, actually, you
:49:18. > :49:23.make them better people. It seems to be logical. On the European
:49:23. > :49:27.point, if it wasn't for the court getting involved, you would be in
:49:27. > :49:30.favour? Yes. I would agree on a prisoner side of things but it is
:49:30. > :49:35.great Strasbourg are challenging us. They are not prescribing what we
:49:35. > :49:43.should do. What we are being told is that this blanket ban cannot
:49:43. > :49:47.stand, find your own way out of it. That is an -- be reasonable ask.
:49:47. > :49:55.There are many people in Parliament to argue that the European Court
:49:55. > :50:01.has other issues which it -- which it can address. It is see
:50:01. > :50:11.responsibility of in national parliament which should decide.
:50:11. > :50:15.holding law... I agree and fact... There is another factor which is if
:50:15. > :50:20.we begin to diminish our expectant or acquiescence to a course to
:50:20. > :50:22.which we are -- court to which we have signed up, we have to
:50:22. > :50:28.understand that there are potential international consequences which we
:50:28. > :50:31.may not like. The Chinese and others, who we think have a
:50:31. > :50:34.difficult human rights records, will say you are not perfect either.
:50:34. > :50:41.That is another factor. There are all sorts of different issues going
:50:41. > :50:48.on, at the core of which is voters' rights -- prisoners' rights to vote.
:50:48. > :50:53.It is a sliding scale, wouldn't you say? Would you give them the right
:50:53. > :51:01.to vote in every election? Local elections are interesting because
:51:01. > :51:07.where would they vote? Are they voting for the area in which they
:51:07. > :51:13.are located? It is difficult to work out. The timing is a lottery
:51:13. > :51:17.as well. People on remand, they are allowed to vote but what if they
:51:17. > :51:22.are convicted? It needs sorting out, doesn't it? The timing issue
:51:22. > :51:29.doesn't worry me. That's life. We don't get timing right a lot of the
:51:29. > :51:35.time. For years and below, six months and below, it is well worth
:51:35. > :51:38.talking about. Daniel, to come back to you. We talk about the right to
:51:38. > :51:43.vote as a privilege but it is not the same as having a driving
:51:43. > :51:47.licence. In some ways, it is a responsibility. It is. A wider
:51:47. > :51:52.question is about what we want our Criminal Justice System to do. Do
:51:52. > :51:57.we wanted to punish people all do we want it to rehabilitate people?
:51:57. > :52:00.Prison is there to remove people's liberty and freedom of movement.
:52:00. > :52:04.Once people are in prison, supposedly people should not be
:52:04. > :52:07.punished further. It is about once they enter the stalls, the
:52:07. > :52:11.rehabilitation for when they are released. Let's face it, most
:52:11. > :52:15.people are released into our communities. If we want people to
:52:15. > :52:20.be active members of society, we need to look at what we do with
:52:20. > :52:23.them in prison and not punish them further.
:52:23. > :52:26.130,000 people got emergency food from food banks organised by the
:52:26. > :52:29.Trussell Trust last year. The charity, which started in Salisbury,
:52:29. > :52:34.now has more than 250 food banks across the country and is opening
:52:34. > :52:38.more every week. Often in more affluent areas where you'd least
:52:38. > :52:44.expect there to be a need. But as our reporter found out, anyone can
:52:44. > :52:51.be hit by problems putting food on the table.
:52:51. > :52:55.Up until coming and half in this cup of tea this morning, are not
:52:55. > :53:02.hard a hot meal or a hot drink in two days. If you're not here now,
:53:02. > :53:06.where would you be? I would probably be sat at a bus shelter
:53:06. > :53:11.somewhere, thinking, what am I going to do next? Peter is one of
:53:11. > :53:15.the 400 people a month walk through the doors of this food bank. Nearly
:53:15. > :53:20.a quarter of it -- of those it helps, our children, and those
:53:20. > :53:23.numbers are up. We see a constant growth rate. We are doubling every
:53:23. > :53:29.12 months just now. That is a constant growth rate that we have
:53:29. > :53:33.been watching for three years. hand out more than 14 tons of food
:53:33. > :53:37.here. When I first started three years ago, it was just two.
:53:38. > :53:44.Everyone gets enough to last them three days and the clients are not
:53:44. > :53:48.always what you would expect. could be what might be seemingly
:53:48. > :53:52.well-off but maybe he or she, the husband or wife have just lost
:53:52. > :53:56.their job. They've been unemployed for three or four months. The
:53:56. > :53:59.savings may have been emptied out. Now they are ready stuck. They are
:53:59. > :54:04.expected to pay their mortgage, they have not got any money and
:54:04. > :54:11.they are crying out for food. They are finding that more and more
:54:11. > :54:15.people... This is not just an urban problem. In these rural villages,
:54:15. > :54:21.it may look idyllic the rustic, but they are now setting up their own
:54:21. > :54:26.smaller food bank. People here may be more reluctant to ask for help.
:54:26. > :54:29.People who live in the country are more self-reliant Tote -- so to
:54:29. > :54:33.make the decision to seek help is not the easiest thing for people to
:54:33. > :54:41.do. It is just a pilot scheme for now but they are expecting to be
:54:41. > :54:45.around for longer than that. Get to know people, put the word out and
:54:45. > :54:48.people will respond. They will start to realise we are part of the
:54:48. > :54:52.normal scene, I think. One month from now, we will all be
:54:52. > :54:58.celebrating Christmas. If not an easy time morphia if you're
:54:58. > :55:01.struggling to feed your family. There is always a surge in numbers
:55:01. > :55:06.with the school holidays because children are normally on free
:55:07. > :55:12.school meals. All of a sudden, they are at home for two weeks or six
:55:12. > :55:20.weeks in the summer, and their families cannot afford to feed them.
:55:20. > :55:24.There is a need in every time for a food bank. Even for most middle-
:55:24. > :55:29.class areas, where people seem to be well-off, food banks are open.
:55:29. > :55:35.This food bank is one of more than 280 run by the trust and each week,
:55:35. > :55:40.they open three more. Good news at least four people like Peter.
:55:40. > :55:45.that image in my head of a for soup kitchens, stale bread and stuff
:55:46. > :55:49.like that. By wasn't expecting to come into a warm room with smiles.
:55:49. > :55:53.-- I wasn't. People have been willing to help me because I am
:55:53. > :55:57.having trouble help myself. It is a good job they are there.
:55:57. > :56:02.Not a good reflection on the coalition and the way we are with
:56:02. > :56:06.the economy, is it? Clearly, you would rather aid situation where
:56:06. > :56:10.food banks are not rest -- necessary. This is a reflection of
:56:10. > :56:14.two issues. There is an over indebtedness of the general
:56:14. > :56:20.population. Across the population, from top to bottom, people have
:56:20. > :56:23.borrowed more than they can afford, especially when times turned down.
:56:23. > :56:28.People are paying debt at a much higher rate than they ever have
:56:28. > :56:32.done before. There are stresses and strains. People end up on the edge
:56:32. > :56:36.of affordability. And benefits are being cut. They are because there
:56:36. > :56:43.is not the money to go around that they used to be because we cannot
:56:43. > :56:46.carry on borrowing from the international markets, if we think
:56:46. > :56:50.that they are going to start making us pay the sort of numbers that
:56:50. > :56:56.other countries have to pay. There is a squeeze on government. We
:56:56. > :57:03.cannot carry on borrowing that many. We have to cut demand this spend on
:57:03. > :57:08.public services. Is it a price worth paying? That has been said
:57:08. > :57:16.about unemployment for before. There is no other option because we
:57:16. > :57:21.will end up somewhere much worse. We have inflation in food prices
:57:21. > :57:25.going up. We've had a poor harvest here. Any member of farming
:57:25. > :57:28.families are talking about low heels, dreadful quality. We've had
:57:28. > :57:31.failures internationally and strange things going on with
:57:31. > :57:35.climate change. We have a squeeze on both ends. We have lower incomes
:57:35. > :57:39.because times are worse than they were. With prices going up in food,
:57:39. > :57:45.the result is something like food banks. Judith, the Liberal
:57:45. > :57:48.Democrats said they would protect the most formidable in society.
:57:48. > :57:54.There is this phenomenal increase in the number of people who need to
:57:54. > :58:00.be given enough to get by. We have improved matters in so far as, for
:58:00. > :58:05.those who are working at least, everybody is getting �500 more in
:58:05. > :58:09.their wage bill every month... Every year. People don't have
:58:09. > :58:19.enough to buy the food they need to eat. Do you want me to start
:58:19. > :58:20.
:58:20. > :58:26.talking about taxes? We could start talking about taxing other people.
:58:26. > :58:31.They would be at the top end of the scale. Would that put more money in
:58:31. > :58:35.the pockets at the other end of the scale? Or should people be more
:58:35. > :58:40.self-reliant as well? That was based -- a phrase that was used in
:58:40. > :58:43.the film. Plans say you don't run out. A don't have any problem with
:58:43. > :58:49.the idea of self-reliance for cooking for yourself instead of
:58:49. > :58:54.buying ready-made meals. Cooking from scratch is a delight. But also,
:58:54. > :58:58.do much of the austerity, and I agree we have to keep the austerity
:58:58. > :59:05.measures going, too much of it is affecting the bottom and not enough
:59:05. > :59:09.Now our regular round-up of the political week in the South. This
:59:09. > :59:19.week on the theme of change we can believe in. And all packed in to 60
:59:19. > :59:20.
:59:20. > :59:24.It is all change down the local as pubs are turned into supermarkets.
:59:24. > :59:27.250 have been converted in two years. The Campaign for Real Ale
:59:27. > :59:31.say that is too many full support change for the police and
:59:31. > :59:34.authorities as the new commissioners took up their duties.
:59:35. > :59:41.Torsades Independent was throwing open the doors of his new office. -
:59:41. > :59:45.- Dorset. I have big plans. There is no change for speed limits in
:59:45. > :59:49.Oxfordshire. The county council say a 20 mph trial has not made enough
:59:49. > :59:52.difference. There will be little changed from the money the
:59:53. > :59:59.Government gave out this week to keep up bin collections. Even
:59:59. > :00:03.though grans varied widely from �500,000 in Reading to �21 million
:00:03. > :00:07.for Bournemouth. Finally, clear evidence that nothing changes in
:00:07. > :00:13.politics. An exhibition of political posters in Sussex
:00:13. > :00:21.revealed kidnappings, bribery and huge amounts of skulduggery. These
:00:21. > :00:31.are stories about people being too drunk to even photo!
:00:31. > :00:33.
:00:33. > :00:38.We have just bought a set of medals, some of which were specifically
:00:38. > :00:44.struck so that they could exchange it for a drink at a local pub! That
:00:44. > :00:48.was in 1780. If it is a funny world you two are involved in! You are
:00:48. > :00:53.disappointed about the 20 mph speed limit. I think it is a good idea in
:00:53. > :01:00.general and I would like to know more about the trial. They say it's
:01:00. > :01:04.not had enough of a difference. What do they mean? It has worked in
:01:04. > :01:11.some places. Biff... The theme was changed, if you could change one
:01:11. > :01:14.thing to get people more involved in politics, what could it be?
:01:14. > :01:18.run parliaments in schools and try to educate them that there is more
:01:18. > :01:22.to this than just a bunch of suits talking, they can make a difference
:01:22. > :01:25.to stuff out there. I would say that is a good idea, get kids
:01:25. > :01:35.involved but actually get other people who've and other Koreas to
:01:35. > :01:38.
:01:38. > :01:44.come into Parliament as well. careers. Thank you both of you.