:32:44. > :32:48.today's programme, why can't a woman be more like a man and get involved
:32:48. > :32:51.in local government? Three quarters of the people who contact local
:32:51. > :32:57.councils are women but when you get into the chamber they are
:32:57. > :33:03.outnumbered to two one. Let's me the two politicians who are with me.
:33:03. > :33:07.Carolina Noakes got involved in politics and is still there. The
:33:07. > :33:11.Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton. John denim is a former
:33:11. > :33:17.Cabinet Minister. Welcome to the programme. The Queen's Speech this
:33:17. > :33:22.week. John, what would you pick out as telling? The government has lost
:33:22. > :33:26.sense of direction. Two major announcements. One was on childcare
:33:26. > :33:30.which fell apart. We did not have a build to sort out the banks and get
:33:30. > :33:33.them lending. We did not have a Bill to guarantee jobs who were out of
:33:33. > :33:41.work for a long time so they stop claiming benefits. We did not have a
:33:41. > :33:46.Bill to use top employers abusing the minimum wage. There were key
:33:46. > :33:49.things that should have been in the speech and were needed to get the
:33:49. > :33:56.economy going. How many more years can we go on with the economy
:33:56. > :34:00.flatlining with unemployment too high? I think I would say that one
:34:00. > :34:03.of the most important things we saw from the Queen's Speech was the
:34:03. > :34:06.announcement on crime and anti-social behaviour, and
:34:06. > :34:16.immigration, and you only have to look at the results from elections
:34:16. > :34:18.
:34:18. > :34:24.to see that these results are important. People who are not
:34:24. > :34:28.entitled to use the NHS should not use it. This is a Queens speech that
:34:28. > :34:32.was made on the back of an envelope. There was nothing in there to deal
:34:32. > :34:42.with real issues get the economy going. There was nothing on mansion
:34:42. > :34:47.tax. Was it a thin legislative programme? You i think the economy
:34:47. > :34:52.is the make or break but I don't think it was then. I know later we
:34:52. > :34:57.will be talking about HS2 and that is unimportant and big project. The
:34:57. > :35:01.government is getting on with a focus on the economy and making sure
:35:01. > :35:07.we cut tax for the lowest paid and they have made massive strides on
:35:07. > :35:15.immigration but want to do more. pills got a mention in the Queens
:35:15. > :35:20.speech. Two of them were to do with High Speed Two. As well as the
:35:20. > :35:24.high-speed rail ale, the government has announced a preparation Bill so
:35:24. > :35:29.they can spend money ahead of the next election. Opponents of the
:35:29. > :35:32.project say it is disregarding due process and it is trying to give a
:35:32. > :35:39.future government the excuse of saying High Speed Two cannot be
:35:39. > :35:41.cancelled because so much has been spent on it. Joining me now is
:35:41. > :35:47.Martin, leader of Buckinghamshire county council. He opposes High
:35:47. > :35:53.Speed Two. No surprise, in the end, that there was this preparation
:35:53. > :36:01.Bill, but do you think there is something sneaky going on here?
:36:01. > :36:08.morning. Yes, I think the Bills were leaked in advance by the government
:36:08. > :36:12.and what we have here is a cabinet trying to give the impression of
:36:12. > :36:18.momentum of this project, when the reality is that it is over budget
:36:18. > :36:23.and well behind schedule. They say they are cracking on and it has
:36:23. > :36:29.cross-party support so why wait? Certainly, within government, it
:36:29. > :36:34.has. There is a lot of opposition to this and the business case has
:36:34. > :36:39.fallen apart. It is poor value for tax payers money. It is at a time
:36:39. > :36:44.when we should be investing in high-value projects and not waiting
:36:44. > :36:50.until 2033. I doubt there is a constituency in the whole country
:36:50. > :36:56.that does not have roads that need repairing. This is where we should
:36:56. > :37:01.be putting our money rather than the big white elephant. You talk about
:37:01. > :37:04.costs and the indication is that it has gone past the billion. Is that
:37:04. > :37:10.the latest big? They will be spending up to a billion, I would
:37:10. > :37:14.guess. This is even before an inch of track has been laid. This is
:37:14. > :37:20.going into PR companies to try and sell the project. This is not the
:37:20. > :37:27.way money should be spent. Is there a sense that getting the preparation
:37:27. > :37:29.Bill through means they are tying the hands of a future government?
:37:29. > :37:34.am not sure about a future government because there is
:37:34. > :37:41.cross-party support but I think what they are doing for the country as a
:37:41. > :37:46.whole is giving the impression of momentum and the fact that they
:37:46. > :37:49.cannot go back on this. The reality is that there are better
:37:49. > :37:56.alternatives to kick-start the economy when we really do need jobs
:37:56. > :38:06.and growth, rather than investing in this project. Let's bring in our
:38:06. > :38:09.
:38:09. > :38:19.guests. It does feel, John, that this has cross-party support but
:38:19. > :38:20.
:38:20. > :38:26.people are still opposed to it. us look at the underlying problem...
:38:26. > :38:30.They are not convinced! We are quite incapable of taking any long-term
:38:30. > :38:37.decisions and sticking to them. No decision on Heathrow or nuclear
:38:37. > :38:44.power. No decision on wind power or transport. One of the things holding
:38:44. > :38:50.this country back is the inability to get together and say there are a
:38:50. > :38:55.few big things we need to do. We need to sort out our rail system,
:38:55. > :38:59.our transport system more generally, our energy supply. Agree them, do
:38:59. > :39:04.them and say what ever happens at the next election, these things will
:39:04. > :39:13.go ahead. If we don't we will never bring the strength to the country.
:39:13. > :39:18.It does look like hesitancy. It needs a preparation Bill, surely?
:39:18. > :39:21.think it looks like the opposite. The government stated clearly that
:39:21. > :39:29.they want to crack on and laid the groundwork, and they are committed
:39:29. > :39:33.to a project which, although there are environmental impacts north of
:39:34. > :39:39.here, in the south it has the potential to free up capacity on the
:39:39. > :39:46.existing rail work and put more freight on the railways. They sound
:39:46. > :39:50.like arguments in favour was you've just lost the argument? It was
:39:50. > :39:54.interesting listening to John. I said the complete opposite. I think
:39:54. > :40:00.we should be cracking on with infrastructure investment now and
:40:00. > :40:07.not wait until 2033. We have so much rail investment we can make on
:40:07. > :40:12.existing lines and how many roads in this country are breaking up? We
:40:12. > :40:17.have infrastructure that needs putting down. It is not sexy or
:40:17. > :40:23.glamorous and we won't have Nick Clegg cutting a ribbon, but it is
:40:23. > :40:31.the nitty-gritty keeping the economy going. You need investment now and
:40:31. > :40:36.you need investment in housing which is a good way to boost the economy.
:40:36. > :40:42.I don't agree with Martin that you need to fix the potholes now or the
:40:42. > :40:51.railways in the future. If we can't say that we need to manage in
:40:51. > :40:57.difficult circumstances today, but there big projects ahead, then we
:40:57. > :41:01.will be losers. John, you know the answer is you can't spend the same
:41:01. > :41:07.money twice. You can't have your cake and eat it. You can't have the
:41:07. > :41:13.potholes, the roads upgraded and High Speed Two. This country is in a
:41:13. > :41:17.financial mess, it has limited amounts of money and if you are
:41:17. > :41:23.going to be spending it on High Speed Two, which as a dire business
:41:23. > :41:29.case, you are not spending it on existing infrastructure. You can do
:41:29. > :41:33.both. You can't spend the same money twice. Thank you very much. I think
:41:33. > :41:38.it is clear there is still a big argument. The dust is starting to
:41:38. > :41:46.settle on last weeks local elections and we have seen some changes in the
:41:46. > :41:55.make-up of our town halls. One thing that hasn't changed is that there
:41:55. > :41:59.are far fewer women in politics. But how do we solve it? A survey
:41:59. > :42:06.suggests that 75% of all phone calls made to councils are made by women.
:42:06. > :42:13.It is women who pay the council tax. It is women who get things
:42:13. > :42:19.done. There is no question that women engage with what councils have
:42:19. > :42:29.two offer but it is a different story when it comes to the politics.
:42:29. > :42:34.In our council chambers the fairer sex are outnumbered to 21 by men. In
:42:34. > :42:44.Parliament, it is even worse with less than a quarter of MPs women. In
:42:44. > :42:47.
:42:47. > :42:51.the House of lords, you are down to one in five. I am the first female
:42:51. > :42:58.ever in Portsmouth City Council. In 2013, that is a sorry state,
:42:58. > :43:04.actually. It is a male dominated world but there is no reason why I
:43:04. > :43:09.should not be in politics and speaking on these key roles. Women
:43:09. > :43:16.need to be represented. So what is happening? It is not as if young,
:43:16. > :43:23.smart women haven't stormed ahead in every other profession. Why is
:43:23. > :43:26.politics such a turnoff? Jackie Raymond was favourite to become the
:43:26. > :43:30.new leader of Southampton City Council but she has decided not to
:43:30. > :43:35.stand. People think politicians don't do much. We work ridiculous
:43:36. > :43:39.hours and that doesn't help when we still have a stereotype about women
:43:39. > :43:44.running the home, having children and how they can fit in and balance
:43:45. > :43:49.those things. Someone said to me there is a meeting coming up and he
:43:49. > :43:54.said to me can you do December the 3rd, and I open the diary and I open
:43:55. > :44:02.the diary NZ, of course I can do it. As I flicked to the 3rd of December
:44:02. > :44:08.in my diary I saw it was written, mum, can you spend some time with me
:44:08. > :44:15.today, it is my birthday? I thought, actually, I need to refocus
:44:15. > :44:25.my life because my kids come first. Over the years various methods have
:44:25. > :44:25.
:44:25. > :44:34.been sought to get women into politics. Remember Blair's babes?
:44:34. > :44:40.Yes, we can change it. We have two really demonstrate that as an
:44:40. > :44:46.individual you can make a difference and perhaps there is too much of an
:44:46. > :44:50.attitude, oh, it is not worth doing that and my voice will not be heard.
:44:50. > :44:59.You can change things and look back and say, I have achieved something
:44:59. > :45:09.there. We must keep on with this. More women in politics, more
:45:09. > :45:09.
:45:09. > :45:16.consensus, more collaboration. knows? Maybe when a teacher next
:45:16. > :45:24.asks, do you know what you want to be? You can reply, yes, prime
:45:24. > :45:29.minister. Is it all about children, do you think? I think there are
:45:29. > :45:34.still sexist attitudes and prejudices. They are not what they
:45:34. > :45:40.were. In 1979, when I got married, my wife was a Labour councillor and
:45:41. > :45:48.had suffered an indignity of a full council debate about whether she
:45:48. > :45:52.should keep her maiden name. That stuff has gone but there are
:45:52. > :45:57.assumptions and it is still the case in most households that women are
:45:57. > :46:05.expected, and may also want, to be there in the early evening. Look at
:46:06. > :46:11.how many political meetings take place in the early evening. We need
:46:11. > :46:16.to take positive action and my party have said that they want to select a
:46:16. > :46:22.woman candidate to take my seat at the next election. That guarantees
:46:22. > :46:29.some places. It is positive discrimination, but what about
:46:29. > :46:35.practical steps? One of the most difficult things is not whether you
:46:35. > :46:41.have all women shortlists or positive discrimination but it is
:46:41. > :46:49.about encouraging women in the first place to apply to become a
:46:49. > :46:51.candidate. When you look at the way Parliament and Council Chambers
:46:51. > :46:57.behaved, it is not very attractive and not very appealing. Contrast
:46:57. > :47:00.that with some of the work that goes on in the committees and it was
:47:00. > :47:04.largely consensual and collaborative. We had brilliant
:47:04. > :47:08.debates. As the chairman of the committee said to me on one
:47:08. > :47:13.occasion, this is Parliament at its best. I think it we saw more of that
:47:13. > :47:19.and there was greater understanding then you might find more women
:47:19. > :47:23.applying. I know that 25% of people who go on to the Conservative
:47:23. > :47:31.candidates list are women. Is it any surprise that the numbers in
:47:31. > :47:37.Parliament are so poor? Thank you. One of those big council changes I
:47:37. > :47:45.mentioned was on the Isle of Wight where do 20 candidates were
:47:45. > :47:55.elected, and for women. They have joined forces. He is Richard Priest.
:47:55. > :47:55.
:47:55. > :48:01.You do have a slightly different approach as an independent. You all
:48:01. > :48:06.feel that you are more connected to your communities. That is how we
:48:06. > :48:09.come together. We were keen to form a group to have control of the
:48:09. > :48:15.council, but we recognise the connection we have with our
:48:15. > :48:22.respective communities, and that is important to us. We are disappointed
:48:22. > :48:26.that some of our female candidates were not successful. Across the
:48:26. > :48:32.chamber I think we will have to look at how we do our business but I
:48:32. > :48:37.think that is refreshing and interesting as we go forward.
:48:37. > :48:45.see yourself as less politician as the people that went before you?
:48:45. > :48:50.Absolutely. People told me are you going out to celebrate tonight? I
:48:50. > :48:54.said, no, we are running the youth club tonight. We are still connected
:48:54. > :49:00.with the community. I think we won back connection but we recognise we
:49:00. > :49:03.have a wider responsibility and we will happily take that. You can't
:49:03. > :49:08.just continue with your daily lives and say you are one representative,
:49:08. > :49:18.because you have two run things and take this seriously. A council that
:49:18. > :49:21.
:49:21. > :49:26.has a lot of challenges. Absolutely. We recognise that but all of the
:49:26. > :49:36.areas of the island have schools and there is a connection between the
:49:36. > :49:44.
:49:44. > :49:49.issues. I was very fortunate. The cross chamber support on the island
:49:50. > :49:56.is very good and we are keen to do policies in a different way. It is
:49:56. > :50:05.interesting you call Alan Turner the island MP, he is a conservative.
:50:05. > :50:13.recognise he is the island MP. There are a few liberal Democrats in
:50:13. > :50:23.there. If you are truly independent, you are going in different ways,
:50:23. > :50:28.aren't you? And that is a healthy debate is to have. We are about
:50:28. > :50:32.debate and discussion, and that is not unhealthy. It could be unhealthy
:50:32. > :50:36.decisions are not taken. It is clear that decisions have been taken but
:50:36. > :50:41.they have gone in the wrong direction. Sometimes openness is not
:50:41. > :50:46.a bad thing. If it takes a long time and you get the right outcome, it is
:50:46. > :50:53.not a bad thing. Has its KU that this is the people standing and
:50:53. > :50:57.taking over at council, independent of the party? Absolutely not stop it
:50:57. > :51:01.is evidence that people are more engaged and active. I would
:51:01. > :51:07.encourage anyone to stand for election. You would rather they were
:51:07. > :51:12.Conservative, wouldn't you? I will always work to get Conservatives
:51:12. > :51:17.elected but I think engagement in the democratic process is vitally
:51:18. > :51:23.important and, with women, some died to do that, so good luck to them.
:51:23. > :51:31.The Labour Party came out of the ordinary working persons struggle.
:51:31. > :51:36.Has it lost its way? What we are trying to do is, in those areas
:51:36. > :51:39.where it is not as strong as it was, we create the links that will
:51:39. > :51:43.describe. I don't think it is possible for the mainstream
:51:43. > :51:47.political parties to float on top of communities and hope to get the vote
:51:47. > :51:51.every four years. I think what Richard has described for the
:51:51. > :51:56.independence is the relationship that the mainstream parties are
:51:56. > :51:59.going to have to have in the future. I like to think I do that in my
:51:59. > :52:03.constituency and many of my counsellors do. Anyone that doesn't
:52:04. > :52:08.do that is going to be one ruble to the political community based
:52:08. > :52:11.campaigning that Richard has described. It is not a threat, but a
:52:11. > :52:17.challenge, but an exciting one because you will get better
:52:17. > :52:23.representation. Good luck. As I say, it is a challenge. You going to cut
:52:23. > :52:32.the officers pay? There will be a root and branch review and there are
:52:32. > :52:38.lots of challenges. We used it with a PFI contract on the roads? There
:52:38. > :52:42.are things we will look at but we recognise that there are already
:52:42. > :52:46.commitments in place that we cannot change overnight. We have a
:52:46. > :52:56.commitment to be connected to our communities as John says. Thank you
:52:56. > :53:02.
:53:02. > :53:06.very much. Now, our regular round-up of the week in the south.
:53:06. > :53:10.Independent midwives and their supporters marched on Westminster
:53:10. > :53:14.saying they are being put out of business at the rising cost of
:53:14. > :53:20.insurance. They say it denies women choice. New homes for growing
:53:20. > :53:29.families in Hampshire. This new town north of Fareham got the backing of
:53:29. > :53:33.the planning Minister. Planning commercial space and retail space
:53:33. > :53:39.and actually creates new communities. New jobs for Reading
:53:39. > :53:47.with the opening of a Tesco's. Over 6000 applications for 1000 posts.
:53:47. > :53:55.Slamming on the brakes. The RAC calls for an end to Portsmouth's 20
:53:55. > :53:59.miles an hour zones. Finally, a strange announcement from a franking
:53:59. > :54:09.company. They are going ahead with test drilling in Sussex but are
:54:09. > :54:09.
:54:09. > :54:14.looking for oil not gas. Going back to the Queen's Speech, and with
:54:14. > :54:20.exams coming there was an awful lot that seem to have the hand of gof in
:54:20. > :54:28.it. This idea that exams should be the deciding factor and not more
:54:28. > :54:33.jewellers. What you think about the way it is going? When I was in
:54:33. > :54:36.schools and a focused on kids like me, who would good at passing exams,
:54:36. > :54:41.lots of people came out of school with no qualifications. The reason
:54:41. > :54:48.we have a broader curriculum is because everyone has different types
:54:48. > :54:52.of talent. I fear that Michael Gove will go back to the days when there
:54:52. > :54:59.were good people passing exams but what happens to all the rest?
:54:59. > :55:06.Caroline, were you good at exams? was. I used to opt out of coursework
:55:06. > :55:09.when there was a choice. What I really want to see for our
:55:09. > :55:15.16-year-olds is that they come out with a qualification that they know
:55:15. > :55:21.is worth something and they can know it has achieved something. Thank you