:01:09. > :01:19.the bee population - a third of hives have gone - could mean not
:01:19. > :01:19.
:01:19. > :33:19.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1919 seconds
:33:19. > :33:23.just less honey but higher prices name's Peter Henley. On today's
:33:23. > :33:27.show: What's the government's plan for bees? There's been a massive
:33:27. > :33:30.decline in the population - over a third of hives died off over the
:33:30. > :33:34.winter - and without them to pollinate our food, prices could go
:33:34. > :33:37.sky high. More on that shortly. First, let's
:33:37. > :33:40.meet the two politicians who'll be with me for the whole of the
:33:40. > :33:48.programme. Tony Page is the Labour deputy leader of Reading Borough
:33:48. > :33:53.Council and Damian Hinds is the Conservative MP for East Hampshire.
:33:53. > :33:58.And then leave, have you think these cuts will affect you in local
:33:58. > :34:05.government? Very seriously. We have another 40 million to date out in
:34:05. > :34:09.the next few years. It will impact on services. Across all of the
:34:09. > :34:15.councils, the view is pretty dismal. Passed the tipping point? There are
:34:15. > :34:21.a lot of cuts already. He must've been braced for more cuts are to
:34:21. > :34:27.mark we were. The spending review has done nothing more than confirm
:34:27. > :34:29.that. We had the spending review because the intention was to remove
:34:29. > :34:34.the deficit during this parliament was not that has failed. George
:34:34. > :34:39.Osborne has had to come forward with a further budget. Is it about not
:34:39. > :34:43.enough money coming out of the economy because it has shrunk? Or is
:34:43. > :34:52.it that there were not enough cuts made in the first base? Now you're
:34:52. > :34:57.asking for more. Economic growth is one of the three things that reduce
:34:57. > :35:03.the deficit. The combination of factors, we are where we are, still
:35:03. > :35:07.borrowing quite a lot of money, we need to bring that deficit down
:35:07. > :35:12.further. Cuts are never easy. They do have to be done because we have
:35:12. > :35:17.to live within our means. It is disproportionate. Local government
:35:17. > :35:21.will take its share of spending cuts and we have never resisted that. It
:35:21. > :35:26.is disproportionate. Eric Pickles has offered us as a sacrificial
:35:26. > :35:36.lamb. Was it wrong to ring-fence the National Health Service or the Armed
:35:36. > :35:36.
:35:36. > :35:46.Forces? You cannot avoid the reality that local government is a
:35:46. > :35:46.
:35:46. > :35:54.sacrificial lamb. Local government is quite efficient and yet they are
:35:54. > :35:59.under attack. It is a button to protect the health service in a time
:35:59. > :36:07.have an increasingly ageing population and increase in chronic
:36:07. > :36:12.illness. We need to provide better opportunities for kids from tougher
:36:12. > :36:16.backgrounds. We have made some difficult decisions already. But we
:36:16. > :36:19.have to do more. That is the reality we are faced with as a nation.
:36:19. > :36:23.It's been Armed Forces Week this week - a chance to acknowledge all
:36:23. > :36:26.that our servicemen and women do for the country. But with all the recent
:36:26. > :36:29.cuts to the armed forces - remember it was only the week before that we
:36:29. > :36:31.heard details of another 4,000 redundancies in the army - are we
:36:31. > :36:38.really taking our responsibilities seriously? Certainly, in the
:36:38. > :36:44.Spending Review, Chancellor George Osborne was claiming that we are.
:36:44. > :36:50.previously committed to funding the military government for four years.
:36:50. > :36:59.We will now funded permanently. We will do this from the money we have
:36:59. > :37:02.received from LIBOR finds. It will protect the rest of British values.
:37:02. > :37:12.Our veterans will not be forgotten. Joining me now is Catherine Spencer
:37:12. > :37:22.
:37:22. > :37:25.from the Army Families Federation. LIBOR finds, 35 million pounds.
:37:25. > :37:29.has been pretty tough over last four years. It has been a period of
:37:29. > :37:32.victory and uncertainty. We have operations going on in Afghanistan
:37:32. > :37:38.that have been turned into nine-month tour 's meaning that
:37:38. > :37:43.soldiers will be away from home for significant chunks of time. We to
:37:43. > :37:49.have redundancy, rebasing from Germany. I was in a Germany
:37:49. > :37:55.conference yesterday. There were questions about what health care
:37:55. > :38:04.will be like in the future. There are a huge lover of changes -- there
:38:05. > :38:11.are a huge and abrupt changes going on. There is unpredictability and
:38:11. > :38:15.uncertainty. The covenant, although it is all moving in a good
:38:15. > :38:20.direction, I think most people feel, things like providing tickets for
:38:20. > :38:27.troops. For sports events and pop concerts. Better counselling,
:38:27. > :38:30.post-dramatic stress. In the end, is it not about decent housing when
:38:30. > :38:34.people with back to sort the plane. Making sure that things are
:38:34. > :38:38.organised properly. Is that happening? Is this a bit of a
:38:38. > :38:43.distraction? We need to understand what the Armed Forces covenant is.
:38:43. > :38:51.It is distinct from being that big holistic military covenant idea. The
:38:51. > :38:55.Armed Forces covenant is a service level agreement. Rita B&Q Jessica
:38:55. > :39:01.about what it has done. It has improved access to education and
:39:01. > :39:10.health care. It has made more transparent. -- I am enthusiastic
:39:10. > :39:14.about what it has done. Just take a devil 's advocate position. You are
:39:14. > :39:18.jumping the queue as well. Armed Forces should not face
:39:18. > :39:23.disadvantage, which I don't beg anyone should disagree with. Schools
:39:23. > :39:28.have to take service personnel even if it goes past been maximum size my
:39:28. > :39:31.class and everyone else in the class is disadvantaged. That is a good
:39:31. > :39:35.point and we have been keen to point out that the Armed Forces covenant
:39:35. > :39:45.should be about equality of treatment. Not positive
:39:45. > :39:47.
:39:47. > :39:55.dissemination? -- positive discrimination? They need access to
:39:55. > :39:57.health care without being seen being advantaged. Military children still
:39:57. > :40:02.have a high level of mobility and that will not change any time soon.
:40:02. > :40:04.There is an aspiration that we experience more stability and our
:40:04. > :40:09.soldiers and their families will be based in one location for a greater
:40:09. > :40:14.period of time. Until then, we need to ensure that our children have
:40:14. > :40:20.access to good education in the same way that civilian families do.
:40:20. > :40:26.citizen plus. One of the things happening as part of this military
:40:26. > :40:29.covenant which went with special consideration, it is that they will
:40:29. > :40:35.be paper aggression within the Armed Forces but not for a teacher. Is
:40:35. > :40:39.that right? Teachers do wonderful things our country and for the
:40:39. > :40:46.younger generation. But I think the sacrifices that our Armed Forces
:40:46. > :40:56.make on a different level to other people, however valuable their jobs.
:40:56. > :41:00.The expose of a teacher teaching a soldiers child... You gave the
:41:00. > :41:05.example of primary school places. That comes under the heading of no
:41:05. > :41:07.disadvantage because of the mobility of a lot of service families and it
:41:08. > :41:14.can be difficult to apply for the school of your choice when you're
:41:14. > :41:17.posted somewhere else. Having that Flex ability is important. We need
:41:17. > :41:27.to provide additional funding for schools that take children of
:41:27. > :41:34.service families. It is right in this week to reflect on that. It is
:41:34. > :41:41.the right thing to do to show gratitude for the service that our
:41:41. > :41:45.personnel provide. Is it special consideration? I agree with
:41:45. > :41:54.everything that Catherine has said because Reading is not a garrison
:41:54. > :42:00.town. It is horses for courses. There is a need for an SLA services
:42:00. > :42:10.approach that you have described. I don't think anything that has been
:42:10. > :42:14.proposed is regarded as unfair. One issue that I think is that the
:42:14. > :42:19.government says they will not be automatic career progression. For a
:42:19. > :42:26.whole range of people. It amounts to double standards. I would defend it
:42:26. > :42:30.for public services and I think the government has been very mean minded
:42:30. > :42:34.in doing down teachers to give a lot to the community and give a lot to
:42:34. > :42:39.the community. What Michael Gove was saying was that there will not be
:42:39. > :42:43.paper aggression, there will not be automatic paper aggression. It
:42:43. > :42:51.should be tied to performance. We have more data than ever before. It
:42:51. > :42:56.is not a semantic difference is about rewarding the most productive
:42:56. > :42:59.teachers. We have very different detail about it. That is still to
:43:00. > :43:03.come. We've heard quite a lot about people
:43:03. > :43:07.urging a Plan B on the Prime Minister - perhaps not so much about
:43:07. > :43:10.the Bee Plan. But, if experts are to be believed, it could be almost as
:43:10. > :43:13.important. What's the Bee Plan? Well, it's what to do to counter the
:43:13. > :43:16.huge decline in the bee population - that's the buzzy, honey-producing,
:43:16. > :43:26.fruit-pollinating flying insect. Which, as Tristan Pascoe reports,
:43:26. > :43:29.
:43:29. > :43:33.has had a pretty miserable winter. Honey is big business. In the UK, we
:43:33. > :43:39.produce around 25,000 metric tonnes of the stuff year. A sharp decline
:43:39. > :43:49.in bee colonies across Europe is giving beekeepers the blues. The
:43:49. > :43:51.
:43:51. > :43:55.issue is not just confined to honey. It'd -- it is estimated that a third
:43:55. > :44:01.of our food is pollinated by honeybees. A loss of a third of our
:44:01. > :44:10.honeybee hives is of great concern. Experts say it is the worst since
:44:10. > :44:19.they started collecting data. years ago, we had similar losses. It
:44:19. > :44:22.is not unusual to have high losses. It is not pleasant but not unusual.
:44:22. > :44:30.Pollen is the protein that the bees need. The nectar is the
:44:30. > :44:40.carbohydrate. The European Commission says that it is in part
:44:40. > :44:46.
:44:46. > :44:55.due to knee in part due to near -- near chemicals used in pesticides.
:44:55. > :44:57.The period without them will not be enough. We need a long period where
:44:57. > :45:07.more objective research can be carried out. The value of bees is
:45:07. > :45:11.
:45:11. > :45:17.not just to the honey industry, but also to wider crops where it is much
:45:17. > :45:21.more valuable. 15 minutes away from the beehives at an agricultural
:45:21. > :45:26.college, the beehives and also declined. We have had a very long
:45:26. > :45:36.winter this year and it is fair to say that we are a month behind if
:45:36. > :45:44.
:45:44. > :45:49.not five weeks behind. There are fears about the fall in use of
:45:49. > :45:54.neonicotinoids. The pesticides are dealing with all pollinators and
:45:54. > :46:00.they are absolutely critical to a good crop yield if we do not have
:46:00. > :46:03.them. Fruit prices will rocket. Environment campaigners are calling
:46:03. > :46:13.on the government to make the issue a priority and come up with a B
:46:13. > :46:14.
:46:14. > :46:19.action plan. Farmers and producers need to find a way of producing
:46:19. > :46:27.crops that are not harming these and other pollinating insects. We need
:46:27. > :46:37.to make sure that when the band comes in in a two-year period to.
:46:37. > :46:39.
:46:39. > :46:46.Help -- to start helping farmers find new ways of reducing pests.
:46:46. > :46:49.Back in Dorset, be keepers remain pragmatic. I would like to see no
:46:49. > :46:53.pesticides used in an ideal world. But we do not live in an ideal
:46:53. > :46:57.world. Pesticides are designed to kill insects that are causing harm.
:46:57. > :47:02.It is a very fine line between killing insects that are causing
:47:02. > :47:05.harm and killing insects that are not causing harm.
:47:05. > :47:08.And we learned on Friday that the government will be undertaking an
:47:08. > :47:18.urgent review to come up with a National Pollinator Strategy - so we
:47:18. > :47:19.
:47:19. > :47:27.may get a Plan Bee after all! Tristan was talking about
:47:27. > :47:35.neonicotinoids there. You felt that was not as clear a case as it might
:47:35. > :47:38.be? The government is undertaking a scientific review. Some of the
:47:38. > :47:43.laboratory tests came up with different results when it was
:47:43. > :47:47.reserved in reality. They need some field tests. In the end, we have to
:47:47. > :47:53.look at the weight of the scientific evidence. In times of signing
:47:53. > :47:58.petitions, I did not think I was sufficiently qualified to sign that.
:47:58. > :48:04.We need to look at the evidence. still don't know, do we? It could be
:48:04. > :48:12.so important. I agree with Damien. I don't have the scientific back rent
:48:12. > :48:18.either but two years seems like a very short time to have this
:48:18. > :48:25.neonicotinoids free period. There is still a lot of behind-the-scenes
:48:25. > :48:31.pressure from the pharmaceutical company. They often a malign
:48:31. > :48:33.influence and transporting what they are saying to government may help. A
:48:33. > :48:36.trial without their use would be desirable.
:48:36. > :48:39.Local government has been going through a lot recently - and in one
:48:39. > :48:42.Surrey town that could soon include divorce. A group of residents in
:48:42. > :48:46.Farnham is organising a petition to the Queen to allow them to remove
:48:46. > :48:49.themselves from Waverley Borough Council and set up on their own - a
:48:49. > :48:55.return, they say, to the situation that held for 700 years until 1974's
:48:56. > :48:58.local government reorganisation. They were out canvassing opinion and
:48:59. > :49:05.collecting signatures a couple of weeks ago and one of their number,
:49:05. > :49:12.Mike Bryan, joins me now. They are out this morning, aren't they?
:49:12. > :49:18.people? Yes, we have 140 people signed up. They will be out on the
:49:18. > :49:23.streets right now. How much support in you getting? How is this
:49:23. > :49:28.democratically viable? Will it work? We have been hugely impressed by the
:49:28. > :49:33.surge of support that has occurred since we launched on the 10th of
:49:33. > :49:38.May. Within a few days, we had an overwhelming show of support at the
:49:38. > :49:46.Farnham society, that pillar of middle England society. There was a
:49:46. > :49:53.nobleman -- there was an overwhelming vote to support this.
:49:53. > :50:03.Farnham has been disadvantaged by a lack of democratic accountability at
:50:03. > :50:07.Farnham Borough Council. -- Waverley Borough Council. Farnham is
:50:07. > :50:12.Waverley's biggest town but they are underrepresented. There are three
:50:12. > :50:17.issues that have affected Farnham over the last ten years. It has been
:50:17. > :50:21.ten years so it has been a long time coming. Waverley has not effectively
:50:21. > :50:26.engaged Farnham people and Farnham's neighbouring authorities
:50:26. > :50:34.and they continue to make unbalanced decisions on three big issues. That
:50:34. > :50:43.is Waverley's core strategy, which has stalled. There is a ten year
:50:43. > :50:47.saga of plans to redevelop Farnham's high Street and that
:50:47. > :50:51.relates to other issues. None of that is surprising from a council
:50:51. > :50:55.that has told me privately they are not interested in what people think
:50:55. > :51:01.in general terms. Not interested in supporting business activities. I
:51:01. > :51:04.don't see a link between business retention and accountability to
:51:04. > :51:08.businesses. If people are marching on the streets, that is not an
:51:08. > :51:18.issue. That is astonishing. In January, the Waverley council did
:51:18. > :51:20.
:51:20. > :51:26.not make a formal contribution towards enterprise M3's costs.
:51:26. > :51:29.is quite a manifesto of complaints. Could we be seeing more of this?
:51:29. > :51:37.People say there are these things that are being ignored and we want
:51:37. > :51:47.to break away. I mustn't intrude. I know Farnham is a lovely place. I'm
:51:47. > :51:48.
:51:48. > :51:56.not go to comment on the merits. Our local government structure has
:51:56. > :52:06.councils that are much larger than elsewhere in Europe. Somewhere like
:52:06. > :52:06.
:52:06. > :52:14.Farnham would have its own counsel, probably with its own government 's
:52:14. > :52:18.powers, which we do not have in this country. We should not be
:52:18. > :52:23.frightened. There may be elements in Farnham who resisted. It is
:52:24. > :52:28.bureaucracy and inefficiency? people must have power but let us
:52:28. > :52:38.not forget that councils and councillors are democratically
:52:38. > :52:41.
:52:41. > :52:46.accountable. Town councils' powers are restricted to things like
:52:46. > :52:53.allotments but they do have other powers. People do really kind of
:52:53. > :52:59.identify with their town, people still talk about the urban district
:52:59. > :53:09.from 1974 as well. Having responsible it is at local level at
:53:09. > :53:10.
:53:10. > :53:16.town and parish. It is more efficient at higher levels. They can
:53:16. > :53:22.collaborate in delivering services on a wider level. They will all be
:53:22. > :53:32.out on the streets, fighting for your cause. Now our regular around
:53:32. > :53:33.
:53:33. > :53:42.up in the South in 60 seconds. It is all about the appliance of science.
:53:42. > :53:52.Some makes of car could be banned from Oxford city centre as an result
:53:52. > :53:53.
:53:53. > :54:01.of research involving lasers. cars, vans and certainly not
:54:01. > :54:05.cycles. On oxygen biotech company won a �300 million contract for
:54:05. > :54:09.research into cancer. Hundreds of extra health visitors are being
:54:09. > :54:15.recruited across the South. Research proves that investment in early
:54:15. > :54:18.years pays dividends in later life. MP Tony Baldry called for more
:54:18. > :54:22.research into the natural function of these fellows. He says that back
:54:22. > :54:29.during has become the biggest cause of damage in ancient churches.
:54:29. > :54:33.Finally, nuclear fusion, the search for limitless clean energy. It is 30
:54:33. > :54:41.years since this project started in oxygen. The next stages in France.
:54:41. > :54:47.The contribution has been crucial. Until we get nuclear fusion, we have
:54:47. > :54:57.a problem, haven't we? Wondering whether the lights go out. That was
:54:57. > :55:02.in the papers. Is it wind power? Will that come to our rescue?
:55:02. > :55:05.have ground to make up as a result of the last government. We need to
:55:05. > :55:10.make sure the lights do not go out. There will be a mixture of power
:55:10. > :55:15.sources. Can we rely on the gas supplies that come from Russia and
:55:15. > :55:21.Qatar and elsewhere? Successive governments have failed to face up
:55:21. > :55:28.to the ageing reactors and the need to replace those and we are going
:55:28. > :55:31.back 30 or 40 years. We do need to have a wider mix. My fear is that
:55:32. > :55:36.Owen Paterson MP, who has come out against wind farms, is not that
:55:36. > :55:41.pathetic to renewables generally. We do need a big push on renewables. We
:55:41. > :55:51.need new nuclear opacity. We cannot rely on the French, who are building
:55:51. > :55:52.
:55:52. > :56:01.nuclear capacity and town -- and own half of our electric capacity.