09/02/2014 Sunday Politics South


09/02/2014

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morning, folks, welcome to the Sunday Politics. Rising flood water,

:00:53.:01:01.

a battered coastline, the winter storms forced the Government to take

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control. Is it hanging the Environment Agency out to dry?

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Embarrassment for the Government Environment Agency out to dry?

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the Immigration Minister resigns after he discovered he was employing

:01:13.:01:14.

a cleaner with no This would seem like a good

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resignation, maybe unlike the Baroness Scotland one years ago on a

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similar issue, but have we been told the full story? We wait to see that.

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Labour have picked up saying he is an honourable man, that the reason

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why he resigned is these very owners checks that landlords and employers

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will have to perform on employees over their documentation. The most

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interesting line is that, we do not require them to be experts or spot

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anything other than an obvious forgery. The suggestion that there

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is the document he was presented with originality,

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is the document he was presented And if you three want to resign Do

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not hate you are coming back next week. But we will do it with honour.

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It has been a hellish week for residents of coastal areas with more

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storms bringing more flooding and after Prince Charles visited the

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Somerset Levels on Tuesday the Government has been keen to show it

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has got a grip on the situation at last.

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For last weekend's Sunday Politics I made the watery journey to the

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village of Muchelney, cut off for a whole month. Now

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village of Muchelney, cut off for a for flood prone areas of the

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country? I am joined from Oxford by the editor of The Ecologist

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magazine, Oliver Tickell, and by local MP Tessa Munt. Tessa, let me

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come to you first. What do you now want the Government to do? I want it

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to make sure it does exactly as it promises and delivers what every

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farmer and landowner around here knows should have been done for

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years. First, to solve the problems we have right now, but to make sure

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there is money we have right now, but to make sure

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carry on doing the maintenance that is necessary.

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carry on doing the maintenance that Dredging is a part of it, but it is

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a catchment wide solution. Dredging is only a small part of the solution

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he says. Yes, of course it is. But look here. With the farmer is

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locally, the landowners, they know this land will carry water for a few

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weeks of the year, that is not a problem. But this water has to be

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taken away and there is a very good system of drainage and it works

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perfectly well. In my area there are serious problems because the

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dredging has not taken place. There are lunatic regulations

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dredging has not taken place. There seen it, but grass does not grow if

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water is sitting on this land for weeks and weeks. What you have to

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remember is a lot of the levels are managed very carefully and they are

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conservation land and that means cattle are allowed to go out at

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certain times of the year and in certain numbers. It is well managed.

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Do you accept it should return to grassland? Grassland, fine, but you

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cannot call land grassland in the flipping water is on it so long that

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nothing grows. It is no good at doing that. You

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nothing grows. It is no good at sure it is managed properly.

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nothing grows. It is no good at been going to the drainage boards

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and they pay the Environment Agency who are meant to be dredging and

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that has not happened. We have to leave it there. We have run out of

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time. Last week saw the Labour Party

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adopts an historic change with its relationship with the unions.

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Changes to the rules that propelled Ed Miliband to the top. Ed Miliband

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was elected Labour leader in 20 0 by the electoral college system which

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gives unions, party members and MPs one third of votes each. This would

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be changed one third of votes each. This would

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member, one vote system. A union member would have to become an

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affiliated member of the party. member would have to become an

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fantastic British businesses, we want them to make an active choice,

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and we are also recognising that in this day and age not everybody wants

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to become a member of a political party. We haven't got much time The

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unions still have 50% of the vote at Labour conferences, there will be

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the single most important vote, more member

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the single most important vote, more your individual party members. In

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one vital way, your purse strings, your individual party members. In

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the unions will be more powerful than ever because at the moment they

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have to hand over 8 million to than ever because at the moment they

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fraction of that now. They will get to keep that money, but then come

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the election you go to them and give them a lot of money -- and they will

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have you then. They won't have us, as you put it! The idea that

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individual trade union members don't have their own view,

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individual trade union members don't voice, and just do what their

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general voice, and just do what their

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an important business person in the House of Lords, the former chief

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executive of the ITV, Bill Grimsey. How many? You can only name one

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Bill Grimsey, there is also John Mills. Anyone who is currently

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chairman of the chief executive With the greatest respect, you are

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talking about less than half the percent of business leaders in our

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country, we have almost percent of business leaders in our

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businesses, not all FTSE 100 businesses, not all FTSE 100

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it" . Another quote, that it borders on predatory taxation. They think

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you are anti-business. I don't agree with them. One of the interesting

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things about Sir Stuart's comments on the predatory taxation and I

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think he was referring to the 5 p rate of tax is that he made some

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comments arguing against the reduction of the top rate of tax

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from 50p. He is saying something different now. Digby of course has

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his own opinions, he has never been a member of the Labour Party. Let me

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come onto this business of a member of the Labour Party. Let me

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we didn't have those issues. Sure, though you cannot tell me how much

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the 50p will raise. In the three years of operation we think it

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raised ?10 billion. You think. That was based on extrapolation from the

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British library. It is at least possible I would suggest, for the

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sake of argument, that when you promise to take over half people's

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income, which is what you will do if you get your way, the richest 1

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currently account you get your way, the richest 1

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to this? Across Europe, for example in Sweden they have higher tax rates

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than us. Can you name one major economy? I couldn't pluck one out of

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the air, I can see where you are coming from, I don't agree with it.

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I think most people subscribe to the fact that those with wider shoulders

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should carry the heavy a burden We fact that those with wider shoulders

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have run out of time but thank you for being here.

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Over the past week it seems that Nick Clegg has activated a new Lib

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Dem strategy - 'Get Gove'. Nick Clegg has activated a new Lib

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very public spat Nick Clegg has activated a new Lib

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post 2015. One spat does not a divorce make but perhaps even more

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significant has been Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander s

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recent newspaper interview firmly spiking any room for George Osborne

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to manoeuvre on lowering the highest income tax rate to 40p. All this

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builds on the inclusion in Government at the reshuffle of

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people like Norman Baker at the Home Office and Simon Hughes at Justice

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people who are happier to publically express doubt on Conservative

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policy, unlike say Jeremy Browne who was removed and who has made plain

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his views on Coalition. It is difficult for us to demonstrate that

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his views on Coalition. It is we are more socialist than an Ed

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Miliband we are more socialist than an Ed

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Jenkin. Matthew, the Lib Dems are now picking fights with the Tories

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on a range of issues, some of them trivial. Is this a Pirelli used to

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Lib Dem withdrawal trivial. Is this a Pirelli used to

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coalition? I do not know, I am not privy to Nick Clegg's in strategy.

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Some of us have been independent for some time. I resigned over treatment

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of the banks. some time. I resigned over treatment

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sorted out. But what is significant is we have seen a string of attacks,

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almost an enemy is we have seen a string of attacks,

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despite what Nick Clegg originally said. It does not make much

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difference. What makes a difference from the perspective of the

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committee I chair is historically we have had single party Government

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that have collective responsibility and clarity. The reason that is

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important is because nothing gets done if everybody is at sixes and

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sevens in the Government. Everything stops, there is paralysis as the row

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goes on. Civil servants do not know who they are working for. If it

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carries on getting fractures, there is a bigger argument to get out. If

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it continues at this level of intensity of the enemy within

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it continues at this level of representative of the failure of

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Nick Clegg's strategy to rebuild a centrist Liberal party and he now

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accepts the only way he can save as many seats as he can do is to get

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the disillusioned left Lib Dem voters to come back to the fold? The

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site is we have lost over half our vote at the last election and at the

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moment there is no sign in the polls of it coming back and we are getting

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very close to the next election. I welcome it if Nick Clegg is starting

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to address that problem, but talking about the centre is not the answer.

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to address that problem, but talking Most Liberal Democrat voters at the

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to address that problem, but talking last election are radical,

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progressive people last election are radical,

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Welcome to Sunday Politics South ` my name's Peter Henley. On today's

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show the rain keeps falling and the floods keep rising ` the Prime

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Minister promised more money to help with the repairs this week, but are

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we doing enough to prevent it happening in the first place?

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More on that shortly. First let's meet the two politicians who'll be

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with me to discuss that and other matters. Richard Benyon is the

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Conservative MP for Newbury and Lord Jim Knight is a Labour peer and the

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former MP for South Dorset. Jim, the Prime Minister's speech on

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the union on Friday was well received, it seems, but what he is

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saying is that people Scottish relatives and friends and

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say, stay with us. more votes by dropping the voting

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age to 16. The evidence is that younger voters just don't get this.

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Mike the don't see the point of Scotland hiving itself off. And that

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post Braveheart generation may swing it quite decisively pro union.

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Rain, storms, flooding and more rain were back on the political agenda

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this week. And in Prime Ministers Questions on Wednesday, stung by

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accusations from Labour that the government had been slow to react to

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the rising tide of problems, the Prime Minister was in take charge

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mode. Whatever is required, whether it is

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dredging work on the rivers or support for our emergency services,

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dozens of homes and businesses in Newbury underwater. It was the five

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time in seven years the town had been flooded, forcing the

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Environment Agency interaction. In 2011 started work on a ?2 million

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scheme to protect people and it was finished just in time for this most

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wet winters. In these locations we are using a

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combination of walls, herding, natural embankments to weave our way

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through the Oregon context. The key is accepting that the river

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will flood in capturing the run`off before it reaches the more built`up

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areas of the town. Houses behind us and being

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protected. We are cutting that water off. What we would say is floodwater

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travelling into these businesses to dig into their pockets

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will not be easy. I can understand that people might

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balk, but if it is a case of a or flood... We do need to get this

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partnership idea going so that people do realise the only way we

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can solve flooding is by everyone putting in together.

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There is more flood risk than funding. We are working closer with

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community 's and councils and other emergency responders these days,

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also in terms of generating the business case as well as the

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financial, so that we can invest in flood defences in the

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other communities are being protected by effective schemes

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because of the wider system of funding.

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A lot of others will be waiting. Balancing these priorities, you were

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at Defra, these are long`term things. Sometimes when we haven't

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got the water everyone says it is like pushing things up hill to get

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this done. We are seeing this problem more

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frequently. The climate is changing and we are seeing more extremes.

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Richard was talking about drought and the river drying up, in the

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lifetime of his ministerial career he had both extremes that he had to

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wrestle with, so we do need to What Michael Pitt said was it was

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too centralised and local authorities should be the lead on

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assessing flood risk running plans and working with local organisations

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and emergency services and the Environment Agency when flooding

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occurs. That's one of the things that's happened, better some areas

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than others. I spent time in Somerset last year and am quite well

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up on that issue. A large area sits below sea level. We should not be

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talking about flooding elsewhere in the United Kingdom in the context of

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what goes on in Somerset. Should we be more worried about

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agricultural land? 98% is protected, it is a link to present that will be

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affected. Should we be their door. Very often they have is

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sandbags. You mentioned agricultural land.

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There is an interesting debate now about the extent to which we

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incentivise farmers against the sort of ponds and trees that we see in

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the Newbury develop and on their land so that the water has somewhere

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to go and some are to be stored rather than rushing quickly off the

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land into the rivers and the rivers flooding the urban areas. I think

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that's a really good debate to be had.

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Thank you. Bus services are often a lifeline

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for many, especially in rural areas. But a growing number are no longer

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economically viable for the bus companies, which is why councils

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often provide subsidies to keep them running. Except with council budgets

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being pinched, those subsidies are increasingly coming under pressure.

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According to a According to a recent survey by the

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Campaign for Better Transport, unitary council cuts the bus

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subsidy, it doesn't make it big saving from the council's budget.

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The council is spending big money on things like home care for adults,

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education. Bosses are a small thing, but they had a big impact if you cut

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them. A particular service goes and

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someone relies on it. I saw someone talking about this isolation and the

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number of people who leave the house less than once a week, and of the

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bus service goes they have no option, have the?

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One of the things that has made a difference to those people is the

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introduction of the concessionary cavil scheme from 2008

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prioritise those. Southampton is a Labour authority,

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Reading, another Labour priority. Surely this should be readily later

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rather than just letting everyone for their own ways.

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Services used to be centrally controlled and they're now run by

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local authorities. I think they should be accountable to their local

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people for how these things are spent. We are trying to be localised

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and... But you don't add up the benefits

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that other people get. will be reduced. In Gosport, they

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are getting bigger, with 73% residents overweight. The council

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says it is on the case, encouraging GPs to refer people to fitness

:01:12.:01:15.

training. They don't know what they should

:01:16.:01:18.

eat, didn't you how to cook if you give them the money.

:01:19.:01:20.

Portsmouth has a surplus of ministers. Vince Cable visiting the

:01:21.:01:27.

city this week after declaring himself the real Minister for

:01:28.:01:32.

Portsmouth. I have overall response ability.

:01:33.:01:38.

Good news for badgers. Rather than reducing their numbers by culling,

:01:39.:01:43.

rock guitarist Brian May as a plan for vaccination using volunteers,

:01:44.:01:48.

starting out of a century he is establishing in Dorset.

:01:49.:03:24.

starting out of a century he is overheating? All questions over the

:03:25.:03:30.

weekend. Let's look at the politics of the flooding. Let me show you a

:03:31.:03:37.

clip from Eric Pickles, the Communities Secretary, earlier on

:03:38.:03:44.

the BBC this morning. We perhaps relied too much on the Environment

:03:45.:03:50.

Agency's advice. I apologise. I apologise unreservedly and I am

:03:51.:03:54.

really sorry we took the advice of what we thought we were doing was

:03:55.:03:59.

the best. The Environment Agency is being hung

:04:00.:04:02.

the best. The Environment Agency is Government and the Government has

:04:03.:04:03.

taken over Government and the Government has

:04:04.:05:43.

in autumn and then the water runs off the topsoil. You see the

:05:44.:05:48.

pictures of the flooding, it is all topsoil flooding through those

:05:49.:05:53.

towns. What you have got to have in the uplands is some land that can

:05:54.:05:57.

absorb that water and there are really big questions about the way

:05:58.:06:02.

we carry out farming. Chris Smith was meant to appear on the Andrew

:06:03.:06:05.

Marr show this morning, but pulled back at the last minute. There must

:06:06.:06:10.

be doubts as to whether he can survive to the summer. Where is the

:06:11.:06:14.

chief executive of the Environment Agency? I agree with Nick that Chris

:06:15.:06:18.

Smith has been Agency? I agree with Nick that Chris

:06:19.:06:22.

situation. David Cameron went Agency? I agree with Nick that Chris

:06:23.:06:24.

Somerset Levels on Friday for Agency? I agree with Nick that Chris

:06:25.:06:24.

half an hour, Agency? I agree with Nick that Chris

:06:25.:08:03.

in an eye operation, suggested a plan to fix this, they will find a

:08:04.:08:08.

lot of what they want or need to do will be in contravention of European

:08:09.:08:12.

directives. The Wythenshawe by-election. There is no question

:08:13.:08:21.

Labour is going to win, probably incredibly convincingly, one poll

:08:22.:08:26.

showing 60% plus of the vote. It would be surprising if Labour was in

:08:27.:08:32.

any threat up there. The issue is, does UKIP beat the Tories and if so,

:08:33.:08:38.

by how much? The latest poll was showing it in second place as nip

:08:39.:08:40.

and tuck, but the feeling honourable gentleman. Order, the

:08:41.:10:25.

Government Chief Whip has absolutely no business whatsoever shouting from

:10:26.:10:30.

a sedentary position. Order, the honourable gentleman will remain in

:10:31.:10:35.

the chamber. If we could tackle this problem. I say to the honourable

:10:36.:10:43.

member for Bridgwater, be quiet if you cannot be quiet, get out, it is

:10:44.:10:47.

rude, stupid and pompous and it needs to stop. Michael Gove. Order.

:10:48.:10:58.

You really... Order. needs to stop. Michael Gove. Order.

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tabloids. Something is clearly up. I think it is a real shame. I think

:12:45.:12:51.

many of us when he was elected did not think he would make a great

:12:52.:12:55.

speaker and there are people like Douglas Carswell and Tory rebels who

:12:56.:13:00.

have said he is a fantastic speaker. He has given the Commons room to

:13:01.:13:04.

breathe and he has called on ministers to be held to account when

:13:05.:13:09.

they do not want to be. What do you think? He is seen as anti-government

:13:10.:13:14.

and he is pro-backbencher and that is what people do not like. People

:13:15.:13:21.

like Douglas Carswell are actually very strongly in support of him We

:13:22.:13:24.

carry

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