:01:33. > :01:42.Sunday Politics Wales, the latest from the scene of the Midwest
:01:43. > :01:43.
:01:43. > :30:08.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1705 seconds
:30:08. > :30:12.floods. We look at homes and Hello, I'm Aled ap Dafydd and
:30:12. > :30:15.coming up on the Sunday Politics Wales... We'll get the very latest
:30:15. > :30:18.from mid Wales as the clear-up begins following the devastating
:30:18. > :30:21.floods on Friday night. If you're old enough, you're good enough. We
:30:21. > :30:24.talk to some of our youngest politicians hoping to reshape local
:30:24. > :30:26.Government. My guests, still young at heart, are the Liberal Democrat
:30:26. > :30:30.MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, Roger Williams and the Conservative
:30:30. > :30:38.MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, Alun Cairns. I'll speak to them in a
:30:38. > :30:43.moment. But first, let's get the latest on the flood. People are
:30:43. > :30:47.being warned that the danger is not over yet. Emergency services have
:30:47. > :30:51.said that the risk is still dangerously high and a clean-up
:30:51. > :30:56.operation is underway. People are sifting through the wreckage after
:30:56. > :31:00.hundreds of properties were damaged by floodwater. Residents had been
:31:00. > :31:08.asked to seek expert help for gas, electric and structural plumbing
:31:08. > :31:18.work. People had to be made to safety. Here is our correspondent.
:31:18. > :31:18.
:31:18. > :31:22.-- move it. -- moved. The operation is still ongoing. Officers are
:31:23. > :31:27.pumping water out of this House. One foot of water had got inside
:31:27. > :31:32.and it has now been reduced to two inches. Many people are helping
:31:32. > :31:37.here and they have come across the country. They have been working
:31:37. > :31:42.tirelessly for three days, day and night. Yesterday we saw that the
:31:42. > :31:47.scenes were devastating across Ceredigion. Five inches of rain
:31:47. > :31:51.water fell in 24 hours. Streets were covered in water and towns and
:31:52. > :31:56.villages were affected. Caravan parks where people had to be
:31:57. > :32:00.airlifted to safety were affected. People are counting the cost of the
:32:00. > :32:08.damage this morning. They are sifting through the mess. I have
:32:08. > :32:13.been joined by Angela Francis from the fire and West -- Andrew Francis
:32:13. > :32:17.from the fire and rescue service. We have carried out all the rescue
:32:17. > :32:22.phases yesterday. Now it is time to help the community to get back on
:32:23. > :32:28.its feet. We have got a lot of pumping operations on going this
:32:28. > :32:33.morning. We saw many of the rivers burst their banks on Friday night
:32:33. > :32:42.and Saturday. They have reduced slightly but the danger is not over,
:32:42. > :32:45.is it? Indeed. The flooded rivers are very fast-flowing and very
:32:45. > :32:52.dangerous for anybody going near them and I am appealing to the
:32:52. > :32:57.public to stay away because they can end up being casualties and
:32:57. > :33:01.requiring rescue. We had seen caravans damaged and homes damaged
:33:01. > :33:07.and roads. It will be a massive operation getting the community
:33:07. > :33:16.back on its feet, well it's not? Yes, but we have got plans in place.
:33:16. > :33:22.We are working on them as we speak and that includes utilities to help
:33:22. > :33:26.people get back to normal as quickly as possible. The emergency
:33:26. > :33:29.services have been praised for their valiant efforts to prevent
:33:29. > :33:36.disruption and they are working hard today but it was not just the
:33:36. > :33:42.fire service, but the police, and rescue helicopters and the RNLI.
:33:42. > :33:47.have got plans and we have trained for that and we have even had help
:33:47. > :33:53.from the RSPCA. The communities have pulled together and they are
:33:53. > :33:58.clearing up the roads. Thank you for giving us your time today, we
:33:58. > :34:07.know you are a very busy man. That is it for now but we will have a
:34:07. > :34:13.Thank you very much indeed. What do my guests have to say about the
:34:13. > :34:21.flood? Your constituency has been affected. What stories have come
:34:21. > :34:25.back to you? We have heard from people living close by to be
:34:25. > :34:30.studying. It is not just the depth but the rate that the water was
:34:30. > :34:37.flowing. People have really rallied around and businesses have provided
:34:37. > :34:44.shelter and food. Everything is being done. But we must emphasise
:34:44. > :34:47.that the insurance companies have reacted quickly. Some people have
:34:47. > :34:57.said, ring me back on Monday Taliban and that is not a bit of
:34:57. > :34:58.
:34:58. > :35:04.good. We have heard -- call me back on Monday and that is not good. Is
:35:04. > :35:08.it anything be Welsh government can do? I think so because it
:35:08. > :35:14.demonstrates the need for co- ordination. I think the Prime
:35:14. > :35:19.Minister has to be pressed and he has called the minister on a
:35:19. > :35:25.proactive basis and asked what he could do. I saw the First Minister
:35:25. > :35:28.last night. It sometimes takes the direction at somebody like the
:35:28. > :35:35.Prime Minister, to the fire service and to the police forces in order
:35:35. > :35:43.to make changes and happily that did happen. Has this flood come a
:35:43. > :35:49.bit under the radar? Ceredigion has been ranked as a flood list but
:35:49. > :35:54.ranked 16th in the top 22. Has there been a danger this might
:35:54. > :35:58.happen? I think this area has been the victim of exceptional
:35:58. > :36:03.circumstances. We had seen the situation in Cornwall and the
:36:03. > :36:08.Midlands recently. All these areas need to have flood resilience
:36:08. > :36:14.looked at again. And in particular, the Environment Agency must look at
:36:14. > :36:18.this area and see if anything can be done to prevent another disaster.
:36:19. > :36:21.We will leave if there for now. It is often said that young people are
:36:22. > :36:24.turned off by party politics, that they might get behind single issue
:36:24. > :36:26.campaigns, but not the more conventional methods of public
:36:27. > :36:32.decision-making. But a crop of new young councillors was in amongst
:36:32. > :36:35.the 1200 or so elected in Wales last month. The youngest councillor
:36:35. > :36:38.in Wales and the youngest council cabinet member have been telling
:36:38. > :36:45.Adrian Browne how they hope to blow away some of the cobwebs in local
:36:46. > :36:51.government. Meet the new face of Welsh local government. Jessica
:36:51. > :36:56.Crook was elected to council last month, aged 18. She is the youngest
:36:56. > :37:04.county councillor in Wales and one of the youngest in the UK. I met
:37:04. > :37:10.her in the surroundings of this castle. She represents Labour.
:37:10. > :37:15.is not just one sort of person that I represent in my ward. I want to
:37:15. > :37:20.bring a fresh look at things. I want to bring a fresh perspective.
:37:20. > :37:25.I want to blow out cobwebs slightly. How do you get on with other
:37:26. > :37:34.councillors that are a bit older? Completely blind. I am not the sort
:37:34. > :37:38.of person to be intimidated. -- completely fine. We are all doing
:37:38. > :37:43.our best. Everybody is doing their best and I certainly am to help the
:37:43. > :37:46.people that had elected us. internship with a Welsh MP
:37:47. > :37:51.encouraged her to go to party meetings and become increasingly
:37:51. > :37:58.active in local politics. It is something she heads of young people
:37:58. > :38:02.will consider it. I think it is very young people that can look at
:38:02. > :38:08.politics and think it does not affect them. But of course it does
:38:08. > :38:15.affect them. The councils are in charge of licensing and what would
:38:15. > :38:19.you think about pubs closing before 11? They need to understand and
:38:19. > :38:24.should be involved. Not necessarily involved, but be aware and have an
:38:24. > :38:28.open mind that politics does affect them and everyone. From the
:38:28. > :38:33.youngest councillor, to demand that politics understands is the
:38:33. > :38:37.youngest council Cabinet member in Wales and England. Mitchell Theaker
:38:37. > :38:43.is 21 and is promoting children and young people in the Labour
:38:43. > :38:47.administration in Swansea. I think all of the party should really look
:38:47. > :38:51.at issues and engage with young people and make them realise that
:38:51. > :38:56.politics is a very good thing if you care about social justice. If
:38:56. > :39:01.you care about making a difference in the world, it is easy to get
:39:01. > :39:07.involved to begin with. Obviously you have to work incredibly hard to
:39:08. > :39:14.move up, but it is just about having a passion. If it is in
:39:14. > :39:17.politics or anything, if you work hard, you can achieve. It is a
:39:17. > :39:21.celebration of youth, where the children's commissioner Keith
:39:21. > :39:24.Towler spent much at last week, in this village, he is hoping more
:39:24. > :39:31.people will build on experience at school councils and youth forums to
:39:31. > :39:34.become more involved in their communities. I have been met with
:39:34. > :39:38.some young people that are putting themselves forward. Some people did
:39:38. > :39:43.not get elected but they are very animated about why parks are
:39:43. > :39:48.important to children and they are very passionate. That will help
:39:48. > :39:51.councils in the broader sense understand that parks are important.
:39:51. > :39:54.It is great young people can have an active part to play in the
:39:54. > :40:02.community and it is fantastic that they can help strip policies for
:40:02. > :40:06.the future. Children are the future. -- shape policies. Efforts have
:40:07. > :40:13.long been made to encourage more diversity in the Welsh councils, to
:40:13. > :40:16.make them a reflection of light outside. It is hoped 2012 is the
:40:16. > :40:23.year when a local public life in Wales began edging closer to the
:40:23. > :40:27.edge of the people -- age of the people that it seeks to represent.
:40:27. > :40:30.It is a great way to impact on individuals. If you are therefore
:40:30. > :40:39.the right reasons and you have got passion, I did not think anything
:40:39. > :40:44.What do my guests make of that? Can I say that I did not want teenagers
:40:44. > :40:49.making decisions and played devil's advocate? These are people barely
:40:49. > :40:55.old enough to drink, drive and have not got a mortgage. What life
:40:55. > :41:03.experience do they have? That is exactly the point. They are old
:41:03. > :41:07.enough to pay tax. Barely. But they probably have! What we really need
:41:07. > :41:13.to do is to get more people in council and encourage people to get
:41:13. > :41:16.involved. We want them to show that they can make a difference. I was
:41:16. > :41:22.interested to see that somebody doing work experience and
:41:22. > :41:25.internships have now gone on the into council. You can really get a
:41:25. > :41:30.feel of the thing and that you can make a difference and you can
:41:30. > :41:36.spread that net wider. We have had a decline in political party
:41:36. > :41:44.membership. Possibly that is a symptom of falling turnout in local
:41:44. > :41:50.elections. Is that a reflection on politicians and political parties,
:41:50. > :41:54.rather than the enthusiasm of young people? I think it is probably
:41:54. > :42:00.about how politicians have engaged. I think we have had a cultural
:42:00. > :42:03.shift. A couple of weeks ago I had 11 year olds in a meeting in
:42:03. > :42:07.Parliament and it was an effort for them. But when I went back
:42:07. > :42:12.afterwards, they had questions and they were well-informed and it is
:42:12. > :42:16.about catching the imagination at that age from secondary school and
:42:16. > :42:25.then by the time they get away team, they know what they want and they
:42:25. > :42:29.can express themselves. -- get to the age of 18. I am happy to have
:42:29. > :42:33.the debate about lowering the voting age but I do not think that
:42:33. > :42:38.will resolve the problems at the moment. But if you one of the
:42:38. > :42:45.opinion that people at the age of 18 are old enough to make an adult
:42:45. > :42:50.decision, cannot people did that at 16? I am happy to have that debate.
:42:50. > :42:54.I am not absolutely opposed. Many people think it might be the silver
:42:54. > :42:58.bullet that makes the difference. But we have got to have a cultural
:42:58. > :43:04.difference from the 10 and 11 year olds that came to Parliament and
:43:04. > :43:07.the Assembly. That makes it easier for young people to engage. I think
:43:07. > :43:13.politicians should take that approach as well in terms of
:43:13. > :43:19.attracting schoolchildren. It is about the general debate and using
:43:19. > :43:24.language and advocacy skills. we not got a problem about
:43:25. > :43:28.diversity? It is not about eight lost young generation? It is about
:43:28. > :43:38.a lack of people engaged in politics, especially elected
:43:38. > :43:43.
:43:43. > :43:48.politics. You represent the stereotype, dare I say?! You are
:43:48. > :43:54.quite right. I think all the parties are striving to get more
:43:54. > :43:58.people right across the spectrum into positions, elected positions.
:43:59. > :44:06.Kirsty Williams really did provide a role model for young women to
:44:06. > :44:12.aspire to. Is it not true also that some younger people would behave
:44:12. > :44:16.far better than some MPs, dare I say? John Bercow has said that
:44:16. > :44:21.people that heckle the Prime Minister should be compared to
:44:21. > :44:28.juvenile delinquents and has described them negatively. Are we
:44:28. > :44:31.talking about not having the right temperament? That has always been
:44:31. > :44:41.shown on television. But if you look at a parliamentary debate,
:44:41. > :44:46.they can be quite well-informed. But what about turn out? I think if
:44:46. > :44:50.at any time anybody wants to come to Parliament, it is often during
:44:50. > :44:55.Prime Minister's Questions. I think people enjoy that but we have got
:44:55. > :44:59.to have a balance. They need to see engagement and a well-informed
:44:59. > :45:04.debate with some of the world experts that have really taken the
:45:04. > :45:12.debate to another level on all sides. That is almost a non-party
:45:12. > :45:19.political debate. A question for a Liberal Democrats, if you change
:45:19. > :45:23.the voting system, if it was not first past the post and it was more
:45:23. > :45:29.representational, would you possibly see a bigger proportion of
:45:29. > :45:32.people participating? I think he would and I think it is important
:45:32. > :45:41.that young people do have the opportunity to participate. We have
:45:41. > :45:45.got evidence that if you were born on the wrong side of the level and
:45:45. > :45:50.you do not vote immediately, you can get out of the habit of voting.
:45:50. > :45:52.Getting people to take part at an early age will encourage
:45:52. > :46:00.participation not just in voting but involvement with political
:46:00. > :46:10.parties. We must move on. Time now for a quick look back at some of
:46:10. > :46:11.
:46:11. > :46:16.the political stories of the week The First Minister and his
:46:16. > :46:22.presiding officer were at St Paul's Cathedral for the Queen's Diamond
:46:22. > :46:26.Jubilee service. Ed Miliband defended England and the rest of
:46:26. > :46:31.the UK and said that people can have more than one identity and
:46:31. > :46:35.that there was no problem with being British and Welsh. His Welsh
:46:35. > :46:40.counterpart said he did not answer any questions on the UK's future
:46:40. > :46:47.constitutional position of. This MP said that he was left bruised and
:46:47. > :46:54.battered after a wrestling match. He lost his seat in 2010 and lasted
:46:54. > :47:01.two minutes against a professional fighter. This Welsh member said he
:47:01. > :47:07.was disappointed with the plans for this football club but he said that
:47:07. > :47:16.he felt plea was substituted for red. Ready steady Cook will be that
:47:16. > :47:23.Minister, this programme in I suppose the thing that was
:47:23. > :47:28.running through that was identity. After the jubilee celebrations and
:47:28. > :47:31.Ed Miliband saying that we can feel British and English, or Welsh, do
:47:32. > :47:38.you feel any different now after the celebrations than you did
:47:38. > :47:42.before? Not really because I think people living in devolved nations
:47:42. > :47:49.tend to be quite relaxed about these things and can see themselves
:47:49. > :47:55.as being Welsh and British. And some of my friends in Europe feel
:47:55. > :47:59.like that as well. It is not a real problem. We have seen on Twitter
:47:59. > :48:09.when we had the celebrations on gearing, a lot of people said that
:48:09. > :48:14.they did not feel British. -- on going. That might be with some
:48:14. > :48:19.individuals. But certainly be feel that we had that we can cause to
:48:19. > :48:26.celebrate all the nations of the UK and the identity of being British.
:48:26. > :48:34.I was delighted when I saw so many Welsh dragons and flags on the Mall
:48:34. > :48:40.and the concert. I think it is an important point. People were happy
:48:40. > :48:44.to see the Welsh dragon alongside the Union flag. But if the state
:48:44. > :48:48.George Cross had been shown, I think some of the Welsh might have
:48:48. > :48:52.taken exception to that. We are comfortable sharing our own and the
:48:52. > :49:01.Union flag but when the English like his weight, we get a bit
:49:01. > :49:05.twitchy. Some people do not think identity is all that important.
:49:05. > :49:09.That the change of colour from blue to red is not important. But will
:49:09. > :49:15.that be important in your constituency? It is commercial,
:49:15. > :49:21.obviously. We have to take that into account. Much of that will
:49:21. > :49:25.depend on what the fans do. The loyal ones will probably refuse to
:49:25. > :49:29.buy the red shirts and that will persist. It is a commercial
:49:29. > :49:34.interest that has wanted a change as well as people being
:49:34. > :49:38.superstitious about red being a lucky colour. But as soon as big
:49:38. > :49:43.money is involved in football, this is what you get, where plants and
:49:43. > :49:49.priorities sometimes change. Thank you very much indeed for your