29/01/2012 Sunday Politics West Midlands


29/01/2012

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And in the Midlands: we examine hour manufacturing industry is

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shrinking fast. Figures show during the Labour years, the Midlands

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2019 seconds

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suffered more than anywhere else in Welcome to the Sunday Politics in

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the Midlands with the me Patrick Burns.

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The might of Midland's manufacturing. By wild approval but

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my how we have come down in the world since then.

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I guess this afternoon it Harriett Baldwin and Michael Cashman.

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Chiming in with our opening headline, negative figures on

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economic growth this year. Is there not a sense that looking at it from

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both sides of the water that the euro-zone is getting a lot of the

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blame for our ills? He it is getting the blame but if you look

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back at the contraction in the economy, that occurred in the last

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quarter of 2010 before the euro- zone problems reached their

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pinnacle. What is interesting if the euro-zone is so important why

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it isn't David Cameron getting behind it and coming up with a

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really good and strategic plan for stability of the euro-zone? The use

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of the veto indicated that Britain wants it both ways. It says we want

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a strong euro but we want to protect ourselves in the long term

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and what we need is stability and David Cameron does not understand

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that. You are getting embroiled in the Scottish question of but why on

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earth should your voters in West Worcestershire give a toss about

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what is happening north of the border? Increasingly people asking

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me why is it the case that when we have English legislation in

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Westminster, Scottish MPs can vote on those issues and potentially one

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day that might be critical. For the moment, we will leave the Scots to

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their own devices because our top story. Nine months from now two

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biggest cities could have their own elected mayors. The local

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government minister Greg Clark came to the Midlands last week to

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announce elections will be held in November subject to the outcome of

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May's referendum in Birmingham and Coventry.

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The two cities heading for the polls in May to decide whether they

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want an elected mayor or not. This line-up is hoping they will say yes

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and if they do, the government minister responsible said those

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cities would get to elect their mess before the end of the year but

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no word on what powers they would have. The needs of every city are

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different. What Coventry once may be different from what Birmingham

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once so we will not impose a model. We will say, we tell us what you

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want and we will give you the power was you need to make your city a

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success in the future. One a Birmingham's latest claims to

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success a celebrity chef restaurant with views over a city that is led

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by council leader and Cabinet. An elected mayor would replace the

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system. There were plenty of potential power was on the menu for

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any city that chooses to opt for an elected mayor. Birmingham could

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then go on to decide that its men should have more of a say over

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local transport policy or a over the economic strategy for the city.

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The elected mayor could also choose to have powers over running local

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schools. Critics say that is nothing that councillors cannot do

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already and that the risks of installing an elected mayor are too

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great. I think it would be a worse situation because it concentrates

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powers in one individual and leads to corruption. If people say no in

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May's worth when the, the Government's decision to hold in

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election in November becomes irrelevant.

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Harriet Baldwin, for a conservative Liberal Democrat coalition it would

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not be a work of genius to produce what looks like a new generation of

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powerful Labour figures the way things are going, Birmingham and

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Coventry, elsewhere. Is this a miscalculation? This government is

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committed to handing more power to local communities. The localism Act

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will give a lot more power across that this whole country but for big

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cities like Birmingham, Coventry, city's famous, we did not be great

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if they had a powerful elected spokesperson who could be readily

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identified with that city the way Boris is with the London. Is there

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not an implicit acceptance in your answer that the way things are

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going in big cities, there is a strong likelihood of Labour figures

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emerging? I hope we get Boris re- elected in London in May and there

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is a competitive range of candidates for other cities around

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the country. They may be independents, political parties and

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I think I will be campaigning strongly for the conservative male

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candidates. Are you celebrating the possibility of a new crop of Labour

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figures in big cities? I do not want a Boris figured that takes

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police numbers down and take police of the street but puts up the price

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of transport. What I want is someone that can represent a city

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as brilliant and diverse as Birmingham, but if we look at

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Birmingham in the first instance, I have to say I do not accept John

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Hemmings and view that if you get the balance right and to have a

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Cabinet and a mayor, and you have accountability and responsibility.

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I have to go on record and say that my name was thrown into the hat by

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a newspaper that I would be a candidate. Absolutely not. I have

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one job and that is enough. What do you make of this idea that each

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city will have the scope to determine what powers would be

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accrued by the mayor? Localism in action, we are forcing cities to

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have referendums whereas, the Babel party said, you decide whether you

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want to trigger a referendum. Will the public decide whether they want

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a where and -- a mayor and a manager or will they decide they

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have won something akin to London? Who will make that decision?

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Michael has made this point that the referendum is enforced. I think

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that it is a referendum, people are being asked the question and the

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cities are going to the polls any weight in May, so why not ask this

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additional question at the same time. It did not go world in Stoke.

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They got rid of their elected mayor at the first opportunity. In Stoke

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you had high expectations and they opted for the man and a manager and

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then you get a conflict between councillors who think they should

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have the control and the male office. Conflict in local

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government delivers nothing except disappointment. What will be the

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role of councillors if the you have this powerful figure in the centre?

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Then there would be leader of the council so it would fit in with the

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existing structures. But what if the council is not the same

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political make-up as the mayor? How can he lead that council? We will

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have plenty of opportunity to discuss that but now the sobering

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thought that our part of the country has suffered a bigger slump

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in manufacturing than anywhere else in the UK or. Now a senior Labour

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MP has admitted to this programme that his government did not do

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A new dawn for the UK as the 1997 general election seats Labour into

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power but it was not a new dawn for every one. Things did not get

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better for many of the region's small manufacturing businesses. At

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this firm, the last decade has been a struggle. 0 real roller-coaster

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ride. If we were seeing good years in the outset around 2000, 2001. We

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have seen a gradual decline and some of the major companies that we

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used to supply, they have gone. Coventry has had its fair share of

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big factory closures. This is the sight of the old Peugeot factory.

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It is part of the reason that there has been a big decline in

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manufacturing output over the last 13 years, down 23 %, the biggest

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for any way in the country. Be used to be so different. This footage

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shows a while this it to the Jaguar car plant, but this is what it

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looks like today. An exhibit at Coventry's transport museum

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charting the rise and fall of the city's automotive industry. A good

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place to find out from experts why the decline in manufacturing has

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been worse here. What we saw were Stirling 20 % overvalued, that

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affected our export base. Transport really struggled because of that

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and it meant we saw a run-down in closure of Peugeot. Service

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industries have been beginning. Adviser Garry used to work in a

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double-glazing factory. It is a lot less physical but a lot more

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enjoyable. I am in a much bigger company now with a lot more people

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here. It all begs the question - did the Labour government do enough

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to protect manufacturing jobs? did not. We have to do more and we

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have a different approach for the future. This is a key point.

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Manufacturing companies need access to finance and we have to persuade

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young people that manufacturing has a bright future. Despite the

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recession, employment levels in manufacturing are rising again. It

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is good news for a government that is keen to rebalance the economy.

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Also with us it is the head of strategy at one of the world's

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leading financial firms, Howard Wheldon. We know you are a

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Midlander through and through. When you look at the industrial scene

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here, who do you blame for it? There are a lot of factors. I do

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not think any one single person, party, government is to blame.

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Their rough factors we must take into consideration. You look that

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currencies, cost competitiveness, we have never had a proper

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industrial strategy, not through labour, not through Conservative

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government. That needs to be addressed and we allowed vocational

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training, education in terms of engineering and manufacturing to

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sink to a note which was unacceptable. We have to go to the

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bottom and start again. A couple of comments that have arisen. They

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blame the city. Over the last 30 years, at the behest of the city of

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London, short-termism UK industry has shipped manufacturing jobs to

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China. An over-reliance on London and on finances has slewed

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Investment said everything seems London focus. I completely agree

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with the major sentiments expressed. The city does take a lot of

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responsibility. Short-termism which began in the late 1970s and groove

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as the city of London got ever stronger and while our competitors,

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Germany and France, did not take that sort of attitude. They are

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taking it now but they did not take it back then. The city does bear a

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responsibility. We have to think long-term, long-term investment and

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research and development. The key to any manufacturing success is

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research and development. We have to escape -- persuade government to

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put bought in. What would you say it is the challenge of leadership

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for our political leaders? challenge is not to say, do what to

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say but what they express their view. Labour had not done enough.

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do not agree. It is so easy to say be did not do enough. All

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governments do what they can. Many factors are outside of our control.

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Instead we saw outsourcing in the ceramics industry. It is not

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interested in conditions or other things. Are you saying the ceramics

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industry did not raise their game to face that competition? We did

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not have the skills base and that goes back to the 1970s recession

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and the following recessions. We did not invest in the skills that

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made us the most attractive place to make it. The ball in terms of

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being in government is in your court now and to talk about

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enterprise zones, apprenticeships, but in the scale of events we are

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talking about it does not seem enough? This is a government that

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wants to see a country that makes think again. We are beginning to

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see that employment in the West Midlands is beginning to bottom out

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and increase. It seems very thin that we are turning the corner at

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the moment. It has been declining for a long time. It declined in the

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era where a government in the boom times was able to sit back and see

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the tax revenues coming in and not think about the need to rebalance

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the economy. We invested in this region, we invested in youth skills.

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We went from 68,000 apprenticeships in the year to nearly 300,000 and

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that is what I mean, people kept saying, we cannot make it here

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because it is higher productivity, manufacturing has changed. In the

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old days you could pile of Labour in there but the skills that are

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needed now are very different. totally agree we have to invest in

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skills. We will not be able to complete wed the labour is cheaper.

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We have to focus on high and manufacturing and there were signs

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that with the relocation of things like Jaguar and Land Rover that

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that is beginning to happen. celebrate the Jaguar and Land Rover

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and the engine plant but the key challenge for the supply chain that

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we talk about a lot is to cornerback share of the market

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rather than see the components... We have become very good and Gen

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Iraq -- Jaguar make a lot of its components here in the UK but too

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many companies are bringing in the components in from overseas and

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literally blowing the cars together. One example of that is the maker of

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the London taxis. The components are coming in from overseas, that

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is the sort of thing we have to try and reverse, so we need to put more

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energy into the supply base. quick yes no answer from each a

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view, is there enough of the manufacturing industry left to turn

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it around? Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you for coming and the dressing and

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import -- important part of the issue.

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In just 60 seconds, a political round-up. Shayne O'Connor begins

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his summing up with the sign of the On the breadline and going hungry

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in Coventry, charity worker say one in five are living in poverty and

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it will get worse if welfare reforms go through.

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How many council workers does it take to mend a pothole? A small

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army took to Staffordshire's roads as part of a �20 million programme

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using money saved from closing back offices. We are doing it because

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the public wanted. They want their roads back to a decent condition.

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First did was Help For Heroes now it is Help For Heroes families. And

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eight in bed centre is planned for Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth

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Hospital so relatives of injured soldiers can spend more time with

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their loved ones. Overseas aid a hit record levels at

:53:09.:53:13.

Birmingham's Islamic charity after famine was declared in Somalia for

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stop and financial pressures are being blamed for cuts in five

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kidney dialysis centres but the firm running them has been accused

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of putting profit before care. We know that the University

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Hospital in Birmingham is in talks on that day Ellis's issue so maybe

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there will be some further development on it. This will feel

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like an NHS cut to those patients. A budgets have gone up in the NHS

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this year but there were still more who need to use the services. In my

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neck of the woods in Worcestershire, they are beginning to think about

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how they can best structure care so it is delivered efficiency and in a

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way that is focusing on the quality for patients. A small army of

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people mending the pot holes in Staffordshire. This is a textbook

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example of the government getting those efficiency savings out of the

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back office and making use of it. Brilliant and I want to see more.

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When it gets to elections, you are Overton voted in or out whether

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bins are emptied, whether a pot holes are dealt with. The more we

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deliver locally the more politics can X and I think all of the main

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parties would want that and love that and we would see a reduction

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in extremis that have been sadly elected to represent our -- us in

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the European Parliament. A quick word from each, what are you all

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getting up to in Europe next week? I hope I will be talking about a

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