:01:27. > :01:31.In the Midlands: tracking down at the true impact of the hunting ban.
:01:31. > :01:41.It was 2000 and fauna became illegal, hammy people have broken
:01:41. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :30:19.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1717 seconds
:30:19. > :30:28.the law since then? -- how many 2004 who is going to be the cunning
:30:29. > :30:33.fox here, Martin Horwood is the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham.
:30:33. > :30:40.You were environment spokesman for your party. Over the past few days,
:30:40. > :30:46.we have heard that the tariffs for people putting solar equipment on
:30:46. > :30:54.their houses is going to be reduced by half. The Conservatives are
:30:54. > :31:00.arguing for big cuts. That is nonsense. The tariffs were
:31:00. > :31:04.being reduced anyway. The cost of the solar panels was reducing. What
:31:04. > :31:10.the government are committed to doing is having a system which is
:31:10. > :31:15.more sensitive for the price of the solar panel, so you don't have the
:31:15. > :31:24.sudden drops, of whatever degree, and we have a system that is more
:31:24. > :31:32.sensitive for the actual cost. are a former committee secretary,
:31:32. > :31:37.George Osborne said we must tackle this anti- business culture feeling.
:31:37. > :31:41.Surely Cardow both ways? understand that we need to bring
:31:41. > :31:45.private investment into the country. It is only going to be private
:31:45. > :31:55.investors that are going to get us out of this mess. We need to
:31:55. > :31:58.declare on that. We need to be tough on the banks, but also fair.
:31:59. > :32:06.I don't think we should be getting too far involved in trying to tell
:32:06. > :32:10.people how to run their companies. That has sharpened things up a bit.
:32:10. > :32:18.Our top story: the crisis in the High Street. Some of the biggest a
:32:18. > :32:26.vacancy rates are in a stoker and Walhampton. They are sharing a big
:32:26. > :32:32.regeneration fund. Is that enough to restore the fortunes?
:32:32. > :32:37.The government's shops the guru, Mary Portas, on a recent visit to
:32:37. > :32:41.Birmingham. There is very little she doesn't know about running
:32:41. > :32:47.shops on the High Street. She has tried to find ways of reinventing
:32:47. > :32:57.them. I am looking at issues that are facing retailers. It is not an
:32:57. > :32:59.
:32:59. > :33:09.easy task. In this region, the worsted -- the worst affected is in
:33:09. > :33:13.
:33:13. > :33:18.the Black Country. The figures are: the alternative is to go for
:33:18. > :33:24.something of a higher brim. It is forcing some retailers to go
:33:24. > :33:28.online instead. People are finding the on line, because they are
:33:29. > :33:33.looking for something specific. I may as well not be on the High
:33:33. > :33:38.Street. My outgoings, purely for keeping this shop going, are very
:33:39. > :33:48.high. For those that remain, the recession has been tough. Many
:33:49. > :33:50.
:33:50. > :33:54.shops are going out of business, independent shops are hardest hit.
:33:54. > :34:04.We're getting some good deals with suppliers, we need to latch on to
:34:04. > :34:09.that. With retail sales falling last month, the crisis in the High
:34:09. > :34:18.Street is not getting better. At least, there is now a recognition
:34:18. > :34:20.that something is to be done to to affect their survival.
:34:20. > :34:30.Councils in the Midlands say they are definitely bidding for that
:34:30. > :34:36.funding. Karen, Redditch is a suitable case for treatment, it is
:34:36. > :34:43.a drop in the bucket. Just �80,000 for each of these places, just a
:34:43. > :34:47.lick of paint? I see it as a starting point. We need to get to
:34:47. > :34:51.the end of this game. There are a lot of councils that are bidding
:34:51. > :34:58.forehead. If it was just a drop in the ocean, they would not bother
:34:58. > :35:08.bidding. We need to make sure that the regenerate the town.
:35:08. > :35:11.
:35:11. > :35:15.minister says it is a golden tickets, come off its! There is a
:35:15. > :35:19.major problem, and this is a cosmetic gimmick. It is a major
:35:19. > :35:23.problem. People will always go to out-of-town shops, they will always
:35:23. > :35:27.use the internet. We need to regenerate our high street. It
:35:28. > :35:31.needs to be a more community culture, cafes, if people coming
:35:31. > :35:36.into the town and doing things they want to do. That is not happening
:35:36. > :35:46.at the moment. We are seeing a place without RMT shops. That needs
:35:46. > :35:54.
:35:54. > :35:57.to change, we need to regenerated. -- a place with boarded up shops.
:35:57. > :36:04.There are so much money been withdrawn from the economy, there
:36:04. > :36:09.is no spending power left. People are spending. It is the pattern of
:36:09. > :36:13.spending. One of the things that Mary Portas pointed out, is that
:36:13. > :36:21.councils have the powers already to support local businesses, but they
:36:21. > :36:27.are not always doing it. For the impression of Conservatives being
:36:27. > :36:36.pro-business, it is the Conservative council that is
:36:36. > :36:41.damaging businesses in Cheltenham by putting up parking. There are
:36:41. > :36:45.out-of-town developments which could damage the High Street.
:36:45. > :36:53.thing the government could do is reversed the hike on VAT. That was
:36:53. > :37:01.a particularly difficult one for your party to stomach? We are not
:37:01. > :37:06.great fans of VAT. We prefer income tax. Not many retailers would say
:37:06. > :37:11.that VAT is the crucial issue. The coalition has spent a lot of effort
:37:11. > :37:16.sorting out the mess from the last government. Your coalition partner
:37:16. > :37:21.is not still very happy about VAT, and the effects that it dampens
:37:21. > :37:29.demand? We all knew, when we came into power, that there was a
:37:29. > :37:37.serious problem. We have to address that. -- we had to address that. If
:37:37. > :37:41.we have had to make some difficult decisions. There are issues about
:37:41. > :37:49.parking, parking cars, his will be difficult to make it an attractive
:37:49. > :37:52.proposition? It is there to be done. In Redditch, we are seeing the
:37:52. > :37:56.council tried to make the High Street attractive, we need to get
:37:56. > :38:03.investors in, if to make it a community place. Thank you very
:38:03. > :38:07.much. Let's move on. The Sunday Politics investigation has revealed
:38:07. > :38:15.that only one prosecution has been made under the Hunting Act since it
:38:15. > :38:24.has been brought into force four years ago. This was a Freedom of
:38:24. > :38:29.Information request. Warwickshire's Boxing Day hunt, the
:38:29. > :38:34.biggest date in the hunting calendar. It might not look like
:38:34. > :38:39.anything has changed, but these pounds are following a pre- laid a
:38:39. > :38:44.trail, rather than closing in on a fox. Seven years ago, the Hunting
:38:44. > :38:51.Act made it illegal to hunt wild animals using dogs. This was their
:38:51. > :38:57.MP pave the way with his private member's bill. Parliament was
:38:57. > :39:04.invaded by protesters, but eventually it became law. I have
:39:04. > :39:10.certified the hunting Bill. At the time there were serious fears that
:39:10. > :39:13.the ban would cause lasting damage to the country economy. Reports
:39:13. > :39:19.have shown that hunting is more popular now than when the ban was
:39:19. > :39:28.introduced. About 45,000 people hunt in the UK, that is up by
:39:28. > :39:33.around topper cent. -- 12%. If hunting is more popular, why bother
:39:33. > :39:37.with the boat? We want to get back to how we were before. I'm
:39:37. > :39:42.confident that when the time is right they will do it. MPs will see
:39:42. > :39:50.that this law is a complete waste of time. They will repeal it.
:39:50. > :39:54.have been more than 180 convictions under the Hunting Act since 2005.
:39:54. > :40:00.There has only been one prosecution, he when Warwickshire, back in 2006.
:40:00. > :40:06.It was not for fox hunting, it was for hare-coursing. Campaigners
:40:06. > :40:11.insist that the law is working. are very happy with the law. If you
:40:11. > :40:16.look at the number of convictions, it proves that it is working. We
:40:16. > :40:22.continue to campaign, and work with police forces to provide
:40:22. > :40:28.enforcement, add to help capture evidence. -- and to help capture.
:40:28. > :40:34.The coalition are promised a fee -- the coalition has promised a free
:40:34. > :40:38.vote on the act, but does the coalition won this to be an issue
:40:38. > :40:43.when the country is facing a serious crisis. The rusty
:40:43. > :40:51.prioritise something that is not a top priority -- for us to
:40:52. > :41:01.prioritise something., that is wrong. Is very serious political
:41:01. > :41:07.will to pursue this? -- is there. Joining us his Jim Barrington, he
:41:07. > :41:17.is a former director of the League Against Cruel Sports. He has now
:41:17. > :41:19.
:41:19. > :41:26.changed his mind, and his looking towards re legalising hunting.
:41:26. > :41:31.I have kept my eye on animal welfare, and it is fairly simple
:41:31. > :41:41.that this act is not doing anything to help animal-welfare. Judges,
:41:41. > :41:45.police, even Tony Blair, if you look at it it is a rubbish piece of
:41:46. > :41:50.legislation. They should be repealed. You're looking at more
:41:50. > :41:55.effective legislation. What would that be? Every law should start
:41:55. > :42:00.with a principle. The principle should be stopping suffering to any
:42:00. > :42:10.mammal, but you cannot leap and say, let ban hunting, and everything
:42:10. > :42:17.
:42:17. > :42:27.will be fine. -- let's ban hunting. You are an animal welfare experts,
:42:27. > :42:41.
:42:41. > :42:48.but many people say it is just crawl. -- it is very cruel.
:42:48. > :42:52.You oppose hunting. Have you changed your mind? Not out off. The
:42:52. > :43:02.idea that Parliament would reopen that divisive debate when we had
:43:02. > :43:03.
:43:03. > :43:07.more important things to talk about. The law is an ass. Opponents of the
:43:07. > :43:10.hunting ban said this would have an apocalyptic affect on the
:43:10. > :43:19.countryside, all about social activity would disappear, and this
:43:20. > :43:29.would cause unemployment and ravage the ruler -- the rural economy.
:43:30. > :43:32.
:43:32. > :43:38.That is nonsense. Where you stand on this? I would. I take the view
:43:38. > :43:44.that Jim takes. People out there in the country would be horrified if
:43:44. > :43:47.before the bad Breen that at the moment. -- if we thought about
:43:47. > :43:55.bring that back at the moment. There are many more important
:43:55. > :44:04.things on the cards. 80% of people in the public reportedly support
:44:04. > :44:13.the Bill. Someone who has written into our
:44:13. > :44:19.says that it needs its loopholes in -- loopholes works on. Someone else
:44:19. > :44:22.said it was a bad law, and should be taken off the statute. It is
:44:22. > :44:31.culturally divisive, and unenforceable. What we make of
:44:32. > :44:36.that? The they had decade to get this right. They still got it wrong.
:44:36. > :44:39.Millions of pounds was spent getting is on the statute, millions
:44:39. > :44:44.more have been spent in the courts, and not one penny has been spent to
:44:44. > :44:48.see what the effect is on animal welfare. If you are genuinely
:44:48. > :44:54.opposed to hunting and cruelty, you should be prepared to see what
:44:54. > :45:01.result this law has done. I'm all for spending money on research. But
:45:01. > :45:06.we don't normally abandon laws that we can't get to work absolutely
:45:06. > :45:09.perfectly. Many laws have taken a decade to get right, if battle, if
:45:09. > :45:15.that doesn't mean you should just give up and repeal them. That is
:45:15. > :45:23.the argument we are hearing. Conservative Party would give a
:45:23. > :45:28.free vote. We are not even two ears into the parliament. At the end of
:45:28. > :45:37.the day, as we have said earlier, there are far more pressing matters.
:45:37. > :45:47.Do you expect a go at any time soon? No. -- de you expect a boat
:45:47. > :45:47.
:45:47. > :45:52.any time soon. A I don't think it is a priority. We are struggling to
:45:52. > :45:58.get more important part of the agreement through. We have a log
:45:58. > :46:04.jam of legislation out there. don't think any of our constituents
:46:04. > :46:11.would be wanting that. What you think would be the effect of a free
:46:11. > :46:17.vote? It is very tight. It is a simple fact. Now is not the time to
:46:17. > :46:21.do it. This issue will not go away, there are people who feel that this
:46:21. > :46:28.debate, the scientific evidence, and their own opinions has been
:46:28. > :46:33.brushed aside. Let's go back to principles, let had a law that
:46:33. > :46:43.protects animals. Thank you very much. Time for our headlong gallop
:46:43. > :46:44.
:46:44. > :46:48.into the political minefield. Just over 60 seconds.
:46:48. > :46:53.It may have been be me on the weather front, but the long-term
:46:53. > :46:57.outlook for Birmingham Airport is bright. Justine Greening has backed
:46:58. > :47:00.expansion, which could take passengers away from London. In the
:47:00. > :47:08.time that it might take them to pop on the Piccadilly line, they might
:47:08. > :47:15.be able to head on high-speed away to Birmingham -- high-speed rail to
:47:15. > :47:23.Birmingham. Not any museum has had a makeover by London 2012. --
:47:23. > :47:26.Nottingham easier. The Chief Constable of Midlands police has
:47:26. > :47:30.admitted that some frontline staff are being used to cover office jobs
:47:30. > :47:34.on a temporary basis. At a homeless charity in Birmingham has warned
:47:34. > :47:41.that changes to housing benefits could push some people out of their
:47:41. > :47:51.homes. Four men from Stoke had been given a lengthy jail terms for
:47:51. > :47:57.plotting terror attacks. Those young men radicalised in this
:47:57. > :48:02.country, meantime, Abu Qatada remains in Long Lartin prison. Not
:48:02. > :48:06.for much longer, apparently. This is an area of huge concern for the
:48:06. > :48:13.public, and yet politicians, collectively, seemed to be able to
:48:13. > :48:21.do nothing. -- see me to be able to do nothing. We are trying to do
:48:21. > :48:27.something. I firmly believe that we should be supporting this gentleman.
:48:27. > :48:30.We should be put him back on a plane. I'm not sure about the port
:48:30. > :48:35.in people. Maybe it is better to keep them in this country and keep
:48:35. > :48:38.an eye on them. The reason we did the poor to some countries, and why
:48:38. > :48:48.the European Court has made the rolling, is because some countries
:48:48. > :48:49.
:48:49. > :48:58.practise torture. -- has made a ruling. We should not be colluding
:48:58. > :49:04.in legal systems that use torture. Also in the round-up, Birmingham
:49:04. > :49:10.Airport, it is a huge part of the aviation strategy. I am hoping, I
:49:10. > :49:14.push for the airport at every opportunity, I used it very often,
:49:14. > :49:23.I'm a big fan of high-speed rail, it is going to be just as quick to
:49:23. > :49:32.get to Birmingham. Good news for Birmingham. Better here than London.
:49:32. > :49:37.We need to stop the air habit. interesting debate between the