:01:44. > :01:49.In the Midlands, a foretaste of the dish to be served up in this year's
:01:49. > :01:59.budget. We go to Shropshire to find out what one leading at business
:01:59. > :01:59.
:01:59. > :30:36.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1717 seconds
:30:36. > :30:44.Here with me today, the Conservative MP for Bromsgrove,
:30:45. > :30:50.George Osborne's parliamentary private secretary. Also, the Nikkei
:30:50. > :31:00.Sinclair, elected three years ago as I you kept MP but our region's
:31:00. > :31:01.
:31:01. > :31:05.independent voice. -- UKIP. Do you feel your constituency let him know
:31:05. > :31:12.just how tough it is a out there for thousands of people under his
:31:12. > :31:15.cuts? I expect my constituents always make sure I know what their
:31:15. > :31:24.concerns are. To the extent they are concerned, they will not shy
:31:24. > :31:26.away. We have heard reports of arguments going on in the coalition
:31:26. > :31:34.among the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. What is the truth of
:31:34. > :31:39.that? I think the truth is that because there is a coalition, we
:31:39. > :31:43.expect a bit more to and fro than an a single-party government. What
:31:43. > :31:48.I hear from people on the streets is that they have been pleasantly
:31:48. > :31:53.surprised by just how well the coalition government has worked.
:31:53. > :32:00.is all sweetness and light? Pretty much. A lot better than certainly a
:32:00. > :32:05.lot of people expected. There are limits as to what we can say but I
:32:05. > :32:12.have to mention your recent arrest on suspicion of defrauding the
:32:12. > :32:17.European Parliament. How confident are you a clearing your name?
:32:17. > :32:22.cannot talk about this which I find extremely frustrating because I
:32:22. > :32:26.wanted and they want to clear my name. If I could just take this
:32:26. > :32:31.opportunity, hundreds of people have e-mailed and came to my mobile
:32:31. > :32:38.surgery on Friday, just wishing me well. I am very touched by that
:32:38. > :32:46.support. As a politician, you often define yourself as being against
:32:46. > :32:55.things such as a high-speed rail project or British membership of EU.
:32:55. > :32:58.I am for human rights, for example, the settled community. I am for
:32:58. > :33:05.people and for self-determination and the sub-committee of the United
:33:05. > :33:09.Kingdom, not against the European Union. I am for British sovereignty.
:33:09. > :33:15.Coming up a little later, learning by numbers. If Wednesday's budget
:33:15. > :33:21.is going for growth, these families in Shropshire to do with some
:33:21. > :33:26.childlike enthusiasm but will the sums add up? Our top story this
:33:26. > :33:30.week. The Midlands is on the verge of a drought. We are in the middle
:33:30. > :33:35.of the longest dry spell for 20 years. Have the problem has been
:33:35. > :33:39.aggravated by the politicians? Their concerns our privatised water
:33:39. > :33:49.industry is tied up and red tape and burdensome rules and
:33:49. > :33:49.
:33:49. > :33:53.regulations. There has not been much rain on
:33:53. > :34:01.this farm for 18 months. We're supposed to be planting potatoes
:34:01. > :34:05.next week and they would rather have a delay than delay planting
:34:05. > :34:13.because it makes such a difference to her yields and what we can
:34:13. > :34:17.supply next year. For farmers relying on a long-running row
:34:17. > :34:22.others, things are looking tough. Far worse here are struggling to
:34:22. > :34:28.deal with the lack of water but the Severn Trent it says there will not
:34:28. > :34:32.be a hosepipe ban and then even starting to prepare for the idea of
:34:32. > :34:36.selling water from the Midlands to the south-east. We're looking to
:34:36. > :34:44.reach out across the borders of help out her neighbours. One early
:34:44. > :34:52.idea is to see if we can do all water from boreholes and let it
:34:52. > :34:57.flow over the border. In the longer term, what are trading would mean
:34:57. > :35:01.more connections for treated water pipes. We're building a national
:35:01. > :35:05.network as the water companies connect up with their competitors,
:35:05. > :35:10.and they can move the water around on a local basis. Local
:35:10. > :35:15.connectivity is the key. Are things moving quickly enough and how do
:35:15. > :35:20.you explain to a potato farmer that you want to sell his water? Could
:35:20. > :35:24.what are be the new oil? Could the Midlands be the opposite of what
:35:24. > :35:28.exporting regions? You said to the European Parliament this week that
:35:28. > :35:32.what there was a basic human right and should not be sold for profit.
:35:32. > :35:38.Is it not naive to propose that with this multi-million pound
:35:38. > :35:42.business, you can deconstruct that industry? I also said it was a
:35:42. > :35:47.human essential and I think we may be very lucky here in the West
:35:47. > :35:50.Midlands but the Government should be looking to incentive eyes babas,
:35:50. > :35:59.because 75% above national lottery used his by the agriculture
:35:59. > :36:04.industries. It would seem a bit rich for a far more worried about
:36:04. > :36:10.his potato crops to sit here in a region where they are talking about
:36:10. > :36:14.selling water to the south-east are ready within the West Midlands?
:36:14. > :36:18.They should only consider selling water when there is excess water
:36:18. > :36:22.for this region. I do not think Severn Trent is fiendish should
:36:22. > :36:27.sell what are no matter the local situation. Let's remember that in
:36:27. > :36:32.this region the get a lot of our water from wells. Wales recently
:36:32. > :36:39.had some excellent rainfall and it has come down all the way from the
:36:39. > :36:44.valleys and is quite here that -- great here. Transport of what are
:36:44. > :36:48.already takes place and we can all benefit from that. What is
:36:48. > :36:53.potentially very political. We have also heard the Scots flexing their
:36:53. > :37:03.muscles over the last few days like a re-run of the argument for North
:37:03. > :37:06.
:37:06. > :37:13.Sea oil. There is a discussion at over providing water not just for
:37:13. > :37:17.our use but also Third World water. 80% of disease comes from infected
:37:17. > :37:24.water. We have not just a regional responsibility but a global
:37:24. > :37:30.responsibility. It is important. What is important and they do not
:37:30. > :37:39.made people making a profit the but not excessive profits, which I
:37:39. > :37:43.think some companies currently are. Caroline Spelman, the Environment
:37:43. > :37:47.Secretary, was speaking of the dyke -- joined up solution across the
:37:47. > :37:51.country. We could be talking about something like 40 years before we
:37:51. > :37:58.get a national system for water. Politicians and obsessed with five-
:37:58. > :38:02.year periods, at the? In December, the government published a White
:38:02. > :38:07.Paper on water for life, addressing many of the points just raised.
:38:07. > :38:12.Only last month, Caroline Spelman held an emergency summit to discuss
:38:12. > :38:18.this issue of direct. It is important also just to raise the
:38:18. > :38:23.profile. As a constituency MP, I have not received a single letter
:38:23. > :38:26.from constituents concerned about do it. This kind of summit raise
:38:26. > :38:33.the profile and that that can help people be a bit more careful, I
:38:33. > :38:38.think that is a good thing. So say all of us. In just three days,
:38:38. > :38:46.George Osborne will be at the dispatch porch -- dispatch box to
:38:47. > :38:54.deliver his fourth Budget. What is a Midlands one as a whole and to be
:38:54. > :39:02.in that red box? If it is billed as a Budget for growth, the Chancellor
:39:02. > :39:08.could do worse -- do worse than popping into this nursery. By with
:39:08. > :39:12.many parents facing a growth and benefits and the government
:39:12. > :39:19.striving to improve the welfare system, here, it is all play and no
:39:19. > :39:23.work. It is hard being a mother with a young child. I was made
:39:23. > :39:27.redundant in July and when I went to claim contributions based
:39:27. > :39:33.Jobseeker's Allowance, I wasn't entitled to it because of the two
:39:33. > :39:37.tax year to take into account, which seems unfair because I have
:39:37. > :39:44.16 years experience in teaching. few miles up the road, this did
:39:44. > :39:49.centre prides itself on achieving growth. The recipe here is, if we
:39:49. > :39:56.sell at, we should make it. It has doubled the workforce with over 100
:39:56. > :39:58.skilled jobs over five years. The man in charge once the Chancellor's
:39:58. > :40:07.Budget to interest National Insurance Contributions, so that he
:40:07. > :40:12.could take on more young people. The cost of employing people is
:40:12. > :40:18.very high. The option is either receiving higher National Insurance
:40:18. > :40:22.payments or more people on benefit. It is a simple equation. Well we're
:40:22. > :40:28.number-crunching, the number of new companies in Shropshire has fallen
:40:28. > :40:32.by a quarter over three years. The latest employment figures in Ludlow
:40:32. > :40:39.showed it four per cent of the working-age population is out of
:40:39. > :40:44.work, whereas the figure across the Midlands is 9%. This man lives in
:40:44. > :40:50.Ludlow and his 20 ad has been unemployed for two-and-a-half years.
:40:50. > :40:57.He volunteers for a further charge game which distributes unwanted
:40:57. > :41:04.household kit. -- goods. He feels the Chancellor should reward those
:41:04. > :41:08.who show a desire to work. A young people have not got the help they
:41:08. > :41:17.need at the moment. They need guidance. Under the to the
:41:17. > :41:22.Government, it is not good enough. -- Tory government. With childlike
:41:22. > :41:31.enthusiasm comes Shropshire's Budget wish-list. They need to
:41:31. > :41:37.start young and inspire the next generation. The Midlands and Budget
:41:37. > :41:41.wish-list their full stop that is the big question for our other
:41:41. > :41:48.guests today, divisional director of the employers' organisation, the
:41:48. > :41:57.CBI. What is on your wish-list? is about looking long term. There
:41:57. > :42:00.is no quick fix solution here. It is about looking back to the Autumn
:42:00. > :42:07.Statement and making sure some of the good ideas there get taken for
:42:07. > :42:10.work. The main priority for Wednesday is ongoing reform of
:42:10. > :42:19.taxation with the corporation tax, and certainly on the environmental
:42:19. > :42:23.side as well. Making that a little bit simpler. Making sure that it
:42:23. > :42:27.does not become a burden on business, particularly
:42:27. > :42:33.manufacturing companies, which at the moment in the West Midlands and
:42:33. > :42:39.doing quite well. We had a bit from business and the last few days
:42:39. > :42:47.about employers' contributions, described as a tax on jobs. Is that
:42:47. > :42:51.something you hope will receive a bit of give up from the Chancellor.
:42:51. > :42:55.There is a bigger picture of creating a more favourable
:42:55. > :43:04.environment for medium and long- term investment, particularly on
:43:04. > :43:08.infrastructure, which has a fairly immediate impact on job creation.
:43:09. > :43:12.saw some startling figures showing that 7000 jobs had gone from the
:43:12. > :43:17.public sector in the year since December, but more than 10 times
:43:17. > :43:26.had been created in the private sector. The problem is, it is
:43:26. > :43:30.asking a lot of Industry to go further and faster to close the gap.
:43:30. > :43:33.It is asking a lot but if you look at a lot of the CBI members I have
:43:33. > :43:38.spoken to in the last week, predominantly manufacturers who
:43:38. > :43:43.seemed to be bucking the trend, companies and exporting products to
:43:43. > :43:48.countries you would not have thought of. Countries like Malaysia,
:43:48. > :43:52.Turkey and Cameroon. You have the ear of the Chancellor. Is he
:43:52. > :44:01.listening to those arguments you are hearings? The Chancellor is
:44:01. > :44:08.absolutely listening. We will see on Wednesday. The Chancellor is a
:44:08. > :44:11.very sensible man. One thing I will tell you is you can expect to see
:44:11. > :44:16.that there will not be any change on the strategy of dealing with the
:44:16. > :44:21.debt and the deficit this country has. We have to balance the books
:44:21. > :44:25.and that is key to bringing long- term growth back to the economy,
:44:25. > :44:30.bringing back business confidence. We have to allow these companies to
:44:30. > :44:35.keep investing. The problem Labour says it is you're taking so much
:44:35. > :44:40.money out of the economy that you're actually creating more
:44:40. > :44:46.problems through your own policies. Unemployment is higher than you
:44:46. > :44:53.wanted to be and growth is lower. I did not think Labour is terrible
:44:53. > :45:00.and this. The almost bankrupted this country. I would like to see a
:45:00. > :45:05.budget that is not this radical but before or long-term gains. I want
:45:05. > :45:15.to see huge investment and jobs and training. Where would that
:45:15. > :45:16.
:45:16. > :45:20.investment come from? You need to create jobs. I would like to see
:45:20. > :45:30.the 50p tax rate dropped. If they believe that, they should drop that
:45:30. > :45:40.now. The National Insurance holiday is essential. The business rates
:45:40. > :45:40.
:45:40. > :45:46.are going up 5.6 per cent. I would actually like to see holidays for
:45:46. > :45:49.new businesses. There are lots of empty shops in high streets. If new
:45:49. > :45:54.businesses had holidays for one of two years, that would create
:45:54. > :46:02.employment. What would you do for the high street because there is a
:46:02. > :46:08.bleak picture. Inflation is Bailey high and they would like to see if
:46:08. > :46:12.not a reduction, then keeping it as it is. There is a lack of consumer
:46:12. > :46:16.confidence at the Mollet and people are not spending. Business has a
:46:16. > :46:26.lot of money stashed away but they are not confident enough to release
:46:26. > :46:26.
:46:26. > :46:31.it. A there is a dichotomy there. With retailers and the market...
:46:31. > :46:37.a chance were going to disappoint businesses? There is investment
:46:37. > :46:42.going on despite the tough finances. The regional growth fund saw a lot
:46:42. > :46:46.of money going into companies such as Jaguar Land-Rover, which has
:46:46. > :46:50.protected thousands of jobs. That is one of the reasons you are
:46:50. > :47:00.seeing employment rising. Employment is actually rising in
:47:00. > :47:01.
:47:01. > :47:06.the region. We will have to move on at this point. The challenges
:47:06. > :47:14.facing this country -- part of the country will be part of the debate
:47:14. > :47:24.tomorrow night at 11:05pm. On Wednesday itself, I don't reporting
:47:24. > :47:28.
:47:28. > :47:34.live from Westminster on whatever the Budget holds for this region.
:47:34. > :47:44.The next round up the rest of the Midlands's political news in 60
:47:44. > :47:44.
:47:44. > :47:48.seconds. They burn the Ed Miliband was at
:47:48. > :47:52.the University of Warwick on Friday. He told the party's news conference
:47:52. > :47:55.about his plans to tackle unemployment.
:47:55. > :48:02.A higher authority is intervening to help tackle child poverty and
:48:02. > :48:06.burning up. Thousands of families live below the breadline. I have
:48:06. > :48:11.noticed an enormous amount of energy and willingness in times of
:48:11. > :48:16.austerity for people to work together to help one another.
:48:16. > :48:22.Parents face basics of hundreds of pounds to Kate school buses on the
:48:22. > :48:27.road. At turbocharged motor industry
:48:27. > :48:31.means good news for workers in Wolverhampton. The tyre company
:48:31. > :48:37.Goodyear Dunlop has unveiled a new production line.
:48:37. > :48:42.Worrying news for the orders of the country's biggest coal mine. UK
:48:42. > :48:49.call are in talks for the future of the Pet which could cause a in two
:48:49. > :48:54.years' time with 800 jobs at risk. That is the story of this recovery
:48:54. > :49:00.in a nutshell. Goodier Dunlop forging ahead at 800 jobs at risk
:49:00. > :49:09.elsewhere. One step forward, one step back. The government needs to
:49:09. > :49:13.make sure those jobs have not lost. What can be done? Productivity
:49:13. > :49:16.target had been missed. Government are doing what they can
:49:16. > :49:23.but we continue to invest in the European Union and not in our own
:49:23. > :49:27.country. You will see with such big changes in an economy, a job Sheth
:49:28. > :49:32.at this location. What I hope is that if those jobs at risk, those
:49:32. > :49:37.people can find jobs elsewhere when industry is growing in Britain. I
:49:37. > :49:40.think there is a good chance of that. Where is the investment and
:49:40. > :49:48.training? It is happening elsewhere in Europe are not in our own
:49:48. > :49:54.country. The facts are that last year, business investment in
:49:54. > :49:58.Britain was at one of the highest rates in our history, up 7% on last
:49:59. > :50:05.year. One is the British taxpayer funding it training in Bulgaria and
:50:05. > :50:08.elsewhere? The budget is always a fun day. I have been watching it
:50:08. > :50:13.for the last 20 years and I am looking forward to it. That is