22/04/2012 Sunday Politics West Midlands

And in the Midlands, the government promised to cut immigration. But

it's still going up. In our "super- multicultural region", more and

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1742 seconds

more people living here, were born I'm Patrick Burns, last week we

taught it to the Liberal Democrats, this time it is the turn of Margot

James and Tom Harris. In Dudley, Labour just need nine against for

an overall majority, given what has been going on, you wouldn't bet

against it? Nine it gains is a mountain to climb. Why have been

has gone so wrong for the Tories? There seems to have been many

disasters. I think the Budget, in line with the fiscal challenge we

have got, obviously it has to contain some difficult decisions.

They have not played well, but I think they are necessary, I voted

for them. I think they will carry on of the economic strategy in the

right direction. Unemployment is falling, there is a lot of good

signals in the Black Country economy. We are mid-term, I don't

think it'll have an affect on the local elections. We will see. Tom,

I was looking at some of your manifesto points, you said you are

going to fight for public services, get green jobs and work for local

communities. That is a very anodyne list. We want to work for the

things being done. Local government only has a certain birth for doing

things. I'll be talking to people in Dudley, funnily enough, and

people are talking about these sorts of things. They want a job

safety and the money in their pockets. Briefly, are they really

talking about it? There is a sense that when a times are hard and

environmental stance is not what people are thinking about? That is

true. The Green Party is not a single issue party. Social justice

is something that is equally important to us. That is something

we are fighting for all over the place. OK. Coming up: stop and go,

the coalition are promised to bring immigration down, but more people

are born outside the UK get the green light to come to the Midlands.

Our top story this week this summer record numbers at the Staffordshire

digger maker JCB. They are making more money than ever. They launched

a more than 60 new products this week.

Record turnover and record earnings. JCB's coffers swelled by �355

million last year. Whilst many of us are living in the economic

doldrums, how do they do it? It is the breaker countries of Brazil,

India, Russia and China that have enabled them to survive and thrive

-- b break -- the break countries. South America is on the up. It

means buyers are flying into Staffordshire been searched for

diggers on the other side of the globe. Brazil is creating a large.

We have a lot of new jobs to do. It is very important to have important

factories like JCB to support us. With another 60 new products on

show up at a trade fair in France last week, this is a local company

making millions in a global market. Congratulations to everybody

concerned there. This is a tricky issue for you Tom Harris. JCB is a

heavy diesel vehicle, and they did wicked things like building roads,

airports, and yet they are a major employer in your part of the world.

It is a wonderful thing. They are part of an engineering excellence

that England has been known for. We have perhaps lost pole position up

to Germany on that. It is absolutely wonderful, Staffordshire

is a great county. JCB is a fantastic business. They have

researched and developed a, and constantly developed everything. I

have no doubt they will be at the forefront of developing a green

technology in their sector. Margot, you are a prominent member of the

business Select Committee, I'm sure we welcome this. Most companies are

nowhere near as good as JCB as building up those emerging markets.

This is a warning to other companies. I would not put it quite

like that. I think the West Midlands, at the end of the last

year, they saw exports rising at, the West Midlands was outpacing all

the other regions in the UK in this increase. I think it is fantastic

news it at JCB, but they are not alone. -- fantastic news at JCB.

One your colleagues said that more business measures were needed, and

the UK was sliding down the list of exporters. More mergers are needed,

I can support that. But I can assure Sir Anthony that more

mergers are taking place. We have the enterprise zones, and allow for

investment. -- more measures are taking place. Just to go back to

JCB, one of the things that I have to raise, a big export market is in

China, they do not have the cleanest environmental record on

earth. Does that concern you? the end of the day, the business in

Staffordshire is being strengthened by exporting, and opening a factory

in Brazil. The world has got a long way to catch up. We all have a long

way to go up to attaining proper sustained ability, at the end of

the day, if growth in China can lead to security in jobs in

Staffordshire then that's got to be a good thing. Final court, Margot.

When you are tinkered wealth creators like JCB, we need a lot

more like them, if you want to rebalance the economy in the way

that job party says? Absolutely right. Not enough though? We had

400 new companies starting in the Black Country. Almost 200 had some

sort of support from the government in getting going. We are supporting

apprenticeships, skills, and workplace schemes. There is a lot

going on. Let's move on to our main talking point. The number of people

born outside of the UK and living here is continuing to rise. The

government has promised to cut the number of people coming in. They

believe their policies are taking effect. Here the West Midlands, the

numbers keep going up. We explain why. And immigration, it divides

opinion and causes headaches or politicians.

-- and aggression. Bademba arrived here two years ago,

he is still waiting very decision from the Home Office. It is a

horrible situation. You live in all your moods, your family -- you are

leaving a family, or your friends, you're coming to a different world,

when they have been those the Wharfe. -- where nobody knows who

you are. The fact that that the main parties have not the will to

discuss -- have not been willing to discuss immigration has helped the

British National Party. We are the only party that people realise will

do something about it. Last year the government set an ambitious

target to cut the net migration by 2050. Figures show that been on the

UK population has continued to go - - non-UK.

Why is this happening? The government has very little control

up on many aspects of immigration. Some Refugees have now settled, and

a European Union workers are entitled to be head. Because of

that the coalition is focusing its efforts on immigrants from outside

of the European Union. That has angered universities. They are very

important universities, or on a financial and intellectual -- on a

financial and intellectual standpoint. Whilst the Government

says it -- says its reforms are taking hold, Berwick are many

legacy cases, like Bademba. There are many people who are still

waiting, they claimed had been outstanding for years and years,

they have heard nothing from the Home Office, and it appeared to

have been excluded. They are stark. Having made the promise, the

coalition now faces the challenge of pitting its own targets. --

hitting. We are also joint by a specialist

in migration, especially in rural areas. You are Polish, you have

professional and personal experience to draw on. What is your

experience? The experience of this country is a very positive one. It

is a very welcoming place. In terms of my work, our focus is on

economic migrants from inside the European Union. Especially in

Worcestershire and Herefordshire, are the raw parts of the country.

The impact of this migration is very positive. It is positive for

agriculture and horticulture. Thinking about the wider question,

politically, the government is getting tough with caps on

immigration. How effective has this been in reality? It is not

necessarily the area of my expertise, but in terms of the

local economy, all this region, seasonal workers, coming to work on

farms, and also does he take up low-skill jobs, they are positive

and very dynamic factors in the economy. That they contribute to

growth. Given that, what is the view of the business community. Do

they welcome fluidity? I think so. Some of the migrants themselves are

very end of an aerial -- are very business-minded. They take up

grants, and try to start at things. They want to succeed in this

country. Looking at the political picture, Margot. Your government

has had to respond to public pressure to curb immigration. Yet

fluidity and keeping the boundaries as wide as possible is what

business wants? I am aware that business would prefer no cap. The

point is that the government has received are a direction from the

public who have voted. I don't think York's film had made clear

that those figures were only up to June the 20 -- 20th June 11. Those

figures are June last year, there is a lot that has gone on. We have

got hold of the student at Visa system. That is a big area of abuse.

We have tied up bad. universities want to the overseas

students. That is over �10 billion worth of business. They are typical

decisions. -- they are difficult decisions. You can't expect the

public to receive more people lie flat budget. Tom, what is your

opinion on this? In the West Midlands, the figures for 2010 that

I have seen showers for every 1,000 people in the West Midlands, two

more people came from outside Britain, I can't really see that

that in itself, personally, if he is an unmanageable figure. -- is an

unmatchable figure. We have a great deal to over from people abroad. --

we a great deal from people from other countries. I have many

different ethnic backgrounds. you make of this process of

integration? The parties have tried to make the debate more open and

civilised? I think Britain is not the only country where emigration

sparks political debate. -- immigration. There is a lot of

evidence that economic migrants from Eastern Europe under use the

service. We are going to need more people to help start the health

service? That is a different issue. What I'm trying to say is that the

migrants, the group of which comes with poorer outcomes when it comes

to housing. They are not using the NHS well enough. These are areas of

public policy which are under a great deal of pressure. That is

what we have to limit immigration. We cannot increase the spend in

these areas, so we mustn't increase the use of body and. Thank you very

much. Thank you to Tom but coming in. Now to allow regular round-up

in 60 seconds. We begin with a theme that we have

been talking about in the past few weeks.

So now we know. The Midlands is in drought. But there won't be any

hosepipe bans this summer. The region's first new Enterprise Zone

was established this week. It's hoped relaxed planning laws will

create thousands of jobs around Darlaston in the Black Country.

People who are investing in high technology will come here to take

advantage of the workforce and the opportunities that that presents.

Unemployment in the West Midlands is down. Again. The number of

people out of work's fallen by three thousand to 239,000, a rate

of 9%. Last week saw a hundred days until the start of the Olympics.

Trials for the women's archery team have been taking place in

Shropshire. And elected mayors of Birmingham and Coventry should be

given powers beyond their council boundaries. That's according to

research by the University of Warwick. Voters in the two cities

will be asked whether or not they want a mayor in just under a

fortnight. There will be a debate on the

objective may end commentary on BBC Warwickshire from 6:30pm tomorrow

evening. Margot, you were born in Coventry,

isn't there a possibility that if Birmingham wants to vote Yes and

commentary not, that Coventry would be overshadowed by its bigger

brother? That is a possibility. Coventry had their records -- has

had a record a standing on its own two feet. The you support a boat

Rene in Coventry? Yes. Would you throw your hat in a -- in the be

ring? The Green Party is against the idea of these elected mayors.

Because? We think this is concentrating more power in fewer

hands. Actually, democracy, the idea of it is to spread that power

art. In 2000 we went for the situation of having councils, then

going to the Cabinet system, it is moving too much in that direction.

We will follow that debate in the coming days. This is where we have