:01:40. > :01:45.In the Midlands, just because we did not join the euro, does not
:01:45. > :01:55.mean we're safe. Business leaders warned of creme knock-on effects in
:01:55. > :01:55.
:01:55. > :29:57.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1681 seconds
:29:57. > :30:07.Good morning. We're joined by one of Parliament's relative newcomers.
:30:07. > :30:08.
:30:08. > :30:16.And by a parliamentary veteran who enter the Commons 38 years ago.
:30:16. > :30:21.Paul Uppal and Lord Grocott of Telford. Paul, the double dip just
:30:21. > :30:26.got double the power this week. Does that not implied this economic
:30:26. > :30:32.project by your government is not working? The figures were
:30:32. > :30:37.disappointing. It is important that the Government does the right thing.
:30:37. > :30:43.There are other figures. Inflation came in below the expectation. We
:30:43. > :30:49.had good figures on unemployment last week as well. We always knew
:30:49. > :30:53.this would be a long hard slog. It is important we do the right thing.
:30:53. > :31:00.Your party likes to refer to this as a recession made in Downing
:31:00. > :31:10.Street. Too far, too fast. Is there not something disingenuous about
:31:10. > :31:10.
:31:10. > :31:15.it? The simple truth is that the economy has flat line. That has
:31:16. > :31:21.been since George Osborne's budget. Public spending plans of 18 months
:31:21. > :31:26.ago. There is nothing new about this except that we have gone into
:31:26. > :31:33.recession now. It has been in a bad way for 18 months. They will try to
:31:33. > :31:37.blame it on the Eurozone but it is bad government. Did the Lord Jones
:31:37. > :31:41.said this week that small businesses need to get us out of
:31:41. > :31:51.the economic dip. You ran a small business. His government doing
:31:51. > :31:58.enough? You're right. I ran my own business for 20 years. I would
:31:58. > :32:04.revert to a fellow brat -- fellow Black Country Lad. Sir Mervyn King
:32:04. > :32:08.said that, when you look at their options of 2010, they have done the
:32:08. > :32:16.important thing. If you look at all economies, there was not much
:32:16. > :32:22.option. Coming up, we will be bringing home the trillion -- the
:32:22. > :32:28.mayhem of the Eurozone. Weeders warm or frightening times ahead. If
:32:28. > :32:32.the single currency collapses, what will happen?
:32:32. > :32:36.For our top story, the protest by campaigners as what they see as a
:32:36. > :32:40.lack of the ethnic verbosity add the stock of -- top of our biggest
:32:40. > :32:46.local authority. Birmingham City Council was all quite apart from
:32:46. > :32:55.one-nation number. -- member. The EC this fails to represent the
:32:55. > :32:59.multi- racial area. If we believe enough is enough. We need to be
:32:59. > :33:04.represented. Modest in size but determined in their message.
:33:04. > :33:08.Feelings ran high and outside Birmingham's council house. There
:33:08. > :33:12.was no welcoming committee. Demonstrations attracted a hard
:33:12. > :33:18.core of 30 people. Others had joined them as they were listening.
:33:18. > :33:28.The message to the cabinet, it in no way represents the diversity of
:33:28. > :33:31.
:33:31. > :33:35.this city. Protesters fear the city's political elite cannot be
:33:35. > :33:40.culturally competent unless the city's these communities are
:33:40. > :33:44.represented at the top table. need to make a stand and say,
:33:44. > :33:49.everyone says we did it chav -- we champion diversity. It is not
:33:49. > :33:57.reflected and we need to take action to address that. We were
:33:57. > :34:01.reclaimed power this month in style, taking 29 seats -- 29 seats. The
:34:01. > :34:05.party says cabinet members have chosen -- are chosen on ability
:34:05. > :34:11.before colour of skin. There was only one person who came forward.
:34:11. > :34:20.That person had not the experience to take on the running of the job
:34:20. > :34:29.within the Cabinet. Yes, we are trying to develop that across this
:34:29. > :34:34.area. The council doors were shut, symbolic, say the protesters. The
:34:34. > :34:37.campaign for a black councillor to get keys of the Office goes on.
:34:37. > :34:43.This in a city where the ethnic- minority will form a majority
:34:43. > :34:47.within the next few years. He grew up in the Sikh community. Surely a
:34:48. > :34:52.council must represent all the communities it serves? It is
:34:52. > :34:58.important for any political executive body to be represented to
:34:58. > :35:01.four of its constituents. I think, also you want the most capable
:35:02. > :35:06.people to be there are making decisions. I think there is a
:35:06. > :35:12.Balance in these things. If you have people who give the impression
:35:12. > :35:16.they are there because they fell a quarter, but can do the community
:35:16. > :35:21.relations and political process more harm. A poll I looked at
:35:21. > :35:29.recently suggested 84 % of the black population of Labour
:35:29. > :35:39.supporters, this is a good way to alienate your supporters. I agree
:35:39. > :35:46.that the objective in any representative body were --, you
:35:46. > :35:52.want to make it as representative as you can. I can only say that
:35:52. > :35:55.this will always be an ongoing issue. You never get mathematical
:35:55. > :36:01.precision and things like this. There has been a huge change over
:36:01. > :36:08.the years. You were kind enough to mention that I was elected in 1974.
:36:08. > :36:13.The picture of local authority and Parliament, now, in comparison with
:36:13. > :36:20.them does reflect to a degree the great changes. The air is a way to
:36:20. > :36:25.go yet. One of the protesters said there is a question of cultural
:36:25. > :36:29.competence. When you have a wide variety, some of which are not
:36:29. > :36:36.immediately easy for everyone to understand, it is unfortunate if
:36:36. > :36:39.they do not have their own representatives. I agree.
:36:39. > :36:42.Communities do bring something to the political process. They will
:36:42. > :36:50.bring in sight. They will bring representation which may not
:36:50. > :36:55.otherwise be the year. There is a broader issue. This resulted in the
:36:55. > :37:02.Bradford West by-election. Maybe some communities feel the airport
:37:02. > :37:08.is being taken for a -- taking advantage of. There is always a lot
:37:08. > :37:11.of complexity when George Galloway is standing in an election. I am
:37:11. > :37:21.sure this subject is bound to come up when the Labour leader of
:37:21. > :37:24.
:37:24. > :37:30.Birmingham City Council joins George Aldridge for a chat back.
:37:30. > :37:34.We have weathered the recession but now is your local axes, the outlook
:37:34. > :37:41.is frightening. Those are the words of or Warwickshire so it --
:37:41. > :37:47.Warwickshire exporter. As the Continent's gloomy weather heading
:37:47. > :37:50.our way? Our political reporter is trying to establish what the
:37:50. > :37:53.effects might be. For summer may have arrived in the
:37:53. > :37:59.Midlands but in the Eurozone, the financial storm clouds are
:37:59. > :38:03.darkening. It may seem a step removed from normal life here, with
:38:03. > :38:09.Greece does crash out of the euro and return to the drachma, the
:38:09. > :38:14.resulting chill wind could make things pretty uncomfortable. How is
:38:14. > :38:19.the region preparing? They have been on standby for some time.
:38:19. > :38:22.Midlands has always prided itself on having an end -- international
:38:22. > :38:30.dimension. At the moment for some businesses, there might not be a
:38:30. > :38:36.direct impact. Their customers or their customers'' customers are
:38:36. > :38:41.trading in Europe. The if the worst happens, Greece crashes out in a
:38:41. > :38:45.messy fashion, what will happen? think Greece is a relatively small
:38:45. > :38:48.part of the European economy and therefore the direct consequences
:38:48. > :38:55.of Greece crashing out may be relatively limited. The bigger
:38:55. > :39:02.issue is the contagion effect. uncertainty over there is already
:39:02. > :39:08.influencing behaviour here. I hear Gore, �500 spot sure about 560
:39:08. > :39:14.euros. Today it is more like 620. It is not surprising the Post
:39:14. > :39:17.Office in Birmingham said sales of the currency up 80 %. It suggests
:39:17. > :39:26.some canny Midlanders are making the best of a bad business. There
:39:27. > :39:30.is no better time for it -- to book holidays. We have the general
:39:31. > :39:37.advantage of the EU know been so weak. If Greece were to leave the
:39:37. > :39:46.euro, what impact would that have on your business? I think Greece
:39:46. > :39:55.will pull back from the brink. There used to doing that. With the
:39:55. > :39:59.Olympic Games in 2004, everyone was saying Greece was not ready. At the
:39:59. > :40:03.last minute, they put everything together. A four companies
:40:03. > :40:12.exporting to the Eurozone, things could not be more worrying. This
:40:12. > :40:17.war richer firm supply his gas bill and -- gas --... We sell to someone
:40:17. > :40:21.in this country, Pito equipment into the equipment and then they
:40:21. > :40:26.sell that. They might be selling to Greece. They may have problems and
:40:26. > :40:30.the customer we have today, if they Greek thing goes wrong, we will not
:40:30. > :40:35.have the customer here tomorrow. For at the worst does happen, and
:40:35. > :40:40.Greece drops out of the euro, how do you see that impacting on us?
:40:40. > :40:46.It depends on how well it is removed. If it is properly
:40:46. > :40:53.controlled, properly support it and done in a sensible fashion, if that
:40:53. > :40:56.happens, the impact on the confidence and trade will be less.
:40:56. > :41:00.Developments in Europe is cheaper political landscape for a
:41:00. > :41:06.generation. Even those who have campaigned for closer integration
:41:06. > :41:10.will face a new reality. I cannot see a Labour government in 2015
:41:10. > :41:16.taking the country into you roll. If the Greek text of work to
:41:16. > :41:21.produce a recession in the Eurozone, that would be very bad for
:41:21. > :41:29.businesses. A few got what happens in Athens has little to do with
:41:29. > :41:34.what happens in Birmingham, perhaps it is time to think again. If only
:41:34. > :41:38.the economic weather when as sunny as that.
:41:38. > :41:42.Let me give you a comment from my block.
:41:42. > :41:46.One businessman who does a lot of Trade and the euro says it will be
:41:46. > :41:56.a disaster for us it currency collapses. You reported
:41:56. > :41:57.
:41:57. > :42:02.unchallenged as backed. Typical BBC bias. Is that right cost --? Let us
:42:02. > :42:07.put things in context. Every three months, the Chinese economy grows
:42:07. > :42:11.by the size of the current economy. In terms of issues in relation to
:42:11. > :42:15.Europe, it is important to remember it will have an effect on
:42:15. > :42:21.confidence. Business confidence is, at the moment, in an uncertain
:42:21. > :42:30.place. It is important to talk about the positive stories as well.
:42:30. > :42:40.JCB and mature and this week. -- Michelin. Is there any such thing
:42:40. > :42:41.
:42:41. > :42:45.as succeeded him? -- safe haven. The Labour government had a very
:42:45. > :42:52.good sense to keep us out of the EU know. I am sure we are pleased
:42:52. > :42:58.about that. Your question was about the likely effects and if it is
:42:58. > :43:08.being over-egged to? No, I don't think it is. This is an uncertain
:43:08. > :43:12.
:43:12. > :43:16.situation. Markets are uncertain. The problems we face economically
:43:16. > :43:22.are not dependent on you know -- the euro crisis. They depend on
:43:22. > :43:32.this government. Let us pause. We can hear from someone in business
:43:32. > :43:34.
:43:34. > :43:44.on -- in Greece. Earlier, he spoke to me over the internet fire escape.
:43:44. > :43:48.
:43:48. > :43:54.I asked what his impressions where and how it would affect us here.
:43:54. > :44:04.People do not... People are aware that if there is a problem with
:44:04. > :44:10.government, on 18th June, that government, if it does not a -- but
:44:11. > :44:17.you to the austerity measures, there could be problems. How is
:44:17. > :44:27.this impacting on your approach to your business? One thing is for
:44:27. > :44:31.sure, some people cannot pay their bills. There are serious problems
:44:31. > :44:39.over there and we're not selling because we would be worried about
:44:39. > :44:49.payments. A much of your business do you actually do with Eurozone
:44:49. > :44:57.
:44:57. > :45:02.countries? A massive amount. 78 %. It is very important to us. What is
:45:02. > :45:08.the message you are bringing back to your colleagues in the Black
:45:08. > :45:14.Country business community? There should be some clarity from those
:45:14. > :45:24.who are leading in the banking system. It is time to get some
:45:24. > :45:25.
:45:25. > :45:32.confidence to the euro. We have to be aware of this. We have to know
:45:32. > :45:42.what to do in case the team changes its shape. Greek people are
:45:42. > :45:51.thinking the same way. I think Peter Matthews' message is
:45:51. > :45:55.clear. Politicians need to establish some clarity.
:45:55. > :46:00.It is easy for us to lecture someone like Peter Matthews and say
:46:00. > :46:05.he is to four caused within the Eurozone. It is tough to trade
:46:05. > :46:11.within the world? That is absolutely right. You are heard it
:46:11. > :46:18.from the horse's mouth. Events with our immediate neighbours are
:46:18. > :46:26.extremely serious. The fact that it all depends on uncertainties like
:46:26. > :46:31.the outcome of a Greek election. His worry is that this contagion
:46:32. > :46:39.may spread. He is finding that, in Spain, the first law to pay the
:46:39. > :46:43.bills. I think the important point for our European partners is that
:46:43. > :46:49.we have reached that -- we have not reached the point where they need
:46:49. > :46:54.to make up for break-up. And the last few years, we have seen as a
:46:54. > :47:00.percentage of our exports, from 50 % to 40 %. And we have to do more
:47:00. > :47:10.for those countries. We have been talking about the work in that the
:47:10. > :47:19.Middle East and India. Richard Welford reports on the
:47:19. > :47:29.Olympic torch. Carrying the Olympic flame and stop
:47:29. > :47:32.
:47:32. > :47:36.-- in style. Also in the spotlight, Tom Watson.
:47:36. > :47:41.Outspoken critic of News International. He had this
:47:41. > :47:45.admission for the Leveson Inquiry. At various points along the way, I
:47:45. > :47:51.thought I would stand down from Parliament and get away from it.
:47:51. > :47:54.Safe and well, aid worker John Sorbo was released from captivity.
:47:54. > :47:59.He was taken at the end of last month.
:47:59. > :48:02.Good news for one of the most dilapidated schools and Midlands,
:48:02. > :48:08.Richard Lee Primary in Coventry. It will be rebuilt with government
:48:08. > :48:18.money but the majority of schools are left disappointed.
:48:18. > :48:23.
:48:23. > :48:29.Should Midlands the ambulance have to pay VAT on fuel. --?
:48:29. > :48:39.Your party wants a temporary that cut across the board. Air ambulance,
:48:39. > :48:40.
:48:40. > :48:44.or you are no-brainer? Her de say no to the it -- to the ambulance?
:48:44. > :48:51.Can I advise the present government, it is wasting a large sum of money
:48:51. > :48:55.on referendums and directly elected mayors. How about scrapping the
:48:55. > :49:05.elections for the police commissioners in November if?
:49:05. > :49:07.
:49:07. > :49:13.challenge due to be fully respond to three point. Everyone thinks the
:49:13. > :49:18.ambulance does a wonderful job. There are some concessions in terms
:49:19. > :49:24.of fuel duty that they pay. In terms of the line of work that they