15/07/2012 Sunday Politics West Midlands

In the Midlands, euro crisis, what you're crisis? As more of our firms

do business far beyond are concerned, we find out why China is

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1793 seconds

fast becoming our business partner Hello again from the Midlands. I'm

Patrick Burns. Coming up today: Beyond the eurozone. The firms

doing more and more business far away from the troubled currency

area. We'll find out why companies here, trading with China, are

saying "non" to continental Europe. And with me here today, throughout

our part of the programme, one of the Tory rebels who defied their

government in Tuesday's vote on Lords reform, and a Labour member

of the upper house. Andrew Griffiths is the Conservative MP

for Burton, and Peter, now Lord, Snape of Wednesbury is a Labour

life peer and former MP for West Bromwich East.

Andrew, I am told you manage to persuade yourself that you are

helping David Cameron by doing this? How you helping him?

I am not sure he would agree with you, but we were standing up for

the constitution. This is not an issue that the general public want

us to be wasting our time on. They want us to be sorting out the

economy, jobs, the benefit system. They do not want this navel-gazing

talking about the constitution. Did the whips give you a not that

this was just a way of trying to keep the Liberal Democrat happy and

it did not really happen? I can absolutely assure you that it

was taken very seriously. It is a government Bill that the Deputy

Prime Minister and the Prime Minister were committed to, and the

whips did the best they could to get it through. But there were

sensible people who said they would not get it through.

Peter Snape, are you enjoying the misfortunes of others?

I am amazed at how you could think the whips would double deal!

What are we to make of your party, which cannot make up its mind about

progressive principles, the best chance to update the House of Lords,

or just behave like opposition for opposition's sense and make trouble

for the government? When I was appointed in the House

of Lords, there are 800 people, that is indefensible. But the

coalition have stuck another hundred and 28 peers into there. --

120. There is a big division across your

party as well, you cannot just sit there and gloat.

Yes, we can. Of course there is a division, there is a division in

all parties, even the Liberal Democrat. We are all equally

divided. And this is our top story this week.

15 Midlands Conservative MPs - that's very nearly half of them -

voted against their government's plans for Lords reform. The big

concern for David Cameron is that the rebels came from all sections

of his party, not just the usual suspects like Bill Cash and Richard

Shepherd. This rebellion was led by the Herefordshire MP, Jesse Norman.

He's had quite a week. Greeting the Queen in Hereford, a

loyal subject but a Parliamentary rebel. The undisputed star of this

backbench show scorned his leadership's claims that it was

Labour's "opposition for opposition's sake" that had put

paid to the government's Lords reform timetable. It is the very

substantial opposition from within the Conservative Party that is

responsible for the withdrawal of this motion, and not the Labour

Party, and that should be perfectly clear and reflected in the record.

He wasn't the only normally-loyal backbencher who thought the bill

was a bad idea at a bad time. The idea that we create a second

chamber that dilutes the primacy of the Commons, I think it is a best

before gridlock and deadlock. The other parties were divided too.

26 Labour MPs, including Adrian Bailey, Jim Cunningham and Geoffrey

Robinson, opposed the bill itself, against their leadership's wishes.

Labour's deputy leader in the upper house says the electorate should

have its say. If we are differing about a

referendum in Europe, why do we not have won about House of Lords

reform? Liberal Democrats warn that if the

Tories fail to deliver their side of the deal on Lords reform, they

might scupper boundary changes worth up to 20 extra Tory seats at

the next election. The only grumpy people are the 91

Tory MPs who voted against this bill, because at the end of the day,

you cannot allow a small number of the MPs to wreck a bill which is in

the manifesto of all three of the parties.

Leaving David Cameron pulled one way by his coalition partners and

the other by his backbenchers. He told them he'd have one more try to

find a consensus, possibly with a smaller proportion of elected peers

and maybe that referendum, in three years' time. But will this be

enough to satisfy the Liberal Democrats and his own Midlands

Awkward Squad? And you'll find more on the

background to all this in my latest blog post. The address is on the

screen. Andrew, 15 Midlands Conservatives,

is there something in the water in the Midlands? I UA gang, do you

talk to reach a as a group? People obviously talk about this,

it is a serious issue. But when you see half of the Conservative

backbenchers voting against this Bill, I think you understand just

how seriously the Conservative Party took this. We are talking

about changing the constitution that has been in place for hundreds

of years. This was the best chance to make

something happen, surely? The body is against reform. But

this built just did not do that. -- nobody is against reform. This was

going to cost a lot of money, and the last thing the public want to

see is that money being spent on more politicians.

Peter Snape, you do not like this bill, but you would stand for

election? I represented the good folk of West

Bromwich for a long time, but at 70 now, a 15 year term would make me a

bad risk! I do not particularly want to go through this business. A

15 year term, I suppose at 85 I will not be elected anyway! It is

crazy. It is not democratic, people are picked from a party list, I do

not understand the thinking behind Looking into the research, I

discovered there are 27 peers from the Midlands in the House of Lords.

Do you speak up for the West Midlands when you get a chance in

the House of Lords? We did not talk about regional lists, this is

another issue. We do speak up for the West

Midlands, and we are praised for doing so. We do not have to toe a

party line. You can say what you think about business and industry

and other matters, so you have a much freer voice than when you are

tied by the party but in the House of Commons.

But is something you did not like, the regional lists, and yet a

regional identity may be seen to be a good thing?

There are things that would allow for people from the north, for

example, to have more of a regional identity, but the idea that we

could have this massive change to hour constitution without trusting

the people with a referendum, many of us thought that was completely

unacceptable. When Nick Clegg introduced this Billin the house,

he said it was time for people to decide in an election. He is not

prepared to let the people decide in a referendum.

Your party support a referendum, Peter, but this book just delayed

reform even further? We are in great danger of doing the

think that television hates, agreeing with each other. We had a

referendum about a may in Birmingham, but you cannot have

this put away referendum?! This is barmy.

Will there be a new consensus found?

A Prime Minister says he will have one more try to get it through, and

there will be a charm offensive over the summer, but for many of us,

there are guiding principles, we are against an election because it

will cause conflict between the Commons and the Lords, and nobody

wants to see that. Is the crisis in the eurozone

putting off Midlands firms from doing business on the Continent?

Latest figures show companies in our part of the country are giving

the euro the cold shoulder, and turning instead to markets like

China. A shrewd move to protect jobs, you may think. There are

flashing images from the start of this report by our Business

They might make lights and sirens that warn of danger, but this

Birmingham firm still got caught up in the eurozone crisis, losing

thousands of pounds when a Spanish distributor when bust.

Now, according to the company's sales director, instead of Europe,

trade with places like Australia and South Africa is booming.

In the first six months of this year, we have doubled our business

in those markets outside the eurozone. That has been good for

the company. A lot of it has been led by bespoke products, but

certainly it seems like it was the right decision for us to do.

Selling into new markets isn't cheap, and sometimes that means

going in the direction of the banks for additional funding. But

persuading them to part with their cash isn't always easy.

We will lend to a company that's exposed to the eurozone, but it's

far better for us that the risk is spread, so if you look at the new

emerging markets so you're getting income coming from China and India

as well as the eurozone, that's a better picture for you in terms of

sustainability. Official figures suggest that the

so-called BRIC economies - that's Brazil, Russia, India and China -

only account for a small share of UK exports, but that share is

growing as more and more companies like this decide to invest to tap

into the emerging market. And here's the evidence. After the

USA, Germany used to be the biggest export market for West Midlands

manufacturers, but earlier this year a big leap in exports to China

saw it move up to second place, making this region one of the

biggest exporters to places outside the EU. At this Birmingham machine

tool maker, they've been exporting around the world for years, and

more recently, it's helped to make them recession-proof.

It has been a life-saver for us. China was only the start. We're now

probably more active in South America, in Mexico and in fact in

the USA itself, where the oil sector is extremely busy, and as a

result we're supplying machines to the American continent.

But not all companies are as active, and experts in international trade

say attitudes need to change. It's not uncommon to hear, "Where

are the British?" We do hear it when we go down there. That's not

to say we're not there. We are there, of course we're there, but

we need to be more dynamic about it. In the past, there's talk of an

export-led recovery, but without stability in the eurozone, for some

firms, exports further afield could also be vital for their very

survival. And even though economic growth has

slowed to a three-year low in China, 7.6% is still quite spectacular by

our standards. Peter Plisner reporting. And we're also joined

here today by the man in charge of our major international airport,

now a leading voice in the wider business community. Paul Kehoe is

best known as the chief executive of Birmingham Airport, but he also

chairs Marketing Birmingham, aiming to forge new commercial connections

around the globe. Quite a turnaround, really, in the

direction of economic trouble, looking east and to China, does it

surprise you, the speed of it? It has been very surprising, but

you only have to look at the quality of the products we are now

making. If you look at the cars at Jaguar Land Rover, 80,000 pound

cars that retail in China for almost �200,000. They're all going

to China, and Russia and Brazil. Should we be concerned by the

reduction in the growth rate in China?

It is still a fantastic rate by any standards. Yes, China may slow down

because it is exporting to the European Union, and the domestic

market has been flat as well, but looking to these new markets, D

Brazil's and India's and China's, has been a way forward.

One thing that I thought was interesting was that we heard the

guy in banking say that having a diversified portfolio, looking with

in Europe but also around the world as well, was the best way of

attracting back to give investment, to give liquidity to companies.

No one likes any risk at all. Having that bread, that geographic

spread, is good for business, and people like the things we make. We

are a major manufacturing power in the West Midlands, will be should

be trading on that. Andrew, you have recently been to

China. Are we Ofer obsessing about it, because the Midlands does seem

to be at the forefront? A it is fantastic news for the West

Midlands. The Prime Minister said he wanted us to be a nation of

exporters, and I think we are delivering on that. The figures

that have just about show that for the first time since 1976, we are

exporting more cars than we import in this country. It shows the level

of investment and the skills and the expertise that is in the West

Midlands. You look at Toyota, Jaguar, the Mini, it is all getting

new investment. And it is bringing back jobs that

were in decline in the past. It is tough to compete on price, but in

terms of quality... The West Midlands had a bit of a

kicking in recent years, and to see us fighting back is great. Quality

manufacturing is easy to sell around the world. Jaguar cars, at

one time, they were a joke, now they are regarded as some of the

best in the world. If we keep producing in this part of the world,

could of that quality, we will not have difficulty selling than

anywhere else. The market in South Africa and

Brazil are about to become in range of the new runway of your airport,

so what do we make of the fact that the aviation consultation of the

government is being delayed? We want a balanced debate. There

has been a lot of emotion attached to this. When you have direct air

links from Birmingham to these places, the economy get a massive

boost. We want to bring those direct links and watch the trade

increase. Is there a danger that the economic

prospects could be hit because of your party's difficulties over

whether to build a third runway at Heathrow?

No, I think what we have here is a trained skilled work force, and I

think businesses are recognising that and investing in the West

Midlands, because they know we can produce a quality product. It is

fantastic. A Peter, you worry former transport

spokesman. What do you think of this delayed consultation?

To I think the Conservatives in particular, certain elements of the

coalition, have put themselves in a bad position by ruling out a third

runway at Heathrow right from the start, and now they are under

considerable pressure to have a rethink. The fact is that in the

West Midlands, we are having a -- we are getting on with things while

they are arguing. We can make progress.

It are we saying that the bigger airport is like an escape route

from the eurozone are -- all together?

It has to be balanced. We need the eurozone, but we also need a new

market. Will we see flight to China?

I am working hard on it. Do you see it as an escape route?

I think the fact that we are diversifying, GCB in my

constituency have had a massive order for Brazil. -- JCB. It is

really important that we continue to attract these new markets. With

High Speed Two, that will walk back -- that we will get to Birmingham

from London very quickly, it is a very exciting prospect.

Yes, the fat that we are selling quality goods outside and inside it

EU, it can only be a good thing. Now our regular round-up of the

political week in the Midlands in 60 seconds, with BBC WM's Breakfast

presenter, Pete Morgan. A big deal for a small car. A

multi-million pound boost for the Hams Hall factory near Birmingham

will help take the Mini to the max. Meanwhile, a report by an

influential group of MPs says banks should give the industry's supply

chain better access to finance. least have the right support to

nurture it for the future, and that is particularly the case in small

and medium-sized companies that are vital for the future.

The Diamond Queen kicked off a two- day visit to the Midlands in

Hereford as part of her Jubilee Tour. What a gem.

More problems with the Olympic security firm G4S after 180 staff

failed to register ahead of the football in Coventry. Police will

be asked to step in. And Midlands dairy farmers joined a

national protest in London to say they're being milked by cuts to

prices paid by processors. They warn they're being driven out of

business. The dairy farmers' protest gathering momentum all the

time. It started in Staffordshire a couple of weeks ago, and Andrew,

you have been involved in Westminster?

The dairy industry is in crisis. But all the can do is talk, you

have no leverage. You have got rid of the government agencies that

could do it -- that could do anything about it.

The blame lies with the supermarket and the middlemen who last week in

the farmers and driving prices down. Do you have sympathy with the

farmers? A I do, but these -- are the story is not just as he says it

The price for milk was set, but I did an interview, when others in

the House of Commons, saying they would come to regret this, and that

is now what is happening, the supermarkets have a stranglehold

over the price. 46p is the price, but of course, you will know that!

Only about 24p of that goes to the farmer. When is it going?

Andra, there is talk about a direct action in August when the new

prices coming. Is that a serious possibility?

I understand the anger, but it is a voluntary code of conduct cannot be

agreed, then maybe the government does have to intervene, perhaps we

do have to have a mandatory code. That's it. My thanks to Andrew