:01:29. > :01:31.In the Midlands, six weeks until the biggest-ever change to the
:01:31. > :01:34.police service. Tamworth was home to the man who
:01:34. > :01:44.invented modern-day policing. What do people there know about police
:01:44. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :37:02.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2117 seconds
:37:02. > :37:04.Hello once again from the Midlands. I'm Patrick Burns. After a week
:37:04. > :37:07.when Parliament's Banking Commission came to Birmingham to
:37:07. > :37:10.see how to boost lending for small firms, I'm joined by Ian Austin,
:37:10. > :37:14.the Labour MP for Dudley North, former Minister for the West
:37:14. > :37:17.Midlands. And congratulations to Harriett Baldwin - Conservative MP
:37:17. > :37:27.for West Worcestershire and now a Parliamentary Private Secretary at
:37:27. > :37:28.
:37:28. > :37:33.Work and Pensions. Let us begin with the that visit
:37:33. > :37:37.from the Banking Commission. On that very day came the news that
:37:37. > :37:43.the investment bank proposed at this party conference by Vince
:37:43. > :37:47.Cable, Three cheers from you to him presumably? Anything that gets
:37:47. > :37:54.lending moving and gets finance it too small a medium-sized
:37:54. > :38:00.businesses... People tell me every week they cannot raise the finance
:38:00. > :38:05.required to take on new staff. If that works it will be welcome.
:38:05. > :38:10.the question for the coalition partners, what to do so long?
:38:10. > :38:16.important to get a cheaper funds, funds which are affordable for our
:38:16. > :38:20.businesses to grow. The funding for lending scheme is beginning to
:38:21. > :38:25.trickle through in terms of the front line of the small to medium-
:38:25. > :38:33.size businesses in our A, may, which are going to be the engine
:38:33. > :38:37.for growth. -- in a our economy. One of the members of but cross-
:38:37. > :38:40.party Parliamentary commission is Pat McFadden. He joined their visit
:38:40. > :38:44.to Birmingham to see what it is like trying to get a personal or
:38:44. > :38:48.business loan, and see what obstacles may be in the way of
:38:49. > :38:53.economic growth. We wanted to hear directly from businesses and
:38:53. > :38:59.consumers about their experience in recent times with banks, at the
:38:59. > :39:02.availability of credit, the price of credit, because this is really
:39:02. > :39:07.important to relationship between banks and the real economy.
:39:07. > :39:11.It is be tricky one. In one sense you want to encourage vending, but
:39:11. > :39:18.banks cannot be Cairness a small businesses must not overstretch
:39:18. > :39:24.themselves. -- banks cannot be careless. They fact that we have
:39:24. > :39:28.done a low interest as a country, and the confidence of the
:39:28. > :39:33.investment from overseas, we want to see that low rate of interest
:39:33. > :39:38.passed on to small and medium-sized businesses. And well done to the
:39:38. > :39:41.Government for creating that our environment. We have heard all
:39:41. > :39:46.about these schemes, but the fact is that businesses have not been
:39:46. > :39:52.able to get the finance they need, and when you say well done to the
:39:52. > :39:59.Government, we are one of only 2 macro countries in the G 20 that
:39:59. > :40:04.are back in recession. Only Italy in their G8 is emerging from the
:40:04. > :40:09.global downturn more slowly than we are. Seeing Pat McFadden in that
:40:09. > :40:13.report, I wonder whether the opposition is so replete with top
:40:13. > :40:19.talent that someone like Pat McFadden can remain outside your
:40:19. > :40:23.party's Shadow Cabinet. I think he has a massive role to play in
:40:23. > :40:29.British politics, and it is good he is involved in this Banking
:40:29. > :40:36.Commission. I would back him for anything, but these are Ed
:40:36. > :40:41.Miliband's decisions. Coming up, we will be in Tunworth,
:40:41. > :40:47.the whole of the original bobby in the beat. -- D'Amore. What would
:40:47. > :40:52.Sir Robert Peel have made of the biggest upheaval in the police
:40:52. > :40:58.service since he invented it. Our part of the country seems to
:40:58. > :41:02.have a big hall for Ed Miliband. He has visited Birmingham seven times
:41:02. > :41:08.in the last six months. But Labour has still have not held the main
:41:08. > :41:16.autumn conference in Birmingham. In the office of the opposition leader,
:41:16. > :41:21.I asked him why they were one of the only -- one of their big for
:41:21. > :41:24.parties who have not? You make a persuasive case. I will
:41:24. > :41:27.announce this at the appropriate time where we have our party
:41:27. > :41:30.conferences, but Birmingham is a fantastic city. Whenever I come to
:41:30. > :41:34.Birmingham I know what a fantastic city it is, and I wish I could
:41:34. > :41:37.announce on this programme that we are definitely going to do it, but
:41:37. > :41:40.I think Birmingham is a great venue. I was wondering if perhaps you felt
:41:40. > :41:44.an apology coming on so for as Birmingham was concerned? Well, not
:41:44. > :41:46.quite. But I think as I say, the people of Birmingham should know we
:41:46. > :41:49.are very proud of Birmingham and the Labour council in Birmingham.
:41:49. > :41:52.Let's us move on to the economy, and particularly jobs. Figures from
:41:52. > :41:56.the Office for National Statistics show that in the year to June,
:41:56. > :41:59.12,000 jobs were lost in the public sector in the West Midlands, but
:41:59. > :42:03.jobs created in the private sector in the same period, nearly eight
:42:03. > :42:08.times that number. Doesn't that suggest that the Government's
:42:08. > :42:11.rebalancing of the economy is working? I welcome all the jobs
:42:12. > :42:15.that are created in the private sector, to help people in the West
:42:15. > :42:19.Midlands and elsewhere. I don't think the figures speak to the
:42:19. > :42:22.reality of people's lives. They are seeing their sons and daughters
:42:22. > :42:25.looking for work for longer and longer, high numbers of people
:42:25. > :42:28.chasing each vacancy - I think the idea that we should be complacent
:42:28. > :42:31.about our economy is totally wrong. What we have seen is an economy
:42:31. > :42:35.going into the longest double-dip recession since the war, but I'm
:42:35. > :42:39.here not to just say things are not good, but how we are going to make
:42:39. > :42:41.a difference. I think we can make a difference to young people, to jobs
:42:41. > :42:49.in our economy. One practical policy - tax the bankers' bonuses,
:42:49. > :42:52.use the money to put young people back to work. Something which has
:42:52. > :42:55.been presented to us as an engine for rebalancing the economy is
:42:55. > :42:57.high-speed rail. There has been speculation that as the business
:42:57. > :43:00.case is managed downwards, the multiplier effect is calculated
:43:00. > :43:05.downwards, that this great multi- party consensus appears to be
:43:05. > :43:09.getting flaky. What exactly is Labour's position? I have always
:43:09. > :43:12.been a supporter of high-speed rail. It was what we came up with in
:43:12. > :43:15.government, it is important not just to people in Birmingham but
:43:15. > :43:18.places right across the country, and I think high-speed rail is part
:43:18. > :43:21.of being a modern country with a modern economy. By the way, to make
:43:21. > :43:25.high-speed rail work, to make our infrastructure work, we have got to
:43:25. > :43:28.have a growing economy. It takes us back to the theme of our conference
:43:28. > :43:31.- how do you make our economy grow, how do you get better support for
:43:31. > :43:34.small businesses from our banking system for example? How do you get
:43:34. > :43:44.the right vocational skills for people, those who are not academic
:43:44. > :43:47.
:43:47. > :43:52.at school? We are talking about all those issues at our conference.
:43:52. > :43:57.Very concerned about the level of skills in certain areas - high
:43:57. > :44:02.numbers of people chasing vacancies. That is the real worry, because
:44:02. > :44:08.whatever good news you have about employment, you have concentrations
:44:08. > :44:14.of structural unemployment in parts of Birmingham, the Black Country...
:44:14. > :44:19.There is no progress. I think it is to be welcomed that so many jobs in
:44:19. > :44:23.the private sector have been created since June 2010, and we
:44:23. > :44:27.should focus particularly on the skills for our young people. We
:44:27. > :44:33.have been investing in building Apprenticeships. For people coming
:44:33. > :44:39.out of school needing to learn skills on the jobs, -- on the job,
:44:39. > :44:46.they have been a great success. the numbers remained depressingly
:44:46. > :44:56.difficult to budge. We have seen good successes here in the Midlands,
:44:56. > :44:57.
:44:57. > :45:02.the heart of manufacturing. The car industry - Jaguar investing in jobs.
:45:02. > :45:07.All of which is to be welcomed, but most people watching would be
:45:07. > :45:13.staggered at Harriett Baldwin's complacency. We have one million
:45:13. > :45:17.people out of work, we have seen the future jobs fund abolished,
:45:17. > :45:25.university applications going down. This is a crisis for young people.
:45:26. > :45:35.To hear that everything is fine... Not everything is, but there are
:45:36. > :45:36.
:45:36. > :45:42.parts of Solihull that need to be celebrated... By welcome every one
:45:42. > :45:46.of them, but we have huge structural weaknesses in Birmingham,
:45:46. > :45:53.the Black Country, North Staffordshire. The Government has
:45:53. > :45:57.no answer to these problems. Youth contract, which started my April,
:45:57. > :46:03.pays employers who take a young person into the private sector. The
:46:03. > :46:07.problem was that it was a six-month placement. That is not sustainable
:46:07. > :46:11.over the long term. To get real employment growth we need real
:46:11. > :46:16.business growth. Cutting corporation tax, attracting
:46:16. > :46:20.investment into the West Midlands. That is how we will generate
:46:20. > :46:29.employment opportunities. I am that is what businesses have been asking
:46:29. > :46:36.for. But they chopped off consumer confidence. Britain is back in
:46:36. > :46:39.recession, and we need a plan for growth and jobs. I am disappointed
:46:39. > :46:47.in here and we're not talking down the achievements of West Midlands
:46:47. > :46:52.businesses. -- I am disappointed to hear it Ian talking down. Jobs will
:46:52. > :46:57.get as out of the top line slump over time. Is there a danger that
:46:57. > :47:05.in a way, in the good news for the Midlands is bad news for the Labour
:47:05. > :47:11.Party? Every single job that is created... But the Government has
:47:11. > :47:16.not been a plan for growth and jobs. That is what we need urgently.
:47:16. > :47:19.In at over six weeks's time, the biggest change in the way our
:47:19. > :47:23.region's police forces are run will begin with elections for Police and
:47:23. > :47:27.Crime Commissioners. There have been hustings events in Birmingham
:47:27. > :47:32.and Stafford. If you are confused about the new role, if he is a
:47:32. > :47:42.reminder. The police commissioner will have the power to hire and
:47:42. > :47:52.
:47:52. > :48:01.But what would the former MP for Tamworth, the finder of modern-day
:48:01. > :48:08.policing, Sir Robert Peel, think of it all? -- the finder.
:48:08. > :48:13.Tunworth, once the ancient capital of Mercia, but the father of modern
:48:13. > :48:17.policing gaze is out of the the town. It is because of him that
:48:17. > :48:23.politicians talk about bobbies on the beat. He demanded that the
:48:23. > :48:29.police should be a non- military force, the most important principle
:48:29. > :48:31.being... But as we enter the run up to the
:48:31. > :48:36.election of Police and Crime Commissioners, the biggest shake-up
:48:36. > :48:41.to the police ever since 1829, what of the electorate know or care
:48:41. > :48:48.about these new commissioners? have never heard of them. I do not
:48:48. > :48:52.know anything! Non Cabaye good sign. Commissioners are American concept
:48:52. > :48:57.-- a political figure able to connect the police constable to the
:48:57. > :49:01.electorate, a lightning rod for the wishes of ordinary people. This
:49:01. > :49:05.week business leaders in Birmingham gathered to hear what the
:49:05. > :49:11.candidates for the West Midlands job could offer them. This is old-
:49:11. > :49:16.fashioned election year reign. candidates but church pitching
:49:16. > :49:19.their policies to potential voters. But nearly all have said that they
:49:19. > :49:24.do not want to get politics involved.
:49:24. > :49:27.To two out of four of the independent candidates were here.
:49:27. > :49:31.An individual is going to make decisions that will affect the
:49:31. > :49:36.residents of the West Midlands. Those decisions have got to be
:49:36. > :49:40.impartial. But Police and Crime Commissioner of the West Midlands
:49:40. > :49:44.should be totally independent. some of the main parties were
:49:45. > :49:53.distancing themselves from party politics. People need to be assured
:49:53. > :49:56.that if people are holding police officers to account, that there
:49:56. > :50:04.force is being used on behalf of that whole community and not a
:50:04. > :50:10.vested interest. People expect no policy six in the policing. --
:50:10. > :50:15.politics in the policing. others say it is naive not to have
:50:15. > :50:18.politics at the centre of this debate. The way we express the
:50:18. > :50:25.different ideas that drive how public services are delivered and
:50:25. > :50:29.how they work, but his politics. think everything is political.
:50:29. > :50:37.Whether you are a member of a party or not, you have still got a
:50:37. > :50:43.political view. Say Robert Peel boards are a prime minister, twice.
:50:43. > :50:49.But his principles still holds true today. The police routinely should
:50:49. > :50:54.not be armed, and that they should be a part of, and not a pot from,
:50:55. > :50:59.the communities that they serve from. -- apart from. Nobody seems
:50:59. > :51:03.to what the politicians took change that.
:51:03. > :51:10.We are also joined here today by the chief executive of rights and
:51:10. > :51:15.equality is in Sandwell, Dr Derek Campbell. He has advised the
:51:15. > :51:19.Government on gun crime, gangs, as well as preparing for protest by
:51:19. > :51:28.the English Defence League. For me a long experience of operating in
:51:28. > :51:33.in a community with a wide variety of experience, what do you see as
:51:34. > :51:38.the challenge involved in making that objective of reality? Were any
:51:38. > :51:41.to be clear about the fact that it is a powerful role. There is a
:51:42. > :51:45.general fear that there is a politicisation of the police force.
:51:45. > :51:51.There is a fear of being disconnected from reality, not
:51:51. > :51:57.being in tune with people. And insulin that people have the right
:51:57. > :52:02.apportionment of resources -- insuring. There are is a question
:52:02. > :52:06.of legitimacy. Varying degrees of acceptance in the role of the
:52:06. > :52:11.police in different parts of their communities in a very complex
:52:11. > :52:15.society that you cover. There has been a sort of ongoing tension
:52:15. > :52:20.between certain communities and the police, and there will be a major
:52:20. > :52:25.challenge for any Police and Crime Commissioner to make sure that
:52:25. > :52:29.those bridges are mended and we have a successful partnership.
:52:29. > :52:34.suppose it could make it easier that the will of course be a person
:52:34. > :52:41.that does groups can relate to. -- there will of course. People need
:52:41. > :52:43.to feel that they can halt police accountable. I am concerned about
:52:43. > :52:50.the Police and Crime Commissioner, position, because there is a fear
:52:50. > :52:55.that decisions may be made up to get his way, and stronger people
:52:55. > :53:00.may not have a rich to get their concerns raised. People need to be
:53:00. > :53:04.reassured that this powerful position will be a position that
:53:04. > :53:11.will mean something to them and allow them to have their community
:53:11. > :53:17.safe. Aung San Suu Kyi, they are accountable -- Harriett Baldwin,
:53:17. > :53:22.they are accountable. If you wanted to order a low turnout, you would
:53:22. > :53:26.have a campaign in November, the gloomiest month of the year.
:53:26. > :53:31.everyone needs to go out and ensure they have their postal voting
:53:31. > :53:37.campaign, but I agree November is not ideal cos it might be boring
:53:37. > :53:45.with rain. I think they would rather have had the elections in
:53:45. > :53:51.May, but the next time out it will be in May. But it is important that
:53:51. > :53:54.directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, as opposed to
:53:54. > :53:58.indirectly connected councillors, are in a position where they have
:53:58. > :54:04.to listen to the electorate and what the electorate wants. By
:54:04. > :54:07.having that direct role with the electorate, they are responsive,
:54:08. > :54:17.and the electret no food to go to it to express a view on de local
:54:17. > :54:21.policing. -- the electorate know who to go to. Being, you cannot
:54:21. > :54:28.really surely support the status call. It is what the Government is
:54:28. > :54:33.trying to do something? A share many of the fears that Derek laid
:54:33. > :54:39.out. The fears of politicisation of the police. Whoever gets this job
:54:39. > :54:49.has got to work hard to engage with local communities... Can one person
:54:49. > :54:49.
:54:49. > :54:54.do that, in a region like ours? our candidate is guaranteeing no
:54:54. > :54:57.politicisation, and also he is guaranteeing the maintenance of
:54:57. > :55:04.local policing, building those links that are crucial to local
:55:04. > :55:08.communities. A very big job for one person if they have a no mandate.
:55:08. > :55:13.It has been indirectly politicians who have been in charge, now we
:55:13. > :55:18.will have a directly elected politician. In Worcestershire,
:55:18. > :55:24.people want a visible police force, people want suits be able to see
:55:24. > :55:32.their police, and want them to concentrate on cutting crime. Our
:55:32. > :55:38.candidate is aiming to do all of that. Providing the purchasing
:55:39. > :55:44.services, procurement... Have we got the message of what is at stake
:55:44. > :55:48.and how big the decision coming up? Most people do not know what this
:55:48. > :55:52.position it is. The marketing around the Police and Crime
:55:52. > :55:58.Commissioner has been very bad, and most people do not understand the
:55:58. > :56:04.importance. But Nick Herbert, the former police commissioner, said
:56:04. > :56:09.once people cotton on to this, they will become excited about it. That
:56:09. > :56:14.sounds reasonable. But in reality we have seen previous elections
:56:14. > :56:19.turn out to be very low. We have seen parties in power with a very
:56:19. > :56:29.low mandate. I suspect the Police and Crime Commissioner will have a
:56:29. > :56:30.
:56:30. > :56:36.very low mandate. Here is Liz Roberts with our round-
:56:36. > :56:39.up of the Midlands' political week. A month's rain in a day. The
:56:39. > :56:42.Environment Agency issued dozens of flood alerts, as barriers went up
:56:42. > :56:45.in parts of Shropshire. PC Pleb was on the beat in Sutton
:56:45. > :56:47.Coldfield, as the row over what MP Andrew Mitchell did or didn't say
:56:48. > :56:50.rumbled on. The Chief Whip confronted officers after he was
:56:50. > :56:53.told to cycle out of a Downing Street side gate.
:56:53. > :56:55.A suspended jail sentence has been given to the leader of the British
:56:55. > :56:58.National Party in Stoke-on-Trent. Michael Coleman used racist
:56:59. > :57:01.language in his online blog. The PM flew the flag in Brazil, to
:57:01. > :57:04.open a new factory for the Staffordshire digger firm JCB. It
:57:05. > :57:07.cost �63 million, but is expected to make the UK economy half that
:57:07. > :57:10.amount again. JCB is an extraordinary brand and success
:57:10. > :57:12.story, and we should listen to what they're saying about how we
:57:12. > :57:14.rebalance and rebuild manufacturing and engineering in Britain.
:57:14. > :57:24.And it's hoped plans in Birmingham to transform wastelands into
:57:24. > :57:47.
:57:47. > :57:56.economic zones might create 50,000 A vision for regenerating waste
:57:56. > :58:03.land in Birmingham. Worcestershire it is also very much open for
:58:03. > :58:08.business. We have a wonderful technology park there. I think
:58:08. > :58:11.there is a lot of room for growth in Birmingham, and a lot of my
:58:11. > :58:19.constituents work in Birmingham and I wish them every success in
:58:19. > :58:28.attracting firms. In, are enterprise zones like this the way
:58:28. > :58:34.to do it? Is it is fantastic but under the late -- the new Labour
:58:34. > :58:38.council in Birmingham is trying to attract new jobs in digital media,
:58:38. > :58:45.biotechnology is... This will generate tens of thousands of well-
:58:45. > :58:49.paid jobs in the future. If we make the right decisions now, we can get
:58:49. > :58:54.those jobs here in Birmingham and here in the Black Country. I did
:58:54. > :59:00.love to see the Black Country cancels linking up with Birmingham.
:59:00. > :59:05.Let us not forget cyber or valley in a Worcestershire. One of the
:59:05. > :59:09.views of the Birmingham left is that it can be the economic driver,
:59:09. > :59:15.but he can radiate out to places like was to share and the Black
:59:15. > :59:25.Country. -- that it can radiate. lot of firms clustered together -
:59:25. > :59:26.
:59:26. > :59:32.we have a lot of cider firms, -- side but firms... -- cyber
:59:32. > :59:36.technology firms. He it needs to work what ever you politics.
:59:36. > :59:42.have huge structural weaknesses, and we need a regional approach.
:59:42. > :59:48.That is it from us. My thanks to Harriett Baldwin and Ian Austin.