Browse content similar to 30/09/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the Midlands, six weeks until the biggest-ever change to the | :01:29. | :01:31. | |
police service. Tamworth was home to the man who | :01:31. | :01:34. | |
invented modern-day policing. What do people there know about police | :01:34. | :01:44. | |
:01:44. | :01:44. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2117 seconds | :01:44. | :37:02. | |
Hello once again from the Midlands. I'm Patrick Burns. After a week | :37:02. | :37:04. | |
when Parliament's Banking Commission came to Birmingham to | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
see how to boost lending for small firms, I'm joined by Ian Austin, | :37:07. | :37:10. | |
the Labour MP for Dudley North, former Minister for the West | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
Midlands. And congratulations to Harriett Baldwin - Conservative MP | :37:14. | :37:17. | |
for West Worcestershire and now a Parliamentary Private Secretary at | :37:17. | :37:27. | |
:37:27. | :37:28. | ||
Work and Pensions. Let us begin with the that visit | :37:28. | :37:33. | |
from the Banking Commission. On that very day came the news that | :37:33. | :37:37. | |
the investment bank proposed at this party conference by Vince | :37:37. | :37:43. | |
Cable, Three cheers from you to him presumably? Anything that gets | :37:43. | :37:47. | |
lending moving and gets finance it too small a medium-sized | :37:47. | :37:54. | |
businesses... People tell me every week they cannot raise the finance | :37:54. | :38:00. | |
required to take on new staff. If that works it will be welcome. | :38:00. | :38:05. | |
the question for the coalition partners, what to do so long? | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
important to get a cheaper funds, funds which are affordable for our | :38:10. | :38:16. | |
businesses to grow. The funding for lending scheme is beginning to | :38:16. | :38:20. | |
trickle through in terms of the front line of the small to medium- | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
size businesses in our A, may, which are going to be the engine | :38:25. | :38:33. | |
for growth. -- in a our economy. One of the members of but cross- | :38:33. | :38:37. | |
party Parliamentary commission is Pat McFadden. He joined their visit | :38:37. | :38:40. | |
to Birmingham to see what it is like trying to get a personal or | :38:40. | :38:44. | |
business loan, and see what obstacles may be in the way of | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
economic growth. We wanted to hear directly from businesses and | :38:49. | :38:53. | |
consumers about their experience in recent times with banks, at the | :38:53. | :38:59. | |
availability of credit, the price of credit, because this is really | :38:59. | :39:02. | |
important to relationship between banks and the real economy. | :39:02. | :39:07. | |
It is be tricky one. In one sense you want to encourage vending, but | :39:07. | :39:11. | |
banks cannot be Cairness a small businesses must not overstretch | :39:11. | :39:18. | |
themselves. -- banks cannot be careless. They fact that we have | :39:18. | :39:24. | |
done a low interest as a country, and the confidence of the | :39:24. | :39:28. | |
investment from overseas, we want to see that low rate of interest | :39:28. | :39:33. | |
passed on to small and medium-sized businesses. And well done to the | :39:33. | :39:38. | |
Government for creating that our environment. We have heard all | :39:38. | :39:41. | |
about these schemes, but the fact is that businesses have not been | :39:41. | :39:46. | |
able to get the finance they need, and when you say well done to the | :39:46. | :39:52. | |
Government, we are one of only 2 macro countries in the G 20 that | :39:52. | :39:59. | |
are back in recession. Only Italy in their G8 is emerging from the | :39:59. | :40:04. | |
global downturn more slowly than we are. Seeing Pat McFadden in that | :40:04. | :40:09. | |
report, I wonder whether the opposition is so replete with top | :40:09. | :40:13. | |
talent that someone like Pat McFadden can remain outside your | :40:13. | :40:19. | |
party's Shadow Cabinet. I think he has a massive role to play in | :40:19. | :40:23. | |
British politics, and it is good he is involved in this Banking | :40:23. | :40:29. | |
Commission. I would back him for anything, but these are Ed | :40:29. | :40:36. | |
Miliband's decisions. Coming up, we will be in Tunworth, | :40:36. | :40:41. | |
the whole of the original bobby in the beat. -- D'Amore. What would | :40:41. | :40:47. | |
Sir Robert Peel have made of the biggest upheaval in the police | :40:47. | :40:52. | |
service since he invented it. Our part of the country seems to | :40:52. | :40:58. | |
have a big hall for Ed Miliband. He has visited Birmingham seven times | :40:58. | :41:02. | |
in the last six months. But Labour has still have not held the main | :41:02. | :41:08. | |
autumn conference in Birmingham. In the office of the opposition leader, | :41:08. | :41:16. | |
I asked him why they were one of the only -- one of their big for | :41:16. | :41:21. | |
parties who have not? You make a persuasive case. I will | :41:21. | :41:24. | |
announce this at the appropriate time where we have our party | :41:24. | :41:27. | |
conferences, but Birmingham is a fantastic city. Whenever I come to | :41:27. | :41:30. | |
Birmingham I know what a fantastic city it is, and I wish I could | :41:30. | :41:34. | |
announce on this programme that we are definitely going to do it, but | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
I think Birmingham is a great venue. I was wondering if perhaps you felt | :41:37. | :41:40. | |
an apology coming on so for as Birmingham was concerned? Well, not | :41:40. | :41:44. | |
quite. But I think as I say, the people of Birmingham should know we | :41:44. | :41:46. | |
are very proud of Birmingham and the Labour council in Birmingham. | :41:46. | :41:49. | |
Let's us move on to the economy, and particularly jobs. Figures from | :41:49. | :41:52. | |
the Office for National Statistics show that in the year to June, | :41:52. | :41:56. | |
12,000 jobs were lost in the public sector in the West Midlands, but | :41:56. | :41:59. | |
jobs created in the private sector in the same period, nearly eight | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
times that number. Doesn't that suggest that the Government's | :42:03. | :42:08. | |
rebalancing of the economy is working? I welcome all the jobs | :42:08. | :42:11. | |
that are created in the private sector, to help people in the West | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
Midlands and elsewhere. I don't think the figures speak to the | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
reality of people's lives. They are seeing their sons and daughters | :42:19. | :42:22. | |
looking for work for longer and longer, high numbers of people | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
chasing each vacancy - I think the idea that we should be complacent | :42:25. | :42:28. | |
about our economy is totally wrong. What we have seen is an economy | :42:28. | :42:31. | |
going into the longest double-dip recession since the war, but I'm | :42:31. | :42:35. | |
here not to just say things are not good, but how we are going to make | :42:35. | :42:39. | |
a difference. I think we can make a difference to young people, to jobs | :42:39. | :42:41. | |
in our economy. One practical policy - tax the bankers' bonuses, | :42:41. | :42:49. | |
use the money to put young people back to work. Something which has | :42:49. | :42:52. | |
been presented to us as an engine for rebalancing the economy is | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
high-speed rail. There has been speculation that as the business | :42:55. | :42:57. | |
case is managed downwards, the multiplier effect is calculated | :42:57. | :43:00. | |
downwards, that this great multi- party consensus appears to be | :43:00. | :43:05. | |
getting flaky. What exactly is Labour's position? I have always | :43:05. | :43:09. | |
been a supporter of high-speed rail. It was what we came up with in | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
government, it is important not just to people in Birmingham but | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
places right across the country, and I think high-speed rail is part | :43:15. | :43:18. | |
of being a modern country with a modern economy. By the way, to make | :43:18. | :43:21. | |
high-speed rail work, to make our infrastructure work, we have got to | :43:21. | :43:25. | |
have a growing economy. It takes us back to the theme of our conference | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
- how do you make our economy grow, how do you get better support for | :43:28. | :43:31. | |
small businesses from our banking system for example? How do you get | :43:31. | :43:34. | |
the right vocational skills for people, those who are not academic | :43:34. | :43:44. | |
:43:44. | :43:47. | ||
at school? We are talking about all those issues at our conference. | :43:47. | :43:52. | |
Very concerned about the level of skills in certain areas - high | :43:52. | :43:57. | |
numbers of people chasing vacancies. That is the real worry, because | :43:57. | :44:02. | |
whatever good news you have about employment, you have concentrations | :44:02. | :44:08. | |
of structural unemployment in parts of Birmingham, the Black Country... | :44:08. | :44:14. | |
There is no progress. I think it is to be welcomed that so many jobs in | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
the private sector have been created since June 2010, and we | :44:19. | :44:23. | |
should focus particularly on the skills for our young people. We | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
have been investing in building Apprenticeships. For people coming | :44:27. | :44:33. | |
out of school needing to learn skills on the jobs, -- on the job, | :44:33. | :44:39. | |
they have been a great success. the numbers remained depressingly | :44:39. | :44:46. | |
difficult to budge. We have seen good successes here in the Midlands, | :44:46. | :44:56. | |
:44:56. | :44:57. | ||
the heart of manufacturing. The car industry - Jaguar investing in jobs. | :44:57. | :45:02. | |
All of which is to be welcomed, but most people watching would be | :45:02. | :45:07. | |
staggered at Harriett Baldwin's complacency. We have one million | :45:07. | :45:13. | |
people out of work, we have seen the future jobs fund abolished, | :45:13. | :45:17. | |
university applications going down. This is a crisis for young people. | :45:17. | :45:25. | |
To hear that everything is fine... Not everything is, but there are | :45:26. | :45:35. | |
:45:36. | :45:36. | ||
parts of Solihull that need to be celebrated... By welcome every one | :45:36. | :45:42. | |
of them, but we have huge structural weaknesses in Birmingham, | :45:42. | :45:46. | |
the Black Country, North Staffordshire. The Government has | :45:46. | :45:53. | |
no answer to these problems. Youth contract, which started my April, | :45:53. | :45:57. | |
pays employers who take a young person into the private sector. The | :45:57. | :46:03. | |
problem was that it was a six-month placement. That is not sustainable | :46:03. | :46:07. | |
over the long term. To get real employment growth we need real | :46:07. | :46:11. | |
business growth. Cutting corporation tax, attracting | :46:11. | :46:16. | |
investment into the West Midlands. That is how we will generate | :46:16. | :46:20. | |
employment opportunities. I am that is what businesses have been asking | :46:20. | :46:29. | |
for. But they chopped off consumer confidence. Britain is back in | :46:29. | :46:36. | |
recession, and we need a plan for growth and jobs. I am disappointed | :46:36. | :46:39. | |
in here and we're not talking down the achievements of West Midlands | :46:39. | :46:47. | |
businesses. -- I am disappointed to hear it Ian talking down. Jobs will | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
get as out of the top line slump over time. Is there a danger that | :46:52. | :46:57. | |
in a way, in the good news for the Midlands is bad news for the Labour | :46:57. | :47:05. | |
Party? Every single job that is created... But the Government has | :47:05. | :47:11. | |
not been a plan for growth and jobs. That is what we need urgently. | :47:11. | :47:16. | |
In at over six weeks's time, the biggest change in the way our | :47:16. | :47:19. | |
region's police forces are run will begin with elections for Police and | :47:19. | :47:23. | |
Crime Commissioners. There have been hustings events in Birmingham | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
and Stafford. If you are confused about the new role, if he is a | :47:27. | :47:32. | |
reminder. The police commissioner will have the power to hire and | :47:32. | :47:42. | |
:47:42. | :47:52. | ||
But what would the former MP for Tamworth, the finder of modern-day | :47:52. | :48:01. | |
policing, Sir Robert Peel, think of it all? -- the finder. | :48:01. | :48:08. | |
Tunworth, once the ancient capital of Mercia, but the father of modern | :48:08. | :48:13. | |
policing gaze is out of the the town. It is because of him that | :48:13. | :48:17. | |
politicians talk about bobbies on the beat. He demanded that the | :48:17. | :48:23. | |
police should be a non- military force, the most important principle | :48:23. | :48:29. | |
being... But as we enter the run up to the | :48:29. | :48:31. | |
election of Police and Crime Commissioners, the biggest shake-up | :48:31. | :48:36. | |
to the police ever since 1829, what of the electorate know or care | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
about these new commissioners? have never heard of them. I do not | :48:41. | :48:48. | |
know anything! Non Cabaye good sign. Commissioners are American concept | :48:48. | :48:52. | |
-- a political figure able to connect the police constable to the | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
electorate, a lightning rod for the wishes of ordinary people. This | :48:57. | :49:01. | |
week business leaders in Birmingham gathered to hear what the | :49:01. | :49:05. | |
candidates for the West Midlands job could offer them. This is old- | :49:05. | :49:11. | |
fashioned election year reign. candidates but church pitching | :49:11. | :49:16. | |
their policies to potential voters. But nearly all have said that they | :49:16. | :49:19. | |
do not want to get politics involved. | :49:19. | :49:24. | |
To two out of four of the independent candidates were here. | :49:24. | :49:27. | |
An individual is going to make decisions that will affect the | :49:27. | :49:31. | |
residents of the West Midlands. Those decisions have got to be | :49:31. | :49:36. | |
impartial. But Police and Crime Commissioner of the West Midlands | :49:36. | :49:40. | |
should be totally independent. some of the main parties were | :49:40. | :49:44. | |
distancing themselves from party politics. People need to be assured | :49:45. | :49:53. | |
that if people are holding police officers to account, that there | :49:53. | :49:56. | |
force is being used on behalf of that whole community and not a | :49:56. | :50:04. | |
vested interest. People expect no policy six in the policing. -- | :50:04. | :50:10. | |
politics in the policing. others say it is naive not to have | :50:10. | :50:15. | |
politics at the centre of this debate. The way we express the | :50:15. | :50:18. | |
different ideas that drive how public services are delivered and | :50:18. | :50:25. | |
how they work, but his politics. think everything is political. | :50:25. | :50:29. | |
Whether you are a member of a party or not, you have still got a | :50:29. | :50:37. | |
political view. Say Robert Peel boards are a prime minister, twice. | :50:37. | :50:43. | |
But his principles still holds true today. The police routinely should | :50:43. | :50:49. | |
not be armed, and that they should be a part of, and not a pot from, | :50:49. | :50:54. | |
the communities that they serve from. -- apart from. Nobody seems | :50:55. | :50:59. | |
to what the politicians took change that. | :50:59. | :51:03. | |
We are also joined here today by the chief executive of rights and | :51:03. | :51:10. | |
equality is in Sandwell, Dr Derek Campbell. He has advised the | :51:10. | :51:15. | |
Government on gun crime, gangs, as well as preparing for protest by | :51:15. | :51:19. | |
the English Defence League. For me a long experience of operating in | :51:19. | :51:28. | |
in a community with a wide variety of experience, what do you see as | :51:28. | :51:33. | |
the challenge involved in making that objective of reality? Were any | :51:34. | :51:38. | |
to be clear about the fact that it is a powerful role. There is a | :51:38. | :51:41. | |
general fear that there is a politicisation of the police force. | :51:42. | :51:45. | |
There is a fear of being disconnected from reality, not | :51:45. | :51:51. | |
being in tune with people. And insulin that people have the right | :51:51. | :51:57. | |
apportionment of resources -- insuring. There are is a question | :51:57. | :52:02. | |
of legitimacy. Varying degrees of acceptance in the role of the | :52:02. | :52:06. | |
police in different parts of their communities in a very complex | :52:06. | :52:11. | |
society that you cover. There has been a sort of ongoing tension | :52:11. | :52:15. | |
between certain communities and the police, and there will be a major | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
challenge for any Police and Crime Commissioner to make sure that | :52:20. | :52:25. | |
those bridges are mended and we have a successful partnership. | :52:25. | :52:29. | |
suppose it could make it easier that the will of course be a person | :52:29. | :52:34. | |
that does groups can relate to. -- there will of course. People need | :52:34. | :52:41. | |
to feel that they can halt police accountable. I am concerned about | :52:41. | :52:43. | |
the Police and Crime Commissioner, position, because there is a fear | :52:43. | :52:50. | |
that decisions may be made up to get his way, and stronger people | :52:50. | :52:55. | |
may not have a rich to get their concerns raised. People need to be | :52:55. | :53:00. | |
reassured that this powerful position will be a position that | :53:00. | :53:04. | |
will mean something to them and allow them to have their community | :53:04. | :53:11. | |
safe. Aung San Suu Kyi, they are accountable -- Harriett Baldwin, | :53:11. | :53:17. | |
they are accountable. If you wanted to order a low turnout, you would | :53:17. | :53:22. | |
have a campaign in November, the gloomiest month of the year. | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
everyone needs to go out and ensure they have their postal voting | :53:26. | :53:31. | |
campaign, but I agree November is not ideal cos it might be boring | :53:31. | :53:37. | |
with rain. I think they would rather have had the elections in | :53:37. | :53:45. | |
May, but the next time out it will be in May. But it is important that | :53:45. | :53:51. | |
directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, as opposed to | :53:51. | :53:54. | |
indirectly connected councillors, are in a position where they have | :53:54. | :53:58. | |
to listen to the electorate and what the electorate wants. By | :53:58. | :54:04. | |
having that direct role with the electorate, they are responsive, | :54:04. | :54:07. | |
and the electret no food to go to it to express a view on de local | :54:08. | :54:17. | |
policing. -- the electorate know who to go to. Being, you cannot | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
really surely support the status call. It is what the Government is | :54:21. | :54:28. | |
trying to do something? A share many of the fears that Derek laid | :54:28. | :54:33. | |
out. The fears of politicisation of the police. Whoever gets this job | :54:33. | :54:39. | |
has got to work hard to engage with local communities... Can one person | :54:39. | :54:49. | |
:54:49. | :54:49. | ||
do that, in a region like ours? our candidate is guaranteeing no | :54:49. | :54:54. | |
politicisation, and also he is guaranteeing the maintenance of | :54:54. | :54:57. | |
local policing, building those links that are crucial to local | :54:57. | :55:04. | |
communities. A very big job for one person if they have a no mandate. | :55:04. | :55:08. | |
It has been indirectly politicians who have been in charge, now we | :55:08. | :55:13. | |
will have a directly elected politician. In Worcestershire, | :55:13. | :55:18. | |
people want a visible police force, people want suits be able to see | :55:18. | :55:24. | |
their police, and want them to concentrate on cutting crime. Our | :55:24. | :55:32. | |
candidate is aiming to do all of that. Providing the purchasing | :55:32. | :55:38. | |
services, procurement... Have we got the message of what is at stake | :55:39. | :55:44. | |
and how big the decision coming up? Most people do not know what this | :55:44. | :55:48. | |
position it is. The marketing around the Police and Crime | :55:48. | :55:52. | |
Commissioner has been very bad, and most people do not understand the | :55:52. | :55:58. | |
importance. But Nick Herbert, the former police commissioner, said | :55:58. | :56:04. | |
once people cotton on to this, they will become excited about it. That | :56:04. | :56:09. | |
sounds reasonable. But in reality we have seen previous elections | :56:09. | :56:14. | |
turn out to be very low. We have seen parties in power with a very | :56:14. | :56:19. | |
low mandate. I suspect the Police and Crime Commissioner will have a | :56:19. | :56:29. | |
:56:29. | :56:30. | ||
very low mandate. Here is Liz Roberts with our round- | :56:30. | :56:36. | |
up of the Midlands' political week. A month's rain in a day. The | :56:36. | :56:39. | |
Environment Agency issued dozens of flood alerts, as barriers went up | :56:39. | :56:42. | |
in parts of Shropshire. PC Pleb was on the beat in Sutton | :56:42. | :56:45. | |
Coldfield, as the row over what MP Andrew Mitchell did or didn't say | :56:45. | :56:47. | |
rumbled on. The Chief Whip confronted officers after he was | :56:48. | :56:50. | |
told to cycle out of a Downing Street side gate. | :56:50. | :56:53. | |
A suspended jail sentence has been given to the leader of the British | :56:53. | :56:55. | |
National Party in Stoke-on-Trent. Michael Coleman used racist | :56:55. | :56:58. | |
language in his online blog. The PM flew the flag in Brazil, to | :56:59. | :57:01. | |
open a new factory for the Staffordshire digger firm JCB. It | :57:01. | :57:04. | |
cost �63 million, but is expected to make the UK economy half that | :57:05. | :57:07. | |
amount again. JCB is an extraordinary brand and success | :57:07. | :57:10. | |
story, and we should listen to what they're saying about how we | :57:10. | :57:12. | |
rebalance and rebuild manufacturing and engineering in Britain. | :57:12. | :57:14. | |
And it's hoped plans in Birmingham to transform wastelands into | :57:14. | :57:24. | |
:57:24. | :57:47. | ||
economic zones might create 50,000 A vision for regenerating waste | :57:47. | :57:56. | |
land in Birmingham. Worcestershire it is also very much open for | :57:56. | :58:03. | |
business. We have a wonderful technology park there. I think | :58:03. | :58:08. | |
there is a lot of room for growth in Birmingham, and a lot of my | :58:08. | :58:11. | |
constituents work in Birmingham and I wish them every success in | :58:11. | :58:19. | |
attracting firms. In, are enterprise zones like this the way | :58:19. | :58:28. | |
to do it? Is it is fantastic but under the late -- the new Labour | :58:28. | :58:34. | |
council in Birmingham is trying to attract new jobs in digital media, | :58:34. | :58:38. | |
biotechnology is... This will generate tens of thousands of well- | :58:38. | :58:45. | |
paid jobs in the future. If we make the right decisions now, we can get | :58:45. | :58:49. | |
those jobs here in Birmingham and here in the Black Country. I did | :58:49. | :58:54. | |
love to see the Black Country cancels linking up with Birmingham. | :58:54. | :59:00. | |
Let us not forget cyber or valley in a Worcestershire. One of the | :59:00. | :59:05. | |
views of the Birmingham left is that it can be the economic driver, | :59:05. | :59:09. | |
but he can radiate out to places like was to share and the Black | :59:09. | :59:15. | |
Country. -- that it can radiate. lot of firms clustered together - | :59:15. | :59:25. | |
:59:25. | :59:26. | ||
we have a lot of cider firms, -- side but firms... -- cyber | :59:26. | :59:32. | |
technology firms. He it needs to work what ever you politics. | :59:32. | :59:36. | |
have huge structural weaknesses, and we need a regional approach. | :59:36. | :59:42. | |
That is it from us. My thanks to Harriett Baldwin and Ian Austin. | :59:42. | :59:48. |