:01:19. > :01:23.It in the Midlands, we are hot on the heels of the world's fastest
:01:23. > :01:33.miler. Why Usain Bolt says the taxman is keeping him away from
:01:33. > :01:33.
:01:33. > :37:05.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2131 seconds
:37:05. > :37:09.Hello once again from the Midlands, I'm Patrick Burns. Joining us to
:37:09. > :37:13.debate the big political talking points in our part of the country:
:37:13. > :37:17.Mark Garnier, the Conservative MP for the Wyre Forest. He spent 30
:37:17. > :37:20.years in financial services before going into politics. And Emma
:37:20. > :37:25.Reynolds, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East. She's her
:37:25. > :37:29.party's voice on Europe. For many of our local communities,
:37:29. > :37:34.this past week had a grimly familiar feel about it: damage and
:37:34. > :37:37.destruction visited on so many homes, because of flooding. When
:37:37. > :37:42.you look at this helicopter footage, you get a real sense of the sheer
:37:42. > :37:45.scale of the havoc wrought by days of relentless rain. Towns and
:37:45. > :37:48.villages right across our region have been hit. Worst of all,
:37:48. > :37:50.perhaps, some homeowners, who thought they were now safe thanks
:37:50. > :38:00.to new flood defences, found themselves under water yet again
:38:00. > :38:06.when the system failed. It is really upsetting about what
:38:06. > :38:10.has happened here. I have worked with community, I do care about the
:38:10. > :38:15.people. But what seems to have happened is that there seems to
:38:15. > :38:20.have been either a mechanical or an electrical problem in that the Poms
:38:20. > :38:26.did not cut in. In March and the frustration and
:38:26. > :38:36.rage of those people, he did not feel they needed to take any action.
:38:36. > :38:37.
:38:37. > :38:46.Mark, you have a feel for them? the beginning of the 2000 sq we saw
:38:46. > :38:49.Bewdley being flooded quite a great deal. But if you have just had a
:38:49. > :38:54.huge amount of money spent on flood defences which do not work, you
:38:54. > :38:59.feel very angry. And the big issue is now insurance.
:38:59. > :39:06.For the talks seem to be a log jam in terms of having cover for the
:39:06. > :39:12.people in those sort of areas. Paterson said the talks are going
:39:12. > :39:17.ahead, but it is an important issue. All of us are paying for the cost
:39:17. > :39:21.of these floods. The Government needs to get a grip on the
:39:21. > :39:25.insurance negotiation. I do not know why it is taking so long. In
:39:25. > :39:30.the summer when it there were floods, we were told there would be
:39:30. > :39:34.some kind of agreement with the Association of British Insurers, so
:39:34. > :39:39.it is devastating for people who are seeing their homes being
:39:39. > :39:43.flooded, especially in areas where there were supposed to have been
:39:43. > :39:48.flood defences. I was surprised to discover that investment in fire
:39:48. > :39:58.protection measures has been going down recently. So since 2010 it has
:39:58. > :40:00.
:40:00. > :40:09.been cut by 30%, which seemed a good idea at the time of the
:40:09. > :40:13.general election in a sunny month of May, but not now. Expect the
:40:14. > :40:18.unexpected, but I certainly think this is something we need to look
:40:18. > :40:24.at. If we are investing money in flood defences, we need to protect
:40:24. > :40:28.people. It is a very important issue.
:40:28. > :40:33.Coming up a little later in the programme: he trained in Birmingham,
:40:33. > :40:36.but will he ever race in Birmingham?
:40:36. > :40:39.Sport wants the Treasury to change its tax rules to encourage the
:40:39. > :40:47.world's biggest stars, including Usain Bolt, to race, play, and
:40:47. > :40:52.appear here at our major venues. Oh yes we can, and argue we will,
:40:52. > :40:57.in a few minutes. The debate currently raging over
:40:57. > :41:03.local hospital services has taken a new and unexpected turn. For the
:41:03. > :41:05.first time, an NHS hospital could be taken over by you, the community.
:41:05. > :41:11.Cannock Hospital in Staffordshire is losing money, and in danger of
:41:11. > :41:16.closure. So the town's MP thinks the public could own it instead.
:41:16. > :41:22.Here is our health correspondent, Michele Paduano.
:41:22. > :41:26.Cannock Chase Hospital, a �34m asset or a �34m liability? This
:41:26. > :41:30.weekend, the kitchen's closed, and only two of the nine wards are open.
:41:30. > :41:32.The situation's so sensitive that the trust won't let us inside.
:41:32. > :41:41.Fearing closure, the Conservative MP Aidan Burley has announced an
:41:41. > :41:46.idea for the first public take over of a hospital. This would be for
:41:46. > :41:50.its transferred to a community interest company, which would take
:41:50. > :41:55.over its running. What the Secretary of State welcome these
:41:55. > :42:02.proposals, which would be the first of their kind in the UK, and work
:42:02. > :42:07.with us? A congratulate my honourable friend for his
:42:07. > :42:12.campaigning on this issue, which represents a very interesting way
:42:12. > :42:14.forward for community hospitals. We will wear -- watch carefully what
:42:14. > :42:17.happens in Cannock. So is the Secretary of State
:42:17. > :42:20.hinting that this is genuinely a Government-backed way of preserving
:42:20. > :42:22.community hospitals, or is it political pie in the sky?
:42:22. > :42:25.Labour, which runs the district council, fear the latter. Without
:42:25. > :42:31.strong commitment from GPs who buy services from the hospital by
:42:31. > :42:36.sending patients there for treatment, they say all is lost.
:42:36. > :42:44.is �200 million a year to keep the open -- building open, never mind
:42:44. > :42:49.staffing costs. In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher's Government
:42:49. > :42:53.commissioned this hospital in a key Conservative marginal seat, now
:42:53. > :42:56.Aidan Burley is using another Conservative idea, the big society,
:42:56. > :42:59.to keep it open. There's already been one public
:42:59. > :43:05.meeting, but this Tuesday the people of Cannock hope to hear what
:43:06. > :43:11.the accountants think, and to have their say.
:43:11. > :43:16.Big society or political party in the sky? An interesting idea. It
:43:16. > :43:20.has a ring of the big society about it. The this has never been used
:43:20. > :43:28.for hospitals before. I think Jeremy Hunt essentially is washing
:43:28. > :43:33.his hands of this problem, when you see him responding to Aidan Burley.
:43:33. > :43:40.But think outside the box, the NHS has to move with the times and this
:43:40. > :43:44.is a bit of constructive thinking, isn't it? A I have family members
:43:44. > :43:48.in Cannock who are very worried about losing their hospital.
:43:48. > :43:52.would be lobbying the Secretary of State for the Government to stand
:43:52. > :43:56.behind the hospital. This is a proven way for making sure that a
:43:56. > :44:01.hospital stays open. Rather than coming out with a pie-in-the-sky
:44:01. > :44:05.its scheme that does not seem viable. Mark, in Worcestershire you
:44:05. > :44:10.have several hospitals with debt worries hanging over them. Is this
:44:10. > :44:16.an interesting new contribution to the debate? A I think we should be
:44:16. > :44:22.looking at every opportunity. The NHS is 60 years old, and we have
:44:22. > :44:27.seen interesting developments. The key to this is the Clinical
:44:27. > :44:32.Commissioning Groups. They are the ones that decide whether patients -
:44:32. > :44:38.- where the patients are going to be treated. If the local community
:44:38. > :44:43.becomes a landlord, but this ECG does not use it, you still have the
:44:43. > :44:49.problems of the landlord. It would still be an NHS hospital, it would
:44:49. > :44:53.still have NHS professionals -- professionals? We on shifting the
:44:53. > :44:57.DEC and all the risk from the NHS to the public and the good people
:44:57. > :45:01.of Cannock. I am not sure that the good people of Cannock will want to
:45:02. > :45:06.take on that kind of risk. It is for the Government to come up with
:45:06. > :45:11.a solution, rather than asking people in Cannock to shoulder that
:45:11. > :45:17.kind of burden. A another interpretation is that hospital
:45:17. > :45:22.issues can be politically lethal, as you know from the constituency
:45:22. > :45:27.you represent in Kidderminster. It could be a way off Aidan Burley
:45:27. > :45:33.getting on the right side of a lethal issue. I think the important
:45:33. > :45:43.thing is that we got all bearing this risk anyway. We own in the NHS
:45:43. > :45:44.
:45:44. > :45:47.and or all taxpayers. It is our Mac NHS. How we make sure that it is
:45:47. > :45:51.robust in his be essential thing. The Government needs to sort out a
:45:51. > :45:57.solution rather than asking for it to go into the hands of the people
:45:57. > :46:01.of Cannock. It is be a pie-in-the- sky solution, and I do not think it
:46:01. > :46:06.will work. For the moment, thank you again.
:46:06. > :46:10.Now, sport. Or sport and politics, more like. Because there are
:46:10. > :46:12.growing demands for the taxman to go easy on overseas stars. We have
:46:12. > :46:16.international-standard athletics, golf and tennis venues right here
:46:16. > :46:19.in our part of the country. But what chance do we have of seeing
:46:19. > :46:22.the true global superstars? Tax rules were waived for the Olympics,
:46:22. > :46:27.but not for the closer-to-home events that are the mainstays of
:46:27. > :46:37.the sporting calendar. BBC Radio WM's political reporter Elizabeth
:46:37. > :46:38.
:46:38. > :46:41.This is Birmingham's Alexander Stadium - the home of UK Athletics
:46:41. > :46:44.and, just weeks after the Olympic Games, the venue that played host
:46:44. > :46:48.to gold medallists Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford, but not the
:46:48. > :46:56.world's most famous athlete, Usain Bolt.
:46:56. > :46:59.Bolt's going to do it again! Watch the clock - 19.32. Gold all the
:46:59. > :47:01.way! After training here in the run-up
:47:02. > :47:04.to the Games, the Olympic champion's made no secret of his
:47:04. > :47:10.affection for Birmingham. But that wasn't enough to get him racing
:47:10. > :47:13.here. The reason? Tax. When are we likely to see you in
:47:14. > :47:18.Britain again? Maybe only when the tax laws change?
:47:18. > :47:21.Exactly. As soon as the law changes, I'll be here all the time. I love
:47:21. > :47:24.coming here because I have so many Jamaican fans here, and it's
:47:24. > :47:26.wonderful. I'd like to say a big-up to Birmingham, the university.
:47:26. > :47:31.That's where we train, we get everything possible - indoor
:47:31. > :47:38.facilities, gym work and everything. So for me, it's an honour. Thank
:47:38. > :47:42.you guys for everything you've done for me, thank you.
:47:42. > :47:45.But this isn't about just one man or even one sport. Here at the
:47:45. > :47:55.Belfry, which has twice held the Ryder Cup, the world of golf is
:47:55. > :47:56.
:47:56. > :47:59.Unlike many other countries the UK Treasury taxes international sports
:47:59. > :48:04.stars on their global earnings - even if they make just one
:48:04. > :48:14.appearance here. Tax experts say they're not
:48:14. > :48:15.
:48:15. > :48:19.surprised some top performers choose to stay away. If you are a
:48:19. > :48:24.boxer or a sprinter, you might pass disobeyed -- participate in ten
:48:24. > :48:27.events per year, in which case the Inland Revenue would want tax on
:48:27. > :48:29.10% of your endorsement income. A new �12 million international
:48:30. > :48:36.tennis centre is currently under construction here at the Priory
:48:36. > :48:39.Club in Edgbaston. But what chance of it hosting the biggest names?
:48:39. > :48:43.Earlier this year men's world number 4 Rafa Nadal said it
:48:43. > :48:46.actually cost him money to play in the UK.
:48:46. > :48:48.In the past, this man's organised numerous high profile sporting
:48:48. > :48:58.events - including international indoor athletics meets at the
:48:58. > :48:59.
:48:59. > :49:04.National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. You want the best, because the best
:49:04. > :49:09.brings tickets, and tickets means income. If those people do not
:49:09. > :49:14.participate, by definition it is not a top-quality sporting event.
:49:14. > :49:19.It is his secondary event. If it is not a top-quality sporting event,
:49:19. > :49:22.the amounts of money and sponsorship you can sell, the
:49:22. > :49:26.corporate hospitality, will be reduced.
:49:26. > :49:29.In a statement to this programme, the taxman told us it taxes sports
:49:29. > :49:39.stars "in a similar way to the US and New Zealand", and that it tends
:49:39. > :49:41.
:49:41. > :49:43.to collect more tax because of its "stronger avoidance legislation".
:49:43. > :49:53.Sports governing bodies are continuing to lobby the government
:49:53. > :49:54.
:49:54. > :50:03.so that summers like the one we've just had aren't once in a lifetime.
:50:03. > :50:08.He is going to win the gold! The champion becomes a legend!
:50:08. > :50:14.Memories of the Olympic summer. We are also joined here today by
:50:15. > :50:22.Katharine Merry, a former world No. 1 in the 400 metres. She won the
:50:22. > :50:24.bronze medal in the Sydney Olympics, behind Cathy Freeman, and now she
:50:24. > :50:31.is my television and radio broadcaster and presenter and
:50:32. > :50:35.commentator. You grew up outside rugby. Do you remember as a
:50:35. > :50:40.teenager international stars coming to this country and inspiring the
:50:40. > :50:46.ambition you obviously had to get to the top? Definitely. I started
:50:46. > :50:51.running at an age of ten years old, and was totally enthralled by
:50:51. > :51:00.watching the big names in Los Angeles in 1984, and seeing it,
:51:01. > :51:06.lowest... It in this country? and finding out I could go to watch
:51:06. > :51:10.them. It was hugely inspiring for me and other people. So how do you
:51:10. > :51:16.see the effect of the tax changes that have been brought in since
:51:16. > :51:21.then? Rafa Nadal says it costs him money to perform in this country.
:51:21. > :51:26.Everybody loves their job, but they will not do it for free. In my
:51:26. > :51:32.sport of track and field, we have not had the Usain Bolt compete in
:51:32. > :51:37.the UK for three years, because it would cost him to compete here. He
:51:37. > :51:43.is taxed twice, and the second time it will cost him nearly a million
:51:43. > :51:47.pounds here to compete. So fewer sports stars are coming. For you as
:51:47. > :51:54.a broadcaster, the impact of these events in terms of TV and radio
:51:54. > :51:59.when these people stay away? It is huge. We have one meeting here, the
:51:59. > :52:09.diamond lead meeting in Birmingham. Everybody asks, will Usain Bolt be
:52:09. > :52:14.running? No, he is not, then I will not come. Jessica Ennis and Mo
:52:14. > :52:20.Farah are doing OK, but that is the effect when the big stars stay away.
:52:20. > :52:25.If the politicians were in sports shoes, what would you say to them?
:52:25. > :52:35.Is it is ridiculous, I just think it is an easy way to make a lot of
:52:35. > :52:38.money for the Government. Tax for that appearance, tax on that bonus,
:52:38. > :52:45.but �12 million but Usain Bolt Burns, he will not part with that
:52:45. > :52:50.sort of money. More work, should you use your influence to open the
:52:50. > :52:54.Culture and Sports Department's mind on this? I started to have a
:52:54. > :52:58.look at this, and there is surprisingly little you can get
:52:58. > :53:03.hold of. I have written to the chairman of the Treasury sub-
:53:03. > :53:13.committee to see if he would add this to a our agenda. But we cannot,
:53:13. > :53:19.I believe, these are or sports rock stars, and they will attract a lot
:53:19. > :53:26.of money with people coming to watch them, and we should
:53:26. > :53:33.understand the problem. Wimbledon... The roles were waived
:53:33. > :53:37.for the Olympics, but it Middle ranking events like some of the
:53:37. > :53:44.indoor athletics events, that is important to our region, but the
:53:44. > :53:48.big stars can go to mainland Europe, can't they? A we want to attract
:53:48. > :53:54.Usain Bolt and Rafa Nadal, but they also should pay their way. They
:53:54. > :53:59.should pay a fair amount of tax. This is the party that likes taxi
:53:59. > :54:04.millionairess! Every body should pay their tax share, nobody should
:54:04. > :54:08.get away with paying nothing. We need a better understanding of this,
:54:08. > :54:13.the question is, it is it proportionate? If it is costing
:54:13. > :54:19.money to come here, but is clearly Vorm, but you would have to look at
:54:19. > :54:25.how much out of their income or what they get to come here they are
:54:25. > :54:32.actually being taxed? Of could it be that the UK tax authorities are
:54:32. > :54:39.better at pursuing avoidance of tax back to tax havens? If we lobbying
:54:39. > :54:46.effective at collecting the tax is -- if we are being effective a
:54:46. > :54:51.collecting the tax is... Actually, how does it compare with
:54:51. > :54:56.international film stars, how do they pay tax? We need to look at it
:54:56. > :55:04.to see if this is wrong because it it -- it is sport and not something
:55:04. > :55:10.else. These are sports stars, but the public sympathy may not go very
:55:10. > :55:15.far? And nobody is disputing they should not pay tax, it is the
:55:15. > :55:21.amount they pay and how they pay it. You should not have to pay tax on
:55:21. > :55:27.your global income once you have paid tax on an appearance fee.
:55:27. > :55:32.Usain Bolt runs ten times, he has to pay 10% of his global earnings.
:55:32. > :55:36.Bat has nothing to do with the British Government. -- that has
:55:36. > :55:41.nothing to do with the British Government. Home grown talent for
:55:41. > :55:45.this year's Sports Personality of the Year - you could say that in
:55:45. > :55:49.such a wide variety of sports we have such a range of home-grown
:55:49. > :55:53.talent that we should not be obsessed about bringing these
:55:53. > :55:57.international superstars? everybody wants to see the biggest
:55:57. > :56:01.names in a big international competition. In my sport we are
:56:01. > :56:07.blessed at the moment, everybody wants to see Jessica Ennis and Mo
:56:07. > :56:10.Farah. But in the world of golf, they are continually having
:56:10. > :56:13.competitions where they need the big names to come to the Priory and
:56:13. > :56:19.to come to the Belfry. The bottom line is that you should not be
:56:19. > :56:22.taxed in my opinion it twice, when it is not necessary and I do not
:56:22. > :56:29.think it is fair. We have reached the finishing tape
:56:29. > :56:32.on this one! Now our regular round-up of the
:56:32. > :56:42.political week in the Midlands in 60 seconds, with BBC Radio Stoke's
:56:42. > :56:45.Breakfast presenter Stuart George: 405 metres. No, not the next race
:56:45. > :56:49.for today's guest Katharine Merry, but the length of the extended
:56:49. > :56:54.Birmingham airport runway. It'll allow direct flights to the Far
:56:54. > :56:58.East and the US west coast. Would the Tories win more election
:56:58. > :57:04.seats if they do a deal over Europe with UKIP? One Midlands MP thinks
:57:04. > :57:09.If UKIP don't stand against us at the next election, we would give a
:57:09. > :57:12.firm undertaking to have an in-out referendum after that election.
:57:12. > :57:15.It was the home of the Bard's wife, and its owners say they won't sell
:57:15. > :57:17.land to developers wanting to build 800 homes.
:57:17. > :57:23.Anne Hathaway's cottage is centre stage in another chapter of
:57:23. > :57:26.Shakespearean drama. And a tale of two Labour councils.
:57:26. > :57:30.In Dudley they're planning a referendum to raise council tax
:57:30. > :57:40.above the government cap. While in Stoke-on-Trent,
:57:40. > :57:43.
:57:43. > :57:48.Whitehall's being blamed for cuts leading to another 200 job losses.
:57:48. > :57:51.A succession of Labour councils lining up to get their retaliation
:57:51. > :57:57.in first before the Government sets out the spending levels for next
:57:57. > :58:02.year. It seems to me that the moral of this report from Dudley and
:58:02. > :58:06.stock is a vote Labour for higher council tax? Is truth is that what
:58:07. > :58:11.has happened here is that of course the Government needs to concentrate
:58:11. > :58:16.on bringing down the deficit, but it has done so we in a totally
:58:16. > :58:24.unfair way. Councils like my own, where people are seeing the biggest
:58:24. > :58:30.cuts to local Government spending - in my own constituency, 30% cut. In
:58:30. > :58:35.Stoke, �130 per person is being cut. The Government are hitting the
:58:35. > :58:42.poorest, hardest. More work, you are hitting the most
:58:42. > :58:48.vulnerable? We have all ward which is the seventh most deprived wards,
:58:48. > :58:57.and we are holding it at the flat tax rate? But hundreds of millions
:58:57. > :59:05.of pounds in savings, you cannot do it just... It goes deeper than that.
:59:05. > :59:11.He if you have shared services, in the south of Worcestershire and
:59:11. > :59:14.they have driven quite useful shared services. Clearly at the end
:59:14. > :59:18.of the day if you have a service that is very expensive, you will
:59:18. > :59:26.want to reduce that service because people are not using it enough.
:59:26. > :59:31.What chance a deal between the Tories and UKIP? A I hope not!
:59:31. > :59:35.could be damaging to your side of the argument. A I think the Tories
:59:35. > :59:40.would be mad to go down that path. My thanks to Mark Garnier, Emma
:59:40. > :59:43.Reynolds and of course to Usain Bolt. Next Sunday, we'll examine