:01:19. > :01:29.In the Midlands, after a week dominated by Europe, could the UK
:01:29. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :39:38.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2289 seconds
:39:38. > :39:42.Independence Party commit local Hello from the Midlands, I am
:39:42. > :39:49.Patrick Burns. With us today to make sense of the
:39:49. > :39:54.political week, the Conservative MP Peter Luff and the Labour MP
:39:54. > :39:58.Shabana Mahmood. They will be of with us throughout our part of the
:39:58. > :40:03.programme, including that, later, after the week dominated by the
:40:03. > :40:07.Prime Minister's promise of a referendum on Europe, could nine
:40:07. > :40:12.Midlands Conservative MPs lose their seats because of rising
:40:12. > :40:18.support for the anti-European Union party UKIP?
:40:18. > :40:22.First, we are all journalists now, citizen journalists and hyper local
:40:22. > :40:27.websites are everywhere. Take our internet sites run by local
:40:27. > :40:30.communities for local communities, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall, Solihull
:40:30. > :40:33.are at the cutting-edge of a revolution in local news.
:40:33. > :40:43.Birmingham has more of these websites than anywhere else in
:40:43. > :40:48.I could say you are watching the next generation of reporters and
:40:48. > :40:52.camera crews, but the children of Oratory Primary School are doing it
:40:52. > :40:57.all for real, including holding our politicians to account. It is about
:40:57. > :41:01.getting people involved in their local community, having a say. It
:41:01. > :41:10.is fantastic to be able to interview councillors, getting the
:41:10. > :41:14.young people's opinions across, and vice-versa. These children are part
:41:14. > :41:19.of the change in use, using the internet to deliver hyper local
:41:19. > :41:28.news, news for very small areas, and according to a new survey, the
:41:28. > :41:31.Midlands is leading the way. In my experience, I find local
:41:31. > :41:36.councillors respond pretty quickly, because they know that the people
:41:36. > :41:40.who read my website are the voters. We put together the people behind
:41:40. > :41:45.the revolution to swap ideas and experiences. All of this represents
:41:45. > :41:49.an opportunity for politicians, but also a problem, with an explosion
:41:49. > :41:55.in websites, how can you be sure you are talking to the right
:41:55. > :41:59.people? It is not just an army of blockers the politician's face.
:41:59. > :42:04.Birmingham is getting a new TV station. Instead of taking a broad
:42:04. > :42:11.brush stroke, we can be in the hearts and minds of the audience
:42:11. > :42:16.and the politicians. Let them engage in a more detailed way.
:42:16. > :42:20.of this effort from blockers is often unpaid and fuelled by passion,
:42:20. > :42:22.halting the powerful to account is not child's play, but should we be
:42:23. > :42:28.happy it is up to our children to do it?
:42:28. > :42:34.They are the voters of tomorrow, including those youngsters. We have
:42:34. > :42:37.seen some good examples, but there is an obvious worry about this
:42:37. > :42:43.online information and news, you cannot always be sure where it is
:42:43. > :42:49.coming from, whether you can trust everything you see. The great thing
:42:49. > :42:53.about online is that it is an opportunity to build a relationship
:42:53. > :42:58.with the people that are behind it and to get to the heart of the
:42:58. > :43:02.issues affecting the local community. That news network is
:43:02. > :43:06.fantastic, young people getting involved in their area, picking up
:43:06. > :43:10.skills, but also having the opportunity to put on the radar of
:43:11. > :43:15.their local councillors issues that matter to them. It is more an
:43:15. > :43:21.opportunity than a danger. Great community involvement, but there is
:43:21. > :43:28.a threat for local newspapers. worries me. I welcome that people
:43:28. > :43:35.can engage more in politics. But if a wider community loses access
:43:35. > :43:38.through local newspapers that, Baileys and understanding. If the
:43:38. > :43:43.issues become too parochial, we do not understand our issues with
:43:43. > :43:50.others. There is the question associated with that, holding to a
:43:50. > :43:57.coward people such as yourselves -- called into account. Local
:43:57. > :44:03.newspapers are better equipped to do that, some people say. There is
:44:03. > :44:07.some truth in that, but people who lead in at emir who see their
:44:07. > :44:11.rubbish has not been collected for two weeks, it has not been done
:44:11. > :44:16.properly, they can highlight and emir where a council service is
:44:16. > :44:21.failing more quickly than the local or regional media would get
:44:21. > :44:26.interested in. Because it is affecting them now, they are likely
:44:26. > :44:31.to be across it more quickly. There is an issue about crediting your
:44:31. > :44:36.sources if you are using material produced by other media, which is
:44:36. > :44:42.important, but again, I find it much more of a positive. Anybody
:44:42. > :44:47.can set themselves up as a website, there is a danger in this.
:44:47. > :44:57.Journalists are trained to ask the right questions, and websites are
:44:57. > :44:57.
:44:57. > :45:00.often parasitic on the professional journalists. We are very well aware
:45:00. > :45:04.that the established media have had some serious questions to answer
:45:04. > :45:10.about ourselves, but at least we are trained to understand the
:45:10. > :45:14.balance between the right to know and privacy, law, is there not a
:45:14. > :45:18.worry that it is a bit out of control out there? That is a
:45:18. > :45:23.problem with the internet is generally, anybody can set up a
:45:23. > :45:31.website and put on their unfounded allegations. It is a problem across
:45:31. > :45:34.the internet. In my own experience of these websites, those people are
:45:34. > :45:39.serious about it and they take their responsibilities seriously.
:45:39. > :45:44.You have an online offering. Diversity is good, but the
:45:44. > :45:49.traditional methods for political issues should be sustained, and
:45:49. > :45:53.politicians should work hard to support local newspapers.
:45:53. > :45:58.The Conservatives stand to lose a quarter of their parliamentary
:45:58. > :46:01.seats here in the Midlands as a direct result of the surge in
:46:01. > :46:08.support for the UK Independence Party. After a week when David
:46:08. > :46:14.Cameron delivered the big speech aimed at shoring up his support on
:46:14. > :46:18.Europe, growing support for UKIP's anti-European stance could overturn
:46:18. > :46:23.the balance of power. The maths have been done by Professor John
:46:23. > :46:27.Curtice of Strathclyde University. Recent opinion polls have put UKIP
:46:27. > :46:30.on an all-time high, placing them above the Liberal Democrats. Many
:46:30. > :46:35.of their potential supporters are traditional Tories, that is why
:46:35. > :46:39.there will be fewer Conservative votes. They did not actually win
:46:39. > :46:47.any seats themselves, but a reduced Tory turnout would pave the way for
:46:47. > :46:51.the Labour Party gains. What began largely as a protest vote is now
:46:51. > :46:56.set to change the colour of nine parliamentary seats here from blue
:46:56. > :47:00.to red. Two-thirds also of the rise in
:47:00. > :47:04.support that they have gained since the general election is coming from
:47:04. > :47:10.people who said they voted for the Conservatives. Protest is crucial,
:47:10. > :47:15.but these are people who are concerned about Europe. To the UKIP
:47:15. > :47:21.can pick up those voters because it is reasonably close to a number of
:47:21. > :47:25.the things that the Conservative supporters are concerned about.
:47:25. > :47:29.They are people like Margot James, do you think these findings of
:47:29. > :47:36.yours will come as a bolt from the blue, or have they been bracing
:47:36. > :47:41.themselves for this sort of eventuality? In truth, we will be
:47:41. > :47:45.looking at the events of the last 12 months, one of the unintended
:47:45. > :47:49.consequences of the formation of a coalition. Only now has it become
:47:49. > :47:58.evident to the Conservatives the potential risk, the way in which
:47:58. > :48:05.they could potentially lose votes, not to the Liberals, but to UKIP.
:48:05. > :48:08.They are potentially able to profit from their misfortune. What is your
:48:08. > :48:14.view of the talk that David Cameron's speech will turn add to
:48:14. > :48:21.be a game changer? It was designed to deal with UKIP. If the only
:48:21. > :48:24.reason for switching was about Europe. But it is broader than that,
:48:24. > :48:27.about the competence of the Conservative government, and we
:48:27. > :48:35.should not necessarily expect that that speech is necessarily going to
:48:35. > :48:40.bring these voters back onside. In a moment, we will talk to one of
:48:40. > :48:43.UKIP's leading figures in our part of the country. Bill Etheridge was
:48:43. > :48:47.the candidate for the police commissioner in the West Midlands,
:48:47. > :48:50.and he had to stand in the European elections.
:48:50. > :48:53.Our political reporters in Staffordshire, Shropshire and the
:48:53. > :49:00.Black Country have been finding out how the political landscape here
:49:00. > :49:05.could change. It is time for the British people
:49:05. > :49:11.to have their say. It is time for us to settle this question about
:49:11. > :49:14.Britain and Europe. So said David Cameron in his much anticipated
:49:14. > :49:19.speech on our membership of the European Union. Half the battle
:49:20. > :49:23.lines being drawn? The problem for the Prime Minister and the
:49:23. > :49:28.Conservatives is natural party supporters in towns like this one,
:49:28. > :49:34.Stafford. More and more voters are supporting UKIP, enough to cost the
:49:34. > :49:39.sitting Tory MP his seat. The first Castle on this site was a timber
:49:39. > :49:42.fortress built by the Normans almost a 1000 years ago. The battle
:49:42. > :49:46.of 1069 between William The Conqueror and Edric The Wild ended
:49:46. > :49:51.in a truce. Is this now the time for Conservatives and UKIP to lay
:49:51. > :49:56.down their arms and agree not to stand against each other? He has
:49:56. > :50:00.made an important speech about Europe, we will go into the next
:50:00. > :50:04.general a election promising a referendum on Europe, which is
:50:04. > :50:09.something that will be important to those people who might vote for
:50:09. > :50:17.UKIP. We ought to push forward with our arguments about Europe, not
:50:17. > :50:21.looking to endorse other peoples in some kind of pact. With UKIP's
:50:21. > :50:26.leader declaring war on the Tories, this site could be set for another
:50:26. > :50:31.spectacular battle. Whatever the outcome of that conflict, this is
:50:31. > :50:36.another pocket of the Midlands that could seat Conservative MP toppled.
:50:36. > :50:41.Stourbridge, home to the glass- making industry, the Red House cone
:50:41. > :50:46.and MP Margot James. She is another one who could go if UKIP continue
:50:46. > :50:51.to pick up votes, but the real winner is the Labour Party.
:50:51. > :50:56.Disenchanted Conservative voters switching to UKIP opens the door to
:50:56. > :51:00.a Labour Party victory. It has not gone unnoticed. Clearly, from the
:51:01. > :51:05.Labour Party's view, I am over the moon. It is impacting on the
:51:05. > :51:09.Conservatives or people switching from the Tories to UKIP, that has
:51:09. > :51:13.got to be beneficial to us, but what I want to see is the Labour
:51:13. > :51:20.Party gaining support on its own merits. Not because the Tories are
:51:20. > :51:24.cocking everything up. It is a situation that means in towns like
:51:24. > :51:32.this one the Conservatives have to fight two opponents, the official
:51:32. > :51:36.Labour Party opposition and a party that is not even in Parliament. But
:51:36. > :51:41.this is not just about seats Conservatives could lose. That is
:51:41. > :51:46.also about the ones they have not won. Our own world heritage site
:51:46. > :51:51.still has a Labour MP, just. A good showing from UKIP in Telford helped
:51:51. > :51:55.keep the Tories out in 2010. Ironbridge is as popular with
:51:55. > :52:00.political number-crunchers as it is with day-trippers. Just as the
:52:00. > :52:06.court has its dangers, one of our voices in Europe who quit UKIP says
:52:06. > :52:10.voters should be aware of her former party. They have spent �43
:52:10. > :52:14.million since they were elected and achieved nothing. There is also the
:52:14. > :52:19.message that there is only one political party bridging the divide
:52:19. > :52:23.between our elected leaders and demands for a referendum. We do not
:52:23. > :52:29.have any other policies, we are a single issue pressure group Party,
:52:29. > :52:34.that is how we fundamentally differ. Not all members of UKIP support a
:52:34. > :52:38.referendum. But what are still to flow, UKIP might struggle to
:52:38. > :52:48.maintain their present buoyancy, but if they do, a quarter of our
:52:48. > :52:52.
:52:52. > :53:00.Conservative MPs could be heading There is more about this on my
:53:00. > :53:06.latest website post. Bill Etheridge is also planning to
:53:06. > :53:09.stand a for UKIP in Dudley North, one of six local constituencies
:53:09. > :53:14.where the Conservatives narrowly failed in the last election,
:53:14. > :53:19.because of voters switching to UKIP. The Prime Minister has set out
:53:19. > :53:23.circumstances in which this country could withdraw from the EU. What
:53:23. > :53:27.has that done for your unique message to the electorate? It is
:53:28. > :53:33.not unique any more. It has not done anything, because that is just
:53:33. > :53:41.one of our policies, the reason for UKIP, which are a different party
:53:41. > :53:46.from the establishment. We need to be outside of the EU, that is it.
:53:46. > :53:50.How can it be in the interests of the policies that you say you
:53:50. > :53:55.support to set up a situation which makes a Labour Party government are
:53:55. > :53:58.more likely because they are unseating a nine Tories, and you
:53:58. > :54:02.can be sure that a majority Labour Party government would take a lot
:54:02. > :54:06.of the things you favour straight off the table? The important
:54:07. > :54:14.message that the electorate need to understand, if you vote UKIP, you
:54:14. > :54:19.get UKIP. If you vote UKIP, you get the Labour Party. It is a first
:54:19. > :54:24.past the post system, if we get enough people,... We have got
:54:24. > :54:28.separate policies, totally different, we are not beholden to
:54:28. > :54:32.unions or big business. Vote for us, what happens to the other parties
:54:32. > :54:39.is not important to us. What happens to this country is what
:54:39. > :54:43.matters. Smaller parties do tend to suffer a bit of a squeeze as
:54:43. > :54:47.general elections approach, so would now not be a good time to
:54:47. > :54:55.think about the pact being suggested by the Lichfield
:54:55. > :54:58.Conservative MP Michael Fabricant? No. It is a symbol of the
:54:58. > :55:04.desperation of the Conservative Party. David Cameron's speech was
:55:04. > :55:08.about that as well. We have got our own views, owl way of going about
:55:08. > :55:14.things, we are be separate party, a lot of our members would never vote
:55:14. > :55:20.Tory, which are independent. Conservative party is desperate, so
:55:20. > :55:27.is the Prime Minister, you are on the run. I do not agree. We did not
:55:27. > :55:32.lose as much due to UKIP as is claimed. UKIP are a threat, but we
:55:32. > :55:41.should not panic. Europe is the fifth most important concern for
:55:41. > :55:46.voters. What would you really say to somebody who instinctively is at
:55:46. > :55:52.the more Euro-friendly end of your party, to a more traditional
:55:52. > :55:56.Conservative supporter twinned with the idea of voting for UKIP? They
:55:57. > :56:01.will be more likelihood of a Labour Party government. It was with the
:56:01. > :56:06.Liberals in the past, it is the same argument, it is still valid.
:56:06. > :56:11.What really concerns you, crime, the economy, immigration, we are
:56:11. > :56:15.dealing with them. For the Labour Party, you want to build up the
:56:15. > :56:19.support in your own terms, but Darren Cooper said you are not
:56:19. > :56:26.going to look too closely at the colour of the money if there is a
:56:26. > :56:30.split between UKIP and the Tories. What I am interested in is talking
:56:30. > :56:33.to the electorate, people flirting with other parties, I want to make
:56:33. > :56:37.the case for why they should be voting for the Labour Party.
:56:37. > :56:45.would not mind being elected by default? You have got to make a
:56:45. > :56:49.pitch to the electorate. First past the post is the system. If people
:56:49. > :56:54.are splitting the Tory vote, on the left, there are people buying for
:56:54. > :56:59.Labour votes. We have got to make our pitch to the electorate. One of
:56:59. > :57:02.the point that UKIP make, they feel they can appeal not just to
:57:02. > :57:06.Conservatives but to old Labour voters, because the main parties,
:57:06. > :57:11.they feel, are losing touch with traditional British values, gay
:57:11. > :57:16.marriage is a troublesome issue, there are others, and Bill feels he
:57:16. > :57:19.is in the tide of public opinion. The majority of support is coming
:57:19. > :57:25.from the Conservative Party, but a lot is coming from the Labour Party.
:57:25. > :57:31.It appeals to older male voters in particular. I am not complacent
:57:31. > :57:35.about the fact that there are people who voted Labour before who
:57:35. > :57:39.we still have to convince to vote Labour in the next general election.
:57:39. > :57:44.We are ambitious in the task we face, which are interested in
:57:44. > :57:48.talking to people across the spectrum, all over the country, to
:57:48. > :57:52.be a national party, not primarily based in the south, which is a
:57:52. > :58:00.problem affecting the Tories, a party of north, south, across the
:58:00. > :58:06.UK. You are hearing a from the two big parties, which have a much
:58:06. > :58:09.broader, more sophisticated range of policies. They have got a much
:58:09. > :58:13.larger picture about a finance, a much larger network of people
:58:13. > :58:20.working for them, but you could not put a cigarette paper between their
:58:20. > :58:24.policies. It is not true. There is a consensus in the establishment,
:58:24. > :58:30.which offers something different. Some of the things that the big
:58:30. > :58:35.parties are not talking about, you come to UKIP. Would you like to see
:58:36. > :58:42.more Conservative or Labour MPs? want UKIP MPs. The reality is that
:58:42. > :58:48.all you can do is divide the vote. With 16% of the vote, that is the %
:58:48. > :58:53.of the poll ratings, realistically, it is between them and the Liberal
:58:53. > :58:58.Democrats. The Green Party won a seat, they have got nothing like
:58:58. > :59:01.our support. We have got to organise ourselves properly and
:59:01. > :59:05.stop making the best of this great support that we are starting to get,
:59:06. > :59:15.to put the heat on the Tories and Labour. A prediction for the local
:59:15. > :59:19.elections? We will take lots of seats. We will be watching.
:59:19. > :59:29.It is time now for a round-up of the rest of the political elite in
:59:29. > :59:32.
:59:32. > :59:42.Where have all of the customers got? Businesses in Birmingham think
:59:42. > :59:42.
:59:42. > :59:44.the snow cost them �50 million a day in lost trade. Sentenced to
:59:44. > :59:50.death, Cheltenham grandmother Lindsay Sandiford was found guilty
:59:50. > :59:54.of smuggling cocaine in Indonesia. Her MP will fight the case. There
:59:54. > :59:59.is an appeal process, and the possibility of the Supreme Court,
:59:59. > :00:03.and an appeal for clemency to the President. Could a takeover safety
:00:03. > :00:07.Redditch hospital? It stands to lose its A&E, but a new plan has
:00:07. > :00:14.emerged that could see it run by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
:00:14. > :00:21.Birmingham. Fewer cars than ever are using the M6 toll, last year
:00:21. > :00:24.was its quietest. When employment in the Midlands went up, but news
:00:24. > :00:34.for Rolls Royce, nearly 400 jobs are to go with the closure of the
:00:34. > :00:37.
:00:37. > :00:40.Until the autumn reshuffle, Peter Luff was the minister for defence
:00:40. > :00:46.procurement, did you see this terrible body blow for the Rolls-
:00:46. > :00:52.Royce workers coming? Not quite as it is being betrayed. It is likely
:00:52. > :00:55.the support worker will come up over a number of years, declined to
:00:55. > :01:01.nothing, and other jobs are generated elsewhere in the UK. It
:01:01. > :01:05.is not good news for them, and it is unwelcome, but other parts of
:01:05. > :01:09.the country will benefit. The unions or a hoping those workers
:01:09. > :01:15.might be redeployed. They are some of the most profitable businesses
:01:16. > :01:19.on earth, there aero-engines. important that unions work with
:01:19. > :01:23.management to make sure they can retain those jobs, even if it is
:01:23. > :01:27.moving them around to different sites or in two different divisions.
:01:27. > :01:31.I am keen that everybody works together to get the best outcome
:01:31. > :01:36.possible for the workers. suspicion is, when we talk about
:01:36. > :01:40.people moving around and being redeployed, this is a euphemism for
:01:40. > :01:45.cuts, and it comes down to cuts in the end. The union has chosen to
:01:45. > :01:49.highlight the bad news, when there is so much good news. They have
:01:49. > :01:54.taken a story and spun it irresponsibly, making the situation
:01:54. > :02:01.worse. The figures for them are not bad at all. They have got a duty to
:02:01. > :02:05.stand up for the workers. I did not see the press release for Jaguar
:02:05. > :02:10.Land Rover. They are keen to stand up for the interests of the workers,
:02:10. > :02:14.that is the most important thing. We could go on all day, it is very
:02:14. > :02:22.interesting. As far as the Midlands are concerned, this is where we