21/04/2013 Sunday Politics West Midlands


21/04/2013

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together of the two parties who, we're told, could split the

:36:06.:36:09.

right-of-centre vote. We'll find out soon enough, in the council

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elections now just over a week away. Harriett Baldwin is the Conservative

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MP for West Worcestershire and a Parliamentary aide at the Work and

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Pensions Department. And Bill Etheridge will be UKIP's candidate

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for Dudley North at the next general election.

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The funeral of Margaret Thatcher felt like one last lingering look

:36:29.:36:35.

back over the shoulder at a bygone age. Our part of the country was

:36:35.:36:39.

very different before she came in. It still had a coal industry for one

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thing. But for another, our dysfunctional motor industry was

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being heavily subsidised by the taxpayer. Our region's

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longest-serving Conservative MP gave us his reflections, after returning

:36:48.:36:58.
:36:58.:36:59.

to Westminster from St Paul's. I saw the clapping and the cheering

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from the crowds as the cortege went past, and I think in many ways apart

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from the pomp and the ceremony, I think that many, many people

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appreciated the fact that she was a great Prime Minister and that is why

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they turned out in such great numbers.

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Harriett, you were at the funeral as well. The public response generally

:37:25.:37:32.

very supportive. The one thing that has gained traction is the �10

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million cost. Is that an awkward thought for you? -- gained

:37:37.:37:45.

attraction. We have not seen the final figures yet, but the overtime

:37:45.:37:53.

for those military personnel... time of austerity? We were

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recognising a great lady and a Great Britain, and I think when somebody

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has won three general elections it is right that we pay tribute to that

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life of public service. UKIP have been cloaking themselves with the

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mantle of Margaret Thatcher. At the last election it was I agree with

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Nick, now it is I agree with Maggie. A lot of our members regard Lady

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Thatcher is a great inspiration. She was from a humble background and

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took on the establishment. But we are not cloaking ourselves as a

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Thatcherite party. But a lot of us respected the lady. What would you

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say to the critics that point out she presided over a period when the

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industrial manufacturing base of this region virtually collapsed and

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is still struggling to recover to this day. If you look at the

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long-term decline of manufacturing as a share of economic activity, it

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declined far more under Tony Blair. She was a Prime Minister in

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turbulent times, and I remember them having lived round this area my

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life. But it is not fair to say that Mrs Thatcher destroyed particular

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industries. During her time in office, industries were failing and

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she did the best she could with the policies she had to bring that

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:39:33.:39:36.

round. She failed to regain the support of the city. If you look at

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the strength now up the car industry and JCB, and the fact that more

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mines were closed under the previous Labour Government before she came to

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power than under Margaret Thatcher. This debate will go on.

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Coming up, we'll be visiting one of the Midlands' top tourist

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attractions, to navigate the likely twists and turns of next week's

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council elections. With all those seats up for grabs, what kind of a

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roller coaster ride are the parties in for? We'll be bringing you every

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visual metaphor in the book. While avoiding cliches like the plague, of

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course - a little later. So, as expected, Stafford Hospital

:40:12.:40:15.

has gone into administration. It's a notable first for the NHS. But is it

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also the beginning of the end for the hospital as we know it? A

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hospital where hundreds more patients died than would have been

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expected, during that three-year period to 2008. BBC Radio Stoke's

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political reporter is Phil McCann. It's the country's most talked about

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hospital and now it's in administration. In a first for the

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National Health Service, watchdogs have sent in a team of managers to

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turn it into a place that's clinically sound and financially

:40:44.:40:54.
:40:54.:40:55.

viable. But they're not making any promises to local patients. I know

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there are very strong feelings in the area, and our job as

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administrators is to listen to that, talk to Commissioners of services,

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to talk to other providers, and say what can we collectively do, can you

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collectively do, to provide the services that the people in Stafford

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want? But it's likely some services will

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be relocated to bigger hospitals in neighbouring towns and cities.

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People having to go so far, up to Stoke, to Walsall, to

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Wolverhampton, just to get services that should be there on our

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doorstep. I wander worry about babies being born in the ambulance.

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Monitor says the hospital's administration is nothing to do with

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the recent inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC which highlighted

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appalling neglect and incompetence. The inquiry was criticised this week

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by one witness who gave evidence. tended to focus rather too much on

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the local issues and professional issues, and not enough on the

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broader political and organisational context, which in my view

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contributed to the disaster that occurred there.

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Despite Stafford Hospital's notoriety, it commands deep loyalty

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among many in the town, and for them, the fightback has already

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begun. And as we're in the middle of the

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council election campaign period, we're also joined here today by the

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West Midlands Liberal Democrat MEP, Phil Bennion. He lives in

:42:23.:42:33.
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Staffordshire, where he farms just outside Tamworth. Do you see

:42:34.:42:37.

yourself as a local man as part of the fight back for Stafford

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Hospital? Absolutely. What has gone on there has been terrible, but it

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does not change the need for hospital services in Stafford. What

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has gone on in the past does not affect that future need, and what we

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have to remember is that we took over a policy, and ownership policy

:42:57.:43:01.

of hospitals from the previous Government, and there was no real

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for thought as to what would happen if one hospital went bankrupt.

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Obviously we see individual local MPs fighting for their hospitals in

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their constituencies, but you were the wider West Midlands. I was

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wondering if you could see the argument for some major services

:43:23.:43:29.

from Stafford being redistributed to a wider if you like Federation of

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hospitals to which people would commute. This depends on the expert

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advice. In the past... You've raised the possibility. Things are always

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changing. We have seen all over the West Midlands services move from one

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place to another, and clinical decisions have to be made to make

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sure you actually get the best and most efficient service that is

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possible with the funds available. Harriett, there are certain echoes

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between what we are seeing in Staffordshire and Worcestershire for

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example, where there are big campaigns around Redditch and the

:44:09.:44:19.
:44:19.:44:20.

settlement of services around that Co. Is there a wider argument where

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individual MPs are all battling for the individual hospitals were a

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wider Federation like the answer? Jeremy is doing a good job

:44:30.:44:38.

representing Staffordshire, and in Worcestershire it is the role of the

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MP to stand up for what the local population wants, and very often

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that will not necessarily be what the commissions clinicians are

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recommending, they are saying you need to go where there are best at

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doing that service. So there is a tension between not wanting to

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travel too far to have your baby, and not wanting to travel too far if

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you are in an accident, and at the same time getting a specialised

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services. Bill, you have your own experience having been a governor of

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trust in. Yes, I resigned over the parking charges which were going

:45:18.:45:28.
:45:28.:45:28.

straight to the provider's pocket. We are sorry what we have reaped. --

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macro -- reaping what we sow. PFI deals were a way of providing these

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things of the balance books. Now you have tens of millions of pounds of

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taxpayers money being wasted because it is going into the profits of

:45:45.:45:49.

private monopolies. But look at the situation a few years back, no

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hospital building pretty much since the start of the NHS and many of

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hospitals were Victorian. UKIP believes we should renegotiate these

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deals. The PFI providers are private monopolies. They are modelling the

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taxpayer. This is serious at a time when the NHS is stretched beyond

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words. What is the answer if the taxpayer is being mugged? We want

:46:20.:46:25.

clinically viable hospitals that people can have confidence in.

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have to have that commitment to the NHS budget, and make sure that the

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clinicians are in charge of making the decisions. And we have to

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recognise that there is a growing population in the West Midlands, we

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have got to have those facilities for a future generation, but where

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there is money that can be negotiated with the PFI providers,

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that the Treasury is doing so. it the case that some PFI's are

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better than others? It is like having a mortgage where the lawns

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get known and the windows cleaned and the carpets vacuumed as well?

:47:06.:47:13.

Some of these PFI's are very poor. Who would think about planning a 30

:47:13.:47:17.

year health service, but you do not know what the situation is going to

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be in 30 years. This is the problem, that this money is being paid out

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year after year, even when this infrastructure becomes quite low in

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the tooth. With over 300 seats to be contested

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in five council elections, polling day a week on Thursday is a

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genuinely big deal. The build-up is well and truly under way. The Prime

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Minister was here on the campaign trail on Friday at Nuneaton and

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Dordon in Warwickshire, where the Conservatives have a fight on their

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hands to retain overall control. Voters will be electing entirely new

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county councils in Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and

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Worcestershire, as well as in the unitary authority of Shropshire. The

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results will show which way the wind is blowing, with European elections

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next year and the general election the year after that. BBC WM's

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political reporter Elizabeth Glinka has been to one of our biggest

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:48:21.:48:25.

tourist attractions, to take a spin on the Wheel of Fortune. These local

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elections were last contested four years ago.

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Back in 2009 the political wheel turned and the Conservatives swept

:48:29.:48:32.

all before them. Here in Staffordshire, after nearly three

:48:32.:48:40.

decades in control, Labour lost. Today, they feel the wheel turning

:48:40.:48:50.

again. It was awful in 2009, but it is swings and roundabouts. The swing

:48:50.:48:59.

is coming back our way, or across the West Midlands.

:48:59.:49:02.

For the Liberal Democrats, the question is are they in freefall or

:49:02.:49:04.

can they bounce back? In Staffordshire and Worcestershire the

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party's fielding fewer candidates than UKIP and fewer than the Greens

:49:07.:49:13.

in Worcestershire and Warwickshire. We don't just put everybody up, we

:49:13.:49:16.

have good strong candidates in places where we have a good chance

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of winning. Look at what has been happening in by-elections around the

:49:21.:49:26.

country, we have been winning more than any other party.

:49:26.:49:29.

For the Conservatives who control all five of our shire counties, the

:49:29.:49:39.
:49:39.:49:39.

battle to hold their ground is on. Conservatives across the West

:49:39.:49:43.

Midlands have done really well in difficult times, delivering

:49:43.:49:48.

services, freezing council tax or reducing it, and have a record to be

:49:48.:49:52.

proud of. Local members have done things that the electorate can judge

:49:52.:49:54.

them on at the ballot box. With more candidates than ever

:49:54.:49:58.

before and riding high in the polls, the biggest threat to the Tory seats

:49:58.:50:01.

could be the buccaneers of the UK Independence Party, out to persuade

:50:01.:50:07.

disaffected Conservatives to jump ship. People are entitled to vote

:50:07.:50:13.

how they like, and if we are taking votes from the Conservative party it

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is because the electorate are disenchanted with them. But we are

:50:16.:50:19.

also taking votes across the board. And with a full slate of candidates

:50:19.:50:22.

standing in Warwickshire, the Greens reckon they're the force to be

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reckoned with. The Green party in the West Midlands have been growing

:50:29.:50:34.

steadily. We have increasing numbers of counsellors, and where we have

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had people elected, the electorate are liking what we are doing.

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the runners and riders jockeying for position, there are no less than two

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weeks for voters to decide which horse they are going to back. No

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such thing as a racing certainty of course. Harriett, if the polls are

:51:01.:51:05.

right the signs are that you are haemorrhaging supported UKIP, in

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effect they are spooking your party. This is a local election, so we are

:51:12.:51:16.

looking at who is best to run Worcester County Council.

:51:16.:51:21.

Worcestershire County Council has done a fantastic job, keeping

:51:21.:51:25.

council tax frozen, they have delivered in terms of prioritising

:51:25.:51:29.

care for the most vulnerable, for our roads, for flood defences, and

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that is what people care about. And those are the issues that should

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settle elections, and yet you are fighting and existentialists fight,

:51:38.:51:42.

you are fielding fewer candidates than UKIP in Staffordshire and fewer

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than the Greens in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. We are fielding less

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candidates than last time, I think there has been a strategic decision

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to concentrate our efforts. In the past we have held a lot of store by

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putting out a full slate, and... UKIP have got you on the run.

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I don't think so. They are drawing support from all three parties, and

:52:10.:52:16.

when I went to Eastleigh it was quite clear there they were drawing

:52:17.:52:21.

support from Labour as well. But here in the West Midlands we have

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one for by-elections in Shropshire, and here we are concentrating on

:52:24.:52:28.

those areas where we are strongest, usually it is those candidates in

:52:28.:52:33.

the strong wards that have to actually do the organisation in the

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weaker areas, and what they are telling me is that I am staying

:52:37.:52:41.

where I am, I will fight hard and hold my seat. That is exactly what

:52:41.:52:50.

we are doing. Liberal Democrat party that has great powers. Local issues

:52:50.:52:53.

of the sort that Harriett enumerator, surely other sorts of

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issues with which local elections are more associated rather than the

:52:58.:53:04.

broadbrush draft you can present to us? We don't have a broadbrush, we

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have a local manifesto. I have been campaigning across the county's, and

:53:09.:53:14.

I think it is fair to say that we have just got the Conservative vote

:53:14.:53:23.

was coming to us, -- Conservative voters, we are affecting people who

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have previously voted for all three parties. But would you accept that

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there is a real challenge to translate those poll ratings into

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hard and fast votes, given of course that you are coming off a very high

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base here last time round, the last time those seats were fought. It is

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going to be hard to give the sense of momentum the poll rating should

:53:48.:53:56.

indicate. Second place is not good enough, we are going to make -- have

:53:56.:54:01.

got to make breakthroughs. A vote for UKIP might let Labour back in,

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and we do not want to get Labour back in control, because look what

:54:04.:54:10.

they did to the country. That is the kind of negative campaigning the

:54:10.:54:14.

Conservative party put out all the time. I would love to have a

:54:14.:54:18.

discussion where they discuss the issues rather than this Labour

:54:18.:54:26.

bogeyman. My point is made, don't vote Labour and don't vote UKIP

:54:26.:54:31.

because you will let Labour back in. The liberal Democrats traditionally

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have been a bit of the party of protest, until now, because you are

:54:38.:54:43.

part of the establishment. We are, and suddenly we think that is why

:54:43.:54:48.

our poll ratings did drop certainly the second and third years of the

:54:48.:54:51.

Government, but over the last six months we have seen our poll ratings

:54:51.:54:56.

rise again. We are also finding that we are winning by-elections and I

:54:56.:55:01.

have been around a lot of our county candidates who are fighting target

:55:01.:55:06.

seats, and they are doing very, very well. Final prediction, how is the

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map of local Government going to look at the end of this process?

:55:11.:55:14.

will make serious games and establish a foothold for future

:55:14.:55:19.

elections. The protest vote is very split and I am hoping we can keep

:55:19.:55:26.

control of our councils. I think we will gain conceits from the

:55:26.:55:30.

Conservatives, I think UKIP will get more than before, and I think Labour

:55:30.:55:37.

will make minor gains. Now here's BBC Radio Shropshire's

:55:37.:55:39.

Breakfast presenter Eric Smith, with our regular round-up of the

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political week in the Midlands, in 60 seconds.

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The Walsall Manor Hospital's says it's successfully cut death rates.

:55:51.:55:53.

Treatment for pneumonia's been overhauled, and two hourly checks

:55:53.:55:58.

are done on every patient. Staffordshire digger maker JCB has

:55:58.:56:01.

turned in the best financial results in its 67-year history. Business in

:56:01.:56:11.
:56:11.:56:12.

Africa doubled last year. We have positioned JCB globally. We have

:56:13.:56:17.

distribution all around the world, and where there is growth, we go and

:56:17.:56:19.

we are successful. And a boost to tourism? Four

:56:19.:56:21.

Birmingham organisations have been nominated for a Royal Philharmonic

:56:21.:56:24.

Society Music Award. The Arts Council says every pound spent on

:56:24.:56:27.

culture generates four for the local economy.

:56:27.:56:30.

A new police cadet scheme's been launched in Staffordshire. It was

:56:30.:56:34.

one of the Crime Commissioner's manifesto pledges.

:56:34.:56:37.

And unemployment's rising. Latest figures show an extra 6,000 people

:56:37.:56:41.

are out of work. That brings the total to 252,000, meaning the

:56:41.:56:51.
:56:51.:56:57.

region's jobless rate now stands at That is the third highest regional

:56:57.:57:04.

unemployment rate anywhere in England. Let us talk again to

:57:04.:57:10.

Harriett, that is negative news. Don't put a negative spin on it,

:57:10.:57:14.

highlight the positive which is that there are more people in work in the

:57:14.:57:18.

West Midlands band there have ever been in history. Yes, we are

:57:18.:57:22.

beginning to bring down those areas of economic inactivity, so there is

:57:22.:57:26.

a lower level than ever before. People are coming off long-term

:57:26.:57:31.

sickness, short-term sickness, more people are working for longer past

:57:31.:57:35.

their retirement age, but actually the number of people in jobs is

:57:35.:57:38.

really growing and we have got some strong industry, so let us talk

:57:38.:57:44.

about that strength. You recently lost your job yourself, how

:57:44.:57:50.

reassured are you buy what you have just heard? I don't deny any of the

:57:50.:57:54.

figures, I look at it from a more personal point of view, from someone

:57:54.:57:59.

who is out of work and lives among people who asked drug dealing and

:57:59.:58:06.

suffering. The point is, there are hard times here, what we need is a

:58:06.:58:10.

more radical approach towards getting business moving, which means

:58:10.:58:12.

changes to the tax system, simplification and lower taxes

:58:12.:58:18.

overall. Is the crux of the problem that we have concentrations in

:58:18.:58:21.

particular areas of high unemployment which are very

:58:21.:58:26.

resistant to policies. The last year we have seen faster job growth in

:58:26.:58:28.

the private sector than in any year for decades.

:58:28.:58:31.

My thanks to Harriett Baldwin and Bill Etheridge. Next week, in our

:58:31.:58:33.

final programme before local election day, we'll be joined for

:58:33.:58:36.

the Conservatives by Gavin Williamson, and for Labour by Gisela

:58:36.:58:40.

Stuart. And we'll have a report on how the route for High Speed Rail is

:58:40.:58:42.

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