:00:46. > :00:56.Nick Clegg has lost another Cabinet minister on Friday. His latest poll
:00:56. > :01:26.
:01:27. > :01:32.Our pile on to a blot on the landscape? Or the most cost
:01:32. > :01:42.effective way to carry electricity? We will ask whether it is worth
:01:42. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :30:56.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1753 seconds
:30:56. > :31:01.paying pounds to protect become -- Time now for all our local
:31:01. > :31:05.political news, so turn the heating up and stick with us but what about
:31:05. > :31:11.the electricity bill? Would you pay more so the cables running through
:31:11. > :31:17.Somerset could be put under ground or reduce the ugly pylons marching
:31:17. > :31:20.across the countryside instead? We will have a debate. To help us we
:31:21. > :31:25.have two of the region's brightest political sparks. Meet John Penrose
:31:26. > :31:31.whose job as tourism minister is to convince us a week in Weston beats
:31:31. > :31:36.Florida. And all the way from the Forest of Dean Jan Royall who is
:31:36. > :31:41.the Labour leader in the House of Lords and unlike Fred the Shred
:31:41. > :31:49.there is their chance of her losing her title because she is a baroness.
:31:49. > :31:56.Is it fair that nights like Sir Fred can be stripped but it cannot?
:31:56. > :32:02.We have to look carefully at Piers. We have a bill coming from David
:32:02. > :32:08.Steel which would enable us to strip peers of their peerages if
:32:08. > :32:13.they have been to prison for more than a year. What if the sentence
:32:13. > :32:18.is more than a year but they have served less? It would not be
:32:18. > :32:25.retrospective in any case it would look at the future. But I am in
:32:25. > :32:29.favour of us doing something. While I am in favour of restorative
:32:29. > :32:34.justice and people we integrating into society, if you are a bit as
:32:34. > :32:39.they tear it is different. Did this decision to do this to Mr Goodwin
:32:39. > :32:46.show a vindictive side to the Prime Minister? It was an independent
:32:46. > :32:50.decision. He certainly backed it. I think an awful lot of people felt
:32:50. > :32:55.strongly about this not just in Westminster, but right the way
:32:55. > :32:59.across the country. I would agree that we have measures to introduce
:32:59. > :33:05.recall of MPs for the Commons. The way that we deal with people who
:33:05. > :33:12.have done something wrong and to have any kind of an honour needs to
:33:12. > :33:16.be tidied up and consistent. We are talking about women and
:33:16. > :33:20.Labour have decided that they should be an all-female list when
:33:20. > :33:25.they select the candidate for Bristol West. The bloke who fought
:33:25. > :33:31.for them has been told he is no longer required.
:33:31. > :33:36.Remember this? They were dubbed the Blair babes. Labour's record total
:33:36. > :33:41.of 101 women MPs elected in 1997 but this was not manage without
:33:41. > :33:46.special measures. Some were chosen as candidates from all women's
:33:46. > :33:50.short list. This device was controversial and ruled illegal. So
:33:50. > :33:54.as prime minister, Blair changed the law. That was why no men
:33:54. > :33:57.competed with Kerry McCarthy to become Labour's MP for Bristol East.
:33:58. > :34:02.On the coalition benches there were far fewer women despite other
:34:02. > :34:06.measures to boost their numbers. In both parties there is strong
:34:06. > :34:11.opposition to banning men from standing. Every woman in Parliament
:34:11. > :34:17.should be able to look every man in Parliament in the eye and to know
:34:17. > :34:22.that she got there on exactly the same basis as he got there. If she
:34:22. > :34:26.cannot do that, she is a second- class citizen. A now lay back in
:34:26. > :34:29.Bristol West have told their candidate do not reapply. Goldsmith
:34:29. > :34:33.did nothing wrong. He has been praised for his years of
:34:33. > :34:38.campaigning but it is women early next time. A party policy he says
:34:38. > :34:43.he supports. With us is Dr Peter Jepson who
:34:43. > :34:46.successfully took the Labour Party to an employment tribunal back in
:34:46. > :34:52.1996 for using all-women short lists. The Labour government then
:34:52. > :34:56.change the law to exempt elections from the sex discrimination Act.
:34:56. > :35:02.Welcome. Is it legal in your opinion even though the law has
:35:02. > :35:07.been changed? My opinion is it is perfectly legal, the question is is
:35:07. > :35:12.it going to be legal when tested in the European Court of Justice. I
:35:12. > :35:17.have had discussions with a friend of mine who is a barrister and we
:35:17. > :35:21.have contemplated the prospect of bringing a challenge. What is the
:35:21. > :35:27.problem with all-women short lists? If I was to tell you that I am
:35:27. > :35:33.advocating all-male shortlist, your telephone would be jammed with
:35:33. > :35:38.people protesting and saying how horrid. It is no more acceptable
:35:38. > :35:47.than women short list. Half the population is under-represented in
:35:47. > :35:50.the house of parliament. There are. I went to the Labour Party with a
:35:50. > :35:59.proposal to merge constituents is for the purpose of selecting
:35:59. > :36:05.candidates. I am a strong supporter of the process that has been used
:36:05. > :36:08.for ensuring we do have 50-50 representation. I think we should
:36:08. > :36:13.have 50-50 representation in Parliament what I am opposed to is
:36:13. > :36:16.excluding people simply because of their gender. All-women short lists
:36:16. > :36:24.work? You do that across the country you would have more women
:36:24. > :36:29.MPs. If it did work we would have more women MPs. The fact is there
:36:29. > :36:33.has not been use of them and the question is, is could they be used
:36:33. > :36:38.if there was a legal challenge? I believe the equal treatment
:36:39. > :36:47.director of would say it does not positive -- support positive
:36:47. > :36:53.discrimination. The point that Ann Widdecombe made says it is a hollow
:36:53. > :36:59.victory. I think that any of my women colleagues who are elected on
:36:59. > :37:03.the basis of an all-women short list can look the Prime Minister in
:37:04. > :37:08.the eye and say I am just a good at MP as you are. They were selected
:37:08. > :37:15.by their constituency, they were elected by the people of their
:37:15. > :37:23.constituency and that is fine. In 1997, 101 women Labour MPs were
:37:23. > :37:27.elected. In 2001 when Peter had taken his case, we had one women
:37:27. > :37:30.elected and 13 New men. This is a progressive measure and it is
:37:30. > :37:33.absolutely necessary because people in this country want to have trust
:37:33. > :37:40.in their politicians and they want to see their politicians
:37:40. > :37:46.represented. Are women MPs not as good as men? Women MPs I have seen
:37:46. > :37:50.are excellent and they certainly can look the Prime Este in the eye
:37:50. > :37:55.with pride. I do believe that women have proven that they make
:37:55. > :38:00.brilliant MPs. There is no argument about that but the process to
:38:00. > :38:04.choose where you exclude people simply because of their gender. It
:38:04. > :38:09.is unacceptable. All-male shortlists would be totally
:38:09. > :38:15.unacceptable. You and I would be opposed to it. We should be equally
:38:15. > :38:19.feist -- fight against all-female short best. There is a shortage of
:38:19. > :38:25.male primary school teachers, we do support male only shortlists for
:38:25. > :38:31.those vacancies? No, but I would want to encourage more men by doing
:38:31. > :38:35.anything I could. The numbers in parliament are very different.
:38:35. > :38:39.Between 1929 and the present day they have only been 33 women in the
:38:39. > :38:48.Cabinet. The women who have been to the Cabinet have to go up through
:38:48. > :38:55.the ranks, you have to start by having more women MPs. Let's bring
:38:55. > :39:05.in John Penrose. Have you had any Top Totty recently? I am talking
:39:05. > :39:05.
:39:05. > :39:11.about beer. It has been barred from the House of Commons bar. It is a
:39:11. > :39:15.pretty Blaikie place? It has been. If you talk to some of the female
:39:15. > :39:21.MPs who have been there for a while, they say that the culture when they
:39:21. > :39:26.arrived was very male and they say it has changed. Some feel the tears
:39:26. > :39:32.still a bit too man like. From the Tory point of view we have started
:39:32. > :39:35.to fix it. We have taken a different route. We have not used
:39:35. > :39:40.all-female short list partly because some of the concerns that
:39:40. > :39:44.Dr Jackson is describing but we are fixing it now. We have more women
:39:44. > :39:50.entering the Commons on the conservative side and it takes time
:39:50. > :39:55.for them to work through the ranks. Briefly, to be an MP you need to
:39:55. > :39:58.have a skin like a rhinoceros, fairly bullish, full of self-
:39:58. > :40:03.confidence and that tends to attract a certain sort of man. It
:40:03. > :40:10.will also attract a certain sort of woman. Is there that much
:40:10. > :40:15.difference? When it comes to selection conferences they do seems
:40:15. > :40:20.to be a difference. I do not know why people select men but they do
:40:20. > :40:30.and that is demonstrated by the fact we have 32 % of women benchers
:40:30. > :40:30.
:40:30. > :40:39.in the House of Commons. Thank you for coming in. Very important for
:40:39. > :40:43.Cabinet. 50 % men, 50 % women. Thank you.
:40:43. > :40:47.A blot on the landscape or the best cost-effective way of carrying
:40:47. > :40:51.electricity? That is the argument between campaigners and the
:40:51. > :40:55.National Grid over plans to build larger pylons from Hinckley Point
:40:55. > :40:58.nuclear power station to Avon now. Families living in the shadow of
:40:59. > :41:08.the pilot's won the cables to be laid on the ground but that would
:41:09. > :41:14.
:41:14. > :41:18.These pylons have towered over Webbington farm on the Mendips for
:41:18. > :41:26.decades. At more than 20 metres high, they won for miles through
:41:26. > :41:31.the Somerset countryside close to many family homes. The farmers and
:41:31. > :41:38.Mark Amesbury. His family has been long there -- been here longer than
:41:38. > :41:44.the pilot's. All my life living here, they were put up in about the
:41:44. > :41:47.early 1940s I think. That was before this was designated an Area
:41:47. > :41:54.of Outstanding Natural Beauty. He is worried bigger pylons would
:41:54. > :41:58.affect business. The new ones would be doubled this hide. It is not
:41:58. > :42:02.just the farmland. Mark has also got holiday cottages and things
:42:02. > :42:08.tourists will be put off by higher pylons which could be moved closer
:42:08. > :42:15.to the buildings. National Grid say �850 million to run the whole lot
:42:15. > :42:19.Underground, that is a lot of money. It is coming back to how you split
:42:20. > :42:25.the cost, to the people who live along the line have to carry the
:42:25. > :42:27.cost in terms of learning -- losing money on businesses or does the
:42:27. > :42:35.nation as a whole pay a small contribution on their electricity
:42:35. > :42:39.bill? A few miles down the road, people are living even closer to
:42:40. > :42:44.pylons and they are set to get a lot bigger. Debra's family home is
:42:44. > :42:49.just metres from the current pylons. She is scared about the effects
:42:49. > :42:54.higher voltage lines would have won her children's health. When we
:42:54. > :43:00.moved to this property, yes the pun ons and lines were there. The
:43:00. > :43:04.current line is only 132 kilovolts and we did our research before we
:43:04. > :43:09.bought the house and we felt comfortable that the
:43:09. > :43:14.electromagnetic fields that were coming off those lines, because it
:43:14. > :43:19.was low, we were comfortable it did not impose health risks. It is a
:43:19. > :43:24.question of health and the health risks to my children. There have
:43:24. > :43:29.been many studies over many years and lots of research going on
:43:29. > :43:35.throughout the world into the link between electromagnetic fields and
:43:35. > :43:39.diseases such as childhood leukaemia. Debra's part of a group
:43:39. > :43:43.that has been fighting National Grid's plans for years. But she
:43:43. > :43:48.does not lay the blame entirely with the National Grid.
:43:48. > :43:51.government said the policies, those are the guidelines that companies
:43:51. > :43:58.like National Grid operate under so the government should be doing more
:43:59. > :44:04.to protect us. National Grid will draw up its final plans by the end
:44:04. > :44:08.of summer. Campaigners are hoping their dream of undergrounding the
:44:08. > :44:16.cables may still see the light of day.
:44:16. > :44:21.Joining me now is David Mercer from National Grid. Thank you for coming
:44:21. > :44:26.in. Surprise, surprise, you went for the cheapest option. We have a
:44:26. > :44:30.very important job to connect up new low carbon generators and the
:44:30. > :44:35.way we connect them up is a difficult balance. It is a balance
:44:35. > :44:40.between protecting the environment and local committees and the cost
:44:40. > :44:44.which pass through to all of us. It is not an easy balance which is why
:44:44. > :44:47.we have to follow a policy and the government will decide whether this
:44:47. > :44:52.is right. That is right because the government is representing all of
:44:52. > :44:59.us. The gas company would not put its pipelines on the surface, why
:44:59. > :45:02.are you different? Electricity is far cheaper to transport by
:45:02. > :45:08.overhead lines and the costs do pass through to all of us in our
:45:08. > :45:13.bills and that is why traditionally, worldwide overhead lines have been
:45:13. > :45:19.the way to move. People living near the pylons pay a disproportionate
:45:19. > :45:23.cost. That is not fair that they live near the route to.
:45:23. > :45:27.understand that argument and all of us have things which affect us in
:45:27. > :45:32.our life and things which are important for us all in society, so
:45:32. > :45:39.sometimes we have roads imposed in our areas, sometimes we have new
:45:39. > :45:48.buildings. Let's bring in John Penrose. A Somerset MP, what do you
:45:48. > :45:52.think? When you showed the fields in the background there, they are
:45:52. > :45:57.in my constituency. I am very concerned and a lot of people are
:45:57. > :46:04.very, very concerned particularly we include a large chunk of the
:46:04. > :46:14.Mendip Hills. I wanted on the ground and many people are
:46:14. > :46:19.
:46:19. > :46:23.concerned about other areas. -- on What I have said is we will look
:46:23. > :46:30.along the entire length of this line at where the high cost of
:46:31. > :46:38.undergrounding is appropriate. One of the areas we will look at is the
:46:38. > :46:43.Mendip hills. Area of outstanding beauty. Is it worth people paying
:46:43. > :46:47.more on their electricity bills? People are struggling at the moment.
:46:47. > :46:52.It is. It is such a difficult question. Electricity bills are
:46:52. > :47:00.higher than they ever have been before and for elderly people it is
:47:00. > :47:06.a ghastly dilemma. Four areas such as area of natural beauty, they
:47:06. > :47:12.rely on tourism. It is very difficult because I live in an area
:47:12. > :47:17.that does not have an area of natural beauty status and I would
:47:17. > :47:23.not want pylons coming through my Forest of Dean. If you spread the
:47:23. > :47:28.cost out over decades, is it really that much? The key point is it
:47:28. > :47:35.would cost in the order of �900 million more to put this line
:47:35. > :47:40.underground. That is about �1 won every domestic consumer's bill for
:47:40. > :47:45.the next 40 years. This is just one project, there are others around,
:47:45. > :47:55.that is why a government that has to decide where this balance lies.
:47:55. > :47:59.
:47:59. > :48:02.Thank you. Time now for our weekly round-up in just 60 seconds.
:48:02. > :48:07.This Conservative-run council in Taunton is defying the Government
:48:07. > :48:12.with plans to raise the council tax by 3.5 %. All councils were told
:48:12. > :48:16.they had a moral duty to keep down the cost of living. The Occupy
:48:16. > :48:18.Bristol can came to an end this week as the final tents were
:48:18. > :48:21.removed from College Green. Councillors say the bill for
:48:21. > :48:25.cleaning up the park will cost many thousands.
:48:25. > :48:30.Wessex Water warned customers that metal thefts could lead to water
:48:30. > :48:33.supplies being cut off. They said they have had more than a million
:48:33. > :48:37.pounds of lead stolen since 2010. Victory for campaigners who are
:48:37. > :48:40.against plans for new wind turbines at it on the plant in Swindon. The
:48:40. > :48:44.company decided not to appeal against the council's decision to
:48:44. > :48:48.refuse the development. And this Gloucestershire parish
:48:48. > :48:53.councillor says he is still convinced there is a big puma like
:48:53. > :49:02.cat living near Stroud. He thought it had killed a deer, but this week
:49:02. > :49:08.scientists found the only DNA on the carcass was that of a fox.
:49:09. > :49:15.Our - through the week. One of those stories, a decision by
:49:15. > :49:18.Taunton council to increase its council tax by 3.5 %. It is a
:49:18. > :49:23.Conservative controlled authority, what do you say to them? It is a
:49:23. > :49:27.local decision. They have to make up their minds based on what local
:49:27. > :49:32.people want. Most other councils are choosing not to raise council
:49:32. > :49:41.tax but if that is right for their electors... Is it not immoral to
:49:41. > :49:46.put up council tax? But we also respect localism. At the end of the
:49:46. > :49:52.day, they are the people that have to face the voters in Taunton Dean.
:49:52. > :49:57.The government has imposed a 32 % induction going to the counter this
:49:57. > :50:00.year. The council is trying to protect local services and it is a
:50:00. > :50:07.difficult decision because they know people are having a difficult
:50:07. > :50:16.time. By defying the government they lose the grant, of �100,000.
:50:16. > :50:20.It is a difficult calculation to make. What is your advice? I am
:50:20. > :50:28.rather hoping the Conservative controlled authority has calculated
:50:28. > :50:33.and represented local people proper -- properly. On that big cat story,
:50:33. > :50:38.have you seen a prisoner I have not. That is it from the West. Hour