Browse content similar to 12/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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We're finding out why your Parish or Town council could be set to | :01:22. | :01:26. | |
raise your bill by up to 20% whilst bigger councils are told they have | :01:26. | :01:36. | |
:01:36. | :01:36. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1703 seconds | :01:36. | :29:59. | |
Hello, in the Sunday Politics in at the West... | :29:59. | :30:02. | |
Local authority staff Ocean charges but don't think you can't a tax | :30:02. | :30:08. | |
won't be going up. Your parish or count hat -- town council may still | :30:08. | :30:12. | |
increase their part of the bill, some bite �20 per home. The will | :30:12. | :30:18. | |
ask if it is worth it. Our guests today is Neil Hamilton, | :30:18. | :30:26. | |
a prominent member of you kept -- UKIP. He is married to the famous | :30:26. | :30:30. | |
Christine Hamilton. We are grateful to her for letting you are this | :30:30. | :30:34. | |
afternoon! Next to him, a euro enthusiast, | :30:34. | :30:39. | |
Graham Watson, a staunch republican who has just been knighted. He says | :30:39. | :30:43. | |
he was happy to accept the honour for his public service. | :30:43. | :30:50. | |
Why did you accept that when you don't really want a monarchy? | :30:50. | :30:54. | |
country has its system of honours, ours happens to be given out baby | :30:54. | :31:01. | |
monarchy. I would have preferred to receive it from an elected | :31:01. | :31:06. | |
president. There is no both of allegiance involved. It was given | :31:06. | :31:09. | |
on the recommendation of the Prime Minister rather than the | :31:09. | :31:13. | |
recommendation of the monarch and I have no problem accepting it as an | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
honour for my contribution to society, not for my contribution to | :31:17. | :31:25. | |
the monarchy. Your fellow Euro MEP for this region said it was | :31:25. | :31:30. | |
hypocritical to accept it. Is this the same flawed. With here is an | :31:30. | :31:40. | |
hereditary peer? -- Lord DARD wife. It has been my view and it has been | :31:40. | :31:45. | |
for many years that when the current monarch retires, we should | :31:45. | :31:48. | |
become a republic. I think she has done excellent service for the | :31:48. | :31:53. | |
country. I do not think there is as much public confidence in as many | :31:53. | :31:57. | |
of her successors as there is in the Queen. We should prepare to | :31:57. | :32:02. | |
have an elected president. You are a firm monarchist? I would much | :32:02. | :32:06. | |
rather have the Queen as our head of state or somebody -- rather than | :32:06. | :32:14. | |
some the like Tony Blair. The honours lists are different. What | :32:14. | :32:21. | |
do they mean nowadays? So many of these titles are dished out. Graham | :32:21. | :32:27. | |
has been a conscientious MEP for 20 years and does a very good job. I | :32:27. | :32:30. | |
don't agree with his politics but as a public servant I have no | :32:31. | :32:33. | |
difficulty in agreeing with his assessment of himself in this | :32:33. | :32:40. | |
respect. Do we really need these Ruritanian baubles any more? Don't | :32:40. | :32:45. | |
you feel that it is like something out of a Gilbert and Sullivan | :32:45. | :32:54. | |
operetta? Would U-turn one down? course I would. I should get a | :32:54. | :32:58. | |
medal for living with my wife for all these years! | :32:58. | :33:02. | |
Local authorities across the West have almost all agreed to freeze | :33:02. | :33:06. | |
what they charge of next year. If you think that means you can't to | :33:06. | :33:12. | |
tax bill will not go up, think again. -- you're council tax bill. | :33:12. | :33:16. | |
Parish and town councils are free from this and some are still | :33:16. | :33:20. | |
spending. In towns and villages across the | :33:20. | :33:23. | |
West Country their responsibilities range from street cleaning and | :33:23. | :33:28. | |
flower beds to youth clubs and CCTV. The more they do, the more towns | :33:28. | :33:38. | |
:33:38. | :33:39. | ||
and parishes charge taxpayers. Frome in Somerset is a pretty place | :33:39. | :33:44. | |
and people want to keep it that way. On historic Catherine Hill, the | :33:44. | :33:47. | |
town council leader meets a shopkeeper concerned it is not | :33:47. | :33:51. | |
always properly cleaned. It doesn't take that much to pick up rubbish, | :33:52. | :33:58. | |
as you know. I came by one Saturday morning and with the deputy chief | :33:58. | :34:01. | |
executive of the town council, moved stuff that should have been | :34:01. | :34:05. | |
moved by the district council. is the responsibility of Mendip | :34:05. | :34:09. | |
District Council, who have been making cuts. Frome councillors are | :34:09. | :34:13. | |
having talks about helping fund street cleaning. They are prepared | :34:13. | :34:17. | |
to step forward or others are stepping back. They will put up | :34:17. | :34:23. | |
their part of the council tax by almost a parte -- quarter. But is | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
not the most popular decision we have ever made and it was not easy | :34:26. | :34:36. | |
:34:36. | :34:37. | ||
to make the decision. 23% represents �19 per year, so if we | :34:37. | :34:41. | |
spend unwisely, I am hoping the residents will understand why it | :34:41. | :34:48. | |
had to happen. -- if we spend wisely. They have plans such as | :34:48. | :34:50. | |
improvements at the Cheese and Grain Arts Centre and supporting | :34:50. | :34:57. | |
the services. Cuts by Somerset County Council means the recycling | :34:57. | :35:02. | |
centre is not open as much as it used to be. The town council is | :35:02. | :35:08. | |
offering �9,000 to ensure it opens on Sundays. They hope this will win | :35:08. | :35:12. | |
over any locals who are not convinced about the merits of | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
paying more tax. The skip being open when I wanted to be is | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
beneficial. In if they improve the services then definitely. If it was | :35:20. | :35:26. | |
a tenor it would be better. It is not necessary to raise the council | :35:26. | :35:32. | |
tax. It is not just about replacing what has been cut. The council | :35:32. | :35:38. | |
hopes it will boost from economically. If they are using | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
their money sensibly, if it improves quality of life and makes | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
from a better place to do business or two level, shop, -- then people | :35:48. | :35:57. | |
will see it as a good thing. -- to live or work to shop. Local people | :35:57. | :36:07. | |
:36:07. | :36:09. | ||
are being encouraged to do more and change it if they do not like it. | :36:09. | :36:13. | |
What makes you so sure that people are so happy to pay this extra | :36:13. | :36:23. | |
:36:23. | :36:25. | ||
amount? We tapped into a deep disillusionment with independent | :36:25. | :36:34. | |
normal citizens. The ticket was about change, about making sure the | :36:34. | :36:38. | |
town his bed for the future. The recession will end some time. | :36:38. | :36:44. | |
are very tight and it is only �19. For a family that is a trip to the | :36:44. | :36:49. | |
cinema or going out for a burger or a treat. You have decided to take | :36:49. | :36:54. | |
that many of them. We have decided together, we will try and make sure | :36:54. | :37:01. | |
that from is ready for the future. �19 a year is a significant sum of | :37:01. | :37:10. | |
money for some families but it is three Mars bars a month. If every | :37:11. | :37:13. | |
local of Gardai took that view it would be much more sizable, | :37:13. | :37:18. | |
wouldn't it? -- local authority. We were aware that Battista council | :37:18. | :37:28. | |
:37:28. | :37:32. | ||
would not put up council tax. -- that the district council. Why is | :37:32. | :37:36. | |
the coalition overriding local democracy by insisting there are | :37:36. | :37:41. | |
friezes? It is not over riding. It is saying, we are making big cuts | :37:41. | :37:47. | |
in public spending at national level. We do not want to see you | :37:47. | :37:54. | |
increasing spending locally. In my view, there is an obligation on all | :37:54. | :38:01. | |
of us to look at keeping our spending down. There is a perfectly | :38:01. | :38:05. | |
legitimate case that says in future, perhaps more of our tax should be | :38:05. | :38:10. | |
raised at the level at which it is spent. If you need to spend money | :38:10. | :38:15. | |
locally, raised it locally, do not have local councils dependent on | :38:16. | :38:22. | |
local government. Isn't that UKIP policy? A we want to reduce | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
spending at government level as much as possible. We do not what | :38:27. | :38:31. | |
decisions to be taken remotely. I am in favour of increasing the | :38:31. | :38:35. | |
number of things that parish councils and town councils can do | :38:35. | :38:38. | |
at the expense of the bigger councils that do them at the moment. | :38:38. | :38:42. | |
This is the interface with the public and do things that really | :38:42. | :38:47. | |
matter. One of the Lilley's policies is to abolish local | :38:47. | :38:54. | |
politically correct services. What did you have in mind? All the usual | :38:54. | :39:00. | |
stuff about promotion of causes that are close to the heart of some | :39:00. | :39:07. | |
minorities, Ceri my gaze and the rest of it. Do you recognise that | :39:07. | :39:17. | |
:39:17. | :39:20. | ||
position? No. Let's go back to Europe. In France you have the town | :39:20. | :39:24. | |
hall and the Mail has a standing in the community. The day centrally | :39:24. | :39:30. | |
controlled what is raised? -- to date centrally controlled. There is | :39:30. | :39:35. | |
more local control on the Continent and in the UK do it -- United | :39:35. | :39:43. | |
Kingdom. Yes, there are gaps on local government spending. -- caps. | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
In the case of Germany, it is between the federal government and | :39:47. | :39:52. | |
a local member. Clearly, we need a solution that is going to allow | :39:52. | :39:56. | |
local councils to make intelligent decisions about which local | :39:56. | :40:02. | |
services can be afforded, which may need to be cut. Let's move on. If | :40:02. | :40:06. | |
you decide to stand for election, do you think and the tax payer | :40:06. | :40:12. | |
should its pay for your campaign? It would be one way of removing the | :40:12. | :40:16. | |
power of the rich from election campaigns and idea -- and an idea | :40:16. | :40:22. | |
gaining ground here in the West. A government came to power the | :40:22. | :40:25. | |
Barling to banish scandals like cash for honours to the history | :40:25. | :40:29. | |
groups. -- Levein. They promised to read | :40:29. | :40:36. | |
politics Abed money. So far, little has happened. Then, this. | :40:36. | :40:39. | |
government is committed to reforming party funding. This is | :40:39. | :40:45. | |
best achieved as far as possible by consensus and it to be said I will | :40:45. | :40:48. | |
write to the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition next week | :40:48. | :40:51. | |
asking him to nominate representatives to take part in | :40:51. | :40:56. | |
preliminary cross-party discussions. In the West, where most election | :40:57. | :40:59. | |
struggles are races between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, | :40:59. | :41:03. | |
the Lib Dems are crying foul over money. While they said they enjoy a | :41:04. | :41:10. | |
big share of the vote, they lack a share of the funds. Paul Harrod was | :41:10. | :41:13. | |
runner-up in Bristol North West. He said he was outgunned by some | :41:13. | :41:19. | |
serious spending by the Tories. are up against a Conservative Party | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
that was heavily funded, particularly from Lord Ashcroft. | :41:22. | :41:32. | |
:41:32. | :41:32. | ||
That made a difference in the campaign. The system is broken at | :41:32. | :41:40. | |
the moment. There is too much with trade unions and big business. | :41:40. | :41:43. | |
welcomes the findings of an independent parliamentary committee | :41:43. | :41:47. | |
which has proposed a cap on donations to the tune of �10,000. | :41:47. | :41:51. | |
Reducing election spending by 50% and controversially, asking | :41:51. | :41:56. | |
taxpayers to dig deep and fund political parties. This former | :41:56. | :42:01. | |
English Democrat backs tax payer contributions but only if used to | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
create a more transparent system. He was so meticulous in his | :42:05. | :42:09. | |
election expenses he fired one receipt for letting out the widest | :42:09. | :42:15. | |
band on his trousers. But he fired one receipt. I thought, it is for | :42:15. | :42:20. | |
the election, so I must recorded. They said, if you have anything | :42:20. | :42:23. | |
that you are spending as a result of the election you must declare it, | :42:23. | :42:31. | |
so I did. In threadbare times, it is easy to argue that taxpayers | :42:31. | :42:36. | |
should not be asked to foot the bill for rosettes and megaphones. | :42:36. | :42:40. | |
It is estimated to cost the taxpayer of propping up political | :42:40. | :42:46. | |
parties may only be 50p per voter. That is slightly more than the cost | :42:46. | :42:53. | |
of voting on X Factor. That is one way of looking at it. | :42:53. | :42:56. | |
Do you think rich people should be allowed to have influence on | :42:56. | :43:02. | |
politics? We could be funded in UKIP by one person with �10 million | :43:02. | :43:07. | |
by we would not be able to give anything in return. It all depends | :43:07. | :43:10. | |
on the circumstances in which the gift is handed over. We know there | :43:10. | :43:16. | |
have been widespread and dubious contributions in all parties to the | :43:16. | :43:21. | |
political process. That is not a good thing, self evidently, but I | :43:21. | :43:24. | |
am opposed to state funding of political parties. You can bet your | :43:25. | :43:28. | |
bottom dollar that it would be the big three that would have all the | :43:28. | :43:32. | |
money for themselves and the small parties would be frozen out. What | :43:32. | :43:40. | |
is the cost of the standing for election, even locally? Zilch. | :43:40. | :43:44. | |
get no help? Do you have to print posters and so forth? We pay for | :43:44. | :43:50. | |
that out of our own pockets. delight to see a mechanism in place | :43:50. | :43:57. | |
so that is funded? -- would you like. Not at a local level. The | :43:57. | :44:01. | |
political elite in this country are morally and ideologically bankrupt | :44:01. | :44:06. | |
and we need to find a new way forward and it is the traditional | :44:06. | :44:11. | |
political parties that hold the gateway to Parliament itself. Why | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
can't we have more independence in Parliament? Might have we have | :44:15. | :44:20. | |
people who have been successful as a head teacher for local business | :44:20. | :44:23. | |
and allow them to stand for one term only, so they can achieve | :44:23. | :44:28. | |
something in that term? At the moment, it is difficult for them to | :44:28. | :44:36. | |
stand. The ground swell, which is there, has not been tapped into yet. | :44:36. | :44:42. | |
Do you accept funding should be paid for by the tax payers? Already, | :44:42. | :44:46. | |
but tax payer pays a certain amount for political parties. It is very | :44:46. | :44:51. | |
small compared to the situation in some other countries. Nobody is | :44:51. | :44:56. | |
proposing, Nick Clegg has said this is not the moment to increase | :44:56. | :45:03. | |
funding. Other parties are saying, if you want to keep the big money | :45:03. | :45:09. | |
out of politics, you have to have some state funding. How do you | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
think the voters would react? voters would recognise it is not a | :45:13. | :45:18. | |
healthy situation when one or two will be individuals can effectively | :45:18. | :45:25. | |
by political parties. -- wealthy. Away the Tories have been | :45:25. | :45:32. | |
bankrolled by big food chains has had an effect. But you for coming | :45:32. | :45:42. | |
:45:42. | :45:46. | ||
It has been a busy week. Here are This treetop protest against plans | :45:46. | :45:51. | |
for a new nuclear reactor at Hinckley Point was short lived. | :45:51. | :45:55. | |
Three men came down after just a day living in the cold. These are | :45:55. | :45:59. | |
the serious faces of members of the Gloucestershire police operative. | :45:59. | :46:02. | |
They voted for a freeze in the police budget despite serious | :46:02. | :46:06. | |
warnings over funding from the Chief Constable. | :46:06. | :46:11. | |
In a surprise U-turn, Conservative councillors in Taunton have | :46:11. | :46:14. | |
scrapped their plans to raise council-tax. The plans were | :46:14. | :46:18. | |
criticised by some in their own party and by Lib Dems in the area. | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
The euro is in trouble and the world's financial markets are in | :46:22. | :46:25. | |
turmoil. Bristol traders are stepping in with the launch of a | :46:25. | :46:30. | |
new currency, the Bristol pound. It can be spent in Bristol shops and | :46:30. | :46:33. | |
it is hoped it will keep money within the city. | :46:33. | :46:37. | |
The mayor of Stroud has told a court he wants a full trial for | :46:38. | :46:42. | |
refusing to fill in his senses form. John marjoram appeared at Bristol | :46:42. | :46:50. | |
magistrates on Wednesday. My usual jog through the week that | :46:50. | :46:54. | |
leaves me quite exhausted! Let's pick up the introduction of | :46:54. | :47:02. | |
the Bristol pound. It brings us to the euro. If we join the euro eight | :47:02. | :47:07. | |
Dec -- if we had joined the euro a decade ago, what situation which | :47:07. | :47:12. | |
the country be in? It would depend on how much influence we would have | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
had in the eurozone. We might not be in the situation we are in | :47:16. | :47:21. | |
generally had rejoined. Would we be Greece or Germany? I hope we would | :47:21. | :47:27. | |
be Germany. I suspect we would be somewhere in between. We have more | :47:27. | :47:30. | |
flexibility at the moment, not having joined the euro, to manage | :47:30. | :47:34. | |
our economy to deal with a difficult economic situation. | :47:34. | :47:41. | |
very much, but some. So, he was right when he said don't join? | :47:41. | :47:45. | |
think we will be in the euro one day but I think we will be in it at | :47:45. | :47:49. | |
a time of our own choosing and when we can have an ear prints on what | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
goes on. The difficulty with the euro is, they didn't get the ground | :47:52. | :48:02. | |
rules right in the first place. Whose fault is that? We went in | :48:02. | :48:06. | |
there so we could not implement it. In it will only work if everybody | :48:06. | :48:13. | |
works at the same rate all the time. If they diverge stresses and | :48:13. | :48:18. | |
strains appear. This is the same thing as the 50s and 60s on a wider | :48:18. | :48:24. | |
canvas. It will not go away. If some countries are forging ahead, | :48:24. | :48:28. | |
others are not going so quickly, and it is like building a bridge | :48:28. | :48:34. | |
without expansion. What situation with the West Country be in if we | :48:34. | :48:39. | |
had joined? It would have been a catastrophe. There is a single | :48:39. | :48:42. | |
interest rate for the whole of Europe and that affects different | :48:42. | :48:45. | |
countries in different ways. The boom in Greece and Ireland was | :48:45. | :48:50. | |
fuelled by their joining the eurozone in the first place. Now, | :48:50. | :48:53. | |
they are reaping the whirlwind because they have got much higher | :48:53. | :48:57. | |
interest rates than they would have had outside the eurozone and they | :48:58. | :49:02. | |
cannot devalue their currency. Argue losing the battle on Europe? | :49:02. | :49:06. | |
I do not think so. I fit the eurozone will get through its | :49:06. | :49:11. | |
difficulties. -- I think. They have accepted wheeze has to put in place | :49:11. | :49:15. | |
an austerity policies and then there will be helped to get out of | :49:15. | :49:18. | |
the situation and the euro will emerge as strong as it has ever | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
been. It has been predicted in this country for years that it was going | :49:23. | :49:30. | |
to collapse. It has not yet and I do not we did it will. Greece will | :49:30. | :49:38. | |
not be held! We shall have to see. Thank you both for joining us. The | :49:38. | :49:44. |