:01:05. > :01:09.Is Labour's scaremongering on privatisation? And his first
:01:09. > :01:14.television interview since quitting the Cabinet, a Liam Fox on why
:01:14. > :01:24.George Osborne should depend on Tory properties - with Tory
:01:24. > :01:34.
:01:34. > :01:37.policies. That is the Sunday interview. And our political panel
:01:37. > :01:42.of the bright young things you to analyse British politics in the
:01:42. > :01:45.week ahead and St -- tweeting and the programme ahead. In the West -
:01:45. > :01:48.Swindon councillors become the first in the country to axe full
:01:48. > :01:58.time paid union reps for staff. Will they set a precedent across
:01:58. > :01:58.
:01:58. > :35:50.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2031 seconds
:35:50. > :35:55.Hello. In the next 20 minutes in this week's programme, everybody
:35:55. > :36:02.out - Swindon council votes to stop paying full-time union reps. Is at
:36:02. > :36:06.the start of a war between the Conservatives and the unions?
:36:06. > :36:10.The Conservatives voted through that changed faster than you can
:36:10. > :36:14.say Arthur Scargill. We will be talking at through that with our
:36:14. > :36:24.guests later. They are Chris Skidmore, a conservative from the
:36:24. > :36:25.
:36:25. > :36:34.old coal-mining areas of Bristol, and Anne Snelgrove, are confident
:36:34. > :36:39.of Gordon Brown. -- a confident of Gordon Brown. Chris, I want to talk
:36:39. > :36:43.to you about health, first of all. You are on the health Select
:36:43. > :36:53.Committee. These health reforms, will they go through? I think they
:36:53. > :36:54.
:36:55. > :37:01.must. I think the key point Mike we need to start with this in the NHS,
:37:01. > :37:07.we have an ageing population, and there is more pressure on the NHS
:37:07. > :37:13.than ever before. The rumour is that the Prime Minister it does not
:37:13. > :37:22.understand it, no one understands. That is not true, they are right
:37:22. > :37:24.behind the reforms. Anne Snelgrove, do you agree?
:37:24. > :37:32.There are rumours the Conservatives want to take Andrew Lansley out and
:37:32. > :37:36.shoot him. The message is there is �2 billion being spent on an
:37:36. > :37:41.unnecessary -- �2 million being spent on an unnecessary
:37:41. > :37:45.reorganisation. I accept we need to make changes. We could achieve them
:37:45. > :37:50.without this very wasteful and disruptive health reform. It is a
:37:50. > :37:55.choice between management costs and putting patients first.
:37:55. > :38:00.In our first story, union rights - the council is to stop paying full-
:38:00. > :38:05.time union reps. It will save taxpayers money, but that is out of
:38:05. > :38:10.a budget of almost �500 million. The Conservative authority is the
:38:11. > :38:14.first to take the axe to paid union reps and other councils may follow.
:38:14. > :38:18.Swindon is a council where they like to think they are ahead of the
:38:18. > :38:23.game. With a solid Conservative majority they kept tax down and be
:38:23. > :38:28.damned -- began cutting before the collision existed. Now their
:38:28. > :38:32.clampdown on union representatives could set a national precedent.
:38:32. > :38:39.On Thursday night unions mobilised, protesting as councillors assembled
:38:39. > :38:45.to determine the fate of this man. We have people who have come all
:38:45. > :38:49.the way from Dorset and Devon to support us and we appreciate that.
:38:49. > :38:58.Bob Cretchley is facing the drop, as long -- along with his job share
:38:58. > :39:02.colleague, Karla Bradford. They work solely on new matters. --
:39:02. > :39:07.union matters. But the council reckons this arrangement is costing
:39:07. > :39:10.too much. They are braced for a fight. If you are going to
:39:11. > :39:14.effectively challenge the unions in any way you can usually it vet --
:39:14. > :39:19.understand there will be a robust response.
:39:19. > :39:23.It will not be easy, but is the principal right? Cost saving is
:39:23. > :39:27.important. Should taxpayers be subsidising the union activity when
:39:28. > :39:35.the union should subsidise their own activity from the subscription
:39:35. > :39:39.they collect. Liam Fox has decided to speak it. He would like a return
:39:39. > :39:43.to the union tackled approach of his political hero, Margaret
:39:43. > :39:47.Thatcher. In the public sector, where money is coming from the
:39:47. > :39:51.public purse, in this case from the Swindon council tax payers, I think
:39:51. > :39:55.the council has a duty to ensure all the money they raise goes to
:39:55. > :40:01.public services. In hard-pressed times, council tax payers should
:40:01. > :40:05.not be paying the salaries of union officials. Some of his former
:40:05. > :40:10.colleagues in Government agree. If there is a fight, unions are
:40:10. > :40:14.already. What started this week in Swindon could go a long way.
:40:14. > :40:19.Joanne Kaye is the regional secretary for Unison in the South
:40:19. > :40:25.West. Is this a money-saving device, or is this about attacking the
:40:25. > :40:30.unions? It is about attacking the unions. But it was about money, the
:40:30. > :40:35.council could look to the �300,000 that goes to 38 councillors per
:40:35. > :40:40.year on basic allowances, or the �20,000 that goes to the leader of
:40:40. > :40:46.the council. �29,000 to give the people who do the work a voice is
:40:46. > :40:52.not a huge amount. But they are having to make big cuts. Why should
:40:52. > :41:00.the taxpayer fund union activities? It is not activities, but his
:41:00. > :41:05.duties, legal obligations that councils have to find maternity pay.
:41:05. > :41:10.It is a legal obligation, and most employers have centrally funded
:41:10. > :41:16.posts which means they are not taking away from the frontline
:41:16. > :41:22.services. It is a legal obligation, which the Conservatives introduced.
:41:22. > :41:25.It is, but it is a Conservative council who are attacking that
:41:25. > :41:29.legislation from 1992. The reality is, that work will have to be done
:41:29. > :41:34.and someone else will have to do it, so it will not save money but it
:41:34. > :41:40.will mean two people end up out of work. Let's bring in Chris Skidmore
:41:40. > :41:45.and our guests. Do you agree with Liam Fox that unions need their
:41:45. > :41:50.wings clapping? I think a lot of viewers will be very angry.
:41:50. > :41:56.Hard-working council tax payers want their money spent on frontline
:41:56. > :42:05.services and not subsidising the unions. Unions are pretty wealthy,
:42:05. > :42:09.they have money. Anne Snelgrove was given �12,000 by
:42:09. > :42:15.union representatives... I do not think that is right. They did not
:42:16. > :42:19.give me any money personally, will you apologise? I will not apologise.
:42:19. > :42:26.A you have to get your facts right. Swindon Borough Council, when they
:42:26. > :42:31.were talking about cuts, �29,000, on the same day this came through
:42:31. > :42:39.my letterbox. It is the Swindin news, a glossy, full-colour, 28
:42:39. > :42:47.page magazine and it is an election path.
:42:47. > :42:50.Do you also think that Swindon Borough Council should have paid
:42:50. > :42:58.400 �1,000 to our local businessman...
:42:58. > :43:06.Were a need to make savings... The that get back to the issues. --
:43:06. > :43:13.we need to get back to the issues. Liam Fox had to pay �20,000 on his
:43:13. > :43:18.mortgage, he had to repay that money. I did not take any
:43:18. > :43:22.allowances in the last year, how much did you take this year?
:43:22. > :43:27.�400 on food, is that right? They us is the politics of the
:43:27. > :43:31.gutter. They are union-bashing, spending thousands of taxpayers
:43:31. > :43:36.money on things like this. A his point is that there is a
:43:36. > :43:40.perception that Labour is in the pocket of the unions.
:43:40. > :43:44.I don't think that is true, and you can hear that is not true from the
:43:44. > :43:47.unions. So people need to accuse you of
:43:47. > :43:52.double standards. You don't seem to be worried about other public
:43:53. > :43:57.services workers, those who work in banks who have bonuses.
:43:57. > :44:00.I think banks need to take responsibility, as well.
:44:00. > :44:03.We have to look across the board at how we can save money and make
:44:03. > :44:07.money. Why have you not clipped their
:44:07. > :44:13.wings? We have begun to.
:44:13. > :44:16.The bankers' bonus tax, but you have put young people in your
:44:16. > :44:26.constituency into real jeopardy. You stopped the bankers' bonus tax,
:44:26. > :44:27.
:44:27. > :44:33.which would have paid for 366 -- which would have paid to combat a
:44:33. > :44:39.366 % increase in use on employment in your constituency in the year --
:44:39. > :44:42.in that youth unemployment in the year up to 2012.
:44:42. > :44:46.You are union members will still get the same service from other
:44:46. > :44:50.representatives in the council? That will still cost the council
:44:50. > :44:54.money, and these arrangements have been put into place not by us, but
:44:54. > :44:56.by employers. People are interfering in the arrangement
:44:56. > :45:00.between employers and representatives, because they have
:45:00. > :45:04.found it works. If you have a union rep who is a frontline social
:45:04. > :45:09.worker, and you take them away from their duties to carry out those
:45:09. > :45:16.legal obligations, that is destructive. Local managers and
:45:16. > :45:25.human resource people know that these arrangements work best.
:45:25. > :45:29.I support the rights of unions. Private sector union reps are in
:45:29. > :45:36.place. Probably not on the scale, public
:45:36. > :45:39.sector rips are a more prominent. If it has been proportionate in the
:45:39. > :45:43.way they are making cuts elsewhere, I think it will have been
:45:43. > :45:51.acceptable. However, there are hundreds of people whose jobs are
:45:51. > :45:57.being cut and it will be a false economy in sacking union reps.
:45:57. > :46:04.There was a 40 % reduction in public sector workers...
:46:04. > :46:09.That was 12 years ago. Joanne Kaye, we will have to say
:46:09. > :46:13.goodbye to you and leave these two to have a fight.
:46:13. > :46:16.More of us are turning to cosmetic surgery to keep us looking younger,
:46:16. > :46:20.but the scandal over breast implants shows it is not something
:46:20. > :46:25.to be undertaken lightly. Some of the implants have burst, leaving
:46:25. > :46:29.patients with big bills to have them removed or begin the NHS to
:46:29. > :46:36.pick up the tab. What should politicians do about this industry?
:46:36. > :46:42.Our correspondent has been to meet two West Country Women who have had
:46:42. > :46:50.burst implant. Tina and Steffy paid thousands of
:46:50. > :46:53.pounds to clinics to have their breasts enlarged. Sold for �50 each,
:46:53. > :47:00.these are the French PIP implants that were used.
:47:00. > :47:06.This is a PIP implants. There -- they are made from
:47:06. > :47:14.industrial grade silicone, which is now burnt -- which is now banned.
:47:14. > :47:20.A my glands would relate Swarland. Other women were having similar
:47:20. > :47:23.symptoms. Private clinics have refused to offer free replacement,
:47:23. > :47:27.despite the Government saying they are morally obliged to.
:47:27. > :47:36.It is important not to exaggerate the reasons to be worried, but if
:47:36. > :47:40.women are worried we will support them. We expect private providers
:47:40. > :47:46.to offer that same standard of care. To there is no private insurance
:47:46. > :47:50.scheme for the industry, so Steffy has paid almost �6,000 to have
:47:50. > :47:55.powers replaced. A if you bought a car, and it was
:47:55. > :47:58.faulty, no one would question it. The number of people I know and we
:47:58. > :48:04.are the first to complain and take things back, and to do not support
:48:04. > :48:10.this motion that women should be fixed by the clinic...
:48:10. > :48:13.The NHS hospital in Taunton will foot the bill to remove Tina's
:48:13. > :48:19.implants after concerns over her general health. The private clinic
:48:19. > :48:29.said they would not operate on her. I found lumps underneath my arms
:48:29. > :48:30.
:48:30. > :48:37.for quite a few months. I did not alter the doctor straight away. The
:48:37. > :48:42.doctor said, possibly you have a reaction to the silicone.
:48:42. > :48:46.Tina has turned to Hull local MP, Tessa Munt, for help.
:48:46. > :48:50.It is horrifying when you find how many of these implants have
:48:50. > :48:57.ruptured. Then I discover from people who have written to me, it
:48:57. > :49:01.is not just Tina, but other people as well, that it has this in it, it
:49:01. > :49:11.is a carcinogen, it has Mercouri in it, things that are known
:49:11. > :49:12.
:49:12. > :49:19.irritants... -- it has knackery. This scandal has rocked the heart
:49:19. > :49:22.of the billion pound cosmetic industry, and these campaigners,
:49:22. > :49:29.Tina and Steffy, are determined to change the law to protect women
:49:29. > :49:33.like them in the future. With us is one of the West's
:49:33. > :49:38.leading plastic surgeons, Nigel Mercer.
:49:38. > :49:41.How can we prevent a repeat of this?
:49:41. > :49:48.Were have to tighten up the regulatory system for implant. --
:49:48. > :49:51.we have to do. The problem we have is that the company that owned PIP
:49:51. > :49:56.implants have done something criminal. You cannot legislate
:49:56. > :50:01.against that, but you can prevent it by having mystery shopping of
:50:01. > :50:09.implants, so that the manufacturers don't know when you well tested. We
:50:09. > :50:13.have to beef up the testing, we need safety testing within medical
:50:13. > :50:17.implants. Why have the professionals involved not God this
:50:17. > :50:23.sorted out already? If you go to a cosmetic surgeon you expect to see
:50:23. > :50:26.a professional with professional standards. We have a problem in the
:50:26. > :50:35.UK where we have big business involved in the provision of
:50:35. > :50:38.cosmetic surgery. The clinic's are not providing it a good service to
:50:38. > :50:44.the patient, and the practice they have been given is really very poor.
:50:44. > :50:48.We have good tighten up, not just doctors and the regulators, we all
:50:48. > :50:51.need to tighten up how we provide minister and -- how we provide
:50:51. > :50:54.medicine. In the meantime, should the NHS to
:50:54. > :51:00.pick up the pieces? That is very difficult, if the
:51:00. > :51:05.clinic has gone bust, yes. But actually that clinics route need
:51:05. > :51:08.profit really should step up to the plate, as Andrew Lansley suggested.
:51:08. > :51:12.Why is there much better regulation in this industry?
:51:12. > :51:16.I do not think you can regulate for fraud, that is the problem. I think
:51:16. > :51:23.what the Government could do is lean on these companies a little
:51:23. > :51:28.bit more. They are not stepping up to the plate. It is a tragic
:51:28. > :51:33.situation for women such as the lady we saw in the report. My heart
:51:33. > :51:36.goes out to her and we must put more pressure on them. It is not
:51:36. > :51:41.good enough for women who are currently waiting to find out
:51:41. > :51:44.whether they have this silicone gel inside them.
:51:44. > :51:49.Some clinics are stepping up to the plate.
:51:49. > :51:57.Absolutely, there are three who are the bad guys.
:51:57. > :52:01.Do you think there are concerns that regulation has not strong
:52:01. > :52:08.enough? As a Conservative regulation is not really your thing.
:52:08. > :52:13.A cross-party report has been put into what is going on. I agree with
:52:13. > :52:17.Nigel that we should probably bring back some kind of register a bit --
:52:17. > :52:23.register because some of the women do not even know if they have this
:52:23. > :52:31.implied in place -- this implant in place.
:52:31. > :52:35.There have been 300,000 extra appointments on the NHS -- in the
:52:35. > :52:40.NHS as a result of this. That is a big burden, isn't it?
:52:40. > :52:45.We are enormously overstretched, so if these ladies are being dealt
:52:45. > :52:50.with by the NHS, someone else is not being treated. That is not fair
:52:50. > :52:56.on the general patient. Andrew Lansley has said he would go after
:52:56. > :53:00.the money to treat these patients from the clinics.
:53:00. > :53:06.We saw that women in the report and you do not want them waiting that
:53:06. > :53:12.amount of time, I think he need to hurry up. -- we saw that woman.
:53:12. > :53:18.Sculls weekly round-up of West Country politics in 60 seconds.
:53:18. > :53:22.-- time know for our weekly round- The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick
:53:22. > :53:26.Clegg, announced -- announced details of a �1 billion business
:53:26. > :53:33.Support Fund. He want to make it children working factories.
:53:33. > :53:38.Wiltshire's Constable -- Chief Constable is leaving for a job in
:53:38. > :53:43.the Border Agency. Brian Moore will leave at the end of the month.
:53:43. > :53:48.Known for his distinctive turn of phrase, Jacob Rees-Mogg spoke for
:53:48. > :53:55.more than an hour on parking charges. He wanted to stop the vote
:53:55. > :54:00.by talking it out of time. Protesters in the North Somerset
:54:00. > :54:04.failed to stop their council meeting cutbacks.
:54:04. > :54:14.And the Cheltenham MP, Martin Horwood, was one of those who took
:54:14. > :54:20.
:54:20. > :54:24.place in the parliamentary Pancake That Was the Week in 60 seconds.
:54:25. > :54:28.What Pickup on one of those stories, Nick Clegg tries to make
:54:28. > :54:31.manufacturing fund and fashionable. Chris, why did you not going to
:54:32. > :54:36.manufacturing? I am not very good with my hands,
:54:36. > :54:42.but I agree with what the coalition is saying about rebalancing the
:54:42. > :54:45.economy to produce more manufacturing industries. The
:54:45. > :54:52.Bristol-Bath Science Park has a potential 3,000 new jobs in my
:54:52. > :54:56.constituency. Anne, this has been a problem since
:54:56. > :55:02.I left school, that people have been encouraged to go into banking
:55:02. > :55:06.rather than manufacturing. We need of the jobs, and banks are
:55:06. > :55:13.not lending to small and medium- sized enterprises, which are the
:55:13. > :55:16.engine of manufacturing in this country. It is all very well coming
:55:16. > :55:19.to Bristol and making big announcement, but where is the
:55:19. > :55:24.meat? I do not see much happening with these local enterprise
:55:24. > :55:29.partnerships. No money has come into Swindon from those.