:01:37. > :01:38.In the west: Bristol goes bus-lane- In the west: Bristol goes bus-lane-
:01:38. > :01:48.tastic - as its multi-million pound showcase routes are officially
:01:48. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :30:38.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1729 seconds
:30:38. > :30:43.launched. But guess what? Fares The Bass beers are going up. Have
:30:43. > :30:48.politicians got it seriously wrong when it comes to public transport?
:30:48. > :30:58.That is coming up a little later but with me today are two West
:30:58. > :31:04.Country MPs. We have the Conservative MP for Bradley Stoke.
:31:04. > :31:12.He was an army reservist who served in Afghanistan and the Liberal
:31:12. > :31:17.Democrat MP for Bristol West to his thinking of running for mayor.
:31:17. > :31:21.Stephen, firstly you were the first openly gay Liberal Democrat MP. The
:31:21. > :31:31.Government is consulting now on the marriage, presumably you are for
:31:31. > :31:39.
:31:39. > :31:43.that. Absolutely. It is an issue of equality. It's a same-sex couple
:31:43. > :31:50.want to have such a union they should be able to call it a civil
:31:50. > :31:56.marriage. It should not be any less valued or recognised by society
:31:56. > :32:00.than an opposite sex couple. At the moment you have several partnership
:32:00. > :32:09.for gay couples and civil marriage for straight couples. It should be
:32:09. > :32:16.the same for both. Why are people wanting to take on the Church over
:32:16. > :32:21.this? I do not think they do want to take on the church. I agree as
:32:21. > :32:26.bad as the quality of respect and treating marriages between same-sex
:32:26. > :32:31.people and a man and a woman the same. It was outlawed in the
:32:31. > :32:36.military for many years. Indeed, that is progress. OK, we will see
:32:36. > :32:41.how the consultation goes. Now, a big leader for a big city was the
:32:41. > :32:45.mantra this week as a campaign kicked off for an elected mayor for
:32:45. > :32:51.Bristol. Anyone getting the job would not get top of the city.
:32:51. > :32:57.Large parts of it live with in other council areas such as South
:32:57. > :33:00.Gloucestershire which has attracted significant criticism. They were
:33:00. > :33:09.preaching to the converted. Ministers from this Government and
:33:10. > :33:17.the past speaking of the good points for an elected mayor. One
:33:17. > :33:24.nagging doubt kept creeping up. have been a clear advocate of a
:33:24. > :33:28.large region and I accept that that is not going to happen. Ideally we
:33:28. > :33:35.would like a Metro mayor, beyond the boundaries of the city council
:33:35. > :33:40.but all we have got on offer now is at a city near. From here you can
:33:40. > :33:45.see the modern metropolis but it is not all Bristol. Over one quarter
:33:46. > :33:54.of this are being area is not run by the city Council. The divisions
:33:54. > :33:58.dead back to when these were green fields. The situation at the
:33:58. > :34:08.airfield shows the bizarre nature of these boundaries. Airbus is one
:34:08. > :34:11.of the biggest employers, most of the airport is under South
:34:11. > :34:17.Gloucestershire and so the mayor would have little involvement in
:34:17. > :34:22.what goes on here. It is not just in economic matters that the
:34:22. > :34:29.political role would be restricted. These men freely acknowledge there
:34:29. > :34:34.are other limitations. referendum in May is about having a
:34:34. > :34:38.mayor for Bristol but in due course we might have a wider regional
:34:38. > :34:43.Mayor who would be best placed to deal with transport and policing
:34:43. > :34:49.issues which cross boundaries. mayor for Bristol would be a leader
:34:49. > :34:54.not just for the city but for the whole area. Around the world Riaz
:34:55. > :35:03.of cities are the focal point just for the boundaries of the central
:35:03. > :35:09.city but of the whole region. -- Nears of cities. But that is not
:35:09. > :35:17.what is on offer this time. I am joined by the director of the
:35:18. > :35:22.Bristol Chamber of Commerce. What is the business take on this? Would
:35:22. > :35:29.you be preparing to deal with a mayor or the system we have at the
:35:29. > :35:33.moment? The people of Bristol could elect a person every format for
:35:33. > :35:38.years whereby at the moment it is elected by a small group of
:35:38. > :35:43.councillors. In the past few years we have had five changes of
:35:43. > :35:46.leadership, there is so much instability in that. You have heard
:35:46. > :35:52.the risk of having someone you disagree with as mayor just for
:35:52. > :35:56.stability? That is true but I think the ability to elect a mayor or
:35:56. > :36:03.deselect at some point in the future being down to the people is
:36:03. > :36:09.much better than a small group. are you standing as a candidate?
:36:09. > :36:13.Reveal yourself! I am not ready to make that decision yet. The most
:36:13. > :36:21.important decision is whether we won't do have an elected mayor for
:36:21. > :36:29.the city or not. I will vote Yes in the referendum. I think the
:36:29. > :36:33.advantages of an elected mayor are not just uncertainty. We could fix
:36:33. > :36:40.the local Government into four- yearly cycles which I think would
:36:40. > :36:46.fix the uncertainty but having an ambassador for Bristol would be a
:36:46. > :36:53.fantastic. You are quoted as saying you are more than 50% in favour of
:36:53. > :36:59.having a mayor, is that an accurate quote? Yes, it is. It does not
:36:59. > :37:02.sound like you are bursting to get into the job? It is simply because
:37:02. > :37:06.I would be more emphatic of thinking it would make a big
:37:06. > :37:11.difference to the city if I knew what powers would come with the
:37:11. > :37:17.Mayor ship. The Government needs to be more open with the city about
:37:17. > :37:22.what powers would be given to an elected mayor. I have always been
:37:22. > :37:27.in favour of an elected mayor. A figurehead with a four-year mandate.
:37:27. > :37:32.It is the big four are that we have highlighted today. The city of
:37:32. > :37:37.Bristol is not what we all think it is to be. You represent Bradley
:37:37. > :37:43.Stoke in south Gloucestershire yet really it is within Greater Bristol
:37:43. > :37:47.saw how my D major deal with deep forks out in Bradley Stoke?
:37:47. > :37:53.mayor of Bristol would not deal with the faults in Bradley Stoke.
:37:53. > :37:56.That is a weakness? Not necessarily. The facts are that we have a local
:37:56. > :38:04.Government area that is the city and Council of Bristol and you
:38:04. > :38:08.elect a mayor to oversee that area. But if you want a transport system
:38:08. > :38:15.you have all the different councils. Local councils work together at the
:38:15. > :38:20.moment. I think for the purposes of clarity the city of Bristol does
:38:20. > :38:26.need an elected mayor. Are you concerned about where the
:38:26. > :38:30.boundaries of the city are? I have always been concerned. The west of
:38:30. > :38:35.Bristol area is huge, it is one million souls. It is one of the
:38:35. > :38:41.most celebrated cities in the country. It has such potential in
:38:41. > :38:47.terms of its growth. There is so much going on, the universities,
:38:47. > :38:56.big airport, baked sea port. But there is this fragmentation. -- Big
:38:56. > :39:01.Sea port. A lot of the councillors are not keen on this. The Liberal
:39:01. > :39:05.Democrat deputy leader has been seeing I do not think it is right
:39:05. > :39:10.to try to bribe the electorate of Bristol into voting for or a
:39:10. > :39:15.Government which seems to be the right system of governance. Let's
:39:15. > :39:20.see what the people of Bristol think. We have to wait for the
:39:20. > :39:25.result of the referendum. I think it is an odd statement to make.
:39:25. > :39:30.think there is a problem. I think he has got something in that people
:39:30. > :39:36.will be voting for a change without being absolutely sure what that
:39:36. > :39:41.change will be. What do you mean by that? The Government is clear that
:39:41. > :39:45.we want local Government to be reinvigorated in England. It has
:39:45. > :39:50.been emasculated by the last Government and the previous Tory
:39:50. > :39:57.Government. We want cities to be local drivers. We have the localism
:39:57. > :40:04.Act. In our last few seconds, if you stood and should you be elected,
:40:04. > :40:09.would you resign as an MP? No. That is one of the issues that need to
:40:09. > :40:18.be clarified. It is quite normal in other parts of the world for the
:40:18. > :40:22.city's Mayor to also be a Member of Parliament. In Bordeaux, Bristol's
:40:22. > :40:32.twin city the mayor is also the city MP and the foreign minister of
:40:32. > :40:37.France, he has they jobs. -- he has three jobs. In the last few months
:40:37. > :40:42.Bristol has spent millions of pounds on new bus routes. Cars are
:40:42. > :40:52.being squeezed off the roads and now companies who provide staff
:40:52. > :40:58.
:40:58. > :41:04.with a car parking space could be charged. We have come along way
:41:04. > :41:11.since these days. In the 60s our roads were less congested and fuel
:41:11. > :41:19.costs much less. This week the starting flag was raised for and
:41:19. > :41:22.you either of buses in the Bristol area. The Government gave more than
:41:22. > :41:27.�40 million for the new showcase bus routes to try to persuade
:41:27. > :41:33.commuters to leave their cars at home. Next month the cost of
:41:33. > :41:39.filling them up will rise as the Government cuts the fuel rebate bus
:41:39. > :41:46.companies get. The cost will be passed on to passengers. We are
:41:46. > :41:52.seeing a fuel cuts rise of 27 %, we have to be able to recover some of
:41:52. > :41:55.that through the prices we charge. We inherited a difficult economic
:41:55. > :42:01.situation from the previous administration but we gave 18
:42:01. > :42:06.months' notice of the fuel rebate being reduced. That was a very long
:42:06. > :42:13.period. At the time the bus operators said the notice time was
:42:13. > :42:18.sufficient. They can only hope that commuters will not be put off by
:42:18. > :42:27.the prices. Meanwhile, pressure mounts on the Chancellor ahead of
:42:27. > :42:33.next week's budget to lower the tax on petrol. Let's stop bus lanes.
:42:33. > :42:38.The taxpayer has paid for these routes and we are spending millions
:42:38. > :42:46.hiding parts of it off into bus lanes and giving the bus companies
:42:46. > :42:55.a virtual monopoly of them went the bus companies have to put their
:42:55. > :43:00.prices up. Bus lanes do make a big difference to moving people
:43:00. > :43:05.efficiently around the city. We have had lots of bus measures put
:43:05. > :43:10.in place over the last 20 years here which has improved the quality,
:43:10. > :43:15.speed and reliability of bus travel. Subsidising the bus companies by
:43:15. > :43:21.giving them part of our roads than seeing other road users cannot have
:43:21. > :43:26.them, but then you do not subsidise the cost of the ticket? Surely it
:43:26. > :43:30.people are stuck in traffic and see a bus or whizzing past on the bus
:43:30. > :43:36.lane they are going to be incentivise to get the bus next
:43:36. > :43:42.time. Everybody says they want better public transport and a real
:43:42. > :43:52.alternative. That is great in an ideal world but tickets are usually
:43:52. > :43:54.
:43:54. > :43:58.cheap in places like France. Fears here are high. If I had a tax
:43:58. > :44:03.contribution for every time someone has said to me why can we not have
:44:03. > :44:09.European standards in British cities, well, they do tax people
:44:09. > :44:16.more in many of these countries. It is afraid of. From a business point
:44:16. > :44:21.of view, charging firms that they provide staff with somewhere to put
:44:21. > :44:26.their cars, is that something you would favour? It is not. We want
:44:26. > :44:30.the city council to look at all the alternatives. We know they are
:44:30. > :44:35.looking at a supplementary business rate but we feel there has to be a
:44:35. > :44:45.way of spreading that rowed much further. -- spreading that load.
:44:45. > :44:45.
:44:45. > :44:50.What They are trying to do is close a funding gap. Beer is something
:44:50. > :44:56.like �20 million of a shortfall which has to be made up. -- there
:44:56. > :45:03.is something like. The central part is the ever increasing cost of fuel.
:45:03. > :45:08.Should the Government be addressing that? You have to put it in the
:45:08. > :45:18.context of our economic situation overall. My understanding is that
:45:18. > :45:18.
:45:18. > :45:23.every penny we take-off the litre of fuel has to come somewhere.
:45:23. > :45:29.is pretty tough if you are filling up your family car and it costs
:45:29. > :45:37.�100. Which I do. We can only artificially hold down the price of
:45:37. > :45:42.fuel for so long in order to please the boaters. In Our lifetime the
:45:42. > :45:50.price of petrol has only gone in one direction and only will call in
:45:50. > :46:00.one direction. Throughout the country how much of it is tax?
:46:00. > :46:01.
:46:01. > :46:06.vast majority. The underlying price is going up and up. What effect is
:46:06. > :46:12.this having on business? It is interesting. People seem to be
:46:12. > :46:17.voting with their feet. We have seen the biggest rise on the
:46:17. > :46:22.southern beech line for commuters. People are deciding that they
:46:22. > :46:27.cannot afford to run their cars any more so they will take the next
:46:27. > :46:35.alternative which Israel. It is a further squeeze on people's pockets,
:46:35. > :46:45.isn't it? -- the alternative which is real. They can walk or ride or
:46:45. > :46:47.
:46:47. > :46:55.whatever. -- rail. In celebration of the Cheltenham Festival let's
:46:55. > :47:01.take a canter through our politics in 60 seconds. The North Somerset
:47:01. > :47:08.MP Liam Fox has been ordered to pay �3,000 and apologise for breaking
:47:08. > :47:13.parliamentary rules. The amount of food wasted by supermarkets is
:47:13. > :47:19.scandalous according to the SNP who has are urged shops to donate
:47:19. > :47:24.surplus food to charity. So much surplus food goes to waste that
:47:24. > :47:30.people would be duly grateful to get their hands on it. And this man
:47:30. > :47:35.who wants to lawfully end his life with the help of doctors will have
:47:35. > :47:45.his case heard in court. Life is hell for him and it is not going to
:47:45. > :47:51.get any better. The defunct Cotswold Water Park who's boss was
:47:51. > :47:57.jailed for fraud has an investigation and it is unlikely
:47:57. > :48:02.there will be any intervention in the plans to close libraries. That
:48:02. > :48:06.Was the Week That Was in just 60 seconds. The week ahead will be
:48:06. > :48:14.interesting politically because it is the Budget. What should the
:48:14. > :48:18.Chancellor do? He has a really tough job at the moment. He will
:48:18. > :48:28.have to continue to play down the deficit and have financial
:48:28. > :48:32.
:48:32. > :48:37.stability while raising the situation with jobs. Help for small
:48:38. > :48:45.businesses as well. What is the Liberal Democrat peer? Taxing that
:48:45. > :48:50.1%? I am glad we endorse that. We have to raise more people out of
:48:50. > :48:55.income tax altogether and have a tax cut for the vast majority. That
:48:55. > :48:59.is what the Liberal Democrats have brought to the budget negotiations.
:48:59. > :49:05.As for people at the top end, the 50 p rate, it would not be our
:49:05. > :49:11.priority now to drop that great. We want to see more work done on
:49:11. > :49:17.taxing wealth more effectively in this country. A mansion tax, a
:49:17. > :49:24.tycoon tax. It is always someone else paying tax that people want, I
:49:24. > :49:29.guess. The 50 pence rate, will that they or disappear? Well, I think at
:49:29. > :49:34.the moment it is a tough balancing act. I do not know at this stage.
:49:34. > :49:39.We will have to wait and see. about any of the other issues? Can
:49:39. > :49:45.he possibly kick-start the economy doing something now that he has not
:49:45. > :49:52.done before? I would like to see more help given to small businesses.
:49:52. > :49:57.What we have done on corporation tax as far as reducing 2% at the
:49:57. > :50:03.moment, perhaps more measures like that. We shall see before much