07/10/2012 Sunday Politics West


07/10/2012

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 07/10/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

In the West - David Cameron and the Police. Hundreds of thousands of us

:01:24.:01:27.

are due to vote for new Commissioners in just a few weeks'

:01:27.:01:30.

time. Can the Prime Minister convince you that it's worth the

:01:30.:01:40.
:01:40.:01:40.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2132 seconds

:01:40.:37:13.

Hello, we will soon be voting for new police and crime commissioners,

:37:13.:37:17.

but what are we supposed to be voting for? I will ask the Prime

:37:17.:37:22.

Minister if his big idea is what bothering with. I got into Downing

:37:22.:37:25.

Street without upsetting the officers on the gate, they were

:37:26.:37:31.

charming! Helping us with our inquiries today, Charlotte Leslie,

:37:31.:37:36.

a Conservative from Bristol, and Tessa Munt, at the Liberal

:37:36.:37:40.

Democrats. Anything you may say, it may be taken down in writing and

:37:40.:37:45.

used against you, but I hope you will be brave and confess! What

:37:45.:37:50.

about this idea of police commissioners? I am very for that

:37:50.:37:58.

idea and more so as the campaign goes on. So many people ask why the

:37:58.:38:02.

police are not doing more about anti-social behaviour, etc? People

:38:02.:38:06.

now have someone who is accountable for the priorities of the police

:38:06.:38:13.

and that is really good. We should not have politicised police

:38:13.:38:18.

management. So I am not in favour. Having said that, I am completely

:38:18.:38:23.

in favour of the Liberal Democrats -- in favour of the Liberal-

:38:23.:38:30.

Democrat candidate in this area. We were obliged to put one up. Our man

:38:30.:38:40.

cut all the funding -- Mr Maddock cut the funding for PCSOs and if we

:38:40.:38:45.

had him in control, but we would have to challenge that stomach

:38:45.:38:50.

there is not going to be much money floating around and Mr Madoc is

:38:50.:38:58.

superb and has a lot of experience of my knitting for budget. --

:38:58.:39:01.

managing. He has wasted money closing

:39:01.:39:04.

libraries and spent three-quarters of a million pounds setting them up

:39:04.:39:12.

again, he is out of control! A we will talk more later on, and

:39:12.:39:16.

other candidates are available! They are on the website.

:39:17.:39:21.

The exercise of voting for police commissioners will cost �75 million

:39:21.:39:26.

across the country, so is it worth it? We have turned detective.

:39:26.:39:31.

On the streets of the West, no sign of election fever. Almost no-one

:39:31.:39:41.
:39:41.:39:41.

seems to know. Please Commissioner, no! I know it is soon, but I do not

:39:41.:39:48.

know when. I do not know! No idea. And never heard of it. I attitudes

:39:48.:39:53.

may be linked to events, crime has been falling for nearly two decades

:39:53.:39:57.

but a lot of public money is being spent so we can have a direct say

:39:57.:40:02.

in how police forces are run. Election officers are grappling

:40:02.:40:06.

with holding complicated votes using a different ballot paper that

:40:06.:40:10.

people may not understand. So more expense. The Electoral Commission

:40:10.:40:14.

is running gaffer's. He will explain how to fill in the ballot

:40:14.:40:22.

paper. The money spent on this is just for starters. To run campaigns

:40:22.:40:27.

across entire police force areas will cost parties a lot. In Avon

:40:27.:40:33.

and Somerset, each candidate can spend more than �220,000. It has

:40:33.:40:38.

brought protests from independents, who feel they are being priced out

:40:38.:40:43.

of the process. The cost deters even the Liberal Democrats, who are

:40:43.:40:46.

less enthusiastic about Commissioners than their coalition

:40:46.:40:50.

partners, especially the Home Secretary. They will be highly

:40:50.:40:55.

visible, chosen directly by the people and accountable by the

:40:55.:40:59.

people -- to the people. This experiment take shape on November

:40:59.:41:04.

15th, regardless of whether people vote or even care!

:41:04.:41:07.

The expense is one of the issues I brought up with the Prime Minister.

:41:07.:41:13.

I met him at Number Ten. Prime Minister, why are we spending

:41:13.:41:17.

this money alerting Police Commissioner -- Police Commission

:41:17.:41:22.

has come up when police forces in the West are cutting PCs on the

:41:22.:41:28.

beat? A green league proper police accountability. -- we need. You

:41:28.:41:34.

walk down a village or street and ask people who will is on the

:41:34.:41:37.

police authority on what powers they have and they will not be able

:41:37.:41:40.

to tell you. In the future, at elected police commissioners will

:41:40.:41:46.

be seen by the public as their voice. Who wants them? I won at

:41:46.:41:49.

them and I think the public will welcome them when they see when

:41:49.:41:54.

they want to push the police to do more on domestic burglary and

:41:54.:41:58.

challenge issues in the community, they have someone to talk to.

:41:58.:42:03.

how can they do that when officers are being cut? The present had of

:42:03.:42:08.

officers on the front line is going up. Difficult financial decisions

:42:08.:42:13.

are being made in a climate when crime is falling, and public

:42:13.:42:16.

confidence and law and order is going up. These are difficult

:42:16.:42:21.

decisions, but we saw this week with the news saw this -- serve as

:42:21.:42:24.

launch of one organisation providing helicopters for the

:42:24.:42:26.

crease services and the country, you can save money and providing

:42:26.:42:31.

better service. Bid chief Constable of Gloucestershire resigned earlier

:42:31.:42:36.

this year and said his force was on the edge of the cliff -- the chief

:42:36.:42:42.

constable. A do not accept that. The percentage of officers on the

:42:42.:42:45.

front line is up, public confidence in law and order is up, crime is

:42:45.:42:50.

down, and the police are doing an excellent job. They are not alone

:42:50.:42:58.

in taking difficult decisions. Cuts across the board have been made,

:42:58.:43:01.

except for the National Health Service. In the police, they have

:43:01.:43:07.

done very well! This new police commissioners will impose the Cup.

:43:07.:43:10.

-- the new. They are therefore accountability so when people are

:43:10.:43:14.

not satisfied on when they want greater action on transport crime,

:43:14.:43:18.

they want to bring to the attention of the police took a public order,

:43:18.:43:24.

in future they will have one person they are accountable to. But still

:43:24.:43:30.

has narrowly voted to have an elected Mayor -- Bristol. The sea

:43:30.:43:35.

in principle, they will have one person they come praise -- it is

:43:35.:43:41.

the same principle. It will be great for Bristol.

:43:41.:43:44.

What will you give Bristol in return?

:43:44.:43:50.

To say to the new Mayor of Bristol, what is it Bristol most wants? What

:43:50.:43:55.

changes can you make to attract Bristol -- business to the city?

:43:55.:44:01.

What power can we devolve to you to do that? It is much easier with one

:44:01.:44:09.

person. And she will deliver? course. And this is the year it you

:44:09.:44:15.

tried to tax static caravans and pastries, you do not get working

:44:15.:44:21.

people, do you, that is what true opponents say? We have taken the 2

:44:21.:44:25.

million lowest-paid people in this country out of income tax. When you

:44:25.:44:31.

are dealing with a budget deficit bigger than Greece, you have to

:44:31.:44:35.

take difficult decisions. Sum you can follow through with. And some

:44:35.:44:41.

we have taken and have had to make changes, you do that in government.

:44:41.:44:47.

But we are in government in a difficult time and I think people

:44:47.:44:53.

understand that and understand you do not get everything right.

:44:53.:45:00.

The Prime Minister. A lot to talk about. Very robust defence of these

:45:00.:45:03.

police and crime commissioners. What do you reckon the turnout in

:45:03.:45:08.

your pot of the world will be? would not want to put money on that

:45:08.:45:14.

-- I would not. I imagine quite low because just the recognition of the

:45:14.:45:19.

fact there is a date in the diary this is going to happen is low. I

:45:19.:45:22.

feel strongly no information is being sent out to people and the

:45:22.:45:27.

way that would normally happens. were be difficult for people to

:45:28.:45:34.

vote on party lines -- it will be. They all want the same, roughly, so

:45:34.:45:39.

how do people choose? He it will be difficult and the information has

:45:39.:45:45.

not been supplied -- it will be difficult. This is the first one

:45:45.:45:49.

and it will be en grande and our political experience. Every time

:45:50.:45:54.

there is the first time election it will be difficult. But it will be

:45:54.:45:58.

interesting as people begin to realise in a few years' time that

:45:58.:46:01.

they are collecting the person who drives the priorities for the

:46:01.:46:06.

police force. Up Prime Minister's run which was interesting. I

:46:06.:46:10.

challenge him about the falling number of officers and he said the

:46:10.:46:15.

proportion of officers on the front line is higher, and that is true,

:46:15.:46:20.

but there are fewer, that is the truth. It is interesting speaking

:46:20.:46:25.

to the police, they want better communication gadgetry. The

:46:25.:46:29.

replication of information they have to do when they rests on his

:46:30.:46:33.

extraordinary. Why do police not have technology that can make a

:46:33.:46:37.

difference? Particularly when time is tight. Police commissioners can

:46:37.:46:41.

be good at pushing forward that kind of thing. A week to talk about

:46:41.:46:47.

whether your leader is out of touch with ordinary people -- we talked

:46:47.:46:52.

about. He had to do you turns on a caravan Tax, for example. It does

:46:52.:46:59.

he gets it? Completely. If you do not listen to people when they say

:46:59.:47:04.

you are wrong, people say you are out of touch. If you change things,

:47:04.:47:09.

people say, you should not have changed things. There were

:47:09.:47:14.

anomalies on the pastry tax, he does get it. But it is a really

:47:14.:47:19.

difficult task. They arrive at a lot of people -- there are a lot of

:47:19.:47:23.

people who could have told the Chancellor and David Cameron those

:47:23.:47:27.

were bad ideas before they were put forward. We should listen before we

:47:27.:47:32.

speak and think about things beforehand, then we do not get into

:47:32.:47:38.

such a mess by putting forward these proposals. It would not have

:47:38.:47:45.

been very difficult to ask people in Yorkshire for example what would

:47:45.:47:50.

happen if you applied VAT to static caravans. We had to explain it at

:47:50.:48:00.

the Treasury. We went to the Treasury, who listened. He was

:48:00.:48:08.

ignored! I do not know! Dave it can rent is keen on saying that we have

:48:08.:48:13.

taken 2 million ordinary people out of tax -- David Cameron. That was

:48:13.:48:20.

front page of the manifesto, but let's see if we go further. Our

:48:20.:48:25.

policy for our party has a target of 12 million.

:48:25.:48:29.

It is one of the biggest white elephants and the West, the

:48:29.:48:32.

regional fire control centre in Taunton has not taken his single

:48:32.:48:40.

999 call, and yet it is costing us all �100,000 a month. Now, in a bid

:48:40.:48:45.

to recoup some of the wasted money, the government is going to rent out

:48:45.:48:51.

the building. In an emergency, every second

:48:51.:48:54.

counts. The quicker your call is answered, the quicker help will

:48:54.:49:02.

arrive. Mack your call is answered by a local person in your area. --

:49:02.:49:08.

your calls. Currently, there are five control centres across the

:49:08.:49:12.

West, like this one, but the last government promised to change

:49:12.:49:21.

things by merging the centres into one centres. -- one that centre. No

:49:21.:49:27.

longer will calls be diverted between centres, but a pledge to

:49:27.:49:31.

create a super control centre in Taunton, with state of the art

:49:31.:49:36.

computer systems are making things quicker and cheaper. It was under

:49:36.:49:39.

Labour in 2004 that the fire control project was first set up to

:49:39.:49:43.

improve efficiency and technology within the fire service, and to

:49:43.:49:47.

make the country better prepared for a national emergencies and

:49:47.:49:52.

major incidents. The plan for Tom Turner was that 999 cause would be

:49:52.:49:57.

handled from Wiltshire through to Cornwall -- at for Taunton. The

:49:57.:50:02.

unions always hated the idea. made it clear to the government

:50:02.:50:07.

these proposals could not and would not work -- we made it clear. The

:50:07.:50:11.

idea to close seven control rooms across the South words -- South

:50:11.:50:16.

West and replace it with one facility was madness. We made it

:50:16.:50:20.

clear to government these plans would not work in that form. To

:50:20.:50:25.

replace highly professional emergency control operators with

:50:25.:50:29.

microchips was deeply flawed from the outset! And Noel emergency call

:50:29.:50:34.

has been answered here -- no emergency call. The project was

:50:34.:50:38.

mothballed by the coalition and 2010. They lay the blame with

:50:38.:50:47.

Labour politicians, including the fire minister at the time. It now

:50:47.:50:53.

costs of the �6,000 in electricity, nearly �29,000 in maintenance, over

:50:53.:51:00.

�100,000 in rent every single month. Total cost to the tax payer, �1.6

:51:00.:51:04.

million each year. Bit were told from the start it would not work

:51:04.:51:08.

but they pushed ahead regardless -- they were told. Hundreds of

:51:08.:51:12.

millions of pounds has been squandered. The first Labour

:51:12.:51:16.

government gave us this building, the coalition government had failed

:51:16.:51:20.

to capitalise for use it. Taxpayers' money has been wasted

:51:20.:51:26.

and no-one has been held to account. Built as a private finance

:51:26.:51:30.

initiative, police will not run out until 27th so it is up for rent as

:51:30.:51:40.
:51:40.:51:41.

a solution, yours at just far hundred and �50,000 a year. --

:51:41.:51:45.

�450,000. But the unions say the government has failed to learn from

:51:45.:51:49.

this costly mistake. To joining the debate is former

:51:49.:51:58.

Labour MP David Drew. How does the Labour government think this is a

:51:58.:52:03.

good idea? It was a shambles from the start and as Tam McFarlane

:52:03.:52:09.

explains, they were told and they were warned and they ignored it.

:52:09.:52:16.

has been one of the worst plans of New Labour. But why? Chief fire

:52:16.:52:21.

officers and firefighters were saying they but successive

:52:21.:52:26.

ministers did not listen, why? it was the vanity of John Prescott

:52:26.:52:30.

among others who felt they knew best and it fitted the regional

:52:30.:52:34.

agenda. We felt strongly in Gloucestershire, because we had an

:52:34.:52:40.

excellent fire centre, and they just tried to drive it through. But

:52:40.:52:45.

it was destined to fail from the word go and I was pleased to work

:52:45.:52:48.

with a group to undermine it and make sure it did not work, because

:52:48.:52:53.

it was the wrong approach. Sadly, the legacy still exists with the

:52:54.:53:01.

costs. Worthies of a private -- worthies of a private finance

:53:01.:53:06.

initiatives mistakes? -- work these. It was the only game in town

:53:06.:53:10.

because we had the restraint of public sector borrowing

:53:10.:53:14.

requirements, so this was seen as a smart way to borrow against future

:53:14.:53:20.

requirements, but it has not worked. A even in the good times, the

:53:20.:53:24.

Labour had Max doubt on their credit card and finding new way of

:53:24.:53:34.
:53:34.:53:37.

finding credit? -- maxed out. was about getting the credit going,

:53:37.:53:41.

hospitals were in need of refurbishment, etc. But the deals

:53:41.:53:48.

that were done were so bad and so costly and the people doing them,

:53:48.:53:51.

as we have seen with the West Coast line this week, when not skills in

:53:51.:53:58.

negotiating the price. I am just saying that people under taking

:53:58.:54:03.

negotiating were not good at what they were doing. Is there any

:54:03.:54:11.

defence of this? And would not want to defend it in the slightest -- I

:54:11.:54:18.

would not. I think PFI it is an appalling way to go -- is an

:54:18.:54:23.

appalling way to go. Coalition is a way to get us out of this hideous

:54:23.:54:29.

mess and that is a good example of how we got to that stage. Berry �70

:54:29.:54:34.

billion worth of borrowed money through PFI which we know already,

:54:34.:54:42.

be estimates for paying back of 300 billion -- and there is. I think

:54:42.:54:46.

you make sure you know exactly what you are doing before you borrow

:54:46.:54:51.

money. This is pay-day loans for government and it is disgraceful!

:54:51.:54:55.

If you did not have this, schools would not have been built and

:54:55.:55:02.

hospitals. Firstly, it is about a Labour government who were out of

:55:02.:55:06.

touch. Speak to any firefighter and they say the local knowledge was

:55:07.:55:11.

crucial in getting the vehicle to way you wanted and you cannot

:55:11.:55:15.

replicate that with a computer chip. And the public sector is

:55:15.:55:19.

historically really bad at negotiating the private sector, so

:55:19.:55:23.

you have private contractors running riot. Juice sort that out,

:55:23.:55:29.

we need to look at how we negotiate those contracts -- to sort that out.

:55:29.:55:33.

When you are in government, you seem to get this arrogance about

:55:33.:55:40.

going ahead with a project everyone is advising you not to do, whether

:55:40.:55:47.

it is Police Commissioner has all this. -- all this. Civil servants

:55:47.:55:52.

are individually good people working hard, it is the system to

:55:52.:55:56.

blame and not the individuals and the individuals do not often have

:55:56.:56:01.

access to real world knowledge that you need to make good decisions.

:56:01.:56:07.

And the way the system works, the - - we now have the luxury of a five-

:56:07.:56:14.

year term, nobody can change the system. We have to rush ahead and

:56:14.:56:18.

take a look back at the political week. Which only have 60 seconds

:56:19.:56:28.
:56:29.:56:30.

for it. -- we only have. A to the Labour conference.

:56:30.:56:35.

8 David Letterman style welcome for the man who wants to be Mayor of

:56:35.:56:40.

Bristol. Bristol is a fantastic city and if I can tempt you to

:56:40.:56:43.

bring a future Labour Party conference here, you can taste it

:56:43.:56:48.

for yourself! And Miliband mentioned he is a comprehensive boy

:56:49.:56:54.

-- Ed Miliband. Up two a state school boys hoping for big things

:56:54.:56:59.

in Bristol on November 15th. And T is going to be a great match of

:56:59.:57:05.

Bristol! -- he is going to be. These vehicles are used at Heathrow

:57:05.:57:10.

and could be coming to Bristol. Where is the driver to? And out in

:57:11.:57:15.

a fresh batch of the countryside, the badger caught is proving to be

:57:16.:57:25.

anything but black and white. -- cull. Three councils have said they

:57:25.:57:29.

will not allow them to be shot on their land!

:57:29.:57:34.

At conference, Ed Miliband said he was a conference -- a comprehensive

:57:34.:57:43.

boy, he told us about 45 times! a bit of class does not go a miss!

:57:43.:57:49.

-- a bit. A bit of class war is good. It is an issue but it will be

:57:49.:57:53.

among other things, it is about competence of government and about

:57:53.:58:01.

a lot of the issues this week. is the posh boy image of David

:58:01.:58:07.

Cameron and his cabinet of millionaires, that will come up.

:58:08.:58:12.

Miliband said, we are one nation as long as she went to a school like

:58:12.:58:16.

me and my Cabinet. People want to see competence and do not want to

:58:16.:58:21.

be dragged into an old class for which seems opportunistic and does

:58:21.:58:28.

not do politics any good. I went to Badminton. Mack it is interesting

:58:28.:58:32.

and offers scholarships to people who do not have a lot of money but

:58:32.:58:36.

want to do sport, it is a good model of giving people access to an

:58:36.:58:42.

amazing sports facilities if they have talent. Is that something you

:58:42.:58:47.

will throw at your opponents? can hurl insults at ideas but you

:58:47.:58:53.

want to keep it less personal -- you can. A good it is going to

:58:53.:58:59.

stick with Mr Cameron, -- but it is. The fact that Ed Miliband went on

:58:59.:59:05.

about it. It is an issue because we should be moving towards a

:59:05.:59:11.

classless society but class is ever more important. Is he an ordinary

:59:11.:59:17.

comprehensive boy? I do not think he had any special tuition and is

:59:17.:59:27.
:59:27.:59:27.

much the better for it. He lived in a rather nice part of London!

:59:27.:59:31.

you talk about class, you talk about education and under Labour,

:59:31.:59:36.

the gap between private and state school education widened, so that

:59:36.:59:45.

is what matters. That is it! But do not go away because Andrew has more

:59:45.:59:52.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS