:01:18. > :01:28.to go to Glastonbury? Think again. Is it only the older generation who
:01:28. > :01:28.
:01:28. > :33:26.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1917 seconds
:33:26. > :33:28.the Sunday Politics here in the West. Coming up today: 135,000
:33:28. > :33:33.ticket holders have been partying in the Somerset Countryside this
:33:33. > :33:40.weekend. And if you thought Glastonbury was just for the young.
:33:40. > :33:42.Then think again. As the festival has grown up, so has the audience.
:33:42. > :33:45.But with more austerity measures announced by the government this
:33:45. > :33:54.week, is it ONLY the older generation who can afford to party
:33:55. > :33:58.these days as the youngsters pay for the mess we're in? That's coming up.
:33:58. > :34:01.But first lets meet our guests today - they are the Conservative MP
:34:01. > :34:11.Charlotte Leslie and Labour's Darren Jones who's hoping to unseat her at
:34:11. > :34:15.
:34:15. > :34:18.the next general election. Thank you both for coming in. Are you going to
:34:18. > :34:28.be able to hang on with the way things are going at the next
:34:28. > :34:32.election? Absolutely.But that is not going to be easy, is it?
:34:32. > :34:36.double dip recession did not happen but the recession in 2008 when
:34:36. > :34:39.Labour were in power was much deeper than we thought. We need
:34:39. > :34:46.Conservatives in power were to make sure we do not go back to those
:34:46. > :34:51.days. Do you agree? No. I can see the impact he cuts are having on
:34:51. > :34:55.local people. It is our job to make sure they have an MP that stands up
:34:55. > :35:05.for them and that's what I'm going to be seeking to do. Is that why
:35:05. > :35:07.
:35:07. > :35:15.you've agreed to make the same cuts as the Conservatives? Things like a
:35:15. > :35:18.bedroom tax. Now we move on to our top story faster than the chancellor
:35:18. > :35:22.can scoff a burger and chips! Yes, fortified by his late night snack,
:35:22. > :35:25.he went to Parliament this week and imposed another dose of austerity on
:35:25. > :35:28.the nation. He's done it before but this time West Country councils say
:35:28. > :35:35.its really, really going to hurt. Here's Paul Barltrop. The rhetoric
:35:35. > :35:41.has become almost routine, the announcements all too familiar.
:35:41. > :35:45.of the biggest economic crises of the modern either. In 2015 spending
:35:45. > :35:47.will be slashed yet again. Among the biggest losers once more, local
:35:47. > :35:49.government. In North Somerset they've already shut libraries,
:35:49. > :35:57.closed public toilets, and ended their dedicated youth service. The
:35:57. > :36:02.Conservatives in charge are angry that they'll lose still more money.
:36:02. > :36:07.You cannot go any further. We are already cutting things that we
:36:07. > :36:14.should not the cutting. 61% goes on care services, we cannot cut back on
:36:14. > :36:19.those. We have the lowest overhead for care services in the country. We
:36:19. > :36:22.refuse to cut back on that. There is only so much you can do before you
:36:22. > :36:26.start really hurting people. Policing is a very sensitive
:36:26. > :36:29.subject. For decades crime has been falling but so too now are officer
:36:29. > :36:38.numbers. Avon and Somerset predict this week's cuts will cost them
:36:38. > :36:43.hundreds of jobs. Let's not kid ourselves, this is a very tough call
:36:43. > :36:48.and we will have to take it very CDs leave. We have to prioritise. It is
:36:49. > :36:53.money we've got. I have opened up the books for people to look at and
:36:53. > :37:00.I am obviously going out there for consultation on council tax.
:37:00. > :37:06.Politicians know these plans will kick in at election time.
:37:06. > :37:08.Speaker, it does not have two be this way. But even if his side win,
:37:08. > :37:11.they'll stick with the spending cuts. The country's finances leave
:37:11. > :37:18.little choice. Joining the debate is Ric Pallister who's the leader of
:37:18. > :37:24.South Somerset District Council. Can you envisage making the sort of cuts
:37:25. > :37:34.the government want you to? We have two. It is as simple as that. The
:37:35. > :37:37.
:37:37. > :37:44.money is not there. The overall share will lie with the bigger
:37:44. > :37:50.unitary authorities particularly in relation to adult here. What cat --
:37:50. > :37:58.what fat is left? It is not fat. We have to be more efficient than in
:37:58. > :38:05.the past. So have you been spending money and wasting it? Now, we have
:38:05. > :38:09.been encouraged to employ people, we got government grants over many
:38:09. > :38:15.years and saw our workforce was much higher. We have had technology
:38:15. > :38:20.coming in which is now enabling us to reduce our workforce. Are you
:38:20. > :38:26.encouraged by the fact that at least one council thinks there is a bit of
:38:26. > :38:31.fat that can be cut? I am all for finding efficiency for tax year was
:38:31. > :38:40.Mike money. But these cuts are already hurting people right across
:38:40. > :38:48.Bristol and our county. The question of bedroom tax is that it has been
:38:48. > :38:55.said now one will be evicted who is subject to it. You see you would
:38:55. > :38:59.impose those cuts but how much would be bedroom tax Seve? Be government
:38:59. > :39:04.supported by Charlotte who have asked repeatedly to explain why she
:39:04. > :39:09.thought it was appropriate to board for bedroom tax. People who live in
:39:09. > :39:18.these houses have no other small houses to move to, it is linked
:39:18. > :39:22.directly to infrastructure. We have to get real. The fact we are facing
:39:23. > :39:31.a perfect storm, the money is not there. Wouldn't I love to be an MP
:39:31. > :39:36.who did not have to make cuts but we have two. The amount the debt is
:39:36. > :39:44.going up is slowing down. You said it would be a period of steady tea,
:39:44. > :39:50.then everything would hunky-dory. That is not happening. We have got
:39:50. > :39:55.an ageing population. What we are seeing is very interesting. We have
:39:55. > :40:02.had the luxury of spending a lot, we are having to retract jobs in the
:40:02. > :40:06.public sector, it is difficult for councils who have been wiser with
:40:06. > :40:11.the money because they are already quite clean. It is often
:40:11. > :40:17.Conservative councils who are suffering the most because they are
:40:17. > :40:21.already so efficient. OK, we have to move on. If you think the
:40:21. > :40:24.Glastonbury Festival is just for the kids, you might be surprised. Some
:40:24. > :40:27.of the festival goers are drawing a pension and a few of the performers
:40:27. > :40:30.are positively ancient. Nothing wrong with that, but are the older
:40:30. > :40:35.generation enjoying the high life while the youngsters are priced out
:40:35. > :40:45.of everything? I've been to Glastonbury this week to find out.
:40:45. > :40:52.
:40:52. > :40:55.Welcome to Glastonbury 2013. About 200,000 people are here. Including
:40:55. > :40:59.artists, workers, and of course, festival goers, are packed onto
:40:59. > :41:02.these fields here. This is as big as the City of Bath Now in its 43rd
:41:02. > :41:11.year, the festival started from small beginnings. In 1970 it cost
:41:11. > :41:16.just �1 for a ticket and around 1,500 people came. I would not see
:41:16. > :41:20.it was a disaster but there have not been as many people as I would have
:41:20. > :41:30.hoped. I thought be beat have about 5000 but it was only a couple of
:41:30. > :41:31.
:41:31. > :41:37.thousand. The post World War II baby boomers were the target audience. No
:41:37. > :41:41.oldies allowed! All these revellers got free was the worthy farm milk
:41:41. > :41:44.given away at the gates, not a TV licence or a bus pass. Back then the
:41:44. > :41:47.Rolling Stones were selling albums like sweeties. They were too big for
:41:47. > :41:49.this little festival. But as they've grown up, so has Glastonbury.
:41:49. > :41:52.Today's festival is almost unrecognisable. Ticket prices have
:41:52. > :41:55.risen enormously - a bit like house prices in that time. Now, at over
:41:55. > :41:59.�200 a pop, that's a 20,000% increase, many youngsters simply
:41:59. > :42:04.can't afford to come here. Add in the cost of booze and food and it
:42:04. > :42:06.probably costs you nearer �500. So have the baby boomers priced today's
:42:06. > :42:16.teenagers and twenty-somethings out of the Glastonbury market, just as
:42:16. > :42:27.
:42:27. > :42:31.they have the housing market? Take a look around here. There are still
:42:31. > :42:34.thousands of youngsters. But the baby boomers, who enjoyed it in the
:42:34. > :42:38.early years, are still coming back today with some putting the average
:42:38. > :42:40.age of people here nearer 40 than 20. So with the country gripped in a
:42:40. > :42:47.period of austerity, with youth unemployment at its highest for a
:42:48. > :42:57.generation, is it the kids of the 80's and 90's who are missing out?
:42:58. > :43:01.
:43:01. > :43:05.And you both working? Yes.Do you have kids and a house? No, not yet.
:43:05. > :43:12.As you get older it gets easier because you enjoy life more. I did
:43:12. > :43:16.not have a job for about seven months and then I suddenly got one
:43:16. > :43:21.and I'm so happy. It's permanent. It's all right. I'm having to
:43:21. > :43:28.continue working just to make ends meet. Is it harder than five years
:43:28. > :43:32.ago when Mark I don't think so, no. You just have to take a look at the
:43:32. > :43:34.line-up on this - the pyramid stage - many are not exactly spring
:43:34. > :43:37.chickens themselves. Mick Jagger, well he's old enough to collect his
:43:37. > :43:42.pension and get his winter fuel allowance, although it wouldn't be
:43:42. > :43:47.much use in one of these tents! So Bruce Forsyth is also coming here
:43:47. > :43:53.and he could use his free bus pass. I guess what it does show is that if
:43:53. > :44:00.you have got your health, you can work into old-age. Elvis Castella,
:44:00. > :44:05.Billy Bragg, they argue too. Is it time for them to step aside? For the
:44:05. > :44:11.rumours to give something back to the next generation? Maybe starting
:44:11. > :44:14.with the winter fuel payments and television licence. A couple of
:44:14. > :44:22.young things are still here to discuss all that. You think it is
:44:22. > :44:26.right that Sir Bruce Forsyth should get a free television licence?
:44:26. > :44:33.not think it is by the administrative costs to strip these
:44:33. > :44:37.things out cute actually cost more than you are saving. I think there
:44:37. > :44:43.is no reason that Mick Jagger should be getting a winter fuel allowance
:44:43. > :44:49.really. Well why don't you act? Why give these things to older people
:44:49. > :44:54.who don't need it? administration costs at too high.
:44:54. > :45:02.The baby boomer generation dead shaft the younger generation.
:45:02. > :45:05.Pensions were designed at a time when it might be the last ten years
:45:05. > :45:12.of your life. Now there are a lot more of them and it is the younger
:45:12. > :45:19.generation who are being for these generations pensions. Who is going
:45:19. > :45:24.to pay for the younger people is my pensions? There are a lot of
:45:24. > :45:32.complaints about raising the pension age but it has two be linked to life
:45:32. > :45:35.expectancy. Pensions were linked to when there were a lot of young
:45:35. > :45:40.people paying for a lot of old people. Now there are small number
:45:40. > :45:45.of young people being for a lot of old people and that is not
:45:45. > :45:49.sustainable. The younger generation have it really tough. What about
:45:49. > :45:57.labour, do you believe in universal benefits or should they be means
:45:57. > :46:04.tested? We need to be pragmatic about what we have and what we can
:46:04. > :46:10.do with that. Charlotte has the habit of saying one thing in Bristol
:46:10. > :46:16.and doing something else in Westminster. Rich old people tend to
:46:16. > :46:25.vote Tory so I will forward to discussing that later. I have quite
:46:25. > :46:29.a good record actually, that is probably why I'm not a minister.
:46:29. > :46:33.Let's be clear then, do you accept the young people need more of a
:46:33. > :46:40.helping hand at the moment rather than the all to have them pretty
:46:40. > :46:45.much protected through this recession? I think young people need
:46:45. > :46:55.to have help. We have hundreds of young unemployed people in Bristol
:46:55. > :47:00.and the south-west as a result of the failed economic policy. Will you
:47:00. > :47:07.as we pulled to board for you and you will stop the winter fuel
:47:07. > :47:15.allowance for pensioners? We will be seeing two people are economic
:47:15. > :47:19.policy is focused on fairness. am the grumpy old fellow on the
:47:19. > :47:26.doorstep seeing you are going to cut my winter fuel allowance even though
:47:26. > :47:35.I have a Mercedes on the drive report will use a quest Mark we have
:47:35. > :47:38.two tell them how it is. If you've driven through the countryside
:47:38. > :47:41.anywhere south of the M4, chances are you'll have glimpsed a solar
:47:41. > :47:44.farm. They're fields full of hundreds of solar panels and they're
:47:44. > :47:47.becoming more and more commonplace. But as well as being viewed by some
:47:48. > :47:50.as a blot on the landscape, there are concerns that too much land is
:47:50. > :47:53.being taken out of food production. Ruth Bradley reports. Jonathan
:47:53. > :47:56.Hoskyn's family have farmed near Crewkerne for a quarter of a
:47:57. > :47:59.century. He's got 80 acres of apple and pear trees. But on one part of
:47:59. > :48:08.the farm, Jonathan's gone from harvesting fruit to harvesting
:48:08. > :48:14.sunshine. I tried to grow fruit trees here but it would not grow
:48:14. > :48:20.because the soil is very shallow. rents five acres to a solar power
:48:20. > :48:24.company. It makes enough electricity each year to run about 200 homes. So
:48:24. > :48:31.whip you could turn the whole farm over two solar panels, with that be
:48:31. > :48:41.viable? The overheads would disappear so it would but I am a
:48:41. > :48:43.
:48:43. > :48:46.fruit farmer and I would not want it any other way. The last couple of
:48:46. > :48:49.years have seen a huge rise in solar farms. The number of planning
:48:49. > :48:52.applications in this part of Somerset has more than doubled since
:48:52. > :48:54.2011. Cashing in on the current climate are companies like this one
:48:54. > :49:04.near Ilminster. They've gone from putting these solar panels on
:49:04. > :49:08.peoples houses to filling fields with them. Particularly for the
:49:08. > :49:12.landowners, a lot of times they are not using particular fields and it
:49:12. > :49:20.is an income for them, they do not have to work particularly hard for
:49:20. > :49:27.it and it can help sustain the business. It is typically between
:49:27. > :49:30.�801,000 per acre per year, that is index-linked. As well as MORE solar
:49:30. > :49:32.farms, they're also getting bigger. This one near Ilminster's going from
:49:32. > :49:39.five acres to 50. Countryside campaigners are worried they're
:49:39. > :49:46.taking up land which should be growing food. The offer such
:49:46. > :49:53.guaranteed inflation proof fees that make it more attractive for the
:49:53. > :49:57.farmer or landowner to let the land for 25 years. I do not blame them
:49:57. > :50:01.but I do blame the government. I blame to some extent the planning
:50:01. > :50:10.authorities for not doing more than they could do to protect
:50:10. > :50:13.agricultural land, particularly here. For now, these fields are
:50:13. > :50:22.growing the wheat to be baked into our bread. If solar developers have
:50:22. > :50:25.their way, they'll be making the power to run bakers' ovens instead.
:50:25. > :50:35.Still with us is Ric Pallister who's the leader of South Somerset
:50:35. > :50:40.District Council. When these applications come before you, what
:50:40. > :50:43.do you think? Absolutely yes. Someone has got to wake up and
:50:43. > :50:51.realise that when you turn the light switch on you want the light to come
:50:51. > :50:55.on. We have got all sorts of issues that the moment over EDF. Whether it
:50:55. > :51:00.is going ahead or not, if it does not our whole policy is in tatters
:51:00. > :51:07.for the future. You will see Mr Putin sitting in an armchair in
:51:07. > :51:17.control of our energy. We cannot have that. A couple of solar panels
:51:17. > :51:23.New York will is not going to make a difference, is it? -- you will.
:51:23. > :51:29.it won't, but when you have failed school of them you can. You cannot
:51:29. > :51:36.store the electricity. What every time you turn the panels on and you
:51:36. > :51:41.are gathering energy from the sun you can turn the gas down. You can
:51:41. > :51:48.turn the gas power stations down when the sun is providing the
:51:48. > :51:57.energy. Hasn't there been an appalling performance from both your
:51:57. > :52:04.governments when there is not enough power there to keep the lights on?
:52:04. > :52:08.think you are right we are facing an energy crisis. I do not want to be
:52:08. > :52:13.dependent on the Middle East and Russia for energy. We have to become
:52:13. > :52:19.as self-sufficient as we can. We have to be very careful about how we
:52:19. > :52:23.subsidise things. It is an issue of biofuels will be at over subsidised
:52:23. > :52:30.and often it is not a green response. We have to look at nuclear
:52:30. > :52:35.if we want these lights to stay on. You think people should be prepared
:52:35. > :52:40.to pay a subsidy for green electricity? I think it all comes
:52:40. > :52:47.down to a cost for homeowners. There is a great corporative initiative
:52:47. > :52:51.for solar panels for residential homes. For business to invest in
:52:51. > :52:57.clean technology we need a government that has conceded policy
:52:57. > :53:07.that restores confident. We cannot have people voting against clean
:53:07. > :53:11.
:53:11. > :53:15.clean energy. There is a subsidy, isn't there? We have to get it
:53:15. > :53:21.right. We cannot be pragmatic. If we do not get this right we have two
:53:21. > :53:26.import energy from countries that have a monopoly on energy sources.
:53:26. > :53:31.OK, thank you. Time to take a spin through this week's other political
:53:31. > :53:34.stories in our 60 second round-up. One of the main commuter routes
:53:34. > :53:38.through the west is to be widened thanks to the governments plans to
:53:38. > :53:44.invest in new infrastructure projects. The A303 through Wiltshire
:53:44. > :53:47.and Somerset will all be made dual carriageway. The Chief Constable of
:53:47. > :53:50.Avon and Somerset police appeared to give away a little more than he
:53:50. > :53:56.should about the badger cull this week, indicating it wouldn't start
:53:56. > :53:59.till August. Our sources say DEFRA were very upset. Few issues have
:53:59. > :54:02.provoked such controversy in Bristol as the Mayor's resident parking zone
:54:03. > :54:12.roll out. This week he promised to listen more after drastically
:54:13. > :54:14.
:54:14. > :54:18.scaling back the plans. I'm very pleased. I clearly kicked up a
:54:18. > :54:23.hornet's nest. Last weekend I thought I had to take the sting out
:54:23. > :54:31.of this. She's on the programme today and this week she made the
:54:31. > :54:35.headlines for taking on Labour's record on the NHS. Will be Prime
:54:35. > :54:42.Minister support a root and branch review of the cover-up within the
:54:42. > :54:47.last decade? How worried are you about those cover-ups that we in
:54:47. > :54:53.healing about? I think it is appalling. Three reports in 2000 and
:54:53. > :54:56.a warning of a culture of fear and bullying within the NHS. That
:54:56. > :55:03.actually cost lives, people have actually died because of cover-ups.
:55:03. > :55:07.The more you look at it either that Mafia like network whose key aim is
:55:07. > :55:12.to stop any bad news coming out of the NHS, I think it is a massive
:55:12. > :55:22.scandal. Do you think people have lost confidence in the NHS because
:55:22. > :55:24.
:55:24. > :55:30.of this? I hope not. We must not use the NHS to get reform as a fig leaf
:55:30. > :55:39.of privatisation. We have to look at how we can reform public services to
:55:39. > :55:47.be cost-efficient. People are dying. Exactly, that is why be need to get
:55:47. > :55:52.this right. The last secretary of state for health was talking about
:55:52. > :55:55.reports last weekend in the Sunday newspapers. We have two have public
:55:55. > :55:58.services that deliver for people in this country and across Bristol.
:55:58. > :56:02.That's all we've got time for this week. Thank you to Charlotte and
:56:02. > :56:05.Darren for joining us. Don't forget if you want to get in touch with