:01:28. > :01:31.And here in the North - Ed to Ed with Miliband - we know what his
:01:31. > :01:41.critics in Yorkshire say, but Labour's top man comes out fighting
:01:41. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :29:58.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1696 seconds
:29:58. > :30:03.Hello, good afternoon. You're watching the Sunday Politics for
:30:03. > :30:06.Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Today I go head to head with Ed. Ed
:30:06. > :30:10.Miliband, that is, as the Labour leader hits back at his critics in
:30:10. > :30:13.Yorkshire. Plus we'll find out why businesses in Lincolnshire are
:30:13. > :30:23.frustrated at what they claim is the mountain of red tape preventing
:30:23. > :30:25.
:30:25. > :30:35.them from bidding for government contracts. Our best today are the
:30:35. > :30:37.
:30:37. > :30:43.Conservative MP and the Labour MP for Sheffield Central. Many
:30:43. > :30:49.commentators say it you scored recent victory on bankers bonuses.
:30:49. > :30:54.Do you accept that? The battle is far from over. If you look at the
:30:54. > :30:59.opinion polls, when the public are asked who they trust on the economy,
:30:59. > :31:06.it is time and again the Prime Minister and Chancellor way ahead
:31:06. > :31:12.of Ed Miliband and Ed Balls. saw Ed Miliband's speech in
:31:12. > :31:18.Sheffield. How would you sum up how his relaunch is going? He has
:31:18. > :31:28.caught the pulse of the nation. David Cameron is playing catch-up.
:31:28. > :31:28.
:31:28. > :31:32.He was the first to talk about capitalism. No more rewards for
:31:32. > :31:36.failure. That was one of the big themes of a keynote speech by Ed
:31:36. > :31:44.Miliband in Sheffield this week. I caught up with the Labour leader
:31:45. > :31:49.and Doncaster MP, after his latest bout of banker bashing. On a cold,
:31:49. > :31:53.wintry night in South Yorkshire, the speech on the fickle history of
:31:53. > :32:02.the British economy may not sound like a crowd puller, but around
:32:02. > :32:04.1000 people came to the inaugural lecture of this research institute
:32:05. > :32:08.at the University of Sheffield, where the guest speaker told me
:32:08. > :32:13.that unlike some previous Labour leaders, he was not relaxed about
:32:13. > :32:18.people getting filthy rich. I'm not relaxed about it because it can't
:32:18. > :32:21.be about rewards for failure. That is what we have seen in too much of
:32:21. > :32:26.our banking industry. Wise is important that we have banks that
:32:26. > :32:30.serve the rest of the economy but the small businesses rely on the
:32:30. > :32:35.bank, the savers rely on the bank, and when we see these enormous
:32:35. > :32:39.bonuses being paid out, we know it is wrong and it has got to change.
:32:39. > :32:43.It does been a difficult few weeks they Ed Miliband with critics
:32:43. > :32:48.accusing him of flip propping over his support for austerity measures
:32:48. > :32:54.and union anger over his support for a public-sector pay freeze.
:32:54. > :32:58.pay, if it is a choice between jobs and big pay rises in the public
:32:58. > :33:02.sector, it is a tough decision. We should protect the low-paid workers,
:33:02. > :33:08.make sure the higher-paid workers do not get a pay rise, but keep the
:33:08. > :33:12.jobs in the public sector. When unions talk about disability and
:33:12. > :33:17.themselves from the Labour Party, that would be disastrous for you,
:33:17. > :33:20.for funding for the party and the person they. I don't think that
:33:20. > :33:23.will happen. People always say things in the heat of the moment.
:33:23. > :33:30.What is important for me is there to take the right long-term
:33:30. > :33:33.decisions for the Labour party and country. Voters in Ed Miliband's
:33:33. > :33:37.constituency will decide in May whether they want to keep the
:33:37. > :33:42.system of elected mayor running the town. People in four at the
:33:42. > :33:46.Yorkshire cities will also have the chance to say whether they want an
:33:47. > :33:56.elected mayor. Many in the Labour Party dislike the idea. What is his
:33:57. > :33:58.
:33:58. > :34:04.view? I think the mayoral system is the right system. Many of them want
:34:04. > :34:08.it ditched? Sure, but my preference is for the mayoral system. In the
:34:08. > :34:11.end, it is right that local people make their range was. The audience
:34:11. > :34:16.members of Sheffield came from a variety of backgrounds. So, where
:34:16. > :34:23.they inspired by the Labour leader? He was definitely very interesting.
:34:23. > :34:30.He seemed to know what he was talking about. He did not pandered
:34:30. > :34:40.to the media's interest. He has got a quiet appeal, he grows over the
:34:40. > :34:45.
:34:45. > :34:51.course of the speech. He is not singing and dancing like a -- like
:34:51. > :34:57.President Obama! Do you think you appeal to people in Yorkshire?
:34:57. > :35:03.think I do. I take my job very seriously. Listen to the issues,
:35:03. > :35:11.listen to what really matters. If you want a party that will put you
:35:11. > :35:19.on an employer -- young people back to work, that is Labour. It will
:35:19. > :35:24.depend on an improved performance over the coming months. Critical
:35:24. > :35:28.ever bank is bonuses, George Osborne continuing to question
:35:28. > :35:34.whether this kind of thing was that danger of promoting an anti-
:35:34. > :35:37.business culture. Is he on to something? We have got to get the
:35:37. > :35:41.bank has bonuses issued in to spare -- perspective. They have been
:35:42. > :35:45.horrendous cases of far too much money being paid in bonuses. But
:35:45. > :35:50.that was going on for the last government which he was a member of,
:35:50. > :35:56.and he did nothing about that, Sowton lecture about that now it is
:35:56. > :36:01.a bit rich. -- so to lecture about that. We want people to come to
:36:01. > :36:10.Britain to invest, we want... We have got a great financial sector
:36:10. > :36:17.in this County, and we need to protect that. At the same time, we
:36:17. > :36:21.need to make sure we don't excessive bonuses. Ed Miliband is a
:36:21. > :36:25.former minister in the last Labour government, when he talks about the
:36:25. > :36:29.whole financial system going wrong, surely he is largely responsible?
:36:29. > :36:34.Not at all. He is not responsible for the collapse of Lehmann
:36:34. > :36:38.Brothers in the States and the sub prime lending in America which led
:36:38. > :36:42.to the global financial crisis. What we did back in 2008 was to
:36:42. > :36:47.lead the world in a set of policies which was taking economies out of
:36:47. > :36:54.recession. When they consider -- Conservatives came to power, the
:36:54. > :36:57.economy was growing. They lead us towards a range of economic
:36:57. > :37:02.policies which have now put the economy into a tailspin. We are
:37:02. > :37:05.shrinking, and jobs are being lost at the expense of a policy. He says
:37:05. > :37:12.he is better connecting with ordinary people now. Do you think
:37:12. > :37:18.he is? Absolutely. Listen to those who were leaving the lecture on
:37:18. > :37:21.Thursday night. Listen to those who tried to get a ticket but couldn't
:37:21. > :37:26.get in. They turned 1000 people away. He has got his finger on the
:37:26. > :37:29.pulse of the nation. People are deeply concerned about bonuses, not
:37:29. > :37:34.because there anti-business, but because they are sick of people
:37:34. > :37:37.ripping off business. The not my local pub, he is not connected with
:37:37. > :37:41.people. They do not see him as the future Prime Minister and that is
:37:41. > :37:46.the problem he has got. Some of the people who were leaving the hall
:37:46. > :37:52.there were saying, yes, nice man, spoke quietly and passionately, I
:37:52. > :38:02.have heard that before some wet. We had a similar problem with aided --
:38:02. > :38:10.who did not connect with public, you saw what happened there. Iain
:38:10. > :38:14.Duncan-Smith. People want but leader. -- people want a leader. In
:38:14. > :38:20.that government, he was not prepared to make the decisions.
:38:20. > :38:24.David Cameron and the rest of the government car. Time now to catch
:38:24. > :38:31.up on the political news in our part of the world. Len Tingle has
:38:31. > :38:34.our round-up in 60 seconds. punches pulled by John Prescott
:38:34. > :38:38.when it comes to political surprises this week. Now Lord
:38:38. > :38:43.Prescott says he wants to add another title, commissioner of the
:38:43. > :38:47.Humberside Police Falls. He wants to stand for nomination as Labour's
:38:47. > :38:57.candidate in November's elections. I have got more experience than any
:38:57. > :38:59.
:38:59. > :39:06.other candidate. The recently retired South Yorkshire constable
:39:06. > :39:14.said he wants to leave. And as the Sheffield City Council announces
:39:14. > :39:24.hundreds of more job losses, it says it will start a lottery. This
:39:24. > :39:25.
:39:25. > :39:34.film is shortlisted for today's Bath did awards. But spending cuts
:39:34. > :39:39.threaten the agency's future but it has been given millions of EU money.
:39:39. > :39:49.550 jobs are being lost at Sheffield City Council, a Labour so
:39:49. > :39:50.
:39:50. > :39:54.-- Labour-run council, how can you justify that? The capital in
:39:54. > :40:04.Sheffield has been forced to take out there to be sent off funding
:40:04. > :40:05.
:40:05. > :40:09.over a period of four years. If you look at wealthier parts of the
:40:09. > :40:16.country, they are not facing any cuts at all. Are we going to see
:40:16. > :40:21.more job losses, and is this the price we pay for austerity? We are
:40:21. > :40:30.incredibly difficult times. We have got to get out deficit under
:40:30. > :40:36.control. We will use a credit rating and people's mortgages go up,
:40:36. > :40:41.that is the last thing we want. What do you think about John
:40:41. > :40:51.Prescott in a minute, but let's hear what Ed Miliband had to say.
:40:51. > :40:54.
:40:54. > :40:58.He would be a great police commissioner. John Prescott is a
:40:58. > :41:05.very unstoppable force, and I'm sure he would be a great police
:41:05. > :41:09.commissioner. Was that a ringing endorsement, do you think? I think
:41:09. > :41:12.Ed Miliband was saying what we all feel, we have got to get good
:41:12. > :41:17.candidates up to those posts. We would rather the post were not
:41:17. > :41:23.there in the first place, another example of the Tory government
:41:23. > :41:29.wasting money on bureaucratic the organisations. If it was spent on
:41:29. > :41:37.frontline policing, people would be a lot happier. John Prescott is --
:41:38. > :41:47.is a good example of a strong character to do this? Surely he has
:41:47. > :41:52.got enough on his plate, but people are looking forward to the fight!
:41:52. > :41:54.It sounds like battle has already commenced. Now, government
:41:54. > :41:57.bureaucrats are accused of all sorts these days. But their failure
:41:57. > :42:00.to award more contracts to small businesses comes in for stinging
:42:00. > :42:02.criticism in our next report. In fact, one expert says small
:42:02. > :42:12.businesses are actively discriminated against. Sharon
:42:12. > :42:14.
:42:14. > :42:17.Edwards explains. It is small and unassuming, but the village of
:42:17. > :42:22.ripping Gail in South Lincolnshire House some big ideas. Less than
:42:22. > :42:29.1000 people live here, yet it is home to around 30 businesses, many
:42:29. > :42:35.of them like this one run from home. For the past 10 years, Dr Peter
:42:35. > :42:38.Mosley has designed environmental technology, but despite success in
:42:38. > :42:44.the private sector, he is yet to win a single government contract in
:42:44. > :42:49.England. The problem, he says, is red tape. There are government
:42:49. > :42:52.departments which are requiring specific information with regards
:42:52. > :42:58.to sustainability policies, health and safety, insurance, liability
:42:59. > :43:03.and that kind of thing. The information we are required to give
:43:03. > :43:08.full some other tenders is distinctly tailored at larger
:43:08. > :43:11.businesses that have departments that can focus on purely tendering.
:43:11. > :43:18.I never know if I'll be successful and the likelihood is that there
:43:18. > :43:23.are some hidden criteria which might exclude me from the process.
:43:23. > :43:30.And he is not alone. Steed employs 300 people at the Lincolnshire
:43:30. > :43:33.building firm he created 24 years ago. He won this contracted -- to
:43:33. > :43:39.convert the church into a hotel, but recently the start of a public
:43:39. > :43:47.contract, so be because of the way he had worded a bid. We used the
:43:47. > :43:51.word working towards, and we did not say, we will do. It was not as
:43:51. > :43:55.positive as we should have done. And you could have won that
:43:55. > :44:05.contract if it had not been for that? Yes, we could have been on
:44:05. > :44:08.
:44:08. > :44:11.the tender list. Public-sector contracts are worth �230 billion a
:44:11. > :44:15.year. The government says it wants a quarter of them to go to smaller
:44:15. > :44:25.and medium-sized businesses, but at the moment is this the only around
:44:25. > :44:28.
:44:28. > :44:38.six %. -- it is only around six %. It was set at a limit before or
:44:38. > :44:38.
:44:38. > :44:45.�5,000, now that has been doubled to �10,000. We are making sure that
:44:45. > :44:55.we pay local suppliers on time now, within 28 days. Colin is a
:44:55. > :44:55.
:44:55. > :45:03.consultant, advising companies on how to judge -- advising companies
:45:03. > :45:07.on how to apply for contract. Guinea to remove the discrimination.
:45:07. > :45:14.A year ago this week, the Prime Minister promised to help small
:45:14. > :45:24.businesses when public contracts, but many say they are still waiting.
:45:24. > :45:28.-- win. Dr Peter Mosley is here. Peter, what more could a government
:45:28. > :45:35.be doing to make sure small governor -- businesses win more
:45:35. > :45:40.public sector contracts? Levelling the playing field, so it is open
:45:40. > :45:50.and transparent and so that it is there for small businesses to
:45:50. > :45:51.
:45:51. > :45:56.compete for everything that is available for the public sector. A
:45:56. > :46:01.minimum bid of 10,000, but quite often use the contracts they don't
:46:01. > :46:08.start to a 2025 come up, a whole gap could benefit small businesses
:46:08. > :46:12.from �1,000 upwards that doesn't seem to be handled in an open way.
:46:12. > :46:15.David Cameron, this time last year, promised that more small businesses
:46:15. > :46:22.but secured government contracts, why has that not happen to a large
:46:22. > :46:26.extent? It has taken time. This has been going on for a long time. I
:46:26. > :46:35.have heard members of parliament from all parties say that this is
:46:35. > :46:39.ridiculous. There are things happening, like the website, taking
:46:39. > :46:43.out qualification forms for a lot of small businesses, but we to go
:46:43. > :46:47.further. I'm glad that the government are taking this up in
:46:48. > :46:52.Europe, because there are also it European directive that we have to
:46:52. > :46:57.adhere to. The more that can be done so that it is a level playing-
:46:57. > :47:01.field, the better. I know that myself and many of my colleagues
:47:01. > :47:05.are doing the same in raising it as an issue with the government.
:47:05. > :47:09.a difficult dilemma for the government and all public sector
:47:09. > :47:15.bodies because they want to offer value for money to the taxpayer,
:47:15. > :47:20.but actually, value for money for the taxpayer often comes with
:47:20. > :47:28.large-scale -- procurement contracts. How do we get around
:47:28. > :47:36.this problem? Local government in many cases is sorting out the
:47:36. > :47:41.issues. About an estimated 20 billion goes to small businesses of
:47:41. > :47:45.the procurement. It is about being flexible and nimble, helping small
:47:45. > :47:49.businesses to access systems. On Friday, I chaired a seminar of
:47:49. > :47:52.local small businesses, are looking at how it would be easier for them
:47:52. > :47:59.to take on apprenticeships. There are ways of doing that and we have
:47:59. > :48:07.to listen to what they're saying. Is part of the problem that bigger
:48:07. > :48:11.companies, there is no way you can compete? For sure. A large
:48:11. > :48:15.proportion of my time when it comes to tendering is spent in the
:48:15. > :48:18.evenings trying to fill in forms, fill in the boxes, produce the
:48:18. > :48:25.documentation that a large business will have an entire team of people
:48:25. > :48:29.doing. I haven't got a whole team of people. That immediately puts me
:48:29. > :48:34.on the back for it. Do have a lot of sympathy for somebody like
:48:34. > :48:38.Peter? Absolutely. The people who were going to get us out of the
:48:38. > :48:42.economic difficulties other smaller businesses. We need to do
:48:42. > :48:46.everything we can. I don't think the government are dithering, that
:48:46. > :48:50.is harsh, there are initiatives that they have already introduced.
:48:50. > :48:56.They're taking it to Europe to simplify of the legislation is. We
:48:56. > :49:04.are on the road but we to go further and faster. Does the EU
:49:04. > :49:08.have a lot to answer for here? it is a typical Tory response, if
:49:08. > :49:11.they're in trouble, blame Europe. There are procurement rules in
:49:11. > :49:15.Europe but there are clearly procurement rules in this country
:49:15. > :49:21.as well. We need to make his contract accessible to sport and
:49:21. > :49:26.prices, and it can be done. Are you optimistic this can be sorted out?
:49:26. > :49:32.Not really. It is all very well and good to sit and bicker about who is
:49:32. > :49:37.doing what, this is a win-win for both of you. Make it simple, make
:49:37. > :49:43.it open, make it transparent and fair for everybody. If you come
:49:43. > :49:48.back next year, let's hope things will have improved. Thank you for
:49:48. > :49:51.your time today. That's about it from us. You can keep up to date