Browse content similar to 19/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Coming up in half an hour, the Yorkshire teachers who want to | 0:01:26 | 0:01:30 | |
promote an alternative to the monarchy amid claims that school | 0:01:30 | 0:01:40 | |
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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1713 seconds | 0:01:40 | 0:30:13 | |
Jubilee celebrations could be Hello, good afternoon. You're | 0:30:13 | 0:30:17 | |
watching the Sunday Politics for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Today | 0:30:17 | 0:30:21 | |
we will find out why the cost of funerals he is rising due to a new | 0:30:21 | 0:30:26 | |
so-called Death Tax. Plus, we will find out why some | 0:30:26 | 0:30:30 | |
Yorkshire teachers want children to learn about an alternative to their | 0:30:30 | 0:30:32 | |
monarchy amid claims that school Jubilee celebrations could be | 0:30:32 | 0:30:37 | |
against the law. Our main to guess today are | 0:30:37 | 0:30:44 | |
Caroline Flint, the shadow energy secretary. And Andrew Percy, | 0:30:44 | 0:30:52 | |
Conservative MP for Brigg in goal. You have been on holiday this week. | 0:30:52 | 0:30:57 | |
Have you been working very hard? mixture of working hard in the | 0:30:57 | 0:31:01 | |
constituency and catching up with casework and doing a few meetings | 0:31:01 | 0:31:05 | |
you cannot do in Westminster, and having a little bit of time off as | 0:31:05 | 0:31:10 | |
well. Do you find you get work done in the constituency? I think I am | 0:31:11 | 0:31:15 | |
100% more effective at home. I am able to speak to people and do | 0:31:15 | 0:31:19 | |
stuff. When you get to Westminster, you're in a bubble and you feel | 0:31:19 | 0:31:23 | |
nothing will change. Bring the House of Commons up to you, imagine | 0:31:23 | 0:31:29 | |
that! We could have it in Sheffield, as long as it is commutable! We are | 0:31:29 | 0:31:33 | |
going to be talking about the rising cost of dying, amid claims | 0:31:33 | 0:31:37 | |
the financial squeeze on local councils is being passed on to | 0:31:37 | 0:31:41 | |
grieving relatives. We find out by local authorities | 0:31:41 | 0:31:46 | |
are having to spend millions on filtering out highly toxic mercury | 0:31:46 | 0:31:56 | |
0:31:56 | 0:31:59 | ||
emissions, a by-product from cremated fillings in your teeth. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:04 | |
Up to 11 times a day, six days a week, this cremator in Elland burns | 0:32:04 | 0:32:09 | |
a body. This is the main screen. That is what the operators will be | 0:32:09 | 0:32:13 | |
looking at all the time. Most people never normally see the place | 0:32:13 | 0:32:18 | |
of the it -- the inside of a place like best. This crematorium in | 0:32:18 | 0:32:22 | |
Calderdale is run by the local council. Like the majority of them | 0:32:22 | 0:32:28 | |
up and down the country. Prices are rising including here in West | 0:32:28 | 0:32:32 | |
Yorkshire. There is an added factor that could drive those prices | 0:32:32 | 0:32:37 | |
higher still. During cremation, Mercury is released from the | 0:32:37 | 0:32:42 | |
fillings in the teeth of bodies. Unless it is captured, it can be | 0:32:42 | 0:32:47 | |
carried into the atmosphere. If this is absorbed by fish, it can | 0:32:47 | 0:32:52 | |
enter the human food chain and that is a concern. Councils have until | 0:32:52 | 0:32:56 | |
the end of the year to cut mercury emissions from their crematoria by | 0:32:56 | 0:33:03 | |
50%. Those that fail to do so will have to pay a fine of up to �45 per | 0:33:03 | 0:33:08 | |
pronation. But at this date of the art facility in Calderdale, one of | 0:33:08 | 0:33:12 | |
the most modern crematoria in Britain, nor Mercury is allowed to | 0:33:12 | 0:33:17 | |
escape and this clean technology makes money for the council. It can | 0:33:17 | 0:33:22 | |
sell credits to a not-for-profit company which in turn, sells them | 0:33:22 | 0:33:28 | |
on to the councils that will not meet the target. The money we make | 0:33:28 | 0:33:32 | |
will all of this the offset the 1.6 million pound cost. The reality is | 0:33:32 | 0:33:37 | |
that we have to pay for this somehow. This will be one way of | 0:33:37 | 0:33:43 | |
doing it. But it will not be the only way. This year, all five local | 0:33:43 | 0:33:46 | |
councils in West Yorkshire have increased fees for their | 0:33:46 | 0:33:51 | |
bereavement services. In Kirk lease, they went up by just 1%, but this | 0:33:51 | 0:33:56 | |
was after a rise of 7% for last year. There were rises of 5% in | 0:33:56 | 0:34:03 | |
Leeds and Bradford and in Calderdale that went up by 7%. In | 0:34:03 | 0:34:08 | |
Wakefield they will rise by 11.5%. Some are calling it attacks on | 0:34:08 | 0:34:12 | |
death. We all know that what they are doing is regarding burials and | 0:34:12 | 0:34:17 | |
cremations, at just like parking charges, as an alternative income | 0:34:17 | 0:34:21 | |
stream. What they should be doing is cutting down their spending and | 0:34:21 | 0:34:25 | |
waste. They certainly should not be imposing taxes like this on | 0:34:25 | 0:34:34 | |
bereaved people. A report said that just by increasing these fees could | 0:34:34 | 0:34:41 | |
see... Did they think people would stop trying?! Completely ridiculous. | 0:34:41 | 0:34:48 | |
-- dying. With added pressure from the Government for cleaner credit - | 0:34:48 | 0:34:54 | |
- Crematorium, perhaps it has never been sure that there seems to be no | 0:34:54 | 0:34:59 | |
escape from death and taxes. I knew neck would not be able to | 0:34:59 | 0:35:06 | |
resist that old line! Councils being fined �45 per cremation. Is | 0:35:06 | 0:35:11 | |
this a debt attacks? Know. What they are being asked to do it is a | 0:35:11 | 0:35:20 | |
tackle these mercury emissions. There is an issue here. I always | 0:35:20 | 0:35:28 | |
think about this particular airier, for a lot of us, we do not plan for | 0:35:28 | 0:35:33 | |
a funeral and tell of this is very late. -- until it is very late, and | 0:35:34 | 0:35:38 | |
people left behind are left with large costs. Some local authorities | 0:35:38 | 0:35:44 | |
do very good work at helping people keep costs down. They should be | 0:35:44 | 0:35:53 | |
transparent about the costs that they are charging. Andrew, many | 0:35:53 | 0:35:57 | |
councillors would argue that they have no choice but to pass this | 0:35:57 | 0:36:05 | |
charge on to grieving relatives. Is this fair? I would be interested to | 0:36:05 | 0:36:10 | |
know whether any of the councils are using their income they get | 0:36:10 | 0:36:15 | |
from this to subsidise other parts of their budget. You cannot avoid | 0:36:15 | 0:36:20 | |
having to pay these charges. There is an issue with their quality. We | 0:36:20 | 0:36:24 | |
all agree that we want to have an improved air quality and we know | 0:36:24 | 0:36:28 | |
that Mercury is very dangerous. I am not sure there is any way we can | 0:36:28 | 0:36:33 | |
avoid this. Councils are passing on that their charges, but if they are | 0:36:33 | 0:36:38 | |
using it to subsidise other income schemes -- incomes streams, that is | 0:36:39 | 0:36:45 | |
unacceptable. It is always the people who can least afford it to | 0:36:45 | 0:36:51 | |
have to pay these things. That is why, seven years ago, notice was | 0:36:51 | 0:36:55 | |
given to councils about the need to tackle these emissions. If we look | 0:36:55 | 0:36:59 | |
at other issues like asbestos and the impact that has had on people, | 0:37:00 | 0:37:07 | |
if we know the information, and we do not do something, down the road, | 0:37:07 | 0:37:11 | |
people will say, you knew about this, why did you not do something? | 0:37:11 | 0:37:15 | |
The notice has been given, councils have to deal with this. I think it | 0:37:15 | 0:37:20 | |
is about transparency, about what these charges are about. The other | 0:37:20 | 0:37:25 | |
side of it I think is, helping people. Helping people to prepare | 0:37:25 | 0:37:29 | |
for those costs when they face a death in the family. For some | 0:37:29 | 0:37:35 | |
people that is a huge shock. Interesting talking point but we | 0:37:35 | 0:37:42 | |
must move on. We will catch up with the week's political news in | 0:37:42 | 0:37:52 | |
0:37:52 | 0:37:56 | ||
9 Yorkshire Conservative MPs are among 100 calling on the Government | 0:37:56 | 0:38:01 | |
to reduce subsidies paid to wind farms. They say they are skewing | 0:38:01 | 0:38:06 | |
the market and spawning a too many times. We would like to see | 0:38:06 | 0:38:12 | |
taxpayers' money used on renewable technologies that actually work. | 0:38:13 | 0:38:17 | |
Sheffield Cathedral says it will not demand costs from protesters | 0:38:17 | 0:38:22 | |
despite them costing around �10,000. They set up a camp outside the | 0:38:22 | 0:38:29 | |
cathedral for around 1000 -- 100 days. | 0:38:29 | 0:38:33 | |
Unions at defence giant BAe say ministers should work harder to | 0:38:33 | 0:38:41 | |
bring defence contracts to East Yorkshire. | 0:38:41 | 0:38:47 | |
It was announced the number of people in Yorkshire and Humberside | 0:38:47 | 0:38:53 | |
claiming it tent -- claiming jobseeker's Allowance has fallen. | 0:38:53 | 0:38:58 | |
Andrew, a growing number of Tory MPs are opposed to onshore wind | 0:38:58 | 0:39:05 | |
farms. What you say to your colleagues? I have signed a letter | 0:39:05 | 0:39:09 | |
because I am a big supporter of renewable energy and what we are | 0:39:09 | 0:39:13 | |
looking at in the Humber is to service the offshore wind industry. | 0:39:14 | 0:39:18 | |
There is a concern that we are told that there could be up to four-and- | 0:39:18 | 0:39:24 | |
a-half 1000 new onshore wind mills coming up and in our area we took a | 0:39:24 | 0:39:29 | |
sensible approach and said we have hit our target, but still the | 0:39:29 | 0:39:32 | |
planning and -- planning applications are coming in. Have we | 0:39:32 | 0:39:39 | |
got too many of them? I think the main argument for many Tories is | 0:39:39 | 0:39:46 | |
the massive subsidies. I think if you want to have energy in the | 0:39:46 | 0:39:50 | |
future at that is not reliant on oil and gas and coal and the | 0:39:50 | 0:39:58 | |
emissions that they create, then, as with any industry, it needs to | 0:39:58 | 0:40:03 | |
be given a kick-start. Whether that is wind or solar, I think that is a | 0:40:03 | 0:40:08 | |
judgment that is right. We want to create a new, clean energy industry. | 0:40:08 | 0:40:15 | |
What about biomass? But biomass is one of the areas as well. Any types | 0:40:15 | 0:40:20 | |
of technology that is cleaner is being supported. The Government is | 0:40:20 | 0:40:26 | |
seeking to continue this. The worrying thing is that 100 MPs have | 0:40:26 | 0:40:31 | |
signed this letter and the problem is with the letter, but with -- but | 0:40:31 | 0:40:35 | |
also with other messages from the Government, against supporting | 0:40:35 | 0:40:38 | |
green energy in the feature is that we are missing a fantastic | 0:40:38 | 0:40:46 | |
opportunity. We have a real chance to create new jobs and get new | 0:40:46 | 0:40:50 | |
investment into this country. In the last to we have gone from a | 0:40:50 | 0:40:56 | |
third in the world for investment in these things to 13th. We have | 0:40:56 | 0:41:04 | |
just seen �1 billion going to be invested in cleaner called. We have | 0:41:04 | 0:41:12 | |
huge investment coming into the Humber. -- coal. In the banding | 0:41:12 | 0:41:20 | |
review for the subsidy review, we go -- we have gone in the right | 0:41:20 | 0:41:25 | |
direction. We should be at the centre of the revolution in a wave | 0:41:25 | 0:41:30 | |
technology in the way that we were not in wind. There is an acceptance, | 0:41:31 | 0:41:35 | |
a cross-party agreement, on where we want to be going with this. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:41 | |
have to be word about investment. In terms of investment, we have | 0:41:41 | 0:41:44 | |
gone from third to 13th in the world. We are behind countries like | 0:41:44 | 0:41:49 | |
India and China. Let's move on to controversial calls for children in | 0:41:49 | 0:41:53 | |
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to be taught about an alternative to the | 0:41:53 | 0:41:57 | |
monarchy. Republican campaigners claim that some schools could be | 0:41:57 | 0:42:03 | |
breaking the law by promoting the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. | 0:42:03 | 0:42:09 | |
Here in the East Riding village they are already preparing for | 0:42:09 | 0:42:14 | |
June's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It follows hot on the heels of a | 0:42:14 | 0:42:19 | |
party they held to mark last year's royal wedding. It is a very | 0:42:19 | 0:42:25 | |
historical event and I think that youngsters need to realise the | 0:42:25 | 0:42:29 | |
history behind all this and that it is quite a record that our present | 0:42:29 | 0:42:36 | |
Queen has set. But not everyone is getting into the party spirit. A | 0:42:36 | 0:42:41 | |
group calling itself a republic says it is organising a series of | 0:42:41 | 0:42:47 | |
anti- monarchy protests in the run- up to the Diamond Jubilee. We do | 0:42:47 | 0:42:52 | |
not think that the Jubilee is something to celebrate. If you ask | 0:42:52 | 0:42:57 | |
yourself what the Queen has chat -- done to achieve her position, there | 0:42:57 | 0:43:02 | |
is no way of removing her. It is not a democratic process. We do not | 0:43:02 | 0:43:07 | |
think that children should be indoctrinated to think this is OK. | 0:43:07 | 0:43:12 | |
Our permission -- position, in line with the 1996 Education Act, is | 0:43:12 | 0:43:15 | |
that children should have a balanced view of how our head of | 0:43:15 | 0:43:21 | |
state should be elected. particular, and to monarchists | 0:43:21 | 0:43:23 | |
believe a schools cooking competition launched by the Duchess | 0:43:24 | 0:43:29 | |
of Cornwall could be unlawful because it promotes what | 0:43:29 | 0:43:32 | |
Republicans Colk uncritical celebrations of the Queen's Diamond | 0:43:32 | 0:43:38 | |
Jubilee. -- call uncritical celebrations. Some teaching unions | 0:43:38 | 0:43:43 | |
have sympathy with this. It is not done in an informed way. They do | 0:43:43 | 0:43:48 | |
not then find out about, up what is monarchy? Why do we have a | 0:43:48 | 0:43:55 | |
monarchy? What is the history of this? Why do some places, like a | 0:43:55 | 0:44:02 | |
map like it -- like America, why do they not have a monarchy? This is a | 0:44:02 | 0:44:07 | |
special year this year. Can you remember? It is a hard word, it is | 0:44:07 | 0:44:13 | |
a jubilee year. In this corner of East Yorkshire, teachers are being | 0:44:13 | 0:44:18 | |
encouraged to carry on with the celebrations. This woman believes | 0:44:18 | 0:44:21 | |
it is important is that her granddaughter it understands the | 0:44:21 | 0:44:26 | |
relevance of the events. They are tomorrow's generation and they | 0:44:26 | 0:44:30 | |
should be aware of what a great job she does for us and that she is | 0:44:31 | 0:44:36 | |
important to us all. We should celebrate all these things. It is | 0:44:36 | 0:44:43 | |
part of our heritage. Despite opposition from San, -- from some, | 0:44:43 | 0:44:51 | |
up there is no shortage of people ready to celebrate. | 0:44:51 | 0:44:54 | |
Republican campaigner Sam Gardner joins us now in the studio. We had | 0:44:54 | 0:44:59 | |
the royal wedding last year and the Queen's diamond jubilee this year, | 0:44:59 | 0:45:04 | |
we are in the middle of this period. Haven't you pet an odd time to | 0:45:04 | 0:45:07 | |
question the future of the monarchy? Absolutely not. I think | 0:45:07 | 0:45:15 | |
we have chosen the right time. For example, I work in a school and we | 0:45:15 | 0:45:18 | |
are supposed to teach children that citizenship, we're supposed to | 0:45:19 | 0:45:24 | |
teach them about equality and democracy, and yet we have these | 0:45:24 | 0:45:28 | |
royal wedding celebrations that fly in the face of all these things. | 0:45:28 | 0:45:32 | |
Monarchy is not democratic, it is not accountable, so why do not see | 0:45:32 | 0:45:37 | |
how all these things can fit together. If we have a celebration, | 0:45:37 | 0:45:42 | |
we are saying that monarchy is a good thing. Is it a good thing that | 0:45:42 | 0:45:48 | |
our children will never have a say in who they her head of state will | 0:45:48 | 0:45:58 | |
0:45:58 | 0:46:05 | ||
be? Andrew, you wear a teacher. What do you say to this? It is | 0:46:05 | 0:46:10 | |
nonsense. Actually, it is democratic. We had something called | 0:46:10 | 0:46:14 | |
the glorious Revolution. We had a glorious Revolution in which to -- | 0:46:14 | 0:46:18 | |
in which we established the principle of parliamentary | 0:46:18 | 0:46:24 | |
democracy. We accept a monarch but only with the acceptance of the | 0:46:24 | 0:46:28 | |
democratic institutions, of which in our case is Parliament. It is | 0:46:28 | 0:46:34 | |
not true we do not teach kids about other political systems. In history, | 0:46:34 | 0:46:40 | |
the core of what we used to teach was at the civil war has. I do make | 0:46:40 | 0:46:45 | |
-- a debate about the power of the monarchy verses a more democratic | 0:46:45 | 0:46:55 | |
institution. If we were to, you know school councils, how about if | 0:46:55 | 0:47:00 | |
we were to run at those along the same lines of the monarchy. As ever, | 0:47:00 | 0:47:04 | |
let us take the richest and put them in charge and not let any of | 0:47:04 | 0:47:09 | |
their classmates take over. What you are failing to understand is | 0:47:09 | 0:47:14 | |
that Her Majesty the Queen is not in charge of anything. We live in a | 0:47:14 | 0:47:20 | |
democracy. Own -- every lot only becomes lot of it is passed through | 0:47:20 | 0:47:29 | |
the House of Commons. -- law. Queen speaks to David Cameron every | 0:47:29 | 0:47:36 | |
week. We live in a democracy. We choose in our democracy to have a | 0:47:36 | 0:47:43 | |
Queen as our head of state. That is a choice. We elected | 0:47:43 | 0:47:46 | |
parliamentarians and there is no movement in Parliament to get rid | 0:47:46 | 0:47:51 | |
of the monarchy. Carolyn, how would these views were down in the | 0:47:51 | 0:47:56 | |
streets of Doncaster. I think around the country, and an showers | 0:47:56 | 0:48:01 | |
and realises this, I'm sure that if it was put to the vote, the vote | 0:48:01 | 0:48:06 | |
would go in favour of what we have at the moment. The truth is that | 0:48:06 | 0:48:10 | |
the public does not stand in elections and so has not tested out | 0:48:10 | 0:48:15 | |
its own view in this. I think Andrew is right. What we have is | 0:48:15 | 0:48:18 | |
something that has evolved over centuries and part of that was | 0:48:18 | 0:48:22 | |
about the power of Parliament and the right way that our laws should | 0:48:22 | 0:48:28 | |
be set. David Cameron and prime ministers before him to meet with | 0:48:28 | 0:48:32 | |
the Queen because she is seen as our head of state, but in so far as | 0:48:32 | 0:48:37 | |
the laws of our land, that is strictly done through the elected | 0:48:37 | 0:48:43 | |
politicians. Children, as they grow older, can think for themselves. | 0:48:43 | 0:48:47 | |
You are entitled to your point of view and that is part of hour | 0:48:47 | 0:48:53 | |
democracy. We are running out of times. You're putting a lot of | 0:48:53 | 0:48:58 | |
faith in elected politicians. President Cameron! We do not have | 0:48:58 | 0:49:03 | |
to have a President. We are the masters of our own destiny. We | 0:49:03 | 0:49:07 | |
could have a sportsman, someone from the arts, we can choose the | 0:49:07 | 0:49:13 | |
sort of head of state that we want. I would add to that if this system | 0:49:13 | 0:49:18 | |
of hereditary monarchy is so good, what other areas which to extend | 0:49:18 | 0:49:25 | |
this principle to? I wouldn't. But the point is that the public... | 0:49:25 | 0:49:30 | |
just the head of state? The public do not want us to get rid of the | 0:49:30 | 0:49:35 | |
monarchy. There has never been an opinion poll that shows that and | 0:49:35 | 0:49:42 | |
you should accept that. Because that is democracy. I would add that | 0:49:42 | 0:49:47 | |
people except the border -- the royal family to modernise. In my | 0:49:47 | 0:49:51 | |
lifetime, I have seen the monarchy change and evolve in different ways. | 0:49:51 | 0:49:56 | |
People do not have unconditional support but they do give support -- | 0:49:56 | 0:50:01 |