:01:38. > :01:47.Coming up in half-an-hour. We are on the doorsteps with election
:01:47. > :01:57.candidates. Just how vulnerable is one of Labour's key constituencies
:01:57. > :01:57.
:01:57. > :30:42.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1725 seconds
:30:42. > :30:46.Hello, you're watching the Sunday Politics for Yorkshire and
:30:46. > :30:49.Lincolnshire. Coming up today: We're on the election trail as many
:30:49. > :30:52.voters decide who should run their town hall. Also, church leaders
:30:52. > :30:55.enter the debate over changes to VAT amid claims that many parishes
:30:55. > :31:05.won't be able to afford to carry out vital improvements to church
:31:05. > :31:10.
:31:11. > :31:16.buildings. Joining me in the studio today are: the Labour MP for
:31:16. > :31:21.Chesterfield, a Conservative MP and a Liberal Democrat MP. First, could
:31:21. > :31:24.George Galloway's winning run continue? The newly-elected MP for
:31:24. > :31:28.Bradford West believes his Respect Party will pick up seats in the
:31:28. > :31:32.local council elections on May 3rd. But the main parties are hoping to
:31:32. > :31:41.put a stop to any further advances by Gorgeous George's political army.
:31:41. > :31:48.Here's Len Tingle. One week a goal this man would never have dreamt of
:31:48. > :31:55.standing as a councillor, now the political future of Bradford could
:31:55. > :32:02.see be in his hands. He is the candidate for the Respect Party.
:32:02. > :32:06.This is a real opportunity to bring about a change. A lot of people are
:32:06. > :32:11.first-time voters and had just got involved in politics and want to
:32:11. > :32:21.bring about a change. Previously, the 23-year-old youth worker had
:32:21. > :32:21.
:32:21. > :32:28.not even been involved in a political party. The black cloud
:32:28. > :32:33.has now been swept away. At his victory party, George Galloway
:32:33. > :32:38.promised that his Respect Party would flood Bradford with council
:32:38. > :32:43.candidates. 12 are standing. It could still cause major problems to
:32:43. > :32:47.this man who is the Labour councillor defending his seat in
:32:47. > :32:55.Little Horton. He also happens to be council leader and Labour is
:32:55. > :32:59.just one short of an outright majority. I was born and brought up
:32:59. > :33:06.in Little Houghton and represented the ward for 17 years. I understand
:33:06. > :33:13.the concerns that people have that they are suffering under Government
:33:13. > :33:16.cutbacks and young people cannot get a job and the fact that several
:33:16. > :33:26.generations in this street have not moved forward as they should have
:33:26. > :33:33.done. Labour is by far the largest party on the council, it is one
:33:34. > :33:38.seat short of a majority but it has the support of the three greens.
:33:38. > :33:46.The Respect Party only has to take a couple of seats from Labour and
:33:46. > :33:51.it could become the new power party. The other parties are also falling
:33:51. > :33:58.dramatically against the Respect Party onslaught. In local elections
:33:58. > :34:05.people look at the person and want to know that there are no issues.
:34:05. > :34:09.think if we offer a positive vision for and continue our campaign be
:34:09. > :34:14.people of Little Houghton will see that we are fighting for them and
:34:14. > :34:19.fighting for Bradford. With just three weeks until voting day this
:34:19. > :34:22.war is likely to be a major focus of contention. On Thursday, the
:34:22. > :34:25.Labour leader Ed Miliband made a surprise visit to Bradford where he
:34:25. > :34:34.spoke to an audience of voters about why his party was rejected in
:34:34. > :34:40.last month's by-election. And Len caught up with him. The only way
:34:40. > :34:46.that we in Labour will go forward is by making change. I am not going
:34:46. > :34:51.to take for granted that this is a long way off. I take it very
:34:51. > :34:56.seriously. Every constituency in this country must have a Labour
:34:56. > :35:03.politician engaged with an understanding the community. That
:35:03. > :35:13.clearly did not happen in Bradford. Where did we go wrong? George
:35:13. > :35:15.
:35:15. > :35:23.Galloway was using new technology. He had a Facebook page and twitter.
:35:23. > :35:29.People are seeing we have to engage directly with George Galloway.
:35:30. > :35:35.going to talk and come back. There are Muslim women here who want a
:35:35. > :35:39.dialogue with me. I will pick very seriously my obligations and my
:35:39. > :35:46.responsibility. Labour is not going to just move on from this and
:35:46. > :35:52.forget all about it. We are going to learn lessons and come back.
:35:52. > :35:58.worried are Labour about the rise of George Galloway's Respect Party?
:35:58. > :36:04.They could hold the balance of power here, couldn't they? You have
:36:04. > :36:09.got to respect it when people send you a message. We took a beating as
:36:09. > :36:17.all the major parties did in Bradford. We take it very seriously
:36:17. > :36:22.which is why Miliband was in Bradford listening to local people.
:36:22. > :36:25.The Respect Party got an easy ride during the by-election. We allowed
:36:25. > :36:32.them to see a lot of personal things about other candidate many
:36:32. > :36:36.of which were untrue. We have to defend our record and defend our
:36:36. > :36:46.candidates. We have to make sure that the Respect Party's policies
:36:46. > :36:48.
:36:48. > :36:54.are held up to scrutiny. If people want real action what they need is
:36:54. > :36:59.a decisive Labour victory and to actually take some action on the
:36:59. > :37:08.issues people are concerned about. The cosy political consensus in
:37:08. > :37:15.Bradford has been shattered. have come together on education
:37:15. > :37:20.projects. We have a lot of kind for the other candidates. The political
:37:20. > :37:25.parties would love to attract candidates hoo-hah as bright and
:37:25. > :37:30.articulate as this particular man and we are all desperately keen to
:37:30. > :37:36.find good candidates to stand in local elections but it is not easy.
:37:36. > :37:40.I stood three times before I was elected, I stood five times to get
:37:40. > :37:45.elected into Parliament. People now who really should have been
:37:45. > :37:49.engaging in politics for years but have left it to the political
:37:49. > :37:54.parties and criticise the quality of the candidates, this young man
:37:54. > :37:59.should have been involved in politics years ago. Join the
:37:59. > :38:07.political party which is nearest to you set of beliefs and work with
:38:07. > :38:11.them to get their policies in line with the needs of your community.
:38:11. > :38:17.See what you like about George Galloway but he has really
:38:17. > :38:22.invigorated the political scene in this part of the world, hasn't he?
:38:23. > :38:32.I think it is similar to what is going on in national politics with
:38:33. > :38:39.the leadership of Ed Miliband. Let's talk about what the issues
:38:39. > :38:44.are in these local elections. Will people vote one local issues or
:38:44. > :38:50.national issues? The reality of the Bradford West by-election is that
:38:50. > :38:55.all three of the main political parties were rejected. I think that
:38:55. > :39:02.the key issues people feel is that while we have seen other major
:39:02. > :39:07.cities move forward they did not feel that was happening in Bradford.
:39:07. > :39:14.They are frustrated about the lack of regeneration and want to see
:39:14. > :39:19.action taken on the Odeon. The Labour Party has done more in the
:39:19. > :39:29.last 18 months than the other two parties did in the last 18 years.
:39:29. > :39:31.
:39:32. > :39:37.What they need now is a party with a united vision to move forward.
:39:37. > :39:41.You will not need reminding that the Lib Dems got a ticking in last
:39:41. > :39:46.year's local elections, are you bracing yourself for the worst
:39:47. > :39:51.again? On the Odeon issue we had a leaflet out before the other
:39:51. > :39:57.parties even knew what the audience was. It was not to do with local
:39:57. > :40:02.issues. There is we focus on local issues. Some of the lies that were
:40:02. > :40:09.told about things like the graduate contribution to tuition fees are
:40:09. > :40:15.now more or understood. It is particularly about the quality of
:40:15. > :40:22.the person that is there to represent you. Clearly you are not
:40:22. > :40:26.expecting a good year in the local elections? No, we were expecting a
:40:27. > :40:32.kicking last year but we actually gained eight seats. Two years into
:40:32. > :40:37.a Government we are expecting to lose some councillors but not at
:40:37. > :40:44.the rate particularly in Bradford. There was a 45 % swing against
:40:44. > :40:49.Labour in that by-election. I think with the Respect Party candidates
:40:49. > :40:52.there we will see exactly the same thing in the locals. Now forget
:40:52. > :40:55.pasty-gate, because another row is brewing over changes to the way VAT
:40:55. > :40:59.is charged. This time it involves claims that many churches won't be
:40:59. > :41:09.able to afford to carry out vital improvements, because VAT is to be
:41:09. > :41:15.
:41:15. > :41:18.added to alterations made to listed buildings. In many leafy parishes
:41:18. > :41:24.and quiet revolt is gaining momentum. Soon, alterations to
:41:24. > :41:34.listed buildings, including churches, Willmore longer be free
:41:34. > :41:36.
:41:36. > :41:40.from VAT. -- will no longer be free. The trouble is it is really going
:41:40. > :41:45.to stop parishes who want to develop their churches to make them
:41:45. > :41:51.available for community use. They are going to be very cautious about
:41:51. > :41:56.taking on any sort of expenditure that is going to incur this new VAT.
:41:56. > :42:01.Parishes over the last couple of years have been making huge
:42:01. > :42:05.developments, kitchens, toilets, so that they can be available and have
:42:05. > :42:09.read facilities that people want and need. Any parish that has not
:42:09. > :42:19.done that yet are going to be really very worried about the
:42:19. > :42:22.
:42:22. > :42:29.prospect of having to find an extra 20%. One vocal campaigner against
:42:29. > :42:39.these proposals business woman, the wife of Aberdeen, whose so-called
:42:39. > :42:46.
:42:46. > :42:53.VAT ditty has become a big hit on the Internet. -- wife of a Dean. We
:42:53. > :42:59.have a lot of work to do. The contractor took possession on 18th
:42:59. > :43:03.March and on day three the Chancellor changed the VAT on
:43:03. > :43:11.alterations to listed buildings and the impact of his change is
:43:11. > :43:17.instantly to put our bill up by �200,000. In a statement the
:43:17. > :43:21.Treasury said they were taking steps to correct VAT anomalies
:43:21. > :43:29.built up over decades but in many cases there will be grants
:43:29. > :43:39.available to cover the extra cost. This latest controversy about VAT
:43:39. > :43:39.
:43:39. > :43:47.on repairs to listed buildings follows the row about VAT on
:43:47. > :43:54.pastries. And the VAT being added to static caravans which it is
:43:54. > :44:00.feared will have a devastating effect on this industry. The whole
:44:00. > :44:05.idea of 0 ratings is so that people would have enough money to keep our
:44:05. > :44:13.historic buildings in a decent State of repair. These changes are
:44:13. > :44:17.just a tax grab. Simplification of tax is should do that. It should be
:44:17. > :44:23.transparent and simple, not an excuse for the Chancellor to grab
:44:23. > :44:27.more money. Thousands of churchgoers have signed a petition
:44:27. > :44:33.calling on the Government to keep alterations to listed buildings
:44:33. > :44:40.three from VAT. In this age of austerity it could take more than
:44:40. > :44:45.the power of prayer to force a rethink by the Treasury. Here we
:44:45. > :44:50.have parishioners in many leafy parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
:44:50. > :44:54.petitioning the Government for a change of heart on this. In many
:44:54. > :45:00.ways these are your natural Conservative reporters --
:45:00. > :45:04.supporters, should the Chancellor look again at this? Not necessarily.
:45:04. > :45:10.It is an issue that has been going on for a very long time. It was
:45:10. > :45:17.first brought forward in the early 1990s. One of the first things that
:45:17. > :45:26.Gordon Brown did was to bring in worship grants to offset that sort
:45:26. > :45:31.of thing. We have now insured that is expanded. The issue is that it
:45:31. > :45:36.is great giving the money back through a grant but there is a cap
:45:36. > :45:44.on that grant which is one of the big things I am not happy about.
:45:44. > :45:48.The Treasury says that the extra VAT on past days, static caravans
:45:48. > :45:54.and listed buildings is ironing out the anomalies in the tax system, do
:45:54. > :46:02.you accept that this was done for the right reasons? I think one of
:46:02. > :46:08.the reasons that be Trichet's poll ratings have fallen is that they
:46:08. > :46:18.are giving tax back to millionaires at a time when pensioners' earnings
:46:18. > :46:23.
:46:23. > :46:29.were falling. They have got it wrong. The anomaly that is created
:46:29. > :46:39.is that �20 million will be raised from the Church of England, Appin
:46:39. > :46:41.
:46:41. > :46:47.Brecht in the amount that the Government will borrow. The values
:46:47. > :46:57.are wrong and the policies are wrong. Do you find these changes to
:46:57. > :46:58.
:46:58. > :47:02.VAT hard to justify? Some yes, some know. Their pastry 1 yes. If I go
:47:02. > :47:09.to the baker's and get a sausage roll I am not being VAT on it but
:47:09. > :47:19.if I go to the chip shop and get a battered sausage I am. That makes
:47:19. > :47:19.
:47:19. > :47:26.no sense. Some of the young can do the Times crossword in 15 minutes
:47:26. > :47:31.but they have no experience of life outside of Whitehall or Oxford.
:47:31. > :47:36.There are 5,800 listed properties in Bradford that need to be brought.
:47:36. > :47:43.We know why they are doing it, it was used for extensions rather than
:47:43. > :47:45.just appears but they just need a drop of common sense. Now, let's
:47:45. > :47:55.get some more of the week's political news. Sean Stowell has
:47:55. > :48:00.
:48:00. > :48:06.our round-up in 60 seconds. Two water companies have agreed to
:48:06. > :48:13.trade supplies to help with the effects of the ground. The
:48:13. > :48:20.Chancellor has agreed to meet MPs to discuss concerns over plans to
:48:20. > :48:26.put a tax on static caravans. Nearly all caravans in the UK are
:48:26. > :48:30.manufactured in the Hull area and sales could fall by 30%. The new
:48:30. > :48:35.Chief Constable of South Yorkshire police triggered controversy by
:48:35. > :48:40.saying he wants to replace beat officers with community support
:48:40. > :48:50.officers. If we say we need to tweak it a little bit then we will
:48:50. > :48:58.do so. The Government may allow a special tax to be raised in and
:48:58. > :49:08.around Leeds or give the green light for a billion pound loan to
:49:08. > :49:10.
:49:10. > :49:14.equalise the differences end transport spending. I think PC S O
:49:14. > :49:22.was play an important role within the police force but people want to
:49:22. > :49:27.see officers on dead beat. -- on the beat. To then seek police
:49:27. > :49:33.authorities say they are going to cut back on police officers, that
:49:33. > :49:37.is the opposite message from what people want to hear at the moment.
:49:37. > :49:47.Doesn't this show what pressure at the police Constable's are under at
:49:47. > :49:48.
:49:48. > :49:53.the moment? I do not think it does. The PCSOs officers have an
:49:53. > :50:00.important role to play. There is no reason that should not be expanded.
:50:00. > :50:05.Some say a uniformed presence would be welcomed even if they are PCSOs.
:50:05. > :50:15.I have been involved with community policing for 20 years. What is far
:50:15. > :50:20.more important is how long that PC S O or the local bobby stays in the
:50:20. > :50:26.area and is not moved on after he gets to know the community and gets