15/04/2012 Sunday Politics Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Coming up in half-an-hour. We are on the doorsteps with election

candidates. Just how vulnerable is one of Labour's key constituencies

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1725 seconds

Hello, you're watching the Sunday Politics for Yorkshire and

Lincolnshire. Coming up today: We're on the election trail as many

voters decide who should run their town hall. Also, church leaders

enter the debate over changes to VAT amid claims that many parishes

won't be able to afford to carry out vital improvements to church

buildings. Joining me in the studio today are: the Labour MP for

Chesterfield, a Conservative MP and a Liberal Democrat MP. First, could

George Galloway's winning run continue? The newly-elected MP for

Bradford West believes his Respect Party will pick up seats in the

local council elections on May 3rd. But the main parties are hoping to

put a stop to any further advances by Gorgeous George's political army.

Here's Len Tingle. One week a goal this man would never have dreamt of

standing as a councillor, now the political future of Bradford could

see be in his hands. He is the candidate for the Respect Party.

This is a real opportunity to bring about a change. A lot of people are

first-time voters and had just got involved in politics and want to

bring about a change. Previously, the 23-year-old youth worker had

not even been involved in a political party. The black cloud

has now been swept away. At his victory party, George Galloway

promised that his Respect Party would flood Bradford with council

candidates. 12 are standing. It could still cause major problems to

this man who is the Labour councillor defending his seat in

Little Horton. He also happens to be council leader and Labour is

just one short of an outright majority. I was born and brought up

in Little Houghton and represented the ward for 17 years. I understand

the concerns that people have that they are suffering under Government

cutbacks and young people cannot get a job and the fact that several

generations in this street have not moved forward as they should have

done. Labour is by far the largest party on the council, it is one

seat short of a majority but it has the support of the three greens.

The Respect Party only has to take a couple of seats from Labour and

it could become the new power party. The other parties are also falling

dramatically against the Respect Party onslaught. In local elections

people look at the person and want to know that there are no issues.

think if we offer a positive vision for and continue our campaign be

people of Little Houghton will see that we are fighting for them and

fighting for Bradford. With just three weeks until voting day this

war is likely to be a major focus of contention. On Thursday, the

Labour leader Ed Miliband made a surprise visit to Bradford where he

spoke to an audience of voters about why his party was rejected in

last month's by-election. And Len caught up with him. The only way

that we in Labour will go forward is by making change. I am not going

to take for granted that this is a long way off. I take it very

seriously. Every constituency in this country must have a Labour

politician engaged with an understanding the community. That

clearly did not happen in Bradford. Where did we go wrong? George

Galloway was using new technology. He had a Facebook page and twitter.

People are seeing we have to engage directly with George Galloway.

going to talk and come back. There are Muslim women here who want a

dialogue with me. I will pick very seriously my obligations and my

responsibility. Labour is not going to just move on from this and

forget all about it. We are going to learn lessons and come back.

worried are Labour about the rise of George Galloway's Respect Party?

They could hold the balance of power here, couldn't they? You have

got to respect it when people send you a message. We took a beating as

all the major parties did in Bradford. We take it very seriously

which is why Miliband was in Bradford listening to local people.

The Respect Party got an easy ride during the by-election. We allowed

them to see a lot of personal things about other candidate many

of which were untrue. We have to defend our record and defend our

candidates. We have to make sure that the Respect Party's policies

are held up to scrutiny. If people want real action what they need is

a decisive Labour victory and to actually take some action on the

issues people are concerned about. The cosy political consensus in

Bradford has been shattered. have come together on education

projects. We have a lot of kind for the other candidates. The political

parties would love to attract candidates hoo-hah as bright and

articulate as this particular man and we are all desperately keen to

find good candidates to stand in local elections but it is not easy.

I stood three times before I was elected, I stood five times to get

elected into Parliament. People now who really should have been

engaging in politics for years but have left it to the political

parties and criticise the quality of the candidates, this young man

should have been involved in politics years ago. Join the

political party which is nearest to you set of beliefs and work with

them to get their policies in line with the needs of your community.

See what you like about George Galloway but he has really

invigorated the political scene in this part of the world, hasn't he?

I think it is similar to what is going on in national politics with

the leadership of Ed Miliband. Let's talk about what the issues

are in these local elections. Will people vote one local issues or

national issues? The reality of the Bradford West by-election is that

all three of the main political parties were rejected. I think that

the key issues people feel is that while we have seen other major

cities move forward they did not feel that was happening in Bradford.

They are frustrated about the lack of regeneration and want to see

action taken on the Odeon. The Labour Party has done more in the

last 18 months than the other two parties did in the last 18 years.

What they need now is a party with a united vision to move forward.

You will not need reminding that the Lib Dems got a ticking in last

year's local elections, are you bracing yourself for the worst

again? On the Odeon issue we had a leaflet out before the other

parties even knew what the audience was. It was not to do with local

issues. There is we focus on local issues. Some of the lies that were

told about things like the graduate contribution to tuition fees are

now more or understood. It is particularly about the quality of

the person that is there to represent you. Clearly you are not

expecting a good year in the local elections? No, we were expecting a

kicking last year but we actually gained eight seats. Two years into

a Government we are expecting to lose some councillors but not at

the rate particularly in Bradford. There was a 45 % swing against

Labour in that by-election. I think with the Respect Party candidates

there we will see exactly the same thing in the locals. Now forget

pasty-gate, because another row is brewing over changes to the way VAT

is charged. This time it involves claims that many churches won't be

able to afford to carry out vital improvements, because VAT is to be

added to alterations made to listed buildings. In many leafy parishes

and quiet revolt is gaining momentum. Soon, alterations to

listed buildings, including churches, Willmore longer be free

from VAT. -- will no longer be free. The trouble is it is really going

to stop parishes who want to develop their churches to make them

available for community use. They are going to be very cautious about

taking on any sort of expenditure that is going to incur this new VAT.

Parishes over the last couple of years have been making huge

developments, kitchens, toilets, so that they can be available and have

read facilities that people want and need. Any parish that has not

done that yet are going to be really very worried about the

prospect of having to find an extra 20%. One vocal campaigner against

these proposals business woman, the wife of Aberdeen, whose so-called

VAT ditty has become a big hit on the Internet. -- wife of a Dean. We

have a lot of work to do. The contractor took possession on 18th

March and on day three the Chancellor changed the VAT on

alterations to listed buildings and the impact of his change is

instantly to put our bill up by �200,000. In a statement the

Treasury said they were taking steps to correct VAT anomalies

built up over decades but in many cases there will be grants

available to cover the extra cost. This latest controversy about VAT

on repairs to listed buildings follows the row about VAT on

pastries. And the VAT being added to static caravans which it is

feared will have a devastating effect on this industry. The whole

idea of 0 ratings is so that people would have enough money to keep our

historic buildings in a decent State of repair. These changes are

just a tax grab. Simplification of tax is should do that. It should be

transparent and simple, not an excuse for the Chancellor to grab

more money. Thousands of churchgoers have signed a petition

calling on the Government to keep alterations to listed buildings

three from VAT. In this age of austerity it could take more than

the power of prayer to force a rethink by the Treasury. Here we

have parishioners in many leafy parts of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

petitioning the Government for a change of heart on this. In many

ways these are your natural Conservative reporters --

supporters, should the Chancellor look again at this? Not necessarily.

It is an issue that has been going on for a very long time. It was

first brought forward in the early 1990s. One of the first things that

Gordon Brown did was to bring in worship grants to offset that sort

of thing. We have now insured that is expanded. The issue is that it

is great giving the money back through a grant but there is a cap

on that grant which is one of the big things I am not happy about.

The Treasury says that the extra VAT on past days, static caravans

and listed buildings is ironing out the anomalies in the tax system, do

you accept that this was done for the right reasons? I think one of

the reasons that be Trichet's poll ratings have fallen is that they

are giving tax back to millionaires at a time when pensioners' earnings

were falling. They have got it wrong. The anomaly that is created

is that �20 million will be raised from the Church of England, Appin

Brecht in the amount that the Government will borrow. The values

are wrong and the policies are wrong. Do you find these changes to

VAT hard to justify? Some yes, some know. Their pastry 1 yes. If I go

to the baker's and get a sausage roll I am not being VAT on it but

if I go to the chip shop and get a battered sausage I am. That makes

no sense. Some of the young can do the Times crossword in 15 minutes

but they have no experience of life outside of Whitehall or Oxford.

There are 5,800 listed properties in Bradford that need to be brought.

We know why they are doing it, it was used for extensions rather than

just appears but they just need a drop of common sense. Now, let's

get some more of the week's political news. Sean Stowell has

our round-up in 60 seconds. Two water companies have agreed to

trade supplies to help with the effects of the ground. The

Chancellor has agreed to meet MPs to discuss concerns over plans to

put a tax on static caravans. Nearly all caravans in the UK are

manufactured in the Hull area and sales could fall by 30%. The new

Chief Constable of South Yorkshire police triggered controversy by

saying he wants to replace beat officers with community support

officers. If we say we need to tweak it a little bit then we will

do so. The Government may allow a special tax to be raised in and

around Leeds or give the green light for a billion pound loan to

equalise the differences end transport spending. I think PC S O

was play an important role within the police force but people want to

see officers on dead beat. -- on the beat. To then seek police

authorities say they are going to cut back on police officers, that

is the opposite message from what people want to hear at the moment.

Doesn't this show what pressure at the police Constable's are under at

the moment? I do not think it does. The PCSOs officers have an

important role to play. There is no reason that should not be expanded.

Some say a uniformed presence would be welcomed even if they are PCSOs.

I have been involved with community policing for 20 years. What is far

more important is how long that PC S O or the local bobby stays in the

area and is not moved on after he gets to know the community and gets