02/12/2012 Sunday Politics Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Coming up on Sunday Politics in the North: Landlord's own Chancellor to

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2135 seconds

halt the right in the attacks at to Hello, you are watching the

programme for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. Coming up today, with

18 pubs a week closing down, pressure is growing on the

Chancellor to halt the rise on via. That is one of our talking points

today to be discussed by our guests, Greg Mulholland and Julian Sturdy.

In Hull we have Karl Turner, the Labour MP for Hull East. At busy

week in the world of politics, what has caught your eye? The Leveson

Inquiry is the main thing. The Prime Minister said that unless the

proposals made by Lord Justice Leveson were bonkers it would be

implemented. I am now told that the Prime Minister has made his

statement saying he will not do that and saying it puts the divide

between Nick Clegg and David Cameron and to be honest it is a

massive mistake for the Prime Minister. 70% of the electorate of

saying they want to see some statutory underpinning of the press

so I think it is a mistake and he needs to think about the decision.

Julian Sturdy, has David Cameron misjudged the public mood?

Certainly we must have action on this. We have to remember the

victims in the process. The Leveson report was a pretty good report

from what I have read of it so far. Ultimately whether Prime Minister

is absolutely right is that we must get all the parties around the

table. This is not about politics, it is about getting a political

agreement across all parties that we can work with and take forward.

We know that Nick Clegg and David Cameron disagreed so will we we see

Rawling in public more often? did not see any rowing in public. I

was delighted that Nick Clegg came out firmly and said he backed the

Leveson recommendations which is very much my position. I think we

should work together but I think we should follow that path. It is not

talking about state regulation, it is talking about self-regulation

but clearly underpinned by passing legislation which I think has to

happen. It is about conduct not content. The content is entirely up

to editors but we have seen content that is unacceptable and people

want to have the confidence it will not happen again. In another big

political story of the week Thursday's Rotherham by-election

saw Labour hold onto the seat they hated by the former Europe minister

Denis MacShane. Much attention has been focused on the runners up.

Nigel Farage says his outfit are now the party -- the second party

in the north following their best ever result in a Westminster

election. Our cameras filmed behind the scenes with the UKIP campaign

in Rotherham. At UKIP HQ battle plans are being

drawn for the last run bit poor polling day. The light yellow is

where we first started the flitting. The dark green is where we have

been door knocking and canvassing. It was last weekend that Nigel

Farage came to Rotherham to campaign. He was there to talk

about just one issue that UKIP itself had leaked to the national

newspapers 24 hours before, the allegation that Rotherham foster-

parents who were also UKIP members had children removed from them by

the council because of their party's properties on

multiculturalism. For the party's candidate, was this an early

festive grip? I do not think Christmas has come early. I feel

very sorry for the children and very sorry for the foster parents

because Christmases ruined for those children. By election is far

more it -- far less important than this fostering case. He is

certainly created an opportunity to talk about its manifesto priorities,

Euro-scepticism, control of immigration, protecting the economy

and cutting a political correctness. On the doorstep those issues hardly

took centre-stage. There are a few things with the cancer with the

Foster case and the grooming and Denis MacShane himself. You have

got my vote already, sweet hard. Thank you very much. This is the

UKIP. Noah thank you. A I have never voted for Labour. They are

just as bad as the Conservatives. They are all in with each other.

Sarah Champion is duly elected to serve as the Member of Parliament

for the Rotherham constituency. was no major surprise to see Labour

winning on Thursday and while Nigel Farage could have gone to any of

the two other by-election counts, he came to South Yorkshire. His

party came second but to him that was a major victory. I think it

helped because what it did was it put the focus on UKIP and the other

policies we stand for as well. That definitely helped us. UKIP put you

very hard. At one stage the issue they pushed very hard was the issue

of fostering. You did not speak about that at all. You never said a

single word. You were being sheltered. Was it a wobbly moment

for you? It was not that we were being sheltered but I genuinely

think the most important thing is taking care of children and not

using them as a political for more. As UKIP gained Labour-held their

share of the boats and the other parties were squashed flat. Liberal

Democrats had a fraction of the share of the that they had in 2010.

With BNP coming third Rotherham will provide food for thought for

all party policy makers. How worried are many Tories about

the rise of UKIP? We cannot gloss over this. This was a disappointing

result for the Conservatives. Nobody expected us to win this.

Everyone thought that Labour would hold up because they have not lost

the seat since 1930. That was no surprise. We cannot hide that this

was a disappointing result for us and we must learn the lessons.

only just held your deposit and you were beaten by the BNP. That is

worrying. We cannot hide from this. There was a very disappointing

result for us on Thursday. I think as a party we have got to learn

some lessons from it. There is no doubt. A pretty dismal result for

Liberal Democrats, your candidate finished in 8th place and lost his

deposit. Can UKIP now claim to be the third party of politics?

they cannot. It is ridiculous. What you saw in Rotherham and in other

seats as well was a very strong protest vote and we all have to

take that seriously. Actually it was a protest not only against the

Establishment and clearly the Liberal Democrats are now in

government, it was also a protest against the Labour Party as well.

They are the party that has had this seat under that electoral

system for many years. People were turning their backs on Labour. That

is something they also need to take seriously. How damaging was the

foster care row involving the UKIP supporting parents? I do not think

it was damaging at all. I want to pick up on what Greg Mulholland

suggested. It was a great result, we shared our increase of --

percentage of the vote. This was disastrous for the Lib Dems, coming

in 8th place. A shocking result for the Tories. What people were saying

to me, I spent Wednesday there, people were telling me it is about

the economy and we needed jobs and growth. The Prime Minister and Nick

Clegg have turned their back on the north so they will be going out and

voting Labour the next day on the day of the election. We did very

well. Greg is quite wrong. Arkwright wrong, according to Karl

Turner? He quite often says that. That suggests I am halfway right.

We increase our share of the vote! Let me finish. Let him have his say.

If you are not going to take seriously the fact that the BNP

picked up a lot of boats, the Labour -- from Labour voters and

that UKIP did the same, I think that is complacent. I was on the

streets of Middlesbrough yesterday and there are a lot of people feel

that Labour have let them down and they have done nothing in towns

like Middlesbrough and Rotherham because they take them for granted.

We have increased our share of the vote! We have to accept that people

are turning their back on mainstream politics. It is silly to

suggest that. On a vastly returned -- on a vastly reduced turnout.

accept that. Your boat went down as well, that is the reality. There is

a massive problem here for the coalition parties in government.

Genuinely people on the doorstep was saying to me that they do not

understand us, they have no idea about what is going on in our lives

and they have turned their back on the north. I think it was a...

is rubbish. I think this is opposition to the coalition parties

in government. This is from the Labour Party who focused all of

their attentions on the south-east and the banking sector, that is the

reality of New Labour's view of the economy. The coalition government

have not turn their back, north. A disappointing night for both of the

coalition parties and we must hold up our hands on that but we have to

make sure the Government puts it more effort akin to the north. We

are trying to do that and bridge the North-South divide and that La

-- that widened under the last Labour government. UKIP could still

cause you a lot of damage. We heard that Tory MPs are thinking of

defecting to the party, do you believe that? No, I do not believe

it at all. We must be honest, this is a mid-term by-election. You

would expect that the sitting government would take a bit of a

battering and it did. We have to be quite honest about that. We have to

be open and honest within our party about the reasons for that but I do

not believe that this is the rise of UK battle. I want to talk about

BNL. -- beer now. Pressure is growing on the Chancellor to halt

the rise in tax on a pint of beer, which has risen by more than 40%

over the past four years. Landlords across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

say unless they get a helping hand from the government, yet more pubs

will close their doors for good. Across the country the local pub is

becoming an endangered species. This East Yorkshire village has

recently seen the closure of one of its watering holes. That leaves

just one pub here, Bear Inn. I asked the landlord about the grisly

outlook for the trade. What has gone wrong? It is the government

who has not supported through really. They do not help local pub

businesses. It is the VAT and if they would reduce the VAT it would

help the pub industry enormously. But they would freeze it for a few

months it would give the pubs are charms. Up to one-third of a cost

of a pit -- typical Pipe is taking in VAT and excise duty. Many have

called for the abolition of the beer duty escalator which sees tax

increase by 2% above inflation every year, as a result the tax on

beer has gone up by 40% since 2008. It means that pubs like the Myrtle

Tavern in Leeds are struggling to break even. The money that you are

making, people assume it is pure profit but your overheads are so

high and they are becoming higher every year, especially when nearly

one-third of the price of a pint goes straight to the Government.

Your break-even levels, you need to take quite a lot of money just to

keep the building operating and pay your staff. Latest figures reveal

that on average 18 pubs a week are closing and the Chancellor is being

urged to use his Autumn Statement to give the industry a lifeline.

are asking George Osborne to look at rebating pups. The alcohol

retail in here comes with are the benefits of it being a wider part

of society, such as local groups, individuals have meetings here,

have parties here, it is the safest place in the country to have a beer.

We do not feel as an industry that it is be recognised at the moment.

The Government has just proposed a minimum alcohol price of 45p a unit.

Ministers hope it will cut down on cases of problem drinking caused by

discount booze. It would mean a bottle of strong cider would go up

from one pound 89 to �3.78. An own- brand bottle of vodka or would rise

to �11.81. These Hull University students say they often start

drinking before they head out to the pubs. It is so expensive in the

pubs. Before we go a bigger at the supermarket and buy cider or wine

to make it cheaper. What is your message to the Chancellor?

should give us a chance and give us a cut in tax so we can invest in

our pubs. With some tough economic decisions facing the Government,

few in the pub trade are expecting an early Christmas present from the

Chancellor on Wednesday. Let us go to Greg Mulholland who

chairs the all-party Parliamentary save the pub group. Do you think we

will get George Osborne freezing the duty or even reducing it on

Wednesday? I certainly hope that we get some good news for pubs and

that is something that the all- party Save the pub group have been

campaigning for and I will continue to do that. It is unlikely we will

get a change in beer duty but we are campaigning for an announcement

for the Budget next year. I do hope ministers are looking seriously in

ways they can help the pub. Another suggestion is to allow rate relief

on community pubs and that is something I think should be taken

very seriously. The Chancellor needs to accept that the levels of

taxation on BR not helpful. Minimum pricing will help but they need to

be an acknowledgement, as we said in the peas, that pubs are reported

for communities, they are a place to socially and sensibly drink and

a must be recognised in the tax system in some way. The beer duty

escalator was introduced by Alastair Darling in 2008 and the

tax on the has gone up by 40%, do you accept it was a mistake? I am

not prepared to say it was a huge mistake but I would say that we

want to be honest. We have got to look at this. There are pubs going

bankrupt every day of the week. Greg Mulholland is more of an

expert on PUP than I am and I often see him in Strangers bar with a

pint of real ale in his hands so I know he is a connoisseur on the

subject. On a serious note, the Government definitely need to deal

with it. Minimum pricing will help to a degree because it stops people

dying -- buying up cheap booze before they go out but there is a

fine balance, you have to be careful not to price people out of

enjoying a bottle of wine with a meal but the government have to the

chemist. What colour was saying is that he is a lager man! Julian

Sturdy, this minimum pricing proposals announced earlier in the

week, why should the vast majority of responsible drinkers be

penalised for the actions of a minority? We have got to do

something. When we look at the problems that alcohol is causing

within younger society, the government has to take action.

Going back to the pubs, I agree with great entirely that we must do

something on rate relief within the pubs and I think there is scope to

do that. Minimum pricing will help pubs in the longer run. Ultimately

what we are going to see in the Autumn Statement, this is a very

crucial time I think within the life of this Parliament and the

economic cycle we are in at the moment, the Autumn Statement and

Budget next year are absolutely crucial and I really want to see

the Chancellor put in more money back into people's pockets in the

Autumn Statement and the budget and if we get more money back into

people's pockets, I want his see him talking about transferable tax

allowances and I want to see a freeze in fuel duty bad if we can

get more money back into people's pockets, disposable income again,

that will help. The minimum alcohol press will penalise the working man

who buys a few cans to watch in front of the telly. He will pay a

lot more for his bruise where as your millionaires on the dot are

not bothered with a grin and John - - gin and tonics. We have to be

careful. We have to recognise the damage that alcohol can do in the

society if drinking is unchecked. There is no doubt that there is a

rising problem within the health industry on the problems that

alcohol is causing. Something has to be done but ultimately we

started the piece by talking about the pub industry and they are a

valuable part of our community and we have to get some support for

them. A wish-list for the Chancellor? To find a way in the

tax system to recognise pubs. Let us be clear it is not the only

problem. We also need reform of the pub companies who are abusing and

taking too much out of pubs and we need planning reform to stop

supermarkets taking over pubs which is another issue that is related

and we will carry on campaigning on that but we hope we will get some

good news from the Chancellor on Thursday and in the Budget next

year. Let's take a look at some more of

the week's political news in our part of the world now. Sean Stowell

has our round-up in 60 seconds. More floods. Still no agreement

between insurers and government to try and provide affordable cover.

Chief Secretary to the chair zero, Danny Alexander came to Yorkshire

this week to announce another �120 million for the country's flood

defence is. Flood defences are something that is not only

important to protect homeowners and businesses from the devastating

consequences of floods but can also help to enable economic growth and

economic development. Planning minister Nick bowls has criticised

conservation groups for holding up development on countryside in East

Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. He says developing some sides has to be

viewed as inevitable. They have got to accept that we have got to build

more on some open land. Wind turbine manufacturers say the

energy bill has finally cleared up doubts about government intentions.

They had delayed development proposals in the Humber. A company

spokesman has said that plans for investing in Hull are back on track.

Karl Turner, we will see huge subsidies going to the green energy

companies. Are you happy that the Government is on the right track

with its energy policy? I am very pleased that the publication of the

energy bill has provided some comfort. We massively need at the

investment in my city. It really is the only game in town. We have lost

1009 a private sector jobs in the last few weeks. We are desperate

for jobs and growth in my area of the world. I think it provides some

comfort. I am a little bit disappointed that the Government

did not refer the with the decolonisation targets for 2030. I

think if they had done it would provide a lot more comfort to the

investors. I will ask the MPs in the studio. Our people happy to pay

up to �100 each year extra to fund wind farms and offshore wind

projects? Let us be clear, that is not the case. I commend a day the's

leadership as Secretary and state - - sector of State for Energy in

climate change but a whole point is that the Government is bringing

energy bills down at the same time as accepting that we do have to

look at funding those new forms of energy in the future which is

absolutely right. Gas, coal, will only last for a certain amount of

time and we need to be looking forward and this is a sensible

package which Overtown will build - - bring bills down. I am delighted,

it is great for Hull. It is the great for the whole reason -- is

great for the whole region that Humberside should be a real centre

for this. When you are talking about renewable energy we need to

make sure that the money is going to the right renewable energy. I am

delighted about the offshore wind news 4 I'll and that is great news

for our regional economy. We also have to look at idle and wave

energy and that is something that we can really push for in our

region. I am a sceptic of onshore wind, if I am honest. I don't think

the money there is used properly and there is far too much subsidy

that goes to it so we have to be careful we live -- we have to be

careful with it. Is there too much subsidy going to onshore wind?

worry I have had in recent messaged -- the issue why have in recent

months is the mixed message from government messages. I am very

relieved to have a consistent policy from the Government now

where the Chancellor is in a - well - and we now have -- I am very

relieved. Where does government policy go from here? It has been

clearly laid out. I shared the frustration and at the recent

confusion but that his coalition government. There is now a clear

position that has been agreed and I am delighted that a day the is

leading on this. I am delighted this government can fulfil his

promise to be the greenest government ever and it is investing

in the right kind of energy including here in our region.