27/01/2013 Sunday Politics Yorkshire and Lincolnshire


27/01/2013

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5th for here, we speak to victims of crime as MPs demand action over

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2291 seconds

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the number of offenders receiving Hello. Coming up today. The victims

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of crime who say they have been let down by the law, as MPs demand

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action over the number of offenders receiving cautions. Our guests

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today Akbar Alec Shelbrooke, Karl Turner and we will also be speaking

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to George Galloway as a new report looks at the impact of his by-

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election victory in Bradford. Alec Shelbrooke, we're talking about

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crime. Do people feel any safer? crime. Do people feel any safer?

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Certainly, the feedback is that seeing the PCSOs, people feel they

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have a point of contact. Crime figures have gone down. We have to

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temper that with the reports in the police -- in the press about how

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police numbers are reducing and people can get more fearful of

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crime despite the evidence pointing the opposite way. Karl Turner, do

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people have faith in the criminal justice system? Not in my

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constituency. MPs across the board are getting a lot of Post about

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this issue. People don't think they're getting justice as victims

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of crime. We are hearing about loss of cases where people had ended up

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with a caution for a serious criminal offending. I have asked

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for a special inquiry into this issue because victims of crime in

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my area are telling me they feel let down. I don't know if it is

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people not reporting that crime, but in my area people don't feel

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safe and they certainly don't feel they're getting justice when they

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are being victims. There is concern that many criminals are not being

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brought to justice in court rooms across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

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Victims of crime claimed that offenders are too often receiving

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police cautions or being released due to a lack of evidence. MPs are

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urging the government to investigate a number of cases where

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prosecutions have been dropped. Many victims of crime feel let down

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by the justice system. Paul Harper's wife and daughter were

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both injured to when their car was hit by a speeding driver in East

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Yorkshire. A we are left with nothing now. They left for the

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daughter who can hardly walk, who had to go up university and her job.

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Her life has been put to one side. The driver of the car was initially

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charged with dangerous driving, but the case never went to trial.

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occupants of the car got off for dangerous driving, they got off

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perverting the kit -- the Court of Justice, and the owner of the car

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got off with paying for his insurance on stolen credit card.

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The airbag was allowed to be destroyed which had the DNA

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evidence on it. When I went to the judge, he advised that possibly it

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was a weak case on that point because the defence couldn't have

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access to the airbag. We put Mr Hopper's concerns to Humberside

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Police. I can understand they feel that all let them down. We can only

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operate given the evidence. The court came to the view that it

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would be unsafe to prosecute the person who we suspected was the

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driver. I know the family were concerned that the airbag was

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destroyed before the trial, but I reassured them that the airbag was

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on the evidence. The evidence was the DNA and that was put before the

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court. Buster was an indication that the person might have been

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sacked in the fund driver's seed, the evidence was and compelling

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enough to prove the case -- seat. As a cancer sufferer himself,

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Graham has raised a thousands of pounds for cancer charities. He

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recently held a fundraising event at his local village hall in East

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Yorkshire. But the evening was marred when it was revealed that

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one of the guests had stolen almost �500 in cash from the raffle

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proceeds. The thief in question was not charged and received a police

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caution. Do you feel justice has been done? Not at all. They should

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have been more done. Even if there was some sort if community service,

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even if it wasn't in the community but if it was to go and help out

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with the cancer charities so they know how hard it is to raise �400.

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It took us a lot of organising. is a subject that concerns many

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Yorkshire MPs. Can we have a debate on the use of police cautions? This

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week we have had the case of a burglar who admitted 113 offences

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and was given a police caution. Some lawyers argue that changes to

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the way our legal system is funded and cuts to the legal aid budget

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could lead to fewer prosecutions. While we promoter our legal system

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worldwide, we are busy dismantling yet at home. The cost to the public

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both in financial terms and real terms is going to be enormous.

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While the police and Crown Prosecution Service successfully in

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sure that many criminals are brought before the courts, some

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victims are left with the distinct feeling of rough justice.

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Can you understand why so many victims of crime are angry when

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they are not seeing criminals in the dock? Absolutely. I fully agree

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with my colleague there when he is questioning the fact that not

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enough people are being charged. If we just take the case of the chap

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who stole the money from the cancer charity, sorry, the woman, if they

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had been charged and gone to a magistrates' court, community

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service could have been passed down to that person to go and work in

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the cancer charity sector. They should understand the consequences

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of their actions and put something back into society. A police caution

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is not good enough. The number of cautions being issued has actually

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fallen. Us that your experience, Karl Turner's certainly not. There

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is a massive increase in my area. A 78-year-old man was punched in the

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face by an offender and that was a caution. I know judges in my area

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of Humberside who would have definitely sent that offenders to

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prison, even for a first offence. If not present, then a heavy

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community penalty. Where is the Rehabilitation and that? You lose -

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- to leave victims of crime feeling that justice has not been done. The

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problem is that the police budgets and resources are very tight. The

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same goes for the CPS. The police blame the CPS and they blame the

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police. Victims of crime are suffering as a result. So they're

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working with small budgets? That is a fact. The budget has been cut as

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part of the Government's spending review and they have been brought

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down. There's a couple of report and points. First of all, some

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accountability has to come in. If we come back to the overall issue

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of where we are with policing and people wandering about, we do have

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the police and crime commissioners. They need to be approached and

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spoken about. That is the person who can bring these two factions

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together. Doesn't the legal profession have a part to play? If

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somebody is down and the cells talking to you and they cough and

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they admit to their crime, surely you should be encouraging them to

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save the taxpayer a lot of money? In some circumstances, as the lists

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for -- a solicitor in a police station will do that. The solicitor

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is there to act in the best interests of their client. They are

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not there to act in the interests of anybody else, they have got to

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give professional legal advice and do compulsory training which

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continues. They are there to act for the client, not for anybody

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else. We are going to talk about Bradford now. It is almost a year

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since George Galloway pulled off his historic when in the Bradford

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West by-election. Now a new report has criticised Labour for

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complacency leading to the loss of a seat it had held for decades. The

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research, carried out by political think-tank Democratic Audit, is

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published tomorrow it. The national media Museum, a fitting place to

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launch a report into the factors behind what it calls for Bradford

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earthquake, because it argues television and social media played

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a major part in causing it. This is a two-round based press TV. George

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Galloway has has -- has had his own TV programme on here three years.

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Aimed at Arabic countries, his fear is that see him as a serious

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political commentator. It was a major factor in George Galloway's

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success in winning votes in the Bradford by-election. It is a major

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change from how we have historically understood the power

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of television. Back in the 50s, everybody would watch the same

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channel because there was only one. Now we have got hundreds. People

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would have seen George Galloway talking on the Iranian press to be,

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they will have listened to him on talks bought, they would have seen

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him to confront the US Senedd on one of you tube's favourite ever

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political clubs. Channels and programmes more popular with the

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Muslim population in Bradford and say, celebrity big brother. -- than

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say. The Sunday politics debate was crucial. It showcased brought a

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way's skills. George Galloway's news of social media was much

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smarter than the other parties. He was the first politician to have a

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special little application for iPhones. Other politicians were

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slow-moving. The report also highlights how mainstream parties

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took up the votes of young Asian voters and women for granted, by

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negotiating with Elders who decided how their family clan would vote.

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Do you think you have smashed that the clan system? It is something

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which has existed for thousands of years. I think there has been

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cracks within it. We want to encourage a unified Bradford

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through political engagement of diverse communities. Labour held

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its own internal investigation into how it lost a seat it had held for

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38 years. But admitted complacency by was lying on its historic

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support -- by relying. Had it used that L the clan system, it may have

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hoovered up votes -- had it used its L The clan system. We took very

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seriously the loss in Bradford, the idea that votes had been taken for

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granted. Mr George Galloway, Member of Parliament for Bradford West!

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And then there was the all- important razzmatazz, promoting

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policies that clearly appealed to a much wider electorate. Open-topped

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buses and those legendary Galloway oratory skills. And George Galloway

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joins us now. Welcome back to Sunday Politics. You're credited of

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breaking this system of political tribal loyalty. You feel that

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normal service could be resumed at the general election? I thought I

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had died and gone to heaven listening to that report, I must

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tell you. It was almost as good as the day itself. Of course the proof

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of the bidding will be in the eating. The next election will tell

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us whether that system you describe to, involving parties negotiating,

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will then deliver votes -- the proof of the pudding. I believe

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myself that it has gone in Bradford because I don't think that having

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seen them, they're going to be able to put them back on the farm. The

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people who came and vote for us, if -- voted for us, their families

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also voted 60 years ago. There has to be a better reason for voting

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for someone than that. But time will tell. Karl Turner, D want to

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deal with that. That Labour to can awful lot of voters for granted in

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Bradford -- do you want to. I think that George Galloway factor was a

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definite issue. He is a forceful character and very charismatic. I

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think that had an effect. We also think there was a feeling that we

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had taken the electorate for granted and I'm sure we have

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learned from that mistake. We have won the by-election in Rotherham,

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we won in Manchester, we have one other by-elections, Croydon. George

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Galloway, we may have seen the Bradford's brink but we certainly

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didn't see the Rotherham spring. Your success wasn't repeated in the

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by-election there's no, but we did beat both the Tories and the

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Liberal Democrats, there were supposed that is not as good as it

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once was -- although I suppose. the medium is important. The

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message has to match the medium, however. Peter Mandelson modernised

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Labour's methods of communication, but if the message you're

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communicating is one of support for war, which they now call missions

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for austerity, not quite as fast, then it just went wash with large

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sections of the committee who need something radically different.

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Bradford West has 10 % rise year on year in its unemployment figures.

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We are in an economic emergency in Bradford West. If you're not

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addressing those fact, it doesn't matter how well you put your point

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of view in terms of the method of communication, the message just

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doesn't match up. Alec Shelbrooke, could your own party learned

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anything from George Galloway? learnt a lot in 1997 when a lot of

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Conservative MPs have become very arrogant and taken their electorate

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for granted. I think what became apparent to me when I was out in

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the Bradford West by-election was that having gone there, thinking to

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myself that we may have a chance if George Galloway split the Labour

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vote, as soon as you get on the street and did a street campaign,

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you realise he was going to walk it. You have got to communicate with

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your electorate. We have now got a round-up of 60 seconds of the

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political news. Cuts to the army including York -- Yorkshire and

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Lincolnshire regiments angered the Scunthorpe Labour MP. On Monday,

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the Prime Minister stated that the task for our generation was the

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struggle against terrorism. On Tuesday, his government sacked

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5,600 troops. Figures out this week show a fall in unemployment, but

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our region still has the third highest level in the country with

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almost nine % out of work. New Kipp MEP Godfrey Bloom was not impressed

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by the Prime Minister of's promise of renegotiating our EU membership

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terms. And controversy from Bradford's Liberal-Democrat David

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Ward. One Holocaust Memorial Day, he criticised Israel's treatment of

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Palestinians since the second world war.

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George Galloway, your reaction to what your father -- a fellow

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Bradford MP David Ward has been saying. Was the right to criticise

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Israel on Holocaust memorial day? Absolutely. The problem was the

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language that he chose the seemed to blame it dos. This was an

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elementary school boy a howler. -- Jews. We are not against Jews.

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Because absurd to blame them for the suffering of the Palestinian

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people. -- It is absurd. I suspect that it is the disgrace for a

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rather than the howler, because David Ward, like all Liberal-

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Democrat MPs is staring unemployment himself -- steering

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and implement himself down the barrel of the next election. --

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unemployment. He has got a meeting with the Lib Dems tomorrow. Alec

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Shelbrooke, was he right to say what he did? I think it is

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outrageous. Holocaust Memorial Day is a day when we remember where

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intolerance Leeds. To twist it and talk about a Jewish people rather

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than the state of Israel, as George says, was wrong. I'm a supporter of

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this state of Israel but I would like to think IMF club -- critical

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supporter. There are things to be done. To be gone someone's religion

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and make those comparisons, I'm afraid I find it totally

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unacceptable. Karl Turner, EU referendum, depending on who you

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talk to and the Labour Party on a different day, you get a different

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answer. What is your belief? policy on this is consistent.

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October 2011, I went through the division lobby with the Prime

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Minister and Ed Miliband, the late -- the leader of my party, saying

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we didn't want their referendum on the EU. The Prime Minister's

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position is all over the place. The Tory MPs care more about getting

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rid of David Cameron than they do about getting out of the year. His

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position is completely inconsistent. But is bad timing, what we need is

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a certainty in the economy. Unemployment in my area is going up.

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We need for certainty and we need investors to be confident that we

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have got absolutely consistent position. We have got a consistent

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position now. We know we're going to say to the British people at

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this moment in time, it is not the right time to say it in out, we're

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going to renegotiate the position. Then we will say to the British

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people, do you want to stay in under this new relationship or do

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you want out? What about you, George Galloway? Would you like to

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see a new EU referendum? Bring It On. The people of this country have

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rejected, as have most people in EU countries, rejected the kind of

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European Union that we currently have. It is the European Union of

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bankers and fat cats in the EU Commission. In Brussels, a totally

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dysfunctional European Parliament, all of it costing billions at a

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time when that money could be far better spent. We are in favour of

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an EU referendum and the sooner the better. So you will be campaigning

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alongside right-wing Tories? No, we will campaign foreign owned

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independent position which is internationalist. -- for a our own.

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You said, Bradford spring is here to stay because you're going to

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