28/12/2015 The Papers


28/12/2015

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Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers

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With me are Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor for the

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London Evening Standard and the broadcaster Petrie Hoskin.

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The flooding in northern England is again on

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a number of tomorrow's front pages with the Guardian saying the cost

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The Telegraph has a photograph of a RAF Chinook flying past

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York Minister as it helps with the efforts to

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The paper's main story is about a planned change to stamp duty

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on second homes which critics have dubbed a tax on marriage.

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The Financial Times reports that 10,000 homes are built

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on floodplains every year and says David Cameron has been

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accused of a north-south divide on flood prevention.

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The Mirror also says that anger is mounting in affected

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The Daily Mail has a striking image of a woman cleaning the window

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in a wine bar in York as flood waters wash against the other side.

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Its main story is about the fatal shooting

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And that shooting by a fellow resident at an Essex care home

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The Independent focuses on politics saying that Jeremy Corbyn

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has challenged Davie Cameron to take part in an annual TV debate.

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And the Times returns to the flooding, reporting that uninsured

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Uninsured flood that Adams, ?1 billion bill? This is talking about

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the financial cost, particularly the five DN pound cost, economic damage

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predicted by financial experts involved in looking at this. -- ?5

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billion. Some of that cost will be borne by people who have been unable

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or failed to insure their homes. In the past, it has been talked about

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some people not being able to get insurance because of where they

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live, and there should be a government backed scheme that was

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supposed to allow people to insure, that has taken too long, and a

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Federation of Small Businesses has said that 50,000 small businesses

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have been refused cover, and areas have become uninhabitable because of

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that problem. Nvidia wants to buy or run a business in a place where you

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can't get flood insurance, and they will be potentially regularly hit by

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floods. It is a particular take on the chaos that we have seen, the

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terrible scenes we have seen affecting people, and it clearly is

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a big issue. If we have people in vulnerable areas and they can't get

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cover, it seems wrong. There may be people who just don't know they are

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not covered. Exactly, there will be several people who have just

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discovered that because of the insurance policies they have. I

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don't know where people whose cars have been submerged... Isn't that an

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act of God? Isn't there some kind of loopholes, and can you even insure

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against that? The terrible ripple effect just goes on and on. But the

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question will be, and the insurance company will be asking this because

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they might be asked to do something they don't want to do, which is

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paying out to everyone, should the government pick up the bill where

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people are not adequately insured? If that is the case, are you opening

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a problem around the rest of the country for the rest of us who may

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not be adequately insured, and they think, its OK, the government will

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pick up the bill. We know the human misery of this, that if the

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government does pay for people who haven't been adequately insured,

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that could be a problem. That would be a lot of money, and at the moment

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it was the north-east and north-west, the Somerset Levels was

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washed out, and further down towards Dorset and Cornwall. We are talking

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billions of pounds potentially. There is no suggestion they will.

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No, but if they do, and they will be called to. The question should also

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be that there has been talks of getting a proper industry scheme

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that allows people to be insured, but has that happened? The misery of

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what people have faced is direct and immediate at the moment, but it is

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compounded by the fact that you can't then recover your business or

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home or replace the items. If this scheme was up and running, the

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government would be underwriting it. There has to be a way that the

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government is not becoming an insurance policy, and that the flood

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defences are there. We don't build on floodplains, all of these other

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things, so the government does not become an insurance company. People

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are saying the government could mitigate the effects of these, and

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one of them is stopping developers building on floodplains. Figures

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show 10,000 homes are still being built on floodplains every year. The

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latest figures they have a 2013-14, but one in every 14 homes is still

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built on a floodplain. This is what I'm talking about, it is too late at

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the end of the day to get a big bill and then just pay it. Why don't we

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look at where you build. If you build on a floodplain you have to

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pay for flood defences, and when they burst you have to have paid the

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people's homes. This is a long-standing issue, concerned that

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homes are being built in high-risk areas. It continues to happen. It

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has been talked about at times that there should be better flood

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proofing of homes, so they have waterproof plaster and electrics

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further up the walls, et cetera. It will be interesting to know how many

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homes in these areas have any of those. I would bet it would be very

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few. One suspect it is cheap to build on a floodplain. The land is

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probably quite cheap to buy, but not for the homeowner who then has to

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pay higher insurance or is not insured and can't get insurance. And

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also, leaving aside the underwriting of insurance, because of course they

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are having to deploy the army and all of these emergency services. It

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is understandable with a direct me emergency like this, but all of that

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costs money. A big up to the armed forces who are doing this, let's

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hope there are no more cuts to their numbers, because they are working

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very hard. The front page of the Daily Mirror, anger mounting over

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cuts to defences as cost of misery rises. This is really picking up on

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the North/ South divide feeling that we have coming through, with a Leeds

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City Council complaining that only a small scheme was approved,

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protecting a small part of the city. But a much larger amount for the

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Thames Valley in the south has been approved, and there is this issue

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that not enough money is being spent on the north. David Cameron says in

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terms of per head of population more money is spent in the north. I think

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that is highly spurious, because it depends what the risk is, and I

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think the risk is more in the north and the south. Yes, it is obviously

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going to be a continuing political debate, which I'm sure the

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opposition will push. Is there something in your estimation that

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could seriously harm David Cameron and the government in terms of

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popularity? I'm not sure that that is his heartland. Say you are

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reinforcing the point that he doesn't give a monkey? -- a

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monkey's? I think there are previous governments that have failed in this

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way as well. That ?180 million bill looks very small now, but we don't

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know if it would have worked. We could all say, that would have saved

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everyone, and it might have done but it might not. This weather is

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unprecedented. And while many politicians think that they are

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God, they are not responsible for the rain. Let's go on to the

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Independent and move away from the floods for a while. Jeremy Corbyn

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challenges David Cameron to an annual TV debate, taking his cue

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from recent elections. You think this is a terrible idea. I think it

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would be boring. First of all, I actually want politicians to do

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something quite extraordinary, and that is the jobs that we pay them to

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do. I don't want them to be worrying about cameras and TV programmes and

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script writing, and more platitudes and arguments and... I am so bored

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of it. And I think the nation is. Once every five years, fine, if that

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is what you want to do, and you might have something interesting to

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say. But once a year? Even people who like sport wouldn't want the

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Olympics every year, would they? I suppose Jeremy Corbyn is making the

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point that it is trying to hold the government to account. Then do it in

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the Commons as an opposition leader. This might be the real point for

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some people, that perhaps Jeremy Corbyn hasn't really been doing

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that. He started well with his first one, people quite like that

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different style, perhaps he hasn't been doing it, but why not see it?

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Why not give him a chance. Do it in the Commons, he gets that every

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week. It is quite short, and controlled, and anything that gives

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a chance to see more politics if they want to, it is not a bad thing.

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You know as well as I do it will be used as a sort of nothing nonsense.

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They won't say or do anything, or actually achieve anything, they are

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just going to be themselves up. It is better than hiding behind a few

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partly filmed broadcasts. To be a good opposition leader you don't

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need to be on television, you need to do it with your policies. There

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is nothing wrong with television expert a lot of jibber jabber. But

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you actually believe it would open the government to some scrutiny. You

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would be watching it every five minutes. OK, The Times. The honours

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list is dominated by public school elite. Yes, this is no progress

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story. The domination of private school people is just as great as it

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was 50 years ago, and 48% of honours recipients are former public school

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people, and that is pretty much the same as it was in 1955. It is a

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shame, of course there are arguments as to why that is, but it doesn't

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seem right that 6% also go to private schools, and yet they are

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still dominating society, not just in terms of the honours, but in

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terms of the professions and all sorts of main areas of public life.

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37% of them went to Oxford or Cambridge. I don't know what that

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says. Does it say that private education is just that much better?

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Does it say that people are more aspirational. I'm not saying that it

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does, I'm asking. What does it say about society? And oldboys'

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network? I'm sure some of that is the case, not all of them. Some of

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them are very good schools, and people can't be faulted for going to

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a good school and making the best of it, but it is not a satisfactory

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situation. I will say that I am annoyed, Clive, by actors who get

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these gongs for just being actors. Fair enough, Babs Windsor, but if

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you are well played person -- well-paid person doing the job you

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love to do, would I give them an award? Not unless they have done

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something special. They are doing exactly what they want to do. And,

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we are spending loads of cash due to the extra shopping day. ?1.75

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billion, according to this front page. Did you buy anything special?

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Absolutely not, I don't like shopping. We couldn't have spent

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that much. I have come through London quite often on Boxing Day at

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about 9pm, and it is always absolutely rammed with people. We

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will end up there. Many thanks. Stay with us, Sportsday is next.

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