16/10/2011 The Politics Show East Midlands

Here in the East Midlands: Will a Supreme Court ruling put more

people at risk of forced marriages? And the Prime Minister has attacked

it, but one of our viewers insists we should welcome a EU directive

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1493 seconds

that will see more diabetic drivers Hello. Here in the East Midlands

the Prime Minister has attacked it but a victim insists the EU is

right to get tougher with diabetic drivers. To say the diabetic driver

is part of that unnecessary legislation is absolutely crass. It

is unforgivable. I am sure Mr Cameron will want to look again at

what he said. David Cameron is also under fire from one of his own

members of the European Parliament. Roger Helmer tells us why he is a

quitting -- acquitting. David Cameron is keen to appease Guardian

readers who will never vote Conservative and he is ignoring his

base and that is dangerous. Plus we will ask why it a controversial

Supreme Rubin will make forced marriages more likely here in the

east Midlands. A new EU directive hits the road in

a fortnight. It will result in more insulin-dependent drivers losing

their licences. About time also says one of our viewers as our

political Editor reports. I am on a country road between

Newark and herself well in Nottinghamshire and this warning

sign to motorists is a reminder of a tragedy here almost five years

ago. Wendy's car went upside down through the hedge. This is a Roger

Fell. He is recounting the accident which killed his ex-wife when day.

Seconds before the collision, the driver of the other car had a

blackout. He is diabetic. Since then Roger has campaigned for new

restrictions on diabetics been allowed to drive as we reported on

the time. The inquest was told some diabetics are prone to a

hypoglycaemic attack and lose consciousness. One result an new EU

directive - diabetics have been more than one severe hypoglycaemic

attack in effect it blackout over a 12 month period face a driving ban.

They are being allowed a licence to drive which is a tremendous right

of mobility, but they do not have a right to place are the people at

risk. For Roger Fell, job done. A campaign success. Or so he thought

until the Conservative Party conference. A couple of weeks ago,

I was preparing for a day's work, going through paperwork. I came

across this EU directive. It was about whether people would die BT's

should be allowed to dry. What on earth has this got to do with a

single market? Do you think anyone in China is thinking, let's get

those diabetics of the road! come out and say the diabetic

driver is part of that are necessary legislation is absolutely

crass, unforgivable and I am sure Mr Cameron will want to look at

what he said again. There is a queue outside a mobile health

clinic in Leicester. Shoppers are being offered a free test for

diabetes. Had there is next to volunteer. -- had there. There are

one million adults in the UK with Di BT's who need to take insulin.

The test results for her there is a good. In the East Midlands, an

estimated 208,000 adults suffer from diabetes and out of that

figure getting on for 76,000 need insulin. Some of it is down to diet,

exercise as well. Lifestyle. More of us are developing diabetes so

should diabetics be driving? Yes, they should be driving provided

they can do properly. If they do not manage properly and if people

frequently go hypoglycaemic, as a doctor I have to say it is

dangerous. This is a lesson in driving an articulated lorry. Roger

has been in the haulage industry for 30 years. He now trains the

next generation of HGV drivers. There are currently medical

restrictions on who can get behind the wheel. That is why diabetics

cannot get a HGV licence. They were absolutely not be allowed. It will

not be issued. But that will change. The EU directive that is curbing

insulin-dependent diabetics from driving cars is going to ease up

the regulations for truck drivers. Diabetics will be able to apply for

a HGV licence. If it is decided that a type one diabetic is

perfectly safe behind the wheels, then I would have a problem with

that. But at the moment that is not the case. That is not the case for

a good reason. Was David Cameron right to highlight an EU directive

with apparently contradictory N's? Labour MP Keith Baz has a personal

interest in this issue. He is a diabetic himself. What this

directive seeks to do is to limit those who have had a certain

episode as a result of their diabetes. What I worry about is the

factor that people may not disclose this because they want to hang onto

their licences and the only time we will find out is when it is too

late and they have had an accident. But a diabetics Campaign Group

offers this reassurance. People with diabetes who are treated with

insolent and the get a licence every three years and therefore

they are medically assessed again and again. This means that probably

somebody with diabetes is going to be much more aware of the dangers

and much more aware of the importance of following all of the

guidance making sure they are fit to drive than somebody who is not

treated in the same by. Back to Leicester and the latest volunteer

to undergo the test for diabetes. Your BMI is a little bit overweight.

For diabetes is the latest issue caught up in a political row over

EU power. We may all need some medication.

We asked Diabetes UK to join us to discuss some of the concerns raised

but they told us no one was available.

Earlier this week campaigners Jasvinder Sanghera were celebrating

the Prime Minister's announcement that the Government plans to make

it a criminal offence to force a person to marry against their will.

Forced marriages little more than slavery. To force someone into

marriage is completely wrong. I believe this is a problem we should

not shy away off. Because of some codger concerns. Then came a

Supreme Court decision that overturned the ban on wedding

Beazer's for anyone under 21. Jasvinder believes it will put more

people at risk of forced marriage. Is she right? She joins me with

Mustafa Malik from the Pakistani youth association. Jasvinder, you

know what it is like to be a victim of coerce marriages, you ran away

from home to avoid one and your sister took her own life because

she was so unhappy in a forced relationship. Labour raised the age

and now the judges are saying that has done more harm than good.

is an extreme blow. As I survivor of a forced marriage, what we have

been a marvel of is not what is being considered here but the

welfare of British-born subject to are forced into marriage. For all

the thousands of cases we deal with, what this means is that our victims

will be pressured and coerced into sponsoring that foreign national at

the age of 17 years old. They do not have the majority of three

years to wait until they are 21. You are saying it makes the most

vulnerable people more vulnerable. It is making them more vulnerable

because what we have to remember is they do not have the choice. For

those who fall in love and consent is a factor, that his eight choice.

Our victims do not have a choice. Mustafa, what Jasvinder is saying

is this ruling is bad news. I do not agree. The ruling is a very

good one. When we were dealing with the issue of forced marriage,

everybody did not come into the same category. There are people

where there are arranged marriages, so this age limit that

discriminates with those with genuine reasons to get their spouse

from the sub-continent. Do you know couples who will be affected by

this ruling? There will be affected. Of course they will be affected. I

do not see these forced marriages and this ruling together because

forced marriages are a different issue. As far as this ruling is

concerned, this is about the age discrimination so when we are

talking about the citizens of European Union, then you have a

different law and when we are talking about non-EU countries

there is a different law. That is where the problem is. We are not

talking about arranged marriages here. Week I have to say I can give

you thousands of statistics around victims who are forced to marry

every year and which is the greater of the two? Those with the consent

of those who have been forced to marry. One hour helpline we are

dealing with 500 calls a month of victims calling the lines, British

suggests, our unit deals with 5,500 cases a year. David Cameron is

right to use the immigration issue to tackle forced marriages because

what we know it is the crimes are going up and up, we do not have

effective measures to deal with it. The court does not agree with the

exactly, Jasvinder. It says the number of genuine relationships are

obstructed by raising the bees their age limit exceeds the number

of forced marriages it deters. Let's be clear. One of the things

that were served by the Supreme Court was there was not enough

evidence that gave them the feeding of the scale of the problem and

sadly, the Government did not make their case. You mentioned the Home

Office's forced marriage unit and we have some figures. They

investigated 469 cases of forced marriage in 2010 and 52 % of those

cases involve people from Pakistan. Is it really worth the risk of

those cases being increased by this ruling? I think that I need to go

back. As far as the forced marriage is concerned, forced marriage has

no place as far as the religion is concerned. Islam forbids forced

marriage. Forced marriage is a cultural thing and I believe within

the community in Leicester the day -- the rate of forced marriages is

going down. This is the third generation of people living in this

country. It was quite high for the first generation and maybe the

second but the third... But figures are increasing. In 2000 and day,

the number of cases investigated by the forced marriage unit was 420

and now ates 469 last year. because there is more awareness.

That is why you are getting more numbers. Let's not forget this is a

hidden crime, it is under-reported, our victims have multiple

perpetrators. This is a hidden problem. Because there is a lot of

awareness and people are not getting aware... The more cases are

coming out. Four you said numbers were going down. The actual number

is going down but more cases are coming out, so before they were not

reported, so the number of cases reported was less than what is

being reported now. If this is against religion, which it is,

surely we did as the Disney to be supporting measures. We are not

talking about arranged marriages and surely endure religion, we have

a duty to protect the final ball. only believe that the decision

taken by the court on forced marriages, everybody within the

Community, the majority, are against it. The young children are

against it. Last month there was a conference in London which was

attended by 10,000 people where it was explicitly explained that

forced marriages... The religious people, yes they need to come out.

We need to discuss this issue more. Thank you.

Say what you like but Roger Helmer is one of the most colourful

politicians in the East Midlands. He has never been afraid to express

his views but he dismayed his supporters this week with his

announcement that he is to quit his membership of the European

Parliament. We spoke to him in Brussels and asked why now? I am

older now than I have ever been before but a number of the issues I

am concerned about are blowing up. In Europe we had the carious in the

euro-zone, a superb opportunity for the Government to get a grip and

reconfigure our relationship with Europe but it is clear this

government just is not prepared to do that. Climate and energy, I

think the public out there are starting to get the electricity

bills with enormous increases and that is a direct result of our

obsession with wind power. The issues I have been worried about

particularly are coming to a head. You fought for a UK referendum on

Europe, there is clearly no appetite for one in Downing Street.

Is it a lost cause? I am not sure it is a lost cause. It depends how

much public pressure there is. It is certainly true that he -- David

Cameron does not want a referendum on the ewe because he thinks

membership is in Britain's interests. Membership is not in

Britain's interests. You have a referendum to find out what the

public think. It is not as if you have just fallen out with the Tory

leadership now. Can fight describe you as semi-detached from the

Conservative Party. Critics say you have not been a team player.

think you should talk to my staff, they will take a different view.

What I will say is that I am on the Conservative wing of the

Conservative Party and many party members are equally on the

Conservative wing of the Conservative Party, and we are very

concerned that the leadership are out on a limb. The leadership is

not paying attention to the backbenches, members and activists.

David Cameron is keen to appease Guardian readers who will never

vote Conservative and she is ignoring his base and that is

dangerous. It is certainly the case that membership of the Conservative

Party is in steep decline and if the party leadership cannot despond

-- respond to the needs and ambitions of the run ship then we

will have problems. He said the current euro-zone crisis presents

us with a opportunity to reconfigure our relationship with

Europe. How exactly? What would you like to see happen? I would like to

see Britain negotiate a new relationship based solely on free

trade and governmental corporation. But what we need surely is Britain

to take any doubt in Europe to save the European economy. We have heard

slogans we are winning the battle in Europe, we have been saying that

for 40 years and it just gets worse. We get the pay in, we see more and

more powers transferred from Britain to Europe. The idea that we

can reform it from within has been tested to destruction. It does not

work. Europe is the UN reform it deserves to be put out on his Myrie.

He had been quoted as saying we need a growth strategy. Do you mean

in Europe or the UK? It will apply equally in both cases but what I

meant was the UK. I greatly respect George Osborne's deficit policy --

redundancy policy but alongside that, we need a clear growth

strategy which will involve some tax incentives which I believe

could be self financing but also a massive deregulation. Britain's

businesses are being held back by all this European employment --

implement legislation. The things we are doing as policy of

preventing a recovery from the recession. What do you think your

greatest achievements have been? think it is a case of having taken

the two issues that I am really committed to - Europe and climate

and energy - and shifting opinion. It is difficult to measure how much

I have contributed but as a member of the European Parliament, I had

been in a strong position to influence both of those debates.

Clearly a Europe debate has moved a bit in my direction. The climate

debate has moved overwhelmingly. Today the majority of the British

people are no longer convinced by the Al Gore Theory of climate

change and especially as they get these electronic -- electricity

bills and then farms put up virtually in their back gardens,

they are starting to say, what is going on here? Thank you very much.