11/12/2011 The Politics Show East Midlands

Private firms will get access to NHS patient records. Does that come

with the risks? And what Meryl Streep strike a

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1808 seconds

Hello, I'm Marie Ashby. And in the East Midlands, we look into the

past AND the future. Fasten your seat belts - we hit the road to get

contrasting verdicts on the new Iron Lady film. Does Meryl Streep

cut the mustard as Margaret Thatcher? We'll be hearing from

striking miners and the Tory faithful.

And we reveal how Conservative MPs have been caught barracking the

First: The future - the country's biggest credit checking agency,

Experian, has won a major Government contract to crackdown on

benefit fraud. The Government is hoping it makes a better job of

nailing people who falsely claim tax credits. Experian, who are

based in Nottingham, say they believe they can save the taxpayer

as much as �800 million. In a moment, I'll be asking our

politicians what they make of the news. But first, just how is it

going to work? A little earlier, I spoke to Bruno Rost, who is

Experian's head of public relations. Who are you after? This is a

contract with two government departments. What we are doing is

taking Greece greened files from the two departments, and looking at

them. -- Prix screamed. -- preach screened. What makes you think you

can do a better job than the government? Experian has got a

private information. The Prime Minister made it clear that he

wants to use private sources of information to help combat fraud,

which is growing. The government can save around �800 million.

a bold claim to make. These are the government claims. What we are

saying is, we have looked at the trials, and we think these figures

are definitely achievable. What kind of savings did the pilot show?

It was very localised. But we showed we could save around �60

million from that pilot alone, so we are confident that these figures

can be realised. There is a great opportunity to cut down tax credit

fraud. Records aren't always accurate, of course. That is a

concern, isn't it? It is a concern you have got to get into relative

context. It is a tiny proportion of any particular amount of data that

has got air is. We would always rectify that immediately. -- got

areas. -- errors. What does Experian get out of this? It has

been working in the public sector for over 20 years, and we have got

a big unit in Nottingham but is concentrating on combating all

sorts of different fraud. We have been working in local government,

he saving tens of millions of pounds for local authorities. We

look at social housing, for example. What we are doing with these

departments is, we are not looking for cases, we are taking

information that is sent to ours, and simply going through that and

identifying which is high risk cases. -- sent to us. The

government can then focus on high- priority cases. What it is this

contract worth? We don't disclose that confidentiality, but what we

can say is that in terms of what we are delivering is going to be

massively valuable to the government and taxpayers in terms

of savings. Well this create new jobs for Experian? Yes, I think we

are a very successful business. We are doing a range of different

things with local government in preventing fraud, and central

government. So it is a growing business. Good luck with it.

Well, I wonder if our politicians welcome the fact that the

Government has asked Experian to track down people suspected of

committing benefit fraud. Gedling MP, Vernon Coaker, is a former Home

Office minister, and Bruce Laughton was the constituency's Conservative

candidate at the general election. The fact that the Government has

asked Experian to take this on is like calling in the cavalry because

neither Labour nor the Conservatives were able to tackle

it on their own. It is a priority per any government to try to

prevent as much abroad as possible -- priority for any government.

Anything that helps him respect to that is something that is important

and worth exploring. There are issues that arise with it. There

are issues where mistakes are made. Also, we need to think about

whether it is of value for money. But all of us want to see benefit

fraud tackled, and if this helps, then that will make the difference

we want. We need to sort out fraud. It is the taxpayer's money,

effectively, that is being spent on benefits. I have reservations that

we need to make sure that the details they are getting are

protected. It is essential they are protected. We've had an email from

Colin Hampton, who is co-ordinator of Derbyshire Unemployed Workers

Centre. He insists this is going to mean more innocent people being

hounded: "Anyone looking at their own credit rating will see the

numerous mistakes and out-of-date information being held on company

records." that is a difficult issue. I cannot comment on how a credit

rating agency operates. But one would hope that the situation is in

place, and again, the checks and balances, those processes necessary

to weed out those claimants, are dealt with properly. But why aren't

they transparent? We have heard the representative of Experian come on.

He could have been transparent. Those are the safeguard people want

to hear about. We all know that Experian has been involved with

issues in the past and have made mistakes. What have they learned

from that? And the other side of the benefits coin is that many

millions of pounds in tax credits and benefit payments are going

unclaimed - people entitled to benefits who aren't claiming them.

We do have a process is in place, people at there, who give people

advice on how to claim benefits. But we are in the most difficult

financial times, and we have to save every penny we can to make

sure that it is spent in those areas in need. I think that

sometimes, people hide behind commercial sensitivity. Sometimes,

people want benefit fraud tackled, but the concerns we heard, they

need to be addressed. They cannot just be fobbed off. People do not

believe that they will remain anonymous. How can we remain

anonymous? There are huge issues with this. It is a very sensitive

area. If we start to get social profiling, that might be the food

in the door. -- though for it. -- beat third to. You have got to look

at why people are reticent about accessing GP records. That is

because of this mismanagement of record over a number of years. But

what we have also got a look at is the positive so that will come out

over this data being analysed properly. If people's health will

benefit, there is a halt host of different people suffering who are

receiving treatment. -- a whole host. They would benefit from good

work going on. It goes back to the issue of transparency. The way

these contracts are put together, there is no proper information that

goes alongside it. There are just assertions made that you have

nothing to worry about. That is not sufficient for people. Of course,

people want the idea of research to try and find cures. Everyone

supports that. But they also want to know that the security of

information is safe. Finally, the Government had made a big deal this

week of giving new powers to England's eight core cities, one of

them Nottingham. They are going to get extra powers to raise their own

funds and decide what to spend them on. This is just a smokescreen for

cuts. They will also seek millions of pounds taken away in terms of

grants. The raising of the business rates will not replace that.

Nottingham will lose a lot of money. When you lose out as a city?

Rubbish! This is about allowing local people and politicians to be

able to do with the money coming in from industry, and directed where

it is most needed. But business rates would be disastrous! At the

end of the day, it is absolutely essential that we allow people to

know where people -- money is spent best. I am worried in parking

charges. Coming up shortly: Tory MPs caught

heckling Maggie Thatcher - would you believe it?! First, Meryl

Streep has been getting plenty of plaudits for her portrayal of the

Iron Lady, and the film's not even out yet. Our political editor, John

Hess, has been giving a sneak preview to two sets of voters with

very different memories of our former Prime Minister.

The mere mention of her name still provokes strong feelings. Margaret

Thatcher, once described as having the "eyes of Caligula and the lips

of Marlyn Monroe". Now the Iron Lady is back - not to dominate the

Starring Meryl Streep, the movie has a touch of Cinema magical stop

-- magic. These coalminers do not need a movie to shake their

memories of Margaret Thatcher. will be remembered for decimating

communities. But she did a fantastic job. The Politics Show

went to a former pit village. We brought together these striking

miners, and some of the women who supported them to view the trail.

don't know if that or go out as a science fiction or horror! It is

definitely not a documentary. experience of the pit strike is

still raw. What doesn't come through his ideology. Her ideology

was against any public services. That ideology is now throughout our

country. She was a class warrior. She was a powerful class warrior. I

He this is a world away. For the women memos, -- members, that he is

probably their only link. -- their tea is probably their only lend.

have only one thing to say: U-turn if you want to! The ladies are not

turning. We were the laughing stock of Europe, and the legacy is that

we were forced -- a force to be reckoned with. She gave us back a

sense of pride, and they sensed that they druidism was not wrong. -

- and a sense. -- and a sense of paid should isn't. She was on the

right lines. It was that the dominating style of leadership that

was part of her undoing, as Ken Clarke once told me. She was

getting to convince of her own competence. She refused to listen

to anybody. Her political judgment had gone. She should have retired

on the 10th anniversary of becoming Prime Minister, and could have

required -- retired with dignity and honour, but they never do.

is 21 years since Mrs Thatcher was forced out of Downing Street, and

three younger people she is a political figure from the past.

People either love her or hate to have. Everybody knows about her.

Then the age, her you want to go and see it. She has become less of

a political figure and more of a historical character of. I don't

support all of her views, so I would see the film. Now we are to

get Hollywood's take on the Iron Lady. It is just glorifying a

person who has got no right to be glorified! She was forceful, and

We have also been speaking to another veteran MP with very

definite views on Mrs Thatcher. We were particularly intrigued when he

told us he was an extra on the movie as they rehearsed a

confrontation in the House of Commons! The most interesting thing

about the extras was that there were half a dozen Tory whips down

there, and they were excellent, but they had to sit on the same side as

me, shouting insults at Mrs Thatcher! Tory whips are shouting

at her! Mrs Thatcher was a very divisive characterful stop and she

is a mainly responsible for the demise of British manufacturing.

People talk about where has British manufacturing gone? It went, most

of it, over 30 years. We had 700 pits when I went to work than there

in 1949, and now, they are about three or four, and that is what

Thatcher was responsible for. She destroyed the shipbuilding industry,

the steel industry, and the pits. She finally smashed the print

unions with Murdoch. Looking at the film as a whole, what do you make

of Meryl Streep's portrayal of Margaret Thatcher? I spoke to her

after she had done one of the scenes. It is clear she made a good

job. She has always been meticulous in her preparation for films, and