:00:29. > :00:32.We're in Birmingham for the Lib Dem Conference. After a drubbing at the
:00:32. > :00:34.polls in the east, grassroots members want this week to help turn
:00:34. > :00:37.that around. And plans for dramatic changes to
:00:37. > :00:47.our political boundaries - old names like Ely return while Saffron
:00:47. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :36:18.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2131 seconds
:36:18. > :36:22.Hello and welcome to the programme. This is the ICC in Birmingham,
:36:22. > :36:26.where the Lib Dems are gathering for their autumn conference. Later,
:36:26. > :36:31.we will be looking at the proposed boundary changes for the Eastern
:36:31. > :36:34.region. We will have met Norfolk now. Let's
:36:34. > :36:37.4th will replace north-east Hertfordshire.
:36:37. > :36:41.As system which has become so disproportionate and so unfair
:36:41. > :36:46.clearly had to be changed. And the disturbing case is
:36:46. > :36:56.supported by an MP's charity, which helps people needing artificial
:36:56. > :36:57.
:36:58. > :37:02.ones. First to the Lib-Dems. Opinion
:37:02. > :37:06.polls now put support for the party in single figures. The praise it
:37:06. > :37:09.has had to pay for being in coalition. That is why, this week,
:37:09. > :37:19.members of the party will be looking to the leadership he give
:37:19. > :37:21.
:37:21. > :37:26.them a new sense of direction. Every Liberal-Democrats will
:37:26. > :37:30.remember 5th May for many years to come. Across the region, more than
:37:30. > :37:34.100 councillors lost their seats, majorities became wafer-thin and
:37:34. > :37:39.previously strong Lib Dem councils changed hands altogether. For Brian
:37:39. > :37:44.Moore, defeat was particularly painful. The former leader of
:37:44. > :37:49.Northampton council came 5th in his own seat. The Lib Dem group there
:37:49. > :37:52.was reduced to just four. We are suffering for be the scapegoat to
:37:52. > :37:59.the bad decision saw, rather than being recognised for the good
:37:59. > :38:03.decisions. You do not feel better? I am very disappointed. But it is
:38:03. > :38:07.right that we, as local and national politicians, do the right
:38:07. > :38:11.thing for the town and for the country. Despite everything, Mr
:38:11. > :38:15.Walker is still sign up to the coalition, and believes it is doing
:38:15. > :38:17.the right thing. That is the surprise about this conference.
:38:17. > :38:22.There is but the anger and bloodletting that many commentators
:38:22. > :38:25.were expecting. It is told that you have been a councillor for many
:38:25. > :38:28.years and have lost a seat. There are a lot of councillors who are up
:38:28. > :38:33.for election next year two are thinking, what is the right thing
:38:33. > :38:36.to do? What is striking, even amongst the most unhappy of the
:38:36. > :38:41.defeated councillors, there is almost nobody who is saying that
:38:41. > :38:44.being in coalition was the wrong thing. The question people will be
:38:44. > :38:48.discussing his, over the next year, how much stronger and the Liberal
:38:48. > :38:53.Democrat influence on government the? After nearly 18 months of
:38:53. > :38:56.being nice to its Gorleston partners, there is a growing
:38:56. > :39:00.feeling of -- there is a growing feeling in the Liberal Democrats
:39:00. > :39:03.that the party must assert itself more. We must get across the
:39:03. > :39:08.distinctiveness that the Democrats -- the Liberal Democrats are
:39:08. > :39:12.bringing across at the national level. We must bring across the
:39:12. > :39:15.improvement in schooling and the pupil premium. These are things
:39:15. > :39:19.that only Liberal-Democrats would have achieved in government. We
:39:19. > :39:24.must get the credit. The fear in the party is that if the leadership
:39:25. > :39:28.does not assert itself, the Lib Dems may not survive. A party
:39:28. > :39:32.strategy once told me that for every lead them kids will see that
:39:32. > :39:37.is lost, the party loses 10 activist. That is why many within
:39:37. > :39:41.the Lib-Dems are worried at the moment. The grassroots support is
:39:41. > :39:45.vital for any fight back. The question is, when the fightback
:39:45. > :39:49.comes, will be grassroots support still be there? Steve Hobson was
:39:49. > :39:54.one of the few Lib-Dems to buck the trend in May, increasing his
:39:54. > :39:57.majority as mayor of Bedford. He said he won because he kept
:39:57. > :40:02.trumpeting his successes. That is what the one party leadership must
:40:02. > :40:06.do. We must make sure that we are not the fall guys for the
:40:06. > :40:10.Conservative-dominated government. It is more their fault if things go
:40:10. > :40:14.wrong than ours. We must make sure that it is not our sports people
:40:14. > :40:19.who are put up to give the bad news, and Conservatives put up to give
:40:19. > :40:23.the good news. Last night, the regional party gathered for its
:40:23. > :40:27.conference reception. They have had quite a few tufts taken out of them
:40:27. > :40:31.over the past year. They know there is worse to come. They seem to be
:40:31. > :40:36.up for it. Joining me here are the Norfolk MP
:40:36. > :40:42.Norman Lamb, who is Nick Clegg's political adviser, and also Julian
:40:42. > :40:45.Huppert, the MP for Cambridge. Norman, starting with you, Lib-Dem
:40:45. > :40:50.said yesterday that the party must stress what it is achieving for
:40:50. > :40:54.government and not be the fall guys for the Conservatives, so how much
:40:54. > :40:58.of this master of liberalism are we going to see? I think that it is
:40:58. > :41:02.really important for us to their estates to British people what we
:41:02. > :41:07.are bringing to the table. One of the points that was made in the
:41:07. > :41:10.club by Brian in Northampton was the tax cuts for people in low-paid.
:41:10. > :41:14.I suspect that most people in the country do not realise that people
:41:14. > :41:18.on the basic rate of income tax at getting significant cuts in tax
:41:18. > :41:21.read this Parliament due to the Lib Dems. Millions will be taken out of
:41:21. > :41:25.tax altogether at the lowest end of the income scale. We must get that
:41:25. > :41:29.across to the public to demonstrate what we are delivering. How can you
:41:29. > :41:35.be in coalition and that the same time criticise your partner?
:41:35. > :41:41.think we have to be responsible about it. We have to be mature. We
:41:41. > :41:44.must not pick fights for the sake of it. But demonstrate what we are
:41:44. > :41:49.delivering asked him -- as Liberal- Democrats in government. There must
:41:49. > :41:53.be good, stable and effective government. As Norman said, Julian,
:41:53. > :41:56.it is about seizing opportunities. Already, be a scene that the party
:41:56. > :42:02.has rejected an offer to discuss further health reforms. What does
:42:02. > :42:05.that say to the public? I think it is a slightly odd story. There has
:42:05. > :42:09.been a lot of story that we have not discussed tell that the
:42:09. > :42:13.conference. It is being debated on Tuesday and Wednesday and in a
:42:13. > :42:17.range of smaller meetings. It is very much on the agenda. The
:42:17. > :42:21.question is how many other things US to discuss. There are lots of
:42:21. > :42:25.things happening in the government. Things we need to develop arguments
:42:25. > :42:28.on. We must not just spend all the time on one issue. The country has
:42:28. > :42:34.a lot of things that need to happen. There are disagreements on health
:42:34. > :42:37.that needs to be discussed, are the? There are disagreements on a
:42:37. > :42:41.lot of things. Fundamentally, you have to different parties with
:42:41. > :42:46.different approaches, tried to work together in the national interest.
:42:46. > :42:51.Looking at the West, there is Europe and the 50p tax rate. That
:42:51. > :42:54.is, and a sense, what to expect. These are two distinct parties.
:42:54. > :42:59.Another Conservative, Jillian is not a Conservative, but we're
:42:59. > :43:02.prepared to work together in the national interest. People are
:43:02. > :43:06.really antis about the future. These are incredibly dangerous
:43:06. > :43:10.times, globally. Having stable government during troubled times
:43:10. > :43:15.there is really important. Let's talk further about that position.
:43:15. > :43:20.You are more of a rebel, as I may say so, Julian. 11 sure, you voted
:43:20. > :43:23.against health reforms. Last year one energy regulation. Is it better
:43:23. > :43:28.to toe the line when you are in government, or is it better to be
:43:28. > :43:32.designed? I think it is very important to try and achieve the
:43:32. > :43:35.light -- the right conclusion that the end. Ultimately, it is a
:43:35. > :43:38.question as to whether you agree the decision has gone... I voted
:43:38. > :43:45.with the Lib Dem proposal to make the energy bills likely stronger. I
:43:45. > :43:48.am not sure that makes me a rebel. The energy bill is a great success
:43:48. > :43:53.that we are embarrassed to get through. It is about working with
:43:53. > :43:56.the Conservatives, but keeping that separate identity. There is a drive,
:43:56. > :44:02.particularly from the media, to suggest a rear together. We're not.
:44:02. > :44:05.We do not agree on the fundamentals. -- that we are together. It is that
:44:05. > :44:09.people with friends and family and business colleagues, you work with
:44:09. > :44:14.people, does not mean you agree on everything. It is good to challenge
:44:14. > :44:19.the -- it is good to challenge the tribal nature of our politics,
:44:19. > :44:24.which we have had for decades. most of Europe, parties work
:44:24. > :44:29.together. You work with people that you do not agree with. I just
:44:29. > :44:36.wanted to touch a new leadership. Nick Clegg has gone from hero to
:44:36. > :44:40.zero. He will go back again. Will the? I think that, in time, people
:44:40. > :44:43.will recognise that the dead the brave thing, and the right thing.
:44:43. > :44:48.Following a general a wreck -- following a general election, there
:44:48. > :44:50.is no conclusive outcome. What people needed was stable government
:44:50. > :44:56.when the international money markets were attacking governments
:44:56. > :44:59.across Europe. We provided stability, and be assured that we
:44:59. > :45:02.have a low interest rates going forward. Times are really tough
:45:02. > :45:09.economic cliff for very many people. At least we have lower interest
:45:09. > :45:14.rates. -- economic Glee. We have brought down the interest rates
:45:14. > :45:20.decisively. In the future, we will be able to rebuild. In time, the
:45:20. > :45:24.view of people have of next will be that he has done the right thing.
:45:24. > :45:28.People talk more any moment. One of the biggest that other
:45:28. > :45:31.changes to a little Burney's was announced this week. Under the be
:45:31. > :45:35.decommissioned's plans to rewrite the political map, the eastern
:45:35. > :45:39.region could lose two MPs and the future. That is because the
:45:39. > :45:42.Government pledged to reduce the number of MPs by 10%, but Labour
:45:42. > :45:50.has already complained that it will make their seats more difficult to
:45:50. > :45:53.win. There are big changes in store for
:45:53. > :45:59.our electoral boundaries. Changes that are likely to cause
:45:59. > :46:03.controversy among the MPs and their constituents. The plans could see a
:46:03. > :46:07.couple of our parliamentarians out of a job. Two seats in the East are
:46:08. > :46:13.set to war, one effect Med Bedfordshire's has spoken MP.
:46:13. > :46:17.will see what happens. I know that, for me, I have a 40 years of this
:46:17. > :46:22.parliamentary term to serve for Mid Bedfordshire. And pretty Patel's
:46:22. > :46:28.recently created Essex seat is likely to be merged with greasy,
:46:28. > :46:35.losing a seat there. 50% of my seat is in the new Essex North West seat,
:46:35. > :46:39.which is effectively the says the more than seat. I am not going to
:46:39. > :46:44.prejudge anything, and I will decide at a later date would site I
:46:45. > :46:48.decide to put myself forward for. All only 10 existing constituencies
:46:48. > :46:53.will remain unchanged, including court jester, Cambridge and most of
:46:53. > :46:56.support. Everywhere else will have their political boundaries changed.
:46:56. > :47:03.Some so dramatically that they will change their names to
:47:03. > :47:07.constituencies like Keynes line, Thetford and sport, and Letchworth.
:47:07. > :47:11.Having fewer MPs should save millions from the public purse. But
:47:11. > :47:16.everyone is convinced about the changes. They still on, a
:47:16. > :47:18.traditional home for the Lib Dems. Still man is now being told to look
:47:18. > :47:26.south for -- towards the Conservative stronghold, Great
:47:26. > :47:32.Yarmouth. What do they do in Great Yarmouth? Nothing. The MP we have
:47:32. > :47:36.at the moment has done good work for us. Then there is the home of
:47:36. > :47:41.Horseracing and seat of West Sussex MP, Matt Hancock, who is passionate
:47:41. > :47:44.about representing Newmarket. Just last week, he was and the time --
:47:45. > :47:50.in the town of Reading the gallops. A boundary changes are the norm
:47:50. > :47:55.here. Since the 1,800, the market has been bounced from support to
:47:55. > :48:01.gain a share. An order to remarry lay with Newmarket, the market will
:48:01. > :48:04.have to divorce Suffolk, and become part of Cambridgeshire.
:48:04. > :48:11.ordinary person out there it does not think the changes will make any
:48:11. > :48:17.difference. I am not very keen on it. For what reason? I am quite
:48:17. > :48:22.happy with the way things are. Newmarket is not the only town said
:48:22. > :48:26.to straddle counties. So too will new constituencies like wispy and
:48:26. > :48:31.Panama market. Meanwhile, some constituencies only created before
:48:31. > :48:36.the last election are being reformed. A system which has become
:48:36. > :48:39.so this proportional and so unfair clearly had to be changed.
:48:39. > :48:44.Equalising the size of constituencies, all the academics
:48:44. > :48:48.agree, is a perfectly rational way of making the system fairer. Within
:48:48. > :48:51.the next 12 weeks, it is up to all of us and our MPs to see what we
:48:51. > :48:58.think about the proposals. The responses will be published next
:48:58. > :49:02.spring. Final recommendations will be ready by next year. There are
:49:02. > :49:06.already doubts as to whether that deadline will be met.
:49:06. > :49:10.Our guests are still with us. Norman Lamb, people on that film
:49:10. > :49:15.bemoaning the fact that they could lose you. That is encouraging!
:49:15. > :49:21.are seeing a lot of that there are three? We are, it is quite
:49:21. > :49:26.uncertain times in a sense, we do not know what will happen. I think
:49:26. > :49:30.that there is a danger from MPs that they will lose their jobs.
:49:30. > :49:36.What people should do, communities, as they are not Tapply with the
:49:36. > :49:42.proposals, they should contact the boundary commission. They can do it
:49:42. > :49:46.though their MPs if they want. People's voices should be heard.
:49:46. > :49:50.The new constituencies must make some sense geographically, in terms
:49:50. > :49:57.of committees, rather than just meeting E-numbers targets. They
:49:57. > :50:03.have got to be coherent. -- meeting of the numbers target. Julian, the
:50:03. > :50:06.wanting system you wanted his ad, but that dream is now a shattered.
:50:06. > :50:11.Cambridge voted for it, and I wish you could just have it in
:50:11. > :50:16.Cambridge! As Norman says, there is the risk that what we get is lot of
:50:16. > :50:19.MPs are saying that, my constituency might change. It is
:50:19. > :50:23.not their constituency, it is their residence. We need to look more at
:50:23. > :50:28.the effect it will have on people. It is right that people are
:50:28. > :50:33.represented equally. What about the idea that Labour are saying, that
:50:33. > :50:39.because of the expansion of the constituencies, that some of their
:50:39. > :50:42.seats will become on Donald? Is that the same for the Lib Dems?
:50:42. > :50:47.There will be some seeds, currently held by the Lib Dems which will be
:50:47. > :50:50.lost. That is the case for all the parties. It is quite a significant
:50:50. > :50:55.change, and that the moment, people are just try to assess what the
:50:55. > :51:00.impact will be. Perhaps Labour should have supported voting reform.
:51:00. > :51:05.They might have got a fairer deal. The system we have does distort the
:51:05. > :51:09.way people vote. It ends up with people not been represented in
:51:09. > :51:14.parliament the way they have voted. What about fewer backbenchers
:51:14. > :51:17.representing people? That is a concern, isn't it? There is a
:51:17. > :51:21.question of how many ministers are on the payroll. That should be
:51:21. > :51:25.looked at gradually. I think the other thing to say is that, I am
:51:25. > :51:28.concerned that this is becoming such a huge political story, when I
:51:28. > :51:31.do not think it affects most people that much. If you have caused
:51:31. > :51:35.people on the street what the top five things they are concerned
:51:35. > :51:39.about the is, few of them will say that they are concerned that there
:51:39. > :51:45.will be put in a constituency with the town down the road. Thank you
:51:45. > :51:49.very much indeed. You may wonder what our MPs get up
:51:49. > :51:52.to during recess. Many do voluntary work during the summer months. The
:51:52. > :51:57.family charity of one other MPs springs from bitter personal
:51:57. > :52:01.experience. Victoria Beckham, the wife of our South Norfolk MP has
:52:01. > :52:05.been to Tanzania to visit her charity, which raises money to buy
:52:05. > :52:11.prosthetic limbs for amputees. And see me does this film as a video
:52:11. > :52:15.diary. You may find some of the report quite upsetting.
:52:15. > :52:22.Tanzania is one of the few countries in Africa which has at
:52:22. > :52:26.least enjoyed a sustained period of peace. This is barrier Salaam, the
:52:26. > :52:31.capital city. The sprawling, noisy metropolis which overlooks the
:52:31. > :52:40.Indian Ocean. My husband Richard spent one week here, as a volunteer
:52:40. > :52:44.for voluntary services overseas. Idea ready? Hello, Mr Meacher.
:52:44. > :52:48.was working with farmers' groups to raise the profile of small farmers,
:52:48. > :52:53.helping them improve seeds and fertilisers. I joined him in
:52:53. > :52:56.Tanzania for his second week, flying over Lake Victoria to a
:52:56. > :53:01.region and the far north-west of the country. This is one of the
:53:01. > :53:05.press of Tanzania's eight impoverished regions. I am here in
:53:05. > :53:12.the extreme north-west corner of Tanzania, near the borders with
:53:12. > :53:16.Uganda and Burundi, Uganda is over in the extreme right hand corner.
:53:16. > :53:20.Burundi is on the left. Here is where an interesting experiment was
:53:20. > :53:23.started with the World Food Programme. They have ruled out a
:53:23. > :53:29.new play forward, which provides a steady market for small growers
:53:29. > :53:39.Bender Syria, and the areas where red beans grow. They have the
:53:39. > :53:40.
:53:40. > :53:45.ability to buy food from local producers. -- where. Beware also
:53:46. > :53:52.visiting this corner of Tanzania to see people living with disability.
:53:52. > :53:59.-- we all wear also visiting. There is the large number of amputees in
:53:59. > :54:03.Tanzania. Road access are prevalent. Infection can lead to infection --
:54:03. > :54:07.indexing can lead to amputation. Their lives they lead people to
:54:07. > :54:11.hazards. Cooking is done over open fires, so it is no surprise that
:54:11. > :54:20.many children and adults are burnt. They also face the next such as
:54:20. > :54:23.crocodile attack. Some of the saddest of the amputee
:54:23. > :54:28.victims he met were up by no children, whose arms had been
:54:28. > :54:32.deliberately hack off after which doctors encouraged the belief that
:54:32. > :54:42.the bones of an Alpine or child would bring the bare at good
:54:42. > :54:45.
:54:45. > :54:49.fortune. Ins -- of an Alpine hotels would bring be better good fortune.
:54:49. > :54:53.Most will by no children still have to leave their homes are for their
:54:53. > :54:58.own safety. Ability at this children for -- at best home for
:54:58. > :55:02.disabled children. There is a personal story behind their visits
:55:02. > :55:07.to. I have recently set up a charity with my twin sister, Sarah,
:55:08. > :55:12.called Elizabeth's legacy of old, which raises money for children in
:55:12. > :55:18.developing countries to any prosthetics. -- Elizabeth's a
:55:18. > :55:22.legacy of hope. Senna, our mother Elizabeth and Sarah's daughter,
:55:22. > :55:27.Pollyanna, then just two years old, were all hit by a bus in London.
:55:27. > :55:32.Mummy died sure they afterwards, and Pollyanna lost a leg below the
:55:33. > :55:37.knee. Helping others helps us come to terms with what happened to her
:55:37. > :55:40.family. The people of Kagera are the first we have been able to help,
:55:40. > :55:49.through partnerships with a charity called Friends of the children of
:55:49. > :55:59.Tanzania, who wants to offer hope to those who so urgently needed. --
:55:59. > :56:00.