20/11/2011 The Politics Show North West


20/11/2011

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And in the north-west, there is no place like home. But with many

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finding there are no homes to be had, we examine why.

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And how this small Lancashire town raised the Fairtrade flak and

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2342 seconds

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change the it shopping habits of Welcome to the Politics Show in the

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north-west. On this week's programme, as thousands struggle to

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get a foothold on the housing ladder, if we ask what can be done

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to ease the crisis. At the small Lancashire town of

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that raised the Fairtrade flag and changed the shopping habits of the

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world. This week we are in a Darwen in

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Lancashire, and like many places here, affordable housing is guests

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on the ground. In fact, waiting lists have more than doubled in

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just 10 years. High house prices, high deposit requirements and

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difficulty in getting a mortgage has really hit families hard. This

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week, the government is launching its new housing strategy, but what

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They come in all shapes and sizes, but it has never been more

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difficult to get the right fit. This man thought he had. Four years

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ago he was forced to sell his home in Rochdale to the Council. He put

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a deposit down on a new home, but was never quite ready. Meanwhile,

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his friends moved out. What is it like living here on your

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own? It is horrible, a disaster. It is

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horrible having all these empty houses.

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The irony is, you live, Ramsay Street, but you have no neighbours

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at all. He's got home has grown

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increasingly damp and isolated, problems which is MP says are not

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unique. It is particularly bad in Rochdale

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because funding has been stopped. We have families in communities

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living next to boarded-up houses, and they have effectively been

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abandoned. At the sad thing is that over the years, the government has

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put money into housing market renewal, and we started to see a

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return on that, we saw a new and improved housing being developed in

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Rochdale. But this government has stopped that, and we are now seeing

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poor communities abandoned, at that is creating a misery for the people

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of Rochdale. These are pretty different! This is

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where you are going to move to? But at least his luck appears to be

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turning. He has been allocated a new home on a housing association

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development opposite. It has been a long time coming, and

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I do not know what will happen. Because last time it took us four

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years. But I do not know this time. It looks like it will be a very

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nice house if you get in there. hope so. A in Salford they have

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built the first new council houses here for 25 years.

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This man from Slovakia moved here in February after waiting two years.

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I am really happy that I can get a house, and I do not know how many

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people are as lucky as me. But there are problems here too.

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Rubbish has been thrown over his wall, fireworks set off by his

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windows at a neighbour has had his car destroyed. He thinks he knows

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why. I and Slovakia and and he is Polish,

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as the best of the people are English. -- the rest of the people

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are English. As they do not have problems. When someone is drawing

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an egg on your wall, and only you, what do you think.

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So it is it a bit cramped? Yes, we need a bigger bed in here.

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The the House would not be big enough for this woman.

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She needs a four bedroom house, but does not know how long she will

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have to wait. It is needed, we are desperate.

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They are not any situation that we are in.

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You feel people are not listening Different people facing different

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problems. Housing pressure remains a serious challenge.

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I enjoyed by the local MP, Jake Berry, who has a particular

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interest in housing, he is parliamentary private secretary to

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Grant Shapps, and by Derek Long from the National Housing

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Federation which represents England's 1200 housing associations.

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Thank you for joining us. Letters explain why we are standing outside

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a derelict building. Welcome to Darwen, it is fantastic

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to have you here. This was a development that was being

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undertaken on a commercial basis, it failed to during the recession.

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Now we are hoping in this town with the local housing association to

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take it on and make it a real success and provides a more

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affordable homes. Let me bring in Derek. We are

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talking about the housing associations, obviously you

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represent the housing associations. With a development like this, how

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difficult is it for a housing association to take this on and

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make it into an affordable house? It is a big challenge because there

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are not many resources available, particularly since there has been a

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reduction since the spending review. But housing associations are good

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value for money, because what they are trying to do is turn the

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government's grants into borrowing as well, which means we get three

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or four times the money we put in. It is difficult to do this, but

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housing associations are happy to do it. The this is one project, but

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it is a massive problem in the north-west.

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I was staying with you Derek, because waiting lists are growing

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at quite a fast rate in the north- west.

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There are about 250,000 people on the waiting list here, and that is

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because we are not building enough houses. We at the lowest level of

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building in 90 years. We have built less than half the houses we need

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in the north-west. So it is essential that resources could put

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into more affordable housing. I absolutely recognise that. It

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will look at the historic problem here, and we are talking about not

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building enough houses, over the course of the last government, we

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actually had 420,000 fewer affordable homes, despite the fact

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that they spent �4.5 billion try to create more. So the consensus

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around the old model does not work. What this government has done is

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given the opportunity to housing associations and local authorities

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to release wet their assets and go up to 80% of market rent, get a

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real return on their investments and to provide affordable housing.

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We are going to provide 170,000 affordable homes through this model.

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I did that is a real success. Derek, is that enough?

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It -- it is good, but it is not enough. The affordable rent model

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does not work in all parts of the country. It does not work well in

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areas of limited growth and limited strength in the economy. It is

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essential that we have more than just affordable rent across the

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country. I would accept that if it were not

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the case that we have had 143 providers apply for this model, it

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is vastly oversubscribed. I was told it would not work in rural

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areas, urban areas, the North or the south. In fact it is working

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all across the country. We are delivering houses people want to

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move into. Have governments got it wrong?

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Yes. It is true that governments have not built enough homes for at

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least 10 years. So it is not just a problem with the current

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administration. But you're in a position now to make a difference,

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at that means we need some new ideas put into the system.

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We have got the government housing strategy Juge due to be announced,

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so what will be in that a comic Derek feel more comfortable?

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It is hugely exciting. I cannot say much before it is released on

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Monday, but we accept that we need to build more houses.

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So there will be something in there about more affordable houses?

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I hope so. It will have to wait until Monday. But it is absolutely

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vital that we get the construction sector going again in this country.

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We all know we need more homes and jobs. Pulling that Leaver and

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getting people back building houses, whether affordable, private rented

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or ones we buy to living, will really get up our economy going

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again. Getting more houses built, will really help. That is why it is

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essential that this government initiative succeed.

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Derek, is that good news for you? We want to see the numbers, and we

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need to be clear about them. We would like a billion pounds to be

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allocated for shared ownership. That could create 99,000 jobs in

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terms of the construction sector, added would pay for itself in terms

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of people coming off benefit. So we need big money, and not just in the

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south but in the north as well. We would love to have big money,

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unfortunate the country is on its knees following the last government.

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But we don't need big money, we just need to use it in a smart away.

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I believe the housing strategy will show that, we will have government

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land coming forward on a bill now pay later system, and you can pay

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when you have built the house. I would have to stop you. Thank you

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very much for joining us. It is exactly 10 years since the

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small town of Garstang in Lancashire was officially

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recognised as the world's first Fairtrade town. At the time,

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Fairtrade products were a novelty. But now the idea has developed into

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way worldwide movement involving over 1000 towns and cities in 23

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countries. It was in the year 2000 that the

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people of Garstang voted almost unanimously for this to become the

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world's first Fairtrade town. One year later than was realised. A --

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one year later that was realised. Call the mavericks or

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revolutionaries, but what was started here was an international

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mood and. 23 countries have followed the lead.

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We try to ensure that when we have anything in and around Garstang, we

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always use Fairtrade products and local produce, which we think is

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very important. Gradually, all the shops in Garstang have followed

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suit, as they have got Fairtrade produce.

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When the Miliband first started, it focused on certain products like

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coffee and chocolate which she could only get in specialist shops.

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Now you can get everything from Fairtrade goal to two coffins. 70%

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of the items in the shops are Fairtrade.

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It is great to be a pioneer of this movement. Children are like

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learning about it in schools. The older generation are very

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appreciative of it. There is a vast range if you shop

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around and have a look. They all have the Fairtrade logo. So you

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just have to shop around. The idea behind Fairtrade is not

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just about stacking supermarket shelves with products, but building

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strong community links. Garstang is twinned with a village in Ghana. In

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2004, a delegation went out to build facilities for local children.

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But not all supermarkets do this. At with some marketing their own

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Fairtrade groups, -- Fairtrade goods, there is concern that some

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groups are being pushed out. It works by giving people a decent

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wage to give them a decent standard of living. Some companies go that

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one step further than the minimum standards and will get involved in

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producing partnership programmes, helping farmers to build their

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infrastructure and organisation. The motivation for large

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Fairtrade is not just helping farmers in the Third World. This

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man is a dairy farmer in Cumbria. He feels the model has a lot to

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offer him. I think the benefits are putting

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Cumbria on the agenda, if you will. People understand what they are

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getting, where they are getting from, how it is produced, and they

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trust the people who do it. And fetching together that food chain

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for them to understand how we do it and what we do it.

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How could the money you get from creating something like a Fairtrade

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model really benefit areas like Cumbria?

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If you look further down the road, we produce a lot of milk and lamb

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and all the rest of the things that Cumbria is quite famous for, if you

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will. But if that was processed within the county, and if it was

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sold within the county, you would get a lot more jobs were young

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people could work and there would be more money kept in the area

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instead of all that going elsewhere. And it is not just farmers feeling

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out of pocket. In tough economic times, can people really afford to

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shop ethically? I know people try to push for

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independent things, but at the moment, if you are getting your

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shopping, you just get bored is on offer.

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If you can help by getting Fairtrade food, then by all means

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get it. The majority go to where it is

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cheapest. Shopping ethically may be a

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challenge to consumers, but the Fairtrade brigade shows no signs of

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slowing down. What started here in the small town of Garstang has had

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a major impact on the way we shop. Joining the is the driving force

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behind Fairtrade here in Garstang. We are here at what will be the

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world's first Fairtrade visitor centre. An incredible achievement.

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Absolutely. It would be the world's first Fairtrade in visiting centre

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in the world's first Fairtrade town. We have got a lot of first here in

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this market town. Are you surprised at how big this

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movement has become? Yes. I am idealist, I have been

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called this all my life, so I always expect great things to come.

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But even I never dreamt we would be as big as this, we have now got

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over 1000 Fairtrade towns in 23 countries across all six continents.

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And it all started in a market town in Lancashire.

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Cannot work in other places? Definitely. There is no question.

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It can happen in a small market town like this, but that means it

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can happen anywhere. We have got places with populations of 65

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people in Scotland which are Fairtrade places. So is London, 7

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million. And do consumers get behind the

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ideal of Fairtrade? I think that is the point of

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Fairtrade towns. We live in a busy world, people do not have time to

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understand the issues that are happening with our trading system.

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The fact that people in Ghana are growing cocoa for a chocolate, and

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they do not have access to clean water. People do not know this, but

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when that awareness is fed to them, which it will be through the

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visitors' centre at Fairtrade towns, as these people want to do

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something about it, and all they have to do is buy the Fairtrade

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chocolate. Are the supermarkets getting behind

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Fairtrade, or are they coming out with their own Fairtrade did? Is

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some of the original Fairtrade Foundation being pushed out?

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Supermarkets are coming on board now. Some people are doing it just

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because they realise the consumers are demanding it. Therefore, the

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supermarkets need to change. Otherwise they will go out of

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business. In the recession, are people

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happier to pay that extra bit for ethical goods?

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Fairtrade could do not have to cost a lot more, and they often don't.

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So that is a bit of a question from the past. But the other thing is,

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when people who grow the cocoa do not have clean water, do we really

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need to have our chocolate so cheap that we cannot give someone a life?

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I think when people understand that they supported. In the middle of

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this recession, we have had a 40% increase, and that is clear across

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the last year. We still had a 40% increase in sales of Fairtrade

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product. So I think it shows people really do feel they can.

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Thank you for speaking to us. I know you have got lots to do,

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because the visitors' centre should be open tomorrow.

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Tied by that of this week's event. -- time for a round-up of this

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week's events. They could be good news for BAe

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Systems if the Indian government buys the Eurofighter plane.

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Ministers have been assiduous over the last few weeks in promoting the

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case for the typhoon in India and other countries. We understand that

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there is likely to be an announcement in the next few weeks

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on the decision that has been made by the Indian government.

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Everton Football Club's official charity has been given permission

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to set up a free school. From next September it will provide education

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for either 100 teenagers. The philosophy of our club will

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form part of our brand values within the school. It will be about

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team work, dedication, commitment. We will have access to players and

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the resources and facilities of the football club.

:59:29.:59:33.

Police stations across Lancashire are too close to the public in an

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attempt to save millions of pounds. 14 stations across the county are

:59:39.:59:43.

affected, eight or close completely, as the other six were have front

:59:43.:59:47.

desks shut. 31 buildings will be sold.

:59:47.:59:52.

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