:00:53. > :00:57.I will read -- I will be reporting Can in the south-west, can the
:00:57. > :01:01.Government's housing strategy lead to a loss of affordable homes in
:01:01. > :01:11.the region? And is in the right time for a vote on whether to scrap
:01:11. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :34:48.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2016 seconds
:34:48. > :34:51.Hello and welcome to the Politics Show in the South West. Ministers
:34:51. > :34:54.claimed this week that the dream of owning your own home could now
:34:54. > :34:57.become a reality for thousands more people. The government's planning
:34:57. > :35:01.to introduce 95 % mortgages and larger discounts for people who
:35:01. > :35:03.want to buy their own council houses. The aim is to increase the
:35:03. > :35:13.overall number of affordable homes but critics claim the opposite
:35:13. > :35:14.
:35:14. > :35:19.could happen. John Danks reports. This housing development in
:35:19. > :35:24.Plymouth's North Prospect is part of a regeneration prospect --
:35:24. > :35:30.project to build affordable homes. There are 10,000 people on the
:35:30. > :35:33.waiting list and there is a desperate shortage of homes. Nick
:35:33. > :35:38.Clegg and David Cameron unveiled a project to get Britain building
:35:38. > :35:42.again. It is to get by years buying and lenders lending. I am
:35:42. > :35:48.announcing support for an industry led indemnity scheme to provide
:35:48. > :35:56.help for first-time buyers in particular. I will help 100,000
:35:56. > :36:00.people to buy new homes with 5% deposit. Finding affordable homes
:36:00. > :36:06.is a big problem in the south-west and such indemnity schemes will be
:36:06. > :36:12.of little value to people like Rob Sissons -- Rob Simmons and family.
:36:12. > :36:17.The substantial money needed for a mortgage and to save for a deposit,
:36:17. > :36:20.we don't have money at the end of the month to put forward for a
:36:20. > :36:25.deposit. I don't think we would meet any criteria for a buying a
:36:25. > :36:30.house there was over �100,000. It is pretty much every house in
:36:30. > :36:33.Cornwall. The Government seems hell-bent on promoting home-
:36:33. > :36:39.ownership and those in social housing are up to be given more
:36:39. > :36:42.incentive to buy. Divide to buy it is scheme is to give -- is to be
:36:42. > :36:46.given a shot in the arm. For every house sold and the scheme, the
:36:46. > :36:52.prompt -- the Government promises an affordable home will be built to
:36:52. > :36:57.replace it. The level of discount that we have to be provided to
:36:57. > :37:01.enable people to buy their own homes will have to be substantial.
:37:01. > :37:07.It is unlikely the level of receipt that to get will enable us to go
:37:08. > :37:11.and build a direct replacement. It will take two or three right-to-buy
:37:11. > :37:18.sales to generate defending to enable us to build more affordable
:37:18. > :37:23.homes. I am wary of the rush back to the right to buy. It is not
:37:23. > :37:27.necessarily a thing -- good thing for the interval -- individuals.
:37:28. > :37:32.They have to take long term the costs of replacing windows, sorting
:37:33. > :37:41.but leaks and the new bathroom. Those are costs that people can't
:37:41. > :37:44.but actually afford. If that house is sold on to the open market,
:37:44. > :37:49.there are other people needing affordable homes that won't get
:37:49. > :37:55.them. The Government says they will get them but how soon and whether
:37:55. > :37:59.there will be like for like properties? The target is 450,000
:37:59. > :38:05.homes has been welcomed as a stepping the right direction,
:38:05. > :38:09.particularly by those in the building trade. Simply to stay pace
:38:09. > :38:15.with the number of new households forming, maybe because of Our
:38:15. > :38:19.children looking to find a home, that combination is driving this
:38:19. > :38:23.need and we would need to be building 250,000 homes a year. We
:38:23. > :38:28.are building less than half of that at the moment and the Government
:38:28. > :38:32.planned -- plans went radically alter the picture. It is not enough
:38:32. > :38:37.and went to live on anything like the scale we need. The Government
:38:37. > :38:41.will have to come back again. They have made 127 announcements since
:38:41. > :38:46.they have coming Government and this is another one. The North
:38:46. > :38:49.Prospect regeneration is due to be completed in five years. By then,
:38:49. > :38:53.the National Housing Federation said the housing crisis will have
:38:53. > :38:55.only got worse. Well earlier I spoke to the chairman of the all-
:38:55. > :38:58.party housing group, Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Gilbert. I put
:38:58. > :39:02.it to him that the government's plans could actually lead to a loss
:39:02. > :39:07.of affordable homes if it took the sale of two or three council houses
:39:07. > :39:12.to pay for just one new affordable home.
:39:12. > :39:16.The Government is clear on this. Where there is a home sold, a will
:39:16. > :39:20.be replaced on a one-for-one basis. The Government will make sure, when
:39:20. > :39:24.the details of this scheme come out over the next few months, the
:39:24. > :39:30.funding formula is right. If we are selling one council house, we are
:39:30. > :39:32.replacing it with another. That was always the problem with the
:39:32. > :39:36.previous right-to-buy scheme. This time, the Government has got it
:39:36. > :39:40.right and we are maintaining aspiration to home-ownership but
:39:40. > :39:43.making sure we are replacing social homes that are lost with new social
:39:43. > :39:48.homes for many thousands of people who are in desperate need.
:39:48. > :39:55.Will have to see how that works in practice. Your predecessor, Lord
:39:55. > :39:59.Taylor, is also very wary of a move back to promoting the right to buy.
:39:59. > :40:03.He says the main reason for that is in the long term, the House is
:40:03. > :40:07.affordable when it is bought by the occupant but then it goes on to
:40:07. > :40:11.being sold in the open market and it is not affordable any more.
:40:11. > :40:18.have to recognise that the vast majority of people want to aspire
:40:18. > :40:22.to own their own home, whether they are social tenants or tenants in
:40:22. > :40:28.the full market. It is right that the Government is moving to help
:40:28. > :40:31.social tenants but helping first- time buyers. Doesn't this fast
:40:31. > :40:37.track homes out of the affordable bracket in the medium to longer
:40:37. > :40:41.term? That depends on how many homes are being put in. This will
:40:41. > :40:45.be the first Government in 33 years to leave office in four years' time
:40:45. > :40:49.with more show shall homes then we entered office with. There is a
:40:49. > :40:54.good record that the Government is putting forward on the creation of
:40:54. > :40:58.new affordable and social homes. It is right that the Government
:40:58. > :41:03.addresses those aspirational wishes of both social tennis and first-
:41:03. > :41:10.time buyers. Looking at both of those, you won't be homes to be
:41:10. > :41:14.affordable for that tenant or first-time buyer. They have said
:41:14. > :41:19.that the average price of a council house in Plymouth will make it
:41:19. > :41:23.impossible for the tenant to be able to buy it. That depends
:41:23. > :41:28.whether discount is set and that depends on the ability of tenants
:41:28. > :41:32.to stretch their finances. Nobody can expect to own a home easily. It
:41:32. > :41:38.is challenging for people in the social sector and in the four
:41:38. > :41:42.markets. The Government is right to say that people want to own up
:41:42. > :41:46.their own homes. That is still the bedrock of people's aspirations and
:41:46. > :41:51.right that by helping first-time buyers and social Danon -- social
:41:51. > :41:55.tenors, the Government addresses those needs. We have heard from
:41:55. > :41:58.somebody in Penzance desperate to buy his own home. He says, because
:41:58. > :42:03.of the high average house prices, even with the help of the mortgage
:42:03. > :42:07.indemnity scheme, he still wouldn't be able to ALF -- afford a house in
:42:07. > :42:17.Cornwall. There is no doubt that it will still be challenging for some
:42:17. > :42:21.
:42:22. > :42:24.people. I think it is going to help 90,000 people across the country
:42:24. > :42:34.get a full-time to the housing ladder when otherwise they may not
:42:34. > :42:37.
:42:37. > :42:42.have been able to. -- get a foot on the housing Lazar. -- Leader. At
:42:42. > :42:46.the moment, they are priced out and it is a step in the right direction.
:42:46. > :42:49.We have to recognise the progress that the Government has shown on
:42:49. > :42:52.this. The new stag hunting season is now
:42:52. > :42:55.underway - but the prospect of a return to full-scale hunting with
:42:55. > :42:58.dogs seems more distant than ever. The coalition agreement promised
:42:58. > :43:02.MPs a free vote on whether the ban should be scrapped, but there's
:43:02. > :43:05.still no indication at all of when that's likely to happen. And now it
:43:05. > :43:12.seems some hunters are keen to kick the debate into the long grass for
:43:12. > :43:19.fear of losing the vote. Clinton Rogers reports.
:43:19. > :43:28.Big band home team -- hunting with hounds in 2005. This is the Devon
:43:28. > :43:33.and Somerset Staghounds in 2011. Now to announce that in at six
:43:33. > :43:36.years, nothing has changed. The hunters have said they are working
:43:36. > :43:41.probably within the exemptions of the new law. They are working with
:43:41. > :43:47.two hounds rather than a pack. Those who spend their working lives
:43:47. > :43:56.travelling around monitoring Hance, say 60,005, they have been many
:43:56. > :44:02.breaches of the hunting act across the region. -- they say that since
:44:02. > :44:08.2005. These pictures of Diddley to a prosecution. That's is rare.
:44:08. > :44:15.Officially, every police force will tell you day and forced every law.
:44:15. > :44:18.Senior officers privately say they have better things to do. We have
:44:18. > :44:23.our suspicions and the National Wildlife crime Unit have pointed
:44:24. > :44:28.out that there are many complaints about illegal hunting in this area
:44:28. > :44:32.and yet we still don't see much police activity. We would like to
:44:32. > :44:37.see more police activity in this area and others around the country.
:44:37. > :44:41.Politically, the hunts have gone cold on pushing for a repeal of the
:44:41. > :44:45.Hunting Act. Something the Conservatives have always promised
:44:45. > :44:50.and which if the Prime Minister reiterated in a recent interview
:44:50. > :44:56.with us. For it is an issue that will come forward into court and
:44:56. > :45:01.the House of Commons will look at this. The hunting ban has been
:45:01. > :45:05.ineffective. Are you afraid you will lose? It is a matter for the
:45:05. > :45:10.House of Commons. Some are saying it hasn't been bolted -- brought
:45:10. > :45:14.forward because you think you will lose. We will have to wait and see.
:45:14. > :45:21.His backbenchers are not so sure that the vote now would be a good
:45:21. > :45:28.thing. Both if you have got a law which can be revoked, or you do
:45:28. > :45:32.something with the law, we haven't got time to do that at the moment.
:45:32. > :45:35.There are many things further up the agenda and we have to take
:45:35. > :45:41.priority. If there is a feeling among hunters that's right now,
:45:41. > :45:45.this is a fight they wouldn't win. They have learned much from the
:45:46. > :45:52.recent failure of the Liberal Democrats to achieve their holy
:45:52. > :45:56.grail, getting AV. When that was put to a vote, the loss. Behind us
:45:56. > :46:01.feel that if they only get one chance of repealing the Hunting Act,
:46:01. > :46:08.they won't push for a vote in the, unless they can be sure of winning
:46:08. > :46:11.it. We haven't got a Tory Government. It is a coalition
:46:11. > :46:15.Government so the third will be wrong for us. Do you think one day
:46:15. > :46:20.you will get a vote and one day it will be repealed or is it a lost
:46:20. > :46:24.cause? If I didn't believe we would get a vote and a repeal, I would be
:46:24. > :46:28.standing here today. One thing seems certain. It won't be
:46:28. > :46:31.happening any time soon. Cornwall's nationalist party Mebyon Kernow
:46:31. > :46:34.secured its fifth seat on Cornwall Council this week. The result comes
:46:34. > :46:39.as a birthday present for the party as it celebrates 60 years in
:46:39. > :46:41.business. MK also has more than 20 town and parish councillors. But
:46:41. > :46:44.the parliamentary success enjoyed by both the Scottish Nationalist
:46:44. > :46:54.Party and Plaid Cymru in Wales continues to elude their Cornish
:46:54. > :46:57.
:46:57. > :47:06.cousins. Tamsin Melville reports. Still on message after six decades.
:47:06. > :47:10.Mebyon Kernow activists campaigning this week in Camborne. Describing
:47:10. > :47:14.itself as a modern and progressive political party, I'm K campaigns
:47:14. > :47:20.for their self Government of Cornwall through a legislative
:47:20. > :47:26.assembly. It wants people in Cornwall to make political and
:47:26. > :47:31.economic decisions for themselves. Mebyon Kernow is a growing force in
:47:31. > :47:36.Cornwall. We have moved from being a small pressure group to something
:47:36. > :47:40.where they can see us to live in political ways. People have
:47:40. > :47:44.confidence that we could secure a better deal for Cornwall. There has
:47:44. > :47:50.been success but it has been limited. Do you think you can go
:47:50. > :47:56.further? I'm sure it can. SNP was talking about the fact that we may
:47:56. > :47:59.be 20 years behind where things are in Wales. We have a smaller support
:47:59. > :48:04.than in Wales and Scotland but it is a growing support and something
:48:04. > :48:09.where people are realising there are different models for the UK.
:48:09. > :48:14.is translating the support in two- thirds that is the problem. It is
:48:14. > :48:18.at this grass roots level that Mebyon Kernow has had successes. In
:48:18. > :48:25.the European elections come it did the Labour and got 7% of the vote
:48:26. > :48:32.in Cornwall. In a 2010 general- election, despite getting six
:48:32. > :48:37.Cornish seats, everyone lost their deposit. He was a pressure group
:48:37. > :48:41.but it was more than a pressure group. It was at a 1951 meeting of
:48:41. > :48:46.13 like-minded people in a red with hotel that I'm Cain was born with
:48:46. > :48:54.an emphasis on Cornish identity and culture. Loveday Jenkin has's
:48:54. > :48:58.mother was there. We were really young and realistic. We were
:48:58. > :49:04.staring people up to develop Cornish identity and to preserve
:49:04. > :49:14.what was left of the historic links with the Cornwall of the past. Also
:49:14. > :49:18.looking at the present and to the future. It said in the early days
:49:18. > :49:22.signing up to MK was seen as the thing to do with the group
:49:22. > :49:32.attracting names such as Daphne du Maurier a. Because it was a
:49:32. > :49:35.
:49:35. > :49:43.pressure group, people can become MPs. It wasn't until 1970 that
:49:43. > :49:53.and's husband became MK first president. He lost out to David MAD
:49:53. > :49:54.
:49:54. > :49:59.he was also in Mebyon Kernow. -- David Mudd. They were a campaign
:49:59. > :50:06.organisation. You would probably find that all MPs would be members.
:50:06. > :50:11.I think it is political suicide in a place like Cornwall to indicate
:50:11. > :50:17.that actually you don't want to be part of that celebration of
:50:17. > :50:27.diversity. In the 1970s, I'm K became a fully fledged political
:50:27. > :50:35.
:50:35. > :50:39.In the Eighties, campaigning took a higher profile. A lot of leaflets
:50:39. > :50:43.and a real labour of love. There is a great deal of support out there
:50:43. > :50:47.but it doesn't always manifest in those large elections. What happens
:50:47. > :50:53.in the future, given the broken promises, who knows. It is
:50:53. > :50:59.difficult for any small party. is through issues like the current
:50:59. > :51:05.Keep Cornwall Whole campaign where their presence can be felt. How
:51:05. > :51:12.does the party take it to the next level in and out of Cornwall? With
:51:12. > :51:17.a lot of patience, it seems. For my husband gave the speech as 10 years
:51:17. > :51:27.ago and talked about coming back to haunt best if they didn't get a
:51:27. > :51:31.
:51:31. > :51:35.seat in Parliament in the next 20 Ann Trevenen Jenkin ending that
:51:35. > :51:43.report from Tamsin Melville. And with me now, one of Mebyon Kernow's
:51:43. > :51:48.deputy leaders, Cornwall Councillor, Andrew Long.
:51:48. > :51:53.Can we be Claire as to what degree of devolution you want, which
:51:53. > :51:58.powers specifically for a start it is an open-ended book. When you
:51:58. > :52:06.look at the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru a, they have
:52:07. > :52:16.different forms of devolution. If you look... Ideally, what you want
:52:16. > :52:21.is people to have power down to the local level. Con Moyle Council,
:52:21. > :52:25.were you look at central Government have come down from on high from,
:52:25. > :52:29.you look at the fact that the last 30 years, we have been one of the
:52:29. > :52:34.poorest regions in the home of the European Union. We are talking
:52:34. > :52:39.about getting millions of pounds of funding from European Union's
:52:39. > :52:45.because we are one of the poorest wages in the Horn of European Union.
:52:45. > :52:55.How is that something to celebrate? -- in the whole of the European
:52:55. > :52:58.
:52:58. > :53:03.Union. I have come back in October and went to Estonia, population 1
:53:03. > :53:09.million. There are countries already in the European Union,
:53:09. > :53:14.smaller than Cornwall. If you look at Estonia, it has a viable economy,
:53:14. > :53:20.it is one of the tigers of the Baltic states. It is an example
:53:20. > :53:24.where store -- small countries can succeed. We are not trying to be
:53:24. > :53:28.anti-European, and to anybody. You can be pro Cornish without being
:53:28. > :53:38.anti- anybody else. If there clearly is a cultural identity in
:53:38. > :53:38.
:53:39. > :53:44.Cornwall. Why do you find it so difficult to replicate them? I
:53:44. > :53:49.don't think there it is. There is a latent desire for serious self
:53:49. > :53:53.Government that Cornwall is looking for. When you think about that, you
:53:53. > :53:58.look at the SNP and Plaid Cymru, they have been going since the
:53:58. > :54:05.1930s. We are 30 years behind them. We are heading in the right
:54:05. > :54:10.direction. Thursday's tremendous result, that goes to show report
:54:10. > :54:15.good candidates up and we get the message across and it is an equal
:54:15. > :54:22.fight. We all get an equal share of the publicity and people will be
:54:22. > :54:27.voting in larger numbers. Even in Cornwall, people may say they won't
:54:27. > :54:33.fade for you and people in Cornwall don't want to vote for you. Where