Browse content similar to 27/11/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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In the south: It could be the biggest strike for generations, but | :00:56. | :01:00. | |
what well when stays walk out mean for us. We will also ask whether | :01:00. | :01:06. | |
you can have too much choice in education. And as Inter Faith Week | :01:06. | :01:16. | |
:01:16. | :01:16. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2012 seconds | :01:16. | :34:48. | |
draws to a close, does religion and Welcome to the part of the show for | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
us in the south. On Today show we will be finding | :34:52. | :34:57. | |
out how you can sometimes have to much choice in education. Do | :34:57. | :35:04. | |
politics and religion next? At first, on Wednesday, 24 unions | :35:04. | :35:07. | |
across the public sector will be striking against the public sector | :35:07. | :35:12. | |
pension reforms. Schools in the south wall close, bins will go and | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
emptied, passports could go unchecked. It could be the biggest | :35:16. | :35:20. | |
strike in generations and there is not a sizable town or city in our | :35:20. | :35:25. | |
region that will not have a march. A major headache for the government, | :35:25. | :35:30. | |
but also a sizable one for the opposition. Labour has not been | :35:30. | :35:33. | |
fulsome in its support of the strike. This is what the party | :35:33. | :35:39. | |
leader said last week. No stone should be left unturned to | :35:39. | :35:42. | |
prevent the strikes. Of course it is the case that I think throughout | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
all of the services, basic services should be maintained and everything | :35:48. | :35:53. | |
should be done to make sure that the safety of the public is not put | :35:53. | :35:57. | |
at risk. There will be huge inconvenience if the strike goes | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
ahead, but all of those measures should be taken to protect. | :36:02. | :36:05. | |
We should do what we can to keep the country running as normal as | :36:05. | :36:09. | |
possible, but the decision to strike has been taken by union | :36:09. | :36:14. | |
leaders on the basis of very low vote and they are deciding to go on | :36:14. | :36:19. | |
strike when negotiations are still ongoing. It is very irresponsible | :36:19. | :36:23. | |
and the offer we have made in terms of public sector pensions is a | :36:23. | :36:26. | |
generous offer. So what will be happening here on | :36:26. | :36:33. | |
Wednesday in the South? With us is the Conservative MP for Bournemouth. | :36:33. | :36:40. | |
Amanda Martin from the nut. Alan Whitehead from Labour in | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
Southampton. Are you in favour of the strike? Well, no one likes | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
strikes and strikes are a failure. This has to be resolved by a proper | :36:50. | :36:55. | |
negotiations and it has to be done quickly. So you do not think Amanda | :36:55. | :37:00. | |
should walk out? Is both sides are saying they should negotiate, then | :37:00. | :37:06. | |
they should not walk out. Tobias, we heard your leader say it was a | :37:06. | :37:10. | |
decision of the trade unions, but it is actually a decision of the | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
government. He is absolutely right to question who is leading this | :37:14. | :37:20. | |
strike. Take you Nissan, only a third of members actually took part | :37:20. | :37:26. | |
in the ballot. Only half of those decided to go on strike so that | :37:26. | :37:31. | |
means the majority of members are not in favour. Take the National | :37:32. | :37:38. | |
Union of Teachers, 90% in favour. Head teachers even greater turnout. | :37:38. | :37:42. | |
60% did not bother getting involved with this ballot. The Prime | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
Minister is right to question he is driving this. We have to look at | :37:46. | :37:50. | |
the bigger picture and say we are living 10 years longer than in the | :37:50. | :37:56. | |
Seventies and in the last 10 years, the pensions increase by a third | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
under Labour. We cannot continue with that. Are not., are the | :38:00. | :38:04. | |
teachers in your school in Portsmouth and other ones, are they | :38:04. | :38:09. | |
in favour of walking out? They are rejecting proposals. Nobody wants | :38:09. | :38:14. | |
to go on strike. It is a last resort. Negotiations have been | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
going on. On 13th June, the National Union of Teachers was one | :38:19. | :38:24. | |
of the ones that walked out. We believe that had we not walked out, | :38:24. | :38:29. | |
those negotiations would have ended. But there must be some people | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
bothered about doing this during negotiations. How many people would | :38:33. | :38:37. | |
like this strike not to happen? don't think anybody wants to strike | :38:37. | :38:43. | |
to happen, it is a last resort. We have surveyed members and over 40% | :38:43. | :38:48. | |
of our membership, but when you look at what Mr Cameron was elected | :38:48. | :38:54. | |
on, he was not elected on 40% of the votes in this country. He was | :38:55. | :39:00. | |
elected on a recognise system. is a recognised system. But it is | :39:00. | :39:05. | |
not representing those who are involved in the strike itself. This | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
strike will cost the country potentially over half a billion | :39:08. | :39:14. | |
pounds. In Dorset, there is talk in the hospital of already cancelling | :39:14. | :39:18. | |
movements of patients and dealing with emergency services. It is | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
effecting people as we speak. Are like to bury a myth about whether | :39:23. | :39:29. | |
this is bad for teachers and workers, a nurse on a salary of | :39:29. | :39:33. | |
34,000 will be better off under the new system. They currently have a | :39:33. | :39:40. | |
pension of 17,300, that will move up to 22,000. A teacher on 37,000 | :39:40. | :39:50. | |
:39:50. | :39:50. | ||
will move from 19,000 to 25,000. It is a high-flyer that will move from | :39:50. | :39:56. | |
66,000, their pensions will go down to 44,000. Those are your figures. | :39:56. | :40:01. | |
Alan Whitehead, why are you shaking your head? Because those of fantasy | :40:01. | :40:05. | |
figures. The reality is that the vast majority of people in the | :40:05. | :40:13. | |
public sector are not that well paid. By example, 800,000, mainly | :40:13. | :40:19. | |
women workers in the public sector, although they are burning ever | :40:19. | :40:24. | |
15,000, because they are not full- time are effectively under 15,000 | :40:24. | :40:28. | |
in actual play and the offer that the government has put on the table | :40:28. | :40:33. | |
for that payment has no effect on those at all. They will be paying | :40:33. | :40:38. | |
the 3p in the pound hike that was unilaterally grabbed by the | :40:38. | :40:41. | |
government without any consultation or negotiations are now the | :40:41. | :40:46. | |
government is saying we will not negotiate on that central point. | :40:46. | :40:51. | |
Frankly, if you or I had a three pence increase in our income tax | :40:51. | :40:55. | |
unilaterally given to us, we would be fed up about it. But you would | :40:55. | :41:00. | |
have had to do something yourself. If you were in government here are | :41:00. | :41:05. | |
you saying you would have negotiated? The last Labour | :41:05. | :41:08. | |
government introduced arrangements to secure the sustainability long- | :41:08. | :41:13. | |
term which is what a bias is talking about of the pension system. | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
The present 3p just go straight to the Treasury. It is about a | :41:18. | :41:21. | |
different agenda entirely. The government is not negotiating on | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
that. They need to sit around the table and negotiate about that. It | :41:28. | :41:32. | |
may be a give and take, but if they do that will be in a better place. | :41:32. | :41:38. | |
Why not give negotiators a chance? We have. Way as the government to | :41:38. | :41:44. | |
do an audit and Allen is correct in saying that there was an overhaul | :41:44. | :41:50. | |
in 2007 of the teachers' pension. There were changes made such as | :41:50. | :41:53. | |
five years added on to the age of leaving and all of those things | :41:53. | :41:57. | |
were put into place because we recognised there were concerns. | :41:57. | :42:04. | |
There has been since 1923, 46.4 billion more pounds paid into the | :42:04. | :42:08. | |
teachers' pension scheme and has come out. We are asking for an | :42:08. | :42:12. | |
audit. For the government to do this overdue audit on the pension | :42:12. | :42:16. | |
scheme. If it comes up and says there needs to be conversation | :42:16. | :42:21. | |
about pensions and contributions, then we will take that. Why haven't | :42:21. | :42:27. | |
you done that audit Tobias? You haven't bothered to get on and do | :42:27. | :42:31. | |
it before the negotiations. Let's make it clear what happened under | :42:31. | :42:35. | |
the last 10 years. Pensions under the last 10 years for the public | :42:35. | :42:40. | |
sector increase by a third. That is extremely generous. That is not | :42:40. | :42:49. | |
possible in the downturn. The same jobs being done by the public | :42:49. | :42:54. | |
sector the average private sector pension is �3,700. The question is, | :42:54. | :42:58. | |
how long can you keep feeding am providing these high levels of | :42:58. | :43:01. | |
pensions when we are under the current economic cloud it is not | :43:01. | :43:07. | |
possible. When I leave my teaching job in 30 years, I will get �8,000 | :43:07. | :43:13. | |
per year for my pension. I have paid into that. People who have | :43:13. | :43:18. | |
come into the job since university, and now have to pay for their | :43:18. | :43:23. | |
degree, four years of study, and then when you come in and go in | :43:23. | :43:27. | |
line with another graduate in the private sector, your wages are no | :43:27. | :43:32. | |
where near. It is not our fault that the private sector have taken | :43:32. | :43:35. | |
the pots of money full pension. It is not our fault that teachers are | :43:35. | :43:39. | |
paying in. The government needs to look at the entire state pension | :43:39. | :43:44. | |
and have a real look at that. the negotiations go better as a | :43:44. | :43:48. | |
result of the strike? They are saying there are three concessions, | :43:48. | :43:55. | |
they have given us one. Alan, you think a strike should not happen? | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
If there are real negotiations and that would include this 3p grab | :43:59. | :44:02. | |
that has taken place, there know they should not be strikes because | :44:02. | :44:08. | |
people should be sitting around the table talking. Are you keeping | :44:08. | :44:11. | |
concessions up your sleeve? I am concerned that the strikes will | :44:11. | :44:17. | |
cause huge damage and not lead to any form of agreement. They are not | :44:17. | :44:21. | |
representative of all people and the public sector. It is down to | :44:21. | :44:25. | |
all people. Thank you all for coming in. | :44:25. | :44:29. | |
The new Education Act talked a lot about freeing up schools from state | :44:29. | :44:36. | |
and local authority control. Choice being a good thing, of course, or | :44:36. | :44:40. | |
is it? Sometimes having so many different things to choose from can | :44:40. | :44:50. | |
leave you with not much real choice at all. | :44:50. | :44:55. | |
Choosing a school in Berkshire is child's play, isn't it? And there | :44:55. | :45:00. | |
are so many choices. There are already local council schools, | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
Austell academies, new-style academies and three schools. Keep | :45:04. | :45:10. | |
up at the back. It is all a bit of a mess. These parents have been | :45:10. | :45:13. | |
racking their brains on how to make sure there is somewhere for their | :45:13. | :45:18. | |
young children to go when the time comes. We really have no option of | :45:18. | :45:22. | |
where to send our children. My youngest is for and it now looking | :45:22. | :45:27. | |
at the numbers of children coming through, the school and area is | :45:27. | :45:31. | |
going to be overwhelmed with new building. There are no places for | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
my child to go to school. academy would be fine, but it is | :45:36. | :45:38. | |
oversubscribed for the local communities so we would have no | :45:39. | :45:43. | |
opportunity. These Mums Net of seven miles from the secondary | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
school on offer which has fewer places and the nearest school in | :45:47. | :45:53. | |
Reading is oversubscribed. Hold on, though. There is now the Education | :45:53. | :46:00. | |
Bill 2011. Has anyone considered a free school? What do you think? | :46:00. | :46:05. | |
Brilliant. We have the side right there that we can create a school | :46:06. | :46:13. | |
This site was only closed about a year and a half ago and it has | :46:13. | :46:17. | |
always been a school up until 100 years ago. It has all the | :46:17. | :46:22. | |
facilities we require. Re using the site of a former at | :46:22. | :46:26. | |
secondary school, Oakbank free school will open up here in | :46:26. | :46:31. | |
September. As the new academy, it will get his money from central | :46:31. | :46:36. | |
government, not the local council. All Saints Junior in Reading has | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
done this in September admitting seven year-old from All Saints | :46:40. | :46:44. | |
infants struggling to find a place elsewhere. Although there are some | :46:44. | :46:48. | |
excellent primary schools, there was not space. It has meant they | :46:48. | :46:52. | |
can stay together as a friendship group and it has meant that the | :46:52. | :46:59. | |
transition for them has been smooth. The Education Bill is also helping | :46:59. | :47:06. | |
new university technical current images. Reading may get its first | :47:06. | :47:11. | |
very soon. This offers a very different type of education, | :47:11. | :47:15. | |
technically based education although it has an academic call. | :47:15. | :47:22. | |
It offers an eight until 5pm school day. It involves more teaching and | :47:22. | :47:25. | |
more freedom for the school and how it carries out the national | :47:25. | :47:28. | |
curriculum. The make-up of schools in this area | :47:28. | :47:33. | |
is particularly mixed with newly- launched Academy's outnumbering | :47:33. | :47:37. | |
council-run schools. And with the free school movement gathering | :47:37. | :47:41. | |
momentum, and each will be confident that parents know what | :47:41. | :47:45. | |
their options are and what difference it makes? | :47:45. | :47:51. | |
These are just numbers, are they? Reading else will is one of only | :47:51. | :47:54. | |
two none Academy Schools in the borough which still gets their | :47:54. | :47:58. | |
funding locally. Despite this, they say they do not feel like second | :47:58. | :48:02. | |
best. We still offer a good quality of | :48:02. | :48:07. | |
education. Essentially, what has the Academy Bill changed? We | :48:07. | :48:11. | |
certainly had certain freedoms and we still have freedoms of the | :48:11. | :48:14. | |
curriculum in the school, which is exactly the same as what academies | :48:14. | :48:20. | |
have got. But, according to some, the choice is so baffling that | :48:20. | :48:24. | |
parents of children with poorer backgrounds will get left behind. | :48:24. | :48:29. | |
I think it will lead to a much more fragmented school system whereby | :48:29. | :48:33. | |
the parents in the know can play the system and possibly get the | :48:33. | :48:37. | |
school that they want for their child, but it may leave behind | :48:37. | :48:42. | |
other parents who are a bit confused about what is going on. | :48:42. | :48:45. | |
As for local education authorities like Reading, the lack of money | :48:45. | :48:51. | |
left to spend on its schools is a challenge. So, while the Education | :48:51. | :48:55. | |
Bill aims to give schools greater budget freedom and parents greater | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
confidence, the doubters fear it will fail and others give it and a | :48:59. | :49:05. | |
staff. Last year more free schools opened so it was diving into the | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
unknown, but yes, the fact that there was an opportunity to do | :49:09. | :49:14. | |
something about it was what made us go down that road. We are hugely | :49:14. | :49:18. | |
grateful that it exists because it is giving us the chance to give our | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
children what they need. Some tough choices for parents and | :49:23. | :49:27. | |
education authorities. This week has been the third annual | :49:27. | :49:33. | |
inter-faith week. It was originally started to introduce awareness of | :49:33. | :49:38. | |
the different faiths. It all sounds laudable, but it maybe feels more | :49:38. | :49:41. | |
relevant at a time when faith groups are being encouraged to get | :49:41. | :49:46. | |
involved in a big society. Guard and Mammon are squaring gap outside | :49:46. | :49:51. | |
St Paul's. Bishops are writing to their papers criticising welfare | :49:51. | :49:56. | |
plans. With me in the studio at his Mohammed Ansar and Right Reverend | :49:56. | :50:02. | |
Nicholas Holtham. Welcome both of you. Difficult choices we saw for | :50:02. | :50:06. | |
parents. Is it a time for leadership and should that be | :50:06. | :50:12. | |
religious leadership? Difficult choices for everybody in an | :50:12. | :50:14. | |
economic downturn, but if Jesus said love God and love your | :50:14. | :50:19. | |
neighbour as yourself, there is not an option but for people of faith | :50:19. | :50:23. | |
to get involved. In a way that they were not five years ago? I think | :50:23. | :50:27. | |
Christians have always been involved in politics, but in an | :50:27. | :50:31. | |
economic downturn people look more about our believes and commitments | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
to each other. Between the faith communities there are strong | :50:35. | :50:39. | |
connections in terms of social justice and care for the poor. We | :50:39. | :50:44. | |
can do a lot together. Is it the most vulnerable you feel you should | :50:44. | :50:51. | |
be getting involved with? I don't think you forget the bankers | :50:51. | :50:55. | |
because it is important that bankers realise the task they are | :50:55. | :51:00. | |
involved in is a social good. That is one of the things they seem to | :51:00. | :51:03. | |
have forgotten. It is not about what I can get out of the system | :51:03. | :51:09. | |
for me. Of course people of faith care more for the poorest. That is | :51:09. | :51:13. | |
the structure in the scriptures, there is a common ground for the | :51:13. | :51:19. | |
careful the poorest who are in need. Mohammed Ansar, what is the place | :51:19. | :51:22. | |
in inter-faith week for religious communities to get involved in | :51:22. | :51:28. | |
politics? There is a very clear place for faith in politics. In | :51:28. | :51:32. | |
broader society and public affairs. When we look at the situation we | :51:32. | :51:36. | |
find ourselves in, there are some great challenges put before us. | :51:36. | :51:41. | |
Whether it is social justice, the cuts, government policy and nothing | :51:41. | :51:45. | |
that is lacking more than anything else, there is a moral vacuum. | :51:45. | :51:49. | |
There is a sense of morality missing and this is something that | :51:49. | :51:55. | |
those who are faithful bring to the table. It is about choices, then? | :51:55. | :51:58. | |
So are you saying to people to make your own choices or are we | :51:58. | :52:03. | |
providing leadership and saying, fine example, if you're a trade | :52:03. | :52:07. | |
unionist you should strike? Dynamic leadership is something that has | :52:07. | :52:11. | |
been a great challenge for all of the faith communities for a long | :52:11. | :52:18. | |
time. Our friend here is an example of very progressive and forward- | :52:18. | :52:23. | |
thinking members of the clergy within the Christian Church. Within | :52:23. | :52:26. | |
the Muslim community we are coming together and the kind of leadership | :52:26. | :52:32. | |
needed in society will be centred around public dialogue. Divisions | :52:32. | :52:36. | |
within religions maybe become less at a time when you have to reach | :52:36. | :52:40. | |
out and get involved in the real world? I would hope that from an | :52:40. | :52:46. | |
Islamic perspective we would rely on the scriptures. You come to | :52:46. | :52:51. | |
common terms with each other. Whether that is Muslims or non | :52:51. | :52:55. | |
Muslims within Muslim community is, we have to set aside our | :52:55. | :52:58. | |
differences. There is a huge challenge and a great need in | :52:58. | :53:02. | |
society for people to have direction and leadership. It is a | :53:02. | :53:06. | |
great opportunity around inter- faith week to come together and | :53:06. | :53:14. | |
look at, and into it -- a common interest. Do you fell at the moment | :53:15. | :53:18. | |
the public are starting to recognise with the occupied protest | :53:18. | :53:26. | |
that the Church has more of a role to play? Allergies don't want exist | :53:26. | :53:31. | |
in a vacuum. What people of faith are doing is saying you don't get | :53:31. | :53:36. | |
good values without religious beliefs. What religious communities | :53:36. | :53:41. | |
can do and what is happening at St Paul's right now is that the Church | :53:41. | :53:45. | |
is trying to discuss with a whole society. Way you stand in vexed | :53:45. | :53:50. | |
what you can see. In a community we need to build a way of creating a | :53:50. | :53:54. | |
common good and a sense of common purpose. Religious communities | :53:54. | :53:57. | |
traditionally have been good at holding that discussion and | :53:57. | :54:02. | |
bringing people together in order to work up, not to tell people what | :54:02. | :54:08. | |
to do, but find the common good. It all sounds worthy stuff, but do | :54:08. | :54:13. | |
you think there is a practical application? There is a hugely | :54:13. | :54:17. | |
practical application. Religion do something that you do not getting | :54:17. | :54:21. | |
ordinary politics. It inspires people. Inspires people in a way | :54:21. | :54:26. | |
that light a fire within people, not just under people. Whether it | :54:26. | :54:30. |