:00:50. > :00:54.This week on the Politics Show. How In the Midlands, we visit the homes
:00:54. > :00:59.that in the internet slow lane and we reveal our own hot spot and
:00:59. > :01:09.blackspots for getting online. High-speed rail, one MP the support
:01:09. > :01:09.
:01:09. > :40:11.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2342 seconds
:40:11. > :40:15.sit says he would fight it himself Hello again from the Midlands. A
:40:15. > :40:18.little later we be hearing from the former Cabinet minister and now
:40:18. > :40:22.enjoying his new-found freedom to speak out from the backbenches.
:40:22. > :40:26.First though, you may be surprised to discover that if you live in
:40:26. > :40:32.Wolverhampton, you have faster internet connections than you do in
:40:32. > :40:36.London. That is according to the communications regulator Ofcom. But
:40:36. > :40:41.how is our countryside getting on in this turf war, battling for
:40:41. > :40:45.space on that much wanted level playing field? We are joined by the
:40:45. > :40:51.Cabinet minister who is hoping to grow the rural economy, Caroline
:40:52. > :40:55.Spelman, the Environment Secretary and Conservative MP for Meriden.
:40:56. > :41:02.And Gisela Stuart, representing Birmingham, the Labour MP for
:41:02. > :41:09.Edgbaston. Parts of our region are in the economic slow lane because
:41:09. > :41:14.of inadequate broadband. Our reporter has been out playing
:41:14. > :41:24.catch-up, where a super-fast Internet connections still seems to
:41:24. > :41:28.
:41:28. > :41:33.be anything but a racing certainty. Here at Herefordshire Raceway, the
:41:33. > :41:36.go-karts Kingdom up to 45 mph in just five seconds. Unfortunately
:41:36. > :41:41.for many people living in the country their internet does not
:41:41. > :41:45.match up to the same high-speed standards. And if you are a
:41:45. > :41:53.business who does not have broadband, in these days you may as
:41:53. > :41:59.well not even be at the races. And nobody knows more about the
:41:59. > :42:02.sluggish problems with the internet and this firm on the Welsh border.
:42:02. > :42:06.Healing Herbs is an alternative medicine business employing 20
:42:06. > :42:09.people from the surrounding Herefordshire countryside. Here
:42:09. > :42:16.they bottle plant extracts for customers around the globe, some as
:42:16. > :42:21.far away as China and even New Zealand. Having so broadband is
:42:21. > :42:27.holding the business back. In it is the only think that I really need
:42:27. > :42:31.for the business. We are at the survival point, but we know that
:42:31. > :42:39.the increase in traffic and the increase in Download times is going
:42:39. > :42:42.to get worse and how long can we survive, that is my question?
:42:43. > :42:48.how does going on line in Herefordshire compared to the rest
:42:48. > :42:52.of the west Midlands? Latest figures from Ofcom revealed the
:42:52. > :42:55.homes with speedy Internet connections compared to those stuck
:42:55. > :43:00.in the slow lane. In Wolverhampton, the place with the best broadband
:43:00. > :43:05.in the Midlands, 93 per cent of homes enjoy the government's target
:43:05. > :43:10.internet speed. In Shropshire, that falls to 82 per cent. In
:43:10. > :43:14.Herefordshire, only three-quarters of homes at internet speed that me
:43:14. > :43:19.to the government recommendation, 17 per cent less than the big city
:43:19. > :43:22.counterparts. And that is the gap the Government is trying to bridge
:43:22. > :43:27.with a 500 million pound project together rural communities a
:43:28. > :43:31.helping hand. High its will go ahead in the Highlands and Islands,
:43:31. > :43:35.north Yorkshire, Cumbria and Herefordshire. All this will help
:43:35. > :43:40.encourage the growth of our creative industries as a key part
:43:40. > :43:44.of the new economy we are seeking to build. What a year after the
:43:44. > :43:46.pilot was announced and plans to run a broadband parts of
:43:46. > :43:51.Herefordshire and Gloucestershire are well underway. When it is in
:43:51. > :43:55.place, it will mean homes around here will not have any problem
:43:55. > :43:59.watching the BBC iPlayer. It was changed everything, it was changing
:43:59. > :44:05.environmentally, people will be able to work from home, it will
:44:05. > :44:10.change its socially, education will be delivered over broadband and
:44:10. > :44:14.economically that will make a huge difference to our businesses.
:44:14. > :44:17.Worcestershire it is the village of Martley. Five years ago people here
:44:17. > :44:23.got so fed up with their broadband they decided to take matters into
:44:23. > :44:27.their own hands. 60 homes clubbed together to set up their own
:44:27. > :44:31.wireless network by tapping into an exchange a few miles down the road.
:44:31. > :44:35.Me to the Johnsons. They are one of the families who are reaping the
:44:35. > :44:39.benefits from the scheme. It used to be so slow beforehand that we do
:44:39. > :44:45.not even bother using it because it used to take too long. Now it is
:44:45. > :44:49.quite quick and we are using it for everything really, the children use
:44:49. > :44:54.it for their homework, we use it for banking, we use it for
:44:54. > :44:57.comparison website and everything like that. The Government continues
:44:57. > :45:03.full throttle in his race to get our broadband up to speed,
:45:03. > :45:11.promising a future in which we are all big internet winners.
:45:11. > :45:16.Incidentally, the deputy leader of dust... He thinks broadband access
:45:16. > :45:21.is important for rural communities, as important as what a. Caroline
:45:21. > :45:25.Spelman, we get the message, but is that an overstatement. You are
:45:25. > :45:28.distinctly disadvantaged if you do not have internet access. Farmers
:45:28. > :45:33.are expected to fire their forms online and children are expected to
:45:33. > :45:38.find homework on line these days and you lose access to important
:45:38. > :45:42.information for your business, if you try to run at the end be in the
:45:42. > :45:46.countryside, and you do not have internet access, you will miss out
:45:46. > :45:52.on custom. It is a game changed and that is why we have allocated over
:45:52. > :45:56.�500 million to try and provide that super-fast prop banned. Also,
:45:56. > :46:01.the example of that community shows they can also help themselves and
:46:01. > :46:05.we hope to announce a fund so that that kind of project can be more
:46:05. > :46:12.widespread. Let me remind you what you say to your party conference in
:46:12. > :46:16.Manchester. He said that Labour's legacy to rural England and Britain
:46:16. > :46:20.was years of opportunity squandered in the absence of modern-day basics
:46:20. > :46:24.like broadband. When you look at Gisela Stuart in the eye and say
:46:24. > :46:28.this is your view of Labour's record? We are behind other
:46:28. > :46:33.European countries. We are behind some of the emerging economies in
:46:33. > :46:36.terms of the speed of roll-up. Jeremy Hunt said that by 2015 we
:46:36. > :46:41.will have a super-fast prop banned three at the countryside and that
:46:41. > :46:46.is our aim. Bury are, Labour neglected the countryside and his
:46:46. > :46:56.government is giving it �500 million. And the greatest of
:46:56. > :46:57.
:46:57. > :47:02.respect, you may be picking an argument here. I think successive
:47:02. > :47:06.governments have realised that in terms of economic competitiveness,
:47:06. > :47:09.modern technologies are vital. Creative Industries play a vital
:47:09. > :47:17.part and allow people to work in the countryside and be able to stay
:47:17. > :47:21.there. Access to information is vital. If week say the we could
:47:21. > :47:28.have done it quicker and most of the time we could have done things
:47:28. > :47:32.quicker. In terms of countrywide coverage of broadband, we are doing
:47:32. > :47:38.pretty well. A you willing to congratulate the Government on this
:47:38. > :47:47.pilot that we have seen in Herefordshire? It be it is a step
:47:47. > :47:51.in the right direction. That it is a game changes. People would like
:47:52. > :47:58.to live and work in the countryside. You cannot if you do not access to
:47:58. > :48:01.the internet. This is an important choice. It is a commitment so that
:48:01. > :48:06.people have so but as broadband access and can work from home in
:48:06. > :48:09.the countryside. By does it have to beat Bath prop banned?
:48:09. > :48:13.Wolverhampton apparently gets better service than London yet no
:48:13. > :48:19.one can say it is actually holding the capital back against the Black
:48:19. > :48:29.Country? Is it. Have to at the Bath prop banned. You will not move back
:48:29. > :48:30.
:48:30. > :48:35.if you are used to better service. The the government realise that
:48:35. > :48:40.these were absolutely essential. It is a continuous improvement. The
:48:40. > :48:45.only danger now that we need to look that is the question of
:48:45. > :48:49.security, cyber security, to insure that does not work that we rely on
:48:49. > :48:55.remain reliable. Are you surprised that there are such marked
:48:55. > :49:01.variations, not just across parts of the Midlands, by losses of
:49:01. > :49:08.figures that suggested that Evesham had a terrible drop off during peak
:49:08. > :49:13.times. Rural areas have got neglected because it is more
:49:13. > :49:17.difficult to lay cables and access more remote properties. With those
:49:17. > :49:22.kind of community broadband projects, you take a hub like a
:49:22. > :49:26.school that has a fast broadband access and many can bolt they say
:49:26. > :49:30.60 homes to it and that is how you improve the Connectivity. I think
:49:30. > :49:34.we will see a lot of growth in rural areas, because people would
:49:34. > :49:40.like to live and work in the countryside, but to do that they
:49:40. > :49:45.need the tools of modern business. You have commend and the Government
:49:45. > :49:50.on one thing and the other seems to be that the big society is working
:49:50. > :49:56.there in Martley. I'm sure David Cameron would be delighted to see
:49:56. > :50:00.how that has worked in marked Leith. The big society was all was a
:50:00. > :50:06.concept at that I could not understand why it was not as much
:50:06. > :50:13.and Labour as Conservatives. It is also a question of isolation of
:50:13. > :50:23.elderly people in rural areas. I do not think it is a party political
:50:23. > :50:24.
:50:24. > :50:32.issue. Come on, I have tried to make it one! I thing it does break
:50:32. > :50:36.the isolation. Some of our order yours do have the confidence to use
:50:36. > :50:41.the internet. Teenagers can talk to the grandparents and it does make a
:50:41. > :50:45.difference. In all sorts of ways, socially, economically and indeed
:50:45. > :50:51.environmentally, because you would not need to commute, and you could
:50:51. > :50:58.work from home. Of that not threatened at a traditional view of
:50:58. > :51:06.the rustic ideal. If you have a rural businesses with their high-
:51:06. > :51:09.tech connections. The countryside has to be a living working place.
:51:09. > :51:13.The shop floor of an industry, Herefordshire certainly, but in
:51:13. > :51:23.terms of the future, internet access will transform the
:51:23. > :51:29.
:51:30. > :51:33.opportunities for young people as well as the elderly. Thank you.
:51:34. > :51:37.You have to make the compromise in the former Cabinet minister, now
:51:37. > :51:41.enjoying what we Westminster watchers call the freedom of the
:51:41. > :51:44.backbenches. You can resign, stay at a government and say what you
:51:44. > :51:48.like but you have no power to do anything about it. The reflections
:51:48. > :51:51.of the now backbench Labour MP for Coventry North East and former
:51:51. > :51:54.Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth. If you were watching last week you
:51:54. > :51:59.will have seen his into the about the challenges are getting much-
:51:59. > :52:02.needed kit at any troops on the frontline in Afghanistan. In a
:52:02. > :52:06.wide-ranging interview recorded in our Westminster studio he also
:52:06. > :52:13.spoke frankly as he never could in government about drugs policy,
:52:13. > :52:17.elected Mayer's and high speed rail. We need a massive new capacity on
:52:17. > :52:22.the railways. You cannot squeeze any more out of the existing
:52:22. > :52:31.network. We have done it already. You could invest millions again and
:52:31. > :52:36.disrupt been at work and get very little. It there are suggestions
:52:36. > :52:42.you can upgrade the existing system. You could but it is a nonsense. We
:52:42. > :52:50.need new capacity. We need aAnd if you are going to build a new line,
:52:50. > :52:54.why build a slow line? I believe the people of Coventry are really
:52:54. > :52:59.opposed him. It is a vociferous campaign and I understand why they
:52:59. > :53:04.are coming from. They are personally affected and most of
:53:04. > :53:09.them offer living in villages affected. If I was living in one of
:53:09. > :53:15.those villages I would be opposed to it. In the national interest,
:53:15. > :53:20.this must also be heard. Moving on to directly elected mayors.
:53:20. > :53:24.Coventry is on the list of places that will be invited to make the
:53:24. > :53:30.decision of whether to have a referendum. Do you see yourself as
:53:30. > :53:33.comedy's first directly elected mayor? I was a councillor for eight
:53:33. > :53:37.years. I believe in local government and I believe we ought
:53:37. > :53:42.to delegate more power to local government, but no party, the
:53:42. > :53:46.Conservative Party or the Labour Party has delegated any of the
:53:46. > :53:51.powers that are necessary to local government in order to do the job
:53:51. > :53:55.that they have under the existing system. They is Bob Ainsworth he
:53:55. > :53:59.did man to do that job for Coventry? The if they were to vote
:53:59. > :54:03.for in Mayor, my party would need a candidate and in those
:54:03. > :54:08.circumstances I would be interested. Equally, I would be interested in
:54:08. > :54:14.backing another person for the job. I believe in the system itself.
:54:14. > :54:20.party colleague has said that it is arrested before a power freak. You
:54:20. > :54:24.are not a genuine and accountability without visibility.
:54:24. > :54:28.Ask them who the leader of the councillors and they would not know.
:54:28. > :54:32.Do you held a variety of ministerial positions, including
:54:32. > :54:36.responsibility for drugs in the Home office. Since moving to the
:54:36. > :54:40.backbenches you have had some tough things to say about drugs policy in
:54:40. > :54:44.this country. You have said it was a disaster and you have suggested
:54:44. > :54:47.that possession of certain drugs that are banned at the moment
:54:47. > :54:52.should be decriminalised. You know what happens when politicians say
:54:53. > :54:59.things like that, they are accused of going soft. How much times have
:54:59. > :55:05.we looked at our local newspapers and see a big seizure of cocaine or
:55:05. > :55:11.heroin. Did it make any difference? The police are like small boys on
:55:11. > :55:17.the beach, damming up the streams that inevitably get to the sea. No
:55:17. > :55:20.matter how much work they put into it, you can break up the big crime
:55:20. > :55:25.syndicates and you have to do that and that is what the police are
:55:25. > :55:30.doing, but they do not stop the flow of drugs, it still gets to the
:55:30. > :55:35.people who demand them at the end of the day. It provides massive
:55:35. > :55:39.fortunes for criminal empires and undermines government itself in
:55:39. > :55:42.some countries. See this as a health problem, get them into
:55:42. > :55:49.treatment and get the doctors' prescribing these drugs instead of
:55:49. > :55:56.the pictures prescribing and in the back alleys and the schools.
:55:56. > :56:03.Ainsworth there. You can find my reflections on that conversation on
:56:03. > :56:09.my block. Gisela Stuart, you chair the all-party group that supports,
:56:09. > :56:19.high-speed rail, Bob Ainsworth said appeared there he would oppose it.
:56:19. > :56:20.
:56:20. > :56:27.Look at what was said about high- speed one, and a lot of the fears
:56:27. > :56:33.were... Did not materialise. This is a big infrastructure project and
:56:33. > :56:41.I remember getting the money and at that stage we thought we would
:56:41. > :56:44.never get high-speed two. Then I very much a but towards the end of
:56:44. > :56:48.December, they will support a project, because it is not just for
:56:48. > :56:54.us in London, it is also betrayed we do with the rest of the regions.
:56:54. > :56:57.It is part of the backbone of this country. If you're constituency
:56:57. > :57:01.gain the size of North Warwickshire which you have to support a high-
:57:02. > :57:05.speed rail. It the all through my existing constituency and it is
:57:05. > :57:13.difficult for people who live in settlements were the rail route
:57:13. > :57:17.goes around them. West I will do everything I can to help them with
:57:17. > :57:21.their compensation claims, I have to point out that there is very
:57:21. > :57:26.little spare capacity on the West Coast Mainline. Demand for rail is
:57:26. > :57:33.increasing, because people find the cost of filling up their cars is a
:57:33. > :57:38.problem and they are using the trains are more. Freight had come
:57:38. > :57:41.off the West Coast Mainline. Do we have a capacity problem and we need
:57:41. > :57:47.to bring the North of England closer to the south of England to
:57:47. > :57:57.bring the jobs closer to the people. Be no No the Transport Select
:57:57. > :57:57.
:57:57. > :58:03.Committee warned that the impact on the rural economy. It has to be
:58:03. > :58:06.bounced in there. My constituency is close to the first station. The
:58:07. > :58:10.businesses in the rural community will benefit from very fast real
:58:10. > :58:14.access as well as the internet access that we are providing. We
:58:14. > :58:18.have to think about the future, it is about the next generation, that
:58:18. > :58:24.needs to be able to travel and we need to provide a good quality
:58:24. > :58:30.public service transport system that is that the the 21st secretary.
:58:30. > :58:35.A what is your position regarding Meyers in Birmingham? A I have said
:58:35. > :58:45.I am interested! Were due mind if other people through their hats in
:58:45. > :58:45.
:58:45. > :58:50.the ring? I would put my name forward. So for the Labour Party
:58:50. > :58:53.has managed to produce three credible candidates and it is a
:58:53. > :59:00.shame that none of the other parties have really put their money
:59:00. > :59:06.where their mouth is. Thinking of your own party, what to think of a
:59:06. > :59:16.colleague in who said it was a power freak? I think he should go
:59:16. > :59:19.
:59:19. > :59:22.back and see what the powers of the mayoral role is. What you have got
:59:22. > :59:27.his new still have a Cabinet and the rights -- and the Government
:59:27. > :59:32.are right to consult on extra powers for the mayor. Caroline you
:59:32. > :59:40.are halfway between Coventry and Birmingham are yourself. Would you
:59:40. > :59:43.throw your hat in the room? I think both cities would benefit. If I
:59:43. > :59:50.think they would flourish under the leadership of an individual