:00:53. > :00:56.In the West: It will be the biggest picket line in decades. We hear
:00:56. > :00:58.from workers who say going on strike next week is their only
:00:58. > :01:02.option. And the local hunt campaigners who say they've given
:01:02. > :01:12.up hope of winning a free vote in parliament. All that coming up
:01:12. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :35:04.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2032 seconds
:35:04. > :35:10.School's out for one day as teachers take industrial action but
:35:10. > :35:15.how will be parents cope? People in the West fight back against public-
:35:15. > :35:19.sector cuts. And the smell defeat. The campaigners who say they have
:35:19. > :35:26.given up hope of getting the controversial hunting Act repealed
:35:26. > :35:29.this Parliament. It's expected to be the biggest strike in decades.
:35:29. > :35:31.It's reckoned this Wednesday more than two million public sector
:35:31. > :35:34.workers will take action over proposed changes to their pensions.
:35:34. > :35:37.Politically it's uncomfortable for the coalition and for Labour. But
:35:37. > :35:47.that hasn't dented the determination of members of two
:35:47. > :35:49.
:35:49. > :35:55.dozen unions, some of whom have never before been on strike.
:35:55. > :36:02.Primary school football in the Forest of Dean. On Wednesday they
:36:02. > :36:11.will be having a day off, so will their head teacher. It is a day of
:36:11. > :36:16.industrial action, probably. wants his teachers -- pagans to
:36:16. > :36:24.know why he is taking this step. His union have never been on strike
:36:24. > :36:29.before. It is a last resort action. We do not want to take any action.
:36:29. > :36:34.We want schools to be open. We understand it will be an
:36:34. > :36:41.inconvenience to parents but we are doing it for the sake of the
:36:41. > :36:48.profession. This is another person who has never been on strike but
:36:48. > :36:52.the proposed changes would hit her hard. When we signed up to the
:36:52. > :36:58.pension scheme we were told our benefits at the end of it would be
:36:58. > :37:02.based on a were final salary. We have a grievance over that. It is
:37:02. > :37:07.like a contract signing up to a pension scheme. This is what you
:37:07. > :37:17.are going to get. You pay more, you work longer and then they are not
:37:17. > :37:20.
:37:20. > :37:25.going to give you as much. We seem to have plenty of Spears to get
:37:25. > :37:31.that circulated. The best will be their biggest ever Pickett. It
:37:31. > :37:36.follows on from the summer strike involving four unions. They do not
:37:36. > :37:40.want to alienate the public. A after the strike in June it showed
:37:40. > :37:46.that the more the public were aware of the issues the more they sided
:37:46. > :37:52.with the workers. While nobody wants their lives disrupted,
:37:52. > :38:02.schools being closed, there is a sense of injustice that people now
:38:02. > :38:03.
:38:03. > :38:08.Shia. Once again they will try to make the protests family friendly.
:38:08. > :38:17.Members of this union feel that the public sector has really taken a
:38:17. > :38:22.battering. We should not need to go out to demonstrate to the
:38:22. > :38:27.Government that we will not accept these pension reforms. It is not
:38:27. > :38:33.fear. We have had a two you pay freeze, we are about to enter the
:38:33. > :38:38.third year, we have had no cost-of- living increase so it is difficult.
:38:38. > :38:43.The pensions issue is just so complex but some finance experts
:38:43. > :38:48.have little sympathy. I do not know what they are on strike for. They
:38:48. > :38:53.get a better pension than anybody else. Even the proposed changes
:38:53. > :38:57.still give them a fantastic deal. They do not have to worry about
:38:57. > :39:03.stock markets. They just have to do their time and they get a very good
:39:03. > :39:07.pension at the end of it. What these people find harder to
:39:07. > :39:11.understand his Labour's opposition but that does not stop their
:39:11. > :39:20.determination. With us today is the Conservative MP for North Wiltshire,
:39:20. > :39:25.James Gray and the former Labour MP for South Swindon, Anne Snelgrove.
:39:25. > :39:31.We saw their very angry people who have never been on strike before,
:39:31. > :39:40.have we misjudged this? We also saw experts to seeing you do not know
:39:40. > :39:46.what they are angry about. -- saying public-sector pensions are
:39:46. > :39:52.among the most generous in the world will drop the offer on the
:39:52. > :40:00.table is extremely generous and beer. A do not know why these
:40:00. > :40:06.people are disrupting other people's lives. They are angry
:40:06. > :40:12.because a deal was struck and that has now been thrown out. We have
:40:12. > :40:19.made a very generous offer and are waiting to hear back. They are
:40:19. > :40:25.seeing that has now changed? know. The people who have joined in
:40:25. > :40:31.the last 10 years are getting exactly what they signed up for. We
:40:31. > :40:36.are all living a great deal longer. There was an extremely difficult
:40:36. > :40:40.deal with the trade unions on pensions what was hard to do. That
:40:40. > :40:48.has been thrown out by this Government which has picked 3% on
:40:48. > :40:54.the pensions to pay for the deficit. It seems pretty rudderless as far
:40:54. > :40:59.as Labour is concerned, saying do not go on strike. Striking as a
:40:59. > :41:05.last resort. It is a failure of this Government. Nobody is in
:41:05. > :41:09.favour of strikes. The only person who seems to be in favour of the
:41:09. > :41:13.strike is David Cameron who said he was very happy about it in the
:41:13. > :41:17.Telegraph the other day. That is extremely sad that the Prime
:41:17. > :41:27.Minister is playing politics with people's pensions. If that is
:41:27. > :41:27.
:41:27. > :41:32.untrue! It is a Labour initiative in the first place? Frankly what we
:41:32. > :41:39.would like to see is the removal of that 3% surcharge on people's
:41:39. > :41:45.pensions. It is not fear to change pensions, particularly women's
:41:45. > :41:52.pensions, to make women were longer and pay more when they had no
:41:52. > :41:56.notice of this. Will you be any the wiser when you see very angry
:41:56. > :42:01.people taking to the streets on Wednesday? I think it is
:42:01. > :42:09.disgraceful that these people are taking into their own hands such
:42:09. > :42:13.destruction. For what purpose? In order to get more a pension than
:42:13. > :42:20.the private sector? I think it is a great shame that the Government is
:42:20. > :42:26.causing this kind of action. If we can avoid strikes on Wednesday that
:42:26. > :42:29.would be brilliant. Thank you. David Cameron has been warned he
:42:29. > :42:31.risks losing thousands of female voters in the West Country because
:42:31. > :42:34.of the coalition's economic policies. According to the Bristol
:42:34. > :42:38.Fawcett Society, who campaigned for gender equality, 70% of the public
:42:38. > :42:41.sector cuts are hitting women. And figures published by the Office of
:42:41. > :42:51.National Statistics this week show the gender pay gap in some areas is
:42:51. > :42:53.
:42:53. > :42:57.growing, bucking the national trend. Our reporter has more. Music With
:42:57. > :43:02.Mummy. And the little ones love it. But the clue is in the name, only
:43:02. > :43:05.one daddy has made the group. It's often the mum's left to juggle work
:43:05. > :43:08.and childcare. Even at this young age there are noticeable
:43:08. > :43:11.differences between boys and girls. And, according to the campaigners
:43:11. > :43:21.in the West, the pay gap between the sexes is already bigger than
:43:21. > :43:22.
:43:22. > :43:27.most other areas. It has been well- documented over many years. It is a
:43:28. > :43:33.sad fact that it has never gone away. It leaves women, particularly
:43:33. > :43:35.mothers, very vulnerable if they are not supported by their partners.
:43:35. > :43:38.Since the coalition government was formed, they've taken the biggest
:43:38. > :43:41.public sector spending squeeze since the second world war.
:43:41. > :43:51.According to some 20 charities who have worked on the Bristol Fawcett
:43:51. > :44:01.
:44:01. > :44:11.Society report, 70% of these cuts will affect women here in the West.
:44:11. > :44:11.
:44:11. > :44:16.Women are losing their jobs more in the public sector. 63 % of council
:44:16. > :44:26.workers in Bristol are women and they have just announced 350 jobs
:44:26. > :44:27.
:44:27. > :44:33.are to go. If I want to go voluntary I cannot pay for my child
:44:33. > :44:39.care. Women are being paid less for doing the same things. Why, when
:44:39. > :44:49.women can do exactly the same as men. And I am struggling to keep my
:44:49. > :44:55.house warm, I have two children, won his only aged two. I have very
:44:55. > :45:05.little in the way of Christmas presents this year. David Cameron
:45:05. > :45:24.
:45:24. > :45:30.promised to make Parliament less combated if. -- combative. But for
:45:30. > :45:33.our Bristol Labour MPs it is too little, too late. If you go and
:45:33. > :45:38.speak to women in my constituency they will tell you that life is
:45:38. > :45:44.harder and they are being hit from all sides. They are the people who
:45:44. > :45:48.did not cause this crisis but are being made to pay for it. Here in
:45:48. > :45:55.the West just two of our Conservative MPs are women. Say
:45:55. > :46:02.that Childs says Cameron needs to get more women elected to show that
:46:02. > :46:11.he cares. I think that is very important to have more female MPs.
:46:11. > :46:17.Structurally Government has to change. With over three years left
:46:17. > :46:27.until the next election he has time to persuade these mums it is safe
:46:27. > :46:32.
:46:32. > :46:35.to vote for him. Still with us are the Conservative MP for North
:46:35. > :46:44.Wiltshire, James Gray and the former Labour MP for South Swindon,
:46:44. > :46:54.Anne Snelgrove. I do not know why they are seeing women are hit
:46:54. > :46:54.
:46:54. > :46:57.harder. It is nice to see that 63 % of women working in local
:46:57. > :47:03.Government -- 63 % of people working in local Government are
:47:03. > :47:07.women. A not very long ago it was the other way around. Half of the
:47:07. > :47:13.people I represent our women and I think I'd do a good job of
:47:13. > :47:18.representing them. I am sure you do a terribly good job but I have to
:47:18. > :47:23.cut in. Let me come to you in a second, it seems that you do not
:47:23. > :47:27.understand the problems when they are presented in front of you. The
:47:27. > :47:30.problem is that women are losing jobs, more work in the public
:47:30. > :47:35.sector than men so therefore when there are job losses more of them
:47:35. > :47:41.are out. They also have benefits problems and the do not have the
:47:41. > :47:49.public services. I am not sure that any of those assertions are correct.
:47:49. > :47:56.James, you need to get out more! at least I won an election! It is
:47:56. > :48:02.about child care, child care services are being cut back, Sure
:48:02. > :48:07.Start, they see their children's life chances being affected by the
:48:07. > :48:11.removal of the Education Maintenance Allowance. The you
:48:11. > :48:17.would make cuts to and one of the big issues are that we have not
:48:17. > :48:21.heard what these cuts would be? These cuts are bigger and passive.
:48:21. > :48:26.It is a real revenge on the public sector which women rely on, not
:48:26. > :48:30.just because the work in the public sector but they are the front line
:48:30. > :48:37.with their family. It is women who see the inflation going up and
:48:37. > :48:45.prices of gas and electricity going up. Another thing you might
:48:45. > :48:48.understand is the disparity between p 10 men and women. For example, in
:48:48. > :48:58.Filton and Bradley Stoke, the average gross wage for a man in
:48:58. > :49:03.2010/11 was �31,045 compared to just �15,300 for a woman. It is
:49:03. > :49:09.against the law to have differences in pay. It is about the type of
:49:09. > :49:19.jobs they can take. There is is about women in the public sector. I
:49:19. > :49:19.
:49:19. > :49:24.see it on the doorstep. I work with women. I do voluntary work with
:49:24. > :49:29.women who are long-term unemployed. I cannot tell you how difficult
:49:29. > :49:35.they are finding it. Is there a danger this could be a woman's
:49:35. > :49:39.issue and everybody is suffering from it, men and families also.
:49:39. > :49:45.it is women who are feeling the pinch now it is families who are
:49:45. > :49:50.feeling the pinch tomorrow. We are all the same, male, female, a white,
:49:50. > :50:00.black. You are not in it together if you are a multi-millionaire in
:50:00. > :50:02.
:50:02. > :50:05.the Cabinet. Thank you both very much indeed. As the new deer-
:50:05. > :50:08.hunting season got under way this month hunters have admitted to the
:50:08. > :50:11.BBC that they see no immediate chance of the controversial Hunting
:50:11. > :50:14.Act being repealed. It was brought in six years ago and the
:50:14. > :50:17.Conservatives have always promised to get rid of it. But we have
:50:17. > :50:20.learned that both the hunters and pro-hunt politicians are keen to
:50:20. > :50:22.push the debate into the long grass for fear of losing a vote.
:50:22. > :50:25.Meanwhile there's fresh criticism from animal rights organisations
:50:25. > :50:30.that the police aren't doing enough to enforce the law as it stands.
:50:30. > :50:39.They banned hunting with hounds in 2005. This is the Devon and
:50:39. > :50:43.Somerset Staghounds and 2011. To an outsider it may seem that in six
:50:43. > :50:45.years nothing has changed. These hunters will tell you the are
:50:45. > :50:52.working perfectly within the exemptions of the new law, for
:50:52. > :50:54.instance, working with two hounds rather than a pack. But those who
:50:54. > :50:57.spend their working lives travelling around monitoring hunts
:50:57. > :51:03.say that since 2005 there have been many breaches of the Hunting Act
:51:03. > :51:07.across the region. They keep producing video footage to prove
:51:07. > :51:16.their point. These pictures of the Quantock Staghounds in 2006 bid
:51:16. > :51:20.lead to a prosecution. But that is rare. Officially every police force
:51:20. > :51:26.will tell you they enforce every law. Privately senior officers will
:51:26. > :51:31.say they have better things to do. And figures we've obtained would
:51:31. > :51:33.seem to support that stance. Avon and Somerset Police have brought
:51:33. > :51:43.just three prosecutions under the Hunting Act, Wiltshire two and
:51:43. > :51:47.
:51:47. > :51:50.Gloucestershire none. We have our suspicions and the national
:51:50. > :51:54.wildlife crime unit for instance have pointed out there have been
:51:54. > :51:58.many, many complaints about the legal hunting in this area yet we
:51:58. > :52:03.do not see very much police activity. You would like to see
:52:03. > :52:06.more. Politically the hunts have certainly gone cold on pushing for
:52:06. > :52:08.a repeal of the Hunting Act. Something the Conservatives have
:52:08. > :52:12.always promised, and which the Prime Minister reiterated in a
:52:12. > :52:21.recent interview with us. Well the boss may be confident but his
:52:21. > :52:26.backbenchers aren't so sure a vote is now a good thing. My own view
:52:26. > :52:31.has always been that the hunting ban does not work. It is a matter
:52:31. > :52:35.for the House of Commons to decide whether to bring this forward.
:52:35. > :52:45.backbenchers believe you have not brought it for a because you
:52:45. > :52:47.
:52:47. > :52:51.believe you will lose? If you have got a law which is an ass you have
:52:51. > :52:56.bought it or do something with the law. We have not got parliamentary
:52:56. > :53:00.time to do that at the moment. The economy, social care, the NHS and
:53:00. > :53:03.everything else is higher up the agenda than hunting. Privately
:53:03. > :53:09.there's also a feeling amongst hunters that right now it's a fight
:53:09. > :53:12.they will not win. They have learned much. There is a feeling
:53:12. > :53:16.that the hunters have learned much from the recent failure of the
:53:16. > :53:20.Liberal Democrats to achieve their Holy Grail, getting AV. When it was
:53:20. > :53:24.put to a vote, they lost. The hunt know they'll probably only get one
:53:24. > :53:34.chance of a repeal of the Hunting Act. They know too that if they
:53:34. > :53:39.push that now, they'll probably lose. We have not got a Tory
:53:39. > :53:44.Government in, it is a coalition Cameron so I think the vote is
:53:44. > :53:47.likely to be wrong for us. Do you think one day you will get a boat
:53:47. > :53:51.macro and one day it will be repealed or do you believe it is a
:53:51. > :53:55.lost cause now? If I did not believe we would get an appeal I
:53:55. > :54:04.probably would not be standing here today. One thing seems certain, it
:54:04. > :54:09.won't be happening anytime soon. James Gray, you are a hunting man,
:54:09. > :54:13.will you let it go without a fight? At the fact of the matter is that
:54:13. > :54:18.the law is so bad that hunting today is better than it has ever
:54:18. > :54:27.been before. It is a really thriving sport within the law. We