18/09/2011 The Politics Show Yorkshire and Lincolnshire


18/09/2011

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It's conference season. Nick Clegg has had a year he might like to

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And here in the north, as crisis hits Europe, we meet their

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campaigners demanding a referendum on a break with Brussels.

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And a former chocolate boss tells us why family businesses should be

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2127 seconds

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Welcome to end-use series of the Politics Show in Yorkshire and

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Lincolnshire. Coming up today... As the euro-zone crisis grows, we

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meet the campaigners to say it is time for a referendum on whether we

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should break away from Brussels. It's Mr Cameron expand the

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politicians need to ask what we think.

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It is time we were asked. And the former chocolate boss tells

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us why the Liberal Democrats should make family businesses the focus of

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their economic policy. This is what I what the government to do. To

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create the environment, which is very supportive to family business.

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With the financial crisis in the euro-zone dominating the news

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agenda, is now the right time to reassess our membership of the EU?

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Thousands of people across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have

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signed online petitions calling for a referendum on whether we should

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leave the EU. But political opinion remains divided over whether we

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would be better off out. For as European leaders fight to save the

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single currency, a very different battle is being waged by those who

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believe our political future lies outside the EU.

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Grimsby housewife Gill White leads a group of campaigners who say it

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is time for a referendum on whether we stay in or get out of the

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European Union -- Josephine White. It makes so many of by-laws these

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days. That itself is not democratic. We are being governed by people who

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are not accountable to us, and that any is anti-democratic. The EU is

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created to be anti- DEC of -- democratic. And I have -- I think

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we have a right up in a sale how we are governed.

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They last time we had a referendum on our membership was back in 1975.

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That means that no one under the age of 54 or has ever been asked

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directly whether they want to be part of the EU. Do you think there

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should be a referendum? Yes, we pay a lot into it and get very little

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out of it. Except red tape. I would vote to stay in it, I think it is

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essential we stay in a wider market, we need more contacts to grow and

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business, grow the country. If we stay as the UK on its own, that is

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backward thinking. Throughout history, British people have done

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things their own way quite successfully. As soon as we start

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getting involved with other conflicts, that is when the

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problems start to rise. With many blaming Brussels for the decline of

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the fishing industry, Grimsby has long been regarded as one of the

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most Euro-sceptic towns in the country. But one any he believes

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those who want to leave the EU should be careful what they wish

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for. In and out of the single currency zone, we are still very

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much affected by what happens economically in Europe. There is

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nothing to say that our own economy will not be in dire straits. And we

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might actually be looking for help from Europe. We need Europe as much

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as you it needs us. The relationship is very close, and we

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cannot escape that. It looks as though the EU are going to... It

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will be a completely different constructs. Our relationship is

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bound to change because of that. As David Cameron and the politicians

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need to ask what we think. It is time we were asked. As simple as

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that. The Prime Minister has rejected calls for an EU referendum.

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But a petition signed by more than 100,000 people supporting a public

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vote was recently handed in to Downing Street, and campaigners say

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they will be keeping up the pressure on the government. Our

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guest today in the studio are both MEPs. Diana Wallis you saw briefly

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in that report, and Godfrey Bloom from UKIP. Diana Wallis, is it time

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to have a referendum to decide if we want to be in or out? What is

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triggering at the moment all the chat about a referendum is an

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economic and financial crisis, and I think that is what people want to

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see us dealing with, the crisis, not about who governs to, and how

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do we do it and all the rest of it. Endless talks about constitutions

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and treaties. They want to see results and they want to see us

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dealing with the particular problems. Should we in the longer

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term have a discussion about our relationship with Europe, if that

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is what people want, fine. But let's bear in mind that this

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government, the current governed -- the current government has provided

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the possibility that if the way in which it is constructed is to

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change significantly at some point... But we had those promises

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over Lisbon. No, it has been put into law. And there would be a

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referendum trigger a. So let's talk about it when it is necessary to

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talk about it. But I guess that most of the people out in the

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street now would rather politicians were talking and getting results

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about dealing with our economies across Europe together. Do you

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believe that is the view of people on the street? No, she does not go

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down the street I go down! It is not just in this crisis, I have

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been on this shows since 2004 saying people have never been

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offered a vote on this. I voted for it in 1975 because I was told it

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was a free-trade area. There is no reason we cannot enjoy a free trade

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like scores of other countries do it outside the European Union.

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Nobody voted for political union, which is what we have got. And I

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have been claiming for years that this would all end in tears, and I

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have been right. History will decide, got three! Diana, no one up

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under the age of 54 has ever been consulted as to whether they want

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to be part of the European Union. It was a common market in 1975, not

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full political union. I'll agree with the concept of a referendum,

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and probably in contrast to some members of my own parties. I

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actually believe that we should at some point have that discussions.

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But there has to be a reason to have that discussions. Do you

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support a referendum at some stage? I support it when there is a reason

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for having it. At the moment, there is no trigger, there is nothing

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that is about to change. Is there is something that is about to

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change, that says to me, that is the point to have the discussion

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with people, if Ann Hall relationship with Europe will

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change. But at the moment, when there are so many other things to

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deal with, when people are frightened and worried about their

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financial and economic future, about having jobs, now is not the

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time to have some esoteric conversation about treaties and

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constitutions and how we put Europe together. Let's provide the answer

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in terms of what affects people's daily lives. Godfrey Bloom, are you

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confident you could win a referendum? He would be up against

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the bulk of the main three political parties and many

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political -- business organisations. How confident are you the British

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public would vote against the EU? He must not make the mistake that

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the main political parties represent the people. They do not.

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The people on the street are fed up with political parties and

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bureaucrats, and they are fed up with big business to does indeed

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lobby for it. We spent �45 million and I would argue the first thing

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we need to do, we are one trillion pounds in debt and are going down

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the tubes, we should stop sending out �45 million a day, and we

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should have a referendum on whether we want to be in or out. It is long

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overdue. Stay with us, the party conference season is underway. This

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weekend, it is the Liberal Democrats'' turn in the spotlight.

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Meanwhile, UKIP have already had their conference and UKIP activists

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were in buoyant mood following the party's second place in the

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Barnsley Central by-election, which prompted the Nigel Farage to claim

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that UKIP was on the way to becoming the third party of British

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politics. That statement did not go down too well at the Green Party's

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recent conference in Sheffield. UKIP reckons it has pushed the

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Liberal Democrats a side. What is your reaction? We have very little

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evidence of UKIP, certainly in Leeds, as at present at all. They

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did well in the Barnsley by- election, but in terms of local

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elections, there is little evidence of their impact. We got 18,000

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votes across the Hull City, higher than we have ever done before. And

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we feel that we are making progress, and the point is that even though

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we have a few councillors, we do make an impression on the council.

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If you have it supports at grassroots levels, where you have

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active local parties, councillors are elected, the Green Party is

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ahead of UKIP. My reaction to them - have caused, it would be great if

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they steered an election. There was one UKIP candidate in our

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constituency and we beat them. It is a theoretical vote for many

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people. If they are not on the ground you cannot vote for them.

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They are not a serious political parties. Some views from the Green

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Party conference in Sheffield. Godfrey Bloom, De Nigel Farage jump

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the gun when he said that? There has been no evidence of that since

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the by-election. There was a government poll that said we had

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overtaken the Liberal Democrats. And only last Thursday, we fought a

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by-election in Essex and got more votes in that constituency than all

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the other political parties other than Conservatives. But none of

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this is actually the point. The point is that when we had a

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straightforward vote on what people care about, that is, do we want to

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be a self-governing nation? People turned out, and we beat the Liberal

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Democrats and the Labour Party. And I can tell you that the next

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elections, we will beat everyone, including the Conservatives. Diana

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Wallis, do you worry about to Mac party politics, the Tories and

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Labour. So no, I do not see that at all. I am going to a party

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conference next week, where my party is now part of the government

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of this country. And look where it has got G! Yes, it is tough, nobody

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said that being in coalition was easy. And we see that with Liberal

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parties across Europe, it is not an easy option. Sometimes you have to

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take a hard option, but if you look at our party across the country, we

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have hundreds of local councillors. You have fewer councillors since

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last May! Yes, but still a great deal more than Godfrey Bloom's

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party. So I think the idea that we are suddenly being so past, the

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reality, if you look at where my party is and what it is doing, is

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quite different. Godfrey Bloom, why has UKIP failed to make a

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breakthrough at domestic level? You a polled well in the last two

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European elections. But in local elections, he made very little

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impact. We do not really have an infrastructure to fight local

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elections, I am the first to admit it. We do not have the books on the

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ground. What we have is our hearts of the people. You need feed on the

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ground to fight local elections. I think you will find that when the

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big one comes in 2014, the question actually is, who governs Britain,

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shall we cells govern again, I will bet you �20 that I am right, as I

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have always been right on this programme about election results. I

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bet we will be top. You were very fond of yourself! Diana Wallis,

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what does Nick Clegg have to do this week to convince the British

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public that the Liberal Democrats are a serious electoral force

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again? I think she has to be himself. And he has to remember

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what he achieved during the election. He has tremendous

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personality, he is a good leader of our party. I think many of us go,

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we can all talk about polls, there was one the Guardian suppressed

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last week that had the Liberal Democrats on 17 %. I would Take

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That. The economy will be a big talking point. And one party member

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has some advice for the Business Secretary, Vince Cable. One of the

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most famous names in chocolate, Peter Thornton, believes that

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family businesses could hold the key to avoiding another recession.

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He claims they should receive more help from government.

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Exactly 100 years ago, Joseph Thornton started making and selling

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sweets from this shop in Sheffield. Peter Thornton should know all

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about that. He is just that's grandson, and spent most of his

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working life in the family business. He was its chairman during the

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1980s. He things the Government is ignoring the opportunities provided

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by strong, locally based family businesses. I am a liberal Democrat

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support for a. Find I am delighted that they are in government. But

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one thing I am disappointed about is that there has been nothing said

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by them about family businesses. There has been no offer of further

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support for improvement in the status or recognition of the family

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business sector. And this is what I want the government to do, to put,

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to create the environment which is very supportive to family business.

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According to Peter Thornton, retail is a good indicator of how far

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local family businesses have been squeezed by a combination of market

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forces and government lethargy. He says Sheffield is a prime example.

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This was filled with independent stores. We had a wonderful

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department store on the shoulder, - - corner, and over here we had a

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coffee shop. And all these companies were working for the

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community, providing what this community needed and developing

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that terrific spirit of co- operation between employers and the

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people working in the company. the 1980s, Thorntons ceased to be a

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family business. It launched on the stock market, grew rapidly and

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built this factory in North Derbyshire. A few years later, BBC

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cameras went to see what sort of differences it make to the way the

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company had to be run as a public company. The city and financial

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institutions want to make sure they are getting their money's worth.

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For that reason, this firm is more or scrutinise Bennett has been

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before. For many family firms, that is too much to digest. It was

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certainly too much for Peter. He had already left Thorntons by then.

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He now runs a consultancy advising other UK family businesses. These

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things can be achieved through cultural, through banking and

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through government recognition and assistance. It is time now that we

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created an economy in this country which is more like the German

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economy, where family business is respected and is helped. That way,

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we can achieve much more than we are doing. For the benefit of our

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people, and our economy. Sheffield, like most of the rest of the

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country, is now dominated by national or international

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conglomerates, or relatively faceless financial institutions.

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But if government can give more support to encourage the growth of

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business, would that give us a far better at economic horizon? It is

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an interesting talking point this. The German stock exchange has its

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own index for family businesses. Why is our record in this country

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so poor of nurturing family businesses? I think our whole

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commercial sector has been constructed in a different way. But

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what is correct out of that piece is that we need to do far more for

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smaller businesses, and for entrepreneurship in general. And I

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do think that actually, there are parts of the puzzle already been

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put in place. I think Vince Cable has been a tremendous advocate for

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trying to help enterprise. I think that is part of the picture. Also

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in terms of young entrepreneurs, there seems to have been some

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success in upping the number of apprenticeships and other

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possibilities taken up, even in this region. So some things are

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being done. I think it is an interesting piece, concentrating

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particularly on this aspect of family business. Interesting, as

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you say, it is a model that comes from Germany, something we can take

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from discussion with our European colleagues. And see if there is

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something positive we can do. Godfrey Bloom, used to work in the

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city. Do you regret the fact that so many family businesses had been

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taken over by corporate giants? it is a sad thing. I also started

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my own small business in 1992 which I sold a few years ago. So unlike

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most politicians, I have experience in this. And I can assure you that

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they do not want help from government, they want to get rid of

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a hindrance. Government, town halls and bureaucrats are part of the

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problem, not the solution. What small business people I say -- say

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to meet, they say, please, let us run our business. Get out of our

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face. Get the man from the town hall out of my space and

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politicians out of my face. Westminster cannot do anything

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about it, most of the legislation comes from Brussels. Briefly, red

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tape, bureaucracy... We need some regulation. We are trying to do our

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best to make sure that the regulation that is very smart. And

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fit for purpose. And we are trying to cut it down. Thank you both very

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much for your time. You can keep up-to-date with the latest

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