0:00:59 > 0:01:04Three and coming up in half an hour, off while the outlook is not quite
0:01:04 > 0:01:08so sunny for people who want to install solar panels.
0:01:08 > 0:01:18And anyone for Dennis? Why Hollywood enlisted one of Margaret
0:01:18 > 0:01:19
0:01:19 > 0:31:29Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1810 seconds
0:31:29 > 0:31:34Thatcher's biggest critics on their Welcome to the Politics Show for
0:31:34 > 0:31:39lot -- Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the North Midlands. Coming up today.
0:31:39 > 0:31:43Crisis, of what crisis? The businesses that say they have seen
0:31:43 > 0:31:48an increase in exports. We find out why the outlook is not
0:31:48 > 0:31:52so sunny for people to want to install solar panels.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55And any one for Dennis? Why Hollywood enlisted one of Margaret
0:31:55 > 0:32:01Thatcher's biggest critics as an extra in the Meryl Streep
0:32:01 > 0:32:06Blockbuster. First today, businesses across
0:32:06 > 0:32:12Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are this weekend Digest in the latest twists
0:32:12 > 0:32:17and turns in the eurozone soap opera. Following David Cameron's
0:32:17 > 0:32:21decision to reject closer economic ties with Europe, or we have been
0:32:22 > 0:32:27at assessing what that means for local firms who export goods and
0:32:27 > 0:32:32services to the Continent. As David Cameron absolve -- absorb
0:32:32 > 0:32:35the events of Friday, the Prime Minister needed to look no further
0:32:35 > 0:32:41than West Yorkshire for a very decent assessment of what the
0:32:41 > 0:32:45eurozone means for business. By the finance sector in Leeds
0:32:45 > 0:32:50outstrips manufacturing, the views of those in the City are still
0:32:50 > 0:32:55significant. According to one survey due out next week, exports
0:32:55 > 0:33:00to the European Union are crucial with businesses at -- reporting
0:33:00 > 0:33:05increased sales a product this year. What is interesting is that two-
0:33:05 > 0:33:09thirds of countries -- of companies that export to the eurozone say
0:33:09 > 0:33:14that their exports are either the same or higher than before the
0:33:14 > 0:33:19crisis began. More positive news at last from
0:33:19 > 0:33:23exporters. But for one company in Leeds, events in Brussels could be
0:33:23 > 0:33:28the final ingredient of a Perfect Storm to blast businesses in the
0:33:28 > 0:33:34north. Eurozone traders may start to look away from an increasingly
0:33:34 > 0:33:38isolationist Britain. Our customers are abroad and a good businessman
0:33:38 > 0:33:45it may think that a -- that trading with the UK is not their best
0:33:45 > 0:33:49option. People will trade, up there will be pain, but it is better to
0:33:50 > 0:33:56have been over a short period of time and get on with a planet that
0:33:56 > 0:34:00actually works. Of course, predictions of the impact of this
0:34:00 > 0:34:04historic turn of events vary hugely. What is certain is that there are a
0:34:04 > 0:34:08great number of backbench Euro- sceptics from Yorkshire and
0:34:08 > 0:34:13Lincolnshire who will be very vocal with their meeting with the Prime
0:34:13 > 0:34:20Minister tomorrow. Our guests today include a Timothy
0:34:20 > 0:34:23Kirkhope, Greg Mulholland to and Nic Dakin. Timothy, off where does
0:34:23 > 0:34:27David Cameron's decision to politely stick two fingers up to
0:34:27 > 0:34:31the rest of Europe leave their many businesses in Yorkshire and
0:34:31 > 0:34:35Lincolnshire who rely on trading with the eurozone? I very much hope
0:34:35 > 0:34:39that they will continue to benefit from our membership in the European
0:34:39 > 0:34:43Union and the relationship that we have been a very big trading bloc.
0:34:43 > 0:34:50I did not like you're analogy about David Cameron. I think what he was
0:34:50 > 0:34:55trying to do was make proposals that would... Pacify? Proposals
0:34:55 > 0:35:00that were meant to help sort out the crisis. At the same time,
0:35:00 > 0:35:06without diminishing or making things were she -- words from the
0:35:06 > 0:35:09position of the British economy. I think that it is a shame that his
0:35:10 > 0:35:12views were not followed by others but I think he had to do what he
0:35:12 > 0:35:18dead and he made it clear that British interests are very
0:35:18 > 0:35:24important. Nic Dakin, David Cameron did what their majority of people
0:35:24 > 0:35:29wanted? I think what the majority of people want is a plan for jobs
0:35:29 > 0:35:33and growth. This is very serious times and what David Cameron has
0:35:33 > 0:35:37done it is to show himself to be out of touch with the needs of
0:35:37 > 0:35:42businesses such as use of their in Leeds and across the wall of the
0:35:42 > 0:35:45region, including my area of Scunthorpe, and out of influence
0:35:45 > 0:35:52now I am afraid with their leadership and the direction of
0:35:52 > 0:35:57Europe. This is a very worrying time for Britain. Greg Mulholland,
0:35:57 > 0:36:02what is the view amongst Liberal Democrat MPs? Do you feel like you
0:36:02 > 0:36:08have been shattered by your conservative coalition partners?
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Let us not to deal in putting people into stereotypes and boxes.
0:36:12 > 0:36:17This is an incredibly serious situation that the country faces,
0:36:17 > 0:36:23that Europe faces, that the world faces. The decision that the Prime
0:36:23 > 0:36:28Minister had to take with regards to the eurozone was either to go
0:36:28 > 0:36:32went deeper into Europe, of which would have been needed a referendum,
0:36:32 > 0:36:37up or to allow the 17th eurozone countries to find a way through
0:36:37 > 0:36:43this themselves. That is what he did. That is what the coalition
0:36:43 > 0:36:46team wanted. Is now a good time for Nick Clegg to make good on his
0:36:46 > 0:36:49European promise to hold a referendum? The last thing we need
0:36:49 > 0:36:53immediately is a referendum. At some stage in the future there
0:36:53 > 0:36:57should be a referendum, and let us remember that this Government, for
0:36:57 > 0:37:04the first time ever, has said that there will indeed be a referendum
0:37:04 > 0:37:06if there is a transfer of powers, that is now enshrined in law. It is
0:37:06 > 0:37:12past governments that have failed to give the British people that
0:37:12 > 0:37:17opportunity. Now is not the time for that. When should there be a
0:37:17 > 0:37:21referendum, Timothy Kirkhope? should have been a referendum some
0:37:21 > 0:37:25time ago. The promised one and we did not get one. I do not think the
0:37:25 > 0:37:31time is right because here we have a situation where the Prime
0:37:31 > 0:37:36Minister has made our situation clear. We have be taught this
0:37:36 > 0:37:40proposal and therefore I see no reason why we need a referendums. -
0:37:40 > 0:37:45- vetoed. Across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire a last-minute rush has
0:37:45 > 0:37:50been taking place to install solar panels. It follows the Government's
0:37:50 > 0:37:54decision to cut by half the subsidy offered to households which
0:37:54 > 0:38:00generate their own electricity. If the lower so called feed-in tariff
0:38:00 > 0:38:04begins tomorrow. Winter is here and with it come
0:38:04 > 0:38:09higher energy bills. Energy bills that are higher now than they have
0:38:09 > 0:38:14ever been. But a solution to those rising costs came last year. By
0:38:14 > 0:38:20investing in Seoul where, we could generate our own electricity and be
0:38:20 > 0:38:27paid for the excess we did not use. -- Sola. It was called the feed-in
0:38:27 > 0:38:31tariff. From tomorrow, that is set to drop. Instead of receiving 43.3
0:38:31 > 0:38:39pence for every Kelloe what they provide, new solar installations
0:38:39 > 0:38:44will get just 21p. Normally, from a rate of installing something like
0:38:44 > 0:38:4815 or 20 projects a week, we have been a stalling more like 40.
0:38:48 > 0:38:54Not surprisingly, there has been a rush to get panels installed before
0:38:54 > 0:38:58the deadline. It has left this company working around the clock. A
0:38:58 > 0:39:02drop in turf was always on the cards but it was not expected until
0:39:02 > 0:39:08next April. This company lost �1 million of business as a result and
0:39:08 > 0:39:12others have been forced to lay off staff. It has come as a shock to
0:39:12 > 0:39:16the industry. This is an industry that has been booming and it was
0:39:17 > 0:39:21made all the more attractive but by that feed-in tariff. Paid for by a
0:39:21 > 0:39:26small increases in our electricity bills. The Government argues that
0:39:26 > 0:39:33if they do not make these cuts now, we will all end up paying the cost.
0:39:33 > 0:39:37As much as �80 a year could be added to our energy bills. What is
0:39:37 > 0:39:42it due app angry about? Is it the fact that the feed-in tariff has
0:39:42 > 0:39:47been dropped? Or is it the way that it has been handled? We are not a
0:39:47 > 0:39:54lot annoyed that it has been dropped, agreed that it had to be
0:39:54 > 0:39:58dropped. -- we are not annoyed. They have pulled the rug out and
0:39:58 > 0:40:02said there we are. They have created a window where there is an
0:40:02 > 0:40:09unknown. We do not have the clarity to be able to build our business
0:40:09 > 0:40:14and invest in creating jobs for the future. It would have been great
0:40:14 > 0:40:21for everything on the farm, from drying crops to everything. This
0:40:22 > 0:40:31paltry farmer is someone else who has been left in limbo. He to kept
0:40:32 > 0:40:34
0:40:34 > 0:40:41he took out a loan. Government's decision means that he
0:40:41 > 0:40:47should not bother. I am absolutely livid. If it had gone ahead in
0:40:47 > 0:40:52April it would have given me an off time to plan it properly. We paid
0:40:52 > 0:40:57the money and signed a contract and then this decision comes through. I
0:40:57 > 0:41:04do agree that it needs changing but it needed a better mechanism at
0:41:04 > 0:41:09looking at the cost of solar panels, rather than this coming down and
0:41:09 > 0:41:12smashing the tariffs overnight. Government's decision may have
0:41:12 > 0:41:18knocked confidence, but some believe that the industry can
0:41:18 > 0:41:23bounce back to -- back. By 2014, up we think we will get to a point
0:41:23 > 0:41:30where the feed in tax -- powerful not even be needed because the cost
0:41:30 > 0:41:39of energy will go up. Tomorrow, Julian goes to Westminster to lobby
0:41:39 > 0:41:43it eight -- MPs for their support. Greg Mulholland, let me come to you
0:41:43 > 0:41:46first because this was a decision made by the Lib Dem energy
0:41:46 > 0:41:54secretary Chris Huhne, thousands of jobs we are told will be lost
0:41:54 > 0:41:58because of this decision. Was it the wrong decision? I think, has
0:41:58 > 0:42:03come across in the report, the level of subsidy was too high and
0:42:03 > 0:42:08certainly had to be cut in the economic climate. It was
0:42:08 > 0:42:14unaffordable going forward. But I do have some concerns with the
0:42:14 > 0:42:17timing and the impact that will have. What I can say is that the
0:42:17 > 0:42:21letter but -- on the Liberal Democrat backbenchers we are
0:42:21 > 0:42:29continuing to lobby to see if there is a way that this can be done more
0:42:29 > 0:42:35gradually. Nic Dakin, do you except the feed-in tariff could not have
0:42:35 > 0:42:39continued at that rate? I think everybody accepts that there were
0:42:39 > 0:42:43going to be changes coming down the line and that what was planned was
0:42:43 > 0:42:47for tariffs to change in April and people were geared up for that,
0:42:47 > 0:42:52what we have here is the Government clearly out of touch with the needs
0:42:52 > 0:42:57of an industry that was prospering, they are out of touch with the
0:42:57 > 0:43:05needs of farmers who are diversifying, and to suddenly
0:43:05 > 0:43:07change overnight these tariffs in a way in which people who were
0:43:07 > 0:43:13already in commercial arrangements have not got the appropriate time
0:43:13 > 0:43:18went to the just... Also, the Government's own consultation
0:43:18 > 0:43:22guidelines say there should be at least 12 weeks consultation, the
0:43:22 > 0:43:25consultation on this is less than half that and it concludes before
0:43:25 > 0:43:32the change that takes place tomorrow in the feed-in tariff so.
0:43:32 > 0:43:38It is quite an it reaches me to be a. You can see the way that
0:43:38 > 0:43:47confidence is pit. Timothy Kirkhope, the British Government is now being
0:43:47 > 0:43:53threatened with legal action. What happened to your claim of being
0:43:53 > 0:43:59vigorous Government ever? I think we still are. I am very pleased
0:43:59 > 0:44:06that we are going to continue to develop solar power. I agreed with
0:44:06 > 0:44:10my colleagues on this one. It was all done a little bit too quickly.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13The commission should keep out of this. They do not start to keep --
0:44:13 > 0:44:18they do not us need to start interfering.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21Next month sees the release of the new Margaret Thatcher film starring
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Meryl Streep as the grocer's daughter from Lincolnshire who
0:44:25 > 0:44:32became Britain's first woman prime minister. Len Tingle has been
0:44:32 > 0:44:39finding out how the film is likely to be viewed in Yorkshire.
0:44:39 > 0:44:46Where there is discord, may be bring harmony. -- may or we bring
0:44:46 > 0:44:50harmony. Scenes renewing memories from 30
0:44:50 > 0:44:56years ago. But in this pub, they have not forgotten Margaret
0:44:56 > 0:45:00Thatcher for a single minute. Ken Capstick was national chairman of
0:45:00 > 0:45:05that end you end up in Yorkshire and the landlord was secretary at
0:45:05 > 0:45:11the local pit before it was forced to endowed -- closed down.
0:45:11 > 0:45:17believe that Margaret Thatcher was not a great leader. I think she was
0:45:17 > 0:45:22more of a demolition person. She demolished the mining industry. The
0:45:22 > 0:45:32mining industry supported other industries such as Engineering,
0:45:32 > 0:45:33
0:45:33 > 0:45:37railways, steel. All of those were demolished as a result. Here art
0:45:37 > 0:45:43imitates life. Just a few months before the start of the year-long
0:45:43 > 0:45:51miners' strike, Look North captured her stormy a rival to speak in
0:45:51 > 0:45:57Sheffield in 1983. My him, and the aim of the Government, has been to
0:45:57 > 0:46:04try to keep as much steel making here as we could. And to treat both
0:46:04 > 0:46:09public and private sectors fairly. She did not read newspapers, she
0:46:09 > 0:46:13refused to. She did not change her mind when it was made up and got on
0:46:13 > 0:46:18with it. She was actually a human being and she could return like a
0:46:18 > 0:46:21book. That was the great virtue of her position. People knew where
0:46:21 > 0:46:26they stayed. And they came to realise that she would carry out
0:46:26 > 0:46:30what she said she would. Thatcher family has let it be known
0:46:30 > 0:46:38that they do not like the script nor betrayal of Margaret Thatcher.
0:46:38 > 0:46:46But even she would have chuckled at the way a visit -- a visitor to the
0:46:46 > 0:46:50set would become an extra. I was Turner -- turned into an extra. The
0:46:51 > 0:46:55most interesting thing was that there was half a dozen Tory whips
0:46:55 > 0:46:59down their guard in the plays and they work extras as well but had to
0:46:59 > 0:47:06sit on the same side as me shouting insults at Thatcher. That was the
0:47:06 > 0:47:09most amusing part! Love her or loathe her, even before this Meryl
0:47:09 > 0:47:15Streep blockbuster comes to a cinema near you in January, the
0:47:15 > 0:47:25odds of an Oscar are shortening fast. Gentlemen, shall we joined
0:47:25 > 0:47:29the ladies? We will hear Lene's memories in a
0:47:29 > 0:47:34moment, at Timothy Kirkhope you were at when it -- Tory MP in the
0:47:34 > 0:47:41'80s. What do you think of Meryl Streep's performance? It looks all
0:47:41 > 0:47:46right. Margaret Thatcher appointed me to my first job in Government.
0:47:46 > 0:47:54She said my job would be to guide people on the pathos of wisdom and
0:47:54 > 0:47:58not be nasty. I always reckoned -- on the pass of wisdom. Greg
0:47:58 > 0:48:02Mulholland, you probably thought like me it was normal to have a
0:48:02 > 0:48:07woman Prynne at -- prime minister. D'you think people of our
0:48:07 > 0:48:10generation will appreciate this film? I think it will be
0:48:10 > 0:48:16fascinating for anyone interested in politics and British history. I
0:48:16 > 0:48:22will be a tuning in just to see Dennis Skinner being quiet on the
0:48:22 > 0:48:27backbenches! I think he secretly admired Margaret Thatcher. Nic
0:48:27 > 0:48:33Dakin, I am guessing you are not a big fan of the Iron Lady, but which
0:48:33 > 0:48:37but -- will you go and see the film? Yes. I think Mrs Thatcher it
0:48:37 > 0:48:42left a lot of scars in steel communities and has done a lot of
0:48:42 > 0:48:46damage to manufacturing. But I'm sure it she would not be coming
0:48:46 > 0:48:51away from Europe walking away from things, she would be in their
0:48:51 > 0:48:57making sure that she got a decent deal going forward. I cannot
0:48:57 > 0:48:59imagine Ed Miliband in the movie! think she was wonderful. She was a
0:48:59 > 0:49:07wonderful prime minister and she came to this country at the right
0:49:07 > 0:49:10time. It is funny how some leaders are vilified when the are in power
0:49:10 > 0:49:15but with the passing of time have been accepted for being great
0:49:15 > 0:49:19leaders in their day, is that the keys with Margaret Thatcher?
0:49:19 > 0:49:23think she will go down as a great prime minister a but I think many
0:49:23 > 0:49:28of the things she did have left lasting problems to British society.
0:49:28 > 0:49:35But many of the thing she did were very effective and positive. So
0:49:35 > 0:49:42history will continue to weigh the balance of power pluses and minuses.
0:49:42 > 0:49:47I interviewed her quite a few times in the '80s. She wasn't supposed to
0:49:47 > 0:49:51give an interview but I had just put a story out about a squeeze on
0:49:51 > 0:49:55manufacturing and after I had spec -- stepped back three pieces from
0:49:55 > 0:50:01the blast, I realised I had had someone behind me and knocked them
0:50:01 > 0:50:06over, and then I realised that I had flattened to Denis Thatcher!
0:50:06 > 0:50:10will have been OK, he will have had a gin and tonic!
0:50:10 > 0:50:15It is the end of any year, at the last Politics Show here in
0:50:15 > 0:50:25Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. I will leave you with some memories of the
0:50:25 > 0:50:27
0:50:27 > 0:50:33Welcome to the Politics Show studio end lead. Scotland has got one, so
0:50:33 > 0:50:38as Wales, so should Yorkshire have its own Parliament?
0:50:38 > 0:50:44Once again, Yorkshire MPs are right in the effect of the battles over
0:50:44 > 0:50:54label it -- Labour's leader. Back in the hills of Tennessee,
0:50:54 > 0:51:04illiteracy was a real problem. This is England's now and Blair and
0:51:04 > 0:51:04
0:51:04 > 0:51:12Brown have done that and I loathe them for it.
0:51:12 > 0:51:19I you astonished? Know. I am urging the ministers are not to cut these