Green Petition on East Coast Mainline Calls for Public Ownership

07:17 Friday 18th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: A 23,000 signature petition will be handed in to the Department of Transport today calling for the East Coast Mainline to remain in public ownership. The line passes through the East of the region with a stop at Peterborough of course, as it links London and East Anglia with the North East and Scotland. It also goes through Huntingdon of course. Our reporter Johnny D. is in Peterborough this morning, overlooking the line. How is it for you?
(OB)
JOHN DEVINE: Well, I’ll tell you what Paul, it’s a misty murky old morning in central Peterborough here. I had hoped to tell you what was going on on the platform a couple of hundred yards down the line, but I can’t see the platform, because it’s so foggy here. I’ve got Fiona Radic with me from the Green Party. Now why do you think it’s so important that this remains in public ownership Fiona?
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Food Poverty In Cambridge

17:18 Wednesday 16th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: There are calls for an inquiry into why more and more people are in food poverty. The Trussell Trust which runs the UK’s largest network of food banks says the number of people attending its Cambridge centre has almost doubled over the last twelve months. And according to some today, professional workers who have lost their jobs have started using them. Citizens Advice in Cambridge say the year on year demand for food vouchers has doubled. Earlier I spoke to Dan Crossley from the charity The Food Ethics Council.
(TAPE)
DAN CROSSLEY: It’s a very serious issue, food poverty, which is being picked up in the Press, and being picked up in the Press today. There are many many thousands, or hundreds of thousands of people right across the UK, and in other parts of the world too, who are suffering from food poverty. In other words, unable to obtain healthy affordable food.
CHRIS MANN: How has this happened? We’re hearing that one of the areas of concern is that people with jobs can’t afford to feed themselves and their families. How can that be?
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Postal Workers Balloting For Strike Action

07:25 Wednesday 16th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: It’s not been long, has it? A couple of days since people have got their shares in the Royal Mail and maybe made some money already as well, and sold them on, two or three hundred pounds – well now today we hear there are plans for a national strike by postal workers. It’s expected to be announced by the Communication Workers Union later today. The union’s been balloting over 100,000 post men and women who work for the recently privatised company (who) are seeking an improved pay offer, guarantees from the firm over pensions and working practices. Yuan Potts is here from our Business Unit. Yuan, morning.
YUAN POTTS: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Oh dear. So those people who’ve got shares now in the Royal Mail, they’ll be slightly perturbed won’t they? The share price might be going down all of a sudden.
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Cambridge Population Estimates – A Difference Of Opinion

08:18 Tuesday 15th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Is Cambridgeshire being short changed by the Government, because the official figures suggest our population is lower than it actually is? That’s the question we’ve been asking all morning on the Bigger Breakfast, and trying to come up with ways of counting people proper – better – whatever. But Cambridge MP Julian Huppert and Peterborough’s Stewart Jackson are concerned that the Office for National Statistics are not giving accurate figures for the number of people who actually live in the county. Johnnie D. can explain what that means, and what effect it might have. First of all Johnnie, who are these people at the ONS, and how do they compile these statistics?
JOHN DEVINE: Good morning Paul. Yes, it’s their job to collect all sorts of information about the population and present that to the public. And they use things like official registrations of births and deaths, as well as information about migration, to try and predict which areas will grow in the coming years, and which areas will see a decrease in the population.
PAUL STAINTON: So are they accurate? That’s the big question, isn’t it?
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Look Far East – Trading With China

08:20 Monday 14th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: All this week we’re going to be focusing on China. You could call it Look East, or Look Far East. It’s the world’s biggest country by population of course, the world’s second biggest economy. George Osborne is currently on a trade visit there at the minute, in a bid to woo Chinese investment. Insert your own jokes after that. George Osborne in China. But is Cambridgeshire doing enough business with the Chinese? Well joining me now is the founder and CEO of the Cambridge-based China Business Solutions. Ting Zhang. Morning. Do we do enough Ting?
TING ZHANG: Good morning. Well I think in Cambridge most big companies are doing business with China. However there are a lot more smaller and medium-sized companies are not doing enough in China.
PAUL STAINTON: What could we do? What do we need to do? How do we need to woo the Chinese, and woo that all important bit of cash?
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Tim Ward On Funding An A14 Upgrade

08:18 Friday 11th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridge

[D]OTTIE MCLEOD: Lots of other councils giving money towards the A14 upgrade. East Cambridgeshire District Council paying £1 million; Huntingdonshire District Council are paying £5 million; Fenland District Council contributing £800,000; Peterborough City Council planning to contribute £1.5 million; Cambridge City Council, the city that the A14 really goes closest to, apart from possibly Huntingdon, they’ve said that their wallets will be staying absolutely closed. Tim Ward joins me. He’s the Executive Councillor for Planning at Cambridge City Council. Tim. It’s a farce, isn’t it, if Peterborough contribute and Cambridge don’t?
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Blood From A Stone – Hilary Benn On Taxing The Poorest

[D]OTTIE MCLEOD: Have you been forced to pay council tax for the first time this year? Well if you have, you’re not alone. Labour says that over 150,000 people have received a court summons for non-payment of council tax since the Government changed the welfare system in April. Here in Cambridgeshire the worst affected area was Peterborough. Rather than absorb the Government cuts like many other councils in the county did, Peterborough City Council actually increased the cut, meaning that nearly 9,000 households are paying council tax for the first time. We can now talk to Hilary Benn, the Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Good morning.
HILARY BENN: Good morning.
DOTTIE MCLEOD: Now we saw long lines outside court in Peterborough because of these changes, outrage from many of those affected. But isn’t it fair enough, if people don’t pay their taxes, that they should be taken to court?
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A Really Hostile Environment

17:23 Thursday 10th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Illegal immigrants are to be denied bank accounts, stripped of driving licences, and stopped from renting, in a crackdown to drive them out of Britain. The Home Secretary Theresa May says it’s about creating a really hostile environment for those who shouldn’t be here. But what impact could it have on everyone else? It’s been said that if people are here illegally, life should be made difficult for them, and they should be forced to leave. Our political reporter Robin Crystal has more.
(TAPE)
ROBIN CRYSTAL: That is certainly the view of the Home Secretary Theresa May, and she thinks this is firmly in line with public opinion.
THERESA MAY: This is about a point of principle. I think if you’re out there and you’re working hard, you’re contributing, you’re paying in to the system, you do question whether people should be able to come into the UK and access the system without paying in. And that’s why most people are saying look it’s not fair. And we need to do something about this.
ROBIN CRYSTAL: And if you look at opinion polls, consistently immigration, concern about immigration, and here of course we’re talking about illegal immigration, comes very high. It’s often second, ahead of concern about housing, health and education. For many people, it’s only the economy which is more of a concern.
CHRIS MANN: So, what’s going to change, according to these proposals?
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