Tag: Lucy Nethsinga

Lewis Herbert and Lucy Nethsingha – reservations around an Eastern Powerhouse devolution deal

“We’re going to take this in a democratic and transparent way to the first possible meeting, which is on 23rd March, and Cambridge will make a decision.”

17:20 Friday 11th March 2016
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: The BBC understands the Government wants to go ahead with an Eastern Powerhouse devolution deal, despite Cambridge City Council announcing it’ll not take part. The Leader of the City Council is with us very shortly. The proposals would give control of transport and planning to a single mayor, with responsibility across Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. And the Leader of the LibDems on the County Council also with us in a moment or two. But first of all, political reporter Tom Barton from Look East. Tom, what’s it all about?
TOM BARTON: So this is about effectively Government giving away some power. So decisions that are made at the moment by civil servants and Ministers in Whitehall and Westminster instead being passed to local areas. It’s been going on for a while, trying to find an area that they can give it to effectively. Norfolk and Suffolk had put together proposals which they took to the Government. The Government said, we like what you’re talking about, but we don’t think you’re a big enough area for this to work in. We want you to go and work with Cambridgeshire instead.
CHRIS MANN: Big enough in terms of numbers?
TOM BARTON: in terms of the impact of the economy if you like. So not just population, but economic power.
CHRIS MANN: Because Cambridgeshire is a powerhouse.
TOM BARTON: Exactly. And the Government, this is all going to be announced at the Budget next week. George Osborne the Chancellor wants to stand up in the House of Commons and announce a deal for an Eastern Powerhouse. That’s what he’s talking about. And so this would give a new elected mayor, effectively East of England’s very own version of Boris Johnson, the power ..
CHRIS MANN: Or Alex Salmond.
TOM BARTON: Or Alex Salmond. .. the power to do a range of different things. We don’t know exactly what it’s going to be, but it’ll be around housing, infrastructure like roads, railways, public transport, skills, those sorts of things, across all three counties. So it would wear away the borders between the counties, and see decisions taken across the board.
CHRIS MANN: Where would it be based, this government, this devolved, not parliament, but devolved .. ?
TOM BARTON: The institution if you like of the mayor. We don’t know. That’s one of the things to be decided. They might choose a point somewhere geographically in between Norwich, Ipswich and Cambridge. Who knows? But the crucial thing is the Government has been trying to get this deal signed off. They really wanted the whole of Cambridgeshire on board. But last night, as the deadline approached for the deal to be signed off, Cambridge City Council walked away. They said that they don’t want to be part of it.
CHRIS MANN: OK. And let’s bring in the Leader of Cambridge City Council, who is councillor Lewis Herbert. Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Hi Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Why did you say no?
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One week on – the parties find their feet

17:39 Friday 15th May 2015
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: They say a week is a long time in politics. Since the election results were announced last Friday we’ve had twists and turns, ups and downs, from all of the political parties. And our political reporter Hannah Olsson has been trying to keep up. She joins me in the studio now. It’s been quite a week, and today, well, the drama of the Labour leadership contest took another strange turn.
HANNAH OLSSON: It certainly did. Now since Ed Miliband announced he was resigning as Labour Party Leader after to his party’s disappointing defeat in the General Election last week, contenders have been throwing their hats in the ring. We’ve had Chuka Umunna, Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham, Liz Kendall and Mary Creagh, all saying they wanted to enter the race. But then today Chuka Umunna surprised us all by announcing he was withdrawing. The reason he gave in a statement was that he wasn’t comfortable with the level of pressure and scrutiny that came with being a Leadership candidate. Now Chuka Umunna is a polished media performer, and was seen as a real contender for the job, so the announcement will come as a big shock for many people within the Labour Party. But former labour Leader Lord Kinnock says he has probably done the right thing.
(TAPE)
LORD KINNOCK: If he felt in his soul that he wasn’t prepared to subject himself, and more importantly his family, to the kind of attention which is fairly typical sadly these days, he has done absolutely the right thing. There’s no point at all in inflicting avoidable unnecessary misery on those that you love most.
(LIVE)
HANNAH OLSSON: Candidates must secure nominations from 34 colleagues, that’s roughly 15% of the Labour party’s MPs, by 15th June, to make it onto those ballot papers. So we may see more twists and turns in the race before then.
CHRIS MANN: Let’s move on to talk about UKIP. Yesterday I spoke to Patrick O’Flynn, who had very publicly criticised the party’s Leader Nigel Farage, calling him ‘thin skinned and aggressive’. Has there been more reaction to that?
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