PMQ&A

Brendan Montague
Monday September 27, 2004
The Argus


THOUSANDS of Brighton and Hove Albion fans are expected to protest at the Labour party conference today (Monday). Do you support the application for a stadium at Falmer?

I KNOW how hard Albion fans have worked to ensure their club's survival and I have been delighted to see the club moving back up through the leagues in recent years.

I also hear they are getting a reputation for fighting their campaign with good humour and flair Š and even flowers.

As for the new stadium, as I think you know, that is a matter not for me but for John Prescott who has decided to reopen the inquiry. It simply would not be right for me to express an opinion.

DR ANTHONY Seldon said: "When the epitaph is written on Tony Blair's grave there'll be the word Iraq." Do you ever regret going to war and do you think Iraq will cost Labour an historic third term?

I REALLY don't think any prime minister, of whatever party, takes a decision of such importance with a view to the election.

You have to do what you think is right for your country and be ready to be judged on that decision. When we took the decision to remove Saddam Hussein, I believed it was the right thing to do in the interests of Iraq, the region and the wider world, including this country. And I still do.

Despite the appalling events and outrages we have seen, I continue to believe the future for Iraq and the world will be better without Saddam. As for my epitaph ­ political or final ­ I hope it is a bit early to be thinking about that.

BRIGHTON bomber Patrick Magee told The Argus he believed the attack 20 years ago led to peace. Should Magee have been freed and will the IRA ever disarm?

THERE was no justification for outrages such as the Brighton bombing. I know how difficult the issue of prison releases has been for those directly affected by the IRA campaign whether in Brighton, on the rest of the mainland or in Northern Ireland itself.

But I would not have agreed to them if I did not believe the IRA was making the transition from conflict to peace we all want to see. My message to the IRA has always been simple: That transition must be completed and that includes complete decommissioning.

Northern Ireland is already a much better place than it was and it could be much better still.

COUNCIL tax across Sussex has almost doubled since 1997 with aboveinflation increases next year. Local councils blame the Treasury for favouring the Labour heartlands of the North. Is this a fair criticism and what does Labour intend to do about it?

ACTUALLY, this year the average grant increase in London, the South-East and the South-West was higher than in any of the three Northern regions.

And for the second year running, every authority received a real-terms increase on a like-for-like basis. In fact, we have increased the grant to councils by 30 per cent in real terms since 1997.

This compares with a cut of seven per cent under the last four years of the previous Conservative government. But I fully understand people's concerns about council tax and the unsustainable increases we saw last year in some parts of the country.

That is why this year we made it clear to councils we were prepared to cap excessive council tax increases. As a result, we saw the lowest council tax rises in almost a decade. Next year, we expect councils to do even better. We are also helping those who need most help. In the Budget, we gave those over 70 an extra £100 to help cover their monthlybills, including council tax.

We have also launched a campaign to ensure pensioners and people on low incomes who are due a rebate on their bills take full advantage of the opportunities available.

Finally, I accept council tax must be reformed. We have therefore set up the independent Lyons Review to look at options for change. This will report by the end of next year.

BRIGHTON and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has been given a zero-star rating by the Healthcare Commission. The Labour Government will increase funding for the NHS to £90 billion by 2008. Will this investment bring real improvements to front line services?

I BELIEVE the sustained and record investment already going into our NHS is already bringing real improvements in frontline services here in this city, across The Argus area and the whole country.

We have a lot more to do but I honestly believe people are seeing the difference each time they visit their local hospitals. There are, for example, more than 2,000 more nurses and 145 GPs in this strategic health authority alone since 1997.

The casualty department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital has been modernised and there is a new rapid-access chest clinic. John Reid this weekend opened a £2.3 million intermediate care service in Hove.

As for the Royal Sussex, I know the affection in which it is held locally and how hard its dedicated staff are working. I'm glad to say I hear there is real improvement as well.

YOUR predecessor John Major described the West Pier as the ideal project for Heritage Lottery Fund support but the Grade I listed building continues to rust. Do you think it should be saved and if so how?

IT is a great shame that the West Pier is in such bad shape. And if there is any way practically that it can be restored, I hope that all parties can get together and make it happen. But I also know that the Heritage Lottery Fund has been looking at this very closely.

DRUNKEN violence in Brighton and Hove is posing a threat to our vital tourist industry. Will the proposed extension of licensing hours make matters worse and can the Government really tackle antisocial behaviour?

I THINK we are making progress on antisocial behaviour. We know how much this concerns local people so we have been driving through new measures to tackle it.

Readers of The Argus will know Brighton has been successfully piloting initiatives to crack down on the low-level crime and drunken behaviour which makes life a misery for too many people.

Antisocial behaviour orders, for instance, are successfully targeting some of the main culprits. And Brighton and Hove already has more than 40 community support offices on its streets and they, too, are beginning to make a difference. What I find strange is many of these initiatives to make our streets safer were opposed by our political opponents.

As to extending the licensing hours, I think it will encourage a more sensible attitude to drinking ­ as we see in Europe ­ and help prevent binge drinking, which is behind so much petty and serious crime. It's also important to remember the new powers to extend licensing hours are not a freeforall.

The new privileges should only be given to premises that are well-run while new rules will allow councils to crack down hard on those bars encouraging drunkenness. We want tough action against those who misbehave while relaxing things for those who behave well.

WHAT will be the date of the next general election ­ there are suggestions this will be announced at the Brighton conference ­ and do you intend to serve a full third term?

AS I don't know when the next general election will be held, you can pretty safely dismiss any idea it will be announced this week.

As to whether I intend to serve a full third term, it is one of those questions where you just can't win. If you say yes, the headline is "Blair to go on and on". If you try to avoid answering, it's "New doubts over Blairıs future". So let me answer it this way.

First, it is up to the electorate to decide whether this Government gets the chance of a third term. I never take that for granted. And second, I know that despite real progress over the past seven years, there is an awful lot more that needs to be done to spread prosperity and opportunity right across our country and I would like the chance to help do it.

Also see: Cherie at conference