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January
2003
Stoke on Trent's first elected mayor reflects on
the problems facing the city |
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| Stoke
on Trent - full of happy potters..... ? No. |
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The
first elected mayor of Stoke on trent, Mike Wolfe, has now been in
office three months.
He spoke to BBC reporter Kevin Fernihough, in an extended interview,
about the issues that face the city. |
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It's
time for people in Stoke on Trent to stop being embarassed by prostitution
- so says the city's mayor, Mike Wolfe.
Since his election last year as the first paid mayor for the city,
Mr Wolfe has been criticised for his policy on wanting to set up a
"tolerance zone" for prostitutes.
In an interview lasting thirty minutes, Mr Wolfe talked about the
major issues facing the city.
Interview
In the phone-in on BBC Radio Stoke's mid-morning programme with Kevin
Fernihough, he explained his reasons for the zone.
He said it was a priority to get prostitutes out of residentail areas
and break the link between prostitution and drugs.
"They are being deliberately hooked on drugs and then forced out
onto the streets by pushers to make money for more durgs. It is socially
immoral and appallingly wrong," he said. A tolerance zone away
from homes could be monitored for safety .
He said prostitution has always been there and we must accept that.
"It's time to take it somewhere where it won't cause a nuisance".
Hanley
Mayor Wolfe also described Hanley bus station as "ghastly" and "rough";
and attacked the anti-social behaviour of people dropping chewing
gum on the streets.
He said he was hopeful for development in the city centre if the right
project was proposed - with the money to back it.
BNP
When asked about the British Nationalist Party, which has gained another
council seat in Yorkshire, Mayor Wolfe said they campaigned on lies.
Asked if he was worried that they might win a seat in Stoke on Trent
- having come third in the mayoral elections last year - he said people
had to stop resenting asylum seekers.
He said he was going to get the true facts about the city's immigrant
population before tackling the government; and added that if the people
living here weren't in such poverty themselves they might have more
sympathy for those fleeing to this country.
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BBC
Stoke and Staffordshire
Cheapside
Hanley
Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire
ST1 1JJ
tel: (+44) 01782 221281
e-mail: stoke@bbc.co.uk
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