23/05/2014 BBC Points West

Welcome to BBC Points West. The votes are in and they have `ll been

counted. The Conservatives hold onto Swindon, the town that norm`lly

predict who will win the General Election. The Greens do well and

UKIP persuade thousands to vote for them. UKIP is here to stay. As the

dust settles, we will be assessing political fallout.

As the company sheds 450 st`ff. `` a jobs fair for Honda workers in

Swindon. And Bath play tonight.

Voters across the West have delivered their verdicts

in five local council electhons and there have been some big surprises.

With a General Election onlx 51 weeks away, each result is being

closely examined by the political parties to sed which

way the West will swing in 2015 We'll be looking

at the underlying trends, btt first let's see how the parties f`red

There were 96 council seats contested.

Labour gained six overall. The Conservatives are up by two

The Lib Dems lost eight. The Greens added three councillors.

And UKIP got a Bristol seat for the first time.

On the night itself, Swindon was one of the most closely

watched councils in the UK. Historically, whichever party

runs the town runs the country. That's why Labour wanted it badly,

but the Conservatives not only held on ` they improved their position.

Will Glennon reports. So victory in Swindon has a colour,

and it is blue. With a smild. One that suggests while many expected

the Conservatives to take a hit and perhaps lose the council, they have

actually gained a seat and hncreased their majority.

It is a great feeling because we have been working hard and we have

got the results. I would not say there was one issue that evdryone

was bringing up in large nulbers in every ward, but we were just out

there getting our message ott. Labour knew it would not be easy but

thought they'd make games. `` make gains. Instead, they fell b`ck. We

lost votes to UKIP and that has cost us. I do not think people are going

to UKIP for their policies. I think we need to look at what is

happening. 12 hours later, `nd in Stroud this afternoon, Labotr fared

better. They've made ground on the Conservatives, winning thred seats,

mainly at the expense of thd Lib Dems. Thank you to everyone who

helped me to get elected. I shall do my best to work hard for all of

them. But the Conservatives did not lose out. They gained a seat and the

council remained in no over`ll control. Overall, a good result for

the Conservatives. I think Labour would say a good result for them as

well. It is a meltdown for the Liberal Democrats, having lost all

three of their seats. So thd Conservatives in Swindon ard hoping

the result will be the same in next year's General Election. But the

battle for the West's polithcal landscape is far from over.

Tens of thousands of votes were cast for the UK Independence party. But

because they came second in many places, it only translated hnto one

seat. The Greens also did wdll. A growing share of votes and their

first ever seat in Bristol for UKIP. We are taking seats all across the

country this evening. We have put up with a lot of bad press, but you...

Yes, we didn't actually tell a lot of lies and produce leaflets, but

there you go... UKIP is herd to stay. A major issue for the

Conservative Party is how do we get people who voted UKIP today to that

Conservative next year, bec`use if we do not get them back, we will

find that we lose seats that actually have a small Conservative

majority. That is a real ch`llenge. Celebrating this afternoon, the

Green party, now with six sdats in both restore and it tried. People

have voted Green because thdy like our policies. We want to ch`nge

politics to more consensual politics and actually talk about the real

long`term issues. We need to manage our economy in a different way.

Counting started last night and continued until this afternoon. As

the dust settles, Lib Dems lick their wins in Bristol, wherd they

lost seven seats. But they held them elsewhere. It has been a grdat day

for the Lib Dems in Cheltenham. We have retained our seats and we took

been Tory leader's seat, so altogether a fantastic day. Lots of

votes for the smaller partids, but will that translate into se`ts next

spring? We are joined by Steve Wood, the

UKIP chairman in Bristol. You have got lots of votes but at thd end of

the day, it was just one se`t. Is that much to celebrate? Of course it

is. We have quite a lot of votes in Bristol. The branch has onlx been

going for 18 months in Bristol, so it is a great achievement. What role

in Europe and immigration whll a single UKIP councillor take?

Realistically, a single UKIP councillor is not going to lake a

massive amount of differencd but we are there to be scrutinised, we can

show what we can do so that when the next elections come round, we can be

seen as we are, we can be `` get stuck in. And we have been leeting

the public. There are a lot of immigrants living in Bristol. Do you

think any of them might feel uncomfortable tonight, following a

UKIP victory? I do not see why. This is not about race. This is what we

cannot get over to the medi` and people who just do not like us. It

is not about race. It is about the European Union. It is about

controlling our own borders. But it is about UKIP people saying they do

not like living next door to certain types of people. That may h`ve been

said. That is not what I wotld have said, and for my policy herd in

Bristol, everybody is entitled to what they are. They are who they

should be proud. `` Bristol. What do should be proud. `` Bristol. What do

you feel about the European result. We are expecting the count on

Sunday. I think if the general population have voted, I am

surmising that I think we mhght be coming out on top. In the South

West? In the country. We sh`ll see. Thank you.

If we look at how things were yesterday and then how things are

today, it is exactly the sale. The Conservatives still run Swindon The

Lib Dems are in control in Cheltenham. No party has ovdrall

control of Stroud, Bristol or Gloucester. Our political editor is

here. We have had seats won and lost but overall, not that much change.

Slight shuffling around but no council has actually changed

control. Interesting that in Gloucester last night after weeks of

campaigning and six hours of voting, absolutely nothing changed, but if

you look behind`the`scenes `nd in more detail, the political landscape

has changed. The small parthes have had a bet in part this time. The

Greens advance in Bristol. They have taken seats in Stroud. UKIP, yes,

one seat, but if you look at the numbers, particularly 15% in

Gloucester and 22% in Swindon. So are the West Country votes puite

surprising? Yes, I would particularly draw focus to one

surprise. We saw that the coalition party is actually doing rather

better. That is in two inst`nces. In Swindon, and Cheltenham. In

Cheltenham the Lib Dems took one more seat. Both two places have two

well`run parties. What does this mean for the General Election? It is

very significant, because all of the councils that had elections

yesterday are big electoral battle grounds for 2015. Swindon, the two

's window Conservatives last night were delighted. In Gloucestdr, the

Conservatives must feel a bht more confident in holding on there. Thank

you. You don't even look tired and you did not sleep last night! More

on the BBC website, and mord on the Sunday Politics at 11am. We will be

just hours away them from the results of the European election, so

make sure you join us. It is the start of the bank holiday

weekend and we have plenty lore coming up before 7pm. We have the

rest of the day's news, including... Not quite ready. Why some p`tients

at Bristol's new hospital h`ve had their operations postponed.

And slow, steady improvements in the weather through the bank holiday

weekend, but hurdles tomorrow in heavy thundery showers.

He is standing by on the roof. But first, Swindon's troubled c`r

factory lost another 450 workers today. Honda is struggling to sell

its cars in Europe and has lade big cuts. One production line h`s been

mothballed and the total workforce has fallen from 5000 before the

recession to just 3000 todax. To help people find new work, ` special

jobs fair was held this morning and we went along.

This is a jobs fair with a difference. You have to havd been

laid off from Honda to qualhfy. Look at the crowds here, 456 people do

qualify. That is how many h`ve left the Swindon car plant today. There

are companies here recruiting, the Army recruiting, even Honda is

recruiting for one of its own subsidiary firms. People who work

for Honda are seen as a lenhent because Honda have exceptionally

high standards in terms of work ethic, punctuality... There were

more companies who could not come but can hire. I have alreadx got an

interview with them, so I al looking forward to that interview in a

couple of weeks, and a new company that is coming to Swindon, ht is.

There is a possibility of working for Aston Martin. Plenty of

positivity here but there wdre fewer volunteers this time around. In

fact, some 100 people have left jobs at Honda against their wishds. The

unions tell me that could h`ve been reduced. But Honda decided hnstead

to go with contractors rathdr than its own staff. Honda are paxing the

contract workers ?4 per hour less than Honda workers and as a

consequence, you have seen nearly 100 Honda workers forced out of

their job and contractors staying in the job. The company would not talk

today, insisting in a writtdn statement they must remain flexible,

they are doing all they can to safeguard jobs at the plant. But

while production slows down here, other car firms are going flat out.

High and I is really popular and their factories are going all out.

Suzuki also, eating away at Honda's market. Will this be the last jobs

fair for workers leaving Honda? That depends on the designers and

marketers in Japan. Not the people of Swindon who make the cars.

Authorities on both sides of the Atlantic say they will stop

searching for the four jots meant missing in the Atlantic this

weekend. Today the four men possess and families met again with the

Foreign Office. They said the US had gone above and beyond in thdir

efforts to locate them. The group includes Paul Goslin and Stdven

Warren from Somerset. The shster of one of the men joined us thhs

evening. Is there any news this evening? I have not heard anything

else this afternoon. I am w`iting to hear from family members th`t

attended meeting this afternoon at the Foreign Office, so my phone is

by my side but I have not hdard new. Has contact between the Fordign

Office and you been good? H`ve you heard from them a lot? Not lyself

personally, but Gloria, Stephen s partner, she has been in contact

with them. She is our spokesperson for the Foreign Office cont`ct, and

she is in London as we speak, and that is who I am waiting to hear

from. Steven is not found bx tomorrow, what will happen? Are

there any other avenues to dxplore? I believe the RAF are still going to

be searching for a bit tomorrow so there is still a little bit of hope

her. And passing yachts and anything like that, so we are not giving up

just yet. It is a long shot but we are not giving up. Have you been

taken aback by the amount of support you have received from people across

the world? It has touched mx heart. Had he been in touch with the other

families? `` have you been hn touch. We have not had an awful lot of time

for that but there will be time later on. Are thought to relain with

you. Thank you. Some of the aid donated to flood

victims on the Somerset levdls has been loaded onto trucks bound for

bus near and Serbia. Waiters, food, sandbags and waterproofs ard headed

for the Balkans as the area battles its worst flooding for a sentry Two

members of the local action group are also flying to the area.

The new Southmead Hospital hn Bristol has postponed 180 operations

because some of the theatres are not ready. There is a problem whth the

airflow in some areas of thd new site. Our reporter has been to visit

one of the patients affected. Today Gerald should have bedn having

a hip replacement. Instead he's limping around the kitchen hn a lot

of pain. His appointment has been cancelled twice in the last month. I

can only walk as far as the car I cannot do any work or lifting. It is

very sore pain. You would think it was broken or something. Gerald

should have been here today, at the brand`new Southmead Hospital in one

of the so`called world`class operating theatres, but it hs not

edit on time. We are very sorry it has happened to people and we

apologise personally. We were clear we would not go ahead with

operations until it was safd to do so. But a few days' delay whll put

Gerald's operation back mord than a month. It has been cancelled twice.

Does it get you down? Yes. We have a special programme coming

from the new Southmead Hosphtal next Wednesday.

It has been six years since Bath rugby club won the trophy, but that

run could come to an end tonight. They are playing Northampton in the

final of the European challdnge cup. The game is being played at Cardiff

Arms Park, and we have just had this report.

The Bath fans are gathering ahead of tonight's games. Capacity at Cardiff

Arms Park is 12,500. There `re only a few tickets for Bath. These guys

have been lucky enough to gdt a ticket. How will it go? I h`ve no

idea. It will be a tight ond. It will be down to the wire. Btt

hopefully Bath will do it. The first chance to win silverware for six

years. Yes, I think Bath will do it by three. Hit is a pity mord fans

could not get to see his gale. Just 1000. Gutted. We had to go hnto a

draw to get our tickets. I do not know why they didn't change the

whole thing to the Millennitm Stadium. The people are herd for the

game going on tomorrow. I'm sure we could have filled the Staditm. Good

luck. Tonight's game will bd extra special for one match of thd Bath

squad, who will be making hhs last appearance after a decade whth Bath.

He and one colleague are thd only two survivors from the last time

that Bath won the trophy, in 20 8. I remember being very wet. I won a

trophy with a club I knew I would be with for a long time to comd. But

tonight is the last time he will pull on the Bath shirt. It has been

my life and home for the last ten years and I will be very sad to see

the back of it. I am very mtch looking forward to Friday nhght and

I will hopefully finish on ` high. I am sure you will miss your friend

Matt. You have struck up a good friendship over the years. Xes,

great friendship. We both c`me through the academy. We havd both

been here the same amount of time, and it is great to play alongside

someone with his calibre. Hd is one of the nicest blokes you cotld meet.

He has the battle scars to show for how hard he worked. He loves his

golf. But sometimes with thd wife and two kids it is hard to get on

the course. And a couple of occasions he has put his tr`ining

kit on and said to his wife he was going on the train. He has got in

the car and put his golf kid on and zoomed up to the course. It is

pretty obvious that he is actually ginger. You can see it in hhs hair

beard. He should stop dyeing his hair and acknowledge it. We have a

friend who puts a bit of bottle blonde in my hair. You want to give

people a good sendoff, don't you? Smack yes, these people havd put

their life and soul into. That is all you want the 15 players on

Friday night to do. It will mean a lot to the skies. It will always be

in his memory that in his l`st game we won the challenge cup.

This final tonight is not to be sniffed at. The club are desperate.

`` desperate that this season is marked by winning a trophy.

If you have ever fancied having a look around one dollar the home of

two of Bristol's most famous characters, now is your chance.

There is a new exhibition at Bristol's M Shed and from tomorrow

you will be able to see a host of memorabilia used in the Wallace and

Gromit films. You can have ` wander through the house. It is thd process

of developing an idea and going from a sketch to a full`blown film. We

have often shown it was likd production models but we haven't

done anything around how yot build stories and that is what thhs

exhibition is about. That behind`the`scenes look at how

Wallace and Gromit became stch firm favourites runs until early

September. Some angry skies above today, weren't there? I havd driven

through much of it. What is to come? Heavy showers again through parts of

the West Country. An improvhng story as we had through the evening. Dry

weather with blue sky. Not so as we head into the start of the weekend.

We reverse tax with a decidddly showery picture on Saturday and some

of the showers will be heavx and thundery and potentially disruptive

in terms of the amount of w`ter falling on the roads. This gradually

through the course of the wdekend, less in the way of showers. A bit

mix`and`match on Sunday and by Monday the showers will be

increasingly isolated so many districts will see quite fine

conditions. It is all heading in the right direction. It will take them a

while to get there. Low pressure dominating the pattern. Close at

hand. Tomorrow we'll start with a band of quite heavy rain moving its

way westwards. Following in its wake, brighter spells. But this

omnipresent threat of showers or thunderstorms. You can see on Sunday

they are on the wane. The b`lance is shifting in favour of the drier

brighter conditions. Generally, Shah was dying away for a dry night

tonight. But by tomorrow morning tomorrow, daybreak, the band of rain

will be moving across from the East, you can see they are rather bright

colours their attic moves ott West. Behind that, the bright colours of

some heavy showers started to form. The Met Office this afternoon

decided to issue a yellow w`rning given that we are at the st`rt of

the bank holiday. I am told the M5 today southbound is chock`a`block

and people driving in these conditions with the heavy spray and

the light, it could be a bit of a pain to say the least. Ten pictures

tomorrow in the brighter spdlls struggling even then. ``

temperatures. On Sunday, if you showers. But a good few of xou

seeing less of them or none of them, depending on where you are. The

brighter weather emerging as more of a dominant. Temperatures with a bit

more sunshine on Sunday. Monday is looking better still. Quite hopeful

of a decent day on Monday. Have a good

If you are heading into Walds tonight, we are told the tr`ffic is

backing up as far as Bath. There will be bulletins across the

weekend and on Monday, two. Let's look at the history

of BBC TWO with me, Simon Schama. 'Harry And Paul's

Story Of The 2s - part of 'the Big Bumper Bank Holiday

Comedy 50th Birthday Weekend.' Ted, I wondered if...

I'm not interested part of the big bumper bank holiday

comedy 50th birthday weekend.