27/05/2014 BBC Points West

European election results. That s all from the BBC News at Six - so

Welcome to BBC Points West with Alex Lovell and David Garmston.

Who's calling the shots in the badger cull?

The police admit farmers and a private company were

in their control room as thdy responded to the protesters.

They appeared to be bathing as a private police force. That needs to

be dealt with. We'll have the response

from the police who've defended The new injection

which could offer a final chance to What next for the Lib Dems

after their West Country he`rtland A farmer's answer to a right

of way going through his fidld. Protestors who tried to stop

the badger cull are questioning the impartiality

of the police tonight after it emerged that the companies that were

paid to do the shootings gave orders Representatives from the colpanies

and farmers were invited into the control room at Avon

and Somerset Police headquarters. On one occasion, a protestor rang

999 to complain of assault only to For nine weeks last year in

West Somerset, police, marksmen and anti`badger cull

protestors filled the countryside. He was guarding

a badger sett one night when he says When he called police,

they instead questioned him about When the police turned up, they were

entirely unconcerned about the fact I had been allegedly assaulted and

their sole purpose seemed to be to find this badger and treated me

immediately as a suspect. When Chris complanied,

an internal investigation found that out of 6 people in the police

control room that night, 2 worked for the cull company and ond was

from the National Farmers Union They were in direct radio contact

with cull operatives on the ground and it was thdir

instructions that police acted on. It appears police officers were

being instructed in their dtties by the National farmers union

representative. That is intolerable! Anti`cull groups say the police were

acting like a private force The National Farmers Union says none

of We did think the police werd not

neutral. There was slow response times. Police were stopping us

frequently. When these stops were taking place, it was going through a

control room. That's a real concern. The National Farmers Union says none

of Avon and Somerset Police thdmselves

spent over ?730,000 over thd 9 weeks of the badger cull and desphte

an independent assessment ddclaring it ineffective and inhumane, it ll

take place in both Somerset and Well, joining us now is our home

affairs correspondent, Stevd Brodie. Steve, what's been Avon and

Somerset Police's repsonse? Well, the police are very

sensitive about this. Today the force made it cle`r its

main objective was public s`fety. They confirmed that at all times,

there was a senior police officer of chief inspector rank or `bove

in the room, a communications officer, a representative of the NFU

and of the contractors. Our role was about facilitating both

sides of the argument and wd were very concerned about making sure

that public safety was at the top of the agenda. For that reason, we

representative in the control room representative in the control room

so we were able to get real`time information about what was happening

on the ground so that we were in the best position to keep all p`rties

safe. Changing tack slightlx, this comes at a time when Avon and

Somerset Constabulary is looking at itself being around for 40 xears.

What's changed? 1974 was a time of upheaval and four

decades on, ordinary officers again I've been looking back

at the last 40 years and I've been speaking to the acting

Chief Constable, John Long. 1974, the year

of the three`day week and Tdd Heath And on April 1st, the men

and women of the newly formdd Avon and Somerset Constabulary m`rch

together for the first time. Personal computers, digital radios,

CS sprays and video cameras were Here is a classic piece of

memorabilia. The card says: This is his warrant an authority for

executing the duties of his office. And officer's notes were

hand`written, historical wooden truncheons had yet

to be replaced by the modern ASP, the collapsible baton, and

the controversial Taser electrical The force came to life

after a merger of the historic Bristol Citx Police,

the Somerset and Bath Const`bulary and the Staple Hill division

of the Gloucestershire Police. We realise people like to lhve on

their part of the country and have the distinct identity of behng in

Somerset or Bristol South Gloucestershire. But as a force we

think it works. In 1981, the force was found wanting

when faced with riots in St Paul's after relations with

the local community broke down. Since then, has been

a remarkable change around. New figures out show that 78%

of people asked said they h`d confidence in Avon and

Somerset Police. That places the force 6th ott of

the 43 forces in England and wales. Policing still has a great deal of

confidence. However, where things have gone wrong, we need to learn

lessons and need to improve. The current Portishead HQ w`s

officially opened by the Quden The buildings replaced the old

Bristol Constabulary Bridewdll But just

as the force decides to open its doors to the public on 05 June,

it's been hit by the suspension His deputy doesn't know how

long he will be in charge. An investigation is in motion. We

hope it will be concluded as soon as possible. That will be done to the

IPCC to conduct. We are hophng we will return to a state of sted 0 ``

certainty. What has changed for the good and

very much so is the amount of crime. For the last two decades,

it's fallen and continues to fall. That is certainly cause

for celebration. More to come, including the story of

how a farmer is keeping people off his land. The fence that is dividing

opinion. And a Somerset Bowls club that has produced three of the best

players in the world. A former soldier from Bristol,

who battered his wife to death with a dulbell,

has been convicted of murder. Nirmal Gill killed his wife Rosemary

at their home Bristol Crown Court was told

he'd killed her after finding out He's due to be sentenced

tomorrow morning. A new vaccine

for an aggressive childhood brain tumour is being tried out at

Bristol Children's Hospital. The disease neurblastoma affects

around two children a week Symptoms are vague so it's often

not diagnosed until it has spread. Many

of the most promising treatlents abroad and outside the NHS can cost

over ?1 million per child. Here, two small cancer charhties

have pulled together to pay Off the normal beat and

in pursuit of new life`saving 85 off`duty police officers

from the UK gather for a half marathon in New Xork

fundraising after Sergeant Dick It reminds me of lots of experiences

with my son and the tragedy of the disease. Parents shouldn't have too

pay for their children's trdatment. We tried to stop that.

Lilly MacGlashan from Dunstable has the condhtion.

NHS doctors said they could do no more when Lilly's cancer relapsed.

So she came to New York's Mdmorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre for

The results have been very encouraging.

Today we know that with CNS relapse on the brain, we can go through

treatment and about 75% of our children seem to grow up

As much as we would like to say we could send all abroad, it's just

too expensive so we are tryhng to bring treatments to the UK.

Now two charities have pledged over ?250,000 pounds to bring

the American vaccine to Bristol Children's Hospital to run

Potentially, this is very ilportant indeed. We have seen in the last 20

years is the last 20 years hs that M3 intervention we have dond has

increased the chance of being killed.

So the fundraising continues in earnest.

The treatment remains experhmental but the research and results is

Bit of sport news now and Bristol Rovers football club have

issued a statement this aftdrnoon, saying they are looking into

allegations that another cltb broke "third party ownership" rulds.

This is a bit of a complicated one but firstly let's go back to the

League Two table at the end of the season and you'll see why this is

They were relegated out of the football league for

the first time in their history and Wycombe Wanderers stayed up, just.

Last week, Wycombe were found guilty of breaking Football Associ`tion

rules over the sale of a pl`yer and were fined.

Bristol Rovers have instructed specialist sports lawyer

and a leading sports barrister to draft and send a complaint to both

The Football League and The Football Association.

Wycombe have said they will let the matter be dealt with through

official channels and will make no further colment.

Amy Williams has been inducted to the University of Bath's Hall of

Fame for sport. She became Britain's first woman gold ledallist

at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Jason Gardner and Ben Ross group became

the first two inductees. A small corner of a field is

continuing to generate headlines and divide opinion around the country. A

large fence has been put up around a footpath across a meadow so what is

causing the controversy? This is what all the fuss is about.

These two fences. They enclose this public footpath. It has not been up

for long but it has already become pretty well`known. Is it thd fence

that has been put alongside right`of`way and therefore people

are completely channelled in? But not in my constituency. It was put

up by the landowner who says he wants to protect its fields from dog

mess, scooter riders and trdspasses. The plan is to put capital `nd

machinery in the land and I don t want people being knocked over,

killed or whatever and me bding locked up for manslaughter. I want

to put up a full proof fencd. The foot path stretches from thd top of

this field to the bottom. Pdople have a right to walk along ht were

not veer off it. It feels lhke a prison. This footpath isn't a useful

one. It takes you to the rahlway and not a lot of us `` and what a lot of

us used to do is come in at the beginning and use the rest of the

field. We can't do that any more. Mendip council say the fencds are

not a planning issue becausd they are less than two metres high. Legal

or not, many local people are furious and say it is roaming the

countryside. But one man who lives next to the entrance says hd is in

favour. I had the job and mx neighbour had the job of cldaning up

dog mess, even though we... We thank him. People here are still

relatively hopeful that somd kind of compromise can be reached btt the

time being at least, the landowner says these fences are here to stay.

The clean`up following a Solerset floods is continuing. Small

businesses are also trying to get back on their feet and that has

meant working day and night for many.

This is what it should be lhke. But this is the crop that was affected

by the flooding. The residud that was left over from the flood water

was to this step, so that c`n't be dried off and made into baskets

because customers don't want the baskets with this mess on it. The

willow behind will now have to go into engineering maps as opposed to

the use it was originally grown for. Not quite a right but it will cost

you more money to produce. Overall, what was the winter like? Ndrve

wracking. We didn't really know whether we would be able to harvest

that. The water was in the fields for so long and it was so ddep, we

didn't think we would get the cropping. It was a very worrying

time. Once the water did go, it went very quickly unfortunately, the

ground began to dry up. We will do the opposite of a rain dancd.

Because once the water levels had gone, there was such a rush to

harvest the Willow, they had to do three months working just a couple

of weeks. It gives you an idea of the pressures that people h`ve been

under so far this year. The fallout from the

Liberal Democrats' drubbing Today a former leader of thdir party

on Bristol City Council joined calls for Nick Clegg to go but other

senior figures insist a leadership We'll be talking to an MP whth one

of the party's smallest majorities after this report from our

political editor, Paul Barltrop The West's Lib Dems have tasted

defeat in recent years but not Graham Watson's departure especially

has sent shockwaves throughout Joining calls for a change hs

a senior Bristol Lib Dem, hhmself Pretty sad. I joined this p`rty in

my teens, 40 years ago this year, and we have had ups and downs but I

just feel that the first tile in a long time, the leadership of the

party isn't listening to wh`t those at the grassroots are telling us. Is

worse, they are not listening to the voters either.

Look in detail at last Thursday s votes and you see the scale

The party regards the West country as a stronghold but European

Their best area was Somerset but they still only got 15% of votes.

In Bristol and Wiltshire it was 10%, while in parts of Gloucestershire,

6.5% in Stroud, just 5% in the Forest of De`n.

In the Euro election of 1988, the Lib Dems did slightly worse

Their leader then has today appealed for calm.

I think it's an extremely shlly idea to go into a divisive leadership

election campaign at the very moment when the things we have been doing

in government are beginning to be proved to be right.

The placards have been put `way but they'll be needed again soon,

the general election is just 11 months away.

So what is the future for the Liberal Democrats?

Joining us now is the David Heath who is the Member of Parlialent

You are finished, aren't yot, if you can't do well in your heartland

What we have just had is thd European elections. Traditionally,

we do badly in European elections. Only one in three of the voters in

the South West actually votdd. We don't know what the position is I

will not disguise the fact ht was an extremely bad day for us. Btt why

don't think you can do is extrapolate from that what will

happen in the general electhon when people are considering how their

local MP or a successor is likely to do over the next electoral period.

You went into those elections all gone is blazing in favour of the EU

just at the time when countries across the European Union wdre

voting against that institution You got that spectacularly wrong, didn't

you? The parties have a traditional view of Europe. I don't alw`ys share

their view. Nevertheless, it has been a long`standing position of the

party. Are you saying the p`rties should be dishonest? We havd always

been in favour of remaining in Europe but also of reforming the

European Union. Mick very bravely took the fight to UKIP in a way

which the other two parties failed to do. Do you think this will cost

Mr Clegg his job? It shouldn't do because we have had four ye`rs a

very tough times in governmdnt, getting this country back from the

brink of economic disaster, and I think we now have to see th`t

through till the end and show the coalition can work. The

Conservatives have also had to do Liberal Democrat policies which they

don't particularly like but we have provided the stability which this

country needs and it will t`ke time for people to recognise that is the

case but the economic signs are good and I think my next year, pdople

will take that into account as well as the quality.

A trio of Somerset bowlers `re preparing for a vintage year of

competition. They have been selected to represent England in February's

World Championships. All three are visually impaired.

There is something rather special about the bowls club. It is not that

they boast a national champhon. It is more that they have thred, three

visually impaired bowlers who, between them, have 17 national UK

and world singles titles. I think it is all the help we get. You are

going to hit your own! It's the same as normal sighted except we use a

string. We normally have a helper. When you can't see, you havd got to

go by their word. If you ard to few short, how do you judge it? That's

the secret! You either get ht right or completely wrong! You get to know

how much weight to give each distance because they cited bowler

looks at the Green, where as you just go by 31 yards, whatevdr it is.

Hopefully, you have got it right in the conditions. These guys

absolutely do get it right. Ron is reigning English champion in his

class, Terry reigning world champion in his and Nancy? Well, she says she

took a year off after winning last year but with five national titles

and the UK title to her namd, that's probably just as well for everyone

else. Good shot! Shot or bowls? If there was the secret, they

definitely got it. In typical half term fashion, best

of the sunshine will come on Saturday. But that's the wax our

weather goes. It has been a mixed picture today. Plenty of cloud

coverage. Where we have had sunshine, it has lifted temperatures

significantly but with that cloud, we have had showers. They h`ve

become steadily more persistent In a few places, I would wager a rumble

or two of thunder. Temperattre wise, it hasn't been too bad. In

some parts, we edged towards 17 Celsius. Under the showers, though,

cooler and fresher. The next few days, we remain this picturd. A

cloudy story and more showers on the way. Some bright spells and when we

get those spells, temperatures respond in kind. The rest of this

evening and tonight, a showdry story. Mainly confined to bd

northern areas of our region. Plenty of insulation due to be clotd cover.

9`11 Celsius. Rural spots a little cooler but not much. Tomorrow

morning, a grey and cloudy story. Damp underfoot after rain overnight.

Some bright spells in betwedn. Where we get the sunshine, though,

temperatures will lift signhficantly so enjoy that sunshine wherd you get

it. 16 or 17 Celsius as possible. Again, though, under the showers

cooler and fresher. Tomorrow evening and night time, a very similar story

to tonight. Cloudy grey with the odd shower or two and the outlook for

the end of the week, the showers dissipate, the cloud breaks and by

Friday, the best of the sunshine. Saturday, better still.