22/09/2014 BBC Points West

Around 60 ataff at a dairy firm in Somerset could be out of work,

following the announcement that a creamery is to shut.

Dairy Crest has said it's f`iled to make the factory in Chard vhable,

despite what it describes as the best efforts

The firm has blamed the dechsion on the way we buy our milk,

The end of shift and the grim reality sets in th`t these

For the last 14 years, Dairx Crest has owned this site, and it has been

producing pots of cream and alcoholic cream, but with this

factory and its links to thd milk industry, it has been here for

decades. It is a big shock because Dairy Crest has been here forever.

As far as I remember, Dairy Crest and its predecessors were hdre and

able to employ a lot of people in the town so it has been quite a big

shock. The loss of the traditional milk

round also means their bottling dairy in London is to

close, with 200 jobs being cut. Dairy Crest have blamed it on people

no longer drinking bottled lilk The proportion of milk sold

in glass bottles has fallen But the unions are blaming ht

on the supermarket competion. The road this pressure the

supermarket supply, especially on the dairy industry, means a constant

merry`go`round of contract `nd was looking to cut the costs and leaving

companies like Dairy Crest with nowhere to go and with no option but

to make these closures. Whoever is to the blame,

this landmark building that's been here for over 150 years and was

in it's time the biggest milk proccesing factory in Europd will be

closed by this time next ye`r. Our business correspondent

Dave Harvey is here. So is it

the supermarkets' fault or just the We think of dairy as a rathdr

traditional, ancient industry, but over the last generation it has been

transformed. Those figures `90 % used to come on the doorstep and now

just 4%. Can you think of another industry as transformed as that

Take something like the imp`ct of the Internet music, where everybody

will tell you that it has khlled old`fashioned record shops. What a

lot more than 4% of music is sold through record shops. `` but a lot

more. In fact, the way we bty music has not changed as much as the way

we buy milk. So now West Cotntry dairy people have had to either deal

with the supermarkets or bypass them, selling direct through farm

shops and high`quality brands. So competition is hard. Should firms be

changing? The rule now is you have to get big, get niche or get out.

The small companies supplying the top end firms in London all those in

small shops. Plans for a new nuclear powdr

station at Hinkley Point were given It emerged that Brussels will

approve the controversial proposal to guarantee a fixed price

for the electricity generatdd Opponents said the deal amotnted to

a state subsidy, But today the commissioner said a

positive decision had been reached. A formal announcement is

expected within weeks. Candidates and councillors

from the West are in Manchester for the last Labour Conference before

next year's general election. It's a crucial few days for

the party, intended to be a launch Our political editor Paul B`rltrop

is at the conference. The mood in Manchester is good

but the task facing Labour hs At present, the party has jtst

two MPs in the West country. During Tony Blair's

heyday there were 12. If Labour are going to get back into

government, they're going to have to Six candidates whose fate whll

decide who governs Britain. They're fighting seats in Swindon,

Bristol, If Labour are to win next ydar,

some, if not all, must becole MPs. Massively daunting, of course! I am

asking the people of Gloucester to vote for me and be their collective

representative in Parliament and that is an enormous honour hf I am

elected and an enormous responsibility, too, and I `pproach

it as humbly as I can but it is daunting but I am also very

committed. They've all been trained to toe

the party line. Today that meant talking up

the messages being given out in Ed Balls spoke of how Labour

would tackle Britain's debt. We will levy a tax on the hhghest

value properties... But the fallout from the Scottish

referendum casts a shadow, amid accusations that

the party is divided over rdforming Let's look at the Conservathves

They have had four years to look at the England question and now they

want to do it in three or four short months. That is going to be a

Dangerous Dogs Act mash up, to be honest! So I say, hang on, let's

have a bit of a conversation about it.

If they needed any reminding, a giant poster shows how crtcial

the West Country will be to Labour in eight months' time.

Before then, all six will bd giving up paid work to concdntrate

So a big challenge facing the candidates and a big molent

Ed Miliband makes his speech tomorrow knowing he's got

to energise everyone here rdady for the campaign to come.

There's more on all those stories on BBC News Online.

We're back with you tomorrow in Breakfast from 6.30am,

but for now, I'll leave you with Alina Jenkins and the forec`st.

We have had a fine day and ht is a finite install. Mostly clear skies

and I say that because therd could well be a bit of mist and fog

developing across the Somerset Levels or up towards the Salisbury

plain. `` it is a fine end `s well. These are the temperatures hn towns

and city centres but some rtral spots down to two or three degrees,

so a real chilled to the air for Tuesday morning. The mist and fog

quickly disbursing and then another fine day with good spells of

sunshine. The cloud may well bubble up, more than we have seen today.

Perfectly respectable for the time of year with those afternoon

temperatures. Overnight to tomorrow, a band of cloud with light rain but

that should clear early on Wednesday morning and then Thursday and

Friday, drier, more cloud, lore of a Temperatures are not bad for the

time of year. For much of the UK, this week will

stay drier than average and warmer than average. We normally expect

temperatures of around 22 degrees, but by the end of the week we could

get into the low 20s. With clear skies at this time of year, it does

turn chilly through the evening