24/07/2014 Look East - East

I'm Susie Fowler`Watt. in Glasgow.

David Ruffley, the MP for Bury St Edmunds hs

fighting for his political life tonight after a letter was published

about his recent police caution for assaulting his former girlfriend.

Written by the Dean of St Edmundsbury, it claims

the assault was more serious than Mr Ruffley had admitted.

Tonight the MP said he considered the matter closed.

This report from our political correspondent Andrew Sinclahr.

Until evening, the MP has stayed silent about what happened here at

his London flat for months `go, hoping the controversy would go

away. He has been condemned by women's groups and party melbers but

it is the unintended public`tion of a letter from the Dean of S`int

Edmunds Greyhound the detail that has had the most dramatic effect. In

a letter written last week `nd copied to a number of peopld in the

Conservative Party, and meets today on a political website, the very

regular and Francis Ward dods not mince her words.

She then goes on to say:. She said that when she went to meet his

former girlfriend and went to hug her

that when she went to meet his former girlfriend and after the

assault the Winston obvious pain and when talking about the assatlt had

been frightened of your ragd and violent behaviour. She has remained

unwilling to speak out but H cannot let you try to tell me it w`s only a

little local incident or th`t she was at fault, I must remain two of

the seriousness of the assatlt and that you were under arrest not her.

Tonight, a statement from the NPA admitted to what he called on

appropriate action on his p`rt. The MP's local party will mdet next

week to discuss the issue btt at the moment it is backing him. Not

everyone is happy. This has gone on for too long. I think he hoped it

would disappear but it hasn't. All of the bits and pieces of modern

communications are a late whth what is going on. People think that his

position is no prejudice to such an extent that he cannot continue. You

has now finally explained He hopes that is enough.

I ask Andrew whether he thotght the MP had done enough. It is h`rd to

find any supporters of him on social media, the Bury Saint Edmunds

society that led the calls for him to go as tweeted tonight, wd are

appalled by his statement. He has no credibility. A member of thd party,

she works in Norfolk and was one of the first people to actuallx

criticising, is seeing, this news is simply not good enough I will not

let it drop. The Conservative Police and Crime Commissioners for Suffolk

is seeing the late, such behaviour is inexcusable. I had done that I

would have had to resign. Wd cannot have these issues being swept under

the carpet. At the end of the day what happens next will be how this

is played in the newspapers over the next few days. If there is `n outcry

it will look bad. And the local party is due to meet next wdek to

discuss this? That is right, the party is officially supporthng him

but we know that there are ` knob of people in the party who havd a lot

concerns, it is interesting that the Dean chose to copy this letter to a

number of conservatives within the Bury Saint Edmunds any which shows

there is a lot of concern about there is a lot of concern about

this. Thank you. A former headmaster who's now

in his 80s has pleaded not guilty to a series of sexual assaults

against a pupil 40 years ago. David Tuohy who now lives in Oxford

was headmaster at the former Eccles He'll appear at Norwich Crown Court

again at the end of Septembdr. Police investigating the de`th

of a Lithuanian couple on the A 7 in Norfolk have found items

belonging to the couple Tadas Zaleskas and

Nonita Karajevaite were both hit Police are treating her death

as suspicious, believing she may have been pushed

into the traffic by her fiance. Senior racing figures in Newmarket

have described the latest drugs controversx to hit

the town as a "genuine mist`ke" The sport is back in the he`dlines

after it emerged the Queen's horse Estimate failed a drugs test

after the recent Gold Cup at Ascot. A string of horses returning to

Freemason Lodge this morning, Sir Michael Stoute would have woken up

to some very uncomfortable headlines but it was business as usual in the

yard. As we were filming, she grew up in his car. We have issudd a

statement and are waiting for the tests. When estimate one thd past

but the Queen was deleted. But when the five`year old men finished

second she tested positive for morphine. It is thought the morphine

came from seeds from the fedd made in Kettering. They were not to sell

to see us God `` perhaps because they have a Royal warrant. The

issued a statement saying that the bid not have the contaminathon on

their premises but from the supplier. The feed company producing

our feet are rigorous in making sure that these things do not get in but

a poppy seed is the size of a pinhead and it does not takd too

many poppy seeds to come up with a positive sample. At the anntal

health trusts to Dyson is an expert in equine medicine. The testing

these blood samples undergo its vigorous. They can pick up tiny

amount of foreign substances. We have no idea of the concentration

identified. If it was a tinx concentration it will have `

negligible effect on the horse's performance. Embarrassing for the

Queen. What is clear is that when it comes to banned substances hn the

British were fitting authorhty is British were fitting authorhty is

determined to pursue a zero tolerance approach.

As you'll be aware, the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games

was held tonight, kicking off eleven days of competithon.

43 athletes from our region are amongst the thousands taking part.

Our sports reporter Tom Williams spent the day in Glasgow finding out

A spectacular Scottish welcome 4 England, sporting rivalry c`st

aside. After all, these are billed as the friendly games. The village

is filling up, 71 nation silile I think themselves with their new

surroundings. The athletes `re settling in. Some are getting

creative. Others just getting comfortable. The hub of the village

is the dining hall, with around 4500 athletes lost the support staff the

estimate 20,000 meals per d`y will be served. Catering for all tastes.

Team England is the biggest team, over 400 athletes and there has been

a huge investment in sports science, physio and recovery equipment here

in the lion 's den. Athletes are moving towards the limits of human

performance, we are trying to decode these marginal gains in this area is

what will give us that. We can move people from off the podium `nd onto

the podium but more importantly from bronze into gold. 4500 athldtes are

here, the venues are ready `nd with over 1 billion people watchhng

around the world let the 20th Commonwealth Games begin.

There is no hanging about, the action starts straightaway hn the

morning, with swelling, badlinton and squash. You can follow the

progress of all of the athldtes on the east on your local BBC radio

station and on the website. That's all from me, even as the

weather. After a hot day a warm and dry and eight, long clear spells out

there with Patrick load and perhaps the odd missed part as he gdt into

the early hours of the mornhng. We begin Thursday quite warm and it

will quickly caught up in the way to work. At easterly breeze will mean

that we record cooler temperatures on the coast into the mid`20s, but

further west certainly 27 or 28 degrees is quite possible. Ht is

likely to stay fine race through the day. Here is our output, a settle

for gas for the rest of the week and into the weekend,

of some showers and at Wilton cooler from the north. The national picture

comes from Philip Avery. Unusually, I can say good morning.

Wednesday has been noticeable for a number of reasons. From a

meteorological point of view, it was the warmest