26/09/2014 Look East - East

Hello and welcome to Look E`st. at Westminster.

Tornado pilots from RAF Marham in Norfolk could strike within

hours, as the House of Commons approves bombing raids in Iraq.

The hospital that's run out of beds, and is running out of money.

The Norfolk and Norwich admhts it is under extreme pressurd.

The issue that we have got hs that the demand for our services is very,

very high. Ryder Cup fever ` we've lindd up

the young champion golfers who hope A new garden for soldiers rdcovering

from the horrors of war. First tonight,

the pilots and the politici`ns from this region getting re`dy for

another military operation hn Iraq. Six Tornados from RAF Marhal

in Norfolk are already in Cxprus, But now they will switch

from reconnaissance to bombhng. Their laser`guided weapons

are already in place. Experts say making the adjustment

would take a matter of hours. In a moment, our defence

reporter Alex Dunlop in Cyprus. But first,

Ian Barmer reports from Swaffham , This was the Greyhound pub.

Personally, I do not have a problem with it, I think it is a good thing.

RAF Marham was kept open for a reason. It is good for the local

economy, a lot of tradespeople around here. They come into the town

and spend money, so there is quite a close link. They should be doing all

they can, sort them all out. I think it is just wrong what is gohng on,

they should go out and sort it out. Right between RAF Marham and

Swaffham are strong. Number two Squadron has been given honorary

citizenship, the service people send their families to local schools The

noise of the jets is a reminder that the base is nearby. We have had

connections with them for m`ny years. So many of the peopld of

Swaffham are employed at Marham So many retired people from Marham live

here, having stayed in the region, and of course, the force people

themselves, they do not all live on the base. The Tornados left on

August the 12th, armed only with high`tech imaging equipment, carried

in a pod underneath the fusdlage. The role was humanitarian, helping

aircrews to drop aid in the right place over northern Iraq. Now, that

has changed, and in the deb`te, the Essex MP John Baron urged c`ution.

Does he accept that without the Iraqi army being able to take and

hold ground, there is a real risk that air strikes might not just

prove in effect, but could become counter`productive? This is what

they are trained to do. The morale on the base is very high. The

aircraft in Cyprus are being supported by ground crew from

Marham. There is a warning today from the Islamic party of Britain

that air strikes in Iraq will not protect people here. I think it is

the past failure of the polhcies which MPs have voted for, and by

continuing down that road, `nd posturing to do something, giving

the impression to the popul`tion that you are really coming back and

doing something, it is not going to make us more safe, it is gohng to

make us less safe. So, MPs have voted yes for military action, and

that means the mission for the Marham aircrews has changed, is

usually. Our defence reporter Alex Dtnlop

has been with the Tornados from 31 And this afternoon,

he returned via RAF Akrotirh, where pilots are preparing to deploy

in the skies over Iraq. I asked him

how soon they could be flying. They have just been waiting for the

green light for action from politicians. They could be taking

off from this runway in the next few hours. Wobbly after nightfall. They

would be armed with a range of weapons winning missiles, gtided

bombs, it depends on the targets. They have been based in Cyprus for

the last month or so, carryhng out surveillance missions, gathdring

intelligence about insurgents and their movements. I think thdy have

got a pretty good idea off the ground. How dangerous could the

mission be for them? Over Iraq it will certainly be more dangdrous

than their current tour of Afghanistan. I have just bedn

filming with 31 Squadron from RAF Marham over the last few daxs in

Kandahar. The threat from insurgents in Afghanistan on the ground really

is minimal, they just do not have the capability. So Marham's aircrews

pretty much have the freedol of the skies. In Iraq, however, IS really

have got hold of some sophisticated weapons, so I think the aircrews

cannot rule out the threat that they could be shot down by ground to air

missiles. And of course, thhs will not be their first deployment over

Iraq, will it? Absolutely not, I think you could say Iraq is pretty

much a second home for the Tornados. In the early 1990s, sadly they lost

six jets, islets and navigators were killed, and more were captured.

Then, they were carrying out these very low level bombing misshons on

strategic positions like arls dumps and runways, so they were vtlnerable

to ground attack. I think this time they have learned their lesson in

the second Gulf War, they flew at a higher altitude, and they whll be

this time around. This is open`ended, but certainly the

Secretary of State for Defence said this campaign could last 2`3 years.

And if the Tornados are involved throughout that time, it cotld be

the end game for them, becatse they are due to be retired, after 40

years, in 2018. Involved. Also, we have to be clear

that this is a multilevel rdsponse, it is not just the aircraft, it is

the coalition on the ground, we have to show to the Gulf states

particularly that we are involved, because their financial involvement

in this country is signific`nt. There will be families watching this

in places like Colchester who will think, it is jets first, but it will

be soldiers next? And I would be worried, too. That I have to say

that the spectre of a long shadow of Afghanistan and Iraq still plays

long in Whitehall. And in Westminster. Frankly put, this is

not a business for us in terms of boots on the ground. This should be

an Arab solution to an Arab problem, we should not be putting troops on

the ground. But it could follow`on, logically? There could even be

people there now? When we s`y boots on the ground, we mean, it

operations. I personally thhnk that trainers, and let's face it, the

Peshmerga, I would hope there are special forces training teals there

now. I do not know. It has emerged that the Norfolk

and Norwich Hospital has bedn on black alert nearly every day

of the last two months ` "the operational pressure h`s been

extreme?. Financially, the hospital is facing

its first planned deficit, `nd This afternoon,

I spoke to the hospital's chief It is where we go for emergdncy

treatment after an injury or a referral. This week there h`s been a

shortage of beds, and the knock`on effect is that patients havd been

transferred to what are called escalation areas. It is not the

ideal place to give them thd care they need. So why have they been

nonblack alert? Last year there were more than 25,000 emergency

admissions. This went up to more than 26,000 this year. The hospital

says patients cannot leave the department goes there is a lack of

community care available. Also last month, staff sickness levels were

particularly high. For the first time, the hospital is expecting an

?11 million shortfall. All this puts pressure on the hospital and its

staff. When we are long black alert, we have more patients and wd would

ideally be hoping to cope whth, but we see them all. With the fhnancial

pressures as well, the trust is always carrying lots of vac`ncies

amongst staff, so the staff we have are doing more work than thdy would

do, so it is a double whammx. Being on black alert now means thdy only

have a few months to try and ease the situation before it is winter,

when there is normally a significant increase in emergency admissions.

This afternoon, I spoke to the hospital's chief

She told me the main problel was the delay in discharging patients

from the hospital, when thex needed more care in the community.

It is finding the right cap`city in the right place at the right time.

The capacity is not as flexhble as we would like it to be, and really,

that is down to money. If you want flexibility, then you need to build

some headroom into the systdm. As the money gets tight, there is less

and less headroom for all of us which is what is impacting ts most.

Let's talk about money, bec`use the hospital is facing an ?11 mhllion

deficit for the first time. Your director of resources has s`id the

future is actually uncertain ` how worried personally are you `bout the

future of the hospital? I al very worried about the future of the

finances at the hospital. I am not worried about the future of the

hospital. I think we have got an amazing hospital, we have the most

incredible staff here, who `re working their socks off. Thd money

will sort itself out. How whll the money sort itself out, is it

government which needs to ghve more money? I think there will bd some

really significant changes hn the way in which hospitals like ours are

paid for the patients that we see as emergencies. What we are dohng is

looking very, very carefullx and where we need to invest, to make

sure that we can provide thd highest quality care we can. Right now, the

demand for our services is very very high. You can imagine that

people watching this might be concerned if they think thex might

have to come into hospital `nd they might be put in a place which is not

normally used, or they might have to have their major surgery cancelled `

what would your message be? Sometimes, we have to do thhngs

which are not in line with our vision, which we would not

necessarily want to do. There are times when we have to make the least

unpalatable choice. That is really, really difficult from an individual

patient is, really hard. Wh`t we have to do is look at the rhsk of

all of the patients that we have to care for, and manage that rhsk

across that patient group as a whole. It is really, really tough.

A 19`year`old man who was arrested in connection with the murddr

of James Attfield has been released on police bail.

Today, the police in Colchester released new CCTV pictures of two

The police will be in the area this evening, shx months

since Mr Attfield's body was discovered in Lower Castle Park

Still to come tonight ` Alex will be looking ahead to a warm weekend

Plus, as the Ryder Cup team get going at Gleneagles,

We talk to the young golfers from Essex who hope to be following

It is Freshers Week, with thousands of new students

settling into a new life at university across the region

But if you're a student with disabilities,

The number of disabled undergraduates has increased

in recent years, but campaigners say much more needs to be done.

Thousands and thousands of teenagers across the UK have just left home

for the very first time. Ovdr the next three years at least, they will

live and work in a new placd, filled with strangers, often far away from

their family and friends. K`te is one of them. She is from

Warrington, and has just st`rted at the University of East Anglha in

Norwich, 235 miles away. Kate has muscular dystrophy, and reqtires

24`hour care. She was deterlined to go to university, but admits she had

her doubts. We never really said it out loud, but we both sort of, it

was a bit like, are we going to get there? And if I get there, will I be

able to hack it, or will I just come home? I going to spend the rest of

my life living at home with my parents? Which I do not want. This

is an induction run by the University for students with

disabilities, or who requird extra help. One of the reasons Kate chose

East Anglia was because of the support it offers. We want students

with disabilities, whatever their disability, to be able to access the

full range of what the univdrsity has to offer, the learning `nd

teaching, the social experidnce and the opportunity to get involved in

volunteering and all sorts of clubs and societies. But many young people

believe there are still too many barriers preventing them from going

to university. The figures have improved ` up from 5.4% of the

student population to 8.6%. But less than 15% of disabled people have a

degree. The next three years will bd long

and hard for Kate. Just getting here was tough enough. But she is

determined to succeed, no m`tter what.

Sport now, and it is an important weekend for golf fans,

Plenty of football, too, with the battle at the top of

Yes, potentially very excithng for followers of Ipswich and Norwich.

Ipswich today have signed former West Ham midfielder Jack Collison

on short`term deal after a successful trial.

Town have enjoyed a stunning September.

Tomorrow, they're at home to Rotherham and looking at

the table, a chance to move into the top six with a fourth straight win.

It gives an optimism around the town, and at the ground tomorrow.

That has to be to put slightly, because Rotherham are no mugs, and

it will be a tough game, as are all games in the Championship. But it

helps the spirit, and it helps individually how you feel about

yourself, and collectively `s a team.

The season so far couldn't have gone much better for Norwich.

Free`scoring, just the one league defeat, second in the table.

But a draw with Birmingham `nd a surprise exit in the Capital One Cup

Saying that, victory at struggling Blackpool

We do not have to go all guns blazing, we have just got to win the

game. It would be ironic and nice at times if we could just win ` Game

1`0 and it is an awful game. We have not had too many of those this

season. Now for all golfers out there,

have a look at this. Ian Poulter from Milton Keynes

missing a tiddler A heavy defeat meant he was dropped

from this afternoon's foursomes And from some of the world's best to

the best juniors in the country The Essex under`18s will have

their own Ryder Cup hopes one day. They've just been crowned

national champions. These guys at this level all have a

natural ability, and our job has been to home that ability. They all

have the ability to go further. They are good golfers individually, but

put them together and they have proved to be the best in thd

country. The Essex U18s boys team have been on quite a journex. We won

the singles in the afternoon, we never lost a game. Ryder Cup

format? Similar, yes. Georgd is one of seven golfers with a new, silver

companion. They spent hours striking balls at this course near M`ldon.

But there was time today for a quick look at the mother of all m`tchplay

competitions, the Ryder Cup, a tournament any aspiring golfer would

love to be part of. Some of them will perhaps become professhonals.

Some will become touring pros. Some will become citydwellers and play

golf as a past time. But I would like to think we give them the

opportunity to fulfil their dream. It is too early to say wherd golf

will take these Essex boys, but in the short term, a new piece of kit

should help them on their w`y. Radar tracks the ball, `information about

speed, distance and accuracx. What is next for you? This is my last

year of juniors, so next ye`r I will be going to play the amateur events.

Then hopefully I will go to America to play golf, with a scholarship.

This victorious Essex boys team will be broken up, as they each love on.

The county coaches players from 12 years old, so there is more talent

being developed. Two of English rugby's biggdst

beasts go head to head tomorrow Champions Northampton host darly

leaders Bath ` the form teal so far. It is a game the Saints can't wait

for, in front of a capacity crowd. People are coming here to bdat us,

and we know that, and we like that, we want that. We want to make sure

that every game we go into, we want to win. We do not want to bd a

trick pony, we want to get to the finals again and again. We have got

a settled squad. Pre`season was good, and we have shown that in our

first three games. Finally cricket, and

Northamptonshire's dismal sdason After last year's promotion,

they are relegated without winning Better news for Essex today,

after their promotion quest came up just short ` Ravi Bopara has signed

a new contract. On a brighter note,

cracking weekend ahead. Previews to all the fixtures are

on the website. A garden dedicated to injurdd

veterans has been officiallx It is called Hope on the Horizon,

and it won a prize at the Chelsea Flower Show `

including a People's Choice Award After the show, the garden had to be

taken apart and put back together in its permanent home. Moving `n

award`winning garden from Chelsea to Colchester has had its challenges.

Simple things like trying to move A40ft treat! It is not very

straightforward! Just making sure that everything is dealt with very

delicately. For many injured in war, the road to recovery is long. We

Hope on the Horizon garden hs designed to represent that journey,

a journey more than 600 vetdrans have made here at the Help for

Heroes recovery centre. It hs about convincing people they are safe it

is an environment we have tried to engender from the start, th`t when

people arrive here, they fedl safe. If they feel safe, they can forget

about their concerns and st`rt thinking about the future. Lark was

diagnosed with post`traumathc stress disorder a decade ago. Last year he

left the services and spent four months receiving treatment here You

can hear the water, you can see what the garden represents, but lore

importantly, you are surrounded by recovery. Yes, it is a warm blanket

around you, but you have thd ability to let that blanket go and be able

to treat yourself. The hard landscaping material I have used

is's, to represent the physhcal well`being of the soldiers. As you

move through the space, it becomes more and more refined, like the

soldiers do in recovery. Out the back, it is essentially finhshing

recovery and using the spacd to go on into their futures. The garden

took 12 weeks to replant following Chelsea. Now the garden has been

officially opened, the healhng can start ` a safe place for those to

reflect, with a symbolic horizon giving hope to the future.

Back now to our lead story ` the decision by the House of Commons

to approve plans for air strikes in Iraq against Islamic State.

Our political correspondent Andrew Sinclair was in the Commons

How did our MPs vote? As expected, most of them voted for air strikes,

but four voted against, the Essex MP John Baron, Richard Bacon, the

Cambridge MP Julian hump it and the MP for Luton, Kelvin Hopkins. But

the vote masked some real concerns held by a number of our MPs about

what exactly we are getting into here. Peter bone, for

Wellingborough, said today that he questioned whether air strikes would

really be enough. He feels ht is only a matter of time beford we get

involved in Syria as well. James Pace, the Cambridgeshire MP, said he

was worried about the lukew`rm support of neighbouring Arab states.

There is a sober feeling here that we could be at the start of

something very big, which whll go on for a very long time. What struck me

was how many of our MPs havd felt the enormity of the decision they

are taking. Many have consulted with constituents, many have felt and

thought long and hard about how they will vote. This is an incredibly

difficult decision, just like last year, when we were asked to vote on

Syria. The question is, are we going to save lives or put more lhves at

risk? I am new into Parliamdnt, I look back at the lessons of things

like Iraq, and it is clear that these things are complex, there can

be no more grave decision for an MP and to send our Armed Forces into

fight. This leaves the way open for jets from RAF Marham to go hn? Yes,

and it could happen as soon as tonight. The Prime Minister paid

tribute to what he called otr inspirational Armed Forces, who will

be putting themselves in harm's way. He was talking about the personnel

of RAF Marham. So, they havd decided we are going in, and we now await to

see what happens. Let's have a look at the we`ther. It

is going to be a pretty good weekend of weather, feeling quite w`rm, but

there will be quite a bit of cloud around at times. Today was ` case in

point. Some of us had beauthful sunshine, others had quite ` lot of

cloud. This front has not qtite cleared through yet. It is where we

get these breaks that we cotld get some mist and fog patches overnight

tonight. They are likely to be quite patchy. In the early hours of

tomorrow morning, the frog could be quite dense in places. Therd is a

real variation in temperatures expected overnight tonight,

depending on the cloud.