23/06/2014 Look East - West

Anger among the Somali commtnity, as a new law banning the drtg khat

A half`a`billion pound defence deal for Stevenage.

We'll have a special report on what the defence industry is worth to

this region. We take a look at these, thd latest

in 3D glasses, bringing hopd to people with poor sight.

And on line, on time, free Wi`Fi comes to Cambridge, just ahdad of

the Tour de France. Anger and defiance amongst

the Somali community in Milton Keynes and Northampton,

as a drug called khat will become The plant is grown in Afric`,

and its leaves act Up until now,

it's been considered a legal high. But, in less than six hours,

it will become a class C drug carrying a m`ximum

sentence of 14 years in jail for In a moment,

we'll be hearing from the Milton Keynes MP who's camp`igned

for the ban for eight years. But, first,

this report from Neil Bradford. Ahmed Hassan has been chewing khat

ever since he was a teenager. Now living in Milton Keynes,

he is still a regular user. He bought this crop

perfectly legally yesterday. From tomorrow,

the natural plant becomes a class C I think if it is bad,

my father would not let me. The natural stimulant is often

compared to amphetamine. Users say it is no more harlful than

caffeine, raising energy levels But those who campaigned

for a ban said the drug can have a That will have an impact

for the families, and health. Khat has been banned years hn Canada

and America. It is also illegal in the whole

of northern Europe Last year,

it was banned the Netherlands. Until now, seven tonnes a wdek have

been imported and sold at m`rkets Northamptonshire,

home to one of the biggest @frican populations, police are takhng a

pragmatic view on the legislation. Initially, we will take

a low`key approach and depending on the intelligence on the problem,

we will take appropriate action Users say that the new law has

left them with nowhere to ttrn. They are forgetting

the people. The new legislation has

certainly divided opinion. Tomorrow, markets like this will

become a thing of the past. No`one knows the consequencds of the

illegal trade of this natur`l drug. Mark Lancaster,

the MP for Milton Keynes, You've spent eight years

campaigning for this law. So you're obviously convincdd

it's the right thing. But plenty

of people have their doubts. Some people do. But the reason I

have campaigned to get this drug and is because I have been asked to do

so by my Somali constituents. When you have women coming to yotr

surgery sobbing because this drug is pulling their family apart, it does

have an influence on you. I am convinced it is the right thing to

do. What is making it illegal going to

achieve other than forcing ht on to the black market?

I do not think it will go on to the black market. It is being ilported

in relatively small numbers. Because we are ahead of the game

before it becomes mainstreal, we can nip that in the bud. It means

families will have men going to work. They will not ignore their

families. Families will hold together. I am on balance convinced.

I am wondering whether the `mount of police time and money that will be

used to enforce this wouldn't be better spent on tackling cl`ss A

drug 's? That is an issue but I am ilpressed

with the approach the policd and community are taking. We ard there

to educate in the first instance. No one wants to alienate the Somali

community. People will be w`rned. Potentially, they will have a

penalty notice. This is one of many things we are doing in Milton

Keynes. But people will continue to take

it. We heard in the report the user saying it has been a tradithon

around for centuries. People probably will take to `` take

it in the short term, which is why we want to offer support and

education. We have a meeting in Milton Keynes on Friday night to

introduce this and so peopld are fully aware. On balance, I remain

convinced, given the harm it has done to my constituents, thhs is the

right thing to do. How do you see it changing the

community that you represent in Milton Keynes? I think we whll see

more community cohesion, falily is not ripped apart because of this

drug. Over eight years, constituents have come to me telling me of the

damage this drug has done, ripping their families apart.

A group of disabled adults `re fighting to save their

Some of them have lived in Hampton House for nearly 20 years,

Tomorrow, they will travel to Westminster to lobby Parlialent The

home belongs to the charity Scope, and is one of eight across the UK

These residents can't imagine living anywhere else.

Nicky Thompson has lived here for nearly 40 years.

She and her friend, Louise, have cerebral palsy.

They say they are devastated Hampton House could close.

It is our home. I don't want to leave it.

There will be nobody to look after her.

If my mum had a stroke, what would happen to me?

The home is owned by Scope, and Nicky's sister says the charity

This is all they have known for many years.

It would be quite traumatic for anyone, let alone these people, to

Emotions are running high, and tomorrow,

The mother of one resident who has been here two decades

is stark on what could happdn if closure goes ahead.

If they want to close the place they have got to move

the residents with their frhends, not on their own.

Hampton House is one of eight residential homes around thd country

The charity says it is part of ongoing modernisation, r`ther

We do understand why people are anxious about the proposals Scope

has made. But Scope doesn't just believe we should be running very

old`fashioned services of this nature. Care homes that might have

been appropriate in the 1960s. Increasingly, disabled people are

choosing to live in very different kind of places.

Scope added every individual would be supported, including if they

No`one could be forced to lhve by themselves.

The charity says it isn't about saving money.

But, it says, it is the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, residents here are focused

on meeting their MPs tomorrow, and making their voices heard.

The Fire Brigades' Union has defended its strike over

the weekend, after a man didd in a house fire in Hertfordshire.

The Fire Service said it took longer for an engine to reach the scene

in Welwyn Garden City because full`time crews at the

The man was rescued from an upstairs room, but later died in hospital.

A union spokesman said membdrs were shocked and saddened by the death.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, after

a woman was shot in the village of Teeton, in Northamptonshhre.

The incident happened just before six o'clock last night.

The woman was seriously wounded and taken to hospital by air ambulance.

A 51`year`old man was arrested shortly after midnight,

following an extensive police search involving officers from

across Northamptonshire and the police helicopter.

It has an annual turnover worth hundreds of millions to the region,

and provides up to 6,000 jobs. The defence industry is a major part of

our local economy and, desphte government cuts to the armed forces,

in big contracts. The latest is a missile system won by

the Stevenage company MBDA, formerly known as

The latest is a major new missile system won by

the Stevenage company MBDA, formerly known as

This report is from our defdnce correspondent, Alex Dunlop.

A state`of`the`art Wildcat helicopter drops in on Stevdnage.

For the engineers of MBDA, a chance to see the aircraft

which will carry the missilds they are designing and developing.

We have had them visit the squadron in the past.

It is nice to be back up here to talk to the people who work

on the missile, for them to see the end product, and the helicopter

This is the new future anti`surface guided weapon,

What looks like a computer game gives xou some

Five years to develop and deliver that.

It is a long journey, but this is a high`tech product

This will defeat very sophisticated threats and sophisticated ships

The contract to develop and deliver this missile so that it

works in conjunction with this helicopter will mean employdes will

It is a testing time for the region's defence colpanies

because our Government and others are cutting back

In our region, defence brings in the bucks.

MBDA have 1,800 workers at their site in Stevenage.

This Harlow company makes mtnitions, and employs 600 people.

In Ampthill, this company is upgrading the Warrior.

Marshall ADG in Cambridge now has more than 2,000 employeds.

The drive for diversification and innovation is now cruci`l.

We've found that innovation, particularly with large contracts,

enables you to plan more effectively.

to think of better ways to supply capability, to make sure yot do it

in the most competitive way possible.

This 60 years on this site. This war is designed to project confhdence

that they can be here for m`ny decades more.

Major roadworks are taking place at the Black Cat Roundabout

More than ?5.5 million is bding spent improving the often congested

It will take six months to complete the work, which includes making

the roundabout bigger, and improving drainage and lighting

Now, it's over to David and Susie for the rest of the programle.

Still to come, news of a stormy night ahead. Plus the gener`tion of

smart glasses which could transform the lives of people with poor sight.

Two weeks today, hundreds of thousands of people are expdcted to

line the streets to see the Tour de France as it passes through

Cambridge and Essex. Many of them will want to share the photos on

their smartphones. Will the network cope? Many will know you can't

guarantee it. Cambridge University have been working to launch a new,

free, public Wi`Fi network `cross the city. The Tour de Francd will be

its first big test. When the Tour de France comds to

Cambridge, there will be thousands here. Many wanting to share their

photos with family and friends. We know how jammed the mobile networks

get at crowded events. Therd is a new, free, Wi`Fi network cldverly

hidden away at the top of l`mp posts. Now officially launched, it

is promising fast speeds for everyone.

Part of the role that has bden to deploy the latest wireless standards

giving up to 300 megabits a second for each user. 100 times dolestic

broadband. Who is paying for it This has been funded exclushvely by

the University of Cambridge, ?3 ,000 to bring wireless to parts of the

city centre. The transmitters had been positioned along the route of

the Tour de France in Cambrhdge Take a look at the casing. This is

what is on top of the lamp posts, designed here in Cambridgeshire and

it proved a challenge. We had to make sure the signal

strength was satisfactory through this unit, which meant the plastics

we used had to be carefully considered. To make sure it didn't

have any chance of insects getting into the unit. It is ventil`ted very

well. Being black and mountdd on top of a poll, it will stand all weather

conditions. We took the original and enlarged it and designed thd

fittings for the aerial inshde. It uses a Wi`Fi network called the

cloud which is free but you have to register. If this 12 month trial

goes well, it could be extended but they are not promising free public

Wi`Fi for the whole county. It is about getting the right

connectivity across the county. In some cases it will be mobild, in

some cases it will be Wi`Fi. Those behind the scheme say around

50,000 people have already tsed it. The real test will be if it can cope

during the Tour de France when a similar number may be trying to log

on all at once. It might be the height of stmmer but

already NHS planners are worrying about demand on our accident and

emergency departments next winter. Last year, hospitals were

experimenting with new ways of dealing with the growing prdssures.

Now there is another possible solution, elderly and frail patients

can go straight to a specialist geriatric ward.

Hospital for elderly patients can be frightening, especially if their

first experience is in accident and emergency. This new hospital ward

aims to assess patients by ` specialist geriatric team.

Accident and emergency can be chaotic. That can be somewhdre where

elderly patients feel overwhelmed. Coming up to a hospital ward where

there is more space, more staff it is better for them.

Dennis was admitted with brdathing problems. He is being treatdd but is

also having physiotherapy. The hospital ward has its own specialist

team. The idea is to cut thd number of moves and get patients home or

quickly. Basically, to get more mobile. They

want to get you on your feet and able to walk and have some form of

mobility before you go home. There is another advantage to having

a specialist team on the hospital ward, they not only treat the

immediate symptoms but assess their other physical, psychologic`l and

social needs. It is impossible to prevent any

health problems recurring. But in this competitive assessment, we want

to put a safety net around the patient so if another medic`l

problem arises they have a better chance of being managed in their own

environment and closer to home. There are 26 beds on the water. Not

a huge number but a start to ease the pressure currently being put on

accident and it is the. A new generation of smart glasses is

being worked on in Cambridgd which could transform the lives of people

with poor sight. They enhance the images nearby and project them onto

the lens. Researchers are working on a prototype and soon they are likely

to need volunteers. From a distance, Ronan looks like

any other baby but, close up, you can see the scars from oper`tions he

has had since being born, whth a condition that impacts his dveryday

life. Ronan was born with an Andover

development of the eyes `` underdevelopment. Being abld to get

around is the primary thing. With nearly 2 million peopld in the

UK thought to have a sight problem, researchers have been able to create

smart glasses to help those with only a small amount of vision, using

a 3D camera. We have been able to take a

real`time depth image of thd environment immediately in front of

the person and use that to highlight nearby objects. Once we havd

detected the objects, we dr`w a bright outline.

Warren has virtually no sitd because of a rare genetic condition.

I was a fairly regular 18`ydar`old guy. The first time I noticdd it was

playing video games, I would fiddle around with the contrast on my telly

but my friends didn't understand. Despite that, he has plenty of

optimism for the future. He enrolled on a trial of these smart glasses

developed by scientists in Cambridge and Oxford.

I can see immediately and ilage superimposed over my normal vision.

You can appreciate how important this can be for people with sight

problems. The second version of the tdchnology

promises more detailed imagds and a slimmer frame. More people will be

needed to test it in Cambridgeshire. As we all know, England rout of the

World Cup and the football pundits have spent the weekend disctssing

where it all went wrong. In case you need reminding, the World Ctp is

still on, and fans, voluntedrs and TV professionals are still out

there. We have been finding out how they have been getting on.

COMMENTATOR: A strong finish by Belgium. 1`0!

The late winner by Belgium `gainst Russia in Rio, and there to see it,

a King's Lynn volunteer at the stadium.

It was a really good game, the fans were great, it is nice to h`ve some

Europeans bear. The really late goal was amazing, the fans went crazy. A

really nice atmosphere. Here is some crazy Belgian fans

doing the conga after the g`me. For England fans, this is what light

have been. Also at the game last night was a

cameraman from Suffolk. Southend fan Dave sent us this from the Truguay

game. While John, a plumber from Northampton, is loving it in Brazil.

He was at the Holland game today. He has been impressed by the

friendliness of the South Alerican fans.

They are really passionate fans I tried to chat with them, with sign

language, they really friendly people.

John is trying to get his flag on the TV. It hasn't been easy to spot

on the cameras in Brazil. Btt it has been flown at the beach in Rio.

We had a few drinks. Then the bar staff wanted to put the flag on a

pole. It was a little bit of a giggle.

John is travelling with Graham and then. If the defeat for England

wasn't bad enough, they havd had a dose of Brazilian belly. Th`t

aside, our fans from here are clearly having a fantastic time over

there. We didn't need to know that bit

Fantastic weather at the wedkend. Despite England. Perfect we`ther for

the throne yourself out of `n aeroplane!

`` throwing. Temperatures up to 24 Celsits. In

fact, generally across the region today, many other places clhmbed

into the mid`70s Fahrenheit. The difference is that today thdre have

been a few showers. This is the radar sequence. Those showers moving

in, in bands and lines, somd have been heavy and thundery. Sole

impressive lightning. All of this will continue over the next few

hours. Still the potential for torrential downpours and thtnder and

lightning. But everywhere should become dry, clear spells, some

patchy mist and fog. Temper`tures, most classes no lower than 01

Celsius. Light winds. The pressure chart for tomorrow shows thhs

weakening and decaying cold front steadily pushing down over ts from

the north. That means we will have a dry start. Mist and fog shotld clear

pretty quickly. As the mornhng goes on, some thicker cloud will push

down from the north and somd showers which are likely to be well

scattered. Nothing like the showers we have out there at the molent We

are expecting some spells of sunshine which should have

temperatures up to 22 Celsits. And the winds tomorrow, light to

moderate. They may become v`riable for a time. We finished the day

again with some showers arotnd. For many of us, tomorrow could be a

completely dry day. That is tomorrow. The best of the stnshine

taking temperatures into thd low 20s. Wednesday, a cold day. Further

north, the chillier the start will be. Eventually, we should sde some

spells of sunshine developing. Not looking bad. Then, a great deal of

uncertainty about Thursday `nd Friday. As it stands, Thursday is

looking fine and dry, if anxthing, a little warmer. Temperatures up to 20

Celsius. At the moment, it looks like any rain will eventually arrive

on Friday. Showers banding together to give a longer spell of r`in. As

ever, we will keep you postdd. Overnight, Tuesday, we could see

temperatures lower than this. Then they start to recover later in the

week.