14/02/2017 Look East (West)

An uncertain few toor for 2,000 car workers in Luton, as Vauxhall could

be cold to a French company. Bringing the best to Cambridge - why

developers want more scientists, medics and drugs companies to move

in. It's already an accelerating environment. It's already exciting.

The question is just how far can we take it? The mental health problems

not being talked about in some communities and how faith can help

heal. And I'm here Peterborough, where the Duchess of Cambridge has

been visiting Air Cadets. First tonight, 2,000

car workers in Luton face uncertainty this evening

with the news that their employer Vauxhall could be taken over

by French company Peugeot. Workers at the plant,

which makes the Vivaro van, Mike Cartwright is at the plant

General Motors considered selling Yes, how many times have we stood

here and speculated about the future of Vauxhall, talk of it being taken

over, broken up, closed down? Well in recent times it has become a

success story, the factory turned around but once again workers

wondering tonight whab is in store for them. The millionth Vivaro has

long since rolled off the production line. It was once on life support

but now the factory has been turned around. 16,000 vans built here last

year. A new shift added. 2,000 employed here. But after good times,

once again, tonight, uncertainty for workers. What do you make of it? We

have been here before, haven't we? Is it worrying? No, so long as the

company is improving, I don't see what difference it makes. It doesn't

matter who owns it. The problem is the Vivaro fan is a joint venture

between Vauxhall and Renault, the potential new owners PSA group, own

Peugeot and Citroen. The question s could the giants of the French motor

industry work together on this? The union members at the factory telling

us they only found out today. This has come out of the blue and it is a

concern. I think the most important thing, the biggest message is that

we want an urgent meeting with General Motors and with Peugeot. One

thing is clear, we have no intentions of allowing our

mrarningts both in Ellesmere Port and in Luton to close as a result,

or to be under threat of closure as a result of what is happening.

Vauxhall and Opal's parent company, GM, already involved with Peugeot

since 2012. Now talk of further cooperation, including, the company

say, a potential be a qui significance of Opel Vauxhall by PSA

adding "There can be no assurance that an agreement can be reached."

The future was looking rosie, but now on Valentine's day, a flirtation

with a new partner. How likely is all this to go ahead,

Mike? Well, of course this is very early in the negotiation. But GM and

Peugeot already have this working relationship. They are building a

sports utility vehicle together, a type of beefed-up Astra. That's

being built in spavenlt we are talking about building a bigger

version in France and talk about a van being built together probably in

eastern Germany. This is a chance for Peugeot to consolidate its

operation on the connint and in a post-Brexit world, people asking

what does it mean for this plant and workers?

Cambridge is still on track to be the capital of life sciences

bringing billions of pounds of investment to the region.

They say Brexit hasn't impacted on the site, as we report.

A sure sign of a booming economy - cranes filling the sky.

AstraZeneca's new global HQ is at the heart of Cambridge's

As a hub for research and science, it's already rapidly growing on

There are 431 life science companies.

They are working on medical devices or working on drugs,

both here and around us in a ten-mile radius.

So, it's already pretty big but it's already growing pretty fast.

So last year, for example, the life sciences industry

in and around Cambridge grew by one-third.

It'll grow by more in the next year we record that.

So it's already an accelerating environment.

The question is just how far can we take it?

The development area here is huge, the buildings are going up

on a 70-acre site but there is another area yet to be

developed, the size of up to 14 Wembley stadiums.

One of the new buildings under construction is

the new state-of-the-art facility for an already world-leading

Patients are getting older and they need all the facilities

around that is on this campus, but also, more importantly,

perhaps, is the fact that we are in the middle of this

huge development where there are fantastic opportunities

So alongside that building, there is going to be a heart,

lung and research education institute which will be built

But as the country prepares to leave the EU, is there a fear

that it might put a halt to the growth?

Are companies ringing up and saying - we were thinking

The answer to that is no, we are not getting that.

The answer is no, people are still making inquiries.

Well, I guess we are optimists in this business anyway,

but we are optimists on the basis of the evidence here and I think

we'll remain optimistic that we'll continue to be

With AstraZeneca and Papworth Hospital due

to be finished next year, it's hoped they'll attract more big

But can the local infrastructure cope with more science

I asked Alex Plant from Cambridge Ahead,

the body that promotes Cambridge as a business destination.

I suppose the first thing to say from a Cambridge Ahead prospective

is how much good news that is, in terms of the new jobs coming

to the area and actually the ability to see world class research

So, unambiguously excellent news that that is happening but of course

we do need to ensure that as those new jobs come through,

as new people are working on the bio-medical campus,

that we have the housing and the transport links that enables that

So what are the considerations then, around housing and transport, and do

The fact that you have the guided bus extension to the south

and railway station down to the bio-medical campus

and you have the new homes emerging in and around Trumpington,

is all part of a strategy that tries to link jobs and homes together.

So this isn't coming through in an unplanned way

and we should recognise that as a positive.

However, as we see further growth of the bio-medical campus,

we need to think about how we ensure that we build on the good transport

links to enable a better, transport solution for the future.

And indeed all of these companies are going to be

paying business rates, having workers paying income

tax and council tax, so presumably all that revenue

could be put back into the pot to boost infrastructure further?

Cambridgeshire's growth is good news for the region

A little bit more sticking in and around Greater Cambridge

would probably help us to resolve some of the housing and transport

constraints and actually provide a virtuous circle,

so that the growth we are already seeing could develop further,

So what would you like to see happen then, in the next couple of years,

in terms of house, in terms of transport, in terms of big

So, what I think I would like to see is with the arrival of the combined

authority and the mayor, the ability to continue

the journey that's been started in the devolution deal,

which is to see more powers and more funding retained locally,

including the uplift in the sort of tax revenues that

you have just talked about, being kept within the city region,

so that we can really see innovative transport solutions and, you know,

a development of the kind of housing and the right tenure

and mix of housing that we really need for what is a very vibrant

economy, but at the moment which is providing not the right mix

A jury's heard that the medical condition suffered by the man

accused of murdering author Helen Bailey would not stop him

Ian Stewart denies killing the Hertfordshire author

by drugging her and placing her body in a cesspit under the garage

Two neighbours also told the court that they believe they saw

but their descriptions of the author did not match.

A woman is being treated in hospital after a manhole

exploded in Northampton town centre earlier today.

Emergency services were called to Gold Street around lunchtime

after pieces of pavement shot up in the air.

Fire crews said the explosion was caused by an electrical

Next tonight - how faith can impact on our well-being.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, people from ethnic

minorities are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental

Asian populations are even more at risk, with social pressures

Mousumi Bakshi has been to Luton to find out how one

charity is using religion to break down barriers.

Getting teenagers to talk is tough enough.

Getting them to talk about their feelings,

A volunteer for the charity Our Minds Matter, she is trying

to encourage more young people from ethnic minorities to talk

It depends, like if it was my close friend,

Having lived with OCD for the past ten years,

she's hoping her story of dealing with mental illness will inspire

I think in the Asian community they are reluctant to talk about it.

I think they feel embarrassed or they might think

that it is something where they won't get

I'm a volunteer but I tell them that they should open up,

Mental illness is of course indiscriminate

But latest research suggests people from ethnic minorities are more

likely to be diagnosed with a mental hath problem.

That number rises within the Asian community, with more people

looking to the family, rather than health

And that stigma is the focus of a conference being

Organised by Jilal, it'll examine how faith leaders,

I think it needs to be a co-ordinated approach.

In our conference, we are looking at -

you cannot go to one person to deliver your care.

Just like in an operating theatre, there are four or five different

people involved in your care, mental health care is the same

Churches and mosques across Luton have also

With many faith leaders trusted by their congregations,

they know first hand how the growing pressures of daily life can

From that ordinary stress which seems to be increasing,

I think some people find life so much more difficult that it does

actually become a question of what you would say would be

mental illness or affect their mental stability.

Religion can have and will have a positive affect upon someone

who is suffering from a mental illness but also we have

medical science there which God has given mankind.

Many people with a mental illness suffer in sigh hes.

The charity is now hoping that traditional treatments,

combined with a strong belief in religion can help that.

Council tax payers in Cambridgeshire will see a 2% rise

The county council agreed its annual budget, after more

than six hours of debate at Shire Hall this afternoon.

The money generated by the council tax rise will be ring-fenced

The authority says it needs to save ?29 million this year.

More on what the budget means for services and tax payers

But for now let's join up with Stewart and Susie

Still to come tonight, Alex is here with the weather. We look forward to

the football action and how Air Cadets have been keeping the Duchess

of Cambridge on her toes at RAF Wittering.

Next the story of a young man from Essex whose life

has been transformed by a tiny electronic device.

When Joshua Taylor's heart stopped beating,

he became the first in this region to get a new kind of a pacemaker.

It's actually about the size of one half of the top joint

That makes it the smallest pacemaker in the world.

It's so small it can be inserted through a vein.

The details from our health reporter, Nikki Fox.

Hi, there. Thank you. Joshua Taylor manages a pharmacy in Essex. Since

the age of 11 he's had an irregular heartbeat. Just before Christmas his

heart stopped and he completely blacked out. I was getting ready for

bed, just about had my usual warning signs, so pressure underneath the

nose and the eyes, I became dizzy and that's all I remember. Then

coming round, having my legs in the air to help the blood flow, cold

compress and water on my face. To regulate his heartbeat experts at

Basildon Hospital fitted Joshua with the smallest pacemaker ennobled. The

conventional pacemaker has a generator that sits on the muscle on

the front of the chest beneath the skin but would have a conventional

lead. It is quite a large system, as you can see. The new system is one

tenth of the size, it has no extra lead. Instead of being fitted

outside the heart, it is inserted into a vein in the leg, pushed into

the heart, and sends electrical impulses to the organ, making it the

more regularly. The league is then removed leaving the pacemaker

attached to the heart. This is how. If you can hold the end of the

catheter against the mould, I will show you how it is deployed. Then we

need to pull away, and that is how it would be attached to the inside

surface of the heart. The pacemaker benefits people with slow heart

rhythms or you think. Cosmetically, it also looks better. In a young

person if he goes on holiday and what is this it by the swimming pool

without a top on, it would be obvious if he had a conventional

pacemaker. There is a scar and you can see it, but with something like

this, you would never know, and with someone who's having the current

collapses and passing out, it can be life changing. I have got no leaves

that can be dislodged from the heart, and it is easier to replace

in ten years' time and errors less risk of infection throughout my

life, really. Back at work just two weeks after the operation, Joshua is

hoping he's seen the end of his blackouts. It's hoped that this

technology could be available to a wider group of heart patients in

future. That is fantastic, isn't it? So clever.

We've had a Royal visit to the region today.

The Duchess of Cambridge was at RAF Wittering in Peterborough.

The Duchess is Honorary Air Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets

and she was there to meet cadets

who were taking part in a training camp.

She also had the opportunity to fly a flight simulator.

Her husband may be due to leave his job as a helicopter pilot with the

East Anglian Air Ambulance, but the Duchess of Cambridge looked very

comfortable getting in position behind the controls of this plane.

There were plenty of people watching, but it was down to one

lucky cadets to explain how the plane work. It was quite an exciting

time to sit next to the Duchess and it was a very calm conversation

about what she was doing with the Air Cadets and also the Air Cadets

experience which she seemed very interested in. Kate visited

youngsters from Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire as they took part in

this half term training camp. Today is the third visit by the Duchess to

the RAF Air Cadets. Since the Duke of Edinburgh past patronage stir

after 63 years serving as the honorary Air Commodore in cheap. The

Duchess now represents more than 40,000 Air Cadets aged between

12-19. And she got fully involved with this group who have recently

joined. They conduct personal development sessions such as

leadership and team-building sessions. It is amazing to have such

a nice young royal come in and see what we do, and see what we enjoy.

It was really nice to have a royal coming in and how that honour of

shaking her hand and speaking to her. I spoke to her about what we do

in Air Cadets, what we have been doing through our time as cadets and

how we see our future in the RAF, things like that. It was really good

that she came around and talk to all of us. And she had a go on a flight

simulator, perfecting her technique with a great sense of humour. The

RAF was delighted. It's been a fabulous day. The weather has been

kind. It is great at RAF Wittering to help of local cadets. It means a

lot for the cadets to see her Royal line is. Everyone has had a great

day. Many of those here today are thinking about a career in the RAF.

Today brought inspiration, recognition and, of course, a touch

of royal glamour. Football, and it's a busy night

for the region's teams. All ten

are in action. For Norwich and Ipswich

in particular, it's a very big night, taking

on the Championship's top two. Norwich are at home

to leaders Newcastle. Thanks, Stuart. One month ago most

Norwich fans looking at this fixture would have felt real trepidation at

the prospect of facing high-flying Newcastle, but much has changed in

recent weeks, and of course not, Norwich have dragged themselves

right back into the promotion picture, winning four of the last

five matches. They started well, they fell off a cliff and now they

are fighting back. What is going on? They have found out what they need

to do in the championship. They started the season well, everyone

thought it was great, but I think maybe players thought they were

Premier League players rather than championship players and forgot

about the other side of football that you have got to win the ball,

to be able to play with it. That is what the manager has been talking

about and they have got back to it now, getting into the faces of

opponents, making them make mistakes, and they have got enough

quality to go and beat teams as long as they can do that side of the game

which they have been doing, lately. Tough one to predict tonight. Both

sides could be happy with the draw. Norwich have got to go for the win.

It is all right saying that it is Newcastle have been flying all

season, but Norwich have got together the victory because they

have got to keep up that tempo, if results go well they can get back

into the play-off places and it kicks on again. If they can get five

wins out of six, they are really flying. The games coming up, they

are running up fast. If you can keep getting the three points and keep

going at the other clubs, it will scare them off. OK Greg, enjoy the

game. Elsewhere, there is a full programme of league action. Ipswich

are at second placed Brighton. No easy task but the club is feeling

positive after beating Aston Villa on Saturday. Any pressure, I don't

feel that. I would be annoyed, I put myself under pressure to have a good

team, so, yes, I do feel better about myself, because my teams

played well, and they won on Saturday not because anybody else

might be thinking nice things about me. I am not bothered. And in League

1, no standout tie. MK Dons heading to bury, Peterborough at home,

Southend hoping to bounce back from the defeat on Saturday heading to

Oxford, Colchester hav Spolli, Luton could get into the automatic

provision places by beating Hartlepool, Stevenage are at home to

Cheltenham and Cambridge, who have lost quite a Mac games in a row head

to Yeovil Town. Don't forget, coverage of all tonight's football

is on your BBC local radio station. It wouldn't be Valentine's Day

without a love story, and one of the greatest ever

is the romance between Hers was a face that

artists loved to paint. His, one of the best

known faces in Britain. that sent shock waves

through polite society. Now a new exhibition has opened

at the Royal Maritime Musuem His passions ran deep

for a blacksmith's daughter. Then this man, George Romney,

the most fashionable painter of the day, came across the young beauty

and at his studios here in Cavendish It was a remarkable

time of an explosion in Mass-produced cheap black

and white prints of Romney's It was like Hello!

Magazine for the first time. She was naturally beautiful

which was one of the reasons she was painted in the first

place and those images were carried So printing technology

and prints of Emma Hamilton Fame made her desirable and lead

to marriage to this man, Sir William Hamilton,

He was the British envoy to Naples. It was here that Norfolk's

favourite son, the hero of the day, Lord Nelson,

stopped for supplies "How do I idolise you,

my dearest husband of my heart? "You are all in this

world to your Emma." I can neither eat nor sleep for

thinking of you, my dearest love. Last night I did nothing

but dream of you, even But it also fuelled

another familiar feature of modern-day life -

scandal. Sir William watches

as lovers carry on. Nelson and Lady Hamilton

in love tryst. After losing his eye, and then an ar

Nelson's luck ran out. Shot dead, "Kiss me,

Hardy", and the rest, But her legacy will always be one

half of one of the world's greatest

love affairs. So his luck ran out after he lost an

eye and an arm. It wasn't so good, then. I love that, in colour, moving

pictures. And the weather now with Alex. Good evening. We are entering

a much milder regime for the rest of this week and the weekend. We are

likely to get some rain in the next 24 hours. Cloud is piling in from

the west on this weather system here. By the time it reaches us, not

a great deal left. It is bringing milder air behind it. That comes

after quite a cold start of the day this morning. A frost evident on the

grass here in Cambridgeshire, in Cottenham. And some photos showing

the shadow of the trees there in Essex. For many, we will start the

night and evening with clear skies. Temperatures dropping a little but

not as cold as last night. As we go through into the evening and further

into the night, it will become more cloudy from the west and there could

be the odd spot of patchy rain, but not a great deal. Then it starts to

become a little bit misty as well. By the end of the night, fairly

misty conditions and not great facility. Temperatures belfry of the

frost tonight. A mild start tomorrow and a milder day generally. Some

uncertainty in the forecast. This weather system here could produce

some lively weather conditions. There is some uncertainty over the

tracking of it. Some Northern counties could stay dry but mostly

see rain later in the day. It should brighten up after a misty start. The

bulk of the daily strive for many parts of the region. And a mild day,

well into double figures, perhaps even 12 Celsius with that win coming

from the south. You can see that line brain, predicted on the

computer, and as it moves north-east, there could be the odd

clap of thunder but it will move through fairly swiftly, bringing

more mild air with it. Then we're into a couple of fairly settled

days, because a high pressure will start building, meaning some fine

weather across the region, but it could be more foggy at night. That

fog taking a little time to clear on Thursday and Friday morning.

Hopefully it will clear and we will see some fine sunshine on Thursday

and Friday, with temperatures in double figures. It will be a little

cooler overnight but we should be frost free, under those clear skies,

and at this stage the weekend looks as though it will turn a little bit

wet. Another Atlantic system coming in, cloudy picture, but staying

well. I don't think we have seen Sonny Siouxsie recently. That is all

from us. Goodbye.