11/01/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Hello and welcome to Wednesday's Look North. Tonight:

What could a vote in favour of Scottish independence mean for us

here in the North? Tributes to the former Teesside MP,

Frank Cook, who has died at the age of 76. I said to him, fighting and

passion, yes, but you cannot say that to the pan Minister. And he

told me that he needed to hear it. -- to the Prime Minister.

Power failure. The Lakeland village now facing six months without mains

electricity. Lost in the post, why Royal Mail

did not deliver on a Christmas job offer to this man.

And could this fire station end up in the Guinness Book of Records for

being the smallest in the world? What's the latest on those Andy

Carroll transfer rumours? And ahead of this weekend's big

basketball cup final we meet the It is the big political debate of

the moment. Should Scotland become independent? And if it did, what

impact would that have on our border communities and the wider

North? Tonight, some campaigners in Berwick say an independent Scotland

should lead to Ttheir town leaving England. It would not be the first

time it's switched countries. Berwick was last part of Scotland

back in 1836. Our political correspondent there now.

The bridge I am standing on used to take you between two different

countries. England was ever there and Scotland was behind you. Both

sides of the river here are in England. But this place has changed

tiled -- hands at least 13 times over the years with all of the

discussion. The issue really matters here. Some people would now

like to see the town should countries once again. It does not

look it, but this place is on the front line of eight UK and Scottish

parliament argument. It sits in the middle, but it is a place where

there are some Scottish accent and some English accents. I very much

doubt whether Scotland can be independent and it is a gut feeling.

Although I am Scottish I am very much British. We are the UK. That

is where we should be. In depends where they want to get the money

from, doesn't it? One to do you think it would mean for this place?

We would be in between, we always have. -- what do you think it would

mean? Some people in this downer think

that it could gain economic weight -- in this town think it could gain

economically if it were part of Scotland. This man says that it

makes hard economic sense to put this place into Scotland. We are

the forgotten kingdom up here. It is just a very worrying. I would

like to see a louder voice and whatever is happening on a national

politics Lovell, I think it is local politics that will make the

difference to whether we can survive as a thriving market town.

75 % of the customers in this town, which is a market town, come from

just the other side, in villages in Scotland. That is why this is the

obvious terror. I bumped into one local earlier he said that legally

-- is the obvious talent. I bumped into one local earlier he said that

there would be some trickery involved in switching countries.

What would life be like if a town like Berwick were to end up back in

Scotland? Our reporter is in city of Carlisle, just nine miles from

the Scottish border, on the differences between life on either

side of the line. This is only a re-enactment, but

skirmishes like this were once a common feature of life on the

border between Cumbria and Scotland. Life is more peaceful today, but

again there is talk of pulling up the drawbridge. In the city closest

to the Scottish border, there are words of warning. I have seen a

lack of co-operation in my political lifetime that will only

get worse with independence. The example of it was the Cumberland

Gap. The ridiculous point was that we had this rule between the two

and we -- this a road between the two and we convinced them to build

the road. Often, a sense of identity can be

strongest in border areas. But in Carlisle today, no-one we talked to

seemed willing to support bringing back the border. I do not think it

would be a good idea at all. I think it will affect businesses.

think it will be much better for Scotland to stay in the UK. I think

it would not be a good idea, just because of the wider economy.

the space of just a few hundred yards, you can tell the difference

between two countries. The accents differ greatly, the badges of

national identity are more prominent. And there are real,

material differences as well. On the Scottish side of the border,

you get free personal care for the elderly, and students do not pay

tuition fees as they do in England. There will always be anomalies. But

some fear that independence could lead to real legal and commercial

confusion for businesses and political neglect from national

governments on both sides of the border. Interesting times ahead.

What implications could there be for the wider area of Scotland?

Son of council leaders have expressed -- some of council

leaders have expressed anger and frustration. I think that the

crucial thing is going to be the figure that I mentioned earlier in

my report. The extra money that goes to every citizen of Scotland

compared to England. �1,164. Should Scotland become independent? There

will be a great clamour about getting that money. Everyone will

want a share of that money. I am want a share of that money. I am

picking that this will be a major job.

The funerals have taken place today of three women shot dead in County

Durham on New Year's Day. Susan McGoldrick died, along with her

sister, Alison Turnbull, and niece, Tanya Turnbull, when they were shot

by Susan's partner, Michael Atherton, at a house in Greenside

Avenue in Horden. Atherton then turned the gun on himself. His

funeral will be held tomorrow. Frank Cook, one of the North's best

known political figures, has died, at the age of 76. Mr Cook was the

Labour MP for Stockton North for 26 years. Early last year he was

diagnosed with lung cancer. He died in hospital last night.

Frank Cook was not a typical politician. A former grave digger

and Butlins red coat, he was opinionated, outspoken and rarely

worried about towing the part line. I do not want anyone else claiming

credit for the effort that I have put in for over a quarter of a

century. He fought countless campaigns for

his constituents and helped Ann Ming make history when she

succeeded in changing the double jeopardy law meaning her daughter's

killer could be retried for her murder. He came along to the

meetings with us. He came to the House of Lords with us. He was

absolutely brilliant. I kept Frank Cook posted on everything

throughout the campaign. He was an absolute brick to me.

Business leaders say he fought tirelessly to bring investment to

Teesside. One who visited in hospital over the weekend said even

on his deathbed he was asking about jobs and possible contracts.

A former colleague today described Cook as a fighter of seismic

strength and recalled her daily dealings with him. I would say to

him, fighting and passion, yes, but remember, he is the Prime Minister,

you cannot say that. He would say, he needs to hear it. Then I would

just tell him to go for it. Both Gordon Brown and Tony Blair took

the punches on the nose that Frank Cook certainly delivered.

He was embroiled in the expenses scandal and lost a libel action

against a national newspaper which said he claimed back a church

donation made at a Battle of Britain memorial service. But

friends say he will be remembered for the many good things he did

during his 26 years in office. was a bit like a terrier. He called

a spade a spade. He was straight to the point. The the late Frank Cook.

The Prime Minister has paid tribute to a soldier from Darlington, who

was killed in Afghanistan last month. Private John King, of 1st

Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, died in an explosion, while on

patrol in Helmand province. His commanding officer said the 19

year-old was hard-working with an irrepressible sense of humour.

David Cameron paid tribute to four soldiers, including Private King.

Their outstanding courage and selflessness and will never be

forgotten. Bates made Arab world more secure and our thoughts should

be with -- and they made Arab world are more insecure and Aref but

should be with their family and Some strong winds tonight but some

better weather on the way. I will be back at the poll forecast after

the rest of the nits. -- the full Transport Minister Mike penning

said that the 200 mph trains would cut journey times for passengers

and improve transport links across the North.

It will cut the journey time from here to London by about 58 minutes.

It also locks Newcastle and the northeast into the other great

Border and cities. I do not think anyone would dream we could find

the billion pounds that we could find for this project. We will work

together with the representatives in the northeast, many of them are

here today, who want better Connectivity. We have committed a

lot of money already and the entire Leeds will help.

He had been out of work for six months. So you can imagine how

pleased Greig McGill was when he landed a Christmas job with the

Royal Mail. But his joy soon turned to frustration and then anger

because the job did not actually materialise. Greig, from Wallsend,

in North Tyneside made more than 20 calls to the Royal Mail's staffing

agency to try to resolve the matter but still, no work came his way.

In the good times, working on the Christmas post was a temporary job

that maybe students might do. But with high unemployment it has

become an attractive source of income for many people. This

Christmas 110,000 people applied for just 18,000 jobs.

With such strong demand, Greig thought he had been very fortunate

to land a job with the Royal Mail. I was very happy. It was coming up

to Christmas and I had not worked for a while. I was straight onto

the computer and received an email. It just said, welcome to the Royal

Mail. I got a contract and a staff handbook and a letter from the

managing director welcoming me aboard. At the bottom it said that

they would contact me in the very near future with details of the

shift patterns and where I would be working. That was fine. But it was

not fine. No follow-up call ever came despite Greig phoning them 22

times before he gave up in December. I find it unbelievable, the way

that I have been treated. I have documentation proving that I had

the job. I have had no communication back from them

whatsoever. What I would like to know is, why are they offering jobs

to people and then not following through?

Royal Mail issued the following Gregg says this was not the case.

It was supposed to be at the forefront of a green revolution,

but a �300 million chemical plant on Teesside is still in mothballs,

after just 15 months of working. The Ensus bioethanol plant closed

in May due to a lack of demand for its environmentally friendly

product. But it was supposed to reopen last September. And now

unions say there is a worry it may never come back on stream.

It is one of the biggest plants of its type in Europe. It only opened

two years ago but has been mothballed since May. Ensus takes

wheat and distils it down to make bioethanol which reduces petrol

emissions. All very green, but the plant here at Wilton on Teesside

has been hit by a delay in a European directive that will

eventually say 20 % of all energy - including fuel has to come from

renewable sources. So there's little demand for the plant's

output. And cheap US bioethanol flooding the market hasn't helped

either. And that's left the unions with a worry for the plant's

That's always the battle. But the company has to look after its staff

in the intervening preeriad. If you look at the situation where that

went down, it would be a massive blow for Teesside and the supply

chain. The hundreds of workers here are still being paid even though

there is no plan for the Green team to get pack on track. Worryingly,

the plant's management has always said a long shutdown, proposed by

critics of the stench of the shutdown would have a big impact.

It would put the business in real jeopardy and obviously jobs that go

with it. The plant has been out of action for nine months. The hope is

A Lake District village which lost its mains electricity on Christmas

eve won't have it restored for up to six months. People in

Wasdalehead have been relying on noisy generators for nine months.

There has been the constant drone of generators since the power went

off Christmas eve. Known for its remote, peaceful location, it is

now known for disruption. The cable starts in that direction and runs

to the shore behind me. The fault itself is about a metre below the

shoreline, and despite electricity in the north-west having had

problems here for the past couple of years, they still say it could

take up to six months to find a permanent solution. It will take

another two weeks just to bring in a quieter generator to provide

power until then. Very, very disappointed. This is

going to be six months of interruptions because they have to

service the generators every week or two weeks. I have to be able to

serve food while the power is off. It's going to be endless things.

It's going to put us back each time. Do you think it's acceptable there

have been ongoing problems with this line while the people who live

and work here still are in the situation where they don't have

mains? The fault that occurred was on Christmas eve and their supplies

were quickly restored via generators. They are on longer than

we would like, but we're getting nearer to a short-term solution.

you think it's unacceptable? No, I would like to apologise to our

customers that they have had noisy generators for longer than we would

have hoped. It isn't acceptable. seems to have taken for me to go on

TV for me to let everybody know about this problem for them to do

anything. They're locking the stable door after the horse bolted.

A new cable will need to be laid. The one and only road in to the

town is likely to be shut for the work.

That can't be much fun. As fire station go, it's pretty small, but

could it be the smallest in the world? Firefighters at North

Gortham think it might be, and they're hoping to put it back in

the Guinness Book of Records. It can be a real struggle

maintaining services in remote rural areas. That's why the people

of Goathland on the North York moors are so proud of their fire

station. At first viewing it may not look up to much - just a garage,

a Land Rover, nine volunteers and a dog, but these firefighters are

ready to drop anything at the bleep of a pager, and surprising to say

things can get quite busy. Our main issue is because we have the Land

Rover we can get on the moors as well. Moor fires is our bread and

butter. Not last summer, the summer before, we were three days on the

moors by the side of the railways. It was a big issue. Road traffic

collisions we go to now. Especially due to where we are now, we're

first on the scene at something like that. The crew fit into their

land-based Rover which fits snugly into the garage. Could this be the

smallest fire station in the world? Work looking at it. At the moment

it doesn't seem to be that category, but I am applying now to see if we

have the smallest fire station in the world. We are a bit of a

tourist attraction in the village Another shout, and the intrepid

Goathland crew is on its way - 25 to 50 callouts a year - average

And doing a great job. Time for sport. The football transfer window

is open. Doesn't seem to be much happening. No, but hey, in this

game, you don't know. Could be any time. Any time. We'll start with

news of injury from Newcastle United. Sami Yamiobi could be

sidelined for several months after picking up an unspecified leg

injury against Wigan yesterday. Meanwhile, Magpies are denying

there has been any contact between themselves and Liverpool linking

Carol with a cut-price to Tyneside. He struggled for form since his

transfer a year ago. Three wins out of three for

Gateshead have made the Tynesideers the highest ranking League Club.

Last night's win over Kidderminster put them fourth, ahead of York City.

One goal, then early in the second half, 2-0 before a late consolation

goal from the visitors. The most successful British basketball club

going all season without winning a trophy - next season the Eagles can

put that right when they take on Plymouth. The last time the two met,

David Forester was the assistant The die-hard eagles supporter is

now at the heart of the club he loves. Solicitor by day, he took

over as assistant coach last season and even had a spell in charge when

a player was struck down with pneumonia. Who would have thought

that a basketball connoisseur can ever go from where he was at -

sitting - to sitting near enough the biggest seat - then when I went

down THE biggest seat, the man in charge is - you know, is a

phenomenal thing. Walking into a gym with a bunch of guys whos

basically only know me as slightly irrational shouter-outer from the

sidelines, then having them listening - take onboard and pay

credence to what I am saying is tough. But this was not your

average fan. He's like Rainman! You know, numbers and stats - his brain

is like the internet, and for him to be able to retain that

information and download it to you at a moment's notice without having

to go look it up is really vital. The partnership developed four

years ago when the player needed to talk over a particularly galling

defeat. I called him up... Midnight. On my wedding anniversary.

LAUGHTER On his wedding anniversary - oh,

yes, I did. Oh, yes, he did. wasn't shy about it neither.

LAUGHTER That was the time that the barn

started to grow. It was amazing for me. I got to go watch the Eagles

lose a Cup final, then sit in a hotel room heavily pregnant as my

husband sat up all night talking to a man who was just down the

corridor on the phone. He's the Camilla in our relationship. He's

with us all the time. It's not a bad thing. He can cook, which Dave

can't! For this year's anniversary, Dave will be taking Clare to

Birmingham for Sunday's BBL Cup final against the Raiders. How

romantic! A great way to spend your wedding anniversary. She's very

understanding - wish mine would be as understanding as that. Time for

the weather. It's getting a bit The Met Office have issued another

yellow warning for the strength of the gusts which could reach 60-

70mph. To calm us all down a kauj weather picture - thank you very

much - to Martin, who shot these rays - otherwise known as Jacob's

Ladder, the rays breaking through the clouds at this cove. Strong

winds is what we're watching out for. They'll reach their peak at

midnight into the early hours. The winds blowing in spells of rain for

a time in the east. The rain could drift anywhere overnight as the

winds pick up to strong. Mean speeds - sustained for 25 minutes

or more - 25-30mph with gusts doubling that lasting a few seconds.

It's a mild night, but it doesn't last. This is the last of it.

Overnight, 9 Celsius when we wake up tomorrow. Then the winds ease.

The rain clears. High pressure starts to dominate, and that really

gives us bright blue skies. Look at the golden map behind us. Let's

take a tour through the afternoon. The breeze noticeable, but no-where

near as strong as it would be in the early morning as we tour

westwards, bright skies across the region east and west. The

temperatures a little bit lower than today - maybe around 8-10

Celsius than today. We're still above average for the time of year.

High pressure dominates over the next few days after tomorrow, but

what we'll notice is a drop in the temperatures, much lower than they

have been, bright skies on Friday and Saturday for most places, but

expect a frost to wake up to. Both mornings we'll be scraping the

windscreens, watching out for slippy pavements. The temperatures

start to slip. Look at the reason - this dominant area of high pressure.

The lid on the atmosphere is squashing the atmosphere, stopping

much from happening. The wind changing direction. What it will

give us is overnight frosts, a colder air flow, possibly mist and

fog overnight but bright skies but Now the headlines:

A leading cosmetic surgery firm which fitted more low-grade breast

implants than any other is refusing to replace them.