08/08/2013 North West Tonight

Tonight, with Roger Johnson and Jayne McCubbin. Our top story: Out

of school and out of work - the situation facing more than one in

ten of our young people. Today the Prime Minister's been in

the North West and admitted he needs to do more to help. Too many of our

young people are leaving school without the basic qualifications,

particularly in English and maths, that almost any job in the world

requires. Also tonight: Stop the online bullies - a mother's plea

after her son took his own life. 50 years since the Great Train

Robbery - the impact on the Crewe rail workers who were caught up in

it. They were never ever mentioned, just as a passing thought, they were

driving the train, they got beaten up. And Quarry Bank Mill has become

one of the National Trust's big successes of 2013.

And triple trouble - but what's so special about these three calves

from the Wirral? More than one in ten young people

here in the North West don't have a job and aren't studying towards one.

That makes this region among the worst in the country, and today the

Prime Minister, David Cameron, admitted he needs to do more to help

young people here. Jayne's got the details.

NEETs. It's the name given to young people between the ages of 16 and 24

who are not in employment, education or training. In 2011 the North West

had the highest number of NEETs in the country, at over 200,000. Since

then the figure has improved. But just over 120,000 still fall into

this category, that's according to figures from the first quarter of

this year. And that means more than one in ten young people in the

region, 14.5%, is not working and not studying towards a job. Abbie

Jones has been to Lancashire to meet some of those affected.

Kirsty, Chantelle and Michaela are desperate for a long-term job. The

M3 Project offers support while they look. But they say what's on offer

in the small town of Rawtenstall is mainly part-time and shift work -

and zero-hours contracts. Kirsty is 23 and a single mum. Made redundant

two years ago, she's found it impossible to find work to fit in

around her son. There is also the fact that if I was to go and get a

job I could only do 16 hours, otherwise all of my other benefits

would stop, such as my housing benefit and things like that. Which

I need to, so that my son can live in a house.

Michaela's 19 and wants to work in childcare. She's been out of work

for three months. Her last job guaranteed just ten hours a week.

was looking for other jobs on top of that but there was not any thing

going. But it was the fact that it was not paying my bills, I could not

pay my debts off because I got left in debt with my bills not been paid.

Chantelle is also 19. She wants to be a gym instructor. She left

education in February and has only found part-time work that has now

ended. As time goes on and you keep trying and getting pushed back, your

confidence levels go down and it gets harder and harder and you do

not have the rate support. Their stories are ones that Graham

Helm, a youth worker, has heard many times. He works with 16 to 20 young

people at any one time who are not in education, employment or

training. We have to look at employment in terms of access to

transport but also impact on the benefits system, making immediate

wage payments to young people so that they do not have to work a

month in hand, creating regular, sustained employment, rather than

zero hours employment. Meanwhile, the search for employment goes on.

But for these young people, the type of work on offer is every bit as

important as the job itself. Abbie Jones, BBC North West Tonight,

Rawtenstall. So, just what is the Prime Minister

planning to do about it? Here he was in the region today. One visit out

to a business in Darwen, another a brand-new youth centre in Wigan,

where, not surprisingly, it was on the agenda. Here's our political

editor, Arif Ansari. It started with a high-gloss tour.

Crown Paints in Darwen is a successful business which employs

apprentices. But what about those not so fortunate? I think the latest

figures show 120,000 younger people either do not have a job are are not

in training. Those who we are talking to about that today in that

position are seeing that the government is not doing enough to

help. Some young people are leaving school and they are not ready for

apprenticeships. We need more pre-apprenticeship training to get

them into a place where they can take on the idea of an

apprenticeship. We have to recognise that too many of our young people

are leaving school without the basic qualifications, particularly in

English and maths, that almost any job in the world requires.

Then to Wigan, where successful entrepreneurs like Dave Whelan who

know the ropes have given millions to build a youth zone.

But there has been a lively demonstration outside from people

hoping that their message is heard as well. It is ironic that he is

opening a youth centre. How long will it be open before the council

has to close it? It is ridiculous. But since it opened in June, 6000

young people have already joined. is really good to give people a

place to go that is safe. But also to get experience volunteering.

always down here now. It has kept me busy. Do you think it has helped you

find a job? Rail-mac I think with the experience being on my CD, I

will get a job over somebody else. -- on my CV.

Two very distinct parts to the visit today. What is the first bit?

first part, in Darwin, a marginal constituency that the prime minister

needs to win at the next general election. Issues such as the minimum

wage or the retirement age, which the parties now will be the thing

that counts at the next general election. We will move on to have a

look at the youth centre in Wigan. This, for the prime minister, is

part of the solution, giving young people the confidence and skills

that they need. We heard our demonstrator seeing there, what

about the pressure that youth centres are under? Which is

perfectly true. The Prime Minister would say, this is the answer. The

funding is coming largely from philanthropists and charities, rich

businessmen, supported by local government. The council giving the

land and some of the funding. Youth services under pressure but for the

Prime Minister the centre in Wigan is the ideal solution.

Thank you very much for that. Other news from around the region

now, and a 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of rape as

part of an investigation into historic sex abuse at Chetham's

School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music in

Manchester. It relates to the rape of three teenagers between 1980 and

1991, while the man was teaching at Chetham's. Meanwhile, the chair of

an independent inquiry, set up to investigate reports of alleged

sexual abuse by the former Dean of Manchester, is appealing for

information. The inquiry's looking into claims of

alleged abuse by Robert Waddington, who died six years ago, and is

investigating the Church's handling of the reports between 1999 and

2005. The suspended chief executive of

Lancashire County Council, Phil Halsall, says he expects to be back

at work soon. He was suspended on Monday following an independent

report into the way a transport contract was handled. But in a

private letter seen by this programme, he calls the allegations

complete nonsense. And with ten months to go, Liverpool

has secured 50 events and 75,000 delegates for the International

Festival of Business. It's the first time an event like this has been

held in the UK in over 60 years. Organisers say it will generate more

than �10 million over six weeks next summer. We will be able to drive

more jobs and investment as a result of showcasing what we are doing best

in the city, low carbon, science and technology. I believe we will be

able to create more investment, not just for the UK but particularly for

this city and the city region. A Lancashire mother whose son took

his life after being bullied online says more should be done to tackle

the problem. Lin Jones has spoken out following

the death of Hannah Smith, the 14-year-old from Leicestershire who

died following what her parents have described as web bullying.

The Prime Minister said today websites had to clean up their act

and clamp down on the bullies. But Lin Jones says words aren't enough -

what's needed is action. Our Chief Reporter Dave Guest has been to meet

her. Matthew Jones was just 17 when he

took his life. His mum says he'd suffered years of bullying. He was

bullied at school and the changeover from primary to secondary which we

did not find out until around the age of 13 and then we picked him to

a different school but we did not know that the bullying was

continuing on the Internet. We did not find that out until after he

died. With his self-esteem in tatters,

Matthew's mental state declined. It was only after his death that his

family discovered just what had been happening online when his computer

was forensically examined. They were directing him and telling him to

find the message on suicide sites. So the police actually directed him

to suicide sites, knowing how distressed that he was? They

actually said, why don't you do it, go and hang yourself. I do not

understand how people get any pleasure from telling other people

to take their own lives. So what drives the online bullies

and so-called trolls who choose cyberspace to launch their venomous

vitriol? The thing we are now all familiar with is the anonymity of

the Internet. It can create a sense of false bravado. You can say

horrible things and not have to suffer the consequences for it. It

is a perceived sense of anonymity, it is not real. Anderson is somebody

is out of outline and you cannot see them, it is much easier to shut down

your empathy, stop feeling sorry for them, cure for them if they are

feeling hurt. It's almost five years since Lin

lost her son. She's campaigned for tighter controls of websitesm, but

she says cases such as that of Hannah Smith, show more has to be

done. What exactly can be done? major social networking sites would

argue that the already act swiftly when abuses reported. The Prime

Minister has said that Internet websites that do not step up to the

plate should be boycotted by parents. Only recently the

government said it would do its best to try to help parents manage online

dangers with the introduction of online filters to bar access to

pornography. If you are affected by the issues

that Dave has just been discussing, or you know somebody who is, you can

call the Samaritans for free help or advice. Their number is on the

bottom of the screen. More news in brief now, and

thousands of people are expected in Manchester to celebrate the Muslim

festival of Eid this evening. The Chand Raat -Night of the Moon - is

taking place at long-sight Market, and is thought to be the biggest

event of its kind in Europe. atmosphere is absolutely electric.

People they are celebrating, experiencing the culture, the food,

the experience, the vibrancy. It is amazing. It is an experience that

everybody in Manchester should chair. -- should chair.

Tourist businesses in the Lake District say they're worried the

government may rush through legislation over controversial

zero-hours contracts. Hotels, restaurants and guest houses say

they rely on the flexibility the contracts provide to stay in

business. But there are concerns that the contracts, which offer no

guaranteed shifts, are unfair and exploitative.

Waste collection teams in parts of Cheshire have spent the day tweeting

live on the job as they carried out their daily duties. The aim is to

show local people what happens to their rubbish after it has been

collected. And a fire engine built by Leyland Motors for the Second

World War is now on display after being lovingly restored. The engine

was spotted for sale on eBay by a local businessman. He's called her

Norma, as you would, and she is now settled into her new home within the

grounds of The Leyland Hotel. Today marks 50 years since one of

the most notorious crimes in British history - the Great Train Robbery.

The night mail train from Glasgow to London was stopped by a gang of

thieves and millions of pounds were stolen.

On board, two men from Crewe - Jack Mills, who was driving, and Dave

Whitby, his assistant. This afternoon their families were at a

service at Crewe Train Station to remember them, and that's where we

can now join our reporter Beccy Meehan.

I was at the event a little bit earlier this afternoon here at Crewe

station. We heard about an event which is often remembered as an

audacious heist, but for the families of the two train drivers

that you just mentioned that were assaulted by the Great Train Robbery

is, today was a day for remembrance. The Great Train Robbery. I thought

that they were company 's linesman. What happened next? The telephone

wires were cut. I did not realise it was a trap even then.

Today the families gathered at the same room at Crewe train station

were Jack Mills and David quickly clocked on to pay the price. --

David quickly. Jack died a few years later after a

string of illnesses and David died of a heart attack a few years later.

They came round my house one morning and said that David was dead. That

was it. I was in tears. It was just horrible.

12 of the Great Train Robbery robbers did go to jail, but the

families feel that they have been glamorised. To see them on

television being paid for doing films and they are benefiting by

their crime, aren't they? And Jack and David were both forgotten about.

They were never ever mentioned. Ronnie Biggs famously escaped from

jail and spend years on the run. But these families are still living with

the after-effects of a violent crime.

There were calls on the service today for some kind of permanent

memorial for these two men who were injured in the line of duty. The

station manager told me that there are plans in the offing to make that

happen at the new station entrance when it opens next year. It looks

like that could be happening in the next few months. Today however was

very much a day of remembrance for these two families.

Still to come on North West Tonight. Anything BUT trouble at The Mill, as

a TV period drama pulls in the crowds at Cheshire's Quarry Bank.

They call it the Downton Effect: increased visitor numbers at stately

homes as viewers of Downton Abbey try to find out how the other half

really lived. And join me later on the Wirral to

find out just how beauties triplets are.

It is one of Cumbria 's biggest employers, but Sellafield is no

stranger to controversy. A major leak was discovered on what

part of the site each years ago, but bosses insist that the plant, which

opened its doors 25 years ago today, is safe and that year. But critics

believe that thought has been an expensive failure. -- Thorpe.

Some who have been here for 25 years had some tales to tell. One thing we

are making people aware of is a thing called the flying bedstead. A

piece of kit that is designed and used up a whole type of wood for

many years. Leak in another part of the plant in

2005 did cause controversy. Bosses say that this is a safe facility.

was a very unfortunate time. It has been properly investigated and dealt

with. Repairs have been put in place and the plant is able to operate

fully. The workers in this planet now that they are the first person

in front of any contamination. simply we just do not have them. We

design the plant around it. We have a lot of safety contingencies. A lot

of margins for safety. We engineered the planned well and we train well.

Thorpe will close in 2018 when contracts end. While spillages have

been tackled, antinuclear campaigners say that it has been a

costly mistake. They call it the Downton Effect:

increased visitor numbers at stately homes as viewers of Downton Abbey

try to find out how the other half really lived. Now a TV drama about

19th century workers is having the same effect on a National Trust

attraction in Cheshire. Visitor numbers at Quarry Bank Mill

in Styal have shot up by 25% since the start of the latest Sunday night

drama, The Mill. Stuart Flinders reports.

This is how the other other half lived. The Mill: a story of

working-class folk when times were always hard. The series was filmed

here at Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire. The stories are based on

real people and real events in the 1830s. All this was based on the

Quarry Bank Mill archive. It is not about the owners of the will, -- of

The Mill, the wealthy, it is about the apprentices, who had no one else

in the world. It looks at what life was like for them.

In July, visitor numbers here were up 25% on last year. It has been

great to see on TV the things that we have seen today. Does it bring it

to life? Almost certainly. people we you would have had to make

wool and cloth instead of going to school. Would you have liked that?

now. World without television, I would hate that. I have met people

me this morning from Cornwall, from Yorkshire, Lancashire, the Midlands.

We are very easy to get to. They had all seen the television series?

The Mill continues on Channel four this Sunday. Stuart Flinders, BBC

North West Tonight, Styal. I think I was unwittingly among the

25% increase in visitors. It is brilliant.

Football now. Morecambe and Accrington have been rewarded for

their Capital One Cup heroics this week with home draws against Premier

League sides. Morecambe will play Newcastle, and Stanley host Cardiff

in the competition's second round. There are two North West derbies

with Burnley playing Preston, and Bolton travelling to Tranmere.

Elsewhere, it's Liverpool-Notts County, Everton-Stevenage and

Norwich-Bury. The ties will be played in the week commencing August

26th. Says that the gas told the Spanish

media today that he is not leaving Barcelona the summer. -- Fabregas.

And Bolton expect to complete the signing of Jay Spearing from

Liverpool on a four-year deal. The midfielder has been having a medical

at the club where he impressed on loan last season.

The 24-year-old came through the ranks at Anfield, where he'd played

since he was a young boy. And the Wanderers' manager says he was

always his top target in the transfer window. His hunger and

desire and willingness to get better is what struck me. That was the

reason I said that we had to sign the player. That is why we did the

deal that we have done. A farmer in Wirral is celebrating

the birth of some very special calves. There is a one in 700,000

chance of it happening. He and his father have more than 100

years of farming experience between them. But this has even taken them

by surprise. Meets George, Alexander and Louis.

The new triplets are not only named after the loyal baby -- royal baby,

the as well practically royalty, well, in the farming world.

We have about 180 cows and normally the only have one at a time.

These calves are just one-day-old and it is a unique occasion. It is

the first time in more than 70 years that triplet calves have been born

on this farm. we thought that two cows must have had their calves, and

that one can had adopted all three. But it was not. This one cows had

had three calves. in fact, the chances of a code

having triplets is one in 100,000. Those odds are far higher when the

triplets are of the same sex. That happens in just one in 700,000

births. Since the triplets were born yesterday, friends and family have

flocked to the farm to see them. They are absolutely gorgeous. They

are lovely. They are all beautiful, but to be as wonderful. I have only

ever heard of one, I have never even really seen Twins, so it was quite a

shock to hear three. They are so tiny, I really liked them.

First day out on the field and these three are so cute that the other

cows are jostling in for a closer look.

And she went out in that field and high heels!

Why does that not surprise us? You can legitimately wear them to do

It has not been a bad day, temperatures up at 22 Celsius.

Everyday this week we have added on an increasing risk of showers. Today

never really came off again. Most of us have had a decent day. It has

clouded up over the last couple of hours. This is our live shot from

media city right now. Tomorrow we go back to the weather being mostly

fine. Once again a small chance of showers through the afternoon. But

between now and then we have a line of rain to contend with. It does not

trouble to many of us, however. We will start to see the cloud

thickening further. It is split weather front, initially very light

and patchy, as the night goes on, you might catch a heavier burst from

to time. All things considered, that cloud and rain does is a big favour.

Last night it was fairly chilly. Temperatures will stay up between

13-16 degrees just about everywhere. It will not take long for the rain

to move away. Cloud cover thins and brakes. Brighter skies will come

through. The sun returns relatively quickly. After lunch there is a

small chance of a shower from time to time but it is not a shower from

time to time but it is not about forecast really. It is an improving

picture as the day goes on. The rain will kill us down and fresheners up