05/03/2014 North West Tonight

Ukrainians in crime era, as the high-level talks to resume the

crisis continue. Welcome to North West Tonight with

Annabel Tiffin and Roger Johnson. Our top story. No more cuts. Stand

your ground. Mind over matter. How posithve

thinking could help ease thd pain of arthritis.

And the vaccination against bovine TB. How dead badgers could help the

living. And live in the studio, the boy who

made a star in a jar. 13`ye`r`old Jamie and his astonishing world

record. You can make somethhng you might see in the sky at night. A

little chain like that. It's just magic.

Campaigners have gathered ottside Liverpool Town Hall to protdst

against council budget cuts. They are aqueueing the Mayor of

butchering jobs and services. Councillors are discussing spending

cuts of which will put many services and jobs at risk. Mark Edwardson

joins us now. That meeting hs underway right now? It is, xes. Here

inside the town hall in the centre of Liverpool, the mayor, Jod

Anderson's presenting his plan to save ?156 million. It is a day he's

been dreading. Earlier, there was a demonstration outside the town hall

organised by Liverpool against the cuts and the TUC in the citx. They

see the spending reductions as totally unnecessary. Even accusing

Liverpool's Mayor of butchering services and jobs.

Mark, just explain to us wh`t is under threat here? Well, thd big one

is adult social care which could lose ?42 million with many of its

day centres closed. Children services could lose ?16 million

Libraries and leisure centrds will get hit too. The Park Road leisure

centre is under threat. The protesters today here called on

Joanner son to ignore the ctts and refuse to implement them. What we

are looking for Labour councillors and to Joe Anderson, they are the

first barrier, the protection of Liverpool people. They are our

protecters from the Tory Government. We are looking for them to provide

leadership, develop a fight back against these vicious cuts.

Criticism there of Joe Anderson mayor, what has he had to s`y?

During the meeting, he's accused Number Ten of arrogance and

ignorance saying Liverpool's been short changed. I asked him `bout

that idea of making an illegal budget. There's two choices for

Liverpool to set legal or illegal budgets. In the eighties we tried

the illegal Protector says. It didn't go down with the people of

the city and businesses. I `m not tempted to do that. They were not

historic victories and events. People in Liverpool will relember

that only too well. The isste reached the House of Commons today

as well? It did. Louise Elm`n use used Prime Minister's Questhons to

challenge David Cameron on the issue. First the Government told

northern councillors to stop do having their caps in the hopes of a

handout. Then the High Court ruled Government cuts in European funding

for Liverpool and Sheffield were illegal. What does this say about

the Government? Liverpool h`s huge needs in terms of funding. H believe

the funding that it gets reflects those needs. If you look at the

spending per dwelling in Liverpool for 2014, it is ?2,594 per dwelling.

That is a full ?700 more per dwelling than is spent in mx

constituency. We'll have a full report from this

meeting in our bulletin at 05.2 pm. Do you know what this is in the

screen behind? It is a body camera. The cameras are being used to film

footage by police officers which can be used as evidence in court. Police

hope it will be useful in t`ckling anti`social behaviour.

PC Graham Davis out on patrol in Warrington centre. He's one of

several officers using the new body cameras. He says they are

particularly useful in publhc order offences. In one incident a woman

hit him. The woman was drunk, abusive. She struck me and ht was

all captured on there. It w`s impossible for her to deny. The

cameras are not on all the time Officers decide when to use them and

they have to warn people thdy are being filmed. 24 officers h`ve these

cameras. The idea is it shotld speed up the judicial process bec`use

people are more likely to admit what they've done if they know they've

been caught on camera. At a cost of ?300 each are they worth thd money?

We are getting the evidence there to be found that the use of thdse

cameras saves police and cotrt time. People faced with that eviddnce do

plead guilty. These cameras are always ready to record. All you have

to do is press this button twice and the officer can start gather egg

evidence. Footage can be usdd when people accuse of police of

mistreatment. But what happdns to the film? If we record foot`ge of an

incident taking place and wd deem it is non`evidential, after 31 days, it

will be delighted. Head camdras are being used at big events like

football matches and demonstrations. But true teen `` routine body

cameras are not in place. If the pilot scheme is successful they will

be rolled out to Warrington police. Greater Manchester Police are also

trialling the cameras. The Chief Constable says he's still ydt to be

convinced they are a good idea. Sir Peter says he fears if they are

used perhaps an officer would not be believed if the incident was not

captured on camera and the hnvasion of privacy if the police ard filming

when they enter someone's house in a distressing situation.

Let us know what you think. A 23`year`old man from Barrow in

Furness has been jailed for 80 daysed and banned from keephng

animals for seven years aftdr being caught on CCTV. The puppy h`s been

rehomed. Three north`west MPs have stbmitted

a petition to Downing Street raising concerns about overcrowding on the

region's trains. Bolton's MPs are calling for better transport

services. Meanwhile, the Bl`ckburn MP Jack Straw raced the `` raised

the issue of TransPennine Express trains being moved to the south of

England. Trans`Pennine exprdss is to lose one in eight of its tr`ins to

be transferred to chit earn rail for the greater comfort and convenience

for commuters in the south of England. I will look at the point

the gentleman raises. We have plans to elect if I the Trans`Pennine

railways and we're going ahdad with the northern hub.

It is said the power of poshtive thinking can overcome many things.

Now researchers in Manchestdr say it can reduce pain. They have `n been

working with arthritis patidnts to establish whether changing their

frame of mind can lessen thdir physical suffering.

Anne`Marie Lewis knows about pain. She's lived with osteoarthrhtis

You've main all day every d`y. Some days are worse than others but it is

always there. Inflamed arthritic joins send messages to the brain. It

processes those messages to let the body no it is ex`spearensing pain.

But is it possible to affect the way the brain interprets those lessages.

Researchers at Manchester University have been monitoring brainw`ves of

patients. They think alter someone's mind can lessen the pain. Your

research seems to suggest you can combat pain by the power of thought?

Yes. We know that this bit of cortex, the frontal cortex hs very

good at controlling the pain matrix. If you're really worrying and

thinking this is going to htrt, then it will? Absolutely. How do you

convince somebody who has a chronic condition to think more poshtively

and control their pain more effectively? We've used a therapy

called minefulness, talking therapies, based on meditathon.

Based on ancient Buddhist ctlture. If you just give patients whth

chronic pain and eight`week course of mindfulness based talking

therapies, you can modify the way the brain expects pain. Annd`Marie's

been working with the Manchdster team for the fast past four years.

She's convinced positive thhnking works. Osteoor threat Is afdck the

so many people. It is of paramount importance the research continues.

Such a difficult thing to lhve it. Still to come:

Jumping for joy, the heptathlete who's looking forward to thd world

indoor athletics championshhp this weekend. And we're in the l`b with

the school boy determined to become the youngest person in the world to

build a nuclear fueings reactor To some people they are cutd and

adorable and to be protected. To others, disease`ridden creatures to

be avoided. Badgers have provoke strong emotions. They've bedn culled

in some areas to try to redtce the spread of bovine TB. Now thdre's a

study on badgers killed on the roads to see if they are carrying TB. In

During the day, badgers sledp underground. When they come out at

night, they can spread bovine TB. But there's fierce argument about

the extent to which they ard responsible and whether it hs better

to vaccinate or kill badgers to stop the disease spreading. We are on a

large sett here. Now Chesird Wildlife Trust and others h`ve come

up with a scheme to study b`dgers killed on the roads to see hf they

are carrying TB or not. Vaccination over a large county like Chdsire

won't be easy. If the Government puts as much weight into vaccination

as culling we think we can drive the number of vaccinators out there

working with farmers, reallx get that uptake and have the affect we

want which is to break the cycle of the disease.

Bovine TB is increasing in Chesire There were 143 new casing l`st year.

Bovine TB can be devastating for animals. If a farmer gets the

disease it has to be slaughtered. There are different strains of the

disease. The aims of this ndw project is to see whether the

strains in badgers are the same as those in cattle. Liverpool

University scientists will study the badgers killed on roads. It is a

risky business and we had to film the postmortem through a window

This epidemic is spreading North'swards. We are in the

frontline of it now. Whatevdr your views on how you control TB, whether

in cattle or badgers, you c`n't really argue your case unless you

know whether or not it is in the badgers. The project will rtn for an

initial six monthsment Let's move on to sport. England in

action in a friendly tonight. The pre`match talk is mainly about

petitions, psychiatrists and Liverpool and manunited. Let's start

with psychiatrists but the name of Steve Peters is the man who's

credited with giving us hopd for the upcoming World Cup. He's receipt

credit with helping the mental state of British cyclists. Steve Peters

has also been working with Liverpool and Steven Gerrard's praised his

impact. He can help you to learn what's going on inside your head.

Can help with preparation. H didn't really know what was going on in my

head. Now it works, why I think certain things. If you do bty into

it, he is the best. Could bd the key man. England need all the hdlp they

can get with penalty shoototts? Whether Tom Cleverly will bd there

remains to be seen. A petithon from fans trying to stop him going to the

World Cup? Fans don't want him there. 10,000 who signed thd

petition don't. It is about an online petition accusing tolorrow

cleverly of inept Di plays. The 24`year`old is in the squad for

tonight's game with Denmark. Hodgson is not impressed by the pethtion.

It has been confirmed the c`ptain of Manchester United will join Milan in

the summer anti`ing eight`and`a`half years at Old Trafford. He joined in

2006 and has made over 200 appearances winning five Prdmier

League tightles an the Champions League.

Vauxhall motors will quit the conference north league at the end

of the season due to financhal problems. The club was founded in

1963 shortly after the car plant opened. Their greatest triulph came

in 2002 with victory over QPR in the Cup. She's been tipped as the next

big star of athletics. Katrhna Thompson Johnson needs to ddliver

medals according to her coach. She competes in the world World Indoor

Championships this weekend but is already focus on the summer's

Commonwealth Games. She emerged in 2012.

COMMENTATOR: O', yes. Improved in 2013. And now 2014 brings

expectation for Katrina Tholpson Johnson. Expectation comes on when

you do big performances. I put pressure on myself. The onlx Pernik

disappoint is myself. When others put pressure on me, I don't see that

as an issue. I have to keep doing what I'm doing. What she's doing is

breaking more rids. The British high jump one went last month. This

weekend's championships in Poland, Katrina competes in the long jump

after illness stopped her qtalifying for the pentathlon. Getting into the

final is the tough part. Thd main target this year is the Comlonwealth

Games heptathlon in Glasgow and a first major championship medal. It

will be nice to start collecting some hardware. The Commonwe`lth

Games could be a perfect stdpping stone for that. You can't bd a

promising youngster forever. You have to step up and try to follow in

Jessica Ennis's footsteps if we can. If Kat keeps progressing at this

stage when Jess Ennis returns from having her baby, she may not be

number one. She couldn't make it to Moscow. I handled that well. I can

go out to be the only heptathlete there and enjoy it. She'll start to

enjoy it even more if she c`n bring some major medals back to Lhverpool.

From one developing talent to another. Joss butter, the

wicketkeeper was dismissed for 9 playing for England against the West

Indies missing out on his international made an century.

Cruel. I'm sure his time will come. Thank

you. You probably know the saying if a

ship a singing it is women `nd children in the lifeboats fhrst It

is known as the Birkenhead Drill. It was first used when HMS Birkenhead

sank in 1852. More than 400 men died but every woman and child w`s saved.

Lifeboat man has campaigned for a permanent memorial. Today, ` tribute

was unveiled in Birkenhead. Today, tributes were paid to

incredible bravery. 162 years ago, over 400 men perished when HMS

Birkenhead sank off the coast of South Africa. The boat was carrying

troops who followed their orders without question. Young soldiers

from 14 upwards joined the `rmy for an adventure and find themsdlves on

a singing ship. Their man in charge asked them to stand firm. G`ve them

jobs to do and put women and children in the life boat. Hearing

the lifeboat might be swampdd and the woman and chirp could bd drowned

he asked them to stand fast. I went to a family wedding seven

years ago. One of the first signs of read was the Birkenhead followed by

Birkenhead hotel, guest house. I had to almost pinch myself to s`y, where

was I? The people of western cape were so proud of the name Bhrkenhead

because of the famous ship, HMS Birkenhead and what it stands for

The ship was built in Birkenhead. They constructed the memori`l

designed by a local stewed dn. In. In. `` student. Horrible for them to

stand there as the boat goes down. It will ale form the bride that

Birkenhead became part of the Birkenhead Drill.

Spectacular memorial. Reallx nice. Roger, the most amazing thing you

did when you were 13. Can you remember back that far?

Certainly nothing remarkabld. I bet it was nothing like L`ncashire

schoolboy Jamie Edwards. He is in a completely different league from

most 13`year`olds. He did an experiment today in his school lab.

He can lay claim to being the youngest person in the world to

build from scratch a tiny ntclear fusion reactor. Here's Peter

Marshall who was there to sde this. Many teenaged boys struggling to

make a sandwich. But not Jalie. I hopes his dream will achievd nuclear

fueings. You make something you might see in the sky at night in a

little chamber. That's magic. The plan is to smash two matters of

hydrogen together to make hdlium. He will be the youngest ever ftsioneer

wrestling the title from a 14`year`old American. I'm confident.

It is not without risk. The main danger as he helped point it out to

teachers to let them do this is the high votage. Risk assessment means

things can go wrong. We havd assessed them and managed them and

are aware of the worst case scenario, why not. What was the

worst case accept air yobs? Death. We retreated. We've got neutrons.

You've done it. I was looking around the the neutron counter went crazy.

It was brilliant. It still has to be officially verified but things are

looking good. Relieved more than anything. Really proud. Not so much

of the scientific side of things but the determination he's had to pull

it off. Really proud. Final word, pal and helper George. Is hd not

interested in football or anything? No, just nuclear. That's it.

How cool is that? Jamie and George are with us now.

An amazing achievement. I stppose the question that perhaps a lot of

people are asking how can a 13`year`old know how to build that?

I guess it is a lot of time and he port you doing research, wrhting

letters to professors at universities. You did this xourself?

You found it out yourself? Xeah there's a good website. Loads of

amateur physicists on there who ve helped me on along my journdy of

fusion. George, what do the other guys at school make of what you two

have been involved at doing? They think it is amazing. It's ptt the

school on the map? Definitely. What have the teachers said? Wonderful.

Your physics teacher... Maybe one or two things. Might come in a few

years. You can't sit back on your laurels? Can you? 13, what `re you

going to do next? Thinking laybe new particle accelerator. Something like

that. Call CERN. Maybe. Is that what you'd like to do? Is physics the way

forward for you? Verges defhnitely. Nuclear engineering, physics. In

even theoretical physics. You couldn't have done this without

George? What was your role hn this? My role was to tidy up. And make

brews for him. Everyone needs someone to make the brews. Xou've

brought your buyinger countdr on? This played an important part? You

needed to check there were no leaks? Yes. Does this test radioactivity?

It does. There's a dial on the front. Not making a sound! Honestly!

Well done. Brilliant. Stay with us. Just to clarify, I

make more teas than you! You do. Thank you very much. I can't

deny that. Shall we find out what's happening

with the science of the weather Good evening. March started off on a

decent note so far. Plenty of sunshine around. As the month

progresses, the weather will continue to improve. As we head into

the end of this week, temperatures beginning to real rise into double

figures. But, there's a little hiccup before then. A lot of cloud

around before the weekend. This evening, we have extensive cloud

cover. Overnight, we'll see rain slowly pushing in. It is persistent

light rain overnight. A murky night. We'll see winds picking up over the

Isle of Man. Some mist patches forming over Cumbria. Temperatures

much milder than last night. 7 or 8 Celsius overnight. For the first

time this week tomorrow morning hopefully, should be frost free

But, for tomorrow, yet again, we'll hold on to lots of cloud from the

word go. A damp and misty start Clouds just continuing to btild and

that rain continuing to pild in Through the afternoon, we'll see

some heavy pulses of rain over the Isle of Man and Cumbria. Thd breeze

continuing to pick up. Tempdratures tomorrow not so bad. We'll see them

in double figures. Particul`rly in the south of the region. 10 or 1

Celsius. We head into Fridax. A cold front pulls a band of rain through

on Friday. A touch cooler. But Saturday, high pressure beghnning to

build in the east. This is good news for the weekend. That band of rain

will miss us. On Saturday, right across the board, we'll see

temperatures in double figures. 13 in Warrington and Manchester. Next

week, high pressure means wd'll see very settled conditions.

Come over. Come and sit down. You're wearing radioactive shoes?

Jamie, George, asides from physics and breaking records what do you do

normally? Play in a um co of brass bands. Cornet. I do a fair bit of

cycling as well. I'm more into motorbiking and engines. We think

you two are going to rule the world. We want to treasure this molent

Multi`talented. Thank you for coming in. Good night.