02/11/2016 North West Tonight

and on BBC One we now join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Welcome to Northwest Tonight with Roger Johnson

This is our top story: A man's arrested for attempted murder

after a police officer is slashed with a knife in Lancashire.

The officer was carrying out a routine search

Also tonight: Claims the elderly have been left helpless and alone

as a new report shows a huge drop in the numbers getting soci`l care.

These are all brothers, sisters grandparents and leaving people in

this sort of undignified situation is frankly not good enough.

De Bruyne's free-kick helps Manchester City to a landmark

The speed machines take to the picturesque waters

A man's being questioned tonight on suspicion of attempted murder

after a police officer was `ttacked with a knife in Lancashire.

It happened in Cleveleys thhs morning as the officer carried out

The officer's being treated in hospital.

Bring us up-to-date with the latest on what is happening there. It was

here, close to the corner of Westmorland Avenue in this busy road

at the end there that a police at the end there that a polhce

constable stopped a Peugeot van at 10am this morning in what the police

have described as a routine stop and check. But as the driver emerged

from the van, the officer was attacked. He suffered a knife injury

to his torso and facial injtries and to his torso and facial injuries and

we understand that the windscreen of the police car was smashed tsing

we understand that the windscreen of the police car was smashed using a

the police car was smashed tsing a pickaxe handle. There was a huge

police response to this, witnessed by many residents. I walked into my

bedroom looked out of the window and bedroom looked out of the window and

saw an officer laying on thd bedroom looked out of the whndow and

saw an officer laying on thd road and I wonder what was going on.

There was a crowd around him. I went There was a crowd around him. I went

to have a look and was told by somebody stood there that he

to have a look and was told by somebody stood there that hd had

somebody stood there that he had been attacked. My immediate thought

was, was the perpetrator sthll was, was the perpetrator still

around? We are sad, he was only doing his duty and got stabbed. You

don't expect that on the street like this. The air ambulance attdnded,

landing close to here and took the officer to the Royal Preston

hospital, but we are pleased to say that tonight, the police say

hospital, but we are pleased to say that tonight, the police sax he

hospital, but we are pleased to say that tonight, the police say he has

been discharged from hospit`l and been discharged from hospit`l and

able to recover at home. The able to recover at home. The

attacker made off in the van, but. Is a short time later in thd car

park of a gymnasium and tonight, park of a gymnasium and tonhght

they are questioning a 39-year-old they are questioning a 39-ydar-old

man from Blackpool on suspicion of attempted murder.

It's been revealed legal costs for the families at the inquests

into the deaths of the 96 Hillsborough victims

They were paid by the Home Office, which also spent nearly ?20l

on lawyers for the former Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police

The inquests concluded in April that the fans were unlawfully killed

Police investigating the disappearance of a mothdr

from Wirral have arrested a man on suspicion of murder.

These CCTV pictures show the last sighting

of 39-year-old Anita Stephenson near her home in

A 41-year-old man is being held for questioning and detectives

are are now appealing to the public for more information.

Cancer experts met in Liverpool today to discuss why the city's

cancer rates are increasing faster than anywhere else in the UK.

They say 3,000 people in Liverpool will be diagnosed with cancdr every

year by 2020, but those levdls could be reduced if people adopted

A new report has revealed that more than 40,000 people

in the North West have had `dult social care withdrawn.

Huge pressure on council budgets has caused an 18% drop

in the numbers being helped since 2009.

The Leonard Cheshire organisation, which carried out the study,

says it's a scandal which ldaves many of the elderly helpless

and alone, and causes some to end up in hospital.

Our health correspondent Gill Dummigan reports.

In 1979, Jo Fenlon was disgnosed with multiple sclerosis.

What do you need people to help you do? Everything. Once I'm in this

chair, I am here. I am here until I need to go to the bathroom or to the

bedroom. A few weeks ago, Jo got a ldtter

from Trafford council saying that the money to pay

for her her care was We may think seriously about

buying... We don't have a social life. In fact, books, televhsion,

life. In fact, books, television, DVDs are the only thing.

This new research suggests that many others aren't getting

The council didn't want to comment on this please all about thd

The council didn't want to comment on this please all about the payment

on this please all about thd payment system, but this research indicates

the number of adults receivhng the number of adults receiving

social care has gone down in four years from ?8,650 to just under

6900, that's a drop of around 2 % 6900, that's a drop of around 2 %

and is the pattern being repeated all around the north-west.

The figures show a drop of 9% in Liverpool

24% in Lancashire And 35% in Cumbria.

The Government says it's putting more money into social care

from next year - potentiallx ?2 billion by 2020.

The future of the NHS means they have to be much more collaborative

with social care to provide the support before people go into

hospital. Maybe preventing people going into hospital. And th`t that

going into hospital. And that that is not there to do it, the NHS will

struggle. Jo Fenlon, meanwhile,

says councils need to look at other ways

of saving money. I don't think you should focus on

the most vulnerable members of the community.

Earlier I spoke to Patrick from Leonard

Cheshire Disability, the organisation which highlighted

the reductions in the numbers receiving social care.

And I asked him how it can effect people.

Hearing stories about peopld who, for example, live alone and rely on

a hoist to get in and out of bed at night.

The hoist breaks down and no emergency cover, so they ard

basically stuck between a bed and wheelchair, for example.

We are hearing stories of pdople having to

eat a packet of crisps in the morning, because there is no social

These are our brothers, sisters, grandparents and

leaving people in this sort of undignified situation

This must then have an effect on the rest of the health

Well, in the survey, one in 11 of the

disabled people that we surveyed said they'd end up in hospital as a

result of social care being withdrawn.

Social care and a lack of provision of it adds usually to

pressure on the NHS, but ag`in, we are talking about people and

ultimately, what we need to do here is get social care properly

funded by Central Government so that

neither the health service nor social care are having to actually

The Department of Health has said that up to

3.5 billion pounds extra is to be spent on local care.

And in fact, they've given authorities that

right, if you like, to put council tax up by about 2% and that will be

ringfenced to be spent on social care.

and the government would sax, we only have a certain amount of money.

I understand that, but this is about priorities.

We are a great country, a prosperous country.

It is about how we treat people in some of the

most vulnerable situations in our country.

And I think it's about how we define our own humanity.

We need to be challenging all of the

political parties to genuindly grasp the nettle on this.

Many successive governments have said this is too

difficult, I just don't accept that and actually,

we need to be saying, genuinely come together, work

together, stop the Punch and Judy element of politics.

It is not about one party acting and the rest of

All the parties need to comd together now and until

we do that, people are actu`lly going to continue to suffer and

The St Helen's South MP Marhe Rimmer has been cleared of kicking

A court in Glasgow found an assault charge against her not provdn,

but the Sheriff said no-one in the case had told him

The Labour MP, who was campaigning during the Scottish Referendum

in 2014, is now criticising the police decision

Our reporter Clare Fallon was in court.

Marie Rimmer walked out of court earlier and told us she was hugely

relieved and delighted by this verdict.

Today in court, the sheriff returned a verdict of not proven

rather than not guilty, which essentially means prosecutors have

But the Sheriff also said, H doubt any person has told me what really

happened that day and that's something I asked Marie Rimler about

It's been clearly explained to me in Scotland

So I am not concerned about that at all.

And what about the sheriff's comments

that he didn't particularly believe the account that all of the

That's the sheriff isn't it, it's not for me.

I'm clear as to what happened that day.

I have been acquitted today and I just want to

I've answered the charges and I want to

So, Claire, Marie Rimmer is clearly relieved.

But she is now questioning the decision to

She essentially echoed what the sheriff had to say

in court, when he said he felt there should have been

an element of discretion with all of this.

yellow card would have been preferable to a red card and it is

worth pointing out that another charge, of acting in a thre`tening

and abusive manner, was dislissed because of a lack of evidence.

But as of that argument that happened

between two rival sets of campaigners outside the polling

station on the day of the Scottish referendum, the sheriff said he felt

the whole thing amounted to complete stupidity.

But a clearly very relieved Marie Rimmer will be

heading back to the constituency on Merseyside this evening sayhng she

simply now wants to get on with the job.

When 67-year-old Stuart Brunst fell and broke his thigh, he had to go

into Southport District General Hospital for routine surgerx.

But the hospital botched the operation and three

To add to his daughter's distress, the hospital launched

an investigation which found serious mistakes, but it didn't tell

Stuart Brunst's family say he was a kind,

When he broke his leg they were told it was a textbook

operation, but soon they became concerned about his condition.

He was reporting a lot of pain and not making the progress that we

And then partway through thd first week he was in hospital,

he had to have additional blood and I wasn't quite sure why.

During surgery, a rod had bden inserted into Mr Brunst's leg.

But despite X-rays being conducted in the operating theatre, staff

didn't notice that screws wdre loose and even though he complained

of pain, there were further delays in carrying out another X-ray.

A second operation took place, but it was too late to save him

The hospital trust said it acknowledges

there were failures in the care provided

to Mr Brunst and with the

appropriate care, it's likely he is death would have been avoided.

They apologised for the length of time it

took to carry the inquiry and contact Mr Brunst's family.

That investigation began without the family's knowledge and

NHS guidelines state that they should be informed

The hospitals should be open and honest

about when they think something has gone

wrong and should notify the

family and offer an explanation about what happened and identify any

failings and provide an apology where it is appropriate.

And that should be done as soon as possible?

The Hospital Trust says lessons have been learnt from Mr Brunst's

His family hope such basic mistakes will never cost

I can't believe that failing to take basic

steps in a patient's care could have led to somebody's death.

Still to come on North West Tonight: And full-throttle

With a major new cargo facility opening in the Mersey this week we

look at the past and future or Liverpool's port.

The powerboats take to the water for Coniston's annual

Fragmented, inefficient and ineffective.

That the damning verdict on the country's flood risk

management according to a group of influential MPs.

They've called for a radical overhaul to prevent a repeat of last

that saw thousands of homes across the North West badly

In Cumbria and Lancashire alone 1,200 families are still

So does the flood risk system need to change?

Over Christmas and New Year, storms Desmond, Eva and Frank

In one 24-hour period, 13 inches of rain fell.

Homes, town centres, countryside all submerged.

Time - according the to influential Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Committee - for radical change to tackle the threat of climatd change.

We went to Holland and we actually saw what they were doing and they

have a floods commission at the top and these regional boards that

actually work with local authorities, local residents and

landowners to deliver a mord landowners to deliver a more

structured flood resilience plan. It wants the Environment Agency

stripped of its flood A new national floods

commissioner to coordinate all flood-related policy and it

wants wider use of natural flood prevention measures,

like storing flood water on farmland because flooded fields cost less

to tackle than flooded towns. Kevin Frea has a home

within feet of the Lune River There are over 40 homes here,

all powered by this hydropl`nt. Storm Desmond put it out

of action for two months. So would Kevin welcome proposed

changes in flood planning? What makes perfect sense is the idea

of working with nature rather than against it and hold in the water

further up the valley, so compensating farmers for flooding

their land, planting trees, all of those things will help to hold the

water, release its slower and stop the devastation further downstream.

In Salford, a second flood base is under construction to protect homes.

A plan promoted by the Environment Agency, which has supporters.

Instead of trying to create new bureaucracies, I think the way

forward is to make sure we continue with that culture of collaboration,

get everyone working togethdr and get everyone working togethdr and

focus on what is really important, which is about defending people from

floods. The Government says it sees no need for organisational changes

and that it is implemented many suggestions in the report. They also

said they are spending ?2.5 billion improving flood defences to protect

an additional 300,000 homes by 021. Later this week, a massive new cargo

terminal opens at Liverpool Docks. Liverpool Two, as it's calldd,

will enable the port to handle the biggest

container ships in the world. It also has enormous

new cranes, which are as tall In the first of a series

of special reports, our Merseyside Reporter,

Andy Gill, looks at how the new terminal fits

in to the port's long history. The container ship Atlantic Sea

edges into Gladstone Lock. Up close, it's like someone sliding

a block of flats past your nose But this is the biggest ship

Liverpool can get into its docks. And to compete globally, it needs

to attract ships capable of carrying three times the number of containers

this one can. That's why the port's invested

?400 million in a new in river It takes us from a very good,

localised port to an intern`tional localised port to an international

port with a huge standing and we are starting to compete in a global

market with the big players. The new terminal, Liverpool Two,

means ships don't And can be loaded and unloaded

in the Mersey quickly. It comes 300 years after

the first dock was built. You can still see part of it below

the Liverpool One shopping centre. Back in 1715, this allowed ships to

be unloaded in one day rathdr than a be unloaded in one day rather than a

fortnight. Even 300 years ago, time was money.

Liverpool had been growing for decades before

I think roundabout 1648 when trade with the Americans first started,

with the Americans first st`rted, that's when the first ship left for

North America. It was still a colony of Britain at the time Liverpool was

perfectly placed for trading with North America. For its contribution

to Britain 's maritime past... and the growth of Empire made

Britain rich, The port was the

heartbeat of the city. There wasn't a family here that

wasn't connected to working in the seafaring industry are one way or

another, whether they worked down the docks or the stores or something

to do with Liverpool. The docks employed

tens of thousands. But by the 1960s, containerhsation

meant ports needed The casual nature of dock work meant

strikes weren't uncommon. Some of the families have ndver

recover, because most of the Some of the families have never

recover, because most of thd men who recover, because most of the men who

were dismissed have never worked since.

The deep water terminal opening this week marks

Tomorrow night's piece will be looking out the operations of the

current Port of Liverpool as we build up to the big opening of the

new one. Manchester United manager

Jose Mourinho has been given a one-match touchline ban and fined

?50,000 by the FA after accdpting He criticised the FA

for the choice of referee for the Derby match and then

verbally abused officials at half No wonder he had a face likd

thunder. Onto football, and Manchestdr City

fans can be forgiven for still pinching themselvds, after

last night's stunning Champions Yes, just a fortnight ago

Pep Guardiola's side sufferdd a 4-0 But as Ian Haslam reports,

they turned the tables in spectacular style

at the Etihad Stadium. The night Pep Guardiola truly

arrived at Manchester City. We played against the best team

and competed against them. Lionel Messi had given

Barcelona the lead. They took a second half lead through

kevin De Bruyne, with this lan again on the scoresheet

to wrap things up. A great night for all connected

with the club, including Pep Guardiola said

it was a landmark win. How important do you think

last They went out with nothing

on the mind other than Because, in my opinion,

they overran Barcelona which you don't see

many teams doing. How did they get past

who are believed to He knows how they play

and he is creating Manchester City He's doing that to

trying to press high, press quickly, trying

get the ball back. And Barcelona couldn't

get into the rhythm. We could have scored another two

or three quite easily, Amazing to watch and

amazing to be there. My wife was shouting at me

because I was I had to go upstairs

because he was too on Next up for City, a visit

to Borussia Monchengladbach It was only a week ago we wdre

saying Pep Guardiola's worst ever run as a manager now a big win.

Water speed records have been falling like autumn leaves

Coniston is the setting for Records Week,

when the world's best power boat racers compete to be

All the leaves are brown, btt the sky is blue. Perfect for a walk on

an autumn day. Even if it is a disturbed by the roar of a massively

disturbed by the roar of a lassively powerful marine engine. We didn't

get the record, we were doing pretty much the same speed. It has a 60

much the same speed. It has a 6 horsepower engine. New experimental

class. We are trying to get it going here. On Coniston water, tiles have

here. On Coniston water, times have tumbled. Then's powering towards a

world record from a landlocked Ashton in Bakersfield. There's

Ashton in Bakersfield. Therd's already a world record standing at

69 miles an hour and we've done 59 this morning. We are getting closer

to it and obviously we have a couple of days left this week, so hopefully

will be knocking on the door of it by the end of the week. There were

international competitors as well, the youngest being a 14-year-old

from Latvia. Today, a world record breaker. I was so excited and really

happy about it. It was my dream come true. This event now attracts dozens

of competitors from across the world. As you can see, therd are

hundreds of spectators, too. That is really good news for the financial

health of Coniston. With the sun is health of Coniston. With thd sun is

shining and the colours of the autumn, it is a truly magnificent

week. Coniston is undoubtedly beautiful setting for Record Week,

adding to its global reputation If they won the national Championship

and international one, it is still special to come here. It is the

icing on the cake together world or the national record it. Record Week

finishes on Friday and by then, more broken records will litter

Coniston's shores. It looks spectacular with blue skies and

sunshine. These are the autumn days we were

hoping for. Beautiful sunshhne. hoping for. Beautiful sunshine.

Today was almost the best d`y of the Today was almost the best day of the

working week. Pictures from the North West have been glorious.

North West have been gloriots. Wall-to-wall sunshine, but two days

are never the same. And this is the weather for tomorrow. Cloudier,

weather for tomorrow. Cloudher, Rainier. As we head towards the

weekend, the wind direction will change. From time to time, showers.

But we are staying in the cold air. From here until midnight, it is dry

and clear. That's when temperatures and clear. That's when tempdratures

will fall. In rural spots, laybe even zero. But as the night goes on,

it pushes more cloud in and there will be outbreaks of drizzle.

Temperatures will not fall too far as we head toward dawn. Between 4-7

for the most part. It will because those still, but look at tomorrow.

those still, but look at tolorrow. Cloud and drizzling rain impulse of

Cumbria, moving into parts of Lancashire. When it comes, it will

be on and off all day. Light and partially initially, the towards

tea-time, it will get its act together. Every now and agahn it may

together. Every now and again it may be dry, and the rain may not be too

heavy, but it spells the day. be dry, and the rain may not be too

heavy, but it spells the dax. We heavy, but it spells the day. We

sought maximum of ten degrees today with lots of sunshine, tomorrow

similar, but no sunshine. It will be gloomy and feel quite cold. Should I

say enjoyed? No. There was some highs this morning. Yes, we haven't

seen that quite a while. Perhaps it will be colder this winter than

last. If you trust me not

and I trust you not,