20/03/2017 North West Tonight

29th of March. That's all from the BBC's news at six. We now

Welcome to North West Tonight with Roger Johnson and Annabel Tiffin.

More than 170,000 people sign a petition calling on

three-jobs George to choose which one he wants to do.

Calls are growing for the Tatton MP to stand down after becoming

Why post-Brexit Wirral no longer feels like home

for the family with German roots who are going back.

My party invitation had been taken away from me -

As the aftermath of the referendum unfolded,

it just got worse and worse and worse.

Turning back time - enthusiasts campaign

to reopen part of one of our most picturesque canals.

And double delight - how jolly and Nancy's parents into change

perceptions of Down's syndrome. We've had enough of, sort of,

people feeling sorry for us, because there's nothing to feel

sorry for us about. The pressure has mounted

on the Tatton MP George Osborne today, after his appointment

as editor of the More than 170,000 people

have signed a petition, calling on the former Chancellor

to decide which job he wants to do. Mr Osborne also has paid

roles as an adviser to an asset management fund,

and a fellowship with He's also earned ?780,000

pounds making speeches So, can he remain an effective

representative for his constituents? George Osborne is facing calls

to resign as MP for Tatton or forget about editing

the London evening standard. Today a petition signed by thousands

of people was handed in to his constiuency

office in Knutsford. Everybody feels the same way, and we

don't feel that he is going to be able to give us the time required to

do his job as an MP, and he should stand down maybe and let somebody

else do that for us. The former Chancellor takes

up his new job in May but although former ministers

are required to tell a parliamentary watchdog about outside jobs,

he didn't wait for its advice. Will the Minister confirmed what

action the Government intends to take against ex-ministers who appear

to be in breach of the ministerial code on their failure to seek advice

before accepting an appointment? Mr Osborne has several gets paid

?650,000 a year to advise Blackrock Investment Institute -

three after-dinner speeches for the Washington Speaker's Bureau

earned him 98,000. In total, he's made around

780,000 from all speeches He's also the unpaid chairman of

the Northern Powerhouse Partnership. I thought it was important to be

here, although unfortunately we have missed the deadline for the Evening

Standard. In my view... In my view, Mr Speaker, this Parliament is

enhanced when we have people of different experience take part in

our robust debate, and when people who have held senior ministerial

office continued to contribute to the decisions we have to make.

In a letter, the former chairman of Committee on Standards

The committee for standards and public life will be looking at this

matter again and it is of ongoing concern to the public widely and has

been for many years. Later this week,

George Osbourne will be at the Tatton Conservative

Assocation Annual General Meeting, where he will have to explain how

he can really be the voice Yunus Mulla,

BBC North West, Knutsford. Staying with politics,

and police have sent two more files about the Conservatives' spending

during the last General Election It was previously announced that

Bury North MP David Nuttall Now Cheadle's Mary Robinson

and Hazel Grove's William Wragg will also have their expenditure

scrutinised. A family from Merseyside say

they're going to leave Graham Kavanagh, who's English,

and his German wife Wibke They say, for personal

and political reasons, it's the best thing to do for them

and their six-year-old Our Merseyside reporter,

Andy Gill, has the story. Wibke Hott at home in

Wallasey this afternoon - she and her husband are looking

for new jobs in or near She came to Liverpool to study

community arts, but, after 19 years on Merseyside,

Brexit means they now want to leave. After years of being here, bringing

ourselves into the community, of being fully active members

of our community, all of a sudden By extension,

my child is seen as other. At the Tory Party Conference,

where they talked about, every company has to have a list

of foreign people working Brexit hasn't happened yet,

so why not wait to see, once it has happened,

what the UK will be like and what things

will be like for you? There's nothing here

that tells me that this I think there is going to be really

long lasting repercussions, and it will take probably ten or 15

years until it stabilises. Now, if we wouldn't

have a six-year-old daughter, But for our daughter,

I don't think that is OK, You have said that this is a lot

to do with what you think your daughter's future will be,

but it will also be I think there will be

aspects of her life that really will be disrupted,

and I think the biggest is, really, to leave her family behind,

and to leave her grandmother, her aunts and uncles,

her cousins behind, She is really, really

devastated about that. Wibke's been involved a number

of community projects, leading a choir for

recovering addicts, She's an inspiration to myself

and my daughter and every And it's a real shame

that our community and our country Wibke was on Question Time when it

came from Wallasey last month. I have an English husband,

I have a German-English child, and I can now see what I do

with this and how I reconcile this shaking-up to my identity that this

referendum has caused. A referendum that has

been campaigned on lies, And received some hostile

reaction on social media. So, some people are suggesting

I go and join some other I mean, everyone says that it's not

racist, what's happening, but there are racist undertones

to the people behind It just leaves a bad taste

in the mouth, effectively. This was a democratic vote

and you could vote either way. The Leave camp won,

so, after 19 years living here, why not just accept that vote

and carry on as best you can? If those who lost in a democratic

vote stopped shouting about how unfair they find it and how

they don't agree with it, we would not see any change,

so I think it is our job to keep shouting out about what it is

that we would like to see The family plan to move

to Germany in August. Andy Gill,

BBC North West Tonight, Wallasey. If you want to see more of that

story and other similar ones, look for BBC stories on Facebook.

Talks aimed at resolving a dispute between Merseyrail and the rail

union the RMT have broken down with each side blaming the other.

There will be more talks during the Grand National Festival. Talks broke

down today. The RMT says the introduction of driver only trains

will be unsafe and Merseyrail has accused them of refusing to discuss

the role of on-board staff when trains are introduced in three

years' time. It will undoubtedly cause

immeasurable damage to the economy at large, if the RMT executive

decide that their next strike is going to be

during the Aintree Festival. I sincerely hope that they think

twice about doing that. We have tried to talk today, but,

as I say, they have been fruitless and the company don't want to talk

about the issues that are at the heart of the dispute,

so we have got no alternative than to recommend further

industrial action takes place. That will be decided by our

executive in London in 24 hours. Police have revealed that a body

found following a Lancaster house Cem Bora was thought

to have been trapped inside the property

on Conniston Road early An 18-year-old man and a 12-year-old

boy managed to escape, Investigations into the cause

of the fire are continuing. A coroner has concluded

a 13-year-old boy's death was misadventure,

after he was crushed under The court heard Kaden Gowers

probably released the handbrake, and was run over as he tried to stop

the car rolling downhill. Police investigating the escape

of convicted murderer Shaun Walmsley have offered a ?20,000 reward

of his own money for He remains at large after being

sprung from custody during a visit Detectives say people

shouldn't approach Walmsley, as he could be with the armed men

who helped him escape. With child literacy levels below

the national average, there's a need to read

for youngsters in Blackpool, and a group of dads in the town have

done their bit to help. The fathers have been brightening up

one of the town's libraries They have renovated part of their

local library. Once upon a time a group of dads,

called the Blackpool Super Dads, This is a story of how

manpower's made a difference. This was the Palatine Library before

the group got to work. It's the local dads that have done

this and it is about us getting It is the best thing

we could have done really, and seeing where we are

now, it's fantastic. These dads know how

important reading is. What is your favourite book?

Tiger. Is your dad a good reader?

100 Dalmatians. 101 Dalmatians, yes.

You are an expert in these books? She is my sixth child so I am used

to reading. All this has been paid

for by Lottery funding under initiative, to improve children's

early lives in a town where literacy It is about giving babies in

Blackpool the opportunity to thrive and be part of a literate community,

so when they go to school they feel ready to learn and that their

imagination is there and children have that opportunity to grow that.

And the dads have bonded over this building project.

When you go to children's centres it is full of ladies and children, so

it was nice to meet a group of dads to put this structure together

together and create a sense of community.

And the dads here are hoping this story has a happy ever after ending

Stuart Pollitt, BBC North West Tonight, Blackpool.

That is a library and they have done a beautiful job.

The Conservative candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester Sean Anstee

He launched it at the Bury Black Pudding Company alongside Tory Local

One of his policies includes looking at extending

He said employment will be a key priority.

I want to make sure skills and employment, and that people become

work ready, are key to me to ensure we have a good economy that is able

to support a healthy and more prosperous Greater Manchester.

They call it the lost canal - one of the region's most

beautiful waterways - but the Northern Reaches

of the Lancaster Canal through Lancashire and Cumbria have

In some places, it's disappeared altogether.

But enthusiasts are campaigning for it to be reopened

This is a journey few get the chance to enjoy -

the winding waters of the Lancaster Canal's

For decades, this 14-mile stretch has been

unnavigable, crisscrossed and blocked by modern roads -

in some parts overgrown, in others filled in.

Well, a determined group of volunteers and enthusiasts aren't

prepared to let this canal a lost canal forever.

The navigable section of the Lancaster Canal,

from Preston to Carnforth, attracts canal boats

This is the stretch at Galgate near Lancaster.

But once these boats reach Tewitfield, just north of Carnforth,

As you'll see, there's an embankment been built up here to enable

the A-road over the motorway, and that's causing a big blockage.

They are significant challenges, but our engineers have been working

on solutions over the past number of years, and we do believe we've

got solutions to each of the blockages that we encounter.

Hello, David. Hello.

At Crooklands, I made up with the crew of the only boat that

still gets the chance regularly to sail the Northern Reaches.

The 28-foot Water Witch is operated by the Lancaster Canal trust

to promote its long campaign to reopen the Northern Reaches.

What will it mean to you to be able to ride a canal boat again down

But, no, it would mean so much, just to be able to do it.

The Lancaster Canal Regeneration Partnership has just secured

?184,000 to reinstate the tow path along this filled in section

from Kendal to Natland - one small step on the way

There are lots of other canals in the south of England where,

bit by bit, bridge by bridge, culverts and blockages

are being moved and the navigable length gradually gets longer.

Today's restoration estimate is around ?100 million,

and enthusiasts say it's a price worth paying.

Peter Marshall, BBC North West Tonight.

It is fascinating and fantastic pictures. It is apparently called

the Black and White canal because they took Cole up to Kendall and

brought down limestone. And you can see more on that

on tonight's Inside Out programme Richard joins us now for the sport

Have you got your breath back after yesterday's

Manchester City-Liverpool match? It was certainly breathless and from

the first minute to the last. Even the post-match manager

interviews were entertaining, Gael Clichy's clumsy challenge

on Roberto Firmino led to the James Milner penalty that

gave Liverpool the lead six minutes Kevin De Bruyne's fabulous

cross and a tidy finish from Aguero levelled it up,

but Adam Lallana missed a golden chance to win it for the visitors

and somehow missed his kick. A 1-1 draw and delight

for both bosses. It is one of the most special days

of my life, because, after the defeat on Tuesday,

Wednesday was so tough for us, and to recover how we recovered

today, with this mentality to play Of course, it's a success

to get a point at City It happens not every day,

so that means, yeah, One postscript from this match, City

have been charged by the FA for failing to control their players

when the penalty was awarded. So, City stay third and Liverpool

fourth, but Manchester United have closed the gap on their great rivals

after a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough. United are four points

behind Liverpool in fifth Onto Saturday's action now,

and Burnley earned only their third away point of the season

with a goalless draw at Sunderland. Everton's wantaway striker

Romelu Lukaku put his contract issues aside to score his 20th

and 21st goals of the season, as Ronald Koeman's side moved level

on points with Arsenal in sixth. In the Championship,

Blackburn Rovers led twice in the Lancashire derby

with Preston North End, Elliott Bennett's piledriver

opening the scoring. But North End earned

a point in injury time when Aiden McGeady's goal

made it 2-2. Into League One now,

where a draw for Fleetwood and victory for Bolton saw them

leapfrog the Cod Army into second. Filipe Marais scored Wanderers

winner as they came from behind to beat Northampton 2-1

at the Macron Stadium. And Rochdale ended their winless run

at ten, Nathaniel Mendez Laing's goal helping them thrash

Gillingham 4-1. In League Two, Crewe made it three

wins from four by beating Colchester at home but how about this

for a goal from Blackpool's It's the kind of goal more often

seen on a rugby field, but his chip-and-chase effort

secured his side a 3-1 win at Newport, and keeps

alive the Seasiders hopes Over the last few years,

whenever we've reported on Macclesfield Town,

it's been a bad news story - relegation from the Football League,

serious financial woes, concerns Tonight, though, the Silkmen

are on their way to Wembley. They beat Tranmere on Saturday

to make the final of the FA Trophy. Rovers will now focus on their push

for promotion, while Macc are planning

for their big day out. For both clubs,

this was about one thing - What would it mean to

all of the fans if you do It doesn't matter whether you are

Man United or whether you are Macclesfield Town,

you always want your team to get The priority for these two sides

is to try to get back into the Football League, but,

after disappointments in recent seasons, a Wembley cup final

would be just the ticket. There was little between the two

sides and, with home advantage, the Tranmere certainly

had their moments, but it was Macclesfield Town

who found the crucial way through. Ollie Norman with a terrific finish,

scoring the only goal in the game. Rovers tried to respond, but

Macclesfield's defence held firm. So, it's Macclesfield Town who win

the day, and Tranmere Rovers can now concentrate on their push

for promotion, but, for these Macclesfield fans,

and of course the team, they can look forward to that

big day out at Wembley. I can't believe we are

going to Wembley now. How much are you looking

forward to that? I've shaved my head for them

to make money for charity. I've written a book and they've sold

the proceeds of that, so... To get to Wembley, you know,

it's just the icing Obviously we are devastated,

because we set out to try to take We haven't achieved that,

so we are gutted for When you have been at somewhere

for so long, and you know everybody at the club and what it means

to people, then it This team will take on York City

in the final, with a chance for Macclesfield to win the FA

Trophy for a third time - an opportunity they will be

determined to make the most of. In Rugby League, amateur side

Haydock put up a brave fight in their Challenge Cup tie

at Championship Oldham. The club we featured

on Friday scored three tries In Super League, Salford ended

Castleford's unbeaten start to the season,

Gareth O'Brien's late drop goal See all the action from that

and all the weekend's games on The Super League Show,

right here on BBC One Finally from me, a World Record

was broken this weekend Shantelle Gaston-Hird knocked

an amazing 15 minutes off the record for the fastest half marathon

by a woman running backwards! She finished in just under

two hours 32 minutes. Shantelle ran to raise awareness

for the anti-bullying The idea behind running

backwards is to not be afraid I presume the two guys either side

are helping to make sure she knows she is all right. So that she does

not trip over. I wondered where it went too. I think that is a terrific

achievement, really. It is brilliant and she is in it for a good cause.

Thank you very much. Nice to get a bit of backwards half marathon

running. Thank you, Richard. And well done to the runner.

When people see that Maria Belton has two young children

with Down's syndrome, they'll often offer sympathetic words of comfort,

But Maria says there's nothing to be sorry about.

She wants the world to know how proud she is of them.

She writes a blog about family life in Wirral and hopes international

Down's Awareness Day tomorrow will help change attitudes.

Our chief reporter Dave Guest has been to meet Maria and her family.

# You'll never know, dear, how much I love you...#

mum Maria, dad Neil, Ellie, who is 14, Joseph, two and a half,

It just so happens that the two youngest members

There's differences, of course there's differences,

but there are more similarities, far more similarities

between our children and a typical child

You have decided to go public with your family's story to mark

International Down's Syndrome Awareness Day tomorrow.

We've had enough of, sort of, people feeling sorry for us,

because there's nothing to feel sorry for us about.

In fact, Maria calls Joey and Nancy her miracle babies.

After Ellie's birth, Maria was told a medical condition

would prevent her from having any further children.

When she fell pregnant again, Maria was told the chances of a second

She refused offers of tests to make sure.

If this baby has Down's syndrome, then she'll have Down's syndrome.

What do you think of your brother and sister?

Well, I think they are absolutely gorgeous,

and they are just so funny, and, to be quite honest,

I don't really think about the whole diagnosis a whole lot.

You know, just, like, in general, I just think,

What do you hope for the future with Joseph and Nancy?

I hope they are treated as equals as everybody else.

I think we just want to make sure the kids can do

whatever they want to do, and achieve whatever

they're aiming to achieve, and not be held back

because of other people's attitudes towards them.

Dave Guest, BBC North West Tonight, Wirral.

And it is a Downs syndrome awareness Day tomorrow and they are doing a

fantastic job to raise awareness. Now let's take a look

at the weather. Astronomically, it's the change of

the season is today. It is as is bringing. Astronomically

called this afternoon, with a massive drop in temperatures. We

will return to the frost and a lot like winter through the next few

days. As the front they would do, fantastic spells of sunshine, but a

horrible start to the day, with this front causing problems. Watch the

arrows with the error originating from here as we had to the next few

days, so no doubt about being stuck in the cold are perhaps until around

Friday. Into the weekend, less cold and the weather settles down. An

area of low pressure tracking as, on the pressure charts moving across

and bringing the weather fronts bumping into the cold air, and there

could be sleet and snow in the forecast. Could be sleet and snow

through the night tonight. You saw that swathes of rain clear and

scattered showers left Right now. Through the evening and overnight,

that is the story. The wind is brisk and warm, coming from

a cold direction. You will be let out and about. Closed or 30 mph in

coastal areas. Into the cold air when it bulbs you will see sleet and

snow on higher-level routes, never where else the potential for a

frost, really, but towns and cities with strong wind stays up above

zero. In places around to Celsius and a four Celsius around the cost,

but warm if you are out and about -- called and raw. If the ground is

slippery where you live, that should not last for too long, nor should

any frost, because the sun is up earlier. Again, you will see

scattered showers on higher-level routes, sleet and snow and hail a

possibility. Some showers lively and southern parts don't see as many,

wanted as past lunchtime some showers die away. At wind is strong

all the way through, and cold and brawl the way through. The numbers,

six or eight Celsius, then waiting to see what happens tomorrow night.

Another area of rain works through and there could be a light dusting

on the ground of highest level routes. Heading into spring, winter

is not yet done with us. It is awful. But not everywhere get

it because it is the deal that will be cold.

Possibly not a good thing to do, running in flip-flops, but Kate

Thompson said she watched the woman running backwards yesterday and a

man running in flip-flops. As if it is not harsh enough

already. We are not doing that. Thank you for

watching. Good night. The 24-year-old man

has been charged with murder. You made sure an innocent man

is charged! What gives you the right

to say that he's innocent?