15/11/2011 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today. I'm Polly Evans. And I'm Rob Smith.

Tonight's top stories: under fire on two fronts - Ashford

MP Damian Green is under pressure over who knew what about relaxing

immigration passport checks. Everything that Ministers in this

Government have been authorised has been done to strengthen our border.

And he's facing accusations that he twisted Home Office figures on

drugs seizures to try to create good news. We'll be reporting live

from Newhaven and Westminster. Also on tonight's programme:

Stolen on Remembrance weekend - the charity collection in memory of a

Kent soldier who died in Afghanistan.

Left disfigured by an emergency operation - the woman refused

reconstructive surgery on the NHS. And the healing power of song - how

a Canterbury choir is proving Good evening. The Government is

under fire on two fronts tonight, putting severe pressure on the

Immigration Minister and Kent MP Damian Green. He's faced tough

questions in the House of Commons over allegations that Ministers

weakened border security by relaxing passport checks at our

ports and airports. He's also been accused of twisting

Home Office figures on cocaine and heroin seizures to try to generate

positive news coverage. In a moment we'll hear more on that from

Claudia Sermbezis in Newhaven and cross live to Westminster for

analysis from our political editor Louise Stewart. But first, here's

her report on today's developments in the row over border checks.

The Government says a pilot scheme to reduce passport checks on some

citizens from EU countries was trialled at 28 ports and airports,

including Gatwick, Newhaven and Calais, where passport checks were

undertaken for passengers travelling to Dover. Earlier, the

Immigration Minister, Damian Green, who was called to the Commons to

answer questions, insisted border controls have been strengthened.

Everything that Ministers in this Government have authorised has been

done to strengthen our border. It focuses on high-risk passengers and

journeys, a new National Crime Agency with a border policing

command, E-borders to check passengers in and out of the

country. At the same time the former Senior Civil Servant who

resigned over the row, Brodie Clark, was giving evidence to MPs. He

denied passing checks beyond the passport scheme. I never went rogue,

and I never it was the Home Secretary who clearly at request

and on advice from me agreed that the trial could continue.

The director at the border force south at Dover has also been

suspended. Unions warn the pilot was brought in to deal with cuts in

agency staff and will only get worse. Brodie Clark said today a

one of the reasons for the trial that the Home Secretary agreed to

go through with was to get more with less, and what he was saying

is he was hopeful that that sort of system would help the Border Agency

cope with the staff cuts. I believe that being hopeful is not good

enough as far as the security of our borders is concerned. Three

inquiries are now under way at what happened at the UK Border Agency,

and the row is set to continue with the Immigration Minister due to

give evidence about what he knew next week.

In addition to the passports row, the pressure on Damian Green

increased further with another row erupting over a press release

claiming drug seizures by the UK Border Agency had dramatically

increased. The chairman of the UK Statistics

Authority has sent the MP a letter accusing him of "highly selective"

use of statistics to show the agency in a good light. Claudia

Sermbezis is live in Newhaven. Claudia, what does the letter

actually say? Polly, Sir Michael is basically

asking Damian Green did, you massage the figures so that the UK

Border Agency looks as though it's doing a better job? One of the

reasons why they've got such fantastic figures is they have

included drug seizures which take place out to sea instead of just

sticking to the ones on land in England and Wales and at ports such

as this one here in Newhaven. all about drugs, drug seizures, to

be precise. On the 4th of November Damian Green and the Home Office

set out a press release saying more heroin and cocaine was found

between April and September than the whole of last year. It was on

course to be the highest annual total for over a decade - not so

according to the head of Britain's statistics watchdog Sir Michael

Scholar. In a letter to Damian Green he said the figures were

highly selective, irregular and inconsistent with the code of

practising. It was highly corrosive and damaging to public confidence

in official statistics and was distributed only to a select group

of journalists. I am astonished that politicians are still being

caught out trying to spin statistics for their own political

ends because the organisation that's written to the Minister, the

UK Statistics Authority was set up specifically to catch politicians

out if they did that. The previous Government set it up. Gordon Brown

got caught doing it. Now the opponents don't seem to have

learned the lesson. Sir Michael said the press release was done

without involvement of the department's statisticians. Today

Yvette Cooper has called for an urgent investigation. A

spokesperson for the UK Border Agency said that they regularly use

what they called "management information" to highlight their

operational work, but they added that they do take the code of

practising seriously, and they will be replying to Sir Michael's letter

in due course. Thank you.

We can now cross live to Westminster and our political

editor Louise Stuart. How has Damian Green been responding to the

pressure? We were folk -- focusing today on Brodie Clark. I think it's

fair to say Damian Green also put in a bullish performance in the

Commons. He was called there to answer an urgent question from

Yvette Cooper of he was there in place of Theresa May, who was

otherwise engaged. He didn't look to me like a man particularly

worried about his job over either the immigration or the drugs row,

but it's definitely not over for him yet. Next Tuesday, he'll face

tough questions from MPs on the Home Affairs Committee about what

he knew and when. In a moment, Seafrance suspends all

sailings between Dover and Calais as the company faces liquidation.

The father of a teenage Kent soldier killed in Afghanistan says

the theft of a charity box collecting money in his memory was

"despicable". The Dannyboy Trust was set up last year after the

death of 19-year-old Daniel Holkham from the Isle of Sheppey.

Thieves struck during Remembrance weekend, taking a collection box

bearing his picture from a pub on the island. Peter Whittlesea has

the details. Daniel Holkham was killed in Afghanistan in March last

year. His family wanted something positive to come from his death.

They set up the Dannyboy Trust. This Remembrance weekend one of

their collection tins was stolen from a pub on the Isle of Sheppey.

His father has described the theft as an act of desecration. This

weekend is one I don't have dry eyes for long anyway. This was just

another one of those things that pushes you over the edge. I don't

understand it. I really don't. I couldn't believe anybody would do

it, especially this weekend, knowing that the money is being

given in the name of one of these fallen soldiers. Sue and Peter run

the Hopps Inn at Minster. They make a point of supporting local

charities. They estimated there was more than �100 in the Dannyboy

Trust collection tin. Now they want the thieve to be caught. I can't

describe what I think, to be honest. It's not the words. You couldn't

repay it. I think it's awful, absolutely awful. On Remembrance

weekend, I just can't believe someone would stoop that low.

They're probably out there laughing about it. That's what's sickening.

Daniel's family believes someone knows who stole the tin and urges

anyone with information to contact the police immediately.

A van driver has suffered serious leg injuries in a collision with a

bus carrying schoolchildren in East Sussex. It happened this morning at

Mark Cross near Wadhurst. None of the children were badly hurt.

Detectives in Brighton have dropped their investigation into an alleged

rape in the St James Road area of the city last Wednesday night. A

24-year-old woman from Brighton has been arrested on suspicion of

perverting the course of justice. She's been bailed until the 8th of

December. Seafrance has suspended all

sailings between Dover and Calais to safeguard its ships and

passengers. There are fears of an angry

reaction from the French unions if the courts decide this week to

liquidate the ailing cross-Channel company. Simon Jones is in Dover.

This is an extraordinary move by SeaFrance. I don't think Dover's

ever seen anything quite like this before. The management of Seafrance

are so concerned about what the French unions and workers might do

if they're not happy with the court decision, they have decided it's

Safir not to sail at all -- safer not to sail at all, and tomorrow is

decision day. Going no-where - Seafrance's sailing suspended as

the fate of the company and a thousand workers hangs in the

balance. It's very important we have a competitive environment in

the port of Dover and also Seafrance's Council has nearly 200

jobs in and around Dover. I think it's really important we have a

stable future for those livelihoods. Managers in Calais took charge of

the ships. The police are out in force after the company said it

feared trouble to the astonishment of the workers kept away.

TRANSLATION: My first reaction is, it's sabotage. They're continuing

to sabotage the business, like they have been doing for the past three

years. It's the management who have stopped the ships. Angry protests

by workers in France last month as the courts first considered the

company's future. They'll decide tomorrow whether to sell it to one

of two bidders or to liquidate Seafrance. Very sadly, I think this

could be the end for Seafrance - awful news, of course, for the

people who have been working on the ships for so long, but ultimately,

I think it is simply inevitable. The short sea Channel crossings

could not sustain the kind of competition we have been seeing.

But for passengers if Seafrance does go under, it's likely to lead

to higher ticket prices to get across the Channel.

Seafrance's rival, P&O, is urging a complaint with the European

Competition Court. It says at the moment the highest bid on the table

for Seafrance is just �5 million euros, when Seafrance says the

ships are worth 160 million, and if they're sold off cheaply, that

would break rules. Thank you.

A Kent woman says she "feels like a freak" after being left disfigured

by an operation to refit her pacemaker. Sue Parnell from Strood

suffers from a rare genetic condition which could make her

heart stop at any time. She was given breast implants to

hide the lump created by her pacemaker, but has been left with

an uneven chest after it was removed during emergency surgery.

Local NHS managers say they won't fund a corrective operation. Lynda

Sue Parnell has struggled for years with a heart condition that claimed

the lives of her two brothers, but now he's fighting another battle

for funding from the local Primary Care Trust to rebuild her breast

after it was left concave when her pacemaker had to be moved after

complications. This is not about having a boob job on the NHS. This

is about reconstructing a deformity that has arisen through the

procedures I had to have to keep me alive. The pace maker that keeps

her heart beating was fitted. She was then given two breast implants,

on one side to hide the pacemaker, on the other, to even out her

appearance, but she had to have the device and implant taken out after

it caused her breast to rupture. It was moved across her chest, leaving

her with one full breast, but nothing on the other side. I feel

like a freak. I don't feel like a proper woman. When I do get to

sleep, some days I just wish I People are affecting a life who

don't know her, who have no idea of her background or history and just

see a case on paper and dismiss it out of hand.

The couple say their only option now is to take out a loan to pay

for the treatment privately, the only way Sue says she'll be able to

This is our top story tonight. The Ashford MP Damian Green is

under, reure on two fronts, first over who knew what about the

suspension of passport checks and secondly, the UK Statistics

Authority is accusing him of highly selective figures.

Also in tonight's programme: How the money you helped raise for

Children in Need is helping troubled teenagers before it's too

late. The Canterbury Choir proving that

singing really is good for your health.

The Unemployment figures come out tomorrow, and its anticipated that

the number of young people without a job will top one million. Last

month there were 991,000 16 to 24- year-olds in the UK classed as

NEETS. That means not in education, employment or training. That's

around one in six of all young people. But in some deprived parts

of Kent and Sussex, like Margate and Hastings, it's as many as one

in five. Our business correspondent Mark Norman is live in Hastings.

You've been finding a real sense of frustration from young people who

can't find work. That's right, Rob, a sense of frustration, maybe

helplessness I think even despite the help the Government has been

trying to give them in terms of education or apprenticeship places.

I have spoken to three youngsters who seem to have done everything

right in terms of their education, but still can't find that elusive

first paid job. I worked at Pizza Hut for a little while, but I sort

of left that because it was quite a lot of work for not much money. I

knew it would be tough because music is one of the harder

industries to get into, or as I understand it, but yeah, I didn't

really know it would be this hard. There is literally nothing. Mum and

dad are always saying, "Oh, you could apply for this, this, this."

Yeah, lack of money - that's not much fun.

The motivation you had at university - they kind of set you

up with all of these skills to go into some kind of job, and then

you're just kind of left by yourself because everyone is in the

same boat. It's very difficult. I'm actually applying for jobs which I

am technically qualified for. When you have 300 applicants, you're

going to have someone amongst the 300 that's done the exact same job

two months before very likely, and I am already set up to be rejected.

If I got an interview for something, let alone an actual job, I would be

really surprised. I think it's awful. I really do think it's awful

because they say they're looking for people with this qualification

or that extra-curricular thing, but they're still not accepting, even

if you do believe yourself that you fulfil the requirements. I apply so

much. I really, really do. It probably sounds a bit cliche

because everyone says the same thing, but that is the honest truth

- just normal jobs working in a shop, like The Body Shop or Tesco's

or Sainsbury, simple things, nothing, like, too outrageous. You

know what I mean? I am just like, for goodness sake! At the end of

the month the Chancellor will produce his pre-Budget report and

try to find wives growing the economy so that the private sector

can create jobs these youngsters can take and they can actually

start to begin they're careers. You may have noticed this Friday,

the BBC's Children in Need appeal takes place. One of the

organisations that benefits from your donations in Sussex helps to

get young people back on track.. It's called Catch 22 and provides a

mentoring service for troubled youngsters. This is one 16-year-

old's story. Catch 22 changed my life.

I was getting into a lot of trouble when I was in secondary school. I

was getting into trouble with the police a lot for different reasons.

I was drinking a lot. I barely ever went to school, and if I did, I

would probably walk out halfway through the day. I was constantly

being arrested or chased by the police for different reasons, and

in the end, the school just got so worried about me and my behaviour,

they did refer me to Catch 22. I was on such a destructive path. I

couldn't help myself. I was being so selfish, really. If there was

something I wanted to do, I would do it, and usually that would end

with me in trouble with the police. I am Kevin, and I am a volunteer

for Catch 22. As a mentor, my role is to listen to these people, to

sit down with them on a one-to-one basis and try to understand exactly

what their problems are and to try and help them find solutions to

resolving those problems so they can move forward in a very positive

manner. I thought it was going to be the same as all the other

organisations I had worked with, but it turned out to be very

different. Just before I started with - working with Catch 22, I

actually went missing for six or seven weeks, and I didn't actually

plan on coming back until I had that first meeting with Catch 22,

and just it changed my view on everything. To be able to talk to

somebody they don't know I think gives them a certain amount of

freedom that enables them to express themselves in a way they

possibly couldn't do otherwise. am now at college doing A-levels.

Things at home are so much better. I am not arguing with my parents

like I used to. I am not running away anymore. All of these people I

hung around with were much older than me. It sounds horrible, but I

just looked at them and thought, I don't want to be like them when I

am their age. I want to be doing something. I have come so far, and

I'm not going to let myself sink that low again. It's not going to

happen. I'm proud of myself for what I have done, and I plan to go

a lot further. She should be proud. And on

Children in Need night on Friday we'll be live at Bluewater in Kent.

Our colleagues will be outside Marks & Spencer ready to direct you

to where we are. Or you can watch it live on South East Today at 6.30

and throughout the evening. Two years ago today, Brighton

manager Gus Poyet took charge of his first match, an away victory

over Southampton. Since then the Uruguayan, who also

celebrates his 44th birthday today, has guided the Seagulls to

promotion and seen them into their new stadium. But he's told Neil

Bell he's determined to take the club even further.

A lot has happened in the two years since Gus Poyet, to the surprise to

many at the time, took over at Brighton and Hove. Victory was

followed 18 months later with the League One title, but he believes

that's just the start. I want to manage the top. The top means the

Premiere League, and then for me is without going crazy, without, you

know, without - I need it to happen now, but within the next two years,

I want to get to the Premiership. If it happens at the right time, I

am sure we'll have a sol, great possibility to stay up for a few

years. Even promotion to the Premiere League will not be enough.

His mission is to change the way football is played in this country.

Being honest, I am fed up with people talking about the technical

ability of the average player. I think I heard that for the first

time in 1997 when I got to England. It's 2011. If we stop talking,

maybe in two years' time, we'll have a hundred better players and

be playing in the Premiere League. There can be fewer committed,

passionate people than Gus Poyet. His problem now is finding ways to

forget about the game. Some people say, golf - you going to play golf.

After two holes, somebody ask you about the team, what you're going

to do in training? Can I still finish 18 holes talking about

football? That's not the idea. So if something knows about a way I

can switch off, please is enme a letter or call me. It would be much

appreciated. That was Gus Poyet making that appeal to help him

relax. Happy birthday, Gus.

They say that laughter is the best medicine - but it would seem a good

old sing song has some real benefits too.

Experts say singing in a choir can ease conditions such as depression

and lung disease. And Graham Satchell's been to Canterbury to

see the Skylarks, whose members all have Parkinson's Disease.

Canterbury and some fairly strange noises.

# Top of the teeth # The Skylarks are warming up, a

choir made up exclusively of patients suffering from Parkinson's

disease. # Somewhere over the rainbow

# Way up high # The choir started 18 months ago to

see if singing can improve health. It's certainly had an impact on the

patients' quality of life. It's the only reason I have for getting up

some weeks. It's nice to have Parkinson's is a disorder of the

central nervous system. It leads to difficulty controlling movement and

can have a dramatic impact on the strength of the voice. I think it's

wonderful, the fact we can all get in this room and sing our hearts

out and laugh and joke and really enjoy ourselves.

# Oh, my old man's a dust man # He wears a dust man's hat #

We want to be able to get singing prescribed, so if a GP realises

that maybe their patient could benefit from coming together to

sing with other people, then that's a very, very easy way of starting

to get into a cycle of improvement. # I would like to build a - #

So for a range of conditions, in the future, it could be that

singing in a choir could be a part of the treatment.

# For peace throughout the land # There is nothing like a good old

sing-song. There's not. It was lovely and

sunny this morning. Rachel is here The cloud cover has been thickening

through the last part of this afternoon and the early part of

this evening. It continues to do that tonight. Tomorrow, then, a

dull start to the day, but brightening up nicely. Again, we've

got some blue skies around, light south-easterly breezes, so today

high pressure still in control of things. We have had light easterly

winds, and they've brought a little bit more cloud cover in throughout

the afternoon and added a cooler feel to the day. Temperatures in

single figures. Highs nudging up to 11C. That's 52 in Fahrenheit. As we

move into tonight, that cloud cover continues to thicken. We're going

to see hill fog over higher ground. Despite that cloud cover, still a

cool-feeling night. Overnight temperatures dropping down to 5

Celsius. Tomorrow, again, a dull start to the day. It will be

brightening up as we move into the afternoon. Some unsettled weather

staying well to the west of us. We have light south-easterly breezes.

Temperatures are a little bit warmer than today, getting into

highs of 12 Celsius, double figures for many. More in the way of hazy

sunshine, particularly in the afternoon. Again, we're holding on

to that mixture of cloud and clearer skies tomorrow night.

Temperatures similar to tonight, lows in single figures, around 6

degrees. As we move through the week, it is going to be staying

mostly dry on Thursday. There would be some outbreaks of light rain

through the morning. Temperatures getting up to highs of 13-14