31/10/2013 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Bryony MacKenzie.

And I'm John Young. Tonight's top stories.

New questions tonight over maternity services in Kent and Sussex, as a

birthing unit that's meant to represent the future closes its

doors. I had to leave within three hours of having a baby, in the

middle of the night. He risked his life infiltrating the

IRA. It was pretty startling. We reveal the letter suggesting he's

been abandoned by the NHS. Also in tonight's programme: Serving

you from 150 miles away. Calls for two local councillors who

now live in Lincolnshire to stand down.

A royally exciting visitor, the Queen tours parts of Sussex for the

first time in six years. We're live in Lewes where the Queen

has been today. Madness spreads as their musical

comes to a street in Brighton. Good evening.

There are fresh questions tonight over maternity service reforms

across Sussex and Kent after it's emerged that a birthing centre that

NHS bosses championed as the way forward has now been forced to close

its doors temporarily. The Crowborough Birthing Unit is used by

expectant mothers from both Sussex and West Kent who want to avoid

going into hospital. But it may now be closed on and off for some time

because the midwives are needed to work in Hastings instead. Claudia

Sermbezis has been gauging reaction. He does not have a name yet, but

this little boy is six days old and was born at Crowborough in the

centre, even though when his mother turned up she was told it was shut.

But her labour was too advanced so the midwives helped her to give

birth and then told her to leave. After giving birth I had to leave

within three hours of having a baby in the middle of the night so it was

pretty startling. It was very upsetting. I was expecting to have

my baby, recover in a decent time frame and hopefully get are rest

before returning home, not in the middle of the night, sort of

bewildered really and still in shock of what had happened. Today the

centre was unexpectedly closed again at 8am. It will reopen on Monday

morning for all services but only for seven days. They're after

absolutely nobody seems to know. I had a frantic call last night from

someone who is affected and I understand the staff were told at

the end of the working day yesterday. They have been offering a

superb service and cannot understand why their world has been turned

upside down. East Sussex health care NHS Trust says the midwives were

needed at the conquest Hospital. The trust say they are short of staff in

Hastings partly due to sickness and annual leave. Here in Crowborough,

at the birthing centre, on average for women a week have their baby and

anyone due to have their baby this weekend has been told to contact

their midwife. I appreciate for individual areas and people in

particular localities find this distressing because it is their area

but we as midwives have to look at the whole service across the whole

area and making sure we provide services as safely as we possibly

can for each area. Molly was born at the centre and her mum is hoping to

go back and have her second in January and is worried it will be

closed. Instead of a ten minute journey down the road I will be

having a 30 minute journey to either Eastbourne or Haywards Heath, and if

any complications arise at Eastbourne I would be in Hastings

which is an hour from my family, which is a long way. Next year there

will be a public consultation around all the maternity services in East

Sussex. A former secret agent who

infiltrated the IRA has been told the NHS can no longer treat his

deteriorating mental health issues. Raymond Gilmour, who's lived in the

South East under a false identity for 30 years, passed on information

about IRA military activities in the 1980's, and claims he saved many

British lives. NHS Doctors accept he suffers from a

wide range of mental health problems, but want MI5 to take

responsibility for his care. He says he feels as if he been cast adrift,

left in limbo to suffer in silence. Our Special Correspondent Colin

Campbell has this exclusive report. A former secret agent who

infiltrated the IRA, Raymond Gilmour says he is desperate for health. ``

help. I have been brought to my knees. I have nothing left to lose.

For many years he fed secret information about paramilitary

operations to security services. A supergrass witness, he earned itself

a IRA death sentence and is living the rest of his life under a false

identity. He now suffers from a wide range of serious mental health

problems. I have not had psychiatric help for over a year and a half and

the longer I go without help, the worse it gets. For five years he has

been under the care of the NHS in the south`east but at the beginning

of the month his consultant sent this letter. He says that any

involvement with Mr Gilmore would be subject to risk of security

exposure. He said a decision has been made to discharge him back into

the care of MI5 to guarantee his safety and ensure any issues

relating to his confidentiality are strictly year two. I have been cast

adrift. There are not many like me in my situation. It is an

impossibility to deal with someone like me in the NHS. He has heard

nothing from MI5. Given the background of this case, there is a

compelling case that he should continue to receive assistance and

help for his psychiatric and care needs and I hope that MI5 are

listening and they recognise their responsibility. This is an appalling

message for people who are prepared to help in the intelligence

gathering network. One mental health charity says it reveals a wider

problem in the NHS. Many are facing stringent cutbacks and have two

ration their treatment. They cannot provide long`term psychotherapy and

they cannot safely treat people who may pose a risk. Raymond Gilmour

former partner says he needs some help now. He needs someone or a body

of people who can understand the past. He needs to talk about the

past, which he doesn't and he needs help. Denied mental health care and

reliant on medication, Raymond Gilmour says he has been left to

suffer in silence. The key question is what has the

response been from the authorities? In the last hour the Home Office

have told me it has been the policy of successive governments not to

comment on intelligence matters. There are a small number of people

in the NHS who know about this case but no one has come back to me. His

MP, who we cannot name because it would reveal where he lives within

the south`east has told me that the issues surrounding his care are

being battered back and forth between the NHS and MI5. Thank you

very much. In a moment: The wartime leader from

Kent remembered on Capitol Hill by the great and the good of

Washington. Two married councillors from Kent

are being urged to resign after moving to a village more than 150

miles from the ward they represent. Alan and Jean Willicombe, the former

mayor and mayoress of Swale, say they plan to continue representing

their constituents even though they now live in Lincolnshire.

Opposition councillors say the couple's position is untenable

because they continue to claim individual annual allowances of more

than ?4,500 and will be out of touch with the people they are paid to

serve. Jon Hunt has more. This is the warlord in

Sittingbourne, Kent, now being represented by two counsellors based

in Lincolnshire. The decision by Allen and Jean Willicombe to move to

Spalding last week has not gone down terribly well here. They should not

remain councillors. If they are up there they do not know what is going

on here. It is disgusting, if councillors represent the area, they

should live in the area. If they move away, how can they understand

what is going on. The couple moved from Sittingbourne to Lincolnshire

150 miles away because their household quicker than they expected

and their money goes further there than it does in Kent. The couple did

not want to give a television interview but they send me an e`mail

saying that they will be attending what meetings they can in the near

future but they will not be travelling `` claiming travel

expenses. They think they can continue to represent their ward

effectively by telephone and letter. People with issues want you to visit

them straightaway. You cannot do that from Lincolnshire. You will be

out of touch with local people. Can they be effective councillors when

they live hundreds of miles away? I believe they can. 75% of what we do

as local councillors is done either by e`mail or over the phone. Quite

bluntly, people would not know whether I was talking to them from

my office here in the warlord or my office at Swale Council or my office

at County Hall. You must concede it is not ideal. It is not a perfect

situation. They have served 24 years on the council between them and they

do not plan to resign. Four men from the south`east to control the drugs

supply network across the region have been jailed for a total of 24

years. In one of the biggest seizures of the kind in Kent Police

caught the gang red`handed as they unloaded cannabis resin worth around

?5 million. More than ?5,000 has been donated to

the chosen charity of a marathon runner who died after collapsing in

Ireland. Ricky Savage was 27 and was taken to hospital after suffering a

suspected heart attack on Monday. He was raising money for the British

Heart Foundation. Kent Fire and Rescue Service is

warning people against having bonfires or fireworks tomorrow ahead

of planned strike action. Members of the Fire Brigades Union will take

industrial action tomorrow evening between 6.30 and 11.30 and also on

Monday from 6.00am to 8.00am. Kent Fire and Rescue say they will be

answering 999 calls, but not running a normal service.

Crowds braved today's wet weather to welcome Her Majesty The Queen and

The Duke of Edinburgh on a royal visit to East Sussex. The Queen came

to Falmer, Newhaven and Lewes, where she had lunch at one of the

country's most famous breweries. Well, our reporter Chrissie Reidy

has been following the royal tour. Just a few hours ago you would not

have been able to move on this bridge in the heart of Lewis.

Hundreds and hundreds of well`wishers turned out in the hope

of capturing a glimpse of the Queen. She was at that brewery and having

lunch and having a tour, just one of the places she looked at on her

whistle stop tour of East Sussex. Fashionably dressed in pink, it was

all smiles from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as they arrived in

New Haven. The weather may not have been up to scratch but the

well`wishers did not mind. It is the first time in my life that I can

tell my students `` tell my children that when I was pregnant I went to

see the Queen. What about your curtsy? I have been practising but

it is quite hard with trousers on. We are on our lunch break and we are

down here to see the Queen. First up for inspection was a family run

business. We are honoured in a small town like this. It is absolutely

fantastic. Her Majesty also found time to speak to the lifeboat crew

who searched for missing teenager Dylan Alkins on Sunday night. She

was interested what we did on the actual day so I explained to her

that I was coordinating the whole rescue with the lifeboats, the

helicopter and the search teams I had on the ground. Then it was off

to a news hostel `` youth hostel. Then a tour of the oldest

independent brewery in Sussex. Her Majesty actually pressed abrupt and

in the brewhouse to initiate the map showing of a brew of Elizabethan ale

which was a brew we originally did for her coronation and we have

brewed ever since so it was very fitting that she was able to do that

and we are very grateful that she did. After lunch the party headed

off to Falmer where an archive centre got the royal approval. As

Sussex rolled out the red carpet, there was a buzz in the air. Many

say they will remember this day for a long time. Today was one of those

occasions where it does not matter who you are or where you are from,

everyone came together to celebrate this royal occasion. Apart from the

inclement weather this morning I don't think anyone was disappointed.

Thank you very much. This is our top story tonight: There

are fresh questions tonight over maternity service reforms across

Sussex and Kent after a birthing centre that NHS bosses championed as

the way forward was forced to close its doors temporarily.

The Crowborough Birthing Unit has shut because staff are needed in

Hastings. Also in tonight's programme: Our

House comes to your street. That is if you are in Brighton.

Madness the musical goes on to. If you are trick or treating tonight

there are blustery showers around and you could stay dry fingers

crossed. He was the wartime leader whose face

will soon adorn the five pound note, but today a bust of Sir Winston

Churchill was unveiled at the US Capitol in Washington before a crowd

that included the leaders of Congress and his grandson, the

Sussex MP Nicholas Soames. The unveiling comes 50 years after

Churchill, whose family home was in Kent, was granted honorary US

citizenship. But there were family links to America well before then.

His mother, Jennie Jerome, was born and raised in New York. And this

isn't the first time the Prime Minister has been recognised in

He has a United States Navy destroyer named after him, the USS

Winston S Churchill. Our Political Editor Louise Stewart has tonight's

Special Report. Winston Churchill was the best

friend the United States ever had. The Speaker of the US house of

representatives pays tribute to Britain's wartime Prime Minister.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of history's true love stories, between

a great statesman and a nation that he called the great Republic. These

special relationship between the United States and the UK began with

Winston Churchill and it has enjoyed to the present day. Churchill's

grandson and MP for mid Sussex swapped Westminster for Washington

to attend the ceremony. It is not just that Americans love Churchill

but Churchill loved America and they know that. He came here for the

first time when he was 20 and he had a 60 or 70 year love affair with

America. I have not come here asking for money. There is no secret that

the Americans admire Winston Churchill and John Kerry took the

opportunity to pay tribute to him. This man was an original, in every

respect. When he was invited to the White House to stay for a week, he

stayed for months. Churchill's other great love was his home in Kent

where he lived for four decades. His links with the US stretch back even

further. His mother was an American US `` and American heiress and he

maintains strong bonds with the US throughout his life. My grandfather

would be very proud that his head could be in such a great pantheon.

The special relationship has come under strain. When Barack Balmer

became president he removed a Winston Churchill bust from the

White House but that relationship has been strengthened again. Winston

Churchill returns to the United States Capitol. Just as the statue

of Lincoln stands outside of Parliament, this bust removes the

ties between our peoples. Music was provided by Roger Daltrey who is

based in Sussex and he was thrilled to be at the ceremony. It really is

an honour to be here. I try to choose songs that reflected the

man's views and reflected where we are in society now. The last word

must go to Churchill himself. Here we are, together, defending all that

to free men is dear. They were one of the most prominent

bands of the 70s and 80s. And they have sung on the roof of Buckingham

Palace for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations. Now a musical about

the ska band Madness, called Our House, is due to open in Brighton

next week. Well, our reporter Caroline Fereday has been along to

meet one of the lead members of the group and she joins us live now from

Brighton. I bet that is a lively assignment.

Yes, it is a fun show where you can sing along in your head. When it

first opened it won an award for the best new musical and they hope to

follow up on that respect `` success. Earlier on I met up with

the man who penned some of the most famous songs of Madness. They set

the sound of a generation and their music has lived on to be the

soundtrack of celebrations for all ages. Now the man behind some of

their biggest songs says he is looking forward to his music

reaching another new audience. Every time I see it I get a bit tearful.

Some of is quite emotional. It sounds really corny but it is our

songs that are being used for something else than what they were

written for. We did not write them thinking we would have a musical one

day. But come your songs do have a story to them, though. There is

always a narrative to the song. Yes, they are usually little stories

about people or events or things. This one is a story of good versus

bad and it is set in Camden Town. He admits he has had his own fair share

of ups and downs with the band. You are out of Madness for a bit and

then you were back in again, what happened there? It was health

reasons. I was sick of them. There was a certain period of my life when

I moved to Brighton. I had left the band and I moved to Brighton. Back

in the band he joined them last year when they played at the Olympics

closing ceremony and the Jubilee celebrations. You were always a bit

antiestablishment and then you were on the top of Buckingham Palace. I

don't think we were antiestablishment. If they ask you,

they are the firm, aren't they? If you don't do it, you get in trouble!

So he is staying out of trouble and in Madness and hoping the show will

bring the house down. The show opens next week on Monday and it is in

Brighton all week. If you are anything like we have been all day,

once you have heard the songs, they get in your ear and go over and over

and over. We can sing them all night now. I think we will. Thank you very

much indeed. 100 years of history was brought

bang up to date today with the unveiling of state`of`the`art new

information panels on the Chatham Naval Memorial. The memorial bears

the names of thousands of sailors from the Medway Towns who lost their

lives in the two world wars. Now, if you want to find out more about the

people who died, you simply need a smartphone as Ian Palmer explains.

A battleship grey day for a battleship grey memorial. Each panel

here at Chatham's Naval Memorial carries information about the

cemetery. Scan your mobile phone and you can find out more. It allows

people to access more information than we have room to display here.

It is very easy to use your mobile phone to pick this up. You can

download the information about the people who are commemorated here,

the relatives, take it away and read it at your leisure, out of the rain

at home. This man was a carpenter 's mate. Despite being outgunned the

ship held off a German cruiser for three hours, allowing the convoy it

was protecting to escape. His sacrifice is one of four stories

recorded. I was told about my uncle Tom and I was named after him. I was

told that he wasn't Ostler at Woolwich Arsenal before the war,

working with horses. He joined at the outbreak of the war and joined

the ship. We have information including audio clips are describing

their experiences and photos and letters as well. What we hope is

that will really help people to engage on a human and personal level

with the people that we commemorate here at Chatham. The panels at

Chatham are one of 500 being set up around the world in time for the

centenary of the First World War. Success will be judged on whether

they inspire a new generation. What a great project, but such a wet

day in Chatham. It was grey and overcast. A lot of

umbrellas around. Earlier today we had several bands of rain moving

eastwards. A good deal of other around. It has always felt chilly as

well. Temperatures are down from where they have been recently but it

is average for the time of year. Just look at the winds, in Dover it

is still about 25 miles an hour so those brisk winds are taking the

edge of the temperatures. If you are trick or treating tonight there is a

chance there could be a blustery and hefty shower but fingers crossed we

should stay mostly dry in the first part of this evening. Further

outbreaks of rain as we had through the night. It is a grey and overcast

picture. Temperatures only dropped to about 12 degrees so barely

dropping from daytime values in many places. Relatively mild as we start

the day tomorrow but there is still a warning out about the risk of

heavy rain. During the morning outbreaks of light rain and it will

mostly be cloudy and dry. As we get through the afternoon the rain will

turn heavy and persistent. Temperatures hold art, 12 or 13

degrees, it will feel good side cooler. The wind will pick up a

little as well. As we go over into Saturday the rain intensifies for a

time. It clears to the east and you start the day on Saturday mostly

dry. The temperatures only dropped to around 10 degrees. A bit lower in

rural spots. We will see brightness as we start the weekend. The wind

will be particular is strong on Saturday. Rain at the weekend,

particularly on Sunday but it will always feel chilly. Sunshine as

well. We expect it first thing on Saturday. And other band of rain and

hopefully it will be drier as well. If you are planning a bonfire and

some fireworks it is worth remembering it will be a windy

picture and winds could pick up. There will be some rain and it will

feel pretty chilly as well. As we go into Sunday there will be further

outbreaks of rain and there is a warning of the risk of heavy

rainfall. As we head into the new week the rain stays with us. It is

drive for a time on Monday and wet and windy on Tuesday. A mixed bag

but pretty wet. Before we go, news of a very special

event we are hosting here next month.

On Friday 22nd of November we are celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who

with a special programme here in Herne Bay. It is the hometown of the

first ever story's writer. Have you ever thought what it is like to be

Wanderers in the fourth Durham `` dimensional? We will show a

programme at the Kings Hall along with some special Doctor Who related

guests. I hope that you can make time for it.

The TARDIS has not been seen since? So on Friday the 22nd November we'll

be live from Herne Bay at 6.30pm. Tickets for the event itself are now

sold out. If you're one of the lucky ones who's secured a ticket, you'll

be hearing from us in the next few days.

I will be back tomorrow. Goodbye.

Planet Earth - it's unique. It has life.

To understand why, we're going to build a planet...up there.

These were the objects that were making the Earth.

We're now weightless. That's how our planet started.