10/04/2014 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Polly Evans. Tonight's top stories:

An MP's shock as our reportdr shows him first`hand the attempts by

migrants in Calais to get to the UK. He calls it "brazen".

Also in tonight's programme: A reprieve for staff at Manston

airport as a consultation on closure's extended. UKIP call for

the government to invest ?200 million in the site. A new book by

the football fan who followdd his passion around the country `nd

witnessed the Hillsborough disaster. Hitting all the right notes, Russell

Watson sings on the south coast and he tells us about being back at the

top of his game. Good evening. It was the first constituency wide

ballot on Britain's membership of the European Union and people in

Rochester and Strood voted overwhelmingly in favour of leaving.

44,000 households were invited to take part in Conservative MP Mark

Reckless' survey and just under 10% did. Despite the low return, Mr

Reckless calls it a victory, critics say it was just a stunt. Fiona

Irving reports. In or out) ballot on our melbership

of the European Union. Was ht an outfit for the people to vohce their

opinion or just a publicity stunt? We're giving people the chance to

have their say. With my loc`l members and supporters raisdd 5 00

?6,000 to do this and get a ballot paper to every household. That is

thing to be proud of and I `m pleased with the result. 80$ were in

favour of leaving the EU. In total, 4000 voters responded to thd ballot

representing less than 10%. It is time for a real referendum. That was

you back in 2008. Nobody believes you. Nigel Farage thinks we can be

isolated and we don't gain by working with other countries,

America, China. These countries won't take as as seriously `s the do

the world biggest economy. Britain's relationship with the EU is part of

an increasingly heated national debate. One that many in thd

south`east are joining in. H wanted to stay in because I don't want us

to a little island in the North Sea. We need them for trade.

Philosophically, I agree with the idea. I would vote to say in the EU.

We are linked so closely to you rip in terms of trade, industry, culture

and to leave it with levers completely isolated. I don't think

we should pull out now. There is too much to do with business. There are

too many businesses involved. I think we should pull out. I sell

French wine in the UK so it is essential, it makes it so mtch

easier. I think we should bd on our own. Stuff Europe. Bring on

England! With the relativelx low turnout, some have been questioning

the point and validity of it. I think this is a can that publicity

stunt by an MP. Very small number of people took part and I would attach

little weight to its reliabhlity. David Cameron has promised them in

out referendum by 2017 if the Tories win the next general election. There

are a few more years and a few more hurdles to jump before people here

have a vote that counts. Fiona Irving is in Rochester now.

Fiona Mr Reckless thinks th`t other MPs will follow his example.

Yes, Mark Reckless says at Conservative MPs have appro`ched him

about conducting a similar survey in their constituencies. This hs the

ballot paper letter sent to people in Rochester and Strood and ask the

question, should the United Kingdom be a member of the European Union?

Regardless of your opinion, the plan on both sides of the argument is

only going to get louder and increase as we get to the ndxt

general election. Redundancx notices with you to be handed out to staff

on the 11th of May at Manston airport. But it is not clear when a

final decision is made. UKIP have called for the government to scrap

the HS2 project. An empty passenger terminal but UKIP

is proposing the building of a second terminal at Manston `nd

upgrading rail links. It cl`ims the airport can support 20,000 jobs in

the wider economy and would be a much better investment for ` new ``

the fan in new high`speed r`il line to the Midlands. It is madndss the

government is spending millhons on Anne Gloag but for a small ``

spending millions on HS2. Btt some say the scheme will never t`ke off.

UKIP's plans are going nowhdre. HS2 is transfixed into the DNA of the

current government and assuling also any subsequent government going

forward. So, the idea of scrapping HS2 in favour of a hit and liss

scheme surrounding Manston `irport, I think is a nonstarter frol the

beginning to end. Yesterday, KLM fair `` flew out of Manston for the

last time. Workers have put forward three plans to save the airport

including setting up an avi`tion recycling business. Unions say the

consultation period over thd closure has been extended. I will s`y, stay

positive. We are still undergoing consultation. The business plans are

still being discussed and considered. They involve sole

serious number crunching and the process is ongoing. Further meetings

are scheduled for next week. Simon Jones is life at Manston

airport. We gather the airport owner, Anne Gloag, is going to come

to the negotiating table. Hdr people were supposed to meet the MP last

week but that was cancelled at the last minute. The MP believes they

were finding his intervention is tiresome but next week for the first

time, they will meet face to face in London. As for the idea put forward

by UKIP at the Department for transport isn't keen. It saxs the

airports of rent on a commercial and competitive basis in the cotntry, it

is not for the government to subsidise the running of an airport.

Today, we did see some people looking around the airport but I did

ask them I view to buying it and they denied it. Not much concrete.

Thank you. In a moment: What lessons for

Ebbsfleet from the UK's first Garden City? We've been to the

Hertfordshire town of Letchworth to find out.

A man accused of murdering ` grandmother, who was left to die in

the basement of a Kent shop, has told a court he is not a violent man

and had no reason to kill hdr. 29`year`old Mohammed Islam from

Gillingham denies he attackdd Harjit Chaggar along with two other workers

at the Chatham store, last September. Chrissie Reidy rdports.

Mohammed Islam worked at a butcher at the time Harjit Chaggar

disappeared. Flur Wyn interpreter, the 29`year`old told the cotrt he

worked at shop. `` with an interpreter. He was asked, do you

have a guilty secret about Harjit Chaggar? No, he said, I swore on the

Koran. Did you have any reason to kill a? Do you know how Harjit

Chaggar's body came to be in the cellar of the shop? He said, no I

did not know her. Woman`mac went missing while out shopping on the

2nd of September last year. The prosecution claim on the dax she

went missing she spent ten linutes at the food store on the Luton

Road. It was 12 days later that two of the shop workers, two of the

defendants, found her badly decomposing body in the cellar. The

prosecution says she was alhve when she was thrown into the basdment.

She died alone and her killdrs showed no mercy. Man`mac and Abdul

Hannan and Murshed Miah, all shop workers are accused of her lurder.

They are charged with preventing unlawful burial. They deny the

charges. The case continues. A court hearing has taken place this

morning for a former Bishop of Lewes charged with historic sex abuse and

misconduct in public office. 82`year`old Peter Ball was too

unwell to appear in court in person. He's the most senior figure in the

Church of England to face stch charges. He denies all the charges

and his next court hearing will be at Lewes Crown Court on May the

23rd. Brighton and Sussex Univershty

Hospitals NHS Trust has apologised to patients after a new booking

system for appointments in parts of Sussex caused long delays for

patients. The Trust said thd backlog is being cleared and the new system

is vital, but hope that over the next month any problems will be

ironed out. There are plans to make Ebbsfleet the site of the ndw first

Garden City in the country for nearly 100 years. More than 15, 00

homes are proposed for the site The first garden city was in Letchworth

and was established more th`n a hundred years ago in 1903. The city

reinvest the money earned from Brent help provide local services to

residents free of charge. Over the last 20 years, whereas ?70 lillion

has input back into the comlunity in Letchworth. Our correspondent has

been to the Hertfordshire towner. This exhibition in Letchworth tells

the story of how small vill`ges became the world 's first G`rden

City. Apart from a set of environmental principles, the

architects considered the fhnancial future of the towns and rents from

shops and local industry were to be used for the community, somdthing

that continues today. The trust was set up to treating a large portfolio

of property that is built in net worth and we have a rental hncome

from that. We reinvest back for the generation of communities. That

portfolio includes two and 0000 square feet office space, 180

industrial units and more than 00 shops. They put ?70 million at into

the queue minute in the last two decades. The mini has been spent on

things like treatment centrds and community buses at that helped

thousands of people a year, all paid for by the foundation. We are aware

of it on a daily basis how fortunate that people are that they c`n use

this facility. We are uniqud in that we don't have any chess funding and

we are funded from the Heritage foundation. We are going to buy that

build a garden city in Ebbsfleet. When the Chancellor announcdd plans

for a new garden city in Ebbsfleet he believed the new city here in the

eastern quarry could offer similar financial benefits to a new Kent

community Vostok but only if the landowner takes a long view of the

project. If you look long`tdrm, that could be achievable. Letchworth

Garden City has survived more than a century including huge

house`building in the 1970s but it remains to be seen if the Ebbsfleet

Garden City ADA can get off the drawing board and become thd first

garden city in this country for more than 100 years. Our top story.

People in Rochester and Strood devoted to leave the Europe`n Union

in a referendum held by the local MP, Mark Reckless. Empty 5% of those

who responded to the ballot papers didn't want out of the EU. `` 7 %.

The tweedy turnout less than 70 `` but with the turnout less than 0%,

people have called it a gimlick Russell Watson sings on the south

coast and tells us about be`ting illness to become one of thd world

's top classical singers once again. We have unsettled weather as we head

into the weekend. Join me l`ter for the details. The Dover MP Charlie

Elphicke has expressed his shock at seeing what he's called "br`zen

attempts by migrants trying to get to Britain illegally from the Port

of Calais. Mr Elphicke, on ` visit to France organised by BBC South

East following our investig`tion last month into illegal immhgration,

watched as migrants tried to jump in broad daylight onto trucks bound for

Dover. He then witnessed thd French Police detaining then, almost

immediately, releasing the ligrants they'd arrested.

Well, the MP, Charlie Elphicke, who you saw in Colin's report, hs back

in his Dover constituency now and joins us from there. Physic`l

reaction to what you have sden? I was quite shocked. People wdre able

to jump into lorries, the police then arrived and immediatelx release

them. It says to me the levdl of security and policing in Calais is

completely ineffective. What message would you be taking to the Home

Secretary, to the Prime Minhster? It is welcome we have had some great

cross`border co`operation bdtween the British and French governments

but it is clear more needs to be done. British security is working

well, the British dogs are working even better if that is posshble and

clearly, there is good borddr security for us. We need to help

Calais in ensuring these I got rid of. The French police need to be

more effective. But once thd French police have arrested migrants, they

are then bound to return thdm to the country which they left frol. They

say they don't have the resources to do that. There is a stalemate there.

That really is something th`t has to be acted on. I you going to be

talking to these Home Secretary and moving on that issue? I am going to

be making the case that the minister talked to the government in Paris

and say there needs to be greater police action in France but also the

European union has a role. Hf they are coming through Greece, Htaly and

through Spain so we need a Duropean continent to take action to deal

with this problem. The French authorities say the British

government needs to be stumping up the cash to help them do thhs. We

have taken a lot of action. A head today visiting the camps, British

security catches them every single time. It is not the officers

themselves, the dogs sniff them out and they are handed over to the

French police and released them The British security is working but we

have been dealing with the lagnet issues of welfare tourism. Xou have

been meeting the mayoral officials in Calais and you said you would

like them to put up a barridr, the road that leads down to the docks,

have you had any progress whth that issue? I raised that the deputy

mayor of Calais today that ht would be important for them to do that.

There are practical considerations that he pointed out. I think the

more badly as one can have to make it harder for people to get in

lorries in the first place the better. Many thanks. Next ydar marks

25 years since the Hillsborough disaster. Nottingham Forest fans

could only watch as the horror in for now, an author who lives in

Canterbury has ridden a novdl which follows the story of one of those

away fans and draws on his experience of Hillsborough.

These days, which the board found is the closest club but as a tdenager

he `` it was Nottingham Fordst. That is how he came to be in this match.

The pictures of what unfolddd cant be shown for legal reasons because a

new inquest is underway, 25 years after it happened. For two hours we

were forced to stand and watch this event take place. There was nothing

you can do about it. There was nowhere to turn, nowhere to go. The

lead character in his new book is, he admits, based on himself and stop

looking back over the years at the effect on his and so many lhves of

Hillsborough. John Finch is one person before Hillsborough `nd

another afterwards. The samd as I was a different person before and

after. I went to the game as a 17`year`old with no real worldly

cares and came home with th`t on my shoulders. His experience, he knows,

doesn't compare to those at the other end of the stadium. A new

inquest, he hopes, will bring some answers for the families of those

who died. There are lots of people who live in that horror and don t

have the answers they need, the families particularly. I can't

imagine how that must feel for them. The book also explores his changing

feelings about the game. Wanted to write about Hillsborough and

football, watching football in the 80s, through all the good and bad

things. It was a gritty, earthy pretty horrible experience when a

look at it. It was also what made so thrilling for a lad in his teens. I

still love football, I am not in love with the premiership. H don't

make the money, I don't likd the fact it is no longer a game for

working people. But Hillsborough has united fans and from which the ball

down to the premiership, on Saturday all will mark the quarterly century

since the tragedy. He is the best selling classical

artist in the UK and he's sold more than seven million albums worldwide.

But Russell Watson's glittering career took a backward step when he

was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006. After a return to mushc he was

diagnosed with a second tumour the following year. Now, against the

odds, he's back at the top of his business as one of the world's most

prominent tenors. Tonight, he performs at Brighton Dome and Jane

Witherspoon is there with hhm now. He has performed for the Pope, the

Queen and Barack Obama but tonight, it is a treat in store for Brighton

residents. Russell Watson, how are you feeling about performing here

tonight? This is my 10th visitor nights, I still get lost in there,

it is like a rabbit warren! We're going to chat with you in a moment

but let's remind ourselves of your fabulous career.

I sneak into your rehearsal little bit early and it sounded fantastic.

What is it about performing live? I love it, I love the tooling. I enjoy

making the record but I likd the connection with my audience. This is

one of the great venues where they live a good night out. It is always

guaranteed to be a winner. We have got the Brighton Gay men's chorus

joining us the night. It'll be a fantastic night. And you have

brought the sun with you as well. I haven't brought the sun with me We

were discussing this on the way down. When I leave Manchestdr, there

are clouds everywhere and there is a threshold you pass when you drive

into the south with the sun pops out. It is always Sunny in Brighton.

You have been through the mhll health`wise but you are in the top

of your game. How did that change you? It changes you profoundly but I

am fit and healthy now and thank God. One of the things I have done

is get myself into charities related with one has been wrong with me You

are doing some charity concdrts which is in aid of the centdnary of

World War I. We're doing concert in the summer the Palladium. Wd're

doing one in Edinburgh. It'll be my first concert in Edinburgh Sir we

are excited. And it is a single There is a single with Simon Weston

who is reading poetry. We are raising funds for our wounddd heroes

and tailor making homes for soldiers who have been seriously injtred and

have been decommissioned from the Army. What can people expect here

tonight? A lots of fun! Are you going to tell at the stage? I just

don't like the saying, I like to chat with the audience and stop I

have been doing this now for 15 years. Before that, ten years in the

clubs and so on. They are lhke my friends. We have to wrap thhs up.

Thank you for joining us. A lovely evening there in Brighton.

This was the scene in Eastbourne this morning. Plenty of clotd cover

around the block at that sunshine streaming through. That was a view

this morning. Over the next couple of days, all of us are going to see

this dry weather. Sunlight patchy rain. But it is great to be settled

at the weekend. Gardner bew`re because we will see some chhlly

nights. The high pressure btilds up over the weekend. Earlier today

there was some cloud around but by the afternoon all of us are seeing

plenty of sunshine and tempdratures in the low teens, around 13`14

degrees. We saw the sunshind and attendances rising. We will see a

little bit more cloud this dvening. The reason for that is we h`ve a

week whether French sinking its way southward. You might see patchy rain

and drizzle. That cloud covdr means temperatures are not going to be

chilly. We will drop to 8`9 degrees. As we had `` start Friday,

there will be some cloud cover that bind it is bright enough by the

afternoon. All of us should be seeing a lots of sunshine. Lostly we

will stay dry and the wind staying light. Perhaps just a littld bit of

a fresher feel tomorrow. Temperatures still around 13`14 As

we go through tomorrow night, it is going to be slightly chillidr. We

might see some light patchy rain but we're going to be staying dry with

temperatures in towns or cities 5`6 degrees. As we had into Sattrday, we

pick up the breeze but it is going to be settled with lots of sunshine.

By the afternoon temperaturds around 15 or 16 degrees. We will sde highs

of 16 or 17 degrees on Sund`y. Over the next couple of days, lots of

sunshine around and temperatures in the need teens.

A quick kept the cap. My two Evans has been cleared of a string of

sexual offences. `` my Jill Evans. He broke down in tears when the not

guilty verdict was read out. `` Nigel Evans. On the closure of

Manston airport has been extended after a meeting between bosses and

union representatives. UKIP course of the government to scrap

high`speed two and invest to lend ?1 million in saving the airport. That

is it from the evening news team. We'll have a full report on our

MP's technicality today. `` trip to Calais today.