27/02/2017 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith.

Tonight's top stories: Selling off charity donations to raise

Calls for an investigation after to Kent candidates

The woman who lost a leg in a motorbike accident is told

she isn't disabled enough to keep her subsidised car.

The most frustrating thing is how hard I have pushed myself throughout

this last five years. How hard I have worked. To walk, to go back to

work, to live my life and now I feel like I've been penalised for that.

Plans to spend 50,000 pounds for lifeguards on the Sussex beach

where seven men drowned this summer could be approved this evening.

We meet the yeoman of the guard - the tower of london's top

beefeater's coming home to Sussex after almost 20 years keeping

How Kent and Kolkata are celebrating their links

in a year-long celebration being launched by the Queen.

There are calls tonight for an investigation

into the conduct of two prospective Labour candidates for

Kent County Council, after they raised party funds

by selling off cosmetics and toiletries which had been

donated to charity and were supposed to go

Karen Constantine and Raushan Ara have apologised

and promised to donate the money they raised to local

charities in Thanet, where they're standing for election.

Our Political Editor Helen Catt reports.

We were fortunate enough to be given thousands and thousands of pounds

worth of Lush. And within that, we give out to charities and good

causes and today is a good cause. One happens to be the Labour Party.

You are looking at our warehouse and we hopefully can raise some money.

Why Maccabees boxes of toiletries were supposed to go to the needy.

Instead, they ended up on sale in Ramsgate Pope to raise money for the

local Labour Party. That has angered some. That -- by anybody's

standards, taking charitable donations destined for homeless

people and destitute people to use and sell and fund your election

campaign is morally reprehensible. The products were given by Lush to

one charity on the condition they were not resold. That charity passed

it to another, food for all, and it was they who gave it to Labour. But

there are rules restricting donations from charities to

political parties. Charities must only carry out activities to create

his own charitable purposes and had additional funds or objects to a

political party would be contrary to the purposes of any charity. Food

for oil's Jenny Matias has sent a letter of apology to the kindness

offensive charity. She said she was informed they were not to be sold

for profit and they apologised and they had not totally ad here to the

terms of the donation. They are devastated, she said, that there are

unwise actions to a certain group have since become problematic. As

for Labour, they told us they have not breached electoral law and there

are no allegations they have broken any rules. Its candidates, Karen

Constantine and Raushan Ara have apologised and said the ?415 raised

will be split between two local charities. They Ramsgate today, some

of that was enough. If they've acknowledged it and apologised, but

is fair enough. If the money is going to charity, then yes. It

shouldn't have happened in the first place. And how often does it happen?

The Charity Commissioners said they are contacted the trustees of Food

For All but an informal choir has not been opened. -- a formal

inquiry. Helen Catt reporting, and she joins

us live from Ramsgate. It is unclear whether anything will

happen. We've spoken to several local politicians and some have said

Labour should carry out an internal investigation. It seems they are

fully satisfied they do not need to from what they said this afternoon.

Other people felt they accepted this was a genuine mistake and it had

been rectified. Despite that, a complaint has been made to Kent

Police who would be responsible for investigating further and they say

it is too early to say whether or not they will. Thank you.

A disabled woman from Kent says she's been left unable to work

and is entirely dependent on benefits because of the

Leah Debus from Tonbridge lost her leg in a motorbike

She was given a motability car, which she says has

But the new Personal Independent Payment assessment concluded she no

The governments insists it is providing a strong safety net

She's had to give back the specially adapted car after her personal

independence payment, or PIP assessment,

Because Leah Debus can walk 20 metres with a

prostatic leg, unaided, she was judged not disabled enough.

She had just been offered a new job, but

said the location is to far away without a car.

I've been the most frustrating thing is...

I think the most frustrating thing is

actually how hard I've pushed myself throughout this last five years.

How hard I have worked to walk, to go

And I feel like I am being

They've taken it away from me and now they have made it nearly

I also have the steering knob up here,

because I physically can't turn around a sharp corner.

Becky Lewis fears she too will lose her car.

Now that I can walk more than 20 metres, that means I have to hand

Denying them the opportunity to reach places using

a mobility car, an adapted vehicle, has got to be counter-productive.

These people will become more reliant upon statutory services,

But they also lose a lot of choices and

So the consequence of that would be to make people prisoners

Effectively putting them under house arrest.

The Government is reviewing disability payments to try to save

The Department for Work and Pensions said decisions are for

PIP made after considering all the evidence from the claimant

People leaving them the disabilities scheme are eligible for a one-off

When you've got millions of people applying for

it and living with all kinds of different physical and mental and

psychological conditions, you do need to draw some rules and

Leah Debus is now planning to appeal.

Simon, some Conservative MPs have criticised their own Government

today, saying the whole system of payments for disabled people

Yes, and it has caused a huge row and that is after a tribunal ruled

that someone who can make a journey because they are suffering from

severe anxiety should be treated the same as somebody who cannot make a

journey because they are visually impaired. It is not the changes --

these changes could affect 160,000 people and the Government reckon

that could add ?4 billion to the welfare bill at a time they are

trying to bring it down. So it will be a big problem for the Work and

Pensions Secretary who is the Ashford MP, Damian Green. He was

unavailable to talk to us today. Thank you.

And there's more from Leah Debus and other amputees campaigning

against the loss of their motability cars in tonight's

edition of Inside Out, here on BBC One at 7.30pm.

The investigations into a house fire which left one man dead and two the

people needing hospital treatment. -- two the people.

Plans for lifeguards to be stationed at a popular beach in East Sussex

where seven people drowned last summer could be approved

Rother District Council has set aside more than ?50,000

to fund the service at Camber Sands, near Rye.

Our reporter Charlie Rose joins us from Bexhill Town Hall,

where that meeting has just got started.

Charlie, families of the men who drowned say they believe

a lifeguard service would have saved their lives.

Ever since those tragic events of last summer, the families of those

who died have always demanded action and the people I spoke to in camber

Sands this afternoon also the lifeguards would be a good idea.

This meeting at the Bexhill Townhall has already got under way and a few

moments ago, I spoke to some councillors who showed up for the

meeting and I asked if the plans were going to be approved and they

said they thought so. This is one of the two men who lost their lives

last July. He died after attempting to rescue this man, a Brazilian,

after he got into difficulty as camber Sands. In August, tragedy

struck again and five more men drowned. Six months a windy winter's

day and few are venturing onto this speech. Tonight, plans could be

approved to fund a lifeguard service here in the summer. I think that

will be an excellent idea. I come from Cornwall where we have lots of

accidents in DC. I grew up there. And therefore, I know how quickly

everything changes. There hasn't been an accident like this for a

while, but it could happen at any time and the best way to prevent it

is to please lifeguards here. If approved, there would be 15

lifeguards with eight on duty at any given time. Ever since those five

young men died last August, their relatives have demanded action. It

is unbelievable. I'm shocked and angry, you get 25,000 people a day

or something, and these five kids have died. Young, healthy people.

They were good swimmers, too. So for them to just get under the water

like this and died... Some people say it was a riptide. But if there

had lifeguards there, but could be saved. The District Council set

aside more than ?50,000 to fund a potential lifeguard service and has

begun. Now, the RNLI lifeboat service has already got the help of

two lifeguard supervisor is to put together a recruitment and training

programme down at camber Sands and the services they are looking to

offer a quality team and put together a quality team of

lifeguards down that they're ready for the summer.

The train drivers union Aslef will resume talks with Southern Rail

They're trying to resolve an ongoing dispute

over the introduction of driver-only operated trains.

A deal struck between union bosses and the rail company was rejected

The RMT union, which represents guards,

The i360 viewing tower in Brighton has remained closed again today

while work is carried out to replace a damaged part that

caused the attraction to break down on Friday.

The observation pod became stuck for over an hour

The operators say they hope it will be running again on Wednesday.

A man who attempted to smuggle four people from Afghanistan

into Kent has been jailed for two and a half years.

Dwayne Lovelock was questioned by Border Force staff

at the Channel Tunnel in France, after his car was

When they opened the boot of his car they found two adults

A man has been arrested on suspicion of arson,

A 48-year-old man died at the scene in Maidstone

yesterday evening, while another man and a woman,

Peter Whittlesea is at the scene of the fire and

investigators have been at the scene all day today.

Peter Gummi investigators have been there all day? That is right.

Forensic teams and investigation units and the police have been here

all day. I'm going to show you footage which contains flashing

lights, so be careful. This shows the moment the emergency services

arrived and you can see smoke billowing from the back of the

property. This was the point where the road was closed off and it is

also where it emerged a man was still trapped inside. What have

neighbours had to say? One of them spoke to me and said she knew

something was wrong and could hear a fire alarm and also smoke was

billowing into her house. She knocked on the door and saw a man

who had burnt hair and burns on his arms as well. He said somebody was

trapped inside and the emergency services arrived and found him, but

he was then declared dead at the scene. Another remains in hospital

and tonight, 838-year-old man in police custody on suspicion of

arson. Thank you. It's coming up to quarter to seven,

this is our top story tonight: There are calls tonight

for an investigation into the conduct of two prospective

Labour candidates for Kent County Council,

after they raised party funds by selling off cosmetics

and toiletries that had been donated to charity

and were supposed to go If you have a story you think

we should be covering on South East Today,

we'd like to hear from you. And after a blustery and wet today,

we have more fun showers into tonight. I will have the details

later. If you have a story you think

we should be covering on South East Today,

we'd like to hear from you. You can call us on 0345 300 37 47,

or send us an e-mail to We are also on Facebook

or you can tweet us Alan Kingshott was born in Newhaven

and he's about to move back to the Sussex coast

to enjoy his retirement. But in recent years, he's been

living in the Tower of London as Chief Yeoman Warder,

effectively the Tower's So what does it take

to be a Yeoman Warder? Well, simply to be considered,

candidates must have spent at least 22 years in the Armed Forces

with a good conduct record, and have to have reached

the rank of Warrant Officer. As well as keeping

the Crown Jewels safe, duties include giving visitors

a guided tour, though training takes six months before they're

allowed to lead one. Our reporter Piers Hopkirk is live

at the Tower of London, and Piers, for Alan Kingshott,

retirement will bring an end to 45 That's right. The end of a pretty

illustrious career. Beefeaters such as Alan have lived and worked within

the 18 acres of the Tao of London since 1485. But at the end of the

week, he will be putting on that iconic uniform for the last time. --

the Tao of London. -- When it's your final

time here at the Tower and it's after 19 years,

it is very emotional and very

surprising to me how my family pack the boxes for

the very last time. Although I've still got

a few more days left to go before I've completely

finished, it will be sad, My grandchildren were baptised

and my children were married here, so it has many

fond memories for us. As the Tower of London's

head Beefeater, these Tudor lodgings above the Tower's

main entrance have been home for The best bits for me are living

over the top of the gate and there's 2.8 million visitors

coming in and out, The loudest thing I'm going to hear

now when I go back to my house is probably a seagull

landing somewhere. As chief Yeoman here

at the tower, Alan's role is one part of an extraordinary

chain of tradition, Do you have weather

like this in Spain? The tower's nearly 940

years old and I've only In comparison to that,

it is just a blip in history. But from my perspective,

being part of this iconic heritage site,

it has been absolutely fantastic. This Thursday, he will don

uniform for the final time and admits the relative

anonymity of retirement may just I shall just blend in

with everything within I will probably go and have a quick

coffee with my wife at home and just reflect

on the last 19 years. But while Alan may no longer

have the uniform, his name will remain at the Tower

for centuries to come. well, Alan's final days Thursday

before he heads home for the coast. In effect, you will be swapping

ravens for seagulls. His team had just

secured a fine away win. So when Crawley Town's media officer

Alex Stedman was invited into the Wycombe Wanderers dressing

room after Saturday's match, he might have wondered

what the defeated players But the 22-year-old

needn't have worried. Wycombe had discovered he was

fundraising for cancer research after his own diagnosis

of testicular cancer just a month ago and wanted

to give him football boots, shirts and gifts

to auction off to raise money. The moment the family football

embraced Alex Stedman. What we've done and we are grateful for the

donations, and I've heard there are other things coming... The

22-year-old was so nervous his knees were shaking. We will kick his

campaign off with a real bang. The media officer for Crawley town

football club suffers severe pain for months before his diagnoses,

following the surgical procedure that showed he had testicular

cancer. As soon as I heard the word, everything else became a blur.

Nothing went in. He was given the numbers and say now is going to do

the CT scan tomorrow and the blood tests, this that and the other. Alex

is raising money now. This former Arsenal striker also had the

condition. It was life changing, because the reaction I have got,

you're not going to forget it. I will not forget how I felt when I

was diagnosed and how I felt on Saturday and I will not forget this.

It is a life changing thing. Colleagues on the club are being

very supportive. He comes in, always happy, head held high. It's easy to

forget. He's always in good mood. And always good to have around. How

many people are affected by testicular cancer? In 2014, 2500 men

were diagnosed with it. 60 of those died. Survival rates beyond a decade

have risen to 98%. Alex says he's been promised more than 50 citations

from clubs across the Football League. Their aim is to raise 5000

-- thousands of pounds for cancer sufferers. Tomorrow, he will cut his

hair short and next week, he begins chemotherapy treatment.

A year of cultural partnerships charting the links between Britain

and India is being launched by the Queen at Buckingham

Palace this evening and there'll be a starring

People in the Kent town will be taking part

in the Silk River project, celebrating the relationship

between communities living by the Thames

and those living by the Hooghly, a 160-mile long river

in Eastern India, that passes through the city of Kolkata.

They may be separated by 5,000 miles, by language and lifestyle,

but Gravesend on places like Kolkata in India both lie beside

great waterways which have both brought them

In Gravesend, the links between continents run deeper still.

A gurdwara is a place of worship for the Sikh faith.

Not in the heart of the Indian subcontinent,

but in the middle of Gravesend and my guide is the borough's first

We've got roughly 7,000-10,000 Sikhs here.

Some come to worship daily, some come on Sundays

Because this is one of the largest outside of India, so a lot

of people will cross the country to visit here.

It's a holy place but also offers education and practical

help, including as part of the Sikh culture,

food cooked daily for anyone who needs it.

It will be a key venue in this year's events to

I think it is a true testament to community

links and cohesion and we've done so well here.

The community are so accepting of us and we

Many Indians who live in Kent, they feel as British as they

As a project about rivers in India and here, no finer

example, we would argue, that that of

features of Kent that perhaps many of us take for granted.

The experience of journeying along the river

portrayed in art, film and photography

will be at the heart of

At the moment, we are at the planning

stage, so there are opportunities for everyone to get involved.

Schools, residents, community groups, it is about throwing all of

the ideas into the pot of what we have would like to create

People along this river in Kolkata will be

What an extraordinary day! But he won't get much better I'm afraid. It

is tame blustery and earlier we had intense, thundery downpours. They

will continue for a time through tonight. Lots of rain and it was

very blustery. Over the next couple of days, particularly at the end of

Wednesday, intense rain and it feels cold. The reason for that is because

some bitter, westerly winds. A bit of Heol potentially mixed in with

the rain and also fund. Eventually, though scattered intense showers

will ease off toward the east, but if he was up early tomorrow, along

the coast, we will see a wet and blustery picture. Because of the

winds, temperatures hovering above freezing, but will feel bitterly

cold as we start tomorrow. We have the low pressure area and stop the

day for the most part dry in the morning, but by the afternoon, this

weather front and the winds pick-up. The rain will be intense. First

thing, scattered and wintry showers, dry in the morning, and sunshine

around, but by the afternoon, the cloud thickens and the intense rain

moves in from the West. Temperatures over 7-8 , but with the wind and

rain, it will feel colder. On Tuesday into Thursday, we see that

Easter would wind moving in. But because of the strength of that

wind, we should stay frost free. A cold feel for Wednesday, but for the

most part, temperatures at around 3-4 . We start dry, does not stay

that way, as you head to the day on Wednesday, further rain, moving up

from the south and once again, temperatures reaching highs of

9-10 , but with the wind. -- but with the wind, it will feel colder.

Unsettled on Thursday. Mostly dry. Blustery, then further heavy rain is

expected toward Friday and temperatures 7-8 , feeling cooler.

Looking toward the weekend, we start to see some respite. The winds is

off and there should be some brightness. For the next couple of

days, we will see intense, thundery and potentially hail storms through

tonight. By Friday, the rain returns. Best chance brightness

Thursday. At least it will be filling up the reservoirs!

Before we go, let's recap tonight's top stories:

An investigation's begun into what's being called the biggest

blunder in the history of the Oscars.

The award for Best Picture was accidentally given

to the musical, La La Land when another film,

There are calls tonight for an investigation

into the conduct of two prospective Labour candidates for

Kent County Council, after they raised party fronts

by selling off cosmetics and toiletries that had been

donated to charity and were supposed to go

And a woman from Tonbridge who lost her leg in a motorbike

accident five years ago says she's been left unable to work

and is dependant on benefits because the government's new way

of assessing disability benefits means she no longer qualifies

I will be back with more on that later. Goodbye.

To be in the Lords, you have to be punctual...

literally have to slam the door in somebody's face.