06/05/2014 South Today

Welcome to the programme. A sombre homecoming. The bodies of five

soldiers are repatriated. Another embarrassment for the UK

Independence party. Lifting off into a row. Should balloon releases the

band? Marine experts say they are being harmful to wildlife. It has to

be stopped. It has to be made illegal. From the military to

delivering parcels and even pizzas. We take a look at the rise of the

drone. In a little over six months, the British military operations in

Afghanistan will end but today there was another reminder of the cost in

human terms. The bodies of the five servicemen killed in last week's

helicopter crash were repatriated to the UK. Family, friends

Family, friends and strangers paid their respects to Captain Thomas

Clarke, Warrant Officer Spencer Faulkner, Corporal James Walters,

Lance Corporal Oliver Thomas and Flight Lieutenant Rakesh Chauhan.

Four of the men were from RAF Odiham near Basingstoke. Let's join Steve

Humphrey who's at the memorial garden in Carterton, close to RAF

Brize Norton. Thousands of people turned up here at Brize Norton late

this afternoon to take `` to play their respects to the five

servicemen who were killed in that dreadful helicopter crash in

Afghanistan 12 days ago. There were colleagues from the RAF and the

intelligence corps, and of course, their relatives and friends. Many

flowers were placed on the hearses. Amongst the many people here were

the families and relatives of a flight officer who was based here.

He was incredibly passionate that the RAF, and he was heavily

involved, and he just dreams of being in the RAF and serving his

country. We are glad that he could do that. His death has had all had

an affect on lots of people. He was due to come back in ten days, so he

was quite young, and it has been shot, but the same time, I think

everybody knows that he knew the risks, and he willingly chose to

serve in the RAF. He was at peace with his decision, and we have just

proud of him. Pride is the emotion that comes through. There are so

many positives to focus on with him, and I think that is what we are

trying to do. Also hear today was Roger Williams, the Welsh MP. His

research, Oliver Thomas, an intelligence specialist, he was one

of the five servicemen who were killed in that helicopter crash. He

was now standing young man. He was very popular for all the right

reasons. His fathering me up on Sunday morning, and while I believed

him, I could not contend it. When he was telling the truth. I could not

understand it. There were killed in the helicopter crash. Do we know

what went wrong? No, we don't. It happened 11 days ago, involving a

Lynx helicopter. Eight full Ministry of Defence investigation is

underway. They have described it as a tragic accident. They say it was

caused by a technical problem and not by hostile fire.

A UKIP council candidate is in the spotlight after posting a comment on

Facebook that he "felt like stabbing someone". Matt Ellery, who is

standing for Basingstoke and Deane council, also branded local women as

"pug ugly". It's another social media embarrassment for the party in

a town where they hoped to make gains in this month's elections. Joe

Campbell reports. It is a corner of Hampshire where

you can thought their policies might go down well. But the online views

of this UKIP candidate seem to have changed all that. We showed the

comments to local electors. It is not nice at all. It is quite scary,

actually. What would you do if I told you he was standing for the

Council? It is quite stupid. The young man is a candidate for UKIP in

the elections. In this area? Brighton Hill. That is terrible.

Basingstoke bases its major offices here in the South. But despite its

support in the opinion polls, the party lacks the organisation quite a

need a major player. That perhaps explains why he has been responding

to a series of issues. After ten o'clock at night, people say things

that they regret. The BBC has attempted to contact him, but has

not received a response. It does seem that officials here in

Basingstoke were aware of his presence on social media. But they

were assured it was a private matter, and he makes no reference to

UK on his Facebook postings. `` the UK Independence party. They said

they were tried to get him to tone down his thoughts. That brought a

angry response from political opponents. His views about women are

unbelievably derogatory. It is not a silly matter. It is a very important

matter. It does not excuse the matter at all. He is standing for

public office. The party has asked, Who really runs Britain? In

Basingstoke, the view may be will they ever get a chance to run the

town? Five year old twin girls are at the

centre of a court battle because the egg donor who made their births

possible is fighting for shared custody. Usually egg donors have no

legal status as parents. In a case, first heard at Portsmouth county

court the donor argues she helped to bring up the children for the first

few years of their lives and should be given parental responsibility.

Briony Leyland has more details. Yes, we can't identify those

involved for legal reasons but the court heard after being in a

relationship for more than a decade one woman donated eggs to another.

Twins were born in 2008. The birth mother of the twins says they had

ceased to be in a relationship before the babies were born and were

simply living together as close friends; the woman who donated the

eggs ` the genetic mother ` says that the relationship continued

until 2012 when she moved out. The birth mother has since entered into

a civil partnership and she and her partner have parental responsibility

for the twins. But the woman who was the donor wants that parental

responsibility too? Yes, her argument is that she helped to care

for the twins during their early years and is their genetic mother.

She and the birth mother agreed that she could have contact with the

children but she wants more than that ` shared residency which would

give her the rights of a parent. And that's being decided by the court?

Portsmouth County Court ruled against the donor, but the Court of

Appeal has said the case should be looked at again. Experts say it

highlights the changing ways families are formed ` they say

people going into these kind of agreements often don't think through

the legal implications. A lot of people do not know what they are

entering. If you donate an egg, you are not considered to be the mother

of the child, despite the fact you are and genetically related to the

child. You are not the child's mother. We have no rights at all. A

lot of people are going into the arrangements with their eyes

closed, not realising that. Those involved have been urged to reach

agreement to avoid a further hearing ` the appeal court said it was sad

to see childhood slipping away whilst energy is devoted to adult

wrangles and to litigation. A threat to the environment or a

load of hot air? Well, the cruise company Cunard has abandoned plans

to release 10,000 balloons following claims that it could harm marine

wildlife. The release was part of birthday celebrations for the Queen

Mary Two liner but Cunard has become the latest organisation to bow to

pressure over what campaigners call "legal littering". Ed Sherry

reports. She may have had fireworks for her

maiden voyage. But there won't be any balloons at Mary's tenth

birthday. Cunard's plans were deflated after pressure from social

media. This is a sticky mess of rubber. You would not want to be an

animal eating any of these. These years and years old. We are the only

direct threat that nature has. We are the spanner in the works. We are

already treating this see as a dustbin. For the last ten to 15

years, we have seen little levels triple on beaches. In September last

year, we recorded over 1100 balloons and balloon pieces. That is just

from one weekend. It's thought over 70 per cent of the worlds sea birds

have plastic of some kind in their stomachs. But the balloon industry

says that isn't down to them. The fact that you find balloons wrapped

brown bird is because they are carelessly let go by the general

public. That is insignificant to the way that affected the balloons...

Six years ago Portsmouth banned mass balloon release from council land,

campaigners now want other local authorities to do the same.

Still to come, how much do you know about drones? We will look at how

people are using them. A support group in Portsmouth for

the families of drug addicts says too many relatives are suffering in

silence. The city is estimated to have more than 1,200 opiate and

crack cocaine users, the fifth highest in the south east. The

Rebound Carers Group says shame stops many families getting help and

advice. Together with the police and council it's helped bring to the

city a play telling the true story of the devastating effects drugs had

on a family from Berkshire. Sean Killick reports.

You have pushed me to the edge, I am finished with you, completely

finished. It's one of the forgotten side`effects of drugs, the damage to

the addict's family. But it's been highlighted in this play, "Mum, Can

You Lend Me Twenty Quid?", by a woman from Twyford whose son killed

himself ten year ago in despair at his heroin addiction. Another

mother, whose son has repeatedly been imprisoned due to his drug

addiction, explained to South Today the strain on her family. I was

panicking all the time and desperate for help but didn't know where,

where to go for help. I just felt I couldn't talk to any of my close

friends and family because there's a lot of people who'll judge you

whether they know you or not and I felt I kind of needed to protect my

family from this. One former addict who lives in Portsmouth told me how

even the most loving son or daughter can't see the damage they are doing

to their family. The main priority of my lovers to take the drugs.

Because the draw of the drugs was so strong they were kind of my main

priority in my life, to take more drugs, so my family came down the

list of priorities in my life. It's only now since I'm in recovery that

I've seen other families that are still suffering with their children

that I realised kind of what I put my family through. Estimates suggest

there are more than 1,200 opiate and crack cocaine users in Portsmouth,

and the authorities say they are now putting more emphasis on families.

The support people need to build their confidence, build their social

skills, education, training, get back into employment does need much

longer and much more support around a number of areas and involving the

family is key to that. Meanwhile, over the past two years the play

"Mum, Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid?" Has been performed more than 50

times in community centres, re`habilitation units and prisons

and is now set to spread its message overseas too. He knew I loved him

right up to the end, he knew that he was loved.

A former Surrey Police chief inspector has been jailed for a

series of fraud offences targeting high street stores. Tanya Brookes

was condemned by a judge for bringing "shame" on the police

service, using her position to con shops and businesses out of

thousands of pounds. She was convicted of more than 30 counts of

fraud in total and jailed for two`and`a`half years at Winchester

Crown Court. For decades the historical

importance of this building behind me has been largely forgotten. Now

it's a casino. But it used to be Southampton's main railway station.

Today it's significance was officially recognised, as our

Transport Correspondent Paul Clifton reports.

Marking the significance of a once important building. Southampton

Terminus was the main railway centre in the city. Here it is in 1899.

Before lorries replaced trains, almost everyone and everything

passed through here. The station was badly bombed in 1941. Here it is the

day after the station closed in 1966. Soon, it fell into disrepair.

Almost 70 years ago, but Moody worked at the station. When I

started working, we had four horse drawn vehicles. Even in 1946. Here's

the station can be today. Eight former southwestern Hotel stood at

the end of the platforms. For 30 years, it was the home of BBC South.

Until then, good night. Our first programmes were broadcast from here.

Just one track remains, heading through lock gates. Originally, this

is where the passengers would have arrived and disembarked in order to

join one of the transatlantic liners, including the Titanic.

Southampton docks once had ten railway stations. The flying boat

had their own platforms. Today, they have all gone. But there is now a

reminder of the way things used to be.

We are going to swiftly move on to the sport. They missed out on the

play`offs, Reading. There will be a lot of changes before they kick off

again in August. Four players have been released. That includes Jobi

McAnuff. All of the players contracts have

been expired and will not be renewed. Former Southampton and

England defender Wayne Bridge has announced his retirement. Bridge

starred for Southampton in their successful era under Glenn Hoddle

and Gordon Strachan and was part of the England world cup squad which

went to Japan and South Korea in 2002. He later moved to chelsea and

towards the end of his career he's featured for Brighton and this

season, Reading. Now a persistent knee injury means he's hanging up

his boots. Southampton will resume talks with

boss Mauricio Pochettino after this weekend's final league game against

Manchester United as they seek to secure their manager's long term

future. Pochettino has steered Saints to their highest ever Premier

League points total, but his success has brought inevitable attention

from other clubs. The club's executive Director Les Reed told

last night's Late Kick Off that after the United game, talks would

be a priority. As soon as that game is out of the way on Sunday, we will

sit down and continue our discussions that we have been having

all stop it is not like we have been doing anything about it, but we

respected the fact that he wanted to focus. He wanted to achieve these

record points, and focus on the games are nothing else. Sussex and

Lancashire are involved in a low scoring game at Old Trafford. Sorry

are struggling against Kent, with second innings wickets running out,

Kent will only have a small target. When the Wright Brothers invented

the aeroplane in 1903, most people had no idea just how much it would

change our world. Now aviation is changing, with the removal of the

pilot. Drones have already changed the face of war. Now they're getting

smaller and cheaper, and we could see a lot more of them in our skies.

Tom Hepworth has the first of a series of special reports, taking a

closer look at drones and what they might mean for us here in the south.

This is Tiranis. The most advanced combat aircraft ever built by a

British engineer. But look closely, and you will not see a fighter

pilot. It could eventually become the known. It was developed here in

Farnborough with software that would allow you to choose targets and

defend itself against enemy aircraft. A plane invisible to radar

that can act autonomously. The army has been flying armed drones in

Afghanistan since 2008. The MoD will not reveal how many people they have

killed, but over 50,000 hours, they have released 450,000 laser`guided

bombs. `` 450. That has saved British lives. Opponents say joined

by conflicts more likely. It is too easy to use them, and they could

reduce the threshold of going to war. If you do not have any body

bags going home, and as I said, no one wants to see our young people

being killed in warfare, but if we do not have the threat of body bags,

it is all too easy to get into conflicts. Right now, the Army are

testing watchkeeper drones over Salisbury Plains. The MOD bought 54.

It has cost the taxpayer ?850 million. The army said that it has

no plans to arm them. They can carry weapons. The government has ordered

1000 new lightweight missiles that can be fired from drones. While the

big money goes on research, the technology and know`how eventually

filters out to civilian use. You can pick one up for as little as ?50

from one supermarket. More sophisticated drones like this one

are already widely used in film and photography, capturing shots of this

winter's flooding that would not have been able to get a few years

ago. It is early days, but drones are now being used commercially.

Amazon said it would like to use drones to deliver parcels. But can

we expect the pizza delivery man to be put out of a job by drones? At

the moment, it is a publicity stunt. The big thing is about where is the

risk? He had keep it in your visual line of sight at all times. If

you're doing aerial work, and flying close to people, or vessels of

properties, you need permission. Two months ago, we saw the first

prosecutor for flying drones illegally in the UK. `` posture

Police themselves are starting to use them. This is being trialled by

Sussex police at Gatwick airport. It is giving an overview of training

exercises, and it controls feels close to the runway. `` it controls

fields. If drones are used more widely, it could do more. Where

traffic accidents, flood and emergency divorces, something like

that. They will give a view from the air that I was on the ground can't

do. Could it follow cars or track criminals escaping? Yes, it could be

done more efficiently and effectively with a system like this.

In the US, they have been armed with tasers. Would you look at that? My

goodness, that might be too far. Let's see how this goes. There are

grave concerns about publicity. Where do you draw the line between

gathering evidence and spying on people? There is no plan for us to

be using this for any kind of covert activity. We are seeing the

operators driving in a big marked vehicle. There will only be a

maximum of 500 metres away. Hampshire is one of only two fire

and rescue services in the UK using drones. It helps firefighters target

hotspots in places like this one in Basingstoke. And from the drone that

shoots pictures to one that is being shot at. This company takes its

drones around the world for target practice. Extraordinary. Drones have

certainly divided opinion, and tomorrow we'll hear more of the

arguments for and against their use. But in the meantime we'd like to

know what you think. Is this an exciting development or are you

worried about them? Go to our Facebook page and tell us. In fact

we're we're talking about drones all this week and on Friday we're hoping

to do something rather special with a live drone flight across the

Solent. Weather permitting, of course! Your

eyes lit up! Pizza delivery by drone! Number 36, coming please! It

is going to be mixed all week. Let's look at your pictures. Sue Knight

captured the sun rising in Beaulieu this morning. Ian Smith took this

great action shot of a blue tit in Blandford Forum. And Martin Curtis

captured his dogs in amongst the buttercups in Mayfield Park in

Southampton. And check this out, the Earl of

Wessex having a go at the weather during a visit to Reading University

today. He is as good as his brother! Rain showers at times. There could

be some sunshine as well. Windy at times, they could be on the heavy

side, the showers. The breeze will increase. The showers will rattle

their way in from the West. If you clear spells to be had. Some dry

periods as well. A mild ten to 11 Celsius. Remaining in double digits

across the region. A breezy day today. 30 to 40 mph. There will be

some sunshine in between the showers. Temperatures will reach a

high of 15 Celsius. A blustery day. Those showers will gradually ease

tomorrow night, but for a band of rain, it will come in from the West.

You can see it behind me. A dry end to the night. The rain will arrive

first thing on Thursday morning. Low temperatures of ten or 11 Celsius.

We have various weather fronts crossing from West to East. A lot of

rain at times, and quite a grey, damp day. Through the rest of the

week, it will stay fairly unsettled. We are looking at a few showers

tomorrow in amongst some sunny spells. Gusts of 30 to 40 miles an

hour. On Thursday there will be some rains `` rain about. On Friday, the

winds back pick`up. Some showers and a blustery day. The weekend does not

start off very well. The best day will be Sunday. May be the Earl of

Wessex could step in for you! Talking of apprenticeships...! This

month, the BBC is offering apprenticeships in its local radio

stations and applications are now being taken until May 12th.

Successful candidates will start their 15 month apprenticeships in

September and after training they'll work as Apprentice Broadcast

Assistants in English local radio stations. If you're over 18 this

September, a non graduate ` and you want to find out more ` or you know

someone who might be interested in a BBC apprenticeship, visit the BBC

website at bbc.co.uk/las for more details. Who knows, you might be

joining our colleagues in BBC local radio later this year ` so good

luck! You might get your own show. Within

12 months, you never know! We have all been there! It is a good place

to start. That is it from us. We will be back tomorrow. Goodbye.

at the European elections on May the 22nd.

even though that would wreck the recovery and destroy jobs.

The Conservatives are now openly flirting with exit.

they just don't have the courage of their convictions on this.

They wouldn't lift a finger to help keep Britain in the EU.

So, I'm asking you to vote for the Liberal Democrats, the party of in.

In for the sake of British prosperity and jobs.

I'm in because we set the global standards