16/01/2017 South Today

Gove and Labour's Brexit Secretary Kier Starmer as well. Join me now on

BBC Two. That's Newsnight Hello and welcome to

South Today, I'm Jo Kent. Standing down to take

a stand over budget cuts - an authority loses leading

councillors who say austerity And the hospital struggling to cope,

as hundreds of operations are cancelled because its beds

are already full. And this week, mid-week

we will have a frost but towards the end of the week

it turns cloudier. It's a dramatic gesture intended

to draw attention to what they say The leader, deputy leader

and another senior member of the Isle of Wight Council have

stepped down from their posts They say party politics and ego

are being put ahead of the best But the move could have wider

repercussions and may sink plans for a devolved "super authority"

in charge of the island as well as These resignation have sent shock

waves well beyond the Isle of Wight. Jonathan Bacon, leader

of the Isle of Wight Council, They're part of the independent

group that swept to power four years ago, promising

"people before politics". But they've struggled,

particularly in the face Jonathan Bacon was blunt

in his resignation statement. He said that it seems the Government

has no wish or intent to help this island,

despite the council's asking And he's bitter about the way fellow

councillors have behaved, saying party politics and ego

are being put before the concerns Today his deputy, Steve Stubbings,

told us austerity cuts were causing It would only be someone that's

wedded to the Government's austerity agenda that could,

I presume, with any real dignity or honesty carry

through these policies, I don't believe in them and I think

people are being really damaged by what's going on,

and a lot of those people are people Today's resignations

mean plans to create the Solent Super Authority,

where the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton come

together under one elected mayor, Though the island was an important

part, Portsmouth's leader, Donna Jones, says the two cities

could continue on their own. I do believe the Government still

want to continue with devolution. They're still focused on elected

mayors and I think the two cities here on the south coast absolutely

have a right to go and talk to the Government about the ?1

billion of investment that we need. The Isle of Wight Council meets

on Wednesday to select a new leader. There's a strong chance they won't

support a Super Authority. But whoever it is, they can

expect an early visit from the council leaders

in Southampton and Portsmouth. Meanwhile, hospital care on the Isle

of Wight is in chaos. Virtually all planned surgery has

been cancelled in recent weeks because all the beds are being used

to deal with emergency patients. 267 routine operations have been

postponed since before Christmas, and there's little sign

of the pressure easing. Here's our health

correspondent, David Fenton. Every one of its 252 beds is taken

and there are 31 emergency From Christmas Day onwards,

it's been busier than I think Over time we've got better

at dealing with surges in capacity and turning our patients round,

and in spite of that we've had very large numbers of patients

into the hospital and we've really Many patients, of

course, are elderly. Craig has a heart condition

and lives on his own but he'd The charity Age UK found him at home

without heat or light, with no food in the house

and no money. We're also seeing a lot

of homelessness, particularly We work with people aged 50

and over and that's becoming So where previously we would have

done more low-level support - shopping and befriending -

we really are now going out and keeping people fed and warm

and making sure that they can get The older we get,

the more we cost the NHS. The average 20-year-old

costs the health service For someone in their mid-50s, that's

doubled to more than ?2,000 a year. And by the time we reach 85,

it's risen to nearly ?8,000 a year. It all adds up to a financial

time bomb for the NHS, that now needs to save ?2.2 billion

in the South. Sean Stacey is Chief Operations

Officer at St Mary's Hospital, the man charged with keeping

the plates spinning. A short time ago, he told me one

reason for the current problems is the number of holiday-makers

who've been taken ill. We've opened additional capacity,

we've created more beds for patients, in areas that would not

normally be used as a ward area, such as Aaron Teys surgical unit,

and also a discharge lounge. -- our day surgical unit. That means we've

had to cancel planned procedures for here -- for people here on the

island and I'm sorry we've had to make that decision but clearly where

would be unsafe to bring somebody in would be unsafe to bring somebody in

for a planned procedure when the hospital is full of people who are

acutely very unwell. The fact that the situation has arisen, could it

be put down to a lack of money or management? I don't think it is

purely a lack of money. I do think there is a need for us to look at

how we invest funds in the future. We certainly need to strengthen

resources out in our communities. We particularly need to help and work

very closely with our colleagues in adult social care so they have the

funds and resources to help to look after and care for people when they

are feeling a bit under the weather. That will help, I think. That will

require some investment. That investment is going to be a pressure

for all of us. But I do believe that would make a difference to the

hospital services and the demands that are currently being seen to be

made on those. Thank you very much. Relatives of a man killed by a van

driver who was texting at the wheel say they're outraged he's been

allowed to appeal against his Grandfather Lee Martin

died when he was struck The driver, Christopher Gard,

had a string of previous convictions He'd had several chances

to change his ways, but Christopher Gard was again

using his phone when he ploughed into cyclist

Lee Martin and killed him. Just weeks before, he was in court

pleading that he needed to keep his In all, he'd been caught

using his phone at the wheel eight The family of Lee Martin say it's

time to end the sympathy. You had eight chances beforehand

to stop your behaviour, It's playing Russian roulette

with the whole population, really. What was going to stop him apart

from killing someone? He'd taken up cycling

to improve his health. He was on the A31 near Alton one

August morning in 2015 when Gard Police say Gard was so busy

sending a text message, he hadn't looked at the carriageway

for a full nine seconds. He only changed his plea to guilty

just before the trial started. He dragged a whole family

through the process of thinking we had to sit through a court case

and, you know, he's taken someone's life, he's taken my brother's life,

and this bloke is now trying to wheedle his way out of it,

and I want there to be justice for my brother and also,

you know, what kind of signal does it send out

if the sentence is reduced? The Martin family are now calling

for an immediate ban for anyone Christopher Gard's case

will be heard at the Court That's all from the South Today

news team this evening. We're back tomorrow with bulletins

in BBC Breakfast and there's more Through the course of this week we

are going to see a frost. A chilly start the week, turning slightly

milder from Thursday onwards and through until the weekend. High

pressure dominating through much of the week. It should be mainly dry

and there will be a frost tonight and also tomorrow morning. Through

the course of tonight, we're expecting more cloud. The further

west you are, the clearer the sky is towards the south-east, and we may

have a frosty there first thing. Quite a cloudy start for western

parts with the cloud gradually moving westwards to allow for some

lovely sunny conditions for western parts. Oxfordshire hanging on to the

cloud through the afternoon but in the sunshine temperatures will

struggle to rise, with highs of just three degrees. Along the coast,

highs of 6-7. A widespread, sharp, hard frost developing in the early

hours of Wednesday courtesy of the light wind and clear skies. In the

countryside, we could see those of -1 or minus two. High-pressure still

dominating Wednesday into Thursday with sunny spells and a bit more

cloud for northern areas, which could sink southwards through the

afternoon. High-pressure still in charge on Thursday with a fair

amount of cloud and weather front moving southwards. With that, we

could have the odd spot of rain but most places staying dry with high

pressure in charge. Through Friday, we hold onto the high pressure as

well. A similar data Thursday. Milder than recent days, with highs

of 5-8. -- a similar day is on Thursday. Over the weekend, looking

ahead, mainly dry, quite cloudy with brighter spells here and there. The

risk of the odd spot of light rain and drizzle

perhaps a little milder. If you like the mild weather, you'll have to

head elsewhere in the country. Find out more in the national weather

forecast. Our weather is going against normal expectations this

week. In Highland Scotland some snow to be seen on the hills.

Temperatures as high as 12 Celsius today. Over the next few days the

coldest air is in the far south-east of England where there is sunshine

to be had. Four or five Celsius in Kent. Differences remain over the

next few days and here is why. I pressure in control of the weather.

Some clear a continental air, but coming into Scotland from the

Atlantic plenty of clouds around. Outbreaks of rain through Scotland

and Northern Ireland overnight, patchy drizzle into parts of England

and Wales, but where you've got cloud the temperatures are holding