Episode 38 Inside Out

Now on BBC news, our

Inside Out South East team brings

you some of their strongest

stories this week.

What will Brexit mean

for traffic in Kent?

It will be like an Operation Stack

situation on a daily basis.

And that cannot be

allowed to happen.

The kitchen where cooking

is a serious business.

It gives me a reason

to get up in the morning,

get dressed and get out there.

And the world of

Strictly Dog Dancing.

Couldn't get more tense, could it?

I'm Natalie Graham, with untold

stories closer to home,

from all around the South East,

this is Inside Out.

Hello, welcome to the programme,

which this week comes

to you from Dover.

Brexit is coming, and some

of the biggest changes

in the South East are going

to happen right here, in this town.

Tonight, we can exclusively reveal

academic research which makes some

remarkable predictions about this

part of the region

once we leave the EU.

Rachel Royce reports.

On 23rd June 2016, the UK voted

to leave the European Union.

June the 23rd, Independence Day!

CHEERING

This means there could be changes

ahead for people and goods

crossing the channel.

Dover and Eurotunnel

at Folkestone are two

of Britain's busiest frontiers.

For now, they're frictionless.

At the moment we have what's

considered to be a free-flowing

border between Britain

and the continent.

Lorries don't have to undergo

customs checks unless they're

going to a non-EU country

and passport checks

are minimal but that

could all change after Brexit.

It's really very concerning for us.

Nobody knows what's going to happen.

There seems to be a lack

of information about what Brexit

will mean for Dover and Folkestone.

So we've decided to

do our bit to help.

We've commissioned a special report

looking into what could happen

to traffic as a result

of post-Brexit border changes.

Imperial College London

has a world-renowned

transport research centre.

Dr Ke Han is an assistant professor.

He carried out the investigation

for us with state of the art

traffic simulations.

For the purposes of this research

we're assuming that it currently

takes two minutes for each vehicle

to pass through the border checks

at the port of Dover and Eurotunnel.

The research focused on the M20

and A20 and nearby local roads

between Maidstone and Dover.

between Maidstone and Dover.

This is what the traffic looks like,

now with a two-minute

check per vehicle.

The red lines on the maps show

the traffic heading for Dover

and backing up in a very

slow moving queue.

As the day goes on,

through the afternoon traffic peaks

at evening rush hour.

The journey between Maidstone

and Dover can take up to two hours,

with traffic queues of up

to ten miles.

But what if there's

friction at the border?

Dr Han looked at what would happen

if we assumed the border check time

is increased by just one

minute per vehicle.

In a one minute extra

check scenario, traffic

becomes more congested.

The queues from Dover

and the Eurotunnel can approach

Ashford and affect local traffic

in the afternoon hours.

The combined queue length in this

case can be up to 20 miles,

and it can take up to 3.5 hours

to travel from Maidstone to Dover.

So Dr Han predicts that

the cumulative effect of one extra

minute per vehicle would result

in 20 miles of jams and a Maidstone

to Dover journey time

of three and a half hours.

to Dover journey time

of three and a half hours.

Then Dr Han looked at

what the impact would be

if check time was doubled,

adding another two minutes

to existing checks on every vehicle.

to existing checks on every vehicle.

The traffic condition on the network

becomes far more congested.

The queues from Dover

and the Eurotunnel,

in the afternoon rushhours,

can go as far as Maidstone,

making the entire study area

into slowly moving traffic.

In this situation,

the combined queue length can

reach up to 30 miles.

And it can take up to five hour's

drive from Allston Maidstone.

I think people would be

pretty horrified by that.

Yeah, that's very bad traffic.

So with two extra minutes

per vehicle, Dr Han predicts 30

miles of jams and a Maidstone

to Dover journey time of five hours.

And what is shocking

about the research result

is that the check time is as little

as two minutes of check

time increase, applied

to each individual vehicle,

could lead to hours of traffic

delays and tens of miles

of queueing on the motorway.

Norman Ives runs his own haulage

company based at Folkestone and has

been in the business for 30 years.

He delivers food to supermarkets

to tight deadlines, so any traffic

jams are hugely worrying to him.

If he misses his delivery slot,

he has to book another and that

could mean a wait that

seriously disrupts business.

Sometimes that can be

one or two days waitng.

We could potentially end up losing

several days a week productivity.

Just from a two-minute

delay at the border?

Indeed.

How worrying is that for you?

It's very worrying.

It's important that other people

should see the results of Imperial's

research - and Norman's got some

ideas about who we should speak to.

How about people who

live near the M20?

That's a good idea.

We went to Stanford,

a village which lies near the M20

and to the west of Eurotunnel.

Geoff Colledge is

a parish councillor.

We asked him what he

thought of our figures.

They're alarming.

They are horrific and it will put

us into a situation,

a scenario that it will be

like an Operation Stack

situation on a daily basis.

And that cannot be

allowed to happen.

What is it like?

What does it do to your life in this

village and other Kent villages

when you have traffic

jams like that?

If it's likely to go

on a month or longer,

as Stack has been in operation

for a month previously, then it just

becomes worse and worse.

The problems manifest.

You've got to make sure you have

enough food and water in the house

beause generally you can't get out.

Norman, who should we go

talk to about this now?

How about we go and see Eurotunnel?

Good idea.

Eurotunnel facilitates huge amounts

of trade with the EU -

goods worth £100 billion a year

are transported through the tunnel.

Eurotunnel's John Keefe points out

that delays on the motorway could be

bad for the economy.

Those are the goods that our economy

relies on, stuck in traffic.

That means manufacturing

is losing efficiency,

it's putting at risk

inward investment, employment.

So those kind of delays

are counter-producutive

in their own right.

So what we understand

from government today is they want

a frictionless border,

that will keep the traffic moving

as it really should on a motorway.

And that's the only way

we can envisage running

an economy efficiently.

The people who run the Port of Dover

told us that Dr Han's figures

support their own conclusions

about traffic if there is friction

at the border after Brexit.

The people who run the ferries

are optimistic that a frictionless

border can be achieved

using high-tech methods.

Guy Platten is chief executive

of the UK Chamber of Shipping.

I think any delays and intrusive

customs procedures which allows

those delays is

completely regrettable.

What we would like to do is avoid

that happening in first

place by having a light

touch customs arrangement.

I think that's entirely possible

and technology allowable as well.

When Dr Han did his research

he made no assumptions

about what would cause a delay,

he simply assumed that post-Brexit

there could well be one.

It seems logical to be concerned

that new customs checks

could slow things down.

But should we also be concerned

about passport checks?

At the moment, passport checks

on British citizens are carried out

by both the British and the French

on this side of the channel.

It's possible that post-Brexit

passport checks could take longer

says Tony Smith, the former

chief of UK Border Force.

It's very possible there could be

additional delays at the French

border by the French police checking

British passports going into EU.

If the French are required to ask

questions of us or stamp passports,

for example, then those transaction

times are realistic and that queue

time could materialise.

But we just don't know yet

what the regulatory framework

is going to be and there are various

options available and on the table

where we could reduce that

transaction time on both sides.

Maybe we should speak

to the local MP?

That's a good idea.

In Dover, the Western Docks

is undergoing redevelopment

to create a large cargo terminal.

We met Dover's MP, Charlie Elphicke,

in a waterside cafe next

to the redevelopment.

He says there is one way to avoid

friction at the border.

The obvious and logical thing,

certainly at the beginning

is to have a no-tariff deal.

Because that way trade continues

to flow between Britain

and the EU and everyone wins.

Ireland is not leaving.

But these Irish lorry

drivers are worried

about post-Brexit delays.

Any delay in the port at all,

it's Operation Stack

on the motorway out there.

So it's going to be

disaster for the whole lot.

Do you think it's feasible

a two-minute delay could cause

a four-hour traffic jam?

That is what the research is saying.

It will cause it.

It will.

Without a doubt.

So, the research from

Imperial College London indicates

that this is what the roads

will look like if an extra two

minute delay per vehicle is created

at the post-Brexit border.

Everyone agrees that a frictionless

border would be the best outcome,

however it's achieved.

It's up to the politicians

what happens next.

Rachel Royce reporting.

Coming up on Inside Out...

Louise and her dog, Troy,

aren't having much luck trying

to qualify for Crufts.

Yeah, OK, we kept going.

It wasn't quite the

routine we had planned.

Now, not far from here, in Deal,

there's a cookery school.

Of course they are there

to teach good cuisine.

But in fact they're serving up

much more than that.

This is the Chequers Kitchen

Cookery School in Deal.

Just give it another stir.

As I said, use

the back of the spoon.

It's the brainchild of Pieter van

Zyl and Stephanie Hayman.

Put it on the website,

starts at 10:30.

So our kind of fundamental

purpose is to enable people

to learn how to cook,

with fresh ingredients,

so they can access a healthy

diet, but on a budget.

And this is one of the most healthy

ways of eating vegetables.

It's a community interest company,

a type of company recognised in law

which uses its profits

for public good.

You won't cut your fingers off,

not while I'm here.

I don't like doing the paperwork.

Pieter is taking the Keen2Cook

weekly session today -

it's free to people on low incomes,

and is funded by a grant

from the Lottery.

Then I always, always

wash the rice, it's very

important to wash the rice.

In the class today is Chris King.

He volunteers as an assistant,

helping everyone to be the best

they possibly can in the kitchen.

He loves it, because Chris's

passion is cooking.

Just salt, when you're

roasting vegetables,

helps bring out that flavour.

I just find it better

going in before.

I love cooking and putting a meal

in front of someone.

It's all about seeing

them enjoy my food.

It just lifts your soul!

Shall we do this one as well?

So he is really encouraging

with some of the participants

who maybe lack a lot of confidence

or are a bit younger,

or just need a bit of extra support,

Chris has got a great way of helping

them without doing it for them.

So if you put that in

first, soften it up.

Chris is very well

qualified for this role.

Over decades, he worked his way up

to being head chef in pubs

and restaurants across the country,

often working 100 hours a week.

But one day, that all changed.

Sorry...

Two years ago I had a massive stroke

on the right side of my brain.

And I lost the left side of my body.

So I was a chef for 30 years

and overnight I was nothing,

and I had nothing.

So I phoned Steph and I said,

"Can I be of any use to you?"

To give me a reason.

And she invited me down,

and I met Pieter, the head chef.

And it was the best thing I ever

did because I can give

back a little something.

You know, I've got so much knowledge

when it comes to catering, and just

felt like it was all wasted.

There is no such thing

as 'can't' is there?

I told you whoever put

the T on the word can,

should have been shot.

Hold that onion tight.

It keeps moving.

That's because its round.

So obviously some things are more

difficult for him because he's just

using the one arm and hand.

So to see what he can manage

with his circumstances,

it's an inspiration,

it makes you realise

that they can too.

Chris is going to invite some of his

fellow stroke survivors to the

class.

The Stroke Club of Deal

will be bread making.

He'd like to pass on some

of his skills and knowledge to them.

I want the other stroke survivors

to realise that even

with one hand you can.

And if you can get that can-do...

Sorry, that can-do attitude,

you've got a reason to keep going.

It's a big day for Chris.

you've got a reason to keep going.

It's a big day for Chris.

Today he is not the assistant,

he's the teacher.

For the first time he'll be teaching

three members of his stroke club.

This is a basic white bread mix,

just to make a small loaf.

We are just going to crumble the 25

grams of butter into the flour.

Then just make yourself

a well, in the middle.

Because were going to

add half the water.

We can adapt, we can change and make

things work for us, if we try.

If you use the heel of your

hand to break it down.

Why is mine sticking to the surface?

I just like being with the people.

Because they are people

who understand how you feel.

You're learning, Barbara.

I'm not!

You are!

Really good, really therapeutic.

Really good for your brain.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

If anyone has upset me in the week,

you can take it out on the dough.

And then into your tin.

After a short while in the oven,

the bread is baked.

Just to check it.

But the proof of course

is in the eating, so what

will they make of it?

Thanking you.

I would highly recommend all this

activity, that we have done today,

to every single member of our club.

There is no such word as 'can't'.

So the Stroke Club class

was a success, and Chris believes

that the cookery school not only

teaches you how to cook but also

boosts your self-esteem.

For a lot of people it

saves their lives, it gives them

that meaning that once a week,

get out of bed, go and do it,

which is what it gave me.

It gives me a reason

to get up in the morning,

get dressed and get out there.

Normally, I'm asking for help

for that sort of thing

There is a woman from Swanley

in Kent, whose big ambition

is to get her dog into Crufts.

Not because he's good

looking or best in breed,

no, she's hoping he'll

dance his way there.

John Cuthill reports.

It's a wet and windy

Saturday in Coventry.

It's raining cats and, well, dogs.

And more dogs.

They've all gathered here to sniff

out a golden ticket.

They're competing for a place

at the most prestigious

dog show in Britain.

There are ten places up

for grabs in each category,

here at this semi-final for Crufts.

Excited and nervous,

and everything at once.

But these dogs aren't

being judged on looks.

This competition doesn't

require a pedigree.

This is Strictly Dog Dancing.

Welcome to the world

of Heelwork to music.

Next up, Louise Ince

from Swanley in Kent, and Troy.

Their complicated routine to Flash,

Bang, Wallop What A Picture!

has been

months in the making.

You've been really

naughty, haven't you?

Behave, thank you.

Helping to fine tune

the moves is husband Gary.

If you can come up, and as I say

walk back, you're going

to guide him with a sausage,

where he needs to go.

OK.

Walk back.

Walk back.

He's gone off again.

Walk back.

Walk back.

The little bits that

are going wrong all the time,

they are the bits we want to put

a stop to.

We have to find ways of finding

what it is that's going to make

the dog do it correctly.

Keen to maximise her

chances of success, Louise

is entering two categories.

And doing a round trip of 160 miles

from her home in Kent

for lessons with Gina,

a dog trainer from Hampshire.

Still haven't got the ending right.

We can look at it.

Little Troy has come

on leaps and bounds.

He is a cheeky little character.

That is what we try to bring

out in both routines,

the character of the dog.

These are all your props?

I've got a better frontage.

I was going to say,

the frontage is a bit naff.

Are we going to have

photographs on these?

You know, I really

showed, shouldn't I?

You know, I really

should, shouldn't I?

Got the frontage sorted out,

photographs on these,

and I think we are good to go.

# What a picture, what a photograph!

Photos in place, will Troy

stay focused and get

a place in the final?

It is looking good, until it is time

to pick up the newly laminated

pictures.

Louise carries on, but knows she is

out of the running in this category.

The cards, I changed them and put

stuff on the photographs.

He doesn't

like them very much. They are

slipping in his mouth.

For Louise, there are still a chance

that she could get a place at

Crufts. She has one more routine of

her exotic sleeve. Troy has to dance

his socks off.

Well done!

He enjoyed that, he

really enjoyed that.

We kept

going. It was not quite the routine

that we have planned.

Louise has

done well, but competition at this

advanced level is very tough. Only

ten more dogs will be going to

Crufts.

As the places are awarded,

it looks like Louise

may have missed out.

Couldn't get more tense, could it?

With nine places already called,

there is only one place left.

Thank you so much.

I am gobsmacked.

I don't know what to say.

Well done, you did it!

Next stop, Crufts.

Good luck to Louise and Troy.