:00:00. > :00:00.This is BBC One on the North East Cumbria. This week Chris Jackson is
:00:07. > :00:09.in South Shields for tonight's Inside Out.
:00:10. > :00:11.In the next half an hour. Short sharp shocks ` we're with detectives
:00:12. > :00:26.investigating horrific claims of abuse at a County Durham Detention
:00:27. > :00:30.Centre. Abandoned ` a ship's crew left stranded on the Tyne find a way
:00:31. > :00:33.home, but have we been left lumbered with the crippled vessel? All is
:00:34. > :00:41.gone. Water, fuel, food. Everything on the ship is gone. There's a fight
:00:42. > :00:51.on to bring a North East built warship back to the Tyne for an
:00:52. > :00:54.illustrious retirement. I am absolutely certain everybody in this
:00:55. > :00:58.region will be behind a bit like that and give us their support.
:00:59. > :01:10.Stories from the heart of the North East Cumbria. This is Inside Out.
:01:11. > :01:19.We start tonight with a shocking story from County Durham stretching
:01:20. > :01:22.back decades. More than 140 men have now come forward with allegations of
:01:23. > :01:26.sexual and physical abuse at a former youth detention centre near
:01:27. > :01:30.Consett. With exclusive television access to the police investigation,
:01:31. > :01:33.we ask why a prison meant to steer young offenders away from a life of
:01:34. > :01:44.crime with a short sharp shock, has instead left scores of lives in
:01:45. > :01:47.ruin. It's always in my head, the shame, it's always there. It's
:01:48. > :01:52.ruined my life, completely ruined it. Ray Poar was 17 when he was sent
:01:53. > :02:01.to Medomsley for stealing biscuits from a factory. The chap I went in
:02:02. > :02:05.there with didn't answer with the title sir, and I laughed, and one of
:02:06. > :02:17.the officers just punched me full in the chest really hard and that
:02:18. > :02:21.really was a wake`up call ` a shock. And from then on it was pretty much
:02:22. > :02:26.an everyday thing. You were always prodded, punched, hit. Demolished in
:02:27. > :02:30.the 1990s, this is the BBC's only footage of Medomsley. It was run on
:02:31. > :02:43.military lines and staffed mainly by ex`servicemen. I've spoken to a very
:02:44. > :02:47.senior civil servant who said that in Home Office circles it was known
:02:48. > :02:58.that the junior prison's reputation for being tough sometimes slipped
:02:59. > :03:02.into brutality. These will be no holiday camps, and I sincerely hope
:03:03. > :03:08.those who attend them will not ever want to go back there. It is very
:03:09. > :03:15.hard, very hard indeed, the physical education. It gets you fit. The
:03:16. > :03:22.discipline, you have to do what you're told when you were told.
:03:23. > :03:24.Medomsley's tough approach made it an ideal home for the then
:03:25. > :03:26.Conservative Government's short, sharp shock experiment. And when
:03:27. > :03:31.Leon Brittan, then Home secretary visited in 1985 he was pleased with
:03:32. > :03:36.what he saw. I wanted to see for myself how it worked in practice and
:03:37. > :03:40.I think we have it about right. Despite the endorsement, Medomsley
:03:41. > :03:43.was closed at the end of the decade. Shielded for almost 20 years in a
:03:44. > :03:54.regime where inmates feared they'd be hit if they complained, was
:03:55. > :03:57.violent rapist Neville Husband. Husband, a prison officer who was in
:03:58. > :04:04.charge of the kitchens, preyed on dozens of boys. He got hold of me
:04:05. > :04:07.throat and pushed his body against mine and squeezed and he was telling
:04:08. > :04:16.me that you will do it because you can just disappear, no`one will
:04:17. > :04:21.care, you're just scum. I could feel myself losing consciousness and the
:04:22. > :04:26.next thing I remember he was raping me. I was woken by an officer who
:04:27. > :04:29.noticed that I'd wet the bed and was told to get my bedclothes together
:04:30. > :04:39.and my soiled clothes and he made me bunny hop to the showers and when I
:04:40. > :04:41.couldn't make it, he kicked me. We knew we couldn't turn round and
:04:42. > :04:45.complain about what happened because they were the ones that were kicking
:04:46. > :04:56.us about every day, the odd punch in the arms, ribs, back of the knees,
:04:57. > :04:59.every day you had no`one to talk to. Neville Husband and a storeman
:05:00. > :05:03.Leslie Johnson were finally convicted for their crimes in 2003.
:05:04. > :05:09.They were jailed for ten years and have since died. During the
:05:10. > :05:16.investigation into Husband, officers who'd been at the jail gave
:05:17. > :05:18.evidence. Medomsley was a very strict youth detention centre which
:05:19. > :05:24.operated the short, sharp, shock treatment regime. Most borstals and
:05:25. > :05:31.detention centres were run the same way 20 years ago. They were very,
:05:32. > :05:34.very tough institutions. But now, decades after the jail closed, and
:05:35. > :05:36.with more and more former inmates coming forward, the police have
:05:37. > :05:43.opened a new and wide`ranging investigation into what was really
:05:44. > :05:44.going at Medomsley. We have seen a huge amount of people coming forward
:05:45. > :05:55.who have been physically assaulted. If you ended up in the kitchens in
:05:56. > :05:58.that brutal regime, you were almost certainly going to be raped and
:05:59. > :06:04.sexually assaulted ` so my feelings and that of the team are dead
:06:05. > :06:07.straightforward, this is horrific. 70 detectives are working on the
:06:08. > :06:14.inquiry, with new cases still coming in. The day he went in, his legs
:06:15. > :06:21.were kicked from under him. He describes it as a concentration
:06:22. > :06:25.camp. There's a regular briefing to share information with to
:06:26. > :06:28.colleagues. The prison officer picked up a metal bucket and started
:06:29. > :06:42.hitting him around the head and body and he only stopped when he became
:06:43. > :06:46.tired. This is some of the most shocking abuse I've ever heard of `
:06:47. > :06:49.it must have been a living hell. He describes heart`wrenchingly how his
:06:50. > :06:53.parents would come in to visit him and see the marks and bruises on him
:06:54. > :06:56.and he would pray and beg them not to say anything because he would be
:06:57. > :06:59.subjected to more beatings inside. Some of the boys would lay at the
:07:00. > :07:03.bottom of the stairs and ask other boys to jump on their legs to break
:07:04. > :07:06.a leg so that they could be removed, so they wouldn't be subjected to any
:07:07. > :07:09.more beatings. The inquiry is expected to take many more months,
:07:10. > :07:27.but there are clear objectives for the officer in charge.
:07:28. > :07:31.have committed criminal offences they should be brought to
:07:32. > :07:33.for them, and most important, those individuals who came forward to the
:07:34. > :07:37.police that the place they find themselves in at the end of it is
:07:38. > :07:40.better. Most of them have not told anyone about it and they've seen
:07:41. > :07:43.this and they've realized that they are not alone. A lot of them have
:07:44. > :07:46.said it's like a hand grenade in their brain and blowing their heads
:07:47. > :07:50.completely. Today's approach is a far cry from the experience of Kevin
:07:51. > :07:53.Young. He was 17 when he was raped by Husband and tried to report the
:07:54. > :07:57.crime as soon as he was released from jail almost 40 years ago. All
:07:58. > :08:00.efforts were made to make sure I didn't make a complaint. In other
:08:01. > :08:08.words I was threatened with re`arrest and to be sent back to
:08:09. > :08:12.Medomsley. I couldn't begin to tell you how I felt that day. Do I feel
:08:13. > :08:23.that way now? Yes. I feel betrayed. Let down, and I'm angry. Kevin says
:08:24. > :08:30.he has never been offered any counselling or official apology for
:08:31. > :08:34.what happened to him. The Home Office wanted to brush it under the
:08:35. > :08:37.carpet, wanted it to go away. They hoped it was an isolated issue
:08:38. > :08:43.involving a few men. It hasn't been, it has turned out to probably
:08:44. > :08:46.involve hundreds. When I'd heard about what had happened, I thought,
:08:47. > :08:51.well, that absolutely disgusting that that was going on there, but it
:08:52. > :08:56.wasn't just the sexual side. There was a lot of widespread physical
:08:57. > :08:58.violence. This man, who doesn't want to be identified, was 17 when he was
:08:59. > :09:04.sent to Medomsley. You could take a punch or a push or a kick. They were
:09:05. > :09:08.telling you were worthless ,that's why you were in there, you were no
:09:09. > :09:11.good, nobody wanted you. He says the worst violence he suffered was from
:09:12. > :09:16.fellow inmates, but he alleges it was orchestrated by the prison
:09:17. > :09:20.staff. I was in the dorm. I felt being kicked and punched and slapped
:09:21. > :09:24.and when I tried and I tried to look up and I saw a prison officer
:09:25. > :09:28.smiling and I thought, he's put them up to this, and I curled up into a
:09:29. > :09:39.ball and took what they threw at us and thought, tonight it's my turn,
:09:40. > :09:42.it'll be somebody else's tomorrow. There is a culture of violence that
:09:43. > :09:49.is far beyond short, sharp, shock. This is violence on a daily basis to
:09:50. > :09:53.very vulnerable young men. So how could this all have gone unreported?
:09:54. > :09:56.In the initial investigation into Husband sexual assaults, prison
:09:57. > :10:03.officers said it was an open secret that boys were being abused. There
:10:04. > :10:06.were always very strong rumours that Neville Husband was homosexual and
:10:07. > :10:13.that he was sexually abusing boys who were working for him in the
:10:14. > :10:16.kitchen. As soon as I arrived, I was told by two officers that Neville
:10:17. > :10:21.Husband was a domineering character and also that he allegedly abused
:10:22. > :10:24.inmates. On a night`time, Husband would usually keep one boy back with
:10:25. > :10:30.him after the others had been dismissed and we all felt sorry for
:10:31. > :10:32.that boy. Tim Newell was the governor at Medomsley from 1978
:10:33. > :10:39.1981, socialising with Husband during his spell there, and even
:10:40. > :10:41.took part in plays he produced. Reports written by the governor
:10:42. > :10:48.about Husband couldn't be more different from what was actually
:10:49. > :10:51.going on. Mr Husband's influence on trainees is positive and they all
:10:52. > :11:05.benefit from the environment he creates. I was in complete panic, I
:11:06. > :11:09.thought he was going to kill me. He was saying, no one will care if you
:11:10. > :11:13.go missing, you could be found hanged in yourself, no one will
:11:14. > :11:16.care. Mr Husband continues to provide an outstanding contribution
:11:17. > :11:19.to the running of the establishment. I feel like I'm drowning every day.
:11:20. > :11:27.I feel like I'm doggy`paddling. I feel like I'm crushed inside. Mr
:11:28. > :11:30.Newell declined to speak to us, but in a statement told us he wrote the
:11:31. > :11:32.glowing reports about Husband because he was "an outstanding
:11:33. > :11:36.catering officer" but added that he didn't have a particularly close
:11:37. > :11:40.relationship with him. He said he was "very sad about the pain brought
:11:41. > :11:43.about by his staff" and added " if I had any suspicions about sexual
:11:44. > :11:46.abuse or abuse of any kind I would have taken action" and "if staff
:11:47. > :11:49.knew about the abuse taking place I am very concerned they let the abuse
:11:50. > :11:52.continue." Sir Martin Narey was director general of the prison
:11:53. > :12:03.service when Husband's crimes came to light. Had you heard about a
:12:04. > :12:10.reputation for Medomsley being tough? Oh, yes, I started my prison
:12:11. > :12:13.career at Deerbolt at Barnard Castle, and we'd get boys who'd been
:12:14. > :12:20.to Medomsley when they were younger and they'd talk about how tough
:12:21. > :12:25.Medomsley was. Do I now think that young people would have been knocked
:12:26. > :12:28.around at Medomsley, yes I do. Is there something in the phrase short,
:12:29. > :12:31.sharp, shock which gives prison officers a green light to give
:12:32. > :12:33.people a bit of a kicking? I''m very clear that the regime probably
:12:34. > :12:43.encouraged the low`level physical abuse. In the philosophy which goes
:12:44. > :12:46.pretty close to saying, scare these kids straight, I think there is an
:12:47. > :12:58.implicit encouragement which certain individuals follow to abuse people.
:12:59. > :13:07.The abuse went on for 20 years ` how is it possible? I don't know. What
:13:08. > :13:10.frankly I find appalling is the suggestion of evidence that lots of
:13:11. > :13:13.other staff knew about that didn't participate but knew about it and
:13:14. > :13:18.didn't say anything. In my view that's criminal. Do you think those
:13:19. > :13:21.who were damaged by this actually deserve an official apology? Without
:13:22. > :13:24.reservation, I apologise to people at Medomsley who were harmed by
:13:25. > :13:31.Neville Husband. We should have stopped him much earlier. Now 143
:13:32. > :13:34.former inmates have come forward. A decision on whether to press new
:13:35. > :13:38.abuse charges will be made later in the year. In the meantime, Ray has
:13:39. > :13:45.this message for staff who worked at Medomsley. Come and tell the truth.
:13:46. > :13:51.Just the truth, regardless of what you've done wrong. Just come forward
:13:52. > :13:55.and tell the truth. And if you'd like to get in touch with the police
:13:56. > :13:58.or would like to talk to someone, we'll give you a number to call at
:13:59. > :14:08.the end of the programme. There's also more on my blog. Now a story of
:14:09. > :14:12.two very different ships, one we want and one we don't. When the
:14:13. > :14:17.Donald Duckling sailed here into the Tyne in November, she was declared
:14:18. > :14:28.unfit. Her owners abandoned her and the crew who languished here for two
:14:29. > :14:30.months without food, pay or fuel. A fortnight ago, a group of
:14:31. > :14:34.well`wishers managed to raise the funds to send the 11 man Filipino
:14:35. > :14:42.crew home, but they have left behind a crippled vessel with an uncertain
:14:43. > :14:49.future and a mountain of debt. So what happens next?
:14:50. > :14:58.Thank you very much. I am happy. Homeward bound. A moment they
:14:59. > :15:01.thought would never come. We are very happy that we are going home.
:15:02. > :15:09.Their ordeal is over. The questions have only just begun.
:15:10. > :15:16.The crew's plight began six months ago when they joined the ship
:15:17. > :15:24.already been detained for 121 days after authorities identified safety
:15:25. > :15:26.concerns. Their first trip was to become a nautical nightmare off the
:15:27. > :15:36.coast of Morocco. Provisions ran dangerously low. Everything on the
:15:37. > :15:41.ship is gone. They were forced to fish for food.
:15:42. > :15:48.It made mealtimes predictable to say the least. Lunch squid, dinner
:15:49. > :15:51.squid. In September, the Donald Duckling
:15:52. > :15:54.arrived at the Spanish port of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands where
:15:55. > :16:02.it was detained again, this time with a list of 40 safety faults. It
:16:03. > :16:06.was held for another month, and then to the surprise of the crew, it was
:16:07. > :16:07.allowed to set sail for the North East of England.
:16:08. > :16:17.Many things wrong on this ship. The Donald Duckling arrived on the
:16:18. > :16:21.Tyne on November the 9th, chartered to carry thousands of tonnes of
:16:22. > :16:22.scrap metal from Newcastle to Korea. But once again, the ship was
:16:23. > :16:31.detained. We just found so much wrong,
:16:32. > :16:34.initially, we took the unusual steps of suspending the inspection, and we
:16:35. > :16:36.would come back after they had fixed the deficiencies, and then come back
:16:37. > :16:53.and reinspect. decay. The food and provisions store
:16:54. > :16:58.was completely empty. They had no fridges working, it was a bad
:16:59. > :17:01.situation for them. The mission to seafarers and others
:17:02. > :17:05.provided meals as donations flooded in.
:17:06. > :17:09.They only had two days supply of food left which is when we put the
:17:10. > :17:14.appeal out. We were inundated with offers. In many respects, this crew
:17:15. > :17:17.were lucky they came to a port like this. They could have arrived
:17:18. > :17:21.anywhere in the world and be in the same situation.
:17:22. > :17:26.The British people are very kind and very good.
:17:27. > :17:30.But as the weeks in port dragged on, and with the ship racking up tens of
:17:31. > :17:36.thousands of pounds in fees, nothing was being done to make it fit to
:17:37. > :17:41.sail. Why? To find out, we unravel a story that takes us around the
:17:42. > :17:44.world. The Donald Duckling is owned by a Taiwanese shipping company. The
:17:45. > :17:50.firm filed for bankruptcy protection last year with debts reported at
:17:51. > :17:53.$800 million. Of their fleet of 28 vessels, no less than 11 are either
:17:54. > :18:01.detained, arrested, idle, or have unpaid crews stuck on board. The
:18:02. > :18:11.Donald Duckling has a Romanian captain, Indian first meet, and
:18:12. > :18:14.Filipino crew. `` first mate. The owners are Taiwanese, but it is
:18:15. > :18:17.flagged to the Central American state of Panama. Ships are often
:18:18. > :18:18.registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating
:18:19. > :18:22.costs or avoid regulations owner's country.
:18:23. > :18:26.Panama have a responsibility. They take the ship and they take the
:18:27. > :18:28.money for the ship to be on its register, then they have a
:18:29. > :18:31.responsibility to make sure this ship is seaworthy, which this one
:18:32. > :18:34.isn't, and to make sure that the crew are being looked after
:18:35. > :18:37.effectively, which they are not. They have done nothing to rectify
:18:38. > :18:40.the situation. If this was a UK flag, they would not get away with
:18:41. > :18:43.that. The Panamanian government said they
:18:44. > :18:47.would have helped out but despite requests, no one sent through the
:18:48. > :18:50.right paperwork. A new international law, the Maritime Labour Convention,
:18:51. > :18:55.sets out the minimum living and working rights for seafarers. It is
:18:56. > :18:59.ratified by 53 countries, including the UK. But the saga of the Donald
:19:00. > :19:04.Duckling suggests the convention often doesn't work. We have
:19:05. > :19:07.uncovered evidence that a Panamanian official inspected the Donal
:19:08. > :19:16.Duckling as recently as last October and gave it a clean bill of health.
:19:17. > :19:19.Its certificate is still valid. They are clearly not following what
:19:20. > :19:21.they are signing up to. We are taking our responsibilities
:19:22. > :19:28.seriously, unfortunately, I don't think Panama are.
:19:29. > :19:31.The Panamanian government have said that the certificate was only short
:19:32. > :19:35.term and the convention has its full support. An international failure
:19:36. > :19:38.has become Tyneside's problem. The Donald Duckling has been abandoned
:19:39. > :19:41.on our doorstep, owing hundreds of thousands of pounds in fuels, fees
:19:42. > :19:48.and wages and part loaded with a cargo of scrap metal worth more than
:19:49. > :19:54.?300,000. 12 days ago, the Port of Tyne switched the vessel to the
:19:55. > :19:58.other side of the river. It could take months, weeks, until
:19:59. > :20:03.someone, some lawyer somewhere pays the money and the ship can finally
:20:04. > :20:07.sail somewhere else. But for the moment, we are trying to make it
:20:08. > :20:10.safe and secure. Even if she is made seaworthy once
:20:11. > :20:15.more, she is going nowhere until her debts are paid. Government officials
:20:16. > :20:18.have now arrested the vessel on behalf of the firm that charted it
:20:19. > :20:21.in the first place. A process that will be watched closely by the crew,
:20:22. > :20:24.even though they are thousands of miles away. They left Newcastle
:20:25. > :20:28.airport still owed thousands of pounds in wages. The cost of their
:20:29. > :20:34.transport back to the Philippines met by the International Transport
:20:35. > :20:41.Workers Federation. These are tears of relief to be finally going home.
:20:42. > :20:48.In contrast, there is one ship the Tyne would dearly love to see back.
:20:49. > :20:51.HMS Illustrious is about to be decommissioned, but there is a fight
:20:52. > :20:55.between three British ports who all want to have her. The Royal Navy
:20:56. > :20:59.warship was built here on the Tyne in extraordinary circumstances. But
:21:00. > :21:02.is that enough to bring her home? From the Falklands to the
:21:03. > :21:06.Philippines, she is one of the Royal Navy's most famous ships. Now HMS
:21:07. > :21:08.Illustrious is due to be decommissioned and three of
:21:09. > :21:14.Britain's most famous ports are bidding to provide her final resting
:21:15. > :21:16.place. Portsmouth, Hull and Tyneside have entered a race to secure the
:21:17. > :21:25.Navy's last aircraft carrier. Illustrious has always been close to
:21:26. > :21:28.the nation's heart. Argentina has invaded the Falklands.
:21:29. > :21:33.2000 men are reported to have ashore this morning and taken full
:21:34. > :21:36.control. Fighting a war 8,000 miles away
:21:37. > :21:40.meant Britain needed every ship in the fleet. But Illustrious, launched
:21:41. > :21:47.by Princess Margaret a couple of years earlier, was not finished.
:21:48. > :21:52.Could she be made ready for sea in half the normal delivery time? That
:21:53. > :21:56.question was answered after a series of crisis meetings here at the Swan
:21:57. > :22:01.Hunter shipyard on the Tyne. Yes, it could be done. But the hundreds of
:22:02. > :22:05.shipwrights, welders and other tradesmen would have to work round
:22:06. > :22:18.the clock. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They didn't hesitate.
:22:19. > :22:20.We undertook to deliver in three months. The previous programme was
:22:21. > :22:24.6`7 months. As soon as I saw them getting to
:22:25. > :22:27.work, 25 hours a day, eight days a week, I knew they were intent on
:22:28. > :22:31.making a success of this. It still sends shivers down my back when I
:22:32. > :22:38.think of the wonderful work that went in to achieve this against the
:22:39. > :22:50.odds. We decided we could do it and we did it, as simple as that. But
:22:51. > :22:53.the pace quickened even further when this ship became one of the first
:22:54. > :22:56.casualties of the war. HMS Sheffield, one of the Navy's most
:22:57. > :22:58.modern destroyers, was hit by an Exocet missile, one missile capable
:22:59. > :23:02.of destroying a ship. Even today it still gives me a bit
:23:03. > :23:02.of a shiver, the whole atmosphere changed, everyone was
:23:03. > :23:09.any issues of demarcation, they just got on with the job, as a fantastic
:23:10. > :23:14.team. It was really traumatic and we were,
:23:15. > :23:18.many of us were upset. We wanted to do what ever we could possibly do to
:23:19. > :23:24.help and the only way we could at that time was to get that ship
:23:25. > :23:33.ready. So deadlines were set and beaten and
:23:34. > :23:36.Illustrious was ready for sea. The acceptance of Illustrious is a
:23:37. > :23:39.milestone for the Royal Navy. It is the most important milestone for the
:23:40. > :23:47.United Kingdom and it is an extremely important milestone for
:23:48. > :23:50.the North Atlantic Alliance. From the Royal Navy in general and from
:23:51. > :23:53.all of us in Illustrious in particular, well done and thank you
:23:54. > :23:57.very much indeed. # We'll meet again...
:23:58. > :24:01.The scenes as Illustrious sailed down the river were unprecedented.
:24:02. > :24:05.The emotions of everybody were quite extraordinary. In the day or two
:24:06. > :24:08.before she sailed, thousands of people were coming to see her. The
:24:09. > :24:16.whole of Tyneside was identified with it. When we sailed down the
:24:17. > :24:25.river, my memory is hundreds of thousands of people lining the banks
:24:26. > :24:28.of the River as we took her down. We have been given exclusive access
:24:29. > :24:34.to the personal records of Admiral Sir Jock Slater who subsequently
:24:35. > :24:35.became First Sea Lord. At his home in Hampshire, he showed
:24:36. > :24:41.time, including some lighter moments on the voyage south, including
:24:42. > :24:48.crossing the equator with its age old ceremony.
:24:49. > :24:53.Captain Slater, we welcome you here. We trust that you will join us in a
:24:54. > :24:57.jug of beer. There was also drama when this
:24:58. > :25:02.sailor who had been playing in goal in a flight deck match had to be
:25:03. > :25:06.rescued. I think he thought he was God's gift
:25:07. > :25:10.to the English football team, but he dived for the ball and went straight
:25:11. > :25:14.over the side, 50 feet down into the sea. Luckily, the officer on watch
:25:15. > :25:19.had seen this boy going over and turned hard left so he was missed.
:25:20. > :25:28.This was the moment when Illustrious steamed up past HMS Invincible to
:25:29. > :25:30.salute the ship she was relieving. The war had been won before
:25:31. > :25:33.Illustrious reached the Falklands, but there was still vital work to
:25:34. > :25:36.do, patrolling the islands and insuring against further attack.
:25:37. > :25:41.We didn't know what the threat was going to be at that stage. Yes,
:25:42. > :25:45.Stanley had been retaken, but for all we knew, there could be maverick
:25:46. > :25:48.Exocet attacks so we had to be on a high state of preparedness.
:25:49. > :25:51.This was just the beginning of a 32 year career which placed Illustrious
:25:52. > :26:03.in harm's way at every major theatre of conflict since then. But this is
:26:04. > :26:07.where history means controversy. `` meets. The Ministry of Defence has
:26:08. > :26:09.been under fire in recent years following the break`up of famous
:26:10. > :26:14.Inside Out here in Pakistan. Illustrious's sister ships HMS Ark
:26:15. > :26:18.Royal and Invincible were also broken up abroad. But now she could
:26:19. > :26:21.be saved. Instead of breaking up Illustrious, the MOD wants bidders
:26:22. > :26:25.to suggest ways of saving the ship for future generations. How is that
:26:26. > :26:34.going to work? The bidders have to put in an expression of interest.
:26:35. > :26:41.Then there is an inspection phase which will kick off in about a
:26:42. > :26:44.fortnight. Finally, we will hear the formal proposals on whether she is
:26:45. > :26:47.to become a hotel, a conference centre or a museum. We have lined up
:26:48. > :26:50.those contenders. I am certain that everybody in this
:26:51. > :26:54.region will be behind a bid like that and I hope that they will give
:26:55. > :26:57.us the support they need. A ship like that can be the centrepiece of
:26:58. > :27:00.a much larger maritime attraction which will bring a lot of economic
:27:01. > :27:04.regeneration to the city and raise the profile and name of the city.
:27:05. > :27:07.The city is crying out for a conference facility and has been for
:27:08. > :27:10.many years. This will give us the opportunity to use part of the ship
:27:11. > :27:13.for a conference centre, one for the city and one which will be unlike
:27:14. > :27:17.any other around Europe. Each of the contenders will have to
:27:18. > :27:20.find a berth, perhaps a dry dock to locate the ship, money, tens of
:27:21. > :27:27.millions of pounds, and a length of other maritime developments such as
:27:28. > :27:29.housing and shops. Surprisingly, perhaps, Adimral Slater has come
:27:30. > :27:36.close to nailing his colours to Tyneside's mast. My heart tells me I
:27:37. > :27:39.would love to see Illustrious back, preserved, showing the people of the
:27:40. > :27:44.North East the maritime heritage and what this class of ships have
:27:45. > :27:54.achieved. My head questions whether that actually is a practical
:27:55. > :27:58.proposition. One site already ruled out is former
:27:59. > :28:01.Swan Hunter shipyard owned by by North Tyneside Council. It says
:28:02. > :28:04.Illustrious is too big to go here and in any case, this land is
:28:05. > :28:08.earmarked for industrial use. But the search for other sites is
:28:09. > :28:17.continuing as the race hots up to find Illustrious a lasting home.
:28:18. > :28:20.And that is it for another week. Next week, ten years on from the
:28:21. > :28:26.Tebay disaster, are there new dangers on the track for our railway
:28:27. > :28:27.workers? From the banks of the Tyne, until
:28:28. > :28:44.next week, good night. And after that report on the
:28:45. > :28:47.detention centre, you may want to get in touch for help and support.
:28:48. > :28:50.Log onto the website or phone...