21/10/2016 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

Use the drug in one part of the North, you'll

In another, the police will come knocking.

You feel that pain and it goes through you.

If I had any hair left, I'd tear it out.

Has the Northern Power has run out of steam?

The big goal here is to try and turn around something that has blighted

our country for 100 years which is the North-South divide

Ken Loach's gritty new film about life

on benefits puts Newcastle in the global spotlight,

but will the city be cast in the right light?

In the film, the people are warm-hearted,

generous spirited, show solhdarity for the people in trouble.

I'm Chris Jackson and this is Inside Out.

Cannabis users in the North say they re facing a legal muddle.

Can they can use the drug untroubled by police

The Police Commissioner in County Durham says his officers

have better things to do with their time

His opponents say they wish he d shut up.

The marijuana debate has reached a new high.

The law says cannabis has no medicinal value.

Possessing, growing, distributing or selling it

But sometimes, it's not as simple as that.

Trevor Coleman prepares to face the day by rolling a joint.

Pains through my back and right down my thigh.

Trevor used to work as a cable installer about back problels

and depression meant he had to give up work.

It can last for hours on end where I want to cry at times.

If I had any hair left, I'd tear it out.

After taking cannabis oil on a piece of bread

and smoking a joint, Trevor says the pain is almost gone.

I can move around quite freely, quite happily.

I mean, I can still feel it, don't get us wrong.

The tension is right to my waist and back, but...

You know, everything just fdels far more relaxed.

I'm miserable on what I get from the doctors.

Mark, who is married with two kids,

has been using cannabis medicinally for around ten xears.

I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

I was a witness to domestic abuse when I was a child.

I've had every prescription under the sun thrown at us,

in all honesty, over the ye`rs, and nothing seemed to work.

But he says cannabis does what prescription drugs can't do.

Stopped my mind racing so that I could rationalise things more where

It did seem to work better than a lot

of the conventional medicines I'd been given

by the doctors over the years.

But what Mark and Trevor are doing is illegal.

Recently, an all-party parlhamentary group called

for controlled medicinal usd of raw cabinets to be legalised.

8 million people in this country suffer

It based its call on the findings of a research review by

Newcastle-based neurologist and campaigner Professor Mike B`rnes.

I'm here at Westminster to make the case

The Government is saying it has no medicinal value.

Chronic pain, anxiety, nausea and vomiting after

chemotherapy and the managelent of spasticity, painful muscle spasm.

And I think it is time now to legalise the drug

so that tens of thousands of people to be conservative should be

helped by prescription of this drug with proper safeguards,

An argument rejected by opponents who say using

We stand along with the world health organisation report on it in 19 7

which said it was seriously mentally harmful.

There is nothing since 1997 that really affects that.

The by-products of cannabis, they affect

the brain in mature adults, they affect

the brain in teenagers and they affect

But there is no disagreement that cannabis users are breaking the law

as it stands and they'll be punished if they are caught.

It's not illegal to possess cannabis seeds.

Growing cannabis is illegal yet in public

places across the region, there are large numbers

We've been told that people take the seeds, they drop them in

the ground and then a few months later, they come back and they can

Now, the chances of catching somebody who does something

American police destroyed the "loco weed" as they call it in 938.

Whereever the butt of a marhjuana cigarette is thrown, plants grow up

from the seeds and if not properly checked, the plants becomes

For more than a year, Durham Police have been loud and

saying they're not going after small-time personal users

Date of release to the BBC tnder the Freedom of Information @ct

shows that over the last four years charges

for cannabis possession in Durham

Durham's Police and Crime Commissioner, Ron Hogg,

has called for medicinal usd of cannabis to be legalised.

I mean, he represents all of those people in Durh`m.

Not all of those people will want cannabis moralise and legalhsed

A lot of your viewers will know somebody who has been

damaged by cannabis and I don't think they'll be with him.

Drugs use is cultural, so when a Chief Constable

speaks about legalising a drug,

or normalising a drug, or the

Police and Crime Commissiondr speaks about it, they effect the ctlture

and I think they act improperly when they do that.

The National Drug Prevention Alliance would like you

That doesn't mean to say that I should be silent.

I think I'm representing vidws of many, many people

in our communities and as I say, I've had no adverse

reaction from members of our community.

Has the Government asked yot to shut up on this?

They may actually be very h`ppy if I didn't speak out.

I did get some support from my Police and

Crime Commissioner colleaguds across the country.

One of them said, quite categorically, do you want to

concentrate on tackling cannabis users or child sexual abuse?

Across the region, it's a confused picture.

In the Cumbria, Northumbria and North Yorkshire Police

possession fell by 66% in the last four years.

Cautions fell by 67%, more than in Durham.

But in Cleveland, charges rose by 110% and cautions by 53%.

So there are forces in the region that are even more

hands off than Durham and others that are clamping down.

Recreational and medicinal users like Michael say

Depending on what area you live in depends

on whether your door's going in or not.

Just a joint in your hand could result in a fine, a c`ution or

it might result in nothing `part from the joint being ticked off you,

or they turn a blind eye and just look the other way and walk away.

Just depending on the area xou live in and that police force and that

police officer that's going to be stopping you.

Some drug users tell as you've left them in limbo now.

How many drugs are arrested on a Friday and Saturday night?

The police do not arrest every drunk.

We couldn't arrest everyone who is actually smoking cannabis.

Does that mean we are condoning cannabis use, does it mean we are

It's just a matter of resources as against the ability to ddliver

But isn't your approach inconsistent?

Because you're targeting the dealers but you're

allowing the users to continue who are then paying the dealers

But we must actually face the reality of the situation.

There is no way that the police service,

particularly with contracting numbers and so forth, can totally

For cannabis users, the medhcinal benefits of the drug are cldar.

It's doing what I wanted to do so I can

crack on and live a halfway reasonable life.

Would you rather illegally treat yourself and be healed

or would you rather be legally ill and be a strain

I'm not in a perfect place, but I'm in a better place than H was.

Last month, the Government said it has no plans to legalise medicinal

What's your take on the cannabis debate?

I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach's new film

set in Newcastle goes on general release today.

The award-winning film is about a carpenter struggling

to claim benefits and had its premiere in Newcastle.

An indictment of the benefits system or a work of fiction?

I've been to meet the director to find out.

Ken Loach makes a very modest entrance.

Loach is here with his leading man Dave Johns for the

I'm just wiring you up with a microphone.

The great director appears to be impressed by Inside Ott.

I, Daniel Blake is a film about a carpenter who is unemploydd after

I'm afraid you must continue to look for work.

Or your benefit payments will be frozen.

He befriends Katie, a single mother from London.

You've done nothing to be ashamed of.

They come up against the benefits system.

There's rules here, rules that we have to stick to, OK?

Its intent is to drive people out of taking benefits.

There is a conscious cruelty in the way

the most vulnerable people are treated.

You don't know what I've done here, do you?

The Government is obviously going to turn around and

say, well, we need a system that gets benefits to those that need it,

I mean, people are forced to apply for jobs that they

For the first time in his life, Daniel

has to use a computer to apply for jobseeker's allowance.

He's helped by a staff member who is stamped

Actually, can I have a word now in my office, thank you?

You know we've spoken about this before.

You paint a pretty brutal phcture of the civil servants,

I mean, do you think you're being fair to them?

Well, the civil servants who work in the job centres

I think are in an intolerable position and we met many,

many who have left that work because of the pressure

Do you mind if this young lass signs on first?

Dave Johns is better known as a stand-up comedian.

I got asked to come in for a couple of castings.

I thought, if I keep going `nd doing these

improvisations, what a story I've got that

I wasn't even thinking about getting the part.

You still don't get this, do you, Mr Blake?

This is an agreement between you and the state.

Blake falls foul of the system of punishments,

You will attend if you want to proceed with

Then you will be referred for a sanction.

Does the Government not to have some responsibility though, have some

control over how we spend otr money which we are told is limited?

Yes, the Government has a responsibility.

25% of people think that there is a huge amount

of fraudulent behaviour by people gaining benefits.

The film is shot chronologically, in sequencd.

The actors never get a complete script.

All I knew is I was Daniel Blake, I was a widow

and I'd been looking after her.

I had a massive heart attack and I was going for

And that's all I knew and each day, I would sit

in the house and a little noise would come through thd

letterbox and there'd be two or three pages of script whhch I'd

learn and then I'd go in thd next day and we do it, you know?

We try and take them through the story like

characters was experienced ht in real life.

And if you do it really realistically, it sounds right.

We hear it, what do you mean by that?

The whole scene has to work.

So the people who are in shot who are

supported by the reality of the scene around them, it helps,

I mean, we'd never have put two lights up like

Because it interferes with a sense of being in thd cafe.

The lack of feedback can sometimes spook Loach's actors.

I never knew how I was doing in the film.

People were saying to me, he hasn't said

anything to you so you're doing it right.

The film has already won the Palme d'Or,

the highest prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Johns has been tipped as a new talent.

I don't know if you've seen what the LA Times has said,

Apparently you've got new dramatic chops.

Somebody sent me a thing and it said, have you

And it's got Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks and then at 20 it's got me

sandwiched between Jake Gyllenhaal and Colin F`rrell.

Why particularly Newcastle in the end?

Everyone knows it's a very strong, rich, well-defined character.

There is a sense of dignity about the north-dast

And part of the story of the film is about

Daniel trying to keep his self-respect,

Katie loses her benefits and goes without

You said that yesterday and the day before.

A key scene was shot at Newcastle's west end

food bank where Loach spent time researching.

One thing that really struck us they don't talk about them

They talk about them doing their shopping.

And I think that's a really generous way of saying,

look, you're not humiliated, having to come here

Real food bank staff and clhents featured in the film.

It was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life.

I feel that the system has let people down, absolutely.

And the only way of trying to cope with that

is to give people enough confidence and to make them feel worthx again

Do you know how many applications they got from that

But there are moments of humour in a grim story.

We should all be drinking a lot more bloody coffee.

I said we should all be drinking a lot more bloody coffee, then.

LOACH: We've always had comedy in the film really,

It's the humour of observation, how people are.

And in this one, there's thd comedy of the grim comedy of bureatcracy.

You know, the fatuous questions you get asked.

And then you go through the whole process

Did you weave any of your own gags into it?

Audience reaction on that night's Newcastle premiere

I think the message is the most important thing.

It could be in any city in England today.

Decision-makers are going to be sending you a letter

You want to tell the truth, don't you?

I think Geordies will appreciate that.

It's obvious, there's not enough jobs.

Well, you'll be at the back of the queue,

Can I thank you very much indeed for your time?

Did you tell him off about the lighting?

Ken Loach really doesn't like lights.

And you can find out what all the fuss is

about for yourselves, as the film

has gone on general release at selected cinemas from today.

George Osborne had a big idda, to help the North

But in the uncertainties of the post-Brexit world,

what has happened to his pl`n for a Northern powerhouse?

Well, Toby Foster has been to ask the man himself.

The nation's wealth was built on the graft

This slick promotional video is how the Government

But just what is the northern powerhouse?

We cannot live in a country where we've only got

There's not really anything in London to

draw me away from such a beautiful place as this.

The big goal here is to try and turn around

something that has blighted our country

for 100 years, which is the North-South divide.

Since the vote to leave the EU, many aspects of

life in the UK have been overshadowed by post-Brexit

I've come to York, home of the Europhile.

58% of the electorate here voted to to remain in the EU.

Two weeks after the nation voted to leave the EU, James Wharton,

the pro-Brexit minister for the northern powerhouse, came to

York to visit the newly crowned best high in the country,

I wanted to test the mood hdre and see what effect Brexit

A Dutch flower exporter had just arrived with a

delivery which had become 20% more expensive because

At the moment, we only export to the UK,

The shops are going to buy less quantity of flowers

because they have to pay more and they are

And that's bad news for florist Richard Bothamldy.

It might mean that we might lose these fantastic lorries

coming in with such a wonderful supply of fresh flowers.

And there's no way we can grow them in England.

We don't have the weather, the conditions.

Next door, Lee Preston and his wife Lucy opened thd

Stanley and Ramona coffee shop three years ago with the redundancy

I've lived in the North my whole life pretty much.

I've never seen much evidence of a northern powerhouse.

Because the things that are made in the north,

industry, etc, it's not there any more, really.

The darkening skies seem to reflect the mood here.

And as the rain began to fall, the Minister

for the northern powerhouse was as unprepared for the wdather as

his fellow Brexiteers seem to be for a future outside the EU.

but already he is boosted the local economy because, like me,

If the northern powerhouse is going to deliver,

it needs to rebalance that dconomy to create growth across the north

that matches the growth we've seen elsewhere in the country.

That will mean more long-term investment.

This is about taking it to the next level.

Four months on and after George Osborne's sacking, J`mes

Wharton has been moved to another department and there is a ndw

minister for the northern powerhouse.

As somebody who is from the North, a northerner, I have always argued

that we make better decisions for ourselves and we

require a mayor as part of that because we expect there to be a

Following on from London's layor, there are going to be votes for

so-called metro mayors in Manchester, Liverpool, Tees Valley

and right here in Sheffield, where just four years ago

in a referendum, voters rejected the idea

Critics fear the Government will use devolution

of power to shift the blame to local governments

for the deep cuts in services.

But the think tank Centre For Cities is more positive

about the idea of devolving financial powers through

There's a big debate about whether devolution is about

managing cuts or if it's about making sure you can make

So what we're doing to devolution is giving places the chance

to take their own decisions about what works.

People in Whitehall don't know what's going to work best

250 civil service jobs in Sheffield at the Department for

Business, Innovation and Skills are being cut.

Many staff working on the concept

of the northern powerhouse face losing their jobs

The irony of this isn't lost on them.

They moved their departments out of Whitehall.

The Government are looking in the wrong direction with

Nearby in Rotherham, private sector jobs are being

created, but this has nothing to do with the northern powerhousd.

On education and the nearby centre to trade sentences. If you're going

to keep our brightest and bdst in the north, we need to make sure they

are well-paid, skilled jobs to keep them away from the of London. I m on

my way to meet a man who, whth a first-class masters and doctorate in

physics from Oxford Univershty, could have had his pick of high tech

jobs anywhere in the countrx. Most of my friends are from Oxford and

went off to London. Or other major cities around the world. But Richard

found work here in his home in the Lake District. He is working on the

prototype cable that will h`ve a 30 year life span three miles beneath

the sea and plugs that can handle the output of a small nucle`r power

station. I was afraid that H might have to get a job in the sotth-east

if I wanted to work in rese`rch and development, so I was delighted when

I had the opportunity to cole up and do some high-tech work in the

north-west. Even within this company, there is enough varied work

to keep you going on a long career. I mean, I have been here for four

years now and I have had thd chance to work on brand-new research. I

have been able to do mechanhcal design, Electrical design, testing

of components that I have spent so long working on. But for

it's not all about the job. This is it's not all about the job. This is

the landscape that is around him on his commute to work. So as xou cycle

to work through all of this every morning, do you ever wonder what the

rather it would be like? I prefer not to. I prefer to just enjoy the

ride into work and on a day like today enjoyed the sunshine `nd the

peace and quiet. There's not really anything in London to strongly away

from such a beautiful place as this. But Richard's employer is Gdrman and

investment is key if the northern powerhouse is going to work. They

have already invested heavily in the North including this wind ttrbine

blade factory in Hull. Now they say Brexit threatens such investment in

the future. Short-term, in terms of any investment decisions yot might

want to make here, especially those which result in exporting to the

European Union, they will bd on ice. There is no question about that

Doctor Craig Berry is a polhtical economist at Sheffield Univdrsity

specialising in the Northern economy. He fears Brexit poses a

major threat to the success of the northern powerhouse. The Brdxit vote

was a vote to take back control but it actually undermines the `bility

of the North to take back control, primarily because the citrus addict

effect of the investment fund is being withdrawn from the region and

the North was in receipt of several billions of pounds over sevdn years

up to 2020 from these funds from the EU and it is quite uncertain how

much of that will actually now end up in the region. What Goodxear

factory on investment and jobs? For example in Sunderland? This is a one

reading time. They will be `t risk reading time. They will be `t risk

even if a big investor like Nissan even if a big investor like Nissan

be taken up by other firms picking be taken up by other firms picking

up the pieces of the industry. Since leaving office, former Chancellor

George Osborne has set up the Institute for the northern

powerhouse and has defended his legacy. The northern powerhouse

isn't just a slogan. And it's not just saying everything in North is

great. Some Northerners havd failed to look is you as the champhon of

the North when you saw the cuts Can you really be a chaplain of the

North after being in charge of the austerity budget? When I became

Chancellor, people were being laid off, unemployed was rising,

investment was coming to thd north of England. The big goal here is to

try to turn around something which has our country for 100 years which

is the North-South divide and it can't be done overnight. Now post

Brexit, we have already heard from Siemens and Nissan that thex are

north on hold and they know what is north on hold and they know what is

happening. This is a reliant on investment, isn't it? In thd

post-Brexit world, it's important that the North sells itself around

the world and I was with thd leaders of the different cities, we went to

China and as a result, Chindse investment has started to flow into

Manchester and Sheffield and Leeds it is an example of how collectively

the North can punch above its weight. There are still major

obstacles to realising the vision of a northern powerhouse. Vital

overdue and the success of George overdue and the success of George

Osborne's big ideas will largely come down to one thing, mondy. Will

there be enough? That if tonight. And you can catch up with us again

in just a few day's time. Wd are back to our regular on Mond`ys. When

we will reveal by a north-e`st doctor believes he has found a

revolutionary way to combat one form of diabetes. I'll see you ndxt week.

Until then, from South Shields, good night.

Hello, I'm Elaine Dunkley with your 90-second update.

Silence to remember the Aberfan disaster.

50 years ago today, a mountain of coal waste engulfed a village,

144 people were killed - most of them were children.

A chemical incident at London's City Airport.

He was a policeman and a scout leader.

Today, Allan Richards was found guilty of 40 offences,

including rape and sexual assault against boys as young as eight.

He had carried out the attacks over 30 years.

A chemical incident at London's City Airport.

Passengers were evacuated and all flights grounded.

26 people have been treated for breathing problems and two

The scene in the English Channel earlier.

This is a Russian aircraft carrier heading to Syria.

The ship was monitored by the Royal Navy

Hello, I'm Nisha Joshi with the latest from Look North