21/10/2013 Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

Good evening and welcome to Inside officers come into

Good evening and welcome to Inside Out, I'm Toby Foster and tonight, we

are in the Yorkshire Dales. This week, with energy bills on the rise

and wondering if the lights would go out, could we return to coal mining

to bridge the gap? We speak to the energy producers trying to plan for

an uncertain future. The energy policy that we do not have in the

UK, that means the decision has been taken away from the UK and there is

a lack of investment. Also tonight, I threat to our

countryside ` we discover evidence that enforcement measures to combat

bovine TB are not working. It took 174 days between our fun getting its

first instance of TB and my neighbours having to be tested. That

is a ridiculous timescale. And a war of words, why the

broadcaster JB Priestley incurred the wrath of Winston Churchill.

Yorkshire is home to one of only three deep coal mines left in the

country at Kellingley. It seems that coal`mining might have been

consigned to the history books but it still produces the biggest

percentage of electricity we use so could a return to coal`mining be on

the cards for Britain? And if not, do we risk the lights going out and

even bigger energy bills? Most of us don't question where it comes from,

only how much it's costing us. But as winter approaches, experts warn

electricity supplies are at dangerously low levels and any surge

in demand could lead to blackouts. It is not scaremongering, it is

scary as a matter of fact. I personally believe there is a risk

of lights going out in the next decade. The Government is searching

for ways to produced low`cost renewable energy and these things

aren't easy. In the last ten years, energy costs

have spiralled amid the rising cost of fuel suppliers as they battle to

meet emission targets, replacing dirty fuel with cleaner, greener

energy like wind, wave and solar. For single dad Robin, it's made life

harder. Like many families on low incomes, finances are balanced on a

knife edge and price hikes or cold snaps hit him hard. As Orton has

turned I have been loath to put the heating on `` as Orton has turned ``

autumn. And I said to my children, shut the door, keep the heat in. The

fact that energy prices are going up, that will make it hard. I have a

token meters so I have to buy it as I go, I am trying to buy more than I

need so that come winter time an the cold months, I have something there.

Are you OK? Come on, sweetheart. Last winter it was appalling.

His is a familiar story but what may surprise you is where the power he

uses is actually coming from. Even on this Monday night in October,

about 40% of our electricity is still coming from burning coal.

I've come to Kellingley colliery on the edge of the old Selby coal

field. 900 tonnes of coal hurtles upwards every hour, supplying nearby

Drax power station and there's plenty more where that's come from.

Our coal industry has been allowed to decline because greener energy

was supposed to take over, but it's not there yet. In fact, over the

last seven days on average it accounted for less than 5% of the

UK's electricity and the chief executive of UK Coal fears there are

no easy answers. Decisions in this country are getting close to the

edge, frighteningly so. About 80% of all ownership of all energy

decisions in the UK are in some form of foreign ownership and frankly the

energy policy that we do not have in the UK, that means that the decision

is all too often are being taken away from the UK and there is a lack

of investment and that is worrying, we should be worried about that.

That uncertainty has seen two deep mines close this year alone

including one owned by UK Coal. It's a far cry from the industry's heyday

and there's no getting away from the fact that coal mining in the UK is

on a precipice but here they say a commitment to coal's value, even in

the short term, could allow for pits to reopen. For some other them that

have closed, they have got to the end of their economic life but we

have within UK Coal, Highworth colliery is capable of opening and

we are not saying to reopen them all but we should not let it pass away

quietly. But the brutal truth is it's cheaper

to ship it in than harvest what's still plentiful beneath our feet,

even if that means adding a carbon footprint to carbon itself. Today

around 70% of the coal we use for our energy needs is imported. The

vessels docked here at Immingham today have come from as far afield

as Russia and Colombia. And why invest when many of the power

stations here that burn the stuff are coming to the end of their

lives? In fact the National Grid says today there is 20% less power

available from coal`fired power stations than last winter. That's

why there's the increased talk of blackouts and it's a situation some

saw coming years ago. This government and previous governments

have all been told that we would run into this sort of situation by 2014,

2015 as various power stations, old ones which are 40 years old, close

down for various reasons and they are not being replaced and the

governments have sat on their hands and not done anything about it and

now, surprise, surprise, they are worried about it all.

Elsewhere in Europe ` in Germany and the Netherlands ` they've built new

coal fired`power stations to bridge the gap while green energy plays

catch up. Professor Fell's preference would have been nuclear

but whatever fuel, power is needed now and he fears there is only one

answer to the immediate crisis. Frankly, I think we will have to

keep the coal`fired power stations going and in theory, if we do that

and we break European rules we could be heavily fined for doing it.

And of course those fines, those low carbon targets have been set for a

reason ` to encourage us to embrace green technology. The importance of

renewables like this wind farm in North Yorkshire was highlighted by

recent scientific evidence that man's reliance on fuels like coal

have impacted on our climate. And moreover green energy, once it's up

and running, is powered for free. If we have the right investment in the

renewables we can keep the lights on with them. Some fossil fuels but

mostly gas will enable us to have an affordable, secure and low carbon

energy system. But in Germany and the Netherlands, they are building

more coal`fired stations, are we missing a trick? The way you do not

get cheap energy is by continuing depending on fossil fuels. The cost

will go up, 50% on the cost of gas in real terms over the next ten

years and that is what is really driving energy bills up at the

moment. Investment in renewables will bring more stability to the

energy market and provide cheaper affordable bills for energy

consumers. What is clear is that there are no easy answers. But here

at Drax, they are positive about the future. Not only have they switched

one of their coal units over to burn biomass, they're also working with

the Government and the National Grid to deliver a greener way to burn

coal. If it gets the go`ahead, it will build a brand new coal`fired

plant like this where carbon emissions would be captured and fed

through a pipeline. The CO2 would zip through Yorkshire and out into

the North Sea where it would be stored under the sea bed. We are

very positive about the project and the Government are as well and

nothing the Government can see the sense in using carbon capture and

storage technology and particularly because it helps transition to a

fully low carbon future so we can get the technology right and then it

is cost`effective, renewable energy. Nobody from the Government were able

to give us an interview that they provided a statement saying that the

lights are not going out and that it intended to reopen mothballed gas

power stations which would mitigate the risks in the middle of the

decade. That may solve the issue of supply and gas does burn cleaner

than coal but it does not address the real issue for consumers like

Robin, that of price. The continued rise in the cost of whole sale gas

is one reason why suppliers say they are having to put up prices right

now. I have to buy in of electricity to last me a week and then food and

then other things. Is the amount of money you have got left getting

smaller? Yes, definitely. My daughter is starting to notice that

the fridge is not as full as it used to be. They will eat and get what

they need. The question comes to me. I may not have a hot meal. For

Robin, like many people, cost is everything.

If you have got a view on that story all know what a story we should be

covering, you can contact us on Twitter or e`mail. Coming up `

winning the war, why Churchill wanted JB Priestley taken off the

airwaves in World War II. It is the biggest challenge to our

farming industry, bovine TB is spreading fast across central

England are now threatening the borders of Yorkshire and

Lincolnshire. This month, measures were put in place to try to stop

this happening but Inside Out has discovered alarming evidence of Miss

testing and poor enforcement. We have been investigating.

From a few isolated cases in the 1980s, bovine tuberculosis now

affects large areas of England. And it's been steadily moving north and

east. The number of herds affected by the disease in North Yorkshire

more than doubled in the year to this June. In Lincolnshire, it

trebled. How to tackle the disease is controversial. But what is agreed

is it must be stamped out in an area known as the Edge. An area between

high`risk counties where there's an epidemic and low`risk counties where

cases are rare, an area where the disease is steadily spreading. I'm

standing in Cheshire on the Edge which also includes counties like

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. If the disease can't be controlled

here, it could reach Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lincolnshire

and Yorkshire by 2022. DEFRA is so concerned about the Edge, it

introduced measure like tougher cattle tests here this month. But is

that enough? Phil Latham farms on the Edge and in a high risk TB area

in Cheshire. Until a year and a half ago, he'd never had a case of bovine

TB. This year 89 cows were slaughtered. Emotionally and

financially, pretty tough. We are clear now but we have not adapted

the business. We have decided to go down to 300 cows, making people

redundant. A chap is leaving today, actually. Phil hasn't bought in a

cow in 16 years. He's certain badgers infected his cattle and

welcomes the cull, but believes farmers are also at risk because of

problems with the AHVLA, the body which manages cattle testing. It

took 174 days between our farm getting TB and our neighbours being

tested. A ridiculous timescale. Their paper systems seem to be out

of control. We were told to get our cattle tested after they had been

shot. I have one neighbour who wasn't tested for 20 years because

the AHVLA forgot to allocate him the test and in order to do his test, it

took 40 visits. It's a ridiculous waste of resources and way to

control a disease. When bovine TB was discovered in Phil's herd, his

farm was closed down. No cattle could be moved on or off it.

Restrictions crucial to stop the disease spreading. But some farmers

are breaking them. Anthony Kirkham is a cattle dealer who farms a few

miles away. He's been prosecuted twice for moving cattle illegally,

while his farm was shut down with TB. Nearly 200 offences. We asked Mr

Kirkham why he repeatedly broke the law, but he hasn't replied. Despite

those convictions he has a licence to transport cattle around the

country. Issued by the AHVLA again, the same body that put TB

restrictions on his farm. But it doesn't refuse a licence for

breaking TB rules. Its interest is in making sure transported animals

are well treated. What's happening in Cheshire and the Edge is alarming

farmers further afield. It's about 40 miles. It's creeping closer all

of the time. Mark Goodall has 200 cows in the Tong Village in

Bradford, a low`risk area. His herd's free of the disease but he

fears that could soon change. It's a major concern. It is getting so

close. We have had isolated incidentplu`mac about five miles

away. It is getting closer and closer. Most farmers, like Mark,

farm within the rules and do all they can to prevent TB spreading.

But are the rules strict enough? They are trying to make the cattle

worth more money. They are moving them from a dirty area to a clean

area. I have come to meet a farmer who claims the law is being broken

for profit. We have protected his identity. You often see wagons from

down south pull up late at night. The next morning, they are loaded up

by a different wagon and taken to auctions. On paper it never

happened. How do you feel about that? It is disgusting. We are TB

free. It is hard to sort it out. They are trying but they need to be

more ruthless to stop it. Every week tens of thousands of animals are

bought and sold at auctions. I've come to a new auction in Cumbria,

used by farmers across the north. On the screens here, limited

information about the animal you're buying. Auctions don't have room and

aren't forced to provide more. So, how confident can a farmer be in

what they're buying? There is not enough information. You could buy an

animal which you think is of a Cumbrian farm, but it could be from

a high`risk or anywhere. The government wants to introduce a new

system. But it is only voluntary not under a tree. What do you think of

that? We have played around with this disease for too long. We have

got to do some thing about it. That is not the only bit of legislation

Trevor wants to see changed. In low`risk areas, the neighbours of a

farmer who comes down with TB have a 28`day window before they have to

shut down their own farms. For the 28 days, they can move and Selby

livestock. All of the rules have to be tightened up. So will that

happen? The Government is reviewing how to tackle TB to stop it moving

north. But it doesn't believe farmers should be made to provide a

TB history for their animals at places like auctions. We do not

believe it should because we need to get all of the information and let

people think about what they are doing. It applies to other endemic

diseases as well. And the 28`day window that Trevor wants to see

removed? A low`risk area has very low risk of TB so the risk is

minimal. And that farmers who do not record cattle correctly risk losing

a subsidy. Back in Cheshire, Phil Latham hopes

enough will be done to halt the spread of TB but he says he is yet

to be convinced. The inexorable spread of TB across the country

through all the couple areas will continue unless a better policy and

properly resourced policy is implemented. There is an awful lot

of work to do, otherwise we will have a situation in the country

where a lot of the badgers throughout the country and a lot of

the cattle and further north than here will have TB and that is an

appalling vision of the future. The Bradford born writer and

broadcaster JB Priestley is buried near here. He started broadcasting

during World War II on Sunday nights in an attempt to raise spirits but

there came a point when his message did not suit the powers that be and

that was bound to lead to a clash with the man at the top.

They are synonymous with winning the Second World War, the speeches of

Winston Churchill. The British Empire and its Commonwealth will

last through a thousand years, men will still say, this was their

finest hour. But there was another voice, now almost forgotten which

rallied the spirit of the country. After the evacuation from Dunkirk,

the author and broadcaster JB Priestley was hired by the BBC to

write and present the postscript programme broadcast every Sunday

night. When they learn how we began this war by snatching glory out of

defeat and then swept on to victory, they may also learn how the

little holiday steamers made an excursion to hell and came back

glorious. If Churchill was the voice of the nation, JB Priestley was the

voice of the people. He was from Bradford and by the start of the

Second World War, he was rightly regarded as the nation's favourite

author. `` widely regarded. Who better to rally the national spirit?

In the autumn of 1933 he did a tour of England and Wales will stop he

had quite a strong point of view about the way in which the

controlling forces in society had allowed big cities to become pretty

rough places to live. I think he was seeing as being of the left. We

could fight and fight these Nazis until we broke their black hearts.

At first it seemed that Churchill and Priestley were doing the same

thing ` using the power of language to stir hearts and unite the British

people but after a while it became clear that the two men wanted very

different kinds of written after the war. And that was bound to lead to a

clash. The two men were on a collision course according to the

avid historian, Doctor Richard North. He says that over 20

programmes in 1940 and a further six in 1941, Priestley grew increasingly

critical of Churchill's government until he was fired. The BBC and the

information minister at the time blamed each other for the decision.

But Doctor North believes Churchill himself approved. The question is,

who fired him? Whether it was Mr Cooper or Churchill had his

fingerprints on it. I think they thought he was rather leftish and he

was quoted as saying that public opinion was a very fine instrument

and he proposed to use it. It's pretty much fixed in the

British psyche, the story that after the little ships brought the army

home from Dunkirk, the country stood on the brink of invasion. German

forces were massed on the other side of the Channel and the only thing

that stopped them was Fighter Command winning mastery of the air.

Dr North claims that Churchill's glorification of the few, in other

words, Fighter Command in the Battle of Britain, excluded the massive

contribution of the many to the war effort. He says it was this kind of

language that led to a political standoff between Priestley and

Churchill. The idea of an elite few rescuing the people was very much

more in accordance with Churchill's political vision than it was of the

Labour view which had turned the people's war into a campaign issue.

But Dr North's view isn't shared by many other historians But on the

question of Priestley, what do now ancient documents tell us? Do you

think there is a danger that the book is actually going to do a

disservice to Churchill and the men in fighter command? I believe he

is. Definitely. I think in a way he is doing a disservice to the people

who forgotten because they are not forgotten. On the question of

Priestly, what do ancient documents tell us? I am at Bradford University

to find out. Let us take a look at the evidence. This is an article

from the Sunday cat litter express. You begin to suspect we are not in

the same war. You find yourself day off today being obstructed instead

of being encouraged. What about this one? This is 1941. A year later.

This is a letter from Priestly to his American publisher. Apparently I

offended too many influential reactionaries. What about this one?

This is a sort of autobiography which came out 20 years later. He'd

been mulling over the sink for 20 years. What he says about the

postscript is a little paragraph about why they stop. I received two

letters, I kept them for years. One was from the Ministry of information

telling me that the BBC was responsible for the decision to take

me off the air and the other was from the BBC saying that a directive

had come from the Ministry of information. Blaming each other, I

think both of them were concealing the essential fact that the order to

shut me up had come from elsewhere. That elsewhere should be in capital

letters. Who do you think he is referring to? My feeling is that he

is implying that Churchill is somewhere at the heart of this. And

that's where the trail might have ended but for information we

uncovered in Cambridge. The city is home to the Churchill College and

Archives. It's here that Inside Out has discovered that, far from

standing aloof, Churchill took a keen if not obsessive interest in

Priestley's broadcasts and was eager for his removal. Some of the

documents in here are astonishing. Look at this one. This is from

Churchill himself to the information minister. He says, "I'm very sorry

that you've got Mr Priestley back and that his first broadcast should

have been an argument utterly contrary to my own views. How many

more has he got to do? Have you any control over what he says? He's far

from friendly to the government and I should not be too sure about him

on larger issues." And then we have this written the same day from Duff

Cooper, straight back to Churchill, obviously written with some urgency.

Then we have this written the same day from the information minister

straight back to Churchill. It says, "He is due to give five more talks.

I will see the scripts and will suppress anything I think should not

be said, but subject to your instructions, I would not propose to

delete all criticism of His Majesty's government. It would be a

pity if it were thought that the increased control which we're now

assuming over the BBC was designed to suppress the free expression of

opinion." This correspondence is extraordinarily revealing. While

it's not a direct order to sack Priestley, Churchill's intentions

are crystal clear. Within weeks, Priestley was history. Even so,

Nicholas Hawkes is still not convinced Churchill sacked his

stepfather, as Priestley himself suspected. I presume to know better

than him because I have been through all the records in the BBC archive.

I think that looking back on it he recognised that his contribution to

Britain's morale and steadying of nerves had been very great and he

could not understand why the BBC wanted to terminate. Arguably both

Priestley and Churchill were vindicated by subsequent events and

the writings of both men are now part of our national heritage. What

remains is the mystery of what happened in those dark days of 1940

and '41 and whether we shall even know the true history of that time.

That is all for tonight from here in the Dales, make sure you join us

next week. We will be finding out about the possibility of a new mini

ice age. We will be following the officers trying to stop illegal

cigarettes entering the country and hearing from an explorer who thinks

children should get out more.