:00:00. > :00:09.gone wrong with Wales? But now on BBC One, it's time
:00:10. > :00:13.gone wrong with Wales? But now on Good evening.
:00:14. > :00:16.After 13 days of strike action in St Malo, the Condor Ferries French pay
:00:17. > :00:19.dispute has spread to the UK. Members of the Rail Maritime and
:00:20. > :00:22.Transport Workers Union protested at Portsmouth Harbour, in solidarity
:00:23. > :00:24.with the French sailors who are calling for better pay and
:00:25. > :00:27.conditions. It comes as political pressure grows on the Channel
:00:28. > :00:35.Islands governments to resolve the situation, as Louise Walter reports.
:00:36. > :00:39.She's been stuck in St Malo for nearly two weeks now. The crew of
:00:40. > :00:43.the Condor Rapide determined they will not give up until their
:00:44. > :00:46.conditions are met. The company have already missed out on business from
:00:47. > :00:49.Guernsey's half`term and, with no sign of movement as we head to
:00:50. > :00:53.Jersey's school holidays, some here in the States think it's time the
:00:54. > :01:02.service was opened up to competition. Historically we have
:01:03. > :01:06.had two operators on the route. Obviously, with the recession in the
:01:07. > :01:12.last several years only one operator has been on the routes. Hopefully,
:01:13. > :01:15.we are coming out of the recession and should be considering opening up
:01:16. > :01:19.the route again to another operator. But the island's Economic
:01:20. > :01:26.Development Minister says now is not the time to re`tender the service.
:01:27. > :01:29.We have also carried out quite a number of economic studies, all of
:01:30. > :01:33.which are proven that competition doesn't work on a year`round basis.
:01:34. > :01:37.It is not a route that can sustain it. Tonight, Portsmouth Harbour is
:01:38. > :01:41.the scene of protest by members of the RMT and ITF unions. They have
:01:42. > :01:44.concerns over rates of pay for Ukranian sailors employed by Condor
:01:45. > :01:54.and also want to show their support for the strikers in France. We have
:01:55. > :02:00.been campaigning against Condor and the sub standard conditions on their
:02:01. > :02:08.ships for over a year. The French seafarers have quite rapidly. We
:02:09. > :02:11.wanted to show our support for the French seafarers against the
:02:12. > :02:14.company. Condor say they believe their Ukranian workers are happy
:02:15. > :02:17.with pay and conditions and believe that this new protest is not
:02:18. > :02:20.genuinely connected to the situation in France.
:02:21. > :02:23.Well, earlier BBC Radio Jersey's Political reporter Chris Rayner told
:02:24. > :02:26.me how big a headache the Condor dispute is for Channel Islands'
:02:27. > :02:31.governments Guernsey Electricity say some islanders are without power
:02:32. > :02:35.tonight. Well, it is a headache More of a headache with the
:02:36. > :02:40.travelling public and businesses. What is clear today from the states
:02:41. > :02:46.is that there were pressures from politicians to get this resolved.
:02:47. > :02:49.Senator Alan McInally in, the economic development Minister, was
:02:50. > :02:55.saying today that Condor made the right decision not escalating the
:02:56. > :03:00.dispute by asking the striking workers to be taken off the ferry,
:03:01. > :03:05.and adopted to negotiate. He said of the word has been taking time,
:03:06. > :03:13.progress has been made. I'm sure plenty has been going on behind the
:03:14. > :03:16.scenes. Condor three is a happy to keep talking. What is happening
:03:17. > :03:22.behind`the`scenes is this concern about businesses and the freight
:03:23. > :03:27.going to France. The government is looking at providing possibly
:03:28. > :03:32.providing alternatives for example shell fishermen. It has been a
:03:33. > :03:45.difficult season for the fishing industries in the Channel Islands,
:03:46. > :03:55.and this isn't helping. Guernsey Electricity say some
:03:56. > :03:58.islanders are without power tonight. They have issued a helpline number
:03:59. > :04:02.if you're without power. Its 08 0 587 0285.
:04:03. > :04:04.Guernsey Electricity say some islanders were without power for a
:04:05. > :04:07.time tonight. It happened after a fault in the
:04:08. > :04:11.Route Isabelle area of St Peter Port. The private golf clubs using
:04:12. > :04:14.Guernsey's L'Ancresse Common could in future have to pay substantially
:04:15. > :04:19.more rent for the land. Rent has been set at just ?100 a
:04:20. > :04:22.year for the last 70 years ` a fraction of the cost of maintaining
:04:23. > :04:25.the area. Penny Elderfield reports. It's land that has many uses, with
:04:26. > :04:29.golf perhaps one of the most popular. Although not so much today,
:04:30. > :04:32.with the wet weather putting a stop to it. Around 1,500 golfers pay the
:04:33. > :04:36.two private clubs here up to ?1 000 pounds each year to play, but only a
:04:37. > :04:40.small fraction, roughly nine pence per golfer, goes to the council that
:04:41. > :04:43.has to maintain this land. The Vale Commons Council says it just isn't
:04:44. > :04:47.bringing in enough money to do its job, with ?30,000 coming from the
:04:48. > :04:50.States each year, and the two golf clubs paying just ?100 rent. With a
:04:51. > :04:54.shortfall of around ?130,000 a year, they say the situation needs to
:04:55. > :04:56.change. As well as looking at other income sources, like parking
:04:57. > :05:08.charges, the planned rent increase would see the cost per golfer go up
:05:09. > :05:11.by almost ?80 a year. The clubs agree they should pay more, but
:05:12. > :05:17.there's still negotiating to be done on how much. For the golfers, those
:05:18. > :05:23.I spoke to felt they shouldn't be the only ones picking up the bill.
:05:24. > :05:32.In view of the fact that this is a public area and should be able to be
:05:33. > :05:35.enjoyed by everyone, I would have thoughts that perhaps the recreation
:05:36. > :05:40.committee or the environment would want to contain `` would want to
:05:41. > :05:43.contribute something towards it The current rent agreement ends in 016
:05:44. > :05:47.and those involved in negotiations hope they're on course to make a
:05:48. > :05:50.decision by then. There have been scenes at Jersey
:05:51. > :05:53.Rugby Club today which have never been seen there before! The players
:05:54. > :05:57.have been going head`to`head with dancers from the Moscow City Ballet,
:05:58. > :06:00.who are here to perform at the Jersey Opera House this week. The
:06:01. > :06:03.ballerinas learnt how to do line`outs and scrums and the rugby
:06:04. > :06:04.players, wearing red and black tutus, showed off their dancing
:06:05. > :06:14.skills. That's the news. The national
:06:15. > :06:19.weather is here in just a moment, but first our regional outlook with
:06:20. > :06:24.Alexis Green. Good evening. We are expecting wet
:06:25. > :06:29.and windy conditions tomorrow nights and into early on Thursday morning.
:06:30. > :06:37.Noble see showers dotted about tomorrow. There will be some
:06:38. > :06:39.sunshine, as well. This area of low pressure will bring a weather system
:06:40. > :06:44.towards us tomorrow evening and through the early hours of Thursday.
:06:45. > :06:48.The winds will pick up in the channel and we are expecting just up
:06:49. > :06:54.to 50 miles and are. There will be some heavy rain tomorrow night into
:06:55. > :07:00.early Thursday morning. Tonight we can expect a few showers dotted
:07:01. > :07:03.about. Temperatures average for the time of year, possibly more dry
:07:04. > :07:09.weather then showers and we might see some mist and fog patches. The
:07:10. > :07:15.winds are West to north`westerly. Tomorrow morning might be mist and
:07:16. > :07:20.fog first thing. Showers will start rolling, but possibly there will be
:07:21. > :07:21.more sunshine and showers earlier. The rain is waiting in the wings,
:07:22. > :07:34.high ever. heavy. More international weather
:07:35. > :07:45.next. Good evening. Whilst today did bring
:07:46. > :07:51.some heavy showers, they moved through quite quickly. For much of
:07:52. > :07:56.tomorrow, it will stay dry if a bit cloudy and relatively mild. Patchy
:07:57. > :07:59.cloud at the moment. There will be some rain later in the day on
:08:00. > :08:07.Wednesday. Any rain through the night tonight will be patchy and
:08:08. > :08:08.light. We will see some occasional breaks in the cloud. Foremost, it is