:01:07. > :01:11.Good evening. Despite making gains nationally, UKIP doesn't have a
:01:12. > :01:16.place on any of the district councils in our region and it's lost
:01:17. > :01:19.the seat it had in Milton Keynes. In Swindon, local results are watched
:01:20. > :01:23.with interest by politicians and pundits as it's seen as a barometer
:01:24. > :01:26.for general elections. The Conservatives have kept control
:01:27. > :01:29.there and won a seat from Labour. So far, councils here have remained in
:01:30. > :01:32.the control of the same political parties, but there's no overall
:01:33. > :01:35.result yet from Milton Keynes, where votes are still being counted
:01:36. > :01:47.Another Tory win in West Oxfordshire. If the Conservatives
:01:48. > :01:52.may have been fearing the UKIP factor, they need not have worried.
:01:53. > :01:56.They gained two seats and strengthened their position in
:01:57. > :02:00.Cameron's own constituency. Vote share went up compared to last year.
:02:01. > :02:09.We held councils like Swindon and Tamworth, which were Labour for many
:02:10. > :02:12.years before. I am confident that in spite of the difficulties, this is a
:02:13. > :02:19.base from which we can go forward and win. Labour were celebrating,
:02:20. > :02:23.too. Absolutely thrilled. I cannot believe it. I did not know which way
:02:24. > :02:28.it would go. I am absolutely honoured that people have put their
:02:29. > :02:37.faith in me. I am really touched and excited. They also gained two seats
:02:38. > :02:42.in Cherwell. Swindon is often seen as a barometer for the country. So
:02:43. > :02:49.Tory relief here, too, as the council stayed blue. This is
:02:50. > :02:53.probably the best night we have had in the 14 years I have been coming
:02:54. > :02:57.here. We have racked up record winds. It was generally a plague on
:02:58. > :03:05.all your houses. We lost seats to UKIP and that has cost us. Better
:03:06. > :03:09.news for Labour in Oxford. They hold control of the City Council,
:03:10. > :03:14.finishing with 17 seats. The Lib Dems got five, the Greens, three.
:03:15. > :03:21.The UKIP vote is essentially a protest vote about austerity. We
:03:22. > :03:24.understand that. It is something that people feel very deeply, that
:03:25. > :03:27.this government is not listening and it has caused the cost of living
:03:28. > :03:34.crisis. We have policies to deal with that. We will deal with UKIP by
:03:35. > :03:41.doing positive things. No seats for UKIP in Oxfordshire or Swindon but
:03:42. > :03:47.they did get plenty of votes. We are up with the big boys and we are
:03:48. > :03:51.sowing the seeds for the next time. Things can look completely different
:03:52. > :03:58.next time. If that is true, next year's general election could be
:03:59. > :04:01.hard to predict. There will be more on all the
:04:02. > :04:07.election results on the Sunday Politics at 11am on Sunday morning.
:04:08. > :04:12.That's here on BBC One. 450 workers had their last day at
:04:13. > :04:16.Swindon's car factory today. Honda has closed one plant and cut
:04:17. > :04:19.production at others. Before the recession the company employed
:04:20. > :04:24.5,000, now the workforce is just 3,000. A special jobs fair was held
:04:25. > :04:28.today to try and help people find new employment.
:04:29. > :04:33.There were 200 jobs on offer in the room and more companies who could
:04:34. > :04:37.not come but can hire. It was a day to look forward for Honda workers. I
:04:38. > :04:44.have already got an interview with them. I am looking forward to that.
:04:45. > :04:49.A new company that is coming to Swindon. The job I fancy is to work
:04:50. > :04:55.for Aston Martin. It sounds a good job to me. There were fewer
:04:56. > :05:00.volunteers this time around. Some 100 people have left jobs at Honda
:05:01. > :05:04.against their wishes. The unions say that number could have been reduced.
:05:05. > :05:14.More people could have been kept on but Honda decided to employ contract
:05:15. > :05:20.workers. They pay them less than Honda workers. As a result we have
:05:21. > :05:23.seen nearly 100 Honda workers being forced out of their jobs and
:05:24. > :05:30.contractors staying in their jobs that previously Honda workers were
:05:31. > :05:35.doing. The company would not talk today, insisting they must remain
:05:36. > :05:38.flexible. They are doing all they can to safeguard jobs at the plant.
:05:39. > :05:48.While production slows down here, other car firms are going flat out.
:05:49. > :05:52.We cannot get hold of some of the cars. Honda was always in the middle
:05:53. > :05:56.of the range. You are finding that BMW and Audi have brought prices
:05:57. > :06:04.down, and that is nipping at the top end of Honda. Their main products
:06:05. > :06:08.are getting squeezed in the middle. Will this be the last jobs fair for
:06:09. > :06:24.workers leaving Honda? That depends on Japan. Not the Swindonians who
:06:25. > :06:27.make the cars. A group campaigning for compensation
:06:28. > :06:30.for people infected with HIV and hepatitis C during NHS treatment
:06:31. > :06:33.have held a demonstration outside David Cameron's constituency office
:06:34. > :06:36.in Witney. Many of the protestors suffer from bleeding disorders and
:06:37. > :06:39.claim they were infected after receiving blood transfusions in the
:06:40. > :06:42.1970s and 1980s. The government says it's looking into the situation.
:06:43. > :06:47.People feel so frustrated with what has gone on over the years and the
:06:48. > :06:52.continued procrastination. They have had enough. We are dying at least
:06:53. > :07:00.one a month now. Over a thousand people have died. We're running out
:07:01. > :07:09.of time. I feel very passionate, very passionate. It has ruined my
:07:10. > :07:14.life. The family of a police officer whose
:07:15. > :07:20.body was found in woodland have been pairing tribute to her. She has been
:07:21. > :07:24.described as a beautiful mum, a caring sister and a selfless
:07:25. > :07:28.daughter. Detectives say hard death is being treated as unexplained but
:07:29. > :07:32.not suspicious. More bakers' shops have opened in
:07:33. > :07:35.the last year but the number of shoe shops has fallen. Figures just
:07:36. > :07:39.released show which firms are doing well and which are struggling to
:07:40. > :07:41.keep a place on the High Street. The Federation of Small Businesses has
:07:42. > :07:44.launched it's Keep Trade Local campaign in Buckinghamshire. And the
:07:45. > :07:47.Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, put his money where his
:07:48. > :07:54.mouth is. Independent, local and thriving.
:07:55. > :07:56.This shop is keeping a presence on the High Street because most of
:07:57. > :08:03.their Business is taking place online. We will never get passing
:08:04. > :08:10.trade back in the High Street again. The way people shop has changed.
:08:11. > :08:14.There is no regular trade any more on the High Street. That is what
:08:15. > :08:17.brought the speaker and MP John Bercow to Winslow today, together
:08:18. > :08:24.with the Federation of Small Businesses, to highlight the plight
:08:25. > :08:28.of the small independent shop. We would like a broader mix across the
:08:29. > :08:32.board, rather than ten charity shops. It would be better to have a
:08:33. > :08:42.butcher and a baker and a hardware store. Selling pet food has put his
:08:43. > :08:45.business among the winners. Last year more independent shops closed
:08:46. > :08:48.than open. The economy and cost of living will continue to be the
:08:49. > :08:52.political battle ground between now and polling day next year. All the
:08:53. > :08:56.evidence of decades of general elections is that they have tended
:08:57. > :08:59.to turn, not exclusively, but very significantly on how people are
:09:00. > :09:13.doing, how they think they are going in 12 months to be doing and how
:09:14. > :09:16.they think the country is doing. And for the Speaker, a spot of
:09:17. > :09:28.spontaneous shopping in the form of pet food. I think he will enjoy his
:09:29. > :09:31.feast. There are positive signs of a resurgence in this sector, but the
:09:32. > :09:39.secret to success is offering a service the big players cannot
:09:40. > :09:43.compete with. On the way is the weekend weather
:09:44. > :09:48.forecast. That's it from us for tonight.
:09:49. > :09:53.Some showers overnight or longer spells of rain. The risk we could
:09:54. > :09:57.have some thundery showers through the early hours of the morning with
:09:58. > :09:59.a band of rain moving up from the south. We are looking at
:10:00. > :10:03.temperatures staying in double digits in most places. Lows of nine
:10:04. > :10:07.to ten Celsius. The rain band coming in tomorrow morning could be quite
:10:08. > :10:10.heavy in a few places and it will last tomorrow morning round about
:10:11. > :10:13.until mid`morning and we will see it disappear but there will be showers
:10:14. > :10:17.to follow. Those showers once again could be heavy with hail and
:10:18. > :10:23.thunder. Sunny spells in between. You will be lucky if you catch the
:10:24. > :10:26.sunshine. It stays unsettled through the bank holiday weekend. The best
:10:27. > :10:28.day is Sunday with the odd shower. Coming up next is the national
:10:29. > :10:29.weather forecast. you over to Peter Gibson and
:10:30. > :10:42.National forecast. The bank holiday weekend weather is
:10:43. > :10:47.not looking user-friendly although most places should get one decent
:10:48. > :10:57.day out of the three and some places will get two. We have low pressure,
:10:58. > :11:01.and there will be showers around over the next couple of days
:11:02. > :11:02.particularly. Sunshine breaking through now and