07/02/2014 BBC Points West


07/02/2014

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Welcome to BBC Points West, with Alex Lovell and David Garmston, on

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the day the flooding got much worse. The waters rose by one metre

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overnight, breaching the defences. Even the trains are stuck, and in

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the village of Moorland there's despair as the water comes in. We

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were told to get out. We got out. We have resisted so far. It must be

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serious. The Prime Minister wades in and

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makes a personal promise to reverse the policy on clearing rivers.

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The pause in dredging that took place was wrong. We need to get

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dredging again. When the water levels come down, we will be

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dredging. And a touch of the Dunkirk spirit as

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the local community rallies round. Good evening. It's been a day of

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fast moving developments on the Somerset Levels after the latest

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storms made the flooding worse ` heaping misery on the people living

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there, and pushing the emergency response to the limits. Tonight the

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village of Moorland finds itself at the centre of the national spotlight

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after the Prime Minister paid a visit and saw the devastation for

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himself. People in Moorland were told to leave their homes early this

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morning as the cold water seeped relentlessly into about 80 homes `

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although some residents are refusing to budge.

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And from providing hot meals and drinks to looking after each other's

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animals, the emergency is bringing out the best in the community.

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First, tonight, Clinton Rogers was with the people of Moorland early

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this morning, as the waters began to overwhelm their houses.

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When a major incident became a major emergency ` Royal Marines helped to

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evacuate 80 homes from Moorland overnight, then desperately tried to

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hold back the water to protect what properties they could. As morning

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broke, the scale of what's happened is all too evident ` the water rose

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a metre last night So many homes are now under water ` homes that have

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never previously flooded. This has been a good close`knit

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community, just rips apart. I hope that when everything subsides, the

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powers that be send people here to help the residents clear out their

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homes. A church at nearby Bridgwater became

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an emergency evacuation centre. At least it's warm and dry.

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We have resisted so far, so we decided that it must be serious

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Some people are determined not to leave their homes ` in spite of the

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warnings. We travelled by tractor to a house

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in Moorland that has literally become an island.

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Last night, the owner built a dam around the whole property. Today,

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even more radical efforts to keep the water at bay.

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This is an extraordinary attempts to keep the waters at bay. The whole

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property is now surrounded by 8am. The whole house will be wrapped in

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polythene. `` surrounded by eight Dam.

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The house will devalue if it floods. With the flood water still rising,

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efforts are continuing to protect those properties yet to be affected

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But for many returning home could be a long time away.

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The Prime Minister's visit this afternoon came as a surprise. He met

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Tony Davy whose family has been farming on the levels for three

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generations ` his land is underwater. David Cameron had

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already ordered dredging and extra funding, after criticism of the

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Environment Agency and the government's handling of the crisis.

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Scott Ellis is in Burrowbridge near Moorland for us tonight.

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For the most part, it has been a deceptively warm and sunny day here

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on the levels. The waters around us are still rising. This river joins

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the River Parrot just beyond. This is North Moor, and just about a mile

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away is moorlands. The waters are silently rising at about ten

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millimetres every hour. This remains a very fast`moving situation. Last

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night, we asked how soon before the prime ministers on is his wellies

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and head west. He came quicker than we all thought. A local farmer was a

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rate that he was having to pump out his house. That here more about what

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the Prime Minister had to say. Clearly, people here faced a very

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tough time and continue to face a tough time. That's why we've got to

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do everything we can to help. We brought in more pumps, more help

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from the emergency services, money to help Somerset get back on its

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feet. The money is there. Clearly, we need to go back to a period of

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much more intensive dredging. It's not the whole answer ` we also need

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to build more flood barriers, make sure our infrastructure is

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resilient, and we need to make sure those things happen. But right now,

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the priority is to make sure that everyone in Somerset who needs help

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is getting help. That's what the Gold command and the system we have

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in place is delivering It continues to be an unsettled picture.

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It's worth remembering that this is uncharted waters. There is water on

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the levels where it has never been before within living memory. It is

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also uncharted memory for the politicians are having to confront

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those who have lost their livelihoods. They are having to work

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out how they're going to pay for those projects that people here are

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demanding. Dredging, but that's not all. The night, the rain comes down.

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People are out of their homes. They may be out anything between six and

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18 months. It is hugely disruptive. It's such a desperate and stressful

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time. And David Cameron wasn't the only politician to visit the area

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today. There were angry scenes as the

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chairman of the Environment Agency Lord Smith toured the flood hit

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areas. He defended his organisation's handling of the

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crisis. But as Andrew Plant reports, some businesses say they're on the

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edge of going under.We've got more weather coming in over the next

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couple of days. Right alongside the swollen River

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parrots, Burrowbridge is only watering hole. Still dry inside but

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feeling the flooding effect as fewer customers come to whet their

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whistle. Landlord Jim Winkworth is used to

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driving through floods. This just can't go on.

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Today, this journey is for a meeting with a man. He's been hoping to see

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for the past six weeks. And despite the pools around his

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pedals, it is something he says he has to do.

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Arriving at the nearby Willows and Wetlands Centre, national media are

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waiting outside. Jim, along with a handful of others, is allowed in to

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talk to the Chairman of the Environment Agency. He's coming out

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now. As he emerged, Lord Smith was

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swamped by media cameras. Time to ask Jim exactly what went on.

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No one has told us what they're going to do. The dredging is going

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to start, but no one knows when they're going to do it or who is

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going to do it. Whether they've got the right licences.

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Heading back to Burrowbridge. Jim was more positive about the promises

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he'd received. There's going to be a dredging

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programme puts in place, along with a maintenance programme to run with

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it. Tractors are crisscrossing this

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landscape, delivering sandbags and moving hay.

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Today, promises of a long`term plan. For now, people still feel it is

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only each other they can really rely on.

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Volunteers have set up their own response to the flooding. The

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organisation FLAG ` Flooding on The Somerset Levels Action Group ` is

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co`ordinating the many offers of help. Lizzie Way has spent the day

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with them. They say charity begins at home.

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They say charity begins at home Well, here, Rachel's dining room has

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become a control room. Using Facebook and Twitter to reach

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people, the group here are fielding messages and calls from those in

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need and from those who have something to give.

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We are receiving help from all over the country. We're getting offers of

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manual help, we're getting offers of people, offers of tins, housing

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anything on the farming side. There are companies that have got up

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websites to help with feed, we've got bails of silage, socks,

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childcare help. Being able to re`home animals. And then we're

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trying to get the coordinator is to take that on board, and try to ferry

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those out. Alfred is no stranger to water ` he

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is from Holland, but has never seen anything like this. On Dutch radio,

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yesterday, he was interviewed about the floods where he now lives ` they

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even offered to help just like so many others. But he said going down

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the official channels is taking too long.

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What you see here is people just getting together. Get all the

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phones, take action. We are trying to get sandbags. We get through to a

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receptionist, we need to talk to someone in the department, we need

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to talk to someone else. We need to talk to someone who says, oh, yes `

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sandbags, I'll send those out. 0 sandbags on their way! That's how we

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work here right now. At just seven weeks old, George is

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blissfully unaware that the neighbourhood he has been born into

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is facing such tough times. But it's groups like this that prove humanity

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will always rise above the waters. Some people living in Somerset to

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say the official response has been too slow.

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The Environment Agency, the emergency services and the local

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councils have come together under what's being called Silver Command.

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And we're joined live now by Paul Godwin from the Fire Service, who's

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in charge of the Moorland village operation. What is going on down

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there? We've got a developing situation in

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the moorland area. Waters are still rising. Access into the village is

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becoming compromised for vehicles. What are you going to do?

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We are in the process of putting in float teams to allow us to gain

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access to the village. Then we can evacuate any further residents who

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wish to come out. It really does look grim down there.

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Could it get worse? With the weather coming in over the

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weekend, it is estimated that waters will still continue to rise. That

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will put more people at risk. There has been criticism of the way

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the operation has been handled, reticulated the lack of information.

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Does the right hand know what the left hand is doing?

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Yes, it does. We've got a very organised, coordinated cell based in

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Taunton. It's organising all of our work. We got the fire rescue

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service, the police, ambulances We are looking at how the levels are

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reacting to the weather with facing. Who's in charge?

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It's a police led operation, with help from all other agencies helping

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to coordinate our joint strategy. You use the word on going, is there

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an end in sight? At this moment, we are planning to

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continue our presence here in reaction to the needs of the

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community. Helping those people who have been washed out of their homes

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` and we need to get them to a point where recovery can start.

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We appreciate you coming on the programme. Thank you. We will

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continue with reporting on the floods. Ian will be here with a full

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weather forecast. If you're concerned about the

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situation where you are you can call the Floodline.

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A Somerset con`man who wrote wills for elderly people has been

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sentenced to five years in prison. Keith Webber was found guilty of

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fraud, theft, and making indecent images of children. Bristol Crown

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Court heard he'd used his website to cheat his clients out of hundreds of

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thousands of pounds over two and a half years. He's also been placed on

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the sex offenders register for seven years.

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An inquest has found that a soldier from Bristol, who was shot in

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Afghanistan, was killed unlawfully. Ten Members of Parliament are being

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sent back to school to find out more about the challenges teachers face.

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The Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore has set up a scheme which will train

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them to become teachers. The first band of political recruits register

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for class in the autumn, and will have to spend at least a fortnight

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in the classroom. Order! You are a very excitable

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individual. You need to write out 1000 times, I will behave myself at

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Prime Minister's Questions! Learning to maintain discipline is

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one of the drivers behind the scheme. It's the idea of the

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Kingswood MP, who used to be a university lecturer. He wants ten of

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his fellow parliamentarians trained up and sent to teach in their own

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constituencies. Classrooms have changed enormously

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since my day. They have interactive technology now. I think it's

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important to make sure that MPs are up`to`date with what's going on

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At the school in Cheltenham, staff often find themselves talking

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politics. Some are unhappy with the latest education report from Michael

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Gove. I'd like to invite Michael Gove in

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to do my job for two weeks, and see what it's really like. It's a

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full`time job. It's all weekend as well. It would be nice if he had a

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taste of it. MPs could soon find themselves

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teaching A`level politics classes, like this one. With education at key

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battle ground at next year 's general election, it would be

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invaluable home work if they want to keep their seats.

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Sunday Politics will be looking at politics in the classroom this

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weekend. The torch is lit, and the opening

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ceremony is over ` now it's down to competition and winning medals. So

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who should we be watching from the West, and importantly when are they

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going to be on? Alistair Durden is here with the answers.

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I've picked out the key medal moments we hope will happen. And

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here they are on the Points West pin`board. The first one requires a

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bit of dedication ` a 6.30am start on Sunday morning for Jenny Jones

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from Bristol in the snowboard semi`finals, and hopefully final

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later that morning. She's already been on the course in Sochi for

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qualifying and it's a great watch ` well worth getting up for. Our

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biggest medal hopes are in the skeleton. This time next week is the

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women's final which we hope will include Shelley Rudman from Pewsey

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and Lizzy Yarnold from Bath. 3. 0PM in the afternoon that gets going.

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Lizzy is the best in the world this season, and Shelley won the World

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Championships last year. Have we got any chances in the men's

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skeleton? Their final is a day later on

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Saturday 15th in the afternoon, We'll be keeping everything crossed

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for Dom Parsons, who's a new face on the skeleton circuit this year. He's

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an engineering student at the university of Bath and he's had some

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good results this season. And that takes us to the last week

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of the games. Paula Walker from Trowbridge on Wednesday 19th in the

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two`man bobsleigh final ` could she deliver our first bobsleigh gold in

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50 years? My focus is to try and get up there,

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and in the Olympics anything can happen. I'm really still focused on

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being there to compete, and be the best british female that's ever been

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there. Probably a better medal chance will

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be Paula's other half John Jackson on Sunday 23rd in the four`man

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event. He finished the season strongly, winning a silver medal in

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the last race of the World Cup season. That final starts at 9. 0AM

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in the morning. Enjoy that one with your lazy Sunday breakfast.

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It's nice to have something to look forward to! So that's your Sochi

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diary sorted. Before that rugby and football this weekend. Jonny May has

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kept his place in England's side to face Scotland despite breaking his

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nose last weekend against France. His club team`mates at Gloucester

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are away to Sale tonight in the Premiership. Bath play Newcastle

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tomorrow, and Bristol are at Beford. And in football, it's a lunchtime

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kick`off for Yeovil against Leeds. The rest start at three o'clock All

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the results for you tomorrow evening.

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Back now to our main story today. The village of Moorland was

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evacuated in the early hours of this morning, as flood defences there

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failed. There are two severe flood warnings in place in Somerset this

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evening ` and there's more bad weather to come. Let's go back to

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Scott in Burrowbridge. The weather has really been

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worsening. This is the case of keeping your fingers crossed. You

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can see how high the water is behind me. The Environment Agency are

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continuing to pump of water. They are hoping that because the tides

:20:56.:20:58.

are dropping, they may be able to pump more water. Let's find out what

:20:59.:21:08.

the Environment Agency has to say about conditions, not just in

:21:09.:21:12.

Somerset, but across Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

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It continues to be an unsubtle picture. We've got more weather

:21:18.:21:22.

coming in over the next few days. We are preparing for more rain on

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Sunday. Levels of water rising around ten millimetres now. We are

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taking measures to protect the communities there. In

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Bradford`on`Avon, we will be out tonight with our defences in that

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area, making sure the community is protected. On the server and, the

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rainfall probably won't affect the Severn until next week, so we'll be

:21:50.:21:53.

there over the weekend making sure the drains are clear, and fallen

:21:54.:22:01.

trees are cleared. It has been the end of an

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extraordinary week ` first Prince Charles, then the Prime Minister.

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I'll be back at 10:30pm. Throughout this crisis we've heard

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so many stories of people ` in Somerset and beyond ` offering to

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help the people affected by the floods. From farmers helping their

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neighbours rescue animals and crops ` to offers of food for people in

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those rescue centres. Sally Challoner has been to meet just a

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few of the people trying to bring comfort to those in crisis.

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This is community spirit in action. How many banks have you got?

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Enough of this lots! Hopefully, we'll have some left for the next

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load. People have come from towns and

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villages all around to fill bags with several tonnes of sand donated

:22:57.:23:01.

by a local builder. It's heart`warming because when

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people 's backs are against the wall, they pulled together.

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There were 25 Dartmoor ponies that needed rescuing. I got together a

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group of able to come down here and had to get 25 ponies onto lorries.

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Thanks to my sons, hanging onto these ponies, along with a couple of

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ladies from nearby villages. Lots of people on the Facebook page

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are asking what they can do to help. From cakes to the basic essentials,

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this campsite is offering people a lifeline ` hot showers and access to

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toilets. We've had one lady come and do her

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washing and laundry. The facilities are here if they want them.

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And it's not just here ` farmers in Gloucestershire have donated animal

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feed. They now need help getting it down here.

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We are trying to get local farmers to donate a couple of bails of hay,

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silage, straw ` whatever they can spare.

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Food, too, for local people who ve had to abandon their homes and are

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now living in limbo. It's all from local people, through

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our Facebook page. It's been amazing.

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If there is a silver lining at all, it's this ` people pulling together

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to keep the community afloat. People are so kind, aren't they? Let's

:24:53.:24:54.

catch up with the weather. A stormy weekend across all of our

:24:55.:25:07.

district. This is a summary for you, as we head into tomorrow morning.

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The first key threat is the Gaels, followed by heavy showers. As we

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head into Sunday, still very windy, and equally still the threat of

:25:27.:25:31.

heavy outbreaks of rain. Most of those will be through the morning.

:25:32.:25:38.

We have some rain overnight, and an amber warning from The Met office.

:25:39.:25:49.

For the rest of the weekend, as we had through Saturday, most of us are

:25:50.:25:56.

under a yellow warning for strong winds. Gusts could be touching 0

:25:57.:26:09.

mph at times. That threat will materialise tomorrow afternoon.

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There is a developing hook of cloud on the way. There are already

:26:15.:26:20.

outbreaks of that spreading across parts of the West Country. This

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evening, that main band of rain starts to come in. Probably the

:26:29.:26:35.

heaviest of that living away towards midnight. Tomorrow morning, some

:26:36.:26:40.

showers around, and it will have been windy overnight. Temperatures

:26:41.:26:47.

around for or five. Tomorrow, the winds will start to pick up quite

:26:48.:26:53.

early on. Some dry, bright weather, particularly in the morning. There

:26:54.:26:59.

may be some lightning and hail in the afternoon. The winds are still

:27:00.:27:05.

picking up further and further. I'm sure we will see some damage ` trees

:27:06.:27:11.

down. Temperatures around seven or eight.

:27:12.:27:17.

If you are concerned about flooding, called the Environment Agency flood

:27:18.:27:39.

line. Those numbers aren't free Have a dry and safe weekend.

:27:40.:27:41.

Goodbye. It's your job to keep law

:27:42.:28:23.

and order, isn't it? It must be exciting being

:28:24.:28:35.

a policewoman. It has its moments.

:28:36.:28:39.

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