18/02/2014 BBC Points West

gone wrong with Wales? But now on BBC One, it's

Good evening. Plans to cut more than 1,000 jobs from councils in the West

have tonight been confirmed. Three of our big local authorities met to

set their budgets, with all having to reduce spending. The biggest cuts

are in Bristol, which is also raising council tax. With me is our

political editor, Paul Barltrop This is obviously quite

controversial. ?18 million of cuts they want to find in the next few

years. Hundreds of jobs are going. The meeting was over council tax.

George Ferguson wants to put it up by 2%. The Lib Dems tried to stop

that. The men needed to win the support of other councillors to get

it through. Did that mean making concessions? Before the meeting

George Ferguson had already soften some of his measures. He also made

concessions to Labour amendment which meant that Labour came on

board and it passed. They were a few shenanigans to get it passed. There

is nothing I feel uncomfortable with. Children's centres, better

park maintenance. Why should I not allowed to go forward in order to

make sure we had an agreement at this meeting. Bristol is not the

only place. What about the other two big authorities? Bath and North East

Somerset, for example. They have a solid majority. The budget went

through a few hours ago. There is a Lib Dem minority administration As

they arrived, there were a lot of protests. They would talk of cuts to

children centres and 300 jobs going. The meeting started at 6:30pm. Four

hours later, it is still going on. They need the support of other

councillors to get the budget through. At the moment, it could go

on until 1am. We will be talking to you tomorrow. Some other news now.

A murder investigation is underway after a 20`year`old woman was

stabbed in Gloucester this evening. Police say they were called to

reports of a man attacking a woman at a shop on Southgate Street just

before 6pm. The victim was taken to the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

but sadly died. The hard talk about the future for

residents and farmers on the Somerset Levels has started in

earnest. Last night's BBC Panorama programme included views of some

commentators who think parts of the land may have to be abandoned if

there's a repeat of this year's rainfall. Scott Ellis reports.

The leader of the opposition meeting flood victims in Fordgate today Ed

Milband also wading into the debate about what's happened on Somerset's

Levels and Moors. I'm afraid what I've heard from people here is they

feel the response was too slow and the Government was too slow to

realise the seriousness of the situation facing people here.

Lessons have to be learned from what happened there. Last night, the

BBC's Panorama asked whether more could be done to protect the UK s

towns and villages. Or should the Government now be making tough

choices about which places to save? What is the answer in your opinion?

I don't think there is one answer but I do think there will be

communities on the Somerset Levels where it is hard to see how they

will remain viable if we keep getting hit by stuff like this.

Today, something of a backlash in Burrowbridge. The centre of the

floodzone, where waters are still rising and volunteers are hard at

work. I think there is hope for the future but what I really object to

is the tens of millions of pounds being spent instead of doing revenge

on last year, trying to get us back to a level playing field and then

tens of millions of pounds more to do the corrective action. That is my

tax money wasted. Generations of people throughout these rivers

understand that they need to talk to these people, not me, they need to

talk to who `` needed up to the people who really understand how it

works. Then we'll get something happening. Dredging's been promised.

And the public's views are still be sought on a 20`year action plan for

the Levels. It's a debate not just about homes but agriculture, too.

Farmers helping gather feed for their flooded colleagues say their

livelihoods need protecting, too. We have to go back to basics and see

what we actually want. Do we want to feed the nation, look after people,

look after the growing population or will we forget about human beings

and look after wildlife? With the Dutch pumps at Dunball back

on today, everyone's hoping water levels will soon drop. The short

term's about getting back to normal. The long term is more complex,

ensuring this never happens again. So plenty of issues to debate about

the future of the Levels and how the emergency's been handled. And we're

going to be doing just that in a special programme here in the West

in a few weeks' time. If you'd like to take part, go to the Somerset

page on the BBC website and Click on "Inside Out's Flood Special tickets"

for more information. And flooding continues to impact

across our region, despite the break in the rain today. One of the main

commuter routes between Bristol and Bath is still closed at Kelston due

to subsidence. Specialist engineers have been there all day and say

it'll be Sunday evening at the very earliest before it can reopen. Some

bus services are being diverted via Saltford.

Wiltshire's Paula Walker is in 2th place at the halfway stage of the

women's bobsleigh competition at the Winter Olympics. Paula, who lives in

Trowbridge, is paired with Bex Wilson from Bath, with whom she won

the Junior World Championships three years ago. The final two runs are

tomorrow and they're hoping to finish in the top ten.

Yeovil remain at the bottom of the Championship table tonight after

they drew 0`0 against Watford. The Glovers have mustered just one win

in their last 11 league games. For Watford, this was their eighth draw

in their last nine away games. There's more on those stories on the

BBC Website and, of course, your local BBC Radio stations. We'll be

back tomorrow during Breakfast, but now let's get the latest weather

with Alexis Green. Good evening. A few showers in the

forecasts tonight as well as some mist and fog patches and those will

become quite dense through the Mendips. Tonight, temperatures will

drop to around four or five Celsius. The wind will be like, hence why we

have a few mist and fog patches We'll have a brief respite during

the middle part of the day from the showers, with some spells. The next

batch of rain and strong winds which is in mater. The wind develops from

the South. Gale force winds tomorrow night into the early hours of

Thursday morning. Highs tomorrow of ten or 11 Celsius. What can we

expect tomorrow? Sunshine and showers at times was the mist and

fog patches to start the day and a band of rain later. Up next

heavy. More international weather next.

Good evening. Whilst today did bring some heavy showers, they moved

through quite quickly. For much of tomorrow, it will stay dry if a bit

cloudy and relatively mild. Patchy cloud at the moment.