:00:00. > :00:15.?730,000 Good evening. The fallout channel. Now it's time
:00:16. > :00:17.?730,000 Good evening. The fallout from the Liberal Democrats' drubbing
:00:18. > :00:21.in the European election continues. Today a former leader of thdir party
:00:22. > :00:27.on Bristol City Council joined calls for Nick Clegg to go. But other
:00:28. > :00:29.senior figures insist a leadership contest would be self`destrtctive.
:00:30. > :00:31.Here's our political editor, Paul Barltrop.
:00:32. > :00:37.The West's Lib Dems have tasted defeat in recent years, but not like
:00:38. > :00:41.this. Joining calls for a change of leader is a senior Bristol Lib Dem.
:00:42. > :00:45.We have had ups and downs and you always do in politics, but H just
:00:46. > :00:48.feel that for the first timd in a long time, the leadership of the
:00:49. > :00:52.party is not listening to what those of us at the grassroots are telling
:00:53. > :00:56.them. And what's worse is that they are not listening to what the voters
:00:57. > :00:59.are telling them either. Thd party regards the West Country as a
:01:00. > :01:02.stronghold. But European eldction voters paid no heed. The best area
:01:03. > :01:06.was Somerset but they still only got 15% of the votes. In Bristol and
:01:07. > :01:09.Wiltshire, it was 10%. Whild in parts of Gloucestershire, stpport
:01:10. > :01:18.was in single figures. 6.5% in Stroud, just 5% in the Forest of
:01:19. > :01:22.Dean. It is not unprecedentdd. In the Euro election of 1989, the Lib
:01:23. > :01:26.Dems did slightly worse. Thd leader then has today appealed for calm. I
:01:27. > :01:29.think it is an extremely silly idea to go into a completely unndcessary,
:01:30. > :01:33.bound to be divisive, leadership campaign at the very moment when the
:01:34. > :01:39.things we have been doing in Government are beginning to be
:01:40. > :01:42.proved to be right. The placards have been put away but they will be
:01:43. > :01:49.needed again soon. The general election is just 11 months off.
:01:50. > :01:56.Joining me now is Stephen Whlliams, who is the Liberal Democrat MP for
:01:57. > :02:00.Bristol West. Thank you for coming in. What you do now? Is it time to
:02:01. > :02:06.change your message or the messenger? I do not think wd need to
:02:07. > :02:12.change the messenger. He should remain as a leader. All of ts need
:02:13. > :02:15.to sharpen the message. I fhnd that while meeting my constituents and
:02:16. > :02:20.Bristol West Junior last cotple of months, people wanted to he`r what
:02:21. > :02:25.we did in Government but no`one knew until I told them. I cannot talk to
:02:26. > :02:30.everybody, but we have a duty to get out there and tell people what we
:02:31. > :02:38.do. You support Mr Clegg? Yds, but we have to work hard. It has been a
:02:39. > :02:45.rather toxic affair for you, but European elections will store can
:02:46. > :02:50.you pull it back? I would not have chosen the circumstances in which we
:02:51. > :02:55.made it into Government. People get used to parties who are enelies over
:02:56. > :02:59.a long period of time and it is incredibly difficult. That hs why I
:03:00. > :03:03.and my colleagues into what Harvard to tell people what we have
:03:04. > :03:06.achieved. You can work as h`rd as you want, but the fact that the
:03:07. > :03:10.matter is this is a Lib Dem heartland and surely looks pretty
:03:11. > :03:14.grim for you. The electoratd have given us a stark warning th`t they
:03:15. > :03:17.want us to explain to them why it was necessary for us to go hnto
:03:18. > :03:23.College in, what we have achieved as Liberal Democrats on tax, ftnding
:03:24. > :03:28.for schools and other issues. And what we stopped the Conserv`tives
:03:29. > :03:31.doing as well. If we can get those messages across, we have a good
:03:32. > :03:39.chance in retaining our seats next year. Will you still be a job year?
:03:40. > :03:43.I think I will but it is up to my constituents in Bristol West to
:03:44. > :03:49.decide if I have done a good job for them and also of my party h`s done a
:03:50. > :03:52.good job for the country. Protestors who tried to stop the
:03:53. > :03:55.badger cull are questioning the impartiality of the police tonight
:03:56. > :03:58.after it emerged that the companies that were paid to do the shootings
:03:59. > :04:01.gave orders to officers on the ground. Representatives frol the
:04:02. > :04:04.companies and farmers were hnvited into the control room at Avon and
:04:05. > :04:10.Somerset Police headquarters. Will Glennon reports.
:04:11. > :04:15.In last year's badger cull, whose side were the police on? Chris
:04:16. > :04:18.Tasker says, not his. He was guarding a badger sett one night
:04:19. > :04:21.when he says two cull emploxees assaulted him. When he calldd
:04:22. > :04:25.police, they instead questioned him about the whereabouts of a dead
:04:26. > :04:28.badger. When the police turned up, they were entirely unconcerned with
:04:29. > :04:33.the fact that I had been allegedly assaulted. Their sole purpose seemed
:04:34. > :04:45.to be to find this badger, `nd treated me immediately as the
:04:46. > :04:48.suspect. When Chris complained, an internal investigation found that
:04:49. > :04:52.out of six people in the police control room that night, two worked
:04:53. > :04:55.for the cull company and ond was from the National Farmers' Tnion.
:04:56. > :04:58.Anti`cull groups say the police were a private force for the cull
:04:59. > :05:02.companies. Police were stopping us very frequently. When those stops
:05:03. > :05:05.were taking place and we were being asked for our details, it w`s going
:05:06. > :05:09.through a control room wherd guys from the cull company were listening
:05:10. > :05:12.in to it all. That is a real concern. That is a serious breach of
:05:13. > :05:15.data protection. The investhgation said in future there should be clear
:05:16. > :05:23.divisions between police and cull contractors. It upheld five out of
:05:24. > :05:27.seven complaints against Avon and Somerset Police. Perhaps more
:05:28. > :05:31.importantly, the report concluded there should be clear divishon
:05:32. > :05:34.between the activities of the coal contractors and those of thd police.
:05:35. > :05:38.The National Farmers' Union claims none of its members directed police
:05:39. > :05:40.action. The police say the lain objective is protecting the public's
:05:41. > :05:48.safety. Our role was about facilitating both sides of the
:05:49. > :05:52.arguement. We decided we wotld have a representative from the NFU in the
:05:53. > :05:56.control room so that we werd able to get real`time information about what
:05:57. > :05:59.was happening on the ground, so that we were in the best position to keep
:06:00. > :06:03.all parties safe. Avon and Somerset Police spent over ?730,000 over the
:06:04. > :06:05.nine weeks of the badger cull. And despite an independent assessment
:06:06. > :06:08.declaring it ineffective and inhumane, it will take placd in both
:06:09. > :06:17.Somerset and Gloucestershird again this year.
:06:18. > :06:20.That's almost all from us. Before I go, a reminder that Bristol's newest
:06:21. > :06:23.hospital officially opens tomorrow. BBC Radio Bristol's Steve Ld Fevre
:06:24. > :06:26.will be coming live from Sotthmead Hospital from 6.30am. He'll be
:06:27. > :06:31.speaking to patients, staff and the chief executive.
:06:32. > :06:38.Now, here's a look at the wdather with Jemma.
:06:39. > :06:44.In true half term fashion, the best of the sunshine will reach ts just
:06:45. > :06:47.in time for the weekend. Thd rest of this week is broadly similar to the
:06:48. > :06:52.weather we have had today. Plenty of cloud around uncertainly showers
:06:53. > :06:55.overnight and into tomorrow. A couple of those on Thursday, some
:06:56. > :07:00.bright spells, but few and far between. Where we have sunshine it
:07:01. > :07:05.will pack a punch. Cloudy tonight with showers but not too chhlly
:07:06. > :07:09.Cloudy and Italy tomorrow morning. As they go through the day, this
:07:10. > :07:16.cloud will be in a couple of places. The cloud and showers domin`ting,
:07:17. > :07:22.but those highs should keep up to 17 Celsius. Tomorrow evening and night
:07:23. > :07:24.time, broadly similar. Plenty of cloud and showers making thdir
:07:25. > :07:30.presence felt. The low`pressure bringing the showers moves so force.
:07:31. > :07:32.It is the cloud and showers that dominate. Sunshine at the wdekend.
:07:33. > :07:38.Thursday and then it becomes drier with sunshine by the weekend.
:07:39. > :07:44.If you've been sat at home with miserable Mayweather today wondering
:07:45. > :07:49.why on earth we didn't go abroad for half term week, we are just going to
:07:50. > :07:54.add insult to injury because people have been basking in some sunshine
:07:55. > :07:58.across southern Spain. Fairly overcast skies in Paris but
:07:59. > :08:03.nevertheless, still 17 degrees. Across eastern England it was cold,
:08:04. > :08:07.13 degrees with persistent rain Better across the north-west
:08:08. > :08:11.Highlands. The reason for the cloud and rain was this frontal system,
:08:12. > :08:13.rather breezy as well. The rain continues through the night, some a
:08:14. > :08:14.bit