:00:12. > :00:16.Around 60 ataff at a dairy firm in Somerset could be out of work,
:00:17. > :00:18.following the announcement that a creamery is to shut.
:00:19. > :00:21.Dairy Crest has said it's f`iled to make the factory in Chard vhable,
:00:22. > :00:24.despite what it describes as the best efforts
:00:25. > :00:29.The firm has blamed the dechsion on the way we buy our milk,
:00:30. > :00:35.The end of shift and the grim reality sets in th`t these
:00:36. > :00:51.For the last 14 years, Dairx Crest has owned this site, and it has been
:00:52. > :00:57.producing pots of cream and alcoholic cream, but with this
:00:58. > :01:00.factory and its links to thd milk industry, it has been here for
:01:01. > :01:06.decades. It is a big shock because Dairy Crest has been here forever.
:01:07. > :01:10.As far as I remember, Dairy Crest and its predecessors were hdre and
:01:11. > :01:12.able to employ a lot of people in the town so it has been quite a big
:01:13. > :01:14.shock. The loss of the traditional milk
:01:15. > :01:18.round also means their bottling dairy in London is to
:01:19. > :01:21.close, with 200 jobs being cut. Dairy Crest have blamed it on people
:01:22. > :01:24.no longer drinking bottled lilk The proportion of milk sold
:01:25. > :01:27.in glass bottles has fallen But the unions are blaming ht
:01:28. > :01:49.on the supermarket competion. The road this pressure the
:01:50. > :01:52.supermarket supply, especially on the dairy industry, means a constant
:01:53. > :01:57.merry`go`round of contract `nd was looking to cut the costs and leaving
:01:58. > :02:00.companies like Dairy Crest with nowhere to go and with no option but
:02:01. > :02:03.to make these closures. Whoever is to the blame,
:02:04. > :02:05.this landmark building that's been here for over 150 years and was
:02:06. > :02:08.in it's time the biggest milk proccesing factory in Europd will be
:02:09. > :02:15.closed by this time next ye`r. Our business correspondent
:02:16. > :02:17.Dave Harvey is here. So is it
:02:18. > :02:30.the supermarkets' fault or just the We think of dairy as a rathdr
:02:31. > :02:34.traditional, ancient industry, but over the last generation it has been
:02:35. > :02:39.transformed. Those figures `90 % used to come on the doorstep and now
:02:40. > :02:45.just 4%. Can you think of another industry as transformed as that
:02:46. > :02:48.Take something like the imp`ct of the Internet music, where everybody
:02:49. > :02:53.will tell you that it has khlled old`fashioned record shops. What a
:02:54. > :02:58.lot more than 4% of music is sold through record shops. `` but a lot
:02:59. > :03:03.more. In fact, the way we bty music has not changed as much as the way
:03:04. > :03:07.we buy milk. So now West Cotntry dairy people have had to either deal
:03:08. > :03:13.with the supermarkets or bypass them, selling direct through farm
:03:14. > :03:22.shops and high`quality brands. So competition is hard. Should firms be
:03:23. > :03:28.changing? The rule now is you have to get big, get niche or get out.
:03:29. > :03:32.The small companies supplying the top end firms in London all those in
:03:33. > :03:35.small shops. Plans for a new nuclear powdr
:03:36. > :03:38.station at Hinkley Point were given It emerged that Brussels will
:03:39. > :03:41.approve the controversial proposal to guarantee a fixed price
:03:42. > :03:43.for the electricity generatdd Opponents said the deal amotnted to
:03:44. > :03:47.a state subsidy, But today the commissioner said a
:03:48. > :03:54.positive decision had been reached. A formal announcement is
:03:55. > :04:00.expected within weeks. Candidates and councillors
:04:01. > :04:02.from the West are in Manchester for the last Labour Conference before
:04:03. > :04:05.next year's general election. It's a crucial few days for
:04:06. > :04:09.the party, intended to be a launch Our political editor Paul B`rltrop
:04:10. > :04:18.is at the conference. The mood in Manchester is good
:04:19. > :04:21.but the task facing Labour hs At present, the party has jtst
:04:22. > :04:25.two MPs in the West country. During Tony Blair's
:04:26. > :04:27.heyday there were 12. If Labour are going to get back into
:04:28. > :04:30.government, they're going to have to Six candidates whose fate whll
:04:31. > :04:35.decide who governs Britain. They're fighting seats in Swindon,
:04:36. > :04:38.Bristol, If Labour are to win next ydar,
:04:39. > :04:55.some, if not all, must becole MPs. Massively daunting, of course! I am
:04:56. > :04:59.asking the people of Gloucester to vote for me and be their collective
:05:00. > :05:02.representative in Parliament and that is an enormous honour hf I am
:05:03. > :05:07.elected and an enormous responsibility, too, and I `pproach
:05:08. > :05:08.it as humbly as I can but it is daunting but I am also very
:05:09. > :05:10.committed. They've all been trained to toe
:05:11. > :05:12.the party line. Today that meant talking up
:05:13. > :05:15.the messages being given out in Ed Balls spoke of how Labour
:05:16. > :05:22.would tackle Britain's debt. We will levy a tax on the hhghest
:05:23. > :05:25.value properties... But the fallout from the Scottish
:05:26. > :05:27.referendum casts a shadow, amid accusations that
:05:28. > :05:40.the party is divided over rdforming Let's look at the Conservathves
:05:41. > :05:44.They have had four years to look at the England question and now they
:05:45. > :05:50.want to do it in three or four short months. That is going to be a
:05:51. > :05:55.Dangerous Dogs Act mash up, to be honest! So I say, hang on, let's
:05:56. > :05:57.have a bit of a conversation about it.
:05:58. > :05:59.If they needed any reminding, a giant poster shows how crtcial
:06:00. > :06:02.the West Country will be to Labour in eight months' time.
:06:03. > :06:06.Before then, all six will bd giving up paid work to concdntrate
:06:07. > :06:09.So a big challenge facing the candidates and a big molent
:06:10. > :06:12.Ed Miliband makes his speech tomorrow knowing he's got
:06:13. > :06:17.to energise everyone here rdady for the campaign to come.
:06:18. > :06:21.There's more on all those stories on BBC News Online.
:06:22. > :06:24.We're back with you tomorrow in Breakfast from 6.30am,
:06:25. > :06:34.but for now, I'll leave you with Alina Jenkins and the forec`st.
:06:35. > :06:41.We have had a fine day and ht is a finite install. Mostly clear skies
:06:42. > :06:46.and I say that because therd could well be a bit of mist and fog
:06:47. > :06:52.developing across the Somerset Levels or up towards the Salisbury
:06:53. > :06:56.plain. `` it is a fine end `s well. These are the temperatures hn towns
:06:57. > :07:01.and city centres but some rtral spots down to two or three degrees,
:07:02. > :07:05.so a real chilled to the air for Tuesday morning. The mist and fog
:07:06. > :07:08.quickly disbursing and then another fine day with good spells of
:07:09. > :07:18.sunshine. The cloud may well bubble up, more than we have seen today.
:07:19. > :07:22.Perfectly respectable for the time of year with those afternoon
:07:23. > :07:26.temperatures. Overnight to tomorrow, a band of cloud with light rain but
:07:27. > :07:29.that should clear early on Wednesday morning and then Thursday and
:07:30. > :07:31.Friday, drier, more cloud, lore of a Temperatures are not bad for the
:07:32. > :07:46.time of year. For much of the UK, this week will
:07:47. > :07:50.stay drier than average and warmer than average. We normally expect
:07:51. > :07:55.temperatures of around 22 degrees, but by the end of the week we could
:07:56. > :07:58.get into the low 20s. With clear skies at this time of year, it does
:07:59. > :08:00.turn chilly through the evening