17/05/2017 BBC Wales Today

Developers promise world class motorsports and hundreds of jobs.

Why a decision on the future of the Ebbw Vale racetrack

but the minister in charge here says he won't cut corners

before committing millions of pounds to the project.

Filmed on a policeman's body camera, designed to deter criminals

Now all frontline South Wales officers will wear them.

Chelsea Manning, jailed for leaking intelligence,

is released from military prison in the United States.

Her mother in Pembrokeshire says she's delighted.

If I was Prime Minister, I would scrap unemployment tribunal fees.

We've been asking what you'd do if you were Prime Minister.

John Gilheaney tells us why he'd address workers rights.

And many gardens have had a watering recently.

But if you fancy some drier weather and sunshine,

Developers say it would bring world-class motor sport

to Wales and with it, hundreds of jobs for Ebbw Vale.

But the decision to give the Circuit of Wales project the go ahead has

been delayed for the second time in two months.

The Welsh Government says it must take its time before agreeing

to underwrite around half the cost of the ?400 million project,

but opponents say the process is being dragged out

Our political correspondent, Daniel Davies, reports.

The middle of May, although it didn't feel like it

This was the time we expected an announcement here

The circuit would create thousands of jobs in one

of the poorest parts of Wales, according to its developers.

They've got private money to pay for it but need a Welsh Government

It seems every time the finish line is in sight, it disappears

Ministers blamed the latest delay on gaps and inaccuracies

in the information they've had from the circuit.

Sorting that out has added a few more weeks

Here in the Senedd, with a general election three weeks away,

opponents say ministers are quite happy to wait a little while longer.

What you've done is conduct a forensic audit with the express

purpose it seems to me are finding some excuse, any excuse at all,

And isn't it also the case, Cabinet Secretary, that having first

delayed the decision until after the May local elections,

you are now delaying it beyond June 8th.

My interest is with the people of Ebbw Vale.

Yours seems to be political self-interest.

A big difference between ambition and recklessness.

I will not short-circuit the due diligence process.

There have been many twists and turns since late 2011 when plans

The Welsh Government got on board the following year with a ?2 million

grant and two years later, it guaranteed a ?7

Last April ministers declined to underwrite the ?350 million

After months of negotiation, Ken Skates in February he'd look

in detail at a new application to guarantee half

A decision was expected in March, that was delayed until the middle

of this month and now, it's been put off again.

The Conservatives say there are serious questions

about more than ?9 million the Welsh Government has already

given the Circuit of Wales, while Ukip is urging ministers

The Circuit of Wales says it has complied with every request

from the government about this complex application and that it

looks forward to a positive announcement soon but in the Bay,

some says the outlook for this project is starting

Dan, what sense did you get from the Economy Secretary today?

Lucy, people are hanging on every word Ken Skates says about this as

they try to guess whether he is going to give the circuit of Wales

the green light or not. But he is locked into a process here. He says

that he remains excited about the scheme but you heard him in my

report talk about due diligence, that is the analysis by officials

and accountants looking at whether this is something that the taxpayer

should get involved in but of course the taxpayer is involved. The Welsh

Government has given the scheme money, has lent it money and a

recent report was very critical of the way that money was handed over.

All that means that this time they are determined to be seen to do

everything they can to thoroughly analyse the Circuit of Wales before

making any further decisions. Even though that process is taking longer

than anticipated, even though some of the opposition are getting

suspicious but in the words of one Labour Assembly Member talking in

the chamber this afternoon, it is worth taking the time to get this

right, to make sure the valleys are not landed with another white

elephant. Five people in Pembrokeshire have

been arrested on suspicion of "gangmaster" offences

following an investigation They were arrested in Milford Haven,

following a multi-agency operation. Dyfed Powys Police says those

affected are being fully supported. The rate of unemployment in Wales

is still higher than the UK rate, after a year of being

below the average. The latest figures show 4.8% of 16

to 64-year-olds in Wales were out of work in the first three months

of this year, compared South Wales Police say they hope

that becoming the latest force to roll out body-worn video cameras,

will help deter criminals It says all front line staff

will soon be wearing the technology, It means all four Welsh

forces now use bodycams. Imagine being confronted

with this one day at work. This footage, an officer's eye view,

helped convict the man South Wales Police now the latest

force to use body cameras There's an opportunity

for the public to confident that police officers

are deploying their skills, using force in the appropriate

and proportionate way. And for police officers to feel

that they are being supported and if they are assaulted

or there are particularly negative interactions, the court will see

the actuality of it. The force says budget pressures

is the reason why they didn't buy A study by Cambridge University last

year suggested that after officers started using cameras like this,

complaints against them fell by 93%. Everything is being recorded

so there is little point in making a malicious claim against a police

officer and if you are an officer yourself, maybe even more reason

to act professionally at all times. Domestic abuse cases is one

area in which cameras Body cam footage from

Hampshire Police resulted in this perpetrator getting ten

years for assault. People don't realise

how bad these things are but with that you know footage,

they can see how bad it was. They could see I was

totally confused. Which you don't get

from a photograph. Security staff at the University

Hospital of Wales have also used Once they are turned on, aggressive

individuals often calm down. One expert says their

increased use could help People like to be able

to see what happened Previously, you would just

rely on a statement Now the jury can actually see,

this is what happened and this is the story

of what we are being Of course, it all does come down

to hitting record at the right time. Staff are being trained

on how to do that. Footage is stored securely online

and could even be used with face It will also be used for officers

to learn from incidents. A long-term commitment to fund flood

defences along the proposed M4 relief road is needed before

the scheme goes ahead. That's according to

the environmental regulator It says the likely impact of climate

change has to be taken into account. Lawyers acting on behalf

of the Welsh Government say it was "inconceivable" that sea

defences would not be maintained as part of

the billion pound project. Welsh laverbread has been

awarded protected food It means only cooked seaweed made

in Wales can use the name. It joins other Welsh delicacies

already on the list, like Welsh Lamb, Halen Mon Sea Salt

and Pembrokeshire early potatoes. The former American soldier,

Chelsea Manning, who was brought up in Pembrokeshire,

says she's looking forward to putting the past behind her,

after being released early The 29-year-old army private

was responsible for one of the biggest intelligence leaks

in American history. Chelsea Manning, was

born Bradley Manning, and underwent gender transition

during her time in prison. Chelsea Manning spent some difficult

teenage years in Haverfordwest Just a few years after leaving

to join the US Army as an intelligence analyst,

Chelsea Manning became She was accused of one

of the biggest intelligence leaks in US history,

having passed hundreds of thousands of classified documents

to the Wikileaks website, along with this video of Iraqi

citizens being gunned down Chelsea Manning's mother

Susan lives here on this Other members of the

family live locally. The family have consistently

supported Chelsea since But nobody was available to comment

today, despite her release from Fort Leavenworth

prison in Kansas. The news of her release

was welcomed in Haverfordwest. For somebody to be put in prison

for telling the truth, I suppose if anyone did anything

wrong, doing what they did, they would have to get punished

but not as severe as it was. Jailed for 35 years by a military

court in 2013, the transgender soldier sentenced was commuted

by President Obama in one Although some laud her as a hero

for exposing war crimes, President Trump recently

labelled her as a traitor and many Chelsea Manning has been the first

person who quoted the documents on additional platforms and released

those documents not via mainstream media but by a website

which was Wikileaks. Something that then became famous

and only after was already pretty common and well known before

Chelsea Manning, but because of Chelsea Manning relations,

Wikileaks is what it is now. Chelsea's family in Pembrokeshire

have been involved in fundraising and protest events in Wales

and in Ireland, where In footage shot a few years ago,

her aunt expressed support I could not believe that this

has actually happened. And been covered up

and Bradley had seen this. And it wasn't until I saw that

but I thought, I could understand Because I could not live

without on my conscience In a statement, Chelsea Manning's

family he said she had suffered shocking and abusive ill-treatment

during her time in custody. Her mother, Susan Manning,

said she was proud of Chelsea and delighted she will finally

be free again. She hopes Chelsea will now be

able to go to college to complete their studies

and the whatever she wants to be. Although free, Chelsea Manning

remains on active Army duty. Her lawyer plans to continue her

fight against her conviction. After her release in a statement

via her legal team, she said that she's figuring things out

but is about what is ahead and posted this

picture on social media. Her first steps of freedom

after seven years in prison. Still to come in the programme:

We've been asking what you would do Tonight, why one viewer has raised

the issue of workers rights. I'll have the forecast

for the next few days. All this week, our political editor

Nick Servini is interviewing leaders from the main parties in the build

up to the general election. Tonight it's the turn

of Mark Williams, leading the campaign for the Welsh Liberal

Democrats. The party will be looking to make

gains - a poor performance in 2015 saw the party practically wiped out

across the UK. In Wales their numbers dwindled

from three MPs to just one. Mark Williams, welcome to Wales

today. As we head into a general election in which your party is

quite clearly going to use it to push the cause for a second

referendum. Now, on one level, this is smart because there were 48% of

people who voted to remain. I wonder though how many of those have now

just done what you haven't done, which is accepted consequences of

the referendum and they just want to move on. It is not a second

referendum. It is a ratification referendum. I am not going to

dispute the vote on June the 23rd last year. The country was clear.

But it was a blank check. We don't know what the negotiations are going

to deliver. We don't know what the outcome is going to be. And some of

us have genuine fears about the outcome of Wales leaving the single

market. On our manufacturing sector, farming, universities. Which is why

we need to have critical, strong, constructive voices in the House of

Commons and then at the end of that process, whenever those negotiations

are concluded, we need to have an opportunity to look at those terms

and vote accordingly, not just the late winner will like it option from

Theresa May. The public are not stupid. They knew what was at stake.

I think you are right but we have not seen the terms of those

negotiations. The truth visit is you just did not like the result that

you want to change the result. At least be honest with people and say

that. I do respect the result. The country... No, you want another

chance. Were people clear that it would mean leaving the single

market, a market of 500 million people? Were people clear that at

the end of a two-year... It is an even shorter period now because of

this election and various court cases, at the end of a two-year

period, we were going to fit neatly into a new set of trade

negotiations. But is not going to happen. The Welsh farming sector and

manufacturing sector is genuinely concerned. Let's talk about domestic

taxation. A big proposal for the Liberal Democrats is to put a penny

on the pound of all income tax bands. You kind of rationalised this

by saying it would be ?3 a week average wages. The cost of a pint.

The posh rattle cost of a posh coffee in a place like this. The

problem is when you were in government, you took low earners out

of taxation but Magnus, low earners are coming back into taxation. You

are right to highlight that effective Liberal Democrat policy. I

think also we have two be aware of a huge crisis in the national health

service in terms of social care run the failure of this country to

address what I would describe as a mission for social care, an ageing

demographic in this country, the lack of care facilities, care

delivered in the hole or the residential care sector. At

crossover between the owl service and social care. Abetted most people

right across the tax bands as you suggest understand that and no that

we need to fund this. It is a difficult message because you are

asking... Labour are asking those who earn over ?80,000 to pay more to

help things like the NHS but you are doing it for people earning ?25,000.

I think it is a clarity of the policy that will appeal to people.

The understanding there is a problem that needs to be addressed and we

all have to make a contribution to that. Even low earners with

inflation going up. I think people understand how important this is.

Tim Farron merit -- describe the Liberal Democrats like cockroaches

in that you can survive a nuclear holocaust. Can you survive this? I'm

not sure I like being described as a cockroach but we are persistent and

tenacious and we are determined and quite frankly, when our backs are

against the wall, you are more determined to move on and progress

and that is the challenge to the party. I firmly believe we are

seeing the Tory party, the prospect of a Tory landslide in those

circumstances, Wales need strong voices and some of those voices have

to be Liberal Democrat ones. Mark Wiliams, thank you very much.

Nick Servini talking to Mark Williams.

And tomorrow, it's the turn of Neil hamilton, leading

Well, tonight, all the main party leaders here will be going head

to head in the first Welsh television debate of the campaign.

It's being held in Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan and our

James, what can we expect this evening?

Well, Lucy, even though this is the fifth campaign for Welsh party

leaders in just over two years, I expect to see five watts party

leaders fired up for this general election campaign tonight with just

over three weeks to go now until polling day. As you can see from

these pictures, preparations have been ongoing throughout the day to

get the set ready at the venue in Penarth where we are expecting

around 200 audience members right across Wales representing a range of

political views and in fact if you look over my shoulder, you can see

that a number of them have already arrived from the five party leaders.

Of those five leaders, not one of them is hoping to move into ten

Downing St after the election on June the 8th. Not one of them is

standing to be the next Prime Minister of the writer kingdom. In

fact, of the five, only two of them has any skin in the game. Only two

of them, Mark Wiliams and Neil Hamilton are actually standing in

this general election campaign. None of the three others are. The Welsh

Labour leader and First Minister Carwyn Jones, Leanne Wood, the Plaid

Cymru leader, and Andrew RT Davies of the Conservatives. It'll be to

see what impact that has on the dynamics of the debate. I will

expected to have an impact on the topics under discussion. Brexit is

sure to dominate. Immigration, taxing and spending and so on but

also there will be some discussion on topics that are the

responsibility of watches and be politicians. The NHS and education.

It is all about to kick off in just over an hour. Be live on ITV Wales

and we will bring you all the highlights on the highlights on

Gardai 's late that on termites late bulletin. -- to send.

They'll be telling us what their parties would do

But what would you do if you were Prime Minister?

We've been around the country asking for your views,

and workers' rights is one topic you've raised in My Manifesto 2017.

I've been speaking to people up and down Wales, asking

One of those is access to justice for people with complaints

John Gilheaney from Llantrisant contacted us.

He used to work for a charity but after a clash with

He wanted to go to an employment tribunal but was surprised

Finding out about the cost was a big wake-up call.

Initially, you have to pay ?250 to make a claim and then in my case,

to actually book a hearing, a tribunal hearing, that was ?950.

You're talking about ?1200 before you actually get a hearing.

You might have solicitor's fees on top of that.

Fees were introduced for employment tribunals four years ago.

Since then, there has been an 80% fall in the number

If I was Prime Minister, I would scrap employment tribunal fees.

John dropped his plans to go to tribunal and although he is happy

in his new job, he has concerns about the impact fees are having.

I think workers up the rights are being eroded and it is one

of the reasons why it seems to me to be a drop of stress

Now, this is the kind of setting where you might expect to

It's a chance to have your grievances heard in front

But the simple fact is the number of people reaching this point has

I've come to a charity in Caernarfon that supports

It is clear employment issues are high on the agenda here too.

If I was Prime Minister, I would end zero hours contracts.

You can't even sort out your rent because you don't know

If I was Prime Minister, I would increase the minimum wage.

For me, myself, I'm lucky, it is worth it for me

but my friends, they've said people that are on the dole,

on benefits earned more than me and I work at half six

What would you do if you were Prime Minister?

Whether it is crime, policing, benefits perhaps, get in touch.

It's been another soggy day for most of the country.

Yes, there is. The weather is improving this evening and the

sunglasses will come in handy tomorrow. Many gardens have had a

watering today, including this one. And the radar shows the extent of

the range today. Most of it in the south and east. Gradually clearing

this afternoon. The north and west of dry and on Anglesey, it

brightened up with some sunshine. A better end to the day, staying dry

overnight with clearer skies. Maybe a couple of showers reaching the

Lleyn Peninsula. And a cooler, fresh and light with temperatures dropping

into single figures. Here is the picture for eight o'clock tomorrow

morning. Certainly much nicer than it was today. Dry and bright. Some

lovely blue sky, sunshine and good visibility. Feeling a little bit

fresh with a light to moderate breeze. 11 Celsius in Dolgellau.

Better weather to come tomorrow but not completely dry. A few showers

will build up. Some could be heavy. Feeling warmer than today with sunny

spells. Top temperatures around 16 Celsius. Maybe the odd shower in the

afternoon in Monmouthshire. In Ceredigion tomorrow, sunny spells

with a few hit and miss showers. Tomorrow evening, scattered showers

will slowly die down. Many places then dry overnight. Turning quite

chilly in the countryside. Friday's charge shows low-pressure knee in

Northern Ireland and that means a mixture of sunshine and showers. On

Friday, most places starting dry but showers could break out. They could

turn heavy and places. As for the weekend, a mixture of sunshine and

showers sums it up and some of those showers on Saturday could be heavy

and thundery. Fewer showers on Sunday. Temperatures not that high.

Cool overnight. Pleasant in the sunshine. We have seen the worst of

the rain for a while. The decision to give the Circuit

of Wales project the go ahead has been delayed for the second time

in two months. The Welsh Government says it must

take its time before agreeing to underwrite around half the cost

of the ?400 million project, but opponents say the process

is being dragged out I'll have an update

for you at 8 o'clock and again That's Wales Today

thank you for watching. From all of us on the

programme, good evening.