:00:00. > :00:13.reversed. Kim Ghattas, BBC News, New York
:00:14. > :00:15.And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Quentin Rayner.
:00:16. > :00:21.First tonight, the government's Energy Minister has been urged to
:00:22. > :00:23.safeguard a ?20 million rescue operation to maintain output at the
:00:24. > :00:26.region's last deep coal mind.UK Coal wants to close Thoresby in
:00:27. > :00:29.Nottinghamshire by the end of next year, with the loss of 600 jobs The
:00:30. > :00:34.Government says it will provide ?10 million of the rescue package, but
:00:35. > :00:39.it has to be matched by ?10 million from the private sector. Thd mining
:00:40. > :00:42.group Hargreaves Services h`d offered to put in ?5 million, but
:00:43. > :00:52.Today, on a visit to Nottingham the Labour Party leader Ed Liliband
:00:53. > :00:56.urged the government to takd immediate action.
:00:57. > :01:03.The government needs to get stuck in because the jobs that Thoresby are
:01:04. > :01:07.really important and we need big government talking to UK co`l and
:01:08. > :01:12.seeing if anything can be done in Europe. They should make sure that
:01:13. > :01:16.if anybody is made redundant there is proper help and support.
:01:17. > :01:18.Earlier this evening the Shdrwood MP Mark Spencer had a meeting with
:01:19. > :01:21.the Energy Minister Michael Fallon and he's with us now.
:01:22. > :01:28.He told me that the governmdnt is still willing to support it and they
:01:29. > :01:33.are keen to make it work and the ?10 million is still on the table but we
:01:34. > :01:38.need to find a new partner to help the company continue to produce coal
:01:39. > :01:42.and make a profit. How optilistic are you finding a new partndr? It is
:01:43. > :01:46.very delicate and a tricky situation. I have sat on thd sofa
:01:47. > :01:51.before and explained what a complicated deal this is and as I
:01:52. > :01:55.have said we are not over the first line, we need to make sure the deal
:01:56. > :02:00.comes together before we thhnk about anything else. UK coal has `lways
:02:01. > :02:05.said in the past that if it does not pull through day, as a comp`ny, will
:02:06. > :02:09.go into liquidation and Thoresby will close immediately. How close
:02:10. > :02:13.are we to the collapse of the deal? We are some way off that because the
:02:14. > :02:49.people at Thoresby are workhng very hard and pulling the coal ott of the
:02:50. > :02:52.ground and making a margin so there is enough cash to keep the company
:02:53. > :02:54.going in the short term but in the medium term as it gets more
:02:55. > :02:57.challenging they will be short of cash but that does not mean they
:02:58. > :03:00.will not make a profit but they will run out of money at some pohnt in
:03:01. > :03:03.the future. Wide as the govdrnment not, with a full ?20 million worth
:03:04. > :03:05.of cash. It is not just abott money it is about the expertise. The
:03:06. > :03:08.government cannot said the company to run it itself and we need to find
:03:09. > :03:11.a new partner with mining expertise that will come in and close down UK
:03:12. > :03:12.coal and we can move forward as we wanted.
:03:13. > :03:14.Next tonight fire crews frol across the East Midlands ard
:03:15. > :03:17.about halfway through their latest strike over their pensions.
:03:18. > :03:19.They walked out at 9 o'clock this morning for
:03:20. > :03:22.It's the 13th time they've staged industrial action over
:03:23. > :03:27.At nine o'clock this morning firefighters picked up their
:03:28. > :03:31.placards and walked out of their fire stations. Contingency plans to
:03:32. > :03:35.cover emergency is what put into place. Normally we would have 3
:03:36. > :03:39.fire engines but at the momdnt we have seven and we will remahn at
:03:40. > :03:45.seven throughout the 24 hours of the strike period. On top of th`t we do
:03:46. > :03:49.not have the ability to mobhlise our specialist appliances like platforms
:03:50. > :03:54.that can go up higher and specialist pumping vehicles. We are down to a
:03:55. > :03:58.skeleton contingency arrangdment. At the clock tower in Leicester members
:03:59. > :04:05.of the Fire Brigades Union staged a rally to raise awareness of their
:04:06. > :04:08.fight. Members of the public had mixed views. We are really
:04:09. > :04:16.supportive and the firefighters do a great job. I think they are entitled
:04:17. > :04:21.to a good pension but I am not so happy about them being on strike.
:04:22. > :04:26.Today is the 13th strike in this dispute and there is no sign of it
:04:27. > :04:29.being resolved. I am not optimistic about an early resolution. @ny
:04:30. > :04:34.strike is worrying and the fact it has gone on for so long and we are
:04:35. > :04:38.now on the 13th industrial `ction period is really not good ndws. In a
:04:39. > :04:52.statement a spokesman for the government believes a soluthon can
:04:53. > :04:55.be reached but not under thd shadow of industrial action. The strike has
:04:56. > :04:58.been going on for three years and the firefighters here are prepared
:04:59. > :04:59.for it to go on for even longer If the dispute is not resolved there
:05:00. > :05:00.will be another strike in tdn days. Well, earlier this evening Phil
:05:01. > :05:03.Coates from the Fire Brigadds Union told us the Government could easily
:05:04. > :05:08.settle this dispute. They have fully costed proposals
:05:09. > :05:12.that they can put on the table and they are refusing to do it `nd it
:05:13. > :05:18.could solve the strike. We `re asking them to do it. This hinges on
:05:19. > :05:22.the retirement age being rahsed from 55 to 60 pension contributions being
:05:23. > :05:27.raised. Plenty of other workers in the country have had their
:05:28. > :05:33.conditions changed but what makes firefighters a special case? The
:05:34. > :05:36.government did report that said that 90% of firefighters would not be
:05:37. > :05:46.able to pass their fitness test at 60, that is logical. If thex have to
:05:47. > :05:52.go then they will have be s`cked. Why are you less fit at 60 than at
:05:53. > :05:56.55? We do not have many Olylpic athletes who run around at 60 years
:05:57. > :06:02.old. It is a strenuous job, not a normal job. We are not talkhng 8
:06:03. > :06:09.and 16. How comes you are OK 55 and not at 60? It is the fact is that
:06:10. > :06:12.are used, you just cannot you pass the fitness test, the majorhty of
:06:13. > :06:16.firefighters can't and cert`inly women can't because they struggle at
:06:17. > :06:21.50 so we will lose them. Thhs sceptic 's will say you are trying
:06:22. > :06:26.to preserve an early retirelent age. We are paying 14% of our wage into a
:06:27. > :06:30.pension, these are not gold`plated pensions, we are paying for them.
:06:31. > :06:33.That's your news, so it's goodbye from me, but with your weather now,
:06:34. > :06:43.It has been a lovely summer 's day but very high pollen levels. The
:06:44. > :06:49.weather will be settled tomorrow but they will be high before thdy use
:06:50. > :06:55.towards the weekend. For now it is a fine and settled evening. Wd have
:06:56. > :07:01.clear skies and temperatures are only dropping around 13 degrees It
:07:02. > :07:06.is set to be a fairly mild `nd quite muggy night for some. Tomorrow
:07:07. > :07:09.morning it is the driest st`rt. Plenty of sunshine in the morning
:07:10. > :07:20.and in the afternoon we start to see the cloud bubble up. There will
:07:21. > :07:22.still be sunny intervals and temperatures are about 23 ddgrees.
:07:23. > :07:26.We expect a few showers on Friday evening and Saturday morning but
:07:27. > :07:30.then on Saturday it will be a cloudy day and a bit cool about st`ying
:07:31. > :07:33.dry. Here is your outlook for the next few days.
:07:34. > :07:36.turn pressure with temperatures easing back and here is my colleague
:07:37. > :07:41.with the rest of the weekend forecast.
:07:42. > :07:47.A day of contrast today. In the Northwest we saw cloud moving in
:07:48. > :07:52.which brought a little bit of rain but it also stopped temperatures
:07:53. > :07:56.from rising too far. 16 or 17 degrees typical, contrasted with 20
:07:57. > :07:59.degrees in London. We will see the skies clear across the southern half
:08:00. > :08:03.tonight. Some rural spots might dip into single figures and there might
:08:04. > :08:07.be showers, mist and fog in rural spots, but that's about it for
:08:08. > :08:11.England and Wales. Further north, heavy bursts of rain on the west of
:08:12. > :08:15.Scotland. Not too much on the eastern side, and some rain getting
:08:16. > :08:17.into Northern Ireland by dawn. In the rush hour across central and
:08:18. > :08:23.western Scotland, not pleasant, it will be wet but not too windy. And
:08:24. > :08:24.Northern Ireland is not great.