:00:11. > :00:12.And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Dominic Heale.
:00:13. > :00:15.Veteran MPs Ken Clarke and Margaret Beckett have said
:00:16. > :00:18.they will stand again in the General Election.
:00:19. > :00:20.Mr Clarke, the Tory MP for Rushcliffe since 1970,
:00:21. > :00:22.hopes to be fighting fit despite recent health problems.
:00:23. > :00:26.While Derby South MP Margaret Beckett says she'll stand
:00:27. > :00:28.if selected by her local Labour party.
:00:29. > :00:31.Meanwhile, another long serving MP, Dennis Skinner, actually voted
:00:32. > :00:36.Looking back at other developments on a tumultuous day in Westminster
:00:37. > :00:44.here's our Political Editor Tony Roe.
:00:45. > :00:46.Prime Minister's Questions, the first question and
:00:47. > :00:53.As the nation prepares to go to the polls, apart
:00:54. > :00:57.from my right honourable friend, who else in this house can
:00:58. > :01:01.provide the leadership that is needed at this time?
:01:02. > :01:04.For 40 minutes, 85-year-old Dennis Skinner bobbed
:01:05. > :01:08.up and down to catch the Speaker's eye, until...
:01:09. > :01:13.Will the Prime Minister give a guarantee that no Tory MP
:01:14. > :01:18.who is under investigation by the police and the legal
:01:19. > :01:22.authorities over election expenses in the last general election be
:01:23. > :01:27.a candidate in this election, because if she won't accept that,
:01:28. > :01:31.this is the most squalid election campaign that has
:01:32. > :01:44."That's the real reason you called it", he yelled,
:01:45. > :01:48.as the Prime Minister replied she would be supporting all Tory
:01:49. > :01:51.candidates and getting out around the country to campaign.
:01:52. > :01:53.Will this be the Brexit election, or the Corbyn election?
:01:54. > :01:57.Or will old party battle lines be drawn?
:01:58. > :02:00.I fought for communities and that's what I shall do,
:02:01. > :02:04.I shall be a local champion for the area.
:02:05. > :02:07.The Conservatives will be the main challengers as they always are.
:02:08. > :02:12.In the end, there will be somebody who stands up for the government.
:02:13. > :02:15.We are aiming to give the Prime Minister a mandate
:02:16. > :02:17.to negotiate in the most important negotiations our country has
:02:18. > :02:22.One thing is sure, once Parliament is dissolved,
:02:23. > :02:25.this place will be deserted as politicians head home, looking
:02:26. > :02:35.Mark Stuart is from the Faculty of Social Sciences at
:02:36. > :02:49.Good evening. How will this play out, will it be a bread and butter
:02:50. > :02:52.election about the NHS, or a rancorous rerun of the EU
:02:53. > :02:57.referendum? I think it will start with exit but all the other issues
:02:58. > :03:02.will feed off that. I think we will seek Labour pushing to the domestic
:03:03. > :03:05.agenda on the NHS, social care and so on. Which seats do you think are
:03:06. > :03:11.vulnerable? I suppose we will be talking about Labour seats. Yes, it
:03:12. > :03:21.depends on the scale of the defeat. If we are looking at a moderate
:03:22. > :03:24.Labour defeat, some would fundable but a swing to the Conservatives,
:03:25. > :03:28.Lillian Greenwood might even need to look out, and she could possibly be
:03:29. > :03:31.vulnerable. How reliable do you vulnerable. How reliable do you
:03:32. > :03:37.think the polls will be in this period? I think they will be fairly
:03:38. > :03:39.accurate. The problem in the recent polls is that they have
:03:40. > :03:49.underestimated busy conservative voters. If anything, the
:03:50. > :03:55.Conservative vote is underestimated. So that means that if Theresa May's
:03:56. > :03:58.lead is as fast as might be suggested, people stay home and sit
:03:59. > :04:05.on their hands? Yes, that is the biggest danger, if people know the
:04:06. > :04:12.outcome of the election, they might not bother voting. Voter fatigue is
:04:13. > :04:16.a risk. We heard from Brenda from Bristol, expressing her exasperation
:04:17. > :04:25.and that may be a widespread view. Yes, indeed. We could be looking at
:04:26. > :04:27.her the ten out of 2001 levels. Interesting.
:04:28. > :04:29.Now, to the revival of a once-struggling
:04:30. > :04:33.New figures show that about 600 jobs have been created in the region's
:04:34. > :04:35.textile industry over the last four years.
:04:36. > :04:37.It's down to a combination of government and private investment.
:04:38. > :04:39.But manufacturers say even more investment is needed.
:04:40. > :04:42.Navtej Johal has been looking at the figures.
:04:43. > :04:45.Textiles have always been at the heart of our region's
:04:46. > :04:49.The silk mill in Derby was the world's first factory
:04:50. > :04:54.But, after years of decline, there are signs that the industry
:04:55. > :04:59.Take a look at these figures from the textiles growth programme.
:05:00. > :05:02.Our region has had ?60 million in private investment
:05:03. > :05:06.for the textiles industry of the past four years.
:05:07. > :05:11.That has helped to unlock almost ?4 million in government grants,
:05:12. > :05:15.which has led to the creation of hundreds of jobs
:05:16. > :05:18.with Leicestershire leading the way with 440.
:05:19. > :05:21.One company feeling the impact of the revival
:05:22. > :05:25.It has been around for 186 years and creates high-tech
:05:26. > :05:28.fabrics for the aerospace industry, among others.
:05:29. > :05:31.Its managing director explained how a recent government grant
:05:32. > :05:37.We are in the process of creating seven new jobs
:05:38. > :05:39.and safeguarding 14 jobs, so it's quite significant.
:05:40. > :05:42.The market for technical textiles is growing year on year.
:05:43. > :05:44.There are significant opportunities within the core industries
:05:45. > :05:48.that we are working with, aerospace and automotive
:05:49. > :05:53.and medical, and certainly growth will carry on.
:05:54. > :05:56.Well, the growth in our region has been so impressive that the UK
:05:57. > :06:00.Fashion and Textile Association has said it is actually an example
:06:01. > :06:12.for its knitting capacity, and for its fast fashion capacity.
:06:13. > :06:14.There are obviously other hubs of manufacturing around the UK
:06:15. > :06:17.who have their own specialities, but particularly in terms
:06:18. > :06:20.of the knitwear industry and fast fashion, the Midlands sector
:06:21. > :06:24.But the industry does face challenges.
:06:25. > :06:27.Businesses in our region are complaining of a skills gap and
:06:28. > :06:33.But, speaking to Adam Ansell earlier, he told me that even though
:06:34. > :06:35.we are unlikely to ever return to the textiles heyday,
:06:36. > :06:38.it is a growing industry and demand for British products is high
:06:39. > :06:48.About 1,000 cannabis plants with a street value of ?500,000 have
:06:49. > :06:50.been found during a raid at a former restaurant in Nottinghamshire.
:06:51. > :06:53.The plants were growing across two floors of the former
:06:54. > :06:59.The property on Cordy Lane used to be called the Yew Tree.
:07:00. > :07:07.Police have arrested a 26-year-old man.
:07:08. > :07:09.You look at the premises and the square feet that this
:07:10. > :07:12.occupies, it's actually not very feasible to find it
:07:13. > :07:17.Yes, we find some in farm buildings and we find some like this
:07:18. > :07:19.in derelict buildings but your average person that grows
:07:20. > :07:22.cannabis does so in a bedroom or upstairs of a house
:07:23. > :07:24.so the 1,000 plants that were recovered here
:07:25. > :07:31.A business which delivers specialist beds for seriously ill hospital
:07:32. > :07:34.patients says roadworks near the M1 are causing intolerable delays.
:07:35. > :07:39.Medstrom which works with intensive care units,
:07:40. > :07:43.describes the rush-hour gridlock around junction 23A
:07:44. > :07:47.as "a nightmare" for them, other businesses and motorists.
:07:48. > :07:55.Around 20 times a day they head out to deliver paediatric and adult beds
:07:56. > :07:59.to hospitals across the country, often with a two-hour time limit
:08:00. > :08:01.to reach the patient, but now they say they're
:08:02. > :08:09.Sometimes we can be sat for an hour around the corner and we're under
:08:10. > :08:13.pressure to get these products to the patients who are
:08:14. > :08:21.Work started recently to widen 7.5 miles of the M1.
:08:22. > :08:25.But at the same time, the major East Midlands Gateway
:08:26. > :08:31.scheme is being built by the side of the A453.
:08:32. > :08:35.Two separate lots of roadworks, same area.
:08:36. > :08:41.The M1 is being upgraded from Junction 23A, but in the same
:08:42. > :08:43.Rush hour, we have a gridlock situation where access
:08:44. > :08:46.from the East Midlands Airport onto the A453 and off the M1 just
:08:47. > :08:49.grinds to a halt and I've seen really dangerous behaviour.
:08:50. > :08:53.How there wasn't an accident I just don't know.
:08:54. > :08:56.They say traffic heading for the A50 at Junction 24 is being encouraged
:08:57. > :09:00.to come off the motorway here at Junction 23A to avoid
:09:01. > :09:03.the roadworks on the M1 but what they're then doing
:09:04. > :09:07.is hitting roadworks here on the A453, which businesses
:09:08. > :09:17.The Highways Agency say they are working
:09:18. > :09:26.Work is set to continue here until the end of next year.
:09:27. > :09:28.That's your news, so it's goodbye from me.
:09:29. > :09:41.Well, we have had a mixture of some quite cloudy weather today, but also
:09:42. > :09:44.some sunny spells as well. Weather watchers have been busy, thank you
:09:45. > :09:49.for sending in these beautiful pictures over the course of the day.
:09:50. > :09:50.As we were having a look at the charts, we can see we have got high
:09:51. > :09:55.pressure in charge of our weather. pressure in charge of our weather.
:09:56. > :09:59.It is not going anywhere any time soon, staying with us into the
:10:00. > :10:02.weekend. That does not mean wall-to-wall sunshine, we have weak
:10:03. > :10:07.weather fronts coming in our direction, bringing some light rain.
:10:08. > :10:10.As we go through the course of tonight, we will continue to see
:10:11. > :10:15.quite cloudy conditions, those showers working down from the north,
:10:16. > :10:20.but nothing too heavy. Lows of seven Celsius, so milder than last night.
:10:21. > :10:24.As we go into tomorrow morning, we start with some rightness to the
:10:25. > :10:28.south, but the cloud will work in bringing some drizzle with it. Then
:10:29. > :10:32.some slightly brighter spells where that cloud thins and breaks through
:10:33. > :10:39.the afternoon, with highs of 15 Celsius. Towards the weekend, we
:10:40. > :10:42.will stick on the same note, a repeat performance with quite a lot
:10:43. > :10:50.of cloud around, some brighter spells here and there, the odd patch
:10:51. > :10:55.of drizzle and highs of 14 Celsius. We can see the same picture, just
:10:56. > :10:59.that high pressure in charge of the weather, and more weather fronts
:11:00. > :11:00.coming in our direction. Slightly brighter on Sunday. Here is the
:11:01. > :11:03.outlook. going into the weekend as well. A
:11:04. > :11:10.similar story across the UK. Thomas matter has that story.
:11:11. > :11:15.Good evening, before we get to the forecast, I want to show you a map
:11:16. > :11:22.which depicts how dry it has been during the course of April. Brown is
:11:23. > :11:27.below average rainfall, blue is above average. You can see how Brown
:11:28. > :11:34.the map is. Some areas in the south, some counties have only seen a few
:11:35. > :11:35.percent so far in April. Not necessarily a good thing at all.