25/01/2012 Look East - East

Hello. Hello. Today the experts confirmed what most of us already

knew, the UK economy is in the doldrums. We are very lucky that we

have a skilled labour force. A grim day on the jobs front as hundreds

more disappear. Prices are up at the pumps. Drivers are assured

there is plenty for everyone. Be truthful, when was the last time

you were dishonest? Today the experts confirmed what most of us

knew already, the UK economy is in the doldrums. But here in the East

it is a brighter story. Yes, officially the economy shrank

in the last three months of 2011. It's a small figure, just 0.2 per

cent, but, nevertheless, it's not good news. Closer to home, it's

likely that the regional economy did a bit better than this. We have

lower unemployment and we boast some of the growth industries such

as renewables and energybio science. So, let's start in Milton Keynes

named this week on a list of key places in the UK expected to

deliver economic growth: At 45 p sell stock any city is still the

new kid on the block. But the plan is to get better. This was near the

Dons football ground, the chairman has become the poster boy for their

ambitions. We wanted to grow our own business from a standing start.

We now have over 500 people employed. From a business plan,

still some way to go. In a couple of years we could hit �24 million

per year. Last week, Thomas was given the go-ahead for a major

expansion. -- John Lewis. The we are seeing the unemployment rate

dropping, that is before Network Rail opens the doors and stars

working here. At the other end of the scale, worldwide logistics, a

company start from scratch less than two years ago. They think 2012

will deliver for them to. workforce will go over about 400 in

the next 12 months. Including drivers as well. Office staff will

go up to about 40-60. Turnover should be 4 million for this year.

Big-time. There was no fear here, a meeting for the key movers and

shakers in the town, a where they are bucking the trend. Why what

applies to football also applies to cities. A team from the public and

private sector which wants to keep the energy levels high and

residents want to keep it high. I think that will make us more

resilient in these austere times. They have stopped -- swapped

concrete cows for the Red Bull racing team. One of the biggest

construction projects in the region is at Southend Airport. In just a

few weeks it will become fully operational. The hope is it will

become a major driver of business activity in the region. Today, we

were given an exclusive look inside the new terminal: An empty terminal,

but not a sign of recession. A sign of hope. Soon this terminal could

handle up to a million passengers per year. On the runway, London

Southend boss showed how spending �100 million can transform an

airport. The this is recession busting stuff, isn't it? We are

hoping we will see more than 500 more people working in 20th

December 12 then we had in 20th December 11. As part of the

regeneration of the south of Essex. This is a new stretch of runway

which will open in the next couple of months. All around the airport

you can see construction work going on. Just yards from where a new

car-park is being built is a new railway station. Just a stone's

throw from there is a new Holiday Inn hotel. Due to open in the

summer. Passengers could open -- to use the new terminal as early as

next month. Easy to see why this is one of the biggest privately funded

projects in the east. The town needed, a recent survey found seven

people are chasing every job here. The service organisations will

support the airport, all of those will be looking at additional jobs.

You then have filled him with that the apprenticeships that we will be

working for. We will also have the engineering side. EasyJet start

flying from Southend in April. Eventually, the airport could have

2 million passengers per year. Far fewer than Stansted or Luton, but

the jobs created he could be presage. -- presage -- precious. So

let's talk to businessman Pete Winkleman in Milton Keynes and Dave

Powell from the GMB union in Essex. We why his Southend doing worse?

The austerity savings are losing lots of jobs. Many more in Southend

before the end of this financial year. Unfortunately we have lost a

lot of traditional industries that we had. They used to be a big

banking sector for the credit cards. All of those jobs have gone.

Southend is a commuter area, jobs outside of Southend, people would

in Southend lose work as well. We are not seeing replacement jobs as

promised by the government coming from the private sector. Presumably

jobs will come with the airport? welcome the airport expansion and I

hope those jobs will go to local people. It is a good expansion and

we welcome it. Let us speak to the poster boy of Milton Keynes

ambition, why do you think Milton Keynes is doing better than

anywhere else? We are not immune from recession, it hurts everyone

around the country, but in Milton Keynes we have a positive attitude

about what we can do about it. As a result of the stakeholder

partnership working, we have got some developments of the ground

including a very important one for me, at the stadium site.

sometimes we talk up the down side more than we should, do you think?

There is always a danger of that. People are sensitive to what will

be happening and so much uncertainty in the economic world.

If we put our best foot forward and try to find the positives we can

pull ourselves out. Our region will be very important for the whole

country. Because you are situated in the centre of the county, you

have a much better opportunity. think there are lots of

opportunities for everyone. Talking about the airport. That will be

really important and Southend. Industries are changing. We have an

economy bother we can benefit from. It is about finding unique things

and try to get those messages across. Dave Powell, is there are

lots of seasonal work in Southend? Perhaps figures work in different

ways? There will have been seasonal work up till Christmas. There is

seasonal work during the summer season because Southend is a

tourist spot for day trippers. What we really need is the industry to

replace the jobs being lost and the public sector. That is a must and

we welcome the airport. It would be interesting to see if the airport

and the Thames estuary was ever built and the effect it would have

on that expansion. I don't think the Thames estuary airport should

be built and we should explore airport staff -- such as Southend.

Where we could expand others. say we must attract business, is it

a council job, what is it? We all have a job to play. The

infrastructure, the road now work around Southend is improving. That

might put many off for relocating. Hopefully the airport expansion

will help businesses move, that is what we want. We need a debate

about what is happening in Southend. There is obviously a huge problem.

Being positive was Pete winkle month's thing, our people positive?

I am not very positive about the figures today. Something needs to

be done. I think the government needs to change course. We cannot

keep losing the jobs if the private sector are not going to pick up the

slack. Southend is in turmoil and we need to do something quickly.

Thank you both for being with us. At Westminster today, some of the

region's MPs and business leaders lobbied for improvements to a

railway bottle neck. They argued that the ten million pounds that it

would cost to carry out the work at Ely would be repaid by the economic

benefits. Our political correspondent Andrew Sinclair has

the details. A there is a great belief amongst MPs that if you

improve communications you will drive business growth. That is why

better railways are such a big issue nowadays. The stretch we are

talking about tonight is at the North Junction in Cambridgeshire. A

number of lines converge here from Norwich, King's Lynn, Ipswich and

Cambridge. With only two lines it gets very congested. The argument

goes that the �10 million you could use you could improve the junction

and power services from King's Lynn, Ipswich and Norwich. If you get

more people travelling by train that would drive business. That was

the argument being made at Westminster today. A huge step

change when you go from an hourly service to a half hour service.

People can turn up at the station and no a train is coming along

sooner or later. It changes the perception about how far business

is a way. This is an ideal time as for Norfolk, Suffolk and

Cambridgeshire MPs tick go for this. They are looking for economic

growth, and we want East Anglia to be at the forefront of their minds.

No at work Rail is drawing up a new list of spending priorities. I'm

told the discussions today were very productive. MPs feel our

region has a lot to offer. Many small businesses which can grow

fast, but they need better communications. Later in Look East

more comment on the economic squeeze including news that Chinese

investors have taken over an important centre in Suffolk. Also

tonight, the new survey that claims we are not as honest as we used to

be. And I'll try to tell the truth on tonight's weather forecast...

And in my honest opinion it's going to rain later tonight. The full

forecast coming up after more news There is evidence tonight that

drivers are ignoring the appeal not to panic buy petrol and diesel. The

government says supplies are not affected after an oil refinery in

Essex went bust but that hasn't It getting longer. This was the

scene in Southend,. A similar picture in and around Ipswich.

Philip Dingle, he sees refurbishment of his station. If he

maintains that panic-buying is a necessary and is based on

perception and not on fact. His it is a very short-term situation

which will be dealt with in the next few days, definitely.

there a temptation among some retailers to up the penny -- price

by a penny or two? The very unlikely, far too competitive a

market to do anything like that these days. When one of the

country's biggest all refineries goes into administration it makes

people nervous. The plant in Essex applies up to a fit of the fuel

used in the region. The problems here were triggered by the

bankruptcy of the Swiss owners. Some retailers have put prices up

overnight, in Tesco's case by a penny a litre. They say it is due

to market conditions. They say if people do not panic by then

suppliers will not run out. The if people panic buy it will add to the

problem. I would wait until things calm down. And a lists predict

prices will rise as we import more fuel, -- analysts. That will not

come as any surprise to those In the last half an hour, police

say they have charged a man with the murder of a jeweller in Suffolk.

66-year old Peter Avis was found stabbed to death at his shop in

Bury St Edmunds two weeks ago. 22- year-old homeless man Kamil Kita

will appear in court in the morning charged with his murder. Two other

men have already been charged with conspiracy to burgle. It looks as

if the BBC regional stations will be shared some of the cuts which

had been forecast. The presenter on BBC Radio Suffolk. It is here in

local radio that audiences would have seen the greatest changes.

Under the proposals, programmes would have been shared with

neighbouring stations, such as Radio Norfolk. But now they will

rethink the plan. I a very pleased. We have also had great support from

people for local radio. If we ever needed a demonstration of how

valuable local radio is, this is that. Members of Parliament and

Church leaders joined in criticising the proposed cuts.

Spending on Inside Out it could also be affected, but today the

chairman of the BBC trust said regional and local programmes

covered subjects often declared date neglected by the mainstream

We want to see a plan that will preserve the regional integrity and

quality of the programme, which no other broadcaster provides. The be

BC is now looking at other ways of making the savings. Department of

Education has approved plans for a free school at Brandon in Suffolk.

It will be on the site of the Middle School, which is about to

close. There had been a campaign to save

it. The new school will be run by a private company from Sweden. It

will be the third free school in this part of the region. Free

schools are funded by the government, but are outside the

control of local councils. The new school will have 100 places in each

year group. It is now accepting admissions for children currently

in Years Six, Seven and Eight. There has been a warning today that

the English Setter is in danger of dying out as a breed. Numbers have

fallen to an all-time low, partly influenced by the fashion for

smaller lap dogs. A breeder from Norfolk says the dogs are among the

oldest and most traditional of English breeds. The English Setter

is believed to be one of English oldest breeds. Fran has bred them

for decades. They have got a fantastic nature. They're very

approachable and brilliant with children. I just think there are

fantastic breed. In the whole of last year, there were just 234 of

these registered across the United Kingdom. That is down one third on

2010 and the question is, why are breeds which where popular in the

past in such decline? One theory is that celebrities are driving a

growing fashion for small dog breeds. It is called the Paris

Hilton effect. It explains why there are maybe 25 times more young

chihuahuas than English setters. There are at more than 20 other

breeds which are now endangered. They are in danger of disappearing

Back now to our top story, the contraction in the UK economy.

If you have just come in, the disappointing news is that the

economy shrank at the end of last year, but we appear to be doing

better here in the East. We have seen what is happening in

Milton Keynes and Essex. Our chief reporter Kim Riley has spent the

day in Suffolk, speaking to people who run small and medium-sized

businesses, about their prospects for the year ahead. This industrial

site on the outside of Ipswich is home to many small companies. This

company sells to pubs and restaurants and sells more than 200

whiskies. Lately, trade has been tough. It was one of the worst

January's we have had, but things are gradually improving, with the

Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics coming up. With the turnover if the

�18 million, this company imports furniture from Sweden and timber.

They have just taken on a new timber trader. What Sri get this

sorted out, the business will come back. People want to move. They

want to go on the average of every four years, so once we're out of

this, I think things will pick up. As managing director of this

warehouse, she employs 100 people and oversees the operation of 40

trucks. We're saying that we are having to cut backing get rid of

all aspects of one necessary administration. I think we're very

lucky here in this part of the country that we have made good

labour force that we can call upon. There may be a reduction in the

jobs short-term, but I think that will change. A in general, business

is vital to believe the worst has been and gone.

Let us stay in Suffolk, because today one of our most successful

technology centres was taken over by a company based in China. It is

a research lab in Ipswich and it has been sold for �7 million. Our

business correspondent Richard Bond is there now. Welcome to the Centre

for Integrated for tonics. The goal research into the transmission of

data over fibre optic cables. The chief executive joins me now. You

have been taken over by a Chinese company. Is that good news or bad

news? It's as good use. For a come there like hours, we have to be

part of the global network. We need to do that to survive and thrive

and take on the scale of research we do any future. In terms of the

security of the company and the jobs, this will be protected.

is places actually added to his workforce by 10 % in the past 10

months. Richard, on the wider question of

the economy, how hard is our region being hit? These are tough times,

but we are doing better than average. Most other regions are

having a rougher ride. We have heard about these jobs being cut in

Northamptonshire, but we must remember we are one of the

strongest regional economy is in the country. This is one of only

three regions that the government makes a profit from every year.

After all, that means the amount of tax we pay to the government is

less than the money we get back to subsidise local services.

Now, If you saw a �20 note on the pavement, what would you do? What

if you accidentally scraped a parked car? Would you leave your

phone number - or just drive away and hope that nobody saw you do it?

The answer is that more of us think it is fair game to be a bit

dishonest, certainly compared with ten years ago.

The research was carried out at Essex University. We sent Mike

The American singer Billy Joe well ask for some honesty, but if we are

waiting for it, we could be waiting some time. The people are more

tolerant about lying, about Alb adultery and driving over the speed

limit. They are less tolerable about benefit cheats. The solicitor

to the integrity test and did well, but is the legal world as honest as

me would like to believe? People said that you have to be a very

good liar to live well. I have seen people in court who are witnesses

who are maybe not telling the truth and you tend to be able to tell

them straight away. We just want the truth. There are sometimes

where I have lied. For which you say if she said, do I look nice in

this? All, I would most certainly say that she did! This priest is

the Dean of the local Catholic cathedral and said the we're not

only more dishonest, but also less it more roll. So many described the

country has been in a moral freefall. I think that is a bit of

an exaggeration, but we certainly do not have the same moral

signposts that perhaps we and 50 years ago. Now, my BBC colleague

did not actually drop this 10 pound note, but remember that the next

thing happens, honesty is the best policy. That is a great song! Let

Tomorrow, it will be cooler with some showers. This weather front

coming in from the Atlantic will bring us some rain later this

evening. Issues be mostly dry this evening, however, before that

weather front comes in. In the early hours, that weather front

will come in fully and most regions will be wet, although the extreme

east may actually escape the rain. As the rain comes through, the wind

will freshen. Tomorrow brings us some early rain, particularly for

the East. That will clear swiftly and they should get some sunshine

and showers behind it. The East will get most of the damn whether

first thing, but as you can see, it moves through swiftly and the

sunshine should come in in the late morning. Temperatures should get up

to seven or eight degrees Celsius. One or two showers could develop in

the afternoon and could be on the sharp side, with the bat of he all

mix then. For the next few days, on Friday, it looks dry, with a few

showers and the morning. Into the weekend, cooler conditions. There

looks mostly dry, but rather cool. Overnight laws must line-up