:00:00. > :00:18.Thank you. That is all from us for this evening. It is
:00:19. > :00:20.In the European Elections, it was another good night
:00:21. > :00:24.In the East, they got more votes than any other
:00:25. > :00:28.Of the seven MEPs, UKIP now has three, up from two.
:00:29. > :00:30.The Conservatives are still on three.
:00:31. > :00:41.The Liberal Democrats lost their only seat.
:00:42. > :00:44.This confirms that UKIP is now a major player
:00:45. > :00:48.In the last Euro elections, they came second, with 19% of the vote.
:00:49. > :00:50.Last night they were first, with 34%.
:00:51. > :00:52.When I joined the party 15 years ago, winning here
:00:53. > :01:02.There will be two new faces representing the East in Brussels.
:01:03. > :01:05.Patrick O'Flynn of UKIP is a former political journalist.
:01:06. > :01:11.He is colleague, Tim Aker, used to work for the Taxpayers Alliance.
:01:12. > :01:14.For the Conservatives, a sense of relief as they defied expectations
:01:15. > :01:18.and held onto all three of their seats, their share of the vote
:01:19. > :01:24.The people of the East of England have spoken.
:01:25. > :01:28.They have as majority said, we need a new relationship with Europe.
:01:29. > :01:30.That is exactly what I've been saying.
:01:31. > :01:32.I have been saying Europe needs to change.
:01:33. > :01:34.Our relationship with it need to change.
:01:35. > :01:37.The big loser, Andrew Duff of the Liberal Democrats.
:01:38. > :01:41.After 15 years in Brussels, no longer an MEP.
:01:42. > :01:45.I think the country is experiencing a wave of nationalism which,
:01:46. > :01:53.as you know, I don't like, I can't explain it, and I can't justify it.
:01:54. > :01:56.While Labour failed to win a second seat, the surge from UKIP
:01:57. > :02:02.They have had one good night tonight, that they're celebrating,
:02:03. > :02:05.and people voting for them will be pleased about that, but for five
:02:06. > :02:08.years, our region will be less well represented, the work will be harder
:02:09. > :02:10.for me as a Labour MEP to represent this
:02:11. > :02:15.region. In the East Midlands, which covers Northamptonshire, both UKIP
:02:16. > :02:21.In the South East, which covers Milton Keynes,
:02:22. > :02:25.there were four wins for UKIP, three for the Tories and one each for
:02:26. > :02:29.The other parties still believe this is just
:02:30. > :02:39.a protest vote that will go away at next year's General Election,
:02:40. > :02:42.Our newest Euro MP is Patrick O'Flynn from UKIP.
:02:43. > :02:44.When I spoke to him late this afternoon,
:02:45. > :02:48.I asked him if UKIP had done well ` which party had performed badly?
:02:49. > :02:50.I think we took votes off all our rivals.
:02:51. > :02:53.I would say, though, that of the two biggest parties, the Tory
:02:54. > :02:58.vote probably held up a bit better than expected and the Labour vote
:02:59. > :03:04.Your main plank is that you are against being in Europe
:03:05. > :03:09.What can you do, though, from the European Parliament?
:03:10. > :03:14.Our number one priority is to bring back British sovereignty by getting
:03:15. > :03:20.Nonetheless, while we're there, we need to be vigilant about Brussels'
:03:21. > :03:23.power grabs and try to block them and make sure they do not happen.
:03:24. > :03:27.We want to be there for the important votes.
:03:28. > :03:32.And still less, go native, which would be the worst fate of all.
:03:33. > :03:35.Mr Farage was talking about where you might put people up
:03:36. > :03:39.for the General Election next year and he has highlighted
:03:40. > :03:41.Great Yarmouth and parts of Cambridge.
:03:42. > :03:46.Well, if you look at the council results, if you look
:03:47. > :03:50.at the breakdown of who actually won the vote for the European elections
:03:51. > :03:54.in those areas, those are clearly very good areas for us.
:03:55. > :03:58.They are areas where we have local government base.
:03:59. > :04:02.They are areas where the UKIP brand is well known and well liked.
:04:03. > :04:04.There are extra areas in the East, too.
:04:05. > :04:07.The South Essex corridor, looking at looking at Thurrock, looking at
:04:08. > :04:14.And why do you think UKIP has so much support?
:04:15. > :04:17.I think people in the eastern counties...
:04:18. > :04:21.They have always approached politics from a common`sense perceptive
:04:22. > :04:25.so there's not too much of the metropolitan sensibility going on.
:04:26. > :04:29.I think they're very much aware of open`door immigration
:04:30. > :04:33.compressing wages and perhaps making job opportunities
:04:34. > :04:37.more difficult for young people as they move into adulthood.
:04:38. > :04:41.I think particularly in the south of the region, there is heightened
:04:42. > :04:44.concern about pressure on greenbelt and greenfield land due to
:04:45. > :04:48.development in part necessitated by enormous levels of immigration.
:04:49. > :04:56.So what has been the reaction to the results?
:04:57. > :04:58.In Essex, UKIP made big gains in both
:04:59. > :05:03.Our reporter Gareth George has been finding out what people think
:05:04. > :05:09.The bank holiday bargain hunters were out early
:05:10. > :05:11.in Essex this morning, and many weren't
:05:12. > :05:40.I voted UKIP this time. You would normally vote Conservative.
:05:41. > :05:42.Yes. Because I felt they could do more.
:05:43. > :05:46.It has been Labour for ten years, then I went on to Conservative,
:05:47. > :05:52.Will you be voting for UKIP in the General Election as well?
:05:53. > :05:55.To be honest, I wasn't really surprised. I didn't vote UKIP.
:05:56. > :05:58.Were you tempted to vote UKIP? A little bit, yes.
:05:59. > :06:02.There are lots people who aren't happy about what is going on
:06:03. > :06:04.Are you worried they are getting so many votes?
:06:05. > :06:08.I think you have to be very careful and see what all
:06:09. > :06:10.the parties are going to be doing over the next year.
:06:11. > :06:13.Because unless we've got a few facts, you can't make
:06:14. > :06:18.Essex is sometimes seen as a political barometer
:06:19. > :06:23.for the whole country, and at least for the moment, UKIP seems
:06:24. > :06:42.Are political correspondent is here. What does this tell us about our
:06:43. > :06:47.region? We are a Eurosceptic region. It also tells us UKIP is a
:06:48. > :06:51.major political player now in this region, mainly I think because of
:06:52. > :06:55.fears about immigration, but there are also a lot of people who have
:06:56. > :06:58.just had enough with the main parties and in some parts of our
:06:59. > :07:04.region, Northamptonshire, Cambridge, Essex, the main battle is
:07:05. > :07:15.between UKIP and the Tories. UKIP have driven out the Lib Dems and are
:07:16. > :07:18.now squeezing out Labour. How bad is it for Labour? They do not know what
:07:19. > :07:21.to make of it. They had a mixed picture in the local elections on
:07:22. > :07:26.Thursday. A lot of their increased vote in last night came from Liberal
:07:27. > :07:31.Democrat voters but I am hearing stories that a lot of Labour voters
:07:32. > :07:33.stayed at home this week and did not vote. That is worrying for Labour if
:07:34. > :07:42.it is true. Thank you. The drugs company Pfizer has
:07:43. > :07:44.officially pulled out of an attempted takeover of
:07:45. > :07:46.Astra`Zeneca, which employs hundreds of people in Cambridge.
:07:47. > :07:49.There had been fears that if the takeover had gone ahead, it could
:07:50. > :07:52.have threatened plans already in place to move the company
:07:53. > :07:54.headquarters to Cambridge. A fire in the centre of Fakenham has
:07:55. > :07:57.been described as the worst of The former Aldiss department store
:07:58. > :08:01.was destroyed, It looks like something
:08:02. > :08:05.from the Blitz, now no more than twisted
:08:06. > :08:08.metal, smouldering bricks and There are pockets
:08:09. > :08:16.of fire is still under the debris. We want to make sure none
:08:17. > :08:18.of them spread, certainly not into any of the
:08:19. > :08:23.buildings we have managed to save. Yesterday morning 100
:08:24. > :08:26.firefighters tackled the blaze. For the moment,
:08:27. > :08:47.Norfolk Fire and Rescue do not know One reason why no one was killed or
:08:48. > :08:54.injured. The weather.
:08:55. > :09:00.The radar picture shows rain heading our way from the continent. Tonight
:09:01. > :09:05.the rain could be heavy at times and possibly thundery, too. Temperatures
:09:06. > :09:12.should not drop down to double figures for most of us. `` out of
:09:13. > :09:15.double figures for most of us. Torrential downpours at times
:09:16. > :09:22.tomorrow. With the cloud and rain, it will feel on the cool side. As we
:09:23. > :09:27.head into the evening, some further heavy downpours just about anywhere
:09:28. > :09:30.possible, so the Met Office have issued a yellow warning from
:09:31. > :09:36.midnight tonight until midnight tomorrow for the heavy rain. Perhaps
:09:37. > :09:40.even 40 millimetres expected in sunspots. That would be over an inch
:09:41. > :09:45.and a half. So definitely the chance of some localised flooding. Possibly
:09:46. > :09:49.some heavy rain on Wednesday. Hopefully lighter rain if we get any
:09:50. > :09:51.on Thursday. And then a brighter day on Friday, probably just one or two
:09:52. > :09:57.showers. The late bulletin is at 10:30pm.
:09:58. > :10:13.Good evening. Good evening. If I were to conduct a
:10:14. > :10:18.straw poll about the weather events today, I suspect we would get a
:10:19. > :10:23.split decision. There were significant differences around, we
:10:24. > :10:27.have sunshine and some warmth, but also this cloud and rain coming up
:10:28. > :10:33.through the Channel into the north of England. On top of that, some
:10:34. > :10:37.showers in the north-west, some of them thundery from Northern Ireland
:10:38. > :10:43.and Scotland, so a real eclectic mix. This will drift away over the
:10:44. > :10:48.next few hours, we will keep the cloud overnight, and we will see
:10:49. > :10:52.more significant rain pushing in off the north sea. There is a level of
:10:53. > :10:53.uncertainty just where this rain will