31/03/2017 Look East (West)

Hello and welcome to Friday's Look East.

In the programme tonight: Search teams recover the bodies

of a Bedfordshire family killed in a helicopter crash in Wales.

More black and Asian police officers on the streets of Bedfordshire,

but has the force done enough to overcome its past problems?

Is the future still bright for electric cars?

And I'm live here on the banks of the River Thames in London,

ahead of Sunday's boat races, where Cambridge's men are hoping

to make it two wins out of two, and the women are hoping to get over

the disappointment of last year's near sinking.

First tonight, in the past hour, police have confirmed the bodies

of five people from this region killed in a helicopter crash two

days ago have finally been recovered by search teams.

Kevin and Ruth Burke from near Milton Keynes and three

other adult members of their family were flying to Dublin

when the aircraft ditched in the North Wales mountains

Our reporter has spent the day in the village of Hulcote

Our village today deeply saddened that five people from the same

family are all believed to have lost their lives. It is just sad. Someone

who lives locally has passed away. In such a tragic way. It is a tiny

village. I think it is quite sad. Kevin and Ruth Burke had lived in

the area for some time. We had just moved to the dream home they built.

Bernabe are served on the parish council with Kevin. Very outgoing.

Quite charming. He was a very successful businessman. He had a lot

of attributes. Desperately sad to hear about this very tragic

accident. Particularly of course for the children. Very sad. And of

course a terrible shock to people who live in this little community.

Kevin had a local building firm and his company were involved in

projects like the expansion of the MK stadium. The family set off from

Milton Keynes, flying to Ireland on Wednesday. They crashed in the

mountains in Wales. Rescue services are still trying to recover the

bodies, but the weather is happening the operation. Conditions in the

mountains are treacherous. The most experienced climbers are finding it

very difficult. Once the bodies have been recovered, investigators will

want to examine the scene. As an aviation expert told me. It could be

quite a tough technical investigation, depending how bad the

damages from impact. There is unlikely to be a record on this

aircraft. You depend on other forms of evidence, so that will be a

painstaking examination of forensics at the scene.

We have now heard that all five bodies have been recovered. They

have been confirmed as Kevin and Ruth Burke, as well as three other

family members. It will be some time before we discover what went wrong

and caused them to lose their lives. Next, there will be more black

and ethnic minority police officers on the streets

of Bedfordshire from today. The force has been actively trying

to increase diversity in its ranks - and new recruits from that programme

passed out this afternoon. But it comes on the same day

as the Independent Police Complaints Commission revealed 15 staff

are under investigation for gross misconduct for their roles in a case

of internal racial discrimination. The new faces of

Bedfordshire Police. After months of training

and testing, these new recruits They're the first to pass out

since the campaign was started last year to encourage more people

from minority ethnic We will be able to deliver,

to cater for the needs of some of the different communities,

some of the challenges they face. We will be able to have a dialogue

with people who we have We will have a huge positive impact

for the whole community. As we are jogging round,

I want you to imagine you have a football at your feet,

flick your toes out. These were some of the recruits five

months ago undergoing fitness tests. It was always going to be more

of a marathon than a sprint. At the moment, just 6% of police

officers in Bedfordshire are from minority

ethnic backgrounds. Personally, I am doing this so that

other female Asians can see that you can do it,

you don't have to be secured, see that you can do it,

you don't have to be scared, you don't have to do worry

about religion or anything. You can be out there

positively and you can help It is hoped this injection

of new blood will help the force to improve trust

and public perception. Seeing people from your culture,

it breaks down barriers So it's not just the police

and them, it's ours. So it's not just the police

and them, it's us. But on this day of positivity,

the force's past conduct The IPCC is now investigating 15

staff members, many of them senior officers, over claims of racial

discrimination against 96 new recruits will join

the force this year, It seems there are still a long way

to go, but the change starts today. So what more can

Bedfordshire Police do? I asked Chief Constable Jon Boutcher

why his force is still not as ethnically diverse

as the community it serves. Well, that's true about policing

across the country, Claire. We in the police service recognise

going back many many years the Scarman report of 1981,

MacPherson report into the tragic Both of those said that we needed

in the police service to recruit proportionately numbers

in the police service that represented our communities,

and we've not done that. So in Bedfordshire we've got a real

drive now to make sure that this force and the legacy of this force

represents the people We've just heard today

that the police watchdog is investigating 15 former

and current Bedfordshire officers I mean, that smacks of institutional

racism, doesn't it? Well, we need to be

very careful here. There was an employment tribunal

that occurred in 2014 and it looked at the force going back many many

years before then. And what we can do is prejudge

that investigation. The investigation needs

to take its course. It might find that there's not been

any inappropriate behaviours. So we have to be very careful

about commenting on that. So, for the recruits passing out

today though that are from black and ethnic minorities,

can you guarantee they will get the same opportunities

to regress to the force Our communities have

really backed this. People have come forward,

they've listened to what we have got to see and they realise just

what a wonderful career And it's important that our

police service represents How can we deal with some

of the issues in some of our diverse communities if we haven't got

officers from those communities? We have now increased our

numbers in Bedfordshire. We're going to change

the face of this force. What we've got to do now

is progress those officers And of course I'm hoping in years

to come you will be speaking to an Asian or black Chief Constable

representing a police force in this country,

which, at the moment, we haven't got in

the police service. Electric car drivers in the region

will no longer be able to charge their vehicles

for free tomorrow. It is because the company behind

a government-backed network of charging points in the East

of England - called Source East - can no longer afford

to subsidise running costs. For those of us who've gone

electric, charging up the vehicle is an essential part

of making the switch. But from tomorrow, drivers will no

longer be able to access a network of charging points

across the region without paying. Called Source East, it was partly

funded by a national The scheme has around 360 of these

charge points at 100 locations Which will now no

longer be free to use. It's because the company

behind the network based here at Hertfordshire University can

no longer afford to subsidise it. The hosts of the scheme,

those who have the charge points underground in local authority car

parks and suchlike have to provide the cost

of the maintenance at the moment. And their budgets don't

really allow that. So more and more of them have found

it very difficult to support, and more of the costs have come back

to us as a company. So what will happen

to the charging points? Here in Luton today,

they were being upgraded. But it means users will have

to pay a subscription, We are effectively picking up

the Source East posts and renewing them where required,

upgrading them to the latest specification, hopefully providing

a much better service Source East is one of

the last of these national It sanctioned the capital

to set up the project, but it is the maintenance fees

which are the problem. We are seeing current providers

change and new ones come in. That causes problems for people

like me who drive electric cars because I've got eight different

cards to access different We've got to have a much more joined

up approach to charging if we want to get people

into electric cars. Some companies at shopping centres

will of course still offer charging at no cost as an incentive,

but from tomorrow, it is goodbye to a network of free

electricity across our region. The Northamptonshire baker,

Oliver Adams, founded more than 150 years ago,

has today ceased trading after The company began in

Northampton in 1856. All 110 employees were told

at a meeting this morning That's all from me -

Tom Williams has your late news at ten thirty -

but time now for the rest Stay with us for Julie's

weekend weather forecast. We'll be live beside

the River Thames to speak to Cambridge ahead

of the University Boat Race. And, we go behind the scenes at one

of Britain's most advanced cinemas. The world of politics this

week has been dominated On Wednesday we heard from MPs

on both sides on the day Yesterday, we spoke

to the international trade secretary who told us securing a good deal

for our farmers was a priority. But how is this all going

down over in Brussels Some of our Euro MPs

will be on the front line Our political correspondent

Andrew Sinclair has been to Brussels In some respects life here is

continuing as normal, MEPs continue to discuss a range of different

topics while hundreds of tourists like this group from the Eastern

region drop in everyday to watch Parliament in action. I hope they

make the best of it and we can sort out trade agreements with different

countries and still have a good relationship with Europe. I think it

is incumbent on those in government to ensure we get the best possible

deal. It will take a long time before we are

business and that's borne out by the experiences of our own MEPs. They

have been holding meetings across the region and listening to people's

concerns. There is a gathering of EU nationals last month. A huge amount

of devil in the detail and I am giving them as much as I can of the

concerns put to me back to the powers that be at Westminster and

Brussels. Every different company and sector I talk to tells me about

yet another Brexit problem perhaps one I have not thought about or

heard about before and I think it's going to be deeply, deeply difficult

period. But not everyone here agrees, this man a key member of the

Leave campaign. I am confident we will get a great deal, we are

hearing some pragmatic voices at last. A lot of people are saying it

will be difficult and you don't realise how difficult? We are not

reinventing the wheel, we are following the guidelines set by the

World Trade Organisation and I think we can keep it pretty straight

forward. Who is right we just don't know. But whatever side of the

debate they are all in all of our MEPs are doing their bit to try and

get the region a good deal out of Brexit.

Andrew is here, how influential will our MEPs be? In one respect not much

because the negotiations are being run by the European Commission which

is down the road on the parliament but European politics is about

behind the scenes lobbying and MEPs at brussels talk to their national

governments who in turn feed into the European negotiations so the

likes of the men and women you saw in that package are all talking to

their opposite numbers to try to find out areas we have in common

over the things which matter to us, agriculture, science, technology, in

the hope it will go up the line to the national governments that these

other things we need a good deal on. On top of that our MEPs are also

talking to people here in the region and feeding into the brush it should

-- British negotiators things which are imported in this region. And

Parliament has broken up Easter. Yes, what happens now a lot of

attention turns to local elections and we will be talking about them on

Sunday politics this week. Thank you Andrew.

It's one of the oldest sporting events in the world.

The University Boat Race gets underway on Sunday with the women's

race at just after half past four and the men's event an hour later.

Cambridge go into the race with 82 wins.

As always the race will be watched by an audience

Let's go to the River Thames now to Putney and James Burridge.

Yes, well, to south-west London, pretty close, look how close we are

tonight, in about 48 hours' time the famous scene you see the individual

rowers taking their orders down to the water 's edge, they get into the

eights and will make their way to the startling just shy of Putney

Bridge and then there was nerve-racking moments where they

await the umpire to see go. We have spent some time behind the scenes

with the men and the women of Cambridge University and this is the

poetry story. Everyone is waking up at 5am. It's a big commitment

everyone is making to be part of this team. It's hard to put into

words how hard the boat race is. You always build confidence in what you

are doing so every year I have got to the race thinking I am confident

in the girls around me. A bit more positive on the press. It's not like

any other race, you have moving water underneath you, if you did a

normal start like you would at any normal race the blades would get

sucked down to the bottom of the river before the guys have even

stood up to see get ready. Six months preparation for just 17

minutes on the water, four miles, 374 yards of excruciating pain

battling a boat and the conditions. Last year for the Cambridge women

the conditions almost beat them. Red flag is being waved and in the

shadow of the bridge Cambridge are sinking. Every crew has a chat were

you sit down and say what would we do if and we had our conversation

and nobody thought we were going to almost sank. You could have as many

conversations as you like and something can still come and E and

additional challenge. Spare a thought for the person who has to

steer, both crews looking for the quickest line and the fastest water.

Do you get nervous? I do before the race but on the start line I will be

nervous but once we go it all clicks into routine. You can feel the focus

of everyone in the crew prepared and ready to start. Can you describe the

physical exertions? A lot of time after the race I do not remember a

lot of went on. You find a deep dark place inside yourself during every

race. That's a place at you don't want to talk about. Come Sunday

tea-time over 200,000 will be crammed on the banks of the Thames

to watch their moment on the water. Millions more on TV, the river whose

will feel along well with. Fairly calm in Putney, Cambridge are

the heavier bought by about three kilograms, Oxford are the

favourites. Ashton brown in the women's crew developed pneumonia and

was out of action for six months after last year is almost sinking so

she has got revenge on her mind ahead of the race.

Thank you James. For Ipswich Town tomorrow

is what they are calling And this week girls from a number

of local primary schools have been taking part in training sessions

with some of the players. About a quarter of all footballers

in this country are female but the FA's trying

to boost participation further. More than 10,000 have already signed

up for their national An increasingly familiar sight,

girls enjoying a Kickabout for fun and competitively to, ahead of

ladies day at Ipswich local schoolchildren have been putting

their heroes through their paces. It's nice to see the club trying to

boost participation. We have people willing to come down and help and

bid on sessions and the girls have enjoyed it and it's nice to see

people running around without as much pressure as we have on

Saturday. I was just saying we had a tough morning this morning and to

come down here was just as tough, the girls are very competitive and

have a real winning streak. I have had a few shouting at me! Football

clearly now no longer a man's game. Me and my brother like to play

against each other but he is always like I will go easy but I just want

to say you don't have to because I am really good. I think girls is

better but boys show off too much. Some people think boys can play

football and girls can't but we are going to prove them wrong. Almost 12

million people play football in this country. Just under 9 million are

male. Almost 3 million, around a quarter, Artie Miele and the women's

game is growing fast. Next month Savic FAO launches its new wildcat

clubs, and nationwide scheme encouraging 5-11 -year-olds to play.

200 in the country, four in Suffolk where football is taking off. The

challenge at times is the culture of players who do not realise it can be

their sport. But with how well the lioness is done in the World Cup it

shows there is an opportunity for girls. One well-known lioness

visited Milton Keynes today to share tips with the rising star is.

England's women are back in action at Stadium MK a week on Monday. We

have a responsibility because we are role models. Back in Ipswich the

girls have done their bit, no time for the men to impress on ladies day

with victory over Birmingham. I love the Sass.

If they can play football half as well as they talk about it they will

be world beaters. And a tray packed full of ice cream

tubs during the intermission. But these days cinemas

are very high tech. And in Ipswich today

a landmark moment. A new 14 screen complex

where the films are It's the first of its

kind in the region. Exciting staff, extra large scissors

and exposure galore as the Empire opens its doors. Giving Ipswich a

total of 27 screens. Too much? Not by a long way, when you consider

over 650 films are released per year plus all the arts products and we

struggle to play everything we would like to. You can see why the

question is being asked, still derelict is the old Odeon which shut

12 years ago after being told it could not compete. Back in 1961 and

the cinema was the only place to be, top titles, tasty treats and in

Ipswich look through old snapshots and the pictures have always been

paramount, no pun intended. Remember the good old days when the film was

about the crackle of cellulite, the projectionist doing his business?

Not any more. Today it is lasers. David was once a projectionist and

is now in charge of this control room and computers which pretty much

run all 14 laser screens are needed. For you there is no time or a sense

of getting tearful, it is progress. Absolutely. I do miss film, I think

every projectionist out there Mrs film but you have to move with the

times. The Empire has taken two years to create, converting what was

a huge retail chunk of the butter market and removing masses of

concrete. There was a level of concrete right the way through in

particular here. The work the builders have done here is amazing.

I was here last June and it was just a shell and to see it look like this

now is incredible. It's really exciting. Laser projection for the

first time three years ago, the first time I have seen technology

that is a game changer, sometimes it is presented and you think OK I

cannot see the customer benefit but this one has a real customer

benefit. The picture quality, the colours and sharpness and brightness

is like nothing you have seen before. There is a drive underway to

rejuvenate this corner of time, the Empire team say they are delighted

and excited to be part of it. isn't it? Let's get the weather, my

other last night. Most of staying in double figures

last did not quite the direct third, that was 1990 when it was down

around 13 Celsius. But lots of us last night were very close. Today

there has been a lot of cloud certainly compared to yesterday and

some of this has produced rain and showers but there has been blue sky.

With the sunshine and a keen west wind perfect conditions for drying.

You can see on the radar and satellite picture a little bits and

pieces of showers which cleared quickly and this afternoon has been

largely fine and dry with spells of sunshine. Tonight perhaps an odd

isolated shower but for most of us dry with long clear spells and

another mild night but not as mild as last night. Seven or eight

Celsius above average for the time of year and mainly light winds.

Tomorrow this little feature brings us that good old double act of

sunshine and showers. Might be a dry start for many but eventually the

showers moving through if you see one there could be hell and thunder

and they will be slow-moving as we will have mainly light side,

south-westerly winds. In the best of the sunshine temperatures up around

15. It will feel lovely because of the light winds. I do think even

through the afternoon and into the evening there will be a lot of fine

and dry weather, showers not for everyone. That is Saturday and then

on Sunday high pressure, this ridge of high pressure building, I think

for most of us it will be a fine and dry day with a good deal of

sunshine. Just a very small chance of an isolated shower but it's

looking pretty good for the boat race in London on Sunday evening.

Fine and dry with light winds. That's the weekend, not too bad but

there will be heavy and possibly thundery showers on Saturday. Monday

high-pressure continues to build so it's looking driver everyone we

could have missed and for first-time, Tuesday a week for the

front. Thank you. The producer made a noise

as the Sunday weather picture came up. He is happy. Have a good

weekend.