:00:00. > :00:13.Hello and welcome to Tuesday's programme. Coming up: Cambridge
:00:14. > :00:17.could be a key battle ground in a June general election. MPs say it is
:00:18. > :00:21.an opportunity to oust the government. I was surprised because
:00:22. > :00:26.the Prime Minister has been telling us for months there wouldn't be an
:00:27. > :00:29.election. Now she has decided to call one, I want to know what she
:00:30. > :00:37.knows about the period ahead that we don't know already. Northamptonshire
:00:38. > :00:40.-based Weetabix could move from China to America. The parents
:00:41. > :00:45.frustrated at not being able to get their children into their local
:00:46. > :00:49.primary school. This is where his friends are going to be going and
:00:50. > :00:56.where he goes to preschool. It is so disappointing he will not get a
:00:57. > :00:58.place. Some cold mornings and some sunny afternoons. The latest coming
:00:59. > :01:15.up at the end of the programme. Two years after the last general
:01:16. > :01:20.election and a year after the referendum, it looks like voters
:01:21. > :01:22.will be asked to turn out again for a June general election. What will
:01:23. > :01:27.it mean for our region? Here in Milton Keynes,
:01:28. > :01:28.Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire,
:01:29. > :01:30.there are 19 Conservative MPs and three Labour -
:01:31. > :01:33.two in Luton and one in Cambridge. And it's Cambridge where
:01:34. > :01:40.Daniel Zeichner won his seat with a majority of just 599
:01:41. > :01:43.votes - that could be the biggest battle ground,
:01:44. > :01:46.as Mike Cartwright reports. This is the moment Labour tok
:01:47. > :01:56.Cambridge back from Julian Huppert Now fewer than two years later,
:01:57. > :02:02.he'll have to fight His party today welcomed the general
:02:03. > :02:07.election announcement but he won here with the smallest majority
:02:08. > :02:09.in the region with I think in Cambridge,
:02:10. > :02:15.we had fantastic results from Labour in the local council
:02:16. > :02:17.elections last year. I'm sure Julian and I
:02:18. > :02:19.will have a constructive This will be the best of three
:02:20. > :02:23.between Julian and myself and I'm hoping to come out
:02:24. > :02:26.the winner, 2-1. But I think the majority of people
:02:27. > :02:28.in Cambridge would far rather have a Labour government
:02:29. > :02:30.than a Conservative government and that's what this election
:02:31. > :02:33.is going to be about. A city fast approaching
:02:34. > :02:35.mayoral elections, now I think it's brilliant
:02:36. > :02:40.because I think it'll give Theresa May the opportunity now
:02:41. > :02:43.to perhaps form a strong government It's about getting a majority for
:02:44. > :02:51.someone who needs it to do Brexit. I'd be surprised but yes,
:02:52. > :02:59.I think she stands a good chance. But it is with strong conviction
:03:00. > :03:02.that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership
:03:03. > :03:05.the country needs to see us An election to bring
:03:06. > :03:10.stability after Brexit, says the Prime Minister,
:03:11. > :03:12.in a region that Cambridge, a city that
:03:13. > :03:18.decidedly wanted to stay. Its former MP and his party
:03:19. > :03:22.campaigned to remain. Could that win votes
:03:23. > :03:25.in a general election? I think people in Cambridge
:03:26. > :03:27.who are very pro-European, both because of financial reasons,
:03:28. > :03:30.the trade advantages, We feel European and I think
:03:31. > :03:35.they also know that the Brexit, that the Tories are leading us
:03:36. > :03:40.through with Labour simply cheering them on voting for it,
:03:41. > :03:42.is not what they want. There is no difference between
:03:43. > :03:45.a soft Brexit and a hard Brexit. You are either pregnant
:03:46. > :03:48.or you are not pregnant. It's either Brexit or Brexit
:03:49. > :03:51.but this should actually settled the issue because the problem
:03:52. > :03:54.is that in parliament, there are 500 Parliament needs to catch up
:03:55. > :04:00.with the public and this general election should deal
:04:01. > :04:02.with that issue. Daniel Zeichner was loudly
:04:03. > :04:05.pro-Europe, the Leaning Now he's going to have to do
:04:06. > :04:16.it for a second time. but there are just two weeks to go
:04:17. > :04:25.before Cambridgeshire The region is one
:04:26. > :04:28.of six in the country to gain extra powers
:04:29. > :04:30.under the Government's The new mayor will control
:04:31. > :04:34.an ?800 million deal to fund local transport and housing projects over
:04:35. > :04:37.the next 30 years. Seven candidates are
:04:38. > :04:54.vying for the position. If you are not used to change, the
:04:55. > :04:57.past 12 months will have been a roller-coaster adventure to
:04:58. > :05:02.remember. A new Prime Minister, world order and now we're getting
:05:03. > :05:06.air. Seven men and women are vying to become Cambridgeshire's first
:05:07. > :05:12.directly elected mayor and according to the government's latest campaign,
:05:13. > :05:17.that means local power for local people on housing, transport and
:05:18. > :05:21.skills. That's why on May four, Cambridge and Peterborough will
:05:22. > :05:26.elect a mayor. What does your vote get you? It they will be responsible
:05:27. > :05:30.for delivering hundreds of new apprenticeships through grants from
:05:31. > :05:42.local employees on the next generation of school leavers with
:05:43. > :05:45.practical skills. Here at the West Anglia training Association,
:05:46. > :05:52.Apprentices are working on one of the biggest road projects to date,
:05:53. > :05:55.the A14 upgrade. Then there will be responsible for delivering ?170
:05:56. > :06:03.million of new housing and in one of the areas in the UK, new homes are
:06:04. > :06:07.needed. Here, up to 5000 homes are being built. Whoever is elected will
:06:08. > :06:11.have the power to remove existing barriers to free up more brown field
:06:12. > :06:15.sites for development like this airfield in Huntingdon, easing the
:06:16. > :06:20.pressure is on the availability of social housing and places like
:06:21. > :06:24.Cambridge. By far the biggest part of money available to the new mayor
:06:25. > :06:28.would be an annual budget of ?20 million to boost economic growth.
:06:29. > :06:34.Money that could be spent on upgrading busy junctions like this
:06:35. > :06:41.one where the A14 metres B -- metres -- meets the A114 near Newmarket.
:06:42. > :06:46.The new mayor is also likely to invest heavily in a new University
:06:47. > :06:52.of the Peterborough. He or she will be voted into office in May but by
:06:53. > :06:55.June, could the country have a new Prime Minister? Campaigning for the
:06:56. > :06:58.general election has begun in a urbanist -- Ernest and all hoping
:06:59. > :07:03.for a smooth journey had. Well, our political reporter
:07:04. > :07:06.Mousumi Bakshi joins me now. And Mo, not one, not two,
:07:07. > :07:08.but three elections! I would stock up on the vitamins
:07:09. > :07:11.over the next few As well as the mayoral
:07:12. > :07:15.elections in Cambridgeshire, there are are county council
:07:16. > :07:17.elections in Hertfordshire, As with our MPs, there are currently
:07:18. > :07:20.Conservative majorities in all three councils,
:07:21. > :07:22.although the Tories don't have an outright
:07:23. > :07:25.majority in Cambridgeshire. Those elections take place
:07:26. > :07:28.on the same day May fourth, a full So how will today's news
:07:29. > :07:34.affect those elections? Well, crucially, they'll give us
:07:35. > :07:37.an accurate snapshot The polls were criticised for not
:07:38. > :07:46.calling Brexit last year. At least we'll know if there's to be
:07:47. > :07:49.a Lib Dem resurgence The elections will also give
:07:50. > :07:55.the main parties a chance to recalibrate their campaigns ahead
:07:56. > :07:57.of June if local results And you'll be able to find out more
:07:58. > :08:05.about the mayoral candidates in a series of reports
:08:06. > :08:07.starting tomorrow night And on Thursday,
:08:08. > :08:14.you'll be able to hear from the candidates themselves
:08:15. > :08:17.in a special programme called The Mayor for Cambridgeshire
:08:18. > :08:18.and Peterborough, Other news now and it's got
:08:19. > :08:26.a history in Northamptonshire that stretches back
:08:27. > :08:28.more than 80 years. Today, it's been
:08:29. > :08:30.confirmed that the cereal manufacturer Weetabix
:08:31. > :08:32.is to be sold by its Chinese owners to
:08:33. > :08:34.an American company. The deal with Price Holdings
:08:35. > :08:36.could be worth more But what does it mean
:08:37. > :08:41.for the company and its staff? Tom Percival is at the Weetabix
:08:42. > :08:58.plant in Burton Latimer for us now. Those are the two questions. What
:08:59. > :09:03.this deal means for Weetabix Wendy's employees. Since 2004, this has gone
:09:04. > :09:07.from family ownership through foreign owners. Throughout that
:09:08. > :09:09.time, it has remained rooted here in Burton Latimer and up the road in
:09:10. > :09:10.Corby. 3 billion biscuits a year exported
:09:11. > :09:13.to more than 90 countries via a company with 2000 staff
:09:14. > :09:16.and all its wheat comes from farms So how will the sale
:09:17. > :09:24.of Weetabix with US firm, Post Holdings, for ?1.4
:09:25. > :09:28.billion, affect all that? As long as our business
:09:29. > :09:30.remain successful, we will continue to make, market
:09:31. > :09:32.and sell our brands here We'll also continue to source our
:09:33. > :09:41.wheat from within 50 The relationship with our farmers
:09:42. > :09:45.is incredibly important from a quality point of view, from
:09:46. > :09:47.a provenance point of view and just from an ease of access,
:09:48. > :09:49.so we will continue to support our local farmers,
:09:50. > :09:51.continue to source They've been an incredible
:09:52. > :09:55.part of our past success and they'll remain critical
:09:56. > :09:57.to our future success. Weetabix has been at
:09:58. > :10:02.Northamptonshire since 1932. The unions that represent staff both
:10:03. > :10:05.here in Burton Latimer and also in Corby say they want urgent meetings
:10:06. > :10:08.with the management and with the new Weetabix invested ?30
:10:09. > :10:16.million in its factories A boost to production and
:10:17. > :10:22.the possibility of new jobs also. But eating habits
:10:23. > :10:25.are changing and that means the battle for breakfast
:10:26. > :10:36.will continue now and in new owners. Our business correspondent
:10:37. > :10:39.Richard Bond is in our newsroom now. What do we know about
:10:40. > :10:50.Post Holdings, the new owner? They are a very big American food
:10:51. > :10:55.group. They are ten times bigger than Weetabix. They are the third
:10:56. > :10:58.biggest producer of breakfast cereals in America and their product
:10:59. > :11:01.range includes some products which May be familiar to British consumers
:11:02. > :11:13.including grape nuts. They could be good news for
:11:14. > :11:16.Weetabix. In America as in Britain, there has been a decline in
:11:17. > :11:20.consumption of traditional breakfast cereals. People are not eating
:11:21. > :11:24.breakfast as much in their own homes. They are eating something on
:11:25. > :11:28.the move, perhaps when they get to work or when they are going to work
:11:29. > :11:37.so they are consuming new products like breakfast bars and breakfast
:11:38. > :11:42.drinks. Post Holdings is a leader in breakfast on the move in America. Is
:11:43. > :11:46.expertise will be useful to Weetabix which one could argue has been
:11:47. > :11:52.somewhat distracted over the last five years by the need to break into
:11:53. > :11:56.the Asian market and is previous Chinese owner. It has done that with
:11:57. > :12:13.mixed success. Being owned by a Western owner will allow Weetabix to
:12:14. > :12:17.stick to its home market. Stay with us for a weather forecast and we
:12:18. > :12:25.meet the parents who can't get their children into their local school.
:12:26. > :12:27.Easyjet has apologised after two passengers were removed
:12:28. > :12:29.from an overbooked flight leaving from Luton Airport.
:12:30. > :12:32.They were travelling to Italy last Monday
:12:33. > :12:39.The company says staff had not followed guidelines correctly.
:12:40. > :12:41.Parking enforcement officers have begun work
:12:42. > :12:44.It's to stop staff, patients and visitors parking
:12:45. > :12:48.The officers will focus on vehicles blocking emergency routes,
:12:49. > :12:51.parking on double yellow lines and using disabled bays
:12:52. > :13:00.Parents have been finding out today where their children will go
:13:01. > :13:03.Over 90% were allocated their first choice.
:13:04. > :13:05.But some parents living within 500 metres of
:13:06. > :13:07.a new school in St Neots haven't been given a place,
:13:08. > :13:25.He only lives five minutes away but come September, three-year-old Oscar
:13:26. > :13:30.Whalley begun to his local school. Instead you'll have to travel over a
:13:31. > :13:34.mile and a half in the courts of the next closest primary. Really
:13:35. > :13:39.disappointed. This is so close to us and part of the community and where
:13:40. > :13:43.his friends will be going, where he goes to preschool. It is so
:13:44. > :13:50.disappointing he will not get a. Oscar is not the only one to miss
:13:51. > :13:55.out. The school is a new school on a new estate built to cope with the
:13:56. > :13:59.growing demand. Parents say the catchment area of 400 metres is too
:14:00. > :14:05.small and means the school can only take 60 pupils per year group. That
:14:06. > :14:08.is despite doubling in size. Coming together on social media, parents
:14:09. > :14:15.say the problem could have been avoided. The council should have
:14:16. > :14:19.seen this coming. They have allowed more houses to be built. There is a
:14:20. > :14:23.huge proportion of families on this estate and they should have made the
:14:24. > :14:31.school big enough for all of the houses that have been built. This is
:14:32. > :14:37.a new school and it was built a while ago. It is difficult getting
:14:38. > :14:43.it right. You build a school according to the number of houses
:14:44. > :14:48.and you expect the type of houses and the number of parents moving in.
:14:49. > :14:52.We do always try to do something about it. The council says it has
:14:53. > :14:56.anticipated increasing demand and plans to build more schools in the
:14:57. > :14:58.coming years but that is little comfort for Oscar who would be
:14:59. > :15:02.starting school with his friends. Easter is always a crucial period
:15:03. > :15:04.in the football calendar And as ever, the race for promotion
:15:05. > :15:09.is hotting up. Five teams in this region
:15:10. > :15:12.still have a chance of going up. Southend in League One
:15:13. > :15:14.and all four of our This from our Sports
:15:15. > :15:27.Reporter, Tom Williams. Three games left in League 2 and
:15:28. > :15:31.iMac Cambridge United, one of four teams chasing the play-offs. All
:15:32. > :15:36.four could make it. They could face each other. More on the play-off
:15:37. > :15:42.chase shortly. The result of the day and Ipswich town's 3-1 victory over
:15:43. > :15:47.Newcastle came on Sir Bobby Robson day, giving both clubs to pay
:15:48. > :15:52.tribute to their former manager. From an Ipswich perspective, what a
:15:53. > :16:03.tribute to him in front of over 25,000 fans. They produced their
:16:04. > :16:06.best display of the season. The result guaranteed Ipswich
:16:07. > :16:11.championship football for a 16th consecutive season. Norwich 13-1 but
:16:12. > :16:22.their slim hopes of a play-off place came to an end. Goals came that
:16:23. > :16:25.Preston. City got a rare away win. Southend have fallen out of the
:16:26. > :16:31.play-offs. The blues Trail Millwall by a point but Phil Brown hasn't
:16:32. > :16:37.given up hope. He feels Southend may well need to win their final two
:16:38. > :16:42.games to reach the top six. MK Dons' revival has lifted them into the top
:16:43. > :16:49.half. Joe Walsh put them in front. Ben Reeves made it two. Simon Cox
:16:50. > :16:53.got a consolation penalty. They are fully focused on next Saturday's
:16:54. > :16:59.game with Shrewsbury. Look out ideas become the top of League 2 with four
:17:00. > :17:05.of our teams chasing the play-offs. Gluten's promotion hopes are over.
:17:06. > :17:08.They are in fourth with Stephen Sharp -- Stevenage below. Colchester
:17:09. > :17:15.just outside the play-offs and they will be hoping to time their revival
:17:16. > :17:20.to protect -- to perfection. Luton had back-to-back draws. Trailing at
:17:21. > :17:26.Mansfield. Danny Houghton rescued the day. Goal number 26 was nearly
:17:27. > :17:34.27 of the season. This header was too high. It is now the play-offs
:17:35. > :17:39.and Stevenage are playing for the play-offs. One point from six over
:17:40. > :17:47.Easter. Stephen Schumacher gave the lead at Carlisle. There was an
:17:48. > :17:51.equaliser. It is now three winds in four of the Cambridge. A point away
:17:52. > :17:57.from the play-offs. This header was enough to see them beat Exeter. Will
:17:58. > :18:10.Norris was in terrific form with this game changing double save.
:18:11. > :18:16.Jonathan Park, BBC Look East. You have been making steady progress.
:18:17. > :18:19.Can you do it? Who knows? The possibility of getting into the
:18:20. > :18:24.play-offs was low and now we are within one point and three matches
:18:25. > :18:30.to go. It was a slow start to the season. What has been your key to
:18:31. > :18:35.success? We didn't win that eight matches which was frustrating. We
:18:36. > :18:40.have a really good group of young players. Most of them are early 20s
:18:41. > :18:45.and they are such a determined bunch and they are led by Sean and his
:18:46. > :18:52.determination from his career is now rubbing off on them. You can just
:18:53. > :18:56.feel the positivity. The very best of luck. You've got to keep in touch
:18:57. > :19:03.with your local radio station for the run-in and for rugby fans out
:19:04. > :19:06.there, keep a look out on the squad announcement. A few Northampton
:19:07. > :19:11.Saints players hoping to make the play from New Zealand.
:19:12. > :19:13.Time now to take a look at the weather.
:19:14. > :19:26.We had good spells of sunshine today. We have this photo showing
:19:27. > :19:30.blue sky and lovely sunshine. Also a lovely shot through the woods
:19:31. > :19:34.showing the bluebells. We are in a transitional stage of weather this
:19:35. > :19:39.week. We are going to see some sunshine and it will gradually turn
:19:40. > :19:43.warmer. They are likely to be some frosty nights and starting with
:19:44. > :19:48.tonight. At the moment, you can see we have had some areas of cloud
:19:49. > :19:53.coming in and some clear sky and as we go through the evening and night,
:19:54. > :19:58.the trend will be for any areas of cloud to melt away. We will be left
:19:59. > :20:02.with long, clear spells. Variable amounts of cloud coming through the
:20:03. > :20:08.night. There is a spread of temperatures expected in towns and
:20:09. > :20:14.cities close to freezing. It could dip below freezing. For some of us,
:20:15. > :20:17.a sharp frost as we stop the day tomorrow. High pressure is going to
:20:18. > :20:21.be a dominant feature keeping things settled with some light winds. There
:20:22. > :20:28.will be some areas of cloud that come and go and also for tomorrow. A
:20:29. > :20:33.cool stop for the day and clouding over at times as we get into the
:20:34. > :20:37.afternoon. Temperatures up a little bit on where they were today. It
:20:38. > :20:45.will be cooler on the North Sea coast. Staying fine and dry for the
:20:46. > :20:48.afternoon. A little bit of cloud around at times. Not a lot happening
:20:49. > :20:52.on the pressure pattern through the week. We will get this weather
:20:53. > :20:59.friend come down from the north by Friday. A colder air source and
:21:00. > :21:02.while it warms up through this week, by the weekend, colder air is
:21:03. > :21:07.flooding in and it would be a cooler forecast by the weekends. The
:21:08. > :21:11.outlook and not a lot is changing. Temperatures going up for Thursday
:21:12. > :21:15.and Friday with milder air. There will be some sunshine around but
:21:16. > :21:20.also there will be areas of cloud for Friday as that weather front
:21:21. > :21:23.comes through. It is not expected to bring us rain. Temperatures
:21:24. > :21:30.overnight, they are likely to stay above freezing in towns and cities
:21:31. > :21:36.but be aware, some places they well drop below freezing. Expect some
:21:37. > :21:37.chilly nights and as we get the weekend, temperatures cooling down
:21:38. > :21:40.to 11 Celsius. Let's recap now on our
:21:41. > :21:42.main story tonight - that snap general election called
:21:43. > :21:45.for the 8th of June. Our political correspondent
:21:46. > :21:47.Andrew Sinclair joins us now. There will really just be one issue
:21:48. > :21:57.in this election, won't there? I have had lots of e-mails and text
:21:58. > :22:01.messages from MPs telling me how they all looking forward to fighting
:22:02. > :22:06.on their record for bringing housing to their constituency or getting
:22:07. > :22:08.money for road and rail schemes which under normal circumstances
:22:09. > :22:17.would be a limb -- important election issues. It will be about
:22:18. > :22:21.Brexit and it will depend on how we feel about leaving the European
:22:22. > :22:25.Union. Science, car production and farming are the main issues when it
:22:26. > :22:29.comes to Brexit facing our region. Now it will be up to the parties to
:22:30. > :22:33.lay out how they see the future in those areas as we go into Brexit. We
:22:34. > :22:39.were talking about Cambridge earlier. Where else are the
:22:40. > :22:44.interesting seats to watch? There will be a massive battle that
:22:45. > :22:49.Cambridge. There are few other seats to watch. Hitchin and Harpenden are
:22:50. > :22:55.safe Conservative seat is that Peter Lilley. He is an art euro sceptic.
:22:56. > :23:01.Most people in his constituency voted to remain. Could there be a
:23:02. > :23:06.struggle? What about Alistair Burton? He was a key member of the
:23:07. > :23:09.Remain campaign but many of his constituents voted to leave. David
:23:10. > :23:13.McIntosh hasn't had the best relations with his local party. Will
:23:14. > :23:19.they keep him on as a candidate or get rid of him? Many have to make
:23:20. > :23:25.decisions in the next few weeks. Thank you. I will be back with your
:23:26. > :23:28.late bulletin at the latest time of 10:50pm tonight. Goodbye.