18/04/2017 Look East (West)

Hello and welcome to Tuesday's programme. Coming up: Cambridge

could be a key battle ground in a June general election. MPs say it is

an opportunity to oust the government. I was surprised because

the Prime Minister has been telling us for months there wouldn't be an

election. Now she has decided to call one, I want to know what she

knows about the period ahead that we don't know already. Northamptonshire

-based Weetabix could move from China to America. The parents

frustrated at not being able to get their children into their local

primary school. This is where his friends are going to be going and

where he goes to preschool. It is so disappointing he will not get a

place. Some cold mornings and some sunny afternoons. The latest coming

up at the end of the programme. Two years after the last general

election and a year after the referendum, it looks like voters

will be asked to turn out again for a June general election. What will

it mean for our region? Here in Milton Keynes,

Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire,

there are 19 Conservative MPs and three Labour -

two in Luton and one in Cambridge. And it's Cambridge where

Daniel Zeichner won his seat with a majority of just 599

votes - that could be the biggest battle ground,

as Mike Cartwright reports. This is the moment Labour tok

Cambridge back from Julian Huppert Now fewer than two years later,

he'll have to fight His party today welcomed the general

election announcement but he won here with the smallest majority

in the region with I think in Cambridge,

we had fantastic results from Labour in the local council

elections last year. I'm sure Julian and I

will have a constructive This will be the best of three

between Julian and myself and I'm hoping to come out

the winner, 2-1. But I think the majority of people

in Cambridge would far rather have a Labour government

than a Conservative government and that's what this election

is going to be about. A city fast approaching

mayoral elections, now I think it's brilliant

because I think it'll give Theresa May the opportunity now

to perhaps form a strong government It's about getting a majority for

someone who needs it to do Brexit. I'd be surprised but yes,

I think she stands a good chance. But it is with strong conviction

that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership

the country needs to see us An election to bring

stability after Brexit, says the Prime Minister,

in a region that Cambridge, a city that

decidedly wanted to stay. Its former MP and his party

campaigned to remain. Could that win votes

in a general election? I think people in Cambridge

who are very pro-European, both because of financial reasons,

the trade advantages, We feel European and I think

they also know that the Brexit, that the Tories are leading us

through with Labour simply cheering them on voting for it,

is not what they want. There is no difference between

a soft Brexit and a hard Brexit. You are either pregnant

or you are not pregnant. It's either Brexit or Brexit

but this should actually settled the issue because the problem

is that in parliament, there are 500 Parliament needs to catch up

with the public and this general election should deal

with that issue. Daniel Zeichner was loudly

pro-Europe, the Leaning Now he's going to have to do

it for a second time. but there are just two weeks to go

before Cambridgeshire The region is one

of six in the country to gain extra powers

under the Government's The new mayor will control

an ?800 million deal to fund local transport and housing projects over

the next 30 years. Seven candidates are

vying for the position. If you are not used to change, the

past 12 months will have been a roller-coaster adventure to

remember. A new Prime Minister, world order and now we're getting

air. Seven men and women are vying to become Cambridgeshire's first

directly elected mayor and according to the government's latest campaign,

that means local power for local people on housing, transport and

skills. That's why on May four, Cambridge and Peterborough will

elect a mayor. What does your vote get you? It they will be responsible

for delivering hundreds of new apprenticeships through grants from

local employees on the next generation of school leavers with

practical skills. Here at the West Anglia training Association,

Apprentices are working on one of the biggest road projects to date,

the A14 upgrade. Then there will be responsible for delivering ?170

million of new housing and in one of the areas in the UK, new homes are

needed. Here, up to 5000 homes are being built. Whoever is elected will

have the power to remove existing barriers to free up more brown field

sites for development like this airfield in Huntingdon, easing the

pressure is on the availability of social housing and places like

Cambridge. By far the biggest part of money available to the new mayor

would be an annual budget of ?20 million to boost economic growth.

Money that could be spent on upgrading busy junctions like this

one where the A14 metres B -- metres -- meets the A114 near Newmarket.

The new mayor is also likely to invest heavily in a new University

of the Peterborough. He or she will be voted into office in May but by

June, could the country have a new Prime Minister? Campaigning for the

general election has begun in a urbanist -- Ernest and all hoping

for a smooth journey had. Well, our political reporter

Mousumi Bakshi joins me now. And Mo, not one, not two,

but three elections! I would stock up on the vitamins

over the next few As well as the mayoral

elections in Cambridgeshire, there are are county council

elections in Hertfordshire, As with our MPs, there are currently

Conservative majorities in all three councils,

although the Tories don't have an outright

majority in Cambridgeshire. Those elections take place

on the same day May fourth, a full So how will today's news

affect those elections? Well, crucially, they'll give us

an accurate snapshot The polls were criticised for not

calling Brexit last year. At least we'll know if there's to be

a Lib Dem resurgence The elections will also give

the main parties a chance to recalibrate their campaigns ahead

of June if local results And you'll be able to find out more

about the mayoral candidates in a series of reports

starting tomorrow night And on Thursday,

you'll be able to hear from the candidates themselves

in a special programme called The Mayor for Cambridgeshire

and Peterborough, Other news now and it's got

a history in Northamptonshire that stretches back

more than 80 years. Today, it's been

confirmed that the cereal manufacturer Weetabix

is to be sold by its Chinese owners to

an American company. The deal with Price Holdings

could be worth more But what does it mean

for the company and its staff? Tom Percival is at the Weetabix

plant in Burton Latimer for us now. Those are the two questions. What

this deal means for Weetabix Wendy's employees. Since 2004, this has gone

from family ownership through foreign owners. Throughout that

time, it has remained rooted here in Burton Latimer and up the road in

Corby. 3 billion biscuits a year exported

to more than 90 countries via a company with 2000 staff

and all its wheat comes from farms So how will the sale

of Weetabix with US firm, Post Holdings, for ?1.4

billion, affect all that? As long as our business

remain successful, we will continue to make, market

and sell our brands here We'll also continue to source our

wheat from within 50 The relationship with our farmers

is incredibly important from a quality point of view, from

a provenance point of view and just from an ease of access,

so we will continue to support our local farmers,

continue to source They've been an incredible

part of our past success and they'll remain critical

to our future success. Weetabix has been at

Northamptonshire since 1932. The unions that represent staff both

here in Burton Latimer and also in Corby say they want urgent meetings

with the management and with the new Weetabix invested ?30

million in its factories A boost to production and

the possibility of new jobs also. But eating habits

are changing and that means the battle for breakfast

will continue now and in new owners. Our business correspondent

Richard Bond is in our newsroom now. What do we know about

Post Holdings, the new owner? They are a very big American food

group. They are ten times bigger than Weetabix. They are the third

biggest producer of breakfast cereals in America and their product

range includes some products which May be familiar to British consumers

including grape nuts. They could be good news for

Weetabix. In America as in Britain, there has been a decline in

consumption of traditional breakfast cereals. People are not eating

breakfast as much in their own homes. They are eating something on

the move, perhaps when they get to work or when they are going to work

so they are consuming new products like breakfast bars and breakfast

drinks. Post Holdings is a leader in breakfast on the move in America. Is

expertise will be useful to Weetabix which one could argue has been

somewhat distracted over the last five years by the need to break into

the Asian market and is previous Chinese owner. It has done that with

mixed success. Being owned by a Western owner will allow Weetabix to

stick to its home market. Stay with us for a weather forecast and we

meet the parents who can't get their children into their local school.

Easyjet has apologised after two passengers were removed

from an overbooked flight leaving from Luton Airport.

They were travelling to Italy last Monday

The company says staff had not followed guidelines correctly.

Parking enforcement officers have begun work

It's to stop staff, patients and visitors parking

The officers will focus on vehicles blocking emergency routes,

parking on double yellow lines and using disabled bays

Parents have been finding out today where their children will go

Over 90% were allocated their first choice.

But some parents living within 500 metres of

a new school in St Neots haven't been given a place,

He only lives five minutes away but come September, three-year-old Oscar

Whalley begun to his local school. Instead you'll have to travel over a

mile and a half in the courts of the next closest primary. Really

disappointed. This is so close to us and part of the community and where

his friends will be going, where he goes to preschool. It is so

disappointing he will not get a. Oscar is not the only one to miss

out. The school is a new school on a new estate built to cope with the

growing demand. Parents say the catchment area of 400 metres is too

small and means the school can only take 60 pupils per year group. That

is despite doubling in size. Coming together on social media, parents

say the problem could have been avoided. The council should have

seen this coming. They have allowed more houses to be built. There is a

huge proportion of families on this estate and they should have made the

school big enough for all of the houses that have been built. This is

a new school and it was built a while ago. It is difficult getting

it right. You build a school according to the number of houses

and you expect the type of houses and the number of parents moving in.

We do always try to do something about it. The council says it has

anticipated increasing demand and plans to build more schools in the

coming years but that is little comfort for Oscar who would be

starting school with his friends. Easter is always a crucial period

in the football calendar And as ever, the race for promotion

is hotting up. Five teams in this region

still have a chance of going up. Southend in League One

and all four of our This from our Sports

Reporter, Tom Williams. Three games left in League 2 and

iMac Cambridge United, one of four teams chasing the play-offs. All

four could make it. They could face each other. More on the play-off

chase shortly. The result of the day and Ipswich town's 3-1 victory over

Newcastle came on Sir Bobby Robson day, giving both clubs to pay

tribute to their former manager. From an Ipswich perspective, what a

tribute to him in front of over 25,000 fans. They produced their

best display of the season. The result guaranteed Ipswich

championship football for a 16th consecutive season. Norwich 13-1 but

their slim hopes of a play-off place came to an end. Goals came that

Preston. City got a rare away win. Southend have fallen out of the

play-offs. The blues Trail Millwall by a point but Phil Brown hasn't

given up hope. He feels Southend may well need to win their final two

games to reach the top six. MK Dons' revival has lifted them into the top

half. Joe Walsh put them in front. Ben Reeves made it two. Simon Cox

got a consolation penalty. They are fully focused on next Saturday's

game with Shrewsbury. Look out ideas become the top of League 2 with four

of our teams chasing the play-offs. Gluten's promotion hopes are over.

They are in fourth with Stephen Sharp -- Stevenage below. Colchester

just outside the play-offs and they will be hoping to time their revival

to protect -- to perfection. Luton had back-to-back draws. Trailing at

Mansfield. Danny Houghton rescued the day. Goal number 26 was nearly

27 of the season. This header was too high. It is now the play-offs

and Stevenage are playing for the play-offs. One point from six over

Easter. Stephen Schumacher gave the lead at Carlisle. There was an

equaliser. It is now three winds in four of the Cambridge. A point away

from the play-offs. This header was enough to see them beat Exeter. Will

Norris was in terrific form with this game changing double save.

Jonathan Park, BBC Look East. You have been making steady progress.

Can you do it? Who knows? The possibility of getting into the

play-offs was low and now we are within one point and three matches

to go. It was a slow start to the season. What has been your key to

success? We didn't win that eight matches which was frustrating. We

have a really good group of young players. Most of them are early 20s

and they are such a determined bunch and they are led by Sean and his

determination from his career is now rubbing off on them. You can just

feel the positivity. The very best of luck. You've got to keep in touch

with your local radio station for the run-in and for rugby fans out

there, keep a look out on the squad announcement. A few Northampton

Saints players hoping to make the play from New Zealand.

Time now to take a look at the weather.

We had good spells of sunshine today. We have this photo showing

blue sky and lovely sunshine. Also a lovely shot through the woods

showing the bluebells. We are in a transitional stage of weather this

week. We are going to see some sunshine and it will gradually turn

warmer. They are likely to be some frosty nights and starting with

tonight. At the moment, you can see we have had some areas of cloud

coming in and some clear sky and as we go through the evening and night,

the trend will be for any areas of cloud to melt away. We will be left

with long, clear spells. Variable amounts of cloud coming through the

night. There is a spread of temperatures expected in towns and

cities close to freezing. It could dip below freezing. For some of us,

a sharp frost as we stop the day tomorrow. High pressure is going to

be a dominant feature keeping things settled with some light winds. There

will be some areas of cloud that come and go and also for tomorrow. A

cool stop for the day and clouding over at times as we get into the

afternoon. Temperatures up a little bit on where they were today. It

will be cooler on the North Sea coast. Staying fine and dry for the

afternoon. A little bit of cloud around at times. Not a lot happening

on the pressure pattern through the week. We will get this weather

friend come down from the north by Friday. A colder air source and

while it warms up through this week, by the weekend, colder air is

flooding in and it would be a cooler forecast by the weekends. The

outlook and not a lot is changing. Temperatures going up for Thursday

and Friday with milder air. There will be some sunshine around but

also there will be areas of cloud for Friday as that weather front

comes through. It is not expected to bring us rain. Temperatures

overnight, they are likely to stay above freezing in towns and cities

but be aware, some places they well drop below freezing. Expect some

chilly nights and as we get the weekend, temperatures cooling down

to 11 Celsius. Let's recap now on our

main story tonight - that snap general election called

for the 8th of June. Our political correspondent

Andrew Sinclair joins us now. There will really just be one issue

in this election, won't there? I have had lots of e-mails and text

messages from MPs telling me how they all looking forward to fighting

on their record for bringing housing to their constituency or getting

money for road and rail schemes which under normal circumstances

would be a limb -- important election issues. It will be about

Brexit and it will depend on how we feel about leaving the European

Union. Science, car production and farming are the main issues when it

comes to Brexit facing our region. Now it will be up to the parties to

lay out how they see the future in those areas as we go into Brexit. We

were talking about Cambridge earlier. Where else are the

interesting seats to watch? There will be a massive battle that

Cambridge. There are few other seats to watch. Hitchin and Harpenden are

safe Conservative seat is that Peter Lilley. He is an art euro sceptic.

Most people in his constituency voted to remain. Could there be a

struggle? What about Alistair Burton? He was a key member of the

Remain campaign but many of his constituents voted to leave. David

McIntosh hasn't had the best relations with his local party. Will

they keep him on as a candidate or get rid of him? Many have to make

decisions in the next few weeks. Thank you. I will be back with your

late bulletin at the latest time of 10:50pm tonight. Goodbye.