:00:00. > :00:11.1500 employee use and thousands more in the supply chain, what the
:00:12. > :00:17.Vauxhall deal beans for Luton. Hybrid taxis to help improve
:00:18. > :00:19.pollution levels. And I'm here with your weather for the week ahead and
:00:20. > :00:26.a rather mixed forecast. First tonight, what the Vauxhall
:00:27. > :00:31.deal might mean for Luton. As you may have seen,
:00:32. > :00:33.the French car manufacturer PSA, the company behind
:00:34. > :00:34.Peugeot and Citroen, has agreed to buy Vauxhall and Opel
:00:35. > :00:40.in a deal worth almost It has national and
:00:41. > :00:44.international ramifications, but more directly, it will affect
:00:45. > :00:48.the 1,500 people who work for Vauxhall in Luton
:00:49. > :00:50.and the thousands of employees At shift changeover in Vauxhall this
:00:51. > :01:02.lunchtime, many staff had still not been told that they were now
:01:03. > :01:05.employees of the French car giant The commitment to continue
:01:06. > :01:18.production in Luton has been assured until 2024
:01:19. > :01:20.but beyond that the PSA chairman said today that its future depends
:01:21. > :01:23.on improving Their future is in their hands,
:01:24. > :01:31.based on their ability to give themselves the level
:01:32. > :01:34.of performance that will ensure the We know we've got a good
:01:35. > :01:40.workforce, hopefully they will take that on board,
:01:41. > :01:53.that's all we can say. I looked over when Peugeot took over
:01:54. > :01:56.other plants and didn't go Today was reassuring in
:01:57. > :02:02.that they say they are going to keep our contracts until at least 2025,
:02:03. > :02:06.if they stick to that, everyone will The plant is 1 of the most
:02:07. > :02:09.productive in Europe. But 2000 jobs were
:02:10. > :02:11.lost in Luton when Vauxhall stopped making
:02:12. > :02:18.cars here 15 years ago. see the van plant going
:02:19. > :02:22.down the same road, we need to preserve the jobs
:02:23. > :02:25.here and there is no reason flexible workforce, why
:02:26. > :02:31.wouldn't we continue here? There has to be serious
:02:32. > :02:33.concerns when there's a big announcement like this,
:02:34. > :02:35.we are reassured that they are saying they want to invest
:02:36. > :02:38.in the brand and make sure the iconic brand of Vauxhall
:02:39. > :02:41.continues, for our part, we were watching with government
:02:42. > :02:42.and working with Vauxhall and trade unions
:02:43. > :02:46.to make sure that Vauxhall is a The plant's future will depend
:02:47. > :02:52.on the kind of savings that the new owners PSA want to make
:02:53. > :02:55.and on the Brexit While there was cautious
:02:56. > :03:00.optimism here, there are many businesses around Luton that depend
:03:01. > :03:03.on Vauxhall, they are now facing Earlier I spoke to Gavin Shuker,
:03:04. > :03:11.the MP for Luton South. I asked him for his reaction
:03:12. > :03:24.to the news of the deal. This is a good first step
:03:25. > :03:26.in the future of Vauxhall here in Luton because we now know
:03:27. > :03:33.what the ownership is going to be. But no one should be under any
:03:34. > :03:36.false conceptions here, we need to work hard to secure
:03:37. > :03:39.the future jobs both here at the plant, this is 1
:03:40. > :03:45.of the most efficient and most productive parts of General Motors
:03:46. > :03:45.and will be in the newly formed company, but with the risks
:03:46. > :03:47.of Brexit and the possibility of a very hard Brexit,
:03:48. > :03:50.we know we are going to work hard to make sure the government delivers
:03:51. > :03:54.on its commitments as well as PSA. What commitments would you like
:03:55. > :03:56.the government to deliver on? The government has decided it
:03:57. > :04:02.will push for a hard Brexit, and currently push for
:04:03. > :04:04.some protections here we know there will be tariffs, taxes
:04:05. > :04:10.on vans going into the continent and parts coming back in,
:04:11. > :04:14.that would be disastrous. There are 8 years left
:04:15. > :04:17.on the current contract in Luton, what do you think will
:04:18. > :04:21.happen after that? 8 years is a long way away,
:04:22. > :04:23.but in automotive terms, We need a decision on a new van in 5
:04:24. > :04:33.years' time, the good news is we will probably have an idea of
:04:34. > :04:36.what the future shape of Britain's relationship with Europe will be,
:04:37. > :04:39.but in the short-term, GM lost money on its operations
:04:40. > :04:43.in Europe in the last 16 years, continuously - under new ownership
:04:44. > :04:46.they would be crazy to get rid of 1 of the parts of this business
:04:47. > :04:49.that is making money, PSA have given reassurances
:04:50. > :04:52.today over the future of jobs, are you satisfied
:04:53. > :04:56.with what they have said? I'm thankful for their interjections
:04:57. > :05:02.that guarantee the future of this plant, it makes good business sense,
:05:03. > :05:05.but probably the bigger part of this story is now Britain's
:05:06. > :05:08.relationship with the EU, which is why we need
:05:09. > :05:14.the government to do its bit. The new combined authority
:05:15. > :05:16.for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has officially come
:05:17. > :05:18.into being today. It means the local authority
:05:19. > :05:20.will have more control over spending as powers are devolved
:05:21. > :05:28.from Westminster. Our reporter Waseem Mirza has been
:05:29. > :05:39.looking at the details. This new combined authority will
:05:40. > :05:43.have more control over spending, a decision has been made to set aside
:05:44. > :05:47.?20,000,000 over the next 30 years, this will be put into a new
:05:48. > :05:52.investment fund to boost growth. Not all of it will be available from day
:05:53. > :05:55.1. The government has agreed to provide the authority with an
:05:56. > :06:03.additional ?70,000,000,000 over 5 years, ring fenced for Cambridge to
:06:04. > :06:05.help it meet its housing needs. The new authority has gained special
:06:06. > :06:11.powers of the planning and control over ?100,000,000 housing and
:06:12. > :06:18.infrastructure budget. What about transport? Cambridgeshire is home to
:06:19. > :06:23.argue with the busiest truck route, they will be a larger pot to keep
:06:24. > :06:27.things moving, not only on roads put on public transport. All this and
:06:28. > :06:30.more will be in the hands of a new Maher overseeing this combined
:06:31. > :06:34.authority, elected in May. Thank you.
:06:35. > :06:37.One of the region's councils is bidding to become the first local
:06:38. > :06:40.authority outside London to ban diesel taxis.
:06:41. > :06:42.Air pollution levels in Cambridge have begun to drop.
:06:43. > :06:44.But diesel emissions in the city centre continue to grow.
:06:45. > :06:47.Now the council wants to phase out the most polluting cars.
:06:48. > :06:54.As part of the BBC's So-I-Can-Breathe week,
:06:55. > :06:56.Mousumi Bakshi has been to see one firm already
:06:57. > :07:04.It's the first fare of the day for Abdul
:07:05. > :07:13.It is one of the electric cars that crisscross the congested streets
:07:14. > :07:15.of Cambridge - running costs have dropped with fuel
:07:16. > :07:21.You save a lot of money by driving an electric car,
:07:22. > :07:25.my fuel costs are a lot lower now, and you do get better economy
:07:26. > :07:33.There are just a handful of charge points of the county
:07:34. > :07:41.and while the current generation of electric cars can only
:07:42. > :07:44.travel so far on 1 charge, the technology
:07:45. > :07:46.suits short taxi rides in a city can to terms
:07:47. > :07:53.Some of our market research and experience is that people do ask
:07:54. > :07:57.for them and there are people very aware of the need to be greener,
:07:58. > :08:00.so we can get requests for them, we are looking to increase the Fleet
:08:01. > :08:06.Cambridge is now on the cusp of a clean energy revolution,
:08:07. > :08:09.with the City Council is bidding for government funding for up to 40
:08:10. > :08:17.But access in this medieval city is proving to be a problem.
:08:18. > :08:19.Putting street furniture into a historic city has issues
:08:20. > :08:25.with it, we have chosen locations that are fairly uncontroversial
:08:26. > :08:27.for the 1st few locations in car parks, stations,
:08:28. > :08:30.where aesthetically it won't be an issue.
:08:31. > :08:33.While air quality in Cambridge is broadly improving,
:08:34. > :08:37.nitrogen dioxide levels remain higher than the national average,
:08:38. > :08:39.at certain points in the city centre, and that has
:08:40. > :08:46.This mother of 2 had too many school runs in the most
:08:47. > :08:50.If the City Council gets its way, all of us will be booking low
:08:51. > :08:52.emission caps in Cambridge within the decade.
:08:53. > :08:55.The push now is to convince the rest of the population to drive electric
:08:56. > :09:03.so we can all breathe in cleaner air.
:09:04. > :09:07.At its peak, 80 firefighters were called to Asda on Wigmore Lane in
:09:08. > :09:12.Luton. 2 people were treated for Luton. 2 people were treated for
:09:13. > :09:15.injuries but nobody seriously hurt. The store was evacuated and people
:09:16. > :09:28.billion flats nearby were also told to leave their homes. We are back
:09:29. > :09:34.tomorrow morning. Good night. Time but the weather.
:09:35. > :09:40.Apart from an isolated showers but that should be fine and dry with
:09:41. > :09:47.clear spells. Temperatures can drop a few degrees lower than these
:09:48. > :09:50.values, close to freezing. For everyone, cold start the day with
:09:51. > :09:57.this weather front pushing towards us. Tuesday on the whole be fine and
:09:58. > :10:08.dry with spells of the trial, probably more cloud around tomorrow.
:10:09. > :10:12.The sunshine may turn hazy, light winds, we finished the day fine and
:10:13. > :10:20.dry, after dark we expect the cloud thicken up and the crane and weather
:10:21. > :10:25.front pushing eastwards. It may take a while for those with a front to
:10:26. > :10:30.Wednesday, likely to get off to a cloudy start with our bricks of
:10:31. > :10:41.rain. Eventually it should clear after the and should become dry and
:10:42. > :10:46.brighter. Thursday, a lot of uncertainty, this weather front
:10:47. > :10:53.pushing towards us, at the moment looking largely fine and dry. Friday
:10:54. > :11:02.itself looking cloudy with some rain at times.
:11:03. > :11:06.some blustery showers around. That's the London forecast and now for the
:11:07. > :11:15.National forecast, over to Nick Miller.
:11:16. > :11:22.North-west France and Plymouth were miles apart weather-wise. This
:11:23. > :11:27.southern flank in north-west France there was a wind gusts of 120 mph
:11:28. > :11:30.which we just dodged. That area of low pressure continues to move
:11:31. > :11:34.quickly south-eastwards so that by tomorrow it is in Italy on its
:11:35. > :11:39.southern flank, stormy in Sardinia and around it strong winds blowing
:11:40. > :11:43.through south-east France. We've got a little bump in the ice bars with
:11:44. > :11:46.lighter winds, a brief ridge of high pressure, things briefly settled
:11:47. > :11:50.going into tomorrow, overnight there are some showers around moving
:11:51. > :11:55.through western Scotland and north-west England and the Midlands,
:11:56. > :11:56.clearing Wales, one or two in the east, the North Sea tip of high